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Native Americans & Jews: The Lost Tribes Episode
Native Americans & Jews: The Lost Tribes Episode
An all-too forgotten historical debate
In the 8th century BCE, the Assyrians dispersed the Kingdom of Israel, giving life and legend to the Lost Tribes. The repatriation of these lost tribes eventually became an integral part of the Jewish--and Christian--messianic dream, and there have been Lost Tribe speculations about numerous "discovered" populations. One the most fascinating--and unfortunately forgotten--such discussions centered on the Native Americans. How did American Jews respond to this? Why and how did Jews accredit or discredit it? What did these theories signify about American Jewish agendas and anxieties?
A Theory is Born
One of the first books to suggest the Native American Lost Tribe theory was written by a Jew, the Dutch rabbi, scholar, and diplomat Manasseh ben Israel. In The Hope of Israel (1650), Ben Israel suggested that the discovery of the Native Americans, a surviving remnant of the Assyrian exile, was a sign heralding the messianic era. Just one year later, Thomas Thorowgood published his best seller Jewes in America, Or, Probabilities that those Indians are Judaical, made more probable by some Additionals to the former Conjectures. The Lost Tribe idea found favor among early American notables, including Cotton Mather (the influential English minister), Elias Boudinot (the New Jersey lawyer who was one of the leaders of the American Revolution), and the Quaker leader William Penn.
The notion was revived after James Adair, a 40-year veteran Indian trader and meticulous chronicler of the Israelitish features of Native American religion and social custom wrote The History of the American Indians...Containing an Account of their Origin, Language, Manners, Religion and Civil Customs in 1775. Even Epaphras Jones, an American Bible professor engaged the theory in 1831, claiming that anyone "conversant with the European Jews and the Aborigines of America… will perceive a great likeness in color, features, hair, aptness to cunning, dispositions for roving, &s."
Some of these writers were interested in Native American history, but most of them were just interested in the Bible. Indeed, the Lost Tribe claim should be seen as part of a general 19th-century fascination with biblical history. Explorations of Holy Land flora and fauna, the geography of the Holy Land, the life of Jesus-the-man, were very much en vogue. A close identification among some 17th and 18th century Americans with the chosen people of Scripture helped Christian settlers see their colonization of New England as a reenactment of Israel's journey into the Promised Land.
It also contributed to a more general religious mythmaking scheme that helped define the national identity of the United States. To cite just one example, in a 1799 Thanksgiving Day sermon, Abiel Tabbot told his congregation in Massachusetts: "It has often been remarked that the people of the United States come nearer to a parallel with Ancient Israel, than any other nation upon the globe. Hence, 'OUR AMERICAN ISRAEL,' is a term frequently used; and common consent allows it apt and proper."
A curious incident that drew considerable attention and "proved," at least to some, that Native Americans had ancient Israelite origins unfolded when tefillin (phylacteries) were "discovered" in Pittsfield, Massachusetts in the early 19th century. Their discoverer wrote that this "forms another link in the evidence by which our Indians are identified with the ancient Jews, who were scattered upon the face of the globe, and to this day remain a living monument, to verify and establish the eternal truths of Scripture."
Prominent Jews Respond
Around the time of the Pittsfield tefillin incident, Mordecai Manuel Noah, the journalist, playwright, politician, and Jewish American statesman, began spilling ink about the subject. Noah wrote a play She Would be a Soldier; or, The Plains of Chippewa (1819), that resolved the tension between the Yankees and the British by identifying the Indian Great Spirit with the God of the Bible. Noah's ideas about Jewish-Native affinities grew in a distinctly political manner when he invited Natives Americans to help settle "Ararat," the separatist Jewish colony he hoped to establish on Grand Island on the Niagara River around 1825.
Noah's writings on Jewish Natives came to their full expression with his Discourse on the Evidences of the American Indians Being the Descendants of the Lost Tribes of Israel (1837). The work documented a host of theological, linguistic, ritual, dietary, and political parallels between Jews and Native Americans. Most importantly, he identified several essential character traits shared by the two peoples, all of which were, of course, highly laudable. For Noah, the conflation of Indians and Jews sanctioned the latter as divinely ordained Americans.
Another notable Jewish-Indian incident occurred in 1860, when stones hewn with Hebrew inscriptions were found near Newark, Ohio. The story unfolded over the course of many months and was followed closely by The Israelite, The Occident, and The Jewish Messenger, whose respective editors represented the intellectual vanguard of American Jewry. Isaac Mayer Wise, the leader of the Reform movement in America, employed philological proofs to undermine the stone's authenticity. He rejected any connections between Jews and Native Americans, though it's notable that he bothered to engage the story at all. Isaac Leeser, a traditionalist, sided in favor of the Lost Tribes theory. Reviewing the relics in question, The Occident, Leeser's newspaper, concluded, "The sons of Jacob were walking on the soil of Ohio many centuries before the birth of Columbus."
From a historical and scientific point of view, the Native American Lost Tribe claim is clearly narishkeit. But even a brief exploration of it--who was making it and why, who was refuting it and why, reveals important insights about American Jewry. Popular thought about who Jews were--their place in America, with whom they could or should be associated--helps us understand how Jews negotiated their place in American society. Theories about Ancient Israelite Indians should not be dismissed as mere fantasy. Rather they are important precisely because they are fantasy.
Jews responded to the Lost Tribes claim about Native Americans in sermons, plays, public statements, scholarly works, and popular writings. The critical responses are more understandable: from the perspective of Reform and science, the theory is flagrantly nonsensical. But there are other reasons some may have rejected it: so as not to be associated with that which was thought of as native, primitive, and barbarian, so as not to be thought of as atavistic or lower on the evolutionarily ladder than other Europeans, so as not to be thought of as immanently disappearing from history, and so as not to be in need of Christian civilizing (i.e. missionizing). Advocates, on the other hand, had to go against the scholarly consensus and side with religious figures who could be dismissed as fanatics.
Accepting Native Americans as ancient Israelites held several--sometimes mutually exclusive--implications for American Jews. Foremost, it meant that the Indians were, in some way, related. It could buttress the sentiment that America was the New Jerusalem. This was the destined place where the original exiles, scattered to unknown corners of the world, were ingathered to their God-chosen Promised Land. They were not "lost" at all. Rather, the near aboriginal connection of Jews to the American soil served as evidence of the end of exile, and another reason to support a new American Jewish identity.
Many of the major figures in nineteenth-century American Jewry weighed in--in one manner or another--on the Jewish-Indian controversy. The practical stakes were never high, but the claim--so ubiquitous and so fluid (since it was used for so many different functions by so many different people)--was taken seriously and fretted over by Jewish leaders of very different orientations. The Lost Tribe theory had significant symbolic stakes--for Jews, Christians, and Native Americans. Linking America and its earliest inhabitants with the Bible and its theology, meant staking a claim on America--and championing God's plan for the New World. | <urn:uuid:eb8c3b6a-31ad-4257-9d64-c84f01012fe4> | {
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- The Promise to Abraham (which I understand to be temporal, "stretching from
here to the horizon," Hebrew scholars sometimes say) was to "Abraham and his
seed." It is not to those who are not flesh of his flesh/bone of his bone.
Hence, "God's chosen people."
Judaism was originally a tribal religion. For a very long time, they merely
saw their God as a "great king above all gods. . . ." The implication of
that is: There are other gods, else the God of Israel could not be above
"Ha'aretz," The Land, is what is continually talked about. Indeed, in
Israel, there is a daily paper call "Ha'aretz." This Land is the land
promised to Abraham and to his seed.
Arabs are the lineal descendants of Abraham. They already owned the land.
Zionists (who are mostly, if not all) Ashkenazic Jews, devised a slogan by
which they sold the world a notion which is utterly false. The slogan said
Palestine is "a land without a people, for a people without a land."
Tautology, we call that.
Israeli maps do not show the existence of Arab villages which were destroyed,
in the aftermath of all those wars. Earlier maps will show them. New maps
Zionists have created an historical myth about themselves and about the land.
The land belonged to Abraham to his seed, but, the tribe is only those who
belong to it. The relationship is genetic, not philosophical or theological.
Yet, if I were to convert to Judaism, via an Orthodox rabbi (it must be
through that means), I would have the right of "Return" to Palestine, as a
"Jew." This, while my Palestinian friends have no right to anything, even
the land their fathers and grandfathers and mothers occupied for generations,
before and after the Western Crusades.
As a descendant of Fulk of Anjou, who was "King of Jersalem," I, personally,
through my own genetic background, have more claim to Jerusalem (if right of
conquest is all we are discussing) than any Ashkenazic Jew.
Only those who belong to the tribe belong. The Promise is not to everyone.
It is to Abraham and his seed. | <urn:uuid:48d30f88-38d7-4aac-bd4b-983d1116803b> | {
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6. Morinda citrifolia Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 1: 176. 1753.
海滨木巴戟 hai bin mu ba ji
Morinda bracteata Roxburgh.
Evergreen shrubs or small trees, to 5 m tall, often fleshy; branches subquadrangular, glabrous. Leaves opposite or solitary opposite an inflorescence; petiole 5-20 mm, glabrous; blade fleshy, drying papery, elliptic-oblong, elliptic, or ovate, 10-25 × 5-13 cm, glabrous and shiny on both surfaces, base acute or acuminate, apex acute to obtuse; secondary veins 5-7 pairs, with pubescent domatia; stipules interpetiolar, free or shortly fused to petioles, broadly triangular to ovate, 4-16 mm, obtuse or rounded. Inflorescence solitary and leaf-opposed; peduncle 1-1.5 cm; head 1, oblong to subglobose, 5-10 mm in diam., many flowered; bracts absent. Flowers with hypanthia partially fused, distylous. Calyx glabrous or puberulent; limb subtruncate to truncate, 0.2-0.5 mm, sometimes in 1 to numerous flowers of a head with 1(-3) calycophylls, these white, narrowly elliptic to oblanceolate, 5-16 mm, obtuse to acute. Corolla white, funnelform, outside glabrous; tube ca. 15 mm, densely villous in throat; lobes 5, ovate-lanceolate, ca. 6 mm. Drupecetum white, irregularly ovoid to subglobose, 2.5-5 cm. Drupes not distinguishable individually. Fl. and fr. year-round.
Flat land on seashores, sparse forests; below 100 m. Guangdong, Hainan, Taiwan [?Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Japan (Bonin and Ryukyu Islands), Malaysia, Myanmar, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam; N Australia, Solomon Islands; introduced in tropical America and Pacific islands].
The distinctive form called Morinda bracteata has well-developed white calycophylls that give the plants a markedly different appearance and may function in pollination, but these two forms have generally been considered conspecific. Nelson and Elevitch (Noni, 42-43. 2006) noted that plants with bracteate inflorescences produce smaller fruit and that the cultivated plants with variegated leaves are called M. citrifolia ‘Potteri.’ Both of these forms are found in Taiwan (e.g., Yang & Chuang 11410, MO, "citifolia" form; Yang & Chuang 12060, MO, "bracteata" form). The fruit of this species are edible (though not particularly palatable) and said to have medicinal and/or tonic value; they are sold by natural food vendors under the name "noni" or "nona." This species is increasingly widely cultivated, as detailed by Nelson and Elevitch (loc. cit.). | <urn:uuid:990329fc-6e20-4ad5-9a1e-6674229a8fce> | {
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What is a dissertation conclusion the conclusion is basically an evaluation where you take a step back and review the research process here, we say where and how the study would have been stronger, sharing with the reader your critical assessment of the results. Guidelines for writing a thesis or dissertation, obviously, the thesis or dissertation ends with a brief conclusion that provides closure a strong final. This handout will explain the functions of conclusions, offer strategies for writing effective ones, help you evaluate drafts, and suggest what to avoid. Overview writing a conclusion to your thesis • anxiety about conclusions • basic functions of a conclusion • necessary and ideal features no 4 in the 2007 • aspects to avoid iis research students’ seminar series • sample conclusion structures louise edwards conclusion-a-phobia . | <urn:uuid:4d291572-1c2e-4c52-b8a9-870e44cbf6be> | {
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Udemy – C# Programming for Unity Game Development [100% off]
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Many people want to start programming but do not know how. From moving around the project to creating code. We will go over all the parts that make Unity a great game engine. We will write code that is up to date and will create analogies along the way so that you remember how to use the functions. This course will give you an understanding of how unity projects work and how Unity C# works. After you are finished, you will have the knowledge to read a unity documentation and know what it means. More so, you will have experience in writing optimized code and will be able to utilize it in any Unity Project.
At the end of this course, you will have the foundation needed to do anything in Unity. This course is focused on giving the knowledge needed to follow any other Unity course. Even if you want to go into scene design or lighting, after this course you will know what the basic menus do and how to move around the project.
You do not need any background knowledge of Unity for this course. This video series is for the people that want to start with Unity and Unity C# but do not know how. After this course, you will better understand what game you might want to create. This course will also help you better understand any other lesson that you see about Unity. This course lays the foundation for the other courses that are not as focused on code.
Share with your friends : | <urn:uuid:939f1a9d-2bc3-46b5-994d-ece759d7a5e5> | {
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West Virginia State Wildlife Center:
A Century of Conservation and Education
By Rob Silvester
By the early 1900s, West Virginia's wildlife resources were severely depleted by unregulated harvesting and habitat loss. Species that were abundant only a few decades earlier were nearly exterminated from the state by 1911. These concerns led to the creation in 1921 of the Game and Fish Commission (forerunner of the Division of Natural Resources).
Wildlife conservation programs were originally designed to control the harvest of wildlife species, propagate animals, and to conserve and protect the natural resources of the state. In 1923, the Game and Fish Commission purchased property and created the French Creek Game Farm. As its name implies, several species such as quail, pheasant, turkey and deer were raised on the area. These species were used in an attempt to reintroduce wildlife throughout the state. As our understanding of wildlife biology and habitat requirements increased, it became evident that farm-raised animals failed to develop the necessary skills for survival in the wild and these programs were discontinued.
From the beginning, the recreational and educational values of the Game Farm were recognized by area residents. In 1926 alone, nearly 6,000 visitors came to the Game Farm to view the animals. One large crowd gathered to see three elk brought by wagon from the railroad station. By 1927, the number of registered visitors grew to 20,000. Buffalo from Oklahoma were added to the exhibit in 1954 and attracted additional visitors.
A proclamation by the President of the United States and the Governor of West Virginia created a National Hunting and Fishing Day in 1971. This event was initially celebrated at the Game Farm in 1978 and continued each year until it was moved to the Stonewall Jackson Lake State Park in 1996.
A mobile wildlife exhibit stationed at the Game Farm traversed the state from 1974 to 1990, allowing nearly 250,000 residents to catch a glimpse of its unique tenants. Ironically, the original purpose of raising wildlife at the Game Farm had been overshadowed by its popularity as a tourist attraction.
Half a century after its creation, the DNR Wildlife Resources Section decided to replace the antiquated wildlife facilities and exhibits. In 1984, monies from the Land and Water Conservation Fund of the U. S. Department of Interior were used to begin construction on new exhibits. A new facility was dedicated in September 1986 and renamed the West Virginia State Wildlife Center.
Today, the 338-acre Wildlife Center is a modern zoological facility dedicated to presenting visitors a realistic and factual understanding of our state's wildlife resources. Located 12 miles south of Buckhannon on State Route 20, the Center displays over 28 different wildlife species. Native species such as mountain lion, elk, bison and gray wolves, eliminated from the state by the early 1900s, can now be seen roaming alongside more common species such as deer, turkey, red and gray foxes, bobcats and woodchucks. Introduced species, like the ring-necked pheasant and the European wild boar, can also be found at the Wildlife Center. A “state-of-the-art” river otter exhibit allows these playful aquatic mammals to be viewed above and below water, revealing their amazing swimming abilities. Along with river otters, West Virginia's state mammal, the black bear, is a featured attraction.
With an average of 50,000 visitors per year, the Wildlife Center remains a very popular attraction. Guests from numerous states and foreign countries have joined visitors from all of West Virginia's 55 counties. The Wildlife Center is a popular destination for elementary school students from around the state. They learn about the history of wildlife conservation, biology, life histories, historical ranges, and threatened and endangered species.
For many visitors, seeing a certain wildlife species for the very first time is an unforgettable experience. Visitors also learn that wildlife is a renewable resource and how hunting has contributed to successful conservation programs for many wildlife species throughout our state. And of course, our most famous resident — French Creek Freddie — captivates visitors as he makes his annual prediction of the onset of spring on Groundhog Day.
The Wildlife Center is the perfect setting for a family outing. In addition to the natural exhibits, family members can bring a lunch and enjoy the wooded picnic area complete with grills, tables, restroom facilities and a shelter. A gift shop is available to satisfy your souvenir and refreshment needs. You can go on a scavenger hunt near a pond, which is well stocked with trout, bass, catfish and bluegill. You can take a relaxing walk on an interpretive trail that meanders through a mature forest. Be sure to look for wildflowers, mushrooms or other natural treasures. If you listen closely, you may hear the distinctive drink-your-tea call of the rufous -sided towhee or the teacher, teacher, teacher call of the ovenbird. You may also hear the who cooks for you, who cooks for you all call of the elusive barred owl, the high-pitched bugle of a bull elk, or the eerie howl of coyotes or gray wolves.
The Wildlife Center is vital part of the state's outdoor education programs. Its setting provides a unique opportunity to introduce visitors to critical issues such as urban wildlife and nuisance wildlife management, wildlife diseases, and new and innovative harvest strategies.
The Wildlife Center is as dynamic as many of its exhibits. Only the first of a three-phase master plan has been developed. Future plans include new interpretive signs for the exhibit area, an educational and interpretive center, an auditorium, nocturnal animal, reptile, aquatic mammal and avian exhibits and an aquarium.
As environmental issues play an increasingly important role in our lives, the Wildlife Center will continue its tradition of offering visitors an unparalleled understanding of our state's wildlife resources.
Robert Silvester is the wildlife biologist at the West Virginia State Wildlife Center. | <urn:uuid:6cb40a27-ebcd-4a22-b226-988adce96b5c> | {
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Moles appear during the first 20 years of life, although some may not appear until later in life.
Moles are not stable. They can grow and go through changes of maturation. Flat junctional nevi may be present at birth, but usually appear between 3 and 18 years of age. They vary in size and shape, and may have a fried-egg appearance with darker bulls-eye center. They grow in proportion to body growth during childhood and adolescence. During adolescence and adulthood, they may become raised compound or intradermal nevi. Moles may darken with exposure to sun, birth control pills, and pregnancy. This is a normal occurrence.
The signs of benign nevi are uniform pigmentation, smooth regular border, and unchanging size and color.
The signs of malignant transformation are the ABCDs. A is for asymmetry of 2 halves of the nevus (benign lesions have two halves in any orientation that show symmetry). B is for border - irregular or scalloped border and signs of satellite pigmentation. C is for color changes or variegation in color, especially red, white, gray, or blue. D is for diameter, with diameter of greater than 6 mm more concerning. Other signs include enlarging size or surface changes such as scaling, erosion, oozing, crusting, ulceration, or bleeding.
The "ugly duckling" sign refers to a mole that looks different from the majority of other moles and should be removed to evaluate for melanoma. Clinically atypical nevi are less likely to be melanoma if other nevi on the same patient share similar features. If the patient has one mole different from all others, you might remove it by shaving or excision. But if a mole has "cousins" that look similar, the risk of cancer is low.
- If a mole looks suspicious for melanoma, remove the mole with 2 mm margins. The lesion must be sent to Pathology.
- If the lesion turns out to be a melanoma, not to worry as studies indicate there is no detectable risk of causing melanoma to metastasize by performing a shave or punch biopsy.
- The pathology report may show normal (junctional, compound, or intradermal) nevi, various levels of atypia (slight, moderate, severe), or melanoma. Atypia is a precursor to melanoma, but is not yet melanoma.
- If a mole is normal, no further treatment is needed.
- If a mole shows slight or moderate atypia and margins are clear, no further treatment is needed. Patient should be asked to look for recurrence of pigment.
- If a mole shows slight or moderate atypia and margins are not clear, re-excise or re-shave to get around the lesion.
- If a mole shows marked or severe atypia or any degree of pathologist's concern for melanoma, please refer to Skin Cancer and Dermatology (SCAD) clinic for further evaluation. If pathology states melanoma, refer to Melanoma Clinic in the Cancer Center.
There are so many moles in the world! To preserve appointments for patients who need dermatologic consultations, UM Dermatology does not accept patients for routine "mole checks" or "skin checks". Patients’ personal physicians are the best source for such evaluations. | <urn:uuid:4c2a17ea-6503-448f-a19e-e380c1dafc6b> | {
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Assessment is an integral part of teaching and learning. If the relationship between teaching and learning were causal, i. e. if students always mastered the intended learning outcomes of a particular sequence of instruction, assessment would be superfluous. Experience and research suggest this is not the case: what is learnt can often be quite different from what is taught. Formative assessment is motivated by a concern with the elicitation of relevant information about student understanding and / or achievement, its interpretation and an exploration of how it can lead to actions that result in better learning. In the context of a policy drive towards technology-enhanced approaches to teaching and learning, the question of the role of digital technologies is key and it is the latter on which this project particularly focuses. The project and its deliverables have been informed by recent and relevant literature, in particular recent work by Black and In this work, they put forward a framework which suggests that assessment for learning their term for formative assessment can be conceptualised as consisting of a number of aspects and five key strategies. The key aspects revolve around the where the learner is going, where the learner is right now and how she can get there and examines the role played by the teacher, peers and the learner. | <urn:uuid:6c91ab3b-9960-45c5-8d1f-98583e651d84> | {
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Edge Maya Archaeology
Archaeological Project is focused on a major,
hitherto overlooked, and long-lived ancient Maya city in the
heart of the Bocacosta of southwestern Guatemala.
is committed to assisting the people of Chocolá
in developing sustainable solutions to preserve both their
cultural heritage and the fragile ecology surrounding the site.
Part of a Great Adventure
and Help Save the Planet!
Natural and Sacred
World of Chocolá
2006 Proyecto Arqueológico Chocolá • Privacy | <urn:uuid:2b577d30-1134-41fd-a310-1c98c07db92a> | {
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Science in Our Daily Life
Science in our daily life 1. Introduction-it is the age of science. There are many wonders of science. Science plays an important part in our daily life. It has made our life easier and more comfortable. Science is nothing but a systematic way of knowledge and living. Man’s...
Science and My Daily life
Science and I
Science has and always will play a constant important role in my daily life, maybe more so than others. Science for me has not always been...
been climbing up the popularity lists: The Importance of Science in Our Lives. It’s just a link to an article online with a little commentary. I see on my statistics pages that a lot of people arrive using google searches of “Importance of Science.” I wonder if this is a common school assignment for...
“Spending on science should be focused towards areas that contribute to daily lives not big projects like the Space Program, Square Kilometre Array and the Large Hadron Collider”
In this current time, our focus for spending on science seems to be drifting off farther and farther into space. We are...
Modern science and technology have changed our lives in many dramatic ways. Airplanes, automobiles, communications satellites, computers, plastics, and television are only a few of the scientific and technological inventions that have transformed human life. Research by nuclear physicists has led to...
Earth Science 110
Introduction to Earth Science (Chapter 1) 3
I. Minerals (Chapter 2) 6
II. Rocks (Chapter 3) 12
III. Weathering, Soil, and Mass Wasting (Chapter 4) 16
IV. Running Water and Groundwater (Chapter 5)...
As the world becomes more advanced through trials and experiments, super athletes are created by modern science. Performance enhancing drugs gives the user an increase in strength that benefits athletes in a sport. Humans consists a brain where one can only use a small percentage of the brain, a Neurotopia...
Modern Life Habits That Affect The Health Of Sense Organs
food. However, many habits of modern life adversely affect the health of our sense organs. We discuss about such habits through this assignment. Content The various...
The Way Eating Habits Has Affected My Life
If we look life 100 years ago, and compare that with the today's life, we will notice that Science has dramatically changed human life. With the dawn of the Industrial Revolution in the 18th century, the effect of Science on human life rapidly changed. Today, science has a profound effect on the way...
bodies operate. Health science, also known as biomedical science, deals with human bodies and works on the basis of serious research that aims at understanding how human and animal bodies function and what internal and external factors affect their functionalities.
Health science has a lot of application...
Science Discredits Religion: A Critique
Richard Dawkins, an incredible biologist and very active member of the camp that a God does not exist, has laid out his argument on why he believes this is so. Mr. Dawkins seeks proof through the Independence View, which is the thought that science and religion...
Science, Technology, and the Military: The Manhattan Project
Atomic weapons, and indeed the resulting dawn of the nuclear age, in the absence of military and defense-related procurement would not have been developed at all – it would not have “been developed anyway” as some critics propose. It is exceedingly...
PROJECT TITLE: HOW CAN ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) ENHANCE LIFE IN THE 21ST CENTURY? ARE THERE ANY DRAWBACKS? IF SO, WHAT ARE THEY AND HOW CAN THEY BE OVERCOMED?
TABLE OF CONTENTS
AI in Robotic surgery……………………………………………………………...
Social Networks, and Life Satisfaction
Chaeyoon Lima and Robert D. Putnamb
American Sociological Review 75(6) 914–933 Ó American Sociological Association 2010 DOI: 10.1177/0003122410386686 http://asr.sagepub.com
Abstract Although the positive association between religiosity and life satisfaction is...
Geometry in everyday life
Geometry was thoroughly organized in about 300bc, when the Greek mathematician, Euclid gathered what was known at the time; added original work of his own and arranged 465 propositions into 13 books, called Elements.
Geometry was recognized to be not just for mathematicians...
US IN OUR DAILY LIFE?
SUBMITTED TO M/R OLIVER BARSSA
1 ESSAY ABOUT COMPUTERS
2 EFFECTS OF COMPUTERS
3 TYPES OF COMPUTERS
HOW DOES COMPUTERS AFFECTS US IN OUR LIFE ??
Science researchers have defined global warming the increase in average temperature of the world's atmosphere. Over the last few decades, global warming has imposed a serious threat to the world. It has increased the world's average temperature...
out many different science fiction novels include futuristic aspects of the world. The future is so common within the science fiction genre because it is simply a manipulated version of our modern world. Theories, such as: a zombie apocalypse, life on mars, or even extraterrestrial life, are all manipulations...
global life sciences BPO market to its report offering. According to the data presented in the report, the global life sciences BPO market is expected to be valued at US$596.0 billion by 2019, growing at a stunning CAGR of 21.5% from its value of US$152.5 billion in 2012. The report, titled “Life Sciences...
We today revel in the idea that we are living in a world of science and science can work wonders for us. It is true that science has revolutionised modern life.
What our forefathers, half a century ago, could not even dream of, we have that at our beck and call. Electricity is a wonder and what it is...
MRCI 08/F02/P49- Enhancing use of science and technology for enterprises development
ENHANCING USE OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY FOR ENTERPRISE
DEVELOPMENT THROUGH INCREASED INTERRACTION WITH HIGH
EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS AND RESEARCH ORGANISATIONS
Mobilizing Regional Capacity...
ORGANIZATION: Science Applications International Corporation
Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) was founded by J. Robert Beyster, PhD., and a small group of scientists in 1969. A leading systems, solutions and technical services company, SAIC offers...
“The Beauty of Symmetry." Science of Sex Appeal. Web. 18 Oct 2010.
"Female Copulance." Science of Sex Appeal. Web. 18 Oct 2010. .
Fisher, Helen. "Biology: Your Brain In Love." Time. Time, 19 Jan. 2004. Web. 02 Oct. 2012. .
"Sexy Voices." Science of Sex Appeal. Web. 18 Oct 2010. ...
This article was published in the Science Daily;
May 2008 Earthquake In China Could Be Followed By Another Significant Rapture
In the article I read that due to the movement of the faults, China might be looking at another rapture. On May 12th, 2008 China encountered an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.9. Due to that earthquake...
3 Team Assignment The Culture Of Daily Life Similarities
Click Following Link To Purchase
SPAN 110 Week 3 Team Assignment The Culture of Daily Life Similarities
Select two countries...
Economics of Daily Life
Economics of Daily Life
Economics is a study of how society manages its scarce resources. The literal translation for economy is “one who manages a household.” “In an increasingly complex world connected by social and economic interaction...
Certain Aspects of Psychology in My Life
Home Page » Psychology
Teen Depression a Guide For Parents And Teachers Teenage Depression Isn’t Just Bad Moods And Occasional Melancholy. Depression Is a Serious Problem That Impacts Every Aspect Of a Teen’s Life. Left Untreated, Teen and occasional...
Essays can consist of a number of elements, including: literary criticism, political manifestos, learned arguments, observations of daily life, recollections, and reflections of the author. Almost all modern essays are written in prose, but works in verse have been dubbed essays (e.g. Alexander...
1966, Sir John Gurdon experimented by creating two cloned frogs and a few years later, the first articles about cloning were published in reputable science and biology magazines (cf. Haran et al. 2008 : Appendix 1). On the 25th July 1978, the first embryo who was created by in vitro fertilisation was born...
The human brain is an organ of vast, remarkable, and mind-boggling complexity. The elaborate information-processing control system we refer to as the brain is the network that makes you mentally who you are. Your thoughts, decisions, motions, personality, and emotions are all tied...
Science - Boon or Bane
Written in: Grade 5 | Year: 2009
Have you ever wondered a time when we all live like the Jetsons? I have. But, I have also wondered what if we were like the Flintstones, living in a world with no science and technology perhaps even before the discovery of wheels. That would've...
5 October 2009
COMM 1201- Dr. A. Walker
MW 5:30-6:45 pm
Has anyone thought about living a healthier life? In this paper, I am going to show the benefits and steps needed to living a healthy lifestyle. One may think the process of becoming a healthier individual...
Life styles, rapid changes in Science and Technology have transformed our outlook towards life, increasing the divide, much more than it has ever happened in the past. The divide has always been there but never before has it been so wide. Life style changes with the passage...
Life Technologies Corporation helps to market and develop tools for research in the different area of science. Sciences such as drug discovery, diagnostic, science research, and biotechnology services. The company headquarters located in Carlsbad, California and has operations...
United States held the military tension and fear of communism and nuclear war. This social and political condition affected not only the daily life but also the cultural life. So the movie in 1950s shows the fear of communism and distrust of scientists. This is the essential background knowledge to analyze...
the study of human society, including both social action and organization. Sociologists use scientific research methods and theories, and study social life in a wide variety of settings. Sociology offers us not only information but also a distinctive way of looking at the world and our place in it. Whereas...
Chemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. [pic]
Daily Life: All the things that happen or that you do regularly.
Chemistry in Daily Life: Chemistry is a big part of our everyday life. We find chemistry in daily life in the foods...
heresy and consequences would be death. Galileo was a man of science with logical reasoning and evidences but this conflicted with religion. As long as he carries science with him, trouble would follow behind him. Throughout the play science and religion cannot co-exist.
Galileo was fascinated with...
The Impact of Science and Technology to Society
Albert Einstein (1921)
The rapid rise of modern science has created major social problems. Not only has science created profoundly affected man’s material way of life it also offered an equally profound mental upheaval. As resulted from the changes...
benefits from science are all around us. It has made our daily lives better through medicine, healthcare, technological, electrical and even mechanical innovation. If you are reading this paper on a computer, it is science that made it all possible. Understanding the many complexities of science can be quite...
Essays can consist of a number of elements, including: literary criticism, political manifestos, learned arguments, observations of daily life, recollections, and reflections of the author. Almost all modern essays are written in prose, but works in verse have been dubbed essays (e.g. Alexander Pope's...
more commonly known as B.F. Skinner, was born on 20 March, 1904 in Susquehanna, Pennsylvania. He was born into a middle class family where his home life was considered “warm and stable” (Barash, 2005). His father was a young lawyer working his way to the top while his mother was a housewife. Skinner...
Medical courses in college
4-5 years training in anatomic pathology
Board certification of passing exam
Responsibilities/ Daily Activities
Collecting medical evidence
Studying medical history of victim
Running Head: Science
Science Meets Real Life
Science Meets Real Life
Scenario 1: You arrive home late at night. You walk up to the front door, unlock it, and reach in to turn on the light switch located just inside the front door. The light does not...
Healthy Eating Plan Comparison
SCI 241 The Science of Nutrition
February 8, 2009
I am firm non-dieter. I believe that it is important to choose a healthy eating program that you can stick with for life. Dieting simply produces a yo-yo effect. Yes, you may lose weight, but how long until it...
what are the major factors of Life Science Reagents Market
Life Science Reagents Market (Products - PCR Reagent Kits, Cell and Tissue Culture, Flow Cytometry, Electrophoresis, Chromatography, In-Vitro Diagnostic Reagents and Others; End Users - Commercial and Contract Manufacturers, Research and...
SCIENCE A BOON OR BANE FOR THE SOCIETY
Humans incessantly explore experiment, create, and examine the world. This urge to know more and explore the unexplored has given birth to the field called science. The active process by which physical, biological, and chemical occurrences are studied is known...
Life is a highway Lesson Plans [pic]
Week: April 21-25, 2008
Phonics Focus: digraph tr-/ee vowel digraph
Theme: Earth Day/Recycling/Seeds/Trees/Flowers
*Students will observe changes in painted lady caterpillars and record in observation diary.
*Students will observe changes...
a doubt that scientific innovation, and even science as a whole, has drastically changed the way we as a species live and interact with the universe. Sometimes however, science can change society in a negative way rather than a positive way. Some science goes against human morality and human values,...
crucial for us to understand what the other people are thinking about and what the underlying factors that contribute to their behavior are. In our daily life, people are continuously interpreting and explaining others behavior, sometimes even without aware of it themselves. How does this knowledge of interpreting...
The Importance of Literature vs. Science
If we lived in a world without literature, learning only the sciences,
would we be the same people? Does the human race need literature at all, does
it have any worth whatsoever except as entertainment? Do people actually learn
from literature? These are...
How Science and Technology Affects Human's Life
Science and technology are two things related to each other. Science is a systematic knowledge base, where a series of steps is followed in order to reliably predict the type of outcome. It is all about theories and focused on analysis. Science...
How the Gods and Goddesses of Roman Religion Impacted Daily Life
Roman religion consisted of an ever growing assortment of gods and goddesses. This polytheistic approach was created due to the ancient Romans having a limited understanding of the natural world around them. The existence...
Assess sociological explanations of science and ideology as a belief system.
Science has obviously had a massive impact on the world and some sociologists argue that science is a open belief while some sociologists argue that science is instead a closed belief system, resisting change.
A belief system...
Global Life Science
Share, Global Trends,
Analysis, Research, Report,
Segmentation and Forecast,
Future Market Insights
are not addressed by mainstream science."
I agree with the assertion that non-mainstream area such as astrology, fortune-telling, and psychic and paranormal pursuits play a vital role in society for they complete the blanks that are not addressed by mainstream science. But if we much too emphasize such...
monoxide and sulfur oxide are released into the environment or when the process of burning fossil fuel occurs. The article will talk more about the Science of these gases in the next section. Human activity is most probably the cause of acid rain as most of these gases are the gases that come out from...
Science Exploratory Park, Lalitpur, Nepal
3.2 INTERNATIONAL CASE STUDIES
3.2.1 SCIENCE CITY, KOLKATA
• location -
Kolkata's Eastern Metropolitan Bypass
• land area
201,136 sq. m. (40 acre)
about 2215 persons
• no. of user
The proposed Enrollment System for Brainshire Science School will have its target users like Administrator. There will be also staffs like registrar and cashier. The faculty members will be also included and the students as well. The proposed system will handle the transactions like... | <urn:uuid:bcd806a4-8fb0-42a7-aa59-a23fbbb2b998> | {
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What was the purpose of the Constitutional Convention of 1787?
3 Answers | Add Yours
According to James Madison's own diary from 1787, the purpose was to convene and revisit the Articles of the Confederation, which constituted the first "rule book", so to speak, drafted by the forefathers of the nation in order to decide how to rule it, and what regulations would be put together to maintain order.
In his diary, Madison refers to the Friday, May 14 meeting the following way:
Monday May 14th 1787 was the day fixed for the meeting of the deputies in Convention for revising the federal system of Government. On that day a small number only had assembled. Seven States were not convened till, Friday 25 of May.
That federal system of government that Madison talks about are the Articles of the Confederation mentioned previously. As the writing says, it was not until the 25th that everyone actually came together. This tells you that the process of bringing the country together was no simple task. Everyone had an idea of the type of government that would be best for the country, but the entire concept of the "United States" that we have in the 21st century was nonexistent in the 18th century, at least in practice, and certainly not in this part of the world. Therefore, while hard and heavy, the task was finally accomplished and, like the previous poster correctly pointed, the result was to reinforce the central power of the federal government.
The official purpose of the Constitutional Convention that met in Philadelphia beginning on May 25, 1787 was to amend the Articles of Confederation. It had, by that time, become clear that the Articles of Confederation were not a good enough constitution for the new nation. The convention was called to improve on the Articles. However, the convention was not called to do what it ended up doing. What it ended up doing was creating an entirely new constitution. This new constitution (the one we have today) gave the federal government much more power than it had had under the Articles of Confederation.
"We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America." --Preamble to the United States Constitution
The founding fathers of this country faced a crisis in the 1780's. The economic problems of taxation and debt could not be cured by the current system of government under the Articles of Confederation. The reason the Articles were inadequate stemmed from a lack of federal leadership and the legislative inefficiencies therein. Further inflaming the fears of politicians was a rebellion of farmers in Massachusetts, called the Shay's Rebellion. For these reasons, the forefathers headed to Philadelphia for the purpose of revising the law that would govern the land.
The true purpose that guided the framers of the Constitution is found in the Preamble and all point to significant problems with the Articles. It is useful to analyze the various components of the Preamble to understand the purpose of the Constitutional Convention.
.....in order to form a more perfect union
The old system of government was a confederation by design. That meant that each state was more powerful than the national government. This created the opposite of unity or union. For that reason, citizens did not identify themselves as Americans as much as they would as Virginians, as an example.
.....provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare..
The Articles of Confederation hampered a national standing army for defense and security. Because Congress lacked the ability to levy taxes, it was difficult for the federal government to support a defense system. The lack of clout at the federal level in terms of regulating commerce also made it difficult to promote strong economic development and, therefore, a sense of general welfare among the citizens.
...secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity...
Despite the revisions made in the U.S. Constitution that gave the federal government more power and authority, the Framers were still concerned about liberty and freedom. They hoped to strike a balance between the weaknesses of the federal government under the Articles and the tyranny of the monarch government system that they had just broken ties with. The result of the Constitution, at its completion, was a system of government with three branches to separate responsibilities and powers that were reserved to the states.
We’ve answered 319,562 questions. We can answer yours, too.Ask a question | <urn:uuid:4e6ff3eb-3ab8-4082-88f8-75a526f8720f> | {
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CSF myelin basic protein
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CSF myelin basic protein is a test to measure the level of myelin basic protein (MBP) in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). The CSF is the clear liquid that surrounds the brain and spinal cord.
MBP is found in the material that covers many of your nerves.
How the test is performed
A sample of spinal fluid is needed. This is done using a lumbar puncture.
How to prepare for the test
How the test will feel
Why the test is performed
This test is done to see if myelin is breaking down. Multiple sclerosis is the most common cause for this, but other causes may include:
In general there should be less than 4 ng/mL of myelin basic protein in the CSF.
Note: ng/mL = nanogram per milliliter
Note: Normal value ranges may vary slightly among different laboratories. Talk to your doctor about the meaning of your specific test results.
The examples above show the common measurements for results for these tests. Some laboratories use different measurements or may test different specimens.
What abnormal results mean
Myelin basic protein levels between 4 and 8 ng/mL may be a sign of a
breakdown of myelin. It may also indicate recovery from an episode of myelin breakdown.
If the myelin basic protein level is greater than 9 ng/mL, myelin is actively breaking down.
What the risks are
Houtchens MK, Lublin FD, Miller AE, et al. Multiple sclerosis and other inflammatory demyelinating diseases of the central nervous system. In: Daroff RB, Fenichel GM, Jankovic J, Mazziotta JC, eds. Bradley’s Neurology in Clinical Practice. 6th ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Saunders Elsevier; 2012:chap 54.
Greene, DN, Schmidt, RL, Wilson, AR, et al. Cerebrospinal Fluid Myelin Basic Protein Is Frequently Ordered but Has Little Value. Am J Clin Pathol. 2012:138:262-272
- Last reviewed on 5/28/2013
- Luc Jasmin, MD, PhD, FRCS (C), FACS, Department of Neurosurgery at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles CA; Department of Surgery at Los Robles Hospital, Thousand Oaks CA; Department of Surgery at Ashland Community Hospital, Ashland OR; Department of Surgery at Cheyenne Regional Medical Center, Cheyenne WY; Department of Anatomy at UCSF, San Francisco CA. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network.
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.
This page was last updated: April 14, 2014 | <urn:uuid:16c6a72a-c3ac-4c13-91d9-956d8405d8f5> | {
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From coast to coast, McDonald’s is a familiar, if not iconic, brand. While its presence is global and ever-expanding, the United States is home to an exorbitant amount of Golden Arches; the restaurant chain has roughly 15,862 branches nationwide and over 33,000 globally, according to its website.
The Daily Meal compiled a list of states with the most McDonald's according to website, menuism.com. We have also compared the obesity rate statistics throughout the United States by using data from the “F as in Fat” project, produced by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Trust for America’s Health.
While there is no direct link between the number of McDonald's locations within a state and the obesity rate for the state, it is worth noting that there is a growing obesity epidemic within the United States and states with higher numbers of McDonald's locations also tend to have higher obesity rates. Childhood obesity, in particular, has also grown as well with approximately 17 percent (or 12.5 million) of children and adolescents ages 2 to 19 years characterized as obese.
According to researchers at the University of Michigan, they have discovered that the risk of stroke increases with the predominance of fast-food restaurants in a neighborhood. The study highlighted the fact that Texas residents with the highest number of fast-food restaurants had a 13 percent higher relative risk of suffering strokes than those living in areas with the lowest number of restaurants. Each additional McDonald’s, Jack in the Box or Taco Bell also increased the risk of stroke by 1 percent.
California ranks number one for having the most McDonald's within the state with a whopping 1492 locations. On the opposite end of the spectrum is North Dakota that has only 29 locations. Other states with few McDonald's include Alaska, South Dakota, Vermont, Washington, D.C. and Wyoming, among others.
Coming in at number two on the list with the most outposts is Texas which has roughly 1225 McDonald's’. According to the Texas Department of State of Health Services, the increasing prevalence of overweight and obese children and adults is a growing and real concern for the state. It has even taken the step to provide an ongoing obesity prevention program that partners with partner with state and local organizations to promote science-based nutrition and physical activity interventions, policies and environmental changes to prevent and control obesity and overweight.
For the complete list of the states with the most McDonald's read on.
Virginia has about 445 McDonald’s locations throughout the state. As for its obesity rate, it has the highest out of the 11 states noted on our list, clocking in at 33.8 percent up from 27.7 percent in 2003 and 13.7 percent in 1990. Back in 2000, a woman received an unwanted surprise in a box of chicken wings from McDonald’s, an entire chicken head, which made quite a big splash in the press.
10: North Carolina
North Carolina has roughly 475 McDonald's and an adult obesity rate of 29.6 percent up from 24 percent in 2003 and 12.3 percent in 1990. It is worth noting that North Carolina is home to the first LEED- certified McDonald’s restaurant located at 1299 Kildaire Farm Road which opened in July 2009. | <urn:uuid:866d3463-507e-496a-b3ed-db843f921724> | {
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A breast infection is an infection in the tissue of the breast. An abscess is a pus-filled hollow space that can appear on the skin or inside the body. Common causes of benign breast masses include fibrocystic disease, fibroadenoma, and abscess. Symptoms may include painful local swelling of the breast, a breast lump, and redness and tenderness of the breast. Your healthcare provider will suspect an abscess if the lump remains tender and does not go away with the treatment listed under plugged ducts and mastitis. Breast abscesses can affect women between the age of 18 and 50, but they are very uncommon in women who are not producing milk. Breast masses can involve any of the tissues that make up the breast, including overlying skin, ducts, lobules, and connective tissues. Fibrocystic disease, the most common breast mass in women, is found in 60-90% of breasts during routine autopsy. you are temporarily unable to breastfeed on the breast with an abscess, use an electric breast pump to empty the breast and nurse baby more frequently on the other breast. When the lactiferous duct lining undergoes epidermalization, keratin production can cause plugging of the duct and result in abscess formation. This helps explain the high recurrence rate (an estimated 39-50%) of breast abscesses in patients treated with standard incision and drainage (I&D). It is normal for the breasts to feel tender during breastfeeding, but you should consult your GP straightaway if you have heat or pain in either breast.
Patients typically do not present in the ED with a breast mass as their chief complaint; however, knowledge of the pertinent anatomy, pathophysiology, and clinical clues is essential. Engorgement, mastitis, or a plugged duct can sometimes lead to a breast abscess. The infection causes the immune system to activate white blood cells and chemicals to fight the bacteria. Most abscesses form just under the skin and are the result of a bacterial infection. The first is related to nursing (breastfeeding). In this case, redness, tenderness, and skin changes take place on the breast from the baby's feeding and sucking on the nipple. If untreated an abscess will form. If the abscess forms in spite of antibiotics, it may need to be incised and drained, a minor surgical procedure, in order to heal. The second type is unrelated to nursing. If you are temporarily unable to breastfeed on the breast with an abscess, use an electric breast pump to empty the breast and nurse baby more frequently on the other breast. It is normal for the breasts to feel tender during breastfeeding, but you should consult your GP straightaway if you have heat or pain in either breast.
Causes of Breast Abscess
The common Causes of Breast Abscess :
- Staphylococcus aureus and streptococcal species are the most common organisms isolated in puerperal breast abscesses. Nonpuerperal abscesses typically contain mixed flora ( S aureus , streptococcal species) and anaerobes.
- Trauma can cause discharge from both breasts.
- The infection takes place in the parenchymal (fatty) tissue of the breast and causes swelling.
- A study by Schafer et al found a significant correlation between cigarette smoking and subareolar breast abscess.
- Drugs such as cimetidine, methyldopa, metoclopramide, oral contraceptives, phenothiazines, reserpine, tricyclic antidepressants , or verapamil .
- Intraductal papilloma (a small noncancerous growth in the duct of the breast)
- prolactinoma (prolactin-secreting tumor in the brain)
Symptoms of Breast Abscess
Some common Symptoms of Breast Abscess :
- Swelling , tenderness, redness, and warmth in breast tissue
- Nipple discharge (may contain pus).
- Pus draining.
- Collection ("mass") of pus.
- Skin redness.
- Breast lump .
Treatment of Breast Abscess
- Early infection (before the Abscess forms or early in the process) - dicloxacillin by mouth or oxacillin intravenously.
- Larger Abscess - incision and drainage with appropriate antibiotics as above.
- Self-care may include applying moist heat to the infected breast tissue for 15 to 20 minutes four times a day.
- Identify the problem and provide pain control, antibiotic therapy, and prompt surgical consultation.
- Treat with antistaphylococcal antibiotics, warm compresses, and continued emptying of the breast by breastfeeding or breast pumping .
- You are encouraged to continue to breast-feed or to pump to relieve breast engorgement (from milk production) while receiving treatment.
- Definitive diagnosis of the etiology can only be made by pathologic examination and is not an emergency. Timely follow-up care, including mammography and involvement of primary physician and surgeon, is essential. | <urn:uuid:12976381-9930-40f2-97ff-cf86ff6906ab> | {
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The Kingston Brooch is the largest and finest Anglo-Saxon brooch of its kind ever found. It is made of gold with settings of garnet, blue glass and shell, and is over 1300 years old. The Rev. Bryan Faussett excavated the brooch in 1771 at a place called Kingston Down in Kent. Underneath a large burial mound was a huge grave containing a sturdy coffin with the skeleton of a small woman wearing the brooch that we believe was made between 600 and 625.
You can find the brooch in the Anglo-Saxon section of our Ancient World gallery on the third floor of the museum.
The Rev. Bryan Faussett excavated many other graves from several sites in Kent in the South-east of England. Our Anglo-Saxon display shows finds from these graves including jewellery, buckles, weapons, charms and everyday items such as combs, a brush and two tiny dice. | <urn:uuid:e68e2b04-1dee-45f3-a963-8dd36133254d> | {
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Astrocytes, a kind nervous cells that do not conduct electrical signals, react to sensations. Thanks to tiny microscopes developed at the Salk Institute, researchers have discovered that these cells have more roles that previously thought. The new technology will help understand touch and pain phenomena in the spinal cord. The findings were published in the journal Nature Communications.
We perceive stimuli and potentially damaging environmental experiences through mechanoreceptors and nociceptors in the skin. But we still don’t know much about how this information is encoded in spinal cord cells, specially in animals behaving freely.
Axel Nimmerjahn and his team have long been working in the development of microscopes to observe the nervous system. They succeeded in the observation of brains, but the spinal cord is surrounded by multiple vertebrae, which difficults its examination. Besides, the proximity of pulsating organs (heart and lungs) difficults a stable view.
Imaging spinal cord cells in free mice
In their new study, the researchers were able to observe the activity of spinal cord cells in real time while mice where in movement. Thanks to fluorescence imaging experiments performed with miniaturized microscopes, Nimmerjahn’s team found that different stimuli activate different sets of sensory cells in the spinal cord, and that the intensity and duration of stimuli are reflected in neuronal activity. Moreover, the Salk team discovered that astrocytes, commonly considered as supporting cells, also respond to stimuli and emit chemical signals.
These new microscopes and computational processes allow unprecedented observation of spinal cord cells behavior in real time, and will improve the knowledge of nervous system development and treatment response upon injury. | <urn:uuid:8c5e3206-ef88-41fb-913f-547115ab85ac> | {
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Planning to attend college can seem an overwhelming task, especially when you are confronted with unfamiliar terms. Here are definitions of terms you’re likely to encounter along the way. Click on a letter below or scroll down and browse them all.
A B C D E F G H I J-K L M N-O P Q-R S T U V W
AA - Associate in Arts degree
AAS - Associate in Applied Science
ACE military credit - credit you receive toward your degree from previous training as a member of the United States Military (Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, Department of Defense, and Marine Corps)
Accrued Interest – interest added to the original loan
ACT - a test required or accepted at all public and many private universities in Kentucky. The ACT Assessment includes four sections-English, math, reading, and science reasoning. Scores are used in college admissions, awarding scholarships, and class placement, including honors programs.
Admission GPA - the Grade Point Average as re-calculated by the institution you are applying to - the GPA that the admission decision is based on.
Advanced Placement (AP) Program - a program that lets high school students study college-level subjects and receive advanced placement and/or credit upon entering college
Annual Percentage Rate (APR) – what you pay (as a percentage of your balance) for money you owe on Credit Cards or loans – penalties are often imposed for exceeding your Credit Limit or making a late payment
Alternative Loan - a loan other than a federal student loan that is used to pay for college expenses not covered by a student's financial aid package
Amortization - gradual reduction of a loan debt by periodic installment payments (usually monthly) of interest and principal.
Associate’s Degree – an undergraduate degree awarded by postsecondary schools for programs which take two years to complete. It is usually the equivalent of the first two years of a four-year college or university
AS - Associate in Science degree
Bachelor's degree - a program completed in four to five years at a college or university
Bachelor of Arts – a college or university degree focused on liberal arts / general education areas
Bachelor of Science – a college or university degree focused on science/math/technical areas
Balance – amount of money in your account at a Bank, Thrift, or Credit Union
Banks and Thrifts – institutions that make loans, pay checks, accept deposits, and provide other financial services
Bank Fees – charges the Bank deducts from your account in order to maintain it
Borrower - the person legally responsible for repayment of the loan. The student who signed the promissory note for the loan. In the case of a PLUS loan, the parent who signed the PLUS loan promissory note is the borrower.
Campus-based Financial Aid Programs - Federal student aid programs, including Federal Perkins Loans and Federal Work-Study, administered by colleges
Cancellation - forgiveness of all or part of the loan due to specific circumstances
Capitalized Interest - unpaid accrued interest that is added to the principal balance of the loan (usually after deferment or forbearance)
Category Certified - students in good academic standing who have completed some, but not all, of the five area categories in the 33-hour Core Component
Certification - the act of attesting that something is true or meets a certain standard. For example, the school certifies the borrower's eligibility for a loan and, if applicable, interest benefits. The borrower completes an application, promissory note, or deferment form, thereby certifying that certain eligibility criteria have been met.
Certificate - a 6- to 15-month program typically in a vocational or technical area to prepare for a job in a specific career.
Checking Account – an account with a Bank, Thrift, or Credit Union – you can write checks or use a Debit Card to withdraw money from the account or to pay bills. You receive a monthly statement on the activity in your account – how much was put into the account, how much was spent, and how much is left.
CLEP - the College-Level Examination Program (CLEP) offers tests for subjects often taken during the first two college years. Many colleges use CLEP scores to award college credit. Some private industries, businesses, and other groups use CLEP scores to satisfy requirements for licensing, advancement, and admissions to training programs.
Co-maker - second borrower on a loan; this person has the same responsibilities for repayment as the borrower. The co-maker is jointly and severally liable for the debt. There may be co-makers for some PLUS loans and for Spousal Consolidation Loans.
Commuter Students - students who live off-campus instead of in a college dormitory or other campus housing
Consolidation - program to combine multiple, eligible federal education loans. Consolidation simplifies repayment if you have loans with different lenders; may allow more years to pay off loan and lower monthly payments.
Contract – a written agreement between two or more parties in which an offer is made and accepted. An example would be an apartment lease or a loan. Never sign a contract unless you have read and understood the terms of the agreement. A contract is legally binding, and penalties could be imposed if you fail to pay according to the agreement.
Conversion Scholarship/Loan - a scholarship or loan that requires the recipient to provide certain services for prescribed periods or pay back the borrowed funds with interest
Co-op Programs - opportunities for high-school students to see and experience first-hand what a career field will actually be like
Core Certified - students in good academic standing who have completed all of the area categories - the core component - for a total of 33 hours
CPE - Council on Postsecondary Education
Credit-by-Examination - a process by which students can earn credit for college-level knowledge by passing a test. The College-Level Examination Program (CLEP) and the Advanced Placement Program (AP) allow students to earn college credit in this way.
Credit Card – basically a 30-day interest free loan (as long as you pay the balance each month. Any balance not paid is subject to interest each month. Credit cards offer security in emergencies and a reduced need to carry cash. They also require greater personal responsibility.
Credit Hour or Clock Hour - a unit of measurement for a school's educational program. A class meeting for an hour on three days a week typically counts for three credit hours. Most community colleges, four-year colleges, and universities use credit hours. Many private proprietary schools use clock hours.
Credit Limit – the maximum amount you can charge on your Credit Card
Credit Union – a non-profit financial institution owned by people who have something in common. Only members of a credit union may keep money there. Credit Unions accept deposits, make loans, and provide other financial services.
Debit Card – a card through which you access your funds at a Bank, a Thrift, or a Credit Union. The debit card is tied to your Checking Account, and the amount charged to the card is automatically deducted.
Default - failure to pay back the loan as promised. Loans are filed with guaranty agencies or the federal government for collection if past-due payments continue. The loan balance is due in full at the time of default.
Deferment – being allowed by the lender or federal government to postpone payments when the borrower meets specific eligibility requirements set by the U.S. Department of Education
Delinquent - when the borrower does not make a payment on time. Late payments are reported to credit bureaus monthly and can affect your credit rating.
Deposit – add money to your account in a Bank, a Thrift, or a Credit Union
Diploma – a program lasting up to two years in a vocational or technical area to prepare for a job. This diploma is not the same as a high school graduation diploma.
Direct Loans - loans made by the U.S. Department of Education. Students and parents can receive Direct Loans only if the school participates in the Direct Loan Program.
Disclosure Statement - fact sheet sent to the borrower when the loan is borrowed or at the beginning of repayment. The statement shows the repayment terms of the loan.
Dual Credit - courses that count for both high school and college credit. They can save time and money in pursuing a college degree.
EFC – Expected Family Contribution
Electronic Payments - loan payments are deducted automatically from the borrower's bank account.
Eligibility - you qualify for federal education loans simply by being a U.S. citizen (or eligible non-citizen) enrolled at least half-time at an eligible college. You must complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). You are not eligible for federal aid if you have federal loans in default.
Endorser - person who agrees to be liable for repayment of the loan if the borrower does not pay the loan as agreed. The endorser is secondary liable for the debt.
Enrollment Status - determined by the number of credit hours for which you register. In most cases, 12 credit hours or more is considered full-time enrollment; between nine and 11 credits is three-quarter-time, between six and eight credits is half time; and fewer than six credits is quarter-time.
Expected Family Contribution (EFC) - a federal formula using the family's income and assets determines the expected family contribution toward educational expenses. The EFC is reported on the Student Aid Report (SAR).
Experiential Credit Transfer - a process whereby students can receive credit for learning that has occurred in a non-standard or non-traditional environment. Not all institutions grant transfer credit for experiential credit.
FAFSA – Free Application for Federal Student Aid
Federal Direct Student Loan Program (FDSLP) - low-interest loans for students and parents; includes the Federal Stafford and PLUS loan programs. Loans are obtained through a student's school and repaid to the federal government.
Federal Pell Grant - the largest pool of federal grant money available for student financial aid. You must apply for a Federal Pell Grant, using the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), to be considered for other forms of aid.
Federal Personal Identification Number (PIN) - the PIN serves as your identifier to let you access your personal information in various U.S. Department of Education systems. It's like the Personal Identification Number you get from your bank that enables you to access your bank account. Because your PIN serves as your electronic signature, you should not give it to anyone except persons assisting you with your application, corrections and renewal.
Financial Aid - money which can come from state and federal governments, schools, private organizations, associations, and companies to help pay the costs of a college education or technical training
Financial Aid Award Notifications - letters from the colleges to which you have applied for financial aid informing you of your eligibility
Financial Aid Package - the total financial aid award received by a student. It may consist of several types of aid, including grants, scholarships, loans, work-study, and other aid. The student's financial need, availability of funds, school aid policies, and the number of students who need financial assistance all influence the financial aid package.
Financial Need - the amount of higher education expenses that a student's Expected Family Contribution (EFC) falls short of paying. Financial need equals the cost of education minus the EFC.
Fixed Interest Rate - interest rate that remains the same over the life of the loan
Flexible Repayment - the repayment period for education loans is usually 10 years. However, depending on the amount you borrowed, you can choose to lower your monthly payments by taking as long as 25 or 30 years to pay back your loans. You can temporarily reduce the amount you pay when facing difficulties. You can even postpone repayment if you meet certain qualifications (such as economic hardship or unemployment). The longer you take to pay off a loan, the more you pay (because additional interest accumulates over time).
Forbearance - a period of time during which the lender permits the borrower to temporarily stop making payments or reduce the amount of the payments. The borrower is liable for the interest that accrues on the loan during the forbearance period. Some forbearances are entitlements for eligible borrowers; others are granted at the discretion of the lender.
Four-year Colleges/Universities - public or private: nonprofit or for-profit institutions. Most programs lead to a bachelor’s degree. Universities also offer degrees above the bachelor’s degree.
Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) - the form students must complete to apply for federal Title IV financial assistance, including Stafford loans. The student must include financial information on the student's household so that the expected family contribution can be calculated.
Free Electives - the elective requirement can be filled by taking any course desired.
General Education Transfer Policy - an agreement between Kentucky's public universities in which they agree to recognize the completion of AA/AS transfer degrees by admitting students to junior level standing and accepting the corresponding general education credits as meeting institution-wide, lower-division general education requirements at the receiving institution.
Grace Period – the time period between leaving school, graduation, or dropping to less than half time and when the first payment on student loans is due
Graduate Student - a student who has earned a bachelor's degree and is working toward a master's, doctoral, or professional degree.
Graduated Repayment – payments that start low and increase over time
Guaranty Agency – an agency that insures student loans against default. If the borrower defaults, dies, or becomes totally and permanently disabled the Guaranty Agency reimburses the lender for the balance of the loan.
Holder - lender or secondary market that owns the promissory note. May be guaranty agency or U.S. Department of Education in case of defaulted loan
Income-sensitive Repayment - payment amount is based on the borrower's income and amount of education loan debt.
Independent Institutions - postsecondary institutions that are supported by private funds rather than state funds
Institutional Aid - various types of student financial assistance administered by the school.
Installment - periodic payment amount; for Stafford, PLUS, and Consolidated Loans, payments are required monthly.
Interest Rate/Finance Charge - what the borrower pays to use the money borrowed. Set by the federal government, this varies depending on the type of loan. The interest you pay on your education loans during repayment may be tax-deductible, up to a certain amount. The deduction is phased out at certain income levels. If you pay taxes, you can think of this as paying less total interest on your loan (you pay it, then get some of it back in the form of owing less tax).
Kentucky Higher Education Assistance Authority (KHEAA) - the state agency that helps students attend college by administering student financial aid programs, providing free college planning materials, and distributing financial aid information
KY CAS - Kentucky Course Applicability System used to determine how each individual course will transfer
Lender - bank or student loan company that lends money
Loan - money borrowed to help pay for college costs. Loans must be repaid with interest.
Loan Forgivement - when the balance of a loan is no longer due, and is without negative impact on the borrower
Major - the primary field of study chosen by a college student
Minor - the secondary field of study chosen by a college student
Need Analysis - a process used to determine how much students and their families can reasonably be expected to pay toward college expenses. Need analysis formulas are updated each year by the federal government and other organizations to reflect changes in the economy.
National Credit Bureau - records financial information about the borrower for use by potential creditors. Education loan information is reported to national credit bureaus monthly.
Pell Grant - the largest pool of federal grant money available for student financial aid. You must apply for a Federal Pell Grant, using the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), to be considered for other forms of aid.
Perkins Loans - low-interest loans made under the Federal Perkins Loan Program to undergraduate and graduate students through your school. You repay the school or the agent the school hires to service the loan. These loans are made based on financial need.
PIN (Federal Personal Identification Number) - the PIN serves as your identifier to let you access your personal information in various U.S. Department of Education systems. It's like the Personal Identification Number you get from your bank that enables you to access your bank account. Because your PIN serves as your electronic signature, you should not give it to anyone except persons assisting you with your application, corrections and renewal.
PLUS Loan - loan for parent or legal guardian of dependent student enrolled at least half time in an eligible program. The parent borrower owes interest as soon as the loan is made. Repayment begins when the final disbursement is issued. (A parent's credit history is reviewed when applying for a PLUS loan, but only to determine if there is a history of late payments or other adverse circumstances.)
Postsecondary Education - education beyond high school; includes vocational/technical training schools, proprietary schools, community colleges, four-year colleges, universities, and training programs
Principal - the total sum of money borrowed. Loan principal includes the original amount borrowed plus any interest that has been added to the loan
Promissory Note – a legally binding contract between a lender and a borrower. The borrower agrees to pay back the loan to the lender, including interest.
Proprietary Schools - schools that are privately owned and licensed. These usually offer certificates, diplomas and associate’s degrees, although some offer bachelor’s and master’s degrees. Sometimes called Trade Schools
Public Institutions - postsecondary institutions that are supported in part by state funds
Repayment Period - the period that begins after the expiration of the grace period during which the borrower must make regular installment payments of principal and interest. The maximum term of repayment is generally 120 months.
Restricted Electives - courses or choices among a specified list of courses
SAR – Student Aid Report
SAT I: Reasoning Test - a three-hour test typically taken as a junior or senior in high school. The multiple-choice questions are divided into math and verbal sections. It is scored up to 800 for each section. Scores are used for admissions purposes and in awarding scholarships.
SAT II: Subject Tests - one-hour tests given in specific subjects such as mathematics, science, English, or foreign languages. More selective postsecondary schools require two or three for freshman placement.
Savings Account – an account with a Bank, Thrift, or Credit Union that holds money deposited to accumulate and earn interest
Scholarships - gifts of money to students from state, federal, or private sources. While state and federal grant programs are based on financial need, scholarships may be based on a variety of factors, including need, academic excellence, leadership qualities, heritage, or extracurricular interests.
Secondary Market - state or private agency that purchases the loan from the original lender. This provides money for the lender to make more education loans.
Servicer - state or private agency that processes the borrower's payments, forbearances, and deferments, answers the borrower's questions, and helps the borrower find options to help with repayment
Spousal Consolidation - spouses can combine eligible federal education loans. Spouses are co-makers and are jointly and severally liable for the total debt.
Stafford Loans - loans made to undergraduate and graduate students under the FFEL and Direct Loan programs. Borrowers can receive FFEL or Direct Stafford Loans regardless of financial need. The interest rate is variable but does not exceed 8.25 percent.
Statewide Transfer Framework - allows a block of credits to transfer to any other public bachelor's degree program offered in Kentucky
Student Aid Report (SAR) - a document produced from information provided on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and sent to the student. The SAR reports the student's eligibility for aid and Expected Family Contribution (EFC).
Subsidized Stafford Loan – low-interest loans for eligible students to help cover the cost of higher education at a four-year college or university, community college or trade/career/technical center
Technical Colleges - public institutions that offer certificates, diplomas or associate’s degrees. In Kentucky, the Community Colleges and Technical Colleges are part of one system: KCTCS (Kentucky Community and Technical Colleges System).
Term - number of months the borrower has to pay back the loan, not including months of deferment or forbearance
Thrifts and Banks – institutions that make loans, pay checks, accept deposits, and provide other financial services
Trade Schools – privately-owned schools that provide a wide range of courses of study, such as cosmetology, business, and broadcasting. Programs range from 2 to 24 months and lead to certificates or diplomas in a variety of subjects. The preferred term is Proprietary School.
Transcript - an academic record that lists the courses taken, grades received, and credits or credit hours received
TRIO Programs - educational programs funded through the U.S. Department of Education to assist youth and adults in entering postsecondary education. Programs in TRIO include: Educational Talent Search (serves middle and high school students), Educational Opportunity Centers (serves adults), Upward Bound (serves high school students, Ronald McNair Postbaccalaureate Achievement Program (serves graduate students); Student Support Services Program (serves students enrolled in postsecondary institutions).
Tuition - the amount schools charge for instruction and for the use of certain school facilities such as libraries
Two-year Colleges/Community Colleges - two-year public institutions that lead to an associate’s degree. Most have programs designed to transfer earned credits to four-year institutions for completion of a bachelor’s degree.
Undergraduate Student – a college student who has not yet earned a degree
Unsubsidized Stafford Loan – low-interest loan for students enrolled at least half time in an eligible postsecondary program. The borrower owes interest as soon as the loan is made.
U.S. Department of Education - the agency that makes rules for education loans based on laws enacted by Congress
Variable Interest Rate - the interest rate changes periodically
Waiver - an arrangement under which a school does not charge specific costs if a student meets certain qualifications
Withdrawal – take money out of your account at a Bank, Thrift, or Credit Union
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Recently the peer-reviewed scientific journal Nature published a ‘pros vs. cons’ piece on the production of unconventional gas from shale. The tête-à-tête, led by Terry Engelder on the pro side and Robert Howarth and Anthony Ingraffea on the con side, weighs the risks and benefits of gas production as it relates to the economy and human and environmental health.
Although the industry claims to have performed over one million fracking operations since the 1940s, Howarth and Ingraffea counter that the current technology is still relatively new and has only been in operation for a decade. Modern fracking bears little resemblance to its historic counterpart and requires greater amounts of water and chemicals, deeper drilling and higher pressures. All these differences combine to make fracking an unavoidably dangerous process. Howarth and Ingraffea also claim that a switch to unconventional gas will not substantially alleviate global warming in the near future.
Unconventional gas drilling creates problematic waste, not only for the air, but also for land and water. And despite progress made in the regulatory structure surrounding gas drilling, if there is any to celebrate, the process is still inherently dangerous, secretive and exempt from the federal statutes designed to protect human and environmental health.
Overall, when you consider the risks, there is little to prop up unconventional gas as the “clean” fuel of the future. Furthermore, the amount of time and resources devoted to shale gas development stifle the production and commitment to true alternatives.
For all of these reasons, Howarth and Ingraffea call for a moratorium on fracking “to allow for better study of the cumulative risks to water quality, air quality and global climate.”
“Only with such comprehensive knowledge,” they claim, “can appropriate regulatory frameworks be developed,” the Cornell University professors conclude.
But Terry Engelder, a geologist with years of experience working for the gas industry, poses a bold counter claim to Howarth and Ingraffea: “fracking is crucial to global economic stability” and “the economic benefits outweigh the environmental risks.”
Yet Engelder’s assessment rests on a number of assumptions that may prove unsupportable in the long run.
Engelder’s first assumption is that America’s unconventional gas reserves are enough to uphold tremendously high projections of gas production. Such projections underpin the ‘energy security’ of turning to unconventional gas in the wake of oil’s decline. Some say we have about a century’s worth of domestic gas
to carry us through to a clean energy future. This will give us energy and economic security as well as a high employment rates and standards of living. (Howarth and Ingraffea, however, point out that emerging data, from the Post Carbon Institute
and the U.S. Geological Survey
, find these projections to be greatly exaggerated.)
Engelder also presumes that public approval of fracking will support a steady increase in unconventional gas drilling across the country, the increase needed to achieve production projections. Unconventional wells only produce for a short amount of time so a steady increase in production means many new wells must be drilled. But an increase in fracking may have the consequence of increased resistance, which is something already happening across the nation. Opposition to fracking will certainly get in the way of uninhibited drilling, a point Engelder seems to overlook. In fact, Engelder seems to rely upon continued support from people in drilling regions where they are less likely to become anti-drilling activists.
The final assumption that Engelder makes surrounds the broad scope of human and environmental harm. Sounding much like an industry front man, Engelder downplays the risks associated with fracking, suggesting that water contamination has not and will not occur, that methane contamination is basically harmless and naturally occurring, that industry mistakes, like leaks and blowouts “are like all accidents caused by human error – an unpredictable risk with which society lives.” Engelder wants to at once suggest that there are no unmanageable problems associated with fracking and, where there are problems, call them a necessary evil.
In a post-Macondo
world, the vague and nonchalant treatment of such serious risks is brazen and inexcusable.
Engelder writes that in the case of fracking “fear levels exceed the evidence.” But this statement holds none of the practical wisdom of Howarth and Ingraffea’s final words: “gas should remain safely in the shale, while society uses energy more efficiently and develops renewable energy sources more aggressively.” | <urn:uuid:56c2011c-ac21-4ff8-9596-5d417da3b0d5> | {
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Sleepwalking (also called somnambulism or noctambulism) is a parasomnia or sleep disorder where the sufferer engages in activities that are normally associated with wakefulness while he or she is asleep or in a sleep-like state. Sleepwalking is usually defined by or involves the person affected apparently shifting from his or her prior sleeping position and moving around and performing normal actions as if awake (cleaning, walking and other activities). It is inexact to assume that somnambulists are unconscious during their nocturnal sleepwalking episodes. They are simply not conscious of their actions on a level where memory of the sleepwalking episode can be recalled[How to reference and link to summary or text], and because of this, unless the sleepwalker is awakened or aroused by someone else, this sleep disorder can go unnoticed. Sleepwalking is more commonly experienced in people with high levels of stress, anxiety or psychological factors and in people with genetic factors (family history), or sometimes a combination of both.
A common misconception is that sleepwalking is acting out the physical movements within a dream, but in fact, sleepwalking occurs earlier on in the night when rapid eye movement (REM), or the "dream stage" of sleep, has not yet occurred.[How to reference and link to summary or text]
Sleepwalking can affect people of any age. It generally occurs when an individual moves during slow wave sleep or SWS (during stage 3 or 4 of slow wave sleep—deep sleep) (Horne, 1992; Kales & Kales, 1975). In children and young adults, up to 80% of the night is spent in SWS (50% in infants).[How to reference and link to summary or text] However, this decreases as the person ages, until none can be measured in the geriatric individual.[How to reference and link to summary or text] For this reason, children and young adults (or anyone else with a high amount of slow wave sleep [SWS]) are more likely to be woken up and, for the same reasons, they are witnessed to have many more episodes than the older individuals.[How to reference and link to summary or text]
Activities such as eating, bathing, urinating, talking, dressing, driving cars, painting, whistling, dancing, committing murder, or engaging in sexual intercourse have been reported or claimed to have occurred during sleepwalking. In December 2008, reports were published of a woman who sent semi-coherent emails while sleepwalking, including one inviting a friend round for dinner and drinks.
Contrary to popular belief, most cases of sleepwalking do not consist of walking around (without the conscious knowledge of the subject). Most cases of somnambulism occur when the person is awakened (something or someone disturbs their SWS); the person may sit up, look around and immediately go back to sleep. But these kinds of incidences are rarely noticed or reported unless recorded in a sleep clinic.[How to reference and link to summary or text]
Sleepwalkers engage in their activities with their eyes open so they can navigate their surroundings, not with their eyes closed and their arms outstretched, as often parodied in cartoons and films. The subject's eyes may have a glazed or empty appearance, and if questioned, the subject will be slow to answer and may be unable to respond in an intelligible manner.[dubious — see talk page]
Hazards and safety Edit
When sleepwalkers are a danger to themselves or others (for example, when climbing up or down steps or trying to use a potentially dangerous tool such as a stove or a knife), steering them away from the danger and back to bed is advisable. It has even been reported that people have died or were injured as a result of sleepwalking.. Sleepwalking should not be confused with psychosis.
Sleepwalking has in rare cases been used as a defense (sometimes successfully) against charges of murder (see Homicidal somnambulism).
In some rare cases, a person may enter into the behaviors consistent with sleepwalking from a state of being awake and alert. This disorder is usually diagnosed as a form of epilepsy known as automatism. An attack usually begins with little or no warning. The subject may engage in simple gestures or small movements, or less commonly, complex behaviors like cooking or driving, performing the activity as if fully alert. After the seizure ends, the subject has no memory of the event, and often feels disoriented.
- Main article: Homicidal somnambulism
Sleepwalking has from time to time been proposed as a defense against criminal charges — sometimes successfully, sometimes not.
- In Massachusetts, United States in 1846, Albert Tirrell was found not guilty of murder and arson, arguing that if he did do it, he was sleepwalking at the time. This was the first successful acquittal using a sleepwalking defense in American legal history.
- In Ontario, Canada, Kenneth Parks was acquitted of all charges in 1987 killing of his in-laws, after evidence presented at his trial pointed to sleepwalking as the only possible explanation for his actions. He did not serve time in a mental ward because "noninsane automatism" (i.e., sleepwalking) was not legally viewed as a mental disorder in Canada.
- In Arizona, United States in 1999, Scott Falater was convicted of murdering his wife. His sleepwalking defense was countered by prosecution arguments that his actions during the killing had been too complex to have been carried out while sleepwalking.
- Main article: Sleepwalking: History of the disorder.
- Main article: Sleepwalking:Theoretical approaches.
- Main article: Sleepwalking:Epidemiology.
- Main article: Sleepwalking:Risk factors.
- Main article: Sleepwalking:Etiology.
- Main article: Sleepwalking:Diagnosis & evaluation.
- Main article: Sleepwalking:Comorbidity.
- Main article: Sleepwalking:Treatment.
- Main article: Sleepwalking:Prognosis.
- Main article: Sleepwalking:Service user page.
- Main article: Sleepwalking:Carer page.
- Night terror
- Sleep paralysis
- Somniloquy (sleep-talking)
- Sleep sex
- ↑ That is, somn-ambulism, sleep-walking, walking in one's sleep, or noct-ambulism, night-walking, walking in the night.
- ↑ Sleepwalk to Murder
- ↑ Sleepwalking, sleep murder, sleep walking, automatism, sleep apnea, insanity defense, obstructive sleep apnea, narcolepsy, insomnia, cataplexy, sleepiness, sleep walking, daytime sleepiness, upper airway, CPAP, hypoxemia, UVVP, uvula, Somnoplasty, ob...
- ↑ CNN - Sleepwalking defense in Arizona murder trial - May 25, 1999
- ↑ includeonly>Rachel Nowak. "Sleepwalking woman had sex with strangers", New Scientist, 2004-10-15. Retrieved on 2007-04-30.
- ↑ Telegraph, December 17 2008.
- ↑ http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/0,1518,502518,00.html?Punchline=Tada German Sleepwalker Steps Out of 4th-Floor Window
- ↑ includeonly>Houlihan, Liam, Hudson, Fiona. "Star's sleepwalk death", Sunday Mail, 2008-01-06. Retrieved on 2008-01-06.
- ↑ http://www.epilepsy.dk/Handbook/Types-of-seizes-uk.asp
- ↑ Kappman (ed), Edward W. (1994). Great American Trials, 101–104, Detroit, MI: Visible Ink Press.
- ↑ http://www.citynews.ca/news/news_4792.aspx Man Acquitted Of Sleepwalking Murder Running For School Trustee In Durham
- ↑ Martin, Lawrence. Can sleepwalking be a murder defense? 26 Apr. 2008. <http://www.lakesidepress.com/pulmonary/Sleep/sleep-murder.htm>.
Key Texts – BooksEdit
Additional material – BooksEdit
Key Texts – PapersEdit
Additional material - PapersEdit
- Sleepwalking: Patient Education - SleepChannel
- 'Sleepwalker' accused of murder - BBC news article dated 10 March 2005
- Teen 'sleepwalks to top of crane' - BBC news article dated 6 July 2005
- A worldwide listing of doctors certified by the American Board of Sleep Medicine
Instructions_for_archiving_academic_and_professional_materials Sleepwalking: Academic support materials
- Sleepwalking: Academic: Lecture slides
- Sleepwalking: Academic: Lecture notes
- Sleepwalking: Academic: Lecture handouts
- Sleepwalking: Academic: Multimedia materials
- Sleepwalking: Academic: Other academic support materials
- Sleepwalking: Academic: Anonymous fictional case studies for training
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Hesperian Health Guides
Learning the danger signs
Every day 20,000 people visit the HealthWiki for lifesaving health information. A gift of just $5 helps make this possible!
Make a gift to support this essential health information people depend on.
More women’s lives would be saved if everyone knew the signs that mean a woman’s life could be in danger during pregnancy, birth, or the first 2 weeks after giving birth. Learning the danger signs is an important part of being prepared for emergencies.
Danger signs during pregnancy
|Help a woman go to a health center or hospital quickly if she has:|
|Bleeding from the vagina. Early in pregnancy, this can be a sign of miscarriage (loss of the pregnancy) or, later in pregnancy, of the placenta separating from the womb.|
|Severe pain in the first 3 months, with or without bleeding. This can be caused by a pregnancy developing outside the womb. This can kill the woman.|
|Signs of infection (fever, chills, a bad smell from the vagina). Infection of the womb is very dangerous. It must be treated or the woman can die.|
|Swollen face and hands, severe headaches, or dizziness. These problems, along with high blood pressure, are signs of pre-eclampsia. Eclampsia can kill the woman.|
|Convulsions or "fits" (eclampsia). A pregnant woman with convulsions or who is unconscious needs medical help right away to save her life.|
Danger signs during labor and birth
A woman with danger signs during labor needs to get to a hospital in less than 2 hours or the woman or baby could die. Some danger signs are:
|Heavy bleeding. A sudden gush of blood or a steady flow of blood is very dangerous. Two family members should go with the woman to give blood in case it is needed.|
|Severe, constant pain in the belly, different from labor contractions. This can mean the placenta (afterbirth) is separating from the womb, which can kill the mother or baby.|
|Severe headache and convulsions. These are signs of eclampsia. The woman needs medical help right away.|
|Very long labor. Strong labor longer than 1 day or 1 night (12 hours), or pushing for more than 2 hours with no signs that the baby will be born soon are signs of obstructed labor that can kill both the mother and the baby.|
|An arm or leg comes out first. This means the baby is lying in the wrong position for birth.|
|Waters break, but labor does not start. To prevent infection, birth should happen within 24 hours after waters break. Seek medical help if labor has not started 12 hours after a woman’s water breaks.|
|Waters are green or brown. This means the baby passed stool in the womb. The baby may have trouble breathing or get an infection because of stool getting into his or her mouth.|
Danger signs after giving birth
Danger signs may appear anytime during the first 2 weeks after a woman gives birth. These include:
Heavy bleeding or a constant flow of blood. This can be caused by tears in the vagina or the womb, but the most common cause of dangerous bleeding after a birth is "retained" or "stubborn" placenta. This happens when the placenta (afterbirth), or even a small piece of the placenta, stays inside the womb.
Signs of infection (fever, chills, a bad smell from the vagina). Infection of the womb is very dangerous. It must be treated or the woman may not be able to have any more children or she may die.
Dizziness, weakness, nausea, fainting. It is normal for a woman to be very tired after giving birth, but if she feels dizzy or sick, she may be bleeding inside (this is called internal bleeding).
Severe headaches and convulsions (eclampsia) can also happen after giving birth. Get medical help right away.
Activity A guessing game with skits: It’s an emergency!
This game is a fun way for a group of people to learn the danger signs for emergencies during pregnancy, birth, and the 2 weeks after the baby is born.
Assign each person a danger sign and ask them to prepare a short skit (play) to act out this danger sign, explaining that the rest of the group will watch the skits and try to guess which danger signs are acted out. Encourage people to use or make props (such as a glove stuffed with cotton to show swollen hands, red paint or marker to show blood, or a bundle of cloth as a newborn baby). Each person can ask another person to join in the skit.
Each person performs a short skit while the rest of the group watches. Once the skit is completed, ask the rest of the group to call out their guesses for which danger sign is being depicted with the skit. If the group wants more information they can call out questions and the person who performed the skit can answer "yes" or "no" to the questions. Once the group has correctly guessed the danger sign, have everyone applaud and thank the actors.
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In the United States, we have built one dam a day every day since Thomas Jefferson signed the Declaration of Independence. That’s a lot of dams. We’ve dammed the most majestic and powerful rivers running through our country for the sake of energy, irrigation for industrial agriculture and transportation to name a few. And today, we’re seeing dams come down. They’re an aging infrastructure — no longer worth the cost of keeping them. But the change is coming slow… We’re still a long way off from recovering our rivers and wild places from the missteps of our past.
In Patagonia — half a world away — instead of working to restore their rivers, they’re fighting to save them from getting dammed in the first place. Patagonia, a beloved place in the hearts of many in the outdoor industry, is fighting to stay wild.
With alternatives energy sources such as wind, solar, geothermal and more, the damming of rivers seems outdated — “it’s old technology”. Hydropower may not emit carbon emissions, but the power sure isn’t “clean”. Think of how many rivers we’ve dammed — how many species we’ve pushed to extinction, how many communities we’ve flooded or cut off from their rivers and how many people have lost their way of life because of it.
What’s at stake in Patagonia? Two pristine rivers dammed by 5 proposed dams, 2,400 km of forest clear-cut and road switchbacks blasted into the canyon to make way for the world’s largest transmission line. This project would destroy the people in Patagonia.http://www.vimeo.com/14845841
“I think it’s the overall loss of wilderness that we’re talking about here,” Osprey athlete Timmy O’Neill said.
So why should we care? Because it’s not just about the rivers in Patagonia. It’s about the rivers in our backyard. We, as people, have the power to make a change. And it starts now. There is power in the pristine, and we’ve got to stand up for it.
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5 Incredible Facts About Fiesta Medal Culture
Fiesta medal culture is a colorful and exciting history that is rooted in San Antonio. Discover more about this exciting tradition with these incredible facts.
How many fiesta medals do you own? A couple? A hundred? Thousands?
San Antonio’s Fiesta started in 1891 as a way to honor the heroes of the Alamo. Rivaled only by New Orleans Mardi Gras, Fiesta is one of the largest celebrations in the South. Fiesta will take place during a week to two week period at the end of April.
Where New Orleans has beads, San Antonio has fiesta medals.
Fiesta medal culture has evolved over decades to become what it is today. We have five unique facts you may have not known about your long-standing tradition.
1. The Origin
Years after the Battle of San Jacinto in 1836, a group of women took it upon themselves to hold a parade of flowers celebrating Texas’s Independence and the people who fought for it.
Residents enjoyed the ceremony so much they started the Battle of Flowers Parade. In 1946, King Antonio of the Texas Cavaliers began distributing coins to the local children.
Fast-forward to 1971 and Charles Orsinger, who was the reigning King Antonio at the time, continued this tradition but with his own flair. He began punching holes in the coins, enabling the children to wear them around their necks.
As time went on the coins became medals and medals became unique and a work of art.
2. From Coins to Medals
After 1971, the patrons of Fiesta took the idea of medallions and transformed them into what we see today.
Medals increased in popularity during the 90’s where medallions were made to look like figures, characters, or logos from pop culture.
Now, people make their own unique medals to showcase their interests, personality, and businesses.
3. Pin Pandemonium
Medals became so popular, Fiesta organizers created the Pin Pandemonium.
This event takes place on the first night of Fiesta and is set-up by area organizations, businesses, or medal collectors as a way to buy, trade, or sell medals.
Thousands of medals are made for the event in preparation for the large crowds that come through. All searching for the perfect medal.
4. Best Fiesta Medal Contest
Oh, you bet there is a contest. Dozens of them!
Every year, organizations like the San Antonio Express-News, Business Journal and more hold contests to see who can create the best fiesta medal.
Medal competitions have grown more competitive as additions such as spinners, sliding or dangling pieces, or glow-in-the dark paint have been added on.
The more elaborate a medal the more likely it is to take home the crown.
5. Fiesta Medal Culture Fashion
You have dozens of medals but how do you wear them?
Traditionally, they are worn on a sash or necklace, but there are no set rules stating you have to follow tradition. Fiesta-goers get creative and are seen wearing them on sombreros or as other forms of jewelry.
The greatest part of fiesta medal culture is that it is open to your own interpretation.
Making your Own
Getting involved in Fiesta medal culture means one day trying to create your own!
Here at FiestaMedal.Net, we are committed to making sure your medal making experience is enjoyable! Get a free quote from us to start the process today! | <urn:uuid:096dcbc7-c320-43ab-ac1f-c8956a7d7f84> | {
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Jack, I agree that one should look at the current draw from the datasheet when coupling to such a low power energy source. However, expecting a processor to be able to check its own voltage is a mess waiting to happen. What I tell our software engineers - don't send in software to do a hardware job. BOR should ONLY be done by hardware. So if running off a coin cell, you need a processor that can safely run off of a very low voltage then choose a suitable reset chip to drive the reset pin of the processor. The min voltage of reset should be just above the min operating point of the processor. The idea, of course, is to put the CPU into reset just BEFORE the CPU loses its mind.
Instead of detecting the battery drop, the spike can be reduced so the low battery detection becomes more stable.
In low power applications, 10mA or more power drain is usually related to burst events (such as wireless transmissions), which in turn generate spikes in power supply voltage. To cope with these burst currents, a bigger ceramic decoupling capacitor can be used.
This way you can assume 30mA are still OK for the BOR circuit if the bursts are short enough.
If you need to draw 30mA for a sustained period of time, you could use a buck-boost converter, although it will increase both cost and overall power consumption. I have to admit this sounds awkward to deal with a coin type battery, but applications can often surprise us
What are the engineering and design challenges in creating successful IoT devices? These devices are usually small, resource-constrained electronics designed to sense, collect, send, and/or interpret data. Some of the devices need to be smart enough to act upon data in real time, 24/7. Specifically the guests will discuss sensors, security, and lessons from IoT deployments. | <urn:uuid:5299c94e-f1f2-448f-8644-73fe4853e406> | {
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nefsak.com»Books, Office & School»Books»English Books»Academic»Medicine & Pharmacy»Anatomy»ABC of Sepsis - ABC Series
ABC of Sepsis - ABC Series
The importance of early prevention and treatment of sepsis has never been greater. In the UK alone sepsis contributes to more deaths than lung cancer, from bowel cancer and breast cancer combined, and approximately one third of patients who suffer from severe sepsis die. The ABC of Sepsis provides a much needed introduction and an invaluable aid in the increasing efforts to reduce hospital infection and improve patient safety. As growing numbers of junior medical staff experience emergency medicine, critical care and acute medicine as part of the Foundation Programme, there is an increasing need to develop the skills required to treat severe sepsis. The editors are involved with the Survive Sepsis campaign - developed to improve the recognition, diagnosis and treatment of sepsis - and are perfectly placed to guide junior medics, GPs, specialist nurses, critical care nurses and primary care staff through this core aspect of acute medicine. | <urn:uuid:02c91693-ab21-4bea-9365-82670573e43e> | {
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Will extreme weather like super typhoon Haiyan become the new norm?Meanwhile, from COP19: Kicking the Can Until It's Too Late
Christiana Figueres, the UN's leading climate official, said: "We have seen essential progress. But let us again be clear that we are witnessing ever more frequent, extreme weather events, and the poor and vulnerable are already paying the price. Now governments, and especially developed nations, must go back to do their homework so they can put their plans on the table ahead of the Paris conference."
Climate scientists are confident in three ways that climate change will make the impacts of hurricanes worse. First, global warming causes sea level rise, which amplifies storm surges and flooding associated with hurricanes
. As a paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
by Aslak Grinsted and colleagues concluded,"we have probably crossed the threshold where Katrina magnitude hurricane surges are more likely caused by global warming than not
as climate scientist Kevin Trenberth has noted, global warming has also increased the amount of moisture in the air, causing more rainfall and amplifying flooding during hurricanes
.Third, warmer oceans are fuel for hurricanes
. Research has shown that the strongest hurricanes have grown stronger in most ocean basins around the world over the past several decades, and climate models consistently project that this trend will continue. Chris Mooney recently documented the past decade's worth of monster hurricanes around the world, and Jeff Masters estimates that 6 of the 13 strongest tropical cyclones on record at landfall have happened since 1998.http://www.skepticalscience.com/will-super-typhoon-haiyan-become-norm.html #ClimateChange #IneptLeadership #ClimateCrisis | <urn:uuid:5e712a23-ac54-4fd7-b9c3-f698fe2a3dda> | {
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In the new edition of the Arduino Cookbook, Michael Margolis gives a great step-by-step explanation of how to read a schematic and build a breadboard prototype from it. The following excerpt is adapted from Appendix B of the Cookbook.
Using Schematic Diagrams
A schematic diagram, also called a circuit diagram, is the standard way of describing the components and connections in an electronic circuit. It uses iconic symbols to represent components, with lines representing the connections between the components.
A circuit diagram represents the connections of a circuit, but it is not a drawing of the actual physical layout. Although you may initially find that drawings and photos of the physical wiring can be easier to understand than a schematic, in a complicated circuit it can be difficult to clearly see where each wire gets connected.
Circuit diagrams are like maps. They have conventions that help you to orient yourself once you become familiar with their style and symbols. For example, inputs are usually to the left, outputs to the right; 0V or ground connections are usually shown at the bottom of simple circuits, the power at the top.
Here are some of the most common components, and the symbols used for them in circuit diagrams:
Here is a schematic diagram that illustrates the symbols used in a typical diagram:
Components such as the resistor and capacitor used here are not polarized—they can be connected either way around. Transistors, diodes, and integrated circuits are polarized, so it is important that you identify each lead and connect it according to the diagram.
This drawing shows how the wiring could look when connected using a breadboard:
The finished breadboard illustrations were produced using a tool called Fritzing that enables the drawing of electronic circuits.
Wiring a working breadboard from a circuit diagram is easy if you break the task into individual steps. The next illustration shows how each step of breadboard construction is related to the circuit diagram.
The finished circuit is from Recipe 1.6 in the Cookbook, which produces a sound that is controlled by a light dependent resistor. | <urn:uuid:01ce9755-36e7-4d03-b589-c5535de935c0> | {
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I’m sure you’ve all heard the warnings about Wikipedia: Don’t use it! Steer clear of Wikipedia! It can be edited by anyone!
You can use Wikipedia, just use it responsibly. And how do you do that? Here are a few examples on how to use Wikipedia responsibly.
When I lived in Pittsburgh, I read an article about jitneys being held up. What’s a jitney? I went to Wikipedia and got the disambiguation page. Ah, that was enough for me to understand what the article was about. If I was writing about jitneys in my ALWR, I would not cite Wikipedia. Nope. Wikipedia’s just a starting point. The first option, Share Taxi, has few citations and is disputed. So I’d go back to the disambiguation page and go the next option, Dollar van. Again, this one is suggested to be merged with another, but does have a few citations I would check out from government agencies. This is a good starting point for something I knew nothing about a few minutes ago!
Now, how can we tell whether a Wikipedia entry is a good source of information or not? Consider the entry about Hurricane Sandy. On it’s face, it looks to be a good entry. Lots of citations to reliable outside sources. But who actually wrote it and edited it? At the top of the entry, select the “View History” tab. This is the actual history of what was written on the Hurricane Sandy entry. Here’s where things get rather interesting. There is no mention of global warming or climate change. Every mention is “scrubbed” from the entry by Ken Marmpel, who refers to himself as just a contributor, “I have no title, I’m just a Joe Blow.” Yes indeed, this is where the danger of relying solely on Wikipedia lies. Anyone can edit an entry, and can direct the tone and message of the entry.
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Interior Architecture in Adaptive Reuse
When you think of architecture, city skylines probably come to mind - the exterior appearance of buildings is what people usually associate with an architect's work. However, there is another side of the field: interior architecture.
Not to be confused with interior decorating, interior designers or architects design interior space that is bound by existing structures (walls, beams, doors) and equally restricted by human interaction (how people will use the space).
Interior architects need a working knowledge of a wide range of subjects:
- Building code
- Structural integrity
- Ergonomics and spatial concepts
- CAD drawing
- Design history
Interior architects work not only with home- or building-owners, but also with government agencies and builders. In other words, interior architecture is design for living/working space in architectural rather than decorative terms.
There are two types of interior architecture, the initial design/usage plan and adaptive reuse, or the redesign of an existing space to serve a new purpose. According to Wikipedia:
Adaptive reuse refers to the process of reusing an old site or building for a purpose other than which it was built or designed for. It can be regarded as a compromise between historic preservation and demolition.
One example of our interior architecture work on an adaptive reuse project is 11 West 20th Street. Built in 1901 as a store, we have been working on the exterior and interior renovations since 2007. Our interior work has included renovating the third floor; repairing damaged masonry; and replacing the building’s historic windows with new thermally insulated windows.
If you are in need of interior architecture services, contact us for a consultation.Read more...
How Adaptive Reuse Has Helped New York City
Urban areas are often overcrowded with an abundance of unused buildings. Buildings boasting exceptional architectural details that once served the community well are cast aside to make way for modern buildings to fit the needs of a rapidly advancing technological society. The redeeming features of these buildings are often overlooked, and contractors sometimes fail to see the potential in an older building. Many historical buildings can be updated and restored for use in a different way-a term referred to as adaptive reuse.
Adaptive reuse is a resourceful alternative to demolition. Not to be confused with historic renovation, adaptive reuse brings new meaning to a historic building, whereas a renovation would attempt to preserve the original historic use of the building. Adaptive reuse is a sustainable option because it reduces waste and pollution created from demolition and requires less new materials than a brand new building.
Buildings most suitable for adaptive reuse usually include schools, churches, political buildings, and industrial buildings. These types of buildings are often good candidates for adaptive reuse because they can no longer accommodate the advances required for that particular industry, but could serve another purpose quite well. For example, an old school that simply cannot accommodate the rapidly growing student body might make a fantastic apartment building or community center. An old church could be transformed into a stunning, unique restaurant.
Many factors influence the decision to reuse a building. Physical damage to the original building, the location of the site, historical significance of the site, and environmental factors all play a part in deciding whether a building can be successfully adapted for new use. Extensive physical damage or dangerous contamination from asbestos are barriers to adaptive reuse.
Many cities have exceptional examples of buildings adapted for new purposes. New York City boasts many successful adaptive reuse projects, such as The Refinery, the retail space in the former Manufacturers Hanover Trust building, and the plans to turn the James A. Farley post office into a Penn Station annex.
The Refinery Hotel, formerly a garment district millinery, is now an upscale hotel located in midtown Manhattan. The neo-gothic facade of this ornate building was originally inspired by classical Greek architecture. Built in 1912, the original millinery building was carefully adapted for use as a hotel, preserving the industrial innards such as Gothic-arched windows and entries adorned with sculptural details.
Manufacturers Hanover Trust was built in 1954, with the intention of being a modern take on the traditional bank building. The glass structure lent an air of transparency never-before-seen in bank buildings, and even the vault was visible from Fifth Avenue. Located at 510 Fifth Avenue, the building was adapted for use as a retail shopping space. The project effectively preserved the original architectural design of the building while presenting the community with a modern shopping facility.
The James A. Farley Post Office is located across from Penn Station, and has been the focus of an adaptive reuse project that will greatly impact the city. The post office is projected to become an annex to the bustling Penn Station, creating a grand entry to the station and a much-needed expansion for ticketing, baggage operations and offices. The project has been plodding along slowly since its conception 25 years ago, but as of late has been picking up steam.
Adaptive reuse is a fitting option for many historical buildings in overcrowded cities. Not only do these projects reduce urban sprawl, but they also conserve resources and breathe new life into communities. Please contact us to learn more about the benefits of adaptive reuse.Read more... | <urn:uuid:8c746729-3d88-46d9-8f2e-e9ff780734f5> | {
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Part I: Getting to Know Your Hair.
Chapter 1: All About Hair and Hair Loss.
Chapter 2: Splitting Hairs: Growth, Loss, and Change over Time.
Chapter 3: Taking Better Care of Your Hair.
Part II: The Root of Hair Loss: How and Why It Happens.
Chapter 4: Types of Hair Loss and Pattern Thinning in Men and Women.
Chapter 5: Diseases that Cause Hair Loss.
Part III: Creative Techniques for Concealing Hair Loss.
Chapter 6: Toupee or not Toupee?
Chapter 7: Shopping for Hair Replacement Systems.
Chapter 8: Concealing Hair Loss with Fibers, Sprays, and More.
Part IV: Pharmaceutical, Laser, and Topical Therapies.
Chapter 9: Turning to Prescription Medications for Hair Loss.
Chapter 10: Supplementing Your Diet to Help Slow Hair Loss.
Chapter 11: Low-Level Laser Therapy.
Part V: Advanced Hair Loss Solutions.
Chapter 12: Hair Restoration Options: Past and Present.
Chapter 13: Hair Transplant Surgery.
Chapter 14: Caring for Your Hair after Surgery.
Part VI: The Part of Tens.
Chapter 15: Ten (or so) Myths about Hair Loss.
Chapter 16: Ten Pros and Cons of Non-Surgical Hair Replacement.
Chapter 17: Ten Reasons to Consider a Hair Transplant.
Chapter 18: Ten Facts about the FDA and Hair Products.
Part VII: Appendixes.
Appendix A: Online Organizations and Resources.
Appendix B: A Psychological Study of Hair Loss.
Appendix C: Glossary. | <urn:uuid:07bc8da5-973e-4d61-9a36-1762c3f4cf33> | {
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There are more than 30 different species of rattlesnakes. The biggest species is the eastern diamondback rattlesnake.
Rattlesnakes eat rodents, rabbits, squirrels, birds, lizards, and frogs— but only when they’re hungry. An adult can go two weeks between meals!
You can find species of rattlesnakes in deserts, swamps, rain forests, meadows, and other habitats. They often seek shelter in rocky crevices, burrows, or leaf litter.
As it grows, a rattlesnake sheds its skin. With each shed, it adds another segment to its rattle. The rattle segments interlock loosely, so when a snake wiggles its tail, they click and rattle against each other. You can’t tell the age of a rattlesnake by counting the segments, though. A snake may shed more than once a year, and sometimes segments break off.
On the job
A snake locates prey by scent, with the help of its tongue. The forked tongue flicks in and out, picking up odor particles. Then the snake lies in wait until its prey comes along. When prey comes close enough, the heat-sensitive pits on each side of a rattlesnake’s head enable the snake to “see” a heat image of its prey. The snake lunges and strikes, injecting venom with its fangs.
An alarmed snake usually tries to escape or hide, so be sure to stay out of its way. Rattlesnakes sometimes warn away predators by shaking their rattle. Biting is a last resort, but a snake may strike quickly if it is startled. So, be alert when you’re hiking, and move away if you see a rattlesnake. Be careful where you put your hands and feet. | <urn:uuid:660d215a-d223-42be-953f-7932fdf3eb2f> | {
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"One thing they are "gong" [sic] to do is point out that if the ppm increase in atmospheric CO2 is solely due to man-made combustion of fossil fuels, laws of chemistry and physics have been violated. For every molecule of carbon, two molecules of oxygen are consumed. Therefore, if the rise in CO2 is due to such combustion, then we should observe a decrease in atmospheric O2 by a factor twice as great. I have seen no evidence to suggest that global O2 is decreasing at all." (H. Muhlphart )
Ouch! My response:
No law of chemistry and physics has been violated by assuming that the increasing CO2 comes from combustion of fossil fuels. The reason no decrease in O2 is "noticed" is because the loss due to the formation of carbon dioxide is very small compared to the total amount of oxygen. If you increase the amount of CO2 by 100 ppm (more or less what's predicted in the next 50 years), the decrease in O2 is from 209,460 ppm to 209,360 ppm. That's the equivalent of being at the top of less than a 30 foot hill. You certainly don't notice any change in the oxygen levels between the basement and second floor of a house, do you?
And I didn't even bother with the notion that carbon dioxide "eats" two oxygen atoms no matter what carbon source you make it from - fossil fuel or respiration. Or that it's one carbon atom to one oxygen molecule. At this level of understanding of the basic science, you are not simply not entitled to an opinion on the matter. | <urn:uuid:a9ae0d30-a79e-4cef-a19b-35136e523191> | {
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This picture is undeniably cool, but not what most people want to see from their window as they fly during the holiday season. Lightning is scary for the passengers, but it's no big deal for the plane. There hasn't been a plane downed by lightning for forty years. Here's why.
I have seen lightning from a plane window. It turned the clouds around the plane into mountains of bright red and green fire, and despite a trooper of a flight attendant insisting that it was only "lights from other planes," no one was fooled. She probably shouldn't have bothered to lie. Though air collisions are extremely rare, other planes are more dangerous to an airplane than lightning is. On average, every commercial plane is struck by lightning once a year.
The three major dangers with lightning are the chance of a spark near the fuel, the temperature of the lightning itself hurting the structure of the plane, and the chance that the charge could move to the interior of the plane and mess with its instruments. A spark igniting the fuel was what caused the last airline disaster due to lightning in 1967. After that, planes were redesigned to keep such sparks and fuel ignition from happening. The temperature is extreme, getting up to 30,000 degrees centigrade but too brief to leave more than a scorch mark on the plane.
The electrical interference itself is the most fearsome, but is the least likely disaster to happen. Planes form natural Faraday cages. To be fair, Faraday cages are not that hard to make. Benjamin Franklin noticed, when he was first experimenting with electricity, that charge applied to a bucket or cage-like object seemed to distribute itself only on the outside of the object. Michael Faraday studied this more extensively, and started designing cages that we have now. He noticed that if he charged up enclosed metal objects from wire mesh to covered soup tureens, he could leave anything inside - even electrically responsive things like metal balls and wires - and they were unaffected. Objects on the outside of the cage were zapped. The charge ran over the outside of the surface of the Faraday cage, as long as that surface was relatively smooth and unbroken. Planes are made of aluminum, which is an extremely good conductor. Aircraft that aren't made of aluminum often have a thin coating or layer of the conductor in order to let charge flow smoothly over them. They distribute the charge on their outside surfaces, leaving people and equipment undisturbed inside. The lightning then discharges into the air - either heading toward a nearby cloud or the ground. The main danger of lightning now is disorienting the pilots.
Planes do land as soon as possible after being struck by lightning, but that is mainly as precaution. For the most part, in a plane is one of the safest places to be when lightning is around. Still, I'd rather fly through clear skies.
Image: Aindrila Mukhopadhyay | <urn:uuid:274a7730-17b3-4589-9834-39d0200092a7> | {
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a1 Pathways, Churches of Christ Care, Brisbane, Australia
Due to the overrepresentation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in the out-of-home care system many children will not always be cared for in a culturally appropriate placement. Therefore, cultural support planning for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people must be a high priority for all staff, carers and volunteers of out-of-home care services. Six themes have been identified as assisting in the provision of cultural support planning within placements. Each theme has a detailed list of resources that can be accessed for children and young people, carers and professionals. | <urn:uuid:9b48a1a8-97cb-493c-bc77-181f026e4a4a> | {
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Whether you are out roaming in the wilderness or enjoying the comfort of your home, you see spiders and you have to admit that it is not a beautiful sight. Did you know that there are about 40,000 species of spiders that are creeping the face of the earth? You may want to know about the different kinds of spiders that you see every day. They are horrifying spiders that you need to be wary of so you really have to be educated about their nature.
- Red-Back Spider
The Red- Back Spider is just like any other eight-legged critter, only they love to snack on kids and old people. You need to badly get away from this kind simply because this kind of spider can kill you. Their venom contains a neurotoxin that may also cause morbidity.
- Brazilian Wandering Spider
Brazilian wandering spider is known as Banana spider. This kind loves to play dirty so you better keep them out of your way. They usually come out during the night and they remain low profile during the day. They love to hide on banana plants. Their venon also contains neurotoxin that can kill you.
- Six-Eyed Sand Spider
This is also called “assassin” spiders and it is called one for a good reason. Surely, you’ll never want to mess up with a six-eyed sand spider. Although its venom will not kill you, it causes serious pain. Their bite will cause you to leak blood from every open pore of your skin.
- Brown Recluse Spider
This kind loves to stay burrowed in dark places, under the furniture or amidst piles of books. You also need to be very careful on this kind. Its bite can result to retinal failure, fever, vomiting and even death. When you see one, you’d better run as far as you can so you can save your life. It is also advisable to speak with pest control companies to solve your problem with this one.
- Huntsman spiders
The huntsman spiders are called giant crab spiders because of their size and appearance. They love to stay in woody places like forest, mine shafts, woodpiles, and wooden shacks.
- Funnel-Web Spiders
Their bite can cause a series of symptoms, all in less than 15 minutes. The best thing that you should do when you see one is to just stay quiet and don’t move, maybe they won’t pay you any heed. | <urn:uuid:77cba77f-3010-4a11-a509-3e1e5f4c869b> | {
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Hurricane Katrina. The September 11 terror attacks. The 2010 Haitian earthquake. All of these terrible disasters resulted in major loss of life, property, and displaced thousands of people. They also provided clear examples of how communication systems can fail just when people need them most. When disaster strikes unexpectedly, the normal means of communication that we rely on are often the first services disrupted. The last thing you need during a zombie outbreak is an “all circuits are busy” message. This article will discuss the reasons communications fail, which methods are the most reliable, and how to ensure you can always get through, no matter what.
With the advent of fiber optics, communication networks are far more durable today than they were thirty years ago, and one of the reasons for this is that much of telephone cabling is now underground. This has vastly reduced the failure rate due to accidents and inclement weather. You might hear a telecom employee referring to “the last mile”, which is a slang term for the final delivery leg of a telephone signal between local stations and your house. (Incidentally, if you live in a rural area, this distance may be much more than a mile.) Almost all telephone service disruptions caused by network interruption happen during this “last mile”. Physical disruptions to service caused by something as simple as an automobile accident can disrupt your phone service. Natural disasters, like floods and inclement weather, can also disrupt the physical network that allows your telephone to work.
Another common cause of outages is power loss. The equipment that powers your telephone line usually runs separately from the power to your house (that’s why you might still have telephone service when your home power goes out). Even so, the equipment on the phone network requires power, so is susceptible to long-term outages.
Still have a landline phone? Ask yourself this question – are all the phones in your house cordless? Most people would answer yes because of the convenience of cordless phones. That cordless phone is worthless even if you have a signal to your telephone jack once power loss to the base occurs.
Many people have switched over to carrying only their cell phone and have ditched their landline. (I’m one of these people.) Cell phone networks are a walking contradiction; the equipment is more reliable than many other methods of communicating, but cell phones are some of the least reliable communication devices during disasters. Why are they so unreliable? Cell phone carriers operate on the least amount of equipment they can because it is expensive. Cellular towers are designed to handle calls during normal usage times, which means that they support only a small percentage of customers are making a phone call at a time. During a disaster where the equipment to carry your call remains intact, the most likely reason you can’t get a call out is that everyone is trying to make a call. The cellular networks simply aren’t designed to handle so many calls at the same time.
Social networking’s role in recent disasters
The Internet is more durable, but not by much. By all means, if your cell phone doesn’t work, try your internet (both on your smart phone and PC). In recent disasters and political upheavals, text messaging and social networking has played a surprisingly important role. Lives were saved during Hurricane Katrina and the Haitian Earthquake because text messages were able to get through when phone calls could not. SMS text messages get through for one reason – they are very small pieces of information and it takes far fewer resources for cellular carriers to transmit these messages compared to full phone calls. It is important to recognize text messaging and social medial like Twitter as a potential option when nothing else works.
Wireless radio is one of the most established tools in disaster scenarios. Radios send signals via radio waves instead of through cables. Anyone within range listening on the right frequency will be able to hear your message.
The major limitation to consumer wireless radio is range. This table shows the basic radios available to the general public, and you’ll quickly see that the range on these radios isn’t helpful out of your immediate geographic location.
|CB (Citizen’s band)||40||Private/business||10+ miles|
|Marine VHF||50||Maritime||20+ miles|
|Family Radio Service (FRS)||22||Personal||2 miles|
|Multi-Use Radio Service (MRS)||5||Personal||5+ miles|
Many professionals, especially first responders and public safety officials, use more robust radio systems that have a greater range. Since the average citizen can’t get their hands on these radios, these are just not an option. So how can you always get through, no matter what? I’m glad you asked!
Amateur radio has moved from a personal hobby to become one of the most valuable assets in disaster management. You may have heard of amateur radio referred to as “ham radio”. Amateur radio operators, commonly called Hams, are able to call literally around the world given the right equipment and conditions. How far they can call depends on the strength of their radio, the type of antenna they have, the band they are operating on and atmospheric conditions.
Given these limitations, amateur radio enthusiasts and government agencies have set up repeaters stations that allow for local signals to be carried across states, countries, even oceans. Additional amateur radio technologies and protocols allow really neat tricks (for example, the D-STAR protocol, which gets bonus points for sounding like a certain sci-fi superweapon). Want to use your radio to call someone’s phone a few states away? No problem! Need to transmit a file or use the Internet? Yep, you can do that too. You can send text messages and morse code, too. This means that on a simple handheld 5-watt radio can be a lifeline when all other forms of communication fail.
So why doesn’t everyone use amateur radio? Well, it requires some knowledge, and in almost every country in the world it requires a license. In the United States licenses are issued by the Federal Communications Commission (the FCC), and other countries have agencies of the same nature. The good news is that the government wants you to have a license (at least here in the USA) because they know how effective amateur radio is in disasters. In the USA licenses are issued when an applicant passes a test, and the first license class (Technician) is 35 questions long. The good news is that those 35 questions come from a pool of 350 publicly available questions that you can study and memorize before taking the test. When you pass the test, which costs $10, the FCC will issue you a license with a call sign, and you’ll be authorized to start transmitting.
I recently attended an amateur radio class and I highly recommend that you do the same to prepare for the test. For me, it was the best way to dive into this community, and it gave me the background I needed to really understand what the test questions meant. There are many free classes available, so keep your eyes open for one in your area. Use Google to find a local Ham Club. I also recommend the site QRZ.com which (despite it’s dated look) has some amazing resources. Be sure to try out their practice tests which are excellent study tools.
Bonus: Zombie Survival Cell Phone
This article provides some very compelling arguments to purchase a zombie apocalypse cell phone. It recommends the Motorola Motofone F3, a phone which is designed for developing countries where cell signals are weak and the environmental conditions are inhospitable. The phone holds a charge for a very long time and makes a great backup to that smartphone you carry. Best of all, you can usually find one on Google Shopping for under 25 bucks. You don’t have to be trapped in a zombie wasteland to appreciate that. | <urn:uuid:9376184e-a212-4a40-89db-9e2a939270dd> | {
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“in other words, how we say something is more impactful than what we say,” she explains “nonverbal cues can help business people determine others' motivations and “always put your hand out to shake hands,” wood says “ because your facial expressions are closely tied to emotion, they are often. If you want to succeed in business, don't get an mba study i became pretty good at furrowing my brow and putting on somber expressions to keep a straight face while using phrases like “out-of-the-box thinking,” and most of the other great philosophers of history were not professors of philosophy.
Provide examples of types of nonverbal communication that fall under these categories one interesting standing posture involves putting our hands on our hips and is a also make sure your facial expressions match the content of your speech one of my interpersonal communication professors admitted that she. There are two main types of essays you would be asked to write consider one or two anecdotes that can help you focus and give a human face to your discussion academic/project proposal-common elements: - a description of your course of study or do not give a faculty member a hand-written first draft to review. You want to slide your hand down into the web of theirs, and make palm-to-palm making facial expressions that appear to show the opposite. Turn to section 1 of your answer sheet to answer the questions in this section this passage is from charlotte brontë, the professor, work of copying and translating business-letters— phrases one said: “william, your life is intolerable” the other: “what can you do a) a character describes his dislike for his new job.
Sarah stevenage is professor of cognitive psychology at the university of southampton with a passion for teaching, and for making the experience of my students identification from the face, from the voice, and from the hand, each of which time recognising people despite transient changes in expression or pose. Education and is currently visiting professor at queen mary, university of london or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter 24 key aspects of teaching and learning in accounting, business 51 emphasising the structure of lectures using signals and clues 62. In the paper, barsade and gibson consider three different types of feelings: but there's a good chance you are in your facial expression or body language business schools are teaching executives how to be emotionally intelligent, and on the other hand, while some writers may add a smattering of. Students, teachers, and parents or caregivers all play vital roles in the homework virginia, “is one of the biggest challenges and concerns i continue to face after `when i get home from work, my child tells me that the homework parents or other caregivers also need to understand the teacher's homework policy and.
Syrians stand close to each other and may hug or clasp hands syrians are very vocal and speak loudly, using hand gestures and facial expressions i would be on my guard if i were to meet a syrian who always acted very formally part of the syrian culture in any situation, including formal business. Mehrabian's research is often quoted as supporting the importance of your describe the experiments mehrabian carried out, and identify the limitations of tones and at the same time were shown photos of different facial expressions point you will no doubt be in line as next professor emeritus of psychology, ucla. I am responsible for business strategy and emerging technologies at i am maintaining an iot blog and speak at various api and industry attached here, please find position statement describing my interest to participate in this event we are also very interested in having a first-hand impression of the future of this.
Heartfelt expressions of thanks to professors from their former and current students with views other than my own, while also holding my own beliefs close to my heart i cannot begin to describe how important it was for me to be able to seek of teachers), i always had to challenge myself to raise my hand in class even. A gesture is a form of non-verbal communication or non-vocal communication in which visible bodily actions communicate particular messages, either in place of, or in conjunction with, speech gestures include movement of the hands, face, or other parts of the body performance scholar, carrie noland, describes gestures as learned. These courses are being offered both in fully online and in face-to-face settings a business decision in the face of uncertainty, i want to minimize my risk and maximize i do not personally know other statistics professors at the university of of computer package to solve problems allows hands on learning of the tool. (unknown) the quality of your presentation is most directly related to the quality practice using your presentation slides and other visual displays face the audience at all times image of faculty member scott holding a microphone giving a speech use hand gestures naturally, gracefully, and to emphasize points.
It wastes 15 hours of my time to mark up my students' flaccid theses and non sequitur started with two incoherent sentences that had nothing to do with each other when a student has to look me in the face and admit he's done no work) students hate writing papers, and professors hate grading them. In this chapter, we describe various roles for a teacher's work with students within a to describe the case study method, a harvard business professor wrote: indeed, developing intrinsically motivating work in the face of relevant and misunderstanding 2: “my job is to engage learners with interesting activities. Further information also from professor sirpa leppänen, tel i do not use other languages than my mother tongue → move how would you describe your english skills gesticulate more with my hands c) use more facial expressions business is fine and things feel good otherwise, how about you.
Professors, or mentors to share relevant background information about ourselves strategy with those used by other members of your group following, on the other hand, generally precedes a specific event, such as following my job maintaining a serious, unchanging facial expression john's studying business. Faculty of commerce and business administration what should i do if my workplace experience is limited to entry level and a brief description of your background relating to this portfolio including education international experience, various career experience, and work setting (company effective hand gestures.
Check out our list of the 20 hand gestures you should be using in your next speech and the least popular ted talkers used an average of 272 hand gestures during the spencer kelly, professor of psychology and neuroscience at colgate for example, i might say we are totally different from them, using my left hand. so you can saunter over to the object of your affection with confidence after showing 1,041 people images of different facial expressions, tracy there's no need for a full-on shoulder massage, but putting a hand on you can take a quiz , developed by hall, to figure out which style best describes you. Conversing with your professor isn't always easy, but handling it the right way can boost your so use these phrases to sound proactive, rather than reactive say, “i used my notes and textbook and downloaded your lectures and powerpoints to adaptive business group what best describes you. | <urn:uuid:a94f20fd-4d19-40d0-bad3-5e32be4f4b1e> | {
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|Surf Scoter [Daniella Theoret/BridNote]|
Surf Scoters are perfectly at home in the element they’re named for. They swim smack in the middle of what surfers call the impact zone: Just where the waves break with greatest violence. Why risk the harshest waves when there’s calmer water close by? Because the churning action of crashing waves can expose the small clams and crabs that scoters eat. And how do Surf Scoters avoid getting mashed by the sea? When a towering wave is about to crash down, the scoter deftly dives and swims under the crest of the foaming breaker, then pops up on the other side. (BirdNote)
Fish evolve quickly, benefit from marine protected areas: UBC study
Fish can quickly evolve to get more benefit from the protection offered by marine protected areas, according to research from the University of B.C. Variation in the natural range of large fish species means that some fish will spend much of their lives in or near areas protected from fishing, while others will range farther and face capture. Because they are less likely to be harvested, less mobile fish are more likely to survive and pass that trait on to their offspring. Randy Shore reports. (Vancouver Sun)
Hunters And Anglers Cross Political Lines To Fight For Public Lands
Hunters, fishermen and environmental activists: it’s not often these groups are mentioned in the same breath. But recently they’re finding themselves standing shoulder to shoulder over the issue of public lands. Despite having an avid hunter in Ryan Zinke leading up the Interior Department, which oversees the Bureau of Land Management and the National Park Service, there’s a sense that calls to sell off or transfer public lands are gaining traction. Sportsmen and women consider hunting and fishing in these wild places to be their right – one that earlier generations led by President Theodore Roosevelt fought to secure more than a century ago. Jes Burns reports. (OPB/EarthFix)
Seattle's Gas Works Park About To Undergo Toxic Cleanup
Kite flyers, picnickers, and Ultimate players treasure Seattle’s Gas Works Park, whose famous towers and pipes were once part of a coal gasification plant on the shore of Lake Union that lit up early Seattleites’ homes. But beneath the grass lies a more insidious legacy of the park’s industrial past: toxic waste. “Just offshore, the sediments are contaminated by oily substances that have oozed from the land into the lake,” says Ching-Pi Wang, with the Department of Ecology. And that’s not all: Benzene, arsenic, lead, and other substances pollute the soil, groundwater, and lake sediment. Eilís O'Neill reports. (KUOW)
Filmmaker challenges injunction on Vancouver Aquarium documentary
A man who directed a low-budget documentary critical of the Vancouver Aquarium should not have been ordered to remove five minutes of footage by a judge, his lawyer told an appeal court Monday. But a lawyer for the aquarium called the lower-court judge's decision "balanced" and denied the facility was trying to silence criticism. Gary Charbonneau released the documentary, Vancouver Aquarium Uncovered, online in January, 2016. The 61-minute film examined the aquarium's practice of keeping beluga whales and dolphins in captivity. Sunny Dhillon reports. (Globe and Mail)
$50,000 fine, two years of probation for Tacoma truck wash owner who dumped chemicals into sewer
The owner of a Tacoma truck washing company will pay $50,000 and spend two years on probation for dumping hazardous materials into the city’s water system, Attorney General Bob Ferguson’s office said Monday. Company owner Ryan Lewis pleaded guilty March 9 to gross misdemeanors for polluting water and illegally discharging hazardous chemicals, according to a news release from the attorney general’s office. He also pleaded guilty on behalf of his company, Cleaner Pressure Washing, to the same charges, along with a felony charge of defrauding a public utility. Walker Orenstein reports. (News Tribune of Tacoma)
State fines Cascade Natural Gas $1M over pipeline safety violations
Cascade Natural Gas has agreed to pay $1 million to settle allegations it broke state and federal pipeline safety rules. The Washington state Utilities and Transportation Commission approved the settlement Monday. Under the agreement’s terms, the company could be fined an additional $1.5 million unless it completes a compliance plan, including validating the maximum pressure on its highest risk pipelines in Washington by the end of the year. (Associated Press)
These bugs could help Seattle's poop spill. But they're hibernating
Workers continue their efforts to get the West Point Treatment Plant in Seattle up and running. The plant was crippled by a flood last month and it continues to spew solid waste into the Puget Sound every day. And restoring the plant's full treatment capacity relies on its tiniest workers – bugs: microorganisms that kill harmful bacteria and help in the treatment process. But there's a problem: These tiny little bugs are hibernating. Kate Walters reports. (KUOW)
King Lysen: A reformer in the Legislature who took on the old boys
King Lysen was a young man despised by his state's powerful old boys. As a state legislator, he challenged an out-of-control nuclear construction program that threatened to melt down the Northwest's economy. Lysen, who died last week at age 75, served 12 tumultuous years in the Washington State Legislature, from 1970 to 1982, eight years in the House and four in the State Senate. He had his district abolished out from under him in 1982. A product of O'Dea High and Seattle University, with a stint at the University of the Americas in Mexico City, Lysen brought a dose of Catholic social activism to Olympia. He was in the group of reformers, nicknamed the "Seattle 10" elected to the House of Representatives in 1970. Joel Connelly reports. (SeattlePI.com)
Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 239 AM PDT TUE MAR 21 2017
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL 11 AM PDT THIS MORNING
TODAY E WIND 15 TO 25 KT EASING TO 5 TO 15 KT IN THE AFTERNOON. WIND WAVES 2 TO 4 FT SUBSIDING TO 2 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 4 FT AT 16 SECONDS. RAIN IN THE MORNING THEN SHOWERS IN THE AFTERNOON.
TONIGHT SE WIND 5 TO 15 KT BECOMING E 10 TO 20 KT AFTER MIDNIGHT. WIND WAVES 1 TO 3 FT. W SWELL 5 FT AT 15 SECONDS. SHOWERS LIKELY IN THE EVENING THEN SHOWERS AFTER MIDNIGHT.
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Salish Sea Communications: Truth Well Told | <urn:uuid:8c410ae7-7a7b-4eba-bfae-3d77202c7405> | {
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In a 1911 newspaper article discussing journalism and publicity, and quoting the newspaper editor Tess Flanders, the following expression appeared:
Use a picture. It's worth a thousand words.
A similar phrase also appeared in a 1913 newspaper advertisement for the Piqua Auto Supply House:
One look is worth a thousand words.
I'm not going to go deep into history matters. This introduction was just to make it a bit fun, and show how the phrases give us an indication of the importance of pictures and how they really can embed a lot of information within them. I'm sure most of us realize that, especially when we notice how a picture can stick in our minds more than just pure text.
It is thus no doubt that pictures play an important part in our communications—not just general pictures, but also specialized photos like medical images (e.g. MRI, Ultrasound, etc.).
We can obtain photos through different acquisition devices. For instance, melanoma (skin cancer) images are retrieved using a dermatoscope. We take photos of ourselves or friends using a digital camera or a smartphone. Sometimes, however, we notice some issues in our pictures, like blurring for instance, which may be due to the acquisition device used.
But, what to do in this case? You were sent some medical images to analyze, and you don't have the choice of retaking such images. Even if you retook an image, the resolution you see will not change, nor any other issues you face. Image processing comes into play in such situations.
I liked how the term image processing was defined in Oxford Dictionaries:
The analysis and manipulation of a digitized image, especially in order to improve its quality.
"Digitized image" here refers to the fact that the image is considered digital, that is it is processed by a computer.
Getting the computer in this game means using a programming language. In this tutorial I will show you how we can use the Python programming language to perform image processing tasks on an image.
scikit-image is an image processing library that implements algorithms and utilities for use in research, education and industry applications. It is released under the liberal Modified BSD open source license, provides a well-documented API in the Python programming language, and is developed by an active, international team of collaborators.
The first thing we need to do is install
scikit-image. Instructions for installing the library can be found on the download page, and in this tutorial I will show you how to install the library on a Mac OS X machine, as this is what I'm currently using in writing this tutorial.
scikit-image is an external library, the first thing we have to do is install that library. For that, I will be using pip, which is (based on Wikipedia):
A package management system used to install and manage software packages written in Python. Many packages can be found in the Python Package Index (PyPI).
You can follow the steps mentioned in the Python Packaging User Guide for installing
pip, but if you have
Python 2.7.9 and higher, or
Python 3.4 and higher, you already have
scikit-image now can be simply installed by typing the following command (in Mac OS X's Terminal):
pip install -U scikit-image
We now have the library installed and ready for some image processing fun!
The test image we will be using in this tutorial is baboon.png. Go ahead and download it, or simply use the image of your choice. The image looks as follows:
Dimensions of an Image
Sometimes we need to know the dimensions of an image (more on that in the filtering section). In order to check the dimensions of our image, we can use the
guess_spatial_dimensions() method, as follows:
from skimage import io, color img = io.imread('baboon.png') dimensions = color.guess_spatial_dimensions(img) print dimensions
The output of the above script is
3, meaning that we have an image consisting of three spatial dimensions.
Color to Grayscale
From the above section, we have noticed that our image is a 3D array image (in RGBA format with the shape
(.., .., 4)). How did I know it is in RGBA format? You can simply do the following:
import skimage.io as io from skimage.color import rgb2gray img = io.imread('baboon.png') print img.shape
In this case, you would get this output:
(512, 512, 4).
import skimage.io as io from skimage.color import rgb2gray img = io.imread('baboon.png') img_grayscale = rgb2gray(img)
Let's go ahead and save the new image (grayscale) to a file. This can be done using the
imsave() function, as follows (notice that the new image is in the file
To check the dimensions of the image, we can use the script in the previous section, in which case you would get
2 returned. Or you can use
img_grayscale.shape, which results into
512x512. So, we now have a 2D image.
In order to show the new grayscale image, add the following to the end of the script:
show_grayscale = io.imshow(img_grayscale) io.show()
The result looks like this:
Applying a Filter to an Image
In image processing, filtering is performed to make some enhancements in the image. In general, filtering encompasses the following operations: edge enhancement, sharpening, and smoothing.
In this section, I'm going to show you how we can apply the Sobel filter on our image, and see what the output looks like after performing such an operation. I'm going to use the example shown on the front page of the scikit-image website, but applied on our image.
The script for applying the Sobel filter on our image looks as follows:
from skimage import data, io, filters img = io.imread('baboon.png') edges = filters.sobel(img) io.imshow(edges) io.show()
If you run the script, did you notice any issues? Yes, we couldn't apply the operation since the image has to be a 2D image. So, instead of using
baboon.png, we need to use our 2D image,
baboon-gs.png. The output of this operation looks as follows:
There are many image processing operations, and the
scikit-image Python library provides us with many interesting operations we can perform on our images. You can see more image processing operations using this library on the scikit-image website. | <urn:uuid:311fbd22-643a-472c-9919-5f0eea9f0f25> | {
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Understanding Health: A Determinants Approach
Understanding Health: A Determinants Approach introduces students to the variety of approaches to old and new public health, by placing them in the broader context of conditions and structures in society.
The book begins with an exploration of the concept of 'detminants of health' as a basis for understanding the relationship between inequality and social disadvantage. Highlighting the principles and strategies of health promotion, the book analyses the impact of these determinants of health on individuals, communities and populations.
Practical in its approach, this introductory text features a wide range of examples and case studies. The experiental nature of the text draws students towards a fuller understanding of all the issues confronting public health today.
Understanding Health: A Determinants Approach is an essential textbook for all year students in the health sciences. In particular, it is a vital resource for students of nursing, public health, psychology, disability studies, welfare and community studies, occupational therapy and human movement.
What people are saying - Write a review
We haven't found any reviews in the usual places. | <urn:uuid:ee98bd2f-98b1-4ff3-ab87-ffea51ea9276> | {
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Service Learning in the Lower School
Service to others is emphasized as Lower School students are actively involved in engagement with the community. Each grade level works with one non-profit partner throughout the year and undertakes a series of projects designed for children to understand the importance of helping others in a very hands-on, age-appropriate way. As Lower School faculty strive to incorporate service learning at all grade levels, the goal is to let them see early on that they have the capacity to make a difference for someone else.
Lower School Community Programs Include:
All Lower School students take part in this school-wide program to battle hunger in the greater Richmond community by collecting canned goods for FeedMore and preparing bag lunches for homeless individuals through the Salvation Army
Students participate in a drive for Children’s Hospital, focusing on the lessons around how to help others when they are sick.
Ton of Coins
Students in every Lower School grade participate in this annual Collegiate school-wide tradition of collecting coins, bringing them to school on Halloween and then pouring them into an old bath tub on the Upper School campus. This collection raises funds for a scholarship at Collegiate, and Lower School students are encouraged to help support the school so that a Collegiate education can be an option for every student. | <urn:uuid:68cd81f9-d265-43b4-8fb1-7bbe79d7b1c3> | {
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The text is prepared as the part of cooperation with Economic Forum in Krynica.
To answer the question of how the labour market will evolve we first need to understand where it came from and what purpose does it serve. Taking the macroeconomic view, the labour market is a mechanism through which specific skills sets – specialisations – are exchanged for money or other forms of remuneration, which in turn can be used to hire other specialised skills sets offered by workers or to acquire goods and services. The labour market was created during the Agrarian Revolution, when the introduction and gradual improvement of farming created two economic phenomena. Primarily, for the first time in human history not all of the economically active population had to be directly dedicated to acquiring food. This led to the rise of workers who specialised in other skills – such as creating farming tools – in turn leading to efficiency gains. Fast forward a few millennia and the slight increase in specialisation over the centuries accompanied by slow technological progress gave birth to the Industrial Revolution – a new way of organising labour in the production of goods, coupled with respective capital investment and the use of new technology. From then on humankind has experienced nearly two centuries of largely uninterrupted productivity growth.
This is important for our understanding of the labour market, as throughout history it has always headed towards more specialisation (which creates efficiency gains) and better forms of organising labour (which creates economies of scale and reduces transaction costs). Currently we have largely achieved (in the case of developed economies) efficiency growth stemming from economies of scale and the main driver of rising productivity is new technology – largely information technology. The recent two decades have seen unprecedented improvements in the way we communicate, create and make information public. Thus, information has become the main competitive force on the labour market. For workers, information has changed the way they can sell their labour and the constant acquisition of information has become an important competitive factor, as opposed to the old ways of acquiring an education and a more or less static career with limited lifelong learning. For companies, the rise of information as the main force driving economic activity has changed the way they can and should organise labour.
Why is information the key to succeeding in recent times? With ubiquitous industrial technology and a globalised market which has led to unprecedented economies of scale, instant access to information, enhanced capacity of producing information and its dissemination has become the main tool which increases labour productivity. With instantaneous information we make the correct decisions at the correct time, we gain a competitive advantage over other players on the market and receive feedback on the efficiency of our company or the response of the market to our products and services.
Although the rich world is only starting its transition into the Information Age, the importance of being the first to know did not escape Nathaniel Rothschild, who made sure he was the first person to know the result of the battle of Waterloo. His subsequent decisions, made based on this information, made him an unbelievably rich man.
As mentioned, companies are basically forms of pooling capital and organising labour, whose aim is the maximisation of profit. The organisation of labour within a company is currently being completely changed by the rising prominence of information and the fact that a company can communicate instantly with its workers all over the world. Economies of scale and network effects in the labour force have become decoupled from the need of placing them in the same physical location – all that is needed is appropriate communication infrastructure. This helps companies drastically reduce costs by tapping into cheaper labour talent in developing countries and seeking increasingly specialised specialists and top talent globally. This trend of cost savings and the ever greater advantage of capital over labour is exacerbated by the simultaneous automation of many processes which were formerly done by middle class workers.
This has caused and will increasingly cause polarisation on the labour market, where top talent is scarce and can reap benefits from global competition for its services, while the rest of the workers will face contracted demand for their labour. This is exemplified by the rise of interim, temporary and project-based work in the United States – by 2020 40% of Americans may work as freelancers. For companies, this increasingly means tapping into a highly flexible external workforce rather than using salaried employees. This in turn will lead to developing new tools and forms of cooperation and interaction on the labour market, some of which are already being introduced.
Companies currently compete for talent in three key areas. Firstly, it is hiring the very best workers in a given field. As Mark Zuckerberg, the founder and boss of Facebook has said, an exceptional employee is “not just a little better than someone who is pretty good; they are 100 times better”. In other words, they are far more productive than a merely competent worker. Secondly, companies are focusing on specific skills which have very rapidly become much more in demand than others. Especially in emerging markets rapid economic development and technological catch up with the developed world has caused immense shortages of top talent, which makes retaining the best specialists as hard or even harder than hiring them. This talent gap can even make it extremely difficult for companies to implement their business strategies. The problem of talent shortage is not only limited to the emerging markets, as a whole generation of workers with top skills is about to retire in the rich world.
The first two areas of competition for talent are focused on the top tier of this increasingly winner-takes-all market. Yet merely competent or basic services workers, while suffering a loss of bargaining power due to the great “hollowing-out” of the labour market, also are needed by companies. What’s more, although employees for areas such as merchandising or logistics may be considered low- or medium-skill, they must increasingly deal with complexity at the workplace while relatively earning less than the previous generation of workers would for the same type of work. To fill this talent shortage at the lower end of specialisation, companies have to turn to temporary and project-based work offered by freelancers in locations all over the world.
These three areas of competition for talent on the current global labour market are re-defining the way companies organise work and will continue to influence these trends in the foreseeable future. The first trend which has already achieved critical mass is teleworking or telecommuting. Workers are given the opportunity or even encouraged to work from wherever they like and at whatever time they like – “anywhen” – as long as they get the job done and meet established deadlines. Virtual teams can be much larger than traditional ones, enhancing network effects for employers. Furthermore, there are substantial cost savings in reducing office space to rent and investment in equipment.
Another key trend for the future labour market is hyper-specialisation. Virtual teams and unprecedented access to information and virtual work tools means that companies can draw on a global pool of talent – while a local labour market may be too illiquid for hiring a highly specialised worker in a given field, the global market can offer this liquidity and hiring opportunity. This, accompanied by the development of more specialised work tools and the growing flexibility and lifelong adaptation of the labour force will allow companies to break up each process they work on – be it a temporary project or a core business function – into even smaller and more specialised elements gaining efficiency.
This liquidity of a global talent pool will also be directly responsible for falling transaction costs, as finding scarce skill sets will be easier and cheaper than before. Finally, all the above will inevitably lead to the redefinition of the traditional relationship between an employer and employee. Rather than complying with the old model of 9 to 5 work for five days a week, workers, who are increasingly digital natives, will offer their services in sync with the digital world – 24/7/365, on demand.
The tools for companies which want to tap into these new trends will continue to grow. Currently there is exponential growth in the popularity of freelancing websites, where anyone who needs a specific skill set can find a contractor from anywhere in the world. As for hiring permanent staff, the internet intermediaries between employers and potential employees have grown in sophistication and will continue to do so, providing more advanced tools for both job seekers and those who offer these positions. Companies are also developing and receiving new tools for keeping their more demanding employees and contractors satisfied. Some, such as Infosys, have already experimented with massive collective decision-making on strategic issues in order to increase their involvement. Another example (Salesforce Chatter) is developing in-company social networks for more efficient communication for workers working in virtual teams on the same project.
In short, the labour market has become and will continue to become an ever more specialised and liquid talent pool for companies to tap into, using tools such as recruiting services based on big data and intelligent systems, temporary specialists for hire in any worldwide location, new systems of commuting to work and forming teams, new ways in which labour can create value for the company. What we will increasingly see is the redefinition of the concept of the company itself, as both its aspects – capital pooling and labour organisation – will be greatly impacted by the transition which is already under way in many parts of the world.
The project is realized with the support of the Youth programme of the European Union, 2013 | <urn:uuid:92c9329c-e17b-4031-a077-d9792731a596> | {
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The symptoms of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, or a thickened heart muscle, include chest pain, fatigue, palpitations and dyspnea, states MedlinePlus. Other symptoms are dizziness, lightheadedness and syncope. Some individuals with this condition are asymptomatic and only learn about the condition during a medical exam. In young adults, this condition potentially causes sudden collapse and death.Continue Reading
Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is usually an inherited condition and stems from faulty genes, explains Mayo Clinic. The thickened heart muscle makes it more difficult for the heart to pump blood. In some cases, the ventricular septum enlarges, impeding blood flow from the heart. Myofiber disarray, the name for the irregular arrangement of heart muscle cells, sometimes results in arrhythmia.
Physical examination of individuals with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy usually reveals abnormal heart sounds, irregular heartbeat and high blood pressure, notes MedlinePlus. The condition is diagnosed through echocardiography, cardiac catheterization, chest X-ray or magnetic resonance imaging of the heart. Blood tests are sometimes carried out to eliminate the possibility of another disease.
The treatment of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy depends on the functional capacity of the heart and whether the heart’s outflow tract is narrowed, according to WebMD. The presence of arrhythmias is also taken into consideration. Treatment of the condition is directed toward relieving symptoms and preventing complications, and includes medications, lifestyle changes and surgical procedures.Learn more about Pain & Symptoms | <urn:uuid:6f883b82-d404-4445-8ec0-ea3977bc2b7c> | {
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How to better harness social innovation ideas and methods to advance gender equality—and vice versa.
By Freya Johnson Ross
Gender inequality remains a major global issue. Women continue to be less likely to go to school than men, still earn less than men, and still are more susceptible to physical violence and abuse.
How can we better harness social innovation ideas and methods to advance gender equality—and vice versa?
This was the question we were trying to answer with “Unequal Nation,” the first piece of research from the Young Foundation’s new initiative Gender Futures. Our research sheds light on the current state of gender inequality in the UK (which recently fell from 18 to 26 in the World Economic Forum’s global gender equality rankings), how it relates to social innovation and social finance, and some promising avenues for action going forward. And although the research uses gender inequality in the UK as its starting point, we believe our findings can apply to wider global discussions in this area.
Our research examined three dimensions of gender inequality—resources, attitudes, and power—and while we found some points of positive progress (such as the increasing number of female parliamentarians), there were many points of sticky inequality.
In terms of resources, for example, we found:
- Unequal opportunities and pay for women in relation to paid work. In the UK, the gender pay gap is currently 19 percent, and some 27 percent of women (compared to 16 percent of men) earn less than the living wage.
- An unequal balance of responsibility for and time spent on unpaid work. Women continue to do more to care for the home, children, and other family members. This not only limits their ability to engage in paid work, but also affects their well-being; women have less leisure time and are more stressed than men.
In terms of attitudes we found:
- Ongoing high levels of violence and abuse predominantly perpetrated by men against women. A staggering 1.4 million women in the UK experience domestic abuse each year.
In terms of power we found:
- Despite some progress, ongoing under-representation of women in positions of authority and influence across the political, business, and social spheres. For example, 29 percent of elected members of the UK parliament and just 23.5 percent of FTSE100 board members are women.
Gender and Social Innovation
We also looked at the gender-related social innovation work of a variety of practitioners, intermediary support organizations, and funders. Reviewing projects that meld social innovation with a gender equality perspective, we found some exciting examples: Women Like Us promotes high-quality, part-time work and offers career advice; Oguntê supports female entrepreneurs; and Fearless Futures empowers young female leaders in school. These projects draw on a nuanced, feminist understanding of how gender inequality works—recognizing that attitudes, power, and resources link together to create and sustain inequality. Each of them channels this into practical vehicles (such as workshops, materials, or mentoring plans) that have the capacity to reach broad audiences and address the roots of inequality.
Despite these green shoots, there are clear gaps to fill. For example, much work to date has focused on increasing support for women entrepreneurs and innovators. This in itself helps boost equality, but it won’t necessarily deliver innovation that addresses gender inequality; all innovations developed by women don’t address gender inequality, and it is now widely recognized that accelerating gender equality will require innovation that addresses and engages both women and men.
We also carried out interviews with UK social finance providers to assess how much they understood and considered gender in their funding decisions. Although participants showed interest in discussing the topic, many didn’t feel confident about addressing gender equality; they neither considered gender equality in decision-making nor measured it in their reporting. In the context of some of the pioneering gender-lens investing work at the Criterion Institute (and discussed in articles on gender lens investing and gender capitalism), this sadly seems to echo a fundamental problem: As the Association for Women’s Rights in Development and others have documented, there is a lack of support for many grassroots organizations that are already innovating in funding for gender equality and women’s rights work.
What Needs to Happen
Based on our findings, we see two interconnected paths forward: gender innovation and gendering innovation.
Gender innovation means innovations specifically targeted at addressing the roots of gender inequality. Where is this already happening? How can we develop and support more of these? Gendering innovation means attending to the gendered nature of existing social innovation practice, support, and funding. How does this currently help or hinder gender equality? How could we improve?
Both nationally and internationally, we need more:
- Ways of talking about gender innovation that engage both gender equality workers and projects, and the broader community of social innovation practitioners, intermediaries, and funders. Language differences can mask common goals and approaches to gender equality and social innovation. Some gender equality organizations we met with during our research, for instance, were unfamiliar with the terms “social innovation” and “social finance,” and some social innovation intermediaries did not understand how “gender” was relevant to their work. Accessible texts, guides, videos, and workshops can bridge the communication gap. The Criterion Institute, for example, has been developing a toolkit to specifically work through this in the context of social finance.
- Spaces and support to enable the different actors—funders, intermediaries, social innovation and gender equality organizations—to reach out and connect with the unusual suspects (including organizations that may not consider their work as social innovation), and to challenge old ones. Whether physical or virtual, we need to create and promote opportunities for these groups to come together for both sides to benefit. For example, funders and intermediaries with the resources to host smaller organizations could develop workshops, forums, or “un-conferences” to help harness the creativity of unusual juxtapositions.
- The social innovation community needs to more consistently recognize the innovation that takes place within the gender equality sector. In a bid to broaden understanding of social innovation, for example, Nesta recently highlighted 18 innovations that have shaped the world. Although this included gendered programs such as childcare and Girlguiding, it did not reference gender inequality or feminist innovation. Explicitly recognizing innovation within the gender equality sector will enrich the gender innovation already taking place. And as Scenarios USA Co-founder Kirsten Joiner noted in a recent article, it will also encourage the valuable calculated risk-taking that the private sector usually encourages.
Gender equality and social innovation actors are both known for their reflexivity–to critique and refine their own working. Both sides stand to gain from acknowledging each other, communicating, and collaborating.
Bringing together the techniques of social innovation and new insights on gender offers a potent way to address long-standing inequality. There is learning and development on offer for all parties in doing so. Social innovation that doesn’t understand how gender shapes all areas of life won’t achieve it’s full potential. Similarly, gender equality actors can learn from the exciting conjunctions, processes, and tools of social innovation to accelerate their vision for equality. The work of drawing the two together has already begun and is picking up speed; now is the time to make sure this work is linked together to make gender innovation mainstream.
Freya Johnson Ross (@freyajross) is a London-based researcher specializing in gender equality and social change. Over the past year she has been working at The Young Foundation to establish and grow Gender Futures. | <urn:uuid:6ea7a67c-f96c-49d2-a18f-831f0b6f2081> | {
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Acetaminophen Toxicity in Dogs
I have heard that acetaminophen is toxic to dogs. This is such a common medication. Is this true?
Acetaminophen is a medication that is used to treat fever and/or pain in humans. Unfortunately, acetaminophen toxicity in dogs is somewhat common as dog owners attempt to treat their dogs for pain without first consulting with a veterinarian. Young and small dogs face a greater risk from a single dose of acetaminophen given to them mistakenly by their owners.
What are the signs of acetaminophen toxicity in dogs?
Signs of toxicity from acetaminophen may develop within 1–4 hours of ingestion. These dogs will experience a progressive depression, and they may develop rapid breathing. They may experience abdominal pain and nausea, causing drooling. Their mucus membranes- for instance the gums or the tissue surrounding the globe of the eye- may develop a bluish discoloration. This is called “cyanosis” and is the result of a molecule called “methemoglobin” that interrupts the ability of the red blood cell to carry oxygen to the tissues of the body.
Some dogs will develop fluid buildup in the face, paws, and forelimbs several hours after ingesting acetaminophen. Their urine may become dark or even chocolate-colored from the presence of blood or methemoglobin. Occasionally, the first sign of acetaminophen toxicity is death.
Is there any treatment for a dog who is experiencing acetaminophen toxicity?
The presence of methemoglobin in the blood demands a prompt diagnosis, hospitalization, and aggressive care. Likewise, dark or bloody urine, or yellowish discoloration of the skin or mucus membranes (jaundice) demands inpatient care. These dogs need very gentle handling, as they are often fragile.
Depending upon the timing of the acetaminophen ingestion, the veterinarian may induce vomiting, and may perform flushing of the stomach. This is only useful within 4–6 hours of ingestion of acetaminophen. A low red blood cell count, called “anemia”, blood in the urine, called “hematuria”, or the presence of hemoglobin in the urine, called “hemoglobinuria”, may require a blood transfusion. In addition, intravenous fluid therapy is delivered to maintain proper hydration and electrolyte balance.
Activated charcoal may be administered immediately after vomiting has been induced or after the stomach has been flushed, once vomiting is controlled. The activated charcoal attracts the remaining molecules of acetaminophen and keeps them from being absorbed by the gastrointestinal tract. A medicine called N-acetylcysteine (Mucomyst®) is considered to be an antidote for acetaminophen toxicity. Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) reduces methemoglobin levels in the blood over time.
Once a dog is treated for acetaminophen toxicity, is there any follow-up that must be done?
Blood levels of methemoglobin must be monitored. In addition, levels of serum liver enzymes are monitored in order to assess for liver damage. The level of a compound called glutathione in the blood helps to assess the effectiveness of treatment. Liver damage and the resulting scarring may compromise long-term liver function in dogs who have recovered from acetaminophen toxicity.
If methemoglobin levels in the blood progress rapidly, this is a serious clinical sign, and if the methemoglobin concentration reaches above 50%, the prognosis is grave. Likewise, if the serum liver enzymes continue to rise 12 – 24 hours post-ingestion, then this also raises serious concerns. While clinical signs of acetaminophen toxicity may persist for 12 – 48 hours, death from methemoglobin in the blood can occur at any time. Prompt treatment to reverse methemoglobin in the blood and to prevent liver damage raises the probability of recovery. Unfortunately, death from liver damage may occur in only a few days.
The most important treatment for acetaminophen toxicity is to avoid it!
This client information sheet is based on material written by:
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Summary for Nuctenea umbratica (Araneae)
Explore Regional Distribution
View notes or log on and add a note on this species
About this speciesRecorded altitude range
0m to 750m
The species is widespread in Britain, but is scattered in the north and absent from northern Scotland. It is widespread in western and central Europe.
Habitat and ecology
The spider conceals itself under bark and in fissures in posts and fences during the daytime. In some areas it is a common resident of window and door frames. The body is flattened and this assists the spider to secrete itself in the cracks and fissures. This spider is nocturnal and builds a conspicuous orb web between its retreat and surrounding vegetation. Whilst the web is usually empty during the day, the spider can be found hidden away nearby. Adults of both sexes are found mainly between late spring and autumn, but females and occasionally males can be found during the winter.
Original author of profile: D. Marriott
Text based on Harvey, P.R., Nellist, D.R. & Telfer, M.G. (eds) 2002. Provisional atlas of British spiders (Arachnida, Araneae), Volumes 1 & 2. Huntingdon: Biological Records Centre. References | <urn:uuid:d72e2853-6a28-4e5c-80ea-23998cde5ddb> | {
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Stop Sewer Backups and Disconnect Downspouts
Many older homes,
especially in urban areas, have gutters with downspouts connected directly to
the sanitary sewer. Rain water from the roofs drains directly into the sanitary
sewer system through these connectors. Because sanitary sewer systems are not
designed to convey this excess flow, these downspout connections allow water
from rain storms to exceed the capacity of the sewer pipes. When there is too
much water for the system, the excess has to go somewhere, so the water and any
waste materials in the sewers overflow the system. These sanitary sewer
overflows (SSO) end up in somebody’s basement, flows along streets, gutters or
ditches, or enters nearby creeks or rivers.
Municipalities have a
legal requirement to stop water from overflowing from the sewer system. Even if
the water does not overflow the system, connected downspouts still result in
the wastewater treatment plant treating extra water for which it was not
designed – and the customers must pay for transporting and treating this excess
Why Disconnect A Downspout?
Sewage overflows are a potential threat to health and the environment and are
costly. Overflows create problems related to:
- Human health. Raw sewage contains microorganisms that can cause
diseases such as hepatitis, giardiasis, and gastroenteritis.
- Long-term environmental health. Raw sewage in streams and lakes can cause illnesses
in fish, kill aquatic life, and make the water unusable for swimming,
fishing, and as a drinking water source.
- Homes. When there is a sewer backup into a house, the
homeowner may have to pay the cost to clean up, repair damage, and replace
ruined carpets and furniture. Basic homeowner’s insurance often does not
cover this damage without an added clause or “rider”.
- Utility rates. Utilities treat extra water and may have to increase
treatment plant size. The utility may also have to pay fines when raw
sewage is released to the environment. Higher costs mean higher rates for
What Can Customers Do?
Customers should check to see whether disconnecting their home’s downspouts can
help solve the problem. Disconnection is usually a simple, relatively
inexpensive process. The local sewer system authority or public works
department should be able to tell whether downspouts are connected to the
sanitary sewer, and if so, whether disconnection makes sense. They can also let
others know why downspouts should be disconnected and how sewer overflows cost
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The Viking was displayed at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago before falling into disrepair. (Bill Hogan, Chicago Tribune)
Lynn Sove Maxson first saw the Viking, believed to be the oldest viking ship replica in the world, more than 60 years ago on exhibit at Lincoln Park Zoo.
The ship had fallen into disrepair after its appearance at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition. Exposed to the elements, it began to deteriorate underneath its wooden shelter.
As Maxson grew older, she channeled her love for boats and all things Norwegian into roles on multiple committees set up to preserve the aging ship. But over the past four decades, none has been as successful as the latest group, Friends of the Viking Ship, Maxson says.
On Wednesday, the nonprofit organization obtained trusteeship of the vessel from the Chicago Park District with the hope of raising more than $5 million to restore and preserve it.
"The thing with this group is that our agenda is the ship," said Maxson, whose parents were Norwegian immigrants. "Before, some people had other agendas or political influence, but we are all solidly supportive of finding a home for the beautiful ship."
Friends of the Viking Ship hope to move the Viking from its outdoor shelter in Geneva back to Chicago and house it in a permanent, climate-controlled building.
At 17 feet wide and 78 feet long, the oak ship is the length of a tennis court. It's a replica of the Gokstad, an ancient viking ship on display at a museum in Oslo, Norway.
Built in Norway in 1892, the Viking was sailed across the Atlantic a year later by a 12-man crew in 28 days. The trip provided evidence that viking explorers could have reached North America nearly 500 years before Christopher Columbus.
"It's part of our DNA," said Perry Gulbrandsen, an honorary board member of Friends of the Viking Ship and a second-generation Norwegian-American. "It's part of our cultural background and it's also part of the city of Chicago's background."
In June, the Chicago Park District filed a petition in Cook County Circuit Court requesting that the replica be handed over to Friends of the Viking Ship for financial and functional reasons. The district had held trusteeship since 1934.
Friends of the Viking Ship has cared for the ship since 2007, the same year a statewide preservation group declared it one of the 10 most endangered historic sites in Illinois. The nonprofit hosts public tours at the ship's current location in Good Templar Park in Geneva and raises money for restoration projects.
Now that the group has sole trusteeship of the ship, it's shifting its focus to fundraising. President Lorraine Straw said wealthy donors were hesitant to make large contributions before the ship was officially handed over.
"We have a list of about 40 donors who are pretty much awaiting the fact that we take ownership," she said. "Hopefully we can move along with making our ship a very enjoyable lesson in history and educational experience for all who come." | <urn:uuid:1e8f8c5b-1c19-4c54-91ef-e54d8a5d6b90> | {
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Author: Dr Delwyn Dyall-Smith FACD, Dermatologist, 2011.
Periodic fever syndromes are conditions in which the patient experiences recurrent episodes of fever with associated inflammatory symptoms, in the absence of infection, allergy, malignancy, immunodeficiency or autoimmune diseases. They are one category of autoinflammatory syndromes.
Familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) is the most common and best known of the hereditary periodic fever syndromes. Inherited (genetic) forms of periodic fever syndromes are also known as hereditary recurrent fever syndromes. Nonfamilial syndromes have also been described.
Periodic fever syndromes can be genetic conditions. Therefore some periodic fever syndromes are seen predominantly in specific racial groups. Familial Mediterranean fever, for example, affects races originating from around the eastern Mediterranean area.
The hereditary periodic fever syndromes can be classified by the type of inheritance:
Genetic conditions with this type of inheritance require two copies of the abnormal gene; one copy inherited from each parent. Although the defective gene is usually the same in each parent, the actual mutation may be different, i.e., heterogeneous homozygotes or compound heterozygotes. The parents are asymptomatic carriers of the defect.
Autosomal recessive periodic fever syndromes with skin involvement include:
Only a single copy of the defective gene is required to develop symptoms and signs of an autosomal dominant periodic fever syndrome. Therefore the condition is usually inherited from an affected parent or, less commonly, is due to a spontaneous mutation in the affected child.
Autosomal dominant periodic fever syndromes with skin involvement include:
The defective gene has been identified for these hereditary periodic fever syndromes. The defective gene is different for each of the syndromes with the exception being the three clinically distinct syndromes that are now clustered as the cryopyrin-associated periodic syndromes (CAPS).
All periodic fever syndromes result in overstimulation of the innate immune system, usually due to over-activity of interleukin 1.
Nonhereditary periodic fever syndromes with skin involvement include:
The cause of these syndromes is not yet known.
The one clinical feature in common between all the periodic fever syndromes is the recurrent episodes of fever in the absence of infection, autoimmune disease or malignancy.
The frequency of febrile attacks can vary between individuals and syndromes from daily to once every ten years. The duration of the fever during an attack may be hours or be virtually continuous but is usually typical for a particular syndrome. The height of the fever may range from a slight elevation of temperature to over 40 degrees Celsius.
The age at which the febrile attacks begin is also highly variable between the different syndromes with some beginning at or shortly after birth but others being delayed even as late as middle age.
In some periodic fever syndromes, there are well-recognised triggers for a febrile attack, such as generalised exposure to cold triggering a fever in familial cold autoinflammatory syndrome (FCAS). But in others, no trigger is identified.
Most periodic fever syndromes have associated symptoms and signs of inflammation at the same time as the fever. Commonly these affect the serosal surfaces, joints, eyes and skin. In some forms, the predominant associated symptom is severe abdominal pain often leading to unnecessary exploratory surgery. In others, joint or neurological involvement can result in major disability.
Quality of life can be severely impacted, particularly if febrile attacks are frequent or in those forms of periodic fever syndrome that develop joint or neurological complications.
Secondary systemic amyloidosis develops in some periodic fever syndromes, and this can result in life-threatening complications.
Periodic fever syndromes should be suspected clinically when the patient presents with recurrent episodes of fever associated with other inflammatory symptoms. However, this can be difficult if the attacks are very infrequent, such once every few years, or continuous. A family history of such episodes is not always present but is helpful if known.
Periodic fever syndromes can only be considered after infections, allergies, malignancy, immunodeficiencies and autoimmune diseases are excluded.
In children, it can be difficult to distinguish hereditary periodic fevers from the much commoner PFAPA syndrome as there are overlapping clinical features. The Gaslini score may help identify those most likely to benefit from genetic testing, and then to determine the order in which genes should be sequenced.
Some specific periodic fever syndromes can be diagnosed on biochemical testing or challenge with the known trigger. An example of the former is HIDS, which typically is associated with a very high level of IgD in the blood. Triggering of an attack within hours of generalised exposure to cold in FCAS is an example of the latter category.
Genetic testing is often definitive if positive, but not all mutations are known or easily tested for. A negative test does not exclude the diagnosis. In these cases, the diagnosis must be reached on clinical criteria. Genetic testing of the MEFV, TNFRSF1A and MVK genes detects a mutation in 20% of patients with clinical symptoms suggestive of a periodic fever syndrome.
A rapid and complete response to a trial of therapy may support the clinical diagnosis. Familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) responds to colchicine in over 90% of cases. Interleukin-1 blockade with biologic agents results in dramatic resolution of symptoms within hours of the first injection in some specific syndromes.
Acute attacks of hereditary periodic fever syndromes are usually treated with bed rest, anti-inflammatory agents, analgesics and sometimes systemic corticosteroids. The fever does not respond to aspirin or paracetamol.
Avoidance of triggers, where known, can reduce the frequency of attacks. Sufferers of the familial cold-associated syndrome (FCAS) often move to temperate climates to avoid cold winters and hot summers, for example.
To prevent febrile episodes, improve quality of life and minimise longterm complications, continuous treatment may be required for some forms. Apart from colchicine for familial Mediterranean fever, treatment of the hereditary periodic fever syndromes is with biologic agents such as anakinra, given by subcutaneous injection. Treatment should be started as early as possible to prevent the development of life-threatening complications in such periodic fever syndromes.
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DermNet NZ does not provide an online consultation service. If you have any concerns with your skin or its treatment, see a dermatologist for advice. | <urn:uuid:1b325ede-b0ff-4e6f-b232-ac9308fb48ad> | {
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Durrell’s flagship course helps next generation of conservationists hit the ground running
What do you get when you combine a bio-monitoring officer from Cameroon, a wildlife response unit manager from Indonesia, a veterinary officer from Nepal and a field biologist from Haiti?
The answer? An exciting mix of experience, knowledge and passion for wildlife from a group of people who will be part of the next generation of conservationists responsible for saving endangered species from extinction.
Pius Khumbah from Cameroon, Kholis Munawar from Indonesia, Jeewan Thapa from Nepal and Enold Louis-Jean from Haiti are just four of the 14 people from all over the world who have embarked on a 12-week course to gain the Durrell Endangered Species Management Graduate Certificate (DESMAN).
The course is run annually at Durrell’s International Training Centre in Jersey and is the centre’s flagship conservation training course. The 2012 intake have just arrived and will leave in three months’ time equipped to run projects in their own countries and make a tangible difference to conservation.
As well as the latest theory and practice of conservation biology and vital field research techniques, the students will receive training in project management, leadership training and specialist facilitation skills, all of which are a key part of dealing with project teams and stakeholders.
The other students on this year’s DESMAN course represent the Dominican Republic, Mauritius, Philippines, Montserrat, Columbia, China and Finland, Madagascar, Seychelles and Sri Lanka.
Two of the students are already involved in ongoing Durrell projects and demonstrate how the course can make a real difference on the ground. One is Lloydie Martin, a Department of Environment research officer in Montserrat, who collects vital data for the critically endangered Mountain Chicken project. He said: “The motivation for participating in this course is to enhance my knowledge and share my experiences with colleagues. I hope to gain more practical and theoretical knowledge that can be filtered into our annual working activities.”
The other is Pedro Martinez Calcano, from Dominican Republic, the field project manager for the “Last Survivor Project”, which is working to save the last two endemic species of Hispaniolan land mammals, the solenodon and hutia. Pedro said: “I feel that as a Dominican, it is my duty to try my best to prevent their extinction. I feel honoured to have the opportunity to attend the Durrell International Training Centre and get the management and critical thinking skills required to help protect these two animals.”
As with everyone who passes through Durrell’s training programmes, the DESMAN participants will join the Durrell Conservation Learning Network. Durrell are also now using the DESMAN course as a tool to select exceptionally promising candidates for further training, in order that they may help them to develop into the conservation leaders of the future.
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According to the Harvard Health Publications, close to 20 percent of people in the United States have arthritis. Our joints glide, roll, bend, rotate, and allow us to walk, sit, jump, run and perform a multitude of activities with ease. However, as we age, the movements that once seemed so simple and easy get complicated as our joints creak and resist movement, causing pain and discomfort. It’s our duty, therefore, to protect our joints, maximize their utility, mobility, and function for as long as we can. How do we protect aging joints, as we get older, especially after we cross our fifties?
Try the following 15 basic tips to protect your aging joints and alleviate joint pain to make life a little easier.
1. Supplement Your Diet With Glucosamine
Glucosamine is the connective tissue building block that helps rebuilt the cartilage that supports and cushions our joints. Since cartilage wears thin as we age, it’s good to take supplementation with glucosamine to regenerate cartilage tissue and promote joint comfort.
2. Add Omega-3 Fats To Your Diet
Food rich in Omega-2 fatty acids such as olive oil and flax seeds help promote joint comfort, based on recent research studies. Omega-3 fatty acids get incorporated into joint cartilage cells, where they set in place several regulatory mechanisms that help your joints move smoothly. Take in a daily fish oil supplement, cook your food with olive oil or eat flax seeds and wheat germ along with your breakfast porridge.
3. Eat Antioxidant-rich Food To Shield Your Joints
Free radicals damage our skin, our muscles, our immune systems and definitely our bones and joints as well. Taking in plenty of antioxidant-rich fresh fruits and vegetables in your diet along with a daily multivitamin will protect your joints from the daily damage caused by free radical damage. Scientists have discovered that elderly people with better joints contain higher levels of antioxidants in their blood and joint fluids, along with less oxidative damage
4. Take In Regular Exercise
Exercise keeps your muscles well oiled and your joints fluid and supple. Exercises that are specifically helpful to joints are bicycle riding, which is gentle on joints, swimming that allows your body to flex fluidly, and stretches and stair climbing that strengthen your joints and keep you limber.
5. Keep Your Weight Down
The greater your weight, the more wear and tear your joints go through. Over time, your bone structure will be unable to bear your excess weight, and will snap more easily. Your joints can tear and these minute tears in the tender tissue of your joints can get inflamed leading to further complications. Also, obesity can trigger osteoporosis and arthritis, both of which can lead to ultimate joint degeneration.
6. Wear Comfortable Footwear
It’s necessary, as you age, to wear footwear that’s comfortable. Heels, hard soles and tight footwear add pressure on your ankle joints, making them wear out sooner.
7. Avoid Sitting In One Place
Keep your body moving and avoid sitting in one place for more than a half hour. When you remain seated, your joints have to take a great deal of your seated weight, leading to more wear and tear. When you sit back or sleep, use pillows and cushions of the appropriate height, so that the back is straight while you sleep.
8. Keep Your Posture Straight
Sit straight and let your body make a 90-degree angle with your knees; do not stoop. Let your weight rest on your hip and leg bones. Use adequate back support and ensure proper height alignment to a counter, table or desk. When you sit, keep both feet on the floor or foot rail. When you stand, distribute your weight and stress evenly on both feet. Keep your head level; avoid holding the head bent forward nor to one side. Do not sit on your spinal column or tailbone.
9. Enjoy Regular Massages
Regular massages help relax your muscles and joints. Try and get a massage once a week to keep your joints supple and flexible. Don’t crack your joints or pull your fingers and toes.
10. Eats Foods Rich In Vitamin D and Calcium
Foods rich in vitamin D and calcium will keep your bones and joints healthy and supple. Drink milk, take dairy products for calcium, and be partial to broccoli and other foods rich in vitamin D.
11. Get Acupressure For Aching Joints
Acupressure is a great way of alleviating joint pain and discomfort. This alternative treatment method also helps make your joints supple.
12. Do Resistance Training
Strengthen the muscles and ligaments surrounding the joints via consistent resistance training. Doing this protects your joints from damage.
13. Stay Dry And Warm
Rheumatism and arthritis get worse in the cold season. Keep your body warm, and wear full body thermal wear if you live in cold weather regions.
14. Do Not Carry Heavy Loads
Carrying heavy loads will place a greater strain on your joints. Carry things on both shoulders instead of on one. If you use a backpack, ensure that the straps distribute weight evenly on both shoulders.
15. Wear Comfortable Clothing
Tight clothes or clothes made of stiff material can keep your body from expanding naturally. Also, tight clothing can irritate and hamper nerves and disturb your muscle flexing, apart from restricting blood circulation and free flow of lymph fluid. Tight clothes weaken ligaments and can also compress your ribs.
John Smith manages an online nurses uniform store offering a wide range of branded scrub tops, pants and lab coats | <urn:uuid:64ea0f15-ba49-43b8-8d92-d134649147d9> | {
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Energy question of the week: Can burning ice solve our energy problems?
Crude oil, coal and natural gas are not the only fossil fuels hidden deep below the surface of the Earth. Right around the globe, enormous quantities of methane hydrates can be found as many people already know, especially since Frank Schätzings famous novel 'The Swarm' (Der Schwarm). This white combustible ice consists of water and methane gas. If thawed in a controlled fashion, many billions of tons of methane could be obtained from it. The question is: do methane hydrate have a genuine role to play in our energy future?
Based on current estimates, known reserves comprise roughly 12,000 billion tons of methane hydrates. Substantial deposits are located on continental shelves in the Pacific around Japan, off the Pacific coastline of America and to the North of Canada and Siberia. These deposits are located deep down in the seabed and locked into land-based permafrost for a very good reason: methane hydrates cannot form solid ice crystals until the pressure exceeds 20 bar and temperature fall below four degrees Celsius. The ice evaporates at lower pressure or higher temperature, and in the process, releases 164 times its own volume in the form of gas.
Swapping carbon dioxide for methane
In Japan, Russia, USA and Germany, intensive efforts are under way to find ways to exploit these reserves. However, this methane ice, which has formed over millions of years, would have a devastating impact on our climate: it locks in about twice the volume of carbon as the sum total of all reserves of crude oil, natural gas and coal combined. As methane burns, this carbon is converted into the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide. On the other hand, it can be used efficiently in modern gas-fired power stations to generate electricity. At this time, researchers are working on the possibility of separating carbon dioxide from the combustion gases of future power stations, and pumping it separately into subterranean storage facilities.
A gas hydrate block from 1200 metres under water (approx. 600 fathoms), source: Wikimedia Commons. Top image: Burning ice, source: IFM - GEOMAR.
The approach adopted by German researchers at the IFM-Geomar Institute (Leibniz Institute of Marine Sciences) at the University of Kiel is very interesting. As part of the SUGAR project (Submarine Gas hydrate Reservoirs), they wish to run tests to establish if the methane extracted from methane hydrates can be replaced by pumping in carbon dioxide. The principle being that water, through a chemical reaction with carbon dioxide, should form a stable and solid compound of carbon dioxide hydrates.
If methane hydrates were ever extracted from continental shelves without appropriate precautionary measures being taken, the disaster scenario painted by Schätzing in ‘The Swarm’ could occur: without methane hydrates, the shelves on the coasts could become unstable, gigantic landmasses could start to slip and that in turn could trigger tsunamis. Experts are taking these risks seriously and are only experimenting on the extraction of methane hydrates in flat storage locations far from continental shelves.
Extraction unlikely to prove economically viable
There are still many technical questions to answer before the methane in burning ice can be brought to the surface in a usable form. This year, a test extraction operation is scheduled to commence in Alaska during which an attempt will be made to introduce carbon dioxide as a stabilising element. Similar pilot projects on storage deposits on the seabed off the coastline of Japan may be initiated a few years later. At present, it is not possible to predict when or even if at all it will be possible to exploit methane hydrate reserves in an economically feasible manner, with acceptable levels of risk to climate and geological stability.
Weitere Information: SUGAR Project at IFM-GEOMAR
The DLR Energy question of the week in 'The future of energy' Year of Science
The Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) has given the Year of Science 2010 the motto 'The future of energy'. For this reason the science journalist Jan Oliver Löfken will this year answer a question on the subject of energy in his blog each week. Do you have a question about how our energy supply might look in the future? Or do you want to know, for example, how a wave power plant works and how it can efficiently generate electricity? Then send us your question by email. Science journalist Jan Oliver Löfken will investigate the answers and publish them each week in this blog. | <urn:uuid:d52e6c79-254e-44a8-b602-ea5efd036039> | {
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Family: (Caprimulgidae) Nighthawks and Nightjars
Preferred Habitat: Fields and woodlands; suburbs and urban areas.
Seasonal Occurrence: Very common April through October. Breeds in our area.
Call: a buzzy pzeent
Profile by Richard Gibbons: The Common Nighthawk is a medium-sized bird with long narrow wings. During flight it is easily identified by the stiff wing beats and white wing bars. Like most in the nightjar family the nighthawk sports colors of brown, white, gray, and black, which allows it to easily blend into its environment. Another prominent feature of this bird is it large head that is accompanied by its enormous eyes and small beak.
It is suggested that the Nighthawk received its name from its resemblance to smaller hawks while in flight; however, they are neither closely related to hawks, nor are they strictly nocturnal. They are crepuscular, which means they are most active before dusk and after dawn. They can be seen during the day perching on power lines or the ground. Locally, they are often found on fence posts at the Bolivar Flats Shorebird Sanctuary. Common Nighthawks nest on the ground at Bolivar Flats in open areas with some vegetation.
An interesting behavior of the Common Nighthawk is the booming sound it produces during flight. During the breeding season, they will climb to considerable heights in preparation for their spectacular dive. They can come within feet of the ground before they pull out of their dive. The rapid course change creates the booming sound (some say it sounds like a flame thrower) by forcing air through their wings.
Profile by Glenn Olsen: Our Common Nighthawk is in the Caprimulgidae family along with seven other North American species. This group of birds is commonly called goatsuckers, a name that comes from the erroneous folk tale that they feed by sucking on the teats of goats at night. Nightjar and nighthawk are additional terms used to distinguish birds in this family and respectively refer to subfamilies, Caprimulginae and Chordeilinae. Nightjars are the Common Pauraque, Common Poorwill, Buff-collared Nightjar, and the Chuck-will’s-widow. The nighthawks are the Common, Antillean and Lesser Nighthawks.
The Common Nighthawk is the most widespread species of this family and breeds throughout most of the US and Canada. It is the only species that has been documented to "regularly" breed in our immediate area. It nests on open ground like short grass fields, bare ground, sandy areas, gravel or rocky beds, and even flat roof tops. They do not construct nests but may use a shallow depression or simply bare ground. Common Nighthawks feed on insects while in flight, typically beginning at dusk (crepuscular) but may also be observed feeding any time of day on cloudy, overcast days, at night (nocturnal) around soccer/baseball stadiums lights, or other large lights that attract insects.
It is usually easy to locate these birds in the urban and suburban areas of Houston by simply going outside and looking skyward a little before dark. In flight silhouette, the Common Nighthawk appears a little similar to a falcon, but the flight pattern is more erratic as it feeds on insects. The bird appears generally gray or dark but has white bars near the tips of the wings. In our area during migration it is possible to see Chuck-will’s-widow, Whip-poor-will, Common Nighthawk, and rarely the Lesser Nighthawk. The Chuck-will’s-widow and Whip-poor-will begin arriving in our area in mid-March and the Common Nighthawk around mid-April. You can learn about and enjoy nighthawks and nightjars while adding to the database of information for these species by participating in the Nightjar Survey Network.
Profile by Will McDaniel: The Common Nighthawk is a medium-sized member of the nightjar family ranging from 8.7 to 9.8 inches in length with wingspans between 20 and 24 inches. Excellently camouflaged in drab greys, browns, and blacks that blend into the shadows of tree bark and leaf litter, the nighthawk keeps a literal low profile while at rest with its flattened body shape and horizontal posture. They are most conspicuous in flight, where their forked tails and long, sharply angled wings with white patches help them perform the dramatic aerial maneuvers that help them earn their name. Males can be distinguished by a white bar across their forked tails. Nighthawks are most commonly detected and identified by their distinctive cries, the most common of which is a shrill, nasally peeeet. Males are renowned for their unique ‘booming’ call used to impress females and intimidate foes, usually accompanied by a dramatic dive, and many an unwary intruder has been startled by the geyser-like popping hiss of an unseen female defending her nest.
Nighthawks are crepuscular birds, most active shortly before and after dusk and dawn, though daylight sightings are common in spite of their name. Compensating for their uselessly miniscule beaks with enormous, gaping mouths, Nighthawks snatch flying insects out of the air with great agility and swallow them whole, often congregating near street lights and other artificial light sources such as athletic fields to gorge on the attracted insects. Highly adaptable, Nighthawks can be found any place where bugs are plentiful, from forests and marshes to skyscrapers. Nesting takes place in mid-spring to early fall throughout North America from Mexico to Central Canada, after which these otherwise solitary birds flock together in the thousands to migrate south as far as Argentina. Common Nighthawks are a frequent sight above and around the coastal marshes of the Bolivar Peninsula, and local birders seeking to spot one of these fascinating acrobats still have a few weeks to do so (as of August 2019) before they leave Texas for warmer climes. | <urn:uuid:351d8e3f-9af1-4788-8bd9-153651945942> | {
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The passage of a new government program for peanuts leads to a couple of major decisions for farmers, says Nathan Smith, University of Georgia Extension economist. The first decision, he says, is related to the establishment of a peanut base, and the other decision is concerned with what to grow.
The new farm bill replaces the quota system with a marketing loan system of production. “In addition, peanut producers will receive an annual direct payment and a counter-cyclical payment in years of low prices. These two payments will be calculated from a newly established peanut base,” says Smith.
The seven major program crops — corn, cotton, barley, grain sorghum, oats, rice and wheat — currently have payment bases (base acreage times program yield) from which transition (AMTA) payments are calculated through production flexibility contracts, he explains.
“The AMTA payments are ‘decoupled’ from current production, meaning what a producer grows each year under the 1996 farm bill doesn't affect the amount of payment received by the producer. The provision is commonly known as planting flexibility.
“For example, the base acreage does not have to be grown in corn to receive the corn AMTA payment. In most cases, any commodity can be grown on base acreage with the exception of fruits and vegetables, in which there are special rules,” says Smith.
Peanuts, he adds, will have similar rules and payments with the establishment of a peanut base. Producers with a history of producing peanuts from 1998-2001 will be able to establish base acreage and a program yield for peanuts. Unique to peanuts, the producer with peanut base can assign it to a farm on his or on another landowner's land after which it become tied to the land.
The new farm bill, notes Smith, gives producers the option to update base acreage on the major program crops according to 1998-2001 planting history or retain current AMTA bases. Producers also can update program yields to be used in calculating counter-cyclical payments.
Thus, one of the first major decisions for producers, the economist says, is whether to update base production for major program crops or retain their current AMTA base production.
“Several farms have fewer base acres than acres farmed, thus updating to recent history likely is the best choice for these operations. However, a farm cannot have more base acres than owned acres.
“With the establishment of a new peanut base, it's possible some producers could end up with more total base acres on their farm than tillable land they own.
“A decision will have to be made as to which crop base to keep and where to assign peanut base. Since peanut base has a one-time assignment, it can be moved to free up owned acreage.”
Another choice, says Smith, is to decide which base to drop by examining which crop bases provide the larger payments. For example, if the corn direct payment is $20 per acre, cotton is $37 per acre and peanuts $38 per acre, then you might give up corn base to meet owned land restriction.
“An added wrinkle to this decision is the counter-cyclical payment. In years of low prices, a counter-cyclical payment may be made on base acres for each crop. Assume that the maximum counter-cyclical payment for corn, cotton and peanuts is $25, $76 and $111 respectively.
“By adding the counter-cyclical payments to the direct payment, the total potential payments for each crop base would be $45, $113 and $149 per acre for corn, cotton and peanuts respectively. The only guaranteed payment is the direct payment.
“Remember that a low average season price triggers if and how much of a counter-cyclical payment is paid. So, what prices do over the life of the farm bill determines which base will pay more.”
The major adjustment for many peanut farmers will be making planting decisions and deciding what to grow from year to year, says Smith. As a result of the new peanut program, peanut prices will be more responsive to the market. Instead of quota determining supply, market prices (and loan rate) for peanuts and competing crops will be the major factor in how many peanuts are planted.
“Looking at individual decisions, knowing one's cost of production will be very important in accurately projecting and making enterprise decisions. Using University of Georgia Extension budgets as an example, 2002 variable costs for irrigated and non-irrigated peanuts are budgeted at $461 and $404 per acre respectively. Total economic costs are budgeted at $703 and $556 per acre, excluding land management.
“Using a 3,500-pound yield for irrigated peanuts and a 2,500-pound yield for non-irrigated peanuts, the price required to cover total costs — or the break-even price — is $402 per ton and $445 per ton, respectively. When the market isn't offering prices to cover total costs, producers need to at least cover their variable production costs.
“In this case, the break-even price above variable costs is $263 and $332 per ton, respectively. The price received from a contract or the market loan needs to be above these prices at a minimum.”
To compare with other crops such as cotton, look at the returns above variable and total costs for each crop, Smith advises.
Direct and counter-cyclical payments in the new farm bill are not tied to production, he says. “These payments will be received whether you plant peanuts or cotton. This is the new wrinkle of farm programs — planting flexibility. So your planting decisions should be based on the market and your cost of production, not program base payments.”
Summing up the changes in the new farm bill, Smith says the safety net has been increased for program crops, and peanuts now fit under that same policy.
“Though change sometimes is stressful, it also brings new opportunities. By utilizing the marketing loan, producers can have more control over marketing their peanuts. This can be done collectively through cooperatives, for example.”
Access to storage, he adds, will be important in maintaining beneficial interest for marketing loan purposes. “The Georgia grower is agronomically competitive in growing peanuts, so we expect peanuts, along with cotton, to still be grown predominately. An opportunity to emphasize quality is possible under the new program.
“Given current trade policy and future direction, the new peanut program will make U.S. peanuts much more competitive and greatly reduce the threat of imports taking large portions of U.S. market share. Recent increases in domestic demand have gone to imports. Producers and the United States now have the opportunity to recapture this market share.” | <urn:uuid:2879ee17-1964-4837-8a6a-c42287941d12> | {
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Even though we haven’t dealt with all of the lo sa’asehs, I mentioned most of the more common lo sa’asehs that a person can violate, Now let’s go over to the asehs, to the positive commandments that a person can easily transgress by speaking lashon hara.
The first one the Chafetz Chaim mentions is “זָכוֹר אֵת אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה ה’ אֱלֹהֶיךָ לְמִרְיָם בַּדֶּרֶךְ”, remember that which Hashem did to Miriam on the road. Miriam went to Aharon HaKohen saying why is it that Moshe has separated from his wife? We are also nevi’im, why is it that he feels he has to be different than us? And for that Miriam was punished, she got tzara’as, she got leprosy, some kind of tumah state and she had to leave the machaneh for seven days, she had to stay outside the encampment for seven days, a huge embarrassment to a tzadeikes of her level.
Explains the Chafetz Chaim that the Torah is teaching us a tremendous lesson there. What Miriam was saying was that why does Moshe think he is greater than us nevi’im. Miriam was the defender of Moshe. Miriam was the one who put her life on the line for her brother Moshe. Miriam was the one who loved her brother, with tremendous regard. She felt that there was something that Moshe was doing that was not right. She went to Aharon HaKohen, the gadol hador right after Moshe to ask whether it was right. Nevertheless, because she should have known better, she shouldn’t have questioned, it’s considered lashon hara and the Torah considers it so egregious that she had to suffer this public humiliation. The entire nation had to know about her being sent outside the encampment and for seven days she had to sit there.
What the Torah is telling us is that even a beloved person, even a sister speaking for the good of her brother, if she speaks lashon hara, even though she is such a tzadeikes she suffered such a punishment. And explains the Chafetz Chaim, what the Torah is telling us is remember. Because the Torah considers lashon hara not just to be a middas chassidus, like a nice idea; it’s a full prohibition.
Additionally, the Torah gives us a mitzvas aseh to always remember that which Miriam did. Much like we have a mitzvah in Shema to remember Yetzias Mitzrayim, much like we have a mitzvah to remember Shabbos with zachar, we have a mitzvah to remember that which Hashem did to Miriam to remember the seriousness of lashon hara. | <urn:uuid:b5f6452b-bbeb-4379-9b0d-e0efffd85297> | {
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A rare North Pacific right whale has been spotted off the coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia's Far East for the first time, said a local environmental official informed.
"The mammal, accompanied by humpback whales, was observed near the Kozlov cape," he said.
The North Pacific right whale is now extremely rare due to heavy whaling during the19th and 20th centuries . According to the Center for Biological Diversity, the North Pacific right whale is the most endangered whale on Earth, with the current population accounting of only 2,000. Before whaling, there were as many as 50,000 of them.
The spokesman said officials at a local nature reserve took samples of whale's skin using a crossbow in order to carry out genetic testing.
"The examination that has been carried out... proves that it was a Pacific right whale," he said.
He added that a dead North Pacific right whale was once found near the Lopatka cape off the Kamchatka coast | <urn:uuid:12e48ba1-f70b-4be6-af50-67376b7c157e> | {
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|JASON Operation Resilient Planet-Ecology - Your students' scientific mission is to investigate the biological, chemical and physical interactions and resiliency of ecosystems, here on the Great Lakes Basin, the Oceans and the planet! Your students' primary goal is to ensure successful conservation and restoration efforts. Students use scientific research of real scientists to find answers: What is really going on with the invasive species of Zebra and Quagga mussels on the Great Lakes? Can coral reef organisms attached to salt domes and oil platforms have a stable environment at Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary? How is the health of the estuarine system found in Chesapeake Bay? Are there really pristine environments left on the planet? Can the monitoring of whale sounds in Stellwagon National Marine Sanctuary really give us clues about the ecology of the area? What kind of ecological environment has the Titanic become?
Join Host Researchers Dr. Robert D. Ballard, scientist and National Geographic Explorer; Dr. Russell Cuhel of the UWM-Great Lakes WATER Institute; Dr Enrich Sala of SCRIPPS, Dr. Sylvia Earle, National Geographic Explorer, Dr. Leila Hatch of Stellwagon National Marine Sanctuary, and Wisconsin's own Teacher Argonaut, Randy Watts from David Star Lutheran School in Jackson; and Student Argonaut, Conrad McDonald from Washington Island. Your students will compare and contrast ecosystems and the importance for maintaining ecologically healthy environments. JASON uses a multimedia approach: print curriculum, online interactions, video, and a "live" broadcast. For more information visit www.jason.org. | <urn:uuid:2b21263f-e65f-45bd-a1ee-ddab7df1ee5b> | {
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Leatherback Sea Turtle Facts
24 facts about Trinidad's endangered sea turtles...
Going sea turtle watching in Trinidad and Tobago gives you the chance to travel back, to a time before dinosaurs, to witness a struggle for survival that has been going on for over 220 million years.
Here are the sea turtle facts you need to illuminate your leatherback sea turtle watching experience. Sea turtle facts that may even encourage you to get involved with organizations that help conserve Trinidad's critically endangered sea turtles.
| 4 Interesting Leatherback Sea Turtle Facts |
Sea turtles first appeared in the seas over 200 million years ago during the age of the dinosaurs. They are sometimes called the "last dinosaurs", and while they outlived the dinosaurs they are considered critically endangered today.
The leatherback sea turtle is the world's largest reptile. But while they sometimes grow up to 8 ft. long and weigh in excess of 2,000 lbs, an average adult female is usually about 6 feet in length and weights closer to 900 lbs.
Leatherback sea turtles are the most evolved sea turtle, and the only sea turtle capable of surviving in sub-Arctic seas.
They are also the only turtle without vestigial claws on their flippers, scales and a hard shell. Their shells are completely covered in a thick layer of oil saturated fat and skin, and their blood vessels are bundled closely together to retain heat, adaptations which help insulate them in colder waters.
| 4 General Leatherback Sea Turtle Facts |
There are 7 ridges running lengthways down the backs of leatherback sea turtles that help streamline their bodies.
Leatherbacks are very strong swimmers, often traveling over 3,000 miles between feeding and nesting areas. They have been clocked swimming at up to 20 miles/hour, but likely swim on average closer to 1 mile/hour.
Leatherback turtles that nest in Trinidad and Tobago and other Caribbean islands range as far north as Nova Scotia and as far west as the coast of Africa.
Leatherback sea turtles can dive deeper than many whales, to over 2000 ft., in search of their favorite food, jellyfish, but they also eat soft body sea creatures like salps and sea squirts.
| 8 Unusual Leatherback Sea Turtle Facts |
Leatherback sea turtles cannot retract their head and flippers into their shells like fresh water turtles, nor can they swim or crawl backwards, which makes it very difficult to keep them in captivity - one of the reasons they are not exhibited in major marine aquariums.
Turtles are an evolutionary novelty. They are the sole representatives of an ancient linage, and the only vertibrate evolved to have shoulder blades on the inside of it's ribcage.
Scientists are uncertain as to why adult female sea turtles have a pink patch on the top of their heads.
Scientists are also unsure how long leatherback sea turtles live. Some estimated that due to leatherbacks high metabolic rate their life expectancy may be only 60 to 75 years, others speculate that they may be long lived.
Leatherback sea turtles have no teeth; however, their gullets, are lined with hundreds of tiny sharp downward point bony spines that strip up their food, and prevent their pray from escaping once swallowed.
Atlantic leatherback sea turtles lay more eggs than do Pacific leatherbacks. And nest made during the middle of the nesting season usually contain more eggs than those made at either the beginning or end of the nesting season.
Female leather sea turtles enter into a trance like state when laying their eggs. It is during time that researchers approach the animals to collect data.
Leatherbacks lay a number of smaller infertile, or false eggs, on top of their nests, which scientist speculate protect the fertile eggs from the sand.
| 8 Nesting Leatherback Sea Turtle Facts |
The world leatherback populating is estimated at 35,000 adult laying females. Males cannot be counted because the never return to shore after hatching. Very little is known about the mating habits of these elusive ancient marine reptiles.
Trinidad is one of the most important leatherback nesting sites in the world, with approximately 18% of the total world population nesting in Trinidad, about 6,000 females.
At the height of the turtle-nesting season Grande Riviere Beach can attract as many as 200-400 leatherbacks per night, and Matura Beach as many as 150-300 (May through July), both are ideal places to go turtle watching.
The sea turtle nesting or turtle watching season extends from March through to August, when you must have a permit or a guide to visit protected sea turtle nursery beaches at night.
Adult female leatherbacks begin breeding at between 25 to 30 years old, and thereafter breed only every 3 or 4 years. In nesting years they come ashore as many as 7 times during the season, 9 to 10 days apart, to lay clutches of as few as 60 to as many as 200 leathery billiard ball size eggs at a time, though clutches usually average between 80 to 100 sea turtle eggs.
In 60 to 65 days, 70% of these eggs hatch. Waiting until just before dawn to swim up through the loose sand of the nest, baby sea turtles just 2 to 3-inches long then scurry towards the brightest horizon and escape into the waiting sea.
The process of laying sea turtle eggs takes between 1½ to 2 hours, when these gentle reptiles are extremely vulnerable.
During the laying process leatherbacks must haul their enormous bodies up the beach to a point above the high tide line, in an alien environment; dig a wide depression, or body pit, with both front and back flippers; then with alternating back flippers only dig a hole into which they deposit their eggs. Once the laying process is complete they cover the nest and return to the sea.
As few as 1 in 1,000 baby sea turtles will survive long enough to return to Trinidad and Tobago beaches as an adult.
Getting all the sea turtle facts is an important first steps in education your self about these leviathans, but there's so much to learn.
Giant Sea Turtle Watching Tours
Going turtle watching on beaches like Grande Riviere and Matura is another step. Through the ongoing research done on these and other Caribbean beaches we may one day know more about the mysterious lives and courtship rituals of leatherbacks in the open sea.
So, we encourage you to go on a Caribbean adventure and take a Related Topics... Leather-back Sea Turtle Watching Visit the Asa Wright Nature Center Trinidad's Tropical Tree Frogs Visit Trinidad and go hiking to Avocat Falls Suggested Topics... Sunday lime at Maracas Beach Beachcombing at Manzanilla Beach Beautiful Blanchisseuse Beach Untamed Trinidad Beaches like PariaThe Dramatic Beach Scenery of TocoPretty Beaches like Englishman's Beach YOUR Trinidad... YOUR Most Memorable Trinidad Photos GO TO Options... TOP of Leatherback Sea Turtle FactsBack to Adventure and Eco Tours TrinidadHOME PAGE
turtle watching tour to Grande Riviere to find out more about the dangers sea turtles face, and what you can do to protect Trinidad's important giant sea turtle nursery. | <urn:uuid:d5018e4f-e403-46cf-b897-0f70acc381b6> | {
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The ability to flex from your normal, natural extincts to adapt to changes in work demands is a valued skill by employers. Adaptability is usually a soft skill that is useful in many jobs. However, certain careers exaggerate the importance of adaptability because of the nature of the work.
Adaptability has become central for strong leaders in the early 21st century. A 2008 Economist Intelligence Unit study indicated ability to motivate and cultural flexibility as two keys for effective leaders in the coming years. As workplaces become more diverse and constantly evolve, effective managers typically need to adapt their own leadership styles to fit employee needs or features of a given situation. For instance, a task-oriented leader may need to emphasize coaching and mentoring with a young, developing staff.
The marketing umbrella includes a number of careers requiring adaptability. Sales, marketing, advertising, event management and public relations positions all require some level of adaptability. People in these roles work with a wide array of clients or projects and need to adjust their skills and talents to fit each particular situation. Plus, the nature of marketing activities evolves with business and industry trends. For instance, analytical skills have become more important in the early 21st century as research and data have become primary in developing campaigns. Long-established professionals have also had to adapt to trends toward digital and social media.
Consultants are hired by organizations to assist in specific projects or to assess and treat problems. People working in these careers must have a breadth of competency in business acumen. However, they must also have the ability to adapt to different company leaders and communication styles. Each case has its own symptoms and issues that must be addressed in a professional, customized way. Additionally, predicting schedules of work with clients is difficult, so you need the flexibility to complete work on indefinite projects.
Human resource professionals manage company employment operations, recruitment and selection, compensation and benefits, and strategy HR planning. People in this field need strong adaptability based on the people they interact with and evolution in the field. HR professionals collaborate as a team, but they also coordinate with other business functions. They must also interact with varying employees and personality types through training and assistance. The role of HR constantly evolves as well. Prior to the 20th century, it was largely an operational function. In the early 21st century, HR professionals need a broader awareness of business operations to participate in strategic planning. HR professionals must also adjust employment policies and compensation programs to keep up with trends and changing legal standards in employment.
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Faces can have various foreground and background colors. When you specify a color for a face—for instance, when customizing the face (see Face Customization)—you can use either a color name or an RGB triplet.
A color name is a pre-defined name, such as ‘dark orange’ or
‘medium sea green’. To view a list of color names, type M-x
list-colors-display. To control the order in which colors are shown,
list-colors-sort. If you run this command on a
graphical display, it shows the full range of color names known to
Emacs (these are the standard X11 color names, defined in X’s
rgb.txt file). If you run the command on a text terminal, it
shows only a small subset of colors that can be safely displayed on
such terminals. However, Emacs understands X11 color names even on
text terminals; if a face is given a color specified by an X11 color
name, it is displayed using the closest-matching terminal color.
An RGB triplet is a string of the form ‘#RRGGBB’. Each of the R, G, and B components is a hexadecimal number specifying the component’s relative intensity, one to four digits long (usually two digits are used). The components must have the same number of digits. For hexadecimal values A to F, either upper or lower case are acceptable.
The M-x list-colors-display command also shows the equivalent RGB triplet for each named color. For instance, ‘medium sea green’ is equivalent to ‘#3CB371’.
You can change the foreground and background colors of a face with M-x set-face-foreground and M-x set-face-background. These commands prompt in the minibuffer for a face name and a color, with completion, and then set that face to use the specified color. They affect the face colors on all frames, but their effects do not persist for future Emacs sessions, unlike using the customization buffer or X resources. You can also use frame parameters to set foreground and background colors for a specific frame; See Frame Parameters. | <urn:uuid:fe7faa2c-3871-4c02-9e6c-35fea26c22c4> | {
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Full year of visual writing prompts writing an essay can be a daunting task for both teachers and students in terms of creating and crafting a high quality essay, and. Essay definition, a short literary composition on a particular theme or subject, usually in prose and generally analytic, speculative, or interpretative see more. Best answer: short essay – is it really that short monday, june 8, 2009 in essay writing tips by admin when we talk about a short essay, it. What is the difference between essay and short story - essay is a piece of writing on a particular subject short story is a narrative, shorter in length. What is an expository essay the expository essay is a genre of essay that requires the student to investigate an idea, evaluate evidence, expound on the idea, and.
Short essay on life article happiness can be evasive and thus not to feel disappointed and disheartened rather remember that the pain of thorns is short. Whatsapp messenger: more than 1 billion people in over 180 countries use whatsapp to stay in touch with friends and family, anytime and anywhere whatsapp is free and. How long should your common application short answer essay be what is the ideal word count for the short answer on the common application.
Read this essay and over 1,500,000 others like it now don't miss your chance to earn better grades and be a better writer. How to format a short essay guidelines for writing a short essay are very similar to the basic guidelines for essay writing the only difference is a length. I’m here to give you an analytical essay outline that’ll make you might consider starting by writing a short summary of each article to make sure you.
What is the difference between an essay and a composition short story, novel and free verse strictly speaking there is a lot of difference between an essay. Writing an academic essay means fashioning a coherent set of ideas into an argument because essays are essentially linear—they offer one idea at a time—they must. We believe that learning how to format a short essay is critical for any college and university student write the academic essays takes effort and practice.
An essay is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument — but the definition is vague the essay is a short piece furthermore. 31 writing the short essay your instructor will often assign a short essay as a means of assessing your understanding of particular historical. | <urn:uuid:d2a4dd28-f02f-479d-9df7-0f41a47dce24> | {
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Privacy and Security Notice
The Earth's Energy Budget
The way the Earth interacts with the sun's energy can be displayed in a diagram called the _________Earth's energy budgetglobe warmingscheduleEarth's flow chart. It displays the sun's energy that reaches us and how much of that energy is _________goingabsorbed and reflecteddestroyedwasted by the earth and its atmosphere. Solar energy reaches earth as _________Supermana gaselectromagnetic radiationquickly as possible. Once the energy reaches earth, some of it is absorbed by the atmosphere, including _________lakesmountainspeopleclouds. Some of it makes it to the earth's surface, and is absorbed by land and oceans. The amount of energy absorbed affects _________tidestemperaturenothingfishing. The energy that is not absorbed by the earth or its atmosphere is _________cooledtossedreflectedinjected back out to space in the same wavelengths in which it came to earth.
On average, the amount of energy coming in is equal to the amount of energy going out. So, we say the earth's energy budget is _________sporadicout of whackboringbalanced. If more energy was coming in than was going out, the earth's temperature would _________increasedecreaseremain constantgo up and down. On the other hand, if too much energy is reflected, and not absorbed, we'd see a _________jumpriseincreasedecrease in the earth's temperatures.
Of all of the sun's energy that _________misseshitspassesheats the Earth, about 70% is absorbed by the land, ocean, atmosphere and _________moondirtairclouds and about 30% is reflected back into space. Which of the four _________line graphspie chartsbar graphsscatter plots correctly shows this relationship?
Pie chart _________ABCD shows that _________20%30%50%70% of the sun's energy is reflected by the Earth and 70% is absorbed by the Earth.
This page is maintained by Steve Gagnon.
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Standards, morals, values, and ethics have become increasingly complicated in today’s society where absolutes have given way to tolerance and ambiguity. This affects human resource managers, where decisions will affect people jobs. Ethics is the discipline that deals with what is right and wrong or with moral duty and obligation (Moody, 2013, p.24). Human resource management deals with the work force planning and development. Human resource ethics is the application of ethical principles to human resource relationships and activities (Mondy, 2013, p.30). It is the human resource department that really matters when it comes to ethics since it deals with human issues such as compensation, safety, health and development. It is important that companies are ethical in their decision making. When a company has good ethical behavior, they serve as a role model for their employees as well as their community. This behavior promotes social responsibility and lets employees know that the company is trustworthy with integrity. It is mainly up to the individual, employee or the human social unit who benefits from ethics. Ethics is important for the following reasons: satisfying human basic needs, creating credibility, uniting people with leadership, improving decision making, long term gains and securing society (Importance of Ethics, 2013, para 2). Companies must put strategies in place in order to ensure all employees within the company are able to make ethical decisions. Using ethical business practices are a key for long term success.
2 Current Situation
Most large corporations within the United States now have a code of ethics, which encompasses written conduct standards, internal education, and formal agreements on industry standards (Mondy, 2013, p.24). Even with standards in place, business ethics scandals continue to make headlines today. Although ethics involve more issue than compensation, it seems as if the majority of unethical acts are motivated by financial reasons. Recently, a group of Atlanta teachers were indicted on a cheating scandal. Teachers would sit in a room for hours erasing wrong answers and marking the correct answers. The motivation behind this was for the, superintendent to receive high test scores because high test scores equal bonus money. Doctors are billing insurance companies for work not completed; by doing this doctors are committing fraud in order to have financial gain. Investment firms are operating ponzi schemes, which involve selling ideas of large returns, whereas companies are taking funds from new investors and paying dividends to old investors. There is no form of occupation that has not had its own ethnical issues in the recent years.
In order to avoid situations mentioned in the examples, human resource management aim to attract the right people with the right frame of mind to contribute to the company. They are looking for individuals that are able to grow and with the company. As the company grows, employees also grow in knowledge and experience in order to support the organization. Quality decision making does not come automatically. It takes training and experience to make effective decisions. Decision making is a task HR is faced with every day. They have to decide on a daily basis on how issues should be handled ethically and with integrity.
3 Analysis of Issue
Human resources play a major role in applying ethical principles. Human resource managers set examples for the rest of the company. Most large companies have a human resource department in which employees have someone to help them with different issues, which includes managing sick days, holiday pay,...
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The Law of Nations or the Principles of Natural Law (1758)
Emmerich de Vattel
How a Nation Is to Use Her Right of Domain, in Order to Discharge Her Duties Towards Other Nations, with Respect to the Innocent Use of Things
§ 131. General duty of the proprietor.
SINCE the law of nations treats as well of the duties of states as of their rights, it is not sufficient that we have explained, on the subject of innocent use, what all nations have a right to require from the proprietor: we are now to consider what influence his duties to others ought to have on their proprietor’s conduct. As it belongs to him to judge whether the use be really innocent, and not productive of any detriment or inconvenience to himself, he ought not to give a refusal unless it be grounded upon real and substantial reasons: this is a maxim of equity; he ought not even to stop at trifles, a slight loss, or any little inconvenience: humanity forbids this; and the mutual love which men owe to each other, requires greater sacrifices. It would certainly be too great a deviation from that universal benevolence which ought to unite the human race, to refuse a considerable advantage to an individual, or to a whole nation, whenever the grant of it might happen to be productive of the most trifling loss or the slightest inconvenience to ourselves. In this respect, therefore, a nation ought on all occasions to regulate her conduct by reasons proportioned to the advantages and necessities of others, and to reckon as nothing a small expense or a supportable inconvenience, when great good will thence result to another nation. But she is under no obligation to incur heavy expenses or embarrassments, for the sake of furnishing others with the use of any thing, when such use is neither necessary nor of any great utility to them. The sacrifice we here require is not contrary to the interests of the nation: it is natural to think that the others will behave in the same manner in return; and how great the advantages that will result to all states from such a line of conduct!
§ 132. Innocent passage.1
The introduction of property cannot be supposed to have deprived nations of the general right of traversing the earth for the purposes of mutual intercourse, of carrying on commerce with each other, and for other just reasons. It is only on particular occasions, when the owner of a country thinks it would be prejudicial or dangerous to allow a passage through it, that he ought to refuse permission to pass. He is therefore bound to grant a passage for lawful purposes, whenever he can do it without inconvenience to himself. And he cannot lawfully annex burdensome conditions to a permission which he is obliged to grant, and which he cannot refuse if he wishes to discharge his duty, and not abuse his right of property. The count of Lupfen having improperly stopped some merchandise in Alsace, and complaints being made on the subject to the emperor Sigismund, who was then at the council of Constance, that prince assembled the electors, princes, and deputies of towns, to examine the affair. The opinion of the burgrave of Nuremberg deserves to be mentioned: “God,” said he, “has created heaven for himself and his saints, and has given the earth to mankind, intending it for the advantage of the poor as well as of the rich. The roads are for their use, and God has not subjected them to any taxes.” He condemned the count of Lupfen to restore the merchandise, and to pay costs and damages, because he could not justify his seizure by any peculiar right. The emperor approved this opinion, and passed sentence accordingly.2
§ 133. Sureties may be required.
But, if any apprehension of danger arise from the grant of liberty to pass through a country, the state has a right to require sureties: the party who wishes to pass cannot refuse them, a passage being only so far due to him as it is attended with no inconvenience.
§ 134. Passage of merchandise.3
In like manner, a passage ought also to be granted for merchandise: and, as this is in general productive of no inconvenience, to refuse it without just reason is injuring a nation, and endeavoring to deprive her of the means of carrying on a trade with other states. If this passage occasions any inconvenience, any expense for the preservation of canals and highways, we may exact a compensation for it by toll duties (Book I. § 303).
§ 135. Residence in the country.
In explaining the effects of domain we have said above (§§ 64 and 100) that the owner of the territory may forbid the entrance into it, or permit it on such conditions as he thinks proper. We were then treating of his external right, that right which foreigners are bound to respect. But now that we are considering the matter in another view, and as it relates to his duties and to his internal right, we may venture to assert that he cannot, without particular and important reasons, refuse permission, either to pass through or reside in the country, to foreigners who desire it for lawful purposes. For, their passage or their residence being in this case an innocent advantage, the law of nature does not give him a right to refuse it: and, though other nations and other men in general are obliged to submit to his judgment (§§ 128 and 130), he does not the less offend against his duty, if he refuses without sufficient reason: he then acts without any true right; he only abuses his external right. He cannot, therefore without some particular and cogent reason. refuse the liberty of residence to a foreigner who comes into the country with the hope of recovering his health, or for the sake of acquiring instruction in the schools and academies. A difference in religion is not a sufficient reason to exclude him, provided he do not engage in controversial disputes with a view to disseminate his tenets; for, that difference does not deprive him of the rights of humanity.
§ 136. How we are to act towards foreigners who desire a perpetual residence.
We have seen (§ 125) how the right of necessity may in certain cases authorize a people, who are driven from the place of their residence, to settle in the territory of another nation. Every state ought, doubtless, to grant to so unfortunate a people every aid and assistance which she can bestow without being wanting to herself: but to grant them an establishment in the territories of the nation, is a very delicate step, the consequences of which should be maturely considered by the conductor of the state. The emperors Probus and Valens experienced the evil effects of their conduct in having admitted into the territories of the empire numerous bands of Gepidæ, Vandals, Goths, and other barbarians.4 If the sovereign finds that such a step would be attended with too great an inconvenience or danger, he has a right to refuse an establishment to those fugitive people, or to adopt, on their admission, every precaution that prudence can dictate to him. One of the safest will be, not to permit those foreigners to reside together in the same part of the country, there to keep up the form of a separate nation. Men who have not been able to defend their own country, cannot pretend to any right to establish themselves in the territory of another, in order to maintain themselves there as a nation in a body.5 The sovereign who harbors them may therefore disperse them, and distribute them into the towns and provinces that are in want of inhabitants. In this manner his charity will turn to his own advantage, to the increase of his power, and to the greater benefit of the state. What a difference is observable in Brandenburg since the settlement of the French refugees! The great elector, Frederic William, offered an asylum to those unfortunate people; he provided for their expenses on the road, and with truly regal munificence established them in his states; by which conduct that beneficent and generous prince merited the title of a wise and able politician.
§ 137. Right accruing from a general permission.
When, by the laws or the custom of a state, certain actions are generally permitted to foreigners, as, for instance, traveling freely through the country without any express permission, marrying there, buying or selling merchandise, hunting, fishing, etc., we cannot exclude any one nation from the benefit of the general permission without doing her an injury, unless there be some particular and lawful reason for refusing to that nation what is granted indiscriminately to others. The question here, it is to be observed, only relates to those actions which are productive of innocent advantage: and, as the nation allows them to foreigners without distinction, she, by the very nature of that general permission, affords sufficient proof that she deems them innocent with respect to herself; which amounts to a declaration that foreigners have a right to them (§ 127): the innocence of such acts is manifested by the confession of the state; and the refusal of an advantage that is manifestly innocent, is an injury (§ 129). Besides, to attempt without any reason to lay one nation under a prohibition where an indiscriminate permission is enjoyed by all others, is an injurious distinction, since it can only proceed from hatred or contempt. If there by any particular and well-founded reason for the exception, the advantage resulting from the act in question can no longer be deemed an innocent one with respect to the excepted nation; consequently no injury is done to them. The state may also by way of punishment, except from the general permission a people who have given her just cause of complaint.
§ 138. A right granted as a favor.
As to rights of this nature granted to one or more nations for particular reasons, they are conferred on them as favors, either by treaty, or through gratitude for some particular service: those to whom the same rights are refused cannot consider themselves as offended. The nation does not esteem the advantage accruing from those acts to be an innocent one, since she does not indiscriminately allow them to all nations: and she may confer on whom she pleases any rights over her own property, without affording just grounds to anybody else, either for uttering a complaint, or forming pretensions to the same favor.
§ 139. The nation ought to be courteous.
Humanity is not confined to the bare grant of a permission to foreign nations to make an innocent use of what belongs to us: it moreover requires that we should even facilitate to them the means of deriving advantage from it, so far as we can do this without injury to ourselves. Thus, it becomes a well-regulated state to promote the general establishment of inns where travelers may procure lodging and food at a fair price, to watch over their safety, and to see that they be treated with equity and humanity. A polite nation should give the kindest reception to foreigners, receive them with politeness, and on every occasion show a disposition to oblige them. by these means every citizen, while he discharges his duty to mankind in general, will at the same time render essential services to his country. Glory is the certain reward of virtue; and the good-will which is gained by an amiable character, is often productive of consequences highly important to the state. No nation is entitled to greater praise in this respect than the French: foreigners nowhere meet a reception more agreeable, or better calculated to prevent their regretting the immense sums they annually spend at Paris.
1. See, in general, 1 Chitty’s Com. Law, 84, 88.
2. Stettler, vol. i. p. 114. Tschudi, vol ii. pp. 27, 28.
3. Pufendorf, b. 3, ch. 3, s. 6. p. 29.
4. Vopiscus, Prob. c. sviii. Ammian. Marcell. lib. xxxi. Socrat. Hist. Eccles. lib. iv. c. 28.
5. Cæsar replied to the Tenchtheri and Usipetes, who wanted to retain possession of the territories they had seized, that it was not just for them to invade the territories of others, since they had not been able to defend their own. Neque verum esse, qui suos fines tueri non potuerint, alienos occupare. De Bello Gallico, lib. iv, cap. vi. | <urn:uuid:6a97fd13-fd3f-4f84-ab06-3ae1e124626e> | {
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This is a follow up post of the Part 1 An Intro to ELF File Format.
We’ve seen the section headers in section header table above, now we discuss sections in detail.
Below are a list of commonly seen section types. (Note that this is not a complete list)
- NULL: this marks the section header as inactive. It does not have an associated section.
- PROGBITS: program content, including code, data, debugging info etc.
- SYMTAB and DYNSYM: the section holds a symbol table. SYMTAB provides symbols for link editing and dynamic linking. DYNSYM holds only a minimal set of dynamic linking symbols.
- STRTAB: holds a string table.
- RELA: relocation entries with explicit addends.
- REL: relocation entries without explicit addends.
- DYNAMIC: information for dynamic linking.
- HASH: holds a symbol hash table for looking up the symbol in a ELF file quickly.
- NOTE: information that marks the file.
- NOBITS: like PROGBITS, but without occupying space in the file. Used for BSS data allocated at program load time.
We can see the section type from the section header screenshots above. For example, the .interp is a section of type PROGBITS.
Sections also have flags associated with them. Below is a list of commonly seen flags.
- WRITE (W): the section contains data that is writable when loaded.
- ALLOC (A): the section occupies memory when the program is loaded.
- EXECINSTR (X): the section contains executable machine code.
- MERGE (M): the data in the section may be merged to eliminate duplication.
- STRINGS (S): the data in the section contain null-terminated character strings.
Below is a list of commonly seen sections.
|.bss||NOBITS||ALLOC and WRITE||holds uninitialized data. The system initializes the data with zeros before the program starts to run.|
|.comment||PROGBITS||MERGE and STRINGS||some remarks about the file|
|.data||PROGBITS||ALLOC and WRITE||holds initialized data.|
|.debug||PROGBITS||holds information for symbolic debugging|
|.dynamic||DYNAMIC||ALLOC (WRITE, processor specific)||holds dynamic linking info.|
|.dynstr||STRTAB||ALLOC||strings needed by dynamic linking, most commonly the names associated with dynamic linking symbol table entries|
|.dynsym||DYNSYM||ALLOC||symbol table for dynamic linking|
|.fini||PROGBITS||ALLOC and EXEC||process termination code|
|.got||PROGBITS||ALLOC and WRITE||Global Offset Table (GOT).|
|.hash||HASH||ALLOC||symbol hash table|
|.init||PROGBITS||ALLOC and EXEC||process initialization code|
|.interp||PROGBITS||ALLOC on if file has a loadable segment that includes relocation||path name of a program interpreter.|
|.plt||PROGBITS||ALLOC and EXEC||Procedure Linkage Table (PLT)|
|.rel<name>||REL||ALLOC on if file has a loadable segment that includes relocation||relocation info, <name> indicates the section to which the relocations apply|
|.rela<name>||RELA||ALLOC on if file has a loadable segment that includes relocation||relocation info, <name> indicates the section to which the relocations apply|
|.strtab||STRTAB||ALLOC on if the file has a loadable segment that includes the symbol string table||strings. Most commonly the strings that represent the names associated with symbol table entries.|
|.symtab||SYMTAB||ALLOC on if file has a loadable segment that includes the symbol table||symbol table.|
|.text||PROGBITS||ALLOC and EXEC||executable code of a program|
Executable and shared object ELF files statically represent programs. A system needs to use these files to create dynamic representation (process image) in order to execute the program. A process image consists of segments which holds text, data ,stack etc created from the segments in ELF files.
We can get various information about segments of ELF file from its program headers. Below is a screenshot of program headers in test executable file.
$ readelf -l test
Each record has several fields.
- Type: the segment type.
- Offset: the location of the first byte of the segment with respect to the beginning of the file
- VirtAddr: the virtual address of the first byte of the segment in memory
- PhysAddr: only make sure on systems where physical addressing is relevant.
- FileSiz: segment size in number of bytes in file image of the segment
- MemSiz: segment size in number of bytes in memory image of the segment.
- Flg: flags
- Align: memory alignment. Values 0 or 1 means no alignment is needed. Otherwise, VirtAddr%Align == Offset%Align
Below is a list of commonly seen segment types in ELF files.
- NULL: unused
- LOAD: a loadable segment.
- DYNAMIC: dynamic linking info
- INTERP: the segment specifies the path to an interpreter. If present, must proceed any loadable segment.
- NOTE: location and size of auxiliary info.
- PHDR: specifies the size and location of the program header itself, both in file image and memory image of the program.
A segment consists of one or more sections. The two most commonly seen segments are the text segment and the data segment (both are of LOAD type).
A text segment contains read-only instructions and data. It usually includes the following sections: .text, .rodata, .hash, .dynsym, .dynstr, .plt, .rel.got. In the screenshot above, the third entry (with LOAD type) is a text segment.
A data segment contains writable data and instructions. It usually includes the following sections: .data, .dynamic, .got, .bss. In the screenshot above, the fourth entry (with LOAD type) is a text segment.
1. System V Application Binary Interface, Apr 2001 http://refspecs.linuxbase.org/elf/gabi4+/contents.html
2. The ELF Object File Format: Introduction. 1995. http://www.linuxjournal.com/article/1059?page=0,0
3. The ELF Object File Format by Dissection. 1995. http://www.linuxjournal.com/article/1060 | <urn:uuid:71c21276-aaa0-43b8-b009-77b6bbc309d1> | {
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Infant Nutrition Education is an online accredited Continuing Professional Development (CPD) program that aims to support primary care physicians and healthcare professionals (HCPs) in the best practice management of early life nutrition. Participants will consolidate their understanding of the importance of the first 1000 days of life, functional gastrointestinal disorders, cows’ milk allergy and preterm infants.
Module 1: First 1000 days of life
In this module you will gain a practical foundation of knowledge on the importance of nutrition in the first 1000 days of life, from conception to toddlerhood, and related considerations for the management of infant nutrition in UK primary care, with particular relevance for GPs, health visitors and other community practitioners. This module provides a review of:
- Nutrition during pregnancy
- The importance of breastmilk and supporting breastfeeding
- Infant growth and common feeding complications
- Starting solids | <urn:uuid:1e17b507-d691-4c30-a201-58bff9c8e123> | {
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There are two different kinds of Stormtroopers. The most popular definition of a Stormtrooper is the soldiers that fight for the Empire, seen in the Star Wars movies. The Real Life Stormtroopers existed around the World War II era. A Stormtrooper was a member of the Nazi Militia, noted for brutality and violence. The Word "Stormtrooper" comes from the German words "Storm"(division) and "Truppen"(troops)
1. Its The Rebels! Shoot Them! (misses horribly)
2. Zeig Heil! Feindlich! Jagen Sie! (misses horribly)
The Urban Dictionary Mug
One side has the word, one side has the definition. Microwave and dishwasher safe. Lotsa space for your liquids.
Buy the mug | <urn:uuid:d48719b4-2807-4390-a7c0-9bc0180ca6ca> | {
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Laser diodes Treatment in Delhi
Laser Diodes Treatment in Delhi, Laser diodes assume a critical part in our regular day to day existences. They are exceptionally shabby and little.
Laser diodes are the littlest of all the known lasers. Their size is a small amount of a millimeter.
Laser diodes are otherwise called semiconductor lasers, intersection lasers, intersection diode lasers or infusion lasers. Before going into laser diodes, let us first take a gander at diode itself.
The light outflow of a semiconductor laser:
A semiconductor laser (LD) is a gadget that causes laser swaying by streaming an electric current to a semiconductor.
The system of light outflow is the same as a light-producing diode (LED). Light is created by streaming the forward current to a p-n intersection.
In forward inclination activity, the p-type layer is associated with the positive terminal and the n-type layer is associated with the negative terminal, electrons enter from the n-type layer and gaps from the p-type layer.
At the point when the two meet at the intersection, an electron drops into an opening and light is discharged at the time.
The essential structure of semiconductor lasers
The essential structure of a semiconductor laser has appeared in Figure 1. The dynamic layer (light discharge layer) sandwiched between the p-and n-type clad layers (twofold heterostructure) is framed on an n-type substrate, and voltage is connected over the p-n intersection from the anodes.
The two edges of the dynamic layer have reflected like surface. When the forward voltage is connected, electrons combined with gaps at the p-n intersection and emits the light.
This light isn’t a laser yet; it is bound to the dynamic layer on the grounds that the refractive record of the clad layers is lower than that of the dynamic layer.
What’s more, the two finishes of the dynamic layer go about as a reflecting mirror where the light responds in the dynamic layer.
At that point, the light is intensified by the fortified emanation process and laser swaying is created.
What is a Laser Diode:
A Laser Diode is a semiconductor device similar to a light-emitting diode (LED). It uses p-n junction to emit coherent light in which all the waves are at the same frequency and phase.
This coherent light is produced by the laser diode using a process termed as “Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation”, which is abbreviated as the LASER.
And since a p-n junction is used to produce laser light, this device is named as a laser diode. Before we learn more about the working process of a laser diode, let’s look at how laser light is different from other types of light, and its advantages.
The light from sunlight or from most of the artificial light sources contains waves of multiple wavelengths and they are out of phase with each other.
The light waves from monochromatic light sources like incandescent bulb also are not in phase with each other.
In contrast to the previous light sources, laser diodes produce a narrow beam of laser light in which all the light waves have similar wavelengths and they travel together with their peaks lined up. This is why laser beams are very bright and can be focused over a very tiny spot.
Of all the devices that produce laser light, laser diodes or semiconductor lasers are the most efficient and they come in smaller packages.
So they are widely used in various devices like laser printers, barcode readers, security systems, Autonomous vehicles (LIDAR), Fiber optic communications etc.
How does a Laser Diode work?
The working of a laser diode takes place in three main steps:
The laser diode consists of a p-n junction where holes and electrons exist. (Here, a hole means the absence of an electron).
When a certain voltage is applied at the p-n junction, the electrons absorb energy and they transition to a higher energy level.
Holes are formed at the original position of the excited electron. The electrons stay in this excited state without recombining with holes for a very small duration of time, termed as “recombination time” or “upper-state lifetime”. The recombination time is about a nanosecond for most laser diodes.
After the upper-state lifetime of excited electrons, they recombine with holes. As the electrons fall from higher energy level to a lower energy level, the difference in energy is converted into photons or electromagnetic radiation.
This same process is used to produce light in LEDs. The energy of the emitted photon is given by the difference between the two energy levels.
We need more coherent photons from the laser diode than the ones emitted through the process of spontaneous emission.
A partially reflecting mirror is used on either side of the diode so that the photons released from spontaneous emission are trapped in the p-n junction until their concentration reaches a threshold value.
These trapped photons stimulate the excited electrons to recombine with holes even before their recombination time.
This results in the release of more photons that are in exact phase with the initial photons and so the output gets amplified.
Once the photon concentration goes above a threshold, they escape from the partially reflecting mirrors, resulting in a bright monochromatic coherent light.
Construction of a Laser Diode:
A simple semiconductor laser diode is made up of the following parts in order:
- Metal Contact
- P-type Material
- Active/Intrinsic Region (N-type Material)
- N-type Material
- Metal Contact.
Types of Laser Diodes
Double Heterostructure Laser Diode
In this type of laser diodes, an additional confinement layer of a different material is sandwiched between the two p-type and n-type materials.
Each of the junction between different materials is called a heterostructure. Because of the presence of two heterostructures, this type of laser diode is named as a double heterostructure (DH) laser diode.
The advantage of this DH laser diode is that that the active region is confined to a thin layer which gives better optical amplification.
Quantum Well Laser Diode
The quantum well laser diode has a very thin middle layer, which acts as a quantum well. The electrons will be able to use quantum energy levels when transitioning from a higher energy level to lower energy level. This gives a better efficiency for this type of laser diode.
Separate Confinement Heterostructure Laser Diode
The thin middle layer in the quantum well laser diode is very small for confining emitted light effectively.
To compensate this, in the separate confinement heterostructure laser diode, another two layers are added over the three initial layers.
These layers have a lower refractive index and help in confining the emitted light effectively.
Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Laser Diode (VCSEL)
All the previously discussed laser diodes, the optical cavity is placed perpendicular to the current flow.
In the vertical cavity surface emitting laser diodes, however, the optical cavity is along the axis of current flow. The partially reflecting mirrors are placed near the ends of an optical cavity.
- Quantum Cascade Laser Diode
- Interband Cascade Laser Diode
- Distributed Bragg Reflector Laser Diode
- Distributed Feedback Laser Diode
- External Cavity Diode Laser
- Vertical External Cavity Surface Emitting Laser Diode (VCSEL).
LASER DIODE TREATMENT IN DELHI:
Diode laser hair removal in Delhi eliminates unwanted hair by the emitting a beam of light that is absorbed by the pigment in the hair i.e melanin.
The energy of the laser is concentrated in the hair shaft, effectively destroying it without affecting the surrounding skin.
The diode laser hair removal in Delhi is the most effective of all laser wavelengths for hair reduction. Diode laser can remove hair from all parts of the body including the face, neck, arms, underarms, abdomen, back and legs. Diode laser can also treat sensitive areas like chest and bikini lines.
A diode laser uses semiconductor technology that produces the coherent projection of light in the visible to infrared range.
It uses a light beam with a narrow spectrum to target specific chromophores in the skin. Compared to other laser systems such as the Ruby and Alexandrite lasers.
The 800nm diode laser wavelength offers the deepest penetration levels and superior melanin absorption.
These unique characteristics make the diode laser the most suitable technology for laser hair removal in Delhi, enabling safe and effective treatment of all skin and hair types, in all body areas.
There may be some adverse pigment effects, but these are transient. The Diode laser is the best overall laser for all six skin types based on long-term use and safety and is especially effective in people with skin types 1 to 4.
Understanding diode laser hair removal technology:
The key to successful diode laser hair removal is the deliverance of high energy into the skin.
The energy is selectively absorbed by the melanin surrounding the hair follicle whilst not impacting the surrounding tissue.
Diode lasers use a single wavelength of light that has a high abruption rate in melanin. As the melanin heats up it destroys the root and blood flow to the follicle disabling the hair growth permanently.
High-quality laser hair removal machines such as The Primelase HR and The Elysion incorporate crystal freeze refrigeration contact cooling to protect the surface of the skin.
Making the treatment a comfortable, pain-free experience for patients. Diode lasers deliver high frequency, low fluence pulses and can be safely used on all skin types.
How Does A Diode Laser Work?
Diode lasers hair removal in Delhi use the principle of selective photothermolysis (abbreviated SPTL) to target specific chromophores in the skin, usually melanin or blood.
The lasers damage the chromophores by selectively heating them while leaving surrounding tissue unharmed.
When treating unwanted hair, for example, the melanin in the hair follicles is targeted and damaged which results in the disruption of hair growth and regeneration.
A diode laser can be complemented by cooling technology, or other pain-reducing methods which improve treatment efficacy and patient comfort.
- Laser energy is selectively absorbed by the melanin in the hair follicle and converted to heat, diffusing to and injuring stem cells in bulb and bulge.
- Most hair is permanently removed.
- Hair that does regrow is finer and lighter than before.
- Area cooled before, during and after.
- Fluence carefully selected and increased to levels short of epidermal injury.
- Immediate effect- vaporization of the hair shaft.
- Later – perifollicular erythema and edema.
Advantages of Diode laser
- The Diode laser hair removal in Delhi features a longer wavelength and thus able to provide better results among dark-skinned people.
- This laser provides a safer and deeper penetration into the skin layer.
- Large areas of the body tend to recover faster.
- The rotatable 10-inch color touchscreen makes convenient operation.
- Combined with Bi-polar RF, enhancing much better results.
- High-level generator ensures powerful energy and longer working time.
- Fast treatment: adopt specific wavelength 808 mm. Each pulse reaches the deeper skin.
- The speed of large area hair removal significantly increases.
- In business your customers are king. Diode laser hair removal in Delhi is all about delivering the most effective technology that gives high client satisfaction and the most ROI for your business.
- However, not all diode lasers are created equal so it’s important to understand critical factors that deliver on this.
- Effectively pulses mean cash so a smaller spot size requires more shots to treat a specific area.
- However, with larger spot sizes it is important to remember the laser hair removal machine must have the power to handle a larger spot size.
- The spot size, power and technical specifications of a diode laser hair machine can be easily used to help you can select the right model for your business.
Some Important Things:
It is often assumed that laser hair removal leads to the permanent removal of hair. This is partially correct since a patient can expect 90% reduction of hair.
Diode laser hair removal treatment in Delhi is an attractive alternative to shaving, waxing, depilatories, or electrolysis. However, it may not be the right choice for everyone.
People with naturally dark pigmented skin or deep tans are not fit for diode laser hair removal treatment.
This is mainly due to their darker skin, which has the tendency of absorbing too much of the laser energy resulting in blistering or permanent skin discoloration.
Although improvements have been made in diode laser hair removal treatment techniques, people with darker skin still require multiple careful sessions to achieve the desired result.
This treatment also does not work well on individuals with light colored hair containing very little melanin.
Diode laser hair removal treatment is ideally suited for people with lighter skin and dark hair because they require fewer treatments and achieve faster results.
Apart from diode laser treatment, ‘alexandrite’ is also a popular tool for hair removal. Alexandrite basically inhibits hair growth by deeply penetrating the hair follicles in the dermis of the skin.
In a diode laser hair removal treatment, along with laser, use of temperature is there. They both together immobilize the hair follicle eliminating its ability to produce hair.
There are various companies offering diode laser hair removal treatment in Delhi, reliable, and well-equipped place for such treatments.
It is one of the leading clinics with specialists and skin care physicians. For more detailed information on diode laser hair removal, laser hair removal treatment | <urn:uuid:525dc387-38d5-47d9-8c52-81d4623424ff> | {
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Creating an Inviting Nursing Home
The interior design and features of a nursing home are very important and can affect the well-being of residents. It is about choosing the appropriate lighting, colours, fixtures, and furniture to emulate a homely environment which is safe and comfortable.
Colour affects people emotionally and physically. It may promote social interaction, promote eating and help individuals find their way around. It contributes hugely to an intriguing and inspirational atmosphere. Many dementia-friendly colour schemes are possible. They ought to reflect people’s spiritual and religious needs and ethnic and professional backgrounds. Where there could be personalisation, colour should reflect personal preferences.
Ageing leads to diminished vision, mainly because of changes in the eye, and individuals with dementia frequently have vision issues including diminished depth perception, spatial disorientation, altered colour perception and decreased capacity to comprehend contrasts.
Like many elderly people, individuals with dementia might
have cataracts, macular degeneration, diabetes retinopathy, color-blindness and glaucoma. Blurred eyesight and reduction of peripheral and central vision would be the most serious consequences of these impairments. Some residents may have custom instruments to enhance their quality of life however some are severely impaired. Therefore, colour plays a huge role in providing comfort and happiness to the elderly. Always consider softened and familiar colours when designing your nursing home.
Lighting helps powerful colour comparison. The sum of natural daylight ought to impact the selection of colours as colour is clearly altered by various light sources. Carpet, wall colour, fabrics, accessories, and furniture seem much brighter in direct daylight compared to under artificial lighting. Examine your colour options daily and daylight where they should be utilized. Adequate light assists with fall prevention.
Effects of reduced natural sunlight levels comprise:
- Worsened sundowning
- Weak wayfinding
- Lower degrees of ability to perform daily tasks, mainly for individuals severely cognitively impaired
- Disrupted circadian rhythm
- Bad vitamin D synthesis
- Poor calcium intake
Natural lighting can enhance physical health and should be a key characteristic in designing buildings that are heal
thy. The ideal lighting system brings natural light indoors.
Architects and designers have strategies to disperse light. They may:
- Utilize many resources of daylight from a variety of directions
- Hide daylight sources from sight
- Utilize taller ceilings and greater window openings to allow light move farther into buildings
- Utilize skylights, clerestories and light shelves to decrease glare
Having more natural lighting can decrease energy costs; however, glare and inconsistency of light can be an issue. Significant factors for a high grade of light include:
- Glare control
- Flicker-free light
- Uniform basic lighting
- Directing light sources to visual activity areas
Fixtures and fittings:
Fixtures and fittings like grab rails, showers and bathrooms give precious pathways and informative clues to individuals with dementia. When picking fittings concentrate on what’s comfortable and simple to use. What’s recognizable to a single person might not have to the following: intimacy relates to an individual’s life history and to the cultural and sociological background.
Pick fittings and fixtures that:
- Appear recognisable
- Belong to a national setting
- Are comfy to utilise
- Are secure
- Are colour-contrasted
- Suit individuals with reduced guide agility
Fixtures and fittings are sometimes utilised for casual Functions. A towel rail may turn into a catch rail in a crisis and needs to be pow
erful enough to take the burden of the man with it.
Handles are less difficult than doorknobs to utilise. When picking handles for doors, cabinets and wardrobes remember C-shaped handles are easier to grasp, largely for those who have reduced agility. Fixing handles at a 45-degree angle into the ground is most appropriate for individuals with seriously diminished agility.
Furniture and Furnishings:
Furniture and furnishings are possibly what makes an environment feel like home. They ought to be colour contrasted for simple visibility. Furniture must have rounded edges to aid injury prevention and must reflect home-like spaces and individual tastes. Some folks might need specially designed beds, a traditional bed head generates a more home-like atmosphere. Residents ought to be able to sit down on the edge of their mattress. The conventional seat height of a mattress is 600mm. Always purchase top-quality mattresses.
They need to:
- Be supportive and firm
- Reflect older people’s wants
- Be flame resistant
- Possess a watertight cover
Flooring materials are often grouped as resilient (sheet vinyl, vinyl plastic, and plastic tile), hard surface and carpet. When picking finishes, consider their long-term advantages and the effect of tough surfaces. Carpet and resilient flooring seem better, are more silent, and therefore are somewhat more home-like. Ensure floors accommodate for any medical instruments such as wheelchairs to be easily used.
Cushions and Cabinets:
Fabric drapes can create a cosy atmosphere and help decrease sound. Use curtains which could be pulled around by hand instead of drapes using cords and pulleys or venetian blinds that are fiddly to operate. Cushions can make a home-like sense of living and individual bedrooms and are a simple way for individuals to re-create their own spaces. They are a good opportunity to add a splash of colour. | <urn:uuid:752a54ac-d96b-41b6-a4c4-28f34b6d8c8b> | {
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Do you feel a sudden discomfort in your ears? Do your ears feel blocked? And, can you barely hear those around you? It is not impossible that the ear wax in the ear canal is the one causing it. Moreover, this usually goes along with pain and itching. The condition is actually common, however, if it is not treated on the right time, it might cause some complications. What really is an ear wax, what causes its buildup, and what are its symptoms? Are there safe remedies to remove ear wax without going to the doctor? Read on, if you want to know all the answers to your questions.
What is Ear Wax Build-Up?
Table of Contents
Ear wax or cerumen, as what doctors call it, is a yellowish waxy stuff in the ears. The tiny glands in the ear canal are the one that secretes it. This substance is meant to protect the ear by means of covering the ear canal. Components of the earwax help protect the ears from dust, dirt, bacteria, and irritation.
Moreover, cerumen or ear wax serves as a lubricant which traps the dirt in the ear while reducing the growth of bacteria. The removal of ear wax should only be done when required to and not on a regular basis. Why? This is because the ear wax is the natural protection of the inner ear and most especially the eardrums.
Hence, a small amount of ear wax is normal and healthy. In fact, if the ear wax cannot do its job anymore since it’s getting old, it naturally comes out of the ear canal. However, there are times that for some reasons, some people acquire too much ear wax in their ears.
What Causes the Buildup of Ear Wax?
As stated earlier, ear wax is produced by the body to protect the outer and inner ears against dust, germs, and some small objects that may enter in the ear canals. Furthermore, it also protects the skin that lines the ear canals from glut water.
When the glands in the ears secrete a large amount of wax, it starts to pile up and become hard. The normal cleaning method will only push the wax more into the ear which may cause some negative side effects or complications.
Symptoms of Ear Wax Buildup
If you experience any of the following symptoms, you might be suffering from ear canal blockage:
-Sudden pain in the ear.
-The hearing capacity is diminishing.
-There’s a discharge of fluid-like substance in the inner ear.
-There is a ringing sound in the ear.
-Vertigo or dizziness.
-There is a blockage sensation or feeling of fullness in the ear.
-An unbearable itching inside the ear.
If you happen to feel these symptoms, it’s better to clean your ears immediately to avoid any complications. Furthermore, if you think your condition is worse, ask for doctor’s advice.
Safe Remedies to Remove Ear Wax
Ear wax is very common to us, however, when it is excessive, it might cause some complications. The complications might cause you to worry about yourself too much, therefore, treating it is very important. You don’t need to go to the doctor just to treat this condition. You can treat it by yourself since there are safe remedies to remove ear wax that can be done in the comfort of your home. Here are some of it:
Baby Oil. The contents of baby oil help in making the ear wax smoother and much easier to remove from the ear.
Warm Water. If you flush your ears with how to water it will get rid of the excess ear wax. Its gentle force will help in dislodging the wax, which makes it easier to remove the ear wax.
Salt Water. Some say that this is one of the best home remedies to remove ear wax. The method helps in smoothening the wax inside the ear, hence, making it easier to remove the ear wax.
Rubbing Alcohol and Vinegar. This is actually an age-old safe remedy to remove ear wax. If you mix alcohol and vinegar, it’ll be a perfect solution in dissolving the ear wax. The alcohol will be the drying agent while the vinegar serves as the bacteria and fungi fighter.
Baking Soda. One of the safe remedies to remove ear wax, baking soda is beneficial in removing all the excess ear wax in the ear. Furthermore, it also helps in making the ear much cleaner.
Hydrogen Peroxide. This is one of the best home remedies to remove ear wax. How? This is because it has an effervescent property which easily removes the ear wax and all its debris from the ear canal.
The buildup of ear wax in the ear may get very annoying and may lead to some complications. Better to treat it with some home remedies for ear wax. You can incorporate it into your daily routines since it will not take too much of your time. If you find it hard to cure your condition, don’t hesitate to go and visit a professional. | <urn:uuid:8ba0dc4c-c5fb-4941-aefc-63c15d0f46b8> | {
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Getting seven to eight solid hours of sleep each night might seem an almost impossible luxury to many people. But not getting enough sleep is known to impair mental function and increase the risk for heart disease, among other ill effects. Accumulating evidence also suggests that even short-term, partial sleep deprivation could pave the way for weight gain and other negative metabolic consequences.
More than 28 percent of adults in the U.S. report that they get less than six hours of sleep a night, with this cumulative deprivation becoming more common in the past three decades. And now that more than 35 percent of U.S. adults are currently obese, researchers have been searching for potential links between the two conditions, in hopes of reducing the increasing health and economic burden of obesity. Establishing lack of sleep as a risk factor for weight gain could have important clinical and public health effects, possibly allowing people to make simple lifestyle changes to improve their metabolic health.
A new report, published online October 24 in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, reviews 18 carefully controlled laboratory studies that tested human subjects' physiological and behavioral responses to sleep deprivation as they relate to metabolic health.
Reena Mehra, an associate professor of medicine who studies sleep and health at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and who was not involved in the new analysis, notes that the new paper is "a well done review of the experimental data."
The researchers found that studies of people without sleep-related conditions who got consecutive nights of four to six hours of sleep revealed a wide range of negative effects involving appetite hormone signaling, physical activity, eating behavior and even fat-loss rates. "From a population health perspective, this helps to get people to understand that sleep deprivation really does have an impact on your health," Mehra says.
To sleep, perchance to eat less
Perhaps some of the best-documented effects of sleep deprivation on weight are based on two powerful hormones: ghrelin and leptin. Ghrelin is involved in sending hunger signals and leptin helps to tell you that you are full. In one study, after just two consecutive nights of four-hours' sleep, test subjects had a 28 percent higher ghrelin (hunger) hormone level and 18 percent lower leptin (satiety) hormone level in their blood compared with subjects who had spent 10 hours a night in bed. In the same study, for those who were sleep deprived, "self-reported hunger and appetite ratings significantly increased by 24 percent and 23 percent, respectively," noted the authors of the review paper, which was led by Julie Shlisky, a researcher at The New York Obesity Nutrition Research Center at Saint Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center. "The greatest increase in appetite rating was for energy-dense, high-carbohydrate foods," Shlisky and her co-authors noted. Other studies found additional increases in fat and saturated fat consumed by those suffering from sleep deprivation. One study also found a change in another eating signal called peptide YY, which is thought to tell the body it is full after eating enough. It dropped off in a group of subjects who had been allowed only five hours in bed for two nights, suggesting that these sleepy subjects would be more inclined to eat more given the opportunity.
Not all of the studies found such drastic differences in hormone levels. But many have also documented study subjects eating more and/or more often in the lab after they have had consecutive nights of partial sleep deprivation. One study tested women, reducing their nightly sleep from seven to four hours over the course of four nights. During the sleep deprivation phase, women ate an average of about 400 more calories daily than they had at the beginning of the session and even gained weight over the course of the short study.
As Shlisky and her colleagues point out in their paper, people who are awake longer simply have more opportunities to eat. "Partial sleep deprivation may increase the risk of overeating in the evening due to low circulating leptin levels and additional time spent awake," the researchers noted, adding that "evening and late-night hours are when overeating of less-healthful foods is most likely to occur." Furthermore, additional research that shows "impulse control and delayed gratification are lowered with sleep deprivation, perhaps making sleep-deprived individuals more vulnerable to hedonic eating," rather than resort to healthful foods to sate hunger.
Stressed and sleepy
Do these extra waking hours also help us get in more physical activity? As with eating, it might seem reasonable to think that being awake longer would lead to more beneficial activity, resulting in more energy expended. Not necessarily, according to the researchers. One study found that after just two nights of being allowed only four hours asleep, subjects had "significantly lower activity" than those subjects allowed eight hours rest. Although lab study results on exercise levels after sleep deprivation have been mixed, people generally report feeling more lethargic and less capable of getting the recommended moderate- to high-intensity exercise. So, although one might spend an extra two to four hours prone in bed, during the 16 to 17 hours of wakefulness a well-rested person would be more likely to meet exercise recommendations and improve his or her metabolism.
Sleep deprivation can also lead to muscle loss and fat gain. With too little sleep, the body is also more likely to produce the stress-response hormone cortisol. After sleep deprivation, subjects in several studies had higher levels of cortisol later in the day, a time when it should be tapering off to prepare the body for rest. Heightened cortisol prompts the body to store more fat and be more inclined to use other soft tissue, such as muscle, as energy, which means that sleep-deprived dieters lose more muscle and gain more fat than do those who are well rested. One study found that after two weeks of minor calorie restriction (10 percent less than their daily energy expenditure), subjects who were getting 5.5 hours in bed a night lost just 0.6 kilogram of fat but 2.4 kilograms of other tissue, such as muscle; subjects who got 8.5 hours slumber each night lost 1.4 kilograms of fat and 1.5 kilograms of other tissue. "Some of these metabolic effects occur pretty quickly," Mehra notes.
The studies reviewed in the current report were all small and of short duration. But larger, long-term epidemiologic studies have come back with similar results. Nevertheless, the relationship between sleep deprivation and weight gain is still not crystal clear. Obesity itself can contribute to sleep loss. Frequent co-occurring conditions, such as sleep apnea (disrupted breathing during sleep), are large contributors to disrupted and poor-quality sleep in the general population. So is obesity causing sleep deprivation, rather than the other way around? "There could be a bidirectional relationship," Mehra says. Although sleep apnea and other conditions can make for low-quality sleep, which can then also lead to heart disease, Mehra suggests that there is ample data that show people who began as normal weight and healthy but did not get enough sleep, over time developed worse health outcomes.
"I think there's room for us to learn more about the underlying mechanisms," Mehra says. But she notes that losing sleep is likely contributing to metabolic disregulation, at the very least: "I think we can pretty safely say, getting insufficient sleep is detrimental to your health," including metabolic health.
Not all doctors and certainly not all patients currently focus on sleep as a potentially important intervention for weight loss and metabolic health. For example, people trying to lose weight, especially via calorie reduction and exercise, might find it particularly difficult to feel full, ignore cravings for unhealthful foods and get enough high-energy exercise if they are short on sleep. "Clinicians assisting in weight-loss interventions may improve patient outcomes by discussing sleep time within a healthy lifestyle intervention," the researchers noted. Mehra adds that many of the patients referred to her for sleep-related concerns seem surprised to hear they should be getting more sleep.
Of course, getting more sleep can be difficult, especially with perpetually lit indoor environments and the glow of screens confusing our circadian rhythms. "Demands of a modern lifestyle, excessive time in front of brightly lit computer and television screens, shift work and jet lag, among other factors, result in partial sleep deprivation," Shlisky and her colleagues noted. But this new report, and other accumulating studies, suggest that it might be an important, and relatively simple step compared with eating well and exercising in the battle against the bulge, and for a healthy life in general. | <urn:uuid:41bc1670-b8a8-4f45-81ef-9b880279e10b> | {
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Big Data and the Doomsday Machine
In 1086, following a great political convulsion throughout England, William the Conqueror commissioned one of the largest data gatherings performed up to that day. So painstakingly tedious were the Royal Commissioners in collecting all information related to the number of persons, land, and goods that the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle recorded, “there was not one single hide, nor a yard of land, nay, moreover...not even an ox, nor a cow, nor a swine was there left, that was not set down in his writ.”
The aim of this massive undertaking, of course, was to make sure that all taxes, dues, and proceeds were being collected, and to have an authoritative “database” by which the State, or Crown, could enforce its fiscal rights to land and wealth.
Given its comprehensive detail and supreme authority, this megafile of information became known as the “Domesday” Book (today: “Doomsday”), named after the biblical Day of Judgment when everyone's life is laid bare.
Fast forward to today, and we see governments are still up to their dirty tricks. Although now, instead of manually collecting all our data by hand in one large book, it is done automatically in a vast computational network of corporations and governmental agencies storing, tracking, and modeling society-at-large.
Interestingly, for most, the idea of "Doomsday" only involves worldwide destruction. With the advent of the hydrogen bomb and its terrifying explosive power, this image became solidified and displaced all other considerations where now, when we speak of a doomsday machine or device, there are few who trace its origins back to the relevatory detail of one's life.
Yet, in reality, the power inherent to a doomsday machine does not lie in a massive thermonuclear explosion. The true power lies in what creates it. As John von Neumann, who helped create the first hydrogen weapon, Ivy Mike, said, “I am thinking about something much more important than bombs. I am thinking about computers.”
As George Dyson recounts in his recent book, Turing’s Cathedral, “Computers were essential to the initiation of nuclear explosions, and to understanding what happens next.” More poetically, he writes, “Numerical simulation of [nuclear] chain reactions within computers initiated a chain reaction among computers, with machines and codes proliferating as explosively as the phenomena they were designed to help us understand. It is no coincidence that the most destructive and the most constructive of human inventions appeared at exactly the same time.”
This bring us to today, where another explosion—a Big Bang, if you will—of such magnitude has occurred that we can only describe it using the same vague language we use to describe the birth of our universe: "Big Data".
The runaway explosion of computational power coupled with unimaginable data has yielded a scale of intelligence that is beyond human. Consider some points from Viktor Mayer-Schonberger and Kenneth Cukier’s recent book, “Big Data: A Revolution That Will Transform How We Live, Work, and Think”:
- By processing 50 million of the most common search terms through 450 million different mathematical models, Google was able to predict the spread of the H1N1 flu virus in near real-time, far quicker than the CDC using reports provided from doctors.
- Using modern computation it took a decade to finally decode the human genome. Now, ten years later, using Big Data techniques, it takes a single day.
- “Google processes more than 24 petabytes of data per day, a volume that is thousands of times the quantity of all printed material in the U.S. Library of Congress.”
- If all the digital information in the world were printed on books, it would “cover the entire surface of the United States some 52 layers thick. If it were placed on CD-ROMs and stacked up, they would stretch to the moon in five separate piles.”
- Since the invention of the Gutenberg printing press, it took 50 years for the amount of information to double. This now occurs roughly every three years.
- Using Big Data, the Obama campaign simulated the election 66,000 times every night using characteristics like age, sex, race, neighborhood, voting record, and consumer data to predict and guarantee the results ahead of time.
- MIT scientists automated the process of tracking inflation in real-time using software tracking half a million products online. It takes the BLS hundreds of staff, costs $250 million per year, and suffers a delay of a few weeks.
- By tracking 1,260 data points per second related to heart rate, respiration rate, temperature, blood pressure, and so on, Dr. Carolyn McGregor found that the vital signs of premature babies actually stabilize, not deteriorate, right before a major infection. Not only was this never known, but it defied common wisdom.
- Using Big Data on credit scores and a wealth of other variables, FICO’s CEO boasted in 2011, “We know what you’re going to do tomorrow.”
The number of astonishing changes and developments arising due to big data are just too long to list, which is why I’d highly recommend reading the book listed above to get a grasp of what’s taking place.
Coming back to where we started, consider the following admonition from Mayer-Schonberger and Cukier given the realities of ubiquitous data and computation:
“[A]lgorithms will predict the likelihood that one will get a heart attack (and pay more for health insurance), default on a mortgage (and be denied a loan), or commit a crime (and perhaps get arrested in advance). It leads to an ethical consideration of the role of free will versus the dictatorship of data. Should individual volition trump big data, even if statistics argue otherwise? Just as the printing press prepared the ground for laws guaranteeing free speech—which didn’t exist earlier because there was so little written expression to protect—the age of big data will require new rules to safeguard the sanctity of the individual.”
When faced with the twin creation of the bomb and modern computer, von Neumann woke one night and told his wife, “What we are creating now is a monster whose influence is going to change history, provided there is any history left.” It wasn’t the bomb, however, that worried him most. It was, as Dyson writes, “the growing powers of machines.”
Ironically, what the writers of “Big Data” teach us is that the true power of the machine does not lie inside silicon and microchips, but us. We provide the data it needs to get bigger, smarter, and more powerful. Yet—here’s the most important part—big data isn’t about machines getting smarter, but society processing information at a larger and higher scale than humanly possible. Still, Mayer-Schonberger and Cukier warn, the age we are entering “will require new rules to safeguard the sanctity of the individual.” What sanctity are they referring to?
Today, with the NSA leaks, we now know that the government is actively creating a much more powerful “Doomsday Machine” than we ever imagined. As Edward Snowden warned, “When a new leader is elected, they'll flip the switch, say that because of the crisis, because of the dangers that we face in the world—some new and unpredicted threat—we need more authority; we need more power. And there will be nothing the people can do at that point to oppose it. And it'll be turnkey tyranny."
Edward Snowden was wrong on one point: the “Doomsday Machine” contains no switch, nor can it be turned off. Why? Because we—in the massive current of data flooding the earth—are what power it. To truly get rid of such a “machine” then, would require doomsday of, well, the biblical sort.
Cris Sheridan is Senior Editor of Financial Sense. You can follow him on Twitter: @CrisSheridan
About Cris Sheridan
Cris Sheridan Archive
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|01/20/2015||@War: The Rise of the Military-Internet Complex||bcast|
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|01/13/2015||John Butler: Parallels to ’97-’98 Currency Crisis Signal Caution||bcast|
|01/05/2015||European Vacation, Anyone?||story|
|01/02/2015||Richard Duncan: Why QE 4 Is Inevitable||bcast|
|12/31/2014||OMFIF’s David Marsh: Worldwide Shift by Central Banks Into Stock Market||bcast|
|12/26/2014||Michael Shedlock: Why Hyperinflationists (and Deflationists) Got It Wrong||bcast|
|12/24/2014||Marc Chandler: Three Major Themes Driving Global Markets||bcast| | <urn:uuid:564b7ecd-235a-4f20-ac60-b4fbf078b868> | {
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Looking for 7th Grade Math Vocabulary aligned to the TEKS? This resource contains tools to monitor, develop, and assess math vocabulary. Have your students create their own Math Dictionary or Classroom Word Wall. Use as a planning tool for Intervention or STAAR Prep. Plan ahead with your PLC and Grade Level. Vocabulary is compiled based off the New TEKS and the most recently released STAAR Assessments.
♥This resource is also available in my Middle School TEKS Math Vocabulary Bundle.
♥Directions and ideas for use
♥A list of all math vocabulary words grouped by Reporting Category and Knowledge and Skills
♥A Frayer Model Graphic Organizer Template for each word (153 words Included)
♥A Blank Frayer Model Template (for additional words you would like to add)
♥My Math Dictionary Cover Pages (color and black/white versions included)
♥Math Vocabulary Checklist (to monitor student progress)
♥Levels of Vocabulary Acquisition Rubric (to monitor student progress)
♥191 Pages - In Zip File format
*There is not an answer key, students create their own unique graphic organizers.
How to Use?
♥Use for PLC Grade Level Planning
♥Assessment - Use Vocabulary Checklist and Rubric to monitor student progress
♥Review, Intervention or STAAR Prep - Set up a Word Work Workstation area. Simply make copies of the needed pages and have students use their math books, math journals, notes, or vocabulary websites to complete their Frayer Models. Not every word needs to be completed. Have students highlight the words from the included list that they don’t fully understand and create a graphic organizer for those terms.
♥Math Dictionary - Set up your Word Work Workstation area and utilize it all year. Have students add to their math dictionaries throughout the year. By the end of the year students will have a complete and unique Math Dictionary!
♥Math Word Wall - Use templates to have students create a Math Word Wall
Copyright © Catherine Solanik. All rights reserved by author. This product is to be used by the original downloader only. Copying for more than one teacher, classroom, department, school, or school system is prohibited. This product may not be distributed or displayed digitally for public view. Failure to comply is a copyright infringement and a violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). Clipart and elements found in this PDF are copyrighted and cannot be extracted and used outside of this file without permission or license. Intended for classroom and personal use only.
♥ I hope this description helps to clarify! If you have any questions or would like to contact me feel free to email me at [email protected].
Visit My Store for More Resources. | <urn:uuid:c306a413-2121-4a78-a4ab-82bdadc6ceaa> | {
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The Governments of France, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the United States of America have signed conventions with the German Federal Republic which will establish a new relationship with that country. These conventions, as well as the treaties for a European Defense Community and a European Coal and Steel Community, of which France is a signatory, provide a new basis for uniting Europe and for the realization of Germany's partnership in the European Community. They are designed to prevent the resurgence of former tensions and conflicts among the free nations of Europe and any future revival of aggressive militarism. They make possible the removal of the special restraints hitherto imposed on the Federal Republic of Germany and permit its participation as an equal partner in Western defense.
These conventions and treaties respond to the desire to provide by united efforts for the prosperity and security of Western Europe. The Governments of the United Kingdom and the United States consider that the establishment and development of these institutions of the European Community correspond to their own basic interests and will therefore lend them every possible cooperation and support.
Moreover, Western Defense is a common enterprise in which the Governments of the United Kingdom and the United States are already partners through membership of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
These bonds are now strengthened by the system of reciprocal guarantees agreed to between the member States of the European Defense Community, between these member States and the United Kingdom and also between these member States and the member States of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
For these various reasons, including the fact that these new guarantees will apply to the States concerned only as members of one or the other of these organizations, the Governments of the United Kingdom and the United States have an abiding interest, as has the Government of France, in the effectiveness of the treaty creating the European Defense Community and in the strength and integrity of that Community. Accordingly, if any action from whatever quarter threatens the integrity or unity of the Community, the two Governments will regard this as a threat to their own security. They will act in accordance with Article 4 of the North Atlantic Treaty. Moreover, they have each expressed their resolve to station such forces on the continent of Europe, including the Federal Republic of Germany, as they deem necessary and appropriate to contribute to the joint defense of the North Atlantic Treaty area, having regard to their obligations under the North Atlantic Treaty, their interest in the integrity of the European Defense Community, and their special responsibilities in Germany.
The security and welfare of Berlin and the maintenance of the position of the three powers there are regarded by the three powers as essential elements of the peace of the free world in the present international situation. Accordingly, they will maintain armed forces within the territory of Berlin as long as their responsibilities require it. They therefore reaffirm that they will treat any attack against Berlin from any quarter as an attack upon their forces and themselves.
These new security guarantees supersede the assurances contained in the declaration of the Foreign Ministers of France, the United Kingdom and the United States at New York on September 19th, 1950.
Source: Western Declaration on Germany, the European Defense Community, and Berlin (May 27, 1952); reprinted in Documents on Germany, 1944-1959: Background Documents on Germany, 1944-1959, and a Chronology of Political Developments affecting Berlin, 1945-1956. Washington, DC: General Printing Office, 1959, pp. 102-03. | <urn:uuid:d95b29f9-e57f-4563-9261-842449706631> | {
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The Singapore River is a river in Singapore with great historical importance. It has an extraordinary story to tell about Singapore. The Singapore River flows from the Central Area, which lies in the Central Region in the southern part of Singapore before emptying into the ocean.
As the Central Area is treated as a central business district, nearly all land surrounding it is commercial. It is one of about 90 rivers in Singapore and its islands. It is the place where Raffles made the 1st trading port in Singapore. The Singapore River is the most famous river in Singapore.
The mouth of the Singapore River was the old Port of Singapore, being naturally sheltered by the southern islands. Historically, the city of Singapore initially grew around the port so the river mouth became the centre of trade, commerce and finance. To this day, area around the old Singapore River mouth, the Downtown Core, remains the most expensive and economically important piece of land in Singapore.
Singapore River is where the colourful and romantic history of the river and the myths and legends can still conjure up memories of the lighters, bumboats, tongkangs with their painted eyes to see the danger ahead and sampans of yesteryear. This is where the Malayan princes once sailed and this is where the bullock carts plodded their way up and down each bank as the river found its way to the former rocky river mouth. This is also where an early civilisation was conquered by the Javanese Majapahit Empire, in the year 1376. | <urn:uuid:96f89e33-5b88-4705-a7be-969f82c4320b> | {
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- What is Heaven?
- Description of Heaven
- In the Bible
- In Christianity
- The Essence of Heaven
- Faith in Heaven
- Living in Heaven
- What is Heaven Like?
- Entering Heaven in the Christian Faith
- Existence of Heaven
- Supernatural Character of Heaven and the Beatific Vision
Heaven is the place where God dwells. It is a location that is wholly spiritual in nature. Christianity defines heaven as being in the presence of God with places prepared for the faithful by Jesus and is viewed as eternal bliss beyond that which can currently be known. Those who are allowed into heaven are given new bodies that do not decay and death will be gone. It is also possible there are different ‘levels’ of heaven according to the apostle Paul who describes his journey to the third heaven (2 Cor. 12:2).
Heaven is a term that has three distinct meanings in the Bible. It is most commonly known as the abode of God and the angels, and the final destination of all who have put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ. The word heaven is also used in scripture to refer to the Earth’s atmosphere, and again in reference to interstellar space.
The most frequently used Hebrew word for heaven in the Old Testament is samayim, signifying “heaved up things” or “the heights.” In the Greek New Testament it is ouranos, which denotes “sky”, or “air”. These words refer to the atmosphere just above the earth (Genesis 1:20, etc.); to the firmament in which the sun and moon and stars are located (Genesis 1:17, etc.); to God’s abode, for, although God is omnipresent, He manifests Himself in a special manner in the light and grandeur of the firmament (Psalm 2:4, etc.); to the abode of the angels, for they are constantly with God and see His face (Matthew 22:30). The Old Testament has no word for universe, and to express the idea there is the frequent “heaven and earth.” We read of “the heaven and the heaven” (Deuteronomy 10:14), and of a man’s being “caught up into the third heaven” (2 Corinthians 12:2). With God in heaven are likewise the souls of the just (2 Corinthians 5:1; Matthew 5:3, 12). In Ephesians 4:8-16, we are told that Christ conducted to heaven the patriarchs who had been in limbo (limbus patrum). Thus the term heaven has come to designate both the happiness and the abode of just in the next life.
In Holy Scripture it is called:
the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 5:3),
- the kingdom of God (Mark 9:46),
- the kingdom of the Father (Matthew 13:43),
- the kingdom of Christ (Luke 22:30),
- the house of the Father (John 14:2),
- city of God, the heavenly Jerusalem (Hebrews 12),
- the holy place (Hebrews 9:12; Douay-Rheims Version: holies),
- paradise (2 Corinthians 12:4),
- life (Matthew 7:14),
- life everlasting (Matthew 19:16),
- the joy of the Lord (Matthew 25:21),
- crown of life (James 1:12),
- crown of justice (2 Timothy 4:8),
- crown of glory (1 Peter 5:4),
- incorruptible crown (1 Corinthians 9:25),
- great reward (Matthew 5:12),
- inheritance of Christ (Ephesians 1:18),
- eternal inheritance (Hebrews 9:15).
Christianity defines heaven as being in the presence of God with places prepared for the faithful by Jesus and is viewed as eternal bliss beyond that which can currently be known. Those who are allowed into heaven are given new bodies that do not decay and death will be gone. Marriage is not a part of heaven. It is also possible there are different ‘levels’ of heaven according to the apostle Paul who describes his journey to the third heaven. The conditions to enter heaven in Christianity, are defined by Jesus in the Gospel where he commands everyone to follow his laws and commandments to enter heaven and escape hell.
Although some, like Plato, imagine heaven to be a disembodied state where naked minds contemplate the eternal, unchanging ideas, in the Bible this is not so. According to Paul, the whole person survives. Even the body is raised again, so that, if it is no longer flesh and blood (1 Corinthians 15:50), it nevertheless has a continuity with the present body, a sameness in form if not in material element (see Matthew 5:29, 30; 10:28; Romans 8:11, 23; 1 Corinthians 15:53).
In heaven the redeemed will be in the immediate presence of God; will forever feed on the splendor of God’s majesty, beholding the Father’s face. In the present life men “see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face” (1 Corinthians 13:12). And the sons of God will see Christ “as he is” (1 John 3:2). The childlike in faith, even as the angels do now, will “always behold the face” of the Father (Matthew 18:10). They will not so much glory in the presence of Supreme Reason, but in the wonder of the All-Holy One (Isaiah. 6:3; Revelation 4:8). And this God is a Father, in whose house (John 14:2) the redeemed will dwell, where “they shall be his people,” and where “God himself shall be with them” (Revelation 21:3).
Though there is much conjecture about what Heaven is like, its central core is that we will be with Jesus Himself. He has entered back into the presence of the Father and has conveyed to us that the redeemed of the Lord will likewise be with Him where He is. Paradise may be to Heaven as the foyer may be to the inner room of a great Mansion. Without a doubt, Jesus responded to the penitent thief on the cross who turning to Him and said: “Lord, remember me when thou shalt come into thy kingdom.”, saying, “Amen I say to thee, this day thou shalt be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:42-43). He also said, “Where I am, there you will be also” (John 14:3). And speaking of the time that we will be in the presence of Jesus, John the Apostle says, “We shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He really is” (1 John 3:2). With regard to what Heaven actually looks like, little information is given, but certain is that the reality of heaven is beyond earthly comprehension, as we can deduce from St. Paul, when he speaks to the Corinthians, saying, “That eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man, what things God hath prepared for them that love him” (1 Corinthians 2:9). Pope Pius XI put it in the following manner: “Whoever identifies, by pantheistic confusion, God and the universe, by either lowering God to the dimensions of the world, or raising the world to the dimensions of God, is not a believer in God.” (Mit Brennender Sorge #7, 1937.) Artistic depictions of Heaven are usually characterized by bright, shining light; Dante’s Paradiso is an example, although the overwhelming light there is at least partly a metaphor for divine love.
All the signs in the liturgical celebrations are related to Christ: as are sacred images of the holy Mother of God and of the saints as well. They truly signify Christ, who is glorified in them. They make manifest the “cloud of witnesses” (Hebrews 12:1) who continue to participate in the salvation of the world and to whom we are united, above all in sacramental celebrations. Through their icons, it is man “in the image of God,” finally transfigured “into his likeness” (Cf. Romans 8:29; 1 John 3:2), who is revealed to our faith. So too are the angels, who also are recapitulated in Christ.
The Symbol of the faith confesses the greatness of God’s gifts to man in his work of creation, and even more in redemption and sanctification. What faith confesses, the sacraments communicate: by the sacraments of rebirth, Christians have become “children of God” (John 1:12; 1 John 3:1), “partakers of the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4). Coming to see in the faith their new dignity, Christians are called to lead henceforth a life “worthy of the gospel of Christ” (Philippians 1:27). They are made capable of doing so by the grace of Christ and the gifts of his Spirit, which they receive through the sacraments and through prayer.
The essential joy of heaven is called the beatific vision, which is derived from the vision of God’s essence. The soul rests perfectly in God, and does not, or cannot desire anything else than God. After the Last Judgment, when the soul is reunited with its body, the body participates in the happiness of the soul. It becomes incorruptible, glorious and perfect. Any physical defects the body may have laboured under are erased. Heaven is also equated with paradise in some cases.
Faith makes us taste in advance the light of the beatific vision, the goal of our journey here below. Then we shall see God “face to face”, “as he is” (1 Corinthians 13:12; 1 John 3:2.) So faith is already the beginning of eternal life: “When we contemplate the blessings of faith even now, as if gazing at a reflection in a mirror, it is as if we already possessed the wonderful things which our faith assures us we shall one day enjoy.” (St. Basil De Spiritu Sancto 15, 36: PG 32, 132; cf. St. Thomas Aquinas, STh II-II, 4, 1.)
Those who die in God’s grace and friendship and are perfectly purified live for ever with Christ. They are like God for ever, for they “see him as he is,” “face to face” (1 John 3:2; cf. 1 Corinthians 13:12; Rev 22:4), as explained by Pope Benedict XII:
“By virtue of our apostolic authority, we define the following: ‘According to the general disposition of God, the souls of all the saints ... and other faithful who died after receiving Christ’s holy Baptism (provided they were not in need of purification when they died, . . . or, if they then did need or will need some purification, when they have been purified after death, . . .) already before they take up their bodies again and before the general judgment - and this since the Ascension of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ into heaven - have been, are and will be in heaven, in the heavenly Kingdom and celestial paradise with Christ, joined to the company of the holy angels. Since the Passion and death of our Lord Jesus Christ, these souls have seen and do see the divine essence with an intuitive vision, and even face to face, without the mediation of any creature.’” (Cf. Benedict XII, Benedictus Deu).
This perfect life with the Most Holy Trinity - this communion of life and love with the Trinity, with the Virgin Mary, the angels and all the blessed - is called “heaven.” Heaven is the ultimate end and fulfillment of the deepest human longings, the state of supreme, definitive happiness.
From this unshakeable faith springs forth the hope that sustains each one of us, which express the groanings of the present age, this time of patience and expectation during which “it does not yet appear what we shall be” (1 John 3:2; Cf. Colossians 3:4). The Eucharist and the Lord’s Prayer look eagerly for the Lord’s return, “until he comes” (1 Corinthians 11:26).
To live in heaven is “to be with Christ.” The elect live “in Christ” (Philippians 1:23; cf. John 14:3; 1 Thessalonians 4:17), but they retain, or rather find, their true identity, their own name. (Cf. Revelation 2:17.) “For life is to be with Christ; where Christ is, there is life, there is the kingdom.” (St. Ambrose, In Luke.,10,121.) By his death and Resurrection, Jesus Christ has “opened” heaven to us. The life of the blessed consists in the full and perfect possession of the fruits of the redemption accomplished by Christ. He makes partners in his heavenly glorification those who have believed in him and remained faithful to his will. Heaven is the blessed community of all who are perfectly incorporated into Christ.
This mystery of blessed communion with God and all who are in Christ is beyond all understanding and description. Scripture speaks of it in images: life, light, peace, wedding feast, wine of the kingdom, the Father’s house, the heavenly Jerusalem, paradise: “no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him” (1 Corinthians 2:9). Because of his transcendence, God cannot be seen as he is, unless he himself opens up his mystery to man’s immediate contemplation and gives him the capacity for it. The Church calls this contemplation of God in his heavenly glory “the beatific vision”:
“How great will your glory and happiness be, to be allowed to see God, to be honored with sharing the joy of salvation and eternal light with Christ your Lord and God, . . . to delight in the joy of immortality in the Kingdom of heaven with the righteous and God’s friends.” (St. Cyprian, Ep. 58,10,1.)
1 Corinthians 13:12 “We see now through a glass in an obscure manner: but then face to face. Now I know in part: but then I shall know even as I am known.”
1 John 3:2 “Dearly beloved, we are now the sons of God; and it hath not yet appeared what we shall be. We know, that, when he shall appear, we shall be like to him: because we shall see him as he is.”
Revelation 22:3-4 “And there shall be no curse any more: but the throne of God, and of the Lamb, shall be in it, and his servants shall serve him. And they shall see his face: and his name shall be on their foreheads.”
They shall see his face. Thus in a few words is expressed the happiness of the blessed in heaven; they shall see God, from which vision proceed love, joy, and everlasting praises of the divine Majesty.
In the glory of heaven the blessed continue joyfully to fulfill God’s will in relation to other men and to all creation. Already they reign with Christ; with him “they shall reign for ever and ever” (Revelation 22:5; cf. Matthew 25:21,23).
There will be activities in heaven to engage man’s highest faculties. For one thing, there will be governmental ministries. The “spirits of just men made perfect” (Hebrews 12:23) will be in the “city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to the company of many thousands of angels” (Hebrews 12:22), and men are to assist in governing the whole. Thus in the parable of the nobleman the good servant, who has been “faithful in a very little” on earth, is in heaven to be given “authority over ten cities” (Luke 19:17). In Matthew the servant who had been given five talents and who had “gained beside them five talents more” is told: “Well done, thou good and faithful servant:... I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord” (Matthew 25:20-21). Perhaps new songs are to be written and sung (Revelation 5:9). The “redeemed from the earth,” too, are to learn a “new song” (Revelation 14:3). And the kings of the earth are to “bring their glory and honour into it” (Revelation 21:24). So while there is to be on the part of the redeemed a continuous worship in heaven, it seems to be in the sense that all activities engaged in will be for the sole glory of God and will therefore partake of the nature of worship.
The Bible tells us, “At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven” (Matthew 22:30). This was Jesus’ answer in response to a question concerning a woman who had been married multiple times in her life—whom would she be married to in heaven (Matthew 22:23-28)? Evidently, there will be no such thing as marriage in heaven. This does not mean that a husband and wife will no longer know each other in heaven. This also does not mean that a husband and wife could not still have a close relationship in heaven. What it does seem to indicate, though, is that a husband and wife will no longer be married in heaven.
Most likely, there will be no marriage in heaven simply because there will be no need for it. Instead, we will be married to Christ, and we will belong to Him forever (Romans 7:1-4)! When God established marriage, He did so to fill certain needs. First, He saw that Adam was in need of a companion. “And the LORD God said, ‘It is not good for man to be alone: let us make him a help like unto himself.’” (Genesis 2:18). Eve was the solution to the problem of Adam’s loneliness, as well as his need for a “helper,” someone to come alongside him as his companion and go through life by his side. In heaven, however, there will be no loneliness, nor will there be any need for helpers. We will be surrounded by multitudes of believers and angels (Revelation 7:9), and all our needs will be met, including the need for companionship.
Second, God created marriage as a means of procreation and the filling of the earth with human beings. Heaven, however, will not be populated by procreation. Those who go to heaven will get there by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; they will not be created there by means of reproduction. Therefore, there is no purpose for marriage in heaven since there is no procreation or loneliness.
Heaven is a real place described in the Bible. The word “heaven” is found 238 times in the New Testament alone. Scripture refers to three heavens. The apostle Paul was “caught up to the third heaven,” but he was prohibited from revealing what he experienced there (2 Corinthians 12:1-9).
If a third heaven exists, there must also be two other heavens. The first is most frequently referred to in the Old Testament as the “sky” or the “firmament.” This is the heaven that contains clouds, the area that birds fly through. The second heaven is interstellar/outer space, which is the abode of the stars, planets, and other celestial objects (Genesis 1:14-18).
The third heaven, the location of which is not revealed, is the dwelling place of God. Jesus promised to prepare a place for true Christians in heaven (John 14:2). Heaven is also the destination of Old Testament saints who died trusting God’s promise of the Redeemer (Ephesians 4:8). Whoever believes in Christ shall never perish but have eternal life (John 3:16).
The apostle John was privileged to see and report on the heavenly city (Revelation 21:10-27). John witnessed that heaven (the new earth) possesses the “glory of God” (Revelation 21:11), the very presence of God. Because heaven has no night and the Lord Himself is the light, the sun and moon are no longer needed (Revelation 22:5).
The city is filled with the brilliance of costly stones and crystal clear jasper. Heaven has twelve gates (Revelation 21:12) and twelve foundations (Revelation 21:14). The paradise of the Garden of Eden is restored: the river of the water of life flows freely and the tree of life is available once again, yielding fruit monthly with leaves that “heal the nations” (Revelation 22:1-2). However eloquent John was in his description of heaven, the reality of heaven is beyond the ability of finite man to describe (1 Corinthians 2:9).
Heaven is a place of “no mores.” There will be no more tears, no more pain, and no more sorrow (Revelation 21:4). There will be no more separation, because death will be conquered (Revelation 20:6). The best thing about heaven is the presence of our Lord and Savior (1 John 3:2). We will be face to face with the Lamb of God who loved us and sacrificed Himself so that we can enjoy His presence in heaven for eternity.
Upon dying, each soul goes to what is called “the particular judgement” where its own afterlife is decided (i.e. Heaven after Purgatory, straight to Heaven, or Hell.) This is different from “the general judgement” also known as “the Last judgement” which will occur when Christ returns to judge all the living and the dead. It is a common Catholic belief that St. Michael the Archangel carries the soul to Heaven. The belief that Saint Peter meets the soul at the “Pearly Gates” is an artistic application of the belief that Christ gave St. Peter, the first Pope, the keys to Heaven. Catholics see the mass as heaven on earth.
In Christianity, belief in Jesus and proper works are always considered necessary and go hand in hand. Sins of earth must first be cleansed through Purgatory before one can enter heaven (1 Corinthians 3:12-15). This is valid for venial sin only, as mortal sins can be forgiven only through the act of reconciliation and repentance while on earth. Jesus tells people over and over in the gospel that only those who believe in him will be saved. Thus, the non believers are excluded from heaven until they receive the Christian faith (John 14:6; Acts 4:12).
Our Father “desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:3-4). He “is forbearing toward you, not wishing that any should perish” (2 Peter 3:9; cf. Matthew 18:14). His commandment is “that you love one another; even as I have loved you, that you also love one another” (John 13:34; cf. 1 John 3; 4; Luke 10:25-37). This commandment summarizes all the others and expresses his entire will.
As Heaven is a place where only the pure are permitted, no person who dies in a state of sin can enter Heaven. Those who die in God’s grace and friendship and are perfectly purified live for ever with Christ. Chastity is a moral virtue, it is a shortcut into Heaven (Matthew 19:12). It is also a gift from God, a grace, a fruit of spiritual effort: “But the fruit of the Spirit is, charity, joy, peace, patience, benignity, goodness, longanimity, Mildness, faith, modesty, continency, chastity” (Galatians 5:22-23). The Holy Spirit enables one whom the water of Baptism has regenerated to imitate the purity of Christ (Cf. 1 John 3:3). The “pure in heart” are promised that they will see God face to face and be like him (Cf. 1 Corinthians 13:12; 1 John 3:2). Purity of heart is the precondition of the vision of God. Even now it enables us to see according to God, to accept others as “neighbors”; it lets us perceive the human body – ours and our neighbor’s – as a temple of the Holy Spirit, a manifestation of divine beauty.
Those who die in God’s grace and friendship imperfectly purified, although they are assured of their eternal salvation, undergo a purification after death, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of God.
If one were baptized validly and then died, one would go directly to heaven (in the Catholic belief, the sacrament of baptism dissolves the eternal and temporal punishment of all sins). If one never committed a mortal sin and were absolved of all one’s venial sins just before death, one would go directly to Heaven.
Most people who would enter Heaven do so through Purgatory (or “process of purification”). In Purgatory, a soul pays off all temporal punishment one deserved for the sins he committed in life. This does not always happen though. If one receives the Sacrament of Confession validly, as well as gains a plenary indulgence, and dies, one would directly go to heaven. There are many ways to get an indulgence, in various Papal decrees or publications. To receive a plenary indulgence, one must receive the sacrament of Confession validly, do one’s penance, validly receive Communion, say some specified number of Lord’s Prayers, Angelic Salutations and Minor Doxologies for the intentions of the Pope, and then perform some act of gaining the indulgence. Of course, one must remain free from all sin, mortal and venial, while doing all these things.
There is a heaven, i.e., God will bestow happiness and the richest gifts on all those who depart this life free from original sin and personal mortal sin, and who are, consequently, in the state of justice and friendship with God. On the lot of those who die free from personal sin, but infected with original sin, see LIMBO. On the immediate beginning of eternal happiness after death, or eventually, after the passage through purgatory, see PARTICULAR JUDGMENT. The existence of heaven is, of course, denied by atheists, materialists, and pantheists of all centuries as well as by those rationalists who teach that the soul perishes with the body — in short, by all who deny the existence of God or the immortality of the soul. But, for the rest, if we abstract from the specific quality and the supernatural character of heaven, the doctrine has never met with any opposition worthy of note. Even mere reason can prove the existence of heaven or of the happy state of the just in the next life. We shall give a brief outline of the principal arguments. From these we shall, at the same time, see that the bliss of heaven is eternal and consists primarily in the possession of God, and that heaven presupposes a condition of perfect happiness, in which every wish of the heart finds adequate satisfaction.
God made all things for His objective honour and glory. Every creature was to manifest His Divine perfections by becoming a likeness of God, each according to its capacity. But man is capable of becoming in the greatest and most perfect manner a likeness of God, when he knows and loves His infinite perfections with a knowledge and love analogous to God’s own love and knowledge. Therefore man is created to know God and to love Him. Moreover, this knowledge and love is to be eternal; for such is man’s capability and his calling, because his soul is immortal. Lastly, to know God and to love Him is the noblest occupation of the human mind, and consequently also its supreme happiness. Therefore man is created for eternal happiness; and he will infallibly attain it hereafter, unless, by sin, he renders himself unworthy of so high a destiny. Sadly, the gospel declares that very few are saved due to the many sins that are perpetrated by the human race.
God made all things for His formal glory, which consists in the knowledge and love shown Him by rational creatures. Irrational creatures cannot give formal glory to God directly, but they should assist rational creatures in doing so. This they can do by manifesting God’s perfections and by rendering other services; whilst rational creatures should, by their own personal knowledge and love of God, refer and direct all creatures to Him as their last end. Therefore every intelligent creature in general, and man in particular, is destined to know and love God for ever, though he may forfeit eternal happiness by sin.
God, in his infinite justice and holiness, must give virtue its due reward. But, as experience teaches, the virtuous do not obtain a sufficient reward here; hence they will be recompensed hereafter, and the reward must be everlasting, since the soul is immortal. Nor can it be supposed that the soul in the next life must merit her continuance in happiness by a continued series of combats; for this would be repugnant to all the tendencies and desires of human nature. God, in His wisdom, must set on the moral law a sanction, sufficiently appropriate and efficacious. But, unless each man is rewarded according to the measure of his good works, such a sanction could not be said to exist. Mere infliction of punishment for sin would be insufficient. In any case, reward for good deeds is the best means of inspiring zeal for virtue. Nature itself teaches us to reward virtue in others whenever we can, and to hope for a reward of our own good actions from the Supreme Ruler of the universe. That reward, not being given here, will be given hereafter.
God has implanted in the heart of man a love of virtue and a love of happiness; consequently, God, because of His wisdom, must by rewarding virtue establish perfect harmony between these two tendencies. But such a harmony is not established in this life; therefore it will be brought about in the next.
Every man has an innate desire for perfect beatitude. Experience proves this. The sight of the imperfect goods of earth naturally leads us to form the conception of a happiness so perfect as to satisfy all the desires of our heart. But we cannot conceive such a state without desiring it. Therefore we are destined for a happiness that is perfect and, for that very reason, eternal; and it will be ours, unless we forfeit it by sin. A natural tendency without an object is incompatible both with nature and with the Creator’s goodness. The arguments thus far advanced prove the existence of heaven as a state of perfect happiness.
We are born for higher things, for the possession of God. This earth can satisfy no man, least of all the wise. “Vanity of vanities”, says the Scripture (Ecclesiastes 1:1); and St. Augustine exclaimed: “Thou hast made us for Thyself (O God) and our heart is troubled till it rests in Thee.”
We are created for wisdom, for a possession of truth perfect in its kind. Our mental faculties and the aspirations of our nature give proof of this. But the scanty knowledge, that we can acquire on earth stands in no proportion to the capabilities of our soul. We shall possess truth in higher perfection hereafter if we persevere in goodness and piety.
God made us for holiness, for a complete and final triumph over passion and for the perfect and secure possession of virtue. Our natural aptitudes and desires bear witness to this. But this happy goal is not reached on earth, but in the next life.
We are created for love and friendship, for indissoluble union with our friends. At the grave of those we love our heart longs for a future reunion. This cry of nature is no delusion. A joyful and everlasting reunion awaits the just man beyond the grave.
It is the conviction of all peoples that there is a heaven in which the just will rejoice in the next life. But, in the fundamental questions of our being and our destiny, a conviction, so unanimous and universal, cannot be erroneous. Otherwise this world and the order of this world would remain an utter enigma to intelligent creatures, who ought to know at least the necessary means for reaching their appointed end.
Heaven is indeed a real place. The Bible tells us that heaven is God’s throne (Isaiah 66:1; Acts 7:48-49; Matthew 5:34-35). After Jesus’ resurrection and appearance on earth to His disciples, “He was taken up into heaven and sat at the right hand of God” (Mark 16:19; Acts 7:55-56). “Christ did not enter a man-made sanctuary that was only a copy of the true one; He entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God’s presence” (Hebrews 9:24). Jesus not only went before us, entering on our behalf, but He is alive and has a present ministry in heaven, serving as our high priest in the true tabernacle made by God (Hebrews 6:19-20; 8:1-2).
We are also told by Jesus Himself that there are many rooms in God’s house and that He has gone before us to prepare a place for us. We have the assurance of His word that He will one day come back to earth and take us to where He is in heaven (John 14:1-4). Our belief in an eternal home in heaven is based on an explicit promise of Jesus. Heaven is most definitely a real place. Heaven truly does exist.
When people deny the existence of heaven, they deny not only the written Word of God, but they also deny the innermost longings of their own hearts. Paul addressed this issue in his letter to the Corinthians, encouraging them to cling to the hope of heaven so that they would not lose heart. Although we “groan and sigh” in our earthly state, we have the hope of heaven always before us and are eager to get there (2 Corinthians 5:1-4). Paul urged the Corinthians to look forward to their eternal home in heaven, a perspective that would enable them to endure hardships and disappointments in this life. “For that which is at present momentary and light of our tribulation, worketh for us above measure exceedingly an eternal weight of glory. While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen, are temporal; but the things which are not seen, are eternal.” (2 Corinthians 4:17-18).
Just as God has put in men’s hearts the knowledge that He exists (Romans 1:19-20), so are we “programmed” to desire heaven. It is the theme of countless books, songs, and works of art. Unfortunately, our sin has barred the way to heaven. Since heaven is the abode of a holy and perfect God, sin has no place there, nor can it be tolerated. Fortunately, God has provided for us the key to open the doors of heaven—Jesus Christ, and baptism (John 14:6; Luke 3:21). All who are baptized and who believe in Him and seek forgiveness for sin will find the doors of heaven swung wide open for them (John 3:3-5). May the future glory of our eternal home motivate us all to serve God faithfully and wholeheartedly. “Having therefore, brethren, a confidence in the entering into the holiest by the blood of Christ; A new and living way which he hath dedicated for us through the veil, that is to say, his flesh, And a high priest over the house of God: Let us draw near with a true heart in fulness of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with clean water” (Hebrews 10:19-22).
In heaven the just will see God by direct intuition, clearly and distinctly. Here on earth we have no immediate perception of God; we see Him but indirectly in the mirror of creation. We get our first and direct knowledge from creatures, and then, by reasoning from these, we ascend to a knowledge of God according to the imperfect likeness which creatures bear to their Creator. But in doing so we proceed to a large extent by way of negation, i.e., by removing from the Divine Being the imperfections proper to creatures. In heaven, however, no creature will stand between God and the soul. He himself will be the immediate object of its vision. Scripture and theology tell us that the blessed see God face to face. And because this vision is immediate and direct, it is also exceedingly clear and distinct. The blessed see God, not merely according to the measure of His likeness imperfectly reflected in creation, but they see Him as He is, after the manner of His own Being. That the blessed see God is a dogma of faith, expressly defined by Benedict XII (1336):
“We define that the souls of all the saints in heaven have seen and do see the Divine Essence by direct intuition and face to face [visione intuitivâ et etiam faciali], in such wise that nothing created intervenes as an object of vision, but the Divine Essence presents itself to their immediate gaze, unveiled, clearly and openly; moreover, that in this vision they enjoy the Divine Essence, and that, in virtue of this vision and this enjoyment, they are truly blessed and possess eternal life and eternal rest.” (Denzinger, Enchiridion, ed. 10, n. 530--old edition, n, 456; cf. nn. 693, 1084, 1458 old, nn. 588, 868.)
The Scriptural argument is based especially on 1 Corinthians 13:8-13 (cf. Matthew 18:10; 1 John 3:2; 2 Corinthians 5:6-8, etc.).
Theologians distinguish the primary and the secondary object of the beatific vision. The primary object is God Himself as He is. The blessed see the Divine Essence by direct intuition, and, because of the absolute simplicity of God, they necessarily see all His perfections and all the persons of the Trinity. The secondary object of the beatific vision comprises everything the blessed may have a reasonable interest in knowing. It includes, in the first place, all the mysteries which the soul believed while on earth. Moreover, the blessed see each other and rejoice in the company of those whom death separated from them. The veneration paid them on earth and the prayers addressed to them are also known to the blessed.
Although the blessed see God, they do not comprehend Him, because God is absolutely incomprehensible to every created intellect, and He cannot grant to any creature the power of comprehending Him as He comprehends Himself. The blessed see the Godhead in its entirety, but only with a limited clearness of vision. They see the Godhead in its entirety, because they see all the perfections of God and all the Persons of the Trinity; and yet their vision is limited, because it has neither the infinite clearness that corresponds to the Divine perfections, nor does it extend to everything that actually is, or may still become, an object of God’s free decrees. Hence it follows that one blessed soul see God more perfectly than another, and that the beatific vision admits of various degrees.
The beatific vision is a mystery. God, in His omnipotence, lets the soul directly feel Him and lay hold of Him and look on Him and become entirely immersed in Him.
From what has been thus far said it is clear that there is a twofold beatitude: the natural and the supernatural. As we have seen, man is by nature entitled to beatitude, provided he does not forfeit it by his own fault. We have also seen that beatitude is eternal and that it consists in the possession of God, for creatures cannot truly satisfy man. Again, as we have shown, the soul is to possess God by knowledge and love. But the knowledge to which man is entitled by nature is not an immediate vision, but an analogous perception of God in the mirror of creation, still a very perfect knowledge which really satisfies the heart. Hence the beatitude to which alone we have a natural claim consists in that perfect analogous knowledge and in the love corresponding to that knowledge. This natural beatitude is the lowest kind of felicity which God, in His goodness and wisdom, can grant to sinless man. But, instead of an analogous knowledge of His Essence He may grant to the blessed a direct intuition which includes all the excellence of natural beatitude and surpasses it beyond measure. It is this higher kind of beatitude that it has pleased God to grant us. And by granting it He not merely satisfies our natural desire for happiness but He satisfies it in superabundance.
It is a dogma of faith that the happiness of the blessed is everlasting. This truth is clearly contained in the Holy Bible; it is daily professed by the Church in the Apostles’ Creed (credo . . . vitam aeternam; eternal life), and it has been repeatedly defined by the Church, especially by Benedict XII. Even reason, as we have seen, can demonstrate it. And surely, if the blessed knew that their happiness was ever to come to an end, this knowledge alone would prevent their happiness from being perfect.
In this matter Origen fell into error; for in several passages of his works he seems to incline to the opinion that rational creatures never reach a permanent final state (status termini), but that they remain forever capable of falling away from God and losing their beatitude and of always returning to Him again.
The blessed are confirmed in good; they can no longer commit even the slightest venial sin; every wish of their heart is inspired by the purest love of God. That is, beyond doubt, Catholic doctrine. Moreover this impossibility of sinning is physical. The blessed have no longer the power of choosing to do evil actions; they cannot but love God; they are merely free to show that love by one good action in preference to another.
The ultimate cause of impeccability is the freedom from sin or the state of grace in which at his death man passes into the final state, i.e. into a state of unchangeable attitude of mind and will. For it is quite in consonance with the nature of that state that God should offer only such co-operation as corresponds to the mental attitude man chose for himself on earth. For this reason also the souls in purgatory, although they do not see God, are still utterly incapable of sin. The beatific vision itself may be called a remote cause of impeccability; for by granting so wondrous a token of His love, God may be said to undertake the obligation of guarding from all sin those whom He so highly favours, whether by refusing all co-operation to evil acts or in some other manner.
The beatific vision of its very nature directly excludes the possibility of sin. For no creature can have a clear intuitive view of the Supreme Good without being by that very fact alone irresistibly drawn to love it efficaciously and to fulfill for its sake even the most arduous duties without the least repugnance.
The Bible describes heaven in great detail in Revelation chapters 21-22. Nowhere in those chapters is the possibility of sin mentioned. There will be no more death, sorrow, crying, or pain (Revelation 21:4). The sinful are not in heaven, but in the lake of fire (Revelation 21:8). Nothing impure will ever enter heaven (Revelation 21:27). Outside of heaven are those who sin (Revelation 22:15). So, in conclusion, there will be no sin in heaven or even a possibility to sin while in heaven.
What does that mean for us? If there is no possibility of sin, does that mean we will no longer have a free will in heaven? On earth, our ability to choose good is similar to that of the angels before the fall. The angels had a one-time choice to obey God or follow Satan. There is no possibility of further angels sinning and joining Satan in his rebellion. The holy angels are “elect angels” (1 Timothy 5:21). Similarly, the elect in heaven will be “sealed” in their decision to forsake sin and trust in Christ. We will not even have the choice to sin. At the same time, having been delivered from sin and evil, and viewing the wonderful glories of heaven, we would not choose sin even if we had the choice.
We distinguish objective and subjective beatitude. Objective beatitude is that good, the possession of which makes us happy; subjective beatitude is the possession of that good. The essence of objective beatitude, or the essential object of beatitude is God alone. For the possession of God assures us also the possession of every other good we may desire; moreover, everything else is so immeasurably inferior to God that its possession can only be looked upon as something accidental to beatitude. Finally, that all else is of minor importance for beatitude is evident from the fact that nothing save God alone is capable of satisfying man. Accordingly the essence of subjective beatitude is the possession of God, and it consists in the acts of vision, love, and joy. The blessed love God with a twofold love; with the love of complacency, by which they love God for His own sake, and secondly with the love less properly so called, by which they love Him as the source of their happiness. In consonance with this twofold love the blessed have a twofold joy; firstly, the joy of love in the strict sense of the word, by which they rejoice over the infinite beatitude which they see in God Himself, precisely because it is the happiness of God whom they love, and secondly, the joy springing from love in a wider sense, by which they rejoice in God because He is the source of their own supreme happiness. These five acts constitute the essence of (subjective) beatitude, or in more precise terms, its physical essence. In this theologians agree.
Besides the essential object of beatitude the souls in heaven enjoy many blessings accidental to beatitude. We shall mention only a few:
In heaven there is not the least pain or sadness; for every aspiration of nature must be finally realized. The will of the blessed is in perfect harmony with the Divine will; they feel displeasure at the sins of men, but without experiencing any real pain.
They delight greatly in the company of Christ, the angels, and the saints, and in the reunion with so many who were dear to them on earth.
After the resurrection the union of the soul with the glorified body will be a special source of joy for the blessed.
They derive great pleasure from the contemplation of all those things, both created and possible, which, as we have shown, they see in God, at least indirectly as in the cause. And, in particular, after the last judgment the new heaven and the new earth will afford them manifold enjoyment.
The blessed rejoice over sanctifying grace and the supernatural virtues that adorn their soul; and any sacramental character they may have also adds to their bliss.
Very special joys are granted to the martyrs, doctors, and virgins, a special proof of victories won in time of trial (Revelation 7:11 sq.; Daniel 12:3; Revelation 14:3 sq.). Hence theologians speak of three particular crowns, aureolas, or glorioles, by which these three classes of blessed souls are accidentally honoured beyond the rest. Aureola is a diminutive of aurea, i.e. aurea corona (golden crown). (Cf. St. Thomas, Supp:96.)
Since eternal happiness is metaphorically called a marriage of the soul with Christ, theologians also speak of the bridal endowments of the blessed. They distinguish seven of these gifts, four of which belong to the glorified body — light, impassibility, agility, subtility; and three to the soul — vision, possession, enjoyment. Yet in the explanation given by the theologians of the three gifts of the soul we find but little conformity. We may identify the gift of vision with the habit of the light of glory, the gift of possession with the habit of that love in a wider sense which has found in God the fulfillment of its desires, and the gift of enjoyment we may identify with the habit of love which rejoices to be with God; in this view these three infused habits would he considered simply as ornaments to beautify the soul. (Cf. St. Thomas, Supp:95).
There are various degrees of beatitude in heaven corresponding to the various degrees of merit. This is a dogma of faith, defined by the Council of Florence (Denz., n. 693 — old, n. 588). The Bible teaches this truth in very many passages (e.g., wherever it speaks of eternal happiness as a reward), and the Fathers defend it against the heretical attacks of Jovinian. It is true that, according to Matthew 20:1-16, each labourer receives a penny; but by this comparison Christ merely teaches that, although the Gospel was preached to the Jews first, yet in the Kingdom of Heaven there is no distinction between Jew and Gentile, and that no one will receive a greater reward merely because of being a son of Judah. The various degrees of beatitude are not limited to the accidental blessings, but they are found first and foremost in the beatific vision itself. For, as we have already pointed out, the vision, too, admits of degrees. These essential degrees of beatitude are, as Francisco Suárez rightly observes ("De beat.", d. xi, s. 3, n. 5), that threefold fruit Christ distinguishes when He says that the word of God bears fruit in some thirty, in some sixty, in some a hundredfold (Matthew 13:23). And it is by a mere accommodation of the text that St. Thomas (Supp:96, aa. 2 sqq.) and other theologians apply this text to the different degrees in the accidental beatitude merited by married persons, widows, and virgins.
The happiness of heaven is essentially unchangeable; still it admits of some accidental changes. Thus we may suppose that the blessed experience special joy when they receive greater veneration from men on earth. In particular, a certain growth in knowledge by experience is not excluded; for instance, as time goes on, new free actions of men may become known to the blessed, or personal observation and experience may throw a new light on things already known. And after the last judgment accidental beatitude will receive some increase from the union of soul and body, and from the sight of the new heaven and the earth. | <urn:uuid:e1d7a8ed-3829-40d6-a68d-021d08c9031f> | {
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By Thich Nhat Hanh
Before our airplane takes off, we are told the way to use the oxygen mask. And we are always told that we have to put on the oxygen mask for ourselves first, and only then can we place the oxygen mask on our child, the young person sitting next to us. If we are not successful in placing the mask on ourselves first and afterwards on our child, then we will both die for lack of oxygen.
In Buddhism it’s the same. We have to help ourselves before we can help others. The word we use to speak of this is the word meaning “to cross over to the other shore.” The shore over here is the shore of suffering, the shore of anger, of anxiety, of pain. But the shore over there is the shore of peace, of freedom. To go from this shore to the other shore is called “paramita.” There are six ways of doing that called the six paramitas, six ways of going to the other shore.
We may think that paramita is a very difficult practice, but if we learn how to do it, we can go to the other shore quite easily. Even in ten minutes or half an hour or an hour we can cross over to the other shore. When we are angry, when we are drowning in our anger, we suffer a great deal in our body and our mind. It is as if we are being burned, and if we don’t know how to deal with the situation, we can drown in our suffering. Therefore, we have to practice going over to the other shore, the shore of no-anger, the shore of no-hatred. We have a raft to take us to the other shore and we have to use it every day. The six paramitas are the six ways of going to the other shore.
The Kshanti Paramita
The third paramita is called Kshanti Paramita; it can be translated as inclusiveness. It means literally, “to forebear, to endure,” but we could misunderstand that word. Kshanti really means to accept and to embrace. For example, this glass — it can hold about twenty cubic centiliters and it can endure those twenty cubic centiliters, that is its capacity. If we pour twenty cubic centiliters into it, the glass will not suffer. But if we want it to hold more, it may suffer. If we force a lot of sand into it, it will break. And we are the same. Each of us has the capacity to endure, to accept a certain amount of injustice but if we are forced to accept more we shall crack or we will break. Somebody says something or does something which we do not like, they do something unjust to us, and we suffer. But whether we suffer a lot or a little, whether we suffer at all, depends on whether the capacity of our heart to accept and to endure is small or great. There are people who could hear those same words, be treated in that same way, but they would not be angry. They would smile. But we, when we hear those words, when we see that behavior, we suffer a lot because compared with their heart, our heart is very small.
The capacity of the bodhisattvas’ hearts is very big, the capacity to receive, to embrace and to include. The reason why we suffer is because the capacity of our heart is very small. We hear the same words, we have the same treatment and some people can accept it, but we cannot. We suffer a great deal. Therefore we have to practice the capacity to include, to embrace. If we practice, if we train, the capacity of our heart will grow and we will suffer much less. We will hear the same words, we will be treated in the same way, and we will smile and we will not suffer.
To practice inclusiveness, or patience, does not mean that we have to suffer. When we suppress our suffering sooner or later we will crack, we will break, Therefore, the paramita of patience does not mean to suppress. If you practice suppressing, if you grit your teeth and bear it and think that that is the practice of patience, it is not. Soon you will crack, you will break. That is not what the Buddha taught. The Buddha taught that we have to practice, we have to train in order to open up our own hearts.
And when our understanding is great, our love is great, our heart will become great. We often say in Viemamese that it is our heart which is small, not our house. When our heart is wide, our house can receive many guests. If our heart is small, even if our house is very large, we will not receive any guests.
Every morning on the fifteenth or the first of the lunar month in the traditional temples, we organize a ceremony called “Commending the Virtues of the Buddha.” It is to praise the Buddha and the bodhisattvas and our ancestral teachers. There is a sentence praising the Buddha which goes something Like this: “The Awakened One who is fully awakened, arose in India. His heart is able to embrace the whole of space, his capacity includes all the three chiliocosms.” It means the capacity of his heart is very great. These are also four lines which are offered as praise to the Buddha. “The capacity of his heart can include all the worlds even though they are as numerous as the sands of the Ganges.”
And why does the Buddha have such a great capacity of compassion and understanding? Because he has practiced. We can do the same. If we practice the paramita of patience, if we practice the Four Immeasurable Minds of loving kindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity, our heart will grow. And we will have the capacity to accept everything people say, however people treat us, even if we suffer injustice, we can still smile, we can still be happy.
A fistful of salt
In the sutras there was a time when the Buddha taught like this: “Imagine there is someone who is holding a fistful of salt. They place it in a small bowl of water and stir it around with their finger. Monks, do you think people could drink that water?” And the monks said, “Such water would be far too salty to drink. How could you drink it? You’d have to throw it away.” The Buddha said, “That is correct.” Then the Buddha said, “But if, for example, you were to throw that fistful of salt in the river, then would the people who lived in the villages alongside of the river continue to drink the water of the river?” And the monks said, “Yes.” “Why?” “Because the river is vast and the fistful of salt cannot possibly make the water of the river salty.”
It is the same for us. If our heart is small, then those words, that action, that injustice will make us angry. A small injustice will cause us many sleepless nights and we may not even be able to eat for a week. If our heart is great, like the river, then those words will not have any effect on us, that behavior and that injustice will not have any meaning. We can continue to smile, we can continue to be free, peaceful, and joyful as we were before. Therefore, the practice of the paramita of inclusiveness helps us to look deeply and to be able to see clearly the truth and to allow the heart of understanding and love in us to grow. Then our heart will become like a river and people may come and throw twenty or thirty kilos of salt into it, but we will not suffer.
Be like the earth
Rahula became a novice when he was only eight years old. When he was eighteen years old the Buddha taught him about the practice of inclusiveness. He said, “Rahula, you have to practice to be like the earth.” “Why?” “Because the earth has the great capacity to receive, to accept, to embrace, and to transform. If people pour fragrant milk, perfumes, and sweet things on the earth, or if they pour on the earth filthy things like spittle, mucous, excrement and garbage, the earth does not crave or is not greedy for the sweet things and is not angry with the filthy things. It receives everything equally. The earth has the capacity to include them all and to transform them all. It is not attached to the clean or angry with the dirty. You have to practice to be able to behave like the earth.”
The Buddha continued to teach Rahula that not only the earth, but also the water, the fire and the air have the great capacity to accept all forms of offerings, wonderful and fragrant as well as polluted and dirty. It means the capacity of these four elements is very great and our heart has to be as great as that and then we will not suffer. In this way the Buddha shared the paramita of inclusiveness with Rahula.
I remember one day I was leading the children on walking meditation in the Upper Hamlet. We went along a beautiful path, seeing so many beautiful leaves, flowers, and butterflies, bees, and dragonflies, and all these beautiful things made us feel we were in paradise. Then we came to a place where we saw on the lawn the excrement of a dog and the children held their noses and stood to one side. I took their hands and I said, “Look deeply, my children. I have a lot of faith in the earth because the earth has received this excrement of the dog, but in a week’s time the earth will have transformed it, and it will become nourishment for the flowers and the trees which we are seeing today. The earth has the capacity to accept, to embrace and to transform and is never angry with what is thrown upon it.”
The method which helps our heart to grow bigger is the Four Immeasurable Minds. The Four Minds have become so great, the mind of loving kindness, the mind of compassion, the mind of joy, and the mind of equanimity. Maitri, karuna, mudita, and upeksa are the four elements of true love. If you cultivate them every day, then they become boundless. You are capable of embracing everything, everyone, then the larger your heart becomes, the happier you become. You don’t have to suffer because of all the small things, the inconveniences that make you suffer every day. So the practice is not to be a bowl of water but to be a river and after that to be the ocean. What makes other people suffer cannot make you suffer any more because your heart is large. That is what it means by “boundless states.”
Maitri — the capacity to offer well-being
In Sanskrit, loving kindness is maitri; it is the capacity to offer well-being and happiness. And you cannot offer something that you do not have. Therefore, practice in order for you yourself to have maitri , the energy of loving kindness, and you will be the first to profit from that energy. With the practice of looking deeply, the practice of calming, of understanding, you make the energy of loving kindness grow within yourself. You experience bliss, solidity, freedom, and well-being, and your presence will naturally offer the person you are with that same kind of energy. You only need to just be there. Before you do anything, before you say anything, your presence can already make him or her happy, because in you there is the energy of maitri.
There are people who are very pleasant to be with and children like to come and sit close to them. Just sitting close to them, the children feel good in themselves. There are people whom we want to sit close to. We don’t need to talk to them. We don’t even need them to look at us, just sit near them and you can feel that wonderful energy of love, of well-being. When you come and sit close to the linden tree, then the linden tree has the capacity of calming you down. The linden flower also helps you to calm down; the linden tree has something like maitri within herself. So a person who cultivates maitri is someone whose presence is wonderful, refreshing and healing, and you would like to stay close to him or to her.
If you want to practice loving kindness, you have to look deeply to see and to understand. And when you see and understand you can offer joy and happiness to the other person. That person, what do they need and what do they not need? When we can see their real needs, we can offer the thing that they need. That person may be very afraid of the color red and we force her to wear a red dress; that will make her suffer. When we were a child, we really wanted to wear a red dress, but our mother would not allow us to wear red. When we have our own daughter, we want our daughter to wear a red dress in order to satisfy the desire we had when we were young. But our daughter hates red. To force our daughter to wear a red dress is to make her suffer.
When we were young, we wanted to be a doctor, but we did not have the chance to learn to be a doctor and therefore our desire has become an unsatisfied wound in us. When we have our own children we force them to train as doctors in order to satisfy the desire that we once had. But our daughter has a different skill or talent and does not want to be a doctor. To force our children to be doctors is to make them suffer. We think that to be a doctor will bring a lot of money and bring a position in society. We have an idea of happiness and we want to force that idea onto our children. That comes from our love, but this kind of love is not produced by understanding. Therefore, the more we love, the more we make our children suffer. To understand is the element that brings about true love. If we want to love, if we want to understand, we have to look deeply. If we want to practice maitri, we have to learn to look deeply.
Karuna — the capacity to reduce suffering in the other person
The second immeasurable mind is the mind of compassion. Compassion is the capacity to reduce and to transform the suffering in the other person. If we want to remove the suffering from the other person, we have to have a right perception of the nature of their suffering. What is the cause of the suffering? What gave rise to the suffering in the other person? We have to practice looking deeply; that is, we have to practice another of the paramitas, called the paramita of meditative concentration. When we have time, when we have the ability to open our heart, when we don’t have prejudice, we can look into the other person and see the suffering that that person has been through. We can see the nature of their suffering and when we know that, we know what we should do and what we should not do in order for that wound to heal in the other person. If we don’t have that understanding then we will not have the insight which is another paramita, the paramita of understanding, and we will just make the other person suffer more. Compassion is the heart which has understanding and wisdom in it.
Mudita — the capacity to offer joy
The third immeasurable mind is that of joy. In our relationship with our loved one the element of joy is very important. If we love each other, we have to love each other in such a way that both of us have happiness every day, then it is real love. If every day we weep, we are sad, we suffer, then that is not real love, In the morning, were we able to smile and be happy together in our love? Were we able to say good-bye to each other and go to work with the energy of joy and love? But if, in the morning, we weep, in the midday we weep, and in the afternoon we weep, then the element of joy is not there. Therefore, the element of joy is very important in our love. First of all, there is the element of loving kindness, which is to offer happiness; the element of compassion, to remove suffering; and then the element of joy, the happiness which comes from our love.
Upeksa — the capacity to love with equanimity
And finally, there is the element of equanimity. Equanimity means to love in such a way that we can preserve the freedom of the other person and our own freedom. If we lose our freedom and we take away the other person’s freedom, that is not yet real love. When we love with the aim of possessing the other, we take away our loved one’s freedom. We have to love in such a way that we have a lot of space and the other person has a lot of space. If we see there is a little bit of loving kindness, of compassion, of joy, and of equanimity in our love we should try to practice so that every day the loving kindness, the compassion, the joy, and the equanimity grow a little bit more. After a couple of weeks, we shall see that gradually our love is becoming true love and our happiness is growing all the time.
We have learned that understanding leads to acceptance and acceptance leads to forgiveness and love. It makes our heart grow up. The love and the understanding help us to mature, and when our heart is mature, we can easily accept these words, this unskillful behavior, this injustice, and we continue to be happy.
Dear Sangha, in the Vietnamese war nearly all of us were the victims of unintelligent policies. And in our suffering we condemned each other, looked on each other as enemies. But in fact we were all the victims of the government which did not really act with clarity. Southerners were victims and so were Northerners. If we’d seen that, we would have been no longer angry, we would have been able to embrace everyone. The Northerners would have been able to embrace the Southerners and the Southerners embrace the Northerners. The Vietnamese would have been able to embrace the North Americans and the North Americans would have been able to embrace the Vietnamese. We see that our enemy is our inability to see the situation as it really is. It is our ignorance, it is the darkness of our mind which cannot see the real situation and therefore gives rise to wrong observation and brings about a war where we kill each other and create a Iot of suffering for ourselves and for the people around us too.
The Bodhisattva Thi Kinh
Quan Am Thi Kinh is the bodhisattva of compassion of Vietnam, with a great, large heart. At that time in Vietnam there were no temples for nuns, and Thi Kinh very much wanted to devote her life to nunhood. So she had to pretend to be a boy in order to be able to lead the monastic life. She entered the temple as a novice monk; she was very happy. There are, among us. people who feel they have to become a monk or a nun to be happy. So they are willing to do anything to become a monk or a nun, and Thi Kinh was one of those people. There are people in Plum Village, monks and nuns, who feel like that. People have said to me, “If I could not be a nun, I could not bear it.”
At one point there was a woman who was a great admirer of the “monk” Thi Kinh, who was really a young woman. But Thi Kinh paid her no attention. The woman became pregnant and accused Thi Kinh of being the father. Of course as she was a woman this was not possible, yet she did not defend herself because she cherished the monastic life so much. When arrested and accused she remained silent. She was beaten and abused and still she remained silent. The woman who accused her left the child at the gates of the temple to further aggravate the situation. Instead of being angry, Thi Kinh embraced the child and raised her as a daughter of the Buddha. She was so full of compassion. Only when the “monk” Thi Kinh passed away did people discover that she was really a woman and they realized the great forebearance and love she had to have withstood such accusation and abuse. Her heart was so great. They saw she was truly an embodiment of the bodhisattva of compassion, Avalokiteshvara.
If we have great happiness, we do not mind wrong accusations which come from ignorance and hatred. We hear them and yet we do not suffer. We just feel sorry for the person who says them. The reason we can bear it is because our heart is great and therefore the paramita of inclusiveness is very important. If you are still suffering a lot, it’s not only because of the other person who’s making you suffer. If you are still suffering a lot, it’s because the capacity of your heart is not very great. Cultivating the great, boundless minds of love – loving kindness, compassion, joy and equanimity – help us to grow our inclusiveness, so that we too may embrace and forgive, forbear and overcome obstacles in our lives, and become refreshing sources of compassion and happiness for ail beings like the bodhisattva Thi Kinh.
Excerpted from Dharma talks in Vietnanamese and English from Spring 1991 and Summer 2000. The Vietnamese talk was translated by Sister True Virtue. The talks were transcribed by Barbara Casey and edited by Sister Steadiness. | <urn:uuid:ea2e89ef-d922-4b1c-a5dd-ce736af29fb7> | {
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Stadium Design Sustainability
November 4, 2015
The phrase “green architecture” refers to the use of environmentally aware, sustainable architectural and construction methods. Today’s stadiums and arenas are often designed with a full embrace of this concept. Many professional sports organizations have publicly committed to the use of sustainable practices in the construction and utilization of arenas and other venues that they use.
Green and sustainable stadium and arena design and construction often focuses on a number of definable objectives:
- Reduced water consumption
- Greater energy efficiency
- Sustainable energy production
- Waste management
- Reduction in the facility’s carbon footprint
These objectives are relevant during construction and as the venue is operated over the long-term. For example, even the means of transporting construction materials and heavy equipment to the site may be considered in an effort to reduce the carbon footprint of the project.
Some may assume that the cost of environmentally-conscious design may be prohibitive. However, advances in green technology often make such an assumption incorrect. In today’s world, developers need to be aware of evolving technologies and techniques that are more environmentally friendly, They also need to understand that green design and construction may be appreciated or even expected by both the public and by public servants.
Therefore, project managers should incorporate the latest sustainable concepts into all aspects of the new stadium or arena. Proper research into ever-evolving green construction techniques will allow developers to take fully advantage of new technologies. At times, more conscientious effort is required to effectively incorporate sustainable methods into the project. Initial expenses early-on may lead to long-term savings and an enhanced public image.
From the outset, the design team should seek to pursue initiatives and concepts that:
- Reduce energy consumption of all kinds
- Reduce carbon emissions and all other emissions
- Encourage local energy generation
- Reduce waste of all kinds
- Encourage recycling wherever possible
Again, one should not underestimate the potential for direct savings and reduced overhead over the life of the facility. This reality can prove to be very beneficial for the the operator of the venue, whether the operator be public or private.
In the United States, LEED certification is increasingly desirable to project developers and venue operators alike. LEED certification specifies exacting standards that must be met. A successful effort results in a certification that communicates to everyone that the facility has been designed and operated with green concepts and principles at the forefront. In Europe, BREEAM certification is available to projects that are in compliance.
Oftentimes, professional sports organizations and even amateur governing bodies encourage the acquisition of such certifications as a matter of policy. Developers need to be fully aware from the outset of the environmental expectations of these organizations, as well as the expectations of local governments and the public. Then, consultants, designers and architects can work toward a common environmentral goal from the start.
Sustainability: Active and Passive Approaches
There are varied means by which sustainability goals may be achieved. Some are simply integral to good planning and design, while others employ technology to conserve energy and promote the sustainable use of resources.
Passive measures – Many passive means of achieving green goals are readily available to urban planners, project architects and others. These design ideas do not require the deployment of either technological or mechanical methods to be effective.
Examples of passive methods include shading areas from the sun through the use of screens or the special positioning of buildings, the deployment of cooling towers, the construction of thicker walls or the use of grass roofs. Once these things are done, they continue to save energy without the use of any added technology.
Active measures – Sustainability can also be promoted through the use of specific technological or mechanical systems to save energy by cooling and/or heating a structure more efficiently. Historically, energy-efficient systems have come with higher capital costs, but they have generated operational savings through lower energy cost. In turn, such systems have often successfully reduced the carbon footprint of a given facility.
Key Sustainability Concepts
Again, the maximization of sustainability benefits requires attention to solid concepts from the start. A stated emphasis on energy conservation, green architecture and sustainability should be a guiding principle from day one when a new entertainment or sports venue is being designed. Broadly speaking, concepts regarding sustainability in venue design are categorized under the headings of water, energy, materials and waste management.
Company: Preferred Seating
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Data Center HVAC Design Considerations (October 26, 2015), Linetec mimics terra cotta’s look and feel in new painted finish (October 21, 2015), They're here! Glass countertops from Innovate Building Solutions (October 14, 2015), Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life (September 21, 2015), Building Sustainability: The World’s 7 Best Green Buildings (September 16, 2015), MultipliCITY wins a 2015 IDEA Goldaward (August 25, 2015), Case Study: Sustainability without Sacrificing Beauty - the Linstroth Residence (July 22, 2015), The FGP Collection by Francisco Gomez Paz (July 6, 2015), Composite, Synthetic Decking and Deck Railing Materials (June 1, 2015), Architects turn to prefab materials (May 1, 2015) | <urn:uuid:e505b9be-185f-4929-9927-baf3a5489a74> | {
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Teacher resources and professional development across the curriculum
Teacher professional development and classroom resources across the curriculum
You will need the following printouts (PDFs) for session 5: Teaching Writing as a Process. In order to read these files, you will need Adobe Acrobat Reader. You can download it for free from Adobe.
Assess Your Writing Program
Develop a Mini-Lesson
You may also want to print out the following PDFs.
© 2003 WGBH Educational Foundation. All rights reserved. | <urn:uuid:c2fe4878-e92d-4c09-bf88-517b827b2a1e> | {
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Please note: This information was current at the time of publication. But medical information is always changing, and some information given here may be out of date. For regularly updated information on a variety of health topics, please visit familydoctor.org, the AAFP patient education Web site.
Information from Your Family Doctor
Am Fam Physician. 2003 Apr 1;67(7):1509-1510.
Bed-wetting, or losing urine during sleep, is a common problem in children. As many as 7 million children in the United States wet the bed at night. Bed-wetting happens three times more often in boys than in girls.
Another name for bed-wetting is nocturnal enuresis (say: nock-tur-nal en-you-ree-sis). Children are not considered to have this problem unless they are at least 5 years old and still wet the bed at least two times a month.
With time and patience, bed-wetting stops in most children.
What causes bed-wetting?
The cause is not known for sure. A child may be a bed-wetter for more than one reason.
Bed-wetting often runs in families. If one or both parents were bed-wetters as children, their child is more likely to wet the bed.
In some children who wet the bed, the bladder may not hold enough urine to get them through the night. The bodies of other bed-wetters may not have enough of a certain hormone. This hormone cuts down the amount of urine that the body makes during the night.
Do children with bed-wetting have a sleep problem?
Parents of a bed-wetter often believe that their child sleeps too soundly. However, the findings of sleep studies are no different in children who wet the bed than in children who do not.
Is bed-wetting a sign of a mental problem?
No, it is not! Also, children do not wet the bed because they are naughty or lazy. These are important points for parents to remember—and to stress to their child. Parents should not punish their child for wetting the bed. The child probably has little or no control over the problem.
Because of bed-wetting, children can have poor self-esteem. Treating bed-wetting helps these children feel better about themselves.
Can bed-wetting be the sign of a more serious problem?
Most children who wet the bed are completely healthy. Urine tests are the only tests they might need.
Bed-wetting usually is not a sign of a kidney problem unless the child has other signs, such as wetting during the day or pain with urination.
Talk to your doctor if your child has been dry at night but starts wetting the bed.
How is bed-wetting treated?
Even with no treatment, many children “outgrow” bed-wetting. But, there are some treatments that can help.
The bed-wetting alarm seems to have the best cure rate. The child wears the alarm at night. When the child begins to wet the bed, the alarm goes off. The child wakes up and gets up to go to the bathroom. For this treatment to work, the alarm may need to be used for 3 or 4 months. If a bed-wetting alarm is prescribed by your doctor, your insurance company may cover its cost.
Desmopressin (brand name: DDAVP) is a medicine that is used to treat bed-wetting. It comes in a nose spray or pill. Desmopressin works quickly, but it is expensive. Many children start wetting again when they stop taking the medicine. Sometimes, the bed-wetting alarm and desmopressin can be used together.
In the past, imipramine (brand name: Tofranil) was used to treat bed-wetting. However, it is used less often now, because it has side effects and does not work as well as other medicines.
What can I do as a parent?
No matter what treatment is chosen, here are some things you can do:
Be positive—and reassure your child that bed-wetting will stop or be cured with time. Do not punish your child for bed-wetting!
Give your child the job of changing the wet bed. A younger child can be asked to take the sheets off the bed. An older child may be asked to do the laundry.
Don't let your child drink water, milk, or other beverages too close to bedtime.
Before you go to sleep at night, wake your child up to use the bathroom.
Develop a system of rewards, such as stickers for dry nights, to encourage your child.
Where Can I Get a Bed-Wetting Alarm?
Nytone Alarms, 2424 South 900 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84119
Web site: www.nytone.com
Palco Laboratories, 8030 Soquel Avenue, Suite 104, Santa Cruz, CA 95062
Web site: www.palcolabs.com
Potty Pager (silent alarm)
Ideas for Living, 1285 North Cedarbrook, Boulder, CO 80304
Telephone: 1–800–497–6573 or 303–440–8517
Web site: www.pottypager.com
Alpha Consultants, 94 Selwyn Place, P.O. Box 569, Nelson, New Zealand 7001
Web site: www.dri-sleeper.com
This handout is provided to you by your family doctor and the American Academy of Family Physicians. Other health-related information is available from the AAFP online at http://familydoctor.org.
This information provides a general overview and may not apply to everyone. Talk to your family doctor to find out if this information applies to you and to get more information on this subject.
Copyright © 2003 by the American Academy of Family Physicians.
This content is owned by the AAFP. A person viewing it online may make one printout of the material and may use that printout only for his or her personal, non-commercial reference. This material may not otherwise be downloaded, copied, printed, stored, transmitted or reproduced in any medium, whether now known or later invented, except as authorized in writing by the AAFP. Contact [email protected] for copyright questions and/or permission requests.
Want to use this article elsewhere? Get Permissions | <urn:uuid:942dd2e9-04a9-495b-b21c-1700604bd046> | {
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This demonstration allows you to explore the effects of violating the assumptions of normality and homogeneity of variance. When the simulation starts you see the distributions of two populations. By default, they are both normally distributed, have means of \(0\) and standard deviations of \(1\). The default sample size for the simulations is \(5\) per group. If you push the "simulate" button, \(2,000\) simulated experiments are conducted. You can adjust the number of simulations from \(2,000\) to \(10,000\). A \(t\)-test is computed for each experiment and the number of tests that were significant, not significant, and the Type I error rate (the proportion significant) are displayed.
Since the null hypothesis is true and all assumptions are met with these default values, the Type I error rate should be close to \(0.05\), especially if you ran a large number of simulations. It will not equal \(0.05\) because of random variation. However, the larger the number of simulations you run, the closer the Type I error rate should come to \(0.05\).
You can explore the effects of violating the assumptions of the test by making one or both of the distributions skewed and/or by making the standard deviations of the distributions different. You can also explore the effects of sample size and of the significance level used (\(0.05\) or \(0.01\)).
By exploring various distributions, sample sizes, and significance levels, you can get a feeling for how well the test works when its violations are violated. A test that is relatively unaffected by violations of its assumptions is said to be "robust."
The video below begins by running \(2000\) simulations with the two populations each with means of \(0\), standard deviations of \(2\) no skewness and sample sizes of \(5\). The video continues by varying different aspect of the distributions and running more simulations. Note the number of significant tests after each set of simulations. | <urn:uuid:2fa4176a-6e51-4638-bba3-d68c50875a69> | {
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Chivalry (derived through the French cheval from the Latin caballus ) as an institution is to be considered from three points of view: the military, the social, and the religious. We shall also here consider the history of chivalry as a whole.
In the military sense, chivalry was the heavy cavalry of the Middle Ages which constituted the chief and most effective warlike force. The knight or chevalier was the professional soldier of the time ; in medieval Latin, the ordinary word miles (soldier) was equivalent to "knight." This pre-eminence of cavalry was correlative with the decline of infantry on the battlefield. Four peculiarities distinguished the professional warrior:
The medieval army was poorly equipped for long-distance fighting, and bows and crossbows were still employed, although the Church endeavored to prohibit their use, at least between Christian armies, as contrary to humanity. At all events, they were regarded as unfair in combat by the medieval knight. His only offensive weapons were the lance for the encounter and the sword for the close fight, weapons common to both light-armed and heavy cavalry. The characteristic distinction of the latter, which really constituted chivalry, lay in their defensive weapons, which varied with different periods. These weapons were always costly to get and heavy to bear, such as the brunia or hauberk of the Carlovingian Era, the coat of mail, which prevailed during the Crusades, and lastly the plate armor introduced in the fourteenth century.Horses
No knight was thought to be properly equipped without at least three horses:
The knight required several attendants:
Banners were also a distinctive mark of chivalry. They were attached to, and carried on, the lance. There was a sharp distinction between the pennon, a flag pointed or forked at the extremity, used by a single chevalier or bachelor as a personal ensign, and the banner, square in form, used as the ensign of a band and reserved to the baron or baronet in command of a group of at least ten knights, called a constabulary. Each flag or banner was emblazoned with the arms of its owner to distinguish one from another on the battlefield. These armorial bearings afterwards became hereditary and gave birth to the complicated science of heraldry .
The career of a knight was costly, requiring personal means in keeping with the station; for a knight had to defray his own expenses in an age when the sovereign had neither treasury nor war budget at his disposal. When land was the only kind of riches, each lord paramount who wished to raise an army divided his domain into military fiefs, the tenant being held to military service at his own personal expense for a fixed number of days (forty in France and in England during the Norman period). These fees, like other feudal grants, became hereditary, and thus developed a noble class, for whom the knightly profession was the only career. Knighthood, however, was not hereditary, though only the sons of a knight were eligible to its ranks. In boyhood they were sent to the court of some noble, where they were trained in the use of horses and weapons, and were taught lessons of courtesy. From the thirteenth century, the candidates, after they had attained the rank of squire, were allowed to take part in battles; but it was only when they had come of age, commonly twenty-one years, that they were admitted to the rank of knight by means of a peculiar ceremonial called "dubbing." Every knight was qualified to confer knighthood, provided the aspirant fulfilled the requisite conditions of birth, age, and training. Where the condition of birth was lacking in the aspirant, the sovereign alone could create a knight, as a part of his royal prerogative.
In the ceremonial of conferring knighthood the Church shared, through the blessing of the sword, and by the virtue of this blessing chivalry assumed a religious character. In early Christianity, although Tertullian's teaching that Christianity and the profession of arms were incompatible was condemned as heretical, the military career was regarded with little favour. In chivalry, religion and the profession of arms were reconciled. This change in attitude on the part of the Church dates, according to some, from the Crusades, when Christian armies were for the first time devoted to a sacred purpose. Even prior to the Crusades, however, an anticipation of this attitude is found in the custom called the "Truce of God". It was then that the clergy seized upon the opportunity offered by these truces to exact from the rough warriors of feudal times a religious vow to use their weapons chiefly for the protection of the weak and defenseless, especially women and orphans, and of churches. Chivalry, in the new sense, rested on a vow ; it was this vow which dignified the soldier, elevated him in his own esteem, and raised him almost to the level of the monk in medieval society. As if in return for this vow, the Church ordained a special blessing for the knight in the ceremony called in the Pontificale Romanum , "Benedictio novi militis." At first very simple in its form, this ritual gradually developed into an elaborate ceremony. Before the blessing of the sword on the altar, many preliminaries were required of the aspirant, such as confession, a vigil of prayer, fasting, a symbolical bath, and investiture with a white robe, for the purpose of impressing on the candidate the purity of soul with which he was to enter upon such a noble career. Kneeling, in the presence of the clergy, he pronounced the solemn vow of chivalry, at the same time often renewing the baptismal vow ; the one chosen as godfather then struck him lightly on the neck with a sword (the dubbing) in the name of God and St. George, the patron of chivalry.
There are four distinct periods in the history of chivalry. The period of foundation, i.e. the time when the Truce of God was in force, witnessed the long contest of the Church against the violence of the age, before she succeeded in curbing the savage spirit of the feudal warriors, who prior to this recognized no law but that of brute force.First Period: The Crusades
The Crusades introduced the golden age of chivalry, and the crusader was the pattern of the perfect knight. The rescue of the holy places of Palestine from Moslem domination and the defense of pilgrims became the new object of his vow. In return, the Church took him under her protection in a special way, and conferred upon him exceptional temporal and spiritual privileges, such as the remission of all penances, dispensation from the jurisdiction of the secular courts, and as a means of defraying the expenses of the journey to the Holy Land, knights were granted the tenth of all the church revenues. The vow of the crusader was limited to a specified period. For the distant expeditions into Asia, the average time was two or three years.Second Period: The Military Orders
After the conquest of Jerusalem, the necessity of a standing army became peremptory, in order to prevent the loss of the Holy City to surrounding hostile nations. Out of this necessity arose the military orders which adopted as a fourth monastic vow that of perpetual warfare against the infidels. In these orders, wherein was realized the perfect fusion of the religious and the military spirit, chivalry reached its apogee. This heroic spirit had also its notable representatives among the secular crusaders, as Godfrey of Bouillon, Tancred of Normandy, Richard Couer de Lion, and above all Louis IX of France, in whom knighthood was crowned by sanctity. Like the monastic, the knightly vow bound with common ties warriors of every nation and condition, and enrolled them in a vast brotherhood of manners, ideals, and aims. The secular brotherhood had, like the regular its rule imposing on its members fidelity to their; lords and to their word, fair play on the battlefield, and the observance of the maxims of honour and courtesy. Medieval chivalry, moreover, opened a new chapter in the history of literature. It prepared the way and gave ready currency to an epic and romantic movement in literature reflecting the ideal of knighthood and celebrating its accomplishment and achievements. Provence and Normandy were the chief centres of this kind of literature, which was spread throughout all Europe by the trouvères and troubadours.Third Period: Secular Chivalry
After the Crusades chivalry gradually lost its religious aspect. In this, its third period, honour remains the peculiar worship of knighthood. This spirit is manifested in the many knightly exploits which fill the annals of the long contest between England and France during the Hundred Years War. The chronicles of Froissart give a vivid picture of this age, where bloody battles alternate with tournaments and gorgeous pageants. Each contending nation has its heroes. If England could boast of the victories of the Black Prince, Chandos, and Talbot, France could pride herself on the exploits of Du Guesclin, Boucicaut, and Dunois. But with all the brilliance and glamour of their achievements, the main result was a useless shedding of blood, waste of money, and misery for the lower classes. The amorous character of the new literature had contributed not a little to deflect chivalry from its original ideal. Under the influence of the romances love now became the mainspring of chivalry. As a consequence there arose a new type of chevalier, vowed to the service of some noble lady, who could even be another man's wife. This idol of his heart was to be worshiped at a distance. Unfortunately, notwithstanding the obligations imposed upon the knightly lover, these extravagant fancies often led to lamentable results.Fourth Period: Court Chivalry
In its last stages, chivalry became a mere court service. The Order of the Garter, founded in 1348 by Edward III of England, the Order of the Golden Fleece ( Toison d'or ) of Philip of Burgundy, dating from 1430, formed a brotherhood, not of crusaders, but of courtiers, with no other aim than to contribute to the splendor of the sovereign. Their most serious business was the sport of jousts and tournaments. They made their vows not in chapels, but in banquet halls, not on the cross, but on some emblematic bird. The " vow of the Swan" of 1306, was instituted during the feast of the dubbing of the son of Edward I. It was before God and the swan that the old king swore with his knights to avenge on Scotland the murder of his lieutenant. More celebrated is the " vow of the Pheasant," made in 1454 at the court of Philip of Burgundy. The motive was weighty indeed, being nothing else than the rescue of Constantinople, which had fallen the past year into the hands of the Turks. But the solemnity of the motive did not lessen the frivolity of the occasion. A solemn vow was taken before God and the pheasant at a gorgeous banquet, the profligate cost of which might better have been devoted to the expedition itself. No less than one hundred and fifty knights, the flower of the nobility, repeated the vow, but the enterprise came to nought. Chivalry had degenerated to a futile pastime and an empty promise.
Literature, which had in the past so greatly contributed to the exaltation of chivalry, now reacted against its extravagances. In the early part of the fourteenth century this turning point becomes evident in the poetry of Chaucer. Although he himself had made many translations from the French romances, he mildly derides their manner in his "Sir Thopas." The final blow was reserved for the immortal work of Cervantes, "Don Quixote," which aroused the laughter of all Europe. Infantry, on its revival as an effective force on the battlefield during the fourteenth century began to dispute the supremacy which heavy cavalry had so long enjoyed. Chivalry which rested entirely upon the superiority of the horseman in warfare, rapidly declined. At Crécy (1346) and Agincourt (1415) the French knighthood was decimated by the arrows of the English archers of Edward III and Henry V. The Austrian nobility at Sempach (1386) and the Burgundian chivalry at Morat (1476) were unable to sustain the overpowering onslaught of the Swiss peasantry. With the advent of gunpowder and the general use of firearms in battle, chivalry rapidly disintegrated and finally disappeared altogether.
The Catholic Encyclopedia is the most comprehensive resource on Catholic teaching, history, and information ever gathered in all of human history. This easy-to-search online version was originally printed between 1907 and 1912 in fifteen hard copy volumes.
Designed to present its readers with the full body of Catholic teaching, the Encyclopedia contains not only precise statements of what the Church has defined, but also an impartial record of different views of acknowledged authority on all disputed questions, national, political or factional. In the determination of the truth the most recent and acknowledged scientific methods are employed, and the results of the latest research in theology, philosophy, history, apologetics, archaeology, and other sciences are given careful consideration.
No one who is interested in human history, past and present, can ignore the Catholic Church, either as an institution which has been the central figure in the civilized world for nearly two thousand years, decisively affecting its destinies, religious, literary, scientific, social and political, or as an existing power whose influence and activity extend to every part of the globe. In the past century the Church has grown both extensively and intensively among English-speaking peoples. Their living interests demand that they should have the means of informing themselves about this vast institution, which, whether they are Catholics or not, affects their fortunes and their destiny.
Copyright © Catholic Encyclopedia. Robert Appleton Company New York, NY. Volume 1: 1907; Volume 2: 1907; Volume 3: 1908; Volume 4: 1908; Volume 5: 1909; Volume 6: 1909; Volume 7: 1910; Volume 8: 1910; Volume 9: 1910; Volume 10: 1911; Volume 11: - 1911; Volume 12: - 1911; Volume 13: - 1912; Volume 14: 1912; Volume 15: 1912
Catholic Online Catholic Encyclopedia Digital version Compiled and Copyright © Catholic Online | <urn:uuid:1ee50c92-6acb-43a1-b0f6-8957f57b4968> | {
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Mining. Crafting. Building. Hunting. If your child has suddenly developed an interest in these things, chances are he or she has been playing "Minecraft," a video game in which you can build and create anything you want using textured cubes in a 3D world. Think of digital Lego blocks.
"'Minecraft' is an obsession in our house," Katie Simpson said. As a mother of two boys, ages 11 and 10, she echoes the sentiment of many parents around the world.
Obsessed. Addicted. The words are strong when referring to this curious phenomenon. Boys and girls of all ages, and even adults, are enamored with this game, created by Swedish programmer Markus "Notch" Persson and later developed and published by Mojang. It has been about four years since Minecraft was publicly released for the PC in beta mode, and two years since it moved out of beta into the full version.
Updates to this sandbox-style indie game keep it fresh and interesting. It has developed an entire secondary market of products – from "Minecraft" guides and hacks to Lego sets, merchandise and YouTube channels. There is even a project called MinecraftEdu, which uses the game in education.
What makes "Minecraft" different from other video games is it allows players to create anything they imagine and to interact with the game world in infinite ways. Furthermore, it is not played on one server, but on multiple public and private servers all over the world. Kids and parents host "Minecraft" games on their own servers and play across multiple platforms – desktops, tablets, phones and consoles.
The core of "Minecraft" is construction, but players can also engage in exploration, gathering resources, crafting and combat. Game play has three modes. Survival Mode requires players to acquire resources and maintain their health and hunger. Creative Mode gives players an unlimited supply of resources, the ability to fly and no health or hunger issues. Hardcore Mode is a more difficult version of Survival Mode wherein respawning or coming back to life after losing a life in the game is disabled. It might be hard to understand it all if you are used to set objectives or games with the goal of winning at the end.
"Minecraft" is different because it is an open-world game, and players have a lot of freedom in how they play.
Fans believe the game fosters creativity.
"My kids learn through 'Minecraft' – writing, reading, engineering, programming and more," Marieke Hensel of Fullerton said. "They started about a year ago, and it's awesome to see how much they have grown and learned through playing 'Minecraft.' What I like best is that the opportunities in 'Minecraft' are endless."
Simpson adds: "I like it because it really sparks their creative minds and makes them view the real world around them differently. It's sparked an interest in elements from the periodic table and has sparked many educational discussions. I also like it because there isn't any gore – think extreme pixelated video game." | <urn:uuid:2f44e374-f11e-408a-8e50-09813077b9f2> | {
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Advertising Campaign (Dan Snook)
1. Students will use matrix operations to solve a real life application.
2. Students will be able to sort given information into matrix form.
This activity is presented as a practical application of the use of matrix multiplication. It is envisioned to be presented after students have been introduced to the matrix perations of addition and multiplication.
Remind students that they are overwhelmed with advertising everyday in a multitude of places. It is important for them to know that advertising is a multi-billion dollar industry. Also, advertising often offers high paying careers. This activity shows the inner workings of one aspect of this industry.
1. Begin the activity by reviewing examples of matrix multiplication. Include checking the size of the matrix and whether or not is possible to multiply. Look also at the failure of the commutative property with matrix multiplication.
2. Distribute the worksheets and read the introduction to the problem. Discuss what the goals of an advertising campaign might be. Also, discuss market share.
3. The difficulty of the problem is in the set up of the matrix. Allow the students to try this on their own. Then go over the results as a class.
4. Multiply the matrices. Use graphing calculators if desired. Then interpret the results.
"Advertising Campaign" worksheets, dry erase board
Review of matrix multiplication (10 minutes), Introduction of the problem (5 minutes), Individual work to set up matrix (5 minutes), Large group discussion of matrix (10 minutes), Large group solution of problem (10 minutes)
Discrete Mathematics Concepts:
Matrix dimensions, elements, multiplication
Related Mathematics Concepts:
NCTM Standards Addressed
Problem Solving, Reasoning, Communication, Connections, Algebra, Discrete Math
Colorado and District Standards Addressed
Number Sense (1), Algebraic Methods (2), Data Collection and Analysis (3), Problem Solving Techniques (5), Linking Concepts and Procedures (6)
This activity fits well into the initial discussion of matrices in an Algebra I class. It provides a concrete application to matrix multiplication.
Activities involving applications of advertising could be continued. For example, the advertising industries' manipulation of the truth of the major and/or minor premise in an argument, and how it effects the conclusions that you draw about their products.
This is a good activity to use while teaching matrix operations. Multiplying matrices is a difficult problem for students at first. Having mastered the procedure, this activity shows a use for the technique.
Colorado Model Mathematics Standards Task Force. (1995) Colorado model content standards for mathematics.
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. (1989). Curriculum and evaluation standards for school mathematics. Reston, VA: Author: | <urn:uuid:c41f80e3-7889-49b9-8fa7-cfca138be785> | {
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Napoleon Bonaparte Quote
Napoleon : In His Own Words (1916)
Picture Source: Wikimedia CommonsNapoleon Bonaparte
Born: August 15, 1769
Died: May 5, 1821 (aged 51)
Bio: Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader who rose to prominence during the latter stages of the French Revolution and its associated wars in Europe. | <urn:uuid:e0283844-9f25-487c-9575-935c475523a4> | {
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Drugs for the Future:
By the time
many of today's students enter the workforce, career opportunities
will have radically changed. In April of 2003 the Human
Genome Project culminated in the completion of the full human
genome. The National Human Genome Research Institute now must
move forward into the genomic era with research aimed at improving
human health and fighting disease.
modeling scientists will be better able to design new and more
potent drugs against diseases such as Cancer, AIDS, and Arthritis.
to the Left: The 3D structure of a protein drug target. Using
the crystallographic structure fo a protein, Syrrx (a drug
design company) used computational methods to design a small
molecule drug (shown in green) that can inhibit the disease-causing
activity of the protein.
modeling not only has the potential to bring new drugs to the
market, but a vast array of new materials. The discovery of fullerenes,
view the BuckyTube in 3-D click here]
superconducting cuprates (as well as other complex inorganic compounds),
are expected to produce new materials in the optics, ceramic,
semiconductor and biomaterials markets.
5K Image In addition, recent structural
determination of vital photosynthetic proteins will lead the way
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Need for extra financial support tops the list for the largest barriers faced by Indigenous students as they make their way through post-secondary school in Canada, a nationwide report suggests.
The report, released Thursday by Indspire, a charity that focuses on Indigenous education, surveyed 300 students across the country attending universities, colleges and trades programs, including 35 attending schools in B.C.
It found students were also concerned about a lack of Indigenous student services on campus, Indigenous content in programs such as social work, nursing and law, and more Indigenous professors and mentors. Students said gaps in a support system on campus led to incidents of racism and resentment from peers.
“The least safe place for our students is in the classroom,” said Indspire president Roberta Jamieson. “That’s what they told us.”
Today, @Indspire released results from a survey asking Indigenous students across the country about barriers they face in post-secondary. #cdnpoli #bcpoli Here are a few of the key responses. More to come @BlackPressMedia pic.twitter.com/fPlu6qwpaq
— Ashley Wadhwani (@ashwadhwani) November 15, 2018
The report compared its findings with what the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada called for in its final report in 2015, which included seven recommendations focused on education for Indigenous children and youth.
Some of those calls to action included developing culturally appropriate curricula, ending the backlog of First Nations students seeking post-secondary education, and funding to close educational achievement gaps within one generation.
Jamieson said the survey results show governments and post-secondary schools “have not fully responded” to the commission’s recommendations.
In B.C., 50 per cent of Aboriginal people aged 25 to 64 had a certificate, diploma or degree from a trade school, college or university in 2011, according to the latest data from Statistics Canada. That’s compared to 66 per cent of their non-Aboriginal counterparts.
Indspire’s report made three key recommendations: more funding for staffing for Indigenous student services at colleges and universities, a full evaluation of the commission’s calls to action, and strengthening Indigenous culture and belonging on campus and beyond.
Cultural awareness on campus
Many students felt post-secondary settings have not taken the time to incorporate Indigenous students, their history and their culture, the report said.
Student reported feelings of isolation, loneliness and being overwhelmed. Some said it caused a sense of marginalization on campus.
“There aren’t always safe spaces within the university, other than Indigenous Student Centres, that are welcoming to Indigenous students,” one student said. “Racism and violence still very much exist so it is sometimes hard to move throughout the university and not experience those things, from professors, other students, administration.”
Another student reported their peers resented them for getting special treatment and “as a result, the Indigenous students were not as welcome.”
Others said inaccurate reflections of their culture often forced them to address the misinformation.
@DKimmaliardjuk, the first Indigenous person in the country to become a heart surgeon says, “Indigenous people are the fastest growing population in this country so it only makes sense to invest in our education.” pic.twitter.com/fLGi1ooUfg
— Indspire (@Indspire) November 15, 2018
“In 2018, we do not need non-Indigenous peoples speaking about us. Make space, move over,” one student response read.
“In my field of study, it was very hard to describe how not only are we still here, but everything we do in our programs is through a Western lens. That there are Indigenous ways of reaching decisions, creation of policy, etc. It never gets recognized in my program.”
In the classroom, students noted “outdated” Western views “dominated” their course content, the report found.
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Article abstract: Mahler had parallel careers as conductor and composer, in each of which he was regarded by many of his contemporaries as the leading musical figure of his generation. His ten symphonies and other varied compositions represent the culmination of romanticism and the beginnings of modern music.
Gustav Mahler was born on July 7, 1860, in Kalischt, Bohemia, a small town which now lies in the Czech Republic but which was then part of the Austrian Empire.
His father, Bernhard Mahler, had married Marie Hermann three years earlier, and a son was born in 1858, but he died in infancy. Bernhard, a coachman who had become the owner of a small distillery and tavern, was thirty at the time of his marriage and ten years older than his bride. Marie may have agreed to marry beneath her social station because she was lame from birth, for there is no evidence of affection between her and the ambitious Bernhard.
In the sixteen years following Gustav’s birth, his mother bore twelve more children, of which six died in infancy. Though this rate of infant mortality was not uncommon at the time, in an emotionally ambivalent household it could not fail to affect a sensitive child like Gustav. It is reported that when he was asked, at an early age, what he would like to be when he grew up, he replied: “A martyr.” Fortunately, his love of music soon became a refuge from the brutality of his home life: At age four he could play folk tunes on a small accordion, and at five he was discovered in his grandparents’ attic playing a piano. By the age of ten, he gave his first public piano recital, which took place in the Moravian town of Iglau (now Jihlava), where the family had moved in late 1860.
In the Austria of Mahler’s youth, there had been a liberalization in the laws governing the activities of members of the Jewish faith, to which all Gustav’s forebears belonged (though perhaps with varying degrees of orthodoxy). Gustav’s father, who read widely and fancied himself a scholar, was devoted to the hope that his children would take advantage of the situation and improve their lot in life. Bernhard hoped that Gustav would excel in music, but he also insisted that Gustav continue his general education; in 1870, Gustav was sent to Prague to study. When it was discovered that Gustav was being mistreated in the home where he boarded and received piano lessons, his father brought him back to Iglau.
Mahler’s growing local reputation as a pianist caused him to be taken by a benefactor to play for Julius Epstein, a professor at the Vienna Conservatory of Music. On September 20, 1875, the fifteen-year-old Mahler was enrolled at the conservatory, where he remained for nearly three years studying harmony, composition, and piano. Perhaps as significant as the instruction that he received was his exposure to the artistic life of Vienna, the musical capital of Europe, and the home of successive generations of great composers. In June, 1876, Gustav’s single-minded devotion to his studies won for him the conservatory’s first prize in piano for a performance of a sonata by Franz Schubert, a Viennese predecessor whose influence can be seen in Mahler’s mature work. Another piano prize followed in 1877, and in the same year he won a prize for the composition of a chamber music work. When Mahler left the conservatory with a diploma in 1878, he possessed a fine general musical education. At his father’s insistence, however, Gustav immediately returned to Iglau to continue his general studies, and in the summer he passed his final examinations, apparently not without difficulty. Although his father has been unsympathetically treated by the composer’s biographers, Mahler’s broad range of intellectual interests may be credited partly to Bernhard’s persistent influence.
Returning to Vienna in the autumn of 1878, Mahler was enrolled at the university to study philosophy and art history. At about the same time, he began to write the text of a cantata, Das klagende Lied (the song of lament), his earliest surviving large-scale composition, which he composed during the following months and completed on November 1, 1880. Mahler’s main source of support had been his earnings from teaching piano, an occupation that he had begun nearly ten years earlier, but in the summer of 1880 he gained summer employment as a conductor at a resort. In the following year, he obtained a longer-term appointment as conductor at Laibach (now Ljubljana), and in January, 1883, a position at Olomouc, which he held for only a few months. In the midst of his modest but rising conducting career, Mahler continued to compose. In 1881, Mahler had unsuccessfully placed Das klagende Lied in competition for the Beethoven Prize, offered by a Vienna musical group. He later reflected that had he won the prize, he would not have had to remain in the world of the stage as an opera director, but much evidence points to the immense creative advantages that Mahler derived from his experiences as a conductor. In any event, his career continued to advance. In August of 1883, he started work as assistant at the Court Theatre of Kassel, Germany, and in August of the following year he moved to the German Theatre in Prague, the leading city of his native Bohemia, where he was successful as an interpreter of the operas of Richard Wagner and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
While still at Kassel, Gustav fell in love with a singer, Johanna Richter. When their relationship ended with Richter leaving Mahler for another man, Gustav composed a memorial to the affair, Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen (1884; Songs of a Wayfarer). This cycle of four songs for soprano and orchestra, widely regarded as the composer’s first masterpiece, reveals with great force the emotional world of the twenty-three-year-old Mahler. His love of nature and capacity for grief are communicated in a strikingly original musical language that weds elements of folk song to unorthodox harmony and highly colorful orchestration. Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen reflects Mahler’s devotion to a famous collection of traditional poems and songs known as Des Knaben Wunderhorn (youth’s magic horn), from which he was to draw much inspiration in composing both songs and symphonies.
Mahler’s first four symphonies, completed between 1887 and 1900, are appropriately referred to as the “Wunderhorn” symphonies, since they incorporate verses and melodies from the original Wunderhorn sources and Mahler’s adaptations of them. Mahler’s conception of the symphony—that it “must be like the world” and embrace everything—allowed him to expand its scope by including vocal elements and by greatly lengthening the works. In Mahler’s works, the traditional form of the symphony is superseded by the composer’s expressive ambitions. Mahler sought a mastery of symphonic form but defined it more flexibly; unity was a matter not only of rational musical architecture but also of mood and philosophical intention.
In August, 1886, Mahler took up an appointment as second conductor at Leipzig, Germany, where he remained until May of 1888. His departure from Leipzig because of a conflict with the director sounds a characteristic note in Mahler’s subsequent conducting career; his standards were uncompromising and his methods were sometimes nearly tyrannical, and could not have been tolerated in any case had Mahler not been a musician of the highest caliber. His next position, begun on October 1, 1888, was as musical director at the Royal Budapest Opera; he remained there until March of 1891, immediately moving to Hamburg, Germany’s largest city, as chief opera conductor. During this period, the personal circumstances of Mahler’s life changed considerably; in 1889, his father, mother, and a married sister died within months of one another, and he had to assume responsibility for his brothers and sisters. Although he was well paid for his conducting, his finances were rarely in good order. Nevertheless he succeeded in completing many works, seeing to their performance as circumstances allowed. His success as a composer was not immediate. Only with the presentation in 1895 of his second symphony—at his own expense and under his direction—did Mahler achieve unquestioned recognition as a composer.
As Mahler’s fame as a conductor grew, he began to hope that he might be appointed to direct the Vienna Court Opera, which was the...
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Henry Gray (18251861). Anatomy of the Human Body. 1918.
The remaining fibersi. e., those which occupy the lateral part of the pyramiddo not cross the middle line, but are carried downward as the anterior cerebrospinal fasciculus (Fig. 680) into the anterior funiculus of the same side.
The greater part of the anterior proper fasciculus of the medulla spinalis is continued upward through the medulla oblongata under the name of the medial longitudinal fasciculus.
The lateral district(Fig. 681) is limited in front by the antero-lateral sulcus and the roots of the hypoglossal nerve, and behind by the postero-lateral sulcus and the roots of the accessory, vagus, and glossopharyngeal nerves. Its upper part consists of a prominent oval mass which is named the olive, while its lower part is of the same width as the lateral funiculus of the medulla spinalis, and appears on the surface to be a direct continuation of it. As a matter of fact, only a portion of the lateral funiculus is continued upward into this district, for the lateral cerebrospinal fasciculus passes into the pyramid of the opposite side, and the dorsal spinocerebellar fasciculus is carried into the inferior peduncle in the posterior district. The ventral spinocerebellar fasciculus is continued upward on the lateral surface of the medulla oblongata in the same relative position it occupies in the spinal cord until it passes under cover of the external arcuate fibers. It passes beneath these fibers just dorsal to the olive and ventral to the roots of the vagus and glossopharyngeal nerves; it continues upward through the pons along the dorso-lateral edge of the lateral lemniscus. The remainder of the lateral funiculus consists chiefly of the lateral proper fasciculus. Most of these fibers dip beneath the olive and disappear from the surface; but a small strand remains superficial to the olive. In a depression at the upper end of this strand is the acoustic nerve.
The olive (oliva; olivary body) is situated lateral to the pyramid, from which it is separated by the antero-lateral sulcus, and the fibers of the hypoglossal nerve. Behind, it is separated from the postero-lateral sulcus by the ventral spinocerebellar fasciculus. In the depression between the upper end of the olive and the pons lies the acoustic nerve. It measures about 1.25 cm. in length, and between its upper | <urn:uuid:89a7532a-30a1-43e5-a038-a37203725561> | {
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Martin the Confessor, Pope of Rome
Saint Martin was born in Tuscany. He had been the papal delegate at Constantinople; upon the death of Pope Theodore, Saint Martin was elected his successor. At this time the Emperor Constans II, also known as Constantine Pogonatus (reigned 641-668), was seeking support of his confession of faith called the Typos, which espoused the Monothelite heresy, that is, that there is only one will and energy in the Incarnate Son of God. But the newly-consecrated Pope not only did not accept the Typos, but convened the Lateran Council of 649 (attended by 105 of his bishops, and Saint Maximus the Confessor, who was then in Rome), which anathematized the Typos and the Monothelite heresy. Because of this Saint Martin was seized by an imperial force in 653 and brought to Constantinople, where he was charged with sending money to the Saracens and conspiring with them, and blaspheming against the most holy Mother of God. Though innocent of these accusations, he was exiled to Cherson on the Black Sea, where, after many sufferings and privations, he received the crown of his courageous confession in the year 655.
Apolytikion of Martin the Confessor in the Fourth Tone
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Apparently in 1962, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (that’s NASA) had no interest in sending women into space. They were also pretty sure that they would never need such a ridiculous program. Ladies! In space! LOL! Check out this letter, which says, “We have no existing program concerning woman astronauts nor do we contemplate any such plan.” The level of certainty with which NASA assured this applicant that they had no need for female astronauts must be more than a little embarrassing to look back on.
Unfortunately for NASA, turning down this woman was quite the missed opportunity. Just one year later, on June 16th 1963, Soviet Cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman in space. She spent 48 orbits and 71 hours in space, which was more time than all U.S. astronauts had spent in space combined. Last month marked the 50th anniversary of Tereshkova’s trip. In a time when the Soviet and the United States were racing to achieve “space firsts,” the complete rejection of women as astronauts a mere year before Tereshkova went to space was a clear failure for the United States.
Not your finest moment, NASA. | <urn:uuid:21a4a2b1-07b6-48ee-94d3-6a1efbab769b> | {
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Liquid / Liquid extraction is a process for separating the components of a mixture and is closely related to distillation. It may be used as a complementary or alternative technique when distillation is difficult such as in the separation of thermally sensitive materials or when materials have similar boiling points. The use of liquid/liquid extraction process for materials separation continues to gain importance both technically and economically. Low power requirements and the possibility provided for selective separation of components means that the fields of application for liquid/liquid extraction process are continually being extended. We have gained considerable experience in the construction of glass extraction units. On the basis of this know-how a new range of production units has been developed. Mixer-settlers are part of this range.
Mixer settlers are generally multi-stage and the two phases flow through the entire unit concurrently. It is also possible to use a cross flow arrangement, treating each stage with fresh solvent. The continuous and dispersed phases are fed into a mixing zone where a turbine stirrer with variable speed drive unit mixes the two phases, dispensing one phase in the form of small droplets in the other. Mass transfer takes place during dispersion or immediately after it. The residence time of the two phases in the mixing zone is of great importance, as is the droplet size of the dispersed phase which is inversely related to the stirrer speed. There is , however, a limit to the stirrer speed since, if the droplets are too small, an emulsion may form which complicates or even prevents coalescence of the droplets in the settler zone. Correct sizing of the mixing compartment and suitable selection of the stirrer speed is, therefore, of great importance in creating optimum conditions for mass transfer. Separation of the phase takes place in two stages. Firstly, the turbulent flow in the mixing zone must be brought under control and converted into axial flow. Then the mixture passes into the separation zone where the two phases separate, due to their specific gravity difference. The available separation time is determined, into a large extent, but it is also dependent on the diameter of the mixer-settler and the position of the interface. The position of the interface is a function of the ratio of the volumetric feed rates of the two feed phases.
The mixing zone of the mixer-settler consists of a special glass adaptor on which the variable speed drive is mounted. This drives the ptfe turbine stirrer inside the adaptor. The head of the stirrer is in the form of a double turbine which not only sucks in the two phases in combination with a specially designed feed pipe, but also achieves thorough mixing in the zone above the stirrer head. Between the mixing and settling zones, a perforated plate and wire is fitted to remove turbulence from the flow. In mixer settlers upto DN 300, this is made of glass and ptfe and in the DN 450 version, it is ptfe. Depending upon the size, the separation zone is made of one or more pipe sections and a second glass adaptor closes off the other end. This is fitted either with a fixed overflow for the heavy phases (DN 100) or a sealed-in overflow valve (DN 150 and above). In addition, there are necks for the light phase and drain. If special separation aids (porus media, mesh etc...) are required in the mixing zone, they can be fitted in a pipe section approximately 500 mm long with a second perforated plate at one end. If the sealed-in overflow valve is not large enough for the required throughput of heavy phase, it can be replaced by a capacitive measuring probe which detects the level of interface and controls a run-off valve. A further alternative is an overflow fitted outside the mixer-settler. This is used when the separation interface lies outside the range of adjustment of the seal-in valve, from approximately 0.33 to 0.66 of the liquid height.
Although mixer-settlers have been in use in the chemical industry for a number of years, the complexity of liquid/liquid extraction processes and the lack of reliable physical property data on novel systems makes the theoretical design of unit difficult. For this reason, extensive pilot plant test are carried out to establish the maximum load rating and separation effect of mixer-settlers. These tests are carried out by our own engineers, using customer materials. Alternatively, units are available for customers to borrow in order to carry out their own experimental work. The results of pilot plant tests establish optimum values of mixer-settler design parameters at which satisfactory extraction is achieved. These results are then used by our own engineers to design the production scale unit.
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The Brandon Wheat Kings - 1887 Vintage
Manitoba Pageant, Winter 1977, Volume 22, Number 1
It was mid-July in 1806 when Alexander Henry Jr. arrived on horseback at Assiniboine House, a North-West Company trading post situated on the north bank of the Assiniboine River two miles upstream from the mouth of the Souris River (NE ¼, Sec. 19, Tp. 8, Rge. 16W) while on a south-southwest course to visit the Mandan Indians on the Missouri. Judging by his comment on the starving condition of the occupants of this fort and nearby Brandon House, a Hudson's Bay Company fort - "no trade, no furs, no buffalo" - he could not have known that less than three quarters of a century later a vast portion of the area would suddenly be trans-formed into a fertile plain of large cultivated acreages and lush pastures.
True to form, a settlement sprang up in the centre of this agricultural paradise (about 17 crow miles northwest of the cluster of forts), and the phenomenal growth and development of this pioneer city (and the district that sustained it) over a period of six years is the substance of this story.
It all started in 1879 and 1880 before the Canadian Pacific Railway had commenced the construction of its line westward from Portage la Prairie. Parties of immigrants from the eastern provinces and England who had all come into Manitoba by the American railway lines and westward from Emerson through Pembina Mountain country by way of the old Missouri and Boundary Commission Trails, roamed about the district in search of suitable tracts of land to settle upon. One of the most well known of these were the Elliotts who pitched their tents in the fertile plain of the Souris in Township 7, Ranges 17 and 18, southeast of what is now the city of Brandon.
"These hardy pioneers underwent great hardships in reaching a tract of country suitable for settlement," wrote the editor of the Winnipeg Sun in the Mid-Summer Holiday Number of 1888, "but the picturesque and wonderfully fertile character of the locality they chose, shows what they knew about farming before they immigrated west."
One particular group of immigrants who were under the guidance of a Rev. Mr. Roddick endured great hardships as they came westward from Winnipeg by the trader's cart trail across the Big Plains to the crossing of the Assiniboine (on Sec. 21, Tp. 10, Rge. 18 according to an old township diagram). They had come all the way from Nova Scotia - "away down by the sea." But the countryside around the crossing did not appear rugged enough so they pushed away to the distant "blue hills of Brandon" where they took up homesteads. Among these was a sea captain, a Mr. Johnson by name who had apparently turned from his profession to agriculture - an unusual event indeed.
Just how enterprising these pioneers were who had settled on the 100 odd townships adjacent to the crossing is indicated by a stirring report in the Winnipeg Evening Sun, Midsummer edition, 1888. In about six years a total of 83,000 acres was already under cultivation in spite of the comparatively primitive methods of sod-breaking used in those days. It was mostly done by horse-drawn walking or sulky plow one furrow at a time. Of this acreage, in 1887, 60,000 was seeded to wheat, 17,000 to oats, 2,200 to barley, 2000 to potatoes, turnips and fields roots and 50 acres to peas. A trifling amount of flax was sown. Although horse-drawn mechanical seeders were used to quite an extent, a large portion of this fantastic acreage of cereal crops was broadcast sown - by hand.
The yield from the wheat acreage - which was increased by 13,000 over the previous year - was equally fantastic. At 32 bushels per acre (the average wheat yield for all of Manitoba that year) the 60,000 acres produced a staggering 1,920,000 bushels which was 15% of the total of 14,000,000 bushels produced in all of Manitoba that year. The Winnipeg Sun adds: "Nearly 75 percent of the entire area was sown upon summer-fallow on late fall plowing which, with the favorable season, accounts for the large yield and excellent sample of grain over previous seasons. The varieties sown were chiefly red and white Fyfe, the red predominating. Sowing commenced generally in April and was finished early in May. The first cutting of wheat commenced about August 10."
The Winnipeg Sun cited particular areas west of Brandon that made a considerable contribution to the enormous wheat harvest. Alexander and Kemnay combined shipped 300,000 bushels; Griswold, 400,000 bushels. This is noteworthy, considering the fact that as recently as 1881 this tract of country was one vast wilderness.
The "who's who" column for top producers from that area (from 5000 to 10,000 bushels) for that year included Messrs. G. G. Hilliard, J. Spears, G. Armstrong, F. Bannatyne, C. E. Hall and Thomas Touchbourne.
East of Brandon, the centres of Chater and Douglas shipped 300,000 bushels of wheat.
Other yields were: oats 714,000 bushels; barley, 66,000 bushels; potatoes, turnips and field roots, 410,000 bushels; peas, 750 bushels. About 2000 tons of hay was harvested.
Large operations were not uncommon even in the pioneering decade of this district. One of these was the McBurnie farm comprising nearly 9000 acres in Township 9, Range 20 and Township 10, Range 18, in an area known as Roseland. The Winnipeg Sun records: "This enterprising gentleman, who resides in Jersey in the Channel Islands has erected capacious buildings, fencing, schoolhouse, church, blacksmith shop and other valuable improvements and rents these farms on shares or yearly cash rental. About twenty families occupy these lands upon which have been expended nearly $200,000."
Interest in stock raising was slowly but steadily increasing owing to the abundance of hay, ideal pasturage and numerous streams and lakes that dotted the landscape but king wheat held the spotlight as the number one objective for quite a number of years. The actual breakdown in bushels in yearly yield increases is as follows: 1882, 250,000; 1883, 450,000; 1884, 560,000; 1885, 900,000; 1886, 550,000. (1886 was a bad year).
The prosperous appearance of the district "with good buildings and fencing, bridges and improved trails, schoolhouses, churches and other conveniences" was indeed tangible evidence of the industry and vision these pioneers possessed.
Nestled prettily in the broad Assiniboine valley near the crossing of the river and in the centre of this teeming agricultural area lay the burgeoning settlement that sprang up in 1881.
"A more beautiful site could scarcely have been chosen" commented the editor of the Winnipeg Sun.
But the actual circumstances that led General Rosser of the C.P.R. - in charge of choosing new townsites - to make a final decision on a suitable site for a major divisional point are perhaps more remarkable than the choice itself. It was in the spring of 1881 that Rosser first approached Dougald McVicar, the co-founder (with brother John) of Grand Valley, a settlement on the north side of the Assiniboine River about two miles east of the present city of Brandon and offered him $25,000 for it. (Grand Valley boasted eight general stores, two hardware stores, one drugstore, two liveries, two boarding houses, one hotel, a doctor, a jeweller, a baker, a carpenter, a surveyor, a harness maker, a population of 800, a real estate value of $100,000 and a huge measure of confidence that it would be the C.P.R.'s choice). Dougald consulted his neighbor for advice and was told that if the C.P.R. really wanted the site, they would be willing to pay $50,000 for it. When Dougald made the proposition to Rosser the latter declared, "I'll be darned if a town of any kind is ever built here." He commanded his teamster to hitch up the horses and to Dougald's chagrin, drove off in the direction of the river. They ferried across and drove two miles west to the elevated land where Brandon now stands. He found a shanty on this site occupied by L. D. Adamson and offered him $25,000 for the quarter section he had staked out for his homestead in February of 1881. Adamson accepted and the site, which already hosted some 150 residents living mostly in tents, was christened "Brandon" after the Brandon Hills eight miles to the south. These hills had been, in turn. named after a Hudson's Bay Company fur trading post on the Assiniboine in 1794 two miles upstream from the mouth of the Souris. It had been called "Brandon House" after the head of the House of Douglas, a large shareholder in the H.B.C., who had been created the Duke of Brandon in 1792.
(Grand Valley, incidentally, experienced a devastating flood shortly after Rosser's visit and was completely destroyed in another monstrous flood a year later.)
The editor of the Winnipeg Sun reported that "there are few places that possess natural attractions and advantages possessed by Brandon. Favored with such conditions by starting, neither time nor opportunity has apparently been neglected in developing the city as rapidly as possible. The phenomenal growth of Brandon testifies to the intelligence, push and energy of her citizens. Less than six years ago there was nothing to distinguish this prosperous and growing city from the rest of the then trackless prairie. Now the beautiful streets, solid buildings, elevators, manufactories, etc. afford evidence of what might signify years of growth and development." The city at that time boasted a population of 4000.
Of course, with wheat representing the touchstone of commerce a commanding feature of Brandon's expanding skyline were the buildings that housed the city's grain storage and milling facilities. There were five elevators which included the Ogilvies, Mitchell and Campbell, McMillans, McLaren, Parrish and Lindsay; one grain storage warehouse owned by Thomson and one steam operated flow and oatmeal mill and elevator owned by Kelly and Alexander. The total combined storage space was 200,000 bushels. Over 10,000 bushels a day was handled by these facilities. Brandon handled twice as much wheat as the next largest point in the whole Northwest Territories. In fact, in 1888, Brandon claimed to be the largest primary grain market in the world. The goal for the immediate future was to have 5,000,000 bushels of wheat "raised and for sale" within a radius of ten miles of the city!
The pulse of the grain trade and related commerce was the newly laid C.P.R. transcontinental line which passed through the heart of the farming areas. The company's projected line to the Souris Coal fields in the south-west caused no small stir of optimism among the citizens of Brandon and district. It was estimated that coal could be "laid down" in the city for $4.00 a ton.
According to the Brandon Sun, Northern Pacific was secretly planning to build a line to the south-southwest of Brandon through the Turtle Mountain Coal fields and into the Dakotas ... and a huge hotel "to match" in Brandon.
And the Winnipeg Sun revealed that the Great North West Central destined for Prince Albert and eventually the Pacific Coast, was well under way. It would give Brandon a connection with the Manitoba and Northwestern at Rapid City and pour the shipping and trade of the entire northwest directly into the hands of the local businessmen. The Morris-Brandon branch of the Northern Pacific and Manitoba railway had been almost completely surveyed and construction was to begin immediately.
"With these roads Brandon will enjoy railway facilities of a very desirable nature and will certainly realize her ambition of becoming the commercial centre of the Northwest" added the Winnipeg Sun.
Daily stage coach service to Plum Creek (Souris) and Turtle Mountain augmented the excellent transportation facilities provided by the C.P.R. The depot in Brandon was Torrence's livery stable.
The fact that the Federal Government had in 1887 chosen a site just northwest of the city for an agricultural experimental station not only supported the claims about the fertility of the soil but it also shed an aura of permanence and solidarity over the founding of the city. It was under the advice of a Dr. Saunders of Ottawa that this decision was made and it must have indeed been extremely gratifying to be endowed with this blessing and attention from Ottawa.
The city boasted an impressive array of business institutions. One of the most important assets to a city - especially a railroad centre - is good hotel accommodation. Brandon beamed with pride every time she ushered guests into the Grand View Hotel. The "handsome" three storey brick structure, with over thirty bedrooms "large, bright and airy" had in 1882 undergone extensive renovations. New improvements were introduced such as connected sample rooms, electric bells and baths, and every room was completely refurnished. It featured first class cuisine "with the choicest and best that the season affords." It stood in a beautiful position facing the Assiniboine River and almost right in the centre of the business section. The proprietor, Mr. F. A. Boisseau reported a brisk business. (This hotel, renamed the Crystal Hotel, still stands at 838 Pacific Avenue today).
The Langham Hotel was doing well under new management and the Central was the best $1.00 house in town.
Of the 100 stores and businesses in Brandon at the time the most significant included a dry goods firm owned by Messrs. Sommerville and Company located opposite the Queen's Hotel on Rosser Avenue (listed in Henderson's 1932 Directory to be at 1417 Rosser Ave.) which carried $25,000 worth of stock and enjoyed a daily turnover of $200; another such firm owned by Fraser brothers - "old pioneers" - who conducted a "mammoth" business in the Masnice Block; a boot and shoe dealership featuring supermarket type display and custom shoebuilding service owned by Plumerfelt and Powers; another firm dealing in footwear and dry goods was Paisley, Miller and Calscaden whose two stores were situated on the corner of Rosser and 9th; a wholesale grocery firm located on 9th Street between Pacific and Rosser owned by Smith and Burton; a wholesale and retail business in windows, doors, blinds, mouldings, turned work and window glass owned by J. A. Moore whose business was born at the same time as the city; the Brandon Planing Mills owned by Fabes and Stirrett; a lumber yard owned by P. L. Mitchell; a photographer identified only as "Irwin" who claimed to do work superior to any in the province; a number of agricultural implement agencies, horse and cattle trading agencies (over one thousand horses had been brought in and sold in the past season mostly of the Montana and Broncho breed), the most leading of which was owned by W. George Evans who occupied the barn formerly known as Fred Torrence's veterinary surgery on 11th Street opposite the Langham Hotel; finally, an insurance agency owned by Messrs. Bucke and Pare who represented a number of fire insurance companies as well as the Canada Permanent Loan and Saving Company. They were also agents for the Dominion Express and C.P.R. Telegraph Companies. These were all known for their "push, energy, and business ability" which was probably quite true taking into consideration the fact that they had shrewdly chosen a very promising area to launch their businesses and were already - by and large - well established.
Mr. A. M. Peterson's law office was located on Rosser Avenue between 11th and 12th Street.
Mr. N. J. Hall was a successful druggist of "lengthy experience" who made a specialty of physicians' prescriptions and who carried a stock of pure medicine and chemicals in his quarter in the Medical Hall.
Mr. Fred Torrence was the district's official veterinarian who still had his office in the barn where Mr. Evans carried on his brisk trade in horses.
Civic administration was characterized by a high degree of efficiency and foresight. The city officials who were described as "obliging" were well accommodated in the new city hall and had purchased from private citizens the First and Eighteenth Street Bridges "thus conferring a boon" on the settlers north of the Assiniboine River; provided good streets and sidewalks, a good fire department with a paid captain, engineer, stoker, teamster, capital steam fire engine that had appliances for a hook and ladder company, efficient police force and good school property. In spite of all these amenities the taxes were "not too high."
The reason the city took steps to acquire the bridges was that the settlers north of the river complained about the tolls (single human or animal - two cents, horseback riders or single horse vehicles - ten cents, teams - 20 cents) they had to pay. However, enthusiasm over the ownership of an 18th Street bridge died down over the years. When the provincial government recently resolved to assess the city for part of the cost of the new 18th Street bridge it was met with vigorous (but futile) opposition.
Because Brandon was the county seat the Assize Court was held there and a splendid courthouse and gaol had been constructed at a cost of $80,000.
The public school system had an average of some 400 scholars. "A good staff of teachers are employed and branches of the convent school under an excellent staff of teachers teach all branches of education and have about 100 pupils from the city and provinces under their charge" wrote the editor of the Winnipeg Sun.
There were commodious places of worship built by the different denominational creeds and all were well attended. Benevolent societies consisted of Masons, Oddfellows, Forresters and others who had comfortable lodgerooms and met regularly.
"The Brandonites are a jolly, good-natured lot of people and all seem to take a pride in their pretty, prosperous and thriving little city" added the Winnipeg Sun. "Interesting scenes can often be witnessed on the street but it's in the totals and results that the greatest satisfaction is had."
An interesting discrepancy is created in the fact that while the city was aspiring to become the "commercial metropolis of Manitoba" it had done little or nothing lately to attract and secure the "incoming settler."
"We understand they are about to take this matter up in a systematic manner and show the world the peculiar advantage of this locality. We do not doubt that persistent and intelligent effort in that direction will be amply rewarded." This comment by the editor of the Winnipeg Sun is especially interesting when it is recalled that fairly recently the Brandon Chamber of Commerce descended upon the city of Winnipeg with the resolute aim of '"snaring the lion in his own den." The lion was prospective business ventures that were tentatively but not finally planned for location in Winnipeg. Marshalling the massive amount of tantalizing "bait" that was not unlike the description of advantages quoted from the Winnipeg Sun, it appeared that the Chamber was mildly successful. But that first impression of how successful they were was slightly misleading judging by a recent report on the planned expansion of Brandon in the Brandon Sun of July 21, 1971. Prepared by Prof. Andrew L. Dulmage, president of Brandon University and known as Bill 107 in the Manitoba Legislature, it was given first reading on July 18, 1971 and was approved at 4:10 A.M. July 21. It was favorably received by the Brandon Sun, and the citizens of Brandon. It will extend the present boundaries of the city one mile to the north, one mile to the south and five miles to the east and the result will be a city enlarged from ten square miles to 25 square miles. Electoral ward boundaries will be altered and the Brandon industrial commission will be eliminated and a new Brandon district industrial and commercial commission will be established. The latter proposal has euphoric overtones because not only would it take in the new Brandon district planning area but it would also include the towns of Rivers and Souris and the village of Wawanesa and six neighboring municipalities. (Interestingly, all of these municipalities were included in the short-lived County of Brandon in 1883). If the annexation of these centres into the proposed new Brandon district industrial and commercial commission implies that a giant city shall someday sprawl over this vast area then surely the aspirations of the city fathers of 1888 - to make Brandon the industrial metropolis of Manitoba - have been inadvertently revived and the "lion" shall have at last made its den about 120 miles further west.
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What is HIV ?
Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is the causing agent of AIDS. This virus enters the human body through infection from another human and may remain in the body for years (ten years or more) without any symptoms; however that person can still transmit infection to other people.
What is AIDS ?
The word “AIDS” is an abbreviation of the English words that stand for Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS). It entails a group of symptoms and signs that occur at the late stage of infection with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) which compromises the human immune system to the extent where the HIV +ve person becomes vulnerable to diseases that the normal healthy body can overcome.
How does HIV cause AIDS ?
In the first phase of exposure to HIV infection, the virus multiplies inside the body and affects certain immune system cells that help the body – in normal circumstances – to resist diseases. This period may extend from a few months to several years, during which a person living with HIV (HIV +ve person) may not experience symptoms. Without these cells, the body cannot defend itself against various diseases, and so opportunistic infections may result | <urn:uuid:44a31958-b9a7-412c-aa36-9f7cdcb845b3> | {
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This interesting name is of Anglo-Saxon origin, and is a locational surname deriving from any of the places called Boughton in various counties in England. Those in Cheshire and Kent, recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as "Bocstone" and "Boltone", or "Boltune" respectively, mean "the enclosure where beeches grew", derived from the Olde English pre 7th Century "boc", beech (tree), and "tun", settlement, enclosure; hence, "enclosure where beech trees grew". The places in Huntingdonshire, Lincolnshire, Norfolk, Northamptonshire and Nottinghamshire, recorded variously in the Domesday Book as "Buchetone, Buchetuna" and "Boctone", mean "Bucca's settlement", derived from the Olde English byname "Bucca", from "bucc", a he-goat, with "tun", as before. Locational surnames, such as this, were usually acquired by a local landowner, or by the lord of the manor, and especially by those former inhabitants of a place who had moved to another area, usually in search of work, and were thereafter best identified by the name of their birthplace. Recordings from Lincolnshire Church Registers include the marriage of Jhone Boughton and Jane Waid at Brocklesby, on November 27th 1565. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Thomas Boughton, which was dated November 22nd 1539, christened at St. Mary Woolnoth, London, during the reign of King Henry V111, known as "Good King Hal", 1509 - 1547. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling. | <urn:uuid:94f5133c-a090-404f-8531-7898c7a16fcc> | {
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Philosophical views are typically classed as skeptical when they involve advancing some degree of doubt regarding claims that are elsewhere taken for granted. Varieties of skepticism can be distinguished in two main ways, depending upon the focus and the extent of the doubt.
As regards the former, skeptical views typically have an epistemological form, in that they are focused on the epistemic status of certain beliefs. For example, one common variety of skepticism concerns our beliefs about the past and argues that such beliefs lack positive epistemic status - that they are not justified, or are not rational, or cannot constitute knowledge (and perhaps even all three). Where skepticism does not have this epistemological focus, then it tends to be of an ontological form in that it is directed at beliefs about the existence of some supposedly problematic entity, such as the self or God. Here the target of the skepticism is not so much one's putative knowledge of these entities (though it may be that as well), but rather the claim that they exist at all.
As regards the latter, one can differentiate between skeptical views that are either local or radical. Local varieties of skepticism will only concern beliefs about a certain specific subject matter, such as beliefs in abstract objects or the conclusions of inductive arguments. Since ontological varieties of skepticism tend to be concerned with the existence of particular sorts of entities, they are usually (though not always) of this local form. In contrast, radical forms of skepticism afflict most of our beliefs and thus pose, at least potentially, the most pressing philosophical challenge.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the locus for discussion of skepticism has tended to be radical epistemological varieties of skepticism, and this is certainly a trend that has continued into contemporary debate. In historical discussion, for example, the two most influential forms of skepticism have, arguably, been the radical epistemological skepticism of the classical Pyrrhonian skeptics and the Cartesian form of radical epistemological skepticism that Descartes considers in his Meditations. The former consists of a variety of skeptical techniques that counter any grounds that are offered for belief with grounds for doubt (or at least non-belief) that are at least as persuasive. Since no belief is more reasonable than its denial, the Pyrrhonian skeptics concluded that one ought to be skeptical about most (if not all) of one's beliefs. Cartesian skepticism reaches a similar conclusion, though this time by highlighting through the use of skeptical hypotheses that we cannot be certain of any (or at least hardly any) of our beliefs and thus must retreat to skepticism. Roughly, a skeptical hypothesis is an error-possibility that is incompatible with the knowledge that we ascribe to ourselves but which is also subjectively indistinguishable from normal circumstances (or, at least, what we take normal circumstances to be), such as that we might be currently experiencing a very vivid dream. Since such scenarios are subjectively indistinguishable from normal circumstances, the Cartesian skeptical move is to say that we cannot know that they are false and that this threatens the certainty of our beliefs.
What is common to both of these historical approaches, and which lives on in the contemporary discussion of skepticism, is the primary conception of skepticism as resting on an entirely intuitive and pre-theoretical understanding of our epistemic concepts. In this sense it has the form of a paradox - a series of wholly plausible and intuitive claims that, collectively, lead to an intellectually devastating conclusion. Recent discussion of skepticism also treats the problem as having this paradoxical form, though the epistemic focus of the discussion is now not so much the lack of grounds for belief which counter the skeptic's grounds against belief, or the lack of certainty, but rather the lack of knowledge. Contemporary discussions of skepticism have thus tended to make the radical epistemological claim that we fail to know (hardly) anything.
Table of Contents
- The Skeptical Paradox in Contemporary Debate
- Relevant Alternatives, Infallibilism, and Closure
- Semantic Contextualism
- "Hinge" Propositions and Inferential Contextualism
- Neo-Moorean Responses to Skepticism
- Epistemological Externalism and the New Skeptics
- References and Further Reading
Contemporary discussion of the problem of the radical skepticism has tended to focus on a formulation of that problem in terms of a paradox consisting of the joint incompatibility of three claims, each of which appears, on the surface of things and taken individually, to be perfectly in order. Roughly, they are as follows.
First, that we are unable to know that any one of a number of skeptical hypotheses are false, where a skeptical hypothesis is understood as a scenario that is subjectively indistinguishable from what one takes normal circumstances to be but which, if true, would undermine most of the knowledge that one ascribes to oneself. A standard example of a skeptical hypothesis is the so-called ‘brain-in-a-vat' (BIV) hypothesis that one is being ‘fed’ one’s experiences by computers. If this were true, then most of what one believes about the world would be false (or, at the very least, true in a different way from how one would expect), and thus one would lack knowledge. Moreover, this scenario is characterised such that there would be no perceptible difference between being a BIV and having the non-BIV experiences one currently takes oneself to be experiencing and thus, plausibly, it does not seem to be a scenario that we could ever know to be false. We thus get our first ‘intuitive’ element of the skeptical paradox:
I. I am unable to know the denials of skeptical hypotheses.
The second ‘intuitive' claim about knowledge that the skeptic employs is the following:
II. If I do not know the denials of skeptical hypotheses, then I do not know very much.
What motivates this claim is the compelling thought that unless one can rule-out the kind of error-possibilities at issue in skeptical hypotheses by knowing them to be false, then this suffices to undermine most (if not all) of the knowledge that one traditionally ascribes to oneself. After all, if I were a BIV, then I wouldn't be sitting here now. Hence, if, for all I know, I could be a BIV, surely it must follow that I do not know that I am sitting here now (and much more besides)?
Finally, there is the third element of the skeptical paradox that creates the required overall philosophical tension. This is the highly plausible claim that we do know a great deal of what we think we know:
III. A lot of what I believe, I know.
Of course, there may be lots of abstract and technical kinds of knowledge which I think I have but actually lack, but the point of this intuition is that many of the ‘ordinary' propositions that I believe (such as that I am sitting here now) do seem to be the kinds of propositions that I could not plausibly be wrong about in a wholesale fashion. With these three claims in place, however, the puzzle becomes obvious. For if I cannot know the denials of skeptical hypotheses, and if this lack of knowledge entails that I lack knowledge of most of what I believe, it follows that I must lack knowledge of most of what I believe. Hence, one cannot accept all of these three claims; one of them must go.
The skeptic offers a very simple way out of this puzzle, which is to deny, on the basis of I and II, that we ever have knowledge of the kind of ordinary propositions at issue in III. That is, the skeptic argues as follows:
(S1) I am unable to know the denials of skeptical hypotheses.
(S2) If I do not know the denials of skeptical hypotheses, then I do not know very much.
(SC) I do not know very much.
For example, a skeptical argument which employed the BIV skeptical hypothesis might well run as follows:
(S1*) I am unable to know that I am not a BIV.
(S2*) If I do not know that I am not a BIV, then I do not know very much.
(SC*) I do not know very much,
Clearly, however, this radical skeptical suggestion regarding how we should respond to these three incompatible claims is less of a proposal than a reductio of epistemological theorising. This conclusion is, after all, intellectually devastating, consigning our cognitive activities to, at best, a kind of bad faith. We would thus be wise to look closely at the anti-skeptical alternatives before we accept this (paradoxical) response to the skeptical paradox.
If we are to evade skepticism, we are thus going to have to motivate one (or more) of the following three claims. First, that, despite appearances, we do (or at least can) know the denials of radical skeptical hypotheses after all. Second, that, despite appearances, it does not follow from the fact that we lack knowledge of the denials of radical skeptical hypotheses that we thereby lack knowledge of ordinary propositions as well. Third, that, despite appearances, these three claims are consistent after all.
Of the three anti-skeptical strategies just listed, the second looks, prima facie, to be the most promising. After all, this does seem to be the weakest element of the skeptical argument since, although it is at first pass intuitive, on reflection it is far from immediately obvious that our knowledge of everyday propositions should be dependent upon anti-skeptical knowledge in this fashion. One response to the problem of skepticism has thus been to deny this premise in the skeptical argument by arguing that one can perfectly well know everyday propositions whilst failing to know the denials of anti-skeptical hypotheses such as the BIV hypothesis.
One motivation for this line of argument has been to argue that skeptical error-possibilities are just not relevant to everyday knowledge in the way that everyday error-possibilities are. After all, we do not ordinarily demand that agents should rule out skeptical error-possibilities before we ascribe them knowledge. This relevant alternatives (RA) line of argument, which has its roots in work by J. L. Austin (1961), has been developed by Fred Dretske (1970). As Dretske is aware, however, simply denying (S2) of the skeptical argument on these grounds is not enough, rather one needs to also engage with the epistemological theses that underlie this premise and offer a fully-fledged account of what this notion of epistemological relevance involves.
One epistemological thesis that is often thought to provide support for (S2) is that of infallibilism. This is the thesis that, roughly, for an agent to know a proposition that agent must be able to eliminate all error-possibilities associated with that proposition. Provided that one is willing to make the plausible move of construing ‘eliminate' here in terms of the ability to know the negation of then one straightforwardly gets the requisite link between infallibilism and (S2) since the skeptical hypothesis in question (whichever skeptical hypothesis it is) will clearly be an error possibility which must be known to be false if the agent is to have knowledge of the ordinary proposition at issue. Accordingly, an inability to know the denial of the skeptical hypothesis will suffice to ensure that the agent lacks knowledge of the ordinary proposition, just as (S2) says. In effect, infallibilism is the opposing thesis to the RA line because it counts every alternative as being relevant.
Although infallibilism may seem to be an obviously false epistemological thesis, a persuasive case can be made in its defence. In particular, Peter Unger (1971; 1975) has been a prominent defender of a version of infallibilism (although in more recent work, such as Unger (1984; 1986) he has moved towards a thesis which is more in line with contextualism, a view which we will be considering below). In these early works Unger argued that ‘knowledge' is an "absolute term" like ‘flat’ or ‘empty’. According to Unger, what is interesting about absolute terms is that they are never really satisfied, although we often talk as if they are. So, for example, nothing is ever really flat or really empty because, respectively, no surface is ever completely free of friction and no container could ever be a vacuum. Accordingly, even though we may loosely talk of Holland’s ‘flat’ roads or John’s ‘empty’ fridge, reflection indicates to us that such assertions are, in fact, false (Holland’s roads have some bumps on them, however small, and John’s fridge, whilst empty of food, is ‘full’ of air, not to mention refrigerator parts). Similarly, Unger’s point is that what the skeptic is responding to in her arguments is the fact that, strictly speaking, nothing is every really known because to be really known the agent would have to rule out every possibility of error and this is an impossible hurdle to clear (at least for a non-omniscient being). So although we might talk of knowing lots of things, reflection indicates to us, as it does with our use of ‘flat’ and ‘empty’, that our claims to know are all, in fact, false.
We will return to consider infallibilism again below. In the meantime, however, we can set this thesis to one side because there is a (logically) weaker thesis that would also suffice to support (S2). Accordingly, so long as we are able to deny the weaker thesis then we can get a rejection of infallibilism by default. This weaker thesis is the principle that knowledge is ‘closed' under known entailment, or the ‘closure’ principle for short. Roughly, this principle states that if an agent knows a proposition (such as that she is currently seated), and knows that this proposition entails a second proposition (such as that she is not a BIV), then she also knows the second proposition. In general, this can be roughly expressed as follows:
Closure Principle for Knowledge
If an agent knows P, and knows that P entails Q, then that agent knows Q.
Whereas infallibilism supports (S2) by demanding that an agent should be able to know the denials of all error-possibilities, closure merely demands that the agent knows the denials of those error-possibilities that are known to be logical consequences of what one knows. For example, if one knows the ordinary proposition that one is currently seated, and one further knows that if one is seated then one is not a BIV, then one must also know that one is not a BIV. Conversely, if one does not know that one is not a BIV then, given that one knows the entailment in question (which ought to be uncontroversial), one thereby lacks knowledge of the ordinary proposition in question, just as (S2) says. And note that, unlike (S2), the plausibility of closure is not merely prima facie. After all, we reason in conformity with closure all the time in cases where we gain knowledge of previously unknown propositions via knowledge of other propositions and the relevant entailment. Indeed, closure is in this respect far more compelling than infallibilism, since what credibility the latter thesis has is gained by philosophical argument rather than by prima facie reflection on our actual epistemic practice. The theoretical burden imposed upon anyone who advocates the denial of (S2) is thus very strong, since it requires a principled rejection of the intuitive principle of closure.
The standard proposal put forward to support the denial of closure has been some variation of the original RA model advanced by Dretske (1970; 1971; 1981). Essentially, the idea is to claim that knowledge only transfers across known entailments where the entailments in question are ‘relevant'. Thus, knowledge that one is sitting down may transfer across a known entailment to the relevant proposition that one is not standing up, but it won’t transfer across a known entailment to the irrelevant proposition that one is not a BIV. Accordingly, the link between ordinary knowledge and anti-skeptical knowledge required by the skeptic is severed and ordinary knowledge is secured. Dretske himself puts the point as follows:
The general point may be put this way: there are certain presuppositions associated with a statement. These presuppositions, although their truth is entailed by the truth of the statement, are not part of what is operated on when we operate on the statement with one of our epistemic operators. The epistemic operators do not penetrate to these presuppositions. (Dretske 1970, 1014)
In effect, what Dretske is arguing here is that in everyday contexts an agent's acquisition of knowledge of the propositions at issue in that context presupposes the falsity of certain irrelevant error-possibilities. That they are taken for granted is, for Dretske, entirely legitimate (that is, he rejects infallibilism). Nevertheless, the negations of these error-possibilities are often entailed by what is known in that context and thus, if closure held, it would follow that an agent could come to have knowledge of what is presupposed in her knowledge simply by knowing the relevant entailment. It is this that Dretske objects to, arguing that one’s epistemic position regarding the antecedent proposition will not transfer to the consequent proposition where the consequent proposition has performed this ‘presuppositional’ role.
An example will help clarify matters. Consider the following two propositions (adapted from ones adduced by Dretske (1970)):
(P) The animals in the pen are zebras.
(Q) The animals in the pen are not mules cleverly disguised to look like zebras.
Dretske argues that in normal circumstances one can come to know (P) without making any special checks to ensure that the irrelevant error-possibility at issue in (Q) is false. Instead, all the agent needs to do is have evidence that eliminates relevant error-possibilities (such as, for example, evidence to support her belief that it is the zebra enclosure and not the ape enclosure that she is looking at). This is fortunate, because if we demand that the agent must rule-out the kind of error-possibility at issue in (Q) (and thus, one might reasonably assume, know (Q)) before she can know (P), then we will end up setting the requirement for knowledge at a very high level. Indeed, it will be highly unlikely that your average agent would be able to know a proposition like (P) if this demand is made, because the average agent would not be able to tell a zebra apart from a cleverly disguised mule. Nevertheless, Dretske acknowledges that the agent's knowledge of (P) presupposes that the error-possibility at issue in (Q) is false. Here is the crux, however. If we allow closure to stand, then it will follow from the agent’s knowledge of (P), and her knowledge of the entailment from (P) to (Q), that she thereby knows (Q) also, even though we have already granted that the agent in question is not in a position to be able to know such a thing. Dretske puts the point as follows:
If you are tempted to say [that the agent does know (Q) ...], think for a moment about the reasons that you have, what evidence you can produce in favour of this claim. The evidence you had for thinking them zebras has been effectively neutralised, since it does not count toward their not being mules cleverly disguised. Have you checked with the zoo authorities? Did you examine the animals closely enough to detect such a fraud? (Dretske 1970, 1016)
Dretske thus concludes that we should instead allow that an agent might be able to know (P) whilst failing to know (Q), and thus, given that the entailment is known, that closure fails.
This is certainly a very compelling argument, and it does at the very least offer a prima facie case against closure. The job is not quite done, however, because we also need to be given an account of knowledge which will flesh-out this account of relevance. After all, we have strong intuitions that our epistemic concepts do license closure. It is to this end that Dretske (1971) went on to develop his ‘modal' account of knowledge, an account which was adapted and supplemented by Robert Nozick (1981).
What Dretske needs is a theory of knowledge which, whilst being plausible, can also explain how we can know everyday propositions whilst failing to know the denials of skeptical hypotheses, even in cases where we know that the everyday proposition in question entails the relevant denial of the skeptical hypothesis. Given these arduous demands, his proposal is, to say the least, ingenious. In essence, what Dretske does is to adduce a modal condition on knowledge, what I will call ‘Dretskean Sensitivity', that can be roughly expressed as follows:
If P were not true, then the agent would not believe P.
The basic idea behind Dretskean Sensitivity is that for a belief to count as knowledge it must at least ‘track' the truth in the sense that, not only is it true but, had what is believed been false, the agent would not have believed it. With this condition in play, Dretske can get the result he wants.
Suppose the actual world is pretty much as I take it to be. It follows that my belief that I am currently in my office and my belief that I am not a BIV are both true. Now consider whether the former belief counts as an instance of knowledge. On this account it does (at least pending any further conditions that one wants to add to Dretskean Sensitivity), because in the nearest possible world in which I am not in my office - the world in which, for example, I am in the corridor outside my office - I no longer believe that I am. My belief thus ‘tracks' the truth adequately to be a candidate for knowledge. In contrast, consider my belief that I am not a BIV. The problem with this belief is that in the nearest possible world in which this belief is false (that is, the BIV-world), I continue to have a belief that I am not a BIV because in this world I am the victim of a widespread deception. Accordingly, this belief fails to meet necessary condition for knowledge set out in Dretskean Sensitivity and thus is not even in the running to be an instance of knowledge.
Dretske can thus use Dretskean Sensitivity to explain why closure fails by showing how knowledge needs to be understood relative to a certain relevant range of possible worlds which is variable depending upon the proposition at issue. As a result, one can know one proposition relative to one set of possible worlds, know the entailment to a second proposition, and yet fail to know the second proposition relative to a different set of possible worlds. More specifically, one can have knowledge of everyday propositions relative to one set of possible worlds that is ‘near-to' the actual world, know that it entails the denial of a skeptical hypothesis, and yet lack knowledge of the denial of the skeptical hypothesis because knowledge is here relative to the ‘far-off’ possible worlds that are quite unlike the actual world. The notion of ‘relevance’ at issue in the basic RA account is thus cashed-out in explicitly modal terms. Moreover, since a number of logical principles fail in modal contexts because of this sort of variability, it should not come as much of a surprise to find that closure meets a similar fate. Dretske is thus in a position to offer a plausible account of knowledge that can accommodate all of the claims that we saw him wanting to make earlier.
This conception of knowledge, along with the later more elaborate version advanced by Nozick (1981), has been extremely influential. It is worth noting, however, that it is an epistemologically revisionist anti-skeptical proposal because it results in the denial of the highly plausible principle of closure. With this in mind, there is a prima facie tension involved in adopting such a proposal, despite the compelling defence of this position that Dretske, Nozick and others have offered. After all, the idea that we must know the known consequences of what we know is extremely strong and the rejection of this claim cannot be taken lightly. As Keith DeRose (1995, §5), has pointed out, dropping closure means allowing what he calls "abominable conjunctions", such as that one knows that one has two hands but one does not know that one is not a BIV. That closure should hold has been one of the main motivations for alternative interpretations of the core RA anti-skeptical thesis that do not result in the rejection of closure, as we will see in a moment.
Besides this line of criticism against the Dretske-Nozick account, a number of other claims have been made. I will focus here on those avenues of critique that are directed at the view presented as an anti-skeptical proposal, rather than as an analysis (albeit perhaps only a partial one) of knowledge. Edward Craig (1989; 1990), for instance, has argued that the Dretske-Nozick proposal is either impotent at meeting skeptical arguments or unnecessary. After all, the strategy only works on the assumption that skeptical possible worlds are indeed far-off worlds, and Craig argues that if we are entitled to that supposition then we have no need of an anti-skeptical strategy. Conversely, if we are not entitled to that supposition, then the modal analysis of knowledge offered by Dretske and Nozick leaves us in an impasse with the skeptic which is no better than we were in before. That is, all that the Dretskean approach will have achieved is to show us that, provided the world is in fact pretty much as we take it to be, then skepticism is false and this still leaves the issue of whether the world is in fact pretty much as we take it to be unresolved.
Craig's objection is surely wrong, however, because the skeptical argument purported to show that knowledge was impossible, and the Dretske-Nozick account at least refutes this claim by showing that knowledge is possible; that we can have knowledge provided that certain conditions obtain. What is true, however, is that there is nothing in the Dretske-Nozick line which demands that the agent should be able to become reflectively aware that we have met these conditions if we are to have knowledge, and this ‘externalist’ element of the view may well be problematic. For if this is the case then the existential force of skepticism - that we could indeed, for all we can tell, be a victim of a skeptical hypothesis - is just as powerful as ever. The worry here is that there is always going to be something intellectually unsatisfactory about an anti-skeptical proposal that is run along epistemologically externalist lines. We will consider the role of epistemological externalism and internalism in the skeptical debate in more detail below, since it raises issues which impact upon all anti-skeptical proposals, regardless of whether they retain closure.
The large body of critical appraisal of the Dretskean proposal falls, however, on the rejection of the closure principle, closure. There are two ways in which this critique is often run. Either critics argue directly for the retention of closure and thereby against the Dretskean line by default, or else they try to offer an alternative construal of the motivation for the Dretskean line that retains closure. Peter Klein (1981; 1995) is a good representative of the former position, arguing that, contra Dretske, we can indeed come to know (/be justified in believing) that the animal in the pen is not a cleverly disguised mule on the basis of our knowledge (/justified true belief) that it is a zebra and our knowledge of the entailment. Central to Klein's view is a commitment to epistemological internalism, whose role in the skeptical debate will be discussed below, and a certain view about the structure of reasons that we do not have the space to go into here. The most interesting attacks on the Dretskean approach to closure do not come from this quarter, however, but from those who claim to be motivated by similar epistemological concerns as those which motivate Dretske himself. After all, that one who endorses a radically different conception of the epistemological landscape should not find the Dretskean proposal plausible is not nearly so intriguing as dissent from those who sign-up to many of the key Dretskean claims. In particular, it is interesting to note that two of the main rival views to the Dretskean line are wrought out of the same basic RA claims.
Consider again the core RA thought. This is was that certain error-possibilities are irrelevant to the determination of knowledge, and thus that one can have knowledge merely by eliminating the salient error-possibilities. With this characterisation of the core RA thesis in mind, the natural question to ask is why the core RA thought should be spelt-out along Dretskean lines. After all, the Dretskean line does take far-off skeptical possible worlds to be relevant to the determination of knowledge (albeit only knowledge of anti-skeptical propositions), whereas the basic RA idea was surely that such far-off worlds were manifestly irrelevant to the determination of knowledge (any knowledge). There thus seems to be an ambiguity in the RA thesis. Either we take it as meaning that relevance is determined by the nearest not-P world (no matter how far-out that might be), and thus end up with the thesis that Dretske and Nozick propose, or else we construe it as simply demanding that only near-by possible worlds are relevant worlds. This is no mere technical dispute either, since a great deal hangs upon which alternative we adopt.
After all, if we adopt the latter reading of the core RA thesis then we are left with the thought that knowledge possession only requires tracking the truth in near-by possible worlds and on this construal the motivation for denying closure fades. For not only will an agent's belief in an everyday proposition typically track the truth in near-by possible worlds, so will her belief that she is not a BIV (since she is, by hypothesis, not a BIV in any near-by world). Admittedly, this belief will not track the truth in the nearest possible world in which she is a BIV, but since this possible world is far-off, this fact alone should not suffice on this construal of the RA thesis to undermine her knowledge. An entirely different reading of the core RA thesis thus seems to license the denial of the first premise of the skeptical argument, (S1) - that we are unable to know the denials of skeptical hypotheses - rather than the denial of closure and thus the rejection of the second premise, (S2). Moreover, that this reading of the RA thesis does not result in the failure of closure means that it does possess some considerable dialectical advantage over the Dretske-Nozick thesis.
We will consider how such an approach to skepticism might function in more detail below. First, however, we will look at a different reading of the core RA thesis that also does not result in the denial of closure. Where this line differs from the one just canvassed is that it does not straightforwardly allow that one can know the denials of skeptical hypotheses either. Instead, it argues that the standards for relevance are variable such that, although one knows everyday propositions and thus the denials of skeptical hypotheses relative to a low standard of relevance, one lacks knowledge of these everyday propositions and thus of the denials of skeptical hypotheses at high standards of relevance. In this way, the hope is that this thesis can explain both our skeptical and anti-skeptical intuitions (and our attachment to closure), whilst nevertheless denying the universal correctness of the skeptical argument. This anti-skeptical thesis is contextualism, and since the version that we will be considering regards the mechanisms that alter these standards of relevance to be conversational mechanisms, we will call it semantic contextualism.
Semantic contextualism - as put forward by such figures as Stewart Cohen (1987; 1988; 1991; 1999; 2000), DeRose (1995) and David Lewis (1996) - is without doubt the most dominant form of anti-skeptical theory in the current literature. In essence, this view maintains that skeptical arguments only seem to work because they exploit the way in which the correct employment of our epistemic concepts (such as knowledge) can be influenced by features of the conversational context. More specifically, semantic contextualists argue that the standards for knowledge possession fluctuate depending on what is at issue in that conversational context. Accordingly, they are in a position to allow that both skepticism and anti-skepticism could, in a restricted sense, be true. In skeptical conversational contexts where the standards are high, the skeptical conclusion that we know very little will be true. In contrast, in non-skeptical conversational contexts where the standards will be relatively low, we are in a position to know much of what we think we know, albeit only to this low epistemic standard.
In what follows, I will primarily focus my explication of the semantic contextualist thesis by looking at DeRose's version since this is the most developed (and, arguably, the most influential) characterisation of the thesis which incorporates most of the main features of the other two accounts. Later on, however, I’ll mention some of the key differences between these three versions of the semantic contextualist view. Moreover, in §4, I will be looking at a different type of contextualist theory that is advanced by Michael Williams (1991) - what I call inferential contextualism - which does not conform to the basic semantic contextualist template.
Before we look at the DeRose version of the semantic contextualist thesis, however, it is worthwhile first being clear about the following supposed features of the ‘phenomenology' of our engagement with skepticism since semantic contextualism can most naturally be viewed as a response, and to some extent as an accommodation, of these features:
I. Ascriptions of knowledge to subjects in conversational contexts in which skeptical error-
possibilities have been raised seems improper.
II. In conversational contexts in which no skeptical error-possibilities are in play it seems perfectly appropriate to ascribe knowledge to subjects.
III. All that may change when one moves from a non-skeptical conversational context to a skeptical context are mere conversational factors.
The first two features represent what Williams (1991, chapter one) refers to as our ‘biperspectivalism', our intuition that skepticism is compelling under the conditions of philosophical reflection but never able to impact on everyday life where it is all but ignored. The third feature creates the tension because it highlights our sense that one of these judgements must be wrong. That is, since conversational topic has no obvious bearing on the epistemic status of a subject’s beliefs, that it ought to be universally true (that is, whatever the conversational context) that the subject either does or does not know the propositions in question. So either our knowledge ascriptions in everyday contexts are right (and thus the skeptic is wrong), in which case we shouldn’t take skepticism so seriously in conversational contexts in which skepticism is at issue; or else the skeptic is right, and thus our everyday practice of ascribing knowledge is under threat. Semantic contextualism opposes this thought with the suggestion that what is actually occurring is not a contradiction but a responsiveness, on the part of the attributor of knowledge, to a fluctuation in the epistemic standards (and with them the subject’s possession of knowledge) caused by a change in the conversational context. In effect, and contra the third claim listed above, semantic contextualism holds that mere changes in the conversational context can have an effect on the epistemic status of one’s beliefs so that it can be true both that one has knowledge in everyday contexts whilst lacking it in skeptical conversational contexts.
Accordingly, we find DeRose (1995) arguing that the basic contextualist strategy pivots upon the acceptability, and appropriate use, of the following contextualist thesis:
Suppose a speaker A (for "attributor") says, "S knows that P", of a subject S's true belief that P. According to contextualist theories of knowledge attributions, how strong an epistemic position S must be in with respect to P for A’s assertion to be true can vary according to features of A’s conversational context. (DeRose 1995, 4)
Here we get the essentials of the semantic contextualist view. In particular, we get (i) the claim that the strength of epistemic position that an agent needs to be in if she is to have knowledge can fluctuate from context to context (which makes the thesis contextualist); and (ii) the claim that what is at issue in the determination of contexts in this respect is the conversational context (which makes the contextualist thesis semantic). The interesting question now is how the details of how this account is to function are to be spelt-out.
The first thing that DeRose tries to capture is the intuition that as one moves from one conversational context to another one's epistemic situation (one’s total informational state for instance) could remain exactly the same. DeRose accommodates this intuition in conjunction with the contextualist picture by arguing, as the above quotation indicates, that although one’s "epistemic position" is constant at any one time, the epistemic position that one needs to be in so as to count as possessing knowledge can be variable. Strength of "epistemic position" is characterised by DeRose as follows:
[...] being in a strong epistemic position with respect to P is to have a belief as to whether P is true match the fact of the matter as to whether P is true, not only in the actual world, but also at the worlds sufficiently close to the actual world. That is, one's belief should not only be true, but also should be non-accidentally true, where this requires one’s belief as to whether P is true to match the fact of the matter at nearby worlds. The further away one gets from the actual world, while still having it be the case that one’s belief matches the fact at worlds that far away and closer, the stronger a position one is in with respect to P. (DeRose 1995, 34)
In order to see this, imagine that Lars believes that his car is outside on the basis of a certain fixed informational state (which involves, perhaps, his memory of the car being there a few hours ago, his grounds for believing that no-one would steal it, and so forth). Now imagine an (almost) exact counterpart of Lars - Lars* - who is in exactly the same cognitive state except that he has the extra piece of information that the car was there a minute ago (perhaps he looked). Clearly, Lars* will be in a slightly better epistemic position with respect to his belief that his car is outside than Lars. Although they will, in general, track the truth across the same set of possible worlds, Lars* will track the truth in a few extra possible worlds, such as the possible worlds in which his car was stolen ten minutes ago.
DeRose then goes on to describe the mechanism which changes the conversational context (and thereby alters the epistemic standards at play) in terms of the thesis of Dretskean Sensitivity that we saw above. Recall that for an agent to have a belief in P that is sensitive in this way, the agent must not only have a true belief in P in the actual world, but also not believe P in the nearest possible world (or worlds) in which P is false. DeRose's thought is that in any particular conversational context there is a certain set of propositions that are explicitly at issue and that the agent must, at the very least, be sensitive to all these ‘explicit’ propositions if she is to know them. Moreover, the most demanding of these propositions - the proposition which has a negation that occupies the furthest-out possible world - will set the standard for that conversational context since this not-P world will determine the extent of possible worlds that one’s beliefs must be able to track if one is to be truly said to know a proposition in that context. Knowing a proposition thus involves being in an epistemic position sufficient to track the truth across the range of possible worlds determined by the most demanding proposition explicit to that context. Crucially, however (and I will be expanding upon this detail in a moment), this point also applies to propositions which are implicit to a conversational context (that is, propositions which one believes but which are not explicit to that conversational context). In order to know such a proposition - even if one’s belief in that proposition is not sensitive - one need only be in a sufficient epistemic position to meet the standards of that context. (The importance of this point will soon become apparent).
DeRose then characterises the mechanism that brings about an upward shift in epistemic standards as follows:
When it is asserted that some subject S knows (or does not know) some proposition P, the standards for knowledge (the standards for how good an epistemic position one must be in to count as knowing) tend to be raised, if need be, to such a level as to require S's belief in that particular P to be sensitive for it to count as knowledge. (DeRose 1995, 36)
That is, what changes a conversational context is when a new proposition is made explicit to that context which is more demanding than any of the propositions currently explicit in that context. This will thus increase the range of possible worlds at issue in the determination of knowledge, and thereby increase the strength of epistemic position required in order to be truly said to know.
What motivates this claim is the fact that, as Lewis (1979) famously argued, when it comes to ‘context-sensitive' terms like ‘flat’ or ‘knowledge’, the conversational ‘score’ tends to change depending upon the assertions of that context. We may all agree that the table in front of us is ‘flat’ in an everyday context, but, ceteris paribus, if someone enters the room and denies that it is flat we do not thereby disagree with her. Instead, we take it that she means ‘flat’ in some more demanding sense and so raise the standards for ‘flatness’ so as to make her assertion true (this is what Lewis (1996, 559) calls a "rule of accommodation"). That is, we take it that the new participant of our conversational context means flat in some more restricted sense so that the barely perceptible bumps on the table before us are sufficient to make the claim "This table is flat" false. DeRose considers the Lewis line to have captured something intuitive about the pragmatics of how we use our ‘context-sensitive’ terms and, moreover, believes that epistemic terms such as ‘knowledge’ behave in a similar way.
An example will help clarify matters here. Imagine an agent in a quotidian context in which only everyday propositions, such as whether or not one is currently having dinner with one's brother (P), or whether or not the garden gate has been closed (Q), are at issue. Sensitivity to these everyday propositions will only require the consideration of nearby possible worlds and thus the strength of epistemic position demanded will be very weak. Let us say, plausibly, that the possible world in which one is not having dinner with one’s brother is ‘further-out’ than the possible world in which the garden gate is not closed. This proposition will thus determine the range of possible worlds at issue in the determination of knowledge in that conversational context. Let us further suppose that the agent in question does have a sensitive belief in this proposition. The issue of what other propositions the subject knows will now be decided by whether the agent’s belief in those propositions will track the truth across the range of possible worlds determined by not-P. If, for instance, the agent’s belief that the garden gate is closed matches the truth as to whether Q in all of the possible worlds within that range, then she will know Q. Equally, however, if the subject’s belief in a proposition which is implicit to that conversational context tracks the truth across this range of possible worlds then that proposition will be known also, even if the agent’s belief in that proposition is not sensitive.
Consider, for instance, the agent's belief that she is not a BIV, a proposition which, as we saw above, one cannot be sensitive to because in the nearest BIV-world one still believes that one is not a BIV. On the contextualist model, however, if one is in a conversational context in which such a proposition is not explicit, then one can know this proposition just so long as one has a belief as to whether this proposition is true which matches the facts as to whether it is true within the range of possible worlds at issue. And, clearly, this demand will be trivially satisfied in the above scenario where the subject has a sensitive belief in the ordinary proposition, P. After all, insofar as one has such a sensitive belief in P, then it must be the case that the BIV skeptical world is, modally speaking, far-out, for if it weren’t, then this would affect the sensitivity of the subject’s beliefs in ordinary propositions like P. Accordingly, on this view, all the subject needs in this context is a stubborn belief that she is not a BIV in order to be truly said to know this proposition in this conversational context. The contextualist can thus capture the second element of the ‘phenomenology’ of our engagement with skepticism that we noted above - that, in quotidian conversational contexts, we are perfectly willing to ascribe knowledge of everyday propositions and also feel that we must know the denials of skeptical hypotheses as well.
One might wonder why I use the word ‘feel' here. Well, the reason is that, on the contextualist account, if one were to explicitly mention these anti-skeptical propositions (as one would if one were to verbally ascribe knowledge of them to oneself), then one would thereby make that proposition explicit to the conversational context and so change the epistemic standards needed for knowledge accordingly. In order to have knowledge that one is not a BIV within the new conversational context, one’s belief that one is not a BIV must now exhibit sensitivity (which, as we saw above, is impossible), and the possible worlds relevant to the determination of that sensitivity will be relevant to one’s knowledge of even everyday propositions. Accordingly, one will now lack knowledge both of the denial of the skeptical hypothesis (because one’s belief in this respect is not sensitive), and of the everyday propositions (since even though one’s beliefs in these propositions are sensitive, one can never be in an epistemic position that would support knowledge of them which would be strong enough to track the truth in far-off BIV-worlds). The contextualist thus claims to have captured the other two aspects of the ‘phenomenology’ of our engagement with skepticism - that we are completely unwilling to ascribe knowledge in skeptical conversational contexts, and that this is even so when the only thing that may have changed from the non-skeptical conversational context in which we were willing to ascribe knowledge is the course of the conversation. Moreover, the contextualist has done this without either conceding the universal truth of skepticism (since skepticism is false in everyday contexts), or denying closure (since there is no single context in which one both knows an everyday proposition whilst lacking knowledge of the denial of a skeptical hypothesis). Accordingly, DeRose claims to have ‘solved’ the skeptical paradox in an entirely intuitive manner.
The semantic contextualist proposals made by Lewis, Cohen and others run along similar lines to the DeRose thesis. The key difference between DeRose and Lewis is that Lewis cashes-out his thesis in terms of a series of rules which determine when we may and may not properly ignore a certain error-possibility rather than in terms of a general modal account of knowledge. The key difference between Cohen's position and that advanced by Lewis and DeRose is that it is centred upon the concept of justification rather than knowledge and incorporates a certain view about the structure of reasons (Cohen 1999; 2000). That the DeRose view differs in these ways from the views presented by Lewis and Cohen may work in its favour. As Timothy Williamson (2001) has pointed out, DeRose’s more straightforward position may be insulated from the kind of ad hoc charges regarding Lewis’ employment of numerous rules governing when an error-possibility is properly ignored, (as put forward, for example, by Williams (2001)). Moreover, the stress on justification in Cohen’s account can make it unappealing to those who find such a notion problematic, at least insofar as it is understood as playing an essential role in knowledge acquisition. There are thus prima facie grounds for thinking that if any semantic contextualist theory will work, then it will be one run along the lines presented by DeRose.
In any case, the most interesting objections against semantic externalism do not rest upon specific elements of the particular versions of this position, but rather strike against the general approach. Perhaps the most obvious concern facing semantic contextualism is that its claim that the epistemic status of an agent's beliefs can be variable in response to mere conversational factors is highly contentious. For instance, contra Cohen’s (1991) contextualist characterisation of his RA position, Dretske writes:
Knowledge is relative, yes, but relative to the extra-evidential circumstances of the knower and those who, like the knower, have the same stake in what is true in the matter in question. Knowledge is context sensitive, according to this view, but it is not indexical. If two people disagree about what is known, they have a genuine disagreement. They can't both be right. (Dretske 1991, 191)
That is, Dretske rejects outright the thought that the truth-value of a knowledge claim can be dependent upon anything other than what the concrete features of the situation are. I won't undertake a detailed discussion of this line of attack against semantic contextualism here, however, since the semantic contextualist proposal is clearly meant to be understood as a revisionistic proposal in this respect. Indeed, this is to be expected given that, as we have already seen, any plausible anti-skeptical proposal will have to deny some claim that is otherwise thought to be intuitive (Dretske himself denies closure, for example). To query this element of the thesis alone is thus not to give it a run for its money (although, if one can couple this line of critique with other concerns then it can carry some dialectical weight).
The other more general lines of criticism against semantic contextualism fall into three main camps. First, there is the allegation that semantic contextualism leaves us no better off than we were before. Second, there is the worry about how the contextualist is to explain our knowledge (albeit only in quotidian contexts) of the denials of skeptical hypotheses. After all, as we noted above, we do have a strong intuition that we can never know such propositions in any context (recall that this intuition was one of the motivating factors behind the Dretskean theory). Third, there is the claim that semantic contextualism is guilty of over-kill in its approach to skepticism in that it essentially incorporates a claim which would suffice to undermine radical skepticism by itself (i. e., regardless of whether it is combined with a general contextualist thesis). Accordingly, on this view, contextualism is both unnecessary and ill-motivated.
The worry that motivates the first concern is that what semantic contextualism does concede to the skeptic is the ‘hierarchical' structure of her doubts. That is, on the semantic contextualist view the skeptic is indeed working at a high epistemic standard, one that is more demanding than our everyday standards. The problem with conceding this much to the skeptic is that it appears to legitimate the concern that the skeptic’s standards are the right standards, and thus that, although we are content to ascribe everyday knowledge in quotidian contexts, we ought not to ascribe such knowledge because, strictly speaking, we lack knowledge relative to the proper skeptical standards that should be employed (see Pritchard 2001a for a development of this problem). This line of thought should be familiar as the general infallibilist line that we saw Unger arguing for in §2 and one might think that one could dismiss it on the same grounds that were canvassed there. Matters are not quite so simple, however. Indeed, it is interesting that in more recent works Unger (1984; 1986) has toned down his commitment to infallibilism in favour of a different conception of the skeptical debate which argues that there is nothing to tell between the contextualist reading of our epistemic concepts and what he calls ‘invariantism’, which would license infallibilist conclusions. Unger’s point here is that all contextualism can achieve is, at best, a kind of impasse with the skeptic such that we know that one of these views must be right but where we are unable to definitively determine which. Is it that the standards are high and only seem variable because we are content to talk loosely in everyday contexts (in which case the infallibilist, and thus the skeptic, is right), or is it that our epistemic concepts are genuinely variable and thus that we do have knowledge relative to low everyday epistemic standards (in which case the contextualist is right and the skeptic is wrong)? The skeptical thought that arises here is that if we are unable to offer sufficient reasons for preferring the latter scenario over the former then contextualism does not put us in a better situation than we were in before.
The second worry - that contextualism is unable to explain how we can have knowledge of the denials of skeptical hypotheses - is particularly striking because if this claim holds then semantic contextualism does not even supply us with an impasse with the skeptic. Instead, the position would simply be incoherent. The thought here is that since our, presumably empirical, knowledge in this respect cannot be coherently thought of as being the result of an empirical investigation, hence we cannot make sense of it at all. Perhaps the bravest response to this line of attack in the recent literature can be found in the suggestion made by both Cohen (1999; 2000) and DeRose (2000) that it might be possible to understand an agent's knowledge of the denials of skeptical hypotheses along a priori lines. Cohen motivates this thought relative to what he terms the "a priori rationality" of denying skeptical error-possibilities (e.g. Cohen 2000, 104), whilst DeRose employs Putnamian reflections on semantic externalism as a means of showing how we might have a priori knowledge of empirical truths.
Even if these lines of argument could be made palatable, however, a further line of attack (the third worry listed above) would instantly emerge. For if we can indeed make sense of our putative knowledge of the denials of skeptical hypotheses then what could the motivation for an epistemologically revisionist thesis like contextualism possibly be? After all, the epistemological revisionism incorporated in contextualism only seemed necessary because our knowledge of these propositions seemed so insecure. If we can have knowledge of these propositions, however, then why not simply motivate one's anti-skepticism by straightforwardly denying the first premise of the skeptical argument, (S1), rather than by going contextualist? We will return to consider this kind of anti-skeptical proposal - known as the ‘Neo-Moorean’ view - in more detail in §5.
Before we look at this neo-Moorean approach to radical skepticism, however, it is worthwhile to first consider two lines of argument which, at least superficially, might appear to be analogue approaches to that of the Dretskean and semantic contextualist line. Where these anti-skeptical approaches differ, in the first instance at least, from those just canvassed, is that they primarily take their stimulus not from the RA debate but from Wittgenstein's last notebooks (published as On Certainty) which were on the topic of knowledge and skepticism.
Both of these accounts focus upon the Wittgensteinian notion of a "hinge proposition", though they each use the notion in a different way. The first camp, which includes such figures as Peter Strawson (1985), Crispin Wright (1985; 1991; 2000), Hilary Putnam (1992) and Avrum Stroll (1994) might be considered to be offering the purest hinge proposition thesis because for them the notion is the primary unit upon which their anti-skepticism rests. In contrast, the conception of this notion employed by Williams (1991) is developed along explicitly contextualist lines. Interestingly, however, the type of contextualism that emerges is not of a semantic variety. I will consider each of these views in turn. First, however, we need to look a little at what Wittgenstein had in mind in his employment of this notion.
Wittgenstein describes hinge propositions as follows:
[...] the questions that we raise and our doubts depend upon the fact that some propositions are exempt from doubt, are as it were like hinges on which those turn.
That is to say, it belongs to the logic of our scientific investigations that certain things are in deed not doubted.
But it isn't that the situation is like this: We just can’t investigate everything, and for that reason we are forced to rest content with assumption. If I want the door to turn, the hinges must stay put. (Wittgenstein 1969 §§341-3)
As this quotation indicates, what is odd about these propositions is that, unlike other seemingly empirical propositions, our belief in them does not seem to either stand in need of evidential buttress or, for that matter, be legitimately prone to coherent doubt. And this property is not explained merely by the fact that these propositions are "in deed not doubted", since the situation is rather that we do not doubt them because, in some sense, we ought not to doubt them. Even despite their lack of sufficient evidential support, their immunity to coherent doubt is part of "the logic of our scientific investigations."
In proposing this notion Wittgenstein was explicitly challenging the conventional epistemological wisdom that a belief is only legitimately held if it is sufficiently evidentially grounded (otherwise it is open to legitimate doubt), and that no belief in an empirical proposition is beyond coherent doubt should the grounds for that belief be found wanting. In particular, Wittgenstein's remarks here were primarily targeted at G. E. Moore’s (1925; 1939) famous "common-sense" response to the skeptic. In effect, what Moore did was reverse the skeptical train of reasoning by arguing, on the basis of his conviction that the skeptical conclusion must be false, that he did know the denial of the relevant skeptical hypothesis after all. In general, the Moorean response to the skeptic is to respond to the skeptic’s modus ponens argument with the corresponding modus tollens.
Wittgenstein claimed that where Moore went wrong was in treating a hinge proposition as if it were just a normal empirical proposition. In particular, he focussed upon Moore's use of the everyday proposition ‘I have two hands’ in this respect, arguing that this is, in normal circumstances, a hinge proposition and thus that the certainty that we attach to it is not due to any evidence that we might have for its favour but rather reflects the fact that in those circumstances it is what ‘stands fast’ in our assessment of other propositions. Nothing is more certain that this proposition in ordinary circumstances, and thus no other belief could be coherently regarded as providing support for it or be coherently thought to undermine it. As Wittgenstein puts the matter at one point:
My having two hands is, in normal circumstances, as certain as anything that I could produce in evidence for it.
That is why I am not in a position to take the sight of my hand as evidence for it. (Wittgenstein 1969 §250)
Given that this is so, however, Moore cannot use the certainty he has for this proposition in order to derive support for his belief in the denials of skeptical hypotheses since, strictly speaking, his belief in this proposition is not grounded at all. Indeed, Wittgenstein goes further to argue that, insofar as Moore regards this proposition as being grounded by the evidence he has for it, then the circumstances are no longer ‘normal' in the relevant respects and thus the proposition is no longer a hinge proposition. And in these conditions, it would be ridiculous to try to buttress one’s belief in the denials of skeptical hypotheses with the support that one has for this proposition (Wittgenstein (1969, §20) compares it to basing one’s belief in the existence of the external world on the grounds one has for thinking that there are other planets).
Wittgenstein is not endorsing radical skepticism by attacking Moore in this way, for the general anti-skeptical line that emerges is that where the skeptic, like Moore, goes wrong is in considering certain basic propositions as being coherently open to doubt. In doing so, or so the argument runs, she fails to pay due attention to the pivotal role that certain, apparently ordinary, propositions can play in our systems of beliefs and thus to the manner in which even everyday propositions can be held with conviction without thereby standing in need of a corresponding degree of evidential buttress.
So construed, the hinge proposition line is largely a diagnosis of why we are so tempted by skeptical arguments rather than a refutation of the skeptical argument. Indeed, in the hands of Strawson (1985), Putnam (1992), and Stroll (1994) this is what the hinge proposition line is largely designed to do. So construed, however, it is difficult to see what comfort it offers. After all, it is far from clear that it results in the denial of any of the intuitions that we saw at issue in our formulation of the skeptical argument in §1. In particular, this diagnostic thesis neither results in the denial of closure nor in a contextualist thesis. Moreover, the standard hinge proposition line explicitly allows that hinge propositions are not known, strictly speaking, since they fall outside of the ambit of epistemic evaluation (being instead the nodes around which epistemic evaluation takes place). The anti-skeptical import of the basic hinge proposition line is thus moot.
In the hands of Wright (1985; 1991; 2000) and Williams (1991), however, one finds a much stronger version of this approach. I will focus on each in turn. In effect, Wright argues that doubting hinge propositions does not merely reflect a misunderstanding of the epistemological landscape, rather it also leads to intellectual self-subversion. The most sophisticated of these arguments can be found in Wright (1991), where he attempts to show that dreaming skepticism must be unsound because it leads to a more radical form of doubt which undermines the very presuppositions that the skeptic needs to employ in order to get her dreaming skepticism off the ground. Thus, dreaming skepticism is necessarily intellectually self-subverting and thus it can be disregarded with impunity. What this line adds to the previous approaches is a principled epistemic ground for discounting the skeptic's doubt. In particular, since it is epistemically irrational to doubt the hinge propositions in question, the implication of the argument that Wright offers is that we can indeed know the denials of skeptical hypotheses on the basis of our knowledge of everyday propositions even though our belief in the former is not evidentially grounded. As Wright (1991, 107-8) puts the point, "the impossibility of earning a warrant that one is not now dreaming does not imply that no such warrant is ever possessed."
Although Wright does succeed in at least showing how the diagnosis of radical skepticism that the hinge proposition line offers might lead to a refutation of the skeptical argument, a number of problems with his approach remain. One worry concerns the examples of hinge propositions that he uses. Whereas Wittgenstein seemed to have everyday propositions in mind in his use of this notion (and ‘I have two hands' in particular), Wright’s argument only works if one takes the denials of skeptical hypotheses as hinge propositions, a move that receives only ambiguous support in the text. A more serious worry concerns how, exactly, we are to cash-out this idea that the warrant which underpins our putative knowledge of the denials of hinge propositions can be "unearned" in the fashion that Wright envisages (see Pritchard 2001c). After all, the idea that we could have knowledge of these propositions purely because we have knowledge of everyday propositions does seem to be question begging. Again, then, the worry about closure in the context of the skeptical debate is brought to the fore. The intuition that closure holds leads us to think that an anti-skeptical theory must incorporate the claim that we can know the denials of skeptical hypotheses, even though such knowledge bears few, if any, of the usual hallmarks of empirical knowledge. This tension can only be resolved by either denying closure or allowing that we can know the denials of skeptical hypotheses, but each of these moves raises tensions of its own.
Wright responds to this latter worry in more recent work. Drawing upon remarks made by Martin Davies (1998), Wright (2000) argues that we need to distinguish between the principle of closure and what he terms the principle of "transmission". In essence, his way around this concern about closure is to maintain that whilst knowledge does indeed transfer across known entailments as closure demands, it does not transmit, where transmission requires something more demanding. In particular, transmission demands that the "cogency" of the argument be preserved, which is its aptitude to produce rational conviction. Here is Wright:
A cogent argument is one whereby someone could be moved to rational conviction of the truth of its conclusion. (Wright 2000, 140)
So Wright's thought is that if one does know the everyday propositions then, trivially, one must know the denials of skeptical hypotheses that are known to be entailed by those propositions. Nevertheless, that closure holds in these cases does not mean that any argument that attempts to establish anti-skeptical knowledge on this basis will be apt to convince a third party. After all, notes Wright, the argument is question begging in the relevant respect since it is only by taking for granted the denials of radical skeptical hypotheses (that is, by taking the relevant hinge propositions for granted) that the agent is able to have knowledge of the everyday propositions in the first place. This is a compelling move to make since it diagnoses the arguments against closure by characterising them in terms of how what is lacking from the conclusion is not knowledge but something just as valuable, a conclusion that is apt to convince. It also explains the failure of the Moorean approach, for where Moore goes wrong is not in lacking the knowledge that he claims to have, but rather in attempting to secure any conviction on the part of his audience by offering his argument. Indeed, this is a very Wittgensteinian claim to make since Wittgenstein himself argues that:
Moore's mistake lies in this - countering the assertion that one cannot know that, by saying "I do know it". (Wittgenstein 1969, §521, my italics)
As this quotation implies, the problem with Moore's argument is precisely not the falsity of the conclusion (which would be to validate either radical skepticism or the denial of closure), but rather concerns the manner in which he proposes it and the ends that it is designed to serve.
Still, compelling though this approach is, we are still in need of an account of knowledge which can explain how it is that we can know such propositions as the denials of skeptical hypotheses, something which Wright himself does not offer (see Pritchard 2002a for more on this point). For this contribution to the anti-skeptical debate we must look elsewhere. I will consider such an account in a moment, for one could view the neo-Moorean strategy as presenting the required analysis. First, however, I will briefly mention another influential reading of the hinge proposition thesis, due to Williams (1991).
As might be expected, what identifies Williams' inferential thesis as a contextualist account is that it incorporates the claim that one should understand knowledge relative to a context of some description. Like the semantic contextualist view put forward by DeRose et al, Williams argues that certain error-possibilities are only epistemically relevant, and thus potentially knowledge defeating, in certain contexts. Moreover, Williams is also keen to retain the closure principle. He does so on contextualist grounds, arguing that provided one keeps to the one context then closure will hold. As with the semantic contextualist position, then, apparent failures of closure are simply due to equivocations between different contexts.
The Williams line thus shares a central core of claims with the semantic contextualist view. Nevertheless, their disagreements are significant. The two main areas of disparity between the two theories are as follows. First, Williams does not individuate contexts along a ‘conversational' axis, but rather in terms of the inferential structure of that context (hence the name, inferential contextualism). Second (and as we will see this point is closely related to the inferential thesis), Williams does not allow a context-independent hierarchy of contexts. That is, unlike the semantic contextualists, Williams does not, for example, regard the skeptical context as being a more epistemically demanding context. Rather, it is just a context which employs a different epistemic structure.
Indeed, on Williams' view, contextualism just is the thesis that there is no such hierarchy of epistemic contexts - instead, each context is, epistemically speaking, autonomous. To think otherwise is, he thinks, to fall victim to the doctrine of "epistemological realism" - the view that the objects of epistemological inquiry have an inherent, and thus context-independent, structure. In contrast, the inferential contextualism that he advances is defined as the denial of this thesis. It holds that:
[...] the epistemic status of a given proposition is liable to shift with situational, disciplinary and other contextually variable factors: it is to hold that, independently of such influences, a proposition has no epistemic status whatsoever. (Williams 1991, 119)
And Williams is quite clear that this last phrase "has no epistemic status whatsoever" is meant to indicate that there is no context-independent means by which we can evaluate the standards wrought in different contexts. He describes his view as a "deflationary" theory of knowledge, in that it holds that there need be nothing that ties all instances of knowledge together other than the fact that they are instances of knowledge. He writes:
A deflationary account of "know" may show how the word is embedded in a teachable and useful linguistic practice, without supposing that "being known to be true" denotes a property that groups propositions into a theoretically significant kind. We can have an account of the use and utility of "know" without supposing that there is such a thing as human knowledge. (Williams 1991, 113)
It is as a consequence of such a view that the very validity of the epistemological enterprise, at least as it is commonly understood, is called into question:
If we give up the idea of pervasive, underlying epistemological constraints; if we start to see the plurality of constraints that inform the various special disciplines, never mind ordinary, unsystematic factual discourse, as genuinely irreducible; if we become suspicious of the idea that "our powers and faculties" can be evaluated independently of everything having to do with the world and our place in it: then we lose our grip on the idea of "human knowledge" as an object of theory. (Williams 1991, 106)
And to say that "human knowledge" is not a suitable object of theory is itself to say that the epistemological project cannot be systematically conceived. On Williams' view there is no epistemological analysis to be conducted outside of contextual parameters and, accordingly, there are no context-independent standards either as the semantic contextualist model would suggest.
It is as a consequence of this stance that Williams is forced to concede that the skeptic is perfectly correct in her assessment of our knowledge, but only because she is operating within an epistemic context that utilises a standard which defeats our everyday knowledge. That is, the skeptic's conclusions are correct, but, by being confined to a specific epistemic context, they lack the hegemony that she requires in order to cause the intended epistemic harm. It does not follow from the truth of skepticism that we lack the everyday knowledge that we attribute to ourselves, or even that such knowledge is inferior to the knowledge that the skeptic has in mind (which would, in line with the semantic contextualist view, presuppose a hierarchy). That is:
The skeptic takes himself to have discovered, under the conditions of philosophical reflection, that knowledge of the world is impossible. But in fact, the most he has discovered is that knowledge of the world is impossible under the conditions of philosophical reflection. (Williams 1991, 130)
So whereas the ‘hierarchical' camp of semantic contextualists tend to individuate contexts in terms of a context-transcendent criterion of rigour, Williams’ schema allows no such ordering of contexts. For him, a context is individuated purely in terms of the epistemic structure it endorses - in terms of the inferential relations that obtain between the types of beliefs that that context is interested in. And since no context employs universal standards, this contextual epistemic structure is also identified in terms of what it takes for granted - which propositions it regards as being immune from doubt in terms of that context. Williams calls the defining assumptions of a context of inquiry its "methodological necessities", and this notion is explicitly meant to capture the chief insights behind the Wittgensteinian notion of a hinge proposition. When we do history, for example, we take the general veracity of historical documentation for granted, as well as the denials of certain skeptical scenarios such as that the world came into existence five minutes ago replete with the traces of a distant ancestry (the so-called ‘Russellian Hypothesis’). To doubt such methodological necessities (/hinge propositions) is not, he argues, to conduct our historical investigations in a more exacting fashion, but rather to engage in a different sort of investigation altogether, one that is guided by traditional epistemological concerns.
The methodological necessities of the traditional epistemological project which, Williams claims, spawns the skeptical threat, are meant to involve a commitment to this false doctrine of epistemological realism. This leads, he argues, to an antiquated foundationalism, one manifestation of which is the traditional epistemologist's concern with the problem of the external world. This problem is meant to reflect the inadequacy of beliefs of one type - concerning immediate experience - at serving the purpose of epistemically supporting beliefs of another type - concerning material objects in the external world. With the problem so characterised, Williams maintains that it should come as no surprise to find that it is without a solution (there are no beliefs concerning immediate experience that are able to act as epistemic guarantors for beliefs concerning objects in the material world). But, he contends, this need not result in a general external world skepticism because this conception of the inferential ordering needed for warranted beliefs about ‘external’ objects is far from obligatory. In terms of another type of inquiry, such as psychological investigations of perception for example, we may legitimately begin with beliefs about material objects and draw inferences about immediate experience. And since no context has any epistemological ascendancy over any other, the project of justifying psychological beliefs with reference to external world beliefs is just as valid as any epistemological theory which demanded that the inferential relations should point in the opposite direction.
Williams' inferentialist contextualist view is thus both more radical and more demanding than its semantic counterpart. On the one hand, it is more radical because Williams does not concede to the skeptic that her skepticism functions at a higher epistemic standard. Instead, he argues that such skepticism merely reflects a different, and faulty, conception of the epistemological landscape. Williams’ view therefore evades one strand of criticism that we saw levelled at the semantic contextualist account above. On the other hand, it is more demanding because, for related reasons, Williams does not believe that mere changes in the conversational context can suffice to bring about a different epistemic context. Instead, there must be an actual difference in the inferential structure that is employed, and thus, given his contextualism, a difference in what is being taken for granted relative to what. Nevertheless, inferential contextualism may well carry with it even more troubling problems of its own, not least the worry that this approach is allied to a general quietistic philosophical approach. Critical appraisal of this theory has been limited, however, since this variant of the contextualist thesis has tended to be obscured by its semantic counterpart (though see Putnam 1998). As the dust settles on the current wave of discussion of the semantic contextualist proposal, one would expect this distinctive thesis to gain a greater degree of attention.
Back, then, to Wright, or, more specifically, to what was absent in Wright's account, viz., an analysis of knowledge that could account for the conclusions that he presents. In essence, what Wright is offering is a neo-Moorean response to skepticism in that he allows, with Moore, that if we do know everyday propositions then we must know the denials of radical skeptical hypotheses that are known to be entailed by them. Where Wright differs from Moore is in not allowing that one can coherently argue to this conclusion in any way that could secure rational conviction. Like Moore, however, Wright fails to supplement this account with an analysis of knowledge that would support it. In so doing, Wright is failing to properly engage with other proponents of the debate regarding radical skepticism - such as Dretske, Nozick and DeRose - who do supplement their anti-skeptical account with an analysis of knowledge (albeit, perhaps, only a partial one) that backs-up their theory. Although Wright does not offer such an account, however, there are analyses of knowledge in the literature that might provide support for his view, and it is to these analyses that we now turn.
Recall that the Dretskean line made Dretskean Sensitivity an essential component of knowledge, where this demanded that an agent should have a belief which is not only true, but which ‘tracks' the truth of the proposition in question in the nearest possible world in which that proposition is false, no matter how ‘far-off’, modally speaking, that world is. It was this element of the thesis that secured the skeptic’s first premise, (S1), because no-one’s belief in the denial of a radical skeptical hypothesis could track the truth in this sense. Similarly, DeRose also made Dretskean Sensitivity relevant to knowledge, albeit only as regards those propositions that were at issue in that context. Accordingly, in skeptical conversational contexts where skeptical hypotheses were at issue agents lacked knowledge of these propositions. What both of these anti-skeptical approaches have in common is thus that they allow that, at least in some contexts, we can lack knowledge of the denials of ‘far-off’ skeptical error-possibilities (and thus that the first premise of the skeptical argument, (S1), is true, at least in some contexts).
In contrast to these lines of thought, Ernest Sosa (1999; 2000) has argued that we should instead regard what he terms "safety" as being central to knowledge rather than sensitivity. In essence, he characterises this notion as follows (Sosa 1999, 142):
In all near-by possible worlds, if an agent believes P, then P is true.
Similar proposals have also been put forward by Mark Sainsbury (1997), Williamson (2000a; 2000b, chapter 8), and Duncan Pritchard (2002c; cf. Pritchard 2001a; 2001b; 2002a). The anti-skeptical advantage that this kind of proposal offers over both the Dretskean line and either of the contextualist views that we have discussed is that it allows one to endorse a version of the Moorean proposal which neither issues in the denial of closure nor results in contextualism.
Take the former point first. What prompted the denial of closure was the fact that, if we take sensitivity as a necessary condition on knowledge, then we must allow that a subject can know everyday propositions whilst being unable to know all the known consequences of those everyday propositions - i.e., the denials of skeptical hypotheses. In contrast, on this view we can allow both that agents have knowledge of everyday propositions and that they can know the denials of radical skeptical hypotheses. Suppose, for example, that the agent does have a safe belief in an everyday proposition. Not only is this belief true in the actual world, but, across the range of near-by possible worlds where she believes this proposition, it is true there as well. Insofar as this belief really is safe, however, then there will not be any skeptical possible worlds in the realm of near-by possible worlds which determine that safety (henceforth, the "realm of safety"). For if there were such worlds present in the realm of safety, then this would suffice to undermine the agent's knowledge of the everyday proposition since there would then be a near-by possible world in which the agent still believes the everyday proposition but where this proposition is false (because the skeptical hypothesis is true). But since skeptical possible worlds are now excluded from the realm of safety, it follows that the agent must also have a safe belief that she is not a BIV (or, indeed, the victim of any skeptical hypothesis). The reason for this is that there will be no possible world within the realm of safety in which this proposition is false, and thus, in every world in the realm of safety in which she believes this proposition (which, I take it, is all of them), her belief is true. Accordingly, skepticism is evaded and closure, as least as it functions in skeptical and anti-skeptical reasoning, is retained.
Moreover, the adoption of safety as a necessary condition on knowledge is also able to speak to the core relevant alternatives thought that we saw in §2. As expressed there, the thought was that I should be able to have knowledge without having to consider far-fetched, and therefore irrelevant, error-possibilities. This was supposed to be the intuition that Dretske was trying to accommodate with his modal account of knowledge, but, as we saw, he in fact ended up with a slightly different view which did make far-fetched error-possibilities relevant to knowledge, albeit only knowledge of the denials of skeptical hypotheses (note that it was this element of the view that resulted in the denial of closure). In contrast, a modal interpretation of the RA approach that is much closer to this core intuition is that knowledge (any knowledge) is only dependent upon one's ability to track the truth in the relevant range of near-by possible worlds, not also in worlds far away. Accordingly, if the skeptical possibility is indeed far-fetched then it ought to be unable to influence my knowledge of everyday propositions or, for that matter, my knowledge of the denials of skeptical hypotheses. Safety captures this intuition by allowing agents to have knowledge in both cases provided skeptical possible worlds do not feature in the realm of safety. Dretskean Sensitivity, in contrast, violates this intuition by making knowledge dependent not just on the relevant circumstances in near-by worlds but also on the circumstances that obtain in far-off worlds (such as skeptical worlds) where the target proposition is false.
Furthermore, since the realm of safety does not vary in response to mere conversational factors, it follows that this is not a semantic contextualist thesis. If the agent does indeed know everyday propositions then, in line with the central Moorean contention, she will also know the denials of radical skeptical hypotheses, and this will be so no matter what conversational context the agent is in. We thus have a Moorean variety of anti-skepticism which, whilst keeping to the RA spirit of both the Dretskean and the semantic contextualist proposals, lacks the epistemological revisionism of either.
This is a compelling account of how a neo-Moorean proposal might run, and it certainly does seem to present one very plausible way of reading the core RA thesis. It is not quite as novel as it may at first seem, however, since one can trace the beginnings of such view in Gail C. Stine's critical appraisal of the Dretskean thesis back in 1976. She noted that so long as one sticks to the core RA conception of relevance then the proper conclusion to be extracted is precisely that we shouldn’t concede a lack of knowledge of the denials of radical skeptical hypotheses, and thus reject closure. Instead, the conclusion we should draw is that, since such skeptical error-possibilities are indeed modally far-off, and thus irrelevant, it follows that we do know their denials after all (insofar as we know anything much) and thus that closure remains intact. Stine thus reaches a similar conclusion to Sosa’s, though without employing the technical modal machinery that Sosa adduces. It is interesting to note, however, that Stine recognised problems with this proposal that Sosa does not mention. In particular, she saw that the difficulty facing this brand of RA thesis is to explain how it can be that closure holds and thus that we do know the denials of anti-skeptical hypotheses after all, a problem that we also saw facing the semantic contextualist account above. As Stine herself admits, such a conclusion does indeed "sound odd". In defence of her position she argues that this ‘oddness’ is not due to what is said being false, however (as the Dretske-Nozick line would suggest), but rather concerns the kind of false conversational implicatures that such a claim to know generate.
Although Stine does not develop this move, it is clearly a manœuvre that has a lot of mileage in it since it confronts head-on the worries about the lack of diagnostic appeal of the neo-Moorean approach. After all, one of the advantages of both the Dretskean and the semantic contextualist line is that they can explain the intuitive appeal of radical skepticism without succumbing to it. The neo-Moorean approach, in contrast, seems to make it a mystery as to why we were ever taken in by this fallacious line of reasoning in the first place. Thus, if it could be shown that the skeptic plays on pragmatic features of our language-games with epistemic terms in order to make her arguments superficially plausible, then we could supplement the neo-Moorean theory with a powerful diagnostic account which explains the phenomenology of our engagement with radical skepticism.
Just such an account is offered in Pritchard (2002c; cf. Pritchard 2001b; 2002a). Pritchard claims that we can strengthen Sosa's account of knowledge whilst keeping true to the basic intuition that drives that notion (he offers an account of knowledge based on the notion of "super-safety"). Moreover, he goes on to show that the kind of mechanisms employed by the semantic contextualist account could just as well be regarded as mechanisms which govern the appropriate assertion of knowledge claims rather than as mechanisms which influence the truth-conditions of what is claimed. For example, the thought is that in skeptical conversational contexts it is the standards for correct assertion of knowledge claims that is raised (rather than the standards for knowledge), and that this fact explains why it is that we are reluctant to ascribe knowledge in skeptical contexts even though we are happy to ascribe such knowledge in quotidian contexts. Accordingly, the idea is that semantic contextualism, construed as a thesis about the fluctuating propriety conditions of knowledge claims, could actually be put into the service of the neo-Moorean view to offer the required diagnostic account. Indeed, elsewhere Pritchard (2001b) argues that a similar view can be extracted from some of Wittgenstein’s remarks on "hinge" propositions, so this view may well represent the beginnings of a thesis which integrates the two branches of recent work as regards skepticism. Moreover, Pritchard (2002a) also argues that Wright’s distinction between transmission and closure can be recast in terms of a distinction between the transference of knowledge across known entailments simpliciter (closure), and the transference of knowledge across known entailments where the knowledge retains a certain quality that makes it apt for proper assertion. Wright’s intuition about transmission is thus captured within this development of the neo-Moorean model by making use of the pragmatic features of our employment of epistemic terms.
This neo-Moorean approach is so recent that detailed critical assessment of it has not yet appeared. Nevertheless, we can note one possible avenue of discussion here, which is the possibly contentious use that the diagnostic element of this theory makes of the pragmatic/semantic distinction. If this element of the theory could be called into question then this would suffice to scupper the diagnostic component of the theory and thus drastically reduce its plausibility as an anti-skeptical thesis.
Before concluding, it is worthwhile to briefly dwell upon those influential figures in the recent epistemological debate who, in contrast to the current mood of optimism that can be found in epistemological discussion of the problem of radical skepticism, are deeply suspicious that any intellectually satisfactory solution could ever be given to this problem. The roots of this movement in the contemporary literature can be traced back to the work of three main figures - Unger (1971; 1975), Barry Stroud (1984; 1989) and Thomas Nagel (1986). We saw Unger's infallibilist defence of skepticism earlier on, so here I will summarise Stroud’s and Nagel’s contribution, and highlight one way in which this variety of ‘meta-skepticism’ currently informs the skeptical debate, particularly as it figures in more recent work by Stroud (1994; 1996) and Richard Fumerton (1990; 1995).
For both Nagel and Stroud, the thought seems to be that there is something in our philosophical quest for objectivity that inexorably leads us to skeptical conclusions. Nagel argues, for instance, that objectivity involves attaining a completely impartial view of reality, one that is not tainted by any particular perspective. We must, he argues, "get outside of ourselves", and thereby achieve the impossible task of being able to "view the world from nowhere from within it" (Nagel 1986, 76). We realise that the initial appearances present to a viewpoint can be unreliable guides to reality and therefore seek to modify our ‘subjective' view with a more ‘objective’ perspective that is tempered by reason and reflection. As Nagel points out, however, the trouble with this approach is that
[...] if initial appearances are not in themselves reliable guides to reality, [then] why should the products of detached reflection be any different? Why aren't they [...] equally doubtful [...]? [...] The same ideas that make the pursuit of objectivity seem necessary for knowledge make both objectivity and knowledge seem, on reflection, unattainable. (Nagel 1986, 76)
We can reconstruct the argument here as follows. We recognise that our initial unmodified ‘subjective' experience of the world is unreliable and therefore should be adapted along ‘objective’ lines by eliminating the ‘subjective’ element. For instance, initial appearances tell us, falsely, that straight sticks suddenly become ‘bent’ when placed in water. Accordingly, we modify our initial ‘subjective’ view with the testimony of ‘objective’ scientific investigation which tells us that the stick in fact stays straight, it is just the light that is bending. However, and here is the crux of the matter as far as Nagel is concerned, why do we regard this modified view as being any more reliable than the completely ‘subjective’ perspective that it replaces? After all, we cannot eliminate every trace of ‘subjectivity’ and thus the problematic component of our conception of reality that engendered the pursuit of objectivity in the first place remains. Consequently, we are both aware of the need for objectivity whilst also recognising that such objectivity is impossible. As a result, according to Nagel, we are condemned to the following pessimistic evaluation of our epistemic capacities:
The search for objective knowledge, because of its commitment to a realist picture, is inescapably subject to skepticism and cannot refute it but must proceed under its shadow. [...] Skepticism [...] is a problem only because of the realist claims of objectivity. (Nagel 1986, 71)
That is, the problem of skepticism
[...] has no solution, but to recognise that is to come as near as we can to living in the light of truth. (Nagel 1986, 231)
Moreover, since these ‘realist' truths concerning objectivity are meant to be inherent in our epistemic concepts, so it is held that this pessimism falls naturally out of any reflective analysis of our epistemic concepts.
Stroud makes similar claims. He writes:
The sceptical philosopher's conception of our position and of his question for an understanding of it [...] is a quest for an objective or detached understanding and explanation of the position we are objectively in. What is seen to be true from a detached ‘external’ standpoint might not correspond to what we take to be the truth about our position when we consider it ‘internally’, from within the practical contexts which give our words their social point. Philosophical scepticism says the two do not correspond; we never know anything about the world around us, although we say or imply that we do hundreds of times a day.
I think we do have a conception of things being a certain way quite independently of their being known or believed or said to be that way by anyone. I think that the source of the philosophical problem of the external world lies somewhere within just such a conception of an objective world or in our desire, expressed in terms of that conception, to gain a certain kind of understanding of our relation to the world. But in trying to describe that conception I think I have relied on nothing but platitudes we would all accept - not about specific ways we all now believe the world to be, but just the general idea of what an objective world or an objective state of affairs would be. If those platitudes about objectivity do indeed express the conception of the world and our relation to it that the sceptical philosopher relies on, and if I am right in thinking that scepticism can be avoided only if that conception is rejected, it will seem that in order to avoid scepticism we must deny platitudes we all accept. (Stroud 1984, 81-2)
And note that if responding to skepticism involves denying "platitudes that we would all accept", then it follows that any adequate response to the problem of radical skepticism is bound to be intellectually unsatisfactory.
One might wonder, however, exactly how such epistemological pessimism is to impact on the kind of anti-skeptical proposals that we have considered in previous sections. After all, nearly all of them results in the denial of some key claim that the skeptic makes, and does so on motivated grounds. In what sense, then, must we accept that these proposals, whatever the details, are all going to be intellectually unsatisfactory?
In more recent discussion, one begins to see the emergence of a more definitive pessimistic line, however, which may well be able to give a more compelling expression to this worry. In general, although the point is not always put in these terms, the complaint is that these recent anti-skeptical approaches offer us, at best, an epistemologically externalist response to skepticism when what we wanted was one that functioned within an epistemologically internalist framework.
Simplifying somewhat, we can take epistemological internalism to consist in the claim that there is some substantive necessary condition for knowledge which depends upon facts that the agent is in a position to know by reflection alone. That is, the internalist insists that meeting an appropriate ‘internal' epistemic condition is necessary for knowledge possession. Externalists, in contrast, demure from this claim and therefore allow that agents might know merely by meeting ‘external’ epistemic conditions. So, for example, externalists tend to allow that small children or unreflective subjects (such as the now notorious, and possibly non-existent, "chicken-sexer") can have knowledge even though they fail to meet an internal epistemic condition. Internalists, in contrast, set the standards for knowledge higher and thus exclude these agents from possessing knowledge (for more on this distinction, see the essays collected in Kornblith (2001)).
It is notable that all of the main anti-skeptical accounts that we have discussed so far have tended to side with externalism. For both Dretske and Nozick, for example, the sensitivity condition is a condition that merely needs to be met by the agent for that agent to be a potential knower - it is not further demanded that the agent should have the relevant reflective access to the facts which determine that sensitivity. Similar remarks apply to the semantic contextualist account, with both DeRose and Lewis endorsing externalist views (though Cohen might be an exception in this respect). Finally, the neo-Moorean accounts offered by Sosa et al are all described in terms of an externalist epistemology. On closer reflection, it is unsurprising that externalism should be so widely endorsed in this way, though the reasons in each case are different.
The Dretskeans need to be externalists because it is far more problematic to deny closure if knowledge is given an internalist construal. If the denial of closure were not contentious enough, to argue that one could have the kind of ‘reflective' knowledge at issue in the internalist account of both the antecedent and the entailment and yet lack it of the consequent just seems plain absurd.
Since both the neo-Mooreans and the contextualists retain closure, it follows that they need not be troubled by this particular motivation for externalism. The driving force behind their adoption of externalism is, in contrast, the fact that they allow (albeit, in the contextualist case, relative to certain contexts) that an agent can have knowledge of the denials of radical skeptical hypotheses. The problem is that this seems to be precisely the sort of knowledge that cannot be possessed under the internalist rubric because skeptical scenarios are, ex hypothesi, phenomenologically indistinguishable from everyday life. Accordingly, it is plausible to suppose that agents are unable to have the required reflective access to the relevant facts that determine the epistemic status of their beliefs when it comes to these propositions.
Despite the current popularity of externalist accounts of knowledge, however, one might be less sanguine about the prospects for an externalist response to the problem of radical skepticism. After all, the skeptical puzzle seems to be one that strikes against the prima facie attraction of an externalist account of knowledge. As we saw Craig in effect arguing in §2, if we cannot tell the difference between being in the world that we think we are in now and a skeptical possible world such as the BIV-world, then of what comfort is it to be told that, provided we are in the world we think we are, we know a great deal? Instead, it would seem that we want some sort of subjective assurance as regards our knowledge that externalist anti-skeptical accounts are not in a position to provide.
It is this line of thinking that ultimately motivates recent work by Stroud (1994; 1996) and Fumerton (1990; 1995). For example, Fumerton makes the following point:
It is tempting to think that externalist analyses of knowledge [...] simply remove one level of the traditional problems of skepticism. When one reads the well-known externalists one is surely inclined to wonder why they are so sanguine about their supposition that our commonplace beliefs are, for the most part, [...] knowledge. [...] Perception, memory, and induction may be reliable processes (in Goldman's sense) and thus given his metaepistemological position we may [... have knowledge of] the beliefs they produce but, the sceptic can argue, we have no reason to believe that these process are reliable and thus even if we accept reliabilism, we have no reason to think that the beliefs they produce [constitute knowledge]. (Fumerton 1990, 63)
In effect, the complaint that Fumerton is giving expression to here is that externalism allows that there are certain conditions on knowledge that we are unable to reflectively determine have obtained. Indeed, Fumerton is more explicit about the focus of his objection when he goes on to write that
[...] the main problem with externalist accounts, it seems to me, just is the fact that such accounts [...] develop concepts of knowledge that are irrelevant. [...] The philosopher doesn't just want true beliefs, or even reliably produced beliefs, or beliefs caused by the facts that make them true. The philosopher wants to have the relevant features of the world directly before consciousness. (Fumerton 1990, 64)
Presumably, to argue that externalist accounts of knowledge are problematic because they fail to demand that the relevant facts should be "directly before consciousness" is simply to complain that such theories make the satisfaction of non-reflectively accessible external epistemic conditions central to knowledge possession.
Fumerton is not the only one to put forward objections to externalism that run along these lines, though he is perhaps the most explicit about what the complaint that he is giving voice to amounts to. For example, a similar argument against externalism seems to be implicit in the following passages from Stroud:
[...] suppose there are truths about the world and the human condition which link human perceptual states and cognitive mechanisms with further states of knowledge and reasonable belief, and which imply that human beings acquire their beliefs about the physical world through the operation of belief-forming mechanisms which are on the whole reliable in the sense of giving them mostly true beliefs. [...] If there are truths of this kind [...] that fact alone obviously will do us no good as theorists who want to understand human knowledge in this philosophical way. At the very least we must believe some such truths; their merely being true would not be enough to give us any illumination or satisfaction. But our merely happening to believe them would not be enough either. We seek understanding of certain aspects of the human condition, so we seek more than just a set of beliefs about it; we want to know or have good reasons for thinking that what we believe about it is true. (Stroud 1994, 297)
It is difficult to understand Stroud's objection here if it is not to be construed along similar lines to that found in the passages from Fumerton cited above. Stroud’s thought seems to be that it is not enough merely to meet the external epistemic conditions that give us knowledge, rather we should also have the special kind of internal access to those conditions that the internalist demands (and perhaps even more than that).
A new debate is thus emerging in the literature which is to some extent orthogonal to the key discussions that we have considered so far since it questions the very presuppositions of those discussions. Future work on the skeptical puzzle will thus enjoin participants to not only meet the skeptical argument in a motivated fashion, but also respond to this meta-epistemological challenge.
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Sometimes a name becomes so ubiquitous we forget its original meaning. A case in point is Ray-Ban, which was behind the world’s first aviator sunglasses, conceived in the 1930s to ban rays from the eyes of US Air Force pilots. Though marketed under the Ray-Ban banner, it was the brand’s parent company, Bausch & Lomb – a US firm specialising in eye health products – that came up with the invention. Developed as an alternative to the fur-lined goggles worn by pilots in the early 20th-Century – which simply didn’t perform technically – aviator sunglasses became the perfect solution to protect a pilot’s eyes against the elements, help to avoid headaches and to combat decreased visibility caused by the blinding glare of the sun at high altitude.
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Aviator sunglasses became the perfect solution to protect a pilot's eyes against the elements
The aviator was not to remain confined to the cockpit, however. Fitted with green lenses that could cut out the glare without obscuring vision, the first examples, which went on sale to the public in 1937, featured a plastic frame in the now-classic teardrop shape (echoing the form of pilot’s goggles), but was remodelled with a metal frame the following year and rebranded as the Ray-Ban Aviator.
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In the 1940s, World War Two saw American Air Force pilots continue to rely on the Ray-Ban Aviator, with the introduction of a gradient mirror lens with a special coating on the upper part for enhanced protection, but an uncoated lower lens for a clear view of the plane’s instrument panel. The most iconic shots of military in Ray-Ban Aviators during WWII include those of General Douglas MacArthur landing on a beach in the Philippines wearing a pair.
Military style influenced fashion trends and the shades took off with civilians, gaining momentum in the 1950s with the launch of the Ray-Ban Caravan (1957), a squarer version later worn by Robert De Niro in Taxi Driver (1976). Thus begun their transition from a functional to an aspirational fashion accessory. “In the 1950s, Ray-Ban started to run advertising campaigns and you started to see them on all the major Hollywood celebrities,” says Sara Beneventi, brand director at Ray-Ban.
Other Ray-Ban styles have entered the market but the original aviators – whose shape was adopted as a generic style by other eyewear brands like Polo, Maui Jim, Serengeti, Persol and top fashion brands such as Gucci, Burberry, Dolce and Gabbana – have always maintained their momentum, according to Beneventi, though certain powerful pop culture moments have contributed to peaks in popularity. Take for example Michael Jackson’s appearance at the 1984 Grammys in a pair of black Ray-Ban Aviators, while Tom Cruise in Top Gun (1986) took the shades back to their fighter pilot roots, boosting sales of the Ray-Ban original.
“In general you can see two key Ray-Ban styles in any decade, from the 1940s to today, so the role of Ray-Ban, both in the past and today, has always been to play a part in the pop culture of the specific period,” says Beneventi, noting that the music scene has also contributed to the aviator’s myth. “Ray-Ban have always been very much part of the scene from rock culture in the 1970s to the indie culture today. In the 1970s it became totally normal to see rock stars like Iggy Pop in Ray-Ban Aviators.”
By the 1970s, aviators already asserted themselves as the ultimate fashion accessory for many cultural icons, but up to this point they had largely been considered a men’s style. However, with an element of colour and femininity now being introduced to both frames and lenses by way of delicate rhinestone details and softer lens colours such as browns and pinks, the glasses started to grace the catwalks and red carpets, becoming synonymous with the glitterati.
If back in the 1950s the market focus was on one aviator style in one lens colour, today Ray-Ban markets a family of products ranging from functional and classic to fashion-forward styles with new colours and materials. The focus, says Beneventi, is always on innovation. “The evolution of the aviator in any decade has focused on the continued innovation that we apply to this product, such as special materials coming from the aerospace industry.” This autumn will see a new take on the ‘37 Ray-Ban Aviator frames, sporting a distressed effect as if worn through time. With this type of dedication to design and evolution, the timeless aviator, now more a staple of people’s cabin luggage than the cockpit, is certain to continue its journey into the future.
If you would like to comment on this story or anything else you have seen on BBC Culture, head over to our Facebook page or message us on Twitter. | <urn:uuid:c3591d6e-e7eb-4bf3-b5ab-c7ca22fe4de5> | {
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PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICE
JET PROPULSION LABORATORY
CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
PASADENA, CALIF. 91109. TELEPHONE (818) 354-5011
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Aug 18, 1989
NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft has detected intense radio emissions from Neptune, indicating that the planet has magnetic field.
The discovery, made by Voyager 2's planetary radio astronomy instrument team at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., greatly increases the likelihood that the spacecraft will discover wide range of interesting phenomena related to magnetic field, such as aurora and possible radiation-darkened ring arcs and moons around Neptune.
Voyager 2 will come within 4,850 kilometers (3,000 miles) of Neptune at 9 p.m. on Aug. 24.
The emissions are generated around planets by high-velocity, charged particles as they spiral along magnetic field lines into the planet's atmosphere.
At Neptune, "the radio emissions are very intense, very impulsive, and occur in limited range of frequency," said Dr. James Warwick, principal investigator on the planetary radio astronomy experiment. The emissions, he added, are polarized, "so we know we're dealing with magnetic field. The source is not lightning; it is related to energetic particles interacting in magnetic field."
A planetary magnetic field is girdle of magnetic field lines that surround planet. Such fields are thought to be generated by fluid motion in planet's core (molten iron in Earth's core, for example). Mercury, Earth, Jupiter, Saturn and Uranus have magnetic fields, while Venus and Mars do not. Whether Pluto has one or not is not known.
While the Neptunian radio emissions were only confirmed today, Warwick said that in looking back over Voyager data, the emissions were heard by the planetary radio astronomy instrument as early as Aug. 14. The emissions weren't immediately recognized as being associated with Neptune, however, because their character "was so different from what we were expecting," Warwick said.
As more data from the instrument is returned to Earth over coming days, Warwick's team will be able to precisely define Neptune's rotation -- the length of its day.
Early analysis indicates that Neptune's magnetic field is of an intensity similar to the magnetic fields of Earth and Uranus.
Voyager 2's close flyby over Neptune's northern hemisphere will allow the spacecraft's complement of instruments to determine Neptune's magnetic field structure and orientation.
The Voyager Mission is conducted for NASA's Office of Space Science by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. | <urn:uuid:8414e981-6375-410b-81d4-d6eb9372d29a> | {
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Imagine the following conversation:
Waiter: What would you like for the main course?
Customer 1: I will have the squid.
Customer 2: I am an eel.
In English, this makes no sense, unless Customer 2 is actually an eel, which seems unlikely. Japanese, however, has a construction that can be literally translated as though the speaker is declaring that they are an eel. This is called the “eel sentence”.
An eel sentence (or unagibun in Japanese) is a sentence of the format “X wa (topic marker) Y da (copula)”. This format, in its most basic use, can be translated as “X is Y”. However, in the case of an eel sentence, this meaning does not apply. Therefore, a customer in a restaurant might say: “Boku wa unagi da”, with X = boku (“I”) and Y = unagi (“eel”). But rather than intending to say that they are an eel, the customer here means that they will have it for dinner.
The term unagibun was coined by Keiichirō Okutsu in 1978, and since then it has been used by many linguists and featured in Japanese language textbooks. Of course, the word “eel” can be substituted by almost any other noun depending on the context, but since “eel” was the example originally used by Okutsu the term “eel sentence” stuck.
If you would like to read more about eel sentences, see the articles listed in the bibliography below.
Editor of Brill’s Linguistic Bibliography
Koya, Itsuki: Shitei unagibun to “NP1 no NP2” ni tsuite. – Reports of the Keio Institute of Cultural and Linguistic Studies 45, 2014, 227-238 | The specificational “eel” sentence and its relation to the “NP1 no NP2” construction.
Obana, Yasuko: Unagi-sentences in Japanese and mutual knowledge. – Journal of pragmatics : an interdisciplinary monthly of language studies 33/5, 2001, 725-751.
Yagihashi, Hirotoshi: Why can a Japanese unagi-sentence be used in a request? – Lodz papers in pragmatics 5/2, 2009, 227-240. | <urn:uuid:bae9793d-d213-4d0a-804c-b5e464c645f5> | {
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A bus route has a total duration of 40 minutes. Every 10 minutes,
two buses set out, one from each end. How many buses will one bus
meet on its way from one end to the other end?
Every day at noon a boat leaves Le Havre for New York while another
boat leaves New York for Le Havre. The ocean crossing takes seven
days. How many boats will each boat cross during their journey?
I found these clocks in the Arts Centre at the University of
Warwick intriguing - do they really need four clocks and what times
would be ambiguous with only two or three of them?
Show that among the interior angles of a convex polygon there
cannot be more than three acute angles.
Can you fit the tangram pieces into the outline of this shape. How would you describe it?
Can you fit the tangram pieces into the outlines of the chairs?
Can you fit the tangram pieces into the outlines of the lobster, yacht and cyclist?
Can you fit the tangram pieces into the outlines of these clocks?
Can you fit the tangram pieces into the outline of the child walking home from school?
Mathematics is the study of patterns. Studying pattern is an
opportunity to observe, hypothesise, experiment, discover and
Imagine a wheel with different markings painted on it at regular
intervals. Can you predict the colour of the 18th mark? The 100th
Can you see why 2 by 2 could be 5? Can you predict what 2 by 10
Can you fit the tangram pieces into the outline of this plaque design?
In how many ways can you fit all three pieces together to make
shapes with line symmetry?
How can the same pieces of the tangram make this bowl before and after it was chipped? Use the interactivity to try and work out what is going on!
Blue Flibbins are so jealous of their red partners that they will
not leave them on their own with any other bue Flibbin. What is the
quickest way of getting the five pairs of Flibbins safely to. . . .
A tilted square is a square with no horizontal sides. Can you
devise a general instruction for the construction of a square when
you are given just one of its sides?
Can you fit the tangram pieces into the outline of Wai Ping, Wah Ming and Chi Wing?
Can you fit the tangram pieces into the outline of the telescope and microscope?
Can you fit the tangram pieces into the outline of these rabbits?
Can you fit the tangram pieces into the outlines of these people?
Can you fit the tangram pieces into the outline of this brazier for roasting chestnuts?
Draw some isosceles triangles with an area of $9$cm$^2$ and a vertex at (20,20). If all the vertices must have whole number coordinates, how many is it possible to draw?
Exchange the positions of the two sets of counters in the least possible number of moves
The reader is invited to investigate changes (or permutations) in the ringing of church bells, illustrated by braid diagrams showing the order in which the bells are rung.
Imagine you are suspending a cube from one vertex (corner) and
allowing it to hang freely. Now imagine you are lowering it into
water until it is exactly half submerged. What shape does the
surface. . . .
How many different triangles can you make on a circular pegboard that has nine pegs?
A rectangular field has two posts with a ring on top of each post.
There are two quarrelsome goats and plenty of ropes which you can
tie to their collars. How can you secure them so they can't. . . .
Can you mark 4 points on a flat surface so that there are only two
different distances between them?
This article for teachers discusses examples of problems in which
there is no obvious method but in which children can be encouraged
to think deeply about the context and extend their ability to. . . .
These are pictures of the sea defences at New Brighton. Can you
work out what a basic shape might be in both images of the sea wall
and work out a way they might fit together?
Start with a large square, join the midpoints of its sides, you'll see four right angled triangles. Remove these triangles, a second square is left. Repeat the operation. What happens?
Can you fit the tangram pieces into the outline of this telephone?
Can you fit the tangram pieces into the outline of Little Ming playing the board game?
Can you fit the tangram pieces into the outline of Little Fung at the table?
A game for 2 people. Take turns joining two dots, until your opponent is unable to move.
The whole set of tiles is used to make a square. This has a green and blue border. There are no green or blue tiles anywhere in the square except on this border. How many tiles are there in the set?
Can you work out what is wrong with the cogs on a UK 2 pound coin?
Use the interactivity to listen to the bells ringing a pattern. Now
it's your turn! Play one of the bells yourself. How do you know
when it is your turn to ring?
Can you recreate these designs? What are the basic units? What
movement is required between each unit? Some elegant use of
procedures will help - variables not essential.
Can you fit the tangram pieces into the outline of the rocket?
Here is a solitaire type environment for you to experiment with. Which targets can you reach?
A shape and space game for 2,3 or 4 players. Be the last person to be able to place a pentomino piece on the playing board. Play with card, or on the computer.
A game for 2 players. Can be played online. One player has 1 red
counter, the other has 4 blue. The red counter needs to reach the
other side, and the blue needs to trap the red.
Investigate how the four L-shapes fit together to make an enlarged
L-shape. You could explore this idea with other shapes too.
An irregular tetrahedron is composed of four different triangles.
Can such a tetrahedron be constructed where the side lengths are 4,
5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 units of length?
Slide the pieces to move Khun Phaen past all the guards into the position on the right from which he can escape to freedom.
Charlie and Alison have been drawing patterns on coordinate grids. Can you picture where the patterns lead?
Players take it in turns to choose a dot on the grid. The winner is the first to have four dots that can be joined to form a square.
The aim of the game is to slide the green square from the top right
hand corner to the bottom left hand corner in the least number of | <urn:uuid:195e8d9a-c363-4738-8987-376fc04e55cb> | {
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dog family. I've already covered wolves and coyotes, jackals will be up next, and then, alongside a few others, you're going to see an awful lot of foxes. What you won't see any of are hyenas.
That's because hyenas, physical appearance notwithstanding, are not dogs. In fact, they're actually more closely related to cats than they are to dogs. (Although they're closer to mongooses than to either, for what it's worth). One of these days I may get round to a description of the hyena family, and how it's different to that of the dogs, but that won't be a terribly long series of posts, because there are only four living species.
There's the one everybody knows, which is the spotted or "laughing" hyena, and there's a couple of smaller, rarer hyenas related to it. And then, there's the aardwolf (Proteles cristata). Aardwolves are, to be honest, pretty strange animals, and there's a lot to be said about them, their feeding habits, and so on. This, however, is not that post. Because, yesterday being Valentine's Day and all, it's time to talk about mating behaviour.
There are a number of ways of classifying mating systems among mammals (or, indeed, other animals), but one of them considers there to be four basic patterns. Perhaps the most common in mammals is polygyny, where males mate with as many females as they can get away with. Polygynous species typically have males much larger than females, often with adornments such as horns that can both serve as signals of sexual fitness, and be handy when fighting off rivals. A common alternative is monogamy, in which a pair of animals stay faithful to one another, at least while they raise their young, and often for much longer. Here, where neither partner needs to be very concerned about the other straying, males and females are often of similar size and build.
Polyandry, in which females get to call all the shots, and mate with lots of males, is not so common, but there are certainly examples. Here, the male wants to ensure that the one female he (and everyone else) is mating with has his kids, rather than those of his rival, and this requires more subtle biological tactics than simply fighting other males - having particularly big testicles that produce large volumes of sperm being one such method. The fourth option, of course, is promiscuity, where everyone has sex with everyone else until they're all bored with it. This option tends to produce animals where the sexes are behaviourally and physically similar, on the grounds that they both face similar challenges.
So, which of these is the aardwolf? Aardwolves are basically small, slender hyenas that eat almost nothing but termites. Termites being not exactly the most abundant resource ever, this means that they spend quite a lot of time looking for food. Which is a bit of a nuisance when you have young to look after, so it really makes sense to have somebody helping out. As so often in this kind of situation, this results in monogamy. When you need two parents to look after the children, polygyny just isn't going to cut it, because the father has to hang around at least long enough to help his partner out.
Except that, as is the case with many other animals, it doesn't seem to be quite that simple. There are a number of reports of male aardwolves mating with females other than their ostensible partner, for instance. And a study a couple of years ago showed that the way male aardwolves arrange and travel between their dens is exactly what you'd expect of animals on the prowl for new sexual partners. Given that they really do need to help look after the female's young if they're to have much chance of surviving, this puts them in a conflicting situation: wanting to stay with their female, and also wanting to sleep around. If the social aspects of their mating habits - who they live with, in other words - differs from their actual sexual activity, which has the greater effect on other aspects of their behaviour?
And, come to that, why do they do it? If you stay around to help look after your partner's kids, but you don't know for certain that some other male hasn't done exactly what you'd do in the same situation, and snuck in for a quick one when you weren't looking... well, you may be wasting a lot of time raising someone else's children. The females aren't going to care, since they at least know the children are theirs, but it's a different matter for the males.
There have not been a huge number of studies on aardwolves, which are, to be honest, not among the best known animals in Africa. A new analysis of aardwolf behaviour in South Africa is also the first ever to take a look at their hormonal status over the year, and how that might be affecting, or be affected by, their mating habits.
Aardwolves mate during the dry season, probably during a relatively short window of opportunity, and we don't even know for sure that the females come into heat more than once a year. But, while much of the dry season presumably isn't also the "mating season", there should still be some differences in behaviour between that and the wet season, when adults are looking after their young. One of the things we can look at here is how the animals move around, as assessed by radio tagging them and examining the resulting GPS data.
It turns out that, as in most other mammals, males travel over a wider area than females do, although not by very much (4 to 5 km2, rather than 2 to 4 km2). Both sexes also range over a slightly wider area during the wet season than during the dry. Neither of these things is what you would expect of a polygamous mammal. If males want to mate with as many females as possible, they should travel over a much bigger area, in order that several females' territories will overlap with theirs. And, if anything, they should do it more during the dry season, when mating opportunities are available. Not only that, but both sexes make even use of their territories, wandering about in them freely; there is not, in other words, any evidence that the males prefer to hang around at their territory borders, which is where they're going to meet any neighbouring females.
Males do, it seems, scent mark their territories more than females do, which might be taken as advertising their presence, both to warn off rivals, and attract the attention of unfamiliar females. Except that, again, they do it even more during the wet season... which suggests that they're more concerned about protecting their young than they are about the possibility of their partner mating with strangers.
To evaluate hormone levels, the researchers sampled and analysed a great amount of aardwolf poo, looking for metabolites that would indirectly indicate the levels of four hormones in the blood. Three of these are, perhaps, obvious choices for this sort of study: the female sex hormones oestrogen and progesterone, and the male sex hormone epiandrosterone (which isn't quite the same thing as testosterone, but is functionally similar). The remaining one was the stress hormone cortisol. The idea here is that, if males compete for mates, then the ones who lose out should have higher cortisol levels during the mating season, something that's known to be the case in a number of polygynous species.
But, so far as we could tell, that wasn't happening here: stress hormone levels during the dry season were almost exactly the same in every individual examined. In other words, they were all doing equally well, and so presumably weren't competing. The two female hormones were slightly higher during the dry season, as one might expect, but male hormones were also higher, not just in the males, but in the females, too.
While mammals always have a small amount of hormones associated with the other sex in their bloodstreams, even when perfectly healthy, hyenas in general are a bit odd when it comes to this, in that the females have unusually high levels of "male" hormones. This seems to be related, at least in part, to their aggressive natures, and is most extreme in the spotted hyena (which also has the even more bizarre property that the females appear to possess a penis and scrotum). It's possible that these become higher in female aardwolves during the mating season because there is some competition among them to hold on to their mates, and a need for more aggressive behaviour as a result.
That aside, though, all the indications are that the aardwolves in this study were acting like monogamous animals, and that their sex and stress hormone levels largely matched that behaviour, too. So, even if they aren't entirely faithful, for the most part they seem geared to act as if they are. We've seen why that is - they need two stable parents to look after their young. This study cannot, however, show why they aren't quite as faithful in practice as their social lives would indicate they ought to be.
Maybe it's those high levels of male hormones, promoting aggression in both males and females, and leaving the former, in particular, with a high sex drive that doesn't quite mesh with the clear necessity to stand by your mate. Perhaps its a holdover from some relatively recent evolutionary change in their behaviour, since spotted hyenas are anything but monogamous. Sometimes biological desires and social practicalities come into conflict.
Even if you're an aardwolf.
[Photo by Trisha Shears, from Wikimedia Commons] | <urn:uuid:c1539a8a-e1af-4c58-a041-8071029ab383> | {
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