Technological advancements have seeped into every corner of society, with education being no exception. For years, the practice of learning via computers and the internet has been mostly linked to higher education. However, K-12 education has become a bigger and bigger part of the virtual learning world. According to Connections Academy, more than 2.7 million K-12 students took part in blended or online learning programs in 2014. It has become clear that educators across the country are trying to integrate virtual learning into their world.
What Is Virtual Learning?
Virtual learning, often called eLearning or digital learning, is defined by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy as using “computer software, the internet or both to deliver instruction to students.” The methodology and deployment of virtual learning can vary depending on the teacher and the school. There are now entire K-12 schools dedicated solely to virtual learning, with teachers instructing through a virtual classroom environment. In fact, 315,000 students are enrolled in full-time online public schools, Connections Academy estimates. And most school districts (75 percent) are supplementing their daily lessons with some sort of virtual learning instruction.
Impact of Virtual Learning on K-12
There are several ways that virtual learning is affecting K-12 classrooms. These effects are making learning more accessible to students in new ways, but they can be challenging for teachers who must adapt to new methods. Here are a few examples.
When a course is mixed between in-person instruction and virtual learning, it is called blended learning. One major benefit of technology is it allows for teachers to set up instruction that doesn’t require being physically present. If students have a lesson to complete in a virtual learning format, the teacher does not necessarily have to lead the class. It could be led by the software program, or it could be self-guided. This helps students in a blended learning program participate at a pace that works best for them and gives teachers much more flexibility.
A massive benefit of implementing virtual learning practices is the increased ability to monitor student progress. Software is widely available that makes it easier than ever for teachers to follow where students are no matter what. These programs even allow teachers to share grades and evaluations quickly with parents. This can keep everyone on the same page of how a student is doing in a course. These monitoring programs are easy to use and offer instant access from anywhere.
USE OF MOBILE DEVICES IN THE CLASSROOM
Most students of a certain age already have smartphones, and for years, they were seen as contraband in the classroom. More and more teachers are turning these powerful devices into a delivery mechanism for learning. They can use mobile devices to get real-time feedback from students, ask quick questions or allow for problem solving. Schools are also implementing tablets into the classroom in a similar fashion, allowing for a multifaceted learning experience.
SOCIAL NETWORKING FOR LEARNING
Just like mobile devices, educators are integrating educationally appropriate social networking sites in their classroom instruction. They are realizing that these sites are perfect for virtual learning, allowing students to collaborate easily outside the classroom. For those with privacy concerns, there are several social networks specifically set up for education and designed to keep kids safe.
ELECTRONIC AND INTERACTIVE TEXTBOOKS
When it comes to textbooks, virtual learning offers the promise of far more interactive content. The electronic format offers more powerful textbooks that offer videos, audio clips and other interactive activities to supplement a lesson. Interactive textbooks also allow for note taking and highlighting right in the document. This advancement allows students to have greater interaction with what they are learning.
Perhaps the biggest strength of virtual learning is how easily it can be adapted to meet the needs of each student. Many virtual learning environments can identify and react to places where students need increased support or where they are performing beyond expectations. Adaptive learning allows educators to easily pinpoint the needs of students and work more diligently to help them, without slowing down the entire class. This personalized form of learning can be highly effective and is still evolving.
Differences in Teaching Online
For some educators who haven’t ventured far into virtual learning, the idea may be daunting. It’s important for teachers to understand that they can prepare for the unique challenges of virtual learning.
DEVELOPING NEW AND ENGAGING LESSON PLANS
Virtual learning offers educators immense potential in the interactivity department. A good lesson plan in this format involves significant opportunities for engagement. Teachers should leverage the use of software and platforms that encourage engagement. Whether they include interactive textbooks, social networking or other interactive activities, teachers must offer supplemental instruction that takes full advantage of technology.
DEVELOPING DIGITAL ASSESSMENTS
Technological tools can be of unique help for assessing and measuring student progress. Digital assessments must be designed differently than traditional paper tests, and they can include audio or visual cues. Teachers can also use real-time assessment tools during a lesson to ensure that instruction is working.
UNDERSTANDING DIVERSITY IN THE CLASSROOM
One powerful feature of virtual learning is its ability to unite diverse classrooms more easily. Students with physical or learning disabilities can participate in virtual learning lessons at a pace that works for them, without impacting the rest of the classroom. As an educator, it is important to understand the diversity of students in the class. Learn how technology can unite students, whether the class includes students with disabilities, those of different cultures or other differences.
Overview of K-12 Virtual Learning in Kentucky
Virtual learning is alive and well in the Bluegrass State, with several options available to teachers and students wanting to participate.
KENTUCKY DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION POLICY
The state created guidelines for digital learning “designed as guidance for schools, districts, and digital providers when selecting or creating developmentally appropriate digital learning resources for instruction, as well as online and blended learning courses in Kentucky schools.” They include guiding principles and language about content, assessments and more.
KENTUCKY VIRTUAL CAMPUS
The biggest virtual learning initiative in the state, the Kentucky Virtual Campus, offers a full catalog of online courses for K-12 students. Most courses are for high school students, but there are other options for younger students. Course topics range from health education to the Holocaust. Provided by Kentucky Educational Television, Jefferson County Public Schools and the Barren Academy of Virtual and Expanded Learning, these courses are offered to students unable to attend school, those who are home-schooled and others.
Embracing K-12 Virtual Learning
While virtual learning is still changing in the context of K-12 classrooms, it’s imperative that today’s educators understand how to embrace the trend. At Campbellsville University, our online graduate education programs provide advanced instruction on modern education concepts including the role of technology. Take the next step in your education career by learning more about our fully online Master of Arts in Education degree programs.


What is a bell jar? Do a little research to discover the literal meaning of the item Plath uses as the title for her book. What might the bell jar's significance be in the novel, given what you have read so far?
A bell jar is a glass, bell-shaped container that usually sits as a cover to food, plants, or other items. Think of a glass dome that sits over cheese. The bell jar covers an object or environment and keeps fresh air from getting to it. These glass containers are often used for scientific experiments. Students should recognize that Esther feels confused and depressed, perhaps alien to herself as though she is being experimented on.
The story begins in...
Join Now to View Premium Content
GradeSaver provides access to 725 study guide PDFs and quizzes, 4228 literature essays, 1406 sample college application essays, 171 lesson plans, and ad-free surfing in this premium content, “Members Only” section of the site! Membership includes a 10% discount on all editing orders.


Organizations like Girls Who Code exist to empower and challenge young women to imagine themselves in places they couldn’t before.
CAMBA commits to sending young people to college and into careers that will allow them to gain economic security. While today’s student is offered a wide variety of professions to pursue, students can be unaware of or even discouraged from considering work in fields that seem out of reach. For girls looking to break into the male-dominated fields of science, technology and engineering, the future can be daunting.
Fortunately, organizations like Girls Who Code exist to empower and challenge young women to imagine themselves in places they couldn’t before. Through CAMBA’s partnership with the nonprofit, young women from our Collegiate Express and School for Democracy & Leadership programs have been introduced to the world of computer science, and they are doing amazing things.
This summer, for the second year, CAMBA will send students to Girls Who Code’s Summer Immersion Program where they have the opportunity to work alongside girls from all over the country to explore computer science and use it to enhance their lives.
The work they accomplished in their summer learning serves as a powerful reminder to girls that they belong in traditionally male-dominated fields, and that they have something important to offer.
Among last summer’s favorite activities with Girls Who Code was an app creation project designed to cultivate responsibility. The project linked caring for an electronic pet dog with responsibilities like waking up on time for school or getting good grades. Positive activities on the part of the student resulted in feeding their pet dog or giving it a treat. Hitting the snooze button too many times, however, earned them a grumpy dog that didn’t want to play. Fortunately, getting a good grade on a test could restore the relationship.
The creation of the app and its purpose demonstrate interest on the part of the girls in learning aspects of computer science and making it relevant to themselves and their peers. The work they accomplished in their summer learning serves as a powerful reminder to girls that they belong in traditionally male-dominated fields, and that they have something important to offer.
All of last summer’s participants are eager to learn more, thanks to assistance from the staff of Collegiate Express; one student even plans to minor in this field in college.
CAMBA’s Youth Development programs provide youth with many more such engaging, educational experiences that prepare young people for college and the workforce. Along the way, the students have also taught us lessons in determination and resiliency. We’ve asked them to try all types of new things, and they’ve excelled. The future is in good hands.
CAMBA connects New Yorkers to opportunities through its dedicated staff, who are trained to provide solutions to the biggest challenges of life in New York. Visit CAMBA’s 40thAnniversary website and join us in our 2020 Vision Campaign to provide services to young people throughout the city.


The U.S green building market was $81 billion in 2017.
Green construction will create 1.1 million jobs in 2018.
The global green building materials market size will reach USD 364.6 billion by 2022.
Green construction is rising. There is a growing demand for environmental-friendly and energy-efficient buildings that maximizes value and minimizes environmental impact. Green buildings also can lead to financial benefits like lower energy bills. Increasing government initiatives has further propelled the growth of the market. This growth has fueled a need for green engineers. Online degree programs can help meet that demand by creating a sustainable workforce that has the right skills and education.
Green buildings feature specialized designs and materials which has driven demand for green materials. The construction process focuses on conserving energy and natural resources. They often use recycled or renewable materials to maximize their resource efficiency. This has increased the market size for green construction materials.
The industry needs a skilled workforce with knowledge of new designs and construction techniques. Green building techniques are different from regular construction. The principles of sustainable engineering focus on:
- Indoor air quality
- Onsite construction practices
- Water conservation
- Energy efficiency methods
Green construction projects are complex, and the methods are evolving. Designers, engineers and other partners need a comprehensive view of the process. As expected, jobs in this sector are rapidly growing. Green jobs in construction and manufacturing are expected to double by 2026. Training in green practices is essential for all jobs related to this sector.
Green MEP engineering, green chemistry students, and others need specific training in the 12 principles of green engineering. They study structural, construction, transportation, water resources, and geotechnical engineering among other processes. Civil engineers are excellent prospects for the industry. Their foundational knowledge prepares them well for every aspect of green building design. They study government regulations and environmental hazards, learn to manage construction costs through the lifecycle of a project.
An advanced degree improves job prospects as companies prefer to hire engineers with experience and knowledge. It helps students stay current with emerging technologies. Green practices focus areas include specific knowledge of traffic flow patterns, erosion control, and even an efficient recycling plan. More students are opting for an online degree that helps them specialize in their chosen fields. These can be completed in a few months, are affordable and allow them to juggle work and school easily.
Michigan Tech’s online MS in Civil Engineering—Structures degree program imparts knowledge of construction best practices. It also touches on the latest energy methods. Along with advanced structural engineering knowledge, they train in biodiversity and sustainability. They are prepared to find green engineering solutions for conflict between environment and development as they build energy-efficient buildings. The unique curriculum offers deep insight into engineering principles to expand the civil engineer’s capabilities. Students gain specialized knowledge and become subject matter experts capable of being industry leaders. To learn more 888-442-6855 or website.


THE ACCEPTABLE YEAR OF THE LORD
A Timetable for the Son of Man
A chronological investigation into the life of Jesus based upon two simple questions concerning key biographical dates and personal livelihood. This study also attempts to conduct a brief survey of the historical and cosmological circumstances into which Jesus was born and lived. The proposed key biographical dates are: Birth - 26 Feb 7 C.E., a night fitting Luke's nativity; Temple Presentation - 6 April or Nisan 1 in 7 C.E., on the fortieth day counting inclusively from birth; Crucifixion - 15 April 35 C.E.; Ascension - 25 May 35 C.E., on the fortieth day after death. The synoptic year-long gospel ministry, when Jesus and his disciples appeared to have completely abandoned their normal livelihoods, is placed against the background of a Sabbatical "year", which gradually took effect during the spring of 34 C.E. and ebbed away during the spring/summer of 35 C.E., and most likely culminated with a Jubilee.
Proceed to Table of Contents
Author: Raymond Soller
Date: 6 April 2001


Japan’s most important architect is the late Kenzo Tange. Previously I wrote about visiting one of his works, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building. And I also wrote about one of his works being featured in an exhibit about architectural photography. I visited this structure, St. Mary’s Cathedral. Built in 1963, the cathedral, which is the seat of the Catholic Church in Japan, is a striking building, gleaming like a futuristic space station. The design is decades ahead of its time, using dramatic vaults that dip in the center. From the sky, you can see the traditional shape of the cross.
While the exterior is lined with metal siding, the interior is bare concrete, presaging the current popularity of this look. The cavernous interior hearkens to the echoing spaces of traditional cathedrals. The spine of the vault consists of a long line of skylights. Inside there were numerous modern art elements such as the cubist baptismal.
I like this quote that I found by Tange:
Architectural creation is a special form of comprehending reality….This understanding of reality which takes place through architectural creation requires that the anatomy of reality, its substantial and spiritual structure, be grasped as a whole…
— Kenzo Tange
Because the cathedral is far form any train or subway station, there was only a trickle of tourists on the grounds. When I was inside, there was no one. It was eerie. Outside, the bell tower is a sharp white needle that seems to disappear into the sky. It was a nice contrast to the billowy cathedral.
To get to the cathedral, take the Yamanote Line to Mejiro statioin. Turn right on the street in front of the station and walk for about 20 minutes. You can take a bus but I prefer walking. On the way I passed Gakushuin University, where the Japanese royal family attends, Tokyo Women’s University and the Kodansha Museum, which was closed on a Wednesday.
Near the cathedral I chanced upon the Humpty Café, which is a small cozy restaurant with lots of interesting objects throughout. The main theme appeared to be children’s books. The only dishes offered were curry. It was ok. The coffee was quite good though. Then across the street from the cathedral was a wholesale nursery and it was fun looking at a lot of very cheap plants, which I didn’t want to buy and carry back.
Other than that, there really isn’t much in the neighborhood. But if you want to see one of Tokyo’s most unique buildings, and experience a rare quiet religious moment, it’s well worth the trek.


By Ruth G. Stimson
From "Forest Notes" -- No. 75 -- Fall 1962New Hampshire's Conservation Magazine
Official Publication of the
Society For The Protection of New Hampshire Forests
If you had been a colonist in the 1600's, what would you have looked for before settling along New Hampshire's coast? Tree lovers would have admired the fine white pines, hemlock, cedar, elm, ash, hickory and beech. Coopers would have visualized the staves from the massive oaks. Fishermen would have tried their luck. Farmers were attracted by the salt marshes, according to Joseph Dow's History of Hampton. It was this feather of the area, later to become Hampton -- the vast salt marshes, covered in summer with grass, level as a prairie, that attracted notice of the government of Massachusetts. They gave permission to a group of farmers to explore the Winnacunnet [Hampton] River. Men and women, under seventy-seven year old Rev. Stephen Bachiler, sailed up the river in a shallop in the fall of 1638. The Indians called the place where they landed "Winnacunnet, a beautiful place of the pines."
At the commencement of the settlement, house lots were granted to the people by a committee appointed by the General Court for that purpose. The right of disposing of the land was vested in the town. Individuals weren't allowed to select land for themselves where, when, and in what quantities they pleased, nor did the town by vote grant to each freeman the same number of acres. Some had worked harder than others in making the settlement.
Rev. Bachiler received, besides his house lot, 300 acres and fourteen other people had lesser grants down to 80 acres. The largest acreages went to the farmers. In 1640 the town determined that one-half of the ground was to be upland if possible, and of the other half one-third was to be in fresh meadow and the rest in salt marsh. Later the town gave grants to 55 more, including three widows. Only five or six of the grants were called farms.
The town appointed a Board of Woodwards to assign to individuals what trees they might take from the common land. This was evidence of great foresight and regard for the welfare of succeeding generations.
The people built their log houses around the Meeting House Green just north of the marsh, on lots up to ten acres. Under the school law of 1647, since there were fifty householders, the people had to maintain a free public school for both boys and girls. John Legat, the first teacher, was paid twenty pounds in "corne, cattle and butter at the current price" on a quarterly basis.
In that early period people raised cattle and were indebted to the extensive salt marshes. Pastures were unfenced, although there was a fence and three gates to separate upland and marsh. The people drove their cattle to the Common, and town-appointed herdsmen and shepherds took care of them all day. Wolves were a constant threat, and a bounty was paid in corn.
The Great Ox-Common from just north of Great Boar's Head, south to the Hampton River, westerly to the junction of the Brown River and back to the starting point, contained upland, marsh and thatchland. In 1641 it was set aside as an ox-common "to the world's end." Pasturing horses were forbidden because of the hay and sweepage. The Common was surveyed and belonged to the inhabitants in equal proportion in common with no actual land subdivisions. Later in 1714 shares were distributed to private lot owners by town vote. Any income was to be divided among shareholders according to their share, but in conveying shares, there was no transfer of land, but of so many shares of the whole in the Common.
The entire marsh was well ditched at right angles to some creek or the river. This kept the water from killing out the hay. There were trespassers on the common lands even in 1706, so the townspeople ordered prosecutions. About the same time the selectmen assessed share in the Town's common land, to raise part of the province tax. It was ordered that sweepage of the common thatchland should be given to the poor of the town. None of the thatch could be mowed until late in August.
In 1655 there was a culler of staves, as great quantities were taken by the town in payment of taxes assessed upon the inhabitants. All had to pass through the hands of the culler. People were licensed by the selectmen to fell trees on the common land to make up to 500 staves for each share of the common owned.
When public convenience necessitated a road across the marsh to Hampton Falls, two ditches were dug and a road made in between. Settlers were designated to maintain the road where it crossed their marsh land or be fined.
Boats were built in Hampton along the river, and schooners were owned by Hampton men for fishing and freighting along the coast. Shipping commenced soon after the settlement began, because Hampton River was of sufficient depth to admit vessels of 70-80 tons even though its entrance was difficult because of sand bars and sunken rocks. Probably most of the boats were for the fishing business, even though the local people were primarily farmers. A 40 ton brigantine, Increase, was built in 1699.
With the boats came the need to save distance. David Nudd, a boat builder, for a hogshead of rum, had a canal dug which was wide enough to float any vessel that could come up the river to the Hampton Landing. The Nudd Canal saved time and two miles of travel for the gundalows. These boats were used to bring hay to the Hampton Landing on the river. One man towed while another stood on the boat with a long oar or pole to push it from the river bank. Other men rowed. A load was made up of five tons or 150 haycocks. The hay was placed on staddles or wooden posts for drainage on the salt marsh. It was necessary to leave the landing on a full tide, load up, and float back on the next full tide. Gundalows were used also for pleasure along the Hampton River to the Clam Flats, and the Willows section. People had chowder parties, went clamming, lobstering, and fishing as well as swimming and shooting Yellowlegs and Ringnecks.
In the winter when the marshes were covered with snow-ice, ox or horse teams were driven to the stacks before the warm spell, when the marshes softened. Of course some horses and cattle got out and made their way across the frozen marsh to the haystacks. The salt marsh hay was a great asset to the first settlers. Year after year it was God's gift. All they had to do was go out and cut the grass. The farmers mixed the salt hay with coarse meadow hay.
A great storm and uncommon tide twenty inches higher than usual on Feb. 24, 1723 inundated the Hampton dunes and marshes to form Meadow Pond. Eels were caught in traps without bait in the fall when they were coming from the sea to winter.
History records a 40'-50' whale being cast up in 1756 and shipwrecks off Hampton. The first stagecoach was a memorable event for th early people, when it went through Hampton on April 20, 1761 on its way across the marsh from Portsmouth to Boston. The round trip was six dollars.
The same year the town voted to "rate" or tax pasture and woodland for the first time. The best pines were marked with a "broad arrow", and claimed as the exclusive property of the English crown for masts for the Royal Navy. The brand was a warning so that no man might dare to cut down such a tree even on his own land because of the heavy penalty. Mast chips brought goods the colonists were forbidden to provide themselves, and carried away the best pines. It was little wonder that most ships were hated objects. When one went ashore in Hampton there was a riot with clubs and staves over the loot.
Seaweed laws had to be passed with a 40 shilling penalty for people removing it or rockweed. Laws were even passed to protect the trees on the Ox-Common. There were fines for cutting beach grass and peas. The settlers realized these plants prevented the sand from being blown away and exposing the inland to inundation. When private citizens found squatters on public lands at Hampton Beach, they resolved that "Hampton Beach was and should be preserved for public good."
Fishermen used Sargent Island or Island Pa;th for building stages and curing fish. They also had fish houses at North Beach. In the 1800's shore fishery was carried on by forty men all year. They used wherries in winter and whale boats made of oak and pine in the summer and fall. The boats had sails and oars, and were highly regarded for weathering storms. The men caught hake soon after dark, cod of 30 to 36 pounds about midnight, haddock and an occasional halibut until daybreak. One or two tons was a typical catch.
Fishmongers came from Vermont with horse-teams in the winter to get the catch to seel in Canada. In summer the fish were salted. David Nudd of canal fame had a salt works in 1827 near the landing for his boats. He produced 1200 bushels per yer, but gave up the works by 1840 as salt prices fell. Winter fishermen had another canal that was made between Blackwater River in Seabrook to Salisbury and the Merrimack River. It was an inland waterway for forty years, until it began to fill in. The fishermen went down to Plum Island and Ipswich River to dig clams during low tides. A good digger often secured ten bushels in a tide. The men would fill their boats with from 70 to 100 bushels and return.
Rarely did the fishermen risk frightening the fish by throwing out an anchor. One man used the oars to keep the boat from drifting from the fishing ground, while the other managed the hand lines. He turned from one to another as fast as he could haul and take off the fish and rebait the hook.
Later centerboard wherries used sails, and trawls were substituted for hand lines. These had hooks placed 6' apart on the whole length. They were carried in tubs with a half mile of line in each. The hooks were baited with clams to attract cod and haddock in winter, and with herring and porgy in summer for all kinds of fish. Each boat carried four trawls, which were set in the afternoon and hauled at daylight the next morning. An average catch was bout 500 lbs. The winter of 1889081 saw a record with 30,000 pounds taken in one day. Later pirate seiners drove off the porgies by catching them for oil. The hake that fed on them then disappeared, and then the haddock. Daily catches went down to 100 lbs. The mackerel fishery was ruined by 150 vessels seining daily all summer. Lobster fishing held its own better than sea fishery, but law had to be passed on seining, or all fishing would have stopped.
While fishing was an industry, so were the mills. The first grist mill was built and run by Richard Knight in 1640 at the Hampton Landing. There were others in town plus sawmills. These became a necessity when the log houses gave way to framed buildings. Every river and large brook had a mill of some type. Altogether there were twenty-eight: grist, saw, and fulling mills. There was even a Tide-mill on the Hampton River for grinding the town's corn, with the sixteenth part thereof for the miller. The millers had responsibilities not to flood any man's hayfields in summer. The tide-mill was demolished in 1879 by the town for the supposed benefit of the marshes, on which the water had been kept back, till they had become of little value.
There were two tanneries at Bride Hill and back of the Garland homestead. When the town found that oak trees on the commons were being cut to strip their bark for use in tanning hides, it voted that all such bark would be forfeited, and the offender fined five shillings for each tree so stripped. Through the years great storms were recorded. In the middle and late 1800's gales ripped through the Hampton marshes. They lifted hay from the staddles and swept the cocks away. Salt spray came into town. Fish and bath houses were badly damaged and part of a railroad was swept away. In February and March of 1962 when the Atlantic Coast was severely damaged by very heavy seas, the Hampton marshes served then, as in the past centuries, as a buffer to the storm tides. Hampton River both drains and waters the salt marshes as the tide ebbs and flows, thus rendering them productive.
Among New Hampshire's people today there are some who ask what good are these marshes. They would like to dredge and fill them, to create houselots to attract more people to New Hampshire's coastline. With more new land and residences, they hope to alleviate the tax burden. This line of reasoning regards the Hampton marshes as wasteland.
Marshes are wetlands, not wastelands, in land use classification. In their natural state wetlands have the following economic values according to the U. S. Dept. of Interior Fish & Wildlife Service:
1. Reduction and prevention of erosion.
2. Stabilization of runoff of excess water from inland.
3. Home for waterfowl and shore bird population, with resulting recreational appeal, and source of the nutrients for shellfish harvest.
4. Forage fish habitat. Our tidal waters are among the most fertile of the sea with large fish cruising within striking distance of the tidal food supply.
5. Tidal marshes are very valuable as a buffer for storm tides that damage man's possessions. Look to the south of New Hampshire for evidence of destruction of property in New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, and even to Florida in 1962.
Salt marshes are unrivaled in their natural state for seacoast protection, as the vegetation is resilient and emerges undamaged from storms that will sweep away houses and stones in breakwaters. For these reasons, recreational, scientific, and economic, conservation-minded citizens and organizations are concerned and hope to take measures to preserve the Hampton marshes.
See also Saving The Salt Marshes By Ashlee Palmer & Nancy Devine.


The Bergen Growth Study 1:
The Bergen growth study 1 is a research project that was started in 2003 and which, among other things, aims to identify and describe the growth and weight development of Norwegian children. Data has been collected from more than 8000 children aged 0-19 years who where measured at the Health clinics, kindergartens and schools in Bergen in 2003-6. You can read more about the research project here.
In the winter of 2007-2008 new growth curves was made for Norwegian children aged 0-19 years based on data from the growth study in Bergen and the Medical Birth Registry. Norwegian school children are taller today than the previous growth references show. Weight for height has also increased. You can read more about the curves and download them here.
The Bergen Growth Study 2:
The first childhood growth study (Vekststudien i Bergen 1) was conducted between the years 2003 and 2006, which made it possible to develop growth charts in use throughout the country since then. I the time period January-June 2016 data was collected to The Bergen Growth Study 2, a study focusing on pubertal developent in Norwegian children. Our knowledge of puberty in Norwegian children is limited. In other countries, such as Denmark and the United States, researchers are seeing indications that children reach puberty earlier than before. It is unclear why this is happening. Children may be reaching puberty earlier due to altered body composition (increased fat tissue) or because they are absorbing substances that influence this development (so-called endocrine disruptors). Early puberty has its downsides; it can increase the risk of obesity, have negative psycho-social implications and some studies have associated early puberty with certain forms of cancer. The purpose of our study is to document normal range of puberty among Norwegian children by measuring growth, mapping development, analyzing hormones in blood and saliva, and identify the genes that are involved. We wish to provide objective measurements of this development by taking into use ultrasound. Furthermore, we want to examine factors that may influence development by measuring body composition and the occurrence of endogenic disruptors in the body.
Height, weight and waist circumference was measured in all participants. All measurements were done at the child’s school. Furthermore, for the girls, a female nurse measured the size of the mammary glands by using ultrasound. For the boys, a male radiographer measured the size of the testicles, also by using ultrasound. The development of pubic hair was also registered. Body composition was also measured by using a method called bioimpedance. Bioimpedance equipment measures quantities of muscle, bone and fat in the body. Blood and saliva samples were taken thereafter. Parents were asked to fill out a questionnaire.
Two PhD-candiates and one postdoctor are now working on the data material. Summary of the first publications:
Pubertal development in boys:
Oehme N et al. Ultrasound-based measurements of testicular volume in 6- to 16-year-old boys — intra- and interobserver agreement and comparison with Prader orchidometry. Pediatr Radiol 2018.
Summary: The most common method of assessing testicular volume is by using a Prader orchidometer. In our study, we wanted instead to use ultrasound to get a better and more direct measurement of the testicular volume. We examined the repeatability and variation between ultrasound measurements done by one examiner measuring the testicular size twice, and between measurements of the same boy done by two different examiners. We did this on 57 boys. We found a relatively small average difference between the measurements made by the same examiner and between the measurements made by two different examiners. Our results show that ultrasound is a good examination method to use at a group level, while for use on the individual child, it is desirable that the same examiner measures the testicular volume at controls.
Oehme N et al. Reference data for testicular volume measured with ultrasound and pubic hair in Norwegian boys are comparable with Northern European populations. Acta Paediatr 2020.
Summary: The Bergen Growth Study 2 is the first study in Norway on pubertal development in Norwegian boys. We present puberty references based on data from 514 boys aged 6-16 years. The boys start puberty when at least one of the testicles reaches a volume of 2.7 ml measured by ultrasound. This happened at an average age of 11.7 years. Since the variation is large between individuals, normal pubertal onset for boys is defined to start between 9 and 14.5 years of age. We also investigated at what age pubic hair appeared, which was on average 11.8 years. Since there is no previous data on pubertal development in Norwegian boys, it is difficult to say whether they enter puberty earlier than before. However, when we compare our findings with studies from other countries such as Denmark and the Netherlands, we see that the Norwegian boys start their puberty at about the same age as them.
Madsen A et al. Testicular ultrasound to stratify hormone references in a cross-sectional Norwegian study of male puberty. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism (JCEM) 2019.
Summary: Testosterone is produced by maturing testicles during puberty, and serum level of testosterone is used as a biomarker of pubertal onset and development. In the current article, we present serum level of puberty-related hormones in relation to testicular volume measured by ultrasound. We show that testosterone levels are more correlated with testicular volume than with chronological age during puberty. This is the first article with sufficient statistical power to provide hormone references in relation to testicular volume, as opposed to traditional references based on age.
Endocrine references are important tools in pediatric medicine. With the blood samples from Bergen Growth Study 2, we have an unprecedented dataset to establish references that reflect the healthy pediatric population in Norway.
Pubertal development in girls:
Bruserud IS et al. Ultrasound assessment of pubertal breast development in girls: intra- and interobserver agreement. Pediatr Radiol 2018.
In this study, we introduce and test the intra- and interobserver agreement in using ultrasound as a method to categorize pubertal breast development on a scale from 0 to 5, in 6 to 16 year old girls. Direct measurements of the mammary gland were also done. A total of 57 girls were examined twice by one observer, and once by a second observer. The agreement, analyzed with Cohen’s kappa with linear weights, of ultrasound staging was very good for one observer (kappa 0.84; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.78-0.91), and good between two observers (kappa 0.71; 95% CI 0.62-0.80). Measurements of glandular depth and diameter were found imprecise.
Bruserud IS et al. References for Ultrasound Staging of Breast Maturation, Tanner Breast Staging, Pubic Hair, and Menarche in Norwegian Girls. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism (JCEM) 2020.
With data from Bergen Growth study 2, we report the first pubertal references based on data from 6 to 16-year-old Norwegian girls. The paper includes references for breast development (examined according to Tanner breast stages (n=700) and ultrasound breast stages (US B, n=696)), first menstruation (menarche (n=643)) and pubic hair development (Tanner PH stages (n=372)). The median age for Tanner B2 (onset of breast development) was 10.4 years, while the ultrasound determined onset of breast development was 10.2 years. Median age at menarche was 12.7 years, and for onset of pubic hair development, median age was 10.9 years. There are no previous Norwegian studies including estimated age at pubertal onset to compare with, but the ages at breast development in other North-European counties are comparable. Menarche occurred significantly earlier in Bergen Growth study 2 compared to Bergen Growth study 1, and the difference was also significant when accounting for body mass index. The new references for pubertal development may replace the current references that are based on a Danish study conducted in the 90-ties.


This question seems to come up every so often, usually from people whose systems were recently infected by the latest exploit. They feel that since they were infected even though they had an anti-virus (AV) program on their PC, the AV was not helping them and therefore not necessary. They are wrong.
It is not reasonable to expect any security program to block 100% of attacks. As you’re reading this, someone is creating a new variant of an existing virus or a new malicious program altogether and they are popping up at an alarming rate.
Just the other day, CIO reported that a new file-encrypting ransomeware program was created, that’s even more potent than Cryptolocker. The creator of this program (called “Critroni”), was even advertising it on criminal forums!
Last week, we posted an article called “How To Tell If An Email Is Bogus” because of an E-ZPass Phishing email that was going around tricking people into clicking an infected link and taking down their entire system. The post showed readers how to tell when an email is a scam.
So, the answer is YES , anti-virus software is a very important and essential part of the IT security picture but should be used in conjunction with other security measures and good computing habits.
Not convinced? Well …
Before you dump your anti-virus program, consider the following:
- Panda Security reports that there were on average, 82,000 new malware threats per day totaling 30 million new strains in 2013. That’s a lot of security threats to contend with unprotected!
- Operating Systems (OS) are complex and expert hackers take special pride in exploiting little known, unpatched vulnerabilities. All operating systems are vulnerable: Microsoft, Apple, and Linux. Microsoft is targeted the most since it has dominant market share. But Apple users are now feeling the heat as hackers turn their attention to them as Apple rises in popularity.
- Users are the first line of protection, not AV software. Many infections are proliferated through email and trick people into clicking infected links. Good computing habits will reduce infection rates, but it is not enough. AV software is needed to clean infections that get through.
- Anti-virus software often doesn’t detect the very newest threats because security software companies are forced to play catchup with cyber-criminals. The new threat must first make its debut before security vendors can create definitions to protect against it. However, once discovered, anti-virus software is used to detect and remove them.
- Users who visit untrusted sites and unknowingly download malware onto their systems put their personal and company networks at risk. Infected websites exploit security flaws in browsers to download their payloads. Anti-virus software offers a layer of additional protection.
- Even though Microsoft gets a bad rap, the fact of the matter is that cyber-criminals also target popular third party applications such as Java, Adobe, and web browsers like Chrome and Firefox. Viruses are spread not only through OS flaws, infected websites and email, but through trusted and vulnerable third party applications. AV protection is essential in combating these exploits.
If you decide to shut off your AV, you will see a very significant rise in computer problems, like sluggishness, pop-ups, erratic behavior, etc. These may be annoying, but are just symptoms of the infection. Depending on the virus, personal and company information as well as that of your clients can be stolen. Very malicious malware can immobilize systems and wipe out data.
The steps you take to make your computing more secure hasn’t changed. They’re basic, but important:
- Always use updated anti-virus and anti-malware programs.
- Keep operating systems, third party applications, and browsers updated and patched.
- Perform frequent scans. XSolutions virus scans all managed machines on a daily basis.
- Never click on links or open attachments in emails from someone you do not know.
- Make sure you use strong passwords and never keep your password list on any document on your computer. Use a password manager like KeePass to store them securely.
- Do not disable the User Account Control (UAC) in Windows and heed its warnings.
- Never respond to email requests for passwords, personal, or financial information.
- Make sure your networks are secure, especially wireless networks.
- Businesses should use a Managed Services Provider (MSP) such as XSolutions to manage and maintain company networks.
There are many anti-virus programs on the market today. At XSolutions, we use Avast and Bitdefender. Both are award winning applications that defend systems with superior protection and performance. We highly recommend these solutions and use them at our company as well as for our own clients.
XSolutions is an Avast Partner specializing in volume licensing and pricing. Additional discounts are available for organizations in the Government, Healthcare, and Education sectors. Call us at (845) 362-9675 or email us for a quote.
XSolutions is a Managed Services Provider (MSP) and provides 24/7/365 remote monitoring, scheduled workstation and server maintenance, Help Desk Services, Cloud & Hosted Services, Backup/Disaster Recovery, and Software Development. Call us at (845) 362-9675 and see how we can help your company.


A dictionary of animal behaviour david mcfarland author access to the complete content on oxford reference requires a subscription or purchase public users are able to search the site and view the abstracts and keywords for each book and chapter without a subscription. Clear concise comprehensive and informative the dictionary of animal behavior is an excellent source of reference for naturalists bird watchers and animal enthusiasts everywhere and essential reading for students of biology and psychology. Description this fascinating dictionary covers all aspects of the study of animal behaviour concise clear and wide ranging it is ideal for students amateur naturalists and anyone else with an interest in animal behaviour and psychology. This fascinating dictionary covers all aspects of animal behavior written by david mcfarland an established expert in this field the book contains terms from the related fields of ecology physiology and psychology entries of each animal behavior is complimented by examples where applicable and are cross referenced. The author david mcfarland was formerly head of the animal behaviour research group at oxford university and the editor of the oxford companion to animal behaviour 1981 jargon free and informative this dictionary is an excellent source of reference for students of biology and psychology and essential reading for naturalists bird
How it works:
1. Register Trial Account.
2. Download The Books as you like ( Personal use )


- At what temperature does oxygen ignite?
- Can you breathe 100% oxygen?
- What percentage of oxygen is needed to sustain a fire?
- What level of oxygen is required for normal breathing?
- What is the lowest oxygen level you can live with?
- What is the first sign of hypoxia?
- Does your oxygen level drop when you lay down?
- What is the LEL and UEL of oxygen?
- What happens if you breathe 100 percent oxygen?
- How does oxygen concentration relate to flammability?
- At what oxygen level do you pass out?
- What is the LEL of oxygen?
- What oxygen is flammable?
- What is more flammable hydrogen or oxygen?
- How does it feel to breathe pure oxygen?
- Is Oxygen considered flammable?
- Will pure oxygen explode?
- Is 100 pure oxygen flammable?
At what temperature does oxygen ignite?
about 1.83 billion kelvinsThis results in a neon-burning, convectively-bound flame front that moves toward the core.
The motion of the flame is what eventually leads to oxygen-burning.
In approximately 3 years, the flame’s temperature reaches about 1.83 billion kelvins, enabling the oxygen-burning process to commence..
Can you breathe 100% oxygen?
Oxygen radicals harm the fats, protein and DNA in your body. This damages your eyes so you can’t see properly, and your lungs, so you can’t breathe normally. So breathing pure oxygen is quite dangerous.
What percentage of oxygen is needed to sustain a fire?
16 percentOxygen. Air contains about 21 percent oxygen, and most fires require at least 16 percent oxygen content to burn. Oxygen supports the chemical processes that occur during fire. When fuel burns, it reacts with oxygen from the surrounding air, releasing heat and generating combustion products (gases, smoke, embers, etc.).
What level of oxygen is required for normal breathing?
Normal arterial oxygen is approximately 75 to 100 millimeters of mercury (mm Hg). Values under 60 mm Hg usually indicate the need for supplemental oxygen. Normal pulse oximeter readings usually range from 95 to 100 percent. Values under 90 percent are considered low.
What is the lowest oxygen level you can live with?
The lower the oxygen level, the more severe the hypoxemia. This can lead to complications in body tissue and organs. Normally, a PaO2 reading below 80 mm Hg or a pulse ox (SpO2) below 95 percent is considered low.
What is the first sign of hypoxia?
The earliest signs of hypoxia are: Confusion. Restlessness. Shortness of breath.
Does your oxygen level drop when you lay down?
Everyone’s oxygen levels in the blood are lower during sleep, due to a mildly reduced level of breathing. Also, some alveoli drop out of use during sleep. If your waking oxygen saturation is greater than about 94 percent on room air, it is unlikely that your saturation during sleep will fall below 88 percent.
What is the LEL and UEL of oxygen?
Gases will ignite only when mixed with air within a specific concentration range. If the gas is mixed with oxygen with too low or too high concentrations, the gas will not ignite and explode. The lower and the upper explosion values (LEL and UEL) define the required level of concentration by type of gas.
What happens if you breathe 100 percent oxygen?
If you breathe air with a much higher than normal O2 concentration, the oxygen in the lungs overwhelms the blood’s ability to carry it away. The result is that free oxygen binds to the surface proteins of the lungs, interferes with the operation of the central nervous system and also attacks the retina.
How does oxygen concentration relate to flammability?
The Flammability Limits is related to the Minimum Oxygen Concentration and the Minimum Ignition Energy. Click here for more information. The oxygen content in atmospheric air is 21% by volume. … Typically, when the oxygen concentration within most fuel mixtures fall below about 10 volume % no combustion can occur.
At what oxygen level do you pass out?
An oxygen level below 88% can be dangerous for any period of time. An oxygen level below 85% warrants a trip to the hospital. Keep in mind that an oxygen level 80% and lower puts your vital organs in danger, so it is important to keep a blood oxygen level chart handy so you know what levels require immediate treatment.
What is the LEL of oxygen?
Normal Oxygen Level 21% in air. LEL and UEL will change as oxygen level changes. FLAMMABLE RANGE. Flammable Range of Selected Gases and Vapors. Flammable Vapor or Gas LEL UEL.
What oxygen is flammable?
Oxygen does not burn. It is not flammable, but it is an oxidizer. Oxygen feeds fire, so it’s dangerous to use around something that is burning because it will help the fire burn much more quickly. Patients on oxygen therapy who are smokers are not going to burst into flame or explode if they smoke.
What is more flammable hydrogen or oxygen?
Hydrogen is flammable, but oxygen is not. Flammability is the ability of a combustible material with an adequate supply of oxygen (or another oxidiser) to sustain enough heat energy to keep a fire going after it has been ignited.
How does it feel to breathe pure oxygen?
It’s absolutely true: pure oxygen can give rise to feelings of euphoria. Not for the people who inhale it from oxygen vending machines – which, as reported this week, are now being tested in nightclubs – but for the people who sell it.
Is Oxygen considered flammable?
After nitrogen, the most abundant gas in our air is oxygen. Here’s where it gets complicated: Oxygen is also not flammable, but it is a high-energy gas that very readily oxidizes other materials. For something to burn, the reaction requires a fuel (the thing that burns) and an oxidizer like oxygen.
Will pure oxygen explode?
No. Oxygen acts as an oxidiser and promotes combustion in the presence of a fire, or presents a flammability risk if mixed with a fuel. By itself, it will not explode. … The NASA and USSR fires were related to a combination of not only the pure oxygen, but many combustible and flammable substances.
Is 100 pure oxygen flammable?
High concentrations of oxygen used during surgeries are a potential fire hazard for patients, but that doesn’t mean the O2 gas itself catches fire.


The Boleyn family was the most prominent family at court until 1536 where Anne and George Boleyn were executed. Until then, the Boleyns had been the leading fraction in court and supported many politicians and priests such as Thomas Cranmer.
Originally, the Boleyn family was from Norfolk and rose quickly through the hierarchy of the Tudor society. Anne, Mary and George Boleyn was descendants of a London Mayor, a knight and two aristocratic ladies. They were related to the Howard family and one of their ancestors counted Edward I of England - Anne Boleyn was of a higher noble state than Jane Seymour, Katherine Howard and Catherine Parr.
Geoffrey Boleyn rose from being a wool merchant to the Lord Mayor of London and would eventually become wealthy enough to purchase Hever Castle. Thomas Boleyn elevated his status by marrying Elizabeth Howard who were above his station.
Of the Boleyns who were painted or drawn there are (from the left):
Sir Thomas Boleyn (died of unknown causes), George Boleyn (beheaded), Anne Boleyn (beheaded), Mary Boleyn (died of old age) and Elizabeth I (died of old age).
Besides these five prominent members of the Boleyn family, it is also worth mentioning:
Elizabeth Howard - mother of George, Mary and Anne
Geoffrey Boleyn - elevated from merchant to Lord Mayor and bought Hever Castle
William Boleyn - father of Thomas Boleyn


Choose Your Words Carefully about Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder
Say the phrase Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder and a number of stereotypes might come to mind: criminals, alcoholics, Indigenous.
But the Canada FASD Research Network (CanFASD) says those stereotypes don’t accurately reflect the disorder or the individuals that live with it — an estimated four per cent of the population, or 1.4 million Canadians.
To mark International Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder Awareness Day Sept. 9, the CanFASD is tackling those stereotypes and the FASD misinformation they promote through their new Common FASD Messages document and Language Guide, aimed at media and individuals who work with people affected by FASD.
“Language is very powerful, and it can miscommunicate information and contribute to the stigma that many individuals feel,”said Audrey McFarlane, Canada FASD Research Network’s executive director.
“It’s a complicated disorder because of the prevention aspect. So having everyone use the same information or the same language would go a…
View original post 556 more words


When it takes you ten minutes to walk up a flight of stairs, something is very wrong. That is what life was like for a young woman who had a mysterious hip pain.
Now, doctors are using arthroscopy to diagnose pain and heal the hips.
Emily Wander, 19, had suffered with horrible hip pain for five long years.
"It's like your sharpest, excruciating pain that you've had and then make that constant, and that's what it felt like,” said Wander.
She was active all her life. You name the sport, she played it! But by high school, she could barely walk.
Finally, Wander found Dr. Keith Kenter at the University of Cincinnati Health Orthopedics and Sports Medicine.
He discovered bumps, or bone spurs, on Wander’s thigh bone where the ball meets the hip socket.
To stop the pain, Kenter tried a high-tech treatment called hip arthroscopy. Through small incisions, he inserts special tools to repair torn cartilage and shave the bone spur.
"The days where we have to make a big incision, dislocate the hip to address something are going away,” said Kenter.
Now Wander is pain-free and can’t wait to go running again.
"That's it,” she said. “That's all I want and I'm almost there."
Doctors say hip arthroscopy is an outpatient procedure and that patients usually recover more quickly than with major surgery.
Ideal candidates are active patients who have hip pain resulting from bone spurs and tissue tears within the hip.
Bone spurs are usually caused by local inflammation that stimulates formation of new bone.
TOPIC: HIP, HIP HOORAY!
REPORT: MB# 3666
HIP ARTHROSCOPY: Arthroscopy is a surgical procedure that gives doctors a clear view of the inside of a joint. This helps them diagnose and treat joint problems. During hip arthroscopy, the surgeon inserts a small camera, called an arthroscope, into the hip joint. The camera displays pictures on a television screen, and the surgeon uses these images to guide miniature surgical instruments.
WHEN HIP ARTHROSCOPY IS RECOMMENDED: A doctor may recommend hip arthroscopy if a patient has a painful condition that does not respond to nonsurgical treatment. Hip arthroscopy may relieve painful symptoms of many problems that damage the labrum, articular cartilage, or other soft tissues surrounding the joint.
COMPLICATIONS: Complications from hip arthroscopy are uncommon. Any surgery in the hip joint carries a small risk of injury to the surrounding nerves or vessels, or the joint itself. The traction needed for the procedure can stretch nerves and cause numbness, but this is usually temporary. There are also small risks of infection, as well as blood clots forming in the legs.
RECOVERY: After surgery, patients typically stay in the recovery room for 1 to 2 hours before being discharged. The patient can also expect to be on crutches, or a walker, for some period of time.
Bottom of Form
FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
University of Cincinnati
Department of Orthopaedic Surgery & Sports Medicine


The term "sludge" is used to describe the solid, semisolid and liquid material produced by water and wastewater treatment processes. It includes industrial sludge and sludge mixtures, but does not include domestic septage or sludge disposed at solid waste facilities. The term "biosolids" means any sludge derived from a municipal wastewater treatment facility that meets Department standards for beneficial reuse. DES regulates the processing, transportation, and disposal/reuse of sludge and biosolids to ensure this material is utilized or disposed in an environmentally sound manner.
Whenever possible, recycling through the regulated beneficial use of biosolids for land application or composting for nutrient value and soil conditioning, is promoted by DES. These activities utilize a valuable resource that may otherwise be disposed in a solid waste landfill, thereby preserving valuable landfill capacity.
There are four different types of permits or certifications required for the proper management of sludge or biosolids: Sludge Quality Certification, Sludge Hauler Permit, Sludge Facility Permit, and Biosolids Site Permit.
- Fecal Coliform as an Indicator Organism(Fact Sheet WD-WEB-18)
- Permitting a Biosolids and/or Short Paper Fiber Site in New Hampshire(Fact Sheet WD-WEB-17)
- Permitting a Sludge Facility in New Hampshire(Fact Sheet WD-WEB-16)
- Sludge Hauling in New Hampshire(Fact Sheet WD-WEB-10)
- Sludge Quality Certification Requirements(Fact Sheet WD-WEB-12)
- Application for Waiver
- Sludge Facility Permit Application
- Sludge Hauler Application
- Sludge Permit Modification Application
- Sludge Quality Certification Application
- Sludge Site Permit Application
The term "septage" is generally used to describe the liquids and solids that are pumped from a septic tank or cesspool. The term also applies to the waste pumped out of holding tanks and from boat toilets and porta-potties. The Department regulates the removal, transportation, and disposal of septage to ensure this material is utilized or disposed in an environmentally sound manner. Whenever possible, recycling through the beneficial use of septage land application is promoted by DES. Disposal of septage at a POTW adds significantly to the generation of sludge, a residual that must also be land applied or disposed. A lagoon is only a temporary holding facility: eventually the accumulated solids must be excavated and properly utilized/disposed. Land application practices utilize nutrients that may otherwise be disposed in a publicly owned wastewater treatment facility (POTW) or lagoon.
There are four different types of permits or registrations required for the proper management of septage: Septage Hauler Permit,Septage Holding Tank Registration, Septage Facility Permit, and Septage Site Permit.
- Permitting a Septage Facility in New Hampshire
- Permitting a Septage Site in New Hampshire
- "SAG Plus" Funds For Municipal Septage Disposal Projects
- Septage Hauling in New Hampshire
- Permit by Notification for Septage Holding Tank
- EQ (Exceptional Quality) Septage Certification Application
- Septage Facility Permit Application
- Septage Hauler Application
- Septage Permit Modification Application
- Septage Site Permit Application
- Septage Transfer/Storage Tank Application
- Septic System Management for Homeowners 9:42 min
- Septage Management for Municipalities 5:43 min
- A Guide for the Septage Hauling Professional 7:04 min
Final Report on the Commission to Study the Publicly Owned Treatment Plants Needs of New Hampshire and State Laboratory Water Tests and Fees(HB 1491, Chapter Law 309:3, Laws of 2006)
Adobe Acrobat Reader format. Download a free reader fromAdobe.
Microsoft Word format. Download a free viewer fromMicrosoft.


Equality can mean many things. To some it means fairness, balance or even justice. To me, it means opportunity.
The way men and women relate to one another has changed over the years, but our social, economic and political systems haven't kept pace, as a result true gender equality has proved to be elusive.
The economic security of women in retirement is important and action needs to be taken to protect it.
I believe that it's time for us re-examine our existing systems and introduce change that will give both men and women equal opportunities for success.
This year ANZ released a report Barriers to achieving financial gender equity that examines the financial lifecycle of Australians. The report acknowledges that enormous improvements have been made to the workplace, legal and social systems that have previously restricted the role of women in the economy. However, many inequalities of the past remain.
The report follows the economic journey of Australian women from school to retirement and tells us there are three key barriers to achieve true financial equity:
Fields of study, career choices and their relationship with the gender pay gap
Women are over-represented in lower-paid sectors of the economy, which has implications for their financial security, independence and vulnerability. The inter-relationship between occupation and pay-gap is hard to ignore and goes to the heart of financial gender inequity in Australia.
2. Gendered nature of caring responsibilities
Men spend more time in the paid workforce while women spend more time in unpaid work. For women who remain out of the paid workforce, the disadvantages they incur significantly jeopardise their ability to recover earnings over the long term and their ability to prepare for retirement.
Discrimination and structural bias
The single most important reason women in Australia continue to earn less than men is because of their gender. The pay gap begins as soon as they enter the workforce, at 4 per cent, and widens in senior leadership positions. Discrimination still exists for mothers and carers and against both women and men who take parental leave or seek flexible work arrangements.
These factors combine to prevent women from growing their superannuation savings in the same way as men – which means they retire with around half as much.
Around 90 per cent of Australian women have inadequate savings in retirement, and it is forecast that at every decade of life women will significantly outlive what they have saved in super. This will add strain on the public pension system.
Currently eighty per cent of retired Australians are on full- or part-pension, costing taxpayers 44 billion dollars a year.
If we can reduce the percentage of Australians relying on the Age Pension this would save billions of dollars of public spending. This can be achieved, in part, by addressing the superannuation gender gap.
If we're going to get serious about addressing the retirement savings gap for women we need to tackle the cultural norms which continue to drive these outcomes.
By creating conditions that allow both women and men to succeed we can remove those barriers that stop women from retiring with adequate savings.
The five measures that I believe will help address this are:
1. Allowing couples to have a single superannuation account
2. Extending the government-funded Low Income Superannuation Contribution past 2017
3. Giving employees the right to salary sacrifice into superannuation to encourage voluntary savings
4. Removing the super guarantee contributions threshold
5. Amending the Sex Discrimination Act to clearly allow employers to pay additional superannuation contributions to their female employees.
Collectively, these five measures could make the superannuation system more relevant to women's lives and improve their financial security. It is by no means an exhaustive list and not intended to solve the underlying behavioural and cultural biases relating to gender roles, but they are guided by a desire to create a retirement saving system that is simple, fair and progressive.
I recognise that the economic security of women is a complex matter, but we need to take a holistic and analytical approach to ensure the retirement incomes framework– and the systems that support them – are designed for both men and women to succeed for an #equalfuture


When the astrologer Simon Forman went to the theater in 1611, one of the plays he saw depicted a powerful empire moving into the west to conquer—and, supposedly, elevate—a group of barbarians who lived at the world’s periphery. Forman’s thoughts at the Globe Theater may have turned to “no act of common passage, but / A strain of rareness” as he watched this colonial drama unfold. For Londoners, such New World concerns had been top of mind for more than a generation. Jamestown had been founded in Virginia four years before. And Sir Walter Raleigh’s had attempted to establish a colony in what would be North Carolina in 1585, an attempt followed by the infamous “lost colony” of Roanoke, in 1587. Those earlier colonies were part of Queen Elizabeth’s tentative gestures toward American colonization, and though they were largely unsuccessful, the discoveries made, and the imperial justifications proffered, by figures like Raleigh, his half-brother Humphrey Gilbert, and Martin Frobisher, were part of the public consciousness. These themes of conquest would have seemed especially pertinent as the English once again tried to establish a toehold across the Atlantic, under the reign of the new monarch, James I. Yet as familiar as this story of a civilizing empire’s sojourns among a savage people may have seemed to a Jacobean audience, Forman’s basic plot-recounting in his diary about William Shakespeare’s “story of Cymbeline, king of England, in Lucius’ time,” with its tale of faith and culture that “came with the Romans into England,” make it clear that, even then, the conversations surrounding “civilization” and “savagery” could be complicated, nuanced, self-serving, and ironic.
Forman’s is one of the few contemporary accounts of Shakespeare’s staging, and he says little about how the Romans were differentiated from the Britons in Cymbeline. That doesn’t mean that the period wasn’t replete with depictions of the ancient Britons and Picts, as well as their cousins, the contemporary Irish and Scots, against the former of whom the English were engaged in a genocidal campaign. Furthermore, as is made clear by James E. Doan in New Hibernia Review/Iris Éireannach Nua, those colonists (off in distant Virginia, while Forman enjoyed Cymbeline) “made early ethnological comparisons between the Irish and the native American cultures.”
Keith Pluymers argues the same thing in Environmental History, writing that “images of the Algonquians and Virginia’s landscape closely resembled Ireland” in colonial depictions of America. Such language was deployed, in part, because conquerors like Raleigh and Gilbert were veterans of the ethnic cleansing campaigns in Ulster that established the brutal plantation system in Ireland.
Such language was also used because of the shared Celtic origins of the Britons and the Irish, and perceived similarities between both to the Algonquin Indians of the Chesapeake and Potomac region. A rhetoric of anxiety supplied self-satisfied justifications for colonization. The English nervously considered their own origins in plays like Cymbeline, asking what the importance was of appearance and culture in the constitution of a people. Clothes are not incidental in Cymbeline, nor were they in the consolidating racial discourses that justified English incursions into Virginia (and Ireland). In Shakespeare’s play, a character switches allegiance from the Romans to the Britons with the declaration that “I’ll disrobe me / of these Italian weeds and suit myself / as does a Briton peasant.” More than perceived phenotypical difference, it was Algonquin clothes (or, as the English saw it, the lack thereof) that reminded them of the Irish, who were the first victims of English imperialism. It also reminded them of their own ancestors, supposedly civilized and Christianized by the Romans. The propagandistic import of the rhetoric that described the Indians as being similar to the ancient Britons was clear: as we once were, so are you now. And as the Romans made us, so shall we make you.
* * *
Nowhere is this clearer than in the remarkable ethnography A Brief and True Report of the New Found Land of Virginia, written by the astronomer and mathematician Thomas Harriot, with engravings by the Flemish illustrator Theodor de Bry. The illustrations are based on watercolors made on site by John White. Harriot’s text provides relatively sober description of North Carolina’s flora and fauna (all of English America was then “Virginia”), surprisingly objective and sympathetic accounts of Algonquin anthropology and linguistics, and details on animal and botanical husbandry in the New World.
“There have been diverse and variable reports,” Harriot writes, “with some slanderous and shameful speeches bruited abroad by many that returned.” A Brief and True Report of the New Found Land of Virginia is both Harriot’s attempt to correct that record as he sees it, but also to provide incentive for investors to keep funding Roanoke. Not only was Harriot a cagey marketer, he was also a stolid observer of the natural world, having distinguished himself in navigation, astronomy, and mathematics. In its fascination with objective data, his treatise has remained invaluable even today for anthropologists studying the Algonquin at the moment of contact.
Most evocative of all in this respect are the illustrations that accompany Harriot’s text. While White’s original watercolors (an unusual medium for an illustrator to work in at the time) were only first exhibited in the twentieth-century, readers would have learned about the Algonquin from de Bry’s engravings. The Flemish lithographer had never actually been to America himself. Charlotte Ickes argues in American Art that, as a result, “De Bry’s engravings… [were] informed by certain European aesthetic conventions as well as the taxonomic logic of nascent ethnographic inquiry.” Consider an image of an Algonquin man made by de Bry:
Ickes writes that de Bry’s “figures often stand in a generic no-place, and several of their stances derive from earlier sources.” Despite Harriot’s meticulous observations concerning North Carolina’s terrain, de Bry has opted to place his figure in an idealized and recognizably European landscape. The rolling hills and pines evoke the Scottish midlands as much as the Carolina Piedmont. Even more stylized is the brave himself, who in his affected position and with his seemingly winged helmet, bears far more similarity to the pagan god Mercury than he does to an Algonquin youth. If not for the fringed loincloth, a viewer might assume that they were looking at an image of Hermes.
Or examine both an original by White and de Bry’s version of that same image, both of which depict an Algonquin religious ritual:
De Bry’s engraving (the lower one) has more allegory than verisimilitude about it. White’s watercolor feels like anthropology: the rough circle on which the Algonquin dance is clearly made from dust kicked up from their feet, in contrast with de Bry’s perfect circle. Where White presents an undifferentiated wooden column that the Indians encompass, de Bry places a face at the top of the totem, so as to make its status as an idol clearer to viewers. In comparing the figures embracing near the base of the column, de Bry’s version more clearly delineates them, and in pose they look like nothing so much as the iconic three graces of classical sculpture. Naturalistic poses from White are tweaked, so that de Bry’s figures are more stylized, and the engraver has added (what appear to be) bushels of wheat absent in the original, perhaps to give the familiar sense of European paganism. To that end, the omission of color from de Bry’s image erases complexion, so that his picture takes on a quality of distinctly European “universalism,” as opposed to the ethnographic particularism of White’s painting. More than an anthropological account of Algonquin rituals from eastern Carolina, de Bry’s engraving calls to mind the enactment of a Celtic Mayday dance about the Maypole, the women and men of the Algonquin village looking like Lords of Misrule from Carnival.
Despite de Bry’s allegorizing, David B. Quinn notes in The William and Mary Quarterly that Harriot “did much to describe and explain the natural resources and the inhabitants of a part of eastern North America to English readers.” A Brief and True Report of the New Found Land of Virginia was translated into several languages. It “reached a wide European audience and built up a substantial segment of western knowledge of the Americas.” Somewhat fluent in the Indian language of his Native American associates, Harriot’s notes on the Algonquin constitute a surprisingly objective attempt at comprehending the culture, folkways, tribal government, and religion of the Native Americans.
However, Harriot shouldn’t be thought of as advocating any kind of modern multicultural tolerance. Writing in The North Carolina Historical Review, Michael Leroy Oberg explains that Raleigh’s reason for sending Harriot and White to Roanoke was not knowledge for its own sake, but rather to “accumulate enough information about Algonquian culture and society to incorporate the natives into the Anglo-American, Christian New World empire that he hoped to plant in Virginia.” Harriot’s purposes, in other words, were imperialistic, and his study was to aid in colonization, writing that whereby “it may be hoped, if means of good government be used, that… [the Indians] may in short time be brought to civility and the embracing of true religion.” (In this respect, as Karen Ordahl Kupperman notes in The Historical Journal, some advocates for English imperial expansion “felt the Indians would be easier to civilize than the Irish.”)
Early relations with the Algonquin were relatively peaceful at Roanoke and Jamestown, yet as English aggression toward the natives increased, the language used to describe them became increasingly similar to that used against the Irish. Doan writes that “images of Ireland and America as portrayed to potential colonists were strikingly similar.” Comparisons of “agricultural technology… forms of dress, settlement and house types” were made between the Algonquins and the Irish, so as to “justify the often brutal military conquest and subsequent economic and political subjugation and exploitation of the ‘natives.’” These rhetorical comparisons were obvious in the seventeenth century, as England’s wars against both the Irish and the Indians became more genocidal.
But even in Harriot’s work, published earlier, the presumed similarities between the disparate groups are still evidenced. Harriot writes of Algonquin hunting techniques that they used “poles made sharp at one end, by shooting them into the fish after the manner as Irishmen cast darts,” which Doan explains may have referred to traditional Irish throwing darts, known as woodkerns. John Smith made similar observations, claiming that the deerskins worn by the Powhatan Indians were “in fashion from the Irish mantels,” a claim seemingly substantiated in an engraving of de Bry’s, which depicts two Algonquin wearing chitons that appear almost tartan in their checkered design:
Similarly, Doan quotes the English historian William Camden, who as early as 1562 would describe the visit of the Irish chieftain Shane O’Neil to the court of Elizabeth as arriving with a “guard of ax-bearing galloglasses, bareheaded, with curled hair hanging down, yellow surplices dyed with saffron or man’s stale [urine], long sleeves, short coats, and hair mantles. Whom the English people gazed at with no less admiration that nowadays they do them of… America.” Such were the Irish “stock images that writers could apply to the newly hostile Virginia,” as Pluymers writes.
* * *
Perhaps it’s obvious that the English, or any imperialist power, would have a vested interest in making comparisons between divergent and unconnected groups who are both being colonized, whether those depictions are positive or negative. What’s more curious are the ways in which the Algonquin were compared to not just the contemporary Irish, but also to the ancient Britons themselves, and to the associated groups like the Picts, whom the English warily eyed with martial pride—and anxiety over their perceived Celtic origins.
De Bry writes, in a gloss to one of his images from A Brief and True Report of the New Found Land of Virginia, that “the inhabitants of the great Bretannie have been in times past as savage as those of Virginia.” English animosity towards the Celtic speaking peoples of Scotland and Ireland had to be awkwardly contextualized in terms of British origins. Both the Welsh Tudors and the Scots Stuarts uneasily appropriated their own Celtic origins for nationalistic purposes while simultaneously oppressing speakers of contemporary Gaelic languages. And pride over quasi-mythic figures, from Arthur to Boudica, had to be reconciled with the reality that they would have bared more similarity to the Irish, Welsh, and Scots than to the sixteenth and seventeenth-century English.
Part of this mental reconciliation was done by justifying colonialism with its benefits, arguing that as the English had once received the “gifts” of civilization and Christianity from the Romans, as depicted in Cymbeline, so that the “English would give the Indians the advantages of a richer culture, a more advanced civilization, and, most importantly, the Christian religion,” as Doan writes. Thus, comparisons of the Algonquin to not just the Irish, but to the ancient Britons, served an even more obvious purpose: as the Romans lifted us up, so shall we lift you up.
Such is the clear reasoning behind the strangest set of engravings included by de Bry in the Brief and True Report, a grouping with no precedent in White’s original illustrations. Included alongside the representations of Indians, de Bry presents engravings of the ancient Picts, who populated Great Britain at the time of the Roman invasion. Readers are to draw a clear and obvious connection between the Britons and the Algonquin:
Like Shakespeare’s character in Cymbeline trading his Roman armor for British apparel, so do clothes (or lack thereof) make the woman and man in de Bry’s engraving. The figures are covered in tattoos, with torques around their necks and uncut hair falling loose about their shoulders. When de Bry’s Pictish woman and man are reproduced without colorization, their pale skin and blonde hair are erased. They look (by de Bry’s logic) more Algonquin than British. An arresting detail in the Pictish man’s hand and at his feet, as the warrior clutches the decapitated head of some opponent, presumably an invader against whom he’s defending Britain. What’s telling is that this unfortunate “Roman’s” head doesn’t look particularly ancient; rather de Bry presents the Pict’s victim with the contemporary and popular Elizabethan style of a van Dyck. Viewers aren’t to see the decapitated man as Roman, but rather as English; just as the warrior isn’t quite a Briton or an Indian, but something in between.
De Bry’s Picts aren’t people, but rather arguments. They embody a claim that what’s past can be the present, and what’s present will be the future. A convenient argument, for in conflating the Britons, the Irish, and the Algonquin with one another, the English can become the Romans marching into Britain with the supposed virtues of civilization. In this fantasy, the English are thus both perpetrators and victims, both beneficiaries and distributors of benefits. Anthropology is translated into the language of propaganda.
Editor’s note: This story has been edited to avoid the use of a potentially offensive term for a native American.


‘How Long Have You Been Frightened For’ is a song taken from a 20 song double LP chronicling the 17th Century Essex Witch Trials during the English Civil Wars.
The album deals with fear and isolation, the way we use our own terror in times of trouble to lash out at the week. It’s about how societies persecutes otherness and outsiders.
The beliefs and fears that led to the Witch Trials are taken from the Puritan idea that it is wrong to glorify or look upon God’s image directly. Taken to its absolute extreme, only the blind were seen as truly pure, and ungodliness was perceived to be everywhere.
This is Hayman’s idea of a puritan love song with distressed woodwind teasing out the angels in the trees.
The Violence itself is an outstanding creative achievement, a truly unique and unprecedented album.
‘It’s about how violence frightens us and how fear just leads to greater violence,’ says Hayman.


Where You Play
Whether you are enjoying a night at the movies, a day at the golf course, a picnic in a park, or a weekend at a resort, you don't want pests to interfere with your fun. Pests such as insects, rodents, fungi, and weeds can lurk in recreational spots causing health problems, plant damage, and structural damage.
Many recreational destinations rely on pesticides to prevent or remedy these problems. While managing pests in and around the places you play is necessary, it also means that you might be exposed to pesticides from:
- The air you breathe inside camping cabins
- Direct contact with pesticides that have been applied onto picnic tables or park bathrooms
- Direct contact with grass or parks on which pesticides have been applied
Reduced-risk pest management practices are available that can soften the impact to human health and the environment, and PestWise programs and initiatives are working to increase use of these practices.
Whether you are a facilities or grounds manager controlling pests directly or you hire a professional, you can reduce risks by using Integrated Pest Management (IPM) (print version, 2 pp, 1MB, About PDF) techniques. IPM is an effective and environmentally sensitive approach to pest management that relies on a combination of common-sense practices. Examples of IPM practices include:
- a park district manager using scouting and monitoring practices to determine when pesticide application is necessary rather than simply applying pesticides according to a set time interval
- a golf course superintendent using pheromones (a biological control that can alter pest behavior) to control oriental beetle populations in turfgrass
- a hotel custodian using steam cleaning to treat bed bugs
Quick Facts about IPM
- Based on information regarding the life cycles of pests and their interaction with the environment
- Uses this information in combination with available pest control technologies to manage pests economically and with reduced risk
- Takes advantage of all appropriate pest management strategies, including the careful use of pesticides when necessary
PestWise program partners are expanding the use of IPM in communities across the United States. For example:
Audubon International, a Pesticide Environmental Stewardship Program (PESP) member, partnered with more than 2500 golf courses across the world by showcasing the natural landscape of golf courses to encourage environmental stewardship among golfers. Their efforts resulted in over 145 projects in the U.S. and in eight countries, covering over 72,000 acres of land. Learn More about PESP >>
The Biopesticide Demonstration Program (BDP) funded the use of the biopesticide Bacillus licheniformis (EcoGuard) in managing dollar spot on golf course turf. EcoGuard reduced the incidence of dollar spot by 84% alone and by 95% when applied with an organic fertilizer. The result: EcoGuard decreased fungicide applications by 50% while successfully managing disease and pest resistance. Learn More about BDP >>
The following resources can help you learn more about implementing IPM where you play:
- Environmental Principles for Golf Courses in the United States Developed in part with support from the Landscaping Initiative, this set of principles seeks to produce environmental excellence in golf course planning and siting, design, construction, maintenance and facility operations.
- EPA discusses environmental stewardship and the golf industry on the Golf Channel's Morning Drive (Windows Media File,35MB) .


High-protein, low-carb diets are appealing to many people, especially to meat lovers who envision filling up on high-protein snacks and foods like bacon, steak, cheese, and nuts.
Popular High-Protein Diets
- Atkins Diet
- Zone Diet
- Sugar Busters
- Protein Power
- South Beach Diet
While high-protein diets can work for some people, it's important to consider the risks and benefits before embarking on any diet.
Low-Carb Diets Vs. High-Protein Diets
The most popular high-protein diets, like the Atkins diet, have encouraged dieters to eat foods that are both low-carb and high-protein. However, more recent ketone diets suggest eating very few carbohydrates while consuming normal amounts of protein.
A typical American diet is made up of 12-18% of calories from proteins. High-protein diets suggest increasing these amounts to near double the percentage. In fact, in these diets, half your daily calories may come from protein such as eggs, cheese, and meat. High-protein weight loss plans suggest dramatically restricting your consumption of grains, starches, fruits, and cereals.
In the absence of dietary carbohydrates (less than 50g/day) the body goes into a metabolic state called ketosis. In normal metabolic processes, the body breaks down carbohydrates into glucose used to fuel cellular metabolism, providing energy to cells. The brain in particular requires these glucose molecules to function. In the absence of dietary carbs as a source of glucose, the body diverts to ketosis for replacement molecules.
In ketosis, the liver derives ketones from fat (stored or from food) to provide much needed fuel to brain cells. Ketosis is one of the body's defenses against starvation as a way to feed the brain when quality food is scarce.
Ketone “Ketosis” Diets
Ketone dieters force their bodies into ketosis to burn fat and fuel their brains using fats (ketones) and not sugars (glucose). By reducing a dietary intake of less than 50 mg of carbohydrates per day, ketosis can be achieved. This diet has many side effects and can impact underlying health conditions. Speak with a physician before making any dramatic dietary changes.
The American Heart Association doesn't recommend high-protein diets, arguing that increased consumption of fatty meats and dairy foods raises your cholesterol and risk of a heart attack. Not consuming vegetables and fruits also reduces your intake of fiber and many essential nutrients. Experts do not agree on the value of high-protein diets, so a more moderate diet with reduced fat and healthy carbohydrates may be the best choice according to the experts.
Extreme diet plans are never a good idea; the best high-protein diets do include some carbs and are low in fat. Enormous portions of fatty meats are not part of a healthy high-protein diet.
Lean cuts of beef are a high-protein option with less fat. A lean cut of beef has only slightly more saturated fat than a skinless chicken breast of the same size. So you can enjoy a steak, if it is a lean cut like a top round steak.
White meat poultry has less fat than dark meat and is the healthier option. Removing the skin from poultry also dramatically reduces your fat consumption. In general, poultry is an excellent source of protein for those on high-protein diets.
Some cuts of pork are also good options for protein, if you choose leaner options. Today, some cuts of pork are 31% leaner than they were 20 years ago. Healthy choices for pork include tenderloin, rib chops, sirloin steak, top loin, or shoulder blade steaks.
Fish is a great, low-fat source of proteins. Tuna and salmon are fish that have more fat, but they contain the heart-healthy kind of fat known as omega-3 fatty acids. Consuming omega-3 fatty acids can lower your risk of heart disease, some cancers, and arthritis.
One egg a day is safe for healthy adults, even though the yolks contain cholesterol. You can choose egg whites if you don't want the added cholesterol. Remember that of the cholesterol you consume, only a small portion enters the bloodstream. Eating saturated and trans fats is more likely to raise your cholesterol level.
Soy-based foods are another good source of protein. Consuming 25g a day of soy protein has also been shown to lower cholesterol levels.
Soy-Based High-Protein Foods:
- Soy Milk
- Soy Flour
Beans offer both fiber and protein for those watching the scales. Fiber and protein both help you feel full longer, and fiber can help lower cholesterol. Eating 1 1/2 cups of beans gives you about the same amount of protein as 3 ounces of steak.
Healthy, High-Protein Beans and Legumes:
- Pinto Beans
- Black Beans
- Black-Eyed Peas
- Lima Beans
- Fava Beans
- Kidney Beans
Dairy products such as milk, cheese, and yogurt are also protein sources. They offer the bonus of calcium to protect your bones and heart. Choosing low- or nonfat dairy products can help you reduce your fat intake. Many lactose free options are now available for those sensitive to dairy.
High-protein diets like the Atkins diet tend to limit the amount of grains you can eat, so be sure to choose healthy grains. Whole-grain products are better choices than white breads and pasta. Whole-grain products can supply the fiber that can be missing in a high-protein diet. High-protein cereal bars may also be a good choice if they don't contain a lot of sugar or fat.
Fruits and vegetables are loaded with nutrients including antioxidants that aren't present in many other foods. These might help lower your risk of cancer. Fruits and vegetables should be part of any weight loss diet.
There are some risks associated with high-protein diets. Many doctors are concerned these diets are too high in fat and low in fiber, leading to an increase in the risk for heart disease and stroke. Kidney disease and osteoporosis are other risks if high-protein diets are used for a long time.
IMAGES PROVIDED BY:
- Huw Jones / Photolibrary
- Banana Stock / Photolibrary
- Lisa Charles Watson / Foodpix
- Murat Koc / iStockphoto
- Jim Scherer / StockFood Creative / Getty Images
- Mitch Hrdlicka / Photodisc / Getty Images
- Igor Karon / iStockphoto
- Sergey Kashkin / iStockphoto
- Liza McCorkle / iStockphoto
- Rubberball Productions / Getty Images
- Tetra Images / Getty Images
- © Heide Benser / zefa / Corbis
- International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health: "Ketogenic Diet for Obesity: Friend or Foe"
- John Hopkins Medicine: "Dietary Therapy"
- Journal of Pediatrics: "Efficacy and Safety of a High Protein, Low Carbohydrate Diet for Weight Loss in Severely Obese Adolescents"
- Medscape: "Obesity Treatment and Management."
- Obesity A Research Journal: "The Effects of a Low-Carbohydrate Ketogenic Diet and a Low-Fat Diet on Mood, Hunger, and Other Self-Reported Symptoms", "The Effects of a Low-Carbohydrate Ketogenic Diet"


Did you know that if you speak Spanish you have a good head start in Arabic? It might not at first seem like an obvious contender for vocabulary crossover in the way that Latin languages and English share words, but Spanish gets a surprising 8% of its lexicon from Arabic.
These aren't rarely used words either, many are very common, including hasta, usted, azúcar, barrio and aceite.
The video below gives a good demonstration of the similarities. It also give some information on how this merging of languages originated.
It states - "In 711 AD, The Moors were nomadic people from North Africa who took their Islamic culture and religion with them during the invasion of Spain. In southern Spain, The Moors never established a stable central government, which led to the fall of the caliphate in the 11th century. Moorish was then captured by the Almoravids in 1174."


Not only does lime not kill grass, it can benefit lawns and pastures.Too much lime will damage grass, but when you apply lime properly it corrects the imbalance of acidity in your soil, creates the optimum pH level and increases the ability of your grass to access nutrients.
Agricultural lime, also known as "ground limestone" also known simply as "lime," is a compound of calcium or calcium and magnesium.
The most common and inexpensive form of lime is calcium carbonate. Ground limestone and calcic limestone are close to 100 percent calcium carbonate. This is the most available and easiest to handle type of lime. Burnt lime is twice as effective as calcium carbonate and faster acting, but it is caustic. Wear gloves when handling it.
Hydrated lime, also called slaked lime, also works faster and more efficiently than calcium carbonate(See reference 1).
Lime can make the difference between yellowing, brownish lawn or pastureland and lush, green, healthy grass. By creating the proper acidity, lime enables grass to achieve optimum growth and overpower invaders such as moss. Although lime supplies calcium and magnesium, it is not a fertilizer, but rather a soil amendment or conditioner. It promotes plant growth by inhibiting solubility of toxic elements in the soil and maximizing absorption of beneficial nutrients. By increasing bacterial activity, it "induces favorable soil structure and relationships," according to West Virginia University.
If you're giving your grass adequate water and fertilizer, and it is sparse, yellow and brown, test your soil's pH. A result of 5.5 or below indicates high acidity and applying lime could solve the problem. West Virginia University advises a pH 6.5 to pH 7.0 for optimum grass growth.
Apply lime pellets at the rate of 40 lb. per 1,000 square feet two to three times per year and consult local gardening experts for recommendations pertaining to your location. West Virginia University advises you to apply lime to the top soil and subsoil when preparing for planting. You can lime established lawns any time of year, but fall is the best. The amount of lime to use will vary with the degree of acidity, the soil type and the kind of lime. Test the soil to be sure. Avoid the damage caused by overliming by not exceeding 150 lb. lime per 1,000 square feet and liming only once every three to five years. Overliming can be as detrimental to grass as an overly acidic soil.