Mainly the government provides education in the United States, and three levels of control and financing, ie the federal, state and local governments. Curricula, funding, education and other policies in primary and high school levels of school districts are set through locally elected school boards with jurisdiction. With independent officials and budgets are other local jurisdictions separately from school districts. State governments usually make education and standardized testing decisions.
in different countries, attending school is different and children are required to attend school until the age of 16-18. But age attend school in many countries, until the age of 18. The age range of 14-18 are also excluded in some states. For attending schools, students have options public schools, private schools, or home school. Three education is available in many public and private schools, ie elementary school, junior high school (MIDDLE SCHOOL) and senior high school. Depending on the region, grade levels vary.
When we look around us about 76.6 million students received the registered from kindergarten to high school. When assessing these students was made on the basis of academically “on track”, it was concluded that students have a range of 12 to 17 was 72 percent. In the students attend private schools for primary schools was 10.4 percent, which resulted in 5.2 million students. When we review the adult population of the country, was a high school education competed for more than 85 percent and a bachelor’s degree have reached about 27 percent. Graduates of the college and university average salary is $ 45,400, and according to the US Census Bureau study in 2002, wages increased by $ 10,000 more than the national average.
in the country, have children over the age of 15 a literacy 98%, and it is understood below from science and mathematics understanding. Similar to the no child left behind law, the efforts of public and private efforts pushed down low performance. According to the average of other developed countries is 35%, adults entering the public from the workforce is slightly below it is 33%) and there is a high rate of participation to get the retraining of the workforce is high. According to recent studies, explains that “A slightly higher percentage of American adults get more scientifically literate than European or Japanese adults”.
In the United States, at the age of five or six preschool education is your duty to start schooling. Depending on the age of the children are different grades provided the group, beginning with the first grade, and culminated in the twelfth grade. Unlike Canada and Australia, where preference is given to Cardinal figures, the United States, to name a ratings are relative numbers used.
In the United States, you will find something mot required education for the public pre-kindergarten or Crèche programs. The Head Start preschool program is funded for the federal government for children of low-income families, but most families are financing their own preschool or child care program.


Science, Tech, Math › Animals & Nature Niche Share Flipboard Email Print Pink skunk clownfish. Photo © Kim Yusuf / Getty Images. Science, Tech, Math Amphibians Birds Habitat Profiles Mammals Reptiles Wildlife Conservation Insects Marine Life Forestry Dinosaurs Evolution View More By Laura Klappenbach Ecology Expert M.S., Applied Ecology, Indiana University Bloomington B.S., Biology and Chemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Laura Klappenbach, M.S., is a science writer specializing in ecology, biology, and wildlife. our editorial process Laura Klappenbach Updated June 11, 2015 The term niche is used to describe the role an organism or population plays within its community or ecosystem. It encompasses all relationships that the organism (or population) has with its environment and with other organisms and populations in its environment. A niche can be viewed as a multi-dimensional measurement or range of conditions within which the organism operates and interacts with other components of its environment. In that sense, a niche has boundaries. For example, a species may be able to survive in a small range of temperatures. Another might live only within a certain range of elevations. An aquatic species may be successful only when they live in a certain range of water salinity.


VHDL - Programming the Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA)
Introduction to VHDL
VHDL (VHSIC-HDL, Very High Speed Integrated Circuit - Hardware Description Language) is a hardware description language used to describe the behavior of digital circuit designs such as field-programmable gate arrays and integrated circuits. A digital system can be represented at different levels of abstraction.
The highest level of abstraction is the behavioral level of VHDL that describes a digital system in terms of how it behaves. A behavioral description specifies the relationship between the input and output signals instead of describing its components and interconnection between the components. The behavioral description could be a Boolean expression or a Register Transfer Level of abstraction.
The structural level abstraction describes a system as a collection of gates and components. A structural description could be compared to a schematic of interconnected logic gates. It is a representation that is usually closer to the physical realization of a system.
VHDL Constructs - Data Types In VHDL, every signals, variables, and constants must have a data type declaration. Some data types are synthesizable, while others are only for modeling purpose. User-defined types are created with type declarations. Predefined types can be divided into several categories: scalar, composite, access, and file. In addition, there are non-predefined types established by the IEEE standard 1164. Each of these types is listed below.
1. Scalar Types - Enumerated Data Type: An enumerated type is a data type in which the exact values are defined. - bit - "0 or 1" - boolean - "true or false" - character - "literals: 128 characters of the ASCII character set" - Severity_level (literals: note, warning, error, failure) - Numeric - Integer - Physical - Floating_point
2. Composite Types - Array - String (1-dimensional array of type character) - Bit_vector(1-dimensional array of type bit) - Record - Access Types (see access) - File Types (see file)
3. Non-predefined Types: In addition to the predefined types, IEEE standard 1164 adds the following types that are commonly used for modeling digital logic: - Std_ulogic (an enumerated type with the values 'U', 'X', '0', '1', 'Z', 'W', 'L', 'H', '-') - Std_logic (same as std_ulogic except that this is a resolved type) - Std_ulogic_vector (an array of std_ulogic) - Std_logic_vector (an array of std_logic)
4. Predefined-Types: Types defined by the IEEE standard 1076.3 are: - Unsigned (an array of std_logic) - Signed (an array of std_logic) - Overloaded arithmetic and conversion operators for types unsigned and signed are defined in the package numeric_std. More information on selecting a data type can be found in the Design Considerations section of the IEEE VHDL Reference Manual.
VHDL Ports The inputs and outputs of a VHDL system are called ports. Each port needs to have its name, mode, and type specified at the entity level using port declarations and the keyword port.
Port directions IN Input port OUT Output port INOUT Bidirectional port BUFFER Buffered outputs (can be read by the architecture of the entity)
Model Constructs 1. Libraries and Packages A library can be considered as a place where the compiler stores information about a design project. VHDL libraries provide a set of packages, components, and functions that simplifies the design. The keyword "library" is used to shows that library packages are going to be added into the VHDL design file. Packages provide a collection of sub-libraries. For example "std_logic" is defined in the package ieee.std_logic_1164 in the ieee library. In order to use the std_logic, we needs to specify the library and package at the beginning of the VHDL file as follows:
library IEEE; use IEEE.std_logic_1164.all;
2. Entity An entity is a specification of the design interfaces. The entity declaration in VHDL defines the name of the entity and lists the input and output ports. The mode describes the direction data is transferred through the port and can take on values of either in, out, inout, or buffer. The type is one of the legal data types described above. Port names with the same mode and type can be listed on the same line separated by commas.
entity entity_name is port (port_name1 : <mode> <type>; port_name2 : <mode> <type>); port_name3 : <mode> <type>); end entity;
Line #1 shows the IEEE standard package Line #2 includes a package from the library Line #4 defines the NAME of the entity Line #5 thru 8 shows the input and output ports and the data types. Line #9 shows that an entity declaration always ends with the keyword end
3. Signal Declarations Signals represent wires within the system and they do not have a direction or mode. Signals that are used for internal connections within a system are declared inside the VHDL architecture. Signals cannot have the same name as a port in the system and each signal must be declared with a type. Syntax: signal name : <type>; Examples: - signal A : bit; - signal x, y, z : integer; - signal F : bit_vector (15 downto 0); - signal C_int : integer range 0 to 255;
4. Architectures The architecture in VHDL describes the behavior of a system. It is a specification of the design's internal implementation. The architecture is where the majority of the design work is conducted. Besides, a single entity can have multiple architectures.
Line #11 shows the architecture_name followed by the entity associated with this architecture. line #13 thru 16 shows the behavioral description of the system inside the "begin" and "end" keywords.
1. D Flip-Flop With Positive-Edge Clock
IO Pins Description D -> Data Input C -> Positive-Edge Clock Q -> Data Output
D Flip-Flop RTL Schematic
2. D Flip-Flop With Negative-Edge Clock and Asynchronous Reset
IO Pins Description D -> Data Input C -> Negative-Edge Clock CLR -> Asynchronous Reset (Active High) Q -> Data Output
D Flip-Flop with clear RTL Schematic
3. D-Flip-Flop With Positive-Edge Clock and Clock Enable
IO Pins Description D -> Data Input C -> Positive-Edge Clock CE -> Clock Enable (Active High) Q -> Data Output
Counters in VHDL
4-Bit Unsigned Up Counter With Asynchronous Reset IO Pins Description C -> Positive-Edge Clock CLR -> Clock Reset (Active High) Q -> Data Output (4-bit)


Zero-based Budget Spreadsheet Template
The zero-based budget template refers to the budget that is prepared mainly in order to justify the expenses for each of the new periods where the budget starts from zero unlike in case of a traditional budget where the adjustments are made in the previous budgets. Zero-based budgets are prepared in such a manner where the difference between the income from all the sources and the expenses from all the sources comes to zero.
About the Template
- It highlights the income of the person from all the sources for the period under consideration along with the expenses of the period for the same period and lastly the difference between the income and expense which should be equal to zero.
- In the case of the zero-based budget, in the end, the budget should be balanced fully and one should have zero budget as leftover. The template which is given above shows the budgeted income and costs expected to be incurred by the company along with the income and costs actual balance for the period.
Following are the different details that are present generally in the template:
#1 – Heading at the Top:
In the template, the heading ‘Zero base budget Template’ will be mentioned. It will remain intact for all the template users. The heading is mentioned in order to tell the user the purpose of the creation of such a template.
#2 – Summary of the Budget:
This summary detail of the budget is shown at beginning of the template which contains details of the Total Income during the period, Total Expenses during the period and the total balance during the period on actual as well as a projected basis. These figures will be populated automatically from the values derived from the below steps.
#3 – Fixed Expenses:
Under this, all the fixed expenses in budgeted and actual values from all the areas will be mentioned.
#4 – Variable Expenses:
Under this, all the variable expenses in budgeted and actual values from all the areas will be mentioned
#5 – Balance:
Balance left will be calculated automatically after subtracting the total of the fixed and the variable expenses from the total income. This balance of projected figures should be equal to zero i.e., the budget should be balanced fully.
How to Use this Zero Based Budget Template?
Following are the steps that have to be followed in order to use the Zero base budget template:
- A person using this template has to enter all the details as required in the fields that are not already pre-filled.
- For this, firstly all the sources of income are to be identified and entered in the point Income /Funds Received during the period. The amount is entered should be net take-home pay and not the gross pay as the budgets are prepared considering what the person is actually expecting to receive.
- After the details of income, all the expenses that the company expects to incur for the period under consideration will be entered. These expenses are further categorized into fixed and variable expenses to provide a clear picture of the nature of the expenses. However, the category can be modified in the template as per the requirement of the person.
- After that template will automatically calculate the balance left after subtracting the total expenses from the total income of the person. Since this is the zero-based budget, the difference between the income and expenses of the period should be equal to zero. So, till the time this balance comes to zero people have to make modifications in order to get this difference as zero.
- After the budgeted details, the figures for actual income received and actual expenses incurred for the period against each activity should be entered.
- From the above figures variance will be calculated automatically by deducting actual figures from the budgeted figures for all the activities individually and for the total budget as a whole.
This has been a guide to Zero Based Budget Template. Here we provide you with a free downloadable zero-based budget spreadsheet in order to justify the expenses for each of the new periods. Also, you can download and use this template in Excel, Google Sheets or in PDF format.
You can also take a look at our other useful articles-


A common misconception has it that Los Angeles is an "unplanned" city. To disprove this, one must look no further than any of the dozens of influential architectural and development histories written about the city, the forthcoming book Planning Los Angeles, or to the Residence District Ordinance (RDO) adopted by the Los Angeles City Council in 1908.
In fact Los Angeles has been a land use and planning pioneer, as the RDO can attest: "'Los Angeles was one of the first large cities in the U.S. to adopt a kind of modern zoning to keep the industrial away from the residential,'" [Occidental College professor Mark] Vallianatos says. Indeed, the Residence District Ordinance is sometimes credited as being the nation's first such broad land use edict," notes Rosenberg.
While the ordinance cannot be entirely blamed for the sprawl that characterizes the contemporary city, it certainly contributed to the horizontal growth that followed. Speculating about the form of Los Angeles without the segregating effects of the single-use zoning ordinance, which of course became commonplace across the country, Vallianatos sees a denser city.
"If the city would have more mixed use, with people living closer to retail and workplaces, Los Angeles would feel like another city, with less of its land area dedicated to low density, single family residential neighborhoods, and more streets with shops and businesses on the ground floor and homes above."


Kenneth Geddes Wilson (born 1936) won the Nobel Prize in physics in 1982 for his work applying renormalization group analysis to previously unsolved problem in theoretical physics concerning critical points and phase transitions. Affiliated with Cornell University for a number of years, Wilson was also involved with getting government support for supercomputers on campuses. He later was a physics professor at Ohio State University, again doing research in physics and becoming involved in education reform.
Kenneth Geddes Wilson
Wilson was born on June 8, 1936, in Waltham, Massachusetts. He was the first of six children born to Edgar Bright Wilson, Jr., and his wife Emily Fisher (nee Buckingham). Wilson was born into an academic family. His father was a professor of chemistry at Harvard University and an expert on microwave spectroscopy. His maternal grandfather had taught mechanical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Wilson's mother had done some graduate work in physics. All five of his siblings also became either academics or scientists.
Wilson himself was an exceptional student from an early age. His grandfather taught him how to do math in his head, and while waiting for the bus a young Wilson would do cube roots. He was given an education at private schools in his home state, in cities such as Wellesley and Woods Hole, Massachusetts, and the Shady Hill School in Cambridge, Massachusetts. While still a teenager, Wilson also attended Magdalen College School at Oxford University in Oxford, England, for a year.
Entered Harvard University
When Wilson graduated in 1952 from The George School (a Quaker school) in Pennsylvania, he was only 16 years old. He then entered Harvard University, where he studied mathematics and physics. Wilson was not, however, just an academic. He was also a member of the track team, where he won a varsity letter as a mile runner. He graduated from Harvard with his B.A. in physics in 1956.
After graduating from Harvard, Wilson entered graduate school at the California Institute of Technology. There he studied physics, primarily quantum field theory with Murray Gell-Mann as his advisor. Wilson's thesis was entitled An Investigation of the Low Equation and the Chew-Mandelshtam Equations. It concerned renormalization group analysis, an area of work that would eventually win Wilson the Nobel prize.
Renormalization group analysis was a mathematical process that was developed to address certain kinds of problems in the area of quantum electrodynamics, related to the mathematical representation of aspects of this theory when applied elsewhere. In his thesis, Wilson solved a problem dealing with K-mesons or kaons. Wilson used these mathematical methods to create a knowledge of the magnetic properties of atoms.
Wilson earned his Ph.D. from Cal Tech in 1961. In this time period, he was given two postdoctoral fellowships. The first was at Harvard, where he was a Junior Fellow at the Harvard Society of Fellows from 1959 to 1963. From 1962 to 1963, Wilson worked on a Ford Foundation Fellowship at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) in Geneva, Switzerland. After Wilson completed the fellowship at CERN, he was hired for a tenure track position in the physics department at Cornell University, where he would spend the next 25 years.
In Wilson's early theoretical work at Cornell, he continued to study renormalization groups, but this time, he applied them to critical phenomena and phase changes and transitions such as when liquids change to gases and in alloys. With critical phenomena, materials behave differently under defined environmental conditions. They experience changes that are very different. The conditions under which these changes happen are known as the critical point. Near this point, the complexities of what happens with critical phenomena, in terms of short-range actions and bigger connection between the whole body of the material, including the various ranges and scales of interaction, were nearly unmanageable. Wilson was one of many scientists trying to address the problem by reducing the complexity while keeping the theory being addressed valid.
Wilson successfully solved this problem by applying renormalization group analysis to it. The way Wilson proposed using renormalization group analysis involved computers and using an averaging procedure on the broken-down parts of the system. Wilson applied the analysis to properties of the material near the critical point. He used a lattice-like network of first smaller blocks on a smaller scale, then with each step, larger-scale system fluctuations, before the entire system was addressed. These small blocks made the problems easier to solve and removed infinities from the equation.
During the course of his work, Wilson learned that near critical points, a number of systems could be universally defined by a limited number of parameters. His theory was later expanded and applied elsewhere. Thus Wilson's method became a general theory which allowed observations about individual atoms to predict the properties of a systems of many interacting atoms.
Much of this work was published in two articles in Physical Review in 1971. Many scientists believed that Wilson's work answered some of the biggest unsolved problem in theoretical physics. He later tried to apply his renormalization theory to quarks (that is, what makes up protons, neutrons, and other subatomic particles) in the mid-1970s.
Won Nobel Prize
In 1982, Wilson was award the Nobel Prize in Physics for this work, applying renormalization group analysis to previously unsolved problem in theoretical physics concerning critical points and phase transitions. The prize was not unexpected. Wilson's father told Bayard Webster of New York Times, "Of course I'm very happy for him. People in physics have been telling me for a long time that it was going to happen. It is nice when it really does happen."
In his acceptance speech, published at the Nobel emuseum, Wilson emphasized the importance of supporting science research. He said, "The scientist's inquiry into the causes of things is providing an ever more extensive understanding of nature. In consequence, science is more important than ever for industrial technology. Industry now should become a full partner of government in supporting long-range basic research."
While Wilson was working on his Nobel Prize-winning theory, he continued to have a strong academic career. In 1970, Wilson was given a full professorship at Cornell. Four years later, he was named to an endowed chair, the James A. Weeks Chair. It was the combination of academics and research that influenced his next area of research.
Promoted Building of Supercomputers
After 1976, much of Wilson's theoretical work was concerned with computer simulations and modeling. He promoted the idea of building supercomputer centers for scientists so they would have access to the greatest amount of technology because of the limits of computer technology of the time. His goal was to continue to improve the scientific community as well as the computer industry.
Beginning in 1981, he was part of a group of leading scientists that worked to get federal funding to get supercomputers on college campuses. Wilson did less research and honed his public speaking skills as he lobbied Congress, federal officials, and executives of corporations. Wilson gave about a speech a week to promote this cause. People would listen to him more than other scientists, it seemed, because he had won the Nobel Prize. In his speeches, Wilson claimed that without national supercomputers, the United States would not continue to be the leader in this technology.
In 1985, Wilson got his wish when the National Science Foundation gave $200 million over five years to four universities to create four supercomputer centers on their campuses, including Wilson's home university of Cornell. (The other supercomputer centers were located at Princeton, University of Illinois, and University of California.) Later, the federal government via the National Science Foundation did not provide the funding at the rate promised. In 1985, before the funding failed to be delivered, he served as the director of the Center for Theory and Simulation in Science and Engineering.
Moved to Ohio State University
In 1988, Wilson left Cornell to become a professor at Ohio State University. He did this in part because of his wife, Alison Brown, whom he married in 1982. She was a computer specialist and had been the associate director for advanced computing and networking at Cornell's Theory Center. She was hired to be the associate director of a new entity at Ohio State, the Ohio Supercomputer Center, as well as the associate director of research computing.
As for Wilson, he had reached his goal of getting the Theory Center off the ground and wanted to return to doing his own research. At Ohio State, he was named the Hazel C. Youngberg Trustees Distinguished Professor of Physics. His research continued to be related to computers, focusing on computer simulations and the modeling of physical phenomena.
Wilson also had interests outside of physics. He became especially concerned with education and education curriculum. After 1990, Wilson was involved in national policy for science. He was involved in the National Academy of Science's Committee on Physical Science, Mathematics and Applications as well as Committee on the Federal Role in Educational Research. In 1992, he was named the co-leader in Project Discovery, a five-year project funded by the National Science Foundation. It was to develop new techniques of teaching science and math. By 1993, Wilson was the chair of Ohio Model Science Curriculum Advisory Committee for the Ohio Department of Education.
With co-author Bennett Daviss, Wilson published a book on the subject, Redesigning Education (1994). It outlines Wilson's ideas for reforming America's educational process. After the end of Project Discovery, in 1996, Wilson was named co-director of Learning by Redesign. He continued to be involved in education reform into the 2000s.
McGrath, Kimberly, ed., World of Scientific Discovery, Gale, 1999.
Muir, Hazel, ed., Larousse Dictionary of Scientists, Larousse, 1994.
Narins, Brigham, ed., Notable Scientists: From 1900 to the Present, Volume 5, Gale, 2001.
Wasson, Tyler, ed., Nobel Prize Winners: An H.W. Wilson Biographical Dictionary, H.W. Wilson Company, 1987.
Weber, Robert L., Pioneers of Science: Nobel Prize Winners in Physics, Adam Hilger, 1988.
Houston Chronicle, October 28, 1992.
New York Times, October 19, 1982; March 16, 1985.
Plain Dealer, February 21, 1993.
Science, April 1, 1988.
"Kenneth G. Wilson-Banquet Speech," http://www.nobel.se/physics/laureates/1982/wilson-speech.html (March 24, 2003).
"Kenneth Wilson Curriculum Vitae," http://www.physics.ohio-state.edu/~kgw/kgwcv.html (March 24, 2003).
"Profile of Kenneth Wilson," http://www.physics.ohio-state.edu/~kgw/kgw.html (March 24, 2003).
"Redesign Education Home page," http://www.physics.ohio-state.edu/~kgw/RE.html (March 24, 2003).
"Redesigning Education-Kirkus Reviews," http://www.physics.ohio-state.edu/~kgw/kirkus.html (March 24, 2003).


A few days back, American Rivers released their annual list of the ten most endangered rivers in the U.S., sending out a call for action to help protect these waterways from a number of threats, including pollution, mining, and over damming. For more than 26 years, American Rivers has worked hard to raise awareness of these issues, while also striving to restore rivers across the country for the benefit of the communities that live on them, as well as the wildlife and environments that surround them.
This year's list of ten most endangered rivers is as follows:
1. Susquehanna River
2. Bristol Bay Rivers
3. Roanoke River
4. Chicago River
5. Yuba River
6. Green River
7. Hoback River
8. Black Warrior River
9. St. Croix River
10. Ozarks National Scenic Riverways
Special Mention - Mississippi River
Clicking on the individual links will take you to the special report on each specific river as organized by American Rivers. Those are some pretty serious waterways to be endangered, and chances are, one or more, of them have an effect on where you live.
Obviously, climate change is having a direct effect on the world's water supply, and maintaining healthy water is becoming an even more important issue for the years ahead. The hope is that by naming these rivers as "endangered," we can do some things now to protect them for the future.


If you or someone you know is experiencing suicidal thoughts or behaviors please call 1-800-273-TALK(8255) or go to your nearest emergency room.
We know that an early diagnosis of bipolar disorder is often uncertain. Bipolar disorder causes extreme shifts in mood, energy and daily life functions. There can be other psychiatric disorders such as anxiety, panic disorder and substance abuse to complicate diagnosis and treatment. This can be very frightening for the person with bipolar disorder and those who love them.
But the greatest risk of bipolar is no treatment! The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) reports that only half of all people with bipolar disorder receive treatment. This raises the risk factors, particularly for suicide. With diagnosis there is treatment with durable management and recovery from symptoms and a very real possibility of a full and productive life. Treatment typically includes a combination of medication, therapy, stress management, skills training, attention to lifestyle and a support network.
We urge you to seek diagnosis and treatment for yourself or your friends or family members if needed. There is a great document available on the NAMI website: Understanding Bipolar Disorder and Recovery.
There are many resources available. We encourage you to become familiar with these and learn more about bipolar disorder. We want anyone with bipolar disorder to be the strongest voice in their own treatment plan!
Research and Information
www.nami.org: National Alliance on Mental Illness, a great place to start when looking for information, help, and support.
www.samhsa.gov Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration, a federal website identifying a wide variety of national programs and campaigns dealing with mental health
www.nmha.org National Mental Health America is a 100 year old organization focusing on advocacy, education and service.
www.nimh.nih.gov: National Institute of Mental Health, a wonderful source for current research and studies surrounding mental disorders. This site aims to “transform the understanding and treatment of mental illness through research”.
www.narsad.org The National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression is the worlds leading charity dedicated to the research of mental health. The site provides information about psychiatric illnesses, support groups, local mental health organizations, and provides educational materials on request.
www.dbsalliance.org Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance provides almost everything you need to know about depression and bipolar.
www.imhro.org International Mental Health Research Organization is committed to funding research and raising awareness to help people with brain disease, and, ultimately, find cures for schizophrenia, depression and bipolar disorder.
www.healthyplace.com: Information on psychological disorders and psychiatric medications from both a consumer and expert point of view. They have an “active mental health social network for support, online psychological tests, breaking mental health news, mental health videos, documentary films, a live mental health tv show, unique tools like their “mediminder” and more.”
www.ncmhjj.com: (National Center for Mental Health and Juvenile Justice) A centralized national focal point that pulls together and links the various activities and research for youth with mental health disorders in contact with the juvenile justice system.
www.dbsalliance.org: (Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance) Almost everything you need to know about depression and bipolar.
www.nationaleatingdisorders.org: (National Eating Disorder Association) Non-profit organization working to support those experiencing and recovering from eating disorders, and support for their families.
www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org: (National Suicide Prevention Lifeline) Suicide Hotline 1-800-273-TALK(8255)
www.save.org: (Suicide Awareness Voices of Education) Great site promoting awareness, education, and help for those struggling with or affected by suicide.
www.afsp.org: (American Foundation for Suicide Prevention).
Youth and Young Adult Resources
us.reachout.com Reach Out is an information and support service using evidence based principles and technology to help teens and young adults struggling with mental health issues. Audio and video stories share personal experiences with mental health issues from teens and young adults and how they got through those issues.
www.halfofus.com Half Of Us is a joint campaign launched by MTVU and the Jed Foundation to raise awareness about the prevalence of mental health issues on campus and connect students to the appropriate resources to get help.
www.transitionyear.org/ Transition Year is an online resource center to help parents and students focus on emotional health before, during and after the college transition.
www.activeminds.org Active Minds is an organization working to utilize the student voice to change the conversation about mental health on college campuses. By developing and supporting chapters of a student-run mental health awareness, education, and advocacy group on campuses, the organization works to increase students’ awareness of mental health issues, provide information and resources regarding mental health and mental illness, encourage students to seek help as soon as it is needed, and serve as liaison between students and the mental health community.
www.thetrevorproject.org The Trevor Project is the leading national organization focused on crisis and suicide prevention efforts among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ) youth.< br/>
www.whatadifference.samhsa.gov A chat site for young adults living with mental health problems and to friends of those living with mental health problems. The forums provide a means to share experiences, ask questions and find answers.
Services- (web-communities, groups and meet-ups, organizations)
www.thebalancedmind.org (Child and Adolescent Bipolar Foundation) Covers information about the illness, including education and legal issues. The site provides message boards, chat rooms, and support groups for parents and young adults.
www.karlasmithfoundation.org KSF believes there is hope for a balanced life. Even if there is an untreated person with mental illness in the family, even in the aftermath of suicide, there is hope. KSF helps discover and nurture that hope.
www.ffcmh.org The National Federation of Families for Children’s Mental Health is a national family-run organization linking more than 120 chapters and state organizations focused on the issues of children and youth with emotional, behavioral, or mental health needs and their families.
www.wellsphere.com One of Linea’s most frequented sites. Has a community where you can get information, ask questions, or simply build a profile and interact with other consumers with similar health goals. Visit Linea’s profile here (http://www.wellsphere.com/linea-profile/119590 ).
www.facingus.org A fun and extremely site, in which you can track your moods, journal, get tips on how to find a happy and healthy life, and build a wellness plan to help you accomplish that goal.
www.dailystrength.org This site has online support groups for everything from mental health to personal challenges.
www.aa.org The online site for Alcoholics Anonymous for anyone dealing with self-medication induced alcoholism.
www.draonline.org (Dual Recovery Anonymous) Recovery and support group for those with both a mental or emotional disorders and a drug addiction.
www.projecttransition.com Apartment-based communities that support adults suffering from psychiatric problems that have been recurrent. It has many resources on helpful organizations, treatment programs, and educational articles.
tip.fmhi.usf.edu (Transition to Independent Process) Organization devoted to helping youth with mental and/or behavioral problems transition to adulthood smoothly and safely.
www.bringchange2mind.org A mental health awareness campaign started by Glenn Close and her sister Jessie who are working to fight stigma and change the vocabulary surrounding mental illness.
capwiz.com/nami/home/ NAMI Advocacy Action Center
www.nami.org/template.cfm?section=fight_stigma NAMI “Fight Stigma” page
takeaction.mentalhealthamerica.net/site/PageServer?pagename=action_alerts Mental Health America Action Alerts
www.cartercenter.org/health/mental_health/index.html Under the leadership of former First Lady Rosalynn Carter, the nation’s foremost champion for the rights of people with mental illnesses, the Carter Center’s Mental Health Program works to promote awareness about mental health issues, reduce stigma and discrimination against those with mental illnesses, and achieve greater parity for mental health in the U.S. health care system.
www.who.int/mental_health/en/ World Health Organization Mental Health page
www.mindsontheedge.org Minds on the Edge: Facing Mental Illness provides a link to an excellent video seminar that discusses recovery and solutions to the mistreatment, misrepresentation, and misunderstanding of those suffering with a mental health condition. It also provides a place to share your story and information on how to get involved with the Minds on the Edge movement.
www.theicarusproject.net The Icarus Project is one of Linea’s personal favorites. A wonderful community in which people can share stories, questions, and art relating to their life and “illness.” This has great resources for those of you who are focused on alternative forms of medication.
www.everyminute.org Every Minute is an organization focused on “accelerating mental health research” by educating people about suicide and mental health. This is a wonderful site for advocacy and has all the latest updates on any news relating to these issues.
www.mindfreedom.org MindFreedom International “is an independent nonprofit coalition defending human rights and promoting humane alternatives for mental and emotional well being.” Their vision is to, “Unite in a spirit of mutual cooperation for a nonviolent revolution of mental health human rights and choice.”
An Unquiet Mind: A Memoir of Moods and Madness by Kay Redfield Jamison (Paperback – Jan 14, 1997). This is a classic and written by a psychiatrist with bipolar disorder. This is the first book Cinda read about bipolar disorder.
Crazy: A Father’s Search through America’s Mental Health Madness, Pete Earley. Veteran Journalist Pete Earley explores the interconnection between mental illness in America and the criminal justice system. Not only educational for anyone wanting to know more about the system but extremely personal and loving as he tells the story of his own son’s struggles.
Within our Reach, Rosalynn Carter with Susan K. Golant and Kathryn E. Cade. Former First Lady Carter and her colleagues provide an assessment of the state of mental health. This is a favorite of both Linea’s and Cinda’s in providing a well-written overview and gives insight to issues facing us all and ultimately hope for a better future.
Madness: A Bipolar Life, Marya Hornbacher. A passionate and intense memoir of one woman’s journey with bipolar disorder. Marya’s honest words and powerful voice really allow people to see a glimpse into the life of a woman who experienced rapid cycling bipolar from a very young age.
Detour: My Bipolar Roadtrip, Lizzie Simon. One young woman’s journey to better understand herself and her new diagnosis of bipolar disorder. The story brings in other voices and lives as Lizzie attempts to grasp this intangible illness.
The Van Gogh Blues: The Creative Person’s Path through Depression, Eric Maisel (Paperback – Dec 28, 2007). Since we are all artists in our family this is one that Cinda likes very much.
Mind Race: A Firsthand Account of One Teenager’s Experience with Bipolar Disorder (Adolescent Mental Health Initiative), Patrick E. Jamieson and Moira A. Rynn (Paperback – Aug 15, 2006). This is a wonderful book for teenagers, young adults, parents and educational professionals. Linea said that the first ten pages describe her feelings so accurately.
The Bipolar Teen: What You Can Do to Help Your Child and Your Family, David J. Miklowitz and Elizabeth L. George (Paperback – Nov 15, 2007). Teens may not find this too interesting but it is a good resource for parents and teachers.
How I Stayed Alive When My Brain Was Trying to Kill Me: One Person’s Guide to Suicide Prevention, Susan Rose Blauner (Paperback- June 30, 2003). A great book for anyone who has experienced or is experiencing suicidal thoughts. Provides great skills and resources to help one cope with the agony and horror of suicide.
Nothing Was the Same, Kay Redfield Jamison. A beautifully written book that helps understand the difference between grief and depression and also is a true love story.
Unlisted, Delaney Ruston, www.unlistedfilm.com A film following filmmaker Delaney Ruston as she reconnects with her father after years of separation through her choice to be “unlisted” in the phone book. Very inspiring and shows the importance of family in times of mental instability.
Minds on the Edge, Fred Friendly Seminars, www.mindsontheedge.org. A roundtable discussion of the many intricacies of living with a mental illness. With topics ranging from access, to family, to the criminal justice world this seminar will give anyone a beginning understanding of the scope of the mental health world and its many topics.


WHAT IS A COOKIE AND WHAT IS IT FOR?
A “Cookie” is a small file that is stored on the user’s computer, tablet, smartphone or any other device with navigation information.
The set of “cookies” of all users of a website allows us to optimize its quality, controlling which pages are useful, which are not and which can be improved.
Cookies are essential for the functioning of the Internet, providing countless advantages in the provision of interactive services, facilitating the navigation and usability of a website. Under no circumstances could cookies harm your computer. On the other hand, the fact that they are active helps to identify and resolve errors.
WHAT TYPES OF COOKIES ARE THERE?
ACCORDING TO THE ENTITY THAT MANAGES IT
- Own cookies: These are those that are sent to your computer from the service provider’s own computers or domains.
- Third-party cookies: These are those that are sent to your computer from a computer or domain that is not managed by the service provider, but by another collaborating entity. Like, for example, those used by social networks, or Google Analytics.
ACCORDING TO THE PERIOD OF TIME THEY REMAIN ACTIVATED
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ACCORDING TO ITS PURPOSE
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- Personalization cookies: These are those that allow you to access the service with predefined characteristics based on a series of criteria, such as the language, the type of browser through which the service is accessed, the regional configuration from which it is accessed. to the service, etc.
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COOKIES USED IN PANACE-VET.ES
Below we detail the cookies used on our website, listed alphabetically:
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You can allow, block or delete cookies installed on your computer by configuring your Internet browser options. If you do not allow the installation of cookies in your browser, you may not be able to access some of the services and your experience on our website may be less satisfactory. In the following links you have all the information at your disposal to configure or disable your cookies in each browser:


Please boost your Plan to download papers
Choosing Between Wants and Needs
Pages 8 (2008 words)
Running Head: Marketing Choosing between Wants and Needs An Analysis of Buying Decision and Consumer Behavior Name Course Title Name of Professor Date of Submission Introduction Consumer decision making is influenced by diverse social factors. It is also rooted in a person’s character and value system…
Decisions stemming from standards of living are learned as an outcome of numerous factors like the family, social class, subculture, and culture (Chaudhuri, 2006). Ideas, concerns, and endeavors show how consumers face the difficulty of reaching an appropriate purchasing decision. This paper discusses the effect of self-perception and motives on the conflict between ‘wants’ and ‘needs’. The discussion seeks to identify the most effective marketing strategy in terms of consumers’ buying decision and behavior. Self-perception Views or perceptions serve as a primary component in the assumed risk of buying a product. Assumed risk embodies the uncertainties of the consumer, or the conflict between consumer wants and needs. Several distinct techniques may be employed to lessen risk (Michman, Mazze, & Greco, 2003). Primarily, assumed risk can be lessened by a search for product reviews prior to the purchase. Moreover, the consumer can transfer from one form of assumed risk to another form that is of less effect on the understanding of purposes if this technique is unsuccessful. Also, the buying transaction can be delayed, hence postponing a risk scenario. Lastly, the risk can be fully taken in by making the purchase. The way consumers make use of risk-mitigation or decision making techniques relies somewhat on lifestyle and character factors (Michman et al., 2003). ...
Not exactly what you need?


The term homeopathy comes from the Greek words homeo, meaning similar, and pathos, meaning suffering or disease. Homeopathy takes a different approach from conventional medicine in diagnosing, classifying, and treating medical problems. Homeopathy seeks to stimulate the body’s defense mechanisms and processes so as to prevent or treat illness. Treatment involves giving very small doses of substances called remedies that would produce the same or similar symptoms of illness in healthy people if they were given in larger doses. Treatment in homeopathy is tailored to each individual person. Homeopathic practitioners select remedies according to a total picture of the patient, including not only symptoms but lifestyle, emotional and mental states, and other factors.
In the late 1700s, Samuel Hahnemann, a physician, chemist, and linguist in Germany, proposed a new approach to treating illness. This was at a time when the most common medical treatments were harsh, such as bloodletting, purging, blistering, and the use of sulfur and mercury. At the time, there were few effective medications for treating patients, and knowledge about their effects was limited. Hahnemann was interested in developing a less-threatening approach to medicine. The first major step reportedly was when he was translating an herbal text and read about a treatment (cinchona bark) used to cure malaria. He took some cinchona bark and observed that, as a healthy person, he developed symptoms that were very similar to malaria symptoms. This led Hahnemann to consider that a substance may create symptoms that it can also relieve. This concept is called the “similia principle” or “like cures like.”
In the fourth century B.C., Hippocrates, the father of modern medicine, observed that large amount of certain natural substances can produce symptoms in healthy people resembling those caused by the disease, while smaller doses of these same substances can relieve those symptoms. Another way to view “like cures like” is that symptoms are part of the body’s attempt to heal itself–for example, a fever can develop as a result of an immune response to an infection, and a cough may help to eliminate mucus — and medication may be given to support this self-healing response. Hahnemann tested single, pure substances on himself and, in more dilute forms, on healthy volunteers. He kept meticulous records of his experiments and participants’ responses, and he combined these observations with information from clinical practice, the known uses of herbs and other medicinal substances, and toxicology, eventually treating the sick and developing homeopathic clinical practice.
There are over 2000 homeopathic remedies, which are made from naturally occurring plant, animal, or mineral substances and such exotic sources as bee stings, snake venoms, arsenic, gold and silica, and even compounds from diseased tissue. Persons using homeopathy do so to address a range of health concerns, from wellness and prevention to treatment of injuries, diseases, and conditions. Studies have found that many people who seek homeopathic care seek it for help with a chronic medical condition.
The World Health Organization noted in 1994 that homeopathy had been integrated into the national health care systems of numerous countries, including Germany, the United Kingdom, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Mexico.
Copyright 2007 Raquel Lazar-Paley


This episode focuses on adult psychiatric outcomes of students who were bullies or victims during their school years.
We are featuring a journal article this week titled Adult psychiatric outcomes of bullying and being bullied by peers in childhood and adolescence. The authors wanted to see if bullying or being bullied in school translated to having psychiatric problems as young adults. They used data from close to 1300 children who were followed into young adulthood from the Great Smoky Mountain Study.
The authors found that children who were victims of bullying and those who were both a bully and a victim or bully-victims were more at-risk for developing psychiatric disorders as young adults than those who were bullies or were not involved in bullying. More specifically, bully-victims had the worse outcomes in young adulthood as they had the highest level of risk for a variety of anxiety and depressive disorders compared to their peers. They also had the highest levels of suicidality.
Childhood victims of bullying were found in adulthood to have higher levels of depressive disorders, anxiety disorders, generalized anxiety, panic disorder, and agoraphobia though lower levels than those found in bully-victims. Bullies were at increased risk for antisocial personality disorder in young adulthood.
The authors went one step further in their analysis in the hopes of finding out whether childhood psychiatric disorders and family hardships could be the underlying issue for the development of psychiatric disorders in young adulthood rather than being bully-victims or victims of bullying. After removing the influence of childhood psychiatric disorders and family hardship, the authors found that bullying could still account for most of the risk in young adulthood for bully-victims while the bullying still accounted for the risk of anxiety disorders in victims but not depressive disorders.
The takeaway is that bullying victimization continues to have a negative impact on a child all the way into young adulthood. Schools efforts to minimize bullying and create an inviting school environment remains of utmost importance. Schools should also create a method of tracking those children who have been victimized so supports can remain in place throughout their schooling in order to minimize the long-term impact.
That concludes this webcast of the School Mental Health Minute. Come back next week and thanks for watching.
Copeland, W.E., Wolke, D., Angold, A., & Costello, E.J. (2013). Adult psychiatric outcomes of bullying and being bullied by peers in childhood and adolescence. JAMA Psychiatry, E1-E8.


The average life expectancy for a person living in the United States is shorter than the life expectancy for a person living in other developed nations, according to a recent study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). CDC researchers found that rises in gun violence, illegal drug use and car accidents in the U.S. are largely responsible for the longevity gap.
The CDC study, which was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), examined data and found that the leading causes of untimely deaths in this country include motor vehicle crashes, violence, and drug overdoses. Meanwhile, several other developed nations have significantly lower death rates. The other countries that CDC researchers looked at include the United Kingdom, Italy, Japan, Spain, Portugal, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, the Netherlands, Germany and Austria.
Gender as a Determining Factor in Injury-Related Deaths
In 2012, the average life expectancy for men in the U.S. was 76.4 years. Meanwhile, women had a life expectancy of 81.2 years. A major reason for this large disparity is likely the willingness of males to take unnecessary risks when it comes to their health. According to CDC researchers, injury-related deaths were largely responsible for the untimely deaths of males in the U.S.
Perhaps not unexpectedly, both men and women in other developed nations tend to live, on average, two years longer than men in the U.S. As far as the average life expectancy of men in the U.S. and these other countries, CDC researchers attributed almost half of the difference to injury-related deaths. One of the most startling examples of this comes from gun deaths. While the U.S. had a rate of 18.4 gun-related deaths per 100,000 men, the other countries examined in the study saw just one gun death per 100,000 men. At the same time, the prevalence of fatal car accidents in the U.S. was also a major factor.
For additional information about data on United States fatality rates, access the Yahoo.com article, “Gun, Drug, Car Deaths Loom Large in US Longevity Gap: Study.”
At Andres & Berger, we are passionate about helping our clients get the compensation they need, want and deserve after a car, truck or motorcycle accident. We’re on your side and we will fight for you and your family. Contact our Cherry Hill, NJ office today for a free consultation about your case.


The World Health Organization has issued a list of the top dozen bacteria most dangerous to humans, warning that doctors are fast running out of treatment options.
In a press briefing, the U.N. health agency said its list is meant to promote the development of medicines for the most worrying drug-resistant bacteria, including salmonella and Staphylococcus aureus.
WHO’s Marie-Paule Kieny said that if such priorities were left to market forces alone, “the new antibiotics we most urgently need are not going to be developed in time.” She estimated that it would take up to a decade for new medications.
WHO said the most-needed drugs are for germs that threaten hospitals, nursing homes and among patients who need ventilators or catheters. The agency said the dozen listed resistant bacteria are increasingly untreatable and can cause fatal infections; most typically strike people with weakened immune systems.
At the top of WHO’s list is Acinetobacter baumannii, a group of bacteria that cause a range of diseases from pneumonia to blood or wound infections.
WHO’s list was developed in collaboration with the University of Tubingen in Germany and according to criteria assessed by international experts.
Among the experts’ and WHO’s most pressing concerns were how deadly the infections were, whether treatment required a long hospital stay, and how many current medicines exist.
In recent years, health officials have detected a few patients resistant to colistin, the antibiotic of last resort. So far, doctors have been able to treat them with other drugs.
But experts worry that the colistin-resistant bacteria will spread their properties to other bacteria already resistant to more commonly used antibiotics, creating germs that can’t be killed by any known drugs.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, at least 23,000 people die each year in the U.S. from infections caused by resistant bacteria.


Quogue is home to one of the East Ends hidden gems. Located down a side street sits a Wildlife Refuge which is host to numerous educational activities as well as an extensive trail system that takes you through some of Long Islands most pristine forests and ecology.
The idea of Quogue Wildlife Preserve came to fruition after several exceptionally cold winters in the early 1930’s, when there was a decline in the Black Duck population in the area, which had alarmed many local duck hunters. During a meeting at the Hampton Bays Firehouse, Charlie Belt explained the severity of the waterfowl plight, and had made a suggestion of establishing a refuge for waterfowl. The refuge would be a place for the waterfowl to propagate this way they would be able “… to put two ducks in the air for everyone we take”.
From this meeting , the Southampton Township Wildfowl Association, STWA for short, was formed. The Association was comprised of 45 charter member, which consisted of duck hunters and conservationists from the town. Currently the charter hangs over the fireplace in the Charles Banks Belt Nature Center at the refuge and contains all of their signatures.
The Associated had required land in order to build this refuge. They sought to obtain the land that was used by a Ice Company
that was called ‘The Quogue Ice Company’, but had only obtained the eastern 104 acres by a donation from Richard and George Posts, whom were sons of a charter member, Abram Post. The donated land was then given to the Incorporated Village of Quogue who had appointed the STWA Trustees as the official stewards of the donated land.
In 1938, the STWA had rallied their friends to help purchase the remaining 107 acres from the Quogue Ice Company for $1,400 from another charter member, Erastus Post. The final piece of land that was added to the refuge, was in the 1980’s, when the Town of Sothampton had added another 100 acres.
Feeding the waterfowl was a top priority for the refuge and required two men for at least two hours a day. The men who fed the wildlife had volunteered their time to cut ice from the pond and feed the flocks of birds. One year alone the refuge had used over thirty tons of grain and potato mix!
In 1936, the STWA was awarded First Prize in a National Waterfowl Contest, which was sponsored by Ducks Unlimited, Inc. The prize was awarded for the amount of work that was accomplished by the volunteers efforts. A silver cup was engraved and still sits on a mantle in the refuge.
Looking back at old maps, you would notice that the refuge was referred to as the Quogue Waterfowl Sanctuary, but due to the extent of preservation and wildlife aid the refuge was renamed as the Quogue Wildlife Refuge. Over time the refuge has evolved and currently conducts educational programs through the year and cares for permanently injured animals in it’s outdoor wildlife complex.
305 acre’s of the refuge remain dedicated to preserving a safe place for plants and animals.
Today the Refuge not only includes the wildlife preserve for plants and animals, but also is home to a diverse selection of wildlife that were permanently injured and require human care for survival, these animals are housed in an outdoor ‘Distressed Wildlife Complex’. The complex is located at the preserve’s entrance where anyone can visit during the day..
A Nature center, named “Charles Banks Belt Nature Center” sits partially over the old Ice Pond, and offers spectacular views through large window. The Nature Center building houses a Variety of exhibits, turtles, snakes, a touch table, a children’s room, and a sitting area with comfortable chairs to take in the breathtaking views.
The center is also available for meetings and events, and is the gathering spot for the preserves educational programs that are offered for adults, children and families.
Some events hosted at the Preserve include an Easter Egg Hunt, Summer Ecology Program, Halloween trails, and more.
The Quogue Wildlife Preserve is not only home to it’s nature center and injured animal complex, but is also home to an extensive trail system that allows it’s visitors to explore a variety of habitats that include, the Pine Barrens itself, bogs, wetlands, a field, and a tidal estuary. The Preserve’s primary trail is wheelchair and stroller friendly.
The Trail system at the preserve is open all year round, no matter what season it is and can even be used for cross-country ski and snowshoe.


This study explains why the traditional approach to road safety is inferior to a more modern risk assessment system. Historically, risk on roads were determined by previous crashes. If a crash occurred at a location, that location was assessed to have risk. A superior system, however, is assessing roads for risk based on their design and use before a crash actually occurs. Australia adopted this approach under their Safe System.


Today we are looking at air pressure. Air pressure is the force exerted by air on any surface in contact with it.
We are going to demonstrate air pressure by using it to force an egg into a bottle.
What you need:
A boiled egg
A glass bottle or jar with a neck a little smaller than an egg
What to do:
- Place the cooled boiled egg on top of the glass bottle, making sure there is no way the egg fits through.
- Ask an adult to light two matches and drop them inside the glass jar, quickly place the egg back on top.
- Watch as the egg drops inside the jar.
Ignore the carrot in our jar, we didn’t have any matches so had to fashion a carrot and some cocktail sticks!
The Science Bit
The matches heat up the air inside the glass jar. The air then expands and some escapes out of the jar. Once the matches go out, the air starts to cool, making the pressure drop. The air outside the jar now has a higher pressure than the inside, and forces its way inside the jar, forcing the egg downwards as it does so.
Our jar was quite small, so it would be interesting to see what would happen if a larger one was used. If you try please let us know!
Pop back over next week to see how to make a barometer to measure air pressure.


Have you ever wondered where the delightful expressions “hit the hay” and “hit the sack” came from?
While their origins are really just a bit of mattress and bedding trivia, it’s quite interesting to discover that these sayings go right back to beginnings of the bed as we know it today.
History of the Bed
In the days of the Anglo-Saxons in what is now Great Britain, people would make their beds just before they wanted to sleep. There wasn’t a frame or base, and the bed was simply a sack stuffed with straw or hay. In those days the houses had a central “great hall” which was where everyone – the family, servants and livestock – lived, ate and slept. So when it was time to go to bed, everyone would quite literally “hit the hay” or “hit the sack”!
By the mid-11th century, beds had become a lot more comfortable, and those used by the gentry were rather grand, often with canopies hanging from the ceiling to keep in the warmth.
Grand designs continued to be made by craftsmen for several centuries, probably the best known internationally being the Great Bed of Ware, now housed in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. It is an enormous creation, measuring some 11 feet or 3.25 meters square.
By the 17th century, beds in Europe had become lighter and more elegant in design. The cords or rope used to make mattresses were stretched using a tool known as a bed twitch. The base was still often stuffed with straw, but the top layer was commonly stuffed with soft feathers, just as duvets and some quilts are today. The feathered-filled part of the mattress could be opened and aired, and feathers added when it was necessary to add more bulk.
Early pioneers in North America slept on jack beds that were made with slats of wood supported by cabin walls on two sides and one wooden leg at the corner where there was no other form of support. The earliest mattresses were, not surprisingly, also sacks of straw.
Gorgeous canopied “tent beds” made an appearance in America during the 18th century, while beautifully designed wooden beds became popular in Europe. Mahogany was a favorite with famous furniture designers and manufacturers like Chippendale and the Adam brothers appealing to the upper classes.
It is said that bed bugs and fleas lead to the return of metal (which is believed to have been used in Roman and Byzantine times) being used as a material for beds in the 19th century. Plain designs were common in servants’ rooms as well as in prisons and hospitals for maintenance and hygienic reasons. But decorative iron and brass beds soon became sought after items of furniture, and today are copied by some bed manufacturers.
As far as the mattress is concerned, hair and woven cane were used during the 18th century, and by the early 19th century coil springs had taken the place of metal laths. At first vertical coil springs were used, until someone came up with the idea of packing each spring into a separate fabric cylinder.
Today, of course, there is lots of choice, both in terms of bed design and mattress design. These range from mattresses bases made with plain wooden slats topped with a solid foam mattress, to manufactured bases topped with gloriously spring mattresses.
Unusual Bed and Mattress Designs
Other less usual types of mattresses use air and water instead of straw and other fillings.
The water bed that became so popular during the 1970s, in fact dates back to the 19th century when it was used in hospitals to support patients with bed sores, bone fractures and even those who were paralyzed. The reason for this is that the water totally eliminates pressure points.
“Modern” 20th century water beds were generally made from heavy-duty vinyl, with sealed seams and a safety liner. Some incorporated an electric pad that warmed the water, and therefore the bed.
Air beds go even further back in time to the 2nd century when Roman emperor Helioabalus had one made for himself. Centuries later (in the 1470s) the French King Louis XI copied the Roman emperor’s bed design, calling it his lit de vent.
Air beds haven’t enjoyed any lasting popularity, largely because they aren’t particularly comfortable. But inflatable mattresses are a great idea for additional guests who cannot be accommodated elsewhere. When not in use they can simply be folded and packed away in a cupboard. When needed all you do is use a hand or foot pump to fill them with air.
Another unusual type of bed is one that hangs. While certainly never the norm, they have a novelty value, and can even be designed so that the bed is hoisted to the ceiling when not in use, making it an option in smaller spaces. Unlike a hammock which is slung between two supports, this type of bed is generally made by attaching chains to both the specially designed bed and the rafters or joists in the roof. Of course it is essential that the hanging mechanism is attached securely and is strong enough to take the weight of whoever will be sleeping in the bed.
Folding beds have been popular over time, and are ideal for small homes with multifunctional rooms. Also not a particularly new concept, centuries ago North American pioneers sometimes had beds that were positioned in a recess with doors that were closed during the day, and hinged folding beds that were hidden behind curtains.
If you ever get the chance to watch a silent movie starring Charlie Chaplin, chances are you’ll see him folding himself away along with the bed he was sleeping on. There’s other mattress and bedding trivia relating to folding beds and movie stars too. For instance in one of the popular James Bond movies, Bond and a friend used Charlie Chaplin’s trick to escape a hail of bullets.
Folding beds may fold horizontally or vertically and, like those devised by early American settlers, may be curtained off or stowed away into a wall or recess.


The Missing Ingredient For Watchfficient Muscles
Reported February 4, 2011
(Ivanhoe Newswire) — After taking a small dose of inorganic nitrate for three days, healthy people consume less oxygen while riding an exercise bike. A recent study traces that improved performance to increased efficiency of the mitochondria that power our cells. These results may offer one explanation for the well-known health benefits of fruits and vegetables, and leafy green vegetables in particular.
“We’re talking about an amount of nitrate equivalent to what is found in two or three red beets or a plate of spinach,” which Eddie Weitzberg of the Karolinska Institute in Sweden, was quoted as saying. “We know that diets rich in fruits and vegetables can help prevent cardiovascular disease and diabetes but the active nutrients haven’t been clear. This shows inorganic nitrate as a candidate to explain those benefits.”
Up until a short time ago nitrate wasn’t thought to have any nutritional value at all. It was even suggested that this component of vegetables may be toxic. Ultimately, Weitzberg and his colleague Jon Lundberg previously showed that dietary nitrate feeds into a pathway that produces nitric oxide with the aid of friendly bacteria found in our mouths. Nitric oxide has been known for two decades as a physiologically imperative molecule.
The study offers yet another benefit of nitrate and the nitric oxides that stem from them. It seems that the increased mitochondrial effectiveness is owed to lower levels of proteins that generally make the cellular powerhouses leaky. “Mitochondria normally aren’t fully efficient,” Weitzberg explained. “No machine is.”
These novel results show that increased dietary nitrate can have a rather immediate effect, however, it’s not yet clear what might happen in people who consume higher levels of inorganic nitrate over extended periods of time. It will be a natural next step to repeat the experiment in people with conditions linked to mitochondrial dysfunction, including diabetes and cardiovascular disease, to see if they too benefit from nitrates.
“Among the more consistent findings from nutritional research are the beneficial effects of a high intake of fruit and vegetables in protection against major disorders such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes,” the researchers concluded. “However, the underlying mechanism(s) responsible for these effects is still unclear, and trials with single nutrients have generally failed. It is tempting to speculate that boosting of the nitrate-nitrite-NO pathway may be one mechanism by which vegetables exert their protective effects.”
As an interesting aside, Weitzberg says that the benefits of dietary nitrates suggest that powerful mouthwashes may have a downside. “We need oral bacteria for the first step in nitrate reduction,” he says. “You could block the effects of inorganic nitrate if you use a strong mouthwash or spit [instead of swallowing your saliva]. In our view, strong mouthwashes are not good if you want this system to work.”


“Tuberculosis is the single largest infectious disease killer in the world,” says David G. Russell, Microbiology and Immunology. “It’s a huge problem in Southern Africa, Asia, and Eastern Europe. There’s a tremendous underappreciation in the Western world for how big a problem it really is.”
Russell studies infectious diseases, and a large portion of his work revolves around tuberculosis (TB). There is no vaccine for the disease. Researchers lack understanding of immune correlates, or measurable signs of protection from Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) bacterium, which is one reason why a vaccine continues to elude them. “We don’t understand what immune protection from TB is,” Russell says, “nor what failure of immune protection is.” He and his collaborators decided to start over in the pursuit of a vaccine by looking at the factors that determine the progression of the disease.
Why Don’t People Know They Have TB?
“More than 90 percent of people infected with TB don’t go on to present the disease,” Russell says. “They’ll die of something else without ever knowing they’re TB positive. Why is this? What dictates disease progression in some individuals when the majority of people control the infection?” In an effort to answer that question, the Russell lab developed fluorescent strains of Mtb. By fluorescing under certain conditions, the bacterium can report to the researchers its fitness and its ability to replicate in various environments within the macrophage host cells of mouse models. The goal is to see which host cell phenotypes control the disease and which allow it to progress.
“We’ve identified different macrophage subsets that allow bacterial growth or control it,” Russell says. “These subsets coexist within the infected mouse at the same time, so we think that it’s the ratio, or balance, of these host cell subsets that determines the progression or control of the disease.”
Russell is working with collaborators in South Africa and Malawi, who are testing the reporter bacterial strains on tissue and cells taken from TB-infected human patients in those countries. The next step will be to tie the basic science work done on mouse models in the Russell lab together with human subjects work in Africa. That will require a limited testing of the reporter bacterium strains in primate models. “We can work up the procedures in mouse models, but mice are not a great model for human disease,” Russell says. “Having a limited amount of primate work is very important to test and validate the system.”
Disease Progression and Drug Discovery
Russell has just received a grant for $3.8 million from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to pursue the integration of mouse-primate-human work, with the goal of further understanding TB disease progression. This grant joins the many others Russell and his collaborators have already received from the NIH and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to fund various aspects of their TB research.
One of the earlier grants, $2.5 million from the Gates Foundation, is funding another facet of Russell’s work: TB-related drug discovery. Creating a vaccine for TB is the ultimate goal, but currently the disease is treated by antibiotics that must be taken for eight to nine months. A common problem is noncompliance or failure of the treatment, as patients go off the medication too soon or don’t take it regularly. Added to that is the alarming increase in antibiotic-resistant bacteria and the trend for pharmaceutical companies to close down their antimicrobial divisions, resulting in no new antibiotics being developed.
“If you invent an antibiotic that cures someone of an infection, then that person doesn’t have to take the drug anymore.” Russell says. “Yet the pharmaceutical companies have to spend the same amount of money developing an antibiotic as they do developing something like an anti-cholesterol medication that a person has to take for life. For companies that must make profits, this does not make fiscal sense. So they’ve stopped doing antibiotic discovery. It’s a huge problem. We are moving toward a post-antibiotic era where we’re going to have infections we can’t treat. At the moment we have TB. What are we going to do about that?”
“Our drug discovery platform found this new target pathway. Before, there were no inhibitors out there for cholesterol metabolism in TB bacteria. This is a totally new drug target.”
An Effective Drug Discovery Platform, a Collaborative Effort
Working with the California Institute for Biomedical Research (Calibr), a not-for-profit organization that seeks to discover and develop therapies for unmet medical needs, the Russell lab is screening Calibr’s library of compounds, looking for those that negatively affect Mtb inside the host cell. So far they’ve screened 1.5 million compounds. The Gates Foundation grant funds this drug discovery component of the Russell lab with the understanding that any resulting drugs will be co-owned between Cornell and Calibr and developed and shared with the world. The Gates Foundation also de-emphasizes the publication requirement that is usual with most grant funders. “I’ve hired people specifically to do drug discovery with the view that there will not necessarily be publications at the end of this but with the hope that there will be drugs,” says Russell.
The Russell lab initially identified a panel of compounds that affected Mtb’s ability to metabolize cholesterol. This led to the discovery that Mtb is genetically wired to realign its metabolism to cholesterol and fatty acids when it’s inside the host cell. Not only do these components of the host nourish the bacterium, allowing it to thrive and reproduce, but they also serve as environmental signals, telling the bacterium where it is and how to modify its metabolism. “Our drug discovery platform found this new target pathway,” Russell says. “Before, there were no inhibitors out there for cholesterol metabolism in TB bacteria. This is a totally new drug target.”
The researchers have now identified several promising compounds that inhibit Mtb’s ability to breakdown cholesterol when it is inside the macrophage cell of an infected mouse model. “Whether these compounds develop into proper drugs, we’ll have to wait and see,” Russell says, “but they do restrict bacterial growth.”
The TB-HIV Connection
Along with work on TB, Russell also spends a portion of his time studying human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and the connection between it and TB. “TB is the largest single cause of death in people living with HIV,” he says. “In Malawi, about 85 percent of the TB cases in hospital are HIV positive. There’s a collision between the two infections in sub-Saharan Africa.” Currently Russell and his collaborators in Malawi are studying the presence of Mtb and HIV in alveolar macrophages in the lung.
Working on TB and HIV in Africa for more than 20 years has given Russell a different perspective on his work. He says, “There’s been a transition for me from an intellectual pursuit to something much, much deeper. Spending time in Africa has had a huge impact on my attitude toward my research. I believe Western universities need to step up to fill the void that’s been left by pharmaceutical companies in the drug discovery arena. Universities have a responsibility. It’s not just about education, or about research for research’s sake. It is about addressing real world problems that kill people.”


Certain patterns of electrical activity in the brain may signal autism in children with tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC), a related genetic condition. Toddlers who have both TSC and autism have brain waves that are unusually out of sync across hemispheres, a new study suggests1.
The study offers a potential marker for autism well before traditional diagnostic tests would pick up the condition.
The oscillation speed of certain brain waves, as recorded by electroencephalography (EEG), also tracks with cognitive ability in children who have TSC, regardless of autism status.
“We were able to identify, in the first two years of life, very robust EEG markers of both cognitive impairment and autism in TSC,” says lead researcher Shafali Jeste, associate professor of psychiatry, pediatrics and neurology at the University of California, Los Angeles.
TSC is often diagnosed before birth or in early infancy. Most children with TSC also have epilepsy, and roughly half have autism. Predicting which babies will be diagnosed with autism is important for getting therapy to those most likely to need it.
Unlike children with TSC alone, those with both TSC and autism show social-communication difficulties in their first year of life2. They also show a decline in nonverbal intelligence between the ages of 1 and 3 years. Researchers have been looking for objective measures of some of these early signs of autism.
“Having something that we can objectively measure for individuals at risk [of autism] has really been lacking,” says Darcy Krueger, director of the Tuberous Sclerosis Clinic at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center in Ohio, who was not involved in the study. “This is addressing a primary need within the field as a whole.”
Jeste and her colleagues used EEG to measure the brain activity of 35 children with TSC and 20 typical children at ages 12 and 24 months as the children sat in their caregivers’ laps watching a research assistant blow bubbles. The researchers focused on alpha waves — low-frequency electrical signals produced by the resting brain.
Alpha oscillations typically get faster as children get older. “It’s a really robust marker of healthy brain development,” Jeste says.
At 12 months of age, infants with TSC and controls have comparable peak oscillation speeds, the team found. But at 24 months, children with TSC have slower alpha waves than typical children do.
Oscillation speed at 24 months tracks with later cognitive function, the researchers found; 2-year-olds with higher peak alpha frequencies scored higher on tests of cognitive function at age 3 than the other children.
Jeste and her colleagues also measured the synchronization of alpha waves between brain regions in different hemispheres. At 24 months, they found, synchrony is lower in the children with TSC later diagnosed with autism than in those with TSC alone.
“It’s a really nice, technically well-done study,” says Peter Davis, a neurologist at Boston Children’s Hospital who was not involved in the study. “They confirm that kids who later have autism have differences that you can see very early on in life.”
Out of sync:
Brain regions with synchronized oscillations are better connected than those with oscillations that are out of sync. So the findings suggest that brain hemispheres in 2-year-old children with TSC and autism are less connected than in those with TSC alone.
Oscillations between brain hemispheres are also less synchronized in 1-year-olds with TSC than they are in controls, suggesting that TSC by itself is associated with weak connections between hemispheres. The findings appeared online in August in Autism Research.
Given the study’s small sample size and overlap between groups, however, it is not yet possible to forecast the developmental trajectory of individual children. “It’s still not quite at a predictive level,” Davis says. “You can’t take a kid who comes in and do this analysis and say, ‘Oh they’re going to develop autism.’”
It’s also not clear whether the pattern extends to autistic children who do not have TSC.
Jeste and her colleagues are trying to identify EEG biomarkers of autism in children younger than 1 year. “The earlier we can identify those markers, the earlier we can start monitoring them more closely, and even recommending intervention,” she says.


There's only one source of renewable energy that can provide all of the world's needs and that's the Sun. In fact, enough sunlight falls on the Earth's surface in just a couple of hours each day to meet the whole world's energy needs for one year. The question is: how can we effectively and economically harness this solar energy, without mass-producing very expensive conventional solar cells, which would ultimately require vast tracts of land in order to do their job? Nanotechnology could provide the answer in the form of a new kind of solar cell, one which would be relatively inexpensive to manufacture and highly flexible in design. In fact, you maybe surprised as to just how flexible these cells might be! Find out more by watching this movie.
mPhase Technologies, the company behind a nanotechnology-enabled battery with unlimited shelf life, has posted a video demonstration of its Smart Nanobattery on YouTube.The video illustrates in layman's terminology some fundamental concepts behind the smart nano battery. The company has proven it is possible to fabricate nanotech-based "smart" batteries, which can store reserve power for decades and generate electric current virtually on demand.


a1 Program Quality Advisor, Program Effectiveness, World Vision Australia and Honorary Fellow, School of Health and Social Development, Deakin University, Australia
Context This paper reports on findings from the ex-post evaluation of the Maewo Capacity Building project in Maewo Island, Vanuatu, which was funded by World Vision Australia.
Objectives To examine the extent to which the infrastructure and systems left behind by the project contributed to the improvement of household food security and health and nutritional outcomes in Maewo Island, using Ambae Island as a comparator.
Setting Two-stage cluster survey conducted from 6 to 20 July 2004, which included anthropometric measures and 4.5-year retrospective mortality data collection.
Participants A total of 406 households in Maewo comprising 1623 people and 411 households in Ambae comprising 1799 people.
Main outcome measures Household food insecurity, crude mortality rate (CMR), under-five mortality rate (U5MR) and malnutrition prevalence among children.
Results The prevalence of food insecurity without hunger was estimated at 15.3% (95% confidence interval (CI): 12.1, 19.2%) in Maewo versus 38.2% (95% CI: 33.6, 43.0%) in Ambae, while food insecurity with hunger in children did not vary by location. After controlling for the child's age and gender, children in Maewo had higher weight-for-age and height-for-age Z-scores than children of the same age in Ambae. The CMR was lower in Maewo (CMR=0.47/10 000 per day, 95% CI: 0.39, 0.55) than in Ambae (CMR=0.59/10 000 per day, 95% CI: 0.51, 0.67) but no difference existed in U5MR. The major causes of death were similar in both locations, with frequently reported causes being malaria, acute respiratory infection and diarrhoeal disease.
Conclusions Project initiatives in Maewo Island have reduced the risks of mortality and malnutrition. Using a cross-sectional 'external control group' design, this paper demonstrates that it is possible to draw conclusions about project effectiveness where baseline data are incomplete or absent. Shifting from donor-driven evaluations to impact evaluations has greater learning value for the organisation, and greater value when reporting back to the beneficiaries about project impact and transformational development in their community. Public health nutritionists working in the field are well versed in the collection and interpretation of anthropometric data for evaluation of nutritional interventions such as emergency feeding programmes. These same skills can be used to conduct impact evaluations, even some time after project completion, and elucidate lessons to be learned and shared. These skills can also be applied more widely to projects which impact on the longer-term nutritional status of communities and their food security.
(Received April 04 2005)
(Accepted November 17 2005)
c2 †Correspondence address: World Vision Australia, 1 Vision Drive, East Burwood, Victoria 3151, Australia.


|ANTIQUITY OF JAINISM||
THE DIGAMBARA SUB-SECTS
The division of the Jaina religion into two sects was only the beginning of splitting the religious order into various sub-sects. Each of the two great sects, viz., the Digambara sect and the Svetambara sect, got sub-divided into different major and minor sub-sects according to the differences in acknowledging or interpreting the religious texts and in the observance of religious practices. These major and minor sub-sets gradually sprang up for the most part on account of different interpretations the pontiffs put on the canonical texts from time to time and due to revolt or opposition by sections of people against the established religious authorities and the traditional religious rites and rituals.
The Digambara sect, in recent centuries, has been divided into the following sub-sects:
Major sub-sects -
The followers of Bisapantha support the Dharma-gurus, that is, religious authorities known as Bhattarakas who are also the heads of Jaina Mathas, that is. religious monasteries. The Bisapanthas, in their temples, worship the idols of Tirthankaras and also the idols of Ksetrapala, Padmavati and other deities. They worship these idols with saffron, flowers, fruits, sweets, scented 'agarabattis', i.e., incense sticks, etc. While performing these worships. the Bisapanthis sit on the ground and do not stand. They perform Arati, i.e., waving of lights over the idol, in the temple even at night and distribute prasada, i.e., sweet things offered to the idols. The Bisapantha, according to some, is the original form of the Digambara sect and today practically all Digambara Jainas from Maharashtra, Karnataka and South India and a large number of Digambara Jainas from Rajasthan and Gujarat are the followers of Bisapantha.
Terapantha arose in North India in the year 1683 of the Vikram Era as a revolt against the domination and conduct of the Bhattarakas. i.e. religious authorities, of the Digambara Jainas. As a result in this sub-sect. the Bhattarakas are not much respected. In their temples, the Terapanthis install the idols of Tirthankaras and not of Ksetrapala, Padmavati and other deities. Further. they worship the idols not with flowers, fruits and other green vegetables (known as sachitta things), but with sacred rice called 'Aksata', cloves, sandal, almonds, dry coconuts, dates, etc. As a rule they do not perform Arah or distribute Prasada in their temples. Again, while worshipping they stand and do not sit.
From these differences with the Bisapanthis it is clear that the Terapanthis appear to be reformers. They are opposed to various religious practices. As according to them. These are not real Jaina practices. The Terapantha had performed a valuable task of rescuing the Digambaras from the clutches of wayward Bhattarakas and hence the Terapanthis occupy a peculiar position in the Digambara Jaina community. The Terapanthis are more numerous in Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.
It is pertinent to note that even though the name Terapantha sub-sect appears both among the Digambara and the Svetambara sects. Still the two Terapanthis are entirely different from each other. While the Digambara Terapanthis believe in nudity and idol-worship, the Svetambara Terapanthis are quite opposed to both.
The sub-sect Taranapantha is known after its founder Tarana-Svami or Tarana-tarana-Svami (1448-1515 A.D.). This sub-sect is also called Samaiyapantha because its followers worship Sarnaya, i.e., sacred books and not the idols. Tarana-Svami died at Malharagarh, in former Gwalior State in Madhya Pradesh, and this is the central place of pilgrimage of Taranapanthis.
The Taranapanthis strongly refute idolatry but they have their own temples in which they keep their sacred books for worship. They do not offer articles like fruits and flowers at the time of worship. Besides the sacred books of the Digambaras, they also worship the fourteen sacred books written by their founder Tarana-Svami. Further, Taranapanthis give more importance to spiritual values and the study of sacred literature. That is why we find a complete absence of outward religious practices among them. Moreover, Tarana-Svami; was firmly against the caste-distinctions and in fact threw open the doors of his sub-sect even to Muslims and low-caste people.
These three main traits of the Taranapanthis, namely, (a) the aversion to idol worship, (b) the absence of outward religious practices, and (c) the ban on caste distinctions, were evolved as a revolt against the religious beliefs and practices prevailing in the Digambara Jaina sect, and it appears that Tarana-Svami might have formulated these principles under the direct influence of Islamic doctrines and the teachings of Lonkashaha, the founder of the non-idolatrous Sthanakvasi sub-sect of the Svetambara sect.
The Taranapanthis are few in number and they are mostly confined to Bundelkhand, Malwa area of Madhya Pradesh and Khandesh area of Maharashtra.
The Gumanapantha is not so important and in fact very little is known about it. It is stated that this sub-sect was started by Pandit Gumani Rama or Gumani Rai, who was a son of Pandit Todaramal, a resident of Jaipur in Rajasthan.
According to this Pantha, lighting of candles or lamps in the Jaina temples is strictly prohibited, because it regards this as a violation of the fundamental doctrine of Jaina religion, viz., non-violence. They only visit and view the image in the temples and do not make any offerings to them.
This pantha became famous in the name of shuddha amnaya, that is pure or sacred tradition, because its followers always stressed the purity of conduct and self-discipline and strict adherence to the precepts.
Gumanapantha originated in the 18th. Century A.D. and flourished mainly during that century. It was prevalent in several parts of Rajasthan, and it is found now in some areas of Rajasthan around Jaipur.
The Totapantha came into existence as a result of differences between the Bisapantha and Terapantha sub-sects. Many sincere efforts were made to strike a compromise between the Bisa (i.e. twenty) Pantha and the Tera (i.e.. thirteen) pantha and the outcome was sadhesolaha (i.e., sixteen and a half)-Pantha or 'Totapantha'. That is why the followers of Sadheso!aha Pantha or Totapantha believe to some extent in the doctrines of Bisapantha and to some extent in those of Terapantha.
The Totapanthis are extremely few in number and are found in some pockets in Madhya Pradesh.
In connection with the account of the major and minor sub-sects prevailing among the Digambara sect, it is worth while to note that in recent years in the Digambara sect a new major sub-sect known as 'Kanji-pantha', consisting of the followers of Kanji Swami is being formed and is getting popular especially among the educated sections. Saint Kanji; Swami (from whom the name Kanji-pantha' is derived), a Svetambara-Sthanakvasi by birth, largely succeeded in popularizing the old sacred texts of the great Digambara Jaina saint Acharya Kunda-Kunda of South India. But Kanji Swamis efforts, while interpreting Acharya Kunda kunda's writings, to give more prominence to nischaya-naya, that is, realistic point of view, in preference to vyavahara-naya, that is, practical view point, are not approved by the Digambaras in general as they consider that both the view points are of equal importance. However, the influence of Kanjipantha is steadily increasing and Sonagarh town in Gujarat and Jaipur in Rajasthan have become the centers of varied religious activities of the Kanajipanthis.