Table of Contents
- Care and Feeding
- Training Young Trees
Pecan Cultivar Recommendations for the Southeast
Selecting a Site
If planting several pecan trees, or if planting near other trees, space the trees at least 60 – 80 feet apart so they will not crowd as they reach maturity. Spacing can be closer, say 35 or 40 feet, if trees can be removed as they get larger and overcrowd, which happens within 10 – 15 years at a 35 – 40 ft. spacing. Crowding causes misshapened unthrifty trees and decreased nut production.
Although there are pecan cultivars available which are disease tolerant, plant the pecan tree in a location that has good air movement, as this helps to reduce the spread of diseases common to pecan.
Pecans grow and produce best when grown in a moist, but well-drained soil. Poor aeration in clay soils that do not drain well can injure roots, disrupt nutrient uptake and stunt, or even kill, a tree. Either select a site having a soil with good drainage or correct a drainage problem before you plant a tree.
Preparing the Site
Correct planting of a pecan tree involves more than simply dropping the plant in a post-hole. Pecans have some fairly specific requirements that need to be met for the tree to become successfully established.
Ideally, the site in which you expect to plant a pecan tree should be prepared somewhat like a small flower bed. A 10 by 10 foot area should be cleared of grass or weeds and roto-tilled. When tilling, incorporate 1/3 pound of zinc sulfate and enough dolomitic limestone to bring the pH of the soil to between 6.0 and 6.5. The specific amount of limestone required should be determined by a soil test, although in many Alabama soils 5 pounds of lime per 100 square foot area could provide roughly the amount needed.
A fertilizer containing phosphorus and potassium may be incorporated into the area being prepared, but avoid adding nitrogen, amount added should be based on a soil test. The pecan root system is very sensitive to nitrogen, and even a small amount at planting can cause injury.
Once the area has been prepared the actual planting hole can be dug. For planting bare-rooted trees the hole should be made wide enough for the roots to be spread out without bending. Even in a well-prepared soil, bent lateral roots may grow around the hole, eventually girdling the tree. The hole should be a depth such that the tap root of the tree is allowed to be fully extended but the tree will be positioned as it had grown in the nursery.
After placing the roots in the hole fill the hole 3/4 full with backfill soil from the hole. Firmly tamp this soil and then fill the hole with water until it reaches the top of the soil in the hole. This settles the soil, eliminates air pockets and keeps the roots moist.
Fill the rest of the hole with soil, leaving the surface of the soil unpacked to allow better water penetration into the root zone. Prune 1/3 to 1/2 of the top of the tree to compensate for roots that were lost or damaged when the tree was originally dug.
Water is critical to survival of newly planted trees. One to two inches of water should be supplied each week of the growing season (March to November) during the first two years. Insufficient rainfall should be supplemented with irrigation water. Mulch the entire 10 by 10 foot area around the tree with pinestraw, pinebark, leaves, aged sawdust chipped weeds. The mulch will help retain soil moisture, reduce soil compaction, and limit competition from grass.
Container grown trees are planted similarly to bare-rooted trees with a few differences that should be noted. Roots of container transplants are sometimes pot bound. If planted in this condition the roots may continue to grow in a circular pattern without branching into the surrounding soil. Rubbing your hand lightly up and down the root ball will help loosen up the roots so they can grow outward. At planting, the tap root in the bottom of the container should be straightened as much as possible, or cut off to allow a new tap root to develop.
Care and Feeding
Well established trees have an extensive root system that mines the soil for available moisture even during periods of drought. However, with established nut-bearing trees there are particular stages during the growing season when inadequate rainfall can have a significant adverse effect on pecan yield or nut quality.
Insufficient water from bloom through shell hardening (April through early August) results in small nuts. Lack of sufficient water during the stage of nut filling (August and September) can cause poorly filled nuts. Drought late in the season can cause shucks to remain closed so that the nuts do not readily drop. Finally, inadequate moisture late in the season reduces photosynthesis and thus decreases carbohydrates that would normally be stored and used for new feeder root production and early spring growth. Therefore, the lack of adequate water at critical stages during a given growing season can affect growth and nut production not only during the current season but the following year as well.
If less than 1 inch of rainfall is recorded in a month, then even an established, nut-bearing tree may need irrigation during the critical times described. Run irrigation long enough to supply 1 and 1/2 to 2 inches of water to the tree. The spray pattern should provide water to an area extending from slightly within, to well beyond the drip line of the tree. Watering should be done early in the morning so that less water will be lost due to evaporation.
Keeping close records of soil and leaf levels of nutrients gives a indication of trends developing in your orchard. For example, if you routinely apply phosphorus or zinc, eventually levels can build up and cause problems. Writing down your soil and leaf sample records over a number of years along with applications made will give you a good indication of the effects of additional applications. Comparing records with yields and condition of trees over a number of years will provide you with index for measuring the effectiveness of your fertilization program. Careful observations for weak trees, deficiency symptoms, etc., can help you pinpoint problem areas in your orchard, which may need special attention. Keep in mind when making observations that pecans are slow in responding to fertilization. Improvements in growth and yield may not be apparent for several years after a good fertility program is begun. Remember that returns from fertilizer applications may not be realized if disease and insect pests, inadequate water, poor drainage, poor pollination, or other factors are limiting production.
The following steps are the procedure for obtaining a soil sample:
- Obtain soil sample boxes, shipping cartons, and forms (Soil Testing Form A) from your county Extension office
- Sampling every year is suggested for high value crops like pecans. Samples can be taken at any time. A late fall or winter sample will allow you to plan you February fertilizer applications accordingly. Or, you can conveniently soil sample in July, which is the suggested time for leaf sampling, so that your soil and leaf sample are considered together.
- A sample should represent a uniform area. Soils which differ in appearance, crop growth, or past treatment should be sampled separately.
- A single sample should consist of just over a pint of soil. This pint of soil should be a mixture of 15 to 20 subsamples collected over a large area which accurately represents conditions over the orchard.
- Use a soil tube, soil auger, or spade to take soil samples to uniform depth. Sample to a depth of 8 inches. For new orchards, which should be deep-plowed before planting, sample to the depth of the plowed layer. Since recommendations are based on a 8-inch layer, you will need to increase the recommendation by 1/8 for each inch deeper that 8 inches that you plow. For example, if you plow to 12 inches and 2 tons per acre of lime are recommended, apply at least 3 tons per acre.
- Complete your soil test forms and send them along with the test fee and your soil sample to the soil lab or you county Extension office, whichever is recommended for your area. You should receive your results within ten days to two weeks.
Even though soil testing is essential to determine soil group, pH and soil levels of several nutrients, a soil test alone leaves some important questions unanswered. One of these questions is, “Are the nutrients I’ve applied to the soil being taken up in adequate amounts by the roots and moved to the leaves?” and “Do I need foliar sprays of zinc?”
A leaf analysis detects “hidden hunger”, which is a level of nutrition where deficiency symptoms are not apparent but yields are reduced. Leaf samples can reveal shortages or excesses in time to correct them before serious damage and crop loss occur. A leaf analysis also will provide a index for determining whether nutrients are present in the proper balance. Among the important nutrients measured by leaf analysis are N, P, K, Ca, Mg, and Zn.
The following steps are the procedure for obtaining a leaf sample:
- Collect leaf samples during the month of July.
- Take a sample of at least 100 leaflets from at least eight trees. The trees should be representative of trees in the area sampled. The sample area should be reasonably uniform regarding tree performance, past fertility practices, and soil.
- Collect the middle pair of leaflets from leaves in the middle of the current season’s shoot, or growth (See figure below). Collect leaflets from all sides of the tree that are exposed to sunlight and can be easily reached from the ground. Choose leaves that are free of damage from insects or disease and that have not collected an excessive amount of dust. Do not collect leaves in galvanized containers, since these may contain zinc which could affect results.
- Place the leaflets in a perforated paper bag and air-dry them at room temperature.
- It is suggested to take a soil sample at the same time and from the same area where the leaf sample was collected. If you do not soil sample at the same time, be sure and write in on Form B the results of your last soil sample of the areas where leaves were collected. This information will aid in analyzing your situation and in making a correct recommendation.
- Complete Form B, Pecan Grower’s Information Sheet, as accurately as possible for each leaf and soil sample submitted. Information concerning past treatments, and leaf and soil nutrients is necessary to make the best recommendations.
- Put the dry leaf samples in paper bags (not plastic), identify bags by sample number or orchard name, close the bag with tape (not metal staples), and pack in shipping carton or large envelope. Do not allow soil from soil sample to contaminate leaf samples. Separate shipping boxes are best.
- Enclose the testing fee and send the samples to your testing lab or county Extension agent, whichever is recommended for your area.
Accurate and economical lime and fertilizer applications needed for optimum production in your pecan orchard can be determined if you follow the steps outlined below:
- Send in a leaf sample annually to determine levels of Nitrogen (N), Phosphorus (P), Potassium (K), Magnesium (Mg), Calcium (Ca), and zinc present in leaves. Your soil test results reflect nutrients levels in soil while foliar analysis specifically indicates what the tree is able to absorb from the soil.
- Soil Test, preferably annually, to determine soil group, soil pH, and soil levels of available P, K, Mg, and Ca.
- Observe and keep careful records of past soil and leaf analysis results, of fertilizer applications, and of condition and yields of trees.
Consistent production of high yields of good quality pecans is not possible on Alabama soils without fertilization. Not only maintaining adequate levels, but also maintaining proper balance of nutrients is important. Of the 15 or so elements necessary for growth and production of pecans, only six must commonly be bought and applied to soil or as foliar sprays in Alabama. These six are nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, magnesium, calcium, and zinc. Other elements, with rare exceptions, are provided in sufficient quantities from soil, air, and water.
Since we know the nutrients pecans usually need in Alabama, why can’t we make a standard recommendation of what to apply and avoid the trouble and expense of a soil test?
One major reason is that past fertilization practices often have greatly changed the fertility levels of soils. Nutrients, such as phosphorus for example, may have built up to high or very high levels so that additional applications may not only be wasteful and unnecessary, but also could be detrimental. A soil test will determine if phosphorus and several other nutrients are actually needed.
Another common effect of past cultivation and fertilization practices is a lowering of soil pH. Pecans are pH sensitive, and require a pH between 6.5 and 7.0 for best growth. A soil test is essential to determine the pH level of the soil, and to determine the amount of lime required to bring the pH to the desired range. In addition to determining soil pH and soil levels of phosphorus, a soil test will also give an indication of the amounts of potassium, magnesium, and calcium in the sample.
Since the soil type and caution exchange capacity affect the level of nutrients required, the soil test classifies the soil into a certain group. Finally, recommendations are made which consider the soil group, the soil nutrients levels, the soil pH, and the needs for the crop specified. A rule-of-thumb recommendation does not take these into account, and may be a poor recommendation in many situations.
Four Ways to Improve Pecan Production on Trees Around Your Home
- Fertilize properly, preferably according to soil and leaf sample recommendations.
- If you have not taken samples, rules of thumb are:
- 1 lb. of 13-13-13 per tree per year of age up to 25 lbs/tree, or 300 lbs/acre
- 1 lb of ammonium nitrate per tree per year of age up to 20 lbs/tree, or 240 lbs/acre
- 1/10 lb zinc sulfate per tree per year of age up to 2 lbs/tree, or 24 lbs/acre
- 5 lbs dolomitic lime per tree per year of age up to 100 lbs/tree, or 1200 lbs/acre
- If you have not taken samples, rules of thumb are:
- Choose established pest-resistant cultivars, like Elliott, or new cultivars McMillan, Amling, Adams 5, Headquarters, Baby B or Lakota.
- Make sure the trees have enough room for good sunlight exposure. Cut down some trees if limbs overlap adjacent trees.
- Water the trees when it is dry, especially in late August and early September. Also maintaining a 4-6 inch layer of organic mulch (bark chips, compost, leaf litter, etc. will conserve moisture, improve root growth, and reduce compaction.
Training Young Trees
The first five years of growth are the most important in developing a central leader and scaffold branch framework of the pecan tree. Structural developments in the trees during these years will be evident 30 or 40 years later. Pecan growers will exert few influences that will be effective longer than those exercised in developing the framework of a young pecan tree. This development should be done carefully with a minimum amount of pruning. Considerable planning is required to properly train and prune young trees. Mechanical equipment used for orchard management will influence the training program chosen. Keep in mind the ideally structured tree and always try to shape each tree to this pattern. No two trees are alike and only a few will conform exactly to your picture, but it will serve as a standard.
The type and amount of training and pruning that should be used can be determined, to a considerable extent, by the ultimate use of the tree. Early nut production is directly related to the amount of pruning, with the earliest production being on trees subjected to the least pruning. Backyard growers may be willing to sacrifice some early production in order to have an aesthetically well-shaped tree. However, commercial growers with a large number of pecan trees are more likely to compromise some structural development and form to obtain early production from their trees.
There are several pruning methods commonly used for training young pecan trees. Heading back, branch selection, tip pruning, and pinching are all good methods and need to be practiced during the first few years when establishment of new pecan trees and proper training is critical.
To develop a medium-size, strong, wind-resistant tree for the West, use a central leader or modified central leader system. At planting time, prune the top one-half of the tree (Fig. 1). This usually results in a whip 36-42″ tall. Head-back pruning encourages strong central leader regrowth. Frequently two or three new shoots develop adjacent to the cut-back point in the early spring. However, newly planted trees usually grow slowly during the first season. If growth has not started by July, cut back to 12″ above the bud union, to force growth.During winter (dormant season), the strongest and most vigorous shoot should be selected and head back 1/3 to 1/2 (Fig. 2). The second strongest shoot should be removed. The remaining shoot needs to be tip-pruned to reduce growth and encourage short laterals. Lateral shoots will also develop below the cutback point. These lateral shoots can develop into small permanent scaffold limbs. They can be pinched during the summer and usually tip-pruned in the winter.
The previous year’s growth of the central leader should be cut back about one-third during the first through fourth (or fifth depending on development) dormant season. Continue to force one strong shoot to grow at the top of the tree (Figs. 2, 3, 4, and 5).
When selecting branches that will become permanent scaffold limbs, choose only the branches that form wide angles with the central leader. The selection of the main lateral scaffold branches should be delayed until the dormant period after the first year of growth. It is important to know that at each node (growing point) primary, secondary, and tertiary buds occur.
Scaffold branches from the main central leader trunk may be formed from primary, secondary, or tertiary buds. Those formed from primary buds usually produce narrow crotch angles, and are weaker than scaffolds formed from secondary or tertiary buds. Those should not be used in developing the major scaffold branches of the framework. The shoot from the primary bud may be pruned or pinched out to force the development of a shoot from the secondary bud. The same procedure, pruning or pinching both primary and secondary buds, may be used if a scaffold branch is desired from a tertiary bud.
The main trunk or central leader from which the scaffold branches are formed is more easily developed from a primary bud with its natural tendency for upright growth so the center of the tree will be erect.
When training a young pecan tree, 6 to 10 side branches arranged in a spiral around the central leader are selected and spaced 8?14″ apart. Trees having several small scaffold branches can be harvested more easily with a mechanical shaker than those having only two or three large branches. The lowest scaffold branch should not be higher than necessary for attaching the shaking machine, about 4?5 feet should suffice. The exact height will be determined by the type of harvesting equipment to be used.
All side shoots developing below 4 feet, which will not be selected for permanent scaffold limbs, should not be removed until they are 1″ in diameter. Their purpose is to manufacture food for central leader extension, sun protection, and girth development. In addition, these lower branches will produce nuts until weakened by excess shade.
Lateral branches frequently grow in clusters instead of the ideal spiral arrangement. When this happens, select the most ideally located one, prune it in the dormant season and shorten the others to a few inches to reduce vigor. Trunks with two central leaders should be pruned because splitting may occur at the junction. If two upright trunks of equal size develop, one must be removed. This should be done as early in the life of the tree as possible. This reduces the probability of “V” trunk development.
Crow’s foot is the development of four to six shoots from the end of a young limb. Thin out the limbs so that only two or three remain. Tip-pruning significantly reduces the crow’s foot problem. All pruning should be done during the dormant season.
Most cultivars produce extremely vigorous growth in the third, fourth, and fifth seasons. Tipping these vigorous shoots will produce many lateral branches; the most desirable can then be selected for further training. Tip-pruning is practiced on permanent limbs by removing about 2″ of terminal growth during the dormant season. Shoots are tip-pruned only when they are 32″ or longer (Figs. 2, 3, 4, and 5). This practice stimulates the development of numerous small lateral shoots. Heading back (removal of one-third to one-half of the shoot length) instead of tip-pruning will usually result in the development of three or four strong shoots directly below the pruning cut.
Tip-pruning will bring pecan trees into commercial bearing at an earlier age and encourage central leader development. It also reduces tree size during the first 10 years. It has been recommended to tip-prune trees until the sixth or seventh year. It is not needed on larger, bearing trees.
This pruning is accomplished on trees less than four years old. As small scaffold limbs develop along the trunk, pinching is performed by removing their soft, light green growing points. The growing point can be easily broken off with the fingers. Lateral shoots should grow 12-18″ before the growing point is removed during the first season, and 12-32″ during the second, third, and fourth growing seasons (Figs. 2, 3, and 4). Pinching results in larger leaves on the lateral shoots. It also inhibits development of large scaffold limbs during the first four years of the tree’s life and encourages strong leader development.
Shaping Takes Time
Almost all pruning necessary on young trees can be done during the growing season, if done as soon as needed. Trees trained and pruned in this manner will seldom require the use of a pruning saw.
At least five years are needed to complete the selection of scaffold branches and train the tree to the proper form. Each tree will be different although you attempted to make them appear uniform. It is impossible to select branches on a tree that conform exactly to your ideal, but if you continue to compare each tree with your mental picture of an ideal pecan tree, your orchard will produce maximum yields of high quality nuts.
Pecans are harvested when the shuck opens, allowing the nuts to drop. Mechanical aids can be used to help speed nut fall. These devices range from a long pole used to shake small limbs to large commercial branch or trunk shakers that cause nuts to fall in a very short time. For a small-scale operation, sheets can be spread under the tree to catch the falling nuts. Nuts also can be picked up with small, push-propelled harvesters ranging from 12 to 48 inches wide for small-scale plantings or large, commercial mechanical nut harvesters. Nuts harvested by hand should be picked up every other day to prevent the nuts from molding or being destroyed or removed by pests.
Once harvested, the nuts must to be dried to 8 to 10 percent moisture, or to 3.5 to 4.5 percent for optimal long-term storage. For small-scale production, the nuts can be dried by placing them in porous burlap bags in a location with moderate ventilation and heat. Commercial dryers use forced air heated to approximately 100 degrees (F) for optimal drying.
Pecans, like any nut, have a relatively high oil content and will spoil. For optimal storage, they can be held at 32 degrees (F) for approximately one year. For longer storage periods, the nuts should be kept in a freezer.
Click below to download an article on the harvesting, handling, and grading of pecans.


Preventive Veterinary Medicine is one of the leading international resources for scientific reports on animal health programs and preventive veterinary medicine. The journal follows the guidelines for standardizing and strengthening the reporting of biomedical research which are available from the CONSORT, MOOSE, PRISMA, REFLECT, STARD, and STROBE statements. The journal focuses on:
- Epidemiology of health events relevant to domestic and wild animals;
- Economic impacts of epidemic and endemic animal and zoonotic diseases;
- Latest methods and approaches in veterinary epidemiology;
- Disease and infection control or eradication measures;
- The "One Health" concept and the relationships between veterinary medicine, human health, animal-production systems, and the environment;
- Development of new techniques in surveillance systems and diagnosis;
- Evaluation and control of diseases in animal populations.
The journal encourages the submission of clinical and field-trial studies, particularly those related to new vaccines and other preventive measures. These studies, however, should follow the Consort Statement (http://www.consort-statement.org) or Reflect Statement (http://reflect-statement.org).
Prevalence studies may be considered for publication, but only if the results are likely to be of international interest (i.e. it must be possible to generalize the findings using scientifically based approaches). For these studies, key considerations in the review process will include (but are not limited to): consideration of both animal-level and herd-level demographics in the sampling design; the study population's relevance to the authors' described target population; the potential for confounding; and how well the sample-size justification assures high precision. The sensitivity and specificity of non-perfect tests used must be declared; the true rather than the apparent prevalence must be presented.
Submissions of reviews of relevant topics are also encouraged, but these should follow the systematic-review process addressed by the guidelines in the following two websites: http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/reprint/283/15/2008; http://prisma-statement.org.
Preventive Veterinary Medicine does not publish studies on experimental development of diagnostic assays without the appropriate field evaluation. Guidelines for the evaluation of diagnostic assays are followed in the review process (http://www.stard-statement.org)).
Benefits to authors
We also provide many author benefits, such as free PDFs, a liberal copyright policy, special discounts on Elsevier publications and much more. Please click here for more information on our author services.
Please see our Guide for Authors for information on article submission. If you require any further information or help, please visit our Support Center


Depression is common, though often overlooked, in people with cancer, a new study suggests.
Researchers assessed depression in 400 patients treated for cancer between 2013 and 2016 at University Hospital Cancer Center, in Newark, N.J. They were between 20 and 86 years old, with an average age of 55.
Depression was found in 40 percent of the patients, and 3 out of 4 of those patients were never diagnosed or treated for it, researchers found.
The study was presented Sunday at the annual meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology, in San Diego. Findings presented at meetings are typically viewed as preliminary until they’ve been published in a peer-reviewed journal.
“Depression prevalence continues to be high among cancer patients, especially those receiving treatment at an urban cancer center, as well as those who identify as female or are disabled by their disease,” said study author Jason Domogauer, an M.D./Ph.D. student at Rutgers University New Jersey Medical School, in Newark.
“Alarmingly, most of these patients remain undiagnosed and untreated, indicating an important gap in cancer care and an opportunity to improve patient outcomes,” he said in a society news release.
Between 15 percent and 25 percent of cancer patients have depression, a rate two to three times higher than in the general U.S. population, according to the U.S. National Cancer Institute.
Domogauer said diagnosis and treatment are key. “Our findings point to a clear need for action including depression screening during initial and continuing patient visits, initiation of mental health treatments for identified patients and increased collaboration with mental health providers in cancer treatment centers,” he said.
“These efforts are particularly important for patients in urban centers, those who are female and those who are unable to work because of their disease,” Domogauer said.
The U.S. National Cancer Institute has more on depression.


STEM at Rolls-Royce
Rolls-Royce is a super power business. Our technology drives the modern world: from the airplanes in the sky and the submarines under the sea, to the power stations that generate the electricity in your home.
The engines we design and make are some of the most advanced and powerful machines on the planet. And none of our ground-breaking work would be possible without the super powers of science, technology, engineering and maths – or STEM for short.
There is a new video on our corporate website that details the importance of STEM subjects and the students that study them as Rolls-Royce plans for a sustainable future.
Explore this section to discover how our 55,000 people use STEM every day to make the impossible possible.


These leaflets explain the importance of vitamin D, and current government recommendations on vitamin D supplements for at-risk groups of the population, including:
- pregnant and breastfeeding women
- infants and young children
- older people
- those who have low or no exposure to sunlight
They aim to provide consistent messages about the importance of preventing vitamin D deficiency.
The National Diet and Nutrition Survey rolling programme (2008 and 2009 to 2011 and 2012) suggests that up to 1 in 4 adults in the UK have a low vitamin D status, and are therefore at increased risk of deficiency.


Inapoi la pagina 1990 (ŞLAVEY HASULAM (TREPTELE SCĂRII) – link
What It Means that the Land Did Not Bear Fruit before Man Was Created, in the Work
Article No. 5, Tav-Shin-Nun, 1989-90
It is written in The Zohar (VaYera, Item 1), “Rabbi Hiya started, ‘The buds appeared on the earth; the time of pruning has come.’ This means that when the Creator created the world, He placed in the earth all the power it deserves, and everything was in the land. Yet, it did not bear fruit in the world until man was created. When man was created, everything appeared in the world and the land revealed the fruits and forces that were deposited in it. And then it was said, ‘The buds appeared on the earth, the time of pruning has come, and the voice of the turtledove was heard in our land.’ This is the speaking of the Creator, which was absent in the world before man was created. Once man is present, everything is present.”
We should understand why the land did not bear its fruit before man was created. What is the connection between the earth and man, where if there is no man, although the land has everything, it still does not bear its fruits before there is man? Also, what does it mean that before man was created, the speaking of the Creator was not present in the world? After all, it is written several times, “And God said, ‘Let there be light.’”
We should interpret this in the work. Our sages said about the verse, “In the beginning God created,” that it is for Israel, who were called Resheet [beginning], as it is written, “The sanctity of Israel, the Resheet [beginning] of its crop.” This means as it is written, that the purpose of the creation of the world was to do good to His creations. That is, He created in the creatures a desire to receive delight and pleasure, and in this desire, meaning that this desire causes him to yearn to receive the delight and pleasure. By this the delight and pleasure that a person can derive from there is measured.
This is called “the work of the Creator,” meaning that He created a desire to enjoy for the pleasure that He wants to give them. It turns out that nothing is missing in the world; there is abundance that belongs to the will to receive. That is, to the extent that He wanted to give delight and pleasure, to that extent He created a Kli [vessel] for this. This means that the will to receive is not greater than the Creator created it, so he can receive what the Creator wants to give. It follows that the delight and pleasure are present, the Kli to receive is present, so what else is missing?
It is known that the land is called Malchut. That is, the desire to receive the abundance from the Creator is called Malchut. This means that Malchut receives the abundance for the souls, as for this reason Malchut is called “the assembly of Israel,” which is the collection of the souls. It follows that Malchut already received all the light for the souls. The question is, Why do the creatures not receive from Malchut the abundance she received for the creatures, and there is the power of concealment in the world, so the voice of the turtledove is not heard in our land, meaning that the speaking of the Creator is not heard in the world, but rather each one feels the concealment and there is a lot of work to believe in His Providence over the created beings, and the delight and pleasure are not revealed in the world?
The answer is that it is because the Creator did not want there to be shame. For this reason, there was a correction, called Tzimtzum [restriction] and concealment so the upper Providence will not be revealed. Instead, we must believe that the Creator leads the world as the good who does good. This causes us all the work, that we must exert and relinquish the will to receive for ourselves, although this is our entire reality.
In other words, everything that we relate to the creatures is only a will to receive. Yet, it is forbidden to use the will to receive as it emerged by nature, but we must go above nature. In other words, our nature is the will to receive for ourselves. It follows that when a person is told we must relinquish the will to receive for ourselves, there is not an organ in us that will be able to understand this. The body begins to ask the “Who” and “What” questions, meaning demands an intellectual answer if the Creator truly hears each and every one who asks of Him.
The body argues to a person, “You see that you have asked the Creator many times to help you with what you think you need. Until now, you see that you have received no answer to the prayer. Therefore, why do you say each day, ‘For You hear the prayer of every mouth’? If this is so, why is He not helping you?” It follows that reason asserts that the body is right, meaning that it is making a reasonable and sensible argument.
We must answer the body about this that we are going above reason. That is, although reason asserts that the Creator does not accept the prayer of every mouth, meaning that he can explain the fact that the Creator is not answering him as because he is still unfit to receive the salvation from the Creator, but in truth, the Creator does hear the prayer of Israel. It is only to you that He does not want to answer the prayer you made, since you are not regarded as Israel.
The body asks once more, “You see that we must believe that ‘You hear the prayer of every mouth,’ as we say in the prayer, ‘For You hear the prayer of every mouth.’ Thus, the Creator should have heard your prayer, as well. Moreover, if He does not hear the prayer of every mouth, then why do you need to pray?”
Then, when a person comes to such a state, he can say that he is going above reason. That is, although reason is very important, and he sees that the body speaks with reason, but a person should say that we must go above reason. That is, we, too, see contradictions, such as that many times he prayed but received no answer for his prayer. But then, when he overcomes and goes above reason, this is called “faith above reason.”
Likewise, when a person must relinquish the quality of the heart and say, “I relinquish the self-benefit and care only for the benefit of the Creator,” of course this is above reason. In other words, above reason means that a person should say that to him, faith is at a higher level than reason. For this reason, he obeys the voice of faith and not the voice of reason. This is against reason, since we see that we were given reason and we measure every person according to the level of his intellect, as it is written, “A man will be praised according to his mind” (Proverbs 12), and one who has more reason is a more important person. Therefore, when we are told that we must go above reason, it is against our reason.
For this reason, when a person comes to a state where the body begins to ask the “Who” and “What” questions, then begins the real work. Then we must ask for the help of the Creator to give us the strength not to hear these questions of Pharaoh and the wicked one, which are “Who” and “What.” It was said about this, “Were it not for the help of the Creator, he would not overcome it,” since a person cannot emerge from their control by himself and say, “I am going above reason,” since it is against nature.
According to the above, we can interpret what we asked, What is the connection between the land that did not bear its fruit before man was created? In the work, man is regarded as one who has emerged from the control of the quality of a beast. A “beast” means one who is immersed in self-benefit, like a beast, and man means one in whom there is fear of heaven and works because of fear, which The Zohar calls “Because He is great and ruling,” where he works only because of the greatness of the Creator and does not care for his own benefit, but for the benefit of the Creator. It is as our sages said about the verse, “In the end of the matter, fear God and observe His commandments, for this is the whole of man. What is ‘for this is the whole of man’? Rabbi Elazar said, ‘The whole world was created only for this’” (Berachot 6).
It follows that man is regarded as one in whom there is the fear of heaven. And what is the fear of heaven? That is, what is fear? It is as he says (“Introduction of The Book of Zohar,” Item 191), “Both the first fear and the second fear are not for his own benefit, but only for fear that he will decline in bringing contentment to his Maker.”
According to the above, we already know the meaning of Adam. It is one who has fear of heaven, who is afraid that perhaps he will not be able to do everything in order to bestow. This is called “man.” A “beast” is the opposite: one who cares only for one’s own benefit, as it is written (Ecclesiastes 3), “Who knows the spirit of man, whether it goes upward, and the spirit of the beast, whether it goes downward to the earth?” We should interpret that “spirit of man” goes upward means that everything he does is for the sake of the Creator. This is called “upward,” when his intention is that everything will be only in order to bestow. From this man derives contentment.
The “spirit of the beast” is that in everything he does, he wants it all for “downward,” meaning “down to the earth,” which is worldliness, for the will to receive for oneself is called “earth.” When that person does things, he sees that it will be only for his own benefit. From this he derives spirit, meaning his contentment. That is, he will enjoy his actions only if it yields benefit for himself. If he sees that the will to receive cannot enjoy it, he will not have strength to work. If he must work for some reason, then he is not in a good mood at all.
Now we can understand the connection between man and earth. We asked, What does it mean that the earth did not bear its fruit in the world before man was created although all the power it deserved and everything was already in the land? The thing is that in the work, “land” is the kingdom of heaven, which is the assembly of Israel, who receives abundance for the created beings, since all the souls come from her. From the perspective of the Creator, everything is already corrected in the best possible way.
It is as he says (“Introduction to The Book of Zohar,” Item 13), “The thing is that by the very thought to create the souls, His thought completed everything, for He does not need an act, as do we. Instantaneously, all the souls and all the worlds that are destined to be created emerged filled with all the delight and pleasure that the souls were intended to receive at the end of correction, after the will to receive in the souls has been fully corrected and has been turned into pure bestowal. This is so because in His eternalness, past, present, and future are as one.”
By this we should interpret the connection between man and the earth, which is that if man is present, the earth bears its fruit. The “earth” means the will to receive that has been fully corrected. From the perspective of the Creator, everything has been completed in utter perfection and there is nothing to add to it, as he says, “Instantaneously, all the souls emerged filled with all the delight and pleasure.” However, in order for the creatures to enjoy the fruits of Malchut, which she received, Malchut, which is called “land,” does not give this to the created beings before they correct the will to receive to work in order to bestow, due to the correction that took place, so there will be in them the matter of equivalence of form.
It turns out that as long as a person has not achieved the degree of “man,” which is regarded as bestowing upward, as in “the spirit of man goes upward,” meaning that “man” means that everything he does is for the sake of the Creator, while the spirit of the beast “goes downward,” meaning for his own benefit, Malchut, which is called “earth,” cannot show the delight and pleasure she received for the created beings.
The Zohar says, “The buds appeared on the earth,” meaning that everything was in the earth, but it did not bear fruit in the world until man was created. Before the created being achieved the quality of “man,” the Creator does not see any fruits from Malchut, which is called “earth.”
Now we can understand what we asked about The Zohar saying that “the voice of the turtle dove was heard in our land” is the speaking of the Creator, who was not present in the world before man was created, though it is written many times in the Torah, “And God said,” before man was created. The meaning is that before a person achieves the degree of “man,” meaning emerges from the state of a beast, the “man” is in concealment and it is impossible to hear the voice of the Creator.
This is regarded as the “speaking of the Creator was not present in the world before the quality of man was created.” Only afterward, when a person achieves the degree of “man,” he hears the “speaking of the Creator.” The “speaking of the Creator” is called Torah, and then he is rewarded with the Torah, which is called “the names of the Creator.” This is called the “speaking of the Creator.” It is not that the Torah is a wisdom, as with other wisdoms. Rather, the Torah is the speaking of the Creator.
Not easily can one achieve the degree of “man” and emerge from the quality of a beast. This is so because in the work of the Creator, one is always in oppositeness of form, and only out of two extremes, a middle line is born. It is as it is written in the poem by the ARI, “Right and left, and in between them a bride.” This means that through the right and the left, which are two opposites, the kingdom of heaven, called “bride,” is born.
It is known that Malchut is called “faith.” To be rewarded with faith, we must first emerge from the state of a beast, called “self-love,” as was said that the spirit of the beast goes downward. Downward means decreasing in importance, which is the quality of a beast, which can only work for its own sake.
While the creature is still under the control of the will to receive for himself, he can receive only partial faith. This means that he has descents and ascents. During the descents, he loses the power of faith because the descent comes to him due to some flaw, and all the flaws come to the creature while he is immersed in self-love. For this reason, there is a correction for the creature so as not to blemish the King: He loses the faith in the existence of the King, as explained in the “Introduction of The Book of Zohar” (Item 138, beginning with the words, “It is a law”).
Since there is a rule that a person cannot walk on one leg, but only on two legs, this points to spirituality, too. “Right” implies wholeness. That is, the first beginning, when the creature wants to begin the work of the Creator, is that he must believe in the Creator. It does not matter how much faith he has, but with whatever faith he has, he can already begin to observe Torah and Mitzvot[commandments/good deeds], and each day he adds as much as he can.
However, this state is not regarded as “right,” but as “one line.” This is called “still of Kedusha[holiness].” From this still emerge all other degrees, called “vegetative,” “animate,” and “speaking,” as it is written (Ecclesiastes 3), “All was from the dust.” The Zohar interprets, “even the wheel of the sun” (Tzav, Item 173). That is, everyone must begin in still of Kedusha.
However, we should know that as with the corporeal still, a person does not need to make efforts in order for the still to be revealed. Rather, the still develops according to the development of nature. In other words, if a person does not spoil the corporeal still, it develops. For example, if a person does not spoil the earth or takes out stones from the earth, the still develops.
It is the same with the still of Kedusha. If he does not spoil his actions, his still of Kedusha develops. However, it does not require any intention or thought in order to continue his quality of still of Kedusha.
Conversely, if he wants to acquire the quality of “vegetative,” we see that in corporeality, the vegetative already requires special treatment. It needs to be given food, meaning water and sun, and to fix the still from which the vegetative will grow, namely plowing and so forth. Also, other plants, which do not belong to the plant that the person wants to grow out of the still, must be removed, so in corporeality, weeds that have intermingled are uprooted.
Likewise, in the vegetative of Kedusha, we must dedicate thought and desire to nursing this still, meaning plowing. That is, we must turn the will to receive in us to work in order to bestow, and then it is relevant to speak of work in “right” and “left.” That which was previously one line, which is the act, a person must use it as the “right line,” meaning that he should appreciate the simple act and say that he is grateful to the Creator for rewarding him with doing simple works in utter simplicity, and to say that he is not worth even this—that the Creator gave him the present of serving Him in simplicity.
At the same time, he must shift to the left line, meaning criticize himself if he is truly working for the Creator or for himself, meaning for his own benefit and not for the benefit of the Creator. He should pray for this, that he is so immersed in self-love.
Sometimes, he sees that he cannot pray that the Creator will help him and deliver him from the governance of self-love. Sometimes, he is even in a worse state—that he does not even want to pray the Creator will bring him out of self-love. On the contrary, he wants the Creator to help him satisfy his will to receive for himself with every possible satisfaction. This is called “left,” since in spirituality, something that requires correction is called “left.”
It follows that there are two opposites here. On one hand, a person is told that the order of the work is that a person should try to observe the one line to the fullest. That is, as when the creature was in a state of still, called “one line,” and felt himself as whole and was happy and glad because he knew that he had wholeness and all he needed to add was quantity.
But the reason was that he had no idea about the vegetative. He thought that the still is the wholeness that man must do. Therefore, he felt high spirited because of the feeling of wholeness and he could not understand why all the creatures were not as smart as him.
But now that he has a notion of the quality of “vegetative,” he no longer has the wholeness of the one line. For this reason, now he must make great efforts to be able to appreciate and derive vitality from the right, as he received from it while being in one line. The reason for this is that the left line makes him see that this is not wholeness.
Indeed, why do we need to walk on the right line? The answer is that this is the truth. That is, a person should indeed consider the little bit of grip he has on Kedusha as a great fortune, and this is the time to thank the Creator. Afterward, he should return to the left line, for this is also true, that we must work for the sake of the Creator. Out of those two, from the wholeness and importance of the right, and from the lack of the left, a person is rewarded with the middle line. This is the meaning of “Right and left, and in between the bride.”
Inapoi la pagina 1990 (ŞLAVEY HASULAM (TREPTELE SCĂRII) – link


Virtual reality comes to life at Stanford lab (video)
What makes the Virtual Human Interaction Lab at Stanford feel so real? SmartPlanet's Sumi Das takes a look at the technology behind the lifelike world and gets a taste of "the pit."
What does it feel like to chop down a tree? Or walk a narrow plank suspended above a deep pit? Stanford University's Virtual Human Interaction Lab can take you there.
Professor Jeremy Bailenson has created a thoroughly convincing virtual-reality environment at the Stanford lab. But what makes it feel so real? The lab uses technology to provide sensory feedback in a couple of different ways. There are devices called "butt-kickers" under the floor that make it shake, 22 speakers provide audio input, and, lastly, there's the head-mounted display that offers a stereoscopic view of the virtual world.
SmartPlanet's Sumi Das tours the lab to learn about the technology and find out how virtual reality is likely to be used in the future.
This video originally appeared on SmartPlanet with the headline "Stanford lab makes virtual reality more life-like."
More SmartPlanet links


The program, similar to the “One Book, One Community,” program that occurs in the fall, is designed to promote children’s literacy and encourage communities, organizations and families to help teach preschoolers how to read.
“It’s a way for children to share the same book,” said Jeffrey Swope, youth services programming and outreach coordinator for Dauphin County Library System, about the program. “It goes beyond learning to read into concepts of socialization and common discussion.”
This year’s book of choice is “Whose Shoes? A Shoe for Every Job” by Stephen R. Swinburne, which asks readers to figure out the occupations of various people by looking at photos of the shoes they wear.
In honor of the event, we asked Swope for tips on how to help your kids become lifelong bibliophiles. Here’s what he suggested:
- Read to your child every day. That might seem like a no-brainer, but it’s worth emphasizing. Taking time out of your day to read with your child tells them that it’s important to you. Pick a time that works best for you, but make it a habit.
- Make reading time special. Don’t make it feel like homework. Reading time should be a fun and comforting experience.
- Have books in your home. “It’s sad how many parents don’t have a single book [in their home],” Swope said. Making books part of your home’s environment tells your child that you value reading.
- Share stories. Literacy does not begin and end with reading time. Talk to your child at the dinner table. Tell them stories about your life or funny things that happened to you. Ask them to share their own stories.
- Engage your child. Encourage them to participate in the story. Ask questions while you read, such as “What do you think will happen next?” or “How do you think the story will end?” Doing so helps build important narrative skills.
- Repeat and enunciate new or unfamiliar words to help build their vocabulary.
- Don’t be afraid to be silly. Funny voices, expressions and sound effects are all encouraged.
- Go to the library. A visit to the local public library exposes children to the variety of books available. What’s more, events such as storytime programs offer important socialization experiences.
- Let them flip ahead. Don’t get frustrated if they want to jump to the back of the book or interrupt you. Learning how to turn pages or that the front of the book is different from the back is all part of the experience.
- Literacy is everywhere. Point out other instances where reading is needed in your daily life to your child. When cooking dinner, for example, show them the recipe and labels on the packaging.
- Repeat, repeat, repeat. When you get tired of reading “Green Eggs and Ham” for the 50th time in a row, remember that learning depends upon repetition.
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
As part of the “One Book” campaign, “Whose Shoes? A Shoe for Every Job” author Stephen R. Swinburne will be making appearances across the state including at the following libraries:
- 6 p.m. Monday at William H. Marino C. Alexander Family Library, 200 W. Second St., Hummelstown. 566-0949.
- 4 p.m. March 29, “One Book, Every Young Child” kickoff in the Rotunda of the Capitol Building, Harrisburg.
- 9 a.m. and 10:15 a.m. March 30 at Joseph T. Simpson Public Library, 16 N. Walnut St., Mechanicsburg. 766-0171.
- 6:30 p.m. March 30 at Bosler Memorial Library, 156 W. High St., Carlisle. 243-4642.
- 10:15 a.m. March 31 at East Shore Library, 4501 Ethel St., Harrisburg. 652-9380.
- 6 p.m. March 31 at Northern Dauphin Library, 683 Main St., Lykens. 453-9315.
Looking for some more good books to read to your kids? Jeffrey Swope,
youth services programming and outreach coordinator for Dauphin County
Library System, suggests the following titles:
- “The Snowy Day” by Ezra Jack Keats
- “No, David” by David Shannon
- “If You Give A Mouse A Cookie” by Laura Numeroff
- “The Gunniwolf” by Wilhemina Harper
- “Chicka, Chicka, Boom, Boom” by Bill Martin
- “Hats, Hats, Hats” by Ann Morris
- “Dancing Feet” by Lindsey Craig
- "Sense Suspense” by Bruce McMillan
- “Mouse Paint” by Ellen Stoll Walsh
- “Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See?” By Bill Martin
- “In the Woods: Who’s Been Here” by Lindsay Barrett George
- “Whose Toes Are Those?” By Jabari Asim
- “Lunch” by Denise Fleming


Secretariat of the Convention for Biological Diversity (CBD)
The Global Biodiversity Outlook 2 assesses the current status and trends of biodiversity and the key drivers of biodiversity loss.
As 2010 approaches, the document identifies key actions required at the individual, institutional and systemic levels to achieve the 2010 target.
GLOBIO, together with the models IMAGE and GTAP, contributed to GBO2 with the study Cross-roads of Life on Earth: Exploring means to meet the 2010 biodiversity target. An analysis was made of the effects of six global policy options to reduce the rate of loss of biodiversity. The options were either targeted at biodiversity conservation or targeted at other goals, but with potential side-effects on biodiversity. The options were compared with a reference scenario of moderate economic en demographic development.
None of the policy measures appeared to be able to individually halt the loss of biodiversity to any significant degree:
The Cross-roads report has been internationally reviewed and was published as report no. 31 of the CBD technical series.


Scientists have discovered a neutron star that they describe as a “cosmic baby.”
The neutron star, Swift J1818.0−1607, is only 240 years old, making it “a veritable newborn by cosmic standards,” according to a NASA statement. The celestial object was spotted by NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory on March 12. At that time, the neutron star released a massive burst of X-rays. Additional research by the European Space Agency’s XMM Newton observatory and NASA’s NuSTAR (Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array), helped scientists discover more details about the star’s physical characteristics. This information was then used to estimate its age.
Located in the constellation Sagittarius, Swift J1818.0−1607 is located 16,000 light-years away. A light-year, which measures distance in space, equals about 6 trillion miles. “Because light takes time to travel these cosmic distances, we are seeing light that the neutron star emitted about 16,000 years ago, when it was about 240 years old,” NASA explains.
BLACK HOLE DEVOURING A NEUTRON STAR CAUSED RIPPLES IN SPACE AND TIME, SCIENTISTS SAY
Some of the densest objects in the universe, neutron stars are the remnants of massive stars that go supernova and explode, according to NASA. Swift J1818.0−1607, it says, has twice the mass of our Sun, but its volume is 1 trillion times smaller.
“With a magnetic field up to 1,000 times stronger than a typical neutron star — and about 100 million times stronger than the most powerful magnets made by humans — Swift J1818.0−1607 belongs to a special class of objects called magnetars, which are the most magnetic objects in the universe,” explained NASA, in the statement. “And it appears to be the youngest magnetar ever discovered. If its age is confirmed, that means light from the stellar explosion that formed it would have reached Earth around the time that George Washington became the first president of the United States.”
The research has been published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters. The study was led by Paolo Esposito of the School for Advanced Studies (IUSS) in Pavia, Italy
MYSTERIOUS REPEATING RADIO SIGNALS FROM OUTSIDE OUR GALAXY DISCOVERED
«This object is showing us an earlier time in a magnetar’s life than we’ve ever seen before, very shortly after its formation,» said Nanda Rea, a researcher at the Institute of Space Sciences in Barcelona and principal investigator on XMM-Newton and NuSTAR observation campaigns.
Swift J1818.0−1607 is one of just 31 confirmed magnetars. In comparison, there are over 3,000 known neutron stars. «Maybe if we understand the formation story of these objects, we’ll understand why there is such a huge difference between the number of magnetars we’ve found and the total number of known neutron stars,» said Rea.
The NuSTAR telescope is led by Caltech and managed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
77-YEAR-OLD AMATEUR ASTRONOMER HELPS MAKE STUNNING DISCOVERY
Last year, in a separate project, scientists detected a black hole devouring a neutron star.


This independent study examines the Boston Busing crisis and the ways in which different levels of media covered the event. The Boston Busing crisis was a school desegregation event which took place in Boston prior to the start of the 1974 school year. The Boston busing crisis provides for an interesting example of school desegregation due to the fact it took place within the North and happened twenty some years after the Brown V. Board decision. This study examines the ways in which the national media, local media, and the Black press covered and reported on the event of the crisis. Each level of media brought with it a different type of reporting. These different reporting techniques led to very different narratives surrounding the busing crisis. Each level of the media covered the crisis through establishing various frameworks within their coverage that appealed to their specific audiences. These differing frameworks provided by the national and Black press would playout on the local level. Local media was caught in the middle of these frameworks and by attempting to play both sides provided its readers with two competing truths surrounding the Boston busing crisis. These new journalistic approaches that came of age during the busing crisis, would come to shape the type of coverage portrayed in modern day news media.
Bueter, Jacob P., "Lights, Camera, Busing: An Analysis of Differing Media Perspectives Surrounding the Boston Busing Crisis" (2020). Senior Independent Study Theses. Paper 8844.
Civil Rights and Discrimination | Education | Law and Race
Boston, Race, Civil rights movement, Media, Busing, riots, education, Northern Jim Crow.
Bachelor of Arts
Senior Independent Study Thesis
© Copyright 2020 Jacob P. Bueter


Groups Of Fish Use Contact Calls To Stick Together, Researchers Say
Fish seem to play a Marco Polo-type game when traveling in large groups, as a means of staying close together and bettering their chances of safety, according to a new study from the University of Auckland. While previous studies have shown fish send messages to each other for mating purposes or to defend territory, this is the first time researchers have proven they use contact calls to maintain group cohesion.
In the latest study, researchers from the university's Institute of Marine Science investigated the contact calls used by captive wild bigeyes (Pempheris adspersa), whose shouts and hollers have a range of about 100 feet. Bigeyes are a common fish species found along the coast of New Zealand. They are primarily nocturnal fish that forage at night -- rather independently, but still in close contact -- in loosely-knit groups.
Researchers played two kinds of sound recordings for the fish through underwater hydrophones: The first was of the normal ambient sounds of the reef tank where the fish were kept, while the second was of previously recorded bigeye vocalizations, according to a news release.
Overall, researchers found the fish grew five times more communicative with their calling rates, "talking" over the background sounds to stay in touch and swimming close together, when the recordings were played. However, when no sound recordings were played, the bigeyes swam farther apart.
"This study means that fish are now the oldest vertebrate group in which this behavior has been observed," Master's student Lucy van Oosterom, lead researcher on the study, said in a statement. "And that has interesting implications for our understanding of evolutionary behavior among vertebrates."
Their study was recently published in the journal Scientific Reports.
For more great nature science stories and general news, please visit our sister site, Headlines and Global News (HNGN).
-Follow Samantha on Twitter @Sam_Ashley13


Cranberries: scientific studies*
Scientific studies show that cranberries anthocyanins have many health benefits, including:
protecting against bacterial infections in the urinary system and preventing bacterias from seizing into bladder walls (1-6)
preventing the formation of alkaline stones in the urinary tract by working against bacterial-infections
preventing the development of cavities in teeth in a way similar to the action in preventing urinary tract infections
fighting oxydative stress (7)
displaying anti-proliferative activity against several types of cancer in vitro and in vivo, including gastric cancer (8) and esophageal adenocarcinoma. (9)
fending off ulcers by preventing helicobacter pylori, the bacterium which causes peptic ulcers, from adhering to the stomach lining. (10,11)
lowering bad cholesterol levels and increasing good cholesterol levels in the blood.
1. Reduction of Escherichia coli adherence to uroepithelial bladder cells after consumption of cranberry juice: a double-blind randomized placebo-controlled cross-over trial. Di Martino P, World J Urol. 2006 Feb;24(1):21-7. Epub 2006 Jan 6
2. Do cranberries help prevent urinary tract infections? Hutchinson J., Nurs Times. 2005 Nov 22-28;101(47):38-40.
3. Cranberries for preventing urinary tract infections. Jepson R, Mihaljevic L, Craig J.
Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2004;1:CD001321.
4. Characterization of flavonols in cranberry (Vaccinium macrocarpon) powder.
Vvedenskaya IO, Rosen RT, Guido JE, Russell DJ, Mills KA, Vorsa N.
J Agric Food Chem. 2004 Jan 28;52(2):188-95.
5. The role of cranberry juice in the treatment of urinary tract infections.
Griffiths P. Br J Community Nurs. 2003 Dec;8(12):557-61.
6. Cranberry juice consumption may reduce biofilms on uroepithelial cells: pilot study in spinal cord injured patients.
Reid G, Hsiehl J, Potter P, Mighton J, Lam D, Warren D, Stephenson J.
Spinal Cord 2001 Jan;39(1):26-30
7. Valentova K, Stejskal D, Bednar P, et al. Biosafety, antioxidant status and metabolites in urine after consumption of dried cranberry juice in healthy women: a pilot double-blind placebo-controlled trial. J Agric Food Chem. 2007 Apr 18;55:3217-24.
8. Liu M, Lin LQ, Song BB, et al. Cranberry phytochemical extract inhibits SGC-7901 cell growth and human tumor xenografts in Balb/c nu/nu mice. J Agric Food Chem. 2009 Jan 28;57(2):762-8.
9. Kresty LA, Howell AB, Baird M. Cranberry proanthocyanidins induce apoptosis and inhibit acid-induced proliferation of human esophageal adenocarcinoma cells. J Agric Food Chem. 2008 Feb 13;56(3):676-80.
10. Zhang L, Ma J, Pan K, Go VL, Chen J, You WC. Efficacy of cranberry juice on Helicobacter pylori infection: a double-blind, randomized placebo-controlled trial. Helicobacter. 2005 Apr;10(2):139-45.
11.Burger O, Weiss E, Sharon N, Tabak M, Neeman I, Ofek I. Inhibition of Helicobacter pylori adhesion to human gastric mucus by a high-molecular-weight constituent of cranberry juice. Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr. 2002;42(3 Suppl):279-84.
*Through this site we are only furthering scientific results; on no account we supply medical advices.
The content of this website has not been verified by a physician.


The Economics Of Happiness
By Helena Norberg-Hodge
26 February, 2010
Thirty-three years ago, I watched as a culture that had been sealed off from the rest of the world was suddenly thrown open to economic development. Witnessing the impact of the modern world on an ancient culture gave me insights into how economic globalisation creates feelings of inadequacy and inferiority, particularly in the young, and how those psychological pressures are helping to spread the global consumer culture. Since that time I have been promoting the rebuilding of community and local economies as the foundation of an ‘Economics of Happiness’.
When I first arrived in Ladakh or “Little Tibet”, a region high on the Tibetan plateau, it was still largely unaffected by either colonialism or the global economy. For political reasons, the region had been isolated for many centuries, both geographically and culturally. During several years of living amongst the Ladakhis, I found them to be the most contented and happy people I had ever encountered. Their sense of self-worth was deep and solid; smiles and laughter were their constant companions. Then in 1975, the Indian government abruptly opened Ladakh to imported food and consumer goods, to tourism and the global media, to western education and other trappings of the ‘development’ process. Romanticised impressions of the West gleaned from media, advertising and fleeting encounters with tourists had an immediate and profound impact on the Ladakhis. The sanitised and glamorised images of the urban consumer culture created the illusion that people outside Ladakh enjoyed infinite wealth and leisure. By contrast, working in the fields and providing for one's own needs seemed backward and primitive. Suddenly, everything from their food and clothing to their houses and language seemed inferior. The young were particularly affected, quickly succumbing to a sense of insecurity and self-rejection. The use of a dangerous skin-lightening cream called "Fair and Lovely" became widespread, symbolising the newly-created need to imitate the distant role models – western, urban, blonde – provided by the media.
Over the past three decades, I have studied this process in numerous cultures around the world and discovered that we are all victims of these same psychological pressures. In virtually every industrialised country, including the US, UK, Australia, France and Japan, there is now what is described as an epidemic of depression. In Japan, it is estimated that one million youths refuse to leave their bedrooms – sometimes for decades – in a phenomenon known as “Hikikomori.” In the US, a growing proportion of young girls are so deeply insecure about their appearance they fall victim to anorexia and bulimia, or undergo expensive cosmetic surgery.
Why is this happening? Too often these signs of breakdown are seen as ‘normal’: we assume that depression is a universal affliction, that children are by nature insecure about their appearance, that greed, acquisitiveness, and competition are innate to the human condition. What we fail to consider are the billions of dollars spent by marketers targeting children as young as two, with a goal of instilling the belief that material possessions will ensure them the love and appreciation they crave.
As global media reaches into the most remote parts of the planet, the underlying message is: "if you want to be seen, heard, appreciated and loved you must have the right running shoes, the most fashionable jeans, the latest toys and gadgets”. But the reality is that consumption leads to greater competition and envy, leaving children more isolated, insecure, and unhappy, thereby fuelling still more frantic consumption in a vicious cycle. In this way, the global consumer culture taps into the fundamental human need for love and twists it into insatiable greed.
Today, more and more people are waking up to fact that, because of its environmental costs, an economic model based on endless consumption is simply unsustainable. But because there is far less understanding of the social and psychological costs of the consumer culture, most believe that making the changes necessary to save the environment will entail great sacrifice. Once we realise that oil-dependent global growth is not only responsible for climate change and other environmental crises, but also for increased stress, anxiety and social breakdown, then it becomes clear that the steps we need to take to heal the planet are the same as those needed to heal ourselves: both require reducing the scale of the economy – in other words localising rather than continuing to globalise economic activity. My sense from interviewing people in four continents is that this realisation is already growing, and has the potential to spread like wildfire.
Economic localisation means bringing economic activity closer to home – supporting local economies and communities rather than huge, distant corporations. Instead of a global economy based on sweatshop in the South, stressed-out two-earner families in the North, and a handful of billionaire elites in both, localisation means a smaller gap between rich and poor and closer contact between producers and consumers. This translates into greater social cohesion : a recent study found that shoppers at farmers’ markets had ten times more conversations than people in supermarkets.
And community is a key ingredient in happiness. Almost universally, research confirms that feeling connected to others is a fundamental human need. Local, community-based economies are also crucial for the well-being of our children, providing them with living role models and a healthy sense of identity. Recent childhood development research demonstrates the importance, in the early years of life, of learning about who we are in relation to parents, siblings, and the larger community. These are real role models, unlike the artificial stereotypes found in the media.
A deep connection with nature is similarly fundamental to our well-being. Author Richard Louv has even coined the expression ‘nature deficit disorder’ to describe what is happening to children deprived of contact with the living world. The therapeutic benefits of contact with nature, meanwhile, are becoming ever more clear. A recent UK study showed that 90 percent of people suffering from depression experience an increase in self-esteem after a walk in a park. After a visit to a shopping centre, on the other hand, 44 percent feel a decrease in self-esteem and 22 percent feel more depressed. Considering that over 31 million prescriptions for anti-depressants were handed out in the UK last year, this is a crucial finding.
Despite the enormity of the crises we face, turning towards the more community-based, localised economies represents a powerful solution multiplier. As Kali Wendorf, editor of Kindred magazine, says, “the way forward is actually quite simple: it’s more time with each other, more time in nature, more time in collective situations that give us a sense of community, like farmers’ markets, for example, or developing a relationship with the corner shop where you get your fruits and vegetables. It’s not going back to the Stone Age. It’s just getting back to that foundation of connection again.”
Efforts to localise economies are happening at the grassroots all over the world, and bringing with them a sense of well-being. A young man who started an urban garden in Detroit, one of America’s most blighted cities, told us, “I’ve lived in this community over 35 years and people I’d never met came up and talked to me when we started this project. We found that it reconnects us with the people around us, it makes community a reality”. Another young gardener in Detroit put it this way: “Everything just feels better to people when there is something growing.”
Global warming and the end of cheap oil demand a fundamental shift in the way that we live. The choice is ours. We can continue down the path of economic globalisation, which at the very least will create greater human suffering and environmental problems, and at worst, threatens our very survival. Or, through localisation, we can begin to rebuild our communities and local economies, the foundations of sustainability and happiness.
Helena Norberg-Hodge is an analyst of the impact of the global economy on cultures and agriculture worldwide and a pioneer of the localisation movement. She is the founder and director of the International Society for Ecology and Culture (ISEC). Based in the US and UK, with subsidiaries in Sweden, Germany, Australia, and Ladakh, ISEC's mission is to examine the root causes of our social and environmental crises, while promoting more sustainable and equitable patterns of living in both North and South. Its activities include The Ladakh Project, a Local Food program and Global to Local Outreach.She is the author of Ancient Futures: Learning from Ladakh, based on her first-hand experience of the effects of conventional development in Ladakh. Ancient Futures has been described as an "inspirational classic" by the London Times and together with a film of the same title, it has been translated into 42 languages. A new edition will be published in 2009 by Random House. She is also co-author of Bringing the Food Economy Home and From the Ground Up: Rethinking Industrial Agriculture. In 1986, she received the Right Livelihood Award, or the "Alternative Nobel Prize" as recognition for her work in Ladakh


The question is, can storytelling principles be applied to sales techniques, starting with the concept of good and evil? In storytelling, the bad guy is a character, for the most part antagonistic, who embodies Evil, or at least acts like he does. He is generally fighting against the “good guy”. This concept of the antagonist is basic to storytelling. It has been effectively used in many a successful film: Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader, Batman and Joker, Terminator and his computer Skynet, James Bond and Dr. NO, Robin Hood and the Sheriff of Nottingham, etc. But it has nothing to do with sales techniques. Or does it? What is the relationship between sales techniques and this type of principle used in the stories we tell? And how can sales techniques make use of this concept?
How can sales techniques make use of the concept of antagonism?
Steve Jobs was the master of using storytelling as a sales technique. He started very early by casting his first competitor as the bad guy in his very first presentations in 1984. The villain was IBM, who wanted to monopolize the market. The good guy, the hero, was Apple, who wanted everyone to have a computer and the distributors to make money quickly.
I used this principle in a sales presentation for the company I work for: Mercuri International, a firm that optimizes company performance. Our products include sales training courses. And since 2008, we had been having problems presenting a so-called “blended” training product that was a mix of classic learning techniques and new technologies. Two types of customers had good reason not to buy this type of approach:
- Early adopters of new technologies who were disappointed with elearning: they had tried elearning as early as possible, in 2000 to 2006, and generally had bad memories of it. We would lose their attention as soon as we mentioned computers, because they associated our product with elearning, whose limits they had had time to test. Even though the two had nothing in common.
- Anti-technology diehards, the people who find reading emails too long, would rather use the telephone than the internet, etc., who resist adding this type of tool to their training programs.
Rather than presenting Mercuri’s blended line, I put together a presentation that tells the story of Phil.
Phil is a sales rep, and the story was about Phil’s experience with a classic training course compared to a Mercuri blended course. Phil became the presentation, the person who used facts to demonstrate the limitations of classic approaches for learners like him, by telling the story of his experiences in the days of such training. Phil also showed the advantages of the new Mercuri blended approach, talking about how exciting it was to be trained in on-line methods that allowed maximum time for practical training, to train using tools like iPads or business simulations, and about the progress he was making professionally. Most of what he said was what we hear from our course participants. The client saw in Phil his own sales reps and teams, and began to see the benefits of working with Mercuri.
Since then, I have made progress on two points:
- I have added a second character that contrasts with Phil: Jenny. Jenny talks about the limitations of classic courses, which she endured rather than enjoyed. Jenny adds color and contrast to the story. I start the story with her, because Jenny allows me to connect with the sort of product that the customer is familiar with, the kind he buys from our competitors.
- But most importantly, in the first part of the presentation I defend this classic product using all the reasons why the customer has not changed, all the obstacles that make companies like his work the way they do: the costs, the system changes, human resistance, the impersonal side, lack of motivation, etc . This increases the suspense, another storytelling basic: if the hero’s victory is too easy or predictable, it kills all the interest and suspense of the story. At the beginning of every story the villain must be stronger, his victims’ problems must seem insurmountable, and the hero’s task must seem impossible. There needs to be drama. In fact, that is what this phase of storytelling is called: dramatization.
Meanwhile, the client hears Jenny repeat word for word all the complaints he hears everyday about his current solutions. He visualizes and feels why he needs to drop his current supplier and find another solution. That’s how we spark a desire for an alternative, for different solution from the one he’s using …
And guess whose solution will solve the problem? … You’re right, the one Phil got: ours, of course, Mercuri’s.
But this one’s trickier … have you figured out who the good guy and the bad guy in the story are? Phil and Jenny? No, not them, they’re the ones whose lives depend on the heroes and the villains, two of my best friends in real life. No, the villain is the competitor that the client works with now, of course, and the hero is Mercuri 😉
So, have you figured out who gets to be Robin Hood, James Bond, the hero of the story? It’s you, the sales rep who has become a storyteller 😉
Lire cet article en Français: http://presentations-de-vente.com/storytelling-et-techniques-de-vente-heros-et-traitre


Frundsberg, Georg von
Frundsberg, Georg von(gā`ôrkh fən fro͝onts`bĕrkh), 1473–1528, German commander in the service of Holy Roman emperors Maximilian I and Charles VCharles V,
1500–1558, Holy Roman emperor (1519–58) and, as Charles I, king of Spain (1516–56); son of Philip I and Joanna of Castile, grandson of Ferdinand II of Aragón, Isabella of Castile, Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I, and Mary of Burgundy.
..... Click the link for more information. . He was the principal organizer and commander of the imperial Landsknechte, a mercenary infantry. In the Italian WarsItalian Wars,
1494–1559, series of regional wars brought on by the efforts of the great European powers to control the small independent states of Italy. Renaissance Italy was split into numerous rival states, most of which sought foreign alliances to increase their
..... Click the link for more information. , Frundsberg contributed to the victories of La Bicocca (1522) and Pavia (1525) over the French. He then helped to end the Peasants' War in Germany, but in 1526 returned to Italy to aid Charles de BourbonBourbon, Charles, duc de
, 1490–1527, constable of France and governor of Milan. He distinguished himself at the battle of Marignano (1515) in the Italian Wars between King Francis I and Holy Roman Emperor Charles V.
..... Click the link for more information. against the anti-imperial League of Cognac. While trying to pacify a mutiny caused by rumors of a truce (the troops had not been paid), Frundsberg suffered a stroke and died. The troops continued their march on Rome under Charles de Bourbon and sacked the city.


Ethnocultural Empathy Among Students in Health Care Education
2009 (English)In: Evaluation & the Health Professions, ISSN 0163-2787, E-ISSN 1552-3918, Vol. 32, no 3, 300-313 p.Article in journal (Refereed) Published
In a multicultural society, ethnocultural empathy has become an important element in most health settings and development of this capacity has become a central component for health care professionals in their interactions with patients and clients. In this study, differences in basic empathy and ethnocultural empathy were explored in a sample of 365 undergraduate students at the beginning and end of four masters programs in health care ( medicine, psychology, nursing, and social work). Results showed that it was mainly psychology students in the first semester who had significantly higher general empathic skills and ethnocultural empathic skills compared to students in the other study programs. Few signs of differences between students in their first and in later semesters were obtained. The observed differences may be explained by ( a) levels of admission grades and applications requirements or (b) different cultures and expectations from the surrounding milieus in the investigated study programs.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2009. Vol. 32, no 3, 300-313 p.
Empathy, health care, culture, ethnocultural empathy, education
National CategorySocial Sciences
IdentifiersURN: urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-20603DOI: 10.1177/0163278709338569OAI: oai:DiVA.org:liu-20603DiVA: diva2:235528
The final, definitive version of this paper has been published in: EVALUATION and THE HEALTH PROFESSIONS, (32), 3, 300-313, 2009. Chato Rasoal, Tomas Jungert, Elinor Edvardsson Stiwne and Gerhard Andersson, Ethnocultural Empathy Among Students in Health Care Education http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0163278709338569 by SAGE Publications Ltd, All rights reserved. http://www.uk.sagepub.com/2009-09-162009-09-152014-11-28Bibliographically approved


Even though it's been part of the diet of most humans for thousands of years, gluten is getting a really bad reputation lately, with many claiming that a gluten-free diet is a great choice for everyone. Is wheat gluten bad for you? Find out more about the facts and the myths surrounding gluten.
Mostly found in wheat, gluten is a protein that's also present in barley, rye and triticale and some even go as far as to warn against oats, because they come in contact with gluten during the processing and packaging. While a gluten-free diet is very important for people who suffer from celiac disease, it may not be the right choice for everyone.
Is Gluten Bad for You?
While gluten alone has no benefits for the human body, a gluten-free diet has many drawbacks, according to the general medical consensus. When you go on a gluten-free diet, there's a high chance that you'll also be missing out on fibers and important vitamins and minerals.
Gluten is certainly bad for you if you suffer from celiac disease or other forms of gluten intolerance or sensitivity, but it has no negative health implications for most people.
Why is Gluten Bad for You Even If You're Not Gluten Intolerant?
Even if you haven't been diagnosed with gluten intolerance, you may still benefit from a gluten-free diet, but that's not the case for most people, according to doctors. Gluten-free diet activists claim that as much as 80% of the population is sensitive to gluten, but that doesn't seem to be consistent with the fact that there are no scientific studies currently estimating the number of people who may have a little trouble digesting it.
If you have symptoms like abdominal pain and bloating, chronic diarrhea or constipation, anemia, fatigue and unexplained weight loss, you might be sensitive to gluten, but it's always better to get the opinion of a medical professional before removing gluten completely out of your diet.
Dangers of a Gluten-Free Diet
A gluten-free diet for people who don't suffer from celiac disease or any form of sensitivity to gluten is a very bad idea, according to specialists. Most people believe that cutting out bread and pasta from their diets means going gluten-free, but most foods contain gluten.
This restrictive diet can be very hard to follow and costs a lot of money, but the real danger is that by cutting out every product with gluten from your diet, you have a higher risk of developing other nutritional deficiencies.
If you go on a gluten-free diet to deal with digestion issues without consulting a doctor, you could also end up hiding symptoms of other conditions, like Crohn's disease.
You might also find useful:


As I’ve discussed before, I think that our culture has a perspective on drawing that is oriented to an “Art frame-of-mind,” which is opposition to a “Language frame-of-mind.” While Language stresses communality and shared signs, the main threads in the Art frame-of-mind are Iconicity, Individuality, and Innovation. These are cultural orientations in the “West” that impact the way we treat drawing and the way has developed in our culture.
Now, I’m not an art historian, nor do I really want to devote a great deal of my own time to researching it, but the thought did arise of how the Art threads arose. Medieval drawing seemed fairly uniform in terms of style – more conventionality than iconicity or individuality. Where did the change occur?
My speculation would place Iconicity starting around the Renaissance period, along with the growth toward accurate anatomy and perspective. It was a period of learning about nature instead of dogma, and so drawing was culled from perception of nature. I’m guessing that the Individuality and Innovation threads arose in response to this Iconicity, especially with more modern movements like impressionism and abstract art.
But, all this is guesswork. If anyone with more drive, knowledge, or resources for these issues wants to confirm or squash these speculations, I’d be first in line to read up on them.


ELECTRONIC STRUCTURES OF IONS
This page explores how you write electronic structures for simple monatomic ions (ions containing only one atom) using s, p, and d notation. It assumes that you already understand how to write electronic structures for atoms.
Important! If you have come straight to this page via a search engine, you should read the page on electronic structures of atoms before you go any further.
Working out the electronic structures of ions
Ions are atoms (or groups of atoms) which carry an electric charge because they have either gained or lost one or more electrons. If an atom gains electrons it acquires a negative charge. If it loses electrons, it becomes positively charged.
The electronic structure of s- and p-block ions
Write the electronic structure for the neutral atom, and then add (for a negative ion) or subtract electrons (for a positive ion).
To write the electronic structure for Cl -:
To write the electronic structure for O2-:
To write the electronic structure for Na+:
To write the electronic structure for Ca2+:
The electronic structure of d-block ions
Here you are faced with one of the most irritating facts in chemistry at this level! When you work out the electronic structures of the first transition series (from scandium to zinc) using the Aufbau Principle, you do it on the basis that the 3d orbitals have a higher energy than the 4s orbital.
That means that you work on the assumption that the 3d electrons are added after the 4s ones.
However, in all the chemistry of the transition elements, the 4s orbital behaves as the outermost, highest energy orbital. When these metals form ions, the 4s electrons are always lost first.
You must remember this:
Provided you remember that, working out the structure of a d-block ion is no different from working out the structure of, say, a sodium ion.
Note: The problem here is that the Aufbau Principle can only really be used as a way of working out the electronic structures of most atoms. It is a simple way of doing that, although it fails with some, like chromium or copper, of course, and you have to learn these.
There is, however, a flaw in the theory behind it which produces problems like this. Why are the apparently higher energy 3d electrons not the ones to get lost when the metal ionises?
I have written a detailed explanation of this on another page called the order of filling 3d and 4s orbitals. If you are a teacher or a very confident student then you might like to follow this link.
If you aren't so confident, or are coming at this for the first time, I suggest that you ignore it. Learn how to work out the structures of these atoms using the Aufbau Principle on the assumption that the 3d orbitals fill after the 4s, and learn that when the atoms ionise, the 4s electrons are always lost first. Just ignore the contradictions between these two ideas!
To write the electronic structure for Cr3+:
The 4s electron is lost first followed by two of the 3d electrons.
To write the electronic structure for Zn2+:
This time there is no need to use any of the 3d electrons.
To write the electronic structure for Fe3+:
The 4s electrons are lost first followed by one of the 3d electrons.
The rule is quite simple. Take the 4s electrons off first, and then as many 3d electrons as necessary to produce the correct positive charge.
Note: You may well have the impression from GCSE that ions have to have noble gas structures. It's not true! Most (but not all) ions formed by s- and p-block elements do have noble gas structures, but if you look at the d-block ions we've used as examples, not one of them has a noble gas structure - yet they are all perfectly valid ions. Getting away from a reliance on the concept of noble gas structures is one of the difficult mental leaps that you have to make at the beginning of A'level chemistry.
© Jim Clark 2000 (last modified August 2012)


Don't study words at random and get them all confused. Get them straight and put them into long-term memory. Start now with the Latin root pugnare, meaning to fight.
So many SAT Prep courses and testing materials give list after list of random words to be memorized. Students don’t enjoy these vocabulary lists and, frankly, they don’t benefit much from using them.
The advantage of using Latin lies in the fact that one Latin root word can yield a dozen or more English derivatives.
Search these pages and discover the Latin advantage in building vocabulary for the upcoming SAT exam. Start with a list of SAT prep vocabulary.
The Greek language is equally powerful in understanding the roots of advanced English words. Unlock standardized vocabulary tests with the study of Greek root words, prefixes, and suffixes.
Take the tedium from SAT test preparation. Make every minute of study count.


Newswise — A long-time microbial inhabitant of the human stomach may protect children from developing asthma, according to a new study among more than 7,000 subjects led by NYU Langone Medical Center researchers. Helicobacter pylori, a bacterium that has co-existed with humans for at least 50,000 years, may lead to peptic ulcers and stomach cancer. Yet, kids between the ages of 3 and 13 are nearly 59 percent less likely to have asthma if they carry the bug, the researchers report. The study appears in the July 15, 2008, online issue of The Journal of Infectious Diseases.
"Our findings suggest that absence of H. pylori may be one explanation for the increased risk of childhood asthma," says Yu Chen, Ph.D., assistant professor of epidemiology at New York University School of Medicine and a co-author of the study. "Among teens and children ages 3 to 19 years, carriers of H. pylori were 25 percent less likely to have asthma."
The impact was even more potent among children ages 3 to 13: they were 59 percent less likely to have asthma if they carried the bacterium, the researchers report. H. pylori carriers in teens and children were also 40 percent less likely to have hay fever and associated allergies such as eczema or rash.
These results, which follow on from similar findings in adults published by the same authors last year, are based on an analysis of data gathered from 7,412 participants in the fourth National Health and Nutrition Survey (NHANES IV) conducted from 1999 to 2000 by the National Center for Health Statistics. Dr. Chen collaborated on the survey with Martin J. Blaser, M.D., the Frederick H. King Professor of Internal Medicine, chair of the department of medicine, and professor of microbiology at NYU Langone Medical Center. Dr. Blaser has studied H. pylori for more than two decades.
Asthma has been rising steadily for the past half-century. Meanwhile H. pylori, once nearly universal in humans, has been slowly disappearing from developed countries over the past century due to increased antibiotic use, which kills off the bacteria, and cleaner water and homes, explains Dr. Blaser. Data from NHANES IV showed that only 5.4 percent of children born in the 1990s were positive for H. pylori, and that 11.3 percent of the participants under 10 had received an antibiotic in the month prior to the survey.
The rise in asthma over the past decades, Dr. Blaser says, could stem from the fact that a stomach harboring H. pylori has a different immunological status from one lacking the bug. When H. pylori is present, the stomach is lined with immune cells called regulatory T cells that control the body's response to invaders. Without these cells, a child can be more sensitive to allergens.
"Our hypothesis is that if you have Helicobacter you have a greater population of regulatory T-cells that are setting a higher threshold for sensitization," Dr. Blaser explains. "For example, if a child doesn't have Helicobacter and has contact with two or three cockroaches, he may get sensitized to them. But if Helicobacter is directing the immune response, then even if a child comes into contact with many cockroaches he may not get sensitized because his immune system is more tolerant."
In other words, the presence of the bacteria in the stomach may influence how a child's immune system develops: if a child does not encounter Helicobacter early on, the immune system may not learn how to regulate a response to allergens. Therefore, the child may be more likely to mount the kinds of inflammatory responses that trigger asthma.
"There's a growing body of data that says that early life use of antibiotics increases risk of asthma, and parents and doctors are using antibiotics like water," Dr. Blaser says. "The reality is that Helicobacter is disappearing extremely rapidly. In the NHANES IV study, less than six percent of U.S. children had Helicobacter, and probably two generations ago it was 70 percent. So, this is a huge change in human micro-ecology. The disappearance of an organism that's been in the stomach forever and is dominant is likely to have consequences. The consequences may be both good—less likelihood of gastric cancer and ulcers later in life—and bad: more asthma early in life."
ABOUT NYU LANGONE MEDICAL CENTER
One of the world's premier academic medical institutions for more than 167 years, NYU Langone Medical Center continues to be a leader in patient care, physician education and scientific research. NYU Medical Center is internationally renowned for excellence in areas such as cardiovascular disease, pediatrics, skin care, neurosurgery, urology, cancer care, rehabilitation, plastic surgery, minimally invasive surgery, transplant surgery, infertility, women's health and day surgery.
MEDIA CONTACTRegister for reporter access to contact details
The Journal of Infectious Diseases (15-Jul-2008)


Translation of noose in Spanish:
- (for trapping) lazo (masculine)the noose was already around his neckya estaba con la soga al cuelloto put a noose around one's own neck, to put one's head in a noosefirmar su sentencia de muerteExample sentences
- The dialogue alternatingly sparkles or darkens as various nooses, comic or otherwise, steadily tighten.
- How many businesses will want to spend money making their own nooses?
- With the noose tightening around humanity's neck, the good ship Switchblade Honey is dispatched behind enemy lines, with a simple remit: strike hard, strike fast, and keep moving.
What do you find interesting about this word or phrase?
Comments that don't adhere to our Community Guidelines may be moderated or removed.