Translated by Roxanne Krystalli. Spanish version available here.
Steps towards the construction of peace in Colombia?
The account of armed conflict that has affected Colombia for more than 50 years still has chapters that are unknown to Colombians and the world. However, the report “Enough Already! Colombia: Memories of War and Dignity,” created by the National Center for Historical Memory , is a valuable step in the right direction and it serves a number of purposes: narrating the truth about the [most?] severe violations that have taken place; revealing the activities of all actors in the conflict, as well as their interests and links to national political and social elites; capturing the memory of the victims and the persistence of their suffering; highlighting judicial, administrative and governmental policies to begin to use judicial mechanism to create cracks in the wall of impunity; and recommending concrete measures to overcome these problems.
In this article I highlight three relevant aspects of the report. These aspects demonstrate the political and social need for Colombians to know what happened, and, above all, to confront the challenges of the new peace. First, is the need to identify the use of violence by all armed actors in the conflict: security forces, paramilitaries and guerrillas. Clear and precise acknowledgment of their responsibility in the massive and systematic violations that have taken place is necessary; this task relates to the need to build truth about the conflict, its causes, consequences and impact. Second, is recognition that most of the victims of this armed conflict were civilians, whose rights continue to be violated. Third, there is a need for profound institutional changes that must be implemented by each of the actors in the armed conflict.
On the first point, relating to the diversity of the armed actors, various national and international human rights organizations have denounced the human rights violations and breaches of international humanitarian law by Colombian armed groups in the past decades. Meanwhile, governmental data about the conflict has relied on statistics that serve the interest of the government, which has tried to hide, exaggerate or minimize the situation. Given this crucial deficiency, the detailed report of the National Center of Historical Memory has been crucial. A public institution with a national mandate, the Center has importantly relied on statistics that track violations by each of the actors, including the type of violations committed by each of these actors, and the relationships between them.
The report concluded that certain actors committed particular violations more frequently than others and that these patterns became characteristic features of their activities in the conflict. In this regard, it is noteworthy that most of the targeted killings (38.4%) and massacres (58.9%) were committed by paramilitary groups aligned with the government, while the guerrillas demonstrated high numbers of cases of kidnapping (90.6%) and damage to civilian properties (84.1%). Although the report notes the glaring weaknesses in the tracking of enforced disappearance, the authors assert that the largest number of violations was perpetrated by the state security forces (42.1%). The report also notes that Colombia remains the country with the highest number of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the world and the second highest country, behind Afghanistan, with regard to the number of landmine victims.
At times, the cold figures do not allow the readers to see the tragedy of the victims. The report, therefore, rigorously examines three case studies that demonstrate the human dimensions of the tragedy. These three cases provide a face and context for the data and are summarized below.
Between February16 and 21, 2000, the Northern Block of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, in partnership with the security forces in the town of Salado, Montes de María (Northern Colombia), conducted one of the largest and bloodiest massacres in the country’s history. In this case, 60 people were tortured, raped and beheaded to the rhythm of music and alcohol in the main square of the town as a way to weaken the guerilla’s civilian base and send them a message about the dominance of the paramilitary. The perpetrators destroyed homes and commercial sites alike. The entirety of the village was forcibly displaced. The surviving victims suffer depression, mental trauma, panic, and terror, among other serious impacts on their mental and physical health.
On February 23rd, 2002, Ingrid Betancourt, a Green Party candidate for the Presidency of the Republic, was kidnapped along with her adviser Clara Rojas, on their way to the Caguan area following a break in the peace process that then-President Andrés Pastrana had initiated with the FARC. Ingrid Betancourt was held hostage for more than six years, during which she was subjected to life in the jungle, disease, harsh punishments after their escape attempts, beatings and maltreatment. Her release was the product of a military intelligence operation known as Operation Jaque, an operation that itself has been questioned for its possible violation of international humanitarian law.
Under the “Democratic Security” policy of then-President Alvaro Uribe (2002-2010), members of the security forces extrajudicially executed socially marginalized youth. The youth were promised work, ostesibly legal or even illegal, if they moved to municipalities and departments away from their homes. In most cases, one or two days after having last been seen alive by their families, these youth were reported as “guerrillas killed in combat.” As of March 31, 2011, the Attorney General had identified more than 2,701 cases of such victims.
Regarding the second aspect discussed in this report, namely the acknowledgment of the victims, the investigation concluded that at least 220,000 people died between January 1, 1958 and December 31, 2012. Of these deaths, 81.5 % were civilians, and 18.5% were legal and illegal combatants. This helps clarify the discussion in Colombia by dispelling the myth that combatants and non-combatants were victims of the conflict in equal proportions, or that the armed conflict is an issue that does not significantly affect the civilian population. According to analyzed data, the reality is that one in three violent deaths in Colombia is the result of the internal armed conflict.
According to the report, the instrumentalization of civilians by armed groups has been part of a widely-deployed strategy whereby armed group attempts to consolidate and strengthen their power in a particular zone by targetting civilians, setting off cycles of retaliation between groups. Similarly, when civilians are seen as the source of decisive support in the final outcome of the conflict, perpetrators from all sides have demonstrated willingness to use violence to impact the outcome in their favor. The analysis points to other tactics used against the population: pursuit of military action regardless of its effects on civlians, the use of military action as a mechanism to maintain civilians’ loyalties, or imposition of force to coerce civilians to provide resources.
The report shows that the humanitarian crisis in Colombia is extremely serious in terms of both lethal and nonlethal violence. The report examines the widespread use of sexual violence against women and girls as a weapon of war, as well as the invisibility of this phenomenon. It also sheds light on the prevalence of an extractive economy that not only violates the legitimate rights of historic landowners, such as indigenous communities and Afro-Colombian peoples, but also “preys, destroys and builds without generating sustainable development.” It also refers to the attacks on political and social actors who are in opposition to government policies.
On this last point, the report analyzes—however briefly—violence against trade unionists and its impact on trade union rights and labor rights. It must not be forgotten that Colombia is the country with the highest number of assassinations of trade unionists in the world, a fact that has been a critical point in delays and doubts about the signing of free trade agreements between Colombia and other countries. Signatories to agreements often continue to monitor the situation of trade unionists in Colombia.
The last point I would like to highlight is regarding the report’s recommendations. It recommends implementing changes that are aimed at building a “new institutional architecture in and for peace.” For this, the participation of victims and various sectors of civil society in a bottom-up effort needs to be guaranteed, from the regional to the national level. Additionally, the report recommends creating a national dialogue on the rights to truth, justice, and reparation of the victims, and guarantees of non-repetition by each of the actors, legal and illegal. Here, perhaps, with regard to the right to redress, it would be key to note the importance of ensuring a process that involves victims from the start and aims at transformative reparations as has been proposed by several scholars.
The biggest challenge will be bringing these recommendations closer to how policies are actually being implemented in Colombia. For example, the peace process that is currently taking place in Havana, Cuba is far from being a bottom-up process; by contrast, the participation of civil society has remained far from its scope and it is unclear that there are plans to change this in the future. Another complex example is the government’s interest in expanding the military criminal justice system, which has been heavily criticized by the UN and human rights organizations because it can encourage impunity for human rights violations committed by the security forces. Even more complicated is the necessary structural change of the extractive economic model, such that it enables recognition and respect for the rights of indigenous peoples and Afro-Colombians, as opposed to the massive mining and natural resource exploitation that are major economic policies of the current government. Colombia needs more truth-telling like that contained in this report. It needs to say “Basta ya!” “Enough Already!” to violations in order to inaugurate the beginning of profound changes.
 Public institution of the national order within the Departament of Social Prosperity of the Government of Colombia.
 From 1997 to date, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Colombia has created an annual report. You can view all of them at: http://www.hchr.org.co/documentoseinformes/informes/altocomisionado/informes.php3?cat=11. Similarly, the Interamerican Commission for Human Rights publishes anual reports, reports by country and decisions, accesible at: http://www.oas.org/es/cidh/docs/anual/2012/indice.asp. National human rights organizations, such as the Colombian Commission of Jurists or CINEP, among others, have been following the situation for over 25 years and discussed it in numerous reports.
 See: Correa y Malagón, “Imperceptiblemente nos encerraron. Exclusión del sindicalismo y lógicas de la violencia antisindical en Colombia 1979-2010” “We were Subtly Bound and Silenced: The exclusion of the Union Movement an the Logic of Anti-Union Violence in Colombia”, Comisión Colombiana de Juristas y Escuela Nacional Sindical. Bogotá, Colombia 2012. Capítulo VII. Disponible en: http://ens.org.co/apc-aa-files/45bdec76fa6b8848acf029430d10bb5a/imperceptiblemente_nos_encerraron_1.pdf. UNDP Colombia completed a report on trade unionists. Chapter 4 (pages 50-54) discusses how the criteria of case selection varied depending on the different governmental entities. See: http://www.pnud.org.co/2012/informe_sindicalismo.pdf. Additionally, see the op-ed by Daniel Coronel on the manipulation of the figures on kidnappings during the government of President Alvaro Uribe. http://www.semana.com/opinion/articulo/columna-coronell-sobre-el-secuestro-en-colombia/365919-3.
 The GMH defines massacres as “the murder of four or more people in a state of helplessness and in the same circumstances of manner, time and place, and is recognised by the public display of violence. It is perpetrated in the presence of others or made visible to others as horror show. It is the product of brutal encounter between the absolute power of the perpetrator and the utter helplessness of the victim”. El GMH define masacre como “el homicidio intencional de cuatro o más personas en estado de indefensión y en iguales circunstancias de modo, tiempo y lugar, y que se distingue por la exposición pública de la violencia. Es perpetrada en presencia de otros o se visibiliza ante otros como espectáculo de horror. Es producto del encuentro brutal entre el poder absoluto del victimario y la impotencia total de la víctima”.
 This report was written before the Syrian crisis in 2013.
 Confederación Sindical Internacional. “Informe Países en situación de riesgo 2013” http://www.ituc-csi.org/IMG/pdf/survey_ra_2013_es_final.pdf. See English version: http://www.ituc-csi.org/countries-at-risk-2013-report-on?lang=en
 A Staff Report on behalf of U.S. Representatives George Miller and Jim McGovern to the Congressional Monitoring Group on Labor Rights in Colombia. “The US Colombia Labor Action Plan: Failing on the ground”. Available at: http://democrats.edworkforce.house.gov/sites/democrats.edworkforce.house.gov/files/documents/Colombia%20trip%20report%20-%2010.29.13%20-%20formatted%20-%20FINAL.pdf. Similarly: Resolución del Parlamento Europeo sobre el Acuerdo Comercial entre la Unión Europea y Colombia y Perú. Versión en español: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//TEXT+MOTION+B7-2012-0301+0+DOC+XML+V0//ES. English version: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//TEXT+MOTION+B7-2012-0301+0+DOC+XML+V0//EN
 See: Roddy Brett y Lina Malagón, “Overcoming the Original Sin of the “Original Condition:” How Reparations May Contribute to Emancipatory Peacebuilding”. Human Rights Review, July 2013.
 See: Roddy Brett, “Local Level Peacebuilding: The Case of Colombia”. Lessons Learned Paper, UNDP Colombia, Forthcoming, 2014.
 Comentarios de la Oficina del Alto Comisionado de las Naciones Unidas para los Derechos Humanos en Colombia, Disponible en: http://www.hchr.org.co/publico/pronunciamientos/otraspresentaciones/comentarios_proy_ley_estatutaria_fuero.pdf
 See: http://www.coljuristas.org/documentos/pronunciamientos/pro_2012-08-30.pdf; http://www.hrw.org/es/news/2011/12/12/colombia-debe-retirar-proyecto-que-ampliar-el-fuero-militar
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Jack Robertson has written a magnificent account of Alexander Pushkin’s poem The Bronze Horseman, which brings it to life in a wonderfully accessible new translation and restores the radical, revolutionary impulse that motivated Pushkin to write it.
The Bronze Horseman is an epic poem set against the background of a flood which hit St Petersburg in 1824 and plays out as drama between the figure of Evgeny, a minor government clerk, who has lost his lover Parasha in the flood, and the imposing bronze statue of Peter the Great, the founder of St Petersburg. Evgeny is driven mad by his loss and shakes his fist at the statue, blaming him for the death of Parasha. The bronze statue comes to life and chases Evgeny to his death.
But this book is much more than just the poem. The later sections, that give a background to the poem, are a masterful and sweeping account of the whole pre-revolutionary history of Russia, Pushkin’s sympathy with and connection to the uprisings against Tsarism in the early 1800s, and reflections on the relationship between art, society, history and politics.
Written under the heavy hand of censorship — the original poem was blocked from publication by Tsar Nicholas I himself — Robertson reveals the real meaning of the poem as a celebration of the 1825 uprising against the Tsar, by army officers inspired by the French Revolution, subsequently known as the Decembrist Revolt.
The poem, here illustrated with engravings from one of the earliest complete editions in 1905, is a masterpiece of subtle lyricism, ambiguity and subversion. It begins by praising Peter the Great for his foresight in creating St Petersburg and with a loving hymn to the beauty of the city, then hints at the limits to his power against the elemental forces of the river and the flood, ruin, death and destruction it brings. The final section reveals the Tsar’s tyranny as he hunts Evgeny who dared to question his power.
Robertson’s extended and very readable account of the actual Decembrists’ revolt of 1825 — many of its leaders were close personal friends of Pushkin — only heightens the drama of the poem itself. The key events of the revolt take place in the Senate Square, underneath the bronze statue, at the inauguration of Nicholas I. The rebellious army officers had planned to assassinate the new Tsar, but their rebellion was crushed, with hundreds of soldiers and onlookers killed by cannon fire or drowned beneath the ice on the River Neva. Five of the leaders were executed at the Peter and Paul Fortress and their bodies buried on the small island where Evgeny’s body is washed up at the end of the poem.
Robertson explains that his motivation to undertake this monumental work was to explain to an English-speaking audience the enduring appeal of Pushkin. In the introduction he recounts witnessing an open-air commemoration of Pushkin’s poem on a visit to St Petersburg, at which virtually every spectator knew large parts of the poem by heart. And yet it is barely known in the West, much less celebrated than more popular versions of Pushkin’s poems and plays, such as Boris Godunov and Eugene Onegin.
An important thread throughout the book is to reclaim Pushkin from attempts to depoliticise his art, in much the same way as Paul Foot rescued the poet Shelley from a similar fate at the hands of the literary establishment in Britain.
Pushkin was of the generation that immediately followed the French Revolution and the shockwaves it sent across Europe. His aristocratic background gave him access to education and a wide range of the literature and writing that poured out of western Europe, directly influenced by the ideas of the revolution. As Robertson highlights, the narrative of Russian history was highly contested in the early 1800s, as various figures in the aristocracy were torn between the promise of liberal reform and the fear of unleashing revolt.
The aftermath of Napoleon’s invasion of Russia in 1812, which destroyed the hopes of his liberalising mission, and stirred illusion in the Tsar Alexander I’s vague promises of a constitution, added to the sense of possibility and uncertainty. Pushkin was close to all of these developments and the way in which they inspired a layer of former fellow students and army officers to hatch a conspiracy to win a constitution and social justice.
Pushkin’s ideas and the popular memory of the Decembrist Revolt exerted a powerful influence on later generations of Russian revolutionaries. Lenin, in a memoir written in 1912, recalls the impact that the revolt had on the early Bolsheviks. The masthead of the Bolsheviks newspaper Iskra contained the line “From a spark a flame will be lit”, a direct reference to the Decembrists. After the 1917 revolution, the island off St Petersburg where the leaders of the revolt were buried was renamed Decembrist Island.
Robertson has immersed himself in the literature around Pushkin and the often furious literary debates that have surrounded the translation of his work, which as he shows, are directly related to the different interpretations of Russian history and the revolution. Even if you are unfamiliar with Pushkin’s work, or rather especially if you are daunted by Russian literature, you should read this book.


Emissions of common pollutants from industry and cars will have to be
cut by up to 95 per cent if the air in Britain’s countryside is to meet
a tough new air quality standard for ozone.
Last week, the government’s Expert Panel on Air Quality Standards recommended
a maximum level for ozone of 50 parts per billion, measured over eight
hours. The standard is slightly stricter than the WHO guideline and, says
the panel’s chairman, Anthony Seaton of the University of Aberdeen Medical
School, leaves ‘a fairly wide safety margin’.
Ozone is an irritant that affects eyes, nose and lungs. There is a shortage
of reliable evidence on how dangerous it is. Seaton believes it may trigger
attacks in some asthmatics. Most ozone at ground level is formed by the
action of sunlight on two classes of pollutants emitted by vehicles, nitrogen
oxides (NOx) and volatile organic compounds such as butane. The worst problem
is in rural areas, where levels can exceed 200 ppb on hot sunny days.
If the Department of the Environment accepts the standard, it will be
committed to bringing levels within the guideline. Tim Brown of the National
Society for Clean Air and Environmental Protection says this will not be
easy. Monitoring stations are recording ozone levels above 50 ppb on up
to 83 days a year.
The panel says that reducing ozone will require cuts of more than 95
per cent in NOx, or 75 to 85 per cent in VOCs.


Kinder Goats are a relatively new breed of goats, developed in 1986 in neighboring Snohomish County. The 1st generation of Kinder goats resulted from breeding Nubian (tall, elegant diary goats) dams to Pygmy (the smallest breed of goats) sires. Kinder goats are known to be beautiful, gentle, and amazing producers of high quality milk.
Mama Ivy had her first kids (yes, they are really called “kids”) on January 10, 2015. She had triplets, all females. (The official term is “doelings”.) We named them the “Spice Girls”: Pepper, Ginger, and Poppy (as in poppy seed). We brought Mama Ivy and her doelings to our farm when the little girls were 10 days old. They were the sweetest baby animals we had ever seen. They were so tiny that anyone could hold all three at the same time; they really loved to be cuddled and then rocked to sleep.
The doelings were incredibly agile and quickly learned to jump onto overturned buckets and walk a balance beam. After just a few months, they were nearly the size of Mama Ivy. Out in the pasture with Polly, the pig, during the daylight hours, our Kinder goats are a constant source of delight. A 1948 Dodge truck provides an awesome climbing structure for them!


The fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month is the traditional Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival(中秋节zhōng qiū jiē), which falls on Sep 24 this year. In the Chinese lunar calendar, August is in the middle of autumn and the 15th day is in the middle of the month. This explains why the 15th of August is called the Mid-Autumn Festival. The day is also known as the moon festival, for on that day, the moon is at its fullest and brightest. It is an important festival for family members to get together, so it is also called the Reunion Festival.
We will be out of office on Monday Sep 24, and will be back work on Sep 25.
At this special season, please allow me give our best regards to you and your family.


While climate policy has focused overwhelmingly on the science and on reducing emissions, policy makers are increasingly focused on how to adapt to changes are already “locked in”, changes that will bring significant social economic and environmental impacts.
Adaptation will require technological innovation as well as behavioural and attitudinal change. This book covers the legal dimensions of adaptation and addresses challenges across sector interests. It considers whether existing regulatory and governance frameworks are supportive, adaptable or barriers to necessary change. The authors cover the key issues: sea level rise, planning; water security; climate justice; conservation regimes; the role of the courts; insurance; compensation; and the law of disasters.
Mapping the legal landscape of climate change adaptation
A theoretical framework for adaptation policy
From blueprint to footprint: Climate change and the challenge for planning
Anne Leitch, Ben Harman and Marcus B Lane
Swimming in the Streets: The Beginnings of Planning for Sea Level Rise
How adaptable are our conservation regimes?
Adaptation measures for water security in a changing climate: Policy, planning and law
The role of courts in relation to adaptation to climate change
Brian J Preston
Adaptation and climate justice
Daniel A Farber
An insurer’s approach to management of climate risks
Paying the price of adaptation: Compensation for climate change impacts
The law of disasters


NOAA Product Highlight: Third National Climate Assessment
On May 6, 2014, the White House released the third National Climate Assessment (NCA), which “assesses the science of climate change and its impacts across the United States, both now and throughout this century”(p. iv). Mandated at least every four years by the Global Change Research Act of 1990, the NCA “documents climate change related impacts and responses for various sectors and regions, with the goal of better informing public and private decision making at all levels” (NCA Full Report, p. iv).
The NCA contains a variety of findings that help us understand the climate changes already underway and provides the context for how we can minimize impacts, build resilient communities, and protect the ecosystems that sustain us. The global climate is changing and “multiple lines of independent evidence confirm that human activities are the primary cause of the global warming of the past 50 years” (p. 7).
As the NCA demonstrates in the Ecosystems chapter, climate change is affecting “the living world…through changes in ecosystems, biodiversity, and ecosystem services” (p. 196). “Climate change impacts on ecosystems reduce their ability to improve water quality and regulate water flows” (p. 197). Combined with other stressors, climate change is also “overwhelming the capacity of ecosystems to buffer the impacts from extreme events like fires, floods, and storms” (p. 199).
“Landscapes and seascapes are changing rapidly, and species, including many iconic species, may disappear from regions where they have been prevalent or become extinct, altering some regions so much that their mix of plant and animal life will become almost unrecognizable” (p. 200). Additionally, the “timing of critical biological events, such as spring bud burst, emergence from overwintering, and the start of migrations, has shifted, leading to important impacts on species and habitats” (p. 201).
All of the NCA findings address the important social, economic, and environmental challenges that arise due to climate change as well as potential solutions to meet these challenges.
To view the full report, visit the third National Climate Assessment’s interactive website at nca2014.globalchange.gov. For a synopsis of the key findings from the Assessment, see the Highlights report or download the 20-page Overview booklet.


31 No. 5
Consistency and Clarity in Chemical Concepts: How to Achieve a Codified Chemical Terminology—A Pilot Study
by Ture Damhus, Peder Olesen Larsen, Bodil Nistrup Madsen, and Sine Zambach
Consistency and clarity are essential when defining chemical concepts. However, currently available glossaries in chemistry are lacking in these respects to a certain extent. General terminology methods involving the construction of concept systems and the specification of relations between concepts can be of use here. A pilot study indicates that improvements of the term definitions in enzyme and protein chemistry are possible. Our aim is to raise a discussion about these issues, hopefully resulting in further projects.
IUPAC has made enormous progress through the years in providing systematic chemical nomenclature and terminology. The efforts in terminology are collected in the Gold Book: The IUPAC Compendium of Chemical Terminology.1 However, the development of new terms via IUPAC projects concerned with delimited areas of chemistry has resulted in glossaries typically with a narrow focus, which means that the Gold Book has become, in principle, an uncritical compilation of glossaries established by various specialist groups for their specific needs. This entails a risk of creating inconsistencies in the overall terminology. We address this problem using fundamental principles of terminology2 to create concept systems, also referred to as terminological ontologies, as well as to attain clearer and mutually consistent definitions.
Two Types of Debatable Entries in the Gold Book
Users may find definitions in the Gold Book unsatisfactory for at least two reasons. A definition may be unambiguous and consistent with related definitions in the Gold Book, but may differ from what the user expects or wants as the definition. This type of entry is illustrated in Table 1, comparing definitions from the Gold Book and the Oxford Dictionary of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology,3 or ODBMB, for short. Perhaps a bit discomforting, text books and dictionaries do not agree on the definitions of a number of fundamental chemistry concepts. Gold Book definitions in those cases, however phrased, will disagree with the opinion of large numbers of practitioners. For cases like this, systematic terminology work will not solve the problem. Somebody has to make a decision, which is often more or less arbitrary, such as whether a molecule may be monoatomic or not, as illustrated in Table 1. Although important enough, this type of situation will not be dealt with in this article.
The second type of unsatisfactory definitions is those that contain inconsistencies that may be widely accepted in the scientific community. This makes it difficult to enlarge such sets by adding new terms and definitions. Also, it may confuse nonexperts like students who are trying to learn what the concepts are about. Examples of this second category will be given below.
||Definition from Gold Book
||Definition from ODBMB
||An electrically neutral entity consisting of more than one atom (n > 1). Rigorously, a molecule, in which n > 1 must correspond to a depression on the potential energy surface that is deep enough to confine at least one vibrational state.
||A structural unit of matter consisting of one or more atoms; the smallest discrete part of a specified element or compound that retains its chemical identity and exhibits all its chemical properties.
||Smallest particle still characterizing a chemical element. It consists of a nucleus of a positive charge (Z is the proton number and e the elementary charge) carrying almost all its mass (more than 99.9%) and Z electrons determining the size.
||A unit of matter consisting of a single nucleus surrounded by one or more orbital electrons. The number of electrons is normally sufficient to make the atom electrically neutral; adding or removing electrons converts the atom into a negative or positive ion, but this is regarded as a state of the same atom since the atom is characterized by its nucleus.
Table 1. Comparison of two basic definitions presented in the Gold Book and the ODBMB.
The Pilot Study
Our purpose in the pilot study is to create an ontology or ontologies and a term database for enzyme chemistry, based on available recommendations, in particular from the Gold Book and ODBMB.1,3 For a start, we have chosen to work in two narrow subfields: enzyme inhibition and protein structure. By using principles of terminology we intend to avoid creating inconsistencies when expanding the ontologies. We are using the concept modelling tool i-Model from i-Term;4 the system i-Term is a terminology and knowledge management system that combines facilities of a traditional term base with a concept modelling tool.
How to Define Terms
Instead of focusing on each definition, we work according to the terminological method with the concepts in a concept system (an ontology). Therefore, we need to formalize the relations between the concepts and to introduce characteristics delimiting related concepts (feature specifications, consisting of attribute-value pairs). On the basis of these feature specifications, subdivision criteria are introduced, which group concepts and thereby give a good overview. These methods are described in conference proceedings referenced below.5, 6
In our work, we use an iterative process: analyzing the concepts as well as placing them in draft concept systems in the form of hierarchies or networks on the basis of their characteristics, then drafting definitions, and, finally, refining concept systems as well as definitions. In this way, we arrive at consistent definitions referring to the superordinate concept (i.e., genus proximum or nearest kind) and followed by the delimiting characteristic.
In the example shown below in Figure 1, the genus proximum is inhibition, one subdivision criterion or attribute is MECHANISM, and one of the attribute values is “a product of the reaction is the inhibitor.”
The superordinate concept and the attribute of the feature specification must be the same in definitions of subordinate concepts falling under one subdivision criterion.
Inhibition as Kinetics and Mechanism
Figure 1 clarifies the differences between various subtypes of inhibition. Seven of these concepts fall within two groups according to the two subdivision criteria: KINETICS and MECHANISM.
The three concepts allosteric inhibition, substrate inhibition, and product inhibition differ with respect to MECHANISM, and, therefore, the definitions of these concepts should focus on mechanism. However, as may be seen from Table 2, the definitions from ODBMB do not clearly reflect this.
||Definitions from ODBMB
|Any inhibition of an enzyme by a negative allosteric effector.
||MECHANISM: the inhibitor binds at a place different from the active site
|The inhibition of an enzyme’s activity by its substrate by an allosteric mechanism.
||MECHANISM: the substrate itself is the inhibitor
|The inhibition of an enzymatic reaction caused by increased concentration of one or more products of that reaction
||MECHANISM: a product of the reaction is the inhibitor
Table 2. Comparison of the definitions from ODBMB and characteristic features (as shown in figure 1), for three inhibition concepts falling under the attribute ‘mechanism’.
According to the terminological principles described in the conference proceedings referenced below,5,6 two concepts with the same superordinate concept must not differ with respect to more than one characteristic, except if they belong to a “polyhierarchy,” where the concepts in question have two or more superordinate concepts belonging to different subdivision criteria. In our area of study, however, concepts are often delimited by a combination of characteristics. In Figure 1, the four subordinate concepts to the concept reversible inhibition differ with respect to KINETICS, which is a composite characteristic having two feature specifications with the attributes MICHAELIS CONSTANT and MAXIMUM RATE.
The diagram in Figure 1 also illustrates that a concept system may comprise hierarchical relations (type relations) as well as associative relations. Associative relations have a relation name and an arrow indicating the direction of the relation (e.g., the relation causes between inhibitor and inhibition).
What Is Protein Structure?
Everybody dealing with protein chemistry uses the terms primary, secondary, tertiary, and quaternary structure. Nevertheless, writing an agreeable set of definitions for them is not easy. Table 3 shows the ODBMB and Gold Book definitions for the three first concepts. We also add the definitions of the structural elements α-helix and β-pleated sheet, mentioned in both sources in their definitions of secondary structure, but only defined in ODBMB.
There are several observations to be made. First of all, the two definitions of primary structure clearly do not agree on whether one is allowed to regard cross-linking as part of primary structure. This difference is of the same kind as we noted above with the definitions of atom and molecule (see Table 1). Another observation is that in each of the two sources, the style of wording varies considerably from primary over secondary to tertiary structure. ODBMB speaks of “first order of complexity in structural organization,” then of “arrangement of . . . structure” and then “level of structure.” Gold Book has “constitutional formula . . . abbreviated to sequence,” then “conformational arrangement,” and, for tertiary structure, “spatial organization.” A third comment is that the ODBMB explanations in particular contain more than is needed for defining the term; there is commentary and additional information. However, ODBMB is a dictionary and readers will expect this kind of material to be included.
The terms α-helix and β-pleated sheet appear in both sources as examples of secondary structure elements. The definitions in ODBMB look very different in that some geometrical facts about α-helices are included that are actually a consequence of the definition of the concept and the way amino acids bind to each other. The definition of β-pleated sheet looks much briefer, but it turns out that if one looks up the term β-strand appearing in the definition, this is defined again via β-conformation, the explanation for which is just as lengthy as the one for α-helix. We note in particular that a definition may rely on a term that itself needs to be defined before the first definition is understandable. Another example of this in Table 3 is conformation and conformational, which appear in several places.
We have attempted to put the definitions on a more equal footing and to explore whether they can be satisfactorily arranged in a hierarchy. The column to the far right in Table 3 shows the definitions we suggest at the moment and the diagram proposed in Figure 2 shows the hierarchy. The concepts secondary and tertiary structure (and quaternary structure, which we have tentatively included in the diagram) have the superordinate concept conformation, while primary structure is seen as a subordinate concept to constitution; conformation and constitution are subordinate concepts to molecular structure. The characteristic feature LEVEL (inspired by one of the wordings in the sources) distinguishes the three structure terms. The job is not finished, however; we still need to resolve the issue about the disulfide bonds, and we have to deal with the definitions of conformation and of β-strand, both of which may turn out to necessitate even further definitions until we end at basic terms that may be assumed to have unique interpretations by all practitioners.
All in all, the establishment of usefully worded and consistent definitions of concepts in a hierarchy is an iterative process, in which all steps are subjected to the principles explained above.
Future Steps towards a Consistent Terminology
Among the advantages of working with concept systems is that they can clarify concepts by pruning the descriptions. This is achieved by identifying the characteristics delimiting terms derived from the same superior concepts, which makes the differences between the concepts clear (e.g, competitive inhibition versus noncompetitive inhibition and secondary structure versus tertiary structure). Using this methodology, the definitions of the concepts themselves can be clarified as well as the relations between concepts (such as causes, inhibits, or activates), which provides a better understanding of the concepts and their use.
The online edition of the Gold Book provides the possibility of seeing the relations between concepts. Figure 3 shows an example of the relations existing in Gold Book for a number of the concepts included in our work. This facility is useful for finding additional related concepts. However, it is not possible to figure out the types of relations.
Presenting concept systems with specified concept relations and concept characteristics can be useful not only for the general chemist to understand the enzyme chemist, but also for students at all levels to obtain a more conceptual understanding of the words used in chemical textbooks and articles. Just as the periodic table can help students get an overview of electro-negativity, number of electrons in each orbital shell, and atomic radii, a systematic display of the concepts used in chemistry and biochemistry may help the student toward a better understanding of the meaning of the terms involved.
Our work aims to identify and rectify inconsistencies in the two selected subject areas. We feel it is important to extend this work to larger fields. This will require cooperation among chemists and terminologists. As a first step, we are proposing a joint IUPAC-IUBMB project to extend our first results and set up guidelines for future work.
This study is still at an early stage. Therefore, we encourage readers to contact us if they want to comment or contribute and/or eventually to participate in forthcoming projects.
Annemette Wenzel and Lone Bo Sisseck, both then at the DANTERM terminology centre, contributed in the early phases of this study.
- IUPAC. Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 2nd ed. (the Gold Book). Compiled by A. D. McNaught and A.Wilkinson. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford (1997). XML on-line corrected version: http://goldbook.iupac.org (2006-) created by M. Nic, J. Jirat, B. Kosata; updates compiled by A. Jenkins.
- ISO 704:2000. Terminology Work–Principles and Methods. International Organization for Standardization. This standard is published by ISO TC 37, Terminology and other language resources, and is currently under revision.
- Cammack, R. et al. (2006). The Oxford Dictionary of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 2nd Ed. Oxford University Press. Here referred to as ODBMB.
- www.i-Term.dk, Terminology Management System developed by DANTERMcentret, a Danish Centre for Terminology at Copenhagen Business School. A demo version is available on the website.
- Madsen, Bodil Nistrup: “Terminological Ontologies—Applications and Principles.” In: Sebastian Schaffert, York Sure: Semantic Systems From Visions to Applications, Proceedings of the conference Semantics 2006, Österreichische Computer Gesellschaft, Wien, 2006, pp. 271–282.
- Madsen, Bodil Nistrup, and Hanne Erdman Thomsen: “Terminological Ontologies and Normative Terminology Work.” Proceedings of TSTT 2006—Third International Conference on Terminology Standardization and Technology Transfer.
Ture Damhus <firstname.lastname@example.org> is a researcher at Novozymes in Bagsværd, Denmark; he is secretary of the IUPAC Chemical Nomenclature and Structure Representation Division, and also a member of the Committee for Nomenclature of the Danish Chemical Society. Peder Olesen Larsen <email@example.com> is a retired chemistry professor and also a member of the Committee for Nomenclature of the Danish Chemical Society. Bodil Nistrup Madsen <firstname.lastname@example.org> is a professor at Copenhagen Business School, Denmark, Dept. of International Language Studies and Computational Linguistics, and head of the terminology centre, DANTERMcentret; she is also chair of ISO TC 37, SC 3 (systems to manage terminology, knowledge, and content). Sine Zambach <email@example.com> is a Ph.D. fellow in Computer Science at Roskilde University. She holds a master’s degree in biochemistry and bioinformatics.
last modified 14 September 2009.
Copyright © 2003-2009 International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry.
Questions regarding the website, please contact firstname.lastname@example.org


So you are doing the right thing and moving your body every day. Sports injuries are likely to happen eventually. 6
What is the best way to treat these injuries? Most people go straight for the anti-inflammatory drugs – Nurofen, Voltaren and Celebrex to name a few of the more common choices. These drugs work by blocking the production of a class of chemicals called prostaglandins, which cause swelling and pain.
This swelling is a very important part of the natural healing process of an injury. The job of the prostaglandins in injury is to bring blood to the area. Blood carries growth factors in platelets and other components that promote tissue healing. The increased blood flow causes the symptoms that we recognise as being part of injury – heat and swelling. The other major symptom, pain, is also part of the healing process – it is a strong message from the body to not use the area, but to rest it, to allow healing.
You can take anti-inflammatory drugs and continue to exercise, but evidence suggests that masking the pain may worsen the injury and delay healing. These drugs are also known to cause significant side effects such as stomach issues and reduced kidney function. In people at risk of dehydration (endurance athletes and the elderly) these effects on the kidney can be disastrous. Acute kidney failure can occur, where the kidney becomes unable to maintain fluid and electrolyte balance or excrete waste products.
So what else can you use?
Paracetamol – studies show that regular paracetamol is just as effective as anti-inflammatory drugs, while avoiding the side effects. It won’t reduce inflammation, so doesn’t delay healing unless you continue to use the area due to the masking of the pain.
Topical anti-inflammatories – Voltaren gel significantly reduces pain and morning stiffness, and improves physical function without major side effects. It is considered a safe and effective alternative to taking anti-inflammatory tablets.
Please ask us in the pharmacy if you would like more information.


Hawaii Island continues to lead the state in population growth, but some of the 42 small towns that dot the island have seen population drop, according to detailed estimates released Thursday by the U.S. Census Bureau.
Unincorporated towns — known as “census-designated places” in census vernacular — suffering the biggest estimated losses are along the Hamakua Coast, with Laupahoehoe dropping an estimated 159 people, or more than 23% of its 2013 population. That’s followed by Honokaa, losing an estimated 597 people.
Pepeekeo, Paauilo and Kukuihaele also showed estimated losses.
The numbers need to be taken with a grain of salt, because the small population numbers lead to a higher margin of error and greater statistical uncertainty. But Mayor Harry Kim, who has a degree in economics, understands the logic of population loss along the Hamakua coast, which has yet to recover from the closure of the sugar plantations more than 20 years ago.
The estimates may also offer a peek into how the island population may show changes in the upcoming 2020 census, when every person is counted, rather than just a sample of them. The population figures are important. They’re used to determine political representation, federal funding allocations, for community development and to aid business planning, the Census Bureau, says.
The five-year American Community Survey estimates are also important because they’re the only detailed estimates for areas with populations under 20,000 people. The estimates describe the characteristics over a specific period of time, not a single point in time.
The Census Bureau produces estimates of a wealth of demographic, social, economic and housing variables, from how many people live in a housing unit and how they’re related, whether there’s internet and plumbing, who’s in poverty and how old they are and a ream of racial breakdowns.
For example, combining statistics on the population of those 65 and older with income shows that the state of Hawaii has the highest median household income for seniors, at $65,086, compared to $34,275 for households in Mississippi, the lowest, with a householder 65 and older, the Census Bureau said in a press release.
“The American Community Survey is vital to understanding different demographic groups across the nation,” said Victoria Velkoff, associate director for Demographic Programs. “This includes the 65 and older population. By looking at the latest data, resources can be provided to support not only the aging population, but all groups across the country.”
Laupahoehoe is a good example of what happens to areas where jobs are scarce. The macadamia nut industry was supposed to take over after the sugar plantations closed, but that didn’t happen.
“You take away the economic driver and you don’t replace it with anything,” Kim said. “It’s a beautiful place to live but a very difficult place to make a living, because no matter where you live, you have to find a place to work.”
Hamakua Councilwoman Valerie Poindexter believes the influx of vacation rentals could have contributed to population drops, but she said residents may not be responding to Census surveys.
“Most of the young families are always out and about, either working or with keiki activities,” Poindexter said. “They may not have realized how important it was to make some time to participate in the census.”
On the other side of the coin, bedroom communities for Hilo and Kailua-Kona are seeing estimated increases. Kurtistown, a straight 11-mile commute on Highway 11 from Hilo, is booming, according to census estimates. The town added an estimated 457 people over the past five years, an astounding 53% increase. Other Puna towns also showed increases.
“The most important thing is where they work,” Kim said, “and they work in Hilo.”
The Census Bureau said in April that it’s too early to tell what, if any, effect the May 3, 2018, eruption and subsequent lava flow had on population.
“We are accounting for housing units destroyed by the volcano, but this will have no impact on the population,” Amel Toukabri, chief of the bureau’s Local Government Estimates and Migration Processing Branch, said at the time.
Officials didn’t respond to a follow-up question by press-time Friday.
On the west side of the island, Hawaiian Ocean View is growing as a bedroom community, as housing prices increase in Kailua-Kona. That area grew by an estimated 30%.
At 47 miles away, it’s a long commute, but Kim said he knows at least one family that moved there because of the cost of living in Kailua-Kona.
The Big Island is still kissing the 200,000 population mark, but it hasn’t officially topped it. Still, between 2013 and 2018, the island added an estimated 10,614 people, a 5.67% increase. That compares to a 5.52% increase for Maui, a 5.16% increase for Kauai and a 2.38% increase for Oahu, according to the five-year estimates.
Other estimates paint a less optimistic picture of population movement on Oahu, which with its much larger population, drags the entire state average down. The updated one-year estimate for the state as a whole shows the state grew less than 1% over the past five years.
The numbers are no surprise to Kim. He attributes Hawaii Island’s increase to affordability. The median price of a home on the Big Island is less than $400,000, about half the price of homes on the other islands.
“The census means more than numbers to me,” Kim said. “It’s a very good picture of who we are and what our needs are.”


Thermography measures surface temperatures by using infrared video and still cameras. These tools see light that is in the heat spectrum. Images on the video or film record the temperature variations of the building’s skin, ranging from white for warm regions to black for cooler areas. The resulting images help the auditor determine whether insulation is needed. They also serve as a quality control tool, to ensure that insulation has been installed correctly. For more on how infrared imaging works, check out our Energy Saver 101 infographic on home energy audits.
A thermographic inspection is either an interior or exterior survey. The energy auditor decides which method would give the best results under certain weather conditions. Interior scans are more common, because warm air escaping from a building does not always move through the walls in a straight line. Heat loss detected in one area of the outside wall might originate at some other location on the inside of the wall. Also, it is harder to detect temperature differences on the outside surface of the building during windy weather. Because of this difficulty, interior surveys are generally more accurate because they benefit from reduced air movement.


Riding the Rails to Carbon Neutrality
Commuter carbon emissions reductions
The University of Denver’s goals for reducing its overall energy consumption will involve improvements in HVAC and lighting systems as well as other building upgrades, but the school is also on a journey to reduce its emissions through more efficient travel. Although most University of Denver (DU) students live on or near campus–within a 20 minute walking distance–many go off campus for work and social activities. Two thousand staff and faculty also make the daily commute to campus.
Using the Clean Air Cool Planet calculator, DU estimated its total commuting emissions at 9,106 metric tons of CO2e (carbon dioxide equivalent) in 2007. That was a full 96 percent of the overall transportation-related emissions, which makes up approximately 14 percent of the school’s overall greenhouse gas emissions that year.
Long before the school started addressing climate change, DU students wanted better transportation options, and in 2001 voted to charge a mandatory $35/quarter fee (unsubsidized by DU) to full-time undergraduates for an all-access public transportation Eco Pass. In 2002, the university decided to pick up the Eco Pass tab for staff and faculty to encourage their use of public transit.
But it wasn’t until the opening of a new light rail station on campus in 2007 that interest in the program really increased. Graduate students and law students wanted to have the same access as undergrads, so both added the mandatory charge to their quarterly fees. Comparing the first two years (05/06 to 06/07), there was an increase of Eco Pass pick-ups of 78 percent (undergraduate and law students only), with an additional boost of 26 percent the year following.
Since the station’s opening, a 20-hour per day shuttle service that transports people from the light rail station to other points on campus has further boosted interest in light rail usage.
Financial paybacks of increased ridership
The benefits of light rail for universities aren’t just individual. The financial costs of building and maintaining parking lots are often significantly higher than supporting light rail ridership.
On December 28, 2008, Arizona State University (ASU) started reaping the benefits of having two light rail stations connecting its Tempe campus to the rest of the city. Working closely with Valley Metro, ASU provided the land for both stops and was closely involved in planning how feeder lines would work in order to ensure easy access for students. “ASU and Valley Metro are so embedded with each other, especially since ASU accounts for close to 20 percent of Valley Metro’s ridership,” comments Bonny Bentzin, ASU’s director of university sustainability practices. “We work closely together on these types of projects.”
Although final figures on light rail usage since the stations’ openings haven’t yet been gathered, the initial numbers are encouraging. The office of sustainability has seen a jump of nearly 45 percent overall in the number of passes issued in January/February 2009, when compared to the same period in 2008. With over 26,000 of the 67,000 students attending classes, that’s nearly 40 percent participation in the program. And unlike DU’s abundance of on-campus housing, at ASU there are only 7,200 beds on campus, which means many are using the light rail system to commute to and from campus and to work as well.
Faculty and staff also have the opportunity to take advantage of the new transportation convenience. They pay an average of $20/month–a paltry fee compared to the $210/year to $780/year fee for parking.
And since the opening of the new light rail stations, ASU has seen a significant decrease in demand for parking. In fact, demand has dropped so far that the school has shelved a $30 million parking garage/office building project.
Savings in parking costs are common for institutions and companies that choose to encourage public transit over solo driving. One estimate puts the initial construction costs of one parking space anywhere between $2,000 and $12,000 (many estimates are much higher), with annual operational expenses around 1.5 percent of the up-front capital costs ($30 to $180 by these approximations).
And as Denver University has discovered, having too much costly parking can hurt efforts to reduce commuter carbon emissions. Ten years ago, DU consulted with staff, faculty, students, and local area residents, determining that more parking was needed, and has since increased its available parking from less than 2,500 spaces to 5,000 spaces.“I don’t encourage people to ride the rail,” says Buddy Knox, DU’s manager of Parking Services. “I want people to pay for parking.” And with annual parking rates starting at $60, there’s little financial incentive to take public transit. Yet despite these challenges, there has been a reduction in the number of cars brought to campus by students of around 5 percent.
Faculty and staff have also come out in higher numbers to use public transit. Some of the staff have even formed a Commute Club that tracks the carbon dioxide savings they’ve accumulated using public transit: a grand total of over 350,000 pounds of CO2 emissions between 2005 and 2007, with 996,720 miles of alternate modes of transportation reported.
Spreading the word
ASU has a goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2020 and although it isn’t yet clear how much student, staff, and faculty commuting will factor into the overall goal, early indications suggest that it will play a part.
And news has spread about the effectiveness of the program. Word is that ARAMARK, employing 400 people on the ASU campus, is considering offering a similar bus pass benefit for their staff.
People like light rail, but will it be enough to make public transit a routine alternative to solo driving? To make a significant dent in a school’s carbon emissions? It’s hard to say. As Neil Krauss, DU Assistant Vice Chancellor for Business and Financial Affairs pointed out, “People like to use their cars.”


Stefania Druga is the founder of HacKIDemia, a platform through which workshops and kits are designed for kids and shared around the world to encourage creative thinking in a “learning-by-doing” environment, and Afrimakers, a group that allows makers in Africa to develop their own sustainable projects to solve local challenges.
You teach programming and electronics to kids. Please tell us more about the idea, concept and also your vision with Hackidemia.
The vision of Hackidemia is to enable and empower children to become makers and not consumers. We believe that children could solve problems in their local or global community through play, empathy and design. First they learn how to program or solder and after they pick a meaningful project they want to work on together with their friends in their community: make a solar panner, improve air quality, improve recycling solutions, make an app that monitors people happiness, etc.
October 14th is Ada Lovelace Day! Today the world celebrates all of the accomplishments of women in science, art, design, technology, engineering, and math. Each year, Adafruit highlights a number of women who are pioneering their fields and inspiring women of all ages to make their voices heard. Today we will be sharing the stories of women that we think are modern day “Adas”. We will also be referencing women from history that have made impacts in science and math. Please promote and share #ALD14 with your friends and family so we can promote and share with all of the world wide web!
Today everything in the Adafruit store is 10% off, just use the code ALD14 on checkout! Today’s the perfect day to spark the imagination of a future “Ada” with a gift from the Adafruit store!
Stop breadboarding and soldering – start making immediately! Adafruit’s Circuit Playground is jam-packed with LEDs, sensors, buttons, alligator clip pads and more. Build projects with Circuit Playground in a few minutes with the drag-and-drop MakeCode programming site, learn computer science using the CS Discoveries class on code.org, jump into CircuitPython to learn Python and hardware together, TinyGO, or even use the Arduino IDE. Circuit Playground Express is the newest and best Circuit Playground board, with support for CircuitPython, MakeCode, and Arduino. It has a powerful processor, 10 NeoPixels, mini speaker, InfraRed receive and transmit, two buttons, a switch, 14 alligator clip pads, and lots of sensors: capacitive touch, IR proximity, temperature, light, motion and sound. A whole wide world of electronics and coding is waiting for you, and it fits in the palm of your hand.


Hair loss – Male and female patten hair loss (androgenetic alopecia) Most men and many women have some form of hair loss as they age. For men it can start in their teens and 20s. For most women, it starts during middle-age or older.
This type of hair loss affects the crown of the head and the temple region with thinning and loss of hair over time.
Treatment: shampoos and topical medications (over-the-counter), topical medications (prescription),and oral medications
Telogen effluvium – A classic example of this type of hair loss occurs in women a few months after childbirth. It’s characterized by a sudden shedding of hair triggered by a stressful event. Typically the hair shedding slows down over a period of months. Usually people regrow the hair.
Alopecia areata – This type of hair loss occurs in a unique pattern of circles of hair loss and can affect both adults and children. Its more significant forms include alopecia totalis which is complete loss of scalp hair and alopecia universalis which is hair loss over the entire body
Treatment: triamcinolone injections, oral medications, topical prescription medicines


Selective Mutism Strategy- Sticker Charts
Sticker charts are something that many children love to see and use. I remember being in school and seeing my chart hanging on the wall with those of other students. I can recall the feeling of great success when I was able to put a sticker on the chart, and the sense of accomplishment when I was able to fill up a whole row– let alone the whole chart! When working with children who have selective mutism, something as simple as a sticker chart can be helpful in many ways.
First, have your child or student choose a piece of construction paper. Next, have them write their name on it however they please. The size or design of the name doesn’t matter, because this will be used as their personal sticker chart that they will carry around. After that, allow the child to choose a few sheets of stickers to put in a bag that they can carry along with their chart. Choosing a favorite character sticker can help boost their motivation. These stickers will be used whenever the child makes some type of verbal communication, whether that is mouthing a word, whispering, talking to their buddy or the teacher. When your student makes any kind of verbal communication, praise them and allow them to pick out a sticker to put on their paper. Continual praise is an important step in this process. Using short phrases such as, “You said you wanted blue, thanks for letting me know!” will help reinforce the communication.
At the end of the day, have your child count up their stickers and report their number back to you. At this point, you can choose to have your child pick a small prize and make another goal for tomorrow; or have them wait to choose a prize at the end of the week when they “cash in” their charts. Using sticker charts is a simple way to help motivate a child to use verbal communication. As the weeks go on and you notice your child increasing their communication, you can start to phase back from the stickers and charts. Eventually you may realize that the stickers do not matter to the child anymore, and they are ready for the next steps.
Written by: Salina Bisson, LLMSW
#HorizonsDRC #SelectiveMutism #StickerCharts #ChildMotivation #VerbalCommunication
Looking for a speech and language therapy center?
Horizons Development Resource Center is a a speech and language therapy center that serves the following areas in and around Grand Rapids, Wyoming, Caledonia, Kentwood, Middleville, Lowell, Forest Hills, Hudsonville, Walker, Holland, Zeeland, Rockford, Byron Center, Allendale, Grandville, East Grand Rapids, Wayland, Jenison, Ada, Ionia, Newaygo, Grant, Sparta, Cedar Springs, Kent City, Hamilton, Hastings in the state of Michigan and all surrounding areas. If you are not located in or around these cities, we still may be able to help you, please contact us here http://www.horizonsdrc.com/contact-us with your specific need.


The Chromosome 22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome: A Multidisciplinary Approach to Diagnosis and Treatment serves as the first comprehensive, user-friendly resource on the diagnosis, treatment and patient aspects of this syndrome. Leading international contributors cover the background, genetics, testing methods and pathophysiology of 22q11.2DS, placing emphasis on a strong foundation for multidisciplinary treatment strategies. Written by specialists in cardiology, immunology, endocrinology, gastroenterology, hematology, ophthalmology and neurology, among other fields, this book presents an authoritative resource with full color figures, flow charts and tables that enhance concept illustration and aid in real-time decision-making.
As 22q11.2DS has become a model for understanding rare and frequent congenital anomalies, this book will help researchers, clinicians and advanced students gain a full understanding of how to diagnosis and treat rare genetic diseases.
- Provides a comprehensive description of 22q11.2DS syndrome for healthcare professionals, researchers and students
- Presents diagnostic and treatment strategies to help tackle this complex and often misdiagnosed and undertreated syndrome
- Covered in a user-friendly, practical format that emphasizes evidence-based evaluation and treatment derived from the latest research in the field
- Features leading international contributors in various sub-specialties, representing the many body systems affected by this syndrome
- Includes full color figures, flow charts and tables to guide real-time decision-making
2. Genetics, Mechanism and Pathophysiology
3. Developmental Biology
15.. Developmental Trajectories
16. Speech and Language
17. Child Psychiatry
18. Adult Psychiatry
19. Primary Pediatric Care
20. Transition to Adulthood
22. Quality of Life
23. Future Directions
25. General Principles
26. What are the medical needs of patients with 22q11.2DS?
Professor Donna McDonald-McGinn is a genetic counselor and Director of the 22q and You Center. She also serves as the Chief of the Section of Genetic Counseling and Associate Director of the Clinical Genetics Center at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. She has been a staunch advocate for professional and lay education and awareness in the area of the 22q11.2DS since the inception of her Center in 1994. She joined parent activists in establishing the International 22q11.2 Foundation in 2003 and her professional colleagues in forming the International 22q11.2 Modifier Gene Consortium in 2006, the 22q11.2 Society in 2013, and the International 22q11.2 Brain and Behavior Consortium in 2012 where she leads a group of 22 clinical and 5 genomic sites working to identify biomarkers for associated behavioral phenotypes as PI of a $12M NIMH grant. She has partnered with family organizations to improve detection, awareness, care, and quality of life for those individuals and families affected by 22q11.2DS including collaborating to establish diagnosis specific growth charts and pediatric and adult healthcare guidelines; petitioning governments towards initiating newborn screening for 22q11.2 deletion syndrome and organizing events such as 22q at the Zoo - Worldwide Awareness Day.


The Norwood procedure is open-heart surgery done as the first of three surgeries to treat hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS).
Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome (HLHS) for Parents
Hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS) is a birth defect of a baby’s heart. The left side of the heart doesn’t grow as it should, making it smaller and weaker than normal.
Heart & Blood Vessels for Parents
Learn about conditions that may affect the heart and circulatory system.
A to Z: Patent Ductus Arteriosus (PDA) for Parents
Learn about heart conditions that affect newborn and premature babies.
Cardiology A to Z for Parents
Find out about heart conditions that can affect children.
P for Parents
Key pediatric diseases and conditions that start with the letter P.
Dictionary: Open-Heart Surgery for Parents
Open-heart surgery is surgery that involves opening the chest and heart. A heart-lung machine does the work for the heart and lungs during the procedure.
Dictionary: Left Atrium for Parents
The left atrium receives blood full of oxygen from the lungs and then empties the blood into the left ventricle.
Dictionary: Single Ventricle Defect for Parents
Having a single ventricle means that only one of the heart's two ventricles (pumping chambers) works well enough to pump blood.
Dictionary: Left Ventricle for Parents
The left ventricle pumps blood full of oxygen out to the body.


.net this month (April) has an interesting piece about whether our ip addresses should be regarded as personal information and protected under the data protection act.
It would seem that this debate has been raging across Europe if not the world, with the German data protection commissioner (peter Scharr) telling the European Parliament that if a person can be identified from an IP address, then it has to be regarded as private. A recent French court, on the other hand argued that IP addresses relate to specific computers or networks and not specific users therefore they do not constitute personal data.
While it may seem an insignificant point, as to whether an IP should be classed as personal data or not, it has huge impact of the way search engines and webmasters collect data on who is accessing, and indeed how there sites are being used.
Googles spokes person told .net that it “depended on the context”, where an ISP assigns an IP address to a user, and knows that users name and address this may be considered personal data, but where an IP address is collected by a website simply as a statistic then it is not. Google store IP addresses for all users performing a search for at least 2 years to help improve their search statistics and accuracy.
The implications for all of the worlds websites and search engines that collect IP’s for statistical purposes having to treat these as confidential data, and go through the data protection procedures to protect them are huge.
Another huge implication will be to the peer to peer piracy police, where IP addresses are being used to identify, track and prosecute people illegally copying, sharing and publishing audio/video and software illegally.
This is a very grey area and I would imagine that the debate will go on for some time.


Monday April 29 2013
Researchers looked into women's fertility rates, height and BMI
“Taller, skinnier women have evolved to have more babies than their shorter counterparts,” the Mail Online website has claimed.
It reports on research examining the characteristics of women in two villages in the west African nation of The Gambia over more than 50 years.
Researchers were interested in whether recent trends for decreased mortality and fertility rates in human populations over time may influence natural selection on other traits. They analysed records of just under 3,000 women between 1956 and 2010 to find their body mass index (BMI) and number of births.
Initially, women who were shorter and with higher BMIs were more likely to reproduce successfully, but over time the reverse became true. The study did not investigate the reasons for this, but the researchers suggest that improvements in healthcare are changing the relationship between height, BMI and health in The Gambia.
Other factors could also play a role, including cultural changes (such as men’s changing preferences for sexual partners). Due to the highly specific sample population in the study, we can't say whether these trends in height, BMI and adult fertility would be found in UK women.
The wider implications of the study are that it suggests that evolution, driven by natural selection, is not just something that happened to our ancestors. It can still have a significant influence on the human population.
However, due to the highly specific sample population in the study, it is difficult to assess whether the findings would relate to women in the UK. Analysis of similar data would be required to determine whether this was the case.
Where did the story come from?
The study was carried out by researchers from various research centres in Germany, the UK, The Gambia, and the US.
The collection of the data analysed in the study was funded by the UK Medical Research Council, and the researchers were funded by various bodies, including the Wellcome Trust and the European Research Council.
The study was published in the peer-reviewed journal Current Biology.
Despite this being a study conducted in The Gambia, the Mail Online illustrated the story with a picture of German model Heidi Klum (who has four children).
And the Mail Online's headline, “taller, skinnier women have evolved to have more babies than their shorter counterparts”, is not strictly correct. The study did not find that being taller and having a lower body mass index are evolutionary adaptations that enable women to have more children. The fact that over time taller women with lower BMIs in the Gambia had a reproductive advantage over shorter women with higher BMIs is likely to relate to other factors such as what women’s height and BMI say about their health.
What kind of research was this?
This was a longitudinal study looking at the evolutionary consequences of changes in the characteristics in a population over time, in this case in The Gambia.
The researchers say that human populations have recently shown declines in both mortality (death) and fertility rates and that the evolutionary consequences of this have not been extensively investigated. In particular, they looked specifically at how the changes influenced variation in the population in ‘relative fitness’ in evolutionary terms (essentially how able individuals are to reproduce successfully).
The researchers looked at how height and BMI might have influenced this ability to reproduce successfully.
What did the research involve?
The researchers used data that had been collected from women in two rural villages in one district in The Gambia between 1956 and 2010. They collected data for 2,818 women, who together provided a total of 51,909 years of follow-up in total.
The women’s heights and weights had been recorded, and their BMIs calculated. Researchers used methods in their analyses that allowed them to take into account the fact that women’s measurements had not all been taken at the same age, and some women provided more than one measurement at different ages.
Births and deaths were also recorded.
The researchers used an annual measure of ‘fitness’ in the population that assessed how many babies the women had each year. They also assessed how BMI and height related to ‘fitness’, and whether this relationship changed over time.
What were the basic results?
The researchers found that over time, variation in ‘relative fitness’ in the population declined. This was largely as a result of reduction in the variation in survival in early life – with a reduction in deaths among girls before they reached adulthood and had a chance to reproduce. As with most developing countries, child mortality was very high in The Gambia for much of the 20th century – a trend that gradually improved over time.
Survival among girls aged under 15 increased over time and variation in relative adult fertility increased at the same time.
There was a change in how height and BMI related to adult fertility in the Gambian population. Taller women initially had lower adult fertility, but over time they showed higher adult fertility. Women with a higher BMI initially had higher adult fertility, but by the end of the study period they showed lower adult fertility. So initially, up to 1974, women who were shorter and with higher BMIs (height less than 157cm and BMI greater than 21) reproduced more, after 1975 women who were taller and with lower BMIs (height greater than 158cm and BMI less than 21) reproduced more. The researchers’ analyses suggested that the relationship may have been influenced by healthcare improvements that affected how health related to height and BMI.
How did the researchers interpret the results?
The researchers concluded that their findings show the changes in selective pressures on humans over time. They say that the findings suggest that changes in the characteristics of human populations and social, culture, medical and economic environment are likely to modify but not remove natural selection in humans. They say that this is likely to be increasingly driven by changes in culture – particularly in medical practice and public health measures.
This study provides insight into changes in how height and BMI have related to female reproductive fitness in The Gambia over a long period of time. While the general evolutionary principles identified in this study may apply to populations worldwide, the specific findings as they relate to height, BMI and reproductive fitness may not. Analysis of similar data from other populations would help to determine whether this was the case.
A key limitation of this research is that the women’s heights and BMIs were not all measured at the same age or on a regular basis. The researchers note that if they had annual measurements of the women’s heights and BMIs this would have allowed a more detailed look at the relationship between these factors and reproductive fitness.
Overall, the study provides interesting insight into how selection in humans changes as population characteristics and our complex social, culture, medical and economic environment changes. However, these findings are likely to be of more interest from an evolutionary perspective than a medical one. Shorter women with higher BMI should not be unduly alarmed by this news.
However, being underweight or overweight can affect your chances if you are trying to conceive.
Find out more about how to protect your fertility.
Analysis by Bazian. Edited by NHS Choices. Follow Behind the Headlines on Twitter.


Science resources online are the perfect solution for teachers and students who want to find many science learning and teaching aids in a single place. The science resources available online are designed to meet the needs of teachers and students.
Here are some activities and worksheets that teachers and parents can use to make the subject more interesting for kids.
Science Resources for Teachers
Science teachers are always looking for resources that will make their classes more relevant and interesting for students. These science resources, whether experiments, activities, recent research findings on a subject, or audio-visual aids, is usually difficult to find all in one place. The internet is an exception to this. There are many websites that provide teachers with science resources of all types to make their work easier. Teachers can find reference materials, lesson plans, lists of textbooks and publishers, and even educational software to make teaching more effective. There is no shortage of useful material for teachers on the internet.
Science Resources for Kids
Online science resources for kids are also abundant. Students can find interesting information about different topics in science, test their knowledge through online quizzes, get project ideas for a science fair, or even interact with scientists and get answers to difficult questions, all online. Parents are happy that there are many places online where kids can nurture their interest in this subject.
Science Resources for Every Requirement
The science resources available online are meant to fulfill specific requirements that teachers, students and parents may have. They are conveniently grouped and organized, based on the varying needs of students and teachers.. For example, school teachers in America can find grade-based science resources. Based on the curriculum in England, on the other hand, there are ks1 tools for teachers of Key Stage 1, ks2 tools for teachers of Key Stage 2 and ks3 tools for teachers of Key Stage 3. The specificity of the tools available makes it very easy for teachers and students to find material that meets their specific requirements.


Aggression in any pet is an unwanted problem, particularly so in cats. These usuallly placid, affectionate animals can be known to become aggressive, and as Britains most loved pet it is essential that today’s cat owners know how to deal with feline aggression. This resource aims to highlight the reasons behind feline aggression and what can be done to help.
There are many causes of aggression in cats, some are quite obvious and others are less clear. Aggression patterns are common in all animals, and some times these are desirable. For example, a well trained, well controlled guard dog whose owner knows how to harness aggression is invaluable.But an aggressive pet cat would serve no purpose. It would have the added disadvantage of the cat not appearing aggressive and would subsequently give the illusion of being a non-threatening animal, whereas an aggressive cat can be quite dangerous.
The most common cause of feline aggression is fear or defence. Cats are natural predators and as such they have certain natural instincts. If a cat feels threatened or scared she will defend herself. There are usually signs that a cat feels threatened, and these are quite easy to detect. If a cat begins to hiss, it is a sign that you should back away. Body language speaks volumes, if she crouches, with her down and her tail twitching, take this as a sign to step back.
Stepping back is the only way to defuse a potentially nasty situation, but be sure not to let your cat think she can get the better of you through aggression, this will only lead to further problems. Such problems could include, further aggression, a weakened bond between cat and owner or even an injury caused to aperson by an aggressive cat.
Another cause of such behaviour is redirection of aggression. This can be caused by the cat becoming distressed by something, perhaps another cat in the garden, or a startling noise, and she will vent her aggression to the nearest possible thing, you.These situations can be controlled. A course of behaviour modification can help the cat not to become so easily stressed by things and as a result reduces the amount of redirected aggression. She also needs to learn that any type of aggressive behaviour is inappropriate.
This can be achieved by correction when necessary. An effective way of correcting her if she becomes too bolshy is to rattle a tin of pennies close to her head or by stunning her with a short, sharp jet of water. Never strike or shake the cat. This will only result in increased aggressive behaviour and she will begin to become fearful of her owner.
Playful aggression is common amongst most intelligent animals, as it is central to the development of essential skills for survival. This is fun to watch and it is rare that it becomes a problem. However, she needs to be completely aware that any aggression directed towards you is unacceptable. She needs to be able to distinguish between play and real situations.
A cat may become aggressive if she is irritated. You will learn to cope with this as you learn the limitations of your cat. If something irritates her, don’t do it. And if you do, don’t blame her if she scratches your eyes out. Some cats become irritated by being petted for too long. This is because they are such independent creatures they get uncomfortable with constant human contact. This can be modified by gradually spending more time with her and rewarding her calmness. It has been said that cats can become irritated out of the blue.
Signs to watch for when you are petting her include, her becoming restless, her tail beginning to twitch, her ears flicking and her head moving closely towards yours.
Any sudden change in your cat’s behaviour should be referred to your vet. Aggression can be caused be physical maladies as well as mental problems.


|From left, Michael Moore, Scott Kraus of the New England Aquarium, and Larry Madin at a Congressional briefing on research issues related to the survival of the North Atlantic right whale.
(Photo by Tom Kleindinst, WHOI)
» Ocean Life Institute
» Liquid Jungle Lab
During 2005, The Ocean Life Institute (OLI) continued to foster
research and hardware development under three broad themes:
Discover Life, Sustain Ecosystems, and Develop Tools.
In 2005 OLI appointed three new Institute Fellows. Anne Cohen
works on understanding how corals build their skeletons, and
how climatic, environmental, and biological forces interact
to shape their growth and composition. She uses computerized
tomography scanning technology to quantify the impacts of
changing ocean temperature and chemistry on rates of carbonate
production by corals. Sonya Dyhrman is interested in how phytoplankton
respond to their geochemical environment. Her research uses
molecular tools to study the physiological ecology of different
phytoplankton groups. She is currently examining the genetic
capabilities that allow phytoplankton to respond to changes
in carbon dioxide, phosphorus, and nitrogen supply. Jesús
Pineda is working on the regional variability of populations
of sedentary animals like barnacles and mussels. He will be
investigating how ocean currents disperse and transport larvae,
the processes that determine which larvae survive to reproduce,
and the variability in different local populations.
Communication of research results and applications is an important
Ocean Institute function, and in 2005 we hosted one international
conference and two workshops. The International Invasive Sea
Squirts Conference in April attracted nearly 100 scientists
and managers to WHOI to explore the biology, ecology, impacts,
and control options for the invasive sea squirt species that
are causing serious problems in the Northeast and elsewhere.
The papers presented in this meeting will be published in
2006 as a special issue of the Journal of Experimental Marine
Biology and Ecology.
A second workshop on albatross population biology brought
international experts together in April to discuss their studies
of albatross demographic models. These mathematical representations
of population cycles are essential tools for conservation
of these endangered species.
In November, another workshop inaugurated the Reef Fish Connectivity
and Conservation Initiative. Focusing on the imperiled Nassau
Grouper in the Caribbean, this program will track connections
among larval and adult stages of the fish to address critical
conservation issues and help developing countries manage their
coral reef resources sustainably.
In addition to 10 individual OLI research grants awarded in
2005, the new Tropical Research Initiative provided support
for multidisciplinary research and technological advances
in tropical regions around the world. Five grants were awarded
through this initiative in 2005. Two of these projects will
be based at the Liquid Jungle Lab in Panama, where OLI and
WHOI continue to participate in the growth of this new field
—Laurence Madin, Institute Director


The Erfurt Treasure - The Story of a Ring [CLOSED]
In 1998, archaeologists digging in the old Jewish quarter in Erfurt, Germany could not believe their eyes. They had uncovered, beneath a stone wall in the basement of a house from medieval times, a remarkable treasure. This spectacular hoard of jewelry, coins and silverware included 3,141 silver coins, 14 ingots of silver and more than 700 pieces of gold and silver Gothic jewelry as well as rare clothes. The 14th century dates on the coins and the distinctly Jewish nature of some of the items–including a beautiful wedding ring adorned in gold–led researchers to conclude that the treasure belonged to Kalman von Wiehe, the Jewish merchant who once owned the home where the treasure was found. The treasure was most likely buried in January 1349–just before the Black Plague pogroms devastated Erfurt’s Jewish community–and remained buried for centuries.
The Story of the Ring
One of the most remarkable items in the Erfurt Treasure is a wedding ring. Pictured here is an exact replica. The actual ring will be presented to the public in 2019 when Beit Hatfutsot – The Museum of the Jewish People opens its new permanent display.
This ring – a unique combination of silver, gold and enamel – is decorated with a crescent and a six-pointed star; these characteristics were likely typical adornments for Jewish wedding bands of this period. Jewish treasures discovered in Colmar, France included two rings with similar features. As with the Erfurt Treasure, the Colmar Treasure was likely buried during the pogroms that swept Europe during the Black Plague (1348-1350).
Creating Connections with Archaeology
Archaeological excavations in modern Europe are often initiated by cities and regions wanting to showcase their local histories. Archeologists are uncovering evidence of a shared past that makes the Jewish story intrinsic to the histories of European towns and communities. The Erfurt Treasure reveals much about a medieval Jewish community, but the people living in Erfurt today see it as something that hits closer to home; it is part of their own story.
The New Permanent Exhibition at Beit Hatfutsot – The Museum of the Jewish People
Slated to open in late 2020, our new permanent exhibition will take visitors on a unique journey that tells the incredible, ongoing story of the Jewish people in a new way. Advanced technology will create an interactive and thrilling personal experience that will be complemented by authentic, ancient objects from the Jewish past. This replica of the golden ring from the Erfurt Treasure is a small taste of the marvels that our curatorial team is gathering together. The new Beit Hatfutsot, in its diversity and vibrancy, will truly be The Museum of the Jewish People.
A replica of the ring is currently on display on -1 floor.
BUY RELATED ITEMS:


RATE - the amount charged by the Carrier for transportation of a unit of weight (in this case 1 kg). When accepting cargo for carriage is applied the rate that is active at the time of completing the air waybill (AWB).
FREIGHT RATE - the amount charged by the Carrier for transportation of cargo. This amount depends on the weight/volume/type of the goods.
MINIMUM RATE (MIN) – the cost of shipping in any cases must not be inferior to this amount.
NORMAL FREIGHT RATE (NORM) – the rate applied for the calculation of the cost of transportation of goods up to 45 kg inclusively.
QUANTITATIVE FREIGHT RATE:
45 - the rate applied for the calculation of the cost of transportation of goods from 45 kg to 99 kg, inclusively;
100 - rate applied for the calculation of the cost of transportation of goods from 100 kg to 499 kg, inclusively;
500 - the rate applied for the calculation of the cost of transportation of goods from 500 kg to 999 kg inclusively;
1000 - the rate applied for the calculation of the cost of transportation for goods from 1000 kg and above.
Rules for calculating the volumetric weight
Volumetric (or lightweight) cargo is a cargo the volume of which is equal to exceeds 0.006 m3 (6000 cm3) for 1 kg of gross weight.
When transporting volumetric cargo, fee for carriage is calculated on the basis of volume of cargo. In determining the scope, each package is assumed to be a rectangular prism and the volume of cargo is calculated basing on the maximum length, width and height of each package, and if multiple packs are connected together, then in length, width and height of the ligament. The linear measure of 5 mm or more is rounded to the nearest whole centimetre, and linear measure below 5 mm is not considered.
FOR EXAMPLE: the size of the consignment: is 162.2 cm x of 155.6 cm x 141,4 cm. These dimensions are rounded up to integral values: 162 cm x 156 cm x 141 cm = 3 563 352 cm3. Weight to be paid shall be determined by dividing the cubic volume of the shipment in cm by 6,000. The result is 593,892 kg. The results in kg are rounded and we get the payable weight - 594 kg.
NOTE: In case of exceeding of volumetric weight over the actual (gross), the rate of transportation is determined in accordance with the volumetric weight.


In partnership with Facebook IQ, a major study on how technology is transforming lives...
Technology’s Transformative Role
Under the title of Tech Transformations, Facebook commissioned this project to identify, explore and ultimately celebrate a host of new forces that are influencing people globally; technology’s transformative role in our everyday lives and how it impacts on attitudes, values and daily rituals.
After a desk research phase (majoring on cultural analysis and business innovations), we workshopped with Facebook five thematic areas to focus on in this work:
Trend #1: Personal Sustainability
In an age where we can monitor, map and predict what’s going on inside of us, technology isn’t just about simplifying our lives—it’s about giving us the ability to engineer the best possible version of ourselves, with the ultimate aim of ensuring our own personal sustainability.
Whether it’s about improving nutrition, fitness, sleep or even mindfulness, people share more and more online about their own personal commitment to lead longer, happier and more productive lives.
Trend #2: Mobile Empowerment
As under-served populations in emerging markets gain access to the Internet for the first time—notably through mobile devices—they are discovering the benefits of economic, entrepreneurial, educational and other opportunities previously unavailable. In 2014, the mobile industry contributed 5.7% to overall gross domestic product (GDP) in Sub-Saharan Africa, and this is forecast to increase to 8.2% by 2020.
But gaining mobile Internet access has benefits beyond basic services and pressing social challenges like healthcare, education and poverty—it also opens new avenues for social connection, idea sharing and entertainment.
Trend #3: Playing With Food
As food culture expands online and local cuisine becomes global, there’s a growing consciousness around sustainable food production to combat future food shortages and environmental drawbacks.
Technology is being used to replace the unsustainable food sources people are used to by harnessing sustainable ingredients or developing synthetic processes in laboratories.
Trend #4: Reinventing Rituals
As technology penetrates our everyday lives, it’s altering how we interact with each other, reshaping rituals, transforming old traditions and amplifying celebrations. We are driven by the same emotional desire to connect, but how we do so is fundamentally shifting.
This is partly because we are embracing tech to solve age-old problems (like finding “the one”). It could also be a response to social and economic factors: more people are living alone and moving between countries for work. But just because we live alone doesn’t mean we have to be lonely. Technology offers all sorts of opportunities to connect with family and friends online to celebrate important moments in new ways.
Trend #5: Embracing Identity
How people express themselves in terms of age, gender, looks, sexual orientation, relationships, spirituality and more is no longer binary. Driving this newfound empowerment is unparalleled access to new ideas and information, unlocking the facets of human experience.
All of this combines to create a deeper understanding of what identity means and the freedom to throw off the shackles of convention and share who we really want to be.
Experts & Early Adopters
And so with these fascinating themes to interrogate, this study had us on the ground in Nigeria (Lagos), South Korea (Seoul), the UK (London) and US (Brooklyn and San Francisco), interviewing experts and early adopters who could bring us close to each topic area; conducting ethnographic and remote-ethno methods, including deploying wear-able cameras so we could see trend manifestations in real world scenarios.
Surveys & Social Data
We also ran a quantitative survey in all markets (4,000 sample size), looking at the comprehension, appeal and penetration of new behaviours. Moreover, we were informed by Facebook and Instagram-derived data, this providing a further layer of evidence and articulation.
Sharing The Work
Among the methods for socialising the work (both with internal stakeholders and external partners) were mini documentary films and PDF distillations.
Check out Tech Transformations For 2016 And Beyond for more film content and downloadable PDFs.