This month's topics:
Knots and slipknots in protein molecules
"Conservation of complex knotting and slipknotting patterns in proteins," by Joanna I. Sułkowska, Eric J. Rawdon, Kenneth C. Millett, Jose N. Onuchic, and Andrzej Stasiak, appeared in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences for June 26, 2012. Rawdon (Univ. of St. Thomas, Saint Paul MN) and Millett (UCSB) are mathematicians, the others are theoretical biologists. A protein molecule has a linear backbone, extending from a carboxyl C-terminus to an amino N-terminus. It is considered to have knot type $K$, in this study, when joining the two ends of this chain by line segments to a distant, random point gives $K$ as a most likely knot. The authors went through the library of all known protein structures, studying for each one the initial knottedness and how the knottedness varied as groups were clipped from the C- or from the N-terminus. A slipknot occurs when clipping moves a chain from an unknotted to a knotted configuration. (Think of snipping through the bows in a bow-tie and discarding the ends: you get a square knot). The tabulation of the changes in knottedness as one or the other end was clipped gives what the authors call the knotting pattern of a protein structure.
"The most complex protein knot currently known is formed by the backbone of $\alpha$-haloacid dehalogenase DehI. [Folded structure shown here]. DehI is a bacterial enzyme hydrolyzing carbon-halogen bonds and is therefore capable of biodegrading environmental pollutants such as herbicides and pesticides." Images from PNAS 109 E1715-E1723, used with permission.
The knotting pattern of DehI. Horizontal axis: clipping N-terminal end; vertical axis: clipping C-terminal end. Initially the protein exhibits the "stevedore's knot," $6_1$ in the knot table. N-terminal pruning leads first to a slipknot, then to $6_1$ again, then to the unknot. Pruning the C-terminal end leads to the figure-eight knot $4_1$, then a slipknot, then the unknot. N-terminal pruning on that slipknot gives the trefoil knot $3_1$, then the unknot. Some additional pathways are shown.
Why are there knots? The authors report: "In the majority of cases ... one is unable to determine the precise structural and functional advantages provided by the presence of knots." But they argue why such advantages must exist: "... we detected a strict conservation of complex knotting patterns within and between several protein families [groups of evolutionarily-related proteins] despite their large sequence divergence. Because protein folding pathways leading to knotted native protein structures are slower and less efficient than those leading to unknotted proteins with similar size and sequence, there must be an important physiological role of knots and slipknots in these proteins."
Plug for pure math in the Daily News
The New York Daily News ran an op-ed piece on July 8, 2012: "Math is more than the sum of its parts," by Edward Frenkel, the Berkeley mathematician, and Ronald Ross, superintendent of Greenburgh Central School District 7 in New York State. At the top is an eye-popping image of a collider event, with the caption "The Higgs boson discovery was made possible by mathematics," and in paragraph 2 we read "But one important aspect of this great discovery has been largely hidden from the public view: the fact that this elusive particle was a mathematical prediction, and its discovery a triumph for an increasingly underappreciated discipline." The article goes on remark that the current epidemic of mathematical illiteracy coincides with "math [being] more and more the source of power and profit and progress," leading to dire consequences like the "reckless misuse of mathematical models in the financial markets." Some of the blame goes to the "pursuit of high scores on standardized tests" in our public schools, where math becomes "treated as a chore when it is the most relevant subject of all." The solution they propose is for educators to join forces with professional mathematicians---the matching could be facilitated by an online platform---to inspire students' curiosity and "show them how a formula can be as elegant as a painting, a poem or a piece of music."
Frenkel and Ross refer to "a recent opinion piece in the New York Times" (undoubtedly this one by Sol Garfunkel and David Mumford) where "mathematics was compared to a dead language, and it was argued that most citizens would be better served by studying merely a few practical applications of math." "We disagree. The language of math is as vital as ever, and the way forward is to rediscover its innate beauty and possibility. Replacing rigorous study of mathematics with 'useful skills' is like teaching students how to paint a fence without ever showing them the paintings of Michelangelo and Picasso."
Add equations, lose citations
"Heavy use of equations impedes communication among biologists" is the title of a report in the June 25, 2012 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, by Tim Fawcett and Andrew Higginson (University of Bristol). The authors ask why (in ecology and evolution) "many empirical studies build largely on other empirical studies with little direct reference to relevant theory," even though theoretical work is fundamental "for generating testable predictions and interpreting observations." They discovered that mathematics is the culprit: the use of mathematical equations has a significant negative effect on the scientific impact of a paper in those fields, with "papers receiving 28% fewer citations overall for each additional equation per page in the main text." And 35% fewer if one just counts citations from non-theoretical papers.
Fawcett and Higginson suggest how better communication might be established. One could "enhance the technical understanding of biology graduates by improving the level of mathematical training they receive." But this clearly is a long-term and time-intensive undertaking. Another way is for "those doing theoretical work to describe their models in a way that can be more easily digested by a diverse audience." For example, "add more explanatory text between the equations to describe carefully the underlying biological assumptions inherent in the mathematics." The problem here is that journals resist anything that lengthens articles. There is a bright spot in the research: they found that equations in an appendix don't count in discouraging citations. But the authors advise against moving all the equations into the attic: the risk is "that the main text then glosses over the fine details of the model's assumptions, which can have a big impact on how the predictions are interpreted."
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There are two major strategies in the quest to eliminate climate-changing pollution from personal vehicles: Either get people to drive less and switch to public transit or other ways of getting around, or make the cars and trucks themselves less dirty — as in replacing them with electric vehicles.
The Baker administration is firmly embracing the latter option, with its latest climate plan focusing on vastly expanding the sale of electric vehicles, to at least 750,000 electric vehicles by the end of the decade. That would be a monumental increase, given that there are fewer than 18,000 all-electric vehicles registered in the state today.
But the plan takes only fleeting interest in policies that would increase public transit, walking, and bicycling.
This divergent approach was in sharp relief when a state environmental official briefed the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s oversight board last week on climate strategies for transportation. Notably missing was much discussion about public transit.
David Ismay, undersecretary of climate at the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, told the MBTA’s overseers that convincing more commuters to use buses, subways and trains, or to bike or walk, wouldn’t have nearly the same environmental benefit as huge growth in electric vehicles.
“We didn’t find a lot of bulk benefit there,” Ismay said. Even aggressive strategies to get people out of cars, he said, aren’t “capable of, by themselves, driving the kind of deep emission reductions that we need on the pace that we need them.”
Transportation is the leading source of greenhouse gas emissions in Massachusetts, and cars and light trucks account for the bulk of those. The state’s 2030 climate plan, released in draft form in December, calls for transportation emissions to drop by about a quarter over this decade, with electric cars doing most of the work.
There is little argument that achieving this goal will require mass adoption of zero-emission vehicles, most likely battery-powered. But considering the seemingly endless debate over how to improve the MBTA, the lack of interest in transit has frustrated some advocates, especially since a 2018 Baker administration report on the future of transportation emphasized moving “more people in fewer vehicles.”
There are also implications for income inequality and social equity, given the high upfront costs to buy a car, especially an electric one.
“We need to be doing a whole host of things, and making sure that for every policy that is going to require families to spend a lot of money to gain access to a cleaner source of transportation, that there are similar options for people who can’t make that choice,” said Staci Rubin, a senior attorney for the Conservation Law Foundation. “I’m hoping the final plan reflects the ability for high-functioning and frequent public transit to get people out of cars and on trains and buses.”
Critics also argue that simply swapping gas-powered cars for electric ones wouldn’t address other transportation issues that have public health consequences, including traffic congestion, road safety, and runoff water polluted with tire particles.
But others see the state’s auto-centric approach as appropriate, reflecting a plain reality: Even in Massachusetts, home to one of the nation’s most widely used transit systems, most people get around by car.
“The Massachusetts climate plans are pragmatic in recognizing that personal vehicle ownership is well-entrenched in American society, and that any climate policy must be very careful to balance the climate objectives with acceptance by the population,” said Randall Field, executive director of the Mobility Systems Center at the MIT Energy Initiative.
The state is not dismissing the role of transit. At his appearance before the MBTA board, Ismay said the transit system is important for climate goals because it already removes so many cars from the road.
“Certainly if we lost this transit system, we would see a lot of . . . trips currently handled by our public transit system be handled, now, by cars,” he said.
The climate plan also includes a goal to cut commuter-related driving by 15 percent, pointing to wider adoption of work-from-home policies during the pandemic. But commuting is a fraction of all travel, and overall driving would still increase, even with that reduction.
Other tactics in the Baker plan include establishing programs to make it easier for low- and middle-income residents to afford electric cars; ending the sale of gas-powered cars by 2035; improving and expanding vehicle charging systems; and implementing the multistate initiative to reduce vehicle emissions by tacking a fee on auto fuels, known as the Transportation and Climate Initiative.
Electric vehicles are becoming more affordable as the technology advances and automakers debut new models. On Thursday, General Motors announced a goal to phase out fossil fuel-powered vehicles by 2035. The Biden administration has also emphasized electric vehicles as a crucial environmental strategy.
But achieving the state’s goal for 2030 would require about 50 percent of new vehicle sales to be electric, much higher than the forecasts of some analysts.
The state’s analysis determined the incentives for buying electric vehicles could cost hundreds of millions — if not billions — of dollars annually.
The analysis also considered carrot-and-stick ideas to get drivers to give up cars and switch to public transit. The most effective would require money — to significantly expand public transit — but also includes a type of disincentive that Governor Charlie Baker has previously opposed: a road-pricing plan that would charge drivers up to 10 cents a mile.
These approaches were not included in the climate plan, because they would be costly for drivers and expensive and time-consuming to implement, officials said. Even if they were adopted, the state found, there would still be an increase in driving in the coming decades, though at a slower rate.
“Transit, walking and biking are therefore a potentially important complement to electrification but by themselves cannot achieve reductions in [miles driven] at the scale needed,” the state said in one of its climate documents.
Meanwhile, the Metropolitan Area Planning Council, a regional agency for Greater Boston, is pressing the state to put greater emphasis on housing development as a climate tool, as concentrating new residences in dense communities and near transit stations would result in less driving. But that approach could be complicated by recent MBTA service cuts that are being made without a clear schedule for restarting canceled trains, said the planning council’s deputy director, Rebecca Davis.
“Communities are not going to be interested in continuing to push for . . . housing development near commuter rail stations if they’re fearful the commuter rail will no longer be there,” she said.


FOR A BETTER FUTURE
The benefits of our mining projects go far beyond the value of the metals we produce. Our projects create a series of direct, indirect and induced impacts that benefit local communities and national economies. This ripple effect of economic activity multiplies as it moves outwards from our mining projects.
Mining Creates Employment
Our mining projects create significant job opportunities for local communities. Direct jobs are created working for the mine itself and indirect jobs are created throughout the industry supply chain. Jobs in the wider economy are created as demand for local services, such as shops, restaurants, sport centres, schools and hospitals, increases. It is estimated that for every one direct mining employee, three to five people may be employed indirectly elsewhere in the economy. (1)
Mining Generates Revenues
Our mines can be a significant source of income for employees and for governments. Our projects generate revenues in the form of wages, income taxes (personal and corporate), royalties and exports. Recent studies suggest that in industrialized economies $1 of economic activity in the mining sector can generate $3 or more of economic activity elsewhere. (1)
Mining Builds Communities
The infrastructure we build for new mining projects, such as power, water, and road development, has also benefited local communities, particularly in more remote regions. Water wells have been used for agricultural activities in Greece and road development has improved transportation between villages near our Jinfeng mine in China. In more developed areas, our projects have made direct contributions to the well-being of communities through donations to health centres, sports facilities, university funding and other educational initiatives.
(1) ICMM Report: The Role of Mining in National Economies 2nd Edition (Published: October 2014)


According to a recent study, beekeepers across the United States suffered average hive losses of 23 percent this winter. Yet Center for Food Safety states that the declines are far more troubling then what’s being reported, and food security is at risk.
Bees, responsible for pollinating one out of every three bites of the foods we eat, have been dying systematically for the past seven years. This is unsustainably high, threatening the bee population along with the livelihoods of beekeepers and farmers who rely on bees for pollination.
“Today’s report offers little encouragement,” says Larissa Walker, who spearheads Center for Food Safety’s pollinator campaign. “There is more to the story than just this one number – this survey is not the most statistically reliable indicator of the current state of pollinator health. People need to be informed about the threat to the food supply and armed with things they can do to bring the bees back.”
The reality is the vast majority of honeybee colonies across the country are still suffering above-average winter losses and unusually high losses in the spring and summer seasons. Year-round, beekeepers are fighting an uphill battle to keep their hives alive and viable.
A technique known as ‘splitting’ is one way beekeepers have stayed in business. A healthy hive has about 50,000 bees. Beekeepers can ‘split’ a hive into two by introducing an artificially raised queen to the new half. Presto chango: The result is two thriving, independent hives — hopefully.
“Most of the commercial beekeepers are splitting as many hives as they can build up to replace their losses, and many of the splits don’t make it. The strongest colonies may be split three or four ways,” explains Colorado beekeeper Tom Theobald who appears in from the film Vanishing of the Bees.
Keep in mind that a queen, often referred to as a ‘baby-making machine,’ lays about 2,500 eggs a day. However, this figure decreases after a year. So, to maintain productivity, many beekeepers take the queen, smash her head, and replace her with a younger, more fertile queen. (Kind of like when an older man trades in his wife for a younger bride.)
‘Re-queening’ honeybee colonies is touted as one of the most important apicultural practices. Rather than allow a colony to “supersede” naturally, which is when a hive figuratively tells the older queen to step down, a beekeeper attempts to have more control over the genetic makeup of the hive by introducing a mated queen.
Some would argue, however, that re-queening is unnatural and violates the sacred feminine. It’s also laborious and can be expensive. And, often, the ‘faux’ queen will fail when the hive rejects her as an artificially raised queen. Commercial beekeepers used to re-queen every two years. Now, thanks to Colony Collapse Disorder and the vicious cycle of re-queening (Read: chronically failing queens), beekeepers are re-queening every six months.
The losses reported by the Bee Informed Partnership, who issued the results with the support of the Apiary Inspectors of America and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, represent only 21 percent of the nation’s honeybee colonies, and they are potentially inflated by the recent spike in urban beekeeping, states the Center for Food Safety.
Hobby beekeepers typically do not face the same problems as commercial beekeepers. Bees in cities are doing better than those in the countryside because they are far away from commercial monocultures and systemic poisons.
“As the preliminary survey results point out, the colony mortality rate over the full 12 month period was 45.2 percent,” adds Walker.
Moreover, what isn’t recorded is that, for most commercial beekeepers, the turnover in any given season is high. For some, the figure is approaching 100 percent. So what’s the next step? Unless we see some significant changes soon, the next step is going out of business, according to Theobald, who has been suffering losses for years.
“We are sending the bees out into an environment that is hostile to life,” says Theobald. “The only reason we have honeybees now is because of beekeepers. The life expectancy of feral colonies is only two or three years. If we take the beekeepers out of the equation, and we are about to, it won’t be long before most of the feral colonies are gone.”
While a myriad of factors – including habitat loss, poor nutrition, pathogens and parasites – are all contributing to honeybee loss, scientists have increasingly linked poor honeybee health and pollinator losses to the indiscriminate use of a certain class of systemic insecticides called neonicotinoids. Today’s numbers underscore the need to suspend the widespread use of neonicotinoids in the United States, as has been done in Europe.
“The system in place is as bad as organized crime,” adds Theobald. “These aren’t regulators or businesspeople. They are criminals who see fit to ignore the law, distort the science, and disregard the welfare of humanity and the environment for profit, and nobody is holding them to account. Where the hell is Congress, or are they in on the game too?”


It’s easy to enter, and you’ll be “set for life” with the best of reading skills!
What means more to a student than to be appreciated and applauded for reaching a significant goal? That is why the Taylor Elementary Million Word Reader Prize Patrol was formed eight years ago. When a student reaches one million words as recorded in Accelerated Reader, it is time to celebrate! The Prize Patrol travels to their classroom with bells, noisemakers, pop art signs, shouts of praise and prizes!
Prize Patrol student leaders photograph each occasion and organize a group of cheering students, made up of current Million Word Readers, to deliver a $1,000,000 Chocolate Bar and certificates of accomplishment. Parents join in the fun to honor their child at this exciting celebration. Student leaders make the announcements and encourage the class to join with the crew to honor these readers. New honorees join the gang to honor the next Million Word Reader.
Trojan students are encouraged with other awards all along to the way toward a million words. At other events, such as lunch with Mrs. Burton when students reach half-a-million words, they are inspired to keep reading and watching for the actual winning moment to come their way!
Who knows who will be the next winner that is surprised by the Million Word Reader Prize Patrol?


The following are some tips to consider if you have bird feeders:
To keep squirrels at bay, place feeders at last 10 to 15 feet from tree limbs.
Feeders should be about 15 feet from bushes to give birds a getaway in case of danger.
Platform feeders seem to have a higher disease transmission rate because they retain fecal matter. Thistle feeders will attract finches.
Finches and small birds will use tube feeders.
Suet feeders attract woodpeckers and bluebirds.
Most birds seem to prefer hulled black oil sunflower seeds. More waste occurs with mixed seeds as birds will empty unwanted seed to get to their favorites.


Sound Insulation – the characteristic of a material or construction to reduce noise levels, commonly known as ‘soundproofing’. Typically these materials are heavy, thick and rigid or you can use products such as Maxiboard, Acoustilay or SoundBlocker to reduce noise. Sound insulation is used to minimise disturbance, maximise privacy and in general to allow adjacent spaces to be used without disturbing each other. SRS specialise in providing solutions to the obvious and maybe less obvious soundproofing problems that can arise.
Sound Absorption – materials that reduce echo or reverberation, frequently marketed with the word ‘acoustic’ but importantly not to be confused with sound insulation or ‘soundproofing’. These materials tend to be light and thick, foams or mineral wool are excellent absorbers of sound. Absorbers are used in large, airy spaces with predominantly hard surfaces where speech intelligibility is critical such as classrooms, halls or call centres. Our Sonata range of acoustic panels are the UK’s most effective absorbers available but we also produce Coustifoam for projects where the functional black appearance will also be acceptable. SRS are able to calculate the extent of a reverberation problem and provide a solution that offers the optimal performance for a given space.
Airborne noise – noise transmitted through the air to then pass through walls or floors causing disturbance, example include music, speaking etc. If you can hear your neighbours voices or TV then you are hearing airborne noise. Solutions include Maxiboard, Acoustilay, and Maxideck
Impact noise – noise transmitted through floors to the rooms below, not applicable to walls. Examples include footfall, treadmill noise or enthusiastic piano playing. Solutions include Acoustilay, Acoustilay Tilemat, Impactafoam, SubPrimo or Isolayte. Some noise generated by an impact is actually airborne noise - the clip clop of high heels is a good example. For this problem an excellent Maxi 60 ceiling below might be the solution.
The decibel (dB) - the unit used the quantify the energy or pressure of sound levels. dB’s are used to measure many different parameters and care should be taken to ensure that any performance referenced or quoted relates to an appropriate measurement. The human ear has a range of sensitivity between 0dB and around 120dB though prolonged exposure to more than 80dB is not to be recommended. The human ear is not calibrated in decibels though, so if you have a noise problem please don’t get too distracted with different measurements in decibels. If you can hear a noise problem, then it’s a problem.
Frequency (Hertz, Hz) - sometimes referred to as the pitch of a particular sound, the human ear is sensitive to a range between around 20Hz to 20,000kHz. The human ear doesn’t have a linear response to frequency (see A weighting) but this is the range that we are primarily interested in. Typically low frequency noise is harder to reduce than high frequency noise.
A-Weighting, dB(A) – A weighting curve applied to noise measurements to make them more representative of the response of the human ear, ie not as sensitive to very low or very high frequencies but very acute at frequencies between 500 to 4kHz. Frequently seen on noise ratings for fridges and other white goods but also on measurements of noise levels.
Flanking noise – An overused term that essentially translates to a ‘leak’ or an unforeseen problem. Good specification, design and installation should avoid flanking before it ever happens but when it does it is crucial to understand the problem rather than throw more material and time at it. SRS are qualified and experienced acousticians and can diagnose why there is a problem and suggest effective remedial work.
Floating Floor – A floor surface that has a soft cushioning layer below it to reduce the ‘thud’ of footfall in the rooms below. Products like Acoustilay, Impactafoam or SubPrimo are the quickest ways to install an effective floating floor and may also be able to achieve an appreciable improvement in airborne sound insulation too.
Reverberation Time (s) – The amount of time needed for sound to decay by 60dB, or about a millionth of it’s initial level. Cathedrals and caves have long reverberation times (>4 seconds) which is great for choral music but terrible for speech intelligibility. Sonata acoustic absorbers can quickly reduce reverberation and have been used to great success in schools, village halls and scout huts.
Our professional, Institute of Acoustics registered technical department is on hand to give advice on all of our high performance acoustic products. We're delighted to offer advice on any noise problem, be it a sound insulation or sound absorption issue.


One of the iconic theories in ecology, which has withstood decades of rigorous experimental tests, is the Theory of Island Biogeography developed by Robert MacArthur and E.O. Wilson in the 1960s. They found that the number of species on islands showed a direct correlation to the size of the island and its proximity to an adjacent mainland area. Close proximity ensured that a large number of individuals of various species would find the island, whereas size ensured that there was ample available and favorable habitat to allow immigrating populations to persist.
Conservation biologists quickly recognized that this theory had immediate application to the design of refuge areas for wildlife. Protected areas are analogous to islands, inasmuch as they are often surrounded by a “sea” of inappropriate habitat, such as agriculture, roads, suburbs and shopping centers. As a first approximation, a large protected area will preserve more species than a small one.
Tom Lovejoy has tested the theory in the Amazon basin, where fragments of intact rainforest of differing size were maintained as the surrounding rainforest was logged. Losses of bird species were greatest from the smaller habitats. One study in Thailand found that nearly half of the species of small mammals disappeared from small fragments of preserved habitat within 14 years of isolation.
Small protected areas are often the most vulnerable to invasions of exotic species and to human encroachment along their borders, behooving us to increase the size of refuges so as to minimize their ratio of perimeter to area. In one area of the Amazon, rainforests lost 36 percent of their plant biomass within 100 meters of the border within a couple of decades of isolation. The interior of these areas was unaffected. Minimizing the length of border while maximizing the area has a lot of advantages.
Ecologists have also noted that even small islands of habitat are more effective at species preservation if they are connected to one another by corridors that allow the individuals of species to move between habitat fragments. Local extirpations of a species on one protected area can be replaced by the immigration of replacement individuals from an adjacent area. Some have argued that corridors also allow the more rapid dispersal of exotic species, but experimental evidence generally shows that corridors are beneficial, particularly where the habitat is already fragmented.
Of course, the pattern of land use in the developed world was established before anyone gave much thought to species preservation. Today, fragments of protected habitat of varying size are found at varying distances from one another. One might ask if anything can be done to maximize species preservation and ecological value of such habitat. In many cases the answer is yes. First, acquisition of new protected lands can often be prioritized so that they connect existing refuges and reduce the ratio of perimeter to protected area. Second, even if available tracts are not large, if they can be arranged to provide corridors for the movement of wildlife between existing protected lands, the overall number of species preserved is likely to be greater.
Belote, R.T. and 7 others. 2017. Wild, connected, and diverse: Building a more resilient system of protected areas. Ecological Applications 27: 1050-1056.
Ferraz, G., G.J. Russell, P.C. Stouffer, R.O. Bierregaard, S.L. Pimm, and T.E. Lovejoy. 2003. Rates of species loss from Amazonian forest fragments. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science 100: 14069-14073
Gibson, L., A.J. Lynam, C.J.A. Bradshaw, F. He, D.P. Bickford, D.S. Woodruff, S. Bumrungri, and W.F. Laurance. 2013. Near-complete extinction of native small mammal fauna 25 years after forest fragmentation. Science 341: 1508-1510.
Haddad, N.M., L.A. Brudvig, E. I. Damschen, D.M. Evans, B.L. Johnson, D.J. Levey, J.L. Orrock, J. Resasco, L.L. Sullivan, and J.J. Tewksbury. 2014. Potential negative ecological effects of corridors. Conservation Biology 28: 1178-1187.
Laurance, W.F., S.G. Laurance, L.V. Ferreira, J.M. Rankin-de-Merona, C. Gascon and T.E. Lovejoy. 1997. Biomass collapse in Amazonia forest fragments. Science 278: 1117-1118.
MacArthur, R.A. and E.O. Wilson. 1967. The Theory of Island Biogeography. Princeton University Press
Robinson, S.K., F.R. Thompson, T.M. Donovan, D.R. Whitehead, and J. Faaborg. 1995. Regional forest fragmentation and the nesting success of migratory birds. Science 267: 1987-1990.
Simberloff, D.S. and L.G. Abele. 1976. Land biogeography theory and conservation practice. Science 191: 285-286.
Simberloff, D. 1988. The contribution of population and community biology to conservation science. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 19: 473-511.
Terborgh, J. and 10 others 2001. Ecological meltdown in predator-free forest fragments. Science 294: 1923-1926.
Tewksbury, J.J., D.J. Levey, N.M. Haddad, S. Sargent, J.L. Orrock, A. Weldon, B.J. Danielson, J. Brinkerhoff, E.I. Damschen and P. Townsend. 2002. Corridors affect plants, animals, and their interactions in fragmented landscapes. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 99: 12923-12926.
Woodroffe, R. and J.R. Ginsberg. 1998. Edge effects and the extinction of populations inside protected areas. Science 280: 2126-2128.


Emotional intelligence (EI) is a vital aspect of human behavior that influences how individuals perceive, understand, and manage emotions. In the context of studying, emotional intelligence plays a significant role in academic success and overall well-being. Students with high emotional intelligence can effectively manage stress, regulate their emotions, and cultivate positive relationships with peers and educators. In this article, we will explore the importance of emotional intelligence in studying and practical strategies to enhance emotional intelligence for academic achievement.
Understanding Emotional Intelligence
Emotional intelligence consists of several key components, including:
Self-Awareness: Recognizing and understanding one’s emotions, strengths, weaknesses, and values.
Self-Regulation: Managing emotions and impulses, remaining calm under pressure, and avoiding impulsive actions.
Motivation: Setting and achieving goals, having a strong drive to succeed, and maintaining a positive attitude.
Empathy: Understanding and considering others’ feelings and perspectives, fostering compassion and understanding.
Social Skills: Building and maintaining healthy relationships, effective communication, and teamwork.
The Impact of Emotional Intelligence on Studying
Stress Management: Students with high emotional intelligence can effectively cope with academic pressure and stressful situations. They are better equipped to handle exam anxiety and manage time efficiently, leading to improved academic performance.
Focus and Concentration: Emotional intelligence helps students stay focused on their studies, reducing distractions and maintaining concentration during study sessions.
Resilience: High emotional intelligence fosters resilience, enabling students to bounce back from setbacks, failures, or challenging academic experiences.
Positive Learning Environment: Students with well-developed emotional intelligence contribute to a positive and supportive learning environment. They are empathetic towards their peers and help create a sense of community in the classroom.
Conflict Resolution: Emotional intelligence equips students with conflict resolution skills, allowing them to navigate disagreements constructively and maintain harmonious relationships.
Effective Communication: Students with strong emotional intelligence can express themselves effectively, both in written assignments and verbal interactions with teachers and peers.
Strategies to Enhance Emotional Intelligence in Studying
Mindfulness Practices: Encourage students to engage in mindfulness exercises to become more self-aware and develop emotional regulation skills. Mindful breathing, meditation, and body scanning can help students manage stress and improve focus.
Emotion Recognition: Encourage students to identify and label their emotions, which helps them understand their feelings and responses better.
Journaling: Promote reflective journaling to help students explore their thoughts and emotions, facilitating self-awareness and emotional understanding.
Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) Programs: Implement SEL programs in schools to enhance students’ social and emotional skills. These programs teach empathy, conflict resolution, and effective communication.
Peer Support Groups: Create peer support groups where students can share their challenges and experiences, fostering a sense of belonging and mutual understanding.
Positive Reinforcement: Recognize and reward emotionally intelligent behaviors, encouraging students to develop these skills further.
Art and Expressive Therapies: Incorporate art and expressive therapies, such as creative writing or drawing, to provide an outlet for emotional expression and growth.
Collaborative Learning: Encourage collaborative learning experiences where students work together, promoting social skills and teamwork.
Teacher-Student Relationships: Foster positive teacher-student relationships, as supportive educators can influence emotional development positively.
Emotional intelligence plays a critical role in studying, impacting students’ stress management, focus, relationships, and overall academic success. By cultivating emotional intelligence through mindfulness practices, emotion recognition, journaling, SEL programs, and positive reinforcement, students can develop essential skills for academic achievement and personal growth. Creating a supportive and emotionally intelligent learning environment empowers students to become more resilient, empathetic, and motivated learners, equipping them for success both inside and outside the classroom.


Control and extinguish municipal fires, protect life and property and conduct rescue efforts.
- Fire fighting involves hazardous conditions and long, irregular hours.
- About 9 out of 10 fire fighters were employed by local governments.
- Applicants generally must pass written, physical, and medical examinations, and candidates with some postsecondary education are increasingly preferred.
- Keen competition for jobs is expected because this occupation attracts many qualified candidates.
|Personality||I'm hands on|
|Education||Some college, no degree|


This is a course to learn a variety of methods of teaching (and learning) English using technology. On top of the standard CALL system, Computer, Internet, Mobile Phone, and Tablets are the main focus of our exploration. We investigate how we can best utilize these modern technologies for improving students' understanding of English and their motivation to learn. Participants of this course are expected to actually try using each of the devices/media/tools/software programs that are introduced each week to test the effectiveness by themselves.
- Teacher: Hideto D. Harashima


Our Milky Way galaxy is often described as a flattened disk of hundreds of billions stars. That description leaves out some of our galaxy’s most interesting parts.
Hovering above and below the main disk are the suburbs of our galactic city — 150 or so globular clusters of stars. Along with some stray stars and occasional gas molecules, globular clusters are the main constituents of what is more properly called the “galactic halo.”
The best of the globulars visible from the northern hemisphere is aptly named the “Great Globular” although most TN’s (telescope nuts) refer to it by its catalog number, M13. It can be found fairly easily right now in binoculars in the constellation Hercules, but don’t expect to see much except for a small, round fuzzy patch.
Remember, our planet is located in the main disk of the galaxy. M13 is out there in the suburbs. At 25,000 light years, or 150,000,000,000,000,000 miles away, even a cluster of a million stars doesn’t look like much. However, even a small department-store telescope will begin to resolve M13 into stars around its edges. In an eight or ten-inch diameter amateur telescope, the cluster resolves into stars across its entire surface. In a telescope as large as the one at Perkins Observatory, M13 looks like a diamond dust piled on the sky, a stunningly complex and indescribably beautiful explosion of stars. You should come to one of our Friday-night public programs in August and check it out.
The oddest thing about M13 is that it took humans so long to discover and catalog it. It is first mentioned by Edmund Halley (of Halley’s Comet fame) in 1715, more than 100 years after Galileo used the first astronomical telescope. However, Halley himself notes that M13 is visible to the unaided eye “when the sky is serene and the moon is absent.” To that we must add that you’ll have to be far from city streetlights under a dark, rural, sky. Countless observers must have seen M13 before 1715 without taking any special note of it, but we city dwellers can’t see it nearly so well.
If globular clusters existed in isolation from their parent galaxies, we might even think of them as mini-galaxies. Imagine one million stars in a tightly packed ball, dense at the center and gradually less so at the edge. Of course, by Milky Way standards, globulars don’t amount to much. The disk of our galaxy is about 100,000 light years wide. (One light year is approximately equal to 6 trillion miles.) The part of M13 we can see in small telescopes is perhaps 100 light years wide, but it probably extends to a diameter of 200 light years. A million stars is a lot to pack into such a relatively small space. Near the edge of the cluster, the stars are probably several light years away from each other.
That distance compares favorably with the distance from star to star in Earth’s section of the Milky Way. The nearest star to our sun is about four light years distant.
Near the center of M13, the stars are very tightly packed, at least for stars, at roughly a tenth of a light year apart. Before you conjure up a picture of stars crashing into each other, consider that one tenth of a light year is still 600 billion miles, which gives the stars plenty of room to move around without coming even remotely close to each other.
In his “Celestial Handbook.” Robert Burnham creates a visual model of M13 to give some sense of the emptiness. He reduces each star to the size of a grain of sand. On that scale, the stars would be distributed in a spherical space 300 miles in diameter. Even in the dense center of the cluster, the stars/grains would be separated from each other by almost a mile. Even at the center of globular clusters, among the most crowded places in the universe, the stars still live in lonely but magnificent isolation.
Saturn continues to sink in the west as darkness falls in the evening. Better get to a Friday night program at Perkins Observatory if you still want to see it! Call 740-363-1257 for more information about our Friday-night public sessions. Jupiter is still a morning object. Look low in the east around 4 a.m. for the brightest object in that direction.
Tom Burns is the Director of Ohio Wesleyan University¹s Perkins Observatory. He can be reached at email@example.com


“Facts” are accurate statements. Think of them as headlines. For example:
- Headline #1: Jesus Rises From the Grave
- Headline #2: Pharisees Accuse Christ Followers of Stealing Corpse of Christ
Both of these statements are accurate. While we know Christ did, in fact, rise, the Pharisees also paid the guards that were guarding the tomb a large sum of money to back up the story that the disciples had stolen the body (Matt 28:11-15). What’s significant is that for someone who’s just glossing over the headlines, the verbiage, albeit very brief, can still shape conclusions for those who don’t take the time to consider the full account. That leads us to the second category:
“Information” is the “facts” in the context of a limited perspective.
A journalist could build a compelling yet misleading article by strategically citing the chief priests, the guards who had been bribed and any one of a number of like minded people.
Can you see the article in your mind’s eye?
By steering clear of any testimony that differs from the accounts of the judiciously selected individuals compiled by the hypothetical journalist, you’ve got an article that’s legitimately accurate (facts) and informative (limited perspective). But because the perspective of the article is limited, while there’s nothing directly stated, there is nevertheless an implication that says Christ is dead and unless the reader is inspired to seek out a more comprehensive perspective, assuming he’s even aware that one is available, he’s waking around sporting a very cynical outlook on the first Easter morning.
Information. Limited perspective.
Finally, the last category of “data” is…
Truth is an accurate statement that’s been elaborated on in the context of a full perspective. This is the well you want to be drawing your conclusions from. Here is where the right questions are being asked and full disclosure is the norm. In the absence of “truth,” you risk formulating convictions that are fundamentally flawed. This is why you want to ensure that you’re aggressively and intentionally seeking out the “truth,” and not just the “facts.” You don’t even want to be content with “additional information.”
The truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
Consider this quote from John Adams:
“This would be the best of all worlds if there were no religion in it!”
On the surface, you have, what appears to be, a very valid piece of evidence that says our nation’s second President and a founding father was an atheist. Or, at least, a very cynical individual when it came to religion.
John Adams did say it. It’s part of a letter he wrote to Thomas Jefferson. When you consider the statement in its proper context, you arrive at a much different conclusion:
“Twenty times in the course of my late readings, I have been on the point of breaking out, ‘This would be the best of all worlds if there were no religion in it!’ But in this exclamation I should have been as fanatical as [Adams' former pastor Lemuel] Bryant or [his former teacher Joseph] Cleverly. Without religion, this world would be something not fit to be mentioned in polite company — I mean hell.”
In other words, Adams is exasperated when he ponders the way in which organized religion has resulted in so much tension. He says, tongue in cheek, that the world would be better without any “religion” in it. But then he’s very quick to say that the world would be, literally, hell on earth.
Hardly the musings of a man who views religion with a contemptuous sneer. Yet, this is the way in which atheists and progressives sometimes frame their “facts” and “information” when it comes to the religious disposition of America’s founding fathers.
Richard Dawkins categorizes John Adams as a cynical deist, to the point of him being used by Dawkins as evidence of a collective disdain for religion shared by virtually all the founding fathers. He quotes Adams as saying:
As I understand the Christian religion, it was, and is, a revelation. But how has it happened that millions of fables, tales, legends, have been blended with both Jewish and Christian revelation that have made them the most bloody religion that ever existed?”1
But he fails to reference another statement made by Adams:
The Christian religion is, above all the Religions that ever prevailed or existed in ancient or modern Times, the Religion of Wisdom, Virtue, Equity, and humanity, let the Blackguard [Thomas] Paine say what he will; it is Resignation to God, it is Goodness itself to Man.2
Facts. Information. Truth.
You want to know the truth, you want to be aware of the facts, but more than anything else, you want to understand the truth.
The Book of Proverbs
Scripture admonishes us to do as much. Proverbs 4:7 says:
Wisdom is supreme; therefore get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding. (Prove 4:7)
And wisdom begins with a reverence for God. That’s the top button.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. (Prov 9:10)
Understand that wisdom, from a biblical standpoint, is more than just knowledge. It’s the “ability to judge correctly and to follow the best course of action, based on knowledge and understanding.”3 While this “ability” is based in part on one’s discipline in the context of academic pursuits, it derives it’s true accuracy and application from an intentional pursuit of God’s Power and Perspective. In short, it’s a Divine Perspective properly applied (1 Cor 2:16; Col 1:29; Jas 1:5-8.
Here, then, is where you see the real distinction between having access to the directions and actually following the directions – the difference between Facts, Information and Truth. Anytime you buy something that requires some assembly, you can gloss over the instructions, believing that your intuition can more than make up for a careful study of the manufacturer’s counsel. More often than not, however, those instructions prove invaluable in being able to put your new resource together correctly. And however prudent it may be to follow the instructions in the assembly of your nephew’s new swing set, it’s absolutely crucial that you follow God’s Instructions when it comes to the whole of life (Jn 14:21; Rom 8:11).
And when you’re listening to people like Richard Dawkins, or people who think like him, use the same technique. Recognize the difference between Facts, Information and Truth. Don’t let a carefully crafted platform based on an intentionally watered down perspective replace the full perspective and the truly accurate convictions that flow from that approach.
1. “The God Delusion”, Richard Dawkins, Bantam Press, Great Britain, 2006, p65
2. John Adams, The Diary and Autobiography of John Adams, ed. L.H. Butterfield (Cambridge, MA: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1962), 3:233-34
3. Nelson’s Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1986, Nashville, TN


The range of plants recorded by Thomas Jefferson at Monticello reflected the scope of his myriad interests and multi-faceted personality: hot peppers from an army captain in southwestern Texas; rare nectarines from his life-long Italian friend, Phillip Mazzei; American Indian corn and bean varieties collected by the Lewis and Clark expedition. We are proud of our Monticello collection, and 25 years of historic plant hunting have uncovered some treasured wonders of the early 19th-century horticultural world: from the yellow Antwerp raspberry and Marseilles fig to the tennis-ball lettuce and pineapple melon to the ornamental Barbados flower fence or Caesalpinia pulcherrima (formerly Poinciana pulcherrima), species Pelargonium inquinans, the scarlet pentapetes, and "Bremo Musk Cluster" rose (Rosa moschata plena). Many of the Jefferson and Monticello plants, however, remain a mystery; their identities masked by confusing Jefferson terminology, the absence of detailed descriptions of their qualities, and 200 years of changing gardening tastes. Surely, 18th-century varieties of fruits, vegetables, and flowers have become extinct, yet surprisingly, the identity of most of these "Monticello Mysteries" were cloudy from the beginning, from Thomas Jefferson's lack of precise identification or from murky contemporary descriptions.
The Taliaferro (pronounced "Toliver") is Monticello's mystery apple. Jefferson planted unprecedented quantities of this apple in a select location in Monticello's South Orchard. While Jefferson praised it as "the best cider apple existing," producing a cider "more like wine than any other liquor I have tasted which was not wine," the lack of a detailed description of its qualities makes retrieval of the Taliaferro virtually impossible. According to Jefferson, Taliaferro was discovered by a Major Taliaferro of Williamsburg in the field of his neighbor, a Mr. Robertson (corrupted by Jefferson and others to "Robinson"), in the middle of the 18th century. Boston pomologist William Kenrick provided the only published description of the Taliaferro in 1835: "The fruit is the size of a grape shot, or from one to two inches in diameter; of a white color, streaked with red; with a sprightly acid, not good for the table, but apparently a very valuable cider fruit. This is understood to be a Virginia fruit, and the apple from which Mr. Jefferson's favorite cider was made."
Kenrick's description is so vague that confirming a potential Taliaferro today is like bobbing for the slipperiest of apples. Does the white color refer to the skin or the flesh? Kenrick's statement that it is "not good for the table" contradicts a Jefferson statement that it is "refreshing as an eating apple." The enigma of the lost Taliaferro has elevated its stature among historic apple hunters to almost mythic qualities, and handfuls of potential candidates, crimson-striped crabs and white-streaked cider apples, reappear like migratory birds every season. But, we will never know what the Taliaferro is unless an undiscovered pomological description miraculously appears.
Monticello's Mystery Tree
In 1816 Jefferson referred to the "Monticello aspen" he was sending to a friend and neighbor, James Barbour. Another local acquaintance of Jefferson's, John Hartwell Cocke, perhaps provides a partial clue to the identity of the "Monticello aspen" when he recorded in his garden diary, "In the year 1789 Mr. J. brought with him from Europe a species of this tree ["poplar"] somewhat different from the tall and slim lombardy [Lombardy poplar, Populus nigra var. Italica], Mr. J's being a tree of some shade." Still another hint, although it does not necessarily mesh with the Cocke testimony, was given by Jefferson in a letter to William Hamilton in 1806 that accompanied "9. plants of the Aspen from Monticello which I formerly mentioned & promised to you. It is a very sensible variety from any other I have seen in this country, superior in the straitness & paper whiteness of the body; & the leaf is longer in its stem consequently more tremulous, and it is smooth (not downy) on the underside." A well-known watercolor of Monticello, painted by Jane Braddick Peticolas around 1825, reveals an intensely planted thicket next to the West Front of the house of what is apparently the Monticello aspen," the trunks and foliage of the individual trees shining with a silver glow. What is the "Monticello aspen," Thomas Jefferson's mystery tree? The allusion by Cocke to it being "a tree of some shade" and introduced from Europe, and the exaggerated "paper whiteness" of the trunk and leaves described by Jefferson and illustrated by Peticolas suggest it is perhaps a variety or form of European aspen (Populus tremula).
Captain Lewis's Pea
2004 marks the 200th anniversary of the St. Louis departure of the Jefferson-sponsored Lewis and Clark Expedition, and the bicentennial has inspired a profound curiosity about the botanical and horticultural discoveries of the "Corps of Discovery." In April 1807, Jefferson successfully sowed "the flowering pea of the plains of the Arkansas" in an oval flower bed at Monticello, seed of which had been sent by Captain Meriwether Lewis. Jefferson noted it was "remarkable for its beautiful blossom & leaf," and his granddaughter Anne collected the seed later that fall. Despite its presumed ornamental qualities, "Lewis's flowering pea" was later relegated to more utilitarian areas along the periphery of the Monticello South Orchard: "between turnips and peas" and in "low ground."
Lewis's pea presents a host of issues. The route of the expedition, for example, was far north of the Arkansas River, so the seeds had likely been obtained in St. Louis on the return journey. The seeds had been routed through Bernard McMahon, the Philadelphia nurseryman and official curator of the horticultural collection of the expedition. McMahon identified the genus, based presumably by the appearance of the seed, as a Lupinus. We have grown the Texas blue bonnet, Lupinus texensis, as a possible "Lewis's pea," but the range of this heralded wildflower is far south of the Arkansas River. Paul Cutright, in Lewis and Clark, Pioneering Naturalists, a fine book on the natural history of the expedition, identifies the plant as American vetch, Vicia americana. American vetch is hardly "remarkable for its beautiful blossom and leaf," yet it would be a likely candidate as a soil ameliorator because of its quick-growing, nitrogen-fixing, leguminous qualities. Dr. James Reveal, distinguished botanical historian and author of Lewis and Clark's Green World: The Expedition and its Plants, suggests the key reference is to the "plains of the Arkansas," completely removing Lewis's pea from the realm of the "Corps of Discovery" and possibly placing it among the plants collected by the Freeman Custis Expedition of the Southwest in 1806.
The Extinct Hudson Strawberry?
In 1812 Jefferson wrote his friend and neighbor, George Divers, that he had spent "20 yrs. trying unsuccessfully" to obtain the "famous" Hudson strawberry for his garden at Monticello. After repeated requests of McMahon, who said the Hudson was "the best kind we have here," Jefferson finally established "flourishing" plants by 1812 in the submural beds below the vegetable garden wall. S. W. Fletcher, author of The Strawberry in America, said it was a selected form of the wild eastern North American species, Fragaria virginiana, and the "first named variety listed in North America." Wilhelm and Sagen, in A History of the Strawberry, 1780, disagreed, asserting the Hudson was a hybrid seedling of the native F. virginiana and the Pacific coast F. chiloense that occurred in a Rhode Island garden around 1792. The confusion was compounded by the emergence of Hudson's Bay, generally recognized as a F. virginiana cultivar originating in Canada and sold as early as 1810 by the William Booth nursery. Whatever the Hudson's muddled origins, it was a pioneer American cultivar: "very large, fine flavor, and great bearers" according to the 1790 William Prince catalogue. By the mid-19th century, the "old" original Hudson had nearly disappeared from cultivation, so it seems likely this "famous" strawberry is today extinct.
A Garden of Lost Vegetables
Many of the 330 varieties of vegetables grown at Monticello present the most complex challenge for the historic plant detective. Most vegetables are annuals and thus are easily lost if seed collection is neglected. Names have been changed for commercial purposes. Jefferson often listed varieties according to the person from who he received the seed ("Leitch's pea"), its place of origin ("Tuscan bean"), or else he noted a basic and general physical characteristic such as color ("yellow carrot") or season of harvest ("forward pea"). The popular Sugarloaf cabbage was sent to Monticello by Bernard McMahon, and according to Fearing Burr, author of The Field and Garden Vegetables of America, 1863, was distinguished by its unique "ashy or bluish-green hue," a habit more like a Romaine lettuce than a cabbage, and unique spoon-shaped leaves that formed a "clasp or cove over and around the head in the manner of a hood." Although a concept foreign to us today, lettuce was often cooked like cabbage in the early 19th century. An ideal variety for this was Marseilles, which Jefferson raised in large quantities, planting out 245 seedlings in 1809. The large, bronze-green heads, coarsely blistered, were harvested in winter after reaching 20 inches diameter and almost two pounds in weight. ?at's a crop of lettuce.
In an 1825 letter to Thomas Worthington, the former governor of Ohio, Jefferson requested seeds of a "mammoth" cucumber, four and a half feet long: "Although giants do not always beget giants, yet I should count on their improving the breed." The Ohio "cucumber" was probably a gourd, squash, or something akin to the ancient serpentine cucumber, Trichosanthes colubrine. Finding such a curiosity would, again, be dependent on locating a more concise description of the Worthington cucumber.
We are perhaps closer in identifying and displaying Jefferson's "potato pumpkin." Jefferson wrote the Jamaican planter Samuel Vaughn:
"We have lately had introduced a plant of the melon species which from its external resemblance to the pumpkin, we have called a pumpkin, distinguishing it as the potato pumpkin, on account of the extreme resemblance of its taste to that of the sweet potato. It is as yet but little known, is well esteemed at our tables, and particularly valued by our negroes. Coming much earlier than the real potato, we are so much the sooner furnished with a substitute for that root-perhaps it may be original from your islands."
A recipe appeared for the preparation of the potato pumpkin in Mary Randolph's The Virginia Housewife in 1824. Randolph was a cousin of Jefferson's and her cookbook has been described as "the most influential cookbook of the nineteenth century." Food historian and heirloom vegetable grower, William Woys Weaver, notes the now-available Tennessee sweet potato squash (or pumpkin) is a descendent and perhaps a legitimate replica of the one grown at Monticello.
Jefferson has been acknowledged by food historians as introducing rhubarb into American gardens, but his notations about planting it are achingly puzzling. He wrote in his Garden Book in 1809: "I. row of rheum undulatum, esculent rhubarb. The leaves excellent as Spinach." First of all, Rheum undulatum is a medicinal species used for its roots, not the plant used for cooking the leaf stalks into delicious pies. Secondly, if he really meant the pie plant, meaning "esculent rhubarb" or Rheum rhaponicum, the leaves of this species are poisonous and are hardly suitable as a salad green. What in the world was this man referring to?
Another vegetable Jefferson credited himself for introducing into the United States was "sprout kale," "the finest winter vegetable we have." Seed had been sent by French botanist André Thüin of the Jardin des Plantes in Paris in 1811, and Jefferson consistently and enthusiastically cultivated it for the next thirteen years. Jefferson wrote that sprout kale "is among our most valuable garden plants. It stands our winter unprotected, furnishes a vast crop of sprouts from the beginning of December through the whole winter. [The sprouts] are remarkably sweet and delicious." The "sprouts" were not like Brussels sprouts, but the "fine, tender, sweet" greens emerging from the plants. Jefferson documented planting other distinct and well known types of kale, including Russian, Buda, Delaware, and Scotch: all commonly described by 19th-century vegetable writers. Sea kale, Crambe maritima, was also a favorite of Jefferson's, but is harvested and used in the kitchen quite differently. Jefferson, in other words, knew kale. Other experts have suggested the identity of the Monticello sprout kale. Colonial Williamsburg's Wesley Greene suggests it might be dwarf German kale, greens, or borecole, while William Woys Weaver has a "gut feeling" that it is broccoli raab or a type of baby kale.
Identifying the plants grown by Thomas Jefferson is often a lesson in the vocabulary of the English language: deciphering Jefferson's terms for plants, linking his name to those used in the historic literature, particularly writers such as Philip Miller or Bernard McMahon, then pinpointing the modern botanical or variety name in a source such as Hortus Third or the Fruits and Vegetables of New York series published in the early years of the 20th century. The Oxford English Dictionary is a definitive resource. We have had some success with the herbaceous ornamentals described by Jefferson. The "Chinese Ixia" planted in an oval flower bed in 1807 is blackberry lily or Belamcanda chinensis. The "Dragon's Tongue" listed by Jefferson on an undated memorandum of cultivated flowers is spotted wintergreen or Chimaphila maculata, while "A little yellow flower from the woods Star of Bethlehem," noted on the same piece of scrap paper, is yellow star grass or Hypoxis hirsuta.
Some plants have been easier to identify than to grow. We have identified Jefferson's "American Columbo" as the stately and rare mountain wildflower, Swertia caroliniensis, but have never successfully established it in the flower gardens; as well we have trouble nursing the "American larkspur" or rare, native Delphinium exaltatum through a hot, humid Piedmont Virginia summer. One genuine mystery plant is the "hardy" "Mourning Bride," the bulbs of which Jefferson requested of a friend and neighbor, Isaac Coles, in 1811. Although Coles acknowledged the "Mourning Bride has not flourished well in our garden," he forwarded both bulbs and "a few roots" to Monticello. At least two sources suggest "Mourning Bride" has been used as a synonym for the annual Scabiosa, or pincushion flower (Scabiosa atropurpurea); however, the roots of this species are fibrous and not technically a hardy perennial in Charlottesville. So, what is Mr. Jefferson's Mourning Bride?
What have we lost: the "best cider apple existing," "the best kind of strawberry we have," a flower "remarkable for its beautiful blossom and leaf," "the finest winter vegetable we have," an ornamental tree "entirely peculiar and superior to all others"? These historical sound bites suggest the loss of the greatest hits of the early 19th-century horticultural world, precious genes that could revolutionize the nursery business (Monticello aspen), invigorate Third World countries (Taliaferro apple), or provide sustenance for small villages in north Alaska (sprout kale). Or, it could just be Thomas Jefferson hyperbole. As always, we urge Twinleaf readers to help us in our search.
Peter J. Hatch, Director Gardens and Grounds January 2004


Manuel Lopes, (born Dec. 23, 1907, São Vicente Island, Cape Verde Islands—died Jan. 25, 2005, Lisbon, Port.), African poet and novelist, who portrayed the struggle of his people to live in a land besieged by drought, famine, and unemployment.
Lopes studied at the University of Coimbra in Portugal, then returned to Cape Verde. In 1944 he took up work for Western Telegraph, and in 1951 he was transferred to the Azores. Subsequently he worked in Portugal, where he continued to live even after retirement.
Lopes was one of the founders of the journal Claridade, which in 1936 gave birth to modern Cape Verdean literature. Lopes’s story “
O galo que cantou na baía” (1936; “The Cock That Crowed in the Bay”) is the first prose narrative in Cape Verde rooted in a social reality that includes traditional folk elements. Two prizewinning novels, Chuva braba (1956; “Torrential Rains”) and Os flagelados do vento leste (1960; “Victims of the East Wind”), reflect both the anguish and the hope of his people.
Lopes published essays on Cape Verdean culture, as well as two volumes of poetry, Poemas de quem ficou (1949; “Poems of One Who Remained Behind“) and Crioulo e outros poemas (1964; “Creole and Other Poems”). His poems examine themes of Cape Verdean life, including the conflict between the desire to escape and the need to remain.


Don't mistake a word in an intervening phrase or clause for the subject of a sentence. The simple subject is never in a prepositional phrase. Make sure the verb agrees with the actual subject and not with the object of the preposition.
Example: The 'paper' in those boxes 'is' for the copy machine. [The singular verb 'is' agrees with the singular subject 'paper', not with the plural object of the preposition, 'boxes'] Example: The 'dogs' in that class are well behaved. [The plural verb 'are' agrees with the plural subject 'dogs', not with the object of the preposition, 'class'.]
If a singular subject is linked to another noun by a phrase, the subject is still considered singular. Expressions such as 'accompanied by, as well as' in addition to, plus, and together with' introduce phrases that modify the subject without changing its number. Example: 'Fried rice', along with wonton soup, 'makes' a delicious meal Example: 'Isaac', accompanied by Jerome, goes to the movies on Saturday.
Appositives and adjective clauses give information about the subject but don't change its number. Make sure you don't mistake a word in an appositive or an adjective clause for the subject of the sentence. APPOSITIVES Example: 'Emma', one of my good friends, visits Australia every year. ADJECTIVE CLAUSES: 'Virginia Woolf', who was one of the Bloomsbury Group members, 'expresses' emotion in her writing.
Things You Will Need


Ion Absorption in the Loop of Henle
Ion transport along the nephron is essential for the reabsorption of sodium and water, maintenance of plasma volume and blood pressure and production of urine. The Loop of Henle contributes to the absorption of approximately 25% of filtered sodium and can be targeted by diuretic therapy.
The loop of Henle has a hairpin configuration with a thin descending limb and both a thin and thick ascending limb. Ion transport is different in each of these segments.
Thick Ascending Limb
The primary site of sodium reabsorption in the Loop of Henle is the thick ascending limb (TAL). The TAL is impermeable to water. In the TAL sodium reabsorption is active via the NKCC2 transporter on the apical membrane. This transporter moves one sodium ion, one potassium ion and two chloride ions across the apical membrane. A sodium-potassium ATP-ase on the basolateral membrane establishes an electrochemical gradient by pumping 3 sodium ions out the cell and 2 potassium ions into the cell.
This not only creates a low intracellular concentration of sodium, but also it makes the inside of the cell negatively charged. Sodium then moves into the cell down the electrical and chemical gradient, through the NKCC2 transporter
Potassiums ions are transported back into the tubule by ROMK channels to prevent toxic build up within the cell. Chloride ions are transported into the tissue fluid via CIC-KB channels.
Thin Ascending Limb
Sodium reabsorption in the thin ascending limb is passive. It occurs paracellularly due to the difference in osmolarity between the tubule and the interstitium.
As the thick ascending limb is impermeable to water, the interstitium becomes concentrated with ions, increasing the osmolarity. This drives water reabsorption from the descending limb as water moves from areas of low osmolarity to areas of high osmolarity. This system is known as counter-current multiplication.
Thin Descending Limb
The thin descending limb does not reabsorb any sodium. In the thin descending limb water reabsorption occurs passively via AQP1 channels. As mentioned above reabsorption is driven by the active reabsorption of sodium in the TAL.
Clinical Relevance – Bartter Syndrome
Bartter syndrome is a group of autosomal recessive conditions caused by genetic mutations in the genes that code for the NKCC2 transporter, apical potassium channel or basolateral chloride ion channel. This results in decreased NaCl reabsorption. As a result more sodium is reabsorbed in distal tubule leading to increased excretion of potassium ions, resulting in hypokalaemia. Also a decreased reabsorption of NaCl results in a reduced osmotic pressure, leading to hypovolaemia.
Clinical Relevance – Loop Diuretics
Loop diuretics such as Furosemide can be used to treat hypertension by inhibiting the NKCC2 transporter in the thick ascending limb and increase excretion of sodium and chloride ions in urine. This reduces water reabsorption and therefore reduces plasma volume.


The poet next mentions the Orchomenians in the Catalogue, and distinguishes them from the Bœotian nation. He gives to Orchomenus the epithet Minyeian from the nation of the Minyæ. They say that a colony of the Minyeians went hence to Iolcus,1 and from this circumstance the Argonauts were called Minyæ. It appears that, anciently, it was a rich and very powerful city. Homer bears witness to its wealth, for in his enumeration of places of great opulence, he says, ‘Not all that is brought to Orchomenus, or to Ægyptian Thebes.’2 Of its power there is this proof, that the Thebans always paid tribute to the Orchomenians, and to Erginus their king, who it is said was put to death by Hercules. Eteocles, one of the kings that reigned at Orchomenus, first displayed both wealth and power. He built a temple dedicated to the Graces, who were thus honoured by him, either because he had been fortunate in receiving or conferring favours, or perhaps for both these reasons. [For one who was inclined thus to honour these goddesses, must have been naturally disposed to be a benefactor, and he must have possessed the power. But for this purpose wealth is required. For he who has not much cannot give much, nor can he who does not receive much possess much; but when giving and receiving unite, then there is a just exchange. For a vessel which is simultaneously emptied and filled is always full; but he who gives and does not receive cannot succeed in either giving or receiving, for the giver must desist from giving from failure of means. Givers also will desist from giving to him who receives only, and confers no benefits, so that he must fail in receiving. The same may be said of power. For independently of the common saying,
we may examine the subject more in detail. We say, for example, that kings have the greatest power, (μάλιστα δύνσθσι,） whence the name, dynasty. Their power is exerted by leading the multitude whither they like, by persuasion or by force. Their power of persuasion chiefly rests in doing acts of kindness; for persuasion by words is not princely, but belongs to the orator. By princely persuasion, I mean, when kings direct and lead men whither they please by acts of kindness. They persuade by acts of kindness, but compel by means of arms. Both power and possessions may be purchased by money. For he has the largest body of forces, who is able to maintain the largest; and he who has the largest possessions, can confer the greatest benefits.4] The spot which the present lake Copaïs occupies, was formerly, it is said, dry ground, and was cultivated in various ways by the Orchomenians, who lived near it; and this is alleged as a proof of wealth.
“ That money is the thing most highly valued,”
And has the greatest influence in human affairs,3Euripides, Phœn. 422


Alzheimer’s disease is a debilitating and ultimately lethal neurodegenerative disorder that currently afflicts about 18 million people worldwide. The incidence of the disease increases exponentially with age and, with life expectancy rising in many parts of the world, global prevalence is expected to double by 2025. Alzheimer’s disease is characterized by progressive intellectual deterioration; starting with memory loss that is followed by intellectual impairment, poor decision making, uncoordinated movements, speech impediments and loss of recognition of familiar people and places. Although the incidence of Alzheimer’s disease is increasing rapidly in many developing countries, on the Indian subcontinent it remains rare, even among the high-risk age groups. Recent studies have associated this reduced risk primarily with the high levels of consumption of turmeric that, together with several other spices, has been shown to have protective and possibly curative effects against the disease. This discovery has led to intensive research into the potential use of spices as natural treatments for Alzheimer’s disease.
The causes of Alzheimer’s disease are not fully understood, but there are several pathological processes that occur in those afflicted with this illness. The most prominent of these is the deposition of an abnormal protein, beta-amyloid, in the brains of Alzheimer’s disease sufferers. ß-amyloid is deposited in the form of plaques between the neurons and also accumulates in the walls of small blood vessels in the brain, where it impedes the flow of blood to brain tissues. The aggregation inside the neurones of abnormal amounts of tau protein filaments is another pathological feature of Alzheimer’s disease. A further process associated with this malady is atrophy (wasting) of nerve tissue which leads to the loss of synapses and their associated neurotransmitter chemicals from key areas of the brain. In all cases, the precise causes of these pathological processes are unclear but they, and certain other factors, appear to increase the risk and aggravate the development of Alzheimer’s disease.
Factors implicated in Alzheimer’s disease are: Metals like aluminum, copper and zinc; oxidative stress and chronic inflammation. Genetic factors may also play a role in the development of Alzheimer’s disease.
Confirming epidemiological pointers that diet plays a key role in the low incidence of Alzheimer’s disease in India are several promising laboratory studies of the phytochemical, curcumin. Found in large quantities in turmeric, curcumin has been shown to inhibit the deposition of ß-amyloid in the brain and, in some cases, actually reverse this process. Studies have also shown that rosmarinic acid, present in rosemary and several other spices as well as gingerol and zingerone found in ginger (which also contains curcumin) have similar protective effects. Although these are the most thoroughly researched spices in respect of Alzheimer’s disease, evidence is accumulating that several others, including garlic, have similar preventive effects against this disorder. Moreover, it is almost certain that the list of spices shown to protect against Alzheimer’s disease will continue to grow.
If we look at the known underlying factors that are thought to cause Alzheimer’s disease we can see the reasons why spices have the potential to prevent and even alleviate this condition.
Chelation: Several spices have chelating properties. Chelating agents are substances that attach to toxins (such as heavy metals) and help the body to excrete them. There is a strong possibility that the chelating characteristics of some spices help to rid the body of toxic metals like aluminium, copper, lead, mercury and zinc. Coriander and turmeric are two of the most potent chelating spices.
Inflammation: An inflammatory process is also likely to be an underlying cause of Alzheimer’s disease. Many spices contain high levels of anti-inflammatory compounds like salicylates. Curcumin (found in turmeric) is one of the most important anti-inflammatory phytochemicals.
Antioxidants: Spices are the richest source of antioxidants and, as oxidative stress is one of the processes underlying this malady, one would expect that they would be useful natural treatments for Alzheimers’s disease.
Alzheimer’s disease could affect any one of us and, as spices may be one the only defenses we have against this debilitating illness, we should eat more of these remarkable foods. The most important spices known to help Alzheimer’s disease are turmeric, garlic and rosemary.
Source by Keith Scott M.D.


May 23, 2006
"A coup d'etat ... or just coup ... for
short, is the sudden overthrow of (taking over from) a government. Unlike a
revolution, which usually takes large numbers of people to take over, a coup
can be done by a small number of people, or even one person, if they, for
example, control the country's army," Wikipedia
Generally, a coup is seen as the overthrow of
those in power by another - usually with support of at least part of the
military. Often this is imagined as a swift move followed by a consolidation
operation (kill or expel those who were previously in power). However, a coup
seems to be occurring in the United States, but it is a slow coup. It may be
culminated by one drastic move that consolidates the plan, but the pieces are
being clearly put in place for a coup of the entire government with the
eradication of democracy and the Constitution. I will constrain my discussion to
three areas: executive power, intelligence, and military reach.
Bush has consistently operated under the
philosophy of the unitary
"This theory argues that the executive
branch of government, held in the hands of the President, has the sole right
to ignore all law (including the Constitution and international agreements),
and without oversight by Congress, or checks by the Supreme Court. In short,
the President is above the law and has all the authority of government, and
the right to order without challenge all branches of government. This includes
the ordering of the
U.S. military into war without authorization by Congress. In short, the
"unitary executive," as vested in the person of the President, is a
king, an emperor, or a dictator. It represents one individual with total
control of the full resources of the United States to take any action Bush
sees fit. Wolf
Many are raising alarm about Bush's use of "signing
statements." While Bush has not vetoed any legislation that has come
his way, he has used the signing statement to exempt the executive branch from
obeying the laws he has signed. While many of Bush's signing statements have,
and are being challenged in court, the signing statements "function as
directives to executive branch departments and agencies as to how they are to
implement the relevant law" (John
Bush has utilized the signing statement an estimated
750 times to effectively overrule legislation that has come before him. The
statements have been attached to everything from certain aspects of the U.S.A.
P.A.T.R.I.O.T. Act (Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate
Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism), to anti-torture
legislation, to reporting to Congress. As
John Dean notes, "Bush is using signing statements like line item
vetoes. Yet the Supreme Court has held the line item vetoes are
unconstitutional." However, this back door approach to the line item
veto is to selectively exempt the Executive Branch from complying with the laws
written by Congress. In effect, Bush is creating a "unitary executive"
which is effectively a dictator above the law of the land and the constraints of
Some call it "intelligence" and others "spying." Regardless
of the nomenclature, the Bush Administration's commitment to massive data
collection approaches zealotry. The old adage that "knowledge is
power" has been taken to heart in a twisted way by this group. The power
resides in knowing everything about everyone else and not letting anyone know
anything about you.
The drive to know everything was brought to light
with the uncovering to TIAS (Total Information Awareness System) in November
2002. The purpose of the program run by John Poindexter out of the DoD
Information Awareness Office was to collect every piece of information on every
person in the United States in one database and then "datamine" it.
The database would include a running data collection from primary documents to
school records to pictures of you as you stood at the checkout line in the
grocery store. It was truly a "Big Brother" idea. Aside: Poindexter
came to fame in the Iran-Contra debacle during the Reagan administration when he
served as Deputy National Security Advisor and National Security Advisor. He was
brought back into the Bush Administration for his unique skills - as was John
Negroponte among others formerly "under a cloud."
TIA was defunded, but the program (or parts of
it) have made their way into other agencies - such as Homeland
and the NSA.
The President and the National Security Agency
drew attention with its "terrorist" spying program where all calls
originating outside the country, or from the U.S. with a foreign destination,
were "captured." This was done without a FISA warrant, and the Bush
Administration (including Bush, Gonzales, and General Hayden) have all argued
that what they did was legal. Their perspective seems to be a minority view.
However, executive authority has once again come into play as the NSA
stymies Justice Dept. spying probe attempting to uncover the scope of the
Now, an even larger spying operation by the NSA
has been uncovered. As reported in USA
Today, the ongoing phone records of over 200 million people in the US have
been turned over by most of the major telecommunication companies to the NSA.
There are potentially trillions of records that have been captured. The
Frontier Foundation, has filed a suit against AT&T for providing phone
logs to the NSA, but the Bush administration has
moved to quash the suit. There are reports that the indiscriminate
spying on Americans is even wider, and that the National Geospatial-Intelligence
brought satellite surveillance to bear on the US for domestic spying.
The public response to the NSA programs has been
mixed depending on what poll you read. A Washington Post poll found
that most Americans don't mind being spied on. They attributed their results
to the public's willingness to give up privacy for safety. However, both a NewsWeek
poll and a USA
Today poll have opposite results.
The comments of "If you're talking to al
Qaeda we want to know about it," are patently distracting. In order for
this comment to make any sense, the NSA would have to know the phone numbers
(and email addresses) of al Qaeda members (and who the members are). If they
know those then they can place a trap/tap on them and "capture" the
numbers of those calling. Hence, no need for indiscriminate phone and email
"captures." If they don't know that information, then looking
at trillions of phone and email communications is unlikely to get them.
As a researcher, I am totally unconvinced that
such massive data collection increases the effectiveness of finding terrorists -
or uncovering their plots. The information to prevent the events of 9/11/01 were
there and "missed." Increasing the amount of spurious data to be
"mined" in order to spot particular threats is like trying to find a
needle in a haystack by adding a trillion haystacks. What it does do is provide
domestic information of high specificity for their purposes. The mass monitoring
of the population.
While Bush, and others in the administration
issue calming statements that these programs are of limited
scope, legal, and necessary for security, to anyone with some historical
background, or a halfway decent memory, such promises and assurances have
consistently been hollow in the past. For those who have forgotten, or never
knew, Ron Hutcheson has written an excellent reminder - US
Government has Long History of Abusing Personal Information
Hutcheson reminds us of the 1976 Church
Commission investigation which resulted in the legal leash being put on the
intelligence community, a leash that was dropped with the USA PATRIOT Act.
"In time of crisis, the government will
exercise its power to conduct domestic intelligence activities to the fullest
extent. The distinction between legal dissent and criminal conduct is easily
forgotten," the committee wrote. "In an era where the technological
capability of government relentlessly increases, we must be wary about the
drift toward `big brother government.''
Hutcheson goes before that to 1912 when waiters,
"well-placed" people, and others were recruited to "eavesdrop on
conversations." He enumerates some of the violations of rights and privacy
in the 1920s "Red Scare" though he leaves out the McCarthy era. He
reminds us of the spying on Martin Luther King, and other activists and activist
groups of the day.
In other words, the government does not have a
good track record when it comes to recognizing the boundaries of Constitutional
protections when they perceive a threat. Further, all too frequently security
issues end up being extended to those who are seen as a political threat or even
dissident voices. I see no reason to assume that this situation is any different
than any other "infringement" in the name of "security." It
is not comforting that the Vice President is purportedly one of the primary
supporters of expanding
"eavesdropping" even further. To say that such programs
"blur the line" is an understatement.
At some point, we have to question the reach of the military into domestic
affairs. We have created a monstrosity that eats up massive amounts of economic
resources. It is therefore not surprising that the military appears to be the
"most prepared" to handle a number of tasks from emergency response,
to guarding the borders, to engaging in domestic intelligence gathering and
control measures. However, there are good reasons - particularly in a democracy
- to constrain the power and scope of the military. Perhaps the largest is the
issue of the potential of the military control of a free population.
There has been an ongoing struggle for
"intelligence" funding and the Pentagon has been a key player in that
competition. Certainly in the aftermath of 9/11/01, the succeeding
"wars," and reorganization of the intelligence community and the
creation of the Department of Homeland Security, the role and position of the
military has expanded. It had already expanded prior to that during the
"war on drugs" which transferred both technology and forces to those
efforts. This has dramatically expanded in the current environment.
The question of domestic deployment of US forces
came clearly into play in the response to Hurricane Katrina. The mobilization of
the National Guard, and who was to control them came to the forefront. It
dramatically highlighted the issue of the use of the military domestically. When
President Bush proposed that the military be the initial and primary federal
responder in an emergency, then alarm bells rang for many (for example Baldwin
and 12/13/05 Sappenfeld, CSM,
The most recent decision to deploy
the National Guard in support of the southern Border Patrol raises the
possibility of Historic
changes possible in military's role in domestic emergencies.
The competition for a domestic intelligence role
was in part mentioned earlier with the issue of TIA, however, that is not the
only plan that the Pentagon has been involved in. In 2002, Robert O'Harrow, Jr.
discussed the creation of a cyber-surveillance
system that would access "government and commercial databases around
the world." One has to assume that this includes U.S. databases.
There has likely always been a tug of war between
the military and its competitors (CIA, FBI, NSA, NGSP, etc) since each of those
agencies came into existence. However the competition has particularly been with
the CIA since both of their foci is purportedly international (Schmitt
). The retirement of Porter Goss from the CIA, and the nomination of
General Hayden to fill the post, brings the ongoing power struggle to center
However, it may also "resolve" the conflict in favor of the Pentagon.
General Hayden is military after all. Protestations that he is his own man, pale
when he is directly under the military command of both Rumsfeld and Bush. It
does not calm fears of the Pentagon "capturing" the CIA, particularly
offers enthusiastic support for Hayden.
Gathering the Pieces For a Slow Motion Coup
So we have an administration attempting to institutionalize their vision of a
"unitary executive." It is also an administration which has directly
supported eroding the Constitutional protections of the people as well as
fighting any oversight or transparency. It is an administration which has
supported, and dramatically increased the role of the military in domestic
operations, intelligence and direct intelligence gathering (spying on people in
person), technology transfer, and enforcement tasks. This raises the prospect of
a coup, and few seem to see this as anything more threatening than a
When George W. Bush was "elected" in
2000, I commented that it I would not be at all surprised to see another Bush in
the Presidency - Jeb Bush. It therefore came as no surprise to read that George
W., George H.W., and Jeb all thought it would be a great thing if Jeb became the
third President from the Bush family (
dynasties: Bush the third?).
Rowan Wolf is a columnist for Project for the Old American Century,
and the editor of Radical Noesis and Uncommon Thought Journal .
Her email is firstname.lastname@example.org


Upper Fox-Wolf farms network educates farmers, public about land conservation
MANAWA – Many farmers throughout Wisconsin are sincerely interested in planting cover crops and employing other conservation practices to help build the soil and reduce erosion but are hesitant to take that first step because they are uncertain about the results.
Now 10 farms in eight Wisconsin counties are leading the way as members of the Upper Fox–Wolf River Basin Demonstration Farm Network.
These farms are showing other farmers and general public that the right combination of traditional conservation practices and other innovate technologies functioning on the landscape can produce viable and sustainable economic and environmental benefit.
The demonstration network is a partnership between the farms and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service (USDA NRCS), the Waupaca County Land & Water Conservation Department, Fond du Lac, Green Lake, Marquette, Outagamie, Portage, Shawano, and Winnebago counties and the Green Lake Association.
This partnership will address the effectiveness of current conservation systems used to reduce nonpoint source pollution. NRCS, through the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, is the main funding source with contributions from the participating counties, and some private partners, according to Angela Biggs, USDA NRCS State Conservationist for Wisconsin.
“Through this collaboration and funding, we can publicly highlight the most effective conservation systems that have the greatest environmental and economic benefit; we're excited to be partnering with our fourth series of demonstration farm networks to reduce phosphorus entering the Great Lakes basin,” explained Biggs.
"Participating farms will demonstrate the effectiveness and adaptability of conservation practice systems that reduce erosion, sedimentation and nonpoint source pollution. The network will also provide education and technology transfer opportunities for the public," said Brian Haase, director of the Waupaca County Land & Water Conservation Department.
The farms network represents several diverse operations according to agronomist Matt Brugger, who is with Tilth Agronomy and also serves as the network project manager.
“We have a range of farms, including a large CAFO,” Brugger explained. “About half are dairy farms, or have animals. And we have some that are just crop farms. Farms range in size from around 500 acres to over 2,000 acres.”
Member farms include: Albright Brothers, LLC operated by brothers Jamie and Casey Albright, along with their Uncle David and their father James near Omro; Dan and Ruth Boerst farm near Manawa and hosted the first demo farm field day June, 2019. They have no-till planted into green cover, established a rotational grazing system for dairy heifers, and more.
Father and son farmers Dave and Dusty Schultz have been completely no-tilling their 1,700 acres near Van Dyne for 20 years. Randy Erickson, his wife, Carol, and their son, Adam milk 450 cows and farm 1,000 acres near Clintonville.
Rick Gehrke and his father, Ron, own and operate the Gehrke Family Farm, LLC, located just west of Omro, which covers 600 acres grows corn, soybean, winter wheat, along with some forage. Matt Hintz and his wife, Sara, farm around 1,500 acres of cropland near Amherst, with1,000 acres in continuous no-till.
Ed Montsma and his wife, Kathy, farm 2,400 acres owned and rented in southwest Fond du Lac County, planting corn, soybeans, and wheat test plots. Chris, his wife, Kelly and parents, Larry and Deb, are the owners of Pollack-Vu Dairy, LLC located near Ripon.
Tauchen’s Harmony Valley Farm is run by brothers Steve, Gary and Greg Tauchen, along with their parents Herb & Marlys near Bonduel, where they milk around 1,200 cows, care for nearly 1,000 heifers and run 2,500 acres of cropland. Zeb Zuehls is a fourth-generation farmer of his family farm in Montello. He farms 1,200 acres he also does custom work which includes planting, combining and large-square baling.
This fall Wisconsin State Farmer checked out a demonstration plot on the Boerst farm along with Brugger and NRCS Conservationist Derrick Raspor that included several cover crop seed mixes.
Brugger noted the individual strips featured common vetch, spring lentils, cow peas, clover, sun hemp, cereal rye, pearl millet sorghum-sedan, radish, African cabbage, turnips, buckwheat, flax and sunflower.
“There was barley here before I sprayed it, but we have barley coming back,” said Boerst. “We vacuumed cleaned the seeder before planting each strip of cover crop that was labeled so that we could easily tell which plants were doing better.”
Boerst also stressed the importance of establishing a baseline to help determine how the soil improves. “We need to crunch the numbers, too,” he added.
Brugger emphasized that the network was designed to work closely with producers to address challenges at the ground level and provide solutions that can be implemented on a large scale throughout the river basin, and many more farmers now recognize the advantages of cover crops.
“We have many farmers who are looking for something they can do differently to mitigate some of the issues we’ve had the last couple of years with wet fields,” he said. “They realize that growing crops take up moisture and help dry out the fields quicker. More are starting to see that they can plant into a crop and still terminate it if they want, and not have negative issues they thought they might have.”
Brugger also stressed the importance of sharing information with the public.
“The general public is supportive of practices that help prevent soil runoff into our lakes and rivers,” he said. “Everybody wants clean water, and farmers do too. We want the public to know that farmers are working to be a part of the solution.”