For those of you who are aware of the calendar’s date today know that mathematicians around the world are celebrating a yearly event held every 14th of March. In fact next year will be even better, but not as good as it was in 1592, except the use of this well-known Greek letter wasn’t adopted until the 18th century. Yes, our Babylonian friends pondered this circuitous relationship almost four millennia ago as did the Egyptians. Archimedes was that smart guy that finally figured out a way to most closely approximate it. Maybe it was during one of his famous baths where he pondered volume, displacement and floating.
Next year it will be a bit better than this year with the actual date, but for now, it’s still a good day to think about being centered as your thoughts radiate from your mind. Perhaps there are no bells to ring and no circus in town, but feel free to celebrate however you see fit. I’d suggest your favorite diner. They are well-known for a certain dessert that goes well with coffee.
In honor of this beloved event omitted from the calendar as a national holiday, I thought I’d share a few images of buildings that honor and exemplify this fascinating relationship between the circumference and the diameter. As I researched these buildings, I was amazed at how often this simple geometric shape appears throughout history. In our rectangular world of sixteen inch centers, rectangular modules of material and straight lines everywhere, our ancestors and even contemporary architects are not afraid of chucking the straight edge and pulling out the compass.
So here’s to the circle, here’s to pi.
By the way, did you count the number of words?
photos are from the Wikimedia Commons (used under the Creative Common License) – click on the photos and you will get there.


Difference between Autocad vs Inventor
An application for 3D mechanical design, simulation, visualization and documentation invented by Autodesk in the year 1999 is Autodesk Inventor. It is a CAD software whose sole responsibility is to help the post-design manufacturing process. The beauty of Inventor is that it allows the user to blend the 2D and 3D data into a single environment, that creates a virtual presentation of the output product that helps the user to validate the form, fit and function of the product before it is ever built. An inventor is developed on a dimension-driven design. Drawing any shape or object is simpler using inventor.
AutoCAD is a heavyweight design production platform with post-development features. Developed and marketed by Autodesk, AutoCAD was initially released in 1982 as a desktop app running on microcomputers with internal graphics controllers. The latest version of AutoCAD was released as AutoCAD 360 that supports mobile and web also. Used by a wide range of industries, by project managers, engineers, by architects, town planners, and many other professionals.
Head To Head Comparison Between Autocad vs Inventor (Infographics)
Below are the top 6 differences between Autocad vs Inventor
Key differences between Autocad vs Inventor
Both Autocad vs Inventor are popular choices in the market; let us discuss some of the major Differences Between Autocad vs Inventor:
- AutoCAD is difficult to use and adapt due to the generic domain while Inventor is easy to use due to industry specificity.
- AutoCAD works based on designing and discovering new items while Inventor targets users who want to test something in motion. For example, AutoCAD is used to design the robotic machine while Inventor can be used to imitate how that machine would move when used.
- Since AutoCAD is used for designing and drafting, it is more used than Inventor as it ensures the right materials used before any tests.
- If the user needs to work with a technical aspect of a program or device, then using Inventor would be perfect than using AutoCAD.
- Inventor incorporated 3D modeling features by default, while AutoCAD lacks in these since it was primarily a 2D software and later it adapted 3D modules.
- An inventor is visually and technically user-friendly software, as compared to AutoCAD.
- AutoCAD is not a very smart program in comparison to Inventor. The user must draw lines all over again if anything he wants to change or move in the drawing later.
- An inventor can distinguish between assemblies, parts and 2D drawing, unlike AutoCAD.
- The inventor can update the existing geometry based on the updates within the base part of the geometry. While this base -part proportionality is not available in AutoCAD.
- AutoCAD is a gigantic design production application with features like cross sectioning, artificial lighting based-renders and panoramic rendering for virtual walkthroughs. While the Inventor is, an application used after the designs are manufactured.
- As the user creates 3D parts like chamfer, hole, fillet all are stored as independent features in Inventor. While in AutoCAD, the user finds it difficult and they must delete and re-create the specific feature.
- The inventor was created for primarily the Manufacturing company. While AutoCAD was made for a larger audience. It was designed for Civil, Plant Design, FM, AEC and more.
- An inventor does not use layers. That means, it sets up all the parameters once and then automatically assigns them to the parts from that point. While it is a troublesome task to use layers in AutoCAD.
- Inventor allows the user to use any specific file formats or individual parts and assemblies. It has an amazing geometry-based engine designed to ensure that all readouts and analysis reports are generated in real time.
- Since AutoCAD came a much before, people are more drifted towards AutoCAD. Inventor, on the other hand, was introduced much later.
- An inventor is much more like a practical demo giving software where the user gets to know how his designs are working in motion. While AutoCAD is more for creating new models out of imagination.
- Inventor being the latest amongst the two has the shortest learning curve, gives speedy results, has a very attractive workflow and interface, while AutoCAD is no less than it, but still, it lacks in some features.
AutoCAD vs Inventor Comparison Table
Let’s look at the top comparison between AutoCAD vs Inventor; –
|The basis of comparison of AutoCAD vs Inventor||
|Definition||2D drafting software that can also create 3D objects||It is based on only 3D objects.|
|Usage||It is used by any designer who works on 2D or 3D designing or drafting||It is used by developers or designers who are specialist in manufacturing|
|Design||It is a Geometry-driven software||It is a Dimension- driven software|
|Compatible File formats||It uses only DWG file type||It uses IPT, IAM, IDW, IPN file types.|
|Specialty||It’s mostly used for 2D designing and documentation||It’s mostly used for 2D/3D designing and production.|
Conclusion – Autocad vs Inventor
AutoCAD vs Inventor is two programs that differ in the way of what they can do. Moreover, if Autocad vs Inventor is paired together then it will be easier for any business to do more with respect to designing different items and using them in the workplace. Overall, the Inventor is a better choice when it comes to 3D drawing.
Where AutoCAD offers extreme control, Inventor offers the ease of use. AutoCAD offers pre-production flexibility and unique designs; Inventor is all about post-development and manufacturing potential.
This has a been a guide to the top difference between Autocad vs Inventor. Here we also discuss the Autocad vs Inventor key differences with infographics, and comparison table. You may also have a look at the following articles to learn more –


Heritage Health Care Center
The Utica Winter of 1866 was recorded as being especially harsh, and this inspired a group of women from the Westminster Church to meet with Missionary, Louise Shepard. They planned to open a home for homeless women that they named the "Protestant Home for Respectable, Indigent, Aged Women of Oneida County in the City of Utica". This was accomplished in 1867, when the home opened on upper Whitesboro Street with nine women residents.
Theodore S. Faxton had already made plans to build a "Home for the Homeless in the City of Utica". Faxton promised the women $20,000 and the land to build on if they raised matching funds. When the women raised $24,324, he donated the entire cost of the building and the property. Benjamin F. Jewitt and his two sisters gave additional property on Faxton Street, and that, along with donations from several other Uticans, was to assure the future of the home.
The facility was often referred to as the "Old Ladies Home on Faxton Street", however it was best remembered as the Faxton Street Home.
The first St. Luke's Home was founded by the governing boards of the Grace Episcopal Church as a refuge for indigent women. Truman K. Butler donated a house on Columbia Street, and the name St. Luke's was chosen because of its association with "light" as a symbol of hope. Their mission was to provide "a source of light to those in darkness of carried sorrows; a refuge where the needy may find aid; the afflicted, consolation' and the sick, relief...". This home continued to care for women until 1905, when Mr. and Mrs. Frederick Proctor purchased land on Whitesboro Street, built and furnished a new St. Luke's Hospital. The hospital charter proclaimed the need to care for the elderly by providing a home and health care. A wing in this new St. Luke's Hospital met this pledge, and twelve women lived there until about 1962, when the last known resident, Mary Clark, died.
The Sunset Home began as a wing designated to care for aged men in Faxton Hospital. In 1885, the hospital elected a board of women known as the Ladies Aid Society to direct domestic affairs; this group was later designated as the Managers of Faxton Hospital. By 1890, the society wanted to buy property located across the street from the hospital on Perkins Avenue, owned by John C. Hieber for $6,000. Hieber gave them a donation of $1,000 and in July, John Thorne pledged $5,000, if the ladies could raise $30,000 in subscriptions. When the women made their goal, the newspaper headlines read "Hurray for the Ladies". By September 1890, the cornerstone for "Home for Aged Men" was laid by the Masonic Grand Lodge of New York, and Mr. Thomas Thorne became the first president of the board for the new home. By may 1899, so many men applied with their wives, the admission policies were changed along with the name, becoming the "Home for Aged Men and Couples". After paving of the street, both the name of the avenue and the home were changed to Sunset.
Theodore S. Faxton served as president of the Black River and Utica Railroad company, and the Second National Bank. He and a group of associates formed the first telegraph company in the world. They started the Buffalo, Albany, and New York Telephone Company. This company allowed the news to be transmitted across the state by telegraph, and it evolved into the Associated Press. Because he did so well with his business ventures it made it possible to do good for the Utica community.
Faxton responded to a need for care for the elderly of this community in the 1860's. He proved that one person concerned about others can make a difference, after over 100 years, his service to this community is still evident. One of his goals was to provide a clean safe and secure environment for the elderly in this community. He wanted to do this while promoting an individual's self determination, independence and dignity.
On May 1, 1867, the Home for the Homeless opened its doors thanks to his generosity. The same year he built Faxton Hall which was used as a school and community center for West Utica mill workers and now houses a branch of the Utica Public Library. In 1873, he built and endowed Faxton Hospital, which led to the opening of the Home for:
A Joint Venture
In 1971 the boards of directors of St. Luke's-Memorial Hospital, the Faxton Street Home and the Sunset entered a joint venture to build a seven story complex on the Sunset Home's property at the corner of Sunset Avenue and Burrstone Road in Utica. The facility opened in January 1977, and became known as the Faxton Sunset St. Luke's Health Related Facility and Nursing Home.
Changes in the delivery of heath care occur daily. Today's trend requires more patient and resident care in the home and community and less time in an institution.
Recognizing future community needs, the Faxton Sunset St. Luke's Home board of directors made plans in 1992 for changes that will effect resident care well into the new millennium. On August 4th, 1993, the name of the nursing home changed to Heritage Home. The board voted to change the name for two reasons: to make it shorter and easier to say and to clarify the fact that the facility was never affiliated with any of the area hospitals having similar names.
The first renovations, completed in January 1995, enlarged the parking area and installed a new service elevator and new lounges on floors three through seven. Construction of a new wing containing a general sub-acute unit, and renovations to the main complex, started in December 1995. Known as our Transitional Care Unit, patients began moving into the new wing during the summer of 1996.
With the addition of several rehabilitation services including outpatient rehabilitation, wellness services and a therapeutic pool, the focus of the home became more diverse. This kind of concern reflects the same benevolent attitudes held by Heritage Home's founding mothers and fathers over a century ago.
Heritage Home became Heritage Health Care Center, a far more descriptive reflection of our mission, reflecting our bold new approach to health care. Not only a home for some, but a place where others come to get well sooner, then return to their own home.


We focus so much on Reading, Writing & Arithmetic when a child has the desire to learn even more.
Most of us remember a time when we wanted to be making something with our hands. – Mrs. Steinthall, “The Value of Art Training and Manual Work” (Condensed Report.) 1897
Charlotte Mason felt strongly about children learning useful handicrafts.
The points to be borne in mind in children’s handicrafts are:
(a) that they should not be employed in making futilities such as pea and stick work, paper mats, and the like;
(b) that they should be taught slowly and carefully what they are to do;
(c) that slipshod work should not be allowed;
(d) and that, therefore, the children’s work should be kept well within their compass. -Charlotte Mason vol 1 pg 316
Thinking of handicrafts that will be useful, easy and fun is a quest of mine right now. Currently I’ve started two boards on Pinterest.
This one is for girls and boys (there is more girl ideas than boys). http://pinterest.com/timbuck2mom/handicrafts-for-kids/
And this one is for boys around age 10 and up. http://pinterest.com/timbuck2mom/skills-handicrafts-for-boys/
Recently, Audrey took a vinegar jar I had saved and wrapped it with hemp twine during our handicraft time. It’s actually something I’ve wanted to make myself but never got to it.
Suggestion: If you decide to use this idea with your own child, I would recommend using a bottle that has straight sides and not so rounded. It just makes it more difficult to keep the jute from sliding around. I also helped with the hot glue.
Justus, on the other hand, worked on a life skill. Under my husband’s instruction, he took apart the vacuum and helped replace the belt.
I am seriously looking for ideas for boys and girls. I’d love to hear any suggestions you might have.
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What do the Russian government and Greenpeace have in common? They both fear the spread of America’s shale gas revolution. The former worries that if shale takes off elsewhere it will weaken its position in the market, while the latter dreads the supposed environmental consequences of global shale production.
I’m sure you have all heard about shale gas by now, but just to recap, shale gas is natural gas trapped within shale rock formations. Over the past decade, new drilling methods and a process called hydraulic fracturing (‘fracking’), which involves pumping a mix of pressurised water, sand and chemicals underground to crack underground rocks and free the gas. Producers now have access to gas that was once uneconomic to extract.
So far the ‘shale revolution’ has been largely confined to the US, where there is so much of the stuff, there has been a glut. This has helped to drive prices of natural gas to new lows in recent years.
But attempts to launch it elsewhere have failed. For example, after wasting millions of dollars drilling failed wells in Poland – supposedly Europe’s best shale prospect – ExxonMobil pulled out of the country last year.
Fracking is not without its risks
In the US, the shale revolution has been nothing short of a miracle. And it promises to grant energy independence to the world’s biggest oil importer. Indeed, thanks to shale, the US is set to overtake Russia as the world’s biggest gas producer in 2015 and Saudi Arabia as the world’s biggest oil producer by 2020.
The energy transformation is boosting America’s economy and giving the government new geopolitical strength. It’s even helped to cut the country’s C02 emissions as the country’s power plants switch from coal to gas. So, why aren’t other countries following suit?
Well, like most ‘miracles’, shale energy comes with several strings attached. The extraction technique, ‘fracking’, involves pumping millions of litres of water and chemicals at high pressure to fracture underground rock formations to release trapped gas. And not everyone is prepared to do it.
For example, the French have banned it over fears that it may contaminate underground aquifers. In the relatively densely populated UK, ‘Nimbyism’ threatens to slow fracking development, as local communities recoil against the idea of heavy industry despoiling quiet rural spots. Even in places like China, where the government is often prepared to ignore environmental worries or Nimbyism, shale gas is far from certain. In this instance, the problem is water scarcity. China has the world’s biggest shale gas reserves and it could sustain a widespread fracking campaign. But experts are uncertain if fracking will take off there.
But Russian oil ministers and Greenpeace activists can’t breathe easy just yet. Because Latin America has the perfect conditions for shale gas and I’ve found one company that looks like it’s about to spark the revolution over there.
Why Latin America is built for shale
As a whole, and with the obvious exceptions that mark most generalisations, Latin America has far fewer problems than are found elsewhere in the world. It has sizeable shale deposits, governments and companies that have long worked with the extractive industries, many sparsely populated areas where Nimbyism is less likely, and an abundance of water. Broadly speaking the financials also look good too. The region’s strong economic growth means that there is growing domestic demand, while its Atlantic and Pacific coasts give it handy export access to the European and Asian markets, where gas sells for a higher price than it does in North America.
But Latin America is a vast place, so there is bound to be a lot of variation. So it’s worth analysing the different opportunities available in each country.
If you've enjoyed what you've read so far, I've got something you'll definitely be interested in.
'The New World' is MoneyWeek's FREE globally-focused weekly email, bringing you the most exciting investment stories from Asia and Latin America.
Argentina’s huge shale bounty
Thanks to the 2010 discovery of the Vaca Muerta field (translates literally as ‘dead cow’ field – odd name, I know), Argentina now has the third-biggest shale gas deposits in the world and the fourth-most shale oil.
Estimates vary but energy consultant IHS reckons the country has 6,037 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of gas and 1,135 billion barrels of oil in place. To give that some context, Britain’s entire annual gas use comes to about 3tcf. Now it’s worth noting that only a small portion of that gas is likely to be extracted. America’s Energy Information Administration (EIA) reckons that around 802tcf of Argentina’s shale gas is “technically recoverable” – even so, it’s still a huge amount of gas.
But despite the massive reserves, I don’t think Argentina represents the best bet for New World readers. In 2009/2010, I spent five months in the country writing a report on Argentina’s oil and gas sector for a US oil magazine. Socially it was great – I love Argentina and enjoyed the chance to travel out to the oil provinces. But workwise it was a nightmare. Off the record the oil execs would moan that President Kirchner’s price controls and taxes meant it made no sense to invest in new production, while on the record they were too worried about upsetting the government to say anything interesting for my report.
But although the experience may not have produced the best writing of my career, it did make a deep impression on me. I hope the country does find a fair way to exploit its amazing bounty and some of my Argentinian friends can benefit. But I don’t think it will be easy for small, international private investors like us to profit from it.
Three energy giants with huge prospects
Next up is Mexico, which the EIA estimates has 545tcf of technically recoverable reserves. The situation also looks promising on the government side of things too. A few months ago I heard Francisco Salazar, president of Mexico’s Energy Regulatory Commission, speak at London’s annual Latin American Investment Forum. He stressed that the government was keen to push shale development. Moreover, he suggested that, while the constitution bans private-sector oil companies owning Mexican hydrocarbon reserves, it may be easier to get firms to develop the country’s shale fields.
But despite this optimism, I don’t think it’s the right option for investors just yet. One of the biggest challenges Mexican shale gas faces is US shale gas. America’s established oil infrastructure and service companies give US producers a big advantage over any Mexican rivals. Indeed, an Inter-American Development Bank report on shale gas estimates that it costs five times as much to drill a shale gas well in Mexico as it does across the border in America. That means it’s cheaper for Mexican industry to import cheap US gas than to worry about developing its own. Of course those dynamics will change over time – especially if America starts exporting to higher price Asian markets – but for now at least it’s a barrier for investors.
Latin America’s other energy giants, Brazil and Venezuela, both have lots of shale gas but neither seems rushed to exploit it at the moment. It’s estimated that Brazil may have 245tcf of recoverable shale reserves, the third-highest in the region. But at present it is locked into the technically and financially challenging task of exploiting its huge sub-sea oil basins and can’t afford to be distracted by shale. Venezuela is believed to have 167tcf of technically recoverable reserves but it’s unlikely they will be exploited anytime soon. After all, with conventional oil and gas production below pre-Chavez levels, despite the massive reserves, Venezuela’s national oil company has other priorities.
My favourite shale oil prospect
In regional terms, Colombia is a shale energy minnow but I actually think it offers far better prospects for shale investors. Let me tell you why. IHS estimates Colombia’s shale could hold more than 3,000tcf of gas. Of this, the EIA believes that around 55tcf could be recoverable, with up to another 6.8 billion barrels of shale oil. As always, these figures need to be treated with caution but to put it in context, it’s in a similar ballpark to the UK, where recent estimates hint at 1,500tcf in total with perhaps 10% of that recoverable.
Another positive for investors is that Colombia really needs shale energy. At present it is an oil exporter but with rapid growth stoking demand, it’s estimated it may be importing oil by 2017. If the EIA’s figures are right, shale could triple Colombia’s oil reserves. Another plus is that the country has a great track record in managing extractive industries and establishing fair rules for private-sector firms and international investors.
The Colombian government offers a 40% discount on royalties from non-conventional projects and has raised the price ceiling for its crude tax. It has also worked to improve the bureaucratic processes for unconventional projects.
As David R Mares notes in an Inter-American Development Bank report on shale gas, this is a strategy that Colombia has already used with some success with conventional oil – “provide an attractive environment for investment and they will find reserves and produce”.
A small company with big potential in Colombia
Canacol Energy (TSE: CNE) is a tiny, Canada-listed oil firm that owns acreage in Colombia and Ecuador. The firm has 22 million barrels of oil (boe) of proved reserves, made up of a mix of conventional and shale oil and gas. Once you throw in probable and possible reserves, the firm could be sitting on more than 52 million boe – around 90% of which is in Colombia.
The firm has a real mix of assets with light oil, heavy oil and natural gas. It’s currently producing about 8,000 barrels per day from these fields, which is helping to fund its efforts to explore the rest of its 2.5 million acres of concessions. And from our point of view it’s this exploration that is the most exciting aspect.
The company has five exploration and production contracts covering 250,000 acres across one of Colombia’s most exciting shale basins, the Middle Magdalena Valley, located in central Colombia. These assets have caught the attention of experienced international shale operators who are keen to come to Latin America. ConocoPhillips, Exxon Mobil and Shell are already partners in the firm’s shale operations.
I interviewed Canacol co-founder, Luis Baena, on the sidelines of the recent Colombia Inside Out conference in London. Like most top management he does a pretty good job of selling his company, and produced a barrage of statistics to prove why his company is better value for New World readers than his competitors. But while it normally pays to treat management investor talks with a fair dose of scepticism, his arguments resonated strongly with me. He pointed out that the firm had benefited from picking up cheap acreage since 2008.
Now, as interest in Colombia’s oil and gas sector grows and surrounding factors, such as security and infrastructure, improve, the value of that acreage is going up. For example, its first deal, with Exxon, valued Canacol’s shale acreage at around $774 per acre. The most recent deal, this time with ConocoPhillips, put the value at $3,000 dollars per acre.
Yet even at these prices it’s still far below levels in the US where an acre can swap hands for $15,000. As with any small firm, this is a risky bet, but one with plenty of upside.
• This article is taken from The New World, MoneyWeek's FREE regular email of investment ideas and news from Asia and Latin America. Sign up to The New World here.


A current-carrying wire is placed directly across of a compass along the north south line as shown. The current flows north along the wire and produces a magnetic field of 3.25X10^-5T. Calculate the compass angle of deflection from north. The earth's magnetic field is 5X10^-5T.
1 Answer | Add Yours
Answer 33° West of North
Approach Magnetic fields can be simplified as a vector. The two magnetic fields will superimpose using vector addition. The compass needle will point in the direction of the net magnetic field. Find the angle using trigonometry.
Assumptions The current-carrying wire is on top of the compass (based on the description you gave). Right-Hand-Rule for magnetic field current in a wire suggests that the magnetic field underneath the wire is directed West. Thus, the two magnetic fields are at right angles to each other.
Plan Draw a picture to identify the angle in question. (Note scale may be skewed)
Red represents the Earth's magnetic field, Blue represents the magnetic field due to the wire. Purple is the net magentic field. The angle in question is the angle made by the red and purple vectors.
`tan(theta)=B_(wire)/B_(earth)` so `theta=tan^(-1)(B_(wire)/B_(earth))`
`theta=tan^(-1)((3.25times10^(-5) T)/(5.00times10^(-5) T))~~33^@`
Physics 6th Ed. Giancoli
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As the sun dips down into the ocean the first baby turtle digs her way out of her sandy nest. Reaching the surface she rests a bit to get her bearings, turning in the direction of the ocean, she starts on her long and dangerous trek to the ocean. We give her words of encouragement as if she understands, and we watch for predators to ward them off so that she arrives at her destination.
When my two girls were little I would read to them a storybook of a baby turtle’s journey to the ocean. As I read this story I thought of how, as we were living in the mountains, we would probably only read about this special event. Now, however, we are living 4,000 miles from home and watching our own little baby turtle make her way to the sea.
There are 4 species of turtles that call Ecuador their home. These turtles are said to be critically endangered. Their nesting sites are being destroyed and the oceans over-fished, depleting the food necessary for their survival. For this reason, Ecuador is making a huge effort to protect the nesting sites by marking them carefully. Volunteers ensure the safety of their journey to the ocean without direct contact, for this would be harmful to the development of the turtles.
It is a special gift to be able to watch baby turtles make their way to the ocean. It is one of the things that makes our move here worth the effort involved. I can’t wait for the next hatching season to begin for another chance to see this special event.
Written by Deborah


Cornell Science News
Five misconceptions about canine hip dysplasia
From the John M. Olin Laboratory for the Study of Canine Bone and Joint Diseases
James A. Baker Institute for Animal Health, College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University
-- Only hip joints and surrounding tissues are affected. Rather, evidence now indicates that the shoulder and knee joints and some intervertebral joints may show similar changes: the loss of cartilage, inflammation of the joint capsule, bone damage and the growth of spurs at the bone-cartilage interface. Hip dysplasia is simply the most conspicuous -- and most painful -- manifestation of this form of osteoarthritis.
-- Only dogs suffer hip dysplasia. While 50 percent of some of the larger dog breeds are afflicted, the disease is not unknown in humans. About 1 percent of the general human population suffers hip dysplasia, and the rate for the inherited disease is higher in some populations of American Indians. Many Navajos in New Mexico went through life with hip dysplasia until mothers stopped the traditional practice of strapping infants, straight-legged, to cradle boards and allowed babies to assume the more relaxed, bent-legged position. Replacement of diseased hip joints with artificial joints is one treatment, both for canine and human patients.
-- The absence of hip dysplasia in canine parents guarantees dysplasia-free pups. Unfortunately, out of 100 matings of "normal" dogs in breeds affected by hip dysplasia, 75 percent of puppies will be "normal" but 25 percent, on average, will have hip dysplasia. Genes for hip dysplasia are believed to be "masked" or hidden in some generations, making the elimination of the disease from breeding stock even more difficult. Canine hip dysplasia was first diagnosed in the 1930s, but probably has troubled domestic and wild canines for centuries.
-- All large-sized breeds of purebred dogs are candidates for hip dysplasia. Although the disease is particularly common among certain large breeds (from Bernese Mountain Dogs, Bloodhounds and Boxers to Rottweilers, St. Bernards and Welsh Corgis) mixed breeds of all sizes also are subject to hip dysplasia and not even the toy breeds are spared. However, the incidence is lower in small dogs. Large-sized breeds with a relatively low incidence of hip dysplasia include the Borzoi, Doberman Pinscher, Great Dane, Greyhound, Irish Wolfhound and Siberian Husky.
-- A hearty diet helps avert hip dysplasia. To the contrary, dogs that are genetically predisposed to hip dysplasia seem to benefit from a lean diet during their first two years. In one study beginning at eight weeks of age, pups that were restricted to a 24-percent smaller ration had a 46-percent lower occurrence of hip dysplasia than pups that could eat freely. Slowing the growth rate during the early months of life, some veterinary nutritionists now believe, can lessen the severity of hip dysplasia and even prevent it.


There’s such a flood of very significant research studies, educational resources and articles related to brain health, it’s hard to keep track — even for us!
Let me introduce and quote some of the top Brain Health Studies, Articles and Resources published in March:
1) Cognitive Decline Begins In Late 20s, Study Suggests (Science Daily)
- “These patterns suggest that some types of mental flexibility decrease relatively early in adulthood, but that how much knowledge one has, and the effectiveness of integrating it with one’s abilities, may increase throughout all of adulthood if there are no pathological diseases,” Salthouse said.
- However, Salthouse points out that there is a great deal of variance from person to person
2) Cerebrum 2009: Emerging Ideas in Brain Science — new book by the Dana Foundation that “explores the cutting edge of brain research and its implications in our everyday lives, in language understandable to the general reader.”
A couple of excellent chapters of direct relevance to everyone’s brain health are:
— Chapter 4: A Road Paved by Reason, by Elizabeth Norton Lasley
- Chapter 10: Neural Health: Is It Facilitated by Work Force Participation?, by Denise Park, Ph.D
3) Staying Sharp DVD Program: “Dr. Jordan Grafman, chief of the Cognitive Neuroscience Section at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke outside of Washington, DC, and a member of the Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives, is your guide as we cover what to expect from the aging brain and what we can do to ‘stay sharp.’
For a free DVD of this program you can contact email@example.com. (they say free in their website, I don’t know if that includes shipping & handling)
4) Drivers to be tested on cognitive ability starting at age 75 (Japan Times)
The outline of a cognitive test that drivers aged 75 or over will be required to take from June when renewing their licenses was released Thursday…The test is intended to reduce the number of traffic accidents involving elderly drivers by measuring their cognitive level.
5) Physical Fitness Improves Spatial Memory, Increases Size Of Brain Structure (Science Daily)
- “Now researchers have found that elderly adults who are more physically fit tend to have bigger hippocampi and better spatial memory than those who are less fit.”
6) Brain Trainers: A Workout for the Mind (Scientific American Mind)
“I recently tried out eight of the latest brain fitness programs, training with each for a week. The programs ranged widely in focus, quality and how fun they were to use. “Like physical exercise equipment, a brain exercise program doesn’t do you any good if you don’t use it, says Andrew J. Carle, director of the Program in Assisted Living/Senior Housing Administration at George Mason University. And people tend not to use boring equipment. “I remember when NordicTrack was the biggest thing out there. Everyone ran out and bought one, and 90 percent of them ended up as a clothes rack in the back of your bedroom.
The reporter used: Posit Science’s Brain Fitness Program Classic, HappyNeuron, Nintendo BrainAge, CogniFit’s MindFit/ CogniFit Personal Coach, Lumosity, MyBrainTrainer, BrainTwister, Cogmed Working Memory Training.
7) The Latest in Mental Health: Working Out at the ‘Brain Gym’ (Wall Street Journal)
- “Marshall Kahn, an 82-year-old family doctor in Fullerton, Calif., says he got such a boost from brain exercises he started doing at a “Nifty after Fifty” club that he decided to start seeing patients again part-time. “Doing all the mental exercise,” he says, “I realized I’ve still got it.”
8) Debate Over Drugs For ADHD Reignites (Washington Post)
- “New data from a large federal study have reignited a debate over the effectiveness of long-term drug treatment of children with hyperactivity or attention-deficit disorder, and have drawn accusations that some members of the research team have sought to play down evidence that medications do little good beyond 24 months.”
- “The study also indicated that long-term use of the drugs can stunt children’s growth.”
8) Adaptive training leads to sustained enhancement of poor working memory in children (Developmental Science)
Abstract: Working memory plays a crucial role in supporting learning, with poor progress in reading and mathematics characterizing children with low memory skills. This study investigated whether these problems can be overcome by a training program designed to boost working memory. Children with low working memory skills were assessed on measures of working memory, IQ and academic attainment before and after training on either adaptive or non-adaptive versions of the program. Adaptive training that taxed working memory to its limits was associated with substantial and sustained gains in working memory, with age-appropriate levels achieved by the majority of children. Mathematical ability also improved significantly 6 months following adaptive training. These findings indicate that common impairments in working memory and associated learning difficulties may be overcome with this behavioral treatment.
9) Brain cortex thinning linked to inherited depression (Los Angeles Times)
- “On average, people with a family history of depression appear to have brains that are 28% thinner in the right cortex — the outermost layer of the brain — than those with no known family history of the disease. That cortical thinning, said the researchers, is on a scale similar to that seen in patients with Alzheimer’s disease or schizophrenia.”


Wild Sex: Where Monogamy is Rare
It might be a treasured value in many human cultures, but monogamy is rare in the animal kingdom at large.
Of the roughly 5,000 species of mammals, only 3 to 5 percent are known to form lifelong pair bonds. This select group includes beavers, otters, wolves, some bats and foxes and a few hoofed animals.
And even the creatures that do pair and mate for life occasionally have flings on the side and some, like the wolf, waste little time finding a new mate if their old one dies or can no longer sexually perform.
Staying faithful can be a struggle for most animals. For one, males are hardwired to spread their genes and females try to seek the best dad for their young. Also, monogamy is costly because it requires an individual to place their entire reproductive investment on the fitness of their mate. Putting all their eggs in one basket means there’s a lot of pressure on each animal to pick the perfect mate, which, as humans knows, can be tricky.
Because of recent revelations from animal studies, scientists now distinguish between three different types of monogamy:
• Sexual monogamy is the practice of having sex only with one mate at a time.
• Social monogamy is when animals form pairs to mate and raise offspring but still have flings—or "extra-pair copulations" in science lingo—on the side.
• Genetic monogamy is used when DNA tests can confirm that a female's offspring were sired by only one father.
For humans, social and sexual monogamy usually go together, but this isn't always the case with other animals. For example, an estimated 90 percent of all birds are socially monogamous, living and raising young together, but many frequently have sex with other partners. One famous experiment found that female blackbirds paired with sterilized males were still laying eggs that hatched. The females couldn't chirp their way out of that one.
Also, animals once regarded as exemplars of faithfulness, such as gibbons and swans, are now known to cheat, abandon and even "divorce" one other, just like humans.
Addicted to love
The few animals that do stick together are providing scientists with valuable clues about the biological basis of fidelity. One of the most studied animals in this regard is the mouse-like prairie vole. A male vole will prefer to mate exclusively with the first female he loses his virginity to. And his faithfulness approaches a kind of fanaticism: Far from trying to woo other females, a mated male vole will actually attack them.
In recent years, scientists have traced these unusual behaviors to levels of certain neurotransmitters in the rodents' brains. Interestingly, one of these, dopamine, is also implicated in drug addiction in humans.
Another species that likewise frowns upon infidelity is the black vulture: when extra-pair copulation takes place nearby, vultures will attack the philanderer. Staying together makes for happier vulture babies, since both parents incubate eggs, each taking a 24-hour shift, and for eight months the fledging gets fed by both parents.
Still a mystery
While scientists are starting to uncover clues about what causes certain animals to stay loyal to a partner, the underlying reason for monogamy is still an open question. The most commonly accepted explanation is that monogamy evolved in situations where young have a better chance of surviving if both parents are involved in raising them.
This helps explain why humans tend to be monogamous, since human children take so long to mature. This explanation doesn't hold for all animals, however. Male dikdiks, an African dwarf antelope, are sexually monogamous but the males are not very involved in the raising of the calves.
In light of recent revelations that homosexuality and polygamy are rampant in the wild, monogamy might seem like the plain vanilla of sexual lifestyles.
But as the 10 examples in LIveScience's special presentation show, monogamy in the animal kingdom might be rare, but it is anything but boring.
Other Really Wild Stories


Tangled telephone cords and electronic cables that come to resemble bird nests can frazzle even the most stoic person. Now researchers have unraveled the mystery behind how such knots form.
Two physicists used string-tumbling experiments and mathematical models to create a step-by-step recipe for knot formation and determined which factors cause the knottiest knots. Their research, published online this week by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, sheds light on an everyday phenomenon about which little was known beyond the madness it incites.
"It's a common annoyance in everyday life, that anything that's like a string inevitably seems to get itself into a knot,” said the study's senior author Douglas Smith of the University of California, San Diego.
He added, “Very little experimental work had been done to apply knot theory to the analysis and classification of real, physical knots."
All tied up
Smith and UCSD colleague Dorian Raymer ran a series of homespun experiments in which they dropped a string into a box and tumbled it for 10 seconds (one revolution per second). They repeated the string-dropping more than 3,000 times varying the length and stiffness of the string, box size and tumbling speed.
Digital photos and video of the tumbling strings revealed: Strings shorter than 1.5 feet (.46 meters) didn't form knots; the likelihood of knotting sharply increased as string length went from 1.5 feet to 5 feet (.46 meters to 1.5 meters); and beyond this length, knotting probability leveled off.
Observations could only go so far. “It is virtually impossible to distinguish different knots just by looking at them,” Raymer said.
Raymer developed a computer program to try and mimic their observations. From the model, they created a simplified "lifecycle" of a knot from tidy beginning to titanic tangle. Once dropped, the string formed concentric coils. Next, the string's free end weaved through the coils, with a 50 percent likelihood of crossing under or over the coil and following a path to the left or right.
The best knotting came from very flexible, long string contained in a large box. "A highly flexible string placed in a very large container will have a higher probability of becoming knotted than a stiff one that's confined in a smaller container," Smith told LiveScience.
The researchers suggest that cramped quarters limit the tumbling motion that facilitates the string weaving through the coils. That would explain why knots were less likely to form in smaller compared with larger boxes.
But in real life, most people don't tumble cords and wires on a daily basis. Smith explained that while this tumbling is not a requirement for knots to form, some motion is necessary.
"Surprisingly little disturbance or motion is even needed," Smith said. "It's quite easy for something to get knotted." Even the act of picking up the phone and placing it back down could be enough jostling to trigger knot formation.
While there is no magical knot buster, Smith advised what all sailors, cowboys, electricians, sewers and knitters know: to avoid tangles, keep a cord or string tied in a coil so it can't move.
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Jeanna served as editor-in-chief of Live Science. Previously, she was an assistant editor at Scholastic's Science World magazine. Jeanna has an English degree from Salisbury University, a master's degree in biogeochemistry and environmental sciences from the University of Maryland, and a graduate science journalism degree from New York University. She has worked as a biologist in Florida, where she monitored wetlands and did field surveys for endangered species. She also received an ocean sciences journalism fellowship from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.


What is in this article?:
- A new weapon in the battle against corrosion
- Effects of metallurgy on anticorrosion
Concerns about the corrosion resistance and life cycles of steels in hydraulic systems drove engineers at Sandvik Materials Technology, S. Abington Township, Pa., to explore the affects of final heat treatments on cylinders, line tubing, and other components. These findings have led to the development of several grades of stainless steel with improved corrosion resistance.
The anticorrosion, mechanical, and physical properties of steels for hydraulic systems are a growing concern both inside and outside the marine and offshore industry. Hydraulic and instrumentation tubing tends to pit and corrode when placed in inaccessible chloridic environments, such as beneath clamps, support trays, and connections. Because of this, standard steel grades are proving insufficient in topside, downhole, or other challenging settings due to corrosion-related tube failures. As found in field tests by Shell, Swagelok, BP, and laboratory tests by Sandvik, even high-quality ASTM 316L tube has a service life of five years, and even less than a year in some cases.
Subsequent to these findings, engineers at Sandvik further researched the affects of final heat treatment on the performance of steel grades in chloridic environments. Types of final heat treatment greatly impact the quality of the tube surface, and any surface irregularities can be settings for corrosion initiation. The smoother the surface, the lower the risk of general corrosion.
To investigate relationships between types of final heat treatment and corrosion media, Sandvik engineers compared bright-annealed to open-annealed and pickled steels in a series of tests.
Bright annealing versus open annealing
Bright annealing is a solution-annealing operation performed in a vacuum or controlled atmosphere containing hydrogen. This ensures that oxidation is reduced to a minimum and the steel surface remains relatively bright. Aside from a bright surface, the oxide layer is very thin after this type of annealing.
Subsequent pickling is not necessary — and pickling can potentially damage the oxide layer. As a result, with a cleaner and brighter appearance and a controlled inside-surface condition, bright-annealed tubing has a much smoother surface, which give the component better resistance to pitting corrosion. In contrast, open annealing heat treatment is performed in an open furnace where atmospheric oxygen causes scaling on the surface of the metal.
Standard specifications for stainless-steel tubes require that they be delivered with a scale-free surface. Pickling is the usual procedure to remove the scaling after tubes have been passivated in an alkaline solution. The pickling process removes the hard scale from the tube surface, but the tube’s surface is also chemically attacked.
Pickling takes place in a bath of diluted nitric and hydrofluoric acids at a temperature not exceeding 40°C. Rather than one single operation, it is a series of dips in different acid baths and water. Water removes residues from the pickling bath, and the internal and external surfaces of the tubes are then flushed with high-pressure water.
Complete removal of the pickling acid in the tubes is critical to avoid the risk of corrosion. Washing procedures are especially difficult when the tube ID is small. The pickling process ends with rinsing in warm water to prevent water stains and leaves the tubes with a dull, silver-white surface.
Marine environment testing in Florida
Extensive tests by Sandvik examined the influence of these solution-annealing processes on hydraulic and instrumentation tubing. Twelve months of atmospheric tests were carried out in a marine environment at the Corrosion Technology Laboratory (CTL) at the NASA Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The environment was chosen for its high temperature, ultraviolet levels, salt concentration, and humidity. Engineers compared tubes from two different production routes: open annealed followed by pickling, and bright annealed followed by surface finishing. The aim of the study was to compare the corrosion resistance of the outer and inner surfaces of the tubes in order to assess the impact of final heat treatment on the quality of the tube surfaces.
Because Sandvik Materials Technology only produces bright-annealed tubes with a 12.7-mm OD and 1.24-mm wall thickness, open annealing and pickling were performed on bright, annealed tubes. The open annealing was performed at 1,100°C followed by water cooling.The tube samples were 250-mm long, and test racks were designed according to ASTM G-50 (1997) “Standard Practice for Conducting Atmospheric Corrosion Tests on Metals.” Samples were mounted on racks using ¼-in. polyoxymetylene rods through the center of the tubes, with each rod secured in place on an aluminum rack. Once the test rack was populated, it was transported to NASA’s Beachside Corrosion Test Site and placed at a 30° angle facing the ocean.
The site is roughly 1½ miles south of NASA’s Launch Complex 39A, directly on the Atlantic Ocean and about 150 ft from the mean high-tide line. This introduced the test specimens to aggressive and very corrosive, high-salt, high-humidity, and high-UV Florida seacoast environmental exposure.
Detailed analysis of the tube surfaces was carried out following the atmospheric test using an optical microscope. The surfaces were cleaned in warm water prior to the inspection, wiped with tissue paper and dried with compressed air. Surface roughness, Ra, was measured with an interferometer.
Optical microscopy analysis, conducted at Sandvik Research and Development facilities in Sweden, found that both tubes were discolored after exposure, especially the underside of the tubes. However, the annealed and pickled tube had considerably worse corrosion evidence than the bright-annealed tube. As shown in Figure 2, the annealed and pickled tube has many pits.
The outer surface roughness of each tube was also measured, and results are shown in the Table. The surface roughness of the annealed and pickled tube was clearly higher than for the bright-annealed tube.
Each tube was then split in two to examine the inner surface with optical microscopy. As clearly shown in Figure 3, the bright annealed sample exhibited higher corrosion resistance of the two tubes. Its inner surfaces are still bright and shiny after one year of marine exposure. On the other hand, the open-annealed sample exhibited significant corrosion. Small pits were found in the inner surface of the open-annealed tube, which may have been caused by the residual of the acid used during pickling.


ESA astronauts train even after they land on Earth
News! ESA astronauts train even after they land on Earth. One example is Thomas Pasquet, the former commander of the ISS (International Space Station), before returning to Earth on November 8, 2021. More details about the returning to the Earth: https://www.bailey-universe.com/l/mission-crew-2-ended-successfully-but/ Thomas Pasquet spent 199 days on the ISS and conducted various experiments and projects coordinated by ESA, NASA and other space agencies. Among the most important projects is the Alpha mission, which he successfully completed two days before coming to Earth. It even went out into space to replace one of the ISS components on the outside. To stay in space for 199 days and do such experiments and missions, he needed time and daily training. Usually the astronauts who are taken on the ISS, train even for years to be able to resist.
Many people believe that after they come to Earth, they don't have to do anything or they don't need training. If you think so, then you are wrong.
The conditions outside the Earth are different and vice versa, the conditions in space are different from those on Earth.
This means that astronauts must do training, before a flight, to withstand space conditions.
But they also have to train when they come from space.
This is also proved by Thomas Pasquet, through a video distributed by ESA on instagram, how he does sports even on weekends.
He wrote in the post:
"Been working non-stop after landing, even on the weekend! Despite exercising two hours a day in space, six months of weightlessness made our muscles lazy, our bones weaker and our sense of balance is a bit off. I am returning to normal faster than after my first mission Proxima, but there is no escaping gym day (in between the medical exams, debriefings, and scientific data collection). The exercises that felt easy before the mission are now a little more difficult! "
Even if the conditions in space and on Earth are different, why do astronauts have to train so much (even on weekends)? If we refer only to the different conditions between space and earth, then astronauts should not train that much, but other factors arise. The conditions of the cosmos also bring slightly negative effects to the astronauts, who need to exercise and exercise daily. First of all, after about 199 days spent in space, you start to lose a few kg. Besides, you are very tired and in the first nights after returning it is difficult for you to sleep. Then there are food problems. There is no amount of food on the ISS and there are no food sources. There the food is a little different (even if is create on Earth), it's a special food. That is, there are eating vegetables, fruits, and meat, but most things are pastries, preserves, and small, light foods that keep you hungry for a long time.
Coming to Earth, it's very hard for you to start eating things you haven't eaten on the ISS.
So most astronauts, after such long missions, eat "very healthy", meaning a lot of fruits and vegetables, less meat.
Of course, in time they will get used to food on Earth again.
But these negative factors are physical, but in very rare cases, they can also develop psychiatric problems after returning to Earth.
These are due to the sudden change and due to the different perceptions of the astronauts about these changes.
Many scientific experiments have been done to see how to avoid this situation of stress, anxiety, etc.
Scientists have concluded that people who do sports regularly or at least twice a week have a low risk of developing stress, anxiety, etc. . They argued that sports help people focus more and not even become anxious or depressed.
So, the best way for an astronaut to resume his normal life on Earth is to do sports and eat as healthy as possible.
We wish success to astronaut Thomas Pasquet at ESA, NASA, and all astronauts.
Article by: Andacs Robert Eugen, on 23 November 2021, at 07:46 am Los Angeles time
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Many regions of Germany, and other parts of Central Europe, have been hit severely by flooding in the wake of unusually heavy rain. Climate scientists say climate change may well play a role.
The flooding that is creating havoc in so many parts of Germany is primarily caused by a Mediterranean low, according to climate scientist Mojib Latif from the Helmholtz Center for Ocean Research in the German Baltic city of Kiel. This is a weather pattern that develops over the Mediterranean, sucks in masses of water and travels around the Alps before moving in from the East over Poland and the Czech Republic to Germany.
There are two main reasons why the weather resulted in such extreme flooding, according to Gerhard Lux, a meteorologist at the German Meteorological Office.
"First, we had a very wet May," Lux told DW. "That means we had already seen a lot of precipitation, and the ground was completely saturated. Then we had excessive, heavy rainfall in many areas of Germany in late May and early June. The ground could not absorb it, so it had to flow off on the surface, rapidly filling streams and rivers."
The experts stress that weather events are always individual events, which cannot be directly attributed to a changing climate.
However, analysis of German weather trends - data which is available going back to 1871 - indicates an increase in severe rainfall events, said climate expert Latif.
"If we look back over the past few decades, heavy rainfall seems to be occurring twice as often as was the case 100 years ago," he said.
Gerhard Lux was less confident about the relying on the statistics, arguing that an increase in severe rainfall is not as easy to demonstrate as the obvious rise in temperature. Nevertheless, looking at climate models, he also expects an increase in heavy rain as the planet warms.
Climate scientist Stefan Rahmstorf of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact pointed readers of his blog to studies looking at the increase in extreme weather events during the last decade. He wrote that recent analyses indicated that the rise in emissions of greenhouse gases was linked to a rise in extreme events.
"Even if the weather remained unchanged in other respects and we only had the warming, we would have to expect heavier precipitation whenever masses of air are saturated with water and it gets rained off," he wrote.
'Once in a century' events no longer
There is a clear physical explanation for the connection between precipitation and warmer temperatures, said Mojib Latif.
"Water content in the air depends on the temperature as temperature regulates how much water can evaporate," he explained. "The water is then released as precipitation and comes back down to earth. The higher the temperature, the more water can evaporate and the higher the potential for heavy rain."
The term "flood of the century," used in Germany to describe the last bout of dramatic flooding in the country in 2002, is no longer appropriate, Latif added.
"In the 1990s we had 'once-in-a-century' floods. Then we had them again in 2002, and now in 2013 we are seeing the same again," he said. "What used to happen once in a century could well become an event that recurs every decade or so."
Protection against extreme weather?
Gerhard Lux stressed that the weather forecasters were able to predict the heavy rain. The problem, he said, was preparing to cope on the ground.
"That requires a certain infrastructure. And that always poses the question of how to prepare for an event that happens every few years?"
Indeed, Mojib Latif warned against putting off investments in flood protection.
"These floods have demonstrated once again that we have not adapted as best we could. One thing we will probably have to do is return some of what we have taken away from nature. We need more natural flood planes, for instance. And we will have to consider unpopular measures like building bans in risk areas."
The experts argue that adaptation to climate change is unavoidable, given the continuing rise in CO2 emissions.
"We have not taken any action to halt climate change, in spite of all the climate conferences," said Latif. "And even if we did manage to stabilize CO2 emissions and reduce them in the long term - and there is no sign of that at the moment: It will take decades before we can change course. That means in the coming decades, we just have to live with the fact that extreme rainfall and flooding will happen more often."
Population growth and climate change - South African rangers try to sell off their rhinos - the Netherlands speeds ahead on cycling - And the World Parks Congress in Sydney.


The formation of the moon has long remained a mystery, but new studies support the theory that the moon was formed from debris left from a collision between the newborn Earth and a Mars-size rock, with a veneer of meteorites coating both afterward.
Earth was born about 4.5 billion years ago, and scientists think the moon arose a short time later. The leading explanation for the moon's origin, known as the Giant Impact Hypothesis, was first proposed in the 1970s. It suggests the moon resulted from the collision of two protoplanets, or embryonic worlds. One of those was the just-forming Earth, and the other was a Mars-size object called Theia. The moon then coalesced from the debris.
The long-standing challenges this scenario faces are rooted in the chemistry of the moon. Most of the models of the giant-impact theory often say that more than 60 percent of the moon should be made of material from Theia. The problem is that most bodies in the solar system have unique chemical makeups, and Earth, Theia and therefore the moon should as well. However, rock samples from the moon reveal that it is puzzlingly more similar to Earth than such models would predict when it comes to versions of elements called isotopes. (Each isotope of an element has different numbers of neutrons.) [Evolution of the Moon: A Visual Timeline (Gallery)]
"In terms of composition, the Earth and moon are almost twins, their compositions differing by at most few parts in a million," study lead author Alessandra Mastrobuono-Battisti, an astrophysicist at the Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa, told Space.com. "This contradiction has cast a long shadow on the giant-impact model."
The moon's violent birth
To shed light on this mystery, Mastrobuono-Battisti and her colleagues simulated collisions in the early solar system of between 85 to 90 protoplanets — each of which had up to 10 percent of Earth's mass, — and 1,000 to 2,000 smaller bodies, called planetesimals. Each of the latter had masses that were about 0.25 percent of Earth's. [How the Moon Was Made (Infographic)]
The researchers simulated the collisions taking place in a disk pattern that extended from half an astronomical unit (AU) to 4.5 AU from the sun. (An astronomical unit is the average distance between the sun and Earth, which is about 93 million miles, or 150 million kilometers.)
The scientists found that within 100 million to 200 million years after the models began, each simulation typically produced three to four rocky planets, with the largest comparable to Earth's mass. These worlds often were composed of material that was distinct from one another. However, they also found that 20 to 40 percent of the time, the composition of one planet was very similar to the makeup of the last protoplanet that had collided with it. This likelihood is about 10 times higher than previous estimates.
"The most exciting and surprising thing was to find out that we can shed new light on a 30-year-old mystery," study co-author Hagai Perets, an astrophysicist at the Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa, told Space.com. "Compositionally similar planet-impactor pairs are not rare at all."
The reason for this similarity in composition has to do with the orbits occupied by these colliding bodies. The composition of these objects varied with the amount of heat they received — for instance, the farther away a protoplanet was from the sun, the colder it was, and therefore the more likely it was to retain a relatively heavy isotope of oxygen. The scientists found that as each planet assembled, the last protoplanet to collide with it probably shared a similar orbit. Thus, protoplanets that share similar birthplaces can also share a similar composition.
This finding suggests that the similar compositions of the Earth and moon could be a natural consequence of a giant impact. This theory also explains why their compositions differ from that of other bodies in the solar system, the researchers say. Mastrobuono-Battisti, Perets and their colleague Sean Raymond, of the University of Bordeaux in France, detailed their findings in the April 9 issue of the journal Nature.
A moon made of Earth
Another challenge to understanding how the moon and Earth were formed has to do with tungsten. This metal has highly siderophile characteristics, meaning it binds tightly with iron, and it would have a strong tendency to move into Earth's iron-rich core. However, Earth's crust and mantle have an excess of siderophile elements such as tungsten.
Prior research suggests that the iron-loving elements now seen on Earth come mainly from a "late veneer" of material from space that accumulated both after the giant, moon-forming impact and after Earth's core formed. If this theory is true, then Earth's tungsten isotope levels should be different from those found on the moon.
Now another two independent studies reveal there is indeed this predicted difference between the amount of tungsten isotopes on Earth and on the moon.
Scientists analyzing lunar rocks discovered an excess in the abundance of the isotope tungsten-182 on the moon compared with the present-day Earth's mantle. "It is the first time that we can resolve such a small difference," cosmochemist Thomas Kruijer at the University of Münster in Germany, lead author of one of the two studies, told Space.com. "Defining this value precisely is a very important step forward."
This difference is best explained by the theory that differing proportions of tungsten-182 each accumulated after the giant moon-forming impact, the researchers say. "Our results provide independent evidence for the late-veneer hypothesis," Kruijer said. The research in these two studies was also detailed in the April 9 issue of the journal Nature.


By the time a 6-foot-tall person goes to bed at night, for example, she has lost almost 3/4 of an inch in height. Osteologists explain that gravity pulls on the body throughout the day, compressing the discs between the vertebrae in the spine. To a lesser extent, the same compression happens in the leg joints. Though the changes are small, they add up. After a long day of walking around, the cumulative effect can be noticeable. A good night's sleep allows the body to recover and gain back that height lost during the day.
Age, however, is a more permanent factor in making people shrink over time. After age 40, the average person loses almost an inch of height every 20 years. A person who lives to be 80 would therefore lose nearly 2 inches of height. Such long-term loss is the result of the cumulative effects of gravity and the stress of being bipedal, both of which work together to shrink the skeleton. At the same time, the discs between the vertebrae tend to dry out and lose mass over time, which also reduces vertical height. Physicians suggest that exercise and a diet rich in vitamins and minerals like calcium can reduce, but not eliminate, the tendency to lose height over the long term.Learn more about Human Anatomy


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Biological: Behavioural genetics · Evolutionary psychology · Neuroanatomy · Neurochemistry · Neuroendocrinology · Neuroscience · Psychoneuroimmunology · Physiological Psychology · Psychopharmacology (Index, Outline)
An antibiotic is a chemotherapeutic agent that inhibits or abolishes the growth of micro-organisms, such as bacteria, fungi, or protozoans. The term originally referred to any agent with biological activity against living organisms; however, "antibiotic" now is used to refer to substances with anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, or anti-parasitical activity. The first antibiotic compounds used in modern medicine were produced and isolated from living organisms, such as the penicillin class produced by fungi in the genus Penicillium, or streptomycin from bacteria of the genus Streptomyces. With advances in organic chemistry many antibiotics are now also obtained by chemical synthesis, such as the sulfa drugs. Many antibiotics are relatively small molecules with a molecular weight less than 2000 Da.
Unlike previous treatments for infections, which often consisted of administering chemical compounds such as strychnine and arsenic, with high toxicity also against mammals, antibiotics from microbes had no or few side effects and high effective target activity. Most anti-bacterial antibiotics do not have activity against viruses, fungi, or other microbes. Anti-bacterial antibiotics can be categorized based on their target specificity: "narrow-spectrum" antibiotics target particular types of bacteria, such as Gram-negative or Gram-positive bacteria, while broad-spectrum antibiotics affect a wide range of bacteria.
The effectiveness of individual antibiotics varies with the location of the infection, the ability of the antibiotic to reach the site of infection, and the ability of the microbe to inactivate or excrete the antibiotic. Some anti-bacterial antibiotics destroy bacteria (bactericidal), whereas others prevent bacteria from multiplying (bacteriostatic).
Oral antibiotics are simply ingested, while intravenous antibiotics are used in more serious cases, such as deep-seated systemic infections. Antibiotics may also sometimes be administered topically, as with eye drops or ointments.
In the last few years, three new classes of antibiotics have been brought into clinical use. This follows a 40-year hiatus in discovering new classes of antibiotic compounds. These new antibiotics are of the following three classes: cyclic lipopeptides (daptomycin), glycylcyclines (tigecycline), and oxazolidinones (linezolid). Tigecycline is a broad-spectrum antibiotic, while the two others are used for gram-positive infections. These developments show promise as a means to counteract the growing bacterial resistance to existing antibiotics.
- See also: Timeline of antibiotics
Although potent antibiotic compounds for treatment of human diseases caused by bacteria (such as tuberculosis, bubonic plague, or leprosy) were not isolated and identified until the twentieth century, the first known use of antibiotics was by the ancient Chinese over 2,500 years ago. Many other ancient cultures, including the ancient Egyptians and ancient Greeks already used molds and plants to treat infections, owing to the production of antibiotic substances by these organisms. At that time, however, the compounds having antibiotic activity and present in moulds or plants were unknown.
The antibiotic properties of Penicillium sp. were first described in France by Ernest Duchesne in 1897. However, his work went by without much notice from the scientific community until Alexander Fleming's discovery of Penicillin (see below).
Modern research on antibiotic therapy began in Germany with the development of the narrow-spectrum antibiotic Salvarsan by Paul Ehrlich in 1909, for the first time allowing an efficient treatment of the then-widespread problem of Syphilis. The drug, which was also effective against other spirochaetal infections, is no longer in use in modern medicine.
Antibiotics were further developed in Britain following the re-discovery of Penicillin in 1928 by Alexander Fleming. More than ten years later, Ernst Chain and Howard Florey became interested in his work, and came up with the purified form of penicillin. The three shared the 1945 Nobel Prize in Medicine.
"Antibiotic" was originally used to refer only to substances extracted from a fungus or other microorganism, but has come to also include the many synthetic and semi-synthetic drugs that have antibacterial effects.
Classes of antibiotics Edit
At the highest level, antibiotics can be classified as either bactericidal or bacteriostatic. Bactericidals kill bacteria directly where bacteriostatics prevent them from dividing. However, these classifications are based on laboratory behavior; in practice, both of these are capable of ending a bacterial infection.
|Generic Name||Brand Names||Common Uses||Possible Side Effects|
|Amikacin||Amikin||Infections caused by Gram-negative bacteria, such as Escherichia coli and Klebsiella particularly Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Effective against Aerobic bacteria (not obligate/facultative anaerobes).|
|Geldanamycin||Experimental, as antitumor antibiotics|
|Ertapenem||Invanz||Bactericidal for both Gram positive and Gram negative organisms via inhibition of cell wall synthesis and therefore useful for empiric broad-spectrum antibacterial coverage. (Note MRSA resistance to this class.)||
|Cephalosporins (First generation)|
|Cefalotin or Cefalothin||Keflin|
|Cephalosporins (Second generation)|
|Cephalosporins (Third generation)|
|Cephalosporins (Fourth generation)|
|Azithromycin||Zithromax, Sumamed, Zitrocin||Streptococcal infections, syphilis, respiratory infections, mycoplasmal infections, Lyme disease||
|Telithromycin||Ketek||Pneumonia||Visual Disturbance, LIVER TOXICITY. This medication's approval in the U.S. was controversial, and one doctor went to jail in followup attempts to ascertain its safety because she falsified the results of her part of the testing precisely because it seemed to cause liver problems, including liver failure, to a greater extent than would be expected of a common-use antibiotic.[How to reference and link to summary or text]|
|Amoxicillin||Novamox||Wide range of infections; penicillin used for streptococcal infections, syphilis, and Lyme disease||
|Bacitracin||Eye, ear or bladder infections; usually applied directly to the eye or inhaled into the lungs; rarely given by injection||Kidney and nerve damage (when given by injection)|
|Ciprofloxacin||Ciproxin, Ciplox||Urinary tract infections, bacterial prostatitis, community-acquired pneumonia, bacterial diarrhea, mycoplasmal infections, gonorrhea||Nausea (rare), tendinosis (rare)|
|Mafenide||Urinary tract infections (except sulfacetamide and mafenide); mafenide is used topically for burns|
|Trimethoprim-Sulfamethoxazole (Co-trimoxazole) (TMP-SMX)||Bactrim|
|Demeclocycline||Syphilis, chlamydial infections, Lyme disease, mycoplasmal infections, acne rickettsial infections||
|Arsphenamine||Salvarsan||Spirochaetal infections (obsolete)|
|Clindamycin||Cleocin||acne infections, prophylaxis before surgery|
|Lincoamycin||acne infections, prophylaxis before surgery|
|Rifampin or Rifampicin||Binds to the β subunit of "RNA polymerase" to inhibit transcription of mostly "Gram positive" and "mycobacteria"||Reddish-orange sweat, tears, and urine|
|Generic Name||Brand Names||Common Uses||Possible Side Effects|
- Main article: Production of antibiotics
Since the first pioneering efforts of Florey and Chain in 1939, the importance of antibiotics to medicine has led to much research into discovering and producing them. The process of production usually involves screening of wide ranges of microorganisms, testing and modification. Production is carried out using fermentation; a process that is important in anaerobic conditions when there is no oxidative phosphorylation to maintain the production of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) by glycolysis.
Side effects Edit
Possible side effects are varied, depend on the antibiotics used and the microbial organisms targeted. Adverse effects can range from fever and nausea to major allergic reactions including photodermatitis.[How to reference and link to summary or text] One of the more common side effects is diarrhea, sometimes caused by the anaerobic bacterium Clostridium difficile, which results from the antibiotic disrupting the normal balance of the intestinal flora, Such overgrowth of pathogenic bacteria may be alleviated by ingesting probiotics during a course of antibiotics. [How to reference and link to summary or text]. An antibiotic-induced disruption of the population of the bacteria normally present as constituents of the normal vaginal flora may also occur, and may lead to overgrowth of yeast species of the genus Candida in the vulvo-vaginal area.  Other side effects can result from interaction with other drugs, such as elevated risk of tendon damage from administration of a quinolone antibiotic with a systemic corticosteroid.
It is a common assertion that some antibiotics can interfere with the efficiency of birth control pills. Although there remain few known cases of complication, the majority of antibiotics do not interfere with contraception, despite widespread misinformation to the contrary.
Antibiotic misuse Edit
Common forms of antibiotic misuse include failure to take the entire prescribed course of the antibiotic, or failure to rest for sufficient recovery allowing clearance from the infecting organism. These practices may cause the development of bacterial populations with antibiotic resistance. Inappropriate antibiotic treatment is another common form of antibiotic misuse. A common example is the use of antibacterial antibiotics to treat viral infections such as the common cold.
It is estimated that greater than 50% of the antibiotics used in U.S. are given to feed animals (e.g. chickens, pigs and cattle) in the absence of disease. Antibiotic use in food animal production has been associated with the emergence of antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria including Salmonella spp., Campylobacter spp., Escherichia coli, and Enterococcus spp. Evidence from some US and European studies suggest that these resistant bacteria cause infections in humans that do not respond to commonly prescribed antibiotics. In response to these practices and attendant problems, several organizations (e.g. The American Society for Microbiology (ASM), American Public Health Association (APHA) and the American Medical Association (AMA)) have called for restrictions on antibiotic use in food animal production and an end to all non-therapeutic uses. [How to reference and link to summary or text] However, delays in regulatory and legislative actions to limit the use of antibiotics are common, and may include resistance to these changes by industries using or selling antibiotics, as well as time spend on research to establish causal links between antibiotic use and emergence of untreatable bacterial diseases. Today, there are two federal bills (S.742 and H.R. 2562) aimed at phasing out non-therapeutic antibiotics in US food animal production. These bills are endorsed by public health and medical organizations including the American Nurses Association (ANA), the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), and the American Public Health Association (APHA). [How to reference and link to summary or text]
One study on respiratory tract infections found "physicians were more likely to prescribe antibiotics to patients who they believed expected them, although they correctly identified only about 1 in 4 of those patients". Multifactorial interventions aimed at both physicians and patients can reduce inappropriate prescribing of antibiotics.  Delaying antibiotics for 48 hours while observing for spontaneous resolution of respiratory tract infections may reduce antibiotic usage; however, this strategy may reduce patient satisfaction.
Excessive use of prophylactic antibiotics in travelers may also be classified as misuse.
Antibiotic resistance Edit
- Main article: Antibiotic resistance
Use or misuse of antibiotics may result in the development of antibiotic resistance by the infecting organisms, similar to the development of pesticide resistance in insects. Evolutionary theory of genetic selection requires that as close as possible to 100% of the infecting organisms be killed off to avoid selection of resistance; if a small subset of the population survives the treatment and is allowed to multiply, the average susceptibility of this new population to the compound will be much less than that of the original population, since they have descended from those few organisms which survived the original treatment. This survival often results from an inheritable resistance to the compound which was infrequent in the original population but is now much more frequent in the descendants thus selected entirely from those originally infrequent resistant organisms.
Antibiotic resistance has become a serious problem in both the developed and underdeveloped nations. By 1984 half of the people with active tuberculosis in the United States had a strain that resisted at least one antibiotic. In certain settings, such as hospitals and some child-care locations, the rate of antibiotic resistance is so high that the normal, low cost antibiotics are virtually useless for treatment of frequently seen infections. This leads to more frequent use of newer and more expensive compounds, which in turn leads inexorably to the rise of resistance to those drugs, and a race to discover new and different antibiotics ensues, just to keep us from losing ground in the battle against infection. The fear is that we will eventually fail to keep up in this race, and the time when people did not fear life-threatening bacterial infections will be just a memory of a golden era.
Another example of selection is Staphylococcus aureus ('golden staph'), which could be treated successfully with penicillin in the 1940s and 1950s. At present, nearly all strains are resistant to penicillin, and many are resistant to nafcillin, leaving only a narrow selection of drugs such as vancomycin useful for treatment. The situation is worsened by the fact that genes coding for antibiotic resistance can be transferred between bacteria via plasmids, making it possible for bacteria never exposed to an antibiotic to acquire resistance from those which have. The problem of antibiotic resistance is worsened when antibiotics are used to treat disorders in which they have no efficacy, such as the common cold or other viral complaints, and when they are used widely as prophylaxis rather than treatment (as in, for example, animal feeds), because this exposes more bacteria to selection for resistance.
Resistance Modifying AgentsEdit
One solution to combat resistance currently being researched is the development of pharmaceutical compounds that would revert multiple antibiotic resistance. These so called resistance modifying agents may target and inhibit MDR mechanisms rendering the bacteria suceptible to antibiotics they were previously resistant to. These compounds targets include among others
Beyond antibiotics Edit
The comparative ease of identifying compounds which safely cured bacterial infections was more difficult to duplicate in treatments of fungal and viral infections. Antibiotic research led to great strides in the knowledge of biochemistry, establishing large differences between the cellular and molecular physiology of the bacterial cell and that of the mammalian cell. This explained the observation that many compounds that are toxic to bacteria are non-toxic to human cells. In contrast, the basic biochemistries of the fungal cell and the mammalian cell are much more similar. This restricts the development and use of therapeutic compounds that attack a fungal cell, while not harming mammalian cells. Similar problems exist in antibiotic treatments of viral diseases. Human viral metabolic biochemistry is very closely similar to human biochemistry, and the possible targets of antiviral compounds are restricted to very few components unique to a mammalian virus.
Research into bacteriophages for use as antibiotics is presently ongoing. Several types of bacteriophage appear to exist that are specific for each bacterial taxonomic group or species.[How to reference and link to summary or text] Research into bacteriophages for medicinal use is just beginning, but has led to advances in microscopic imaging. While bacteriophages provide a possible solution to the problem of antibiotic resistance, there is no clinical evidence yet that they can be deployed as therapeutic agents to cure disease.
Phage therapy has been used in the past on humans in the US and Europe during the 1920s and 1930s, but these treatments had mixed results. With the discovery of penicillin in the 1940s, Europe and the US changed therapeutic strategies to using antibiotics. However, in the former Soviet Union phage therapies continued to be studied. In the Republic of Georgia, the Eliava Institute of Bacteriophage, Microbiology & Virology continues to research the use of phage therapy. Various companies and foundations in North America and Europe are currently researching phage therapies. [How to reference and link to summary or text] However, phage are living and reproducing; concerns about genetic engineering in freely released viruses currently limits certain aspects of phage therapy.
Bacteriocins are also a growing alternative to the classic small-molecule antibiotics. Different classes of bacteriocins have different potential as therapeutic agents. Small molecule bacteriocins (microcins, for example, and lantibiotics) may be similar to the classic antibiotics; colicin-like bacteriocins are more likely to be narrow-spectrum, demanding new molecular diagnostics prior to therapy but also not raising the specter of resistance to the same degree.
Probiotics are another alternative that goes beyond traditional antibiotics by employing a live culture which may establish itself as a symbiont, competing, inhibiting, or simply interfering with colonization by pathogens. It may produce antibiotics or bacteriocins, essentially providing the drug in vivo and in situ, potentially avoiding the side effects of systemic administration.
- ↑ How Products Are Made: Antibiotics
- ↑ Pelczar, M.J., Chan, E.C.S. and Krieg, N.R. (1999) “Host-Parasite Interaction; Nonspecific Host Resistance”, In: Microbiology Conceptsand Applications, 6th ed., McGraw-Hill Inc., New York, U.S.A. pp. 478-479.
- ↑ Robert Berkow (ed.) The Merck Manual of Medical Information - Home Edition. Pocket (September 1999), ISBN 0-671-02727-1.
- ↑ University of Michigan Health System: Antibiotic-Associated Diarrhea, November 26, 2006
- ↑ Pirotta MV, Garland SM (2006). Genital Candida species detected in samples from women in Melbourne, Australia, before and after treatment with antibiotics. J Clin Microbiol. 44: 3213-3217. PMID 16954250.
- ↑ Planned Parenthood: Does taking antibiotics make the pill less effective?, July 15, 2004
- ↑ Mellon, M et al. (2001) Hogging It!: Estimates of Antimicrobial Abuse in Livestock, 1st ed. Cambridge, MA: Union of Concerned Scientists.
- ↑ Ong S, Nakase J, Moran GJ, Karras DJ, Kuehnert MJ, Talan DA (2007). Antibiotic use for emergency department patients with upper respiratory infections: prescribing practices, patient expectations, and patient satisfaction. Annals of emergency medicine 50 (3): 213-20.
- ↑ Metlay JP, Camargo CA, MacKenzie T, et al (2007). Cluster-randomized trial to improve antibiotic use for adults with acute respiratory infections treated in emergency departments. Annals of emergency medicine 50 (3): 221-30.
- ↑ Spurling G, Del Mar C, Dooley L, Foxlee R (2007). Delayed antibiotics for respiratory infections. Cochrane database of systematic reviews (Online) (3): CD004417.
- ↑ B. Marquez. (2005). Bacterial efflux systems and efflux pumps inhibitors. Biochimie87 1137–1147
- ↑ S. Gibbons (2004) Anti-staphylococcal plant natural products Nat. Prod. Rep., 21, 263-277
- ↑ Purdue University "Biologists build better software, beat path to viral knowledge", see Imaging of Epsilon 15, a virus that infects the bacterium Salmonella News report
See also Edit
- Bacteriostatic agent
- Antineoplastic drugs
- Antibiotic News from Genome News Network (GNN)
- Are Antibiotics Killing Us? -Discover Magazine
- JAAPA: New antibiotics useful in primary care
- A new method for controlling bacterial activity without antibiotics - Research conducted at the Hebrew University
- BURDEN of Resistance and Disease in European Nations
- Antibiogram technique video
Major Drug Groups
|Gastrointestinal tract (A)|
|Blood and blood forming organs (B)|
|Cardiovascular system (C)|
|Reproductive system (G)|
|Endocrine system (H)|
|Infections and Infestations (J, P)|
|Malignant and Immune disease (L)|
|Muscles, Bones, and Joints (M)|
|Brain and Nervous system (N)|
|Respiratory system (R)|
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There are several species of aphid that are a pest on several crop types, but on the bright side, there’s only one species of aphid canola farmers need to worry about.
As Sean Prager, assistant professor of plant sciences at the University of Saskatchewan explains, it’s the green peach aphid, or Myzus persicae, that causes damage to canola. The pest is roughly the size of a pin head, and is mostly green in colour but some can be red depending on what its eating.
Signs of green peach aphids in canola can include:
- Signs of wilting, or what would look like water stress;
- Considerable amounts of the pest itself; or,
- Large amounts of honeydew on the plant.
In terms of economic thresholds, there are none for aphids in canola, according to Prager, who adds there are no recommended sampling plan for the Prairies.
“There are plans for other places, but generally we don’t think of them as being particularly large pests in canola, and a lot of the other insects we manage are managed with insecticides that will handle aphids, so that also tends to keep the risk lower,” Prager says.
“The only thing that makes aphids a little bit different is that they are vectors of disease, and while we don’t really see any of that here, there’s the potential that if you have large aphid outbreaks you can also have some viruses that are vectored by the aphids.”
Listen below to the full conversation on aphids in canola and what to look for in the crop: