Amber Foth, School Counselor Phone: 440.352.3345 x4307 Fax: 440.352.1278 Email: firstname.lastname@example.org@riversideschools.net I will be your student’s school counselor for eighth and ninth grades.
Future Planning The Scheduling Process Expectations Resources
Focus on building lifelong learning skills/habits This cannot be stressed enough! It is crucial to form good habits now. Time management, study skills, note taking skills, organization, and even stress management. Not only will these skills be helpful in eighth grade, but they are critical for success in the future. Keep your options open It’s unrealistic to ask eighth grade students to plan every detail of their post-secondary life. Some realistic questions to ask at this stage are: Is the student going to college? If the answer is “I don’t know,” it’s best to proceed as if s/he is.
Students will received scheduling forms at school this week. They should’ve come home! Students should: Highlight/circle the appropriate core courses Rank their elective choices (1 st, 2 nd & 3 rd choice) Return the completed form to their social studies teacher no later than Thursday, February 14 th.
Differences between English 8 & English 8 Honors English 8English 8 Honors Read materials in classRead materials outside of class Required texts are at an eighth grade reading level Required texts are above grade level (ninth or tenth grade) No summer reading at this timeSummer reading with assignments Writing geared towards OAA proficiency (short answer & extended response) OAA practice writing plus more writing geared towards success in future English honors courses
Math 8: Pre-Algebra and Algebraic concepts. Prepares the student for Algebra 1 College Prep in 9th grade. New concepts are introduced daily and homework is assigned each night. Algebra 8 Honors: Students enrolled in this course are skipping Math 8 and taking their first high school course for credit. Students learn similar concepts to Algebra 1 College Prep (typical 9th grade course) only more in-depth. There are significantly more word problems in this class. There may be a summer testing requirement involved prior to taking this course.
Science 8: Explore space, plate tectonics and theories related to Earth changes. Science 8 Honors: Students pursue a deeper understanding of the science content. Students will be expected to read and comprehend concepts discussed in scientific articles, apply a variety of mathematical skills to solve scientific problems, write detailed explanations of natural phenomena, evaluate and synthesize scientific rationales and work collaboratively with peers. For additional information about Science 8 and Science 8 Honors, please view Mr. Keller’s website at: www.kellerscience.infowww.kellerscience.info
Enrolling in Science 8 Honors? Using this year’s semester 1 averages, please check the boxes that apply to your student. Science____ Non-Honors (94% or above) ____ Honors (unfortunately no longer exists) Math____ Non-Honors (80% or above) ____ Honors (70% or above) Language Arts____ Non-Honors (80% or above) ____ Honors (70% or above)
Students who are successful in U.S. History 8 Honors possess the following qualities: Like to be challenged Have great reading and comprehension skills Excel at working independently Can complete homework on a nightly basis Enjoy being creative Are interested in learning more than the basic information in the history book
Students in U.S. History 8 Honors will be responsible for learning the following over the summer: State abbreviations and capitals (memorized) The 27 Amendments, in order (memorized) The 43 Presidents, in order (memorized) The Star Spangled Banner (memorized) The Preamble to the Declaration of Independence (recognized) The Preamble to the Constitution (recited) 25+ items on U.S. and European maps Students will be assessed regarding this material during the first week of school.
Additional courses and electives Each student will take: Health and Physical Wellness for a semester. 8th grade Art and Computer Awareness for a quarter each. Students can choose to take: A full year of 8th grade Band A full year of 8th grade Baritone or Treble Choir A semester of Exploring Technology A semester of Teen Living
1. Work Hard 2. Be a self-advocate 3. Have respect for adults, your classmates, yourself and your school 4. Think before speaking or acting 5. Take responsibility for yourself and your actions
Notify parents via email or phone of failing grades or concerns regarding behavior and/or performance Update Infinite Campus and online classrooms on a regular basis Facilitate a safe and effective learning environment for all students
Who teaches what? English 8 Mrs. Miller Room 117 Mr. Schuette Room 116 English 8 Honors Mrs. Bateman Room 112 Math 8 Mr. Hillman Room 209 Mr. Franz Room 208 Mr. Dingman Room 217 Algebra 8 Honors Mrs. Leinweber Room 219 Science 8 Mr. Keller Room 212 Mrs. Berdis Room 107 Mrs. Selent Room 216 Science 8 Honors Mr. Keller Room 212 History 8 Mr. Bouffard Room 215 Mr. Franz Room 210 Mr. Bors Room 108 RHS History 8 Honors Mrs. Landgraf Room 204
Academics www.studygs.net - Study Guides and Strategies www.studygs.net Transitioning to Eighth Grade Parents’ Guide to the Middle School Years by Bruzzese, J. www.amle.org - Association for Middle Level Education www.amle.org
Adolescent Development www.jhsph.edu - Johns Hopkins Bloombery School of Public Health www.jhsph.edu www.nich.nih.gov - National Institute of Child Health & Human Development www.nich.nih.gov Bullying Queen Bees and Wannabes: Helping Your Daughter Survive Cliques, Gossip, Boyfriends, and the New Realities of a Girl World by Wiseman, R. Odd Girl Out: The Hidden Culture of Aggression in Girls by Simmons, R.
Father’s Role The Connected Father: Understanding Your Unique Role and Responsibility during Your Child’s Adolescence by Pickard, C. General Health www.naccho.orgwww.naccho.org - National Association of City & County Health Offices Mental Health www.nami.org - National Alliance on Mental Illness www.nami.org www.nimh.nih.gov - National Institute of Mental Health www.nimh.nih.gov
Mother/Daughter Relationship I’m Not Mad, I Just Hate You! by Cohen-Sandler, R.. & Silver, M. Social Development www.schoolcounselor.org - American School Counselor Association www.schoolcounselor.org www.clevelandclinic.org - Adolescent Health www.clevelandclinic.org A Tribe Apart: A Journey into the heart of American Adolescence by Hersch, P. Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving Work, Home, and School by Medina, J.
Suicide Prevention www.afsp.org American Foundation for Suicide Prevention www.afsp.org www.suicidology.org American Association of Suicidology www.suicidology.org Parenting Teens Get out of My Life, but First Could You Drive Me and Cheryl to the Mall? by Wolf, A. Wonderful Ways to Love a Teen…Even When it Seems Impossible by Ford, J.


01 Jul Machine Safeguarding: Protecting Workers from Preventable Injuries
Originally posted on http://www.unitedheartland.biz
The list of possible machinery-related injuries is longer than you might realize — and probably more serious. The hazards associated with moving machine parts can cause serious workplace injuries ranging from crushed limbs or amputations to blindness and even death. Since mechanical motions are basic to nearly all machines, recognizing related hazards is the first step in protecting employees from the injury potential they present.
Machine safeguarding practices need to focus on the hazards presented by these motions:
· In-running nip points
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requires safeguarding of any machine where parts, functions or processes may cause injury. When the operation of a machine or accidental contact with it can injure the operator or others in the area, the hazards must be controlled or eliminated.
Also consider all energy sources that must be guarded:
Despite warnings, companies don’t always adhere to the necessary safety standards when it comes to safeguarding. In fact, machine guarding and other related machinery violations continuously rank among the top 20 OSHA citations issued.
Dangerous moving parts in the following areas require safeguarding:
· The point of operation: The point where work is performed on the material, such as cutting, shaping, boring or forming of stock.
· Power transmission apparatus: All components of the mechanical system that transmit energy to the part of the machine performing the work. These components include flywheels, pulleys, belts, connecting rods, couplings, cams, spindles, chains, cranks and gears.
· Other moving parts: All machine parts that move while the machine is working, including reciprocating, rotating and transverse moving parts, as well as feed mechanisms and auxiliary parts of the machine.
Two primary methods are used to safeguard machines:
· Machine guards
· Safeguarding devices
Guards are physical barriers that prevent access to dangerous areas. Safeguarding devices prevent or detect contact with the point of operation, or stop potentially hazardous machine motion if any part of an individual’s body is within a certain area of the machine. Both types of safeguard methods need to be properly designed, installed, used and maintained to ensure employee protection.
Criteria for machine safeguarding:
Meet safety standards: All safeguards must meet the minimum OSHA requirements and avoid interfering with normal operation of the machine.
· Prevent contact: The safeguard must prevent all body parts from contact with dangerous moving parts.
· Maintain secure safeguards: Workers should not be able to easily remove or tamper with the safeguard. Guards and safety devices should be made of durable material that will withstand the conditions of normal use and must be firmly secured to the machine.
· Protect from falling objects: The safeguard should ensure that no objects can fall into moving machinery parts.
· Avoid creating new hazards: A safeguard defeats its own purpose if it creates a hazard of its own such as a shear point, a jagged edge or an unfinished surface, all of which can cause a laceration.
· Allow safe lubrication: If possible, one should be able to lubricate the machine without removing the safeguards.
· Conduct proper training: All operators and maintenance workers should receive safeguard training — where the safeguards are located, how to use them, proper procedures to follow if the guards are damaged or missing, etc.
Machine safeguarding can be a complicated process. United Heartland Loss Control can help safeguard your operations by conducting a comprehensive evaluation of any machine hazards and offering solutions to keep your employees safe on the job. Please contact your United Heartland Loss Control representative today. Not a customer? Find an agent near you!


*Abbreviations under the "Available" column: A = Available // NA = Not Available // R = Previously Registered // WL = Currently on the Wait List
Native Americans in a European-Based Society
Each of six classes will deal with a different aspect of American history. Each section will dwell on activities of the era, reenactments, and the indigenous consequences of European contact. April 21: From where did the Indians originate? The consequences of the Doctrine of Discovery on how the Indian territory was occupied; Jefferson’s expansionist efforts; Lewis and Clark Expedition; continuing effects on Indians today will be addressed. April 28: Indian removal including the Trail of Tears and North West (Ohio) Indian equivalent will be discussed. May 5: Development of the Oregon/California Trail and its influence on our western occupation will be our focus. May 12: The Bozeman Trail; treaties broken and Red Cloud’s success against the US Army in Wyoming in the 1860s up to the Little Big Horn battle in 1876. We will join a wagon train. May 19: The death of Sitting Bull in 1890 and his bands joining Big Foot’s bands leading to Wounded Knee; the people involved and consequences for the indigenous peoples’ situation up to today. You will ride with me on the 300-mile reenactment. May 26: Oxen were the primary farm and transportation power source from the Spanish arrival to the mid 1800s. Ox power played a huge role in our occupation of North America. We will explore their training their contribution and, weather permitting, will bring a team to the class for a demonstration.
Bill Speiden is a retired dairy farmer who reenacts historical events as his avocation. He has interpreted 1776 (Appalachia) and the Oregon Trail (1849) with his oxen at dozens of functions for over 40 years. He has reenacted historical trails in Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho. He has ridden with the Lakota in South Dakota, commemorating Big Foot’s December 1890 ride to Wounded Knee, and has participated in horse pack trips with the Navajo’s in Arizona. During the Lewis and Clark Corps of Discovery 200th anniversary, he wrote a “This Week with Lewis and Clark” series appearing in five area newspapers. Bill has written numerous articles on history and oxen for Rural Heritage and various Oregon Trail publications.
Ambrose, Stephen. Undaunted Courage: Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson, and the Opening of the American West, 1997. Tate, Michael. Indians and Emigrants: Encounters on the Overland Trails, 2014. Ronda, James P. Lewis and Clark among the Indians, 2002. Jefferson, Thomas. “Aborigines.” Chap. 11 in Notes on the State of Virginia (1787), 2011.
|B41||Bill Speiden||Apr 21, 28, May 5, 12, 19, 26||Fr||11:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m.||Meadows Presbyterian Church||WL|


Computers, smartphones, and other smart devices bring more than just good.
1. Gadgets are time-consuming
We spend a lot of time on the computer. And when its not available, we switch to smartphones. Or sticking to video games. We watch the news, videos with cats, photos of friends, and participate in useless online discussions.
But if you give up all gadgets at least for a while, you will be amazed at how much time you will have. It can be used very effectively. Go in for sports, for example. Make repairs. Be with loved ones. or even sleep!
Read also: 5 Gadgets That a Blogger Can’t Do Without
2. Screens harm your eyesight
Let’s not be like strange guys in foil hats who shout that technology irradiates us with radiation. You don’t need to be seven spans in the forehead to understand that a computer and a uranium rod are slightly different things. However, gadgets still do some harm to your health, especially if they are misused.
Looking at the screens for a long time is harmful to your eyes. Avoid this vision risk for two main reasons.
First, when looking at interface elements, we overstrain our eyes. Secondly, on the computer, we literally forget to blink—the frequency of blinking decreases from 15 to 5 times per minute, which causes dry eyes. Therefore, to save your eyesight, follow some simple rules. And spend less time at the monitor.
3. You can ruin your posture
In addition to vision, a computer can also harm your posture. It is not typical for a person to remain motionless for a long time. Therefore, sit at the computer correctly. Or do not use it at all. Why waste time on trifles.
And smartphones are bad for the neck; using them, we constantly tilt our heads to look at the screen. American chiropractor Dean Fishman even suggested text neck syndrome – systematic review, a special name – “text neck syndrome” – for a disease that develops in those who like to correspond on a smartphone, tilting their head.
4. Gadgets harm sleep
Many people sit at their computers until dark. And, going to bed, they continue to stick to their smartphones, reading posts on social networks or liking photos on Instagram. Forcing yourself to put down the gadget and finally fall asleep can sometimes be very difficult.
Also read: How to Clean Headphones
Computers, smartphones, and indeed all devices with bright screens, negatively affect the quality of sleep. This has been repeatedly confirmed by research progress about the effect and prevention of blue light on eyes.
Digital device manufacturers are aware of this problem and they provide gadgets with a “Night mode” function that automatically changes screens’ color temperature. But this is only a half measure. The only sure way to improve sleep is to stop using TVs, computers, tablets, and smartphones a couple of hours before going to bed.
5. Social media causes envy and depression
Social media is great. All the people there are happy and beautiful. Look at the photos of those you follow on Instagram or Facebook; Psychologists at the University of Houston conducted a study seeking everyone else’s highlight reels; ‘How Facebook Usage is Linked to Depressive Symptoms and established a link between depression and Facebook use”. They found that people who spend a lot of time on social media and compare themselves to their friends become depressed and unhappy.
So stop studying other people’s pictures; live your life and forget about others.
Adapted and translated by The Cop Cart Staff
Sources: Life hacker


FRBSF Economic Letter
2007-02 | January 19, 2007
Disentangling the Wealth Effect: Some International Evidence
- Theoretical considerations
- Financial and housing wealth effects
- Wealth effects across age groups
Over the past several years, movements in asset prices have substantially raised household wealth. For the U.S. and many other industrialized countries, the most recent boost has come more from the appreciation of house prices than financial assets. In the U.S. housing wealth has moved back above financial wealth in terms of the share of assets. In a number of other industrialized countries, including three examined in this Economic Letter, housing wealth makes up an even larger share of individuals’ portfolios than is the case for the U.S. (see Figure 1).
Movements in housing value and other asset prices can have implications for economic outlook for a number of reasons. One is the so-called wealth effect channel—the extent to which consumer spending responds to changes in wealth (asset values). With the recent cooling in the U.S. single family housing sector and potential “correction” in other countries, analysis of the possible wealth effects from housing have moved front and center.
In this Economic Letter, we report on research that takes advantage of newly available international data and examines in some detail the wealth effect in three countries, Canada, Finland, and Italy (Sierminska and Takhtamanova 2007). First, we investigate whether consumption responds differently to changes in housing and financial wealth. Second, we investigate whether there are differences in consumption responses to changes in wealth across different age groups.
The life cycle theory of consumption, which underpins most efforts to model wealth effects, argues that consumers try to smooth consumption over their life span. For example, because incomes are expected to rise at least over a typical person’s initial working years, consumers are likely to borrow against their future earnings when they are young, build wealth (save) and pay their debts during middle age, and run down their wealth in retirement. In this framework, a typical consumer will spread out the benefit or deficit from an unexpected gain or loss in wealth by boosting or cutting current spending by a fraction of the value of the change in wealth and maintain that new level of spending over time.
Not all wealth is the same, however, and researchers have argued that it makes sense to distinguish between financial asset wealth and housing wealth, because the characteristics of each may have different effects on people’s propensity to consume. Economic theory suggests that the consumption response to a positive asset shock is larger if the asset is more liquid (easier to buy and sell). The response is also larger if households think the asset value is easier to measure, if they perceive the asset to be more appropriate for financing current consumption, and if they view the shock to be more permanent.
Given these characteristics, it is not obvious whether to expect a larger wealth effect out of changes to housing or financial wealth. For example, traditionally, financial assets have been viewed as more liquid (though financial innovations have made it easier for homeowners in many countries to extract equity from their houses), more trackable (because they are more homogeneous and traded more frequently than houses), and more appropriate to use for current consumption. On the other hand, shocks to housing wealth might be viewed as more permanent (Pichette and Tremblay 2003). Finally, the relative effect of the two types of wealth may depend on how broadly they are distributed across the country.
Furthermore, as already mentioned, the life cycle theory predicts that the marginal propensity to consume out of wealth increases with the consumer’s age. This insight is especially important given that the share of older households is rising in many countries, including the U.S., because it implies that wealth shocks would be expected to cause a larger aggregate consumption response
Previous studies attempting to assess wealth effects have relied on either aggregated data or data on individual households. In recent studies using time series data aggregated at the national or regional level for the U.S. and Canada, the estimated wealth effect out of housing wealth has been found to exceed that of financial asset wealth consistently (Davis and Palumbo 2001, Carroll 2004, Pichette and Tremblay 2003). The macroeconomic evidence on the relative sizes of financial and housing wealth effects in other OECD countries is mixed (Carroll 2004). A concern with the evidence from studies using aggregated data is that estimates of the wealth effects may reflect spurious relationships; that is, wealth fluctuations can be affected by many factors that also affect fluctuations in expenditures (such as overall macroeconomic prospects).
An alternative approach is to use survey data on individual households (micro data), as household wealth may be less influenced by macroeconomic circumstances. However, existing estimates of the wealth effect for different countries are obtained using different methods and, for the most part, the data are not comparable. We use data available through the Luxembourg Wealth Study (LWS), a project under development within the larger Luxembourg Income Study (LIS), which makes cross-country analysis with more comparable data possible. Based on the availability of expenditure data, our analysis focuses on a sample of homeowners in three countries, Canada (1999), Finland (1998), and Italy (2002).
In our framework, at any given period, the amount a consumer spends depends on his or her expected remaining life span (age), expected future labor income stream (permanent income), net financial asset holdings and net housing holdings (wealth), and rate of time preference. Our measure of consumption is total expenditures, created by summing the available expenditure components in the surveys (see the Appendix in Sierminska and Takhtamanova 2007). Finland and Italy have an extensive list of expenditure components. Canada includes housing, transportation, and child care. Our measure of wealth focuses on consumers’ financial and housing wealth. Our measure of financial assets includes deposit accounts, stocks, bonds, and mutual funds. Nonfinancial assets include consumers’ principal residence and investment real estate. Housing wealth refers to nonfinancial assets net of home-secured debt. We also account for a variety of demographic variables, such as education, the gender of the head of household, marital status, and the number of children.
As a first pass, we allow age and the other demographic and socioeconomic variables to affect only the average level of consumption. Our estimates show that, for all three countries, the housing wealth effect is substantially larger than the financial wealth effect. The estimated effects are the percent change in consumption caused by a 1% change in wealth. As shown in Figure 2, our estimate with respect to financial wealth is negligible in Canada, about 2% in Finland, and 4% in Italy. The housing wealth effect is much stronger. A 1% increase in households’ housing wealth raises households’ expenditure by about 12% in Canada, 10% in Finland, and 13% in Italy.
Although our results are significant, it is possible that the reason housing wealth has such a large effect is that it serves as a proxy for permanent income, which is an important determinant of household consumption. Nonetheless, our estimates are broadly consistent with some other studies using micro data (Bostic et al. 2006 for the U.S. and Guiso et al. 2005 for Italy). Moreover, we make an extensive effort to control for permanent income by including a variety of sociodemographic characteristics of the households.
Recent studies that address differences in wealth effects across ages tend to focus only on housing wealth (see, for instance, Lehnert 2004 for the U.S.; Grant and Peltonen 2005 for Italy) and find stronger wealth effects for older households.
We divide our sample into several age groups and find no clear pattern in the financial wealth effects among them. However, a clear pattern emerges for the housing wealth effect, as Figure 3 shows. In all three countries, the housing wealth effect is significantly lower for younger households and is strongest for those aged 55-64 in Finland and Italy and those aged 75 and over in Canada. In Canada the effect consistently increases from age 55 onwards, and in Finland and Italy the effect increases up to the group aged 55-64 and then is lower in the two oldest age groups.
In our study we consistently find that the housing wealth effect is greater than the financial wealth effect for homeowners in three industrialized countries—Canada, Finland, and Italy. We caution, however, that our estimates must be considered tentative as the analysis is based on the beta version of a developing data source and as the existing econometric evidence does not completely agree on this subject. Our finding that the housing wealth effect is consistently stronger for older households in the three countries we examine also lends some support to the life cycle theory and bolsters the results of other studies.
These results suggest that it is important for policymakers to keep an eye on housing market developments separately from financial markets. If it is true that the housing wealth effect dominates the financial wealth effect, at least in some countries, then the effects of a softening in the housing market in a number of industrialized countries could have a more dramatic impact than the historically large stock market declines that began in 2000. Additionally, if the wealth effect is stronger for older households, the demographic changes around the world could make housing wealth effects even more important in the future.
Luxembourg Income Study and DIW Berlin
Bostic, R., S. Gabriel, and G. Painter. 2006. “Housing Wealth, Financial Wealth, and Consumption: New Evidence from Micro Data.” University of Southern California, Lusk Center for Real Estate Working Paper.
Carroll, C. 2004. “Housing Wealth and Consumption Expenditure.” Unpublished manuscript, Johns Hopkins University.
Davis, M., and M. Palumbo. 2001. “A Primer on the Economics and Time Series Econometrics of Wealth Effects.” Federal Reserve Board, Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2001-09.
Grant, C., and T. Peltonen. 2005. “Housing and Equity Wealth Effects of Italian Households.” De Nederlandsche Bank Working Paper 43.
Guiso, L., M. Paiella, and I. Visco. 2005. “Do Capital Gains Affect Consumption? Estimates of Wealth Effects from Italian Households’ Behavior.” Banca d’Italia Working Paper 555 (June).
Lehnert, A. 2004. “Housing, Consumption, and Credit Constraints.” Federal Reserve Board, Finance and Economic Discussion Series 2004-63.
Pichette, L., and D. Tremblay. 2003. “Are Wealth Effects Important for Canada.” Bank of Canada Working Paper 2003-30.
Sierminska, E., Brandolini, A. and T. Smeeding. 2006. “Comparing Wealth Distribution across Rich Countries: First Results from the Luxembourg Wealth Study” Luxembourg Wealth Study Working Paper 1.
Sierminska, E., and Y. Takhtamanova. 2007. “Wealth Effect out of Financial and Housing Wealth: Cross-Country and Age Group Comparisons.” FRBSF Working Paper 2007-01 (updated).
Opinions expressed in FRBSF Economic Letter do not necessarily reflect the views of the management of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco or of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. This publication is edited by Sam Zuckerman and Anita Todd. Permission to reprint must be obtained in writing.
Please send editorial comments and requests for reprint permission to
Attn: Research publications, MS 1140
Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco
P.O. Box 7702
San Francisco, CA 94120


Is color important in a work of art? Most would say a loud yes! However, look at the wonderful work of the great, late artist, Andrew Wyeth. His Dad, the famous illustrator N.C. Wyeth, was often telling Andrew that he needed to put more color in his paintings. However, Andrew continued with his low-color paintings that have become a landmark in his beautiful work. The feeling that he puts into his work reaches out and grabs one’s soul. So obviously, “color” is a personal matter.
|Garden Pond by Robert Reynolds, 29 x 19, watercolor painting on paper.|
For me, my interests in color have fluctuated over the years and my watercolor painting palette has changed in many ways during that time. For example, I used to include ivory black in my basic palette, but today I rarely use black mainly because it doesn’t produce the lively shadow tones and low intensity colors that I now create with other pigments. I also rely less on earth colors such as burnt sienna and burnt umber, because they seem too “heavy” in capturing the light and the airy feelings of sky, clouds, fog and mist.
|Forest Light/Big Sur by Robert Reynolds,
28 x 19, watercolor painting on paper.
|Shallow Waters by Robert Reynolds, 29 x 19,
watercolor painting on paper.
But I do love these pigments and use them quite often in my watercolor paintings, just not for atmospheric effects. In fact I’ve had the privilege of watching them being made during the two times that I visited the Windsor/Newton factory located in Harrow, London. If you are ever in London, take the tour of this famous fine arts paint factory. You will be in pigment wonderland!
|My basic watercolor painting palette.|
My basic watercolor palette adds up to about 15 colors, and I do add other colors when I feel the need to do so. But in general, whenever I paint, I simply try to be conscious of which colors are staining colors. For example, at one time I relied on a mixture of hooker’s green dark and alizarin crimson when creating the effect of tree foliage. The interplay of both colors did create beautiful foliage. However, the colors seemed to lock themselves into the paper. It was difficult to remove the mixture colors from the paper, which I do quite often.
Because of this issue, I began to use mixtures of blues and yellows to create my own greens. On the whole, however, there’s no reason to avoid staining colors. They pose no insurmountable difficulties for experienced watercolorists and can be quite useful when an area needs to be glazed with a second color without lifting the first color in the process. Quite often, for example, I’ll use alizarin crimson as a glazing color to unify a number of elements in my works. More soon,


- Created by: rossenacutie
- Created on: 07-08-15 05:15
Fibres are joined together by the spinning process to form yarns. The twist inserted into the bundle of fibres gives the yarn strength.
Yarn Low Twist
Fluffy yarns with a low twist are used to make soft fluffy fabrics like flannelette. The fibres in flannelette are brushed up out of the surface of the fabric after it has been woven. This finish (brushed finish) gives the fabric extra warmth as the fluffy surface traps in the heat produced by your body.
Yarn High Twist
The higher the twist, the stronger the yarn, and the smoother the resulting fabric. These fabrics are strong and flat and are good for printed designs. This helps to make the fabric cooler to wear as your body heat can transfer through the fabric easily.
Yarn are joined together to make fabric. The yarns can be woven on a
loom or knitted by hand or using a knitting machine.
A woven fabric is flat, strong and firm and holds its shape well.
A knitted fabric is stretchy and comfortable to wear, but can sag out of shape and the yarns can snag easily.
Plain weave is the simplest form of weaving. One yarn goes over one then under one. Because the yarns are tightly interlaced it creates a strong fabric with a smooth surface.
Warp yarns run the length of the fabric, parallel to the selvedge. This is the lengthwise grain.
Weft or filling yarns travel from side to side (left to right) and are weaker. This is called the crosswise grain.
Selvedges are the woven edges on either side of the fabric. The selvedge does not unravel or fray.
The bias grain is the line that runs at 45º to the selvedge.
A knitted fabric is made by looping yarns together in rows. It creates a stretchy fabric that is suitable for items such as underwear, hosiery, swimwear, sportswear, t-shirts, and jumpers. Because the fabric stretches it is comfortable to wear, moving as the body moves. Knitted clothing can be made without zips and button openings as the garment just stretches on and fits many sizes and shapes. It can be made to fit very tightly.


To remind yourself to stick to your argument and be engaging, think of your expository essay as a debate with a friend just as in a debate or conversation -- or even. Information about expository writing that can be used to improve our skills in exposition is to provide directions to improve the organization of the text. Organizing an essay course sign up and get free email course when writing an expository essay, you need to show the deeper side of your chosen subject. Organizing expository essays students often think of an expository essay as a report of sorts however, an expository essay is more than that. Help your child write an expository essay in every grade and learn tips on in the prewriting phase of writing an expository essay organized in a logical.
Get assigned yet another expository essay paper check out this expository essay overview and 17 expository essay topics for an outstanding paper. Organizational patterns in expository writing a man explaining in an essay why he should be when information needs to be organized or needs to be broken down. What is an expository essay the expository essay is a genre of essay that requires the student to investigate an idea, evaluate evidence, expound on the idea, and.
The organization of an essay the following explains the traditional way to organize an expository essay that is trying to make a point about some topic and to provide. How to format an expository essay in the apa style are you writing an apa style expository essay, but have no idea how to format it then take the time to learn how.
Drafting- emphasize that the thesis statement drives the organization of expository essays all paragraphs are written. Staar english i expository writing score point 1 the essay represents a very limited writing performance organization/progression the organizing structure of the. It was recommended that the salary figures and ask him why essays expository organizing the process used in a large, well - educated workers.


EVANSTON, Ill. --- No methods currently exist for the early detection of Alzheimer’s disease, which affects one out of nine people over the age of 65. Now, an interdisciplinary team of Northwestern University scientists and engineers has developed a noninvasive MRI approach that can detect the disease in a living animal. And it can do so at the earliest stages of the disease, well before typical Alzheimer’s symptoms appear.
Led by neuroscientist William L. Klein and materials scientist Vinayak P. Dravid, the research team developed an MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) probe that pairs a magnetic nanostructure (MNS) with an antibody that seeks out the amyloid beta brain toxins responsible for onset of the disease. The accumulated toxins, because of the associated magnetic nanostructures, show up as dark areas in MRI scans of the brain.
This ability to detect the molecular toxins may one day enable scientists to both spot trouble early and better design drugs or therapies to combat and monitor the disease. And, while not the focus of the study, early evidence suggests the MRI probe improves memory, too, by binding to the toxins to render them “handcuffed” to do further damage.
“We have a new brain imaging method that can detect the toxin that leads to Alzheimer’s disease,” said Klein, who first identified the amyloid beta oligomer in 1998. He is a professor of neurobiology in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences.
“Using MRI, we can see the toxins attached to neurons in the brain,” Klein said. “We expect to use this tool to detect this disease early and to help identify drugs that can effectively eliminate the toxin and improve health.”
With the successful demonstration of the MRI probe, Northwestern researchers now have established the molecular basis for the cause, detection by non-invasive MR imaging and treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. Dravid introduced this magnetic nanostructure MRI contrast enhancement approach for Alzheimer’s following his earlier work utilizing MNS as smart nanotechnology carriers for targeted cancer diagnostics and therapy. (A MNS is typically 10 to 15 nanometers in diameter; one nanometer is one billionth of a meter.)
Details of the new Alzheimer’s disease diagnostic were published Dec. 22 by the journal Nature Nanotechnology. Klein and Dravid are co-corresponding authors.
The emotional and economic impacts of Alzheimer’s disease are devastating. This year, the direct cost of the disease in the United States is more than $200 billion, according to the Alzheimer’s Association’s “2014 Alzheimer’s Disease Facts and Figures.” By the year 2050, that cost is expected to be $1.1 trillion as baby boomers age. And these figures do not account for the lost time of caregivers.
This new MRI probe technology is detecting something different from conventional technology: toxic amyloid beta oligomers instead of plaques, which occur at a stage of Alzheimer’s when therapeutic intervention would be very late. Amyloid beta oligomers now are widely believed to be the culprit in the onset of Alzheimer’s disease and subsequent memory loss.
In a diseased brain, the mobile amyloid beta oligomers attack the synapses of neurons, destroying memory and ultimately resulting in neuron death. As time progresses, the amyloid beta builds up and starts to stick together, forming the amyloid plaques that current probes target. Oligomers may appear more than a decade before plaques are detected.
“Non-invasive imaging by MRI of amyloid beta oligomers is a giant step forward towards diagnosis of this debilitating disease in its earliest form,” said Dravid, the Abraham Harris Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at the McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science.
There is a major need for what the Northwestern research team is doing -- identifying and detecting the correct biomarker for new drug discovery. Despite extraordinary efforts, no effective drugs exist yet for Alzheimer’s disease.
“This MRI method could be used to determine how well a new drug is working,” Dravid said. “If a drug is effective, you would expect the amyloid beta signal to go down.”
The nontoxic MRI probe was delivered intranasally to mouse models with Alzheimer’s disease and control animals without the disease. In animals with Alzheimer’s, the toxins’ presence can be seen clearly in the hippocampus in MRI scans of the brain. No dark areas, however, were seen in the hippocampus of the control group.
The ability to detect amyloid beta oligomers, Klein said, is important for two reasons: amyloid beta oligomers are the toxins that damage neurons, and the oligomers are the first sign of trouble in the disease process, appearing before any other pathology.
Klein, Dravid and their colleagues also observed that the behavior of animals with Alzheimer’s improved even after receiving a single dose of the MRI probe.
“While preliminary, the data suggests the probe could be used not only as a diagnostic tool but also as a therapeutic,” said Kirsten L. Viola, a co-first author of the study and a research manager in Klein’s laboratory.
Along with the studies in live animals, the research team also studied human brain tissue from Northwestern’s Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer’s Disease Center. The samples were from individuals who died from Alzheimer’s and those who did not have the disease. After introducing the MRI probe, the researchers saw large dark areas in the Alzheimer brains, indicating the presence of amyloid beta oligomers.
The National Institutes of Health (grants AG022547, AG029460 and AG045637), the National Institute on Aging of the National Institutes of Health (grant 1R21AG045637-01A1) and Baxter Healthcare supported the research.
The title of the paper is “Towards non-invasive diagnostic imaging of early-stage Alzheimer's disease.”
In addition to Klein, Dravid and Viola, other authors of the paper are from Northwestern University; Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Brazil; Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy; and North Shore University Health Systems.
Images are available at https://northwestern.box.com/s/32or2dg4jmo13h3efk25.
Editor’s note: Northwestern University holds the rights to two U.S. and several international patents concerning antibodies that target amyloid beta oligomers. Acumen Pharmaceuticals holds the licensing rights to develop anti-amyloid beta oligomer antibodies for therapeutic use. William L. Klein is a founder of Acumen Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and serves as a member of its scientific advisory board.
Northwestern also has filed an intellectual property/patent application based on magnetic nanostructure (MNS) for diagnostic imaging and therapy for Alzheimer’s disease and cancer.
See more at Northwestern News


The British monarchy has reigned over England for more than a thousand years. During this time, the crown has amassed a treasure chest full of legends. Like all good legends, some may be as tangible as Othello’s ghost, but at their core, these stories serve to teach, inspire, or make us smile. If there’s one thing I learned from my time in London, it’s that the British love their legends.
The holy beggar
A thousand years after Christ, Edward the Confessor, then the King of England, was riding his horse in front a church in Essex when he came across an old man begging for alms. Having no money in his possession, the king removed a large ring from his finger and handed it to the beggar. Years later, two English pilgrims travelling to the Holy Land became stranded, only to be helped by the same old beggar, who introduced himself as St. John the Evangelist and asked them to return the ring to the king, telling them that in six months he would join him in heaven. The king indeed died a short time later and is buried in the church he helped to construct, Westminster Abbey.
A most profitable heist
In the summer of 1671, one of the most daring robberies in the history of England took place at the Tower of London. An Irishman named Colonel Blood disguised himself as a priest, convinced the Jewel House keeper to hand over his pistols, then forced his way into the Jewel House to steal the Crown Jewels of England. Blood flattened St. Edward’s Crown with a mallet to better conceal it, though he was stopped at the gate and arrested. King Charles II was so impressed with the audacity of Blood’s robbery that instead of executing him, he restored his estates in Ireland and even made him a member of the court, complete with a royal pension. I’ve personally always wanted to be a royal court member, though I doubt if the queen would feel the same way as Charles II if I were to borrow her crown for the day.
The talking tree
King George III, who ruled England from 1760 until 1801, was one of the country’s longest reigning monarchs. He was also rumored to have been a bit insane, earning the nickname “Mad King George.” In one legend, King George was seen speaking to a tree for hours, thinking it was the King of Prussia. Towards the end of his life, the king was deemed unfit to rule and lived in seclusion at Windsor Castle. It’s not clear if the King-of-Prussia tree was on the grounds of Windsor Castle, and it’s a shame I couldn’t find it on my visit because it deserves heartfelt thanks for possibly being responsible for giving the poor tactical advice that eventually led to America.


Squirrels are found in many varieties and classified under a group of mammals similar to the chipmunks and the prairie dogs. These little creatures are quite interesting in their behavior. Do squirrels eat celery?
As far as the foods they eat, the squirrels can devour a lot of things. They are not interested in eating particular foods but rather have the habit of having the common fruits and nuts commonly found in the nearby trees. But they have become interested in foods that should not be a part of their normal food. One of the unique qualities of the squirrels is that they are quite open-minded as far as food is considered. They are not very picky when it comes to food, which has led to some peculiar food habits that sound very strange.
Table of Contents
The diverse list of foods for squirrels
Squirrels find the consumption of fruits quite enthusiastic. They are expert tree climbers who can go to any nook to get to their nuts. They are mostly interested in consuming not only fruits but even cute berries of different colors.
However, the different fruits give them the required boost and provide an adequate amount of energy to keep moving around the trees and grabbing more of the nuts. Apart from the different nuts and fruits, they like to try over the leafy vegetables as well. Tomatoes, beans, corn, cabbage are some of the veggies that they feed on. So it is about the food item that can satisfy their hunger paws and hence they can consume anything that they find interesting. These little creatures also consume cereals. Grains and nuts form their favorite food items.
Moreover, the cereals help them get the desired amount of energy, so it is a two in one opportunity for the squirrels since it satisfies their hunger requirements and gives them the required energy. The leftovers of food have helped them discover new foods like cheese that they could not directly getl from the trees.
So they are quite good at consuming a chunk of cheese and mozzarella. If given a chance, they would like to try a strip of the cheesy pizza as well. Cheesy items help them to store fat that can be useful during the winter seasons.
Foods to avoid giving squirrels
Although these little creatures like having various foods, it is equally important to ensure that the foods are not dangerous to them. Providing the squirrels with foods with no nutritional value can be of no use, so it is important to ensure that the foods provided suffice their nutritional requirement.
Peanuts are often considered good for them, and they too enjoy it, but it hardly adds any value for the squirrels. Salty foods aren’t good for humans as well for the squirrels. They hardly add any value to the diet of the squirrels. The effect of salt and sugar is the same on humans as well as on these little creatures. They are not good for their growth, and they do not form a part of their normal diet.
It is not advisable to allow the squirrels to feed on large corn since it can be quite harmful to them and fatal to these little creatures. Even the animal formulas are loaded with preservatives and can lead to nervous reactions or death. People should reconsider their desire to feed the animals.
The food that human beings consume may not suit the animals’ diet and can lead to malnutrition or even cause unwanted diseases. When the people become more friendly to the squirrels, they can get into houses where they expect the desired food and warmth. They can even get more aggressive with time if their food requirements are not met. The population of squirrels can grow rapidly, and ultimately it can lead to a big problem. So it is better to consider the foods given to the squirrels rather than diverting their attention to the cheesy pizzas and burger slices that can be pretty harmful.
Benefits of giving celery to squirrels
There are many benefits associated with celery that can indeed benefit the squirrels as well. They are quite rich in essential nutrients like vitamins. Celery serves as an additional fiber source, and they are certainly low in calories. It is a good food snack to consume for squirrels as well as humans. Too much celery can be quite disturbing to their diet, so it must be given in moderate amounts. Celery has enough health benefits and can be quite beneficial for human beings. It has not been proven scientifically that the same health benefits can be obtained for squirrels as well.
It is a common fact that all mammals need essential nutrients like vitamins and minerals for their growth. However, celery has antioxidants that help protect blood vessels and internal organs from any form of external damage. Strengthening the immune system of animals is quite important since they can be affected by different forms of illnesses when their habitats change. It is one of the healthiest vegetables that can supply their immune system with adequate nutrients, which can boost their body and provide enough energy.
Do squirrels eat celery?
Squirrels do not have special diets or dietary preferences as such, and they will be even more surprised when they are fed with unique foods that can make them crazy over it. Celery can also help to prevent the formation of calcium stones in their kidney. Celery is quite safe for these little creatures unless their quantity is raised more than the normal levels. Raw celery has more nutrients than the cooked version of the vegetable. Cooked celery is also safe for the squirrels to consume, but there are chances that some of the nutrients can be gradually reduced.
Adequate amounts of nutrients are needed for any immune system to work properly. So it is advisable to give those foods that suffice their nutrition requirements and hence help them climb trees more quickly than ever. Squirrels like to try different tastes, so giving them celery can be safe and beneficial to their growth and help them protect themselves from illness that could affect them due to the changes in habitats.


When is Monday the 1st?
How often does the 1st day of a month fall on a Monday.
|Monday the 1st occurrences|
|2010||Monday, February 1, 2010||February||3 times in year 2010|
|Monday, March 1, 2010||March||+ 1 months|
|Monday, November 1, 2010||November||+ 8 months|
|2011||Monday, August 1, 2011||August||+ 9 months||1 time in year 2011|
|2012||Monday, October 1, 2012||October||+ 14 months||1 time in year 2012|
|2013||Monday, April 1, 2013||April||+ 6 months||2 times in year 2013|
|Monday, July 1, 2013||July||+ 3 months|
|2014||Monday, September 1, 2014||September||+ 14 months||2 times in year 2014|
|Monday, December 1, 2014||December||+ 3 months|
|2015||Monday, June 1, 2015||June||+ 6 months||1 time in year 2015|
|2016||Monday, February 1, 2016||February||+ 8 months||2 times in year 2016|
|Monday, August 1, 2016||August||+ 6 months|
|2017||Monday, May 1, 2017||May||+ 9 months||1 time in year 2017|
|2018||Monday, January 1, 2018||January||+ 8 months||2 times in year 2018|
|Monday, October 1, 2018||October||+ 9 months|
|2019||Monday, April 1, 2019||April||+ 6 months||2 times in year 2019|
|Monday, July 1, 2019||July||+ 3 months|
|2020||Monday, June 1, 2020||June||+ 11 months||1 time in year 2020||Between years 2010 and 2020 this occurs 18 times. Upcoming occurrence is highlighted.|
Which years have the same weekdays?
Calendars repeat themselves – find out which years share the same calendar dates and reuse your calendar.
Which months have the same weekdays?
Calendars repeat themselves – find out which months share the same calendar dates and reuse your calendar.
When does a date fall on a certain weekday?
Do you feel dates like Friday the 13th occur often? Our service tells you exactly when.


Validating scales and indexesBMJ 2002; 324 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.324.7337.606 (Published 09 March 2002) Cite this as: BMJ 2002;324:606
- J Martin Bland (), professor of medical statisticsa,
- Douglas G Altman, professor of statistics in medicineb
- a Papers p 569 Department of Public Health Sciences, St George's Hospital Medical School, London SW17 0RE
- b Cancer Research UK Medical Statistics Group, Centre for Statistics in Medicine, Institute for Health Sciences, Oxford OX3 7LF
- Correspondence to: Professor Bland
An index of quality is a measurement like any other, whether it is assessing a website, as in today's BMJ,1 a clinical trial used in a meta-analysis,2 or the quality of a life experienced by a patient.3 As with all measurements, we have to decide whether it measures what we want it to measure, and how well.
The simplest measurements, such as length and distance, can be validated by an objective criterion. The earliest criteria must have been biological: the length of a pace, a foot, a thumb. The obvious problem, that the criterion varies from person to person, was eventually solved by establishing a fundamental unit and defining all others in terms of it. Other measurements can then be defined in terms of a fundamental unit. To define a unit of weight we find a handy substance which appears the same everywhere, such as water. The unit of weight is then the weight of a volume of water specified in the basic unit of length, such as 100 cubic centimetres. Such measurements have criterion validity, meaning that we can take some known quantity and compare our measurement with it.
For some measurements no such standard is possible. Cardiac stroke volume, for example, can be measured only indirectly. Direct measurement, by collecting all the blood pumped out of the heart over a series of beats, would involve rather drastic interference with the system. Our criterion becomes agreement with another indirect measurement. Indeed, we sometimes have to use as a standard a method which we know produces inaccurate measurements.
Some quantities are even more difficult to measure and evaluate. Cardiac stroke volume does at least have an objective reality; a physical quantity of blood is pumped out of the heart when it beats. Anxiety and depression do not have a physical reality but are useful artificial constructs. They are measured by questionnaire scales, where answers to a series of questions related to the concept we want to measure are combined to give a numerical score. Website quality is similar. We are measuring a quantity which is not precisely defined, and there is no instrument with which we can compare any measure we might devise. How are we to assess the validity of such a scale?
The relevant theory was developed in the social sciences in the context of questionnaire scales.4 First we might ask whether the scale looks right, whether it asks about the sorts of thing which we think of as being related to anxiety or website quality. If it appears to be correct, we call this face validity. Next we might ask whether it covers all the aspects which we want to measure. A phobia scale which asked about fear of dogs, spiders, snakes, and cats but ignored height, confined spaces, and crowds would not do this. We call appropriate coverage of the subject matter content validity.
Our scale may look right and cover the right things, but what other evidence can we bring to the question of validity? One question we can ask is whether our score has the relationships with other variables that we would expect. For example, does an anxiety measure distinguish between psychiatric patients and medical patients? Do we get different anxiety scores from students before and after an examination? Does a measure of depression predict suicide attempts? We call the property of having appropriate relationships with other variables construct validity.
We can also ask whether the items which together compose the scale are related to one another: does the scale have internal consistency? If not, do the items really measure the same thing? On the other hand, if the items are too similar, some may be redundant. Highly correlated items in a scale may make the scale over- long and may lead to some aspects being overemphasised, impairing the content validity. A handy summary measure for this feature is Cronbach's alpha.5
A scale must also be repeatable and be sufficiently objective to give similar results for different observers. If a measurement is repeatable, in that someone who has a high score on one occasion tends to have a high score on another, it must be measuring something. With physical measurements, it is often possible for the same observer (or different observers) to make repeated measurements in quick succession. When there is a subjective element in the measurement the observer can be blinded from their first measurement, and different observers can make simultaneous measurements. In assessing the reliability of a website quality scale, it is easy to get several observers to apply the scale independently. With websites, repeat assessments need to be close in time because their content changes frequently (as does bmj.com). With questionnaires, either self administered or recorded by an observer, repeat measurements need to be far enough apart in time for the earlier responses to be forgotten, yet not so far apart that the underlying quantity being measured might have changed. Such data enable us to evaluate test-retest reliability. If two measures have comparable face, content, and construct validity the more repeatable one may be preferred for the study of a given population.


Digestion occurs through the coordinated movements and contractions of your entire digestive tract, from your esophagus to your anus. These actions are called gastric motility. When digestive muscles become impaired, food can no longer pass normally through your gastrointestinal system. The resulting symptoms can be analyzed with manometry (man-OM-uh-tree) therapy to diagnose the condition.
What is Manometry Therapy?
Manometry therapy is used to determine how well the digestive system’s muscles are functioning. Manometry analyzes several things:
- It explores how effectively the sphincter muscles open and close. Sphincters are ring-shaped muscles that loosen or tighten to regulate substances passing through the digestive tract. For instance, the anal sphincter controls the containment and passage of fecal matter.
- It assesses pressure of the intestinal tract’s muscle contractions. These contractions carry food through your gastrointestinal system. Nerve and hormone issues can also interfere with proper muscle function.
What are the Types of Gastric Motility Disorders?
Gastric motility disorders include:
Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS).
IBS impairs gastric motility by causing it to slow down or go too fast. This can lead to either constipation or diarrhea, as well as pain from irregular contractions.
Esophageal spasms are a rare swallowing disorder characterized by painful contractions of the esophagus – the tube extending from your mouth to your stomach. It can feel as though food is stuck in your throat, and it can cause difficulty swallowing, food backing up into your throat, and sudden, intense chest pain that can mimic a heart attack.
The cause of these spasms is unclear, but it’s theorized that they may be associated with malfunctioning nerves in the muscles that help you swallow.
When you have gastroparesis, your stomach empties too slowly into your intestines. Damaged stomach muscle nerves cause this. It can cause frequent belching, bloating, nausea, heartburn, or vomiting. Sometimes, you’ll feel full after only eating a small amount of food.
A large number of people who have diabetes have gastroparesis. High blood sugar levels associated with diabetes may trigger the condition.
Hirschsprung’s disease is a congenital disorder in which nerve cells are missing from the last section of a child’s large intestine. In some cases, these cells are absent from most or all of the intestine. This disorder causes a stool to travel through the bowel until it comes to the section without nerve cells, where it slows down or stops altogether. Children with Down’s Syndrome are more susceptible to Hirschsprung’s disease.
Scleroderma is a rare autoimmune disease in which the muscles in the lower part of the esophagus harden and tighten. This narrows the esophagus and weakens its muscles. Symptoms of scleroderma include:
- Difficulty swallowing,
- Pain when swallowing.
- Feeling as though food is stuck in your throat.
- Chest pain.
- Severe gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). When you have GERD, the acid in the stomach backs up into the esophagus. The stomach acid can erode the esophagus’ lining, triggering more scarring and narrowing.
If you have achalasia, the ring of muscle at the base of your esophagus doesn’t relax when you swallow. This prevents food from traveling smoothly from the food pipe to the stomach. Symptoms of achalasia include heartburn, trouble swallowing, regurgitation, difficulty burping, and chest pain.
What are the Different Types of Manometry Therapy?
The three primary types of manometry therapy are esophageal, rhinomanometry, and anorectal. During these tests, a special manometry catheter, or tube, is used that can check your digestive organs’ strength and motion.
Esophageal manometry therapy is an outpatient procedure used to determine whether the esophagus is relaxing and contracting correctly by analyzing its pressure. A thin, lubricated tube is inserted into your nose and gradually fed down to your stomach during this test. Your nostrils and throat will be numbed to make the procedure more comfortable.
The tube has pressure sensors that relay muscle contractions from various sections of the esophagus to a computer each time you swallow or breathe in and out or take tiny sips of water. These readings show whether the contractions are a typical pressure, pattern, and velocity.
Esophageal manometry therapy takes approximately 10 to 15 minutes and is employed if your symptoms include:
- Chest pain.
- Nausea after eating.
- Pain when swallowing or difficulty swallowing. If these are your primary symptoms, your doctor will schedule X-rays or an upper endoscopy before or instead of esophageal manometry therapy. These tests can identify a constriction or entire blockage of your esophagus. They can also pinpoint inflammation.
Rhinomanometry is a form of manometry that is used to analyze the nasal cavity (the prefix “rhino” means “nose”). It measures the nasal passages’ airflow and pressure when you inhale and exhale. If pressure increases, there is a blockage that air is trying to force itself through.
Before the procedure, you’ll blow your nose, and then a cone will be inserted into both nostrils. One cone will be open, and the other, containing a pressure-sensing tube, will be closed. You’ll be asked to wear a mask that holds the apparatus firmly against your face and breathe in and out. Then the cones will be switched, and measurements are taken to reveal any disproportion or irregularity contributing to weakened airflow.
These measurements can only determine the side of the nose that is obstructed, not the actual obstruction. Acoustic rhinometry is used to analyze an actual blockage.
Acoustic rhinometry employs sound waves that bounce off the nasal cavity to pinpoint obstructions. These reflected waves have a pattern that reveals the structure and size of any abnormalities. During acoustic rhinometry, an acoustic pulse travels to the nose via a tube. This pulse bounces back to a microphone, which transmits the waves to an amplifier and then to a computer that processes the information for analysis. Acoustic rhinometry is an outpatient procedure.
Anorectal manometry therapy is a 30-minute outpatient procedure that measures rectal reflexes, pressure, and sensation. These are important factors for passing a normal stool.
During the procedure, a catheter outfitted with a deflated balloon is introduced into the rectum. The balloon is slowly inflated to expand the area, and you will be instructed to bear down as though you’re pushing out a bowel movement and squeeze as though you’re holding one in. This allows your doctor to make pressure evaluations of each of these actions. Next, the balloon will be filled with water, inserted, and re-inflated. You’ll be seated on a toilet to test whether you can expel it in five minutes or less.
Anorectal manometry is performed in connection with:
- Fecal Incontinence. Fecal incontinence is the inability to control bowel movements, resulting in feces that leak unexpectedly.
- Difficult Childbirth. During childbirth, the anal sphincter may have been damaged, torn, or weakened. The nerves may also be affected. This is more prevalent in women who have a vaginal birth rather than a C-section. Approximately 40 percent of women suffer from this type of delivery-related injury. Giving birth to a large baby can also take its toll on rectal nerves and muscles.
- Chronic Constipation. Decreased muscle contractions can cause chronic constipation in the rectum. It’s characterized by fewer than three bowel movements a week. You may have to strain to go, which can weaken muscles in the rectum and anus. Chronic constipation typically lasts several months.
- Pelvic Floor Dyssynergia. Pelvic floor dyssynergia is a condition that causes your pelvic muscles to tighten the sphincter instead of relaxing and opening it when you’re trying to pass a stool. When your pelvic muscles tighten, it creates painful straining and constipation. This condition may make it challenging for you to pass a bowel movement or know when it’s time for you to have one or finish one.
- Reduced Rectal Sensation. Reduced rectal sensation refers to a reduced or lack of sense that the rectum is full. This feeling is necessary, so you’ll know when you need to go to the toilet or be aware of when to tighten the anal sphincter until you can get to a bathroom.
Contact us today! The team of professionals at GastroMD looks forward to working with you. We are one of the leading gastroenterology practices in the Tampa Bay area. We perform a host of diagnostic procedures using state-of-the-art equipment in a friendly, comfortable, and inviting atmosphere where patient care is always a top priority!


When you are pregnant you are eating for 2. Eat mindfully. Eat nourishing food. Drink plenty of water. Another important consideration is to avoid foods that contain pesticides, chemicals and artificial preservatives. Always wash your fruit and vegetables. This helps reduce your exposure to pesticides and also soil contaminants and harmful bacteria. And wash your hands adequately before meals and before preparing meals.


What is engulfment?
Engulfment happens when a person is partially or fully enveloped by soil or other material.
The risk of engulfment increases during excavation or trenching work or when working in, on or near, big voids or containers of material, such as:
- bulk excavations
- liquid concrete
Specific requirements for establishing emergency procedures
Under the Occupational Health and Safety Regulations 2017, Regulation 331 states that an employer or self-employed person must establish emergency procedures before undertaking construction work when there is a risk of engulfment. The emergency procedures must:
- so far as is reasonably practicable, help the engulfed person be rescued and provided first aid
- happen immediately after a person becomes, or is likely to become, engulfed.
The employer’s or self-employed person’s primary duty is to eliminate or reduce, so far as is reasonably practicable, risks associated with engulfment during construction work.
In situations where emergency services are unable to help with rescue operations, for example in remote locations, the employer or self-employed person may need to use engulfment protection control measures in addition to normal industry practice.
These additional controls, such as using both benching and shields in combination, shown figure 1, or significantly reducing the height of the benches, can further reduce the likelihood or severity of engulfment.
Use a combination of benching and shields to further reduce risk.
Documenting emergency procedures
Employers have duties to provide the necessary information, instruction and training to employees, including on the emergency procedures and how to implement them safely.
These emergency procedures should be easy for users to understand, onsite and readily available.
It is recommended that employers maintain records of the training and instruction provided to employees.
In an engulfment situation, people working onsite need the necessary information, instruction and training to make informed decisions about how to safely rescue an engulfed person. By making uninformed or impulsive decisions, they can place themselves or others at risk, which increases the possibility of multiple injuries or fatalities.
For construction work that requires a safe work method statement (SWMS), the SWMS must describe how risk control measures are to be implemented. This should include the engulfment emergency procedures, which can be documented or referenced in the SWMS. For example, Engulfment – implement documented emergency procedures.
1. Planning for engulfment
Employers or self-employed persons should know how to deal with engulfment by:
- consulting with employees during the planning process
- identifying the likely engulfment scenarios associated with their work and developing emergency procedures for those scenarios. For example, a ground slip
- including a contingency plan where emergency services are unable or unavailable to attend, for example when working in remote areas
- identifying equipment required to be onsite to allow implementation of the emergency procedures
- training nominated persons in emergency procedures
- instructing all workers involved about the emergency procedures
- identifying appropriate post-incident support services (for example counselling) that might be required
2. Before starting the construction work
Where relevant, the site’s general inductions should address emergency procedures for engulfment incidents. Once onsite and before starting construction work, the engulfment emergency procedures should be reviewed and modified as necessary. The review should take site-specific conditions into account, such as:
- The name of the person managing emergency procedures onsite. If that person is likely to be at risk of engulfment, include the name of an alternative person.
- The accurate location of the worksite, so that directions can be given to emergency services.
- Consideration of weather forecasts affecting the work environment, especially if this will affect emergency procedures. For example, how emergency services will access the site.
- Checking that telephone services are available to contact emergency services.
- Determining the quickest way to contact emergency services, especially if a telephone service is unavailable
- Checking that the emergency equipment detailed in the emergency procedures is available onsite and relevant persons are competent in its use.
When the procedures have been reviewed and modified for site conditions, the employer or self-employed person should coordinate with the site’s principal contractor, when needed, to include engulfment emergency procedures into the principal contractor’s emergency procedures and the overall site Emergency Response Plan.
All persons who will be involved in the construction work should be inducted into the emergency procedures.
3. What to do if engulfment happens
A site’s emergency procedures should be used immediately if an engulfment happens.
The nominated person should take control of the site. If the nominated person is unavailable, another person, such as the alternative person nominated, should take charge.
People working onsite should avoid trying to immediately rescue the engulfed person. Impulsive actions can put rescuers at risk of engulfment, worsen the situation of the engulfed person, and delay emergency procedures, such as contacting emergency services.
What to do after the site is under control
Once the site is under control, assess the person’s condition, degree of engulfment and any risk of further engulfment. Work out if the person is:
- fully engulfed
- partially engulfed, above or below waist
- able to help rescue themselves, for example their arms are free
- conscious or unconscious
- able to communicate if they have any injuries
Other things to consider are:
- the stability of the ground or material
- the likelihood of the person being further engulfed
- if people helping also risk being engulfed
What to do when contacting emergency services
Contact emergency services as soon as possible and explain:
- the engulfment situation and the person’s condition
- how to locate the site
- who and where emergency services will be met, for example on big sites where there are multiple works, to guide them to the location
What to do while waiting for emergency services
While waiting for emergency services, work out how to provide practical help to the engulfed person. This could include:
- providing structural support to prevent further engulfment, for example, lowering a trench shield over the person, bench or batter back walls if it’s safe
- trying to relieve pressure on the person’s body, for example, manually removing material around the person or providing hand tools to the person if their arms are free, to help them dig material away from their body
- providing water or other fluids to keep the person hydrated
- providing shelter to shade the person from sun
- preventing the risk of flooding by using a pump or other effective method to remove any accumulating water
- providing first aid and arranging transport to hospital if the engulfed person is able to get themselves out
Once emergency services are onsite they will take charge of the emergency procedures and undertake the rescue of the engulfed person. Emergency services might ask people on site to help with the rescue.
What to do when emergency services are delayed or cannot attend
If emergency services are significantly delayed, or unable able to attend, the person in control of the site should ask for advice from the emergency services about how to rescue the engulfed person.
After contacting emergency services, WorkSafe must be notified immediately about the incident.
4. Provide post-incident support services
People onsite who have been affected by the incident should have access to timely support services.
5. Review and revise emergency procedures
After the incident, review emergency procedures and revise them, if needed, to ensure they are effective.


11.8 A certain amplifier has an open circuit voltage gain of unity,and input resistance of 1 MΩ, and an output resistance of100Ω. The signal source has an internal voltage of 5 Vrms and an internal resistance of 100kΩ. The loadresistance is 50Ω. If the signal source is connected tothe amplifier input terminals and the load is connected to theoutput terminals, find the voltage across the load and the powerdelivered to the load. Next ,consider connecting the loaddirectly across the signal source without the amplifier, and againfind the load voltage and power. Compare the results. What do you conclude about the usefulness of a unity-gain amplifierin delivering signal power to a load?


This is the era of information technology. The old methods of providing information, such as the radio, newspapers and television are gradually losing their importance in contrast to the computer. Quite rapidly they are giving way to computers and the Internet, which have also come to be included in the electronic media. Not only do these advances spread news and information at the speed of lightening, they also store detailed information, and millions of facts and theories. There are various kinds of computers for handling all this work and they are not just being used in offices by businessmen and industrialists, they are also big with children, housewives and educational institutions. With the turn of a key or by pressing a button these sophisticated machines can give you detailed information on and about anything in the universe, on your screen. You can find out about common diseases and their complications and treatment too. It is now possible for the patients, too, to themselves consult the best specialists on any disease they may be suffering from. The radio is also one of the best (useful too) inventions that is also included in the electronic media. And then there is the television, which is a vast media. It has the ability to bring together diverse groups of people. Perhaps not as great as the Internet, it too is a good source of information. But for all the advantages, there are also a few disadvantages. Turning the volume too high on your radio or television set can lead to noise pollution. Disturbing others while you are having fun isn’t such a nice thing to do. Then keeping your eyes constantly glued to the screen can also affect your eyesight. The Internet can be quite dangerous too if you choose to get lost in the huge electronic jungle out there. It’s a jungle with wolves prowling, and you as innocent as Red Riding Hood. The wolves may sometimes stop you from reaching grandma’s house! So be very careful to not lose your way and not make friends with strangers. Too much use of the electronic media may also expose the users to dangerous radiation which is lethally harmful to the human body. Still it would not be right to bring these extremely useful advances to a halt, as the side effects of these useful developments can be avoided by careful and controlled usage.


The violence of laughter
Pitfalls of patriarchy are many—the laughter of women seems to unnerve this grand narrative
Laugh and the world laughs with you, cry and you cry alone. The adage is somewhat of a mockery in these times or really a mockery of our times. Draupadi is supposed to have burst into a raucous laughter on seeing the very angry young heir to the Hastinapur throne, trip into a pool of water at her swanky new palace in Indraprastha. That momentary lapse, despite the sage Vyasa's advice, sowed the seeds of a public humiliation followed by a terrible war that wiped out the entire Kaurava clan. So, just when the gender war was beginning to look like it was going decisively in favour of the protagonists, a terrible adversity has befallen womankind, do not laugh aloud, is the call of the House of the Elders!! This offends the king and will invite rebukes and reprimands from the loyal courtiers.
The menfolk in our land clearly are without grace and indeed without a sense of humour. A solitary 'ha ha' moment need not take anything away from the gravity of the state of the Union message emanating from the high and mighty—unless the message was flawed. Flaws are always contested spaces amongst our argumentative countrymen, particularly where these are about our history. Of all the sad thoughts and words, saddest are, 'it might have been'. So, if Patel would have made a better leader than Nehru, today will not change one bit. We inherit the good with the bad. We catch the baton of the previous relay and take it forward. That is the way the race will be run. No one can grab the winner's baton unless the race is fixed. But this is about the verbal violence unleashed after the feminine cackle that 'mocked' the solemn and serious address to the nation. The faithful must retaliate.
Demonesses, in this land of sadhus and saints, have proliferated in the public spaces causing fear and fright even to the 'Z-plus' guarded rulers. As much as women drinking beer worries one worthy to no end, the cackle of another infuriates the menfolk of the ruling majority and their followers. The 'Khaps', not to be left out, threatened that they will stop producing girls in case the judiciary insisted on enforcing foreign freedoms like the right to marry anyone of their heart's desire. And these Khaps have to be taken seriously for they can do anything from mere ostracisation to mortal bodily harm. The state governments, as in the past, are likely to be mute spectators if not active supporters as these Khaps can mobilise a few thousand votes, for or against with one commandment to their herds.
In the battle of sexes, women are the stronger of the two and men have always been afraid of their power. Our mythology has numerous stories of their sway and destructive power, either with a smile or laughter as their weapons. Goddess Durga is the destroyer of evil and slayed Mahishasura with a screeching laugh, and so is Ma Kali, the darker alter-ego of Durga, whose absolute wrath destroyed Raktabeej. Our tradition also refers to women, as vessels of Shakti, and acknowledges women as having both creative and destructive power but always used accompanied with a sound akin to derisive laughter that would instil fear in the hearts of the male enemy. Aristotle too, felt that women's voices were proof of their wickedness. The very sound of their voices, it was believed, could sink the state. That belief of the ancient philosopher seems to be the cause of the trouble for the author of the laughter that infuriated the mighty of our land. Surely, this must rank as a psychosis of the male rulers, yet, 'sanskari' codes have been spelt out over centuries. Violations are at the peril of death.
According to many, we live in a post-truth world and rhetoric is supreme, facts regardless. Incredulity needs to take other forms apart from derision. In this land of diversity, we are united by patriarchy in every form possible and always in evidence, from being allowed to be born to being allowed to live. The conspiracies of patriarchy are aplenty, but this one of deriding feminine laughter, albeit a mocking one, must be amongst the flimsiest in adding a false layer of the many glass ceilings that confines the gender to sub-human levels. Mankind, though, better beware, a Draupadi's moment of mirth can still bring a whole kingdom to perish.
(The views expressed are strictly personal)


Unknown Architectures: Agnes Martin and Ian Curtis
MetadataShow full item record
This study focuses on the affective role of the built space of artistic production––the studio, the writing room, the rehearsal space, and the city––to examine, through the lens of architecture, mechanisms of artistic creativity such as inspiration, insight problem solving, nature, and the sublime. Architecture is defined here as human-built, natural, or conceptual space, place, or object. The romantic image of the suffering artist––the artist who suffers for their art––is well known, but to what extent does an artist make work because of their suffering or despite their suffering? In order to represent both hypotheses embedded in the question, two specific artists were selected for case study. The Canadian-American artist Agnes Martin (1912–2004) is known for her abstract geometric paintings, writings and lectures, and the decision to turn her back on the New York art scene and move to rural Northern New Mexico where she lived for almost 50 years. Martin overcame schizophrenia to become one of the most successful artists of her generation. The English singer-songwriter-musician Ian Curtis (1956–1980), lead singer of the influential postpunk band Joy Division, lived most of his life in or close to the northern English city of Manchester. Curtis suffered from epilepsy and committed suicide at the age of 23 the day before Joy Division’s first American tour. The study takes a mixed methods approach, which includes historiography, autoethnography, and hermeneutics, to examine the effect and affect of architecture on the two case study subjects, Martin and Curtis, and how place and space is expressed via Martin’s and Curtis’s work to locate both artist and audience. The study finds that Martin and Curtis were influenced and inspired by their surroundings, as evidenced in their work. Both artists also altered space or place in order to facilitate control and creativity. Last, the artists’ lives and works are reflected back at their respective region or city to bring the effect and affect of architecture full circle.
Westwater, James Andrew (2017). Unknown Architectures: Agnes Martin and Ian Curtis. Doctoral dissertation, Texas A & M University. Available electronically from


A Lisp macro object is a list whose car is
whose cdr is a function. Expansion of the macro works
by applying the function (with
apply) to the list of
unevaluated arguments from the macro call.
It is possible to use an anonymous Lisp macro just like an anonymous
function, but this is never done, because it does not make sense to
pass an anonymous macro to functionals such as
practice, all Lisp macros have names, and they are almost always
defined with the
defmacrodefines the symbol name (which should not be quoted) as a macro that looks like this:(macro lambda args . body)
(Note that the cdr of this list is a lambda expression.) This macro object is stored in the function cell of name. The meaning of args is the same as in a function, and the keywords
&optionalmay be used (see Argument List). Neither name nor args should be quoted. The return value of
doc, if present, should be a string specifying the macro's documentation string. declare, if present, should be a
declareform specifying metadata for the macro (see Declare Form). Note that macros cannot have interactive declarations, since they cannot be called interactively.
Macros often need to construct large list structures from a mixture of constants and nonconstant parts. To make this easier, use the ‘`’ syntax (see Backquote). For example:
(defmacro t-becomes-nil (variable) `(if (eq ,variable t) (setq ,variable nil))) (t-becomes-nil foo) == (if (eq foo t) (setq foo nil))
The body of a macro definition can include a
which specifies additional properties about the macro. See Declare Form.


Instructions for Keeping Warm in the Sack
By Chris Haggerty
1. REMEMBER: The sleeping
bag doesn't heat you, you heat it. So use this rule, "Thickness is warmth",
to keep this heat. If you're cold, add some more insulations (blankets,
clothes, more newspaper).
2. DO NOT SLEEP IN BOTTOM
OF BAG: Your breath contains water. If you close your bag with your head
inside, then this water sticks to the bag. Wear a hat to keep your head
3. CHANGE CLOTHES: NEVER
sleep in wet clothes. Even perspiration will chill you at night.
4. EAT A CANDY BAR: This
increases your metabolism (moves your blood faster) and it helps keep
5. GO TO THE BATHROOM BEFORE
BED: This saves you a middle of the night trip in the cold.
6. DO NOT DRY "WET" CLOTHES
IN BAG: Moisture will travel from wet clothes to sleeping bag.
7. PUT TOMORROW'S CLOTHES
UNDER BAG: This heats up clothes for tomorrow's cold morning and also
provides more insulation.
8. FLUFF UP YOUR BAG: Always
fluff up bag before using to create the thickness important in keeping
9. MOST IMPORTANT, KEEP
IT DRY: Keep all your sleeping gear dry and follow these rules, and winter
camp should prove to be a rewarding experience.
IMPORTANT STUFF TO KEEP
1. Clothing does not make you
warm; it is your body processes that keep you warm. Clothing merely provides
the insulation to preserve your warmth.
2. Layered thickness is
3. Keep your torso warm
so that it can send heat to the extremities.
4. Avoid sweating by ventilation.
5. Keep rain and wind out
of your insulation.
6. Use your head. Keep
it covered when you're cold; remove cap as you warm up to avoid sweating.
7. Strain one muscle against
another to maintain metabolism.
8. Wool clothing is best
but needs wind protection, synthetics are next best. Down is OK as long
as it stays dry, cotton is a poor choice.
9. If your feet are cold,
put a hat on.
10. Remember the word "COLD"
Keep your clothing - Clean.
Avoid -------------- Overheating
Wear clothing ------ Loose
Keep it ------------ Dry
RECOMMENDED CLOTHING FOR
TWO DAY WINTER CAMP
in addition or in substitution
to what you would normally bring to camp, bring:
- 2 shirts (wool,best,
- 2 pairs wool or synthetic
pants (Strongly recommend against cotton pants like jeans. They absorb
moisture like a sponge).
- Fishnet, thermal or polypropaline
- Boots (WATERPROOFED)
- 2 pairs of heavy socks
- 2 pairs lighter socks
(polypropaline is best)
- Windbreaker (as is or
part of heavier jacket)
- Balaclavia or stocking
cap (wool is best)
- Parka or heavy jacket
- Mittens, (WOOL, gloves
not recommended except as extra pair)
- Extra shoes
It is always best to stay
dry when camping in the snow, but you can expect to get wet and should
be prepared. Boots or other shoes which are not waterproof will normally
start getting the feet wet and cold after less than 15 minutes in the
snow (depending on temperature, the colder it is, the longer the feet
stay dry). Low top shoes will not keep the snow out of the shoes. Gaiters
can be made from plastic bags and a strong tape like duck tape. Do not
cover the bottom of you shoes with plastic, doing so will cause you to
lose almost all of your traction (and you will fall down!).
Unless your parents are
planning to buy some of the items on this list anyway, do not run out
and start spending lots of money on cloths and equipment. If all your
pants are jeans, for example, bring three or four pairs and change frequently.
If you are in doubt or have questions, call one of the troop leaders for
I edited some of the last
comments, we do not have much need for wool pants here in Southern Ariziona
(unless we go up in the mountains, which is not that often, unless you
are skier, in which case you already have what you need).
When taking my hot weather
troops up into the snow I used the above and I made sure to plan the activities
which makes snow camping fun. I am refering to sleding (in one form or
another), games like capture the flag (try in a foot or more of snow in
a hilly area-use a wash for no-man's land-its great fun). Snow ball fights,
etc. These activities lead to one of my favorite quotes about Winter Camping
(I am of course refering to the messy Winter Weather I grew up with in
Detroit) is: If you are NOT WET, you are not having FUN. So be sure everyone
has pleanty of extra dry clothing and go have fun in the snow!
Chris Haggerty, Sierra


Coating of powders
Contact angle measurement for optimizing the success of surface chemical modification
When powders are mixed with liquids, wetting problems often occur together with the formation of lumps. Powders for dispersions are therefore often provided with a coating which matches the liquid. Important examples of this are coated powders for paints and compound melts. Our measuring instruments for measuring the contact angle on powders help in the specific development and quality control of coatings.
Typical powder-coating applications
- Pigments as colorants and fillers for paints and varnishes
- Titanium dioxide as an UV filter in sunscreens
- Grease, wax and oil-coated starch particles which act as carrier materials
- Pharmaceutical active ingredients with defined solubility behavior embedded in coatings
- Powdered stone, silica sand or carbon black as additives in plastics
The properties of powders are dominated by their surface free energy, as the surface is large compared with the volume. Lumps occur when the work of cohesion is greater than the work of adhesion, that is to say when contact with the same type of surface is preferred. With the coating, the surface free energy is approximated to the surface tension of the liquid. This balances the energetic advantage of the interfacial contact for the two phases.
With the Washburn method of contact angle measurement, our Force Tensiometer – K100 provides a sound method of determining the surface free energy. In doing so, the rate of increase and the increase in mass of different liquids in a powder bulk in an immersed tube are measured. The better the powder wetting, the faster the liquid rises.
In the case of non-wettable powders, the contact angle is measured optically using our Drop Shape Analyzer based on drops dispensed on a powder bed.
When different test liquids with known surface tension and polarity are used, as well as the surface free energy of the powder, our software also measures their polar and non-polar (dispersive) fractions. With the help of this information, the coating can be precisely adjusted to the polarity of the liquid in order to maximize the stability of the dispersion. Such preliminary investigations save many elaborate mixing tests on a semi-commercial scale, particularly in the development of compound plastics.
AR224: Dispersibility predictions - Some practical examples
The free surface energy of differently coated carbon black particles and different plastics is measured. The degree of mixability in the melt is predicted in each case based on calculated adsorption enthalpies and confirmed by stirring tests.


III-) The Value and the Currency
At a time when men lived in restricted communities, taking from nature all the products they needed, there must no doubt be very little communication between the various societies. But with the development of handicrafts and culture and due to the unequal distribution of the various natural products, trade has gradually become necessary.
The first type of trade was barter, a formula whereby goods and commodities corresponding to raw materials or objects of great necessity are exchanged directly (and thus without the intervention of a "currency" in the modern sense of the word).
Sometimes, when it came to groups that entertained unfriendly relationships, these exchanges were in the form of a silent barter. One of the two parties deposited, at a previously established place, the various goods with which it wished to exchange and, on the following day, found in its place (or beside them) the products offered by the other partner. If the exchange was considered convenient, the products would be taken, or returned the next day to find a larger quantity. The market could then last several days or even end without exchange when the two parties could not find ground for understanding.
Scenes as such could be observed for example among the Australian aranda, the Ceylon vedda, the Bushmen and African pygmies, the botocudos of Brazil, as well as in Siberia and Polynesia.
With the intensification of communication between the various groups and the increasing importance of transactions, the practice of direct barter has quickly become a hindrance. Goods could no longer be exchanged at the whim of such an individual or by virtue of a use consecrated to the price of endless discussion.
There was therefore a need for a relatively stable system of evaluations and equivalences, based on a principle (neighboring that of the base of a numbering system) giving the definition of some fixed units or standards. In this system it is always possible to estimate this or any value, not only for economic operations but also (and perhaps above all) for the regulation of important legal problems, and all sorts of utilitarian products, materials or objects served on that occasion.
The first barter unit admitted to pre-Hellenic Greece was the ox. It is no coincidence that the Latin word pecunia means "fortune, currency, money": it comes, in effect, from pecus, meaning "cattle, flock"; moreover, the proper meaning of the word pecunia corresponds to "having in oxen".
But in ancient times the barter operation, far from being a simple act, should instead be surrounded by complex formalities, most likely linked to mystique and magical practices. It is in any case what the ethnological analysis of contemporary "primitive" societies reveals, which has been confirmed by a number of archaeological discoveries. It can therefore be assumed that in pastoral cultures the idea of a standard bull (blood coin) succeeded the idea of a "sacrificial ox" itself linked to the estimated intrinsic value of the animal.
By contrast, in the Pacific Islands goods were estimated on pearl or shell necklaces. After a certain period, it began by exchanging strips of fabric for animals or objects. The fabric was the coin; the unit was the span of the ribbon two times eighty wires wide.
Such methods, however, presented serious application difficulties. Thus, as trade developed, metals played an increasing role in trade, ultimately becoming the preferred "currency" of sellers and buyers. And the valuations of the various commodities began to be made quantitatively by weight, each referring to a kind of standard weight for one metal or another.
Also in Pharaonic Egypt, genres and commodities were often treasured and paid for in metal (copper, bronze, and sometimes gold or silver), which was initially divided into nuggets and straws. The assessment was also made in the form of ingots or rings, the value of which was then determined by weighing.Continues after advertising
So far we are not only dealing with a simple barter, but also a true economic system. From then on, thanks to the metal pattern, the goods were no longer exchanged at the mere pleasure of the contractors or according to often arbitrary consecrated uses, but because of their "fair price".
Until then, it was merely a matter of introducing into transactions and legal acts a kind of standard weight, the unit of value to which the price of each commodity or stock in question was referred. On the basis of this principle, such a metal or other could then serve at all times as "salary", "fine" or as "exchange value", and in the case of "fine" some kind of primary interest calculation was used to get a certain value for it.
By learning to count abstractly and group all kinds of elements according to the base principle, man has thus learned to estimate, evaluate, and measure various quantities (weights, lengths, areas, volumes, capacities, etc.). He also learns to reach and conceive ever larger numbers even before he can master the idea of infinity.
He was also able to elaborate various operative techniques (mental, concrete, and later written) and to raise the first rudiments of an initially practical arithmetic before becoming abstract and leading to algebra - where today we have widely developed Financial Mathematics.
It was also opened the way for the elaboration of a calendar and astronomy, as well as for the development of a geometry initially structured in measures of length, areas and volumes, before being speculative and axiomatic. In a word, the acquisition of this fundamental data has gradually allowed humanity to try to measure the world, to understand it a little better, to put at its service some of its many secrets and to organize its economy to develop it.<