Modern businesses usually plan ahead before time. This is important for the businesses to be able to pay its expenses and solidify their liquidity status. Just like any other cost of the business, the process of profit planning is used to manage profits, that when further analyzed can be considered a cost. Profits are an essential part for the survival of the business. The business has a bleak future when it does not make any profit. Peter Drucker bring out this when he states that ‘profit is the cost of the future, the cost of staying in business’ (Balakrishnan, 2002). Profit planning has been defined by the business dictionary as the setting of income target for the coming period through the construction of an income statement that states the expected sales and the expected gross profit putting the prevailing market conditions in mind. To accomplish this role the process uses budgets of different kinds are prepared and when put together a business plan is formed. A budget is a business document that shows explicitly how resources, financial and others are meant to be used over a specified period of time. Budgets are meant of work under the principle of budgetary control. Profit planning involves coming up with future business plans and coming up with budgets that show how these plans are going to be met. This differs from the process of profit control as these are those steps taken by the management of an organization to ensure that those objectives set for the achievement of the profits realized are met (Berman, 1961).
Budgets are important in the process of profit planning because it act as a channel of communicating the plans and expectations of the business by the management. They also help the managers in the business to think ahead and plan on how to realize of more profits. The absence of a budget might make the managers to result in management by crisis. The process might also bring to the surface the potential shortfalls that stand in the way of the business and making profits. It also ensures a unity in direction in that all efforts in the business will be directed in reaching the ultimate goal of making profits. This is not to say that the process does not have hindrances. When not well handled it can lead to the business community feeling they are under pressure and also gives rise to inter departmental conflicts especially when resources have been spent and targets are not being obtained (Cheatham, 1987).
The process of writing a profit plan starts with having a sales and profit summary through the preparation of an income statement. The plan has a number of uses in an organization. The plan will help bring out the areas in businesses that are unsatisfying. This is usually the gaps that exist between the final income statement and the profit plan. The business can then take corrective measures that can be taken to correct these short comings. This also enables the organization know if there will be a need to increase resources or personnel. For example, an increase in production might have the indirect implication that the company’s production staff might be overwhelmed and this sends the signal that more staff needs to be employed. This will also help the business make prior plans that would lead to saving the cost incurred when purchasing the raw materials to be used. The profits the organization expects to make might mean that the business might need alternative sources of extra capital which might lead to more production that translate to the realization of the expected profits.
The process of profit planning should be continuous in nature where by the business operations should be constantly under watch to ensure that they are in line with the plans that were made. The need for additional production resources and staff is always being assessed and steps should be taken to meet them. The need for the organization to seek financial help from within and outside of the organization is also looked at.
The first step of planning for profits begins at the forecast point of the business expected profits and loss. Profits cannot be considered in isolation since they are closely drawn from sales. Decisions taken on either of these are bound to affect the other, i.e. increasing pricing might lead to more money being realized from sales and this leads to increase in profits. The process should there fore start with a sales forecast. The volume of sales will help the business have an idea of things. One of these is the changes that will be experienced in the expenses that are directly related to sales like sales commissions. A substantial increase in the number of sales might have a significant increase in the fixed costs in the business. Some of the areas are like areas to do with keeping of records, especially if records are to be kept for individual customers. The storage space for the goods before they are sold might also need to increase.
A realistic sales forecast draws a balance between the businesses achieving its potential from the opportunities being offered by conditions of the market. It should give an idea of what the business can do at that point of time and have plans of the actual doing. The business fore cast should be realistic enough to be used as a basis to evaluate performance at the end of the business period. It also has the steps that the business is going to take in order to acquire the intended market share in the market. The sales fore cast is an important consideration since it will have a hand when making important decisions like the addition of personnel, borrowing of credit, adding of storage facilities and determining how the employees are going to be remunerated. This will also convince potential inventors that the business is on a journey to make profits and attract their investments. Just like any other forecast, this should be supported by an action plan that is neither over nor under ambitious.
A sales forecast begins with the analysis of how much the business sold during the past year. This is easily done by first putting the sales into different categories. Then the factors that affected the different sales categories are looked at. These factors include promotional plans, plans for expansions, new product introduction in to the market, trends in the market, government policies and inflation. The comparison of the previous gross profit realization and the current levels is done on the ground of certain key issues. One of them is the objectives that had previously been set and those in current use. This will help the business identify how well it has been doing. The business should also compare itself with the other businesses in the same industry as businesses do not operate in isolated conditions. If the business will be operating under the belief that its circumstances are different it will not succeed in the process of profit planning.
When a business embraces the concept of financial planning it will benefit in a number of ways. The business will have a way to continuously evaluate performance especially in matters concerned with sales (Fish, 1967). The personnel, through the performance plan are usually aware of the duties and the responsibilities they are to meet in making the business achieve profit. The budgeting process makes the business to be more conscious in relation with expenses as it looks at the expenses even before they occur. The business will put a check on excess spending and also look for processes and procedures that are more cost friendly. When undertaking the process of profit planning problems can be identified and solved before their actual occurrence. Since it involves planning for the future, the business can have growth and expansion plans well in advance. The process also aids financial planning as the business will need to think of how to deal with the profits realized. A business with a strong profit plan is treated with more credibility with investors and potential lenders as it is a sign of credible leadership and ability to make bigger financial realizations.
The process of planning for process is however not without hindrances. The processes based on estimates and the conditions of these estimates might change as the business year progresses. This might affect the success of the plan. The business also requires the support from all the stakeholders and reluctance of one of the parties might lead to the failure of the plan (Christopher, 2000). The business need to prepare a new business plan for each year as recycling business plans might be detrimental as the market is dynamic. All in all, profit planning is vital in the survival of a business enterprise. It acts as a benchmark and the business will always have a point for references. Corrective decisions are made just in time and this reduces the chances of the business making losses. The business management function is made easier as duties are allocated to individuals and expectations communicated in an effective manner.
Balakrishnan, R. (2002). Integrating profit variance analysis and capacity costing to provide better managerial information. Issues in Accounting Education: 149-161.
Berman, N. (1961). Profit analysis practices in an oil refining company. N.A.A. Bulletin: 63-68.
Cheatham, C. (1987). Profit and productivity analysis revisited. Journal of Accountancy: 123-130.
Christopher, W (2000). A hands-on approach to profit management. Journal of Cost Management: 10-12.
Fish, E. (1967). Profitability reporting in a professional consulting firm. Chicago: Bantam Books.


Dr. B. R. Ambedkar was a great national leader of twentieth century. He was an intellectual, scholar and statesman and contributed greatly in the nation building. He led number of movements to emancipate the downtrodden masses and to secure human rights to millions of depressed classes. He has left an indelible imprint through his immense contribution in framing the Constitution of free India. He stands as a symbol of struggle for achieving the Social Justice. Dr. Ambedkar Foundation (DAF) was set up in pursuance of the recommendations of Babasaheb Dr. B.R. Ambedkar’s Centenary Celebrations Committee constituted under the Chairmanship of the then Prime Minister. The Foundation was registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 on 24th March, 1992 under the aegis of the Ministry of Welfare now the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment. The objectives of DAF inter alia provide for financial aid to the institutions propagating Babasaheb’s memory, organize special campaign for removal of untouchability and caste based prejudices for brining an attitudinal change in the society through communal harmony and brotherhood and to organize lectures, seminars and symposia etc. on socio-economic issues. Nation is taking rapid strides toward its rightful place at the top as a super power. A society based on social justice and equity gives permanency to such great achievements. An informed youth would not only carry the country’s advancement forward but also take it to still higher levels. 2. Objectives
The aim of the Dr. Ambedkar Foundation National Essay Competition is to encourage writing on social issues, among the Students of Schools / Colleges / Universities / Institutions and arouse their interest in Dr. Ambedkar’s thoughts on fundamental social issues like social justice, removal of... [continues]
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RESPONSE # 1—Level
August 26, 2015
ANSWER THE FOLLOWING IN COMPLETE SENTENCES (you do NOT need to copy the questions):
1. What are some of the things you learned in 7th grade? Who was your English teacher(s)?
2. What did you do over the summer?
3. What do you want to learn this year? Why?
4. Are you interested in going to college or a vocational school?
5. What type of profession are you interested in? Why?
6. How do you hope to attain the opportunity to work in your chosen profession?
September 1, 2015
What does the following poem mean to you?
“The Road Not Taken”
by Robert Frost
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I---
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
Response # 3-PAP/Level
Based on your reading of your non-fiction lesson “Bonnie and Clyde” and the following poem, answer the following questions:
1. What line (s) in the poem best expresses Clyde’s feelings about the law? Explain.
2. In the story the author includes excerpts from Bonnie Parker’s poem. In this excerpt Bonnie wrote “They know that the law always wins…”. What did she mean when she wrote that?
3. Based on these two excerpts, what can you conclude about how Bonnie and Clyde felt about their fate?
4. Both the author of the story and the poem would most likely believe that Clyde Barrow felt his life was ______________ because _____________. Use quotes from each reading to support your answer.
Response # 4-Level
September 8, 2015
Paired Passage Task:
“Miss Clement’s Second Grade Class”
by Maryfrances Cusumano Wagner
They sat in even rows
like new chocolates in a long box,
quiet enough to hear pencils
trying uneven letters.
On those blue days Maria stared
at clean blue paper
while boiler heat sifted
through thumping registers
by Anthony Lombardo’s desk.
As Maria shaped vowels,
she wished to be a Smith
so she could hand out crayons
like Evelyn Brown,
have her papers on display,
During quiet writing,
when everyone seemed the same,
she almost forgot
the hours locked in the teacher’s closet,
missing how to take two from eight.
Everyday Miss Clement wore a navy dress,
tied her blond hair in a circular braid.
Every night Maria laughed
with Wilbur and Charlotte.
They didn’t mind her Italian name.
What are the details provided in the poem that express that the speaker is being treated unfairly because of her name?
Read the following excerpt from The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros.
In English my name means hope. In Spanish it means too many letters. It means sadness, it means waiting. It is like the number nine. A muddy color. It is the Mexican records my father plays on Sunday mornings when he is shaving, songs like sobbing.
It was my great-grandmother's name and now it is mine. She was a horse woman too, born like me in the Chinese year of the horse--which is supposed to be bad luck if you're born female-but I think this is a Chinese lie because the Chinese, like the Mexicans, don't like their women strong.
My great-grandmother. I would've liked to have known her, a wild, horse of a woman, so wild she wouldn't marry. Until my great-grandfather threw a sack over her head and carried her off. Just like that, as if she were a fancy chandelier. That's the way he did it.
And the story goes she never forgave him. She looked out the window her whole life, the way so many women sit their sadness on an elbow. I wonder if she made the best with what she got or was she sorry because she couldn't be all the things she wanted to be. Esperanza. I have inherited her name, but I don't want to inherit her place by the window.
At school they say my name funny as if the syllables were made out of tin and hurt the roof of your mouth. But in Spanish my name is made out of a softer something, like silver, not quite as thick as sister's name Magdalena--which is uglier than mine. Magdalena who at least- -can come home and become Nenny. But I am always Esperanza. I would like to baptize myself under a new name, a name more like the real me, the one nobody sees. Esperanza as Lisandra or Maritza or Zeze the X. Yes. Something like Zeze the X will do.
What are the details provided in the story that express that the speaker is being treated unfairly because of her name?
Choose 2 lines from the poem. Discuss the meaning of your selection and how the experience of the speaker in the poem is similar to the experience of the speaker in the story, “My Name.” Use ideas from BOTH the poem and the story in a paragraph or two.
In your paragraphs(s), be sure to include:
the exact lines you have selected from the poem
an explanation of how the experiences of both speakers are similar
check your essay for correct spelling, grammar and punctuation
write your final paragraph(s) on the attached page. Do not write more than provided on the page.
Response # 5-Level
September 16, 2015
Answer the following in complete sentences.
Do Now: Read “The Oath” and answer these questions:
Who is going to be telling this story? _________________________________________________
What do we learn about them in this passage? ________________________________________________________________________
Where are they writing this oath? ____________________________________________________
What do you think this story is going to be about? ______________________________________________________________________
What is an oath? __________________________________________________________________
After we read pages 1 – 5 aloud, write a paragraph summarizing in your own words the two things John did as a freshman. Then explain in a second paragraph what those two things tell you about John’s personality. Include possible reasons he might have done those things. Be prepared to share your paragraphs.
When John was a freshman he __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
These things tell the reader a lot about John’s personality. First of all, he __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Secondly, John __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Response # 6-Level
September 21, 2015
A. Fill in facts about John and Lorraine from the first two chapters of The Pigman.
B. Write a rough draft of a paragraph describing the differences between John and Lorraine.
RESPONSE # 7-Level
September 29, 2015
Brainstorm a list of events or challenges or situations in which an ordinary person might act heroically.
Write about an event that involved someone acting heroically. This may be an event that you saw personally, or one that you have heard or read about. Perhaps it is an event that you saw on the news or depicted in a movie. Write about the most important aspects of the event. Things to consider: What was the event? Whom did it involve? When did it happen? Where did it occur? Why is it an important event? How did it involve heroism?
Final copy should be written on a separate sheet of lined paper.
It should be at least three (3) paragraphs but no more than five (5) paragraphs and written in blue or black ink.


Modern medical science has made immense strides throughout Asia during the past two generations. These advances were facilitated by the widespread availability of “miracle drugs” that began with sulfa derivatives and antibiotics. Yet in practice only a minority of South and Southeast Asians benefit adequately.
Physicians, clinics and well-equipped hospitals almost invariably cluster in or near urban centers, serving chiefly the articulate, educated and more prosperous citizens. Patients’ ability to pay continues to promote a concentration
of medical skills and facilities. Where village-based health services have been organized, they tend to flounder and disappear when the innovators move on. Critical is the poverty that still is the lot in life of the majority of rural families for whom population pressure has made malnutrition the most prevalent and rapidly growing illness.
When Drs. RAJANIKANT and MABELLE AROLE chose to practice in Jamkhed taluka (sub-district) in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra in 1970, they had prepared themselves meticulously and thoroughly researched the community. Both products of an Indian Christian education’ they had chosen each other in marriage with a pledge to share in serving rural India First joining a small voluntary hospital in Maharashtra, they refined their ideas for service; graduate medical studies in America followed.
Deliberately the AROLES selected a region where the villager’s existence was grim and seemingly hopeless. Two consecutive monsoon failures compounded chronic drought. Much topsoil had washed away after forests were cut for firewood. Villages were split into factions by caste and clan. Leprosy and tuberculosis were prevalent, although often unreported. Infant mortality ranged from 80 to 150 per 1,000 live births. Malnutrition, especially among children under five years of age, was made worse by gastrointestinal diseases carried in the often contaminated water taken from streams and ponds. Everywhere want produced despair among a people denied the means and lacking the will to achieve better.
The simple curative medical practice begun by the AROLES in a small lent cowshed in Jamkhed won them acceptance by community leaders and the voluntary construction of a small hospital. But they found permanent answers demanded a changed environment. To make preventive medicine a reality they utilized the semiskilled personnel and unsophisticated equipment at hand. To ensure that villagers acted for themselves, the doctors subordinated their work to local leadership, and as outsiders were only catalysts. Village Health Workers, often illiterate older women nominated by their neighbors, were trained to give simple treatment and bring serious cases to a mobile weekly medical team. Wells were drilled for potable water, located in the village section inhabited by Harijans, or untouchables. Young Farmers Clubs reclaimed idle land, built dams and roads, planted trees and otherwise utilized the food-for-work program to grow added crops, partly for children’s feeding programs.
Changes wrought by this Comprehensive Rural Health Project above all cemented a new sense of community, erasing many caste barriers among the 40,000 inhabitants of 30 villages. At an annual per capita cost of 70 U.S. cents—excluding the cost of special treatment for tuberculosis and leprosy patients—this scheme is being extended to another 30 villages in neighboring Karjat taluka. Now in their mid-40s, the AROLES are refining their movement for mobilizing rural initiative and leadership, and sustaining their commitment to continue learning from the villagers whose cause they share.
In electing Dr. RAJANIKANT SHANKARRAO AROLE and his wife, Dr. MABELLE RAJANIKANT AROLE, to receive the 1979 Ramon Magsaysay Award for Community Leadership, the Board of Trustees recognizes their creating a self-sustaining rural health and economic betterment movement in one of the poorer regions of West-Central India.
My wife and I wish to express our warmest and humblest thanks for honoring us with this eminent Ramon Magsaysay Award. We hope we will be able to bring further distinction to such recognition.
In Asia and the rest of the world, positive strides have been made in the fields of medicine and science. We witness the magnificent feat of men living in environments alien to us in yesteryears. It is commonplace for us to hear of man conducting experiments in the far-reaching dimensions of space and in the depths of our oceans. We have developed technology of such sophistication that now it is possible to replace diseased body organs. There appears to be no limit to making all our imaginings realities (given enough of that precious commodity—time). But as we slowly lower our eyes from the dazzling heights of man’s achievements, our sight will fall on the ugliest of scars of mankind’s workmanship—poverty and disease. Statisticians enjoy playing the numbers game with lives in our Asian villages. It throws up the frequency of births, deaths and diseases, but hides the stark reality of suffering and deprivation.
Optimum health is the right of every individual and we possess more than enough knowledge to make this right a reality. Knowledge is the total accumulation of all the efforts of mankind over the past decades. No single profession or group can claim a monopoly on this market. It should be available to all, but in the very name of protecting the people, this trust of knowledge is withheld from them. Presently in Asia large sections of the population are deprived of the benefits acquired from this common pool of knowledge, which leads us to pose painful questions. What hinders the available medical care from reaching these people? Is it the monetary cost involved? If this is so, what causes the high cost? If this care is so far removed from the common people, are we failing in our responsibility? We must search into these questions objectively and try to answer them in a dispassionate manner. We know that morbidity and mortality in rural areas are closely related to basic health problems caused by inadequate food, a polluted water supply, poor sanitation and man’s inability to equalize distribution. Today we commit the great crime of allowing malnourished children and adults to succumb to diarrhea and tuberculosis, major killers. Why should a mother lose her life due to tetanus or sepsis? We possess enough knowledge and machinery to prevent such wastage of lives, and we can be certain that there is no dearth of village people to help in this task. So why do these tragedies continue? There appear to be certain cliques that monopolize knowledge, technology and remedies that are vital to the very survival of human life. If the common man is allowed access to these resources, the predictions of a doomed future would rapidly change.
Poor, illiterate people are like rough diamonds hidden under dirt and stone. Given the opportunity, they can reach their full potential—a potential as great as is possible for you and me. Just because facilities of schools and universities are inaccessible to them we are mistaken in labeling them unintelligent. “Ignorant” is the word to use here as this denotes deprivation of knowledge. The villagers are capable of learning and utilizing skills for the betterment of life. All that is necessary on our part is sharing our “trust of knowledge” with them. They have the potential to be responsible, sensitive human beings, possessing the qualities for self-reliance, and able to shed old customs and traditions that impede forward development. We just need to exercise patience and care in working with them.
Why are people still imprisoned in the shackles of bondage? They should be able to decide who controls knowledge and how it should be utilized for the positive progression of mankind. We must make available to them the means to gain access to, and control over, their own health care. I must ask myself if I am consciously or unconsciously involved in this obstruction and how I can facilitate the services reaching those in most need. I believe, both as a humanitarian and as a physician, that qualities of independence and self-reliance should be encouraged and nurtured in regard to people’s health care, and to this end my wife and I are channeling our efforts.
At this point Arnold Toynbee’s words echo through my mind: “The twentieth century will be remembered chiefly, not as an age of political conflicts and technical inventions, but as an age in which human society dared to think of the health of the whole human race as a practical objective.”


Learn more about rear-facing car seats. Posted on Aug 29, 2019 in Car Seat Safety by Amie 6 Comments. The Car Seat Safety Stats: Car Crashes Are The #1 Killer Of Children. ; Convertible child seats for use rear facing and for use forward facing. This fall, when we come reawaken our own spirit of inquiry as teachers, leaders, writers, readers, and thinkers. Car seat use reduces the risk for injury in a crash by 71-82% for children, and booster seat use reduces the risk for serious injury by 45% for children ages 4 to 8 when compared with seat belt use alone, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Compliance tests were conducted on the Orbit Baby Inc. infant car seat model ORB803000 child restraint system in accordance with the specifications of the Office of Vehicle Safety Compliance Test Procedure No. Car Seat Research Test Reports . The best car seat is the one that fits your child's weight, size, and age, as well as your vehicle. Rear-facing car seats provide greater protection for the baby's head, neck and spine than forward-facing seats. The safe sleep statement also specifically highlights the importance of transferring the child from the car seat to a safe sleep environment when no longer travelling . org; org; Facebook; Twitter; LinkedIn; Instagram; 2019 Convention November 21-24, 2019. Orbit Test Results Summary; Orbit Compliance Test Report Orbit Baby Inc. Because car seats save lives, using a car seat is the law in every U.S. state. Professional essay writing service. Register Share. General Info Schedule Travel & Hotel Registration Speakers What’s Happening Why Attend? Child Car Seat Stats: Knowing The Leading Cause of Death To Children. But keeping your child safe depends on choosing the right safety seat and using it correctly. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), all children ages 12 and under should ride in the back seat. No plagiarism ... anonymity. Physicians and other health professionals can play a part in reducing the likelihood of parents placing children in unsafe sleep environments. TP-213-09.
For older children and adults, seat belt use reduces the risk for death and serious injury by about half. Learn more about car seat safety. Do you know the car seat statistics show the leading cause of death to children ages 3-14 in the United States is motor vehicle crashes? ; All In One car seat grows with child for 10 years, from birth all the way up to booster seat. Share . Britax designs and manufactures a complete line of child seats, including:. Infant car seats for use rear facing with babies.


Length of Shibori (Tie-Dyed) Cloth20th century
450 in. x 13 in. (1143 cm x 33.02 cm)
Bryn Mawr College
This object has the following keywords:
- Asian - Refers to the cultures of the continent of Asia, which is in the eastern hemisphere, and is bounded by the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, the Arctic Ocean, and is generally considered to be delimited on the west by the Ural Mountains. It also refers to the numerous islands off the coast of Asia.
- Japanese - Nationality, periods, cultures, and styles found in Japan, either in historical times or in the present.
- silk - Textile made from silk fiber, which is a fiber derived from the cocoon of the silkworm moth.
- textiles - General term for carpets, fabrics, costume, or other works made of textile materials, which are natural or synthetic fibers created by weaving, felting, knotting, twining, or otherwise processing. For works of art or high craft that employ textile as a medium, prefer "textile art (visual works)."
- tie-dyeing - A mode of dyeing in which the cloth is tied in different places, to prevent the parts from receiving the dye. It is done by hand create colored patterns in the fabric by gathering together many small portions of material and tying them tightly with string before immersing the cloth in the dyebath. The dye fails to penetrate the tied sections. After drying, the fabric is untied to reveal irregular circles, dots, stripes, or other shapes. Varicoloured patterns may be produced by repeated tying and dipping in additional colours. This hand method, common in India and Indonesia, has been adapted to machines.
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We all get tired. Many of us have felt depressed at times. But the mystery known as chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is not like the normal ups and downs we experience in everyday life. The early sign of this illness is a strong and noticeable fatigue that comes on suddenly and often comes and goes or never stops. You sometimes feel too tired to do normal activities or are easily exhausted with no apparent reason. Unlike the mind fog of a serious hangover, to which researchers have compared CFS, the profound weakness of CFS does not go away with a few good nights of sleep. Instead, it slyly steals your energy and vigor over months and sometimes years.
How Does CFS Begin?
For many people, CFS can begin after a bout with a minor illness such as a cold, or an intestinal bug. Often, people say that their illnesses started during a period of high stress. In others, CFS develops more gradually, with no clear illness or other event starting it.
What Are The Symptoms?
Unlike influenza symptoms, which usually go away in a few days or weeks, CFS symptoms either hang on or come and go frequently for more than 6 months. Symptoms can include: headache, tender lymph nodes, fatigue and weakness, muscle and joint aches, and the inability to concentrate.
Who Gets CFS?
CFS was once called “yuppie flu” because those who sought help for and caused scientific interest in CFS in the early 1980s were mainly well-educated, well-off women in their 30s and 40s. Since then, doctors have seen the syndrome in people of all ages and social and economic classes from several, mostly English-speaking, countries around the world. Similar illnesses, known by different names, date back at least to the late 1800s.
Still, for unknown reasons, CFS is diagnosed two to four times more often in women than in men. In addition, some members of the medical community and the public do not know about or are skeptical of the syndrome.
How Many People Have CFS?
Because there is no specific laboratory test or clinical sign for CFS, no one knows how many people are affected by this illness. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates, however, that as many as 500,000 people in the United States have CFS or a CFS-like condition.
What Causes CFS?
While no one knows what causes CFS, for more than a century, doctors have reported seeing illnesses similar to it. In the 1860s, Dr. George Beard named a similar or identical syndrome “neurasthenia” because he thought it was a nervous disorder with weakness and fatigue.
In the mid-1980s, health experts labeled the illness “chronic EBV” infection when laboratory clues led scientists to wonder whether the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), one of the causes of infectious mononucleosis, might be causing this group of symptoms. Evidence soon cast doubt on this theory.
How Is CFS Diagnosed?
Health care providers find it difficult to diagnose CFS because it has the same symptoms as many other diseases. When talking with and examining you, your health care provider must first rule out diseases that have similar symptoms. In follow-up visits, you and your provider need to watch for any new cues or symptoms that might show that the problem is something other than CFS.
When other diseases are ruled out and if your illness meets other criteria as well, your health care provider can diagnose you with CFS.
How Can I Cope With And Manage The Illness?
Learning how to manage your fatigue, in spite of your symptoms, may help you improve the level at which you can function as well as your quality of life. A rehabilitation medicine specialist can evaluate you and teach you how to plan activities to take advantage of times when you usually feel better.
The lack of any proven effective treatment can be frustrating to both you and your health care providers. Scientists are currently conducting studies to evaluate such treatments as cognitive-behavioral therapy (a psychological therapy) and graduated exercise therapy. While early results look promising, these therapies do not work for everyone, and often induce improvement but not cure. If you have CFS, health experts recommend that you try to maintain good health by: Eating a balanced diet and getting adequate rest; Exercising regularly but without causing more fatigue; Pacing yourself-physically, emotionally, and intellectually-because too much stress can aggravate your symptoms.
The course of CFS varies from person to person. For most people, CFS symptoms reach a certain level and become stable early in the course of illness and thereafter come and go. Some people get better completely, but it is not clear how frequently this happens. Emotional support and counseling can help you and your loved ones cope with the uncertain outlook and the ups and downs of this illness.
Antidepressants sometimes help to improve sleep and relieve mild, general pain in people with CFS. Because adequate doses of an antidepressant often increase fatigue, health care providers may have to start with a low dose and increase it very slowly or prescribe another type of antidepressant. Some people with CFS benefit from medicines used to treat acute anxiety as well as other nervous system problems such as dizziness and extreme tenderness in the skin. You should work closely with your health care provider to find a medicine, or a combination of medicines, that works well for you and that your body can tolerate.
CFS is a disease of unknown cause. Early results of new treatment methods appear promising, but it is too soon to tell how well these treatments will work, and for how many CFS patients. Because CFS can be a serious illness that affects many aspects of daily living, you should consult a qualified doctor who can evaluate you and help you manage your illness.
This article was reprinted from the Office of Communications and Public Liaison, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892. For more information news releases, fact sheets and other NIAID-related materials are available on the NIAID Web site at http://www.niaid.nih.gov.


Looking at Transport for London’s colour-coded bus trial in Barkingside, CityMetric editor Jonn Elledge found an interesting problem:
Even thinking about the maths does my head in – but it seems unlikely to me that every bus in London can be given a colour different from that of every bus it ever shares a stop with. At some bus stops, there’ll be two buses in violet.
So let’s have a go at this: given the current bus routes in London, how many colours would you need to so that no bus stop has two buses using the same colour?
TfL have their bus stop locations and routes available as open data so we can quickly get a feel for how hard a problem is actually is. The way I processed the file I ended up with 20,028 bus stops and 729 routes (we can probably have arguments about exact numbers, but go with me). A lot of those bus stops serve exactly the same routes as others – so there are only 4,129 unique nodes in this problem. Which is still lots, but feels more manageable.
London’s buses are changing: more accessible, more affordable and easier to use. Read more here – https://t.co/lhPrgnwTbW #LondonIsOpen pic.twitter.com/WGxGeWeNOW
— Sadiq Khan (@SadiqKhan) May 2, 2017
While there probably an elegant mathematical approach, the boring brute force technique goes like this. Starting out with all bus routes sharing a single colour (let’s say blue), you get the computer to go through every bus stop and change routes to other colours to make sure that bus stop has only unique colours. You then repeat this until all bus stops have no duplicate colours.
You get different results for this depending what order you tackle the bus stops, so you run it with a few different orders to get a feel of about how many colours are needed. Running the program 1,000 times, the lowest number I get using this technique is 44. Lower numbers are probably possible through trying many more orders, but let’s say for the moment this is roughly right – you’d need 44 colours to apply this approach strictly to the entire London bus system. This is really too many colours to be able to usefully distinguish lines, so is probably a no-go.
We get more manageable numbers if we try a less strict version of the rule. If we let bus stops served by five or more routes have two routes of the same colour, the total number of colours required drops to 14. This is approaching a workable colour scheme in terms of actually being able to distinguish between all varieties.
When your number is up
But let’s move on from colours and think about what TfL is actually trying to do here: it wants to make it easier for people who don’t currently use buses to use buses.
It’s worth thinking about where bus route numbers currently come from:
When we introduce a new route – or make alterations to an existing route by splitting it – the last digit or digits of the historic ‘parent’ route are used wherever possible, so that passengers might associate the incoming route with its predecessor. This was the case in 2003, for instance, when route 414 was chosen as the number for the new route between Maida Hill and Putney Bridge, which was intended to augment route historic route 14 south of Hyde Park Corner.
In other words, bus routes numbers are path dependent on old naming decisions because of the desire to keep existing users happy. While this is probably a good idea, it can also end up in results that are very un-good for new users.
So if you ignored the past and the need to keep the millions of current users not confused, what could do if you just scrapped all the current route numbers and started from scratch? Specifically let’s look at two problems:
Ambiguous bus routes at the same stop that appear similar;
Hard to remember bus numbers.
If you don’t see why these things are problems, imagine yourself as a user for whom the concept of numbers is a bit fuzzier: for instance, dyslexic users for whom the number rearrange (where 365 and 635 might be similar), or those for whom the numbers are literally fuzzy because they’re less able to read the signs.
There are two key areas of ambiguity: digits that are visually similar to each other (66 and 68) and route numbers that are conceptually similar like 114 and 14.
For real world examples of conceptually confusing bus stops, there are 1,601 stops served by routes whose numbers wholly contain the number of another route at the same bus stop. While this is sometimes suggestive of similarity of route, in many instances it isn’t. If you’re at Church Lane the 71 and 671 share 88 per cent of stops in common – but if you’re at Southall Broadway, the 95 and 195 share just 0.1 per cent of their stops. Looking at all the stops with this problem, the average similarity is only 38 per cent.
As most journeys are short, differences at the far end of the route are probably not a problem for most users – but the point is, that vague, warm feeling that similar number routes at the same location should be similar is not backed up by the data.
There are also 205 stops that have routes which are anagrams of each other. The St Nicholas Center has the 407 and the 470, at Brooke Road you have the 76 and 67, and Lytton Grove has the 39 and the 93. This isn’t many in the grand scheme of things – but it’s not ideal.
While we’re thinking about which numbers are nicer than other, let’s look at research which numbers are easier to remember correctly than others. Milikowski & Elshout found that:
The order of memorability was
(1) Single digit numbers;
(2) Teen numbers (10-19);
(3) Doubled numbers (e.g. 44, 77, 22);
(4) Large tabled numbers (numbers which factor and therefore appear in the multiplication tables, such as 49, 36, 60, 84, 27); and
(5) Other numbers that do not fall into any of these categories.
While memorability for Single digit numbers was above 80 percent, that for Other numbers (no subcategory) was only around 40 percent.
This should inform our thinking about route numbers. The first thing our colour system lets you do is dump bus numbers above 100 and use colours as a replacement for the first digit. This immediately makes numbers easier to remember because we’re reducing the number of concepts you need to remember. Route 127 requires you to remember three things (one two seven) while Blue-27 requires you to remember two (Blue twenty-seven). This is more true with smaller numbers, but every little helps.
The next thing we need to do is jettison every number that is a reverse of another (we don’t want both 46 and 64). This gets rid of most numbers above fifty (while retaining doubles). The end result is each colour can now be followed by 62 numbers – which means 62 bus routes.
Ideally you’d also reduce ambiguous symbols such as (1 and 7) or (6 and 8) – but this really cuts down the number of usable numbers. Instead what we’ll do try and make sure ambiguous numbers like this do not appear at the same stop.
So here are our new constraints:
A colour can only have 62 routes;
There are 15 colours (up from 14, because the original solution required some colours to have more than 62 routes);
Bus stops with four or fewer buses can’t have multiple routes with the same colour, stops with more can have two;
One bus stop cannot have routes of different colours with the same number. You also can’t have both 21 and 27, or 46 and 48.
Is such an arrangement possible? It turns out it is.
To solve this one you randomise which routes get which numbers and score them according to how well they pass the above. Then you create random variations on the best performing plan, and so on, until it narrows in on a version that passes all the rules. This returned a viable arrangement of route colours and names after a few hours (and 161,663 attempts).
Can something like this be done in reality? Confusing all current users seems a bad idea – but maybe this kind of approach should affect how new bus routes are named. Rather than blindly following the history of a route, select rules you want to be true of your naming scheme (they might be different from mine) and get a computer to suggest the minimally confusing approach. It turns out it doesn’t take long to get answers to quite fiddly problems.
But the real point here is I don’t want to wear my glasses to wait for a bus, and changing the naming convention for every single bus route in London is a proportionate response to this problem.
Want more of this stuff? Follow CityMetric on Twitter or Facebook.This article is from the CityMetric archive: some formatting and images may not be present.


Jerusalem—As the Jewish calendar passes Chanukah and continues into the month of Tevet, an unusual transformation unfolds. Less than two weeks ago, Jews worldwide were celebrating a holiday of victory and unity, of rebuilding and returning. Yet on the tenth day of Tevet, these same individuals are in mourning.
Over two millennia ago, Asara b’Tevet was the beginning of the end of the first Temple, when Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, began his siege on Jerusalem ending with the ultimate destruction of the holy structure and exile of the Jews from Israel. Even now, about 2600 years later, as the city that Nebuchadnezzar besieged has since been rebuilt and modernized, we still fast on this tragic day. To help those who have difficulty reconciling the conflicting feelings of destruction and reconstruction, JLBC visited Mechon Hamikdash (The Temple Institute), a unique organization whose sole purpose is to rebuild what has been twice destroyed—one piece at a time.
Mechon Hamikdash is rebuilding the Bet Hamikdash in the belief that “if you build it, he (the Messiah) will come,” an idea backed by no less than 30 different positive commandments in Leviticus, and most commentators on the Torah and the Talmud.
The Institute was founded by Rabbi Yisrael Ariel in 1987 in the Jewish quarter of Jerusalem’s Old City. Rabbi Ariel was among the first soldiers to reach the Temple Mount when it was liberated by General Motta Gur on June 7, 1967. He is now considered to be a foremost expert on everything related to the Bet Hamikdash, and opened the Mechon in the hope of realizing the dream of building the Third Temple.
Rabbi Chaim Richman, the director of Mechon Hamikdash’s International Department, explained Rabbi Ariel’s mission: “In Exodus 25:8 G-d commands the Jewish People ‘And you shall make me a temple and I will dwell in it.’ This is a positive commandment… amongst tens of other action-oriented mitzvot (commandments) in the section. What does this mean exactly? That we should be as actively involved in the construction of the Holy Temple as possible.”
The Institute strives to rebuild all of the utensils of the Temple, such as the Menora, Shulchan, Mizbeach, and even a model of the Aron Habrit. At first, many, especially those from Ultra-Orthodox communities, hesitated to embrace Mechon Hamikdash’s projects. However, as time has gone on, people have warmed up to this idea of reconstruction, to the extent that Mechon’s Menora is now on permanent display in the Kikar Hamenora (Square of the Menora) viewing area overlooking the Kotel and Har Habayit. Israeli politicians and dignitaries have also taken to visiting the Temple Institute to show their support.
In addition to research and development in recreating the Temple artifacts, Mechon Hamikdash is dedicated to spreading awareness of the Bet Hamikdash, the political situations surrounding the Temple Mount and the future of the Jewish people. Rabbi Richman, scholar and veteran of the Temple Institute for over 25 years, heads a team of English-speakers that go on speaking tours throughout the United States and Israel’s Anglo communities, presenting in schools and synagogues.
They also have an extensive website featuring different resources on the history and future of Jerusalem and Israel, several video series hosted on YouTube and many different book series. Rabbi Richman told JLBC that he is in the process of filming several short videos on the halakha issues surrounding their projects and working on an English language book about rebuilding a Holy Temple. Both projects have been generously funded by a donor in East Brunswick, NJ.
Rabbi Richman gave the JLBC his observations about Asarah B’Tevet:
“Chanukah, which we just celebrated, is the only holiday on the Jewish calendar to bridge between two months. There is an idea that the monthly calendar is focused around its beginning, and it is no coincidence that the month where we mourn the beginning of the end starts with a bright beginning. In theory Tevet should be a happy month—the prophet Zecharia teaches that in the times of the final redemption, Asara B’Tevet will be a day of mourning that will become a day of celebration. Eventually, the destruction of the First Temple will be commemorated as a stepping stone for something bigger; the Third Temple.
“But, what’s stopping us? A pattern of complacency. We’ve become so used to mourning that we find it difficult to stop even though we now have a chance to rebuild. Tevet shouldn’t be focused on sadness, and if we focus our efforts on the rebuilding of the Holy Temple then next year, with God’s help, we will go from the holiday of Chanukah to the holiday of Asara B’Tevet.”
“Even as we mourn the siege of Jerusalem and the start of the first expulsion, we can’t forget that the end the exile is near, and the final redemption is almost upon us. Mechon Hamikdash reminds us of the all-important lesson: “if you build it, he will come.”
Visit Mechon Hamikdash’s English website http://www.templeinstitute.org/ and check out their facebook page.
By Tzvi Silver


Data for: Vegetation change and evolutionary response of the large mammal fauna during the Mid-Pleistocene Transition in north temperate East Asia
Sediment core Tianjin-G3 (117°25′59.5″N, 38°49′57.6″E) was drilled in the eastern part of the North China Plain, close to Bohai Bay. The core is 250 m in length and the recovery ratio is 90.0%, which meets the requirements for magnetostratigraphic study. The lithology consists of river and lake facies with varying amounts of clay, silt, and silty sand. Typical marine facies are present at depth of 5.0-18 m, representing a marine transgression from 8000-5000 cal yr BP which is widely represented in east China. Pollen samples were collected from the interval 0-250 m depth of the Tianjin-G3 core. 100 g of sample was used for pollen analysis and pretreatment consisted of the following stages: 1) Addition of hydrochloric acid to remove carbonates; 2) flotation with 2.0 second-class heavy liquid flotation (with ZnCl2 and KI-ZnI2); 3) addition of a 1:9 solution of concentrated sulfuric acid and acetic anhydride; 4) suspension in glycerol and mounting on microscope slides. At least three pollen slides were produced and checked for each sample. Pollen counting was conducted with an OLYMPUS biological photomicroscope at ×400 magnification. Fossil pollen grains were identified via comparison with published photomicrographs and modern pollen reference slides. The total pollen count exceeded 150 grains in most samples, 167 grains per sample in average. The samples below 170 meter failed to yield sufficient pollen grains for analysis.


Sustainable alternatives to fossil fuels, such as H2, are urgently needed, and must be produced using renewable energy to be truly sustainable. Concentrated solar energy (a focused beam of sunlight) can be used to produce electricity, split water or create synthetic fuels without CO2 emissions. H2 production via direct solar TCFP should be more efficient than electrolysis using solar electricity, and so is an innovative solution to H2 production. What is required is a suitable material for a TCFP catalyst. It is known that CeO2-based materials can be used to split water and produce H2 for TCFP, via a redox cycle that requires heating up to 1400 ºC. What is required is further development and optimization of such materials in order to improve efficiency, redox reaction rates and heat resistance through the cycles, to lower the operating temperatures needed, and to enhance their microstructure/surface area. Any materials solutions should also be based on renewable/ sustainable resources and methods. H2CORK will develop novel CeO2-based ecoceramics, exploiting the regular, highly porous microstructure of sustainable cork templates, for the innovative renewable production of hydrogen via direct solar thermochemical fuel production (TCFP).


Viruses that replicate in the male or female reproductive tract are considered to be potential causes of human infertility. Several herpesviruses have been implicated in male infertility, and now human herpesvirus 6A (HHV-6A) has been found in endometrial cells of women with unexplained infertility (paper link).
HHV-6 was only recently discovered (1986) and is now known to occur as two variants, HHV-6A and HHV-6B. The latter is a major cause of exanthem subitum, a rash of infants, but no disease has been clearly associated with HHV-6A. These viruses are transmitted to infants early in life via saliva, from mother to child, from siblings, or from other infants at day care centers. Seroprevalence studies indicate that almost all children are infected with these viruses by 2 years of age.
To determine if HHV-6 might be a cause of infertility, a study (paper link) was conducted of 30 women with unexplained primary fertility, and 36 women with at least one previous pregnancy. HHV-6B DNA was detected in PBMC from both infertile and fertile groups (25 and 28%, respectively); HHV-6A DNA was not detected. In contrast, endometrial epithelial cells from 13/30 (43%) infertile women were positive for HHV-6A DNA; this viral DNA was not detected in endometrium of fertile women. When placed in culture, endometrial epithelial cells produced viral early and late proteins, suggesting the presence of infectious virus.
Presence of HHV-6A DNA in endometrial epithelial cells was also associated with an altered hormonal and immune environment. Estradiol levels were higher in infected versus uninfected infertile women. The authors suggest that higher levels of this hormone could be involved in allowing HHV-6A infection of the endometrium.
Levels of a specific type of uterine NK cell were lower in HHV-6A positive women, and IL-10 (a Th2 cytokine) was elevated while IFN-gamma (a Th1 cytokine) was decreased. There were no differences in the levels of these cells and cytokines in peripheral blood. These changes are consistent with an increase in the ratio of Th1/Th2 responses that has been documented in female infertility.
The authors also observed enhanced endometrial NK cell responses to HHV-6A in infected but not uninfected women, together with an increase in the number of these cells that are activated when cultured with HHV-6A infected cells.
I wonder what was the source of HHV-6A in the endometrium, as the virus was not detected in blood. Was the infection recently acquired, or did it occur years before, with the virus establishing a chronic infection in the uterus?
The results suggest that HHV-6A infection of the endometrium triggers an abnormal NK cell and cytokine profile, which in turn leads to a uterine environment that is not compatible with fertility. The results need to be confirmed with studies of additional fertile and infertile women. It would also be useful to have an animal model of HHV-6A infection of the endometrium, which could lead to mechanistic work to determine how virus infection causes infertility.
Image: Electron micrograph of HHV-6 (image credit)
2 thoughts on “A herpesvirus associated with female infertility”
Am I not understand the sentence correctly? I think the IL-10 (Th2) response increase and IFN (Th1) decrease the ratio should be dropping….”These changes are consistent with an increase in the ratio of Th1/Th2 responses that has been documented in female infertility.”
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This is the 11th post in the “30 days to using the best of the web’s free tools for educators” series. Be sure to subscribe to the Teacher Challenge blog by RSS, like us on facebook, and follow us on twitter to keep up with future challenge posts as they are published.
This challenge post is a bit different than all of the rest and we hope that is ok!
Sue Waters published a lengthy and informative post about setting up and using Skype in the classroom today.
Free voice and video calls using Skype is great for talking with authors, experts, peer classrooms, language classes, and more – all with a pretty simple and cost effective set-up.
Rather than summarizing and re-hashing it all here, head on over to The Complete Educator’s Guide to Using Skype effectively in the classroom to get a complete step-by-step overview.
- Read the post to learn all about Skyping in education
- Visit TheEdublogger.com’s Skype List and consider adding your class to the list
- Schedule a time to try Skype with your students in the next month or two
- Leave a comment on this post telling us about your experience!
You might find some of the following resources helpful as well:


The Clean Air Action Program focusses on ground-level ozone, the main ingredient in smog that can cause damage to your lungs, and is a significant health problem in many Midwest cities during the summer months. The Clean Air Action Program is now expanded to include particulate matter and is now in operation year-round as unhealthy levels of particulate matter can occur at any time during the year. The Clean Air Action Program was formerly known as the Ozone Action Program which only focused on ground-level ozone.
A Clean Air Action Day will be called when weather forecasters have predicted that conditions will be conducive to the formation of ozone or particulate matter.On a Clean Air Action Day, West Michigan residents will be asked to take certain voluntary actions to protect their health and reduce emissions. These voluntary actions may include limiting physical activity, carpooling, taking mass transit, and delaying lawn mowing (summer only).
Improving air quality in West Michigan is important. WMSRDC is a member of the West Michigan Clean Air Coalition (WMCAC). Formed in 1995, the WMCAC is a partnership of businesses, academic institutions, government agencies, industry, and non-profit organizations in Kent, Ottawa, Muskegon, and Kalamazoo counties working together to achieve cleaner air in the region through the education and promotion of voluntary emission reduction activities. The coalition works to educate the public and to promote voluntary emission reduction activities. Individuals and companies can help the coalition by making clean air choices on Clean Air Action Days. The coalition tries to limit the health and environmental damage that excessive ground level ozone can cause, by encouraging organizations and the general public to alter their lawn maintenance activities, refueling habits, and travel methods. West Michigan residents can stay informed about air quality year round by calling the West Michigan Clean Air Action hotline at 1-800-656-0663, signing on to Enviroflash as described above, or by visiting www.deqmiair.org.
WMSRDC is a partner community of the national “It All Adds Up to Cleaner Air” initiative sponsored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). It All Adds Up is designed to support local public outreach efforts to reduce traffic congestion and air pollution. The initiative emphasizes simple and convenient actions people can take to improve air quality and reduce traffic congestion, while saving time, money, and stress. The main focus is to remind everyone that all the choices we make affect the livability of our community and the quality of the air we breathe.
WMSRDC also promotes EnviroFlash, a service provided by the EPA, that automatically delivers air quality forecasts directly to the public via email or text message. It provides information so people can adjust their daily activities when poor air conditions are expected.


Ok, I’ll be the first to admit I haven’t always gotten sayings right. Homophones, similar words, it’s easy enough to get a phrase wrong. Some are so common, it’s likely you might not realize they aren’t the actual saying. Here’s a few I’ve recently cleared up in my editing:
(For the purposes of this article, the incorrect phrase will be bolded with its intended meaning following. The proper saying will be bolded and underlined in the paragraph following)
– Intensive Purposes. (Meaning: “For every functional purpose; in every practical sense; in every important respect; practically speaking.”) The one I saw this morning editing, and what sparked this blog post. I actually thought this was the saying myself up until a couple of years ago when I was corrected. It makes sense, “for all intensive purposes…” the purposes are important, intense…but no. The correct form is Intents and Purposes. So why isn’t intensive purposes correct? Because the saying comes from a 16th century English law, originally “to all intents, constructions, and purposes.” Shortened to “intents and purposes” it’s now easily mistaken for “intensive purposes”
– Per Say. (Meaning: As such; as one would expect from the name). A mistake that’s easy to understand (after all, it basically just comes out and says “as it says”, right?) the saying is actually Per Se. Why? Because it’s Latin. Se might not be an English word, but in Latin, “se” means “itself” (or himself or herself depending, but we’ll just stick with “itself”). Therefore, per se means “by itself”.
– Wallah. (Meaning: There it is, ta-da, presto). Another misunderstanding of a foreign word. When people write “Wallah!” they generally are trying to write what they’ve heard “Voila!” (a French word coming from the words vois [to look] and la [there or it]) as. While it might more technically come out to “look there!” it’s generally used (in France and in the English-speaking world) as “Here it is!” or “Ta da!” (for example “You add some ribbon, and voila! A new dress!”)
As added incentive to use the proper spelling, “Wallah” is itself a word meaning: “One employed in a particular occupation or activity” (coming from a Hindi word [vala] meaning “pertaining to or connected with”). Not what I think people mean when they say something along the lines of “Wallah! A new dress!”
– Say “I”. (Meaning: I agree). Perhaps it isn’t a foreign language misunderstanding, but this one is a replacing a common English word with one a little more obscure. Aye. Say “I” generally makes sense in the context (If you consider it something along the lines of: “If you agree, volunteer yourself.”) but “Say ‘Aye’” makes even more sense, quite literally meaning “yes“. So “say ‘aye’ ” is asking people to say yes to a vote.
– Bunker Down. (Meaning: to take shelter; to assume a defensive position to resist difficulties). This mistake comes from a combination of places, I think. 1) taking the military phrase “bunk down” (meaning to go to bed) and 2) misunderstanding the proper phrase Hunker Down. While it might make sense to have “bunker down” as an extension of “bunking down” a bunker generally is “a bin or tank especially for fuel storage, as on a ship” or “an underground fortification” While it is possible to make “bunker” a verb, the verb forms are bunkered, bunkering, and bunkers, never just bunker. Hunker, on the other hand, means “To squat close to the ground”, “To take shelter, settle in, or hide out”, or “To hold stubbornly to a position” Bunker might make sense if you ignore the noun/verb problem, but hunker undoubtedly makes more sense.
– Reek Havoc. (Meaning: to cause a lot of trouble or damage). The “havoc” part of this saying doesn’t need much explanation. After all, havoc means: “wide and general destruction : devastation”. So, since you have the destruction part of “cause a lot of damage” all you need is the “a lot”. Reek means “to give off or become permeated with a strong or offensive odor” so, metaphorically, it could make sense. Someone who “reeks charm” gives off a lot of charm, so someone who “reeks havoc” causes a lot of destruction. The saying, however is Wreak Havoc , which makes slightly more sense with one of the meanings of “wreak” being to “inflict or take vengeance”. Rather than giving off havoc (“reeking” havoc) someone is inflicting havoc (wreaking havoc).
– Hone In. (Meaning:Directing yourself towards/zooming in on a target). Like the others, hone in generally makes sense. Meaning “to sharpen” or “to perfect” it’s possible to understand hone in as sharpening your direction or sight towards a target. The correct saying, however, is Home In. Coming from the idea of homing pigeons which were commonly used in the 19th Century to deliver messages, home in now covers anything that’s directing itself towards a target (such as missiles). So HOMing pidgeons=HOME in.
Of course, this might be starting to fall under the “popular use changes the lexicon” phenomenon. With enough people using this saying incorrectly, it’s possible it will start being accepted as “hone in” (even if that’s not the original saying).
– Maul It Over. (Meaning: take your time to think about something). One of the funnier mistakes I’ve found, I’m sure it comes from “maul” sounding similar to “mull”. Of course, a maul is a heavy hammer and to maul is to beat, bruise, mangle, or handle roughly. While I suppose it’s possible to maul a thought, people generally are looking for the slightly less violent Mull It Over. While interestingly enough, to mull something can mean to pulverize it, mull over a thought is using mull’s second meaning: “to consider at length : ponder” You are considering a thought at great length, not beating it up.
– Mute Point. (Meaning: a point that has been rendered irrelevant). While this “mute point” might have originally meant “[a point that is] to be definitively determined by an assembly of the people” it currently means (at least in the US) that the point is irrelevant to whatever is happening. And that’s why mute makes sense, yes? Someone who is mute can’t talk, you don’t need to talk about that point, wallah (cough, voila) you have a mute point. Properly, however a “mute point” is actually a Moot Point While the definition of “moot” might not help explain why it’s “moot” not “mute” (moot meaning “subject to debate, dispute, or uncertainty”) a moot point comes from a law student practice (starting in the 16th century) of participating in “moot cases”. Using these practice or hypothetical cases, the students could discuss hypothetical case law. Thus, a point in a moot case was hypothetical, and often not relevant to actual cases, bringing us Moot Points.
– Squash Their Hope. (Meaning: Kill someone’s hope; stop someone from hoping something will happen). This mistake may make the most sense to me. You’re trying to kill someone’s hope. If you squash a bug, you kill it. Ergo “Squash their hope” makes sense. Though a valid conclusion, the saying is actually Quash Their Hope. Perhaps a little more obscure (but two hundred years older than the word “squash”) quash means “to make void, annul, crush.” So, while “squash” might be the same sort of idea (crushing something) quash brings along all sorts of other fun meanings. (Not only are you crushing someone’s hope, you’re defeating it forcibly.)
– Ripe with Conflict. (Meaning: Conflict abounds). Ripe makes some sense here. Something that is “ripe with conflict” means there’s a lot of conflict going on. Ripe fruit means it’s really full and ready to eat. It doesn’t completely make sense, but who says idioms have to? Well, idioms don’t, but the proper saying (Rife with conflict) makes just a little more sense. You see, “rife” means: “plentiful” or “abundant”. So something “rife with conflict” is abundant with conflict. Makes just a little more sense than “ripe”.
The main problem with these misunderstood sayings is, as I’ve pointed out, most generally make sense if you don’t think about them too much (you can even make an argument for some going both ways, as I know since my fiance and I spent the better part of a meal debating “hone in” and “bunker down” when I originally talked about writing this article). As long as a saying generally makes sense, people don’t tend to think about them too much. After all, someone might tell you to “take a knee”. If you aren’t a sports person, it might not make sense why, as Urban Dictionary puts it, that means “taking a temporary break from an activity” but you can come up with some reason for it (kneeling would be taking a break…) If you heard the saying a few times as “take a T” you could likewise more than likely come up with a reason for it (T…it’s a sports metaphor…Take a timeout? That works).
Misusing several sayings isn’t about not understanding the words, it’s about not hearing something correctly, and coming up with something that generally makes sense. Idioms are, after all, figurative. They only generally have to make sense.
Just, generally, the actual saying has a reason it’s the way it is, and thus makes a little more sense than its alternatives.
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American Films Abroad: Hollywood's Domination of the World's Movie Screens from the 1890s to the Present
McFarland, 1997年1月1日 - 366 頁
While Hollywood contends that the domination of American films abroad is due to the quality of its product, the truth is that the major American movie studios have established a virtual worldwide monopoly on the distribution and exhibition of the film industry. The United States government has greatly aided Hollywood's effort's and continues to do so.
The U.S. governemnt first became heavily involved with the film industry in 1916 when U.S. consuls were instructed to report on the market for American movies. The government, in turn, made this information available to the industry. Eight companies (MGM, Paramount, 20th Century-Fox, RKO, Warner Bros., Universal, United Artists, and Columbia) used the government information to establish a virtual cartel. This work examines the practices of this cartel in its various forms, how it came to dominate the industry worldwide, and the role the U.S. government has played in advancing its monopolistic practices.


Online & virtual education : it's effectiveness & impact on high school mathematics and science students
Mills, Christian Robert
MetadataShow full item record
This descriptive research paper discusses the effects of online instruction on high school mathematics students. The project was designed to determine if students enrolled in online mathematics and science courses can or will receive a level of instruction comparable to students who take their high school mathematics courses in a traditional classroom. It is desired that students in online courses make progress during the semester or year equal to or within a range of those students in traditional courses. Online education has the potential to bring quality education to those students who may not be able to find it in a traditional classroom. By helping these students to receive their education despite varying circumstances, we will be helping to reduce the dropout rate as well as encouraging students to complete their education, and perhaps go to college. Students with differing circumstances were enrolled in online courses at Rawlins High School in Rawlins, Wyoming. These students were monitored during the course of the 2010 - 2011 school year, and their progress was measured and compared to progress made in traditional courses. The teacher completing this research chose to examine the progress of all students who successfully completed one or more online mathematics and science courses. Their data was then compared with the data from the students enrolled in the teacher's traditional mathematics courses. At the conclusion of the 2010 - 2011 school year, it was determined that students enrolled in online mathematics and science courses made sufficient progress. However, student comments and data suggested that a hybrid-type online course may be more effective and better accomplish the desired goals for students with exceptional circumstances.


Last year, Thomas Thwaites decided to take a break from being a human and escape all his worries by transforming himself into a goat and spending his days grazing in the Alps.
In his book, “GoatMan: How I Took a Holiday from Being Human,” Thwaites describes his days with the goats grazing in the Alps with a herd of goats.
Goats, like other livestock, graze for about seven to 12 hours a day. During that time, goats use an organ called a rumen that is filled with microorganisms that help them break down all that grass into edible sugars.
Unfortunately for Thwaites, humans don’t have this organ. To get around this problem, he considered a variety of options: Swallow a microbial mixture that would mimic the rumen and help him digest the grass? That option, he was told, could be dangerous; who knew what kind of bugs live in a goat’s rumen that could potentially be harmful to a person? What about using a chemical enzyme that would break down the grass? He was told this option could be unsafe too.
So in the end, Thwaites built himself a pouch. The pouch collected the grass he grazed on all day.
“I kind of quickly learned which patches of grass were kind of tasty and which were a bit kind of bitter,” Thwaites told Business Insider. “It was just a nice experience walking around with a big clump of grass in your teeth and chewing it up.”
Then at night, Thwaites used a standard pressure cooker to cook the grass and break it down into a kind of “grass-stewy soup.”
Before drinking the concoction, he used a chemical test that confirmed the greens had been broken down into sugar.
As much as technological advancements aided Thwaites’ adventure, the shortcomings — especially when it came to food — were fairly disappointing. Thwaites told Business Insider that he’d eventually like to work on building a “kind of artificial rumen,” but that will likely take some time.
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Temporal range: Lower Cretaceous
|S. millenii fossil displayed in the Hong Kong Science Museum|
Xu, Wang & Wu, 1999
Sinornithosaurus (derived from Latin and Greek, meaning 'Chinese bird-lizard') was a feathered dinosaur from the Lower Cretaceous, a dromaeosaur. It was found in the Yixian Formation in what is now China.
This new fossil supports the idea that these dinosaurs did not have scaly, reptile-like skin, but had a softer, downy coat. No fossil skin impressions of these dinosaurs had been found previously.


Table of Contents
- 1 The Basics
- 2 Technical Performance
- 3 Ripple vs Bitcoin: Decentralization?
- 4 Consensus Mechanism
- 5 Comparison Table
- 6 Ripple vs Bitcoin: The Story So Far
- 7 Ripple vs Bitcoin: The Conclusion
The BasicsIn their simplest form, both Bitcoin and Ripple are cryptocurrencies that are supported by blockchain technology, which allows people from all over the world to use these blockchains to send and receive funds. Both projects have their own native coin, which can be purchased online at a third-party exchange.
Bitcoin ExplainedCreated in 2009, Bitcoin was the first and original cryptocurrency. It was built by an anonymous developer called Satoshi Nakamoto, who wanted to create a new global payments system that would allow people to send and receive digital money on a peer-to-peer basis. Peer-to-peer is similar to “Person-to-Person”, meaning that no third party or intermediary is required to process and verify transactions. As a result, the Bitcoin system is “Decentralized”, because it is not controlled by any single person or authority, nor is it controlled by any central bank, government or nation-state. Instead, transactions are confirmed by the contributing Bitcoin community, called “Miners”. Anyone in the world can become a miner by hooking a device up to their computer. In return for their time and electricity costs, those who are successful are rewarded with extra Bitcoin. If you’re a little confused, don’t worry, I’ll talk about this process in more detail in the next section! Bitcoin (BTC) also has a maximum supply of 21 million coins. The current circulating supply is 17.1 million, with the number increasing each day. However, there will never be any more than 21 million Bitcoins mined, and that figure expects to be hit in 2140. Now that’s Bitcoin explained, the next part of my Ripple vs Bitcoin guide is going to find out about Ripple.
Ripple ExplainedAlthough they are targeting the financial services industry, anyone can buy and sell the currency of Ripple – the XRP coin. People often get confused about the difference between Ripple and XRP, so I’ll quickly clear things up. Ripple is the name of the blockchain technology that allows people to send and receive funds (these funds can translate into most currencies out there). On the other hand, XRP is the name of the cryptocurrency, much in the same way that Ether is the cryptocurrency and Ethereum is the blockchain. Just like Bitcoin, the Ripple blockchain does not require third parties to confirm and verify transactions, allowing people to send and receive funds on a peer-to-peer basis. In total, there will be a maximum supply of 100 billion XRP coins, with a current circulating supply of about 60 billion. So, now that you know the absolute basics of Ripple XRP, the next part of my Ripple vs Bitcoin guide is going to look at how each blockchain performs!
BitcoinWhen sending funds to another person, the Bitcoin blockchain takes approximately 10 minutes for the transaction to be confirmed. This remains the same no matter where the sender and receiver is located. Whether you are sending funds to somebody in the same city as you or to someone on the other side of the world, it will always take about 10 minutes! When comparing this to the time it takes to send money overseas with a bank, it is much quicker to use Bitcoin, as banks can take up to three days to process the transfer. However, as the system has become more and more popular, the amount that users have to pay has increased quite substantially. During its busiest period in late 2017, transaction fees were costing as much as $40, which isn’t sustainable for micropayments to say the least. Fun Fact: High Bitcoin fees was the main reason that Bitcoin Cash was created! Every system in the world can only handle a certain amount of transactions before it becomes overloaded. For example, although in 2016 Visa only process an average of 1,667 transactions per second, it has the ability to process over 50,000 per second if it needs to, but cannot exceed much further than that. On the other hand, you have Bitcoin. Even though Bitcoin is the most popular cryptocurrency in the world, it is only able to process a maximum of 7 transactions per second. This is a huge scalability problem that Bitcoin must resolve if it wants to achieve the dream of becoming a global payment system. So, now that you know about the performance of Bitcoin explained, the next part of my Bitcoin vs Ripple guide is going to see how Ripple performs…
RippleAs you will soon find out, the Ripple blockchain performs much better than Bitcoin’s. Here’s why… Firstly, when sending XRP from one wallet to another, it only takes a few seconds for the transaction to be confirmed. Clearly, this makes Ripple a much better alternative to Bitcoin when it comes to the speed of transactions. $3.29, this would have amounted to a transaction fee of just $0.0000329. This means that you could send over 30,000 transactions before you paid $1 in transaction fees! So, what about scalability? Well, once again, the Ripple coin performs significantly better than Bitcoin. Remember how I mentioned earlier that Bitcoin can only handle 7 transactions per second? Well, Ripple can process more than 1,500 per second! All of the above statistics make Ripple ideal for the multi-trillion-dollar inter-bank industry. This is where banks send money to other banks located in other countries. At the moment, banks need to use a third-party organization located in Belgium called SWIFT. As a result, transactions are expensive and can take around 3 days before they are settled. Moreover, when banks are located in developing nations and have to trade in a currency that isn’t popular, they often have to perform multiple exchanges as there is not enough liquidity in the market. By using Ripple, banks can use XRP as a bridge of liquidity, saving institutions lots of time and money. So, now that you know how the two blockchain projects perform, the next part of my Ripple vs Bitcoin guide is going to discuss which blockchain is more decentralized.
Ripple vs Bitcoin: Decentralization?Decentralization means to not be controlled by any single person or authority. However, there are ongoing arguments in the cryptocurrency community regarding the fact that both projects aren’t as decentralized as they should be.
BitcoinWhen it comes to Bitcoin, although it is certainly true that no single entity controls the network, things have changed since its early days. When Bitcoin was first launched, anybody could become a miner using a GPU or CPU, which are cheap to buy. However, it is now possible to use a piece of expensive hardware called an ASIC. ASIC’s are much more powerful than GPU’s and CPU’s, meaning that they will always have more chance of winning the mining reward. As a result, those who can’t afford to buy ASIC’s don’t have a fair chance of contributing to the system. There are now some powerful organizations which manage ‘Mining Pools’, in which different Bitcoin miners join their resources together to ensure that they have the best chance of winning the Bitcoin mining reward. They build Bitcoin mining farms consisting of thousands of ASIC devices. The idea is simple – the more ASIC devices you have, the more chance you have of winning the reward. Most of these mining pools are located in China, where electricity costs are really cheap. When I last checked the statistics (which you can see below), just four mining pools control more than 50% of the total Bitcoin hashing power. This puts a lot of power in to the hands of a very small amount of people, which goes against the decentralized idealogy of Bitcoin.
Ripple XRPThere are also concerns from cryptocurrency fans that Ripple XRP is not as decentralization as it should be. Firstly, unlike Bitcoin, the Ripple coin is controlled by a company called Ripple Labs. It is important to remember that although they do not have the power to amend transactions or control people’s funds, they do control the supply of XRP. At the time of writing, June 2018, there are approximately 60 billion coins in circulation, of a total supply of 100 billion. The big problem is that the remaining 40 billion (40%) is controlled by the founders of Ripple – Ripple Labs. They have the power to do what they want with the coins, meaning they technically have the ability to manipulate its price. If Ripple Labs decided to issue a large amount of the coins they control, it could affect the price in a negative way. This isn’t the case with Ripple as it isn’t possible to mine XRP. Instead, the network uses something called “Transaction Validators”. The only people that can become a transaction validator are the banks that install the technology. Technically speaking, it is still decentralized because no single validator can take control of the network, nor can they amend or manipulate a transaction. However, some people think that everyone should have a chance to contribute to the network, not just financial institutions. So, now that you know some of the concerns that people have regarding the decentralization of both projects, the next part of this Ripple vs Bitcoin guide is going to discuss how transactions reach consensus. Bitcoin vs Ripple: How do They Reach Consensus? Neither of these protocols require a third party to confirm, verify and audit transactions. So, how do they do it? Firstly, let me quickly explain what a consensus mechanism is. Every blockchain uses a cryptographic algorithm to confirm that a transaction is valid without going through an intermediary. This ensures that the person sending the money actually has the funds, and it also makes sure that the funds are not spent twice (double-spending). Every device that is connected to the Bitcoin or Ripple network is called a node, and for a transaction to be confirmed, a percentage of nodes must “Reach Consensus” — which basically means they agree that the transaction is valid.
Bitcoin: Proof-of-WorkThe first ever blockchain consensus mechanism was created by the developer of Bitcoin, and it is called Proof-of-Work. The best way to understand Proof-of-Work is to think about a really difficult calculation. The Bitcoin network generates a random calculation that is so difficult that no human could solve it. Instead, it requires a large amount of computational power to solve. The calculation takes 10 minutes to solve. Once it is solved, the Bitcoin transaction is confirmed as valid. Every single node that is connected to the network competes with each other to become the first device to solve the calculation. Whoever gets there first, wins the Bitcoin mining reward. The main problem with the Proof-of-Work model is that it requires really large amounts of electricity. For example, a recent study revealed that Bitcoin mining consumes more electricity than 159 individual nations! The second issue with Proof-of-Work (as I discussed earlier) is that it allows people to use really expensive hardware, meaning that those who can invest more money have a much higher chance of winning the Bitcoin reward. Thirdly, and possibly most importantly, the Proof-of-Work model has contributed to the issues of high fees, slow transactions and the inability to scale. So, now that you know what consensus mechanism Bitcoin uses, the next part of my Ripple vs Bitcoin guide is going to look at what Ripple uses!
Ripple: Federated Byzantine AgreementIn FBA, each node will trust a limited number of other nodes, which is known as a “Circle”. The Ripple network has lots of different circles, which each overlap each other so that essentially every node is in some way connected. Transaction Validators that are used to verify transactions (banks that use the technology), they are individually selected and accredited prior to them having the ability to engage in transaction verification. This means that in reality, none of the banks that use the technology are going to want to manipulate consensus, as they are using it to support their own transactions. Even if they did, it would be clear for all other Transaction Validators to see, who would simply reject the transaction. Unlike Bitcoin, Ripple and its FBA consensus mechanism is not required to solve really complex calculations, meaning that it uses far less electricity than Bitcoin. This makes it a more efficient system and ensures that transaction fees are kept low. Ultimately, in the few seconds that the system needs to confirm a movement of funds, at least 80% of the Transaction Validators must reach consensus to mark the transaction as valid. So, now that you know about the two consensus mechanisms that are used, the final part of my Ripple vs Bitcoin guide is going to look at how the projects have performed so far! First though, here is a comparison table so you can recap on some of the main differences between these two projects!
|Consensus Mechanism||Transactions p/s||Market Value||Circulating Supply||Launch Date||Team/Organisation||Transaction Fees|
|Ripple||FBA||1,500||18 Bil||40 Bil||2012||Ripple Labs||<$0.01|
|Bitcoin||PoW||7||104 Bil||17 Mil||Jan 2009||Bitcoin Core||$0.50-$3.00|


The Botany Cabinet, or the Leaf cabinet as it is sometimes known, is a Montessori sensorial material that provides children with an. introduction to the world of botany.
The Botany Cabinet, or the Leaf cabinet as it is sometimes known, is a Montessori sensorial material that provides children with an
introduction to the world of botany. It is also one of the first Montessori materials children work with that allows them to explore the world through a scientific lens.
The Botany Cabinet comprises a wooden cabinet which houses three drawers filled with different leaf forms. Two of the drawers have six leaf insets each, and the third draw have two leaf shapes, and four wooden squares.
The leaf insets are coloured dark green, with a knob in the centre allowing children to pick up each piece of the material with ease. These are kept in yellow squares that have a cut out of each leaf shape.
The direct purpose of the Botany Cabinet is to help children develop the ability to visually discriminate between shapes and objects of different sizes. Students begin working with this material at three years of age, as this is the developmental period when they become familiar with the pincer grip, a key feature of this Montessori learning activity.
Although scientific in concept, the Leaf Cabinet is part of the Montessori Sensorial Curriculum. Its primary purpose is to encourage children to refine their senses of sight and touch as they explore this material. The secondary aim of the material is to introduce the child to the language and concepts associated with the studies of botany and science.


By Mike Hornick
December 21, 2015 | 4:58 pm EST
A study of mango wash water finds that chlorine and peracetic acid are more effective than chlorine dioxide in eliminating salmonella from packinghouse dump tanks.
The research by Mary Anne Amalaradjou, assistant professor of animal science at the University of Connecticut in Storrs, is funded by the National Mango Board and the Center for Produce Safety. Amalaradjou is examining the impact of disinfectants on salmonella transfer.
Mangoes come in contact with water three times in a packinghouse. The findings so far concern the first of these, a brief wash in a dump tank. Amalaradjou plans to complete the remaining steps, hot-water treatment and hydro cooling, in 2016.
“With chlorine and (peracetic acid at the levels used), we don’t recover any salmonella from the water or mangoes or the dump tank,” she said in a news release.
“With chlorine dioxide up until 30 seconds, it’s still positive (for salmonella). But after that it becomes negative.”
The two-year study is expected to add information to the National Mango Board’s manual of best management practices.
“I’m trying to figure out how effective the current practices are at controlling salmonella and what can be done to make them better,” Amalaradjou said in the release.
The National Mango Board flew her to a Puerto Rico packinghouse to see the steps the fruit passes through from arrival until it is shipped. That helped her replicate the processes on a smaller scale using 30-gallon containers in her laboratory.
Amalaradjou also was able to collect water samples so she could simulate the same ratios of soil and organic matter in her lab.
Organic matter is an issue, especially with chlorine and chlorine dioxide, because in large enough volumes it can significantly reduce their effectiveness. Based on her packinghouse water sample analysis, Amalaradjou used mango wash water that contains latex, the main organic matter found in mango dump tank water, as well as clay-loam soil to simulate organic contamination.
The board also continues to ship her freshly harvested fruit that has not been through a packinghouse.
Manuel Michel, executive director of the National Mango Board, said the mango industry funded the project because it is always seeking more effective water disinfectants.
“This study will generate new knowledge and should provide science-based results that mango operations can incorporate right away,” Michel said in the release.
“Food safety and quality are top priorities for the mango industry, and the information generated from this study will help improve the best management practices in the areas of washing and postharvest handling of mangoes.”


Morality (part 2) One way of classifying the various theories is as follows:
Morality might exist as absolute truths – so-called Moral Realism or Ethical Absolutism. Just as we believe that 1 + 1 = 2 must always be true, so perhaps it is somehow necessarily true that we should not kill another human being. This is effectively what Plato believed, with the truths somehow existing in the world of Forms. We discover these principles through philosophical insights rather than inventing them or devising them to suit our own purpose. And they necessarily apply to everyone irrespective of their inclinations or the nature of the society in which they live.In the absence of absolute certainty regarding these truths, we are obliged to act according to what we think they are.In this view of morality, things are ‘good’ irrespective of whether a God decrees them. We ought to be able to see that ‘loving our neighbour’, for example, is going to be beneficial to ourselves and society, whereas committing adultery is likely to upset a few people. We should not really need any outside agency to endorse such attitudes.
When deciding whether an action should be deemed good or bad (as opposed to whether it is something we ourselves want to do), people will sometimes try to calculate whether the result will benefit the majority. This principle was expressed in the 18th Century by Francis Hutcheson: ‘That action is best which procures the greatest happiness for the greatest numbers’. It is effectively the opposite of what Kant was saying. Whereas he insisted that it was the motive alone that determined whether an act should be deemed to be ‘good’ and that we should act from a sense of duty, Hutcheson was claiming that motives were ultimately irrelevant, it was the outcome alone that mattered.
Two philosophers in particular were responsible for developing and propagating these ideas and thereby influencing many people’s attitude towards morality. The first was Jeremy Bentham, who is generally regarded as the originator of so-called ‘Utilitarianism’, which says that conduct is right or wrong according to its tendency to produce favourable or unfavourable consequences for the people who are affected by it. It was given this name because actions are judged on the basis of their ‘utility’ or usefulness in bringing about good, or benefit of some kind as opposed to evil or unhappiness. Continue reading →