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Types of Psoriasis (cont.)
IN THIS ARTICLE
Guttate psoriasis looks like small salmon-pink (or red) bumps on the skin. The word guttate is derived from the Latin word gutta, meaning drop. Usually, a fine scale is on the drop-like lesion that is much finer than the scales in plaque psoriasis. Guttate psoriasis usually occurs on the trunk, arms, or legs. However, it may cover a large portion of the body. This type of psoriasis often "runs its course" and may even go away without treatment in a few weeks. Sometimes guttate psoriasis can be more persistent, and it may evolve into plaque psoriasis.
Picture of guttate psoriasis. Red drop-like lesions are found on the skin. Image courtesy of Hon Pak, MD.
A close-up view of guttate psoriasis. Notice the salmon-pink (red) drop-like lesions. Fine scales can be seen on the lesions. These scales are much finer than those associated with plaque psoriasis. Image courtesy of Hon Pak, MD.
The guttate form of psoriasis is the second most common form of psoriasis. About 2% of those with psoriasis have the guttate type. This type of psoriasis is more common in children and adults younger than 30 years of age.
The trigger to the disease is often a streptococcal bacterial throat infection. The eruption of the lesions on the skin usually occurs two to three weeks after a streptococcal sore throat. Outbreaks may resolve only to return with the next strep throat.
Medically Reviewed by a Doctor on 7/20/2015
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Bone spavin is a common disease of horses and frequently associated with lameness.
Bone spavin is osteoarthritis or osteitis of the hock joint, usually the distal intertarsal and tarsometatarsal articulations, and occasionally the proximal intertarsal joint. This differentiates it from bog spavin which involves the joint capsule and articular cartilage.
Lesions involve degenerative joint disease, particularly on the craniomedial aspect of the hock with periarticular new bone proliferation, which eventually leads to ankylosis. Although bone spavin usually causes lameness, this may be obscured if the lesions are bilateral.
Theories advanced to explain this condition include faulty hock conformation, excessive concussion, and mineral imbalance. All breeds can be affected, but it is most prevalent in Standardbreds and Quarter Horses.
The lame horse tends to drag the toe. The forward flight of the hoof is shortened, and hock action is decreased. The lameness sometimes is continuous because the bone lesions involve the articular surfaces. The heel may become elongated. Standardbreds develop soreness in the gluteal musculature (so-called trochanteric bursitis, Trochanteric Bursitis) secondary to spavin. In advanced cases, the bony proliferation may be visible on the distal craniomedial aspect of the hock (seat of spavin). When standing, the horse may rest the toe on the ground with the heel slightly raised. The lameness often disappears with exercise and returns after rest. The spavin test (ie, trotting after limb flexion for ~60 sec) may be a useful aid to diagnosis but is not specific for this condition or even this joint. In so-called occult spavin, there are no visible or radiographic exostoses. Local anesthesia of the individual tarsal joints is necessary to localize the exact site of pain responsible for the lameness.
The disease is self-limiting, ending with spontaneous ankylosis of the affected joint(s) and a return to soundness. In the early stages, intra-articular injection of corticosteroids or sodium hyaluronate (or both) may be beneficial. NSAID (eg, phenylbutazone) eliminate or reduce the clinical signs. Working the horse after this treatment is aimed at accelerating ankylosis and resolution of lameness. Surgical arthrodesis is another means of accelerating ankylosis of the affected joint. Cunean tenotomy is commonly used but of questionable value by itself. Deep-point firing used to be advocated for hastening ankylosis, but it is very doubtful that it has any beneficial effect beyond encouraging rest. Corrective shoeing by raising the heels and rolling the toe may help but is unlikely to eliminate lameness on its own.
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Power cords are messy. They clutter up your space and make things kind of ugly. But, alas, they are necessary for the millions of gadgets we must have. Wireless electricity has been talked about for a long time, but for one reason or another it just hasn’t worked out. Well, engineers at MIT now think that we could start seeing it in use as early as 2011 or so. They’ve even formed a company to develop the technology: WiTricity Corp.
The futuristic concept is safe for humans and pets, eliminates the need for problem-prone wiring and expensive batteries, and is just around the corner. It sounds too good to be true, but the through-the-air, completely wireless home isn’t too far off for us. Imagine being able to work on a laptop that never goes dead, power your kids’ toys, and even charge your electric car – all without wires, plugs or batteries. And according to the research team, it wouldn’t add a significant amount to the current cost of energy.
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New sources will continue to be added.
Links are current upon posting, but may expire or move over time.
AHRQ Bioterrorism Readiness Evaluation Tool for Healthcare Facilities
The information and data obtained from this questionnaire will be used to help assess the preparedness and capacity of your hospital to respond to and treat victims of biological incident. In addition, this resource is part of a series of Issue Briefs
AHRQ has prepared on bioterrorism preparedness.
The American Civil Defense Association
TACDA promotes dual-use preparations wherever possible, so that the cost of preparing for disasters is offset by normal day-to-day utility (such as with the Swiss concept of using parking garages for blast shelters). In addition, the dual-use concept can extend into the dimension of ensuring that preparations for natural disasters are done in such a way that preparations for war or terrorism are also addressed.
American Red Cross
Basic guidelines for developing a disaster plan, what to do if there is a terrorism event, and what could possibly happen.
Centers for Disease Control and Preventionhttp://www.bt.cdc.gov
Public Health Emergency Preparedness and Response
The CDC has assembled a stellar site on bioterrorism preparedness. It includes a listing of biological agents/diseases and chemical agents that links to comprehensive medical information about these agents. A section on planning includes information hospitals can use to develop preparedness procedures and policies. A section on state and local preparedness provides a map of the United States that links to individual state assessments of their preparedness status. There is even a section with a model emergency communications plan, and a place where the media can obtain fact sheets about the different agents.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – Smallpoxhttp://www.bt.cdc.gov/agent/smallpox/
This all-encompassing site provides information about smallpox for healthcare providers, public health professionals, kids, teens, parents, laboratory professionals, media, and the military. Basic smallpox information is available in both English and Spanish. Information also can be found about immunizations, and a response plan and guidelines.
FDA reminds all health professionals and the general public that Cipro is approved for the inhaled form of anthrax after an individual has been exposed. Safety and effectiveness in pediatric patients and adolescents less than 18 years of age have not been established, except for use in inhalational anthrax (post-exposure). The FDA Center for Drug Evaluation and Research has posted a comprehensive web page on the use of Cipro for inhalational anthrax.
DisasterAssistance.gov provides information on how to get help from the U.S. Government before, during and after a disaster as well as providing news, information and resources to prepare for disasters and recover afterwards. This page lists resources for recovery after a biological event.
Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Response Association
DERA is a membership organization founded in 1962 as a nonprofit association linking professionals, volunteers and organizations active in all phases of disaster preparedness and emergency management. DERA remains an independent, nongovernmental organization (NGO) with dual missions of professional support and disaster service.
FDA reminds all health professionals and the general public that doxycycline and Penicillin G Procaine have been approved for all forms of anthrax, (inhalational, gastrointestinal, and cutaneous). Use of doxycycline in children under eight presents special concerns because of possible tooth discoloration. Long-term use of intravenous doxycycline or Penicillin G Procaine presents safety concerns, and patients should be switched, when appropriate, to other antibiotics to complete a 60 day course of therapy for inhalational anthrax (post-exposure).
eMedicine Disaster Planninghttp://www.emedicine.com/emerg/topic718.htm
Although the world has yet to experience a terrorist-related nuclear disaster, the raw materials and technology exist to develop nuclear devices as small portable units. No location is immune from the devastating effects of terrorism. Various methods have been developed to assist planners in disaster preparation. One, a modification of the Injury Severity Score, is based on cause, effect, area involved, number of casualties, and other parameters. The potential injury creating event (PICE) system is designed to identify common aspects of a disaster and of response capabilities. Such systems are especially valuable tools in planning for disaster mitigation.
Federal Emergency Management Agencyhttp://www.fema.gov/
This site provides all-purpose emergency guidance on virtually any type of emergency possible, from hurricanes to wildfires to bioterrorism and chemical attack. It also provides a graphical representation of the Department of Homeland Security's threat level color designation. There is a section in Spanish, and a section for children. Disaster fact sheets, flood maps and a map of current disasters also are available.
Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA)
Five in-depth articles published between 1999-2001 spotlight anthrax
, botulinum toxin
, and tularemia
. The 30-plus page articles present the history and potential of the organism as a biological weapon, epidemiology, microbiology and virulence factors, pathogenesis and clinical manifestations and more.
Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Reporthttp://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/indexbt.html
An information roundup of anthrax and bioterrorism stories and articles of interest. In particular, there is an article on distinguishing the symptoms of inhalation anthrax from influenza.
National Academies Presshttp://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=10536&page=R1
Countering Bioterrorism: The Role of Science and Technology
A free executive summary provided by the National Academies Press (NAP) as part of their mission to educate the world on issues of science, engineering, and health.
Public Health Emergency Preparedness and Responsewww.bt.cdc.gov/masscasualties
This site is designed to provide information and tools to help the public, public health professionals, and clinicians prepare for and respond to mass trauma.
Be informed - what to do before, during and after an emergency. You can also sign up for preparedness newsletters and information.
The UCLA Center for Public Health and Disasters (CPHD)http://www.cphd.ucla.edu/bt/btindex.html
Information provided by the CPHD for healthcare providors to learn about recognizing and responding to a biological terrorism event. Training materials include a PowerPoint slide presentation, list of bioterrorism-related journal articles, links to other web-based resources, a guide to writing a disaster plan, and frequently asked questions about biological agents.
U.S. Food and Drug Administration – Bioterrorism and Drug Preparedness
Other Links of Interest
Links to manufacturer sites do not imply endorsement or encouragement on AANA's part to engage with the manufacturer or its products.
For residents of the San Franciso area, this site offers many resources in the event of a natural or man-made disaster. The site's name refers to how long vital services may take to be restored after a disaster occurs.
Disaster Resources: University of Illinois Extensionhttp://www.ag.uiuc.edu/~disaster/
Although primarily for citizens of Illinois and the university's staff, this site provides access to information on disaster preparedness and recovery for the State of Illinois and the Internet community. Information is available from the University of Illinois Extension, along with links to disaster agencies, organizations, and information networks.
HomeSafety - A Comprehensive Guidehttp://homesecurity.net/home-safety-a-comprehensive-guide/
There are many areas of home safety that are very important to know about. These can include preventive measures and unexpected crises, emergency management, fire and burn prevention, senior fall prevention, and more. On average, there are around 245 deaths a year related to home accidents.
Securing Your Home for Natural Disasters
Although there is often little that can be done to prevent a natural disaster from
occurring, a person can take steps to reduce the effect that it has on themselves and their property. This site reviews preparations for flooding, earthquakes, wildfires, hurricanes, tornadoes, hailstorms, and volcanic eruptions.
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The European tadpole shrimp species, Triops cancriformis, has survived for 300 million years. Its longevity is due in part to its eggs which can withstand desiccation, freezing and extremely high temperatures - right up to boiling point.
Extreme survivor: Triops, the 300 million year-old living fossil
22 December 2008
The humble tadpole shrimp has outlived mammoths, dinosaurs and trilobites. Africa Gómez and Thorid Zierold want to know how.
Since life began on Earth, biodiversity has several times been devastated in mass extinction events. Notostracans, or tadpole shrimps, have survived at least three such devastating extinctions maintaining a remarkably stable body shape and way of life. Fossils from Triops, a type of Notostracan from over 300 million years ago, are identical to living species today, so they are considered one of the oldest 'living fossils'.
Triops really are extreme survivors: trilobites, dinosaurs and mammoths, to
name just a few well-known creatures that have at some point co-existed with the
Notostracans, died out while Triops lived on unchanged. Ever since a fellow student in the University of Valencia showed me a handful of these ancient-looking creatures frantically swimming in a jam jar I have found them truly fascinating.
Despite its survival throughout the geological ages Triops cancriformis
is an endangered species in many European countries, including the UK, mainly because of habitat loss and pollution. In the UK it has special conservation status and just two populations are known, one of them in the Caerlaverock Wetland Centre, Scotland, the other in a pond in the New Forest.
A few years ago, an enthusiastic German student, Thorid Zierold, joined our laboratory in the University of Hull to carry out genetic research on the European tadpole shrimp Triops cancriformis. This was a great opportunity to shed some light on the mystery: how have these organisms achieved their extraordinary feat of endurance? Do they have a special 'survival kit' or are they just very lucky?
The dozen or so Notostracan species live in seasonal, freshwater ponds, in temperate regions, deserts and even the Arctic, and they are commonly found in large numbers. The most immediate feature that appears to help Notostracans' survival is that they produce eggs that are extremely resistant to hostile conditions. These resistant eggs withstand desiccation; extremely high temperatures, right up to boiling point; freezing; and even digestive enzymes - this lets eggs survive when the adults that carry them are eaten by birds.
Shrimps in suspended animation
These eggs are also dormant, that is, they do not hatch immediately, only when favourable conditions resume, and can survive in this 'suspended animation' state for years, possibly even several centuries. They can build up in numbers in the pond sediments forming 'egg banks' and this allows populations to persist throughout adverse periods. In addition, eggs can disperse between ponds in birds' feet - or guts - or animal hoofs.
Triops populations can 'disappear', giving the impression of population extinction, only to reappear suddenly in in Scotland's Solway Firth, populations of Triops cancriformis have been reported only in 1907, 1948 and 2004, despite regular surveys. Their resistant developmental form, the dormant egg, could be seen as the 'time and space travel' trick in their survival kit.
Does Triops have a special 'survival kit' - or is it just very lucky?
Another intriguing clue to their survival abilities might lie in their mode of reproduction. Despite their extreme conservatism in body shape, Notostracans show diverse reproductive modes, including separate males and females, hermaphroditism (individuals with both testes and ovaries), and androdioecy. First described by Charles Darwin, androdioecy is an extremely rare reproductive mode, in which populations are made of hermaphrodites and varying proportions of males.
Triops have a wide range of reproductive methods, including hermaphroditism and the rarer androdioecy, where populations are made of hermaphrodites and varying proportions of males.
Hermaphrodites can either self-fertilise or mate with males, but in Triops hermaphrodites cannot mate with each other. Androdioecy has been described in only a handful of animals: some nematodes (including the model organism Caenorhabditis elegans), two crustaceans, Eulimnadia and Triops, and the mangrove killifish Kryptolebias marmoratus. In the European tadpole shrimp Triops cancriformis all three described reproductive modes occur in different populations.
A crucial advantage of androdioecy and hermaphroditism versus the typical reproductive mode with separate males and females is the dispersal advantage they confer: a single individual - hatching in a new pond from an egg carried there on wildfowl feet or animal hoofs - is able to start a population by itself. One of the hypotheses we addressed in the course of our research is if androdioecy, hermaphroditism or both had been involved in the colonisation of northern Europe after the last Ice Age ended. If a flexible reproductive mode allows for rapid colonisation during favourable periods, this could be a key reason for Notostracan survival.
After contacting dozens of researchers across Europe and carrying out our own sampling, we obtained a wide collection of mud samples containing Triops eggs and also preserved Triops . We then applied genetic methods to these samples including analysis of DNA sequences. Our analysis on mitochondrial DNA genes revealed that northern European Triops populations, which are either hermaphroditic or androdioecious, are closely related and have little genetic variation.
This suggests that such reproductive modes must have evolved relatively recently and then facilitated the expansion of this species after the last Ice Age. In contrast, southern populations in the Iberian Peninsula, which could have survived during the Ice Age due to their more temperate climate, were made of males and females in equal numbers, and also had higher levels of genetic variation. Therefore, it appears that reproductive mode variation could be another element of Triops survival kit.
In breeding experiments we used individuals from different T. cancriformis populations hatched from our mud samples to test their ability to reproduce in isolation and also investigated how their genetic material is transmitted to the next generation. Our results suggest that only northern populations can reproduce in isolation and that self-fertilisation is substantial in many northern populations, lending support to androdioecy. Does Triops have any other tricks up its sleeve? We carried out analyses of the phylogenetic relationships of Notostracan species and showed that separate males and females seems to be the original reproductive mode, but that hermaphroditism and androdioecy appear to have repeatedly evolved in this group of organisms. We have suggested that the key to this reproductive flexibility may lie in the way maleness/femaleness is genetically determined.
To demonstrate this we will need to delve deeper in Triops genomes to understand how the different reproductive modes are genetically determined. Given the speed of development of technological advances to investigate organism genomes, we aim to pursue this fascinating line of research in the future to understand the extraordinary abilities of these extreme survivors
We wish to acknowledge Federico Faci Miguel (Sekano Triops www.triops.es) for providing us with his excellent photos. Our heartfelt thanks go to Dr. Larry Griffin (WWT) who kindly provided information on the occurrence of Triops in Scotland.
Dr Africa Gómez is a NERC Advanced fellow in the University of Hull and is interested in the population structure and phylogeography of zooplankton and aquatic organisms with alternative reproductive modes.
Dr Thorid Zierold was PDRA in the NERC-funded project on Triops cancriformis. She is currently working as curator in the Museum of Natural History of Chemnitz (Germany).
For more information see Zierold, T., Hänfling, B. & Gómez, A. 2007. Recent evolution of alternative reproductive modes in the 'living fossil' Triops cancriformis. BMC Evolutionary Biology, 7:161. doi:10.1186/1471-2148-7-161. Freely available at: www.biomedcentral.com/content/pdf/1471-2148-7-161.pdf
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Sachiko Banba aches for children in Fukushima Prefecture, who worry whether they can lead a normal life.
“Three frequently asked questions from children are whether they are OK to live in Fukushima after they get married, whether they can give birth to a baby, and whether their baby will be healthy,” said Banba, 52, who runs a cram school in Minamisoma, Fukushima, less than 30 km from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant.
Although tens of thousands of people fled their homes in Fukushima Prefecture following the March 2011 reactor meltdowns, many, including children, still remain. Most heartbreaking to Banba is the discrimination they face based on ignorance, and the likelihood it will follow them the rest of their lives.
Children catch snatches of the adult debates over the health risks of radiation exposure, and sense something bad might happen.
“It’s due to people’s ignorance. There are still people who think radiation is something contagious,” Banba said. “By gaining correct knowledge, I hope children in Fukushima will be able to talk about radiation (exposure) when they are asked about it.”
Since last year, Banba and Dr. Masaharu Tsubokura have hosted more than 40 radiation study sessions for 1,500 children and adults, supplying people with the necessary information to counter the arguments of those who would discriminate against them.
Many locals have tales to tell, such as the Fukushima woman whose engagement was broken off due to the strong opposition of her fiance’s family.
Banba herself has felt the sting of intolerance many times outside the prefecture.
At a hospital in Tokyo she was eyeballed from head to toe when she handed over her insurance card, which revealed her address.
Some people sent her pictures of babies with birth defects and urged her to leave town and share the photos with the people back home.
Many parents with young children have left Fukushima not only to keep them safe from radiation exposure but also the corrosive effects of discrimination.
According to the Fukushima Prefectural Government, there were 18,000 fewer students in the prefecture’s 708 elementary and junior high schools in May 2012 than there were two years before.
Protecting the thousands of children who remain and easing their anxiety are pressing issues, experts say. One way is through education, while continuing to give checkups to catch any abnormalities as quickly as possible.
“People need to gain radiation literacy through school, social and lifelong education. They need to gain basic knowledge of radiation and radioactive materials,” Ikuro Anzai, a professor emeritus at Ritsumeikan University who specializes in radiation protection, told The Japan Times.
In 2008, the government revised guidelines to make radiation a mandatory subject of study in science classes for third-year junior high school students starting in fiscal 2012. However, the subject isn’t compulsory in elementary schools or for first- and second-year junior high students.
In the absence of a nationwide directive from the central government to make radiation studies mandatory, Fukushima’s board of education has created its own textbook since the 3/11 disasters that contains information about contamination due to the nuclear accident.
As of March, all of the prefecture’s elementary and junior high schools were teaching about radiation exposure, according to the board.
Meanwhile, citizens and medical experts like Tsubokura, who has been checking Minamisoma residents’ internal radiation exposure levels at Minamisoma Municipal General Hospital for nearly two years, are also holding study sessions in Fukushima and other prefectures to pass on basic knowledge as well as the latest findings.
Tsubokura said people outside Fukushima know little about radioactive materials. About half his audience at a lecture in Nagoya didn’t know that radioactive substances from Fukushima No. 1 fell to Earth in rain.
“Many thought a beam was emitted directly from the power plant,” Tsubokura said.
Similar discrimination was seen after the 1945 atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Many people believed survivors were contagious and that marrying hibakusha or their descendants would produce babies with birth defects.
According to a 2008 survey of about 27,000 A-bomb survivors conducted by the city of Hiroshima, the main source of their emotional suffering after their exposure to radioactive “black rain” was discrimination, prejudice and anxiety over long-term health effects.
Even more than 60 years later, they are still haunted by discrimination, said Terumi Tanaka, secretary general of Nihon Hidankyo, an atomic bomb victims’ organization. Speaking at the Japan National Press Club in August 2011, he said the issue of radiation exposure is raised even today when their grandchildren try to marry.
Anzai of Ritsumeikan said that studies show no statistical increase in health risks among the second generation of Hiroshima and Nagasaki survivors.
“Academically speaking, (Fukushima residents’) exposure levels are something that won’t likely have a significant genetic impact. (Their) exposure level is low,” said Anzai, who has been criticizing the government’s promotion of nuclear power plants since the 1960s. “But the difficulty with radiation is that it’s not only about physical health but the mental and social impact.”
Having visited Minamisoma over the past two years, Tsubokura worries about low self-esteem among the residents.
“If your hometown is dismissed, if produce you’ve grown is rejected, and if you are spurned when you grow up, what’s left?” Tsubokura said, adding that regaining self-esteem is one of the biggest problems now facing Fukushima residents.
Some argue that if the anxiety that comes from living in Fukushima is too great, the people should move. But each person has many factors to consider, such as job and family, before reaching a decision, and each decision should be respected, Anzai said.
“Life is not only about radiation protection. It’s fine to evacuate due to fears of radiation. (Each decision) should be made by evaluating many different aspects,” Anzai said.
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Building green includes the materials you use to construct a home or outdoor feature like a patio. The ideal green material is found locally and it can be replaced easily. Cork and bamboo are popular because they grow quickly making them a sustainable material, although there is still the ecological impact of shipping them to your construction site. We know that homes in the US were once built from logs, from sod and today brick homes are popular in areas of the country that don’t have an abundant supply of trees.
There’s a type of material that is found almost everywhere but we don’t think of it as a building material. If you’re looking for a unique green material to build your patio, rammed earth is an option worth researching. Rammed earth construction is perhaps the earliest form of construction in many cultures because dirt is readily available and sturdy when mixed with other natural materials to give it strength. In fact houses built of rammed earth walls also benefit from heat retention, when the thick wall capture and store solar energy. These walls create an indoor environment that is cool in summer and warm in winter.
Rammed earth construction became popular in the US during the Depression, and it’s gaining popularity again along with the emphasis on building green. Rammed earth construction is especially popular in the Southwest part of the US where adobe has always been popular. The same techniques are used in Australia, and while not everyone is building a house with this technique, they are building walls, wine cellars and patio floors with earth.
Yes, it is real and the photo above is a greenhouse wall from Clifton Schooley & Associates, Rammed Earth Designers & Builders, located in Canada! If you still don’t believe you can truly build using dirt, then you’ll also want to look at RammedEarthConstructions.com (they’re in Australia).
How is a Rammed Earth Floor Constructed?
Many people assume that a floor made of dirt will be dusty. That isn’t true when this flooring is installed properly. Just like sealing a deck, a rammed earth floor should be coated with a sealer like linseed oil or a blend of oils. This coating makes the floor’s surface easy to maintain by sweeping and mopping, just like cleaning a tile or wood floor.
Todays’ professionals make rammed earth floors with clay-based soil, sand, water and chopped straw and put linseed oil on top. Every few years it is recommended that the floor is repaired with its native clay material and then resealed with oil. Historically, many different cultures have used rammed earth construction with different forms of sealer. In rural Japan, people used bath water containing oils from their skin, Indian cultures used ghee (clarified butter) and Southwest Americans have used oxblood mixed with dirt for a durable surface.
The Pros and Cons of Rammed Earth
There are many benefits to building a rammed earth patio. Rammed earth is a sustainable material that you can find locally, enabling you to build green. It can be made of 100% natural materials from the land it is built on, and doesn’t produce harmful toxins when it burns. It is nearly as strong as concrete, yet when things are dropped on the ground the floor gives a little so they don’t break.
Making tile or slabs out of rammed earth requires forms for shaping and either a hand-operated compactor or a mechanical one. Virtually any finish you would expect to find for concrete or brick can be applied to rammed earth patio flooring. Any natural color can be used for rammed earth installations, and even designer colors can be found. You can expect rammed earth floors to feel more like leather than concrete, and be just as easy to dent and scratch as a wood floor.
Since rammed earth is a niche material new to the popular market, it may be difficult to find an experienced professional where you live. For DIY homeowners who are adventurous, you might want to try building your own rammed earth floor but do your research and don’t be afraid to get help from the experts.
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Metamorphic textures are either granular or foliated. Here we examine only the foliated types.
Foliation - any planar set of minerals, or banding of mineral concentrations, especially the planar structure that results from flattening of the mineral grains, like micas.
Most Metamorphic rocks form in the influence of a directed stress field. Because of this they develop conspicuous directional textures. For example, the top illustration to the right shows the stress field before application (arrows), with the mineral grains randomly oriented. As metamorphism proceeds, the sheet structure silicates (flat minerals with basal cleavage) such as mica (biotite and muscovite) and chlorite start to grow. The sheets orient themselves perpendicular to the direction of maximum stress. The new parallel mineral flakes produce a planar texture called foliation. (from the Latin folium - leaf). Foliation can be subtle or pronounced depending on the degree of metamorphism.
The foliated textures develop in the sequence listed below as temperature and pressure increases. Here we just define the textures. Below are descriptions and illustrations of how each texture develops.
Slaty cleavage - a pervasive, parallel foliation (layering) of fine-grained platy minerals (chlorite) in a direction perpendicular to the direction of maximum stress. Produces the rocks slate and phyllite.
Schistosity - the layering in a coarse grained, crystalline rock due to the parallel arrangement of platy mineral grains such as muscovite and biotite. Other minerals present are typically quartz and feldspar, plus a variety of other minerals such as garnet, staurolite, kyanite, sillimanite.
Mineral Banding (Gneiss) - The layering in a rock in which bands or lenses of granular minerals (quartz and feldspar) alternate with bands or lenses in which platy (mica) or elongate (amphibole) minerals predominate.
Page of all texture development illustrations
A pervasive, parallel foliation (layering) of fine-grained platy minerals (chlorite) in a direction perpendicular to the direction of maximum stress. Found in the rocks slate and phyllite.
During the earliest stages of low grade metamorphism, most pressure is from the weight of overlying rock. Therefore the new sheet structure minerals, such as clay, tend to parallel the bedding planes of the sedimentary rock being metamorphosed.
With folding the sedimentary clay layering folds with the rock so that the layering still runs parallel with the bedding planes. At this point the rock is still sedimentary.
With deeper burial or under the influence of compression, metamorphism begins. The sedimentary clay minerals are converted into the mineral chlorite, that has flat basal cleavage like a mica. But the chlorite is growing in a stress field that is not always running parallel to the bedding. In the drawing to the right we can clearly see the bedding, but the parallel lines running vertically is the slaty cleavage. In the link to slaty cleavage we can see how the cleavage does not run parallel to the bedding.
Low grade metamorphic rocks are so fine-grained that the new mineral grains are not visible with the unaided eye. Under a polarizing light microscope, the foliation can be seen. However, the slaty cleavage produces a very distinct layering in the rock that often runs at an angle to the bedding. Practically we see this in the rock slate, often used as roof shingles or as paving stones. The slate easily splits into thin sheets with smooth, flat surfaces.
The layering in a coarse grained, crystalline rock due to the parallel arrangement of platy mineral grains such as muscovite and biotite. Other minerals present are typically quartz and feldspar, plus a variety of other minerals such as garnet, staurolite, kyanite, sillimanite.
At intermediate and high grades of metamorphism the chlorite breaks down and recrystallizes to form quartz, feldspar, and mica. The grain size also increases and individual mineral grains can be seen with the unaided eye.
Foliation in coarse grained metamorphic rocks is called SCHISTOSITY. In a hand sample the foliation can be easily seen, and ususally runs planar through the rock; that is, it all runs the same direction. In larger specimens, however, the foliation may be folded. Schistosity is derived from the Latin schistos meaning cleaves easily. Schistosity differs from slaty cleavage in both grain size and mineral content.
Gneissic Mineral Banding
The layering in a rock in which bands or lenses of granular minerals (quartz and feldspar) alternate with bands or lenses in which platy (mica) or elongate (amphibole) minerals predominate.
The most intense form of foliation is mineral banding. At the highest grades of metamorphism, minerals begin to segregate into separate bands. The micaceous minerals separate from the quartz and feldspars.
Page of all texture development illustrations - pdf version
A rock in which metamorphic textures (schistosity or mineral banding) are intermixed with igneous textures (coarse grained igneous rocks).
At this stage we are leaving the realm of metamorphism and entering the realm of igneous rocks. Only the rock has not yet completely melted - it has fractionally melted. Click image for more explanation.
Keys to Metamorphic Mineral and Rock Identification
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What areas of my body do I feel pain?
To start finding out, take a closer look at where you feel pain in your feet and lower body.
B Arch & Midfoot
C Ankles & Knees
D Hips & Lower Back
WHAT Are Flat Feet?
If you have pain or discomfort in your feet or ankle joints, you might have flat feet. Keep reading to find out the difference between a normal foot and a flat foot.
A normal arch creates an upward curve in the middle of your foot. Tendons and ligaments in your foot and lower leg help form the arch and stabilize it. Because your feet help support your entire body, having strong arches is important to your body’s health. When those tendons and ligaments weaken, your arch collapses.
Flat feet, also known as acquired flat foot disorder, result from your collapsed arch. When standing, the sole of your foot should not touch the ground completely. However, a fallen arch causes your foot to roll inwards and your entire sole comes close to touching the ground. Because your feet are the foundation for your body, flat feet can cause problems throughout your skeletal structure and can even bring your joints out of alignment.
With a fallen arch, your tendons and ligaments weaken and cause intense pain throughout your feet, ankles, and lower leg muscles, especially in the region of your arch and heel. Flat feet can also cause a weakened posture and discomfort through your hips and lower back.
What causes Flat Feet?
Although usually uncommon, flat feet can develop as an abnormality in childhood where your foot’s arch never forms. This abnormality can also be present at birth and is often hereditary.
Flat feet usually develops as an adult because of excessive foot stress. Failing to treat a foot injury (such as an ankle sprain) without proper healing time and arch support can lead to flat feet. Some examples of excessive foot stress include:
- Weakened muscles in the foot, ankles, and lower leg from aging or weight gain.
- Standing or walking for longer periods of time, especially in heels or dress shoes.
- Wearing uncomfortable shoes without proper arch support.
- Foot injuries, such as ankle sprains or broken bones in your feet.
To find out more about flat feet, let's first see if you have any symptoms.
How Do I Know If I Have Flat Feet?TAKE THIS SELF-ASSESSMENT
To start finding out, take a closer look at where you feel pain in your feet and lower body joints.
- Do you feel discomfort / pain in your feet and inside of your ankles?
- Do you feel uncomfortable walking or standing, especially for long periods of time?
- Does your foot turn outward at your ankle?
- Is your posture strained, especially in your hips and lower back?
If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, you show some key symptoms of having flat feet.TAKE THE NEXT QUICK ASSESSMENT.
Do this simple test on yourself:
- Get your feet wet.
- Stand normally on a flat surface where you can see the imprint of your feet, such as a sidewalk.
- Step away from your imprints and look at the wet marks.
If you have a normal arch, you will see an imprint with the inside curve of your foot missing. If you have flat feet, your imprint shows almost the entire bottom of your feet.
Are there any serious concerns with
Once you have flat feet, this condition will not go away on its own. Without treatment, your fallen arches begin to put strain and pressure on your ankles and knees. The tendons and ligaments connecting from your feet to your knees and hips become stressed, leading to discomfort in your lower body joints.
Over time, flat feet lead to more serious problems in your body’s alignment. Flat feet cause the angle of your joints in your hips, knees, and ankles to change slightly, causing excess strain on those joints.
If you have continuous strain on the ligaments and tendons that support your ankle and the arch of your foot, it may cause the bones to collapse, leading to:
- Heel spurs, or severe heel pain when first standing or walking after a period of rest.
- Ankle and knee pain from misaligned joints.
- Lower back and hip pain from your ability to absorb shock properly.
- Arthritis, which may develop over time.
Keep reading for recommendations on treatment and relief from the experts at FootSmart, The Podiatry Institute, and the Running Injury Clinic.
How Do I Treat and Prevent Flat Feet?
Since surgery affects your feet for a long period of time, it's best to try some non-surgical treatments first.
- Wearing comfortable and supportive shoes with insoles that fully support the arch and help stabilize the heel. Look for shoes that are comfortable for both work and sporting activities. Insoles add additional support to your shoes and comfort the arch of your foot.
- Wearing orthotics that help distribute and minimize pressure in the foot by providing additional arch support. Orthotics also aid in realigning your foot's ankle joints and bones. Orthotics are custom designed to fit your feet and give you extra support while walking, standing, and running.
- Using arch inserts and wraps that add extra support to your feet, especially if your shoes lack existing arch support. Inserts and wraps help alleviate the pain of flat feet and allow you to last longer on your feet during the day.
If non-surgical treatments are not working for you, talk to a podiatrist or orthopedic doctor. Surgery can help stabilize your foot and ankle bones and aid with foot support
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LONDON — In addition to speaking with a distinctive burr and having a fondness for tartan dress, Scots can claim to be set apart from the English in a number of ways.
Their legal system is separate and more akin to that of France than of England. The Presbyterian religion holds sway. Education is administered according to distinctive Scottish patterns, and Scots claim that it sets higher standards than those in England.
Many Scots insist that the 1707 Act of Union, which allowed Scottish representatives to sit in the London Parliament, now operates against their nation's interests. Some say that the basic bargain on which the Act rests - exchanging independence for economic survival - is no longer valid.
They point to high unemployment in Scotland and the London government's alleged failure to support Scottish industry.
Many Englishmen deny that Scotland is discriminated against, pointing to the fact that the Scottish Office - a separate department of state - administers government policy regarding Scotland.
Time is set aside in the London Parliament for "Scottish business," and Scottish members of Parliament have their own "grand committee."
But the idea persists among many Scots that the English take the nation to their north for granted.
The greatest modern Scottish poet, Hugh MacDiarmid, is better known in Russia than he is in England.
Scottish nationalists have another grievance - persistent English references to Queen Elizabeth II. In Scotland the present monarch is technically the first Elizabeth, since the Tudor queen did not reign in Scotland, which had its own royal family.
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The Bigger Picture: Visual Archives and the Smithsonian
The Smithsonian Seismological Institute
Three years ago, on August 22, 2011, Smithsonian staff members in buildings on the National Mall and the Museum Support Center stopped whatever they were doing and headed into doorways as they experienced a rare event in this region – a 5.8 magnitude earthquake. Next as we headed down the staircase to evacuate the Capital Gallery building, my colleague, Courtney Bellizzi, and I took comfort in knowing that Smithsonian Secretary Wayne Clough was an expert in earthquake engineering. While the damage was not devastating, facilities like the Museum Support Center did have significant damage as shelving vibrated away a foot or more from its normal location. Dr. Clough knew just what to do.
Clough is the third Secretary of the Smithsonian with seismological expertise. The first Secretary, Joseph Henry (1795-1878), a physicist, was very interested in documenting reports of earthquakes and developing measurement tools. After an April 1852 earthquake on the East Coast, Henry sent out a “circular,” asking his meteorological observers to describe its effects on their region.
Charles Doolittle Walcott (1850-1927), the fourth Secretary, was a paleontologist who had directed the US Geological Survey and is best known for discovering the bizarre Burgess Shale deposits in Canada. In 1906, the San Francisco earthquake, one of the worst in history, destroyed the city and took over 3,000 lives, galvanizing the scientific community into action. Walcott was a central figure in an effort to create a Seismological Institute to compile data and ensure long term documentation of these geological events to understand them better – and this effort was to be part of the Smithsonian.
Members of the US Congress knew the country needed to be better prepared for these events and were concerned that earthquake work was carried on by numerous government programs, with little coordination, creating duplicative work that wasted taxpayers’ resources. Walcott proposed that the Smithsonian serve as the central point for earthquake research – compiling scientific data, specimens, images, news reports, etc., in one place, and making these resources readily available to all government agencies involved in responding to earthquakes. This was similar to the role of the Smithsonian’s US National Museum which held the collections amassed by government scientists, so duplicate collections were not created, and made the collections available to all who needed to study them.
In Record Unit 45 - Records of the Office of the Secretary, are four folders documenting the plans for the Seismological Institute. Walcott had the support of the American Philosophical Society, Geological Society of America, National Academy of Sciences, and distinguished scholars, such as Harry F. Reid at The Johns Hopkins University. In 1907, the secretary of the Seismological Society of America, George D. Louderback, wrote to Walcott that the society had approved a proposal to create a Seismological Institute under Smithsonian aegis – with its headquarters in California. In 1910, the Seismological Society of America passed a resolution supporting the creation of a seismological institute which would:
- collect seismological data;
- establish observing stations;
- study special earthquake regions;
- cooperate with organizations and individuals to develop and disseminate seismological knowledge; and
- be placed under the Smithsonian’s aegis because of its tradition of active cooperation with government science units and other scientific organizations.
Initially Walcott worried about funding for the Institute but David Starr Jordan, president of Stanford University, A. C. Lawson of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, and other proponents lobbied the Congress and approached philanthropists for financial support. Walcott coordinated the effort to push for the Institute. Legislation was introduced every year between 1907 and 1913, with some congressional support, but the legislation never made it through to law. The National Weather Service objected, since they wanted to retain their appropriation for collecting seismological data, and the legislation languished in committee through 1913. But then the nation was confronted with an even bigger crisis – one that would take more lives and cause more destruction than the 1906 quake. As World War I broke out in 1914, plans for a new institute were lost amidst the need to prepare for war.
Archives do not just trace past accomplishments, they also show us the roads not taken.
- Record Unit 45 - Office of the Secretary, Records, 1890-1929, Smithsonian Institution Archives
- Joseph Henry and the Origins of American Seismology, O say can you see? blog, NMAH
- The San Francisco Earthquake, 1906, in color, O say can you see? blog, NMAH
- Earthquake Shakes DC, Chronology of Smithsonian History
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Forty years ago this month, a pent-up rage among inmates at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester erupted in murderous violence.
On July 27, 1973, “Big Mac,” as it’s commonly called, became a mini-hell of fire and black smoke, stabbing victims, beatings, hostages and looting. The National Guard and Oklahoma Highway Patrol were called in. The governor, David Hall, implored rioters to give up and met with some to hear their demands.
When the siege ended three days later, three inmates were dead, more than 20 people had been injured, and 24 buildings had been destroyed. Total damage was estimated at more than $20 million.
An outside consultant brought in by the governor to advise on how to rebuild the facility called the uprising “one of the most disastrous events in American correctional history.”
The McAlester riot also highlighted issues that had been brewing for years behind the gates of the state’s oldest prison, built in 1908. Overcrowding, filthy and degraded facilities, untrained and low-paid guards, bad communication and other factors had combined to sow the seeds of the revolt.
Although the riot’s death toll was far short of the 39 who died in the Attica Prison riot in New York two years earlier, it gutted most of Big Mac and reinforced claims in a lawsuit filed the previous year that engulfed the Oklahoma Department of Corrections for decades to come.
In the months and years leading up to the 1973 riot, signs of trouble at the prison were evident.
Earlier in the year, prisoners organized a three-day hunger strike protesting a wide variety of problems within the prison, including poor health care, racial discrimination, and censorship of mail, according to History of Corrections in Oklahoma, a book that details aspects of the riot.
The prison had also seen its share of violence, with 19 violent deaths and 40 stabbings occurring in the three years preceding the riot.
Lionel Johnson, now 71, had been working inside the penitentiary for two years, supervising inmate cooks, when the violence erupted.
He described a rough-and-tumble atmosphere at the prison where fights were commonplace. On the day of the riot, though, it was clear something larger was happening.
“I didn’t know what was going on,” he said. “Looked out the door and everyone was running every which way.”
According to various news reports, several inmates, who were drunk off homemade alcohol, collected long knives and stabbed two correctional officers. From there, the mayhem spread to the entire prison, with inmates taking prison employees hostage and using the public address system to announce a “revolution.”
An inmate held a butcher knife to Johnson’s throat and took him to a cell along with several other prison staffers. The riot erupted around them.
Forty years later, in his kitchen at his home in McAlester, Johnson makes a swift, cross-body motion with an imaginary knife in his hand, describing the stabbing death of an inmate he witnessed.
While fires burned buildings, and nearly two dozen prison staffers such as Johnson were taken hostage, Dale Nave, a 31-year-old McAlester police officer, was finishing up his 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily shift.
“I was just trying to go home,” said Nave, who, along with the other officers, was sent to the prison down the road.
As Nave pulled up, he saw fire and smoke and knew this “was not a little deal inside.” By the time he arrived, inmates at the prison were demanding a meeting with Gov. Hall.
Outside the prison, Nave and a few other officers were tasked with standing guard, using the threat of firearms to keep inmates inside the prison.
“All we was trying to do was contain it,” Nave said. “There were thousands of them, and 15 or so of us.” Local police kept the inmates from leaving the prison until hundreds of reinforcement troops from the National Guard and other agencies arrived.
Inmates set buildings ablaze, but otherwise from the outside it was difficult to tell what was going on inside.
Johnson and other staff members tried to keep a low profile behind the gates. In his two years working at the prison, he had made friendships with some of the prisoners, having grown up with several. As violence and fires sprang up, his friends made sure he was safe.
“It wasn’t really holding hostage. It was just a safe place to be,” Johnson said. “They (the inmates) saved us.”
Hall and police negotiators were able to secure the release of the hostages in less than 24 hours, although complete containment of the riot would take two more days.
Tear It Down
Following the riot, Lawrence Carpenter, a consultant from the American Corrections Association, at the governor’s request, toured the facility, which was in ruins.
In a written report, he called the uprising “unquestionably … the most destructive of any riot that has ever taken place in American prisons.”
Committees and task forces convened for years, with one common theme: The prison should be torn down.
“The McAlester facility should not be rebuilt,” read a 1973 recommendation from the National Clearinghouse for Criminal Justice Planning and Architecture. The report went on to recommend that the state “bulldoze remaining building elements at McAlester.”
A federal lawsuit that had been filed in 1972 by Bobby Battle, an inmate at the penitentiary, led to a court finding that some conditions at the prison violated the U.S. Constitution, leading to implementation of a number of reforms.
Despite the riot and recommendations that the prison be razed, it has endured for four decades, although the population has steadily declined from the levels seen in 1973, from well over 2,000 to fewer than 600.
Perhaps more than anyone else living, John and Dolly Barrier bear the scars of the prison uprising.
John Barrier, 75, was a corrections officer at the time and was seriously beaten by inmates during the riot. In the four decades since, he has suffered strokes and seizures and undergone brain surgeries as a result of his injuries, said his wife Dolly.
“We never had no life,” she said of the decades of care her husband has needed, listing the more significant medical events that have left her husband paralyzed and confined to a wheelchair at a McAlester nursing home.
Two years ago, Corrections Director Justin Jones visited John Barrier and presented him with a folded American flag that had flown in Barrier’s honor over the agency’s offices in Oklahoma City.
"We never want to forget those people," Jones told Oklahoma Watch.
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The earth is made of two parts: Continent and ocean. And the bottom of the ocean … the deep part, not the part that is covered with what is really continent blanketed by a sea or by volcanic oceanic islands … is called the “Abysmal Mantle” because it is part of the earth’s mantle and lies in the abyss. But there is one place and one place only where the abysmal mantle rises above the sea: The Archipelago of Saint Peter and Saint Paul. This is in the Atlantic Ocean, pretty close to where Air France Flight 447 crashed in 2009.
Darwin visited the islands on his way to South America on the Beagle and he found something very interesting. In fact, the bit of text I’m about to show you from Darwin’s writings is among the most interesting in all of his work, if you think about it. And he did think about it. The story had already been developed in the early 19th century circles of Natural Historians that when an island was formed in the ocean, say by a volcano erupting, that it would first be colonized by certain plants, and later certain non-human animals, then later, by humans bearing coconuts and palms. And, in those days as today, most people would assume that a given ecosystem would have at its base some kind of plant or slime or lichen or something.
On St. Paul’s Island, Darwin found a terrestrial ecosystem that had boobys and noddys at its base. The booby and the noddy, two bird species, live on this island. There are no other birds and no mammals, nothing else large. Just these birds and a handful of invertebrates that rely on the birds directly or indirectly. The dominant life form seems to be the spiders, which feed on each other (as they do) and the ticks and moths which in turn feed on the birds. Oh, and then there’s the land crabs that hide in crevasses but frequently come out to … but wait, wait, why am I explaining this to you? Darwin does an excellent job of it.
The following text is from Darwin’s ornithology notes. These are notes that he probably wrote in a bunch of notebooks while on the return leg of the Voyage, which involved something like a year and a few months of mostly sailing or being somewhere uninteresting, during which time he had little else to do but get busy crossing the t’s and dotting the i’s. These are the notes that were transformed into his later writings on the Voyage, and they were studied and published in the mid 20th century by a Darwin scholar (see reference below).
Anyway, without further ado
Darwin on the Land of the Booby and the Noddy:
We found on St. Paul’s only two kinds of birds—the booby and the noddy. The former is a species of gannet, and the latter a tern. Both are of a tame and stupid disposition, and are so unaccustomed to visitors, that I could have killed any number of them with my geological hammer. The booby lays her eggs on the bare rock; but the tern makes a very simple nest with seaweed. By the side of many of these nests a small flying-fish was placed; which, I suppose, had been brought by the male bird for its partner. It was amusing to watch how quickly a large and active crab (Graspus), which inhabits the crevices of the rock, stole the fish from the side of the nest, as soon as we had disturbed the parent birds. Sir W. Symonds, one of the few persons who have landed here, informs me that he saw the crabs dragging even the young birds out of their nests, and devouring them. Not a single plant, not even a lichen, grows on this islet; yet it is inhabited by several insects and spiders. The following list completes, I believe, the terrestrial fauna: a fly (Olfersia) living on the booby, and a tick which must have come here as a parasite on the birds; a small brown moth, belonging to a genus that feeds on feathers; a beetle (Quedius) and a woodlouse from beneath the dung; and lastly, numerous spiders, which I suppose prey on these small attendants and scavengers of the waterfowl. The often repeated description of the stately palm and other noble tropical plants, then birds, and lastly man, taking possession of the coral islets as soon as formed, in the Pacific, is probably not quite correct; I fear it destroys the poetry of this story, that feather and dirt-feeding and parasitic insects and spiders should be the first inhabitants of newly formed oceanic land.
Darwin, C. R. 1845. Journal of researches into the natural history and geology of the countries visited during the voyage of H.M.S. Beagle round the world, under the Command of Capt. Fitz Roy, R.N. 2d edition. London: John Murray. With a bibliographical inroduction by R.B. Freeman.
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Did you know that the first picture book designed for children was published in 1658?
I did not.
Orbis Sensualium Pictus, or The Visible World in Pictures, was published in Nuremburg by the Czech educator Comenius. Originally in German and Latin, it was soon translated into many multilingual editions across Europe.
Each of its 150 chapters contains a woodcut image and a key with straightforward descriptions of everything in it. It's basically an encyclopedia for kids. In Latin.
The English edition on Google Books has all those s's that look like f's, too, which makes the line about the "Mafter teaching the boy how to be wife" feem a little fketchy. But I guess this is how all those 18th century 2yos learned Latin, so download the pdf and ftart teaching!
Orbis Pictus [wikipedia via Juliette Lavie's Textimage article on Emmanuel Sougez]
Orbis Sensualium Pictus, 12th edition, 1777, translated by Charles Hoole [google books, available as pdf, too]
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| 0.954206 | 229 | 2.890625 | 3 |
Products of Diagonal Lengths in the Regular Polygon
A regular polygon is scaled up in size so that its side length equals the length of some diagonal from the smaller polygon (the magnification diagonal). The diagonal lengths in the large polygon are seen to be sums of those in the smaller. The illustration is for an 11-gon.
The diagonals are numbered in order of increasing size. Choose a magnification diagonal and a diagonal from the larger polygon. Then move the slider to see the small diagonals involved in the sum.
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| 0.923259 | 112 | 3.296875 | 3 |
Winter 2010 | Volume 59, Issue 4
Spain’s attack on Fort Caroline and brutal slaughter of its inhabitants ended France’s colonial interests on the East Coast
In June 1564, 300 French colonists arrived at the mouth of the St. Johns River near present-day Jacksonville, Florida, after an arduous voyage across the Atlantic. Among these colons were men from some of France’s greatest noble houses, bedecked in bright clothes and suits of gilded armor, accompanied by a train of artisans and laborers. They built a triangular outer wall on the southern bank, dragged several cannon into it, and set about raising a village, which soon contained houses, a mill, and a bakery. At first the local Timucua were friendly, furnishing them with food and giving them advice about survival.
France had so far established only rugged outposts along what would become known as the St. Lawrence, to harvest fish and furs and probe for the Northwest Passage. Yet these lowly stations soon fell short of satisfying France’s grand ambitions for the New World.
This new settlement—Fort Caroline—represented France’s first permanent colony in what would later become the United States, a continental foothold in the strategic Florida peninsula. From here French colonists had access to the sugar plantations and gold fields of the Caribbean and a chance to prey on bullion-bearing Spanish galleons coming from Mexico and Peru. The French crown had big plans for that muddy bank in northeast Florida.
Like the English pilgrims, most of the French settlers were spirited Protestants—Huguenots who saw the New World as a refuge and an opportunity to establish a model community. But unlike their English counterparts, the French pioneers also counted on direct royal patronage. The Huguenots had come to occupy key positions under the monarchy, and the main backer of the venture, Gaspard de Coligny, was a close adviser to the royal family, admiral of the French navy, and the undisputed Huguenot leader. He moved swiftly to resupply Fort Caroline the following year, dispatching seven ships, a thousand men, and provisions. Meanwhile, the situation at Fort Caroline had become dire as relations with the Indians had grown strained and the incipient French settlement had experienced mutinies. Just as the colonists were about to leave, the relief expedition finally arrived in the summer of 1565.
Hearing of this intrusion, Spain had dispatched Pedro Menéndez de Avilés with an armada under sweeping orders to “take the Florida coast.” After the two fleets brushed briefly, Menéndez prudently retreated southward, where he broke ground for a new stronghold, St. Augustine, which has gone on to prosper and is today the oldest European-founded town in the continental United States.
Luck favored the Spanish. The French ships, which were roughly twice as numerous and much better supplied, ran into a hurricane, which blew some out to sea and forced others aground. Meanwhile Menéndez sent his men overland against Fort Caroline. At dawn on September 20, 1565, he and 500 men armed with arquebuses, pikes, and targets surprised the fort and overran it. Such men over 15 not killed at the outset were summarily executed. Only women, girls, and young boys were spared. Over the next few weeks Spanish soldiers mopped up the Florida coast, putting to death any French sailors who had managed to survive the storm and shipwreck.
The French would come back to the Florida coast and exact harsh retribution, slaughtering Spaniards. But the damage to French interests on the East Coast had already been done. The French had been driven into the distant north, leaving a vacuum of settlement on the Atlantic coast for the English, Dutch, and Swedish settlers who arrived half a century later when Spanish power was already passing into decline. Had Fort Caroline prospered, a sizable French-speaking area such as Quebec could well exist in Florida today. But the events of 1565 steered the history of North America in a different direction.
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| 0.976931 | 838 | 3.8125 | 4 |
RIEGER, PAUL (1870–1939), German rabbi, scholar, and historian. Rieger, who was born in Dresden, served as rabbi to the Reform congregations at Potsdam (1896–1902), Hamburg (1902–19), Brunswick, and Stuttgart (1922–39) where he died. He published works on the terminology and technology of handicrafts in the Mishnah, Versuch einer Technologie und Terminologie der Handwerke in der Mischnah (1894), and on various aspects of contemporary German-Jewish history. His major work was his participation, in collaboration with his friend Hermann Vogelstein, in a massive work on the history of the Jews in Rome (Geschichte der Juden in Rom), as the result of a prize competition sponsored by the Moritz Rapoport Foundation in Vienna in 1890. Rieger wrote the entire second volume (1895), dealing with the period from 1420 to 1870, as well as some parts of the first volume (1896). Notwithstanding the somewhat arid treatment and heavy style, it remains the standard work on the subject and is the basis of the work
H. Liebeschuetz, in: YLBI, 8 (1963), 252–3.
Source: Encyclopaedia Judaica. © 2008 The Gale Group. All Rights Reserved.
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| 0.907968 | 290 | 2.578125 | 3 |
February 27, 2013 – The U.S. Department of State’s decision to lift Presque Isle Bay’s designation as an area of environmental concern was based on more than 20 years of research, much of it led by the staff at Pennsylvania Sea Grant, a partnership of Penn State Erie, The Behrend College; the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
“It took a lot of work to get to this point,” said Eric Obert, extension director for Pennsylvania Sea Grant. His involvement in the project began in 1990, when he helped tag and track 2,000 brown bullhead catfish for the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.
Bullheads are a good indicator species. Because they are bottom-feeders and have no scales, they are susceptible to the effects of pollution. The 1990 study, which was designed to estimate the population of bullheads in Presque Isle Bay, found plenty with problems: 65 percent of the fish had skin lesions.
Another 21 percent had liver tumors. That was a key reason the bay was designed an “Area of Concern” under the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement. Environmentalists supported the move, which brought federal attention – and funding – to the pollution in the water.
In the years since, as conditions improved, experts continued to watch the bullheads. They photographed skin tumors and tested the bile from fish gall bladders. With the help of Michael Rutter, an associate professor of statistics at Penn State Behrend, they tracked not only the weight, length and gender of the fish they caught, but also their age. Biologists calculate that by cutting open the fish’s otolith, an inner ear bone, and counting the growth rings.
Rutter examined trends in the data, which was shared by Pennsylvania Sea Grant, the Presque Isle Bay Public Advisory Committee, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
“We standardized it,” he said. “They had data back to the ’80s and early ’90s, but the collection methods kept changing. Different people were looking for different things, and age was not always part of it.”
It needed to be. Older fish are far more likely to develop tumors.
The researchers are still finding liver tumors: 2.8 percent of 7-year-old Presque Isle bullheads have them, according to Rutter. But at two of the Lake Erie reference sites, the rate is even higher.
One in every five of the fish still has a skin tumor, Obert said. The reasons for that are not entirely clear.
Even so, the Presque Isle Bay Public Advisory Committee recommended in July that the bay be removed from the “Area of Concern” list. Just one other U.S. site – the lower Oswego River in New York – has rebounded from “Area of Concern” status.
In January, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said it would support the change. In February, the Department of State, which has the last word in the matter, agreed to lift the “Area of Concern” designation.
“That felt good,” Rutter said. “It was nice to be involved in something concrete, and local, that solved a problem with a major body of water.”
To learn more about research and environmental monitoring in Presque Isle Bay, go to www.paseagrant.org.
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| 0.967319 | 727 | 3.03125 | 3 |
or Gowk. In the Teutonic the word gauch means
fool; whence the Anglo-Saxon geac, a cuckoo, and the Scotch goke or gouk.
Hunting the gowk
[fool], is making one an April fool. (See April.) A gowk
storm is a term applied to a storm consisting of several days of
tempestuous weather, believed by the peasantry to take place
periodically about the beginning of April, at the time that the gowk or
cuckoo visits this country.
“That being done, he hoped that this was but a gowk-storm.” —Sir G. Mackenzie: Memoirs, p.
Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894
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| 0.887669 | 176 | 2.953125 | 3 |
What's Been Done to Prevent Another West?
WBUR's "Here and Now" aired this story today. See more here.
WEST, TX - Trucks and bulldozers are still working here, the site of an explosion a year ago today. A deadly blast tore through this small community, killing fifteen and injuring hundreds. Homes and schools were destroyed, with the damage estimated to be over a hundred million dollars.
There's a lone charred tree that still stands at the location of the blast, but other than that, the site is mostly empty. Crosses and memorials that read "West Strong" and "West is the Best" line the road.
The explosion at the West fertilizer plant was one of the worst industrial disasters in Texas history. So what's Texas doing to prevent it from happening again?
"Well, technically, nothing has been done," says state Rep. Joe Pickett (D-El Paso), chair of the House Homeland Security and Public Safety Committee. Pickett says since West happened near the end of the legislative session, he didn't want to rush in any "knee-jerk" rules or regulations.
The state is making an effort to get more timely and accurate information from fertilizer facilities in Texas about how much ammonium nitrate they have. That chemical was the culprit in the blast (investigators are still trying to determine what caused the small fire that ignited the ammonium nitrate). Ammonium nitrate was also behind the Texas City disaster of 1947 that killed hundreds, and the Oklahoma City bombing of 1995 that killed 168.
"We're slow learners, I guess," says Tommy Muska, mayor of West. "History shows us ammonium nitrate is a dangerous product."
It's clear from investigations and hearings since the disaster that there's a simple way to prevent West from happening again: start with preventing fires that could lead to explosions. Muska says that would've made the difference in his town.
"Well, if a sprinkler was there, we wouldn't be talking today," Muska says. "Because that little fire would've been doused by the sprinkler heads."
But, under state law, many Texas counties are restricted from having a fire code requiring sprinklers unless they have 250,000 people or are adjacent to a county of that size. Many of the older fertilizer facilities are in those rural counties, and efforts to pass a statewide fire code have been stifled.
"It's very difficult in Texas currently to do that," says Pickett. "There are people that live in those unincorporated areas for a reason. They want less regulation. And there's bills filed every session that don't seem to go anywhere."
The legislature had its third hearing on West earlier this week in Austin. It was there that State Fire Marshal Chris Connealy said regulations can make a difference.
"Well, there's two choices," Connealy told the House Homeland Security and Public Safety Committee. "If you want to keep ammonium nitrate in a combustible facility, you need to put fire sprinklers in there. An alternative that doesn't involve sprinklers, but still meets best practices, is to build a non-combustible storage bin for the ammonium nitrate."
The fire marshal is proposing a limited fire code, one that would only apply to ammonium nitrate facilities. His office has found 46 across Texas that are like the one in West. At the hearing, Connealy showed photo after photo of them. Huge piles of ammonium nitrate, like stockpiles of road salt, spilling out of wooden sheds and warehouses with no sprinklers.
But even Connealy – the state fire marshal – doesn’t have the authority to inspect those facilities. The owners had to voluntarily let him in. There were a few holdouts last year that refused, but they've since relented.
Pickett says he wants to propose narrow legislation that would change how ammonium nitrate is stored and give the state fire marshal inspection authority. But that could be a tough sell in a regulation-averse legislature.
One had only to hear the exchange at Monday's hearing between state Rep. Dan Flynn (R-Canton) and Fire Marshal Connealy to see that any new law could face an uphill battle. Flynn said he's worried, because he's been hearing from "old-timers" who don't want any changes to the law. After all, they've been working with ammonium nitrate for decades without it blowing up on them.
"We haven't had that many incidents. What's kept that from happening – luck?" Flynn asked Connealy.
"I would have to say yes, quite frankly," Connealy answered. "Two of the worst disasters in Texas history in industrial facilities involved ammonium nitrate."
“But it is a question that keeps coming up from a lot of folks," Flynn replied, "'Well, you're just gonna put us out of business. We're just gonna quit.'"
Rep. Pickett had a response to that sentiment. "You also used to drink, smoke and cuss, and you don't do any of those anymore."
"I gave it up," Flynn replied.
"Well, there you go," Pickett said. "So change might not be bad in some areas. I don't think what we're proposing at this point is that onerous."
West Mayor Muska agrees, saying new rules and regulations can strike a balance. Yes, they will come at a cost. But there's the cost of doing nothing to consider as well. "Look at our cost," Muska says. "Our cost was tremendous. 13 firemen, 15 total [killed]. I think it would be worth it. And I don't want another mayor in another town to go through what we just went through."State lawmakers could have some new rules proposed by this summer. If passed, when the legislature meets again next year, they’ll likely give fertilizer facilities a few more years to make any necessary improvement in fire safety. In the meantime, dozens of those plants could be another West just waiting to happen.
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| 0.979203 | 1,271 | 2.875 | 3 |
Sweet Water and Bitter: The Ships That Stopped the Slave Trade
New Hampshire, 2011
360 pp., $27.95
Tedium + Valor
Every movie needs a climactic moment. Romantic comedies have a wedding; sports films have the big game where everything is on the line. As the credits roll, the movie asks of us one final suspension of disbelief—we must be willing to accept that the story is over. We are not encouraged to examine too closely how, or whether, the blissful couple will make it to their third anniversary, or where those underdog high school basketball players will be in a few years. The movie makes a bargain with us: don't ask too much about the future, and you'll get a genuine, if momentary, happy ending.
History has such moments, too, and the vote for the abolition of the slave trade in the British Empire was certainly one. On March 25, 1807, after decades of agitation and advocacy by William Wilberforce and his allies, Parliament passed the Act for the Abolition of the Slave Trade. Slavery would not be entirely banned for another quarter-century, but it was no longer legal for British subjects to traffic in persons.
There remained only the small matter of enforcement. A host of newly minted outlaws were plying their trade far from Westminster, along three thousand miles of West African coast. What exactly would compel these captains and traders to give up their lucrative business?
In 1819, after it became clear that the slave trade was continuing in spite of Parliament's disapproval, the first seven ships of the Royal Navy's newly created Preventive Squadron sailed for West Africa. The most powerful navy in the world, which had successfully blockaded most of the navies of Europe over the previous decade, was embarking on what we might now call a "peacekeeping mission." The London Times offered a valedictory as they sailed: "Soon, we shall hear no more of the slave trade." Surely now the credits could roll.
This is where Siân Rees' Sweet Water and Bitter begins. It is quite a sequel. Firepower, it turns out, was not the only thing wanting. Most European powers were not as quick ...
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| 0.973574 | 459 | 2.6875 | 3 |
sustantivo (plural monkeys)
- Families Cebidae and Callitrichidae (or Callithricidae) (New World monkeys, often with prehensile tails), and Cercopithecidae (Old World monkeys, without prehensile tails).
- It was a place where you can see wild monkeys living in the trees.
- By contrast, many Old World monkeys, such as baboons and macaques, live longer, start to reproduce later, and have more time between babies.
- If these differences had evolved in savannahs or forests, then they should be reflected in monkeys and apes that live in these habitats today.
- In general, monkeys are important figures in the mythologies of Asia.
- The answer is that the only other animal that comes with a pair of hands is a monkey, and monkeys aren't generally very efficient.
- This may reflect differences in forest ecology or between monkeys, but it does suggest caution about generalising from over simple models.
- Well, we've definitely heard of mischievous monkeys but Charlie is just cheeky, I think we can safely say.
- That said, head office still seems to be populated by an unmanageable number of monkeys.
- I have read of accounts in the media of people being mistreated as a public servant, monkeys on computers, people leaving due to stress and mistreatment.
- The lesson was that if you present your party as the prospective junior government partner, voters will opt for the organ grinder rather than the monkey.
verbo (monkeys, monkeying, monkeyed)
- My brother and I were monkeying around and he was pretending to try to throw me to the ground.
- So don't monkey around - break out the pen and paper, and write away!
- This is just the place for those who like to monkey around.
- Simon can't resist monkeying with some of the arrangements either.
- The CIA, Graham said, were monkeying with democracy.
- I figure a superhuman spirit is capable of monkeying with natural phenomena at times.
as artful (or clever) as a wagonload (or cartload) of monkeys
- British informal Extremely clever or mischievous: plot-wise, it was as mischievous as a wagonload of monkeysMás ejemplos en oraciones
- He immediately named his replacement, describing him as: ‘Highly inventive, with a real love for film and as clever as a wagonload of monkeys’.
make a monkey of (or out of) someone
- Humiliate someone by making them appear ridiculous: he thinks he can make a monkey out of me, but he’s got another think coming!Más ejemplos en oraciones
make someone look a fool, make someone look foolish, make a fool of, make a laughing stock of, ridicule, deride, make fun of, poke fun at;set someone up, play a trick on
- Desmond said, ‘You'll never make a monkey out of me!’
- The meteorologists make a monkey of me once again.
- They've finally made a monkey out of me at this website.
a monkey on one's back informal
- A burdensome problem: the issue of her absence from the tournament last year remains the monkey on her backMás ejemplos en oraciones
- The North, understandably still stuck in an anti-British mode, couldn't bring itself to throw this particular monkey off its back.
- It was like having a monkey on your back that you just can't get rid of.
- Is retro therefore almost a monkey on your back when trying to get your new product off the ground?
- 3.1A dependence on drugs: she returned to her family with the heroin monkey on her backMás ejemplos en oraciones
- ‘Yup, it's an addiction, a monkey on my back,’ he said.
not give (or care) a monkey's
- British informal Be completely indifferent or unconcerned: he doesn’t give a monkey’s what we think about himMás ejemplos en oraciones
- ‘Mrs B,’ as he is wont to describe his wife Katie, ‘doesn't give a monkey's what I say, at least not on matters political.’
- He doesn't give a monkey's about being liked and is not averse to sledging markers to disrupt their concentration for advantage.
- ‘I don't give a monkey's what people say,’ she says in her no-nonsense east London accent.
- Oraciones de ejemplo
- That's the group of people who each of us, using our monkeyish brains, are able to conceptualize as people.
- ‘That is why I need to act,’ explained Barcél, with a crude sweep of his monkeyish hands.
Mid 16th century: of unknown origin, perhaps from Low German.
The origin of monkey seems to go back to a name given to the monkey character in medieval beast epics, which may ultimately be Arabic. Historically, ape was used as the general term for all apes and monkeys, and appears much earlier in English. People often associate monkeys with mischief and mimicry. British monkey tricks ‘mischievous behaviour’ are monkeyshines (mid 19th century) in the USA. The use of monkey business for ‘mischievous behaviour’ seems to have come from India. If you don't give a monkey's you do not care at all. This phrase, recorded from the late 19th century, is a shortening of something ruder, such as don't give a monkey's ass or f—. The slang sense of a monkey, for £500 (or, in Australia, $500), is much older than you might expect, going back to the 1830s, and a pony, or £25, is from the late 18th century. See also brass, cheek
Palabras que riman con monkeychunky, clunky, flunkey, funky, hunky, junkie, junky, punky, spunky
For editors and proofreaders
Saltos de línea: mon¦key
¿Qué te llama la atención de esta palabra o frase?
Los comentarios que no respeten nuestras Normas comunitarias podrían ser moderados o eliminados.
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http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/es/definicion/ingles/monkey
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| 0.942916 | 1,388 | 3.140625 | 3 |
Prophetess; daughter of Amram and sister of Moses and Aaron (I Chron. vi. 3; Ex. xv. 20; Num. xxvi. 59). When Moses was left at the river Miriam watched from a distance until Pharaoh's daughter took him up, whereupon she proposed to the princess to find a Hebrew nurse; the princess assenting to this, Miriam returned with her mother (Ex. ii. 4-7). After the Israelites had crossed the Red Sea Miriam sang a song of triumph, in which all the women joined (Ex. xv. 20-21). Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses on account of the Cushite woman whom he had married, whereupon God summoned Moses, Aaron, and Miriam to the tabernacle of the congregation, reproved her, and punished her with leprosy. She was healed through the prayers of Moses, but was obliged to remain without the camp of the Israelites for seven days, although the people did not proceed until she had returned (Num. xii.). Miriam died in the desert at Kadesh, where she was buried (Num. xx. 1). In Micah vi. 4 she is mentioned, with Moses and Aaron, as a leader of the people.
Miriam was born at the time when the Egyptians began to embitter the lives of the Israelites by imposing arduous tasks upon them (comp. Ex. i. 14), and for this reason she was called "Miriam," since the consonants in the word "Miriam" () may also read "marim" (="bitter"; Cant. R. ii. 11). She was called also "Puah," and was, like her mother, a midwife (comp. Ex. i. 15). When only five years of age she was skilful enough to help her mother (Ex. R. i. 17; see Jochebed). She had the courage to tell Pharaoh that he would be punished by God for his cruelty to Israel, and almost lost her life in consequence (ib.). When her father, Amram, had divorced her mother as a result of the cruel edict referring to the exposure of the children, she induced him to take her mother back (ib.; Soṭah 12a), and she sang and danced on the day of the remarriage of her parents (Ex. R. i. 23; B. B. 120a). She predicted to her father that a son would be born to him who would liberate Israel from the Egyptian yoke. When Moses was born her father kissed her and said, "Your prophecy, my daughter, is fulfilled." But when subsequently the child had to be cast awayher parents upbraided her and asked what would now be the outcome of her prophecy. Miriam therefore went to the river (Ex. ii. 4) to see how her prophecy would be fulfilled (Ex. R. i. 26; Soṭah 12b-13a).Her Names.
Miriam is said to have had also the following names: Ephrath, Helah, Naarah, Azubah, Jerioth, Zohar, Zereth, Ethan, and Aharhel (comp. I Chron. ii. 18, iv. 5-8), which were given to her on special occasions (Ex. R. i. 21; Soṭah 11b-12a). She was married to Caleb b. Jephunneh, or b. Hezron, to whom she bore Hur (comp. I Chron. ii. 18-21). Then she fell ill (hence her name "Helah") and was thereupon left by her husband (hence the name "Azubah"). Subsequently she regained her health, became again like a young woman (hence the name "Naarah"), and was taken back by her husband (Ex. R. l.c.). Miriam was the ancestress of King David, and of Bezaleel, who made the Tabernacle and its vessels. Bezaleel's wisdom (comp. Ex. xxxi. 3) is said to have been due to his grandmother Miriam (Ex. R. xlviii. 6). To have so illustrious a descendant was Miriam's reward for not obeying Pharaoh (comp. Ex. i. 21; Ex. R. l.c.). When Miriam talked against Moses (comp. Num. xii.) she did not intend to slander him; she wished him to live with his wife and raise children (Deut. R. vi. 6). But when she was punished with leprosy, and had to remain without the camp, God honored her by officiating as priest Himself (Zeb. 102a). The Israelites waited for her seven days (Num. xii. 15; Soṭah 9b), for she had once waited for Moses by the river (Ex. ii. 4).
Miriam is regarded as the savior of Israel (Ex. R. xxvi. 1). For her sake a marvelous well accompanied the Israelites, a rock from which water flowed. This well disappeared after Miriam's death (Ta'an. 9a). It was subsequently shown in the sea (Shab. 35a). Miriam, like Moses and Aaron, died by a kiss from God (M. Ḳ. 28a), for the angel of death could not take her; and worms did not touch her body (B. B. 17a). Another legend says that Miriam, like Moses and Aaron, died on account of the water of strife ("me meribah"; comp. Num. xx. 7-13). This seems inconsistent, for, according to the Bible as well as the legends, water became scarce only after Miriam's death, with the disappearance of the well (Lev. R. xxxi. 5 and commentaries ad loc.).
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Sample Lesson Plans - Early Childhood Institute - Mississippi State The staff at Aiken Village Preschool create weekly lesson plans that are aligned
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The common source configuration for a FET is similar to the common emitter bipolar transistor configuration, and is shown in figure 5.17. The common source amplifier can provide both a voltage and current gain. Since the input resistance looking into the gate is extremely large the current gain available from the FET amplifier can be quite large, but the voltage gain is generally inferior to that available from a bipolar device. Thus FET amplifiers are most useful with high output-impedance signal sources where a large current gain is the primary requirement. The source by-pass capacitor provides a low impedance path to ground for high frequency components of and hence AC signals will not cause a swing in the bias voltage.
Figure 5.17: JFET common source amplifier.
Since the FET gate current is small we can make the approximations and : the source is positive with respect to the gate for reverse-bias. Since at low frequencies we can ignore the capacitor the source voltage is given by
Using the transconductance equation we can write
With the approximation we can write the drain voltage as
The voltage gain is thus
If , this reduces to
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Fessenden’s Christmas concert
Last month, we asked what was the content of the first-ever radio broadcast of
voices and music, made by Reginald Aubrey Fessenden in 1906. A clue to the answer
is in the time of the broadcast, on 24 December that year. Not surprisingly, its
content was to do with Christmas!
From a transmitter at Brant Rock in Massachusetts, United States of America,
Fessenden and assistants played Christmas music and gave seasonal readings. The
programme included Fessenden playing the hymn “Oh Holy Night” on the violin, and
singing the final verse. The first-ever listeners to a broadcast were astonished
radio operators on ships at sea, and the programme was heard from the Atlantic to
Inspired by the telephone’s inventor
Fessenden was born in Quebec, Canada, in 1866 and was apparently a child prodigy.
At only 14 years old, he was granted a mathematics qualification from a college
in the province. But perhaps one of the most influential events in his life happened
when he was 10: hearing an account by his uncle of attending a demonstration of
the telephone by its inventor, Alexander Graham Bell, who lived in a nearby town.
Bell, of course, was transmitting voices through waves of electricity travelling
along a wire; Fessenden reportedly wondered why the wires were necessary, since
sound waves, for example, can travel long distances without them.
Fessenden (seated right) made the first radio broadcast from this station
at Brant Rock in Massachusetts, United States
Source: North Carolina Office of Archives
and History (Raleigh, NC, United States)
Such early interest eventually led Fessenden to the world of radio, after working
in several other fields, including a spell at Thomas Edison’s laboratory. In 1900,
almost exactly six years to the day before his Christmas broadcast, Fessenden made
the first-ever radio transmission of the human voice. His work was based on the
theory of continuous waves to carry the radio signal, rather than the idea of Guglielmo
Marconi that radio waves had to be generated by creating a series of discontinuous
“sparks.” Initially, Fessenden improved Marconi’s system by inventing the synchronous
rotary spark-gap transmitter, but then went on to develop a machine that could
produce continuous radio waves: a high-frequency (HF) alternator with one terminal
connected to the ground, and the other to a tuned antenna. By November 1906, he
had created an HF alternator that operated in the 50-90 kHz band, with a maximum
output of about 300 watts.
Annus mirabilis: 1906
Yet another first for Fessenden was two-way telegraphy across the Atlantic in
January 1906, using Morse code (Marconi had signalled one-way in 1901). Subsequently,
regular messages, on a frequency of about 88 kHz, were passed between Brant Rock
and a station at Macrihanish on the west coast of Scotland. Fessenden and his colleagues
also began experiments with his new HF alternator to send radio transmissions to
a station in Plymouth, Massachusetts. In November, however, they received an unexpected
report from Scotland. Staff at Macrihanish had clearly heard a conversation between
operators at the Plymouth station as they carried out an experiment: an unintentional
transatlantic radio transmission had been made! A month later on Christmas Eve,
Fessenden made a planned broadcast to boats belonging to the United Fruit Company,
carrying bananas from Puerto Rico. The programme was also heard by other ships,
including those of the US Navy, and Fessenden made another broadcast on New Year’s
Although his name has been overshadowed by others (such as Marconi) who were
more adept at promoting their ideas, Fessenden was undoubtedly a genius. By the
time of his death in 1932, he held hundreds of patents — second only in number to
Edison. The continuous-wave radio system he created became the standard for all
future developments, and he also invented many other highly useful technologies,
from radio pagers to a type of microfilm. But perhaps the invention that touches
us most is that of the radio broadcast, bringing distant voices and music directly
to our ears.
Fessenden and the “Titanic”
The ocean liner Titanic sank on her maiden voyage in 1912, after
colliding with an iceberg in the north Atlantic. The loss of life greatly affected
Fessenden, and he set out to develop a practical way of preventing similar disasters.
Already, he had discovered the principle of sonic frequency echo-sounding. The idea
was for a transducer to be mounted on a ship some 3 metres below the water surface,
from which short bursts of sound would be produced at frequencies of up to 20 kHz.
Fessenden deduced that the sound waves would be able to travel several kilometres,
and would bounce back to the ship off any submerged object in their path. The distance
of the object (or the sea floor) could be determined by timing the return of the
sound. In 1914, the US Navy tested Fessenden’s submarine electric oscillator
in the Atlantic, and found that it could indeed detect icebergs up to 4 kilometres
away. Sound navigation and ranging — more usually known as sonar — was born.
This technique was further developed by Fessenden for use during World War I
to detect submarines at sea. In the 1920s, he also invented a fathometer that became
common equipment on board ships, including cable-laying vessels. His achievements
in promoting safety at sea were highly appreciated; they are also referred to in
an inscription on his grave in Bermuda: “By his genius, distant lands converse and
men sail unafraid on the deep.”
A question to ponder during the New Year holidays:
Where is there an important satellite dish named Arthur after the king in
the “Knights of the Round Table” legends? The answer will be given in the January-February
issue of ITU news.
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Everything important that you need to know about living a successful life, you can get from a computer program. Don't believe me? Read on.
This post originally appeared on MakeUseOf.
When I first started programming as a young kid, it only amounted to copying foreign-looking words and symbols out of a computer magazine so that my brother and I could get our old Franklin 64 with a dual floppy drive to play a cute little digital tune at us. Back then, there weren't many life lessons to discern out of that cryptic text. A number of years later, in high school Pascal class, things started to look different. Learning about IF statements and FOR loops started to spark philosophical synapse connections the likes of which Walt Whitman and Robert Frost would have been proud of. Okay, I exaggerate a bit, but still the insights were pretty cool.
Yes, I know, it's quite a nerdy thing to say—but the truth is that there's a lot of wisdom in code. In fact, a whole lot that I learned about managing life in general came directly from my study of various programming languages.
Flow Charts Simplify Everything
Many programmers start out using flow charts long before they ever start writing a single line of code. The reason for this is, trying to write an entire program all at once can feel really overwhelming at times, especially when the program is going to accomplish some pretty complex tasks.
Programmers will take that big, giant software project, and then break them down into smaller components that can be better managed—sort of like building a car by building each required component first, before assembling them all together. Each component is a block (or several blocks) of code that take in specific sets of input values or actions, and then accomplish some output task. Within that component, a programmer will trace out the logic from input to output using flow charts.
Flow charts help you follow the logic in a visual format that is far easier to understand than if you try to write it out in text, or just try to blow right through writing code and figuring it out as you go. The reason programmers don't figure out the logic "on the fly" like this is because the logic that comes later often depends a great deal on the decisions you make about how to handle the earlier logic in the program. Decide wrong early, and you could program yourself into a dead-end.
The same is true in life. When you're making a decision about how to go about paying off debt, buying a house, or how to handle any other complex life situation or even how to manage a project at work. All of those seemingly insurmountable tasks can be better managed when you first sit down, put pen to paper, and draw out a creative flow chart of every step in the process or decision. This will help you decide on all possible choices or predict all possibilities at each stage, and then trace through the various scenarios. Just like with programming, understanding how early choices could affect the outcomes later on will help you make much better-educated decisions early on.
Everything Has Its Place
Whenever you launch into writing a script or a program, the first step is to always create your variables. In programming, there are variables of different types. You've got strings to hold text, integers to hold non-decimal numbers, double or variants to handle bigger numbers, and then you've got arrays, structures, and more. The idea is to define a variable that's suitable for the task at hand. For example, if the output of a function is the name of a person, then a string variable is what you want.
The same is true when you're organizing your life, whether it's your house or your office. You choose the size of containers for things based on how much of it you need to store. A small, clear plastic bin for dry goods, or a rack of like well-labeled containers for spices to conserve space. At the office, you want to store daily work documents in a drawer in your desk, but you store sensitive, business documents in a locked cabinet. The right container for everything, and everything has it's right place–it's the motto for a well organized life.
Re-Use Program Modules to Save Time
Any good programmer eventually learns that certain blocks of code, otherwise known as "functions" can be reused in multiple programs. For example, one function to convert from Fahrenheit to Celsius can be used in any program you're creating that needs that kind of task completed. The function is simply a module that takes the temperature in Fahrenheit and gives it back to you in Celsius. The function may include a certain number of lines of code, but why would you re-create those lines of code for every program you write, when you can just save them once as a program "module," and then insert that module into any future programs that need it?
Henry Ford once said about his famous Model T, "Any customer can have a car painted any colour that he wants, so long as it is black." Ford had figured out how to assemble cars and get them out the door faster if he could reuse the same equipment (and the same color paint) without having to recreate the process every time a new car was made. This gave birth to the assembly-line, and it revolutionized the auto industry. In the same way, you can use this principle in every area of your life where you do the same task over and over. Automation is the key to success, so if you can find ways to automate tasks in your job that you do repeatedly—you can make your day much more efficient and save time.
Sometimes, it can be pretty tempting for a programmer to just fly through writing code without documenting a single thing. It's tempting because, any moment you know exactly what you want the program to do and how you want to do it. Documenting a program takes time. You have to describe how and why you're doing each step. It seems pointless at the time, but months later when you decide to reuse that code or modify it for another purpose, it can mean the difference between struggling through trying to remember what the heck you were doing with each line of code, or quickly getting back up to speed with the whole intent behind your logic.
This meticulous documentation can help in every area of life, from keeping track of birthdays and anniversaries, to keeping a log of daily business transactions and why you made them. Daily life can turn into a blur of days passing by, with decisions coming and going like leaves blowing by in the wind. It's naive and inefficient to trust only your memory to remember why you attended certain meetings or why you made certain purchases. A daily journal or log can go a long way to freeing up your mind for more important things.
Always Leave Yourself an Escape Route
One of the most common mistakes of an amateur programmer is the infinite loop. That's a situation where the condition required to break out of the loop never actually takes place, so the program stays in that loop and never ends—this consumes 100% of the PC CPU and pretty much locks up the computer for good until you kill the process.
The lesson that amateur programmer needs to learn is that whenever you create a loop to perform some kind of task that chews up a lot of CPU power, it's important to introduce a release valve of sorts. In other words, instead of basing a While loop on whether or not your calculation exceeds a certain value (which it might never reach in some cases), it's a good idea to introduce a very basic loop count and then add a secondary condition where the loop must end if it exceeds a certain ridiculous number of loops it should never really reach if everything is working okay.
How might this apply to real life? It goes to show that even when you think you have everything planned perfectly, things can go wrong. One example might be planning a week-long family vacation in the most beautiful, relaxing tropical paradise, only to have it end up raining the entire week. The idea of an "escape route" in life is to think of the "worst case" scenario, and then figure out how you're going to either avoid that situation or make the best of it, if it comes true.
Life isn't always predictable, and some of the best-laid plans can easily unravel, even when you think nothing at all can go wrong. Planning for the worst contingency will make sure that you don't end up dead-in-the-water when that event that you never expected to happen actually comes true.
Free Up Memory When You're Done
The final life lesson that comes out of programming is cleaning up after yourself. In a program, you will need to open up a stream to an output file, create a large array filled with data points, and other things that consume computer memory and resources. A clean program is one that closes those output streams or empties those arrays once the program is done with them. The idea here is to avoid a common problem with poorly written applications known as a memory leak.
For example, in a simple VB app, you would clear an array like this:
Or close out a file stream like this:
It sounds like something you've probably heard your mother say when you were younger, right? Clean your room. Put your clothes away. Do your dishes. However, taken a step further, putting away the tools that you're currently using for the task at hand not only keeps your home and your workspace tidy, it also leaves you with plenty of space to accomplish your next project more quickly. Leaving things hanging around just wastes space and wastes your time when you can't find what you need later on.
The truth is, there aren't just six life lessons that you can learn from the art of programming—there are many more. When it comes to organization, planning, plotting out strategies, and conserving resources, computer programmers have got it figured out. There's a lot to be learned from taking the time to learn a programming language, beyond just programming itself. In fact, this is why every child should learn at least one programming language in school—because once you've caught on to the tricks of the trade, it becomes apparent pretty fast that you can use those same tricks throughout many other parts of your life.
6 Life Habits That Programming Could Teach You Today | Rather Be Shopping
Want to see your work on Lifehacker? Email Tessa.
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B.A., The Evergreen State College, 1986
Latest Publication Title
Accurate Democracy Primer
Tools Between People: Voting rules affect our laws – and our views on life. By making us practice winner-take-all or sharing, rules change the way we treat each other and see the world. Expectations of voting can rise with better rules. They work less as tools to fight culture wars, more as tools to support the freedom of diverse communities.
This brief book shows that different jobs for voting need different kinds of voting.
All good voting rules expand the base of power, the number of voters supporting:
a Chairperson from a plurality to a majority,
a Council from a plurality to over three quarters,
a Budget from a few power blocs to all members,
a Policy from a one-sided to an over-all majority.
The best rules give voters more effective votes – so they give stronger mandates to the winners.
Act! Learn more in the e-book, Accurate Democracy. Then build support in your school, club or town with FairVote, The Center for Voting and Democracy.
Steps toward accurate democracy include:
- Organize Voters, with Transferable Votes.
- Represent Everyone, with Proportional Representation.
- Empower Everyone, with Fair-share Spending!
- Center Policies, with Pairwise Winners.
My website offers sim games and handouts, plus free ballot-entry and tally software.
Enjoy changing the world!
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| 0.909861 | 310 | 2.984375 | 3 |
An even complexion is always desired. Most don’t realize that effects of daily sun exposure. Regular sunscreen use can help to prevent unwanted discoloration from even occurring. Just remember 90% of all wrinkles, age spots and skin discoloration is due to sun and tanning bed exposure.
Hyperpigmentation is an abnormal darkening on the skin. The cells responsible for hyperpigmentation are located in the top layer of the skin and are called melanocytes. Melanocytes produce a chemical compound called melanin by the action of an enzyme called tyrosinase. Melanin is what makes the skin tan on exposure to the sun.
Over time increased melanin may cause irregular dark spots on the face, back, arms, hands, and legs.
Common conditions that cause hyperpigmentation are:
Sun damage - one of the main causes of hyperpigmentation and will darken already hyperpigmented areas, as well as give rise to lentigines and keratoses, also known as age spots, sun spots, liver spots and freckles.
Post inflammatory hyperpigmentation - increase of pigmentation seen in the skin after an injury or inflammation to the skin such as a rash, acne breakouts, scratching, bruising, surgical and/or laser procedures.
Melasma - darkening of the facial skin, due to a combination of risk factors such as family history, hormones, pregnancy, skin type, and sun exposure.
Medications, such as amiodarone, minocycline, tetracycline, bleomycin, cyclophosphamide, antimalarials and others.
Systemic diseases, such as Addison’s disease, Cushing’s disease, hemochromatosis, porphyrias and many others. These diseases tend to produce diffuse, generalized hyperpigmentation.
Melasma is a common skin condition that causes tan to gray-brown patches on the face and develops mainly in women. It affects people of all ethnic groups, but particularly those with Fitzpatrick skin types IV–VI (See the Skin Typing Chart). It is also known as chloasma or mask of pregnancy.
Melasma usually forms on the cheeks, bridge of the nose, forehead, chin, and upper lip, and occasionally on the forearms and neck. It may develop during pregnancy, while taking birth control pills or during menopause. Sometimes it appears for no obvious reason.
Who gets melasma?
Most melasma occurs in women in their reproductive years. Only 10 percent of those affected are men. It generally starts between the age of 30 and 40.
It is more common in people that tan well or have naturally dark skin compared with those who have fair skin, particularly if they live in a sunny area. It is often seen in Asia, the Middle East, South America, Africa and the Indian subcontinent.
What does melasma look like?
Tan or brown spots are seen mainly on the cheeks, jaw, forehead, nose, chin, and above
the upper lip.
Photos courtesy of Dermquest.com and the Global Skin Atlas
Melasma is sometimes separated into epidermal (skin surface), dermal (deeper) and mixed types. The dermal and mixed types are significantly more difficult to treat than the superficial form of melisma. The type of melasma can be diagnosed clinically with the help of a Wood’s Lamp or a skin biopsy may be necessary to determine the depth of the disorder.
Type of melasma
Dark brown color
Appears more obvious under Wood’s Lamp
Responds well to treatment
Light brown or brown-gray color
Unchanged under Wood’s Lamp
Responds poorly to treatment
Combination of light and brown patches
Partial improvement with treatment
What causes melasma?
What causes melasma is still unknown. People with a family history of melasma are more likely to develop this skin condition.
The two most common triggers for melasma are sun exposure and an increase in female hormones estrogen and progesterone, such as during pregnancy or while taking birth control pills or hormone replacement therapy.
Other triggers include cosmetics, photOTOXic drugs (make the skin more susceptible to light damage), anti-seizure medications.
Treatments for melasma offered at Summit Medical Group
Sometimes melasma fades on its own. This is especially true after a pregnancy or when a woman stops taking birth control pills. If the melasma does not gradually fade or a woman wants to continue taking birth control pills, melasma can be treated.
Treating melasma often requires a comprehensive approach:
Avoiding the sun and using a broad-spectrum sunscreen are key to preventing melasma. This is essential because even when it is cloudy outside, the sun's UV rays can penetrate the skin. Sunscreen also must be worn when most of the day will be spent indoors because even a brief walk, driving, or sitting next to a window can expose unprotected skin to enough sunlight to trigger melasma. Continuing to wear sunscreen every day after the melasma clears can prevent it from returning. Without the strict avoidance of sunlight, successful treatments for melasma are doomed to failure.
Topical medications containing hydroquinone, a commonly used skin-lightening agent. Over-the-counter skin lightening preparations usually contain 2% hydroquinone. Prescription fading creams contain 4% hydroquinone, sometimes in combination with sunscreen, retinoids and glycolic acid.
One of the best topical medications for moderate to severe melasma is Tri-Luma ®, a combination of hydroquinone, tretinoin and fluocinolone.
Creams containing tretinoin, kojic acid, and azelaic acid, singularly or in combination, have been shown to improve the appearance of melasma.
Chemical peels and MicroLaserPeels work well for superficial (epidermal) melasma.
Fractional erbium skin resurfacing (ProFractional) has been shown to work for the deeper and mixed forms of melasma.
At Summit Medical Group Dermatology, we careful tailor the treatments to the patient's skin type, which both improves the outcome and helps avoid complications.
Similar therapies are used clinically to treat post inflammatory hyperpigmentation. For all therapies sunscreen use and UV avoidance is important.
Summit Medical Groupprovides medical, surgical, and cosmetic dermatology for women, men, and adolescents in the tri-state area, including New York and New Jersey as well as Essex County, Morris County, Bergen County, Union County, Passaic County, Somerset County, Sussex County, and Livingston, NJ; Millburn, NJ; Short Hills, NJ; West Orange, NJ; Berkeley Heights, NJ; Caldwell, NJ; Cedar Grove, NJ; Cedar Knolls, NJ; Chatham, NJ; East Hanover, NJ; Englewood Cliffs, NJ; Essex Fells, NJ; Fair Lawn, NJ; Florham Park, NJ; Fort Lee, NJ; Glen Ridge, NJ; Jersey City, NJ; Kennelon, NJ; Madison, NJ; Maplewood, NJ; Mendham, NJ; Montclair, NJ; Montvale, NJ; Morristown, NJ; New Providence, NJ; North Caldwell, NJ; Parsippany, NJ; Randolph, NJ; Roseland, NJ; South Orange, NJ; Springfield, NJ; Summit, NJ; Union, NJ; Verona, NJ; West Caldwell, NJ; Whippany, NJ; and Westfield, NJ.
Disclaimer:The information on this Web site is solely for to educate patients. It is not intended to be medical advice and, therefore, should not be considered a substitute for consultation with a qualified medical professional. Communications to or from the Summit Medical Group Web site and any person will not be used to establish a relationship between a patient and doctor.
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| 0.901733 | 1,652 | 3.140625 | 3 |
Critical Issues in the Virtual World
|Course Number:||DEL 7910|
|Course Name:||Critical Issues in the Virtual World (Online)|
|Course Description:||This course will examine various specialized and timely issues facing educational administrators in the virtual environment, such as the changing face of technology, accreditation, and sociocultural and political perspectives that affect the delivery of education.|
NOTE: The information below is representative of the course and is subject to change. The specific details of the course will be available in the Desire2Learn course instance for the course in which a student registers.
Upon completion of this course, you should be able to
- Identify and discuss issues relevant to virtual education.
- Evaluate issues regarding their impact on virtual education.
- Create a professional plan to stay current in the field of virtual education.
- Identify, track, and examine trends in education.
Lesson 1: Connectedness
This week's lesson focuses on Connectedness. A part of connectedness is being plugged into the 'pulse' of your professional field. What are the "hot topics"? What are the "critical issues"? Being an informed leader is crucial to your success in distance education. With the vast amount of information out there, how might we stay plugged into the most relevant and credible information out there? Professional networking is an important professional skill, especially in the virtual environment. To begin to network with your peers in this course you will start with introductions on the discussion board. Introduce yourself to the class with your name, areas of higher education specialization or interest, three topics of greatest interest to you, and what you hope to gain from this program and course. Remember to post two separate and timely responses to two of your classmate's introductions.
Lesson 2: Professional Organizations and Associations
This week you will explore several common professional organizations and associations in the field of virtual and higher education or training. This lesson is designed to familiarize you with these organizations and associations—what they have available and how they can keep you up to date with critical issues. Of course, there are other organizations out there; however, knowing these organizations and associations will prove useful to those who are in the field of distance education and/or training
Lesson 3: Education Resources and Publications
This week focuses on several standard education websites and/or publications in the field of virtual and higher education. The lesson is designed to familiarize you with these publications—what they have available and how they can keep you current with higher education topics. What do they have in common? How do they differ? What is their value to higher education administration? Their value to administration in the virtual environment? Their personal value to you as a higher education professional?
Lesson 4: Identifying and Evaluating Additional Resources
You have reviewed several online publications and organizations in the field of higher education that may serve as strong resources for education and/or training administrators in the virtual environment. This week, you have the opportunity to locate publications and organizations of interest to you. The publications and organizations you identify should provide currency for your particular areas of specialization, whatever those might be.
Lesson 5: Law and Policy Impacting Virtual Education
Education policy includes, but is not limited to discussions of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and the definition of a credit hour. If you have taken the DEL Policy and Law course, you are probably already conversant with these issues. If not, a bit more research may be needed on your part. Some questions we will discuss are how is FERPA practiced in virtual education? What are the implications and challenges? How is the credit hour currently defined? What other policies apply to higher education administration in the virtual realm?
Lesson 6: Professional Ethics, Educational Designations
There are many educational institutions and training organizations that exist today. Many provide their educational services through virtual education offerings. In K-12 and higher education there exist several classifications, such as for-profit education, not-for-profit, non-profit, and public education. Gaining awareness of the similarities and differences amongst them will provide better overall understanding.
Unfortunately, questionable practices by some institutions have warranted scrutiny as to the credibility of the degrees, diplomas, and certifications offered by a select group of these organizations. Being aware of the classifications and understanding how each organization may function differently or have different laws or policies which apply to them is important for those individuals with futures in distance education leadership. With the existing demand and realized pressures, it is important that we keep professional ethics as an operational assumption at all times.
Lesson 7: Academic Quality and Rigor
The online environment still has those individuals who perceive it as a non-traditional learning environment and question the quality and rigor that can be achieved through virtual education. Unfortunately, with the unethical practices we touched upon in the Lesson 6, these skeptics are requiring additional evidence of the viability of online or blended learning opportunities. Above and beyond the skeptics is the case in point that to best serve the learners, educational institutions must have practices in place that support the provision of quality academic teaching and learning at rigor levels appropriate for the intended audiences.
Lesson 8: Academic Integrity
Academic integrity is a concern for most educational institutions. We are determined to provide a student with the best learning experience possible and as a part of that we need to hold students accountable for their actions to provide a fair opportunity for all learners. The advancements in technology provide many opportunities for alternative assessments. However, with those advances we have also encountered some new changes with the ease of access to information. Plagiarism and online testing are critical issues of specific interest.
Lesson 9: Faculty Issues (i.e. Compensation, Status)
For those in education, specifically higher education, critical issues that surround faculty are a hot topic. The topics of compensation and status top the list. Compensation varies greatly amongst institutions. Variations can be determinant upon delivery modality, rank, status, and so forth. There a several designations for faculty and the interpretation of these designations also vary amongst educational institutions. Full-time and part-time statuses appear to be where some of the great discrepancies reside, in addition to tenured, tenure-track, or contingent (adjunct) faculty. The topics that surround faculty can become extremely heated and politically charged. It is important to maintain a civil and professional dialogue in these discussions.
Lesson 10: Educational Assessment
Assessment has a variety of definitions in education. Assessment as we know it as learners is the evaluation of our performance on assignments or activities related to a specific course or program. For educational organizations, assessment can expand beyond the classroom to evaluations of all areas of the operation. We will use this week to explore assessment, its various definitions, and how the results may be used.
Lesson 11: Student Affairs and the Nontraditional Student
The American Heritage dictionary defines, "traditional" as a practice pertaining to the custom or standard practice. The nontraditional student was originally defined as one who was older than the standard late adolescent aged 18-22 years, did not live in residence on the campus, and did not go to school full-time. Traditional and nontraditional students have different approaches and motivations to learning, and this is a concern education professionals must address.
Malcolm Knowles was a pioneer in what has been described as the "adult learner," or a nontraditional college student. According to Knowles, six principles define the education of an adult learner:
- Adults are internally motivated and self-directed.
- Adults bring life experiences and knowledge to learning experiences.
- Adults are goal oriented.
- Adults are relevancy oriented.
- Adults are practical.
- Adult learners need to be respected for the experience they bring.
Is the nontraditional learner still the nontraditional learner? How do the trends in online education relate to the traditional learner versus the nontraditional learner? What are the implications of both groups for higher education administration in the online or blended learning environments?
Lesson 12: What’s hot now? MOOCs, Social Media
So you hear MOOCs are all the rage, but what are they? MOOC stands for "massive open online course." How do MOOCs compare and contrast to a standard online course offering? We often hear about them leveling access to education and being free; however, what does it really cost to offer a MOOC?
Another hot topic is social media. Everyone is doing it, are you? Social media provides many opportunities, with some risks associated as well. Exploring the many faces of social media and the impact on virtual education is worthwhile with the widespread adoption of sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and so forth.
Let us take a look further into the perspectives that span the spectrum on the value in MOOCs and in the application of social media for educational and professional development purposes.
Lesson 13: Competency-based Education
On the job experience is invaluable and often helps conceptualize many of the ideas that would be covered in educational coursework. There is also the chance that topics or situations may not arise in certain jobs in certain areas, so individuals may be highly qualified but in a very specific area with a targeted audience. On the flip side, they may also experience things never discussed in classrooms at all, unless learners have individuals who bring that tacit knowledge into classroom discussions. Nonetheless, we are aware that learning and achievement has occurred to some level of mastery in these situations.
Lesson 14: Evidence-based Practice
Evidence-based practice has correlations to the Unit 2 topic area of policy; however, it is such an extensive topic area, it deserves its own time for discussion. Evidence-based practice began in the field of healthcare, but has been extended into higher education. You will notice that several of the resources in earlier weeks have reference to evidence-based practice. Let's take some time to explore what it is. What is the value of evidence-based practice to education? How does it apply to higher education in the online or blended environments? How might a virtual administrator implement evidence-based practice?
Lesson 15: Trends and Projections in Virtual Education
The identification of trends in virtual education is important for the purposes of strategic planning and assessment. Knowing what data to collect and analyze is important for organizations to properly assess performance and make projections and strategic plans for the future. Historical information provides perspective, while an awareness of critical issues that may impact forecasts and influence future directions enables a leader to take appropriate actions where necessary. Risk analyses are more complete and strategic proposals more comprehensive.
Lesson 16: Course Wrap-up (none provided)
|Weekly Discussion Posts (15 @ 20 pts. each)||300 points|
|Synchronous Seminar Participation (6 @ 20 pts. each)||120 points|
|Critical Issue Article Reviews (2 @ 25 pts. each)||50 points|
|Synchronous Seminar Article Review Presentations & Discussion Facilitation (2 @ 25 pts. each)||50 points|
|Final Project - Topic Proposal Essay||20 points|
|Final Project - Annotated Bibliography||50 points|
|Final Project - Research Paper Written Draft with Peer Review and Reflection||20 points|
|Final Project - Research Paper||300 points|
|Final Project - Presentation (Synchronous)||50 points|
|Professional Development Journal Reflection||40 points|
|A||940 - 1,000 points|
|A-||900 - 939 points|
|B+||870 - 899 points|
|B||840 - 869 points|
|B-||800 - 839 points|
|C+||770 - 799 points|
|C||740 - 769 points|
|C-||700 - 739 points|
|D+||670 - 699 points|
|D||640 - 669 points|
|D-||600 - 639 points|
|F||0 - 599 points|
|
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http://www.uwplatt.edu/distance-education/critical-issues-virtual-world
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| 0.938229 | 2,503 | 2.859375 | 3 |
The Skinner organ in Princeton University Chapel was installed in the newly-completed building in 1928. Although Donald Harrison had recently joined the company from Willis, and was soon to oust Ernest Skinner from power, the Princeton organ remained essentially in the earlier Skinner tradition - that of the finest and most opulent Romanticism.
The 100 stops of the main organ were divided in two spacious chambers on either side of the chancel, behind twin 16' cases, and a remote Echo section was prepared for at the console. Three of the four manuals were enclosed in huge swell-boxes, and even the Great Organ was partly under expression.
The lavish grandeur of the organ did not entirely impress the first University Organist, the young Ralph Downes. He immediately set about making small alterations - reducing some of the wind pressures slightly, exchanging certain stops one with another, and re-voicing others. These efforts had minimal effect but further attempts were made by Carl Weinrich - Organist from 1943-1973 - to adapt the instrument to the demands of the "Baroque Revival".
Between 1951 and 1954 the Solo Organ was abandoned in favour of a 'Brustwerk' section, and part of the Choir was re-cast as a 'Positiv' - in each case, the pipework was spread over two or three part-vacated soundboards, located in different areas of the chambers. The stopknobs provided for an Echo section were used to control an Antiphonal chorus in the nave triforium, which has been found useful in congregational accompaniment. The heavy-pressure reed choruses of the Great and Solo were disconnected and left in disarray, and we found the mightiest stop - the Tuba Mirabilis - in a pathetic heap in an underground storage area beneath the chapel. Only the Swell remains basically intact to tell us how the instrument must first have sounded - and extremely fine it is.
After 60 years continuous use, the actions and console had now worn out, although the high quality of the original workmanship was still evident. It was decided that the rationale behind the scheme of reconstruction would be to retain all that was best and characteristic of the Skinner work, and indeed to re-introduce some of the sounds which had been lost - a new French Horn, for instance, was provided. The derelict families of heavy-pressure reeds have been restored, and the Solo Organ has once again become enclosed, utilising appropriate ranks surviving from the old Choir and Solo. At the same time, any question of a strict restoration solely on pre-war Skinner lines has been firmly rejected, and the organ has been nudged towards a broader usefulness, albeit in a voicing style compatible with that of the surviving original work. The Great chorus is essentially new throughout, and a new accompanimental, unenclosed Choir Organ has been provided. Apart from the 32' ranks and a couple of borrowed manual doubles, the large Pedal section is now independent.
New slider soundboards were provided throughout, together with new actions, console, winding and supporting framework. The Great, Swell, Choir and Pedal Organs are in the South Chamber, and the Solo in the North Chamber. The Nave section is in the North triforium.
The organ was dismantled in May 1990 and completed shortly before Christmas 1991. The re-opening recital was given by Thomas Trotter in April 1992.
|Double Diapason||16||Open Diapason||8|
|First Diapason||8||Chimney Flute||8|
|Stopped Diapason||8||Nazard||2 2/3|
|Flûte Harmonique||4||Tierce||1 3/5|
|Stopped Flute||4||Larigot||1 1/3|
|Flute Celeste||8||Viola Celeste||8|
|Gamba Celeste||8||Dulciana Celeste||8|
|Voix Celeste||8||Harmonic Piccolo||2|
|Flûte Triangulaire||4||French Horn||8|
|Unda Maris II||4||Bassetto||8|
|Double Diapason||32||(On Great, Swell, or Solo)|
|Diapason Metal (Great)||16||Cor-de-Nuit||8|
|Open Flute||4||NAVE PEDAL|
|Grave Mixture||IV||Contra Bass||16|
|Contra Bombarde (ext)||32||Superoctave||4|
|Contra Fagotto (ext)||32||Cornet||III|
|Trombone (Great)||16||WEST GALLERY|
Project Leader Ian Bell
Technical Design Ian Bell, Stephen Bicknell
Consultant Professor Eugene Roan, Nathan Randall
Construction Harry Austin, Terry Hobart,
Kevin Rutterford (Workshop Foremen)
Site Assembly Leslie Ross (Team Leader), Jim Birch,
James Richardson-Jones, Gary Chapman,
Kevin Rutterford, Roger Bradley
Tonal Preparation David Frostick, Michael Blighton
Tonal Finishing Ian Bell, Leslie Ross
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From Math Images
Basic DescriptionA lorenz attractor is the graph produced by a simple system of ordinary differential equations. The equations are given as follows.
The values for , , and are varied to produce different images. The values Lorenz used are , , to produce the image shown.
The applet above shows the complexity of the curve.
Originally described by Edward Lorenz as equations that would model the unpredictable behavior inherent in weather, the equations model the motion of fluid simultaneously heated from the bottom and cooled from the top.
A More Mathematical Explanation
PropertiesThe Lorenz differential equations are nonlinear and [[Deterministic s [...]
The equations, despite their simplicity, are remarkably sensitive to changes in , , and , and thus an early example of a chaotic system.
These figures, made using ρ=28, σ = 10 and β = 8/3, show the state of the two Lorenz Attractor, denoted by the blue and yellow lines, at time t=1,2,3. The two differ only by a margin of in the initial x coordinate. While the two graphs seem identical at first, with the yellow almost totally covering the blue, by t=3, the divergence is apparent.
Looking at the Lorenz attractor, we can see that the points will remain near the graph. We do not see points diverging away from the graph itself; instead they seem attracted to the center of the figure. Because of this, we can classify the Lorenz differential equations as an attractor.
Since the Lorenz attractor also has a non-integer dimension, it is a strange attractor by definition. This propensity to oscillate about the center
- There are currently no teaching materials for this page. Add teaching materials.
Future Directions for this Page
-An explanation for why the attractor is a fractal and why it is a strange attractor.
-A helper page for strange attractor would be good too.
-Some applet that graphs the attractor and allows the user to fool around with starting position and the initial conditions.
Leave a message on the discussion page by clicking the 'discussion' tab at the top of this image page.
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| 0.909489 | 456 | 3.75 | 4 |
She gets amazed. She gets disgusted. She gets sad. And she's a robot--the so-called FACE robot designed by scientists at the University of Pisa in Italy.
Modeled after a research team member's wife, the robot was created to show a wide range of human facial expressions, with the goal of going beyond the "uncanny valley" phenomenon.
The "uncanny valley" is responsible for that creepy sensation we humans get when we encounter a robot that's highly realistic but not quite realistic enough to pass for an actual human.
"When there are elements that are both human or nonhuman, this mismatch can produce an eerie sensation in the brain," Karl MacDorman, associate professor of human-computer interaction at Indiana University told CNN. "It's when different parts of the brain are coming to different conclusions at the same time."
MacDorman has no connection to research on the FACE robot.
The FACE bot can register anger, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness, and surprise. That repertoire requires 32 separate motors to control "muscles" in her head and upper torso, according to LiveScience.
Just how accurately does FACE register human emotions? To find out, her creators asked five autistic and 15 non-autistic children to identify each emotion shown by the robot, NewScientist reported. Their feedback suggests that FACE is better at showing happiness, anger, and sadness than at showing fear, disgust, or surprise.
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| 0.927766 | 296 | 3.90625 | 4 |
HAVE you ever wondered what kinds of animals were on the world first? Experts keep discovering new fossils and finding new evidence that tells us more about early life on Earth.
The first fossils that show life are from about 3.5 billion years ago! They were called stromawtolites. They were sticky clumps of bacteria that sent out filaments.
About 630 million years ago, spongy multi-celled animals such as worms, soft corals, sea fans and sea anemones formed.
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| 0.96825 | 106 | 3.5625 | 4 |
The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) reports that the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has finally announced plans to eliminate the five percent surcharge imposed on organic producers for certain tree crops. This partial elimination of the crop insurance surcharge was, at least in part, the result of a hard-won provision in the 2008 Farm Bill in which Congress directed the USDA to evaluate available data on risk of loss between organic and conventional systems and to determine whether the surcharge was justified. The crops for which the surcharge is now being removed are figs, pears, peppers, prunes, macadamia trees, Florida citrus fruit, Texas citrus fruit, Florida fruit trees, and Texas citrus trees. The surcharge will continue for now on all other crops.
World leaders met in New York this week at the United Nations to assess progress in halving the proportion of hungry people in the world—the first of eight lofty Millenium Development Goals set by the UN in 2000.
One bit of good news you might have heard is that after the last couple of really disastrous years, we seem to be headed in a slightly better direction: the number of hungry people appears to be inching down, and at 925 million, is 98 million less than the 1.023 billion who were hungry last year. 98 million fewer hungry people is meaningful. But we are still talking about nearly a billion people without adequate food and nutrition—a far cry from the 1996 World Food Summit’s goals of reducing hunger to 400 million people by 2015. We’re basically back to where hunger levels were just before the big food price spikes of 2008. And here’s the real news: food prices are expected to surge again, as they already have in Mozambique and elsewhere, with disastrous consequences for the poor.
The glacial pace of government decision-making on pesticides is costly. Not just the cost of years of paperwork, collecting and reviewing the endless stream of industry studies. And not just the cost of medical care for those who are damaged by toxins before they are taken off the market.
Sometimes, slow decisions result in pesticide exposures that cause such harm they fundamentally change the course of a child’s life. A cost that’s so high, it really can’t even be measured.
Most people immediately think of mosquitoes when they hear the word "malaria." They transmit the parasite, so keeping them at bay—with window screens and bednets, by denying them places to breed, or by killing them outright—is a critical element in preventing the disease. Another crucial front in the struggle is pharmaceutical: prompt, effective treatment of malaria infections means fewer human reservoirs of the parasite, which in turn means fewer opportunities for mosquitoes to pick up the disease and pass it on.
But just as insecticide resistance has hamstrung vector control in many parts of the world, malaria parasites have evolved resistance to the various drugs we've deployed over the years.
It was only a matter of time. Lately newspapers have been filled with stories about the return of bed bugs, those nocturnal bloodsuckers that most of us had previously encountered only in our parents' nightly admonition to not let them bite. I grew up thinking that they weren't even real, just something adults made up along the lines of the bogeyman, monsters, and the tooth fairy. But they are indeed real, and they were once common in the U.S., until — as nearly every contemporary article about their resurgence points out — they were eliminated by the use of DDT just after WWII. So it was only a matter of time before people started blaming the current resurgence of bed bugs on EPA's ban on DDT.
Bees may not qualify as charismatic megafauna, but they do, or should, attract the attention of anyone who eats fruits, vegetables or nuts, or whose livelihood depends on growing these crops.
The sudden collapse of honeybee colonies — Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) — has been reported throughout the U.S. and elsewhere since the mid-1980s. Explanations include a combination of lack of adequate nectar and pollen, disease, the stress of transporting hives over thousands of miles, and pesticides.
Those cancer-causing chemicals approved for widespread use on our farms and in everyday products? Well, they’re causing cancer. Lots of it.
The numbers are staggering, really. According to a report delivered to the White House last month by the prestigious President’s Cancer Panel, 41 percent of the U.S. population will be diagnosed with cancer at some point in their lives, and one in five Americans can expect to die from the disease.
I truly hope my grandchildren come into the world carrying fewer chemicals than my children did when they were born. My oldest just started high school, so any grandchildren are many years off. But members of Congress are deciding right now what chemicals my daughter will pass along to her children. My vote? As few as possible.
Senators and Representatives are considering a dangerous group of chemicals called “persistent, bioaccumulative toxins,” better known as PBTs. These chemicals can last for years in the environment — and in our bodies. Some travel the globe on swirling currents of wind and water, eventually settling in the polar regions. And many can damage our nervous, reproductive and immune systems at astonishingly low levels.
So it looks like Congress is finally beginning to take a serious look at toxic chemicals and how they affect our health. This week they heard from advocates, health professionals and parents calling for stronger laws to protect children from dangerous chemicals. The Senate subcommittee hearing included participants in the innovative biomonitoring study: Mind, Disrupted.
There’s nothing quite like a fresh, juicy strawberry. Our family lives near the central coast of California where most of the strawberries in the U.S. are grown, so we enjoy fresh-picked strawberries nearly year round.
What many people don’t know is that some of the nastiest pesticides are used in strawberry fields. Most non-organic berries are grown in soil that’s been zapped clean with chemicals that kill everything they touch. Fields are covered with huge tarps while pesticides are pumped in and the soil is stripped of all living things before planting. Workers, neighbors and parents sending their kids to school near strawberry fields dread fumigation season.
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This landmark restaurant was built in rural Madison County in 1836, right around the time the National Road was being laid across the midsection of Ohio. The town of Lafayette was platted only two years earlier. The Minter and Watson families owned the building, which was leased to John McMullen through 1859. He operated it as an inn and tavern, serving travellers on the National Road.
The advent of railroads made stagecoach stops like this one unprofitable. The Red Brick closed to the public in 1859 and served as a residence for members of the Minter and Taylor families. Other families lived in the rear wing, which was rented out, and a school was conducted on the third floor. The Tavern didn't reopen until 1924.
The Red Brick boasts visits from six presidents of the United States over the course of its operation as a restaurant. Steak dinners are named after each of the chief executives who dined here: John Quincy Adams (1825-1829), Martin Van Buren (1831-1835), William Henry Harrison (1841), John Tyler (1841-1845), Zachary Taylor (1849-1850), and Warren G. Harding (1921-1923).
It's interesting to note that none of these guys had very distinguished terms in office. John Quincy Adams and Martin Van Buren were both intelligent and capable presidents who ended up losing their re-election bids. Harrison, Taylor, and Harding died in office before completing a single term--Harrison after only one month in the White House. And John Tyler, who finished Harrison's term, had the unenviable job of being the first Vice President to ascend to the Presidency; he was very unpopular (people referred to him as "His Accidency") and wasn't even considered for renomination in 1844. Maybe it's the curse of the Red Brick Tavern.
Today the Tavern serves moderately expensive dinners in the original dining room. It also features a bar and rental banquet facilities. In the early days you could get a room at the Tavern, but today the upstairs chambers are extra dining rooms.
But employees and restaurant patrons aren't the only ones who occupy the Red Brick Tavern at any given time; at least one ghost is supposed to roam the upper floors. She is responsible for the creaking footsteps which are sometimes heard in the dining room. She appears in the upstairs windows and plays with the lights. Sometimes she is heard whispering.
Pictured above is the staircase leading to the third floor. As you might be able to tell, there is a cluster of white spots in the picture, near the top of the stairs. It's hard to say exactly what it is, but I suppose it could be interpreted as a ghost.
Above you can see the attic rooms, which Katydid and I poked around in during our visit to the Red Brick Tavern in December of 2002. The hostess let us go upstairs, and told us a little about the ghost story attached to the building. It's the classic tale: a woman (presumably one of the Minters) learned that her fiancee had found someone new, became despondent, and killed herself. According to the legend, before the woman committed suicide she embroidered a sampler which now hangs in the second floor hallway. REMEMBER ME, it says. Her ghost is said to be responsible for the fact that the sampler is stained blood red--so dark that it's nearly unreadable.
The Red Brick Tavern and its ghost can be found at 1700 Cumberland Street (US 40) in Lafayette. Call 1-800-343-6118 or (740) 852-1474 for reservations. And please let me know if you have any additional information.
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"Makes an important contribution to our understanding of the challenges our ancestors faced during the transition from hunting and gathering to agriculture…. A well-organized and highly readable volume that synthesizes an enormous amount of data on what is perhaps the most significant economic transformation in the history of our species." --American Anthropologist
In 1982, the Conference on Paleopathology and Socioeconomic Change at the Origins of Agriculture was held in Plattsburgh, New York, to examine previously untested theories about how the adoption of agriculture impacted human health. The collection of those conference proceedings transformed into this landmark book that set the standard for how to collect, analyze, and interpret osteological data in the study of health transitions. Using skeletal pathologies, the contributors examine how the transition from foraging to farming affected human health and nutrition.
Now back in print and for the first time in paperback,Paleopathology at the Origins of Agriculture is a foundational piece in bioarchaeological literature and a central source of information regarding the impact of early farming on socioeconomic evolution. It remains a highly cited reference for archaeologists and physical anthropologists.
Contributors present data from nineteen different regions before, during, and after agricultural transitions, analyzing populations in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Europe, and South America while primarily focusing on North America. A wide range of health indicators are discussed, including mortality, episodic stress, physical trauma, degenerative bone conditions, isotopes, and dental pathology.Mark Nathan Cohen
is Distinguished Professor of Anthropology at SUNY at Plattsburgh. He was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship on the basis of this book’s impact. George J. Armelagos
is the Goodrich C. White Professor of Anthropology at Emory University and a recipient of the Viking Fund Medal.
No Sample Chapter Available
There are currently no reviews available
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| 0.903383 | 376 | 2.640625 | 3 |
A person just starting to learn a skill or take part in an activity.
Oraciones de ejemplo
- You are never too young or old to learn and the skills you need to learn as a beginner are the same no matter what your reason for taking lessons.
- The society is particularly is catering for beginners who want to learn the game and have a bit of fun at the same time.
- But they are, says Gina, great places for beginners to start to learn about plants.
- Good luck supposedly experienced by a beginner at a particular activity.Oraciones de ejemplo
- Would I be able to swoop in on some beginner's luck and take something home?
- Somewhere on the outskirts of town, his beginner's luck finally deserted him.
- If not, I shall have to put it down to beginner's luck - a bit like my politics.
Palabras que riman con beginnerBerliner, Corinna, dinner, grinner, inner, Jinnah, sinner, skinner, spinner, thinner, winner
For editors and proofreaders
División en sílabas: be·gin·ner
¿Qué te llama la atención de esta palabra o frase?
Los comentarios que no respeten nuestras Normas comunitarias podrían ser moderados o eliminados.
Muy popular en Reino Unido
Muy popular en Australia
= de moda
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| 0.723075 | 319 | 2.640625 | 3 |
In solids, the interactions between electrons and atoms conspire to produce the material's properties: how well it conducts electricity, how magnetic it is, and so forth. When an external voltage is applied, the result is a number of particle-like quantum excitations. The problem is that these excitations come in groups, the result of complex interactions in the material. However, just as it is sometimes useful to have access to single electrons or photons, researchers would like to make and manipulate single excitations.
A new experiment has managed to do so, using an idea from earlier theoretical calculations. By crafting the variation in strength of the voltage they sent through the material, J. Dubois and colleagues produced single quantum excitations. They named these particle-like objects "levitons" for physicist Leonid S. Levitov, who predicted their existence in a set of papers with various collaborators. The discovery opens up an entirely new subfield of experiments involving quantum excitations.
When you pluck a guitar string, both the string and the guitar body vibrate at many different frequencies simultaneously, creating the fundamental tone and its overtones. The combination of frequencies is what makes a guitar distinct from another instrument. That idea is analogous to quantum excitations in most materials: if you apply an external voltage (pluck the string), it produces fluctuations that behave like particles (the vibrating string) but also affect the bulk of the material (the guitar body). The particular excitations depend on the material's properties and the temperature; lower temperatures reduce the possibility of random fluctuations dominating the excitations.
For most purposes, we don't care about the noise of random fluctuations. However, quantum excitations are particle-like, which is why they are often known as quasiparticles. They have mass and electric charge, which means they interact with each other and with the electrons that gave them birth.
In some circumstances, physicists would like to have a single quasiparticle that is not coupled strongly to the material, something that behaves more like a free particle. After all, free particles can be more easily controlled, and multiple free particles can be entangled with each other, which is the basis for quantum computing and networking.
Solitary quasiparticle excitations were predicted in a series of papers by Levitov and colleagues in publications that started in 1996. To make them in practice requires a voltage pulse with a particular time dependence. The resultant quasiparticle—a leviton—behaves like a non-dispersive wave called a soliton. The most famous type of soliton is a tsunami, which wreaks destruction because it does not disperse its energy as it travels across the ocean. Other solitons exist in optical communications and narrow water channels.
While levitons are not literally solitons, they share many characteristics, including their independence from the underlying medium. They also have sharp peaks in their energy spectrum, which is one of their particle-like aspects. The excitations have specific widths, controlled by the duration of the original voltage pulse. They may also have a range of electric charges (both positive and negative), including fractions of the fundamental charge carried by electrons. (The study of quasiparticles carrying fractional charges was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1998.)
The newly published paper describes the first experimental realization of levitons in a semiconductor. Besides actually producing them, the researchers needed to demonstrate that they had made something compatible with theory, which required scattering signals off the quasiparticles. (Yes, you can scatter "real" particles off quasiparticles. Quantum excitations are real.) The behavior of levitons is distinct from that of other excitations arising from electrons, so the results were unambiguous.
Unlike other quasiparticles, levitons don't require delicate nanofabrication techniques, just cold temperatures and more-or-less ordinary semiconductors. This is exciting, as it potentially inaugurates a whole new regime for experiments on quantum excitations. With single-quasiparticle states to work with, the potential for leviton entanglement and quantum logic experiments is huge.
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| 0.94489 | 851 | 3.734375 | 4 |
What exactly is Acid Reflux?
Acid Reflux or Gastro esophageal reflux disease (GERD) is not a disorder instead it’s an illness. Over stuffing and under eating, excessive use of hot foods, routine drinking of alcohol and smoking accompanied without exercise are believed to be main causes for acid reflux. In acid reflux the food in the tummy begins coming back to the esophagus. Food that’s rising in the esophagus isn’t the uncomplicated food. Additionally, it includes strong acids and digestive enzymes. This food burn the protective mucosal lining of the lower esophagus for this reason burning mucosal lining becomes feeble and even its ruined utterly. This destruction and burning makes mucosal lining more sensitive to get cancers and ulcers. Most notable signal and symptoms include burning sense behind rib cage and stabbing pain in torso. Other symptoms include coughing, difficulty in consuming, sinusitis, voice changes because of damage of voice box and nausea. In the event of improper ignorance and treatments acid reflux will probably be converted into serious ailments like ulcers, strictures, inflammation of larynx, throat and lungs as well as cancers.
The primary choice for acid reflux relief is normally a proton pump inhibitor or an antacid. Extra gastric acid is neutralized by it, while the abdomen is stopped by the second from creating additional gastric acid. But, many folks seek for alternate treatment for heartburn and GERD. And, in reality, for long-term acid reflux remedy, an entire treatment option including dietary and lifestyle changes may function as best.
When looking for a successful and alternate medication, recommendations may be found by you to botanicals and herbal plus some individuals see why these are useful. Herbal remedies for acid reflux may include ginger root, gentian root, angelica root, catnip, fennel, cancer bush, slippery elm, meadowsweet, chamomile or alternative botanicals. Slippery elm was used traditionally by native peoples to ease stomach upset, constipation, diarrhea, heartburn as well as other intestinal problems. Ginger root and fennel were additionally common “folk treatments” for the treatment of stomach upset. Modern herbal health care specialists have discovered that the combination of numerous natural herbs which had been used for GERD may be helpful for heartburn.
Alternative remedy and treatment usually contains guidance for changes in lifestyle. Tobacco use loosens the sphincter muscles that prevent gastric acid from coming back up in the wind pipe. Moreover, it dries out spittle in the mouth and throat which might normally counteract a few of the gastric acid as well as begins the digestive process. Avoid using tobacco things and you’ll discover acid reflux treatment.
Modifications may be included by other alternative treatment programs in dietary customs. Having substantial meals can cause gastric acid to flow back up to the wind pipe. Having smaller meals more frequently has supply a successful relief for most people. Lying down shortly after eating empowers more gastric acid to stream to the wind pipe. Having your last food at least 2 to 3 hours prior to going to sleep may give alleviation, exceptionally for those who have night time issues. Elevating the head of the mattress is additionally suggested for night time heartburn relief.
Another alternate treatment and acid reflux treatment plan might incorporate a diet plan. Obese and heavy individuals are more vulnerable to have problems with acid reflux than are those that are at their recommended weight. The extra weight places added pressure to the abdomen, especially when laying down, creating indications of GERD or heartburn. Slimming down may give a highly effective treatment and often offers other health edges also, for example increased standard of living, improved mood and improved energy.
Alternative treatment plans might contain changes in the foods that you consume and drink. Garlic, peppers, onions, greasy foods, fried foods and hot foods can all foster gastric acid. Espresso as well as other caffeinated beverages foster gastric acid and can aggravate symptoms of acid reflux. Alcoholic beverages, particularly when had at night are just another thing to keep away from for a powerful treatment. Cooking food with ginger fennel and herb for seasoning and baking rather than frying may all give alleviation.
Related terms: Quick Cures for Acid Reflux, Foods That Cure Acid Reflux, Honey Cure Acid Reflux, Vinegar Acid Reflux Cure, Dr. Oz Acid Reflux Cure, Severe Acid Reflux Symptoms, Acid Reflux Medication, Acid Reflux Treatment Home Remedy
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| 0.93521 | 950 | 2.671875 | 3 |
Screen Resolution and Color Depth on Hand-Held Devices
If you’re new to creating images, video, and other multimedia for the mobile web, understanding the concepts behind terms like color depth and resolution can help you as you start creating mobile site designs. Color depth refers to the number of colors a screen can display, most commonly referred to by the number of bits.
Hand in hand with color depth, screen resolution affects how crisp and lifelike images appear. As you might expect, the screen resolutions on mobile devices are nowhere near as large as they are on desktop or laptop computers.
Most new LCD monitors or laptop displays have resolutions of at least 1920 x 1080 pixels, and more expensive displays are even higher.
The iPhone is tiny by comparison. The original iPhone display (from the iPhone 1 to the 3GS) is 480 x 320 pixels, which allows it to play the vast majority of videos on YouTube in a resolution that makes them look reasonably crisp on the screen, but doesn’t come close to what most consumers expect from a television screen.
In contrast, the iPad offers a high-resolution display that is 1024 x 768, more than enough to make watching video on the iPad an enjoyable experience. As you prepare your images and videos, consider the different screen resolutions of the iPhone and iPad.
Pixels per inch
Another important factor is the number of pixels per inch (ppi) in an image or a video. Most computer monitors display images at 72 ppi; newer models display 92 ppi. The iPad displays 132 ppi, and the iPhone 4 has a resolution of 326 ppi. Remember that the more pixels per inch, the more detail in the image and the better it appears.
The reason that the display on the iPhone 4 has garnered so much attention is that its images are as crisp and sharp as the human eye can detect. A high-resolution image on an iPhone screen probably looks better than most other images you’ve ever seen on a digital display.
The pixels per inch (ppi) measurement is different from dots per inch (dpi), which is a common way to measure print resolution, because printer quality is measured in dots per inch. Pixels per inch is used as a measure of the resolution of a computer display.
Researchers generally agree that the average human eye can discern, at a distance of one foot, improvements in quality at as much as 300 ppi. That is, if you increase the number of pixels per inch at a normal reading distance higher than 300 ppi (such as with the iPhone 4’s retina display), the eye can’t detect any increase in quality.
In theory, that means you should optimize your images at 300 ppi, but in practice that creates such large file sizes they would take a prohibitively long time to download, especially over a mobile connection.
It may be time to increase the recommended ppi for web graphics — it’s always been 72 ppi because that’s all anyone would see on a computer monitor anyway. But these days, with increasingly high monitor resolutions, you should increase your images to at least 92 ppi, and 132 ppi if images are a key part of your web design and you know your visitors use high-speed connections.
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The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NTSA) has, for the first time, designated April as national “Distracted Driving Awareness” month. Across the country, a campaign aimed to save lives will remind motorists, “U Drive. U Text. U Pay.”
In Oregon, from 2008 to 2012, 13 people were killed in crashes involving drivers who admitted to or were witnessed using a handheld mobile communication device, according to the NTSA. Officials believe that number is much higher because people may not admit they were distracted while driving, especially if they were using a cell phone.
We believe it, too.
Every day, employees at the Pilot look out the office windows at motorists on Chetco Avenue — and we spot numerous instances of people driving and talking or texting on phones. We urge all drivers to focus more on driving and less on phones, iPods and other hand-held electronic devices. Other distractions include paying attention to passengers or pets, eating or even grooming.
Please avoid distractions and focus on getting where you want to go safely.
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Healthy living is critical to enjoying high levels of self-confidence, good mental health, increased energy and a longer lifespan. It ensures that you have less chance of getting sick and being stressed, thereby leaving you feeling mentally and emotionally happier in general. But healthy living is not something that can be achieved overnight. It’s a lifestyle choice, and requires making permanent positive changes that enhance your personal physical, mental and spiritual health. If you’ve just made the decision to start living healthy, here are some tips for leading and maintaining a healthy lifestyle.
Create and maintain a healthy diet.
Healthy eating is a key factor for maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Bad eating habits are the main cause of lifestyle diseases - the leading cause of death in Western countries. A healthy diet should have a balance of fruits and vegetables, whole grains, lean meat, dairy products and legumes. Avoid extreme fad diets and synthetic supplements and limit your intake of salt and fat. Remember, eating too many healthy foods is counterproductive, so control your portions appropriately. Additionally, make sure you drink enough water.
Be physically active every day.
Regular exercise and physical activity can help you feel better, have more energy and even live longer. So increase physical activity in your life. Make sure you undertake at least 30 minutes of physical activity every day. Don’t try to go too extreme with your exercise plan. Too much, too soon, will only lead to burnout. The best option is to start out slow and then gradually work your way up. Choose fun activities that you really enjoy. This can be walking with your spouse, playing your favorite sport, dancing, or swimming.
Get enough sleep.
Getting enough sleep –not too much or too little an important part of a healthy life . It can enhance your relationships, increase your chances of success in work or relationships, improve your health, and even add years to your life. To purge negativity from your life and adopt a positive attitude you should surround yourself with positive people, be positive yourself, be nice to yourself, consciously resist negative thinking, set realistic and achievable goals, prioritize, turn challenges into opportunities, and be grateful for your blessings.
Lastly, adopting a healthier lifestyle doesn’t have to be a daunting task; it can be simpler than it seems. The best place to start is to make small, manageable changes. Don’t make the mistake of being too extreme with your diet, exercise, sleeping, or attempts to quit alcohol or cigarette smoking. Even professional athletes take years of training to get their bodies to look that way. But this doesn’t mean you won’t see results relatively quickly. You’ll probably notice that you feel better and have more energy within the first few days.
All user-generated information on this site is the opinion of its author only and is not a substitute for medical advice or treatment for any medical conditions. Members and guests are responsible for their own posts and the potential consequences of those posts detailed in our Terms of Service.
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To create awareness of bed bugs September marks the launch of the first National Bed Bug Awareness Month. To kick things off, BedBug Central has released a how-to video on traveling bed bug free.
Bed bugs are masters when it comes to sneaking a ride in the folds of your clothes or your suitcase, which is why they have become such a widespread problem across the US.
A hotel could be the very bill of hygiene and cleanliness, but where’s there’s people, there could well be bed bugs lurking. Taking a couple of minutes to check your hotel room for bed bugs will go a long way in helping to stop bed bugs invading the US. You can record any sightings at bed bug registry.
To stop bed bugs from taking their own Labor Day vacation back to your home wash the contents of your suitcase on a high temperature. Sustained temperatures of 120 degrees or higher will kill all life stages of bed bugs. Here’s some facts about bed bugs.
8 Bed Bug Facts
- Bed bugs are generally found in cracks and crevices including mattress seams, sheets, furniture, behind baseboards, electrical outlet plates and picture frames.
- Bed bugs cannot fly and prefer to hide close to people when feeding.
- Bed bugs can live up to a year without feeding.
- Sometimes children have become anemic due to multiple and ongoing feedings by bed bugs.
- Bed bugs are used in homeopathy to cure ovarian pain. Look for the label: Cimex,Cimex lectularia, or; Acanthia lectularia.
- Heat treatment will eradicate all bed bugs in one hit, without the need to go searching for each and every little blood sucker or leaving any residue.
- Over 75% of US pest controllers have reported that bed bugs are the most difficult pest to treat, according to a study by the National Pest Management.
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Well, for one thing, it's now PEP-II, crankng out millions of B mesons.
Pretty cool stuff.
"The B-Factory facility, PEP-II and BABAR, will pursue a broad agenda of
physics involving the heavy quark and heavy lepton sector. At full
luminosity, PEP-II will produce about 1E8 b and c quarks, and roughly the
same number of tau's per year.
"In particular, the B-Factory will pursue the question of why we live in a
matter-dominated Universe. At the beginning of the Big Bang, matter and
anti-matter were produced in equal amounts -- what tipped the balance in
favor of matter? Understanding the mechanism is crucial if we are to have a
full understanding of the evolution of our Universe. A small imbalance in
the matter to anti-matter ratio at primordial times, one part in about 1E9,
would suffice. In such a situation, all the matter and anti-matter, except
the tiny unpaired excess, would have annihilated to form photons (which we
can detect now). The unpaired excess, all matter, evolved to form the
"To substantiate this paradigm, we need experimental evidence that
conclusively establishes the mechanism responsible for creating the tiny
matter excess. There are several competing theoretical models for this
mechanism. The main role for the B-Factory will be to make a broad set of
measurements capable of confronting the crucial question of what happened to
all the anti-matter. It is fascinating to realize that with the B-Factory,
we will be able to confront crucial physics issues which took place less
than 1E-34 seconds after the start of the Big Bang."
-- from http://www.slac.stanford.edu/accel/pepii/home.html
More info about BABAR: http://heplibw3.slac.stanford.edu/BFROOT/ (note that
my mom, Barbara Barrera, is the BABAR group admin -- is that enough BAs and
BARs for you? :-)
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| 0.906766 | 461 | 2.546875 | 3 |
Learn something new every day
More Info... by email
During the prenatal period, human embryos go from a few cells to a fully formed baby in about 38 weeks. The human brain has its own timeline of growth during this period, and it tends to be consistent for healthy human fetuses. The major stages of prenatal brain development occur throughout the nine months of pregnancy, including the creation of the neural tube in the first month, the growth of the cerebral cortex in the second month, the development of the senses in the fourth month and the separation of the cortex into lobes in the sixth month.
Scientists have been able to come up with the timeline for normal prenatal brain development thanks to several avenues of research. These include postmortem investigations on non-surviving embryos and fetuses in various fetal development stages. Doctors have also performed experiments and dissections on the fetuses of animals that have similar brain structures as humans, such as monkeys. Lastly, modern technologies such as imaging allow scientists to examine and monitor prenatal brain development in fetuses while they're still in their mothers' wombs. Through all of these methods, experts have charted the physical development of the brain as well as the emotional and mental development.
Prenatal brain development begins in the very first month of the prenatal period. During this time, all of the other major organs are taking shape. By the third week of life, the human heart has started its beating. It is about this time that the earliest form of a brain takes shape. Called the neural tube, this structure eventually evolves into the spinal cord and the brain.
In the second and third months of development, the embryo's facial features begin to develop into a more human form, including the mouth, nose, eyes, eyelids and ears. The neural tube at this time begins to transform into what will become the main parts of the brain, including the cerebral cortex. Correspondingly, by the third month of prenatal development, the embryo begins to show reactions and reflexes. The fetus' reactions to outside experiences, such as bright lights and noises, continue to develop into the fourth month, as does the tiny being's ability to make facial expressions.
The fifth month of prenatal brain development begins to see the fetus actually control these expressions and reactions. At this point, physical development is such that the fetus can stretch and even flip in the womb. Experts believe that the ability to consciously react to sensations get even stronger during the sixth month, when the cerebral cortex splits into separate lobes. The fetus at this point might even have the ability to remember.
The final stages of prenatal brain development in the last trimester lead to a brain that becomes nearly similar to a fully formed human's, at least in structure. By month seven, the prenatal brain develops the grooved, curved look that's associated with the adult brain, and myelin develops on the outside of nerves from the brain to insulate them. Brain waves can be detected. Then in month eight, the major cortices form, such as the auditory and the visual, allowing the fetus to comprehend what he or she sees and hears. The fetal brain contains about as many neuron cells as an adult brain by the final month, though it will only be one-fourth the size of an adult's at birth.
One of our editors will review your suggestion and make changes if warranted. Note that depending on the number of suggestions we receive, this can take anywhere from a few hours to a few days. Thank you for helping to improve wiseGEEK!
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A special case of this is the convention that 1 is not prime. If it were, then it would not be true that every positive integer can be uniquely factored as a product of primes, since .
It's not that much more complicated to say that "a positive integer is prime if its only divisors are itself and 1". But if we wanted to extend our definition to all integers, it becomes "p is prime if its only divisors are p, -p, 1, and -1". It doesn't get worse than that for integers, because 1 and -1 are the only units. But if we have more units, then we get a whole lot more divisors for any element, just by multiplying it by some combination of units.
The fact that these divisors exist for any element means they're not interesting, and we're motivated to throw them out. But it's not feasible anymore just to list them as exceptions, like we did above--there are too many of them. We could add something to our definition of irreducible to say that divisors which are units or unit multiples of the element don't count, and then weaken our definition of "unique factorization" to say that the units don't count there, either.
Or, we can just say that units aren't irreducible, and not have to change anything else. That way seems much simpler, so that's what we do.
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If there aren't any planets Quoting: Anonymous Coward 1600864
Well, about every thousand years we seem to have some (plague, nuclear weapons, etc.) that could have eliminated humanity.
Between the ability of an advanced civilization to shoot itself in the foot and those ever present space rocks, survival as an advanced civilization is a little precarious.
We have searched almost 800 solar systems. We haven't found a single rocky planet with water in the sweet spot like earth.
Gliese 581g is the closest we have come:
* Three times larger.
* Three times closer than Mercury (about 1/9 the distance of the earth from the sun).
* Surface temperatures from 160 to -26 (planet is almost tidally locked).
Since it does rotate - but very slowly - the surface gets periodically sterilized.
The odds of finding a planet like earth are 0.12% and getting smaller all the time.
There are 300 billion stars. Lets assume the average civilized time on a planet is 200,000 years. Lets assume the average period a planet is habitable is 3 billion years. The Galaxy is about 13B years old
* 300 billion * .12 = 380 million planets.
* 380 * 3/13 = 88 million
* 88 million * 200,000/3 billion = 5,800 civilizations that we would consider civilized.
If ET is out there there aren't many of them.
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| 0.937829 | 296 | 2.671875 | 3 |
Accommodation and Compliance Series:
Employees with Brain Injuries
JAN’s Accommodation and Compliance Series is designed to help employers determine effective accommodations and comply with Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Each publication in the series addresses a specific medical condition and provides information about the condition, ADA information, accommodation ideas, and resources for additional information.
The Accommodation and Compliance Series is a starting point in the accommodation process and may not address every situation. Accommodations should be made on a case by case basis, considering each employee’s individual limitations and accommodation needs. Employers are encouraged to contact JAN to discuss specific situations in more detail.
For information on assistive technology and other accommodation ideas, visit JAN's Searchable Online Accommodation Resource (SOAR) at http://askjan.org/soar.
What is a TBI?
According to TBI Recovery Center (2006), “TBI is any injury to the brain caused by trauma to the head. If there is trauma to the brain, but the skull is not broken, the TBI is known as a closed head injury. This could occur, for example, if a person in an automobile accident hits his head on the steering wheel, but does not have a skull fracture. If an object such as a bullet penetrates the skull and injures the brain, the TBI is known as a penetrating head injury.” There are several different types of TBI (TBI Recovery Center, 2006):
Concussion: A concussion is the most minor and common type of TBI. A concussion is caused when the brain receives a somewhat minor trauma from an impact, such as a hit to the head by an object or person or from a sudden change in momentum, such as a fall. It may or may not result in a short loss of consciousness (not exceeding 20 minutes) and can be diagnosed by observing common symptoms such as headache, confusion, and vomiting. Difficulty with thinking skills (e.g., difficulty “thinking straight,” memory problems, poor judgment, poor attention span, a slowed thought processing speed) (Brain Injury Association of America, 2006a; TBI Recovery Center, 2006).
Skull Fracture: A skull fracture occurs when the skull cracks or breaks. A depressed skull fracture occurs when pieces of broken skull press into the tissue of the brain. A penetrating skull fracture occurs when something pierces the skull and injures the brain (Brain Injury Association of America, 2006a; TBI Recovery Center, 2006).
Contusion: A contusion is bruising or bleeding of the brain (Brain Injury Association of America, 2006a; TBI Recovery Center, 2006).
Hematoma: A hematoma is a collection of blood inside the body (Brain Injury Association of America, 2006a; TBI Recovery Center, 2006).
How prevalent are TBIs?
The Brain Injury Association of America (2006a) estimates that every year about 1.4 million Americans experience a traumatic brain injury.
What are the causes of TBI?
Half of all TBIs are due to accidents involving automobiles, motorcycles, bicycles, and pedestrians. Motor vehicle accidents are the major cause of TBI in people under age 75. For those 75 and older, falls cause the majority of TBIs. Approximately twenty percent of TBIs are due to violence, such as gunshots and child abuse. About three percent are due to sports injuries. Alcohol use is associated with half of all TBIs (TBI Recovery Center, 2006).
Another type of brain injury is called Acquired brain Injury. This describes damage to the brain not associated with trauma to the head or skull and typically involves the entire brain. Common causes of acquired brain injury are loss of oxygen to the brain due to drowning, toxic exposure to carbon monoxide, as well as heart attack and stroke (Brain Injury Association of America, 2006b).
What are the signs and symptoms of TBI?
There are various levels of TBI, including mild and moderate or severe TBI (TBI Recovery Center, 2006).
Mild TBI: Symptoms of mild TBI include headache; confusion; lightheadedness; dizziness; blurred vision or tired eyes; ringing in the ears; bad taste in the mouth; fatigue; a change in sleep patterns; mood changes; and trouble with memory, concentration, attention, or thinking. The injury may or may not result in a brief period of unconsciousness.
Moderate or Severe TBI: Symptoms of moderate to severe TBI may be similar to symptoms of mild TBI, but they may also include a headache that gets worse or does not go away, repeated vomiting or nausea, convulsions or seizures, inability to awaken from sleep, dilation of one or both pupils of the eyes, slurred speech, weakness or numbness in the arms or legs, loss of coordination, increased confusion, restlessness, or agitation.
Most workplace difficulties are the result of cognitive functional limitations such as remembering, organizing, learning, and planning skills. (Hirsh et al., 1996).
Are TBIs disabilities under the ADA?
The ADA does not contain a list of medical conditions that constitute disabilities. Instead, the ADA has a general definition of disability that each person must meet (EEOC Regulations . . ., 2011). Therefore, some people with TBIs will have a disability under the ADA and some will not.
A person has a disability if he/she has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, a record of such an impairment, or is regarded as having an impairment (EEOC Regulations . . . , 2011). For more information about how to determine whether a person has a disability under the ADA, visit http://AskJAN.org/corner/vol05iss04.htm.
Are employees (or applicants) with TBIs required to disclose their disability to their employers?
No. Employees need only disclose their disability if/when they need an accommodation to perform the essential functions of the job. Applicants never have to disclose a disability on a job application, or in the job interview, unless they need an accommodation to assist them in the application or interview process (EEOC, 2000; EEOC, 1995).
Can an employer ask an employee with TBI to submit to a medical examination?
Yes, if the need for the medical examination is job-related and consistent with business necessity. Special note: pre-job offer medical examinations or inquiries are illegal under the ADA. People with brain injuries (or any disability) do not have to submit to a medical exam, or answer any medical questions until after they have been conditionally offered a job (EEOC, 2000; EEOC, 1995).
Note: People with TBIs may develop some of the limitations discussed below, but seldom develop all of them. Also, the degree of limitation will vary among individuals. Be aware that not all people with TBIs will need accommodations to perform their jobs and many others may only need a few accommodations. The following is only a sample of the possibilities available. Numerous other accommodation solutions may exist.
Questions to Consider:
- What limitations is the employee with a TBI experiencing?
- How do these limitations affect the employee and the employee’s job performance?
- What specific job tasks are problematic as a result of these limitations?
- What accommodations are available to reduce or eliminate these problems? Are all possible resources being used to determine possible accommodations?
- Has the employee with a TBI been consulted regarding possible accommodations?
- Once accommodations are in place, would it be useful to meet with the employee with a TBI to evaluate the effectiveness of the accommodations and to determine whether additional accommodations are needed?
- Do supervisory personnel and employees need training regarding TBIs?
- Physical Limitations:
- Install ramps, handrails, and provide handicap parking spaces
- Install lever style door handles
- Clear pathways of travel of any unnecessary equipment and furniture
- Visual Problems:
- Provide written information in large print
- Change fluorescent lights to high intensity, white lights
- Increase natural lighting
- Provide a glare guard for computer monitors
- Consult a vision specialist particularly with someone who has lost part of or all of their vision
- Maintaining Stamina During the Workday:
- Permit flexible scheduling, allow longer or more frequent work breaks
- Provide additional time to learn new responsibilities
- Provide self-paced workload
- Provide backup coverage for when the employee needs to take breaks
- Allow for time off for counseling
- Allow for use of supportive employment and job coaches
- Allow employee to work from home during part of the day
- Provide for job sharing opportunities
- Allow part-time work schedules
- Maintaining Concentration:
- Reduce distractions in the work area
- Provide space enclosures or a private office
- Allow for use of white noise or environmental sound machines
- Allow the employee to play soothing music using a cassette player and headset
- Increase natural lighting or provide full spectrum lighting
- Reduce clutter in the employee’s work environment
- Plan for uninterrupted work time
- Divide large assignments into smaller tasks and steps
- Restructure job to include only essential functions
- Difficulty Staying Organized and Meeting Deadlines:
- Make daily TO-DO lists and check items off as they are completed
- Use several calendars to mark meetings and deadlines
- Remind employee of important deadlines via memos or e-mail or weekly supervision
- Use a watch or pager with timer capability
- Use electronic organizers
- Divide large assignments into smaller tasks and steps
- Assign a mentor to assist employee in determining goals and provide daily guidance
- Schedule weekly meetings with supervisor, manager, or mentor to determine if goals are being met
- Memory Deficits:
- Allow the employee to tape record meetings
- Provide type written minutes of each meeting
- Use notebooks, calendars, or sticky notes to record information for easy retrieval
- Provide written as well as verbal instructions
- Allow additional training time
- Provide written checklists and use color-coding to help identify items
- Post instructions close to frequently used equipment
- Problem Solving Deficits:
- Provide picture diagrams of problem solving techniques, e.g., flow charts
- Restructure the job to include only essential functions
- Assign a supervisor, manager, or mentor when the employee has questions
- Working Effectively with Supervisors:
- Provide positive praise and reinforcement
- Provide written job instructions
- Write clear expectations of responsibilities and the consequences of not meeting them
- Allow for open communication with managers and supervisors
- Establish written long term and short term goals
- Develop strategies to deal with problems before they arise
- Provide written work agreements
- Develop a procedure to evaluate the effectiveness of the accommodation
- Difficulty Handling Stress and Emotions:
- Provide praise and positive reinforcement
- Refer to counseling and employee assistance programs
- Allow telephone calls during work hours to doctors and others for needed support
- Provide sensitivity training to coworkers
- Allow the employee to take a break as a part of a stress management plan
- Attendance Issues:
- Provide flexible leave for health problems
- Provide a self-paced work load and flexible hours
- Allow employee to work from home
- Provide part-time work schedule
- Issues of Change:
- Recognize that a change in the office environment or of supervisors may be difficult for a person with a brain injury
- Maintain open channels of communication between the employee and the new and old supervisor in order to ensure an effective transition
- Provide weekly or monthly meetings with the employee to discuss workplace issues and productions levels
Situations and Solutions:
A police officer was returning to work following surgery for a brain aneurysm. He had partial paralysis to the left side and could no longer use both hands for word processing. Accommodation suggestions included: transferring the individual to a vacant position that involved computer research and providing a one-handed keyboard.
A professional whose work required the use of a computer returned to work following a brain injury. As a result of his injury he was unable to read past the midline when reading from left to right. Accommodation suggestions included: changing the margin settings of his word processing program for 80 to 40 to limit right side reading or purchasing software that can split the computer screen left to right and black out the right side, redesigning his workstation to place equipment on the left, and providing task lighting.
A therapist who had short-term memory deficits had difficulty writing case notes from counseling sessions. Accommodation suggestions included: allowing the therapist to tape record sessions and replay them before dictating notes, scheduling 15 minutes at the end of each session to write up hand written notes, and scheduling fewer counseling sessions per day.
A laborer working in a noisy factory had difficulty concentrating on job tasks. Accommodation suggestions included: erecting sound absorbing barriers around his workstation, moving unnecessary equipment from the area to reduce traffic, and allowing the employee to wear a headset or ear plugs.
There are numerous products that can be used to accommodate people with limitations. JAN's Searchable Online Accommodation Resource (SOAR) at http://askjan.org/soar is designed to let users explore various accommodation options. Many product vendor lists are accessible through this system; however, upon request JAN provides these lists and many more that are not available on the Web site. Contact JAN directly if you have specific accommodation situations, are looking for products, need vendor information, or are seeking a referral.
Brain Injury Association of America. (2006a). What is brain injury? Retrieved February 9, 2006, from http://www.biausa.org/
Brain Injury Association of America. (2006b). Causes of brain injury. Retrieved September 4, 2008, from http://www.biausa.org/
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. (2000). Enforcement guidance on disability-related inquiries and medical examinations of employees under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Retrieved September 4, 2008, from http://www.eeoc.gov/policy/docs/guidance-inquiries.html
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. (1995). Pre-employment disability-related questions and medical examinations. Retrieved September 4, 2008, from http://www.eeoc.gov/policy/docs/preemp.html
Hirsh, A., Duckworth, K., Hendricks, D.J., & Dowler, D. (1996). Accommodating workers with traumatic brain injury: Issues related to TBI and ADA. Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation, 7, 217-226.
TBI Recovery Center, (2006). What is a traumatic brain injury? Retrieved September 4, 2008, from http://www.tbirecoverycenter.org/whatis.htm
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Mediterranean diet strains the wallet
New York: Eating a Mediterranean diet rich in fish, olive oil, legumes, fruit and vegetables may strengthen the heart but the cost strains the wallet and may deter healthy eating, according to Spanish researchers.
A study by the Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health at the University of Navarra looked at the costs of Mediterranean and Western diets in more than 11,000 Spanish university graduates with a similar level of income.
All of them were taking part in a long term study launched in 1999 to assess ties between diet, food costs and obesity.
The analysis, published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, revealed that the more closely these people adhered to a healthy Mediterranean diet, the more money they spent each day on food.
In contrast, the more closely they followed a "Western" diet - high in saturated fat, sugar, and red meat - the less money they shelled out each day on food.
Researcher Maira Bes-Rastrollo said this study showed that a healthy Mediterranean dietary pattern is more expensive to follow than a Western dietary pattern.
"I am sure that the same study conducted in the United States would find the same results or even higher differences in costs between dietary patterns," she said in a statement.
This "economic barrier" should be considered when counseling populations about following a healthy diet "because cost may be a prohibitive factor," she added.
The researchers also found that 31 percent of study subjects gained weight during the study -- just over half a kilo, or 1.1 pounds, every year.
After adjusting for factors likely to influence the results, people who spent the most on food were 20 percent more likely to gain weight, regardless of which dietary pattern they favored.
Those with higher food bills tended to be older, were more likely to have quit smoking, tended to drink more calorie-laden fruit juice, soft drinks and alcohol and generally weighed more to begin with - suggesting that they were more prone to weight gain due to lifestyle or genetic factors, the researchers said.
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Preparing testimony is similar to writing a paper. There is a specific format to follow that includes opening remarks, a body and conclusion. Credible evidence is required and personal opinions must be eliminated unless specifically asked about.
This guide provides a basic explanation about how to prepare testimony, thus this information is a starting point, as there are various situations, states and legislative committees with different needs.
Questions? Contact Government Affairs.
- Include your name, title and organization.
- Always thank the committee for the opportunity to speak.
- Clearly state the topic you will be discussing.
- Provide a brief overview of your PTA and why they have a stake in this particular issue.
- Include a one-two sentence thesis statement on what your position is and why.
NOTE: The thesis statement should be your professional recommendation based on PTA’s Public Policy Agenda, resolutions, and/or position statements. Remember, you are representing PTA when giving these remarks, so should always ensure that your testimony adheres to PTA’s policies.
- There is no set limit on length, unless stated otherwise.
- Cover the topic thoroughly and accurately.
- The committee will typically provide you with guidelines ahead of time on what the subject is and what they want you to address.
- Typically, testimony lasts between 5-15 minutes before questions.
- Be sure to provide evidence for your claims; DO NOT simply state your opinion.
- These hearings are to determine the course of law. It is important that the committee and public hear factual accounts of what the legislation would impact.
- Providing evidence gives credibility to your testimony and garners respect for you as a PTA leader.
- Be sure to connect PTA positions and public policy recommendations to the evidence. This allows legislators to clearly see why PTA advocates for the policy position they have taken.
- Briefly recount what you have covered.
- Restate your position and provide a recommendation for action.
- Finish by thanking the committee again.
After your testimony, you will likely have a question and answer session from the committee. Keep the following guidelines in mind when answering questions:
- Do your homework ahead of time. The committee may ask you questions that fall outside the testimony you just gave. Make sure you are prepared to answer questions that pertain to the entire scope of the committee’s hearing.
- Keep answers brief but thorough and stay on topic.
- Stick to the facts; avoid offering an opinion unless directly asked by a committee member to provide one.
- If you do not know the answer to a question, be honest about it. Offer to follow up with the committee once you have obtained an answer. It is better to admit to being unsure about a question than to give false information.
The committee will likely ask you to submit your testimony and all supplementing materials for the record. Find out how this is done, as the process varies. Sometimes it is submitted to a committee staffer and sometimes the committee has a parliamentarian or legal advisor that takes testimony. Ensure that you are fully aware of the process before leaving the hearing so that you can follow procedure. Make sure your testimony and all supplemental items are neatly typed before submitting and offer your business card or contact information to the committee staff so they can follow up with any questions.
Some committees permit organizations to submit testimony even without the invitation to testify. Contact committee staff for guidelines if your PTA is interested in submitting testimony.
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TUESDAY, March 1, 2016 (HealthDay News) -- If you eat poorly and exercise rarely, it's highly likely that your kids will adopt at least some of these bad habits, endangering their hearts.
That's the finding from new research involving nearly 1,500 children, aged 8 to 16, and 1,020 of their adult caregivers.
The study, to be presented Tuesday at a meeting of the American Heart Association in Phoenix, found that kids often take after their parents or other caregivers when it comes to unhealthy habits that then raise the odds for obesity, high blood pressure, high blood sugar and high cholesterol.
One expert wasn't surprised by the finding.
"Although there is clearly a genetic component to heart disease, this study demonstrates how risk factors are often learned lifestyle behaviors, and occur from how kids are taught to live," said Dr. Suzanne Steinbaum, a preventive cardiologist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City.
"Heart disease needs to be looked at as a true family issue," she said, "and intervention needs to take place within the behaviors of the home."
The study was led by Mercedes Carnethon, an associate professor of preventive medicine-epidemiology at Northwestern University in Chicago. Her team found that when caregivers were obese, boys were nearly seven times more likely to be obese themselves, while girls were about four times more likely to be obese.
Further analysis showed that kids were likely to be similar to their caregivers in terms of body fat, blood pressure and cholesterol.
And when caregivers had at least one cardiovascular risk factor, children in their homes were twice as likely to also have a cardiovascular risk factor, compared to children with healthier caregivers.
"Cardiovascular disease -- which is truly a lifestyle disease -- is a problem that affects the family, as behavior is often emulated and passed down from caregiver to their children," Steinbaum added.
Another expert agreed.
"The study data makes the case for having more nutrition education programs that target families, particularly families with adults who have metabolic risk factors," said Pamela Koch, executive director of the Tisch Center for Food, Education, and Policy at Columbia University in New York City.
"With good, quality nutrition education there is the opportunity to reverse these trends and help all children to be able to grow into adults who can stay free of preventable metabolic diseases and have increased quality of life and reduced medical costs," she said.
Experts note that findings presented at medical meetings are typically considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.
The American Academy of Family Physicians offers tips for healthy children and families.
SOURCES: Suzanne Steinbaum, M.D., preventive cardiologist, Lenox Hill Hospital, New York City;
Pamela Koch, executive director, Laurie M. Tisch Center for Food, Education, and Policy, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York City; American Heart Association, news release, March 1, 2016
Copyright © 2016
All rights reserved.
HealthDayNews articles are derived from various sources and do not reflect federal policy. healthfinder.gov does not endorse opinions, products, or services that may appear in news stories. For more information on health topics in the news, visit Health News on healthfinder.gov.
Note: Documents in PDF format require the Adobe Acrobat Reader®. If you experience problems with PDF documents, please download the latest version of the Reader®.
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Alternatively referred to as a bus slot or expansion port, an expansion slot is connection or port located inside a computer on the motherboard or riser board that allows a computer hardware expansion card to be connected. For example, if you wanted to install a new video card in the computer, you'd purchase a video expansion card and install that card into the compatible expansion slot.
Below is a listing of some of the expansion slots commonly found in IBM compatible computers, as well as other brands of computers and the devices commonly associated with those slots. Clicking on any of the links below will provide you with additional details about each expansion slot.
Computer expansion slots
- AGP - Video card
- AMR - Modem, Sound card
- CNR - Modem, Network card, Sound card
- EISA - SCSI, Network card, Video card
- ISA - Network card, Sound card, Video card
- PCI - Network card, SCSI, Sound card, Video card
- PCI Express - Video card, Modem, Sound Card, Network Card
- VESA - Video card
Many of the above expansion card slots are obsolete. You're most likely only going to encounter AGP, PCI, and PCI Express when working with computers today. In the picture below is an example of what expansion slots may look like on a motherboard. In this picture, there are three different types of expansion slots: PCI Express, PCI, and AGP.
Does a laptop have an expansion slot?
Laptops do not have expansion slots like what has been explained above. However, some laptops do have PC Cards that can be inserted into the side of the laptop or the option for an express card to be added.
- How do I install an expansion card?
- Installing a computer network card
- Installing a computer sound card
- Installing a computer video card
- Computer motherboard help and support
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In 1903, Americans considered automobiles practical for short trips only. Horatio Nelson Jackson believed differently. He bet a man fifty dollars that he could drive an automobile across the country. Nelson paid a man to accompany him on a trip that attempted to go from California into Oregon and the Rocky Mountain states, then across the Midwestern U.S.A. and finally to New York City. Jackson's trip made him a media sensation. While Jackson, the other man, and a dog travelled by car, they encountered numerous setbacks involving mechanical difficulties. After the Jackson car started, two other teams of drivers set out from San Francisco, each trying to be the first team to reach New York. Written by
Ken Miller <email@example.com>
Thanks to shows like this, we can learn more than dates, battles and names of dead guys....
I recently retired from teaching history and still love watching historical shows. However, some time back, I noticed that watching shows about wars, dead presidents and the like weren't as satisfying as they used to be for me. And, as a result, I started changing the way I taught my students. So, instead of focusing on this, I began to expose kids more and more to social history--the history of the people. This meant learning about how people lived and what it was like for people of all classes--their hobbies, diets, sports,...whatever contributed to life and which were only rarely discussed in any detail in history books. As a result, I noticed I was having a lot more fun and so were the students. Now I am NOT saying the other stuff isn't important--but all of this goes towards learning history.
In light of this, I love odd little documentaries like "Horatio's Drive". It tells an obscure story about a weird man who, on a lark, made a bet he could drive from San Francisco to New York. While this sounds like no big deal, this was 1903--and cars were notoriously prone to breakdown. And, to make things worse, few roads existed and those that did were mostly dirt. And, getting supplies was a nightmare. So much we take for granted today simply didn't exist and you generally don't think of the infrastructure needed for modern life. Well, Horatio and his driving partner certainly learned about this...the hard way.
This is a single-episode documentary from Ken Burns. Like most of his films, it uses a lot of photos and used various camera techniques (such as zooming and and out) and music to make the photos come to life. And, it uses nice narration (from Keith David of all people) and various actors impersonating the people from the story. Some of the actors contributing their voices were Tom Hanks, Adam Arkin, George Plympton and Eli Wallace. And, like all of his films I have seen, it's a top-notch production and a nice case of storytelling. However, I would have to say that the film did have one shortcoming. After a while, the film seemed too long--just like Horatio's drive. Because of this, the film loses a bit of its dramatic punch--though it does appear to strive hard for accuracy--which is admirable.
My favorite part of the show? Bud and his goggles! See the film and you'll know what I mean!
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Campaigning on familiar issues that include reforming government and education and paying attention to older Americans, Ohio Republican Congressman Pat Tiberi has little fear his constituents will not rehire him this year for another two-year term as they've done seven consecutive times before.
Tiberi, who early in his political career worked as a staff assistant to nine-term 12th District Congressman John Kasich, who was elected Ohio governor in 2010 and seeks a final four-year term this year, has enjoyed winning margins of not less than 53 percent and as high as 64 percent.
Before filmmaker Jeff Orlowski arrived in Ohio's 12th District, which includes communities north and east of Columbus including Zanesville, Mansfield and Dublin, Congressman Tiberi probably wasn't losing sleep over the issue of Climate Change. But a funny thing happened on his way to reelection this year, something not seen in real life by Buckeyes dwelling at about 40-degrees north latitude—the melting of ancient glacial sheets that has been documented in stunning pictures and video by Mr. Orlowski, whose visual brief to the world court argues that Climate Change is real, undeniable and accelerating faster than once thought—is as close as the nose on their face.
Orlowski's assignment from National Geographic to document the melting of Earth's ancient ice sheets turned into a mission to change the tide of history by gathering undeniable evidence of a changing planet. He and his team just ended a social experiment with political consequences whose design is to tip the Congressman to acknowledge the science behind Climate Change.
"Chasing Ice," his 2012 Sundance Film Festival winner, is the educational tool he's using to sway a loyal Republican like Tiberi to come out of the Climate Change closet into a sunny world populated by a diverse constituency in his district that wants elected officials to take action now, so future generations can point to this era as the time when policy solutions were enacted to avoid the dire circumstances that will surely follow if no action is taken.
In 2012, power plants and major industrial facilities in Ohio emitted more than 130 million metric tons of carbon pollution—an amount equal to the yearly pollution from more than 28 million cars, according to published information. The rate of warming in the Midwest has markedly accelerated over the past few decades, sources note. Between 1900 and 2010, the average Midwest air temperature increased by more than 1.5°F. Since 1991, the amount of rain falling in very heavy precipitation events has been significantly above average.
Many efforts are already underway to mitigate and respond to the impacts of climate change in the Buckeye State and calculating the response now includes changing the mind of Congressman Tiberi.
In early April, a spokesperson for Congressman Tiberi told CGE, "Congressman Tiberi knows about Chasing Ice and has spoken with director/producer Jeff Orlowski when Jeff was visiting Central Ohio, and our policy staff has had an extensive meeting with him. Congressman Tiberi certainly appreciates informed constituents advocating for causes they care about and Congressman Tiberi anticipates the conversation continuing."
To benchmark how little attention Mr. Tiberi has previously given to environmental issues in general and clean water in particular, the gold standard of environmental advocacy groups, the Sierra Club, awards perfect spheres to him and six other Ohio GOP congressmen. By contrast, The Club for Growth, which promotes high growth through economic freedom and limited government, rates the 51-year old Tiber 64-percent on lifetime issues.
Now that Orlowski and his "Chasing Ice" crew have wrapped up their approximately two-month stay in the heart of the 12th District, Climate Change, which probably wasn't on Tiber's policy radar this year, has now been confirmed by a spokesman as an official blip. After screening the film about 65 times to an audience of about 8,000 and distribution of 4,000-plus DVDs, what's on the minds of constituents today may well be on Tiberi's mind tomorrow.
Constituents are telling him it's alright to change his position. At film screenings held around the district, old and young, men and women, singles and couples, were asked to write their message to Congressman Tiberi on why he should watch the film and stop denying or delaying what scientists across the board now know is fact.
One of Tiber's constituents, Bob Place, wrote, "I am in your district, I taught chemistry at Otterbein for 40 years. global warming is real, undeniable and frightening. please help lead us to make common sense decisions for our children's future."
Another, Beth Grace wrote, "Everyday is earth day. Use your power for good." Still others called on his to "dare to inspire change, be part of the solution" while one coached "we have the power to speak, you have the power to act." Tim Dunning wrote, "The time has come to align policy with science. Please continue to learn about climate science."
Robert McCollister, an Adjunct Professor of Government at Shawnee State University who also works as a football and track coach at Rock Hill High School in Lawrence County, told CGE via email that Climate Change is not a far-off, potential problem, but a reality whose consequences are already evident. McCollister said he had seen both Chasing Ice and the PBS NOVA on the Extreme Ice Survey.
"I was instantly enthusiastic about their outreach to Rep. Tiberi, and volunteered to help," McCollister said. "I see this campaign as very important, because if we are able to win over Rep. Tiberi without being confrontational, this could become a model that can be taken to other members of Congress, and thus perhaps lead to action on climate change." McCollister also makes presentations mostly in Ohio's southern counties based on Al Gore's controversial "Inconvenient Truth." Reactions to his presentations, he says, have been very enthusiastic as people decide to volunteer in the fight against Climate Change. The greatest difficulty to McCollister is taking the message to a larger audience. "Given the failure of the traditional media to seriously address the issue," he said, "I see Jeff’s and the Chasing Ice Team’s efforts as potentially a way to break through and reach the larger public."
To some of that larger public, Tiberi becomes a hero if he acknowledge and acts. Not only do they want Mr. Tiberi to watch the film, something his office has previously declined to confirm to CGE, they want him to act on the message of the film. Orlowski believes sharing the imagery and sharing the evidence of his film with Tiberi's constituents enables them to convince the congressman to move forward to at least acknowledge the undeniable common sense science says is real and ongoing.
Orlowski and the Chasing Ice crew believe the only way to make progress with Climate Change is to urge political leaders to understand the science. "Unlike other campaigns, this tour focuses on supporting one Congressman at a time, providing them with both the visual evidence and the support they need from their constituents," the Ohio Chasing Ice Tour webpage advertises.
Some faith-based constitutes asked Tiberi to "listen with your heart" in order to "act for our kids and grandkids." Some were not merely entreating him to do the right thing, but want action now. Denial and delay are not options, one exclaimed before calling for a "carbon tax now." One person put it all in context: "I live in your district but we all live on this planet. Please protect the world we share."
Breann Gonzales, Congressman Tiberi's spokesman, told CGE that Tiberi staff have met with Mr. Orlowski on a number of occasions. "He has continued to say that he believes climate change is a global problem that requires a global solution and that the United States can’t go it alone," she said. "The office has received a handful of communications from people that have seen the film and are interested in knowing Congressman Tiberi’s position."
Orlowski followed film screenings with interactive Q&A discussions he hopes connects "the dots between changes we are seeing worldwide and the impact that these changes are having on central Ohio."
President Obama appears ready to take on Climate Change this year, so Tiberi and other GOP officials who do what Orlowski and others want them to do, acknowledge the science behind melting glaciers, may have to walk a fine line between coming around to the science while not appearing to be on the same side of the issue as the White House. In a Rolling Stone article on the subject, Mr. Obama's "glory days of hope and change" are said to be fading fast as his approval rating has flat-lined below 50 percent and as candidates jockey for 2016.
For Obama, author Jeff Goodell writes, "the game ain't over yet ... In the next few months, he [Obama] will take one of the biggest gambles of his presidency by testing the radical proposition that even SUV-loving Americans believe that global warming is real and are ready to do something about it."
The president could be right or he could be wrong. Orlowski and company believe the time is ripe to push the message of the science. If Obama is wrong, Democrats could lose control of the Senate this fall, and as Goodell puts it, "blow the last opportunity we have to save ourselves from life on a superheated planet."
If this experiment in Tiberi's district can generate momentum beyond the direct outreach a collaborative of like-minded groups and individuals can bring when on point for two months, then Orlowski and crew can show that not only can they film science at work, they can cut through the noise from Climate Change naysayers by giving politicians like Congressman Tiberi a solid patch of scientific ground to stand on, so they can stride forward with confidence to a position they once thought unimaginable.
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Painting Process of applying pigment to a surface to secure effects involving forms and colors. Painting mediums: oils, watercolors, tempera, others. Surfaces: canvas, wood, paper and plaster.
Drawing The art of representing something by lines made on a surface or the process of portraying an object, scene, or forms of decorative or symbolic meaning through lines, shading, and textures in one or more colors. Medium: pencil, pen and ink, crayon, brush, and charcoal.
Graphic Processes Processes for making multi- reproduction of graphic works. Involve the preparation of master image of the drawing or design on some durable material such as wood, metal, or stone, from which printing is done. Processes: ◦ Raised (relief) ◦ Depressed (Intaglio) ◦ Flat (surface, or plane)
Relief Printing Unwanted portions of design are cut away on the master image. Printed image is formed by the remaining surfaces. Examples: linoleum cuts, woodcuts, wood
Intaglio Printing Printing from a plate on which incised lines, which carry the ink, leave a raised impression. Dry point: ◦ Artist draws directly on a metal plate with a sharp needle and scratches lines, or grooves, into the metal. ◦ For each print, ink is rubbed into the grooves and the unscratched surface is wiped clean. ◦ In printing, the ink in the grooves is transferred to paper.
Etching: ◦ Drawing or designs on metal plates covered with wax. ◦ Needle penetrates wax to the surface of the plate. ◦ Plate is then dipped in acid, which eats the lines into the metal. ◦ For printing, etched (bitten) lines are filled with ink which is transferred to the paper. Engraving: ◦ Done on a metal plate with a cutting tool called a barin, which leaves a V-shaped trough. ◦ Drawings or designs on the plate are entirely composed of lines or dots.
Surface Printing Includes all processes in which printing is done from a flat (plane) surface. Lithography: ◦ Printing from a flat stone or metal plate by am method based on the repulsion between grease and water. ◦ Design is put on the surface. ◦ Surface is treated so that ink adheres only to areas where drawing has been done. ◦ Ink is then transferred to the paper in printing.
Silkscreen: ◦ Silk is stretched over a rectangular frame and unwanted portions in the design are blocked out. ◦ Pigment is forced through the clear areas. ◦ For multi-color prints, a separate screen is used for each color.
Commercial Art Designing of books, advertisements, signs, posters, and other displays to promote sale or acceptance of product, service or idea.
Mechanical Processes Developed by commercial- mechanical process for rapid, large- quantity reproduction of words and pictures in one or more colors.
Photography Chemical- mechanical process by which images are produced on sensitized surfaces by action of light. Reproductions may be in black or white or in full colors of the original.
The Plastic ArtsAllfields of the visual arts in which materials are organized into three- dimensional forms.
Architecture The art of designing and constructing buildings and other types of structures. Materials: stone, concrete, brick, wood, steel, glass, plaster “mother of the arts”- it houses, serves as background for, or occurs in relation to other fields of art such as painting, sculpture, interior design, landscape architecture, and city
LandscapeArchitecture Planning outdoor areas for human use and enjoyment, especially gardens, parks, playgrounds, golf courses. Chief materials: plants, shrubs, trees, folwers, vines, and ground cover.
City Planning Planning and arranging the physical aspects of a large or small community. Structures and areas concerned with all phases of living and working are attractively and efficiently organized and related.
Interior Design Design and arrangement of architectural interiors for convenience and beauty. Includes backgrounds (wall, floors, ceilings), furnishings, and accessories. Fields: Design of wallpaper, furniture, textiles for curtains, and upholstery
Sculpture Design and construction of three dimensional forms representing natural objects or imaginary (sometimes abstract) shapes. Common materials: stone, wood, clay, metal; ivory, jade, wire, string and other materials. Sculpture of figures: statues
Crafts Designing and making of objects by hand for use or for pleasure. Ceramics, jewelry, leatherwork, and weaving. Mass- produced: industrial design.
Industrial Design Design of objects for machine production. Examples: automobiles, household appliances
Dress and Costume Designs Design of wearing apparel of all types- dresses, coats, suits, shoes, ties, etc.
Theater Design Design of settings for dramatic productions.
Essay Non-fiction,expository (descriptive or explanatory) writing ranging from informal, personal topics to closely reasoned critical treatments of important subjects.
Prose Fiction Includes narratives (stories) created by the author, as distinguished from true accounts. Fiction: comes from the Latin word which means “to form”, “to invent”, or “to feign.” Divided into: novel, novelette, and short story forms. Novel or short story: describes
Poetry Literature of a highly expressive nature using special forms and choice of words and emotional images. Narrative (story telling) poetry includes epics, romances, and ballads. Lyric forms: sonnet, ode, elegy and songs.
Miscellaneous History,biography, letters, journals, diaries, and other works not formally classified as literature often have literary appeal and status due to high quality of the writing.
Music The art of arranging sound in rhythmic succession and generally in combination. Melody results from this sequence, and harmony from combinations. Both creative and a performing art Common forms: songs, march, fugue, sonata, suite, fantasy, concerto, and symphony.
Vocal music Composed primarily to be sung. Voice or voices are generally accompanied by one or more instruments.
Instrumental music Written for instruments of four general types: ◦ Keyboard (piano, organ, etc.) ◦ Stringed ( violin, cello, guitar, etc.) ◦ Wind (flute, clarinet, etc.) ◦ Brass winds (trumpet, saxo-phone, etc.) ◦ Percussion (drum, xylophone, etc.)
Music combined with otherarts Opera: ◦ drama set to music ◦ Mostly or entirely sung with orchestral accompaniment ◦ Spectacularly staged with accomplished singers, elaborate scenery, and costumes.
Operatta and musical comedy: ◦ Drama set to music but is light, popular, romantic and often humorous or comic ◦ Use spoken dialogue instead of recitative
Oratorio and Cantata: ◦ Sacred musical drama in concert form. ◦ Made up of recited parts (recitative), arias, and choruses, with orchestral accompaniment. ◦ No action, sets, and costumes are used. ◦ Oratories are usually based on Biblical themes
Other forms Ballet music Background music for motion pictures
Drama or playA story re-created by actors on stage in front of an audience.
Tragedy One of literatures greatest dramatic art forms. A drama of serious nature in which the central character comes to sad or disastrous end. All tragedies portray
Melodrama Emphasis is on action rather than on character. The action is sensational or romantic and usually has a happy ending.
Comedy All plays with happy endings. Romantic comedy: light, amusing tale of lovers in some dilemma which is solved happily, Farce: light, humurous play. Emphasis is on jokes, humorous physical action, ludicrous situations, and improbable characters. Comedy of manners or “drawing room comedy”: sophisticated or satirical. Characters are usually high-society types, and situations have little to do with real
Miscellaneous Tragicomedy: drama blending tragic and comic elements but which ends happily. Miracle and mystery plays: dramatized stories from the Bible and lives of saints. Morality plays: characters represent specific vices and virtues. Closet drama: plays written for reading than for staging.
Piano drama: based on piano works which revolve around the musical pieces composed under the inspiration of a literary work. It combines the interpretation of music with the recitation of poetry and the literary source of music.
Dance Involves the movement of the body and feet in rhythm.
Ethnologic Includes folk dancing associated with national and cultural groups.
Social or Ballroom dances Popular types of dancing generally performed by pairs. Waltz, fox trot, rhumba and tango.
The Ballet Formalized type of dance which originated in the courts of the Middle Ages. Amy either be solo or concerted dances with mimetic actions accompanied by music. Generally built around a theme or story.
Modern Sometimes called contemporary or interpretative dances. Represents rebellion against the classical formalism of ballet: they emphasize personal communication of moods and themes. Past: movements were natural and untrained. Today: varied forms of movements usually based on the current trend.
Musical Comedy Refers to those dances performed by soloists, groups, and choruses in theaters, night clubs, motion pictures, and television. Combines various forms of ballet, modern, tap and acrobatics.
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Skip to content
Edge of Nowhere Foundation (EON) introduced its EON edible garden concept in 2007. The first EON edible garden was created at the Djarindjin/Lombadina Catholic School in the Kimberley in Western Australia, and the success of that 2008 pilot project has led to the introduction of EON edible gardens in seven other communities.
The EON edible gardens program provides access to affordable fruit and vegetables in remote communities and is a way to promote the importance of a nutritious diet in a happy and healthy life.
EON has employed well-known horticulturist, Sabrina Hahn, to help develop the edible gardens in consultation with the community schools and leaders. The edible gardens include fruit and vegetables as well as bush tucker and medicine plants and provide multiple benefits including:
The EON edible gardens program is a component of the EON thriving communities program which also includes:
Abstract adapted from Edge of Nowhere Foundation
Edge of Nowhere Foundation
Suite 5, 531 Hay Street
Subiaco WA 6008
PO Box 677
Subiaco WA 6904
Ph: (08) 9380 8365
The Evaluation of the Thriving Communities program in six Kimberley communities: final report aims to provide an assessment of the process and outcomes of the four EON Foundation programs ran in the communities of Djarindjin/Lombadian, Ardyaloon, Beagle Bay, Yungngora, Looma and Kadjina. The report aims to demonstrate the benefits of the program to the EON board and future funders, and reflect on lessons learnt.
The Thriving Communities program consists of four components that are designed to reduce the risk of chronic disease:
The findings of the evaluation conclude that whilst program outcomes are hard to measure, a community development approach that values long term engagement is the method most likely to be effective in tackling chronic disease.
Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet abstract
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New Finds and Possible Fraud Discredit 'Chimp Culture'
by Brian Thomas, M.S. *
Do chimpanzees have their own culture? If so, some researchers would connect their behaviors to aspects of human culture, which they believe supports an evolutionary relationship. But current developments shed doubt on that idea.
Perhaps the strongest--and certainly the most prolific--supporter of the chimp culture concept is Harvard evolutionary psychologist Marc Hauser. On average, he has authored or co-authored one technical paper a month for four years. Now, some of his research has been deemed in need of a recall. Harvard completed an investigation in January regarding scientific misconduct by Dr. Hauser, although its full findings have yet to be released.
The inquiry began when three graduate students expressed concern over the way Hauser interpreted certain results they had gathered. Later, some of his experimental results proved irreproducible. As is typical in scientific research, most were never double-checked. So far, eight of Hauser's prior studies have been found to contain "instances of scientific misconduct," according to sources close to the investigation.1 Researchers in the field are unhappy both with Harvard officials' silence on this matter and with the idea that Hauser's published results have been untrustworthy.
The upshot is that nobody is currently sure which of Hauser's results to trust. Thus, doubts grow about his theories that religion, morality, and math (logic) somehow emerged from supposed chimpanzee cultural behaviors.2
A new study appearing in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B examined chimpanzee genes, and the results add to those doubts. Lead author Kevin Langergraber, a molecular ecologist at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, showed evidence that genes, rather than "chimp culture," may still offer better explanations for chimp behaviors.
His results illustrate that science has not determined exactly what causes chimpanzees to act the ways they do. Frans de Waal of Emory University told ScienceNOW that Langergraber's research added "a complication to the picture" that chimp behavior results from some kind of group culture.3
Clearly, evolutionists are anxious to establish a sense of relatedness between chimps and humans. Almost all scientific and popular publications on the issue emphasize only the similarities between the two groups and not the overwhelming differences, testifying to a lopsided perspective. But the only detailed, base-for-base DNA comparison so far compiled of corresponding chimpanzee and human chromosomes revealed that they were totally different.4 Whole classes of DNA were unique to mankind, and unique chromosomal arrangements characterized each separate kind.
From detailed DNA comparisons that demonstrate widespread discrepancies, to a failure to rule out genes as causes for "culturally derived" chimp behaviors, to possibly fraudulent research used to prop up supposed human-chimp similarities, the overall "evidence" that supports the perceived relatedness of humans to chimps is eroding. These observations would be expected, however, if chimps and man don't share common ancestry, but instead represent distinct creations.
- Ledford, H. 2010. Harvard probe kept under wraps. Nature. 466: 908-909.
- Thomas, B. Did Religion 'Emerge' through Evolution? ICR News. Posted on icr.org March 5, 2010, accessed August 19, 2010.
- Cohen, J. Are Some Chimp 'Cultural' Behaviors Actually in the Genes? Science NOW. Posted on news.sciencemag.org August 17, 2010, accessed August 19, 2010, reporting on research published in Langergraber, K. E. et al. Genetic and 'cultural' similarity in wild chimpanzees. Proceedings of the Royal Society B. Published online before print August 18, 2010.
- Tomkins, J. and Thomas, B. 2010. New Chromosome Research Undermines Human-Chimp Similarity Claims. Acts & Facts. 39 (4): 4-5.
* Mr. Thomas is Science Writer at the Institute for Creation Research.
Article posted on August 25, 2010.
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By many measures, the dollar is the most prominent currency in the world. It plays a central role in international trade and finance as both a store of value and a medium of exchange.
- Many countries maintain an exchange rate regime that anchors the value of their home currency to that of the dollar.
- Dollar holdings make up a large share of official foreign exchange reserves, the foreign currency deposits and bonds maintained by central banks and monetary authorities.
- In international trade, the dollar is widely used for invoicing and settling import and export transactions around the world.
Despite this, the future of the dollar is the subject of active debate among economists and in the policy community (Chinn and Frankel 2008, Frankel 2008, Papaioannou and Portes 2008, Pisani-Ferry and Posen 2009).
In recent research (Goldberg 2010), I examine the role of the dollar across several key areas of international trade and finance. In this column, I present it in an abridged form for six areas (see my article for more detail). Jumping ahead, my conclusion is that the dollar retains its status as the dominant international currency in all major categories of use.
What are the facts?
- The dollar is a major form of cash currency around the world. The majority of dollar banknotes are estimated to be held outside the US. More than 70% of hundred-dollar notes and nearly 60% of twenty- and fifty-dollar notes are held abroad, while two-thirds of all US banknotes have been in circulation outside the country since 1990 (Figure 1).
Figure 1. Share of US banknotes held outside the US
Source: Federal Reserve Bank of New York estimates, based on U.S. Treasury Department (2005)
- The dollar remains prominent in exchange rate arrangements. While the dollar was the central currency in the Bretton Woods period, today there are alternative choices available. Nevertheless, many countries have dollar-based exchange rate arrangements. With exchange-rate regimes defined according to the Reinhart and Rogoff (2004) approach, seven countries currently are dollarised or have currency boards using the dollar and eighty-nine have a pegged exchange rate against the dollar (Table 1). The share of countries linking their currency to the dollar in some manner has been stable since 1995, and this group represents more than a third of world GDP (excluding the US).
Table 1. Countries reporting dollar-based exchange rate arrangements
- The dollar remains the dominant currency in foreign exchange reserve accounts. Foreign governments’ foreign exchange reserve accounts, essentially the governments’ foreign currency savings, can be large. In 2009, dollar assets accounted for about two-thirds of the reserve assets of industrialised and developing countries (Figure 2).
Figure 2. Foreign currency reserve holdings
Source: International Monetary Fund, Currency Composition of Official Foreign Exchange Reserves (CCFER) data
Changes among industrialised countries
Among industrialised countries’ holdings, a sharp jump in the dollar share occurred between 1995 and 2000. The rise can be explained primarily by changes in the reserve holdings of euro-area countries. With the introduction of the euro, the legacy currency reserves of euro-area countries – the deutsche marks, francs, lira, and other currencies replaced by the euro – were reclassified as local currencies and therefore were no longer considered foreign currency reserves; this shift in the composition of the countries’ reserve portfolios meant that the dollar assumed a much larger share of the remaining reserves.
Since 2000, the dollar share declined only modestly in the portfolios of industrialised countries. Although a decline in reserve holdings occurred during the global financial crisis, the dollar share of reserve holdings for both industrialised and developed countries remained above 60%.
Other measures of a prominent currency
- The dollar is a leading transaction currency in the foreign exchange markets. With an 86% share in the volume of international trade and financial markets – more than twice the share of the euro – the dollar continues to dominate these markets (Table 2). Turnover volumes in the foreign exchange markets have more than doubled in the past decade, implying large numbers of transactions measured in reference to, or involving, the dollar.
Table 2. Turnover in traditional foreign exchange markets (percent)
- Another likely contributor to the dollar’s leading role in foreign exchange transactions is the currency’s widespread use in the invoicing of international trade. As shown in Goldberg and Tille (2008), the use of the dollar in export invoicing is substantial and far exceeds what could be explained by country exports to the US. Some of the countries with strong dollar use are in proximity to the US (Canada, Mexico). Latin American, and Asia, or are commodity-intensive exporters.
- The dollar also serves as a prominent currency in the international debt markets (European Central Bank 2009, Couerdacier and Martin 2007, and Thimann 2008). One measure is the share of all outstanding debt securities, issued anywhere in the world, denominated in dollars. According to this measure, the dollar’s share stands at approximately 39%, down only slightly from a high of 42% in 1999. The dollar remains the primary financing currency for issuers in the Middle East, Latin America, Asia, and the Pacific area. The euro dominates issuances in Scandinavia, the UK, and the new member states of the European Union. Issuers in Africa have roughly an equal reliance on dollars and euros.
The international role of the dollar remains substantial a decade after the introduction of the euro, and despite changes in the value of the dollar and the financial turmoil that began in 2007. Factors that may have contributed to this continuing strength include inertia in currency use in certain transactions (Krugman 1980). That is, the dollar’s established and deep role in international markets may make it difficult for users to shift to a less entrenched currency – this is the logic of network externalities.
In the markets for international trade and finance, higher transaction volumes contribute to lower bid-ask spreads and reduced implicit transaction costs for using dollars – advantages that in turn reinforce the use of the dollar in these transactions. This self-reinforcing pattern exemplifies the inertia phenomenon described earlier – once a currency is well established, it is not easily displaced from this role. Everyone uses the dollar because everyone else is using the dollar. A second factor is less history-dependent. Users tend to favour the currency of countries that have large economies and relatively stable rates of output and employment growth, as well as low and stable inflation. Finally, users may be predisposed to choose the dollar because it is linked to their own currency through their exchange rate regime and because key commodities are priced in dollars.
While our evidence overall suggests that the dollar is likely to remain prominent as an international currency, its primacy cannot be taken for granted. The pound sterling was the dominant reserve currency in the first half of the twentieth century until it was overtaken by the dollar.1 This observation serves as a reminder that –despite present trends – transitions are possible.
As the size and structure of the global economy change, international currency use may change as well. Changes to the global economy could have major implications for the international transmission of shocks, the value of the dollar, and welfare across economies (for example, see Goldberg and Tille 2009). Accordingly, it is important to monitor use of the dollar in international economic activity and to understand the possible causes and consequences of the dollar’s international role. Ongoing vigilance in policy is therefore warranted.
Disclaimer: The views presented are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York or the Federal Reserve System.
1 The timing of this shift is debated. Eichengreen and Flandreau (2008) argue that the dollar first overtook sterling in the mid-1920s. Chinn and Frankel (2008) suggest that the change occurred after World War II.
Bank for International Settlements. Triennial Central Bank Survey of Foreign Exchange and Derivatives Market Activity.
Chinn, Menzie, and Jeffrey A Frankel (2008), “Will the Euro Rival the Dollar? A Debate”, International Finance, 11(1):49-73, Spring.
Coeurdacier, Nicolas, and Philippe Martin (2007), “The Geography of Asset Trade and the Euro: Insiders and Outsiders”, Centre for Economic and Policy Research Discussion Paper no. 6032, January.
Eichengreen, Barry, and Marc Flandreau (2008), “The Rise and Fall of the Dollar, or When Did the Dollar Replace Sterling as the Leading Reserve Currency?”, Unpublished paper, University of California at Berkeley.
European Central Bank (2009), “The International Role of the Euro”, July.
Frankel, Jeffrey (2008), “The euro could surpass the dollar within ten years”, VoxEU.org, 18 March.
Goldberg, Linda (2010), “Is the International Role of the Dollar Changing?”, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Current Issues in Economics and Finance, 16 (1), January.
Goldberg, Linda and Cédric Tille (2008), “Vehicle Currency Use in International Trade”, Journal of International Economics 76(2):177-192, January.
Goldberg, Linda and Cédric Tille (2009), “Macroeconomic Interdependence and the International Role of the Dollar”, Journal of Monetary Economics Volume 56:7, October.
Ilzetki, Ethan O, Carmen M Reinhart, and Kenneth S Rogoff (2008), background material on “Exchange Rate Arrangements in the 21st Century: Which Anchor Will Hold?” Unpublished paper, Harvard University.
Krugman, Paul (1980), “Vehicle Currencies and the Structure of International Exchange,” Journal of Money, Credit, and Banking, 12(3): 513-26, August.
Papaioannou, Elias, and Richard Portes (2008), “Costs and Benefits of Running an International Currency”, European Commission European Economy Economic Papers, no.348, November.
Pisani-Ferry, Jean, and Adam S Posen (eds) (2009), The Euro at Ten: The Next Global Currency?, Washington, DC, Peterson Institute for International Economics.
Reinhart, Carmen and Kenneth Rogoff (2004), “The Modern History of Exchange Rate Arrangements: A Reinterpretation”, Quarterly Journal of Economics 119(1):1-48, February.
US Treasury Department (2006), “The Use and Counterfeiting of US Currency Abroad, Part 3”, Final Report to the Congress by the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Advanced Counterfeit Deterrence Steering Committee, September.
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The exoplanet GJ 436b has left scientists confused after defying their assumptions about the composition of its atmosphere.
Neptune-sized planets as hot as 800 Kelvin -- about 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit -- should contain high levels of methane and very little carbon monoxide. Instead, the researchers found 7,000 times less methane than expected and plenty of carbon monoxide.
Using NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, researchers measured the dimming of light as GJ 436b passed behind its star and re-emerged. The difference in the two light levels -- measured six times at different infrared wavelengths -- represents the light emitted by the planet itself.
Size comparison of Gliese 436 b with Neptune
(photo credit: wikipedia)
The resulting data were used to determine what molecules make up the planet's atmosphere. MIT Planetary Scientists simulated millions of chemical mixes under the planet's conditions to find the ones that best matched the UCF data.
The findings surprised researchers. "It's like dipping bread into beaten eggs, frying it and getting oatmeal," said UCF Physics Professor Joseph Harrington.
The unexpected result puts GJ 436b in good company. "If you were looking at Earth from afar, you would be surprised to see oxygen gas in its atmosphere," Harrington said. "Oxygen reacts with surface materials and other gases, so you need something that continually produces it."
That something is Earth's abundant plant life. Oxygen is a "biosignature," or an indicator of life, Harrington says.
Using similar techniques to that of the UCF study, astronomers will seek oxygen and other biosignatures on habitable worlds that they soon expect to discover.
Citation: Stevenson et al., 'Possible thermochemical disequilibrium in the atmosphere of the exoplanet GJ 436b', Nature, April 2010, 464, 1161-1164; doi:10.1038/nature09013
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In an era of increasing concern about the prevalence of antibiotic-resistant illness, Case Western Reserve researchers have identified a promising new pathway to disabling disease: blocking bacteria's access to iron in the body.
The scientists showed how bacterial siderophore, a small molecule, captures iron from two abundant supply sources to fan bacterial growth as well as how the body launches a chemical counterassault against this infection process. Their findings appear in a recent edition of The Journal of Experimental Medicine.
"Bacterial siderophore will be an important target for therapeutics one day because it can be modified to prevent bacteria from acquiring iron, but at the same time, it's possible to preserve host access to iron," said senior author Laxminarayana Devireddy, DVM, PhD, assistant professor of pathology, Case Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Investigators knew from the outset that bacterial siderophore captures iron from the host mammal and transforms it so that bacteria can absorb and metabolize the mineral. In this investigation, Devireddy and his colleagues discovered that human mitochondria, which very closely resemble bacteria, possess their own iron-acquisition machinery mitochondrial siderophore. Mammalian mitochondria are membrane-encased subunits within cells that generate most of the cell's energy, and like their bacteria counterparts, mammalian mitochondria have their own siderophore mechanism that seeks out, captures and delivers iron for utilization.
At the test tube level, investigators found that bacteria can feed on iron supplied by bacterial siderophore and mitochondrial siderophore. From this glut of iron, bacteria proliferate and make the host mammal very ill with an infection.
"It's like bacteria can use their own iron-capture machinery or the host's. It just doesn't matter," Devireddy said. "They are very good at utilizing siderophore from both bacterial and mammalian siderophore sources. That means that bacteria get the most iron."
Case Western Reserve researchers also demonstrated that the absence of mitochondrial siderophore in a mammal can enhance its ability to resist infection. When investigators exposed mice deficient for mitochondrial siderophore to systemic infection by E. coli, the animals resisted infection. The reason? E. coli bacteria had less iron to access from mitochondrial siderophore-deficient mice.
Additionally, mammals are not entirely defenseless from a bacteria raid on mitochondrial siderophore iron supplies. In another phase of their investigation, scientists found that normal mice secrete the protein lipocalin 24p3, which isolates bacterial siderophore and suppresses synthesis of mammalian siderophore.
"The action of lipocalin significantly reduced the mortality of the mice from the E. coli infection, and some mice actually recovered," Devireddy said. "That kind of delay in bacterial proliferation gave the immune system time to identify and then neutralize the microbe."
These findings highlight the potential of developing effective therapeutics to reverse bacterial infection.
"Any approach that would suppress either bacterial or mitochondrial siderophore and activate lipocalin-2 would likely slow infection, allowing the host's immune system to respond," Devireddy said. "Such novel approaches would also provide a much-needed alternative to treat those infections that have become antibiotics resistant."
|Contact: Jeannette Spalding|
Case Western Reserve University
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Internet access is something that is useful across all spheres of society. Whether it is an individual surfing search engines for details on a restaurant or a businessman seeking to connect to customers across the world or even an academic entity such as a school that is looking to use technology and telecommunications for better learning opportunities – Internet access can make a remarkable change in everybody’s life. As far as academic entities are concerned, in the USA, the Universal Service Administrative Company delivers something known as E- Rate which helps provide Internet access to a vast network of schools and libraries in the USA.
How does it work?
The USAC works under the Federal Communications Commission to ensure that such Internet access remains affordable and effective. E- Rate was conceptualized to be a support program and is also sometimes known as the Schools and Libraries Program of the Universal Service Fund. This program is characterized by a few aspects such as:
- Being one of the four programs that are funded by the universal service fees which is provided by companies which are into telecommunication services
- its funds are derived mainly from categories such as maintenance of internal connections and telecom services and Internet access to name a few
- being cost-effective so that schools and libraries can enjoy better connectivity all over
It is indeed very interesting to note that the E- Rate program has had a lot of benefits and effects as far as public schools and libraries in the USA are concerned. For instance in a study conducted a few years ago by the Department of Education, it was revealed that Internet access in public schools has gone to 95% from an earlier level of 35%. Classroom access has also gone up to a 63% level from 3%. An extended benefit of using this E- Rate program is the fact that students can increase their test scores and economic institutions can enjoy higher graduation rates as well.
The E- Rate program is essentially a discounted telecom services program which has benefited a large number of public schools, libraries and nonprofit private schools as well. The range of discounts that this program offers is anywhere between 20% and 90%. This range takes into account factors such as location and economic need of the applicant. Discounts are also given based on eligibility criteria laid down by various federal mechanisms and the National School Lunch Program. For instance if the percentage of students that qualify for the National School Lunch Program is anywhere between 50 and 74% and the school is in a rural location then it will be eligible for a E- Rate discount of 80%.
Among the range of eligible services covered by this program lie email, basic phone services, dial-up Internet access and leased data circuits. Internal connections such as switches, network servers and central system operating software are also covered. Applying for an E- Rate discount should begin with the school having a technology plan and meeting the criteria laid down on the website for this program.
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An exhibition of paintings by John Constable will allow visitors to view rough sketches underneath one of his masterpieces using X-ray technology.
View on the Stour Near Dedham was X-rayed
Tate Britain has used X-rays to reveal the different layers of Constable's View on the Stour Near Dedham.
It shows how original sketches changed from beginning to completion, including the exclusion of the figure of a girl.
The exhibit is part of Tate Britain's Constable: The Great Landscapes show which opens in London on 1 June.
Co-curator Anne Lyles said: "This new research carried out by Tate has revealed that by eliminating figurative detail in the foreground of the painting, Constable wanted to create a more powerful visual and narrative focus in the centre of the composition.
"It's fascinating to see from the X-ray Constable's working practice in creating the composition."
Among other work included in the exhibition is Constable's most famous work, The Hay Wain, which is usually housed at the National Gallery.
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That time a giant airship darkened Toronto's skies
In the late summer of 1930 the people of Toronto saw something over the city not many could claim to have seen before. Humming like a giant insect, the dirigible R100 - an airship almost as long as Union Station - circled over the heads of thousands. Work stopped, traffic ground to a halt, and rooftops were packed as everyone strained to glimpse the pride of Great Britain.
It wouldn't stick around long, but the visit of the R100 represented a major milestone for Canada. It was the largest flying machine ever to visit Toronto, and one of the largest aircraft of any type in the world to date. Just months later, however, it was broken up for scrap in the wake of the terrible crash of its sister ship in France.
Toronto had never seen anything like it.
In the mid 1920s Britain was mired in a deep depression. The first world war had taken its financial toll and new technology was needed to kickstart a fresh period of growth. The British Empire was at its height but transport technology still prevented rapid links between its major centres.
It was at this time that dirigibles - large helium or hydrogen airships steered by gasoline engines - began to take shape as a viable means of transportation. The German, French, and Italian armies had used zeppelins as bombers during the war and the colossal vessels had the potential to be long-distance passenger carriers provided they could be operated safely.
1920's airplanes were small, cramped, and capable of only short flights. Dirigibles, by comparison, had the potential to fly for days without stopping for fuel.With this thought in mind, the UK government launched its Imperial Airship Scheme. Two vessels were to be built, one by a private company and another by the country's own engineers, to similar specifications. They were the R100 and R101, respectively.
The R100 was the first to be finished in Howden, Yorkshire in 1929. The airframe was made of duralumin, an early aluminum alloy, and covered with a giant 5-acre fabric coating stitched together in pieces and stretched into place. Inside the cavernous 146,000 cubic metre shell, 17 gas bags made from oxen intestines provided the all-important buoyancy.The bags were filled with a combined 500 million cubic feet of ultra-flammable hydrogen. The United States had a monopoly on helium, another lighter-than-air gas, and it wasn't available in the qualitities the UK required for their airship program.
In contradiction to the R100's basic construction, the crew and passenger quarters in the rough centre of the airship were luxuriously appointed. Passengers could expect to enjoy silver service dining in what was really a miniature hotel. On the R101, the sister ship, a former chief steward of the White Star Line's Olympic ocean liner watched over the comfort of every guest.There were guest rooms with portholes and balconies, a 30-seater dining room, a saloon, a kitchen, a 40-foot wide promenade deck, a lounge, and a grand double staircase all awaiting the green light for full-scale passenger service.
Perhaps most amazingly, the R101 even featured a smoking room despite the massive risk of a catastrophic explosion from even the smallest unconfined fire. Smoking was strictly prohibited on the ship that visited Toronto, however.
The Imperial Airship Scheme's first major test was an Atlantic crossing to be made by the R100. The dirigible was supposed to take its first long-distance trip to India, but concerns over the effects of humidity in the region lead officials to prove their design with a visit to North America.Naturally, giant hydrogen-filled blimps like the R100 typically didn't fare to well in inclement weather. To help the ship avoid dangerous storms the flight deck was equipped with machines capable of receiving transmissions of the latest weather maps from London. With an estimated top speed of just over 100 km/h, it didn't have the ability to outrun fast-moving weather for long.
To illustrate the maneuvering problems experienced by the pilots, the R101 airship was praised during early trials for dipping its nose in salute to England's King George V midway through a ceremonial flyover, but in fact the engineers were struggling to control the vessel and had to work feverishly to keep the nose level during almost every flight.The R100 departed for Canada on Monday July 28, 1930, at 9:45 in the evening. It made its way northwest from its hangar at Cardington, England, and passed over the northern tip of Ireland in the early hours of the next morning. 42 engineers, officers, and crew were aboard but only two passengers made the maiden trip.
The first and only stop would be a purpose built tethering mast 12 miles outside of Montreal at St. Hubert, Que. There, 250,000 excited spectators were expected to greet the ship amid a media frenzy. The CBC called in Foster Hewitt, a man famous for his sign-on that still graces the intro to Hockey Night in Canada, to host the live radio broadcast. 200 other writers and photographers were expected to pack the airfield.
In response, 300 soldiers, provincial police, and RCMP officers were called in for crowd control. The commotion was so great that it inspired La Bolduc, a folk singer considered to be one of Quebec's first singer/songwriters, to write "Toujours L'R-100" about the airship's arrival.
It was imperative the R100 be given a wide berth in Montreal, especially as it was difficult to control and had the potential to explode in spectacular and devastating fashion. A strict no-fly zone was established three miles around the airship and authorities on the ground were told to keep crowds strictly behind established barriers until it was safe.
The Toronto Star called the spectacle "one of the biggest news events in recent years in America."When the R100 docked safely in the early morning of Friday August 1, 1930, the crew were instant celebrities. The mayor of Montreal and other government officials were on hand to greet the Englishmen as they disembarked for the first time after their 5-day voyage. Wing Commander R. B. B. Colmore, a man "who ordinarily smokes 50 cigarettes per day," was finally allowed to light up, though he was reported rather cranky when the press pounced.
The highlight of the trip according to the crew, was a hair-raising moment in an active storm over the St. Lawrence River. The ship rose to try and clear a thunderhead but struck an air pocket and plunged over 2,000 feet "in as many seconds."
"Everybody was holding on to some part of the ship's structure," recalled an anonymous crew member (interviews were officially forbidden.) "There was a rattling of furniture and crockery all over the ship that overruled all other sounds" before it eventually righted itself.
The airship stayed in Quebec for 11 days for press tours and minor repairs. One of the fins at the back of the R100 was damaged as it passed through the storm and there was brief panic when it was reported the ship might not be able to visit Toronto as a result.
During its crossing it had burned more than 9,440 gallons of gasoline.Then, with its bodywork repaired, the R100 appeared on the horizon east of Toronto "like a vast nocturnal moth" in the early morning hours of Monday August 11 while much of the city was still asleep. The vessel droned overhead, waking many, and headed down to Niagara Falls before turning and returning for a second pass via Hamilton. This time the city was ready.
Citizens packed the rooftops and strained their eyes skyward to catch a glimpse of the behemoth as it approached from the south. Those without access to a high rooftop clambered up water towers, in to trees, and the tops of their homes. One boy had to be rescued by firefighters after becoming trapped on the roof of his family home, the Star reported.Traffic stopped in the streets and a "mass of humanity" was at the waterfront as the R100 passed over the Toronto Islands. Commander Booth ordered the nose of the craft dipped in salute, apparently intentionally, as it hummed its way back to the centre of the city.
"At one time she held her downward path toward the surface of the lake for so long that the crowd was audibly gasping, thinking the mighty giant had met with engine trouble or other difficulty and was being forced down into the water," one journalist wrote. "As she righted herself, pointed her nose upward, and soared off to the centre of the city a mighty cheer went up."
The Canadian Bank of Commerce, then the tallest building in the British Empire, provided a perfect backdrop to this advert for British crown. On the ship, the crew were close enough to be seen waving to the well-wishers on the ground and in their perches.
"From now on the population will be divided into two classes, those who saw her first by the light o' the moon and those who saw her full flushed by the risen of sun," declared the Star with just a touch of hyperbole.The R100 safely returned to its base in the United Kingdom but shortly after its arrival its sister ship, crashed and exploded en route to India after being caught in a downdraught at Beauvais Ridge in France, killing 48 of the 54 passengers and crew.
It was the biggest peacetime accident since the sinking of the Titanic. The tragic death of so many promising young engineers and crew shocked the Britain and ultimately lead to the end of the Imperial Airship Scheme. The bodies were buried with full military honours at Cardington and the R100 was broken up for scrap.
It would be decades before any passengers would have the chance to fly across the Atlantic again.
The R100's visit to Toronto was an ideal occasion for companies to cash in on even the most tenuous association with the airship. Ads for everything from fountain pens to cigarettes and condensed milk ran in the Toronto Star and other papers in the days after the visit of the R100. Here are some of the best.
Inside the airship: the promenade deck.The lounge room aboard the R100.Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King (second from left) inspects the R100 at St. Hubert.The view from the ground of the airship tethered to its mast in the days after its arrival.Another view of the R100 as it passes over downtown Toronto
Chris Bateman is a staff writer at blogTO. Follow him on Twitter at @chrisbateman.
Image: Public Domain, City of Toronto Archives, /blogTO Flickr pool.
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Ayling, T. and Cox, G.J. 1982. Collins' guide to sea fishes of New Zealand. Collins, Auckland, New Zealand.
Choat, J.H., Ayling, A.M. and Schiel, D.R. 1988. Temporal and spatial variation in an island fish fauna. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 121: 91-111.
Coleman, N. 1981. Australian sea fishes north of 30° South. DoubleDay, Sydney, Australia.
Francis, M.P., Grace, R.V. and Paulin, C.D. 1987. Coastal fishes of the Kermadec Islands. New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Resources 21(1): 1-13.
Gill, A.C. and Reader, S.E. 1992. Reef biology : a survey of Elizabeth and Middleton Reefs, South Pacific / The Australian Museum, Sydney. Australian National Parks and Wildlife Service, Canberra.
IUCN. 2010. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (ver. 2010.4). Available at: http://www.iucnredlist.org. (Accessed: 27 October 2010).
Kuiter, R.H. 1993. Coastal fishes of south-eastern Australia. Crawford House Press Pty Ltd., Australia.
Lieske, E. and Myers, R.F. 1994. Collins Pocket Guide. Coral reef fishes. Indo-Pacific and Caribbean including the Red Sea. Harper Collins Publishers, New York, USA.
Parker, P.G. 1999. Fish assemblages at Julian Rocks and the adjacent waters of northern New South Wales, Australia. Australian Zoologist 31(1): 134-160.
Pogonoski, J.J., Pollard, D.A. and Paxton, J.R. 2002. Conservation overview and action plan for Australian threatened and potentially threatened marine and estuarine fishes. Environment Australia, Canberra, Australia.
Randall, J.E. 1974. Notes and color illustrations of labrid fishes of the genus Anampses. Japanese Society of Ichthyology 21: 10-16.
|Citation:||Choat, J.H., Pollard, D. & Myers, R. 2010. Anampses elegans. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2010: e.T187453A8539515. . Downloaded on 25 June 2016.|
|Feedback:||If you see any errors or have any questions or suggestions on what is shown on this page, please provide us with feedback so that we can correct or extend the information provided|
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I would assume that many would agree that if we have a piece of music and there are no sharps or flats in the key signature that in most cases (if not all) the piece would be considered in the key of C major or A minor. This question assumes the context of Western Music since that is the only type I know much about.
The key signature defines which notes (in the absence of accidentals) are available to include in the composition. So obviously if there are no sharps or flats in the key signature - without accidentals any note written on the staff will be one of C D E F G A or B (all natural) which are the notes in the key of C major and also the relative minor - A minor.
But if we change the tonal center from C to another note, without changing the available notes, then we are in a different mode. For example if we start on F and play a scale using all the notes in C major (resolving back to F), I believe that would be considered the F Lydian Mode (even though the notes are all common to the C major scale and derived from the key of C major).
So does that mean that F Lydian Mode actually belongs to the KEY - of C? Similarly does each mode in the chart below which are all comprised of the notes found in the key of C major/ A minor, belong to either the key of either C major or A minor? Certainly the key signature would indicate as much.
I know that the Aeolian Mode is equivalent to the A natural minor (A minor) scale - so that makes me believe that modes must be defined as being derived from either a major or minor parent key.
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1. Views on the Mind-Body Problem
substance dualism: mental states and processes are states and processes of a nonphysical substance.
substance physicalism: there are no nonphysical substances. Mental states and processes are states and processes of a physical entity (more specifically, a biological organism), not of a nonphysical substance.
property physicalism: mental states and processes are physical states and processes. That is, not only are they states and processes of a physical entity, they will turn out to be analyzable and explainable in terms of physical states and processes. (Sometimes this is put by saying that mental states and processes are reducible to physical states and processes, but this terminology is potentially misleading.)
property dualism: although mental states and processes are states and processes of a physical entity, they are not physical states or processes.
[Note: it is possible to be a property dualist about some mental states and processes but not others. For example, some hold that conscious experience is not a physical state, although other mental states and processes are.]
2. The Principle of the Indiscernibility of Identicals
Indiscernibility of identicals: if x = y, then x has all the properties y has (and vice versa)
The identity symbol '=' here means numerical identity, i.e. being the very same thing (not just being exactly similar). Two pieces of chalk from the same box, or two cars off the same assembly line, might be exactly similar to one another, but they cannot be numerically identical to one another. Every object in the universe is numerically identical to only one thing, namely itself. So the idea of the Indiscernibility of Identicals is that if x is the same thing as y, then x must have all the properties y has.
This may seem trivial, and in a sense it is. Of course everything has exactly the properties it has! For instance, Curtis Brown = Curtis Brown. Therefore, if the principle is correct, then Curtis Brown has all the properties that Curtis Brown has.
When applications of the principle become a little more interesting is when we have different ways of referring to the same thing.
Example: I come into class one day, pick up a nice new piece of chalk, and name it "Charlie." Half an hour later, I pick up a piece of chalk and name it "Charlotte." I may not be sure whether the piece of chalk I named "Charlotte" is the same as the piece of chalk I named "Charlie."
Therefore, I'm not sure whether Charlotte = Charlie.
However, I do know (by the indiscernibility of identicals) that if Charlotte = Charlie, then Charlotte has all the properties Charlie does, and vice versa. Suppose I inscribed Charlie's name on it when I named it. If Charlotte = Charlie, then Charlotte has the name "Charlie" inscribed on it. So if I check and find that Charlotte does not have "Charlie" inscribed, I can conclude that Charlotte is not identical with Charlie.
Most arguments for mind-body dualism are like this: they attempt to find a property that the mind has but the body does not (or vice versa), and conclude that they are not the same thing.
|An Argument for Dualism from the Indiscernibility of Identicals|
The two arguments Sober discusses in chapter 19 are both like the argument above that Charlotte is not identical with Charlie. The first involves the (supposed) property of indubitable existence, which Descartes thinks the mind has but the body does not have. The second argument involves the property of divisibility, which Descartes thinks the body has but the mind does not have. I'll just focus on the first.
Lots of similar arguments have been offered. One problem with many of them is that they simply beg the question. For example, according to Descartes the mind has the property of thinking, but the body does not. But the claim that the body doesn't think simply begs the question by assuming physicalism is false. Physicalists, of course, maintain that the body does think!
1. The indubitable existence argument.
At first glance, the "indubitable existence" argument looks better than this, though. It seems that we have independent reasons to think that the mind exists indubitably but the body doesn't, and that we can use this fact to prove that they're different.
Definition of indubitable existence: x has the property of indubitable existence if and only if I cannot doubt that x exists.
Descartes tries to prove two things in Meditation 2.
1. My thoughts have the property of indubitable existence.
2. No physical process has the property of indubitable existence.
1 is supported by the observation that even if I were being deceived by an evil genius, I still could not be mistaken in thinking that I have the thoughts I do. 2 is supported by the theoretical possibility that an evil genius could deceive me into believing that I had a body even though I was in fact a disembodied spirit.
But if 1 and 2 are correct, and the principle of the indiscernibility of identicals is also correct, then it follows that my thoughts cannot be identical with any physical process.
2. Response to the indubitable existence argument.
The general form of the argument cannot be valid, because there are other arguments with the same form that are clearly invalid. For example:
Superman has the property of indubitable identity with Superman.
Clark Kent does not have the property of indubitable identity with Superman.
Clark Kent is not identical with Superman.
What exactly is wrong with the argument, though? One way to put what the problem seems to be is this. Indubitable existence (and indubitable identity with Superman) are not properties of a thing considered by itself. They are properties of a thing when it is thought of in a particular way.
Here's an analogy. I have the property of being the oldest person in Chapman 18 when I'm in the room with students. However, I do not have the property of being the oldest person in Chapman 18 when I'm in the room with the rest of the Philosophy faculty members. So "the property of being the oldest person in Chapman 18" is not really a property because it is incomplete. To completely specify a property we'd have to say something like "the oldest person in Chapman 18 at 12:30 on October 31, 2007."
Similarly, the description "indubitable identity with Superman" is incomplete. We need to add how Superman is being thought of. Superman has the property of "indubitable identity with Superman when thought of as 'Superman'," but Superman does not have the property of "indubitable identity with Superman when thought of as 'Clark Kent'."
Finally, returning to the relation between thoughts and physical processes, we have the same problem. "Indubitable existence" is not a completely specified property. "Indubitable existence when thought of as a thought" might be a perfectly good property, and my thoughts all clearly have it. But this doesn't prove that thoughts are not physical processes. If thoughts are in fact physical processes, then some physical processes also have the property of indubitable existence when thought of as a thought!
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‘Sally Ride: America’s First Woman in Space’
By Lynn Sherr
Simon & Schuster
And the cow jumped over the moon.
You spent many years wondering if that were possible, although countless nursery rhyme books said it was so. Yes, a human could surely go there, but a bovine?
Eventually, you learned the truth: men and women can overcome gravity, but cows stay grounded. And in the new book “Sally Ride: America’s First Woman in Space” by Lynn Sherr, you’ll learn some truths that weren’t so widely known.
Born at the end of May, 1951, at a time when girls were usually directed toward domestic interests, Sally Ride was raised in a California household that was supportive of off-the-beaten-path lives. The Ride girls (Sally had a younger sister) never heard “I love you,” but they were encouraged to happily find their own interests.
In this atmosphere, strong-willed Ride grew to desire what was then considered to be a boys’ interest: she would “devote” herself to science. It was tennis, however, that took her to college in Philadelphia; her game was near-pro-quality, though she knew she lacked the discipline needed to play professionally. With that in mind, Ride headed back west and enrolled at Stanford, where she majored in physics.
It was there that she fell in love, then fell in love again when the first relationship fizzled due to distance. It was also at Stanford where Ride, who had always assumed that NASA would forever be off-limits to her, first learned that America’s space program was recruiting women.
She applied. A few months later, she interviewed and tested and, after training and not just a few faux pas from NASA, was ultimately, famously chosen to be the first American woman in space. Ride’s life as she knew it had changed forever.
But what about the people who were close to Ride? Author Lynn Sherr believed that she was; she and Ride had been friends for years. Just days after Ride’s death, though, Sherr and the world learned that Ride had hidden a major part of herself by keeping secret a committed 27-year same sex relationship.
In her introduction to “Sally Ride: America’s First Woman in Space,” Sherr explains how this book came about: her years of knowing (but not-quite-knowing) Sally Ride and the shock of learning a “private” truth. She also writes about the cultural atmosphere in which Ride accomplished her greatest dream, the space program and NASA, and the additional issues to which Ride devoted her life.
Sherr also gives readers a good sense of Ride as a person, rather than the heroine that history tends to offer. For that, I was glad; it’s always nice to perceive those we hold in esteem as human, so reading of Ride’s overwhelmingly by-the-book, reticent nature was welcome, almost comforting.
This is a personable book that doesn’t seem quite as shocking as I’m sure it might have been once, but it’s still enjoyable and, for followers of the space program, LGBT issues, and dreamers alike, it’s a must-read.
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Tidal Power is the extraction of energy from tidal currents, flows and streams to produce electricity. These flows primarily result from the gravitational effects of the sun and the moon on the Earth’s oceans. These effects cause the rise and the fall of the ocean which then cause currents by interacting with a variety shoreline shapes and sea floor contours. While the oceans present challenging environments in which to work, tidal power meets these challenges to achieve some important advantages over other renewable sources of energy.
Tidal power is very variable over a short time frame, typically peaking once or twice per day, but is extremely predictable over many years. The tidal cycles usually include the following phenomenon:
The sea level rises over several hours, covering the intertidal zone. The water rises to its highest level, reaching high tide. The sea level falls over several hours, revealing the intertidal zone. The water stops falling, reaching low tide.
The typical patterns in the tides are a twice daily variation (semidiurnal). There is also a difference between the first and second tide of a day. There is also a spring-neap cycle that repeats every 7.5 lunar months. These cycles vary annually, repeat themselves over a period of several years, and are as predictable as the orbits of the earth, sun, and moon.
Tidal power is a denser form of energy than either wind or solar power. Seawater is 832 times as dense as air and is not compressible. This means that more power is available per square meter in tidal than for wind or solar. Like wind, tidal power is a function of the velocity of the current flow cubed. As tidal flows peak, the power extracted increases geometrically. This energy density is further leveraged by the massive size of the ocean and the scale of the currents produced with the change of the tides.
Tidal installations will achieve a larger scale than most river sources because of greater working depths and the size of productive sites. While there will be many river projects that utilize BEC’s technology, none of them will achieve the same scale as the largest tidal power installations. And given the greater energy densities, this will make tidal power competitive with current electricity prices for a clean and predictable source of energy.
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Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever (EHF), also known as Ebola Virus Disease (EVD), is a highly contagious infection caused by one of five virus species belonging to the Filoviridae family believed to be carried by fruit bats. The Zaïre, Sudan, Taï Forest, and Bundibugyo viruses cause illness in humans while the Reston species affects animals.
Ebola hemorrhagic fever is a severe infection. It can have a mortality rate of up to 90%. The infection can occur in humans and animals. This application Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever is a good source of information regarding the Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever.
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By Peter James Hudson
|P. P. Pitchlynn||294 votes|
|F(ranceway) Battice||284 votes|
|Jerry Wade||265 votes|
There was a full blood Choctaw named Chafvtaya which means "running and going," who assumed the name of John Pitchlynn, emigrated from Mississippi to Indian Territory, located near Lukfata for awhile and re-emigrated up to what was known as Wade Settlement at the source of Kiamichi River and lived near a church called Lennox where Simon Hobbs was a missionary. He named his children Peter, Thomas, Davis and Alex Pitchlynn. They lived near Albion and Talihina. Sometimes people are confused about these families, but there is no relationship with Peter P. Pitchlynn, he being a half breed and they being full bloods.
According to manuscript record No. 19435 in the tribal files now in the custody of the Oklahoma Historical Society, James Thompson, Chief Justice, and I. L. Garvin, Associate Justice, Choctaw Supreme Court, rendered an opinion dated October 1867 in case of John Wilkin v. Choctaw Nation, deciding that
during P. P. Pitchlynn's absence from the Nation that John Wilkin, being President of the Senate, was fully authorized to act as Principal Chief of the Nation until P. P. Pitchlynn's return, and that inasmuch as John Wilkin did act as Principal Chief during his absence he was entitled to remuneration for services rendered.
Under date of November 7, 1884, a resolution was passed by the Choctaw Council and approved by Ed McCurtain, Principal Chief, that $1268.00, the amount of the account against the estate of the late Col. P. P. Pitchlynn, be allowed, requiring the Principal Chief to issue a certificate in favor of the late Col. Pitchlynn, and requiring National Auditor to issue his warrant on the National Treasurer for the same. This was found in a bound Choctaw volume in vault of the Superintendent of the Five Civilized Tribes.
According to the Journal of the House of Representatives of Choctaw Nation in the vault of the Superintendent of the Five Civilized Tribes, the following parties were candidates for Principal Chief of Choctaw Nation in 1866, the votes each received being listed opposite their respective names
|Allen Wright||----------------------------------------||552 votes|
|Jerry Wade||----------------------------------------||367 votes|
|Peter Folsom||----------------------------------------||199 votes|
|J. P. Folsom||----------------------------------------|
|Wilson Jones||----------------------------------------||1 vote|
|David Harkins||1 vote|
|Samuel Garland||----------------------------------------||80 votes|
|Coleman Nelson||----------------------------------------||265 votes|
Allen Wright was elected Principal Chief of Choctaw Nation in 1866 and served until October 1870. He was born in Mississippi son of Ishtimahelvbbi, and emigrated to Indian Territory at the time of the removal, stopping at Lukfatah for awhile and then located west at Boggy Depot. Allen Wright was educated at Union College, Schenectedy, N. Y. He was a Presbyterian Minister and translator. He was Treasurer of Choctaw Nation from 1860 to 1861, or one term. He headed the delegation which made the Treaty of 1866 and was elected Principal Chief in 1866, serving until 1870. He also served as Superintendent of Public Schools of
Choctaw Nation. He was a Council member. He was active in public affairs and did much for the Choctaw people. He died and was buried at his home place at Boggy Depot, in now Atoka County, Oklahoma. He married a teacher from Ohio and their children were Dr. E. N., Frank, Mary, Annie, Clara, Kate, Allen, Jr., and James B. Wright.
According to the Journal of House of Representatives of Choctaw Nation in custody of Superintendent of Five Civilized Tribes, the following were candidates for Principal Chief in 1868, the votes each received being placed opposite their names,
|Allen Wright||----------------------------------------||1221 votes|
|F(ranceway) Battiest||----------------------------------------||501 votes|
William J. Bryant was elected Principal Chief in 1870, serving until 1874, two terms. I believe his father was a white man. He was a student of Choctaw Academy. He emigrated to this country about 1840 after the general removal. He was still in Mississippi in 1838. He first located in Red River County, Choctaw Nation, and from there went to Octavia and was elected chief while living at Octavia, in now McCurtain County, Okla. Then he emigrated to about where Wilburton is now and was postmaster there, the postoffice being Pleasant, now discontinued. Then he moved to Tushkahoma where he lived for several years. He died there and is buried about two miles east of Tushkahoma about 200 yards north of the Frisco Railroad and also the highway. His grave was covered with a marble slab with headstone bearing an inscription. It is all broken to pieces now. I do not know the date of his death. He was a member of the Masonic Lodge. I do not know whom he married and nothing about his children. He was a member of Choctaw Council in 1844; Supreme Judge of Second District in 1865; delegate to Creek Convention (at North Fork Town I believe) in 1861.
In August 1872 William J. Bryant was opposed by Turner B. Turnbull, a student of Choctaw Academy, District Chief of Third District in 1863, Judge of Blue County in 1853. William J. Bryant won the race with a large majority.
Coleman Cole was elected Principal Chief of Choctaw Nation in 1874. He served for two terms until October 1878. A copy of
his last message to the Senate and House of Representatives in General Council assembled, October 1878 term, may be found in the manuscript tribal records now in the custody of the Oklahoma Historical Society, No. 19437. He was educated at Elliot Mission School in Mississippi. He was son of Robert Cole, who was District Chief of Western Division, Mississippi, in 1825. Coleman Cole was still in Mississippi in 1838 so I think they emigrated about 1840. He was a member of Council in 1850, 1855, and 1871-1873. If Robert Cole was correct in saying that Greenwood Leflore was his nephew then Coleman Cole's sister, name unknown, must have married a Frenchman named Louie Cravatt. Cravatt and his wife had two daughters, Nancy and Rebecca Cravatt. Louis Leflore, Frenchman, married Nancy Cravatt and they were parents of Greenwood Leflore and others. After Nancy's death he married Rebecca and they were the parents of Forbis Leflore and others. Robert Cole was a half-breed. It is not known who his father was but he was a white man with an Indian wife of the Shvkchi Homa Tribe. In 1938 when testimony was being taken in some claim of the Choctaws against the United States, Coleman Cole testified that a massacre of the Shvkchi Homa Tribe of Choctaw Indians by Chickasaws assisted by Choctaws, just before the Revolutionary War, all of said Tribe were killed except about 200 women and children, among them being a woman with a white husband who ran away and left her with several children. This woman was Coleman Cole's grandmother. Her name was Shumaka and she was still living in 1838, age 120, when this testimony was given. Coleman Cole is a descendant of the Shvkchi Homa Tribe and Choctaw Indians. He located in Cedar County, Choctaw Nation, east of Antlers, Okla., at the time of emigration. He died and is buried about three miles south of a postoffice called Standley, in Pushmataha County, Okla. The man who owns the farms knows where the grave is and does not disturb it. It is in a field and has a pile of rocks over it. Coleman Cole had a son, Logan, whose children are all dead, but whose granddaughter lives at Wichita, Kansas. Coleman Cole was a Choctaw Delegate to the Creek Convention at North Fork Town held on July 1, 1861, when a treaty was made with the Confederacy. Green
McCurtain often said that he was related to Coleman Cole. Green McCurtain's uncle Daniel having married Robert Cole's sister. Garrett E. Nelson, white man, married another sister. Green McCurtain said that when Coleman Cole got to be chief he built a two-story log house.
At the August 2, 1876, election, William Bryant, Coleman Cole and Allen Wright were candidates, Coleman Cole being elected.
In 1878 Isaac Garvin was elected Principal Chief of Choctaw Nation but he died in February 1880. His father was Henry Garvin, white man. I do not know where Isaac Garvin was educated. He was born in Mississippi and emigrated to Indian Territory, locating in Red River County, about a mile southwest of what is now the town of Garvin, Okla. The station, Garvin, was named for him. He was County Judge of Red River County for several years; Supreme Judge for several years. He was buried at his home place and a monument is standing to mark his grave. I do not know who his first wife was but his second wife was Melvina, daughter of Capt. Miashambi, and sister of Peter J. Hudson's mother. Peter J. Hudson tells about Isaac Garvin coming to his father's house when he was just a little child. The father and mother were both out when he arrived and as the children didn't know who he was and he looked so much like a white man, one of Mr. Hudson's sisters said in Choctaw "No count white man come to our country." They felt very much ashamed when they found he was a Choctaw and knew what had been said. By his second wife, Isaac Garvin had one daughter, Francis, who married a man by name of Dr. Shi. They emigrated to Chickasaw Nation with Isaac Garvin's widow and have all died out with exception of one son, Isaac Garvin Shi now living in Chickasaw Nation.
Jack McCurtain, being President of the Senate at the time of Isaac Garvin's death, filled out his unexpired term, and was elected Principal Chief and sworn in on October 1880, serving for two terms, until October 1884. A printed copy of his Message to the Senate and House of Representatives of Choctaw Nation,
dated October 7, 1881, at Chahta Tamaha, may be found in the records of the Oklahoma Historical Society Archives, being No. 19438. He was a son of Cornelius McCurtain, and brother of Green and Edmond McCurtain, both of whom later became Principal Chief of the Nation. He was born in the State of Mississippi March 4, 1830, moved with his parents to Indian Territory in 1833, attended school at Old Spencer Academy, 9 miles north of Doaksville when about fourteen years of age but remained there only about two years. The other McCurtain boys attended Fort Coffee School so it may be that Jackson did also. He died on November 14, 1885, and is buried a half mile east of the Choctaw capitol near Tuskahoma, Okla. The following is inscribed upon his monument:
"In memory of Jackson F. McCurtain Ex. Gov. of the Choctaw Nation. Born in the State of Miss., March 4, 1830. Moved to Ind. Ty., Choctaw Nation 1833. Died Nov. 14, 1885. Age 55 years, 8 months and 10 days.
"He was placed in the old Spencer Academy when about fourteen years of age but unfortunately remained in school only about a little more than 2 years.—In 1850 he was elected Representative to the Choctaw Council of the Choctaw Nation and continued member until July 1861 when he was elected Captain of the first Choctaw regiment under Commanding General D. H. Cooper—1862.—He was promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel of the Second Choctaw Battalion and was a faithful efficient officer knowing no fear in all his command. Was surrendered to the Federal authority in 1866. He was elected Senator by a unanimous vote of the County and continued in that capacity until the death of Gov. I. L. Garvin Feby. 1880, when in consequence of his being President of the Senate he became Governor of the Choctaw Nation. He became his successor in Oct. 1880 having been elected by an overwhelming majority.
"He became his own successor again in Oct. 1882. Consequently he served as Governor two full terms and a part of the term and what he did while exercising the duties of the Office of Governor will hold him in grateful remembrance by the Choctaw people who love their country. His heart always went out for orphans and such a man deserves well the approval of his fellow man and the smiles of Heaven.
"An honest man here lies at rest—As ere God with His image blest. The friend of man, the friend of truth, the friend of age and a guide for youth.
"Few hearts like his with virtue warmed.
"Few hearts with knowledge so informed.
"If there is another world he lives in bliss.
"If there is none he made the best of this."
His first wife was Marie Riley, sister of Judge James Riley of First District. His home for many years was at Red Oak, in now Latimer County, Oklahoma, where he lived at the time he was made Principal Chief. While still serving as Chief he moved north of Hugo about ten miles and south of Antlers, where he lived for about two years, moving later to Tuskahoma about 1883. It was during Jackson McCurtain's administration that the Council House was built at Tuskahoma, council having been held at Chahta Tamaha or Armstrong Academy from 1863 to 1884. While he was living at Red Oak, many intruders had gone into the Choctaw Nation from Arkansas, and when he became Chief he asked the United States for troops to assist the Choctaw militia to remove the intruders from the northeastern part of Choctaw Nation. They did furnish troops and the intruders were removed but it was not long until they returned and it is said that they threatened Jackson McCurtain's life and that is when he moved to Hugo.
His first wife died leaving two daughters, one of whom died young, and the other, Sophie, married Lewis Garvin. She died, leaving one son, Simpson Garvin, now living at Talihina.
His second wife was Jane Austin. Their children, numbering about ten, have all died with the exception of Lizzie, now Mrs. Aikman. One of their daughters married Lyman Moore of Spiro. She died leaving a daughter and son.
Jane Austin McCurtain was said to have been Jackson MeCurtain's private secretary and adviser during his administration. She died in August 1924 at the age of 82 years.
Edmond McCurtain, brother of Jackson, succeeded him as Chief, taking office in October 1884 and serving until October 1886. His opponent was J. P. Folsom. He was a son of Cornelius McCurtain. He lived at Sans Bois, Choctaw Nation, died at Skullyville and is buried there. The following is inscribed upon his monument:
"In memory of Edmond McCurtain, born March 4, 1842, died
Nov. 11, 1890, at Skullyville. He filled every office of honor or trust in the gift of the people, from representative to Principal Chief. He was also a delegate to Washington for four years. One half of his life was spent in the service of his country and during all this time his actions were governed by pure patriotism as the Choctaws will ever know. While Superintendent of schools he sowed the seeds of education among his people that will blossom and bear fruit as long as this nation stands. He deserves above all others to be called the friend of his people. He was kind and generous as the brave only be. When the years have come and gone and the Choctaws be few, this stone shall mark the place of one purest, bravest and most patriotic sons of that nation. If there be a place where the kind, the noble and the honest can rest, when life is ended, he will enjoy its happiness because he made so many happy on this earth."
Tandy Walker was also buried in this grave yard; also Edmond McCurtain's brothers, David and Robert.
Henderson Walker, brother of Tandy Walker, murdered Robert McCurtain, after which the other McCurtain brothers went to Henderson's house and killed him. This almost started a feud between the Walkers and McCurtains but somehow it was patched up. David McCurtain was killed by a negro who was later killed by Green McCurtain, David's brother.
Edmond McCurtain was married three times. He was Superintendent of Public Schools of Choctaw Nation. In 1879 he took Peter J. Hudson to Springfield, Mo., when he entered Drury College.
Thompson McKinney succeeded Edmond McCurtain, taking office in October 1886 and serving until October 1888. He was a full blood Choctaw. I do not know where he received his education. The name Thompson McKinney of Smithville, Okla., may have been acquired from Thompson McKinney of Skullyville. He was a son of Judge Mitanvbbi which means "to kill while he is coming." Mitanvbbi lived on Eagle Fork about three miles west of the town of Smithville, Okla., where he died. Thompson McKinney was his oldest child and William McKinney who died just recently his youngest son. Thompson McKinney was a member of Council in 1877; National Secretary for several years, and chief from 1886 to 1888. He died in 1889 and is buried two or three miles west of Wilburton, Okla.
Thompson McKinney's grave is located on the tract of land near Wilburton, which is still tribal property, on which houses are being built, it being intended to colonize the Choctaws there in case it is necessary. I have heard that they are trying to fix up Thompson McKinney's grave. At one time his grave was pointed out to me and it is covered with logs.
At the time of his death he left two children. Jackson James was appointed guardian for these children and placed them in the Murrow Orphan Home at Atoka, Okla.
Many people confuse Thompson McKinney, Principal Chief with a Thompson McKinney of Skullyville. Thompson McKinney of Skullyville died in 1859 and is buried at Skullyville Burying Ground, while the Thompson McKinney who was Principal Chief lived, died and is buried near Wilburton. Thompson McKinney of Skullyville was the grandfather of Major Victor M. Locke. He was a student at Choctaw Academy, a lawyer by profession and did as much as any one toward building up the Choctaw schools but never was Chief. At one time, however, he opposed Alfred Wade for the office of Governor of Choctaw Nation, but was defeated.
Ben Smallwood succeeded Thompson McKinney, taking the oath of office in October 1888 and serving until 1890. His opponent was Wilson N. Jones. It is not known what school he attended. He was a son of William Smallwood. His grandfather was Elijah Smallwood, a white man, from South Carolina, who went to Mississippi and married Mary Leflore, sister of Thomas Leflore. Ben Smallwood's father, William Smallwood, was a student at Choctaw Academy. He was a member of Council in 1863. He married Annie Burney, a Chickasaw woman. He lived and died Dec. 15, 1891 at Lehigh and is buried there. Mrs. Lizzie Nash of Antlers is a descendent of Ben Smallwood.
Wilson N. Jones succeeded Ben Smallwood as Principal Chief. He was sworn in in October 1890 and served until October 1894, two terms. He was uneducated but was a good business man. He got rich in spite of the fact that he could hardly write his name. He talked broken English. He was Treasurer, District
Trustee and finally Principal Chief. During his administration two boarding schools were added to the four boarding schools already in existence. One of these schools was for boys and was called Jones Academy in honor of Governor Jones, while the other, for girls, was called Tuskahoma Female Institute. P. J. Hudson was the first Superintendent of Tuskahoma Female Institute.
During the election of 1892 in the race between Wilson N. Jones and Jacob Jackson for Principal Chief, a great deal of confusion was created. It was at this time that trouble started at McAlester which terminated at Antlers and became known as the Antlers or Locke War. A man by name of Joe Haklotvbbi was killed at Hartshorne by political enemies and it was this killing which started this trouble, leaders of both factions gathering at McAlester immediately after the killing to fight it out, but a fight was averted by the appearance of a man on a white horse, waving a United States flag. He called for a parley and notified the heads of each party not to fire a shot for if they did he had authority from the United States Government to abolish the tribal governments. That man was Leo Bennett, U. S. Indian Agent. The trouble later sprung up at Antlers, however. This trouble was caused by the election campaign of Wilson N. Jones and Jacob Jackson for Principal Chief.
Wilson N. Jones was a son of Nathaniel Jones of Mississippi. His mother's name is unknown but she was from the Battiest family which makes him of French descent. His first wife was Luisa Leflore and they were parents of Annie Bell and Willie Jones. Willie Jones was killed leaving one son, Nat Jones, who committed suicide at Oklahoma City by jumping from the top of a ten story building. Wilson N. Jones had a sister named Lizzie who married a white man named Thomas Griggs. They were parents of Thomas Griggs, Jr., who was father of Mrs. Lizzie Nash of Antlers, Okla., making Wilson N. Jones, Mrs. Nash's great uncle.
Wilson N. Jones' second wife was a white woman but I know nothing about her. They had no children.
During the latter part of his life he lived at Sherman, Texas. He died about 1900 but I do not know where, or where he was buried.
His home in Choctaw Nation was north of Bokchita, in now Bryan County, Oklahoma.
Jefferson Gardner succeeded Wilson N. Jones as Principal Chief, taking office in October 1894 and serving until October 1896. His opponent was J. B. Jackson. He was born near Wheelock, Choctaw Nation, son of Noel Gardner who was a student of Choctaw Academy. His brothers were James and Jerry. Jerry was father of Edmond Gardner of Valliant, who is quite a historian. Jefferson Gardner was Treasurer of Choctaw Nation, acted as Circuit Judge of Second Judicial District, and finally elected Principal Chief of Choctaw Nation. He was postmaster of Eagletown from about 1874 for many years. He ran a general store at Eagletown, another at Sulphur Springs or Alikchi, Choctaw Nation, and still another at Bon-ton, Choctaw Nation, on Red River. When he was postmaster Mr. Peter J. Hudson acted as his clerk at Eagletown and knew him very well. He was a man about 5' 6", bald headed, half-breed, a man of few words but very kind. His first wife died at Wheelock. I don't know who she was. She left one daughter named Alzira, now Mrs. Lambert. I do not know where she lives. When Jefferson Gardner moved to Eagletown he had no family, his daughter attended school at New Hope Seminary. While at Eagletown he married Lucy Christy, daughter of Joe Christy. At the death of Lucy he married her sister, Judy. He had quite a family by these wives but they are all dead with exception of Emma, now Mrs. Mills, living at Valliant, and Alzira, now Mrs. Lambert. He died about 1905 and is buried at the Joe Christy Burying Ground three miles southeast of Eagletown.
Green McCurtain succeeded Jefferson Gardner as Principal Chief, taking office in October 1896 and serving until October 1900, two terms. His opponents were Jefferson Gardner, J. B. Jackson and G. W. Dukes. He was a son of Cornelius
McCurtain and brother of Edmond and Jackson McCurtain, both former chiefs of the Choctaw Nation. He was born at Skullyville and died December 28, 1910, at his home at Kinta, Oklahoma, and was buried at his old home at Sans Bois, Oklahoma, Haskell County, about 5 miles east of Kinta. He married for his first wife a white woman, mother of D. C. McCurtain, living at Poteau. She later married Tom. Ainsworth. Green McCurtain married as his second wife, Kate Spring, daughter of John Spring of now Tuskahoma, Oklahoma. Their children were Alice who married George Scott now living at Stigler and former Treasurer of Choctaw Nation, Lena who married Herbert Moore now of Muskogee, Bertha and Cora who married brothers, the Pebworth boys. Cora is now dead but Bertha is living. Mrs. Green McCurtain is still living at Stigler with her daughter, Mrs. George Scott. He was elected Principal Chief on the program of the Tuskahoma Party of which he was the head and which advocated negotiation with the Dawes Commission for the settlement of Choctaw Affairs.
Gilbert W. Dukes succeeded Green McCurtain and took office in October 1900 serving until October 1902. He was born around Wheelock. He was a son of Joseph Dukes who was interpreter and translator for early missionaries. He was with Cyrus Byington at Mayhew Mission School in Mississippi for a long time and then emigrated to Indian Territory and stayed with Alfred Wright at Wheelock Seminary for many years as translator of the New Testament. Gilbert W. Dukes' mother was Nancy Collins. When but a young man Gilbert W. Dukes moved from Wheelock to what is known as Wade Settlement about 6 miles east of Talihina, Oklahoma. He was a student of old Spencer Academy. He married Angeline Wade, daughter of Governor Alfred Wade. They had two children, Henry, now of Bokhoma, McCurtain County, Oklahoma, and the other, Joseph Dukes, Assistant Field Clerk at Talihina, Oklahoma. After the death of his first wife he married Isabel, daughter of Horace Woods, white man, father of a large family.
At their death they left, Edwin, D. Hopaiishvbbi, Josephine, Minerva and Leatta Dukes, all of whom are living around Talihina. The first office ever held by Gilbert W. Dukes was as Sheriff of Wade County, Choctaw Nation. He joined. the Confederate Army when very young. He was Supreme Judge for four years, Circuit Judge for seven years, Auditor of Choctaw Nation, and Chief from 1900 to 1902. He was a delegate to Washington in 1911. He died about 1915 or 1916 and was buried at Post Oak Presbyterian Church on the south side of Kiamichi River about twelve miles southeast of Talihina, just barely inside of Pushmataha County. He was a very large man, about six feet tall and very liberal. He always had many people at his house. He was a great friend of D. Thomas, a merchant at Talihina. He was a Republican.
In October 1902 Green McCurtain again took office as Principal Chief, serving until his death December 28, 1910. In the election of 1902, Tom Hunter of Hugo, Oklahoma, was Green McCurtain's opponent. In October 1902 before the votes were canvassed the United States Government had to send soldiers to Tuskahoma to keep peace. Gilbert W. Dukes was a friend of Tom Hunter and the morning on which the votes were to be canvassed he walked into the capitol with Tom Hunter and turned everything over to him as his successor. Major Hackett, U. S. Marshal, who was a friend of Gilbert W. Dukes and Tom Hunter, took possession of the capitol and grounds, with Tom Hunter as chief, and proceeded to organize a council, the followers of McCurtain being barred from the building. Indian Agent Shoenfelt was on the ground and attempted to settle the difficulty but it was impossible because the U. S. Marshal representing the Judicial Department was in charge. Therefore, Agent Shoenfelt sent a message to the War Department at Washington for troops. The order went to Fort Sill for soldiers to go to Tuskahoma. Saturday about noon which was the last day provided by Constitution to canvass the votes the U. S. soldiers composed of 200 negroes with white officers, came in, marched to the capitol, and after the
commander consulted for one hour with U. S. Marshal and U. S. Agent, he took charge of the building, disarming all occupants of the building and instructing them to tend to any business necessary. The members of the two factions then entered into fist fights in which the command took no side, while the votes were being canvassed. It was dark when the canvassing was completed and Green McCurtain was declared elected Principal Chief of Choctaw Nation. Peter J. Hudson was an interpreter for Green McCurtain's faction and witnessed and took part in the trouble.
In 1904 another election was held with Green McCurtain and Thomas Hunter as candidates and Green McCurtain was re-elected. He served until October 1906.
In August 1906 Wesley Anderson of Tuskahoma was elected Principal Chief but was not confirmed from the fact that the tribal government was supposed to have expired March 4, 1906. He had no opponent. So Green McCurtain was the last elected chief and continued to serve until his death on December 28, 1910.1
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Foraging Patterns of Capybaras in a Seasonally Flooded Savanna of Venezuela
Guillermo R. Barreto and Emilio A. Herrera
Journal of Tropical Ecology
Vol. 14, No. 1 (Jan., 1998), pp. 87-98
Published by: Cambridge University Press
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2559868
Page Count: 12
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The foraging behaviour of capybaras (Hydrochaeris hydrochaeris) was assessed in relation to habitat and season in a flooded savanna of Venezuela from February (dry season) 1993 to June (rainy season) 1994. Direct observations were carried out to record group movements and foraging activities of individual capybaras when feeding on specific plant species. The time devoted to feeding upon some species was recorded in relation to total foraging time (feeding + searching). Capybaras spent similar times feeding on reeds (Eleocharis interstincta; Cyperaceae) and Paratheria prostrata (Poaceae) patches during the dry season though plant quality was different. During the rainy season, reeds were almost ignored by the animals which fed mainly on Hymenachne amplexicaulis, a grass with a significantly higher content of energy and protein. Capybaras fed for longer time during the dry season but more selectively during the rainy season. Capybaras were the dominant grazers in this flooded savanna as inferred from the comparative effects they produced in the height, biomass and quality of the pasture in relation to those effects produced by other vertebrate herbivores, namely, cattle, feral horses and asses.
Journal of Tropical Ecology © 1998 Cambridge University Press
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Last summer, the United States experienced the worst drought since the Dust Bowl in the 1930s.
At the same time, the country was experiencing one of the biggest onshore drilling booms in history, powered by one of the most water-intensive extraction technologies ever invented: hydraulic fracking.
The tension between these two realities could not be clearer.
This year, as the drilling industry drew millions of gallons of water per well in Arkansas, Colorado, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah and Wyoming, residents in these states struggled with severe droughts and some farmers opted to sell their water to the oil and gas industry rather than try to compete with them for limited resources.
Even the Atlantic coast's mighty Susquehanna River faced record lows last year, leading regulators to suspend dozens of withdrawal permits – the majority of which were for fracking Pennsylvania’s Marcellus shale.
Researchers for the Federal Department of Energy saw problems like this coming, according to thousands of pages of documents about the topic provided to DeSmog, but their recommendations and warnings were consistently edited and downplayed and the final version of their report has yet to be released.
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A climate change challenge to foresters, engineers and biologists
You know those little letters that come after people's names that indicate that they get paid the big bucks for giving people – and governments and corporations – advice? Letters like (in addition to LLB or JD), RPF (Registered Professional Forester), RPBio (Registered Professional Biologist), P.Eng. (Professional Engineer), etc. Turns out that, whether they know it or not, these people are often called on to give advice about climate change impacts. Some of them are doing a great job, but poor decisions made by professionals today could leave communities vulnerable to flooding and other impacts in tomorrow’s warmer climate.
A new, ground-breaking report from West Coast Environmental Law – Climate Change and Professionals – is asking professional associations to ensure that their members provide responsible advice on climate-related issues. Professional associations are organizations created – often by the provincial government – to regulate members of a profession. The theory is that only professionals (for example, engineers) have the training and expertise to determine whether other members of their profession are acting in the best interests of the public and of the profession as a whole.
We’ve sent this report to over 70 professional associations across Canada. Our press release summarizes key recommendations from the Report:
The Report identifies some examples of climate leadership already taken by Canadian and international professional associations, but invites further action. Professionals and Climate Change challenges professional associations to:
- Recognize the urgency of climate change and call for governments to act;
- Require members to receive education and training on the implications of climate change for their professional work;
- Give direction to their members on best practices related to climate change; and
- Recognize their members’ professional obligations in relation to climate change.
BC’s dikes, rising sea-levels and professionals
The Climate Change Task Force appointed by the Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of BC (APEG BC) has pointed out that APEG BC’s Code of Ethics requires its members to: “hold paramount the safety, health and welfare of the public, the protection of the environment, and promote health and safety within the workplace. Climate change is a public safety issue.”
But what does that mean? Well, it could mean a lot if you live in, say, Delta or Richmond, or other areas at risk from flooding.
In a 2011 report, Paying the Price, the National Roundtable on the Environment and the Economy (NRTEE) calculated the costs to the Canadian economy associated with climate change at $5 billion by 2020, and $21 - $43 billion by 2050, rising exponentially after that if we don’t find a way to dramatically reduce our greenhouse gas emissions.
The NRTEE report points out that part of that cost comes from homes that will be at risk from flooding due to changing sea-levels and other climate-related impacts:
By the 2050s, in any given year, 16,000 to 28,000 dwellings will be at risk of permanent flooding from sea-level rise and temporary flooding from storm surges. … The majority of dwellings at risk are in British Columbia — about 8,900 to 18,700 by the 2050s. …
Our results for British Columbia require careful interpretation. First, we did not account for the role of dikes and other coastal defences in protecting land and dwellings from the risks of flooding. … [O]ur modeling likely underestimates the number of dwellings at risk of flooding under baseline assumptions for the province — possibly by an order of magnitude — according to expert advice from British Columbia. Judging by maps of Metro Vancouver’s floodplain, tens of thousands of homes would face a flooding risk were it not for the extensive diking system.
The good news for folks in Delta, Richmond and other regions subject to flooding from rising sea-levels is that there are adaptation strategies available to help address these challenges.
However, these measures will be designed and implemented by professionals – in this case engineers and city planners.
Effective adaptation measures could potentially save billions of dollars (anywhere from $4.3 billion to $173 billion according to the scenarios considered by NRTEE). On the other hand, failing to address climate change or poorly conceived adaptation measures could make things worse (e.g. failing to calculate the risk exposure associated with development in a given manner on a given location, or inappropriately designing dikes or other adaptive measures.) We believe that professional associations need to ensure that the professionals designing and implementing these adaptation measures have the training and direction that is required for these tasks.
Other professionals dealing with climate change
Apart from sea level rise there are many other examples where professionals and professional responsibility will be engaged with respect to climate change, directly or indirectly:
- Architects and engineers providing advice on the construction of new buildings designed to be energy efficient (reducing greenhouse gas emissions) and resilient in the face of future climate change impacts (climate change adaptation);
- Professional foresters modeling future growth patterns of forests in a changing climate to be used by forestry companies to inform decisions about logging, carbon sequestration options and re-planting choices;
- Professional biologists advising governments at various levels on how to manage salmon runs in light of climate change;
- City engineers and planners advising on how cities and other communities can direct development to reduce the carbon footprint of urban areas.
Professional associations are increasingly recognizing that climate change is part of the professional landscape for their members. The Ontario Society of Professional Engineers has said:
… Climate change [is] an issue for this generation in which engineers and the engineering profession will play significant roles related to the design and application of solutions.
Climate Change and Professionals, so far as we can tell, is the first report to examine generally the role of professional associations in fighting climate change. With both industry and government relying heavily on trained professionals for critical advice that helps to shape our communities and manage our ecosystems, we think it's a mistake not to ask professionals and their governing associations to show they merit this confidence when it comes to tackling climate change.
Imagine what a difference it might make if professional associations:
- explicitly incorporated climate change into the training and practice requirements for their members professionals;
- disciplined members who relied on their professional qualifications, despite having no actual training in climate science, to attack climate science and climate scientists;
- amended their codes of ethics to explicitly recognize their members’ responsibilities related to climate change;
- set up committees and other structures to ensure that climate change is considered in association decision-making, and in collaborations with other professional associations; and
- based on their own professional expertise and insight, publicly called for fair, responsible government action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Climate Change and Professionals begins a dialogue.
We can’t fight climate change unless all hands are on deck. That means we need the professionals – and the associations that regulate them – to make sure that they advise their clients on how to avoid greenhouse gas emissions, and to build infrastructure and manage ecosystems in ways that recognize the current and coming increases in global temperature.
Some professional associations are already leading the way. Others have barely begun grappling with climate change and its implications for their members.
Are you a member of a professional association? Will you join us in asking your association to take leadership on climate change? Let us know your thoughts below.
By Andrew Gage
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Too dangerous to publish?
Some say it's a nightmare scenario out of the old movie Outbreak with Dustin Hoffman or the newer Contagion by Steven Soderberg: a pandemic caused by the accidental release of a man-made strain of lethal H5N1 bird flu virus.
Could such a disaster happen in real life?
The question is serious and timely. Two teams of researchers who have created such a deadly viral strain agreed last month to halt their work for 60 days, because of concerns that bioterrorists could turn the engineered virus into a weapon.
The two research teams, in the Netherlands and the United States, announced in September that they had independently created an H5N1 strain that was transmissible between people and lethal in more than 50 per cent of cases.
Their virus has been transmitted between ferrets that merely breathed the same air, which is a clear indicator to virologists that the strain could travel easily between people.
Such a flu virus may spread as rapidly as ordinary seasonal flu, but it is several degrees of magnitude more deadly.
The H5N1 strain of bird flu is fatal in 60 per cent of human cases.
One of the studies, led by Ron Fouchier of the Erasmus Medical Centre in the Netherlands, has been submitted to the journal Science. The other, led by Yoshihiro Kawaoka of the University of Wisconsin, has been sent to Nature.
The US National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity made an unusual request last month, asking both research teams not to publish details about how they created the more virulent strain of H5N1, out of concern for security.
The World Health Organisation will hold an international discussion about the best way to proceed, starting on February 16.
Many questions need to be discussed: do the laboratories involved have enough biosafety protection to make sure the killer strain cannot escape?
And does the value of such work outweigh the risks? The scientists defend their research as an effort to better understand the potential for H5N1 bird flu to mutate into a form that can spread easily between people through coughing or sneezing. Indeed, finding the biological determinants that make a virus transmissible between humans is one of the most important scientific goals in the field.
Defining such markers may help us to distinguish particularly dangerous emerging viruses, from the huge diversity of animal viruses that pose little or no threat to humans. The studies should also improve surveillance efforts in detecting similar changes in natural strains, and to develop diagnostics, drugs and vaccines.
Both experiments were conducted in labs with security at the biosafety 3 (BSL3) level. Scientists must shower and change their clothes when leaving the labs, whose safety features include negative air pressure and high-efficiency particulate air filters to clean the exhaust air. That should be enough protection to ensure against an accidental release of the virus.
Some ask if such work should be done in labs with the more stringent BSL4 protocol. But that would hamper the research needed to develop countermeasures against an H5N1 pandemic, says Masato Tashiro, a virologist at the National Institute of Infectious Diseases in Tokyo - because it would limit the number of researchers able to work with the virus.
Others argue that the new H5N1 variants must be restricted to BSL4 labs, to protect not only the researchers working on the viruses, but also society at large. Many of us in Hong Kong remember that severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) accidentally infected staff at four high-containment labs in mainland China, Taiwan and Singapore, which were BSL3 and BSL4 facilities.
One big difference from Sars is that there are H5N1 vaccines that the lab workers can be given - to protect them from infection and reduce the chance of a virus escaping from the lab.
Fouchier and his colleague Ab Osterhaus, the Dutch flu researchers, say their work will make it easier to scan animal populations for similar mutations. This will provide an early warning about a potential outbreak and help specialists prepare for a possible pandemic.
A vital area of work is understanding the mechanisms that allow an animal virus to be transmitted to humans, and the scientists argue their mutations represent clearly identifiable biological traits.
The article sent to Nature says: 'Taken together, we strongly feel that the benefits of sharing this state-of-the-art data by far outweigh the potential risks ... The primary goal of our research has direct short-term and mid-term implications for awareness of the pandemic potential of H5N1 viruses, surveillance and pandemic preparedness.'
Ordinary people ask: Are we safe? Should these experiments be stopped immediately?
One international authority who defends the research is Professor Malik Peiris, a virologist at the University of Hong Kong. It is vitally important, he argues, to understand the biological factors that allow an animal virus to spread to and between humans.
'Biosecurity is often equated with BSL3 and BSL4 and space suits,' Peiris says. 'Far from it. Our grandfathers worked with smallpox, polio, Japanese encephalitis, dengue on the open bench - what we would now call BSL1 or BSL0 - and 99.99 per cent of the time, they did so safely.
'This is not to decry the need for biosafety. Now that we have the technology, we would like to prevent that 0.01 per cent when things go wrong. But at the end of the day, it is the training and not so much the hardware - the BSL grade - that counts.'
The wisdom of the international community will find a proper balance between security and understanding, he says.
But there is no doubt the danger must be taken seriously: the research should be transparent not only to other researchers, but also to the public.
Could terrorists or rogue states use the published virus data to cause havoc? Peiris believes small terrorist groups would not have the technology to genetically engineer such a virus. A state that wanted to do so could probably produce a virus without the help of the information in the two magazine articles, he said.
Past experience, Peiris says, reminds us that nature is more efficient at creating dangerous viruses that we humans could ever be. It is an illusion, he believes, to halt such research out of a concern for safety.
So we face one of those dilemmas that dot the history of science and technology. The wise Winston Churchill characterised such situations very well: 'Humanity has gone too far forward to return, and moves too quickly to stop.'
Viruses, however, move even faster than we do.
Reinhard Renneberg has been a professor of bioanalytical chemistry at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology since 1994
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Vol. 20 Issue 23
Just One Bite
Patients with West Nile virus can develop severe physical and neurological symptoms
In August of 2003, Ron's life changed drastically. At first, he and his family thought he had a severe case of the flu. Later, he became disoriented, started falling and experienced hallucinations.
Ron was immediately admitted to the hospital where he was diagnosed with viral meningitis. A few days later he tested positive for West Nile virus (WNV).
Ron was in a coma and on life support for three weeks. He spent ten days as an inpatient at a rehabilitation center and lost three months of income from the disabling effects of West Nile meningitis.
One year later, Ron continues to experience fatigue, short-term memory loss, difficulty with concentration and facial tremors. Although he has returned to work full-time and attempts his previous activity level, Ron still feels the debilitating effects of his condition. "I don't have the energy I did before West Nile virus," he says. "I feel like sleeping 12 hours a day now."
Humans contract West Nile virus through mosquito bites. WNV is an arbovirus, a virus transmitted by an arthropod: the Culex mosquito.
The transmission cycle of West Nile virus initializes when a mosquito bites an infected bird, or vector. The virus takes up residence in the mosquito's salivary glands. A mosquito that has fed on an infected bird can infect humans and other animals, particularly horses. Infected female mosquitoes transmit WNV when they bite and take a blood meal.
WNV is not contagious and there is no evidence that an individual can contract WNV from handling birds or other animals. WNV cannot be transmitted through human touching or kissing; however blood transfusions and transplanted organs can transmit WNV from donor to recipient. Blood banks are currently more diligent in screening for the presence of WNV. A mother can also transmit WNV to her infant during pregnancy and breastfeeding.
West Nile in the U.S.
West Nile virus was first isolated from an adult woman in the West Nile District of Uganda in 1937. Today, WNV is most commonly found in Africa, west and central Asia, Oceania, Europe and the Middle East. West Nile virus first emerged in the Western Hemisphere in New York City during the summer of 1999.
In the United States from 1999 through September 2004, health care providers have documented cases of WNV in every state except Washington, Alaska and Hawaii. In the summer of 2003, Colorado led the nation with just under 3,000 reported cases, including 63 deaths. As West Nile virus continues to spread to the western United States, confirmed cases, including fatalities, are rising daily in Southern California.
Signs and Symptoms
Eighty percent of people who contract WNV are asymptomatic.
Approximately 20 percent of those infected will develop West Nile fever, which includes flu-like symptoms such as fever, tiredness, myalgias, gastrointestinal disturbances, swollen lymph glands, eye pain and occasionally a skin rash. The incubation period is around 3-15 days after being bitten by the infected mosquito. The duration of the illness is about 3-6 days.
Symptoms, however, can range from relatively mild to a more complicated and protracted illness. In more severe cases, WNV can result in encephalitis, meningitis or both. At this severity, the virus significantly affects the nervous system and is referred to as a "neuro-invasive disease." The CDC estimates that approximately 1 out of 150 infected people will develop a more severe form of the disease. Those past 50 years of age and people with suppressed immune systems are at greater risk of developing severe neurologic symptoms.
Symptoms of severe WNV can include severe headache, high fever, stiff neck, altered consciousness (confusion, stupor or even coma), photosensitivity, cranial nerve involvement (facial weakness, double vision, visual loss, decreased taste sensation), tremors, unsteady gait, dysphagia, respiratory distress, seizures, vomiting, muscle weakness, and in some cases West Nile poliomyelitis (an inflammation of the spinal cord that causes acute flaccid paralysis similar to that caused by the poliovirus) and paralysis. Neurological effects from the disease can be permanent.
Incidence of West Nile poliomyelitis, which was first recognized in the U.S. in 2002, is still unknown, according to the CDC. According to James Sejvar, MD, medical epidemiologist for the National Center for Infectious Diseases at the CDC, "those developing West Nile poliomyelitis tend to be younger and otherwise healthy." These patients may never recover fully. "In the short term, pretty much everyone continues to have some functional difficulties," Sejvar added.
WNV can be fatal in anywhere from 3-15 percent of the most severe cases, primarily among the elderly. Those who contract West Nile virus will develop immunity to any future West Nile infections.
Diagnosis and Treatment
West Nile virus may be present in blood, serum, tissues and the cerebro-spinal fluid (CSF) of infected humans, birds, mammals and reptiles. To date, serologic testing to detect immunoglobulin M (IgM) antibodies is the most proficient means for diagnosing West Nile virus infection. This test can be performed in state public health laboratories with results in 24-36 hours.
Medical care for WNV infection is supportive. Providers should administer analgesics to reduce fever and pain, fluids to prevent dehydration, and advocate bed rest. In severe cases, hospitalization is necessary. Patients hospitalized for WNV receive intravenous fluids and oxygen therapy, and are monitored for secondary infections such as deep vein thrombosis, pressure ulcers and pulmonary complications. In severe cases of neuro-invasive disease or West Nile poliomyelitis, mechanical ventilation will be necessary.
In an FDA-approved clinical trial supported by the National Institutes for Allergies and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), researchers are treating patients with WNV infection with immunoglobulin G antibodies isolated from individuals who have recovered from West Nile virus infection. Investigators compare this treatment to placebo treatments to assess safety and to determine whether or not these antibodies will help the patient fight off the severe symptoms of the disease.
In the summer of 2003, Nelson Gantz, MD, chief of infectious diseases at Boulder Community Hospital in Colorado and an expert in chronic fatigue syndrome, conducted a pilot study with AVI-4020, an antisense compound given by intravenous injection. Antisense drugs are designed to block genetic instructions, marking them for destruction by cellular enzymes, in order to prevent the building of new viruses or the infection of new cells. In this trial, the synthetic chemical compound works by mirroring a crucial segment of the virus's genetic code, thereby binding to the target RNA, and shutting down the virus. Patrick Iversen, vice-president for AVI BioPharma, announced that the company plans to launch a clinical trial of AVI-4020, which has received FDA approval.
The Role of Occupational Therapy
Patients infected with severe WNV often manifest symptoms similar to stroke, polio and post-polio syndrome, Guillan-Barre syndrome, fibromyalgia, viral meningitis and encephalitis, brain tumor, traumatic brain injury, chronic fatigue syndrome, multiple sclerosis and toxoplasmosis.
Occupational therapy's focus is on activities of daily living (ADLs), including bathing, hygiene, grooming, dressing and feeding. Treatment for functional mobility impairments should address transfer training and functional mobility within the patient's immediate environment.
Maximize upper extremity strength, range-of motion and coordination that affect ADLs, and address the cognitive issues that interfere with daily functioning. Instruction in energy conservation and work simplification techniques is imperative for ameliorating the limited endurance and frustration these patients experience on a daily basis from chronic fatigue.
The treating therapist should evaluate assistive and/or adapted devices to compensate for weakness, decreased balance and coordination. For example, a deltoid aid or overhead suspension sling can be set up for patients with proximal weakness to achieve self-feeding, hygiene and grooming activities. Built-up handles on utensils can assist patients with distal weakness to participate in self-care activities, and most importantly to provide them with a sense of control and independence.
In consultation with physical therapists, patients with unsteady gait due to ataxia or decreased balance may use walkers and canes for safe and independent ambulation. Patients with paralysis will require a wheelchair with an adequate cushion for pressure relief to prevent pressure sores.
Occupational and speech therapists should collaborate to devise strategies to assist patients with cognitive issues and evaluate safety at home. Decreasing environmental stimulation, presenting information slowly and instructing patients in the use of checklists can assist with decreased processing speed and attention, as well as short-term memory deficits. Patients who exhibit prolonged difficulty with cognitive functioning post WNV infection may benefit from neuropsychological evaluation and treatment.
In the sensory realm, the OT should address any loss of sensation or paresthesia, including possible visual and auditory disturbances. In cases of meningoencephalitis, optic neuritis can develop and result in diplobia (double vision) or vision loss. Sensory loss can result in decreased safety awareness and presents a greater risk for falls, pressure sores and potential burns.
Psychological support for patients and families from all members of the health care team is invaluable. West Nile virus is a potentially debilitating and frightening infection. Family members may be required to "pick up the slack" if a patient is unable to fulfill his or her previous role. In 2003, due to the high numbers of people infected in the Boulder area, Boulder Community Hospital established a WNV clinic at Mapleton Rehab Center to provide on-going support and treatment for survivors and their families.
Since there is no vaccine for West Nile virus, personal protective measures and public health education are key for prevention of mosquito bites (see sidebar). Gantz explained, "a mosquito doesn't have a sign on it, 'I'm carrying the West Nile virus,' so you have to assume that every mosquito bite is a potential vector."
Mosquitoes breed in wet areas, and the Culex are found particularly where there is decaying organic matter such as leaves, grass clippings and animal wastes. The breeding season begins in spring and typically ceases in mid-October when the first frost appears. The peak season for WNV is during the summer months of August and September.
Ron, like many survivors of West Nile virus, will continue to live with the devastating effects of the infection. Many people will not be able to return to their previous employment or resume their prior roles. This can result in financial, psychological and social losses for all involved. Many survivors may feel isolated and traumatized by their illness.
As we gain more knowledge about this virus, the medical community is achieving greater efforts toward preventing its transmission and providing the best care for those who have been infected. n
References available at www.advanceweb.com/OT or upon request.
Carol Myers is an occupational therapist with over 20 years of experience. She worked with patients infected with West Nile virus at Boulder Community Hospital, CO, during the 2003 epidemic.
Preventing West Nile
The following guidelines are recommended for personal protection against mosquito bites:
• Avoid the outdoors from dusk until dawn.
• Dress in long sleeves, socks and pants when spending time outside
• Use DEET-enhanced insect repellent (N, N-diethyl-m-toluamide) when outdoors or in shady areas during the day. (The more DEET a repellent contains, the longer time it can protect you from mosquito bites). Apply to clothing since mosquitoes can bite through fabric.
• Do not use DEET on infants less than 6 months.
• Drain any standing water (such as old tires, wading pools, buckets and gutters).
• Aerate swimming pools and ponds and perhaps stock with mosquito eating fish.
• Make sure that windows and screens fit tightly and are free from holes.
• Keep grass cut short.
• Empty and clean bird baths at least once weekly.
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The standard approach to re-treating tuberculosis (TB) in low and middle income settings is failing, according to research funded by the Wellcome Trust. In a study published today in the open access journal PLoS Medicine, researchers call for improved access to rapid diagnostics for drug resistant TB, second-line TB treatment and antiretroviral HIV therapy.
Each year, between one in ten and one in five patients treated for TB see their disease return after failing, interrupting or relapsing from treatment. This results in an estimated one million people in ninety countries being treated with an eight month long regimen of five drugs. The therapy has been in use for over three decades and is recommended by the World Health Organisation.
A study in Kampala, Uganda, of 140 HIV-infected patients and 148 HIV-uninfected patients found that the re-treatment TB regimen failed to work effectively in a significant proportion of patients - 26% of HIV-infected patients and 20% of HIV-uninfected patients. Nearly a quarter (23%) of patients died, whilst 6% saw their TB disease return. Fatalities were particularly high amongst HIV-infected patients.
"Our study suggests that the recommended therapy for re-treating TB is failing as many as one in four people with recurrent TB in the developing world," says Dr Edward Jones-López, first author of the study, Assistant Professor of Medicine at Boston University School of Medicine. "This rate is unacceptably high. It is essential that we understand why this is the case and how we might tackle this important health inequality."
The researchers believe that a number of reasons may be to blame. These include poor adherence to the drug regimen and the presence of drug-resistant forms of TB - including multi-drug resistant TB - some cases of which may have gone undiagnosed. In HIV-infected individuals, a low CD4 count (an indicator that the individual's immune system has been severely compromised) and poor access to antiretroviral therapy were significant risk factors.
The findings imply that the treatments may need to be tailored depending on whether an individual has HIV. For those that are infected, access to rapid diagnosis as well as improved second-line medication and antiretroviral therapies may provide the best outcome. The study also reinforces the need for Directly Observed Therapy (DOT) in patients with TB. DOT combines diagnosing TB and registering each patient detected, followed by standardised multi-drug treatment, individual patient outcome evaluation and cohort evaluation to monitor overall programme performance.
"It's time for us to improve our management of TB disease and in particular consider how co-infection with HIV should change the way in which we treat the disease," says Dr Alphonse Okwera from Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda, one of the study authors "The lives of hundreds of thousands of people in resource-poor settings are being put at risk, so this change is long overdue."
TB is one of the world's most deadly diseases. One-third of the world's population are believed to be infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the agent which causes the disease. In many cases the disease remains latent, but each year, at least nine million people are in need of treatment for TB disease, and more than two million people die from the disease. There are an estimated 500,000 cases of multi-drug resistant TB, the vast majority of which are undiagnosed and have limited access to effective treatment.
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Mind over muffin: It may be possible to train your brain to prefer healthy low-calorie foods over unhealthy, fatty grub, according to a new study in Nutrition & Diabetes.
In the small study, which included 13 participants, eight followed a weight loss program of high-protein, high-fiber, low-glycemic index, and low-calorie foods. The plan included specific menus and recipes. (To learn more about the diet, visit myidiet.com.) The other five participants continued eating their normal diets.
Both groups underwent MRI brain scans at the beginning of the study and six months later. During the MRI, participants viewed images of low-calorie foods (such as a turkey sandwiches on whole-wheat bread, an apple, baked sweet potato, grilled chicken, and baked salmon) and high-calorie foods (like French fries, fried chicken, cookies, chips, and pizza).
What the noggin photos showed: Participants who followed the weight loss program had increased sensitivity in reward areas of the brain associated with learning and addiction when viewing healthy, lower-calorie foods and decreased sensitivity when viewing the unhealthy eats. In other words, those who followed the weight loss program actually preferred the lower-calorie options!
Credit a phenomenon called “cognitive restructuring,” researchers say. “The process involves forming new pathways between neurons and make other pathways dormant,” says study author Susan Roberts, Ph.D., a senior scientist at the USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University. “Eating new, healthy foods when you’re hungry is really helpful because hunger pushes the new pathways along.” Another factor that helps retrain the brain is repeating new, healthy foods in your diet and not repeating the old, unhealthy favorites. What’s more, replacing foods you typically crave such as lasagna, chicken parm, and ice cream sundaes with lighter versions also helps because you’re still getting the flavors you like, but with better-for-you ingredients.
Ultimately, Roberts says that consistency is key for making cognitive restructuring—and weight loss—successful. “Don’t give up, persevere, and especially eat foods that help with weight control when you’re hungry,” she says.
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John Steinbeck (1902-1968)
Contributing Editor: Cliff Lewis
Classroom Issues and Strategies
Students read Steinbeck as a social critic or merely as a story-teller. The task is to define Steinbeck as a writer in the mode of the twenties. One must define such terms as illusion, mythic, archetype, depth psychology, and symbol in establishing his artistic process. Secondly, one must show a student the ongoing conflict in Steinbeck's work between expectation and change, consciousness and altered circumstances.
Students love reading Steinbeck; I cite passages from his letters to indicate his artistic interests in the above ideas. I point out particular details in the works to support my interpretations. In "Flight," I have them look for description of an Indian; I explore similar conflicts and ways of perceiving in our daily lives. For a discussion of "Flight," I ask them to define the stereotypical Indian brave, stereotypical Mexican children, the role of school and education in cultural assimilation, the future of Indian culture.
I offer the view of Steinbeck as a modern artist who sees the artist's role as analogous to a psychiatrist's: to know thyself. If each work is seen as dealing with a different human drive--sexual repression, religious quest, rejection, self-hate, security and certainty of tradition, the need to belong, etc.--Steinbeck's work takes on a pattern. By all means, link such drives to similar ones readily found in students' lives.
Major Themes, Historical Perspectives, and Personal Issues
Half of Steinbeck's writings present ethnic characters whose identity is in crisis because of the conflict between cultures. For his Indians, whether in Mexico or the United States, efforts to retain the pastoral world and its values are tragically doomed. Indeed, the call of a lost Eden brings conflict with contemporary society to most Steinbeck characters. His characters cannot escape past influences: be it biological, cultural, religious, or the collective activities of migration and war. To become conscious of these hidden drives is the human quest. Evolutionary stages are represented by either unconscious memory or expressed in cultural myths as, say, the Garden of Eden. And this pressure for change, which is particularly American, and the conflict it brings, is the underlying Steinbeck theme. Nor should the reader overlook the domestic conflict between men and women. It may encompass the issue of power, of cultural influence as in "Flight," or of vast unused leadership to be tapped through Ma Joad. Certainly Steinbeck's work is saturated in history: fascism and Marxism in the thirties; the loss of national ideals after World War II. He draws upon the intellectual movements of his time in anthropology, biology, and psychology. His historical perspective then was termed "holistic"--defined today as ecological, with human beings biologically and culturally connected to the universe and using human will to blend past and future. Steinbeck's last works are autobiographical, questioning whether he succeeded as father, husband, artist. And, intriguingly, he questions within those novels the extent to which his private life influenced his fiction.
Significant Form, Style, or Artistic Conventions
Steinbeck tried to find an organic means of expression for each book that he wrote. He considered his work to be experimental. He intentionally used a documentary style for The Grapes of Wrath, the fabular for The Pearl, the picaresque for Tortilla Flat, and so on. Generally he belongs to the myth-symbol school of the twenties. Dreams, the unconscious, reccurring myths, symbolic characters--these qualities are characteristic of what Jung called the "visionary" style. Realism, Steinbeck once noted, is the surface form for his interest in psychology and philosophy. To this The Grapes of Wrath is no exception. I'd add that his work about Indians follows the outlines of tragedy. Finally point out that Steinbeck's work included film scripts, plays, and political speeches and war propaganda.
Steinbeck's earliest writings, whose subject was the individual psyche, sold poorly. With his fifth book, the picaresque Tortilla Flat, Steinbeck became a popular writer, and with In Dubious Battle and The Grapes of Wrath, novels rooted in the issues of the depression, Steinbeck achieved international fame. Before those publications, his West Coast audience did not comprehend his direction. For most he was a "mystic" writer, and for Edmund Wilson, Steinbeck was writing "biological" stories. It may be this lack of comprehension that led him to insert characters into his novels who commented on the significance of the action. The one reviewer who saw Steinbeck's literary subject as the "unconscious," received a note from Steinbeck thanking him for the insightful review.
Comparisons, Contrasts, Connections
For his treatment of the mob psyche and the group, one can find similarities in Nathaniel West. Ernest Hemingway's cultural changes in Spain, the existential world of his characters, and the industrialization of William Faulkner's South parallel Steinbeck's social dynamics. In all, pastoral worlds disappear. Both Nathaniel Hawthorne and Faulkner share Steinbeck's recognition of the power of myth; Hemingway, like Steinbeck, recognizes unfulfilled religious needs. In Hemingway's style Steinbeck found a model for his own. Yet the classics are also influential: Milton on In Dubious Battle, the Arthurian legends on Indians and his nonconformists, Winesburg on the early short stories, "Everyman" on The Wayward Bus among others. And everywhere are the Bible and The Golden Bough.
Questions for Reading and Discussion/ Approaches to Writing
1. To teach "Flight," I would direct students: To define the stereotype of an Indian and to locate supporting details. To locate cultural artifacts Pepe abandons in his regression backward to a primeval state. To ask what are the duties of Pepe's peers and the consequences. To explain the significance of the landscape starting with Pepe's home. To define manhood as Pepe understood it and explain whether his concept changed. To discuss what is pursuing Pepe--an abstraction?
2. Any of the above questions will do. And what is the role of the mother? Or ask questions about illusion, the definition of myth and symbol, the use of biological or animal imagery and its purpose.
See pertinent sections of Jackson Benson's biography. A collection of essays I'm editing on the above issues will soon be published by Edwin Mellen Press. R. Astro's book has good material on Steinbeck and philosophy and science.
Two Steinbeck Study Guides edited by T. Hayashi have good general information on Steinbeck's writings. P. Lisca's updated Wide World of John Steinbeck remains a valuable study. For short story analysis see J. Hughes, John Steinbeck, A Study of the Short Fiction, 1989; J. Timmerman, The Dramatic Landscape of Steinbeck's Short Stories, University of Oklahoma Press, 1990.
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College of Industrial Education
Professional Industrial Education
Room CIE 203
At the end of the lesson, the students will be able to:
1. Discuss the operation in taking body temperature
2. Value the importance of taking body temperature as an aid in home nursing 3. Calculate the rectal and axilla body temperature accurately
II. Subject Matter
A. Topic: Home Nursing Techniques
B. Sub-Topic: Taking body temperature
References: Effective Technology and Home Economics Series
By Julia Garcia Cruz
C. Aids and Devices:
* Visual Aids: Cartolina
White Board/ White Board Marker
* Equipment: Digital Thermometer
1. Daily Routine
a) Opening Prayer
c) Checking of attendance
B. Review the Past Lesson
The teacher will ask the students about the previous topic discussed.
1. What is Home Nursing?
2. How can home nursing affect the patient’s recovery?
“Charades” a group game in which some of the students will try to guess a word or situation that is related to taking body temperature and home nursing, from the actions of another student who may not speak.
2. Definition of Terms
a) Body Temperature- refers to the degree of hotness or coldness of the body as shown by a thermometer. b) Thermometer- it is an instrument used for measuring temperature. The units used are degree Celsius (⁰C) or Fahrenheit (⁰F).
3. Lesson Proper
An effective home nurse knows what to do with a patient and how to deal with his or her needs. This lesson will discuss on how to measure body temperature accurately, that can help speed up the patient’s recovery.
Our body’s normal temperature is more or less 37⁰C or 98.6⁰F. A rise in body temperature means fever and could indicate infection.
There are two kinds of Clinical Thermometer used to measure body temperature:
* Rectal Thermometer- has a more rounded bulb to protect the sensitive tissues of the rectum. This type of thermometer is ideal for babies and young children.
* Oral Thermometer- has an elongated bulb used in taking temperature from the armpit or from the mouth. This is popularly used for older children, adults and elderly who could tolerate a thermometer in the mouth or keep them snugly in the armpit.
Other instruments that measures body temperature:
* Digital Thermometer- is an instrument that measures body temperature from a finger. It is run by a battery. A beeper signals if the temperature is ready to be read through a quartz display. This can be used in taking the armpit (axilla) temperature.
* Thermograph strip- this is a strip of plastic with numbered black strip that change in colour when heated by contact with the body (the forehead). It can only be used indoors, away from things that give out heat. The strip changes colour when it stops (about 15 seconds), the temperature is read while still on the forehead.
* Thermo scan – an infrared ear thermometer that functions as a photo camera. This is inserted into the ear canal and surrounding tissues. The temperature is displayed in the screen in just one second.
General Principles in taking body temperature
1. Rectal temperature is about 1⁰F or .5⁰C higher because rectal veins in the area elevate the temperature slightly. Normal reading is 99.6⁰ F or 37.5⁰C so that in any reading, a corresponding 1⁰F or .5⁰C must be deducted to get the exact temperature.
38.5⁰C is the actual temperature
2. Axilla temperature is about 1⁰F or .5⁰C lower as it is already located outside the body. So this needs to add 1⁰F or .5⁰C to any reading.
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CDPH Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) Information Webpage
MERS is caused by a distinctive coronavirus (MERS‐CoV). Typical early symptoms include fever, cough, chills, and shortness of breath. Pneumonia is common. Some cases have had diarrhea, nausea, or vomiting. Other cases tested after their contact with MERS patients have had no symptoms. Complications of MERS include severe pneumonia and organ failure. As of June 2015, approximately 35-40% of confirmed cases have died. Most severe cases of MERS have had underlying chronic medical conditions. There is no known vaccine or specific treatment; management is supportive.
The majority of MERS cases have resulted from human-to-human transmission in health care settings. The virus does not seem to pass easily from person to person unless there is close contact, such as occurs when providing unprotected care to a patient. Dromedary camels are a host for MERS-CoV, but their roles in transmission is unclear.
Since the first case of MERS was reported in 2012 from Saudi Arabia, more than 1200 confirmed cases of MERS have been reported in 25 countries. All MERS cases to date have resided in or traveled to the Arabian Peninsula or have been linked to a case who had recently traveled there. The only two cases of MERS to date in the United States (Indiana and Florida), both healthcare workers exposed while working in Saudi Arabia, were reported in May 2014.
Since 2013, more than 60 persons have been investigated in California for possible infection with the MERS coronavirus. All have tested negative; the risk of MERS in California has been very low. No travel warnings or restrictions have been issued related to MERS-CoV.
A large, ongoing outbreak in South Korea associated with healthcare facilities began when an employee of an agricultural products company returned from the Arabian Peninsula in May 2015. More than 125 cases, mostly patients, staff and visitors at health care facilities in or nearby Seoul, have been reported by the South Korean Ministry of Health as of June 2015.
Patients Under Investigation
A person with the following characteristics should be considered a patient under investigation (PUI):
Clinical: Fever AND
Pneumonia or acute respiratory distress syndrome (based on clinical or radiologic evidence)
AND ANY OF:
History of travel from countries in or near the Arabian Peninsula* within 14 days before symptom onset, OR
Close contact* with a symptomatic traveler who developed fever and acute respiratory illness (not necessarily pneumonia) within 14 days after traveling from countries in or near the Arabian Peninsula**, OR
Addition related to the 2015 outbreak: History of being in a healthcare facility (as a patient, worker, or visitor) in the Republic of Korea within 14 days before symptom onset, OR
A member of a cluster of patients with severe acute respiratory illness (e.g., fever and pneumonia requiring hospitalization) of unknown etiology in which MERS-CoV is being evaluated, in consultation with state and local health departments.
B. Fever AND Symptoms of respiratory illness (not necessarily pneumonia; e.g., cough, shortness of breath) AND
Being in a healthcare facility (as a patient, worker, or visitor) within 14 days before symptom onset in a country or territory in or near the Arabian Peninsula* in which recent healthcare-associated cases of MERS have been identified
C. EITHER Fever OR Symptoms of respiratory illness (not necessarily pneumonia; e.g., cough, shortness of breath)
Close contact* with a confirmed MERS case while the case was ill.
*A close contact is defined as any person who has been:
Within approximately 6 feet (2 meters) or within the room or care area for a prolonged period of time (e.g., healthcare personnel, household members) while not wearing recommended personal protective equipment (i.e., gowns, gloves, respirator, eye protection); OR
In direct contact with infectious secretions (e.g., being coughed on) while not wearing recommended personal protective equipment (i.e., gowns, gloves, respirator, eye protection).
At this time, brief interactions, such as walking by a person, are considered low risk and do not constitute close contact.
**Countries in or near the Arabian Peninsula include Bahrain, Iraq, Iran, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Palestinian territories, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Yemen.
Infection Control Guidance for MERS-CoV Infection
CDC is recommending that infection control guidance developed for SARS be implemented for patients with known or suspected MERS-CoV infection. Therefore, Airborne and Contact Precautions, in addition to Standard Precautions, should be applied when caring for patients with known of possible MERS-CoV infection. CDC interim infection prevention and control guidance for hospitalized patients with MERS-CoV is available at: http://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/mers/infection-prevention-control.html. CDC infection control guidance for SARS is available at: http://www.cdc.gov/sars/infection/.
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Space through Scale and Value
Using no more than four squares of varying dimensions, show
space using scale. Exaggeration of small to large creates
the most dramatic effect.
Using four squares
of varying values of gray to black create a spatial composition.
Two Shapes as One, as Two or in Tension
The next series of exercises has to do with different
manifestations of tension. Tension is a very important design
tool that has numerous interpretations. An old painter once
described tension as a very important something between two
points where there is nothing.
exists in color, drawing, relationship of shapes, and it is
extremely important in any kind of composition typographic
or otherwise. Tension is a principle that is manipulated for
numerous effects or purposes. As such, it is one of the most
important design tools a designer can exploit. It is essential
to recognize and to know how to use tension.
the 10 x 10 inch picture plane horizontally into thirds with
lines using a rapidiograph pen.
section: two squares placed next to one another to appear
as one shape.
section: move the squares to opposite edges to read as two
section: slide the square back and forth until you ind that
exact point where it cannot be determined if it is one or
two shapes that will be the tension point.
Using one four-inch black square (or a four-inch
square from a photograph) and one linear unit (or a line of
10 point type) 1/8 x 3 1/2 inches make three arrangements
either static or dynamic:
Relate linear unit to square as one shape.
Put linear unit
into tension relationship with square.
Make linear unit and square two separate entities that
are visually related.
strip must align with left side of the larger square in all
purpose of this exercise is to demonstrate how captions can
relate to photograph, illustration or any other element. This
is of particular importance because too many designers do
not recognize the importance of the visual dynamics of this
to Achieve Visual Balance
three squares and one 1/2-inch red circle, activate the entire
ten-inch picture plane using tension. Arrange squares into
an unbalanced format, and then create a visual balance using
the red dot; at the same time, activating the entire picture
plane. It works best if the red dot is slid up or down the
Using one red dot
Using two red
Optional: You can use dots and three lines of type.
Integrity of a Shape with Tension
black square is cut vertically into three sections, one of
which will be one-eighth inch wide,and the other cuts are
made at the student's discretion.
can be placed in either a static or dynamic relationship to
the edges. Sections can be rearranged.
sections are slid back and forth to ind the greatest amount
of tension between the sections. Top and bottom edges must
always align with all sides parallel. The objective is to
retain the integrity of the three shapes as one shape through
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An intraocular lens implant is a synthetic, artificial lens placed inside the eye that replaces the focusing power of a natural lens that is surgically removed, usually as part of cataract surgery [See figures 1 and 2].
When the natural lens is removed, much of the eye's focusing ability is lost. To restore vision, lost focusing power is usually replaced by one of three methods. The first method is the use of glasses (spectacles). The required lens power is high and the corrective lens quite thick. This option is less desirable for cataract surgery on one eye since the magnification caused by the one thick lens may hinder binocularity. The second option is to wear a contact lens.This option can be utilized for cataract surgery on one or both eyes. However, handling and/or tolerating a contact lens can be difficult for some children. The third option is to place a permanent IOL inside the eye, making compliance less of an issue.
In addition to the infrequent risks of any intraocular surgery, (infection, bleeding, inflammation, retinal detachment, etc.) there are special considerations for a child. Children’s eyes can develop inflammation after cataract surgery, especially when an IOL is placed. Inflammation sometimes makes further surgery necessary. Glaucoma also occurs more frequently after cataract surgery in children. Lastly, cataract surgery for a child usually requires general anesthesia.
IOLs are approved by the FDA for implantation for those eighteen years and older. Use of an IOL under age eighteen years is off-label. Drugs and devices are often used off-label when a physician determines that use is in the best interest of a patient. The placement an IOL in a child eye is made after a thorough eye examination followed by a discussion with the parent/guardian about the risks and benefits of an IOL versus a contact lens or glasses (informed consent).
An IOL is frequently utilized when cataract surgery is performed after the first birthday. The use of an IOL in the first year of life, especially in the first few months of life, is investigational. A national study was recently conducted under the auspices of the FDA and the National Institutes of Health to determine if an IOL is a viable option for infants. This study demonstrated that visual outcomes were similar in infants treated with an IOL compared to those treated with a contact lens. However, there was an increased risk of complications and need for additional surgeries in the IOL group. If a contact lens or glasses are used initially, secondary IOL insertion can be considered when the child is older and eye growth more complete. Use of an intraocular lens is an individualized decision for each child made after discussion with the ophthalmologist.
Are you a medical professional, interested in joining AAPOS? Find out more here ▶
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Tea for the heart
Tea may steep the arteries in healthy chemicals, say researchers trying to explain why tea drinkers appear to have a lower risk of heart attack.
Studies have long suggested that a cup a day of black tea, the most common tea for American drinkers, somehow lowers the risk of heart disease and stroke. But a biological explanation for the trend wasn't known.
Now researchers say that compounds in black tea relax the arteries, allowing more blood to flow into the heart. "Drinking tea reverses an important abnormality of blood vessel function," said Dr. Joseph Vita of Boston University School of Medicine. Dr. Vita presented his research during the American Heart Association's recent annual Scientific Sessions in New Orleans.
Dr. Vita asked 50 volunteers to drink four 8-ounce cups of tea a day for a month. They also drank the same amount of water for a month. The researchers then measured the effects on the participants' arteries.
Even two hours after exposure to the tea, blood vessels opened up. The water had no effect.
While the results were encouraging, the researchers said, future studies will determine whether tea will be a recommended way to lower the risk of a heart attack.
Nothing will quiet a schoolyard bully the way an even bigger bully does. The same goes for elephants that kill animals in the wild.
In the latest issue of the journal Nature, researchers report that older bull elephants can calm young males that go on rampages.
In Pilanesberg, South Africa, the researchers write, young male African elephants introduced into a park killed 40 white rhinos between 1992 and 1997. The young males were in musth, a normal state of increased aggression and sexual activity.
Musth occurs when testosterone levels surge. In natural populations of elephants, musth generally begins between the ages of 25 and 30. Initially, musth lasts a few days. By the time elephants reach 40, it can last four months.
But the male elephants in Pilanesberg, removed from their natural setting, matured earlier. Musth began at 18 years of age and lasted up to five months.
To calm the young bulls, the researchers, from the University of Natal in Durban, South Africa, and Pilanesberg National Park, introduced six older males into the herd. Musth decreased, and the rhinoceros killing stopped.
Misbehaving blood vessels may hasten the muscle deterioration that plagues patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, Dallas researchers have found.
Duchenne muscular dystrophy is a hereditary disease that affects about two in every 10,000 boys. It's usually diagnosed when toddlers have trouble standing. Life expectancy is about 20 years, and the disease kills when heart muscle and the muscles that aid in breathing fail.
Although the genetic flaw associated with the disease was found in the 1980s, it's still unclear how the defect translates into disease.
In an upcoming issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, scientists from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, Scottish Rite Hospital and the University of Copenhagen provide a clue.
The researchers studied 10 boys with the disease and found that their muscles were deprived of oxygen during exertion.
Heightened constriction of blood vessels that supply the muscle caused the deprivation, and that constriction occurs because an enzyme that helps blood vessels relax isn't working properly, said Dr. Ronald Victor, the UT Southwestern cardiologist who led the study.
If scientists can find therapies to restore the enzyme's function, doctors might be able to slow progression of the disease.
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Habib Bourguiba in New York, 1961. Photo courtesy of the United States Federal Government.
(1903-2000) Leader of the independence struggle of Tunisia, and the country's first president 1957-1987.
As president of Tunisia, Bourguiba was a type of North AfricanAtatürk; he reduced the influence of religion on society and he guaranteed the rights of women, economically, in marriage and in social life. The politics of Tunisia became one of moderate, European-like solutions.
The country had in the 1960s good economic growth, but clientilism (the system where the knowledge and allegiance to people in important positions is more important than juridical rights), at the core of Tunisian society, became increasingly destructive to the social and economic development of the country. People with the right friends or relatives came to receive concessions, without having the necessary competence. Monopolies were built around such systems, and in the 1980s it became evident that this choked the Tunisian society.
With a Bourguiba weakened by age, the 1980s saw a leader incompetent to rule, and when he was deposed in 1987, Tunisia was on the verge of civil war, since the Islamists were treated in a random and cruel fashion. Ordinary Tunisians were also becoming increasingly dissatisfied.
History 1903 August 3: Born in Monastir.
Is educated at Sadiki College in Tunis, and the University of Paris, France, where he studies law. He marries a French woman. 1927: Bourguiba returns to Tunisia. 1932: Bourguiba starts the newspaper L'Action Tunisienne. 1934: The Neo Destour Party is formed, with Bourguiba as its leader. Bourguiba demands independence from France, and his party is outlawed. Bourguiba is arrested. 1936: Bourguiba is let out of prison. 1938: After violent demonstrations, Bourguiba is arrested again. In order prove their willingness to act, the French have him expelled to France. 1940: Bourguiba is transferred to Rome, Italy, because the Italians hope that they can get his support in their claim on Tunisia. Bourguiba, on the other hand, supports the Allied countries during World War 2. 1942: Bourguiba is taken to Tunisia in a Italian-German cooperation and put under German arrest. 1945: Despite the support that Bourguiba had given to the Allied countries (which include France), he has to escape Tunis, to avoid arrest by the French. He takes up residency himself in Cairo, Egypt. In the following years, Bourguiba visits many countries, where he conducts speeches about his and his country's cause. With his strong personality, he achieves a large number of diplomatic victories. 1950: The French accept Bourguiba as a Tunisian negotiator. 1952: Bourguiba is exiled to Tabarka in northern Tunisia. 1954: Negotiations between Bourguiba and the French begin. 1955 June: Bourguiba returns to an ecstatic reception in Tunis. 1956 March 20: Bourguiba becomes premier minister in newly independent Tunisia. 1957: Bourguiba deposes the Bey of Tunis, and is elected president. 1975: In 1975 the constituent assembly appoints him president for life. 1987 November 7: Bourguiba is ousted by his newly appointed prime minister, Zine el Abidine Ben Ali. He is placed under house arrest in Monastir. 1990s: Bourguiba's health is gradually diminished through arteriosclerosis. 2000 March 5: Bourguiba is hospitalized with a critical health condition, but returns to his home after 8 days.
April 6: Bourguiba dies in his home. A 7 day mourning period all over Tunisia is decreed. He is buried in his mausoleum in Monastir.
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Tests on distillers grains find antimicrobial residues
Posted May 16, 2012
Regulators have reported finding antimicrobial residues in distillers grains, which are often used as animal feed.
The Food and Drug Administration reported in April 2012 that antimicrobial residues were found in four of 46 samples of distillers grains left over from ethanol production. Virginiamycin and penicillin were found in one sample, virginiamycin alone in two samples, and erythromycin in one sample. The FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine reported that it would take the information into consideration in developing a policy on antimicrobial residues in distillers products.
A 2009 FDA document on the project indicated that, at the time, about 98 percent of distillers grains sold were produced as fuel industry byproducts, and most of the rest resulted from beverage production. Of 2.65 million metric tons available for domestic use in the U.S. and Canada, about 90 percent was used in animal feed, with more than 80 percent fed to ruminants. Antimicrobials are used to combat bacterial contamination in ethanol fermentation.
In a 1977 proposal to withdraw some production uses of penicillins and tetracyclines, the FDA indicated that livestock owners had discovered antimicrobials increased growth among their animals a quarter-century earlier, when animals were fed grains left over as byproducts of the fermentation process used to create chlortetracycline.
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- Historic Sites
The Electoral College: How It Got That Way and Why We're Stuck With It
It was never designed to actually elect a President, it’s awkward, cumbersome, and confusing, and almost no one likes it. Americans have been trying to get rid of it for more than two centuries. Yet it’s still here. Now we are seeing renewed efforts to reform or eliminate the Electoral College. Will they succeed? Don’t bet on it.
February/March 2001 | Volume 52, Issue 1
Direct popular election? First of all, there’s the question of what to do if no candidate receives a majority. Would there be a runoff, which would make the campaign season last even longer and might encourage third parties? Would the top vote-getter always be the winner—a system that could elect a candidate opposed by a majority of citizens? Would we mystify voters by asking for second and third choices?
Moreover, a nationwide election—something that has never taken place in America—would require a nationwide electoral board, with all the rules, forms, and inspectors that go along with it. Would states be allowed to set different times for opening and closing their polls? Would North Dakota be allowed to continue to have no form of voter registration, as it does now? Would a state seeking more influence be allowed to lower its voting age below 18? Then there is the potential discussed above for stolen or suppressed votes. Combine all these problems with the inevitable effect of concentrating candidates’ time, resources, and money on populous areas, and the case for a small state to support direct election looks mighty shaky.
Election by districts sounds appealing, but it would replace 51 separate races with about 480. Swing states would lose their all-or-nothing leverage, so candidates might concentrate on major population centers even more than they do now. (Under the present system, each new election gives a different group of swing states their moment in the spotlight, whereas with any other system, the big states would always get the bulk of the attention.) The effects of gerrymandering would be amplified, and third-party candidates would find it easier to win a single district than an entire state. Also, the small-state advantage would remain (and in fact be reinforced, since in most cases—all the time for the three-vote minnows—they would continue to function as units) while the big-state advantage from winner-take-all would vanish. In fact, if the 1960 election had been contested by districts and the popular vote had been exactly the same (a questionable assumption, to be sure), Richard Nixon would have won.
Proportional division of electors would be even worse, combining all the disadvantages of a direct popular vote with none of the advantages. Under this method, if a state has 10 electoral votes and Candidate A wins 53.7 percent of the popular vote in that state, then Candidate A is credited with 5.37 electoral votes. In essence, proportional division amounts to a direct popular vote, except that the votes of small-state residents are given added weight. And that’s the problem: By stripping the veil of illusion and ceremony and tradition from the Electoral College, this extra weighting makes the small-state advantage nakedly apparent, which infuriates one-person-one-vote fundamentalists.
But from the small-state point of view, proportional division would dilute the already tiny influence that goes with controlling three or four votes in a single lump. Also, there is a significant element of the public that views anything involving decimals as un-American—except baseball statistics, of course. Yet restricting the division of electors to whole numbers would be far more confusing, with different mathematical rules and minimum requirements in each state and often arbitrary results (if your state has four votes and the popular margin is 55-45, how do you divide them?). Proportional division would be fine for student-council elections at MIT, but to most American voters, it would amount to a mystifying black box.
To be fair, much worse ideas have been proposed. In the mist beyond proportional representation lies the wreckage of dozens of too-clever schemes, such as one cooked up in 1970 by Sen. Thomas Eagleton and Sen. Robert Dole (each of whom would within a few years take a personal interest in presidential elections). According to The New Republic, this plan provided that “a President would be elected if he (1) won a plurality of the national vote and (2) won either pluralities in more than 50 percent of the states and the District of Columbia, or pluralities in states with 50 percent of the voters in the election. . . .” And it went on from there.
In reviewing the history of the Electoral College, it quickly becomes clear how little anybody has to offer that is new. All the plausible reform ideas, and all the arguments for and against them, have been debated and rehashed for well over a century, in terms that have remained virtually unchanged. What has killed all the reform efforts has been the lack of a single alternative that all the reformers can agree on. As the politicians say, you can’t beat somebody with nobody, and you can’t beat one plan with three.
Moreover, the present system at least has the benefit of familiarity. Any change would be attended with an element of uncertainty, and politicians don’t like that. Opinions differ widely about who would gain or lose from electoral reform, but too many states and interest groups think they would lose and too few are sure that they would gain. After all, as we have seen, the original Electoral College functioned nothing like what its designers had expected.
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This is Chapter Five of the book Jesus Potter, Harry Christ (2011), by Derek Murphy.
Jesus, the Lion King: Astrological
Foundations and the Journey of the Sun
“I am the light of the world; anyone who follows me will not be walking in the dark, but will have the light of life.” John 8:12
IN THE FIRST SECTION OF THIS BOOK I challenged the traditional view of Jesus Christ, the historical figure, by noting the early historical debate over the physicality of his life and deeds. I’ve also tried to meet common criticisms and evidences that have been used to support the notion of a historical Jesus, and demonstrated that central themes in Christian folklore and practice relating to Jesus Christ are very similar to various older pagan deities, which may lead the impartial reader to the conclusion that Christianity extensively modeled on earlier organizations, customs and beliefs.
While all of this is necessary to even broach the topic, it does not go far enough. Enormous questions remain unanswered. Where did the shared symbols come from in the first place? Why didn’t Christianity choose completely different symbols? Why did vastly diverse cultures often maintain central motifs in the story of their mythical heroes: the miraculous childhood, the escape from an evil ruler, growing up in the wilderness, symbolized by a lion and fighting against a serpent, coming of age to avenge his father, being captured, tortured, and put to death before rising up and defeating his enemies?
If the communities who worshiped these similar gods gave their saviors a new name, altered rituals, and even changed the allegorical meaning of their customs, why did the biographical events of the story stay so rigorously exact? And why can we find traces of this same story from Asia to South America?
The answer, as we will explore in this chapter, is that the commonalities in the stories come from a very ancient drama, which humans have been watching play out in the skies since the dawn of time – it is the annual story of the sun’s passage through the heavens.
In modern society astrology is sometimes considered a fringe pseudo-science about as believable as the tooth fairy. However, humanity’s earliest spiritual sentiments were developed from watching the changing skies, and expressed through astrological symbols. Stories about the constellations and the moving planets developed into tales of gods and goddesses, which later became world religions. Understanding ancient conceptions of astrology helps us to decode many mythological and religious traditions. For the present study it is important to recognize that for the original myth-makers, these symbols and astronomical occurrences were observed with religious devotion. As New Testament Professor Clinton Arnold makes clear,
There can be no doubt about the existence of astrological beliefs in the first century. As with magic, astrology became an increasingly dominant spiritual force after the collapse of classical Greek religion in the fifth and fourth centuries B.C. An awareness of the movements of the stars was believed to give one the key to unlocking the mysterious outworking of fate. In popular belief, the stars and planets were thought to bear a close association with angelic intermediaries. This opened up the possibility of altering one’s fate through manipulating the astral “powers.” In this respect, astrology is closely connected with magic which sought to harness and utilize the power of these so-called deities. Helios (sun) and Selene (moon), the planets, and the twelve animal-type images in the heavens (the zodiac) were regarded as most powerful. The rays of the sun and moon were also thought of as spirits, demons, or angels.[i]
While I will not claim that Jesus Christ is just a sun myth or solar deity, I hope to demonstrate that certain symbols and motifs found in Christianity can only be fully explained after exploring this ancient tale of the sun’s journey. I will also establish that at least some early Christian communities associated Jesus with the sun (or previous solar deities) and deliberately incorporated astrological symbolism into their texts, rituals and practices.
In order to deepen our understanding of and exploration into the literature of Jesus Christ, this chapter will provide the astronomical background to humanity’s oldest religious symbols and motifs, illustrate how the planets and constellations became anthropomorphized into gods and heroes, and affirm that certain elements found in Christianity can only be situated within the tradition of astronomical observation.
Astrology in Ancient Times
It should come as no surprise that Greeks and Romans thought of the planets as gods – the names we use for them today are the Roman names given to these deities. In the massive space of the sky, these celestial orbs are unique in having their own autonomous movements and actions. Unlike the great masses of stars, which appear to move together as the earth turns, the planets alone have their own unique trajectory; giving the impression that they are free to move as they like or have some urgent business to attend to. The various hues, size and speed of these planets inspired their humanistic features.
Messenger of the gods with winged feet; the fastest moving planet
Goddess of love and beauty; the brightest planet
God of war and bloodshed; the planet with a distinctive red hue
King of the gods; the largest planet
Oldest god, ruler of time and agriculture; slowest moving planet
There is also Neptune, god of the sea and Pluto, god of the underworld – but these planets are modern discoveries and were named using appropriate figures from mythology. Finally there is the Sun, whose life giving energy is the benefactor of all life on earth, and the Moon, whose cooling nocturnal influence reflects the sun’s light when he is away.
As ancient astronomers studied the skies, they found that the planets trace the same path annually. Every year, they pass through the same constellations, rise and fall on the same spots of the horizon, and routinely run into each other in small groups – easily leading people to wonder what they were up to.
Over the years, people began telling stories that explained their behavior and also allowed priests to forecast events and keep track of time. Elaborate myths were constructed, in considerable detail, chronicling the events, conflicts, reunions and challenges that the “gods” faced in their journeys.
At the same time, constellations were made by grouping nearby stars into recognizable figures, patterns and shapes, and held together in the tapestry of folklore. Great deeds and events, it was believed, merited “eternal life.” Hence, heroes and their accompanying items or companions were said to have “ascended into heaven” – or been preserved eternally in the night sky.
Different cultures would adapt existing myths to create their own cultural heroes, redefining existing constellations. The sign of “the snake bearer,” for example, which for a brief time was considered the 13th zodiac sign between Scorpio and Sagittarius, was originally viewed by the Sumerians as their god Enki. Later, Egyptians viewed him as Imhotep and the Greeks as Aesclepius. These diverse figures shared many of the same qualities, such as healing powers, and were all associated with the snake.
According to legend, both Imhotep and Aesclepius began their lives as mortals, accomplished great feats of healing and technological invention, and ascended into heaven (were immortalized by the gods as constellations).
Likewise, the heroic journey of Jason and the Argonauts, who sailed through many hardships to bring back the Golden Fleece, was commemorated by preserving their vessel in the stars – right, as it should be, on the horizon of the ocean:
More southern stars were visible to the ancient sailors of the Mediterranean than are visible today. Low on their horizon, in spring skies, there appeared the apparition of a great ship. This ship sailed ever westward skimming along the southern horizon. The ancient Greeks said it was Argo Navis, the ship sailed by Jason and his Argonauts in search of the Golden Fleece.[ii]
The story of Perseus, Andromeda and Pegasus is also written in the stars; the three constellations spin around the night sky as the sea beast Cetus raises its monstrous head out of the ocean (the head of this constellation, more modernly viewed as a whale, rises above the horizon while its body remains out of sight). Cassiopeia, Andromeda’s proud mother, sits sternly in her throne above the drama.
In today’s night sky you can also find Lyra, the Lyre of Orpheus; and Crater, the cup of Dionysus – which later was interpreted as the Holy Grail. In the middle ages “Christianized” star maps were made reinterpreting these symbols into the current mythos.
All of these legends were considered to have begun with a real historical event; even in ancient times scholars attempted to attribute the myths to real kings or heroes (human figures) of the past. But let’s not forget that for earlier civilizations, these were living stories with miraculous implications: the “proof” that they were true lay in the stars. The constellations were a record of humanity’s greatest deeds and interactions with supernatural characters, and promised the possibility of eternal reward and glory for those who suffer or persevere in their pursuit of greatness.
And they were not simply bedtime stories: these planet-gods were the main objects of worship in ancient times. According to Iamblichus (c. AD 250-325) Egyptians believed in nothing else:
Egyptians know of no other gods “but the planets and those stars that fill up the zodiac… and Robust Princes, as they call them.” Eusebius says “that the very arcane theology of the Egyptians, deified nothing but stars and planets, and acknowledge no incorporeal principle or demiurgick reason as thecause of this universe, but only the visible sun… see now what is become of this arcane theology of the Egyptians, that defies nothing but senseless matter or dead inanimate bodies.[iii]
It was also believed that the stars and planets had a physical connection and interaction with humanity. Understanding the heavens was seen as a kind of esoteric wisdom that could give users special powers: since the planets and stars influenced the affairs of men, understanding these subtle influences gave one control over them. Assman writes,
A major part of the Egyptians’ astronomical knowledge served specifically to measure time, especially the lunar month, whose beginning rested on observation, not calculation, as well as the hours, whose length varied – for day and night, from sunrise to sunset and sunset to sunrise, were always each divided into twelve segments of equal length. Above all, however, this knowledge was related to the course of the sun, which was conceived of as a journey through the sky and the netherworld and described down to the last detail. The oldest and most widely used Book of the Netherworld enumerates the 900 deities and beings who come nightly into contact with the sun god, precisely specifies the length of each of the distances he covers in one hour (eg 745 miles) and cites verbatim the words he exchanges with those in the netherworld. All this elaborate store of knowledge, so oddly compounded of observations, speculations, and mythological interpretations, had a cultic function.[iv]
The Sun Myth
For many early cultures, the sun was seen as the source of all life, an idea which, although scientifically precise, is often taken for granted today. According to an ancient Egyptian hymn which scholars have compared with Psalm 104 of the Old Testament, death comes when the sun sets or “hides its face.”
The world becomes on your hand, as you made them; when you dawn, they live, when you set, they die; you yourself are lifetime, one lives by you. (Akhenaten’s hymn 111-114)
Thou hidest thy face: they are troubled; thou takest away thy breath: they die and return to their dust; Thou sendest forth thy breath: they are created and thou renewest the face of the earth. (Psalm 104)
Of all the stories told about constellations and planets, the most important was the epic struggle of the sun with the forces of darkness. Each year, the sun defeated his enemies in the spring, rose to power and strength in the summer, and was overcome by darkness again in the fall. In the winter he was at his weakest, but people knew that somehow he would come back and save the world again.
The sun was usually depicted as male and had a female counterpart, the moon. Many cultures saw them as lovers, or sometimes twins, separated tragically and trapped in the cycle of time. The relationship between these two, the delicate balance, created and maintained the world. During solar eclipses, the pair were re-united, and their encounters generated life on earth.
One of the earliest written characters, found in pre-historic cave paintings, is the solar cross. The equilateral cross meant many things to early cultures, but at the earliest it was a probably a pictograph for the sun’s rays. It is often found by a full circle, or a crescent, which stood for the moon. The solar cross is a composition of these two symbols. Another is the Egyptian Ankh.
Granted, these symbols have meant many things to many people. I will not suggest that people who use these symbols today are still worshiping the sun. At the same time, it is vital to notice how human spirituality developed and the astrological roots of the symbols used today.
In the fall of every year, the sun gets weaker and weaker. The seasons change, the crops die, the ground freezes. Then in the spring, the sun comes back and saves life as we know it. This celestial struggle was elaborated with constellation folklore. The sun’s enemy, the dark winter, was symbolized by a snake. This is because of the constellation Hydra, the primordial sea-serpent, which at one point spread all the way across the night sky and even today remains the largest constellation. With night came the Hydra chasing the sun away, and in the morning the sun returned to defeat the Hydra. It is a never-ending battle, being re-enacted even today. Thus, the serpent became a symbol of night, and was also considered the ruler of winter, darkness. In some cultures it represented evil; in others esoteric wisdom or knowledge.
Cultural myths about heroes defeating monstrous snakes stem from the sun’s conflict with darkness and winter, represented by the Hydra. Babylonian sun god Gizdhubar fought the dragon as Tiamat (as did Gilgamesh), Apollo slew the Python, and Zeus killed the Typhon. Even Yahweh in the Old Testament was given credit with defeating an ancient sea serpent, the Leviathan, although this story was probably taken from descriptions about Baal killing the serpent Lotan in Northern Canaan.
The story becomes a romance when we add in the figure of the moon. The moon was the sun’s lover, lost or trapped in darkness, guarded over by the Hydra. The sun was always trying to find and rescue her. There are numerous versions of this story in mythology – a young hero has to enter into “the kingdom of death,” or hell, or Somewhere Really Dangerous, and kill a big snake of some kind to save his love. The sun is usually defeated or killed before his journey is through, but escapes or resurrects in order to win the final battle.
Another important constellation is Leo, the Lion. Leo is the constellation of the sun, the constellation that the sun is exalted in (the sun is in Leo in the middle of summer, when it is strongest). For this reason, while winter and darkness are represented by a snake, summer, light and the sun are represented by a lion. As snakes slither underground, the sun is flying over our heads in the sky; his “kingdom of light” is above us, while the “kingdom of darkness” is below. This is why the personified sun is usually depicted with wings of some kind: a magical flying horse (Perseus saving Andromeda, above left), wings on his hat or feet (Hermes, Mercury), or a flying chariot (Appollo) so that he can get around more conveniently. In other versions, wings are presented in the form of a pet bird or winged sidekick. In the picture of Hercules killing the Hydra, (above right), he is shown both with a lion’s head mask and wings, just like the Griffin – a lion with the wings and the beak of an eagle – which is also a sun symbol.
Myths about the moon are sometimes blended with stories about the constellation Virgo, which is right next to Hydra and comes into the sky at the same time as it does. Virgo is the 2nd largest constellation, only a little smaller than Hydra, and the constellation was worshiped as a great goddess. Due to their close positions, myths about her always involved Hydra. Hydra is also a feminine constellation (the masculine form would be Hydrus), and sometimes these two great constellation were merged to create a larger symbol of night; a creature with the tail of a serpent and the upper body of a woman.
Meanwhile, the constellation Leo immediately precedes Virgo in the night sky and seems to be escorting her past the treachery of Hydra. This is why, invariably, mythological sun saviors slay great serpents to save virtuous maidens. Their weapon of choice is almost always a sword, probably because it takes the same shaped as a cross, the oldest known symbol of the sun.
The Jesus Zodiac
As we have seen, certain constellations (Leo, Virgo, Hydra) were often featured in the sun myth. However there were others. The most important were the 12 signs of the zodiac. The zodiac signs are the constellations of stars that mark the sun’s path and have been used for at least 6,000 years to keep track of time. The Western zodiac signs are often seen in churches, catacombs, and Greco-Roman temples. Ancient Chinese, Mayan, Babylonian and Sumerian zodiac wheels sometimes use different figures for the constellations.
The zodiac refers to the signs that lie behind the sun’s apparent path. Each month, the sun is passing in front of 1 of the 12 signs. It is from the word “Zodiac” – which literally means circle of animals – that we get the modern word “zoo.”
Stories about the sun often include zodiac animals in the course of the hero’s quest; as the sun carved its path through the twelve zodiac signs, the hero would encounter or challenge the symbols which represented each sign. Krishna, for example, was chased by a snake and kills both a bull and a lion.
In Ovid’s Phaethon, the Greek sun god Helios promises his mortal son a gift, because he feels guilty for never spending time with him. The boy begs for a chance to drive his father’s golden chariot, which races across the sky bringing light to the world. Helios, knowing that only he can control the powerful horses, tries to dissuade his son.
Are you fancying that there are all sorts of wonders up there, cities full of Gods and beautiful things? Nothing of the kind. You will have to pass beasts, fierce beasts of prey, and they are all that you will see. The Bull, the Lion, the Scorpion, and the great Crab, and all will try to harm you. (Ovid, Metamorphoses II, Phaethon)
Hercules, often portrayed wearing a lion skin, is most famous for his twelve labors, which correlate to the twelve signs of the zodiac (although the specific acts seem to refer only to summer and fall constellations).
- 1. Slay the Nemean Lion and bring back its skin
- 2. Slay the Lernaean Hydra
- 3. Capture the Ceryneian Hind
- 4. Capture the Erymanthian Boar
- 5. Clean the Augean stables in one day
- 6. Slay the Stymphalian Birds
- 7. Capture the Cretan Bull
- 8. Steal the Mares of Diomedes
- 9. Obtain the Girdle of Hippolyte
- 10. Obtain the Cows of Geryon
- 11. Steal the Apples of the Hesperides
- 12. Capture Cerberus
Many other figures face similar challenges. These constellations “come out” or are more visible in the dark winter months. The boar that killed Attis and Adonis (Osiris was also dismembered by Seth under a wild boar), and which Hercules must also capture is Khrysaor, son of Medusa, who often took the shape of a winged boar and presided over the summer months (the harvest season). Vegetation gods die or are cut down under this month, due to the harvest. You can still find this tusked, charging boar constellation in modern star maps. Taurus, the bull is visible in September and October along the eastern horizon, but the most favorable time to observe Taurus in the night sky is during the months of December and January. Heroes associated with the sun like Mithras, Dionysus, and Gilgamesh overcame or destroyed the bull, symbolically ending winter.
Birth of the Sun
Although the great triumph of the sun was during the spring, there are four turning points which held monumental significance for ancient cultures. These points are related to the apparent path the sun travels, called the ecliptic, and the line of the equator projected into space, or the celestial equator. If you imagine that the earth stands still, the sun seems to go around the earth following a set path. Astronomers would calculate dates by looking at the constellations behind this line, and so marking it on star charts and world maps was a common practice. This is the ecliptic.
The celestial equator is equally important. If the equator were projected into space, it would cross the ecliptic in two places. These spots are exactly the points where the transitions between spring and fall occur. During the spring equinox, the sun crosses the equator heading north, making the days longer than the nights. During the fall equinox, the sun crosses going south, making the days shorter than the nights.
In the winter, less and less light from the sun reaches the earth, causing cool weather. The sun is at its farthest away (south) from the celestial equator. Due to the earth’s tilt, the sun will appear to “stand still” here for three days before heading north again. This takes place on December 21st, the winter solstice. The opposite occurs six months later during the summer solstice on June 21st. The sun has reached its farthest point north of the celestial equator, and after a brief pause, begins moving south.
Sites of megalithic stone structures such as Stonehenge in England or the older L-Imnajdrasite in Malta (c. 3000 BC) are oriented astronomically, aligned with the rising sun during solstices and equinoxes. In 1998 scientists discovered the huge stones slabs of Nabta in the Sahara desert of Egypt, which have been dated to around 4000BC, making them the oldest astronomical megaliths in the world. These sites demonstrate that the sun’s movements were noted and deemed considerably important even in prehistory. Although the sun doesn’t actually move, it is possible to mark the changing seasons based on where it rises or sets on the horizon. This is how megalithic structures function: a little hole is drilled marking the spot of the horizon where the sun will rise on one specific day of the year. Imagine this point on the horizon like a giant pendulum. Every day, it will move a little to the left or right, approaching one of the solstices. When it reaches the end of its path, it has to “slow down” and go back the other way. It will be seen on the same spot of the horizon for three days, before beginning to move in the opposite direction. On December 22nd, the winter solstice, (midnight of the 21st), the sun appears to stop moving. Early civilizations mythologized this event as a “death” of the sun – darkness had triumphed. But only three days later, at midnight on December 24th, the sun appeared to begin moving again. This was a “birth” of the new sun (and also a “resurrection” of the old sun), which would someday challenge the rulers of darkness and re-create the kingdom of light. This victory comes on the spring equinox, when light returns to triumph over darkness.
The astronomical alignment of ancient monuments show that December 25th was marked as a special day for thousands of years before the advent of Christianity. In the face of a long winter, it was celebrated as a time for hope in the eventual return of life and light. That December 25th was originally a pagan holiday is generally well known, but not everyone realizes that it was a birthday celebration for the infant sun. On December 24th, the priests waited for a sign that the sun had returned, so that they could announce the birth of a divine child. The sign the priests saw was probably the star Sirius, one of the brightest stars in the winter sky, which rises just before dawn. Edward Carpenter confirms this in Pagan and Christian Creeds:
The coming of Sirius therefore to the Meridian at midnight became the sign and assurance of the sun having reached the very lowest point of his course, and therefore having arrived at the moment of his re-birth.[v]
If this name sounds familiar, you might recall that “Sirius” is also the name of Harry Potter’s godfather. As Hans Andréa from Harry Potter for Seekers points out,
When Jesus was born, a star appeared in the east. When Harry was born, Sirius became his God-Father! Both boys had a star rise at their birth. He who understands the language of symbols will see that these two things are identical![vi]
People in those days believed that every night, the sun rested in a vast subterranean cave before rising again in the East. Therefore this “birth” of the sun was pictured underground, in a cave, or sometimes a manger. Late to the birth were three wise men following a star. Many traditions have called the three stars of Orion’s belt the “kings” or “magi.” They form a direct line to Sirius and appear to follow him straight to the birthplace of the sun. Try to find them early on Christmas morning – they’ll be the brightest stars you see.
The Wicked Ruler
Although the sun had been born, winter was just beginning. On December 22nd, the winter solstice marks the moment when Saturn, the slow moving king of winter, assumes his thrown, for a three month rule of tyranny, cold and darkness. (The 22nd is the beginning of Capricorn. Just as Leo’s ruling planet is the sun, Capricorn’s ruling planet is Saturn.)
Saturn, or in Greek, Chronos, was the father of time – from him we get words like “Chronology.” In the picture below, Saturn is seen with his symbol, the scythe, and with a dragon biting its own tail; the symbol for infinity. The inevitable consequence of time, of course, is death. The modern day Grim Reaper, shown below holding an hourglass, is based on images of Saturn.
In the Greek version of the myth, Chronos began to eat all of his children after hearing a prophecy from Uranus that one of his children would overthrow him. After losing five children, his wife Rhea saved the 6th, Zeus, by feeding Chronos a stone wrapped in blankets. Zeus grew up in exile but came back in strength to challenge his father.
This event – the threat from an evil tyrant and escape of the infant hero – became a common literary motif; one especially shared by sun gods. Just three days after Saturn comes to power on December 22nd, the baby sun (who is predestined to overthrow his rule) is born on the 25th. Saturn gets nervous and “eats all his babies,” or “orders a massacre of infants.” Mythical stories that employ this attribute include Dionysus, Hercules, and even Moses. The infant son, however, is smuggled away safely, usually by his mother. This incident also begins the sun’s travels: he is always moving, and generally going “up” and “down.”
The sun grows up in exile, becoming stronger all the time. After Saturn has lost his power, the sun will return to challenge the ruler of winter and overthrow his kingdom. This happens on the spring equinox, when the day becomes longer than the night. The sun has been victorious, at least until the fall equinox, when darkness comes to power again. On December 22nd, the sun dies, is buried for three days, and “resurrects.” Like the birth, this is depicted underground, or buried in a tomb. Of course, there are many variations: sometimes he descends into Hades for three days, sometimes he sleeps, sometimes he is imprisoned, and sometimes people just think he’s dead. The clue is the length of time (3 days) and the date near one of the solstices or equinoxes.
Sun myth features are apparent in some of the stories we explored earlier. For example in the Egyptian version of the myth which was popular throughout the Roman Empire in the first two centuries AD, the moon goddess was Isis, while Osiris and Horus were both aspects of the sun. Isis was considered a “virgin” because her consort is also her son; originally she needs to somehow get pregnant by herself. Later, she gives birth to Horus on December 25th (although as we saw the 23rd might have been used much earlier) and he grew up to become Osiris, his mother’s lover. At this time Isis’ brother Set was in power. Set was a figure of darkness, and in later traditions became identified with Typhon, the giant serpent. Set killed Osiris and scattered his body parts down the banks of the Nile.
Set wanted to kill the child Horus also, fearing that he would someday usurp his throne. Luckily, Isis was warned in time to flee and conceal the child. At the Spring Equinox, while Horus was returning to defeat darkness, Osiris had already died and needed to be resurrected. Isis collected all of Osiris’ body parts (except the penis which she couldn’t find) and brought him back to life. At the same time, Horus grew into manhood and defeated Set to avenge his father, freeing Isis from Set’s tyranny. Horus took his father’s place, and became Osiris. He and Isis would give birth to a new Horus the next year, restarting the cycle.
The Lion King
It may seem very foreign to give human characteristics to the sun, but you are far more familiar with this story than you know. This is because for centuries, and increasingly in the past few decades, modern stories have revolved around solar mythology. (This is mostly because our greatest story-tellers, from Disney to Lewis to Tolkien, have been well-versed in classical studies). As mentioned previously, the sun rules the zodiac sign of Leo, the Lion. The yellow color of this animal, as well as his flowing mane, have made it an ideal symbol for the sun – although the real reason is that the sun is considered to be at the peak of its “rule” during the hot summer months of July and August, when the sun crosses the constellation Leo. Historical and mythological figures, in order to elevate them to a divine status, were often affiliated with lions for this reason. Modern-day heroes and popular re-tellings of classical literature sometimes include the same symbols: the lion for goodness and light and the snake for evil and darkness. In fact, the easiest way to spot a sun-myth is to look for snakes and lions. Because the sun flew through the sky, he was given wings, a winged chariot, or a flying companion that symbolized his dominion over the air.
Many figures in contemporary literature, including J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter, continue to act out the ancient motif. Harry is marked as a sun god by his placement in Gryffindor, whose emblem is a lion (or rather, a Griffin – a winged lion). He also has his characteristic mark, the lightning bolt on his forehead; the symbol of Zeus. He can fly, with a broomstick, and is also sometimes helped by Dumbledore’s phoenix. Like the sun, an evil power threatens him at birth and he is hidden away in obscurity. He battles the basilisk, an enormous snake, with a magical sword, in order to save the lost but virtuous maiden, Ginny. Eventually he will defeat Lord Voldemort and end the threat of darkness altogether – although he has to pay for it with his own life.
If you saw the 2004 movie Alexander by Warner Brothers, you probably remember that Alexander’s mother, played by actress Angelina Jolie, kept poisonous snakes around her, and the young Alexander was surrounded with snakes as a child. But did you notice that Alexander’s helmet is a lion? Or the scene when, to be even more explicit, he is wearing an actual lion’s head? Alexander is also accompanied by a pet eagle, and seems to have some psychic connection with it. Alexander strays farther away from his kingdom, where he is strong, and grows weaker and weaker until his own followers betray him.
The newest Peter Pan movie (2003, live action version) is also full of sun symbolism. In the beginning of the movie, “Never Never Land” is frozen in a deep winter and the pirates’ ship is stuck in ice. Spring hits fast and hard, and the ice melts, letting the pirates know that Pan (the sun) has come back. Peter can also fly, of course, and instead of a phoenix is accompanied by Tink, a winged fairy. Peter battles Hook with a sword to save Wendy from the pirates, so she can be mother to the boys. And although the giant alligator is Hook’s enemy, the creature is an effective representation of Hydra, the water serpent. There is also a significant scene, where the weather gets nasty because Peter is sad over Tink’s death. The pirates think Pan is dead, and that they have won, only to have him reappear triumphantly.
In the first Narnia movie (2005), based on the original chronicles by C.S. Lewis, Aslan is an obvious sun-savior who has to battle with the queen of winter to restore life and spring to Narnia. He meekly allows himself to be captured and tortured only to be instantly resurrected and continue the fight. Although many Christians consider Narnia to be a wholesome family movie, and Aslan to be a portrayal of Christ, all of the ideas in Narnia stem from the sun myth, which predates Christianity by thousands of years. (Lewis’ contemporary, Tolkien, criticized Narnia for being an “irritating blend of different cultural traditions”[vii]).
The “discovery” of Aslan’s resurrection in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is actually the discovery of the empty rock where Aslan’s body had been – which is shown with the rising sun directly behind it; the rising sun is used as an allegory for the resurrection of Aslan (and, for those who wish to further interpret, for the resurrection of Jesus). However, in fact the converse may be true – that Jesus’ resurrection has always been a symbol of the rising sun.
When the sun reaches his highest point on the summer solstice, he is depicted as the king of kings, seated on a throne and wearing a purple robe and a crown of golden rays. At the time when these stories developed, the summer solstice was actually in the sign of Leo. The sun could easily be identified as a “lion king.”
Not surprisingly, Disney’s animated motion picture “The Lion King” (1994) captures the sun myth surprisingly well. Simba can’t fly himself, but he is always near his winged chaperone, the toucan Zazu. In the first five minutes, we are inundated with sun references. The infant king is anointed with the juice of a fruit that has been lifted up to the sun, the clouds part and a single beam of sunlight illuminates the child. The catchy opening song mentions “the sun rolling high in a sapphire sky.” Some viewers have argued that the Lion King plot is based on Shakespeare’s Hamlet, but Shakespeare most likely drew his ideas from Greek stories like Oedipus, whose tale also includes sun symbolism.
While Simba is still young and dreaming of being ruler, (“I just can’t wait to be king”), there is a quip about the king of kings having so little hair. Some sun gods, when they reached maturity, were shown with long flowing hair to symbolize their strong rays of light, and short hair when they were newborn or weak. This is the reason that Samson, a biblical sun figure, was defeated by the winter goddess Delilah when she cut off all his hair. This is also why, when Aslan had his mane cut off by his enemies, it instantly grew back once he resurrected. A fourth century writer records an Egyptian ritual with a similar motif:
In their desire to make a dedication specifically to the Sun himself the Egyptians have fashioned a figure whose head is shaven except for the hair remaining on the right side. The retention of these hairs teaches that in our world the Sun is never covered up. The hair which has been removed bears witness through the roots which stay that even when we do not see this heavenly body it still possesses the property of coming forth again like hair.’ (Macrobius, end of 4th century AD)[viii]
Soon after, Mufusa tells Simba, “A king’s time as ruler rises and falls like the sun. Someday, the sun will set on my time here and will rise with you as the new king.” Mufusa’s brother, Scar, is the ruler of death, or winter. He’s in league with evil hyenas, and plots with them in a fiery cave full of dancing skeletons. Scar succeeds in killing Mufasa, but Simba escapes into exile. The whole land falls into darkness and shadow when Scar takes over, but Simba grows up quickly outside of the kingdom. Simba runs into Nana, who thinks he’s back from the dead, and they have a brief spring love affair. (The sun and moon are necessarily lovers, in order for the new sun to be born each year). Simba is still struggling with the death of his father, but Rafiki the monkey-priest tells him, “He’s alive, and I’ll show him to you. You are your father. You are the same. He lies in you.”
Simba journeys home through the wilderness landscape that had once flourished under his father’s rule. The land is destroyed now and everyone is starving, on the brink of death. When Simba returns, they assume he is Mufasa back from the dead. There is a battle between Scar and Simba, now exactly the same size and strength. They exchange blows, and finally Simba grows a little bigger and wins. This fight demonstrates the spring equinox, when the hours of sunlight struggle with and then surpass the hours of darkness. “It is time,” says Rafiki. A cooling rain falls as the new king climbs majestically up to his place of power on the throne. A skull is washed away, signifying the end of winter, and the earth springs to life again. At the end of the movie, Simba and Nana have a new child and repeat the cycle.
You may have heard of another lion king, Jesus of Nazareth, also called the “Lion of Judah” and the “King of Jews.” Jesus has many symbols, one of which is the white dove; and, feathers or no, he has no trouble defying gravity. Like the sun, Jesus had to hide from an evil ruler soon after his birth, because King Herod heard a prophecy concerning a future king. Jesus refers to himself as the light of the world, and his enemy, Satan, is represented by the symbol of the serpent. Jesus comes to save his love, the Holy Mother Church (the earth-bound communities of those faithful to Jesus are always collectively feminine). He uses the symbol of an upright cross, which looks just like a sword, to defeat his enemies.
The question now is to explore how deeply these symbols go in the story of Jesus, and whether they came from the sun myth either unconsciously or deliberately. If inclusions were accidental, or later additions, then we should be able to take them away from the figure of Jesus Christ without any ill-effect; without changing the basic core structure of Christian belief. However, we will see that astrological symbolism permeates the gospel story in such a way that it is unlikely to be coincidental, and also impossible to extricate “the real Jesus” from it.
Astrological symbolism in Christianity
Before King Herod tried to find and kill the infant Christ, who was smuggled safely into Egypt, a Pharaoh tried to kill the infant Moses, who also survived. Both returned to triumph over their adversaries. Before either of them came Horus and many others, all based on the sun myth. In the most recent adaptation of this story, the infant Harry Potter survived an attack from his enemy Voldemort, went into hiding, and likewise came back to challenge his would-be murderer.
Only two of the four biblical gospels even include a birth story, and there are few scholars today who would deny that they were copied wholesale from pagan mythology. However, there is much more to say about Jesus than his miraculous birth. In this section, I’ll explain how the biographical details in the gospel account of Jesus Christ may be based on observations of the sun, and how specific symbols identified with the Christian movement like the crucifixion, the lamb and the fish also came from astrology.
What follows is an “astrological exegesis” of the life and ministry of Jesus. It may sound far-fetched at first. However the fact that the gospel story presents us with the exact figures, numbers, motifs and animals needed to construct this interpretation is, in itself, extremely telling. Moreover, as we will see, the interpretation of Jesus’ ministry as symbolizing the annual journey of the sun was confirmed and approved of by some very early Christian writers.
After the infant sun ran away from the powerful ruler (Saturn), we hear nothing about him until he is grown into adulthood. Jesus also leaps from a child to a 30 year old man in the gospels, apparently because there is nothing worth mentioning during the early part of his life. Many authors have written about where Jesus might have spent these years, failing to appreciate the nature of mythological literature. When specific numbers are used in mythology, they are rarely random; instead they help preserve astronomical trivia and are a way of passing on wisdom to those who could decode their meaning. In the sun myth, the number 30 has an astrological significance.
There are 360 degrees in the zodiac wheel, giving each of the 12 signs exactly 30 degrees (each section is called a Semisextile). Saturn’s reign is finished at the end of Capricorn, which means that after 30 degrees, the sun can come out of hiding. For a real man, 30 years is a long time, but for the sun myth, the number 30 only represents the degrees of Capricorn and is just 1/12th of the distance the sun will have to go. This is the reason why the first 30 years of the sun savior are only the very beginning of the story.
By the end of January, the sun has escaped the persecution of Saturn, but he is still weak and the weather is cold. Climbing up to the celestial equator, and defeating his enemies by crossing over it and ending winter, will be his final struggle and challenge. This process is often tied to the number forty, which like the years of the sun’s age, has an astrological significance. The winter solstice in the sign of Capricorn lies 16 degrees below the celestial equator. The spring equinox in the sign of Aries, where the sun will triumph over darkness, is 24 degrees above the celestial equator. Starting from his birth in Capricorn, the sun must climb a total of 40 degrees (16+24=40) before he escapes from the clutches of winter. According to Malik H. Jabbar in The Astrological Foundation of the Christ Myth,
This term forty represents the struggle of the sun in the wilderness, climbing toward salvation. With Israel, it was forty years in the wilderness, and with Noah, it was forty days of torrential rain, but regardless, the symbolism is the same; the plight of the young sun in the valley of Amenta, the Nether World, fighting his way to cross the forsaken territory between the zodiacal sign of the winter solstice and the spring equinox.[ix]
Jesus begins his ministry by spending forty days in the desert being tested by the devil. Like the sun, he then passes through Aquarius (baptism by St. John, portrayed with flowing hair and a jug of water) and Pisces (calling his first fishermen disciples to become “fishers of men”) before he can be exalted at the spring equinox in the beginning of Aries (as the crucified lamb of God.) After climbing these forty degrees, the sun is finally strong enough to defeat the darkness that has plagued him since birth. The length of days and nights on the spring equinox are exactly equal, but after the long battle that marks this day, the sun will be the victor. Crossing the celestial equator on the spring equinox was seen as the sun’s definitive triumph over evil, but it was also viewed as a kind of perpetual suffering.
Every year the sun had to face the same enemies, suffer defeat, and fight to regain his kingdom. Many myths illustrate the idea of the sun leading a life of toil for mankind, who brought light and life to the world at great personal cost. Tragic figures like Sisyphus, who was forced to push a boulder up a hill and then let it roll back again for eternity, or Prometheus, bound to a rock so his liver could be eaten every day, may represent the perpetual toil of the sun. Although climbing over the celestial equator is just one piece of the sun’s never-ending torment, it became a symbol for his great sacrifice.
As we already know from Justin Martyr, Jesus was not the first to be crucified; many sun saviors met their deaths on a cross of some kind, or else were hung from trees or nailed to boulders. (Osiris was locked in a coffin that got stuck inside the trunk of a tree that was later used as a temple pillar.) While these grim endings may appear dissimilar, drawings or representations of these saviors usually show them in an X or cross-shaped position.
The argument can be made that the motif of “crucifixion” comes from astronomy. The ecliptic, or path of the sun, crosses over the celestial equator at an angle, making the shape of an X. Plato, in his dialog, “Timaeus,” said that when the Creator of the universe first formed the cosmos, He shaped its substance in the form of the letter X: the intersection between the sun’s apparent path and the celestial equator.[x]
The massive event of critical importance, signifying the triumph of the sun and the end of winter, takes place on this cross. Many heroes met their fate with this cross, including the Greek King Sixion and St. Andrew, underscoring their divine status.
Here someone might interject that Jesus was crucified on a vertical cross, like the one worn by modern Christians; but there is no evidence for this. More likely, Romans would have used a T-bar shaped cross because they were easier to build. However, Jesus Christ may not have been crucified any more than Dionysus was actually ripped apart and eaten by his followers. The vertical cross is a spiritual symbol referring to a specific restorative salvation, not a historical fact.
The sun continues upwards until he reaches his northern-most peak at the beginning of summer. The summer solstice is the height of the sun’s glory and the beginning of his reign, but he has also reached the end of his path and will begin to regress. He may warn that his enemies will overthrow him, or that he has to leave but will return again. On the fall equinox, when the night is again longer than the day, the sun is weakened, captured, and taunted.
Just as the sun had to wait thirty degrees after his birth before beginning his mission, he also has to pass through the last thirty degrees that lead to his death. After passing through the twelve signs, he is delivered to his death at the beginning of Capricorn by the sign Sagittarius. For each degree that Sagittarius gains, the sun is closer to his death, leading to the idea of a betrayer who gets paid off to lure the sun to his death. In the gospels this is Judas, who sold Jesus to his enemies for thirty pieces of silver. Some scholars contend that Judas represented the sign of Scorpio, who is lord of the fall equinox. In this case, Judas leads Christ to his enemies at the beginning of the fall season, where he is tormented and afflicted for three months until his death at the hands of Sagittarius on the winter solstice. Either way, the motif of the thirty pieces of silver is most likely a reference to degrees of the zodiac.
When the sun reaches the winter solstice and holds still for three days, he has died and been buried in the tomb or cave where he began. He will remain in the underworld, in the land of the dead, or in the tomb, for three days, until he begins his return. While maintaining the three-day hiatus, some versions of the sun myth placed the death and resurrection together in the spring in order to tie it into the great victory reached when the sun crosses over the celestial equator.
The Lamb of God
Besides the lion, the animal most often associated with Jesus is the lamb. The choice of this animal, along with nearly all other Christian symbolism, comes from constellation mythology. As the sun passes through the twelve zodiac signs, the four signs that govern the four cardinal events in the sun’s journey are the most significant. Of supreme importance is the sign under which the sun crosses the celestial equator on the spring equinox. Astrological ages are named after this sign. For example, today we are somewhere at the end of the age of Pisces, because Pisces is the sign behind the sun when it crosses its midway point in the spring. Due to a slight imbalance in the earth’s wobble, these four signs change roughly every 2,200 years, in a gradual process called the precession of the equinoxes. It takes an entire 26,000 years for all twelve signs of the zodiac to pass behind the place where the sun crosses the celestial equator during the spring equinox. Every 72 years we slip backwards 1 degree of the zodiac, meaning that soon we will be entering the age of Aquarius.
Before the present age of Pisces was the age of Aries from about 2400BC to 200BC, and before that was the age of Taurus from 4600BC to 2400BC. During that period, the spring equinox was in Taurus, the summer solstice in Leo, the winter solstice in Aquarius, and the fall equinox in Scorpio. Although Scorpio is today represented by the Scorpion, that part of the sky used to be represented by another constellation, the Eagle or Phoenix. The symbols that represent these signs – the Lion, Eagle, Bull and Man – are often found in religious and mythological texts that were developed during the age of Taurus.
There are several references to these four animals in the Old Testament, which were later copied into the New Testament book of Revelation.
The first living creature was like a lion, the second like a bull, the third living creature had a human face, and the fourth living creature was like a flying eagle. (Revelation 4:7)
These four symbols, which represented the four seasons and the four elements (fire, earth, water, air), were later assigned to four specific apostles whose names were given to the four books of the gospels.
- Matthew = Human
- Mark = Lion
- Luke = Ox
- John = Eagle
These animals are often put into the corners of religious iconography to represent “the whole world.” Among other things they correlate to the four houses at Hogwarts, the four children of Narnia, the four horsemen of the apocalypse, and the four suits of a deck of poker cards. The same four animals are shown in the esoteric Tarot tradition of A.E. Waite, a mystic who developed illustrations for his Tarot deck based on the writings of 19th century occultist, Eliphas Levi. In the “Wheel of Fortune” card, the Bull, Eagle, Man and Lion surround a wheel, which is ruled over by another lion with a sword that represents the sun controlling the universe. The dog-headed man is the constellation Orion, who has ties to the Egyptian god Osiris. The three stars of Orion’s belt point to and follow the bright star Sirius, which is found in Canis Major, or the “big dog” constellation. The snake is Hydra, which appears to chase Orion around the world. Early Christian art uses many of the same motifs.
During the age of Taurus, (4600BC to 2400BC), bulls were sacred animals that figured prominently in religious worship and mythology. Sumerians regarded a bull as the bringer of spring, and the bull cult of Minoan Crete arose during this time. For Egyptians this was the period of Montu, the Bull, and it was also the time of the biblical golden calf. Taurus is a feminine earth sign, ruled over by the planet Venus, and goddess-centered religions flourished during this period. The ancient megaliths on the island of Malta for example are fertility goddess temples which were built and used doing the age of Taurus. When the sun rose in Taurus during the spring equinox, the bull became a symbol for the sun and shared his fate. Both were crucified on the celestial cross, sacrificing themselves to renew the earth. The blood of the bull became a sacrificial atonement for sins.
Later, this motif would be transformed into many bull-slaying deities like Mithras, whose great victory during the spring equinox depended on him defeating or passing through the bull. Mithras was often depicted driving his sword deep into a bull, clenching it like a massive lever, surrounded by the zodiac wheel. It is possible that besides representing the sun meeting the celestial cross under the sign of Taurus, Mithras was also seen as the divine force causing the precession of the equinoxes. His great act of slaying the bull would then also include ending the age of Taurus and rotating the zodiac wheel into the next sign. This is the view taken by Professor Religion David Ulansey in an article on the Mithraic Mysteries published by Scientific American:
By killing the bull – causing the precession of the equinoxes – Mithras was in effect moving the entire universe. A god capable of performing such a tremendous deed would be eminently deserving of worship. Furthermore, the ability to move the cosmos would be seen as endowing Mithras with other powers as well, such as the ability to overcome the forces of fate residing in the stars and to guarantee the soul a safe passage through the planetary spheres after death.[xi]
Mithras slew the bull with a sword, and it was this symbol, identical to an upright cross, that his followers imprinted on the round buns they used for their communion. To further clarify matters, sometimes the sword symbol was combined with an X shaped figure to show the cross of the celestial equator and ecliptic. Symbolically, the act of slaying a bull with a sword is identical to crucifying it on a cross.
The astrological symbolism in Mithraism has been noted by several scholars. According to Burkert, “one literary text explains the killing of the bull in astrological terms as the sun passing through the sign of Taurus. This is the ‘esoteric philosophy’ of these mysteries, the author says, admitting that this is not the accepted meaning, but at the same time claiming that it comes from insiders of the cult.”[xii] Dowden affirms this view:
Mithras, as he kills the bull, usually looks up and away – apparently to the sun-god with whom he is closely associated and for whom, maybe, he performs this vital feat: the sun is, after all, in the constellation Taurus (‘Bull’) in spring as life begins again.[xiii]
The age of Taurus was followed by the age of Aries, the Ram. Most of the symbols used in bull cults were adapted to reflect this shift. The lamb became a holy animal, identified with the sun and his celestial triumph. Like the bull, it died on the cross with the sun, and was considered a restorative offering. In ancient Egypt, lambs were sacred during this period, and sacrificed to the sun during the spring equinox. Linked to the sun’s resurrection, the lamb was thought to have regenerative powers. In Egypt the lamb-sun god was called Amun, and many enormous temple complexes were built, with exact celestial precision, in honor of him. Pharaohs like Tut-ankh-Amun were named after this god to give them supernatural status. Amun, as the sun, is both the ram and the lion at the same time.
He is the bas of Amun-Re, lord of Karnak, chief of Ipet-Sut, the ram with sublime face, who dwells in Thebes, the great lion who generated by himself, the Great god of the beginning… of whose nose the air comes forth, in order to animate all noses, who rises as sun, in order to illuminate earth.[xiv]
Many of the psalms in the Old Testament bear uncanny resemblance to Egyptian prayers to Amun, and it is possible that Christians to this day invoke this Egyptian god’s name at the end of their prayers by saying “Amen.” This word is commonly associated with truth, and used to mean “truly” or “verily.” When the Old Testament was translated into English, the word “Amen” became “truth.”
That he who blesseth himself in the earth shall bless himself in the God of truth, and he that sweareth in the earth shall swear by the God of truth, because the former troubles are forgotten, and because they are hid from mine eyes. (Isaiah 65:16)
The Jewish communities spent a long time in Egypt (although even this has been disputed), and some of their religious ideas may have been taken from Egyptian practices. If you replace the original “Amen” in this passage and read it as a name, it can be seen as a psalm to the God of Amun, the lamb-headed sun god of Egypt. Even the concept of Israel in the Old Testament, made up of 12 tribes, shares remarkable similarity with the sun myth. As Mircea Eliade points out, citing from Josephus,
We find a similar temporal symbolism as part of the cosmological symbolism of the Temple at Jerusalem. According to Flavius Josephus the twelve loaves of bread on the table signified the twelve months of the year and the candelabrum with seventy branches represented the decans (the zodiacal division of the seven planets into tens.) The Temple was the imago mundi; being at the Center of the World, at Jerusalem, it sanctified not only the entire cosmos but also cosmic life–that is, time.[xv]
The founder of the covenant, Abraham, was given a test to prove his obedience to God – he was asked to sacrifice his first and only son Isaac. At the last minute God intervened and provided a ram to use instead. This story may be an astrological myth about how Aries came to be stuck on the celestial cross (Genesis 22:1). In an interesting reversal of the Abraham tale, Yahweh later rescued Israel out of Egypt by killing all of the first-born sons among the Egyptians. Israelites were told to mark their doorways with the blood of a specifically prepared sacrificial lamb, so that Yahweh could take note of which homes to pass over during his ethnic cleansing (Exodus 12:1).
The Passover Lamb became an integral feature of Judaism until the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem; Exodus 12-13 gives careful instructions on how the lamb is to be prepared (roasted, without its head, feet, or inner organs being removed) and eaten (in haste: with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand). Orthodox Christians in Italy and Greece continue to slaughter a lamb every year. Muslims follow similar procedures to prepare lambs for their own festival of sacrifice, Eid-ul-Adha, which is a commemoration of Abraham and Ishmael.
Early Christians continued this practice, relating the Passover Lamb to Jesus’ suffering on the cross, because it was placed on a cross-shaped spit made by the intersection of two sticks:
The mystery, then, of the lamb which God enjoined to be sacrificed as the passover, was a type of Christ; with whose blood, in proportion to their faith in Him, they anoint their houses, i.e., themselves, who believe on Him… and that lamb which was commanded to be wholly roasted was a symbol of the suffering of the cross which Christ would undergo. For the lamb, which is roasted, is roasted and dressed up in the form of the cross. For one spit is transfixed right through from the lower parts up to the head, and one across the back, to which are attached the legs of the lamb. (Justin Martyr, Dialog with Trypho, 40)
This great wealth of symbolic background was readily available during the foundational periods of Christian history. Jesus would become the sacrificed son, and at the same time the ram God provided to save Isaac. He would also be identified with the sacrificial lamb of Passover. Like the sign of Aries on the ecliptic and the Passover Lamb on the spit, Jesus makes his great restoration on a cross. Like the lamb, his death was a great sacrifice, and his blood washed away sin. The details recorded in the gospels about his crucifixion were written deliberately in order to clearly bring out this identification.
Jesus had to die on the cross, for example, without having any of his bones broken, because God commanded that the Passover Lamb be without blemish or broken bones. However, it is difficult to crucify a man’s body to a cross in such a way that the nails support his weight without breaking his bones, and it isn’t likely that the Roman soldiers would have been extra careful with Jesus in order to fulfill Jewish prophecy. The gospel writers were more concerned with spiritual allegory than actual circumstances, and took liberties with their version of events.
Early Christian catacombs identify Jesus as the sun god tied to the precession of the equinoxes rather than a historical victim of crucifixion. One of the symbols used was the Chi-Rho, also called the “Monogram of Christ” because it is made up of the first two letters in the Greek word “Christos.” Although Christians claim that this symbol is unique to them, it was used for centuries before the Christian era as symbol for luck and fortune. It was also a solar symbol, and includes the X shaped cross as a symbol of the sun’s triumph at the Vernal Equinox.
Instead of a crucified savior, the image of Christ often found in the catacombs is that of the Good Shepherd, carrying a lamb over his shoulders, identifying him as a Lamb-God like Amun. Statues of other sun-saviors, carrying lambs to link them with the sign of Aries, have been found to predate Christianity by centuries. A contemporary of Jesus, the Gnostic god Abraxas, was drawn with the age of Aries at his head and the age of Pisces at his feet. Some statues, like the one below made in Athens around 570BC, show the Good Shepherd with a calf, a remnant of the age of Taurus.
Jesus became not only the Good Shepherd, but also the sacrificial lamb itself. As the sun, he shared the fate of Aries when it met the celestial cross. His suffering there was an act of restoration, and Christians refer to being washed in the blood of the lamb for the forgiveness of sins, just as Attis’ followers were washed in the blood of the bull. After the lamb, the next most popular symbol found in Christian catacombs is the fish – specifically, two fish swimming in opposite directions, or the zodiac glyph of Pisces. Early Christians identified themselves with this sign more than all others, calling each other “little fishes” and using symbols of fish to identify each other. As the mover of the equinoxes, it was Jesus’ role to end the Age of Aries and begin the Age of Pisces.
Persian dualism is a faith of the Age of Aries (second-first millennia BC), which is the sign of the Sun’s exaltation and Mars’ rulership; so Mithras, the solar warrior, is still re-enacting the close of the previous age of Taurus (fourth-third millennia BC) by slaying the cosmic bull. All the Arien leaders are fighters: the ram-horned Moses, Ammon and Mars/Ares himself. Jesus Christ, on the other hand, immolates the age of war in the only way possible: by sacrificing himself as the Ram or Lamb of God. In doing so he ushers in the Age of Pisces (second-first millennia AD), the era which cherishes in its heart an ideal of devotion and love[xvi]
Although Christianity has tried to separate itself from its pagan beginnings, some customs have proved difficult to suppress. After nearly 2,000 years, we still use trees and wreaths, and give gifts during the “Dies Natilis Invictus Solis,” the birthday of the unconquered sun. And while many profess to worship the birth of Jesus on December 25th, it is not hard to compare the most popular Christmas icon, Santa Claus, flying around the world in one night on a magical flying sled bringing presents and good cheer, with Sol Invictus and his golden Chariot; or, with his lamp and white beard, as “father time” – a direct descendant of Saturn and Chronos.
Jesus has been so far removed from his roots that identifying him with a pagan sun cult may seem offensive even for non-Christians. For the early church however, it was all too easy to assign qualities of the sun myth to the Jesus story. In fact, at least one of the four gospels included in the Bible’s New Testament was purposely structured to emulate the sun myth.
Jesus through the Zodiac in Matthew
Making these connections between Christianity and astrological symbolism may be intriguing – but is it true? How can we prove that it isn’t all a big coincidence, or that Christianity didn’t just blindly copy symbols from their contemporaries without also importing the esoteric meaning? While Christianity could have borrowed the symbolism and immediately reinterpreted everything as relating to their personal, historical savior and founder, devoid of any astrological associations, it appears that some early Christians deliberately identified Jesus with the sun. Problematically, the gospels themselves, upon which the paradigm and conception of the familiar, personal, human figure of Jesus Christ is based, may have been originally constructed with deliberate astrological associations.
Of the four gospels in the New Testament, Matthew, Mark and Luke largely share the same stories and parables, but the order varies with each one. In Matthew’s version of events, the parables and imagery appear to be arranged to match the progression of the sun through the zodiac.The following exegetical exercise is in no way given as proof; this is only a theoretical interpretation. Nevertheless, it is pertinent and interesting. Moreover, given the (already established) likelihood that gospel writers were familiar with similar pagan cults, who were openly associated with solar worship, and given the extent of astrological influence that pervaded Greek and Roman spirituality, it should not be surprising if the gospel writers recognized and expanded upon these parallels.
In Matthew, the parables of Jesus’ life are grouped into themes that match either the symbol or the influence of the zodiac signs. The imagery changes with the seasons and completes exactly a one year cycle, from December to December. Either the actual zodiac animal or the traits of the zodiac sign are used to keep the order. In some cases only a hint of the weather gives us an indication of the time of year, as if the author were trying to leave subtle clues. Notice the chronological order of the verse numbers.
Aquarius, the Water Bearer – Matthew 3:13 (January). Although modern astrology begins with Aries, the first sign the sun encounters after his birth in Capricorn is Aquarius. This constellation is shown as a solitary figure with long hair, living in the wilderness of winter, pouring water from a vase. Jesus begins his ministry with his baptism at the hands of John, who is often portrayed standing in a river with long hair, pouring water out of a vase. John also lives alone in the wilderness, like Aquarius.
Pisces, the Fish – Matthew 4:18 (February). Jesus calls his first disciples. They are fisherman, mending nets and fishing boats. Jesus tells them they will now be fishers of men.
Aries, the Ram – Matthew 5-11 (March). Aries is ruled by Mars, the Roman god of aggression and war. Jesus asserts his growing power and gives his first sermon, the Sermon on the Mount. He pities the crowd of people, calling them sheep without a shepherd. Jesus cautions against pride and anger, (both traits of Aries) but also admits that he came not to bring peace, but the sword. Jesus also asks us to look at the birds of the sky and think of the flowers in the field, demonstrating that it is spring.
Taurus, the Bull – Matthew 11:28 (April). “Come to me, all you who labor and are overburdened, and I will give you rest. Shoulder my yoke and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble of heart, and will find rest for your souls. Yes, my yoke is easy and my burden light.” This curious metaphor is wedged into the story abruptly, and has no parallels in the other gospels, nor anywhere else in the Bible, although it is similar to bull-centered cults like that of Attis and Mithras. Its inclusion at just this point, rather than anywhere else, is necessary to preserve the zodiacal order.
Gemini, the Twins – Matthew 12:1 (May). This is a sign of restlessness, communication, and inconsistency. The Pharisees began to plot against Jesus, trying to trap him with loaded questions about Jewish law. Jesus says, “Everyone who is not with me is against me.” His disciples pick ears of corn from the stalks, showing it is early summer and the harvest has not yet begun.
Cancer, the Crab – Matthew 12:25 (June). Cancer is a water sign and represents domestic life. Jesus uses three parables here. The first is a reference to Jonah and the whale. The next two concern the home and family, both within the influence of Cancer.
Leo, the Lion – Matthew 13:1 (July). It is late summer now, and time for the harvest. Jesus speaks about “reaping the rewards of what you sow.” His parables are about the sower, the darnel, the mustard seed, and the yeast.
Virgo, the Virgin – Matthew 13:53 (August). Virgo is concerned with order, cleanliness and purity. Jesus quarrels with scribes over purity laws, saying, “What goes into the mouth does not make anyone unclean; it is what comes out of the mouth that makes someone unclean.” This section also begins a new chapter, called “First Fruits of the Kingdom.” The harvest is over and it’s time to prepare for winter. Two separate miracles of loaves are here. People are hungry and Jesus produces bread for them.
Libra, the Scales – Matthew 16:13 (September). Libra’s focus is on equality and justice. Jesus discusses heavenly rewards, rules and laws, judgment and financial matters. Topics include the danger of riches, the reward of renunciation, and the parable of the laborers in the vineyard. The themes of judgment and retribution come up frequently. This is also where Jesus casts the money changers, along with their fancy scales, out of the temple.
Scorpio, the Scorpion – Matthew 12:18 (October). This section begins with the story of a barren fig tree. Often used to demonstrate the power of faith, it is also another indication of the season. There is no fruit on the tree because it is fall. Scorpio is the sign of union and marriage, so it is not surprising we find the entire collection of wedding parables here. Jesus talks about the bride, the bridegroom and the Wedding Chamber. There is a feeling of urgency, as Jesus warns that the end is very near and we must be careful not to be locked out in the cold. He tells us that when he is gone, we need to help those who thirst, are hungry, sick or without clothes. Winter is coming.
Sagittarius, the Archer – Matthew 26:36 (November). Many sun gods, although crucified, were actually killed on the cross (or under a tree, like Krishna and Attis) by an arrow; symbolically combining the betrayer Sagittarius at the beginning of December with the cross of the celestial equator. Jesus is betrayed by one of the twelve disciples for thirty pieces of silver. When confronted by a group of armed men he asks, “Am I such a bandit that you had to set out to capture me with swords and clubs?” Jesus may not have been killed by the cross, but by the soldier who stuck a lance into his side. “Lance” (Greek belos or Latin telum) can refer to any sharp object such as a spear, sword tip, or arrow.
Capricorn, the Goat – Matthew 26:57 (December). Jesus is scourged, tried and crucified at “Calvary” (from the Latin Calvaria; original Golgotha) which means “place of the skull.” The sun has reached its farthest, weakest point. There is an emphasis on darkness. “From the sixth hour there was darkness all over the land until the ninth hour,” showing that it is December 21st, the darkest day of the year. Jesus is buried in a tomb, which is found empty three days later. He has been resurrected, and will come again in power.
Even if we ignore the astrological associations and only look at the seasonal clues, it is clear that the ministry of Jesus in this gospel lasted for one year and ended in December. But why, if Matthew shows his death in winter, do Christians celebrate Easter during the spring? Actually, many early Christians were also confused by this issue; enough of them, in fact, to make church fathers commit the heresy to ink and lasting memory:
They endeavor, for instance, to demonstrate that passion which, they say, happened in the case of the twelfth Aeon, from this fact, that the passion of the Savior was brought about by the twelfth apostle, and happened in the twelfth month. For they hold that He preached only for one year after His baptism. (Ireneaus, Against the Heresies, II, 20)[xvii]
According to the Pseudo-Clementine Writings Jesus had 12 disciples because the sun has 12 months; while John had 30 chief men symbolizing the days of a lunar month.
There was one John, a day-baptist, who was also, according to the method of combination, the forerunner of our Lord Jesus; and as the Lord had twelve apostles, bearing the number of the twelve months of the sun, so also he, John, had thirty chief men, fulfilling the monthly reckoning of the moon, in which number was a certain woman called Helena that not even this might be without a dispensational significance. (Clementine Homilies, 2.23)[xviii]
Although people soon began to see Jesus as a human figure, the sun symbolism nevertheless has influenced Christian art since its inception. In dozens of cathedrals across Europe and Africa, the center dome is decorated with a giant zodiac wheel, with Jesus in the center radiating light and his twelve apostles surrounding him in even sections. Even the “twelve stations of the cross,” which Christians believe represent twelve specific events during the Passion of Jesus, may be a residual influence of the beliefs of early Christian communities who saw Jesus as the sun of God passing through the twelve signs of the zodiac.
The similarities between Jesus and other religions and philosophies of the Greeks and Romans are much more difficult to ignore now that we’ve discovered that, rather than accidental coincidences, they are intentional astrological symbols. Further, there were at least some Christians who understood the symbols and viewed Jesus Christ in astrological terms. Do the basics of the gospel story come from the same source as the other sun-saviors? It would certainly help to explain a passage in the gospel of Luke that identifies Jesus’ herald, John the Baptist, as the prophet of the rising sun:
And you, little child, you shall be called Prophet of the Most High, for you will go before the Lord to prepare a way for him, to give his people knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins, because of the faithful love of our God in which the rising Sun has come from on high to visit us, to give light to those who live in darkness and shadow dark as death, and to guide our feet into the way of peace. (Luke 1:76)
If constellations and the movements of the sun are the foundation for the biographical framework of the sun myth, how can we explain the similarities between the gospel stories and myths about the other sun-saviors? Can we expand the idea of “diabolical mimicry” put forth by the church fathers, and claim that Satan put the sun and the planets in orbit in just such a way as to cast suspicion on the later ministry of Jesus Christ? Is Satan then, the real creator of the universe?
Conclusions and Summary
Although most people consider sun-worship to be a superstitious and primitive practice, the truth is that we still worship the sun. Sitting your kids down in front of Peter Pan, Narnia or the Lion King is no different from attending a re-enactment of the adventures of Horus or Hercules 2,000 years ago. Harry Potter defeats his enemies with magic spells, and Jesus Christ overcomes his foes with miracles, but the symbolism from both stories comes from an ancient sun myth. Most of the world now takes “Sun Day” off as a day of rest, although the Jewish Sabbath was Saturday. (The practice of closing business on Sunday was enacted by Constantine in 321 AD and forms the basis of subsequent Christian legislation in this area.)
Even if the similarities between Jesus and pagan gods were accidental, how can we reconcile the evidence that many early Christians themselves worshiped Jesus as the sun? As we’ve seen, besides the many passages found in the Bible, there is also non-biblical evidence that Jesus was originally considered a sun myth by his followers.
If these events in the life of Jesus were taken from solar mythology, was the sun used as a metaphor to enhance Jesus’ saving role? Or, conversely, was Jesus the metaphor – establishing a new current of sun-worship among the traditionally exclusivist Jews?
Some modern Christian communities, familiar with Christianity’s inclusion of pagan symbolism, simply cut those features out of their worship. December 25th was not Jesus real birthday, they counter, but that doesn’t change his role as spiritual guide and savior. If we let go of the biographical details of the historical Jesus that are similar to solar worship, can we maintain, at the very least, the spiritual image of Jesus? Jesus as the first born, pre-existing son of god; Jesus as the forgiver of sins, as our spiritual comfort and companion; Jesus as the Word of God – the creator and sustainer of the universe? To answer this question, we need to dig deeper into the roots of Christianity’s spiritual claims and those of external religious traditions so we can see just how tightly they are wound together.
[i]Clinton E. Arnold, Ephesians: Power and Magic(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1989), 28.
[ii]Pam Eastlick, “Argo Navis,”
[iii] Quoted in Jan Assmann, Moses the Egyptian, 84.
[iv]Jan Assmann, Moses the Egyptian, 64-65.
[v] Edward Carpenter, Pagan & Christian Creeds : Their Origin and Meaning (New York: Harcourt, Brace and Howe, 1920; NuVision Publications, digital rpt. 2007), 20.
[vi]Hans Andréa, http://www.harrypotterforseekers.com/.
[vii] John J. Miller, “Have Yourself a Merry Little Aslanmas?”,
[viii]As cited in R.E. Witt, Isis in the Ancient World, 220.
[ix] Malik H. Jabbar, The Astrological Foundation of the Christ Myth (Dayton, OH: Rare Books Distributor, 1995), 37.
[x] David Ulansey, The Mithraic Mysteries, http://www.well.com/~davidu/sciam.html
[xi] David Ulansey, The Mithraic Mysteries, http://www.well.com/~davidu/sciam.html
[xii]Walter Burkert, Ancient Mystery Cults, 84.
[xiii]Ken Dowden, Religion and the Romans, 78.
[xiv]Cited by Jan Assmann, Moses the Egyptian, 202.
[xv] Cited in Mircea Eliade, The Sacred and the Profane: The Nature of Religion(Orlando: Harcourt, 1987), 75.
[xvi] Joscelyn Godwin,Mystery Religions, 99.
[xvii] Available at http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0103220.htm.
[xviii]Available at http://www.compassionatespirit.com/Homilies/Book-2.htm.
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The Image of Early Medieval Barbaroi in Contemporary Written Sources and Modern Scholarship: the Balkan Perspective
The barbarians of the Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages were of scholarly interest from the 19th c. onwards. Though there are numerous publications on various aspects of the barbarians, most of it focuses on the role they had in the collapse of the Western and the trails of the Eastern Roman Empire. During the last two decades, an enormous scholarly contribution is given into dampening the negative representation of the Early Medieval barbarians as primitive, belligerent people who were inferior to the Romans and Byzantines in any regard. This article gives a review on the accounts of the contemporary authors held as authorities on the history of the barbarian tribes, which combined with the survey of the material evidence, retrieved with archaeological excavations, offers another perspective of the barbarians and the Romaioi as equal participants in the events that shaped their world, instead of the image of superior, civilized people of a great Empire and the savage tribes of inferior culture who threatened the same Empire.
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All About Brain Health
A plan apparatus that measures ‘mind touches’ can help identify individuals who’ve mind illnesses like a vegetative state to work through the most effective treatment also to guide family therapy. Several moments afterwards, wheeling his cart-used apparatus a way, he’s got plenty of info to tell how aware you are really. What Chennu is searching for with his electro-encephalogram (EEG) is the mind electric ‘touch’.
At anyone instant within the body’s most complicated wood, systems of nerves are heating up and making ‘brainwaves’ ofelectrical activitythat may be found via the entire scalp web. That isn’t new technologies the first creature EEG was released a hundred years past, but computational neuro-scientist Chennu has made a method of compounding its output signal with a department of maths named graph theory to quantify the amount of a man’s mind. What is more, he is building the engineering as a bed side apparatus for physicians to identify patients suffering from mind illnesses (like a vegetative state brought on by trauma or stroke) to work through the most effective strategy also to guide family therapy. Which center for brainhealth does this?
“Being aware not just means being alert, but additionally having the ability to see and expertise,” he clarifies. “Understanding how mind arises from nerve connections is an elusive and interesting issue. However, for individuals identified as vegetative and minimally conscious, as well as their loved ones, this can be much more than an educational issue it assumes an incredibly real value. “The individual may be conscious, however, to what degree are they conscious? May they notice, see, sense? And when they can be conscious, does their degree of consciousness associate with their longterm prospects?” Chennu factors to graphs revealing the mind trademark of two vegetative individuals.
On a single graph, just a couple of traces appear over the head. In another, the outlines are numerous they resemble, as Chennu identifies, a multicoloured mohican, virtually indistinguishable in the trademark one could notice from a healthier individual. Did both of the individuals wake up? “It’s true, the next individual did, annually next hint was required. The study is founded on the finding that the individual in a vegetative state could answer yes or no-questions, as quantified by distinctive patterns of brain process using functional magnetic resonance imaging. In 2011, the team discovered the same focus to orders may be quantified utilizing EEG a more affordable and mo-Re widely accessible technologies.
Three years after, Chennu and Dr Tristan Bekinschtein in the CBSU, now in the Division of Psychology, revealed that their statistical evaluation of the EEG end products was enough to assess the surrounding quantity of connection in an individual mind. Chennu expects the device may load a technology gap: “Identification of accurate ranges of awareness in vegetative patients proceeds to be around 40% and is determined by behavioral evaluation. Partly this is since there isn’t any gold-standard for the evaluation of an individual knowledge in the bed-side.” With funds in the Evelyn Trust, he can evaluate and follow the therapy and rehab velocity of fifty individuals over a three-yr span.
This is initially a research h-AS connected identification, therapy and result to the routine realtime evaluation of the action of an individual mind. “Medical advances suggest that we’re distinguishing sub-types of brain damage and shifting apart from ‘one size-fits all’ to more-focused therapy unique for a person’s demands,” includes Chennu, who’s additionally financed by the David S. McDonnell Basis and operates as part of a-team headed by Teachers David Pickard and Donald Menon. Intriguingly these devices may give you a route of communication, as Chennu theorizes: “The query that fascinates us is which kind of mind do individuals have?
Maybe we can produce methods to convert nerve action into instructions for straightforward communication interfaces which could give a basic but reliable communication route in the ‘in-between area’ where some individuals exist. “Also, we believe the measure of mind systems may provide scientifically useful info that may aid with therapeutics to get a more substantial bulk of individuals, whether they have been in a position to show concealed mind.”
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<urn:uuid:a6fe8ca0-6d50-4ac9-b4cf-51ca7706eeeb>
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CC-MAIN-2016-26
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http://www.kbi-inc.com/
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| 0.942322 | 923 | 2.75 | 3 |
'Let us make man in our own image...' Lessons for the computer industry
A recent discussion on this quote from Genesis made me ask if the computer industry could learn from the experience.
My initial thought was we now say, or at least imply, 'Let us make this computer system in our own image...'. If we had a computer that was in some way self aware and was told that it was made in our image what would it be able to deduce about us?
Would the conclusion be that we must have silicon chips and a spinning disk etc? Obviously that would be wrong but it gives us an interesting insight on what we can know about God. That is a theology discussion which I leave for the reader to explore. You may also want to explore the use of 'our' in the quote.
Even if you do not believe in God the analogy is an interesting one to discuss the man-computer interdependency. What did God mean and why did an apparently perfect being make what must be considered an imperfect image? Can we learn something from God's experience of making us in their image and use it to develop systems?
- Made man with a different technology
- The technology was imperfect in that it wore out and was limited in capacity and function
- To compensate extra functions were developed such as reproduction and multiple copies
- The image was only of partial representation as it is not all seeing or remembering
It has to be said that we appear to be doing the same thing. With the era of autonomic computing and straight through processing the implications are serious.
How do we ensure that these systems that run themselves without human intervention actually do what we intend? How do we recognise when they are not and how much damage could they do before they are stopped?
At first I thought that Asimov and his rules of robotics would help resolve this situation. However on re-reading them I felt they had at least two flaws. Firstly they are written for robots, robots tend to be human size and mobile, there main ability to harm humans is physical whereas the main ability of computer networks to harm people is monetary or informational.
The second problem is the ability of a computer system to have sufficient self-awareness and contextual awareness to be able to answer the questions: What impact will my action have on a human and is this impact deleterious? Also how does a computer make a moral judgement when the impact is good for one human and bad for another - think of computer fraud.
This is intended to be the first in a series of articles that use the God-human analogy to explore the man-computer paradigm.
My initial lesson from this is that in complex systems mistakes and unintended consequences will occur. This is the price we pay for the power of the system. Reporting and control points must be an intrinsic part of the design to ensure that we can recognise if the system is seriously deviating from our intentions.
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| 0.953246 | 860 | 2.609375 | 3 |
'Holy rivers' has rather become a myth today. According to a report of the National Environment Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) all the fourteen big rivers of India are badly polluted. They cover 85 per cent of the surface flow of water in the country.
The main pollutant of river water is industrial waste. River Jamuna in Delhi receives 6000 kg of dissolved solids, 3000 kg of heavy metals and 200 kg of detergent every day. In its 48 km stretch around Delhi Yamuna gets polluted through 17 drains that bring toxics, acids and a number of chemicals that affect the health of the river and consequently of all those who depend on it for drinking and bathing water.
The Ganga starts getting polluted by chemicals from Rishikesh itself. It receives effluents from the Indian Drug and Pharmaceuticals Ltd. (IDPL) and Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd. (BHEL). The flow of toxic effluents including chemicals, metallurgic deposits and fertilizers to river Periyar in Kerala is so great that the people living on its banks have a high incidence of skin diseases.
Cauvery and Kapila in Karnataka are so polluted that in a stretch of 10 km of the banks of Cauvery people suffer badly from skin diseases, boils and burning sensation. Cauvery receives industrial wastes from Tamil Nadu. The story of Godavari is no different. It receives 4,500 gallons of toxic waste everyday from Andhra Paper Mills alone. Plankton on which fish live has been dying in large numbers in the river. Similarly Hooghly and Damodar, receive untreated waste from coal washeries, pulp and paper mills, steel mills and chemical industries in Bengal.
Hooghly receives industrial wastes of 150 big factories including jute mills, textile mills, paper and pulp factories, distilleries and tanneries. Even the fish have been greatly contaminated causing bone diseases and arthritis among those who eat fish in the area. The waste of fertilizer plant and Indian Oil Corporation flowing into Mahi Sagar in Gujarat has killed fish, cattle and even elephants.
Human and animal excreta flow to all the rivers in India. As it is untreated it is responsible for almost all water borne diseases. Untreated sewage flows into the Jamuna in Delhi through 17 open drains. Chambal a Tributary of the Jamuna is the most polluted river in Rajasthan. The people between Rajpura and Nagda suffer from acute skin diseases because of water pollution.
Efforts have been made to remove the pollution of the Ganga through the efforts of Central Ganga Authority (CGA). No serious efforts have been made anywhere else. Three things are essential to let the rivers flow as pure as they were in the past.
All industries in the cities on the banks of rivers should, under strict vigilance, treat their effluents before the water flows to the river. Municipalities and Corporations should have treating centers for their drain water. These will provide energy besides supplying pure water to the rivers.
No government efforts can make the rivers unpolluted if the common man has no consciousness how to keep the rivers too unpolluted as he keeps his house neat and clean. Non Government Organizations (NGO) can play an important role in educating the people both in cities and the rural areas.
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en
| 0.956721 | 687 | 3.015625 | 3 |
Learn something new every day
More Info... by email
The state motto of Missouri is “Salus Populi Suprema Lex Esto.” This Latin phrase translates to “the welfare of the people shall be the supreme law.” Another translation variation is “Let the good of the people be the supreme law.” Missouri's state motto originated from Roman lawyer and philosopher Marcus Cicero's work, De Legibus, or On Laws in English.
The state motto of Missouri was officially adopted in 1822. It is featured on the Great Seal of the State of Missouri, which was adopted on 11 January of that year, by the Missouri General Assembly. Composed of many symbolisms, the seal was designed by Judge Robert William Wells. It has a circular shape with “The Great Seal Of The State Of Missouri” written at the edges of the first circle.
Within the second circle, there are 23 small stars and one large star, symbolizing Missouri’s status as the 24th state in the United States. Two large grizzly bears stand at the outer edges of the inner circle, symbolizing the bravery of the citizens of Missouri and the strength of the state. The two grizzlies are perched on a scroll bearing an inscription of Missouri's state motto.
Other interesting facts about the state seal include the image of the shield between the two bears, which is divided in two. The left side displays the inscription “United We Stand,” while the right side displays the inscription “Divided We Fall.” Underneath the scroll with the words adopted as the state motto of Missouri, is the Roman numeral “MDCCCXX” representing the year 1820, which was when Missouri officially started functioning as a state.
The flag also bears a depiction of the seal with the state motto of Missouri. It has three horizontal stripes, which are blue, white and red. Apart from the official state motto, Missouri has unofficial nicknames as well. For instance, it is also known as “The Show Me State,” "The Bullion State” and the “Mother Of The West.”
Missouri has several other official state symbols. The official state animal is the Missouri mule, while the official state bird is the bluebird. Missouri’s official state aquatic animal is the paddlefish, and the official state fish is the channel catfish. The state tree is the flowering dogwood, while the state nut tree is the eastern black walnut tree.
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| 0.962999 | 522 | 2.859375 | 3 |
RI Needs Your Help Counting Wild Turkeys
Back in the 80’s the state started a project to boost a declining wild turkey population by establishing new flocks across the state – from Exeter to Foster, Scituate to Tiverton.
But the turkey population has declined in the past few years. So the DEM counts female turkeys and young turkeys to get a sense of population growth. And this is where the public comes in. The DEM is asking residents to report sightings of turkey hens and young turkeys.
The wild turkey population is estimated at about 3,500, a number that’s grown in the past two years.
Report A Wild Turkey
The DEM is asking the public to record the date, location and total number of female and young turkeys seen. Then send that information to brian.tefft (at) dem.ri.gov.
Do you have insight or expertise on this topic? Please email us, we'd like to hear from you. firstname.lastname@example.org
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<urn:uuid:f52bb36d-2e3e-4519-b59b-764d293fa212>
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CC-MAIN-2016-26
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http://ripr.org/post/ri-needs-your-help-counting-wild-turkeys
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en
| 0.931924 | 214 | 2.765625 | 3 |
Vital information about safe infant feeding in emergency situation.
- Breastfeeding and Emergencies from the United States Breastfeeding Committee
- Disaster Preparedness: Breastfeeding matters during an emergency from Breastfeeding USA
- Breastfeeding During Emergencies from NativeMothering.com
- Breastfeeding in Emergency Situations [PDF]. Wellstart International. 2005.
- Breastfeeding in Emergencies from the International Lactation Consultant Association
- Facts about Breastfeeding in an Emergency – Especially for Relief Workers from the International Lactation Consultant Association
- Infant Feeding in Emergencies from the International Baby Food Action Network (IBFAN)
- Infant Feeding in Disasters from the Texas Dept. of State Health Services
- Emergency Breastfeeding Resources from La Leche League International
- Hurricanes, Tornadoes and Stormsfrom the American Academy of Pediatrics
- An Open Letter to Health Care Providers Attending to Families Affected by Hurricane Katrina: The Role of Human Milk and Breastfeeding [PDF] from the American Academy of Pediatric
- Hand express your milk
- Increase milk supply
- Relactate (start breastfeeding again when you’ve stopped or nearly stopped)
- Cup feed (if breastfeeding is not an option or mom/baby are separated, cups are easiest to clean when resources are scare)
World Health Organization:
- Infant Feeding in Emergencies: A Guide for Mothers (EU/ICP/LVNG 01 02 08). From: Programme for Nutrition Policy, Infant Feeding and Food Security. Geneva: World Health Organization, 1997.
Emergency Nutrition Network:
- Operational Guidance on Infant and Young Child Feeding in Emergencies, v2.1, from the IFE Core Group, Emergency Nutrition Network.
- Infant feeding in emergencies (includes training modules for emergency response and health care workers)
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CC-MAIN-2016-26
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http://kellymom.com/bf/concerns/bf-emergencies/
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en
| 0.790673 | 386 | 2.78125 | 3 |
Malaria experts are changing their advice after a study showed a drug can save more lives than current therapy.
Mosquitoes carry the malaria parasite
The World Health Organization said it will recommend artesunate, a drug derived from traditional Chinese medicine, for severe malaria.
The move follows a Lancet study that showed using this drug in adults living in areas of low malaria transmission cut deaths by over a third.
Previously, doctors often used quinine based drugs to treat severe malaria.
The trial, funded by the Wellcome Trust and conducted in Bangladesh, Burma, India and Indonesia, compared the effectiveness of quinine and artesunate.
The death rate was much lower among the adults who received artesunate compared to those who received quinine - 15% compared with 22%, respectively.
Lead researcher Professor Nick White, who is chairman of the Wellcome Trust South East Asian Tropical Medicine Research Programmes and an expert adviser to WHO, said: "The difference in mortality is huge. For between every 11 and 20 patients who come into hospital you save one life.
"Until this, there has never been any trial in severe malaria which showed a clear difference in mortality between the two treatments."
He said artesunate should now be the first treatment of choice rather than one of the treatments of choice for severe malaria.
Professor White said a trial was currently being conducted to see if the same is true in children with severe malaria.
He said artesunate was also easier to use and slightly cheaper than quinine.
Dr Peter Olumese from WHO and Roll Back Malaria said: "For the first time they have shown a mortality advantage of artesunate over quinine.
"Now we can make recommendations that in areas of low disease transmission, artesunate would be a preferred option over quinine for adults with severe malaria."
He said new guidelines advising doctors of this would be published soon.
Dr Olumese and Professor White said the issue now was to make sure that the drug was available to those who need it.
Professor White said artesunate was not yet approved by regulatory authorities in many countries, which was a problem.
Dr Olumese added: "Unless something is done to increase production, supply might become an issue."
There are some 300-500 million cases of malaria each year, with one million resulting in death.
About 80% of the deaths occur in areas of high transmission and the remaining 20% in areas of low transmission, said Dr Olumese.
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CC-MAIN-2016-26
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4197576.stm
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en
| 0.966792 | 526 | 2.75 | 3 |
Peoples Rights Org. v. City of Columbus
In Peoples Rights Org. v. City of Columbus, 152 F.3d 522 (6th Cir. 1998), the Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit considered a challenge to an Ohio gun control ordinance and rejected claims based on the Second Amendment, but did invalidate portions of the ordinance based on vagueness and irrationality grounds. The focus of the challenge was an assert right to own so-called "assault weapons."
The 2-1 panel held that:
- This circuit has explained that "the Second Amendment guarantees a collective rather than an individual right." United States v. Warin, 530 F.2d 103, 106 (6th Cir. 1976); see United States v. Miller, 307 U.S. 174, 178, 83 L. Ed. 1206, 59 S. Ct. 816 (1939) (the Second Amendment guarantees no right to keep and bear a firearm that does not have "some reasonable relationship to the preservation or efficiency of a well regulated militia"). In any event, we note that the Second Amendment could not apply to this case. The Supreme Court has held that the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment does not incorporate the Second Amendment; hence, the restrictions of the Second Amendment operate only upon the Federal Government. Presser v. Illinois, 116 U.S. 252, 264-65, 29 L. Ed. 615, 6 S. Ct. 580 (1886); United States v. Cruikshank, 92 U.S. 542, 553, 23 L. Ed. 588 (1876).
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<urn:uuid:7459cb91-cbe7-42c1-a8a2-b723e7a007d0>
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CC-MAIN-2016-26
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http://www.conservapedia.com/Peoples_Rights_Org._v._City_of_Columbus
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en
| 0.924892 | 338 | 2.515625 | 3 |
June 18, 2015
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has issued final guidance to help food manufacturers provide adequate data to support exemptions from the labeling requirements for ingredients derived from major food allergens.
The Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act of 2004 (FALCPA) requires that food labels identify products containing major food allergens (milk, eggs, fish, Crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, wheat, peanuts, and soybeans).
But food manufacturers may be able to modify an ingredient derived from a major food allergen so that it no longer presents a risk to food-allergic consumers. These modifications may provide consumers who have a specific allergy with more foods to choose from, without fear of inducing an allergic reaction.
Under FALCPA, manufacturers who want to obtain an exemption from the labeling requirement for a specific ingredient must submit:
- a petition that provides scientific information demonstrating that an ingredient derived from a major food allergen “does not cause an allergic response that poses a risk to human health”
- a notification providing scientific information demonstrating that the ingredient “does not contain allergenic protein” (or providing information that that there has been a previous determination through a premarket approval process under section 409 of the FD&C Act that the ingredient does not cause an allergic response that poses a risk to human health)
The guidance describes the types of comprehensive submissions that will help the FDA evaluate whether the ingredients meet the exemption standards in FALCPA. Manufacturers that are able to demonstrate to the FDA that an ingredient qualifies for a labeling exemption do not need to place an allergen declaration on the food label for that ingredient.
For more information:
- Federal Register Notice
- Guidance for Industry: Food Allergen Labeling Exemption Petitions and Notifications
- Food Allergens Guidance Documents & Regulatory Information
- More on Food Allergens
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<urn:uuid:015f1043-63a5-4ebb-8f78-d7e6a8beb697>
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CC-MAIN-2016-26
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http://www.fda.gov/Food/NewsEvents/ConstituentUpdates/ucm446273.htm
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en
| 0.882074 | 399 | 2.609375 | 3 |
The son of a country doctor, Hemingway worked as a reporter for the Kansas City Star after graduating from high school in 1917. During World War I he served as an ambulance driver in France and in the Italian infantry and was wounded just before his 19th birthday. Later, while working in Paris as a correspondent for the Toronto Star, he became involved with the expatriate literary and artistic circle surrounding Gertrude Stein. During the Spanish Civil War, Hemingway served as a correspondent on the loyalist side. He fought in World War II and then settled in Cuba in 1945. In 1954, Hemingway was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. After his expulsion from Cuba by the Castro regime, he moved to Idaho. He was increasingly plagued by ill health and mental problems, and in July, 1961, he committed suicide by shooting himself.
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2012, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
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http://www.factmonster.com/encyclopedia/people/hemingway-ernest-life.html
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en
| 0.982514 | 195 | 2.9375 | 3 |
Possibilities include rabbits, squirrels, deer, and woodchucks. Dogs sometimes eat the flowers, but generally leave the stems alone. Tortoises may also cause damage but probably aren't big enough to reach the top blooms.To try to help the plant recover, keep it watered and in the sunshine. Use a water-soluble fertilizer once a week.
To help prevent further attacks, consider spraying the plant with an animal repellent. (Ask at a garden center for recommendations.) You'll need to respray each time it rains.
You may also want to watch and see if you can figure out which furry critter did the damage. For many, just moving the plant up on a stand or shelf may be all that's needed.
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<urn:uuid:1564a069-b81d-4bb2-88e7-2953cd8035f3>
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CC-MAIN-2016-26
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http://www.csmonitor.com/The-Culture/Gardening/2008/0609/what-ate-my-hibiscus
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en
| 0.956893 | 157 | 2.671875 | 3 |
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