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by Oliver Milman (TheGuardian) The largest migration on Earth is very rarely seen by human eyes, yet it happens every day. Billions of marine creatures ascend from as far as 2km below the surface of the water to the upper reaches of the ocean at night, only to then float back down once the sun rises. This huge movement of organisms – ranging from tiny cockatoo squids to microscopic crustaceans, shifting for food or favourable temperatures – was little known to science until relatively recently. In fact, almost all of the deep ocean, which represents 95% of the living space on the planet, remains inscrutable, despite the key role it plays in supporting life on Earth, such as regulating the air we breathe. Scientists are only now starting to overturn this ignorance, at a time when this unknown world is being subjected to rising temperatures, ocean acidification and the strewn waste expelled by humans. “The deeper we go, the less we know,” said Nick Schizas, a marine biologist at the University of Puerto Rico. “The majority of habitat of Earth is the deeper areas of the ocean. Yet we know so little about it.” Schizas is part of a new research mission that will, for the first time, provide a comprehensive health check of the deep oceans that future changes will be measured against. The consortium of scientists and divers, led by Nekton, is backed by XL Catlin, which has already funded a global analysis of shallow water coral reefs. The new mission is looking far deeper – onwards of 150m down, further than most research that is restricted by the limits of scuba divers. We already know of some of the creatures of the deep – such as the translucent northern comb jelly, the faintly horrifying fangtooth and the widely derided blobfish – where the pressure is up to 120 times greater than the surface. The deep sea was further illuminated during the film director James Cameron’s cramped solo “vertical torpedo” dive to the 11km deep Mariana trench in 2012. Yet only an estimated 0.0001% of the deep ocean has been explored. The Nekton researchers are discovering a whole web of life that could be unknown to science as they attempt to broaden this knowledge. The Guardian joined the mission vessel Baseline Explorer in its survey off the coast of Bermuda, where various corals, sponges and sea slugs have been hauled up from the deep. “Every time we look in the deep sea, we find a lot of new species,” said Alex Rogers, an Oxford University biologist who has previously found a new species of lobster in the deep Indian Ocean and huge hydrothermal vents off Antarctica. Courtesy of Guardian News & Media Ltd
Name Institution Course Date Erasmus and Christian Humanism Humanism is a philosophical belief that the human race can survive without paying attention to existing superstitious or religious beliefs whose approach is based on reason and humanity. Experience and human nature are mainly recognised by humanist as the only founding principles of moral values… Download file to see previous pages... It is a logical philosophy which is based on human beings belief with regard to dignity, derive information from scientific principles and gain the relevant motivation from human compassion and hope (Fowler 139). Most humanist have a common belief which is based on individual freedoms and rights but also believed that social cooperation, mutual respect and individual responsibility are equally important. In addition, they believe that the problems bedevilling society can only be solved by the people themselves which can improve the overall quality of life for everyone. In this way, the humanist maintains the positivity from the inspiration they acquire in their daily activities, natural world, culture and various forms of art. They are also believed that every individual has only one life to live and it is his/her personal responsibility to shape it in the right way and enjoy it fully. Humanists encourage positive relationships, human dignity and moral excellence while enhancing cooperation and compassion within the community. They also see the natural world as the only place where they show love and work thus setting good examples to the rest. They accept total responsibility in their course of their daily action as they struggle to survive as they enjoy the diversity around. Humanism strives to move away from religious or secular institution through a philosophy that shuns the existing traditional dogmatic authority. Characteristics of humanism include democratic, creative use science, ethical, insist that Social responsibility and liberty go hand in hand and cultivate creative and ethical living Humanist commitment is enshrined in responsible behaviours and rational thoughts which facilitate quality life in the society. They also believe that human beings and nature are inseparable though the latter is indifferent to the human existence. They also believed that living is the most significant part of life that overshadow dying and heavily contribute to overall life purpose and meaning.On moral values, they believe that they are not products of divine revelation or a property of religious tradition and therefore must be developed by human beings through natural reasoning (Fowler 183). Understanding of the nature should thus be the guiding principle in determination/reflection of the wrong as well as right behaviours. Furthermore, they possess the faith that human being has the capacity to differentiate and choose between bad and evil without any the existence of potential incentive of reward. Humanism is based on rational philosophy which is get inspirations from art, information from science and motivation from compassion. It tries to support the affirmation of human dignity while maximising opportunity consonant and individual liberty which is tied down to planetary and social responsibility. It heavily advocate for fro extensive societal democracy and society expansion as well as social justice and human rights. Humanism is devoid of supernaturalism since it recognise human as part of nature while laying emphasis on ethical, religious, political and social values. Therefore, humanism tends to derive its life goals from human interest and needs rather than deriving them from ideological and theological abstractions and further asserts that the human destiny lie on their responsibility (Fowler 219). Humanism provides a way of living and thinking that tries ...Download file to see next pagesRead More Cite this document (“Desiderius Erasmus Essay Example \| Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words”, n.d.) Retrieved from https://studentshare.org/history/1496562-desiderius-erasmus (Desiderius Erasmus Essay Example \| Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 Words) “Desiderius Erasmus Essay Example \| Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 Words”, n.d. https://studentshare.org/history/1496562-desiderius-erasmus. Renaissance Comparison Essay Name Surname College Name Professor’s Name Course Name Renaissance Comparison Essay The Italian Renaissance in Fact was the initial phase of the Renaissance as a whole period of great cultural achievement and changes in Europe that took place within a period of time between the 13th and the beginning of 17th centuries, marking Europe’s transition between Medieval and Modern Ages. During this time, the Dutch scholars defined the stage of Italy as both deteriorating and fruit giving. The deterioration of art and architecture of Italy was on high scale, on the other hand, the society of Italy started to get influenced by education, trade and well established infrastructure. Below is a list of influential figures or philosophers who have had a great impact on the evolution of the American education. Discussion Socrates is a well-known Greek philosopher. His work had a great influenced in the western society especially in the evolution of the American education. It is a period that started roughly around between the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries; it pertains to the period when the Industrial Revolution started in England, and produced many new things which people associate with modernity, which is a rapid process in the development of progress. He was despised by both sides for his preference for compromise over conflict. But his positions and views were based on pragmatism and not cowardice. The proper way, for Erasmus, was to never resort to fanaticism even if one is right. He understood well the nature of evil and he too hoped to see truth replace error and right triumph over wrong. It often maintained by several thinkers that the Reformation, a landmark episode which resulted in great renovation of Catholic ideology, was an immediate offshoot of the Renaissance. The renewed interest in classical learning and thinking influenced all spheres of the Western life and it ended the dominance of the church over the area of thought and philosophy. Acting as a serious concern to everybody, old age comes out as the major point, which Folly promises she can reverse the effects. Through the concomitant element that she mentions, such as foolishness and forgetfulness, youthfulness can be prolonged while keeping
Age Related Hearing Loss Age-related hearing loss affects up to half of people over the age of 65. The onset of hearing loss for some can occur before the age of 65, which can affect the ability to work, leading to higher rates of unemployment. With our society’s aging demographics, age-related hearing loss is set to become an increasing problem that can cause social isolation, depression and perhaps even an acceleration of dementia. Furthermore, with so many people now listening to personal listening devices for extended periods at high volume, the problem is likely to increase, with earlier onset becoming more common. Consequently, the impact of hearing loss amongst those still in work is increasing and is beginning to be studied more widely. The key complaint for those suffering from age-related hearing loss is difficulty understanding speech, in particular in noisy environments, or where several people are talking at the same time, such as at social gatherings. Understanding speech requires not only that the speech is heard, but also importantly that the different components of speech can be distinguished (for example, the difference between a “b” and “p” sound). These components can be very fast and rely on optimal function of auditory processing mechanisms in the brain as well as on reception by hair cells in the cochlea. With aging, hair cells are lost and the signal reaching the brain reduces. Combined with this, a deterioration of central auditory processing and the decline of cognitive capacity can add to the problem. Evidence that age-related hearing loss is due as much to problems in the brain as to loss of hair cells in the cochlea comes from the finding that some people who have near perfect audiograms may still struggle to understand speech in environments where there is a lot of background noise. There are no current treatment options. Hearing aids or cochlear implants can help some sufferers, although often interpreting speech remains a challenge. A cochlear implant is a surgically implanted electronic device that provides a sense of sound to a person who has profound hearing loss. A cochlear implant does not cure deafness or hearing impairment, but is a prosthetic substitute which directly stimulates the auditory nerve. Cochlear implants bypass the normal hearing process; they have a microphone and some external electronics, generally behind the ear, which transmit a signal to an array of electrodes placed within the cochlea, which stimulates the auditory nerve. As of December 2012, approximately 324,000 people worldwide had cochlear implants surgically implanted, with roughly 58,000 adults and 38,000 children in the US. There are over 12,000 in the UK. How Hearing Works Sound is translated into neural signals by sensory hair cells in the cochlea. These hair cells turn the acoustic vibrations into electrical impulses that travel along the auditory nerve to the brain. The neural signals from each ear are then processed and integrated within the auditory brain stem to extract information about the direction of the sound source and its loudness. Centres in the mid-brain then filter the sound signals to focus on the important sounds; the selected signals are then received by the auditory cortex where they are interpreted, for example, to extract meaning from speech. Treating disorders of central auditory function through Kv3 ion channel modulation “Extracting the detailed features of sounds from auditory input via the cochlear requires neural circuits in the auditory brainstem that can encode sub-millisecond timing differences with high fidelity. Auditory brainstem and midbrain neurons meet these demands by expressing unique synaptic architecture, precisely tuned inhibitory circuits and a variety of biophysical specializations such as the expression of voltage-gated potassium (Kv) channels with rapid activation kinetics. Aging, ototoxic drugs, and environmental noise exposure can damage these specialised neural circuits, thereby reducing the bandwidth of information that can be transmitted from the ear to the brain. The neural circuits can compensate by decreasing local inhibition and increasing central gain. This compensatory plasticity restores higher auditory coding and perceptual awareness of basic acoustic features, but offers comparatively little benefit for the fine-grained temporal analysis, and may also lead to phenomena such as tinnitus.” “The amount and type of Kv channels expressed in the cell membrane are major determinants of its intrinsic electrical excitability. Kv channels control the resting membrane potential as well as the shape, number, rate and timing of action potentials initiated in response to a stimulus. Kv3.1, a member of the Shaw class of Kv channels, is a high-threshold delayed rectifier channel that is widely expressed in fast spiking neurons throughout the auditory brainstem. Kv3.1 rapidly repolarizes the membrane potential during an action potential, effectively shortening the refractory period and thus enabling neurons to sustain high firing rates in response to high-frequency synaptic inputs. Kv3.1 current is regulated by auditory afferent input in auditory brainstem nuclei, and may be pathologically reduced following noise exposure or with age. Consequently, compounds that increase Kv3.1 currents by shifting the voltage-dependence of activation of the channels to more negative potentials, may be useful in the treatment of hearing disorders associated with central auditory pathology.” (adapted from Chambers et al. 2017, Scientific Reports)
The muscular system is made up of tissues that work with the skeletal system to control movement of the body. Some muscles—like the ones in your arms and legs—are voluntary, meaning that you decide when to move them. Other muscles, like the ones in your stomach, heart, intestines and other organs, are involuntary. This means that they are controlled automatically by the nervous system and hormones—you often don't even realize they're at work. The body is made up of three types of muscle tissue: skeletal, smooth and cardiac. Each of these has the ability to contract and expand, which allows the body to move and function. . Skeletal muscles help the body move.Smooth muscles, which are involuntary, are located inside organs, such as the stomach and intestines.Cardiac muscle is found only in the heart. Its motion is involuntary.
EXHIBITION: REVOLUTION ON PAPER- MEXICAN PRINTS 1910-1960. BRITISH MUSEUM, ROOM 90 By Edwin Bentley THE MEXICAN revolution, which started in 1910 and which was to last in one form or another for some 20 years, started as a local rebellion among peasant farmers and grew to embrace a wide range of progressive causes. This revolution most certainly was not a unified, planned, single-minded action by a highly organised political party. Rather, it was a series of frequently chaotic popular struggles against an economic model that had handed Mexican industry, agriculture and railways over to foreign investors. It was a revolt of women against the stifling conservatism of a totally male-dominated society. It was an uprising to overthrow the power of vastly wealthy landowners who blocked all attempts at land reform. The revolution also dealt heavy blows to the Catholic Church, which had acted as an obstacle to progress and had identified itself with the powers of reaction. It was a time to rediscover a national identity that went back centuries before the Spanish conquest, a time to celebrate and elevate the position of indigenous peoples. Mexican society flung its windows open to all the exciting new ideas that were blowing around the world in the early 20th century, and adapted them to form a distinctive national character. This identity was to last until the 1990s and the re-introduction of unrestricted market capitalism and the economic anarchy that is so optimistically labelled “de-regulation” and “free trade”. Mexico’s identity centred around national sovereignty in all things, state control of major industries and public services, an often aggressive secularism, equal rights for men and women, and at least a basic social welfare provision. The Mexican revolution did not lead to socialism, but it did create a nation that supported progressive causes throughout the world. Apart from the USSR, Mexico was the only country to give unqualified support and recognition to the Spanish Republic, welcomed at least 20,000 Republican refugees, and never had diplomatic relations with the Franco regime. In fact, relations with Spain were only re-established in 1977. However it is certain that the revolution was stalled and prevented from going further by the liberal bourgeoisie that had benefited most from the overthrow of the old order. The Communist Party, founded in 1919, was illegal for much of the period. The new ruling class was made up of lawyers and professionals who were certainly social progressives, but had a real fear of the masses seizing power. They had no hesitation in using force to put down trade union militancy. It is perhaps not surprising that they were happy to grant asylum to Leon Trotsky at the same time as clamping down on Marxist-Leninists. David Alfaro Siqueiros, one of the artists featured prominently in this exhibition, was even arrested and expelled from Mexico for his alleged involvement in one of the many plots to assassinate Trotsky, who was certainly not welcomed with open arms by Mexican revolutionaries! As the years and decades progressed, the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party sank into a mire of corruption and patronage and became a self-serving elite. It was in the field of art that the Mexican revolution made perhaps its greatest impact on the imagination of the world. Vast murals, monumental buildings, paintings, ceramics, and textiles, and an enthusiastic promotion of completely free artistic expression in all fields made Mexico the centre of innovation. The indigenous culture of Aztecs, Olmecs, and Mayans was fused with European styles to create a dynamic resurgence of national identity. Printmaking was just one aspect of the cultural awakening of Mexico, but it was an art form immediately accessible to the masses it celebrated. What we see in this exhibition is an affirmation of the dynamism of the downtrodden sections of society once they stop regarding themselves as defenceless victims. This art is empowering and glorifies the dignity of every human being. The enemies of humanity are not invincible; they are paper tigers, parasites that shrivel away when they can no longer leech from the people they oppress. In this exhibition there are some striking images of the great Emiliano Zapata, who lead the movement for agrarian reform and became a symbol of the revolution. A symbol, certainly, but one appropriated and glorified by the Mexican state to help the people forget that so many of Zapata’s demands had in fact not been delivered. Readers of the New Worker will find particularly interesting the prints that openly promote class awareness and the struggle against fascism. Many of these are from the Taller de Gráfica Popular (TGP) – People’s Graphic Art Workshop – formed in 1937 by Luis Arenal, Leopoldo Méndez and Pablo O’Higgins as a movement inspired by the triumphs of socialism in the USSR. TGP members had access to printing equipment at the workshop and anyone was free to come along and try out their skills. The collective produced prints for posters, flyers and portfolios which were produced on cheap paper. Their prints often supported the campaigns of workers and trade unions in Mexico. For example, Pablo O’Higgins and Alberto Beltrán collectively made a poster advertising the first Latin American Petrol Workers’ conference, which is on display here. Other printmakers here address subjects such as corruption, the link between capitalism and fascism, and labour conditions. There is one particularly striking and shocking print of a building worker falling to his death from rickety scaffolding The TGP was particularly committed to the fight against international fascism. Angel Bracho’s striking red and black poster, Victoria! (1945), which celebrates the Red Army’s victory over the Nazis in 1945, is a key example of the TGP’s anti-fascist stance. There are posters calling people to lectures on the fascist threat, and one attacking Japanese militarism with a violent caricature of Emperor Hirohito. A further print that really remains in my mind is of the great Marshal Timoshenko, who organised the Soviet defences to resist the Nazi invasion. Here, Timoshenko is presented as a true hero of the working class throughout the world. This exhibition helps us all to celebrate our international struggle, as well as providing a powerful lesson in how vested interests can control, manipulate, and eventually suffocate true revolutionary advances. The Mexican revolution promised so much. We must rightly acknowledge its achievements, while also learning from its eventual failure. Admission to this exhibition is free. It is on until 5th April 2010, after which it will be touring the country
2 StandardsH-SS 6.3.3: Explain the significance of Abraham, Moses, Naomi, Ruth, David, and Yohanan ben Zaccai in the development of the Jewish religion.H-SS 6.3.5: Discuss how Judaism survived and developed despite the continuing dispersion of much of Jewish population from Jerusalem and the rest of Israel after the destruction of the second Temple in A.D. 70.E-LA: Reading Clarify an understanding of texts by creating outlines, logical notes, summaries, or reports. 3 Judaism Language of the Discipline Judge: usually a warrior or a prophet who could inspire an army of volunteers to defend their land.Exile: separation from one’s homeland.Diaspora: the communities of Jews living away from their ancient homeland.Synagogue: meeting place. 4 Jerusalem After the death of Joshua, leadership was centralized For two centuries the Israelites suffered many attacksOne of their biggest enemies included the Philistines who has settled along the Mediterranean SeaIn times of distress the Israelites rallied leaders called judgesJudges usually remained in leadership in times of peace, but it never carried on to their descendants. 5 Judaism (Input) There were two well-known judges Deborah and RuthThe judges ended when Saul became the first king of Israel.One of King Saul’s first fighters was DavidDavid was a young shepherd musician from JudahAfter Saul died, David became king. 7 Judaism (Input)David captured Jerusalem and made it his capital of the kingdom.The city was the center of worshipDavid donated land and goods to religious leader and extended his kingdoms borders.David was also known for writing many beautiful psalms that you find in the book of Psalms.David’s son Solomon was known for his great wisdom. Solomon built the great temple in Jerusalem.His wise sayings are in Proverbs 8 Judaism (Input) South- Solomon continued to rule here. After Solomon died, the kingdom was divided into North and South.North overrun by AssyriansHebrews forced into slaverySouth- Solomon continued to rule here.Known as the kingdom of Judah.The name Judaism comes from Judah.The Southern kingdom was defeated by Babylonians, then defeated by Persians. Solomon’s temple was destroyed. 9 Judaism (Input)Jews were taken to Babylon after the destruction of Jerusalem into exile.People began to return to their homes and rebuild the temple in Jerusalem.The DiasporaExile was a turning point in Jewish history.Jews were now all in the Middle East away from their homeland, also known as Disapora.After being away from their homeland, Jews began to get together and worship in synagogues.They would pray, read, and discuss the Scriptures. 11 Judaism (Input) Judah later became part of the Roman Empire The Romans attacked Jerusalem and destroyed the temple.Jewish learning remained however due to the help of Yohanan ben Zaccai.Judaism continues to be practices today.More than 5 million Jews live in the U.S.There are several branches, but the Bible is a legacy that has become classic world literature. 12 Checking for Understanding 1. The first king of Israel wasA. MosesB. SaulC. JacobD. DavidAnswer B. 13 Checking for Understanding 2. What was Solomon known for?A. having great wisdomB. receiving the Ten CommandmentsC. being a great warriorD. being a prophetAnswer A. 14 Checking for Understanding 3. Why was the synagogue so important to the Jews during the Diaspora?A. even in foreign lands, Jews could practice their faith.B. it gave them a way to travel to their homelandC. they could buy and sell goods thereD. because Ms. Graham said soAnswer A. 15 Guided Practice and Independent Practice 5.3 Worksheet RC side #1 and 2Independent Practice5.3 Worksheet RC- complete the rest of side 1HomeworkNote-Taking Guide Practice (backside of worksheet) Your consent to our cookies if you continue to use this website.
Unlike other vitamins, such as A, E, D, and K, that are fat soluble, which means that they are stored in the liver, and excess intake can lead to adverse effects, Vitamin B-12 or its technical name, cobalamin, is a water-soluble vitamin which the body excretes when in excess. It plays many roles in the millions of daily physiologic processes in our bodies including the repair of DNA, proper functioning of the circulatory and nervous systems, protein metabolism, and it is needed in the bone marrow in order to produce healthy RBCs formation (red blood cells). Symptoms of B-12 Deficiency Like many other “essential nutrients”, vitamin B-12 is not naturally produced by the body. Instead, it must be obtained from the food we consume, or from nutraceutical supplements such as the ones found in fortified foods in the synthetic form called cyanocobalamin, or in multivitamins. When a person is B-12 deficient, a myriad of symptoms evolve such as fatigue, palpitations, a smooth red – sometimes swollen tongue, problems of the nerves such as numbness, tingling, and muscle weakness. Other symptoms B-12 deficiency are directly related to mental health including cognitive difficulties such as thinking and reasoning, depression, memory loss and changes in behavior. It is important to understand that these symptoms may be caused by other factors not necessarily related to cobalamin deficiency. But a lack or insufficiency of this vitamin should be ruled out during diagnosis.. Causes of B-12 Deficiency B-12 deficiency happens when the body is unable to either process B-12 from food or when it is lacking in our diet. Deficiency of B-12 and folate, a type of B vitamin, can lead to a form of anemia called megaloblastic anemia where red blood cells are larger and fewer than normal red blood cells. A type of anemia, known as pernicious anemia, is caused by a deficiency of B-12 due to the absence of a protein called “intrinsic factor” (IF). The transport of B-12 to the ileum, the last part of the small intestine, starts in the mouth, where a protein released into the saliva and also in the stomach, the R-protein, binds to B-12 and protects it from damage by hydrochloric acid in the stomach and facilitates its transport to the small intestine. Once in the small intestine the R-protein releases B-12 through the function of pancreatic enzymes, and intrinsic factor binds to it to protect the B-12 from other digestive enzymes in the GI track, and helps to complete the vitamin’s final journey to the ileum where enzymes unbinds B-12 from IF and receptors specific for B-12, absorb the vitamin and release it into the blood stream and to the liver. Other causes of B-12 deficiency may include diet preferences such as a vegan or mainly vegetarian type of diet. Deficiency of B-12 may also be found among those who suffer with celiac disease or has had a a gastric bypass, and by those who consume anti-acids. Some medications can lead to cobalamin deficiency such as the diabetes drug metformin which prevents B12 from being absorbed.1http://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/35/2/327 Omeprazole (Prilosec), discussed below, inhibits stomach acid which is needed for proper digestion and assimilation of B-122http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/expert-blog/heartburn-and-b-12-deficiency/bgp-20091051. Disorders of the small intestine such as Crohn’s disease that can damage the ileum where B-12 is absorbed and lead to deficiency. Age also plays a factor in B-12 levels. It is estimated that 38% of older adults exhibit mild to serious levels of B-12 deficiency.3 Hoey L, Strain JJ, McNulty H. Studies of biomarker responses to intervention with vitamin B-12: a systematic review of randomized controlled trials. Am J Clin Nutr. 2009;89:1981S–1996S. [PubMed] The Role of Proton Pump Inhibitors (PPI) in B-12 Deficiency When foods rich in cobalamin (B-12), such as meat and liver enter the stomach, they are said to be protein bound. In contrast, foods that are fortified with the vitamin or when taken as a B-12 supplement, is considered to be in free form. Protein bound vitamins need the presence of sufficient hydrochloric acid to unbind them from protein through the action acid and of pepsin, an enzyme that breaks down protein. Such is the case with B-12. The acid released by the parietal cells breaks down the protein/B-12 complex to make it available for transport out of the stomach by quickly binding to the R-protein into the small bowel. However, when a someone who has been diagnosed with hyperacidity, or suffers with GERD, also called acid reflux, or peptic ulcer disease (PUD), the usual form of treatment is with anti-acid medications that inhibit the mechanism responsible for acid secretion in the stomach by the parietal cells. The so called Proton Pump Inhibitors. Medications such as Prilosec, Prevacid, and Nexium fall within these type PPIs. As stated above, pepsin is needed to break down protein bound B-12. Pepsin is released through the presence of hydrochloric acid. When the PH of the bottom of the stomach, called the pyloric stomach, becomes too alkaline which not only prevents pepsin stimulation but it allows the proliferation of bad bacteria that would normally be kept in check by the hydrocloric acid. Sources of B-12 B-12 is not like other vitamins that are easily found in vegetables, grains, and fruits. B-12 is primarily obtained from animal products such as meat, fish, eggs and dairy products. It is possible that even when consuming foods rich in B-12, that an underlying deficiency may be present particularly within the 50 years old and above population. If you think that you may be at risk of being deficient, please feel free to contact us for an evaluation and possible lab workup and supplementation of this important nutrient by way of Methylcobalamin (active B-12) injections4Florida Law. 64B1-4.012 Acupoint Injection Therapies. Effective March 1, 2002, adjunctive therapies shall include acupoint injection therapy which shall mean the injection of herbs, homeopathics, and other nutritional supplements in the form of sterile substances into acupuncture points by means of hypodermic needles but not intravenous therapy to promote, maintain, and restore health; for pain management and palliative care; for acupuncture anesthesia; and to prevent disease.. Fernando Bernall, DOM References [ + ] \|3.\|\|↑\|\|Hoey L, Strain JJ, McNulty H. Studies of biomarker responses to intervention with vitamin B-12: a systematic review of randomized controlled trials. Am J Clin Nutr. 2009;89:1981S–1996S. [PubMed]\| \|4.\|\|↑\|\|Florida Law. 64B1-4.012 Acupoint Injection Therapies.\| Effective March 1, 2002, adjunctive therapies shall include acupoint injection therapy which shall mean the injection of herbs, homeopathics, and other nutritional supplements in the form of sterile substances into acupuncture points by means of hypodermic needles but not intravenous therapy to promote, maintain, and restore health; for pain management and palliative care; for acupuncture anesthesia; and to prevent disease.
By Ricardo Paxson, MathWorks and Kristen Zannella, MathWorks From medicine and environmental science to alternative fuel technology and agriculture, systems biologists are literally changing the world. Revolutionary new pharmaceuticals have moved to clinical trials in a fraction of the time taken by traditional methods. Systems biologists are not only accelerating the drug discovery process, they are also developing synthetic viruses to attack cancer cells, creating biosensors to detect arsenic in drinking water, developing biofuels, and designing algae that process carbon dioxide to reduce powerplant emissions. By studying the relationships between the components that make up an organism, systems biologists build a systems-level understanding of how the biological world works. Like engineers, they solve problems by understanding systems and then applying that knowledge to control them. As a result, systems biology is not only a scientific discipline but also an engineering one. While the techniques used to build aircraft and automobiles, such as modeling, simulation, and computation, can be applied in systems biology, few research labs have used them successfully. This is partly because the researchers lack the necessary tools. It is also because most biological systems are much more complex than even the most sophisticated aircraft, and it takes a significant amount of reverse-engineering to gather enough information and insight to model them. Faced with these obstacles, many systems biologists resort to more traditional methods, such as testing drug candidates on animals. To an engineer, this trial-and-error approach might seem equivalent to an aerospace company’s building multiple prototypes of planes to see which one flies best. The cost, inefficiency, and potential risks of the trial-and-error approach are compelling more and more systems biologists to break through the obstacles and adopt engineering techniques and technology. Before testing a drug candidate on animals or humans, for example, they might first develop computational models of drug candidates and then run simulations to reject those with little chance of success and optimize the most promising ones. While modeling and simulation have yet to be universally adopted, three common engineering techniques are becoming widely used in systems biology: parameter estimation, simulation, and sensitivity analysis. Engineers use parameter estimation to calibrate the response of a model to the observed outputs of a physical system. Instead of using educated guesses to adjust model parameters and initial conditions, they automatically compute these values using data gathered through test runs or experiments. For example, a mechanical engineer designing a DC motor will include model parameters such as shaft inertia, viscous friction (damping), armature resistance, and armature inductance. While estimates for some of these values may be available from manufacturers, by using test results and parameter estimation, the engineer can find parameter values that enable the model response to accurately reflect the actual system. Parameter estimation is a vital capability in systems biology because it enables researchers to generate approximate values for model parameters based on data gathered in experiments. In many cases, researchers know what species or molecular components must be present in the model or how species react with one another, but lack reliable estimates for model parameters such as reaction rates and concentrations. Often, researchers lack these values because the wet-bench experiments needed to determine them directly are too difficult or costly, or there is no published data on the parameters. Parameter estimation lets them calculate these values, enabling simulation and analysis. Engineers use simulation to observe the system in action, change its inputs, parameters, and components, and analyze the results computationally. Most engineering simulations are deterministic: Motor, circuits, and control systems must all provide the same outputs for a given set of inputs for each simulation run. Biological simulations, on the other hand, must incorporate the innate randomness of nature. For example, reactions occur with a certain probability, and a compound that is bound in one simulation might not be bound in the next. To account for this randomness, systems biologists use Monte Carlo techniques and stochastic simulations. Sensitivity analysis enables engineers to determine which components of the model have the greatest effect on its output. For example, aerospace engineers use computational fluid dynamics on the geometry of an airplane wing to reduce drag. They perform sensitivity analysis on each point along the wing to discover which change has the most effect on the drag. In systems biology, sensitivity analysis provides a computational mechanism to determine which parameters are most important under a specific set of conditions. In a model with 200 species and 100 different parameters, being able to determine which species and parameters most effect the desired output can eliminate fruitless avenues of research and enable scientists to focus wet-bench experiments on the most promising candidates. While these techniques have great potential in systems biology, biologists have not yet applied them as efficiently as engineers in traditional disciplines—both because of the complexity of biological systems and because systems biology research requires contributions from a diverse group of researchers. Modelers understand the computational approach and the mathematics behind it, while the scientists know the underlying biology. The two groups frequently use a different vocabulary and work with different concepts and tools. An engineer might wonder, why not use Simulink, the MathWorks platformfor simulation and Model-Based Design? While it is clear that engineers and biologists benefit from the same kinds of modeling and simulation techniques, it is equally clear that the two groups cannot use the same tools. Simulink was built for engineers, and was designed with an engineering look and feel—one that does not resonate with biologists. It was in response to these requirements that The MathWorks developed SimBiology. Like Simulink, SimBiology builds on the MATLAB command prompt with an interface that lets scientists graphically construct molecular pathways by selecting species and reactions. SimBiology also includes a tabular interface for specifying reactants, products, parameters, and rules, as well as a number of capabilities needed by biologists, such as stochastic solvers, sensitivity analysis, and conservation of laws, including mass and energy. SimBiology was designed to enable scientists and modelers to collaborate in the same software environment and complete their entire workflow with one tool. Biologists can build a model by graphically defining reactions. SimBiology then converts the defined reactions into a mathematical model that the modeler can refine, analyze, and simulate. In the same way, a modeler can create a complex, mathematically intensive model but leverage the graphical representation of the model to communicate their work with biologists. Software tools have transformed engineering disciplines in the past decades, and they will play a vital role in helping systems biology reach its full potential. Evidence of this can already be seen in the number of major pharmaceutical companies that have transformed small proof-of-concept initiatives into fully funded Systems Biology departments. Systems biology is a branch of computational biology that focuses on understanding how the biological world works at a system level. Systems biologists study the relationships between the components that make up an organism. Their goal is to develop accurate, unified models of biological activity—from the molecular level up to the entire organism—to enable the development of synthetic biological systems and accelerate drug discovery. Closely related disciplines are bioinformatics, the development of algorithms and statistical techniques for the management and analysis of biological data, and PK/PD modeling, a technique used to model, simulate, and predict the effect of a drug on the body (pharmacodynamics) and the effect of the body on a drug (pharmacokinetics). Published 2007 - 91483v00
The city of Chan Chan, capital of the Kingdom of Chimor, also known as the Chimu Empire, represents America's largest prehispanic mud-brick settlement. Its complexity has come to light only after years of intensive excavations. This large city covers 7.7 square miles and is centered on a 2.3 square mile urban core dominated by a series of huge enclosures - the palaces of the Chimu kings. The origins of the city go back to the beginnings of the first millennium AD when the first large enclosure, probably the Ciudadela Chayhuac, or Chayhuac Citadel, was built. Subsequently, many more ciudadelas, eleven in total. By the time the Inca conquered the Chimu domain, around 1470 AD, the capital was the center of an empire that covered a stretch of 621 miles of the Pacific coast and controlled about two-thirds of all agricultural land ever irrigated along the Pacific coast of South America. Agriculture was a major concern of the Chimu, who built many miles of irrigation canals, including inter-valley canals, to expand the area under cultivation. A long canal was built from the Chicama River to the north, in order to irrigate farmland near Chan Chan in the Moche Valley. The enormous area harvested in the Moche Valley in prehispanic times still surpasses the area currently cultivated. The archaeological site is characterized by very tall walls, some of which are 26 feet high, which enclose each of the 11 citadels. Together with Huaca Obispo, Chan Chan's largest stepped pyramid, which lies at the north of the city, they form the bulk of the monumental architecture at the site. Each of these palaces, most of which are laid out in a very similar fashion in spite of the differences in size, are characterized by three types of structures: U-shaped audiencias, storerooms and wells. In general terms the site’s high walls, long corridors, tortuous, winding passageways, and small entrances show how meticulously the regime controlled the flow of people within the enclosures. The U-shaped rooms called "audiencias" are found in varying sizes and are interpreted as the administrative offices of the Chimu elite. Some are decorated with elaborate clay friezes that represent shellfish, stylized waves, marine birds and fish. On frieze, for example, represents a reed boat adorned with a cormorant and a giant squid about to gobble a fish. The extensive storerooms, which have a capacity of 2,000 square meters, were found empty. Archaeologists, however, were able to find traces of manufactured goods, including the imprints of textiles, for instance, which probably were stored in these rooms until their removal around the time of the Inca conquest. The value attached to the items stored here is apparent by the controlling position of the audiencia-type building that one must pass in order to access them. If the capacity of the Chan Chan storerooms is examined, it becomes evident that, unlike the Inca, they did not store huge amounts of staples; the available storage space is far smaller in comparison. On the contrary, they appear to have specialized in producing and trading small, but valuable, luxury goods possibly used as status symbols by distant lords. lt is quite possible that the marine scenes depicted on audiencia walls are linked not only to the realm of myth and ideology, but also to seafaring, a practice probably engaged in daily by Chimu fishermen and traders. Another recurrent feature of the ciudadelas of Chan Chan is large, deep, walk-in-wells. Today these have dried out completely due to the lower water table, which has led, in turn to a smaller area currently under irrigation and modern-day water extraction with mechanized pumps to supply the expanding city of Trujillo. This lowering of the natural water table has also desertified the ”sunken gardens", where the produce consumed by the inhabitants of Chan Chan was grown. By digging large, deep trenches until the surface was moist enough to sustain agriculture, the agricultural frontier could be further expanded into areas near the coastline, like the area southeast of Chan Chan. A similar method is used by some traditional fishermen of the north coast of Peru to grow the totora reeds necessary for making their famous, slender reed boats. Some scholars have tended to link the individual compounds with a list of rulers written down by Spanish historians in the sixteenth century. Others however, stress the possibility that all ciudadelas functioned at the same time, with competing nobles and their families living in each one of them. Evidence in favor of the "one king - one palace" theory carne from the excavation of several highly disturbed platforms found within the citadel enclosures. Clearing the debris left by intensive colonial looting, or "mining" as it was referred to then, a T- shaped tomb was found to have been at the center of the burial platforms. The people buried in these enormous tombs were accompanied in the grave by elaborate offerings of textiles, ceramics, and metalwork. The bones of dozens of women, found around the central grave, may point to large-scale human sacrifice. Apparently, their descendants, who continued to run what could be called the "Royal Mausoleums", used the compounds that contained these burial platforms for long periods after the death of a ruler. The commoners of Chan Chan lived outside of the compounds, and were probably forbidden to enter them, right of way being a prerogative of the nobility and their retainers. Most of the artisans, fishermen, farmers and laborers at Chan Chan resided in what archaeologists have dubbed "intermediate architecture"- structures smaller than monumental compounds, but generally more complex than simple huts. This intermediate architecture housed the estimated 12,000 artisans working at Chan Chan. The total population of the city may well have been as large as 50,000 or more, although strong seasonal fluctuation is suspected. Judging by the city's tax records, the colonial looters must have found formidable quantities of precious metal in Chan Chan. Although large scale production of ceramics, textiles and woodworking as well as maize-beer preparation are all in evidence, the Chimu appear to have concentrated their craft production around metallurgy (Figure 5.3). In this respect the conquest by the Inca (around 1470 AD) may well have broken the backbone of the Chimu economy. The Inca forcibly transferred to their capital in Cusco the highly skilled metalworkers of Chan Chan. Colonial chroniclers report the legend of Tacaynamo, also called Chimu Capac, the mythical founder of Chan Chan "who came from across the sea, to rule the land". These same chroniclers reported that the Chimu conquered the Lambayeque region, where the Sicán culture flourished, sometime around 1200 AD. Evidence of large-scale mining and smelting has recently been found in the Lambayeque region at the site of Batán Grande.
Brushing Teeth – When, How and with What Cavities are related to specific types of bacteria that are often passed from mother to child. Bacteria reduces acids that demineralize the tooth’s enamel. Other risk factors for cavities include consumption of simple sugars (ex. candy and juice), inadequate brushing, and suboptimal fluoride exposure. Fluoride works primarily by a topical application to the teeth allowing calcium and phosphate to be incorporated into the enamel. This helps prevent demineralization and subsequently cavities. Parents need to help their children strike the right balance between not enough fluoride that will cause increase cavities, and too much fluoride, which will cause Fluorosis. Fluorosis causes permanent stains on the teeth. Fluoride is found mainly in water fluoridation (most city water supplies) and Fluoride toothpaste. Until recently, many of us were worried that giving Fluoride toothpaste to children younger than 3 could cause Fluorosis. However, there is evidence that using Fluoride toothpaste as noted below is extremely helpful in preventing cavities and without causing Fluorosis. The recommendations are as follows: - Parents should start brushing teeth with the eruption of the first tooth using a toothbrush. - Parents should brush teeth twice a day until children are able to brush teeth by themselves. - For Children less than 3 years old, a “rice grain size” amount of Fluoride toothpaste should be used (Figure A). - For Children 3 years and older who can spit out the toothpaste, a “pea size” amount of Fluoride Toothpaste is used (Figure B). - DO NOT rinse after brushing. This causes younger children to swallow the toothpaste and older children to remove the Fluoride and the topical beneficial effect. ****Children may be seen by the dentist as early as their first tooth eruption. But, if parents are following the above guidelines and there are no brown or white plaques on the child’s teeth, bottle and breastfeeding have stopped after 12-13 months of age and there is no family predisposition to cavities; children may be seen at 3 years of age. Source: Photo and information above from Pediatrics in Review Jan 2014, an American Academy of Pediatrics Publication.
For many students, especially from middle school upward, texting is a part of everyday life. As a teacher, you may see texting in class as an unwelcome distraction from learning. Although student mobile devices can certainly be a classroom management challenge, they also present an opportunity to implement a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) model in your classroom and take advantage of the technology in your students’ pockets. Although students may have phones with different capabilities, the ability to text will likely be available for most. Here are just a few ways you can harness student interest in texting for learning activities: - Have your students use texting to create short summaries of longer, more formal pieces of literature. For example, how would the famous dialogue between Romeo and Juliet in the orchard (But soft! What light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun…) have been different if conducted via text? One final point: It is important that your students understand texting charges and that parents are aware of your plans. Want more ideas for using texting for learning? Check out our Tech Research Brief Using Texting to Promote Learning and Literacy Acknowledgment: Special thanks to Lina Breslav for helping to prepare this blog post.
Insomnia is the inability to initiate or maintain sleep, or to experience restful or high-quality sleep. It is considered to affect about a third of the population. Different types have been identified depending on the phase of sleep in which difficulty is reported. Thus, sleep-onset insomnia, middle-of-the-night (MOTN) insomnia, or early-morning awakenings are all reported. When insomnia symptoms last for less than three months, it is termed short-term insomnia, while long-term insomnia lasts longer than this period. The health and social costs of insomnia are significant because of its associated impairment of daytime functioning, persistent daytime tiredness, and slowing of muscular coordination and reflexes. Healthcare visits are increased by 50% in such patients, with absenteeism and lowered workplace productivity. It is estimated that lowered productivity and driving or other accidents due to sleeplessness cost over $100 billion a year. Sleep-onset insomnia can be due to or worsened by a variety of causes: - Psychological causes such as anxiety, depression, or some psychotic conditions such as schizophrenia - Medical conditions such as - chronic or acute pain - restless legs syndrome (RLS) - periodic limb movements in sleep (PLMS), - obstructive sleep apnea - congestive cardiac failure - Circadian rhythm disorders such as delayed sleep phase syndrome, night shift work, or jet lag - Poor sleep hygiene such as a lighted or noisy bedroom, excessive use of alcohol or caffeine shortly before bedtime, over-exercising at night, or being too warm Children with attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) often have chronic sleep-onset insomnia, which has been reported in almost a third of such patients who are not on medication. The pathophysiology seems to be a delay in the sleep-wake cycle, without any abnormality being detected in sleep maintenance. The normal evening secretion of the sleep-producing hormone melatonin secretion is also delayed. Some specific gene polymorphisms of the biological clock mechanism have been determined to be linked to this disorder. Exogenous melatonin administration at the right time has been proved to advance this time, producing an earlier onset of sleep. When this treatment is properly carried out, normal sleep onset occurs in these children. However, cessation of the treatment was associated with resumption of delayed sleep onset. A detailed sleep history will help to identify any deficiencies in sleep hygiene and environmental disturbances which prevent the onset of sleep in a normal manner. Evaluation also includes sleep lab testing such as polysomnography and multiple sleep latency tests. This includes a variety of measures, such as: - Cognitive behavioral therapy to recognize and modify the pressuring and unpleasant thoughts associated with inability to go to sleep at once, with appropriate behavioral changes - Stimulus control to ensure that intrusive worries and thoughts are dealt with promptly - Sleep hygiene training to ensure an environment and bodily condition conducive to the onset of sleep - Sleep restriction to limit the time spent in bed to the actual sleep time, cutting off the association between insomnia and going to bed - Paradoxical intention where the patient focuses on staying awake rather than going to sleep, helping ease the mental and emotional burden of sleeplessness and making sleep onset faster - Relaxation therapy to aid slumber - Bright light therapy which tries to reset the circadian rhythms - Chronotherapy which corrects the sleep phase delay Benzodiazepines have been used traditionally to induce sleep, but their long duration of action and significant residual sedation have been cause for concern. Nonbenzodiazepines include the sedative GABA-ergic agents such as zolpidem and the newer zaleplon which has a very short half-life, as well as the melatonin receptor agonist trazodone. Over-the counter medications Patients with sleep-onset insomnia have traditionally taken sedating antihistamines to hasten sleep onset but they quickly induce tolerance. This is also a serious potential drawback of the benzodiazepines, with which they also share the sedating hang-over of the next morning. The lingering effects of impaired muscular reflexes and coordination, with slowing of memory and a sense of fatigue, have dogged the use of most of these drugs. Herbal preparations such as melatonin and valerian have been promoted for use in this condition primarily due to this concern. Reviewed by Susha Cheriyedath, MSc
Volcano Hazards in the Long Valley - Mono Lake Area, California Volcanic unrest through the 1980's to 1990's in the southern part of the Long Valley caldera reminds us that the volcanic system is young. Volcanic activity and related hazards are likely in the future. USGS scientists closely monitor the area and research past activity to better understand what might happen in the future. Although pinpointing the precise time and location of the next eruption in the Long valley area is not feasible, scientists can identify areas that are likely to be affected by future volcanic activity. Knowing the potentially dangerous areas before an eruption starts is critical for planning emergency procedures that can help ensure public safety if future volcanic unrest leads to activity. The Past is the Key to the Future Future eruptions in the region are most likely to consist of one or more of the types of volcanic activity that have occurred in the past few thousand years along the Mono-Inyo Craters volcanic chain, which cuts through the western part of the caldera. This activity included (1) explosive eruptions that produced fast-moving pyroclastic flows that spread several kilometers from the vents and widespread ashfall; and (2) nonexplosive eruptions of thick lava flows and lava domes. Some of these eruptions were probably accompanied by mudflows, or lahars, caused by rapid snowmelt during explosive activity. Scientists use volcanic rock deposits and layers formed by past eruptions as a guide to identify areas in the region that are likely to be affected by similar types and sizes of eruptions in the future. Knowledge of the distribution of these deposits and familiarity with similar historical eruptions from around the world permit scientists to identify potentially hazardous areas on a map for different vent locations and different types of eruptions. Since the Long Valley region consists of many possible vent locations that can produce different types of eruptions, the actual hazardous areas may not be known until hours before or just after an eruption begins. Even so, maps showing volcano-hazard zones and examination of several possible eruption scenarios can help to identify (1) possible vent locations; (2) potential hazardous areas; and (3) different types of eruptions that can occur. How likely is volcanic activity in the Long Valley area? Based on the frequency of eruptions along the Mono-Inyo Crates volcanic chain in the past 5,000 years, the probability of an eruption occurring in any given year is somewhat less than one percent per year or roughly one chance in a few hundred in any given year. This is comparable to the annual chance of a magnitude 8 earthquake (like the Great 1906 San Francisco Earthquake) along the San Andreas Fault in coastal California or of an eruption from one of the more active Cascade Range volcanoes in the Pacific Northwest, such as Mount Rainier in Washington or Mount Shasta in California. Increased volcanic unrest (including earthquake swarms, ground deformation, and CO2 gas emissions) in the Long Valley area since 1980 increases the chance of an eruption occurring in the near future, but scientists still lack adequate data to reliably calculate by how much. Volcanic unrest in some other large volcanic systems has persisted for decades or even centuries without leading to an eruption. But since volcanic unrest can escalate to an eruption quickly--in a few weeks, days, or less--USGS scientists are monitoring the activity closely. The Inyo Eruption in 1350 C.E.: sequence of events and effects in the Long Valley area Geologists have pieced together the dramatic sequence of eruptions and ground cracking that occurred along the Inyo volcanic chain about 600 years ago. This eruptive sequence provides probably the best "scenario" for future volcanic activity in the Long Valley area.
For close to six decades, the tree lobster was thought to be extinct, but new research suggests that the mysterious insect from Lord Howe Island is still around, and may be returning to its natural habitat soon. According to the New York Times, the tree lobster, which is also known by the scientific name Dryococelus australis, is a six-inch-long stick insect that gets its name from its lobster-like exoskeleton. The creature was once prominent in Lord Howe Island in the Tasman Sea, but in 1918, an unexpected event severely diminished tree lobster numbers. That was when scores of rats ran ashore as they scampered from a capsized steamship, and feasted on the stick insects for the next few years. By 1920, the insects had almost disappeared from Lord Howe Island, but it was only in 1960 when the tree lobster was declared extinct. There was no sign of the creatures in the decades that followed, but a new study has just confirmed that the tree lobster didn’t vanish after all, while also offering some hope for bringing its numbers back up. “The Lord Howe Island stick insect has become emblematic of the fragility of island ecosystems,” said Okinawa Institute of Science evolutionary biologist Alexandr Mikheyev in a statement quoted by Business Insider. “Unlike most stories involving extinction, this one gives us a unique second chance.” The first hints of the tree lobster not being extinct as once thought came in 2001, when a rock-climbing ranger found a few similar-looking insects on Ball’s Pyramid. However, scientists had presumed that these insects were actually different from the Lord Howe tree lobsters, as they had some distinct features, such as skinnier legs, smaller spines, and darker abdominal stubs. Furthermore, Ball’s Pyramid and Lord Howe Island were never connected by land, which, together with the insects’ inability to swim, made it impossible for them to migrate from one point to another. In the years that followed, thousands more Ball’s Pyramid tree lobsters have descended from the original pair, as scientists were successfully able to breed a new population for potential reintroduction to the wild. According to a previous report from the Inquisitr, about 13,000 Ball’s Pyramid tree lobsters lived in the captivity of the Melbourne Zoo, as a result of these breeding efforts. But thanks to DNA analysis, Mikheyev and his colleagues determined that the Lord Howe and Ball’s Pyramid tree lobsters were from the same species. “We found what everyone hoped to find, that despite some significant morphological differences, these are indeed the same species,” Mikheyev observed. Although the new study proves that the tree lobster is truly not extinct, the researchers noted that rats are still a threat to animals on Lord Howe Island, as their presence has resulted in the extinction of five bird species and “around a dozen” invertebrates, and a grave threat to about 70 other species. However, the Lord Howe Island Board launched a rat eradication initiative in September, which could allow threatened or endangered species like the tree lobster to return to the island if everything pushes forward as hoped. [Featured Image by Ashley Whitworth/Shutterstock]
Stikinia is the name of a tectonostratigraphic terrane in the Canadian Cordillera of British Columbia, Canada. It was formed in a volcanic arc environment during the Paleozoic and Mesozoic periods. Until now, the Paleozoic rocks that form a semicontinuous belt along its western margin (Stikine assemblage) were only recognized in a restricted area in northern British Columbia, between the Stikine and Taku river areas. In contrast, Mesozoic Stikinia rocks form an almost continuous belt that extends much farther to the north, leading some authors to question the nature of the unexposed Paleozoic basement north of the Taku River area. The following correlations have significant implications for tectonic reconstructions of the northern Cordillera because they suggest that Stikinia's Paleozoic volcanic-sedimentary basement is more widespread than previously thought. On the basis of similar rock types and lithologic associations, six new uranium-lead zircon dates, and the common intrusive relationship with 184–195 million year old plutons, the Stikine assemblage is correlated with the Boundary Ranges suite, a metamorphosed Paleozoic volcanic assemblage exposed in the Tagish Lake area, north of the Taku River and south of the Yukon–British Columbia border. The recognition of the Boundary Ranges suite and the Jurassic plutons that intruded it (Tagish Lake suite) as part of Stikinia has implications for the age and character of the Stikinia–Tracy Arm terrane boundary because the Boundary Ranges and Tagish Lake suites form the footwall of a major Middle Jurassic shear zone that carried the continental margin–like rocks of the Tracy Arm terrane in its hanging wall. This correlation also implies that the late Paleozoic basement to the Mesozoic Stikinia arc is not a continental margin assemblage, at least as far north as the British Columbia–Yukon border, and possibly farther. The Boundary Ranges suite, and therefore the Stikine assemblage, are also tentatively correlated with parts of the Yukon-Tanana Terrane in Yukon (Aishihik Lake area), parts of the Taku terrane in southeast Alaska, and undivided metamorphic rocks in west-central British Columbia. Differences in the isotopic signatures of these rocks may reflect along-strike changes in the character of the basement rocks of the late Paleozoic Stikinia volcanic arc. Stikinia forms the bedrock of numerous volcanoes in the southern portion of the Northern Cordilleran Volcanic Province, a Miocene to Holocene geologic province that has its origins in continental rifting.
Both the Computing curriculum (mandatory in LA funded schools since 1st September 2014) and the technology curriculum require pupils to engage in what is sometimes called 'physical computing'. 'Physical computing' is when we create a programme on a computer that controls an external device - older readers may remember running Flowol on a pc to control the lights of a cardboard cut out lighthouse. Most KS2 pupils (and their teachers) have experienced using Scratch to create a program that moves the ‘sprite’ around the screen. They will have debugged their programmes (found and fixed errors). Most will have used repetition (the repeat block), sequence (lots of instructions in a particular order) and selection (use of the ‘if’ block). The use of electrical components in the Technology Curriculum was a part of the previous science curriculum so hopefully everyone is fairly up to speed with placing a battery, bulb, switch circuit inside a cardboard tube with a bit of coloured film over one end to make a torch. Now it’s time to move on, to explore the exciting world of physical computing and crack ‘including controlling physical systems’, ‘using various forms of input and output’ (Computing) and ‘applying the understanding of computing to program, monitor and control their products’ (Technology). It used to be difficult and/or expensive to link a computer to an external pupil-made device. You either needed to purchase a ‘control box’ (expensive) or to get involved in fiddly electronics (difficult). You also needed to use the bespoke programming language for your specific control box or something like Python. Even the fabulous Raspberry Pi failed to make physical computing an easy option for non-technical teachers or classes of 10 year olds. What is needed is the ability to write a program in Scratch (or something very similar), to connect the computer to the controller via a USB and for the controller to be cheap, robust and easy to wire up. Thankfully there are now several options available including Codebug, Crumble and GEMMA. See our review here Over the next few posts Kathy will be sharing ideas for using each of these controllers in projects suitable for upper KS2.
\|Lesson Plan ID: Students will investigate the effects of solvents in cleaning by designing and carrying out an experiment utilizing the steps of the scientific method. A video is used as an introduction to the concept of solvents. Hazardous effects of solvents are also discussed. This lesson plan was created as a result of the Girls Engaged in Math and Science, GEMS Project funded by the Malone Family Foundation. \|SC(8) \|\|1. Identify steps within the scientific process. \| \|SC(8) \|\|6. Define solution in terms of solute and solvent. \| \|SC(9-12) Environmental Elective\|\|4. Identify the impact of pollutants on the atmosphere. \| \|SC(9-12) Environmental Elective\|\|8. Identify major contaminants in water resulting from natural phenomena, homes, industry, and agriculture. \| \|TC2(6-8) \|\|6. Select specific digital tools for completing curriculum-related tasks. \| \|TC2(6-8) \|\|9. Practice responsible and legal use of technology systems and digital content. \| National Science Education Standards TEACHING STANDARD A: Teachers of science plan an inquiry-based science program for their students. In doing this, teachers Develop a framework of yearlong and short-term goals for students. Select science content and adapt and design curricula to meet the interests, knowledge, understanding, abilities, and experiences of students. Select teaching and assessment strategies that support the development of student understanding and nurture a community of science learners. Work together as colleagues within and across disciplines and grade levels. \|Primary Learning Objective(s): Students will develop a procedure to test the effectiveness of solvents. Students will differentiate between solute, solvent and solution. The scientific principles of dry cleaning will be observed. \|Additional Learning Objective(s): \|Approximate Duration of the Lesson: \|\| 91 to 120 Minutes\| \|Materials and Equipment: You will need 4 inch squares of white cotton fabric; any household item capable of producing a stain (ketchup, mustard, ink, oil, chocolate, permanent marker, lipstick, etc.); solvents such as water, alcohol, bleach, laundry detergent; cotton-tipped applicators; small paper cups; small jars with lids; Kool-Aide or similar powdered drink mix; safety goggles; and lab aprons (optional)-Some of the solvent items may harm clothing. If you choose to do the demo on the Steve Spangler website in addition to showing the video, you will also need a beaker, packing peanuts, and nail polish solution containing acetone. \|Technology Resources Needed: You will need a computer with Internet capability, and a projector. Groups should be established prior to assigning group projects. Groups should be diverse, consisting of both male and female students. In order to facilitate accommodations and provide peer mentoring, it is often best to group a high performer, low performer, and two average students in a group. Assemble all supplies. Stain items may be placed in small labeled cups. Solvents should be placed in small jars with lids. 1.)On the first day of the lesson, have the kids brainstorm ideas about the definitions of the terms solute and solvent. Write these ideas on the board. 2.)Demonstrate mixing up powdered drink mix in water. Explain to the students that the solute is placed in the solvent to make a resulting solution. The solute is the smaller amount and the solvent is the larger amount. Serve the drink to the class. 3.)As students are drinking, ask for other examples of solutes and solvents. Some examples might be lemonade, tea, or pudding. Non-food examples might include air, potting soil, or steel. 4.)Show students the video on packing peanuts and solvents by using the attached website. If time allows, perform the demonstration for the students. (Steve Spangler Science )This website video shows the effect of a solvent (acetone) on packing peanuts. 5.)Explain that dry cleaning is a process utilizing solvents to remove stains. Tell each lab group to develop and outline a procedure to test at least 3 of the stain items with 3 of the solvent items. Allow 15-20 minutes for each group to develop a plan of action. Review the plan with each group. Check for constants such as stain size and application of consistent amount of solvents. Be sure that only one solvent is tested on each piece of cloth, otherwise the solvents may overlap resulting in problems in interpretation of data. 6.)Allow students to prepare their stained pieces of cloth. The stains should sit overnight to dry. 7.)During the second class period, have students make a hypothesis about which solvent will remove each stain. Students should also prepare a rubric with a key to grade the efficiency of the stain removal. 8.)Allow students to test the solvents. Student results may be presented in the form of powerpoint presentation. Students might also prepare posters or bulletin boards utilizing pictures made with digital cameras. 9.)Discuss the results obtained and address any discrepancies that may have occurred. Discrepancies might be caused by amount of solvent used, variation in rubbing the stain, etc. 10.)Display the attached website for the students. (How Stuff Works )This website describes the science of dry cleaning and the health hazards of solvents. 11.)Discuss the environmental impact of the addition of solvents and other contaminants to the water supply. Use the video on the attached website to generate discussion. )This video provides insight into contamination of the universal solvent, water. 12.)As a follow up activity, have a representative from a local manufacturing plant visit your class to discuss recycling and anti-pollution activities used in production at their facility. 13.)Students may also prepare tie-dyed shirts by following the directions on the following attached website. )This website gives directions for tie-dying the shirt. \|Attachments:**Some files will display in a new window. Others will prompt you to download. Grading opportunities include evaluating the procedure developed, lab technique, and the results table prepared by the student. If time allows, let students compare detergents or stain removal sprays. Students may also wish to compare stains on different types of fabrics. Each area below is a direct link to general teaching strategies/classroom for students with identified learning and/or behavior problems such as: reading or math performance below grade level; test or classroom assignments/quizzes at a failing level; failure to complete assignments independently; difficulty with short-term memory, abstract concepts, staying on task, or following directions; poor peer interaction or temper tantrums, and other learning or behavior problems. \|Presentation of Material \|\|Using Groups and Peers \|Assisting the Reluctant Starter \|\|Dealing with Inappropriate Be sure to check the student's IEP for specific accommodations. \|Variations Submitted by ALEX Users:
1. Low Capacitance This is possibly the most important audible aspect, Interconnects transfer analog voltage signals between components. The voltages involved range from < microvolt to over +1 Volts, but the currents involved are always extremely small. The currents are small because the load that the interconnect drives is generally between 10-100K ohms. This is the input impedance of the component being driven. There is virtually zero power transfer with interconnects. Because there is basically zero power transfer, it is not necessary for the driving component to be capable of driving much power. As a result, most components are designed with an output impedance of between 7 and 200 ohms. Lower is better because the driver is less "sensitive" to the load. However, the load is actually comprised of a resistive part and a capacitive part. This capacitance is caused by the integrated circuit or transistor packaging, the printed circuit board traces and the silicon itself. This capacitance presents a load to the driving component. If the capacitance is too large, the high-frequencies will begin to attenuate or decrease due to the loading on the driver. The input capacitance of a component is generally never characterized (not in the specs), but this is actually as important as the resistance. The interconnect also adds to this capacitance and can actually contribute more to the total capacitance than the receiving component. It is therefore an object to minimize the capacitance in an excellent interconnect. The capacitance of in interconnect is a function of its length. The longer it is, the higher the capacitance. This is why interconnect length should generally be minimized. Interconnect capacitance is also function of geometry and dielectric material. Capacitance is minimized by spacing the two conductors apart as much as possible and by avoiding parallelism. It is also minimized by using low dielectric-constant materials between the two conductors. (In AC power cables high capacitance will also affect stereo imaging, and many other aspects that will be discussed in another post) How do we minimise capacitance in A.L.A. cables? - Air dielectric is used between the two conductors where possible, a good example is our Zircon range. - Where air is not possible, Teflon or other low-dielectric constant materials are used - Conductor parallelism is avoided by geometry - Conductors are spaced apart, Once again our Zircon range is a perfect visual example of this design principal 2. Minimize skin-effect Skin-effect occurs when the high-frequency currents flow on the outer "skin" of the conductors whereas lower frequencies have more uniform current distribution across the conductor cross-section. This happens when too large a gauge is chosen for the conductors. The effect is that the impedance (primarily inductance and capacitance) is different for low frequencies than high frequencies. This difference in impedance can cause attenuation and phase shifts in high-frequency passages relative to low-frequency passages, causing a smearing effect to the music. If a sufficiently small gauge is chosen for the conductors, all frequencies are "forced" to flow more uniformly in the conductors, effective eliminating skin-effect. Skin-effect is also a function of conductor material. How does we minimize skin-effect in A.L.A cables ? - Careful selection of conductor gauge and stranding to insure optimum low and high-frequency response. - 99.99% Pure Silver conductors ideally, or high purity coppers 3. Minimal use of conformal coatings Conformal coatings (insulation) on conductors create a non-uniform dielectric medium around the conductors. This dielectric material stores energy from the conductors in the form of charge. Similar to a battery, the dielectric material prevents the conductors from discharging immediately and completely when the music waveform demands this. The result is that latent charge is still present in the dielectric material to be released when it is not desired. The technical term for this effect is Dielectric Absorption. This effect is more pronounced in less expensive cables that use PVC for insulation rather than Teflon or other low dielectric-constant materials. This has two detrimental effects: Latent charge can change the amount of energy required to charge the dielectric, drawing less current with some passages than others from the driver. Latent charge can appear on the conductors when it should not be there. Either of these effects can conceivably cause "smearing" or dispersion of the audio signal, particularly between left and right channels, where this can become audible to humans.
Federated learning is a machine learning technique that trains an algorithm across multiple decentralized data sources, without the need to centralize or share the data. This enables privacy-preserving and efficient model development, as well as tapping into the raw data streaming from various devices and sensors. Federated learning has applications in various industries, such as healthcare, telecommunications, defence, and finance. What is Federated Learning? In traditional machine learning, data are collected and merged into one central server, where a model is trained on the aggregated data. This approach has several drawbacks, such as: - Data privacy and security risks: Centralizing data exposes them to potential breaches, leaks, or misuse by unauthorized parties. It also requires obtaining consent from data owners and complying with data protection regulations. - Data transfer and storage costs: Moving large amounts of data across the network consumes bandwidth and time. Storing and processing data in the cloud also incurs costs. - Data heterogeneity and quality issues: Data from different sources may have different formats, distributions, or quality levels. This may affect the performance and generalization of the model. Keeping Data Local Federated learning addresses these challenges by keeping the data localized at their sources, such as mobile phones, laptops, or private servers. Instead of sending the data to a central server, federated learning sends the model parameters (e.g., the weights and biases of a neural network) to the data sources. Each data source then trains a local model on its own data and sends back the updated parameters to the central server. The server then aggregates the parameters from all sources and updates the global model. This process is repeated until the model converges. By doing so, federated learning achieves several advantages, such as: - Data privacy and security preservation: Data are never shared or exposed to anyone else. Only encrypted parameters are exchanged between the sources and the server. - Data transfer and storage reduction: Only a small number of parameters are transferred across the network, instead of the entire datasets. Data are also stored locally at their sources, reducing cloud storage costs. - Data heterogeneity and quality handling: Data sources can train local models that are tailored to their own data characteristics and quality. The global model can then benefit from the diversity and richness of the local models. How Federated Learning Can Be Used by Fintech Companies Offering Trade Finance Trade finance is a form of financing that facilitates international trade transactions between buyers and sellers. It involves various intermediaries, such as banks, insurers, exporters, importers, logistics providers, etc. Trade finance requires comprehensive credit analysis and risk assessment of the parties involved in a transaction, as well as verification of trade documents and contracts. Federated learning can be used by fintech companies offering trade finance to improve their credit scoring and risk management capabilities, while preserving the privacy and security of their clients’ data. For example: - Fintech companies can collaborate with banks and other financial institutions to train a federated learning model on their respective credit data, without sharing or exposing the data to each other. This can enhance the accuracy and robustness of the credit scoring model, as well as reduce the reliance on external credit bureaus. - Fintech companies can also collaborate with exporters, importers, logistics providers, and other trade participants to train a federated learning model on their respective trade data, such as invoices, bills of lading, customs declarations, etc. This can improve the efficiency and reliability of the trade document verification process, as well as detect fraud and anomalies in trade transactions. - Fintech companies can leverage federated learning to tap into the raw data streaming from various sensors and devices that monitor the trade goods’ location, condition, quality, etc. This can provide real-time visibility and traceability of the trade goods’ movement and status, as well as reduce losses and damages. By using federated learning for trade finance, fintech companies can offer more competitive and innovative services to their clients, while ensuring their data privacy and security. Federated learning can also enable fintech companies to comply with data protection regulations in different jurisdictions, as well as foster trust and collaboration among different trade stakeholders. Federated learning is a novel machine learning technique that trains an algorithm across multiple decentralized data sources without sharing or centralizing the data. It offers several benefits over traditional machine learning techniques such as preserving data privacy and security reducing data transfer and storage costs handling data heterogeneity and quality issues tapping into raw data streaming from various devices and sensors. Federated learning has applications in various industries such as healthcare, telecommunications, defence and finance. In particular federated learning can be used by fintech companies offering trade finance to improve their credit scoring, risk management, document verification and traceability capabilities while ensuring their clients’ data privacy and security. Federated learning can also enable fintech companies to comply with data protection regulations in different jurisdictions as well as foster trust and collaboration among different trade stakeholders
Conduction and Convection are two out of three methods of heat transfer. The significant difference between conduction and convection lies in the way the transfer of heat takes place. The third mode of heat transfer is radiation however, conduction and convection are regarded as quite dominant in various practical applications. In the process of conduction, the heat is transferred when there exists a direct contact between the surface to be heated and the source of heat. As against, in the process of convection, the heat transfer takes place through indirect contact. In this content, we will see on what factors conduction is differentiated from convection. Let us have a brief idea about what is Heat? So, basically, heat is regarded as a form of energy that can be transferred from one region to compensate for the difference in temperature. Content: Conduction Vs Convection \|Basis for Comparison\|\|Conduction\|\|Convection\| \|Basic\|\|This mode of heat transfer requires direct connection between the two bodies.\|\|This mode of heat transfer not needs direct connection between the regions where heat transfer is taking place.\| \|Noticed in\|\|Generally Solids\|\|Generally Fluids and Gases\| \|Arises from\|\|Molecules at rest or free electrons\|\|Molecules in motion\| \|Necessity\|\|Direct contact\|\|No direct contact but an intermediary is required.\| \|Cause of occurrence\|\|Temperature difference\|\|Difference in density\| \|How it takes place?\|\|Due to molecular collision.\|\|Due to diffusion of heated particles.\| \|Speed of heat transfer\|\|Slow\|\|Comparatively fast\| \|Example\|\|Heating of a metallic rod when placed in high heat.\|\|Heating of liquid within a vessel which is placed at high flame.\| Definition of Conduction Conduction refers to a process of transfer of heat energy from one surface to another which are in direct contact with each other. In the mechanism of conduction, the heat transfer takes place in a stationary medium i.e., solids. Fourier’s law explains the rate of heat transfer while conduction. The figure below shows the pictorial representation of how heat transferring takes place during the process of conduction: How the process of conduction takes place? The process of conduction occurs in a way that here the heat energy is transferred when collision occurs between adjacent molecules vibrating with high velocity. These high-velocity molecules when come in direct contact with the molecules of solids which are at room temperature then the molecular vibration is transferred at the point of contact. Further, these vibrating molecules transfer the vibration to their adjacent molecule and in this way the body at room temperature gets hot. Just like the molecular vibration in solids, conduction takes place in a similar way in liquids and gases as well. However, due to less molecular density in liquid and gas, the transfer of energy does not take place like that of solids as conduction is the transfer of energy between two bodies that are in direct contact. Definition of Convection The mode of transfer of heat by the displacement of fluid molecules from one region to another is known as Convection. Convection is generally of two types one is forced while the other is natural. Natural convection is when the motion in a medium occurs due to the difference in temperature of two liquids when mixed. Whereas forced convection is the one in which motion is the result of any external unit like a pump or blower. How convection takes place? During convection, the transfer of heat takes place in a way that the molecules of fluids and gases after gaining enough energy become less dense and their increased buoyancy causes the molecules to rise up. While the molecules that are at low temperature has low buoyancy and thus falls down and get closer to the flame. Thus will get heated up and will exchange their positions with molecules of low temperature. In this way, the transfer of heat within the molecules of fluids or gases takes place. Key Differences Between Conduction and Convection - The key factor of differentiation between conduction and convection is that conduction occurs in solids i.e., material bodies. On the contrary, convection is generally noticed in fluids and gaseous substances. - For the process of conduction to take place direct contact between the surfaces is required because only then the heat transfer will take place. While, for the process of convection to occur, no direct contact is necessary however, an intermediary is needed that will act as a carrier to take the heat from one region to another. - Conduction occurs when there is a difference in temperature between two solid bodies that are in direct contact with each other. While convection occurs due to differences in the molecular density of the fluid. - Conduction is the result of vibration between the closely packed molecules of a solid when the heat is provided. This molecular vibration of one surface is transferred to the nearby particles of another surface which is in direct contact. While convection is the result of a collision between less dense molecules of liquid and gas during motion. Here the molecules with high energy transfer their energy to the molecules with low energy and in this way particle energy is transferred. - Conduction is a slow process as here a number of molecules in solids are more while convection takes place comparatively at a faster rate due to dispersed molecular orientation of liquid and gas. - When a metallic rod is placed on a high flame then due to direct contact the vibration of molecules of the flame is transferred to the molecules of the metallic rod at the point of contact. This initially increases the temperature of the rod at the region which is in direct contact with the flame and after some point of time, the molecular vibration transfers the heat energy to the whole rod. However, heating of a liquid which is placed on a high flame does not require direct contact with the flame but the vessel in which it is present act as an intermediary that transfers the molecular vibration of the flame to the liquid within the vessel. Thus, the above discussion concludes that the two modes of heat transfer differentiated here explain the manner in which the transfer of heat takes place along with the material matter in which it is noticed.
Spellman’s Syllabary is a guide to symbols used to represent syllables. One of the many books Hermione consulted as she worked on her Ancient Runes homework in the common room (OP26, HBP24). She took it along on the quest to find Horcruxes in case she would need to translate runes (DH6). It came in handy (DH16). "Spellman" is humorous because "spell" can refer to magic or to spelling out a word. A syllabary is a set of symbols where each one represents a specific syllable. The title of this books suggests that the words used to cast spells are sometimes represented by sets of symbols other than our usual alphabet. However, since English and Latin are not well suited at all for a syllabary, this book might actually be designed for use with another language or perhaps a separate spellcasting language which is built with sound chunks which have discrete magical meanings. - SVA
Planning for Students with Special Education Needs Classroom teachers are the key educators of students with special education needs. They have a responsibility to help all students learn, and they work collaboratively with special education teachers and educational assistants, where appropriate, to achieve this goal. Classroom teachers commit to assisting every student to prepare for living with the highest degree of independence possible. Learning for All: A Guide to Effective Assessment and Instruction for All Students, Kindergarten to Grade 12, 2013 describes a set of beliefs, based in research, that should guide program planning for students with special education needs. Teachers planning programs or courses in all disciplines need to pay particular attention to these beliefs, which are as follows: - All students can succeed. - Each student has their own unique patterns of learning. - Successful instructional practices are founded on evidence-based research, tempered by experience. - Universal design and differentiated instruction are effective and interconnected means of meeting the learning or productivity needs of any group of students. - Classroom teachers are the key educators for a student’s literacy and numeracy development. - Classroom teachers need the support of the larger community to create a learning environment that supports students with special education needs. - Fairness is not sameness. In any given classroom, students may demonstrate a wide range of strengths and needs. Teachers plan programs that are attuned to this diversity and use an integrated process of assessment and instruction that responds to the unique strengths and needs of each student. An approach that combines principles of universal design and differentiated instruction enables educators to provide personalized, precise teaching and learning experiences for all students. In planning programs or courses for students with special education needs, teachers should begin by examining both the curriculum expectations in the grade or course appropriate for the individual student and the student’s particular strengths and learning needs to determine which of the following options is appropriate for the student: - no accommodations or modified expectations; or - accommodations only; or - modified expectations, with the possibility of accommodations; or - alternative expectations, which are not derived from the curriculum expectations for the grade or course and which constitute alternative programs and/or courses. If the student requires either accommodations or modified expectations, or both, the relevant information, as described in the following paragraphs, must be recorded in their Individual Education Plan (IEP). More detailed information about planning programs for students with special education needs, including students who require alternative programs and/or courses, can be found in Special Education in Ontario, Kindergarten to Grade 12: Policy and Resource Guide, 2017 (Draft) (referred to hereafter as Special Education in Ontario, 2017). For a detailed discussion of the ministry’s requirements for IEPs, see Part E of Special Education in Ontario. Students Requiring Accommodations Only Some students with special education needs are able, with certain “accommodations”, to participate in the regular grade or course curriculum and to demonstrate learning independently. Accommodations allow the student with special education needs to access the curriculum without changes to the regular expectations. Any accommodations that are required to facilitate the student’s learning must be identified in the student’s IEP (Special Education in Ontario, 2017, p. E38). A student’s IEP is likely to reflect the same required accommodations for many, or all, subjects or courses. Providing accommodations to students with special education needs should be the first option considered in program planning. Instruction based on principles of universal design and differentiated instruction focuses on providing accommodations to meet the diverse needs of learners. There are three types of accommodations: - Instructional accommodations are changes in teaching strategies, including styles of presentation, methods of organization, or use of technology and multimedia. Some examples include the use of graphic organizers, photocopied notes, adaptive equipment, or assistive software. - Environmental accommodations are changes that the student may require in the classroom and/or school environment, such as preferential seating or special lighting. - Assessment accommodations are changes in assessment procedures that enable the student to demonstrate their learning, such as allowing additional time to complete tests or assignments or permitting oral responses to test questions. (For more examples, see page E39 of Special Education in Ontario, 2017.) If a student requires “accommodations only”, assessment and evaluation of their achievement will be based on the regular grade or course curriculum expectations and the achievement levels outlined for the particular curriculum. The IEP box on the student’s Provincial Report Card will not be checked, and no information on the provision of accommodations will be included. Students Requiring Modified Expectations Modified expectations for most students with special education needs will be based on the regular grade or course expectations, with changes in the number and/or complexity of the expectations. Modified expectations must represent specific, realistic, observable, and measurable goals, and must describe specific knowledge and/or skills that the student can demonstrate independently, given the appropriate assessment accommodations. It is important to monitor, and to reflect clearly in the student’s IEP, the extent to which expectations have been modified. At the secondary level, the principal will determine whether achievement of the modified expectations constitutes successful completion of the course, and will decide whether the student is eligible to receive a credit for the course. This decision must be communicated to the parents and the student. Modified expectations must indicate the knowledge and/or skills that the student is expected to demonstrate and that will be assessed in each reporting period (Special Education in Ontario, 2017, p. E27). Modified expectations should be expressed in such a way that the student and parents can understand not only exactly what the student is expected to know or be able to demonstrate independently, but also the basis on which the student’s performance will be evaluated, resulting in a grade or mark that is recorded on the Provincial Report Card. The student’s learning expectations must be reviewed in relation to the student’s progress at least once every reporting period, and must be updated as necessary (Special Education in Ontario, 2017, p. E28). If a student requires modified expectations, assessment and evaluation of their achievement will be based on the learning expectations identified in the IEP and on the achievement levels outlined under Levels of Achievement in the “Assessment and Evaluation" section. Elementary: The IEP box on the Elementary Progress Report Card and the Elementary Provincial Report Card must be checked for any subject in which the student requires modified expectations, and, on the Elementary Provincial Report Card, the appropriate statement from Growing Success: Assessment, Evaluation, and Reporting in Ontario Schools, First Edition, Covering Grades 1 to 12, 2010, page 61, must be inserted. Secondary: If some of the student’s learning expectations for a course are modified but the student is working towards a credit for the course, it is sufficient simply to check the IEP box on the Provincial Report Card, Grades 9–12. If, however, the student’s learning expectations are modified to such an extent that the principal deems that a credit will not be granted for the course, the IEP box must be checked and the appropriate statement from Growing Success: Assessment, Evaluation, and Reporting in Ontario Schools, First Edition, Covering Grades 1 to 12, 2010, pages 62–63, must be inserted. In both the elementary and secondary panels, the teacher’s comments should include relevant information on the student’s demonstrated learning of the modified expectations, as well as next steps for the student’s learning in the subject or course.
In every child’s surroundings there are plenty of colors. Colors make children happy. They stimulate and attract them. Small babies notice colors, but it is only later that they learn to recognize, distinguish and name them. This is a path that every child has to take, but the parent can definitely help along the way. Just like everything else in their lives, children learn colors spontaneously and through play, but in a stimulating environment. Creating such environment is the first step and a very important one when trying to raise your child’s interest. One of the mistakes that parents often make is painting their baby’s room in one color (the most common are blue for boys and pink for girls). The space in which your child spends most of the time should be filled with strong colors. This will raise the attention and stimulate the interest of the child. Colors should be intense, clear and have many different tones. The second step is encouraging your child to play with colors. One of the games that we recommend is making a rainbow out of various things and toys. For smaller babies you can prepare a rainbow sample, but older children won’t need this kind of help. It is good to say each color of the rainbow aloud. In this way your child will learn colors sooner. Furthermore, you can repeat colors’ names several times and let your child do the same. Here are some games that you can play when you notice that your child is ready to learn more about colors:
The Reading Like a Historian curriculum engages students in historical inquiry. Each lesson revolves around a central historical question and features a set of primary documents designed for groups of students with a range of reading skills. This curriculum teaches students how to investigate historical questions by employing reading strategies such as sourcing, contextualizing, corroborating, and close reading. Instead of memorizing historical facts, students evaluate the trustworthiness of multiple perspectives on historical issues and learn to make historical claims backed by documentary evidence. To learn more about how to use Reading Like a Historian lessons, watch these videos about how teachers use these materials in their classrooms.
As the saying goes, ‘Art is all around us’. In its many forms it presents fantastic opportunities for discussion, focused language work and skills-based activities. However, this bottomless cultural resource is largely underused by many language teachers. In this article I will describe its place in the classroom by exploring the following areas and discussing some practical ideas - Why use art? - Potential problems and solutions - Three ways of using art Why use art? Lessons based around works of art have many benefits for both the teacher and the students. 1. Responding to art can be very stimulating and can lead onto a great variety of activities. In its simplest form this might be describing a painting, but with a little creativity all sorts of things are possible. For example, the well-known ‘grammar auction’ activity can be redesigned as an art auction, where the students have to say a sentence about the piece of art – anything they like – and then the rest of the students bid according to how accurate they feel the sentence is. 2. Using art provides a useful change of pace. While many teachers use visual images to introduce a topic or language item, actually asking the students to engage with and respond to the piece of art can encourage students to become involved on quite a different level. 3. Incorporating art into the class or syllabus can take the students out of the classroom and encourage them to use their language skills in the real world. A visit to an art exhibition or an assignment that involves research on the internet can generate all sorts of language. 4. Thinking about or even creating art can be very motivating. It can take the emphasis off of accuracy and put it onto fluency and the ability to clearly express thoughts and ideas. This is great for students whose progress in speaking is hindered by a fear of making mistakes. 5. Responding to art has the potential to develop students’ creative and critical thinking skills. Students as low as pre-intermediate level will be able to read a short biography of an artist and discuss how their art depicts different aspects of their lives. These are just some of the reasons why art can be successfully used in the language classroom. Now let’s have a look at some of the common problem areas and try to identify some solutions for these. Potential problems and solutions Problem: As we all know, art is very subjective and therefore we may be faced with students who are reluctant to engage with the chosen examples of art. Solution: Encourage students to either choose which works of art are explored, or alternatively ensure that a variety of styles are represented. Choosing art that has some relevance to the students is always a good idea, either from its subject matter or the background of the artist. Problem: Students (and teachers!) may not perceive some art-related activities to be useful for language learning. Solution: As this is our primary goal, it is therefore very important to structure activities carefully so that there is a clear outcome and learning point. For example, a simple discussion about the meaning behind a piece of modern art can be combined with input on functional language for giving opinions and agreeing and disagreeing. Meanwhile, other activities can be language-led. For example, using a piece of art to generate wh- questions which are then given to another pair of students to answer. Considering structure will also help to control the direction of discussion/lessons based around responding to art. This can otherwise sometimes be difficult. Three ways of using art 1. Looking at art There are lots of different activities that involve students looking at and responding to pieces of art. For example: - A ranking discussion where students choose a famous work of art for the school to hang in its lobby or voting for the winner from the Turner Prize shortlist - Ask the students to choose a character from a painting or sculpture and write a mini-biography or story about that character - Compare two pieces of art with similar subjects, practising comparative language and adjectives - Ask the students to look at the website of a famous gallery (see some links below) and write a quiz about the works of art to swap with the other students to answer - Write questions to ask an artist or a character in a painting. Then role play the interview in pairs, followed by writing up a news article about the interview (using reported speech). 2. Sharing art - Ask the students to identify and bring in a copy of a piece of art by an artist from their country. Make a gallery in the classroom and ask the students to decide on a title for each piece of work in groups. - Ask the students to bring in a photograph they have taken and ask the other students to write a short story about the events leading up to the moment the photograph was taken (practising past tenses) and/or what happened after the photograph was taken. Then check whether their guess was right with the owner. - Get the students to bring in a piece of art that represents their childhood and ask the other students to form sentences about what they ‘used to do’ and/or write questions to ask the owner who brought it in 3. Creating art - Put the students into groups and ask them to create a piece of art using a variety of easily found materials – plastic bags, string, tissues, cardboard boxes – whatever you have to hand! Get them to title their piece of work and judge them according to originality, teamwork and use of materials - Do a visualisation exercise where you get the students to imagine painting the most beautiful picture they have ever seen. Then ask them to describe the picture to a partner who tries to draw it - Get the students to record vocabulary by writing the letters in a way that depicts the meaning of a word – this works best with adjectives. For example, ‘happy’ can be written in the form of a smile. - To get feedback on a course, ask the students to draw a picture in groups to represent how they felt about the course and then describe/explain it to you and the other students. As I hope I have demonstrated in this article, art definitely has a place in the language classroom and can be used in many different ways. It is a great resource for discussions as well as practising a variety of language. Activities incorporating art are motivating for students, provide an often welcome change of pace and can stimulate and develop creative and critical thinking skills.
How does the brain form “fear memory” that links a traumatic event to a particular situation? A pair of researchers at the University of California, Riverside, may have found an answer. Using a mouse model, the researchers demonstrated the formation of fear memory involves the strengthening of neural pathways between two brain areas: the hippocampus, which responds to a particular context and encodes it, and the amygdala, which triggers defensive behavior, including fear responses. Study results appear today in Nature Communications. “It has been hypothesized that fear memory is formed by strengthening the connections between the hippocampus and amygdala,” said Jun-Hyeong Cho, an assistant professor in the Department of Molecular, Cell and Systems Biology and the study’s lead author. “Experimental evidence, however, has been weak. Our study now demonstrates for the first time that the formation of fear memory associated with a context indeed involves the strengthening of the connections between the hippocampus and amygdala.” According to Cho, weakening these connections could erase the fear memory. “Our study, therefore, also provides insights into developing therapeutic strategies to suppress maladaptive fear memories in post-traumatic stress disorder patients,” he said. Post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, affects 7% of the U.S. population. A psychiatric disorder that can occur in people who have experienced or witnessed a traumatic event, such as war, assault, or disaster, PTSD can cause problems in daily life for months, and even years, in affected persons. Cho explained the capability of our brains to form a fear memory associated with a situation that predicts danger is highly adaptive since it enables us to learn from our past traumatic experiences and avoid those dangerous situations in the future. This process is dysregulated, however, in PTSD, where overgeneralized and exaggerated fear responses cause symptoms including nightmares or unwanted memories of the trauma, avoidance of situations that trigger memories of the trauma, heightened reactions, anxiety, and depressed mood. “The neural mechanism of learned fear has an enormous survival value for animals, who must predict danger from seemingly neutral contexts,” Cho said. “Suppose we had a car accident in a particular place and got severely injured. We would then feel afraid of that — or similar — place even long after we recover from the physical injury. This is because our brains form a memory that associates the car accident with the situation where we experienced the trauma. This associative memory makes us feel afraid of that, or similar, situation and we avoid such threatening situations.” According to Cho, during the car accident, the brain processes a set of multisensory circumstances around the traumatic event, such as visual information about the place, auditory information such as a crash sound, and smells of burning materials from damaged cars. The brain then integrates these sensory signals as a highly abstract form — the context — and forms a memory that associates the traumatic event with the context. The researchers also plan to develop strategies to suppress pathological fear memories in PTSD. Cho was joined in the study by Woong Bin Kim, a postdoctoral researcher in his laboratory. The study was funded by the National Institute of Mental Health of the National Institutes of Health; and UC Riverside.
Periodontal disease, which is also known as gum disease and periodontitis, is a progressive disease which, if left untreated, may result in tooth loss. Gum disease begins with the inflammation and irritation of the gingival tissues which surround and support the teeth. The cause of this inflammation is the toxins found in plaque which cause an ongoing bacterial infection. The bacterial infection colonizes in the gingival tissue, and deep pockets form between the teeth and the gums. If treated promptly by a periodontist, the effects of mild inflammation (known as gingivitis) are completely reversible. However, if the bacterial infection is allowed to progress, periodontal disease begins to destroy the gums and the underlying jawbone, promoting tooth loss. In some cases, the bacteria from this infection can travel to other areas of the body via the bloodstream. Common Causes of Gum Disease There are genetic and environmental factors involved in the onset of gum disease, and in many cases, the risk of developing periodontitis can be significantly lowered by taking preventative measures. Here are some of the most common causes of gum disease: Poor dental hygiene - Preventing dental disease starts at home with good oral hygiene and a balanced diet. Prevention also includes regular dental visits which include exams, cleanings, and x-rays. A combination of excellent home care and professional dental care will preserve the natural dentition and support of bony structures. When bacteria and calculus (tartar) are not removed, the gums and bone around the teeth become affected by bacterial toxins and can cause gingivitis or periodontitis, which ultimately lead to tooth loss. Tobacco use – Research has indicated that smoking and tobacco use are some of the most significant factors in the development and progression of gum disease. In addition to smokers experiencing a slower recovery and healing rate, smokers are far more likely to suffer from calculus (tartar) build-up on teeth, deep pockets in the gingival tissue, and significant bone loss. Genetic predisposition – Despite practicing rigorous oral hygiene routines, as much as 30% of the population may have a strong genetic predisposition to gum disease. These individuals are six times more likely to develop periodontal disease than individuals with no genetic predisposition. Genetic tests can be used to determine susceptibility and early intervention can be performed to keep the oral cavity healthy. Pregnancy and menopause – During pregnancy, regular brushing and flossing is critical. Hormonal changes experienced by the body can cause the gum tissue to become more sensitive, rendering them more susceptible to gum disease. Chronic stress and poor diet – Stress lowers the ability of the immune system to fight off disease which means bacterial infection can beat the body’s defense system. Poor diet or malnutrition can also lower the body’s ability to fight periodontal infections, as well as negatively affecting the health of the gums. Diabetes and underlying medical issues – Many medical conditions can intensify or accelerate the onset and progression of gum disease including respiratory disease, heart disease, arthritis and osteoporosis. Diabetes hinders the body’s ability to utilize insulin which makes the bacterial infection in the gums more difficult to control and cure. Grinding teeth – The clenching or grinding of teeth can significantly damage the supporting tissue surrounding the teeth. Grinding one’s teeth is usually associated with a “bad bite” or the misalignment of the teeth. When an individual is suffering from gum disease, the additional destruction of gingival tissue due to grinding can accelerate the progression of the disease. Medication – Many drugs including oral contraceptive pills, heart medicines, anti-depressants, and steroids affect the overall condition of teeth and gums, making them more susceptible to gum disease. Steroid use promotes gingival overgrowth, which makes swelling more commonplace and allows bacteria to colonize more readily in the gum tissue. Treatment of Gum Disease Periodontists specialize in the treatment of gum disease and the placement of dental implants. A periodontist can perform effective cleaning procedures in deep pockets such as scaling and root planing; they can also prescribe antibiotic and antifungal medications to treat infection and halt the progression of the disease. In the case of tooth loss, the periodontist is able to perform tissue grafts to promote natural tissue regeneration, and insert dental implants if a tooth or several teeth are missing. Where gum recession causes a “toothy” looking smile, the periodontist can recontour the gingival tissue to create an even and aesthetically pleasing appearance. Preventing periodontal disease is critical in preserving the natural dentition. Addressing the causes of gum disease and discussing them with your dentist will help prevent the onset, progression, and recurrence of periodontal disease. If you have any questions or concerns about the causes or treatments pertaining to gum disease, please ask your dentist.
In order to understand how carbon accumulation in Northern Hemisphere peatlands may likely change in the future, it is useful to look at how carbon accumulation varies in modern day 'extreme' ('dry') peatlands located in the Falkland Islands. Researchers Dmitri Mauquoy, Clemens von Scheffer and Tom Theurer recently travelled to the Falkland Islands and spent around two weeks sampling the peatlands there. What is your research about? The aim of our research is to understand the relationship between long-term peatland carbon accumulation rates, burning disturbance, the types of former peat forming plants and climate change across the Falkland Islands. Dr Dmitri Mauquoy explains: “Peatlands are valuable ecosystems which take up and store carbon, mitigating the effects of climate change by taking greenhouse gases out of the atmosphere. For millennia they have captured carbon dioxide (a greenhouse gas) from the atmosphere and locked it away as peat. One of the consequences of recent climate change and human disturbance is that peatlands are now becoming more fire prone due to drainage, higher summer temperatures and reduced precipitation, which creates a water deficit. In order to understand how carbon accumulation in Northern Hemisphere peatlands may likely change in the future, it is useful to look at how carbon accumulation varies in modern day ‘extreme’ (‘dry’) peatlands located in the Falkland Islands”. What happens with the samples you collected? Clemens von Scheffer will now undertake a range of palaeoecological analyses of the samples we collected from 4 peatlands across West and East Falkland. What was your experience during field work? The Falkland Islands are a really fascinating place to visit and the local people are friendly, kind and a lot of fun!
Orientation & Mobility Orientation and mobility training (O & M) helps a blind or visually impaired child know where he is in space and where he wants to go (orientation). It also helps him be able to carry out a plan to get there (mobility). Orientation and mobility skills should begin to be developed in infancy starting with basic body awareness and movement, and continuing on into adulthood as the individual learns skills that allow him to navigate his world efficiently, effectively, and safely. Today, orientation and mobility specialists have developed strategies and approaches for serving increasingly younger populations so that O & M training may begin in infancy. Superior Pediatric Care has the ability to provide O & M to our school districts and early intervention programs as needed by the students/children of those environments.
1. "Therefore it is not really a small thing, when in small things we resist self." Explain this. (Imitation of Christ, A Kempis, Third Book, ch 39) 2. What was Nathan's message to David? Why was it sent, and what was the result? (2 Samuel 12) 3. "How long, Lord, must I call for help, but you do not listen? Or cry out to you, 'Violence!' but you do not save? Why do you make me look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrongdoing?" Who said this? What was God's response? Do you remember the prophet's final conclusion? (Habakkuk) Write 8-10 lines of poetry from memory. 1. "The worst part of holding the memories is not the pain. It's the loneliness of it. Memories need to be shared." Explain this. (The Giver, Lowry) 2. Summarize a short story, essay, or poem you read this term. 3. Write a paragraph based on "Harrison Bergeron," explaining whether the ideal of total equality is a worthwhile goal. Or, write about the wisdom of the old based on "The Aged Mother." 1. Write sentences showing correct use of "its" and "it's." 2. Choose "is" or "are." The cover, and not the pages, __ brittle from years of improper storage. (is) 3. When should "who" be used, and when "whom"? Give examples. 4. "He paid him, thanked him, and set out at once in his new cloak for the department." Parse the sentence, identifying: 1) the part of speech for each word; 2) for nouns and pronouns, the number (singular, plural) and case (nominative, objective/accusative, dative, possessive/genitive, vocative); 3) for verbs, the tense (past, present, future), voice (active, passive), and--if applicable--person (first, second, third). In addition, circle the verbs that belong to independent clauses (also called primary or coordinate clauses), and underline the verbs that belong to dependent (or subordinate) clauses. (The Overcoat) ANSWER - he: pronoun, singular, nominative; paid: verb, past, active, third person; him: pronoun, singular, objective (or accusative); thanked: verb, past, active, third person; him: pronoun, singular, objective (or accusative); and: conjunction; set out: verb, past, active, third person (student may also parse this as two words, with "set" as the verb and "out" as a preposition); at: preposition; once: noun, singular, dative; in: preposition; his: adjective; new: adjective; cloak: noun, singular, dative; for: preposition; the: article (or adjective); department: noun, singular, dative. Student should circle "paid," "thanked," and "set out" or "set." 1. What is 'Blitzkrieg?' Was it successful? Or, describe the events that brought the US into WWII. (Land of Hope, ch 18) 2. Give some account of the Cold War. (Land of Hope, ch 19) 3. Discuss J. F. Kennedy's actions in Cuba, OR the Civil Rights movement. (Land of Hope, ch 20) 4. "I still have a dream, a dream deeply rooted in the American dream--one day this nation will rise up and live up to its creed, 'We hold these truths to be self evident: that all men are created equal.' I have a dream . . ." Who said this? Write about this speech. 5. What do you know about Vietnam? (Land of Hope, ch 20) Natural History and General Science 1. What do you know about processionary caterpillars? (Fabre's Life of the Caterpillar) 2. Briefly explain what quantum mechanics is. (Secrets of the Universe ch 20, Crash Course Physics 43 and 44) 3. Explain the Doppler Effect. (Physics Can Be Fun, Whistles and Stars) 1. Show why Plato gave Aristides praise above all the other many famous and notable men of Athens; or, Show that the counsels of Aristides brought victory to the Greek armies at Plataea. (Plutarch's Life of Aristides) 2. Describe the stages of a slander. What is slander? (Autobiography of a Slander) 3. Discuss a couple of John Howard Griffin's experiences in the racially segregated south that surprised you. (Black Like Me) 4. Explain "the phenomenon of an Inner Ring." (The Inner Ring, Lewis) 5. "In our time it is broadly true that political writing is bad writing." Do you agree or disagree with George Orwell? (Politics and the English Language, 1946) 1. If x is an integer, what is the greatest value of x which satisfies 5 < 2x + 2 < 9? (3) 2. The sum an integer x and its reciprocal is equal to 78/15. What is the value of x? (5) 3. If a student has an average of 87 after 4 tests, what would the student have to get on his next test to get an average of 90? (102) 4. 231 students went on a field trip. Some students rode in vans which hold 7 students each and some students rode in buses which hold 25 students each. How many of each type of vehicle did they use if there were 15 vehicles total? (8 vans, 7 buses) 5. Two angles are complementary. One angle is 10 degrees less than three times the other. Find the measures of the angles. (65, 25) 1. Talk about a friend of yours. What do you think they might be doing now? When will you see them again? 2. In your foreign language, write three sentences about yourself.
Although teeth are stronger than bones, they can still fracture as a result of normal activities and cause severe pain. Hairline fractures refer to small cracks that can form in your teeth, which is the first reason for tooth loss in developed countries. What happens in a tooth fracture? Enamel, a hard, mineralized substance is the outer layer of your teeth. Dentine, a calcified tissue, makes up the part of your teeth between the pulp, which houses your nerves, and the enamel. Hairline tooth fractures usually consist of cracks in the tooth’s enamel. Tiny cracks, called craze lines, that affect only small parts of the tooth enamel can often heal themselves through a remineralization process. Self-healing tooth fractures also don’t cause any pain. If you experience discomfort from a suspected tooth fracture, it’s important to seek dental help immediately to increase your chances of saving the tooth. Causes of a tooth fracture Tooth fractures are common ailments and mostly occur in people over the age of 50. Your tooth enamel weakens as you age, making your teeth more susceptible to hairline fractures. Physical stress and impact can also cause your teeth to crack. Biting on hard foods or ice, grinding and clenching your teeth or trauma to the mouth can cause hairline fractures. You can lower your risk of painful fractures by wearing a nightguard if you grind your teeth and wearing a mouthguard while playing contact sports. Sudden temperature changes, such as drinking very hot tea after taking a bite of ice cream, can cause tooth fractures as well. Hot temperatures cause your teeth to expand, while cold temperatures cause teeth to contract. Because dentine expands and contracts slower than enamel does, an extreme temperature change can stress and ultimately crack your enamel. Cusp fractures often occur on teeth with large fillings. Although this poses a major risk of tooth loss, you may not even feel a cusp fracture, as they generally don’t extend to the tooth pulp. If you have a very small hairline fracture, or one around a dental filling, you may not feel any symptoms. However, small cracks will become visible over time as food and beverages can more easily stain the dentine where there are cracks in the enamel. It’s important to have regular dental exams to catch asymptomatic tooth fractures before they can develop into larger problems. If you have a hairline fracture, you’ll feel sharp, sudden pain around your tooth, especially when you bite down or chew. The pain often appears and disappears quickly. You may also experience swelling in the gums around the fractured tooth. Tooth fractures can also increase your sensitivity to eating sweet, sour, hot, or cold foods. Treatment for a tooth fracture After diagnosing a tooth fracture, your dentist will discuss your treatment options with you. Look for a trusted dental practice near you, or an orthodontic clinic in Maidstone, to perform the necessary procedure. Fractured teeth can often be repaired with bonding, crowning, or root canal procedures. Bonding involves applying a dental resin to fill the crack and preventing it from growing. This will hide the appearance of the fracture as well. You may require a dental crown, a ceramic or porcelain prosthetic covering for your tooth, to protect your fractured tooth from further damage. Your dentist will have to shave off some enamel and then take an impression of your tooth to create a perfectly fitting prosthetic device. If the fracture has damaged the pulp interior of your teeth, you may need a root canal. This procedure removes the tooth pulp to prevent future infections or nerve damage. In some cases, your tooth may not be able to be fixed. Your dentist may advise an extraction in order to prevent tooth decay or infection from spreading to the rest of your teeth. Hairline tooth fractures are common tooth maladies that can have major implications for your oral health. Even if you believe your tooth fracture to be minor, it’s important to seek advice from a dental professional to lower the risk of compromising the integrity of your teeth. Looking for a 100% all-natural liquid tooth oil and mouth rinse? Check out OraMD Original Strength and OraMD Extra Strength. Subscribe to our Trusted Health Club newsletter for more information about natural living tips, natural health, oral health and skincare. If you are looking for more health resources check out the Trusted Health Resources list. Founder Ray Spotts has a passion for all things natural and has made a life study of nature as it relates to health and well-being. Ray became a forerunner bringing products to market that are extraordinarily effective and free from potentially harmful chemicals and additives. For this reason Ray formed Trusted Health Products, a company you can trust for clean, effective, and healthy products. Ray is an organic gardener, likes fishing, hiking, and teaching and mentoring people to start new businesses. You can get his book for free, “How To Succeed In Business Based On God’s Word,” at www.rayspotts.com.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, users sought health-related information and shared emotional messages with the chatbot, indicating the potential use of chatbots to provide accurate health information and emotional support. Credit: Institute for Basic Science The COVID-19 pandemic has increased people’s reliance on digital platforms, such as social media, to obtain information and communicate their thoughts and emotions with their peers. The sudden shift from offline to online interactions due to the COVID-19 pandemic has fueled the popularity of chatbots in many fields, including the medical domain. The World Health Organization (WHO) has even used a chatbot to fight against false information, and they are still looking into how this new technology can help them prepare for future pandemics. A new study has shown the potential of AI chatbots to relieve users’ anxiety and quickly deliver information during major social upheavals. Led by Chief Investigator Cha Meeyoung of the Data Science Group within the Institute for Basic Science (IBS) and Dr. Cha Chiyoung from Ewha Woman’s University’s College of Nursing, the researchers analyzed nearly 20,000 conversations between online users and a chatbot called SimSimi. This commercial chatbot has served over 400 million users worldwide in 81 languages. The joint research team investigated how users from the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Malaysia, and the Philippines used the chatbot during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study is one of the first to analyze large-scale data on conversations related to COVID-19 between chatbots and humans. Dr. Chin Hyojin, the lead author of the study said, “Chatbots are a promising tool to fulfill people’s informational needs in challenging times. While health institutions such as the Korea Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization (WHO) have used chatbots to provide the most up-to-date information on the spread and symptoms of COVID-19 to billions of people, it was unclear how users interacted with such systems in times of crisis.” The average percentage of positive and negative-related words in COVID-19-related conversations by country according to the Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count dictionary. Credit: Institute for Basic Science The researchers employed natural language processing (NLP) techniques to identify a series of topics discussed by online users when talking to the chatbot. The results show that users use the chatbot to ask questions about the disease and have a small talk during periods of social isolation due to the pandemic. During the pandemic’s lockdowns, the chatbot frequently served as a conversation companion for obtaining information and expressing emotions. The researchers found 18 COVID-19-related topics that people conversed with the chatbot using topic modeling, a machine learning technique that discovers conversation topics from large-scale text data, and classified them into overarching themes. Some of these themes included the outbreak of COVID-19, preventative behaviors, the physical and psychological impact of COVID-19, people and life in the pandemic, and questions about COVID-19. This showed that many users sought information and queried the chatbot about the pandemic, even though the particular chatbot under study was not designed to deliver specific information on COVID-19. Topics discussed by users with the chatbot identified by the Latent Dirichlet Allocation topic model and their prevalence. Credit: Institute for Basic Science In terms of how people felt, the team employed computational tools to compare how each of these themes made them feel. Although some topics, such as masks, lockdowns, and disease dread elicited negative emotions, it was discovered that daily chatter with the chatbot mostly led to positive emotions. There were also regional differences based on geographics. For example, U.S.-based users were found to more frequently use negative keywords in comparison to users from Asia. Chief Investigator Cha said, “This study is unique because it is the first to use commercial chatbot conversations that are not dedicated to mental support during the pandemic. Because individuals are sharing their concerns and seeking assistance from social chatbots, they can be an essential tool for health care during crises like the COVID-19 pandemic. The next stage is understanding individuals’ intentions and utilizing the knowledge to create systems that better respond to user demands during difficult times.” The study was published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (JMIR) as part of a series called “Chatbots and COVID-19,” which was organized by the WHO. Hyojin Chin et al, User-Chatbot Conversations During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Study Based on Topic Modeling and Sentiment Analysis (Preprint), Journal of Medical Internet Research (2023). DOI: 10.2196/40922 Journal of Medical Internet Research Institute for Basic Science
Java does not support goto, it is reserved as a keyword just in case they wanted to add it to a later version. - Unlike C/C++, Java does not have goto statement, but java supports label. - The only place where a label is useful in Java is right before nested loop statements. - We can specify label name with break to break out a specific outer loop. - Similarly, label name can be specified with continue. Using break with label in Java value of j = 0 Using continue with label in Java We can also use continue instead of break. See following program for example. value of j = 0 value of j = 0 value of j = 0 value of j = 0 value of j = 0 value of j = 0 value of j = 0 value of j = 0 value of j = 0 value of j = 0 Explanation : Since continue statement skips to the next iteration in the loop, it iterates for 10 times as i iterates from 0 to 9. So the outer loop executes for 10 times and the inner for loop executes 1 time in each of the outer loops. Java does not have a goto statement because it provides a way to branch in an arbitrary and unstructured manner. This usually makes goto-ridden code hard to understand and hard to maintain. It also prohibits certain compiler optimization. There are, however, a few places where the goto is a valuable and legitimate construct for flow control. For example, the goto can be useful when you are exiting from a deeply nested set of loops. To handle such situations, Jave defines an expanded form of the break statement. The general form of the labelled break statement is: Before the break This is after the second block Pass 0: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Loops Complete. Please write comments if you find anything incorrect, or you want to share more information about the topic discussed above. - Java.util.BitSet class methods in Java with Examples \| Set 2 - Shadowing of static functions in Java - How does default virtual behavior differ in C++ and Java ? - How are Java objects stored in memory? - How are parameters passed in Java? - Are static local variables allowed in Java? - final variables in Java - Default constructor in Java - Assigning values to static final variables in Java - Comparison of Exception Handling in C++ and Java - Arrays in Java - Inheritance and constructors in Java - More restrictive access to a derived class method in Java - Comparison of static keyword in C++ and Java - Static blocks in Java
The first-ever 3D analysis of a material known as “Zwischgold” has unveiled its composition, along with how medieval metalworkers used it as a gilding material thousands of years ago. The study was conducted by physicist Dr. Benjamin Watts and his team at the Paul Scherrer Institute in Switzerland. What is Zwischgold? Zwischgold is a blend of both silver and gold, formed into a foil that was commonly used as a coating, or gilding material for medieval objects and paintings. It’s not uncommon to find Zwischgold adorning artifacts from the medieval period. The surface layer of gold used on top of the silver base is ultra-thin – more than 2,300 times thinner than a human hair – meaning it would have been cheaper to use than pure gold. Artisans from this period would have had to be master craftsmen, and more technologically advanced than we previously had thought. “It is incredible how someone with only hand tools was able to craft such nanoscale material,” says Watts. “Although Zwischgold was frequently used in the Middle Ages, very little was known about this material up to now.” A Unique Study This new study has its origins in finding ways to preserve Zwischgold-gilded objects, given how easily the material corrodes after prolonged exposure to oxygen. Researchers used samples from a 15th-century altar that was likely constructed around 1420, which had been used within a mountain chapel in the Swiss Alps for centuries. The altar features the Virgin Mary, holding baby Jesus in her arms. Samples, supplied by the Basel Historical Museum, were taken from Mary’s robe. The team then leveraged a new 3D diffractive imaging technique called ptychographic X-ray computed tomography (PXCT). The scan helped to further reveal the chemical composition of Zwischgold without compromising its structure in the process. The imaging allowed the research team to observe the degree of adhesion, the thickness of both the gold and silver layers, and how evenly distributed the thin gold layer was applied to its silver base. “Many people had assumed that technology in the Middle Ages was not particularly advanced,” notes Qing Wu, a member of Watts’ team and lead author of the research paper. “On the contrary: this was not the Dark Ages, but a period when metallurgy and gilding techniques were incredibly well developed.” While no documentation has yet been discovered as to how Zwischgold was produced and applied to objects, these new 3D scans give scientists and art historians insight into how it was likely done. Silver and gold were hammered into foils separately and meticulously, with the gold foil being hammered to a much thinner degree. Once the two metals were hammered out, they would have been combined and worked on in tandem. “This required special beating tools and pouches with various inserts made of different materials into which the foils were inserted. This was a fairly complicated procedure that required highly skilled specialists,” says Wu. The results of the PXCT scans will be used to further future studies, and to help conservators understand, preserve, and restore these uniquely gilded objects.
Venereology / STD Venereology is a branch of Medicine that is concerned with the treatment of diseases which are spread from person-to-person direct contact or physical intimacy. Genital areas are generally moist and warm environments, ideal for the growth of yeasts, viruses, fungus and bacteria. These Infectious organisms can easy transmit .Such diseases are commonly known as venereal diseases (VD) The venereal diseases (VD) include bacterial, viral, fungal, and parasitic infections such as : - Genital herpes - Human Papilloma Virus infection (HPV) - Pubic lice and scabies (ectoparasitic infections) - Immunodeficiency – HIV - Lymphogranuloma venereum - Granuloma inguinale - Herpes simplex Gonorrhea is a bacterial infection caused by the organism Neisseria gonorrhea also known as gonococcus bacteriae that are transmitted. Gonorrhea is one of the oldest known VD diseases. It is estimated that over one million people are currently infected with Gonorrhea. Among women who are infected, a significant percentage also will be infected with chlamydia, another type of bacteria that causes another (VD). The bacteria that causes Gonorrhea requires very specific conditions for growth and reproduction. It cannot live outside the body for longer than a few minutes, nor can it live on the skin of the hands, arms, or legs. It survives only on moist surfaces within the body and is found most commonly in the vagina, and, more commonly, the cervix. Chlamydia (Chlamydia trachomatis) is a bacteria that causes an infection that is very similar to Gonorrhea in the way that it is spread and the symptoms it produces. The Chlamydia bacteria is found in the cervix and urethra and can live in the throat or rectum. Both infected men and infected women frequently lack symptoms of chlamydia infection. Syphilis is caused by a bacterial organism called a spirochete. The scientific name for the organism is Treponema pallidum. The spirochete is a wormlike, spiral-shaped organism that wiggles vigorously when viewed under a microscope. It infects the person by burrowing into the moist, mucous-covered lining of the mouth or genitals. The spirochete produces a classic, painless ulcer known as a chancre. 4. Genital herpes Genital herpes, also commonly called “herpes,” is a viral infection by the herpes simplex virus (HSV) that is transmitted through intimate contact with the mucous-covered linings of the mouth or the vagina or the genital skin. The virus enters the linings or skin through microscopic tears. Once inside, the virus travels to the nerve roots near the spinal cord and settles there permanently.The outbreak of herpes is closely related to the functioning of the immune system. Women who have suppressed immune systems, because of stress, infection, or medications, have more frequent and longer-lasting outbreaks. 5. Human papillomaviruses (HPVs) and genital warts HPV infection is common and does not usually lead to the development of warts, cancers, or specific symptoms. In fact, the majority of people infected with HPV have no symptoms or lesions at all. The ultimate test to detect HPV involves identification of the genetic material (DNA) of the virus. Genital warts also known as condylomata acuminata or venereal warts, can infect the genital tract of men and women. These warts are primarily transmitted during contact. Other, different HPV types generally cause common warts elsewhere on the body. HPV infection has long been known to be a cause of cervical cancer and other Anogenital cancers in women, and it has also been linked with both anal and penile cancer in men. Chancroid is an infection caused by the bacterium Hemophilus ducreyi, which is passed from one partner to another. The cells that form the bump then begin to die, and the bump becomes an ulcer that is usually painful. Often, there is an associated tenderness and swelling of the glands in the groin that normally tissue fluid from the genital area.The painful ulcer and tender lymph nodes occur together in only about one-third of infections. 7. Pubic lice and scabies (Ectoparasitic Infections) Ectoparasitic infections are infections that are caused by tiny parasitic bugs, such as lice or mites.Pediculosis pubis is an infection of the genital area caused by the crab louse or Phthirus pubis. The lice commonly called crabs are small bugs that are visible to the naked eye without the aid of a magnifying glass or microscope. The lice live on pubic hair and are associated with itching. Scabies is an Ectoparasitic infection caused by a mite known as Sarcoptes scabiei that is not visible with the naked eye but can be seen with a magnifying glass or microscope. The parasites live on the skin and cause itching over the hands, arms, trunk, legs, and buttocks. The itching usually starts several weeks after exposure to a person with scabies and is often associated with small bumps over the area of itching. The itching from scabies is usually worse at night. 8.HUMAN IMMUNODEFICIENCY – HIV and AIDS Infection with the human immunodeficiency virus weakens the body’s immune system and increases the body’s vulnerability to many different infections Trichomoniasis is a common transmitted infection caused by a parasite. In women, trichomoniasis can cause a foul-smelling vaginal discharge, genital itching and painful urination. Men who have trichomoniasis typically have no symptoms. Pregnant women who have trichomoniasis might be at higher risk of delivering their babies prematurely.
Measles is one of the leading causes of death among young children. It is a highly contagious viral disease. A safe and effective vaccine has existed since the 1960s but outbreaks still occur due to ineffective or insufficient immunisation programmes. While global measles deaths have decreased by 71 percent worldwide in recent years – from 542,000 in 2000 to 158,000 in 2011 (according to the World Health Organisation) – measles is still common in many developing countries, particularly in parts of Africa and Asia. Severe measles is more likely among malnourished children under five years old. Those with insufficient vitamin A, or whose immune systems have been weakened by HIV/AIDS or other diseases are especially likely to contract the virus. What causes measles? Measles is caused by the highly contagious measles virus. It is so contagious that 90 percent of people without immunity who share living spaces with an infected person will catch it. Measles is transmitted via droplets from the nose, mouth or throat of infected people, by coughing, sneezing and breathing. Symptoms of measles Symptoms appear between 10 and 14 days after exposure to the virus and include a runny nose, cough, eye infection, rash and high fever. There is no specific treatment for measles – patients are isolated and treated for a lack of vitamin A, eye-related complications, stomatitis (mouth ulcers) dehydration through diarrhoea, protein deficiencies and respiratory tract infections. Clinical diagnosis of measles requires a history of fever of at least three days, with at least one of the three ‘C’s (cough, catarrh, conjunctivitis) present. Clusters of tiny white spots on the inside of the mouth, known as Koplik spots, are also a sign of measles. These usually occur two days before the outbreak of the measles rash itself. Most people recover within two to three weeks, but between five and 20 percent of people infected with measles die, usually because of severe complications such as diarrhoea, dehydration, encephalitis (inflammation of the brain) or respiratory infections. A safe and cost-effective vaccine against measles exists, and large-scale vaccination campaigns have drastically decreased the number of cases and deaths from measles. However, coverage remains low in countries with weak health structures, or among people with limited access to health services and large outbreaks still occur. Vaccination is the best form of protection against measles and even after the disease has begun to spread it can still reduce the number of cases and deaths. The difficulty lies in the fact that at least 95 percent of people need to be immune to prevent new outbreaks.
What is Autism Spectrum Disorder? Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a growing mental health condition in America today, characterized by social interaction and communication deficiencies as well as repetitive behaviors in patients. Still, that doesn't mean all patients with ASD have symptoms indicative of deficiencies, as many ASD patients far exceed their peers in visualization ability, music intelligence, and math and art understanding. At ABC Pediatrics, patients with autism are treated with gentle care gained through a strong understanding of the factors often behind the permanent brain disorder. With a ten-fold increase in cases within the past 40 years in the United States alone, a better understanding of where these social irregularities come from has played a vital role in advancing autism treatment. Autism is between four to five times more likely to occur in boys than girls, though both sexes with the disorder are often stigmatized by their peers, their classmates, and even their families. This makes it all the more important to seek compassionate and caring healthcare providers, such as those at ABC Pediatrics! What Causes ASD/Autism? Research has consistently found that autism is largely genetic, though outside environmental factors may also play a role. Differences have also been in found in the brains of autistic children compared to those without autism. In essence, autism is a complex disorder, the causes of which are not fully understood and are still being researched. Understanding Someone With Autism Autism symptoms manifest themselves in different ways in different people. While some autistic patients do have intellectual disabilities, many autistic patients have average or above-average intelligence, including the presence of autistic savants. Other autism patients struggle to communicate verbally, though they can learn to communicate non-verbally with patience and help from the experts like those at ABC Pediatrics. Accepting, respecting, and supporting autistic patients can go a long way in helping them live a long and healthy life. Does your child have autism? Call ABC Pediatrics in McKinney, TX at (972) 569-9904 to learn more about diagnoses and care!
- Write a complete Java program called CalcAvgDropLowest according to the following guidelines. The program prompts the user for five to ten numbers, all on one line, and separated by spaces. It then calculates the average of all those numbers except the lowest n number(s), where n is given by the user, and displays all the numbers and the calculated average to the user. The program uses methods to: - get the numbers used to calculate the average, - get the number of lowest numbers to drop before calculating the average, - calculate the average of the numbers (except the lowest n number(s)) entered by the user, and - print the results. The first method should take no arguments and return an array of doubles. The second method should take no arguments and return a single integer, the number of the lowest numbers to drop before calculating the average. The third method should take an array of doubles (the return value of the first method above) and a single integer value (the number of lowest items to drop before calculating the average) and return a double (the average of all the numbers except the lowest n values). The fourth method should take an array of doubles, an integer, and a double as arguments but have no return value. If the user gives these numbers for calculating the average: 40.00 60.00 80.00 100.00 20.00 …and the user gives the number 2 to indicate how many of the lowest values should be dropped before calculating the average, then… …the program should give as output: Given the numbers 40.00, 60.00, 80.00, 100.00, and 20.00, the average of all the numbers except the lowest 2 numbers is 80.00. - Write a complete Java program called MinMax that declares an array of doubles of length 5, and uses methods to populate the array with user input from the command line and to print out the max (highest) and min (lowest) values in the array. 3, Write a complete Java program called Scorer that declares a two-dimensional array of doubles (call it scores) with three rows and three columns and that uses methods and loops as follows: Use a method containing a nested while loop to get the nine (3 x 3) doubles from the user at the command line. Use a method containing a nested for loop to compute the average of the doubles in each row. Use a method to output these three row averages to the command line.
Authors are individuals who, by their intellectual and imaginative powers, purposefully create from the materials of their experience and reading a literary work which is distinctively their own. The character or voice that conveys the story. Point of view Signifies the way a story gets told, the modes established by the author by means of which the reader is presented with the characters, dialogue, actions, setting, and events which constitute the narrative. Omniscient point of view Usually in the third person, the narrator knows all and is free to reveal anything, including what the characters are thinking or feeling and why they act as they do. Limited omniscient point of view The narrator, usually in the third person, is limited to a complete knowledge of one character in the story, revealing what that one character experiences, thinks, and feels. Two types: major character or minor character First person point of view The story is told by one of its characters, in the first person. The first person narrator may either be a major character or a minor character. Objective or dramatic point of view The third person narrator is limited to revealing the actions and dialogue of the characters, but does not interpret their behavior or reveal their thoughts.
Free math images for teachers This Free math images for teachers supplies step-by-step instructions for solving all math troubles. So let's get started! The Best Free math images for teachers Free math images for teachers can be a helpful tool for these students. Solving each equation is just a matter of adding the two terms you want to compare to each other, and then simplifying the equation. When you have the two sides of an equation on the left, you add the two terms together, and when you have the two sides of an equation on the right, you add their differences. You can also simplify an equation by cancelling like terms or multiplying out. For example, if you want to solve 3x = 5, you might think that x = 0.25. This means that x is 25% of 3, so it equals 1/3. You can cancel like terms by subtracting one term from another: 3 - 1 = 2, so x must be equal to 2. To multiply out like terms, divide both sides by both terms: 3 ÷ (1 + 1) = 3 ÷ 2 = 1/2. So first use the order in which you entered the equations to figure out whether you're comparing like or unlike terms. Then simplify your equations to see if they simplify further. When you do this, look for ways to simplify your variables as well! The square root of a number is the number that, when multiplied by itself, produces that number. For example, to find the square root of 12, simply multiply 12 by itself: 12 × 12 = 144. The square root of any number has a value of 1. To find the square root of a non-integer number, simply take the non-integer and multiply it by itself (or raise it to the power that is one less than the largest integer). For example, if you want to find the square root of -1, you would first raise -1 to the power 2. This gives you -2 × -2 = 4. Now simply subtract 4 from 4 to get 2. This is the square root of -1. There are two ways to solve equations with roots: adding and subtracting. Adding will always give you the correct answer, but subtracting will sometimes give you an incorrect answer. If you want to be sure that your answer will be correct and reliable, always use subtraction first! Solving equations by taking square roots is often much easier than solving them by factoring or expanding. To solve an equation by taking square roots, all you have to do is multiply the equation's terms together until you have a single term with a positive value. This can be accomplished fairly easily using long division or even algebraic substitution. When using this method There are many ways to solve a right triangle, but one of the most common methods is using the Pythagorean Theorem. . This theorem can be used to find the missing sides of a right triangle if the length of the hypotenuse and one other side are known. There are a few different apps that purport to do your homework for you. While these apps may be able to provide some assistance, it is ultimately up to the user to do their own homework. These apps can be useful as a supplement to your own knowledge, but they should not be relied on as a replacement for actually doing the work. Solving for a side in a right triangle can be done using the Pythagorean theorem. This theorem states that in a right triangle, the sum of the squares of the two shorter sides is equal to the square of the length of the hypotenuse. This theorem can be represented using the equation: a^2 + b^2 = c^2. In this equation, a and b represent the lengths of the two shorter sides, while c represents the length of the hypotenuse. To solve for a side, you simply need to plug in the known values and solve for the unknown variable. For example, if you know that the length of Side A is 3 and the length of Side B is 4, you can solve for Side C by plugging those values into the equation and solving for c. In this case, 3^2 + 4^2 = c^2, so 9 + 16 = c^2, 25 = c^2, and c = 5. Therefore, the length of Side C is 5.
Parakeets or kākāriki (little kākā) are slender green parrots with long tails. Like other parrots, they have broad, curved beaks and are zygodactyl – they have two toes pointing forward and two backwards. The ancestor of New Zealand’s kākāriki species came from New Caledonia within the last 500,000 years, and evolved into six species spread between the subtropical Kermadec Islands and the subantarctic islands. All are now endemic – found only in New Zealand. They belong to the Cyanoramphus genus, which also includes other South Pacific parakeets. Kākāriki make a chattering call as they fly and while feeding. They often hold food up to their mouth with one claw. In autumn and winter they search for food in flocks, but are more solitary during the breeding season. The Māori saying ‘ko te rua porete hai whakarite’, meaning ‘just like a nest of kākāriki’, was used to describe a group of people gossiping excitedly. The Antipodes Island parakeet is the largest. Males measure 32 centimetres from head to tail and weigh 130 grams. The smallest is the yellow-crowned parakeet. It is shorter – males are 25 centimetres long, females 23 centimetres – and much slighter. Males weigh just 50 grams and females 40 grams. The other parakeet species are within this range. Parakeets were reasonably common when European settlers arrived in the 1840s, and were shot for feathers to fill pillows. Now they are legally protected, but introduced rats, cats and stoats have taken a heavy toll. None are common, having disappeared from much of their former range. Two mainland species – the red-crowned and yellow-crowned parakeet – are also quite abundant on some predator-free islands, and the orange-fronted parakeet has been moved to others. Red-crowned parakeets (Cyanoramphus novaezelandiae) are green, with red from bill to crown, a thin red band past each eye and small red flank patches. They mainly eat the seeds of beech, tussock and flax, as well as fruits, flowers, leaves, shoots and invertebrates. They nest in trunks or crevices and burrows, laying about seven white eggs. Feeding and nesting close to the ground means they are very vulnerable to predators. They are now absent from most of the South Island, and sparse in larger forested areas of the Ruahine Range, central North Island, and Northland. They are still doing well on stoat-free Stewart Island and some smaller islands as far south as the Auckland Islands. Separate subspecies are found on the Kermadec and Chatham islands. Yellow-crowned parakeets (Cyanoramphus auriceps) are green, with yellow feathers on the crown meeting a red band above the bill. They live in conifer–broadleaf and beech forest as well as scrub, in both the North and South islands. They mainly feed in the treetops, eating scale insects, leaf miners and aphids, the buds or flowers of kānuka, rātā and beech, and beech seeds. They usually nest in holes in old trees, laying five or more white eggs. Some remain in South Island native forests and the larger forests of the central North Island. On the mainland they are more widespread and common than red-crowned parakeets, but on most predator-free islands the red-crowned species dominates. The least common species is the orange-fronted parakeet (Cyanoramphus malherbi), which is green with a yellow crown meeting orange above the bill. It once lived in the South Island, on Stewart Island and as far north as Hen (Taranga) Island, but is now only found in a few North Canterbury valleys of the Southern Alps. In 2001, its population – already low at 700 – fell below 200 when a bumper crop of beech seed (its main food) triggered a huge increase in the number of rats, which prey on the eggs and chicks. Intensive efforts to prevent extinction were made: better predator control, cross-fostering eggs to other birds, and moving some birds to predator-free islands in Fiordland (Chalky Island), the Marlborough Sounds (Maud and Blumine islands) and Tūhua (Mayor Island) off the coast of Tauranga. In 2020 there were about 300 orange-fronted parakeets in North Canterbury. Offshore island parakeets The mainland red- and yellow-crowned parakeets occur at sites as distant from New Zealand as the Auckland Islands. A subspecies of red-crowned parakeet is found in the Kermadec island group, and another on the Chatham Islands. The Chatham Islands have a local endemic species, Forbes’ parakeet (Cyanoramphus forbesi). Subantarctic Antipodes Island has two – the all-green Antipodes Island parakeet (Cyanoramphus unicolor) and the red-crowned Reischek’s parakeet (Cyanoramphus hochstetteri). Both live in a treeless habitat, nesting in metre-deep burrows at the base of tussock clumps. They feed on tussock leaves, seeds and other plant material. The Antipodes Island parakeet scavenges fat from dead chicks at penguin colonies, and sometimes seeks out and kills storm petrel chicks in their burrows.
Learning English is difficult enough on its own, so here are a few tips for learning the American accent. Congratulations on taking the steps to advance as far as you have! Sometimes knowing grammar and sentence structure isn’t enough when you get into real world situations. It can also help to know major English accents, such as the standard American accent. Understanding and communicating with Americans in their native accent is key to advancing your study of English. This article is full of tools and tips to help you master the kind of speech common in the USA and urban Canada. Read on to learn how to do an American accent! To help aid you in this article here is a link to a phonetic alphabet chart. You can use it to help understand some of the word and phrase breakdowns. Know Syllables, Stress Timing, and Emphasis in the American Accent - In any ESL course, you learn the breakdown of syllables in a word. In case you don’t remember, here’s a quick reminder: Syllables are small units of sounds that make up words, so the word syllable would have three syllables (syl-la-ble).English is a stress-timed language, and that means that there will be strong and weak along with long and short sounding syllables to make up a sentence. This is important, as most stressed syllables in American English will be even longer and louder than in British English.The combination of the stress and length in syllables creates the rhythm you hear when American English is spoken. Let’s look at an example to better understand the concept. This is a simple sentence that most can understand. Notice, when an American says the sentence, go to the and this in the sentence are short sounding syllables. It almost sounds like he’s saying go-to-the as one word. Let’s, movies, and weekend are longer sounding and stressed. Sentences can be broken into content words or structure (or function) words. Content words are typically nouns, main verbs, adjectives, and adverbs. They’re words that add meaning to a sentence. Also, content words are words with meaning that are emphasized in speech. Basically, they’re the words you intend a listener to understand. Structure words are usually auxiliary verbs, pronouns, articles and prepositions. They exist for grammatical purposes. On that note, let’s revisit the example above. Even if you only heard the content words Let’s, movies, and weekend, you would still understand what the speaker intended to say. Learning to differentiate between content and structure words and when to emphasize them is a big step in communicating in an American accent. Learn the Connected Speech - The second tip on speaking and understanding an American accent is to know the connected speech Americans use. It’s not always taught in a classroom, and knowing these speech patterns will help you understand and communicate more effectively. We define connected speech as words or phrases where the last sound of a word has a direct effect on the next word that is spoken. Therefore, many separate words or phrases will connect and sound as though they are one word.For example the phrase – This evening When an American says the phrase, it almost sounds like they’re saying Thisevening. This is an example of linking, and there are many words that Americans link together. Overall, there are many categories of connected speech as well, so let’s look at some other common forms. Americans use connected speech that involves an intruding sound that inserts itself between two words. For example, the phrase Do it will sound like someone is saying Dewit. In addition, sounds can disappear when a stronger syllable sound appears in the word after another word that is spoken. We’ll add to our previous example of Do it to show this concept. Listen to the phrase in the Nike commercial: Just do it. It sounds like the announcer is saying Jus-Dewit. When the /t/ sound disappears, it’s called an elision, and it commonly happens with /t/ and /d/ sounds in American accents. A final example of connected speech is called assimilation. This happens when the sounds of two words blend together. When Americans say won’t you, it can sound like they’re saying wonchu. Phonetically the /t/ and /y/ become /ch/. When Americans say don’t you, it can sound like they’re saying donchu. Phonetically the /d/ and /y/ become /ch/ Understanding and speaking in an American accent can be tricky as it is different from speech patterns in British English. (The British English vs. American English distinction is challenging for many students!) Knowing connected speech will help you distinguish the two forms. There are many other examples, so here is a video that will help you better understand the concept. - Understand the /r/ sound in the American Accent - Knowing how to use the letter R is crucial to understanding and speaking in an American accent. The /r/ can have a different sound regionally in America. It is also considered a sound that is different from what is heard in many other languages. This is because American English has r-controlled vowels. This means that /r/ sound is pronounced in a word that is r-controlled. Here is an example: As you saw in that video, the word Word is pronounced Werrd. Notice the /o/ sound isn’t pronounced. The word World is pronounced Werrld. Notice the /or/ sound isn’t pronounced. Understanding the /r/ sound is key to understanding what is spoken. There are many more examples of r-controlled words in American English, and you must know and understand them when communicating. Here is a link to an in-depth explanation of r-controlled vowels. Last, let’s revisit the /r/ sound. No matter where you are, the /r/ sound in the word area is loud, and long. Look at this example: Where is the parking lot? Americans pronounce the /ar/ in park strongly, and examples like this carry over into the entire language. To better understand the rhotic sound and the difference it makes between American and British English, you can watch this video, and to gain an even greater understanding of this type of English American accent, check out the tips in this American accent video. As I mentioned earlier, this article has focused on the standard American accent. This would be the accent spoken commonly on TV and radio, most typically exemplified by speakers in California and the American Midwest. Like all English speaking countries, America has different English accents by region. But the standard rules above are still incredibly valuable. Learn the standard American accent, and your English will be understandable most anywhere in the English speaking world!
Brimming with practical ideas, Build It So They Can Play assists physical education teachers, caregivers, and play group and recreation leaders in building adapted equipment and implementing associated activities to create a successful learning environment for students with disabilities. Build It So They Can Play offers a range of equipment building projects, including equipment to modify participation in typical sports and recreation activities; aid with vestibular and fine motor development; and encourage audio, visual, and tactile stimulation. Every equipment project, from the simplest to the most involved, has been field tested to ensure success by the authors—all veteran adapted physical educators. Step-by-step instructions, diagrams, and detailed photos will help you accomplish each of these DIY projects. Plus, a complete list of materials and a list of necessary tools help you stay organized and save time. Using inexpensive building supplies and found or recycled items, you can enhance your collection of adapted physical education supplies for a fraction of the cost of new equipment! Make a mobile low basketball goal with a trash can, plywood, and your screwdriver; or turn an umbrella into a sensory mobile. You can even construct your own therapy bed giving students who use wheelchairs the freedom to leave the chair without lying on the floor. And, each project includes additional ideas for use and suggestions for customizing the equipment for various abilities and purposes. Are tight budgets forcing you to do more with less? With Build It So They Can Play, you can turn less expensive into more fun for your students. Grab your tool belt and start building a positive PE experience for all! Chapter 1. Equipment for Sport and Recreation Activities Chapter 2. Modified Equipment for Sport and Recreation Activities Chapter 3. Modified Equipment for Vestibular and Fine Motor Activities Chapter 4. Sensory Equipment
- Jacquelyn C.A. MeshelemiahJacquelyn C.A. MeshelemiahOhio State University - and Raven E. LynchRaven E. LynchOhio State University Genocides have persisted around the world for centuries, yet the debate persists about what intentions and subsequent actions constitute an actual genocide. As a result, some crimes against humanity, targeted rape campaigns, and widespread displacement of marginalized groups of people around the globe have not been formally recognized as a genocide by world powers while others have. The 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide set out to provide clarity about what constituted a genocide and the corresponding expected behaviors of nations that bear witness to it. Still, even with this United Nations document in place, there remains some debate about genocides. The United States, a superpower on the world stage, did not sign on to the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide until 1988 due to a belief that its participation was not necessary as a civilized world leader that had its own checks and balances. More genocides have taken place since the enactment of this 1948 legislation. Genocides that have taken place pre- and post-1948 affirm the need for nations around the world to agree to a set of behaviors that protect targeted groups of people from mass destruction and prescribe punishment for those who perpetrate such atrocities. Although it may seem that identifying genocidal behaviors toward a group of people would be clear and convincing based on witnesses and/or deaths of targeted members, history has shown this not to be the case time and time again. Perpetrators tend to deny such behaviors or claim innocence in the name of self-defense. Regardless of any acknowledgment of wrongdoing, genocides are the world’s greatest crime against humanity. - Ethics and Values - International and Global Issues - Race, Ethnicity, and Culture - Social Justice and Human Rights - Social Work Profession
In early October 2014, activity in the region above the “neck” of the comet became high enough for water and carbon dioxide to be detected by the instrument’s high spectral resolution channel, VIRTIS-H. The data shows that 67P/C-G is far less carbon dioxide rich than other comets such as 103P/Hartley, also a Jupiter-family comet that was measured by NASA’s EPOXI mission during its brief fly-by on 4 November 2010. There is relative abundance of 4% carbon dioxide in 67P/C-G compared with Hartley’s 20%. The ESA says the detection of gases in the comet’s coma in this early phase of the mission is important for understanding the ices inside the comet. MIRO and ROSINA have already detected water and carbon dioxide, respectively, and VIRTIS can detect the same molecules, adding robustness to the measurements. But because it can see both with the same instrument, it can determine their relative abundance directly. This is very important because from the ratios of these two molecules that make up the ice in the comet, scientists can gain vital insights into the make-up and structure of that ice. Ultimately, these new measurements will help meet one of the key goals of the Rosetta mission: what is comet 67P/C-G made of? VIRTIS has also been measuring the temperature of the surface of the comet, which is currently around –70 °C. That falls to around –183°C a kilometre above the surface due to gases accelerating away from the surface and expanding in the coma. As the comet moves towards its closest position to the Sun in August 2015, activity will increase. VIRTIS will continuously map the distribution of carbon dioxide and water, as well as that of other minor gases including carbon monoxide (CO), methanol (CH3OH), methane (CH4), formaldehyde (CH2O), and hydrocarbons such as acetylene (C2H2), and ethane (C2H6). relative abundance of carbon dioxide with respect to water is estimated to be about 4%, showing that comet is not as rich in carbon dioxide as comet 103P/Hartley, also a Jupiter-family comet, for which a relative abundance of about 20% was measured by NASA’s EPOXI mission during its brief fly-by on 4 November 2010. Ever since July, VIRTIS has been measuring the average temperature of the comet’s surface, finding it to be around at the moment. These measurements of the gas in the coma now allow the science team to say something also about the temperature at some distance from the surface. The current measurements correspond to a height of one kilometre above the surface, where the temperature There are exciting times ahead as the icy treasure chest starts to give up its secrets.
Python Tutorials: Learn Keywords and Identifiers in Python Programming Language Learning Keywords and Identifiers of Python is the next thing that you should learn in Python programming language. In the previous section we have seen the steps to write and test "Hello World" program in Python. Now in this section we will learn keywords and identifiers of Python Programming language. In this section we are covering: - Python keywords - Python identifiers - Rules of defining keywords and identifiers There are certain reserve words in Python programming which can't be used for creating classes, variable and functions. These words are known as keywords in Python programming language. If you use these keywords in writing Python program then programming language will give error and program will not run. So, you should learn about these Python Keywords before proceeding to next sections and learn Python programming language. In Python programming language there are 33 keywords which is used in writing program. These keywords are used for defining the structure of the program; for example to write for loop in python you have to use the for keyword. Here is the list of Python keywords: help> keywords Here is a list of the Python keywords. Enter any keyword to get more help. False def if raise None del import return True elif in try and else is while as except lambda with assert finally nonlocal yield break for not class from or continue global pass help> These keywords are reserved to the Python programming language and can't be used by developers to declare variables, functions or class names. You can to go help by typing help() on the Python console and then type keywords as shown below: Here is an example of for keyword to define for loop in Python programming language: >>> for x in range(1, 10): ... print(x) ... 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 >>> Above code is an example of for loop in python which prints 1 to 10 on the console. Identifiers are the name given to class, variables, functions and other objects in Python programming language. There are naming conversions in Python for identifiers. Any name which starts with letters (A to Z including lowercase) or with underscore (_) and it is followed by zero or more letters/number/underscores. Python does not allow punctuation characters such as @, $, and % within identifiers. Python programming language is case sensitive programming language following two variables names are not same: Here two variables Country and country are not same, they are two different variables. In Python you can't use reserve words to define identifiers. Here are the list of reserve words that you should know: It is noted that all the reserve words are in lower case. Variables in Python Variables are the memory location identified by a name whose values can be changed anytime during the execution of the program. Variables exists only during the execution of the program and vanishes when program competes its execution period. Here is example of creating an integer variable in python: counter = 10 You can change the value of variable any number of time during the execution of program. If you have a variable and want to know the type of variable then you can use the type() function as shown below: counter = 10 type(counter) If you run above program then system will display the type of counter variable: In this section we have understood python keywords and identifiers. You can check more tutorials at Python Tutorials section.
Researchers at Uppsala University have developed a new method to determine — rapidly, easily and cheaply — how effective two antibiotics combined can be in stopping bacterial growth. The new method is simple for laboratories to use and can provide greater scope for customizing treatment of bacterial infections. The study is published in PLOS Biology. Combinations of antimicrobial agents are invariably prescribed for certain infectious diseases, such as tuberculosis, HIV, and malaria. Bacterial infections that are not readily treatable, such as those affecting cardiac valves and prostheses, and lung infections in cystic fibrosis, are also usually subjected to a combination of antibiotics. The effect sought, “synergism,” means that the joint action of the combined agents is more effective than could in fact have been expected, based on the efficacy of the separate agents. In contrast, the opposite phenomenon — that is, two antibiotics counteracting each other’s effects (“antagonism”) — is undesirable. However, knowing what the combined effect will be is not always easy. With the newly developed method known as CombiANT (combinations of antibiotics), interactions between various antibiotics can be tested on agar plates and results obtained in 24 hours. The lead author of the study, Nikos Fatsis-Kavalopoulos, developed the method at Uppsala University. It is based on creating a “concentration gradient” of antibiotics that have been cast into an agar plate, using a 3D-printed plastic disc. On the agar plate, bacteria that have been isolated from an individual patient are then cultured to see how they react to different combinations of antibiotics. In their study, the researchers investigated E. coli bacteria isolated from urinary tract infections. Different cultures of E. coli proved not to react in the same way to specific antibiotic combinations. A combination of antibiotics that had synergistic effects on most cultures brought about antagonism in some, with the result that the treatment for the latter group was inferior. “This result may be of great clinical importance. Consequently, instead of assuming that synergistic and antagonistic interactions are equal for all bacterial isolates, we test individually every isolate taken from an infected patient,” says Dan I. Andersson, Professor of Medical Bacteriology at Uppsala University, who is primarily responsible for the study. Customizing the drug combo in this way may be crucially important in achieving high efficacy in the treatment of infections. Being a simple, low-cost method, it is also easy to introduce and use in health care. Reference: “CombiANT: Antibiotic interaction testing made easy” by Nikos Fatsis-Kavalopoulos, Roderich Roemhild, Po-Cheng Tang, Johan Kreuger and Dan I. Andersson, 17 September 2020, PLOS Biology.
Understanding and relating respectfully to persons having an invisible disability Most of us have seen someone pull their vehicle into a parking spot designated as “handicapped only” and wondered why, when the sole occupant walked off appearing to be in excellent health. Perhaps you felt protective of the rights of persons who have a disability to use such a spot, and cast the perpetrator a disapproving frown. That universal symbol of the vacant wheelchair designating a handicapped parking place might seem to mandate that a person parking there be using a wheelchair, or at least an assistive mobility device. Further, our culture’s emphasis on people’s appearance may predispose us to make quick judgments based primarily on what we can see. We begin to forget that not everything that is important to know about a person is easily discerned. This is a gentle reminder that not all disabilities are visible. It may be a bit surprising to to learn that most disabilities are NOT visible. The statistic often cited is that one in 10 Americans has an invisible disability, or one with no obvious outward signs. The Americans with Disabilities Act used the term “disability” to indicate that the outcome of a physical, cognitive, or psycho-social impairment or combination of impairments was that it limited an individual’s ability to do everyday tasks. The “disability” is not named by the disease or condition (for example, autism or multiple sclerosis are not disabilities). Rather, the condition becomes a disability only as it limits or makes it more difficult to do functional tasks. People who have invisible or hidden disabilities can find themselves in a unique dilemma. While they may not want to disclose or bring attention to their medical condition, there may be times when they need special accommodations. Others may perceive their behavior as “attention seeking,” or “taking advantage.” Not an exhaustive list, the following are examples of frequently cited conditions that may result in invisible disabilities: - Chronic fatigue syndrome & other conditions that cause debilitating fatigue (renal disease; hepatitis; sleep disorders; cancer; post-operative fatigue). - Conditions that cause chronic pain (arthritis; fibromyalgia; migraines). - Conditions that impair vision (macular degeneration; night blindness; retinitis pigmentosa;). - Neurological conditions (Parkinson’s disease; multiple sclerosis; Guillain-Barre; post West-Nile). - Cardiac conditions. - Dizziness/balance disorders. - Vascular disorders (stroke). - Conditions that impair breathing (asthma; COPD; congestive heart failure). - Limb/partial limb amputations. - Diminished hearing. - Mental health conditions (anxiety disorders; obsessive compulsive disorder; depression; schizophrenia). - Conditions that impact memory and/or problem solving (stoke; dementias; head injury; developmental disabilities). Given the prevalence of invisible disabilities, we should expect to interact with people who have them. To be most respectful to these individuals, I propose practicing “mindfulness.” When we’re interacting with others, we can pay attention, be responsive to their requests for assistance and refrain from judging based on appearances. My second suggestion — and not everyone would agree — is that we err on the side of believing that most people do the best they can. Although there are certainly instances when individuals take advantage of others’ kindness, I prefer to believe that most of us don’t do that. If someone asks for extra help, or parks in that special parking spot, then I’m going to trust that they need to. Barb Borg, Customer & Community Services Coordinator
Racism: The marginalization and/or oppression of people of color based on a socially constructed racial hierarchy that privileges white people. Also related are the definitions of Race and Systemic Racism. Race: Refers to the categories into which society places individuals on the basis of physical characteristics (such as skin color, hair type, facial form and eye shape). Though many believe that race is determined by biology, it is now widely accepted that this classification system was in fact created for social and political reasons. There are actually more genetic and biological differences within the racial groups defined by society than between different groups. Systemic Racism: A combination of systems, institutions and factors that advantage white people and for people of color, cause widespread harm and disadvantages in access and opportunity. One person or even one group of people did not create systemic racism, rather it: (1) is grounded in the history of our laws and institutions which were created on a foundation of white supremacy;* (2) exists in the institutions and policies that advantage white people and disadvantage people of color; and (3) takes places in interpersonal communication and behavior (e.g., slurs, bullying, offensive language) that maintains and supports systemic inequities and systemic racism. * In the above definition, the term “white supremacy” refers to the systematic marginalization or oppression of people of color based on a socially constructed racial hierarchy that privileges people who identify as white. It does not refer to extremist ideologies which believe that white people are genetically or culturally superior to non-whites and/or that white people should live in a whites-only society. --Last updated July 2020
What is Sensory Modulation? Sensory modulation refers to a person’s ability to create an appropriately graded response to incoming sensory stimuli (Parham & Mailloux, 2015). For example, raising the volume of your voice in a noisy environment so people can better hear you, shading your eyes from the bright sun, or walking slowly into a lake, rather than jumping in, due to the coldness of the water. When a person’s sensory system isn’t able to consistently generate an appropriate response it may be due to sensory modulation issues that occur in the brain when the nervous system is interpreting incoming stimuli. Two kinds of sensory modulation issues are possible: under-responsiveness or over-responsiveness. A person who demonstrates under-responsiveness to incoming sensory stimuli may appear not to notice important information in the world around them. Research shows this type of sensory issue is frequently seen in individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder and may be one of the initial identifiable features of the disorder, specifically difficulty interpreting social signals from others (Parham & Mailloux, 2015). Under-responsiveness is typically observed as an unawareness to touch, pain, movement, taste, smells, sights, or sounds. It typically impacts multiple sensory systems, but one area may be more impacted than others. Safety awareness is the primary concern for a child who demonstrates under-responsiveness to sensory information. Children with these difficulties may be more likely to put themselves into dangerous situations because their bodies are not registering pain and other warning signs in the same way as a typical child. With this in mind, it is important to ensure children are supervised during potentially dangerous activities, such as playing on a large jungle gym or riding a bike, and that you talk with your child about appropriate safety strategies. A person who demonstrates over-responsiveness may appear to have an overreaction to touch, movement, sounds, odors, and tastes. The reaction may be observed as discomfort, avoidance, distractibility, and anxiety. Similar to under-responsiveness, this may happen in response to all types of sensory input or it may be specific to certain sensory systems. Research shows over-responsiveness is very common among children with autism and often coexists with under-responsiveness (Parham & Mailloux, 2015). For example, a child may be over-responsive to certain types of stimuli (i.e. touch), but does not register other types of stimuli that peers typically notice (i.e. facial expressions). Tactile defensiveness and gravitational insecurity are the two most common types of over-responsiveness. Tactile defensiveness is the tendency to overreact to ordinary touch sensations (Parham & Mailloux, 2015). Children who demonstrate tactile defensiveness may avoid self-care activities such as dressing, bathing, grooming, and eating as well as classroom activities such as finger painting, sand and water play, and crafts. Click here to read our blog about strategies for managing grooming aversions such as resistance to hair cutting, bath time, nail trimming and tooth brushing. Gravitational insecurity is the tendency to overreact to changes in head position and movement, especially when moving backward or upward through space (Parham & Mailloux, 2015). Fear of heights, even distances of only an inch or two, are likely to cause extreme fear or anxiety resulting in avoidance of stairs, escalators or elevators, step stools or ladders, playground equipment that moves, and uneven or unpredictable surfaces. Due to the extreme anxiety experienced by people who demonstrate over-responsiveness to sensory stimuli, it is important to present activities that are typically avoided, such as nail trimming or stair climbing, in a way that allows the child to feel safe and supported. How Can Occupational Therapy Help? If you suspect your child is having difficulties with sensory modulation an occupational therapist will likely complete an evaluation comprised of a standardized assessment, clinical observations, and talking with you about different over- and under-responsive behaviors you have observed in your child. Treatment will focus on providing your child with opportunities to be exposed to the different types of sensory information he/she has demonstrated difficulty generating an appropriate response to. For example, identifying and imitating different facial expressions or swinging and sliding for gravitational insecurity. This approach is rooted in the concept of neuroplasticity, or the ability of the brain to change and restructure itself gradually over time based on ongoing activity. By providing your child with consistent opportunities to interpret the troublesome sensory information he or she will gradually be able to better generate an appropriate response as his/her brain gradually changes the way it interprets and responds to the stimuli. Contact Chicago Occupational Therapy or call (773) 980-0300 to learn more about our services and how we can help your child flourish and grow. Parham, L.D., & Mailloux, Z. (2015). Sensory integration. In J. Case-Smith & J.C. O’Brien (Eds.), Occupational therapy for children and adolescents (7th ed., pp. 258-303). St. Louis, MO: Elsevier.
Oil Temperature Sensor A temperature sensor is a sensor that can sense the temperature and change it to a useful output signal. Temperature sensor is the core part of temperature measurement instruments. The temperature sensor is divided into two categories by its measuring methods: contact type and non-contact type. And according to the characteristics of sensor materials and electronic components, it can also fall into the categories of thermal resistance and thermocouple. The oil temperature sensor is one of them. The oil temperature sensor adopts thermistor, which uses semiconductor materials. Mostly of the sensors employ negative temperature coefficient -- the resistance decreases with increasing temperature. The change of temperature can cause significant changes of resistance, so it is the most sensitive temperature sensor. However, the linearity of the thermistor is extremely poor, and its performance greatly depends on production process while no manufacturer now can offer a standardized thermal resistance curve. With small volume, Thermistors respond quickly to temperature changes. But thermistors require a current source, and the small size makes them extremely sensitive to self-heating errors. Thermistors measure the absolute temperature in two lines with high precision, but they are more expensive than the thermocouple, and the temperature range of the thermistor is smaller than that of the thermocouple. The resistance of a common used thermistor at 25 ℃ is 5 k Ω; the temperature change by 1 ℃ncauses the corresponding resistance change of 200 Ω. It is ideal for current control applications that need quick and sensitive temperature measurement. Small size is also beneficial to the applications which have space requirements, but it is a must to prevent self-heating errors. Thermistors also have their own measurement techniques. Small volume is an advantage for the thermistor, because it can stabilize quickly without causing heat load. However, it is also very weak due to its volume because the large current can easily cause heating. The thermistor is a resistive device, so any current source will lead to heating by its power, which is equal to the product of the square of the current and the resistance. So a small current source should be used. If the thermistor is exposed to high temperature, permanent damage will be caused. - Thermocouple2017/04/13Basic Type MI thermocoupleThermocouple with lead wireThermocouple with connection boxThermocouple with connection head/nippleThermocouple with connection head/nipple/unionThermocouple with thermowell/...view
Here’s the article I referenced in the video: Johnson, H. L., Dunlap, J., Verma, G., McClintock, E., Debay, D., & Bourdeaux, B. (2019). Video based teaching playgrounds: Designing online learning opportunities to foster professional noticing of teaching practices. Tech Trends. 63(2), 160-169. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11528-018-0286-5 DOWNLOAD Here are two more articles: Dunlap, J. C., Verma, G., & Johnson, H. L. (2016). Presence+Experience:… Continue reading Create, Don’t Convert I share highlights from our research study published on February 28, 2020. (Scroll for article link.) What are students trying to do when sketching graphs? What do students think graphs “should” represent? What We Did We conducted a set of three individual interviews with 13 high school students (8 eleventh grade, 5 ninth grade). Students… Continue reading Students’ Goals for Graphing Opportunities for reasoning matter. Students need math to be more than a race to find answers to other people’s questions. How to create those opportunities? We worked with Dan Meyer and the team at Desmos to develop activities for students to learn how graphs work. You can check out the activities here. Great activities are… Continue reading Opportunities for Reasoning Impact Students’ Attitudes and Performance To open opportunities for students’ math reasoning, change the questions. Instead of What iS? Ask What iF? The questions look similar. Yet they imply very different responses. What iS? “Give an answer” What iF? “Consider the possibilities” Too often, students experience math as a pursuit of “What iS?” rather than an exploration of “What iF?“… Continue reading From What iS? to What iF? Students have many opportunities to use different types of representations to show the same relationship between variables (e.g., graphs, tables, equations). Students also benefit from opportunities to use different forms of the same type of representation (two different looking graphs) to show the same relationship between variables. Wonder how that can be? Check out this… Continue reading The Same Situation. Two Different Graphs. I have been thinking hard about how students make sense of graphs. In my April 17 Global Math Department webinar, we’ll explore ways to help students see #HowGraphsWork I hope many are able to join us. In case you aren’t able to make it, or if you would like to access resources after the webinar,… Continue reading #HowGraphsWork Sea levels aren’t just rising. They’re rising FASTER. https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/12/world/sea-level-rise-accelerating/index.html Yet how do students come to make sense of variation in change? How do “increasing” increases become things for students? In a March 2018 episode of the Math Ed Podcast, I talked with Sam Otten (@ottensam) about an article I co-authored with Evan McClintock. I share… Continue reading Increases can increase? Learn what students think Ask yourself these questions: How often do you write? How long is your typical writing session? What counts as “writing”? Had you asked me these questions earlier in my career, I probably would have responded: (1) Not often enough, (2) A few hours, (3) Work on a paper. Keeping track of my writing progress A… Continue reading Keep track of your writing progress to grow your writing practice 2018 began with news articles about varying increases: U.S. Private Payrolls Growth Accelerates; Jobless Claims Up UK Productivity Growth Hits Six-Year High After Weakest Decade Since 1820s Euro Zone Factory Growth Surges to Record; More Uneven in Asia What kinds of opportunities help students to make sense of accelerating growth? In our recent research article,… Continue reading Give students opportunities to make sense of varying increases In math classes, students work with graphs. A LOT. Yet, what do students think graphs are? Why might students sketch or use graphs? A powerful way for students to think about graphs: As relationships between “things” that can change Together with Dan Meyer and the team at Desmos, I developed activities, “Techtivities” to provide students… Continue reading Make Graphs about Relationships with Cannon Man
Treating gestational diabetes can greatly improve pregnancy outcome, for both mother and child. For many women, they’re able to achieve normal blood glucose levels through diet alone, however some women may require medications. Elevated blood sugars often occur in pregnancy and are commonly caused by gestational diabetes (GDM). Mothers with Type 1 diabetes and Type 2 diabetes are also likely to have elevated sugars when pregnant. Around 1 in 5 pregnant women (20%) develop gestational diabetes. In pregnancy there many hormonal changes that occur in the mother in order to facilitate the growth of a baby. Many of these changes are caused by hormones produced by the placenta. Some of these hormones cause the mother’s insulin receptors to become resistant to insulin. Insulin is a chemical that acts like a key, and when bound to the insulin receptor on a cell surface, opens a lock or channel so that glucose can move from the blood into the cells. If a person is insulin resistant, then they require more insulin to open the lock and transport glucose out of the blood and into the cell. This is the same process that causes type 2 diabetes. As the placenta grows during the pregnancy, more and more hormones are made and released to support the growth of the baby. This makes the mother more and more insulin resistant. At some point the mother may not be able to produce enough insulin to overcome the resistance, and if this occurs blood glucose levels rise. Gestational Diabetes Content \|Gestational Diabetes Program\| High glucose levels readily cross the placenta and expose the baby to sugars that are in the diabetes range, which can cause complications for the baby. All pregnant women may experience impaired glucose tolerance during pregnancy due to the hormones produced during pregnancy. Most pregnant women are able to make enough insulin to overcome the insulin resistance, but some cannot. For these women, gestational diabetes occurs when the pancreas can't increase the beta cell insulin production function sufficiently to overcome any insulin resistance associated with pregnancy. Gestational diabetes often develops in pregnant women around the 24th to 28th week of pregnancy. This means that all pregnant woman should be tested for gestational diabetes at 24-28 weeks of pregnancy (except for those women who already have diabetes). Woman at high risk of developing gestational diabetes may have high sugars earlier in the pregnancy. Typically, gestational diabetes goes away after the baby is born. However, women with gestational diabetes have a greater chance of developing type 2 diabetes later in life. 50% of women with gestational diabetes are likely to go on to develop type 2 diabetes in the future. Children born to mothers with gestational diabetes, also have a higher chance of developing type 2 diabetes later in life. You can read more about genetics and type 2 diabetes for more information about how our genes can increase our risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Gestational diabetes develops in pregnant women around the 24th to 28th week of pregnancy. This means that all pregnant woman should be tested for gestational diabetes at 24-28 weeks of pregnancy (except for those women who already have diabetes). The number of women living with diabetes is increasing. The prevalence of gestational diabetes is related to the prevalence of type 2 diabetes (The Increasing Prevalence of Diabetes in Pregnancy). This means, that as the number of people with type 2 diabetes increases, so does the number of cases of gestational diabetes. The International Diabetes Federation estimated that in 2017: There are no obvious symptoms of gestational diabetes, as many of the changes that occur due to diabetes can be similar to the changes that occur due to pregnancy. However, it is important to understand and be able to recognise some of the symptoms of diabetes. If you are experiencing any new or unusual symptoms during your pregnancy, it’s important to visit your doctor. Some of the general symptoms of diabetes in women include: Identifying pregnant women with diabetes in pregnancy is important. Providing appropriate treatment to women with gestational diabetes can reduce the risk of complications to both the mother and the child. The image below provides an overview of screening for gestational diabetes. All women should be tested for gestational diabetes at weeks 24-28 gestation, which is during the second trimester. If a woman is at a high risk of gestational diabetes such as being overweight at the beginning of your pregnancy; have previously had gestational diabetes; or a close family member (i.e. mother, father, or sibling) has diabetes, your doctor is likely to screen you earlier for gestational diabetes. A pregnancy oral glucose tolerance test involves: The diagnosis of gestational diabetes is confirmed on high sugar readings at any of the following time points: An elevation in blood glucose levels are diagnostic at either the fasting, 1 hour or 2-hour test. You only need one test to show abnormal blood glucose readings higher than normal values for each time point, to be diagnosed with gestational diabetes. Diagnostic blood sugar levels for gestational diabetes \|Fasting glucose\|\|1 hour glucose\|\|2 hour glucose\| \|5.2 mmol/L or more\|\|10.0 mmol/L or more\|\|8.5 mmol/L or more\| \|92 mg/dL or more\|\|180 mg/dL or more\|\|153 mg/dL or more\| Read about how gestational diabetes is diagnosed for more information. If you experience any symptoms of gestational diabetes or you have risk factors for developing gestational diabetes, it is important to be tested at 24-28 weeks gestation. Some people are at higher risk than others. If you are 25 years or older or have other risk factors for diabetes, you may require testing earlier in pregnancy. By diagnosing and treating gestational diabetes, it means you can decrease the risk of developing or delay any further health complications of gestational diabetes. These complications can affect both you and your child later in life, for example you are both at risk of developing type 2 diabetes. It is important to know that diagnosing diabetes should not rely solely on using a Hb A1c test. Once you learn what your gestational diabetes status is, or if you already have gestational diabetes, the next most important step is to become educated. You can join the Gestational Diabetes Program to help you learn how to manage gestational diabetes and improve health outcomes for you and your child. The program is personalised and tailored, giving you more of the content that you want. The program also helps you to stay motivated and teaches you what changes you need to make.
Arctic sea ice may be thinning twice as fast as previously thought, a team of climate scientists thinks. Sea ice thickness is a sensitive indicator of Arctic climate change and is declining over the long term, despite significant year-on-year variability. Using data collected from two climate monitoring satellites (Envisat and CryoSat-2), University College London (UCL) researchers hypothesized that a diminishing amount of ice below the waterline is hidden by the weight of overlying snow, which could suggest that sea ice thickness may decrease faster in some regions than previously calculated. Sea ice cover moderates the exchange of moisture, heat and momentum between the atmosphere and the polar oceans, affecting regional ecosystems, hemispheric weather patterns and global climate. Thicker sea ice is more thermally insulating and limits heat transfer from the ocean to the atmosphere in winter. Therefore, there is a risk that thinning sea ice will cause global temperatures to rise even further than the increases already caused by human-induced climate change. While continuous and consistent monitoring of pan-Arctic sea ice thickness was not possible until recently, a combination of several techniques has suggested a significant decrease in thickness since the 1950s. Satellite altimeters using both radar and lidar have provided a valuable record of changing sea ice thicknesses. ice thickness, but are often limited for various reasons. The UCL team also said the thinning of sea ice in the Arctic coastal seas could disrupt human activity in the region, such as shipping along the Northern Sea Route, as well as the extraction of resources from the seabed, such as oil, gas and minerals. “More ships navigating the route around Siberia would reduce the fuel and carbon emissions needed to transport goods around the world, particularly between China and Europe,” said UCL’s Robbie Mallett, the study’s lead author. “However, it also increases the risk of fuel wastage in the Arctic, the consequences of which can be serious. “The thinning of coastal sea ice is also a concern for indigenous communities as it increasingly exposes coastal settlements to strong weather and swells from the emerging ocean. ” The researchers believe the sea ice decline in the Arctic’s coastal regions was 70 to 100 percent faster than previously thought. Study co-author Professor Julienne Stroeve, of UCL Earth Sciences, said: “There are some uncertainties in measuring sea ice thickness, but we believe our new calculations are a big step forward in terms of a more accurate interpretation of the data we have from satellites. “We hope this work can be used to better assess the performance of climate models that predict the long-term effects of climate change in the Arctic – a region that is warming three times faster than the world and of which millions of square kilometers of ice are essential to keep the planet cool.”
A team of scientists led by Kenichiro Itami, Professor and Director of the Institute of Transformative Bio-Molecules (WPI-ITbM), has developed a new method for the synthesis of three-dimensional nanocarbons with the potential to advance materials science. Three-dimensional nanocarbons, next-generation materials with superior physical characteristics which are expected to find uses in fuel cells and organic electronics, have thus far been extremely challenging to synthesize in a precise and practical fashion. This new method uses a palladium catalyst to connect polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons to form an octagonal structure, enabling successful three-dimensional nanocarbon molecule synthesis. Nanocarbons, such as the fullerene (a sphere, recipient of the 1996 Nobel Prize), the carbon nanotube (a cylinder, discovered in 1991) and graphene (a sheet, recipient of the 2010 Nobel Prize) have attracted a great deal of attention as functional molecules with a variety of different properties. Since Mackay et al. put forward their theory in 1991, a variety of periodic three-dimensional nanocarbons have been proposed. However, these have been extraordinarily difficult to synthesize. A particular challenge is the eight-membered ring structure, which appears periodically, necessitating an efficient method for its synthesis. To do so, Dr Itami’s research team developed a new method for connecting polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons using a palladium catalyst to produce eight-membered rings via cross-coupling, the first reaction of its type in the world. The success of this research represents a revolutionary achievement in three-dimensional nanocarbon molecule synthesis. It is expected to lead to the discovery and elucidation of further novel properties and the development of next-generation functional materials.
A group of boys want to set up a camping tent. They lay down a rectangular tarp OABC on the horizontal ground with OA = 3 m and AB = 1.5 m and secure the points D and E vertically above O and B respectively, such that . Assume that the tent takes the shape as shown above with 6 triangular surfaces and a rectangular base. The point O is taken as the origin and the unit vectors i, j and k are taken to be in the direction of , and respectively. (i) Show that the line DE can be expressed as . (ii) Find the Cartesian equation of the plane ADE. (iii) Determine the acute angle between the planes ADE and OABC. Hence, or otherwise, find the acute angle between the planes ADE and CDE. Note: Question can be made harder and trickier should Origin, O be placed in the center of the base OACB.
Ancient Egypt Year The pharaonic period the period in which egypt was ruled by a pharaoh is dated from the 32nd century bc when upper and lower egypt were unified until the country fell under macedonian rule in 332 bc. Ancient egypt year. Things that we still continue reading ancient egypt. Understanding ancient egypt we really hope you enjoy these fun facts about egypt. Ancient egypt was a civilization of ancient north africa concentrated along the lower reaches of the nile river situated in the place that is now the country egypt ancient egyptian civilization followed prehistoric egypt and coalesced around 3100 bc according to conventional egyptian chronology with the political unification of upper and lower egypt under menes often identified with narmer. Fox news chris ciaccia and the associated press contributed. An ancient fortress built by ramses ii was discovered last year in beheira governorate northwest of cairo according to egypt today. Or that they invented things like the calendar and glass blowing. Travel back in time thousands of year to the banks of the nile where you can learn all about the amazing people and places of ancient egypt. Did you know that the ancient egyptians worshipped hundreds of gods and goddesses. The time when egypt was a united land ruled by a king or pharaoh. The ancient egyptian calendar a civil calendar was a solar calendar with a 365 day year. Setting a calendar by the nile flood would be about as vague a business as if we set our calendar by the return of the spring violets. You will learn about the pharaoh s who were the kings of all the land. The year consisted of three seasons of 120 days each plus an intercalary month of five epagomenal days treated as outside of the year proper. Egypt research everyday life funeral customs king tut pyramid lesson plan roles of key groups in ancient egyptian society such as the nobility bureaucracy women slaves including the influence of law and religion everyday life. When we think about ancient egypt we are usually imagining the dynastic period. The history of ancient egypt spans the period from the early prehistoric settlements of the northern nile valley to the roman conquest of egypt in 30 bc. Join us ancient explorers as we head 5 000 years back in time to discover fascinating facts about ancient egypt from its ancient beginnings to egypt today discover facts about ancient egypt below or skip to our facts about modern day egypt facts about.
Two hundred species of fish have been recorded south of the Antarctic Convergence. Many of them, especially those of the coastal waters, are endemic to the region, occurring nowhere else and adapted to the extreme conditions. They tend to be slow-growing. Five families in the order Notothenioidea make up 75% of the Antarctic fish fauna, four of them found only south of the Convergence, isolated there for millions of years. The Antarctic cod Notothenia coriiceps is the largest fish in this region, as long as 1.5m (5ft) and with an average weight of over 25kg (55lb), although large specimens may reach 70kg (154lb). They are found in the deep waters of the Ross Sea. Plunder fish tend to be small, within the 10–30cm (4–12in) range. They are scaleless, with characteristically long barbells on the lower jaw. Most of them live near the bottom on the continental shelf. The Antarctic spiny plunder fish Harpagifer antarcticus is found in shallow water round the northern end of the peninsula but is common in tide pools in South Georgia. The dragon fish are elongate animals up to 50cm (20in) long, with snouts like pike and lacking the first dorsal fin. Most have been caught near the bottom in deep water. One genus, Pleurogramma, includes the Antarctic herring, the only truly pelagic plankton-eating fish. Antarctic fish have developed extreme adaptations to the near-freezing water. (One species, Trematomus bernacchii, actually lives under the fast-ice.) They have glycoproteins – antifreeze proteins – in the blood and body tissues. One large and predatory group, the ice fish, is unique in having no red blood cells. Lacking the oxygen carried by haemoglobin and myoglobin, they manage because the cold Antarctic water is well oxygenated. The clear blood and pale anaemic flesh of these fish give them their family name; even the gills are cream coloured, in contrast to the red gills of most fish.
Supervised Learning Algorithms September 25, 2020 Artificial intelligence is the art of embedding intelligence into machines. The current era is an exciting one to live in, due to the advances in technology being guided by huge amounts of data and intelligence. The translation services that we use, voice assistants that simplify our tasks, ride-hailing services such as Uber, and map services used for navigation are all examples of how AI is being leveraged and is creating a massive impact. Introduction to Machine Learning Machine learning is a subset of artificial intelligence. Artificial intelligence deals with automating knowledge or judgment tasks on an application level. Considering the overall vision, artificial intelligence aims to attain artificial general intelligence (AGI). Human intelligence is an example of AGI. The entire field of AI is working towards one goal: AGI. Machine learning, on the other hand, focuses on the statistical approach of attaining human-level intelligence. Tom Mitchell defines machine learning as follows: ‘Machine learning is the study of computer algorithms that allow computer programs to automatically improve through experience’. One of the main objectives of machine learning is to extract patterns from data. The method of feeding experience to the algorithm is the basis for the primary categorization of algorithms. Under machine learning, we mainly study three types of algorithms: Supervised Learning: Supervised learning algorithms receive a pair of input and output values as part of their dataset. The pair of values help the algorithm model the function that generates such outputs for any given inputs. We will be covering the entire topic of supervised learning in this article. Unsupervised Learning: In this type of learning, algorithms are only fed in as input data variables. The algorithms make sense of the data based on patterns that the algorithm detects. For example, given a dataset of black and red cards, clustering algorithms will find all cards similar to black and place them in one set. In the other set, the red cards are placed. Thereby, a decision boundary is formed. Clustering is one such example of unsupervised learning. Reinforcement Learning: Reinforcement learning is a subset of machine learning that deals with agents performing actions in a simulated environment. The outcome of the actions carries a reward. The objective is to optimize the reward obtained through actions in the environment. Most of the living ecosystem is best modeled by a reward-based mechanism. For example, a child likes to eat candy again and again, because it provides a dopamine rush (every time) that is the reward. Let us look at a few of the applications of supervised learning before we dive into the algorithms. Supervised learning tasks require datasets with input-output pairs. Consider the example of trying to classify the digits. Given an image of a digit, what is the number? MNIST digits dataset is one of the earliest datasets that helped automate the processes of postal services. Another use case example of supervised learning is predicting the price of houses given a few features. The features can include size, location, facilities, etc. The input consists of the features and the output consists of the price. Algorithms that predict continuous values of data are called regression-based algorithms. Supervised learning is mainly classified into two types: Classification and Regression. Let us take a closer look at both these algorithm categories. Classification algorithms are a type of supervised learning algorithms that predict outputs from a discrete sample space. For example, predicting a disease, predicting digit output labels such as Yes or No, or ‘A’,‘B’,‘C’, respectively. We can also have scenarios where multiple outputs are required. For this use case, we can consider the example of self-driving cars. The various objects found on the road need to be classified according to their categories and also need to be classified as safe or unsafe. This scenario is an example of multi-class classification. We will now look at some of the key algorithms underneath the classification algorithms. - K-Nearest Neighbors(KNN): KNN is an algorithm that works on creating a decision boundary based on distance metrics. Distance metrics define and parameterize distance. There are various distance metrics such as Euclidean distance, Manhattan distance, etc. All machine learning algorithms have hyperparameters to deal with. In K-NN, the parameter is k. It is initialized to an integer depending on the number of classes in the dataset known before fitting. k signifies the number of nearest points the algorithm considers while creating decision boundaries. # Import necessary modules from sklearn.neighbors import KNeighborsClassifier from sklearn.model_selection import train_test_split from sklearn.datasets import load_digits # Create feature and target arrays digits = load_digits() X = digits.data y = digits.target # Split into training and test set X_train, X_test, y_train, y_test = train_test_split(X, y, test_size = 0.2, random_state=42, stratify=y) # Create a k-NN classifier with 7 neighbors: knn knn = KNeighborsClassifier(n_neighbors=7) # Fit the classifier to the training data knn.fit(X_train, y_train) # Print the accuracy print(knn.score(X_test,y_test)) The output is shown below: The accuracy of the classifier is 98.33%. This is tested on the test dataset. 98.33% is a good accuracy percentage, but the dataset is a simple one. 10 years ago, this number would have been a considered good one. - Support Vector Machines(SVM): SVMs are maximum margin classifiers that are optimized to find an N-dimensional hyperplane in an N-dimensional space. The objective is to find the hyperplane that has the maximum margin from all the classes. Let’s understand a few of the concepts and terminologies used in SVM. - Support Vector: Vectors that are closest to the hyperplane are called support vectors. - Margin: Margin is defined as the distance between data points and the hyperplane. - Hyperplane: The decision boundary which satisfies the maximum margin condition is called the hyperplane. The reasoning behind SVM is to find the hyperplane with the maximum distance from the support vectors. The hyperplane may be a linear decision boundary or a non-linear decision boundary. When dealing with non-linear planes, the dataset is projected into higher dimensions to create linear boundaries. For example, consider the following image. The input space is transformed using kernels. SVM kernels are functions that take low-dimensional input space and transform them into higher dimensional space where the data is linearly separable. Some of the kernels commonly used are: - Linear Kernel - Polynomial Kernel - Radial Basis Function Kernel Let us look at implementing SVM using # Import necessary modules from sklearn import svm from sklearn.model_selection import train_test_split from sklearn.datasets import load_digits # Create feature and target arrays digits = load_digits() X = digits.data y = digits.target # Split into training and test set X_train, X_test, y_train, y_test = train_test_split(X, y, test_size = 0.2, random_state=42, stratify=y) # Create a SVM classifier classifier = svm.SVC(kernel='poly') classifier.fit(X_train, y_train) print(classifier.score(X_test,y_test)) Regression algorithms are another subset of machine learning algorithms used to predict continuous numeric responses. As seen in an earlier example, predicting house rent given different factors is an example of regression. Let’s look at the regression algorithm and use linear regression as an example. Linear Regression: Linear regression is a simple yet effective method used in a large number of applications. Let’s say we have an input feature vector x. The output feature vector yis the predicted entity. We use the sum of least squares to compute the relation between the target and input variables. Linear regression can be implemented using sklearn. Let us look at the implementation below: # Import necessary modules from sklearn.linear_model import LinearRegression from sklearn.model_selection import train_test_split from sklearn.datasets import load_digits import numpy as np import matplotlib.pyplot as plt # Create feature and target arrays digits = load_digits() X = digits.data y = digits.target # Split into training and test set X_train, X_test, y_train, y_test = train_test_split(X, y, test_size = 0.2, random_state=42, stratify=y) linear_regression = LinearRegression() linear_regression.fit(X_train,y_train) print(linear_regression.score(X_test,y_test)) The output of the print statement will be 0.55. The scoring metric used for linear regression is the R^2 metric. Pronounced as R-squared, it tells us about the effectiveness of the curve-fitting on the graph. The curve is a synonym for the equation that models the actual data. Since we are trying to model the actual data with an equation, we name the process curve fitting. The curve needs to not have any bends as well, that is, it can be linear or non-linear. The complexity of the data is a parameter that decides the degree of the equation. The scoring metric helps us decide a suitable complexity(degree of the equation) used to model the data. The closer the value of the scoring metric, R-squared, is to 1, the higher chances of good curve fitting. Curve fitting may lead to overfitting when the number of features considered is less. Overfitting refers to a scenario where the model performs very well on the data it has seen. But its performance drops when it works on unseen data. Underfitting is also a possibility when we don’t have sufficient data to train the model(s) with. We have looked at supervised learning and went over a few code snippets to implement these algorithms using scikit-learn. Scikit-learn is a very powerful and elegantly written library. I hope this serves as an introduction to your machine learning journey. About the authorLalithnarayan C Lalithnaryan C is an ambitious and creative engineer pursuing his Masters in Artificial Intelligence at Defense Institute of Advanced Technology, DRDO, Pune. He is passionate about building tech products that inspire and make space for human creativity to flourish. He is on a quest to understand the infinite intelligence through technology, philosophy, and meditation.
Greenhouse Effect and Other Results of Deforestation Greenhouse effect is the result of the outflow of radiative energy into the atmosphere and its absorption by gases. As a result of this effect, the temperature in the region of this reaction increases to uncertain and sometimes uncontrollable levels. When we talk about greenhouse effect, we start to think about global warming and its impact on the nature. The process of deforestation that destroys unique environments in many regions of our planet is also one of the most serious problems. It affects millions of live creatures and plants by changing geographical and climate conditions of their natural vegetation and habitat. Very often the attention of the deforestation topic is biased to rainforests, as this vegetation is the richest in terms of millions of known and unknown species living there. Deforestation caused tremendously destructive effect on these creatures and many of them are now extinct or on the edge of extinction as a result of the deforestation and greenhouse effect as such. Human intervention into the natural flow causes significant effect on the other living creatures that cannot protect themselves and isolate from the influence of humans’ activities. The lack of biodiversity is the result of commercial value that people also see in timber. Rainforests have become victims of this type of commerce already a long time ago and, in spite of the fact that the size of rainforest is very significant, today we can evidence disastrous effect that personal interests and mercantilism have on its biodiversity. Another important effect that deforestation creates on the nature is rise of...
Rarely has a scientific discovery led to a Nobel Prize as quickly as the first production of graphene. The British researchers who managed to make it in 2004 were honoured with the Nobel Prize in Physics only six years later. What is particular about this material, which consists of pure carbon, is its two-dimensional structure: the atoms in this material are arranged in a single, extremely flat layer. Electrons can only move within this 2D plane, and always feel the influence of their constraint. This leads to unusual properties that are not found in ordinary, three-dimensional crystals. Scientists are also researching two-dimensional materials and their special characteristics at the Physics and Materials Science Research Unit of the University of Luxembourg. In 2014, the project “Modelling of carrier dynamics and ultra-fast spectroscopy in two-dimensional materials” started, which the FNR financed for a period of three years. In close collaboration with scientists at other European research institutions, the team led by Dr Alejandro Molina Sánchez took an especially close look at so-called transition metal dichalcogenides: chemical compounds of metals such as molybdenum or tungsten with elements of the carbon group such as selenium or sulphur. These 2D materials are semiconductors and, due to their specific structure, are suitable for producing optoelectronic components that can produce or capture light – in other words, they are suitable for novel solar cells. What happens during relaxation? “What goes on inside these materials, and how energetically excited charge carriers behave in them, is not yet fully understood,” says Alejandro Molina Sánchez. “An open question at the beginning of the project was how do electrons in the two-dimensional layer relax after excitation, meaning how do they return to their original state.” This can be studied experimentally using ultra-fast optical spectroscopy. The researchers led by Molina Sánchez have developed a model for simulating experiments of this nature for the first time, allowing the results to be explained theoretically. The researchers not only had to contend with the extreme rapidity of the processes but also had to take numerous complicated interference effects into account – for example, those caused by material defects or by the influence of the substrate carrying the 2D material layer. Calculating with valleys The researchers focused primarily on so-called valleytronics. This is a term physicists give to an analogue of spintronics, which is a kind of data processing based on a magnetic property of electrons called spin. This spin can assume different quantum states. The same goes for special properties of certain two-dimensional crystals – and in the future, it may be possible to exploit them technically in valleytronics. The term arises from the curve shapes for the electronic energy bands in 2D semiconductors, which form two separate minima, or “valleys”. From a vague idea to a tangible concept Before the start of the project at the University of Luxembourg, research in this area was still in its early stages, and using valleytronics was hardly more than a vague idea for a new kind of electronics. But now, the newly developed model proves the concept could take off. “We have shown that the necessary states can be produced in 2D materials and how long they can persist,” Molina Sánchez says. “With our model, it is possible to find out what chemical compounds are suitable for valleytronics.” The researchers thus have the necessary tools at hand to create novel, especially sensitive and efficient optoelectronic components. Alejandro Molina Sánchez has no doubt: two-dimensional semiconductors made of transition metal dichalcogenides will soon be even more scientifically and technologically significant than the Nobel-worthy graphene. The main FNR programme for funding of high-quality research projects in five priority domains: ICT, Sustainable Resources Management, Material Sciences, Biomedical and Health Sciences, Societal Challenges. The programme is dedicated to established (CORE) and starting Principle Investigators (CORE Junior track). DOMAIN: MS – New Functional and Intelligent Materials and Surfaces FNR COMMITTED: 351,000 EUR PERIOD: 01.12.2014 – 31.03.2017
Resting 12-lead Electrocardiogram (ECG) An electrocardiogram (ECG) is a medical test that detects cardiac (heart) abnormalities by measuring the electrical activity generated by the heart as it contracts. The machine that records the patient’s ECG is called an electrocardiograph. The ECG records the electrical activity of the heart muscle and displays this data as a trace on a screen or on paper. This data is then interpreted by a cardiology. ECGs from healthy hearts have a characteristic shape. Any irregularity in the heart rhythm or damage to the heart muscle can change the electrical activity of the heart so that the shape of the ECG is changed. Dr Wong may recommend an ECG for people who may be at risk of heart disease because there is a family history of heart disease, or because they smoke, are overweight, or have diabetes, high cholesterol or high blood pressure. ECG is indicated if a person is experiencing symptoms such as: shortness of breath fast or irregular heartbeats (palpitations). ECGs are often performed to monitor the health of people who have been diagnosed with heart problems, to help assess artificial cardiac pacemakers or to monitor the effects of certain medications on the heart.
California native plants are adapted to the dry summers, hot autumn and wet winters that California provides. Mediterranean climates (like California) generally receive precipitation only in the winter months. But with less and less precipitation in winter, the need for cultivation of California native plants has never been more critical. Although many people (even skilled gardeners) appreciate exotic plants over California natives, we’re working hard to ensure that all CAN! partner sites demonstrate the power, beauty and bounty that California native plants provide. California natives provide familiar fodder sources (pollen and nectar) for native pollinators like bumble bees and hummingbirds. Indeed, flowering plants and pollinators have evolved together, providing services to each other. The native plants give pollinators protein in the form of pollen and pass along carbohydrates in the form of sweet nectar. This relationship is profound, having evolved over millennia. Ecological gardening (working with native plants) not only provides food for native pollinators, it provides opportunity to educate the public about the importance (and underappreciation) of our local botanical gems.
How does the rule of law protect human rights? The rule of law, based on human rights, underpins peace and security. … The Universal Declaration of Human Rights states: “If man is not to be compelled to have recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny and oppression […] human rights should be protected by the rule of law.” What is rule of law and why is it important? The rule of law is so valuable precisely because it limits the arbitrary power of those in authority. Public authority is necessary, as Thomas Hobbes rightly observed, to protect against private power, but the rule of law keeps public authorities honest. How does the rule of law impact society? It also helps lower levels of corruption and instances of violent conflict. This concept is called “rule of law.” It affects everything about where people work and how they live. By having a strong rule of law, governments give business and society the stability of knowing that all rights are respected and protected. What is rule of law in good governance? A cornerstone of good governance is adherence to the rule of law, that is, the impersonal and impartial application of stable and predictable laws, statutes, rules, and regulations, without regard for social status or political considerations. What are the 5 principles of rule of law? They identify it with the fundamental principles of liberalism and democracy, citing, as constituent elements, the principle of separation of powers, legality, recognition of individual freedom and equality, judicial review and the relationship between law and morality12. What are the laws of humanity? The phrase “law of humanity” implies universal values and a world republic. The rhetoric of its advocates implies local interests and national particularity. Both are desirable. Universal human rights provide the basic framework for local self-determination, and self-determination leads to local self-expression. What is the real meaning of Rule of Law? noun. the principle that all people and institutions are subject to and accountable to law that is fairly applied and enforced; the principle of government by law. What is the benefit of rule of law? Preserves the constitution Another advantage of the operation of Rule of Law is that it helps to preserve the constitution of the land. The constitution is ultimately the law of the land and Rule of Law ensures the certainty of the law. This being so, as the Rule of Law operates, the constitution is also preserved. What is the rule of law easy definition? Rule of law is a principle under which all persons, institutions, and entities are accountable to laws that are: Publicly promulgated. Equally enforced. Independently adjudicated. And consistent with international human rights principles. What would happen without the rule of law? What could possibly destroy the institutions we’ve built over centuries? The three biggest threats that would leave us without rule of law are global disaster, distrust of government, and war. What is the difference between law and the rule of law? In the present post, we shall discuss the difference between ‘rule by law’ and ‘rule of law’. ‘Rule by law’ simply means rule by any law which is laid down by the supreme law making authority of that country. … On the other hand, ‘rule of law’ connotes rule of law which is based on certain principles of law.30 мая 2015 г. How do you promote the rule of law? The following are some of the ways to promote rule of law: - The inclusive law should be formed. - Successful political culture should be practiced. - Corruption should be controlled. - People who perform the task against the rule of law must be punished. What is an example of a rule of law? The rule of law exists when a state’s constitution functions as the supreme law of the land, when the statutes enacted and enforced by the government invariably conform to the constitution. For example, the second clause of Article VI of the U.S. Constitution says: … laws are not enacted or enforced retroactively. What are the 8 principles of good governance? Good governance has 8 major characteristics. It is participatory, consensus oriented, accountable, transparent, responsive, effective and efficient, equitable and inclusive, and follows the rule of law.
This is covered by: AQA 8035, Cambridge IGCSE, CEA, Edexcel A, Edexcel B, Eduqas A, OCR A, OCR B, WJEC Soft Engineering for Coastal Defence Soft engineering is sometimes described as ‘working with nature’ to protect the coastline. Unlike hard engineering with walls, groynes and ‘built’ defences, soft engineering consists of rejuvinating sand dunes, creating new dunes, replacing beach material lost through erosion, and re-shaping beaches to improve their durability. It also includes ‘doing nothing’ to protect the coastline. These options cost less than hard engineering, have less impact on the environment, and are often more sustainable over time. They are also often less obtrusive and leave the coast looking more ‘natural’. Key forms of Soft Engineering covered in the GCSE are…
Ancient walnut forests linked to languages, trade routes WEST LAFAYETTE, IN -- If Persian walnut trees could talk, they might tell of the numerous traders who moved along the Silk Roads' thousands of miles over thousands of years, carrying among their valuable merchandise the seeds that would turn into the mighty walnut forests that are spread across Asia. Purdue University research shows that ancient languages match up with the genetic codes found in Persian walnut (Juglans regia) forests, suggesting that the stands of trees seen today may be remnants of the first planned afforestation known in the world. In a paper published in the journal PLoS One, Keith Woeste, a research geneticist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Forest Service and a Purdue adjunct assistant professor of forestry, found that the evolution of language and spread of walnut forests overlapped over wide swaths of Asia over thousands of years. He believes as traders traversed the Silk Roads, connecting Eastern Europe and Africa with far-East Asia, they purposely planted walnut forests as a long-term agricultural investment. "It was always assumed that there were wild forests of walnuts, like you'd find wild oak and maple forests here in the U.S.," said Woeste, who published the research with colleagues from the United Kingdom and Italy. "But what we had previously considered to be these wild walnut trees out in the middle of Asia were probably planted there." Woeste said that while sampling walnut forests from 39 sites across Asia, his team noticed that the word for "walnut" was similar in many languages. That piqued their interest, so when genetic maps of the samples showed uncharacteristic relationships, they started looking at the link between genetics and languages. If forests spread naturally, scientists would expect that genetic relatedness would spread in more concentric patterns. But Woeste said walnut genetics are related in long bands that spread east and west. For example, Woeste says walnuts in eastern Iran are closely related to walnuts in the Himalayas. That suggests to him that traders were carrying walnuts along the Silk Roads. And those traders had likely been keeping walnuts from the best trees, selecting for genes that gave the trees desired characteristics for nuts and wood. "Humans are always narrowing down genetic diversity to obtain a usable and more valuable crop," Woeste said. Much like crops evolve, languages also change over time. For instance, Spanish, French and Italian are considered Romance languages, having evolved from Latin. As populations split from each other, their languages changed, making those new languages children of the original. Having noticed the similarities in the word for "walnut" among several languages, Woeste and his colleagues grouped the languages currently spoken from the places where they sampled walnuts and traced the languages back to their ancestors. They found that the evolution of languages overlapped with the spread of walnut genetics. Woeste believes this shows that as people moved along the Silk Roads and traded, they specifically selected walnuts and traded them along their routes. Instead of having just a few domestic trees, those who obtained walnuts likely put effort into creating walnut forests that could be used for food and wood. "The factors that contribute to language being dispersed in Asia are the same as the way walnuts were dispersed," Woeste said. "It was the unique characteristics of walnut being useful for its wood and nuts that encouraged people to transport it, use it and then plant it as a forest as a long-term investment." The European Community, under the framework of the Seventh Framework Programme under the Marie Curie Actions' Co-funding of Regional, National and International Programmes, called COFUND, supported the research. The research is available at http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0135980
5.1: Operating Systems Eduqas / WJEC What is an Operating System? An operating system (OS) is software that helps to manage the resources of a computer system. There are seven main roles of an operating system: Manage Memory (RAM) The OS reserves memory space in RAM for stored programs to be copied into. The FDE cycle is executed continuously to carry out the instructions. The OS also ensures that programs are appropriately managed so that data is stored in correct memory locations and not corrupted. The OS manages tasks so instructions can be executed by the CPU in turn - this is called scheduling. The OS prevents processes from interfering with others and crashing. Tasks should appear to run simultaneously even though only one process can be executed at a time. The backing store is another term for secondary storage devices such as the magnetic hard disk drive, optical drives or solid state memory sticks. The OS ensures data is stored correctly and can be efficiently retrieved from the backing store. Files are organised in a hierarchical (logical) structure. Manage Input / Output Devices The OS manages the receiving of data from input devices (such as a keyboard or mouse) and the transfer of data to output devices (such as a monitor or speaker). The OS allows users to create, manage and delete accounts with different permissions. It also permits multiple users to log in and change passwords. Antivirus and firewall software is managed by the OS as well as some data encryption processes. Manage the User Interface The final function of an operating system is to provide a user interface. The most common type of user interface is a graphical user interface (GUI) which can be presented in the following ways: Icons are displayed to represent shortcuts to applications and files. Multiple windows can be opened at the same time and switched between. A folder and file system is displayed and manipulated allowing for copying, searching, sorting and deleting data. The interface can be customised, such as changing font sizes and the desktop background. The taskbar allows shortcuts to be pinned for quick access. Menus can be opened from the Start button to display files and shortcuts. System settings can be accessed such as network and hardware options. Other types of user interface do exist, such as a command-line interface (CLI). This type of interface is entirely text-based and requires users to interact with the system by typing commands. This is a complicated process and mistakes could easily accidentally delete data. There are many commands to learn so only experts who have been trained to learn this interface will be able to efficiently make use of it. 5.1 - Operating Systems: 1. Describe each role of the operating system: 1. Manage input and output devices 2. Manage printing 3. Manage processes 4. Manage backing store 5. Manage memory 6. Manage security 2. Describe 5 different ways the operating system can provide a user interface. Checks the printer is free then uses spooling (storing data in a queue) to print documents in order. The user can do other tasks instead of waiting.
For the first time, human stem cells were coaxed to become cells that give us our sense of touch. The new protocol could be a step toward stem cell-based therapies to restore sensation in paralyzed people who have lost feeling in parts of their body. Sensory interneurons, a class of neurons in the spinal cord, are responsible for relaying information from throughout the body to the central nervous system, which enables the sense of touch. The lack of a sense of touch greatly affects people who are paralyzed. For example, they often cannot feel the touch of another person, and the inability to feel pain leaves them susceptible to burns from inadvertent contact with a hot surface. "The field has for a long time focused on making people walk again," said Butler, the study's senior author. "'Making people feel again doesn't have quite the same ring. But to walk, you need to be able to feel and to sense your body in space; the two processes really go hand in glove." When the researchers added a specific bone morphogenetic protein called BMP4, as well as another signaling molecule called retinoic acid, to human embryonic stem cells, they got a mixture of two types of sensory interneurons. DI1 sensory interneurons give people proprioception -- a sense of where their body is in space -- and dI3 sensory interneurons enable them to feel a sense of pressure. The research team found the identical mixture of sensory interneurons developed when they added the same signaling molecules to induced pluripotent stem cells, which are produced by reprogramming a patient's own mature cells such as skin cells. This reprogramming method creates stem cells that can create any cell type while also maintaining the genetic code of the person they originated from. The ability to create sensory interneurons with a patient's own reprogrammed cells holds significant potential for the creation of a cell-based treatment that restores the sense of touch without immune suppression. Butler hopes to be able to create one type of interneuron at a time, which would make it easier to define the separate roles of each cell type and allow scientists to start the process of using these cells in clinical applications for people who are paralyzed. However, her research group has not yet identified how to make stem cells yield entirely dI1 or entirely dI3 cells -- perhaps because another signaling pathway is involved, she said. The researchers also have yet to determine the specific recipe of growth factors that would coax stem cells to create other types of sensory interneurons. The group is currently implanting the new dI1 and dI3 sensory interneurons into the spinal cords of mice to understand whether the cells integrate into the nervous system and become fully functional. This is a critical step toward defining the clinical potential of the cells. "This is a long path," Butler said. "We haven't solved how to restore touch but we've made a major first step by working out some of these protocols to create sensory interneurons."
At one point in time the Mauritius kestrel was considered the rarest bird in the world and strong fears that the species was almost a near extinction prevailed. In 1974 only four individuals of the sole remaining raptor endemic to Mauritius was in the wild. Out of this tiny population one was a breeding female! Massive deforestation and clearing of land for agriculture dramatically constricted the birds’ natural habitat. To prevent the spreading of malaria among the human population, extensive spraying of DDT was used as vector control in the 1950s and 1960s. This pesticide found its way to the kestrels’ body cells through their contaminated prey. Subsequently, the eggs laid were so fragile that they cracked during incubation. Thanks to massive and sustained conservation efforts, the population size has now reached to about 800 individuals. Saving the species from the brink of extinction is considered a lollapalooza of any raptor conservation biology. The kestrel was downlisted from Critically Endangered to Endangered in 1994, and then to Vulnerable in 2000 by the IUCN. Photo Courtesy: Ria Winters English: Mauritius Kestrel French: crécerelle, mangeur de poules and Faucon de l'Ile Maurice Mauritian Creole: kressrel and manzer de poules Species name author: Coenraad Jacob Temminck, a Dutch zoologist (1821) Family: Falconidae (falcons and caracaras) Current IUCN Red List category: International Union for the Conservation of Nature - Vulnerable The upperparts are a rich brown to chestnut colour with black markings Underparts are a gleaming white with bold black heart-shaped blotchings Size: 20–26 cm Average mass: 220 g Size: 600-800 birds Trend - decreasing Distribution size (breeding/resident): 160 sq km Medium forest dependency, cliffs and ravines Bambous Mountains on the coast of south-east Mauritius, Black River Gorges and Moka Mountains Geckos, agamid lizards, crickets and small birds Introduced mammalian predators such as rats, monkeys and mongoose Destruction of nests, eggs and chicks by tropical cyclones Intensive conservation efforts were halted in 2002 after noticeable signs that the species was recovering. Monitoring of the birds’ population at Bambous Mountains, however, continued and nestlings were ringed each season. Concerns about a probable decline in the population size led the Mauritian Wildlife Foundation to recommence monitoring at the at Black River Gorges in 2007.
Synopsis: Spin Currents in Antiferromagnets A spin wave is a collective oscillation in the orientation of spins. These waves can carry spin current, as previously shown in ferromagnets, where neighboring spins are aligned with each other. A new experimental study has thermally generated a spin-wave spin current (SWSC) in an antiferromagnetic insulator, where neighboring spins point in opposite directions. This discovery could lead to ultrafast spin-wave communications, since the spin oscillation frequency in antiferromagnets is 100 times larger than that of ferromagnets. The interest in SWSCs stems from their potential ability to carry information through an insulating wire. As opposed to a spin-polarized current, the electrons in a SWSC remain in place—only their spins tilt as the wave passes by—so there is no energy loss from electrical resistance. SWSCs have been observed in ferro- and ferri-magnetic insulators, but these are a relatively small class of materials. Finding SWSCs in antiferromagnetic insulators—as Shinichiro Seki of the RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science in Wako, Japan, and his colleagues have done—opens up a larger field of candidate materials with different properties. The researchers used chromium oxide () as their antiferrimagnetic insulator and placed a (paramagnetic) platinum layer on top of it. An external magnetic field pointing in the horizontal direction, caused the spins in to precess. The team then applied a thermal gradient, which is known to generate SWSCs in ferromagnets through the so-called spin Seebeck effect. To check for SWSCs in their system, Seki and colleagues placed electrodes on the platinum layer. They recorded a voltage that depended on both the magnetic field and the thermal gradient, which implied a spin-polarized current in the platinum that originated as a SWSC in the antiferromagnetic insulator. This research is published in Physical Review Letters.
Coral reefs are disappearing at an unprecedented rate. In fact, a report released by the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network (GCRMN) found that 19% of the Earth’s coral reefs are now dead, with rising sea temperatures and seawater acidification to blame. The declining coral reefs are a sign of a much larger problem. Coral reefs make up only 0.2% of our oceans, but they are home to over 25% of all marine fish species and protect shorelines from major storms. The United Nations predict that the Earth is on the brink of a massive extinction event, with some studies suggesting 25% of the planet’s species will be extinct by 2050. Although much of the damage has been caused by human activity, it is also people, through technological advancements, that are offering increasingly innovative solutions. Scientists in both the Caribbean and the Indian Ocean are exploring a range of different technologies designed to protect threatened marine ecosystems. Electrical Biorock Stimulates Coral Growth The plight of coral reefs is most problematic in the Caribbean. The GCRMN found coral cover in the Caribbean has declined over 80% since the 1970’s. These ecosystems have been severely degraded by overfishing, pollution, climate change, and the synergies among them. For the tiny Caribbean island of Grenada, damage to its marine ecosystem could be detrimental to its emerging tourism industry. It’s vibrant and diverse aquatic wildlife makes it a hugely popular spot for scuba diving. Marine tourism has consequently become a major source of income to Grenada’s economy. To help preserve and restore the island’s coral, scientists in Grenada are using an innovative technology called biorock. To build a biorock reef, an electrically conductive frame is anchored to the seabed. A small electric current is passed through the water, initiating an electrolytic reaction and causing the formation of natural mineral crystals. Then, coral fragments from other reefs are transplanted to the biorock structure where they will grow, flourishing from the natural mineral crystals. According to the Global Coral Reef Alliance, the biorock process is a revolutionary regenerative technology that provides the most cost-effective solution to a wide range of marine resource management problems. 3D Mapping and Bathymetry to Monitor Reefs In the Indian Ocean, almost 15,000 km from Grenada, the Maldives face a battle to save their coral reefs. The country is made up of 26 natural coral atolls and more than 1,000 isolated reefs. Much like Grenada, the Maldives rely on tourism as a major source of income. Many tourists are seduced by the promise of crystal clear waters and vibrant sea life, but the Maldives have seen their coral cover severely depleted in recent years. Until recently, measuring the growth or decline of coral was a task undertaken by scuba divers with primitive tools. However, the advent of 3D mapping has allowed scientists to monitor reefs more closely. Sly Lee, a marine scientist and founder of the The Hydrous, has invented a system that uses 3D mapping to track changes to the coral’s size, color and surface area. “One day we have all of the world’s coral reefs captured,” said Lee in an interview with Wired Magazine. “So anyone can go online, explore them, interact with them and ultimately understand them.” Coral reefs can also be monitored using bathymetry, a type of high resolution satellite imagery that creates mapping images of marine landscapes. This is a technique that has been widely used to monitor Australia’s Great Barrier Reef and Hawaii’s Kailua Bay. 3D Printed Coral Encourages Reef Restoration Bonaire, a Dutch Caribbean island in the Leeward Antilles, has a long history of marine conservation. Its entire coastline has been a marine sanctuary since the foundation of Bonaire National Marine Park in 1979. Now, Bonaire is taking revolutionary steps to preserve the region’s threatened ecosystem by 3D printing coral reefs. The technology has been introduced to the island as a result of a partnership between ocean preservationist Fabien Cousteau and the island’s Harbour Village Beach Club. The artificial corals will be identical in size, shape, texture and will have the same chemical makeup as the real thing. The hope is that the printed reefs will attract free floating coral polyps along with other species such as algae, anemones, octopi and crabs. “3D printed corals can generate real change and establish real growth for reefs,” said Cousteau to the Caribbean Journal. “This technology is less labour-intensive than current coral restoration processes, creating a larger impact in a shorter amount of time.”
Paul Tough’s best-seller, How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character, dramatically underscores what cognitive psychologists like Carol Dweck and Angela Duckworth have found in their research: that character—not cognition—is central to success and that character can be taught. Terms like growth mindset, perseverance, and resilience have entered the vocabulary of educators everywhere. Used together, the five resources listed here can help teachers operationalize these words and wrestle with questions like: What is the importance of grit and other key character traits that support learning? How might schools develop and assess them? Can Perseverance Be Taught? – Angela Lee Duckworth – ARTICLE True Grit: Teaching character skills in the classroom – NBC News – VIDEO KIPP Character Report Card and Supporting Materials – Knowledge Is Power Program (KIPP) – TOOL Five Steps to Make Failure Your Friend – Unstuck.com – ARTICLE Building Study Skills: A Four Step Plan – Marsha Ratzel – ARTICLE Potential Use: Professional development – self-guided or group Educators can explore these five resources on their own or as a group as part of a professional development workshop. Sample: Possible Professional Development Offering In a cohort, educators: - Read the Duckworth article on perseverance and discuss the questions provided at the end. - Watch a clip from Brian Williams’s approximately 9-minute NBC story on grit, featuring Dave Levin of KIPP and Dominic Randolph of Riverdale Country School, with interviews with KIPP students talking about what it means to develop character. - Examine the KIPP character report card—along with its 24 character strengths—and discuss implications for helping their own students develop persistence. - Review the “5 Steps to Make Failure Your Friend” and download the Failure Analysis Checklist (at unstock.com). How does this align with student-centered learning research and practice? The lessons explored in this “resource bundle” align most closely with the research found in the Motivation, Engagement, and Student Voice paper, as well as the Mind, Brain, and Education paper. These multimedia resources unpack how to empower teachers and students to give learners the ability to take learning into their own hands and foster a growth-oriented learning environment – connecting them to the SATC framework, especially personalized learning and student owned learning.
Osiris, god of the dead, was one of ancient Egypt's most important deities. The earliest secure evidence for belief in him dates back to the fifth dynasty (c.2494-2345BC), but he continued to be worshipped until the fifth century AD. Following Osiris is concerned with ancient Egyptian conceptions of the relationship between Osiris and the deceased, or what might be called the Osirian afterlife, asking what the nature of this relationship was andwhat the prerequisites were for enjoying its benefits. It does not seek to provide a continuous or comprehensive account of Egyptian ideas on this subject, but rather focuses on five distinct periods in their development, spread over four millennia. The periods in question are ones in which significant changes inEgyptian ideas about Osiris and the dead are known to have occurred or where it has been argued that they did, as Egyptian aspirations for the Osirian afterlife took time to coalesce and reach their fullest form of expression. An important aim of the book is to investigate when and why such changes happened, treating religious belief as a dynamic rather than a static phenomenon and tracing the key stages in the development of these aspirations, from their origin to their demise, whileillustrating how they are reflected in the textual and archaeological records. In doing so, it opens up broader issues for exploration and draws meaningful cross-cultural comparisons to ask, for instance, how different societies regard death and the dead, why people convert from one religion to another, andwhy they abandon belief in a god or gods altogether.
Last updated: March 13, 2019 Disease: Gastroenteritis (GAS-tro-en-ter-i-tis) or the “stomach flu” is an illness of the stomach and intestines. Most of the time the illness is caused by a virus. It is NOT the same as influenza or the “flu.” Influenza is a different virus, and it does not cause gastroenteritis. The flu is a respiratory infection involving the lungs. Transmission/Incubation: Symptoms usually begin about 24 to 48 hours after infection, but they can appear as early as 12 hours after exposure. Gastroenteritis can spread easily from person to person. Both stool and vomit are infectious. Particular care should be taken with young children in diapers who may have diarrhea. It can also be spread by eating or drinking contaminated food or water. People with gastroenteritis are contagious from the moment they begin feeling ill to at least 3 days after recovery. Symptoms: The illness often begins suddenly, but it is brief, lasting 1 or 2 days in most cases. Occasionally it can last as long as 10 days. The infected person may have the following symptoms: - Nausea and vomiting - Stomach cramps - Low-grade fever - Chills and muscle aches Treatment: Currently, there is no antibiotic treatment available and there is no vaccine to prevent infection. The influenza vaccine or “flu shot” will not protect a person from gastroenteritis, since the influenza virus does not cause gastroenteritis. When people are ill with vomiting and diarrhea, they should drink plenty of fluids to prevent dehydration. Dehydration among young children, the elderly and the chronically ill can be common, and it is the most serious health effect that can result from the infection. Prevention: You can decrease your chance of becoming ill with gastroenteritis or passing it on to others by following these preventive steps. - Stay home while sick. - Frequently wash your hands with soap and water, especially after toilet visits, changing diapers and before eating or preparing food. Hand sanitizers aren’t as effective as washing hands with soap and water at removing virus particles. - Carefully wash fruits and vegetables, and cook oysters before eating them. - Thoroughly clean and disinfect contaminated surfaces immediately after an episode of illness by using a bleach-based household cleaner. - Immediately remove and wash clothing or linens that may be contaminated with the virus after an episode of illness. Use hot water and soap. - Flush or discard any vomit or stool in the toilet and make sure that the surrounding area is kept clean.
Indoor Air Pollution Indoor air pollution has been called "the killer in the kitchen." The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 4.3 million women and children die each year from the effects of this pollution, and millions more are chronically sickened. This toxic pollution is caused by billions of people cooking meals indoors, over open fires. Worldwide, more than 3 billion people still rely on biomass fuels (wood, dung, and agricultural wastes) for their daily cooking and energy needs. Cooking with wood over an open fire fills kitchens with smoke; smoke that contains dangerous levels of particulates and carbon monoxide. This heavy exposure has been likened to smoking five packs of cigarettes a day. Breathing the toxic smoke from open cooking fires can lead to acute respiratory illness, pneumonia, cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Women and children are most seriously affected, as they are the family members who spend the most time in the kitchen. Indoor air pollution is the leading cause of death world-wide among children under five, and is responsible for 2.7% of the total global burden of disease. Open cooking fires also contribute to eye irritation and create an on-going danger of serious burns to children who may be playing near them. Trees, Water & People's clean cookstoves include a chimney that vents smoke out of the home. Emissions testing conducted on our stoves indicates that the chimney, by removing the toxic smoke, also reduces carbon monoxide and particulate matter by more than 80 percent. To learn more about the deadly effects of indoor air pollution please visit The World Health Organization.
Illustrated by Application to Sand Core Blowing Many types of granular media are encountered in processing and manufacturing industries. Because of its unusual properties, granular material can often pose difficult problems for engineers seeking to transfer, mix or otherwise manipulate it for useful purposes. A good example of a granular flow process arises in the making of sand cores for metal casting applications. Modeling Granular Media A model has been developed for flows of highly concentrated granular material. The model uses a “continuum” approach, that is, it is based on a continuous fluid representation of the sand, making no attempt to treat individual sand particles. A mixture of sand and air, is a two-phase flow in which the air and sand materials flow with their individual velocities, but are coupled through momentum exchanges resulting from pressure and viscous stresses. In typical core sands the diameters of sand particles are on the order of tenths of millimeters and the volume fraction of the sand that is blown into a core box is generally 50% or higher. In this range a strong coupling exists between the sand and air so their mixture can be modeled as a single, composite fluid. Two-phase effects resulting from differences in the velocities of the two materials are accounted for using an approximation for their relative velocity that is referred to as a Drift-Flux. This composite and relative velocity approach has been selected as the basis for the granular media model. It is assumed that the sand/air mixture can be represented as a single fluid with a sharp free surface at its boundary with the surrounding air. The composite fluid, however, is allowed to have a non-uniform density, depending on the degree of sand compaction. The viscosity of the mixture is a function of density and shear stress. Because the majority of momentum transfer is by particle-particle collisions the sand-air mixture has the character of a shear thickening material. For the purpose of including vents in a core box all pure air regions (also referred to as void regions) are treated as adiabatic bubbles. An adiabatic bubble is a region of air surrounded by fluid or solid walls. The pressure in a bubble is a function of the bubble volume and has a uniform value over the region occupied by the bubble. Vents in a core box allow air within bubbles to be vented to the exterior of the box. Sand Core Blowing Applications To illustrate some of the differences that can occur in a granular material as opposed to a fluid, a simple two-dimensional wedge shape hopper was set up with a 1 cm wide tube at the bottom. The simulation is started with the bottom tube empty. Sand was initialized at its close packing limit of 0.63 volume fraction. Sand at the bottom of the opening to the discharge tube begins to fall under the action of gravity, but nearly all the sand above remains stationary, Figs. 1-4, where the color is the flow resistance caused by packing (red being perfectly rigid). In a short time a bubble like region is formed and moves up toward the top surface of the sand. Only flow around the surface of the bubble is seen until the bubble reaches the top then it causes a collapse of the surface. The indentation in the top surface has localize flow that reduces its sides to a specified angle of repose of 34°. Meanwhile another bubble forms at the bottom to repeat this pattern. To illustrate the application of this new model to sand core blowing, a simulation was performed to compare with data in the paper “Development and use of Simulation in the Design of Blown Cores and Moulds,” by D. Lefebvre, A. Mackenbrock, V. Vidal, V. Pavan and P.M. Haigh., Hommes & Fonderie, December 2004. The data is for a two-dimensional die geometry with one filling port. Venting of the die was asymmetric so that the influence of vents on the filling pattern could be studied. The size of the simulation region (core box) was 30 cm wide by 15 cm high and 1 cm thick. Sand/air mixture of density 1.508 gm/cc was driven into the box with a pressure of 2 atmospheres absolute at the entrance to the box. There were five open vents on the right side of the box plus six more that were closed on the bottom and left side of the box. This arrangement leads to an asymmetric filling of the box. The computational grid consisted of 80 mesh cells horizontally and 40 vertically. The time for the simulation to reach a fully filled core box was 0.07s and required a CPU time of about 8.9s running in serial mode on a 3.2GHz Pentium 4 PC computer (satisfyingly small, but of course, this was only a 2D case with 3200 cells in the computational region). A comparison of the results from the continuum model simulation with photos from the Lefebvre, et al paper is given in Fig. 5. The visual agreement is seen to be very good in many details. The simulation captures the asymmetric influence of having vents closed on the left side.
This article may be too technical for most readers to understand. Please help improve it to make it understandable to non-experts, without removing the technical details. (April 2015) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) The hypoblast is a tissue type that forms from the inner cell mass during early embryonic development. It lies beneath the epiblast and consists of small cuboidal cells. The hypoblast gives rise to the yolk sac, which in turn gives rise to the chorion. The epiblast on the other hand gives rise to the embryo itself, through the three germ layers, the endoderm, mesoderm and ectoderm. Human Embryo in day 9. Hypoblast (brown) is beneath the epiblast (pink) \|Precursor\|\|inner cell mass\| \|Gives rise to\|\|endoderm\| The absence of hypoblast results in multiple primitive streaks in chicken embryos. In birds, the formation of the primitive streak, through which gastrulation occurs, is induced by Koller's sickle. In mouse embryo, the visceral endoderm develop from the primitive endoderm of the blastocyst during the implantation stage covering the epiblast cells and elongates to become an egg cylinder. A distinct morphological domain has been identified by Martin and colleagues, at the distal tip of the mouse egg cylinder, thus this domain was called distal visceral domain (DVE). The DVE cells will move unilaterally to the future anterior until reaching the embryonic/ extra embryonic boundary and at this point, the DVE cells are also named as anterior visceral endoderm (AVE). This migration has been proved to be essential for establishing anteroposterior axis. Besides the AVE, another cell population appears to be separated at the posterior edge of the embryonic egg cylinder, referred to as posterior visceral endoderm (PVE). However, the function of this cell population was not as well studied as AVE. Although the hypoblast does not contribute to the embryo, it has great influences on the orientation of the embryonic axis. For example, the AVE in hypoblast plays an important role in positioning the primitive streak at the midland of the amniote embryos. In chick, people had observed that removal of the hypoblast caused multiple, ectopic primitive streaks formation. Similarly, in mice embryo, the AVE expresses secreted molecules, including two antagonists of nodal signaling, Cerberus-like (Cerl) and a TGFβ superfamily molecule, Lefty1. It was shown that Cerberus−/−;Lefty1−/− compound mutants mice developed a primitive streak ectopically in the embryo. There is also finding suggested that the hypoblast also inhibit primitive streak formation by depositing extracellular matrix components to inhibit epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). Besides the role of positioning the site of gastrulation, AVE also showed other function including continued protection against caudalization of the early nervous system. Also primitive endoderm derived yolk sac has major function in guaranteeing the proper organogenesis of the fetus and efficient exchange of nutrients, gases and wastes. In mammals, the existence of primitive endoderm had been observed as early as the end of the 19th century as first recognized by Duval and Sobotta. However, it took long time before people realized that the primitive endoderm will be replaced by definitive endoderm which will further develop into the gut tube. The first convincing experiment was conducted by Bellairs in chick embryo with the careful observation under electron and light microscopy. In his experiment, Bellairs demonstrated that there is a transitory endoderm cell layer in the chick embryo at its ventral surface before the formation of primitive streak. This layer of cell was replaced by definitive endoderm migration from the primitive streak through ingression and de-epithelialization. Later on, more insights on primitive endoderm and definitive endoderm origin and formation have been provided in different species including rat and mouse, rhesus monkey, baboon et al. - UNSW Embryology- Glossary H Archived 2007-08-18 at the Wayback Machine - Moore, K. L., and Persaud, T. V. N. (2003). The Developing Human: Clinically Oriented Embryology. 7th Ed. Philadelphia: Elsevier. ISBN 0-7216-9412-8. - Perea-Gomez A, Vella FD, Shawlot W, Oulad-Abdelghani M, Chazaud C, Meno C, Pfister V, Chen L, Robertson E, Hamada H, Behringer RR, Ang SL (2002). "Nodal antagonists in the anterior visceral endoderm prevent the formation of multiple primitive streaks". Dev Cell. 3 (5): 745–56. doi:10.1016/S1534-5807(02)00321-0. PMID 12431380. - Gilbert SF. Developmental Biology. 10th edition. Sunderland (MA): Sinauer Associates; 2014. Early Development in Birds. Print - Rosenquist T. A., Martin G. R. (1995). Visceral endoderm-1 (VE-1): an antigen marker that distinguishes anterior from posterior embryonic visceral endoderm in the early post-implantation mouse embryo. Mech. Dev. 49, 117–121 - Thomas P., Beddington R. (1996). Anterior primitive endoderm may be responsible for patterning the anterior neural plate in the mouse embryo. Curr. Biol. 6, 1487–1496. - Bertocchini F., Stern C. D. (2002). The hypoblast of the chick embryo positions the primitive streak by antagonizing nodal signaling. Dev. Cell 3, 735–744. - Perea-Gomez A., Vella F. D., Shawlot W., Oulad-Abdelghani M., Chazaud C., Meno C., Pfister V., Chen L., Robertson E., Hamada H., et al. (2002).Nodal antagonists in the anterior visceral endoderm prevent the formation of multiple primitive streaks. - Egea J., Erlacher C., Montanez E., Burtscher I., Yamagishi S., Hess M., Hampel F., Sanchez R., Rodriguez-Manzaneque M. T., Bosl M. R., et al. (2008). Genetic ablation of FLRT3 reveals a novel morphogenetic function for the anterior visceral endoderm in suppressing mesoderm differentiation.Genes Dev. 22, 3349–3362. - Wilson S. W., Houart C. (2004). Early steps in the development of the forebrain. Dev. Cell 6, 167–181. - Duval M. (1891). The rodent placenta. Third part. The placenta of the mouse and of the rat. J. Anat. Physiol. Normales et Pathol. de l’Homme et des Animaux 27, 24-73; 344-395; 515-612. - Sobotta J. (1911). Die Entwicklung des Eies der Maus vom ersten Auftreten des Mesoderms an bis zur Ausbildung der Embryonalanlage und dem Auftreten der Allantois. I. Teil: Die Keimblase. Archiv. fur mikroskopische Anatomie 78, 271–352. - Bellairs R. (1953a). Studies on the development of the foregut in the chick blastoderm. 1. The presumptive foregut area. J. Embryol. Exp. Morph. 1, 115–124. - Bellairs R. (1953b). Studies on the development of the foregut in the chick blastoderm. 2. The morphogenetic movements. J. Embryol. Exp. Morph. 1, 369–385. - Bellairs R. (1964). Biological aspects of the yolk of the hen’s egg. Adv. Morphog. 4, 217–272. - Bellairs R. (1986). The primitive streak. Anat. Embryol. - Enders A. C., Given R. L., Schlafke S. (1978). Differentiation and migration of endoderm in the rat and mouse at implantation. Anat. Rec. 190, 65–77. - Enders A. C., Schlafke S., Hendrickx A. G. (1986). Differentiation of the embryonic disc, amnion, and yolk sac in the rhesus monkey. Am. J. Anat. 177, 161–185. - Enders A. C., Lantz K. C., Schlafke S. (1990). Differentiation of the inner cell mass of the baboon blastocyst. Anat. Rec. 226, 237–248. - Gardner R. L. (1982). Investigation of cell lineage and differentiation in the extraembryonic endoderm of the mouse embryo. J. Embryol. Exp. Morphol. 68, 175–198. - Gardner R. L. (1984). An in situ cell marker for clonal analysis of development of the extraembryonic endoderm in the mouse. J. Embryol. Exp. Morphol. 80, 251–288.
Actively engaging students in their learning is critical if we are to create thinkers who are prepared to meet the challenges that are outlined in the Common Core State Standards. Being able to think and problem solve is essential for students to be college and career ready. We often think about engaging students physically, but it is equally, if not more important, to engage them mentally in a deep and meaningful way. Their engagement requires the roles to change in the classroom. The teacher must become the facilitator of thinking, not the provider of information and facts. They need to model the process of forming questions and working through the metacognitive process required for answering the questions. Quality questions generally cannot be created quickly during instruction. They must be crafted thoughtfully during the lesson planning process. Walsh and Sattes (2005) found in their research that teachers ask an average of 50 questions per hour. Their recommendation is that teachers shift from quantity to quality questions. Two to five quality questions will encourage students to think at a much deeper level, thus creating opportunities for meaningful learning where students connect new learning to what they already know. There is an art to composing questions. They become refined the more teachers practice creating them. Composing questions creates the environment for expanded learning. Teachers must acquire and practice the art of asking questions that challenge the thinking of all students in their classrooms. ~Judy Morgan, MS, CAS Walsh, J. A. & Sattes, B. D. (2005) Quality questioning: Research-based practice to engage every learner. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.
Artificial leaves to produce fuel on Earth and, one day, Mars Call it “liquid sunlight.” With the right technology, the gas station of the future will make its own fuel directly from sunlight, in the process sucking up carbon and producing oxygen. Decades into the future, the same technology could provide fuel and oxygen for the first Martians, and could even be tweaked to produce fertilizer. Peidong Yang is at work on such technology, what he refers to as artificial photosynthesis. A UC Berkeley professor of chemistry and Berkeley Lab researcher, Yang and his colleagues have already produced new classes of semiconductor materials to efficiently capture sunlight for this process, and new types of catalysts to promote the chemical reactions. His team recently reached a milestone, demonstrating a process in which sunlight shines into a water solution bubbled with carbon dioxide to produce chemical fuels, polymers and, under some conditions, even pharmaceutical intermediates to make drugs. The prototype system converts solar to chemical energy at a higher efficiency than nature. An inorganic chemist and nanotechnologist, Yang discussed the promise of artificial photosynthesis last year at Cal Future Forum, demonstrating how Berkeley is leading the way in created sustainable and renewable sources of energy to wean us from fossil fuels.
When testing a new chip design there is a lot of work that goes into characterizing the design to determine if it meets specifications. One such type of testing is characterizing an ADC. DC Evaluation, Gain and Offset The purpose of an ADC (Analog to Digital Converter) is to take a continuous time analog signal and convert it into a discrete time digital signal. We talk about ADCs in terms of bits. So you might have a 4 bit ADC which means that the full scale analog value that can be an input to the ADC is divided by 2^4. And (let’s say) 1.0 volts is your full scale input. So, each digital step after the ADC conversion represents 0.0625 volts. Now this is an ideal behavior, in reality no ADC will work perfectly like this. The Gain of an ADC can be defined as follows: The offset of an ADC is defined as voltage difference between corresponding inputs and outputs. This may not be the same for all inputs, but an average of all the offsets at each, or several inputs would serve as a good general offset number. ADCs are statistical in nature One unavoidable problem with an ADC is it’s inherent statistical nature. If you think about how an ADC works, multiple analog voltages will result in the same digital voltage output. The extent this is seen is dependent on the resolution of the ADC. As shown above in the 4 bit ADC calculation, each digital step corresponds to a finite voltage value. If the input voltage to an ADC happens to fall right on the edge of transitioning from one level to the next then some of the time you will get the smaller code some of the time the larger code. That's what I mean by statistical, given enough data you can determine what percentage of the time the ADC will output what code. Ideal and Non-Ideal ADC In an ideal ADC each code would have a uniform width and center point. Figure 1 shows an ideal ADC curve of a 4 bit ADC. In reality, an ADC is non-ideal, which can be observed in the following ways: Codes are non-uniform Figure 2 shows an example of a code that is longer than the others. Code transitions are not clean Figure 3 shows and example of code transition that is not clean. That is when the ADC is tested as it approaches the code transition point the code might bounce back and forth a few times before transitioning. ADC Transfer Curve Figure 1 is an example of an ADC transfer curve, plotting input voltage vs. ADC code. Plotting the transfer curve is how to characterize the ADC. There are a lot of different methods to characterize the ADC and ways to generate the transfer curve. I'll describe the linear ramp method I have experience using. Linear Ramp ADC Characterization Here is the basic setup to characterize and ADC with a linear ramp. 1. Set a function generator to create a slow ramping voltage starting at the minimum voltage input and ramping to the maximum voltage input of the ADC. The ramp should be slow enough that multiple input analog voltages will result in the same output code. I'm talking at least 10 here. This will allow you to see the transition points clearly. 2. Setup the ADC to read codes for the entire time that the linear ramp input is on. 3. Save the ADC output somehow, this is probably read out of some memory in the system with a script like in LabVIEW or Python (some programming environment) 4. Plot the transfer curve. You may want to do a few trials or try a few instances of the ADC for repeatability and reproducibility study. Once you have gathered your ADC data, there are a few calculations to make that will gauge the performance. 1. Find the edges In the ideal ADC transfer curve it is obvious where the code edges (transition points) are, but in a real ADC it is not as obvious. What you have to do is create a histogram of the ADC output codes. All this does is group the like codes back together at the transition points and create a clean transition point. So, if you look at Figure 3, it is not clear where the transition from code 2 to 3 is. Creating a histogram basically moves all the output codes of 2 together on the left and moves all the output codes of 3 together on the right. This creates a clean transition edge. While we can’t really be sure this is the real edge of the ADC this is the best we can do to move forward with our analysis. 2. Generate the Ideal ADC Transfer Curve This is just a matter of creating an ideal curve like shown in Figure 1. 3. Calculate the Monotonicity Calculating the monotonicity is a measure to verify that each output code will be larger than the previous one when an increasing signal is being applied as input. This is probably not that likely to be a problem when the input signal is slowly increasing (or decreasing) ramp signal. Here is the equation for monotonicity: For a 16 bit ADC i is the steps 0 to 15 and S(i) is the voltage equivalent. And, S(i+1) is just the next higher point. 4. Calculate and plot the DNL – Differential Nonlinearity DNL is a measurement to determine how uniform the output code step sizes are for a linear ramp input signal. For the 16 bit ADC 5. Calculate and plot the INL – Integral Nonlinearity INL is a measure the ideal ADC transfer curve versus the actual transfer curve. What is equation will do is when you plot this line it will exaggerate the places where this curve deviates from the ideal line and you will get a good snap-shot view of the linearity. The important aspects to characterizing an ADC are to determine the gain, offset, DNL and INL. The steps to characterizing an ADC are to: Determine your input voltage range, setup your experiment, gather the data and analyze the data.
Points on the coordinate plane examples (Full video) Description: The coordinate plane is a two-dimension surface formed by two number lines. One number line is horizontal and is called the x-axis. The other number line is vertical number line and is called the y-axis. The two axes meet at a point called the origin. We can use the coordinate plane to graph points, lines, and more. Created by Sal Khan and CK-12 Foundation.
Genetics is the study of heredity, where the basic unit of inheritance is the gene. Genetics is considered one of the central cornerstones of biology, and its influence can be seen in other areas such as biotechnology, medicine, and agriculture. Genetic information is found in cell structures called chromosomes. Chromosomes are made up on DNA and other associated proteins, although certain viruses’ hereditary material is made up of RNA as opposed to DNA. Genes consist of specific segments of DNA or RNA molecules, and they form the basic blueprint of an organism, regulating its anatomical and physiological features.
Their report description: In 1972 NASA launched the Earth Resources Technology Satellite (ETRS), now known as Landsat 1, and on February 11, 2013 launched Landsat 8. Currently the United States has collected 40 continuous years of satellite records of land remote sensing data from satellites similar to these. Even though this data is valuable to improving many different aspects of the country such as agriculture, homeland security, and disaster mitigation; the availability of this data for planning our nation’s future is at risk. Thus, the Department of the Interior’s (DOI’s) U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) requested that the National Research Council’s (NRC’s) Committee on Implementation of a Sustained Land Imaging Program review the needs and opportunities necessary for the development of a national space-based operational land imaging capability. The committee was specifically tasked with several objectives including identifying stakeholders and their data needs and providing recommendations to facilitate the transition from NASA’s research-based series of satellites to a sustained USGS land imaging program. Landsat and Beyond: Sustaining and Enhancing the Nation’s Land Imaging Program is the result of the committee’s investigation. This investigation included meetings with stakeholders such as the DOI, NASA, NOAA, and commercial data providers. The report includes the committee’s recommendations, information about different aspects of the program, and a section dedicated to future opportunities. Editors update: Full report now available. One of the key findings: “The economic and scientific benefits to the United States of Landsat imagery far exceed the investment in the system.” The synopsis of the report can be found at the following sites: Satellites offer a wealth of information pertinent for water and food security. Landsat has long been a foundational piece of the “Space for Ag” initiative.
Acclimatization is the act and result of acclimatization. This verb, which comes from the French acclimater, refers to getting a living being to adapt to a different climate or environment than the one they are used to. For examples: “I recommend that you bring this bush to your garden: it does not require much care and it is easy to acclimatize”, “Matías’ acclimatization process to the new school is being complicated”, “After some months of acclimatization, the Player has already found his best form ”. Acclimatization, in a physiological sense defined by Digopaul, involves the adaptation of an organism to the changes that occur in its environment. It is a period whose length varies according to the species and the circumstances of the change. In the face of environmental changes, the living being can register changes in its biochemistry, morphology and behavior. In some animals, to name a case, the hair grows more intensely in the winter so that the specimens can resist low temperatures and thus achieve acclimatization. The idea of acclimatization is also used synonymously with accustoming or adaptation in a broad sense. Take the case of a 19-year-old Paraguayan footballer who is hired by a German team. The young man, who never lived or played outside his country, will have to get used to another language, different habits, new companions, etc. Therefore, you may have to go through an acclimatization period until you feel comfortable in your new club and be able to perform at your level. Sometimes it is very common for the terms adaptation and acclimatization to be confused. However, it must be established that, although related because they refer to the responses an individual gives to the environment, they are different. In this way, we find the fact that the word adaptation should be used when it comes to mentioning what adaptation is from a genetic point of view. That means that it is in close connection with what is known as natural selection and that allows beings to live, survive and persist in some places or others with different climatic conditions. On the other hand, there is acclimatization. This word we have to explain that it should be used when we refer to what adaptation is but from a physiological level. In this case, it is established that it occurs in a timely manner, has specific characteristics and circumstances and then disappears when they also disappear. Examples of people for whom acclimatization plays a key role are mountaineers or mountaineers. When they are going to carry out a new adventure at a summit, they must follow a series of guidelines in order to acclimatize and that it ends up being positive: -They should not ascend more than 400 meters a day. -It is necessary to establish rest days. -They must be in good health and physical shape. -It is essential that they drink plenty of water while they must carry out a diet rich in starches and in what are sugars.
Resource Guide for School Success – The Third Grade Learning Standards Now Available The Office of Early Learning and the Office of Curriculum and Instruction previously collaborated to create the Resource Guides for School Success in Early Learning. The Resource Guides for School Success in Early Learning are grade-specific resources that consolidate all learning standards into one comprehensive document that provides a uniform format to make them easily accessible for teachers, specialists, administrators, and parents. They are intended to be used as a reference tool by teachers, specialists, and administrators responsible for designing programs. However, users are encouraged to review the full articulations of the New York State Learning Standards, per subject area, to access a higher level of detail, additional introductory statements, and illustrate learning progressions across grades. These two offices would like to thank the National Association of State Boards of Education for its generous funding opportunity to support the development of this new third grade resource guide for educators, Resource Guide for School Success: The Third Grade Early Learning Standards. The New York State Third Grade Resource Guide for School Success in Early Learning provides: - a framework for all third-grade children regardless of abilities, language, background, or diverse needs; - a resource for planning professional learning opportunities; and - a tool for focusing discussions on early learning by educators, policy makers, families, and community members.
Archaeologists working at Royal Oak discovered evidence of a prehistoric landscape centred on the upper reaches of the Westbourne river. The Westbourne once flowed from Hampstead in the north, south to the Thames. The river channel dates back 68,000 years. Pollen sampling indicates that the valley would then have been open and treeless, dominated by grasses and herbs. About 100 fragments of animal bone were recovered and have been identified as bison and reindeer. Gnawing marks on three of the bison bones indicate the presence of carnivores, such as wolves or bears, in the area. The remains included those of the Auroch, a large ancestor of modern cattle. Bison and deer were also found within soils that have filled in a Pleistocene river channel. The soil sequence shows that the river channel filled up with fine grain soils during a warm period during the last ice age. Erosion is likely to have washed the animal remains into the channel from a nearby bank, preserving them for thousands of years. The rare find was of major scientific importance. Assistance was also provided by Oxford Archaeology and specialists from the Natural History Museum. The bones are now being cleaned and studied before they are incorporated into the Natural History Museum’s permanent collection. Prehistoric West London About 100 fragments of animal bone were found, including three bison bones and a fragment of reindeer antler. The earliest dated sediments at the site date to about 88,000 years ago, with the animal bone layer probably around 68,000 years ago. Analysis of the bones indicates that the animals had died near the site. Their carcasses had been scavenged by carnivores, such as wolves and bears. The antler fragments came from male reindeer and had been naturally shed, indicating that reindeer were spending the autumn and winter months at the site.
Few phrases in American history are more famous than the preambles of the Declaration of Independence and of the U.S. Constitution. The Declaration begins: “When in the course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.” These powerful words resonate throughout our country’s history and are enacted into law by the words of the Constitution: “We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.” But what can be said of the preamble to the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union? “To all whom these Presents shall come, we the undersigned Delegates of the States affixed to our Names send greeting.” This phrase certainly doesn’t carry the same power, authority or historical significance of the other preambles, but it is symbolic of the troubles the United States faced under the Articles of Confederation. While it would take the Founding Fathers a second try to produce what would become the U.S. Constitution, the Articles laid an important foundation for the establishment of our nation. During the 1760s and early 1770s, the American colonies found it ever more difficult to abide by British policies, especially those concerning taxes and the western frontier. The French and Indian War had left the British Empire with a government breaking £133 million debt in 1763, and the ministers and members of the British Parliament felt that the colonies were obligated to assist in reducing this balance. Various Acts were passed by Parliament in an attempt to raise revenue and bolster British trade, but they were met with stiff resistance from the colonists. Multiple protests—such as the Boston Tea Party—were organized in an attempt to influence British policies but instead resulted in the closing of the port in Boston and the declaration of martial law in Massachusetts. In response to British actions, the First Continental Congress met in Carpenter’s Hall in Philadelphia from September 5 to October 26 of 1774, with representatives from twelve of the thirteen colonies, to coordinate a colonial boycott of British goods. However, as fighting between the British and colonists erupted at Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775, the Second Continental Congress turned its attention to coordinating resistance efforts. British authority continued to be challenged throughout the colonies, but many colonists hoped that the differences between the two sides could be resolved. However, on December 12, 1775, Pennsylvanian Benjamin Franklin, an active member of the Secret Committee of Correspondence, sent a letter to a prince of the Spanish royal family to speak of the advantages an alliance with the colonies could provide. He also sent a copy of this letter to American supporters in France, hoping to find aid for the colonies. Meanwhile, the British Parliament continued to make life difficult for the colonists by prohibiting trade with the colonies, prompting Thomas Paine’s call for a declaration of independence from Great Britain: nothing can settle our affairs so expeditiously as an open and determined declaration for independence… Were a manifesto to be published and dispatched to foreign courts, setting forth the miseries we have endured, and the peaceful methods which we have ineffectually used for redress; declaring at the same time, that not being able, any longer, to live happily or safely under the cruel deposition of the British court, we had been driven to the necessity of breaking off all connection with her; at the same time, assuring all such courts of our peaceable disposition towards them, and of our desire of entering into trade with them. Such a memorial would produce more good effects to this continent than if a ship were freighted with petitions to Britain. This excerpt from Paine’s famous essay Common Sense was published and distributed throughout the colonies in January 1776. In Common Sense, Paine creates an argument which calls for a colonial declaration of independence from Great Britain. On June 7, 1776, Richard Henry Lee of Virginia introduced a motion in the Second Continental Congress to fulfill Paine’s call for independence. A draft of the Declaration of Independence was then written and signed on July 2, 1776, though we have come to celebrate the occurrence on July 4. Following the creation of the Declaration of Independence, the Continental Congress realized that a governing document would need to be created that would unite the colonies and provide a legal framework for governmental development within the new Union. A committee from the Continental Congress was established to generate this document under the leadership of Pennsylvanian John Dickinson. Discussions began on July 22, and debate soon ensued over a number of issues that had been plaguing the colonies including taxation, the power distribution between a central government and independent states, interstate relations, western land claims, and state representation in the national government. Much of this debate was sparked by the fear of creating the same tyranny within the colonies that was present in Great Britain. Two schools of thought developed that shaped these debates; one in favor of a strong central government and one in favor of a weak central government. Amongst those in favor of a strong central government were Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay. On the other end of the spectrum was Thomas Jefferson. These discussions continued into late autumn, with ideology of the anti-federalists setting the framework for a majority of the laws written in this document. An initial draft of this document, known as The Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union, was completed and first approved for ratification by Congress on November 15, 1777 in York, Pennsylvania. Virginia was the first state to ratify the Articles on December, 16, 1777, while eleven other states signed it during the following two years. However, due to disputes over western land claims, Maryland refused to ratify the Articles. It wasn’t until Virginia surrendered its claim on land in the Ohio Valley, that Maryland signed the Articles. They were finally promulgated on March 1, 1781. The final copy contained thirteen articles that attempted to address the issues facing the colonists in the midst of the Revolutionary War. In Articles I and II, Congress establishes the colonies as “The United States of America” and affirms that each state would retain its sovereignty, freedom, independence, jurisdiction and any right not granted to Congress. This wasn’t the first time that the colonies had experimented with a united government. In 1754, the British government called for a meeting between the New York colony, the Mohawk nation, a part of the Iroquois Confederation. The meeting was planned to discuss colonial-Indian relations; however, another meeting known as the Albany Congress also took place during this time. It was here in the meeting between the colonies that the Albany Plan, written by Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Hutchinson, was first discussed. The plan called for uniting the colonies under a centralized government that would provide for better relations between the colonies, and also unite them in preparation for the imminent French and Indian War. While the Albany Plan was eventually rejected by the States for fear of losing too many of their rights, it did provide an outline of the benefits a union between the States could offer. Many of the ideas presented in the Albany Plan were used to write the Articles of Confederation, some of which are mentioned in Articles III and IV. In these articles the states agree to enter into a firm “friendship” with each other for their common defense, to protect their freedom, and their mutual and general welfare. Each State agreed that it would defend the other from any attack on account of religion, sovereignty, trade or any other pretense. To ensure the friendship between all the States, free inhabitants of each state would be granted the same rights as a person living in any other State. If any person were charged with a crime and was found, he would be returned to the State in which the crime was committed. The Full Faith and Credit Clause is also first seen here in Article IV and states that the records, acts, and judicial proceedings of one State will be recognized by the other States. However, this issue would again be revisited. Key to the argument of central versus state government was the decision of how many representatives and votes to allow each State in Congress. On October 7, 1777, the Continental Congress put to vote this very issue. Two proposals suggested that votes be determined by the number of white inhabitants in each State and another suggested that the number of votes be determined by the proportion of a State’s contribution to the tax revenue of the national treasury. None of these proposals were approved by the Congress. Each State instead was granted a single vote in Congress regardless of its size and this was recorded in Article V. Article V states that each State would appoint its legislators before Congress’ annual meeting on the first Monday in November and they had the right to recall their delegates and replace them with others for the remainder of the year. No State would be represented by less than two, or more than seven members. No representative could serve more than three years in a six year period and could not receive any payments or benefits for another position he held in the United States government. Each state would have one vote in Congress regardless of how many representatives it sent. The delegates freedom of speech would be protected while they served in Congress. They would also be protected from arrests and imprisonment while in Congress unless they committed treason, a felony, or breach of the peace. Fully aware of the problems created by a monarchial form of government, the writers of the Articles of Confederation knew that the new democratic government would have to avoid the titles and hereditary powers granted by a King. Such a form of government granted elite individuals too much power while the common citizen was left helpless to their rulings. These preventative measures were added in Article VI. In Common Sense, Thomas Paine writes: In England, a king hath little more to do than to make war and give away places; which, in the plain terms, is to impoverish the nation and set it together by the ears. A pretty business, indeed, for a man to be allowed eight hundred thousand sterling a year for, and worshiped into the bargain. Of more worth is one honest man to society, and in the sight of God, than all the crowned ruffians that ever lived. Paine’s feelings must have been reflective of the colonialists’ and Article VI assures that the United States could avoid the problems created by a King. However, it’s interesting to note that after the Revolutionary War some men wanted to name George Washington King of the United States. When King George III asked his American painter what Washington would do after the war, that painter, Pennsylvania native Benjamin West, replied “They say he will return to his farm.” The King replied, “If he does that, he will be the greatest man in the world.” Washington’s refusal to accept the kingship permanently removed the notion that there would ever be a monarch in the United States. This Article also requires the States to be on guard and have well regulated militias ready for defense. Article VI stated: No State would be allowed to send ambassadors to a foreign country, receive foreign ambassadors, or enter into any agreement with a King, Prince or foreign State. No person living in a State would accept any present, office or title of any kind from any King, Price or foreign State. Neither Congress nor the States would be allowed to grant a title of nobility. No two States would be allowed to enter into a treaty with each other unless approved by Congress. No State would interfere with any treaties made by Congress with any King, Price or foreign State. No State would be allowed to maintain warships or a military in a time of peace unless approved by Congress for self-defense. However, each state should maintain a well-regulated and disciplined militia that is sufficiently armed and accoutered. No State could engage in a war without the consent of Congress unless the danger is so imminent that permission from Congress could not be obtained. Article VII also refers to State’s ability to prepare their armies for the common defense. It reads that when land forces are to be raised by any State for the common defense, all officers of or under the rank of colonel would be appointed by the legislature of each State to lead the troops. The British, Spanish, and Native Americans all presented potential threats to the well being of the colonists and they needed to be prepared to defend themselves from any attack. While common defense was extremely important to the States, they needed to establish a plan to pay for this defense. One of the most famous cries throughout the American Revolution was “No taxation without representation!” The debt from the Revolutionary War was quickly accruing as the Articles were written; however, those in favor of a strong state government felt that the national government had little right to collect additional taxes to those of the States. Article VIII states that all expenses incurred for the common defense of the country would be defrayed from a common treasury when allowed by Congress. Each State would be responsible for contributing to the common treasury based on the value of land within that State. Congress would determine the method of surveying the land and would appoint the time of the survey. These taxes would be collected by the legislatures of the several states in a time agreed upon by Congress. Unfortunately the language of this Article would deny Congress the ability to collect taxes; they were merely able to “ask” the States to collect taxes periodically. This issue would cause future problems for the young nation, and would be revisited during the Constitutional Convention. The theme of limited power for the central government is continued in Article IX and it provides a list of the few powers granted to Congress. To avoid creating an overly powerful central government, the framers were extremely cautious with the powers they granted Congress and were sure to outline them carefully. Only Congress had the power to determine times of war and peace—except for the situations mentioned in Article VI—to send and receive ambassadors and to enter treaties and alliances with other nations. Congress would appoint courts for the trial of piracies and felonies on the high seas. Congress would assist in resolving issues concerning state boundary disputes, jurisdiction or any other cause but only as a last resort. Congress had the sole and exclusive right to regulate the alloy content and the value of coins created by Congress or the individual States and would determine the standards of weights and measures to facilitate the regulation. Congress would also manage all affairs with Indians who were not members of any State provided that the legislative right of any State was not infringed or violated. Congress would regulate the post offices throughout the States and could charge postage to defray the expense of the offices. They would appoint all officers of the army and navy and would commission all officers and determine the rules for the government and regulation of these forces and would direct their operations. While this may seem like a thorough list of powers, it barely granted Congress the ability to run a national government. No judicial was branch established, Congress could merely appoint courts to rule over trials of piracy or felony and would serve as a judge for State boundary disputes but only as a last resort. Congress’ only legitimate form of taxation was through its ability to charge for postage which would defray the expenses of handling mail. The problem of multiple currencies is linked to this Article because there is no requirement of a uniform currency system for all of the colonies. The States had the right to produce their own currency but this compounded the problem and made it difficult to determine one currency’s value compared to another. U.S. Army Center of Military History The Congress was granted the power to create “A Committee of the States” which served in place of Congress when not in session. One delegate from each State would serve on the committee. Congress also had the power to create other government agencies that were needed to manage the affairs of the United States. Congress had the authority to appoint one of their members as president but he could only serve for one year, every three years. Congress had the ability to raise the amount of money needed for running the United States, could spend this money and borrow money on the credit of the United States. Congress could also raise an army and navy and request soldiers based on the proportion of white inhabitants in each State. Once the troops were raised, the States were responsible for appointing officers, equipping the troops and marching them to a designated place as determined by Congress. It was under this Article that Pennsylvanians Elias Boudinot (though he represented New Jersey), Thomas Mifflin, and Arthur St. Clair were chosen to serve as “President of the United States in Congress Assembled.” Eight men held this position from 1781 to 1789 and were John Hanson, Elias Boudinot, Thomas Mifflin, Richard Henry Lee, John Hancock, Nathaniel Gorham, Arthur St. Clair and Cyrus Griffin. These men are not considered to be “Presidents” of the United States because of the little power that came with their position as compared to executive power that is granted to Presidents of the United States under the Constitution. While this Article may not grant Congress the power to lead a national government, it does lay the foundation for some of the corrections that would come in the U.S. Constitution. The article concludes by stating that in order for Congress to act on the powers described above, nine of the thirteen States must be in agreement. Any other issues, except for the request to adjourn from day-to-day, must be decided by a majority vote. Congress also had the right to adjourn at any point during the year or move the meeting to another location; however, the adjournment must be no longer than six months. Congress would publish its proceedings monthly unless a matter of security would prevent such an action. The report would also include the voting patterns of the delegates and each delegate might obtain a copy of the report to present to their State legislature. Article X states that the Committee of the States or any nine of them had the full authority to act while Congress was in recess. However, the Committee of the States could not exercise any power that required the consent of nine states while Congress was in session. Again, we see the fear of too much national power. While there was a need for a governing body that could replace Congress in its absence, the framers granted this body even less power than it gave to Congress. Another important issue facing the colonies during the drafting of the Articles was establishing a plan to absorb new states into the Union. While it was still undetermined who would ultimately end up with possession of the western territory, the framers devised a plan to incorporate new States into the Union. Canada was also included in this Article because it was still under British rule during the Revolution but it was unknown if they would declare their independence as well. Article XI states that if Canada declared its independence and agreed to the terms of the confederation, it could join the United States and would be entitled to all the advantages of the Union. The offer would not be extended to any other colony unless agreed to by nine States. The cost of the Revolutionary War was a pressing issue that the Continental Congress needed to address. Article XII states that the United States assumed all financial responsibility for debts accrued during the American Revolution and solemnly pledged to repay these debts. It was in this Article that the federalist philosophies of a strong central government were finally able to work their way into the Articles. However, due to Congress’ inability to collect taxes from the colonies, this Article would not be fulfilled and debt repaid until the 1800s. Article XIII closes out the Articles of Confederation and states that all of the States must follow the rules created by Congress. No alteration would be made at any time to the Articles unless agreed upon by Congress and then by the legislatures of every State. Each delegate who signed the Articles had the power to ratify them for their respective State. The States also agreed to inviolably observe the determinations of Congress and the Union would last forever. These Articles were written in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on July 9, 1778, in the third year of independence of America. While writing the Articles of Confederation solved the problem of establishing a national government, the document did not grant the central government enough power to assure the continued successful development of the United States. Opinions of the new government ranged considerably, some questioned why the Revolutionary War was fought, but Jefferson’s opinion of the situation was, in all likelihood, shared by a majority of the colonists when he said “with all the imperfections of our present government, it is without comparison the best existing or that ever did exist.” He went on to say that when comparing the European governments and the United States, such a comparison “is like a comparison of heaven and hell.” Founding father John Jay shared this opinion and said “our federal government has imperfections, which time and more experience will, I hope, effectually remedy.” But what were the imperfections that caused the Articles of Confederation to be discarded and replaced by the Constitution? The principal issues that caused the failure of the Articles were the inability of the federal government to levy taxes and the poor status of foreign and domestic trade. These issues were closely related and needed to be amended together. Trade between the States was inefficient and difficult as tariff wars raged, and multiple State currencies made value interpretation nearly impossible. Even though these were pressing issues, they certainly were not the only issues that needed to be addressed by the founding fathers. In his book The Framing of the Constitution, author Max Farrand writes: There were some matters requiring greater uniformity of treatment and procedure than could be obtained from independent state action. Such were naturalization, bankruptcy, education, inventions, and copyright. Upon these subjects, accordingly, congress ought to be authorized to legislate. For somewhat different reasons other matters were just as clearly beyond the scope of state action and in these also the central government should be given power: To define and punish treason, to establish and exercise jurisdiction over a permanent seat of government, to hold and govern the western territory that had been ceded by the states, to provide for the establishment of new states and their admission to the union, to maintain and efficient postal service and, some said, to make internal improvements. If such fields of action were granted to the central government, the states would be free to exercise sufficient authority in local matters. With these problems inadequately addressed in the Articles of Confederation, something had to be done quickly to preserve all that had been fought for before and during the Revolutionary War. However, it was Shay’s Rebellion in 1786 and 1787 that was the tipping point requiring immediate action and review of the Articles of Confederation. Led by Daniel Shay, a Revolutionary War hero, a group of 1,500 rebels or “Regulators” as they called themselves, sought to revolt against the government in Massachusetts for multiple reasons, including excessive property taxes, poll taxes, and the currency system. On August 29, 1786, Shay and his Regulators stormed the Northampton courthouse and stopped a debtors trial. On January 25, 1787, they stormed an arsenal in Springfield in what turned out to be the bloodiest clash of the rebellion. The rebellion ended after a majority of the Regulators surrendered; however, it did reveal the weakness of the State and National governments. On October 31, 1786, George Washington wrote “I am mortified beyond expression when I view the clouds that have spread over the brightest morn that ever dawned in any country… What a triumph for the advocates of despotism, to find that we are incapable of governing ourselves and that systems founded on the basis of equal liberty are merely ideal and fallacious.” From May 25 to September 17 of 1787, the Constitutional Convention met in Philadelphia to correct the deficiencies created by the Articles of Confederation. It had been called for the “express purpose of revising the Articles of Confederation” and to assure that they were “adequate to the exigencies of government, and the preservations of the Union.” Amongst the most important issues to resolve were taxation, state representation in the national government, and controlling interstate commerce. In the Federalist Papers, Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay present an argument on the inefficiencies of the Articles through a series of essays to the state of New York, some of which include a discussion of these issues. Congress’ inability to collect taxes from the colonies was the foremost issue and it created numerous problems for the developing nation including a rebellion and an inability to pay the soldiers who fought in the Revolutionary War. In The Federalist No.XXX, Hamilton writes: Money is, with propriety, considered as the vital principle of the body pol
What Is the Wolfram Language? The Wolfram Language is a computer language. It gives you a way to communicate with computers, in particular so you can tell them what to do. In this book, you’ll see how to use the Wolfram Language to do a great many things. You’ll learn how to think computationally about what you want to do, and how to communicate it to a computer using the Wolfram Language. Why can’t you just say what you want using plain English? That’s what you do in Wolfram\|Alpha. And it works very well for asking short questions. But if you want to do something more complex, it quickly becomes impractical to describe everything just in plain English. And that’s where the Wolfram Language comes in. It’s designed to make it as easy as possible to describe what you want, making use of huge amounts of knowledge that are built into the language. And the crucial thing is that when you use the Wolfram Language to ask for something, the computer immediately knows what you mean, and then can actually do what you want. I view the Wolfram Language as an optimized tool for turning ideas into reality. You start with an idea of something you want to do. You formulate the idea in computational terms, then you express it in the Wolfram Language. Then it’s up to the Wolfram Language to do it as automatically as possible. You can make things that are visual, textual, interactive or whatever. You can do analyses or figure things out. You can create apps and programs and websites. You can take a very wide variety of ideas and implement them—on your computer, on the web, on a phone, on tiny embedded devices and more. I started building what’s now the Wolfram Language more than 30 years ago. Along the way, particularly in the form of Mathematica, the Wolfram Language has been extremely widely used in the world’s research organizations and universities—and a remarkable range of inventions and discoveries have been made with it. Today the Wolfram Language has emerged as something else: a new kind of general computer language, which redefines what’s practical to do with computers. Among the early users of today’s Wolfram Language are many of the world’s leading innovators and technology organizations. And there are large and important systems—like Wolfram\|Alpha—that are written in the Wolfram Language. But the very knowledge and automation that makes the Wolfram Language so powerful also makes it accessible to anyone. You don’t have to know about the workings of computers, or about technical or mathematical ideas; that’s the job of the Wolfram Language. All you need to do is to know the Wolfram Language, so you can tell your computer what you want. As you work through this book, you’ll learn the principles of the Wolfram Language. You’ll learn how to use the Wolfram Language to write programs, and you’ll see some of the computational thinking it’s based on. But most of all, you’ll learn a set of powerful skills for turning your ideas into reality. Nobody knows yet all the things that the Wolfram Language will make possible. It’s going to be exciting to see—and what you learn in this book will let you become a part of that future.
Anatomy Of The Throat The throat, or pharynx, is divided into three parts. The nasopharynx is located behind the nose. The oropharynx is behind the mouth . And the laryngopharynx , or lower section of the throat, is in front of the esophagus this is where the larynx, or voice box, and the vocal cords are housed . The often-infected tonsils and adenoids are found in the naso- and oropharynx. A number of common problems can affect the throat: strep and other infections that cause sore throats, hoarseness, laryngitis, and tonsillitis are just a few. Sinus Inflammation Can Affect Hearing When sinusitis occurs, it generally causes intense inflammation to sinuses by which eardrums gets pressure on which hearing is connected. The fluid discharge from sinuses increases this pressure. At condition, when fluid accumulates near the ear drums, then the middle ear becomes swollen and gets completely blocked. Thus, the pressure to ear drums increases every bit and the patient starts experiencing hearing loss and pain. Sometimes, the hearing can be restored in case fluids get drained away. At such situation, sinusitis gets subsequently cured. This entire process promotes hearing loss caused by chronic sinusitis. Coping With Changes To Your Hearing Although usually temporary, hearing problems can be hard to cope with. Many of your daily activities are affected. It becomes harder to have face to face or telephone conversations. Ways of relaxing such as listening to music or the radio and watching TV may be more difficult or less enjoyable. You may get fed up with asking people to repeat things. This can be a worry when talking to your doctors – you may be concerned that you are missing vital bits of information. When talking to people it is important: - that you tell people your hearing is not so good - to ask them to speak a little louder and more clearly - they may need to face you when speaking as this often helps - to get rid of background noise, such as the TV or radio – ask them to turn the noise down, and explain why If your hearing loss is likely to be permanent your doctor will probably refer you to an audiologist. An audiologist is a health professional trained in the non medical aspects of hearing loss. An audiologist will look at the degree of hearing loss you have. And they can give you treatment suited to your own particular needs. V Paleri and N Roland The Journal of Laryngology and Otology, volume 130, number S2, May 2016 National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, November 2004 Management of late complications of head and neck cancer and its treatment T Galloway and others Don’t Miss: How Long Until Sinus Infection Goes Away Is It A Sinus Infection Or An Ear Infection Sometimes, people who experience a feeling of fullness in the ear, muffled hearing and fever attribute these symptoms to a sinus infection. That could be a mistake because the symptoms all together line up more with an ear infection. Each type of infection has different treatments, so having the proper diagnosis is important. Symptoms of a Sinus Infection The signs of a sinus infection can include: - Sinus pressure behind eyes and cheeks - Thick yellow or green mucus dripping from your nose or into the back of your throat - Lesser sense of smell - Runny, stuffy nose for more than a week - Facial pain - Pain in the upper teeth - Upset stomach, nausea, pain behind the eyes and headaches Sinus infections occur when the nasal passages get congested. These infections can be tricky to treat and are sometimes chronic. Hearing loss is NOT a symptom of a sinus infection, although your ear may feel full. Sinus infections, as opposed to ear infections, are less frequent in children. Symptoms of an Ear Infection Children get ear infections more often than adults do, and muffled hearing is one symptom that both groups may share. In adults, the symptoms can also include: - Feeling of fullness in ear - Ear drainage - Sharp stabbing pain in ear canal - Sore throat, stuffy nose or fever Symptoms among children include muffled hearing, pulling at the ear, ear drainage, restlessness, fever, irritability and crying when lying down. Children can also experience sore throat, stuffy nose or fever. Children vs. Adults Hearing Loss And Sinus Congestion Hearing loss can be often caused by sinus blockages and severe congestion. This is especially true if the Eustachian tube has a clog. This is because it helps to regulate the pressure in your sinuses. When you have fluid in the Eustachian tube, it can cause muffled hearing. Many people report that it is like having ear plugs in, or being underwater. If you have any changes in hearing, it is a good idea to visit your doctor or hearing care specialist. If you have hearing loss with a sinus infection, it can be a sign that your infection has become more severe. You May Like: What Helps Sinus Pressure Headache Sinus Congestion And Hearing Loss Chances are that if youre wondering, Can a sinus infection cause hearing loss? youve already got an inkling of what might be behind this symptom. The most common form of hearing loss due to a sinus infection is caused by severe congestion and sinus blockage specifically, sinus blockage of the Eustachian tube, a small section of your ear that helps regulate pressure. Fluid in the Eustachian tube can cause muffled hearing. Many people equate the sensation to that of descending in an airplane, being underwater, or even having earplugs in. Changes in hearing such can be distressing. In general, its wise to visit a doctor as soon as you notice any difference in the quality of your hearing, but to have hearing loss coupled with a sinus infection may indicate that your infection has become more severe, and thus definitely warrants a visit to your ENT. Integrated Ent Of Lone Tree Colorado According to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders , sudden deafness, or sudden sensorineural hearing loss, strikes one person per 5,000 every year, typically adults in their 40s and 50s. Sudden sensorineural hearing loss usually comes on suddenly and rapidly, and nine out of 10 people with it lose hearing in one ear. Unfortunately, most people who experience sudden sensorineural hearing loss delay treatment or dont seek treatment at all, because they think the condition is due to allergies, sinus infections, or ear wax impaction. If you suspect you have sudden sensorineural hearing loss, you should seek immediate medical care, because any delayed treatment could result in a permanent hearing loss. Sudden Hearing Loss FAQs How is sudden hearing loss diagnosed? Your audiologist will conduct a hearing test to diagnose sudden sensorineural hearing loss. This test will help answer if your hearing loss is due to one of the following conditions: 1) Sound is not reaching the inner ear due to an obstruction , or 2) The ear is not processing the sound that reaches it due to a sensorineural deficit. With this test, your audiologist will also be able to determine the range of hearing thats been lost. If you have a hearing loss of at least 30 decibels in three connected frequencies, the hearing loss is diagnosed as sudden sensorineural hearing loss. What are the signs that you may have a sudden hearing loss? What causes sudden hearing loss? Read Also: Mucinex Dm For Sinus Congestion Continue Learning About Nose Disorders Important: This content reflects information from various individuals and organizations and may offer alternative or opposing points of view. It should not be used for medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. As always, you should consult with your healthcare provider about your specific health needs. Regular Hearing Loss & Sudden Hearing Loss Treatment Conductive hearing loss is often temporary and treatable. Treatments include the removal of abnormal growths and external objects, earwax extraction, or antibiotics. Other issues are usually treatable with surgery. Treatment of sensorineural hearing loss does not typically result in fully restored hearing. However, with the advent of hearing aids and cochlear implants, your options for achieving better hearing have vastly improved. Sudden hearing loss, when caught quickly and treated with corticosteroids, can result in successful or partially successful treatment. Again, sudden hearing loss is best treated within 2 weeks of its onset. For either type of hearing loss, your doctor might administer a hearing loss test to measure the extent of your hearing loss and to determine how much your hearing capabilities have changed. Recommended Reading: Herbal Supplements For Sinus Infection Can A Blocked Nose Cause Hearing Loss A blocked nose can make life miserable. Added to a plugged nose, hearing loss can make the problem worse. But why does it happen that whenever there is an episode of a stuffy nose, your hearing also gets affected? Have you given thought about that? Read this blog to know the relation between the blocked nose and hearing loss. Causes Of Nasal Congestion Nasal congestion can result from various reasons, including the following: - Allergies such as hay fever - Tumors in the nasal cavity - Enlargement of adenoid tissue - Congenital nasal narrowing in newborns - Otitis media and asthma also cause nasal congestion, which can cause sleep disturbances, sleep apnea, pressure in the ear, and/or temporary hearing loss While these are the common reasons behind a stuffy nose, it is recommended to visit your doctor for the correct diagnosis. Don’t Miss: Can Sinus Polyps Cause Migraines This Permanent Damage Can Be Avoided If you believe that you may have an ear infection, see a doctor as soon as possible. The sooner you get treatment, the better. If you have chronic ear infections, dont ignore them. The more severe the infections you have, the more harm they will cause. Ear infections normally begin with allergies, sinus infections, and colds so take measures to prevent them. If you are a smoker, now is the right time to quit, too, because smoking increases your risk of having chronic respiratory problems. If you are still having trouble hearing after getting an ear infection, consult a doctor. There are other things which can cause conductive hearing loss, but you may have some damage. If you find out that its permanent, hearing aids can help you hear again. You can schedule an appointment with a hearing specialist to get more information about hearing aids. How To Treat An Ear Infection For mild to moderate ear infection pain, your doctor may decide to prescribe pain medication, ear drops and/or antibiotics to clear out the infection. For serious ear pain, your doctor may decide to lance your eardrum to let the infection drain out before the healing process begins. Acute otitis media typically requires treatment from a physician. Don’t Miss: Sinus And Cold Medicine For High Blood Pressure Dear Dr Nina: Can A Sinus Infection Cause Long You may require a scan if no cause can be identified Q I had a bad sinus infection a few months ago and was treated with antibiotics. Since then, I don’t feel like I have ever gone back to normal. I have a continous full feeling in my head and my hearing has been affected. I find it hard to hear from one ear in particular. I haven’t been back to the doctor yet because I have been waiting for things to go back to normal. I have had a few sessions of acupuncture which helped clear the congested feeling a bit, but not the hearing issue. Can a sinus infection damage your hearing? Dr Nina replies: Reduced hearing after a sinus infection is rarely caused by ongoing infection or permanent scarring and ear damage. It is more commonly caused by ongoing nasal congestion due to rhinitis or hay fever. Congestion of the eustachian tube – which runs from the back of the nose to the middle ear is often the culprit. In many cases treating the underlying congestion can improve hearing. You can buy many treatments over the counter, but always talk to your pharmacist. Older antihistamines can be very sedating and so the newer, less sedating ones are preferred. It is essential that the water is sterile. Use either cool boiled water or gently warmed distilled or sterile water. Tap water is not safe as it can contain bacteria which may then flourish in the nasal cavity. How Do Allergies Or Sinus Issues Affect My Hearing Outer ear: Allergic reactions can cause itching and swelling of both the outer ear and ear canal. Some individuals may be allergic to skin reactants like laundry detergent, pets, fragrances or earrings. Others may experience symptoms because of airborne allergies that cause outer ear inflammation such as hay, pollen, mold or dust. Swelling of the outer ear can make it difficult for sounds to make it to your middle and inner ear. Middle ear: The Eustachian tube is located in your middle ear, so if swelling occurs here from allergies or infection, it is very difficult for fluid in your ears to drain properly. This can cause fluid buildup and a feeling of unwanted pressure, which gives you the feeling of fullness or congestion in the ear and also creates a breeding ground for bacteria. It also means the sounds coming into your ear are becoming muffled and lost, not clearly traveling to your inner ear. Problems with the middle ear can also affect our equilibrium, so balance problems such as vertigo can occur if inflamed. Inner ear: People with specific inner ear issues such as Ménières disease can be particularly affected by hearing loss due to allergies or sinus infection. Recommended Reading: How To Break Sinus Pressure Does It Cause Hearing Loss Since our sinuses are found close to our ear canal, when they start getting clogged, swollen, and congested due to an infection, it is a common occurrence to start losing some hearing function. As a result, our Eustachian tubes start to get clogged, therefore, preventing any fluids from passing through. Some common symptoms you should watch out for include: - Pressure or pain in the eardrum - Partial hearing loss - Hearing sounds as if youre underwater or going through a tunnel How Sinus Infection Affects Your Hearing Jun 4, 2021 \| Hearing Do you know that your nose and ears are connected? Your nasal sinus cavity connects to your eardrum, which can lead to hearing loss when you have acute or chronic sinusitis. If you or someone you know is suffering from sinusitis, the best thing you can do is treat it before it causes irreversible damage, particularly in children. Read Also: Ears Pop When Swallowing Sinus Infection How Is Sudden Deafness Diagnosed If you have sudden deafness symptoms, your doctor should rule out conductive hearing losshearing loss due to an obstruction in the ear, such as fluid or ear wax. For sudden deafness without an obvious, identifiable cause upon examination, your doctor should perform a test called pure tone audiometry within a few days of onset of symptoms to identify any sensorineural hearing loss. With pure tone audiometry, your doctor can measure how loud different frequencies, or pitches, of sounds need to be before you can hear them. One sign of SSHL could be the loss of at least 30 in three connected frequencies within 72 hours. This drop would, for example, make conversational speech sound like a whisper. Patients may have more subtle, sudden changes in their hearing and may be diagnosed with other tests. If you are diagnosed with sudden deafness, your doctor will probably order additional tests to try to determine an underlying cause for your SSHL. These tests may include blood tests, imaging , and balance tests. Read Also: Abc Alphabet In Sign Language Sinus Pressure And Eye Pain The sinuses are located all throughout our face in the cheeks, near the ear, behind the eye, and in the forehead and nose. Infected sinuses dont drain properly. The mucous and debris that build up can cause a feeling of pressure and pain. If the infection is in the ethmoid sinuses the pressure can cause pain that radiates to the eyes. Infection in the frontal sinuses causes a headache that can feel like it is coming from the eyes. Doctors often recommend decongestants to promote drainage and this reduces the pressure. The reduced pressure eases the pain in the area of the eyes. You May Like: How Do You Say Hearing Aid In Spanish Read Also: Azithromycin Dosage For Sinus Infection Normal Operation Of The Middle Ear Efficient hearing requires an intact tympanic membrane , a normal ossicular chain, and a well-ventilated tympanic cavity. The tympanic cavity is air-filled and carved out of the temporal bone. For the eardrum to have maximal mobility, the air pressure on either side must be equal. This means the air pressure within the middle ear must equal that of the external environment. This is achieved via the Eustachian tube which connects the tympanic cavity to the throat/nasopharynx and acts as a pressure release valve to equalise the middle ear pressure to that outside. Normally the walls of the Eustachian tube are collapsed, and jaw-moving actions such as swallowing, talking, yawning and chewing open the tube to allow air in or out as needed for equalisation. An Important Function Of Sinus - Allows voice resonance - It helps in filtering and add moisture to air inhaled from nasal passages removing unwanted particles at the same time. - Lighten weight from the skull. The four paranasal sinuses, named accordingly to the bones where they are placed: - Ethmoid: located in the upper part of the nose in the middle of the eyes. - Frontal: triangular-shaped sinus, located in a bottom part of the forehead over eyes and eyebrows. - Maxillary: largest among four, in cheekbones next to the nose. - Sphenoid: located behind the eyes. Donât Miss: Sign Language Angel You May Like: Best Home Treatment For Sinus Infection
Caribou depend on grasses beneath the snow to sustain themselves in winter and spring. As the Arctic warms, snow can melt and then refreeze, creating a layer of ice impenetrable to their hooves, cutting off this vital food source. Arctic Caribou populations have dropped by nearly 50% in most of their habitat. Caribou are compromised in a warmer Arctic Polar bears adapting to change The great polar bear has had to adapt to deep changes in its habitat. Dwindling sea has brought them into more contact with humans, because they use sea ice to move long distances to hunt and can become stranded when the ice disappears. Arctic bird populations are suffering massive decline Seabirds travel incredibly long distances to reach their arctic breeding grounds. Populations of many species are plummeting and several factors, including climate change, are behind their decline. Climate Chaos: Wildlife Wildlife are completely dependent on their ecosystems to survive. Hundreds of thousands of years have given each animal its space to thrive in symbiosis with the land, plants and animals around them. For some species, in more gentle places on the earth, there is flexibility for them to adapt to changing conditions. In the Arctic, there is often a razor thin line between survival and rapid decline. Climate chaos has wrought many changes to the Arctic landscape. Sea ice is dwindling. For polar bears, this means they can become trapped on land and limited to a small area for hunting. Warmer winters and springs means that caribou now find their primary food source trapped below a thick layer of ice because melting snow has become a frozen icy barrier. Sea birds can find that the insects needed to raise their young have already hatched and gone when their babies are born; an earlier spring melt triggers a cascade of changes in their breeding grounds. The Arctic is harsh and each animal that has grown into that environment has a small space of optimal conditions, into which it fits. The new Arctic is a different place, and many of the animals there are not prepared for the changes. It's all tied together Polar bears are king of the Arctic. They are the largest predator around and very well equipped to survive in the harsh conditions of their Arctic habitat. Media coverage of polar bears has made them the most visible species under threat by the extreme changes climate chaos has wrought in the far north. The primary threat for the bears is diminished sea ice. The Arctic has warmed an average of 2.1 degrees celsius in the last 20 years and the landscape has changed in significant ways. Sea ice now melts earlier in the year and more of it disappears each summer. For the bears, this poses a significant problem. They use the ice to hunt their favorite food; seal. Seals live on the ice and where it goes, they follow. Bears move from land to ice and ice to land, to give birth to cubs and to hunt. When the sea ice melts and is far from the coastlines, bears are unable to move around and can be trapped on the land until the ice returns in the fall. An adaptable species, the bears will turn to other food sources, as the seals become inaccessible. They’ll eat just about anything and one tasty treat they’ve discovered is egg. Landed bears have been known to eat 90 percent of the eggs in a nesting site, if they come upon it. For the vulnerable birds in these places, the arrival of bears before their eggs hatch can be catastrophic. Sea bird populations have declined up to 70 percent in some species. Many factors are at work here, but bears turning to eggs as a food supply does not bode well for them. Polar bears have been protected in some areas, and are not yet considered a threatened species. However, two populations studied by scientists, found that average adult weight has dropped and fewer cubs survive. Food supply and habitat loss are likely culprits as the bears struggle to survive in a changing Arctic landscape. Great change over great distance There are approximately 200 species of birds in the Arctic. Most of the birds found here come from other parts of the world as part of a migratory pattern that follows food sources. Some birds travel up to 9,000 kilometers each year, coming to the Arctic to breed. Breeding is obviously a key part of their lives and the safety and abundance of food in their breeding grounds is key to success in these places. Climate change has brought significant pressures to the birds during this most vulnerable part of their lives. A critical piece to the bird’s survival is the hatching of insects in the breeding ground, providing an easy and abundant food source for baby birds. Warming temperatures in the Arctic spring and an earlier onset of springtime conditions has led to a mismatch of timing with the hatch of the insect eggs and the hatch of the bird eggs. Some species are being born to a dearth of food because the insects have already come and gone. More polar bears are eating bird eggs as sea ice decline keeps them onshore and isolated from seals, their preferred food source. Changes in permafrost that have allowed larger shrubs and even trees to move north have altered the ecosystems and the animals that inhabit them, bringing fox and other, small predators to places the birds nest. Combining the pressures in the Arctic with significant changes along the rest of their migratory routes, some bird species are suffering declines of up to 70 percent. The one exception is the goose. The number of geese in the Arctic has exploded and they are competing with smaller bird species for habitat and food. The further development of oil and gas reserves adds to the woes of sea birds due to their absolute vulnerability to pollution at shorelines. Scientists consider the state of migratory birds in the Arctic to be one of emergency. The extreme challenges birds face requires a global shift in caring for them all along their migratory routes and in their nesting sites. They need humans to make sure they can make it home again. While climate records are being routinely broken, the cumulative impact of these changes could also cause fundamental parts of the Earth system to change dramatically and irreversibly. Scientists with the University of Alaska Fairbanks, U.S. Geological Survey and other institutions have documented 56 beaver complexes that have been built since 1999 along rivers and creeks in Arctic northwestern Alaska.
The ocean is covered by sea ice for at least 15 percentage some part of the year. Like fresh water, ocean water also freezes, but at lower temperatures. Fresh water freezes at 32 degrees Fahrenheit but sea water freezes at about 28.4 degrees Fahrenheit, because of the salt in it. Given here the online calculator to calculate freezing point of ocean water. Ocean water freezing point calculation is done based on the salinity and pressure.
In 2014, President Barack Obama declared March 31 to be Cesar Chavez Day, a federal commemorative holiday in remembrance of the work of activist and union organizer Cesar Chavez (1927–1993). Chavez is known for being the founder of the National Farm Workers Association, which later became the United Farm Workers Union, and for coining the phrase “Si se puede,” in English “Yes, we can,” also known as the presidential campaign slogan that helped Barack Obama become the 44th President of the United States. But this is only half the story of Cesar Chavez’s life’s work. When he founded the National Farm Workers Association, he had a co-founder whom he worked with for the rest of his life. This co-founder was Dolores Huerta, who, in fact, was the one who coined the phrase “Si se puede,” as she pointed out to President Obama when she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011. As seen in the documentary that chronicles her life and work, Huerta was a controversial person. Although soft spoken, she was considered difficult, and was often treated as Chavez’s sidekick. Her determination, activism, and personal life broke all the perceived rules for how a woman should behave and what a woman should do with her life. Especially if she, as in Huerta’s case, was the divorced mother of eleven children. Chavez died unexpectedly in 1993. At first, it was expected that Huerta would take over, but eventually she left the movement entirely. What happened after her exit was an erasure of her significance and her work. In the new narrative, Chavez became the sole founder and the rallying catch phrase “Si se puede” became his as well. After the death of Cesar Chavez, Dolores Huerta was written out of the history of her own movement. What happened to her is what Michel-Rolph Trouillot calls the creation of a historical silence. In his book Silencing the Past, Trouillot identifies four moments when historical silences are created. These moments are: The moment of fact creation, which is when it is determined whether something that happened is significant enough to be considered a historical fact. The moment of fact assembly, which is when the historical facts determined the most significant are collected and stored into archives. The moment of fact retrieval, which is when something that happened becomes a story about what is believed to have happened. The moment of retrospective significance, which is when a historian sits down and writes history based on the assembled facts while influenced by the narrative of those facts. Important to keep in mind whenever we discuss anything that has to do with history is that history is not a universal force with its own mind nor does it have a will of its own. History is not headed in a particular direction. History is not an arc that bends towards a certain goal. History is not a judge. History is not a moral guide with a side that is either right or wrong. Why? Because history is something that is made by people with agendas. With “made” I mean written. With “people” I mean historians and those who commission their work, whether it be educational institutions, museums, government organizations, or publishers. With “agendas” I mean the contexts of political power that define our interpretation of history, as well as the implicit and explicit biases, prejudices, and preconceived notions that all people carry within them depending on the kind of society that has shaped them and which affect how we interpret the world. This is why Trouillot talks about the Haitian Revolution as a non-event in Western historiography. The Haitian Revolution is a historical fact. The Haitian Revolution exists in the archives. The narrative of the Haitian Revolution is either a fight for freedom of the enslaved population of the French colony of Saint Domingue (the Haitian narrative) or an illegal slave revolt that needed to be destroyed (the French, American, and British narrative). Because history writing is connected to power, empires, and the nation state, and because the kind of history writing that has come to dominate the world is that of the West, the latter narrative prevailed over the former and the Haitian Revolution was excluded from the moment of retrospective significance. The Haitian Revolution was silenced. It became a non-event as far as history was concerned. Similarly, the holidays we celebrate and the people we commemorate also create silences. By focusing on the creation of Columbus Day as a federal holiday, Trouillot demonstrates how an insignificant date became a federal day of celebration while silencing the deaths of millions. On October 12, 1492, Christopher Columbus reached what is today the Bahamas. Consequently, this day is considered the day the “New” World was “discovered.” But only in retrospect and several centuries after the fact. Columbus kept a journal during the voyage that he famously believed would take him to India. There is no entry for October 12 in that journal. What is more, news about the landing in the Bahamas didn’t reach Spain until 1493, at which time the impact was limited. The celebration of Columbus Day has been made possible by the sanitizing of Christopher Columbus as a person and the silencing of what took place following the landing in the Bahamas. For us to be able to celebrate a person or an event, by necessity we need to look away from the negative aspects. This is true for Christopher Columbus, and it is true for Cesar Chavez. Cesar Chavez was married to his wife Helen his entire life and had eight children with her, but he also had relations with other women. Chavez co-founded the union with Dolores Huerta, but he was a chauvinist who did not allow women in positions of power within the movement. Cesar Chavez Day is a celebration of Mexican-Americans, but Chavez and Huerta rose to national fame by organizing Filipino-American farm workers. Every historical investigation involves setting boundaries or else the investigation will achieve nothing, no questions will ever be answered, no search for information will ever be complete. Consequently, to write history is to be complicit in the creation of historical silences. Historians, then, seem to be in a bind. They are damned if they set boundaries for their investigation. They are damned if they don’t. So, how should they solve this conundrum? Historians need to get down from their high horses where so many are still strapped. Historians sometimes come across as arrogant, and to a certain extent we are. We are trained to think that the way historians engage with the past is the only correct way, and because our way is the correct way, we are never wrong. When criticized, the weapon historians use in their defense is objectivity. But as Peter Novick has shown, objectivity in history can be utilized to hide prejudices and biases; it can even promote racism. Objectivity is what makes it possible for historians to create insidious historical silences while at the same time coming across as skilled scholars with integrity. To combat the continued creation of these insidious historical silences, historians, as Priya Satia suggests in her book Time’s Monster, need to embrace the subversive side of history writing that is taking nation states, empires, and the historical profession itself to task. One way of doing this is for historians to move outside of their comfort zone to a greater degree than we are doing now. A great place to start is Michel-Rolph Trouillot’s Silencing the Past. In the words of my friend, the Australian, I shall return. Did you enjoy this post? Please show your appreciation by supporting The Boomerang for more content of this kind.
A device for converting kinetic energy into electrical energy with an electric motor. Note: The EIA definition of “electrical generator” states: “an apparatus designed to produce mechanical power from an external source by the application of electric power.” Per the EIA definition, such examples as solar electric generators and wind electric generators are not included in the definition of “electrical generator.” The reason for the exclusion of these types of devices is that they do not meet one of the required conditions to qualify as an electric generator. In order to be classified as an eligible electrical generator for residential use, it must: Be designed to generate alternating current (AC) electricity directly from a motor, and Not be an open-cycle or closed-cycle system. Open-cycle systems generally require the use of a flywheel or a gearbox to cause motion in a magnetic field. Close-cycle systems use the action of a permanent magnet coupled with a crankshaft to cause rotation to the rotor blades of the electrical generator. There are two common types of electrical generators: the horizontal axis and vertical axis. A horizontal electric generator has the ability to rotate in only one axis – clockwise or counter-clockwise. The most common types of horizontal axis generators are a vertical axis dynamo. A vertical dynamo is one that is most commonly associated with wind generators. A wind electric generator is commonly used in areas where there is low wind. An electric generator is commonly powered by one of three types of energy: the chemical energy found in fuels such as gasoline, oil, and coal; the mechanical energy that are derived from spinning a turbine; and the magnetic energy that are induced by a magnet. The way in which this energy is converted is by means of a so-called “bundle” or “fiber.” This is a series of wires whose ends are connected to an outside circuit. The electrical current is then induced by the magnet in a bundle or succession of cables. It is important to note that there are three separate components that make up an electric generator. The first component is the mechanical energy that is extracted by the generator from an external source. The electrical energy then flows through the first circuit and is then routed to the second component, the magnet. The third component is the wires and the last component is the external circuit. This electrical generator is then powered on by means of the mechanical energy that is extracted and changed into electrical energy through the magnet. As previously stated, when we speak of an electric generator, we generally refer to a mechanical energy that is converted into electrical energy through a magnet. However, it is possible for a solar panel or a windmill to convert mechanical energy into electricity. In order to do this, the devices need to harness the power of moving air through the conversion process. These devices are referred to as wind generators or solar panels. A good way to understand this nct question and answer is to think about the way in which you can answer the question, “Does DC generator output equal microwaves?” In order to answer the question, you would need to know whether or not both waves are used in the electrical process. There are some people who believe that both waves are used. If you find that this is the case, then you will not be able to determine the answer to the question, “Does DC generator output equal microwaves?” There are some people who are in favor of one form of electric generator while others are in favor of another. These people have arguments based on the fact that both electrical generators are electrical machines. Another example is that there are people who believe that an electric generator is a wire wrapped magnetic field and others are in favor of a circular coil. With regard to the shape of the electric generator, it should be obvious that a wire-wound magnetic field produces a much better frequency. In any event, this is just a side note.
* * It is defined as the negative common logarithm of the concentration of hydrogen ions [H+] in moles/litre: pH = -log10 [H+]. The letters of its name are derived from the absolute value of the power (p) of the hydrogen ion concentration (H). The product of the concentrations in water of H+ and OH- (the hydroxide ion) is always about 10-14. The strongest acid solution has about 1 mole/litre of H+ (and about 10-14 of OH-), for a pH of 1. The strongest basic solution has about 10-14 moles/litre of H+ (and about 1 of OH-), for a pH of 14. A neutral solution has about 10-7 moles/litre of both H+ and OH-, for a pH of 7. The pH value, measured by a pH meter, titration, or indicator (e.g., litmus) strips, helps inform chemists of the nature, composition, or extent of reaction of substances, biologists of the composition and environment of organisms or their parts or fluids, physicians of the functioning of bodily systems, and agronomists of the suitability of soils for crops and any treatments needed. The pH is now defined in electrochemical terms (see electrochemistry). * quantitative measure of the acidity or basicity of aqueous or other liquid solutions. The term, widely used in chemistry, biology, and agronomy, translates the values of the concentration of the hydrogen ion—which ordinarily ranges between about 1 and 10-14 gram-equivalents per litre—into numbers between 0 and 14. In pure water, which is neutral (neither acidic nor alkaline), the concentration of the hydrogen ion is 10-7 gram-equivalents per litre, which corresponds to a pH of 7. A solution with a pH less than 7 is considered acidic; a solution with a pH greater than 7 is considered basic, or alkaline.The measurement was originally used by the Danish biochemist S.P.L. Sørensen to represent the hydrogen ion concentration, expressed in equivalents per litre, of an aqueous solution: pH = -log[H+] (in expressions of this kind, enclosure of a chemical symbol within square brackets denotes that the concentration of the symbolized species is the quantity being considered).Because of uncertainty about the physical significance of the hydrogen ion concentration, the definition of the pH is an operational one—i.e., it is based on a method of measurement. The U.S. National Bureau of Standards has defined pH values in terms of the electromotive force existing between certain standard electrodes in specified solutions.In agriculture, the pH is probably the most important single property of the moisture associated with a soil, since that indication reveals what crops will grow readily in the soil and what adjustments must be made to adapt it for growing any other crops. Acidic soils are often considered infertile, and so they are for most conventional agricultural crops, although conifers and many species of shrub will not thrive in alkaline soil. Acidic soil can be “sweetened” or neutralized by treating it with lime. As soil acidity increases so does the solubility of aluminum and manganese in the soil, and many plants (including agricultural crops) will tolerate only slight quantities of those metals. Acid content of soil is heightened by the decomposition of organic material by microbial action, by fertilizer salts that hydrolyze or nitrify, by oxidation of sulfur compounds when salt marshes are drained for use as farmland, and by other causes.The pH is usually measured with a pH meter, which translates into pH readings the difference in electromotive force (electrical potential or voltage) between suitable electrodes placed in the solution to be tested. Fundamentally, a pH meter consists of a voltmeter attached to a pH-responsive electrode and a reference (unvarying) electrode. The pH-responsive electrode is usually glass, and the reference is usually a mercury-mercurous chloride (calomel) electrode, although a silver-silver chloride electrode is sometimes used. When the two electrodes are immersed in a solution, they act as a battery. The glass electrode develops an electric potential (charge) that is directly related to the hydrogen-ion activity in the solution, and the voltmeter measures the potential difference between the glass and reference electrodes. The meter may have either a digital or an analogue (scale and deflected needle) readout. Digital readouts have the advantage of exactness, while analogue readouts give better indications of rates of change. Battery-powered portable pH meters are widely used for field tests of the pH of soils; such tests may also be performed, less accurately, by mixing indicator dyes in soil suspensions and matching the resulting colours against a colour chart calibrated in pH. * *
Epilepsy is a neurological condition characterised by repeated seizures. Seizures are caused by electrical activity in the brain, although may appear differently from person to person (not all seizures involve convulsions, despite what you might think). As with many conditions there is not a single cause that can be identified as a precursor to epilepsy. Genetics (a mutation in the KCNC1 gene has recently been identified as a cause of a progressive inherited form of epilepsy – Muona et al 2015), brain tumours, or head injuries, and the cause of many patients’ epilepsy remains unknown. Several studies have shown that you are more likely to develop epilepsy after a head injury e.g. Christensen et al (2009) found that people were 2% more likely to develop epilepsy after a mild head injury. This rose to 7% more likely following a severe head injury, with risk also increasing slightly with age. The image below is taken from the EFEPA and shows what to do if someone is having a seizure: As mentioned earlier there are different types of epileptic seizures which depends on which part of the brain they originate in. Seizures can be classified by how much of the brain is affected: partial/focal seizures (when only a small part of the brain is affected) or generalised (if most of the brain, or all of it, it affected). Focal seizures can also originate in different parts of the brain, with the temporal lobe being the most comment (epilepsy.com). The temporal lobe is the part of the brain above your ear, and is responsible for processing hearing, and our memories (this is simplified – it does a bit more than this!). Therefore, one of the common features of temporal lobe epilepsy is memory disturbances (Ko et al, 2013). The famous patient H.M.’s amnesia was caused by an operation to remove the source of his severe temporal epilepsy – this was carried out in the 50s before brain functions were accurately known and too much of the medial temporal lobe was taken away. This destroyed part of the hippocampus, the structure in the brain responsible for memory processing. Due to the nature of his amnesia, he was probably one of the most studied individuals ever in psychology. See this post for more on H.M. and memory research. Operations are carried out to remove part of the temporal lobe in patients now with much better outcomes! The second most common is frontal lobe epilepsy, where seizures originate in the front part of the brain. They often occur during sleep, and can affect the motor areas of the brain, leading to problems with motor skills (e.g. Beleza & Pinho, 2011). If patients are not eligible for surgery to remove the specific part of the brain responsible for the seizures, anti-convulsive medication and electrical brain stimulation can be helpful in reducing symptoms (Kellinghaus & Luders, 2004).
Researchers have discovered the first known interstellar meteorite to hit Earth, according to A recently released US Space Command Document. An interstellar meteorite is a space rock that originates from outside our solar system – which is very rare. The result came as a surprise to Amir Siraj, who recognized the body as An interstellar meteorite in a 2019 study he co-authored while he was an undergraduate at Harvard University. Siraj was searching with Abraham Loeb, a professor of science at Harvard University, for Oumuamua, the first known interstellar object in our solar system found in 2017. Siraj decided to go to the NASA Center for Near-Earth Object Studies database to find other interstellar objects and found what he believed to be an interstellar meteorite within days. need for speed The meteorite’s high speed was what initially caught Siraj’s attention. The meteor was moving at a high speed of about 28 miles per second (45 kilometers per second) relative to the Earth, which is moving at about 18.6 miles per second (30 kilometers per second) around the sun. Because researchers measured how fast the meteorite was moving while on a moving planet, 45 kilometers per second wasn’t actually How fast it was. Heliocentric velocity is defined as the velocity of a meteor relative to the Sun, and is a more accurate way of determining the orbit of an object. It is calculated based on the angle at which the meteor hits the Earth. The planet moves in one direction around the sun, so a meteor can hit the Earth head-on, which means opposite the direction in which the planet is moving, or from behind, in the same direction that the Earth is moving. Since the meteor hit Earth from behind, Siraj’s calculations said the meteor was already traveling at 37.3 miles per second (60 kilometers per second) relative to the sun. Then he determined the path of the meteorite and found that it was in an unbound orbit, unlike the closed orbit of other meteorites. This means that instead of orbiting the sun like other meteorites, it came from outside the solar system. “Supposedly it was produced by another star, was expelled from the planetary system of that star, and it just so happened that it made its way into our solar system and collided with Earth,” Siraj said. Loeb and Siraj were unable to publish their findings in a journal because their data came from NASA’s CNEOS database, which does not reveal information such as how accurate the readings are. After years of trying to get the additional information needed, they received official confirmation that it was, in fact, an interstellar meteorite, from John Shaw, deputy commander of US Space Command. Command is part of the US Department of Defense and is responsible for military operations in outer space. “Dr. Joel Moser, Chief Scientist at Space Operations Command, the US Space Force service component of US Space Command, reviewed the analysis of additional data available to the Department of Defense regarding this finding. Dr. Moser emphasized that the velocity estimate reported to NASA is accurate enough to indicate that Interstellar path,” Xu wrote in the letter. Siraj moved on to other research and almost forgot his discovery, so the document came as a shock. “I thought we would never learn the true nature of this meteorite, that it was banned somewhere in the government after our many attempts, so seeing that message from the Ministry of Defense with my own eyes was a really cool moment,” Siraj said. Since receiving confirmation, Siraj said his team has been working to resubmit their findings for publication in a scientific journal. Siraj would also like to assemble a team to try to recover part of the meteorite that landed in the Pacific Ocean, but admitted that it would be an unlikely possibility due to the sheer scale of the project. Siraj said that if researchers could get their hands on the “holy grail of interstellar bodies,” it would be a scientific pioneer in helping scientists discover more about the world outside our solar system. Neither NASA nor the US Space Command initially responded for comment. “Twitter geek. Proud troublemaker. Professional student. Total zombie guru. Web specialist. Creator.”
There is no doubt about the fact that technology continues to transform the world in many immeasurable ways. But perhaps something that would grab everyone’s attention is how it has made the most complex things look easy. Take a case in point of schools and research centers, and further narrow down to a subject such as Geography. You will be awe-struck by some of the most cutting-edge development in modern times. Geographic information systems, also known as Geospatial information system (GIS) is a testament to how the integration of technology and academia is making it easy for students and researchers to study what would otherwise be impossible a few decades ago. In this post, you are doing to learn how GIS has given modern Geography a new look so that even if you decide to order a paper on any related topic from any college homework help site, you know what to expect. A Brief History of GIS Many years ago, students of Geography depended on two-dimensional maps, something which made it difficult to explore the real world. It meant things like Global Position Systems wouldn’t realize a lot of success, and people would be limited to studying areas of proximity. However, all this was to change when in the 1960s, a 28-year-old Canadian Geography student named Roger Tomlinson started developing what later became known as the first ever GIS software. The Canadian Land inventory embraced the approach. At the same time, Howard Fisher, who was in Harvard at the same time was looking into prospects of bringing together data sets from map using statistic modeling software, shortly after which, the United States Census Bureau started applying his approach in demographic studies. What has changed in Geography? The following are notable facelifts that Geospatial information system has brought into modern Geographical studies: Widespread application in the study of planets (Astronomy Science) NASA can track the path of asteroids with greater ease than it was many years back. That’s not all. With Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA) onboard Mars Global Surveyor, scientists have been able to study the rugged terrain of a planet that has since shown traits of supporting human life. Talk about Mar Rover, Visible Earth, Google Earth, 3-Study of magnetic fields and many more; GIS is taking a toll on old approaches to Astronomy. With the advent of GIS software, there was never going to be any doubt about how it would transform capabilities of remote sensing gadgets. Installation on the space station makes it easy to gather information about the outer space, include remotest parts on land. A lot has changed regarding demographic studies, or populations, thanks to the incorporation of GIS as an advanced computer technology for data collection. It is now easier to gather spatial statistics, simplify complex data and scale down the findings to dependable and precise findings. In this regard, researchers in this field of knowledge can realize the outcomes of their projects much faster and with more reliability using a data modeling approach. Improvement in tracking capabilities With GIS coming hot on the heels of the information age, tracking migrations of people, animals and weather changes has become easier than before. Mapping, data analysis, and reporting are the mainstay activities in this approach. These are areas one can focus when placing Geography paper orders at Myessaywriting.com. Ever wondered how the weatherman knows about an impending hurricane, a potentially hazardous tornado or even a storm that is a few months away from flooding lowlands? Well, it is all thanks to GIS impact on meteorology, a branch of geography that involves the study of climatic patterns. In summary, the Geospatial information system is changing the way people study the environment in which they live. And while its application is widespread in Geography, businesses also depend on it to satisfy the needs of clients.
NEW YORK, Oct 7 (Reuters) – The World Health Organization (WHO) this week issued a definition for “long COVID,” a term used to describe the persistent health problems that affect some survivors of COVID-19. Scientists are still working to understand the syndrome. Here is what they know so far. HOW DOES THE WHO DEFINE LONG COVID? The WHO defines long COVID as a condition with at least one symptom that usually begins within three months from the onset of confirmed or probable infection with the coronavirus, persists for at least two months, and cannot be explained by another diagnosis. Symptoms may start during the infection or appear for the first time after the patient has recovered from acute illness. Among the most common persistent symptoms are fatigue, shortness of breath, and cognitive problems. Others include chest pain, problems with smell or taste, muscle weakness and heart palpitations. Long COVID generally has an impact on everyday functioning. The WHO’s definition may change as new evidence emerges and as understanding of the consequences of COVID-19 continues to evolve. A separate definition may be applicable for children, the agency said. HOW COMMON IS LONG COVID? The exact number of affected people is not known. A study from Oxford University of more than 270,000 COVID-19 survivors found at least one long-term symptom in 37%, with symptoms more frequent among people who had required hospitalization. A separate study from Harvard University involving more than 52,000 COVID-19 survivors whose infections had been only mild or asymptomatic suggests that long COVID conditions may more often affect patients under age 65. More than 236 million infections caused by the coronavirus have been reported so far, according to a Reuters tally. WHAT ELSE DO STUDIES SHOW ON LONG COVID SYMPTOMS? In a study published in the Lancet, Chinese researchers reported that 12 months after leaving the hospital, 20% to 30% of patients who had been moderately ill and up to 54% of those who were critically ill were still having lung problems. The Harvard study also found that new diagnoses of diabetes and neurological disorders are more common among those with a history of COVID-19 than in those without the infection. DO PEOPLE RECOVER FROM LONG COVID? Many symptoms of long COVID resolve over time, regardless of the severity of initial COVID-19 disease. The proportion of patients still experiencing at least one symptom fell from 68% at six months to 49% at 12 months, according to the study published in the Lancet. The WHO said long COVID symptoms can change with time and return after showing initial improvement. DO COVID-19 VACCINES HELP WITH LONG COVID? Small studies have suggested that some people with long COVID experienced improvement in their symptoms after being vaccinated. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said more research is needed to determine the effects of vaccination on post-COVID conditions. Reporting by Manojna Maddipatla; Editing by Nancy Lapid, Caroline Humer and Bill Berkrot Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Are we truly earthlings? Is terra firma unequivocally the birthplace of humanity? Maybe not. A new paper by a trio of Harvard University researchers argues that we all might be immigrants from deep space, brought to Earth via a mechanism called panspermia. While the conventional wisdom from biologists has long been that life on Earth began on Earth, science fiction isn’t so fuddy-duddy. “Prometheus,” Ridley Scott’s 2012 prequel to the blockbuster “Alien” franchise, is one of many films positing that our planet was seeded by extraterrestrial life. In the movies, aliens use some sort of engineered transportation system to get here — rockets or wormholes, for example. Panspermia makes no such technical demands. Here’s the basic idea: A meteor slams into a planet where life exists, and the collision lofts into space a microbe-containing dirt clod. The clod eventually slams into another world and infects it with life. Many space scientists think panspermia could work within a solar system. For example, it’s possible that life arose on Mars more than 4 billion years ago and — thanks to panspermia — sent microbial emissaries to Earth, where they evolved into the flora and fauna you enjoy today. But panspermia has long been seen as having limited reach. Even though microbes are tougher than cheap steak, it seems unlikely they would survive a journey between star systems. They’d be dead on arrival — indeed, dead before arrival — killed off by the radiation that permeates space and the lack of liquid water en route. And the odds that a germy dirt clod from one star system would actually hit a planet in another are comparable to the odds of downing a clay pigeon a trillion miles away. Oumuamua changed things. When this cosmic visitor (scientists aren’t sure if the 700-foot-long object is a comet or an asteroid) sailed through our solar system last year, the Harvard scientists realized that large objects might be able to seed life over light-years of distance — even across the galaxy. This is possible, they suggest, because there are ways to accelerate the “bio-package” to velocities far greater than any dirt clod, and have it gravitationally captured by some other star system where it hangs around, eventually collides with a planet and delivers its protoplasm-filled package. This game of catch would work best for double star systems. Roughly half of all the stars in the Milky Way have stellar buddies, and the gravitational fields in these systems are ever-changing. The systems occasionally slingshot asteroids, comets and even moons or planets into deep space at high speed. Double star systems are also adept at grabbing large objects coming their way. After some deft mathematical calculations, the researchers concluded that there could be hordes of ejected asteroids, comets, moons and planets sailing the galaxy. They could cover interstellar distances in millions of years. That’s a long ride, but some bacteria are known to remain dormant and viable that long. If this scenario is right, that report you got from Ancestry.com or 23andMe could be incomplete. Instead of being Bosnian or Bengali, your real ancestry might trace back to an as-yet-undiscovered planet. It would also imply that life is ubiquitous. But it’s still unclear that life could really make such a trip. Rocco Mancinelli, a senior research scientist at NASA’s Ames Research Center, is among those who are skeptical that any bacteria could survive such a panspermian pilgrimage. “If the journey took millions of years, then that life would die and it doesn’t matter if it is Earth life or non-Earth life,” he said. “Why? Because it would be destroyed by cosmic radiation. And even if it could survive that, the radiation given off by the mineral in the rock itself would destroy it.” Such objections aside, the idea of panspermia is perennially popular. Perhaps that’s because we want to see biology’s good news spread to as much of creation as possible. Then again, maybe it’s because we aren’t entirely happy with the idea that our distant ancestors were low-grade pond scum. It’s more gratifying to think that we have more exotic origins. If we’re not descended from the gods, at least we might be descended from ancestors on a planet far, far away. WANT MORE STORIES ABOUT ALIENS? - If space aliens are out there, why haven't we found them? - We just beamed a signal at space aliens. Was that a bad idea? - Could alien life exist in parallel universes?
Standard: Use a computational representation to illustrate the relationships among Earth systems and how those relationships are being modified due to human activity. [Clarification Statement: Examples of Earth systems to be considered are the hydrosphere, atmosphere, cryosphere, geosphere, and/or biosphere. An example of the far-reaching impacts from a human activity is how an increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide results in an increase in photosynthetic biomass on land and an increase in ocean acidification, with resulting impacts on sea organism health and marine populations.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include running computational representations but is limited to using the published results of scientific computational models.] Standard: Construct an explanation based on evidence for how the availability of natural resources, occurrence of natural hazards, and changes in climate have influenced human activity. [Clarification Statement: Examples of key natural resources include access to fresh water (such as rivers, lakes, and groundwater), regions of fertile soils such as river deltas, and high concentrations of minerals and fossil fuels. Examples of natural hazards can be from interior processes (such as volcanic eruptions and earthquakes), surface processes (such as tsunamis, mass wasting and soil erosion), and severe weather (such as hurricanes, floods, and droughts). Examples of the results of changes in climate that can affect populations or drive mass migrations include changes to sea level, regional patterns of temperature and precipitation, and the types of crops and livestock that can be raised.] Standard: Evaluate competing design solutions for developing, managing, and utilizing energy and mineral resources based on cost-benefit ratios.* [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on the conservation, recycling, and reuse of resources (such as minerals and metals) where possible, and on minimizing impacts where it is not. Examples include developing best practices for agricultural soil use, mining (for coal, tar sands, and oil shales), and pumping (for petroleum and natural gas). Science knowledge indicates what can happen in natural systems—not what should happen.] Standard: Using data from a specific ecosystem, explain relationships or make predictions about how environmental disturbance (human impact or natural events) affects the flow of energy or cycling of matter in an ecosystem. In this lesson students will learn about the human demands of freshwater and how clean drinking water is being impacted. Students will analyze the issues of cause and effect between human activities and water sustainability. Students will demonstrate this knowledge by create a presentation illustrating the effects of human activities on water resources.

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