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Ododu is a constructed language that is based on the following presumptions. - The universe is comprised of conscious entities that create and use language. - The universe can be described in terms of certain foundational characteristics or relations. These characteristics are elemental in that they comprise units of meaning called foundational morphemes, that cannot be subdivided into any combination of smaller units of meaning. - Each foundational morpheme can be optimally represented by a foundational grapheme that is both an ideogram and a pictogram. Such a grapheme is independent of any particular language and it conveys some sense of its meaning through a pictorial resemblance of that fundamental unit of meaning. - Each foundational morpheme – grapheme pair can also be represented by a unique sound unit called a phoneme. The Ododu language comprises four primary vowels each of which represents a foundational morpheme – grapheme – phoneme unit. These four primary vowels represent the four foundationally different types of relation and hence denote the initial and most primordial characterization of ourselves and the universe. They can be viewed as representing my personal reference frame or a view of the universe from my perspective. There are also four additional secondary vowels which also represent foundational morpheme – grapheme – phoneme units, and which are, in a sense, reflections of the four primary vowels. They can be viewed as an external reference frame or a view of the universe from a different perspective than mine. For example, the two perspectives might describe the differences in how you and I look at the universe and/or each other. Each of the four primary vowels can interact with each of the four secondary vowels to generate 16 consonants. In our example, this will describe how each of the elements in my reference frame (my language) will change with respect to changes in the elements in your reference frame (your language) when we both look at and describe some other event in the universe. Each consonant has a unique phoneme and is represented by a unique pictogram. The consonants also are associated with unique morphemes that are related to interactions of the morphemes of the constituent vowels, but which stand alone as archetypal concepts that transcend the meanings of the constituent vowel morphemes or various combinations of the constituent morphemes. All 24 single letters are represented by graphemes that are non homeomorphic or topologically invariant with respect to each other. Thus no single letter grapheme can be converted into any other single letter grapheme by manipulation of its shape or size. It is further assumed that the eight vowel graphemes are the most fundamental archetypal symbolic forms that can be produced and that consequently they represent the foundational structure and form of the universe itself. The 16 single letter consonant graphemes are constructed via a serial subsumptive procedure wherein each subsequent consonant grapheme contains all prior graphemes. This process is analogous to the initial morphogenetic development of living cells in biology and hence represents a linguistic process for the development of a language that approaches the goal of a universal language. As the complexity of each sequential grapheme increases they begin to look like the hieroglyphs of many of the languages of ancient peoples and cultures.
An arthroscopy is a type of keyhole surgery used both to diagnose and treat problems with joints. It's most commonly used on the knees, ankles, shoulders, elbows, wrists and hips. An arthroscopy involves the use of a device called an arthroscope to examine the joints. This is a thin, metal tube about the length and width of a drinking straw that contains a light source and a camera. Images are sent from the arthroscope to a video screen or an eyepiece, so the surgeon is able to see inside the joint. It's also possible for tiny surgical instruments to be used alongside an arthroscope to allow the surgeon to treat certain joint conditions. As the equipment used during an arthroscopy is so small, only minor cuts need to be made in the skin. This means the procedure has some potential advantages over traditional, "open" surgery, including: - less pain after the operation - faster healing time - lower risk of infection - you can often go home the same day - you may be able to return to normal activities more quickly Why it's used An arthroscopy might be recommended if you have problems such as persistent joint pain, swelling or stiffness, and scans have not been able to identify the cause. An arthroscopy can also be used to treat a range of joint problems and conditions. For example, it can be used to: - repair damaged cartilage - remove fragments of loose bone or cartilage - drain away any excess fluid - treat conditions such as arthritis, frozen shoulder or carpal tunnel syndrome What happens during an arthroscopy? The arthroscope is inserted through a small cut in the skin made next to the joint. Further small incisions may also be made to allow an examining probe or surgical instruments to be inserted. Your surgeon will then examine the inside of the joint using the arthroscope and, if necessary, remove or repair any problem areas. This will usually be done under general anaesthetic, although sometimes a spinal or local anaesthetic is used. The procedure is usually performed as a day case, which means you'll normally be able to go home on the same day as the surgery. Recovering from an arthroscopy The time it takes to recover from an arthroscopy can vary, depending on the joint involved and the specific procedure you had. It's often possible to return to work and light, physical activities within a few weeks, but more demanding physical activities such as lifting and sport may not be possible for several months. Your surgeon or care team will advise you how long it's likely to take to fully recover and what activities you should avoid until you're feeling better. While you're recovering, you should contact your surgical team or GP for advice if you think you may have developed one of the complications mentioned below. What are the risks? An arthroscopy is generally considered to be a safe procedure, but like all types of surgery it does carry some risks. It's normal to experience short-lived problems such as swelling, bruising, stiffness and discomfort after an arthroscopy. These will usually improve during the days or weeks following the procedure. More serious problems are much less common, occurring in less than 1 in 100 cases. They include: - a blood clot that develops in one of the limbs – this is known as deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and it can cause pain and swelling in the affected limb - infection inside the joint – this is known as septic arthritis and it can cause a high temperature (fever), pain and swelling in the joint - bleeding inside the joint – which often causes severe pain and swelling - accidental damage to the nerves that are near the joint – this can lead to numbness and some loss of sensation, which may be temporary or permanent Speak to your surgeon about the possible risks before agreeing to have an arthroscopy.
Study suggests that in the last 60 years up to half the observed warming and associated sea level rise in low- and mid- latitudes of the Atlantic Ocean is due to changes in ocean circulation. Over the past century, increased greenhouse gas emissions have given rise to an excess of energy in the Earth system. More than 90% of this excess energy has been absorbed by the ocean, leading to increased ocean temperatures and associated sea level rise, while moderating surface warming. The multi-disciplinary team of scientists have published estimates in PNAS, that global warming of the oceans of 436 x 1021 Joules has occurred from 1871 to present (roughly 1000 times annual worldwide human primary energy consumption) and that comparable warming happened over the periods 1920-1945 and 1990-2015. The estimates support evidence that the oceans are absorbing most of the excess energy in the climate system arising from greenhouse gases emitted by human activities. Prof Laure Zanna (Physics), who led the international team of researchers said: ‘Our reconstruction is in line with other direct estimates and provides evidence for ocean warming before the 1950s.’ The researchers’ technique to reconstruct ocean warming is based on a mathematical approach originally developed by Prof Samar Khatiwala (Earth Sciences) to reconstruct manmade CO2 uptake by the ocean. Prof Khatiwala said: ‘Our approach is akin to “painting” different bits of the ocean surface with dyes of different colors and monitoring how they spread into the interior over time. We can then apply that information to anything else – for example manmade carbon or heat anomalies – that is transported by ocean circulation. If we know what the sea surface temperature anomaly was in 1870 in the North Atlantic Ocean we can figure out how much it contributes to the warming in, say, the deep Indian Ocean in 2018. The idea goes back nearly 200 years to the English mathematician George Green.’ The new estimate suggests that in the last 60 years up to half the observed warming and associated sea level rise in low- and mid- latitudes of the Atlantic Ocean is due to changes in ocean circulation. During this period, more heat has accumulated at lower latitudes than would have if circulation were not changing. While a change in ocean circulation is identified, the researchers cannot attribute it solely to human-induced changes. Much work remains to be done to validate the method and provide a better uncertainty estimate, particularly in the earlier part of the reconstruction. However the consistency of the new estimate with direct temperature measurements gives the team confidence in their approach. Prof Zanna said: ‘Strictly speaking, the technique is only applicable to tracers like manmade carbon that are passively transported by ocean circulation. However, heat does not behave in this manner as it affects circulation by changing the density of seawater. We were pleasantly surprised how well the approach works. It opens up an exciting new way to study ocean warming in addition to using direct measurements.’ This work offers an answer to an important gap in knowledge of ocean warming, but is only a first step. It is important to understand the cause of the ocean circulation changes to help predict future patterns of warming and sea level rise. Full paper title: Zanna, L., Khatiwala, S., Gregory, J., Ison, J. and Heimbach, P. (2019) Global reconstruction of historical ocean heat storage and transport. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS); doi/10.1073/pnas.1808838115 Most of the excess energy stored in the climate system due to anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions has been taken up by the oceans, leading to thermal expansion and sea level rise. The oceans thus have an important role in the Earth’s energy imbalance. Observational constraints on future anthropogenic warming critically depend on accurate estimates of past ocean heat content (OHC) change. We present a novel reconstruction of OHC since 1871, with global coverage of the full ocean depth. Our estimates combine timeseries of observed sea surface temperatures, with much longer historical coverage than those in the ocean interior, together with a representation (a Green’s function) of time-independent ocean transport processes. For 1955-2017, our estimates are comparable to direct estimates made by infilling the available 3D time-dependent ocean temperature observations. We find that the global ocean absorbed heat during this period at a rate of 0.30 ± 0.06 W/m2 in the upper 2000 m and 0.028 ± 0.026 W/m2 below 2000 m, with large decadal fluctuations. The total OHC change since 1871 is estimated at 436 ±91 × 1021 J, with an increase during 1921-1946 (145 ± 62× 1021 J) that is as large as during 1990-2015. By comparing with direct estimates, we also infer that, during 1955-2017, up to half of the Atlantic Ocean warming and thermosteric sea level rise at low-to-mid latitudes emerged due to heat convergence from changes in ocean transport.
In Chapter 3, we identified an aromatic compound as being a compound which contains a benzene ring (or phenyl group). It is now time to define aromaticity in a more sophisticated manner. In this chapter, we discuss the stability of benzene and other aromatic compounds, explaining it in terms of resonance and molecular orbital theory. You will study the nomenclature of aromatic compounds and the Hückel (4n + 2) rule for predicting aromaticity. The chapter concludes with a brief summary of the spectroscopic properties of arenes.
The study of proper principle of translation is termed as translation theory. This theory, based on a solid foundation on understanding of how languages work, translation theory recognizes that different languages encode meaning in differing forms, yet guides translators to find appropriate ways of preserving meaning, while using the most appropriate forms of each language. Translation theory includes principles for translating figurative language, dealing with lexical mismatches, rhetorical questions, inclusion of cohesion markers, and many other topics crucial to good translation.Basically there are two competing theories of translation. In one, the predominant purpose is to express as exactly as possible the full force and meaning of every word and turn of phrase in the original, and in the other the predominant purpose is to produce a result that does not read like a translation at all, but rather moves in its new dress with the same ease as in its native rendering. In the hands of a good translator neither of these two approaches can ever be entirely ignored. Conventionally, it is suggested that in order to perform their job successfully, translators should meet three important requirements; they should be familiar with: the source language the target language the subject matter Based on this premise, the translator discovers the meaning behind the forms in the source language and does his best to produce the same meaning in the target language – using the forms and structures of the target language. Consequently, what is supposed to change is the form and the code and what should remain unchanged is the meaning and the message. (Larson, 1984) One of the earliest attempts to establish a set of major rules or principles to be referred to in literary translation was made by French translator and humanist Étienne Dolet, who in 1540 formulated the following fundamental principles of translation (“La Manière de Bien Traduire d’une Langue en Aultre”), usually regarded as providing rules of thumb for the practicing translator: The translator should understand perfectly the content and intention of the author whom he is translating. The principal way to reach it is reading all the sentences or the text completely so that you can give the idea that you want to say in the target language because the most important characteristic of this technique is translating the message as clearly and natural as possible. If the translation is for different countries besides Mexico, the translator should use the cultural words of that country. For example if he/she has to translate ”She is unloyal with her husband” in this country it can be translated as “Ella le pone los cuernos” but in Peru it can be translated as “Ella le pone los cachos”. In this case it is really important the cultural words because if the translator does not use them correctly the translation will be misunderstood. The translator should have a perfect knowledge of the language from which he is translating and an equally excellent knowledge of the language into which he is translating. At this point the translator must have a wide knowledge in both languages for getting the equivalence in the target language, because the deficiency of the knowledge of both languages will result in a translation without logic and sense. For example if you translate the following sentence “Are you interested in sports?” as “¿Estás interesado en deportes?” the translation is wrong since the idea of this question in English is “¿Practicas algún deporte?” The translator should avoid the tendency to translate word by word, because doing so is to destroy the meaning of the original and to ruin the beauty of the expression. This point is very important and one of which if it is translated literally it can transmit another meaning or understanding in the translation. For example in the sentence.- “In this war we have to do or die”, if we translate literally “En esta guerra tenemos que hacer o morir” the message is unclear. The idea is, (.) “En esta guerra tenemos que vencer o morir.” The translator should employ the forms of speech in common usage. The translator should bear in mind the people to whom the translation will be addressed and use words that can be easily understood. Example. “They use a sling to lift the pipes” if the translation is to be read by specialists we would translate it “Utilizan una eslinga para levantar la tubería”. If the text is to be read by people who are not specialists we would rather translate it “Utilizan una cadena de suspension para levantar los tubos”.
Frequently Asked Questions it mean to be Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual?" To be lesbian or gay means that a person's primary sexual and affectional orientation is toward people of the same gender. To be bisexual means that a person's primary sexual and affectional orientation is toward both people of the same gender and people of the opposite gender. For most lesbians, gay men and bisexuals sexual identity includes more than just sexual attraction and behavior. Research points to the importance of additional dimensions, such as emotional preferences, psychological attraction, falling in love, and self-identification (Klein, 1990). There may be men who have sex with men, or women who have sex with women who do not identify as gay or lesbian. Being lesbian or gay is an identity that is accompanied by a rich culture, with traditions, celebrations, and a sense of community. "Who is Lesbian, Bisexual or Gay?" Lesbians, gay men and bisexuals are represented in every socio-economic class, education level, political affiliation, age group, religion, race and ethnicity. They are our sisters, fathers, aunts, uncles, and friends. Lesbians and gay men are doctors, carpenters, teachers, ministers, factory workers, scientists, psychologists, police officers, military personnel, etc. Although some people argue that lesbians and gay men are not suitable for certain jobs, no research evidence supports this claim. Additionally, no physical attributes or behavior (such as dress or mannerisms) can identify who is lesbian or gay, though stereotypes of the effeminate male and masculine female are common. Whereas some gay people may display stereotypical characteristics, the vast majority do not. Lesbians and gay men are diverse as a group and unique as individuals. Gay or Lesbian instead of Homosexual?" In every society, language is a reflection of accepted and expected cultural values and beliefs. The term "homosexual" was devised to describe "sick", "ill", or "deviant" people who had relationships with the same gender. Today, there is a large body of research that contradicts the assumption that lesbians and gay men are psychologically disturbed due to their sexual orientation. In studies comparing lesbians and gay men to heterosexuals, both groups consistently score in the normal range on psychological tests. Given that research did not support this assumption of deviance, in 1973 the American Psychiatric Association removed homosexuality from its list of psychiatric disorders. Considering that the term homosexual has this negative historical definition, rejecting it and the deviance implied has been essential for lesbians and gay men. The labels lesbian, gay and bisexual are words that were created within and for the group to name their experience more accurately. a person to be Lesbian, Gay or Bisexual?" No one knows what makes people lesbian or gay, just as no one knows what makes people heterosexual. Two often focus on environmental versus biological origins. Environmental theories of homosexuality have focused on conflict-ridden experiences causing an otherwise healthy person to "become" gay, such as having a rejecting father, pathological family relationships, or other negative incidents. Biological theories have focused on brain differences between homosexuals and heterosexuals, homosexuality as inherited, and the role of prenatal hormones (Bryne & Parsons, 1993). Although much research has been conducted examining this question no conclusive theory of etiology for sexual orientation exists at this time. Implicit in most of the research is the assumption that homosexuality is a divergence from normal psychological or biological development. Many scientists dispute this assumption. What is considered normal is defined by each society reflecting cultural values and norms. Homosexuality has existed throughout history, in every culture, across all economic and educational levels, and is considered socially acceptable in many societies Lesbians and Gays are there?" We do not know exactly. Alfred Kinsey interviewed more than 10,000 people about their sexual behaviors across the United States in the 1930s and 1940s. To the public's astonishment Kinsey's results revealed that a substantial number of men (37%) said they had experienced some overt homosexual experience to the point to orgasm between adolescence and old age, and 10 percent were exclusively homosexual (Kinsey, 1948). Research conducted later with women found that 2% to 6% were exclusively homosexual (Kinsey, 1953). This question did not receive further study for at least two decades. In 1970 the Kinsey Institute published another study which maintained between 3.3% and 6.2% of people to be exclusively homosexual. The focus on numbers submerges the critical issue that lesbians, gay men and bisexuals are stigmatized. Would it be any more acceptable to harass, persecute, or perpetrate violence upon gay people if they comprised only 1% of the population? Certainly, all people should live free of harassment and prejudice. From "Creating Community" UC Davis Chancellor's Committee on LGBT Issues
The Medieval Period of music is the period from the years c.500 to 1400. It is the longest “period” of music (it covers 900 years!!) and runs right through from around the time of the fall of the Western Roman Empire to the beginning of the Renaissance. Here is an overview of several features of Medieval music that is good for you to have an understanding of. The vast majority of medieval music was monophonic – in other words, there was only a single melody line. (“mono-phonic” literally means “one sound”). The development of polyphonic music (more than one melody line played at the same time (“poly-phonic” means “many sounds”)) was a major shift towards the end of era that laid the foundations for Renaissance styles of music. Gregorian chant, consisting of a single line of vocal melody, unaccompanied in free rhythm was one of the most common forms of medieval music. This is not surprising, given the importance of the Catholic church during the period. The Mass (a commemoration and celebration of The Last Supper of Jesus Christ) was (and still is to this day) a ceremony that included set texts (liturgy), which were spoken and sung. Have a listen to this example of Gregorian Chant: By Paterm (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons] The chants were also based on a system of modes, which were characteristic of the medieval period. There were 8 church modes – (you can play them by starting on a different white note on a piano and playing a “scale” of 8 notes on just the white notes. For example, if you start on a D and play all the white notes up to the next D an octave higher, you will have played the “Dorian Mode”). The Development of Polyphonic Music As the Medieval Period progressed, composers began to experiment and polyphonic styles began to develop. Organum was a crucial early technique, which explored polyphonic texture. It consisted of 2 lines of voices in varying heterophonic textures. The 3 main types of organum are: Parallel organum (or “strict organum”) One voice sings the melody, whilst the other sings at a fixed interval – this gives a parallel motion effect. Have a listen to this synthesised example of parallel organum: The 2 voices move in both parallel motion and/or contrary motion. Have a look at this example of free organum and listen to the track of the beginning being played on a synthesised choir sound: An accompanying part stays on a single note whilst the other part moves around above it. Have a listen to this synthesised example – notice how the 2nd voice stays on the same note whilst the 1st voice “sings” the melody: Here are some other recorded examples of organum, which are worth listening to: Sheet Music in the Medieval Period The Catholic Church wanted to standardise what people sung in churches across the Western world. As a result, a system of music notation developed, allowing things to move on from the previously “aural” tradition (tunes passed on “by ear” and not written down). These were signs written above chants giving an indication of the direction of movement of pitch. Here is an example of an 11th century manuscript containing nuemes: As the medieval period prgressed, nuemes developed gradually to add more indication of rhythm, etc.. Instruments of the Medieval Period There were a number of characteristic instruments of the Medieval Period including: Medieval flutes looked more like the modern day recorder as they had holes for fingers rather than keys. The medieval dulcimers were originally plucked, but then hit with hammers as technology developed. The lyra is considered to be one of the first known bowed instruments Other medieval instruments included the recorder and the lute. The period was also characterised by troubadours and trouvères – these were travelling singers and performers. Secular Styles of Medieval Music Ars Nova (“new art”) was a new style of music originating in France and Italy in the 14th century. The name comes from a tract written by Philippe de Vitry in c.1320. The style was characterised by increased variety of rhythm, duple time and increased freedom and independence in part writing. These experimentations laid some of the foundations for further musical development during the Renaissance period. The main secular genre of Art Nova was the chanson. Examples of Art Nova composers include Machaut in France and G. Da Cascia, J. Da Bologna and Landini in Italy. Recommended Medieval Music Listening It is quite difficult to find many recorded albums of medieval music, which offer a range of styles. The following album called “Discover Early Music” has some fantastic recordings of plainchant and organum in particular. Hope this helps.
When a brain region becomes active, a flood of blood arrives within a few hundred milliseconds to service local neurons with the oxygen and glucose they need for energy. Scientists exploit this flow when they use functional magnetic resonance imaging to determine what parts of the brain respond to different stimuli. Recent estimates, however, peg the rush of blood to be nearly 10 times the amount neurons need for metabolism. Now neuroscientist Christopher I. Moore of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has proposed a new theory behind the excess flow—the blood, he says, may actually be involved in information processing in the brain. Moore’s “hemo-neural hypothesis” posits several mechanisms for how blood might modulate neuron activity. Molecules in the blood might diffuse into the brain and affect neurotransmitter release, or changes in the volume, pressure or temperature of blood vessels may stress neuronal membranes to regulate transmission. Or there may be a middleman—astrocytes, the nonneuronal supporting cells that surround capillaries in the brain, could secrete chemical signals to neurons in response to a change in blood flow. Previous research supports Moore’s idea, such as the recent work on Alzheimer’s disease suggesting that vascular decline may precede, and facilitate, neurodegeneration. Further, if blood were to play a tempering role, disruptions in its flow could explain the mechanism behind epilepsy, which can result from overexcited neurons. Although some in the neuroscience community are dismissive, many believe that a true model of brain processing must include some role for blood. If his hypothesis proved true, Moore says, cerebral blood flow would no longer be thought of simply as a means to investigate brain function. “It would be a Heisenberg sort of thing,” he suggests, referring to the way observing a quantum state changes it, “where what you’re looking at is actually a part of the computation going on.”
This paper is a reflection of the pre-Columbian and post Columbian global exchange in different parts of the world. Many historians have explored Vermeer art paintings but this paper focuses on Timothy Brooks’ explanation of the art paintings of the seventeenth century by Vermeer. The paintings depict different material culture of different societies during this period. Various objects shown in the paintings reflect a social cultural interaction. The paper proceeds to evaluate some trade commodities and concludes by examining the long lasting impacts on various societies. Vermeer Hat, the Dawn of Global World in the Seventeenth Century is a book that seeks to illustrate the cultural contacts of different parts of the world during the advent of global exchange brought about by the establishment of trade links. In this book, Timothy Brooks makes reverence to the art paintings by Vermeer, so as to depict the Dutch dominance on global commerce during this period. The territories herein referred to, were the overseas colonies of the modern day Netherlands. In her acquisition of territories, the Dutch followed the Portugal and Spain steps of spreading their dominant material cultures through various means (Brook 28). The Dutch opted to use the military expeditions. She had an existing strong naval power that helped acquire more colonies and spread her influence further. The Dutch dominance of global trade exchange led to the emergence of the Golden Ages during the seventh century (Brook 45). The material culture flourished in different regions of the world as depicted by the paintings. However, during the revolutionary wars the Dutch lost many of her overseas colonies to the British. The Dutch traders were organized and prated as limited companies during the trade in the founded New America. They used ships to sail through to the found land after its discovery, by Christopher Columbus. During the Columbian era, European powers sailed to American fleets. The most dominant European power in trade was the Dutch. This was because the country was able to establish naval basis to facilitate trade. During this time, the economy of Netherlands was undergoing agricultural innovations and had to seek land and source on the world market. This led to its establishment in the Caribbean and the South American. Trade Items Depicted in Vermeer’s paintings Various trade items were involved in the commercial exchanges in various parts of the globe during the 17th century. From the paintings, one can be observe that such items included gold, silver, slaves, sugar, tobacco, clothing, ivory, and animals. In the book of Timothy Brook, six greatest paintings of Vermeer Hat have demonstrated the root of world trade. For the purpose intended in this paper, two paintings should be examined. These are Officer and Laughing Girl (ca.1655-1660) and A Girl Reading a Letter at an Open Window. Officer and Laughing girl This painting is an illustration of the interest people had in discovering the world, from the walls, maps of the world that are shown hanging on the walls. These maps show that there was patriotic pride that mostly went along with the emergence of Netherlands out of the Spanish occupation. It is clear from the paintings that trade existed between Europe and North America, which was present at a large scale. According to Brook; there were commodities, such as those made of beaver and fur that has origins in North America. The hat the officer is wearing was most fashionable in Europe during this period. The French controlled the exchange of goods during this period before the North West passage. They were also working to find a trade route to China. Proceeds from beaver fur played a significant part to provide funds to cover the cost required for these undertakings. From these paintings, the world was being discovered, and Vermeer compressed the world in to a small Dutch room where the officer and the laughing girl were talking. The windows are open so that it is easy to see the outside world, just the same way the globe was being discovered and becoming evident during this period. The most valuable commodity of trade for the North American was the fur hat. This found its way to Netherlands through the established trade links (Brook 56). The indigenous American people were responsible for rearing animals that produced the fur. Even in the pre- Columbian era, trade between the Europeans and the Indians existed. As Vermeer has demonstrated in the paintings, the fur hats were fashionable, and they were worn by officers. The trade in fur attracted the French, the British, the Spanish and even the Russians, thus, making it an indispensable venture for the North America natives. They made it their primary source of income. Fur was used as trimming and adornment. The aboriginal people, who were anglers, were exposed to the European explorers and traders, who were in demand of the fur, in order to facilitate trade activities. They exchanged it for weapons. Beaver robes and beaver pelts were used to provide warmth to the anglers who went long and cold voyages across the Atlantic. These beaver courts attracted Europeans. The fur trade grew from a transitional costal tare between the anglers and the Europeans to a permanent trade that was extended to the interior. The Iroquoian speaking people found around Todaussac and Huron became the intermediaries in the trade. There were many effects from the fur trade out of the interaction between different people. Hunting was intensified to get the fur. Various groups of the indigenous people competed for animals, leading to a lot of rivalry. Raids were also common in these populations as they became attracted to this lucrative business. Warfare resulted in bloodsheds where many lives were lost. For instance, there was a destructive raid at Saint Lawrence River Valley, with many lives were being lost in a bloody killing. Through the fur trade, firearms and other weapons were easily accessible as they were exchanged for fur (Brook 50). Another impact of the growth of this lucrative business was heavy competition for the fur –bearing lands by European powers. They competed to establish their colonies there to reap from the existing trade. Violence warfare continued and led to what became known as “morning wars.” The fur trade led to the spread of most infectious diseases. They heavily affected the native populations almost to decimate them. The French and the British traders spread the diseases in places such as Huron. The lucrative fur trade led to more rivalry of European powers as each was determined to expand its control. Imperialism culminated into increased warfare with heavy casualties. For instance, the Seven Year War in Europe traces its origin to this trade. The French control of the trade was sometimes excessive. When the authorities came across unlicensed fur traders they had to confiscate the fur in tracing the conflict. French and other European powers funded shipping companies that went to explore the fur producing regions for instance, the Hudson’s Bay. Chattering companies emerged such as the Hudson’s Bay Company of 1670. They participated in the fur trade and other commodities even during succeeding centuries. Immigration and emigration occurred. Some people fled the violence-hit region to seek refuge in safer places such as Lake Michigan. Through this trade, the material culture of different regions was exchanged. The Native Americans learnt more about European wars when they assumed more the roles of intermediaries. Military aggression intensified, and diplomatic negotiations were instituted. European powers competed for the control of the trade (Brook 65). Another impact of the trade in fur was smuggling of various goods in the Americas and European countries. Fur was smuggled mostly to English markets where the trades intended to evade the French control of the trade. In order for the trade to thrive, water routes were established. These were intended to get more trade items from the Americans, slaves from Africa and to market European goods in other parts of the world. This attracted large merchant companies who heavily invested in the trade to pursue their economic ambitions. The popular culture became an essential aspect of the fur trade. It attracted book writers, film actors, musicians and painters such as Vermeer Hat. They illustrated the role played by various powers, men, women and other segments. Women were depicted as an important component that prolonged the trade through their marriage to European traders. One of the features of this trade was the monopoly by some traders permitted by 6the French authority. The currency introduced brought people into contact as they sold and bought the fur. Bureaucratic monopolies were the most dominant in the trade. It must be remembered that the natives who produced the fur did not process it but the European companies were responsible for refining it in to European wares (Brook 40). For instance, it was made to iron-axe heads, clothes and other beaver pelts. The proceeds from the trade improved the living standards of the indigenous people. Another commodity that is found in Vermeer - a Dutch baroque painter - was the red draperies. These red curtains are to be founding most of his paintings. In his painting entitled A Girl Reading a Letter at an open Window, this commodity has been widely used. In this painting, in particular, there are two other commodities used. They include porcelain bowls where some fruits are placed; letters; chairs and walls. Vermeer being a Netherland citizen himself, was inspired, like any other painter in the streets, by the environment surrounding them. Physical items provided an inspiration to these painters. One thing is abundantly certain: these items were not simply selected for granted by these painters (Brook 69). The third painting, just as stated before, did use a red drapery in conveying its message. It was done between 1657 and 1659. One may be compelled to ask questions at this point in the description of this great work of Vermeer. How did this commodity enter Netherlands? Who were the producers? Who were the consumers of this product? Did they have any cultural, religious and historical meaning? It is particularly true that these concerns can be attempted to getting replies. Draperies in the Netherlands have an unusually long history. Most of this history is religiously inclined. The meaning that was derived by the use of this item was at some levels treated as a mystery. Talking of religion in the Netherlands, one needs to be a bit specific in description. Here, religion does not mean any organized group of fanatics worshipping. Religion here means the Catholic Church. The domination of the catholic church during this period was so powerful that the whole country looked upon the church for guidance in virtually all spheres of life; academics; spiritual matters; science and technology; agriculture; research and the list is, of course, endless. Now one ought to have to note the ritualistic and the symbolic nature of the Catholic Church. Its undertakings are most of the time in possession of a much-coded message, which is mostly treated as mystery. Vermeer and other painters knew this fact. This was reflected in their writings. Red color, in the Catholic Church, is a liturgical color that signifies martyrdom. It is used in the Holy mass during the commemorations of those staunch Catholics who in a way were murdered for their own faith. It has not been remarkably clear from where the draperies found their entry in Netherlands. However, it is thought that they can be associated with the ancient Rome with its theodicy. Another factor is the fact of being near the seat of the heart of the Catholic Church. Nevertheless, one thing is highly certain: the church in the Netherlands was a significant consumer of this commodity. By the time Vermeer was dying in 1652, most Dutch people had started losing interest in the Catholic Church (Brook 60). Most of them had started favoring Protestantism in place of catholicity. This meant that the reverence that had been credited to these red draperies had started to lose its touch. In fact, Vermeer in this painting last held the uses of the red draperies dear. Curtains were particularly used by the baroque painters to represent the spectators’ space. This was, in addition to the religious taste, associated with these draperies. In religious terms, the draperies helped to produce the effect of mystery and surprise. Artistically, the draperies, in particular, helped in achieving the illusionistic ends of those art works. Something compelling is how the use of these commodities articulates in volumes about the people and the communities that find these items being of value. A lot merits discussion concerning the gender, the race, the religion, the social, the cultural and the ideology of those people. These commodities were used in different contexts conveying different messages. One of the commonly used contexts is to express emotional aspect of the Dutch people. This has been widely used by Vermeer in his paintings, in particular, where the delicate theme of gender is exceedingly common. One cannot fail to mention about the gender roles, including the gender parity, the gender discrimination, and other aspects meriting debate, when talking of gender. In A girl reading a letter at an open window, Vermeer depicts a young girl reading a letter in front of an open window. A red drapery is hanging at the right foreground of the painting. It is not abundantly clear what content of the letter was. However, some critics have associated it with love. This is from the fact that an earlier version of the painting by Vermeer himself had already featured cupid - a goddess of love. The young girl looks outside, which portrays her longing to experience the external world, which remains anonymous to her, yet she can almost feel the ugliness of its absence. This clearly demonstrates the psychological turmoil that young people undergo when daring to come into terms with the inevitable physical and emotional developments. It becomes too complex to girls, in particular, when this happens in an environment that does not recognize her as worth being treated as a boy. Netherlands had been known for despised attitude towards women, during the historical period when Vermeer lived. Is this girl not sending a message? A message is that she is a human, too, being with emotions which need to be addressed just like those of men. Is it truly fair for one to be denied the channels to express oneself freely without fear of contradiction. These items tell much about the gender issues. Moreover, these items are used as a reminder of different historical moments. They represent various travails, as well as the good moments that a certain people experienced in the history of coming to terms with the prevailing ideology, at a certain history period. Netherlands has been, for the great part of its history, much unstable. This plight was perpetuated by the domination of the Dutch people, as well as by the French people. Netherlands became nearly devastated, economically. Vermeer was particularly affected. His paintings could not provide enough funds to sustain his own large family. He was affected mentally and, in the end, he died. It is highly unlikely that the continued use of something, regardless of that form and matter it ids can survive the test of time. The draperies are not an exception. It is logical to conclude from Vermeer paintings that the trade between various parts of the world during the 17th century was the dawn of the modern global world. The items of trade produced in different parts promoted material – culture exchanges. Different classes, gender, and races participated in the trading activities that involved these commodities and others. The impacts of the exchanges perpetuates to the modern relations of various nations in the world. This was truly a milestone in the world history of civilization.
Mississippi River Band of Chippewa Indians Mississippi River Band of Chippewa Indians (Anishinaabe: Gichi-ziibiwininiwag) or simply the Mississippi Chippewa, are a historical Ojibwa Band inhabiting the headwaters of the Mississippi River and its tributaries in present-day Minnesota. According to the oral history of the Mississippi Chippewa, they were primarily of the southern branch of Ojibwe who spread from the "Fifth Stopping Place" of Baawiting (Sault Ste. Marie region) along Lake Superior's southern shores until arriving at the "Sixth Stopping Place" of the St. Louis River. They continued westward across the Savanna Portage, and spread both northward and southward along the Mississippi River and its major tributaries. Before entering the treaty process with the United States, the Mississippi Chippewa consisted of the following sub-bands: - Crow Wing Band - Gull Lake Band - Mille Lacs Band - Pelican Lake Band - Pokegama Lake Band - Rabbit Lake Band - Rice Lake Band - Sandy Lake Band - Snake River Band - Swan River Band - Trout Lake - White Oak Point Band and many villages associated with these sub-bands. Together, they controlled the main north-south trade corridor of the Mississippi River headwaters. Their traditional use area included the stretch of the Mississippi River between its confluence with the Leech Lake River and its confluence with the Crow Wing River—known in the Ojibwe language as Gichi-ziibi (Big River)—and including the Brainerd Lakes Area. History and treaty making In 1825, with the Treaty of Prairie du Chien, United States drew the Prairie du Chien Line to separate the Ojibwe from the Dakota, believing the two were still at war with each other. The Ojibwe and the Dakota had ended their war for nearly a generation by that time and had only infrequent skirmishes. The Mississippi Chippewa, along with the Red Lake, Pillager and the Lake Superior bands, entered into the Treaty of St. Peters in 1837 with the US. They ceded to the United States what is now part of northern Wisconsin and east-central Minnesota. In 1850, the US government changed the annuity distribution point from La Pointe, Wisconsin to Sandy Lake, in an effort to move the tribes further west. Four thousand Ojibwe of various bands showed up in early October at the designated site, but no government agents or supplies were there. After waiting for two months in deteriorating weather, 170 Ojibwe died. The government finally brought the supplies and annuities but, because of harsh weather at that time of year, another 230 Ojibwe died on their returns to their lands. This became known as the Sandy Lake tragedy. In 1855, because of the tragedy at Sandy Lake, the Mississippi Chippewa, along with the Pillager Band of Chippewa Indians, agreed upon the Treaty of Washington for the land cession of most of northern Minnesota. In exchange, the United States promised three reservations for the Pillagers and six reservations for the Mississippi Chippewa. In addition, as in other treaties, the tribes retained the right for traditional harvest of off-reservation resources, such as fish and game. (This right faded from general knowledge as living conditions changed, until it was revived in the late 20th century as tribes worked to exercise traditional practices and rights; one example was the Wisconsin Walleye War of the late 1980s.) The six reservations were the following: - Gull Lake Indian Reservation - Mille Lac Indians Reservation - Pokegama Lake Indian Reservation - Sandy Lake Indian Reservation - Rabbit Lake Indian Reservation - Rice Lake Indian Reservation Due to confusing records kept by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, the Rice Lake Indian Reservation was never established. Confusion arose because several different lakes around Sandy Lake had names which, translated into English, all seemed to mean "Rice Lake." This led to confusion related to which map was consulted, and the issue of where the reservation was to be located was never resolved. It appeared the Rice Lake Indian Reservation was located in the following areas: - fully within the boundaries of the Sandy Lake Indian Reservation on its north end, or - adjacent to the Sandy Lake Indian Reservation on its south end; and - at the southeastern corner on the eastern edge of Sandy Lake Indian Reservation, or - on the southeastern corner on the southern edge of Sandy Lake Indian Reservation. The Rice Lake Band claimed these representations were all incorrect, and the proper location of the agreed Rice Lake Indian Reservation was much farther south. In the Dakota War of 1862, waged against European-American settlers, many Chippewa bands aided the Dakota people. The Sandy Lake Band remained fully neutral during the conflict. When Chief Máza-mani (Iron-Walker) (Mille Lacs Indians) learned of the plans of Chief Bagone-giizhig (Hole-in-the-Day) (Gull Lake Band) to attack Fort Ripley, Máza-mani raised a party of 200 men to aid the Americans. They reached the fort and aided in its defense before Chief Bagone-giizhig arrived, thus averting his attack. Both the Sandy Lake and Mille Lacs bands gained protection from the United States as a result. All other Mississippi Chippewa were forcibly removed from their reservations to the area surrounding the Leech Lake and Lake Winnibigoshish reservations. Due to strife between the removed Mississippi Chippewa and the Leech Lake Pillager and the Lake Winnibigoshish bands, the Mississippi Chippewa negotiated with the United States for resettlement. The Pokegama Band Lake, together with the Removable Sandy Lake Band, negotiated to remain in the area and eventually formed the White Oak Point Band on the White Oak Point Reservation. In 1934 it merged with the Cass Lake, Chippewa, Lake Winnibigoshish and Leech Lake Indian reservations to form the contemporary Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe and its reservation. In the nineteenth century, the remaining Mississippi Chippewa agreed to resettlement to the west. In the 20th century, the bands combined to form the contemporary White Earth Band of Chippewa. Under pressure from the lumbermen and farm settlers who wanted native lands, the US government believed the White Earth Reservation was the answer to the "Chippewa Problem" and strongly pressured the Mille Lacs and Sandy Lake bands to relocate there. Many did, becoming the "Removable" peoples, while those who remained in their traditional territories in the central part of the state became the "Non-removable". Though the Mississippi River Band of Chippewa Indians no longer exists legally, the majority of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe and White Earth Band of Chippewa still identify as Mississippi Chippewa. Successors apparent of the Mississippi Chippewa are: - "Ojibwe honor 400 victims of 1850 Sandy Lake tragedy", Brainerd Dispatch, 2 December 2000, accessed 8 March 2012 - Warren, William W. History of the Ojibway People. Borealis Books (St. Paul, MN: 1984). - Wedll, Joycelyn. Against the Tide of American History: The Story of Mille Lacs Anishinabe. Minnesota Chippewa Tribe (Cass Lake, MN: 1985). - "Ojibwe leaders represent their credentials to Washington in a picture" (birch bark picture, 1849, for renegotiation of 1842 treaty), Wisconsin History - "Ojibwe honor 400 victims of 1850 Sandy Lake tragedy", Brainerd Dispatch, 2 December 2000 - "The Sandy Lake memorial monument takes shape 150 years after tragedy", Winter 2000
Grades K - 3 This lesson will help students use different units of measure and learn about the relationship between sizes of measuring units and the results of measuring. They will compare different units of measure as they use them, thus learning their relative sizes through use. It Figures #2: Deciding How Close to Measure. Students will be able to: - compare common objects in terms of length - use non-standard units and standard units of measurement - measure different objects - define measurement procedure as a critical part of data collection For each group of five students: - Chart paper - laminated tagboard cards (see Post Viewing Activities for what to write on the cards. You will need to prepare a set of cards for each student - marker (washable) - set of laminated cards - five rulers - paper clips - old shoes - pipe cleaners - tape measurer For each student: - stuffed animal(brought from home) - construction paper Teacher: "Today we are going to play a game called Giant Teacher: "I want you to estimate, and then count, distance in the room in giant steps." Select a student to be the giant. The giant is to stand at the front of the classroom, take two giant steps, and freeze. Teacher: Ask the other students to estimate the whole length of the classroom in those giant steps. Teacher: "Make a picture in your head and try to imagine how many giant steps it would take to get to the far wall. " Write the estimates on the board. Next, as the giant paces the whole length of the room, have the students count out loud and record the answer. Teacher: "If you each measure the length of the room in your own giant steps, will all your answers be the same? What do you think?" Allow students to talk about whether they think there will be any variation in their results. Primary students have a wide range of theories about how and why measurement result might vary. Next select student pairs that will pace the length of the classroom in giant steps. While one partner paces, the other counts. Students then switch Teacher: Ask students to record their results on the board. Teacher: "Look at the number on the board. Did everyone get the same results? Does this surprise you?" Teacher: "Now you will measure the same distance, but you'll use baby steps. Do you think you'll get different results?" Now have a student demonstrate baby steps. Teacher: "Imagine, now, how many baby steps like that will it take to get to the other wall. Imagine the baby steps in a straight path across the room. How many will it take?" Now pair up students to pace and count. Then have students enter the data on a line plot on the board. Baby steps produce much larger numbers than giant steps. Teacher: "Why should the littlest steps give us the biggest number?" Allow for student answers. Teacher: "Now we have measured the length of our classroom in giant steps and baby steps. We are now going to study other units to measure with." Teacher: "Can you think of something we can use to measure with in the classroom?" (record responses on board) Teacher: "Now we are going to learn about measurement by actually watching a group of boys and girls building a tree house. Each time the boys and girls use a type of unit of measurement, I want you to show me the inch on your finger. (The inch on your finger is in the middle of your pointer finger.) START at the beginning after the opening credits. PAUSE when the Chinese boy says: "Well, let's go." Teacher: "Did the boys and girls plan what size boards they needed?" (No) "Did they plan how many boards they needed?" (No) PAUSE when the boy says: "What do you think Zig, will this part work for part of the floor?" Teacher: "What type of measurement is Zig using to determine if the board will fit for the floor?" (eyes) PAUSE when the blonde boy says: "Don't be so picky Nancy." Teacher: "Do you think Nancy was right, that they should have used a tape measure?" (yes, to make sure it fit) PAUSE when Zig tells Lisa he can measure with that pencil. Teacher: "How can you measure with a pencil?" (you can measure the length, as one unit) PAUSE when the spider says, "I know." Teacher: "Do you use the same unit of measure when you measure big and small things?" (no, there are different types of measuring units.) Stop when Zig says, "Lets' think about putting on a second story on our tree house." Teacher: "We just saw several examples of how we can use different types of units to measure. What were some of the units the boys and girls used to measure their tree house?" (a pencil, tape measurer, a centimeter ruler, and a millimeter ruler) Teacher: "Today we are going to work in groups and measure the items in our measurement boxes which have been set on your table." Teacher: Divide the students into groups of five. In each box have an assortment of ribbons lengths of yarn, old ties, straws, paper clips, pencils, crayons, old shoes, belts, comb, pipe cleaners, rulers and tape measurer. Write questions on tagboard cards that have been laminated. Have students record response on card with a washable marker. EXAMPLE of questions you might put in each box. Teacher: Circulate among group, checking answers. - Which is longer, the blue ribbon or the red ribbon? - What color are the two crayons that have the same length? - How many paper clips long is the yellow pencil? - Name three things in the box that are longer than the eraser? - How many inches long is the shoe? - Which one is longer the shoe or the straw? - How many paper clips does it take to measure the comb? - How many crayons long is the tie? - How may paper clips is the shoe? - Which is shorter the belt or the blue ribbon? etc., other questions can be used. Teacher: Wrap up activity, prepare for tomorrow by writing letters to parents asking if they may bring a stuffed animal to school. The students should explain in the letter that his/her stuffed animal will have to spend the night at school. Day 2 Background: Today we are going to spend some time investigating our stuffed animals. Each child needs a stuffed animal to measure. If your students can't bring their own stuffed animals to school, you can set up a center with a box of stuffed animals. This activity could be done as a Teacher: Begin the day by reading, the story Inch by Inch by Leo Lionni. The story is about how a quick-thinking inchworm saves his life by offering to measure the birds who want to eat him. Inch by inch, he measures the robin's tail, the flamingo's neck, the toucan's beak, the heron's legs, the pheasant's tail, and the hummingbird's body. But, when he agrees to measure the nightingale's song, he takes the opportunity to inch away to freedom. The birds in Inch by Inch all had something they wanted measured. They had an inchworm do the measuring for them using his body length as one unit of measurement (an inchworm is the caterpillar larva of a geometric moth). Many things can be used as units of measurement from the time we are born and as we grow. We measure things around us all our Teacher: Start lesson by reading the story, Inch by Inch. Teacher: "The birds in Inch by Inch wanted to be measured. The inchworm measured them in inches." Teacher: "Can you name the animals that inchworm measured?" (list Teacher: Now lets color and cut out our own inchworm to measure our stuffed animals. (see page ) Teacher: After students have completed page , have the students introduce their stuffed animal to the class and estimate how long he/she is in length in inchworm parts. Teacher: "Do you see different ways we can sort our animals?" For example by color, by types of animals, whether or not the animal has clothes, or length of the animal?" Teacher: Have your students draw pictures of their stuffed animals and write down the measurements. Listing leg measurement, arms, head or special features that the animal possess. See page , worksheet 2. Teacher: "Remember when you measure, you must start at one end of the thing being measured and measure to the other end." *stress that measuring is continuous- there are now spaces between the units. Day 3: Ask the students to compare their stuffed animal to the one you brought in. Have the students measure your animal, and then graph if their animal measures bigger, smaller or about the same size as the teacher's stuffed animal. Using a venn diagram would work great for this activity. Teacher: "How many were bigger than my stuffed animal? How many were smaller? How many animals were the same in measurement?" Teacher: "Now let's write a story about your stuffed animal and what he/she learned and experienced in school. Day 4: Have students graph their stuffed animal measurement on a Teacher: "Did our animals all measure the same?" Teacher: "Now let's use the information and have fun writing word problems." Have your students write math stories about the stuffed animals. For example, "There are two pink bunnies, one blue bunny and five brown bunnies in our classroom. How many bunnies are visiting our room?" Share problems Students will visit a hardware store like Scotty's or Home Depot. Have manager explain how important measurement is to his customers when they are planning some type of project. Have students prepare questions before your visit. Invite a contractor in to explain how important measurement is when planning to build a building. Let's Measure Center! Place a math center in the room, which may be filled with objects students can measure. Some suggestions for objects include pencils, books, crayons, straws etc. Provide workmats divided in half with the word Longer at the top of one side and the word Shorter at the top of the other side. Have students take two objects out of the box compare their lengths and place the objects on the proper side of the workmat. A partner could How Tall and Wide are You? Have students work in pairs. One partner uses yarn or string to measure the other's arm span from fingertip to fingertip. Cut the yarn to this measured length. Using this same piece of yarn, the partner then measures the other's height from the top of the head to the floor. They will be surprised to see that the result is the same! To check the validity of this concept have partners' switch roles and repeat the procedure. Now have the partner measure the other's foot using a strip of construction paper and then switch to measure the other's foot. Then, hold the paper between the elbow and wrist! The length of the forearm and the foot will be the same! Have students conduct some research and collect more data about foot size. Is there another group whose feet they might measure? They may be interested in some tall peoples' foot sizes. Robert Pershing Wadlow, the world's tallest man at 8 feet 11.1 inches, wore size 37AA shoes. His feet were 18-1/2 inches long. Reng Jinlian, the world's tallest woman, had 14 inch long feet. These facts come from the Guiness Book of World Records, New York; Bantam Books, Longer or Shorter? Take two hula hoops and have them overlap. Place all of the materials to be measured in the center. Students compare the objects with the length of the ruler. Shorter objects are placed on the left of the Venn diagram. Longer objects go on the right, and objects that are the same length go in the center. Encourage students to record their finding by drawing a picture of their Venn diagram on a large sheet of drawing paper and recording the length of each object. Students may use the computer Logo. Using the Logo language is a logical way to help reinforce measurement. Giving and responding to directions about turns and distances is similar to moving the Logo turtle around the screen. You can organize the task so that one student points to a place on the screen and the other moves or programs the turtles to get to the spot. You can save the pictures or the programs and have students share and compare their What Size Bed? The first person will trace around her partner's foot. Cut out the pattern. Next, use the foot pattern to measure the right-sized bed for your partner. With your partner lying on the floor, use their foot pattern to determine how big a bed made for them would be. Then the second person repeats step 1 and 2. Then complete your worksheet. Name What Size Bed? Length Length Width Width Two of the Same Scavenger Hunt. Have students help you find something in the room that is about the same length as their desk. Brainstorm a list of possibilities then have students cut a piece of string the length of their desk and compare it with the objects listed. Then have students to find two objects similar in size and measure them with string. Then post the names of the objects on index cards and attach the measurement on the strings. Allow students to use nonstandard measures or standard metric measurement. How Big is a foot? Give each group of students at least 10 feet cut outs all of the same size. Then have each group measure, the teacher's desk, the reading table, desk, or any other specified objects by using the feet cutouts as the unit of measure. Ask students why they think the measurements were different. Read the story, How Big Is a Foot? by Rolf Mylier, and ask students to write a letter to the apprentice telling him how to build a bed to fit the queen. How Big Is a Foot? Macmillan, 1922. Wylie, Joanne and David A Big Fish Story, Children's Press, 1983. The Snake: A very Long Story, Houghton Mifflin, 1978. Inch by Inch, Astor-Honor, 1960. Farmer Mack Measures His Pig, HarperCollins, 1986. Jim and the Beanstalk, Putnam, 1970. Depaola, Tomie Now One Foot, Now the Other, Putnam, 1980. Put your best foot forward with this fun art project. Make foot prints to measure your many activities to help make measurement fun. Have your students scuff their sneakers on the floor before stepping on pieces of white paper. (sneakers with patterns on the soles are most effective) Each student outlines the edge and sole design with fine-tipped markers before shaking off the dust from the paper. After coloring the designs, have students cut out scraps of construction paper to glue onto their pictures. Measure off meter lengths on a sidewalk or in the parking lot. Draw a big ladder. Make the steps a meter length apart. Write the meter progression in each box. Divide your class into two teams. Each player tosses a beanbag. Alternate turns. The team scoring the highest total wins. Master Teacher: Kathy Raiford Click here to view the worksheet associated with this lesson. NOTE TO TEACHER Before using rulers or an inch worm (inch stick), children need much practice with the concept of measurement. Comparing the lengths of common objects using the term longer and shorter is a good beginning point. After several sessions of hands-on comparing, children can then use pieces of string, unifix cubes, paper clips, tooth picks, popsicle sticks, etc., to find the length of an object. Lesson Plan Database Thirteen Ed Online
This is a fairly common lichen (symbiotic organism consisting of a fungal matrix with photosynthetic algae embedded in it) that has been used historically to produce a purple-brown dye. It is also a useful pollution indicator, as it is tolerant of sulfur dioxide, but particularly sensitive to fluoride exposure (“Pollution monitoring with lichens” by D.H.S Richardson, 1992). ECOS magazine, from the CSIRO, has an interesting article “Fluoride and Trees” describing the effects of fluoride exposure on vegetation, including chlorosis (yellowing caused by failure to produce chlorophyll) and necrosis (cell death). It should be noted that some plants are more sensitive to fluoride emissions that mammals and therefor act as indicator or ‘sentinel’ species. The following key information is from the “World Health Organisation Environmental Health Criteria for Fluorides” produced by a panel of expert scientists - Physical and chemical characteristics: Hydrogen fluoride (HF) is a colourless, pungent liquid or gas that is highly soluble in organic solvents and in water, in which it forms hydrofluoric acid. Calcium fluoride (CaF2) is a colourless solid that is relatively insoluble in water and dilute acids and bases. Sodium fluor- ide (NaF) is a colourless to white solid that is moderately soluble in water. Sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) is a colourless, odourless, inert gas that is slightly soluble in water and readily soluble in ethanol and bases. Sources: Fluorides are released into the environment naturally through the weathering and dissolution of minerals, in emissions from volcanoes and in marine aerosols. Fluorides are also released into the environment via coal combustion and process waters and waste from various industrial processes, including steel manufacture, primary aluminium, copper and nickel production, phosphate ore processing, phosphate fertilizer production and use, glass, brick and ceramic manufacturing, and glue and adhesive production. The use of fluoride-containing pesticides as well as the controlled fluoridation of drinking-water supplies also contribute to the release of fluoride from anthropogenic sources. Based on available data, phosphate ore production and use as well as aluminium manufacture are the major industrial sources of fluoride release into the environment. Transport mechanisms: Fluorides in the atmosphere may be in gaseous or particulate form. Atmospheric fluorides can be transported over large distances as a result of wind or atmospheric turbulence or can be removed from the atmosphere via wet and dry deposition or hydrolysis. The transport and transformation of fluoride in water are influenced by pH, water hardness and the presence of ion-exchange materials such as clays. The transport and transformation of fluoride in soil are influenced by pH and the formation of predominantly aluminium and calcium complexes. Fluoride is not readily leached from soils. Human health effects: Epidemiological investigations on the effects of fluoride on human health have examined occupationally exposed workers employed primarily in the aluminium smelting industry and populations consuming fluoridated drinking-water. In a number of analytical epidemiological studies of workers occupationally exposed to fluoride, an increased incidence of lung and bladder cancer and increased mortality due to cancer of these and other sites have been observed. In general, however, there has been no consistent pattern; in some of these epidemiological studies, the increased morbidity or mortality due to cancer can be attributed to the workers’ exposure to substances other than fluoride. Fluoride has both beneficial and detrimental effects on tooth enamel. The prevalence of dental caries is inversely related to the concentration of fluoride in drinking-water. The prevalence of dental fluorosis is highly associated with the concentration of fluoride, with a positive dose–response relationship. Cases of skeletal fluorosis associated with the consumption of drinking-water containing elevated levels of fluoride continue to be reported. A number of factors, such as nutritional status and diet, climate (related to fluid intake), concomitant exposure to other sub- stances and the intake of fluoride from sources other than drinking-water, are believed to play a significant role in the development of this disease. Skeletal fluorosis may develop in workers occupationally exposed to elevated levels of airborne fluoride; however, only limited new information was identified. Environmental health effects: The uptake of fluoride by biota is determined by the route of exposure, the bioavailability of the fluoride and the uptake/excretion kinetics in the organism. Soluble fluorides are bioaccumulated by some aquatic and terrestrial biota. However, no information was identified concerning the biomagnification of fluoride in aquatic or terrestrial food-chains. Terrestrial plants may accumulate fluorides following airborne deposition and uptake from soil. Fluoride accumulates in the bone tissue of terrestrial vertebrates, depending on factors such as diet and the proximity of fluoride emission sources.For example,mean fluoride concentrations of 7000– 8000 mg/kg have been measured in the bones of small mammals in the vicinity of an aluminium smelter. The original findings of fluoride effects on mammals were from studies in the field on domestic animals such as sheep and cattle. Fluoride can be taken up from vegetation, soil and drinking-water. Tolerance levels have been identified for domesticated animals, with the lowest values for dairy cattle at 30 mg/kg feed or 2.5 mg/litre drinking-water. Incidents involving domesticated animals have originated both from natural fluoride sources, such as volcanic eruptions and the underlying geology,and fromanthropogenic sources, such as mineral supplements, fluoride-emitting industries and power stations. Symptoms of fluoride toxicity include emaciation, stiffness of joints and abnormal teeth and bones. Other effects include lowered milk production and detrimental effects on the reproductive capacity of animals. Investigations of the effects of fluoride on wildlife have focused on impacts on the structural integrity of teeth and bone. In the vicinity of smelters, fluoride-induced effects, such as lameness, dental disfigurement and tooth damage, have been found.
Use of quotation marks We use quotation marks to indicate: - Written or spoken speech ‘You’re looking well,’ she said. - Titles of reports, articles and poems I read an article ‘Where Boards Fall Short’ in the Harvard Business Review. - Words we wish to emphasise Did you know that ‘huh’ is a real word? Whether you use single or double quotation marks is a style choice. US relationship between quotation marks and full stops Quotation marks are usually right next to the text being quoted or emphasised. However, this logic does not always occur in US English. In US English, full stops go inside quotation marks regardless of the logic. For example, British-influenced English writers would write: When asked what he thought of the new legislation, he said he thought it was ‘unrealistic and unworkable’. I have just read Emily Dickinson’s poem, ‘Death is like the insect’. However, US English writers would write: When asked what he thought of the new legislation, he said he thought it was ‘unrealistic and unworkable.’ I have just read Emily Dickinson’s poem, ‘Death is like the insect.’ This rule does not apply to question marks, so British and US English would write: What did you think of Emily Dickinson’s poem, ‘Death is like the insect’? How did this US convention arise and will it change? The website, Guide to Grammar and Writing, says the rationale for the US convention arose in the days when printing used raised bits of metal and the full stops and commas were the most delicate and could break if they had a quotation mark on one side and a blank space on the other. My editor questioned this explanation since the British managed to get around the problem. Can you explain how this convention arose? Although a case can be made for the US adopting the more logical British style, the impetus for change appears lacking. Learn more about punctuation with my online course: Grammar, Punctuation and Usage. Subscribe to my monthly e-newsletter to receive writing and grammar tips.
Article written by guest writer Kecia Lynn What's the Latest Development? An article in this week's Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences discusses the findings resulting from 14 years of monthly oceanographic observations in the southern Caribbean Sea. The results are a product of the CARIACO Ocean Time-Series Program, a joint venture involving institutions from the US and Venezuela and funded by the National Science Foundation. Its focus has been on the Cariaco Basin, just off the Venezuelan coast. What's the Big Idea? The findings show that the short- and long-term results of global climate change are just as devastating for the tropics as they are for other, cooler parts of the world. Ecosystem changes that led to the collapse of local sardine fisheries and the corresponding economic impact can be traced back to "declining upwelling of nutrient-rich waters caused by weakening Trade Winds in the region and an average sea surface warming of 1°C ." These in turn point back to the Earth's energy budget and the effect of climatic shifts. It's the first report of its kind to link tropical ocean and weather observations with global climate change. Photo Credit: Shutterstock.com
In the 1840s and 1850s, a style that was truly American emerged in the world of literature . Hawthorne, Thoreau, Melville, and Whitman, who came after other greats such as Irving , and Poe , answered Emerson’s call for a democracy of literature. These writers showed their differences from Europe in being less orthodox and traditional. In 1837, Emerson stated in his Phi Beta Kappa address that there should be the creation of a “literature of democracy,” that wouldn’t follow European example. The people of America should have a literary style of their own, without the necessary influence of outside sources. He emphasized a need for someone who could write with the common people as his audience. The four most notable figures of this area were Nathaniel Hawthorne, Henry Thoreau, Herman Melville, and Walt Whitman. Their most famous works, respectively, are The Scarlet Letter, Walden, Moby Dick, and Leaves of Grass. Hawthorne was fascinated with Puritan tradition and the history and legends of New England. Melville preferred to set his stories on the high seas. These two authors were tortured with the philosophical questions of man’s nature and the source of evil. Thoreau answered Emerson’s call through writing essays as well as his masterpiece novel. Whitman was the most extreme of all, though. Being a heart transcendentalist, his poetry (which was unorthodox and not written in proper verse) was regarded as crude and inappropriate by some. Even Emerson himself found Leaves of Grass shocking, but he still commended Whitman. Whitman was famed for taking the ideas of transcendentalism out of the dull world of study and gave them a more colorful appearance. After Emerson’s address at Harvard University, four important writers answered his calling. Hawthorne, Thoreau, Melville, and Whitman all expanded developing American literature and write to please the common man. Their differences from traditional European literature created a truly national style.
Australian study sheds light on possible climate change impacts By Summit Voice SUMMIT COUNTY— New studies from Australian researchers show that big reef fish like coral trout, snappers and sweetlips have clear preferences when it comes to choosing places to hang out. The choices big fish make on where to shelter could have a major influence on their ability to cope with climate change, according to scientists from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies at James Cook University. In research aimed at understanding the process of fish population decline when coral reefs sustain major damage, PhD student James Kerry and Professor David Bellwood have found that big fish show a marked preference for sheltering under large, flat table corals, as opposed to branching corals or massive corals (known as bommies). “Like human beings, fish have strong preferences on where they like to hang out – and it appears that they much prefer to shelter under overhanging tablecorals. This tells us quite a bit about how important these corals are to the overall structure of the reef and the large reef fish that live there,” said Kerry. The reason for the fishes’ preference is not yet clear – but possibilities include hiding from predators such as sharks, shading themselves from ultraviolet sunlight, or lying in ambush for prey, he explained. The study covered 17 separate locations round Lizard Island in far North Queensland, where researchers videoed the behavior of large reef fish, allowing them to identify the kind of habitat they most preferred and depended on. “The importance of this finding is that table corals are among the types most vulnerable to climate change,” Bellwood said. “In shallow waters and on the tops of reefs, they are often the main source of cover for these big fish. “If they die back as a result of bleaching or disease, or are destroyed by storm surges, this would strip the reef of one of its main attractions, from a coral trout’s viewpoint.” The researchers also proved that it isn’t the coral, so much as the shelter that is important to big fish, by deploying artificial shelters made from plastic in the lagoon. “We made one sort with no roof, one with a translucent roof and one with a roof painted black. Far and away the fish preferred to shelter under the black roof, which suggests they either want to hide or else to avoid direct sunlight,” Kerry said. While the team is planning further experiments to clarify the reasons for the fishes’ shelter preferences, their early findings may provide a useful insight to reef managers, about the importance of trying to maintain a range of structures and shelters as climate change bears down on the Great Barrier Reef, including the highly susceptible tabular corals. Their paper “The effect of coral morphology on shelter selection by coral reef fishes”, by J. T. Kerry and D. R. Bellwood appears in the journal Coral Reefs. Filed under: biodiversity, climate and weather, coral reefs, Environment, global warming, Summit County news Tagged: \| ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, climate change, coral reefs, Great Barrier Reef, James Cook University, Lizard Island National Park, reef fish
Managing Your Toddler's Frustrating Behaviors Young children between 12 months and 24 months of age may throw fits, act selfishly, and rarely mind. This behavior often develops out of frustration from not being able to communicate, master skills, and be as independent as they want to be. Assertiveness and irritability are normal behaviors for toddlers. Because toddlers are actively absorbing and exploring the world around them, many quickly reach a point of sensory overload. This seems to happen at the most inconvenient times, such as while shopping for groceries. A newfound sense of autonomy and independence prompts the toddler to test limits—including yours. For example, your toddler plays with the radio dials then looks at you for a response. When there is no response, she repeats her actions. She wants to know what she can do and cannot do. Be patient and set firm, fair, and consistent boundaries to help your toddler to understand what behavior is appropriate. Oftentimes, toddlers have fits or temper tantrums because of internal conflicts. Toddlers may become frustrated by wanting to accomplish something independently but not being able to. Also, they often have two opposing desires—wanting both to be independent and to feel taken care of. Toddlers' tempers can become especially fragile when they feel tired, hungry, or bored or when they want your attention. They do not have the language skills or physical capabilities to protest a situation they don't like in an appropriate manner. Toward the end of the second year, tantrums usually occur less frequently as toddlers gain more self-control and become comfortable with their abilities. They become less frustrated and are able to show more restraint and less of a knee-jerk response when you say "no" or otherwise challenge their control. This behavioral improvement is related to brain maturation, especially development of the cerebral cortex. Recognize that these tantrums are for the child to work out, not you. But you can try the following strategies to help manage your toddler's challenging behavior: - Minimize conflicts as much as possible. For example, put things your toddler shouldn't touch out of reach. Try to prepare your toddler in advance for circumstances they may not like, such as, "We are going to put away the toys soon." - Choose your battles. Focus on the most important, like making sure car seats are used and bedtimes followed. If not, your home will become a battleground, and your toddler can become overburdened. - Set limits but have realistic expectations. It generally is considered too early to start disciplinary measures such as time-outs. Other strategies can help teach your child limits, such as using a firm voice, looking your child in the eye, and sometimes physically removing him or her from a situation. However, realize that your child's behavior, no matter how troublesome, has a purpose in furthering growth and development: The toddler is simply trying to make sense of the world. - Offer limited choices. For example, instead of asking, "What do you want for lunch?" limit options by asking, "Do you want a peanut butter sandwich or a bowl of soup?" This works well at the dinner table or the play table and gives your toddler a sense of independence, perhaps decreasing those times when he or she won't cooperate. - When you see a dispute or tantrum coming, distract or redirect your toddler to prevent a meltdown. - Compliment your child when he or she behaves well. Approval helps your child learn proper behavior and reinforces a positive sense of self. - Provide opportunities for your toddler to interact with others. When these interactions are positive, children learn that they have behaved in acceptable ways and become more self-confident. Although you may sometimes feel exhausted, remember to reassure toddlers that you love them and it's their behavior you don't like, not them. Reward good behavior with praise and attention. One of the most important parenting tools to use with your toddler—indeed, with children of any age—is modeling good behavior. Children learn from what you tell them, and even more so from what they see you do. Interacting with others in a loving, open manner and dealing with frustrations calmly will give your toddler the best model to emulate. For more information about behavior issues and how to respond to them, see the topic Temper Tantrums. \|Author\|\|Debby Golonka, MPH\| \|Editor\|\|Susan Van Houten, RN, BSN, MBA\| \|Associate Editor\|\|Pat Truman, MATC\| \|Primary Medical Reviewer\|\|Michael J. Sexton, MD - Pediatrics\| \|Specialist Medical Reviewer\|\|Louis Pellegrino, MD - Developmental Pediatrics\| \|Last Updated\|\|May 11, 2009\|
FC: African Slave Trade 1: The slave trade was enabled to make tribes export, and make money off enemies, as they were captured. Economically African's conquered neighbor's and took them as prisoners then sold them to European or Arab slavers. This made local economy with the capital and their exports, reduced the local population. Since the population was reduced, that meant fewer people would be competing for the limited resources. They demanded that the price for the goods should go down. 2: The slave trade caravan. \| These were used to purchase the slaves. 3: This is a picture of how the slaves were transported. 4: The population was scared and most of the country stayed in their homes, just for safety in case they were abducted. Many families were split, and were lost and separated from their loved ones. Most of the African culture suffered, the Dutch and Portuguese went and settled in West African. 5: The population was not growing from the 1400's until thje 1800's. There were hardly enough people left to farm for food and to produce babies. Many young and talented human begins traded effected villages and the trides in Africa. Population declined in some African states, and it increses and others.
One mistake I commonly see my students make, especially at the beginning levels, is confusing verb tenses and forms. Have you ever seen this sentence? “She is cook breakfast every day.” Knowing when to use the BE verb and when to use the DO verb to help form verb tenses can be complicated for beginning learners. One ESL activity that I recently developed and had great success with is a group practice activity that gets students collaboratively practicing the simple present and the present progressive. Students draw cards, or roll dice, to get a subject, verb, and a sentence type (positive, negative, or question). They then have to write two sentences with the information, one in the simple present and one in the present progressive. As I walk around and monitor their progress, I can point to a sentence like “Martin is eat breakfast each morning” and ask why the sentence contains the BE verb if it’s in the simple present column. I can also point out that the be verb is used when forming the progressive tense to talk about right now, but not when talking about routines. This is great for visual learners because students can see the difference in each verb tense because they write them side by side in columns. Also, students are required to work collaboratively because they can’t move on until everyone in the group has finished writing the sentences. In my class, I noticed a lot of stronger students helping explain points of confusion to the weaker students who were struggling with a particular sentence. They point out errors to students and help them understand their mistake. This also gave me great insight into just what my class was struggling with, so I could plan future lessons to help meet their specific needs. There are several things you’ll need to download in order to do this activity. Below are the download links and directions: - Verb Cards / Click here for updated verb cards using pictures instead of clipart - Sentence Types Cards - Subject Cards OR (Instead of cards) - Print the simple present and present continuous student sheet. - Print either the cards OR the dice. I originally used the dice but found they have to be carefully constructed, or they turn out to be a bit loaded and repeatedly show the same item. I enjoy using the dice because they’re fun, but the cards provide more options and variety. Print a set of your choosing for each group. On a side note, having verb cards is a great teaching resource that can be used in many different ways, not just this activity. - Put students into groups of 3-5. - Explain the procedure to students and work through some examples on the board. Emphasize that for each set of cards they draw or dice they roll, they will need to write two sentences, one simple present and one present progressive. They will also need to write the correct type of sentence depending on if they get a positive, negative, or question card. - Emphasize that they cannot draw new cards or roll the dice again until everyone at their table has correctly written the sentences. Encourage them to work together and help each other. - Optionally, you could turn this into a competition by declaring the first group to correctly write all 15 lines (30 sentences) as the winners. That’s pretty much it. If you like this activity, please share and leave us a comment below.
Dilated Pupils Definition For those who would like to know as to what is a dilated pupil, must be made aware of the fact that dilating pupils are a kind of a physiological response to a stimulus that is actually underlined by involuntary reflex actions. It is characterized by the changes in the size of the pupil. Light conditions acts as a stimuli for uneven pupil dilation. It may also be a case of pupil dilation attraction, in which case the pupil expands when it is interested in a particular subject. Sexual orgasm may also serve as a stimulus for pupil dilation. In such cases, one may suffer from dilation of the pupils due to a Pavlovian response to some kind of stimulus. This kind of a pupillary response usually increases with age and aged people suffer from fixed and dilated pupils. A fixed and dilated pupil is actually known as Mydriasis. It is basically the result of an excitation of the iris which causes an opening up of the papillary aperature. Dilated pupils in children are also quite common. There may be very many causes of dilated pupils but neurological problems are the most common cause of the same. Uneven dilated pupils may be a sign of a serious condition which may be life-threatening if not treated in time. Dilated Pupils Symptoms The symptoms of dilated pupils depend on the underlying cause of the same. It may be accompanied by symptoms associated with other causal agents and disorders. Since it is associated with neurological problems, it may lead to nausea and vomiting, slurring of the speech, sub consciousness, tachycardia, and numbness. It may also be characterized by a lack of alertness or consciousness, unresponsiveness, changes in behavioural patterns leading to a state of confusion, or giving rise to delusions and hallucinations. One may also suffer from severe headache accompanied by eye pain and other ophthalmologic problems. One may also suffer from one dilated pupil, which is also known as unilateral dilation of the pupils. A dilated pupil in severe cases may also be accompanied by an inability to control one’s bowels and bladder, and numbness or even paralysis. Life-threatening cases of dilation may be signalled by serious problems such as coma, muscle weakness, and shocks. Dilated Pupils Causes Usually a dilated pupil is caused due to a stimulus to light, wherein the pupils constrict when light brightens and dilates when light dims. Pupils dilate to allow for more light to enter the eyes, so that one is able to see objects even in a poorly lit area. However, if one wants to know what causes dilated pupils other than the natural cause, one must be enlightened with the fact that pupils always dilated may have other causes. Emotions such as fear, anger, sexual orgasm and attraction may also fall under the category of naturally induced causes of dilated pupils. Dilated pupils ecstasy is also a cause of ecstasy and overexcitement that one may experience while having a strong libido. The basic reason cited behind the constant dilated pupils is the release of oxytocin. The opposite of dilated pupils is known as Miosis. Some of the other reasons for dilated pupils may include neuropathic disorders, trauma, medications and drugs, poisoning, any kind of injury or the spinal cord that may give rise to neurological problems. The neuropathic cause behind dilation of the pupils is the sympathetic stimulation of α1 adrenergic receptors involving the radial muscle and the parasympathetic stimulation involving the circular iris muscle cause the pupils to dilate. Moreover, the over activity of the SNS and the disruption of the parasympathetic nerve supply, cranial nerve disorder, and an elevated intraocular pressure may be cited as the cause of dilation and constriction of the pupils. Complications involving the CNS such as stroke, epilepsy may also be cited as a significant cause of dilated pupils or mydriasis. Such neurological problems actually cause dilated pupil in one eye. A dilated pupil may be caused by any kind of trauma such as a damage of the nerves controlling the activities of the iris, an injury to the head or the eye, and iris sphincter. All these factors highly affect the consensual reactivity of the eyes to light and cause fixed and dilated pupils after trauma. Damage to the ocular nerve is actually responsible for causing nonparallel or uneven dilation of the eyes. Medications & Drugs Picture 2 – Dilated and Constricted Pupils Source – www.yourdetoxore.com Medicines and drugs prescribed for treating certain diseases may cause a dilated pupil, but it may also be triggered by the side-effects of the same medications and drugs. Such medications are basically cold and cough medications, decongestants, and other illicit dilated pupils drugs or stimulants such as marijuana, LSD, and cocaine. Alcohol is also an addictive substance that is responsible for causing alcohol dilated pupils. Drugs that cause dilated pupils include decongestants like pseudoephedrine, amphetamines and methamphetamines, antihistamines such as chlorpheniramine and diphenhydramine, and fenflumarine. Antidepressants like SNRIs, SSRIs, and MAOIs are also known to keep pupils dilated. Other medications may take into account antichlolinergics like hyoscyamine, scopolamine, tropicamide and atropine. Hallucinogens such as psilocybin, LSD, mescaline, tryptamines, phenethylamines, also cause mydriasis or dilated pupils by stimulating the serotogernic 5-HT2A brain receptors. Along with these, opioid withdrawal and rebound also cause both mydriais and miosis. Moreover, medicinal eye drops known as mydriatics that are administered to patients undergoing an eye test, may also cause the pupils to be dilated. Such an eye test conducted with the administration of anticholinergic drug called tropicamide. Biological and chemical poisoning caused due to certain kind of plants like black locust tree, and benzene, toxic mushroom, jimsonweed, chloroform and even jet fuel are highly responsible for causing dilated pupils. Other Serious Causes Other serious causes of a dilated pupil, which are by nature life-threatening, include brain aneurysm, skull fracture, brain tumour, diabetes, stroke, and cerebral edema or swelling of the brain. Such cases are actually responsible for causing dilated pupils concussion, and fixed dilated pupil. When one finds one pupil dilated more than the other, or pupils dilated different sizes, one may attribute the same to these serious causes. Dilated Pupil Eye Exam Dilated pupil test is also known as mydriasis and is conducted with the administration of tropicamide which helps in the observation of retinal complications and reduction of the occurrence of ciliary muscle spasm. Pupil dilation drops are used in with such a antichlorigenic content. Although it causes Photophobia but it is temporary in nature. Neuroanantomy aids the diagnosis of dilated pupil by examining the pathway and the nature of cranial nerves. Along with it, one may also have to go for a diabetic neuropathy, a slit lamp test, mecholyl test, arteriogram, spinal tap, a visual field examination or even a CT scan or an MRI. Dilated Pupil Treatment The treatment of dilation of the pupil depends on the age, specific cause; other associated underlying disorders or diseases, and the study of one’s medical history. It basically entails the treatment of the underlying causes which may require the need for intensive care and hospitalization. One may even require surgical intervention for dealing with issues related to intra-cranial pressure, and other neurological problems. The treatment for dilated pupils also entails drug-intake management, medical supervision, counselling, rehabilitation, and other measures aimed towards taking proper care of one’s health and other measures for preventing the occurrence of injuries. For instance, cocaine and marijuana dilated pupil can be treated by restricting oneself to get addicted to the same. Although dilated pupil is not a serious health concern, yet a prompt and proper diagnosis and treatment is essential for ascertaining the underlying causes of the condition since the causes may themselves jeopardise one’s life.
Teach your child the do's and don'ts of tooting her own horn. My 5-year-old niece will gladly talk about how smart she is or all the things she can do better than her friends, such as drawing or spelling. It makes me chuckle, and experts say that starting around age 5, bragging is normal. Kids are trying to figure out the differences between themselves and others, so they measure their talents, accomplishments, and material possessions against those of their peers, says psychologist Stephanie Mihalas, Ph.D., founder of The Center for Well-Being in Los Angeles. Although the behavior usually isn't malicious, it can rub others the wrong way. Use these tips to help limit your child's "I'm awesome" talk. - Think you know how to encourage your child's best behavior? Take our quiz to see how well you're doing. Show and Tell Many 5- and 6-year-olds don't really understand what the word brag means or why they shouldn't do it. Start the conversation by explaining what bragging is and why it can be hurtful. Dr. Mihalas suggests saying, "Bragging is when you talk about all of the cool toys your own or how you can do something better than your friends. It can make people feel bad because they may not have the same toys or be able to do things the same way you can." Try reading books like Well, I Can Top That!, by Julia Cook, or I'm the Best, by Lucy Cousins. Or, role-play different scenarios and ask your child, "How do you think that person felt?" or "How would you feel?" This can help your child identify bragging and understand how it impacts everyone involved. Watch Your Words Rachel Rodriguez, a mother of two from Palm Springs, California, used to get frustrated when her 5-year-old daughter's friend would gloat about her reading and math skills. Then she met the girl's mother, who went on about her volunteering efforts and even bragged about how advanced her dog was in obedience school. Clearly, kids follow their parents' lead. So practice humility and resist comparing your child with other kids or siblings. That's not to say you can't praise your child; however, constant "Good job!" compliments can become meaningless over time and cause children to think they deserve feedback about everything, says Dr. Mihalas. Instead, be specific with your praise and emphasize effort rather than the end result. Say, "You must be so proud of yourself. You're learning so many new words" or "Wow, that block tower is getting pretty tall!" Sincere and well-placed kudos are more effective and less likely to make your child a praise junkie. Focus on the Goal A child with healthy self-esteem makes himself feel good, whereas a boastful child relies on the feedback of others to give himself a boost. So if you hear your child bragging, think about what he is trying to accomplish. "If you ask a child why he was bragging, most kids will say they don't know -- or that they weren't," says Dr. Mihalas. A better approach is talking about the situation without mentioning the boastful behavior ("I noticed you seemed upset at the park when Timmy said he can jump high"). This can help you figure out what your child is seeking, says Dr. Mihalas. Once you know, help him come up with positive ways to get it. Angela Hadl, a New York City mom, realized that her sons, ages 5 and 6, try to upstage each other as a way to get attention from their parents or older sister. "Whether it's who is drawing the more colorful picture or who can hang from the top bunk the longest, they always say they can do it better than the other in the loudest voice," she says. Making the kids feel special, by spending one-on-one time with each child, has helped, says Hadl. Do Some Good Even though kindergartners are just starting to learn about money, it's not uncommon for them to compare finances and material possessions. Experts say that talking about being humble and the importance of helping others is a good idea. Involving your child in charity or volunteer work, such as donating old toys and clothes to kids in need or helping sort food at the local food bank, can help her learn to be modest about what she has and teaches her to be empathetic to others, says Helen F. Neville, R.N., author of Is This a Phase? Child Development & Parent Strategies, Birth to 6 Years. Obviously, your child will want to share good news at times, and the ability to speak highly of himself will be beneficial in the future (say, during job interviews). However, you can teach him to be aware of timing, the situation, whom he's sharing with, and the reactions of others. For example, say, "It's okay to tell me or Grandma how happy you are that you won the 'Excellent Student' award, but talking about it in front of a friend who didn't get it might hurt his feelings." Point out that friends might not want to be around someone who makes them feel bad. If boasting happens often, try using a signal, like a tug on your ear, to let him know he's going overboard. He'll still slip up at times, but with a little patience, you can get his "me, me, me" habit under control. Originally published in the July 2014 issue of Parents magazine.
Teacher resources and professional development across the curriculum Teacher professional development and classroom resources across the curriculum \|\| Lesson Plan: Teaching the Lesson: Activity 3 Activity 3: Constitutional Creation: Legislative Branch Once the procedural matters have been settled, reform the groups and direct them to complete the Legislative Branch Worksheet, which focuses on the election process, term length, term limits, qualifications for office, leadership positions, type/number of houses, responsibilities of each house, type of representation, duties shared, duties reserved, and checks on the judiciary, the executive, and the prime minister. As with the Executive Branch Worksheet, students are expected to tell where their ideas come from and why they have chosen them. For homework, have students complete the Judiciary Branch Worksheet, which deals with length of term, term limits, appointment process, removal process, powers of court, judicial review, structure of courts, and decision to hear a case. For each of these issues, students must again identify the country from which his or her idea generated and their rationale for selecting it.
Much more than a revolt against British taxes and trade regulations, the American Revolution was the first modern revolution. It marked the first time in history that a people fought for their independence in the name of certain universal principles such as rule of law, constitutional rights, and popular sovereignty. This section examines the causes, fighting, and consequences of the American Revolution. You will read about the problems created by the Seven Years' War, and British efforts to suppress American smuggling, to prevent warfare with Indians, and to pay the cost of stationing troops in the colonies. You will also read about the emerging patterns of resistance in the colonies, including petitions, pamphlets, intimidation, boycotts, and intercolonial meetings. You will also learn about the series of events, including the Boston Massacre, the Boston Tea Party, and the Coercive Acts, that ruptured relations between Britain and its American colonies. In addition, you will learn why many colonists hesitated before declaring independence and how the Declaration of Independence summarized colonial grievances and provided a vision of a future independent American republic. This chapter will discuss the composition of the British and American military forces; the Revolution's implications for the institution of slavery; and the role of the French, Spanish, Dutch, and Native Americans in the colonists' struggle for independence. Finally, you will learn why the Americans emerged victorious in the Revolution. Emotions may have been running high on all sides of the conflict but, it's only logic that can win wars. The Americans were outnumbered, underfunded, their ports blockaded, and by every number in the book they should have expected (and many of them did) to get crushed. However, this was not just any war... this was a war for independence. With those first boatloads of colonists to Jamestown and Plymouth had come more than just a ragged group of...
Molecules and atoms are extremely small objects - both in size and mass. Consequently, working with them in the laboratory requires a large collection of them. How large does this collection need to be? A standard needs to be introduced. This standard is the "mole". The mole is based upon the carbon-12 isotope. We ask the following question: How many carbon-12 atoms are needed to have a mass of exactly 12 g. That number is NA - Avogadro's number. Thus, NA is defined by Careful measurements yield a value for NA = 6.0221367x10^+23. This is an incredibly large number - almost a trillion trillion. For example, if we stack NA pennies on top of one another how tall would the stack be? The answer is it would be so tall that the stack of pennies could reach the sun and back almost 500 million times! A convenient name is given when there is an Avogadro's number of objects - it is called a "mole". Thus in the above example there was a mole of pennies. The mole concept is no more complicated than the more familiar concept of a dozen : 1 dozen = 12 objects. From the penny example above one might suspect that the mass of a mole of objects is huge. Well, that is true if we're considering a mole of pennies, however a mole of atoms or molecules is a different story. Recall that the atomic mass unit (amu) is defined as 1/12 the mass of a carbon-12 atom. Consequently we have the relation Thus, a mole of carbon-12 atoms has a mass of just 12 g. What about other atoms? In the periodic table the atomic mass of the elements is given. For example the atomic mass of magnesium is 24.305 amu. This is the average isotopic mass of naturally occurring magnesium. What is the molar mass of magnesium in grams? From the equation above we get 1 amu = 1g/NA or 1 amu = 1.66054x10^-24 g. Thus, a mole of magnesium atoms has a mass of NA x 24.305 amu x (1.66054x10^-24 g/amu) = 24.305 g. A mole of magnesium atoms has a mass of 24.305 g. This example demonstrates that the atomic mass of magnesium can be interpreted in one of two ways: (1) the average mass of a single magnesium atom is 24.305 amu or (2) the average mass of a mole of magnesium atoms is 24.305 g; A similar conclusion follows for all of the other elements.
Activity Plan 3-4: A Colorful Mix-up! Here's a vibrant way to develop science concepts - Grades: PreK–K - plastic cups and plastic resealable bags - small plastic droppers - variety of paper, including white tissue paper, paper towels or napkins, coffee filters, Manila paper, oaktag, cardboard, and wax paper - food coloring - chart paper to record children's ideas, observations, and summaries - science concepts - observational skills - problem solving - language development Plan to do the following activities with small groups: Develop language experience charts to record their predictions, observations, and comments. Help children summarize what they learned after each experiment. Repeat the activities so that everyone has the opportunity to continue their investigations. What color is water? Invite several children to fill four plastic cups with water. Place the cups in front of them and ask them what color water is. You can tell them that the water is "clear" or "transparent." Can they think of other liquids that are clear, like water? Can they think of other materials that are clear or transparent? Now give them red, blue, green, and yellow food coloring. Add one drop of color to each cup of water. Ask questions to encourage children to summarize what they observed. What happens to the water after the color is added? Can they still see through the water? What do they think will happen if they add five more drops of color to each cup? Mixing color. Give each child three plastic cups filled with water. Place a drop of yellow food coloring into each cup. What do they think will happen if they add a drop of red to a cup of yellow water? Record their predictions on chart paper. Then add a drop of red to one of the cups. What happens? What do they think will happen if they add a drop of blue to another cup of yellow water? What happens when they add a drop of green? Continue the color-mixing experiments by using cups of green, red, and blue water, and mixing each with different colors. Bring all of the children together to discuss what they have learned. Invite the group to develop a color-mixing chart (i.e., yellow + blue = green). Write each word with a corresponding colored marker. Display the mixing chart in the science or art area. Remember: While many children will enjoy mixing the various color combinations, they may not be able to remember or articulate how and why the changes take place. It is important to provide them with many other opportunities to mix colors, and to point out times when they have made new colors while engaging in other art or science activities. Bending light. Suggest that parents fill a clear glass halfway with water and place a colored straw, toothbrush, or chopstick into the glass. Then have them ask their child to look at the waterline. What does she see? Next, take the straw out of the water. Does it look the same? Curriculum Connection: ART The colors of the rainbow. Using a prism, show the children how light is separated into the colors of the rainbow. Encourage them to name the colors in the order that they appear: purple, blue, green, yellow orange, and red. Give the children paper and paint, crayons, or markers that match the spectrum colors, and have them make observational drawings.
Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse Activities In this book activities worksheet, students read a paragraph about the book Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse, use sentence starters, write a song, use idioms, complete a spelling game, and complete a writing pattern. Students complete 5 activities. 39 Views 81 Downloads Wanted! A Few Good Friends What are your scholars' rights and responsibilities? As part of a larger unit, this lesson references past activities. Use the discussion prompts to help scholars recall school rules, then read Lily's Purple Plastic Purse by... 1st - 3rd English Language Arts CCSS: Designed Activities to Build Phonological Awareness Begin your reading program each day with a mini lesson on phonological awareness using these engaging activities listed in the resource. Young ones will enjoy word families, clapping and counting syllables, identifying single sounds and... Pre-K - 2nd English Language Arts CCSS: Adaptable Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse: Kevin Henkes Kevin Henkes has composed a series of books in which Lilly the mouse is a main character. Third graders use illustrations and key details as they compare and contrast the books, Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse and another story staring the... 1st - 3rd English Language Arts CCSS: Adaptable Introducing the 6 Traits to Students Put together an English language arts unit on the six traits of writing with this helpful collection of resources. From fun songs to differentiated writing exercises reinforcing each of the traits, great ideas are provided for developing... K - 8th English Language Arts CCSS: Adaptable Story Elements: Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse by Kevin Henkes In this story elements worksheet, learners respond after reading Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse by Kevin Henkes. Students identify the setting, main characters, problem and solution. Learners write their notes in purse shapes. 1st - 2nd English Language Arts Doctor DeSoto's Foxy Persuasion Who is Doctor DeSoto? Start by playing a video clip (included). Discuss different methods of persuasion, and then analyze two different persuasive letter examples. What should your class be looking for? Send them off to work in groups... 2nd - 4th English Language Arts Introduce Vocabulary: Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse (Henkes) Familiarize budding readers with new vocabulary in context as they listen you read Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse, which can be found on YouTube if you don't have in on hand. Recommended focus words here are: considerate, creative,... K - 3rd English Language Arts
The standard sort of photosynthesis uses a so-called C-3 chemical pathway. But maybe from 8-7 million years ago there’s an increasing proliferation of so-called C-4 plants. They use an alternative, more-efficient pathway to incorporate carbon from C02. C-4 plants evolved independently 45-60 times. Tropical grasslands are mostly C-4. The profusion of grasses, herbivores, and carnivores on tropical savannahs will owe a lot to C-4 plants. This evolutionary transition is probably a sign that C02 levels are declining, and have reached a threshold where C-4 plants are favored. Going back about 7 million years, C02 levels stood at maybe 1500 parts per million (ppm). (They were higher earlier in the Miocene.) Levels decline pretty steadily, leading to global cooling and eventual Ice Ages. But things never again reach the extremes of Snowball Earth 750 million years ago. At the beginning of the Industrial Age C02 levels stood below 300 ppm. They went above 400 ppm last year.
Building an Implantable Artificial Kidney A prototype uses kidney cells to help it perform vital functions. Nearly 400,000 people in the United States–and as many as two million worldwide–rely on dialysis machines to filter toxins from their blood because of chronic kidney failure. Patients must be tethered to machines at least three times a week for three to five hours at a stretch. Even then, a dialysis machine is only about 13 percent as effective as a functional kidney, and the five-year survival rate of patients on dialysis is just 33 to 35 percent. To restore health, patients need a kidney transplant, and there just aren’t enough donor organs to go around. In August, there were 85,000 patients on the U.S. waiting list for a kidney in the U.S., while only 17,000 kidney transplants took place last year. A collaborative, multidisciplinary group of labs is working to create the first implantable artificial kidney. The prototype, revealed last week, is compact, no larger than a soup can. It not only filters toxins out of the bloodstream but also uses human kidney cells to perform other vital functions, such as regulating blood pressure and producing vitamin D. “Dialysis is not only time-consuming, but it’s also debilitating. Many patients don’t feel good, because it’s not doing all the functions of a normal, healthy kidney,” says bioengineer Shuvo Roy, whose lab at the University of California, San Francisco produced the new device and is already testing it in animals. “The kidney doesn’t just filter toxins. It also has metabolic functions and hormonal functions, and dialysis doesn’t capture these abilities.” Making an artificial kidney small enough to fit inside the body is, however, a big challenge. A healthy kidney filters 90 liters of water each day. Current dialysis machines are the size of a small refrigerator, and require substantial pressure to pump enough water through the machine’s porous membranes to allow contaminants to be filtered out of the blood. The new implant is a fusion of multiple lines of research, and takes advantage of two recent advances in the field. University of Michigan nephrologist David Humes has shown that human kidney cells could be used in a room-sized filtration machine to greatly improve the health of patients whose kidneys have stopped functioning. Meanwhile, Roy and William Fissell, a nephrologist at the Cleveland Clinic, have produced a nano-pore silicon membrane that–with its dense and precise pore-structure–could help miniaturize dialysis machines. The prototype is a two-part system: half consists of a toxin-removing filter, in which thousands of silicon membranes are stacked together. Their nano-pores are so dense, and so precisely shaped, that they can filter very precisely using only the force of the body’s own blood pressure. Blood flows in through this filter, where the toxins, sugars, water, and salts are removed as a filtered solution. The clean blood and watery filtrate are both shunted into the other half of the system: a separate cartridge. Here, they flow over more silicon membranes, these ones coated with a single type of human kidney cell, which helps the device reabsorb some of the water, sugars, and salts, as well as produce vitamin D and help prevent blood pressure from sinking too low–normal kidney functions that are not offered by dialysis. The waste that’s not reabsorbed is shunted to a tube attached to the bladder and removed as waste in the urine–just like a normal kidney would do. It’s far from a complete system, and the researchers note that they don’t ever expect it to replace kidney transplants. “Your kidney has 20 to 30 cell types in it, all of which accomplish different functions. But we’d like to overcome a critical issue that’s emerged in renal failure,” says Fissell. “If you’re listed for a kidney transplant, you’re far more likely to die on the waitlist than you are to get a kidney.” He says the device could act as a bridge for patients awaiting transplant. “From a general perspective, any implantable device would sharply reduce the burden that patients now experience,” says Glenn Chertow, the chief of nephrology at the Stanford University School of Medicine. “And if some of the additional magic that a native kidney provides could be added to an implantable device, we could come closer to a restoration of good health.” The researchers have already worked out some of the more difficult issues: Humes has worked out how to culture kidney cells on the necessary scale (he can culture enough cells for 100,000 devices from a single kidney). He’s also determined the best way to freeze them for future use. And Roy, a TR35 winner in 2003, has tested the implant in a dozen rats and a handful of pigs. They still have to scale up the implant’s efficiency to something that could work effectively in humans, but they hope to start human trials in five-to-seven years. Right now the biocartridge can filter between 30 to 35 liters of water per day, and it needs to be able to filter at least 43. They also have to find ways to ensure that the devices don’t cause blood clots or immune reactions. Other groups are also working toward alternatives to thrice-weekly dialysis appointments, although most are concentrating on wearable dialysis devices–a difficult proposition in itself, given the challenge of constant filtration at such large volumes without an external pump. One such device is already in the second stage of clinical trials. But even constant dialysis can’t take the place of the kidney’s other functions. Allen Nissenson, CMO of DaVita, one of the country’s largest dialysis provider, says the implantable concept holds appeal. “It’s a bioreactor kidney, an incredibly innovative concept, and really exciting if it proves to be workable on a larger scale,” he says.
Metadata is the description of all the data surrounding a digital artefact, image or file: meta as a prefix referring to the underlying nature of this attached data. This is an umbrella term, simply referring to data linked to an object or file. In Understanding Metadata it is defined as “Metadata is structured information that describes, explains, locates, or otherwise makes it easier to retrieve, use, or manage an information resource.” (1) This is further divided into 3 categories “Descriptive metadata describes a resource for purposes such as discovery and identification. It can include elements such as title, abstract, author, and keywords.” (1) This type of metadata is probably the most important in terms of categorising works for searchability, however there is a clear distinction from this and: “Structural metadata indicates how compound objects are put together, for example, how pages are ordered to form chapters.” (1) While type of metadata links composites of a resource or collection another distinction is necessary: Administrative metadata, referring to the metadata necessary for managing resources and cataloguing them. XML has become the standard coding language used when encoding metadata, though there are other languages that can be used, this has become the standard in most professional and official attribution of metadata. It is a hierarchal language that uses controlled vocabularies, though versatile it needs standards of use for usability of other users and these elements function in the coding language as identifiers for strings of data. “The definition or meaning of the elements themselves is known as the semantics of the scheme.” (Understanding Metadata 2) There is one important consideration, attachment of metadata is a process that requires encoding to attach data and decoding to use the attached data. Metadata standards are therefore quite important, as they facilitate the use of data attached to files. The use of standardised schema like Dublin Core or VRA constitutes an imposed structure which is used to encode the relevant metadata in an agreed format so that this data can be used. Though the XML language technically facilitates the input of any string of characters as a title, without following standards and schema a lot of this data would be unusable as there wouldn’t be adequate reference points for searching this data i.e. without identified authors in the metadata, the task of searching for works by this person becomes akin to searching for a needle in a haystack. Controlled vocabulary is used as a form of indexing to get around this. “The purpose of controlled vocabularies is to organize information and to provide terminology to catalog and retrieve information.” (“What are controlled vocabularies?” 12) This becomes complexified when more terms are added: “A taxonomy is an orderly classification for a defined domain. It may also be known as a faceted vocabulary.” (What are controlled vocabularies?, 22) The use of these taxonomies is to stratify hierarchal data for greater ease of use by machinated searching, broadening the scope of search terms and narrowing the results down more efficiently, using less computing power by making the attached metadata more accessible. Harpring, Patricia “What are controlled vocabularies?” (12-26). Introduction to Controlled Vocabularies: Terminology for Art, Architecture and other cultural works. Getty Research Institute: Los Angeles, 2010. Web. Moodle. Date of Access: 25 Oct. 2016. “Metadata Mapping”. Web. Understanding Metadata NISO press: Bethesda, 2004. Web. Moodle. Date of Access: 25 Oct. 2016.
Research on Songs and Activities to Boost Children’s Social and Emotional Skills (reprinted from California Psychologist, May-June 2011. Children today are experiencing levels of stress like never before, and what they see and hear is forming new connections in their rapidly growing brains. Music has been shown to be an effective, almost magical medium for teaching skills (Sacks, 2007). Most of us have experienced its long-lasting effects for learning and retention. Isn’t it how you still remember your ABCs? We can remember the words and meanings of songs we haven’t heard for years, perhaps music lights up a such a variety of brain centers, including language, hearing, and rhythmic motor control (Pinker 1997.) The February 2011 journal of Child Development had an article entitled “The Impact of Enhancing Students’ Social and Emotional Learning: A Meta-Analysis of School-Based Universal Interventions.” The authors provide a meta-analysis of 213 school-based, social and emotional learning (SEL) programs involving 270,034 kindergarten through high school students. Compared to controls, SEL participants showed signi?cant improvements in social and emotional skills, attitudes, and behavior. Not surprisingly, there was also an average 11-percentile-point gain in academic achievement. Similar to these results, a research project in the Santa Barbara and Goleta, California schools studied the effects of songs and related activities on children’s social and emotional skills. Using songs from Ready to Rock Kids, 320 first and second grade children from sixteen classrooms were involved. The children each received a CD, and in a subsequent condition, college students were trained to provide forty-minute lessons using songs and activities on nine Friday afternoons. The lessons included themes of: 1. Friendship and Reaching Out 2. Respect and Caring 3. Celebrating Differences 4. Expressing and Managing Feelings 5. Communication and Conflict 6. Positive Thinking 7. Dealing with Fears 8. Best Effort 9. Manners and Review In order to study the impact of the interventions, teachers filled out standardized BESS (Behavioral and Emotional Screening System) tests on each child four times over the course of the year. They also provided repeated assessments of their classroom in general. The school principals, college students, and parents of the children also provided feedback about their respective experiences with the program. Significant changes occurred in the children, both under the conditions of having the CD alone, and also by participating in the school lessons. Some of the most significant improvements for both first and second graders were in “encouraging others to do their best,” as well as following rules in the group. There were also positive changes with confidence. First graders showed more dramatic changes than second graders, learning skills in approaching peers, using effective tools with teasing and bullying, understanding and using the Golden Rule, resolving conflicts by talking out feelings, staying on task, having a positive attitude, and applying concepts learned from Ready to Rock Kids to every day situations. Parents were enthusiastic, reporting that the project prompted meaningful and helpful family discussions. The college student “teachers” also made significant gains in their own social and emotional skills. Brain researchers note that music activates neural systems of reward and emotion similar to those stimulated by food, sex and drugs (Blood and Zatorre, 2001). Music “tickles” the brain in a highly pleasurable way. It releases endorphins that provide feelings of happiness and energy. A fun way to “make the medicine go down,” kids welcome tools to better handle their feelings, relationships, and practice positive thinking. Anthropologists point out that all cultures embrace music in a variety of forms, and it’s the only thing that, worldwide, people spend more on than prescription drugs! Despite mounting evidence that supports the benefits of social and emotional learning, schools are still prone to focus on academics through testing and drill. The studies cited here demonstrate that even when time is taken away from the traditional “Three Rs” to focus on SEL, academic scores improve. Perhaps a fitting analogy is that of computer memory. When children are preoccupied, they have far less “memory” or attention available for cognitive inputs. Imagine a kid who has just been teased on the playground and is then expected to pay attention to the teacher putting arithmetic problems up on the blackboard. Little brains are often too easily “hijacked” by their amygdalas to pay attention. No surprise, it seems that happy kids learn better! Blood, A. and Zatorre, R. (2001) Intensely pleasurable responses to music correlate with activity in brain regions implicated in reward and emotion. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Vol. 98, 11818-11823. Durlak, J., Weissberg, R., Dymnicki, A., Taylor, R., Schellinger, K. (2011) The Impact of Enhancing Students’ Social and Emotional Learning: A Meta-Analysis of School-Based Universal Interventions, Child Development, 82, 405-432. Pinker, Steven (1997) How the Mind Works, New York: Norton. Sacks, Oliver. (2007) Musicophilia, New York: Alfred A Knopf. Don R. MacMannis, Ph.D. has been a psychologist and Co-director of the Family Therapy Institute of Santa Barbara for the past thirty years. He is the co-author of How’s Your Family Really Doing?: 10 Keys to a Happy Loving Family. Also a PBS songwriter, he has written and produced Ready to Rock Kids, a series of award-winning CDs, single-song downloads, and activity books for social and emotional learning. Emails may be sent to Dr.Mac1@cox.net and his website is DrMacMusic.com.
The Department of Energy's (DOE) Waste Management program directs the storage, treatment, and disposal of waste generated by DOE's activities. In support of this mission, the Waste Management program uses a variety of treatment technologies to change the characteristics of the waste so that it may be more easily managed. What Is Waste Treatment? Waste treatment techniques are used to change the physical, chemical, or biological character of the waste, to reduce its volume and/or toxicity, and to make the waste safer for disposal. Waste treatment may be required for radioactive, hazardous, and other DOE wastes. However, DOE does not treat all of its wastes. Some solid sanitary waste does not require treatment prior to disposal, and hazardous wastes are treated by commercial treatment facilities. Mixed wastes (which contain both hazardous and radioactive components) pose special management challenges since they are difficult to treat with existing treatment technologies. These wastes are prohibited from disposal unless they have been treated to specific standards. DOE has worked with its state and Federal regulators and the public to identify and develop appropriate treatment strategies for mixed waste, and is now implementing the site treatment plans developed under the Federal Facility Compliance Act.
A rainbow of play possibilities comes packed inside these giant crayons. Crayons invite children to peek inside each crayon and discover different color-coded figurines for matching, sorting and imaginative play. • 8 cardboard crayons with plastic lids – brown, red, yellow, green, purple, pink, blue, orange • 48 manipulatives total • Storage box Each crayon measures 9.5”L x 2.5”D Common Core State Standards Alignment: Counting & Cardinality, Measurement & Data, Operations & Algebraic Thinking Learning Style: Visual, Tactile Basic Concepts – Help students to identify the names of colors and objects, learning about quantities, creating sequences, and understanding spatial relationships such as next to, behind, and in front of. Math - An ideal way to introduce sorting and grouping. Add more fun by counting as each piece is dropped into a crayon tube or create patterns with the objects to introduce AB patterning. Organization – Forty-eight objects separated into 8 colored crayon tubes introduce early organizational skills. Clean up becomes part of the activity by putting all of the objects into their respective crayons.
Just Ask Antoine! Glossary: The periodic table - Elements 89-102 are called actinides. Electrons added during the Aufbau construction of actinide atoms go into the 5f subshell. Actinides are unstable and undergo radioactive decay. The most common actinides on Earth are uranium and thorium. - alkali metal. (alkaline earth metal) alkali metal element. - The Group 1 elements, lithium (Li), sodium (Na), potassium (K), rubidium (Rb), cesium (Cs), and francium (Fr) react with cold water for form strongly alkaline hydroxide solutions, and are referred to as "alkali metals". Hydrogen is not considered an alkali metal, despite its position on some periodic tables. - alkaline earth. - An oxide of an alkaline earth metal, which produces an alkaline solution in reaction with water. - alkaline earth metal. (alkali metal) - The Group 2 elements, beryllium (Be), magnesium (Mg), calcium (Ca), strontium (Sr), barium (Ba), and radium (Ra) form alkaline oxides and hydroxides and are called "alkaline earth metals". - amphoteric. ampholyte. - A substance that can act as either an acid or a base in a reaction. For example, aluminum hydroxide can neutralize mineral acids ( Al(OH)3 + 3 HCl = AlCl3 + 3 H2O ) or strong bases ( Al(OH)3 + 3 NaOH = Na3AlO3 + 3 H2O). - atomic radius. metallic radius; covalent radius; atomic radii. Compare with ionic radius. - One half the distance between nuclei of atoms of the same element, when the atoms are bound by a single covalent bond or are in a metallic crystal. The radius of atoms obtained from covalent bond lengths is called the covalent radius; the radius from interatomic distances in metallic crystals is called the metallic radius. - A region of the periodic table that corresponds to the type of subshell (s, p, d, or f) being filled during the Aufbau construction of electron configurations. - 1. Elements belonging to the same group on the periodic table. For example, sodium and potassium are congeners. 2. Compounds produced by identical synthesis reactions and procedures. - first ionization energy. (IE,IP) first ionization potential. Compare with second ionization energy, adiabatic ionization energy, vertical ionization energy, electronegativity, and electron affinity. - The energy needed to remove an electron from an isolated, neutral atom. - 1. A substructure that imparts characteristic chemical behaviors to a molecule, for example, a carboxylic acid group. (also: functional group). 2. A vertical column on the periodic table, for example, the halogens. Elements that belong to the same group usually show chemical similarities, although the element at the top of the group is usually atypical. - halogen. group VIIA; group 18. - An element of group VIIA (a. k. a. Group 18). The name means "salt former"; halogens react with metals to form binary ionic compounds. Fluorine (F), chlorine (Cl), bromine (Br), iodine (I), and astatine (At) are known at this time. - ionic radius. Compare with atomic radius. - The radii of anions and cations in crystalline ionic compounds, as determined by consistently partitioning the center-to-center distance of ions in those compounds. - ionization energy. (IE,IP) ionization potential. Compare with adiabatic ionization energy, vertical ionization energy, electronegativity, and electron affinity. - The energy needed to remove an electron from a gaseous atom or ion. - lanthanide contraction. - An effect that causes sixth period elements with filled 4f subshells to be smaller than otherwise expected. The intervention of the lanthanides increases the effective nuclear charge, which offsets the size increase expected from filling the n=6 valence shell. As a consequence, sixth period transition metals are about the same size as their fifth period counterparts. - lanthanide. Compare with actinide and inner transition metals. - Elements 57-70 are called lanthanides. Electrons added during the Aufbau construction of lanthanide atoms go into the 4f subshell. - main group elements. - Elements of the s and p blocks. - metal. metallic. Compare with nonmetal and metalloid. - A metal is a substance that conducts heat and electricity, is shiny and reflects many colors of light, and can be hammered into sheets or drawn into wire. Metals lose electrons easily to form cations. About 80% of the known chemical elements are metals. - nonmetal. (metal,metalloid) non-metal. - A nonmetal is a substance that conducts heat and electricity poorly, is brittle or waxy or gaseous, and cannot be hammered into sheets or drawn into wire. Nonmetals gain electrons easily to form anions. About 20% of the known chemical elements are nonmetals. - periodic law. - The periodic law states that physical and chemical properties of the elements recur in a regular way when the elements are arranged in order of increasing atomic number. - periodic table. - An arrangement of the elements according to increasing atomic number that shows relationships between element properties. - periodic trend. - A regular variation in element properties with increasing atomic number that is ultimately due to regular variations in atomic structure. - Rows in the periodic table are called periods. For example, all of the elements in the second row are referred to as 'second period elements'. All elements currently known fall in the first seven periods. - second ionization energy. (IE,IP) second ionization potential. Compare with first ionization energy, adiabatic ionization energy, vertical ionization energy, electronegativity, and electron affinity. - The energy needed to remove an electron from an isolated +1 ion. The third ionization energy would be the energy required to remove an electron from an isolated +2 ion, and so on. - transition metal. transition element; outer transition element. - An element with an incomplete d subshell. Elements which have common cations with incomplete d subshells are also considered transition metals. Elements with incomplete f subshells are sometimes called "inner transition elements".
The 5E model of teaching science is a way that students can construct meaning of new information by understanding experiences and new ideas through inquiry. This unit is an investigation about the 3 states of matter. Students will follow through the 5Es of the investigation by engaging in the question, exploring through an experiment, explaining the experiment with vocabulary, elaborating on that vocabulary by making a foldable and proving knowledge of the investigation and vocabulary with a ticket out the door. This activity includes: Detailed lesson plans on all 5 parts of the investigation Photos of the experiment Foldable that is made into a scientist with printable templates Ticket out the door
Learn something new every day More Info... by email Indoor air cleaners are used to eliminate harmful materials in the air that can become health hazards. Types of cleaners range from simple filters to electronic ionization air cleaners to gas-phase air filters. Polluted air can lead to a variety of different health problems, such as asthma or allergies. Some air purifiers are installed in the central heating area of an indoor location, while portable air filters typically clean the air of a specific area or room. Pollutants that affect indoor air quality are usually grouped into two categories: particulate matter and gaseous pollutants. Particulate matter includes small particles from such things as dust mites, animal dander, tobacco smoke and pollen. Gaseous pollutants include gas cooking stoves, pesticides, cleaning products and vehicle exhaust. There are various types of indoor air cleaners, each designed to eliminate a certain kind of pollutant. For particulate matter, there are mechanical and electric indoor air cleaners. Mechanical cleaners, specifically in the form of filters, remove the particles of pollutants by capturing them in the filter. High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filters are an example of this. Electronic air cleaners use an electrostatic process to trap charged pollutant particles. The particles become charged when air is pulled through a cleaner, such as an electrostatic precipitator, via an ionization process. These charged particles then are released back into the air to attach and clean the polluted particles. Gas-phase air filters are indoor air cleaners that are typically used to get rid of gaseous pollutants. These cleaners use a sorbent, such as activated carbon. The sorbent works to clean the air by absorbing the pollutants. Some pollutants, such as carbon monoxide, might not be completely eradicated by gas-phase air filters, so additional cleaning methods might be needed. Ultraviolet (UV) light technology is also sometimes used to destroy pollutant particles. This method destroys particles with ozone gas, which is generally considered to be a lung irritant. Examples of indoor air cleaners that use UV light technology include Photocatalytic Oxidation (PCO) cleaners and Ultraviolet Germicidal Irradiation (UVGI) cleaners. PCO cleaners use a catalyst substance which reacts to light produced by a UV lamp. Typically, the main goal of these cleaners is to eradicate gaseous pollutants, not particulate pollutants. The eradication is usually done by converting the pollutants into a harmless forms. UVGI cleaners use radiation from UV light to destroy particles that originate from things like bacteria, viruses, or mold. It is usually suggested that they be used with additional filtration processes. One of our editors will review your suggestion and make changes if warranted. Note that depending on the number of suggestions we receive, this can take anywhere from a few hours to a few days. Thank you for helping to improve wiseGEEK!
November 12, 1998 A weekly feature provided by scientists at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory. Rocks float briefly where lava meets the sea Lava and the surf--two powerful forces seeking supremacy over each other. One consequence of this battle is "floating rocks" seen near the ocean entry, where lava from Kilauea's ongoing eruption reaches the south shore of the Big Island. Floating rocks result when surf rolls across and tears molten fragments away from actively spreading lava or when ocean water enters a shallow lava tube and blasts lava bombs into the water. These fragments may stay suspended on the sea surface for several seconds before sinking from sight. A random chunk of cold lava tossed into water will sink immediately. So why can lava from the surf zone float? In general, floating occurs when an object is less dense than the liquid that suspends it. Few solid Earth materials are less dense than water. However, if gases, such as air or steam, are incorporated into denser materials, they can create a froth, or foam, of lower density. An additional requirement for floating is that the pockets of air be isolated or impermeable. If too permeable, water can displace the gas and fill the voids, thus destroying the favorable density contrast. Each of us has seen driftwood, which can float because air is incorporated among the woody cells. Boogie boards and other styrofoam products float, not because they're "styro," but because they're foam. Air has been incorporated during manufacturing to create the buoyancy of these products. Pumice, a naturally occurring Earth material, will float if its bubble-like voids are so tightly bounded that water can't penetrate and fill them. Let's return to the ocean entry. As the surf and hot lava make contact, the lava is cooled quickly. Experimentally, we can mimic this process by plucking melt from a flow and submerging it in a bucket of water. In this instance, the blob of melt literally puffs up. It expands abruptly as water enters the melt, perhaps along cracks and microfractures, while simultaneously expanding to steam. The liquid water expands to roughly 22 times its initial volume during conversion to steam at the Earth's surface. By creating gas pockets, the expansion leads to the lower density that allows the cooled melt, now rock, to float on the ocean surface. Nothing floats forever. For a Big Island shoreline floater, 30 seconds is a long life, and one minute makes a world champion. Sinking results as the steam cools and liquid water penetrates the gas pockets. At first, the floating fragments of quenched lava remain so hot that the voids are pressurized against sea water. As cooling progresses, however, the steam condenses, the pressure is reduced, and liquid is able to infiltrate relentlessly. In the time it takes to unpack a camera and photograph, the fragment, a gently bobbing floater, slips beneath the sea and sinks like the rock it has become. Eruption and Earthquake Update There was a short pause in the eruptive activity of Kilauea Volcano. The pause started around 6:00 a.m. on November 7 and ended about 28 hours later. Lava drained from the tube system and stopped flowing into the sea. The eruption resumed at the Pu`u `O`o vent, and lava reoccupied the network of tubes from the vent to the seacoast. Several short-lived surface flows originated from breakouts of the tube system midway down the pali and in the coastal flats. Lava is again entering the ocean along a section near Kamokuna. The public is reminded that the ocean entry areas are extremely hazardous, with explosions accompanying frequent collapses of the lava delta. The steam clouds are highly acidic and laced with glass particles. There were four earthquakes reported felt during the past week. A resident of Pahala felt three earthquakes between 1:00 p.m. and 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, November 7. The first two earthquakes originated 2 km (1.2 mi) east of Pahala at a depth of 4.5 km (2.7 mi), and the third earthquake originated 4 km (2.4 mi) southeast of Pahala at a depth of 8.6 km (5.2 mi). The three earthquakes had magnitudes of 2.8, 2.7, and 2.6, respectively. Early Monday morning at 4:58 a.m., a magnitude-3.0 earthquake was felt in Volcano. The epicenter of the earthquake was 3.7 km (2 mi) west of the summit of Kilauea Volcano at a depth of 6 km (3.6 mi). The URL of this page is http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov/volcanowatch/archive/1998/98_11_12.html Updated: 23 Nov 1998
Excerpt from Concepts of Object-Oriented Programming with Visual basic by Steven Roman, published by Springer-Verlag. ISBN: 0-387-94889-9 Copyright © 1999 by The Roman Press, Inc. All Rights Reserved. You may view and print this document for your own personal use only. No portion of this document may be sold or incorporated into any other document for any reason. The Basics of Object-Oriented Programming We begin our discussion of object-oriented programming with a more familiar concept - that of a data type. What is a data type? For instance, what is the integer data type? One possible answer is that, for Visual Basic, the integer data type is the set of integers from -32,768 to 32,767. However, this answer is not very stimulating and will not lead us to object-oriented ideas. To provide a more fruitful answer, recall that all data are stored in a computer in binary form, as strings of 0's and 1's. Moreover, to a computer (that is, to the CPU), a binary string is just a string of 0's and 1's - no more and no less. The CPU knows how to push these strings around but does not attach a meaning or interpretation to them. It might be fair to say that the CPU recognizes only one data type, namely, the bit data type! With this view in mind, we can say that the integer data type is a certain way of interpreting binary words - 16-bit binary words in the case of Visual Basic. Consider, for example, the 16-bit binary word 0100 0001 0100 0001. To the CPU, this is nothing more than a string of bits. To Visual Basic, it is also nothing more than that, until we give it an interpretation. For instance, to tell Visual Basic to interpret this word as a string data type, we would write Dim X as String X = "AA" since the ANSI code for "AA" is 0100 0001 0100 0001. To tell Visual Basic to interpret this word as an integer data type, we would write Dim X as Integer X = 16705 since the word in question is the binary representation of the integer 16705. Now comes the key point. Interpreting a binary word as a particular data type (such as integer or string) implicitly gives that word certain properties and operations. For instance, a binary word of the integer data type has the sign property, which can take the values positive, negative or zero. In Visual Basic, the sign property is realized through the Sgn function, as in the following code: Select Case Sgn(X) On the other hand, when the same binary word is interpreted as a string, it does not have the sign property. It does, however, have the length property, realized in Visual Basic by the Len function. Moreover, binary words of the integer data type have the usual arithmetic operations, such as negation, addition, subtraction and multiplication, whereas binary words of the string data type have the concatenation operation, for instance. Since data types would not be of much use without their concomitant properties and operations, it makes sense to define a data type as a way of interpreting binary strings together with these properties and operations. Thus, the properties and operations are included as part of the definition of data type. As we will see, this definition of data type has far-reaching consequences. It may seem at first that it makes no difference whether we include the properties and operations as part of the definition, or think of them as separate from the data type, as long as they are there. However, the purpose of including the properties and operations within the definition is more than cosmetic, since it allows for the abstraction of the concept of data type and signals the beginning of a new philosophy when thinking about coding issues. Part of this new philosophy is termed encapsulation. The idea of encapsulation is to contain (or "encapsulate") in one neat bundle the properties and behaviors (operations) that characterize an object. This serves three useful purposes: · It permits the protection of these properties and behaviors from outside tampering by exposing only those portions that are needed in order to use the properties and behaviors. · It allows the inclusion of validation code to help catch errors in the use of the exposed interface. · It frees the user from having to know the details of how the properties and behaviors are implemented. In a sense, all of learning involves encapsulation of concepts. Let us consider an example that involves the way computers store signed (that is, positive, zero and negative) integers and do arithmetic with these integers. Please bear with me, even if some of this seems a bit irrelevant at first - it will only take a couple of paragraphs. As you undoubtedly know, an integer is stored in the memory of a PC as a string of 0's and 1's - called a binary string. This string needs to be interpreted in order to have meaning. In some languages, such as C, we may designate, for instance, that the string should be interpreted as a signed integer or as an unsigned integer, the difference being whether or not the number is allowed to be negative. This distinction is important because we have only limited space, and so, for instance, disallowing negative numbers gives us more room for nonnegative numbers. In any case, Visual Basic does not provide us with this option. All integers are considered to be signed integers and are represented in the computer's memory in a form called two's-complement representation. The reason for the "fuss" is that there is no way to directly represent a negative sign in the computer's memory, and so a portion of the binary string itself must be used to represent the negative sign. For simplicity, let us consider 8-bit binary numbers. An 8-bit binary number has the form a7a6a5a4a3a2a1a0, where each of the a1's is a 0 or a 1. We can think of it as appearing in memory as shown below. As an example, consider the binary numbers x = 11110000 and y = 00001111 In the two's-complement representation, the leftmost bit a7 (called the most significant bit) is the sign bit. If the sign bit is 1, the number is negative. If the sign bit is 0, the number is positive. Thus, x is negative and y is positive. The formula for converting a two's-complement representation a7a6a5a4a3a2a1a0 of a number to a decimal representation is decimal rep. = -128a7 + 64a6 + 32a5 + 16a4 + 8a3 + 4a2 + 2a1 + a0 (note that the coefficients are just successive powers of 2). Thus, for instance, the decimal representation of the number x given above is x = -128 + 64 + 32 + 16 = -16 and the decimal representation of y is y = 8 + 4 + 2 + 1 = 15 To take the negative of a number when it is represented in two's-complement form, we must take the complement of each bit (that is, change each 0 to a 1 and each 1 to a 0) and then add 1. For instance, to form the negative of the number x, we first take the complement which, in decimal form, is 8 + 4 + 2 + 1 = 15 and then we add 1, to get 16 (which is indeed the negative of -16). Hopefully, at this point you are saying to yourself, "What is the point of this discussion? What does it have to do with object-oriented programming? I didn't buy this book to get a math lesson! As a programmer, I don't have to worry about these details. I just write code like x = -16 y = -x and let the computer and the programming language worry about which representation to use and how to perform the given operations." If you are saying this, then you get the point! The details of how signed integers are interpreted by the computer (and the compiler) and how their properties and operations are implemented are encapsulated in the integer data type and are thus hidden from the user. Only those portions of the properties and operations that we need in order to work with integers are exposed outside of the data type. These portions form the public interface for the integer data type. Moreover, encapsulation protects us from making errors. For instance, if we had to do our own negating by taking Boolean complements and adding 1, we might forget to add 1! The encapsulated data type takes care of this automatically. Encapsulation has yet another important feature. Any code that is written using the public interface will remain valid even if the internal workings of the integer data type are changed for some reason, as long as the interface is not changed. For instance, if we move the code to a computer that stores integers in one's-complement representation, then the internal procedure for implementing the operation of negation in the integer data type will have to be changed, but from the programmer's point of view, nothing has changed. The code x = -16 y = -x is just as valid as before. What a relief. Abstract Data Types Encapsulation is so useful for data types that it makes sense to apply the concept to as many other objects as possible. Perhaps the best way to make this idea clear is through an example. Consider a hypothetical teacher who wishes to write a program to keep students' exam grades for a particular course (say there will be three exams during the semester). Why not define an abstract data type named Student and give it some properties and operations? The Student data type will have the properties FullName, StudentID, Exam1, Exam2 and Exam3. The FullName and StudentID properties are strings and the Exam1, Exam2 and Exam3 properties are real numbers. The Student data type has two operations: Average, which returns a weighted average of the three exam grades (the third exam is the final), and Pass, which returns yes if the student passes the course or no if the student does not pass. From now on, we will generally refer to operations as methods, because it is the term used in Visual Basic and it is better suited to abstract data types. While we are on the subject of terminology, in object-oriented programming circles, properties are also called resources, attributes or member variables and methods are also called behaviors, services, operation, member function or responsibilities (yuck!). An abstract data type is an abstraction of a basic (or shall we say concrete) data type, such as the integer data type. It has properties and operations, but it does not have quite the same concept of interpretation. To understand the differences between abstract and concrete data types, consider that the code Dim X As Integer X = 200 can be interpreted as follows: Line 1: Let X be a variable that refers to a 16-bit area of memory that will be interpreted as an integer. Line 2: Fill the area of memory referred to by X with the binary string 0000 0000 1100 1000, which is thus the binary representation of the integer 200. For an abstract data type, we must be a little less "concrete." The code Dim Donna As Student Set Donna = New Student can be interpreted as follows: Line 1: Let Donna be a variable that will refer to an abstract "object" of type Student (rather than to a memory location). Line 2: Create an object of that type and let Donna refer to that object. From a programmer's perspective, the notion of a 16-bit area of memory is concrete - it is something we can visualize. On the other hand, the notion of an object doesn't bring anything concrete to mind. Instead, we may simply think of an object as a "black box" that Visual Basic manages in some arcane fashion. The concrete side of an object consists of its properties and methods, not where it is "located" in memory. In a sense then, an object is defined or characterized completely by its public interface! From a practical point of view, since we seldom think about areas of memory when dealing with, say, an integer variable, there is little difference between a concrete and an abstract data type, although the latter tends to be more complex, in that it has many more properties and methods. It is also interesting to note that abstract data types are built upon concrete data types. For instance, objects of the abstract Student data type have a FullName property, which takes as its value a member of the concrete String data type. As we will see, properties of an object can also be of type Object, that is, an object can have a property whose value is another object. We will refer to such a property as an object property. For instance, an object of type Student can have a property of type Teacher. These objects in turn can have properties of type Object, and so on. Eventually, the chain of object properties must terminate in objects whose properties have concrete data types (such as integer or string). The existence of object properties allows for the creation of object hierarchies in Visual Basic, an example of which is shown below. In this case, an object of type Student has three properties of type Object - Advisor, Courses and Transcript. The Courses object is a special type of object, known as a collection object. Collection objects are designed to hold other objects. This is important since, unless an object is either referred to by a variable or contained in a collection, it will be destroyed by Visual Basic. The Courses collection object contains objects of type Course, that is, individual courses. Each object of type Course has an object property called Professor, which in turn has an object property called Emolument. Object hierarchies can get quite complicated, but they have great advantages. For instance, they provide a logical structure to the program. We will discuss object hierarchies in more detail later in this chapter. In many languages, including Visual Basic, abstract data types are implemented through classes. In general terms, a class is just a description of the properties and methods that define an abstract data type. In Visual Basic, a class is an actual code module that describes these properties and methods. Thus, a class is a template for making objects of a certain type. It is important not to confuse the template for building objects with the objects themselves. Put another way, it is important not to confuse the description of an object with the object itself. Defining a Class in Visual Basic To define a class in Visual Basic, we just insert a new class module and assign it a name in the Properties dialog box, for example, CStudent. Note that, as is customary, we prefix the letter "C" (for Class) to the class name. If we want to think in a truly object-oriented manner, we should think of the class CStudent itself as a member of an abstract data type called Class (perhaps it should be CClass, but this is not customary). One of the properties of the class Class is Name. Simply put, every class has a name. The Class data type is managed by the Visual Basic IDE (integrated development environment) and has three properties: Name, Instancing and Public, as you can see from the Properties window of a class module, shown in Figure 1.1. (We will discuss the other two properties in the chapter on OLE automation.) When we use the Insert Class menu option in Visual Basic, we are actually creating a new object of type Class. Visual Basic then assigns to the object's Name property the default value Class1 (or Class2, etc.). It is good programming practice to describe a newly created class in the General Declarations section of the class module. Thus, for the class CStudent, we might write '' (In General Declarations Section) ' The Student Class CStudent ' Author: Steven Roman ' Date of last revision: Oct 1, 1066 ' Exam1, Exam2, Exam3 (Code lines that begin with a double apostrophe are comments to the reader and are not intended to be included in the actual code. Thus, for instance, we will indicate the location of code by lines such as the first line of code above.) Defining a Property in Visual Basic In Visual Basic, a property is described by a public variable or by an exposed private variable (we will clarify this soon). Thus, we can make the following property declarations in the General Declarations section of the CStudent class module: '' (In General Declarations Section) Public FullName as String Public StudentID as String Public Exam1 as Single Public Exam2 as Single Public Exam3 as Single Defining a Method in Visual Basic In Visual Basic, a method is just a public procedure (subroutine or function). Thus, the Average method for the CStudent class is defined as follows: Public Function Average() as Single ' Exam scores must lie between 0 and 100 If Exam1 >=0 and Exam1 <= 100 and _ Exam2 >=0 and Exam2 <= 100 and _ Exam3 >=0 and Exam3 <= 100 then Average = 0.25Exam1 + 0.25Exam2 + 0.50*Exam3 '' Code here to display an error message Public Function Pass(pCutOff as Single) as Boolean ' Pass a student if average >= cutoff If pCutOff <0 or pCutOff >100 then '' Code here to display error message If Average >= pCutOff then Pass = true Pass = False Exposing Properties Through the Property Let/Set/Get Procedures There is one major problem with our implementation of the CStudent class - it is too public and violates encapsulation principles. It is clear that methods allow for the inclusion of validation code to "protect" them from untoward usage. For instance, we have included validation code to prevent negative exam scores and scores that exceed 100. On the other hand, the value of a property set through a public variable can be set from anywhere in the project and is not subject to validation. For instance, student IDs may be required to be strings of length 10, but there is nothing to prevent us, or someone coding another portion of the application, from accidentally entering a StudentID of length 9. This might produce an error down the road, when the property is used. However, at that point, it might be very difficult to locate the offending code. In order to prevent this, proper encapsulation dictates that we hide direct access to the member variables, by declaring them Private. Then we expose each property by means of two special methods - Property Let (or Property Set, in the case of properties of type object) to set the property and Property Get to retrieve the property. This will allow us to include validation code to prevent the aforementioned peccadillo. Here is how the StudentID property should be coded, for instance: '' (In Declarations Section) ' Private member variable Private mStudentID As String Public Property Let StudentID(pID As string) ' Validate ID If Len(pID) = 10 then mStudentID = pID '' Code here to raise an error Public Property Get StudentID() As String '' Getting the property requires no validation StudentID = mStudentID Note that the private variable holds the property, which is exposed through public methods. Thus, the public interface consists entirely of methods, which can contain validation code. This has the further advantage that we can easily make the StudentID property read-only by leaving out the Property Let method. In this case, the property can be set only through its private member variable, from within the class module. This would not be possible using property variables alone. In the theory of object-oriented programming, the Property Let (and Set) method is referred to as an update method, since it updates the value of the property, and the Property Get method is referred to as an accessor method, since it accesses the value of a property. (Sometimes both property procedures are referred to as accessor methods.) These two methods are the key to encapsulation, since their presence implies that the public interface consists only of methods, which can perform validation. As mentioned in the introduction to the book, for the sake of simplicity and to save space, we will reluctantly violate encapsulation principles in our examples, by often declaring properties using public variables. A class is just a description of some properties and methods and does not have a life of its own. In fact, if we run a program that contains only an empty form, along with a class module filled with code, nothing much will happen - the code in the class module will not execute. To obtain something useful, we must create an instance of the class, officially known as an object. Creating an instance of a class is referred to as instancing, or instantiating, the class. (For some reason, one sometimes sees the inaccurate phrase instance of an object. The object is the instance.) We may create as many instances of a class as desired. Instancing a class, that is, creating an object, is a two-step process in Visual Basic, because it is first necessary to declare a variable to use as a reference to the prospective object. Moreover, there are two forms of object creation - explicit creation and implicit creation. Explicit Object Creation To explicitly create an object of type CStudent, we use the code Dim Donna As CStudent Set Donna = New CStudent The first line declares a variable named Donna to be of type CStudent. The second line asks Visual Basic to create an object of type CStudent and assign Donna as a reference to that object. It is very important to keep a clear distinction between an object and a variable that refers to that object. It is the variable that we use in code. In fact, variables are the only means we have to use objects - we never really "see" the object itself. To drive this point home, note that if we write Dim Steve As CStudent Set Steve = Donna then Steve and Donna both point to (that is, refer to) the same object. Thus, we have two object variables but only one object. The fact that object variables provide only references to objects can lead to confusion when many different object variables reference the same object. One area of potential problems arises when it comes time to destroy an object, since Visual Basic will not do so until all references to that object are removed. Thus, for instance, while the line Set Donna = Nothing removes the Donna reference to the object, the object is not destroyed, since Steve still holds a reference to that object. Despite these facts, one often hears an expression such as "the object Donna" rather than "the object referenced by Donna." Since the former usage is so common, we will feel free to use it as well, with the hope that no confusion will arise between a variable that points to an object and the object itself. Instance Variables and Member Variables There are some additional points that we should emphasize here. The line Set Donna = New CStudent not only creates an object, but assigns to that object its own copy of the member variables (both public and private) of the class CStudent. Simply put, each object gets its own copy of the member variables. These copies are referred to as the instance variables of the object. Thus, there is a distinction between member variables and instance variables. In a sense, member variables are never actually used as variables but serve as a "prototype" for the instance variables. Thus, for example, if we write Dim Bill as CStudent Set Bill = New CStudent then Donna and Bill will each have their own separate variables named FullName, StudentID, Exam1, Exam2 and Exam3. To refer to Donna's instance variables, the variable name must be qualified, as in In fact, the expression Donna.FullName is called a fully qualified property name. On the other hand, since Donna and Steve (from the previous subsection) point to the same object, they share that object's instance variables. Thus, the code Steve.Exam1 = 20 implies also that Donna.Exam1 equals 20. This is in contradistinction to the situation for ordinary variables, where, for example, if we execute the code X = 5 Y = X Y = 10 then the value of X is still 5. Method names must also be qualified, to indicate which instance variables (if any) are to be used in the code for that method. Thus, to execute the Average method for Donna, we write The Pass method requires a parameter, as in If Donna.Pass(65) then MsgBox "You Passed!" It is important to emphasize that, while each instance of a class gets its own copy of the member variables, all instances share the same method code from the class. Thus, the lines will cause the same lines of code to be executed. Of course, any references to member variables are replaced by the corresponding instance variables for the object in question. For example, when Donna.Average is executed, Visual Basic uses Donna's instance variables Donna.Exam1, Donna.Exam2 and Donna.Exam3, whereas when Bill.Average is executed, Visual Basic uses Bill's instance variables Bill.Exam1, Bill.Exam2 and Bill.Exam3. Method code sharing is one of the most important advantages of object-oriented programming. In short, methods contain resuable code. The As Object Syntax If you have been programming with Visual Basic, then you may be familiar with the following syntax for declaring an object variable: Dim Donna As Object This line declares Donna as a variable of the generic abstract data type Object and thus allows Donna to reference any object. To illustrate, consider the following code: ' Declare Donna as a generic object variable Dim Donna As Object ' Set Donna to reference a CStudent object Set Donna = New CStudent Donna.Name = "Donna Smith" ' Now set Donna to reference a Visual Basic form! Set Donna = Forms.Item(0) After setting the object variable Donna to point to a CStudent object, we then set the variable to point to a form object! (Forms.Item(0) refers to the first loaded form. We will discuss the Forms collection later in the chapter.) It might seem that the use of generic object variables simplifies programming, since we don't have to decide ahead of time what type of object a given variable will reference. However, there is a performance penalty to pay for using generic object variables. We will say a few words about this issue now and postpone a thorough discussion until the chapter on OLE automation, where the issue is most keenly felt. Visual Basic can determine the type of object that is referenced by a variable (also known as resolving a variable reference or binding a variable) either at compile time or at run time. Resolving references at compile time produces a more efficient executable file, since the file does not need to contain the extra code needed to do the referencing. When we use specific object types rather than generic object types, such as CStudent instead of Object, or Textbox instead of Control, or Integer instead of Variant, Visual Basic can bind the variables at compile time, which is more desirable. This is particularly important when there are lots of object variables, or when using OLE automation objects, as we will see in a later chapter. The moral is: For improved performance, be as specific as possible when declaring variables. Implicit Object Creation As we have seen, the second line in the following code Dim Donna As CStudent Set Donna = New CStudent asks Visual Basic to create an object of type CStudent and assign Donna as a reference to that object. Visual Basic provides an interesting and often useful alternative to this explicit object creation, which we will refer to as implicit object creation. Implicit object creation is done by replacing the two lines above with the following single line: Dim Donna as New CStudent The effect of this line is to declare Donna as a variable of type CStudent, but it does not immediately create an instance of the CStudent class. However, Visual Basic will create an instance of CStudent and point Donna to that instance the first time the variable Donna is used. For example, the line Donna.FullName = "Donna Smith" will cause Visual Basic to create a CStudent object (that is, assuming this is the first line in which the variable Donna is used). We will see examples of the use of both explicit and implicit object creation when we discuss object properties a bit later in this chapter. It is probably true that explicit object creation is the better programming practice, since we have precise control over when objects are created. Under implicit object creation, the point at which an object is created depends upon when it is first referenced. Thus, we might add a seemingly innocuous new line of code to a program that was written many months earlier, and thereby unwittingly change the point at which an object is created. Generally, this is not a problem. However, as we will see, when an object is first created, Visual Basic fires a special event called the Initialize event for that object. If we have placed some time-sensitive code in that event, a change in the creation time of an object could potentially cause problems. On the other hand, we will see in the chapter on OLE automation that there are circumstances that require the use of implicit object creation. Thus, a good general working rule is to use explicit object creation (even though it takes a few extra lines of code) unless implicit object creation is required. Referencing Public Variables and Procedures For the sake of reference, let us pause to collect in one place the rules for declaring and referencing Public variables and procedures in Visual Basic. Note that the rules depend on the type of module in which the variable or procedure is defined. · Public variables and procedures can be defined in the General Declarations section of a module only - not within procedures. · Public variables and procedures can be defined in any type of module (form, standard or class). · A public variable or procedure defined in a standard module can be used throughout the project without qualification. · A public variable or procedure defined in a form module must be qualified with the form name before it can be addressed. For example, if a form module named frmMain has a public variable or procedure named Pub, then the proper syntax for accessing this variable or procedure from other parts of the project is frmMain.Pub. · A public variable or procedure defined in a class module must be qualified before it can be addressed. However, unlike the case for form modules, if a class named TestClass has a public variable or procedure named Pub, then we cannot address this variable or procedure as TestClass.Pub, for the simple reason that TestClass is not an object; it is a class (or template for an object). To qualify a public variable or procedure from a class module, you must first instance that class and then use the instance name as a qualifier, as in Dim ctest As New TestClass · You cannot define a public fixed-length string or array (or constant or Declare) in a Form or Class Module. Note that procedures and properties in different modules can have the same name. As long as the fully qualified names are different, there is no problem accessing the correct procedure or property. Some authors suggest that you should not use the same name in different modules, because it can cause confusion. However, this advice precludes taking advantage of an important programming technique known as overloading. In fact, Visual Basic does this very thing all the time, as in, for example, frmMain.ScaleHeight and frmOther.ScaleHeight.
The presentation below shows the process of ozone depletion. Ozone depletion is caused by chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and other ozone-depleting substances. Please watch the following 1:16 video. Click Here for Transcript of Ozone Depletion video In this picture we are seeing how the ozone layer is destroyed and the effects of that destruction. Certain compounds such as chlorofluorocarbons, CFC’s, are released into the atmosphere by human activities, and these CFC’s particularly, they are very, very unreactive at the atmospherical ground level and they go all the way up to the stratosphere and then the CFC’s dissociate or give up the chlorine. Each chlorine atom is capable of destroying or basically turning ozone into oxygen and which again doesn’t have the same capability as ozone does in shielding us from the UV radiation. And once that ozone layer or the number of ozone molecules in that layer goes down, more and more UV rays can pass through the atmosphere and reach the surface and can cause more skin cancer and cataracts in older people. Ozone is constantly produced and destroyed in a natural cycle, as shown in the figure below. However, the overall amount of ozone is essentially stable. This balance can be thought of as a stream's depth at a particular location. Although individual water molecules are moving past the observer, the total depth remains constant. Similarly, while ozone production and destruction are balanced, ozone levels remain stable. This was the situation until the past several decades. Please watch the following 1:32 video about ozone destruction. Natural production and destruction of ozone in the stratosphere Click Here for Transcript of ozone production and destruction video Here we are looking at the ozone science. How the ozone is produced and how the ozone is destroyed. In the first step, the oxygen molecules are photolyzed or converted by the UV rays that are coming from the sun into two oxygen atoms; nascent oxygen atoms. Oxygen atoms are very, very reactive and they react with another oxygen molecule and form ozone, O3. Ozone and oxygen atoms are continually being interconverted as rays break the ozone and turns into nascent oxygen and oxygen molecules. And the oxygen atom again reacts with the oxygen molecules forms ozone. Our activities, which are producing the CFC’s and liberating into the atmosphere, they are going and these chlorine atoms are destroying the ozone molecules in addition to the natural process of formation and destruction. That is what is causing the reduction in the concentration of ozone in the stratosphere and when the concentration goes down below certain levels, like 220 Dobson units we call that ozone hole. Ozone hole does not mean that there is a big hole up there but what it means is that the concentration is below a certain level. Large increases in stratospheric chlorine and bromine, however, have upset the balance of the Ozone. In effect, they have added a siphon downstream, removing ozone faster than natural ozone creation reactions can keep up. Therefore, ozone levels fall. Since ozone filters out harmful UVB radiation, less ozone means higher UVB levels at the surface. The more the ozone is depleted, the larger will be the increase in incoming UVB radiation. UVB has been linked to: damage to materials like plastics; harm to certain crops and marine organisms. Although some UVB reaches the surface even without ozone depletion, its harmful effects will increase as a result of this problem. Ozone-Depleting Substance(s) (ODS) are: HCFCs (used in the energy related to refrigeration and air conditioning in homes, commercial buildings, and cars, and manufacture of foam products); Halons (used in fire extinguishers); Methyl bromide, carbon tetrachloride; Methyl chloroform (used as solvents in chemical industries).
A Vital Role for Botanic Garden Educators in Plant Conservation: The Global Strategy for Plant Conservation and You! Volume 2 Number 1 - April 2005 Plants are a vital part of the world's biodiversity and an essential resource for human well-being. Yet, despite our reliance on them, a crisis point has been reached – it is thought that between 60,000 – 100,000 plant species are threatened worldwide (GSPC, 2002). In 2002 the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation was legally adopted by all governments who are signatories to the Convention on Biological Diversity. Using a clear set of targets, the GSPC provides a framework for actions to bring about plant conservation, sustainable use, benefit-sharing and capacity building at global, regional, national and local levels with the ultimate goal to halt the loss of plant diversity. Target 14 of the strategy involves 'Promoting education and public awareness about plant diversity: The importance of plant diversity and the need for its conservation incorporated into communication, educational and public-awareness programmes'. Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI) is the lead organisation for Target 14 and has been working on consultations to produce targets and milestones for its achievement. Botanic garden educators are a major stakeholder within the biodiversity education field and BGCI is keen to gain your input. The Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC) outlines a series of targets through which the ultimate aim of halting the current and continuing loss of plant diversity can be achieved. The Strategy provides a framework to ‘facilitate harmony between existing initiatives aimed at plant conservation, to identify gaps where new initiatives are required, and to promote mobilisation of the necessary resources.’ It is also ‘a tool to enhance the ecosystem approach for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity and focus on the vital role of plants in the structure and functioning of ecological systems’ (GSPC, 2002). The Strategy was initiated at the Botanical Congress in St Louis 1999, with a call for plant conservation to be recognised as an urgent international priority. Following this, interested parties met in Gran Canaria, Spain, and produced a declaration. The declaration was presented to the CBD Conference of the Parties, who then agreed that a specific strategy for plant conservation was needed. The initial production of the Global Strategy was in conjunction with many national and international organisations including: IUCN-World Conservation Union, International Plant Genetic Resources Institute (IPGRI), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), WWF, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) and BGCI. These organisations now act as ‘lead’ partners for each of the adopted targets and are responsible for arranging consultation meetings to agree on subtargets, practical measures and milestones. What are the Objectives of the GSPC? The objectives of the GSPC are grouped into five themes: - understanding and documenting plant diversity - conserving plant diversity - using plant diversity sustainably - promoting education and awareness about plant diversity - building capacity for the conservation of plant diversity. The strategy outlines the different aspects of these objectives in a series of 16 targets together with the terms and technical rationale for each. Why is the GSPC Relevant to Botanic Gardens? Most of the targets are directly relevant to the work of botanic gardens. Indeed, target 14 is particularly relevant in that it provides a legislative defence of the validity of education in botanic gardens and highlights its importance in the efforts for plant conservation. For a full list of targets, visit BGCI’s website www.bgci.org/conservation/strategy.html So, We’ve Got the Targets, What Now? The next step of the process is to work out exactly how the targets are to be implemented. This will take place at international, national and subnational levels. By identifying the component parts of the targets, activities and milestones will be developed and incorporated into relevant plans, programmes and initiatives, including national biodiversity strategies and action plans. The GSPC targets are subject to continual consultation and revision. Lead partners for each target coordinate consultations with relevant stakeholders who propose practical suggestions for taking the GSPC forward. These lead partners meet regularly to report on progress within their consultations, whether these are local, national or international. Given that botanic garden educators are relevant stakeholders in most of the GSPC targets, it is important that they contact the relevant lead organisations and CBD focal points to express their commitment to this process. This Target focuses educators on the inclusion of plants (their conservation, diversity and importance) in environmental education. Creating active support for plant conservation by empowering the general public through increased knowledge, appreciation and understanding of plants is a vital aspect of the GSPC. As with many conservation issues the support of the masses is critical to its success. To date, consultation on Target 14 has included: - sending the consultation document to all botanic gardens and major international organisations - workshops held in Romania, New Zealand and Canada by local plant conservation networks. - an initial consultation workshop held by BGEN (Botanic Garden Education Network, UK.) - a workshop run at the 2nd World Botanic Gardens Congress, April 2004, to discuss practicalities of national sub targets. The sub targets under consultation are: - Sub target 1: A national survey carried out to determine general level of awareness of plant diversity and conservation - Sub target 2: A framework for the implementation of Target 14 by the end of 2005 - Sub target 3 Analysis of how education and communication instruments can be used to support the implementation of all targets of the GSPC For more information, or to offer suggestions or feedback on these subtargets please contact firstname.lastname@example.org. The beauty of Target 14 is that anyone involved with environmental education (formal and informal) can play an active role in its achievement. BGCI’s role is to encourage as many botanic gardens as possible to contribute to the GSPC. One of the ways we do this is through publishing case studies in Roots and on our website (www.bgci.org/education/gspc_and_education). What are the Implications of the GSPC for Educators in Botanic Gardens? There are many aspects of the GSPC that botanic garden educators can become involved with and use to their advantage: - support the development of education programmes to implement Target 14 - develop the capacity of all staff to implement Target 14 –building capacity is a target of the GSPC - participate in workshops concerned with the implementation of other GSPC targets - publicise their work through the BGCI and CEPA websites. CEPA refers to Communication, Education, Participation and Awareness. The CEPA work programme was approved by the parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity to address commitments to Article 13, Public Education and Awareness. This programme includes the CEPA portal, whose website address is http://www.biodiv.org/programmes/outreach/cepa/home.shtml How are Botanic Garden Educators Currently Supporting the GSPC? Many botanic gardens worldwide are already doing huge amounts of work that supports the aims of the GSPC. A recent survey (carried out by BGCI, November 2004) of BGEN (Botanic Garden Education Network, U.K) members provides some excellent ideas and ways in which educators are already contributing to the GSPC. Target 11 – No wild species of flora endangered by international trade. The Eden Project, Cornwall, has an exhibit about the uses and sources of different timber types from around the world in their Humid Tropics Biome. Cambridge University Botanic Garden has interpretation panels explaining the significance of CITES within their glasshouses. The Royal Horticultural Society produces a leaflet all about CITES for the public. Targets 9 and 13 – Conserving crop plants and plant resources and their associated indigenous and local knowledge Chester Zoo has displays and interpretation of medieval and herbal gardens – looking at plant use now and in the past. Glasgow Botanic Gardens has developed a new herb garden and booklet about the ethnobotany of the wild plants of Scotland. Middleton, National Botanic Gardens of Wales have a ‘Physicians of the Myddfai’ exhibition and programmes promoting medicinal plants. Chelsea Physic Garden, London, catalogues the ways in which visitors use plants, particularly traditional herbs for medicines. Target 15 - Capacity building for plant conservation Thrive, a national horticultural charity, offers a huge range of training course in conservation and horticulture. Cruickshank Botanic Gardens at the University of Aberdeen are used by undergraduate and postgraduate students. The Royal Horticultural Society Garden Rosemoor runs teacher training sessions. The University of Dundee Botanic Garden holds courses for the general public and Kew runs diploma courses on education in botanic gardens and in techniques for plant conservation. Each individual who completed this questionnaire was also directly involved with Target 14 (raising public awareness about the need for conservation of plant diversity) and Target 16 (networks established or strengthened for plant conservation activities) as they all worked in education in botanic gardens and were attending a network congress! The GSPC is an ambitious and important agreement with the overall aim to stop the loss of plant biodiversity. In order to achieve this goal, many organisations and stakeholders need to work together, focussing their conservation efforts on the relevant targets. With their plant collections, existing conservation work, education programmes and huge numbers of visitors, botanic gardens have an important role to play in implementing the GSPC. Botanic garden educators in particular are already doing this with their education provision. BGCI is keen for botanic garden educators to become involved in the consultations and stakeholder processes currently taking place, and to take these ideas and implications of the GSPC back to their gardens for further consideration and action. Many thanks to those BGEN members who completed BGCI’s survey on ‘What are your education programmes doing that support the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation?’. Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (2002) 'Global Strategy for Plant Conservation' Wyse Jackson, P. (2003), Progress in the implementation of the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation, Botanic Gardens Conservation News, vol. 3, no. 10 Wyse Jackson, P. (2001), Progress towards a Global Strategy for Plant Conservation, Botanic Gardens Conservation News, vol. 3, no. 6 Les plantes forment une part vitale de la biodiversité mondiale ainsi qu’une ressource essentielle pour le bien-être de l’homme. Toutefois, malgré notre dépendance envers elles, le stade de crise est atteint : il est estimé que 60 000 à 100 000 espèces végétales sont menacées à travers le monde. En 2002 la Stratégie Mondiale pour la Conservation des Plantes a été adoptée à titre légal par tous les gouvernements signataires de la Convention sur la Diversité Biologique. Tout en présentant une série d’objectifs précis, la SMCP apporte un cadre d’actions pour mettre en avant la conservation du végétal, son usage durable, le partage des bénéfices et la capitalisation de compétences au niveau régional, national et local, avec l’objectif ultime de stopper la perte de diversité végétale. L’objectif 14 de la stratégie implique de « Promouvoir l’éducation et la sensibilisation du public à la diversité végétale. L’importance de la diversité végétale et la nécessité de sa conservation intégrée aux programmes de communication, d’éducation et de sensibilisation du public ». Le Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI) est l’organisation meneuse de l’objectif 14 et a travaillé par le biais de consultations afin de produire des objectifs et des étapes pour son accomplissement. Les animateurs des jardins botaniques sont les principaux acteurs dans le domaine de l’éducation à la biodiversité et le BGCI tient beaucoup à leurs contributions. Las plantas son parte de la biodiversidad mundial y una fuente esencial de recursos para el ser humano. Sin embargo, a pesar de nuestra dependencia de ellas, se ha alcanzado un punto crucial –se cree que que entre 60,000-100,000 especies de plantas estan amenazadas a nivel mundial. En el año de 2002, se adoptό legalmente la Estrategia Mundial para la Conservaciόn de Especies Vegetales (GSPC) por todos los gobiernos que firmaron el Convenio sobre la Diversidad. Usando un conjunto claro de metas, la GSPC prove una estructura para las acciones a desarrollar referente a la conservaciόn de las plantas, uso sustentable, reparticiόn de beneficios y capacidad de construcciόn a nivel global, regional, nacional, y local, con el objetivo de detener la pérdida de la diversidad de plantas. El objetivo 14 de la estrategia involucra la ‘Promociόn de la educaciόn y alerta pública acerca de la diversidad de las plantas: La importancia de diversidad de plantas y la necesidad para su conservaciόn incorporada en los programas de la comunicaciόn, educacion y alerta publica’. La BGCI (Botanic Gardens Conservaciόn Internacional), es la organizaciόn lider para la meta 14 y ha estado trabajando en consultas para producer tareas y metas parciales para su alcance. Los educadores en Jardines Botánicos son los mayors interesados dentro del campo de educaciόn y la BGCI esta dispuesta a ganar su contribuciόn.
Chapter 2: Section 3: Types of Research Types of Research What we’ve focused on is called Experimental Methods, the true experiment. It involves randomized assignment of subjects, standardized instructions, and at least one IV and one DV. There are several other types of research that are not as rigorous, but that you need to be aware of. Perhaps the simplest form of research is Naturalistic Observation. Observing behavior in their natural environment Often involves counting behaviors, such as number of aggressive acts, number of smiles, etc. Advantages: Behavior is naturally occurring and is not manipulated by a researcher and it can provide more qualitative data as opposed to merely quantitative information. Limitations: Even the presence of someone observing can cause those being observed to alter their behavior. Researcher’s beliefs can also alter their observations. And, it is very difficult to coordinate multiple observers since observed behaviors must be operationally defined (e.g. what constitutes an aggressive act) Following a single case, typically over an extended period of time Can involve naturalistic observations, also can include psychological testing, interviews, interviews with others, and the application of a treatment or observation Advantages: Can gather extensive information, both qualitative and quantitative and it can be helpful in better understanding rare cases or very specific interventions Limitations: Only one case is involved, severely limiting the generalization to the rest of the population. Can be very time consuming and can involve other problems specific to the techniques used, including researcher bias. Everyone has probably heard of this and many of you have been involved in research involving surveys. They are often used in the news, especially to gather viewer opinions such as during a race for president Advantages: Can gather large amounts of information in a relatively short time, especially now with many surveys being conducted on the internet. Limitations: Survey data is based solely on subjects’ responses which can be inaccurate due to outright lying, misunderstanding of the question, placebo effect, and even the manner in which the question is asked Correlation means relationship, so the purpose of a correlational study is to determine if a relationship exists, what direction the relationship is, and how strong it is. Advantages: Can assess the strength of a relationship. Is popular with lay population because it is relatively easy to explain and understand. Limitations: Can not make any assumptions of cause and effect (explain how third a variable can be involved, or how the variables can influence each other). Utilizing testing to gather information about a group or an individual Advantages: Most tests are normed and standardized, which means they have very reliable and valid results. Popular with businesses looking for data on employees and with difficult or specific therapy cases Limitations: Tests which are not rigorously normed and standardized can easily result in inaccurate results.
- The earth has an iron core surrounded by a mantle with a thin rocky crust on the outside - The crust and the upper mantle are called the lithospheres, this is divided into tectonic plates - These rigid plates move on the mantle because of convection currents - Continental and oceanic plates - Oceanic plates are denser than continental - Silica rich magma is viscous and associated with explosive volcanoes. - Iron magma is less dangerous - Plate tectonics accepted because of evidence from shape; geology and fossils.
Y to i Lesson 5 of 12 Objective: SWBAT read and sort words that involve changing y to i. Common Core Connection The Reading Foundational Skill for Phonics and Word Recognition states that students should know and apply grade level phonics skills in decoding words. In addition, RF.1.3f state that the students must learn to read words with inflectional endings. In this lesson students use read a variety of words with inflectional endings. This lesson is one of the essential components of first grade, because I am teaching decoding. Decoding is a skill that really helps students develop their fluency. Once students increase their fluency it is much easier for there to comprehend text, because they are not longer focused on decoding. In the guided practice the class listens to me explain some rules for changing y to i. I go over the poster I made, and we generate some words we can change y to i in. Then the students do a word sort practicing reading words that have y changed to i. They also sort the words into two categories. The words that change y to i, and the words that do not. I tell the class that we are going to do some magic today. I take my scarf off and make a "Y" with it. Then I tell them to make a y with their body. I take my scarf and turn it into an "I." Then I show them how to turn their body into an i. I say, "I can turn y into i." They echo, tell a friend, then repeat it with me. The repetition helps memory, when they say it they are doing something, and telling a friend makes it personal. Then I ask them to make a "Y" with their body (y to i). Then change it to an "I." I find using gestures and body motions helpful in developing an understanding of new material. Now, I explain that we are going to read, sort, and write sentences with words that change y to i. The class chants the goal: I can read words that change y to i. We sing the song a couple times (y to i song). Then we go over the rules for changing y to i (y to i rules and sample words). They discuss with their partner words they know that have y changing to i. Then I allow volunteers to share and I write them on the poster (y to i poster). We read this poster as a review at the beginning of every phonics lesson. The repetition builds the memory. This is the first time they are being told this information, and they need a lot of review in the first grade. I allow them to get into groups and sort words that change y to i and words that do not. I get the words for the list from our word list that is in the guided practice section, and I just write them on sticky notes. Sorting and categorizing give them practice with this skill. They use words that changes y to i in a sentence. This allows them to apply their knowledge to an activity, but it also gives the class a chance to read words with inflectional endings. I like to allow them to practice their listening and speaking skills at the end of most lesson. Common Core shifts focus on listening and speaking. Two or three students volunteer to share their sentence. They are encouraged to always speak in complete sentences, which helps their writing tremendously. I love first graders writing because they write just like they speak. So, I say, "Sit criss cross applesauce pockets on the floor hands in your laps talking no more. Eyes on speaker, listening to what the speaker is saying, and speakers talk loud." They write on word they know that changes y to i on a post it. Most of them have figured out that the poster on the wall has some choices so I try to keep them from looking at it. The purpose of the tweet exit ticket is to assess what they learned. So, they have to read the word as they place it on the Tweet Board. I want to see what they can read. At this point, I already knew they needed a lot of work, but, just to be sure who specifically needed the help, I did the tweet exit ticket. Then we chant: I can read and sort words that change y to i. This helps the class remember the lesson goal.
In a previous post I explained how to create all possible combinations of the levels of two factors using expand.grid(). Another use for this function is to create a regular grid for two variables to create a levelplot or a contour plot. For example, let’s say that we have fitted a multiple linear regression to predict wood stiffness (stiff, the response) using basic density (bd) and a measure of microfibril angle (t) as explanatory variables. The regression equation could be something like stiffness = 3.439 + 0.009 bd - 0.052 t. In our dataset bd had a range of 300 to 700 kg m-3, while t had a range from 50 to 70. We will use the levelplot() function that is part of the lattice package of graphical functions, create a grid for both explanatory variables (every 10 for bd and every 1 for t), predict values of stiffness for all combinations of bd and t, and plot the results. library(lattice) # Create grid of data wood = expand.grid(bd = seq(300, 700, 10), t = seq(50, 70, 1)) wood$stiffness = with(wood, 3.439 + 0.009bd - 0.052t) levelplot(stiffness ~ bd*t, data = wood, xlab='Basic density', ylab='T') This code creates a graph like this. Simple.
Paraguayan statesman. Son of Carlos Antonio López, he became President (1862–70) on his father's death. He initiated grandiose building schemes and then led his country into a disastrous war with Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay. This war (1865–70) was one of the fiercest and bloodiest ever fought in the New World. It halved the population of Paraguay and left the country in a state of economic collapse; López himself was defeated and killed. Considered a cruel and dictatorial caudillo in his lifetime, he afterwards came to be regarded as the champion of the rights of small countries against more powerful neighbours. Subjects: World History.
24 multiplication and division story problems that can be easily solved by drawing a picture, dividing into equal groups, or using repeated addition. The numbers used practice facts through 12. It is set up to be versatile so you can use it how you see best. Each page has a space for a name so it can be used as worksheets students can do independently for practice, or as a fast finisher activity. The cards can be cut out and used as a center, task cards, or as a read the room activity (there are recording sheets included).
On first view, a hypercube in the plane can be a confusing pattern of lines. Images of cubes from still higher dimensions become almost kaleidoscopic. One way to appreciate the structure of such objects is to analyze lower-dimensional building blocks. We know that a square has 4 vertices, 4 edges, and 1 square face. We can build a model of a cube and count its 8 vertices, 12 edges, and 6 squares. We know that a four-dimensional hypercube has 16 vertices, but how many edges and squares and cubes does it contain? Shadow projections will help answer these questions, by showing patterns that lead us to formulas for the number of edges and squares in a cube of any dimension whatsoever. It is helpful to think of cubes as generated by lower-dimensional cubes in motion. A point in motion generates a segment; a segment in motion generates a square; a square in motion generates a cube; and so on. From this progression, a pattern develops, which we can exploit to predict the numbers of vertices and edges. Each time we move a cube to generate a cube in the next higher dimension, the number of vertices doubles. That is easy to see since we have an initial position and a final position, each with the same number of vertices. Using this information we can infer an explicit formula for the number of vertices of a cube in any dimension, namely 2 raised to that power. What about the number of edges? A square has 4 edges, and as it moves from one position to the other, each of its 4 vertices traces out an edge. Thus we have 4 edges on the initial square, 4 on the final square, and 4 traced out by the moving vertices for a total of 12. That basic pattern repeats itself. If we move a figure in a straight line, then the number of edges in the new figure is twice the original number of edges plus the number of moving vertices. Thus the number of edges in a four-cube is 2 times 12 plus 8 for a total of 32. Similarly we find 32 + 32 + 16 = 80 edges on a five-cube and 80 + 80 + 32 = 192 edges on a six-cube. By working our way up the ladder, we find the number of edges for a cube of any dimension. If we very much wanted to know the number of edges of an n-dimensional cube, we could carry out the procedure for 10 steps, but it would be rather tedious, and even more tedious if we wanted the number of edges of a cube of dimension 101. Fortunately we do not have to trudge through all of these steps because we can find an explicit formula for the number of edges of a cube of any given dimension. One way to arrive at the formula is to look at the sequence of numbers we have generated arranged in a table. If we factor the numbers in the last row, we notice that the fifth number, 80, is divisible by 5, and the third number, 12, is divisible by 3. In fact, we find that the number of edges in a given dimension is divisible by that dimension. This presentation definitely suggests a pattern, namely that the number of edges of a hypercube of a given dimension is the dimension multiplied by half the number of vertices in that dimension. Once we notice a pattern like this, it can be proved to hold in all dimensions by mathematical induction. There is another way to determine the number of edges of a cube in any dimension. By means of a general counting argument, we can find the number of edges without having to recognize a pattern. Consider first a three-dimensional cube. At each vertex there are 3 edges, and since the cube has 8 vertices, we can multiply these numbers to give 24 edges in all. But this procedure counts each edge twice, once for each of its vertices. Therefore the correct number of edges is 12, or three times half the number of vertices. The same procedure works for the four-dimensional cube. Four edges emanate from each of the 16 vertices, for a total of 64, which is twice the number of edges in the four-cube. In general, if we want to count the total number of edges of a cube of a certain dimension, we observe that the number of edges from each vertex is equal to the dimension of the cube n, and the total number of vertices is 2 raised to that dimension, or 2n. Multiplying these numbers together gives n × 2n, but this counts every edge twice, once for each of its endpoints. It follows that the correct number of edges of a cube of dimension n is half of this number, or n × 2n-1. Thus the number of vertices of a seven-cube is 27 = 128, while the number of edges in a seven-cube is 7 × 26 = 7 × 64 = 448. \|Table of Contents\| \|Three-Dimensional Shadows of the Hypercube\|
Fundamentals of Human Nutrition/FunctionsProteins 5.4 Functions: Proteins[edit \| edit source] Protein is an important aspect of both the function and maintenance of the human body. Without protein, the muscles, bones and even skin would not be able to function correctly. One unique aspect of protein is that the body has no way to store it for future use, as it can store carbohydrates and fats. Many people use this as an excuse to overconsume protein through everything from protein shakes to specialized protein bars. Unfortunately, too much protein can actually do more harm to the body than good. This excess protein cab be converted to fat and then stored in the body. Just like any other macronutrient, protein in excess is not good. http://www.livestrong.com/article/32424-excess-protein-diet/. 5.4.1 Cell and tissue synthesis[edit \| edit source] It is understood that proteins are very versatile. They have the ability to grow, repair, and replace tissue. Proteins are known as the building blocks of the body, and are the main structural component of all the body's cells. For example, in the process of building bone, the protein generates a matrix in collagen. - Matrix: the basic substance that gives for to a developing structure. - Collagen: the structural protein that form the foundations of bone and teeth. Then, the proteins add minerals, such as calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, and fluoride, that give the bone it's strength. The protein collagen plays a very important role superficially and deep to the skin. When you get a scar after a cut or scratch, that is the college fibers that knit the separate parts of torn tissue together. Also, collagen is vital to the circulatory system. It provides the materials of ligaments and tendons and the strength between artery walls that allows them to be flexible enough while blood pumps through them; this is because of collagen's elasticity. There is another fibrous protein, called keratin, that is found all throughout the body, but mostly in the epidermis. A specific type of keratin filament is abundant in the skin, in epithelial tissue, which makes the skin tough and creates a natural water barrier. As the epithelial cells in the epidermis die, cells from the next layer (there are 5 layers within the epidermis) take their place. The protein that make up the keratinocytes help replace damaged or dead cells that are found in the skin. Rolfes, S., & Whitney, E. (2013). Understanding Nutrition (pp. 179). Stamford, CT: Cengage Learning. Alberts B, Johnson A, Lewis J, et al. (2002). Epidermis and Its Renewal by Stem Cells. Molecular Biology of the Cell. 4th edition. New York: Garland Science. Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK26865/ 5.4.2 Enzymes[edit \| edit source] Enzym [greek: enzym; en = in; zume = sourdough, yeast; enzym = in sourdough). The old name for enzyme is 'ferment'. Except for a small group of RNA molecules, enzymes are proteins that operate as a biological catalyst, i.e. an accelerator of (bio)chemical processes that occur in living organisms. ( RNA: ribonucleic acid ) History About 10000 BC: Fermentation; the proces that resulted in the discovery of enzymes. 2000 BC: Egyptians and Sumarians developed fermentation for the use in brewing, bread baking and the manufacturing of cheese. 800 BC: the stomachs of kalves and the enzyme chymosine were used for the manufacturing of cheese. Middle ages: alchemists identify alcohol as a product of fermentation. Alcoholic fermentation is undeniably the oldest known enzyme reaction. These and other phenomena where until 1857 thought to be spontaneous reactions. In 1857 concluded the French chemist Louis Pasteur that alcoholice fermentation is catalysed by 'ferments' and will only take place in the presence of living cells. Subsequently discovered the german chemist Eduard Buchner in 1897 that a cellfree extract of yeast can cause alcoholic fermentation. The old puzzle was solved; the yeast cells produce the enzym that controls the fermentation. In 1877, German physiologist Wilhelm Kühne (1837–1900) first used the term enzyme. Enzymes are biological catalysts that speed up chemical reactions and allow them to occur more efficiently than if the reactants, also called substrates, had come together by chance. Though the enzyme participates in the chemical reaction, it always comes away unchanged and does not affect the chemical equilibrium. Most enzymes in biological systems are proteins, though some RNA molecules do also participate in catalysis. The amino acid side chains are what give each protein enzyme its specific catalytic properties. The different types of amino acid side chains are as follows: - Hydrophobic amino acids include: Gly, Ala, Val, Met, Leu, Pro, Ile, Phe, Tyr, and Trp. - Polar, uncharged amino acids include: Ser, Thr, Cys, Asn, and Gln. - Positively-charged, polar amino acids include: Lys, Arg, and His. - Negatively-charged, polar amino acids include: Asp and Glu. The properties of these groups can speed up reactions by positioning the substrate in the optimal conformation for a reaction to occur, such as when a hydrophobic substrate situates itself into a hydrophobic “pocket” of amino acids in the enzyme active site. Some of the side chains of the polar amino acids can also participate in nucleophilic reactions and form hydrogen bonds with the substrates, which aids in catalysis. In addition to the side chains, the amino (NH2) and carboxyl (COOH) termini of the proteins can assist in these reactions. Only globular proteins, which are soluble in water, can act as enzymes in biological systems. In these proteins, the hydrophobic amino acids are clustered on the inside of the folded protein, while the hydrophilic, polar amino acids are on the outside. This property gives them their solubility. There are six main classes of enzymes. These classes are based on how the enzyme functions in catalysis. The first class, oxidoreductases, catalyzes the movement of hydrogen atoms, oxygen atoms, and electrons between substrates. The second class, transferases, transfers chemical groups, such as a methyl group, between substrates. The third group, hyrdolases, catalyzes the splitting of a substrate using water. The fourth type, lyases, catalyzes the removal of groups from substrates without using water. These enzymes often leave behind double bonds. The fifth class, isomerases, catalyzes the rearrangement of atoms within the substrate. For example, a major enzyme in the glycolytic pathway, triose phosphate isomerase, catalyzes the conversion of the intermediate dihydroxyacetone phosphate to glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate. The last class of enzymes, ligases, catalyzes the synthesis of new chemical bonds. These enzymes use the energy of nucleotide triphosphates, such as ATP, to drive the reaction forward. Enzymes of all types are involved in the metabolism of the major macromolecules during and after digestion. Protein enzymes are involved in the regulation of the major metabolic pathways, as well. These enzymes often act through phosphorylation by protein kinases and dephosphorylation by protein phosphatases. The whole system of activation or deactivation is called an enzyme cascade. An example of an enzyme cascade is the system that activates and deactivates the breakdown of carbohydrates. These cascades are started when a hormonal messenger, such as glucagon or insulin, bind to a receptor protein on the outside of the cell. In the case of glucagon, a chain of reactions is initiated that eventually end in the activation of protein kinase A. Protein kinase A phosphorylates the hydroxyl groups of amino acids in enzymes that will eventually lead to an increase in gluconeogenesis and glycogenolysis and decrease in glycogenesis and glycolysis. The binding of insulin has the opposite effect. It stimulates the autophosphorylation of tyrosine residues on its receptor tyrosine kinase, which activates a protein phosphatase that will dephosphorylate other enzymes. The end result is an increase of glycolysis and glycogen breakdown and decrease in gluconeogenesis and glycogenolysis. The metabolism of other macromolecules is mediated in a similar way. In this way, enzymes are involved in nearly every step of metabolism. In this way, the unique properties of the amino acids in proteins affect how an enzyme functions in catalysis. Without enzymes, chemical reactions in biological systems would occur too slowly for life to exist. Therefore, enzymes have a very important role in life. References Nelson, D. L., & Cox, M. M. (2013). Lehninger principles of biochemistry (6th ed.). New York, NY: W.H. Freeman and Company. Palmer, T., & Bonner, P. L. (2007). Enzymes: biochemistry, biotechnology, clinical chemistry (2nd ed.). Cambridge, UK: Woodhead Publishing Limited. Whitney, E., & Rolfes, S. R. (2013). Understanding nutrition (14th ed.). Stamford, CT: Cengage Learning. 5.4.3 Hormones[edit \| edit source] Hormone literally means to urge on. Hormones are your body's chemical messengers. They travel in your bloodstream to tissues or organs. Only a small amount of hormone is required to alter cell metabolism. It is essentially a chemical messenger that transports a signal from one cell to another. The hormone binds to the receptor protein, resulting in the activation of a signal transduction mechanism that ultimately leads to cell type-specific responses. Hormones can be divided up on the basis of their chemical structure into 5 groups: - Those derived directly from the amino acid tyrosine, including: thyroxine, triiodothyronine, adrenaline and noradrenaline - Those made up of short chains of amino acids, including: adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH), corticotrophin releasing hormone (CRH), thyrotrophin-releasing hormone (TRH), gonadotrophin-releasing hormone (GnRH), growth hormone releasing hormone (GHRH), vasopressin, oxytocin, somatostatin, gastrin, glucagon and calcitonin. - Those made up of long chains of amino acids, including: insulin, growth hormone (GH), prolactin, parathyroid hormone (PTH), cholecystokinin (CCK)and secretin - Those made up of proteins linked with glucose molecules forming glycoproteins, including: thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), follicle stimulating hormone (FSH, luteinising hormone (LH) - Those derived from cholesterol thus forming lipid soluble steroid hormones, including: oestrogens, progesterones, testosterone, androstenedione, aldosterone and cortisol. So, the hormones have many function: - Alter plasma membrane permeability by opening or closing gated ion channels - Stimulate the synthesis of proteins, more specifically enzymes - Activate or deactivate enzymes that are already made - Induce secretory activity - Stimulate cell division 5.4.4 Fluid balance[edit \| edit source] Fluid balance is maintaining the correct amount of fluid in the body. It is the continuance of the fluid input and output of the body. Fluid balance can alter with disease and illness. Body fluids are regulated by fluid intake, hormonal controls, and fluid output. 5 KEY POINTS - Fluid balance is the balance of the input and output of fluids in the body to allow metabolic processes to function - To assess fluid balance, nurses need to know about fluid compartments in the body and how fluid moves between these compartments - Dehydration is defined as a 1% or greater loss of body mass as a result of fluid loss. Symptoms include impaired cognitive function, headaches, fatigue and dry skin. Severe dehydration can lead to hypovolaemic shock, organ failure and death - The three elements to assessing fluid balance and hydration status are: clinical assessment, body weight and urine output; review of fluid balance charts; and review of blood chemistry - Fluid balance recording is often inadequate or inaccurate often because of staff shortages, lack of training or lack of time 5.4.5 Acid-base regulation[edit \| edit source] Proteins also act as acid-base regulators. Since proteins have negative charges on their surface they attract the positive charge of hydrogen ions. By accepting and releasing hydrogen ions, proteins act as buffers, maintaining the acid-base balance of the blood and body fluids (A.C.).A normal range for arterial pH is 7.35 to 7.45. Acidosis is a pH less than 7.35; alkalosis is a pH greater than 7.45. Because pH is measured in terms of hydrogen (H+) ion concentration, an increase in H+ ion concentration decreases pH and vice versa. Changes in H+ ion concentration can be stabilized through several buffering systems: bicarbonate-carbonic acid, proteins, hemoglobin, and phosphates. Acidosis, therefore, can be described as a physiologic condition caused by the body's inability to buffer excess H+ ions. Acid-base equilibrium is closely tied to fluid and electrolyte balance, and disturbances in one of these systems often affect another. Fluid metabolism is discussed in Fluid Metabolism, and electrolytes are discussed in Electrolyte Disorders. Thus, the body has three compensatory mechanisms to handle changes in serum pH: Physiologic buffers, consisting of a weak acid (which can easily be broken down) and its base salt or of a weak base and its acid salt. Pulmonary compensation, in which changes in ventilation work to change the partial pressure of arterial carbon dioxide (PaCO2) and drive the pH toward the normal range. Renal compensation, which kicks in when the other mechanisms have been ineffective, generally after about 6 hours of sustained acidosis or alkalosis. Alkalosis results from a deficiency in H+ ion concentration. Acidemia and alkalemia refer to the process of acidosis or alkalosis, respectively, occurring in arterial blood. 5.4.6 Transporters[edit \| edit source] Transport proteins arehttp://www.minahealth.com/what_are_transport_proteins.htm: - proteins within the membranes of cells that transport substances such as molecules and ions across the membrane or within the cell, or can be involved in vesicular transpor - in blood plasma bind and carry specific molecules or ions from one organ to another. - Hemoglobin of erythrocytes binds oxygen as the blood passes through the lungs. - Other kinds of transport proteins are present in the plasma membranes and intracellular membranes of all organisms; these are adapted to bind glucose, amino acids, or other substances and transport them across the membrane. Here are some functions of transporters: - hemoglobin: carries oxygen from the lungs to the cells - Lipoproteins: transport lipids around the body. In living beings transport phenomena are essential, either to carry a hydrophobic molecule through an aqueous medium (transport of oxygen or lipid through the blood) or to transport molecules across barriers polar hydrophobic (transport across plasma membrane). Carriers and channels are always biological proteins. Membrane proteins, such as channels and pumps, are important for the transport of some compounds across the cell membrane. Adsorbed nutrients must cross four barriers to reach the bloodstream: - The mucus layer, a diffusion barrier which is rather thin in the small intestine. - The enterocyte apical membrane- a lipid bilayer, which requires transport proteins for water- soluble molecules - The enterocyte- a metabolic barrier which may metabolise the nutrient. - The basolateral membrane- a lipid bilayer which again requires transport proteins for water- soluble molecules. In addition to transport proteins, absorption is enhanced by metabolic compartmentation or zonation within the enterocyte, which prevents excessive metabolism (e.g. only 10% of absorbed glucose). The classification of transmembrane molecular transporters has been developed and recently approved by the transport panel of the nomenclature committee of the Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. This system is hared on (i) transporter class and subclass (mode of transport and energy coupling mechanism), (ii) protein phylogenetic family and subfamily and (iii) substrate specificity. Almost all of the more than, 250 identified families of transporters include members that function exclusively in transport. Channels (115 families), secondary active transporters (uniporters, symporters and antiporters) (78 families), primary active transporters (23 families), group translocators (6 families), and transport proteins of ill-defined function or of unknown mechanism (51 families) constitute distinct categories. Although different transporters carry very different substrates, they share many common structural features. They have regions of hydrophobic amino acids that can fold into helices which, when grouped together like the staves of a barrel, span the membrane and form a ‘pore’ through which substrates can be transported. Parts of the protein (bearing a sugar polymer) are outside the membrane and can act as a signaling receptor to allow other compounds to control the rate of transport of the main substrate. Transport may be either passive, allowing ten transported nutrient to come to equilibrium across the membrane, or active, permitting a higher concentration to be achieved on one side of the membrane than the other. Osmosis[edit \| edit source] Proteins are not involved. Osmosis is the diffusion of water across a semi-permeable (or differentially permeable or selectively permeable) membrane. The presence of a solute decreases the water potential of a substance. Thus there is more water per unit of volume in a glass of fresh-water than there is in an equivalent volume of sea-water. In a cell, which has so many organelles and other large molecules, the water flow is generally into the cell. Water, carbon dioxide, and oxygen are among the few simple molecules that can cross the cell membrane by diffusion (or a type of diffusion known as osmosis. The effect of this water movement is to dilute the area of higher concentration. Reverse osmosis is the passage of water from a more concentrated to a less concentrated solution through a semi-permeable membrane by the application of pressure. Hypertonic solutions are those in which more solute (and hence lower water potential) is present. Hypotonic solutions are those with less solute (again read as higher water potential). Isotonic solutions have equal (iso-) concentrations of substances. One of the major functions of blood in animals is the maintain an isotonic internal environment. This eliminates the problems associated with water loss or excess water gain in or out of cells. Again we return to homeostasis. Passive diffusion[edit \| edit source] Diffusion is one principle method of movement of substances within cells, as well as the method for essential small molecules to cross the cell membrane. Passive diffusion or transport driven by a difference in concentration of the element between the two sides of the membrane and the mucosa. Passive transport does not require energy and moves with a concentration gradient. Transmembrane movement of ions occurs through pores or channels within the membrane and is an energy-independent process. Proteins are not involved in all types of passive transport of nutrients. A significant amount of passive transport across the intestinal mucosa may occur through a paracellular pathway, or the transport between cells aross intercellular right junctions. Some examples of how is the movement of nutrients from an area of higher concentration (with the concentration gradient) to an area of lower concentration without the help of a protein (passive transport) are: ethanol absortion into the enterocyte; 75% of Vitamin B6 from foods; Thiamin uptake and absorption is believed to be an efficient process that is passive when thiamin intake is high and active when thiamin intakes are low. Facilited diffusion[edit \| edit source] Facilitated diffusion is the transfer of an element across the membrane by carrier proteins embedded in the membrane. Facilitated transport resembles simple diffusion because it is not energy dependent and is driven by a difference in the ion concentration between two sides of a membrane. Facilitated transport occurs much more rapidly than simple diffusion and is saturable because of a finite number of carrier proteins. These comprise facilitated transporters and ion channels, which permit the transfers of a solute across the membrane in either direction. Transport therefore takes place down a concentration gradient (so-called ‘downhill transport’). Net accumulation of the transported material in the cell can occur as a result of either onward metabolism to a compound that does not cross the membrane (e.g. vitamin B6 is accumulated intracellulary by phosphorylation to pyridoxal phosphate) or by binding to cytosolic proteins (e.g. ferritin, which binds iron). The definition of a ’’’channel’’’ (or a pore) is that of a protein structure that facilitates the translocation of molecules or ions across the membrane through the creation of a central aqueous channel in the protein. This central channel facilitates diffusion in both directions dependent upon the direction of the concentration gradient. Channel proteins do not bind or sequester the molecule or ion that is moving through the channel. Specificity of channels for ions or molecules is a function of the size and charge of the substance. The flow of molecules through a channel can be regulated by various mechanisms that result in opening or closing of the passageway. So, a transport protein may be linked to another regulatory protein that can chaperone the transporter into the membrane and thus modulate transport capacity. Membrane channels are of three distinct types'. The α-type channels are homo- or hetero-oligomeric structures that in the latter case consist of several dissimilar proteins. This class of channel protein has between 2 and 22 transmembrane α-helical domains which explain the derivation of their class. Molecules move through α-type channels down their concentration gradients and thus require no input of metabolic energy. Some channels of this class are highly specific with respect to the molecule translocated across the membrane while others are not. In addition, there may be differences from tissue to tissue in the channel used to transport the same molecule. As an example, there are over 15 different K+-specific voltage-regulated channels in humans. The transport of molecules through α-type channels occurs by several different mechanisms. These mechanisms include changes in membrane potential (termed voltage-regulated or voltage-gated), phosphorylation of the channel protein, intracellular Ca2+, G-proteins, and organic modulators. Aquaporins(AQP) are a family of α-type channels responsible for the transport of water across membranes. At least 11 aquaporin proteins have been identified in mammals with 10 known in humans (termed AQP0 through AQP9). A related family of proteins is called the aquaglyceroporins which are involved in water transport as well as the transport of other small molecules. AQP9 is the human aquaglyceroporin. The aquaporins assemble in the membrane as homotetramers with each monomer consisting of six transmembrane α-helical domains forming the distinct water pore. Probably the most significant location of aquaporin expression is in the kidney. The proximal tubule expresses AQP1, AQP7, and AQP8, while the collecting ducts express AQP2, AQP3, AQP4, AQP6, and AQP8. Loss of function of the renal aquaporins is associated with several disease states. Reduced expression of AQP2 is associated with nephrogenic diabetes insipidus (NDI), acquired hypokalemia, and hypercalcemia. The β-barrel channels (also called porins) are so named because they have a transmembrane domain that consists of β-strands forming a β-barrel structure. Porins are found in the outer membranes of mitochondria. The mitochondrial porins are voltage-gated anion channels that are involved in mitochondrial homeostasis and apoptosis. The pore-forming toxins represent the third class of membrane channels. Although this is a large class of proteins first identified in bacteria, there are a few proteins of this class expressed in mammalian cells. The defensins are a family of small cysteine-rich antibiotic proteins that are pore-forming channels found in epithelial and hematopoietic cells. The defensins are involved in host defense against microbes (hence the derivation of their name) and may be involved in endocrine regulation during infection. Examples of Passive Transport in Human Nutrition[edit \| edit source] Fructose and sugar alcohols are carried by passive transporters, while glucose and galactose are taken up by the same active (sodium-linked) transporter. This means that only a proportion of fructose and sugar alcohols can be absorbed, and after a large dose much may remain in the lumen, leading to osmotic diarrhea. - Water and electrolytes It is not known how water is transported, several hypotheses have been proposed. Water absorption is a passive process by which water passes across paracellular and transcellular pathways in response to osmotic gradients created by transcellular absorption of sodium and other solutes. Simple osmosis may account for some water uptake, but the osmolality difference is only 3-30 mosmol/kg, and this would mean that enterocytes replaced their entire fluid volume evety few seconds. While some water is co-transporter itself, enterocytes do not have enough transporters to account for all the water absorbed. Specific water transporters (aquaporins) occur in the cells of secretoty epithelia, and studies in gene knockout nice suggest they may be quantitatively the most important factor in water absorption. The colon acts as an organ of water and electrolyte salvage, but its capacity is limited. Rapid infusion of 500 ml or more of water into the colon will provoke diarrhea through reflex defecation and this is the basis of rectally administered enemas. Sugar alcohols, used as sweeteners, such as xylitol, lactitol and sorbitol, are poorly absorbed and will enter the colon with sufficient water to maintain luminal isotonicity before fermentation and the absorption of SCFAs (short-chain fatty acids), water and Na+. If the colonic fermentation capacity is exceeded then osmotic diarrhea ensues because the excess water cannot be absorbed. Most minerals are absorbed by carrier-mediated diffusion (not passive). The water-soluble vitamins are absorbed by specific transport proteins. An example of passive transport of water-soluble vitamins are the phosphorylated derivatives of vitamins B1,B2, and B6 are dephosphorylated in the intestinal lumen, which are absorbed by facilitated transporters, then trapped inside the cells by rephosphorylation. Vitamin B12 is absorbed bound to intrinsic factor, a glycoprotein that is secreted by the parietal cells of the gastric mucosa. Active Transport[edit \| edit source] The difference between passive and active transport whether energy is required and whether they move with or against a concentration gradient. Passive transport does not require energy and moves with a concentration gradient. Active transport requires energy to move against the concentration gradient. The energy for active uptake/transport is provided by adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which is the energy currency in the body. ATP stores energy in its high-energy phosphate bonds. Active transport and the role of carrier proteins is a lot like an enzyme substrate reaction. Each type of carrier protein has at least one binding site for its specific substrate or solute. The carrier protein brings the solute across the lipid bilayer of a membrane expose the solute-binding site first on one side of the membrane and then on the other. Competitive inhibitors or non competitive inhibitors can both interrupt and block the binding of a solute, just like what happens with enzymes. Competitive inhibitors compete for the same binding site while noncompetitive inhibitors bind elsewhere indirectly alter the shape of the carrier protein, hindering its ability to have it's specific substrate bind to it. The process of active transport is done in three ways: 1. Coupled carriers couple the uphill transport of one solute across the membrane to the downhill transport of another. Energy is provided by ATP hydrolysis 2.ATP-driven pumps couple uphill transport to the hydrolysis of ATP. By a downhill flow of another solute (such as Na+ or H+) that has released energy 3. Light-driven pumps, which are found mainly in bacterial cells, couple uphill transport to an input of energy from light. Alberts B, Johnson A, Lewis J, et al. (2002). Carrier Proteins and Active Membrane Transport. Molecular Biology of the Cell. 4th edition. New York: Garland Science. Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK26896/ - Rolfes, S., & Whitney, E. (2013). Understanding Nutrition (pp. 179). Stamford, CT: Cengage Learning. - Pacha 2000/ - Geissler and Powers 2005/ - Saier, MH. 2000/ - Purves 1992/ - Lindsay and Prentice 2012/ - Gropper et al., 2008/ - Michael, W King 2013/ - 'Full References: Pacha, J. 2000. Development of intestinal transport function in mammals. Physiological Review. 80(4) 1633-1677. Saier, MH. 2000. A functional-phylogenetic classification system for transmembrane solute transporters. Microbiology and Molecular Biology Reviews. 64(2):354-411. DOI:10.1128/MMBR.64.2.354-411.2000. Geissler, C. and Powers, H. 2005. Human Nutrition. 9th Ediotion, Elsevier Limited. Purves et al., 1992. Life: The Science of Biology, 4th Edition by Sinauer Associates and WH Freeman. Lindsay H. Allen and Andrew Prentice. 2012. Encyclopedia of Human Nutrition, 3th Edition. Gropper SS, Smith JL, Groff JL. (2008). Advanced nutrition and human metabolism. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing. Michael, W King. 2013. http://themedicalbiochemistrypage.org/membranes.php firstname.lastname@example.org Alberts B, Johnson A, Lewis J, et al. (2002). Epidermis and Its Renewal by Stem Cells. Molecular Biology of the Cell. 4th edition. New York: Garland Science. Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK26865/ Rolfes, S., & Whitney, E. (2013). Understanding Nutrition (pp. 179). Stamford, CT: Cengage Learning. Alberts B, Johnson A, Lewis J, et al. (2002). Carrier Proteins and Active Membrane Transport. Molecular Biology of the Cell. 4th edition. New York: Garland Science. Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK26896/ - International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology - Michael W King, PhD© 1996–2013 [themedicalbiochemistrypage.org],email@example.com - Sinauer Associates [www.sinauer.com] - WH Freeman [www.whfreeman.com] 5.4.7 Antibodies[edit \| edit source] Proteins are involved in defense, specifically against foreign invaders. Antibodies are the specialized proteins that do this job, they defend the body against antigens and are used by the immune system to protect the body against bacteria, viruses, and other foreign substances (A.C.). Antibodies are large Y-shaped proteins. They are recruited by the immune system to identify and neutralize foreign objects like bacteria and viruses. How do Antibodies Work? Antibodies circulate in the blood stream and can appear anywhere throughout the body. If circulating antibodies come in contact with the target or antigen they were generated to fight, then the antibodies bind to the target. Depending on the antigen, the binding may impede the biological process causing the disease or may recruit macrophages to destroy the foreign substance. Types of Antibody: Type: 1. IGG: two identical heavy chainsand two identical light chains arranged in a Y-shape typical of antibody monomers. (also called "gamma globulin") is the most abundant antibody in the human immune system. It is found in blood and tissue liquids. IgG is the only antibody capable of crossing the placenta to provide immune protection to a developing fetus. IgG antibodies appear about one month after an infection, so their presence indicates a mature antibody response to a foreign pathogen. 2. IGM: hich is found mainly in the blood and lymph fluid, is the first to be made by the body to fight a new infection. 3. IGA: Immunoglobulin A (IgA), as the major class of antibody present in the mucosal secretions of most mammals, represents a key first line of defence against invasion by inhaled and ingested pathogens at the vulnerable mucosal surfaces. Exist 2 specie IgA1 and IgA2: - IgA1 is the predominant IgA subclass found in serum. Most lymphoid tissues have a predominance of IgA-producing cells. - In IgA2, the heavy and light chains are not linked with disulfide, but with noncovalent bonds. In secretory lymphoid tissues (e.g., gut-associated lymphoid tissue, or GALT), the share of IgA2 production is larger than in the non-secretory lymphoid organs (e.g. spleen, peripheral lymph nodes). 4.IGE: IgE primes the IgE-mediated allergic response by binding to Fc receptors found on the surface of mast cells and basophils. Fc receptors are also found on eosinophils, monocytes, macrophages and platelets in humans. 5.IGD: one of the five classes of antibodies produced by the body. It is found in small amounts in serum tissue. Although its precise function is not known, IgD increases in quantity during allergic reactions to milk, insulin, penicillin, and various toxins. The normal concentration of IgD in serum is 0.5 to 3 mg/dL 5.4.8 Energy and Glucose[edit \| edit source] The energy in glucose is stored in the covalent bonds between the molecules, and most importantly, in the hydrogen electrons. The hydrogen electrons were boosted to a "higher energy level" in the process of photosynthesis (which is transfered by plants from sunlight) during the photosystem I in plants. These hyrogen electrons will than pass through the electron transport chain during aerobic cellular respiration, and the hydrogen ions become stable.] 1.8 5.4.8 Protein Function- Energy and Glucose In the instance of severe carbohydrate insufficiency, protein can be diverted from its usual function to provide the brain and nervous system with energy in the form of glucose. (Berg, Tymoczko, & Stryer, 2002). However, protein yields significantly less energy than carbohydrates and lipids (4 kcal/gram to 9 kcal/gram), and using protein as fuel sacrifices its other unique functions. Restricting carbohydrates and therefore relying on protein as a primary energy source can be a risky dietary choice if not regulated by a physician. Proteins are incorporated into energy pathways as their building block molecules- amino acids. Prior to metabolism, the amino group (NH2) must be removed from the backbone carbon skeleton of the amino acid through a process called deamination. The nitrogen containing amino group is synthesized with carbon dioxide in the liver to form urea, which is sent to the kidneys before excretion through the liver (Schutz, 2011). The carbon skeleton is retained for entry into the energy pathways. Glucogenic amino acids are converted to pyruvate, which can either form Acetyl CoA and enter the TCA cycle, or form glucose. Ketogenic amino acids are converted directly to Acetyl CoA and therefore cannot form glucose. Both glucogenic and ketogenic amino acids can provide the body with energy or form body fat through the TCA cycle, but only glucogenic amino acids can provide the body with additional glucose. Figure: Gluconeogenesis from a glucogenic amino acid References Benson, D. (n.d.). Gluconeogenesis. Retrieved November 29, 2015, from UC Davis Chemistry: http://chemwiki.ucdavis.edu/Biological_Chemistry/Metabolism/Gluconeogenisis Berg, J. M., Tymoczko, J. L., & Stryer, L. (2002). Section 16.3: Glucose can be Synthesized From Non Carbohydrate Precursors. In J. M. Berg, J. L. Tymoczko, & L. Stryer, Biochemistry (5 ed.). New York: W H Freeman. Retrieved November 28, 2015, from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK22591/ Schutz, Y. (2011, March). Protein turnover, unreagenesis, and gluconeogenesis. International Journal for Vitamin and Nutrition Research, 81(23), 101-107. doi:10.1024/0300-9831/a000064 5.4.9 Protein Regulation[edit \| edit source] Proteins are responsible for an astounding number of functions in the cell from DNA replication to helping produce proteins themselves. Without proteins, we would be unable to survive. With proteins being such an important aspect of our biology, nature is sure to have made several checks and balances so that they are able to function correctly and prevent them from damaging our cells. This section will provide a basic overview one of the protein regulation mechanisms; protein inhibition. Many of the pharmaceutical medications that we use to treat various illnesses or symptoms involve using protein inhibition. Inhibition works to slow down, stop, or speed up the activity of a certain enzyme and thus the desired effect can be made. For example, Penicillin acts by inhibiting and blocking the enzyme some bacteria use to make their cell walls and without a cell wall the bacteria cannot survive (Berg et. al, 2002). There are a few different types of inhibition including competitive, noncompetitive/allosteric, and feedback inhibition. Competitive Inhibition: Each enzyme has its own active site where it binds to a given reactant, or substrate. These substrates can vary from other proteins to water molecules and much more depending on what the enzyme’s specific role in the cell is. An active site will only bind substrates that perfectly fit into its shape. Competitive inhibition surrounds the binding of the active site of a given enzyme. A competitive inhibitor will compete with a given reactant for the chance to bind to an enzyme’s active site. Think of an enzyme with a circular shaped active site, which binds to its given circular shaped reactant normally in a given cell. If a competitive inhibitor is added to this cell that is also circular shaped, the reactant and the inhibitor will fight their spot in the enzyme’s active site and thus decrease the rate of the reaction of a given enzyme. How well a competitive inhibitor works is dependent on its binding affinity (Stretlow et. al, 2012), a concept that will not be explored in this section. Several enzymes have an alternate site other than their active site, called an allosteric site. Some small molecules act as inhibitors by being able to bind to these allosteric sites which can therefore change the active site of the enzyme. Through this mechanism, allosteric inhibitors do not directly compete with the active site and can change the shape of active site, preventing the normal substrate from binding to the active side. Feedback Inhibition: Feedback inhibition is a specific type of allosteric inhibition where the product of a series of enzymatic reactions allosterically inhibits the first enzyme in the series to effect the sequence of reactions. This type of inhibition can be divided into positive or negative feedback, where the reaction product will either increase or decrease the amount of product produced. An example of this is the feedback inhibition of Angiotensin on Renin (Antonipillai et. al, 1998) which is a topic we covered in class and involves positive feedback. 1. Berg JM, Tymoczko JL, Stryer L. Biochemistry. 5th edition. New York: W H Freeman; 2002. Section 8.5, Enzymes Can Be Inhibited by Specific Molecules. Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK22530/ 2. Strelow J, Dewe W, Iversen PW, et al. Mechanism of Action Assays for Enzymes. 2012 May 1 [Updated 2012 Oct 1]. In: Sittampalam GS, Coussens NP, Nelson H, et al., editors. Assay Guidance Manual [Internet]. Bethesda (MD): Eli Lilly & Company and the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences; 2004-. Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK92001/ 3. Antonipillai, I., Nadler, J., & Horton, R. (n.d.). Angiotensin Feedback Inhibition on Renin Is Expressed Via the Lipoxygenase Pathway*. Endocrinology, 1277-1281. 5.4.10 Other Functions[edit \| edit source] Proteins also take part in some background roles like blood clotting and vision. When injured a sequence of events occurs that leads to the production of fibrin, a stringy, insoluble mass of protein fibers that forms a solid clot from liquid blood. After clotting occurs, protein collagen forms to create a scar that replaces the clot and heals the wound. Source: Protein Function. (2015). Retrieved October 20, 2015, from http://biology.about.com/od/molecularbiology/a/aa101904a.htm Updated by A.C.
A microscope is a scientific instrument. It makes small objects look larger. This lets people see the small things. People who use microscopes frequently in their jobs include doctors and scientists. Students in science classes such as biology also use microscopes to study small things. The earliest microscopes had only one lens and are called simple microscopes. Compound microscopes have at least two lenses. In a compound microscope, the lens closer to the eye is called the eyepiece. The lens at the other end is called the objective. The lenses multiply up, so a 10x eyepiece and a 40x objective together give 400x magnification. Microscopes make things seem larger than they are, to about 1000 times larger. This is much stronger than a magnifying glass which works as a simple microscope. Types of microscopesEdit There are many types of microscopes. The most common kind of microscope is the compound light microscope. In a compound light microscope, the object is illuminated: light is thrown on it. The user looks at the image formed by the object. Light passes through two lenses and makes the image bigger. The second most common kind are a few kinds of electron microscopes. Transmission electron microscopes (TEMs) fire cathode rays into the object being looked at. This carries information about how the object looks into a magnetic "lens". The image is then magnified onto a television screen. Scanning electron microscopes also fire electrons at the object, but in a single beam. These lose their power when they strike the object, and the loss of power results in something else being generated—usually an X-ray. This is sensed and magnified onto a screen. Scanning tunneling microscopes were invented in 1984. A fluorescence microscope is a special kind of light microscope. In 2014, the Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to Eric Betzig, William Moerner, and Stefan Hell for "the development of super-resolved fluorescence microscopy". The citation says it brings "optical microscopy into the nanodimension". - Characterization and analysis of polymers. Hoboken, N.J.: Wiley-Interscience. 2008. ISBN 978-0-470-23300-9. - Ritter, Karl; Rising, Malin (8 October 2014). "2 Americans, 1 German win chemistry Nobel". Associated Press. Retrieved 8 October 2014. - Chang, Kenneth (8 October 2014). "2 Americans and a German Are Awarded Nobel Prize in Chemistry". New York Times. Retrieved 8 October 2014.
Dark Matter is appropriately named, theorized to account for most of the Universe’s missing mass. It is invisible and cannot be directly detected by the instruments and techniques of our time. When physicists tried to survey the Universe, they found that some of the phenomena that we can observe with our instruments cannot be explained by the observable distribution of mass and energy. Therefore, to explain it, they invented a very wacky concept, the concept of Dark Matter and Dark Energy. There has been some success when it comes to explaining all the effects of such a concept. However, it remains largely unresolved. In a new observation, researchers have found that apart from the usual bending effect that Dark Matter has on incoming light from distant galaxies, there seems to be a part of this mysterious substance that is bending light more than it is supposed to. While we can detect the presence of Dark Matter by the gravitational pull it exerts on nearby stars, the bending of light can tell us if some of it lies in between some distant galaxy and our home. The researchers have found that the number of clumps of this material that are bending light in this manner is surprising. These observations were made for clumps in distant clusters of galaxies. These clumps also have galaxies embedded in them and are denser than expected. There are some deep implications that come from this finding. A potential reason for such an observation could be that the computer simulations utilized the wrong methods to predict the galaxy cluster behaviour. The other more grave implication is that our understanding of Dark Matter is wrong. The bending effect, also known as gravitational lensing, is a direct implication of Einstein’s theory of relativity. According to the computer simulations, the population of galaxies surrounded by dark matter, that are massive enough to cause such distortions should be on the lower side. Researchers were studying about eleven Galaxy clusters when they realized that their count of thirteen cases of severe lensing was more frequent than what the simulations had predicted. The observations indicate that there are more high-density dark matter clumps in real galaxy clusters than in simulated ones. While the observations and simulation results seem irreconcilable, some researchers think that the problem lies with our computer simulations, not our understanding of Dark Matter. Upcoming new telescopes such as the Euclid telescope and the Nancy Grace Roman Telescope can help clear up the matter. Large samples of observation can be taken using these and could help us understand where the fault lies.
Adirondack waterways serve as home to a wealth of invertebrates that range in size from microscopic to those that are several inches in length. Among the giants of this complex and diverse group of organisms are the crayfish, which are larger, more robust and meaty than many vertebrate forms of life in our region. Because of their size and abundance, crayfish are an important component of all fresh water environments; however these fierce-looking entities have not been as thoroughly researched and studied as have other creatures that reside in the same general surroundings. While the basics of their biology and natural history are known, much still remains to be learned regarding the individual species that populate the many bodies of water throughout the Adirondacks. Like lobsters and shrimp, crayfish are classified as crustaceans and have two primary body segments, a cephalothorax and an abdomen. Protruding from the cephalothorax are four sets of walking legs and one very conspicuous set of claws. These pinchers are used for grabbing parts of a plant that a crayfish wants to pull into its mouth, attacking a smaller animal on which it may also want to feed, fighting with a rival that is infringing on its space, and defending itself against the numerous forms of wildlife that enjoy dining on its tasty meat. Along the middle of its top shell or the back of its exoskeleton is a grooved line known as the areola. The shape of this indented space and the design and features of its claws are two basic characteristics used by naturalists to distinguish between the many different species of crayfish. Each species of crayfish prefers to inhabit a specific aquatic setting with many favoring flowing water in larger streams and rivers. Yet regardless of the body of water, all crayfish confine their activities to sections along the bottom where rocks, submerged stumps and logs, and other sunken debris exist. Places in which there is an abundance of vegetation are also inhabited by crayfish. The crayfish is primarily nocturnal but is known to forage late in the day if a layer of heavy overcast limits light intensity. When inactive, crayfish burrow under an object big enough to prevent it from being easily grabbed by a predator. Any person that wades into a stream, river, or lake can usually uncover a crayfish or two in a matter of minutes by turning over softball-size rocks on the bottom. The burrowing skill of the crayfish is well developed, as its ability to seek refuge beneath objects that are not easily moved allows this arthropod to rest during the day without being attacked. Like other crustaceans, crayfish have two sets of feelers on their head which they use to gather information about their immediate surroundings. The crayfish has two large eyes, each set on a short stalk, but rather than using sight, this animal relies primarily on its feelers to locate food and detect danger. When it comes time to forage, the crayfish has the ability to ingest and derive nourishment from a wide array of objects. Many forms of living and dead vegetation, bugs, small fish, tadpoles, young salamanders, and the partially rotted remains of larger dead creatures all serve as food to the opportunistic omnivore/scavenger. Many species of crayfish enter into a breeding period as the water begins to significantly cool toward the end of August or during the first weeks of September in the Adirondacks. Males that have sexually matured locate females and mate with them. Most females store sperm and use it to fertilize their eggs months later after the ice has completely melted in spring and the water is again warming. Eventually the female’s mass of fertilized eggs are released from her body, but are held on the underside of her abdomen until they hatch in mid spring. The babies may remain tucked into the folds of the underside of her abdomen for another few days before finally wandering off and settling into a patch of rocky gravel or dense weeds. It takes about two years before a crayfish matures and begins the cycle again. Under normal conditions, crayfish do not travel far during the course of their life. This tends to restrict one species that has developed in a particular river drainage system from spreading into nearby river systems. Since these creatures are occasionally collected by anglers to serve as bait, and periodically escape during a fishing trip, the distribution of various species has greatly expanded over the past century. It is now difficult to say what species are native to an area, and which ones have been introduced. While such information is significant to aquatic ecologists, any species encountered by a mink, great blue heron, smallmouth bass or pike tastes just as good as any other species of crayfish.
Gears today have become one of the most important types of widely used industrial parts in mechanical assemblies. Typically wheel shaped and aligned to rotate around an axis, these components usually contain teeth, or cogs, along the rim. People sometimes refer to gears as “cogwheels”. Machinists may bore holes for shafts through the bodies of gears. When meshed together, rotating gears help accomplish designated mechanical tasks, such as assisting a drill bit to turn in a forward or reverse direction, or helping a lever move up or down. Inventors have devised a wide variety of specialized gears. The helical gear, one of the most commonly used types of gears, plays a part in many mechanical assemblies in which manufacturers prefer to reduce the noise of gear operations. It may display smoother, efficient gear mesh surface contacts. Helical gears usually occur in the form of a wheel containing external teeth (“cogs”) projecting outwards along the rim at intervals. Designers shape the cogs specifically, frequently causing them to end in uniform ridges somewhat resembling the treads of tires. These “teeth” form a contact surface when two or more rotating gears mesh together. However, instead of cutting straight teeth into the rims in parallel, when manufacturers produce helical gears they angle the teeth uniformly in a right or left direction at a designated angle. Manufacturers must observe tight tolerances during the production of helical gears in order to ensure these components will perform correctly as parts of a mechanical assembly. The cogs of helical gears, just like those of straight-cut spur gears, must mesh together seamlessly in order for the gears to function correctly. Manufacturers usually orient helical gears in parallel with one another. In this well-established configuration, by far the most widely used in industrial assemblies, helical gears normally rotate around a central axis and the gears make contact with one another’s teeth across the full width of the mesh surface. As these gears mesh, they come into contact evenly and continuously without interruption. This produces smoother, quieter operations than spur gears achieve. Parallel helical gear orientation offers an efficient use of gear meshing, and it appears to represent the gold standard for safe and effective helical gear orientation. In some rare cases, a manufacturer may intentionally align helical gears to operate in a crossed configuration with one gear oriented along an angled vertical rotational axis and another oriented along an angled horizontal rotational axis. The gears, known in this context as “skew gears”, will make contact only at limited points along the meshed surface during rotation. The rotating gears must maintain the same pressure angle. Precise formulations apply to govern the correct alignment of the gears forming contact in this way, depending upon whether the teeth angle in a helix towards the same direction or towards opposite directions. Engineers need to exercise precautions to ensure skew gears won’t fall or slip out of position during the operation of the mechanical assembly, potentially disrupting mesh contact. Helical gears have gained popularity because they potentially provide smooth, quiet, continuous operation. Inventors have utilized a number of materials during the construction of these industrial components. Additionally, helical gears offer a variety of useful applications in numerous industries. As strong, versatile metals, steel and stainless steel remain the most widely used raw materials during the construction of high quality industrial helical gears. Steel permits manufacturers to develop helical gears capable of enduring extended use over the lifespan of the part. Gears made from this material typically won’t sustain dimensional distortions that might otherwise impede gear operation within heated engine environments. Since helical gears must mesh together precisely, manufacturers require the capability to create these components within fairly close tolerances. Nevertheless, manufacturers have also engineered helical gears using a variety of other materials as well. Today customers can locate helical gears produced from bronze, brass, aluminum, gray cast iron, ductile iron, and even plastic. The intended purpose of a mechanical assembly may play a role in the selection of helical gear raw materials. Helical gears have become frequently utilized components in a variety of machines used across many industrial sectors. These gears have found numerous applications in industrial manufacturing, transportation, aerospace, agriculture, medical devices, electronics, and robotics. Their capacity to operate more smoothly and quietly than some other types of gears makes them an especially attractive choice for use in automotive and maritime craft. Manufacturers may enjoy some specific advantages by selecting helical gears for use in a specific mechanical assembly. We welcome your inquiries. From a contract manufacturing firm, BuntyLLC evolved into a full service custom machined, forged and cast metal parts fabrication enterprise. We supply global solutions from our headquarters in Greenville, South Carolina.Get A Quote
Why Complex Viruses Are So Effective On Your PC A computer virus is a self replicating virus that tends to damage data on a computer. A virus behaves in much the same way as an actual virus, except that it cannot reproduce itself. Instead, it copies itself into another program or file. The original virus can be dangerous because it can destroy or damage files permanently or leave a bypass trail that allows hackers to break into your system and gain access to your personal information. Viruses behave similarly to the way a cold virus does in that they replicate themselves by borrowing genetic material from their host cell and then replicate again. A virus is like a virus that is passed on from one generation to the next by contact. Viruses can infect many types of living things, such as plants, animals, and bacteria. Viruses have a basic structure, so that they are very easy to identify, and they possess a very basic set of instructions that allow them to duplicate. This basic structure makes them extremely difficult to stop due to their copying ability. Because viruses are extremely damaging to a computer, they are typically found on infected computers when a virus has managed to spread from host to host, or when the user opens an attachment or file that is attached to an email that was sent from a malicious or infectious source. The attachment may contain a virus, or may not, but the virus can often spread from host to host. Once the infected file or attachment is downloaded, it is then potentially become infected with the viral replication process. When a file becomes infected with a virus, it infects a part of the computer’s memory called the’registry’. The registry is a database of all of a computer’s files and settings which keep everything running correctly and give the PC all the necessary instructions for it to run as smoothly as possible. Because viruses have the ability to replicate themselves within the registry and change important settings, they often cause a great deal of damage to the system. They remove vital files and settings which make the PC unable to function properly. Not only does the PC become unstable, it also becomes damaged, making it extremely difficult to fix in any way. Viruses have been found to be able to spread rapidly when a host has a bad download or has a security vulnerability. Because the virus is able to replicate within the registry, it is often the case that if a virus has managed to spread to a PC, it will have caused a lot of damage. A virus can cause your PC to crash, for example, or may prevent you from loading certain files or software. It may also be able to steal your personal details and bank passwords by embedding them within the documents or files you download. If the infected file contains a security vulnerability, this means that anyone who has access to the internet can gain access to your confidential data and personal details. In order to protect your PC against complex viruses like the one mentioned above, you should download a free anti virus tool from the internet. Anti-virus programs are designed to scan through your PC and remove all known viruses. They work by hunting through every part of your computer, looking to identify any unfamiliar files, settings and commands which may have been embedded within it. They then search through each file and every setting on your computer to remove any malicious elements that are attempting to infect it. By using a good program, you’ll have much more chance of successfully protecting your PC from complex viruses such as the one described above.
Wasps are a predator insect. They feed on other insects and their young, providing population control for agricultural pests, fleas and flies, among others. Several types of wasps live in the ground, and while there are circumstances in which you must destroy their colonies, whenever possible it is a more environmentally sound practice to simply leave them alone. Yellow jackets will build their paper wasps in old rodent dens below the ground. They construct these out of chewed wood fiber and saliva, shaped into cones and stacked. These small, shiny yellow and black wasps are colony dependent, and go dormant in the winter, when temperatures drop bellow freezing. Because of this dormancy, they become aggressive scavengers in the fall and may become more disruptive of human activity. Yellow Jackets can sting more than once, but generally will not sting unless they feel they are trapped, or their colony is threatened. Video of the Day Cicada killer is the common name for the largest of the digger wasps. They can get up to 2 inches long at full maturity. Cicada killers are black with yellow markings on the thorax and abdomen and rusty colored wings. They are considered solitary, and do not act as members of a colony, but rather live and raise offspring independently. Cicada killers are named for the female wasps of their type, who paralyze cicadas, and bury them in underground tunnels for their young. Each tunnel, is about 2 feet deep, and the diameter of a quarter, and designed to hold 2 cicadas and a wasp egg. After laying her eggs, the female wasp will seal the tunnel, and abandon her young. Grubs hatch and feed on the cicadas, and emerge from the nest as mature wasps the following summer. Only the female cicada killer has the capacity to sting, and she will not unless provoked. The term theadwaisted wasp is used to refer to both blue and gold digger wasps. These wasps overnight in ground nests but emerge at dawn and spend the whole day looking for food. Like the cicada killer, they are solitary insects that live and work alone, lay eggs, and leave their young to develop independently from the nest. The golden digger wasp reaches a mature length of about an inch, and has a reddish orange abdomen, with a black tip. Like the cicada killer they build provisioned tunnels in which to lay their young. The gold digger wasp will paralyze and store a great variety of prey insects for their young. The blue digger wasp is a black bodied wasp with metallic blue wings, and a total body length of three-quarters of an inch. It fills its nesting tunnels with grasshoppers and crickets.
How do I develop positive attitudes and learning behaviours when passing and catching? In this lesson we will learn about how attitudes and learning behaviours can be improved, how to change direction (feint) and how we can be responsible for changing the direction of our learning behaviours. Click on the play button to start the video. If your teacher asks you to pause the video and look at the worksheet you should: - Click "Close Video" - Click "Next" to view the activity Your video will re-appear on the next page, and will stay paused in the right place. Lesson summary: How do I develop positive attitudes and learning behaviours when passing and catching? Time to move! Did you know that exercise helps your concentration and ability to learn? For 5 mins... On the spot:
Inquiry Based Instructional Model To intertwine scientific knowledge and practices and to empower students to learn through exploration, it is essential for scientific inquiry to be embedded in science education. While there are many types of inquiry-based models, one model that I've grown to appreciate and use is called the FERA Learning Cycle, developed by the National Science Resources Center (NSRC): A framework for implementation can be found here. I absolutely love how the Center for Inquiry Science at the Institute for Systems Biology explains that this is "not a locked-step method" but "rather a cyclical process," meaning that some lessons may start off at the focus phase while others may begin at the explore phase. Finally, an amazing article found at Edudemic.com, How Inquiry-Based Learning Works with STEM,very clearly outlines how inquiry based learning "paves the way for effective learning in science" and supports College and Career Readiness, particularly in the area of STEM career choices. In this unit, students will develop an understanding of gravity while focusing heavily on the 5th Grade Engineering and Design standards. In the first few lessons students will explore the relationships between gravity, weight, and mass. Then, students will apply their understanding of gravity to engineer and design parachutes and roller coasters. Summary of Lesson Today, students will begin by testing and recording the ride times of their roller coaster protocols. Next, we will discuss the meaning of averaging and students will find their average ride time. Finally, student will analyze why their roller coaster ride times were above or below average. Next Generation Science Standards This lesson will address the following NGSS Standard(s): 5-PS2-1. Support an argument that the gravitational force exerted by Earth on objects is directed down. 3-5-ETS1-1. Define a simple design problem reflecting a need or a want that includes specified criteria for success and constraints on materials, time, or cost. 3-5-ETS1-2. Generate and compare multiple possible solutions to a problem based on how well each is likely to meet the criteria and constraints of the problem. 3-5-ETS1-3. Plan and carry out fair tests in which variables are controlled and failure points are considered to identify aspects of a model or prototype that can be improved. Science & Engineering Practices For this lesson, students are engaged in Science & Engineering Practice 4: Analyzing and Interpreting Data. Students will measure and record the ride times of their protocols. Next, they will calculate the average and further analyze the data. To relate content across disciplinary content, during this lesson I focus on Crosscutting Concept 2: Systems and System Models. In particular, students will be evaluating cause and effect relationships as they begin constructing and testing their roller coaster designs. Disciplinary Core Ideas In addition, this lesson also aligns with the Disciplinary Core Ideas: ETS1.A: Defining and Delimiting Engineering Problems ETS1.B: Developing Possible Solutions ETS1.C: Optimizing the Design Solution PS2.B. Types of Interactions At the 5th grade level, it is important for students to be exposed to as many meaningful opportunities as possible to represent and interpret data. The 5th grade Measurement & Data standards (5.MD.B.2) specifically addresses line plots in "fractions of a unit." I interpret this to also include decimal numbers as decimals are fractions of a whole. While finding the quantitative measures of center (such as the mean) is a 6th grade standard (6.SP.B.5.C), I believe it is important to stretch up to the 6th grade standards once in a while (with teacher support), just as you would stretch students in the area of reading by introducing students to complex texts beyond the 5th grade level. Choosing Science Teams With science, it is often difficult to find a balance between providing students with as many hands-on experiences as possible, having plenty of science materials, and offering students a collaborative setting to solve problems. Any time groups have four or more students, the opportunities for individual students to speak and take part in the exploration process decreases. With groups of two, I often struggle to find enough science materials to go around. So this year, I chose to place students in teams of three! Picking science teams is always easy as I already have students placed in desk groups based upon behavior, abilities, and communication skills. Each desk group has about six kids, so I simply divide this larger group in half. Gathering Supplies & Assigning Roles To encourage a smooth running classroom, I ask students to decide who is a 1, 2, or 3 in their groups of three students (without talking). In no time, each student has a number in the air. I'll then ask the "threes" to get certain supplies, "ones" to grab their computers, and "twos" to hand out papers (or whatever is needed for the lesson). This management strategy has proven to be effective when cleaning up and returning supplies as well! Lesson Introduction & Goal I review the learning goal: I can use the Engineering Method to design a paper roller coaster. I explain: Now that all of you have a final roller coaster model, it is important to complete the engineering process by testing your model, analyzing the results, and communicating the results to others. During the next two days, students will be presenting their roller coasters and communicating their results to not only our class, but several other classes in our school. We will set up the paper roller coasters on the floor of a large room so that younger students can see the marble rolling through each of the roller coaster components. To prepare for these presentations, students will need to gather more information on their roller coaster models by testing. Ride Times Chart One of the criteria for this roller coaster challenge is to create a paper roller coaster where a marble takes as much time as possible to travel from the top to the bottom. I pass out a digital timer to each group and a copy of Roller Coaster Ride Time Graph to each student. Who is ready to test the final ride times of your roller coasters? Every student is excited and can't wait! Although, there are a few who want to make final adjustments before testing. Also, most students have tested the ride times of their roller coasters throughout the design process so today's times won't be too much of a surprise! To encourage a supportive atmosphere, I ask students: What's more important? Having the slowest roller coaster... or learning about gravity and using the engineering method to construct a model? I refer to the Roller Coaster Ride Time Graph and ask students to only focus on the chart in the upper left hand corner. I ask students to test their model five times and to record the results to the nearest hundredth of a second. We actually haven't learned about decimal numbers yet this year in math, so students communicate their results in a less sophisticated way then what is expected at the end of the year (example: "5.36 as five point three six instead of "five and thirty-six hundredths"). We'll eventually get there! Testing the Ride Times At first, I thought that some teams of three might struggle with only having one timer, however this works out great as two students can test one roller coaster while the third student makes a couple adjustments before beginning. For the purpose of science and analyzing data, I ask student to include the trials in which the marble stops rolling or rolls off the side of the track. This is challenging for students as they prefer to only write down the best times. Here, Student Recording Ride Times, a student explains why the marble is slower during one trial over another. Also, here's an example of a three-person team taking turns with timing one another: Once student successfully tested and recorded five ride times, I ask the class to join me on the front carpet with a calculator, their Roller Coaster Ride Time Graph paper, a clipboard, and a pencil. I project the following presentation to help guide instruction on calculating the mean: Data Analysis Presentation (Before Lesson). I begin by explaining the definition of mean (What is the mean?) and how to calculate the mean (Calculating the Mean). We also discuss real life examples of when people calculate the mean (average), such as calculating the average number of students in each class, the batting average of a baseball player, or the average number of hours a student reads each night over the course of a week. I show students the next slide, Average # of Baskets, and altogether, we calculate the average number of baskets made by each student. Average Practice Time Video Students catch on rather quickly, but I still want to provide further practice so I use a video to further teach this concept. (FYI: I had to download the video for it to work properly.) Students watch the video up until the point where they talk about averaging the judges scores. At this point, I flip back to the presentation slide, Average Score to provide students with the opportunity to calculate the average score ahead of the video. Then, I push play and students discover if they are right! They love this! We continue on until the video discusses the average hours of practice. Again, I pause the video, display the presentation slide, Average # of Hours, students calculate the average number of hours the ice skaters practice, and then we watch the video to check answers. Averaging Roller Coaster Ride Times Students are now ready to apply their understanding of mean (average) to their own sets of data. I use a student's ride times to model and project this process: Teacher Model. I ask all students to first calculate this student's average ride time. In time, most students calculate an average ride time of 16.64. Next, I model how to graph each trial number using the attached graph (Teacher Model). I begin by creating a scale along the y-axis that counts by 1 second so that student can see a scale with one second intervals can fit data less than 15 seconds. I ask students: Will all of my data fit on this graph? Students point out that several trials extend above the 15 second mark (including 16.61 sec and 21.00 sec). We collectively decide to make the scale interval 2 seconds instead of 1 second. This is important as students will have to decide which scale will fit their data. For example, one student will have to create a scale interval greater than 2 seconds in order to fit her 40+ second ride times. After modeling how to graph each trial, I connect the dots and draw an "Average" line so that students can see the trials that were above and below average. Students complete the same steps on their own and then they move on to answering the questions below. Here are a few examples of student data and graphs during this time: As students finish graphing and analyzing their data, I ask them to get ready for presentations by taking the following notes on a notecard: Failure Point, Improvement, Average Ride Time, and Explain why a trial was above or below the average ride time. I want students to reflect on the process of engineering as well as their findings after analyzing their data. Being able to connect roller coaster prototypes with actual steps that engineers complete is the goal of this project, so it's important to circle back around to our starting point, the Engineering Method. Here are a few student examples: At the end of the day, students left their finished roller coasters on their desks. Tomorrow, students will present their roller coasters to our class and to several other classes in our school! Here are a few examples of finished roller coasters! Many students also added some special little details to make their roller coaster special, such as a roller coaster name, little cones at the of supports, signs, arrows, and flags:
Ohm’s law states that the current through a conductor between two points is directly proportional to the potential difference across the two points. Introducing the constant of proportionality, the resistance, one arrives at the usual mathematical equation that describes this relationship: where I is the current through the conductor in units of amperes, V is the potential difference measured across the conductor in units of volts, and R is the resistance of the conductor in units of ohms. More specifically, Ohm’s law states that the R in this relation is constant, independent of the current. The law was named after the German physicist Georg Ohm, who, in a treatise published in 1827, described measurements of applied voltage and current through simple electrical circuits containing various lengths of wire. He presented a slightly more complex equation than the one above (see History section below) to explain his experimental results. The above equation is the modern form of Ohm’s law. In physics, the term Ohm’s law is also used to refer to various generalizations of the law originally formulated by Ohm. The simplest example of this is: where J is the current density at a given location in a resistive material, E is the electric field at that location, and σ is a material dependent parameter called the conductivity. This reformulation of Ohm’s law is due to Gustav Kirchhoff. In January 1781, before Georg Ohm‘s work, Henry Cavendish experimented with Leyden jars and glass tubes of varying diameter and length filled with salt solution. He measured the current by noting how strong a shock he felt as he completed the circuit with his body. Cavendish wrote that the “velocity” (current) varied directly as the “degree of electrification” (voltage). He did not communicate his results to other scientists at the time, and his results were unknown until Maxwell published them in 1879. Ohm did his work on resistance in the years 1825 and 1826, and published his results in 1827 as the book Die galvanische Kette, mathematisch bearbeitet (“The galvanic circuit investigated mathematically”). He drew considerable inspiration from Fourier‘s work on heat conduction in the theoretical explanation of his work. For experiments, he initially used voltaic piles, but later used a thermocouple as this provided a more stable voltage source in terms of internal resistance and constant potential difference. He used a galvanometer to measure current, and knew that the voltage between the thermocouple terminals was proportional to the junction temperature. He then added test wires of varying length, diameter, and material to complete the circuit. He found that his data could be modeled through the equation where x was the reading from the galvanometer, l was the length of the test conductor, a depended only on the thermocouple junction temperature, and b was a constant of the entire setup. From this, Ohm determined his law of proportionality and published his results. Ohm’s law was probably the most important of the early quantitative descriptions of the physics of electricity. We consider it almost obvious today. When Ohm first published his work, this was not the case; critics reacted to his treatment of the subject with hostility. They called his work a “web of naked fancies” and the German Minister of Education proclaimed that “a professor who preached such heresies was unworthy to teach science.” The prevailing scientific philosophy in Germany at the time asserted that experiments need not be performed to develop an understanding of nature because nature is so well ordered, and that scientific truths may be deduced through reasoning alone. Also, Ohm’s brother Martin, a mathematician, was battling the German educational system. These factors hindered the acceptance of Ohm’s work, and his work did not become widely accepted until the 1840s. Fortunately, Ohm received recognition for his contributions to science well before he died. In the 1850s, Ohm’s law was known as such and was widely considered proved, and alternatives, such as “Barlow’s law“, were discredited, in terms of real applications to telegraph system design, as discussed by Samuel F. B. Morse in 1855. While the old term for electrical conductance, the mho (the inverse of the resistance unit ohm), is still used, a new name, the siemens, was adopted in 1971, honoring Ernst Werner von Siemens. The siemens is preferred in formal papers. In the 1920s, it was discovered that the current through a practical resistor actually has statistical fluctuations, which depend on temperature, even when voltage and resistance are exactly constant; this fluctuation, now known as Johnson–Nyquist noise, is due to the discrete nature of charge. This thermal effect implies that measurements of current and voltage that are taken over sufficiently short periods of time will yield ratios of V/I that fluctuate from the value of R implied by the time average or ensemble average of the measured current; Ohm’s law remains correct for the average current, in the case of ordinary resistive materials. Ohm’s work long preceded Maxwell’s equations and any understanding of frequency-dependent effects in AC circuits. Modern developments in electromagnetic theory and circuit theory do not contradict Ohm’s law when they are evaluated within the appropriate limits. Ohm’s law is an empirical law, a generalization from many experiments that have shown that current is approximately proportional to electric field for most materials. It is less fundamental than Maxwell’s equations and is not always obeyed. Any given material will break down under a strong-enough electric field, and some materials of interest in electrical engineering are “non-ohmic” under weak fields. Ohm’s law has been observed on a wide range of length scales. In the early 20th century, it was thought that Ohm’s law would fail at the atomic scale, but experiments have not borne out this expectation. As of 2012, researchers have demonstrated that Ohm’s law works for silicon wires as small as four atoms wide and one atom high. The dependence of the current density on the applied electric field is essentially quantum mechanical in nature; (see Classical and quantum conductivity.) A qualitative description leading to Ohm’s law can be based upon classical mechanics using the Drude model developed by Paul Drude in 1900. The Drude model treats electrons (or other charge carriers) like pinballs bouncing among the ions that make up the structure of the material. Electrons will be accelerated in the opposite direction to the electric field by the average electric field at their location. With each collision, though, the electron is deflected in a random direction with a velocity that is much larger than the velocity gained by the electric field. The net result is that electrons take a zigzag path due to the collisions, but generally drift in a direction opposing the electric field. The drift velocity then determines the electric current density and its relationship to E and is independent of the collisions. Drude calculated the average drift velocity from p = −eEτ where p is the average momentum, −e is the charge of the electron and τ is the average time between the collisions. Since both the momentum and the current density are proportional to the drift velocity, the current density becomes proportional to the applied electric field; this leads to Ohm’s law. A hydraulic analogy is sometimes used to describe Ohm’s law. Water pressure, measured by pascals (or PSI), is the analog of voltage because establishing a water pressure difference between two points along a (horizontal) pipe causes water to flow. Water flow rate, as in liters per second, is the analog of current, as in coulombs per second. Finally, flow restrictors—such as apertures placed in pipes between points where the water pressure is measured—are the analog of resistors. We say that the rate of water flow through an aperture restrictor is proportional to the difference in water pressure across the restrictor. Similarly, the rate of flow of electrical charge, that is, the electric current, through an electrical resistor is proportional to the difference in voltage measured across the resistor. Flow and pressure variables can be calculated in fluid flow network with the use of the hydraulic ohm analogy. The method can be applied to both steady and transient flow situations. In the linear laminar flow region, Poiseuille’s law describes the hydraulic resistance of a pipe, but in the turbulent flow region the pressure–flow relations become nonlinear. The hydraulic analogy to Ohm’s law has been used, for example, to approximate blood flow through the circulatory system. In circuit analysis, three equivalent expressions of Ohm’s law are used interchangeably: Each equation is quoted by some sources as the defining relationship of Ohm’s law, or all three are quoted, or derived from a proportional form, or even just the two that do not correspond to Ohm’s original statement may sometimes be given. The interchangeability of the equation may be represented by a triangle, where V (voltage) is placed on the top section, the I (current) is placed to the left section, and the R (resistance) is placed to the right. The line that divides the left and right sections indicate multiplication, and the divider between the top and bottom sections indicates division (hence the division bar). Resistors are circuit elements that impede the passage of electric charge in agreement with Ohm’s law, and are designed to have a specific resistance value R. In a schematic diagram the resistor is shown as a zig-zag symbol. An element (resistor or conductor) that behaves according to Ohm’s law over some operating range is referred to as an ohmic device (or an ohmic resistor) because Ohm’s law and a single value for the resistance suffice to describe the behavior of the device over that range. Ohm’s law holds for circuits containing only resistive elements (no capacitances or inductances) for all forms of driving voltage or current, regardless of whether the driving voltage or current is constant (DC) or time-varying such as AC. At any instant of time Ohm’s law is valid for such circuits. Reactive circuits with time-varying signals When reactive elements such as capacitors, inductors, or transmission lines are involved in a circuit to which AC or time-varying voltage or current is applied, the relationship between voltage and current becomes the solution to a differential equation, so Ohm’s law (as defined above) does not directly apply since that form contains only resistances having value R, not complex impedances which may contain capacitance (“C”) or inductance (“L”). In this approach, a voltage or current waveform takes the form , where t is time, s is a complex parameter, and A is a complex scalar. In any linear time-invariant system, all of the currents and voltages can be expressed with the same s parameter as the input to the system, allowing the time-varying complex exponential term to be canceled out and the system described algebraically in terms of the complex scalars in the current and voltage waveforms. The complex generalization of resistance is impedance, usually denoted Z; it can be shown that for an inductor, and for a capacitor, We can now write, where V and I are the complex scalars in the voltage and current respectively and Z is the complex impedance. This form of Ohm’s law, with Z taking the place of R, generalizes the simpler form. When Z is complex, only the real part is responsible for dissipating heat. In the general AC circuit, Z varies strongly with the frequency parameter s, and so also will the relationship between voltage and current. For the common case of a steady sinusoid, the s parameter is taken to be , corresponding to a complex sinusoid . The real parts of such complex current and voltage waveforms describe the actual sinusoidal currents and voltages in a circuit, which can be in different phases due to the different complex scalars. Ohm’s law is one of the basic equations used in the analysis of electrical circuits. It applies to both metal conductors and circuit components (resistors) specifically made for this behaviour. Both are ubiquitous in electrical engineering. Materials and components that obey Ohm’s law are described as “ohmic” which means they produce the same value for resistance (R = V/I) regardless of the value of V or I which is applied and whether the applied voltage or current is DC (direct current) of either positive or negative polarity or AC (alternating current). In a true ohmic device, the same value of resistance will be calculated from R = V/I regardless of the value of the applied voltage V. That is, the ratio of V/I is constant, and when current is plotted as a function of voltage the curve is linear (a straight line). If voltage is forced to some value V, then that voltage V divided by measured current I will equal R. Or if the current is forced to some value I, then the measured voltage V divided by that current I is also R. Since the plot of I versus V is a straight line, then it is also true that for any set of two different voltages V1 and V2 applied across a given device of resistance R, producing currents I1 = V1/R and I2 = V2/R, that the ratio (V1-V2)/(I1-I2) is also a constant equal to R. The operator “delta” (Δ) is used to represent a difference in a quantity, so we can write ΔV = V1-V2 and ΔI = I1-I2. Summarizing, for any truly ohmic device having resistance R, V/I = ΔV/ΔI = R for any applied voltage or current or for the difference between any set of applied voltages or currents. There are, however, components of electrical circuits which do not obey Ohm’s law; that is, their relationship between current and voltage (their I–V curve) is nonlinear (or non-ohmic). An example is the p-n junction diode (curve at right). As seen in the figure, the current does not increase linearly with applied voltage for a diode. One can determine a value of current (I) for a given value of applied voltage (V) from the curve, but not from Ohm’s law, since the value of “resistance” is not constant as a function of applied voltage. Further, the current only increases significantly if the applied voltage is positive, not negative. The ratio V/I for some point along the nonlinear curve is sometimes called the static, or chordal, or DC, resistance, but as seen in the figure the value of total V over total I varies depending on the particular point along the nonlinear curve which is chosen. This means the “DC resistance” V/I at some point on the curve is not the same as what would be determined by applying an AC signal having peak amplitude ΔV volts or ΔI amps centered at that same point along the curve and measuring ΔV/ΔI. However, in some diode applications, the AC signal applied to the device is small and it is possible to analyze the circuit in terms of the dynamic, small-signal, or incremental resistance, defined as the one over the slope of the V–I curve at the average value (DC operating point) of the voltage (that is, one over the derivative of current with respect to voltage). For sufficiently small signals, the dynamic resistance allows the Ohm’s law small signal resistance to be calculated as approximately one over the slope of a line drawn tangentially to the V-I curve at the DC operating point. Ohm’s law has sometimes been stated as, “for a conductor in a given state, the electromotive force is proportional to the current produced.” That is, that the resistance, the ratio of the applied electromotive force (or voltage) to the current, “does not vary with the current strength .” The qualifier “in a given state” is usually interpreted as meaning “at a constant temperature,” since the resistivity of materials is usually temperature dependent. Because the conduction of current is related to Joule heating of the conducting body, according to Joule’s first law, the temperature of a conducting body may change when it carries a current. The dependence of resistance on temperature therefore makes resistance depend upon the current in a typical experimental setup, making the law in this form difficult to directly verify. Maxwell and others worked out several methods to test the law experimentally in 1876, controlling for heating effects. Relation to heat conductions Ohm’s principle predicts the flow of electrical charge (i.e. current) in electrical conductors when subjected to the influence of voltage differences; Jean-Baptiste-Joseph Fourier‘s principle predicts the flow of heat in heat conductors when subjected to the influence of temperature differences. The same equation describes both phenomena, the equation’s variables taking on different meanings in the two cases. Specifically, solving a heat conduction (Fourier) problem with temperature (the driving “force”) and flux of heat (the rate of flow of the driven “quantity”, i.e. heat energy) variables also solves an analogous electrical conduction (Ohm) problem having electric potential (the driving “force”) and electric current (the rate of flow of the driven “quantity”, i.e. charge) variables. The basis of Fourier’s work was his clear conception and definition of thermal conductivity. He assumed that, all else being the same, the flux of heat is strictly proportional to the gradient of temperature. Although undoubtedly true for small temperature gradients, strictly proportional behavior will be lost when real materials (e.g. ones having a thermal conductivity that is a function of temperature) are subjected to large temperature gradients. A similar assumption is made in the statement of Ohm’s law: other things being alike, the strength of the current at each point is proportional to the gradient of electric potential. The accuracy of the assumption that flow is proportional to the gradient is more readily tested, using modern measurement methods, for the electrical case than for the heat case. Ohm’s law, in the form above, is an extremely useful equation in the field of electrical/electronic engineering because it describes how voltage, current and resistance are interrelated on a “macroscopic” level, that is, commonly, as circuit elements in an electrical circuit. Physicists who study the electrical properties of matter at the microscopic level use a closely related and more general vector equation, sometimes also referred to as Ohm’s law, having variables that are closely related to the V, I, and R scalar variables of Ohm’s law, but which are each functions of position within the conductor. Physicists often use this continuum form of Ohm’s Law: where “E” is the electric field vector with units of volts per meter (analogous to “V” of Ohm’s law which has units of volts), “J” is the current density vector with units of amperes per unit area (analogous to “I” of Ohm’s law which has units of amperes), and “ρ” (Greek “rho”) is the resistivity with units of ohm·meters (analogous to “R” of Ohm’s law which has units of ohms). The above equation is sometimes written as J = E where “σ” (Greek “sigma”) is the conductivity which is the reciprocal of ρ. The potential difference between two points is defined as: with the element of path along the integration of electric field vector E. If the applied E field is uniform and oriented along the length of the conductor as shown in the figure, then defining the voltage V in the usual convention of being opposite in direction to the field (see figure), and with the understanding that the voltage V is measured differentially across the length of the conductor allowing us to drop the Δ symbol, the above vector equation reduces to the scalar equation: Since the E field is uniform in the direction of wire length, for a conductor having uniformly consistent resistivity ρ, the current density J will also be uniform in any cross-sectional area and oriented in the direction of wire length, so we may write: Substituting the above 2 results (for E and J respectively) into the continuum form shown at the beginning of this section: where l is the length of the conductor in SI units of meters, a is the cross-sectional area (for a round wire a = πr2 if r is radius) in units of meters squared, and ρ is the resistivity in units of ohm·meters. After substitution of R from the above equation into the equation preceding it, the continuum form of Ohm’s law for a uniform field (and uniform current density) oriented along the length of the conductor reduces to the more familiar form: A perfect crystal lattice, with low enough thermal motion and no deviations from periodic structure, would have no resistivity, but a real metal has crystallographic defects, impurities, multiple isotopes, and thermal motion of the atoms. Electrons scatter from all of these, resulting in resistance to their flow. The more complex generalized forms of Ohm’s law are important to condensed matter physics, which studies the properties of matter and, in particular, its electronic structure. In broad terms, they fall under the topic of constitutive equations and the theory of transport coefficients. If an external B-field is present and the conductor is not at rest but moving at velocity v, then an extra term must be added to account for the current induced by the Lorentz force on the charge carriers. In the rest frame of the moving conductor this term drops out because v= 0. There is no contradiction because the electric field in the rest frame differs from the E-field in the lab frame: E ‘ = E + v×B. Electric and magnetic fields are relative, see Lorentz transform. If the current J is alternating because the applied voltage or E-field varies in time, then reactance must be added to resistance to account for self-inductance, see electrical impedance. The reactance may be strong if the frequency is high or the conductor is coiled. See Hall effect for some other implication of a magnetic field.
PPE, short for Personal Protective Equipment, includes gloves, gowns, plastic aprons, masks/face shields and eye protection. It aims to prevent exposure of healthcare workers and patients/residents to infectious agents (p.18). Workers may use one or all types of PPE (sometimes called protective barriers) to protect mucous membranes, airways, skin and clothing from contact with infectious agents. Selecting which type of PPE a worker needs to wear is based on the type of resident/patient interaction, known or possible infectious agents, and/or the likely mode of transmission (p. 121). For example, if a resident has a respiratory infection, transmission of the infection could occur through droplets that a person breathes in, and on surfaces that a person could touch. To prevent this transmission, the healthcare worker would wear a gown, gloves and mask when in close contact with the infected person. Eyewear would be worn if performing a task where there is a risk of body substances splashing into their eyes. The cleaners would ensure they also wore a gown, mask and gloves when cleaning the room, as they are exposed to the same risk of transmission. Rooms with known infectious patients should be cleaned last. The NHMRC’s Australian Guidelines for Infection Prevention and Control 2019 recommend that all PPE must meet relevant Therapeutic Goods administration criteria (i.e. be TGA approved) for listing on the Australian Register of Therapeutic goods (ARTG) or meet the equivalent and relevant Australian Standards (p. 122). PPE should also be used in accordance with the manufacturer’s recommendations and be applied and removed in the correct sequence to control the risk of contamination. Examples of PPE Below are some examples of the various PPE, and a short description adapted from those on the Therapeutic Goods Administration website.4 - Utility mask: A flexible cloth barrier that is placed over the mouth. This is not a regulated medical device and should only be used for procedures were fluid, sprays or aerosols are not a concern. It does not provide protection from COVID-19. - Surgical mask: Surgical masks are clinical equipment worn over the nose and mouth of patients or caregivers/medical personnel who are displaying symptoms. Their role is to create a barrier the wearer and the environment, preventing airborne transmission of pathogens. Surgical masks are graded as level 1, 2 or 3 based on the level of protection or fluid resistance provided. - N95 respirator: A close-fitting face covering designed to filter out airborne particles, including biological particles such as viruses and bacteria. Correctly worn, these can prevent the transmission of airborne diseases, as they filter out a minimum of 95% of solid and liquid aerosols. They are single use and must be appropriately graded (i.e. from a reputable supplier) to ensure effectiveness. P2 respirators offer similar protection to N95s, but are designed, manufactured and tested to different but comparable standards. For the purposes of reducing exposure to COVID-19, P2 and N95 respirators can be used interchangeably. Surgical N95/P2 respirators are also held to the same standards as N95 masks. However they are also tested for fluid resistance against synthetic blood penetration under different pressures, such as may occur during certain medical procedures. Surgical Gown: A fluid-resistant, disposable garment over a scrub suit to cover the arms, trunk and upper legs, during a surgical procedure. They help protect the patient and operating room personnel from the transfer of microorganisms and body fluids. Goggles: Eyewear/glasses with clear lenses to shield the eyes of healthcare staff from blood and other body fluid splashes during procedures. They are designed as non-prescription or prescription goggles or spectacles with lenses and side shields, which offer additional physical barrier protection. Visors: A transparent device intended to shield the face and eyes of a healthcare worker from splashes during procedures. Visors are suitable for use with prescription lenses and protective masks. - The wearing of appropriate PPE such as a gown, masks and gloves is a routine part of infection prevention and control in healthcare and is used for the safety of everyone - Wear PPE according to the assessed risk - Wear PPE according to the manufacturer’s instructions - Put on (don) and take off (doff) PPE in the correct sequence to prevent cross-contamination - The use of PPE is not enough, hand hygiene must also be done before putting on and after taking the items off - If PPE is not single use or disposable (eyewear, goggles), then the item must be cleaned between uses. A process for doing this must be in place and be followed. REMEMBER – It’s okay to question a co-worker on whether they should be using PPE, or whether they are using it properly. Infection Prevention and Control is everybody’s responsibility. Keep safe! If you have any questions about PPE or how to keep your staff and facilities safe from infection, why not contact Bug Control for an obligation-free consultation? Alternatively, if you’re looking for more ways to take your infection prevention and control to the next level, why not read more on our blog?
The cumulative emotional trauma spanning generations of American Indians and Alaska Natives—also known as historical or intergenerational trauma—continues to affect behavioral health and wellness among families and Tribes. But American Indian and Alaska Native communities are also resilient, drawing strength from their sense of identity and the importance of tradition and culture passed down by ancestors. Special considerations must be accounted for when working with this population. In this section, find information on engaging American Indian and Alaska Native children and families and resources on supporting and strengthening their mental health. American Indian & Alaskan Native Mental Health Reviews research on mental health in American Indian and Alaska Native communities and discusses disparities, protective factors, barriers to care, and ways to ensure access to mental health services. Healing & Wellness Capacity Building Center for Tribes, Tribal Information Exchange Presents information on Tribal healing and wellness and provides examples of how American Indian and Alaska Native communities cultivate healing and build leadership from within. The resources also offer tips for child welfare professionals on topics such as self-care, using a trauma-informed approach, and engaging with American Indian families and communities. Mental and Behavioral Health - American Indians/Alaska Natives U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Minority Health Explores disproportionate rates of specific mental health symptoms within American Indian and Alaska Native populations compared with other ethnic groups within the United States. Mental Health Disparities: Diverse Populations American Psychiatric Association Offers resources specific to Native Americans and Alaska Natives that present information about how cultural values and systemic injustices contribute to behavioral health disparities among indigenous people in the United States. Missing and Murdered Native Americans (MMNA): A Public Health Framework for Action U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families (2020) Outlines policies and programs to help Native American children, families, and communities address the consequences of the victimization of Indigenous communities, specifically missing and murdered Native Americans. Native and Indigenous Communities and Mental Health Mental Health America (2021) Provides an overview of the prevalence rates of mental health disorders among American Indian and Alaska Native communities, as well as common treatment issues and access to mental health services. Outreach & Resources for Native American, Tribal & Indigenous Communities (PDF - 107 KB) National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (2021) Presents information and resources for Native American, Tribal, and Indigenous communities on missing children from those communities. Resources Specific to American Indian/Alaskan Native (AI/AN) Communities U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families Provides a list of trauma-informed resources designed to support service providers in creating culturally responsive services and treatments for American Indian and Alaska Native communities. TIP 61: Behavioral Health Services for American Indians and Alaska Natives U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (2019) Offers population-specific information and guidance to providers on delivering culturally responsive behavioral health services.
Thermoelectric devices are seen very often in various appliances: small refrigerators, semiconductor chip coolers, medical chillers. The thermoelectric effect works in both directions – it can generate temperature difference when current flows, or it can induce current when the temperature difference is applied. About thermoelectric effect It is known for more than 100 years. Several scientists discovered this effect in one or another way. Probably you’ve heard the Peltier effect. Jean Charles Athanase Peltier discovered that if you apply an electrical current to two materials’ junction, it gets cold or hot (depending on current direction). Thomas Johann Seebeck discovered the reverse effect when electricity is generated due to temperature differences. So this effect is Honored by his name. But for now, let’s focus on the Peltier effect and thermoelectric devices. The most common element is a ceramic coated device with two wires popping out. They are made of semiconductor materials. One is N-type, and another is P. Instead of a single Junction, there are hundreds of them – simply speaking, they are connected in series, but thermally they are parallel. Multiple joints increase the surface area and so the efficiency. If you look inside the Peltier element, you will see a sandwich made of small silicon bricks electrically connected in series. The ceramic plate is used as a carrier and heat transferee. Each pair works the same way; the heat is absorbed from one side of the plate and transferred to another. If we go deeper into working physics, we can see that when current flows, electrons in N-element are pushed against the current while holes in the P element same direction as the current. Both are moving from one side of the element, absorbing heat. The heat is carried to another junction. I hope this is enough for understanding what happens there. And again. If we apply different temperatures to both sides of plates, we get electricity (Seebeck effect). It is not standard usage as its efficiency is very low. Some space programs have been using those as alternative energy sources. So why thermoelectric coolers aren’t used widespread? It seems that they are beneficial in many ways, including solidness (no moving parts), failure-proof if used correctly, and are easy to control. It appears that they aren’t as efficient we would like them to be. Compressor-based systems are several times more efficient, which keeps them in the refrigerator business. Peltier elements can reach a temperature difference between the surface to about 70ºC. The more significant difference is, the worse efficiency becomes. So it is used in compact coolers, in environmentally friendly applications where efficiency isn’t the key. You’ve probably seen a USB powered cooler for soda cans – it wouldn’t be possible without thermoelectric coolers. Peltier elements are pretty standardized devices, and you can tell some features from its ID. For instance, I have a couple of TEC1-12705 elements that can be decoded in to; TE – thermoelectric; C – size. C – standard; S – small; 1 – number of stages. Normally 1. 127 – the number of P-N couples inside the plate; 05 – current rating. In this case 5A. Like all semiconductors, it is sensitive to overheating. It is advised not to power Thermoelectric element without heat-sink on the hot side. Probably you can connect it for a short time to determine which side cools and which heats. Typical cooler application If you are going to build a cooler, your typical setup should be as follows: It is mandatory to put a heat-sink on a hot side of the Peltier element, which would take a transferred heat. For better transfer, put thermal paste. It is a good idea to have a temperature sensor on the heat-sink to avoid overheating. On the cold side of the plate, you can put whatever you designed – a cold plate, another heat-sink with a blower to get cool air, or whatever you need. Here also you can put a temperature sensor to keep the cold points. If hot heat-sink gets too hot, maybe you need to put a fan on it. It depends on your application and other circumstances. Next time I hope to do more physical testing of the thermoelectric cooler.
Beavers are master builders that reshape aquatic landscapes with their dams and lodges. The environments they inhabit experience an increase in the biodiversity of aquatic organisms, for example. Now, for the first time, an Eawag study from the wine-growing region known as “Zürcher Weinland” has shown that this is also true for streams in areas given over largely to agriculture. The rodents could therefore be interesting partners when it comes to enhancing bodies of water. Eradicated at the start of the 19th century, beavers can now be found once again almost anywhere across the length and breadth of the country. Particularly on the Swiss Plateau and in the last ten years, they have become so widespread that five to six thousand individuals are currently estimated to live in Swiss bodies of water. True master builders The rodents are known for making significant changes not only to the morphology but also the hydrology and ecology of natural watercourses, making them more dynamic and biodiverse. Until now, however, it was unclear whether this was also true of urban and agricultural streams – in other words, precisely those streams that the beavers predominantly inhabit today. Researchers from Eawag and the University of Lausanne have now shown that this is indeed the case: beaver ponds not only increased the biodiversity of two streams in agricultural areas, but also altered the food supply available to aquatic animals. However, the extent of the beavers’ influence depended strongly on the topography. For their study, the researchers examined two streams in the Zürcher Weinland region in which beavers first began to construct several dams more than ten years ago: the Mederbach in the municipality of Marthalen and the Langwisenbach in the municipality of Flaach. As the results show, the beavers have had a positive impact on the streams in many respects. For example, the resulting ponds retain sediments and nutrients that would be carried away immediately in an undammed stream. The ponds also mean that more terrestrial food sources are available to aquatic organisms. Last but not least, the ponds have created new habitats, allowing animals to establish themselves that are otherwise found in calm bodies of water rather than fast-flowing ones. This has increased the aquatic biodiversity of the overall system. Although all of these effects were observed in both streams, they were more pronounced in the Mederbach than in the Langwisenbach. This can be explained by differences in topology: as the Mederbach has a shallower gradient than the Langwisenbach and is not restricted at the sides by a ravine-like basin, it has a greater amount of space in which to change. Overall, the beaver ponds on the Mederbach were also much wider and less deep. “Our results show that beavers can also enhance agricultural streams from an ecological perspective”, says Christopher Robinson, an aquatic ecologist and lead author of the study. Robinson adds that, as revitalisers, beavers represent a simple and sustainable solution that is already being pursued in Switzerland. Moreover, many of the positive effects are apparent within the first year, such as the colonisation of the new habitats. In the studied streams in Marthalen and Flaach, this even included endangered species such as dragonfly larvae. From the scientist’s point of view, the return of the beaver is therefore a win-win situation. “However, if the populations continue to expand so successfully, there will inevitably be some conflicts”, Robinson points out.
Semiconductors are something you don’t really think about. However, did you know they play a pivotal role in all of our modern electronics? Everything from integrated circuits and microchips to active components and sensors, use semiconductor materials within their design. They are literally everywhere, but few of us know exactly what they do or even what they are. So, what exactly is a semiconductor and how do they work? Below, you’ll discover everything you need to know. What is a semiconductor? A semiconductor is a type of material that’s used to partly conduct electrical currents. They are most commonly crystals made from silicon, though can also be made up of germanium or gallium arsenide. When they are being made, engineers can manipulate their electrical properties. Through a manufacturing process referred to as doping, engineers can add small impurities into the semiconductor to produce different effects. Different types of semiconductors When you’re looking for semiconductors, you’ll find they come in several types. You can find them at RS Components, but what are the different types available? Semiconductors are separated into two main groups. These include N-Type and P-Type semiconductors. The N-Type carry electron charges, made with an excess number of electrons. The P-Type has a lesser number of electrons, resulting in holes which act like a positive charge. How do they work? Now you know what a semiconductor is and the different types available, the question is how do they work? This will ultimately depend upon the type of semiconductor used. However, generally speaking semiconductors have a few similar characteristics. The silicon-based semiconductors become unstable during the doping process. Once this occurs, the electrons are free to move around which causes an imbalance between them. This imbalance then generates a charge. The N-Type produce a negative charge, while the P-Type produce a positive charge. When a voltage is applied, it produces a current flow. The negative current pushes the electrons, while the positive current pulls them. This causes the random hole and electron movement to become more organised and running just one way to create a good electrical current. As you can see, semiconductors are important for a wide range of electronics. The way in which they work is fascinating. If you need to use semiconductors in your business, make sure you’re purchasing high-quality variations. No two semiconductors are created the same so you’ll want to make sure you’re getting the best quality. For more posts like this, check out The Tech Block blog category!
Once in a while, you may have seen a light somewhat brighter than the brightest stars traversing the evening sky over the course of a few minutes. If so, you have almost certainly seen the International Space Station (ISS) as it travels some 400 kilometres above your head at a speed of 7.7km/s, completing an orbit once every 90 minutes. The ISS is visible because its altitude means that it reflects sunlight even when the Sun is below the horizon at your location, and it appears so bright because it is large. In fact, at its current size of 70m×110m×20m, it is the largest artificial body in orbit, forming a complex habitat that provides a home for up to 6 people for many months at a time, as well as offering a unique laboratory for a wide array of experiments ranging from psychology to physics. The station is an example of strong international cooperation, jointly owned and used by NASA, Roscosmos, ESA, CSA and JAXA (the space agencies of the USA, Russia, Europe, Canada and Japan). The first modules were launched in 1998, with a whole series of further modules added to build it to its current status, and the potential for further elements to be added in future. The International Space Station passing almost overhead in this long-exposure image (note the trailing of the stars revealing the Earth’s rotation over the 4 minute duration). The bright trail of the ISS rises near the crescent Moon (far right) and fades out as the space station passes into the shadow of the Earth, so that sunlight no longer illuminates it. Image reproduced by kind permission of Mark Humpage (http://www.markhumpage.com/)
Phoenix Mars Mission NASA's Phoenix mission was a robotic mission, the first lander in NASA's "Scout class". The lander landed in Mars' north polar region on May 25th 2008, and the scientific package aimed to answer the questions: - Can the Martian arctic support life? - What is the history of water at the landing site? - How is the Martian climate affected by polar dynamics? The mission name derives from several components built previously for cancelled missions, including 2001's Mars Surveyor lander. The mission is of considerable interest to planners of human missions to Mars, as many practical mission designs assume the availability of easily-extractable water for fuel production and industrial processes. The polar regions were expected to be the most likely places to find water ice. Phoenix was launched on 4th August 2007 on a Delta II 7925 rocket, and the scheduled landing on Mars on 25th May 2008 was successful. The landing site was the ice-capped northern polar region in the Green Valley of Vastitas Borealis. Thermal and Evolved Gas Analyzer Phoenix's Thermal and Evolved Gas Analyzer (TEGA) is a combination of a furnace and a mass spectrometer. Samples of dirt are heated and the gases given off are analyzed with the mass spectrometer. TEGA measured how much water vapor and carbon dioxide gas were given off. Volatile organic compounds were also able to be detected. Wet Chemistry Laboratory (WCL) The Wet Chemistry Laboratory added water to samples that were delivered by the robotic arm. The samples were then stirred. Using a number of electrochemical sensors, the instrument measured ions that were dissolved from the sample. Phoenix has confirmed the presence of water ice in the Martian soil. The soil contains small amounts of salt (perchlorate salt, calcium carbonate). The mildly alkaline soil environment provides good conditions for growing plants. Analysis of the first soil sample discovered bound water and CO2. These were released during the highest-temperature, 1,000 °C) heating cycle. Chemicals measured in the samples were chloride, bicarbonate, magnesium, sodium, potassium, calcium, and sulfate. Further data analysis indicated that the soil contains soluble sulfate (SO3) at a minimum of 1.1% and provided a refined formulation of the soil. Phoenix studied the atmosphere and found snowfall. The laser instrument found snow falling from clouds at about 2.5 miles (4 km). Snow turned to vapor before landing on the ground. Usually, Phoenix measured wind speeds between 5-10 m/s. It was concluded that heat from the sun sublimates ice and adsorbed water from soil, and when temperatures cool, water is returned as snow and frost to the soil. Temperatures went from -30 C to -90 C, - Viking 2 - Boynton, William V; Bailey, Samuel H; Hamara, David K; Williams, Michael S; Bode, Rolfe C; Fitzgibbon, Michael R; Ko, Wenjeng; Ward, Michael G; Sridhar, K. R; Blanchard, Jeff A; Lorenz, Ralph D; May, Randy D; Paige, David A; Pathare, Asmin V; Kring, David A; Leshin, Laurie A; Ming, Douglas W; Zent, Aaron P; Golden, D. C; Kerry, Kristopher E; Lauer, H. Vern; Quinn, Richard C (2001). "Thermal and Evolved Gas Analyzer: Part of the Mars Volatile and Climate Surveyor integrated payload". Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets. 106 (E8): 17683–98. - Kounaves, Samuel P; Lukow, Stefan R; Comeau, Brian P; Hecht, Michael H; Grannan-Feldman, Sabrina M; Manatt, Ken; West, Steven J; Wen, Xiaowen; Frant, Martin; Gillette, Tim (2003). "Mars Surveyor Program '01 Mars Environmental Compatibility Assessment wet chemistry lab: A sensor array for chemical analysis of the Martian soil". Journal of Geophysical Research. 108 (E7): 5077. - Smith, P., et al. 2009. H2O at the Phoenix Landing Site. Science: 325, 58-61. - Hecht, M., et al. 2009. Detection of Perchlorate and the Soluble Chemistry of Martian Soil at the Phoenix Lander Site. Science: 325, 64-67. - Boynton, W., et al. 2009. Evidence for Calcium Carbonate at the Mars Phoenix Landing Site. Science: 325, 61-64. - Kounaves, Samuel P; Hecht, Michael H; Kapit, Jason; Quinn, Richard C; Catling, David C; Clark, Benton C; Ming, Douglas W; Gospodinova, Kalina; Hredzak, Patricia; McElhoney, Kyle; Shusterman, Jennifer (2010). "Soluble sulfate in the martian soil at the Phoenix landing site". Geophysical Research Letters. 37 (9): L09201. - Smith, P. 2010. Atmospheric results from the Phoenix Mars Mission. 38th COSPAR Scientific Assembly. Held 18-15 July 2010, in Bremen, Germany, p.2. - Phoenix web page - Wikipedia article on Phoenix - NASA: Phoenix Mars Lander - NASA: Mars Phoenix Lander Finishes Successful Work on Red Planet - Phoenix web page: Mars Phoenix Lander Finishes Successful Work On Red Planet
We have all heard the phrase “correlation does not equal causation.” What, then, does equal causation? This course aims to answer that question and more! Over a period of 5 weeks, you will learn how causal effects are defined, what assumptions about your data and models are necessary, and how to implement and interpret some popular statistical methods. Learners will have the opportunity to apply these methods to example data in R (free statistical software environment). At the end of the course, learners should be able to: 1. Define causal effects using potential outcomes 2. Describe the difference between association and causation 3. Express assumptions with causal graphs 4. Implement several types of causal inference methods (e.g. matching, instrumental variables, inverse probability of treatment weighting) 5. Identify which causal assumptions are necessary for each type of statistical method So join us.... and discover for yourself why modern statistical methods for estimating causal effects are indispensable in so many fields of study!
There are lots of ways you can help your child get ready for literacy learning. Rather than practising literacy skills on their own, it is best if you can help your child to develop a love of reading and to see literacy in the world around them. Some ways you can help your child’s literacy development are: - Make sure your child sees you reading so they know that everyone does it and it can be fun - Read to them regularly - Sing songs together and play rhyme games
How the Human Eye Works Seeing is possible thanks to a complicated series of events that start in the eyes and end in the brain. The entire process happens almost instantaneously and is only successful if every part of your visual system works properly. It All Starts with the Cornea Your cornea, a clear, rounded layer of tissue that covers your pupil and iris, helps light reach your eyes by bending the rays as they enter your pupils. The iris and pupil work together to let light into the eye. Have you noticed that your pupils look bigger when the light is dim? Tiny muscles in the iris make the pupil bigger when it's harder to see, allowing more light to enter your eyes. The muscles shrink the size of your pupils when it's bright outside or inside. The Lens Is Essential for a Clear Picture Light rays pass through the lens and the vitreous humor after entering the eye. The lens is a transparent disc located inside the eye under the iris and pupil, while the vitreous is the clear gel that gives the eye its shape. The muscles that control the shape of the lens relax, causing the lens to flatten when you look at an object in the distance. The opposite happens when you look at something nearby. The muscles contract, thickening the lens. The ability of the lens to change shape allows you to shift your focus from near to far objects and back again. The lens focuses light rays on the retina in the back of the eye. If your eyeball is too long, the rays will focus in front of the retina, causing myopia, or nearsightedness. If you're nearsighted, close objects are easy to see, while everything in the distance looks blurry. Hyperopia, or farsightedness, occurs when your eyeball is too short. Light rays focus beyond your retina and make your near vision blurry. As you get older, the lenses of your eyes become less flexible. The loss of flexibility affects your ability to see near objects clearly. This condition, called presbyopia, usually begins in your early- to mid-forties, according to the American Optometric Association. Fortunately, a pair of reading glasses will make it much easier to read a book or thread a needle. The Retina Transforms Light Rays The retina covers the back of the eye and contains two types of photoreceptor cells. The rods, found in the outer part of the retina, are essential for side vision and help you see in dim light. Cones, the other type of photoreceptor cells, are located in the macula, the center part of the retina. Cones are needed for color vision and also help you see fine details easily. The retina turns light rays into electrical impulses, then sends the impulses to the occipital lobe of the brain through the optic nerve. Problems with your retinas or optic nerve can affect your vision. If you have macular degeneration, a common age-related eye condition, your central vision may be blurry or you may notice blank spots in the middle part of your vision. Increased eye pressure due to glaucoma can damage your optic nerve, causing partial or total loss of vision. How Your Brain Helps You See The visual cortex in the brain's occipital lobe serves as the vision command center. The cortex processes and stores images and helps you make sense of what you see. Thanks to your brain, you can recognize faces, colors, letters, and shapes. You can also see fine details, avoid obstacles, keep your balance, predict the speed of moving objects, remember the things you've seen in the past, and easily recall information after reading it. Your brain also controls the muscles that move your eyes and turns the slightly different information received from each of your eyes into one clear image. If a stroke, tumor, infection, disease, or head trauma injures the brain, your vision and your ability to understand what you see can be temporarily or permanently affected. Annual visits to the optometrist help you ensure that every part of your visual system is working properly. Contact our office if you're ready to schedule your next eye exam.
Korea is divided into two separate countries, North and South Korea. Republic of Korea, which is called Daehan MinGuk in Korean, is situated about 120miles northwest of the Japanese islands of Honshu and Kyushu and Jeju Island located about 60mile south of the peninsula. South Korea is bordered on the north by North Korea. South Korea is Republic country and it has a presidential system of government and president is elected directly by popular vote that the elected president serves for five-year term. However, the president cannot be reelected after serving five-year term. National assembly is consisted of 299 members and people, like president election, directly elect the majority of members. Reminder of members is appointed among the political parties. The Supreme Court heads the independent judiciary. North Korea, which is called Buk-han in Korean, is bordered on south by South Korea. North Korea is communism compared to the capitalism of South Korea. Kim, il-sung was the first leader of North Korea who was supported by the Soviet Union on February 17,1947(www.koreascope.org). Thereby, these two countries have been separated into the South and the North since 1953. North Korea’s the highest authority in the country, the front party, was ‘Party of North Korea’ and this party has been the establishment of socialism in North Korea. Their ruling ideology is “Juche ideology’ meaning self-reliant and the idea was improvised in the 1950’s for the purpose of cutting off the Soviet Union’s influence. The “Juche ideology has become the principal idea for all their action in North Korea. The current leader of North Korea is Kim, Jung-il, the son of the Kim, il-sung who died in 1998. Both South and North Korea had been one nation before the Koran war of 1950-1953. People could go back and force from northern part to southern part before dividing into two separate countries. People speak same languages, but having different ideologies after separation. “Both Koreans share the same cognition of culture. However, the concept of culture is different from each other. “South Korean concept of literary art is that it emphasizes a certain level of expertise, while the cultural diversity is accepted”. In North Korea, whereas, “concerning literary art is conceptually part of culture, accepting literary art same as culture”(www.multicorea.org). The social roles of literary art are also different between North and South Korea: North Korea literary art has a role to justify ideology for people, but South Korean literary art focuses on “the tendency to prioritize individual level in creation and acceptance, and consider sociality or social role in additional matter. Moreover, people of North Korea who work in the field are considered as “Professional creators”, whereas, in South Korea, they are considered as “intellectuals” through certain procedures and one’s economic status can be different by “one’s social evaluation and positions (www.multicorea.org). North and South Korea has had different economic systems since the Korean War (1950-1953). South Korea operates under a market economy system, in contrast, North Korea adapted central planning economy. Market economy of South Korea has led to dramatical improvement of the economy from less developed nations with severe unemployment, negative savings and the lack of exports to rapidly developing country. The gross national product (GNP) has been growing faster than the population as well as gross domestic product (GDP) during last 3 decades. Meanwhile, the central planning system of North Korea, around the beginning of the 1960’s, had faced delays and the economy growth has continued to be slowdown until 1980’s. Their economy policy was the “self-reliant economy policy” and this policy had led to economic failure. This serious economy failure of North Korea has resulted in “a poor rate of exports, chronic trade deficits, and a sizable debt”(http://lcweb2.loc.gov). This deep slump of North Korean economy has been put far behind of the South Korea. Overall economy structure of North Korea can be characterized by “State ownership of all production, command economy and completely closed economic system”. This self-reliant economy system made country “to imbalance in the distribution of resources and in the demand and supply of goods”(www.koreascope.org). Self-reliant economy in North Korea lead to reject the imports of foreign capital and technology and they mostly use their own domestic resources to produce products. Therefore, this completely closed policy has made the country to more severe economic condition. Park, chung-hee government launched the First Five-year Economic Development in 1962 and this development plan has become a fundamental source for the growth of South Korean economy. Over the period, “the real gross national product expanded by an average of more than 8 percent per year from $2.3 billion in 1962 to $204 billion in 1989”. Moreover, “manufacturing sector grew from 14.3 percent of the GNP in 1962 to 30.3 percent in 1987 and the ratio of domestic savings to GNP grew from 3.3percent to 35.8 percent over this periods. This big growth of economy has been possible because of the adoption of an outward-looking strategy in the early 1960. South Korea had the lack of natural resource endowments, low saving rates and poor domestic market, so the government promoted economic growth through “labor-intensive manufactured exports” (lcweb2.loc.gov). The manufactured exports has had big role for the growth of Korean economy and, as a result, the people’s standard of living has enormously improved with rapid industrialization. North Korea economic structure resembles the structure in Eastern Europe and the Formal Soviet Union. The private sector is not allowed to develop by the subsidization of the state owned enterprises and only 25 percent is engaged in agriculture. “This state-owned manufacturing industries employ is more than 56 percent of the work force in the late 1980’s” compared to the other former socialist economies. However, the statistic could not be 100 percent accurate because of completely closed, self-reliant, economy system of North Korea. Moreover, this state owned industry produces 95 percent of manufactured goods. Economic growth was about 2%-3%, whereas output declined by 3%-5% annually during 1980’s through the early of 1990’s. Indeed, “the leadership maintained high level of military outlays from a shrinking economy pie”(www.koreascope.org). Their manufacturing is heavily concentrated on military industry. As a result, their national product real growth rate was 0 percent in 1994. The transition to make development of the private sector is hard because of heavily subsidized state owned enterprise sector and the inefficient labor market. Indeed, extensive social welfare programs made hard to reform the economic structure in North Korea. Workers with state-owned enterprise have no incentive and they use resources in inefficient way. Therefore, such economic conditions led North Korea to economic crises and it caused severe problems such as food-shortage and many people die from mass starvation. While economy structure has been maintained under state-owned enterprises in North Korea, class structure of South Korean society has been changed by rapid economic growth, industrialization, and urbanization under market economy system. The one of the big change emerged since the end of Korean war is that “new middle class”, such as engineers, healthcare professionals, university professor, and journalists, has grown enormously from 6.6 percent in 1960 to 17.7 percent in 1980. Moreover, “the proportion of industrial workers grew from 8.9 percent to 22.6 percent of labor force during same period. However, this rapid industrialization in South Korea has been heavily relied on urban areas, such as Seoul, so there exists inequalities between rural and urban area. Therefore, for example, “the population of rural lower class declined from 64 percent in 1960 to 31.3 percent in 1980”(hopia.net). This heavy tendency of labor force in urban area made the “inequality of income” and “disparity in living standard” between urban and rural area”(lcweb2.loc.gov). Overall achievement, since Korean War in 1953, of the South Korea is acclaimed as ‘the economic miracle on the Han-gang River’ and the significant increase of gross national product from US$2.3 billion in 1962 to US$457.7 billion in 1995” was a result of “Growth strategy of experts with its limited domestic market”(lcweb2.loc.gov). The rapid expansion of the economy improved the living standard condition for many people, in 1980’s, in South Korea. Income distribution has risen over this periods and this higher income raised South Korean citizens’ purchasing power rapidly as well. For example, “the average household income had risen in average 14.8 percent per year between 1985 and 1988”(hopia.net). These significant shifts of average household income also led to change in consumption patterns and created many “new middle class”. The GNP per capita of North Korea was $920 in 1996, whereas South Korea was $11,270 in the same year. (Killeenroos.com/6/ecochart.htm). As I indicated above, the standard of living in North Korea has been becoming worse over the periods. This poor standard of living emerged mainly by its closed economic system, resulting negative economic growth rates. After the death of Kim, il-sung, the North Korea (DPRK) regime under his son Kim, Jung-il has increased its offensive military capability with aiming the entire Korea to be communist and, thus, this negative growth undergoes the chronic shortage in energy, food, and foreign currency (www.worldbank.org). Public finance in North Korea is similar to those of capitalist economies. However, centralized planned economy of North Korea has more extensive scope for public finance due to its state ownership system. “North Korean government has bolstered review by banks alone with financial inspection by controlling agencies. Factories and enterprises of grade II and above are subject to financial inspection at least once in every two to three years”(koreascope.org). North Korean’s budget system is divided into central and local budgets. A local budgeting system was expanded to provide “for the rights and obligations of the local authorities toward factories and enterprises in respective areas in 1978”(koreascope.org), whereas they reduced the burden on its central budget. The revenue of North Korea includes, transaction proceeds, state enterprise revenues, social cooperative revenues, service fee revenues and others (kreascope.org). Among these revenues, state enterprises revenues can be indicated ass “a kind of corporate income tax imposed in corporate profits” because it is the amount payable to the government. Transaction proceeds refer to extra income of state, which includes enterprises and manufacturing cooperatives. Extra income, which came from selling additional sale of goods has to be paid to the government, This is, in other words, net income that is equal to the rest of social net income subtracted from enterprises net income. Social cooperative revenue is “the return for various production means or management supervision from the state with the nature of fees”. However, one of the reasons that North Korea faces with a serious internal economic crisis would be that great portion of the military expenditure is budgeted to a part of the people’s economy costs. “North Korean imports were $872 more than exports in 1989-1990”. They mostly imports machinery and equipment, crude oil, and arms from the Soviet Union; oil, petroleum, and coking coal from china; and consumer goods from the west and Japan (www.countries.com). Moreover, Pyongyang’s international financial standing has been very weakened and this worst rate of credit made North Korea hard to improve its international economy position from dismal performance. The banking system of South Korea began to be liberalized in the mid-1980’s by the government. Government maintained strong managerial control over banks with denationalizing several banks. In the late 1980’s, “financial sector included a diversified commercial banking system and a wide range of secondary financial institution” with capital market system. Commercial banks of South Korea owned privately and local banks were found in every part of regions in South Korea. The central bank in the South Korea, called The Bank of Korea, which was established on June 12, 1950 regulate all commercial banking activities. Its major roles are also “issuance of all currency; the formulation and execution of monetary and credit policies; the conduct of the bulk of foreign exchange control business”(lcweb2.loc.gov). The sixth Five-year Economic and Social Development Plan (1987-1991) supported South Korea’s economic development and growth rate. Its purpose was to exceed the gross domestic savings rate than that of domestic investment rate so that it can reduce foreign debt and cover financing of future economic development from domestic sources. Throughout the 1980’s, financing system in South Korea became liberalization and increased deregulation in financial market. Moreover, the South Korean stock exchange also grew rapidly in the late 1980’s. Private firms financed primarily through bank loans and pay them back with different interest rates. Since the end of Korean War, South and North Korea adapted different economic system and the achievement of economic performance appeared in significantly opposite results. GDP (real growth rate) and GDP per capita in North Korea was 3 percent and $1000 in 2000 compared to GDO growth rate of South Korea was 8.8 percent in the same year. Export rate is also greater than imports in contrast to North Korea. For example, South Korea exported $175.8 billion such as manufactures, textiles, ships, automobiles, steel, computers, and footwear while the amount of imports was less than exports, which was $159.2 billion in the year 2000. (www.state.gov) I think that the big gap of economic growth between North Korea and South Korea has been primarily affected by distinguishable economic structures. Completely closed centrally planned, self-reliant, economic system of North Korea would not be able to improve their economic growth unless they change their fundamental economic structure to opened economic system. However, the market oriented economic structure of South Korea also have some problems to resolve so that the unemployment rate, inflation, and economic fluctuation can be more stable in the future. Therefore, South Korean economy would not face any further economic crisis. Psychology or other biological studies have used twins for studying a symptom. Because the best way to analyze the cause and effect of a problem is to compare the most identical two things which one is infected and the other is not. However, in economics it is hard to find the identical twin except one symptom. Therefore, it will be very interesting in making a comparison between South Korea and North Korea like a twin to observe effects on them by different developing processes of two opposite idealism, capitalism and socialism. Located in the end of the Asia continent, Korea is a very small country, which its area is slightly larger than Indiana’s is. The country is with a 5000-year long history, having conserved a unitary race. After the WWII under chaotic international circumstances, Korean that had not established its own political colors yet seemed to be split into democracy and communism, supported by the United States and former Soviet Union respectively. After all in June 25, 1950, conflicts between two ideologies appeared on the surface as the Korean War. The civil war ended up with deciding the Armistice Agreement in 1953, and the country was divided into two countries at the 38th parallel. By this war, most of its lands were ruined, and the industrial factors were destroyed. In addition, there were enormous casualties. Both sides were like babies who just were born with nearly nothing and no thought. In this desperate situation, the people in each country started their new lives by absorbing different economic idealism; capitalism in South Korea; socialism in North Korea. After the end of the Cold War, the international relationships have changed a lot; particularly the Socialistic countries, or the former Soviet Union and eastern European countries have given up their economical main thoughts and turned their notion toward the Capitalism. Today insomuch calling people as cosmopolitans, most of national boundaries in economic relations are disappeared. In coming June, South Korea and North Korea meet the exact 50-year partition after the armistice in 1953. Last five decades, the comparative economical idealism that they selected respectively have produced significantly different results. One of special features to distinguish between South Korea and North Korea is the difference in their political ideologies. On the hand, the political notion in South Korea is democracy. A definition of democracy in a dictionary is government by the people in which the supreme power is retained and directly exercised by the people or indirectly by elective representatives of the people under a free electoral system (Longman 272). Like the phrase of Abraham Lincoln, “of the people, by the people, and for the people.” South Korean government has respected the dignity and freedom of people above all things by Clause I, Article I in constitution. On the other hand, North Korea’s national ideology is communism. Its goal is equalization in the social conditions of life, especially in the possession of property by distributing all wealth equally to all, or by holding all wealth in common for the equal use and advantage of all. North Korea’s communism is based on Marxism-Leninism; it is modern communism made by Lenin, considering the special condition in Russia in the early 20 century. However, the uniqueness of North Korea’s is the accomplishment of brainwashing politics by apotheosizing Il-Sung Kim, the former leader of North Korea. He added his Juche idealism to Marxism-Leninism, which intended to establish the independence on a political purpose. The proposition of his theory is that human is the master of everything and decides all. In 1970, he provided at the fifth meeting in the Workers’ Party that the main concepts of his idea pursued independent acts as master and creative activities. The hidden meaning of his speech was that North Korea would adhere to the closed-door system externally and justify its dictatorship and hereditary power succession plan internally. In December 1962, his thoughts propelled four military lines under the slogan of national self-defense: the armament of the entire populace, the fortification of all the nation, the conversion of all servicemen into cadre for the People’s Army, and the modernization of the People’s Army. These steps created the most significant problem between South Korea and North Korea, the different unification policy. South Korea has sought for the solution in peace and liberal democracy, while North Korea has stuck to unify by violence means. These conflicts on the political ideologies have hindered economic performances of two countries very much by means of increasing wasteful cost for each national defense or setting up territorial boundaries in national and international trade etc. For the past 50 years, South Korea has achieved dramaical economic growth called “the miracle of Han River” and has been recognized as one of the four Dragon in East Asia. GDP per capita was estimated to be 13 times larger than that of North Korea in 1999 and 16 times larger in 2000. North Korea’s GDP Growth rate (%) Comparing 2.2% of the economic growth rate and $79 of the GNP per capita in early 1960’s to 10.7% increase in the economic growth rate and $9,628’s GNP per capita in late 1990’s, it can say that it is really rapid economic development within 30 years. On the contrary, North Korea was –6.3% GDP per capita in 1997 and has decreased continuously during past 8 years. In 1999, at first GDP showed plus growth of 6.2%. This, however, happened because of other countries’ treasury aid, not because of real economic growth in NK. GNP per capita was estimated about $741 in 1997. South Korea’s GNP per capita One of the reasons to accomplish this rapid economic growth in SK is the appropriate application of capitalism and economic policies to recover disastrous economic situations after the Korean War. Planned Capitalism is that the government plans the allocation of resources but give individual the private owner ship of capital. It is the mix between centrally planned economy and free market economy. Based on this idealism, SK (South Korea) has promoted systems of close government and business ties, directed credit, import restrictions, sponsorship of specific industries and a strong labor effort. The country has encouraged the import of raw materials and technology and has induced savings and investment over consumption. In addition to boost the economic growth, SK created its own economic policies: the Construction of Pyramid type Export Oriented Industries (CEOI), Export First Policy and Export Oriented Industrialization. The idea of CEOI comes from the Construction of Pyramid Type (EOI), which economy of a underdevelopment country will be developed at the head of the industries by pulling capacity called export if it only uses a policy to promote export industries to require intensive labor force. However, the difference between two policies are SK’s CEOI is based on development of technology by the lead of SK’s government with the insufficient foundation of industries, while EOI merely expects the natural development without the concept of time. These three policies aforementioned arose in 1960’s and accomplished the industrial revolution in SK under the President Jung Hui Park’s Administration. The economical idealism of North Korea is planned socialism. It means that every economic activity is leaded by the only order from the government’s plans. By planned socialism, NK accomplished the groundwork for the socialism economy, agricultural reform and collective farming, and state and public ownership. NK has developed three foundational economic policies for the above goals: the construction of independent native economy, the heavy and munitions industries first policy, the advance of military and economy side by side. The concept of the first policy is to fulfill gross national demand and to solve the technological progress and expanding equilibrium by self-sufficient economy. However, as confronting to the limitation of economic development by merely inner mobilization, NK starts to show practical attitudes toward the international trade and economic cooperation in these days. However, the country still supports the closed economy for retaining its political ideology. The second one has put relatively importance on the development of the heavy and munitions industries, insisting that these are the foundation of the people’s economy. However, unbalanced promotion with a relative negligence of agriculture and an excessive spending on military products caused the significant food shortage. Moreover, the third policy has made NK’s industries undistinguishable between civilian and military ones. Demand to accomplish the economic development and to build up the military force in the same time with the limited resources pushed NK to be impossible to recover with the current policies. In addition, a closed, collective and controlled life called socialist mode of life cased additional inefficiency in production. In the ruins of Korean War plus lack of natural resources and industries, the only plentiful factor left to SK was population. With human capital, SK performed these policies and started investing in export industries, which requires the mass population. SK has not only put the importance on the development of economy by increasing productions and exports, but also has recognized the leading role of prominent human capital in economy. Therefore, SK has made a huge amount of investment on education and welfare programs. These days, SK keeps a high standard of education with widespread high-level educational institutions. The improved human capital has encouraged achieving the rapid economic growth in spite of the poor natural resources. Currently labor force estimates 22 million and SK spends 21% of the budget, 3.3% of the GNP on the educational sector. In addition, the investment rate on this sector expects to increase by 5% of the GNP in the future. Improved human capital makes SK possible to catch up rapid movements of the world economic environments. The distribution of the workers in various industries are changed; 20% of the labor in manufacturing and mining industries and 68% in services and high-tech industries in 1999. This intelligent elevation in labor force has brought better efficient in economy by creating specialties, reducing learning times and increasing quick learners. The education on human capitol is very important factor for North Korea to protect its communism. From age 2, children go to kindergarten and are brought up by learning about Il-Sung Kim and worshipping him. This system of education is mandatory in lifetime. However, the education in NK seems just for the political purpose to produce new communist men, not for the economical one to use them as a human capital. NK states that it promotes free educational system, but in reality, the parents are required various expensive and children are mobilized periodically in various forms of unpaid labor. In addition, students who have poor family background especially including in the hostile group about 27% of total population cannot get the higher level of education. With human resources, at first SK captured the light industrial market like textile. With increasing export, the government planned two major economic plans: from 1962 to 1966, and from 1967 to 1971. These plans put relative importance on developing the heavy and chemical industrial fields like electronics, automobiles, chemicals, shipbuilding and steel etc. which would be the basis of other businesses. After completing two economic plans, the GNP per capita became $278 and the economic growth was from 2.2% in 1962 to 13.8% in 1969. It goes without saying that these two economic plans make SK’s current economic position. Similarly NK had the economic plan: the short-term economic plan from 1947 to 1961, and the long-term economic plan from 1961 to 1993. However, these two economic plans were deficient to fulfill the goal to solve the problems in living condition and to complete the foundation for industries. SK showed the surplus $12.1 billion in trade balance in 2000 with $172.6 billion of export and $160.5 billion in import and 72.8% in degree of dependence upon foreign trade. Heavy and chemical products take 70% in export and the main partners are US, Japan and China. SK extends the international position by becoming a member of international economic organizations. The country joined OECD and WTO. In contrast, NK retains the closed position in international trade. The degree of dependence upon foreign trade of NK is 12.3%. This percentage is better than 9.3% last year, but still shows significant lowness than 70% of SK’s. $520 million of export and $960 million of import was traded in 1999. Export products were minerals, metallurgical products, manufactures including armaments and agricultural and fishery products. Import products were petroleum, coking coal, machinery and equipment and grain. Trading partners were Japan, SK, China and Russia. In addition, it is presumed that NK have had the annual deficit between $0.3-0.8 billion in 1990’s. The total trade amount is getting bigger between two countries; in 1990, the total trade amount of SK was 29 times of NK’s; in 1998, 157 times; and in 1999, 178 times. That is, SK’s total trade amount increased by 96.3% and NK’s decreased by 68.6% in 1999, comparing in 1990. Especially, the degree of dependence upon foreign trade of NK dropped by 20.4% in 1999 than in 1990. While primary industry’s relative importance is getting SK’s industrial structure composes of 51.3% in service, 25.9% in mining and manufacturing, and 14.6& in construction. Decreasing in the primary industry and increasing the third industry indicates SK’s industrial structure is reforming toward the system of developed countries. On the contrary, NK’s industrial distribution shows 32.3% in service, 29% in agriculture and fisheries and 28% in mining and manufacturing industries in 1997. The reason why NK has shown high rate in service parts in spite of the low percentage in distribution industry is the increase of the labor force in military and administrative management. The lack of investment, intelligent human capital, energy and supply of raw materials and the declination of incentives to work in labor force have reduced most industrial growth rate in NK, including manufacturing. The relative importance of agriculture and fisheries field and mining part has been indicating almost the same rate since 1960. In comparison, SK had higher percentage We cannot say which economic idealism between capitalism or socialism is superior. By watching suffers, surrender and changes in economic notion of the countries which represent socialism in economy, we can merely assume that idealistic socialism is harder to perform in real world than capitalism. Comparing South Korea and North Korea, the significant gaps by choosing opposite political and economical idealism is observed. In addition, major problems have appeared in both countries after operating each system for 50 years. In 1997-1999, the financial crisis in Asia affected in South Korea. The problems in high debt and equity ratios and massive foreign borrowing and an undisciplined financial process appeared as the South Korea’s weaknesses. Until 1999, these factors press the development of South Korea. By swapping the subsidiaries of largest business group in order to specialize production and promoting debt-workout programs with creditor banks, this country could get out of the IMF and recover financial stability. However, economists point out that fundamental problems from systematic errors are not cured yet. 50- year closed economy leaves North Korea fell behind greatly. In these days, though it shows a little open mind in communicating with South Korea, still North Korea refuses the trade with capitalistic countries. In addition, its armed force, the trial for terrors, and carelessness of the people’s welfare makes harder the economic development of North Korea.
CholesterolHypercholesterolemia; LDL; HDL; Triglycerides An in-depth report on the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of unhealthy cholesterol levels. A blood test is used to measure cholesterol levels. Besides total cholesterol, a lipid profile test also includes measurements of LDL-C (low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, also called bad cholesterol), HDL-C (high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, also called good cholesterol), and triglycerides. New Cholesterol Guidelines Over the past few years, a different approach to treating abnormal cholesterol levels has been developed. Previous guidelines recommended that doctors use specific target goals for LDL depending on patient risk factors. The newer guidelines take a different approach: - The treatment emphasis now focuses on reducing the risk for diseases caused by atherosclerosis, including abnormal cholesterol, but not targeting subsequent cholesterol lab results precisely. - Several cardiovascular risk calculators are available which consider a person's gender, age, race, total cholesterol, HDL, blood pressure, diabetes, and smoking to estimate their risk for having a heart attack or stroke within the next 10 years. Based on these results, your doctor may recommend treatment with a cholesterol-lowering statin or other drugs. - Heart-healthy lifestyle changes (diet, exercise, smoking cessation, and weight control) still remain the foundation for cholesterol treatment at all ages. Lifestyle management is used before, and during, drug therapy. Guidelines recommend drug therapy based on a person's risk for heart disease, stroke, and other problems caused by atherosclerosis: - Primary prevention refers to risk reduction in those who do not yet have evidence of cardiovascular disease. - Secondary prevention refers to risk reduction in those who have evidence of cardiovascular disease. - Statins are the first choice in virtually all patients with abnormal LDL-cholesterol levels to prevent cardiovascular disease. - When to start statins and what dose to use is based on a patient's risk and current atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. - Newer, biologic drugs have been approved for reducing the LDL cholesterol level in certain high risk scenarios. The key lifestyle changes to improve unhealthy cholesterol levels are: - Heart-healthy diet (with emphasis on vegetables, fruits, and whole grains). - Regular physical activity (The AHA recommends performing 30 minutes of moderate exercise 5 days a week for a total of 150 minutes a week, or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise a week). - Healthy body weight (with a doctor's help when necessary). - Don't smoke. - Control of high blood pressure and diabetes (for patients who also have these conditions). Lipids are the building blocks of the fats and fatty substances found in animals and plants. They include cholesterol, triglycerides, fatty acids, phospholipids, and others. Lipids do not dissolve in water and are usually transported in blood and other body fluids in the form of lipoproteins. Lipids serve essential functions in the body, including: - Structural components of all cell membranes - Energy source - Signaling molecules involved in multiple cellular processes - Precursors for other lipid molecules, hormones, vitamins, and others Cholesterol is present in all animal cells and in animal-based foods (but not present in plants). In spite of its bad press, cholesterol is an essential nutrient necessary for many functions, including: - Repairing cell membranes - Manufacturing vitamin D in the skin - Producing hormones, such as estrogen and testosterone - Possibly helping cell connections in the brain that are important for learning and memory Regardless of these benefits, when cholesterol levels rise in the blood, they can have dangerous consequences, depending on the type of cholesterol. Although the body acquires some cholesterol through diet, about two-thirds is manufactured in the liver, its production stimulated by saturated fat. Saturated fats are found in animal products (meat, egg yolks, and high-fat dairy products) and tropical plant oils (palm, coconut). Saturated fats are found predominantly in animal products, such as meat and dairy products, and are strongly associated with higher cholesterol levels. Tropical oils -- such as palm, palm kernel, coconut, and cocoa butter -- are also high in saturated fats. Triglycerides are composed of glycerol and fatty acid molecules. They are the basic chemicals contained in fats in both animals and plants. High levels of triglycerides, especially in combination with low levels of HDL, are associated with increased risk for heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and fatty liver disease. Lipoproteins are protein spheres that transport cholesterol, triglyceride, or other lipid molecules through the bloodstream. Most of the vascular effects of cholesterol and triglyceride actually depend on lipoproteins. Lipoproteins are categorized into five types according to size and density. They can be further defined by whether they carry cholesterol or triglycerides.Cholesterol-Carrying Lipoproteins These are the lipoproteins commonly referred to as cholesterol. - Low density lipoproteins (LDL), often called "bad" cholesterol) - High-density lipoproteins (HDL), the smallest and densest (often called "good" cholesterol) - Intermediate density lipoproteins (IDL) tend to carry triglycerides. - Very low density lipoproteins (VLDL) tend to carry triglycerides. - Chylomicrons or ultra low density lipoproteins (UDL) are the largest in size and lowest in density. Chylomicrons tend to carry triglycerides. Effects of Lipoproteins and Triglycerides on Heart DiseaseLow Density Lipoproteins (LDL), the "Bad" Cholesterol The main villain in the cholesterol story is low-density lipoprotein (LDL). Heart disease is least likely to occur among people with the lowest LDL levels. Lowering LDL is the primary goal of cholesterol drug and lifestyle therapy. Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) transports about 75% of the blood's cholesterol to the body's cells. It is normally harmless. However, if it is exposed to a process called oxidation, LDL can penetrate and interact dangerously with the walls of the artery, producing a harmful inflammatory response. Oxidation is a natural process in the body that occurs from chemical combinations with unstable molecules. These molecules are known as oxygen-free radicals or oxidants. In response to oxidized LDL, the body releases various immune factors aimed at protecting the damaged arterial walls. Unfortunately, in excessive quantities they cause inflammation and promote further injury to the areas they target.High Density Lipoproteins (HDL), the "Good" Cholesterol High density lipoprotein (HDL) appears to benefit the body in several ways: - It removes cholesterol from the walls of the arteries and returns it to the liver for disposal from the body. - It helps prevent oxidation of LDL. (HDL may have antioxidant properties.) - It may also fight inflammation. HDL helps keep arteries open and reduces the risk for heart attack. High levels of HDL (above 60 mg/dL) may be nearly as protective for the heart as low levels of LDL. HDL levels below 40 mg/dL are associated with an increased risk of heart disease.Triglycerides Triglycerides interact with HDL cholesterol in such a way that HDL levels fall as triglyceride levels rise. High triglycerides may pose other dangers, regardless of cholesterol levels. For example, they may be associated with blood clots that form and block the arteries. High triglyceride levels are also associated with the inflammatory response -- the harmful effect of an overactive immune system that can cause considerable damage to cells and tissues, including the arteries. Very high triglycerides can also cause pancreatitis a potentially life-threatening condition. Unhealthy cholesterol levels (low HDL, high LDL, and high triglycerides) increase the risk for heart disease and heart attack. Some risk factors for cholesterol can be controlled (such as diet, exercise, and weight) while others cannot (such as age, gender, and family history). Age and Gender From puberty on, men tend to have lower HDL (good cholesterol) levels than women. One reason is that the female sex hormone estrogen is associated with higher HDL levels. Because of this, premenopausal women generally have lower rates of heart disease than men. After menopause, as estrogen levels decline, women catch up in their rates of heart disease. Throughout the post-menopausal years, HDL levels decrease and LDL (bad cholesterol) and triglyceride levels increase. For men, LDL and triglyceride levels also rise as they age and the risks for heart disease increase as well. (There is some evidence that high triglyceride levels carry more risks for women than men.) Heart disease is the main cause of death for both men and women.Children and Adolescents Children who have abnormal cholesterol levels are at increased risk of developing heart disease later in life. However, it is difficult to distinguish "normal" cholesterol levels in children. Cholesterol levels which are normally very low at birth tend to naturally rise sharply until puberty, decrease sharply, and then rise again later in life. Genetic Factors and Family History Genetics can play a major role in determining a person's blood cholesterol levels. (Children from families with a history of premature heart disease should be tested for cholesterol levels after they are 2 years old.) Genes may influence whether a person has low HDL levels, high LDL levels, high triglycerides, or high levels of other lipoproteins, such as lipoprotein(a). There are several types of inherited cholesterol disorders.Familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) FH is a genetic disorder that causes high cholesterol levels, particularly LDL, and premature heart disease. There are two forms of FH: - Heterozygous FH, in which the genetic mutation is inherited from one parent, occurs in about 1 in 500 people. It increases the risk for heart attack between the ages of 40 to 60. - Homozygous FH, in which the genetic mutation is inherited from both parents, is much rarer. It occurs in about 1 in 1 million people. People who have homozygous FH are at risk for having extremely severe hypercholesterolemia, many experiencing heart attack or death before the age of 30. The primary dietary elements that lead to unhealthy blood cholesterol include saturated fats (found mainly in red meat and high-fat dairy products) and trans fatty acids (found in fried foods and some commercial baked food products). Shellfish and egg yolks are also high in dietary cholesterol. Large amounts of added sugars raise triglyceride levels.Weight Being overweight or obese increases the risks for unhealthy cholesterol levels.Exercise Lack of exercise can contribute to weight gain, decreases in HDL levels, and increases in LDL, triglycerides, and total cholesterol levels.Smoking Smoking reduces HDL cholesterol and promotes build-up of fatty deposits in the coronary arteries.Alcohol Heavy consumption of alcohol can increase triglyceride levels. Obesity, Metabolic Syndrome, and Type 2 Diabetes In the United States, obesity is at epidemic levels in all age groups. The effect of obesity on cholesterol levels is complex. Overweight individuals tend to have high triglyceride and LDL levels and low HDL levels. This combination is a risk factor for heart disease. Obesity also causes other effects such as high blood pressure and an increase in inflammation that pose major risks to the heart. Obesity is particularly dangerous when it is one of the components of the metabolic syndrome. Metabolic syndrome consists of: - Obesity marked by abdominal fat - Unhealthy lipid levels (low HDL levels, high triglycerides) - High blood pressure - Insulin resistance Metabolic syndrome is a pre-diabetic condition that is significantly associated with heart disease and higher mortality rates from all causes. Obesity is also strongly associated with type 2 diabetes, which itself poses a significant risk for high cholesterol levels and heart disease. Type 2 diabetes An in-depth report on the causes, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of type 2 diabetes. \|Read Article Now\|\|Book Mark Article\| Children who are overweight are at higher risk for high triglycerides and low HDL, which may be directly related to later unhealthy cholesterol levels. Childhood LDL levels and body mass index (BMI) are strongly associated with cardiovascular risk during adulthood. Overweight and obese children who have high cholesterol should also get tested for high blood pressure, diabetes, and other conditions associated with metabolic syndrome. Other Medical ConditionsHigh Blood Pressure High blood pressure (hypertension) does not affect your cholesterol level, does contribute to the thickening of the heart's blood vessel walls, which can worsen atherosclerosis (accumulated deposits of cholesterol in the blood vessels). High blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes all act together to increase the risk for developing heart disease. High blood pressure An in-depth report on the causes, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of high blood pressure. \|Read Article Now\|\|Book Mark Article\| Low thyroid levels (hypothyroidism) are associated with elevated total and LDL cholesterol and triglyceride levels. Treating the thyroid condition can significantly reduce cholesterol levels. Research is mixed on whether mild hypothyroidism (subclinical hypothyroidism) is associated with unhealthy cholesterol levels. An in-depth report on the causes, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of hypothyroidism. \|Read Article Now\|\|Book Mark Article\| Hypothyroidism is a decreased activity of the thyroid gland which may affect all body functions. In this condition, the rate of metabolism slows, causing mental and physical sluggishness. The most severe form of hypothyroidism is myxedema, which is a medical emergency.Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome Women with this endocrine disorder may have increased risks for high triglyceride and low HDL levels. This risk may be due to the higher levels of the male hormone testosterone associated with this disease. Other Risk FactorsMedications Certain medications such as specific antiseizure drugs, corticosteroids, and isotretinoin (Accutane) may increase lipid levels. Atherosclerosis is a common disorder of the arteries. Fat, cholesterol, and other substances collect in the walls of arteries. Larger accumulations are called atheromas or plaque and can damage artery walls and block blood flow. Severely restricted blood flow in the heart muscle leads to symptoms such as chest pain. Unhealthy cholesterol, particularly low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, forms a fatty substance called plaque, which builds up on the arterial walls of the heart. Smaller plaques remain soft, but older, larger plaques tend to develop fibrous caps with calcium deposits. The long-term result is atherosclerosis. The heart is endangered in two ways by this process: - The calcified and inelastic arteries eventually become narrower (a condition known as stenosis). As this process continues, blood flow slows and prevents sufficient oxygen-rich blood from reaching the heart. This condition can lead to angina (chest pain) and when atherosclerotic plaques are damaged (e.g. Rupture) can lead to sudden blockages and heart attack. When damage is sufficient to impair the pumping of the heart, heart failure can result. - Smaller unstable plaques may rupture, triggering the formation of blood clots on their surface. The blood clots block the arteries and are important causes of heart attack. This process is accelerated by other risk factors including high blood pressure, smoking, obesity, diabetes, and a sedentary lifestyle. When more than one of these risk factors is present, the risk is compounded.Coronary Artery Disease The end result of atherosclerosis is coronary artery disease. Coronary artery disease, sometimes referred to simply as "heart disease" or ischemic heart disease, is the leading cause of death in the U.S. Coronary artery disease An in-depth report on the causes, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of coronary artery disease (CAD). \|Read Article Now\|\|Book Mark Article\| Studies consistently report a higher risk for death from heart disease with high LDL cholesterol levels. Even moderate elevation of LDL levels increases the chance of heart disease when other risk factors are present. The higher the cholesterol, the greater the risk. Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD Peripheral artery disease (PAD) is caused by the buildup of plaque in the feet, legs, hands, and arms. It most often occurs in the legs. PAD is associated with atherosclerosis. Lower levels of HDL and high triglyceride levels also increase the risk for PAD. Peripheral artery disease An in-depth report on the causes, diagnosis, and treatment of peripheral artery disease (PAD). \|Read Article Now\|\|Book Mark Article\| StrokeHaving adequate levels of HDL may be the most important lipid-related factor for preventing ischemic stroke, a type of stroke caused by blockage of the arteries that carry blood to the brain. HDL may even reduce the risk for hemorrhagic stroke, a much less common type of stroke caused by bleeding in the brain that is associated with low overall cholesterol levels. The build-up of plaque in the internal carotid artery may lead to narrowing and irregularity of the artery's channel, preventing proper blood flow to the brain. More commonly, as the narrowing worsens, clots form on the plaque and can break free, travel to the brain, and block blood vessels that supply blood to the brain. This leads to stroke, with possible paralysis, speech impairment, or other deficits. The effects of high total cholesterol and LDL levels on ischemic stroke are less clear. Some research suggests that the risk for ischemic stroke increases when total cholesterol is high. Other studies suggest that high cholesterol poses a risk for stroke only when specific proteins associated with inflammation are present. An in-depth report on the causes, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of stroke. \|Read Article Now\|\|Book Mark Article\| There are no warning signs for high LDL and other unhealthy cholesterol levels. When symptoms finally occur, they usually take the form of angina (chest pain), heart attack, or stroke. When buildups occur in leg arteries, patients may have discomfort with walking (called "claudication"). In men, erectile dysfunction may be another symptom of atherosclerosis. Atherosclerosis is a disease of the arteries in which fatty material is deposited in the vessel wall, resulting in narrowing and eventual impairment of blood flow. Severely restricted blood flow in the arteries to the heart muscle leads to symptoms such as chest pain. Atherosclerosis shows no symptoms until a complication occurs. Blood tests can easily measure cholesterol levels. A lipid profile includes: LDL, total cholesterol, HDL, and triglycerides. It is also possible to measure LDL levels by themselves, but LDL levels can be reliably calculated using the other values, unless the triglycerides are very high. To obtain an accurate cholesterol reading, doctors advise: - Do not eat or drink anything but water for 8 to 12 hours before the test. (Some recent studies indicate that fasting is not really necessary for routine screening. Check with your doctor.) - If the test results are abnormal, a second test should be performed between 1 week and 2 months after the first test. Periodic cholesterol testing is recommended in all adults, but the major national guidelines differ on the age to start testing. - Recommended starting ages are between 20 to 35 for men and 20 to 45 for women. - Adults with normal cholesterol levels do not need to have the test repeated for 5 years unless changes occur in lifestyle (including weight gain and diet). - Adults with a history of elevated cholesterol, diabetes, kidney problems, heart disease, and other conditions require more frequent testing. Screening with a fasting lipid profile is recommended for children who: - Have risk factors such as a family history of high cholesterol, and history of heart attacks before age 55 for men and before age 65 for women. Screening should begin as early as age 2 and no later than age 10. - Are overweight or obese (above the 85th percentile for weight) or have diabetes. If the child's cholesterol level tests normal, retesting is recommended in 3 to 5 years. People already being treated for high cholesterol may have tests periodically to ensure treatment is working and is being tolerated (especially by the liver). However the new guidelines de-emphasize repeat testing. If the risk-based calculation for statin therapy is uncertain, the doctor may order three additional tests recommended by the ACC/AHA guidelines: - C-reactive Protein (CRP). CRP is produced in the liver. CRP levels increase when there is inflammation throughout the body. A CRP level 2.0 mg/L or greater indicates increased risk for heart disease. CRP is measured by a blood test. - Ankle-Brachial Index (ABI). The ABI test compares blood pressure readings in the ankles and arms to evaluate circulation. Measurements below 0.9 suggest possible blockage of the arteries. The ABI test is similar to a blood pressure exam but the cuff is placed around the ankles. This test is typically used to diagnose peripheral artery disease. - Coronary Calcium Scan. A computed tomography (CT) scan is used to detect calcium deposits on the arterial walls. A high coronary artery calcification score (above 300 Agatston units) indicates increased risk for heart disease. Routine screening with this test is not recommended. Other possible tests your doctor may order include: - Carotid Intima-Media Thickness. This test uses an ultrasound scan to obtain a very precise measurement of the wall of the carotid artery. If your thickness is high your doctor may prescribe drug therapy. - Lp(a). Lipoprotein(a) is a lipoprotein that is associated with coronary artery disease and stroke. However, there is no proven benefit to date that lowering these levels will result in fewer cardiovascular events. If your levels are elevated, your doctor may prescribe lipid-lowering therapy. - LP PLA2. Lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 is a marker of vascular inflammation which is associated with heart disease and stroke. If your levels are elevated, your doctor may prescribe lipid-lowering therapy. - Apoliporotein B (apoB or apoB 100). Apolipoprotein B is a component of lipoproteins like LDL and is associated with cardiovascular disease risk. Similar to LDL-C, apoB may be used to help with decisions on lipid-lowering therapy. General Treatment Approaches Lifestyle changes (such as diet, weight control, exercise, and smoking cessation) are the first line of defense for treating unhealthy cholesterol levels. If levels and other risk factors still remain high, drug treatment is an effective next step. Statins are the first-line drugs for lowering high LDL levels, and reducing the risk for heart disease and stroke. A statin drug is used along with healthy lifestyle habits, not in place of them. In the past, the choices regarding when and how aggressively to treat hyperlipidemia was driven largely by your LDL and HDL cholesterol level. Doctors advised most adults to target a total cholesterol level of less than 200 mg/dL and an LDL of less than 100 mg/dL. In some people at very high risk, the targeted level was even lower. However, experts on cholesterol realized there was no solid scientific evidence to support the target number treatment approach, especially in people with no cardiovascular disease. As a result, newer guidelines take what is called a risk-based approach of treating the patient, rather than just treating the lab result. Along with the cholesterol level, other factors which may increase a patient's risk for heart disease are considered. All of this information is then used to decide the following: - Whether to use statin drugs to treat unhealthy cholesterol levels - How to choose between lower and higher doses of lower and higher potency statins - Which other drugs may be used Candidates for Statin Therapy Secondary prevention refers to treating unhealthy cholesterol levels in those with a history of heart disease, stroke, or narrowing of the arteries to the brain, intestines, kidneys, or legs (cardiovascular disease). - Almost all people with these health problems will be treated with higher doses of statins, if tolerated. - For most of these patients, the aim is to reduce LDL-cholesterol by at least half. - In people with very high risk for these problems, the aim with statin therapy is to reduce LDL-C to below 70 mg/dL. - Other drugs may be needed to reach these goals, such as PCSK9 inhibitors and ezetimibe. Primary prevention refers to treatment of people who have no known cardiovascular disease but are thought to be at increased risk. Treatment recommendations differ based upon a person's risk of cardiovascular disease and the risk for side effects caused by statins. If you have diabetes and a LDL-C level between 70 and 189 mg/dL (1.8 to 4.9 mmol/L): - In those 40 to 75 years of age, you will be given moderate doses of statins. The goal is to reduce your LDL-C I by a little less than half. - In those with many risk factors for ASCVD, or those 50 to 75 years of age, you may be given higher doses of statins. The goal is to reduce LDL-C by over half. If you do not have diabetes, are between the ages of 40 and 75 years, and have a LDL-C level between 70 and 189 mg/dL (1.8 to 4.9 mmol/L): - You or your healthcare provider should calculate your risk of having a heart attack or stroke within 10 years. (See section on risk calculators below). - In those who have a 7.5% or higher risk, moderate doses of statins are most often recommended. The goal is to reduce your LDL-C I by a little less than half. - In those with a very high risk of heart attack or stroke, higher doses of statins may be used. - In those who have less than a 7.5% risk of heart attack or stroke, most of the time your provider will discuss lifestyle changes. If you are an adult with a LDL-C 190 mg/dL (4.9 mmol/L) or higher: - You will likely be given higher doses of statins. - If the LDL-C level remains above 100 mg/dL (2.6 mmol/L), adding ezetimibe or a PCSK9 inhibitor may be considered. Adults over 75 years who are otherwise healthy may be a candidate for drug therapy for elevated cholesterol levels. However, careful consideration should take place for older adults who appear to have a limited life span due to other illnesses that are present. Heart Disease Risk Calculation The ACC/AHA has designed a special "risk calculator" tools.acc.org/ASCVD-Risk-Estimator-Plus/#!/calculate/estimate that health care providers can use to calculate a person's 10-year cardiovascular disease risk. The ACC/AHA recommends that doctors enter the following factors into a "risk calculator" to determine a person's overall risk for cardiovascular disease: - Race (white, African American, or other) - Total cholesterol - LDL (bad cholesterol) - HDL (good cholesterol) - Blood pressure (systolic and diastolic blood pressure) - Currently treated for blood pressure - Currently treated with a statin - Currently treated with aspirin This risk calculator is designed for people age 40 to 79 years old who do not have existing or prior heart disease. If the risk calculation seems uncertain, a doctor may consider additional factors. They include family history of premature heart disease, increased lifetime heart disease risk, and sometimes the results of other diagnostic tests such as C-reactive protein level, ankle-brachial index, and coronary artery calcification score. The ACC/AHA's position is that individual patient preferences are an important part of the new guidelines. All treatment options should begin with a conversation between the doctor and patient, including discussing how people feel about the risks and benefits of drug therapy. In addition, lifestyle modification is the most important component for heart disease risk reduction. As with other guidelines, recommendations are likely to change in the future when more information is available from large research studies. The most important first step for improving cholesterol levels and reducing the risk for heart disease and stroke is to make heart-healthy lifestyle changes. Even when drug therapy is used, lifestyle measures are critical companions. General Guidelines for Healthy Lifestyle The main lifestyle principles to reduce unhealthy cholesterol levels include: - Consume a heart-healthy diet (with emphasis on vegetables, fruits, and whole grains) - Engage in regular physical activity (30 minutes per day for a total of 150 minutes per week of moderate intensity or 75 minutes per week of vigorous exercise) - Maintain a healthy body weight (under a doctor's supervision when necessary) - Don't smoke - Control high blood pressure and diabetes (for people who also have these conditions) The American College of Cardiology (ACC) and American Heart Association (AHA) joint dietary guidelines for reducing unhealthy cholesterol levels recommend: - Make vegetables, fruits, and whole grains the focus of your diet - Include low-fat dairy products, poultry, fish, legumes (beans), nontropical vegetable oils, and nuts - Limit intake of sweets, sugar-sweetened beverages, and red meats There are many dietary approaches for protecting heart health, such as the Mediterranean Diet, which emphasizes fruits, vegetables, and healthy types of fats. The DASH diet is very effective for patients with high blood pressure and others who need to restrict sodium (salt) intake. Other heart-healthy diet plans include the American Heart Association diet and the USDA Food Pattern. Doctors generally agree on the following recommendations for heart protection: - Choose fiber-rich food (whole grains, legumes, and nuts) as the main source of carbohydrates, along with a high intake of fruits and vegetables. Walnuts in particular have cholesterol-lowering properties and are a good source of antioxidants and alpha-linolenic acid. - Avoid saturated fats (found mostly in animal products and tropical plant oils) and trans fatty acids (found in hydrogenated fats and many commercial products and fast foods). Choose unsaturated fats (particularly omega-3 fatty acids found in vegetable [olive, canola] and fish oils). For dairy products, choose nonfat or low fat over whole fat. - For proteins, choose fish, poultry, and beans instead of red meat. - Fish is particularly heart protective. It contains the omega-3 fatty acids docosahexaenoic (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic (EPA), which have significant benefits for the heart, particularly for lowering triglyceride levels. Fish oil supplements do not generally provide the same benefits as fish. - Avoid added sugars such as those found in sugar-sweetened beverages. - Limit sodium (salt) intake to no more than 2,400 mg a day. Some people, such as those with high blood pressure, may need to restrict sodium intake to no more than 1,500 mg/day. After starting a heart healthy diet, it generally takes an average of 3 to 6 months before any noticeable reduction in cholesterol occurs. However, some people see improved levels in as few as 4 weeks. Heart healthy diet An in-depth report on how to build the best diet for your heart's health. \|Read Article Now\|\|Book Mark Article\| A healthy weight is very important for healthy cholesterol levels. For people who are overweight or obese, losing even a modest amount of weight has significant health benefits -- even if an ideal weight is not achieved. There is a direct relationship between the amount of weight lost and an improvement in cholesterol. In particular, triglyceride is closely linked to weight: a sustained 3% to 5% weight loss can significantly reduce unhealthy triglyceride levels. Even greater amounts of weight loss can help improve LDL and HDL levels. Weight loss also helps reduce the need for blood pressure medication, improve blood glucose (sugar) levels, and lower the risk for developing type 2 diabetes. Obesity is now considered and treated as a disease, not a lifestyle issue. Doctors' understanding of weight issues has evolved. Scientific evidence has shown that weight gain is a complex process, and weight loss involves more than simple will power. What is clear is that excess weight contributes to many health problems, including increased risk for cardiovascular disease conditions. Your doctor should check your body mass index (BMI) at least once a year. You can check your BMI with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website BMI calculator. The BMI estimates how much you should weigh based on your height: - Overweight is a BMI of 25 to 29.9 - Obese is a BMI of over 30 Guidelines recommend your doctor create an individualized weight loss plan for you if you are overweight or obese. The plan should include three components: - Reduced Calorie Diet. Your doctor should help you select an eating plan that will cut calories and perhaps restrict certain food types (such as fats or carbohydrates). Your doctor may make specific recommendations depending on your cholesterol profile and other factors. For example, a low-calorie, low-fat diet can be very effective for reducing LDL levels. (Your personal and cultural food preferences should also be considered.) Your doctor may refer you to a registered dietician or nutritionist for counseling. - Behavioral Strategies. People need to consider how to set weight loss goals, monitor weight, track food and calorie intake, change shopping habits and food storage environments, and establish fitness routines. People may benefit from individual, group, or telephone counseling sessions. - Increased Physical Activity. People should aim for 200 to 300 minutes of physical activity a week (about 40 minutes a day of moderate to intensive aerobic exercise). A weight loss of 5% to 10% within the first 6 months of starting these changes can help improve cholesterol levels and other health indicators. If you have risk factors for heart disease or diabetes and do not achieve weight loss from diet and lifestyle changes alone, your doctor may recommend adding a prescription medication to your weight loss plan. For people who have a very high BMI and several cardiovascular risk factors (such as diabetes and high blood pressure), bariatric surgery may be considered. Inactivity is a major risk factor for coronary artery disease, on par with smoking, unhealthy cholesterol, and high blood pressure. In fact, studies suggest that people who change their diet in order to control cholesterol only achieve a lower risk for heart disease when they also follow a regular aerobic exercise program. Resistance (weight) training offers a complementary benefit to aerobics. Even moderate exercise reduces the risk of heart attack and stroke. Current guidelines recommend at least 40 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity on three or more days per week for a total of 200 to 300 minutes per week. Cigarette smoking lowers HDL and is directly responsible for many deaths from heart disease. The importance of breaking this habit cannot be emphasized enough. Once a person quits smoking, HDL cholesterol levels rise within weeks or months to levels that are equal to their nonsmoking peers. Passive smoking also reduces HDL levels and increases the risk of heart disease in people exposed to second-hand smoke. Cigarette smoking is also associated with high blood pressure. A number of studies have found heart protection from moderate intake of alcohol (one or two drinks a day). Moderate amounts of alcohol may help raise HDL levels. Although red wine is most often cited for healthful properties, any type of alcoholic beverage appears to have similar benefit. However, the potential benefits of moderate drinking may be offset by the risk for alcohol use disorder and other diseases. People with high triglyceride levels should drink sparingly, or not at all, because even small amounts of alcohol can significantly increase blood triglycerides. Pregnant women, women at risk for breast cancer, anyone who cannot drink moderately, and people with liver disease should not drink at all. Because alcohol can be toxic to the heart muscle, some patients with heart disease, specifically heart failure, may be counseled to avoid alcohol. Drinking alcohol in any amount may increase your risk for certain types of cancer. Herbs and Supplements Manufacturers of herbal remedies and dietary supplements do not need FDA approval to sell their products. Just like a drug, herbs and supplements can affect the body's chemistry, and therefore have the potential to produce side effects that may be harmful. There have been a number of reported cases of serious and even lethal side effects from herbal products. Always check with your doctor before using any herbal remedies or dietary supplements. The following natural remedies are of interest for cholesterol control: - Garlic. Contrary to popular belief, neither raw garlic nor garlic supplements significantly reduce LDL cholesterol levels. - Policosanol. Policosanol is a nutritional supplement derived from sugar cane that has been promoted as having lipid-lowering benefits. However, rigorous research has not shown that policosanol has any effect on reducing LDL levels. - Red Yeast Rice. Red yeast rice is used in traditional Chinese medicine. The FDA warns that red yeast rice dietary supplement products sold as treatments for high cholesterol contain the same chemicals as the statin drugs, but these products are not standardized for purity, safety, and effectiveness. Statins are the most effective drugs for lowering LDL (bad cholesterol) levels and reducing the risk for heart disease and stroke. Statins inhibit the liver enzyme HMG-CoA reductase, which the body uses to manufacture cholesterol. Current guidelines from the American College of Cardiology and American Heart Association recommend a statin drug as the first-line drug treatment for patients at risk for cardiovascular disease. Other cholesterol-lowering medications are not as effective as statins and are not recommended, except in rare cases. Depending on your LDL cholesterol level, presence of atherosclerotic heart disease, 10-year risk for heart disease, and whether or not you have diabetes, your doctor will recommend either a moderate-intensity or high-intensity statin therapy dosage plan. The exact dosage will depend on the statin drug the doctor prescribes for you. Once you have been started on a statin the recommended dosage is maintained. For the most part, there is no need to monitor LDL levels for response. If a particular statin drug does not work for you, or if you experience significant side effects, your doctor may switch you to a different statin drug. In general, if multiple statins are not tolerated, other statin lowering medicines are generally not recommended.Brands Statins approved in the U.S. include: - Lovastatin (Mevacor, generic) - Pravastatin (Pravachol, generic) - Simvastatin (Zocor, generic) - Atorvastatin (Lipitor, generic) - Fluvastatin (Lescol) - Pitavastatin (Livalo) - Rosuvastatin (Crestor) Some statins come as fixed-dose combination drugs, which combine two drugs in one pill. Examples include: - Sitagliptin/simvastatin (Juvisync) for people with high cholesterol and diabetes. - Amlodipine/atorvastatin (Caduet) for people with high cholesterol and high blood pressure. - Ezetimibe/simvastatin (Vytorin) and ezetimibe/atorvastatin (Liptruzet), which combines two lipid-lowering drugs that act through different mechanisms: statins lower cholesterol synthesis in the body and ezetimibe lowers cholesterol absorption from the intestine. - Simvastatin/niacin (Simcor) and lovastatin/niacin (Advicor) also combine a statin with another lipid lowering drug, niacin, which lowers LDL and triglycerides, and raises HDL levels. Statin side effects may include diarrhea, constipation, upset stomach, muscle and joint pain, tendon problems, headache, fatigue, and forgetfulness or memory loss. More serious side effects include liver and muscle damage. People should immediately tell their doctor about any unusual muscle discomfort or weakness, fever, nausea or vomiting, or darkening of urine color. Statins can affect the results of liver tests. Liver enzyme tests should be performed before starting statin therapy. Liver damage is rare but can occur, particularly at higher doses. Tell your doctor if you have symptoms that indicate liver problems such as unusual fatigue, loss of appetite, upper belly pain, dark-colored urine or yellowing of the skin or whites of the eyes. A specific safety concern with statins is an uncommon muscle disease called myopathy, in which a person may experience muscle pains and certain lab tests may be elevated. Severe myopathy called rhabdomyolysis can lead to kidney failure, but fortunately its occurrence is very rare. The risk for myopathy/rhabdomyolysis is highest at higher doses and in older people (over 65 years), those with hyperthyroidism, and those with renal insufficiency (kidney disease). Rosuvastatin (Crestor) may in particular increase the risk for myopathy, especially when given at the highest dose level (40 mg). The FDA advises that people should not start therapy at a high dose. In addition, people of Asian heritage appear to metabolize the drug differently and should start treatment at the lowest rosuvastatin dose (5 mg) and 20 mg is generally considered the maximum dose for these people. Maximal doses of simvastatin and lovastatin also appear to increase the risk of myopathy.Other Safety Concerns Statins are recommended as the best drugs for improving cholesterol and lipid levels in people with type 1 or type 2 diabetes. However, they may increase blood glucose levels in some people, especially when taken in high doses. They may also increase the risk for developing type 2 diabetes in people with risk factors. There is evidence that statins may increase the risk for developing cataracts.Interactions with Drugs and Food Statins may have some adverse interactions with other drugs. People should tell their doctors about any other medications they are taking. Medications that should not be taken along with statins include protease inhibitors, telaprevir, cyclosporine, macrolide antibiotics, and certain antifungals. Grapefruit juice and Seville oranges can increase the blood levels of certain statins. Other Cholesterol-Lowering Drugs Statins are the primary drugs for treating cholesterol and reducing cardiovascular disease risk. They have replaced the other drugs that were used for lowering cholesterol. These other drugs are still available but the value of their use when statins have not been tolerated or successful enough remains unclear.Fibrates Fibrates are generally reserved for people with extremely high triglyceride levels or people with high cholesterol who cannot tolerate a statin drug. Gemfibrozil (Lopid, generic) is the most commonly prescribed fibrate. Other fibrates include fenofibrate (TriCor, Lofibra) and fenofibric acid (Trilipix). These drugs have many side effects. They can cause gallstones, abnormal heart rhythms, and muscle problems (myopathy), which may lead to kidney damage. A fibrate should only be carefully used in combination with a statin because of increased risk for myopathy. For many years, high doses of niacin (nicotinic acid or vitamin B3) were considered a treatment option for low HDL cholesterol and high LDL cholesterol and triglyceride levels. Research now suggests that niacin does not add to the benefit of a statin alone for reducing the risk of cardiovascular events, including heart attacks and stroke. In addition, niacin can cause unpleasant and potentially dangerous side effects. Therefore, its use has been declining. Niacin/statin combinations include simvastatin/niacin (Simcor) and lovastatin/niacin (Advicor).Bile-Acid Binding Drugs Bile-acid binding drugs are also known as bile acid resins or bile acid sequestrants. They reduce LDL levels. Brands include cholestyramine (generic), colesevelam (Welchol), and colestipol (Colestid, generic). Bile acid resins commonly cause constipation, heartburn, gas, and other gastrointestinal problems, side effects that many people cannot tolerate. These drugs may increase the risk for osteoporosis, elevate triglyceride levels, and interfere with the absorption of other medications.Ezetimibe Ezetimibe (Zetia) blocks absorption of cholesterol that comes from food. It helps reduce LDL cholesterol and is often used together with statins. Ezetimibe is used in people with cardiovascular disease who are at very high risk, if high-intensity statin therapy does not lower LDL-cholesterol enough by itself. Ezetimibe can also be used in patients without cardiovascular disease but with very high LDL-cholesterol that is not lowered enough with statins alone. Vytorin is a combination of ezetimibe and the statin simvastatin in a single pill. Liptruzet combines ezetimibe and the statin atorvastatin in a single pill.Prescription Fish Oil Supplements Lovaza and Vascepa are prescription forms of omega-3 fish oil, which may be prescribed to help lower triglyceride in people who have very high levels. Recent research has questioned the benefits of fish oil supplements for preventing heart attack and stroke.Other Drugs Mipomersen (Kynamro) and lomitapide (Juxtapid) are approved specifically for treatment of homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia, a very rare genetic condition that can cause heart attack and stroke before the age of 30.Proprotein convertase subtilisin kexin 9 (PCSK9) inhibitors A new group of drugs that inhibit a certain enzyme have been released. These drugs not only are able to reduce LDL cholesterol by 60% to 70%, but also appear to reduce the rate of heart attack, death from heart disease, and mortality in all causes. Two drugs have been approved by the FDA -- evolocumab (Repatha) and alirocumab (Praluent). They are a type of drug called monoclonal antibodies. These drugs are quite expensive. Their exact role in the treatment of elevated LDL cholesterol levels remains to be fully determined. They are used for people with inherited cholesterol disorders and those who are unable to take statin drugs. PCSK9 inhibitors are also recommended in people with very high risk or with very high LDL-cholesterol for whom high-intensity statin treatment does not lower LDL-cholesterol levels enough. - American College of Cardiology -- www.acc.org - American Heart Association -- www.heart.org - National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute -- www.nhlbi.nih.gov AIM-HIGH Investigators, Boden WE, Probstfield JL, et al. 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Eckel RH, Jakicic JM, Ard JD, et al. 2013 AHA/ACC guideline on lifestyle management to reduce cardiovascular risk: a report of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Task Force on Practice Guidelines. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2014;63(25 Pt B):2960-2984. PMID: 24239922 www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24239922. Fox CS, Golden SH, Anderson C, et al. Update on prevention of cardiovascular disease in adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus in light of recent evidence: a scientific statement from the American Heart Association and the American Diabetes Association. Circulation. 2015;132(8):691-718. PMID: 26246173 www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26246173. Goff DC Jr, Lloyd-Jones DM, Bennett G, et al. 2013 ACC/AHA guideline on the assessment of cardiovascular risk: a report of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Task Force on Practice Guidelines. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2014;63(25 Pt B):2935-2959. PMID: 24239921 www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24239921. Grundy SM, Stone NJ, Bailey AL, et al. 2018 AHA/ACC/AACVPR/AAPA/ABC/ACPM/ADA/AGS/APhA/ASPC/NLA/PCNA Guideline on the management of blood cholesterol: A report of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Task Force on Clinical Practice Guidelines. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2018;pii: S0735-1097(18)39034-X. PMID: 30423393 www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30423393. Hartley L, May MD, Loveman E, Colquitt JL, Rees K. Dietary fibre for the primary prevention of cardiovascular disease. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2016;1:CD011472. PMID: 26758499 www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26758499. Jensen MD, Ryan DH, Apovian CM, et al. 2013 AHA/ACC/TOS guideline for the management of overweight and obesity in adults: a report of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Task Force on Practice Guidelines and The Obesity Society. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2014;63(25 Pt B):2985-3023. PMID: 24239920 www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24239920. Leuschen J, Mortensen EM, Frei CR, Mansi EA, Panday V, Mansi I. Association of statin use with cataracts: a propensity score-matched analysis. JAMA Ophthalmol. 2013;131(11):1427-1434. PMID: 24052188 www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24052188. Lee JW, Morris JK, Wald NJ. Grapefruit Juice and Statins. Am J Med. 2016;129(1):26-29. PMID: 26299317 www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26299317. Lloyd-Jones DM, Hong Y, Labarthe D, et al. Defining and setting national goals for cardiovascular health promotion and disease reduction: The American Heart Association's strategic impact goal through 2020 and beyond. Circulation. 2010;121(4):586-613. PMID: 20089546 www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20089546. McGuinness B, Craig D, Bullock R, Passmore P. Statins for the prevention of dementia. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2016;1:CD003160. PMID: 26727124 www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26727124. Miller M, Stone NJ, Ballantyne C, et al. Triglycerides and cardiovascular disease: a scientific statement from the American Heart Association. Circulation. 2011;123(20):2292-2333. PMID: 21502576 www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21502576. Mozaffarian D. Nutrition and cardiovascular and metabolic diseases. In: Zipes DP, Libby P, Bonow RO, Mann DL, Tomaselli GF, Braunwald E, eds. Braunwald's Heart Disease: A Textbook of Cardiovascular Medicine. 11th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2019:chap 49. Naci H, Brugts J, Ades T. Comparative tolerability and harms of individual statins: a study-level network meta-analysis of 246 955 participants from 135 randomized, controlled trials. Circ Cardiovasc Qual Outcomes. 2013;6(4):390-399. PMID: 23838105 www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23838105. Navarese EP, Robinson JG, Kowalewski M, et al. Association between baseline LDL-C level and total and cardiovascular mortality after LDL-C lowering: a systematic review and meta-analysis. JAMA. 2018;319(15):1566-1579. PMID: 29677301 www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29677301. Navarese EP, Kolodziejczak M, Schulze V, et al. Effects of proprotein convertase Subtilisin/Kexin type 9 antibodies in adults with hypercholesterolemia: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Ann Intern Med. 2015;163(1):40-51. PMID: 25915661 www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25915661. Nordestgaard BG, Varbo A. Triglycerides and cardiovascular disease. Lancet. 2014;384(9943):626-635. PMID: 25131982 www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25131982. Pencina MJ, Navar-Boggan AM, D'Agostino RB Sr, et al. Application of new cholesterol guidelines to a population-based sample. N Engl J Med. 2014;370(15):1422-1431. PMID: 24645848 www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24645848. Ridker PM, Libby P, Buring JE. Risk markers and the primary prevention of cardiovascular disease. In: Zipes DP, Libby P, Bonow RO, Mann DL, Tomaselli GF, Braunwald E, eds. Braunwald's Heart Disease: A Textbook of Cardiovascular Medicine. 11th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2019:chap 45. Robinson JG, Farnier M, Krempf M, et al. Efficacy and safety of alirocumab in reducing lipids and cardiovascular events. N Engl J Med. 2015;372(16):1489-1499.PMID: 25773378 www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25773378. Strandberg TE, Kolehmainen L, Vuorio A. Evaluation and treatment of older patients with hypercholesterolemia: a clinical review. JAMA. 2014; 312(11):1136-1144. PMID: 25226479 www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25226479. Stone NJ, Robinson JG, Lichtenstein AH, et al. 2013 ACC/AHA guideline on the treatment of blood cholesterol to reduce atherosclerotic cardiovascular risk in adults: a report of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Task Force on Practice Guidelines. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2014;63(25 Pt B):2889-2934. PMID: 24239923 www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24239923. Stone NJ, Robinson JG, Lichtenstein AH, et al. Treatment of blood cholesterol to reduce atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease risk in adults: synopsis of the 2013 American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association cholesterol guideline. Ann Intern Med. 2014;160(5):339-343. PMID: 24474185 www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24474185. U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. Draft Recommendation Statement. Statin use for the primary prevention of cardiovascular disease in adults: preventive medication. www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org/Page/Document/draft-recommendation-statement175/statin-use-in-adults-preventive-medication1. Review Date: 10/1/2018 Reviewed By: Glenn Gandelman, MD, MPH, FACC Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine at New York Medical College, and in private practice specializing in cardiovascular disease in Greenwich, CT. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, Brenda Conaway, Editorial Director, and the A.D.A.M. Editorial team. 03-07-19: Editorial update.
Understanding the reasoning behind a leap year can be perplexing with the way calendars have evolved through the centuries. Understanding the reasoning behind a leap year can be perplexing with the way calendars have evolved through the centuries. The year 2008 is a leap year, which means that it has 366 days instead of the usual 365. Years with 365 days in it are refereed to as common years. An extra day is added in a leap year called an intercalary day or a leap day. This occurs on the last day in February. The leap year was introduced to align the Earth’s rotation around the sun with the seasons. It takes approximately 365.2422 days – or to be precise, 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes and 46 seconds – for the Earth to travel around the sun in one year. A solar year is the time it takes the Earth to complete its orbit around the Sun. Since the Earth does not rotate around the sun in exactly 365 days, a leap year was inserted to align the seasons with the months. About every four years, the Gregorian calendar, the calendar that is currently in use in the United States, is given one extra day to account for the additional time the Earth requires to travel around the sun. It may not seem like much of a difference, but after a few years those extra quarter days in the solar year begin to add up. Using a calendar with 365 days every year would result in a loss of 0.2422 days or almost six hours per year. After four years, the four extra quarter days would make the calendar fall behind the solar year by about a day. Over the course of a century, the difference between the solar year and the calendar year would be about 25 days. The Gregorian calendar has a number of weaknesses despite it’s widespread use. It cannot be divided into equal halves or quarters, the number of days per month is haphazard and months or even years may begin on any day of the week. The Gregorian calendar is also off by 27 seconds every year, which produces one extra day every 3,236 years. Prior to adoption of the Gregorian calendar ordered by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582, the Julian calendar was widely used. The Julian calendar was introduced by Julius Caesar in 46 BC. In the Gregorian calendar, the calendar used by most modern countries, certain criteria must be met to determine which years will be leap years. Every year that is divisible by four is a leap year. Of those years, if it can be divided by 100, it is not a leap year unless the year is divisible by 400. In ancient times, it was customary to have lunar or moon calendars, with 12 or 13 months every year. To align the calendar with the seasons, the 13th month was inserted as a “leap month” every two or three years. Many countries, especially those in Asia, still use lunar calendars. The cycles of the sun and moon do not synchronize well. A lunar year consists of 12 lunar cycles that are each 29 and a half days long and is 354 days, 8 hours long. After three years, a lunar calendar would deviate from the solar calendar by 33 days. The Gregorian calendar has a 400-year cycle until it repeats the same weekdays for every year, Feb. 29, 2008, is a Friday and Feb. 29, 2408, is a Friday. The Gregorian calendar has 97 leap years during those 400 years. The longest time between two leap years is eight years. The last time that occurred was between 1896 and 1904. The next time will be between 2096 and 2104. The information sited in this story was collected from www.infoplease.com and www.timeanddate.com. Lake Sun Leader
MONDAY, 3 FEBRUARY 2014 How can life bring water to the boil? Humans now manage it conveniently with fire, kettles, and even laser beams. Nature, on the other hand, has struggled with the process of boiling water, and creating microscopic bubbles, for millions of years. However, when successful, the process performs several important functions for plants and animals alike. Furthermore, scientists have learnt that initiating similar reactions in patients can have important medical benefits. Like most substances, water has a boiling point that decreases with lower pressure and, at sufficiently low pressure, that boiling point can go below room temperature, right down to 0°C. The easiest way to naturally stimulate this process is by swimming. If something moves through a body of water, it generates regions of low pressure around it, as the water rushes into the space it leaves. Humans and small fish do not swim quickly enough to cause the pressure differences needed, but strong swimmers like dolphins and tuna do. At speeds of about 10 meters per second, tiny bubbles form behind their flippers. The bubbles that form are not particularly hot, but they are generally unstable. The gas within the bubble cannot retain enough pressure to counteract the water tension and the surrounding pressure, so they collapse. For such a tiny bubble, this reaction releases huge amounts of energy, enough to superheat the surrounding region to thousands of degrees. The water has been stretched to breaking point, leaving a void or cavity inhabited only by a few water molecules–hence, the process is called cavitation. Temperatures above 5000°C are observed when the cavities implode, comparable to the surface of the sun, and little flashes of light can be seen. Dolphins appear to limit their top speed so that they do not experience this painful phenomenon, but tuna lack nerves in their bony fins and so are sometimes seen with pits and scarring from cavitation collapse. This damage is also a common sight on ship’s propellers. What is bad for fish is good for the shrimp that want to eat them. Pistol shrimp have evolved to make one pincer fit neatly into a groove on the other. This movement forces a jet of water out, at high speed but very low pressure, causing cavitation. The sound produced can be deafening; at around 200 decibels, they compete with whales for the title of loudest creature in the ocean, and the noise regularly befuddles sonars. This event is accompanied by a flash of light and is used to communicate. It is also a deadly weapon. They get the name ‘pistol shrimp’ from using the jet to stun or even kill its prey. If you think you might want one of these cool creatures in your aquarium, be careful–the sonic blasts can crack glass. Mantis shrimp also get in on the action. While they have sharp claws, used directly to spear their prey, they also move fast enough that they can cause cavitation. This ability means they will often stun prey even if they miss. Cavitation is not just a problem for sea creatures though–it can also happen high above sea level. Trees need to raise water tens of metres into the air to reach their tips, and to get water to rise up, you need a pressure difference between the top and bottom of the tree is needed to counteract the force of gravity. To move water higher, a higher pressure is needed, but 1 atmospheric pressure can only get water to go up about 10 metres – quite a problem for trees like the giant sequoia, which can far exceed 100 metres. An even greater pressure difference is needed if water is to actually move up the tree rather than remain stationary. Trees draw water up to the leaves by capillary action, which is the attractive force between the water and the surrounding surface. How high the water can go in a capillary depends on how narrow the container is. In the leaves, the tubes, called xylem, branch out, narrow enough to pull the water much higher than any tree. However, the tree saves material by making its trunk out of fewer, larger xylem. These xylem are too wide to make water rise more than about a meter, so the water must be drawn up to the leaves by a strong pressure gradient. At the bottom of the tree there is typically only atmospheric pressure, so to draw water up very far the pressure must be negative in most of the trunk. What does negative pressure mean? Basically it means that instead of the surroundings pushing on the water, they pull it along. In solids, this process would be called tension. Gases do not have strong intermolecular forces to stretch, but the bonds in liquids can be pulled–though only so far. According to most evidence, the solution is incredible–trees keep water in a metastable state, under sufficiently negative pressure that the bonds would break if there were a defect in the xylem where a tiny void could form. Water is strongly attracted to other water molecules and to the sides of the xylem, and needs to overcome these short-range bonds to become a gas, so it usually remains liquid. However, there is always a risk of an embolism–a bubble of gas–forming in the xylem. In droughts or frosts there is extra strain, so embolisms often occur. Air expands in the xylem and cannot sustain negative pressure, which means the xylem cannot carry water until the embolism has gone. Some trees rely on growing new xylem after each winter, but others also try to repair old xylem by increasing the pressure at the roots above atmospheric pressure. However, the pressure achieved at the roots is not enough to get the water to the top of the tree, so there is on-going debate as to exactly how trees manage to heal embolisms. Cavitation has provided great challenges for life, and it has generally been overcome–sometimes through ways humans cannot yet grasp. Though we may not always understand it, humans use cavitation in some medical situations. When treating kidney stones with ultrasonic blasts, some of the erosion of the kidney stones is caused by the sonic waves inflating gas bubbles until they collapse, causing powerful jets. Ultrasound treatment must work in bursts to allow this energy to dissipate, as the disruption can shield later sound waves or damage nearby tissue. Researchers have also developed a method of using microsecond laser pulses to generate two nearby bubbles, one after the other. These bubbles expand into each other and then pop. Whereas normally cavitation collapse produces shockwaves or jets in random directions, the two- bubble interaction allows a controlled, directional microjet that can be used to carve a pore of a few hundred nanometers in cell membranes without killing the cell. This process opens up the cell, so we can easily introduce new genetic material or large drugs into it, showing great potential for both detailed biological research and new therapies. These bubbles may be tiny, but they impact on life of all sizes–from tiny shrimp to huge trees. With a little forethought, we can change their reputation as a nuisance on ship’s propellers to that of a powerful tool to investigate and improve the functioning of our own bodies. Robin Lamboll is a 1st year PhD student in the Department of Physics
By Ruby Jean Velasquez Atlantic Cod, Gadus morhua, is an omnivorous fish that dwells in the upper North Atlantic Ocean. Referred to as “the beef of the sea,” cod became the primary fish sought for after the discovery of Newfoundland by John Cabot in 1497. During the late 16th century, the cod fishing industry soared and the English began vying with the French, Spanish, and Portuguese over the fish trade. Finally, during the 17th century, the English launched their own cod market and became the primary fish suppliers to the Iberian Peninsula and early English colonists. Due to the multiple nations involved in the cod trade, various methods for preserving the fish were created. During the 17th century, the most common method the English used to preserve fish was referred to as the “Newfoundland” cure, however, other techniques such as brining, or pickling, were also used. The process of the “Newfoundland” cure involved beheading, dressing, splitting, lightly salting, and drying the cod before storage. In contrast, evidence suggests that brining involved soaking the entire cod in brine. This curing information was then applied to data from the faunal remains found amid the wreckage of Warwick (1619) and Mary Rose (1545). Among Warwick’s faunal remains, 15 skeletal elements were identified as Gadus morhua. Of these identified bones, the spine and cranial findings were diagnostic because fish heads and backbones (spines) are usually removed during dressing and splitting. The presence of these bones infer that the cod aboard Warwick were brined. 31,793 fish bones were found aboard Mary Rose and over 90% of these bones were identified as Atlantic cod; however, unlike Warwick, no cranial specimens were found and 149 of the cod bones showed butchery marks, which are indicative of beheading and splitting the fish. The butchery marks suggest that the fish aboard Mary Rose underwent the “Newfoundland” cure, while Warwick’s cod were brined. It is possible that due to high humidity on ships, and the lack of opportunities for restocking on lengthy transatlantic voyages, the brined cod was preferable for stocking ships undergoing such journeys compared to naval ships that usually stayed close to European coasts. Unfortunately, the sample sized used here is too small. More historical accounts and archaeological evidence are needed to form a definitive explanation as to why each method was utilized.
You may have heard the terms SSL and TLS, but do you know what they are and how they’re different? SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) and TLS (Transport Layer Security) are methods of securing (encrypting) the connection between a mail client and mail server (Outlook and MDaemon, for example) or between mail servers (MDaemon and another mail server, for example). They are also methods for securing communications between websites and your browser. In this post, we’ll focus on its uses for encrypting email connections. Without SSL or TLS, data sent between mail clients and servers would be sent in plain text. This potentially opens up your business to theft of confidential information, credentials being stolen and accounts being used to send spam. SSL and TLS can be used to help protect that data. SSL and TLS allow users to securely transmit sensitive information such as social security numbers, credit card numbers, or medical information via email. How do SSL and TLS work? In order to use SSL or TLS, you’ll need an SSL certificate to establish an SSL/TLS connection. SSL certificates use a key pair (a public and private key) to establish a secure connection. When a mail client or server wants to connect to another server using SSL, an SSL connection is established using what’s known as an “SSL handshake.” During this process, three keys are used to establish an SSL connection – a public key, a private key, and a session key. Data encrypted with the public key can only be decrypted with the corresponding private key, and vice-versa. Encryption via the public & private keys only takes place during the SSL handshake to create a symmetric session key. Once the secure connection is made, all transmitted data is encrypted with the session key. This diagram provides a simplified overview of how an SSL connection is established. POP, IMAP and SMTP traffic are transmitted over designated ports. By default, IMAP uses port 143, POP uses port 110, and SMTP uses port 25. IMAP over SSL/TLS uses port 993. POP over SSL/TLS uses port 995, and SMTP over SSL/TLS uses port 465. For SSL to take place over these connection types, the mail client and mail server must both be configured to use the proper ports, and a valid SSL certificate must be installed on the server. What are the Differences between SSL and TLS? So what are the differences between SSL and TLS? TLS is the successor to SSL. It was introduced in 1999 as an upgrade to SSL 3.0, so TLS 1.0 is most similar to SSL 3.0 & is sometimes referred to as SSL 3.1, though TLS is not compatible with SSL 3.0. The version numbers for SSL are 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0, while TLS uses a different numbering pattern – 1.0, 1.1, 1.2. Because TLS is incompatible with SSL 3.0, the client and server must agree on which protocol to use. This is accomplished via what’s known as a “handshake.” If TLS cannot be used, the connection may fall back to SSL 3.0. Without getting too technical (there are plenty of online resources that explain the technical differences between SSL and TLS), here are some of the differences between SSL and TLS: TLS has more alert descriptions – When a problem is encountered with an SSL or TLS connection, the party who encountered the problem would send an alert message. SSL had the following 12 alert messages: - Close Notify - Unexpected Message - Bad Record MAC - Decompression Failure - Handshake Failure - No Certificate - Bad Certificate - Unsupported Certificate - Certificate Revoked - Certificate Expired - Certificate Unknown - Illegal Parameter TLS has the following additional alert messages: - Decryption Failed - Record Overflow - Unknown CA (Certificate Authority) - Access Denied - Decode Error - Decrypt Error - Export Restriction - Protocol Version - Insufficient Security - Internal Error - User Canceled - No Renegotiation - Unsupported Extension - Certificate Unobtainable - Unrecognized Name - Bad Certificate Status Response - Bad Certificate Hash Value - Unknown PSK - No Application Protocol TLS uses HMAC for message authentication – SSL verifies message integrity (to determine whether a message has been altered) using Message Authentication Codes (MACs) that use either MD5 or SHA. TLS, on the other hand, uses HMAC, allowing it to work with a wider variety of hash functions – not just MD5 and SHA. TLS uses a different set of cipher suites. A cipher suite is basically a combination of authentication, encryption, message authentication code (MAC) and key exchange algorithms used to negotiate security settings for a network connection. More information can be found here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cipher_suite Why are SSL and TLS Important? Businesses have a responsibility to protect financial data such as credit card information, and consumer records such as names, addresses, phone numbers, and medical information. Without some form of encryption, whether via an encrypted connection using SSL & TLS, or by encrypting the message itself using Virtru or OpenPGP, sensitive data may be vulnerable to hackers & other forms of unauthorized access. Which method is recommended? SSL 3.0 suffers from a well-known vulnerability called the POODLE vulnerability. POODLE stands for Padding Oracle On Downgraded Legacy Encryption. Click here for a thorough overview of this vulnerability and recommended actions. One workaround recommended in the overview is to completely disable the SSL 3.0 protocol on the mail client and server. This might not be practical, as it may affect legacy systems that are still using SSL 3.0. We recommend using TLS whenever possible. TLS 1.2 is currently the best version for security, but it is not yet universally supported. TLS 1.1+ support was not added until Windows 7 and Server 2008 R2, in 2009. The encryption protocol and cipher used by MDaemon and SecurityGateway depend on the operating system and can be configured via the registry. You can use the free IIS Crypto tool to set the appropriate registry keys. More information can be found here: I hope this information helps clarify any questions about SSL and TLS, and which encryption method is recommended. As always, if you have questions or comments, let us know!
Federalism involves the sharing of powers between different levels of government. In the United States this relates to the government at national level (the federal government) and those at the level of the state. The United Kingdom is not a federal state instead it is a unitary state where power is held in one place (parliament). Federalism is the process of sharing power between a central government, in America’s case Washington, and the States. The US Constitution dictates what areas the Federal Government have control of and the areas that the States have control of. Amendment 10 of the Bill of Rights dictates that any area that is not a power of Congress, President or Supreme Court it is up to the States to decide. Dissimilarly to the UK, Britain has adopted the unitary system which means that there is just one main body of government as opposed to powers being distributed across the nation. Over time, federalism has adapted and changed and the theory of New Federalism was introduced after Nixon’s and Reagan’s administration and was further mentioned under George W. Bush’s presidency. Some of the features of federalism include the different powers that are seen within the central and state governments. Within state governments it can be seen that issues on crime and punishment can vary between states as states are awarded the power to choose different policies on these issues. This is why some stats still adopt the death penalty and others have abolished it. At the central level of government it can be seen however that issues such as war, diplomacy and the powers of defence are issues that the central government must control as it can be seen that local governments will be unable to handle these major issues successfully. One of the most important powers which the States have control of, is the power to conduct elections in whichever way they see fit. An example of this would be that Iowa choose to elect their Presidential Candidate through a caucus and New Hampshire elect theirs using a primary election. This causes massive problems in the Presidential nominating process as some States will front load, put their Primaries before others, so that they will have more significance. The problem with this is that some States are massively insignificant in the Primary race. It can be seen the federalism in the USA has changed overtime. Federalism is significant in the USA as it has evolved over time. New Federalism emphasised state’s rights, small Government and getting government’s off the back of the people. New Federalism has been especially seen in George Bush’s presidency. It was seen that George Bush had to evolve the republicans into a more federal party due to the events that happened within his presidency. Similarly to this it can be seen that the creation of federalism is also significant in helping the overall maintenance of the United States of America. In 1787 the founding fathers mad e number of important considerations when drafting the American Constitution. Included in those was the desire to limit the power of any single political institution in the New Republic. This means that the fact that Federalism means that power is shared amongst different levels of government it prevents an overpowered central government as different parts of the government will still have power to do specific things. This is important as it established an intricate set of checks and balances which the government have to adhere to and conduct effectively so that the government can run. Even though the powers of the state are not enumerated, Amendment 10 of the constitution declares that those powers not granted to the central institutions are assumed to remain at the level of the state. It can also be seen though that Federalism is significant as it can be seen that if events where to take place that states could not handle. Such as the acts of terror in 9/11 the central federal government will be able to take charge in order to help out with the problems that states are finding challenging. This can be seen with the different phases of Federalism. In times of crisis governments would carry out a Co-operative Federalism. This term refers to the partnership that evolved between the two levels of government with the central federal government assisting the states to cope with any new demands. This shows that federalism is significant in the USA as the different phase of federalism mean that governments can change when they cooperate and when they let states get on with their own thing. Federalism was further entrenched in the founding of America due to the Connecticut compromise. The compromise was created because small States felt that they would be under represented and dominated by the larger States at the time. The compromise therefore dictated that a bicameral house would be created, one that would be created with the population of the States in mind and representation being distributed in this format, the House of Representatives, and the other House would have two representatives per State, the Senate. Although, this does not directly link to Federalism it shows that the States are constantly wary about being dictated to by the central government and this is shown through the Connecticut compromise. Therefore, Federalism will always be significant in the US as it is entrenched in the Constitution. A minor factor that makes Federalism significant in the US is the fact that Congressional representatives are always said to be running scared. This means that they are always trying to please their constituents so they get re-elected every two years. The fact that elections happen so frequently makes members of the House aim more to please constituents rather than to build a central government. This heavy focus on the States gives them more power, and decreases the power of the central government. So although Congressmen/women running scared is not directly link to federalism it does make the central government less powerful and the States more represented; making federalism minor-ly more significant. Within the constitution it can be seen that federalism itself is not clearly defined. Although in Article 10 of the constitution it stats that those powers not granted to the central institutions are assumed to remain at the level of the state it does not clearly define what those ultimately federalism is. This may be because certain things have changed since then so the need to define what it is much greater now, than when the founding fathers first drafted the constitution. This means that because times are changing frequently because federalism is not defined clearly in the constitution it means that it will not be outdates in recent times. To further add to this as a result of federalism in the United States of America. It can be seen that it can lead to Presidents not getting there way on certain things. This is because due to the powers of federalism states do not have to follow what the president says if they do not wish. This means that if the president wants to have something to happen certain can choose not to cooperate with the demands of the president. This was seen with Bush’s ‘No child gets left behind’ policies with this issue certain states chose to ignore this policy as it interfered with their own. On the other hand to this it can also be seen that if states wanted to try different policies then it would make it easier for this to happen. If states wanted different policies that did not apply to the whole country it would make it is possible for this to happen as a result of federalism. This can be seen in California when this state tried to control carbon emissions. In conclusion it can be seen that Federalism within the United States of America is evolving since the constitution was first created by the founding fathers. It can be seen that because federalism is not clearly defined it means that as things change the constitution will allow stats to adopt different thing. It can also be seen that federalism is significant due to the different phases of it. If events did take place that states where unable to handle then the central government would be able to cooperate with the states in order to make sure that help is provided. Overall it can be seen that Federalism is significant to the USA as the way that power is shared between state government and a central government means that each state is allowed to have varying policies which means states will have policies that suit them.
A block cipher is an invertible transformation that maps an $n$ bit block of bits to an $n$ bit block of bits, under the control of a key (and where $n=128$ in the case of AES) Now, we most often need to do things other than mapping blocks of $n$ bits; how we do that is using the block cipher within a Mode of Operation. A mode of operation is just a way to use the block cipher to solve some problem we want solving. There have been quite a number of modes of operations defined; the most common ones are CBC and CTR (counter). The majority of them (including CBC and CTR) solve the problem 'how do I encrypt an arbitrarily sized message'. As for 'how to handle odd sized messages', CBC and CTR take two different approaches. With standard CBC, we assume that the message is always a multiple of $n$ bits; so, what we do is add padding to the message before we do that actual CBC-mode transformation. This padding fills out the message to a multiple of $n$ bits; this padding is designed so that the decryptor can easily remove it after decryption. Note: I said standard CBC because there are fancier ways to avoid this padding within CBC mode; they involve handling the last partial block as a special case. With CTR mode, it doesn't assume that the message is a multiple of $n$ bits at all. It doesn't actually send the message through the block cipher; instead, it generates a keystream by sending an incrementing pattern through the block cipher (so the first $n$ bits of the keystream may be generated by encrypting the value 1, and the second $n$ bits of the keystream may be generated by encryption the value 2, etc). One we have such a key stream, having the message not being a multiple of $n$ bits is not an issue; we just discard the parts of the keystream we don't need to encrypt.
Course Name: The principle of Child development Chapter 8: Physical and Motor Development This chapter described the physical and motor development and the importance of this development for children. This chapter also explains the effect of the physical and mental health of children on the development process. This chapter focus in the preschool and kindergarten period and in the areas such as physical, health, mental, safety and nutrition development. In this period the height and weight of a toddler are increased, and this is based on the six factors: Heredity, nutrition, medical conditions, sleep, exercise, and emotional well-being. The weight and height of the toddler are depending upon these factors. Marcon is work on the physical development and connects the physical development with the cognitive and social development. Poverty affects the physical development of the toddler (Charlesworth,2004). If the toddler gets the proper diet and nutrients during the preschool period, then they developed an effective manner. Adults notice the signs that show that a toddler has some health problems such as the scalp, red eyes, sudden weight loss or gain, skin rashes, ear drainage, and sudden behavior changes. These health problems affect the physical and mental development of a toddler. For the healthy body, the toddler must perform some activities such as wash hand before and after eating, brush teeth daily, take proper sleep, wear clean and safe clothes. Health insurance is very important for the effective and proper development of the child. In some countries, some programs are working for the healthcare insurance. Physical fitness is essential for the child development. In the preschool period toddler perform some physical activities daily that help to improve the physical and mental development. Some children are disabled then many they perform some different type of physical activities. Mental health is also important for child development. Teachers and parents are responsible for the healthy mental health. They provide the atmosphere in which a child develops his mental health. Stress is affecting the mental health of toddler therefor parents and teacher can help to be stress-free. For the physical and mental health children are must go to the doctor for the full body checkup. Nutrition’s are required for the growth and development of the young child. In the daily diet of a toddler, parents must add vegetables, fruits, juices, proteins, and gains. Proper diet and nutrients provide the physical, mental and cognitive development in the future. People live in poverty are not able to give the proper nutrients to their toddler which affect the physical and mental development of a toddler (Charlesworth, 2004). Obesity is the problem that is occurred between those toddlers that have poor eating habits and perform fewer physical activities. The children who have the obesity can face the many health problems such as high cholesterol level, high blood pressure. Market and restaurant food can increase the weight of a toddler. This decreased the physical and mental development of a toddler. In the development of children safety is the major concern. Safety is related to the safety of children from pets and the environment. The safety is a concern with the indoor and outdoor safety. Indoor safety contains the safety in the kitchen, from dogs, fire, and water. Children like to play with the pets hence parents make sure that children play with the care. Parents and teachers can give the safety education to the children. They must provide the secure and safe place to the children that do not cause an accident and illness. Parents and children both required the nutrition, safety and health education. Nutrition education increases the attitude and knowledge of children during good nutrients. Safety and health education give the knowledge about the mental and physical development. With the physical growth motor skills are also increased. Development in motor skills can increase the muscle and body development of children. Motor skills are increased from the age 2 to age 7. In this period fundamental skills are also developed such as running, jumping, sliding, kicking and catching (Charlesworth, 2004). Chapter 9: The Cognitive system, concept development, and intelligence This chapter described the cognitive system and cognitive development theories given by the Piaget and Vygotsky. Cognitive development is related to the brain development of the children. cognitive development means the perception of the children in the world. The interest and thinking of the children are contained in the cognitive development. The cognitive system is related to the working of the brain. The cognitive system contains the three parts: functioning, development, and structure. Jean Piaget and Vygotsky give the theory of cognitive development. Piaget said that in cognitive development the brain of all children is working in different manners. Piaget gives the four stages for cognitive development. The mind of the children is working differently from the adult’s mind. According to Piaget, children are learning from their own vies but according to Vygotsky children learn from the society and culture. The theory of Piaget and Vygotsky have some common points such as development can be gain from experience, natural and social development are interacting with each other and take place simultaneously and the development is achieved by changes in children thinking (Charlesworth, 2004). The cognitive structure is related to the knowledge and thoughts of the children. In the cognitive structure, children have increased their knowledge about things. Theory of mind contains the information about the how and when the brain of children is developed. The cognitive structure contains the mental representation of the mind. Cognitive functioning is related with the how cognition works. All the activities and actions of the children are related to the cognition development. Cognition functioning is also included in the response of the children. the response may be given by writing, speaking and facial expression. Cognition functioning is related to the internal activities of the brain such as thinking, organizing, associating, recalling and reasoning. Cognitive structure and functioning contain the input, processing, and output of the children’s mind. Concepts are the basic parts of the cognitive development of children such as people, animals, houses, cars and other things. In the cognitive development, children think that their point is right rather than the adult’s point. The operation is the actions of the children in the cognitive development. Children are also developing some basic concepts such as logical thinking, conservation, ordering, causality, and spatial concepts. Conservation is related with the ability to understand the concept of the things. Ordering is also related to the cognitive development. Ordering means children place the things in some order according to their views such as color, size, and weight (Charlesworth, 2004). Piaget theory gives the many methods to teach the children with proper planning. Learning can be increased from the children’s point of view rather than the adult’s point of view. Adults must know about the learning and observing level of the children and then they teach them. Vygotsky theory is related to the effect of the social interaction on the development of children. this theory contains the experience and knowledge of the children. t is very important to know that how the brain is working in the cognitive development. Brain development contains the processing and perception of children. intelligence is described as the ability to promote opportunities for the development in the future. Six types of views are used in children development: psychometric, information processing, successful intelligence, cognitive development, ethological and multiple intelligence. IQ test is used to check the level of brain development of children, but this test can hurt children. nondiscriminatory tests are also used to determine the mental ability of children, but it is according to the age of children. the intelligence of children increases the innovation and creativity in children (Charlesworth, 2004). Chapter 10: Oral and writing Language development This chapter described the rules and learning process of the language. This chapter also contains the relationship between the thought and language and effect of thought on the culture and language. Language is essential and important for the children development. This is the major education tool that transfers the culture from one generation to the next generation. The language contains the symbolic and gestures that help to communicate with each other. Many rules are used as the language rules, but this chapter described three main rules of language: how sounds are important for meaningful way, place word is such manner that it becomes meaningful word and semantic and pragmatic rules of language. Different languages have different phonemes, morphemes, semantic, syntax and pragmatic. The language development process is very complex, and children can learn a language according to their mental ability (Charlesworth, 2004). Language and thoughts are related to each other and it is very important to know about the relation between the language and thoughts. The thoughts and language of children are developed during the age two. According to Piaget’s theory, thoughts don’t affect the language but language help to know about the thoughts of children. the thoughts are expressed by the language, but language and thoughts are not interdependent. According to Vygotsky’s theory, the thoughts of children develop from the culture and society. Culture has the great impact on language development of children. children see the different culture and learn how different culture use the different language. Children can learn language according to the culture in which they live and way to people interaction. Dialect is the major concept in language development and it is the standard of the language. Children are not first learning the English language. First, they learn their own language then they learn English according to requirements. In the age, 3 children speak like adults and communicate with the other persons. Children learn about the need of the modification and use of the language when they communicate with others. in the childhood children are spending more time in playing games and during the games, they can learn many things. Games are the important source for the language development of children. children’s language development contains the four functions: interpretive, directive, projective and relational. These functions help children to know about how language is used in different situations (Charlesworth, 2004). Language development can increase the literacy between children. children learn to read and write the words and sentences. Literacy development can be increased by the parents and teachers at home and schools. Parents play important role in language development and teachers play important role in literacy development. The literacy development contains the four stages: beginners’ stage (age from birth to 3), novices (age from 3 to 5), experimenter (age from 5 to 7) and conventional writer and reader (age 6 to 8). If the effective and proper environment is provided to the children, then they can develop language skills faster. In the language development, children learn about the reading and writing sentences. Reading and writing teach us to know about the meaningful words. The balance between the reading and writing teach us about the meaningful words and their sound. Reading instructions are very important for language development and reading instruction are listed as phonemic awareness, fluency, phonics, comprehension, and vocabulary. The writing skills of children can be improved by the drawing. In the learning and reading, development identification of word is the first step. Children develop their language skills from the printing sources such as magazines, newspapers, books and mobile phone adds. Writing of the children can show the interest and culture of the children. Social has a great impact on the development of reading and writing (Charlesworth, 2004). Chapter 11 How Adults Enrich Language and concept development This chapter described the language diversity and instruction of the teaching language. His chapter also contains the roles and responsibilities of the adult in oral and diversity language development. The intention is related to the balance between the instruction of children and adults. Adults provide the accurate environment to their children and children choose the activities. This approach is used by the adults to know about what children are thinking. This gives the effective method to implement teaching on the language and literacy development. Adults give the instruction and guidelines to their children about the language development and language experience. Parents and teachers can use the proper conversation with their children so that they can develop their language skills. Adults used the supportive strategies for the child language development. Children required proper information about the language until they understand the concept of the language. Language development is increased by the different stages and according to the ability of the children. children can develop the language by using the meaningful and proper sentences during communication. During the age of 2 to 4 parents teach the simple and easy words to their children so that they can easily speak that world. This is known as baby talk. After that adults teach their children another words and sentences. Different children learn the language in different ways because all people have different culture and customs. All people speak different language therefor their children are also speaking a different language. Children speak the language according to their cure, tradition and parent’s language. Parents teach only home language to their children, but teachers teach different language to their students according to the requirements of the country. English is not the primary language, but it is important for all children to learn about English because English is the used in almost all countries. Reading and writing a language is used by all people to achieve their goals. Reading and writing are very important at homes as well as schools. Media and television provide the more opportunities for the developing reading and writing skills. At homes, parents can use the social media and electronic books for the reading and writing development. In the school’s teachers are more focus on the letter name and letter sound. Children learn how to write and speak different letters. When they learn about the letter then they focus on the words (Charlesworth, 2004). In the learning development play is the important and major medium. Children learn more by playing games rather than other mediums. Adults can use many sources for reading and learning development such as television guide, phone book, and magazines. Some dramatic plays are also increased the learning development. In the kindergarten child play many games and learn new things but in classroom children not allowed to play games. The play also increased the literacy development. Children learn from the different activities and improve their innovation and creations. Children see the paintings, drawings, writings, and other creations and they are inspired by these creations. They think about their own creations and become creatives. Adults can increase the creativity of the children by providing the appropriate environment, proper motivation and guidance. All the children have different creativities and interests, but they don’t know about their abilities. Adults can help children to know their interests. Creativity is related to the way of thinking and people give respect and value to creativity. Drawing and writing increased the creativity of children and it is based on their own interests. Children have more interest in art and drawing. They draw many things by their imagination such as animals, family pictures, trees and natural scenes (Charlesworth, 2004). Charlesworth, R. (2004). Understanding child development: For adults who work with young children. Clifton Park, NY: Thomson/Delmar Learning.
Pacific Coastal & Marine Science Center Bedform Sedimentology Site: “Bedforms and Cross-Bedding in Animation” FIG. 72. Structure formed by straight-crested bedforms with superimposed, sinuous, out-of-phase bedforms migrating obliquely downslope. RECOGNITION: This structure is similar to that in Figure 46A, but the superimposed bedforms in this example are three-dimensional rather than two-dimensional. One effect of this three- dimensionality is to cause the bed morphology to change through time. The troughs of the main bedforms deepen locally where and when the scour pits in the superimposed bedforms are situated in the main trough. In contrast, an assemblage of two-dimensional bedforms with superimposed two-dimensional bedforms (not parallel to the main bedforms) does not change through time (Fig. 46). Instead, the assemblage of bedforms merely moves through space. Additional effects of the three-dimensionality of the superimposed bedforms are to make individual cross-beds more sinuous and to cause the trough-shaped sets to change in geometry from one location to another. ORIGIN: Migration of the three-dimensional superimposed bedforms over the main bedforms causes the overall morphology of the bed to change through time, regardless of whether or not the flow changes.
There’s been some well-publicized debate recently over the role of practice and drilling in math education. Some teaching experts say drilling could be the antidote to achievement gaps, while others warn it could stifle curiosity. For decades, we’ve been trying to decide whether teacher-directed instruction or student-centered activities are more helpful for students’ understanding of math concepts. Since experts can’t agree, we suggest a more balanced view. Practice Makes Learning As a learning resource that considers curiosity to be a type of giftedness, we have an enormous appreciation for intrinsic academic motivation and will often be the first to come to its defense. However, we also know that research has consistently proven that practice helps kids do better at math. That’s why we at FasTracKids view correctly supported drills as a powerful and essential tool in a math teacher’s toolkit. As such, they should be used intelligently, not as a replacement for teacher-directed instruction, but as a complement. On This, We Agree When a child has mastered a skill, we consider him or her to be fluent in that skill. In a recent piece for Psychology Today, Paul L. Morgan, Ph.D., extrapolated on a New York Times op-ed positing that all American students, but girls especially, would benefit from more drilling and practice to cement recently acquired math skills. The authors agree that understanding-centered math instruction squanders the opportunity to instill the neural patterns required for students to be successful. Morgan goes on to dispel the myth that routine practice somehow limits conceptual understanding. He echoes our view that giving kids opportunities to practice what they’ve learned in math class is merely a component of effective math instruction. Why Drilling Works Math is learned progressively, with each new concept building on those that came before it. To free up the brain space required to process more complex problems, students need first to learn basic math concepts, then to internalize them so they can be applied quickly and accurately. Identifying numbers, for example, is a task that takes a great deal of concentration at first, when children are very young, but that eventually takes place almost effortlessly and instantaneously. Throughout their educational careers, as kids build fluency in more complicated math functions, they gain the ability to solve ever-more-complex problems. Author Morgan credits the repetition and quick recall achieved by drilling for moving students from understanding to fluency. Drilling & Practice with FasTracKids & EyeLevel If, like most schools in the U.S., your child’s school isn’t offering enough opportunities to strengthen working memory in the classroom, the FasTracKids and Eye Level supplemental learning programs can help. The Eye Level Math Enrichment program provides much-needed practice and drilling, along with the constructive feedback necessary to achieve genuine fluency. The critical difference from in-classroom instruction is that Eye Level lets kids learn at their own pace. Students will perform drills and practice, but they don’t move on to new concepts until the preceding skills have been mastered. For students who are falling behind, FasTracKids math tutors help students at all achievement levels to fully grasp mathematical concepts, improve their problem-solving abilities, and develop better study habits. The approach makes learning as fun and engaging as possible without sacrificing the effortful – at times clumsy and uncomfortable – practice that’s essential to legitimate learning. (You can read more on that in the NYT piece.) If your child has fallen behind or stopped enjoying math class, these programs can get him or her back on track.
How many people? An activity for KS2 that is based around the landmark of the world population reaching 7 billion and what that might mean for us all. Unpacking your backpack This activity uses the idea of a backpack to engage in thinking critically about where our ideas, values, attitudes and assumptions come from. It is the key activity for using all of the Time 2 Think resources and introduces the main underlying principles. Living side by side This activity uses the picture book The Bad Tempered Ladybird as a stimulus for thinking about sharing and people's differing attitudes to living side by side with others. Welcome to the Time 2 Think teaching resources. We will add to these as new content is developed and submitted. Browse below for a summary of each resource and click the title of each to access the full resource and any supporting materials. The buttons to the right provide a quick-link to the relevant key stage. Who is responsible for climate change? An activity for KS3 and above that uses different sets of national data as a stimulus to thinking about responsibility as it relates to climate change. Our world's water A KS2 activity that allows learners to think about the importance of water in our world and their relationship to this vital shared resource. What are my values? A KS2/3 activity that enables learners to better understand and think about their own values and how they influence their lives. What is a crisis? A KS2/3 activity that explore the idea of a crisis and supports learners to think about their own experience of crises and how they might respond. Feeling at home A KS1 activity that helps younger learners to think about the idea of 'home' through exploring animals and their habitats. We Are All Born Free A KS2 activity that uses the Amnesty International book 'We Are All Born Free' to help learners think about human rights. What are their rights and how would they feel if they were denied them?
Could This Be The First Dark Matter Particle? The presence of dark matter has been known to scientist for decades, but working out what it is essentially made from has been a frustrating hunt. Professor David Cline has told a UCLA symposium of the discovery of what can be the first cold dark matter particle, an object weighing about 30 billion electron volts. The very first mark for dark matter was appeared in 1932 when Jan Oort noticed that different objects are spinning around the enormous plane as if our galaxy has noticeably more mass than we can see. This led astronomers to start further study on other galaxies and they found the same pattern. After this study two main and well known theories emerged: Massive Compact Halo Objects (MACHOs) and Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPS). \|Photo credit: ESO/L. Calçada\| Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPS) involves subatomic particles with no strong nuclear interaction or electromagnetic charge; Massive Compact Halo Objects (MACHOs) speculates objects much larger size like planets or stars that don't shine at all. It is predicted that the dark matter, which we cannot see, accounts for more than five times as much mass in the known universe as the normal matter. With time the weight of scientific support of existence of dark matter has moved to the idea that WIMPS account for most of what we are missing, but finding them has been more of a problem. Neutrinos were once believed to be the answer, but the neutrinos left over from the creation of the universe travel too fast, and so would be too equally spread, to account for the mass chunk around galaxies. After every two years UCLA organizes a seminar to debate development in the search for dark matter of one form or another. Nothing has been published yet, but Cline, of the home campus's College of Letters and Science, commented, "At this symposium, it was obvious that excitement is building in the fields of dark matter theory and, especially, detection." The Fermi telescope formerly called the Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope has found mysterious gamma rays, which Cline considers may be produced by the particles. In underground laboratories efforts to get Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPS) to interact with atomic nuclei have failed to find anything, but Cline said, “there is no incompatibility [in these detectors' null results] with the interesting excess in the FERMI data." "Because dark matter makes up the bulk of the mass of galaxies and is fundamental in the formation of galaxies and stars, it is essential to the origin of life in the universe and on Earth," said Cline. Could This Be The First Dark Matter Particle? Reviewed by Umer Abrar on 4/18/2014 Rating:
Lesson Plan for PreK and K Teaching Caesar’s Cipher through grouping students and centers or table jobs The inner circle is the groups assigned. The outer circle is the centers or jobs Groups could be 4 student names. Jobs could be Home, Blocks, Writing, and Sensory. Make 25 jobs for kids and kids names on inner circle, then shift each week Teaching Base 2, 8, 10, and 16 Using opportunities, such as snack, centers, and place value to represent various bases Snack could be, equal sharing in base 8 for grapes or 16 for crackers. Place value could be with blocks, misc items during 100 days of school
Learning From Designs in Nature “Many of our best inventions are copied from, or already in use by, other living things.”—Phil Gates, Wild Technology. AS MENTIONED in the preceding article, the aim of the science of biomimetics is to produce more complex materials and machines by imitating nature. Nature manufactures its products without causing pollution, and they tend to be resilient and light, yet incredibly strong. For example, ounce for ounce, bone is stronger than steel. What is its secret? Part of the answer lies in its well-engineered shape, but the key reasons lie deeper—at the molecular level. “The success of living organisms lies in the design and assembly of their smallest components,” explains Gates. As a result of peering into these smallest components, scientists have isolated the substances that give natural products from bone to silk their envied strength and light weight. These substances, they have discovered, are various forms of natural composites. The Miracle of Composites Composites are solid materials that result when two or more substances are combined to form a new substance containing properties that are superior to those of the original ingredients. This can be illustrated by the synthetic composite fiberglass, which is commonly used in boat hulls, fishing rods, bows, arrows, and other sporting goods.* Fiberglass is made by setting fine fibers of glass in a liquid or jellylike matrix of plastic (called a polymer). When the polymer hardens, or sets, the end result is a composite that is lightweight, strong, and flexible. If the kinds of fibers and the matrix are varied, an enormously broad range of products can be made. Of course, man-made composites are still crude compared with those found naturally in humans, animals, and plants. In humans and animals, instead of fibers of glass or carbon, a fibrous protein called collagen forms the basis of the composites that give strength to skin, intestines, cartilage, tendons, bones, and teeth (except for the enamel).* One reference work describes collagen-based composites as being “among the most advanced structural composite materials known.” For example, consider tendons, which tie muscle to bone. Tendons are remarkable, not just because of the toughness of their collagen-based fibers but also because of the brilliant way these fibers are woven together. In her book Biomimicry, Janine Benyus writes that the unraveled tendon “is almost unbelievable in its multileveled precision. The tendon in your forearm is a twisted bundle of cables, like the cables used in a suspension bridge. Each individual cable is itself a twisted bundle of thinner cables. Each of these thinner cables is itself a twisted bundle of molecules, which are, of course, twisted, helical bundles of atoms. Again and again a mathematical beauty unfolds.” It is, she says, “engineering brilliance.” Is it any surprise that scientists speak of being inspired by nature’s designs?—Compare Job 40:15, 17. As mentioned, man-made composites pale when compared with those of nature. Still, synthetics are remarkable products. In fact, they are listed among the ten most outstanding engineering achievements of the past 25 years. For example, composites based on graphite or carbon fibers have led to new generations of aircraft and spacecraft parts, sporting goods, Formula One race cars, yachts, and lightweight artificial limbs—to mention just a few items in a rapidly growing inventory. Multifunctional, Miraculous Blubber Whales and dolphins don’t know it, but their bodies are wrapped in a miracle tissue—blubber, a form of fat. “Whale blubber is perhaps the most multifunctional material we know,” says the book Biomimetics: Design and Processing of Materials. Explaining why, it adds that blubber is a marvelous flotation device and so helps whales surface for air. It provides these warm-blooded mammals with excellent insulation against the cold of the ocean. And it is also the best possible food reserve during nonfeeding migrations over thousands of miles. Indeed, ounce for ounce, fat yields between two and three times as much energy as protein and sugar. “Blubber is also a very bouncy rubberlike material,” according to the above-mentioned book. “Our best estimate now is that acceleration caused by the elastic recoil of blubber that is compressed and stretched with each tail stroke may save up to 20% of the cost of locomotion during extended periods of continuous swimming.” Blubber has been harvested for centuries, yet only recently has it come to light that about half the volume of blubber consists of a complex mesh of collagen fibers wrapped around each animal. Although scientists are still trying to fathom the workings of this fat-composite mix, they believe that they have discovered yet another miracle product that would have many useful applications if produced synthetically. An Eight-Legged Engineering Genius In recent years scientists have also been looking very closely at the spider. They are keen to understand how it manufactures spider silk, which is also a composite. True, a broad range of insects produce silk, yet spider silk is special. One of the strongest materials on earth, it “is the stuff that dreams are made of,” said one science writer. Spider silk is so outstanding that a list of its amazing properties would seem unbelievable. Why do scientists use superlatives when describing spider silk? Besides being five times stronger than steel, it is also highly elastic—a rare combination in materials. Spider silk stretches 30 percent farther than the most elastic nylon. Yet, it does not bounce like a trampoline and so throw the spider’s meal into the air. “On the human scale,” says Science News, “a web resembling a fishing net could catch a passenger plane.” If we could copy the spider’s chemical wizardry—two species even produce seven varieties of silk—imagine how it could be put to use! In vastly improved seat belts as well as in sutures, artificial ligaments, lightweight lines and cables, and bulletproof fabrics, to name just a few possibilities. Scientists are also trying to understand how the spider makes silk so efficiently—and without the use of toxic chemicals. Nature’s Gearboxes and Jet Engines Gearboxes and jet engines keep today’s world on the move. But did you know that nature also beat us to these designs? Take the gearbox, for example. Gearboxes allow you to change gears in your vehicle so as to get the most efficient use out of the motor. Nature’s gearbox does the same, but it does not link engine to wheels. Rather, it links wings to wings! And where can it be found? In the common fly. The fly has a three-speed gearshift connected to its wings, allowing it to change gears while in the air! The squid, the octopus, and the nautilus all have a form of jet propulsion that drives them through the water. Scientists view these jets with envy. Why? Because they are composed of soft parts that cannot break, that can withstand great depths, and that run silently and efficiently. In fact, a squid can jet along at up to 20 miles [32 km] an hour when fleeing predators, “sometimes even leaping out of the water and onto the decks of ships,” says the book Wild Technology. Yes, taking just a few moments to reflect on the natural world can fill us with awe and appreciation. Nature truly is a living puzzle that prompts one question after another: What chemical marvels ignite the brilliant, cold light in fireflies and certain algae? How do various arctic fish and frogs, after being frozen solid for the winter, become active again when they thaw out? How do whales and seals stay under the water for long periods without a breathing apparatus? And how do they repeatedly dive to great depths without getting decompression sickness, commonly called the bends? How do chameleons and cuttlefish change color to blend with their surroundings? How do hummingbirds cross the Gulf of Mexico on less than one tenth of an ounce [3 gm] of fuel? It seems that the list of questions could go on endlessly. Truly, humans can only look on and wonder. Scientists develop an awe “bordering on reverence” when they study nature, says the book Biomimicry. Behind the Design—A Designer! Associate professor of biochemistry Michael Behe stated that one result of recent discoveries within the living cell “is a loud, clear, piercing cry of ‘design!’” He added that this result of efforts to study the cell “is so unambiguous and so significant that it must be ranked as one of the greatest achievements in the history of science.” Understandably, evidence of a Designer creates problems for those who adhere to the theory of evolution, for evolution cannot account for the sophisticated design within living things, especially at the cellular and molecular levels. “There are compelling reasons,” says Behe, “to think that a Darwinian explanation for the mechanisms of life will forever prove elusive.” In Darwin’s time the living cell—the foundation of life—was thought to be simple, and the theory of evolution was conceived in that era of relative ignorance. But now science has gone past that. Molecular biology and biomimetics have proved beyond all doubt that the cell is an extraordinarily complex system packed with exquisite, perfect designs that make the inner workings of our most sophisticated gadgets and machines look like child’s play by comparison. Brilliant design leads us to the logical conclusion, says Behe, “that life was designed by an intelligent agent.” Is it not reasonable, therefore, that this Agent also has a purpose, one that includes humans? If so, what is that purpose? And can we learn more about our Designer himself? The following article will examine those important questions. Strictly speaking, fiberglass refers to the glass fibers in the composite. However, in common usage the term refers to the composite itself, which is made of plastic and fiberglass. Vegetable composites are based on cellulose rather than collagen. Cellulose gives wood many of its coveted qualities as a building material. Cellulose has been described as a “tensile material without peer.” [Box on page 5] An Extinct Fly Helps to Improve Solar Panels While visiting a museum, a scientist saw pictures of an extinct fly preserved in amber, says a report in New Scientist magazine. He noticed a series of gratings on the insect’s eyes and suspected that these might have helped the fly’s eyes to capture more light, especially at very oblique angles. He and other researchers began conducting experiments and confirmed their hunch. Scientists soon made plans to try to etch the same pattern of gratings onto the glass of solar panels. This, they hope, will increase the energy generated by solar panels. It might also eliminate the need for the costly tracking systems presently required to keep solar panels pointed at the sun. Better solar panels may mean less fossil fuel use and, thus, less pollution—a worthy goal. Clearly, discoveries like this one help us to appreciate that nature is a veritable mother lode of brilliant designs just waiting to be found, understood and, where possible, copied in useful ways. [Box on page 6] Giving Credit Where It Is Due In 1957, Swiss engineer George de Mestral noticed that the small, tenacious burs clinging to his clothes were covered with tiny hooks. He studied these burs and their hooks, and soon his creative mind caught fire. He spent the next eight years developing a synthetic equivalent of the bur. His invention took the world by storm and is now a household name—Velcro. Imagine how de Mestral would have felt had the world been told that no one designed Velcro, that it just happened as the result of a string of thousands of accidents in a workshop. Clearly, fairness and justice demand that credit be given where it is due. Human inventors obtain patents to ensure that it is. Yes, it seems that humans deserve credit, financial rewards, and even praise for their creations, which are often inferior imitations of things in the natural world. Should not our wise Creator receive acknowledgment for his perfect originals? [Picture on page 5] Ounce for ounce, bone is stronger than steel Anatomie du gladiateur combattant...., Paris, 1812, Jean-Galbert Salvage [Picture on page 7] Whale blubber provides flotation, heat insulation, and food reserves © Dave B. Fleetham/Visuals Unlimited [Picture on page 7] Crocodile and alligator hides can deflect spears, arrows, and even bullets [Picture on page 7] Spider silk is five times stronger than steel, yet highly elastic [Picture on page 8] A woodpecker’s brain is protected by very dense bone that acts as a shock absorber [Picture on page 8] Chameleons change color to blend with their surroundings [Picture on page 8] The nautilus has special chambers that enable it to regulate its buoyancy [Picture on page 9] The ruby-throated hummingbird makes a 600-mile [1,000 km] journey on less than one tenth of an ounce [3 g] of fuel [Picture on page 9] The squid uses a form of jet propulsion [Picture on page 9] Chemical marvels ignite the brilliant, cold light in fireflies © Jeff J. Daly/Visuals Unlimited
This experiment will show what happens to light incident on a glass/air surface when the angle of incidence gradually increases. - Ray bos with single slit - Power supply - Semicircular glass or Perspex block - A4 Sheet of plain paper 1) Place the semicircular block in the centre of a piece of plain paper and draw around it. 2) Mark the mid-point of the straight side (M). 3) Draw a line at M at 90 dregees to the straight side. This is called the normal. 4) Draw a line at an angle of 30 degrees to the normal. This is the incident ray. 5) Use a ray box with a single slit to shine a ray of light along this line 6) Mark the position of the refracted ray. 7) Measure the angle of refraction. 8) Slowly move the ray box between angles of incidence from 30 to 60 degrees. 9) Measure the angle between the ray incidence and the normal inside the block for which the angle of refraction is 90 degrees. This is the critical angle. Note its value. 10) You can use the formula n= 1/sinC to find the refractive index of the block.
Lyme disease is a bacterial infection primarily transmitted by Ixodes ticks, also known as deer ticks, and on the West Coast, black-legged ticks. These tiny arachnids are typically found in wooded and grassy areas. Although people may think of Lyme as an East Coast disease, it is found throughout the United States, as well as in more than sixty other countries. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that 300,000 people are diagnosed with Lyme disease in the US every year. That’s 1.5 times the number of women diagnosed with breast cancer, and six times the number of people diagnosed with HIV/AIDS each year in the US. However, because diagnosing Lyme can be difficult, many people who actually have Lyme may be misdiagnosed with other conditions. Many experts believe the true number of cases is much higher. Lyme disease affects people of all ages. The CDC notes that it is most common in children, older adults, and others such as firefighters and park rangers who spend time in outdoor activities and have higher exposure to ticks. LymeDisease.org has developed a Lyme disease symptom checklist to help you document your exposure to Lyme disease and common symptoms for your healthcare provider. You will receive a report that you can print out and take with you to your next doctor’s appointment. What is Lyme disease? Lyme disease is caused by a spirochete—a corkscrew-shaped bacterium called Borrelia burgdorferi. Lyme is called “The Great Imitator,” because its symptoms mimic many other diseases. It can affect any organ of the body, including the brain and nervous system, muscles and joints, and the heart. Patients with Lyme disease are frequently misdiagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, multiple sclerosis, and various psychiatric illnesses, including depression. Misdiagnosis with these other diseases may delay the correct diagnosis and treatment as the underlying infection progresses unchecked. How do people get Lyme disease? Most people get Lyme from the bite of the nymphal, or immature, form of the tick. Nymphs are about the size of a poppy seed. Because they are so tiny and their bite is painless, many people do not even realize they have been bitten. Once a tick has attached, if undisturbed it may feed for several days. The longer it stays attached, the more likely it will transmit the Lyme and other pathogens into your bloodstream. Refer to tick section. If pregnant women are infected, they sometimes pass Lyme disease to their unborn children and, while not common, stillbirth has occurred. Some doctors believe other types of human-to-human transmission are possible but little is known for certain. Where is Lyme disease found? Lyme disease has been found on every continent except Antarctica. It is found all across the United States, with a particularly high incidence in the East, Midwest, and West Coast. Rates have increased significantly over time. Some of this increase may be because of disease spread, but it is also likely that it reflects growing public awareness of the disease. Not all ticks are infected. Within endemic areas, there is considerable variation in tick infection rates depending on the type of habitat, presence of wildlife and other factors. Tick infection rates can vary from 0% to more than 70% in the same area. This uncertainty about how many ticks are infected makes it hard to predict the risk of Lyme disease in a given region. In the South, a Lyme-like disease called STARI (Southern Tick-Associated Rash Illness) transmitted by the Lone Star tick has been described. Scientists are still debating about what organism(s) in the Lone Star tick may cause the disease as well as the treatment of patients with a rash in the South. However, Lyme disease has been reported in certain areas of the South and Southeast and patients with STARI may be quite ill. Because of this, patients in the South with a rash should be treated. (Herman-Giddens 2014) The risk of getting Lyme disease is often reflected in risk maps. Some maps show the number of human cases of Lyme disease reported for surveillance. These maps may not accurately reflect risk because only 10% of reportable Lyme cases are currently captured by CDC surveillance. Other risk maps show the number of infected ticks that researchers have collected in a certain area. These maps are often not accurate because many states and counties have done little or no testing of ticks in the area. The best maps of risk may be canine maps. This is because dogs are routinely screened for Lyme disease through a nationwide program as well as the close association of dogs with humans.
Frequently Asked Questions Below find answers to some of our more commonly asked questions. What exactly is the Montessori method? The Montessori approach is a system of education that is both a philosophy of child growth and a rationale for guiding such growth. It is based on the child’s developmental needs, exposure to materials, and experiences through which to develop intelligence as well as physical and psychological abilities. Children need adults to expose them to the possibilities of life, but children themselves must direct their response to those possibilities. The premises of Montessori education are: - Children are to be respected as different from adults and as individuals who differ from each other. - The child possesses unusual sensitivity and mental abilities for absorbing and learning from his or her environment that are unlike those of the adult both in quality and capacity. - The most important years of growth are the first nine years of life when unconscious learning is gradually brought to the conscious level. - The child has a deep love and need for purposeful work. He or she works, however, not as an adult for profit and completion of a job, but for the sake of the activity itself. It is the activity which accomplishes the most important goal of the child: the development of him or herself, inclusive of mental, physical, and psychological powers. For a more extensive overview of the Montessori approach, please read Desmond Perry’s “An Introduction to Montessori” found under the “Resources” tab on this website. Is Montessori for all children? The Montessori approach has been used successfully with children up to eighteen years of age from all socioeconomic levels, representing those in typical classes as well as those who are academically gifted, have learning differences and/or are physically impaired. Because of its individual approach, Montessori education is uniquely suited to educating children of differing needs, temperaments and abilities. Is the child free to do what he or she chooses in the classroom? The child is free to move about the classroom, to talk to other children, to work with any equipment or material whose purpose he or she understands, or to ask the teacher to introduce a new material. The teacher observes the child, noting his or her needs and interests. The educator then uses his or her observations to facilitate learning by guiding the child toward those activities that will best serve his or her development. The child is not free to disturb other children at work or to misuse the equipment that is so important to his or her development. We call this attitude “freedom within limits”. Why is the Montessori approach beneficial to children? The goal of Montessori education is multi-faceted: it encourages self-discipline, self-knowledge and independence; it nurtures a curiosity that results in a lifelong love of learning; and it provides an organized and developmentally appropriate approach to problem solving and academic skill development. How will my child make the transition from a Montessori classroom to a traditional classroom? Most children adjust readily to new classroom situations. In all likelihood this is because they have developed self-discipline and independence in the Montessori environment, as well as a foundational ability to approach learning in a variety of ways. What do the older students gain from a multi-age classroom? Curriculum in a multi-age setting is not static; older students can delve as far into a subject as they are able to, while younger students explore subjects at their own level. Older students also “learn what they know” while gaining self-esteem in the role of mentor to the younger students and naturally develop leadership skills as they assist children of all ages. Are all Montessori schools alike? No. Montessori is a philosophy and method of education, not a franchise. Each school operates independently. Seton Montessori School is unique in its relationship with the Seton Montessori Institute Teacher Education Program as a Lab School, in the way it interprets this philosophy for the community it serves, and in its leadership, vision, staff credentials and stability. Does the school have a religious affiliation? No. However, there is a spiritual component to the Montessori philosophy which recognizes and respects the whole child, including an inner self, where issues of character and civic virtues reside and require development. What forms of payment does Seton accept? Seton Montessori accepts checks, money orders and online bank payment for all tuition plans; it does not accept cash or credit cards. A tuition deposit, which is due upon enrollment, must be made either by check or money order. Does Seton offer any discounts? Yes. A second (or third, or fourth) child enrolled in Seton Montessori School or Summer Camp will receive a 10% discount off the lesser tuition. In addition, academic year tuition paid in full by check prior to August 1st of the school year will receive a 2% discount. May I change my child’s program after the school year has begun? Depending on availability, yes. However, you will incur a $50 processing fee. Your question not answered? Call the school office at (630) 655-1066, and someone will be glad to assist you.
Writing to Read: Evidence for how Writing Can Improve Reading This report identifies effective practices for strengthening reading through writing, based on a meta-analysis of 29 norm-referenced test studies and 55 researcher-designed test studies. The meta-analysis was used to investigate the effectiveness of writing about text, the effectiveness of teaching writing, and the effectiveness of having students write more. The authors describe and assign effect sizes for each of the areas and sub-areas and discuss each of the practices and sub-topics. The recommendations from the meta-analysis include: - Have students write about the texts they read in the content areas, specifically - Respond to text in writing (personal reflection, analysis and interpretation of the text) - Write summaries of a text - Write notes about a text - Answer questions about a text in writing or create and answer written questions about a text - Teach students the writing skills and processes that go into creating text - Teach the process of writing, text structures for writing, paragraph or sentence constructions skills (Improves reading comprehension) - Teach spelling and sentence construction skills (improves reading fluency) - Teach spelling skills (improves word reading skills) - Increase how much students write The evidence indicates that having students write about the material they read does enhance their reading abilities. In addition to noting the studies and their findings, the authors often provide examples of how to teach the recommended practice. Although this meta-analysis looked at effective reading-writing practices for adolescents, this resource is of value to adult educators who work to improve both the writing and reading skills of their students. “Our evidence shows that these writing activities improved students’ comprehension of text over and above the improvements gained from traditional reading activities such as reading text, reading and rereading text, reading and discussing text, and receiving explicit reading instruction.” (p. 29). This important study supports the need for adult educators to teach reading and writing for the mutual support they provide to learners. This resource is an excellent companion piece to Writing Next: Effective Strategies to Improve Writing of Adolescents in Middle and High School and Reading Next: A Vision for Action and Research in Middle and High School Literacy, both also from the Alliance for Excellent Education and The Carnegie Corp. of New York. The resource reports a meta-analysis of experimental and quasi-experimental studies from the 1930s to the present across a variety of disciplines that used different types of texts, with different types of students in various contexts. Although the meta-analysis included only studies of school-aged children, most of them involved older children studying texts from various disciplines that would be comparable to the reading that would occur in a GED classroom. Different effect sizes were obtained, but all studies showed the positive effect of writing and writing instruction on reading achievement. The resource is of value to adult educators who are practitioners, professional developers, or researchers. The latter will find the research agenda, the large reference list, and Appendix B in which the individual studies are briefly described very useful. (Because the number of research studies of the impact of writing on reading has been declining, the authors are encouraging others to conduct this type of research by suggesting a research agenda. It should be noted that no studies in which reading and writing instruction were integrated were included in the meta-analysis.) Practitioners and professional developers will find the writing strategies and the examples of implementing these strategies (shown in blue boxes next to the text) very useful. Further information on a strategy can be obtained by going back to the original source that is cited underneath the example. Students should benefit by improving both their reading and writing abilities by being given explicit instruction in writing and increased time devoted to writing as a means of improving reading. It is possible that many of these strategies can also be applied on a computer so that students also attain proficiency in using technology. Although this resource focuses on K-12 writing research that has examined the impact of writing instruction on reading performance (reading comprehension, reading fluency, and word reading), current literature on adult learners is not in conflict with the recommended practices and thus the evidence-based practices should prove effective with adults. Educators who work with adults will find the report accessible and clear and the recommended practices readily interpretable. The examples of the practices are very concrete and an excellent guide to implementation is provided.
I . Phonetics(5 points) Directions:In each of the following groups of words, there are four underlined letters or letter combinations marked A, B, C D. Compare the underlined parts identify the one that is different from the others in pronunciation.Mark your answer by blackening the corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet. 4. A. boom 5. A. finger Ⅱ. Vocabulary Structure(15 points) Directions.. There are 15 incomplete sentences in this section. For each sentence there are four choices marked A, B, C D. Choose one answer that best completes the sentence blacken the corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet. 6. As a child I used to wash my parents' car to earn some__ money. 7. After the busy day I've had, I need a __ drink. 8. If you__ stayed at home, this would never have C. will have D. would have 9. --How much did this set of furniture cost? --I forgot __ A. how much it costs B. how much did it cost C. how much it cost D. how much does it cost 10. We had a long way to go so we decided to __ A. set on B. put on C. set off D. put off 11. __ it is not his responsibility to do that,he said he would help. 12. One of the strongest hurricanes __ was the Florida Keys Storm of 1935, during which 500 people were killed. A. to record D. being recorded 13. Ms. Jolie is beautiful very talented, in control of her own career. 14. When John left the office, Amy __ at her desk. A. is still working B. has still worked C. had still working D. was still working 15. You should learn through failures. Why don't you __ your plan or try a new approach? 16. The carpet has so many stains on it that it needs B. to replace C. being replaced D. to be replaced 17. I sent him the package yesterday. He __ it by now. A. might have received C. will receive 18. Is this the factory __ you visited the other day? 19. To make the fish__ nice, she put in some sugar wine vinegar. B. to taste 20. My daughter runs faster than__ in her class. She runs the fastest. A. a boy B. any boy C. some boys D. most boys Ⅲ. Cloze(30 points) Directions:For each blank in the following passage, there are four choices marked A,B,C D. Choose the one tha is most suitable mark your answer by blackening the corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet. Insomnia, or "poor sleep", can have bad effects on a person's health general well-being. It can 21on both our physical mental health can lead to other health22 Insomnia can be traced to many different reasons,but what is 23 to ninny sufferers is their inability to relax fully "switch the mind 24Constant thoughts,25 around around in the mind, moving from one 26 to the next, prevent stillness peace 27 a sufferer extremely tired. In order to treat insomnia 28, it is first necessary to allow a sufferer to re-experience 29 real relaxation feel like.It’s almost as though they've forgotten how to relax. Once this has been 30 by the brain, then fast effective 31 can be made to reeducate the unconscious towards allowing the person to relax 32 to allow a natural state of sleep Hypnotherapy(催眠疗法) is one of the fastest and most effective ways of 34 this goal for long-lasting results. Sleeping pills, if used at all, should only be a short-term35as their effect is soon reduced their side effects can be deep far-reaching. 21. A. harm 22. A. demands 23. A. interesting 24. A. on 26. A. image Ⅳ.Reading Comprehension(60 points) Directions：There are five reading passages in this part.Each passage is followed by four questions.For each question there are four suggested answers marked A，B，C I Choose the best answer blacken the corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet. Alexia Sloane，a l0一year-old girl，lost her sight when she was two following a brain disease But despite her disability she has excelled at languages is already fluent in English，French，Spanish Chinese。is learning German. Now she has experienced her dream job of working as an interpreter after East of EnglMEP(欧盟议员) Robert Sturdy invited her to the parliament building in Brussels，thus becoming the youngest interpreter to work at the European Parliament. “She was given a special permit to get into the buildin9，where there is usually a minimum age requirement of l4.sat in a booth listening and interpretin9，”said her mother，Isabelle.“The other interpreters were amazed at how well she did as the debate was quite complicated many of the words were rather technical.” Alexia has been tri-lingual since birth as her mother，a teacher，is half French half Spanish，while her father，Richard，is English.She started talking communicating in all three languages before she lost her sight but adapted quickly to her blindness.By the age of four，she was reading writing in Braille(盲文).When she was six。Alexia began to learn Chinese.The girl is now learning German at school in Cambridge. Alexia has been longing to be an interpreter since she was six she chose to go to the European Parliament as her prize when she won a young achiever of the year award.She asked if she could shadow interpreters Mr.Sturdy agreed to take her along as his guest. Alexia worked with the head of interpreting had a real taste of lire in parliament.“It was fantastic lm absolutely determined now to become an interpreter，she said 36.What does the passage tell about Alexia Sloane? A.She is very proud of her parents. B She has learned five foreign languages. C.She is a quick learner of languages. D. She has difficulties with language learning. 37. Why did Alexia need special permission to enter the A. She was not in a state of good health. B. She could not afford the admission fees. C. She did not meet the age requirement. D. She did not have an adult to accompany her. 38. What did Alexia want to do after she got the award? A. To travel to other European countries. B. To visit the European Parliament. C. To apply for a position in the government. D. To study German at Cambridge University. 39. The tone of the passage can be best described Generations of Americans have been brought up to believe that a good breakfast is essential to one's life. Eating breakfast at the start of the day, we have been told,told again, is as necessary as putting gasoline in the family car before starting a trip. But for many people, the thought of food as the first thing in the morning is never a pleasure So despite all the efforts,they still take no breakfast. Between 1977 1983, the latest year for which figures could be obtained, the number of people who didn't have breakfast increased by 33%from 8.8 million to 11.7 million--according to the Chicago-based Market Research Corporation of America. For those who dislike eating breakfast, however, there is some good news. Several studies in the last few years have shown that,for adults especially, there may be nothing wrong with omitting breakfast. "Going without breakfast does not affect work,"said Arnold E.Bender, former professor of nutrition at Queen Elizabeth College in London, "nor does giving people breakfast improve work. " Scientific evidence linking breakfast to better health or better work is surprisingly inadequate(不充分) ,most of the recent work involves children, not adults. "The literature," says one researcher, Dr. Earnest Polite at the University of Texas, "is poor." 40. Which of these is mentioned in the second paragraph? A. The number of the people who skip breakfast has B. Many people fill their cars with gasoline in the C.8.8 million people got involved in a study on D. A company carried out a research in 1983. 41. Which is closest in meaning to the underlined part? A. Having breakfast does not improve work, either. B. Giving people breakfast improves work. C. Going without breakfast can improve work, too. D. Having breakfast does improve work. 42. What does the word "literature" in the last sentence A. Modem American literature. B. Any printed materials. C. Written works on a subject. D. Stories, poems plays. 43. Which of the following statements best summarizes the writer's conclusion about the function of breakfast? A. Omitting breakfast helps improve work. B. Eating breakfast is absolutely necessary. C. Scientists have produced sufficient evidence in support of breakfast. D. There isn't strong evidence to prove that breakfast is a must. When you stretch out in the sun you can do one of the three things: you can use no sun tan oil, an ordinary sun tan oil; or Bergasol. If you don't use any sun tan oil when you're in the sun, you will burn surprisingly quickly. If you use an ordinary sun tan oil, you will protect your skin to a lesser or greater degree.How much protection depends on the "protection-factor number" on the bottle. Some oils block out so many of the sun's rays you can stay in the sun all day without burning but you won't go very brown,either. Bergasol will protect your skin like an ordinary sun tan oil. It also has a tan accelerator that speeds up the rate at which the sun activates the skin cells that produce melanin(黑色素). It is melanin that gives the skin its brown colour. Bergasol enables you to go brown faster,am as the days pass the difference will become more obvious.Unfortunately, this special formulation isn't Cheap to prepare.So Bergasol is rather more expensive than ordinary sun tan oil. However, the price looks more attractive as you do. It makes you go brown faster Protection Many people imagine that "cover-up" means you don't get a tan. Nothing to show for your holiday. Not so. With "cover-up", you can get brown if you want to. The point of "cover-up" is to protect your skin from the harmful rays of the sun which, according to the experts ,make your skin look older. That's what Solex Cover-up is all about--protection for your skin. It has a Sun Protection Factor 8, which makes it suitable for anyone. Find out how it works for you by consulting the Solex Sun Chart. On sale wherever Solex is. With Solex Cover-up, you can tan as slowly as you like. As gently as you like. with much less chance of peeling. Your tan will look better. Your skin will stay young longer. Gentle tan.., full protection 44. What can we learn from the second advertisement? A. It is easy to get a suntan in summer. B. Suntan is regarded as a sign of protection. C. Sunlight could make one look older. D. Everyone wants to get a suntan from holiday. 45. Why is Solex suitable for everyone? A. Its price is more attractive. B. It can be used to relieve sunburn. C. It can make the skin cells more active. D. It has a mild protection factor. 46. Compared with Solex, Bergasol__ A. helps one go brown more quickly B. better protects one's skin C. is more competitive in price D. is a better sun tan oil 47. What is the most attractive feature of Solex Cover-up? A. It helps one get a more beautiful tan. B. It is often on sale in supermarkets. C. It blocks out more sun's rays than other oils. D. It helps one tan gradually gently. Ideas about polite behaviour differ from one culture to another.Some societies, such as America and Australia,for example, are mobile very open. People here change jobs move house quite often. As a m result, they have a lot of relationships that often last only ma short time, they need to get to know people quickly. So it's normal to have friendly conversations with people that they have just met, you can talk about things that other cultures would regard as On the other hand, there are more crowded less mobile societies where long-term relationships are more important. A Malaysian or Mexican business person, for example,will want to get to know you very well before he or she feels happy to start business. But when you do get to know each other, the relationship becomes much deeper than it would in a mobile society. To Americans, both Europeans Asians seem cool formal at first. On the other hand, as a passenger from a less mobile society puts it, it's no fun spending several hours next to a stranger who wants to tell you all about his or her life asks you all sorts of questions that you don't want to answer. Cross-cultural differences aren't just a problem for travelers, but also for people in daily life. Some societies have " universalist'' cultures. These societies strongly respect rules, they treat every person situation in basically the same way. "Particularist" ( 强调特性的)societies also have rules, but they are less important than the society's unwritten ideas about what is right or wrong for a particular situation or a particular person. So the normal rules are changed to fit the needs of the situation or the importance of the person. 48. What can be learned from Paragraph 1? A. People from a mobile society dislike talking about B. Short-term relationships are common in a mobile C. Americans tend to make more friends than people from other cultures. D. It is difficult for Americans Australians to communicate with strangers. 49. Who do Malaysians prefer to start business with according to the passage? A. Those who talk a lot about themselves. B. Those who they know well enough. C. Those who enjoy talking with strangers. D. Those who want to do business with them. 50. Which of the following is true about the rules in "particularist" societies? A. They change to fit different situations. B. People respect obey them completely. C. They don't exist. D. No one obeys them. 51. What is the main idea of this passage? A. Polite behaviour varies with different cultures. B. Less mobile societies have fewer rules. C. People from mobile societies are more polite. D. Cultural differences are important. Claude-Oscar Monet ( 1840 -- 1926 ) was a French artist a leading member of the Impressionist group of painters. Born in Paris, Monet spent his childhood in Le Havre. There he met a local artist, Eugene Boudin. Who encouraged him to become a landscape painter. In 1859, Monet went to Paris to study at the Academie Suisse. Between 1860 1862, Monet served in the army in Algeria ( 阿尔及利亚 ). He returned to Paris where he met most of the major artists of the era. In 1870, Monet married Camille Doncieux. To escape the Franco-Prnssian war,they moved to London Back to France, they settled at Argenteuil, a boating centre on the Seine (塞纳河 ) which drew many other Impressionist painters. Working from nature was a particular symbol of the Impressionist movement, one that Monet valued, reflecting in his paintings the ever-changing impact of light weather conditions. In 1872,he visited Le Havre where he painted "An Impression,Sunrise". When exhibited in 1874, part of its title was used by a critic to label the whole movement "Impressionism". Monet's wife died in 1879,he set up home with Alice Hoschede, the wife of one of his most important sponsors. During the 1880s, Monet traveled through France painting a variety of landscapes. He gradually became better known for the last 30 years of his life he was regarded as the greatest of the Impressionists. From 1890 he began to paint a series (系列 ) of pictures of one subject, including "Haystacks" "Rouen Cathedral" "Waterlilies". The latter were painted in the fine garden Monet created at his house at Giverny, where he lived from 1883 on. He painted them over and over again,most significantly in a series especially for a museum in Paris. 52. Monet was introduced to art A. by an artist in his childhood B. by his father in Le Havre C. during his short stay in Algeria D. during his visit to Paris 53. Which of the following is true according to the A. Impressionism was born in London. B. Monet was one of the sponsors of Impression C. Argenteuil was the birthplace of many impressionists D. Impressionist paintings are mainly based on nature 54. What is said about the painting "An Impression, A. It established Monet's fame as an artist for the B. It invited a lot of strong criticism from the public. C. It was painted by Monet Eugene Boudin. D. It was the origin of the name "Impressionism". 55. What do we know about Monet's life since 18907 A. He painted only for a museum in Paris. B. He devoted himself to traveling overseas. C. He was influenced by Alice in his painting style. D. He focused on paintings of a particular theme. V. Daffy Conversation(15 points) Directions:Pick out appropriate expressions from the eight choices below complete the following dialogue by blackening the corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet. Lisa:Well, honey, how did you like the opera? Henry 56 ? Lisa: Of course. Henry:To tell the truth, I was bored to death. What a ridiculous art form! 57 Lisa:Hum! 58 ? It was beautiful. you just saw one of my favourite operas. Henry: 59 ,dear. I know you like opera, but it just isn't for me. I'd rather read a novel or watch a movie. Lisa=But you don't know how to appreciate opera.60 Henry=OK,what you're saying may be true. Ⅳ. Writing(25 points) Directions: For this part, you are supposed to write an essay in English in 100～120 words based on the following information. Remember to write it clearly. 史博物馆(the Museum of History)。
It’s been thought for some time that Saturn’s largest moon Titan has a complex internal structure consisting of multiple layers of ice and liquid water. At one point it was even suggested that there are water ice “cryovolcanoes” on Titan, where watery slush oozes to the surface and freezes solid in the moon’s 270-degree-below temperatures, in very much the same way that liquid rock does on Earth. Now, thanks to recent gravitational observations by Cassini (and who else?) some researchers think that Titan’s icy shell may be much thicker in places than once thought, making the existence of ice volcanoes and Earthlike plate tectonics much less likely. Although surface temperatures on Titan are cold enough that methane can exist as a liquid, filling lakes and flowing in streams, it may sometimes get so cold that even the liquid methane and ethane freezes, forming floes and icebergs of frozen hydrocarbons. This Titanic revelation was announced today during the 221st American Astronomical Society meeting in Long Beach, CA. Who says Mercury’s too hot to be really cool? Even three times closer to the Sun than we are, lacking atmosphere and with scorching daytime temperatures of 425 ºC (800 ºF), Mercury still has places more than cold enough to hide ice. This is the most recent announcement from the MESSENGER mission team: (very nearly) confirmed ice on the first rock from the Sun! Although made mostly of ice and rock, Saturn’s moon Dione (pronounced DEE-oh-nee) does have some color to it — although mostly chilly hues of steel blue, as seen in this color-composite made from raw images acquired by Cassini on July 23. New research on Jupiter’s ice-covered moon Europa indicates the presence of a subsurface lake buried beneath frozen mounds of huge jumbled chunks of ice. While it has long been believed that Europa’s ice lies atop a deep underground ocean, these new findings support the possibility of large pockets of liquid water being much closer to the moon’s surface — as well as energy from the Sun — and ultimately boosting the possibility that Europa could harbor life. “Now we see evidence that it’s a thick ice shell that can mix vigorously, and new evidence for giant shallow lakes. That could make Europa and its ocean more habitable.” – Britney Schmidt, Institute for Geophysics, University of Texas at Austin Cassini captured this visible-light image on October 16, 2010, showing a thick clump of icy material in Saturn’s bright F ring casting a “fan” of thin shadows. Clumps like this have been seen many times before and may be caused by the gravitational effects of passing shepherd moons like Prometheus or as-of-yet undiscovered moonlets within the ropy rings themselves. Click here to see how the 63-mile-wide Prometheus can pull streamers of the F ring away as it dips in and out along the course of its scalloped orbit. Positioned just outside the extreme outer edge of Saturn’s A ring system, the F ring is made up of very bright particles of ice loosely organized into ropy strands and transient clumps. It ranges anywhere from 20 to 300 miles wide. Image: NASA / JPL / Space Science Institute
Bullying is becoming an increasing concern, especially in schools. It happens at all ages, but the National Center for Education Statistics reports that there is more bullying in middle school (grades 6-8) and emotional bullying (pushing, shoving, tripping, spitting) is the most prevalent type of bullying for this demographic. If your child is being bullied, you need to take action to stop it immediately. There are ways to help your child cope with the teasing and to help lessen the impact. Even if your child isn’t being bullied, make sure you discuss it with them. Talk about the consequences that come with bullying other kids or what to do if they do experience bullying in the future. Here are the four steps to take to start the conversation about bullying with your children. 1. Identify bullying. Bullying is intentionally tormenting someone. This can happen in several ways, ranging from physical abuse (hitting, kicking, biting, etc.) to verbal abuse (teasing, name-calling, insults, threats, spreading rumors, etc.). Abuse can cause physical as well as psychological damage, including anxiety problems, fear of social situations, and depression. 2. Know the signs. Unless your child tells you he is being bullied, or there are visible bruises, it might be difficult to know what’s going on. Some signs of bullying include: Be aware of any changes in your child’s social habits. If you notice your usually social child is suddenly withdrawing or keeping to himself, check up with them to see if everything is going okay. Abuse can cause anxiety, as well as a disruption in sleeping or eating habits. Kids go through mood changes, but abuse can cause emotions to be extremely sensitive and mood swings to come on suddenly. Your child may avoid certain situations, like taking the bus or hanging out with groups at school. 3. Talk about the problem. Once you’ve identified the problem, it’s important to talk about the situation. Your child might be reluctant to open up, but look for opportunities to talk about bullying. Try bringing up the subject in a roundabout way to make it easier for your child to talk. For example, if you see a situation on TV where the child is being bullied or hurt in some way, you can start asking your child questions, like, “What do you think of that situation?” This may start a conversation about the bullying they’re experiencing in real life. 4. Get help. Once your child opens up about bullying, be sure to listen. It’s important for you to stay calm and to offer comfort. In the beginning, your child is likely scared, so stay calm. Kids are embarrassed and ashamed when they are bullied and often worry about upsetting or disappointing their parents. Make sure your child understands that you love him and are not blaming him for the problem. When your child comes to you about bullying: Assure. Assure your child that this situation is not his fault. Praise. Make sure your child knows he made the right choice by talking about the situation. Remind. Help your child understand that many people have been bullied at some point. Remind your child that you will work together to find a solution. This is also a good time to remind them never to do this to anyone because now they know how it feels. Talk to school authorities. Make sure someone at the school is aware of the situation. Teachers, counselors, or others in authority positions can monitor it at school and take the steps necessary to help stop the bullying. It’s important for you to take bullying seriously and help your child cope and move forward. There’s no one-size-fits-all solution for bullying, but working together with your child will help you figure out the best course of action. Written by Aaron Gunderson Aaron is a gadget geek, community volunteer, and father of two. He frequently writes about smart home technology and surveillance systems. Learn more
Adult females of this species copulate several times and can retain sperm for long periods of time. They may lay 100-600 eggs during their three to twelve month lifespan. Adult male reproductive capacity is temperature sensative, and at low temperatures male accessory gland secretion is reduced, and eggs tend to remain unfertilized. Mating involves a complex, courtship behavior. Males may be vigilant or indifferent to the female while females may advance males or be non-receptive. A courting session may last ten minutes, but in one study only one out of ten mate encounters were completed. Overall nine steps have been observed in (Askew, 1971; Flores and Lazzari, 1996; Lazzari and Nunez, 1989; Roberts and Janovy, Jr., 2000; Schofield, 1994)mating behavior. Males and females separate after copulation. Eggs are laid in small clumps in arboreal environments or they lay loosely in more subterranean environments. Egg-laying follows a circadian periodicity which commences ten to twenty days after copulation. They hatch after ten to forty days depending on temperature. Warmer temperatures promote faster hatching. Although bloodmeals are important for egg production, the female adults can lay eggs without feeding, as long as the nymphs have consumed sufficient bloodmeals. Adults are free living and sexually reproducing. Peak adult emergence is in the summer between December and January. When defending itself against predators, kissing bugs may rub the rigid tip of the rostrum against a series of ridges on the ventral surface of the thorax resulting in a squeaking sound. (Askew, 1971; Flores and Lazzari, 1996; Lazzari and Nunez, 1989; Roberts and Janovy, Jr., 2000; Schofield, 1994) There are a number of temperature receptors on the antennae that detect thermal heat radiating from a host. Thermal cues may also indicate places for laying eggs. When feeling threatened, kissing bugs may rub the rigid tip of the rostrum against a series of ridges on the ventral surface of the thorax resulting in a squeaking sound. This is called stridulation. (Askew, 1971; Flores and Lazzari, 1996; Lazzari and Nunez, 1989; Roberts and Janovy, Jr., 2000; Schofield, 1994) There is no known positive economic importance of. Trypanosoma cruzi , a parasitic trypanosome protozoan. Trypanosoma cruzi causes Chagas disease, a deadly disease that may result in irreversible damage to the nervous system, muscle tissue, and the heart, eventually causing death. Chagas disease is a zoonosis, a disease of animals that is transmitted to humans or other animals. Trypanosoma cruzi is transmitted to humans via the feces of the kissing bug. The insect acquires the protozoan from an infected mammal and retains it for life. After the bug defecates during or after feeding, the trypanosome may penetrate the wound left by the feeding insect. Multiplication of the protozoan parasite in local tissue cells follow quickly it has gained entrance to a host body. The protozoan undergo multiplies by binary fission. During its developmental stages, T. cruzi changes in size and shape. In mammalian cells, the parasite is initially a small, unflagellated amastigote, which multiplies by binary fission into a flagellated trypomastigote. These are released throughout the blood stream when the cell ruptures. If removed from the mammal by a feeding kissing bug, the tryopmastigote changes into a epimastigote, eventually forming highly infective and active metacyclic trypomastigotes. Other endosymbionts within the gut of T. infestans function as a trypanosoma maturing factor that is essential for the differentiation of T. cruzi. Trypanosoma cruzi can survive within a dead host for long periods of time. is usually not hurt by the protozoan parasite, however, T. cruzi may have a suppressive effect on the insect's haemocoelic immune system. In 1993, sixteen to eighteen million people were infected by Chagas disease and ninety million were at risk -about 4% of the entire population of Latin America. It is the third most important cause of disability from a parasitic disease after malaria and schistosomiasis. In Latin America (as of 1993), it is the fourth most frequent cause of death. Medication can be quite expensive, and many individuals who have Chagas disease lose their jobs and can not find new jobs. infestations are often a cause for social embarrassment and considered a symptom of poverty. (Ciojalas and Catala, 1993; Hypsa, 1993; Roberts and Janovy, Jr., 2000; Schofield, 1994)is and active vector of do not require any special conservation status for . Dr. C. J. Schofield created the "Southern Cone Initiative" for the elimination offrom domestic environments. Part of this elimiation program includes improvement in floors and house foundations, walls, roofs, and the removal of domestic animals from homes. One other aspect of this program is greater civilian awareness of infestation problems and prevention. Medicine such as amodiorone, a drug used to prevent cardiac arythmias, may also help prevent death from Chagas disease. Insecticides, such as synthetic pyrethroids, have been successful eradicators of T. infestans. The bite of some other members of the family Reduviidae are excruciatingly painful. One Asian species was used by the Emir of Bokhara to torture prisoners. The bugs were kept in a pit into which prisoners and raw meat were thrown. The pain from the bite was mainly due to a toxin in the saliva. Trypanosoma cruzi can be transferred by blood transfusion or via organ transplant. This protozoan parasite may cross the placenta from an infected mother to her fetus. (Askew, 1971; Schofield, 1994; Askew, 1971; Schofield, 1994; Askew, 1971; Schofield, 1994) Sara Diamond (editor), Animal Diversity Web. Christopher Bonadio (author), University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, Teresa Friedrich (editor), University of Michigan-Ann Arbor. living in the southern part of the New World. In other words, Central and South America. uses sound to communicate living in landscapes dominated by human agriculture. having body symmetry such that the animal can be divided in one plane into two mirror-image halves. Animals with bilateral symmetry have dorsal and ventral sides, as well as anterior and posterior ends. Synapomorphy of the Bilateria. an animal that mainly eats meat uses smells or other chemicals to communicate animals which must use heat acquired from the environment and behavioral adaptations to regulate body temperature union of egg and spermatozoan having a body temperature that fluctuates with that of the immediate environment; having no mechanism or a poorly developed mechanism for regulating internal body temperature. (as keyword in perception channel section) This animal has a special ability to detect heat from other organisms in its environment. fertilization takes place within the female's body referring to animal species that have been transported to and established populations in regions outside of their natural range, usually through human action. offspring are produced in more than one group (litters, clutches, etc.) and across multiple seasons (or other periods hospitable to reproduction). Iteroparous animals must, by definition, survive over multiple seasons (or periodic condition changes). A large change in the shape or structure of an animal that happens as the animal grows. In insects, "incomplete metamorphosis" is when young animals are similar to adults and change gradually into the adult form, and "complete metamorphosis" is when there is a profound change between larval and adult forms. Butterflies have complete metamorphosis, grasshoppers have incomplete metamorphosis. having the capacity to move from one place to another. the area in which the animal is naturally found, the region in which it is endemic. active during the night reproduction in which eggs are released by the female; development of offspring occurs outside the mother's body. an organism that obtains nutrients from other organisms in a harmful way that doesn't cause immediate death the kind of polygamy in which a female pairs with several males, each of which also pairs with several different females. rainforests, both temperate and tropical, are dominated by trees often forming a closed canopy with little light reaching the ground. Epiphytes and climbing plants are also abundant. Precipitation is typically not limiting, but may be somewhat seasonal. an animal that mainly eats blood breeding is confined to a particular season reproduction that includes combining the genetic contribution of two individuals, a male and a female mature spermatozoa are stored by females following copulation. Male sperm storage also occurs, as sperm are retained in the male epididymes (in mammals) for a period that can, in some cases, extend over several weeks or more, but here we use the term to refer only to sperm storage by females. living in residential areas on the outskirts of large cities or towns. Living on the ground. the region of the earth that surrounds the equator, from 23.5 degrees north to 23.5 degrees south. living in cities and large towns, landscapes dominated by human structures and activity. uses sight to communicate Askew, R. 1971. Parasitic insects. New York: American Elsevier Publishing Co., Inc.. Ciojalas, L., S. Catala. 1993. Changes in Triatoma infestans reproduction efficiency caused by suboptimal temperature. J. of Insect Physiology, 39: 297-302. Flores, G., C. Lazzari. 1996. The role of antennae in Triatoma infestans: orientation towards thermal sources. J. of Insect Physiology, 42: 433-440. Hypsa, V. 1993. Endocytobionts of Triatoma infestan: Distribution and Transmission. J. Invertebr. Pathol., 61: 32-38. Lazzari, C., J. Nunez. 1989. The response to radiant heat and the estimation of the temperature of distant sources in Triatoma infestans. J. of Insect Physiology, 35: 525-529. Roberts, L., J. Janovy, Jr.. 2000. Foundations of Parasitology (6th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill. Schofield, C. 1994. Triatominae: Biology and Control. West Sussex: Eurocommunica Publications.
This book provides prospective and current teachers with the skills and knowledge to understand and improve their own and their students’ communication behavior. By combining theory and practical advice, this book focuses on the reasons for using certain communication strategies and how to implement them. Communication for the Classroom Teacher covers a wide range of classroom communication issues, including interpersonal and small group communication; listening skills; verbal and nonverbal communication (from both the teacher's and student's perspective); instructional strategies such as lecturing, discussions, and storytelling; teacher influence; ethical considerations; and racism/sexism in the classroom. In this incarnation (previous, 1995), Cooper (Northwestern U.) has added author Simonds (Illinois State U.) and updated material. They provide theoretical support to their classroom experience relating to the units on: communication competence, instructional strategies toward such, and communication impact. Diversity, gender differences, and nonverbal communication are part of the discussion. Each chapter is capped by a summary, activities, and further readings. Appends a discussion of and instruments for systematic observation. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.
Introduction to Air Quality Curriculum for Grades 6-12 1. Why Study Air Pollution? This lesson includes a kick-off activity that helps students understand the basics of air pollution, including causes, effects, and potential solutions. Also included in this lesson is a cooperative Jigsaw activity that offers an in-depth understanding of air. 2. What Impact Does Industry Have On Air Quality? At the heart of this lesson is map activity in which students will locate businesses in their area that release pollution into the air, the types of emissions from these facilities, and the health hazards of these emissions. 3. What Impact Does Transportation Have On Air Quality? A series of activities to help students understand that America’s transportation system contributes to a large portion of the nation’s environmental problems. In this lesson students will keep a personal transportation chart in order to log their own transportation choices. 4. Why Study Indoor Air Pollution? A series of reading activities to aid students in becoming aware that indoor air pollution can also have significant health effects. 5. What Impact Does Open Burning Have On Air Quality? This lesson focuses on group role-play activity in which students describe a strategy they might use to influence public opinion to use composting as an alternative to open burning. 6. What is Acid Rain? This lesson’s focal point is on the effects of acid rain. Students will role play the part of something that is effected by acid rain while the rest of the class attempts to answer the question of “Who or What Am I?” 7. What are the Health Impacts of Air Pollution? This concludes the Air Quality lessons. Students engage in a game analyzing case studies to determine the specific pollutants likely to have caused a given set of health symptoms. For more information contact:
Scientists have taken a major step toward potentially reversing a common form of blindness. Researchers at the University College London (UCL) successfully transplanted light-sensitive photoreceptor cells from a synthetic retina that was grown from embryonic stem cells into night-blind mice. Photoreceptor cells are light sensitive nerve cells at the back of the eye. Many forms of blindness -- including age-related macular degeneration, retinitis pigmentosa and diabetes-related blindness -- are caused by the loss of these cells. The transplanted cells appeared to develop normally into the mice’s retina and formed nerve connections needed to communicate visual information to the brain, the researchers said. In the future, the process could provide an unlimited supply of healthy photoreceptor cells for transplantation into human retinas. “Over recent years scientists have become pretty good at working with stem cells and coaxing them to develop into different types of adult cells and tissues,” said Professor Robin Ali of UCL. “But until recently, the complex structure of the retina has proved difficult to reproduce in the lab. This is probably because the type of cell culture we were using was not able to recreate the developmental process that would happen in a normal embryo.” The researchers grew the cells using a 3D culture method developed in Japan. Throughout the process, the cells were compared to cells developed normally to ensure they were biologically equivalent. Scientists then transplanted about 200,000 of the cells and injected them into the retina of night-blind mice. Three weeks after the procedure, the injected cells began to look like normal, mature photoreceptor cells. Six weeks after the procedure, the cells were still there, and researchers noticed nerve connections with the existing retinal circuitry. “The new 3D technique more closely mimics normal development, which means we are able to pick out and purify the cells at precisely the right stage to ensure successful transplantation,” said Ali. “The next step will be to refine this technique using human cells to enable us to start clinical trials.”
Color is the spice of green We expect green from plants, so it is no surprise that when bold colors make their appearance on a plant, the spectacle grabs our attention. For example, look at the thumbnail picture to the right, showing Alocasia macrorrhizos 'Lutea'. If this plant were all green, would it attract your eye as much as this one does? Chances are, it wouldn't, unless you are partial to large leaved aroids (as I am!). What I wish to share here, though, is the why of leaf colors, or what is most accurately called variegation In my view, variegation consists of four main types, chimeric, structural. or anatomical, genetic, and viral. Here I'll focus on chimeric variegation, which includes whites, yellows, oranges, pinks, reds, and purples in splotchy or random patterns on the leaves. Two in One The word "chimera" (from which the word "chimeric" is derived) refers to a mythological beast that consisted of multiple animals combined into one monstrous creature. Chimeric variegation refers to a plant consisting of two genetically distinct types of cells, yielding random areas of coloration on an otherwise green plant. By contrast, non-chimeric plants have cells of identical genetic constitution. What is relevant here is that the different cells are the ones showing the coloration, while the normal cells are the ones that appear as green or as whatever uniform normal coloration the leaves have. Chimeric variegation can show as white, yellow, orange, pink, red, and variations or combinations of those colors. For example, take a plant whose uniform normal leaves are reddish overall. This plant is not considered to be variegated just because it has reddish leaves. Next, imagine that this normally red-leaved plant is transformed into a white variegated chimera. What color are the light areas on the leaves going to be? If you thought "white", think again, because the presence of the red pigmentation will make all "white" zones appear pink! The reason for this is because white variegation is caused by the absence of three pigments; chlorophyll (green), carotenoids (orange) and xanthophylls (yellow). None of these three produce the red coloration in the leaves. Furthermore, the oil-soluble green, yellow and orange colors are found in the plastids, or photosynthetic organs, a different location than the water-soluble red, blue and purple colors, which are found in the vacuoles, or water-filled sacs within each cell. The differing gene yielding white or yellow variegation affects pigment content in the plastids, not the vacuole. Red chimeras do exist, but chlorophyll is not absent in these plants, even in the colored zones. The Pattern is not Full! Why is the coloration so often irregular on leaves like these? One reason has to do with the differing rates of cell division amongst the colored cells versus the green cells while the leaf is being formed. Nutrient availability (particularly phosphorus) and environmental factors exert strong influences on this, so the net effect is that no two leaves will look alike. This is also one reason why I don't consider chimeric variegation to be genetic, even though the difference in genetic constitution is what makes this variegation happen. What I consider to be true genetic variegation is coded for in every cell of the plant, not just certain cells, as is the case in chimeric variegation. Tissue taken from either variegated or non-variegated parts of a plant whose variegation is genetic will grow into plants that look just like the plant from which the tissue came. This is not true with chimeras; green cells taken will result in an all-green plant, while cells lacking in the three plastid pigments will yield a completely albino plant, unable to survive. Another reason is that the actual patterns shown on particular leaves are governed by where in the growing point, or meristem, the chimeric cells are located. Chimeric cells may arise from one or more of three different layers which determine the constitution of the different layers of cells in each leaf. Using a yellow variegated chimera as an example, if areas of variegation coincide in all three layers, you have pure yellow on the leaf. If in either the upper, middle, or lower layer, you have different shades of lighter green or yellow-green appearing. Think of it like this: with three layers, you can have [g-g-g] (all green), [y-y-y] (all yellow), [g-y-g], [y-g-y], [y-y-g], [y-g-g], [g-y-y], and [g-g-y], all of which show as different shades of lighter green or yellow-green (see photo, left). Each of the mixed combinations will look different when viewing the leaf from the upper surface, leading to the distinctive appearance of these variegated plants. These varied combinations also result in a different pattern on the underside of the leaf than you see on the upper side. If you could see the inner layer of the leaf, the pattern there would differ from both the upper and lower surfaces! This shows that many, many possibilities can manifest, and no two of them will be the same. How does a plant become a variegated chimeric? Some reason that the cause is a benign viral infection that simply shuts down the gene for plastid pigment or vacuole pigment production. Evidence favoring this hypothesis, at least in my own observation, is that if you have a quantity of variegated plants in your garden or collection, the likelihood of seeing a new variegated form of one of your all-green plants springing up is higher. I've even seen variegated weeds spring up. This phenomenon argues for both the viral hypothesis and for the agent of transfer being some insect. Presumably, a sucking insect could take up the piece of DNA from one chimeric cell and transmit it in meristem cells on another non-variegated plant. The result would be a leaf or branch showing up unexpectedly variegated on an otherwise green plant. I have actually observed this myself. This hypothesis could be tested by using aphids or mealybugs in a trial, allowing them to feed on variegated leaf tissue, then transferring them to new green tip growth of another plant and seeing what the result turns out to be. Another hypothesis is that of a random mutation occurring in meristematic cells, but this would not account for the higher probability of spontaneous variegated plants coming up when in the presence of other variegated plants. Whatever the cause, the result is very ornamental and quite sought after for our gardens. Photo credit: LariAnn Garner, Aroidia Research.
Poisoning is injury or death due to swallowing, inhaling, touching or injecting various drugs, chemicals, venoms or gases. Many substances — such as drugs and carbon monoxide — are poisonous only in higher concentrations or dosages. And others — such as cleaners — are dangerous only if ingested. Children are particularly sensitive to even small amounts of certain drugs and chemicals. How you treat someone who may have been poisoned depends on: - The person's symptoms - The person's age - Whether you know the type and amount of the substance that caused poisoning If you are concerned about possible poisoning, call Poison Help at 800-222-1222 in the United States or your regional poison control center. Poison control centers are excellent resources for poisoning information and, in many situations, may advise that in-home observation is all that's needed. When to suspect poisoning Poisoning signs and symptoms can mimic other conditions, such as seizure, alcohol intoxication, stroke and insulin reaction. Signs and symptoms of poisoning may include: - Burns or redness around the mouth and lips - Breath that smells like chemicals, such as gasoline or paint thinner - Difficulty breathing - Confusion or other altered mental status If you suspect poisoning, be alert for clues such as empty pill bottles or packages, scattered pills, and burns, stains and odors on the person or nearby objects. With a child, consider the possibility that he or she may have applied medicated patches or swallowed a button battery. When to call for help Call 911 or your local emergency number immediately if the person is: - Drowsy or unconscious - Having difficulty breathing or has stopped breathing - Uncontrollably restless or agitated - Having seizures - Known to have taken medications, or any other substance, intentionally or accidentally overdosed (in these situations the poisoning typically involves larger amounts, often along with alcohol). Call Poison Help at 800-222-1222 in the United States or your regional poison control center in the following situations: - The person is stable and has no symptoms - The person is going to be transported to the local emergency department Be ready to describe the person's symptoms, age, weight, other medications he or she is taking, and any information you have about the poison. Try to determine the amount ingested and how long since the person was exposed to it. If possible, have on hand the pill bottle, medication package or other suspect container so you can refer to its label when speaking with the poison control center. What to do while waiting for help Take the following actions until help arrives: - Swallowed poison. Remove anything remaining in the person's mouth. If the suspected poison is a household cleaner or other chemical, read the container's label and follow instructions for accidental poisoning. - Poison on the skin. Remove any contaminated clothing using gloves. Rinse the skin for 15 to 20 minutes in a shower or with a hose. - Poison in the eye. Gently flush the eye with cool or lukewarm water for 20 minutes or until help arrives. - Inhaled poison. Get the person into fresh air as soon as possible. - If the person vomits, turn his or her head to the side to prevent choking. - Begin CPR if the person shows no signs of life, such as moving, breathing or coughing. - Call Poison Help at 800-222-1222 in the United States or your regional poison control for additional instructions. - Have somebody gather pill bottles, packages or containers with labels, and any other information about the poison to send along with the ambulance team. March 26, 2015 Syrup of ipecac. Don't give syrup of ipecac or do anything to induce vomiting. Expert groups, including the American Association of Poison Control Centers and the American Academy of Pediatrics, no longer endorse using ipecac in children or adults who have taken pills or other potentially poisonous substances. No good evidence proves its effectiveness, and it often can do more harm than good. If you still have old bottles of syrup of ipecac in your home, throw them away. Button batteries. The small, flat batteries used in watches and other electronics — particularly the larger, nickel-sized ones — are especially dangerous to small children. A battery stuck in the esophagus can cause severe burns in as little as 2 hours. If you suspect that a child has swallowed one of these batteries, immediately take him or her for an emergency X-ray to determine its location. If the battery is in the esophagus, it will have to be removed. If it has passed into the stomach, it's usually safe to allow it to pass on through the intestinal tract. - Medicated patches. If you think a child got hold of medicated patches (adhesive products for transdermal drug delivery), carefully inspect the child's skin and remove any that are attached. Also check the roof of the mouth, where they can get stuck if the child sucks on them. - What to do in a medical emergency: Poisoning. American College of Emergency Physicians. http://www.emergencycareforyou.org/EmergencyManual/WhatToDoInMedicalEmergency/Default.aspx?id=262&terms=poisoning. Accessed Feb. 18, 2015. - What can you do? U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. http://poisonhelp.hrsa.gov/what-can-you-do/index.html. Accessed Feb. 18, 2015. - Tips to prevent poisonings. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. http://www.cdc.gov/homeandrecreationalsafety/Poisoning/preventiontips.htm. Accessed Feb. 18, 2015. - General principles of poisoning. The Merck Manual Professional Edition. http://www.merckmanuals.com/professional/injuries_poisoning/poisoning/general_principles_of_poisoning.html?qt=poisoning&alt=sh. Accessed Feb. 18, 2015. - What is ipecac syrup? National Capital Poison Center. http://www.poison.org/prepared/ipecac.asp. Accessed Feb. 18, 2015. - AskMayoExpert. Acute ingestions. Rochester, Minn.: Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research; 2014. - American Academy of Pediatrics policy statement: Poison treatment in the home. Pediatrics. 2003;112:1182. - Millman M et al., eds. Emergencies and urgent care. In: Mayo Clinic Guide to Self-Care. 6th ed. Rochester, Minn.: Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research; 2010. - Wilkinson JM (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn., Feb. 28, 2015. - Swallowed a button battery? Battery in the nose or ear? National Capital Poison Center. http://www.poison.org/battery. Accessed March 3, 2015. - Using skin patch medicines. National Capital Poison Center. http://www.poison.org/poisonpost/aug2012/transdermalpatches.htm. Accessed March 3, 2015.
“The only ethical decision is to take responsibility for our own existence and that of our children” (Bill Mollison) The word ‘permaculture’ comes from ‘permanent agriculture’ and ‘permanent culture’ – it is about living lightly on the planet, and making sure that we can sustain human activities for many generations to come, in harmony with nature. Permanence is not about everything staying the same. Its about stability, about deepening soils and cleaner water, thriving communities in self-reliant regions, biodiverse agriculture and social justice, peace and abundance. [the Permaculture Association, 2015] THE 3 ETHICS CENTRAL TO PERMACULTURE - Care for the earth - Provision for all life systems to continue and multiply. This is the first principle, because without a healthy earth, humans cannot flourish. - Care for the people - Provision for people to access those resources necessary for their existence. - Return of surplus - Reinvesting surpluses back into the system to provide for the first two ethics. This includes returning waste back into the system to recycle into usefulness. THE 12 PERMACULTURE DESIGN PRINCIPLES - Observe and interact - By taking time to engage with nature we can design solutions that suit our particular situation. - Catch and store energy - By developing systems that collect resources at peak abundance, we can use them in times of need. - Obtain a yield - Ensure that you are getting truly useful rewards as part of the work that you are doing. - Apply self-regulation and accept feedback - We need to discourage inappropriate activity to ensure that systems can continue to function well. - Use and value renewable resources and services - Make the best use of nature’s abundance to reduce our consumptive behavior and dependence on non-renewable resources. - Produce no waste - By valuing and making use of all the resources that are available to us, nothing goes to waste. - Design from patterns to details - By stepping back, we can observe patterns in nature and society. These can form the backbone of our designs, with the details filled in as we go. - Integrate rather than segregate - By putting the right things in the right place, relationships develop between those things and they work together to support each other. - Use small and slow solutions - Small and slow systems are easier to maintain than big ones, making better use of local resources and producing more sustainable outcomes. - Use and value diversity - Diversity reduces vulnerability to a variety of threats and takes advantage of the unique nature of the environment in which it resides. - Use edges and value the marginal - The interface between things is where the most interesting events take place. These are often the most valuable, diverse and productive elements in the system. - Creatively use and respond to change - We can have a positive impact on inevitable change by carefully observing, and then intervening at the right time. (David Holmgren, 2013)
Results stem from largest ever examination of fossil marine species Nov. 17, 2011 It’s well known that Earth’s most severe mass extinction occurred about 250 million years ago. What’s not well known is the specific time when the extinctions occurred. A team of researchers from North America and China have published a paper today in Science which explicitly provides the date and rate of extinction. “This is the first paper to provide rates of such massive extinction,” says Dr. Charles Henderson, professor in the Department of Geoscience at the University of Calgary and co-author of the paper: Calibrating the end-Permian mass extinction. “Our information narrows down the possibilities of what triggered the massive extinction and any potential kill mechanism must coincide with this time.” About 95 percent of marine life and 70 percent of terrestrial life became extinct during what is known as the end-Permian, a time when continents were all one land mass called Pangea. The environment ranged from desert to lush forest. Four-limbed vertebrates were becoming diverse and among them were primitive amphibians, reptiles and a group that would, one day, include mammals. Through the analysis of various types of dating techniques on well-preserved sedimentary sections from South China to Tibet, researchers determined that the mass extinction peaked about 252.28 million years ago and lasted less than 200,000 years, with most of the extinction lasting about 20,000 years. “These dates are important as it will allow us to understand the physical and biological changes that took place,” says Henderson. “We do not discuss modern climate change, but obviously global warming is a biodiversity concern today. The geologic record tells us that 'change' happens all the time, and from this great extinction life did recover.” There is ongoing debate over whether the death of both marine and terrestrial life coincided, as well as over kill mechanisms, which may include rapid global warming, hypercapnia (a condition where there is too much CO2 in the blood stream), continental aridity and massive wildfires. The conclusion of this study says extinctions of most marine and terrestrial life took place at the same time. And the trigger, as suggested by these researchers and others, was the massive release of CO2 from volcanic flows known as the Siberian traps, now found in northern Russia. Henderson’s conodont research was integrated with other data to establish the study’s findings. Conodonts are extinct, soft-bodied eel-like creatures with numerous tiny teeth that provide critical information on hydrocarbon deposits to global extinctions.
Some knowledge of bivalve biology is necessary to understand operations of a bivalve hatchery and to assist in solving problems that arise. It is not the intention here to give a detailed description of bivalve biology but to provide a brief resume of information pertinent to operations of a hatchery. There are several excellent texts on molluscan biology readily available and there are extensive reviews of groups and individual species of oysters, scallops, mussels and clams. The reader is directed to these publications at the end of this section for additional information. Bivalves belong to the phylum Mollusca, a group that includes such diverse animals as chitons (chain shells), gastropods, tusk shells, cephalopods (squid and octopus) as well as clams, oysters, mussels and scallops. The phylum has six classes of which one is Lamellibranchia or Bivalvia. These animals are compressed laterally and the soft body parts are completely or partially enclosed by the shell, which is composed of two hinged valves. The gills or ctenidia of animals in this class are well developed organs, specialized for feeding as well as for respiration. The most prominent feature of bivalves is the two valves of the shell that may or may not be equal and may or may not completely enclose the inner soft parts. They have a variety of shapes and colours depending on species. The valves are composed mostly of calcium carbonate and have three layers; the inner or nacreous layer, the middle or prismatic layer that forms most of the shell, and the outer layer or periostacum, a brown leathery layer which is often missing through abrasion or weathering in older animals. Figure 6: External and internal features of the shell valves of the hard shell clam, Mercenaria mercenaria. Modified from Cesari and Pellizzato, 1990. Bivalves do not have obvious head or tail regions, but anatomical terms used to describe these areas in other animals are applied to them. The umbo or hinge area, where the valves are joined together, is the dorsal part of the animal (Figure 6). The region opposite is the ventral margin. In species with obvious siphons (clams), the foot is in the anterior-ventral position and the siphons are in the posterior area (Figure 7). In oysters the anterior area is at the hinge and in scallops it is where the mouth and rudimentary foot are located. Figure 7: The internal, soft tissue anatomy of a clam of the genus Tapes. In this view, the uppermost gill lamellae have been removed to reveal the foot and other adjacent tissues. Modified from Cesari and Pellizzato, 1990. Careful removal of one of the shell valves reveals the soft parts of the animals. The differences in general appearance of an oyster and scallop can be seen in Figure 8. Figure 8: The soft tissue anatomy of the European flat oyster, Ostrea edulis, and the calico scallop, Argopecten gibbus, visible following removal of one of the shell valves. Key: AM - adductor muscle; G - gills; GO - gonad (differentiated as O - ovary and T - testis in the calico scallop); L - ligament; M - mantle and U - umbo. The inhalant and exhalant chambers of the mantle cavity are identified as IC and EC respectively. The soft parts are covered by the mantle, which is composed of two thin sheaths of tissue, thickened at the edges. The two halves of the mantle are attached to the shell from the hinge ventral to the pallial line but are free at their edges. The thickened edges may or may not be pigmented and have three folds. The mantle edge often has tentacles; in clams the tentacles are at the tips of the siphon. In species such as scallops the mantle edge not only has tentacles but also numerous light sensitive organs - eyes (Figure 9). Figure 9: The internal, soft tissue anatomy of a hermaphroditic scallop. The main function of the mantle is to secrete the shell but it also has other purposes. It has a sensory function and can initiate closure of the valves in response to unfavourable environmental conditions. It can control inflow of water into the body chamber and, in addition, it has a respiratory function. In species such as scallops, it controls water flow into and out of the body chamber and hence movement of the animal when it swims. Removal of the mantle shows the underlying soft body parts, a prominent feature of which are the adductor muscles in dimyarian species (clams and mussels) or the single muscle in monomyarian species (oysters and scallops). In clams and mussels the two adductor muscles are located near the anterior and posterior margins of the shell valves. The large, single muscle is centrally located in oysters and scallops. The muscle(s) close the valves and act in opposition to the ligament and resilium, which spring the valves open when the muscles relax. In monomyarian species the divisions of the adductor muscle are clearly seen. The large, anterior (striped) portion of the muscle is termed the "quick muscle" and contracts to close the valves shut; the smaller, smooth part, known as the "catch muscle," holds the valves in position when they have been closed or partially closed. Some species that live buried in the substrate (e.g. clams) require external pressure to help keep the valves closed since the muscles weaken and the valves open if clams are kept out of a substrate in a tank. The prominent gills or ctenidia are a major characteristic of lamellibranchs. They are large leaf-like organs that are used partly for respiration and partly for filtering food from the water. Two pairs of gills are located on each side of the body. At the anterior end, two pairs of flaps, termed labial palps, surround the mouth and direct food into the mouth. At the base of the visceral mass is the foot. In species such as clams it is a well developed organ that is used to burrow into the substrate and anchor the animal in position. In scallops and mussels it is much reduced and may have little function in adults but in the larval and juvenile stages it is important and is used for locomotion. In oysters it is vestigial. Mid-way along the foot is the opening from the byssal gland through which the animal secretes a thread-like, elastic substance called "byssus" by which it can attach itself to a substrate. This is important in species such as mussels and some scallops enabling the animal to anchor itself in position. The large gills filter food from the water and direct it to the labial palps, which surround the mouth. Food is sorted and passed into the mouth. Bivalves have the ability to select food filtered from the water. Boluses of food, bound with mucous, that are passed to the mouth are sometimes rejected by the palps and discarded from the animal as what is termed "pseudofaeces". A short oesophagus leads from the mouth to the stomach, which is a hollow, chambered sac with several openings. The stomach is completely surrounded by the digestive diverticulum (gland), a dark mass of tissue that is frequently called the "liver". An opening from the stomach leads to the much-curled intestine that extends into the foot in clams and into the gonad in scallops, ending in the rectum and eventually the anus. Another opening from the stomach leads to a closed, sac-like tube containing the crystalline style. The style is a clear, gelatinous rod that can be up to 8 cm in length in some species. It is round at one end and pointed at the other. The round end impinges on the gastric shield in the stomach. It is believed it assists in mixing food in the stomach and releases enzymes that assist in digestion. The style is composed of layers of mucoproteins, which release digestive enzymes to convert starch into digestible sugars. If bivalves are held out of water for a few hours the crystalline style becomes much reduced and may disappear but it is reconstituted quickly when the animal is replaced in water. Bivalves have a simple circulatory system, which is rather difficult to trace. The heart lies in a transparent sac, the pericardium, close to the adductor muscle in monomyarian species. It consists of two irregular shaped auricles and a ventricle. Anterior and posterior aorta lead from the ventricle and carry blood to all parts of the body. The venous system is a vague series of thin-walled sinuses through which blood returns to the heart. The nervous system is difficult to observe without special preparation. Essentially it consists of three pairs of ganglia with connectives (cerebral, pedal and visceral ganglia). Sexes of bivalves can be separate (dioecious) or hermaphroditic (monoecious). The gonad may be a conspicuous, well defined organ as in scallops or occupy a major portion of the visceral mass as in clams. The gonad is generally only evident during the breeding season in oysters when it may form up to 50% of the body volume. In some species such as scallops, the sexes can be readily distinguished by eye when the gonad is full since the male gonad is white in colour and the female is red, even in hermaphroditic species. Colour of the full gonad may distinguish the sexes in some species such as mussels. In other species, microscopic examination of the gonad is required to determine the sex of the animal. A small degree of hermaphrodism may occur in dioecious species. Protandry and sex reversal may occur in bivalves. In some species there is a preponderance of males in smaller animals indicating that either males develop sexually before females or that some animals develop as males first and then change to females as they become larger. In some species, e.g. the European flat oyster, Ostrea edulis, the animal may spawn originally as a male in a season, refill the gonad with eggs and spawn a second time during the season as a female. The renal system is difficult to observe in some bivalves but is evident in such species as scallops where the two kidneys are two small, brown, sac-like bodies that lie flattened against the anterior part of the adductor muscle. The kidneys empty through large slits into the mantle chamber. In scallops, eggs and sperm from the gonads are extruded through ducts into the lumen of the kidney and then into the mantle chamber. In most bivalves sexual maturity is dependent on size rather than age and size at sexual maturity depends on species and geographic distribution. Production of eggs and sperm is termed gametogenesis and size of the bivalve along with temperature and quantity and quality of food are undoubtedly important in initiating this process. The gonad is composed of many-branched, ciliated ducts from which numerous sacs, termed follicles, open. Gametes arise by proliferation of germinal cells that line the follicle wall. The gonad undergoes continuous development until it becomes fully mature but this development has been divided into several stages for convenience, e.g. resting, developing, mature, partially spawned and spawned. When the gonads or gonadal tissue are fully mature they are very evident and form a significant portion of the soft parts of the animal. Gonaducts that will carry the gametes to the body chamber develop, enlarge and are readily observed in the gonad. At this time the animal is frequently referred to as being ripe. Figure 10: Photomicrographs of histological sections through the ovary of the scallop, Argopecten gibbus, during gametogenesis. To the left (A), developing eggs can be seen lining the walls of the numerous follicles. The right hand photograph (B) shows the follicles filled with mature eggs (courtesy: Cyr Couturier and Samia Sarkis). Several methods have been used to determine if a bivalve is ripe and ready to spawn. The most accurate method is to make histological slides of the gonad (Figure 10) but this is costly, time consuming and the animal must be sacrificed. Making smears of the gonad or extracting small samples of the gonad from a few individuals of a stock and examining them microscopically is an alternative and the most frequently used technique. In scallops, the gonadal index (weight of the gonad divided by the weight of the soft parts, multiplied by 100) is sometimes used. A rigid routine is generally followed in hatcheries to condition adults for spawning and with practice, most hatchery managers quickly develop the ability to know if the animal is ripe and ready to spawn by examining the gonad macroscopically. Bivalves that reach the size of sexual maturity and spawn for the first time are sometimes referred to as virgins. Although these animals attain sexual maturity, the number of gametes produced is limited and sometimes not all are viable. During subsequent spawning the number of gametes produced greatly increases. The period of spawning in natural populations differs with species and geographic location. Spawning may be triggered by several environmental factors including temperature, chemical and physical stimuli, water currents or a combination of these and other factors. The presence of sperm in the water will frequently trigger spawning in other animals of the same species. Some bivalve species in tropical environments have mature gametes throughout the year and limited spawning may occur continuously during the year. In temperate areas, spawning is usually confined to a particular time of the year. Many bivalves undergo mass spawning and the period of spawning may be brief. Virtually the entire contents of the gonad are released over a short period during spawning activity. Other species of bivalves have a protracted spawning period and it may extend over a period of weeks. These species are sometimes referred to as dribble spawners. Limited spawning occurs over a protracted period with one or two major pulses during this time. In some species there may be more than one distinct spawning in a year. In hermaphroditic species, spawning is timed so that either the male or female part of the gonad spawns first. This minimizes the possibility of self-fertilization. In most bivalve species of commercial interest, gametes are discharged into the open environment where fertilization occurs. Sperm is discharged in a thin, steady stream through the exhalent opening or exhalent siphon. Discharge of eggs is more intermittent and they are emitted in clouds from the exhalent opening or siphon. In species such as scallops or oysters, females frequently clap the valves to expel the eggs. This may be done to clear eggs lodged on the gills. After spawning the gonads of many species are emptied and it is impossible to macroscopically distinguish sex in individuals. The animal is then said to be in the resting stage. In dribble spawners, the gonad may never be completely emptied. Some bivalves, e.g. the European flat oyster, are larviporous and the early stages of larval development occur in the inhalant chamber of the mantle cavity of the femalephase oyster. Eggs when spawned are passed through the gills and are retained in the mantle chamber. Sperm is taken in through the inhalant opening. The length of time larvae are held in the mantle chamber and subsequently the length of time larvae are free living in surface waters varies with species. In some genera, e.g. Tiostrea, larvae may only be part of the plankton for as little as one day. Occasionally, particularly in temperate areas, spawning may not occur in some years. This can be a consequence of several factors but probably mostly is related to water temperatures, which remain too low to trigger spawning. When this occurs in oysters, the eggs and sperm may be reabsorbed into the gonadal tissue, broken down and stored as glycogen. In clams and scallops the gonad may remain in a ripe condition until the next year. These topics are covered more fully in later sections, but a brief description is given here for continuity. Larval development is similar whether initial development occurs in the mantle chamber of the female or completely in the open environment. Eggs undergo meiotic division at fertilization to reduce the number of chromosomes to a haploid number before the male and female pronuclei can fuse to form the zygote. Two polar bodies are released during meiotic division and when apparent, indicate successful ferilization. Cell division begins and within thirty minutes after fertilization the egg divides into the two-celled stage. The eggs are heavier than water and sink to the bottom of the tank where cell division continues. The time taken for embryonic and larval development is species specific and temperature dependent (Figure 11). Within 24 hours the fertilized egg has passed through the multicelled blastula and gastrula stages and in 24 to 36 hours has developed into a motile trochophore. Trochophores are somewhat oval in shape, about 60-80.m in size and have a row of cilia around the middle with a long apical flagellum and these permit them to swim. The early larval stage is referred to as the straight-hinge, "D" or Prodissoconch I stage. Shell length of the initial straight-hinge stage varies with species but it is generally 80-100.m (larger in larviparous oysters). The larva has two valves, a complete digestive system and an organ called the velum that is peculiar to bivalve larvae. The velum is circular in shape and can be protruded from between the valves. It is ciliated along its outer margin and this organ enables the larva to swim but only well enough to maintain itself in the water column. When the larva swims through the water column the velum collects phytoplankton upon which the larva feeds. Larvae continue to swim, feed and grow and within a week the umbones, which are protuberances of the shell near the hinge, develop. As larvae continue to grow, the umbones become more prominent and the larvae are now in the umbone or Prodissoconch II stage. Prodissoconch II stage larvae have distinct shapes and with practice it is possible identify larvae of different bivalve species in the plankton. This has been used by biologists to forecast oyster sets in the natural environment for the industry. Duration of the larval stage varies with species and environmental factors such as temperature but it can be 18-30 days. Size at larval maturity also varies with species and can be 200-330.m. Figure 11: Representation of the developmental stages of the calico scallop, Argopecten gibbus, which take place within a hatchery. The duration of the period between the various stages is given in hours or days for this particular species and may differ for other species of bivalves. When larvae approach maturity, a foot develops and gill rudiments become evident. Small dark circular dots, the eye-spots, develop near the centre of each valve of some species. Between periods of swimming activity, larvae settle and use the foot to crawl on a substrate. When a suitable substrate is found the larva is ready to metamorphose and begin its benthic existence. Mature oyster larvae secrete a small drop of cement from a gland in the foot, roll over and place the left valve in it. They remain attached in that location for the rest of their lives. In other species, the larva secretes byssus from the byssal gland in the foot and this serves as a temporary holdfast to attach to a substrate. The larva is now ready to metamorphose. Metamorphosis is a critical time in the development of bivalves, during which the animal changes from a swimming, planktonic to a sedentary benthic existence. Considerable mortalities can occur at this time both in nature and in hatcheries. The subject is dealt with in detail later since it is an important aspect in the hatchery production of juvenile bivalves. Bivalves are filter feeders and feed primarily on phytoplankton - microscopic plant life. In juveniles and adults, the ctenidia, or gills, are well developed and serve the dual purpose of feeding and respiration. The ctenidia are covered with cilia - tiny vibrating hairs - whose concerted and co-ordinated beat induces a current of water. When resting on or in a substrate, water is drawn into the animal through the inhalant opening or the inhalant siphon, through the gills and then is returned to the surrounding water through the exhalant opening or siphon. The gills collect plankton and bind it to mucous. Strands of food-laden mucous are passed anteriorly by means of ciliary action along special grooves on the gills to the labial palps whose role is to assist in directing food into the mouth. Bivalves can exercise some selection of their food and periodically the palps reject small masses of food, pseudofaeces, that are expelled from the mantle cavity, often by the vigorous "clapping" together of the shell valves. What constitutes optimum foods for bivalves remains largely unknown however phytoplankton undoubtedly forms the major portion of the diet. Other sources of food may be important such as fine particles of non-living organic material (detritus) along with associated bacteria and also dissolved organic material. Only general statements can be made about growth in juveniles and adults since it varies greatly between species, geographic distribution, i.e. climate, location in the subtidal or intertidal zones, as well as differences in individuals and in their genetic make up. Growth can also vary greatly from year to year and in temperate areas there are seasonal patterns in growth. Growth can be measured in bivalves by different methods including increments in shell length or height, increases in total or soft body weight, or a combination of all of these factors. In tropical areas growth can vary with season, being faster during or after rainy periods when nutrients are washed into the ocean leading to increased production of phytoplankton. In temperate areas, growth is generally rapid during spring and summer when food is abundant and water temperatures are warmer. It virtually ceases in winter, resulting in annual checks in the shell. These winter checks can be used to age some bivalves. Some species are short lived but others may live to over 150 years. In culture operations the important considerations in bivalve growth are length of time taken to grow to sexual maturity and to market size. The goal of bivalve culture is to grow bivalves to commercial size as quickly as possible to make the operation as economically attractive as possible. Bivalves in the larval, juvenile and adult stages can die from a variety of causes, which can be environmental or biological in origin. The subject is much too large to consider in detail here but a brief synopsis is given to highlight a number of pertinent points, which could be important in hatchery operations. The physical environment can cause severe mortalities to bivalves in all three stages. Too high temperatures or prolonged periods of cold temperatures can be lethal to bivalves as can be sudden swings in temperature. Severe extremes in salinities, particularly low salinities after periods of heavy rain or run off from melting snow, can also cause extensive mortalities. Heavy siltation can smother and kill juveniles and adults. Pollution, particularly industrial pollution, can cause extensive mortalities in juvenile and adult bivalves. Both industrial and domestic pollution can be problems for hatchery operations and must be avoided. Domestic pollution can increase organic and bacterial loads in water as well as contributing a wide range of potentially toxic materials. Little is known of the combined effects of sub-lethal levels of the wide range of organic and organo-metallic compounds of man-made origin that may be present in such effluents. Bivalves in the larval, juvenile and adult stages are preyed upon by a wide variety of animals that can cause severe mortalities. In the natural environment plankton feeders probably consume large quantities of larvae. In hatcheries, predation is largely a nonissue since the water used is filtered and any predators are removed. Bivalves are hosts to parasites that can cause mortalities, particularly in the adult stage. Shell boring worms, Polydora sp., and sponges burrow into the shells and weaken them, thus causing mortalities. Probably the major cause of mortalities in bivalves, particularly of larvae and juveniles in hatcheries, is disease. Considerable research effort has been expended in studying bivalve diseases and trying to develop methods to control them. Diseases can be devastating to adult bivalves as witness the demise of some populations in the world. A few examples include, a fungal disease of bivalves caused by Perkinsus marinus; Delaware Bay Disease (MSX): a disease caused by the haplosporidian protozoan, Haplosporidium (Minchinia) nelsoni; SSO (seaside organism disease): a disease caused by the haplosporidian protozoan, Haplosporidium costale, (which together with H. nelsoni has decimated large populations of Virginia oysters on the Atlantic coast of the USA and now extends northwards into Atlantic Canada). A disease caused by the protozoan, Marteilia refringens; Bonamiasis (Haemocytic Disease): A disease caused by the microcell parasite, Bonamia ostreae; (Aber disease and Bonamiasis have resulted in the virtual demise of the European oyster in some parts of Europe). Although considerable work has been carried out on these diseases, no practical methods have been developed to control them and restore oyster populations to previous levels. The severity of these diseases points to the care that must be taken when transporting adult bivalve stock into a hatchery. In hatcheries it appears that diseases which do occur are caused by bacteria and not by protozoans. Bacteria are present to some degree in both algal and larval cultures. Indeed, bacteria may form an important part of the diet of larvae. However, periodically, large groups of larvae will die suddenly and an entire culture is lost. High bacterial counts are almost always associated with such large-scale mortalities. Bacteria may cause mortalities (pathogenic) or they may be simply present as opportunistic bacteria (saphrophytic), feeding on the dying larvae. Bacteria that cause diseases largely belong to the genus Vibrio sp. and every precaution must be taken to prevent them from causing epidemics in hatcheries. The best method to prevent such epidemics is to observe strict hygienic procedures and ensure that the larvae are well fed with high quality food. Larvae should be inspected regularly. If a disease occurs or is suspected, tanks and equipment should be sterilized with a bleach solution and rinsed well with freshwater. To protect larvae from further contamination, tanks should be refilled with UV-irradiated or ozone treated seawater. Use of antibiotics to control diseases is largely avoided in hatcheries. They are expensive and add to cost of operations and also there is the fear of a strain of bacteria developing that will be resistant to the antibiotics, which could lead to even more severe disease problems in the future. Balouet, G., Poder, M. & Cahout, A. 1983. Haemocytic parasitosis: morphology and pathology of lesions in the French flat oyster, Ostrea edulis L. Aquaculture 34: 1 - 14 Bower, S.M. 1992. Diseases and parasites of mussels. In: The Mussel Mytilus: Ecology, Physiology, Genetics and Culture. E.G. Gosling (ed). Elsevier. Devel. Aquaculture Fish. Sci. 25: 465 - 510 Bower, S.M., McGladdery, S.E. & Price, I.M. 1994. Synopsis of infectious diseases and parasites of commercially exploited shellfish. Annual. Rev. of Fish. Diseases. Elsevier, 4: 1 - 199 Cesari, P. & Pellizzato, M. 1990. Biology of Tapes Philippinarum, p 21-46. In: Tapes Philippinarum: Biologia e Sperimentazione. Regione Veneto, Ente di Sviluppo Agricolo, Venice: 299 pp. (text in Italian and English) Elston, R.A. 1990. Mollusc Diseases; Guide for the Shellfish Farmer. Washington Sea Grant. Univ. Washington, USA. SH179.S5E44: 73 pp. Ford, S.E. & Tripp, M.R. 1996. Diseases and defense mechanisms. In: The Eastern Oyster, Crassostrea virginica. V.S. Kennedy, R.I.E. Newell and A.F. Eble (eds). Maryland Sea Grant, Univ. Maryland, College Park, Maryland, USA. ISBN-0-943-676-61-4: 423 - 441 Ford, S.E. 2001. Pests, parasites, diseases and defense mechanisms of the hard clam, Mercenaria mercenaria. In: Biology of the Hard Clam, J.N. Kraeuter and M. Castagna (eds). Elsevier. Devel. Aquaculture Fish. Sci. 31: 591 - 628 Getchell, R.G. 1991. Diseases and parasites of scallops. In: Scallops: Biology, Ecology and Aquaculture. S.E. Shumway (ed). Elsevier. Devel. Aquaculture Fish. Sci. 21: 471-494 Gosling, E. (ed). 1992. The Mussel, Mytilus: Ecology, Phytiology, Genetics and Culture. Elsevier. Devel. Aquaculture Fish. Sci. 25: 589 pp. Gosling, E. 2002. Bivalve Molluscs, Biology, Ecology and Culture. Fishing News Books. Blackwell Publishing, UK: 443 pp. Grizel, H., Miahle, E., Chagot, D., Buolo, V. & Bachere, E. 1988. Bonamiasis: a model study of disease in marine molluscs. In: Disease Processes in Marine Bivalve Molluscs W.S. Fisher (ed). Amer. Fish. Soc. Spec. Publ. 18. Bethesda Maryland: 1-4 Jorgensen, C.B. 1990. Bivalve Filter Feeding: Hydrodynamics, Bioenergetics, Physiology and Ecology. Olsen and Olsen, Fredensborg, Denmark: 140 pp. Kennedy, V.X., Newell, R.I.E. & Eble, A.F. (eds). 1996. The eastern oyster Crassostrea virginica. Maryland Sea Grant, Univ. Maryland, College Park, Maryland, USA. ISBN-0-943-676-61-4: 734 pp. Koringa, P. 1976. Farming the Flat Oyster of the Genus Ostrea. Elsevier. Devel. Aquaculture Fish. Sci. 3: 238 pp. Kraeuter, J.N. & Castagna, M. (eds). 2001. Biology of the Hard Clam. Elsevier. Devel. Aquaculture Fish. Sci. 51: 751 pp. Manzi, J.J. & Castagna, M. 1989. Clam Mariculture in North America. Elsevier. Devel. Aquaculture and Fish. Sci. 19: 461 pp. Mason, J. 1983. Scallop and Queen Fisheries in the British Isles. Fishing News Books Ltd, Surrey, UK: 143 pp. Morton, J.E. 1960. Molluscs: An Introduction to their Form and Function. Harper Textbooks, New York, USA: 232 pp. Quayle, D.G. 1988b. 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Gulls have learned to follow diving ducks and take the bottom-dwelling mussels that the ducks bring to the surface, a food source that would otherwise be inaccessible to them. Gulls are one of the most adaptable groups of birds, able to exploit a wide variety of food resources and respond to new opportunities, and a study forthcoming in The Auk: Ornithological Advances documents this previously unrecognized behavior in Herring Gulls (Larus argentatus) and Mew Gulls (Larus canus) on a brackish lagoon on the Germany–Poland border. Ducks wintering on Szczecin Lagoon dive to the bottom to forage on zebra mussels, bringing clumps of mussels to the surface and regularly losing fragments in the process. To determine whether the gulls on the lagoon take advantage of this or if their presence while the ducks are foraging is only a coincidence, Dominik Marchowski of Szczecin University and his colleagues observed the behavior of the birds between October 2013 and November 2014, watching three species of duck—the Common Pochard (Aythya ferina), Tufted Duck (A. fuligula), and Greater Scaup (A. marila)—through spotting scopes. They recorded how intensely the ducks were foraging and whether any gulls were present, and they also collected gull pellets to confirm what they were eating. The more ducks in a flock were foraging, the more likely gulls were to be present. Gulls’ behavior toward the ducks fell into two categories: They picked up mussel fragments that the ducks lost, a form of one-way symbiosis called commensalism, but also stole fragments from the ducks directly, which is called kleptoparasitism. Both methods allowed the gulls to gain access to food that, being poor divers themselves, they wouldn’t have been able to reach otherwise. Pellet analysis confirmed that the diet of the gulls at the lagoon changes dramatically when the ducks show up for the winter, shifting from mostly fish to mostly mussels. “Gulls were initially on the margins of our research. Initially, their interaction with the ducks seemed obvious, but after analyzing the available literature, it turned out that little is known about it,” says Marchowski. “The marginal study became major, and we developed behavioral studies of birds and an analysis of pellets to confirm the scale of the phenomenon. In our opinion, these studies show that it’s worth watching the seemingly obvious behavior of birds more closely, because they can hide interesting interactions.” “This investigation provides rare and convincing evidence that demonstrates how interspecific feeding interactions between Larus gulls and diving ducks influence community structure in the vicinity of the Baltic Sea,” adds Dr. Timothy White of NOAA’s Biogeography Branch, an expert on sea duck foraging. “It is gratifying to see how meticulous fieldwork, focused on behavioral observations and prey analysis, is continuing to broaden our understanding of community patterns, seabird feeding ecology and social interactions.” Newly demonstrated foraging method of Herring Gulls and Mew Gulls with benthivorous diving ducks during the nonbreeding period is available at http://www.aoucospubs.org/doi/abs/10.1642/AUK-15-62.1. About the journal: The Auk: Ornithological Advances is a peer-reviewed, international journal of ornithology that began in 1884 as the official publication of the American Ornithologists’ Union. In 2009, The Auk was honored as one of the 100 most influential journals of biology and medicine over the past 100 years.
Although it got a brief treatment in the book Horns and Beaks, many people have been waiting for more information on the exceptionally-preserved Brachylophosaurus skeleton named “Leonardo.” Due to be unveiled next week at the Houston Museum of Natural Science (the date was pushed back due to Hurricane Ike; the museum and Leonardo were unharmed), the fossil provides a unique look at the soft tissues of this particular dinosaur. Dinosaur “mummies” have been found before, dating back to the 19th century, but in many cases little more than skin impressions were preserved. Leonardo, by contrast, is so well preserved that paleontologists are getting a look at the internal anatomy of the dinosaur, and the new paper (out in Palaios) focuses on gut contents. Within the body cavity of Leonardo there is a large amount of plant material. The question is, however, whether those plants represent gut contents or found their way into the specimen by some other route. If the body cavity was preserved intact (i.e. there were no gaping holes in it) then there could be little doubt that the plant material represents gut contents, but if the cavity was punctured other possibilities open up. The gut contents might have stayed in the body and been reworked, they could have been mixed with outside plant material, or the original contents could have been removed and then replaced. The actual soft tissue of the digestive tract would have decomposed fairly quickly after death and so the contents would not have been in their original position even if they were preserved, but the first task of the researchers was to determine whether they were dealing with gut contents or washed-in plants (or both). The paleontologists were not looking at whole leaves, stems, or other plant parts, though. The preserved plant material was very fragmentary, best described as “fragile, black crumbs.” These little bits were substantially different from the woody material found in some hardosaur coprolites (or fossil poo), meaning that (if the fragments were true gut contents) shortly before death Leonardo had a lunch of leaves. The fragments were consistent with what would be expected for partially-digested hadrosaur meals, of course, but it did not make identification of the plants especially easy. This became even more vexing when the researchers realized that the high amount of clay inside the body cavity most probably meant that the body cavity was breached. There was a possibility that some of this material came in from the outside. [As is pointed out in the paper, many animals have clay or soil inside their digestive tract as a result of purposefully eating it or the material coming in with the food. In Leonardo’s case, though, the sheer amount of clay showed that it was probably not intentionally swallowed. If the hadrosaur did so then it would have eaten more clay than plants!] If there was a mix of gut contents and material from outside, however, it would be expected that there would be different characteristics between the partially digested food and the washed-in plants. Being that the material was generally uniform, the alternatives became narrowed down to either preserved gut contents or outside material. While both options were plausible, the retention of gut contents seems more likely. Exceptional preservation is typically a result of rapid burial; the longer a carcass is left out to rot the more it will be picked apart or otherwise broken down before preservation. Given that Leonardo is perhaps the most exceptionally-preserved large dinosaur yet found, the skeleton was probably buried very quickly after death. This means that if the plant material in the body cavity came from the outside it would have had to find a way in after the body wall was breached, something that is unlikely. Indeed, the type of plant material inside the body was not found outside the body in the surrounding sediment; it is more probable that the crumbly plant fossils were actual gut contents. About 75 million years ago, in what is now Montana, a subadult Brachylophosaurus died. While it was not killed or consumed by a predator, the exact cause of death is still a mystery. Either in death or shortly afterward the body of the dinosaur was quickly covered by sediment, perhaps by a flooded river. Piled beneath the mud and clay the dinosaur was beyond the reach of the large predators (except, perhaps, its tail, which may have been tugged on by some scavenger), and its body slowly started to decompose. The internal organs went first, with a breach in the body wall letting enough water and sediment in to wash the gut contents around inside the body cavity. This process preserved some aspects of the anatomy but obscured others, but tens of millions of years later the descendants of the tiny mammals that lived in the corners of the Mesozoic world would unearth Leonardo’s remains. Paleontologists have only just begun to understand what the skeleton can teach us about dinosaurs, and I’m sure we will be talking about Leonardo for many years to come. J. S. Tweet, K. Chin, D. R. Braman, N. L. Murphy (2008). Probable Gut Contents Within A Specimen Of Brachylophosaurus Canadensis (Dinosauria: Hadrosauridae) From the Upper Cretaceous Judith River Formation Of Montana PALAIOS, 23 (9), 624-635 DOI: 10.2110/palo.2007.p07-044r
How do you calculate the number of protons, neutrons and electrons in the atom of a certain element? 1 Answer \| Add Yours For the number of protons, we look at the atomic number of the element given. Take note that atoms must have equal numbers of protons and electrons. For the number of neutron, we must know the mass number. To find the mass number, all we need to do is round the atomic weight to the nearest whole number (if the atomic weight is given). After knowing what the mass number is, we use the formula below to calculate the number of neutrons. Mass Number = (Number of Protons) + (Number of Neutrons). Join to answer this question Join a community of thousands of dedicated teachers and students.Join eNotes

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