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(NaturalNews) Contamination of water supplies and illegal use of veterinary drugs has led to the severe contamination of Chinese fish farms, with potentially serious health consequences for those who eat the fish.
China produces 70 percent of the world's farmed fish, and since the 1980s has become the biggest seafood exporter in the world. Yet this growth has only exacerbated the pollution problems already facing China's water sources. The high density of fish farms in regions like the Fuqing Province in the south has led to the discharge of huge quantities of wastewater into already compromised rivers.
"Our waters here are filthy," said Ye Chao, an eel and shrimp farmer from Fuqing. "There are simply too many aquaculture farms in this area. They're all discharging water here, fouling up other farms."
The Chinese government has declared more than half of the rivers in the country too polluted to drink from. Many sections of Fuqing's major waterway, the Long River, have been declared too toxic for any use.
Pollution of river and coastal waters comes from rapidly growing industries that are discharging pesticides, oil, mercury, lead, copper and agricultural runoff. This pollution has caused massive die-offs at fish farms, leading farmers to illegally mix veterinary drugs into their ponds to try and keep their fish alive. According to farmers who eventually abandoned such practices, not using drugs led to an immediate 30 percent increase in fish mortality.
Beyond the health risks to the fish
themselves, pollution causes the accumulation of toxic substances in the bodies of the fish, which poses a health risk to people who eat them.
"There are heavy metals, mercury and flame retardants in fish samples we've tested," said Ming Hung Wong, a biology at Hong Kong Baptist University.
Wang Wu, a professor from the Shanghai Fisheries University, attributes the problem to unbridled growth. "For 50 years, we've blindly emphasized economic growth," he said. "The only pursuit has been GDP, and now we can see that the water turns dirty and the seafood gets dangerous."
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National Scenic Riverway
Wisconsin & Minnesota
Free flowing and unpolluted, the Namekagon and St. Croix Rivers flow through some of the most scenic and least developed country in the Upper Midwest. Today 405 kilometers (252 miles) of these rivers are preserved as part of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System. The St. Croix National Scenic Riverway, which includes the Namekagon, was established in 1968 as one of the original eight rivers under the National Wild and Scenic Rivers Act. The Lower St. Croix National Scenic Riverway was added to the system in 1972. Together they form a Riverway that offers outdoor enthusiasts achance to enjoy a wilderness-like experience and a variety of outdoor recreation opportunities within easy reach of a major metropolitan area. On the upper St. Croix and Namekagon Rivers rapids challenge the canoeist, although none of the Riverway's waters are classified as whitewater. At the lower end, where the river widens out as Lake St. Croix, power and sail boating are popular. Campers, picnickers, swimmers, and birdwatchers enjoy its variety of scenes throughout. Anglers are attracted by the variety of fish lurking in the rivers, from trout and bass to muskellunge and sturgeon. The Riverway is managed through the cooperative efforts of
- the National Park Service,
- the Minnesota and Wisconsin Departments of Natural Resources, and
- the Northern States Power Company.
Upper St. Croix and Namekagon
The upper St. Croix and Namekagon part of the Riverway offers varied canoe environments on 322 kilometers (200 miles) of rivers. The Namekagon River begins at Namekagon Lake dam. It lies entirely in Wisconsin, flowing 158 kilometers (98 miles) south and west to join the St. Croix River near Danbury. The Namekagon begins as a narrow trout stream closed in by forest and meanders through a wide valley for much of its length. The river occasionally widens into marshy or swamp-like areas popular for waterfowl watching. The lower Namekagon passes through an area of high sandy banks with many sharp bends. This stretch offers canoeists a wilderness-like experience because there is no development visible from the river. At four areas, dams form lake-like stretches called flowages. You can end canoe trips above these flowages, to avoid the slack water, or sort below the dams, to avoid having to portage.
The St. Croix River is designated as the St. Croix River National Scenic Riverway starting at a dam near Gordon, Wisconsin. It flows southerly for 164 kilometers (102 miles) to the dam at St. Croix Falls, Wisconsin. It lies in Wisconsin for its first 40 kilometers (25 miles) and then becomes the border river between Minnesota and Wisconsin until it flows into the Mississippi River. The St. Croix begins as a small spring. It is narrow and shallow until joined by its major tributary, the Namekagon, 32 kilometers (20 miles) downstream. It then becomes wider, deeper, and slower. For most of its length it flows through a wide valley with low banks, formed by the glacial activity that shaped both rivers' watersheds. The St. Croix passes two Minnesota State Parks that provide developed camping areas. (The Namekagon and upper St. Croix offer primitive sites). The upper Riverway’s last 16 kilometers (10 miles) are the Indianhead Flowage created by the 18-meter-(60-foot) high St. Croix Falls hydroelectric dam. Most canoeists take out upstream of the flowage to avoid the slack water. Small powerboat activities such as water skiing and deeper-water fishing take place on this flowage.
Many low and medium hazard rapids and a few high hazard rapids exist on the St. Croix and Namekagon Rivers, but they are not considered whitewater rivers. Recreation here includes fishing, hunting, inner tubing, picnicking, and canoeing, with small powerboating on the flowages. Most camping is at canoe-access primitive sites. Recreational vehicle camping areas can be found within the state parks or private campgrounds located near the Riverway.
Lower St. Croix
The Lower St. Croix National Scenic Riverway covers a narrow river and shoreline corridor for 84 kilometers (52 miles) from St. Croix Falls dam to Prescott, Wisconsin, where the river joins the Mississippi. The lower St. Croix is wider, deeper, and slower than the upper, its flow controlled by the hydroelectric dam at its upstream end. Downstream of the dam are the high cliffs of the Dalles, which formed as meltwaters from retreating glaciers cut a deep, vertical-walled gorge through bedrock. For about 3.2 kilometers (2 miles) here the St. Croix, in places 21-30 meters (70-100 feet) deep, flows its fastest. The Dalles mostly lie within two Interstate State Parks. Both offer short hiking trails to geologic features, and developed campgrounds, swimming beaches, picnic areas, and boat launch ramps. On the Minnesota side you can rent a canoe or take a boat tour to see the scenic Dalles from the best vantage point, right on the water.
As it leaves the Dalles, the river becomes wider and shallower and passes between high banks for the next 32 kilometers (20 miles). Although development is visible from the water for 24 kilometers (15 miles) on this stretch, it is popular with canoeists. The shallower water, lack of rapids, and absence of large powerboat waves make it suitable for beginning canoeists.
About 35 kilometers (22 miles) below the dam the Apple River flows into the St. Croix, creating a large sandbar. Near here the river becomes deeper and slower-moving. Large powerboating becomes the major use. Forty-three kilometers (27 miles) downstream the valley widens still more and, for the last 40 kilometers (25 miles) of Riverway, the river is known as Lake St. Croix. Here you enter the state-administered area. From near Stillwater, Minnesota, the Riverway's largest city, south to Afton, Minnesota, shoreline development is more visible and the area is classified recreational. Near Hudson, Wisconsin, south of Stillwater, the river reaches its maximum width, 2,255 meters (7,400 feet) and sail-boating predominates. Further south the river passes two developing state parks, one on either side.
The General park map handed out at the visitor center is available on the park's map webpage.For information about topographic maps, geologic maps, and geologic data sets, please see the geologic maps page.
A geology photo album has not been prepared for this park.For information on other photo collections featuring National Park geology, please see the Image Sources page.
Currently, we do not have a listing for a park-specific geoscience book. The park's geology may be described in regional or state geology texts.
Parks and Plates: The Geology of Our National Parks, Monuments & Seashores.
Lillie, Robert J., 2005.
W.W. Norton and Company.
9" x 10.75", paperback, 550 pages, full color throughout
The spectacular geology in our national parks provides the answers to many questions about the Earth. The answers can be appreciated through plate tectonics, an exciting way to understand the ongoing natural processes that sculpt our landscape. Parks and Plates is a visual and scientific voyage of discovery!
Ordering from your National Park Cooperative Associations' bookstores helps to support programs in the parks. Please visit the bookstore locator for park books and much more.
St. Croix National Scenic Riverway still has much to learn about the Riverway and the species that inhabit it. Park staff and researchers set up studies to establish baseline inventories and monitor population trends. Inventories are a snapshot in time of a particular population. Monitoring looks at those populations and track how they change over time.
Information about the park's research program is available on the park's research webpage.
For information about permits that are required for conducting geologic research activities in National Parks, see the Permits Information page.
The NPS maintains a searchable data base of research needs that have been identified by parks.
A bibliography of geologic references is being prepared for each park through the Geologic Resources Evaluation Program (GRE). Please see the GRE website for more information and contacts.
NPS Geology and Soils PartnersAssociation of American State Geologists
Geological Society of America
Natural Resource Conservation Service - Soils
U.S. Geological Survey
General information about the park's education and intrepretive programs is available on the park's education webpage.For resources and information on teaching geology using National Park examples, see the Students & Teachers pages.
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Born at Belbrook House, Mountrath, Queen's County, Ireland, 1810; died at Manchester, N.H., 17 September, 1884. Left motherless in infancy, she was confined to the care of a maternal grant-aunt who undertook the formation of her religious character according to the method of Fénelon. Naturally of a gay disposition, she was carried away by the frivolities of fashionable life until her scruples led her to confide in her director. She followed his advice in offering her services to the foundress of the Congregation of the Sisters of Mercy, whom she assisted in instructing the little inmates of the House for Homeless Children recently erected. Assuming the plain black habit of the institution in 1828, she conducted the affairs of the home while Mother McAuley and two foundress companions were making their novitiate in the Presentation Convent of George's Hill preparatory to the founding of the new congregation. After their return as professed Sisters of Mercy she and six companions assumed the garb of the congregation.
In 1837 Sister Mary Francis Xavier was appointed superior of the convent at Carlow, which had been built under her supervision and was the first house of the congregation outside of Dublin. In 1839 she founded the convent of Naas and in 1840 that of Weyford, to which soon after its establishment the public orphan asylum was affiliated. From Wexford foundations have been sent out as far as Australia. The convent of Sligo is perhaps the most noteworthy of her Irish foundations on account of its flourishing training-school for teachers. In 1843 Bishop O'Connor of Pittsburgh applied to Carlow for a foundation for his diocese, and Mother Warde with a band of six left for America. At Pittsburgh the sisters took charge of the cathedral Sunday school and the instruction of adults. Mother Warde's power of language and sympathy allied to ardent zeal won many to the Church. Parochial schools and academies, visitation of the sick poor in their houses and in the poor house, visitation of the penitentiary, and the opening of the first hospital in Pittsburgh followed each other in rapid succession. In 1846 a foundation was made in Chicago in compliance with Mother Warde's promise to Bishop Quarter. In 1848 she opened a second branch house in the Alleghanies on land given by the Reverend Demetrius Gallitzin within the limits of his Catholic settlement of Loretto. In 1850, though the "Knownothings" had recently burned the convent of the Ursulines near Boston, Mother Warde accepted the invitation of Bishop O'Reilly of Hartford to open a house in Providence. After the sisters' installation a mob surrounded the convent, threatening them with death if they would not immediately vacate the premises. Mother Warde exacted a promise from each of their Catholic defenders that no shot would be fired except in self defence, and the sisters held possession of the convent. One of the rioters had remarked to his companions:
We made our plans without reckoning the odds we shall have to contend with in the strong controlling force the presence of that nun commands. The only honourable course for us is to retreat from this ill-conceived fray. I, for one, shall not lift a hand to harm these ladies.
In 1852 Mother Warde opened houses in Hartford and New Haven to which free schools were attached; later on academies were opened and the works of mercy inaugurated. In 1854 Mrs. Goodloe Harper, daughter of Charles Carroll of Carrollton, donated to the congregation a house and some ground at Newport, R.I., for a convent and schools. Her daughter, Miss Emily Harper, was also a generous benefactor. In 1857 free and select schools were opened at Rochester, and later at Buffalo, by desire of Bishop Timon. On 16 July, 1858, Mother Warde and a band of missionaries left Providence for Manchester, by invitation of Bishop Bacon of Portland, and there established night schools for factory children. St. Mary's Academy was opened the same year. In 1861, at the request of Bishop Wood, Mother Warde opened a convent at Philadelphia, where free schools and the works of mercy were instituted. In 1864 a foundation was sent to Omaha; in 1865 a branch house and schools were opened at Bangor, Maine; in 1871 a colony of sisters was sent to Yreka, California, and North Whitefield Mission, Maine, was undertaken by Mother Warde, who likewise sent foundations to Jersey City, Bordentown, and Princeton, N.J. In 1857 Bishop Bacon requested her to open an orphanage in Portland, but a disastrous fire delayed the work until 1872, when the Burlington foundation had been begun. The Kavanagh School was given to the sisters by Miss Winifred Kavanagh; an academy was also opened at Portland. On the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, 1878, Mother Warde sent the sisters to labour among the Indians of Maine at Old Town, Pleasant Point, and Dana's Point. The Government builds the schools houses and pays the sisters salaries for teaching the Indian children. Mother Warde's last works were the opening of an Old Ladies' Home and a Young Ladies' Academy at Deering, Maine. At the time of her golden jubilee in 1883 Mother Warde was the oldest Sister of Mercy living. Her salient characteristics were great purity of heart, earnestness of purpose, sincerity, and large-mindedness. She was exceedingly reserved, but sympathizing and compassionate towards others. Endowed with rare common-sense, she was an optimist in all things. In appearance she was of medium height, erect, and of commanding presence; her forehead was high, and her blue eyes deeply set.
Life of Mother M. Xavier Warde (Manchester); Annals of Sisters of Mercy, III-IV.
APA citation. (1912). Mary Francis Xavier Warde. In The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15553a.htm
MLA citation. "Mary Francis Xavier Warde." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 15. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912. <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15553a.htm>.
Transcription. This article was transcribed for New Advent by Thomas M. Barrett. Dedicated to my grandmother, Mary Loretta Ashley Barrett.
Ecclesiastical approbation. Nihil Obstat. October 1, 1912. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor. Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York.
Contact information. The editor of New Advent is Kevin Knight. My email address is feedback732 at newadvent.org. (To help fight spam, this address might change occasionally.) Regrettably, I can't reply to every letter, but I greatly appreciate your feedback — especially notifications about typographical errors and inappropriate ads.
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EVEN a material 10 billion times as strong as steel has a breaking point. It seems neutron stars may shatter under extreme forces, explaining puzzling X-ray flares.
Neutron stars are dense remnants of stars gone supernova, packing the mass of the sun into a sphere the size of a city. Their cores may be fluid, but their outer surfaces are solid and extremely tough - making graphene, the strongest material on Earth, look like tissue paper by comparison.
These shells may shatter, though, in the final few seconds before a pair of neutron stars merges to form a black hole - a union thought to generate explosions known as short gamma-ray bursts.
David Tsang of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena and colleagues have calculated how the mutual gravitational pull of such stars will distort their shape, creating moving tidal bulges. As the stars spiral towards each other, orbiting ever faster, they squeeze and stretch each other ever faster too.
A few seconds before the stars merge, the frequency of this squeezing and stretching matches the frequency at which one of the stars vibrates most easily. This creates a resonance that boosts the vibrations dramatically, causing the star's crust to crack in many places - just as a wine glass may shatter when a certain note is sung, the team says (Physical Review Letters, DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.108.011102).
The star's gravity is too powerful to let the pieces fly away, but the sudden movement can disturb its magnetic field, accelerating electrons and leading to a powerful X-ray flare. That could explain observations by NASA's Swift satellite in which a blast of X-rays preceded some short gamma-ray bursts by a few seconds.
Combining observations of X-ray flares with those of gravitational waves emitted by the stars as they spiral together could fix the exact frequency at which the shattering occurs, which would reveal more about the stars' mysterious interiors, says Tsang.
If you would like to reuse any content from New Scientist, either in print or online, please contact the syndication department first for permission. New Scientist does not own rights to photos, but there are a variety of licensing options available for use of articles and graphics we own the copyright to.
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HOW TO LEARN 5000 WORDS
1. Choose your level for easy English news.
2. Read every news article in your level once.
3. Look at all new words in the dictionary.
4. Read the article again.
5. If there is audio or video under the article, listen to it. Listen to it many times. Stop only when you understand perfectly all the words.
6. Listen to old articles and check if you still understand them.
If you read and listen to one article every day, your reading and listening skills can be better fast. You will learn very fast and after some time you will not have to translate into your own language. You will simply understand. Why?
When you learn English, you have to learn in the whole sentences and in context. You have to learn how to understand with no translations. When you listen to people in your native language, you don't translate. You simply understand. The same has to be in English.
Students who translate English texts, do exercises and do tests are very good at translating, doing exercises and doing tests, but they have usually a big problem with English listening and understanding fast in real life. In real life, nobody waits for your translation. People usually use simple and basic English when they speak but they use it fast. You have to understand with no translation like in your native language. If not, you cannot be part of communication because you are slow. These words are maybe hard but they are true.
You also have to hear every new word 5 to 10 times if you want to remember it. That's why we use the same words in one level. If you read and hear the same words again and again, you will understand them and remember them. If you know words from one level perfectly well, you can go to a higher level and learn new words. It is important to go step by step, and read and listen to words which are used in English often. This is what we do. In our short news, we use words which are used in English often. Level 1 has 1000 most important words. Level 2 has 3000 words and in Level 3 we use 5000 most important words.
So, if you want to understand English fast and learn fast, read one article or more a day. You can improve your reading and listening fast. We are trying to do everything possible to help you learn English fast and understand it. That's why we prepare easy English news for you. When you use this website every day, you can learn 5000 words which you need for communication with anybody.
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The social studies curriculum builds a strong understanding of history, geography, civics, current events, economics, and world cultures. Students learn about United States and world history including eras, themes, and significant events that are central to understanding the experiences of other times and other nations. The study of economics and current events help students understand the forces that shape both the world and their personal lives. Understanding civics and government allow students to see their responsibilities as citizens, and the shows how the interactions of different kinds of governments play out on the world stage. The development of geographic principles allows students to comprehend and analyze current events on a national and international level. Additionally, the curriculum examines world cultures, allowing students to compare the aspects of American life with other societies of modern times and the past.
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Xanthoma is a skin condition in which certain fats build up under the surface of the skin.
Xanthomas are common, particularly among older adults and people with high blood lipids.
Xanthomas vary in size. Some are very small, while others are bigger than 3 inches in diameter. They may appear anywhere on the body, but are most often seen on the elbows, joints, tendons, knees, hands, feet, or buttocks.
They may be a sign of a medical condition that involves an increase in blood lipids. Such conditions include:
Xanthelasma palpebra, a common type of xanthoma that appears on the eyelids and may occur without any underlying medical condition, is not necessarily associated with elevated cholesterol or lipids.
A xanthoma looks like a sore or bump under the skin. It's usually flat, soft to the touch, and yellow in color. It has sharp, distinct edges.
Your health care provider will examine the skin. Usually, a diagnose of xanthoma can be made by looking at your skin. A biopsy of the growth will show a fatty deposit.
You may have blood tests done to check lipid levels, liver function, and for diabetes.
If you have a disease that causes increased blood lipids, treating the condition may help reduce the development of xanthomas.
If the growth bothers you, your doctor may remove it. However, xanthomas may come back after surgery.
The growth is non-cancerous and painless, but may be a sign of another medical condition.
The growth may cause a change in how you look. This is called cosmetic disfiguring.
Call your health care provider if xanthomas develop. They may indicate an underlying disorder that needs treatment.
Control of blood lipids, including triglycerides and cholesterol levels, may help to reduce development of xanthomas.
Skin growths - fatty; Xanthelasma
Errors in Metabolism. James WD, Berger TG, Elston DM, eds. Andrews' Diseases of the Skin: Clinical Dermatology. 10th ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Saunders Elsevier; 2005: chap 26.
Massengale WT, Nesbitt LT Jr. Xanthomas. In: Bolognia JL, Jorizzo JL, Rapini RP, eds.: Dermatology. 2nd ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Mosby Elsevier; 2008: chap 91.
Semenkovich CF. Disorders of Lipid Metabolism. In: Goldman L, Ausiello D, eds. Cecil Medicine. 23rd ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Saunders Elsevier. 2007: chap 217.
Updated by: Kevin Berman, MD, PhD, Atlanta Center for Dermatologic Disease, Atlanta, GA. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.
The information provided herein should not be used during any medical emergency or for the diagnosis or treatment of any medical condition. A licensed physician should be consulted for diagnosis and treatment of any and all medical conditions. Call 911 for all medical emergencies. Links to other sites are provided for information only -- they do not constitute endorsements of those other sites. Copyright 1997-2013, A.D.A.M., Inc. Duplication for commercial use must be authorized in writing by ADAM Health Solutions.
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We have been chatting about lowercase ls a lot around here lately because my son recently gained a new sight word FIRE (it’s always all in caps on extinguishers, fire doors etc..) – and the uppercase i throws him off sometimes. So we had a brief discussion about fonts ( using your computer to show all the silly different ways to make the same letter is a great way to play with that idea), and decided since we were talking so much about this letter we’d use it for this week’s craft.
- Gather your materials. You will need a full sheet of blue construction paper, some white, yellow and red as well. Glue, blue markers , scissors and sea life stickers.
- Write a lowercase l on some white paper.
- Start by having your child draw waves on the paper. I was so surprised that this was my son’s favorite part, he was so into it, carefully drawing squiggly lines.
- Next add sea life to the ocean. This is not a must do step but I think it’s important to reinforce some learning about the sea. We took time to talk about the different animals on the stickers ( crabs, sea horses, fish and starfish) and peeling those little stickers off is great fine motor practice.
- While they are working on their ocean, cut out the red roof and yellow ray of light.
- Hand them the lowercase l, ask them what letter it is, sounds it makes and why you are making it into a lighthouse.
- My son insisted on making red stripes on it , so I grabbed him a crayon. ( Mental note where is my red marker?? Can’t find it anywhere.)
- Cut the l out.
- Add glue to your ocean
- Add your lighthouse, my son’s was way to the right only because he didn’t want to cover any of his stickers. Place yours wherever as long as it’s vertical .
- Add the roof
- Add the ray of light and let dry.
Over the Irish Sea
When I was 1 I sucked my thumb
and then I went to sea
I climbed aboard a pirate ship
and the captain said to me
“Let’s go this way , and that way.
backwards and forwards,
over the Irish sea!”
* Continue counting with rhyming words like 2 and shoe, 3 and knee etc
Books About The Sea!
Stanley at Sea by Linda Bailey made me giggle . The story is about 4 dogs that go out to sea unintentionally when they are searching for food. While out there they start wondering when outside will end because the sea is so wide and they are so far from land. One dog suggest that outside will end when then hit a fence. Sure enough they hit what they think is a fence, what readers know is a tanker and are rescued and fed steak and sausages they can eat before being returned to their owners. Doggie nirvana for sure. I love that the book is presented through the dog’s perspective, it gives young kids a chance to laugh and correct the dogs ideas about the things they encounter.
My Very Own Lighthouse by Francisco Cunha is a book about what it’s like to watch a parent go out to sea while you wait at home for their safe return. The little girl in this book is worried about her dad who is a fisherman so her mom explains to her why there are lighthouses. She decides to make her very own so that she can keep her daddy safe. I love the authors deep understanding of childhood anxiety, and how he has her gain some control by making her very own lighthouse with toys and a star. It’s not realism ( using a star as the light) , but any child will relate to the shift in power from being afraid and having nightmares to feeling as though she is actively helping keep her dad safe.
A Sea-Wishing Day by Robert Heidbreder is a wonderful tale of adventure, pirates, mermaids and treasure! The best part the little boy and his canine companion never really leave his backyard in the city , instead the adventure is all in their imagination. Anyone with a preschooler will appreciate this book, playing pretend is a huge part of most 3-5 year old’s playtime, and it should be. This book encourages, as well as celebrates that as this little boy discovers adventures on the high sea.
You May Also Like:
Boat b !
When I presented my son with 4 different b themes to choose from his choice was clear, “Boat bbbb boat, boat let’s make a boat!” so we did. I have been enjoying watching him trace the letters now instead of scribbling on them randomly like he used to. It’s clear his ability to write is naturally emerging and I am tickled to see it come out like this. What new development have you seen your child do recently? Leave a comment and share!
- Gather your materials. You will need 3 full sheets of construction paper, and one smaller blue piece for waves, glue, scissors and markers. The letter stickers are optional .
- Start by writing a large lowercase b on one sheet of construction paper.
- Have your child decorate it as they see fit. Mine like I said is big into tracing, which is very interesting since I have never once done a letter tracing work sheet with him.
- While they do that draw 2 sails and a boat on another sheet, as well as some waves on the smaller blue piece.
- Have them color the sail and boat with markers when they are done with the b.
- My son insisted on cutting out the waves himself. So I grabbed his scissors too. I cut out the boat and sails while he was doing this.
- Glue the waves on the remaining full sheet of paper.
- Glue the b on and add the glue for the boat and sails.
- Add the sails.
- Add the boat.
- Give the boat a name- using the letter stickers and let dry.
Sail Away by Donald Crews was a huge hit. I can’t say I am surprised at all my son loves this author and it’s easy to understand why. The text is simple, as is the premise of the book. Readers don’t get deeply invested in the characters, they are faceless people on a sail boat, instead the focus is on the boat istself. Where it goes, how the weather affects it and how it gets beck to where it started from. I have always enjoyed the use of light in Donald Crews books, you don’t have to explain to your child that a storm is coming or that time has passed because the light in the illustrations does the explaining for you. Great boat book!
Toy Boat by Randall de Seve is a story that will pull at your heart as well as make you cheer, well it made my 3 year old cheer anyway! A little boy makes his very own toy boat and plays with it, in the tub and even sleeps with it. One day when he is at the beach it floats off into the open ocean. It’s turbulent, scary and well anxious to see this tiny boat made of household things fight the waves. My son was visibly shaken by it’s unintentional freedom. With a little help from a friendly fishing boat the toy boat returns home and both boat and boy rejoice. This is a common theme for boat books- but the illustrations by Loren Long really help this one stand out above the others. My son cheered every time we read the part when they are reunited!
More Boat Crafts & Books
Pretend play activities that combine imaginative play with crafts are our favorite things to do lately. Also our supplies are made up of many recycled and reusable materials. This can be done with boxes, wagons pretty much anything your child can sit in! When they are pretending go along with their suggestions and let them lead. It’s your turn to ask “Why?” and follow along. Most of all have fun.
- Gather your materials. We are using a laundry basket, some party streamers, a wrapping paper tube, some painters tape, pipe cleaners, a paper grocery bag, sticky back foam, markers and scissors.
- Start by having your child decorate the mast of the sail ( aka the wrapping paper tube) with markers and foam.
- While they are doing that , draw a sail on the inside of the grocery bag.
- Fold and cut two layers ( so the inside is facing out ) of sail.
- Decorate the sail with markers and foam.
- Tape the sail to the mast. I am using painters tape because my son likes the blue. Any tape will work.
- Decorate the boat. We weaved the party streamers in and out of the little holes on the sides of our basket. I didn’t want anything sticky in the basket since my laundry does sometimes get put in it.
- Attach the mast. I am using pipe cleaners wrapped around the tube and tied to the basket. Like I said above I didn’t want sticky tape residue on my basket. If you are using a box no biggie but this worked for us. I covered the sharp edges with painters tape which also won’t leave a residue.
- All Aboard! We played ferry boat, and the drink you see was part of our pretend play. I had to be the lady in the ferry cafeteria and make him a drink before he got back in his Honda and we docked. Hey it got some banana into him too !
- Gather your materials. You will need construction paper, a blue marker, scissors and glue.
- Give your child the marker and a piece of construction paper to draw the water and waves.
- While they are drawing the turbulent sea, cut out a semi circle, a long thin rectangle, two triangles and 3 small circles.
- When they are done break out the glue! Add the glue for the boat first.
- Add the semi circle boat.
- Next add the glue for the mast and the rectangle.
- Time to add the triangles
- Dot on three dots of glue for the port holes.
- Add the little circles.
- Sail Away !
“The Seaside Switch” by Kathleen V. Kudlinski is a book packed with information about tides and creatures in the sea. As a child I found nothing more fascinating than a tide pool and all the scurrying crabs and this book captures that. It’s main story is how the tide changes throughout the day and brings with it different animals. The book is too long for most toddlers but my son enjoyed pointing out the animals in the book.
” Busy Boats” by Tony Mitton is a fun little book packed full of good information about boats. The text is short , rhymes and matches the illustrations perfectly. It’s hard to find non fiction books that small ones will sit for and listen to, the cartoon characters in this book will grab and keep your child’s attention , I also like how small the books are, perfect for car rides and longer travel!
Boats are big deals around our house, I hope you like our creation!
- Gather your materials. You will need A paper towel roll, the top of an egg carton, some tissue paper, glue, paint scissors and tape.
- Paint the egg carton. We used the dot a art paint, because it goes on with very little mess and had a playdate shortly after art time but any paint will do, just keep it thin so it doesn’t saturate the carton.
- Next up the paper towel roll mast!
- While your child is painting, cut the tissue paper into a sail.
- Glue onto the mast.
- Add a layer of tape on top to keep the sail in place. You don’t have to do this but I find tissue paper is so flimsy that I did 3 layers and needed glue on the bottom and tape on top.
- Glue the mast onto the boat, I poured a ton of glue and stuck the roll into it. Let dry.
- Voila , your boat is beautiful and environmentally responsible!
” An Island in the Soup “ by Mirelle Levert is an award winning book , and it’s easy to see why. The story follows a little boy who refusing to eat imagines a fantasy world in his bowl of soup, it rains peas and carrots and he encounters a bad fairy but in the end he eats his delicious soup. The illustrations are perfect although the bad fairy’s unibrow is very very frightening!
” Busy Boats” by Tony Mitton is s cute little book that uses cartoony characters to help explain all about boats and how they work. This is a perfect book for children who’s attention isn’t held by a non fiction book, but wants to know more about boats!
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Internet Citizen Science Databases
Salamander Study: This project has students collect data on the proximity of salamanders to a stream. During the field portion, students check under "wood cookies" for salamander locations. What are the abiotic conditions when salamanders are found further from the stream? Explore our data to find out.
Ozone Bio-monitoring Study: Ground-level ozone creates visible symptoms on sensitive plants that are exposed to this invisible air pollutant. Students collect data on the percent of ozone damage covering leaves on plants growing in our monitoring garden. Explore the data to find out what the symptom looks like, how quickly it progresses and how you might be able to monitor in your schoolyard.
Terrestrial Invertebrate Study: Changes in climate can result in subtle shifts in phenology (life cycle events such as when an insect emerges or when a plant blooms). Students collect data on insect orders found living in decaying leaves in our study plot. Explore the data to find out if the appearance of certain insects is shifting over time.
Water Quality Study: All streams in the Smokies originate in the park but even they are not pristine because of acid deposition and recreational activities in the park. Compare data collected by students in the park with a stream near your schoolyard. How does the pH differ, which location gets the most Stonefly larvae?
Lichen Monitoring: Lichens absorb nutrients from the air when they are wet which makes them sensitivie to acid deposition. Data is collected on the perecentage of coverage of three different lichen growth forms on selected trees throughout Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Are sensitive lichen growth forms being replaced by more tolerant groups?Using the databases, students can compare changes over time and geography.
Hands on History: Search photos, transcribed interviews and other first hand personal accounts of life in the region before Great Smoky Mountains became a National Park. There is also a database containing information from every cemetery and every gravestone located in the Smokies. Check out the teacher resource section for classroom activities.
How to Participate
Click any of the database links to explore our student citizen science research projects.
Are you doing a similar study in your own schoolyard? Add your location to the Hands on the Land database to track your own research findings. Just become a member of the Hands on the Land network of educators.
- Grade Levels:
- Third Grade-Graduate Level (Masters, PhD)
- Anthropology, Aquatic Studies, Biodiversity, Biology: Animals, Biology: Plants, Botany, Chemistry, Climate, Climate Change, Conservation, Earth Science, Ecology, Education, Environment, History, Hydrology, Science and Technology
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE06-07
to Conduct Aerial Survey of Deer in Kensico Basin
Commissioner Emily Lloyd of the New York City Department
of Environmental Protection (DEP) announced today that within the
next two weeks the DEP is going to conduct an aerial survey of
the deer population in the area surrounding the Kensico Reservoir
The survey will use an infrared camera mounted on
a single engine Cessna airplane, and will be conducted at night
from an altitude of approximately 1000 feet. The study will
map the deer population within a 4-mile by 6-mile area of Westchester
covering the Kensico drainage basin.
“Deer can have a detrimental effect on watershed
areas by reducing or eliminating forest regeneration,” said
Commissioner Lloyd. “Damage to the forests can lead
to loose or unstable soil, which then increases the amount of soil
that runs off into the water system during and after a rainfall
or snow melt. More data are needed if officials are to develop
an effective strategy for managing the deer herd in the county.”
A healthy, vigorously growing forest consumes more
nutrients, reducing the amount of nutrients in watercourses and
reservoirs and thereby aiding in water quality protection. A
resilient forest with various sizes of trees is also able to recover
faster from various events, such as damage from weather.
DEP has worked extensively with Westchester County
and Pace University on the effects of whitetail deer. A conference
on deer management was held at Pace in November 2005, which led
to the decision by DEP to conduct the deer survey.
Survey work will be done by Vision Air Research
of Boise, Idaho, using a red and white Cessna. The flight
will be coordinated with the Federal Aviation Administration so
as to not interfere with operations at Westchester County Airport.
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US Youth Soccer has recently adopted a sports concussion protocol. Everyone should develop an awareness and watch for this type of injury.
US Youth Soccer Concussion Resources
US Youth Soccer Concussion Procedure and Protocol
US Youth Soccer Concussion Notification Form
Crucial Concussion Evaluation Info for Coaches
By Dev K. Mishra, M.D.
How should a coach evaluate a young athlete for a possible concussion?
The key word in that first sentence is “possible,” meaning that a coach who is not medically trained should not make the definitive diagnosis of a concussion. Your job is to assess the athlete and determine whether you suspect a concussion, remove that athlete from play, and send the athlete for evaluation by a medical professional trained in sports concussion management.
I highly recommend the Pocket SCAT2 concussion assessment tool, which you can download HERE <http://www.sportconcussionlibrary.com/content/concussion-information-coaches-and-first-responders-trainerstherapists> , under the heading "Assessment Tools."
If your athlete has taken contact and has any one of the features noted on the card you should suspect a concussion and remove the athlete from play:
* Loss of consciousness
* Seizure or convulsion
* “Pressure in head”
* Neck Pain
* Nausea or vomiting
* Blurred vision
* Balance problems
* Sensitivity to light
* Sensitivity to noise
* Feeling slowed down
* Feeling like “in a fog“
* “Don’t feel right”
* Difficulty concentrating
* Difficulty remembering
* Fatigue or low energy
* More emotional
* Nervous or anxious
The downloads available at the Sports Concussion Library <http://www.sportconcussionlibrary.com/content/concussion-information-coaches-and-first-responders-trainerstherapists> offer more detailed information, and should be studied by coaches.
If the athlete is unconscious, do not move, shake, or attempt to rouse the athlete. Call for emergency medical transportation immediately. Stay with the athlete until help arrives. If the athlete is unconscious it is a medical emergency.
As our knowledge about concussion has improved it’s clear to us that the definition of concussion needs to change. Long gone are the days when an athlete needed to be knocked unconscious or close to unconscious before it was deemed a concussion.
We know now that even a headache that happens after contact to the player’s head, player’s body, or by the ground to the player’s body can be an early indicator of a concussion. Essentially, the definition of concussion is quite a bit broader than it once was.
What that means for the coach is that there are going to be a lot more suspected concussions. It means that you’ll likely deal with situations where you’ll ask yourself questions such as “it’s just a headache, do I really have to hold this player out after something like that?”
My advice to you: yes, you need to hold that player out of practice or competition and the player should seek medical attention urgently.
Use your best judgment and be overly cautious.
The final phrasing on the SCAT2 card says what you need very clearly:
“Any athlete with a suspected concussion should be IMMEDIATELY REMOVED FROM PLAY, urgently assessed medically, should not be left alone and should not drive a motor vehicle.”
(Dr. Dev K. Mishra is the creator of the SidelineSportsDoc.com <http://sidelinesportsdoc.com/> injury management program for coaches. He is an orthopedic surgeon in private practice in Burlingame, Calif. He is a member of the team physician pool with the U.S. Soccer Federation and has served as team physician at the University of California, Berkeley. This article first appeared on SidelineSportsDoc.com <http://blog.sidelinesportsdoc.com/> .)
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OECD Home › Environment › Publications & Documents › News Release
Most of the action to address climate change will need to take place in developing countries, but developed countries should shoulder much of the cost, said OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría today in a speech at the United Nations Climate Conference in Bali.
The impact of climate change and urban development could more than triple the number of people around the world exposed to coastal flooding by 2070, according to a new report by the OECD, co-authored by experts from academia and the private sector.
In Russia 47 million people are exposed to high concentrations of nitrous dioxide. Half the population in rural Tajikistan, and one-third in Moldova, lack access to clean water. Leaded petrol is sold legally in Tajikistan and Turkmenistan.
Many regions in the Alps had the warmest November on record, delaying the arrival of snow by several weeks and worrying ski operators. As the first flurries are coating Alpine slopes, questions arise: was this balmy autumn an exception or a harbinger of the effects ..
Nahezu alle Skigebiete in Deutschland und rund 70 Prozent der Skiregionen in Österreich müssen durch den Klimawandel um die Schneesicherheit fürchten und damit um die wirtschaftliche Grundlage des Wintertourismus.
Klimawandel in den Alpen: Anpassung des Wintertourismus und des Naturgefahrenmanagements - nahezu alle Skigebiete in Deutschland und rund 70 Prozent der Skiregionen in Österreich müssen durch den Klimawandel um die Schneesicherheit fürchten und damit um die wirtschaftliche Grundlage des Wintertourismus. In der Schweiz zeigt sich ein geteiltes Bild: Auch in den meisten Skigebieten im Berner Oberland, in der Zentralschweiz, im Waadtland
The OECD Global Forum on Sustainable Development, in cooperation with the World Bank and Agence Française de Développement, will discuss how governments in developing countries can work with local private water companies to provide affordable safe water and basic sanitation.
OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría has welcomed the publication this week of the Stern Review to the UK government on the economic consequences of climate change. The report was compiled by Sir Nicholas Stern, former chief economist at the World Bank.
The need to manage pollution, natural resources and biodiversity in France continues to be a major challenge. The OECD Environmental Performance Review of France highlights the effectiveness of the environmental policy pursued by France;
China needs to make wide-ranging changes in the way it runs its public and private sectors if it is to continue on a stable growth path leading to full integration into the world economy, according to a new report from the OECD.
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Hip Size of Mothers Linked To Breast Cancer In Daughters
02/21/11 Portland, Ore.
In a study of the maternity records of more than 6,000 women, David J.P. Barker, M.D., Ph.D.,and Kent Thornburg, Ph.D., of Oregon Health & Science University discovered a strong correlation between the size and shape of a woman's hips and her daughter's risk of breast cancer. Wide, round hips, the researchers postulated, represent markers of high sex hormone concentrations in the mother, which increase her daughter's vulnerability to breast cancer.
A woman's hips are shaped at puberty when the growth of the hip bones is controlled by sex hormones but is also influenced by the level of nutrition. Every woman has a unique sex hormone profile which is established at puberty and persists through her reproductive life. The study's findings show for the first time that the pubertal growth spurt of girls is strongly associated with the risk of breast cancer in their daughters. The study, carried out with colleagues in Finland and the United Kingdom, is described in an article just published online by the peer-reviewed American Journal of Human Biology. The authors followed up on 6,370 women born in Helsinki from 1934 to 1944 whose mothers' pelvic bones were measured during routine prenatal care. The study found that breast cancer rates were more than three times higher among the women in the cohort, born at or after term, whose mothers had wide hips They were more than seven times higher if those mothers had already given birth to one or more children.
A woman's vulnerability to breast cancer, the study found, was greater if her mother's "intercristal diameter" - the widest distance between the wing-like structures at the top of the hip bone - was more than 30 centimeters, or 11.8 inches. The risk also was higher if these wing-like structures were round. The breast cancer risk was 2.5 times higher for the daughters of women in whom the widest distance was more than 3 centimeters greater than the distance at the front.
Barker, professor of medicine (cardiovascular medicine) in the OHSU School of Medicine as well as professor of clinical epidemiology at the University of Southampton in the U.K., is internationally known for discovering the relationship between low birth weight and the lifetime risk for coronary heart disease and other medical disorders, which the British Medical Journal has named the Barker Hypothesis. He has published more than 200 papers and written or edited five books about the developmental origins of chronic disease. He was honored in 2005 with the prestigious Danone International Prize for Nutrition for his pioneering research.
The OHSU study published today proposes that breast cancer is initiated in the first trimester of a pregnancy by exposure of the embryo's developing breast tissue to the mother's circulating sex hormones. The primary mammary cord, which gives rise to milk-producing breast lobules, develops in the fetus at 10 weeks. The fetal breast is known to be stimulated by circulating hormones; the intensity of the stimulation is such that half of all newborn babies have breast secretions.
"Our findings support the hypothesis that wide round hips reflect high levels of sex hormone production at puberty, which persist after puberty and adversely affect breast development of the daughters in early gestation," the authors commented. They could only speculate, they said, on the exact nature of this adverse effect but pointed out: "Catechol estrogen, a metabolite or estradiol, is thought to cause chromosomal instability by breaking DNA strands. High catechol estrogen concentrations in the maternal circulation could produce genetic instability in differentiating breast epithelial cells, which would make the breast vulnerable to cancer in later life."
"Epidemiological findings of this kind aren't designed to define precise biological or molecular mechanisms," said Grover Bagby, M.D., deputy director of the OHSU Cancer Institute. "However, for those of us involved in identifying the earliest molecular causes of cancer, these fascinating results define the types of questions we need to ask. This is a wake-up call telling us to pay attention to stem cell populations at the time of birth … a good deal earlier than we might have otherwise done. It is important to consider these cell populations because only by understanding the initial cause can we begin to develop rational strategies to prevent this very common cancer."
The daughters who were the subjects of the study were all born during 1934-1944 at either Helsinki University Central Hospital or City Maternity Hospital, the two maternity hospitals in Finland's capital. The occurrence of breast cancer among them was ascertained from national registers of all hospital admissions and deaths in Finland. Three hundred of them had had breast cancer of whom 48 died from the disease. Their mean age when they were diagnosed was 54.
The findings shed new light on the link between breast cancer and nutrition. "Mothers whose daughters developed breast cancer were of similar height to the other mothers," Barker and Thornburg reported. "This suggests that they had similar nutrition through childhood. Our findings do not therefore indicate that good nutrition through childhood is linked to breast cancer in the next generation. But they do show that the pubertal growth spurt of girls, which reflects the level of nutrition, is strongly associated with the risk of breast cancer in their daughters."
The authors of the journal article besides Barker and Thornburg, who is director of the OHSU Heart Research Center and professor of cardiovascular medicine in the OHSU School of Medicine, were Clive Osmond, senior scientist at the Medical Research Council Epidemiology Resource Center at the University of Southampton; Eero Kajantie and Tom J. Forsen, both of Finland's National Public Health Institute; and Johan G. Eriksson, who holds positions at both the National Public Health Institute as well as with the University of Helsinki's Department of Public Health. Barker and Osmond have collaborated with Eriksson and his Finnish colleagues for the past 12 years tracing some 20,000 men and women in the Helsinki Birth Cohort Study.
The American Journal of Human Biology is published by Wiley-Liss, Inc., a subsidiary of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. The full text of the study, entitled “A possible link between the pubertal growth of girls and breast cancer in their daughters,” is available in “Early View” at http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/fulltext/116327402/PDFSTART The link to the abstract is: http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/abstract/116327402/ABSTRACT
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Research Help Tutorial:
Using Academic Search Premier
When you have a paper or project assignment that requires scholarly research, you’ll probably want to use a library article database. One of the largest databases available at our library is Academic Search Premier.
Finding Academic Search Premier
First go to the library webpage. Then click on Articles and Databases. Academic Search Premier is at the top of the list of databases. Click on the words Academic Search Premier.
Using Academic Search Premier
Now that you’re in the database, please note that the title of the database is listed just above the basic search box. You may think that the database is called “Ebsco” or “EbscoHost” but that’s the name of the company that provides the database. You may need to know that “Academic Search Premier” is the title of this database when you are documenting your sources in your paper.
On the basic search page, you’ll see many options for searching. Two of the most important ones are on the lower left. If you click Full Text you’ll limit your search to only articles available online, and you’ll miss out on many articles that actually available in other databases. If you click Scholarly (Peer-Reviewed) Journals you’ll narrow your search to only scholarly journals. The term “peer-reviewed” means that experts have evaluated the article before publishing it.
Type a keyword or two in the basic search box, and click Search. You’ll see a list of results and the number of results will be reported at the top of the left hand column. Each result will be numbered and start with the title of the article, followed by the authors, journal title, as well as volumes, dates, and pages. Below the information about the article will be a number of subject terms, which are like tags for each article. They may give you some ideas for alternate keyword searches.
On the same results page, you’ll see on the left, several options for narrowing your search, such as subject terms and geographic areas.
If you find an article on the results list that sounds interesting, you can hover your mouse over the magnifying glass icon (at the end of the article title) and read the abstract or summary in a pop-up box.
If you are ready to read the article, you can click on PDF full text to pull up the article. From the PDF page, you can use the print and save functions at the top of the page to print the article or to save it to your computer or flash drive.
Emailing and Citing Articles
If you click on the title of the article, you’ll see a list of options on the right. One of the options is email. Click on the email icon, and enter your email address. You can use any email address. Click Send at the bottom left.
Another option, under the email icon, is cite. When you click on cite, you’ll see a pop-up window which lists the article in five or six different citation styles. You can copy and paste the citation you need into your paper. Your instructor will tell you which style to use, such as MLA.
Remember that you may need to narrow your search, using keyword phrases or more specific terms, such as “teenage online risks.” Alternately, you may need to broaden your search, such as “privacy.” Try several combinations of keywords and synonyms. You may need to use the “advanced search” button (which is found under the basic search box at the top) to do a more precise search or to search for a specific author or journal title.
Need More Help?
If you need more help, go back to the library webpage and click on Ask a Librarian. You’ll find the chat widget, the phone number, and the email address for the Reference Librarians. We’ll be glad to offer more help!
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Cain's Classroom Rules
Work only on English while you are here
Come prepared ( notebook, paper, pens/pencils, book--Every Day)
Respect others and their work
Be on Time with your ID in your hand/around your neck
Leave backpacks at the front of the room; take only the materials you need to your seat
Have a positive attitude
Abide by the student handbook
Take care of your personal groomin, hygiene, etc. BEFORE you come to my class.
**These rules are clearly posted in the classroom and are explained on the first day of school. EVERY student is expected to abide by them :).
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The R Project for Statistical Computing is an open source language and programming environment that provides a wide variety of data manipulation, statistical analysis, and data visualization capabilities. R is a successor to the S software originally developed at Bell Laboratories. R is a GNU project and is freely available under the terms of the GNU General Public License. The software runs on Windows, Mac OS, and a wide variety of Unix platforms.
Even for people who aren't expert statisticians, the power of R is alluring. Working interactively or using an R script, with just a few lines of code a user can perform complex analyses of large data sets, produce graphics depicting the features and structure of the data, and perform statistical analyses that can quickly answer questions about the data. This article introduces R and demonstrates a small slice of its capabilities, using data from the stock market and real estate industry as input.
I developed and ran the demonstrations in this article on a Vision Computers PC running Debian Linux (Sarge version, "stable"). I installed R Version 2.1 using the standard Debian Advanced Package Tool (APT) utility.
To run R interactively, open a terminal window, create a work directory, enter the directory, and execute R:
Figure 1. The R command window
R's command language takes some getting used to, but knowing just a few commands provides enough knowledge to perform basic statistical analyses and generate plots for any data set that can be formatted into a one-, two-, or three-dimensional rectangular grid.
R commands can be lengthy, because most functions have many optional settings parameters. So it's very convenient that the up and down arrow keys in the R command window recall previous command-line entries, which you can then edit. This lets you work toward your data analysis goal incrementally by modifying and extending previously entered command lines.
A simple starting point is a vector or array of numbers. I downloaded historical Standard and Poor's (S&P) 500 stock index data and wrote a Perl program to convert the data into a simple two-column table. Figure 2 shows a snippet of the start of the file.
Figure 2. The SP500.txt file format
read.table() function reads an external file into an R data frame variable. To read the S&P 500 data file and make a simple plot of the close price over time, enter the following commands at the R prompt (
> dv <- read.table("./SP500.txt", header=1) > sp500value = dv[,2] > plot(sp500value, type="l")
The first line reads the file SP500.txt into the data frame variable
header=1 setting identifies that the file has a one-line header consisting of nondata text, which R must ignore. The data frame
dv is a two-dimensional array. The first index identifies the row number (starting with 1), and the second identifies the column number (starting with 1).
The second command line tells R to assign variable
sp500index to the values in the second column of the data frame. The third line tells R to plot the index data using a line (
type="l") to connect the data points. The result appears in a new window (Figure 3).
Figure 3. The S&P 500 close price plot
When you pass only one vector of data to the R
plot() function, it makes an x/y plot using the point index as the x value and the specified data vector points as the y value. Because the data file lists the data in historical order, the plot shows the value of the S&P 500 index over time.
That's not bad for three lines of code! However, you can make a prettier, better annotated plot easily by using the
plot() function's optional arguments. For example, to add a title, a subtitle, and axis labels, enter:
> plot(sp500value, type="l", main="S&P 500", sub="[3-Jan-1995 thru 29-Jul-2005]", xlab="Day", ylab="Value")
This produces the plot shown in Figure 4.
Figure 4. An annotated S&P 500 close price plot
Proceeding further, you could use R's
axis classes to produce an x-axis that uses the dates stored in column 1 of the data frame for labels. See the R documentation for details.
After generating a plot, R provides options for adding new data. The 90-day moving average is plotted on stock index graphs published in the Wall Street Journal. A moving average is the average value of the preceding n data items. How about displaying the moving average of the S&P 500 over the preceding 90 days?
In R's nomenclature, a "moving average" is a "filter" (an equation) applied to a "time series" (the S&P 500 index values). R's
filter() function is complex, providing many different data processing options. Fortunately, the actual commands for creating a 90-day moving average data set are tiny compared with what standard programming languages might require:
> coef90 = 1/90 > ma90 = filter(sp500value, rep(coef90, 90), sides=1)
The first line defines a weighting factor for the data in the filter: each day's S&P 500 value will represent 1/90 of the moving average. The second line creates the moving average data set. The
rep() function "repeats" the 1/90 coefficient 90 times (including 90 days of S&P 500 data in the moving average). The
sides=1 parameter specifies to include only the trailing data points in the moving average (which is how financial moving averages are always calculated, because we cannot foresee the future).
Add the moving average data (variable
ma90) to the existing plot as green line using the R
> lines(ma90, col="green")
Figure 5 shows the result.
Figure 5. S&P 500 close price and 90-day moving average
Histograms are plots that show the distribution of a set of values. It's easy to use R to look at the distribution of daily gains (and losses) for the S&P 500 in the sample data set.
First, you must calculate the daily percent change for each day. You can't do this for the first day in the data set, so the size of the percent gains array will be one unit less than the size of the sp500value array. Here's one method for directing R to create the daily percent gain array, based on knowledge (gained using a Unix
wc command) that the data set consists of 2,664 total points:
> yesterday = sp500value[1:2663] > today = sp500value[2:2664] > changePercent = 100 * (today / yesterday - 1.0)
Here, the new variable
yesterday is the set of S&P 500 values (excluding the last day), and the new variable
today is the set of S&P 500 values offset by one day (excluding the first day). Hence, the two variables are aligned such that
today[i] represent yesterday's and today's S&P 500 price. This allows application of an equation using yesterday's and today's prices, which is in the third line: the calculation of the percent that the S&P 500 index changed from yesterday to today.
Now you can plot the histogram (Figure 6):
> hist(changePercent, breaks=10, main="S&P 500 Daily Percent Change")
Figure 6. The S&P 500 daily percent change
breaks parameter tells R approximately how many bins to create while sorting the data. In this case, I asked for 10 bins, but R produced a plot with 13 bins spaced 1 percent apart. R uses the suggested value as a guideline, but in its default mode chooses a bin spacing and number of bins that yields a plot that is easy to comprehend based on the input data. In this case, the data was such that a bin spacing of 1 percent produced bins with divisions on the whole numbers, and the 13 required bins was close to the requested 10 bins, so R produced its plot accordingly. Experiment with different
break values to see how this works.
For cases where you require a specific set of bin break points, specify a list of values for the
breaks parameter. In this case, R will produce bins bounded precisely at the specified values.
Looking at the histogram plot, you can see that in the past 10 years, on most days the S&P 500 either rose or declined by less than 1 percent; but it rose on more days than it declined.
An interesting question: does a correlation exist between the stock market's movement one day and its performance the next day? In other words, if the stock market rose yesterday, is it likely to rise today? To gain some insight on these questions, analyze the daily percent change data further using the following R commands:
> changePercentYesterday = changePercent[1:2662] > changePercentToday = changePercent[2:2663] > myDf <- data.frame(x=changePercentYesterday, y=changePercentToday) > myFm <- lm(y~x, data=myDf) > plot(changePercentYesterday, changePercentToday, main="Daily Change Correlation") > abline(coef(myFm), col="red") > summary(myFm)
This looks complicated, but it also illustrates how much work just a few lines of R code can do. The first two lines create
today percent change variables such that
changePercentYesterday[i] is aligned with
changePercentToday[i], permitting calculations and plotting using yesterday's change and today's change. The third line creates a new data frame (
myDf) that has as its
x data the values stored in
changePercentYesterday and as its
y data the values stored in
changePercentToday. The fourth line uses R's
lm() "linear model" statistical function to perform a linear fit of the data in
myDf. Next, it plots the raw data (yesterday's change versus today's change) using
plot(), with yesterday's percent change plotted as the X value and today's percent change plotted as the Y value. The
abline() function adds a red "best fit" line to the graph based on the y-intercept and slope coefficients calculated by the
lm() function, yielding the plot in Figure 7.
Figure 7. The S&P 500 daily change correlation
Finally, the command
summary(myFm) produces a text summary of the linear regression analysis performed by
Call: lm(formula = y ~ x, data = myDf) Residuals: Min 1Q Median 3Q Max -6.92396 -0.59826 0.01474 0.59522 5.64824 Coefficients: Estimate Std. Error t value Pr(>|t|) (Intercept) 0.04402 0.02185 2.015 0.044 * x -0.01498 0.01939 -0.772 0.440 --- Signif. codes: 0 '***' 0.001 '**' 0.01 '*' 0.05 '.' 0.1 ' ' 1 Residual standard error: 1.127 on 2660 degrees of freedom Multiple R-Squared: 0.0002243, Adjusted R-squared: -0.0001516 F-statistic: 0.5967 on 1 and 2660 DF, p-value: 0.4399
You probably need a background in statistics to interpret all of this accurately, but looking at the graph, there does not appear to be a strong correlation between the S&P 500's yesterday and today change. What the market did yesterday doesn't seem to strongly affect what happens today--though the correlation is nonzero. The negative slope of the best fit line suggests that the market had a slight tendency to reverse, or correct, a portion of the previous day's movement, over the 10-year data period.
R provides several options for graphical presentation of three-dimensional data, including 3-D perspective plots, color-coded images, and contour maps. To demonstrate R's 3-D capabilities, I downloaded United States house price index data published by the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO). The data set used for the analysis is the percent that house prices have increased over the past five years in the nine regions the OFHEO defines for the United States. The OFHEO presents its data in a table. However, a table doesn't clearly depict the geographical distribution of the "housing bubble."
To produce a 3-D representation of the five-year house price index data, I created a 51-by-30-element grid that approximates the geographical size and position of the nine OFHEO regions. Then, using a Perl script, I created an input data set for R that assigns the price index for the region to each grid point. Hence, the R input file consists of 51 x 30 = 1,530 data points. For areas on the grid that are not part of the United States (for example, the ocean), the data values are NA, which tells R not to display data for that position in the 3-D plot.
The R commands that produce an image representation of the house price data are:
> dv <- read.table("./ofheo5yr.gridFine", header=FALSE) > z <- dv[,1] > attr(z, "dim") = c(51,30) > image(z, col=topo.colors(50), axes=FALSE)
The first line reads the 1,530-point data file. The second line assigns the values read to variable
z. Next, the
attr() function alters the dimension ("
dim") attribute of the
z variable to arrange its data in the form of a two-dimensional array with 51 rows, each containing 30 data values. Finally, the
image() function generates an image of the
z data, using 50 colors in the
topo color scale to represent the varying
z values. Figure 8 shows the results.
Figure 8. The plot of five-year regional house price changes
topo color scale assigns violet to low values, with blue, green, yellow, orange, and pink assigned to successively higher values. The image shows that the change in housing prices is not at all evenly distributed across the United States geographically.
persp() function provides another view of the same data:
This code tells R to generate a 3-D perspective image of the
z data, viewing the image with no rotation (
theta=0) and tilted 60 degrees from the horizontal (
phi=60), with no box around the image, coloring the mesh yellow. Figure 9 shows the plot.
Figure 9. The perspective plot of five-year regional house price changes
Perhaps more clearly, the perspective plot shows that the large increases in house prices in the past five years have occurred on the West Coast and in the Northeast, while the middle of the United States hasn't seen significant home price increases overall. This backs up Alan Greenspan's assertions that there is not a national housing "bubble," but there appear to be "signs of froth in some local markets."
R provides several options for saving your work. First, when you execute the
q() function to quit your session, R asks:
Save workspace image? [y/n/c]:
y to save your current R session state (so that next time you run R in that same directory, your starting status will be identical to that of the current session). Enter
n to exit without saving the current session state, or
c to continue the current session.
R provides a capability to plot directly to PNG, JPEG, and PDF files through its display setting options. To plot to a file instead of to the R graphics window, execute the
pdf() function prior to any R plotting function. For example:
> png("myImage.png") > persp(z,theta=0,phi=60,box=FALSE,col="yellow")
You can also invoke R by using scripts. This permits the integration of R into automated data analysis processes. Here's an R script that reads the S&P 500 data file and produces a PNG image of the data:
dv <- read.table("./SP500.txt", header=FALSE) png("SP500.png") plot(dv[,2], type="l") q()
The command line to execute the script (named gspc.scr) is:
R --no-save <gspc.scr > gspc.log
--no-save flag tells R not to save the script's session. The text output produced by the script is sent to file gspc.log.
R is a powerful, mature, and very well documented GNU open source project. Though the language syntax is a bit unusual, knowing just a few commands lets you quickly generate quite impressive data products.
R's base documentation consists of six manuals, the PDF versions of which comprise 1,700 total pages. The documents are included with the Windows R executable installation download, but they must be downloaded separately for Linux/Unix and MacOS platforms. "An Introduction to R" is the best choice for those who are just starting out. More specialized and detailed references are also available. The R FAQ answers basic introductory questions about R and discusses licensing and usage policy.
To download R, visit The R Project for Statistical Computing (R-Project.org) site. Click on CRAN to access the Comprehensive R Archive Network of mirrored servers. Documentation is available using the Manuals link. Section 5.6 in the R FAQ provides information about contributing to the R project (reporting bugs, coding new extensions, porting additional features from S, and so on).
Kevin Farnham is the owner of Lyra Technical Systems, Inc, a small consulting and publishing company.
Return to ONLamp.com.
Copyright © 2009 O'Reilly Media, Inc.
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The world economy is being reshaped by new technologies, services, and trading relationships. Much of this dynamism is fuelled by ambitious developing-world nation-states like Brazil, India and South Africa. As governments, businesses and regional blocs in the global south expand their horizons, they increasingly bypass rich northern states. But is this south-south cooperation any more progressive or less selfish than the more familiar and hegemonic north-south relationship?
The idea of south-south cooperation started to influence the field of development studies in the late 1990s. It was fuelled by a growing realisation that poor nations might find appropriate, low-cost and sustainable solutions to their problems in other developing countries rather than in the rich north. It drew on clear examples of existing waste and alternative opportunity; for example, if African farmers need boreholes to access water, it surely makes more sense to access Indias huge pool of expertise than to send expensive European water engineers.
The concept quickly spread from the seminar room to the policy chamber. By 1997, Britains new department for international development (DfID) explicitly aimed under its first minister, Clare Short to withdraw from its aid programmes any requirement to use British service providers. The intention was to encourage recipient governments to spend the aid more effectively especially on solutions sourced from other developing nations.
By the early 2000s, some forward-thinking developing nations themselves were incorporating this altruistic principle into their foreign policies. Luís Ignácio Lula da Silvas Brazil is just beginning to make Africa part of its wider effort to build the countrys global profile; recently it granted fellow-Lusophone Mozambique a project to install and staff its own factory producing anti-retroviral HIV drugs, thus reducing its reliance on expensive imports.
China and Africa
An even more potent example of south-south cooperation is the Peoples Republic of China. Chinas presence in Africa goes back centuries: archaeologists digging in the ruins of Africas great medieval trading states at Timbuktu and Great Zimbabwe have found fine porcelain and other evidence of a trading network that spanned half the world. After the PRC was founded in 1949, the new state based its relations with the developing world on a defined doctrine, the five principles of peaceful coexistence; it also used its own legacy of colonial aggression and experience of liberation to forge links with the African nation-states emerging from colonial rule. China in the 1960s lacked the resources of the cold-war superpowers, but still invested significant energies in support of independent Africa. The PRC, driven by perceived ideological, anti-imperialist affinities, dispatched Chinese technicians to nominally leftist states to provide military training, modest economic aid and infrastructural monuments to socialist solidarity. The era of liberation wars in the 1970s saw China choose sides and patronise its favoured forces, as in Angola. This interest receded in the 1980s as Chinese development efforts were diverted inwards. But the post-Tiananmen period gave earlier ideological bonds a fresh twist: the hostility of many African leaders to democratic pressures and (especially) western, hegemonic conceptions of human rights chimed with Chinas own preconceptions. Throughout the 1990s, China increased its aid to African governments and resumed its earlier rhetoric of mutual respect and concern for diversity a discourse that resounded strongly in a continent highly attuned to the perceived neo-colonial reflexes of the former ruling powers. In return, Beijing received recognition of its sovereignty over Taiwan, indifference to its human-rights abuses, and support in international organisations. In 2000, a new China-Africa cooperation forum agreed a joint economic and social programme, one that lent a developmental and commercial slant to the five principles. China has subsequently been well in advance of the G8 by cancelling $10 billion of the debt it is owed by African states; at the second Sino-Africa business conference in December 2003, China offered further debt relief to thirty-one African countries, as well as opening the prospect of zero-tariff trade.
The tensions in what might be called Chinas developmental evangelism in Africa are evident. The ideological underpinnings retain some potency and the principle of non-interference in domestic politics persists. But as Chinese commercial interests dominate the relationship, the strain of avoiding entanglement in ethically and politically complex questions increases. For China, insensitivity to human-rights abuses can be finessed as respecting cultural diversity, but this gets harder in a more open, regulated trading environment.
Rapid economic growth in China in the last decade, coupled with oil exploration and economic diversification in west-central Africa, has created new links. More than 60% of African timber exports are now destined for east Asia; 25% of Chinas oil supplies are now sourced in the gulf of Guinea region.
China-Zimbabwe: a special relationship
But China is moving beyond merely securing essential inputs to acquiring stakes in potentially productive African enterprises. Zimbabwe is a prime example of the kind of place where China likes to do business. In return for bailing out Robert Mugabes regime with injections of cash, machinery, equipment and military supplies, Chinese state-owned enterprises have assembled a portfolio of shares in some of Zimbabwes prize assets.
In buying a 70% stake in the Zimbabwes only electricity generation facilities at Hwange and Kariba, and stakes in the national railway, the Chinese have stepped in where other developing nations (even Libya) have feared to tread. And on a micro-level, Chinese entrepreneurs are quickly supplanting small-scale retailers and local manufactures on Harares streets.
Zimbabwes deteriorating political situation and asset-hungry officials may deter most private investors, but the Chinese government can instruct managers of state enterprises to take the risk, rely on good intergovernmental relations to guarantee investment flow, and depend on state coffers to absorb any loss in the last resort.
Chinas lack of domestic political criticism, meanwhile, frees its government and companies from reputational risks and pressures that can leave western-based companies exposed. Informed, responsible shareholders might be cautious about backing state-led projects in Sudan or Mauritania which rely on a brutally-enforced stability; such issues have little visibility to the Chinese public.
Chinas new hard-nosed Africa policy gives it a strong incentive to circumvent the kind of multilateral aid and investment agendas promoted by Britains Tony Blair and Gordon Brown at the G8 summit, with their inconvenient governance concerns and transparency provisions. As China moves towards becoming the third-largest investor in Africa, its unilateralism will impact on the internal continental map.
The South African alternative
Amidst the dynamism of the east Asian economies, it is tempting to forget that the continent itself is generating an economic powerhouse. South Africa, freed of its apartheid-era isolationist shackles, has become an interested and aggressive explorer of the rest of the continent. The South African model is mixed: private companies led the charge into the new mobile telecommunications sphere, household names like Shoprite followed across the continent, while para-statals (state-owned enterprises) are also active.
Thabo Mbekis economically liberal instincts have been contained by the job-loss fears of his leftist coalition partners, and he has commercialised rather than fully privatised key state enterprises such as the power utility Eskom. This entity has reinforced Mbekis peace plan for the Democratic Republic of Congo by committing its own $500-million investment to the Inga dam, the 3,500-megawatt hydroelectric facility on the Congo river. This project would undoubtedly light up the DRCs cities but Eskoms greatest benefit is probably tying the potentially huge electricity resource into a regional grid which would feed much-needed power supplies to South Africas industrial zones.
This project aptly sums up the dual nature of developing-world investment in Africa. Is such investment, as Mbeki would have it, good for all involved or is it simply a new wave of economic colonisation which will leave most of Africa with as few benefits as in the past? As the developing nations themselves come to rival the investment presence of the G8 and former colonial powers in Africa, it is salutary to recall that south-south cooperation may be more efficient and less wasteful than the wests grand gestures but it is no less self-interested.
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Imagine having to walk for five or six kilometres to get water, only to find it's contaminated when you get there. Not only is it soul destroying, it's a waste of time for, usually, women who could be carrying out other vital tasks. Over one billion people worldwide have no access to safe drinking water and, according to the World Health Organisation, around 80% of all sickness and disease is caused by inadequate water and bad sanitation. We must put a stop to this.
Orphans in Need runs programmes to install water pumps in vulnerable areas to eradicate this problem. Just one pump could benefit around 600 people on a daily basis and dramatically improve daily life.
We also want to educate communities on the links between safe water, sanitation, diseases and unsafe hygiene practices.
Simply teaching children, as well as adults, to wash their hands after using the toilet and before eating, could lead to a dramatic reduction in water-borne diseases. With these facilities readily to hand, orphans everywhere could lead far more fulfilling lives, which could also be enhanced by a donation from you today.
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A tsunami is a series of waves most commonly caused by violent movement of the sea floor. In some ways, it resembles the ripples radiating outward from the spot where stone has been thrown into the water, but a tsunami can occur on an enormous scale. Tsunamis are generated by any large, impulsive displacement of the sea bed level. The movement at the sea floor leading to tsunami can be produced by earthquakes, landslides and volcanic eruptions.
Most tsunamis, including almost all of those traveling across entire ocean basins with destructive force, are caused by submarine faulting associated with large earthquakes. These are produced when a block of the ocean floor is thrust upward, or suddenly drops, or when an inclined area of the seafloor is thrust upward or suddenly thrust sideways. In any event, a huge mass of water is displaced, producing tsunami. Such fault movements are accompanied by earthquakes, which are sometimes referred to as “tsunamigenic earthquakes”. Most tsunamigenic earthquakes take place at the great ocean trenches, where the tectonic plates that make up the earth’s surface collide and are forced under each other. When the plates move gradually or in small thrust, only small earthquakes are produced; however, periodically in certain areas, the plates catch. The overall motion of the plates does not stop; only the motion beneath the trench becomes hung up. Such areas where the plates are hung up are known as “seismic gaps” for their lack of earthquakes. The forces in these gaps continue to build until finally they overcome the strength of the rocks holding back the plate motion. The built-up tension (or comprehension) is released in one large earthquake, instead of many smaller quakes, and these often generate large deadly tsunamis. If the sea floor movement is horizontal, a tsunami is not generated. Earthquakes of magnitude larger than M 6.5 are critical for tsunami generation.
Tsunamis produced by landslides:
Probably the second most common cause of tsunami is landslide. A tsunami may be generated by a landslide starting out above the sea level and then plunging into the sea, or by a landslide entirely occurring underwater. Landslides occur when slopes or deposits of sediment become too steep and the material falls under the pull of gravity. Once unstable conditions are present, slope failure can be caused by storms, earthquakes, rain, or merely continued deposit of material on the slope. Certain environments are particularly susceptible to the production of landslide-generated earthquakes. River deltas and steep underwater slopes above sub-marine canyons, for instance, are likely sites for landslide-generated earthquakes.
Tsunami produced by Volcanoes:
The violent geologic activity associated with volcanic eruptions can also generate devastating tsunamis. Although volcanic tsunamis are much less frequent, they are often highly destructive. These may be due to submarine explosions, pyroclastic flows and collapse of volcanic caldera.
(1) Submarine volcanic explosions occur when cool seawater encounters hot volcanic magma. It often reacts violently, producing stream explosions. Underwater eruptions at depths of less than 1500 feet are capable of disturbing the water all the way to the surface and producing tsunamis.
(2) Pyroclastic flows are incandescent, ground-hugging clouds, driven by gravity and fluidized by hot gases. These flows can move rapidly off an island and into the ocean, their impact displacing sea water and producing a tsunami.
(3) The collapse of a volcanic caldera can generate tsunami. This may happen when the magma beneath a volcano is withdrawn back deeper into the earth, and the sudden subsidence of the volcanic edifice displaces water and produces tsunami waves. The large masses of rock that accumulate on the sides of the volcanoes may suddenly slide down slope into the sea, causing tsunamis. Such landslides may be triggered by earthquakes or simple gravitational collapse. A catastrophic volcanic eruption and its ensuing tsunami waves may actually be behind the legend of the lost island civilization of Atlantis. The largest volcanic tsunami in historical times and the most famous historically documented volcanic eruption took lace in the East Indies-the eruption of Krakatau in 1883.
Tsunami waves :
A tsunami has a much smaller amplitude (wave height) offshore, and a very long wavelength (often hundreds of kilometers long), which is why they generally pass unnoticed at sea, forming only a passing "hump" in the ocean. Tsunamis have been historically referred to tidal waves because as they approach land, they take on the characteristics of a violent onrushing tide rather than the sort of cresting waves that are formed by wind action upon the ocean (with which people are more familiar). Since they are not actually related to tides the term is considered misleading and its usage is discouraged by oceanographers.
These waves are different from other wind-generated ocean waves, which rarely extend below a dept of 500 feet even in large storms. Tsunami waves, on the contrary, involvement of water all the way to the sea floor, and as a result their speed is controlled by the depth of the sea. Tsunami waves may travel as fast as 500 miles per hour or more in deep waters of an ocean basin. Yet these fast waves may be only a foot of two high in deep water. These waves have greater wavelengths having long 100 miles between crests. With a height of 2 to 3 feet spread over 100 miles, the slope of even the most powerful tsunamis would be impossible to see from a ship or airplane. A tsunami may consist of 10 or more waves forming a ‘tsunami wave train’. The individual waves follow one behind the other anywhere from 5 to 90 minutes apart.
As the waves near shore, they travel progressively more slowly, but the energy lost from decreasing velocity is transformed into increased wavelength. A tsunami wave that was 2 feet high at sea may become a 30-feet giant at the shoreline. Tsunami velocity is dependent on the depth of water through which it travels (velocity equals the square root of water depth h times the gravitational acceleration g, that is (V=√gh). The tsunami will travel approximately at a velocity of 700 kmph in 4000 m depth of sea water. In 10 m, of water depth the velocity drops to about 35 kmph. Even on shore tsunami speed is 35 to 40 km/h, hence much faster than a person can run.It is commonly believed that the water recedes before the first wave of a tsunami crashes ashore. In fact, the first sign of a tsunami is just as likely to be a rise in the water level. Whether the water rises or falls depends on what part of the tsunami wave train first reaches the coast. A wave crest will cause a rise in the water level and a wave trough causes a water recession.
Seiche (pronounced as ‘saysh’) is another wave phenomenon that may be produced when a tsunami strikes. The water in any basin will tend to slosh back and forth in a certain period of time determined by the physical size and shape of the basin. This sloshing is known as the seiche. The greater the length of the body, the longer the period of oscillation. The depth of the body also controls the period of oscillations, with greater water depths producing shorter periods. A tsunami wave may set off seiche and if the following tsunami wave arrives with the next natural oscillation of the seiche, water may even reach greater heights than it would have from the tsunami waves alone. Much of the great height of tsunami waves in bays may be explained by this constructive combination of a seiche wave and a tsunami wave arriving simultaneously. Once the water in the bay is set in motion, the resonance may further increase the size of the waves. The dying of the oscillations, or damping, occurs slowly as gravity gradually flattens the surface of the water and as friction turns the back and forth sloshing motion into turbulence. Bodies of water with steep, rocky sides are often the most seiche-prone, but any bay or harbour that is connected to offshore waters can be perturbed to form seiche, as can shelf waters that are directly exposed to the open sea.
The presence of a well developed fringing or barrier of coral reef off a shoreline also appears to have a strong effect on tsunami waves. A reef may serve to absorb a significant amount of the wave energy, reducing the height and intensity of the wave impact on the shoreline itself.
The popular image of a tsunami wave approaching shore is that of a nearly vertical wall of water, similar to the front of a breaking wave in the surf. Actually, most tsunamis probably don’t form such wave fronts; the water surface instead is very close to the horizontal, and the surface itself moves up and down. However, under certain circumstances an arriving tsunami wave can develop an abrupt steep front that will move inland at high speeds. This phenomenon is known as a bore. In general, the way a bore is created is related to the velocity of the shallow water waves. As waves move into progressively shallower water, the wave in front will be traveling more slowly than the wave behind it .This phenomenon causes the waves to begin “catching up” with each other, decreasing their distance apart i.e. shrinking the wavelength. If the wavelength decreases, but the height does not, then waves must become steeper. Furthermore, because the crest of each wave is in deeper water than the adjacent trough, the crest begins to overtake the trough in front and the wave gets steeper yet. Ultimately the crest may begin to break into the trough and a bore formed. A tsunami can cause a bore to move up a river that does not normally have one. Bores are particularly common late in the tsunami sequence, when return flow from one wave slows the next incoming wave. Though some tsunami waves do, in deed, form bores, and the impact of a moving wall of water is certainly impressive, more often the waves arrive like a very rapidly rising tide that just keeps coming and coming. The normal wind waves and swells may actually ride on top of the tsunami, causing yet more turbulence and bringing the water level to even greater heights.
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Introduction: the enigma of sexual size dimorphism
This introductory chapter opens by describing general patterns of variation in sexual size dimorphism (SSD), with emphasis on several taxa (plants, fishes, and aquatic invertebrates) not included in the survey chapters that follow. It also highlights recently documented examples of extreme SSD, such as Lamprologus callipterus, a shell-brooding cichlid fish, where males are >12 times heavier than females, and the blanket octopus (Tremoctopus violaceous), where females can be 40,000 times larger than the dwarf males. The chapter then develops the two major integrative themes of the book: discovering the adaptive significance of SSD and determining the importance of genetic constraints in shaping its evolution. After briefly summarizing the contributions of the chapters to these themes, the chapter closes by discussing methodological difficulties associated with estimating adult body size and SSD in natural populations.
Oxford Scholarship Online requires a subscription or purchase to access the full text of books within the service. Public users can however freely search the site and view the abstracts and keywords for each book and chapter.
If you think you should have access to this title, please contact your librarian.
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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has issued action plans to address the potential health risks of two chemicals used in making polyurethane polymers, adhesives, sealants and coatings.
Both plans focus on “the potential health effects that may result from exposures to the consumer or self-employed worker while using products containing uncured (unreacted) diisocyanates (e.g., spray-applied foam sealants, adhesives, and coatings)” and from incidental exposures to the general population.
The plans identify a range of actions the agency is considering under the authority of the Toxic Substances Control Act.
“There has been an increase in recent years in promoting the use of foams and sealants by do-it-yourself energy-conscious homeowners, and many people may now be unknowingly exposed to risks from these chemicals,” said Steve Owens, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention.
|OSHA regulates workplace exposure to diisocyanate compounds.|
The two new plans are the latest in EPA’s program of Chemical Action Plans
launched in 2009. EPA is also currently crafting an Action Plan for siloxanes.
Uncured Compounds at Issue
Diisocyanates are used to make polyurethane polymers. Most polyurethane products, such as foam mattresses or bowling balls, are fully reacted (cured) and not of concern. Adhesives, coatings, spray foam and other products, however, continue to react while in use and may contain "uncured" diisocyanates to which people may be exposed, according to EPA.
Diisocyanates are known to cause severe skin and breathing responses in workers who have been repeatedly exposed to them. The chemicals have been documented as a leading cause of work-related asthma, and in severe cases, fatal reactions have occurred, EPA says.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration currently regulates workplace exposures through Permissible Exposure Limits. EPA plans to consider the potential risks from consumer exposure to these chemicals.
The spray foam industry notes that “persons developing sensitivity to isocyanates may have dangerous systemic reactions to extremely small exposures, including respiratory failure.” In a report on respiratory protection, it notes: “MDI should be not be heated or sprayed except with strict engineering controls and personal protective equipment.”
Possible actions to address concerns associated with TDI, MDI and related compounds include:
- Issuing rules to gather data on significant adverse effects;
- Obtaining unpublished health and safety data from industry sources;
- Requiring exposure monitoring studies for consumer products; and
- Banning or restricting consumer products containing uncured MDI or TDI.
EPA said it would work “with other federal agencies, the polyurethanes industry, and others to ensure improved labeling and provide comprehensive product safety information for polyurethane products containing uncured compounds, especially in consumer products.”
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Pali Proper Names - I -
- Icchā Sutta.-Wishes it is which hold the world prisoner; by
subjugating them, liberty is gained. S.i.40.
- Icchānangala Sutta
- Idagalissara.-A village in South India where Kulasekhara had an
encampment in his fight with the Sinhalese forces (Cv.lxxvi.149).
- Iddhi Sutta
- Iddhikathā.-The second division of the Paññāvagga of the
- Iddhipāda Samyutta.-The fifty-first division of the Samyutta Nikāya
(S.v.254-93), consisting of eight chapters. It is the seventh section of the
- Iddhipāda Sutta/Vagga
- Iddhivaddhana.-One of the palaces, occupied during his lay-life by
Sumana Buddha. BuA.125; Bu.v.22 gives other names for his palaces.
- Iddhiya.-See Itthiya.
- Idhalokika Sutta
- Ilanga.-See Sena Ilanga and
- Illisa Jātaka (No. 78)
- Ina Sutta.-Deals at length with the disadvantages, both material
and moral, of poverty and consequent indebtedness. A.iii.351-4.
- Inandapada.-A Damila chieftain whom Kulasekhara enlisted as his
ally. He was a troop leader in Uccankuttha. Cv.lxxvii.74ff.
- Indadvāra.-One of the fourteen gates of Pulatthipura built by
Parakkamabāhu I. (Cv.lxxiii.160).
- Indaka (Sutta)
- Indakhīla Sutta.-Like a tuft of cotton-wool or a ball of
thistledown, wafted by every wind, are recluses and Brahmins who do not
understand, as they really are, the facts of Ill; like an indakhīla,
unshakable, unquakable, are those who do so understand. (S.v.443-5).
- Indakūta.-A peak near Rājagaha, the abode of the yakkha Indaka. The
Buddha once lived there. (S.i.206).
- Indapatta (Indapattana, Indapattha)
- Indasama.-A king of thirteen kappas ago; a previous birth of
Setuccha Thera (ThagA.i.207), also called Khajjakadāyaka (Ap.i.182).
- Indasamānagotta Jātaka
- Indavarī.-Chief among the lay-women who supported Nārada Buddha
- Indranagarī.-The capital of Indra (Cv.lxxxviii.121), evidently
another name for Amarāvatī.
- Indriya Jātaka (No. 423)
- Indriya Sutta
- Indriyabhāvanā Sutta
- Indriyagocara Sutta
- Indriyakathā.-The fourth division of the Mahāvagga of the
Patisambhidāmagga (ii., pp.1-35).
- Indriyāni Sutta.-There are four indriyas: saddhā, viriya, sati and
- Ingirīsi.-The Pāli name for the English. E.g., Cv.ci.29.
- īsādantā.-A class of elephants mentioned with Hemavatas and others
(Vv.xx.9). They have trunks like the poles of a carriage, slightly curved
- Isayo Araññakā (or Gandha) Sutta
- Isayo Samuddakā (or Sambara) Sutta
- Isibhatta Thera.-Brother of Isidāsa.
- Isibhūmangana.-A spot in Anurādhapura where half the relics of
Mahinda were buried by King Uttiya (Mhv.xx.46). The Dīpavamsa (xvii.109) calls
- Isidāsī Therī
- Isidatta Sutta
- Isigana.-Perhaps the name of a Pacceka Buddha, whom the Bodhisatta
once reviled. The reading is, however, very uncertain. Ap.i.299; see footnote.
- Isigili Sutta
- Isindā.-A tribe mentioned in a list of various tribes. Ap.ii.359.
- Isisinga.-A hermit, the son of the
Bodhisatta and a doe. His story is related in the
Alambusā Jātaka and in the
- Issā Sutta.-The nun who is possessed of five qualities, including
envy, goes to hell without any doubt (A.iii.140).
- Issāpakata-itthi Vatthu
- Issara Sutta
- Issariya.-A Damila general whom Dutthagāmani subdued at Hālakola
- Issatta Sutta
- Issukī Sutta.-A woman who is faithless, shameless, unscrupulous,
envious and of weak wisdom is reborn in purgatory (S.iv.241).
- Itthā Sutta
- Itthi Vagga.-The seventh section of the Eka Nipāta of the
- Ittiya.-See Itthiya.
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When I heard the news that I was selected to be the new hire for the Payson Fire Department a few years back, I was, to say the least, excited and unknowing. I had envisioned the flashing lights, red flames and as we have all seen on television, a chance to pull the lost child from that burning building.
Well much to my surprise 75 to 80 percent of all emergencies we encounter are actually medically related. So with that in mind, I have decided to digress from my normal articles that discuss fire and injury prevention, and discuss what we encounter and do the most. I would like to discuss over the next few months, topics that involve medical emergencies, their warning signs, emergency treatment procedures, and what to do in the first few minutes. I chose to discuss stroke as my first topic for no rhyme or reason other than it came to mind first.
A stroke occurs when a blood vessel that carries oxygen and nutrients to the brain is either blocked by a clot or bursts. When that happens, part of the brain cannot get the blood (and oxygen) it needs, so it starts to die.
About 780,000 Americans each year suffer a new or recurrent stroke. That means, on average, a stroke occurs every 40 seconds.
Stroke kills more than 150,000 people a year. That's about one of every 16 deaths. It's the No. 3 cause of deathehind diseases of the heart and cancer.
On average,very 3 to 4inutes someone dies of stroke.
Of every five deaths from stroke, two occur inen and threen women.
Americans will pay about $65.5 billion in 2008 for stroke-related medical costs and disability.
Some stroke risk factors are hereditary.Others are a function of natural processes.Still others result from a person's lifestyle.You can't change factors related to heredity or natural processes, but those resulting from lifestyle or environment can be modified with the help of a health care professional.
If you notice one or more of these signs, don't wait. Stroke is a medical emergency. Call 9-1-1 or your emergency medical services. Get to a hospital right away!
Sudden numbness or weakness of the face, arm or leg, especially on one side of the body; sudden confusion, trouble speaking or understanding; sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes; sudden trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance or coordination; and sudden, severe headache with no known cause.
Be prepared for an emergency
Keep a list of medications and allergies in your pocketbook, wallet or purse. The Payson Fire Department's "Vial of Life" is great for this.
Include phone numbers for relatives, friends, and physicians.
Not all the warning signs occur in every stroke. Don't ignore signs of stroke, even if they go away.
Check the time. When did the first warning sign or symptom start? You'll be asked this important question later.
If you have one or more stroke symptoms that last more than a few minutes, don't delay. Immediately call 9-1-1 so emergency personnel can quickly be sent for you.
If you're with someone who may be having stroke symptoms, expect the person to protest-enial is common. Don't take "no" for an answer. Insist on taking prompt action.
Therapy used on ischemic strokes can be effective within three hours of onset to slow or stop damage. In June 1996 the FDA approved tissue plasminogen activator (t-PA) as the first treatment for strokes caused by arterial blockages. This "clotbuster" is inserted into the femoral artery near the groin and then threaded up into the brain to directly dissolve the blood clot, thereby limiting or stopping the damage to the brain cells.
New research studies show that women may have traditional symptoms less often than men do, and they may be more likely to experience and report an alternative symptom first. This discrepancy may cause women to delay seeking help.
Don't wait. A woman coming into the emergency department with facial weakness is quickly sent off for brain imaging, but when the main complaint is shortness of breath or fainting, it may be that neither the woman nor even emergency room personnel suspect a stroke.
In addition to or instead of the traditional stroke signs, women may also experience loss of consciousness or fainting; shortness of breath; falls or accidents; sudden pain in the face, chest, arms or legs; seizure; sudden hiccups; sudden nausea; sudden tiredness; sudden pounding or racing heartbeat (palpitations).
For further information on the prevention, causes and treatment of stroke call the American Stroke Association at 1-888-4-STROKE orisit their Web site: www.strokeassociation.org.
Until next time be "Fired Up" about stroke prevention and treatment in your life.
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Get flash to fully experience Pearltrees
The memory controller is a digital circuit which manages the flow of data going to and from the main memory . It can be a separate chip or integrated into another chip, such as on the die of a microprocessor .
Diagram of the computer memory hierarchy The term memory hierarchy is used in computer architecture when discussing performance issues in computer architectural design, algorithm predictions, and the lower level programming constructs such as involving locality of reference .
Why memory must be managed
Table of Contents , Show Frames , No Frames The memory management subsystem is one of the most important parts of the operating system.
Beginner's Guide: Overview | Allocation techniques | Recycling techniques Memory management is a complex field of computer science and there are many techniques being developed to make it more efficient.
Memory management is the act of managing computer memory .
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Cycling Terminology for the Amgen Tour of California
Riders: In professional cycling the racers are generally called riders as opposed to racers or cyclists.
Route map: The course or path the riders will take from start to finish. Some stages will have laps where riders will repeat the same few blocks within the stage. Stage 8 has 5 laps before the finish.
Stage profile: Maps the ascents and descents along a stage. It is often fun for fans to see the riders on a climb where the rider's speed slows slightly (or coming around a corner).
Rolling neutral start: Riders begin at a start line but do not begin racing until a few blocks or miles into the route (the distance varies). A neutral start is used if the start area conditions are narrow, crowded, or unsafe for race conditions. A neutral start is also sometimes used as a show of respect. Stages 1, 2, 3, 4, 6 and 7 all have neutral starts this year.
KOM (King of Mountain): First rider to the top of a designated climb on the race route. Riders receive points, the rider with the most points wins the King of the Mountain (KOM) (climber's) jersey. The jersey transfers each day to the rider with the most points overall. There may be more than one KOM point in a stage, Stage 4 has 6 KOMs.
Sprint: First rider to a designated sprint line on the race route. Riders receive points, the rider with the most points wins the sprint (green) jersey. The jersey transfers each day to the rider with the most points overall. There may be more than one KOM point in a stage, Stage 2 has 3 SPRINTS.
Leader: There will be a current leader out on course while the race is taking place, but the overall Leader (yellow jersey) is the rider with the lowest (fastest) overall time for all stages. The winner of each day's stage is called the Stage Winner, not the Leader.
Feed zone: A designated area on the route where team staff must pass out food bags (musettes) to the riders containing food. Water may be handed to riders through team cars throughout the stage.
Breakaway: 1 to a few riders who are leading the race and ahead of the main peloton
Peloton: The main pack of riders chasing the lead breakaway.
Podium girls: A tradition in professional cycling to have 2 beautiful women present the awards to the riders at the finish of every stage.
Podium: Each day the top three riders finishing the stage are awarded 1st, 2nd, 3rd prizes on the podium. Then the 6 overall Classification jerseys are awarded.
Classification Jerseys: Awards for best type of rider in a field. This year the Tour of California will feature 6 classifications: Leader (fastest overall time, yellow jersey), Most Courageous (by vote, white jersey), Mountain (climber, red polka dot jersey), Sprint (fastest sprinter, green jersey), Best Young rider (under the age of 23, orange jersey), Most Aggressive (most combative/competitive, black jersey). As the stage race progresses the overall classification winner is presented with his jersey after each stage and will wear the jersey at the start of the next day's stage. View the Official 2012 Jerseys.
Stage Race: a cycling race consisting of more than one day of racing, where points and time is tallied every day to determine an overall winner at the end of the race. The 2012 Amgen Tour of California will have 8 stages.
Bib Number or Dossard: please read an earlier Pedal Dancer post: Word of the Day: Dossard
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Leiomyosarcoma of Stomach, Small and Large intestine in Dogs
Leiomyosarcoma is an uncommon cancerous tumor, which, in this case, arises from the smooth muscles of the stomach and intestines. It is an extremely dangerous and painful disease that affects mostly older dogs (more than six years old), though all breeds are equally predisposed to leimyosarcoma. Moreover, the cancer has a tendency to metastasize to other sites in the gastrointestinal tract and other body organs.
Symptoms and Types
Most symptoms are related to gastrointestinal tract, including:
- Weight loss
- Blood in stool (hematochezia)
- Gas (flatulence)
- Stomach growling, or rumbling sound (borborygmus)
- Feeling of incomplete defecation (fenesmus)
The exact cause for this cancer is currently unknown.
You will need to give a thorough history of your dog’s health, including the onset and nature of the symptoms. He or she will then perform a complete physical examination, as well a biochemistry profile, urinalysis, and complete blood count (CBC) -- the results of which are usually within normal ranges. However, in some dogs with advanced forms of the disease, few abnormalities, including anemia, abnormally highly number of white blood cells (leukocytosis), and abnormally low glucose levels (hypoglycemia) may be noted. Other diagnostic procedures include abdominal X-rays and ultrasounds, which help to identify changes in the stomach and intestinal walls, such as thickening of the wall. Contrast radiography, meanwhile, is used to enhance visualization of tissue and improve localization of the tumor.
Endoscopy is another valuable tool for direct visualization of the affected areas. This is performed with an endoscope, a rigid or flexible tube inserted into the esophagus down to the stomach and intestines. As well as visually inspecting the region, the veterinarian will remove a sample of the affected area (stomach and/or intestine) for biopsy to confirm diagnosis.
Surgery remains the treatment of choice, which involves resection of the tumor mass along with some normal tissue. However, the extent of metastasis (such as in the liver) is a critical factor for final prognosis.
Living and Management
In cases of metastasis to other body organs, prognosis is very poor, where survival may only be a few months. Surgery may improve survival rates in some animals, but will require complete removal of the tumor mass. Following the surgery, you will have to take your dog for routine checkups, X-rays, and abdominal ultrasound every three months. Some dogs may also require special, easily digestible diets, as well as painkillers to alleviate soreness. Strictly adhere to the veterinarian's guidelines watch for recurrence of vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal distention, and abdominal pain in the dog.
The growth of pathogens away from the original site of the disease
An increase in the number of white blood cells (abnormal)
Low amounts of glucose in the blood
The occurrence or invasion of pathogens away from the point where they originally occurred
The prediction of a disease’s outcome in advance
An in-depth examination of the properties of urine; used to determine the presence or absence of illness
A procedure of imaging internal body structures by exposing film
Passing stool with blood in it
The digestive tract containing the stomach and intestine
The movement of gas in the gut that causes noise.
The process of removing tissue to examine it, usually for medical reasons.
The exiting of excrement from the body; bowel movements.
The process of making something larger by dilating or stretching it
The tube that extends from the mouth to the stomach
A type of instrument that is used to look inside the body
A condition of the blood in which normal red blood cell counts or hemoglobin are lacking.
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European Decorative Arts and Sculpture
Portions of an Armor GarnitureMade in Augsburg, Germany, Europe
Artist/maker unknown, German. Attributed patron: Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian II, ruled 1564 - 1576.
Etched and partially blackened and gilded steel; brass; leather (replaced); velvet (replaced)
1977-167-20a--jBequest of Carl Otto Kretzschmar von Kienbusch, 1977
An armor garniture is a complete suit of armor with a set of exchange elements designed to adapt the basic unit to different uses, such as tournament or battle.
This armor is part of a great garniture that included over five hundred pieces. It is believed to have belonged to the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian II (ruled 1564 to 1576). The other related components of the garniture are preserved in the Historisches Museum der Stadt in Vienna, Austria.
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* Works in the collection are moved off view for many different reasons. Although gallery locations on the website are updated regularly, there is no guarantee that this object will be on display on the day of your visit.
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Quarks are completely confined within protons and neutrons: a phenomenon that we do not completely understand. The artist's view below represents the two interlinked phenomena that drive confinement: the long-range correlations in the physical vacuum that surround the proton and excludes the color-field emanating from quarks and the extremely strong gluon-fields between the quarks.
To make progress on confinement we need to separate these two effects and study each individually. One way to do this is to make a much larger system of quarks and gluons where the role of the vacuum at the surface of the larger system is much reduced. Such a large system can be produced by compressing or heating nuclear matter so that the neutrons and protons begin to overlap. As the boundaries between each neutron and proton disappear, a large volume of a new state of matter should be formed - the quark gluon plasma (QGP). The strong interactions between quarks and gluons dominate the properties of the QGP, and because of the larger volume of the system, the influence of the correlated vacuum is much reduced.
Collisions between two heavy nuclei take place at Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC). Our first results from PHENIX indicate that the plasma may be formed in these reactions. Leading the evidence for the QGP is the reduced yield of particles at high transverse momenta (pt). These particles predominantly come from rare, high-momentum collisions between quarks and gluons (partons) that occur in the hot, early stage of the reaction. As high momentum partons travel through the forming plasma, they are predicted to lose a considerable fraction of their energy. Outside the collision zone high-momentum partons fragment into hadrons, and any energy-loss in the plasma softens the hadronic spectrum, i.e. lowers the measured yield of hadrons at high-pt.
The first high-pt spectra from Au+Au collisions measured by PHENIX at RHIC were published in 2001 with the key observation that the high-pt spectra are softer in central than in peripheral collisions.
Because a central reaction would produce a larger volume of QGP, this result is consistent with the hard-scattered parton losing energy in a QGP.
The overall caution remains that a heavy-ion reaction is a very complex, challenging environment. A strong case for the existence and properties of the QGP must rely on a broad range of observations. To extend our repertoire of probes, our group is currently analyzing data on J/psi suppression in Au+Au collisions.
Looking forward to the future, at ISU we are leading a major upgrades for PHENIX : a new Si vertex detector to quantitatively probe the early, highest energy-density phase of the matter formed in a heavy-ion reaction by measuring the yield and spectra of heavy-flavored mesons. Measuring the spectra of charm and beauty-mesons requires a tracking resolution of less than 100 mm to measure the decay of mesons displaced from the collision point.
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Penn Physics Professor Finds Light under the Sea
Penn Physics and Astronomy Assistant Professor Alison Sweeney's research on undersea biooptics may have implications for solar energy and the development of biofuels. As reported on the SASFrontiers website, Sweeney's research indicates that proteins in mollusc shells, called reflectins, help propagate solar energy underwater to optimize photosynthesis in algae colonies. Reflectins also enable squids to change their own reflective qualities, and enable them to camouflage themselves in brighter or darker waters.
You cna read about Dr. Sweeney's research in SASFrontiers.
Earlier: Alison Sweeney wins Bartholomew Award.
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Sheet Music - Purpose and use
Sheet music can be used as a record of, a guide to, or a means to perform, a piece of music. Although it does not take the place of the sound of a performed work, sheet music can be studied to create a performance and to elucidate aspects of the music that may not be obvious from mere listening. Authoritative musical information about a piece can be gained by studying the written sketches and early versions of compositions that the composer might have retained, as well as the final autograph score and personal markings on proofs and printed scores.
Comprehending sheet music requires a special form of literacy: the ability to read musical notation. Nevertheless, an ability to read or write music is not a requirement to compose music. Many composers have been capable of producing music in printed form without the capacity themselves to read or write in musical notation—as long as an amanuensis of some sort is available. Examples include the blind 18th-century composer John Stanley and the 20th-century composers and lyricists Lionel Bart, Irving Berlin and Paul McCartney.
The skill of sight reading is the ability of a musician to perform an unfamiliar work of music upon viewing the sheet music for the first time. Sight reading ability is expected of professional musicians and serious amateurs who play classical music and related forms. An even more refined skill is the ability to look at a new piece of music and hear most or all of the sounds (melodies, harmonies, timbres, etc.) in one's head without having to play the piece.
With the exception of solo performances, where memorization is expected, classical musicians ordinarily have the sheet music at hand when performing. In jazz music, which is mostly improvised, sheet music—called a lead sheet in this context—is used to give basic indications of melodies, chord changes, and arrangements.
Handwritten or printed music is less important in other traditions of musical practice, however. Although much popular music is published in notation of some sort, it is quite common for people to learn a piece by ear. This is also the case in most forms of western folk music, where songs and dances are passed down by oral—and aural—tradition. Music of other cultures, both folk and classical, is often transmitted orally, though some non-western cultures developed their own forms of musical notation and sheet music as well.
Although sheet music is often thought of as being a platform for new music and an aid to composition (i.e., the composer writes the music down), it can also serve as a visual record of music that already exists. Scholars and others have made transcriptions of western and non-western musics so as to render them in readable form for study, analysis, and re-creative performance. This has been done not only with folk or traditional music (e.g., Bartók's volumes of Magyar and Romanian folk music), but also with sound recordings of improvisations by musicians (e.g., jazz piano) and performances that may only partially be based on notation. An exhaustive example of the latter in recent times is the collection The Beatles: Complete Scores (London: Wise Publications, c1993), which seeks to transcribe into staves and tablature all the songs as recorded by the Beatles in instrumental and vocal detail. (More...)
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- SPECIAL REPORTS
- THE MAGAZINE
Mount Everest is located in southern Asia's Great Himalayan mountain range, straddling the border of Tibet and Nepal. Global positioning indicates the mountain continues to grow a few fractions of an inch each year and to move slightly to the northeast due to the shifting of tectonic plates.
Mount Everest is the highest point on Earth. Satellite-based technology pinpointed its height at 29,035 feet in 1999. Everest's upper slopes are so high that the atmosphere there contains just one-third of the breathable oxygen found at sea level. At 28,250 feet, Mount K-2 in Kashmir is the world's second-highest peak.
Mount Everest was named after Sir George Everest, a British surveyor who spent 25 years of his life mapping the Indian subcontinent. Everest most likely never saw the mountain himself, but his triangulation theories allowed successors to locate its summit in 1852. In Tibet, the mountain's name is Chomolungma, or ``Goddess Mother of the World.'' In Nepal, the mountain's name is Sagarmatha, or ``Goddess of the Sky.''
Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay became the first recorded climbers to scale Everest in 1953. Nepalese guide Appa Sherpa holds the record for most successful ascents at 17. New Zealand mountaineer Mark Inglis became the first double amputee to reach the summit in 2006. In May, 71-year-old Katsusuke Yanagisawa reportedly became the oldest man ever to climb the mountain. About 200 climbers have died while making attempts on Everest, including several this year.
Sources: Kalamazoo Gazette, May 31, 2007.
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The uncanny valley appears pretty frequently in these pages, at least in presentation — like the disembodied baby head above, for instance, or the wonderfully horrible Telenoid. These robots and others represent the gulf in our robot affinity that gapes open when machines approach a certain level of human likeness.
Masahiro Mori described this phenomenon 42 years ago, when he was a robotics professor at the Tokyo Institute of Technology. His paper was largely unnoticed for decades, but more recently it has become a touchstone for robotics, especially as they become more lifelike. But the paper was never published in English in its entirety, for whatever reason. Now here it is, in a new translation approved by Mori and appearing in IEEE Spectrum.Mori notes the eerie sensation that arises when we are tricked into thinking an artificial limb is real, and then realize it’s not — it “becomes uncanny,” and we lose our affinity for it. He expresses this phenomenon in a graph.
“I have noticed that, in climbing toward the goal of making robots appear human, our affinity for them increases until we come to a valley, which I call the uncanny valley,” the new translation reads.
He also charts our affinities and lack thereof for still and moving objects, noting that our affinity is pretty high for a stuffed animal or a humanoid robot. But movement is key to our affinity — a humanoid robot would not move like a human, so it would be incredibly creepy, he says. “Imagine a craftsman being awakened suddenly in the dead of night. He searches downstairs for something among a crowd of mannequins in his workshop. If the mannequins started to move, it would be like a horror story,” he writes.
A still corpse is also down in the valley. At the deepest point: Zombies.
Five amazing, clean technologies that will set us free, in this month's energy-focused issue. Also: how to build a better bomb detector, the robotic toys that are raising your children, a human catapult, the world's smallest arcade, and much more.
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by Laura Whitehorn
A new discovery may finally skin staph
Scientists are cracking the code of staph (Staphylococcus aureus), a
bacterial skin infection harder on HIVers than on neggies. They’ve
found that the stuff that gives the bug its distinctive gold surface
(aureus means golden) also shields it from the immune system.
Pinpointing this defense mechanism could spur better meds—for the
drug-resistant kind, too. Until then, here are some steps for stopping
- Get clean: Wash with soap and water, especially after skin-to-skin contact.
- Get covered: Wrap cuts or abrasions with clean bandages.
- Get your own: Don’t share razors or towels.
- Get culture: Testing suspected staph tells your Doc which anti-biotics to prescribe.
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"Green" Energy, It's ALL GREEN...So it's CLEAN!
Public Power's "GREEN" ENERGY - Why Choose "Green" Energy?
Public Power is now offering 100% "Green" Energy. "Green" programs are helping America become energy independent.
Public Power offers 100% Green Energy, whereas our standard rate provides only 20% Green Energy. Customers who enroll with our "Green" Energy program will receive a certificate from Public Power acknowledging their contribution to America's future.
If you had a choice?...
What is "Green" energy?
In the United States, most of our electricity is generated by pollution sources like coal-fired plants, which pollute our environment with millions of tons of Carbon Dioxide (CO2).
People can now power their homes a cleaner way; with "Green" Energy, 100% of a home's monthly electric will be generated from alternative renewable energy sources that have a zero imprint on our environment. Green Energy is produced in a way that has less of a negative environmental impact than conventional sources such as the burning of fossil fuels. Examples of Green Energy include solar, wind, geothermal and hydro. The use of Green Energy reduces negative impacts to the environment and decreases harmful greenhouse gas emissions.
We all contribute to the release of harmful greenhouse gases; the good news is that it's not too late to make a difference and reduce the harmful effects of common daily activities such as driving our cars, air travel, and cooling and heating our homes.
A Higher Standard
Public Power is promoting Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) in order to get an increased usage of renewable energy and the development of renewable products. An RPS is a statewide benchmark for the percentage of electricity that must come from green, renewable energy sources such as wind, solar, biomass, and geothermal. Continued development of renewable resources is largely driven by the adoption of these standards. By purchasing our "Green" Energy product you would be helping promote Renewable Portfolio Standards. Public Power is a proud supporter of RPS with our commitment to offer up to 16% renewable energy in all of our markets.
How does "Green" Energy work?
Green Energy is derived from naturally-occurring sources. This energy can be replenished as wind, solar, and hydroelelectric power. To help spread the sale of Green Energy, a system was established that separates Green Energy into separate parts. Green Energy is separated by: the electricity produced by a renewable generator and the renewable "attributes" of that generation. These renewable attributes are sold separately as renewable energy certificates (RECs). One REC is issued for each megawatt-hour (MWh) unit of renewable electricity produced. RECs provide buyers flexibility in procuring green power across a diverse geographical area and in applying the renewable attributes to the electricity use at a facility of choice. Buying RECs helps build a market for renewable electricity and contributes to environmental sustainability. As the global demand for energy increases, Green Energy has become an increasingly important focus around the world, as relying on non-renewable energy sources is an unsustainable practice in the long run.
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Experimental Fusion Research
PPPL fusion research centers on the National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX), which is undergoing a $94 million upgrade that will make it the most powerful experimental fusion facility, or tokamak, of its type in the world when work is completed in 2014. Experiments will test the ability of the upgraded spherical facility to maintain a high-performance plasma under conditions of extreme heat and power. Results could strongly influence the design of future fusion reactors.
The Laboratory develops components and scientific data for ITER, which represents the largest step to date toward the development of a commercial fusion reactor. ITER, whose name is Latin for “the way,” is being built in Cadarache, France, by the European Union, the United States, China, India, Japan, Korea and Russia. The facility is designed to produce 500 million watts of fusion power for at least 400 seconds by the late 2020s to demonstrate the feasibility of fusion as a source of energy.
PPPL conducts research on the use of liquid lithium to help keep fusion reactions hot. The Laboratory’s Lithium Tokamak Experiment (LTX) is the world’s first experimental fusion facility to have liquid lithium covering all its walls to absorb plasma particles that escape from magnetic confinement. The shiny metal keeps the particles from re-entering the plasma as a cold gas, retains impurities that can cool the plasma and halt fusion reactions, and prevents damage to the plasma-facing walls. Included in this research are experiments led by Princeton University engineer Bruce Koel on the behavior of lithium and other wall materials.
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Almost as soon as moving pictures began telling stories, they drew upon literature for ideas—popular poems, Shakespeare’s plays, and later novels and short stories provided the basis for many films, and continue to do so to this day. Finding in-depth criticism about these films, and the works that inspired them, can be challenging—until now. This guide will help you find critical essays on movies, their literary sources, and the art of film adaptation.
The first step is finding films that have been adapted from literary works. The following resources are an excellent place to start:
Based on the Book This site, from the Mid-Continent Public Library, allows you to look up novel/film combinations. You can search by author, book title, movie title, or the year the film was released.
Movie Adaptation Database From the University of California at Berkeley, a searchable database for movie and book titles.
The Literary Filmography: 6,200 Adaptations of Books, Short Stories and Other Nondramatic Works. Leonard Mustazza.
Entries are listed alphabetically by title of the original work and include the author, year of first publication, literary prizes, and a brief synopsis, followed by film title, credits, and availability on VHS or DVD. Sources include books, short stories, newspaper and magazine articles, and poems. Covers English-language works only.
There are two approaches to finding criticism about a particular book or author:
Check the library catalog. Doing a subject search on the author’s name (last, first) will bring up books about the writer’s life and works.
See the Humanities Department research guide Literary Criticism for High School and College Students to find online and print resources, as well as helpful information about writing a research paper.
Adaptations: From short story to big screen. Stephanie Harrison.
Do a title search to pull up information about a particular film. Under the heading “Awards & Reviews,” click on the link for “external reviews” for links to different reviewers.
A gateway to reviews of movies past and present. The reviews come from a variety of media outlets, including The New York Times and Roger Ebert, and occasionally include foreign press sources.
This online version annually indexes 150 film and television periodicals from 30 countries cover-to-cover and 200 other periodicals selectively for articles on film and television. The periodicals range from the scholarly to the popular. Contains citations to articles, film reviews and book reviews published between 1976-2001.
Found a good citation in the indexes above, and want to get hold of the actual journal? See the Periodicals Department’s list of Film Magazines and Journals at the Pratt Library. Or, search the archives of the following online film journals:
If you would like to know more about our film and literature resources, e-mail us through our Ask-A-Librarian service, call us at (410) 396-5487 or mail your question to:
Enoch Pratt Free Library
State Library Resource Center
400 Cathedral Street
Baltimore MD 21201
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Mathematics for the Environment
Published January 18th 2011 by Chapman and Hall/CRC – 679 pages
Published January 18th 2011 by Chapman and Hall/CRC – 679 pages
Mathematics for the Environment shows how to employ simple mathematical tools, such as arithmetic, to uncover fundamental conflicts between the logic of human civilization and the logic of Nature. These tools can then be used to understand and effectively deal with economic, environmental, and social issues. With elementary mathematics, the book seeks answers to a host of real-life questions, including:
A truly interdisciplinary, concrete study of mathematics, this classroom-tested text discusses the importance of certain mathematical principles and concepts, such as fuzzy logic, feedback, deductive systems, fractions, and logarithms, in various areas other than pure mathematics. It teaches students how to make informed choices using fundamental mathematical tools, encouraging them to find solutions to critical real-world problems.
The book can be recommended to all those readers who are interested in applied mathematics as well as to those who do not think of themselves as mathematicians yet being interested in laws and relationships in which mathematics may be a helpful tool.
—Herbert S. Buscher, Zentralblatt MATH 1211
The book is heavily referenced … there are many detailed exercises designed to highlight how mathematics can be used to explain natural phenomena and human behavior and its consequences. … this book could serve as a text for courses in applied mathematics and a resource for study material in many other subject areas …
—MAA Reviews, July 2011
MATHEMATICS IS CONNECTED TO EVERYTHING ELSE
Earth’s Climate and Some Basic Principles
One of the Greatest Crimes of the 20th Century
Edison’s Algorithm: Listening to Nature’s Feedback
Fuzzy Logic, Filters, the Bigger Picture Principle
Consequences of the Crime: Suburbia’s Topology
A Toxic Consequence of the Crime
Hubbert’s Peak and the End of Cheap Oil
Resource Wars: Oil and Water
The CO2 Greenhouse Law of Svante Arrhenius
Economic Instability: Ongoing Causes
Necessary Conditions for Economic Success
The Mathematical Structure of Ponzi Schemes
Dishonest Assessment of Risk
One Reason Why Usury Should Again Be Illegal
What Is Mathematics? More Basics
The Definition of Mathematics Used in This Book
The Logic of Nature and the Logic of Civilization
Cycles and Scales in Nature and Mathematics
The Art of Estimating
We All Soak in a Synthetic Chemical Soup
Thomas Latimer’s Unfortunate Experience
What’s in the Synthetic Chemical Soup?
Synthetic Flows and Assumptions
The Flow of Information about Synthetic Flows
You Cannot Do Just One Thing: Two Examples
Mathematics: Food, Soil, Water, Air, Free Speech
The "Hour Glass" Industrial Agriculture Machine
Industrial Agriculture Logic vs. the Logic of Life
Fast Foods, Few Foods, and Fossil Fuels
Genetic Engineering: One Mathematical Perspective
Toxic Sludge Is Good for You!
Oceans: Rising Acidity and Disappearing Life
Stocks, Flows and Distributions of Food
My Definition of Food
Choices: Central vs. Diverse Decision Making
Mathematics and Energy
How Much Solar Energy Is There?
Solar Energy Is There, Do We Know How to Get It?
Nuclear Power: Is It Too Cheap to Meter?
Net Primary Productivity and Ecological Footprints
NPP, Soil, Biofuels, and the Super Grid
The Brower–Cousteau Model of the Earth
How Heavily Do We Weigh upon the Earth?
Mining and Damming: Massive Rearrangements
Fish, Forests, Deserts, and Soil: Revisited
The Cousteau–Brower Earth Model
Fuzzy Logic, Sharp Logic, Frames, and Bigger Pictures
Sharp (Aristotelian) Logic: A Standard Syllogism
Measuring Truth Values: Fuzzy/Measured Logic
Definitions, Assumptions and the Frame of Debate
Humans in Denial — Nature Cannot Be Fooled — Gravity Exists
The Bigger Picture Principle
The Dunbar Number
The Sustainability Hypothesis: Is It True?
The Dunbar Number
Public Relations, Political Power, and the Organization of Society
Political Uses of Fear
Confronting Fear (and Apathy): Organizing Your Community for Self-Preservation and Sustainability
MATH AND NATURE: THE NATURE OF MATH
One Pattern Viewed via Geometry and Numbers: Mathese
The Square Numbers of Pythagoras
The Language of Mathematics: Mathese
A General Expression in Mathese: A Formula for Odd Numbers
An Important Word in Mathese: Σ
Sentences in Mathese: Equations with Σ and a Dummy Variable
Induction, Deduction, Mathematical Research, and Mathematical Proofs
What Is a Mathematical Proof?
What Is a Deductive System?
Originalidad es volver al Origen
Axioms and Atoms
Molecules and Atoms; the Atomic Number and the Atomic Mass Number of an Atom
Scaling and Our First Two Axioms for Numbers
Our First Axiom for Numbers
Number 1: Its Definition, Properties, Uniqueness
The Definition of Multiplicative Inverse
Our Second Axiom for Numbers
If … , Then … . Our First Proofs
Return to the Problem: How Many Protons in One Gram of Protons?
What Is a Mole? Scaling Up from the Atomic to the Human Scale
Five More Axioms for Numbers
Associativity, Identity, and Inverses for +
Commutativity of + and *
What Patterns Can Be Deduced in Our Deductive System?
Playing the Mathematics Game
Rules for Playing the Mathematics Game
The Usual Rules for Fractions Are Part of Our Deductive System
Can You Tell the Difference between True and False Patterns?
ONE OF THE OLDEST MATHEMATICAL PATTERNS
A Short Story and Some Numberless Mathematics
Relations Defined as Collections of Ordered Pairs
Transitive and Reflexive Relations
Relations That Are Functions
A Set of Social Rules for the Warlpiri People
The Section Rule
The Mother Relation Rules
The Marriage Rules
The Father Relation Rules
Cultural Contexts in Which Mathematics Is Done
Counting Social Security Numbers among Other Things
Permutations: Order Matters
There Are n! Permutations of n Distinct Objects
Counting Connections: Order Does Not Matter
Equivalence Relations and Counting
Using Equivalence Relations to Count
Combinations: Order Does Not Matter
Additional Counting Problems
BOX MODELS: POPULATION, MONEY, RECYCLING
Some Population Numbers
Counting People in the World
A Fundamental Axiom of Population Ecology
Counting People in the United States
Basic Mathematical Patterns in Population Growth
Schwartz Charts Are Box-Flow Models
Our First Population Model: Simple Boxes and Flows
Three Basic Operations: Addition, Multiplication, and Exponentiation
Defining Logarithm Functions
Computing Formulas for Doubling Times
Logarithms to Any Base
Further Study: More Complicated Models and Chaos Theory
The World’s Human Population: One Box
Box Models: Money, Recycling, Epidemics
Some Obvious Laws Humans Continue to Ignore
A Linear Multiplier Effect: Some Mathematics of Money
Multiplier Effects Arising from Cycles: The Mathematics of Recycling
A Simple Model of an Influenza Epidemic
CHANCE: HEALTH, SURVEILLANCE, SPIES, AND VOTING
Chance: Health and News
If You Test HIV Positive, Are You Infected?
Chance and the "News
Surveillance, Spies, Snitches, Loss of Privacy, and Life
Is Someone Watching You? Why?
Living with a Police Escort?
I’m Not Worried, I’ve Done Nothing Wrong
Identity Theft, Encryption, Torture, Planespotting
Encryption Mathematics and Identity Protection
Extraordinary Rendition = Kidnapping and Torture
Planespotting: A Self-Organizing Countermeasure the CIA Did Not Anticipate
Bigger Pictures and the CIA
Voting in the 21st Century
Stealing Elections Is a Time Honored Tradition
A Simple Solution Exists
Two Modest Proposals
What Exactly Is Economics?
It Takes the Longest Time to Think of the Simplest Things
A Preview of Two Laws of Nature
Three Kinds of Economists
The Human Economy Depends on Nature’s Flows of Energy and Entropy
Nature’s Services and Human Wealth: Important Calculations
How We Treat Each Other: How We Treat Nature — The Tragedy of the Commons
Mathematical Concepts and Economics
New Mathematical Patterns: Self-Organizing Systems
Finding a Niche: Habits and Habitats
The Concept of Money
Financial Wealth and Real Wealth
Is Financial Collapse Possible Now?
Follow the Money
Are You Paying More or Less Than Your Fair Share of Taxes?
Financial Growth vs. Fish Growth
Fractional Reserve Banking: An Amazing Mathematical Trick
Distributed vs. Centralized Control and Decision Making
Farms: To Be Run by Few or by Many?
Utilities: MUNI or Investor-Owned?
Linux vs. Microsoft
Medicine for People or for Profit or Both?
A Little History
An Example of the Need for Fuzzy Logic: The Definition of Poverty
Energy and Thermodynamics
Energy and the First Law of Thermodynamics
The First Law of Thermodynamics
Entropy and the Second Law of Thermodynamics
Early Statements of the Second Law of Thermodynamics
Algebraic Statement of the Second Law of Thermodynamics
So What Is Entropy and Can We Measure It?
Some Applications of the Second Law of Thermodynamics: Power Plants and Hurricanes
Hiking up a Mountain
Understanding Entropy with a Little Mathematics
The Financial Mathematics of Loans, Debts, and Compound Interest
Simple and Compound Interest: A Review
How Much Does a Debt Really Cost You? Buying on Time and/or Installment Plans. Amortization. The Four Important Numbers: P, R, r, n
Examples of Individual Debt: Rent-to-Own, Credit Cards, and Loans
Information Flow in the 21st Century
Investigative Journalism Requires Cash
Thesis: The Range of Debate is Too Narrow Now
Time Series Test and Multiple Source Test
Measuring the Range of Debate
Distractions and Illusions
Media Literacy: Censorship and Propaganda
Filters and Censors
Censorship: External and Internal
Conclusion and Epilog: Where Are the Adults?
Martin Walter is a professor in the Department of Mathematics at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Dr. Walter is a Sloan, Woodrow Wilson, and National Science Foundation Fellow as well as a member of the American Mathematical Society and Mathematical Association of America. He has lectured or taught in various countries, including Japan, China, Poland, Romania, Australia, Belgium, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, England, Germany, India, Italy, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Canada, and Brazil.
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Right now, the accelerator is stopped for the annual maintenance shutdown. This is the opportunity to fix all problems that occurred during the past year both on the accelerator and the experiments. The detectors are opened and all accessible malfunctioning equipment is being repaired or replaced.
In the 27-km long LHC tunnel, surveyors are busy getting everything realigned to a high precision, while various repairs and maintenance operations are on their way. By early March, all magnets will have been cooled down again and prepared for operation.
The experimentalists are not only working on their detectors but also improving all aspects of their software: the detector simulations, event reconstruction algorithms, particle identification schemes and analysis techniques are all being revised.
By late March, the LHC will resume colliding protons with the goal of delivering about 16 inverse femtobarns of data, compared to 5 inverse femtobarns in 2011. This will enable the experiments to improve the precision of all measurements achieved so far, push all searches for new phenomena slightly further and explore areas not yet tackled. The hope is to discover particles associated with new physics revealing the existence of new phenomena. The CMS and ATLAS physicists are looking for dozens of hypothetical particles, the Higgs boson being the most publicized but only one of many.
When protons collide in the LHC accelerator, the energy released materializes in the form of massive but unstable particles. This is a consequence of the well-known equation E=mc2, which simply states that energy (represented by E) and mass (m) are equivalent, each one can change into the other. The symbol c2 represents the speed of light squared and acts like a conversion factor. This is why in particle physics we measure particle masses in units of energy like GeV (giga electronvolt) or TeV (tera electronvolt). One electronvolt is the energy acquired by an electron through a potential difference of one volt.
It is therefore easier to create lighter particles since less energy is required. Over the past few decades, we have already observed the lighter particles countless times in various experiments. So we know fairly well how many events containing them we should observe. We can tell when new particles are created when we see more events of a certain topology than what we expect from those well-known phenomena, which we refer to as the background.
We can claim that something additional and new is also occurring when we see an excess of events. Of course, the bigger the excess, the easier it is to claim something new is happening. This is the reason why we accumulate so many events, each one being a snap-shots of the debris coming out of a proton-proton collisions. We want to be sure the excess cannot be due to some random fluctuation.
Some of the particles we are looking for are expected to have a mass in the order of a few hundred GeV. This is the case for the Higgs boson and we already saw possible signs of its presence last year. If the observed excess continues to grow as we collect more data in 2012, it will be enough to claim the Higgs boson discovery beyond any doubt in 2012 or rule it out forever.
Other hypothetical particles may have masses as large as a few thousand GeV or equivalently, a few TeV. In 2011, the accelerator provided 7 TeV of energy at the collision point. The more energy the accelerator has, the higher the reach in masses, just like one cannot buy a 7000 CHF car with 5000 CHF. So to create a pair of particles with a mass of 3.5 TeV (or 3500 GeV), one needs to provide at least 7 TeV to produce them. But since some of the energy is shared among many particles, the effective limit is lower than the accelerator energy.
There are ongoing discussions right now to decide if the LHC will be operating at 8 TeV this year instead of 7 TeV as in 2011. The decision will be made in early February.
If CERN decides to operate at 8 TeV, the chances of finding very heavy particles will slightly increase, thanks to the extra energy available. This will be the case for searches for particles like the W’ or Z’, a heavier version of the well-known W and Z bosons. For these, collecting more data in 2012 will probably not be enough to push the current limits much farther. We will need to wait until the LHC reaches full energy at 13 or 14 TeV in 2015 to push these searches higher than in 2011 where limits have already been placed around 1 TeV.
For LHCb and ALICE, the main goal is not to find new particles. LHCb aims at making extremely precise measurements to see if there are any weak points in the current theoretical model, the Standard Model of particle physics. For this, more data will make a whole difference. Already in 2011, they saw the first signs of CP-violation involving charm quarks and hope to confirm this observation. This measurement could shed light on why matter overtook antimatter as the universe expanded after the Big Bang when matter and antimatter must have been created in equal amounts. They will also investigate new techniques and new channels.
Meanwhile, ALICE has just started analyzing the 2011 data taken in November with lead ion collisions. The hope is to better understand how the quark-gluon plasma formed right after the Big Bang. This year, a special run involving collisions of protons and lead ions should bring a new twist in this investigation.
Exploring new corners, testing new ideas, improving the errors on all measurements and most likely the final answer on the Higgs, that is what we are in with the LHC for in 2012. Let’s hope that in 2012 the oriental dragon, symbol of perseverance and success, will see our efforts bear fruit.
To be alerted of new postings, follow me on Twitter: @GagnonPauline or sign-up on this mailing list to receive and e-mail notification.
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This paper provides observations of physical fitness testing in Texas schools and physical education teachers' insights about large-scale testing using the FITNESSGRAM[R] assessment (Cooper Institute, 2007) as mandated by Texas Senate Bill 530. In the first study, undergraduate and graduate students who were trained to observe and assess student fitness testing in grades 3 through 12 provided observations. In the second study, physical education teachers responded to selected interview questions during a focus group discussion. From the observations and responses, specific themes emerged related to teachers knowledge and training about conducting fitness testing and managing data, students' knowledge and motivation, support and resources far conducting fitness assessments, and complexity of the fitness situation.
Key words: behaviors, perceptions, physical education teachers
Physical fitness and physical activity levels in children and adolescents have long been a topic of interest, especially to physical educators, exercise scientists, health agencies, and private organizations dealing with sport and fitness (Safrit, 1990). Knowledge that children and adolescents in the United States are more obese and possibly less physically fit than their counterparts in other developed nations has been highlighted for more than two decades (see DiNubile, 1993; Freedson, Cureton, & Heath, 2000; Seefeldt & Vogel, 1989). A number of nationwide youth fitness school-based physical education programs have been developed over the past 50 years, during which time several reports critically examined the strengths and weaknesses of the fitness batteries used in the programs (e.g., Freedson et al., 2000; Keating, 2003; Safrit, 1990; Safrit & Wood, 1995). Hence, examining physical education classes or fitness assessment protocols to improve the experiences of all those involved is not a new concept (e.g., Stewart, Boyce, Elliot, & Block, 2005). The beneficial impact of fitness testing programs, components, and certain test items has met with some skepticism due to the increased number of overweight children and adolescents and overweight, inactive adults (Keating, 2003; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services [USDHHS], 2008). Findings from a few studies suggested that high physical fitness during childhood and young adulthood is related to a healthy risk factor profile later in life; however, youth physical activity levels do not necessarily influence cardiovascular disease in later life (Harris & Cale, 2006; Twisk, Kemper, & Van Mechelen, 2002a, 2002b).
Education, government, healthcare, and business institutions, as well as parents and families should share the responsibility for U.S. children's and adolescents' health and fitness (Austin, Fung, Cohen-Bearak, Wardle, & Cheung, 2006). Positive attempts to make large-scale changes include legislation such as Texas Senate Bill (SB) 19, requiring students in publicly funded elementary and middle schools to participate in physical activity; SB 42, that schools implement a coordinated health program; or SB 530, mandating fitness testing of grade 3-12 students (e.g., Kelder et al., 2009). However, there is limited information about the issues and barriers teachers and administrators face when making these changes (e.g., Green & Thurston, 2002). By documenting testing errors and best practices during large-scale fitness testing, a comprehensive understanding may guide future endeavors to ensure accountability and success. Thus, this paper reports on teachers' experiences during the Texas state-mandated physical fitness assessments conducted in the second year of implementation.
Through anecdotal reports, experiences, and observations from physical education teachers and trained college students who conducted the mandated fitness testing, we provide an understanding of the issues and barriers to conducting physical fitness assessments and maintaining annual statewide physical fitness data. This paper entails two separate studies, (a) the observations of undergraduate and graduate students trained to use the FITNESSGRAM[R]/ACTIVITYGRAM[R] assessment tools (Cooper Institute, 2007) and (b) physical education teachers' thoughts and opinions about the state-mandated fitness testing program and the FITNESSGRAM/ ACTIVITYGRAM assessment tools. The themes and the concerns that emerged from these investigations are presented here to aid future large-scale fitness testing.
Study 1: Testing Observations
The research team included one graduate student and eight undergraduate students enrolled in the Department of Kinesiology, Health Promotion, and Recreation at the University of North Texas (Morrow, Martin, & Jackson, 2010). All were trained in FITNESSGRAM test administration, which included reading the training manual, watching an accompanying DVD demonstration, completing the online certification, hands-on training at The Cooper Institute and the University of North Texas, and practice testing at two local middle schools prior to beginning the study. In addition, team members were trained to use standardized testing forms that listed specific criteria for FITNESSGRAM test items (e.g., 15-m PACER [Progressive Aerobic Cardiovascular Endurance Run], 20-m PACER, curl-up, pull-up, etc.). They also practiced observing and recording errors in the testing procedures.
Expertly trained testing teams of two to four people traveled to schools to either observe teachers administer the fitness test items twice within a 2-week period or observe teachers administer the fitness test items and then within 2 weeks re-administer the same test items (for additional information on the protocol see Morrow, Martin, & Jackson, 2010). Hence, at least two team members were present in each session to record observations of teacher-administered testing or to conduct the testing. They recorded daily observations journals and test results on the standardized FITNESSGRAM testing forms.
Recruiting and Scheduling Schools
Schools were recruited through telephone, email, fliers, and in-person meetings with teachers and district physical education representatives. Elementary school teachers showed the most interest in study participation and signed up quickly for the research. They were placed in one of two groups: the teacher-administered fitness group, or the teacher-administered followed by expert team-administered fitness group. Many elementary school physical education teachers already incorporated fitness testing elements into their curriculum and devoted entire units to teaching the FITNESSGRAM test battery; these factors provided an ideal opportunity for them to schedule time to participate in the study. Recruiting middle and high school teachers and their students was difficult due, in part, to the physical education and physical activity requirements defined in SB 530 (Morrow, Martin, & Jackson, 2010), which are different from those for elementary schools. The physical activity requirements for elementary school (first through fifth grades) are 30 min/day or 135 min/week (45 min three times per week) or 225 min over 2 weeks (45 min three times the first week, and 45 min twice the second week). Only four of six semesters of physical education were required in middle school (sixth through eighth grades), and the high school physical education requirement was 1.5 years. Not all students were required to enroll in physical education at the middle and 'high school levels. At some schools, nonphysical education students were released from other classes to complete the mandated physical education fitness testing. Conversely, other schools opted to test the entire school over 1 or 2 days and recruited teachers from other departments to help administer the test. Because secondary school physical education teachers were not necessarily those responsible for administering the test at their school, it was difficult to find those willing to take time away from their schedule to participate in the study.
The expert trained team observed 29 classes in 17 different …
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For over ten years, Raising A Reader has been a leader in evidence-based literacy programming for young children. Outcome data demonstrate that Raising A Reader effectively develops family reading habits and, by doing so, helps young children enter school ready to learn. Raising A Reader Affiliates across the nation reflect the unique needs of their communities, enhance use of existing community services (particularly local libraries), and have a lasting impact on the lives of the children and families they touch.
- 75% increase in the number of parents who shared books with children five or more times per week (Norfolk, VA; 2004)
- Raising A Reader five-year-olds in Head Start scored 69% higher in pre-reading and 59% higher in book knowledge than other Head Start five-year-old or older children. (San Francisco County, CA; 2003)
- 350% increase in the percentage of Spanish-speaking parents taking their preschool children to the library at least once per month (Santa Clara County, CA; 2001)
“One of my greatest concerns is that very young, low income families often have nothing but a television as a means of receiving information and enjoyment. Often the reading/language skills assessed inchildren of these families are at the lower end of normal—RAR turns this around!” -- Educator, Multnomah County, OR
“One local mother told us that her 8 year-old could not read and that she herself did not graduate from High School, but that her 4 year-old was learning to read because of Raising A Reader. She also shared that because of Raising A Reader, she was learning to read and she had been inspired to go back to school to get her GED.” -- Sarah Bishop, United Way of Southampton Roads, Norfolk, VA
“A family who participated in the library event had NEVER taken their children to the library. The parents now have a library card and have returned to the library on their own.” -- Jeanne Chisena, Northeast Michigan Community Service Agency (NEMCSA), Alpena, MI
“Raising A Reader gives Spanish speaking parents the ability to practice reading basic English in the privacy of their home which begins to build confidence to read outside the home.” -- Dawn Ryan, Preschool Teacher, Aspen, CO
Raising A Reader does more than just give children books in the hopes they will be read. RAR helps families learn to share books so they can understand the delight that comes with reading (‘book cuddling’) and the power they have to help young children enter school ready to learn.
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Mapping Tutorial: Zoom and Navigation
The tools for moving around inside the map are in the first section, on the left-hand side of the toolbar.
Zoom: click-drag with the mouse to zoom in graphically. Click on the icon, then click-drag on the zone that you wish to enlarge. See also the navigation map section above.
If the mouse has a scroll wheel, this will allow you to zoom in and out.
Move map: click-drag with the mouse to move around inside the map. Click on the icon, then click-drag on the map to move in the desired direction. Using this button is optional; you can move around the map just with a click-and-drag.
Reframe: returns to the initial extent of the map. After zooming or moving around, click on the icon to return to the initial view of the map.
Search: locate a geographic unit by typing in its name or part of its name. Click on the icon, type in the name or part of the name of the geographic unit you wish to locate, and then click on Search. A list of geographic units containing the search term will appear. Choose the geographic unit that you wish to see on the map from this list.
See next: Selection »
See previous: « Views and Geographic Levels
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Author: Carolyn Wilhelm
Children find favorite words, phrases, and sentences from familiar stories. Working together, they combine their words and phrases to create a poem. The poem is then shared as performance poetry.
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There has been a flurry of recent commentary concerning Amazon drought – some of it good, some of it not so good. The good stuff has revolved around a recently-completed interesting field experiment that was run out of the Woods Hole Research Center (not to be confused with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution), where they have been examining rainforest responses to drought – basically by using a very large rainproof tent to divert precipitation at ground level (the trees don’t get covered up). As one might expect, a rainforest without rain does not do well! But exactly what happens when and how the biosphere responds are poorly understood. This 6 year long field experiment may provide a lot of good new data on plant strategies for dealing with drought which will be used to improve the models and our understanding of the system.
The not-so-good part comes when this experiment is linked too directly to the ongoing drought in the southern Amazon. In the experiment, older tree mortality increased markedly after the third year of no rain at all (with around 1 in 10 trees dying). Since parts of the Amazon are now entering a second year of drought (possibly related to a persistent northward excursion of the ITCZ), the assumption in the Independent story (with the headline ‘One year to save the Amazon’) was that trees will start dying forest-wide next year should the drought continue.
This is incorrect for a number of reasons. Firstly, drought conditions are not the same as no rain at all – the rainfall deficit in the middle of the Amazon is significant, but not close to 100%! Secondly, the rainfall deficits are quite regionally variable, so a forest-wide response is highly unlikely. Also, the trees won’t all die in just one more year and could recover, depending on yearly variation in climate.
While this particular article is exaggerated, there are, however, some issues that should provoke genuine concern. Worries about the effects of the prolonged drought (and other natural and human-related disturbances) in the Amazon are indeed widespread and are partly related to the idea that there may be a ‘tipping point’ for the rainforest (see this recent article for some background). This idea is exemplified in a study last year (Hutrya et al, 2005) which looked at the sharp transition between forest and savannah and related that to the coupling of drought incidence and wild fires with the forest ecosystem. Modelling work has suggested that the Amazon may have two vegetation/regional climate equilibria due to vegetation and climate tending to reinforce each other if one is pushed in a particular direction (Oyama and Nobre, 2003). The two alternative states could be one rainforested and wet like today, the other mainly savannah and dry in the Eastern Amazon. Thus there is a fear that too much drought or disturbance could flip parts of the forest into a more savannah-like state. However, there is a great deal of uncertainty in where these thresholds may lie and how likely they are to be crossed, and the rate at which change will occur. Models go from predicting severe and rapid change (Cox et al, 2004), to relatively mild changes (Friedlingstein et al (2003)). Locally these responses can be dramatic, but of course, these changes also have big implications for total carbon cycle feedback and so have global consequences as well.
Part of that uncertainty is related to the very responses that are being monitored in the WHRC experiment and so while I would hesitate to make a direct link, indirectly these results may have big consequences for what we think may happen to the Amazon in the future.
Special thanks to Nancy Kiang for taking the time to discuss this with me.
Update: WHRC comments on the articles below.
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11 Things to Do with Teens in the Justice System
This week, I'm highlighting posts from our first year to help you focus on creative ways to help teens in the justice system and in recovery learn skills that will help them live crime-free and drug-free lives.
Here's 11 things you can do with teens in your justice system:
- Read books together. Don't scoff - this really works, even with kids who aren't great readers. The model I have in mind is Changing Lives through Literature. Find out why the chief juvenile probation officer in Bristol County, MA loves the program. On a related note, many teens also benefit from writing poetry.
- Reward teens when they do things right. A community-based prevention program in Canada and Maine, where police hand out "positive tickets" to kids caught doing things right, and not just when they break the law, has shown encouraging results. Can it be modified for your community -- or your juvenile program?
- Teach them to cook. Teens in a culinary program in a juvenile probation camp in L.A. County made a gourmet meal for area bigwigs.
- Give them cameras so they can tell their own stories. Teach them to use digital media -- who knows? They might end up making a powerful documentary film, as these inmates in a juvenile jail did.
- Teach them yoga. A program in Oakland, CA, offers 70 yoga classes per week to at-risk youth (follow the link and scroll down to the ninth bullet); they learn self-control and calm.
- Put them to work at a museum. A program in the U.K. hooked up youth in the justice system with a local vintage car museum.
- Connect them with a caring adult. Try the 4C Coalition at the Reclaiming Futures site in Seattle for a mentoring program that targets kids in the justice system -- similarly,or contact our Reclaiming Futures site in Dayton, Ohio, which has recruited over 100 "natural helpers" from the community to work with teens in trouble with the law.
- Put them to work reforming the juvenile justice system. For example, the Center for Court Innovation had youth in the system collect information from famlies, youth, and juvenile justice system professionals about why it is that so many teens and caregivers caught up in the system have no idea how it works. What they came up with wasn't child's play: their recommendations -- if followed -- could dramatically improve outcomes.
- Ask teens to map community resources. Organize teens to do something positive for their peers and their community by mapping positive activities for youth and other resources they need.
- Train youth to do anti-violence outreach. Don't think it can be done? That's exactly what Clemmie Greenlee has done in Nashville.
- Train them to support their peers in recovery. Connecticut Turning to Youth & Families is building networks of teens and young adults who help their peers be successful in recovery from drugs and alcohol. (And they're happy to consult with you.)
- Here's a good example of what *not* to do with teens in the justice system: Increase their exposure to the justice system, which increases their risk to recidivate. But that's exactly what A&E's new reality TV show, "Beyond 'Scared Straight,'" is doing. The show puts teens in contact with adult prison inmates in an attempt to terrify them into “going straight." Check out these facts about the program from the Coalition for Juvenile Justice (CJJ).
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Extreme Weather Map Shows 3,527 Monthly Weather Records Shattered in 2012
Top Ten States with Greatest Percentage of Locations with Record-Breaking Heat: TN, WI, MN, IL, IN, NV, WV, ME, CO, MD
NEW YORK, Jan. 15, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — In 2012, there were at least 3,527 monthly weather records for heat, rain and snow broken by extreme weather events that hit communities throughout the U.S., according to an updated interactive extreme weather mapping tool and year-end review released today by the Natural Resources Defense Council. The 2012 tally exceeds the 3,251 records smashed in 2011 and catalogues these record-breaking extreme events in all 50 states.
New this year, the interactive map at www.nrdc.org/extremeweather also ranks all 50 states for the percentage of weather stations reporting at least one monthly heat record broken in 2012. The ten states showing the highest percentage with new heat records are: Tennessee (36%), Wisconsin (31%), Minnesota (30%), Illinois (29%), Indiana (28%), Nevada (27%), West Virginia (26%), Maine (26%), Colorado (25%), and Maryland (24%). Especially hard-hit regions include the Upper Midwest, Northeast, northern Great Plains, and Rocky Mountain states.
“2012′s unparalleled record-setting heat demonstrates what climate change looks like,” said Kim Knowlton, NRDC Senior Scientist. “This extreme weather has awoken communities across the country to the need for preparedness and protection. We know how to reduce local risks, improve our lives and create more resilient communities. Now our leaders must act.”
Because these monthly weather records compete against prior records set over at least the last 30 years at each location, the 3,527 monthly records-broken highlight notable patterns of extreme weather in the U.S. And in fact, from 1980 through 2011, the frequency of weather-related extreme events in North America nearly quintupled, rising more rapidly than anywhere else in the world, according to international insurance giant MunichRe.
In 2012, Americans experienced the hottest March on record in the contiguous U.S., and July was the hottest single month ever recorded in the lower 48 states. As a whole, 2012 was the warmest year ever recorded in the U.S., according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) State of the Climate report released last week. NOAA has also estimated that 2012 will surpass 2011 in aggregate costs for U.S. annual billion-dollar disasters, and MunichRe also recently revealed that in 2012, more than 90 percent of the world’s insured disaster costs occurred in the U.S.
Some of 2012′s most significant weather disasters include:
- The summer of 2012 was the worst drought in 50 years across the nation’s breadbasket, with over 1,300 U.S. counties in 29 states declared drought disaster areas.
- Wildfires burned over 9.2 million acres in the U.S., and destroyed hundreds of homes. The average size of the fires set an all-time record of 165 acres per fire, exceeding the prior decade’s 2001-2010 average of approximately 90 acres per fire.
- Hurricane Sandy’s storm surge height, 13.88 feet, broke the all-time record in New York Harbor, and ravaged communities across New Jersey and New York with floodwaters and winds. The cost of Sandy reached an estimated $79 billion with at least 131 deaths reported.
There are proactive steps government decision-makers can take to minimize the impact on communities increasingly vulnerable to climate change. NRDC encourages all states to undertake the following key actions to protect public health:
- Enact plans to limit carbon emissions from power plants, vehicles and other major sources of heat-trapping pollution; coupled with increased investment in energy efficiency and renewable energy.
- Emergency planning must incorporate risks from climate change. States and local governments should develop, prioritize, support and implement comprehensive climate change mitigation plans to address climate risks.
- The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) must also prioritize addressing and preparing for climate change by providing guidance and resources to state and local governments.
For more information about 2012′s record-breaking extreme weather events, see:
- NRDC’s 2012 Extreme Weather Mapping Tool
- Kim Knowlton’s blog: http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/kknowlton/
- Frances Beinecke’s blog: http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/fbeinecke/
- Rocky Kistner’s blog: http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/rkistner/
- NRDC’s What Climate Change Looks Like
The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) is an international nonprofit environmental organization with more than 1.3 million members and online activists. Since 1970, our lawyers, scientists, and other environmental specialists have worked to protect the world’s natural resources, public health, and the environment. NRDC has offices in New York City, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Livingston, Montana, and Beijing. Visit us at www.nrdc.org and follow us on Twitter @NRDC.
SOURCE Natural Resources Defense Council, Washington, D.C.
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China Starts Construction Of Panda Breeding Center
As early as next month, Chinese authorities will begin the construction of a new mega-breeding facility for giant pandas in the Wolong nature reserve, says the official Xinhua news agency.
The announcement came after last year’s 8.0-magnitude earthquake leveled much of their former habitat in a protected region of the southwestern Sichuan province where most of their captive pandas had previously been held.
The reserve’s Communist party boss Huang Jianhua revealed that the new base would be located about 10 kilometers (6 miles) from the former site and that the new site had been selected on account of its optimal environmental conditions.
“The pandas will be comfortable living here as it is not far from the former base,” explained Huang. “Safety is the priority,” he later added.
Estimated costs for the new center are currently at a whopping 1.6 billion yuan, (or 230 million US dollars), with national authorities in Hong Kong footing the majority of the bill, said Huang.
Last year’s quake killed five staff members and one panda, while an additional two pandas were seriously injured and one remains missing.
Following the May 12 disaster, most of the pandas were temporarily transported to a breeding nearby center in Ya’an City, while others were taken to various other zoos around the country. The report said that six of the young pandas remained behind in small houses on the reserve.
The Wolong facility first opened in 1980 as the largest panda breeding center in the world and a home for other endangered species. The reserve was home to 142 captive pandas ““ some 60 percent of the world’s total population.
Experts estimate that there are about 1,600 non-captive pandas living in the wild in China, the majority of them inhabiting the Sichuan province, as well as northern parts of the Shaanxi and Gansu provinces.
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A resolution of the humanitarian situation is the most urgent concern for Sri Lanka, but there is a politics behind this war that must be understood to guide solidarity from outside. It dates back to the decades prior to and following Sri Lanka's independence from colonial Britain.
The tragedy of Sri Lanka is characterised by two destructive nationalisms. On the one hand, we have Sinhala Buddhist nationalism and its mobilisation by successive regimes in their bid for state power. On the other hand, the Tigers, with their most extreme interpretation of Tamil nationalism, have dominated the Tamil political scene.
This ethnicisation of politics is the legacy of colonial reforms, whereby Sinhala nationalists appropriated state institutions, followed by discriminatory legislation against minorities, particularly on citizenship, language policy and access to education during the decades after independence in 1948 (see Deirdre McConnell). The attacks on the Tamil minority also took on violent form with periodic pogroms, culminating in the July 1983 riots and the government-engineered massacre of more than 2,000 Tamils. This led to the mushrooming of Tamil militancy, with thousands of youth taking up arms against the state.
While there were a number of Tamil militant groups during the early 1980s, by 1986 the Tigers had all but eradicated the other Tamil militant groups, staking their claim for 'sole representation' of the Tamil community. The Tigers went further in isolating both themselves and the Tamil community, not only by the massacre of Sinhalese civilians, beginning in 1985, but also by the ethnic cleansing of the entire Muslim population in the north, numbering about 75,000 people, and the killings of Muslims in the east, including the 1990 massacres in two mosques during prayer, resulting in at least 150 deaths.
These two destructive nationalisms reinforce each other and together have produced a deadlock trapping both communities. The ensuing political crisis has been deepened by the effects of 25 years of war. The warring parties have both sought military solutions to the problem, undermining efforts to resolve the conflict through a democratic and inclusive process that would bring all those concerned to the negotiating table.
Since abrogating the ceasefire agreement in the latest phase of the war, the Rajapakse government has again chosen the military option, sidelining the political process. In the past couple of years, the centre stage of Sri Lankan politics has been dominated by the discourse of war, including that of 'war on terror'. This has given the most recalcitrant Sinhala Buddhist nationalist forces new vigour. In the past, when the political process was being pursued, albeit temporarily, these forces from time to time were sidelined. Now they have an important role in the heart of government.
Likewise the LTTE has time and again scuppered attempts at a settlement by successive Sri Lankan governments, the Indian government with its intervention in the mid-1980s and more recently the international community in the form of the Norwegian brokered peace process. It has remained inflexible in its quest to achieve military objectives and an exclusively Tamil independent state. It systematically assassinated independent Tamil politicians and intellectuals, including Neelan Tiruchelvam and Kethesh Loganthan, two of the most engaged constitutional scholars, as the Tigers did not want the political process to find any traction within the Tamil community.
After 25 years of war, however, the LTTE's armed campaign has sapped the energy of the Tamil people, who are desperate for the war to end. For them, the LTTE's armed campaign for its secessionist project has not been a liberatory process. It has held its writ over the people it purports to represent with brutal and total control, crushing all dissent, and using them only to feed off as resources, practising extortion and the forced recruitment of child soldiers. The Tamil people's experience of their self-styled leaders has in many ways made them lose faith in the armed campaign for secession, and the Tamil constituency that is voicing a dissenting position vis-à-vis Tamil nationalism and the LTTE's military objectives is a growing one.
Reframing the national question
One way to break the deadlock spawned by the two destructive nationalisms is to reframe the 'national question', as the problem is historically known in Sri Lanka. This would necessitate going beyond any formulaic solution based on the 'right to self-determination'.
Some intellectuals are indeed reframing the problem as a question of the minorities' share in state power and the protection of the political rights of minorities against a majoritarian state. This reframing of the issue as one of minorities gains importance given the assertion of separate identities by the Muslim and up-country Tamil communities, both of which were marginalised by the rhetoric and deadlock of the two nationalisms, not to mention the caste, class and gender concerns within the Tamil and Sinhala communities that are repressed by nationalist politics.
Democratisation and a political solution
With the victory of President Chandrika Kumaratunga on a peace platform in 1994 after 17 years of United National Party (UNP) rule, the devolution debate made significant progress in understanding and seeking to reolve the problem of minorities. The draft constitution of 2000 and the experts' committee majority report of 2006 submitted to the all-party representative committee - appointed by President Rajapakse and deliberately undermined by the president himself early on in the process - provided solid foundations for a new constitutional order. This would need to clearly demarcate powers for the provinces, limit executive interference, loosen the centralised character of the state, remove the executive presidency and create a bicameral legislature with greater representation for minorities at the centre.
While the contours of a political solution may be apparent to the intellectual community that has been at the centre of the devolution debate, there are two major problems that will hinder any progress. First, there is the lack of political will on the part of the Rajapakse government, which seems more interested in giving centrality to Sinhala Buddhist majoritarianism. And second, there are serious concerns over the deterioration of the democratic health of the country in the context of war politics and the Rajapakse government's attempt to entrench an authoritarian oligarchy.
The issue of democratisation has not historically been one that Tamil politics has engaged in seriously. This may be in part because of the LTTE's brutal culture, but it was also the case with Tamil moderates prior to the Tigers' emergence. An important lesson from Sri Lanka's post-colonial history, however, is that a political solution is unlikely to work if democracy in the country is under attack. There is also the corollary that the brazen attacks the minorities as practiced by the current regime are linked to the attacks on democracy that affect the Sinhala community as well. The issue of the hour is as much about democratisation as it is about finding a political solution: one is unworkable without the other.
The task at hand, then, is the construction of a consensus among the minorities, who include the Tamils and Muslims but also caste minorities, the economically marginalised, the rural poor in the Sinhala community and so on. Tamil nationalism, due to its exclusivist politics, alienated the other minorities and large sections of the Sinhala communities; a minorities' consensus would seek the opposite and work towards coexistence within an inclusive vision.
Historically, there have been frequent calls for a 'southern consensus', meaning now a consensus between the two major political parties, the SLFP and the UNP, as a way of arriving at an agreement towards a political solution and the two-thirds majority in parliament necessary to change the constitution. While such an agreement on a far reaching political solution would be welcome, the historical failure of Sri Lanka's elite to forge the consensus necessary to build a stable bourgeois democratic state and the current political scene, with the ascendancy of Sinhala Buddhist nationalism, does not bode well. Nevertheless, calls by the powerful international actors towards a 'southern consensus' and a political process towards constitutional reform would be one important way of checking the rapidly deteriorating environment.
A minorities' consensus, on the other hand, would be an attempt at a bottom-up approach, beginning with the marginalised, to rekindle a national debate on a political solution and democratisation. The tragic history of Sri Lanka points to no easy solutions. The long march towards peace and justice may have to begin with the difficult process of building social movements but it will also require solidarity. That is, solidarity to dislodge destructive nationalisms, the militarisation of state and society, to support efforts at democratisation and to challenge authoritarianism.
Over the decades the powerful Tamil diaspora and the emerging Sinhala diaspora have reinforced the dynamic of destructive nationalisms through both financial and political support. The unconditional support for the Tigers by large sections of the Tamil diaspora can even be witnessed today in many of the protests in western capitals, with slogans such as 'Prabhakaran is our Leader' and 'We want Tamil Eelam'. Feeding such nationalism goes hand in hand with the silencing of other minorities who came under brutal attack by the Tigers. Furthermore, it also reflects the irresponsible mindset that does not question the continued forced recruitment and use as cannon fodder of thousands of Tamil children and youth belonging to the poor who could not flee Sri Lanka.
While the unprincipled machinations of the 'international community', led by the Norwegians in the peace process of 2002, which glossed over questions of democracy, human rights and the other minorities in the interest of the foreign discourse of conflict resolution is not of much surprise, there are worrying questions about the role of progressive actors in the west. Have they questioned their acts of solidarity to see if they lead to constructive developments in the interests of the marginalised in Sri Lanka? Or has the western left merely retreated into formulaic acts of support for the 'right to self-determination' and the 'national liberation movement'?
Within Sri Lanka, courageous voices have arisen, such as the University Teachers for Human Rights (Jaffna), who at great human cost challenged nationalist ideologies and raised the concerns of marginalised communities. Such intellectual challenges should be heard in the west and solidarity should entail intense scrutiny of positions and politics on the ground, including critically challenging the various 'representatives' of the Tamil and others in the diaspora.
This does not mean that solidarity must be muted on the abuses and actions of the Sri Lankan state. The urgent need of the hour is a resolution to the humanitarian crisis and strong pressure to address the human rights situation. There needs to be mounting pressure on UN forums to challenge the Sri Lankan government. At a time when media freedom and dissent is under severe attack inside Sri Lanka, the discussions and debates on a political solution and democratisation have to be supported from outside. But it has to be done in a manner that is pluralist in vision and does not polarise or marginalise communities even further. Local efforts to rejuvenate the devolution debate should be encouraged and social justice perspectives that challenge the blindness of donors' 'post-conflict development' should be supported. Now more than ever the peoples of Sri Lanka need not just solidarity, but solidarity that is constructive and responsible.
Ahilan Kadirgamar is an activist with the Sri Lanka Democracy Forum and contributing editor of Himal Southasian magazine.
Viva Siva Now in his eighties, A Sivanandan remains an important figure in the politics of race and class, maintaining his long-held insistence that only in the symbiosis of the two struggles can a genuinely radical politics be found. By Arun Kundnani
Background to brutality The resumption of Sri Lanka's bloody civil war following the government's unilateral abrogation of the ceasefire with the Tamil Tigers last year has seen killing and other abuses on a massive scale. Deirdre McConnell examines the background to the continuing conflict between the country's Sinhalese majority and its Tamil and other minorities
Can’t you see the writing on the wall With hundreds of civilians killed and a quarter of a million people trapped by the current fighting, Lonán Álvaro considers the humanitarian cost of Sri Lanka's 25-year long conflict
The Brighton pay dispute: the union view GMB union organiser Rob Macey puts the workers' side of the argument
The pay dispute at Brighton council: a Green view Davy Jones, Green Party parliamentary candidate for Brighton Kemptown, gives his view of a dispute that has caused huge debate among Green Party members in the city and across the country
Jeremy Hardy thinks… about the right to exist 'We’d all say a person has a right to a home, but we wouldn’t say their home has rights.'
Back to the fragments Lynne Segal, one of the authors of the seminal 1979 socialist-feminist text Beyond the Fragments, reflects on its lessons for today
Turkey: A people imprisoned Once seen as a moderate party, the AKP government in Turkey is using anti-terrorism legislation to unleash a wave of repression against the left and the Kurdish movement. Tim Baster and Isabelle Merminod spoke to activists in the country
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Kintu created the kingdom of Buganda by forcefully taking over the five clans that lived in the region. To signify his victory over a clan, he would sleep in the conquered leader's home; tradition says that Buganda was the name of the first house that he slept in after his victory over Bemba and his tribe. Buganda was later used to refer to the entire area he subdued.
Kintu Kato is not to be confused with Kintu, the first person on the earth according to Buganda legend. Kato Kintu gave himself the name Kintu, a name that he knew the Baganda associated with the father of all people.
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Substance comparatively opaque to X-rays, which appears lighter on X-ray film and allows a body structure that does not normally contrast with its background to be seen clearly on the film. Common contrast media include barium sulfate and iodized organic compounds. They are given by the route that introduces them into the structure to be examined—swallowed or as an enema for the digestive tract, inhaled for the respiratory tract, or injected for blood vessels and for organs and tissues they supply. Serious reactions to contrast media are not infrequent. Seealso diagnostic imaging.
Learn more about contrast medium with a free trial on Britannica.com.
Iodine based contrast media such as urografin or Omnipaque is used most commonly in radiology, due to its relatively harmless interaction with the body. It is primarily used to visualise vessels, but can also be used for tests of the urinary tract, uterus and fallopian tubes.
|Ionic||Diatrizoate (Hypaque 50)||Ionic Monomer||300||1550||High Osmolar|
|Ionic||Metrizoate (Isopaque Coronar 370)||Ionic||370||2100||High Osmolar|
|Ionic||Ioxaglate (Hexabrix)||Ionic dimer||320||580||Low Osmolar|
|Non-Ionic||Iopamidol (Isovue 370)||Non-ionic monomer||370||796||Low Osmolar|
|Non-Ionic||Iohexol (Omnipaque 350)||Non-ionic||350||884||Low Osmolar|
|Non-Ionic||Ioxilan (Oxilan)||Non-ionic||Low Osmolar|
|Non-Ionic||Iodixanol (Visipaque 320)||Non-ionic dimer||320||290||Iso Osmolar|
These often appear in the form of barium sulfate. Barium is mainly used in the imaging of the digestion system.
Negative contrast always occurs in a gas, usually as one of the following:
Examples of the use of negative contrast medium are as follows:
Although rare, it is possible to be allergic to contrast media. Reactions can range from minor to severe, in the worst case scenario, resulting in death.
Mild (no treatment necessary)
Moderate (treatment necessary, but no intensive care)
Severe (life-threatening, intensive care necessary)
Contrast media is never given to a patient unless a doctor is present to assist should an allergic reaction occur. Patients are usually screened before being given contrast, by means of a series of questions. These typically include an allergy history and a history of any asthma and diabetes.
It has been recommended that metformin, an oral antidiabetic agent, be stopped for 48 hours following the intravascular administration of contrast media and that the use of metformin not be resumed until renal function has been shown to be normal. The reasoning is that if the contrast medium causes kidney failure (as happens rarely) and the person continues to take metformin (which is normally excreted by the kidneys), there may be a toxic accumulation of metformin, increasing the risk of lactic acidosis, a dangerous complication.
However, guidelines published by the Royal College of Radiologists suggest this is not as important for patients who receive <100mls of contrast media and have normal renal function. If renal impairment is found before administration of the contrast, metformin should be stopped 48 hours before and after the procedure..
Association of pancreatitis with administration of contrast medium and intravenous lipid emulsion in a patient with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. (Case Report).
Jan 01, 2003; Abstract: Computed tomography is widely used to diagnose acute pancreatitis. Iodinated contrast medium lengthens the duration of...
Patent No. 7,477,929 Issued on Jan. 13, Assigned to Siemens for Living Body Contrast Medium Flow Forecasting Method (German Inventors)
Feb 26, 2009; ALEXANDRIA, Va., Feb. 26 -- Ernst Klotz of Uttenreuth, Germany, and Annabella Rauscher of Erlangen, Germany, have developed a...
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The Swedish Environmental Code
- Publication date:
- Ministry publications series
- Ministry of the Environment
The Swedish Environmental Code was adopted in 1998 and entered into force 1 January 1999. The rules contained within 15 acts have been amalgameted in the Code. As many similar rules in previous statutes have been replaced with common rules, the number of provisions has been reduced. The
Environmental Code is nonetheless a major piece of legislation. The Code contains 33 chapters comprising almost 500 sections. However, it is only the fundamental environmental rules that are included in the Environmental Code. More detailed provisions are laid down in ordinances made by the Government.
The translation takes account of amendments that have been
made since the Code entered into force up to 1 August 2000.
References to the laws adopting the amendments are given in
parantheses and show the reference number of the law in question. However, laws regulating transitional arrangements
or dates of entry into force have not been included.
The two annexes specifying the environmental classes of petrol and diesel fuels are not included in the translation.
The Ministry of Environment publishes the translation as a
service to interested persons but takes no legal responsibility for the translation or for any consequenses arising from its use.
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The National Center for Atmospheric Research-Community Climate System Model (NCAR-CCSM) is used in a coupled atmosphere-ocean-sea-ice simulation of the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM, around 21,000 years ago) climate. In the tropics, the simulation shows a moderate cooling of 3 °C over land and 2 °C in the ocean in zonal average. This cooling is about 1 °C cooler than the CLIMAP sea surface temperatures (SSTs) but consistent with recent estimates of both land and sea surface temperature changes. Subtropical waters are cooled by 2-2.5 °C, also in agreement with recent estimates. The simulated oceanic thermohaline circulation at the LGM is not only shallower but also weaker than the modern with a migration of deep-water formation site in the North Atlantic as suggested by the paleoceanographic evidences. The simulated northward flow of Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW) is enhanced. These deep circulation changes are attributable to the increased surface density flux in the Southern Ocean caused by sea-ice expansion at the LGM. Both the Gulf Stream and the Kuroshio are intensified due to the overall increase of wind stress over the subtropical oceans. The intensified zonal wind stress and southward shift of its maximum in the Southern Ocean effectively enhances the transport of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) by more than 50%. Simulated SSTs are lowered by up to 8 °C in the midlatitudes. Simulated conditions in the North Atlantic are warmer and with less sea-ice than indicated by CLIMAP again, in agreement with more recent estimates. The increased meridional SST gradient at the LGM results in an enhanced Hadley Circulation and increased midlatitude storm track precipitation. The increased baroclinic storm activity also intensifies the meridional atmospheric heat transport. A sensitivity experiment shows that about half of the simulated tropical cooling at the LGM originates from reduced atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases.
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About a million years before her was "Ardi" (Ardipithecus ramidus), which had much more primitive feet, suggesting that although she might have been able to walk upright, she still was well adapted to life in the trees. So it came as quite a surprise last year when researchers described part of a fossil foot from 3.4 million years ago—close to Lucy’s age—that resembled the apelike foot of the much older Ardi.
I report on the latest thinking about what Ardi, the mysterious new fossil foot and other finds mean for understanding human origins in the February issue of Scientific American. In the video below Yohannes Haile-Selassie, of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, who led the project and research effort to describe the new find, explains why the primitive foot was such a shock.
The famous "Lucy" specimen (Australopithecus afarensis) is one of the earliest known human ancestors to have had a comfortably humanlike upright stride. Her kind lived some 3.6 million to 2.9 million years ago.continue to source article at scientificamerican.com
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One of the drawbacks investors and utilities have found with solar and wind power is that they are “variable.” Simply put: they can’t generate electricity when the sun’s not shining or the wind isn’t blowing. That’s problematic because we’ve grown accustomed to getting energy whenever we want it. Flick a switch and the lights should go on, regardless of whether it’s sunny or windy outside.
In the past, utilities believed that they had to compensate for this variability by installing more traditional, fossil-fueled power plants. The more wind or solar power on the grid, the thinking went, the greater the need for backup generating facilities to be there when the wind or sun wasn’t.
Enter RMI’s Energy & Resources Team. Over the past year, Senior Consultant Lena Hansen has led a series of research projects to rethink the implications of wind and solar’s variability. In the process, she and her colleagues are re-evaluating the economics of putting more renewable energy on the grid. The key, according to Hansen, is for utility managers to think of all their wind and solar installations as a portfolio.
“No person would invest in just one stock,” says Hansen. In the financial markets, most people forego the huge risks and potentially large gains of owning shares of one company for the reduced risk and smaller rates of return of owning shares in multiple companies, she explains.
Hansen argues that the same should go for utilities investing in wind and solar. “By diversifying the portfolio of sites, you mitigate variability,” she says. “Put another way, the wind blows differently in different locations. So spread out your resource to reduce total variability.”
The trick is to balance risks and rewards. Very windy and very sunny sites produce more power than sites that are less windy or less sunny. But they also tend to be more variable. Ultimately, explains Hansen, utility managers have to make a tradeoff between variability and power output. However, by modeling a bunch of geographically spread-out sites, Hansen and her colleagues hypothesized, utilities can start to make educated guesses about the optimal portfolio—one that maximizes power generation and minimizes variability.
To test the hypothesis, Hansen and former RMI fellow Jonah Levine compiled hundreds of tables of meteorological data for a one-year period, then set about looking for overlaps in the times when the wind is blowing. As it turned out, 2004 data were the most complete, enough to model what would happen at 63 sites across the Great Plains.
“The basic idea,” explains Levine, “was to look for a complementary effect.” Simulating wind sites over a large geographic area should have decreased variability in the whole system without adversely affecting power output. The results were promising. Overall, Hansen and Levine noticed decreases in system variability for all the portfolios they studied.
Those findings spurred a second study, conducted earlier this year, that combined both wind and solar resources in one portfolio. The team’s hypothesis was that just as wind tends to blow differently in different places, the sun often shines when there is no wind. Using data from the National Renewable Energy Lab and Levine’s study, Hansen and ERT fellow Bryan Palmintier simulated 43 wind and solar sites throughout the Midwest. All 43 sites were within the Midwest Reliability Organization’s (MRO) area of responsibility regarding the grid. MRO is one of nine North American electric reliability regions, comprising Minnesota, North Dakota, Nebraska, as well as portions of Montana, South Dakota, Iowa, Wisconsin, the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and two Canadian provinces. After running the numbers, they found that variability in the whole system went down by 55 percent compared to the average of all sites studied. Surprisingly, those results bore out whether they looked at the entire study group, or as few as six optimally selected sites.
“If you look at the average wind or solar site alone, there’s a good amount of time each day that it’s not generating electricity,” explains Palmintier. “But if you combine all the wind and solar sites together, you find that 90 percent of the time you can get seven megawatts out” of facilities that at peak production might generate 100 megawatts.
That increase in electric output may sound small, but Palmintier contends that it’s substantial enough to get utilities to think differently about their investments, especially if paired with programs to help users better manage the times at which they draw power from the grid.
To bolster these findings, the RMI team then expanded their analysis, first over a longer time period and then over a larger geographic area.
For MRO, Hansen and her colleagues simulated what would happen if they took into account three years of data. The findings were essentially the same as those from the first simulation, meaning that under“normal” weather patterns, the “optimal” portfolio of sites still reduced variability by the same amount. Also, the composition of the optimal portfolio didn’t change much between the one-year and three-year simulations that the team did, explains Josh Traube, a fellow with the Energy & Resources Team. Three-quarters of the sites that were in the optimal one-year portfolio were also in the optimal three-year portfolio.
And even if the three-year simulation were constrained to the sites chosen by the one-year simulation, the electrical output and variability stayed relatively similar. This means utilities don’t necessarily have to gather multiple years of data to make an informed decision about where to site the wind or solar installations in their portfolios.
“At least in this example, if you were to do only a one-year analysis, you wouldn’t penalize yourself unnecessarily,” says Traube.
The next step was to expand the simulation to include most of the Great Plains. Using additional data from the Southwest Power Pool and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, Traube and Hansen simulated the power output and variability for 63 sites. Their conclusions: increasing the size of the study area tends to decrease variability as well. Much like the previous simulation, these results could be obtained with an optimal portfolio of as few as eight sites.
For Hansen, this last finding is crucial. If you’re a utility, she explains, “you don’t have to spend all your money on a huge number of sites to get the really big benefit” of a diversified portfolio. Ultimately, the RMI team hopes its research will demonstrate to utilities how to put more solar and wind on the grid.
There’s a financial incentive to decrease wind and solar’s variability, says Hansen. If utilities can rely even a little more on power from these installations, they won’t have to make as large of capital expenditures on coal or natural gas plants. “The industry needs to properly understand the value (or conversely the cost) of variability,” she says.
During the spring, the team presented their findings at the Power-Gen Renewable Energy & Fuels conference, the American Solar Energy Society’s annual conference, and the American Wind Energy Association’s annual conference. By participating in these industry forums, Hansen says she and her colleagues hoped to “seed the conversation with these kind of strategies and help wind [and solar] developers think about how they can apply them” in their long-term planning.
There’s no panacea for moving away from fossil-fueled power generation. But Hansen and her colleagues’ leading-edge research on variability, together with new storage technologies, better methods for responding to electricity demand, and two-way communication on the grid can go a long way toward supplying electricity—when we want it—without emitting greenhouse gases.
--Published July 2008
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This preparation describes the
production of a tertiary alcohol from a Grignard reagent and a ketone.
The reaction is performed in a
reflux apparatus which has a calcium chloride guard tube inserted in the top of
- Place a 250 cm3 three-necked round-bottomed flask, a
double-surface water condenser, a tap funnel and a guard tube containing
anhydrous calcium chloride in an oven at 120oC for an hour or
- What is a double-surface condenser, and why is it needed?
- A double-surface condenser has a water jacket both on the outside and
through the centre of the condensing tube. It is needed where, as here,
the condensed liquid is very volatile.
- What is the purpose of the guard tube?
- The guard tube prevents water vapour from entering the apparatus from
- Why is the apparatus and the reagents dried?
- Grignard reagents react easily with water. Any moisture present will
prevent the reaction from occurring.
- Allow the apparatus to cool, and assemble it as a refluxing apparatus
with the guard tube in the top of the condenser, a tap funnel in the
second neck of the flask and a mechanical stirrer in the third neck. The
apparatus should be clamped so as to leave room for the use of a cooling
bath of iced water around the flask if necessary.
- Why might the apparatus need to be cooled during the reaction?
- The reaction is exothermic.
- Place in the flask 6.2g of magnesium turnings (those for the
preparation of Grignard reagents) and 100 cm3 of dry ether.
Place 27 cm3 of dried 1-bromobutane in the tap funnel.
- Justify the quantities used.
- There is 0.25 mol of magnesium and 0.25 mol of 1-bromobutane (density
1.28 g cm-3), this being the 1:1 ratio in which the reactants
- What is used to dry the ethoxyethane?
- Sodium metal.
- What is used to dry the 1-bromobutane?
- Anhydrous potassium carbonate.
- Run in about half of the 1-bromobutane and stir briefly. When the
mixture has settled, drop in one or two small crystals of iodine so that
they rest on the surface of the magnesium - do not stir. The reaction
should begin within a few minutes; the reaction mixture should be allowed
to reflux gently with cooling as necessary using an ice-water bath. During
this time add the remaining 1-bromobutane in small portions.
- What is the purpose of the iodine crystals?
- The iodine initiates the reaction. (It is often said that it is
catalytic, but it cannot be recovered from the reaction mixture at the end
- it is chemically changed, so is not really catalytic.)
- When the preparation of the Grignard reagent is complete the liquid in
the flask will be cloudy and of a greyish colour. Place in the tap funnel
a solution of 18.5cm3 of dried propanone in 19 cm3
of dried ethoxyethane. Stir the mixture in the flask rapidly, and add the
propanone solution slowly, cooling the flask in ice if necessary. This
reaction is vigorous. When all the propanone has been added the mixture
should be allowed to stand overnight.
- Why is the propanone dried?
- Water (with which propanone is miscible in all proportions) would
decompose the Grignard reagent to give an alkane.
- Suggest a suitable drying agent for propanone.
- Anhydrous potassium carbonate or anhydrous calcium chloride.
- Decompose the product by pouring the reaction mixture on to 150g of
crushed ice, stirring well. Dissolve the precipitated magnesium compounds
by the addition of 10% aqueous hydrochloric acid with stirring until
the precipitate has disappeared. Transfer the mixture to a separating
funnel, and run off and keep the lower aqueous layer; transfer the
ethoxyethane layer to a suitable flask.
- What is the precipitated magnesium compound?
- Magnesium hydroxide.
- Which ions are present in the aqueous solution after treatment with
- Magnesium ions, and bromide and chloride ions.
- Return the aqueous layer to the funnel, and wash it with 15cm3
of ethoxyethane. Keep the aqueous layer as before, combining the
ethoxyethane solution with that separated earlier. Repeat the washing of
the aqueous layer with 15cm3 of ethoxyethane twice more,
combining all the washings with the original solution.
- Why is the aqueous layer washed with ethoxyethane?
- The product alcohol is significantly soluble in water, so the washing
with fresh ethoxyethane removes some of the dissolved alcohol.
- Why is the aqueous layer washed three times with 15 cm3
of ethoxyethane rather than with one 45 cm3 portion?
- The alcohol in the aqueous layer is in equilibrium with that in the
ethoxyethane layer. It can be shown that three washings are more efficient
at removing the alcohol rather than one washing with the same total volume
of ethoxyethane. This is a general principle in solvent extraction.
- Add some anhydrous potassium carbonate to the ethoxyethane solution,
and leave to stand until it is clear.
- What is the purpose of adding potassium carbonate?
- It is a drying agent.
- What is the significance of the liquid becoming clear?
- Wet organic liquids that are not water miscible are cloudy; the
clearness shows that the ethoxyethane solution is now dry.
- Transfer the ethoxyethane solution to a clean distilling flask, and
distil off the ethoxyethane using a warm water bath.
- Why is a warm water bath used to heat the flask?
- Ethoxyethane vapour is explosive in air, so no naked flames must ever
be used anywhere in a room where ethoxyethane is being used.
- When all the ethoxyethane has been removed, fractionally distil the
remaining liquid using an electric heating mantle, collecting the fraction
that boils between 137-141oC.
- Why is the range between 137-141oC chosen?
- The product alcohol boils at 139oC so distils over in this
- Why is an electric heating mantle used?
- A boiling water bath would be too cool, and although the ethoxyethane
has been distilled off there is still enough vapour around to make the use
of flames dangerous.
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The hoary marmot (Marmota caligata), the Alaska marmot (M. broweri), and the woodchuck (M. monax) are the three species of marmots that live in Alaska. The hoary marmot can be found at the bases of active talus slopes in the mountains of central, southeastern, and southwestern Alaska. It also occurs down to sea level along some areas of the coast. The Alaska marmot lives in similar talus habitat throughout much of the Brooks Range. The woodchuck digs its den in loess (wind-deposited soils) along river valleys in the dry lowlands of eastcentral Alaska.
General description: Large relatives of the squirrel, the hoary and closely related Alaska marmots weigh 10 pounds (4.5 kg) or more and may exceed 24 inches (61 cm) in total length. The woodchuck weighs between 2 and 6 pounds (.4-2.7 kg). They may grow to be 20 inches (50.8 cm) long. The animals attain their maximum weight in late summer, when they accumulate thick layers of fat that will sustain them through winter hibernation. Body shape is similar in all three species: head short and broad, legs short, ears small, body thickset, tail densely furred, and front paws clawed for digging burrows. Hoary and Alaska marmots are predominantly gray with a darker lower back and face and a dark, reddish tail. The hoary marmot has a white patch above its nose and usually has dark brown feet, giving it the Latin name caligata, meaning “booted.” The Alaska marmot does not have a white face patch, its feet may be light or dark, and its fur is much softer than the stiff fur of the hoary marmot. A uniform reddish brown, the woodchuck has an unmarked brown face. The name woodchuck originated as a Cree Indian word used to describe a number of similar-sized animals and does not describe characteristics of the woodchuck's behavior or habitat preference.
Life history: In Alaska, all marmots mate in April or May. About a month later, two to six young are born hairless and blind. The young disperse two months after birth and may breed for the first time when they are 2 or 3 years old. Marmots may live to 5 years or more. They feed on grasses, flowering plants, berries, roots, mosses, and lichens.
Hoary and Alaska marmots make their summer homes on the bases of active talus slopes, where the rocks protect them from predators and provide lookout stations. Woodchuck dens may be up to 30 feet long, are dug in the loamy soils of river valleys in Interior Alaska, and end with a chamber containing a large grass nest. Most marmot dens have a main entrance with a mound of dirt near the hole and a number of concealed entrances. Marmots are social animals. Although each family has a separate burrow, these burrows are located near each other, forming a colony.
True hibernators, marmots enter a state of torpor in winter during which all bodily functions are reduced. Hoary marmots and woodchucks hibernate alone in the same burrows in which they spent the summer. To protect themselves from the cold, they plug the tunnel leading to the nest chamber with a mixture of dirt, vegetation, and feces. They emerge from their winter hibernation in April or early May to find food and mates. Adapted to the harsher winter climate of the Brooks Range, Alaska marmots create a special winter den which has a single entrance and is characteristically located on an exposed ridge that becomes snow-free in early spring. The entrance is plugged after all colony members are inside, and no animals can leave until the plug thaws in early May. Consequently, Alaska marmots mate before they emerge from their winter den. These dens are relatively permanent for each colony, and some are used for more than 20 years. Because hibernation begins in September, most marmots in Alaska spend two-thirds of each year locked in their winter dens.
Marmots are most active in early morning and late afternoon, although they may leave their burrows during other daylight hours. Marmots need wind to control mosquito levels and rarely venture out on calm days. The Alaska marmot marks its territory by rubbing its face and glands on rocks and along trails. The hoary marmot probably marks its territory in the same way.
The pelt colors of marmots help them blend with the lichen-colored rocks or rusty-brown soil of their surroundings. Nevertheless, marmots remain alert for predators including eagles, foxes, coyotes, wolves, and bears. When the Alaska marmot is alarmed, it produces a slurred, low-pitched warning call. The alarm call of both hoary marmot and the woodchuck is a loud whistle. They also hiss, squeal, growl, and yip. In areas where marmots are hunted by humans, they have learned to remain quiet when humans approach. Good climbers and swimmers, woodchucks may also take to trees or water to avoid predators.
Marmots often secondarily benefit other animals and plants. Abandoned marmot holes can become homes for small mammals. In moderation, their digging and defecation loosen, aerate, and improve the soil. Alaska Natives have long relished marmot meat and used its thick coat for warm clothing. Although these wary animals are difficult to approach closely, persistent observers are rewarded by the fascinating sight of a marmot community.
The northern flying squirrel (Glaucomys sabrinus yukonensis) is a gliding (volplaning) mammal that is incapable of true flight like birds and bats. There are 25 subspecies across North America with Interior Alaska being the most northern and western limit of the species' range. The generic name, Glaucomys, is from the Greek glaukos (silver, gray) and mys (mouse). Sabrinus is derived from the latin word sabrina (river-nymph) and refers to the squirrel's habit of living near streams and rivers.
General description: Adult flying squirrels average 4.9 ounces (139 gm) in weight and 12 inches (30 cm) in total length. The tail is broad, flattened, and feather-like. A unique feature of the body is the lateral skin folds (patagia) on each side that stretch between front and hind legs and function as gliding membranes. This squirrel is nocturnal and has large eyes that are efficient on the darkest nights. Eye shine color is a distinctive reddish-orange. Flying squirrel pelage is silky and thick with the top of the body light brown to cinnamon, the sides grayish, and the belly whitish.
Habitat requirements: Flying squirrels require a forest mosaic that includes adequate denning and feeding areas. Den sites include tree cavities and witches' brooms. Tree cavities are most numerous in old forests where wood rot, frost cracking, woodpeckers, and carpenter ants have created or enlarged cavities. Witches' brooms, clumps of abnormal branches caused by tree rust diseases, are the most common denning sites of flying squirrels in Interior Alaska. About November or December, when temperatures begin to drop sharply, flying squirrels move out of cavities and into brooms. In the coldest periods of winter, they form aggregations of two or more individuals in the brooms and sleep in torpor.
Feeding areas preferred by flying squirrels contain fungi (mushrooms and truffles), berries, and tree lichens and may be in either young or old forests. Dried fungi cached in limbs by red squirrels are sometimes stolen by flying squirrels.
Flying squirrels probably get water from foods they eat and rain, dew, and snow. Constant sources of free water (lakes, ponds, and watercourses) do not appear to be a stringent habitat requirement.
In a year's time, a flying squirrel in Interior Alaska may use as many as 13 different den trees within 19.8 acres (8 ha). On a night foray, a squirrel may travel as far as 1.2 miles (2 km) in a circular route and be away from its den tree for up to 7 hours. It may change den trees at night and move to different ones more than 20 times over a year, staying in each for a varying numbers of days. Den trees with brooms are used more than twice as much as trees with cavities.
Fairly dense, old closed-canopy forests with logs and corridors of trees (especially conifers) that are spaced close enough to glide between are needed for cover from predators. High quality flying squirrel habitat can be a community mosaic of small stands of varying age classes in which there is a mix of tall conifers and hardwoods. Part of the mosaic must be old coniferous forest with den trees containing witches' brooms, woodpecker cavities, and natural cavities for nesting sites. Riparian zones provide excellent habitat in all coniferous forest associations.
Life history: Flying squirrels in Alaska may breed anytime from March to late June, depending on length and severity of the winter. The female can breed before 11 months of age and give birth at about 1 year of age. Gestation requires about 37 days, so the young are born from May to early July. One litter of two per year is probably the usual case for Alaska, but they are known to have litters ranging from one to six in other parts of their range. At birth, the young flying squirrel (nestling) is hairless, and its eyes and ears are closed. Development is slow in comparison with other mammals of similar size. Their eyes open at about 25 days, and they nurse for about 60 to 70 days. By day 240, the young are fully grown and cannot be distinguished from adults by body measurements and fur characteristics. Mortality rate for flying squirrels 1 and 2 years old is about 50 percent, and few live past 4 years of age. Complete population turnover can occur by the third year.
Individual flying squirrels nest in tree cavities, witches' brooms, and drays. In Interior Alaska, most brooms and cavity entrances have southerly exposures. Nests in cavities are usually located about 25 feet above the ground but may range between 5 and 45 feet. Flying squirrels excavate chambers in witches' brooms and line them with nesting materials. A dray nest is a ball-like mass of mosses, twigs, lichens, and leaves with shredded bark and lichens forming the lining of the chamber. Flying squirrels build drays entirely by themselves or modify the nests of other species (e.g., bird nests, red squirrel nests). The dray is usually positioned close to the trunk on a limb or whorl of branches with its entrance next to the trunk. Most drays in Alaska are probably conifers.
Food habits: The flying squirrel is omnivorous. While little is known about its diet in Alaska, the food it consumes in other parts of its range include mushrooms, truffles, lichens, fruits, green vegetation, nuts, seeds, tree buds, insects, and meat (fresh, dried, or rotted). Nestling birds and birds' eggs may also be eaten. Those observed foraging in the wild in Interior Alaska ate mushrooms (fresh and dried), truffles, berries, tree lichens, and the newly flushed growth tips on white spruce limbs. In spring, summer, and fall the diet is mostly fresh fungi. In winter it's mostly lichens. Flying squirrels are not known to cache fungi for winter in Alaska, but they are known to do so elsewhere in their range. Witches' brooms and tree cavities would be likely places to find their caches.
Predators and parasites: Owls, hawks, and carnivorous mammals prey on flying squirrels. Primary predators are probably the great horned owl, goshawk, and marten due to their common occurrence and widespread range in Alaska's forests. Three different flea species may infest a single squirrel.
Economic and ecological value: Flying squirrels are important to forest regeneration and timber production because they disperse spores of ectomycorrhizal fungi like truffles. Truffles are fruiting bodies of a special type of fungus that matures underground. They are dependent upon animals to smell them out, dig them up, consume them, and disperse their spores in fecal material where the animal travels. The animal serves to inoculate disturbed sites (e.g., clearcuts, burned areas) with mycorrhizae that join symbiotically with plant roots and enhance their ability to absorb nutrients and maintain health. The flying squirrel's ecological role in forest ecosystems, therefore, gives it economic value. In addition, they may be important prey for a variety of hawks, owls, small carnivores, and furbearers like marten, lynx, and red fox. Many Alaskans value flying squirrels just for their interesting habits and aesthetic qualities.
Management considerations: Logging for house logs, wood for fuel, and lumber can have devastating effects on flying squirrel populations if clearcut size is too large or if some scattered tall conifers in large cuts are not retained as cover and for travel across the open spaces. Management should include retention of other squirrel species in shared habitats. Snags with woodpecker holes or other natural cavities and coniferous trees with witches' brooms must also be maintained in managed forests in order to provide adequate habitat for flying squirrels.
The red squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus) makes itself quite conspicuous with its lively habits and noisy chatter. Cone cuttings on stumps or rocks are common and tracks in snow are numerous where this squirrel occurs. It can be found in spruce forests over most of Alaska and has a wide range in North America. It occupies a wide variety of forest habitat, occurring in the hardwood forests of eastern North America and the coniferous forests of the west and north.
General description: The active rodent averages 11 to 13 inches in length (28-33 cm), including tail, and is a rusty-olive color on the upper parts of its body with a whitish belly and underparts. In summer, a dark stripe on the side separates the upper rusty color from the white of the belly. The bushy tail is often a lighter orange or red with light tipped hairs.
Life history: Red squirrels are solitary but pair for mating in February and March. Females usually breed when they are 1 year old. Three to seven young are born after a gestation period of 36 to 40 days. The young are born blind and hairless, weighing about ¼ ounce at birth. They are weaned at about 5 weeks but remain with the female until almost adult size.
The young leave the female and are independent during their first winter. This means that they have to be successful at gathering and storing a winter's supply of food.
Behavior: Much of the red squirrel's time in the summer is spent cutting and storing green spruce cones. There may be several bushels of cones stored in a cache. Caches may attain a diameter of 15 to 18 feet and a depth of 3 feet. Red squirrels also cache mushrooms on tree branches. They eat seeds, berries, buds, fungi, and occasionally insects and birds' eggs. They are busy collecting and storing food from early morning until dusk and also on moonlit nights.
Nests may be a hole in a tree trunk or a tightly constructed mass of twigs, leaves, mosses, and lichens in the densest foliage of a tree (making the nest almost completely weatherproof). A loose mass of twigs and leafy debris in a high tree is used as a “fair weather” nest. Their ground burrows, also known as middens, are used mostly for food storage. There is usually one large active midden in each territory with perhaps an inactive or auxiliary midden.
The home range of red squirrels is about ½ to 1 acre, and each squirrel knows its territory well. Each squirrel has several nests in its territory and always seems to know which retreat is nearest. Territorial behavior seems to be most rigid during caching of food and relaxes somewhat in the spring.
The red squirrel is active all year but may remain in its nest during severe cold spells and inclement weather. They are agile climbers and, being extremely curious, will often attempt to enter buildings, upsetting anything they can move and gnawing on woodwork. Once in a house or cabin, they can be very destructive, tearing out insulation and mattress stuffing for use as nesting material and caching food stores in any available niche.
Predators: The main predators of red squirrels are hawks, owls, and marten. Other predators may occasionally take a squirrel but are not serious threats. Around populated areas, one of the predators is the domestic housecat.
Human use: The red squirrel is used to a limited extent by man for food and fur. Squirrels may be small but the meat is good eating. In parts of Canada and Alaska the pelts are sold for their fur. Red squirrels may damage trees, cutting off twigs by the bushel, but they are also helpful because they distribute and plant seeds of spruce and other trees.
The Arctic Ground Squirrel (Spermophilus Parryii) was named "tsik-tsik" by the Inupiat Eskimos on account of a call this little rodent makes when it is alarmed?
Tsik-tsiks are found in both arctic and alpine tundra. They fatten themselves on seeds, mushrooms and berries—almost doubling their body weight over the summer—in preparation for fall hibernation. Although they insulate their winter burrows with grasses and block the entrances with dirt, winter temperatures inside the burrows still fall well below 0° F.
During hibernation, the body temperature of the arctic ground squirrel drops from 98.6° F to 26.4° F—that's below the freezing point of water and is the lowest known body temperature of any living mammal. Most mammals, including people, would be frozen solid at that body temperature! Scientists aren't sure just how these diminutive rodents do it, but they apparently have developed a unique mechanism that allows their body fluids to become supercooled—to fall below the freezing point without crystallizing into ice and damaging cell tissue.
Periodically throughout the winter, the tsik-tsik will rouse itself, briefly raising its body temperature more than 70° F in four hours, before going back into hibernation. Not until late March or early April does the arctic ground squirrel finally emerge from its winter den to the light of another spring and six months of intense activity.
Arctic ground squirrels are the largest and most northern of the North American ground squirrels. This species is common in the ice-free mountainous regions of Denali. Permafrost and soil type are two of the most important factors limiting ground squirrel distribution in Denali.
Arctic ground squirrels are burrowing animals and they establish colonies in areas with well-drained soils and views of the surrounding landscape. Colonies often consist of multiple burrows and a maze of tunnels beneath the surface. Well-drained soils are important, as flooding of these burrows causes considerable problems for squirrels. Accordingly, squirrels usually avoid establishing colonies or excavating burrows where permafrost is close to the surface.
Like many other arctic animals, arctic ground squirrels have unique physiological adaptations that allow them to survive during winter. Arctic ground squirrels are obligate hibernators and spend 7 to 8 months in hibernation. Researchers at the University of Alaska at Fairbanks have shown that during hibernation, arctic ground squirrels adopt the lowest body temperature ever measured in a mammal. The body temperature of hibernating squirrels drops below freezing, a condition referred to as supercooling. At intervals of two to three weeks, still in a state of sleep, hibernating squirrels shiver and shake for 12 to 15 hours to create heat that warms them back to a normal body temperature of about 98 degrees Fahrenheit. When the shivering and shaking stops, body temperature drops back to the minimal temperature. This type of hibernation is rare among mammals and scientists are still studying this unique physiological behavior.
In Denali, ground squirrels are active from late April to early October, but the sexes and age-classes show some differences in their annual activity patterns. Adult males are usually the first to emerge from hibernation. They dig their way through the snow and stay relatively close to their burrows until the snow cover melts. Breeding occurs in May and a single litter of 5 to 10 pups is born in June. The young develop rapidly and usually emerge from their burrows in mid-July. By late summer, young abandon their natal burrow and occupy a neighboring, empty burrow or excavate a new one.
Adults start hibernating as soon as they have enough body fat to survive the winter, often in late August when plenty of foods are still available. It is probably safer to enter hibernation early, even when foods are accessible, than to remain on the surface vulnerable to predators. Youngsters, however, take much longer to find foods and put on body fat and they are often active until late September. This means that youngsters are more vulnerable to predation than adults.
The diet of arctic ground squirrels is diverse and opportunistic. They eat many types of vegetation including the leaves, seeds, fruits, stems, flowers, and roots of many species of grasses, forbs, and woody plants. They also eat mushrooms and meat from freshly killed animals (including ground squirrels). Because they are active only during the short subarctic summer, arctic ground squirrels must be efficient foragers. As summer progresses, they put on a tremendous amount of fat stores for the winter and often double their body weight by the time they enter hibernation in fall.
The social behavior of arctic ground squirrels is complex. This species is highly territorial and squirrels may kill other squirrels over territorial disputes. However, other related females in the colony often care for orphaned youngsters. Further, territorial behavior lessens during late summer, and male squirrels may move between colonies or establish colonies of their own.
So many different predators eat arctic ground squirrels that Adolph Murie called them the "staff of life" in Denali. They are one of the most important summer food sources for golden eagles, gyrfalcons, foxes, and grizzly bears.
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At Bryce Canyon National Park, erosion has shaped colorful Claron limestones, sandstones, and mudstones into thousands of spires, fins, pinnacles, and mazes. Collectively called "hoodoos," these colorful and whimsical formations stand in horseshoe-shaped amphitheaters along the eastern edge of the Paunsaugunt Plateau in Southern Utah. Hoodoos formed over thousands of years by the same processes that form the features of surrounding parks. Water, ice (at varying intervals) and gravity are the forces that form Bryce Canyon.
Dolomite, limestone and siltstone are very hard and form the protective caprock on most of the spires. Frost wedging is the erosional force that breaks apart the harder rocks. Mudstone is the softest rock in a hoodoo and is easily identified because it forms the narrowest portion of the pinnacles. As mudstone moistens it erodes easily and will run down the sides forming a stucco or protective coating. Every time it rains the stucco is renewed. Eolian or wind forces erode at slow rates. If wind does not erode the stucco layer fast enough it will renew before eolian erosion affects the rock. For this reason wind has little to no affect on hoodoo formation or destruction.
Bryce Canyon National Park is named for pioneer Ebenezer Bryce who came to the Paria Valley with his family in 1875. He was sent by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints because his skill as a carpenter would be useful in settling this area. Bryce built a road to the plateau top to retrieve firewood and timber. He also built an irrigation canal to raise crops and animals. Local people called the canyon with the strange rock formations near Ebenezer's home "Bryce's Canyon". The Bryces moved to Arizona in 1880, the name remained.
As southern Utah developed, Reuben and Minnie Syrett--who homesteaded just outside the present park boundaries--brought their friends to see the intricately eroded stone formations. By popular demand, they developed sleeping and eating facilities on the canyon rim. They called their establishment, "Tourist's Rest." When the area was set aside as a national monument in 1923, the Union Pacific Railroad bought out the Syrett's interests and began to construct Bryce Canyon Lodge intending to make the Bryce Canyon area part of their new "Loop Tour" of the southwest. The Syrett's then built "Ruby's Inn" on their own land just north of the park.
Click Here for information about the shuttle service for Bryce Canyon National Park
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The Images of Back Children in Gwendolyn Brook's Poetry: A StudyBY: p.suresh kumar R.panneerselvam | Category: Education | Submitted: 2012-04-13 08:18:42
In between, her poetic achievement is marked by gradual and progressive ascent. She became the first African American poet to win the Pulitzer Prize in 1950, membership of the Academy if Arts and Letters un 1976, winning if two Guggenheim awards, poet laureateship of Illinois in 1968, the award by the National Endowment for Arts in 1989,JJeffrson lectureship by the National Endowments of the Humanities in 1994, the National Medals of Arts award in 1995, the "First Woman" award from the Federal Government in 1999, and more than fifty honorary decorates from various colleges and universities.
Brools's creative output extends over a period of six decades. Her poetry is distinctive not only in her handling of multiplicity of forms but also in her craftsmanship. She has committed herself to the ideals of social justice for her race and sex as well as ro the aesthetics of art. The issues of racism and an authentic identity have been the recurrent themes of African American Writers. Witnessing the growth of black literature by stages-form anger to defiance, to protest, to recognition, to search for identity, and to reconciliation, Brooks wrote poetry that was at once potent, provocative, poignant, and starling, a poetry that resisted racism, asserted black consciousness, and upheld the black values, a poetry that instilled a new faith in self-reliance and dignity, and a poetry that can be a source of inspiration of succeeding generations writers.
A study of Brooks's poetry will be incomplete without a study of her poetry for children, who also encounter the same kind of racial discrimination which the adult balcks are subjected to in the racially prejudiced America. Before 1967, Brooks published only one volume of poetry ofr children: Bronzeville Boys and Gorls(1956). The book consists of thirty-four poems, which are illustrated by Ronnai Solbert. All these poems portray the individual experiences of thirty-seven children, but Brooks is objective and detached in her portrayal of these boys and girls.
In poems written in couplets, the first line rhymes with the second, the third line rhymes with the foruth, and so on:
I have a secret place to go.
Not any one may know.
And sometimes when the wind is rough
I cannot get there fast enough
Brooks is sensitive to the prosodic features of language:
The loudness in the road
And laughs away from me.
It laughs a lovely whiteness,
And whitely whirs away,
Some other where,
Still white as milk or shirts.
So beautiful it hurts.
The compound image "flitter-twitter" defines the delicate motion of the snow. The onomatopoeic words "SUSHES" and "hushes" convey the power of the silent and quite snow to quell "the loudness in the road." "Loudness" suggests the traffic and noise, which stand in opposition to the silence of the world of nature. The irregular length of the lines suggests the irregular but the motion of the snow.
Further, Brooks's poems for children cannot be categorized as nonsense verses. On the contrary, they are sensible verses. Though they appeal to our imagination, the children in her poems do not live in a pastoral, romantic, or idealized world. They are always the poor black children living in the urban ghettos. They suffer poverty and entrapment. In Gwendolyn Brooks: Poetry and the Heroic voice, Melhem argues that Brooks" Acknowldges no cruel children but implies cruelty, the indifference that sanctions poverty and compels children to be prematurely involved in adult problems" (95).
Brooks's description of the bleak experience of children is an compiled protest against the socioeconomic injustices that they encounter. In "John, who is Poor," Brooks depicts the poverty of the black boy, John, who lives with his widowed mother. She request the children in the neighborhood to sympathize with him, and share their eatables with him:
Oh, little children, be good to John!-
Who lives so lone and alone.
Whose Mamma must hurry to toil all day.
Whose papa is dead and done.
Give him a berry, boys, when you may,
And Girls, some mint when you can. (1-6)
But the poet dies not know" when his hunger will end, No yet when it began" (7-8).Brooks makes it clear that racial oppression is the causes of the sufferings of the black children. But her criticism is not overt. Further, she is objective in her description of their poverty, In keeping with the mood of the 1940s and1950s, she beloved that the whites would help the blacks solve their problems. But it took about eleven years, for her, from the year of her publication of Bronzeville Boys and Girls (1956), to realize that the whites remained indifferent to the problems of the blacks.
After 1967, Brooks published three volumes of poetry for Children: Alones, The Tiger Who Wore White Gloves, and Children Coming Home. In Aloness (1971), A reflective poem of fifty-one lines, Brooks projects a child's experience of solitude. The drawings by Leroy Foster present an appealing little black boy. The nine postures of the boy are indicative of this none different moods. Unlike Bronzeville Boys and Girls, which is written in quatrains and couplets with rhyme, Aloneness is written in free verse without rhyme. It is written from the point of view of the black boy, who defines loneliness as the pain of being alone: "Loneliness means you want somebody./You have not planned to stand somewhere with other people gone./ Loneliness never has a brought color . Perhaps it is gray"1-3_). As the speaker is a child, the images are simple. The child imagines that the couloirs of loneliness are "gray." The implied idea is the child's association of the color of loneliness with the4 black people's collective loneliness in the racially oppressive America. The child defines aloneness/solitude as the pleasure of beings alone: "But aloneness is delicious" (9). He compares aloneness with" a red small apple" (12). Then he turns to the image of a pond. Aloneness is "like loving a pond in summer," a simile that graphs the child's experience of place and time (15). Nowhere does the poem mention about racial discrimination. But the poem is educational in tone. Brooks's aim is to develop a positive sense of identity among blacks.
While Aloneness is in free verse, The Tiger Who Wore White Gloves or What You are You are is rhymed like" Bronzeville Boys and Girls." The poem is illustrated by the drawings of Timothy Jones. It is a beast fable. Unlike Aloneness, Which is indirectly didactic, The Tiger is directly didactic, offering strategies for survival. The title implies human folly. The tiger wears white gloves to be fashionable, but his companions ridicule his strange behavior. The theme is self-acceptance and pride:
THAT TIGER FLOCK
AQND WISELY WEARING
WHAT'S FIERCR AS THE FACE.S
NOT WHITNESS AND LACE. (15-23)
The "tiger" represents the black people. "Whiteness" Represents the spurious standards of beauty established by the whites. As a metaphor, "gloves" represents phenomena like the black people's return to hair-straightening, which, for Brooks, means aping the white values. The idea is that black is that black people should develop their own attributes and esteem them.
As a realist, Brooks always portrays what the blacks experience in society. Despite her commitment to black consciousness, she has not forgotten the continuous bleak experiences of the black-adults as well as children. the volume children coming home!1991), Brooks's children do not live in a romantic or an idealized world. They encounter social and economic injustices. In the prefatory poem, "After School," Brooks delineates the odds against children:
* Not all of the children
* Come home to cookies and coca.
* One will be shot on his way home to warmth, wit and wisdom. [t/o]
* One teacher mutters"My God, they are gone,"[t/o]
* One is ripe to report Ten People to the Principal. [t/o]
*One whispers"The Little Black Bastards."
The poem attests to the simplicity of her poetry written after 1967. In this dramatic monologue, written in a child's voice, Brooks has abandoned lyricism and rhyme, and "deliberately abandoning the formal virtuosity that characterized her earlier work, Brooks represents children's voices through a seemingly simple, declarative method... (Flynnn494). The image of the innocent child exposes the evils of the social practices. Brooks's intention behind the exposition is to make the children" seek out their own strength" (495).
Brooks. Gwendolyn. Bronzeville Boys and Girals. New York: Harper, 1956.
---. Aloneness. Dotroit: Broadside, 1969.
---.The Near-Johannesburg Boy, and Other Poems. Chicago: David, 1987.
---.The tiger who wore white Gloves: Or You Are What You Are. Chicago: Third world. 1987.
---.Children Coming Home. cChicago:David,1991
Flynn, Richard. 'The Kindergarten of New Consciousness':
Cwendolyon Brooks and the Social Construction of Childhood."
African American Review 34.3(2000):483-99.
Melhem,D.H. Gwendolyn Brooks: Poetry and the Heroic Voice. Kentucky: Up of Kentucky, 1989.
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Pageant of the Popes, by John Farrow, , at sacred-texts.com
Italy and France and Spain all struggled to control the next conclave and the latter two powers did not hesitate to try and enlist the aid of Caesar Borgia. But happily the sinister creature was not as active at this important time as he could have been; for he was yet weak from his illness. "I had counted on the death of my father and had made every preparation for it," he lamented, "but it never occurred to me that I should have at the same time to fight death myself." However he threw his influence to favor the candidate of the French king. But to thwart him there now returned to Rome, after an exile of nearly ten years, the antagonist of his father, the experienced and veteran Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere who, friendly though he himself had been with the French, warned the cardinals that if a Frenchman were elected the papacy faced the danger of being returned to Avignon. There seemed then every chance of a deadlock but this prospect was so distasteful to the Sacred College that a name hitherto not mentioned was quickly presented and acclaimed and a month after Alexander's death the Cardinal Francesco Piccolomini, nephew of Pius II, became Pope Pius
[paragraph continues] III. He was sixty-four years old and was a hopeless invalid; this latter circumstance was probably the real reason that won for him the votes of the conclave for his tenure was expected to be short. Nor were the macabre expectations disappointed. He died in less than a month but during that brief time displayed much charity and kindness and announced reform to be his aim.
There was no deadlock at the next conclave for by bargain and by bribe Cardinal della Rovere secured for himself thirty-seven of the thirty-eight votes in proceedings that did not extend a full day. After long years he had finally won the tiara and triumphantly taking the name of Julius II he set out to restore the strength and possessions of the Papal States. This was no easy task, for Alexander had left a sad confusion of debts and trouble, and great properties rightfully belonging to the Church were in the clutches of his son. The Republic of Venice was noisily claiming Romagna, Spain was occupying Sicily and Naples, and the French, ever resolved to maintain a foothold in Italy were willing to resort to arms against any who would oppose them. Julius had been given a domain bankrupt in treasury and bereft of defence but not for nothing had he earned the description of terrible. He was possessed of enormous physical strength and had the courage of a lion, and his will and determination matched both these qualities. His abilities were those of a warrior statesman rather than those of an ecclesiastic but they were talents appreciated by the Romans at this time. He was not a saint and three daughters were testimony that his earlier life had been no better than that of other Renaissance prelates; but, although he had a few relations in high places, the charge of nepotism has never been levelled against him. He won, it is true, elevation to the chair of St. Peter by dubious tactics but once enthroned he acted
only for the betterment, as he saw it, of that which had been placed in his care. In spite of his considerable years he was possessed of a driving energy. "No one has any influence over him," reported the Venetian Ambassador. "He consults few or none. Anything he has been thinking of overnight has to be carried out immediately the next morning, and he insists on doing everything himself. It is impossible to describe how headstrong and violent and difficult to manage he is. Everything about him is on a magnificent scale. There is nothing in him that is small or meanly selfish. Whatever is in his mind must be carried through, even if he himself were to perish in the attempt."
He despised the name of Borgia yet at the beginning of his reign there was no rupture with Caesar Borgia because of a pact made before his election. At that time he had made sure there would be no opposition from any quarter and Caesar Borgia might have possessed some influence with those cardinals who owed their preferment to his father. But when he became Pope the ill begotten territories of the wicked Duke were included in his program of independence via restoration. Venice had designs on these properties also and there was long disagreement with that Republic. "From the beginning of Our reign," the Doge of Venice was informed, "it has been Our steadfast purpose to restore to the Church the territories of which she has been despoiled; to this We hold fast, and shall ever do so . . . Nothing shall induce Us to desist from demanding the restitution of these places . . . Therefore We again admonish your Highness with all paternal kindness, and command you in the name of the Lord to do freely and at once that which in justice you are bound to do." The Venetians were obstinate but in the end Julius was victorious and the banner of the Papal States was unfurled again over the coveted places. Meanwhile the decline of
[paragraph continues] Caesar Borgia was startlingly rapid and the man who had been so flamboyantly master of all Italy soon found himself without friends or troops. Julius placed him under a form of arrest and then he was released but only to be imprisoned again. After a captivity of two years he escaped and a few months later was killed whilst fighting with the army of his French brother-in-law.
The intrepid and impatient Pope would allow nothing to stand in the way of his plans and he marched with his troops and led them to victory at Orvieto and Perugia and Urbino. Other times the fortunes of war would turn but he was no poltroon and to the despair of less hardy members of his suite he would remain with the warriors, sharing their dangers and discomforts and inspiring them with example. To fit his policies he made and discarded allies as quickly as he made decisions and so the French were invited to assist him vanquish the Venetians and in turn, when the French became too demanding, he enlisted the support of other nations including the Venetians, to drive the French back to France. Before his election he had promised the cardinals that they should have some rights of consultation but any projected opposition from this body was made ineffectual by the creation at various times of twenty-seven new cardinals. A few discontented wearers of the Red Hat were induced by two irate monarchs, Louis XII of France and the Emperor Maximilian, to a foolish rebellion. Both rulers, with designs of their own upon Italy, were alarmed at the Pope's attempts at independence and at their instigation the renegade cardinals convoked a Council at Pisa. The scheme was a pitiful failure. A small number of churchmen did finally assemble but the townspeople were so hostile that the pseudo-Council was forced to adjourn and continue its futile mummery at another place. The world was weary
of this brand of schism and the activities of the rebels never achieved importance save as a temporary annoyance to the Pope. It might have been otherwise if the French had gained the final victory and indeed for a gloomy time it appeared they would. A series of brilliant successes were achieved by the soldiers of Louis, aided by those of the Emperor, and there was strong likelihood that Rome would be sacked. Further gloom came when the strain imposed upon the overworked Pope had the expected result and he was stricken by an illness so grievous that the physicians pronounced his recovery impossible. Arrangements were made for his funeral and a panic descended upon the city when the news was known. "Never," wrote the Venetian Ambassador, "has there been such a clang of arms round the death-bed of any former Pope; never has the danger been greater than it is now. May God help us!"
To the amazement of all and to the dismay of his enemies the Pope recovered and quickly restored order to Rome with an iron hand. He was not yet discouraged and with typical determination he set out to win even at this apparently hopeless stage. And win he did for by extraordinary diplomatic skill he succeeded in inducing Maximilian to withdraw his support and separate his troops from the French army. Furthermore the Emperor, suddenly alarmed at the prospect of a French-controlled Italy, permitted Swiss soldiers to pass through his dominions. The Swiss had come in answer to the Pope's pleas and it was they who decisively routed the French. A wild joy prevailed in Rome and thunderous adulation was heard when Julius returned to the Vatican. "Never," reported the observant Venetian envoy, "was any Emperor or victorious general so honored on his entry into Rome as the Pope has been today."
Julius II. Reigned 1503 to 1513.
Click to enlarge
Pope Julius II.
This is the man who climbed up on the scaffolding to argue with Michael Angelo. See pages 229 to 235.
No details seem to miss the attention of this prodigious worker. The vexations and colossal labors of his martial campaigns and political efforts did not hinder a keen interest in the establishment of the bishoprics in the New World; a legate from an important court, a soldier with news from the army, a missionary returned from a remote place, all alike received his rapt interest. Laws and statutes were examined with meticulous care and the machinery of civil law was made less cumbersome. Roads and bridges were built or repaired throughout the Papal States and long needed measures were taken to protect the farmers and their crops from the avarice of the overlords and from the depredations of their soldiery. No matter how great the burden of his anxieties the Pope somehow in the interest of his subjects found the time to write such letters as he wrote to one of his governors: "A citizen of Bertinoro has complained to the Pope that the Castellan has taken wood from him and injured him in other ways. Let the Castellan and his abettors be punished without fail and take care that no harm comes to the complainant."
Nor did the realm of art escape the interest of the amazing man. Surpassed even were the examples of predecessors in this respect and his intense antipathy to all things connected with the Borgia name did not prevent him from continuing with projects commenced in Alexander's reign. Bramanti, the architect, was given the task of rebuilding St. Peter's basilica into a structure vast and magnificent and it was the beginning of the great edifice which stands today. Michael Angelo was called to Rome and the world is aware of the splendid results produced by that inspired summons. The genius of Rafael and the prowess of his gifted colleagues flowered under the warmth of papal encouragement and subsidy. Julius had a rare sympathy for the artistic mind and he understood well, as he put it, "the
humors of such men of genius." When Michael Angelo had rushed from Rome in a rage swearing that he would leave his work uncompleted an astonished and shocked official in Florence told him, "You have behaved towards the Pope in a way that the King of France himself would not have ventured upon. There must be an end of this. We are not going to be dragged into a war, and risk the whole state for you. Go back to Rome." The obstinate artist took his time but finally returned and when he appeared before Julius a prelate thought to save him from the expected wrath by pleading, "Your Holiness should not be so hard on this fault of Michael Angelo; he is a man who has never been taught good manners, these artists do not know how to behave, they understand nothing but their art." The Pope turned the full force of his anger upon the unfortunate cleric. "You venture," he roared, "to say to this man things I should not have dreamt of saying. It is you who have not manners. Get out of my sight, you miserable, ignorant clown." From this time on there were no great differences between the Pope and the great man of art, although there were many noisy arguments. Court attendants would marvel at the sight of their formidable master abandoning all dignity and clambering up the dusty scaffolding which festooned the Sistine Chapel. A grimy hand to help him would be extended by the busy genius, sometimes irritated at being interrupted, and there the two would discuss the details and progress of the superb frescoes.
After Julius had secured temporal strength and independence and brought order and prosperity to the States of the Church his restless mind became occupied with the gigantic problem of sorely needed Church reform. He had already issued a pungent bull against simony in papal elections and now he assembled in Rome, after a year of careful
preparation, a heavily attended Council of the Church. By this time the exhausted and aged pontiff was nearing his end but what he wished to say was read by a cardinal. The congregated dignitaries of all nations were told frankly the critical time had come when drastic measures had to be taken to correct the dreadful state of Church discipline. Would that he had lived longer to employ the full force of his vigor on this project. But his time was run and he was soon on his death bed. Even there the great, if imperfect Pope, weakened though he was, behaved as his usual self, calmly giving the necessary instructions for his funeral, uttering measured words of farewell to his weeping friends, and arranging prayers to be said for his soul. He then died and "Rome felt that the soul which had passed from her had been of royal mould," recorded a friend. "I have lived forty years in this city, but never yet have I seen such a vast throng at the funeral of any former Pope. The guards were overpowered by the crowds insisting on kissing the dead man's feet. Weeping they prayed for his soul, calling him a true Pope and Vicar of Christ, a pillar of justice, a zealous promoter of the Apostolic Church, an enemy and queller of tyrants."
The Bull against simony was read aloud at the next conclave and such elaborate precautions were taken to prevent the odious practice that no suspicion of this nature can darken the memory of the next pope, the thirty-eight year old Giovanni de Medici who became Leo X. Certainly a factor to contribute heavily to his winning the majority of the votes was his membership in the powerful Florentine family: although it is true that his life was without scandal and it is also true that to fit him for high ecclesiastical rank he had received a special and comprehensive education from a carefully selected group of distinguished tutors. He was the son of one of the most
strong and colourful figures of the Renaissance, Lorenzo de Medici, the ruler of Florence who was called the Magnificent. At thirteen years of age he had been given the dignity of the cardinalate although up to the time of his elevation to the papacy the extent of his clerical progress was a deacon's orders. After receiving the acclaim of the conclave he was ordained priest, consecrated bishop two days later, and then solemnly and with splendor given the tiara on the steps of the now half demolished Basilica of St. Peter.
The debris of the broken structure was a strangely fitting background for his coronation because the rebuilding of this edifice provided the incident which in this reign was to bring unparalleled sorrow and disaster to the Catholic Church. To provide the funds for the erection of the new St. Peter's, indulgences were unfortunately offered for money and in Germany an outraged Augustinian friar protested vigorously by writing a series of ninety-five theses against such abuses and nailing his manuscript to the door of the castle church at Wittenberg. The name of the friar was Martin Luther, the fateful day was the 31st of October 1517, and the historic and so tragically symbolic wielding of hammer against church door occurred in the fifth year of Leo's reign. And it was an event which, while receiving instantaneous attention throughout Germany, failed to cause alarm or immediate interest in Rome.
The storm had broken, the most critical time in the long history of the Church had arrived, and there was nought but apathy on the part of the Pope. Absorbed in the unsavory intricacies of his politics and pleasures, Leo failed to recognize the importance of Luther's initial deed and there can be little excuse for his catastrophic lethargy. There was no lack of warning. For years past the clamor
for reform within the Church had been steadily increasing throughout Europe and matching this spirit in growth and volume was contempt for ecclesiastical authority. At the council which his predecessor had inaugurated and which had continued on into his own reign, lengthy and complicated resolutions had been proposed and accepted; but, as a layman who attended the Council complained, "We have heard a great deal about the making of laws, but very little about their observance." In many ways the new Pope seemed to resemble Alexander VI rather than Julius. His family was enriched and given favours whenever possible and his court, thronged by artists and writers and frivolous noblemen, was that of a gay and youthful prince rather than that of the Bishop of Rome. The delights of the banqueting table, the amusements of dramatic pageants, the mummery of buffoons, the thrill of the hunting field, all these things occupied the time and interest of the man who was pope when Luther began his attack and who, endowed with the tastes and principles of his family, wove a mesh of political activities which kept him continuously embroiled with the various rulers of Europe.
Deceit and treachery were the habitual characteristics of this dangerous game as played by him and consequently when he tried to raise funds for the prosecution of a new crusade, the response from the nations was mostly a cynical indifference. A Florentine statesman who frequently served and advised him was Niccolo Machiavelli whose name has endured as a synonym for subterfuge and intrigue of the basest type. So it was not unnatural that antipathy to Rome fattened upon the lavish duplicity which was presented as papal diplomacy. The unreal title of Emperor was still desired by kings and this vanity the Pope used freely in his schemes, openly supporting one
aspirant for the historic but illusory honor while at the same time his legates would be whispering encouragement to another deluded prince. The intention behind Leo's ceaseless and complicated negotiations was to keep Spain and France and Germany from further encroachments in Italy. Once in his reign the French did attempt an invasion but they were driven back before the fury of the Swiss mercenaries. In the peace which followed it was agreed that the unsuccessful schism which had begun under French auspices at Pisa should now be abandoned and that, while the French monarch should possess the right of nomination in regard to benefices, canonical investiture could only be given by the pope.
Despite the resolutions of the recent Council clerical abuses continued and increased, and in Rome when thirty-one cardinals were made at one creation it was well known that although a few new wearers of the purple were indeed worthy men, the majority of their colleagues had openly purchased the honor. One of these was Ferdinando Ponzetti who had commenced life as a physician and who now was able to pay 30,000 ducats for his new rank. At least six wearers of the Red Hat certainly paid nothing, for this number of the Pope's relatives were so honored, and while his brother Giuliano paraded Rome with the title of Captain General of the Church, still another kinsman ruled Florence as temporal overlord. There was great discontent amongst certain of the younger cardinals who had voted for the Pope at the conclave and who felt that they had not been rewarded suitably. One of these unhappy prelates, the Cardinal Petrucci, brooding over supposed injustices, instigated a plot to murder the Pope and the condition and standard of the Sacred College at this time is shown by the dismal fact that four other of its members, including the Dean, gave their support to the
proposed crime. A conscienceless physician was bribed to commit the murder while attending the pontiff but fortunately for the latter, who trusted few men, a letter was intercepted and the evil scheme revealed. Swift punishment came to the physician and to Petrucci. Both were executed along with a few accomplices, but the other guilty cardinals, perhaps because of the Pope's charity or, more probably, because of the influence of powerful friends, were neither hung nor strangled but merely fined heavily, deprived of their electoral privileges, and banished from the city.
Such conditions brought strong discontent everywhere and particularly in Germany where Luther found willing audiences, not because of the soundness of his theology, but because of the appalling abuses permitted and practised by those whom he attacked. The traffic in benefices, the ceaseless appeals from Rome for money, and the harsh fact that in Germany most of the great bishoprics were possessed by scions of royalty and nobility, overshadowed the efforts of those who were desperately working for reform from within the Church. Such men there were but, as is common, virtues and good deeds were submerged beneath the vices and wrongdoings of the spectacularly wicked; and despite the many examples of sincere vocations, the lamentable state of Church discipline was a fact acknowledged and deplored on all sides. More and more the cupidity of the Roman court was being resented and a steadily increasing spirit of nationalism was adding force to this feeling. "From his own dominion," went the words of a widely circulated pamphlet, "streams of wealth flow in to the Pope as to no other Christian prince; yet we have to pay for palliums, and send asses laden with gold to Rome, and exchange gold for corn, and rest content with blood-lettingspardon me, I mean with indulgences!
[paragraph continues] Woe to this monster of avarice which is never satisfied! The craftiness of the Florentine discovers a thousand devices, each one more execrable than the last. Let German freedom be mindful not to become tributary, and not to pay tithes." Such sentiments as these were echoed vigorously by the type of Humanists, extreme and violently anti-Christian, who at this time possessed great influence in the German universities. Their brand of philosophy frankly glorified paganism and of course viewed all activities of the Church with repugnance and contempt. "The Pope is a bandit," wrote one of the leaders of this movement, "and the Church is his army."
About this time a youthful but powerful prince in Holy Orders, the Elector Albert of Brandenburg, already Archbishop of Magdeburg and Administrator of the See of Halberstadt, was made Archbishop of Mayence. He wished to retain his former sees and after much negotiation with the papal representative he was allowed to do so but on the condition he pay a fee of fourteen thousand ducats besides a special tax of ten thousand of the same coin. It was a shameful transaction but not even yet complete. A banker, Jacob Fugger, advanced the over-beneficed prince the ready gold and then to enable settlement of the banker's loan, Albert was given the privilege of proclaiming the grant of St. Peter's Indulgence through his territories on the terms that he should share equally with Rome all funds so collected.
In an age when bribery and simony were to be found in high places, it is not surprising that the granting of indulgences should sometimes be tainted by mercenary consideration although the doctrine of the Church leaves no doubt as to the invalidity of any accepted with the knowledge of such an arrangement. The term Indulgence is derived from the Latin indulgere meaning to be kind
and it is an excellent explanation for, as defined by the Church in the XIII century, an indulgence is the remission of temporal punishment due to sin after guilt has been forgiven. It is Catholic teaching that even after the guilt of a sin has been forgiven, there may still remain due to the justice of God some measure of punishment (called temporal to distinguish it from the eternal punishment of sin not forgiven because not repented). It is with this temporal punishment, and not with the sin or its guilt, that the Indulgence is concerned. To earn such a favor the suppliant must, in addition to possessing the habitual intention, be in that state of grace which is achieved by true repentance and sincere confession and by the performance of good works such as prayer and charitable undertakings. There are partial indulgences which remit, as the name implies, only in part and there are plenary indulgences which, given by the Pope alone, cancel all temporal punishment due to sin. There are indulgences for the living and those for the dead which actually, because departed souls are of course beyond the Church's jurisdiction, are nothing more than solemn requests for the divine mercy. An indulgence had been proclaimed in the reign of Pope Julius for those who, in addition to fulfilling the usual requirements of penance and contrition, should contribute to the rebuilding of St. Peter's. Because of the eager and none too scrupulous manner in which the monies were gathered and because of the intense and mounting anti-Roman feeling already strong in Germany, there were grave and spirited protests from that country when Leo X, upon becoming Pope, not only renewed the same indulgence but thought by means of it to gather even greater sums for his treasury.
The warnings were unheeded and after prolonged bickering the disgraceful arrangement with Albert of Mayence
was concluded. The next step towards disaster came when the latter placed the responsibility of bringing the fateful Indulgence to the people in the hands of John Tetzel, a Dominican orator who had considerable experience in such enterprises and who was well known for his skill in gathering the lucre. It was a reputation not at all popular and even one of his brother Dominicans wrote angrily of him that he "devised unheard-of means of making money. He was far too liberal in conferring offices; he put up far too many public crosses in towns and villages, which causes scandal and breeds complaints among the people." This man now embarked upon the money raising campaign, for that is what it frankly was, with more zeal than doctrinal authority; for while he did not err in naming the requirements necessary to obtain indulgences for the living, he did make the mistake of declaring those for the dead could be gained by money alone. His statement was clearly contrary to the doctrines of the Church and the leading theologian of the time, the Cardinal Cajetan, was vehemently positive on the subject of such erroneous teachings. "Preachers speak in the name of the Church," said he, "only so long as they proclaim the doctrine of Christ and His Church; but if, for purposes of their own, they teach that about which they know nothing, and which is only their own imagination they must not be accepted as mouth pieces of the Church. No one must be surprised if such as these fall into error."
Tetzel's route took him to Wittenberg where the district vicar and university lecturer, a thirty-four year old Augustinian priest named Martin Luther, impatiently awaited him with strong opinions and an able pen. Luther had once made a journey to Rome and although at that time he displayed no symptoms of displeasure he later claimed he had been disillusioned and angered at what he
had seen. By nature he was deeply impressionable as well as self confident and strong willed. His adoption of the clerical state had not been the result of long and careful consideration but was because the sudden death of a close friend who had been destined for the priesthood convinced him he should take his place. This was done against the earnest pleas of his father, for the young Luther had studied for the law, a process involving hardship and sacrifice both to him and his family who were of humble circumstance. After his reception into monastic life the approval of his superiors encouraged his studies and conduct, and at the age of twenty-five he had become a professor at the new university of Wittenberg. Any measure of success is apt to be a hazard to the restraints of discipline and the academic triumphs of the young monk proved a dangerous stimulant to a proud and stubborn nature. In many ways he resembled Savonarola and even his vocabulary was marked by a similar bitter violence. "Knaves, dolts, pigs, asses, infernal blasphemers" were terms he hurled at his opponents with the harsh emphasis akin to that which had stirred the congregations of Florence. But where the Italian had been content to attack the person of a Pope and had not questioned the authority of the Church, the German was to take this fatal step and make denial and offer challenge to orthodox dogma. His "Ninety-five Theses" were nailed to the church door and soon all Germany rocked with the altercation which followed.
Tetzel, unlike many other churchmen, immediately realized the dangers underlying Luther's attack, and he countered with a carefully prepared work in which he emphasized that the affair was not a matter of indulgences alone but because of it "many will be led to despise the authority and supremacy of the Pope and the Holy
[paragraph continues] Roman See." His apprehension did not disturb the equanimity of the Curia or bring any vigorous action from the hierarchy. Luther sent a copy of his theses to the Metropolitan who on the advice of his counsellors referred the matter to Rome with an accompanying letter which expressed the hope "that His Holiness would grasp the situation so as to meet the error at once, as occasion offers and as the exigency requires and not lay the responsibility on us."
The apparatus of correction and discipline moved slowly and ineffectually while the new movement, as yet not organized or recognized as such, spread with the rapidity of a fierce and sudden conflagration. The dislike held for Rome and the political and social state of Germany all made for the cause of Luther. The nobles coveted the properties of the Church. The intellectuals, dominated and excited by the Humanist movement, were delighted at an opportunity to destroy the conventional religion. And the peasantry, told of Roman iniquities in the most inflammatory terms, were given the chimerical hope that the new order would better their miserable lot. In the year following the gesture at Wittenberg the Pope instructed the Vicar General of the Augustinians to silence the unruly monk; but Luther disregarded such measures and anticipating excommunication boldly preached that the sentence would be futile because "the real communion of the Church was invisible and that no one could be affected by it." A few months later the Emperor Maximilian, now thoroughly alarmed by the numbers and attitude of the priest's adherents, .wrote to the Pope and declared serious measures should be immediately taken to quell him. Canonical processes commenced and Luther was summoned to Rome; but the only answer was the publication of a series of new pamphlets filled with heresy.
A Legate, the gentle and learned Cardinal Cajetan, went to Germany where after some difficulty Luther consented to meet him but would give no retractation. At intervals there were further negotiations with other emissaries and there were public debates with such skilled theologians as Johann Eck defending orthodoxy. Sometimes it seemed reconciliation might be possible, for often it was Luther's mood that he would not break with Rome and at these times he would profess obedience to the Pope. But never would he make retractation or express sorrow for his past actions; and as his words grew fiercer the hope became irretrievably lost and there remained only one road for his proud and stubborn nature to follow. Irrevocably he was committed to rebellion and with the full and powerful influence of the Humanists strong upon him politics gradually crowded theology to a lesser position in his sermons. Liberty and patriotism are the unfailing slogan of the revolutionary and to these inflammatory words was now added the name of the Gospel. "Liberty! Fatherland! Gospel!" The battlecry was made. "I have cast the die," he boasted, "I now despise the rage of the Romans as much as I do their favor. I will not reconcile myself to them for all eternity . . . If a thief is punished by a halter, a murderer by the sword, and a heretic by fire, why should not we, with all our weapons attack these teachers of corruption, these Popes, Cardinals, and all the rabble of the Roman Sodom, and wash our hands in their blood."
Thirty-two months after the incident at Wittenberg a Bull was issued by Leo condemning forty-one propositions extracted from the writings of Luther and excommunicating him unless he retracted within sixty days. But by now the Friar was firmly entrenched in Germany and had gained the protection of a powerful prince, the Elector
of Saxony. Scornfully the claims of discipline were dismissed and with ceremony and to the cheers of the populace he publicly burned the Bull and told the students of Wittenberg that "It is now full time the Pope himself is burned. My meaning is that the Papal chair, its false teachings, and its abominations, should be given to the flames." The parchment burned brightly and the crowd roared lusty approval; and in the lurid glow of the noisy scene Protestantism thus became a fact although it was not until a decade later that the name came into use. This was at the Diet of Speyer where it was resolved that the new religion was established but that its adherents must not interfere with or hinder Catholic worship. The followers of Luther protested vigorously at the tolerant decree and hence the term, Protestant.
Leo died after a reign of eight years and before him the Emperor Maximilian had gone also. He was succeeded by his grandson, Charles of Spain. Henry VIII of England had been a candidate for the Imperial honor and at the long conclave which proceeded the election of the next Pope the name of Henry's counsellor, the great Cardinal Wolsey, received serious consideration. However, the Medici family was resolved that a cousin of Leo should secure the ballots and possibly to avert the evils of deadlock an unexpected name was finally announced, that of the Cardinal Adrian Dedel who in keeping his own name as Pope Adrian VI was to break a two hundred year old tradition. The fact that he possessed the friendship and respect of the new Emperor must have influenced the decision of the cardinals but it was a decision certainly not sought by the man whom it favored. He had not attended the conclave and it was with reluctance that he embarked upon the journey from Spain to accept the responsibilities of the tiara. Born at Utrecht in Holland he was the son
of a shipwright and by ability and diligence had risen to the position of tutor to the young Charles who was impressed by his talents and his honesty and who never had reason to change the opinion. Successive and successful stages of advancement had eventually brought the Netherlander to the high position of Viceroy in Spain and now had come the Papacy. It was eight months before he was crowned in Rome and it was with coldness that the people of the City greeted him for he was in every way utterly unlike the great prince prelates to whom they were accustomed. Pomp he detested, flattery too, and those noisy and undisciplined crowds of artists and poets and merchants who had fattened on the generosity of former reigns quickly discovered that papal patronage had ceased to be. No lavish court or costly pageants or feasts and games or chances for easy or dubious riches could be expected during the time of this scrupulous northerner who earnestly desired reform and a united and tranquil Christendom. These were his aims, together with plans for a crusade against the Turks who had already won the island of Rhodes, but the obstacles he had inherited seemed insurmountable; he was too late and perhaps it was this realization that hastened his end. He died less than two years after his election.
The Romans received a pope more suited to their taste in the person of his successor for this time the plans of the Medici were triumphant. Giulio de Medici, cousin of Leo X, took his place as Clement VII. It was not an easy victory, for the Emperor, the Kings of France and England, the Italian factions, all had their candidates and the conclave lasted fifty days. The struggle for ballots was most lively and for a while it again seemed as though the Englishman, Wolsey, might win; but the supporters of the Medici redoubled their efforts and enlarged their
promises and so won the majority necessary for their candidate.
Unfortunately he was in no way equal to the responsibilities and burdens of the great position. He was a cultured and handsome man of fifty-six and was possessed of a grace of manner and ability expected of his birth and breeding. But these values were not sufficient to cope with the complex problems, both temporal and spiritual, which now confronted the papacy and disturbed the world. From the beginning misfortune attended his venturings in the intricate and dubious intrigues which constituted the diplomacy of his day. The Emperor Charles V and King Francis I of France were at war and the Pope adopted a faltering policy of pseudo-neutrality which under the existing circumstances was neither possible nor sincere and which quickly lost him the respect of both princes. Francis repelled a German invasion on his own soil and then marched to enforce his claims in Italy; but at Pavia the Imperial troops engaged again and this time the French were beaten and their monarch taken prisoner. Hopes for a united Christendom had been woefully shattered when, before this battle, the French king, made desperate by impending defeat, had tried unsuccessfully to make an alliance with the Turks. As a prisoner he concluded a treaty of surrender with Charles but the terms were harsh and secretly he plotted to form a new combine. In an effort to escape Teutonic dominance the Milanese and Venetians were susceptible to the arguments of this would-be ally of the Turk and so unfortunately was the Pope.
When the Emperor learned of the covert negotiations his rage was kindled and soon his troops, a wild and long unpaid army of German and Spanish mercenaries, were unleashed upon the Papal States. Rome was defended with spirit and the commander of the attacking forces was
Leo X. Reigned 1513 to 1521.
Click to enlarge
Pope Leo X.
Machiavelli advised him: Luther defied him. See pages 235 to 246.
killed but a breach was made in the walls and the city, so rich a prize, was open to a horde of ruffians savagely hungry for loot. All vestiges of discipline disappeared during orgies of killing, burning, sacrilege, and rape which followed. For centuries the sack of Rome had been the terror of those who feared the Turk. It was now a horrible fact but the despoilers of the churches and defilers of the altars did not carry the insignia of Islam. They called themselves Christians and their absent master proudly flaunted Charlemagne's grandiose title, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. The Pope and seven of his cardinals fled to a fortress at Orvieto and there remained for many long months; and when he did return to the city it was a ruined and broken landscape which saddened his eye and spirit. He was forced to a peace with Charles and on Imperial terms. Thus papal dignity was sacrificed when the Pope obeyed and travelled to Bologna where with the pomp of ancient ceremony he presided at the Imperial coronation. Another journey made at royal behest and destined to bear great and grave consequences was his voyage to France when his niece married the Duke of Or- leans. It was an opportunity not neglected for the French monarch to discuss many momentous matters, including the historic demand from across the channel that the marriage of Henry VIII and his Queen be dissolved. Francis made plea for the English king and even hinted of the danger to the papacy of incurring a united French and English enmity. The Pope listened and was aware of the peril but he also remembered that the unwanted wife was the niece of the Emperor Charles.
Henry had married Catherine of Aragon, the young widow of his sickly elder brother, after special permission had been granted by Rome on the grounds that the first marriage had never been consummated. Five children
had been born of this union between Spanish Princess and English King but only one survived, Mary, later to be Queen. That the popular and gifted Henry had no sympathy for Luther is a well known story for with a great flourish he banned the Reformer's books from England and composed, with the aid of his divines, the famous treatise in Latin, A Defence of the Seven Sacraments against Martin Luther. In return he received violent abuse from the monk but also the gratitude of the Pope in the form of a title, Defender of the Faith, an honor which was not relinquished for Henry never considered any deed of his to be Protestant in act or intent. Seventeen years he had lived with Catherine before he developed scruples regarding the validity of their marriage and these stirrings were not the product of a stern conscience or sincere canonical doubt but were born of an illicit if not obscure love affair. It would seem that all any man could desire on earth had been Henry's inheritance for not only did the favor of exalted birth give him rank and possessions but he was also superbly endowed in physique and mind. It was natural he should receive vast measure of adulation and flattery and perhaps it was equally natural he should fall prey to such subtle poisons. Maturity usually remedies the weaknesses of adolescence with that kind of sagacity which is born of time and pain, but on those occasions when the circumstances of life are made too easy the passing of years merely serves to ripen the young fruit to rot.
So it was with Henry, whose intelligence and body were subjected to temptation in numerous and elaborate forms of enticement and cunning. Self-discipline faded away and the noble ideals of youth became dim and distorted before the capricious demands of gluttony and sensual appetite. One of his mistresses had been Mary
[paragraph continues] Boleyn and it was her sister Anne, who inflamed his fickle passion and distorted his judgment to such a degree that he became determined she should be his Queen. Eventually he made her so, but not with the sanction of the Pope and this fact stands out, cold and clear, from the morass of intrigue and procrastination which accompanied the royal folly. For six years the headstrong monarch tried by all means possible to win the necessary permission and the complicated negotiations which took place leave little credit to either side. Proceedings dragged on and papal and royal emissaries travelled busily to and fro, laden with the appurtenances of mystery and plot. Hopes were falsely kindled and threats rashly made. Universities were bribed to give opinions in favor of the divorce and crowds of servile courtiers masquerading as prelates eagerly and without shame prostituted their faith and their learning to assure the enamoured monarch that his conduct was correct. Counsellors of this mould even suggested that a solution of the problem would be for the Pope to grant a special dispensation allowing Henry to possess two wives! When the infatuated prince finally made Anne a Marchioness and took her to France where she was presented as the future Queen of England the Pope was forced to action. He threatened excommunication to both if they did not separate. The new Marchioness was pregnant but before her child was born a marriage ceremony was performed and the crown was placed atop her comely head amidst scenes of formal splendour.
The time, long dreaded by the timid and procrastinating Pope, had arrived and to his honour he remained firm and true to dignity and responsibility. The loss of allegiance to papal authority in Europe had been devastating and now England's loyalty could be kept at the cost of one divorce. Temptation must have been great but with clarity
the final decision was pronounced in Rome; Catherine was the lawful wife of the English King. Persistent and contemptible attempts had been made upon the unfortunate woman by her deluded husband to have her resign her rights, but no argument or humiliation could wring from her an admission that the long years of her married life had been merely a term of concubinage and that their daughter, Mary, was illegitimate.
King and Queen met before a court of bishops and Catherine spoke with the calm dignity of a faithful wife and good mother. "I take God and all the world to witness that I have been to you a true, humble, and obedient wife, ever comportable to your will and touch . . ." Only once did she pause and then her voice became lower. "This twenty years or more I have been your true wife, and by me ye have had divers children, although it hath pleased God to call them from this world . . . And when he had me at the first, I take God to be my judge, I was a true maid, without touch of man. And whether this be true or no, I put it to your conscience." Pressure was exerted to have her enter a convent and take vows but despite her great piety the cloisters were also rejected. Anne might occupy the royal bed but Catherine knew she was wife and Queen and no act of Henry could change the fact. This was the attitude firmly maintained to her death when with superb charity she wrote to her "Dear husband and King" and gave him her forgiveness. "For the rest, I commend unto you our daughter Mary, beseeching you to be a good father unto her, as I have heretofore desired. I entreat you also, on behalf of my maids, to give them marriage portions, which is not much, they being but three. For all my other servants I solicit the wages due them and a year more, lest they be improvided
for. Lastly, I make this vow, that my eyes desire you above all things."
Because of the failure of the divorce proceedings in Rome the mighty Wolsey lost the favor of his master and after a rapid series of degradations was charged with High Treason. A natural death intervened to save him from a shameful end and before he expired he uttered the pathetic words which were long to be remembered. "If I had served God as diligently as I have done my King, He would not now have given me over in my grey hairs." With the aid of evil Thomas Cromwell, master architect of terror, Henry made himself supreme head of the Church in England and with bloody prodigality the block and the gallows were invoked against the many who would not admit of this presumption. England's greatest Chancellor, the scholar who held the esteem of all Europe, joined the march to the scaffold. "I die," Thomas More said, "the King's good servant, but God's first." Monasteries were suppressed, churches and shrines robbed, yet the outward forms of religion were not changed in Henry's time: his rejection of papal authority brought no sympathy or tolerance for Protestantism or its author.
It was different on the continent. The Scandinavian countries were fast adopting Lutheranism, and Switzerland was falling under the influence of a similar-minded and equally eloquent ex-priest, Zwingli. In France the harsh and melancholy doctrines of Calvin were being given attention and in Hungary the prayers of the faithful were disturbed by the dreary wail of muezzins, calling to Allah, for the Turks had become masters of that country and a triumphant Mohammedan army even possessed Vienna.
After eleven unhappy years as Pope, Clement died unexpectedly, leaving both his spiritual and temporal domains in chaotic condition. His unfortunate pontificate marked
the end of the Renaissance and had witnessed the birth of the so-called Reformation; but it also cradled the stirrings of a real reformation within the Church for great forces and good men were at work with a sincerity and zeal and genius which could not be denied success. The Lateran Council had been warned that "men must be transformed by religion, not religion by men" and these words typified the new spirit. A unity of belief might have been lost but the faith that remained was to be the sturdier because of surviving the storms of doubt and oppression. Spontaneously the new mood invigorated both the secular clergy and the ancient Orders and also caused the formation of other groups of devoted men and women who were moved to unselfish service of God and mankind. There were the Capuchins, the Clerks Regular, the Theatines, the Barnabites, the Somaschi, the Lazarists, the Sisters of Charity, the Ursulines, and others. And the same year that Pope Clement died, an ex-soldier of noble Spanish birth, Don Inigo Lopes Ricalda y Loyola, better known to history as Ignatius of Loyola, banded together a small number of similar-minded friends and communicated to them his enthusiasm and plans. Thus, in Paris, was commenced the disciplined organization which from then on has ever been an important influence in the story of the Church. The Society of Jesus was on the march.
An astonishingly rapid election brought success and fulfillment to the plans and ambitions of Alexander Farnese, Paul III, who had been a cardinal for forty years. He was sixty-six years old and was of an ancient Roman family which, in adherence to the obnoxious custom, was now to be deluged with riches and honors. His sons and daughtersfor these, true child of the Renaissance that he was, he possessedwere favored in every way possible and two of his nephews, aged fourteen and sixteen, were
promptly made cardinals at the commencement of his reign. He had been a cardinal during the reign of Alexander VI and in some respects his life followed the Borgia pattern; yet he often was to display a majesty of purpose akin to that possessed by Julius II and at other times it would seem as though he were moved by the same high motives which had guided the austere Adrian. That he had enjoyed the favour of these popes, so varying in character, and of the Medici too, is proof enough of his skill in diplomacy, apropos of which an ambassador to his court complained that an annoying and typical trait of the Pope was a "scrupulous avoidance" of ever uttering a positive "Yes" or "No." Save for his extravagant nepotism he was an extremely cautious and sagacious man and he embarked upon a policy of wily neutrality between the ever clashing schemes of the French king and the Emperor. It was a difficult policy to maintain but for the first years of his pontificate it was to have a certain if uneasy degree of success. It was unforgivable that he should have bestowed the Red Hat upon his young relatives but most other cardinals of his creation were noted for their worthiness. The English bishop, John Fisher, languishing in prison and soon to lose his head on the block was thus honored and so too was another deserving Englishman, Reginald Pole, a cousin of Henry VIII, who was in Italy and so safe from the ire of his vindictive kinsman.
The menace of Turkish attack was seldom absent from the cares of Paul III. Rakish craft, their lateen sails emblazoned with the Crescent, their decks crammed with blood-hungry warriors, had become a terror to shipping in the Mediterranean until the Emperor, at the behest of the Pope and with money and galleys from the same source, stormed the piratical stronghold at Tunis and administered a thorough and salutary defeat. But when
war, despite the urgent entreaties of the pontiff, broke out again between France and Spain and the Emperor's troops became occupied in that direction, Barbarossa, daring chief of the Mohammedan buccaneers, recommenced his depredations upon the Italian coast and it became the boast of the Turkish Sultan that his seraglio would be moved to Rome. There were signs of panic in the Eternal City at this news for the potentate's announcement had strong chances of realization; but by the exercise of great and desperate ingenuity Paul caused an armistice to be declared between the Emperor and the French monarch and together they joined him in the formation of a Holy League. The Venetians, who held a treaty with the Turks, were persuaded that such a pact was wrong and they too became partners in the new alliance, and thus Rome remained unscarred by the scimitar.
Notwithstanding his own weaknesses Paul was acutely aware of other and less tangible evils which were besieging the papacy and with acrimony the more worldly of his cardinals were told "they should set an example to others by reforming themselves." To introduce peace and authority into the babel of contemporary theological dispute and to muster a united strength against the onslaughts of the papacy's antagonists Paul III made careful plans for the convocation of a General Council, for he was of the opinion that the voice of a Council was needed to reaffirm and clarify ancient dogma and to endorse authority. The scheme was commendable and simple in thought but in actual execution fraught with difficulty and danger. His own temporal strength was negligible and he had no wish, and there was the danger, for any one sovereign or nation to exert influence upon the decision of so important a body under the guise of patronage or protection. Prejudice and patronage must be avoided and the judgments of the
[paragraph continues] Fathers left unhindered. With all the genius of his diplomatic talent he fought desperately to have it so. The idea of the Council was received with enthusiasm, even by some of the Protestant princes, but as the Pope had anticipated there were many who saw the convention as an avenue for their own designs and innovations.
The support of the Emperor was necessary, indeed the approval of all Christians was desired, and unwearyingly the Pope toiled to gain the good will of all and the interference of none. The Emperor was sincerely enthusiastic for he readily perceived that under such auspices the Empire might be strengthened; but the Pope, with wider horizons beckoning, regarded the Imperial zeal with apprehension and even despair and many conflicts arose between the two regarding the policies, the procedure, and even the location of the Council. Usually it was the patient pontiff who was victorious but not without the penalties of strife. Charles was of the opinion that ecclesiastical discipline should be the first concern of the meeting but the Pope held to his plan that questions appertaining to doctrine should be settled before the discussion of a workable policy of discipline.
After many vexations and delays the Council assembled at Trent, in the Austrian Tyrol, on the 13th December, 1543, the eleventh year of Paul's reign. Ten times it was to meet during the remaining four years of his life and it was not to be formally dissolved, although on several occasions it suffered interruptions and a change of scene, until 1563. The decisions made and decrees issued, defining Catholic doctrine, provided splendid support for the champions of the Counter Reformation. By this time the Reformation was rapidly flowering to full development but the Council of Trent was, by a program of practical reform and definition, able to restore vigor to orthodoxy
and bring strength and hope to the faithful again. The storms of altercation following Luther's outburst, the long theological arguments, the many and confusing interpretations of the Gospels, the admitted need for clerical reform, had brought perplexity to many a simple priest and layman. But now all was to be made clear and the road illuminated. The dogmas of original sin, justification, the sacraments, were explained with exactitude and so too were many other subjects of attack and dispute such as the veneration of saints and the granting of indulgences. Errors in clerical conduct were not merely censured but were exhaustively examined and practical measures for removing abuses were promulgated and adopted. A system of reform was founded which could survive and indeed grow in strength. Precise in its condemnations, constructive in its suggestions, grand in its scope, the Council of Trent can rightfully be regarded as one of the great bulwarks of Catholicity. "Thus the Council," wrote the Protestant historian Ranke, "that had been so vehemently demanded, and so long evaded, that had been twice dissolved, had been shaken by so many political storms, and whose third convocation, even, had been beset with danger, closed amid the general harmony of the Catholic world . . . Henceforth Catholicism confronted the Protestant world in renovated collected vigor."
Paul III lived with all the gaudy and benevolent luxury of a Renaissance prince and Rome benefited in many ways from his generosity and his appreciation of the arts. New streets were built, churches restored, great bastions were erected, engineers worked diligently on new schemes of fortifications, and scholars toiled over the long catalogues of the Vatican library. Titian, like many a lesser colleague, was subsidized and the classic beauty of St. Peter's dome, superb symbol of the supreme authority, was raised by
[paragraph continues] Michael Angelo. Paul III had done well and should have died content but the fruits of his nepotism made his end miserable and unhappy. An ungrateful and predatory grandson, with clamor and with violence, was claiming the duchy of Parma as his personal property. "My sin is ever before me," grieved the dying Pope. "If they had not the mastery over me, then I should have been without great offence."
It took the cardinals ten weeks to select a successor, Giovanni Ciocchi del Monte, who took the name of Julius III. For a time, at this conclave, it seemed as though the votes would go to Reginald Pole but the conscientious Englishman refused to bargain or make promises and his moment passed. Later, when Mary became Queen, Pope Julius sent him to his native country as Legate and there he officiated as Archbishop of Canterbury, the last of his faith to take that ancient title. The new Pope was friendly with the Emperor, soon to be fighting the French again, but neither alliance with that forceful ruler nor the great responsibilities of his own position gave him the confidence or strength of purpose which had characterized the previous reign. When the Protestant allies of France invaded the Tyrol and caused an adjournment of the Council of Trent, resignation to circumstances was the attitude of the Pope. He seemed overwhelmed by the number and magnitude of his problems, and frankly abandoning all pretence of active policy he retired to the peace of his gardens. Fortunately such indolence was not reflected in the toiling body of the Church for this was the time of such men as the indefatigable Jesuit, Francis Xavier, who before embarking for hostile and unknown shores cheerfully told his fellow adventurers, "The greatest trials you have until now endured are small in comparison with those you will experience in Japan. Prepare
yourself for difficulties, by setting aside all consideration for your own interests." And later the pen of the same brave man inscribed: "I am journeying, deprived of all human protection, to the island of Canton, in the hope that a friendly heathen will take me over to the continent of China."
The pontificate of Julius III lasted five years. The next Pope was Marcellus II of whom much was expected, for as a cardinal and as a priest Marcello Pervino had earned an enviable reputation. Immediately after his enthronement he enthusiastically turned to the subject of reform and one of his first acts was to prohibit any member of his family from coming to Rome. Luxury was banned from his household and the customary elaborate ceremonies of coronation were avoided. In every way the hopes of the pious were fulfilled in the person of this pontiff but unfortunately their jubilance was brief for he was of delicate health and his reign ended abruptly, to the sorrow of all, after a mere twenty-two days. The name of Reginald Pole was mentioned again at the following conclave but he was absent in England and the Spanish influence which favored him was not strong enough to achieve its purpose. Elected instead, and after considerable balloting, was the seventy-nine-year-old Giovanni Pietro Caraffa whose advanced age showed no traces of senilitybut neither had it brought that mellowness of thought and judgment which usually comes with the years.
Paul IV was a severe and bad tempered old man, somewhat eccentric in manner, who often times affected the simplicity of a monk but on other occasions could formidably play the despot. He was of the reform school and was a founder of the first congregation of Clerks Regular yet he was not exempt from the disease of nepotism and one of his first actions as pope was to bestow
the Red Hat upon the head of his undeserving nephew, Carlo Caraffa. His support went to the French in the war with Spain; and guided by his nephew this policy brought matters to such a deplorable state that it was found necessary to employ Protestant mercenaries from Germany to protect the papal provinces from the invading army of the Duke of Alva. Meanwhile the French were defeated elsewhere and the Pope was forced to sue for peace, a costly and humiliating process for one so proud. His reign was characterized by the unbending severities of the true martinet and the punishments which came to those who crossed his will or broke the laws were as heavy as they were prompt. Eventually rumors came to him of the base conduct of his nephew and for once the ties of blood were spurned and the ungrateful and unfit wearer of the purple was expelled from Rome. Paul IV was an ardent supporter of the Inquisition, which as a cardinal he had reorganized, and wide use of its dreaded powers was made during his term. Even the Cardinal Morone, a highly respected member of the Sacred College, became enmeshed in the web of terrible accusation and to prison he went on the grounds of heresy. "Even if my own father were a heretic," said this Pope, refusing a petition for clemency, "I would gather the wood to burn him."
Reginald Pole was another object of his pessimism and suspicion but Pole was in England and had the wisdom to keep from Rome. Clergy of lesser rank looked nervously to their conduct when at one sweep a hundred vagrant monks were despatched to the galleys or to the dungeons. Mercy was a quality lacking in this stern old man and when he died, after being pope four years, the mobs rioted to show their pleasure and to hurl hatred upon his memory. Down toppled his statue to be broken and defiled and with similar demonstrations of insult and delight
the gates of the prison of the Inquisition were swept open and the inmates released.
Nearly four months dragged by before the next conclave was concluded and devious and ugly were the intrigues which hindered the cardinals from making a quick decision. "It is not of the least consequence," wrote the obnoxious Cardinal-nephew of Paul IV, "who will be Pope, the only thing of importance is that he who is chosen should realize that he owes the dignity to the Caraffa. This house does not enjoy any favor with the Spanish or French kings, and everything therefore depends on securing the favor of the future Pope, as otherwise the ruin of the family is assured." Other Italian clans had similar ideas and in addition to their dark activities there were the schemes of the various ambassadors, all determined to secure the election of a Pope who would favor their particular national interests. In such an atmosphere the most extravagant promises were made and cunning plots formulated; the audacious Ambassador of Spain even went so far as to gain, by window or secret door, access to the quarters of cardinals, supposedly shut off from the world, and there in the dim night hours whisper his bribes and subtly phrased threats. Finally, out of the tangle of discussion, the name of the Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Medici was proclaimed and this despite the fact that but a short time previously he had disturbed the conclave by remarking during a conversation with another cardinal that, "as regards the Germans, we should have to summon a Council to see if some concessions could not be made to them with regard to the marriage of priests and Communion under both kinds." That the startling statement did not prevent him from becoming Pius IV is indicative of the understanding his colleagues had of an
expansive nature which was tolerant and easy going to a fault.
In all ways he was unlike his dour predecessor and he was famous for his disregard of formality and ceremony, and the conduct of his private life was continually marked by homely incidents which endeared him to the public. He was a fat man and long appreciation of the pleasures of the table had brought the gout. Thinking to reduce his corpulence and nullify the encroachments of his sickness it became his habit to take long walks. These perambulations, much to the disgust of his court, were conducted at a rapid pace and for considerable distances. "Exercise," he affirmed, "maintains good health and keeps away illness, and I do not wish to die in bed." The traditional geniality which is ascribed to rotundity was indisputably his and the clouds of gloom and suspicion which had hung over Rome during the previous pontificate now disappeared. He displayed no ill-will to the arrogant nephews of Paul IV after his reception of the tiara, but their crimes were many and foul and their enemies so powerful and determined for revenge that retribution was inevitable. A particularly horrible murder within the hated family began the forces of its destruction.
The Duke of Paliano, brother of the Cardinal Carlo Caraffa, believed his wife unfaithful, and governed by extravagant ideas of honor he ordered her unfortunate supposed paramour dragged before him and then with shouts of rage he plunged his dagger again and again into the bound body of the wretch until he was dead. The drama became more horrible when the wretched Duchess, pregnant and crying her innocence, was strangled by her own brother, the Count dAlife. That the Cardinal Carlo Caraffa was a party, by knowledge and condonement, to the bloody wickedness could not be denied and with no
alternative possible the Pope reluctantly set the processes of accusation and judgment in motion. "If only to secure order," he said, "I have no choice but to bring the haughty nephews of Paul IV to submission." A long list of charges was prepared, varying from murder and high treason to heresy, and brought to justice was the Cardinal Carlo, his brother the Duke of Paliano, the brother-in-law the Count d'Alife, and a younger relative, the Cardinal Alphonso Caraffa. After a long trial the latter was pardoned but the others, despite their rank, were given the supreme penalty. All three faced the executioner with dignity, and a letter to his son by the fierce Dukewho was comforted by the Jesuits during his last hoursis a missive to remember because of its faith and beauty: "This paper contains, I believe, the last words and advice I shall be able to address you in this life," he wrote. "I pray God that they may be such as a father should address his only son. . . . Flee from sin and have compassion on the misery of others; practice works of piety, and flee from idleness, and conversations and pursuits which are not fitting for you; take pains to acquire some knowledge of science and letters, for these are very necessary for a true nobleman, especially for one who has power and vassals, as well as to be able to enjoy the sweet fruits of the Holy Scriptures, which are so precious for both soul and body. If you savour such fruits, then you will despise the things of this sorrowful world, and find no small consolation in the present life. I wish you to show indomitable courage at my death, not behaving like a child, but as a reasonable man, and not listening to the promptings of the flesh, or to the love of your father, or to the talk of the world. For your consolation ponder well the fact that whatever happens is ordained by the decrees of the great God, Who rules the universe with infinite wisdom, and,
Clement VII. Reigned from 1523 to 1534.
Click to enlarge
Pope Clement VII.
He excommunicated Henry VIII. See pages 247 to 254.
as it appears to me, shows me great mercy by taking me hence in this manner, rather than in any other way, for which I always thank Him, as you also must do. May it only please Him to exchange this my life for that other, the false and deceitful for the true. Do not be troubled by whatever people may say or write; say to everyone: My father is dead, because God has shown him great grace, and I hope He has saved him, and granted him a better existence. Therewith I die, but you shall live, bear no one ill-will of my death."
Conciliatory measures were employed with the rulers of Europe by Pius IV, and ably representing him in many important conferences north of the Alps was the Cardinal Morone who had suffered imprisonment because of the delusions of the late pope. Nepotism was not absent from Rome for this Pope had his nephews too, but for once the custom brought glory instead of disgrace: one of these relatives was the Cardinal Charles Borromeo, a truly devout and talented character devoted to reform and good works who was, under the dispassionate scrutiny of a later generation, to be judged worthy of canonization. The goodness and ability of the young Cardinal was responsible for the resumption of the labors of the Council of Trent and in several sessions many important and historic decrees were formulated and in turn confirmed and strengthened by papal Bull. The influence of Cardinal Borromeo did not wane with the death of his uncle for happily the next pope, Pius V, a true and zealous churchman, was of a similar mind and purpose and the work of reform swept on. The new pope was the former Cardinal Michele Ghislieri. He was born of poor parents and had been a member of the Dominican Order since his early youth. As a friar he had taught and preached for twenty-eight years, then episcopal responsibilities had
been given him and later had come the Red Hat and the stern duties of Inquisitor General under Paul IV. He had been well liked by that severe ruler and when he was given the supreme honor the people feared a return to the harsh discipline of the hated regime. There was, it is true, an immediate tightening of the laws, and justice was to move more swiftly than hitherto, but unlike his patron Pius V tempered strictness with mercy and understanding. He was determined Rome should be the model Capital of Christendom and a courtier, sighing for the riotousness of former days, complained that the entire city was taking on the air of a monastery. The courts were purged of bribery, the streets of prostitutes and thieves, and a ruthless war was made on corrupt officials and unjust taxes. The finances of the Papal States were subjected to critical and profound examination and many changes were made. When an enthusiastic official suggested a new scheme for bringing added revenues to the treasury, the Pope chided him and remarked that instead of amassing monies more thought should be given to collecting the allegiance of those nations which had broken away from the church. The papal army was reduced to a few companies, for he was averse to becoming embroiled in martial adventures; although his belief in the wide authority of the Holy See over the conduct of secular princes was unwavering.
This belief was responsible for the issuance of a Bull which excommunicated Elizabeth of England and released her subjects from their allegiance to her. The pronouncement was a mistake which only served to bring further resentment against Rome and misery to the English Catholics for the power of England was mounting, new triumphs were being won on and across the seas, and the Queen's name was tightly woven into the cloth of
national honor and patriotism. A few years after the papal sentence sturdy seamen, Protestant and Catholic alike, cheered for their good Queen Bess and merry England when they turned their small craft to meet the Armada. The vast array of great ships was laden with the flower of Spanish chivalry and carried the papal benediction but was doomed to an utter and terrible destruction.
Ambition had not brought the tiara to Pius V and he had wept when informed of the decision of the cardinals. But once elected he worked at the great duties with unflagging energy and scrupulous honesty. It was fortunate that such a man should occupy the papacy so soon after the conclusion of the Council of Trent. The value of his administration to the decrees and decisions of the Council can be likened to the worth of a good cannon to the proper ammunition. Drastic changes were made in Rome. The Curia was reformed, the conduct of the cardinals examined and criticized, and stern measures were undertaken to make bishops reside in their sees. Such important works as the Catechism and the New Breviary and the New Missal were published, the value of seminaries was emphasized, and a vigilant eye was turned upon both the secular clergy and the Orders. One cardinal, an irresponsible creature who owed his Hat to the laxity of a previous reign, was confined in a monastery and placed under the conscientious care of Jesuit chaplains. Indeed no great fondness was held for the majority of the cardinals and once when the Pope was ill he was heard to remark that he was sorry death was approaching, not because he was afraid to face his Maker, but because he was leaving on earth a Sacred College filled with conniving and undeserving men. The acquisition of his high rank had brought no great change in the lowly circumstances of his family, most of whom were forbidden to enter
[paragraph continues] Rome. "God has called me to be what I am, in order that I may serve the Church," he said, "and not that the Church might serve me." It is true that two nephews received his favor, if such a word can be applied to his austere patronage, but this was only because of his mistrust of the cardinals and the ceaseless intrigues kept in motion by the various ambassadors and faction leaders. In order to find a confidential secretary whose loyalty was beyond all doubt he turned to his family and thus his nephew Michele Bonelli who was also a Dominican became a cardinal. The Pope never quite forgave himself for this action and consequently made life miserable for his relative by a constant inquisitiveness as to his way of living and an equally constant criticism. The unfortunate prelate was seldom at ease and at any hour his larder, his table, his conduct, was liable to a surprise inspection from his uncle. His income was kept at a minimum, he was not allowed silver on his table, and he was even denied the consolation of his parents visiting him. His cousin, a soldier by profession, was made a Captain of the Papal Guard but from the beginning of his service he was in trouble with the Pope who expected his soldiery to live like monks. Finally the warrior, who had far different ideas, was arrested and hauled before the civil court where in the presence of his forbidding kinsman he heard that he was "to forfeit all his goods and revenues, and under pain of death to leave the Vatican within two days, the Borgo within three, and the Papal States within ten." It was a drastic sentence and nothing could induce the Pontiff to extend leniency.
Little escaped his stern eye, and the devotees of the bull fight learnt that "these spectacles, where bulls and wild beasts are baited in a circus or amphitheatre, are contrary to Christian mercy and charity, suitable to demons rather than men. We forbid all clerics, regular and secular, to
be present. . . ." His dislike of war did not prevent him from sending ships and men to Malta where the Knights were besieged by the Turks and later his encouragement helped mould a Christian Alliance which was able to inflict a shattering and decisive defeat upon the Turkish fleet at Lepanto. Throughout his entire reign he suffered from a painful disease which was finally the cause of his death. Pain was seldom absent from his tortured body but he never complained. "Increase, O Lord, my pains," he once cried, "so long as Thou wilt increase my patience also." He was not the kind of man to court popularity and when he had been elected there had been little rejoicing. But when he died there were true tears and the streets of Rome were silent with respect. It was as he would have wished, and so passed Pius V, the last of the popes whose memory has been honored by canonization.
In less than two weeks his successor was named, the seventy-year-old Cardinal Ugo Buoncompagni, Pope Gregory XIII, who as a youth had fully enjoyed Renaissance pleasures but who had with the progress of time turned to the sterner delights of duty and reform. As prelate and papal official he had served for many years with distinction and had won considerable renown as a jurist, but neither the course of righteousness nor the possession of judicial talent prevented him on becoming pope from lavishing favors upon two nephews and a son whom he frankly acknowledged. This son was made Governor of St. Angelo while his cousins were invested with the purple. Easy-going to a fault Gregory was inferior to his predecessor; nevertheless the good works begun in the earlier reign did not cease and they continued on before an impetus steadily supplied by individual churchmen and the Orders. The great and main attack of Protestantism had been halted and a vigorous and purified
[paragraph continues] Catholicism was on the increase. Gregory's chief accomplishments were in the field of education and no fewer than twenty-three new colleges opened their doors during his pontificate. Over two million Roman scudi were expended to help deserving but needy students and besides founding the English, German, Greek, and Maronite colleges in Rome the institution, later to be called the Gregorian College, which owed its existence to St. Ignatius was enlarged to accommodate scholars of all nations. Another inauguration to carry his name through the centuries was the calendar which supplanted the Julian calendar. Neither his relations with other sovereigns nor his temporal rule of the Papal States were blessed by good fortune and when he died after a three years' reign there were difficult problems of government and diplomacy both within and without the papal boundaries to greet his successor, Sixtus V.
The former Cardinal Felice Peretti, who as a boy had been a swineherd, was the son of a vineyard laborer and had entered the Franciscan Order in his early adolescence. In nature and bent he resembled his patrons Paul IV and Pius V rather than his immediate predecessor and from the beginning of his reign these stern traits were revealed. The brigandage and disorder which were disturbing the papal territories at the close of the former reign were stamped out by ruthless methods and by the end of his rule his temporal domain had become the most orderly in Europe and an empty treasury had become filled with gold. Imposition of new taxes accomplished this latter feat and it was not a way for him to win the cheers of either the nobles or the merchants; but he cared little for the applause of men and his only interest was his mission. The former swineherd was Pope and he was resolved to exercise without fear and with dignity the majesty
and authority of his office in all spheres. In support of the Catholic League he excommunicated the King of Navarre, heir presumptive to the French throne, in order to prevent a Protestant from ruling a Catholic nation. It was not a popular decision in France and later the monarch, after becoming a Catholic, was as Henry IV, to make peace with another pope. Sixtus also supported Spain in that country's disastrous war with England, but despite the utmost pressure he would not endorse the Spanish King's designs upon France. Grandiose schemes were propounded by him for the complete overthrow of the Turkish Empire and he dreamed of joining the Red Sea with the Mediterranean and "thus restoring the commerce of the ancient world." Preservation of the historic beauty of Rome and additional architectural projects were tasks he assumed with enthusiasm and an ingenious system, both practical and ornamental, of nobler and wider avenues in the city was devised and commenced.
The important decree was issued in this reign which limited the membership of the Sacred College to a maximum number of seventy cardinals and these were ranked in three divisions, six bishops, fifty priests, and fourteen deacons. The rule was to stand and equalling it in importance was the bull Immensa issued by the same pope which systemized the centralized government of the Church by forming fifteen Congregations, each consisting of churchmen and officials of varying rank, to assume in specialized departments the burden of detailed administration. Thus, with no diminution of his authority, an immense amount of routine work was lifted from the person of the pope.
The five years in which Sixtus occupied the throne of St. Peter were crowded with wise and good works but there were some blemishes to mar the recordhis severity and
his nepotism. For he too succumbed to what by this time appeared to be a papal tradition and a fourteen year old relative was elevated to the cardinalate. There can be no justification for such an act; but the contemporary mind was neither surprised nor shocked, and as with former and later reigns the hateful practice was accepted by the majority of both clergy and people with that equanimity which is the due of precedent and tradition. After the death of Sixtus three worthy but ancient prelates in rapid succession and within sixteen months were elected to the papal throne. No grave mistake or scandal can assault their reputations but neither can any of the three be credited with the deeds that are born of exceptional leadership or great initiative. The same pope, Gregory XIII, had made them cardinals on the same day and they were all of an equal age, past seventy. The first to follow Sixtus was Giovanni Batista Castagna, Urban VII, noted for his charities and diplomatic skill. He reigned thirteen days and then came Nicolo Sfondrato of Cremona who in honor of his patron took the name of Gregory XIV. The policies of preceding pontificates remained unchanged during his term which did not last a year and then called was the Cardinal Giovanni Facchinetti who became Innocent IX. Within a few months he too was in his tomb and the Sacred College, after great discussion, decided that the Cardinal Ippolito Aldobrandini should be Pope. He took the name of Clement VII.
The choice was a bitter blow to Spanish hopes and indeed the far seeing policies of the new pontiff were to effect a tremendous change in the destiny of that country which was now at the peak of its glory. Clement "by peaceful means, little by little, without disturbance or excitement, but with all the more security," was to strengthen the independence of the papacy by effecting
happier relations with France and this circumstance was one of the factors which halted the expansion of Spanish power and made way for the decline of a proud and great nation. During the preceding pontificates Spanish influence upon the diplomatic course of the papacy had gradually become so strong that when Clement took his throne he felt Rome was almost the vassal of Madrid. This meant that the enemies of Spain were automatically on ill terms with the Holy See and no great perception was needed by the pontiff to realize the danger of a permanent rupture with France, the most hated foe of Spain. Henry IV, master of France, had been excommunicated; but now, seeking the united allegiance of his subjects he was imploring to be readmitted to the communion of the Church. Was it the gesture of one who was alleged to have remarked "Paris is well worth a mass," or was the prince truly sincere in his repentance? It was a delicate problem for the Pope. If he were over-severe, schism would be assured and France surely would go the way of England; but if he were foolishly lenient then contempt for papal authority would grow everywhere. A constant clamor of both plea and threat came from the nations involved but the cautious and conscientious Pope trod the difficult and torturous path of negotiation with extraordinary diplomatic skill and never once was principle or scruple sacrificed. He well realized that independence of the Holy See demanded relief from the ever growing dominance of Spain and that relief was possible only with France active as a counter balance; yet the sentence of excommunication could not be lifted lightly, and often the French envoys were in despair. "Would to God," the Pope told an official, "that we could trust Henry. But what has he done to deserve absolution? . . . Is it enough that he now once makes the Sign of the Cross?"
At length repeated argument and evidence convinced him that the prince indeed was truly penitent and with a great and solemn ceremony, and much to the consternation of Spain, the dreaded sentence was lifted. "I have no words to praise the kindness of Your Holiness as it deserves," Henry wrote with gratitude. "My life henceforth shall have no other purpose than to glorify God by meritorious obedience. . . ." The extravagant promise was never to be completely fulfilled but an alliance had been made which brought advantages to both Pope and King. France remained a Catholic country and the papacy was no longer at the mercy of the pretentious dictates of Philip II of Spain who was an absolutist and harbored ambitions of functioning as a kind of Pope-Emperor. When the Duchy of Ferrara was left empty of a legitimate heir the Spanish king presented a candidate to contest the claims of the Pope; but supported by the new friendship of France, Clement was able to remain firm and in the end the Duchy was returned to the Papal States. In pursuance of the papal dream of a united and tranquil Christendom the Pope was able on several occasions to act as a peacemaker between the nations: products of his diplomacy were the Peace of Vervins between Spain and France and the Treaty of Lyons between the latter nation and Savoy.
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Nostradamus [Public Domain Image]
Nostradamus, The Man Who Saw Through Time
by Lee McCann
Interest in Nostradamus goes through cycles, usually coinciding with periods of uncertainty and conflict. At the beginning of World War II people turned to Nostradamus for clues as to how and when that conflict would be resolved, and to look for indications that somehow he had prophesized it. Some used Nostradamus for propaganda, or profit, or publicity. Of course, this was also the case after the attacks of September 11th, 2001.
This book, published in the early days of World War II, is partially a biography of Nostradamus, partially a historical novelization of incidents in his life, and an attempt to associate his predictions with historical and future events. McCann is at his best in the former parts of the book. He immerses us in the life and times of Nostradamus. Although many of the episodes are fictionalized, they make pleasant reading and appear to be historically accurate. The attempts to match Notradamus' predictions with historical events of the rennaissance are for the most part very well reasoned, and range from plausible to 'hmmm...'.
The book concludes with a rather long section bearing on events of the twentieth century. This part feels tacked on, as if the publisher was eager to get a 'tie in' to current events. McCann hypothesized that the war would continue until late in the forties, and would end because of the restoration of the French monarchy, specifically that a pretender to the throne would be crowned as Henry the Fifth. Naturally, this falls far short of the mark, but it creates perspective for current and future attempts to make specific predictions based on the cryptic quatrains.
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The nursing profession remains overwhelmingly female, but the representation of men has increased as the demand for nurses has grown over the last several decades, according to a U.S. Census Bureau study released yesterday.
The new study shows the proportion of male registered nurses has more than tripled since 1970, from 2.7 percent to 9.6 percent, and the proportion of male licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses has more than doubled from 3.9 percent to 8.1 percent.
The study, Men in Nursing Occupations, presents data from the 2011 American Community Survey to analyze the percentage of men in each of the detailed nursing occupations: registered nurse, nurse anesthetist, nurse practitioner, and licensed practical and licensed vocational nurse. The study also provide estimates on a wide range of characteristics of men and women in nursing occupations. These include employment status, age, race, Hispanic origin, citizenship, educational attainment, work hours, time of departure to work, median earnings, industry and class of worker.
“The aging of our population has fueled an increasing demand for long-term care and end-of-life services,” said the report's author, Liana Christin Landivar, a sociologist in the Census Bureau's Industry and Occupation Statistics Branch. “A predicted shortage has led to recruiting and retraining efforts to increase the pool of nurses. These efforts have included recruiting men into nursing.”
Men typically outearn women in nursing fields but not by as much as they do across all occupations. For example, women working as nurses full time, year-round earned 91 cents for every dollar male nurses earned; in contrast, women earned 77 cents to the dollar men earned across all occupations.
Because the demand for skilled nursing care is so high, nurses have very low unemployment rates. Unemployment was lowest among nurse practitioners and nurse anesthetists (about 0.8 percent for both). For registered nurses and licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses, these rates were a bit higher, but still very low, at 1.8 percent and 4.3 percent, respectively.
* There were 3.5 million employed nurses in 2011, about 3.2 million of whom were female and 330,000 male.
* Of the employed nurses (both sexes), 78 percent were registered nurses, 19 percent were licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses, 3 percent were nurse practitioners, and 1 percent were nurse anesthetists.
* While most registered nurses (both sexes) left home for work between 5am and 11:59am (72 percent), a sizable minority (19 percent) worked the evening or night shifts.
* The majority of registered nurses (both sexes) worked in hospitals (64 percent). The majority of licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses worked in nursing care facilities or hospitals (about 30 percent each). The percentages for hospitals and nursing care facilities are not significantly different from each other.
* In 2011, 9 percent of all nurses were men while 91 percent were women. Men earned, on average, $60,700 per year, while women earned $51,100 per year.
* Men's representation was highest among nurse anesthetists at 41 percent.
* Male nurse anesthetists earned more than twice as much as the male average for all nursing occupations: $162,900 versus $60,700.
The American Community Survey provides a wide range of important statistics about people and housing for every community across the nation. The results are used by everyone from town and city planners to retailers and homebuilders. The survey is the only source of local estimates for most of the 40 topics it covers, such as education, occupation, language, ancestry and housing costs for even the smallest communities. Ever since Thomas Jefferson directed the first census in 1790, the census has collected detailed characteristics about our nation's people. Questions about jobs and the economy were added 20 years later under James Madison, who said such information would allow Congress to “adapt the public measures to the particular circumstances of the community,” and over the decades allow America “an opportunity of marking the progress of the society.” (US Census)
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It's Pumpkin Time
- Grades: PreK–K, 1–2, 3–5
It’s October, fall is here, Halloween is near, all of which means — it’s Pumpkin time! This month we are diving into pumpkins hands first. Before my class could fully experience pumpkins, we started out by reading a lot of books. Last week I shared a few of my favorite fall books. This week I am sharing one more book, specifically about pumpkins, along with some science activities that relate to all of them.
Getting in the Mood
We began our week by reading the story It's Pumpkin Time by Zoe Hall. Later, I will make the book available in the listening center. After reading the story, we made an anchor chart about pumpkins showing what we know about them and what they need to grow. My students were very excited to share their experiences with me. Many have even planted their own pumpkins in the past. We followed this discussion up with a short sequence activity of how to grow a pumpkin
I brought several pumpkins of different sizes into the classroom for the students to observe. We picked the largest one to determine its circumference. As I passed around a skein of white yarn, the students each cut off a piece hoping it was the exact length to circle the largest part of our pumpkin. After taping their names to their pieces of yarn, we used a separate color for the actual length needed and compared the lengths on our large class graph. We had one student guess exactly!
Will It Sink or Float?
Taking our largest pumpkin and one of our smaller ones, I asked the class to predict whether they would sink or float. Some students remembered our coconut experiment and thought that because the pumpkins were bigger than a coconut, they would sink. After everyone made and charted their predictions, it was time to fill the container with water and see what would happen. We put in the small pumpkin, and it floated. The students were very excited, but some were still certain that the big pumpkin would sink. They were surprised when I submerged the large pumpkin in the water and it popped up to the surface. We repeated the experiment the following day using pumpkin seeds and, again, students predicted what would happen. Then placing a few seeds in a small container of water, we watched the seeds float to the top.
Experiencing the Pumpkin
I posted a note on our parent communication board asking for pumpkins and received a very generous donation of 11. With help from a wonderful parent volunteer, we cut off the tops of the pumpkins to show the students what was inside. I divided the class into groups of two and let anyone who wanted to stick his or her hand inside to feel around and describe the sensation. After everyone had a chance to feel the "guts," each pair scooped out the seeds and pulp into containers to observe. As they scraped and pulled out the stringy pulp and seeds, I walked about the classroom observing and listening to their conversations. Some students were "grossed-out" by the entire process, others were so excited they could hardly contain their enthusiasm, and for some it was their very first experience.
Using their fingers, they sifted and sorted through the pulp, pulling out the seeds. Once the seeds were separated from the pulp, the students counted them with their partners into groups of tens. We used clear portion cups to hold the seeds. I made sure to pair students who are unable to count objects to ten with more capable students. We also made a chart as we counted the cups. This was a great opportunity to practice counting by tens and a chance to revisit tally marks. We stopped counting the seeds after we had reached 2,000. We filled a gallon bag with the seeds. I took all of the seeds home to wash and cook. We enjoyed the seeds the following day during our snack time.
Growing Our Own Pumpkin
After reading about using a pumpkin as a planter to grow pumpkins, I decided this would be a great experience and a fun science activity to try with my own class. To start, we cut off the top of a pumpkin. Leaving all the seeds and pulp inside, we added some soil and then water. I was afraid to leave the pumpkin outside over the weekend, and this turned out to be a big mistake as the only thing that grew was mold. I wiped off the mold and placed the decaying pumpkin outside our back door and left it. After doing a little research, I decided to try it again with a smaller pumpkin and less water. Again, we cut open the pumpkin and added soil, but this time we only added a 1/2-cup of water. We then placed the pumpkin outside our classroom in the sun. Each day we are adding just a little water, no more than 1/2 a cup. With any luck we will have a sprout very soon. Meanwhile, we thought we would observe the decaying pumpkin I had left outside each day to see what would happen. After only one week of adding the soil, we noticed a sprout! Now we are waiting for our smaller pumpkin to sprout as well.
Pumpkins Are Everywhere
In math we used pumpkins to create patterns. The most popular one was the AB pattern. After students created their pattern strips, we turned them into headbands.
We also made a sequence book about the life cycle of the pumpkin. Students practiced reading and retelling the story before taking it home to share with their family.
Another favorite daily activity is our pocket chart poem. This week our poem is about pumpkins, of course. Each day students take turns pointing to the words while read along.
We finished our week with a pumpkin glyph. The students answered questions about pumpkins to create their glyphs.
We have had a lot of fun this week while learning at the same time. We will continue to watch our "pumpkin in a pumpkin" grow. Our plan is to transfer it into our new school garden when the garden is complete. I know my students will be talking about these experiences for a long time.
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Schoolcraft County’s history is as deep as the forests and lakes which attracted its original Native American settlers, and the generations of pioneers who discovered --- and continue to discover --- what this beautiful area has to offer.
The first Europeans believed to have visited the area were members of French explorer Jean Nicolet’s expedition, who passed through the area in the summer of 1634 in search of a route to the Orient (they got as far as Green Bay). In the fall of 1679, Rene Robert de La Salle visited the area abroad the Griffen, the first sailing ship to ply the Great Lakes.
The early Native American residence, most of whom were members of the Ojibwa tribe, settled around Indian Lake and at the mouth of the French-named Manistique River. In 1832, the “Snowshoe Bishop” Fredric Baraga established a Catholic mission on the eastern shore of Indian Lake. It was also during this time that Henry Rowe Schoolcraft, Michigan’s first Indian Agent and the county’s namesake, was mapping the area, documenting the lives of tribal residence and negotiate treaties. Schoolcraft County was officially organized in 1871, with Manistique designated as the county seat.
The county’s first major industry was lumber. Beginning in the early 1880s, logging companies began extracting timber from the vast forests of white pine. The little town of Seney, with its rail access to St. Ignace and Marquette, and river route to Manistique, became a center of the logging boom. During its heyday, Seney was a bustling town of more than 20 saloons, 10 hotels, several stores and about 3,000 residents.
Much of the timber harvested from the county’s forests was floated down the river to Manistique, where it was milled, loaded on ships and sent to communities around the Great Lakes and beyond. But by the turn of the century, what had seemed inexhaustible resources was gone: The forests had been stripped, and the reign of “King Pine” was over.
Southwest of Manistique, on the Garden Peninsula in Delta County, is the site of another major 19th century industry. During the mid-1800s raw iron ore was being shipped at tremendous expense from the Upper Peninsula mines to the foundries in the lower Great Lakes. To make the process more cost-effective, a smelting operation was built at Fayette. From 1867 until it closed in 1891, Fayette’s blast furnaces produced more than 229,000 tons of iron, using local hardwood for fuel and native limestone t purify the iron ore.
Despite the demise of the timber and iron ore industries, many Schoolcraft residents stayed on, supporting their families through fishing, farming, and small business. Pulpwood and paper manufacturing, and limestone mining and processing, developed into major industries. The area’s abundant wildlife, temperate summers and clear lakes and rivers had long been a favorite vacation retreat from the hustle and bustle of the Midwest’s cities, and with the increase in winter-related recreation, tourism grew into a major component of the county’s economy.
Residences are proud of their area’s rich heritage, and they keep their history alive at a number of museums and historic sites. The Bishop Baraga Mission and Indian Cemetery, at Indian Lake, features replicas of the early log mission and surrounding bark dwellings. Manistique is a jumping of point to visit four historic Upper Peninsula lighthouses: the Manistique East Breakwater Light, Seul Choix Point Lighthouse and Museum, Peninsula Point Lighthouse and Sand point Lighthouse and Museum.
The Schoolcraft County Historical Park, in Manistique, features a museum and a historic 200-foot-tall brick water tower which has recently been restored. The 80-year-old structure, listed on the National and State historic registries, is located near the city’s unique Siphon Bridge. The bridge is part of a concrete flume built in 1919 to channel water to the paper mill.
Fayette State Historic Park features a museum, and a ghost town of 19 structures that includes several public and commercial building, residences and the ruins of the blast furnace complex. From ghost towns to lighthouses, Schoolcraft County offers fun and education insights into the past for visitors of all ages.
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Anti Gravity: When Hippos Go Bad; January 2000; Scientific American Magazine; by Mirsky; 1 Page(s)
Imagine a sport-utility vehicle interested in mating. That frightening scenario roughly captures your typical hippopotamus in rut. Hippos are big and surprisingly fast, able to reach speeds of 25 miles per hour. Unfortunately, anything of that size and speed may do inadvertent damage when in pursuit of an amorous adventure. Thus did a tragic death recently befall one Jean Ducuing, the director of a zoo near Bordeaux.Ducuing was killed by a charging hippo that may have been seeking intimacy with, or dominance over,nearby farm equipment.
The sex life of the hippo is far stranger than this incident illustrates. For one thing, hippos in the wild not only have sex,they host it.Back in 1994, researchers publishing in the Canadian Journal of Zoology announced the amazing finding of a species of leech, Placobdelloides jaegerskioeldi, for which hippos are a secret love nest. In the researchers' own words: "Evidence suggests that mating in P. jaegerskioeldi is restricted to the rectum of the hippopotamus." ( Restricted being the operative word.)
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July 17, 1998 July 15, 1998: A unique levitation furnace that flew on the Space Shuttle in 1998 is being eyed for upgrades to fly on future Shuttle and International Space Station missions.
"TEMPUS on MSL-1 provided it was operationally reliable," said Dr. Ivan Egry, the project scientist at the German Space Agency (DLR). "I am really surprised at how much scientific data we are still squeezing out of it."
Egry spoke Tuesday morning to the third Biennial Microgravity Materials Science Conference sponsored by NASA.
TEMPUS - built by the DLR and used jointly by DLR and NASA - is the German acronym for containerless electromagnetic processing in weightlessness. That, simply put, is what TEMPUS does. An electromagnetic coil inside the TEMPUS facility positions metal samples with about 1/1,000th the force needed on the ground to work against gravity and keep the samples from touching the container walls. A second coil pumps in radio wave energy - a bit like a microwave oven - to melt the sample.
This approach is vital in a number of research areas because touching the container walls will instantly cool the sample and levitation on the ground often involve forces great enough to disturb the sample. Scientist don't want either to happen when they are trying to make precise measurements of fundamental properties that can help them refine manufacturing processes on Earth.
TEMPUS flew on the Microgravity Sciences Laboratory-1 mission in 1998, and on the second International Microgravity Laboratory (IML-2) in 1994. Data are still being analyzed, but Egry gave a preview Tuesday, including benchmark data that will let scientists correct the surface tension measurements for one type of metal, and make the first-ever reliable viscosity measurements.
"Many things were surprising," Egry said when asked about the data from TEMPUS. Among them were the first experimental measurements of the electrical conductivity of cobalt-palladium in both its liquid and solid states.
TEMPUS demonstrated its value by making repeat measurements that matched very closely with one another. Consistency is crucial when one is trying to establish basic physical properties. For example, one line of experiments involved cooling metals, such as zirconium, far below their normal freezing point and then recording the point where they froze, how much heat they gave off, and other details. The zirconium sample was put through 120 melt/freeze cycles.
"It's really amazing to see how one undercooling cycle follows the other," Egry said as he showed a graph showing precise repeatability in the data.
All told, the MSL-1 mission hosted 22 experiments comprising 197 hours of test run and 437 melting cycles.
Spurred by this success, DLR is looking at adapting TEMPUS to fly on Spacelab, and to incorporate better sample handling and video capabilities, and a broader temperature range. DLR also is looking at an Advanced TEMPUS that would allow scientists to replace samples in orbit - so the furnace would not have to be brought back - and add other improvements to enhance the science.
Editor's Note: The original news release, with images and related links, can be found at: http://science.msfc.nasa.gov/newhome/headlines/msad15jul98_2.htm
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by NASA/Marshall Space Flight Center--Space Sciences Laboratory.
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Sep. 24, 2002 Penn State engineers have optimized an energy harvesting circuit so that it transfers four times more electrical power out of vibration – the ordinary shakes and rattles generated by human motion or machine operation.
Using their laboratory prototype, which was developed from off-the-shelf parts, the Penn State researchers can generate 50 milliwatts. Although they haven't tried it, they believe the motion of a runner could be harnessed to generate enough power to run a portable electronic music device. By comparison, simple, un-optimized energy harvesting circuits, for example the type used to power LEDs on "smart" skis, can only generate a few milliwatts.
The researchers say the new circuit offers an environmentally friendly alternative to disposable batteries for wearable electronic devices or for wireless communication systems. In addition, the circuit could be used in sensor and monitoring networks that manage environmental control in office buildings, robot control and guidance systems for automatic manufacturing, warehouse inventory; integrated patient monitoring, diagnostics, drug administration in hospitals, interactive toys, smart home security systems, and interactive museums.
The new circuit is described in a paper, "Adaptive Piezoelectric Energy Harvesting Circuit for Wireless, Remote Power Supply," published in the September issue of the journal, IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics. The authors are Geffrey K. Ottman, former Penn State master's degree student; Dr. Heath Hofmann, assistant professor of electrical engineering; Archin C. Bhatt, former Penn State master's degree student; and Dr. George A. Lesieutre, professor of aerospace engineering and associate director of the Penn State Center for Acoustics and Vibration.
Lesieutre explains that, like other energy harvesting circuits, the new Penn State device depends on the fact that when vibrated so that they bend or flex, piezo-electric materials produce an alternating or AC current and voltage. This electrical power has to be converted to direct current or DC by a rectifier before it can be stored in a battery or used. Hofmann adds that the magnitude of the piezoelectric material's vibration determines the magnitude of the voltage: "Since, in operation, the amount of vibrations can vary widely, some way must also be found to adaptively maximize power flow as well as convert it from AC to DC."
Using an analytical model, the team derived the theoretical optimal power flow from a rectified piezoelectric device and proposed a circuit that could achieve this power flow. The circuit includes an AC-DC rectifier and a switch-mode DC-DC converter to control the energy flow into the battery.
The Penn State researcher notes that using an approach similar to one used to maximize power from solar cells, the team developed a tracking feature that enables the DC-DC converter to continuously implement the optimal power transfer and optimize the power stored by the battery.
The circuit is the first to include an adaptive DC-DC converter and achieves about 80 percent of the theoretical maximum – well above the operating output of simple energy harvesting circuits.
The research was supported by a contract with the Office of Naval Research.
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Dec. 17, 2009 In a pilot project that could help better manage the planet's strained natural resources, space-age technologies are helping a Washington state community monitor its water availability. NASA satellites and sensors are providing the information needed to make more accurate river flow predictions on a daily basis.
"World leaders are struggling to protect natural resources for future generations," said Jeff Ward, a senior research scientist at the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, which is managed by Battelle. "These tools help us sustainably use natural resources while balancing environmental, cultural and economic concerns."
Ward manages a project on behalf of Battelle that is helping to better predict the flow of the Dungeness River, near Sequim, Wash., with data collected by NASA instruments. The project started by creating a new model that predicts river flows in the river's surrounding valley. It then expanded to help other communities in Kansas, Maine, Oregon and Washington state better manage their water and land resources with similar technologies.
The project -- called the North Olympic Peninsula Solutions Network -- is lead by the North Olympic Peninsula Resource Conservation & Development Council and supported by PNNL and others.
Lucien Cox of NASA will present the project's results Dec. 16 at the 2009 fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco.
The project will help regional natural resource managers assess the abundance -- or lack thereof -- of the Dungeness River. The river model was developed to show how NASA technologies like satellites, sensors and computational models could be used to improve short-term stream flow predictions. The river model relies on snowpack and temperature data collected from satellites, as well as real-time snowpack and water data collected by various agencies.
The new Dungeness River model's calculations can tell what kind of flow to expect -- from a trickle to a deluge -- on a daily and monthly basis. Before, resource managers primarily relied on either water levels physically measured at gauges or historical data to predict total expected water volume over two to six months. Neither method provided flow predictions as frequently as the new model.
Having more precise river flow predictions is especially important along the Dungeness River, where the towering Olympic Mountains create a drying rain shadow effect and steep slopes prevent above-ground water reservoirs. Sequim receives just 15 inches of rain annually. Water is so treasured that the agricultural city is home to a 114-year-old festival that celebrates a historic irrigation system.
"Improving the accuracy of stream flow predictions is important to a diverse group of water users, including irrigation-dependent farmers, planners making urban growth decisions and those concerned about salmon survival or water quality," said Clea Rome, North Olympic Peninsula RC&D coordinator. "Stream flow prediction tools can help us avoid a crisis by alerting us before droughts are in full effect, giving us enough notice to adjust water use."
But the practical use of NASA technologies isn't limited just to Sequim or river water. The North Olympic Peninsula Solutions Network is helping four other resource, conservation and development councils tackle their unique problems.
Another resource -- soil -- has the Solomon Valley RC&D in north central Kansas concerned about agricultural tilling and erosion. Striking a balance between agriculture and forestry is critical for the Threshold to Maine RC&D in southwest Maine. The Wy'East RC&D is looking to better manage water supply and demand in north central Oregon. And in Okanogan, Wash., the possibility of water shortages worries the North Central Washington RC&D.
"Space technologies can help us get the best science to the ground, to the decision makers here in the Okanogan Basin," said Samantha Bartling, North Central Washington RC&D coordinator. "We expect it'll help us more precisely predict water availability for a long time to come."
The four councils are working with North Olympic Peninsula Solutions Network leaders to determine how NASA technologies can best address their different challenges.
The project is funded by a $1.6 million grant from NASA. More information can be found at the North Olympic Peninsula Solutions Network website, http://pcnasa.ctc.edu/.
Other project partners include: the Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Services; NRCS National Water and Climate Center; National Association of RC&D Councils; Idaho National Laboratory; Olympic National Park; Clallam County; The Dungeness River Management Team; The Elwha-Morse Management Team; Peninsula College and Pacific Northwest Regional Collaboratory.
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Mar. 27, 2011 Researchers from the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) have discovered the existence of a black hole 5.4 times greater in mass than that of our Sun, located in the X-ray binary system XTE J1859+226. The observations carried out from the Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC), managing to obtain the first spectroscopic data from this binary system to be published, have been determinant for the discovery.
X-ray binaries are stellar systems composed by a compact object (which may be a neutron star or a black hole) and a 'normal' star. The compact object sucks matter out of the star and adds it slowly to its own mass, through a spiral disc formed around it. This process of absorption is known as acretion. Only 20 binary systems, out of an estimated population of around 5,000 within our Galaxy, are known to contain a black hole.
XTE J1859+226 is, in particular, a transient X-ray binary located in the Vulpecula constellation. It was discovered by satellite RXTE during an eruption registered in 1999.
"Transient X-ray binaries are characterised for spending most of their life in a state of calmness, but occasionally entering eruption stages, during which the rhythm of acretion of matter toward the black hole is triggered," Jesús Corral Santana explains, an astrophysicist from the IAC, who led the work published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (MNRAS).
Neutron stars as well as black holes are the remains left by a massive star after its death. Most of the known neutron stars have a mass around 1.4 times that of the Sun, though in some cases, values up to over twice the mass of the Sun have been measured. Astronomers believe that when greater than tree times the solar mass, neutron stars are not stable, and end up collapsing and forming a black hole.
For Corral-Santana, "measuring the mass of compact objects is essential to determine what kind of object it may be. If it's greater than three times the solar mass, it can only be a black hole. We found that XTE J1859+226 has a black hole more than 5.4 times greater than the mass of the Sun. It's the definitive confirmation of the existence of a black hole in this object."
"With this result we add a new piece to the study of the mass distribution of black holes. The shape of this distribution has very important implications for our knowledge about the death of massive stars, the formation of black holes, and the evolution of X-ray binary systems," the IAC astrophysicist adds.
Twelve years of observation: measuring the visible and the invisible
The astrophysicists' team at IAC hadn't lost track of the stellar object since it entered an eruption stage in 1999, when they started to set up observation campaigns to follow its evolution. The researchers have combined the photometric measures from the Isaac Newton Telescope (INT) and the William Herschel Telescope (WHT) in year 2000, and those from the Nordic Optical Telescope (NOT) in 2008, with the spectroscopy carried out with the GTC in 2010, the first one ever published about this particular object.
"Due to the low brilliance of the system under observation, we needed 10 meter telescopes in able to obtain spectra. In this sense, having been able to make our observations from the GTC has been determinant," Corral-Santana emphasises.
The measurements at the GTC were carried out with the OSIRIS instrument, which may be used as a camera or as a spectrograph in the visible range. The spectrograph decomposes the light emitted by a star into its different frequencies and allows detecting lines corresponding to the different chemical elements present in its atmosphere. These lines adduce information about the physical properties of the star and its movement.
The photometric measures allowed determining the orbital period of the binary (6.6 hours), while the spectroscopy data also provided information about the speed of the star's orbital movement around the black hole. The combination of both of these parameters proved to be vital to calculate the mass of the back hole.
The Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC), located at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory (in La Palma, Canary Islands), is the biggest optical-infrared telescope of the World, with a 10.4 metre diameter mirror.
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- J. M. Corral-Santana, J. Casares, T. Shahbaz, C. Zurita, I. G. Martínez-Pais, P. Rodríguez-Gil. Evidence for a black hole in the X-ray transient XTE J1859 226. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters, 2011; DOI: 10.1111/j.1745-3933.2011.01022.x
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Aug. 15, 2011 Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have devised a much easier technique for performing a chemical modification used widely in the synthesis of drugs and other products.
Known as "trifluoromethylation," the modification adds a CF3 molecule to the original compound, often making it more stable -- and, for a drug, keeping it in the body longer. With the new technique, chemists can perform this feat using a relatively simple, safe, room-temperature procedure and can even select the site of the modification on the target compound.
"I've been presenting this methodology at several pharma companies, and there's a lot of interest -- so much so that their chemists are starting to use it," said Scripps Research Professor Phil S. Baran, senior author of the new study, scheduled for publication the week of August 15, 2011, in an advance online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Standard procedures for trifluoromethylation involve gases and associated hardware, high heat, metal catalysts, and oxidants. "The procedures are often prohibitively complicated, and medicinal chemists often don't have the time or the resources to get into it," said Baran.
Inspired by frequent consulting visits to pharmaceutical companies, Baran and his lab began to look for simpler ways to perform trifluoromethylation. After running more than 500 different reaction setups on a test compound, they found just one that delivered significant quantities of the desired reaction product. It was a simple setup that used a reagent known as sodium trifluoromethanesulfinate, an inexpensive chemical that is stable at room temperature.
Chemists had long believed that this reagent was unsuitable for trifluoromethylating a broad class of molecules frequently found in drug compounds, and also that the reagent required the use of catalyzing metal salts. But in this initial screening, the reagent, known as Langlois's reagent for its discoverer, the French chemist Bernard R. Langlois, seemed to work even without such constraints.
Baran and his team began collaborating with fellow Scripps Research chemistry Professor Donna Blackmond and members of her laboratory to study how Langlois's reagent works and to optimize its use, including the selection of trifluoromethylation sites on target compounds using certain solvents. With the optimized technique, they showed that they could directly and easily trifluoromethylate a variety of test compounds, including the natural malaria drug quinine and the synthetic anti-smoking drug varenicline (Chantix).
"The collaboration with Donna Blackmond and her lab was crucial in enabling us to improve the procedure and to understand why certain modifications led to those improvements," said Baran.
The new technique in principle makes it more feasible for pharmaceutical companies to modify and improve specific drug compounds of interest. It also means that these companies can expand the existing compound libraries they use for drug-discovery screening by making trifluoromethylated versions of these compounds quickly and easily.
"In one instance, a chemist at Pfizer told me that the trifluoromethylated compound we made in one step with our technique would have taken at least eight steps using standard techniques," said Baran.
The Baran and Blackmond labs are now working on new reagents that may be used in this reaction and ways to enable fine control of trifluoromethylation sites. "The interplay of the two labs at the nexus of synthesis and mechanistic analysis is driving this project forward in new and exciting directions," Baran said.
The two first authors of the paper, "Innate C-H Trifluoromethylation of Heterocycles," are Yining Ji and Tobias Brueckl of the Scripps Research Baran lab. Others who contributed are Ryan D. Baxter of the Scripps Research Blackmond lab and Yuta Fujiwara, Ian B. Seiple, and Shun Su of the Baran lab.
The work was supported in part by a grant from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, part of the National Institutes of Health.
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- Yining Ji, Tobias Brueckl, Ryan D. Baxter, Yuta Fujiwara, Ian B. Seiple, Shun Su, Donna G. Blackmond, Phil S. Baran. Innate C-H trifluoromethylation of heterocycles. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2011; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1109059108
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June 11, 2012 In a pair of related studies, scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute have identified several proteins that help regulate cells' response to light -- and the development of night blindness, a rare disease that abolishes the ability to see in dim light.
In the new studies, published recently in the journals Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) and The Journal of Cell Biology, Scripps Florida scientists were able to show that a family of proteins known as Regulator of G protein Signaling (RGS) proteins plays an essential role in vision in a dim-light environment.
"We were looking at the fundamental mechanisms that shape our light sensation," said Kirill Martemyanov, a Scripps Research associate professor who led the studies. "In the process, we discovered a pair of molecules that are indispensible for our vision and possibly play critical roles in the brain."
In the PNAS study, Martemyanov and his colleagues identified a pair of regulator proteins known as RGS7 and RGS11 that are present specifically in the main relay neurons of the retina called the ON-bipolar cells. "The ON-bipolar cells provide an essential link between the retinal light detectors -- photoreceptors and the neurons that send visual information to the brain," explained Martemyanov. "Stimulation with light excites these neurons by opening the channel that is normally kept shut by the G proteins in the dark. RGS7 and RGS11 facilitate the G protein inactivation, thus promoting the opening of the channel and allowing the ON-bipolar cells to transmit the light signal. It really takes a combined effort of two RGS proteins to help the light overcome the barrier for propagating the excitation that makes our dim vision possible."
In the Journal of Cell Biology study, Martemyanov and his colleagues unraveled another key aspect of the RGS7/RGS11 regulatory response -- they identified a previously unknown pair of orphan G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) that interact with these RGS proteins and dictate their biological function.
GPCRs are a large family of more than 700 proteins, which sit in the cell membrane and sense various molecules outside the cell, including odors, hormones, neurotransmitters, and light. After binding these molecules, GPCRs trigger the appropriate response inside the cell. However, for many GPCRs the activating molecules have not yet been identified and these are called "orphan" receptors.
The Martemyanov group has found that two orphan GPCRs -- GPR158 and GPR179 -- recruit RGS proteins and thus help serve as brakes for the conventional GPCR signaling rather than play an active signaling role.
In the case of retinal ON-bipolar cells, GPR179 is required for the correct localization of RGS7 and RGS11. Their mistargeting in animal models lacking GPR179 or human patients with mutations in the GPR179 gene may account for their night blindness, according to the new study. Intriguingly, in the brain GPR158 appears to play a similar role in localizing RGS proteins, but instead of contributing to vision, it helps RGS proteins regulate the m-opioid receptor, a GPCRs that mediates pleasurable and pain-killing effects of opioids.
"We are really in the very beginning of unraveling this new biology and understanding the role of discovered orphan GPR158/179 in regulation of neurotransmitter signaling in the brain and retina," Martemyanov said. "The hope is that better understanding of these new molecules will lead to the design of better treatments for addictive disorders, pain, and blindness."
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- Y. Cao, J. Pahlberg, I. Sarria, N. Kamasawa, A. P. Sampath, K. A. Martemyanov. Regulators of G protein signaling RGS7 and RGS11 determine the onset of the light response in ON bipolar neurons. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2012; 109 (20): 7905 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1202332109
- C. Orlandi, E. Posokhova, I. Masuho, T. A. Ray, N. Hasan, R. G. Gregg, K. A. Martemyanov. GPR158/179 regulate G protein signaling by controlling localization and activity of the RGS7 complexes. The Journal of Cell Biology, 2012; 197 (6): 711 DOI: 10.1083/jcb.201202123
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Francis Willis (1718-1807)
Francis Willis trained at Oxford as a clergyman. For most of his life he ran a small private asylum in the Lincolnshire countryside where he cared for men and women struggling with mental health problems. Willis’s fame and clientele grew. Local officials pressured him to get a medical degree, which he earned from Oxford aged 41, but his skills came mainly from experience, not study. Willis’s methods were diverse. They involved orthodox medical practices such as blistering and crude psychological tactics like coercion. He also knew when to appeal to his patients’ good sense and humanityand often encouraged them to take responsibility for their actions. His most lasting fame came in his seventies when he treated King George III. Later doctors, particularly Philippe Pinel, heralded Willis as a pioneer of what became known in the 1800s as moral treatment.
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7 When artists, anthropologists and neuroscientists gather at The Brain Unravelled in London through September 19, their creative efforts will range from paintings to performances to mixed-media works. In addition to the exhibition, which includes a children’s area, the event offers a daily program of film screenings, concerts, artist talks and lectures by renowned scientists. Informed by the latest research, the speakers will delve into the relation between brains and minds, plumbing the deepest reaches of human experience: our consciousness.
9 Charles Darwin, in his 1871 book The Descent of Man, provoked his contemporaries by suggesting not only that our physical traits had evolved over time but also that our mental faculties had not always been as keen as they are today. At the conference Evolution of Brain, Behaviour & Intelligence in Cambridge, England, international scientists will discuss advances made since Darwin’s time, drawing on results from species as diverse as unicellular organisms and Neandertals. Darwin biographer James Moore will deliver the keynote lecture.
12 In Huntington’s disease, genetic mutations cause a protein known as Huntingtin to become toxic to the brain, leading to movement disorders, problems swallowing and speaking, and eventually dementia and death. Hundreds of researchers and clinicians will convene in Vancouver at the 2009 Congress on Huntington’s Disease to discuss advances in our understanding of the disorder as well as the latest results from experimental treatments.
24 Will neuroscience transform national security? Is a brain-dead person alive or dead? Could new findings in brain science undermine moral and criminal responsibility? These are a few of the controversial questions that experts will take on at BRAIN Matters: New Directions in Neuroethics, a cross-disciplinary conference hosted by the Novel Tech Ethics research team at Dalhousie University.
Halifax, Nova Scotia
1 As many as half of us may suffer from a mental disorder at some point in our life. Added to the burden of illness is the social stigma that people with mental health problems face. The Scottish Mental Health Arts and Film Festival, sweeping over the country until October 22, tries to raise positive awareness about these issues through a series of concerts, film screenings and theater performances. This will be the third year for the festival, which is the largest of its kind in the world.
8 Ancient wisdom and modern neuroscience will collide at Mind and Life XIX, a two-day conference presided over by the Dalai Lama himself. Exploring the emerging intersections among their different fields, a panel of educators, scientists and contemplatives will discuss ways to promote personal and societal health. The Mind and Life Institute’s ultimate goal? To inspire a view of education that will “create compassionate, engaged, and ethical world citizens.”
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Congresswoman Lois Capps.
Democrats on Capitol Hill want a hearing to examine the safety of nuclear power plants in the United States. A California Congresswoman is asking whether the San Onofre and Diablo Canyon nuclear power plants are tough enough to survive a big quake and its aftermath.
The Diablo Canyon nuclear plant north of Santa Barbara operates in the district of Democratic Congresswoman Lois Capps. She has written to the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission to ask whether Diablo Canyon can withstand the “sort of earthquakes scientists predict” it could experience.
Capps says she's "been concerned for a while because since the last review of the licensing, there’s been a whole new fault discovered. So that on top of events in Japan, I want a thorough review of their preparedness and their ability to respond."
Capps says Diablo Canyon is built to withstand a 7.5-magnitude quake. PG&E, which operates the plant, says it was built on an 85-foot bluff to protect it from tsunamis. One of the reactors at Diablo Canyon is 25-years-old. PG&E has applied to renew its operating license for another two decades.
But Republican Congressman Brian Bilbray of San Diego cautions about jumping to conclusions when it comes to nuclear power plants in quake prone California. Bilbray says there are geographic and design differences between San Onofre and Fukushima.
"First of all," he says, "our earthquake fault is inland, over about 80-100 miles, so a major earthquake would not create the tsunami on the San Andreas the way the other ones," he says. "The big difference is that our backup systems are in the hillside, sealed up, and even if they were breached, are designed to operate underwater."
Bilbray points out that the Japanese quake was 10-times larger than the so-called “big one” in California, referring to the 1906 San Francisco earthquake.
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|Arabic Level 2 Class:
This is an elementary level class which will expand upon the student's basic skill levels gained in the Arabic Intro class. The vocabulary learned in this class will relate to family life, work, and the extended family. Students will also become more familiar with introductions and conversation skills. By the end of this course students should be able to easily hold a basic conversation about themselves, their family, their home, their work, and their likes and dislikes. Grammar points covered in this class include the construct phrase (idaafa), sentence structure (subject and predicate), continued study of the present tense, and possessive pronouns. Chapters 1-3 in the textbook Al-Kitab 1 will be covered as well as several supplemental resources.
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Species: Octopus vulgaris
, the Common Octopus.
Members of the class cephalopoda are carnivorous hunters. They have the most advanced nervous system of all invertebrate animals and are an important example of advanced cognitive evolution in animals. O. vulgaris
is the most studied of all octopus species and possesses excellent eyesight, capable of distinguishing shapes, textures, and colour. It is the only animal which has been conclusively shown to use tools, and is proficient at learning simple processes such as unscrewing a jar.
Cephalopods are able to release dark pigment into the water as an escape mechanism, which in the past has been extracted and used by humans as an ink or dye. The word sepia comes from the Latin word for cuttlefish, s?pía
This ring is made using 3D Printing.
It is available in either stainless steel
It is available in sizes XS, S, M, L, XL. - ring size chart
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Lifestyle Changes Help Type 2 Diabetics Keep Moving
WEDNESDAY, March 28 (HealthDay News) -- Weight loss and regular exercise help prevent disability in obese people with type 2 diabetes, according to new research.
After four years, 21 percent of people enrolled in a lifestyle-intervention program focusing on diet and physical activity had severe disability compared with 26 percent of those enrolled in a diabetes support group. What's more, the lifestyle-intervention group had about half the risk of losing their mobility compared to the support group.
"The lifestyle intervention combined caloric restriction and increased activity," said study author, W. Jack Rejeski, a professor of health and exercise science at the Wake Forest University School of Medicine, in Winston-Salem, N.C. "More of the lifestyle intervention group remained in the good-mobility category. And, that was with modest changes. Just a 6 percent change in body weight helped to ward off an important outcome."
Results of the study are published in the March 29 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
The study included slightly more than 5,000 overweight or obese adults who had type 2 diabetes. All were between the ages of 45 and 74, with an average age of 59. The researchers excluded anyone with a hemoglobin A1C (HbA1C) above 11 percent. HbA1C is a long-term measure of blood-sugar control, and the American Diabetes Association generally recommends that people with diabetes should aim for an HbA1C of less than 7 percent. They also excluded people with very high blood pressure or high triglycerides (a type of blood fat).
At the start of the study, just one-third of the study volunteers reported good mobility. That means around two-thirds had at least some type of mobility disability, according to the study.
The volunteers were randomly assigned to one of two treatment groups. The first included lifestyle interventions to lose weight and get more physical activity. The goal in this group was to lose more than 7 percent of body weight and exercise more than 175 minutes a week, according to the study. The second group was a diabetes support and education program.
To evaluate mobility, the researchers asked the study volunteers how well they could perform certain activities, such as running, lifting heavy objects, pushing a vacuum cleaner, playing golf, climbing a flight of stairs, bending, kneeling, stooping, walking more than a mile or walking one block.
At the end of four years, those in the lifestyle intervention group had a 48 percent reduction in mobility-related disability compared to the support group.
Almost 39 percent of the lifestyle intervention group reported good mobility at the end of the study compared to 32 percent of those in the support group, according to the study.
For every reduction of 1 percent of body weight, there was a 7.3 percent reduction in the risk of mobility disability. For every 1 percent improvement in fitness, there was a 1.4 percent drop in the risk of mobility disability. But, Rejeski pointed out that doing both interventions is best for your overall health.
"If all you do is lose weight, the danger of losing muscle mass is greater. The message is that you need to lose weight and be active to enhance your function and not lose muscle mass," he said.
Dr. Joel Zonszein, director of the clinical diabetes center at Montefiore Medical Center, in New York City, said lifestyle changes are as important as medications. "Papers like this continue to show how important lifestyle changes are," Zonszein said. "But, the issue always is in the implementation. We can tell patients to exercise and lose weight, but we don't have the resources to follow up as they do in clinical trials."
For people who want to make changes on their own, Rejeski recommended trying to cut calorie consumption to about 1,800 calories a day. Then, he said, find a place to walk -- the mall, a walking path, a school track -- and get a walking buddy so that you can each keep the other one accountable. If you haven't exercised in a while, start by walking just a little bit, and then the next day add a few more steps. "Eventually, you'll make progress. And, the lower your function was to start with, the more you'll notice the change," he said.
Current U.S. government recommendations are to exercise at a moderate pace for at least 30 minutes most days of the week.
Learn more about how exercise can benefit you from the U.S. National Institute on Aging.
SOURCES: W. Jack Rejeski, Ph.D., Thurman D. Kitchin professor, health and exercise science, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, N.C.; Joel Zonszein, M.D., director, clinical diabetes center, Montefiore Medical Center, New York City; March 29, 2012, New England Journal of MedicineRelated Articles
- Age Amplifies Damage From Obesity, Study Finds
May 17, 2013
- Fitness in Middle Age May Help Shield Men From Cancer Later
May 16, 2013
Learn More About Sharp
Sharp HealthCare is San Diego's health care leader with seven hospitals, two medical groups and a health plan. Learn more about our San Diego hospitals, choose a Sharp-affiliated San Diego doctor or browse our comprehensive medical services.
Copyright ©2012 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
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The drowned man represents any number of mythological or epic historical figures, and we'll go through them one by one. First off is the name the villagers assign him: Esteban. Who is this Esteban? As it turns out, Esteban is another name for Estevanico, a slave from the early 1500s who was supposedly the first man born in Africa to set foot in the Americas. Estevanico (or Esteban) became a legendary figure in Latin America, and was later given a set of incredible skills – he mastered dozens of languages, knew everything about medicine, was even considered by some to be a deity, or so the story goes.
When the women of the village call the drowned man Esteban, they might very well be referring to this Estevanico. (At the end of the story, the women imagine a captain speaking of Esteban's village "in fourteen languages" (12). This may be a reference to the myth that Estevanico spoke so many languages fluently.)
When the oldest women calls the drowned man Esteban, Márquez writes that some of the younger women hoped it might be Lautaro. In the mid 1500s a war occurred in what today is Chile between the colonizing Spaniards and the native Mapuche people. In this conflict, Lautaro was a military leader of the natives. The drowned man's handsomeness and sheer masculinity inspires the young women to fantasize that he is this famed leader. There are some interesting questions to consider here: why is it that the older women's thoughts turn to the Esteban, while the younger women think of Lautaro? And why is it that, once they get a better look at the drowned man, everyone agrees that it is Esteban, rather than Lautaro?
Many scholars have also pointed out that the drowned man is a shade of Quetzalcoatl, an Aztec god. The drowned man in many ways takes on the role of a deity for the villagers. He arrives from some other world (the sea), is essentially worshipped by the villagers, and permanently changes their lives.
Mythology in this story isn't limited just to the drowned man. The entire tale is rooted in mythological history; even the villagers take on mythological roles themselves by the end of the narrative. When the women weep for the drowned man at his funeral, Márquez writes, "Some sailors who heard weeping from a distance went off course and people heard of one who had himself tied to the mainmast, remembering ancient fables about sirens" (12). This comment is an allusion to Greek mythology.
Some background on the sirens. The sirens were half-women, half-bird creatures who lived on an island. They used to sing in beautiful voices to lure sailors off their course. The sailors would head towards the voices and then crash their ships on the jagged rocks, which pretty much meant death. When Odysseus was sailing by the siren's island, he made the rest of his men plug up their ears and tie him to the mainmast. This way, he got to hear the beautiful sound of their voices without being driven to suicide. Here in "The Handsomest Drowned Man," the women weeping over Lautaro are compared to the sirens, and some sailor going by ties himself to the main mast in an attempt to mimic Odysseus. The point is that through the drowned man, the villagers enter the realm of the mythological themselves.
The allusions to Esteban, Lautaro, Quetzalcoatl, and Odysseus's sirens illustrates the magical realism we've been mentioning. (If you haven't read "Genre" yet, go ahead and take a look.) "The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World" is exploring this mingling of the real (a little fishing village) with the mythological (a magnificent dead man).
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A Red, Red Rose Questions
Bring on the tough stuff - there’s not just one right answer.
- Should Burns's strange spellings (e.g. "luve") be modernized, changed, or altered? What are the advantages and disadvantages of modifying the spelling?
- How do you think the fact that Burns was a farmer affected his poetry? What about this poem in particular?
- How do you feel about a poet rhyming the same word (e.g. "luve" and "luve" in the fourth stanza, "dear" and "dear" in the third stanza)? Is that taking the easy way out? Or is there another way to spin it?
- Why do you think the poem's first line—"my luve is like a red, red rose"—has remained popular for so long?
- What does it really mean to compare love to a rose? To a "melodie"?
- Isn't this just a standard love poem? What's so great about it?
- If Burns took these lines from old Scottish tunes, how come we call this a Burns poem? Isn't it just a rehash of other folks' stuff?
Next Page: Best of the Web
Previous Page: Quotes
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Simply SQL is a practical step-by-step guide to writing SQL. You’ll learn how to make the most of your data using best-practice SQL code. Rather than bore you with theory, it focuses on the practical use of SQL with common databases and uses plenty of diagrams, easy-to-read text, and examples to help make learning SQL easy and fun.
SQL is the language used by all major database systems today. SQL has been around for about 30 years, but is enjoying a real renaissance in the 21st century, thanks to the tremendous success of database-driven web sites.
Whether your web site is written in PHP, ASP, Perl, ColdFusion, or any other programming language, and no matter which database system you want to use—MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQL Server, DB2, Oracle, or any of the others—one fact is almost certain: if you want to have database-driven content, you’ll need to use SQL.
SQL is a simple, high-level language with tremendous power. You can perform tasks with a few lines of SQL that would take pages and pages of intricate coding to accomplish in a programming language.
Who Should Read This Book?
If you’re a web designer or developer looking for guidance in learning SQL for your web projects, this book is for you.
In the early days of the Web, everyone was a web developer. Nowadays, the field has matured to the point where many different disciplines exist. Two broad categories emerged:
- Web designers are responsible for what web site visitors see. This includes the design, graphics, and layout of the site. It also includes designing the functionality of the site, how it works, with considerations for the usability of site features.
If you’re a web designer, you can benefit from learning SQL—at least at a rudimentary level—because it will help you design better user interactions. Understanding how SQL works means that you can make life simpler for the developers who will im plement your designs: by ensuring that the web site is organized in a way that not only serves the web site visitor, but also allows for simple SQL and good database design. We’ll cover both SQL and database design in this book.
Web developers are the primary audience for the book. Using several simple web application examples, we’ll explore all aspects of SQL and database design that are required by web developers to develop efficient and effective web pages. The sample applications in this book really are quite simple, and you may already be familiar with one or more of them, just by using them on the Web.
Of course, database use goes beyond dynamic web sites. For example, databases are also used in desktop and network applications. So even if you’re working with a non-web-related application, the chances are good that you’re still working with a database that uses SQL. The SQL you learn in this book can be applied in all situations where a database is used.
Who Is the Author?
Rudy Limeback is an SQL Consultant living in Toronto, Canada. His SQL experience spans 20+ years, and includes working with DB2, SQL Server, Access, Oracle, and MySQL. He is an avid participant in discussion forums, primarily at SitePoint. His two web sites are http://r937.com/ and http://rudy.ca/.
This book comprises the following chapters. In the first eight chapters, we’ll learn about SQL, the language, its various statements and clauses, and how to use SQL to store and retrieve database data. These chapters are organized to provide first an introduction to the SQL language, then an overview of the SELECT statement, followed by an examination of each of the SELECT statement’s clauses. In the last three chapters, we’ll learn how to design databases effectively, taking into consideration column data types, table relationships, primary and foreign keys, and so on.
Why this separation? Why do we postpone learning about designing tables until well after the SELECT statement has been thoroughly dissected? Because effective database design requires an understanding of how SQL works. You must walk before you can run. If you’re new to SQL, you’ll want to focus on learning SQL first, rather than be prematurely sidetracked on the whys and wherefores of database design issues.
No-risk Money-back Guarantee
Of course we’re so confident that you’ll treasure this book for years to come that we’re happy, as always, for you to try it risk-free for 30 days. If you purchase a copy of Simply SQL and you think it fails to be everything you wanted, we would like you to have your money back.
Simply contact us and we will see to it that you receive a prompt and courteous refund of the full purchase price.
What could be fairer than this?
How To Order This Book
‘Simply SQL’ is provided as a download in Adobe PDF, Amazon MOBI and ePUB formats, so you can begin reading it within minutes of making your purchase on almost any device you own.
And of course, it's so easy to carry a whole library of PDFs with you (on a laptop or pen drive) that you'll never need to be caught without a solution to a problem again.
This title is not available in hard copy, printed format.
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& Tornado Alley
the Programming Language
A Language for Symbolic Computation
through the Processing of Lists
There are primarily two computer languages used in artificial intelligence work, LISP and PROLOG. LISP, which is short for List Processing, was created by John McCarthy of Stanford University. It looks klutzy but it is based upon the lamba calculus and works quite well for computation associated with artificial intelligence. PROLOG has an elegant formulation but it does not have the range of application that LISP has. The Japanese when they formulated the Fifth Generation project chose PROLOG over LISP as the programming language. This was perhaps one of the factors that contributed to the failure of the Fifth Generation project.
HOME PAGE OF Thayer Watkins
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Do you know which language is the official language of 21 countries in the world, spanning four continents? It's Spanish (or Espa-ol), of course! Spanish is not only the official language of Spain and Mexico, but also of many countries in South and Central America. Which other countries can you name? Did you know that it's also the official language of a country in Africa? Equatorial Guinea lies on the western coast of Africa and its two official languages are Spanish and French.
Not all Spanish sounds the same and not all Spanish words mean the same thing in each country.
Many Spanish words have been incorporated into the English language. Did you know that the word "burrito" actually means "little donkey?"
Have you ever heard of someone naming a car "won't go?" Not many people would want to buy that car. That's exactly why the Chevrolet Nova didn't sell in Spain and Latin America. "No va" means "won't go" in Spanish.
The United States territory Puerto Rico means "rich port." The Central American country Costa Rica means "rich coast." The state of Colorado's name is actually from the Spanish word meaning "red." Nevada means "snowy" or "snowed upon" in Spanish. Do you know what state's name comes from an old Spanish term meaning "earthly paradise?" California. Can you think of any other common names that stem from the Spanish language?
Have you heard the saying "Mi casa es su casa?" It's a sign of hospitality that means "my house is your house." In English we might more commonly say "make yourself at home." In some parts of India, a salary is called "pagar," which in Spanish means "to pay."
Many names are actually Spanish words as well. For example, a "bandera" is a flag so the actor Antonio Banderas' name means "flags." Geraldo Rivera's last name means "riverbank" or "riverside" in Spanish, as does the name of the great Mexican artist Diego Rivera. "Rivera" looks like the word "river" in English but the word for "river" in Spanish is actually "ri-!"
Spanish is all around us. What other words of Spanish origin can you find?
-- Gwendolyn Gallace, Spanish teacher, Jefferson, Maine.
*** Try to figure out what the Spanish poem, La Boda (right), says!
Hoy en este amanecer,
Suenan las campanas sin cesar,
Los musicos tocan su música,
Porque la boda ya va a empezar.
La gente se levanta,
Al ver la novia entrar,
Con su vestido blanco,
Y con una alegra
Que no puede dejar.
Atras de ella,
Los pajes tiran flores,
Con sus caritas peque-as,
Y sus vestidos de muchos colores.
Al fin la novia para,
Y atras voltea,
Por su novio espera.
El novio ahora camina,
Hacia su novia bella,
Nervioso y feliz,
Pero siempre pensando en ella.
Mientras la ceremonia sigue,
Un angel del cielo viene,
Les da amor y felicidad,
De la que el tiene.
El angel les dice,
Que vivan felices y llenos de alegra,
Y que el amor siempre encuentren,
Dia tras dia.
-- por Marian Urias, 11 a-os de edad, Mexicana, 6th grade, El Paso, Texas.
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A Field Guide to Supernova Spectra
Both types exhibit a wide variety of subclasses. Type Ia is of no interest because these stars don't emit neutrinos. Types Ib and Ic are thought to undergo core collapse like Type II supernovae and, therefore, should emit neutrinos.
As Maurice Gavin explains in "The Revival of Amateur Spectroscopy", low-resolution spectra of objects as faint as magnitude 13 or thereabouts are accessible to modest amateur equipment. (A few superposed 20-minute exposures with a 12-inch telescope or so should produce an adequate image.) But what will supernovae spectra look like especially shortly after the outburst begins as captured by small telescopes and low-resolution spectrographs?
Here's your field guide. To prepare it, we started with high-resolution, calibrated spectra supplied by Alexei Filippenko (University of California, Berkeley). Then, to simulate Gavin's CCD results, we degraded the spectra to a resolution of 50 angstroms per pixel. Finally, and with dramatic results, we changed the intensity along each spectrum to reflect variations in the unfiltered sensitivity of popular CCD chips the KAF-0400 from Kodak and the ICX055BL from Sony. Thus, what you see here is what you will get! (Astrophotographers using panchromatic emulsions will record spectra that look much like the originals.)
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Life cycle approach to child and adolescent health
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on Dec 18, 2011 Says :
Its valuable content& Greatful If you please can you make mor concern in psychological problems for these age group
on Apr 15, 2009 Says :
normal growth and development of adolescence
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Slide 1 :
Life cycle approach to child and adolescent health Eva Kudlova Charles University of Prague
Slide 2 :
Overview Health is indivisible, requiring holistic approaches throughout the individual's life. Healthy outcome at one point in the life-cycle, provides a positive determinant for health elsewhere in the cycle. The presentation describes main environmental and socio-cultural challenges for each of the stages of child and adolescent life. Both, prevention of ill health and care for illnesses are important at all times but the balance between them shifts over time during the childhood and adolescence. Main actions necessary to meet the child and adolescent needs are described as well.
Slide 3 :
Slide 4 :
Life course approach Healthy outcome at one point in the life-cycle, provides a positive determinant for health elsewhere in the cycle. What happens in pregnancy and the very early stages of childhood will have a profound impact on child and adolescent development. Growth and development of young children enhances the possibilities for development during the school age period and in adolescence. This will be carried through into adulthood and old age. Health and development of the 0-19 age group links intimately, at both ends of the range, with reproductive health. Health during childhood is in part determined by the health of the mother, in turn affected by factors such as the nutrition of adolescent girls and the avoidance of early pregnancy. These factors, in turn, are influenced by healthy growth and development in childhood. An investment early on will result in a lifetime of economic, social and personal benefits. Both, prevention of ill health and care for illnesses are important at all times but the balance between them shifts over time during the childhood and adolescence in relation to in risks encountered during the particular life-stage.
Slide 5 :
Some health problems are phase-specific; others continue from birth to adulthood unwanted/mistimed pregnancies asphyxia birth trauma preterm birth, low birth weight sex selective abortions, infanticide neonatal tetanus, sepsis, MTCT of HIV INFECTIOUS DISEASES: pneumonia, diarrhoea, malaria, measles, meningitis, HIV asthma helminthiasis emotional disorders, depression, suicide substance use (tobacco, alcohol and other harmful drugs) eating disorders unwanted pregnancies, unsafe abortions INJURIES: burns, falls, poisoning, drowning ACCIDENTS: household road traffic INTER- PERSONAL VIOLENCE Malaria & other endemic tropical diseases Tuberculosis Malnutrition & micronutrient deficiencies Malformations & disabilities INFECTIOUS DISEASES: sexually transmitted infections, incl.HIV © WHO
Slide 7 :
Global initiatives addressing child and adolescent health & development
Slide 8 :
External factors influencing outcomes of the mother and child health cycle
Slide 9 :
Physical environment Our health is determined to a very considerable extent by the physical environment in which we live - the air we breathe, the water we drink, the food we eat and the built environment all exact their toll. Young children are particularly susceptible to environmental threats: rapid development of immune, respiratory and nervous systems, development of metabolic functions. Any irritants encountered during the early stages of growth may permanently impair the development of vital organs. Children breathe more air, drink more water and eat more food than adults do per unit body weight, and this higher rate of intake results in greater exposure to pathogens and pollutants . Small children learn by exploring their world (put their hands and objects in their mouths, crawl and play on the ground) and are at risk from pathogens and pollutants from these surfaces. Close parental care and supervision is crucial to the safe and healthy development of young children.
Slide 10 :
Social factors The social circumstances in which children and adolescents grow to maturity are of paramount importance. Peer pressure, family values, mass communication, the school environment, and social and gender norms all exert a considerable influence on lifestyle. Over the past decades, many countries in the European region have experienced rapid socio-political change, economic hardship, increased insecurity, conflict and even war. The health-related behaviour of adolescents is a function of all these pressures. Differences in the health experience of boys and girls are apparent in all countries due to: lower socioeconomic status of women in some settings, differences in biology, or to social behaviours and gender norms.
Slide 11 :
Nutrition A balanced diet that provides optimum nutrition, together with a clean water supply, are crucial to every stage of development from pre-conception through to later life. Poor nutrition is associated with a reduced resistance to disease, impaired physical and psychological development, and infant morbidity and mortality. An inadequate diet can lead to deficiency disorders and/or contribute to civilization diseases. In recognition of the food's essential role in promoting and protecting health the European states endorsed the First Action Plan for Food and Nutrition Policy.
Slide 12 :
Poverty Poverty is a major determinant of health. Inequities related to economic situation affect both physical and mental health. Poor children grow up in less healthy environments and are more likely to suffer the effects of pollution. Overcrowded housing is associated with a lack of safe areas for play. Accidents and crime are more prevalent; a poor diet and lack of physical activity are more likely. Poverty places maternal and newborn health at risk and has a deleterious impact on mental health. Relative poverty within countries may be even more important than absolute poverty. Relative poverty is growing at a more rapid rate in Europe and central Asia than anywhere in the world. In some European countries as many as 26% of children live in relative poverty.
Slide 13 :
Pregnancy A healthy start to life is essential. A woman’s health directly influences the health and development of her child. Access to timely and responsive health services, including skilled birth attendants at the time of delivery, is essential. Maternal mortality varies enormously across the European region, ranging from 6 per 100,000 live births in Switzerland to 41 per 100,000 in some eastern countries.
Slide 14 :
Main risks of pregnancy
Slide 15 :
Main risks of pregnancy: Unsafe abortions The starting point in the life-course of health and development is : every baby should be a wanted baby. Unwanted pregnancies may lead to: unsafe abortions, child neglect, malnutrition, disease, and social problems. This implies effective contraceptive advice and availability as young people approach puberty and during their reproductive years.
Slide 16 :
Main risks of pregnancy: Malnutrition and anaemia Inadequate nutrition in the very early stages of development can have an impact throughout an individual's life. In many European countries, micronutrient deficiency diseases co-exist with disorders of energy excess that result from a lack of fruit and vegetable intake. Malnutrition and anaemia, in pregnant women in low-income countries are a significant threat, as they can severely impact a foetus’ growth and development and result in long-term consequences. Eliminating malnutrition among pregnant women would reduce disabilities among their infants by almost one third.
Slide 17 :
Main risks of pregnancy: Congenital abnormalities Congenital abnormalities are the second leading cause of death in high-income countries. In the US, these anomalies, along with sudden infant death syndrome and premature birth, account for > 50 per cent of all infant mortality. About 3-10% of these cases have been attributed to exogenous and environmental agents. Exposure during the early months of pregnancy can lead to an increased likelihood of mental retardation and development disabilities. The scope for reducing unnecessary disability and ill health is also considerable, through the application of interventions that are already known to be effective such as: vaccination against rubella (causes birth defects in 90% of children if contracted early in pregnancy), avoiding alcohol and stopping smoking.
Slide 18 :
Main risks of pregnancy: Infections Mothers can be the vectors for transmitting communicable diseases to their babies. Although the absolute numbers remain relatively small, mother-to-child transmission of HIV has increased dramatically in Eastern Europe. In the Ukraine, for example, infection rates in pregnant women rose from 0.005 per 10 000 in 1996 to 17 per 10.000 only four years later. For the child, infection is the major killer during pregnancy and after birth, as well as low birth weight due to intrauterine growth retardation and/or pre-term birth.
Slide 19 :
Neonatal period The first 28 days of life are critical. During this time the child is at highest risk for death. Of the approx. 10 million children under 5 years of age, who die each year, about one-third die in the neonatal period. Ninety-eight percent of all neonatal deaths occur in developing countries. Perinatal conditions, many of which are significantly influenced by environmental conditions, account for 20 per cent of the under-five mortality rate worldwide.
Slide 20 :
Slide 21 :
Main risks of neonatal period
Slide 22 :
Improving neonatal health Improving newborn survival will dramatically reduce infant mortality worldwide. Neonatal health is largely a product of: socio-economic circumstances, access to appropriate services at the time of delivery as well as during the antenatal period, and parental education. Success in reducing neonatal mortality requires many components: caring families, availability of adequate healthcare, ability to recognize when a sick child needs professional care, good nutrition, and support from communities.
Slide 23 :
Early childhood Each year more than 10 million children in low-and middle-income countries die before they reach their fifth birthday. Seven in ten of these deaths are due to just five preventable and treatable conditions: pneumonia, diarrhoea, malaria, measles, and malnutrition, and often to a combination of these conditions. Over 40% of the global burden of disease is attributed to environmental risks that affect children under five, although this age group only accounts for 10% of the world's population. Many biological environmental factors associated with this high toll, among them the lack of clean water and sanitation, as well as environmental-related diseases such as malaria and dengue fever.
Slide 24 :
Slide 25 :
Main risks of early childhood
Slide 26 :
Main risks of early childhood: Poor nutrition and growth Inappropriate nutrition is a major cause of poor health outcomes. Globally 27% of children under 5 years are underweight and there are wide variations also between the European countries. Appropriate feeding practices: stimulate psycho-social development, lead to improved nutrition and physical growth, lead to reduced susceptibility to common childhood infections and better resistance to cope with them. Much has already been done to promote breastfeeding. Increasing breastfeeding prevalence rates are reported from a number of countries. Continuing great concern led WHO to develop a global strategy for infant and young child feeding (IYCF).
Slide 27 :
Main risks of early childhood: Poor development It is essential to provide a stimulating environment for psychosocial development. The development of intelligence, personality and social behaviour occurs most rapidly in humans during their first three to four years. Parents are the children’s earliest teachers. Strengthening the ability of the mother and all family members to care for and stimulate their children and encourage them to learn can set the stage for adult success.
Slide 28 :
Main risks of early childhood: Frequent illnesses Many of the childhood communicable illnesses can be avoided through the efficient organization and management of immunization programmes. World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF addressed the care for illnesses in young children by developing a strategy “Integrated Management of Childhood Illness” (IMCI). IMCI is an integrated approach to child health that focuses on the well-being of the whole child. It aims to reduce death, illness and disability, and to promote improved growth and development among children under 5 years of age.
Slide 29 :
Slide 30 :
Main risks of early childhood: Frequent illnesses – prevention and care Both, prevention and care for illnesses are very important for young children, and both focus primarily on the mother and other caretakers. Prevention in early childhood includes important issues about: breastfeeding and the appropriate introduction of complementary foods, hygiene practices, immunization, and caring behaviours that contribute to the healthy development of the young child.
Slide 31 :
Main risks of early childhood: Abuse and neglect Child abuse and neglect manifest themselves during the first years of life in every country. Sixty per cent of children in Europe and Central Asia say they face violent or aggressive behaviour at home. The health consequences can be: physical, sexual and reproductive, psychological and behavioural, long-term, chronic disease.
Slide 32 :
Main risks of early childhood: Injury Accidents and unintentional injuries become more prevalent as the child increasingly starts to explore his or her environment, often without the necessary coordination or awareness of hazards. Drowning, falls, fires, accidental poisoning and traffic accidents account for some of the disability and deaths in this age group.
Slide 33 :
Early school age Globally, most deaths among school children are due to diseases that can be prevented, but that can also be treated easily. An appropriate and timely health care is essential. For some of the childhood diseases, vaccines protect a child, other diseases, such as diarrhoea and hepatitis A can be prevented by good hygiene and sanitary practices. Childhood cancers are a major concern in developed countries. In the US, cancer is the second biggest killer of children after accidents, with the median age of child victims of cancer being six years old. Acute leukaemia is the most common type of cancer found in children, and its incidence appears to be rising in some developed countries. Among the environmental factors that may play a role are tobacco smoke, radon, asbestos, ultraviolet light radiation, hazardous waste and some pesticides.
Slide 34 :
Main risks of early school age
Slide 35 :
Main risks of early school age: Poor nutrition, growth and development Poor nutrition remains globally a major contributor to childhood diseases and deaths. In countries with plentiful food provision, the cheapest form of food energy comes regrettably from fats, oils and sugar. Consumption of these energy-dense foods, together with lack of physical activity, results in increasing prevalence of obesity among children.
Slide 36 :
Main risks of early school age: Injury New health challenges emerge as children become increasingly exposed to the wider physical and social environment. Injuries, usually road traffic injuries, falls and drowning, are now the number-one killer of children aged five to 14 years in developed countries. Additional factors such as exposed cooking set-ups, dangerous tools and equipment, open sewers, construction or electrical sites and hazardous chemicals pose threats in developing countries.
Slide 37 :
Main risks of early school age: Helminth infections Helminth diseases, which are caused by intestinal worms found in soils and vegetables, are one of the common health problems among school age children in developing countries. These children commonly carry large loads of helminths, which can cause anaemia and other debilitating conditions. These illnesses can result in impaired learning, poor school performance and more absences from school.
Slide 38 :
Social factors in early school age Parental lifestyle increases its impact as the child develops. Attitudes to health-related behaviours such as smoking and physical activity are formed, and eating patterns become established. As social interaction beyond the family develops: School environment, peer pressure and the mass media become increasingly influential in establishing the child’s values, attitudes and behaviour patterns. School is an important place for bringing about behavioural changes, promoting better health for students, and teaching about caring for the community environment. For this age group, both prevention and the appropriate care of illness are essential. As a child moves through the school-age years and into adolescence, prevention of behaviours that can lead to health risks takes on a greater importance.
Slide 39 :
Adolescence One in every five people in the world is an adolescent – defined by WHO as a person between 10 and 19 years of age. Out of 1.2 billion adolescents worldwide, about 85% live in developing countries. Every year, an estimated 1.7 million persons between ages of 10 and 19 lose their lives. There are relatively few deaths due to illnesses. Many adolescents die prematurely due to other causes such as accidents and risky behaviour. Many habits and lifestyle choices that start during these critical years contribute greatly to the overall health of an adult. The WHO estimates that 70% of premature deaths among adults are largely due to behaviour initiated during adolescence.
Slide 40 :
Main risks of adolescence
Slide 41 :
Main risks of adolescence: Poor nutrition Sound nutrition remains a foundation stone for good health as the child progresses towards adulthood. In many countries, overweight and obesity in children and adolescents is increasing, often co-existing with micronutrient deficiencies. Type II diabetes, previously a disease of middle age, is now increasingly being reported among young people in European countries.
Slide 42 :
Main risks of adolescence: Chronic conditions Chronic conditions include non-communicable diseases such as asthma, cystic fibrosis, juvenile diabetes, epilepsy, juvenile arthritis sickle-cell disease, and mental disorders. In developed countries, asthma is the leading chronic disease among children. Air pollution, both indoor and outdoor, is one of the triggers for asthma episodes. Over the last decades, asthma and allergies have increased throughout Europe. In Western Europe, the symptom rate is up to ten times that in eastern countries. Chronic conditions typically require comprehensive, ongoing care. Other factors such as family, school or college situations, as well as the health and social services available, determine how a chronic condition is managed.
Slide 43 :
Adolescence and HIV The HIV/AIDS pandemic is one of the most important and urgent global public health challenges. It is estimated that 50% of all new HIV infections are among young people. In the eastern part of European region, 84% of new cases are under 30 years of age, compared to 31% in the west, and three quarters of them are injecting drug users. Adolescents are at the centre of the pandemic in terms of: transmission, impact, and potential for changing the attitudes and behaviours that underlie this disease. Focusing on young people is likely to be the most effective approach to confronting the epidemic.
Slide 44 :
HIV prevalence among female antenatal attendees aged 15-19 in southern African countries © WHO
Slide 45 :
Main risks of adolescence: Mental disorders Pre-existing mental health issues may worsen as the adolescent undergoes this demanding phase of emotional and physical maturation. Impaired mental health is a precursor or consequence of many health-risky behaviours. Adolescence is also a peak age of onset for serious mental illness. In the European region: The incidence of psychological ill health and mortality increases as a consequence of the breakdown of traditional social and family structures, particularly in communities experiencing significant societal, political and economic change. About 10% to 20% of children have one or more mental or behavioural problem.
Slide 46 :
Main risks of adolescence: Injury and violence Physical and emotional development accelerates with the arrival of puberty. The young adolescent becomes ever more subject to cultural influences, perceived social norms and pressure from friends although the family support continues to be of significance. It is a normal part of adolescent development to: take on new responsibilities and roles which can incur risks, renegotiate relations with adults in the family and community and with peers, experiment with things symbolic of adult life. Growing independence is associated with increased risk-taking. Accidents, violence, and suicide are among the three most common causes of death in adolescence.
Slide 47 :
Traffic accidents & adolescents
Slide 48 :
Teenage pregnancy (Patterson et al, 1989) Cycle of violence
Slide 49 :
Main risks of adolescence: Drug abuse Adolescence is a period of experimentation and rebellion against authority. This is the age when the use of tobacco, alcohol and drugs can become established habits. Their use is a major contributing factor to accidents, suicides, violence, unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases among young people in many countries. There is an urgent need to create safer and more supportive environments within which young people can develop. Adult role models, positive peer influence and initiatives such as Health Promoting Schools all have an important part to play in healthy adolescent development.
Slide 50 :
Main risks of adolescence: Unwanted pregnancy With adolescence comes reproductive maturity. Preventing teenage pregnancy is a concern for every country. The rates in western European countries mostly range between 13 and 25 per 1000 young women aged 15 to 19 years. Unwanted pregnancies may lead to serious health consequences for young women, including the risks associated with dangerous or illegal abortions. Young mothers under the age of 20 years are more likely to deliver a low birth weight baby. Low birth weight is associated with reduced health prospects for the child. In this way, the child and adolescent life circle of one generation concludes and evolves into the life cycle of the next generation and thus interventions in one generation will bring benefits to successive generations.
Slide 51 :
References Beasley R, Ellwood P, Asher I. Beasley R, Ellwood P, Asher I International patterns of the prevalence of pediatric asthma the ISAAC program. Pediatr Clin North Am. 2003 Jun;50(3):539-53. Carnegie Task Force: Starting Points: Meeting the Needs of Our Youngest Children Carnegie Corporation of New York, New York 1994, 150p. European Health for All Database http://www.euro.who.int/hfadb (Accessed 28 May 2008). Faustman,E.M. Silbernagel, S.M., Fenske, R.A., Burbacher, T.M., Ponce, R.A.: Mechanisms underlying Children’s Susceptibility to Environmental Intoxicants. 2000 Environ Health Perspect. 108, Suppl 1, 2000, 13-21. Kramer MS, Chalmers B, Hodnett ED et al. Promotion of Breastfeeding Intervention Trial (PROBIT) – A Randomized Trial in the Republic of Belarus. JAMA, 2001, 285, 4, 413 – 420. Kudlová,E., Rameš,J.: [Evaluation of nutrition of Prague’s infants according to criteria recommended by WHO] Cs.Pediat,.55, 1, 2000, 16-20. Natural Resources Defense Council: Our Children At Risk: The 5 Worst Environmental Threats To Their Health. Natural Resources Defense Council, New York 1997. http://www.nrdc.org/health/kids/ocar/ocarinx.asp (Accessed 28 May 2008) Schroeder, S.R.: Mental retardation and developmental disabilities influenced by environmental neurotoxic insults. Environ Health Perspect. 108, Suppl 3, 2000, 395-9 UNEP, UNICEF, WHO:Children in the New Millennium: Environmental Impact on Health. United Nations Environment Programme, United Nations Children’s Fund and WHO, Geneva 2002, 142 p. UNICEF: Sanitation for All: Promoting Dignity and Humn Rights. UNICEF, New York 2000. WHO/EURO: The health of children and adolescents in WHO's European Region. WHO European Regional Office, Copenhagen 2003, 12p. WHO: Adolescent health and development. http://www.who.int/child_adolescent_health/en (Accessed 28.May 2008) WHO: Food and health in Europe: a new basis for action. WHO Regional Office for Europe, Copenhagen 2002, 28 p. WHO: Improving child health. IMCI: the integrated approach. WHO, Geneva, 1997 12p. WHO: Infant and young child nutrition. Global strategy on infant and young child feeding. Report by the Secretariat.Geneva, WHO, Geneva 2002, 18 p. WHO: World Health Report 1999. WHO, Geneva 1999, 121 p. WHO: World Health Report 2002. WHO, Geneva 2002, 248 p. WHO: The First Action Plan for Food and Nutrition Policy. WHO European Region 2000-2005. Copenhagen, WHO Regional Office for Europe, 2001 (document EUR/01/5026013, http://www.euro.who.int/Document/E72199.pdf, (Accessed 28 May 2008) World Bank: World Development Report 2000/2001: Attacking Poverty. New York, Oxford University Press, 2001. Wynn M, Wynn A. New nutrient intake recommendations are needed for childbearing. Nutrition and Health, 2000, 13, 199-211. Zahm, S.H., Devisa, S.S.: Childhood Cancer: Overview of Incidence Trends and Environmental Carcinogens. Eviron. Health Persp. 103, Suppl.6, 1995, 177-184.
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Tanya Lee Stone’s search—for photos and facts—has led her in surprising and rewarding directions. “To me, visual storytelling is as important as the text,” Stone has said, and that is certainly true of Courage Has No Color: The True Story of the Triple Nickles: America’s First Black Paratroopers (Candlewick, Jan. 2013). Through text and images the author paints a fascinating portrait of the African Americans who trained as part of the 555th Parachute Infantry Battalion under First Sergeant Walter Morris. Seventeen of those 20 men came from the all-black 92nd Infantry Division, whose roots could be traced back to the Buffalo Soldiers of the Revolutionary and Civil Wars. The author spoke to Curriculum Connections about her research, and the Triple Nickles’ extraordinary legacy.
What attracted you to this topic? Did it have any relationship to your work on Almost Astronauts: 13 Women Who Dared to Dream (Candlewick, 2009)?
These stories are related in that they are both about extraordinary people, relatively unknown individuals, whose work paved the way for others. Change happens slowly—and it’s often due to individuals such as these. We owe them tribute.
When you begin a nonfiction work, do you have a sense of where you’re going, or do you let the research guide you?
The research did guide me, as did feedback from Marc Aronson and Hilary Van Dusen, who said, as they did with Almost Astronauts, “This story is too big for a picture book.” I tend to think cinematically, so I’m looking at the story through the points-of-view of the Triple Nickles’ and [their leader, First Sergeant] Walter Morris. What are the margins that inform those perspectives? That helps me shape my boundaries. Unfortunately, it took almost 10 years to write the book!
You interviewed Morris, as well as a number of the women represented in Almost Astronauts. It’s amazing to think that these events didn’t transpire that long ago.
It wasn’t that long ago. I think we have come a long way—and have a really long way to go. That’s why it’s important to highlight these stories. We can be proud of our achievements—and have them motivate us to do a whole lot more.
Your notes on your work on the identities of the Triple Nickles who did not graduate, and how you resolved inconsistencies discovered in your research, were fascinating.
That was so thrilling [figuring out the three men who hadn't graduated]! The first person I called when I made sense of that information was Ed Howard. He’s the historian at Fort Benning [where those first black paratroopers trained]. After the book was finished, Ed and I kept working to track down the information that was eluding me. I found two of the men through a document that noted who was paid when.
Is detective work also involved in photo research?
On occasion, a photograph is in opposition to a “fact” you have unearthed earlier. You have to use your journalistic skills to figure out the truth. Even in the archives, the labels are sometimes incorrect. There’s a photo of the 761st tank battalion (the camera is looking down into the tank as a man looks up), that has been mislabeled for decades. When I got to the 761st tank battalion section, I went back to the library. In the end, I agreed with who I believed was the most trusted scholar and relabeled the photo; [in my book] the label is different than the one attributed in the National Archives.
It is like being a detective. In order to be authoritative, everything must be verified.
Were there events that you uncovered that surprised you? I had no idea that balloon bombs launched from Japan were landing in western states such as Oregon, for instance.
I had no idea about the balloon bombs, either. I could have gone on and on about them. To include information about these weapons and to not provide background on the Japanese-American internment camps seemed wrong, [but] I also was aware that I had to balance these pieces with the rest of the story.
This is complicated material and the challenge was to select what was pertinent to the paratroopers’ story and would give readers the context they needed. There’s an unending wealth of stories to tell.
So many of the events we know of history depend on timing—when the many small actions of people come together, as you point out.
When change happens, we tend to forget that many events preceded it. There’s another parallel between Almost Astronauts and Courage, in that people sometimes say to me, “But [the Triple Nickles] didn’t get sent into combat” with a tone in their voice that suggests, “Why are you making such a big deal out of this?” What these men accomplished was of their time. If you’re looking at it through a 21st-century lens, you miss it.
Many children aren’t [aware of how the rights we enjoy now] were achieved. That’s why I spend the amount of time I spend on background. With context, on their own, children can get to, “Wow, that’s a big deal.”
This article was featured in School Library Journal's Curriculum Connections enewsletter. Subscribe today to have more articles like this delivered every month for free.
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SmartDraw includes thousands of professional-looking examples like this Tooth Decay (Caries) and Cavity Prevention that you can easily download, edit and customize to make your own in just minutes.
Text in this example:
Tooth Decay & Cavity Prevention STEP ONE: Floss
Use floss to remove germs and food particles between teeth. Rinse. Holding Floss Using floss between lower teeth. Ease the floss into place gently. Do not snap it into place—this could harm your gums. STEP TWO: Brush Teeth
Use any tooth brushing method that is comfortable, but do not scrub hard back and forth. Small circular motions and short back and forth motions work well. Rinse. To prevent decay, it’s what’s on the toothbrush that counts. Use fluoride toothpaste. Fluoride is what protects teeth from decay.
Brush the tongue for a fresh feeling! Rinse again.
Food residues, especially sweets, provide nutrients for the germs that cause tooth decay, as well as those that cause gum disease. That’s why it is important to remove all food residues, as well as plaque, from teeth. Remove plaque at least once a day—twice a day is better. If you brush and floss once daily, do it before going to bed. Another way of removing plaque between teeth is to use a dental pick—a thin plastic or wooden stick. These picks can be purchased at drug stores and grocery stores. Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research LifeART Collection Images Copyright © 1989-2001 by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Baltimore, MD
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The Rebel by Nathan Johnson
You set the price! 18330 words.
Language: English. Published on September 16, 2011. Fiction » Young adult or teen » Family.
(5.00 from 6 reviews)
1. What does it mean to be a rebel? 2. Is it always bad to be a rebel? 3. Is this person in this story a good person or a bad influence? 4. Is he a typical rebel, or is he different from what most would perceive as a rebel? To answer these questions, you'll have to read and see! You might be surprised. Read and follow it close.
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Its a scarlet tanager kind of yearWritten by George Ellison
“The scarlet tanager flies through the green foliage as if it would ignite the leaves.
You can hardly believe that a living creature can wear such colors.”
— Henry David Thoreau
This seems to be a scarlet tanager kind of year. I’ve been seeing and hearing them at my house, along the Blue Ridge Parkway, and in the Great Smokies. No bird in our region is more striking. Jet black wings on a trim red almost luminescent body, the male is impossible to overlook. And it’s easy to recognize by both song and call.
I almost never encounter the summer tanager (whose entire body is rosy red) in Western North Carolina, but the scarlet tanager is encountered every year — to a greater or lesser extent — during the breeding season (mid-April to mid-October) in mature woodlands (especially slopes with pine and oak) between 2,000 and 5,000 feet in elevation. The bird winters in northwestern South America, where it enjoys the company of various tropical tanagers that do not migrate.
Keep in mind that the female doesn’t resemble her mate except in shape. She is olive-green or yellow-orange in color. Also keep in mind there is a variant form (morph) of the male tanager that is orange rather than scarlet in color. I suspect this variant is the result of something peculiar in its diet. My first and only encounter with an orange scarlet tananger was in the Lake Junaluska area several years ago.
The call note used by both the male and female is a distinctive “chip-burr … chip-burr.” The male’s song is not pretty. He sounds like a robin with a sore throat; that is, the notes in the song are hoarse and raspy. When gathering nesting material, the female sometimes sings a shorter “whisper” song in response to the male’s louder song.
Males in adjacent territories often engage in combative counter-singing and will, as a last resort, go beak-to-beak. On our property, a creek sometimes serves as a boundary — the line drawn in the sand, as it were. The males sing defiantly at one another across the water and sometimes make forays into enemy territory. Meanwhile, the female is busy incubating her eggs. When not squabbling with a nearby male, her mate brings food.
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A small news article from Science has been taped above my desk for the last few years. I don’t remember who originally gave it to me, or why I even hung it up, but there it is, nestled between a couple XKCD cartoons. The article is titled “The Wine Divide” and it raises many questions about sustainability, inherent biases in conventional wisdom, and what the term “local” means in a global economy. And it’s about wine.
The basic premise of the article is that, in general, the carbon-cost of shipping wine by freight (as in, on a truck) is greater than the cost of shipping by cargo (as in, on a boat). In wine, transportation outweighs all other aspects of production and distribution, so using the cost of transport, two scientists calculated the cost of buying wine from Napa Valley or Bordeaux, France if you live in New York.
Shipping a 750-milliliter bottle from Bordeaux to New York City emits 1.8 kilograms of carbon, whereas trucking one from the Napa Valley emits 2.6 kg.
They also calculated a Napa-Bordeaux line, which determines which region (Napa Valley or Bordeaux) has the lower carbon cost for where you live.
In a thorough review of the life cycle of a bottle of wine, Colman and Päster presented some surprising insights into the real cost of transportation. Among the most counter-intuitive results is how dramatic the differences among ships, trains, trucks, and airplanes really are. This is scaled by the total amount of cargo shipped, so while the actual amount of fuel burned may be greater, the amount of goods transported is even larger.
These data challenge the conventional assumption the local is better. For many goods, distance is significantly less important than the method of delivery, at least when looking at the cost of transportation. For someone living on the East Coast of the United States, wine from Bordeaux, France is more sustainable than the relatively closer wine from Napa Valley, California.
Tyler, Colman, & Päster, Pablo (2009).
Red, White, and ‘Green’: The Cost of Greenhouse Gas Emissions in the
Global Wine Trad Journal of Wine Researc, 20 (1), 15-26
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10 New Alien Planets a Diverse Bunch, Telescope Shows
Artist's impression of the CoRoT satellite.
CREDIT: CNES/Active Design
A European space telescope has discovered 10 previously unknown alien planets, including two Neptune-like objects that circle the same star, researchers announced today (June 14).
France's CoRoT satellite detected the 10 alien planets, all of which are gaseous like Saturn or Jupiter. However, they exhibit a range of masses, densities, orbital characteristics and other properties, researchers said. The new discoveries highlight the diversity of worlds beyond our solar system and boost the confirmed count of extrasolar planets up to 565, they added.
"Ever since the early days of exoplanet astronomy, we’ve been amazed by the variety of planets that have been discovered: gaseous giants larger than Jupiter and smaller, rocky bodies, down to masses comparable to the Earth’s," said Malcolm Fridlund, the European Space Agency's project scientist for CoRoT, in a statement. [Photos: The Strangest Alien Planets]
Researchers announced the findings today (June 14), at the Second CoRoT Symposium in Marseille, France.
Alien planet haul
Like NASA's Kepler Space Telescope, CoRoT searches for alien planets by what is known as the transit method. This technique looks for tiny dips in a star's brightness that could potentially be caused by a planet passing in front of it from our perspective.
The 10 newly discovered alien worlds have all been confirmed by follow-up observations using ground-based telescopes. Seven of the discoveries are so-called "hot Jupiters," gas giants that orbit extremely close to their parent stars. Another one is smaller than Saturn, and the other two are Neptune-like siblings circling the same star.
While all the newfound alien planets are gaseous, they make up a diverse group. Their densities, for example, span a wide range, from values similar to that of Saturn (the least dense planet in our solar system) to densities comparable to that of rocky Mars, researchers said.
One planet orbits a 10-billion-year-old star, which is twice as old as the sun. Another circles a star just 600 million years old. Two of the exoplanets also lie on highly elongated orbits — a surprise to scientists, considering how unstable such paths are thought to be.
A planetary zoo
Since the first planet beyond our solar system was discovered back in the 1990s, astronomers have discovered an astonishing diversity of alien worlds.
"The new set of 10 planets that we announce today are no exception, exhibiting as they do a rich list of very interesting properties," Fridlund said.
To date, astronomers have confirmed at least 565 alien planets, and the Kepler project has already identified 1,235 more "candidate" planets that await in-depth follow-up study. Researchers have predicted that at least 80 percent of Kepler's planetary candidates will eventually be confirmed.
Since its launch in 2006, CoRoT has detected several hundred candidate planet-hosting stars. The 10 new finds bring the satellite's total number of confirmed planet discoveries to 26.
Many more finds will likely follow — from Kepler, CoRoT and other instruments — helping astronomers better understand alien planets on a broader scale, researchers said.
"Although the study of exoplanets is relatively young, we have already reached a stage where we can characterize the details of worlds orbiting other stars, and CoRoT is making a crucial contribution to this field," Fridlund said. "With hundreds of systems observed to date, we no longer have to worry about 'taming the beasts' and we can dedicate our efforts to the 'zoology' of exoplanets, which is enormously enhancing our knowledge about planetary systems."
MORE FROM SPACE.com
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Teide National Park
The largest and oldest of the Canary Islands' parks
Its landscape revolves around the largest volcano in Spain: the Teide, which last erupted in 1798. The volcanic cones and the lava outcrops form an extraordinary conjunction of colours and shapes, and are home to a wide diversity of flora of great biological value.
The Teide National Park was created in 1954 in order to protect this spectacular landscape of great ecological value which lies at the foot of the colossal volcano. The Teide is the volcanic formation located on an ancient and gigantic cauldron-shaped depression, formed by two semi-calderas separated by the Roques de García rock formations. Plant and animal species that are unique in the world live in the shadow of the Teide. There is an astonishing diversity of plants: Teide broom, red echium, blue echium, the guanche rose (Bencomia extipulata), flixweed, rosalillo de cumbre (Pterocephalus lasiospermus), silver thistle (Stemmacantha cynaroides)... The most important species in the park are the invertebrates. Over 700 types of insects have been recorded, of which 50% are endemic to the area. There are some species of reptiles (such as the Tenerife lizard) and birds (Egyptian vulture, sparrowhawks, lesser kestrels, red kite), and a few mammals, the most common of which are the mouflon, rabbits and five species of bat.
面積: 18.990 ヘクタール
所在地: It is situated in the heart of the island of Tenerife, in the Canary Islands.
見学情報: There are two public bus routes: number 348, from Puerto de la Cruz, and number 342, from Playa de las Américas. There is a cable car that affords spectacular views, although it does not take you right to the top: you must walk the last stretch. A special permit is required to go to the highest cone on the summit of the Teide. For more information, check the Visitor Centres on this page.
More access information.
環境情報: The primary interest of this national park is its flora, as it has 212 species of plants, of which 58 are endemic to the Canary Islands. One of these natural treasures is the Teide violet, which has the honour of being the highest flowering species in the whole of Spain. The park also stands out because of its volcanic landscape, and as a place for stargazing.
文化情報: The island of Tenerife is one of Spain's most important tourist destinations. Its appeal lies in the excellent climate, its beaches, the Teide, and a wide variety of cultural attractions. One of the best times to visit the islands is in February when the Carnival festivities take place. The rest of the year you can find crowded and festive pilgrimages: San Isidro, in La Orotava; San Benito; in La Laguna; and San Roque, in Garachico. Regarding the gastronomy, traditional honey extraction is an important activity in the heart of the park, in the Las Cañadas area.
許可: You will find more information about the permits you need at the following links:
Access to the Teide peak
Propuestas educativas, Recorridos por el Parque, Montañismo, Visitas guiadas
Park offices (Tenerife)
Tel.: +34 922922371
Fax.: +34 922244788
Teide National Park でできること
全ての著作権は保護されています。 Turespaña / Segittur © 2013
サイトの管理者: Sociedad Estatal para la Gestión de la Innovación y las Tecnologías Turísticas, S.A. (SEGITTUR)
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|Women’s Suffrage in the UK||Women Suffrage in the USA||Parliamentary Reform|
Elizabeth Cady Stanton
Elizabeth Cady, the daughter of Daniel Cady, a lawyer and politician, was born in Johnstown, New York, 12th November, 1815. She studied law under her father, who later became a New York Supreme Court judge. During this period she became a strong advocate of women's rights.
In 1840 Elizabeth married the lawyer, Henry Bewster Stanton. The couple both became active members of the American Anti-Slavery Society. Later that year, Stanton and Lucretia Mott, travelled to London as delegates to the World Anti-Slavery Convention. Both women were furious when they, like the British women at the convention, were refused permission to speak at the meeting. Stanton later recalled: "We resolved to hold a convention as soon as we returned home, and form a society to advocate the rights of women."
However, it was not until 1848 that Stanton and Lucretia Mott organised the Women's Rights Convention at Seneca Falls. Stanton's resolution that it was "the duty of the women of this country to secure to themselves the sacred right to the elective franchise" was passed, and this became the focus of the group's campaign over the next few years.
In 1866 Stanton, Lucretia Mott, Susan B. Anthony and Lucy Stone established the American Equal Rights Association. The following year, the organisation became active in Kansas where Negro suffrage and woman suffrage were to be decided by popular vote. However, both ideas were rejected at the polls.
In 1868 Stanton and Susan B. Anthony established the political weekly, The Revolution, and the following year the two women formed a new organisation, the National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA). The organisation condemned the Fourteenth and Fifteenth amendments as blatant injustices to women. The NWSA also advocated easier divorce and an end to discrimination in employment and pay.
Executive Committee of the National Woman Suffrage Association
Another group, the American Woman Suffrage Association (AWSA), was also active in the campaign for women's rights and by the 1880s it became clear that it was not a good idea to have two rival groups campaigning for votes for women. After several years of negotiations, the AWSA and the NWSA merged in 1890 to form the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA). Stanton was elected as NAWSA first president but was replaced by Susan B. Anthony in 1892.
Elizabeth Cady Stanton, whose autobiography, Eighty Years and More, was published in 1898, died in New York, on 26th October, 1902.
(1) Editorial, Time and Tide (9th July, 1926)
Feminism, like any other great movement, proceeds at varying paces and in varying forms in different countries. Few things are more enlightening than a study of the inter-reactions of the feminist movement in the two great English speaking peoples during the past seventy or eighty years. It is curious how closely related have been the movements on the two sides of the Atlantic. Each has continually learnt from the other. Beginning with Mary Wollstonecraft in the late 18th century, the feminist movement owed its next big impetus (in the eighteen forties and fifties) to Lucretia Mott and Susan B. Anthony, of New England. It was Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth C. Stanton who organised the first Equal Rights Convention which was held in New York in 1848; and it was Lucretia Mott who laid. down the definite proposition which American women are still struggling to implement today: 'Men and Women shall have Equal Rights throughout the United States.' A few years later Susan B. Anthony, the pioneer Suffragist, came into the American movement.
It was not till the eighteen sixties that the political feminist movement came alive in Great Britain. Dame Millicent Fawcett was even in those early days one of the leading names connected with it. The British suffragists pushed forward enthusiastically for some twenty years, but the failure to achieve success in 1885, when the third Reform Bill was passed giving the agricultural labourer the vote, seemed to take the heart out of our early suffragists, and the movement died down again. Meanwhile, in the nineties the American women were full of life and enthusiasm, winning victory after victory in State after State.'
In 1902 Susan B. Anthony came to England and stayed with Mrs. Pankhurst in Manchester. The result of that visit was far-reaching. All unwittingly the old pioneer handed back the torch to the British suffragists. 'It is unendurable,' declared Christabel Pankhurst after her departure, 'to think of another generation of women wasting their lives begging for the vote. We must not lose any more time. We must act.' Those words heralded the birth of the British militant movement. From that moment onwards British feminists went forward without pause till the outbreak of war in 1914 and when that time came (although the actual Bill was not passed until 1918) the first instalment of victory was virtually won.
Meanwhile in America by 1912 things had died down to very much the same state as the English movement has been in since 1918. Votes had been achieved in a considerable number of States, the feeling was widespread that a partial victory was good enough for the moment and that complete victory would ' come all in good time without much further trouble. And then in 1912 Alice Paul, lit by the fire of the English militant movement, returned to America - and America woke up. It took the Americans just eight years from that date to achieve complete political equality; but they were under wise leadership (Alice Paul will surely go down to history as one of the great leaders of the world), and when they did achieve political equality they did not make the mistake of supposing that that was the end. They turned back to the 'declaration of sentiments' laid down by Lucretia Mott in 1848 and they realised that political equality was only the first step on the path which they had chosen and that there could be neither halting nor relaxing their pace until they had come to the end of that path.
(2) Elizabeth Cady Stanton, speech at the Woman's Convention (25th May, 1851)
The great work before us is the education of those just coming on the stage of action. Begin with the girls of today, and in twenty years we can revolutionize this nation. The childhood of woman must be free and untrammeled. The girl must be allowed to romp and play, climb, skate, and swim; her clothing must be more like that of the boy - strong, loose-fitting garments, thick boots, etc., that she may be out at all times, and enter freely into all kinds of sports. Teach her to go alone, by night and day, if need be, on the lonely highway, or through the busy streets of the crowded metropolis. The manner in which all courage and self-reliance is educated out of the girl, her path portrayed with dangers and difficulties that never exist, is melancholy indeed. Better, far, suffer occasional insults or die outright, than live the life of a coward, or never move without a protector. The best protector any woman can have, one that will serve her at all times and in all places, is courage; this she must get by her own experience, and experience comes by exposure. Let the girl be thoroughly developed in body and soul, not modeled, like a piece of clay, after some artificial specimen of humanity, with a body like some plate in Godey's book of fashion, and a mind after the type of Father Gregory's pattern daughters, loaded down with the traditions, proprieties, and sentimentalities of generations of silly mothers and grandmothers, but left free to be, to grow, to feel, to think, to act. Development is one thing, that system of cramping, restraining, torturing,
perverting, and mystifying, called education, is quite another. We have had women enough befooled under the one system, pray let us try the other. The girl must early be impressed with the idea that she is to be "a hand, not a mouth"; a worker, and not a drone, in the great hive of human activity. Like the boy, she must be taught to look forward to a life of self-dependence, and early prepare herself for some trade or profession. Woman has relied heretofore too entirely for her support on the needle - that one-eyed demon of destruction that slays its thousands annually; that evil genius of our sex, which, in spite of all our devotion, will never make us healthy, wealthy, or wise.
Teach the girl it is no part of her life to cater to the prejudices of those around her. Make her independent of public sentiment, by showing her how worthless and rotten a thing it is. It is a settled axiom with me, after much examination and reflection, that public sentiment is false on every subject. Yet what a tyrant it is over us all, woman especially, whose very life is to please, whose highest ambition is to be approved. But once outrage this tyrant, place yourself beyond his jurisdiction, taste the joy of free thought and action, and how powerless is his rule over you! his sceptre lies broken at your feet; his very babblings of condemnation are sweet music in your ears; his darkening frown is sunshine to your heart, for they tell of your triumph and his discomfort. Think you, women thus educated would long remain the weak, dependent beings we now find them? By no means. Depend upon it, they would soon settIe for themselves this whole question of Woman's Rights. As educated capitalists and skilled laborers, they would not be long in finding their
true level in political and social life.
(3) Elizabeth Cady Stanton, speech (20th February, 1894)
The point I wish plainly to bring before you on this occasion is the individuality of each human soul - our Protestant idea, the right of individual conscience and judgment - our republican idea, individual citizenship. In discussing the rights of woman, we are to consider, first, what belongs to her as an individual, in a world other own, the arbiter other own destiny, an imaginary Robinson Crusoe with her woman Friday on a solitary island. Her rights under such circumstances are to use all her faculties for her own safety and happiness.
Secondly, if we consider her as a citizen, as a member of a great nation, she must have the same rights as all other members, according to the fundamental principles of our Government.
Thirdly, viewed as a woman, an equal factor in civilization, her rights and duties are still the same - individual happiness and development.
Fourthly, it is only the incidental relations of life, such as mother, wife, sister, daughter, which may involve some special duties and training. In the usual discussion in regard to woman's sphere, such men as Herbert Spencer, Frederick Harrison and Grant Alien uniformly subordinate her rights and duties as an individual, as a citizen, as a woman, to the necessities of these incidental relations, some of which a large class of women never assume. In discussing the sphere of man we do not decide his rights as an individual, as a citizen, as a man, by his duties as a father, a husband, a brother or a son, some of which he may never undertake. Moreover he would be better fitted for these very relations, and whatever special work he might choose to do to earn his bread, by the complete development of all his faculties as an individual. Just so with woman. The education which will fit her to discharge the duties in the largest sphere of human usefulness, will best fit her for whatever special work she may be compelled to do.
The isolation of every human soul and the necessity of self-dependence must give each individual the right to choose his own surroundings. The strongest reason for giving woman all the opportunities for higher education, for the full development of her faculties, her forces of mind and body; for giving her the most enlarged freedom of thought and action; a complete emancipation from all forms of bondage, of custom, dependence, superstition; from all the crippling influences of fear - is the solitude and personal responsibility of her own individual life. The strongest reason why we ask for woman a voice in the government under which she lives; in the religion she is asked to believe; equality in social life, where she is the chief factor; a place in the trades and professions, where she may earn her bread, is because of her birthright to self-sovereignty; because, as an individual, she must rely on herself.
To throw obstacles in the way of a complete education is like putting out the eyes; to deny the rights of property is like cutting off the hands. To refuse political equality is like robbing the ostracized of all self-respect, of credit in the market place, of recompense in the world of work, of a voice in choosing those who make and administer the law, a choice in the jury before whom they are tried, and in the judge who decides their punishment. Shakespeare's play of Titus and Andronicus contains a terrible satire on woman's position in the nineteenth century - "Rude men seized the king's daughter, cut out her tongue, cut off her hands, and then bade her go call for water and wash her hands." What a picture of woman's position! Robbed other natural rights, handicapped by law and custom at every turn, yet compelled to fight her own battles, and in the emergencies of life fall back on herself for protection.
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This Victorian churchyard has a special role in the life of what is now a culturally diverse, vibrant urban community.
- It is a quiet green space that invites appreciation of the protected wildlife.
- The memorials open a window on to local history. Buried in the churchyard are people from many different walks of life and economic status. The high percentage of children's graves, and the memorial to the Master and Matron of the Workhouse, signpost issues of public health and social welfare. Commonwealth War Graves prompt consideration of the families who lost their young men in the two World Wars. Some memorials reflect changing artistic expressions of religious faith and hope, and the mini-labyrinth, designed as a 'rest-space', makes a modern day contribution.
- The number of Religious Orders that are commemorated points to their role in welfare, educational and spiritual outreach. The central memorial to Father Benson recalls the strength of his vision in serving the needs of the people in East Oxford.
You are invited to embark on a trail through the churchyard, in virtual space and then in reality!
an educational resource supported by The Heritage Lottery Fund
You can download a copy of the entire site [18MB], for example for burning on to CD, or to use offline.
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The United States and the United Nations officially refer to Macedonia by its provisional name, "The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia," pending the outcome of UN-mediated negotiations between Macedonia and Greece.
Area: 25,713 square km. (slightly larger than Vermont).
Cities: Capital--Skopje 600,000; Tetovo, Kumanovo, Gostivar and Bitola 100,000+ (2001 est.).
Geography: Situated in the southern region of the Balkan Peninsula, Macedonia is landlocked and mountainous.
Climate: Three climatic types overlap--Mediterranean; moderately continental; and mountainous-producing hot, dry summers and cold, snowy winters.
Population: 2,022,547 (2003 census preliminary data).
Growth rate (2001 est.): 0.43%.
Ethnic groups: Macedonian 64.18%, Albanian 25.17%, Turkish 3.85%, Roma 2.66%, Serb 1.78%. (2003 census).
Religions: Eastern Orthodox 65%, Muslim 29%, Catholic 4% and others 2%.
Languages: Macedonian 70%, Albanian 21%, Turkish 3%, Serbo-Croatian 3%, and others 3%.
Education: Years compulsory--8. Literacy--94.6%.
Health (2001 est): Infant mortality rate--12.95 deaths/per 1,000 live births. Life expectancy--males 71.79 years; females 76.43 years.
Work force (824,824): Employed 561,341: services--31.3%; industry and commerce--44.9%; agriculture--23.8%
Type: Parliamentary democracy.
Constitution: Adopted November 17, 1991; effective November 20, 1991.
Independence: September 8, 1991 (from Yugoslavia).
Branches: Executive--prime minister (head of government), council of ministers (cabinet), president (head of state).
Legislative--unicameral parliament or Sobranie, 120 representatives; (120 seats; members elected by popular vote to 4-year terms from party lists based on the percentage parties gain of the overall vote in each of the six election units). Judicial--Supreme Court: Republican Judicial Council; Constitutional Court of the Republic of Macedonia; Public Prosecutor's Office; Public Attorney. Legal system is based on civil law system; judicial review of legislative acts.
Subdivisions: 123 Opstini (municipalities) plus the city of Skopje.
Suffrage: Universal at age 18.
Main political parties: Social-Democratic Union of Macedonia (SDSM); Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization-Democratic Party for Macedonian National Unity (VMRO-DPMNE); Democratic Union for Integration (DUI); Democratic Party of Albanians (DPA); Party for Democratic Prosperity (PDP); National Democratic Party (NDP); Liberal-Democratic Party (LDP); Socialist Party of Macedonia (SPM); Liberal Party (LP); Democratic Alternative (DA); Democratic Union (DU); Democratic Party of the Turks in Macedonia (DPTM); Democratic League of Bosniaks; Democratic Party of Serbs in Macedonia, United Party of Romas in Macedonia; Democratic Union of Vlachs from Macedonia; Labor-Agricultural Party of Macedonia, Socialist-Christian Party of Macedonia; Green Party of Macedonia.
GDP: $3.734 billion.
Per capita GDP: $1,835.
Real GDP growth: 0.7%.
Inflation rate: 1.8%.
Unemployment rate: 31.9%.
Trade: Significant exports--steel, textile products, coal, chromium, lead, zinc, nickel, tobacco, lamb, and wine.
Official exchange rate (2002 avg.): 64.8 Macedonian Denars =U.S.$1.
Macedonia is located in the heart of South Central Europe. It shares a border with Greece to the south, Bulgaria to the east, Serbia and Montenegro (Serbia and Kosovo) to the north, and Albania to the west. The country is 80% mountainous, rising to its highest point at Mt. Korab (peak 2,764 m).
Since the end of the Second World War, Macedonia's population has grown steadily, with the greatest increases occurring in the ethnic Albanian community. From 1953 through the time of the latest official census in 2002 (initial official results were released December 2003), the percentage of Albanians living in Macedonia rose 313%. The western part of the country, where most ethnic Albanians live, is the most heavily populated, with approximately 40% of the total population. As the population grew, more people moved into the cities in search of employment. Comparing 1948 census results to the 1994 recording, the urban population grew from 28.7% to 58.4% of the population.
Throughout its history, the present-day territory of Macedonia has been a crossroads for both traders and conquerors moving between the European Continent and Asia Minor. Each of these transiting powers left its mark upon the region, giving rise to a rich and varied cultural and historical tradition.
The ancient territory of Macedon, included, in addition to the areas of the present-day Macedonia, large parts of present-day Northern Greece and Southwestern Bulgaria. This ancient kingdom reached its height during the reign of Alexander III ("the Great"), who extended Macedon's influence over most of Asia Minor, the Levant, Egypt, Mesopotamia, Persia, and even parts of India. After Alexander's death in 323 BC, the Macedon Empire gradually declined, until it was conquered in 168 BC and made a province by the Romans in 148 BC.
After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the territory of Macedonia fell under the control of the Byzantine Empire. It was during this period (the 6th and 7th centuries) that large groups of Slavic people migrated to the Balkan region. The Serbs, Bulgarians, and Byzantines fought for control of Macedonia until the late 14th century, when the territory was again conquered, this time by the Ottoman Turks and remained under Turkish rule until 1912.
After more than four centuries of rule, Ottoman power in the region began to wane, and by the middle of the 19th century, Greece, Bulgaria, and Serbia were competing for influence in the territory. During this time, a nationalist movement emerged and grew in Macedonia. The latter half of the 19th century was marked by sporadic nationalist uprisings, culminating in the Ilinden Uprising of August 2, 1903. Macedonian revolutionaries liberated the town of Krushevo and established the short-lived Republic of Krushevo, which was put down by Ottoman forces after 10 days. Following Ottoman Turkey's defeat by the allied Balkan countries--Bulgaria, Serbia, Montenegro, and Greece--during the First Balkan War (autumn 1912), the same allies fought the Second Balkan War over the division of Macedonia. The Treaty of Bucharest (August 1913) ended this conflict by dividing the territory between Bulgaria, Greece, and Serbia. The Treaty of Versailles in 1919 sanctioned partitioning Macedonia between The Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, Bulgaria and Greece. In the wake of the First World War, Vardarian Macedonia (the present day area of Macedonia) was incorporated into the newly formed Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes.
Throughout much of the Second World War, Bulgaria and Italy occupied Macedonia. Many people joined partisan movements during this time and succeeded in liberating the region in 1944. Following the war, under Marshall Tito, Macedonia became one of the constituent republics of the new Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. During this period, Macedonian culture and language flourished.
As communism fell throughout eastern Europe in the late 20th century, Macedonia followed its other federation partners and declared its independence from Yugoslavia in late 1991. The new Macedonian Constitution took effect November 20, 1991, and called for a system of government based on a parliamentary democracy. The first democratically elected coalition government was led by Prime Minister Branko Crvenkovski of the Social Democratic Union of Macedonia (SDSM) and included the ethnic Albanian Party for Democratic Prosperity (PDP).
In November 1998 parliamentary elections, the SDSM lost its majority. A new coalition government emerged under the leadership of Prime Minister Ljubco Georgievski of the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization-Democratic Party for Macedonian National Unity (VMRO-DPMNE). The initial coalition included the ethnic Albanian Democratic Party of Albanians (DPA). Following the outbreak of an ethnic Albanian insurgency in February 2001, the government coalition was expanded in July 2001 to include the major opposition parties. This grand coalition disbanded following signing of the Ohrid Framework Agreement (August 2001), which brought an end to the fighting, and the passage of new constitutional amendments (November 2001). A coalition led by Prime Minister Georgievski, including DPA and several smaller parties, finished out the parliamentary term.
In September 2002 elections, an SDSM-led pre-election coalition won half of the 120 seats in Parliament. Branko Crvenkovski was elected Prime Minister in coalition with the ethnic Albanian Democratic Union for Integration (DUI) party and the Liberal-Democratic Party (LDP).Kiro Gligorov, the first president of an independent Macedonia, also was the first president of a former Yugoslav republic to relinquish office. His presidency ended in November 1999 after 8 years in office, in accordance with the terms of the Macedonian Constitution. Gligorov was succeeded by former Deputy Foreign Minister Boris Trajkovski (VMRO), who defeated Tito Petkovski (SDSM) in a second-round run-off election for the presidency November 14, 1999. Trajkovski's election was confirmed by a December 5 partial re-vote in 230 polling stations, which the Macedonian Supreme Court mandated due to election irregularities. Presidential elections will be held again in 2004.
Macedonia was the only republic of the former Yugoslavia whose secession in 1991 was not clouded by ethnic or other armed conflict. During the Yugoslav period, Macedonian ethnic identity again exhibited itself, in that most of Macedonia's Slavic population identified themselves as Macedonians, while several minority groups, in particular ethnic Albanians, sought to retain their own distinct political culture and language. Although interethnic tensions simmered under Yugoslav authority and during the first decade of its independence, the country avoided ethnically motivated conflict.
Ethnic minority grievances rapidly began to gain political currency in late 2000, leading many in the ethnic Albanian community in Macedonia to question their minority protection under, and participation in, the government. Tensions erupted into open hostilities in Macedonia in February 2001, when a group of ethnic Albanians near the Kosovo border carried out armed provocations that soon escalated into an insurgency. Purporting to fight for greater civil rights for ethnic Albanians in Macedonia, the group seized territory and launched attacks against government forces. Many observers ascribed other motives to the so-called National Liberation Army (NLA), including support for criminality and the assertion of political control over affected areas. The insurgency spread through northern and western Macedonia during the first half of 2001. Under international mediation, a cease-fire was brokered in July 2001.
A coalition of ruling ethnic Macedonian and ethnic Albanian political leaders, with facilitation by U.S. and European Union (EU) diplomats, negotiated and then signed the Ohrid Framework Agreement in August 2001. The agreement called for implementation of constitutional and legislative changes, which lay the foundation for improved civil rights for minority groups. The Macedonian Parliament adopted the constitutional changes outlined in the accord in November 2001. Efforts are currently underway to implement remaining provisions in the Framework Agreement with international assistance.
GOVERNMENT AND POLITICAL CONDITIONS
The unicameral assembly (Sobranie) consists of 120 seats. Members are elected by popular vote from party lists, based on the percentage parties gain of the overall vote in each of six election districts of 20 seats each. Members of parliament have 4-year mandate.
General parliamentary elections were last held on September 15, 2002. Both local and presidential elections will be held in late 2004
The prime minister is the head of government and is selected by the party or coalition that gains a majority of seats in Parliament. The prime minister and other ministers must not be members of Parliament.
The president represents Macedonia at home and abroad. He is the commander in chief of the armed forces of Macedonia and heads its Security Council. The president is elected by general, direct ballot and has a term of 5 years, with the right to one re-election.
The court system consists of a Supreme Court, Constitutional Court, and local and appeals courts. A Republican Judicial Council, composed of 7 members elected by Parliament for a period of 6 years with right to one re-election, governs the ethical conduct of judges, and recommends to Parliament the election of judges. The Supreme Court, responsible for the equal administration of laws by all courts, is the highest court in the country. Its judges are appointed by Parliament without time limit. The Constitutional Court is responsible for the protection of constitutional and legal rights and for resolving conflicts of power between the three branches of government. Its nine judges are appointed by Parliament with a mandate of 9 years, without the possibility of re-election. An independent Public Prosecutor is appointed by Parliament with a 6-year mandate.
Principal Government Officials
President--Boris Trajkovski Prime Minister--Branko Crvenkovski Deputy Prime Minister (EU Integration)--Radmila Sekerinska Deputy Prime Minister (Economy) and Finance Minister--Nikola Popovski Deputy Prime Minister (Decentralization and Equal Representation)--Musa Xhaferi Foreign Minister--Ilinka Mitreva Defense Minister--Vlado Buckovski Economy Minister--Stevce Jakimovski Interior Minister--Hari Kostov Justice Minister--Ixhet Memeti Ambassador to the United States--Nikola Dimitrov Ambassador to the United Nations--Vacant
Macedonia is a small economy with a gross domestic product (GDP) of U.S.$ 3.7 billion representing about 0.01% of the total world output. It also is an open economy, highly integrated in international trade, with a total trade-to-GDP ratio of 81.3%. Agriculture and industry have been the two most important sectors of the economy, although both sectors provide only a limited number of high-quality finished products. Like most transition economies, problems persist, even as Macedonia takes steps toward reform. A largely obsolete industrial infrastructure has not seen much investment during the transition period. Work force education and skills are competitive, but without adequate jobs, many with the best skills seek employment abroad. A low standard of living and high unemployment rates prompt occasional social unrest. Five years of continuous economic expansion in Macedonia was interrupted by the 2001 conflict, which led to a contraction of 4.5% in 2001, despite the government being able to hold inflation at a stable average 5.3%. In 2002, the economy struggled to recover, posting only 0.7% growth. The external debt -to-GDP ratio end 2002 was 38.8%. The economy still has not been able to fully recover to its pre-2001 crisis level. In 2003, growth is projected at 2.75%. The United States is supporting Macedonia's transition to a democratic, secure, market-oriented society with substantial amounts of assistance.
After the breakup of Yugoslavia in 1991, Macedonia, the former Yugoslavia's poorest republic, faced formidable economic challenges posed by both the transition to a market economy and a difficult regional situation. The breakup deprived Macedonia of key protected markets and large transfer payments from the central Yugoslav government. The war in nearby Bosnia, international sanctions on Serbia, and the neighboring Kosovo crisis in 1999 delivered successive shocks to Macedonia's trade-dependent economy. The government's painful but necessary structural reforms and macroeconomic stabilization program generated additional economic dislocation. Macedonia was especially hurt by the Greek trade embargo, imposed in February 1994 in a dispute over the country's name, flag, and Constitution, and by international trade sanctions against Serbia that were not suspended until a month after conclusion of the Dayton Accords. As a result of these two border closures, 1995 GDP declined to 41% of its 1989 level.
Coincident to these problems, the country pursued an ambitious stabilization and reform program after independence. Despite external factors, the program yielded positive results through 1998 and won praise from the IMF and the World Bank. A robust financial austerity program stabilized the Macedonian denar and reduced the fiscal deficit. Inflation remained low for several years and was on average slightly negative in 1998 and 1999. Though economic growth suffered in the country's first 5 years of independence, a modest recovery was in progress (1998=3.4% growth) until the Kosovo crisis.
Macedonia proved the most economically vulnerable of regional neighbors to the 1999 Kosovo conflict's spillovers. At the crisis' height, Macedonia sheltered more than 350,000 Kosovar refugees, straining fiscal accounts and increasing social pressures. Per capita foreign direct investment (FDI), already the lowest in the region, worsened as investors lost confidence. With unemployment around 33%, the crisis exacerbated economic privation. Before the Kosovo crisis, up to 70% of the country's economy had been dependent on inputs from, exports to, or transport through the then-Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY). At the height of the crisis, total exports had fallen to about 75% of the 1998 level. Exports to the FRY were down by about 80%. Exports which had previously transited the FRY (one-half of total exports) were hurt, as alternative transit routes through Bulgaria, Romania, and Greece increased transportation costs and delivery times, making Macedonian products less competitive. Export-processing contracts with other countries suffered cancellations over concerns about delivery risks.
Despite the impact of the Kosovo crisis on Macedonia's economy, marketing efforts were reoriented, new markets were identified and exploited, and the Kosovo market reopened in mid-summer 1999. A May 1999 international donors conference projected contraction of Macedonia's economy of around 5%--a swing of 10 percentage points from pre-conflict projections of 5% growth. However, these projections assumed the Kosovo conflict would continue through the end of the year. Early termination of the conflict in June led to an economic rebound and growth of around 2.7% in real terms for 1999.
Macedonia rescheduled its Paris Club debt in 1995, and again in early 1999, including $93 million of debt, interest, and arrears to the United States. The Kosovo crisis led to an appeal to have debt forgiven or deferred. A Paris Club agreement to defer Macedonian debt service ran out April 2000. Paris Club creditors agreed that repayment terms for amounts deferred during the Kosovo crisis would be set at 5 years, with one year as grace.
At the beginning of 2001, Macedonia's economic situation appeared to be improving, with visible signs of increased activity and dynamism, but with the start of the ethnic Albanian insurgency in Macedonia, the country's solid macroeconomic performance in 2000 and the beginning of 2001 began to slide and remained substantially depressed in 2001. Real GDP declined by 4.5% in 2001, as output deteriorated in most sectors. Inflation averaged 5.5% instead of the initially projected 2.2%. Current account deficit in the balance of payments was around 10.1% of GDP, down from an expected surplus of 1%, while the central government budget deficit reached 5.8%. From January through September 2001 the country lost around U.S.$200 million of its foreign currency reserves defending the targeted level of the Denar against the German Mark. Foreign direct investments, credits, grants, and donations declined when the insurgency began, and the Macedonia's IMF program went off-track. The IMF and the Government of Macedonia agreed to a 6-month staff-monitored program, beginning January 1, 2002, but government decisions to reimburse depositors of the 1997 failed pyramid scheme and the general wage bill increase in public administration were seen as a threat to a viable budget expenditures policy, posing an obstacle to continuation of the staff-monitoring program and negotiations on a stand-by arrangement. Discussions between the IMF and the new government on a new agreement resumed in November 2002, and a new stand-by arrangement was signed in February 2003 and approved April 30.
The impact of the 2001 crisis, lower international demand for Macedonian products, canceled contracts in the textile and iron and steel industry, as well as the drought in 2001 affected Macedonia's growth prospects and foreign trade in 2002. Although Macedonia had been scheduled to graduate from IDA financing in 2001, the World Bank provided U.S.$15 million in emergency economic assistance to finance critical imports for the private sector. Real GDP in 2002 grew by 0.3% on annual basis in spite of subdued inflation. The Consumer Price Index- based inflation in 2002 was 1.8%. Declining industrial output adversely affected foreign trade, with exports dropping by 3.7% and imports rising by 16.3%, resulting in a trade deficit of 23% of GDP. The current account deficit in 2002 was 8.8% of GDP. An international donors conference, organized by the World Bank and the European Commission, was held March 12, 2002, in Brussels, at which donors pledged $275 million to assist in covering the projected budget gap, implementing Framework Agreement reforms, and re-energizing the Macedonian economy. Donors also pledged an additional $244 million for general economic development in 2002, outside of the pledge categories defined by the World Bank and European Commission.
Currently, Macedonia is undertaking substantial reforms in its economic and political systems, with the goal of boosting economic growth and attracting increased levels of foreign investment. Macedonia passed a progressive companies law in July 2002, which should ease impediments to foreign investment, along with tax and investment incentives. Though concerns stemming from the 2001 conflict linger, the internationally mediated Framework Agreement is being implemented, and Macedonia's political and security situation has stabilized, allowing the government to refocus energies on domestic reforms. The Macedonian Government's two main economic policy goals remain to reduce poverty and to increase employment. It also has pledged to undertake measures to strengthen fiscal discipline and to reduce the high interest rates. Developing the Small and Medium-Size Enterprise (SME) sector also is high on the government's list of priorities. Macedonia is committed to pursuing membership in European and global economic structures. It was officially accepted as a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) on October 15, 2002. Parliament ratified the agreement in January 2003, clearing the way for Macedonia to become a full member in March 2003. Following a 1997 cooperation agreement with the European Union (EU), Macedonia signed a Stabilization and Association Agreement with the EU in April 2001, giving Macedonia duty-free access to European markets.
Macedonia's foreign trade balance has been in deficit since 1994, reaching U.S.$ 849.4 million in 2002. Total 2002 trade was U.S.$3.07 billion, or 82.3% of GDP-- imports plus exports of goods and services. Macedonia's major trading partners are Serbia and Montenegro, Germany, and Greece. The United States is Macedonia's seventh-largest trading partner. In 2002, U.S.-Macedonia trade totaled U.S.$ 91.8 million (goods only). According to Macedonian trade data, U.S. exports accounted for 3.6% of Macedonia's total imports. U.S. meat (mainly poultry), and electrical machinery have been particularly attractive to Macedonian importers. Principal Macedonian exports to the United States are tobacco, apparel, footwear, and iron and steel.
Macedonia has signed Free Trade Agreements with Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and Montenegro, Bulgaria, Croatia, Ukraine, Slovenia, Turkey, and the European Free Trade Association countries.
Macedonia established its armed forces following independence and the complete withdrawal of the Yugoslav National Army (JNA) in March 1992. The Macedonian Armed Forces consist of an army, navy, air and air defense force, and a police force (under the Ministry of Interior). Under its North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Membership Action Plan, Macedonia has launched a major effort to reform and reconstruct its armed forces with the goal of building and sustaining a modern, professional defense force of about 12,000 troops.
Since its independence in 1991, Macedonia has worked toward increased ties with the transatlantic community. Despite the fragile political, economic, and military situation in the region over the past decade, Macedonia has provided consistent support for NATO. Macedonia is engaged in military, economic, and political reforms to enhance its security and NATO candidacy, although the security crisis of 2001 represented a setback to those efforts. The Government of Macedonia plans to assume greater responsibility for its share of ensuring the security of the region without reliance on an international military presence. Successive Macedonian governments have viewed integration into Euro-Atlantic political, economic, and security institutions as its primary foreign policy goal. In pursuit of these goals, Macedonia is restructuring its military to be smaller, more affordable, defensively oriented, and interoperable with NATO. The Macedonian Government has welcomed close cooperation with the U.S. military and seeks to deepen this relationship as it restructures its forces.
The UN Preventive Deployment Force (UNPREDEP) in Macedonia patrolled the borders with Serbia and Albania from 1992 to November 1998, enhancing Macedonian stability. In early December 1998, the Macedonian Government approved local basing of the NATO Extraction Force (XFOR) and the Kosovo Verification Coordination Cell (KVCC), in anticipation of a political resolution of the Kosovo crisis, also contributing to Macedonia's safety and stability. Prior to the bombing campaign in Yugoslavia in March 1999, the number of NATO troops in Macedonia peaked at 17,000.
In the wake of the 2001 insurgency in Macedonia, at the government's request, NATO deployed Task Forces "Essential Harvest," then "Amber Fox," and later "Allied Harmony" in Macedonia. NATO deployed a series of Task Forces--"Essential Harvest," "Amber Fox," and "Allied Harmony" in Macedonia in confidence-building tasks and protection for OSCE monitors in the former conflict area. Task Force Harvest collected more than 4,000 weapons from the National Liberation Army (NLA) in a confidence-building effort to restore stability within Macedonia. "Amber Fox" (June through December 2002) and its smaller successor "Allied Harmony" (January to March 2003) worked with Macedonian security forces to ensure the safety of international monitors overseeing Framework Agreement implementation in Macedonia. On March 31, 2003, the EU (EUFOR) took over this role from NATO with the launch of "Operation Concordia," scheduled to end December 15, 2003. At the Macedonian Government's request, the EU will establish a Police Mission in Macedonia in December 2003 to advise the country's police.
Macedonia continues to play an indispensable role as the Kosovo Force's (KFOR) rear area, hosting the logistical supply line for KFOR troops in Kosovo. As part of these efforts, Macedonia hosts about 150 NATO troops, including U.S. troops, in support of NATO operations in Kosovo and assisting Macedonia's efforts to reform its military to meet NATO standards. Due to improvements in the security situation and U.S. KFOR drawdowns in Kosovo, the United States closed its Camp Able Sentry base in Macedonia in December 2002. Close U.S.-Macedonian bilateral defense cooperation continues.
In February 1994, Greece imposed a trade embargo on Macedonia due to disputes over the use of the name "Macedonia" and other issues. Greece and Macedonia signed an interim accord in October 1995 ending the embargo and opening the way to diplomatic recognition and increased trade. After signing the agreement with Greece, Macedonia joined the Council of Europe, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), and the Partnership for Peace (PfP). Athens and Skopje began talks on the name issue in New York under UN auspices in December 1995, opening liaison offices in respective capitals January 1996. These talks continue.
The stability of the young state was gravely tested during the 1999 Kosovo crisis, when Macedonia temporarily hosted about 360,000 refugees from the violence and ethnic cleansing in Kosovo, as Serb atrocities against Kosovar Albanians and other minority groups caused a mass exodus. The refugee influx put significant stress on Macedonia's weak social infrastructure. With the help of NATO and the international community, Macedonia ultimately was able to accommodate the influx. Following the resolution of the conflict, the overwhelming majority of refugees returned to Kosovo. The Macedonian Government demonstrated a strong commitment to regional stability as an essential partner during the Kosovo crisis.
In addition to improving relations with its neighbors, Macedonia has made strides toward European and international integration, especially with the EU and NATO. Macedonia is an active participant in NATO's Partnership for Peace and Membership Action Plan, the OSCE, and United Nations, and was accepted as a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in October 2002. In 1999, the EU agreed to develop a Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) with Macedonia; negotiations with Macedonia were launched April 5, 2000, and the SAA was signed April 2001. Pending the SAA' final ratification, its trade and trade-related provisions are in force as of June 2001. For Macedonia to successfully integrate within the global arena, continued efforts to strengthen its multi-ethnic civil society institutions, develop measures to promote economic growth and investment, and to foster strong indigenous non-governmental organizations are necessary.
The United States and Macedonia have enjoyed good bilateral relations since Macedonia gained its independence in 1991. The United States formally recognized the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia on February 8, 1994, and the two countries established full diplomatic relations on September 13, 1995. The U.S. Liaison Office was upgraded to an embassy in February 1996, and the first U.S. Ambassador to Skopje arrived in July 1996. The development of political relations between the United States and Macedonia has ushered in a whole host of other contacts between the two states.
During the 1999 Kosovo crisis, Macedonia played a key role in facilitating U.S. and international efforts in the region by accepting hundreds of thousands of refugees, served as a launching pad for allied military efforts, and functioned as the long-term conduit for humanitarian assistance programs and military logistics for Kosovo. The United States, together with its European Allies strongly condemned the initiators of the 2001 insurgency in Macedonia and closely supported the government and major parties' successful efforts to forge a peaceful, political solution to the crisis through the Ohrid Framework Agreement. In partnership with the EU and other international organizations active in Macedonia, the United States remains focused on facilitating the Macedonian Government's implementation of the Framework Agreement and fostering long-term peace and stability in the country. Macedonia continues to make an important contribution to regional stability by facilitating the logistical supply of NATO (including U.S.) peacekeepers in Kosovo.
Today, Macedonia and the United States enjoy a cooperative relationship across a broad range of political, economic, cultural, military, and social issues. The United States supports Macedonia's aspirations to build a democratically secure and market-oriented society, and has donated large amounts of foreign assistance for military reform, democracy and economic reform, and humanitarian relief efforts. The United States pledged $6 million in debt relief and $22 million in Economic Support Funds to Macedonia in 1999 to help offset the strains of the Kosovo crisis. The United States provided an estimated $35 million to Macedonia to help host communities cope with refugee inflows. In addition, the United States helped reduce the refugee impact on Macedonia by resettling in the United States more than 13,000 persons through the Humanitarian Evacuation Program. Bilateral assistance provided to Macedonia under the Southeast Europe Economic Development (SEED) ACT totaled over $328 million from 1990 to 2002, including budget support and other assistance to help Macedonia recover from the 2001 crisis. Macedonia received $50 million in SEED funding in 2003.
USAID's development program in Macedonia targets four goals: accelerating economic growth and private sector development; strengthening democratic institutions; mitigating adverse impacts of market economic transition; and supporting cross-cutting and special initiatives. USAID provides assistance to Macedonian enterprises through a business resource center, credit and equity mechanisms, trade and investment facilitation, and other programs. In 2002 a competitiveness initiative identified constraints to economic growth. USAID legal advisers help to reform taxation, banking, bankruptcy, and monopoly regulations and assisted with Macedonia's accession to the WTO. Programs help to build the capacity of municipal governments to better serve the public and to advance the decentralization of power to municipalities under the Framework Agreement.
USAID assistance helps to strengthen Macedonia's NGO networks, bolster media professionalism, further legal system reforms, and increase public confidence and participation in the democratic process and institutions. Activities address the quality of education and work force development, through support for the private, accredited South East Europe University and primary and secondary education reforms to meet employer needs and market requirement in the 21st century. USAID efforts encourage job creation--especially for youth, expand markets for Macedonian artisans, and improve cooperation between municipalities and the private sector. USAID also is addressing cross-cutting issues such as ethnic cooperation, gender-based problems and disparities, youth, corruption, HIV/AIDS,and conflict mitigation. Through a small grants program, USAID's Office of Transition Initiatives is helping to mitigate conflict and strengthen relations between diverse groups of peoples by bringing them together to identify and address common needs.
Principal U.S. Officials
Deputy Chief of Mission--Eleanor Nagy
Political Affairs--Drew Blakeney
Economic/Commercial Affairs--Victor Myev
Administrative Affairs--Sarah Solberg
Public Affairs--Deborah Jones
Defense Attach�--Col.James Beirne
The U.S. Embassy in Macedonia is located at Bul. Ilinden bb, 91000 Skopje; tel: (2) 311-6180; Fax: (2) 311-7103.
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This statistic shows the growth of the real gross domestic product (GDP) in Spain from 2003 to 2013. GDP refers to the total market value of all goods and services that are produced within a country per year. It is an important indicator of the economic strength of a country. Real GDP is adjusted for price changes and is therefore regarded as a key indicator for economic growth. Spain's real GDP growth in 2011 was about 0.4 percent compared to the previous year.
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Not far from the familiar starry figure of Orion the Hunter are the two star clusters of Taurus the Bull: the Hyades and the Pleiades. The Hyades cluster is punctuated by the bright red star Aldebaran, the eye of the Bull. The fainter Pleiades cluster, or Seven Sisters, is twice as far from us as the Hyades and sometimes is mistaken for the Little Dipper.
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Stars are born in clusters — families of dozens to hundreds of stars that share the same age and chemical makeup — but they don’t remain in clusters their whole lives. Like fledgling birds, stars eventually leave the nest in which they were born to roam the galaxy alone.
There are hundreds of star clusters that populate our Milky Way galaxy, many of which are visible from Earth to unaided human eyes. Most appear as faint, fuzzy smudges in the night sky because of their great distance from us, but there are two clusters close enough to allow us to see their brightest members as individual suns.
On cold, crisp November evenings, you can spot these two magnificent star clusters in our constellation of Taurus the Bull. They are the Hyades (high-a-deez) and the Pleiades (plee-a-deez) star clusters. The Hyades cluster forms the familiar V-shaped face of Taurus, with the bright orange star Aldebaran as one of his glaring red eyes. Aldebaran itself is not a member of the Hyades but is superimposed on the cluster as a foreground star, only half as far away. At a distance of 153 light years, the Hyades cluster is the closest star cluster to our solar system.
Leading the Hyades westward across the sky is Taurus’ second star cluster, the Pleiades, marking the Bull’s shoulder. Also known as the Seven Sisters, the Pleiades star cluster lies nearly twice as far from us as the Hyades cluster, so it appears much smaller in size, but its importance to the sky-watchers of the past cannot be overstated. The star Aldebaran received its name from the Arabic words that mean “The Follower” because it rises just behind the Pleiades and obediently follows them across the heavens.
The Hyades and Pleiades star clusters are steeped in ancient legend and have been pondered and ogled by curious eyes since antiquity. Here’s a sample of the star lore surrounding these two clusters.
Hyas was the son of a Titan named Atlas. His seven half-sisters by a different mother were the Hyades, a name that means “the rainy ones.” Hyas grew into a renowned archer and hunter but one day wound up being killed by his prey — a wild boar. His sisters were so overcome with grief that they wept themselves to death. Zeus, the king of the Greek gods, immortalized the sisters by placing them among the stars as the Hyades star cluster. During the rainy season of April and May, the Hyades are not seen because they are too close to the sun in our daytime sky. The Greeks considered the springtime rains as the never-ending tears of the Hyades, grieving for their fallen brother.
The Pleiades were the seven half-sisters of the Hyades by yet a different mother. After Atlas and the Titans were defeated by Zeus and the Olympians in the great war for control of the universe, Atlas’ punishment was to toil for eternity, holding up the sky. Unable to look after his daughters, Atlas had to watch helplessly as the brute Orion relentlessly pursued the seven beautiful Pleiades. Zeus took pity on them and first changed them into doves so that they might escape Orion’s advances before finally changing them into the seven twinkling stars of the Pleiades star cluster, just out of Orion’s reach. He placed them in the heavens beside their grieving half-sisters, the Hyades.
Look for the Hyades and Pleiades star clusters high in the eastern sky at about 9 p.m. in late November. The three stars of Orion’s Belt point upward to them like an arrow. The dazzling planet Jupiter shines nearby both clusters this fall and winter. Aim your binoculars at the clusters to see dozens of fainter stars.
Professor Jimmy Westlake teaches astronomy and physics at Colorado Mountain College’s Alpine Campus. Check out Westlake’s astrophotography website at www.jwestlake.com.
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Unity & Uniformity
We often confuse unity with uniformity. In reality it is the spirit of unity which creates uniformity for the sake of its beauty and the protection it gives. Throughout all ages both have existed: unity as the inner nature of every soul and the only purpose of life, and uniformity to help to fulfill that purpose. Unity is the goal and uniformity the means to reach that goal, but often the means has obscured the purpose. All through the ages the different religions which have been given to man for his spiritual development with the sole idea of unity, have gradually become a kind of community or nationality. Many people who belong to a Church accept its dogmas, claim a certain name for their religion, and consider all other children of God as separate; by doing so they lose the very seed of wisdom for whose development that religion was given. This error has existed from the beginning, so that instead of touching the true spirit, people have lost reality by seeking a false objective.
Religious differences have caused endless wars and disasters for the human race. The reason of this is that the spirit of unity has not been recognized, while undue regard has been paid to uniformity. In the present age, when the spirit of religion is at its lowest ebb and only the uniformity remains, divisions of classes and discords of all kinds spring up; one party, one class against another, the spirit of rivalry, jealousy, and destruction everywhere. The effect of this has been to keep man away from the consciousness of God. Very few indeed recognize Him; all humanity is labouring under a great unrest; and yet man thinks he is progressing while all the time he only progresses towards still greater unrest.
There can never be true progress when nations and kingdoms and peoples are divided; for when the races are divided then subdivisions come, and classes and parties also become divided. The same spirit of destruction is at work all the time, and even families become separated. Unity seems to be rooted out from the hearts of men. Examples are not necessary; those who will notice it can see this state of humanity, this condition of life, all over the world.
When we seek a reason for this we find a right principle wrongly worked out. Uniformity is not a fault, indeed it is a great virtue; there is nothing wrong, for instance, in a uniform desire to help, to give service in time of need; but when the God-ideal is removed then it remains as a body without a soul, a corpse, and in the end it decays and causes foulness. However alive and prosperous the world may seem, life belongs only to the living, and when the living being is forgotten it is like a light under a bushel. Man becomes so absorbed in the pursuit of money that he becomes intoxicated and regardless of the harmony and happiness of others, and even of the harmony of his own being; and then he causes destruction. We have only to think of the wars humanity has gone through, and of this latest horror, to see the truth. It all proves that progress is in the wrong direction, and that everywhere unity is lacking. The scriptures given to the Jews, the Muslims, Parsis, Hindus, Buddhists, all have as their central truth the message of unity, but man has been so interested and absorbed in the poetry of these scriptures that he has forgotten their inner voice.
If only we would recognize the inner voice, we would see that the different scriptures all contain words spoken by one and the same voice. Some hear the voice, others only hear the words, just as in nature some see only the branches and others the roots of the tree; but all these different scriptures and ways of worship and of contemplating God are given for one purpose: the realization of unity. In unity reside the happiness and illumination of man, and his guidance in life. We all know unity by name, but most of us think of it as uniformity. The Vedanta for thousands of years in all its prayers and mantrams voiced this central theme: unity, the oneness of all. The Qur'an with all its warnings expresses in one essential sura the Being of God: that not only in the unseen, but in all that is seen there is one underlying current; and the Bible says that we live and move and have our being in God.
Of all the millions of believers in God perhaps only one makes God a reality, and that is because the picture man makes of God is as limited as himself. The knowledge of God is beyond man's reason. Man only perceives things he is capable of perceiving. He cannot raise his imagination above what he is used to, and he cannot reach beyond his imagination to where the being of God is. The secret of God is hidden in the knowledge of unity. Man thinks, 'what can unity give me? Can it bring me happiness? What is there in it?' He can get the answer by observing and studying life more closely. See what an atmosphere the harmony of ten people can create; the power of love and the influence created by ten people is much greater than that created by one. Think then what would be the blessing for humanity if nations, races and communities were united!
No doubt uniformity can teach the lesson of unity, but its purpose must not be for worldly gain; then it is destructive. The wise in all ages have dived deep into life in order to attain unity in themselves, and in order to spread unity. In the life of the world every man has some complaint to make, he lacks something, he is troubled by something; but this is only the external reason, the real truth is that he is not in unity with his own soul, for when there is disharmony in ourselves how can we spread harmony? When mind and body are at war the soul wants something else, and soul and mind are pulled by the body, or the body and mind by the soul; and so there is disharmony. When a man is in harmony with himself, he is in harmony with all; he produces harmony and gives harmony to all, he gives it out all the time.
This is a question that can be answered by understanding our relationship with God. The innermost being of man is the real being of God; man is always linked with God. If he could only realize it, it is by finding harmony in his own soul that he finds communion with God. All meditation and contemplation are taught with this purpose: to harmonize one's innermost being with God, so that He is seeing, hearing, thinking through us, and our being is a ray of His light; in that way we are even closer to God than the fishes are to the ocean in which they have their being. It is mostly interest in worldly things that unites one man with another in order that they can make more profit. How great would be this power if man would unite in true brotherhood! As long as this teaching is hidden under a bushel the methods of uniformity cannot be beneficial; they have no life. The world, in spite of any success it may seem to have today, is suffering from the wrong application of a right principle.
True life cannot be ours until unity is achieved. It is the work of religion to promote the spirit of unity, in the knowledge and love of God to whom all devotion belongs. Man often seeks for psychic, occult, and magnetic powers. This is not the purpose of religion; these developments come of themselves. Where there is life and love, there is magnetism; love itself is the healing power and the remedy for all pain. All occult powers belong to the divine life, but man should live a natural life and realize the nature of God. The only studies which are worth accomplishing are those which lead to the realization of God, and of unity first with God and then with the self, and so with all. It is not necessary for us to be told that we have progressed; we ourselves will know when our heart goes forward; and by loving, forgiving, and serving, our whole life becomes one single vision of the sublime beauty of God.
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Type of Surgery
Last updated: 02/17/2009
Pallidotomy improves the motor ability of patients, especially during "off" periods. Studies show the procedure generally improves tremor, rigidity, and slowed movements by 25–60%. Dyskinesias typically improve by 75% or more. Improvements from unilateral...
pallidotomy are primarily on the side opposite the surgery. Balance does not improve, nor do non-motor symptoms such as drooling, constipation, and orthostatic hypotension (lightheadness on standing).
Pallidotomy is a procedure where a tiny electrical probe is placed in the globus pallidus (one of the basal ganglia of the brain), which is then heated to 80 degrees celsius for 60 s, to destroy a small area of brain cells. Pallidotomy is used to treat dyskinesias in patients with Parkinson's disease.
On neurosurgery it is important to have new types of procedures, like stereotactic radiosurgery that is a newer type of focused radiation that has been used with some success for patients with metastatic brain tumors
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Key Stage 1 (5 - 7 yrs)
At Key Stage 1, drama is incorporated into many different areas of the curriculum and taught by the class teacher. Drama can provide an opportunity for success irrespective of academic ability and can lead to the development of confident, articulate and well-rounded children.
The drama curriculum has five main components:
- Language and literacy
- Theatre skills
- Personal and social development
- Participation in examination syllabus from both the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art and the English Speaking Board
- Performance evaluation
Performance is a vital part of any drama curriculum and provides a real purpose for much of the work the children do. All children are given the opportunity to perform in staged productions in front of an audience and also on a smaller scale in front of their peers. Year 1 produce a show in the Lent term and Year 2 produce a show in the Summer term. These productions involve all of the children as do the Christmas nativity plays.
Years 2 also participate in formal Speech examinations with the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art once each year.
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Imaging and radiology
Radiology is a branch of medicine that uses imaging technology to diagnose and treat disease.
Radiology may be divided into two different areas, diagnostic radiology and interventional radiology. The field of therapeutic radiology, which uses x-rays to treat cancer, is now called radiation oncology.
Doctors who specialize in radiology are called radiologists.
Interventional radiology; Diagnostic radiology; X-ray imaging
Diagnostic radiology helps health care professionals see structures inside your body. Using these images, the radiologist or other physicians can often:
- Diagnose the cause of your symptoms
- Monitor how well your body is responding to a treatment you are receiving for your disease or condition
- Screen for different illnesses, such as breast cancer or heart disease
The most common types of diagnostic radiology include:
- Computed tomography (CT), also know as a CAT scan (computerized axial tomography)
- CT angiography
- Fluoroscopy with scanning, including upper GI and barium enema
- Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
- Magnetic resonance angiography (MRA)
- Nuclear medicine, which includes such tests as a bone scan, thyroid scan, and thallium cardiac stress test
- Plain x-rays
- Positron emission tomography, also called PET imaging or a PET scan
Interventional radiology uses imaging to help guide the doctor when inserting catheters, wires, and other small instruments and tools into your body.
Doctors can use this technology to diagnose or treat conditions in almost any part of the body, instead of needing to directly look inside of your body through a scope (camera) or surgery.
Some of these conditions include cancers or tumors, blockages in your arteries and veins, fibroids in the uterus, back pain, gallstones and gallbladder problems, and thyroid disorders.
The doctor will make no incision (cut) or only a very small one. You rarely need to stay in the hospital afterwards. Most patients need either conscious sedation (medicines to help you relax) or spinal or epidural anesthesia.
Radiologists who perform these types of procedure receive 1 or 2 extra years of training after they have finished medical school and basic training in radiology.
Examples of interventional radiology procedures include:
- Angiography or angioplasty and stent placement
- Catheter embolization
- Vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty
- Needle biopsies of different organs, such as the lungs and thyroid
- Radiofrequency ablation
- Breast biopsy, guided either by stereotactic or ultrasound techniques
- Uterine artery embolization
- Feeding tube placement
- Injecting cancer treatments at the site of the tumor
Reviewed By: Ken Levin, MD, Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Good Shepard Hospital, Allentown PA. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M. Health Solutions, Ebix, Inc.
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The Wakhan Valley (also pronounced Vakhan) is a majestic alpine valley in the Badakhshan region of Afghanistan and Tajikistan (the "Wakhan Corridor" refers to the part of the valley in Afghanistan). It is located in the Pamir Mountains in Central Asia. Its upper reaches consist of two wide, hilly plains surrounded by alpine peaks, beginning near the Chinese border in one of the most remote regions of the world. Further down, where the Pamir and Wakhan rivers join to form the Pyanj River, the valley narrows, finally becoming a severe canyon with roaring river rapids at its end in Ishkashem. Its muddy rivers are fed by water from huge glaciers on some of the highest mountains on the planet, fantastic views of which are visible throughout the area.
Regions of Tajikistan
High peaks on the Pakistani side include Tirich Mir (7,690 m), and Nushak (7,455 m) to the south; and Karl Marx (6,723 m) and Engels (6,507 m) in the north. Access to the valley on the Tajik side is from the Pamir Highway, either from the northeast at Alichur, or from the west at Khorog. Several very high and rough trails lead from the Shokhdara Valley across the mountains as well. It theoretically is possible to travel from the Chinese border from Shaimak along pristine Lake Zorkul (the headwaters of the Pamir River); however this area is a strictly controlled nature preserve (Zapovednik) and requires a special permit to transit.
Politically, the valley is divided among three nations; areas north of the Pyanj River belong to Tajikistan (GBAO); the land south of the Pyanj to the mountain ridges is part of Afghanistan; and the very high mountains to the south are located in Pakistan. The Wakhan Corridor (the part of the valley belonging to Afghanistan) was created at the end of 19th century by the British Empire, to act as a buffer against potential Russian ambitions in India during the "Great Game". The peoples on either side of the river speak a similar language and have a shared history; however, the Imperial and Soviet periods in the north and Islamicization of Afghanistan have created a wide cultural gap that is readily apparent.
While traveling on the road in the north of the country, one may view right across the valley caravans of camels, led by bearded, armed men in traditional Afghan dress; Tajiks on the other are Western in appearance and only soldiers on patrol may carry weapons. This part of Tajikistan is heavily patrolled by the military, with army posts every few kilometers. Armed soldiers walk the roads, protecting the area from militants and drug smugglers. The region was strategic even in ancient times; many armies conquered the area and left fortifications all along the valley, whose ruins still can be seen. There are in fact countless artifacts, ruins, petroglyphs, murals, and Islamic and Buddhist sites scattered all over the valley. These include the fortress of Ratm (Kushan period), which guards the junction of the Pamir and Wakhan Rivers; the fortress of Kaahka (3rd c. BC - 7th c. AD), which stands high on a rock in the centre of the valley; and the fortress known as Zamri Otashparast ("Castle of Fire Worshippers", 3rd c. BC) near Yamchun, set in a completely unassailable spot in a cliff, protected by two deep river canyons; and the large 4th-7th c. Buddhist complex discovered near Vrang.
A chain of small, quaint, tidy villages dot the bottom of the valley, each located at a spot where a cascade of fresh water comes gushing out of the steep ridge. The Pamiri people are masters of terrace building and hydro-engineering. Their houses are cleverly arranged on terraces on the hillsides, so as to make use of the maze of canals and channels, pipes and pools which run everywhere; none of the precious water is wasted. Ancient water-powered grain mills are arranged on the largest channels, providing the locals with flour from their small wheat crops. The terraces are constructed of extensive rock walls and stairs, and well-kept thatch fences and hand-carved gates complete the picturesque landscape.
The bottom of the valley is intensively farmed in irrigated areas, with wheat, corn and vegetables most common. Most plowing is done using donkeys and oxen and harvesting is done by hand. Large fruit and nut trees dominate the villages, and in fall abundant amounts of walnuts, apples, apricots, grapes and other delicious treats are available. Though surrounded by extreme high altitude areas with permanent snow cover, the valley actually has a very moderate climate, with temperatures in winter People in the area are incredibly warm and hospitable, always greeting strangers with a bow and a hand over the heart. Visitors are always welcome to stay in local homes, and invitations to tea are standard practice. Visitors should not miss the chance to stay in a unique, traditional Pamiri house! The most astonishingly beautiful of these villages are Lyangar, one of the farthest settlements on the Tajik side of the valley, where a large gallery of petroglyphs is located; Zong/Isor; Shirgik, majestically located on a large rock outcrop; and Vrang, one of the largest towns on the route.
Ishkashem, at the end of the valley, has been an important trade and transportation center since ancient times, and continues to be to this day. On the opposite side of the river, in Afghanistan, the mountains part where the Vardush River pours into the Pyanj. This valley leads to the Afghan city of Faizabad. Caravans traveling through the Wakhan used to stop at an ancient caravansarai here (6th-12th cc.), and ford the river at that spot into what is now Afghanistan, because the route to the northwest was impassable through the Pyanj River canyon. Today, there are two towns, one in Tajikistan and one across the river in Afghanistan, The towns are a reasonably busy trade hub for goods passing between the two countries.
The Tajik town has an exciting "frontier" feel, and has an interesting bazaar; it is a pleasant place to have a traditional meal in a caf? and walk around. Recently, the European Union built a special trading area near Ishkashem, locally called the "Afghan Market", located just across the river in Afghanistan proper, in order to provide economic assistance to local Afghans; visitors may attend the bazaar without a visa to Afghanistan. It is one of the bizarre highlights of the area, the opportunity to buy Chinese and Pakistani products from bearded afghan villagers in Tajikistan!
More useful links:
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Me and You and a Dog Named Blue
Published in TC Today - Volume 24, No. 1
Angela worked for Nickelodeon and Alice worked for Children's Television Workshop. Each of them wanted to create educational television programming for children that would be the best programming around. So they came to Teachers College to learn about how children develop and how they learn. As fate would have it, Angela and Alice took the same class at the same time-"TV and the Development of Youth"-with former Assistant Professor Rosemarie Truglio. Thus began a collaboration to research and to create one of the most popular educational children's television shows: Blue's Clues.
Blue's Clues stars a tri-colored blue hound named Blue. The show appears twice a day on the Nickelodeon network as one of the main features of their Nick Jr. programming for preschoolers.
Aside from the animated dog, the show features Blue's non-animated owner, Steve Burns, who is the host of the series. Steve talks directly to the audience of preschool-age viewers, inviting them to join him in activities and asking for their help when he needs to figure something out. The name "Blue's Clues" refers to pawprints left by Blue to help Steve understand what the dog is trying to say. When Steve sees something marked with a pawprint, he draws a picture of it in his "handy dandy notebook." After finding three clues, he sits in his big red and black "thinking chair" to discuss the clues with his audience. Together, they solve the puzzle.
On a deeper level, Blue's Clues is, according to TC alumna and head writer Angela Santomero (M.A. Developmental Psychology, 1995), a venue that "bridges the gap between research and production and brings them to a higher level." Santomero created the idea for Blue's Clues with producer/director Todd Kessler and designer Traci Paige Johnson in an effort to produce a game show where children solve problems while learning a curriculum. The curriculum is subtle reinforcement of skills such as color and shape recognition, sorting, vocabulary and problem solving. And, when Steve asks the audience for their help, there is also a bit of self-esteem building going on.
"The learning aspect is embedded in what children do," Santomero explained. "The older character needs their help with a problem." The problems are relatively easy in the beginning of the show, she explained, with each one becoming a little bit harder. "By the third clue, we are sitting in a big thinking chair and have brought preschoolers through a 30-minute show remembering clues."
Alice Wilder, (Ed.D. Educational Psychology, 1998), Director of Research and Development for the show, agreed that the interactive nature of the show's design is key to learning. "They watch it and participate in it and ‘own' the knowledge for themselves," she explained.
Wilder was at Teachers College working on her dissertation about the effectiveness of instructional programs for students with learning disabilities when Santomero called and asked her to watch the pilot she had created with Kessler and Johnson. "When Angela called me and showed me the pilot, I cried," Wilder said. "I saw so many of the things we had learned in school. I could see them becoming a reality in the show they had created."
Santomero had other reasons for showing the pilot to Wilder. "In order to do 20 episodes, I needed someone who was completely smart, who could understand the kids and the show, and bridge the gap between research and production," she explained. "So I told her, ‘We need someone just like you.'" Wilder's background in working with producers and writers at Children's Television Workshop enhanced her qualifications as a researcher for this project. Wilder was also getting what she called "great research experience" at Teachers College while working on her doctorate. She saw this as her opportunity to "take what I was learning about kids and apply it to the medium of television."
Not only was it rare to have a research department as part of a production, but Santomero came up with an idea to bring another unusual element to the show. "We want kids to master the concepts," she said. "One way of doing that is to air the same show every day for a week." According to what they were hearing from teachers, parents and grandparents, repetition is one of the most important strategies used in teaching children of this age group.
"It was something different, and it was scary to present it to Nickelodeon," Santomero confessed. "But they are big on research and they understood the power of hearing from our audience to create programming strategy. With Blue's Clues, we make decisions based on the research."
Santomero said that she and Wilder "created a curriculum together from Alice's expertise and from our mission, which is to empower, challenge and increase the self-esteem of preschoolers while making them laugh. How to do that comes from what Alice does."
Every script has a goal sheet attached to it that outlines the theme of that particular show and the overall goal. A team of three researchers conducts what they call a "concept test" on every script by sitting down with preschoolers in their day-care centers. While playing out the script with the children, the researchers keep track of how they respond. Then they analyze what happened and why. "We test every script three to four times before an episode gets on the air," Wilder said. According to Santomero, it can take up to ten months of research and production before a show is finally ready.
This time and effort has apparently reaped rewards both financially and critically. A recent article in TV Guide noted that, "Since Blue's Clues premiered in September 1996, it has snowballed into the most watched show on television among preschoolers..." The article went on to say that experts in the field "adore it." "Blue's Clues," says writer David Handelman, "is one of those rare instances when commercial television is both creative and educational without sacrificing entertainment value."
"We make the show as good as we can, and there are people out there trying to document if we are fulfilling the mission," explained Wilder. "We found that kids who watch Blue's Clues scored higher in kindergarten readiness skills than the kids who don't watch the show."
But the most touching story about how the show is affecting viewers came from a parent who contacted Santomero. "A mother called us to tell us that her son is autistic and won't talk to her and her husband," Santomero explained. "The first word he spoke was to Steve (the host of Blue's Clues)."
"We don't realize the impact and influence that TV has," she continued. That influence, she believes, goes beyond the show's production. With its popularity in the United States and abroad (there is currently a British version with German, Italian and Latin American editions being developed), the usual spin-off products-clothes, toys, books, and dolls-are filling shelves in stores around the country. "We meet with people who are creating toys and talk about how influential toys can be," Santomero explained. "We put the same influence into each toy that we put into production of the show."
"The same situation occurred with one of the licensers doing a line of Blue's Clues clothing," Wilder added. "We thought, what can we do to help children dress themselves?" After speaking to parents about their children's dressing habits and what would make children feel good about themselves, the results were the addition of bigger buttons, color-matched buttons and buttonholes, and elastic-waist pants. "We don't try to pretend we know everything, but we don't want to just see Blue on a T-shirt," Santomero said. "The clothing manufacturers are the experts in their business and we are the experts in our business. We are trying to keep that marriage as manageable as possible."
When a show starts out with such a noble basis and becomes enormously popular, it's not unusual for the initial goal to fall by the wayside. Santomero said she is excited by the success of Blue's Clues but, "I stay as focused as I can on why we are here and what we are doing. I just want to change the way TV is for preschoolers." She noted that self-esteem is formed at the preschool stage, and that preschoolers are the foundation for the next generation. If Blue's Clues can improve that foundation, then they are meeting their goals.
"It is a dream, like being in the classroom but reaching millions of kids at a time," Santomero said with a smile. "It's pretty cool."
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