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Sep 012011
Today i’m glad to have a Guest post from DarkDuck, i read frequently his blog where i’ve found a lot of well done reviews on many different Linux distributions.
Pidgin: your favourite Internet Messenger or Power of Plugin
Communications are very important nowadays.
But sometimes there are so many ways to communicate that people lose tracks: what, where and how.
If we look at the world of instant messaging, there are 1001 protocol in the world: ICQ, QQ, GTalk, MSN to name a few. Most of them have their own clients which you can use standalone. But soon you’ll get lost between them. Isn’t it easier to use single messaging client which supports multiple messaging systems and protocols? Of course it is!
That’s time for our today’s hero to come on stage. Please meet! Pidgin!
Pidgin is multi protocol instant messenger developed by open source community.
Continue reading »
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[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
Re: [libreoffice-users] Re: Extensions
On 2011-02-17 5:23 AM, James Wilde wrote:
> Andy Brown wrote:
>> The pad lock just shows that the extensions are installed for all user
>> and can not be removed by the user, requires system admin.
> I'm running on a Mac, OSX 10.6.6 and v.3.3.0. As far as I know I _am_ the
> system admin, but I can't open the padlock. How does one do that? I want
> to get rid of the French and Spanish dictionaries. (Nothing against the
> French and Spanish, but I have a bunch of other languages).
Hi James,
To delete these extension, you need to be root/admin, and delete them
manually through the filesystem...
For example, in Windows XP, the path is:
C:\Program Files\LibreOffice 3\share\extensions
Be careful that you only delete the ones that you don't want/need...
--
Best regards,
Charles
--
Unsubscribe instructions: E-mail to users+help@libreoffice.org
List archive: http://listarchives.libreoffice.org/www/users/
*** All posts to this list are publicly archived for eternity ***
Follow-Ups:
Re: [libreoffice-users] Re: ExtensionsGlenn <glennst01@gmail.com>
Re: [libreoffice-users] Re: ExtensionsJames Wilde <james.wilde@sunde-wilde.com>
References:
[libreoffice-users] ExtensionsSascha Manns <saigkill@opensuse.org>
Re: [libreoffice-users] ExtensionsAndy Brown <andy@the-martin-byrd.net>
[libreoffice-users] Re: ExtensionsJames Wilde <james.wilde@sunde-wilde.com>
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User:Anthony C. Forster
From OpenWetWare
(Difference between revisions)
Jump to: navigation, search
(Anthony C. Forster)
(Anthony C. Forster)
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== Anthony C. Forster ==
== Anthony C. Forster ==
-
[[Image:/Users/anthonyforster/Desktop/Frankenstein's Creature.JPG|thumb|left|Tony Forster]]
+
[[Image:Frankenstein's Creature.JPG|thumb|left|Tony Forster]]
Hi, my name is Tony Forster, and I'm an Assistant Professor in Pharmacology at Vanderbilt University.
Hi, my name is Tony Forster, and I'm an Assistant Professor in Pharmacology at Vanderbilt University.
Revision as of 08:33, 4 November 2007
Anthony C. Forster
Tony Forster
Hi, my name is Tony Forster, and I'm an Assistant Professor in Pharmacology at Vanderbilt University.
1. Now you should see the text of this section as text within an editor box. There are several buttons in the editor box, but don't worry about those for now. Just type something in the box, scroll down to the bottom, and hit the 'Preview' button.
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Personal/Lab Info
Anthony C. Forster, M.D., Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
459 PRB
Pharmacology Dept. 6600
Vanderbilt University Medical Center
2222 Pierce Ave.
Nashville, TN 37232
U.S.A.
E-mail: a.forster@vanderbilt.edu
Fax: 615-936 5555
Office phone: 615-936 3112
Lab phone: 615-936 0424
Lab web: https://medschool.mc.vanderbilt.edu/forster
Dept web: http://www.vanderbilt.edu/pharmacology
Vanderbilt Institute of Chemical Biology web: http://www.vanderbilt.edu/vicb/index.html
Take a look at some of the other User pages. For example, check out User:Julius_B._Lucks, User:Jason_R._Kelly and User:Reshma_P._Shetty.
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Don't forget to remove these instructions from this page when you are done!
Personal tools
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iqperama's bookmarks
"Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense."
Emerson, Ralph Waldo on achievement
102 fans of this quote
"The greater the difficulty the more glory in surmounting it. Skillful pilots gain their reputation from storms and tempests."
Epictetus on achievement
53 fans of this quote
"Life, an age to the miserable, and a moment to the happy."
Bacon, Francis on life
12 fans of this quote
"A child miseducated is a child lost."
Kennedy, John F. on children
11 fans of this quote
"The journey is the reward."
Proverb, Chinese on achievement
39 fans of this quote
"Not the maker of plans and promises, but rather the one who offers faithful service in small matters. This is the person who is most likely to achieve what is good and lasting."
Goethe, Johann Wolfgang Von on achievement
31 fans of this quote
"For a man to achieve all that is demanded of him he must regard himself as greater than he is."
Goethe, Johann Wolfgang Von on achievement
33 fans of this quote
"If life were measured by accomplishments, most of us would die in infancy."
Gouthey, A. P. on achievement
28 fans of this quote
"The mode in which the inevitable comes to pass is through effort."
Holmes, Oliver Wendell on achievement
9 fans of this quote
"Our achievements speak for themselves. What we have to keep track of are our failures, discouragements and doubts. We tend to forget the past difficulties, the many false starts, and the painful groping. We see our past achievements as the end results of"
Hoffer, Eric on achievement
17 fans of this quote
"One must marry one's feelings to one's beliefs and ideas. That is probably the only way to achieve a measure of harmony in one's life."
Hilsum, Etty on achievement
16 fans of this quote
"The best job goes to the person who can get it done without passing the buck or coming back with excuses."
Hill, Napoleon on achievement
30 fans of this quote
"Mere longevity is a good thing for those who watch Life from the side lines. For those who play the game, an hour may be a year, a single day's work an achievement for eternity."
Heatter, Gabriel on achievement
11 fans of this quote
"We will either find a way, or make one."
Hannibal on achievement
82 fans of this quote
"Dedicate yourself to the good you deserve and desire for yourself. Give yourself peace of mind. You deserve to be happy. You deserve delight."
Hansen, Mark Victor on achievement
41 fans of this quote
"To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment."
Emerson, Ralph Waldo on achievement
191 fans of this quote
"My imagination makes me human and makes me a fool; it gives me all the world and exiles me from it."
Guin, Ursula K. Le on imagination
6 fans of this quote
"Great things are not done by impulse, but by a series of small things brought together."
Gogh, Vincent Van on achievement
81 fans of this quote
"To see the world in a grain of sand, and to see heaven in a wild flower, hold infinity in the palm of your hand, and eternity in an hour."
Blake, William on eternity
9 fans of this quote
"If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs, it's just possible you haven't grasped the situation."
Kerr, Jean on adversity
5 fans of this quote
"Confidence is the most important single factor in this game, and no matter how great your natural talent, there is only one way to obtain and sustain it: work."
Nicklaus, Jack on confidence
4 fans of this quote
"Sometimes your medicine bottle has on it, Shake well before using. That is what God has to do with some of His people. He has to shake them well before they are ever usable."
Havner, Vance on adversity
18 fans of this quote
"People need hard times and oppression to develop psychic muscles."
Dune, Frank Herbert on adversity
16 fans of this quote
"Rest not. Life is sweeping by; go and dare before you die. Something mighty and sublime, leave behind to conquer time."
Goethe, Johann Wolfgang Von on courage
55 fans of this quote
"Cheerfulness is the best promoter of health and is as friendly to the mind as to the body."
Addison, Joseph on cheerfulness
4 fans of this quote
"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."
Twain, Mark on action
234 fans of this quote
"Men are disturbed not by things that happen, but by their opinion of the things that happen."
Epictetus on opinions
18 fans of this quote
"Let them hate, so long as they fear."
Accius on power
18 fans of this quote
"Make the best use of what is in your power, and take the rest as it happens."
Epictetus on power
17 fans of this quote
"If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them."
Thoreau, Henry David on dream
23 fans of this quote
But wait... my book has more: prev 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 next
Henrique Sugano Perama's quote collection
I'm male, single from Brazil and made my book on 26th August 2011.
My book as a pdf
My homepage
Visit my homepage
My feed
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Quotation added by staff
Why not add this quote to your bookmarks?
'Tis the voice of the sluggard; I heard him complain, you have waked me too soon, I must slumber again. Watts, Isaac
Excerpt from Divine Songs · This quote is about idleness · Search on Google Books to find all references and sources for this quotation.
A bit about Watts, Isaac ...
Isaac Watts (July 17, 1674 - November 25, 1748), recognised as the 'Father of English Hymnology', as he was the first both prolific and popular English hymnwriter, credited with some 750 hymns. Many of his hymns remain in active use today.
These people bookmarked this quote:
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It's easy! Just pick the product you like and click-through to buy it from trusted partners of Quotations Book. We hope you like these personalized gifts as much as we do.
Make and then buy your OWN fantastic personalized gift from this quote
Next to excellence, comes the appreciation of it. Thackeray, William M.
Make a fabulous personalised bracelet or other form of jewellery with this quote
Click the banner below to pick the kind of jewellery you'd like ...
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212 - The Extra Degree
The one extra degree makes the difference. This simple analogy reflects the ultimate definition of excellence. Because it's the one extra degree of effort, in business and life, that can separate the good from the great. This powerful book by S.L. Parker and Mac Anderson gives great examples, great quotes and great stories to illustrate the 212° concept. A warning - once you read it, it will be hard to forget. Your company will have a target for everything you do ... 212°
Click here to buy this »
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It's easy! Just pick the product you like and click-through to buy it from trusted partners of Quotations Book. We hope you like these personalized gifts as much as we do.
Make and then buy your OWN fantastic personalized gift from this quote
Everything can be improved. Barron, C. W.
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212 - The Extra Degree
The one extra degree makes the difference. This simple analogy reflects the ultimate definition of excellence. Because it's the one extra degree of effort, in business and life, that can separate the good from the great. This powerful book by S.L. Parker and Mac Anderson gives great examples, great quotes and great stories to illustrate the 212° concept. A warning - once you read it, it will be hard to forget. Your company will have a target for everything you do ... 212°
Click here to buy this »
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It's easy! Just pick the product you like and click-through to buy it from trusted partners of Quotations Book. We hope you like these personalized gifts as much as we do.
Make and then buy your OWN fantastic personalized gift from this quote
My mother loved children -- she would have given anything if I had been one. Marx, Groucho
Make a fabulous personalised bracelet or other form of jewellery with this quote
Click the banner below to pick the kind of jewellery you'd like ...
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Make a custom wrapped canvas ...
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Make custom holiday gifts for boys ...
Make custom holiday gifts for girls ...
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A selection of more great products and gifts!
212 - The Extra Degree
The one extra degree makes the difference. This simple analogy reflects the ultimate definition of excellence. Because it's the one extra degree of effort, in business and life, that can separate the good from the great. This powerful book by S.L. Parker and Mac Anderson gives great examples, great quotes and great stories to illustrate the 212° concept. A warning - once you read it, it will be hard to forget. Your company will have a target for everything you do ... 212°
Click here to buy this »
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Quotes by Howard, Vernon
Vernon Howard saw through the illusion of suffering and fear and loneliness. From 1965 until his death in 1992 he wrote books and conducted classes which reflect a degree of skill and understanding that may be unsurpassed in modern history. His warmth and refreshing sense of humor made him a delightful subject for interviews, talk shows and articles. Today more than 7 million readers worldwide enjoy his exceptionally clear and inspiring presentations of the great truths of the ages. Libraries, bookstores, health food stores and church bookshops all over the US sell Vernon Howard books, booklets, cassette tapes and videotapes. His material is widely used by doctors, psychiatrists, psychologists, clergymen, counselors, educators and people from all walks of life. Many of Vernon Howard's class talks are available on cassette tape. All his teachings center around one grand theme: "There is a way out of the human problem and anyone can find it.".
"Freedom begins as we become conscious of it."
Howard, Vernon on freedom
"We clearly realize that freedom's inner kingdom cannot be touched by exterior attacks."
Howard, Vernon on freedom
"You have succeeded in life when all you really want is only what you really need."
Howard, Vernon on happiness
"Just be honest with yourself. That opens the door."
Howard, Vernon on honesty
"Can you think of anything more permanently elating than to know that you are on the right road at last?"
Howard, Vernon on planning
"By cultivating the beautiful we scatter the seeds of heavenly flowers, as by doing good we cultivate those that belong to humanity."
Howard, Vernon on beauty
"Truth is not a matter of personal viewpoint."
Howard, Vernon on truth
"Learn to see things as they really are, not as we imagine they are."
Howard, Vernon on truth
"A clear understanding of negative emotions dismisses them."
Howard, Vernon on understanding
3 fans of this quote
"We are slaves to whatever we don't understand"
Howard, Vernon on understanding
"We are exactly where we have chosen to be."
Howard, Vernon on circumstance
"We must become acquainted with our emotional household: we must see our feelings as they actually are, not as we assume they are. This breaks their hypnotic and damaging hold on us."
Howard, Vernon on conflict
"We are enslaved by anything we do not consciously see. We are freed by conscious perception."
Howard, Vernon on conflict
"Insight into the two selves within a man clears up many confusions and contradictions. It was our understanding that preceded our victory."
Howard, Vernon on conflict
"Quit thinking that you must halt before the barrier of inner negativity. You need not. You can crash through whatever we see a negative state, that is where we can destroy it."
Howard, Vernon on courage
Take a look at recent activity on QB!
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"warc_url": "http://wikitravel.org/wiki/en/index.php?title=Wikitravel:TourBusStop&redirect=no"
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Help Wikitravel grow by contributing to an article! Learn how.
Wikitravel:TourBusStop
From Wikitravel
Jump to: navigation, search
This is the Wikitravel TourBus stop.
Wikitravel is a project to create a free, complete, up-to-date and reliable world-wide travel guide. So far we have 26,276 destination guides and other articles written and edited by Wikitravellers from around the globe.
Wikitravel uses the MediaWiki software to run our wiki. We keep our content free using the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 license.
Bus connections:
Famous sights to visit here at Wikitravel:
Goals and non-goals
An overview of what we're trying to do with Wikitravel.
United States of America
An example of a country guide, describing the USA.
Geneva
An example of a city guide.
Dutch phrasebook
A traveller's phrasebook for the Dutch language. Wikitravel aims to provide phrasebooks for most languages.
Arriving in a new city
Along with guides, Wikitravel also has articles on travel topics. This one gives tips about arriving in a new city.
For other topics,
Check out the Main Page or use the Find box on any page on the site.
Welcome, newcomers
Is the starting point for those who want to help.
Note: Bus Management on MeatballWiki co-ordinates the tour bus.
Personal tools
Variants
Actions
Navigation
feeds
Destination Docents
Toolbox
In other languages
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Australian Bureau of Statistics
Celebrating the International Year of Statistics 2013
ABS Home > Statistics > By Release Date
1504.0 - Methodological News, Dec 2010
Previous ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 09/12/2010
Page tools: Print Page Print All RSS Search this Product
Progress with the AIC Review
The Annual Integrated Collection (AIC) is a key data source for measures of Australia's economic performance for each financial year. It replaced the previous ABS annual collection (the Australian Economy Wide Survey) in 2006-07.
In 2009, senior management of PLIES and MIG decided to review the performance of the AIC after the first two years' worth of estimates were produced (in respect of 2006-07 and 2007-08). Charles Aspden, a former Assistant Statistician of the National Accounts Branch, was brought in as a consultant to review the performance of AIC in mid-2009. His review was completed in a whirlwind three weeks; the opening paragraph of his Review report stated that "NAB found substantial differences in the economic picture portrayed by the AIC core and other data sources, most notably the ABS’s quarterly surveys, both in terms of coherence within each of the two years and growth between them".
The desire to improve the accuracy of AIC estimates, plus enhance the AIC's coherence with other data sources such as the Quarterly Business Indicators Survey (QBIS), has been a driving force behind the efforts of the AIC Review Team in the last year or so. The role that MDMD plays is in providing methodological advice to the Review, in particular pursuing the key work identified by the AIC Review Team which wound up in July 2010.
Statistical Services Branch (SSB) within MDMD has been involved in a number of investigations in assisting the Review. In trying to improve the efficiency of the AIC sample (which currently stands at about 20,000 units selected from the Australian Business Register (ABR)), John Preston (SSB) is experimenting with using a modelling approach which uses Business Activity Statement (BAS) data from the Taxation Office (combined with other information from the ABR) to produce unit-level values for each unit on the AIC frame. This method allows for a flexibility of models for the estimation of key measures of financial and economic performance that are output by the AIC, thereby permitting a powerful use of the available auxiliary information.
Edward Szoldra (SSB) has also completed some work confronting wages estimates between AIC and QBIS. This work attempted to shed some light on the discrepancies in the estimates between these two collections. After adjusting for a number of known differences (such as scope and differences in estimation methodology), comparative estimates of annual movement between the AIC and the sum of 4 quarters of QBIS data showed that some industries had discrepancies beyond what is explicable by sampling error. Further investigations indicated some promising (though not definitive) potential reasons for the discrepancies (including issues around differences in annual and quarterly survey reporting).
In addition, more recent work within SSB has been in addressing issues around coherence as indicated in the September 2010 AIC Review Steering Committee meeting. These projects will include SSB working with NAB to ascertain more precisely their quarterly and annual data requirements in the construction of the National Accounts and some work around the effectiveness of the generalised regression (GREG) estimation methodology used in AIC (and whether it is a viable candidate for use in the QBIS). Lastly, SSB will undertake a project which aims at documenting NAB's Supply-Use Table transformations and how AIC and QBIS data flows through the accounts.
For further information regarding these projects, please contact Edward Szoldra on (02) 9268 4214 or edward.szoldra@abs.gov.au.
© Commonwealth of Australia 2013
Unless otherwise noted, content on this website is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 Australia Licence together with any terms, conditions and exclusions as set out in the website Copyright notice. For permission to do anything beyond the scope of this licence and copyright terms contact us.
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Australian Bureau of Statistics
Celebrating the International Year of Statistics 2013
ABS Home > Statistics > By Release Date
8635.5 - Tourist Accommodation, Western Australia, Sep 1994
Previous ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 16/12/1994
Page tools: Print Page Print All RSS Search this Product
• About this Release
Number of establishments with facilities providing short-term accommodation (ie. less than two months); hotels, motels and guest houses, caravan parks, holiday flats and units and visitor hostels showing capacity, occupancy rates and takings from accommodation for each month by type of establishment. Also contains information for hotels and guest houses without facilities. Includes data by statistical division and selected statistical local areas. For hotels and motels, includes data by star grading.
This publication has been converted from older electronic formats and does not necessarily have the same appearance and functionality as later releases.
© Commonwealth of Australia 2013
Unless otherwise noted, content on this website is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 Australia Licence together with any terms, conditions and exclusions as set out in the website Copyright notice. For permission to do anything beyond the scope of this licence and copyright terms contact us.
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Personal Information
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< Communication Is Destroyed!
How To Tell You're Going Crazy >
Guest Guest Weblog: A long time ago, Brendan said:
This looks like some kind of ancient Rube Goldberg chain reaction, where the only reactants are dinosaurs shooting lasers at other dinosaurs.
If that doesn't get you to click, I don't know what will.
Filed under: ,
[Main]
Unless otherwise noted, all content licensed by Leonard Richardson
under a Creative Commons License.
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You are here: Home / News / Pan-European air pollution treaty celebrated
Pan-European air pollution treaty celebrated
Published : Dec 01, 2004 Last modified : Apr 13, 2011 07:17 PM
Celebrations were held on 1 Dec 2004 in Geneva to mark the 25th anniversary of the convention on long-range transboundary air pollution (CLRTAP).
Coordinated by the UN economic commission for Europe (Unece), the treaty is credited with significantly cutting acidifying pollutants such as sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxides. It now extends to ozone, heavy metals and persistent organic pollutants (POPs).
See CLRTAP:
http://www.unece.org/env/lrtap/welcome.html
and see the speech of the EEA Director:
http://org.eea.eu.int/documents/speeches/1-12-2004
European Environment Agency (EEA)
Kongens Nytorv 6
1050 Copenhagen K
Denmark
Phone: +45 3336 7100
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print other language
Contributor
10Oct2008,22:31 #1
Hi,
I copied some arabic text into a php file
<?php
$new = "arabic text";
echo "$new";
?>
and printed those values on my browser, it doesnot print those values properly, i uploaded the same file on a website and the same browser prints those values propely, what is the problem with webserver. is this is some thing related to AddLanguages in apache, how to fix this issue?
Go4Expert Founder
10Oct2008,23:15 #2
Duplicate of browser does not print other language. Thread closed.
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Bibliography: Millipede Lessons
You are not logged in. If you create a free account and sign in, you will be able to customize what is displayed.
Title: Millipede Lessons
Author: Terry Hayman
Year: 2000
Type: ESSAY
ISFDB Record Number: 131432
User Rating: This title has fewer than 5 votes. VOTE
Current Tags: None Add Tags
Publications:
Copyright (c) 1995-2011 Al von Ruff.
ISFDB Engine - Version 4.00 (04/24/06)
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3/10/2012: Request for tent for Occupy Milwaukee
Posted by & filed under Assemblies, Past Proposals.
I would like to submit a proposal to GA for a 16×16 Military tent for Occupy Milwaukee. We would like to use it for our medic tent, and if approved transportation of the tent back to Milwaukee can be set up. You can check out our web site at occpymilwaukee.org or find occupy Milwaukee on Facebook.
Submitted by: Paul Schoeckert
You must be logged in to post a comment.
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AMPure Mods
From OpenWetWare
Revision as of 17:25, 3 December 2010 by Richard C. Cronn (Talk | contribs)
(diff) ←Older revision | Current revision (diff) | Newer revision→ (diff)
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Our group uses AMPure beads to clean Illumina DNA-seq and RNA-seq libraries, as there are many advantages to using SPRI beads over other products (see Quail et al., 2009). The biggest advantage is that conditions can be modified to selectively 'lose' small DNAs in the size range of 50 - 200 bp, as is shown in this image
Gel image showing removal of adapter
. This can be advantageous if Illumina libraries contain adapter dimers or other contaminating oligonucleotides. While we use AMPure beads in our laboratory, this is not an endorsement of AMPure per se; similar results can be obtained using other paramagnetic SPRI beads.
General Guidelines for AMPure-bead based isolation
• Illumina DNA-Seq libraries: Use 0.7 volumes AMPure to 1.0 volume sample. Eliminates 100bp and 200bp bands, retains > 300bp bands
• Illumina RNA-Seq libraries: Use 0.9 volumes AMPure to 1.0 volume sample. Eliminates 100bp band, retains > 200bp bands
• Routine DNA and PCR cleaning: Use 1.5 volumes AMPure to 1.0 volume sample. Eliminates primers and small oligos
Example volumes for DNA-seq and RNA-seq libraries
for DNA seq
AMPure : Sample+Water = 45 µl AMPure : 65 µl Sample+Water
for RNA seq
AMPure : Sample+Water = 45 µl AMPure : 55 µl Sample+Water
Abbreviated protocol for AMPure bead purification
• Prior to use, remove the beads from storage and let them stand for 30 minutes to warm to room temperature.
• Just before use, vortex or shake the AMPure bottle to resuspend magnetic particles that have settled. The suspension should appear completely homogenous.
• Add the desired volume of Agencourt AMPure beads. Mix the solution ten times by pipetting up and down.
• Incubate samples + water + AMPure at room temperature for 15 minutes for maximum recovery (5 minutes for decent yield).
• Magnetize and then incubate for at least 5 minutes (more time may be required for viscous solutions).
• Aspirate the cleared supernatant SLOWLY and discard. You can leave up to 5 ul of supernatant remaining in the tube at this step.
• Dispense 200 µl of 80% EtOH (freshly prepared every time) into each tube and incubate for 30 seconds. Aspirate the EtOH wash and discard. Repeat for a total of two washes.
• Remove all traces of EtOH with a fine pipette tip, and place on bench until completely air dried. We recommend at least 10 minutes.
• Add the desired volume of elution buffer (10 mM Tris-HCl, pH 8.0 or water) and vortex for 15-30 seconds.
• Incubate the samples at room temperature for at least 2 minutes.
• Magnetize the sample one last time for 5 minutes.
• Aspirate the supernatant (the ELUTED DNA) and transfer to a new tube.
TIPS!!! Don’t let the beads go dry between wash steps. Don’t dry beads in the spin-vac or PCR machine; air-temp drying is preferred.
return to Cronn_Lab:Protocols page
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One step 'miniprep' method for the isolation of plasmid DNA
From OpenWetWare
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Revision as of 07:38, 24 April 2006
plasmid miniprep
All 'miniprep' methods reported so far for the isolation of plasmid DNA involve multiple pipetting, extraction, centrifugation and changes of minifuge tubes. For screening large number of samples, they are therefore cumbersome, time consuming and not economical.
The technical report below by Chowdhury, K. (1991) is a very fast, simple and one step 'miniprep' procedure. The quality and quantity of DNA obtained by using this procedure is similar to those obtained by the other commonly used procedures of Serghini et al. (1) or Birboim and Doly (2). According to this procedure, the bacterial culture is directly extracted with a mixture of phenol-chloroform-isoamylalcohol and the liberated DNA is precipitated with isopropanol. This method is now being used routinely in our laboratory for isolating plasmids upto 12kb in size. A detailed description of the method is presented below:
1. Take 0.5ml of overnight E.coli culture in a microfuge tube. We routinely grow our cells in 'standard 1' bacteriological media supplied by Merck, Germany. 2. Add 0.5ml of phenol:chloroform:isoamylalcohol (25:24:1). The phenol was saturated with TE (10mM Tris, 7.5, 1mM EDTA) prior to mixing with chloroform and isoamylalcohol. 3. Mix by vortexing at the maximum speed for 1 minute. Alternatively, vortex for 10 seconds and then transfer to eppendorf mixer or an over-the-top rotator for 5 minutes. 4. Spin at 12,000g for 5 minutes. During the spin, prepare microfuge tubes with 0.5ml of isopropanol. After the spin, remove carefully about 0.45ml of the upper aqueous phase leaving the interphase undisturbed and add it to the isopropanol. Mix well and spin immediately at 12,000 g for 5 minutes. Addition of salt and cooling is unnecessary. 5. Pour off the supernatant, add carefully 0.5ml of 70% ethanol to the side of the tube, pour off. Repeat the washing once more. Vacuum dry the pellet and suspend in 100ul/ml RNAse). About 5-10ul of this DNA can now be cleaved with appropriate restriction enzyme(s) for analysis.
References
• Chowdhury, K. (1991) One step 'miniprep' method for the isolation of plasmid DNA. Nucl. Acids Res 19:10 2792
• Serghini, M.A. Ritzenthaler, C., and Pinck, J. (1989) Nucl. Acids Res 17, 3604
• Birnboim, H.C., and Doly, J. (1979) Nucl. Acids Res. 13, 1513 - 1523.
Additional Notes
• Sterile LB broth works very well in this protocol
• In step 1, one can pipette 1.5ml of broth spin the microfuge tube, decant 1ml and leave behind 500ul to resuspend the pellet and continue as from step 2. This maximizes the total yield of plasmid.
• The largest band appearing after running a gel is usually genomic DNA. I run appropriate control markers.
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User:Etienne Robillard/Notebook/Chemtrails911 notebook/Agent Ecoli:PhosphohistidineTransferaseComponent
From OpenWetWare
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Contents
Agent Ecoli:Phosphohistidine Transferase Compound
OmpR and LuxR
• Orthogonal phosphorus-degrading enzymes are key in (auto)catalytic regulation of lacZ-bound phosphate-histidine residues - see N-methyl nucleosidase (3.2.2.35) and this page for references.
Experiment
In this experiment the goal is to construct a forensic DNA fingerprinting kit to verify the DNA fragments for evidences of electrocompetent-inducible promoters and cross-species gene vectors to produce bioluminiscence agaisnt a control group (MG1655).
Experiment checklist
• Control group will need to be plasmid-free - Obtain E. coli strain mg1655 as reference model for the electrophoresis experiment.
• DNA extraction: data interpretation is subject to errors in the protocol - Find a coherent protocol specific for E.coli transformations using multi-plasmid vectors to transform E.coli into the desired mutant strain.
• familiarize yourself with the various electrophoresis assay methods - An important resource to learn and study the basics of E.coli transcription ab initio using recombinant DNA.
• more checklist fine points here...
See also
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Are Long URLs Spammy?
May 6, 2008 • 9:31 am | (6) by | Filed Under SEO - Search Engine Optimization
I'm sure you've seen those URLs -- www.domain.com/4-star-hotel-in-barcelona-spain.php. The question is: is this a tactic that we consider spammy?
Not really, according to a High Rankings Forum thread. On the other hand, if it was www.domain.com/4-star-hotel-apartment-penthouse-keyword4-keyword5-keyword6-in-barcelona.php, that may raise some eyebrows. Additionally, if you think about it, unless you change the post slug of a WordPress post, thousands of these long URLs are generated every single day. (Tip: Shorter URLs are easier to remember and rock.)
At Cre8asite Forums, the question regarding dashes in a URL is discussed. Is it better than an underscore? Back on the High Rankings discussion, dashes are the default delimiter, if that gives any indication to a widespread preference, but it really doesn't matter.
But if it comes to the actual domain name, it's a lot easier (for you) to go with one that lacks the dash to make it easier for users to remember. They're less inclined to type the dash and it takes a bit of a learning curve. I found that adjustment necessary with brand new webmaster forum Webmaster Talk.
Forum discussion continues at High Rankings Forum and Cre8asite Forum.
Previous story: The Floating Four At Google: Google's Position Four Seems Funky?
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"warc_url": "http://www.werelate.org/wiki/Person:Archduchess_Maria_Anna_Josepha_of_Austria_(1)"
}
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Person:Archduchess Maria Anna Josepha of Austria (1)
Watchers
Browse
Archduchess Maria Anna Josepha of Austria
b.30 Dec 1654
d.1689
m. 30 Apr 1651
1. Theresia Maria Josefa1652 - 1653
2. Eleonora Maria of Austria1653 - 1697
3. Maria Anna1654 - 1689
4. Archduchess Maria Anna Josepha of Austria1654 - 1689
5. Ferdinand Josef1657 - 1658
Facts and Events
Name Archduchess Maria Anna Josepha of Austria
Gender Female
Birth[1] 30 Dec 1654
Death[1] 1689
the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia
Maria Anna Josepha of Austria (30 December 1654 – 4 April 1689) was the youngest surviving daughter of Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor and his third wife Eleonora Gonzaga.
Maria Anna Josepha married in 1678, aged 24, John William, Elector Palatine. Maria Anna gave birth to two boys, both of whom died in infancy. She died of tuberculosis in 1689, aged 34.
This page uses content from the English Wikipedia. The original content was at Archduchess Maria Anna Josepha of Austria. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with WeRelate, the content of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
References
1. 1.0 1.1 Archduchess Maria Anna Josepha of Austria, in Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. (Online: Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.).
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{
"content_type": "text/html",
"provenance": "cccc-CC-MAIN-2013-20-0000.json.gz:68198",
"uncompressed_offset": 806575577,
"url": "www.werelate.org/wiki/Place:Tomb_of_the_Unknowns,_Arlington_National_Cemetery,_Arlington,_Virginia,_United_States",
"warc_date": "2013-11-22T14:33:35.000Z",
"warc_filename": "<urn:uuid:3be3f960-c374-47c6-a438-748f21aa7960>",
"warc_url": "http://www.werelate.org/wiki/Place:Tomb_of_the_Unknowns,_Arlington_National_Cemetery,_Arlington,_Virginia,_United_States"
}
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Place:Tomb of the Unknowns, Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia, United States
Watchers
NameTomb of the Unknowns
Alt namesTomb of the Unknown Soldiersource: Wikipedia
TypeCemetery
Coordinates38.87638°N 77.07217°W
Located inArlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia, United States
the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia
The Tomb of the Unknowns is a monument dedicated to American service members who have died without their remains being identified. It is also known as the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier; it has never been officially named. It is located in Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia, United States of America. The World War I "Unknown" is a recipient of the Medal of Honor, the Victoria Cross, and several other foreign nations' highest service awards. The U.S. Unknowns who were interred are also recipients of the Medal of Honor, presented by the U.S. presidents who presided over their funerals.[1]
Research Tips
This page uses content from the English Wikipedia. The original content was at Tomb of the Unknowns. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with WeRelate, the content of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
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{
"content_type": "text/html",
"provenance": "cccc-CC-MAIN-2013-20-0000.json.gz:68202",
"uncompressed_offset": 2842297,
"url": "abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs%40.nsf/Latestproducts/1259.0.30.001History%20of%20Changes0July%202011?issue=July+2011&prodno=1259.0.30.001&tabname=Summary",
"warc_date": "2013-11-22T14:34:20.000Z",
"warc_filename": "<urn:uuid:53180901-d466-48c2-be48-7f76f4ad8d0d>",
"warc_url": "http://abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/Latestproducts/1259.0.30.001History%20of%20Changes0July%202011?opendocument&tabname=Summary&prodno=1259.0.30.001&issue=July%202011&num=&view="
}
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Australian Bureau of Statistics
Celebrating the International Year of Statistics 2013
ABS Home > Statistics > By Catalogue Number
1259.0.30.001 - Australian Standard Geographical Classification (ASGC) Digital Boundaries, Australia, July 2011
Latest ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 14/07/2011 Final
Page tools: Print Page Print All RSS Search this Product
This document was added 10/05/2011.
05/10/2011 – All 9 .csv files containing the Mesh Block (MB) ASGC hierarchies have been replaced. The change is minor with the removal of the non-spatial MB code for ‘No Usual Address’ (MB code *0000009499; where * = State/Territory) from each file.
The No Usual Address MB was previously incorrectly allocated to the Migratory - Offshore - Shipping SLA (*85019779; where * = State/Territory).
The No Usual Address MB is only used for the output of Census data and does not relate to any of the spatial records in the ASGC.
© Commonwealth of Australia 2013
Unless otherwise noted, content on this website is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 Australia Licence together with any terms, conditions and exclusions as set out in the website Copyright notice. For permission to do anything beyond the scope of this licence and copyright terms contact us.
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{
"content_type": "text/html",
"provenance": "cccc-CC-MAIN-2013-20-0000.json.gz:68225",
"uncompressed_offset": 30170298,
"url": "blog.mrmeyer.com/?p=7584",
"warc_date": "2013-11-22T14:34:20.000Z",
"warc_filename": "<urn:uuid:53180901-d466-48c2-be48-7f76f4ad8d0d>",
"warc_url": "http://blog.mrmeyer.com/?p=7584"
}
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Posts
Comments
Get Posts by E-mail
DLB On BLH
Deborah Loewenberg Ball, on being less helpful:
In other words, we need to help teachers know how, when you help too much, you've actually made the problem into a different problem. But how do you help enough so that the problem is do-able? It's sort of the interaction between the task and learning how to question and being aware of what your questions are doing to the task. I think we've all had the experience of giving so much structure and help that the problem becomes a simple routine problem when it wasn't originally.
Leave a Reply
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{
"content_type": "text/html",
"provenance": "cccc-CC-MAIN-2013-20-0000.json.gz:68235",
"uncompressed_offset": 41855415,
"url": "buffalo.nas-central.org/wiki/Serial_port",
"warc_date": "2013-11-22T14:34:20.000Z",
"warc_filename": "<urn:uuid:53180901-d466-48c2-be48-7f76f4ad8d0d>",
"warc_url": "http://buffalo.nas-central.org/wiki/Serial_port"
}
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Serial port
From NAS-Central Buffalo - The Linkstation Wiki
Jump to: navigation, search
Model Specific Directions
How to add Serial Access
LS1 HD-HLAN v1
For the LS1
KURO/HG KUROBOX
For Kuro/HG
HG HD-HGLAN
For the HG
LS2 HD-HLAN v2
For the LS2
LSPRO
LS-GL
LS MINI
LS-WSGL
Add a Serial port to the LS MINI
LS DUO
LS-WTGL
Add a Serial port to the LS DUO
KUROPRO KUROBOX Pro
TERASTATION Terastation
TERASTATION PRO V1 Terastation Pro V1
Level Shifter
All of the Buffalo NAS devices have serial hardware built in, which they use for Linux kernel messages (console) as well as communication with the boot loader. While normal RS232 uses a nominal 12 volt for communication signals, the NAS's serial hardware signals are at 3.3v. It is therefore necessary to use a device which provides "level shifting" i.e. translates between the RS232 and 3.3v signal levels. The Terastations have this built in already, as a port designed to communicate with a UPS system however you will need to add one to a Linkstation or Kurobox.
The cheapest and most widely available level shifters are incorporated into some mobile phone data cables (see below), however slightly more work is required to determine the pin-out of these cables than if you buy some off-the-shelf converter kits.
Build your own LVTTL/RS232 or LVTTL/USB interface
Buy a LVTTL/RS232 or LVTTL/USB interface
The cheapest TTL/RS232 converter uses a MAX232 with two serial channels for standard TTL 3V input. The cheapest TTL/USB converter uses a chip by FTDI (the same chip is used in the SCON-KIT )
This board is made by Futurelec, however the order is shipped from Thailand so it takes 2-3 weeks to get it.
You'll also need some headers and connectors
This cable is made by FTDI, but the pinout at the connector end would need to be reassigned. Spec Sheet w/ pinout, wire colors & other info
You will also need a 4 pin header
Parts List
Parts List
Others Others
Personal tools
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{
"content_type": "text/html",
"provenance": "cccc-CC-MAIN-2013-20-0000.json.gz:68240",
"uncompressed_offset": 48097295,
"url": "ccsenet.org/journal/index.php/cis/article/view/18279",
"warc_date": "2013-11-22T14:34:20.000Z",
"warc_filename": "<urn:uuid:53180901-d466-48c2-be48-7f76f4ad8d0d>",
"warc_url": "http://ccsenet.org/journal/index.php/cis/article/view/18279"
}
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A Comprehensive Survey on Anomaly-Based Intrusion Detection in MANET
Davood Kheyri, Mojtaba Karami
Abstract
In recent years, mobile ad hoc networks (MANET) have become an interesting research area. This type of networks have a salient characteristics compare with wired networks which are more vulnerable. Nowadays, for the network security, defend in depth strategies are used. One of them is intrusion detection system (IDS). Many intrusion detection techniques developed for weird networks however, because the nature of MANET we cannot apply them directly in MANET. According to detection techniques, IDSs can be classified into three categories as follows: Misuse-based detection, Anomaly-based detection, and Specification-based detection.
In this paper, we are going to evaluate anomaly-based intrusion detection techniques proposed for MANET. For this, we present a comprehensive survey about anomaly based intrusion detection techniques. Afterward we evaluate their performance, advantages, and disadvantages. As a result constantly, we will understand MANET’s security problems based on which we can suggest solutions for future research.
Full Text: PDF DOI: 10.5539/cis.v5n4p132
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Computer and Information Science ISSN 1913-8989 (Print) ISSN 1913-8997 (Online)
Copyright © Canadian Center of Science and Education
To make sure that you can receive messages from us, please add the 'ccsenet.org' domain to your e-mail 'safe list'. If you do not receive e-mail in your 'inbox', check your 'bulk mail' or 'junk mail' folders.
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{
"content_type": "text/html",
"provenance": "cccc-CC-MAIN-2013-20-0000.json.gz:68267",
"uncompressed_offset": 89914615,
"url": "dungeons.wikia.com/wiki/SRD:Turn_Resistance?direction=prev&oldid=8276",
"warc_date": "2013-11-22T14:34:20.000Z",
"warc_filename": "<urn:uuid:53180901-d466-48c2-be48-7f76f4ad8d0d>",
"warc_url": "http://dungeons.wikia.com/wiki/SRD:Turn_Resistance?direction=prev&oldid=8276"
}
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Wikia
SRD:Turn Resistance
Talk0
9,503pages on
this wiki
Revision as of 21:38, January 18, 2008 by Dmilewski (Talk)
(diff) ← Older revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)
This material is published under the OGL
Turn Resistance (Ex)
A creature with this special quality (usually an undead) is less easily affected by clerics or paladins. When resolving a turn, rebuke, command, or bolster attempt, add the indicated number to the creature’s Hit Dice total.
Back to Main PageSystem Reference DocumentSpecial Abilities
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{
"content_type": "text/html",
"provenance": "cccc-CC-MAIN-2013-20-0000.json.gz:68272",
"uncompressed_offset": 95082117,
"url": "elinux.org/index.php?diff=162512&oldid=159050&title=RPiconfig",
"warc_date": "2013-11-22T14:34:20.000Z",
"warc_filename": "<urn:uuid:53180901-d466-48c2-be48-7f76f4ad8d0d>",
"warc_url": "http://elinux.org/index.php?title=RPiconfig&diff=162512&oldid=159050"
}
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Difference between revisions of "RPiconfig"
From eLinux.org
Jump to: navigation, search
m (changed notes to references)
(Video mode options)
Line 53: Line 53:
hdmi_force_edid_audio=1
hdmi_force_edid_audio=1
'''hdmi_ignore_cec''' Pretends CEC is not supported by TV. Avoids bringing (CEC enabled) TV out of standby and channel switch when rebooting.
+
'''edid_format_smart_match''' Allow fuzzy matching of modes described in edid. Picks the standard mode with matching resolution and closest framerate even if blanking is wrong.
+
+
'''hdmi_ignore_cec_init''' Doesn't sent initial active source message. Avoids bringing (CEC enabled) TV out of standby and channel switch when rebooting.
+
hdmi_ignore_cec=1
+
+
'''hdmi_ignore_cec''' Pretends CEC is not supported at all by TV. No CEC functions will be supported.
hdmi_ignore_cec=1
hdmi_ignore_cec=1
Revision as of 17:36, 17 August 2012
The Raspberry Pi config.txt file is read by the GPU before the ARM core is initialised. It can be used to set various system configuration parameters.
This file is an optional file on the boot partition. It would normally be accessible as /boot/config.txt from Linux.
To edit the configuration file, see the instructions at R-Pi_ConfigurationFile.
Contents
File format
The format is "property=value". value is an integer. You may specify only one option per line. Comments may be added by starting a line with the '#' character.
Here is an example file
# Set stdv mode to PAL (as used in Europe)
sdtv_mode=2
# Force the monitor to HDMI mode so that sound will be sent over HDMI cable
hdmi_drive=2
# Set monitor mode to DMT
hdmi_group=2
# Set monitor resolution to 1024x768 XGA 60Hz (HDMI_DMT_XGA_60)
hdmi_mode=16
# Make display smaller to stop text spilling off the screen
overscan_left=20
overscan_right=12
overscan_top=10
overscan_bottom=10
And here is another example file, containing extended documentation of features: link.
Video mode configuration
Video mode options
sdtv_mode defines the TV standard for composite output (default=0)
sdtv_mode=0 Normal NTSC
sdtv_mode=1 Japanese version of NTSC – no pedestal
sdtv_mode=2 Normal PAL
sdtv_mode=3 Brazilian version of PAL – 525/60 rather than 625/50, different subcarrier
sdtv_aspect defines the aspect ratio for composite output (default=1)
sdtv_aspect=1 4:3
sdtv_aspect=2 14:9
sdtv_aspect=3 16:9
sdtv_disable_colourburst disables colour burst on composite output. The picture will be monochrome, but possibly sharper
sdtv_disable_colourburst=1 colour burst is disabled
hdmi_safe Use "safe mode" settings to try to boot with maximum hdmi compatibility.
hdmi_safe=1 (this does: hdmi_force_hotplug=1, config_hdmi_boost=4, hdmi_group=1, hdmi_mode=1, disable_overscan=0)
hdmi_ignore_edid Enables the ignoring of EDID/display data if your display is a crappy Chinese one
hdmi_ignore_edid=0xa5000080
hdmi_force_edid_audio Pretends all audio formats are supported by display, allowing passthrough of DTS/AC3 even when not reported as supported.
hdmi_force_edid_audio=1
edid_format_smart_match Allow fuzzy matching of modes described in edid. Picks the standard mode with matching resolution and closest framerate even if blanking is wrong.
hdmi_ignore_cec_init Doesn't sent initial active source message. Avoids bringing (CEC enabled) TV out of standby and channel switch when rebooting.
hdmi_ignore_cec=1
hdmi_ignore_cec Pretends CEC is not supported at all by TV. No CEC functions will be supported.
hdmi_ignore_cec=1
hdmi_force_hotplug Pretends HDMI hotplug signal is asserted so it appears a HDMI display is attached
hdmi_force_hotplug=1 Use HDMI mode even if no HDMI monitor is detected
hdmi_ignore_hotplug Pretends HDMI hotplug signal is not asserted so it appears a HDMI display is not attached
hdmi_ignore_hotplug=1 Use composite mode even if HDMI monitor is detected
hdmi_drive chooses between HDMI and DVI modes
hdmi_drive= 1 Normal DVI mode (No sound)
hdmi_drive= 2 Normal HDMI mode (Sound will be sent if supported and enabled)
hdmi_group defines the HDMI type
Not specifying the group, or setting to 0 will use the preferred group reported by the edid.
hdmi_group=1 CEA
hdmi_group=2 DMT
hdmi_mode defines screen resolution in CEA or DMT format
These values are valid if hdmi_group=1 (CEA)
hdmi_mode=1 VGA
hdmi_mode=2 480p 60Hz
hdmi_mode=3 480p 60Hz H
hdmi_mode=4 720p 60Hz
hdmi_mode=5 1080i 60Hz
hdmi_mode=6 480i 60Hz
hdmi_mode=7 480i 60Hz H
hdmi_mode=8 240p 60Hz
hdmi_mode=9 240p 60Hz H
hdmi_mode=10 480i 60Hz 4x
hdmi_mode=11 480i 60Hz 4x H
hdmi_mode=12 240p 60Hz 4x
hdmi_mode=13 240p 60Hz 4x H
hdmi_mode=14 480p 60Hz 2x
hdmi_mode=15 480p 60Hz 2x H
hdmi_mode=16 1080p 60Hz
hdmi_mode=17 576p 50Hz
hdmi_mode=18 576p 50Hz H
hdmi_mode=19 720p 50Hz
hdmi_mode=20 1080i 50Hz
hdmi_mode=21 576i 50Hz
hdmi_mode=22 576i 50Hz H
hdmi_mode=23 288p 50Hz
hdmi_mode=24 288p 50Hz H
hdmi_mode=25 576i 50Hz 4x
hdmi_mode=26 576i 50Hz 4x H
hdmi_mode=27 288p 50Hz 4x
hdmi_mode=28 288p 50Hz 4x H
hdmi_mode=29 576p 50Hz 2x
hdmi_mode=30 576p 50Hz 2x H
hdmi_mode=31 1080p 50Hz
hdmi_mode=32 1080p 24Hz
hdmi_mode=33 1080p 25Hz
hdmi_mode=34 1080p 30Hz
hdmi_mode=35 480p 60Hz 4x
hdmi_mode=36 480p 60Hz 4xH
hdmi_mode=37 576p 50Hz 4x
hdmi_mode=38 576p 50Hz 4x H
hdmi_mode=39 1080i 50Hz reduced blanking
hdmi_mode=40 1080i 100Hz
hdmi_mode=41 720p 100Hz
hdmi_mode=42 576p 100Hz
hdmi_mode=43 576p 100Hz H
hdmi_mode=44 576i 100Hz
hdmi_mode=45 576i 100Hz H
hdmi_mode=46 1080i 120Hz
hdmi_mode=47 720p 120Hz
hdmi_mode=48 480p 120Hz
hdmi_mode=49 480p 120Hz H
hdmi_mode=50 480i 120Hz
hdmi_mode=51 480i 120Hz H
hdmi_mode=52 576p 200Hz
hdmi_mode=53 576p 200Hz H
hdmi_mode=54 576i 200Hz
hdmi_mode=55 576i 200Hz H
hdmi_mode=56 480p 240Hz
hdmi_mode=57 480p 240Hz H
hdmi_mode=58 480i 240Hz
hdmi_mode=59 480i 240Hz H
H means 16:9 variant (of a normally 4:3 mode).
2x means pixel doubled (i.e. higher clock rate, with each pixel repeated twice)
4x means pixel quadrupled (i.e. higher clock rate, with each pixel repeated four times)
These values are valid if hdmi_group=2 (DMT)
hdmi_mode=1 640x350 85Hz
hdmi_mode=2 640x400 85Hz
hdmi_mode=3 720x400 85Hz
hdmi_mode=4 640x480 60Hz
hdmi_mode=5 640x480 72Hz
hdmi_mode=6 640x480 75Hz
hdmi_mode=7 640x480 85Hz
hdmi_mode=8 800x600 56Hz
hdmi_mode=9 800x600 60Hz
hdmi_mode=10 800x600 72Hz
hdmi_mode=11 800x600 75Hz
hdmi_mode=12 800x600 85Hz
hdmi_mode=13 800x600 120Hz
hdmi_mode=14 848x480 60Hz
hdmi_mode=15 1024x768 43Hz DO NOT USE
hdmi_mode=16 1024x768 60Hz
hdmi_mode=17 1024x768 70Hz
hdmi_mode=18 1024x768 75Hz
hdmi_mode=19 1024x768 85Hz
hdmi_mode=20 1024x768 120Hz
hdmi_mode=21 1152x864 75Hz
hdmi_mode=22 1280x768 reduced blanking
hdmi_mode=23 1280x768 60Hz
hdmi_mode=24 1280x768 75Hz
hdmi_mode=25 1280x768 85Hz
hdmi_mode=26 1280x768 120Hz reduced blanking
hdmi_mode=27 1280x800 reduced blanking
hdmi_mode=28 1280x800 60Hz
hdmi_mode=29 1280x800 75Hz
hdmi_mode=30 1280x800 85Hz
hdmi_mode=31 1280x800 120Hz reduced blanking
hdmi_mode=32 1280x960 60Hz
hdmi_mode=33 1280x960 85Hz
hdmi_mode=34 1280x960 120Hz reduced blanking
hdmi_mode=35 1280x1024 60Hz
hdmi_mode=36 1280x1024 75Hz
hdmi_mode=37 1280x1024 85Hz
hdmi_mode=38 1280x1024 120Hz reduced blanking
hdmi_mode=39 1360x768 60Hz
hdmi_mode=40 1360x768 120Hz reduced blanking
hdmi_mode=41 1400x1050 reduced blanking
hdmi_mode=42 1400x1050 60Hz
hdmi_mode=43 1400x1050 75Hz
hdmi_mode=44 1400x1050 85Hz
hdmi_mode=45 1400x1050 120Hz reduced blanking
hdmi_mode=46 1440x900 reduced blanking
hdmi_mode=47 1440x900 60Hz
hdmi_mode=48 1440x900 75Hz
hdmi_mode=49 1440x900 85Hz
hdmi_mode=50 1440x900 120Hz reduced blanking
hdmi_mode=51 1600x1200 60Hz
hdmi_mode=52 1600x1200 65Hz
hdmi_mode=53 1600x1200 70Hz
hdmi_mode=54 1600x1200 75Hz
hdmi_mode=55 1600x1200 85Hz
hdmi_mode=56 1600x1200 120Hz reduced blanking
hdmi_mode=57 1680x1050 reduced blanking
hdmi_mode=58 1680x1050 60Hz
hdmi_mode=59 1680x1050 75Hz
hdmi_mode=60 1680x1050 85Hz
hdmi_mode=61 1680x1050 120Hz reduced blanking
hdmi_mode=62 1792x1344 60Hz
hdmi_mode=63 1792x1344 75Hz
hdmi_mode=64 1792x1344 120Hz reduced blanking
hdmi_mode=65 1856x1392 60Hz
hdmi_mode=66 1856x1392 75Hz
hdmi_mode=67 1856x1392 120Hz reduced blanking
hdmi_mode=68 1920x1200 reduced blanking
hdmi_mode=69 1920x1200 60Hz
hdmi_mode=70 1920x1200 75Hz
hdmi_mode=71 1920x1200 85Hz
hdmi_mode=72 1920x1200 120Hz reduced blanking
hdmi_mode=73 1920x1440 60Hz
hdmi_mode=74 1920x1440 75Hz
hdmi_mode=75 1920x1440 120Hz reduced blanking
hdmi_mode=76 2560x1600 reduced blanking
hdmi_mode=77 2560x1600 60Hz
hdmi_mode=78 2560x1600 75Hz
hdmi_mode=79 2560x1600 85Hz
hdmi_mode=80 2560x1600 120Hz reduced blanking
hdmi_mode=81 1366x768 60Hz
hdmi_mode=82 1080p 60Hz
hdmi_mode=83 1600x900 reduced blanking
hdmi_mode=84 2048x1152 reduced blanking
hdmi_mode=85 720p 60Hz
hdmi_mode=86 1366x768 reduced blanking
overscan_left number of pixels to skip on left
overscan_right number of pixels to skip on right
overscan_top number of pixels to skip on top
overscan_bottom number of pixels to skip on bottom
framebuffer_width console framebuffer width in pixels. Default is display width minus overscan.
framebuffer_height console framebuffer height in pixels. Default is display height minus overscan.
framebuffer_depth console framebuffer depth in bits per pixel. Default is 16. 8bit is valid, but default RGB palette makes an unreadable screen. 24bit looks better but has corruption issues as of 20120615. 32bit has no corruption issues but needs framebuffer_ignore_alpha=1 and shows the wrong colors as of 20120615.
framebuffer_ignore_alpha set to 1 to disable alpha channel. Helps with 32bit.
test_mode enable test sound/image during boot for manufacturing test.
disable_l2cache disable arm access to GPU's L2 cache. Needs corresponding L2 disabled kernel. Default is 0.
disable_overscan set to 1 to disable overscan.
config_hdmi_boost configure the signal strength of the HDMI interface. Default is 0. Try 4 if you have interference issues with hdmi. 7 is the maximum.
Which values are valid for my monitor?
Your HDMI monitor may support only a limited set of formats. To find out which formats are supported, use the following method.
• Set the output format to VGA 60Hz (hdmi_group=1 hdmi_mode=1) and boot up the Raspberry Pi
• Enter the following command to give a list of CEA supported modes
/opt/vc/bin/tvservice -m CEA
• Enter the following command to give a list of DMT supported modes
/opt/vc/bin/tvservice -m DMT
• Enter the following command to show your current state
/opt/vc/bin/tvservice -s
• Enter the following commands to dump more detailed information from your monitor
/opt/vc/bin/tvservice -d edid.dat
/opt/vc/bin/edidparser edid.dat
The edid.dat should also be provided when troubleshooting problems with the default HDMI mode
Boot options
disable_commandline_tags Stops start.elf from filling in ATAGS (memory from 0x100) before launching kernel
cmdline (string) Command line parameters. Can be used instead of cmdline.txt file
kernel (string) Alternative name to use when loading kernel.
kernel_address address to load kernel.img file at
ramfsfile (string) ramfs file to load
ramfsaddr address to load ramfs file at
initramfs (string address) ramfs file and adress to load it at (it's like ramfsfile+ramfsaddr in one option). NOTE: this option uses different syntax than all other options - you should not use "=" character here. Example:
initramfs initramf.gz 0x00800000
device_tree_address address to load device_tree at
init_uart_baud initial uart baud rate. Default 115200
init_uart_clock initial uart clock. Default 3000000
init_emmc_clock initial emmc clock. Default 50000000 (50mhz default. increasing this can speedup your SD-card)
boot_delay Waits for given number of seconds in start.elf before loading kernel.img.
avoid_safe_mode If set to one, safe_mode boot won't be enabled.
Overclocking configuration
WARNING: Setting any of the parameters which over volt your Raspberry Pi will set a permanent bit within the SOC and your warranty is void. So If you care about the warranty do not adjust voltage.
Also at your own risk you can try overscan settings from our wiki. These were posted on the forum and are not confimed to work.
Overclocking options
Option Description
arm_freq frequency of ARM in MHz. Default 700.
gpu_freq Sets core_freq, h264_freq, isp_freq, v3d_freq together.
core_freq frequency of GPU processor core in MHz. It have an impact on ARM performance since it drives L2 cache. Default 250.
h264_freq frequency of hardware video block in MHz. Default 250.
isp_freq frequency of image sensor pipeline block in MHz. Default 250.
v3d_freq frequency of 3D block in MHz. Default 250.
sdram_freq frequency of SDRAM in MHz. Default 400.
over_voltage ARM/GPU core voltage adjust. [-16,8] equates to [0.8V,1.4V] with 0.025V steps. Default 0 (1.2V) [1]
over_voltage_sdram Sets over_voltage_sdram_c, over_voltage_sdram_i, over_voltage_sdram_p together
over_voltage_sdram_c SDRAM controller voltage adjust. [-16,8] equates to [0.8V,1.4V] with 0.025V steps. Default 0 (1.2V) [1]
over_voltage_sdram_i SDRAM I/O voltage adjust. [-16,8] equates to [0.8V,1.4V] with 0.025V steps. Default 0 (1.2V)[1]
over_voltage_sdram_p SDRAM phy voltage adjust. [-16,8] equates to [0.8V,1.4V] with 0.025V steps. Default 0 (1.2V)[1]
Clocks relationship
ARM, SDRAM and GPU each have their own PLLs and can have unrelated frequencies[2]. The GPU core, h264, v3d and isp share a PLL, so need to have related frequencies. PLL will be set to:
pll_freq = core_freq * 2^n, for smallest n satisfying pll_freq > 600MHz.
GPU core, h264, v3d and isp should all be integer divisors of pll_freq. So core_freq=480 sets pll_freq=960. That would allow a v3d_freq/h264_freq/v3d_freq of 320 with an integer divider of 3.
Tested values
The following table shows some successfull attempts of overclocking. These settings may not work on every device and can shorten the life of the Broadcom SoC. Warranty will be voided if overvoltage is used.
arm_freq gpu_freq core_freq h264_freq isp_freq v3d_freq sdram_freq over_voltage over_voltage_sdram
750 255 450
900 250 500
900 275 500
900 450 450
930 350 500
1000 500 450 6
1000 500 500 6
References
1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 What this means is that you can specify -16 and expect about 0.8V as the GPU/core voltage. This is 0.4V below the normal value of 1.2. If you specify 16, you'd get 0.4V ABOVE the normal value of 1.2V, or 1.6V. The fact that someone carefully specified "8" and "1.4V" as the upper limit in the examples leads me to think that it is likely to shorten the life of your raspberry pi significantly if you would specify values above "8". So: don't specify values above zero, but if you do, don't go above 8.
2. http://www.raspberrypi.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=29&t=6201&start=125#p126308
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For the half-year to 30 June 2013, the IPKat's regular team is supplemented by contributions from guest bloggers Stefano Barazza, Matthias Lamping and Jeff John Roberts.
Two of our regular Kats are currently on blogging sabbaticals. They are Birgit Clark and Catherine Lee.
Thursday, 13 October 2005
MAYNE v TEVA; MORE ON RANBAXY
1 Mayne attacks Teva but loses its patent
LexisNexis's Butterworths All England Direct service has thrown up another useful decision in Mayne Pharma (USA) Inc and others v Teva UK Ltd and another, given by Mr Justice Pumfrey on Wednesday.
The claimants were Mayne, who owned a patent for the stabilisation of an existing formulation of paclitaxel, a pharmaceutical product used in the treatment of cancer, its UK licensee and the licensee's parent company. They sued Teva, another pharmaceutical company, for patent infringement. Teva admitted that it imported, kept and disposed of an allegedly infringing product within the UK but denied infringement, claiming the patent was invalid on the grounds of both obviousness (the invention not really being an invention) and insufficiency (the description didn't give enough information to enable the person skilled in the art to make the invention).
Pumfrey J dismissed the claim. The infringement claim had been made out and the patent was not void for insufficiency; it was however invalid for lack of an inventive step. Whether the step required to bridge the gap between an inventive concept and the common general knowledge would have been obvious to the skilled man had to be decided in the light of all of the available evidence. On that evidence, the inventive concept of the patent was obvious in the light of a prior publication.
Without seeing the evidence, the IPKat is not in a position to make an informed comment. He has however come to conclusion that Teva is a fairly canny company and one which it's worth avoiding fights with if another way can be found. Merpel says: "but what would your preferred commercial strategy be for protecting your IP rights if Teva starts importing products covered by your patent claims?"
2 More on Lipitor
Following yesterday's blog (just scroll down the page a little and you'll find it), the IPKat has the following extra things to add on Pfizer's court victory over Ranbaxy:
* From the comments posted on that blog you can see that the full text of the decision is now reported on BAILII as Ranbaxy UK Limited and Arrow Generics Limited v Warner-Lambert Company;
* Further accounts of the decision can be read in Business Week and The Houston Chronicle.
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For the half-year to 30 June 2013, the IPKat's regular team is supplemented by contributions from guest bloggers Stefano Barazza, Matthias Lamping and Jeff John Roberts.
Two of our regular Kats are currently on blogging sabbaticals. They are Birgit Clark and Catherine Lee.
Sunday, 30 September 2007
LA MER trade mark application grounded - again
The decision of the Court of First Instance of the European Communities was handed down last week in Case T-418/03 La Mer Technology v OHIM - Laboratoires Goëmar (LA MER).
On 1 April 1996 - the day the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Office opened for the receipt of Community trade mark applications - La Mer applied to register as a CTM the words LA MER for ‘bleaching preparations and other substances for laundry use; cleaning, polishing, scouring and abrasive preparations; soaps; perfumery; essential oils, cosmetics, hair lotions; dentifrices; toiletries’ in Class 3. Goëmar opposed, pleading a likelihood of confusion with its own earlier French, Greek, UK and international registrations of the LABORATOIRE DE LA MER word mark in Class 3 and various other classes, basing its opposition on cosmetics with a marine base and challenging La Mer's registration in respect of ‘soaps for the care of the human skin and the human body; perfumery, essential oils, cosmetics, hair lotions; dentifrices, toiletries, including creams, gels and lotions’.
La Mer asked for proof of use of the earlier trade marks on which the opposition was based. Goëmar submitted various documents to show that it marks had been genuinely used in Greece, France, Italy, Portugal and the United Kingdom, following which the Opposition Division upheld the opposition, even though the degree of use was arguably very small. For reasons of procedural economy, the Opposition Division based its decision on the French registration alone, considering it sufficient for the purpose of rejecting the application in relation to all the goods in question. The Board of Appeal dismissed La Mer's appeal and La Mer appealed.
The Court of First Instance dismissed La Mer's appeal, holding inter alia as follows:
* "To examine whether an earlier trade mark has been put to genuine use, an overall assessment must be carried out, which takes into account all the relevant factors of the particular case. That assessment entails a degree of interdependence between the factors taken into account. Thus, the fact that commercial volume achieved under the mark was not high may be offset by the fact that use of the mark was extensive or very regular, and vice versa. In addition, the turnover and the volume of sales of the product under the earlier trade mark cannot be assessed in absolute terms but must be looked at in relation to other relevant factors, such as the volume of business, production or marketing capacity or the degree of diversification of the undertaking using the trade mark and the characteristics of the products or services on the relevant market. As a result, the Court has stated that use of the earlier mark need not always be quantitatively significant in order to be deemed genuine. Even minimal use can therefore be sufficient to be deemed genuine, provided that it is viewed as warranted in the economic sector concerned to maintain or create a share in the market for the goods or services protected by the mark" (para.57).
* " ... it is not possible to determine a priori and in the abstract what quantitative threshold should be chosen in order to determine whether use is genuine or not. A de minimis rule, which would not allow OHIM or, on appeal, the Court of First Instance, to appraise all the circumstances of the dispute before it, cannot therefore be laid down ... " (para.58).
* "the Board of Appeal was entitled to conclude that the conflicting signs, each considered as a whole, are similar by taking into account in particular the fact that the only element of the mark applied for and the distinctive element of the earlier mark are identical ..." (para.127).
The IPKat can imagine how frustrated La Mer must be: eleven and a half years from its date of application and it is still blocked by an earlier trade mark which has, it appears, been little used. But the failure of Goëmar to make greater commercial use of its trade marks is a commercial decision that it is entitled to make. Merpel adds, one feels that there may have been a better way to resolve this dispute and that, if there wasn't, La Mer would have been better advised to choose a different trade mark and just get on with life.
European Court of Justice ruling in C-259/02 between the same parties:
"1. Articles 10(1) and 12(1) of .. Council Directive 89/104 ... must be interpreted as meaning that there is genuine use of a trade mark where it is used in accordance with its essential function, which is to guarantee the identity of the origin of the goods or services for which it is registered, in order to create or preserve an outlet for those goods or services; genuine use does not include token use for the sole purpose of preserving the rights conferred by that mark. When assessing whether use of the trade mark is genuine, regard must be had to all the facts and circumstances relevant to establishing whether the commercial use of the mark is real in the course of trade, particularly whether such use is viewed as warranted in the economic sector concerned to maintain or create a share in the market for the goods or services protected by the mark, the nature of those goods or services, the characteristics of the market and the scale and frequency of use of the mark. When it serves a real commercial purpose, in the circumstances cited above, even minimal use of the mark or use by only a single importer in the Member State concerned can be sufficient to establish genuine use within the meaning of the Directive.
2. While ... Directive 89/104 makes the classification of use of the trade mark as genuine use consequential only on consideration of the circumstances which pertain in respect of the relevant period and which predate the filing of the application for revocation, it does not preclude, in assessing the genuineness of use during the relevant period, account being taken, where appropriate, of any circumstances subsequent to that filing. It is for the national court to determine whether such circumstances confirm that the use of the mark during the relevant period was genuine or whether, conversely, they reflect an intention on the part of the proprietor to defeat that claim".
Court of Appeal for England and Wales decision here (noted by the IPKat here)
Marine cosmetics powered by algae here
More marine cosmetics here and here
Friday, 28 September 2007
Recent publications
This item has been posted on Jeremy's behalf. He is on holiday today.
The September/October issue of the World Trademark Review, published bimonthly by Globe Business Publishing, leads with a cover story by staff writer Liz Rutherford-Johnson on the management of the Gallo winery intellectual assets. Other features include a critical analysis by the IPKat's friend Ethan Horwitz and Ethan's colleague at King & Spalding Jill Wasserman on the US trade mark dilution litigation over BUKHARA (ITC v Punchgini). This Second Circuit case is under appeal. Ethan and Jill - who acted for ITC - think it's wrongly decided and that, if it's right, the US is in breach of its international obligations in respect of the protection of famous marks. This blogger, who thinks the decision is right, awaits the appeal with interest. Kenyon & Kenyon, who acted on the other side, unsurprisingly think so too.
Details of the latest issue here
Oh, dear, the Kat's a bit late with this one, because it has been out for a while now - it's the September issue of Informa's near-monthly Trademark World. So what's in it? Cover story is by Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer's very own Giles Pratt, who discusses various diseases that afflict the well-being of the internet - domain name tasting, joy-riding, kiting (this bit of the IPKat hadn't heard that term before) and spying. For the uninitiated, kiting is a more advanced form of domain name tasting in which tasted domain names are recaptured as soon as they have been returned.
Other topics addressed in this issue include an insight by Peter Jennings (Cripps Harries Hall) into the much-discussed spat between KFC and the Tan Inn, a Yorkshire public house that persisted in using the term "Family Feast" to describe its Christmas luncheons, notwithstanding KFC's registration of that term for foods and restaurant services by the fast-food giant (see IPKat post here); also IPKat blogger Jeremy's friend and old colleague Carina Badger (Macfarlanes) ponders over the eternal question in EU trade mark law: does an allegedly infringing act have to constitute "trade mark use" before it infringes a trade mark?
Details of this issue here
The September issue of Managing Intellectual Property, published ten times a year by Euromoney, carries a powerful question-and-answer session with former MARQUES chairman Tove Graulund, now manager of trade marks and legal at Zacco, Denmark. The theme of the discussion, "What is the future for fees?", is a subject on which Tove has long held strong views. In short, she believes in the following propositions:
* users of registration systems are entitled to expect those systems to be efficient and cost-effective;
* there is no justification for governments raking off trade mark and other IP fees to subsidise non-IP activities, while national offices are under-resourced and need funds to maintain and improve their services to users;
* creaming off surplus fee income from running the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market is not a solution to the general funding issues - especially since OHIM fees should be set by reference to its budgetary needs, not the need to make up the shortfall of investment in national offices.
The IPKat hopes that a future issue of MIP will carry an interview with some important person who is prepared to disagree with her publicly, since he hasn't yet seen a reasoned response to anything Tove has said and his little cat-sized brain can't fathom out why her views are supposed to be so heretical.
Details of this issue here
Last but by no means least is the early arrival of the October issue of the European Intellectual Property Review, published monthly by Sweet & Maxwell. Like Trademark World, the EIPR carries a piece on trade mark use - this time, by Hong Kong University's Po Jen Yap. It's quite fun to contrast the approaches taken by the respective authors if you get the chance: it is not surprising that a European practitioner, writing almost from the battlefield, and an Asian scholar examining the cases with clinical objectivity will take very different routes even when reaching broadly similar conclusions.
Above right: how about a companion journal for Trademark World, Patent World and Copyright World, but this time focusing on the needs and interests of infringers themselves? Would Patricia Loughlan (see below) approve?
Also in this issue is a highly provocative and well argued piece by Patricia Loughlan (University of Sydney) on the impropriety of the use of the word "theft" to describe acts of intellectual property infringement.
Thursday, 27 September 2007
EPC2000: this time it's for real
The revised version of the European Patent Convention will enter into force on 13 December 2007 for sure. This will be two years to the day since Greece was the 15th state to ratify EPC2000. Since there is now less than three months to go before this date, and not all signatory states have ratified, the date is now fixed (if the IPKat's calculations are correct).
Time is therefore getting rather short for the remaining countries to ratify, which they must do before 13 December to prevent being automatically ejected from the EPC altogether (Article 172(4)). These countries are, from a check on the EPO website, Cyprus, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Portugal, Sweden and Turkey.
Given that the consequences for not ratifying are so serious, it is practically unthinkable that any of them would come in late. The IPKat idly wonders what would be the effect if Germany, the de facto “home” of the EPC, failed in their duty. All sorts of cats would be set amongst all sorts of pigeons, he suspects.
Just for a bit of fun, which country do you think will be the last to ratify? Do please cast your vote on the new IPKat sidebar poll, where you can also check when IPKat readers think France will do the right thing and let the London Agreement enter into force (not as soon as the EPO thinks, by the look of it).
Wednesday, 26 September 2007
OHIM prize essay; the AIPPI needs you
The IPKat is pleased to remind his readers of the Annual OHIM Award 2007/2008 for the best dissertation in the field of Community trade marks and designs. The good news is that
"The prize, which is organised and financed by the OHIM, awards EUR 15,000 to the author of the winning dissertation and EUR 7,500 to the author of the second best dissertation. Both of the winning authors will have the opportunity to complete a five-month paid traineeship in an OHIM department.
Right: Oliver is a prize-winning cat. Modesty forbids him from boasting about what he wone his prize for, but he is reputed to be very popular with the ladies.
The competition is open to graduates who have studied or are studying a post-graduate course in one of the Member States of the European Union. The course must include subjects related to Community industrial property.
The programme has three main objectives:
* Promoting and encouraging at university level, a better knowledge of Industrial Property Rights;
* Fostering and deepening relations with European education institutions and research centres in the field of Industrial Propriety;
* Encouraging students to acquire professional expertise in the fields of Community trade marks and designs".
Says the IPKat, someone - possibly a bureaucrat from birth and with obsessive tendencies - must have had fun drafting Article 5 of the Regulation governing the ‘OHIM Annual Prize' for the best dissertation in the field of Community Trade Marks and Designs. This provides as follows:
"The dissertation
The dissertation must be an in-depth analysis of a subject related to Community trade marks and designs.
It must be a minimum of 40 pages and a maximum of 70 pages (approximately 30 lines per page, font size 12, excluding footnotes).
Left: Kat of letters (available from Library of Congress shop)
It must be written in one of the five languages of the OHIM and printed on one side of the page only, in A4 format. However, in order to facilitate the work of the Jury, all dissertations not written in English must be submitted with an English translation [the IPKat adds - European Court of Justice, please take note!].
Dissertations should not include any annex or other document, such as slides, audio-visual material etc.
The first page of the dissertation must contain the following "Solemn declaration" (Annex 2 of the Application form):
‘I solemnly declare that the present dissertation has been written for this competition by myself and without any external help not explicitly authorised. I solemnly declare that the ideas, paragraphs and other extracts taken from or inspired by external works and the bibliographical references used have been cited accordingly.’
The dissertation must be unpublished and original and must be submitted together with the assessment completed by a supervisor in the educational establishment where the applicant is carrying out or has completed the post-graduate course. The supervisor should use the assessment form drawn up by the OHIM (Annex 1 to the Application form).
The deadline for submission of applications is 15 December every year. Any dissertation which arrives at the Office after this date, as evidenced by the postmark, will be considered inadmissible for that year’s annual prize".
The IPKat understands that the UK committee for the AIPPI (the International Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property (UK website here) is seeking to widen its membership, in particular by securing greater participation from those law firms and companies that do not currently possess any members of AIPPI.
Right: a small but representative sample of the blue-and-white artwork that decorates the AIPPI UK website
This group considers issues relating to all aspects of IP law and practice, with emphasis on what the law is at present and how it could be developed in an international context. As part of this exercise, it considers a number of questions each year, which are then discussed at an international meeting. For example, this year, the meeting is in Singapore and the questions are:
Q193: Divisional, Continuation and Continuation in Part [of Patent] Applications
Q194: The Impact of Co-Ownership of Intellectual Property Rights on their Exploitation
Q195: Limitations of the Trademark Protection.
Next year, the meeting will be in Boston, USA, and the questions are:
Q202: The impact of public health issues on exclusive patent rights
Q203: Damages for trademark infringement through counterfeiting and piracy
Q204: Liability for contributory infringement of IPRs
Q205: Exhaustion of IPRs in cases of recycling or repair of goods.
Answers to these questions are prepared by each national group during the Spring for collation and presentation at the Autumn meeting. In addition, the AIPPI hosts a number of lectures each year, to which prominent international speakers are invited, for example from the Commission, the EPO, OHIM and the ECJ. These are probably the highest calibre lectures on IP in the UK [this is what the UK AIPPI Committee says. The IPKat, who has not been invited to address this group, reserves judgment ...].
Members comprise solicitors, barristers, trade mark and patent attorneys, and in-house counsel. The group also holds a rather good champagne reception every July. Any reader of this post interested in joining (the membership fee is currently £100 pa), should not hesitate to email Michael Edenborough for more information.
English to blame for foreign language foul-up?
MMI Research Ltd v Cellxion Ltd and others (Patents Court, Mr Justice Mann, 24 September, noted by the subscription-only LexisNexis Butterworth service) is the story of a business, five adversaries and its own worst enemy - read on to find out who that might be.
MMI first sued the fifth defendant in Germany for patent infringement, then sued the first four defendants in the United Kingdom. Those defendants denied infringement and challenged the patent's validity. The documents disclosed to the defendants included an English document, which MMI believed to have been filed in the German proceedings, as well as a German document which was believed to be a translation of it. Some months later, having spoken to its German counterpart, MMI's solicitor discovered that the English document was in reality a draft of pleadings that had not actually been filed in the German proceedings. MMI sought an order preventing further use of that document on the ground that it was a privileged document that had been disclosed by mistake.
On the assumption that the document was indeed privileged and had been disclosed by mistake, an issue arose as to whether there had been any waiver of privilege in respect of it. According to MMI, the defendants’ solicitor must have appreciated that the document had been disclosed by mistake. Even if he hadn't, it should have been obvious to a reasonable solicitor that an error had occurred.
The defendants’ solicitor gave an undertaking to the effect that, when the English document had been listed and received, it had not realised that such a mistake had been made.
Mann J held that privilege had, on the facts, been waived. The test was not whether, having done a detailed comparison of the documents and made further enquiries, the mistake was apparent, but rather of whether the mistake was obvious. Here it could not be established that the receiving solicitor had realised that a mistake had been made: the nature of the material received was such that it would not have been obvious to a reasonable solicitor that a mistake had been made. After all, it wasn't even obvious to MMI's own solicitor that a mistake had occurred until after it consulted the German lawyers.
The IPKat says, mistakes of this nature don't only occur where foreign-language documents are involved. Poor labelling and obscure draftsmanship can cause mistakes of this nature even where documents are in the normal language of the parties themselves. Merpel says, yes - but there's something rather uncomfortable about the thought that the outcome of patent infringement litigation might turn on something as unrelated to the legality of the alleged infringing acts as is the state of the claimant's mind. Both Kats add: it seems somehow ironic that the victim of this slip is a company that specialises in (as its logo states) "communications and security solutions".
Idris hangs in the balance; Brussels not so vague about Hague
The Intellectual Property Watch weblog carried an absorbing feature yesterday on the increasingly-youthful WIPO Director General Kamil Idris. It writes, in relevant part:
"The member states of the World Intellectual Property Organization on Tuesday reached an agreement on how to address concerns raised about Director General Kamil Idris during this week’s annual General Assembly.
According to participants, a broad agreement was struck to set up a “Friends of the Chair” group on the issue. The chair of the assembly, elected at the outset, is Martin Ihoeghian Uhomoibhi, the ambassador of Nigeria to the United Nations, who is expected to invite various ambassadors to form the group, which should report back during the assembly. Uhomoibhi did not specify to the assembly how he would make his selections, nor how the process would work.
There appears to be some confusion among member states on the details of the group. Participants said they expect the group will read and discuss reports and information from recent years that found possible wrongdoing on the part of Idris, the most poignant being a confidential internal auditor’s report on Idris’ age correction .... In 2006, Idris moved to change his birth date from 1945 to 1954 in the WIPO records after 24 years. The chair’s friends group would report back to the assembly with recommendations, and member states would have the right to respond, sources said.
...
The United States appears to be satisfied with the agreement as it would result in a review and discussion of reports of alleged misconduct by Idris that they insist should be addressed. ..."
The IPKat, being famed for his infinite diplomacy and sensitivity to human feelings, declines to comment on this delicate issue, but Merpel says this is a long-winded way of dealing with the situation: why not just have Dr Idris carbon-dated?
Time travel here, here and here
How to become younger here
Another major statesman who became younger here
Meanwhile, Dr Idris has not been neglecting his duties. WIPO press release PR/2007/517 heralds news of the accession by the European Community to the Geneva Act of the Hague Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Industrial Designs. This means that cheap, easy international design registration is now within the grasp of everyone in the European Union - at least in theory. Says the press release:
"The Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization ..., Dr. Kamil Idris, welcomed the accession by the European Community ... to the Geneva Act of the Hague Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Industrial Designs, which offers businesses in all participating countries a simple, affordable and efficient way of obtaining and maintaining their industrial designs.
"The accession of the European Community marks a milestone in the development of the Hague system for the international registration of industrial designs. This is a major step towards broadening the geographical scope of the international design registration system", said Dr. Idris [the IPKat wishes he had a Swiss franc for every time the words "milestone" and "major step" are deployed in press statements]. He added “The accession of the EC creates an interface between WIPO’s international industrial design operations and those of the EC’s industrial design system allowing users to obtain protection in the whole of the EC as well as the other members of the Geneva Act of the Hague Agreement by filing one single application for the registration of their industrial designs.”
Such an international registration will have effect in as many members of the Geneva Act as identified in the application for registration, except those that refuse protection within the required time-limit. If protection is not refused by the EC’s industrial design office, the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (Trade Marks and Designs) (OHIM), protection of the industrial designs in question will be effective in all 27 EC member states just as if the applicant had applied or registered directly with OHIM.
The EC’s instrument of accession was deposited with the Director General of WIPO on September 24, 2007 and its accession will become effective as from January 1, 2008.
... The EC is the 47th member of the Hague system.
The Geneva Act ... enhances the Hague system by making it more compatible with the procedures for the registration of industrial designs in countries such as the United States and Japan where protection of industrial designs is contingent on examination to determine the acceptability of an application.
Mr. Ernesto Rubio, Assistant Director General of WIPO responsible for questions relating to industrial designs, also underlined the importance of EC accession and referred to a new e-filing system which is due to be launched in January 2008. He said, “WIPO has developed, in co-operation with OHIM, an e-filing system that is expected to greatly facilitate the filing of industrial applications and will be introduced under the Hague system from January 1, 2008, the date on which also EC membership takes effect.””
The IPKat will be pleased to see the Brussels-Hague axis bearing fruit. Merpel says, what do you mean, fruit? We're talking about design registration, not plant varieties.
Tuesday, 25 September 2007
Protecting family values
Better late than never, says the IPKat as he posts this note on the fortnight-old Community trade mark appellate decision by the European Court of Justice in Case C‑234/06 P, Il Ponte Finanziaria SpA v OHIM, FMG Textiles Srl.
In 1998 Marine Enterprise Projects (now FMG) applied to register as a Community trade mark a figurative sign the main components of which were the depiction of a roll of cloth, unfurling to take on the form of the sail of a small sailing boat, against a thick horizontal line above which the word ‘Bainbridge’ appears in cursive lettering. Registration was sought for goods in Classes 18 (leather, imitation leather, animal skins, hides; trunks, cases etc) and 25 (clothing, footwear, headgear).
Ponte opposed, citing a number of its earlier Italian trade marks and arguing a likelihood of confusion. These were, effectively, the word mark THE BRIDGE and two families of marks, one figurative and one three-dimensional, for similar goods. The OHIM Opposition Division rejected the opposition on the basis that none of Ponte's marks was sufficiently similar to the applied-for mark. The Board of Appeal agreed, ruling that the principle of interdependence between similarity of goods and signs (i.e. the more similar the goods were, the less similar the marks needed to be in order to establish a likelihood of confusion) was irrelevant here since there was not even a minimum degree of similarity between the parties' respective marks.
Ponte appealed to the Court of First Instance, which dismissed the appeal. In the CFI's view
* it was only when the Board of Appeal examined the argument that there was a ‘family of marks’ that it established that only two of those marks had been put to use and could therefore be taken into account in that assessment. The Board had however expressly affirmed that those earlier trade marks were not individually subject to proof of use because the five-year period following their registration, during which use must be proved, had not yet elapsed. It therefore concluded that those six earlier marks had to be taken into consideration for the purpose of assessing the existence of a likelihood of confusion with the trade mark applied for.
* So far as the likelihood of confusion with a 'family' of marks was concerned, the Italian consumer was actually confronted on the market with only two of those earlier marks, with the result that the extended protection claimed by the appellant, connected with the existence of an alleged ‘family of marks’, was not justified in this case.
* The earlier mark THE BRIDGE could only be regarded as being in genuine use if it was objectively present on the market in a manner that was effective, consistent over time and stable in terms of the configuration of the sign. Such genuine use of that trade mark in question had not been proved.
* As to the other earlier trade marks that were not taken into account for the purposes of assessing the likelihood of confusion, the Board of Appeal was entitled to reject what were described as the ‘defensive’ registrations of those marks, since the effective function of the trade mark registration is protect marks that are registered so that they will be used, not so that they will only exist to prevent registration by others.
* Ponte's marks were only remotely similar to FMG's, whether taken individually or en famille.
Ponte then appealed further to the European Court of Justice, which dismissed the appeal on more grounds than this posting indicates. Said the ECJ:
* the CFI's assessment of similarity of the marks was well-based and the ECJ cannot substitute its own assessment of the facts for that of the CFI;
* the CFI was entitled to conclude that the fundamental lack of similarity of the respective marks was not offset, when assessing a likelihood of confusion, by the high degree of similarity of the respective goods;
* " 61. ... a trade mark may be registered only individually and the minimum five-year protection afforded by such registration is conferred on it only as an individual trade mark, even where several trade marks having one or more common and distinctive elements are registered at the same time".
* "64. ... no consumer can be expected, in the absence of use of a sufficient number of trade marks capable of constituting a family or a series, to detect a common element in such a family or series and/or to associate with that family or series another trade mark containing the same common element. Accordingly, in order for there to be a likelihood that the public may be mistaken as to whether the trade mark applied for belongs to a ‘family’ or ‘series’, the earlier trade marks which are part of that ‘family’ or ‘series’ must be present on the market".
The IPKat is sure this analysis must be right. There will surely be cases in which, on the facts, the level of similarity (i) between the different marks within the same family and (ii) between the family marks and the 'gatecrasher' is high enough to get the opposition to the starting line and where (iii) the degree of use of all the family members is strong enough for consumers to draw the wrong conclusion whenever they see an interloper, assuming it to be part of the family too. But this case was never going to be the paradigm. Merpel adds, but look how useful a fatally flawed opposition can be. The opposed application was filed nine years ago yesterday: look how much uncertainty has tainted the brand's future for nearly ten years.
The IPKat's earlier post on the Advocate General's Opinion here
Go to Harmsworth to keep designs out of Harm's Way
An Intellectual Property Mediation Theatre is being held on Wednesday 17 October 2007 at 4.30 for 5.00-7.00pm, followed by networking and drinks until 8.00pm. The venue is the London pad of the UK Intellectual Property Office, Harmsworth House, 13-15 Bouverie Street, London EC4Y 8DP. According to the publicity material,
"This session is designed for those who are interested in the mediation process and would like to see how it operates in practice, particularly in light of the Gowers Report on Intellectual Property [which, says the IPKat, says practically NOTHING USEFUL AT ALL about designs, but backs better use of means other than litigation for resolving disputes]. It is also intended for those who wish to learn about mediation as a real alternative to litigation in dispute resolution".
Driving this event are leading mediation services provider CEDR and the increasingly useful ACID (Anti Copying In Design), the highly active UK IP trade organisation for designers and manufacturers. ACID-accredited law firm Hammonds is buying the drinks, so the fee of £30 plus £5.25 VAT is being levied to cover the overheads (what's that, asks Merpel: umbrellas, parasols, fake Burberry caps?)
For more information or to book a place email Faith Hardman or phone her on + 44 20 7536 6000.
Theatre of Dreams here
Theatre of Nightmares here
New judge on the block
Amid all the excitement of the past few days the IPKat quite forgot to congratulate Christopher Floyd QC on his appointment as judge in the Patents Court - part of the Chancery Division - in England and Wales. Christopher, of 11 South Square, has practised in all fields of intellectual property law, with particular emphasis on patent cases in all technical disciplines.
The IPKat and Merpel join in respectfully wishing him the very best of luck in his new appointment, with the hope that he will take a ruggedly interventionist and proactive role in case management for the benefit of all disputing parties. Christopher's greatest hits include
* Celltech v MedImmune [2004] EWCA Civ 1331
* Ivax Pharmaceuticals (UK) v Astrazeneca AB [2004] EWHC 1264 (Ch)
* Russell Finex v Telsonic [2004] EWHC 474 (Ch)
* Cairnstores v Aktiebolaget Hassle [2002] EWCA Civ 1504 - this is one of the IPKat's favourites, when the losers tried to have the trial judge hung, drawn and quartered for (i) being on the winning party's side and (ii) rabidly attacking a pet witness for the losers.
AG backs France against the Commission; peer-to-trade mark project?
The IPKat's scholarly friend Christopher Stothers sent him a little while ago a note on the Advocate General's Opinion in Case C-201/06 European Commission v France. This opinion has been posted on the Curia website in Slovene, Estonian and eight other minority languages including French, German, Italian and Spanish - but alas not in English. Christopher informs the Kat as follows:
"In essence, France requires that plant protection products (pesticides) have a common origin if they are to benefit from the simplified marketing authorisation process. If not, they have to go through the full authorisation process. The Commission took the view that this breached Articles 28-30 but the Advocate General has rejected the Commission's case and supported France (who were supported by the Netherlands).
This follows the ECJ's judgment in Case C-100/96 British Agrochemicals Association but is not consistent with the subsequent approach taken by the ECJ in relation to pharmaceuticals in Case C-112/02 Kohlpharma".
Many thanks, Chris!
While UKIPO is looking at the trade mark application process it might consider extending its upcoming patent peer review trial to cover trade marks as well. The United States Patent and Trademark Office first launched the 'Peer to Patent' trial earlier in the summer, and UKIPO is set to follow suit early in 2008 - but has anyone yet considered using this collaborative technology to bring similar expertise to the trade mark application process?
The IPKat's friend Martin Farley, who recently floated this idea at a meeting with OHIM (the EU's trade mark and design granting body) was surprised to find a high degree of interest. Martin said
"Using the peer review model could bring some benefits to a community trade mark application, particularly during the relative phase. If OHIM, with much greater restrictions on what it can use in reaching its decision on CTM applications, could consider a use for such community-wide collaboration, then there is no reason why UKIPO couldn't too."
Given that there is now a suggestion that peer review could become a compulsory feature of the patent application process in the USA, perhaps it is time to consider its value in other areas of the IP world. If anybody has come across similar plans made or ideas expressed by other IP bodies, why not let the IPKat know?
Monday, 24 September 2007
Penguin in denial; and now for a little Enterprise
The IPKat, a great admirer of the late Dorothy Parker's wit, is fascinated by the report in today's Telegraph that publisher Penguin is involved in litigation over the great lady's writings - if not her copyright. The story goes like this. In 1994, one Stuart Silverstein offered Penguin a compilation he had made and edited of Parker's uncollected poems.
Right: the late, lamented Dorothy Parker
Penguin did not want to publishe it as it stood but offered him US$2,000 for the right to include Silverstein's work in its Complete Poems collection. Silverstein declined and opted instead for another publisher, Scribner, which published the lost poems compilation with his introduction in 1996 under the title Not Much Fun: The Lost Poems of Dorothy Parker.
In 1999 Penguin's Complete Poems book came out, featuring a section called "Poems Uncollected by Parker". Silverstein alleges the section is copied "comma by comma" from his own work, without acknowledgement. Penguin says it owes Silverstein nothing since all he did was compile a collection of works that were already in the public domain. The company concedes that Silverstein's collection was a source, but says its editor arranged the poems in a different order and even removed one that Silverstein included in error. Judgment is hoped for, if not necessarily expected, by Christmas.
Without possession of the facts the IPKat would not wish to rule on this dispute. He recalls however that compilations of even public domain works are capable of attracting copyright in their own right, so long as some individual creativity has gone into the act of compilation - and he's sure that editing a public domain work can also attract fresh copyright. Either that, or a lot of new editions of old music would be free for all (cf the Hyperion dispute, noted by the IPKat here, here and here). Merpel suspects that Penguin, Scribner, Silverstein and their respective lawyers will all make a good deal more money out of these poems than Dorothy Parker ever did.
Feeling enterprising and want to sue someone? If so, the Enterprise Act 2002 (Disclosure of Information for Civil Proceedings etc) Order 2007 (SI 2007 No. 2193) comes into force on 1 October 2007 in the United Kingdom and it might just affect you. The story goes like this. Part 9 of the Enterprise Act controversially restricted the disclosure of certain information, obtained for the purposes of a criminal prosecution, from being admitted in civil proceedings.
Left: Spock returns to the Starship Enterprise, pleased that an apparent inconsistency, if not illogicality, of UK legislation has been resolved
This bar had obvious repercussions for IP litigation, since many species of civilly actionable infringements are also criminal offences. Now a new Section 241A of the Enterprise Act (inserted by section 1281 of the Companies Act 2006) provides that certain specified information may be disclosed for the purposes of, or in connection with,
"proceedings in respect of the rights and obligations of consumers and those relating to or arising out of the infringement or misuse of intellectual property rights".
For these purposes Section 241A permits prescribed information to be disclosed for obtaining legal advice in relation to such prescribed proceedings and otherwise for the purposes of establishing, enforcing or defending legal rights that are or may be the subject of such prescribed proceedings. For these purposes "intellectual property right" includes
"a patent, copyright, and analogous or related right, database right, registered or unregistered design right, registered trade mark, topography right, supplementary protection certificate, plant variety right, protected designation of origin or a protected geographical indication".
The IPKat welcomes the amendment, but deprecates the inelegant and obscure manner in which the new changes are summarised in the Explanatory Note that accompanies the Regulation. He wonders whether anyone who needs an explanation will find it here.
Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform paper in response to consultations, August 2007, here
Not so fast, says ECJ in QUICKY case
Last week the IPKat briefly recorded the decision of the European Court of Justice in Case C-193/06 P Société des Produits Nestlé SA v OHIM, Quick restaurants SA. Said the Kat, it looks fascinating in the original French and seems to be something to do with QUICKY and QUICKIES, so he guessed that was probably an opposition. The IPKat has since heard from his learned linguaphile friend Tibor Gold, who writes:
"This is an appeal from the CFI in case T-74/04. Its main interest lies in the rules for comparison of a composite word-and-device mark with a word mark.
The applicant's mark was for the word QUICKY with a drawing of a fairly large rabbit atop. The words and graphics were of, roughly, equal size. The opponent's marks were QUICKIES and QUICK; the goods - in classes 29, 30 and 32 for the one mark and 29, 30 and 42 for the other) were deemed similar below and did not play a substantial role in the ECJ judgment.
The opposition had been upheld by the Opposition Division, the Board of Appeal and the Court of First Instance (CFI). It is the latter's logic that was successfully attacked before the ECJ.
The CFI went about it in this way. While paying lip-service to the global assessment test at the outset of its analysis, it then stated that there is a likelihood of confusion (LOC) where a complex mark, leaving aside the figurative element, has a verbal element which is identical or similar to an earlier word mark unless that word element is subsidiary to the non-verbal element. Once such a similarity between the verbal element is established, the next step, said the CFI, is to examine whether the additional figurative/graphic element is capable of imparting a sufficient visual differentiation to overcome the position established by the word elements, i.e. whether the additional figurative/graphic element is a dominant element of the composite in the mind of the public or whether its distinctinctiveness is equal to or lower than that of the verbal element.
In the actual case, the CFI said that the verbal elements were visually similar and the graphics were not so dominant as to render the verbal element negligible. The ECJ condemned this approach. By stating that the graphics did not render the word element negligible, since the compared word elements were held to be similar the CFI did not in fact perform a global assessment but decided the LOC only on the basis of the word elements.
The ECJ referred to its own decision in the recent Shaker/Limoncello case, C-334/05P, 12/06/07 [see IPKat posting here], saying that it is only when all other components of a complex mark are negligible that it is permissible to make the comparison on the basis of the dominant element - a finding that in this case the CFI did not make.
The case was remitted to the CFI."
Says the IPKat, this approach would seem to be of high relevance to the discussions raging in Germany and in Ipkatland over the recent German decision involving the Kinder trade mark (see earlier post here and comments appended to it).
Sunday, 23 September 2007
Copyright evening coming up; Designs at MARQUES
BLACA - the British Literary and Artistic Copyright Association - has told the IPKat that David Carson has agreed, en route to Geneva, to stop over in London and give a talk on 1 October on the future of US copyright law. The official title is "United States Copyright Law - Should Europeans Care?"
David is the Associate Register for Policy and International Affairs at the United States Copyright Office. We have also lined up two commentators: Shira Perlmutter, who is the Executive Vice President, IFPI and Laurence Djolakian who is the Legal Counsel for the Motion Picture Association - Europe. Gillian Davies from Hogarth Chambers will be chairing.
Uma Suthersanen, who chairs BLACA, tells the Kat that this is a FREE EVENT. It's being hosted by Bird & Bird in the firm's London office (you can locate it via the map, above right). If you'd like to attend, contact Emma Rumens here.
Although the IPKat left the MARQUES conference in Porto (scroll down for the six earlier posts) a little early, he is still receiving more information about it. He has heard that the Designs Workshop session run by MARQUES stalwart David Stone (Howrey) was officially "sold out" and that even a WIPO official was turned away.
Left: the IPKat found this striking Community design image on the website of Hindle Lowther, Edinburgh
The background to the workshop was that it sought to introduce the MARQUES report on the first 150 invalidity decisions by OHIM on RCDs - registered Community designs (see earlier IPKat postings here and here).
David has told the IPKat that the MARQUES Designs Team will be updating the report (there are now over 400 invalidity decisions, including 60-odd appeals to the Boards of Appeal), with the plan of launching the update at the Barcelona Winter Meeting (next year - but there are not yet any details on the website). Says David:
"If any IPKat reader has suggestions on ways to make the report more useful, please get in touch. For example, we will be dropping many of the statistics - they were time-consuming to collect, and not helpful (other than perhaps for prurient interest)".
The workshop discussion was wide-ranging and highly engaged. Issues discusssed included:
* should logos really be registrable as RCDs? (the consensus answer was yes - but some care will be needed not to restrict the value of designs for 3D objects just to keep logos in line);
* should RCDs be invalidated for non-use after a given period? (NO!);
* should we all be engaging with the RCD system more, particularly our US colleagues? (YES!);
* should practitioners use the verbal description when filing an RCD? (no).
The IPKat has the PowerPoints for this session and suspects that serious students of the subject might just like to take a look at them if you drop him a hint.
Friday, 21 September 2007
Fast tracking at the UK-IPO
The UK-IPO have announced they intend to introduce new 'fast track' procedures for both patent and trade mark applications. Robert Ibrahim of the grandly-titled Intellectual Property & Innovation Directorate, writes:
"The Gowers Report on Intellectual Property recommended that the UK Intellectual Property Office provide new accelerated services for processing patent and trade mark applications. We have considered these recommendations and are now consulting on proposed new fast track services for patents and trade marks, both of which will be available to all applicants upon payment of a fee.
The consultation launches today, 21 September and closes on 14 December 2007. The consultation document is available at http://www.ipo.gov.uk/consult-fasttrack.pdf".
The intention is to deal with, on request, trade mark applications within 10 business days and patent applications within 9 months.
The IPKat thinks that this all sounds great in principle, but there are often very good reasons for not wanting patent applications to be granted too quickly, section 2(3) being one of them. And isn't the UK office pretty quick anyway nowadays, given that much of their work is being drawn away to Munich (or The Hague) and Alicante?
Merpel wonders why the Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys are not being consulted on this one. Was it something they said?
MARQUES in Porto VI
Thursday afternoon found the IPKat attending two worthy Workshop sessions at the MARQUES conference. First was Ben Goodger (right, Rouse & Co, International) on "Managing and Nurturing Your IP". This session focused not only on what businesses need to know when practising the art of intellectual asset management but also how professional advisers need to get it across and what sort of resistance they might meet. Next came "Abuse of Trade Marks by Third Parties (undesirable association, parody and other misuses)", a double-header led by Marieke Westgeest (Markenizer, the Netherlands) and Massimo Sterpi (Studio Legale Jacobacci, Italy). This session led to some vigorous expressions of difference of opinion as to the best course to take when your brand is appropriated by chavs, right-wing louts or - in the case of Cristal Champagne - hip-hop artists and rappers. Although Benelux has special laws that provide redress for trade mark owners when the reputation of their marks is groundlessly damaged even by use other than regular trade mark use (an option offered by Article 5(5) of the harmonisation directive), it may be better to laugh off the damage or counter it with a well-planned marketing exercise.
And so to the Gala Dinner: the location was Porto's former Customs House on the bank of the river Douro, but the happy diners demonstrated some fairly jolly customs of their own. The IPKat is proud to announce that his paper aeroplane flew further than that of the other occupants of Table 9.
Right: The Douro by night
More to the point, he has been asking quite a lot of people a question: "Can you name three things you've gained from this conference that will make you a better trade mark lawyer?" While all his respondents affirmed that they had benefited a great deal from the event, he notes that several of their answers were, like trade mark rights themselves, somewhat intangible. Nxt time, he promises, he'll ask them before the wine is served.
Kinder capers
The IPKat's good friend Birgit Clark has sent him news from Germany of an important and somewhat controversial decision, summarised in a press release from the Federal Supreme Court (Bundesgrichtshof/BGH), the First Senate of which is responsible for trade mark cases. In two recent decisions that court had to determine the extent of trade mark protection for the Kinder trade mark for products made of chocolate. According to the press release,
"The claimant, the sweets producer Ferrero, is the proprietor of several registered ("graphically designed") device marks, some of them colour marks, which all contain the word element "Kinder" ("children") and are protected inter alia for chocolate. The first case was about an injunctive relief with which Ferrero tried to prevent the sweets producer Haribo to offer (inter alia) confectionery, bakery and pastry products under the trade mark "Kinder Kram" (literally "kid's/children's stuff")
The Higher Appellate Court of Cologne (Oberlandesgericht Köln) did not see a violation of the trade mark rights of Ferrero after the Bundesgerichtshof had already overruled an earlier decision of the Cologne court in 2003, which had seen the case differently (and had considered the marks similar).
Der Bundesgerichtshof has now confirmed the decision of the Cologne court and dismissed the case. It confirmed that the mark "Kinder Kram" did not violate the rights in the mark "Kinder". According to the Bundesgerichts the claimant could only claim protection for the graphic/device design elements and the colourful composition/design of some of their marks. The word element "Kinder" on its own, however, did not enjoy trade mark protection per se according to the BGH, due to its "descriptive nature" in the eyes of the relevant consumer group. The claimant's device/colour marks "Kinder" and the defendant's word mark "Kinder Kram" are not similar in the eyes of the court.
In the second case, again based on Ferrero's earlier registered trade marks for "Kinder" the defendant was a producer of dairy products who intended to bring out a new milk desert under the mark "Kinderzeit" ("children's time"). Ferrero's intentention was to ban the use of the mark in advertisement and on packaging. While their claim was successful in the lower court, the Higher Appellate Court of Hamburg (Oberlandesgericht Hamburg) dismissed their claim. The Bundesgerichtshof confirmed this ruling and stated that there was no similarity between the design mark "Kinder" and the word mark "Kinderzeit""
Birgit is not so convinced: she observes that "Kinder" has always been a well-known mark for chocolate, especially for children and lovers of chocolate. This being so, members of the relevant German consumer group would always see the element "Kinder" as the relevant and dominant element and think that whatever was offered was a new product of the Kinder range by Ferrero. Next to the word "Kinder" the design elements would not be considered dominant, even though they are quite distinctive.
The IPKat says, this problem always arises with word-and-device marks: the scope of protection will always be limited by the fact that it is the visual image that is registered rather than the word itself, while the word is the normal means by which the consumer refers to the product.
Thursday, 20 September 2007
ECJ functionality decision
The IPKat has learnt of a new decision of the ECJ on functionality.
G-Star is the owner of a Dutch trade mark consisting of the shape and stitching of jeans. Benetton produced jeans similar to G-Star’s, and G-Star brought an infringment action. Benetton counter-claimed for invalidity, arguing that the shape in question gave substantial value to the goods and was therefore barred from registration. G-Star responded that the shape had acquired distinctiveness though an advertising campaign which pre-dated its registration.
The Hoge Ra’ad referred the following questions to the ECJ:
(1) Must Article 3(1)(e), third indent, [of the Directive] be interpreted as meaning that the prohibition contained therein permanently precludes the registration of a shape as a trade mark where the nature of the product is such that its appearance and shaping determine its market value entirely or substantially as a result of their beauty or original character, or does the prohibition not apply where, prior to the application for registration, the attractiveness of the relevant shape to the public has been determined predominantly by the recognition of it as a distinctive sign?
(2) If the answer to Question 1 is to the latter effect, to what extent must this attractiveness have prevailed for the prohibition no longer to apply?
The ECJ answered that a mark barred from registration under the third indent of Art.3(1)(e) cannot be registered in reliance on Art.3(3) if, prior to registration, the mark has acquired distinctive character through use. This was apparent from the facts that: (a) Art.3(1)(e) was not mentioned in Art.3(3) and (b) the ECJ had previously said in Philips v Remington that, under no circumstances could a mark barred under Art.3(1)(e) be registered by virtue of Art.3(3).
The ECJ’s approach makes the answer to the question look obvious. However, the referred question is a bit more subtle. How frequently will the shape of goods really be truly inherently attractive, and how often will be attraction just come from the fact that the goods are the latest ‘cool’ status symbol, that ‘coolness’ originating not from the inherent shape, but from the fact that the manufacturer has, through advertising, whipped up a a cult following? It would have been useful if the court had spent its time explaining the meaning of the third intent of Art.3(1)(e) (‘a sign which consists exclusively of the shape which gives substantial value to the goods’), but that wasn’t squarely in the referred questions, and will have to wait for another day.
MARQUES in Porto V; latest decisions from the ECJ
Why do young people infringe IP rights? Is it the result of ignorance, indifference, cost-effectiveness, anti-corporate sentiment, a feeling that the IP owners have already made enough profit, or what? This was the theme of the Thursday morning MARQUES conference programme's opening session, chaired by Tan Loke Khoon (Baker & McKenzie, Hong Kong/China).
First to speak was Roberto de Vido (One Man Band Productions, Japan, right), who explained his research into attitudes regarding copying and his empirical research in copyright teaching through the use of "What's it to me?", an ingenious comic book based on video stills (email Roberto here to request this in pdf format). He reaffirmed what many of us have felt for years, that youngesters don't regard IP infringement as theft, that legitimate products were overpriced, that people who claim they haven't the money to buy legitimate goods seem to have the money to spend on expensive trips to Starbucks, etc). His conclusion: much more must be spent on education if the public are to be taught that it's wrong to steal IP.
Roberto was followed by Scott Warren (Kroll, Japan), a lawyer with previous experience working for Sega and X-Box. Scott spoke on why levels of infringement vary so much from country to country: in Japan and Singapore, for example, where brands are loved and affluence is widespread, the level of infringement is low; but in China - new to consumerism - different considerations apply and people in search of the small quantity of genuine product that does exist had to rely on Hong Kong as a reliable location for non-fake products. Nationalism also had a major part to play: the prospect of a distant foreign IP owner losing out, rather than a local business, also plays a part in consumer attitudes. Availability of pirate product is crucial too: if it can be obtained discreetly through the internet, particularly where legitimate product is hard to get, the level of infringement will always be high. Finally, Scott dealt with the enforcement perspective: cooperation with Customs and the deterrent effect of a spell in a Chinese prison (left) may be most efficacious in individual cases.
Andy Leck (Baker & McKenzie Wong & Leow, Singapore, right) concluded this session with a survey of relevant enforcement and sentencing provisions. Can and should juveniles be imprisoned or otherwise punished and, if so, when and how? Should their parents be vicariously liable? Should an element of education be required instead or, or in addition to, other punitive provisions? What about family group conferencing, as tried in Australia and New Zealand?
Andy then reviewed the perception that copyright was over-protected, whether through substantive legal provisions or through digital rights management. Citing Sir Hugh Laddie's thoughts on the subject, he left some of the audience wondering whether they might not actually be performing a public service by doing some infringement and helping lift the dead hand of copyright from the oppressed public.
Following coffee the conference programme focused on current and projected future developments in the international structure of trade mark and design registration, looking at the Madrid-Hague axis. Contributors to this session, chaired by Jochen Hoehfeld (Klunker Schmitt-Nilson Hirsch, Germany), were Ernesto Rubbio (WIPO Assistant DG), José Graça-Aranha (WIPO Industrial Designs Director) and Grégoire Bisson (WIPO Designs Deputy Director). The continued expansion of both systems is a matter of great pleasure to anyone who wants wider geographical protection with less hassle and expense.
The IPKat continues to regret the slow take-up of international filing schemes by national governments. Merpel asks, is this slow take-up the result of too little interest, or too much self-interest?
Note: there will be one final post from Porto, covering the Workshop sessions, before the IPKat returns to London tomorrow.
This morning the Court of First Instance of the European Communities (CFI) published its ruling in Case T-461/04, Imagination Technologies Ltd v OHIM. IT applied to register as a Community trade mark the words PURE DIGITAL for goods in Class 9 and services in Class 38 relating to electronic apparatus and telecommunications and computer-related services. The examiner refused the application on the grounds that PURE DIGITAL was non-distinctive and indeed descriptive for the goods and services in question. The Board of Appeal dismissed IT's appeal. Today the CFI affirmed both earlier decisions.
The IPKat feels that this appeal was always going to fail, since distinctiveness acquired through use was not alleged and, without it, the words in question were a complete non-starter. But what is interesting in this decision is a little argument on the issue of disclaimers and the extent to which, by declining to assert monopoly rights in respect of one or more parts of an applied-for sign, the applicant might just be able to squeeze within the criteria for registration. On this the CFI had this to say:
"61 The applicant maintains that OHIM was wrong to ignore the offer of a disclaimer pursuant to Article 38(2) of Regulation No 40/94 on the ground that the word ‘digital’ is not distinctive. It claims that the inclusion of the word might give rise to doubts as to the scope of protection of the trade mark, in particular whether or not the goods and services could properly be described as digital in nature. ... OHIM should have considered and subsequently accepted the offer of a disclaimer, so as to overcome the harm caused by the circumstances envisaged in Article 38(2) ....
62 OHIM takes the view that the applicant is mistaken both as to the conditions in which Article 38(2) ... applies and the legal consequences thereof. ... the applicant merely refers to the possibility of such a disclaimer or expects OHIM to impose a disclaimer on it.
Findings of the Court
63 Under Article 38(2) ..., where the trade mark contains an element which is not distinctive, and where the inclusion of that element in the trade mark could give rise to doubts as to the scope of protection of the trade mark, OHIM may request, as a condition for registration of that trade mark, that the applicant state that he disclaims any exclusive right to such element.
64 It follows that for that provision to apply at least one of the elements of which the mark consists must be distinctive. As has been established above, both the two elements of which the mark sought consists and the mark considered as a whole are devoid of any distinctive character within the meaning of Article 7(1)(b) .... OHIM cannot therefore be criticised for not considering the offer of a disclaimer within the meaning of Article 38(2) ....
65 It follows from the foregoing that the second plea must be rejected as unfounded".
The ECJ has also delivered its ruling in Case C‑371/06, Benetton Group SpA v G-Star International BV, a reference for a preliminary ruling from the Hoge Raad, the Netherlands, which is noted above.
Finally, posted on the Curia website today is the ruling of the European Court of Justice in Case C-193/06 P Société des Produits Nestlé SA v OHIM, Quick restaurants SA - it looks fascinating in the original French and seems to be something to do with QUICKY and QUICKIES, so the Kat guesses that it is probably an opposition. The ECJ has annulled the decision of the CFI, anyway. Please can someone let the IPKat know if there's anything of significance here.
Earlier IPKat postings on this dispute here and here
MARQUES in Porto IV; Streamlined OHIM oppositions revisited
The Wednesday afternoon session of this year's MARQUES was rather less taxing than the morning. It opened with a presentation by Erin Hennessy (Time Warner) and Rick McMurtrey (Turner Broadcasting System) on the challenges that session chairman Ken Taylor (Marksmen) would face in seeking to protect and create an online and market presence for the Wee Tot Folk - a merchandable cartoon concept aimed at the four-12 year old consumer. The IPKat thought this was an extremely well-crafted act, carefully scripted, accurately timed, pertinently illustrated and a good blend of serious legal issues and humour.
Right: here's one question that plenty of conference participants were too shy to ask: "what do the letters WTF stand for?"
Merpel has quite a different view: this presentation wasn't going to reveal any issues that an expert audience of IP practitioners weren't already familiar with, which is why over 550 participants couldn't come up with a single question between them -- it should have been part of the entertainment programme, not the conference proper.
The final session of the day was a pretty serious one: a review of legislative and regulatory instruments to protect the young consumer. This panel session, chaired by OHIM's Director of General Affairs and External Relations Joao Miranda de Sousa, featured contributions by two local speakers - Manuela Botelho (Portuguese Association of Advertisers) and Cidalia Almedia (Marketing Manager of the Juice and Drinks Division of Compal). Tackling the ethical issues arising from protecting the young while making them a source of profits, plus the self-interest versus other-interest balance inherent in every type of commercial self-regulation, was guaranteed to generate a good deal of thirst. This in was slaked by the nocturnal visit to Taylor's Port Quinta - the perfect place to sample one of Portugal's best-known products.
Left: Taylor's Port maturing in the casks. Right: OHIM's Ingrid Desrois and Juan Rubio reflect upon the pleasures of a glass of Port.
This weblog recently mentioned the new OHIM Communication on streamlining the bureaucratic side of handling Community trade mark oppositions (see earlier post here). He has since received this comment from a well-informed colleague who prudently chooses to remain anonymous:
"You know what the problem is? All that streamlining is not used to release energy for spending more time on the actual decision but to release people and reduce the OHIM workforce even more. At the same time the average time spent on a single matter (not on procedure but on the legal handling of the case) goes down and down.
Another "novelty" (a code word for "back to the practice in 1997") is that applicants now receive several oppositions to the same application on different days, meaning that they have to manage numerous deadlines at intervals of 1 to 10 days. Sometimes oppositions are notified and deadlines are set before the opposition period is even over. This leads to applicants making efforts to settle one matter only to find out later that an "absolute killer" opposition has also been filed - and that their efforts with respect to the first opposition were entirely in vain. It is difficult to see what OHIM can gain from this apart from embellishing its own statistics regarding the duration of individual oppositions".
From Paddington to Paris
The success of many merchandised properties is based as much upon the endearing nature of their characters and personification as on the skill with which their commercial potential is identified and exploited. So when a character appears to "change", this perception may have profound ramifications. Perhaps it is for this reason that Michael Bond - creator of the popular Paddington Bear - has been reported in the BBC as having reacted to criticism over a decision to use the marmalade-loving bear in a TV advertisement for the love-it-or-loathe-it yeast-based Marmite spread.
Right: Paddington in experimental mode - the "P.B." on his case stands for "peanut butter" ...
So why, then, did Paddington and Co, the company that owns the rights to the bear's image, license his use in a Marmite ad? Said a company official:
"Unilever wanted to encourage people to try Marmite in their sandwiches, and they were looking for a character famous for eating sandwiches. The point of the advert is that Paddington always has marmalade in his sandwiches. He simply tries Marmite".
The IPKat is reluctant to swallow this, since he is thinking of the damage that can be inflicted on Paddington's image in the eyes of kids who have been forced to eat Marmite by their parents and deeply detest it.
Left: here's something for Paddybear to try once he's finished with the regular Marmite.
Merpel notes the implication of the above quote: if Paddybear (i) always has marmalade and (ii) tries Marmite, he must have eaten a marmalade-and-Marmite sandwich.
Paddington Bear recipes here
Make your own Paddington Bear Mobile here
Meanwhile, definitely real but stranger than fiction character Paris Hilton is hitting the IP headlines again, according to this item which Tom Cowling (Swan Turton) slipped into the path of the oncoming IPKat. The fashion celebrity has just filed a lawsuit against greetings card manufacturers Hallmark, alleging that the company used an unauthorised image of her signature phrase "That's hot" on a series of its cards. The card on the right depicts "Paris' first day as a waitress": Hilton's face is superimposed on a cartoon body. This apparition hands a plate to a customer and warns: "Don't touch that, it's hot". The customer asks, "What's hot?" to which Hilton-as-waitress replies, "That's hot". The IPKat can't see what's funny about this. Neither, it seems, could Paris because she's asking for half a million dollars in damages plus injunctive relief. The IPKat awaits further development with unabated indifference.
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Last change on this file since 3539 was 3539, checked in by bastiK, 3 years ago
i18n update
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Modify
Opened 4 years ago
Closed 4 years ago
#2022 closed enhancement (fixed)
Warning when saving a loaded GPX file again
Reported by: stoecker Owned by: framm
Priority: minor Component: unspecified
Version: Keywords:
Cc:
Description
Usually it is a mistake when a loaded GPX layer should be saved back to disk. JOSM should issue a warning before doing so.
Attachments (0)
Change History (1)
comment:1 Changed 4 years ago by stoecker
• Resolution set to fixed
• Status changed from new to closed
Modify Ticket
Change Properties
<Author field>
Action
as closed .
as The resolution will be set. Next status will be 'closed'.
The resolution will be deleted. Next status will be 'reopened'.
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Virtual Worlds Research: Global X Local Agendas
Gilson Schwartz
Abstract
This is a brief essay, we call "think-pieces", designed to stimulate a discussion on a particular topic. For this series of essays we propose the following question:
"Consumer behavior in virtual worlds, is it really any different to the real world, or is it simply a case of 'old wine in a new bottle'?"
Keywords
virtual worlds; Brazil; global; research agendas
Full Text: PDF
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
The full website for the Journal of Virtual Worlds Research can be found at: http://jvwresearch.org
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[maemo-developers] Maemo Base Port documentation
From: Marcin Juszkiewicz marcin at juszkiewicz.com.pl
Date: Thu Feb 4 13:17:41 EET 2010
Dnia czwartek, 4 lutego 2010 o 11:56:45 Quim Gil napisał(a):
> Hi,
>
> We don't expect to find many chipset vendors in this list, but still
> this new doc might be interesting for those of you interested in the low
> level interfaces of the platform and also for those with an open source
> agenda.
>
> Maemo Base Port
> http://wiki.forum.nokia.com/index.php/Maemo_Base_Port
Which version of Maemo it covers? Rather not Maemo6 as it had to be Qt based
and pdf talks about GNOME GVFS.
And does nokia follows this document? I think not:
>> Kernel 1.
>> The kernel shall follow the Linux mainstream development model and adhere
>> to Linux coding and quality standards. The kernel codebase shall not be
>> forked from the mainstream codebase and all necessary modifications to the
>> kernel shall be delivered and integrated into the mainstream kernel
>> codebase using the standard GPLv2 license (Nokia standard).
Does it means "you are free to start merging your code 2 years after last
device sold"? Because N8x0 support was not fully merged yet into mainline
Linux tree.
>> Kernel 2.
>> The kernel shall follow the upstream Linux kernel version as closely as
>> possible (Nokia standard).
We have 2.6.28 + omap1 + nokia. It does not even got stable updates with pr1.1
>> Kernel 3.
>> The kernel source code shall be available as a git[5] repository with full
>> commit history (Nokia standard).
We have only code drops from time to time so bugs like
https://bugs.maemo.org/show_bug.cgi?id=6792 are not fixed for users.
>> Kernel 8.
>> The kernel shall support the ext2, ext3, ext4, UBIFS, and VFAT file systems
>> (Linux standard).
Kernel tree source or binary kernel/modules for device? N900 do not have ext4
support available in any Maemo5 release.
Regards,
--
JID: hrw at jabber.org
Website: http://marcin.juszkiewicz.com.pl/
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/marcinjuszkiewicz
More information about the maemo-developers mailing list
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Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Youth Pastor Emile Boutin arrested
It looks like Roman Catholic youth pastor Rev. Emile Boutin was arrested for touching another man’s junk in a public park. The behavior is known as cruising. I’m thinking Boutin might be gay. Does that make him a bad youth pastor? I don’t think so. It does not matter now. His lack of impulse control has landed him in hot water.
The Rev. Emile Boutin, is a youth pastor at Blessed Sacrament in Walpole, Mass.
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Youth Pastor Matthew Nichols arrested
Deemed a danger to the community, Lutheran youth pastor Matthew Nichols of Bethlehem Evangelical Lutheran Church, was denied bond after his arrest for possession of child pornography. The most disturbing aspect of this case is that Nichols has a criminal past involving sexual activity with minors in Pennsylvania. Which process failed this time?
ICE made the bust.
ICE began investigating Nichols in October 2009 after receiving information from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children about an email address that had been used to transmit child pornography which was traced to Nichols' home and Bethlehem Evangelical Luther Church. The New Mexico Attorney General's Office, the New Mexico State Police and FBI assisted ICE in the case
His church is standing behind him.
Jerry Ethridge, president of its board of directors, said in an videotaped interview posted on the Los Alamos Monitor website that Nichols will remain on paid leave until the matter is resolved.
"Matt is a very well-performing employee of the congregation," he said. "All indications from both parents and all the children (are) that during that period of time, there's been no ... inappropriate action by Matt."
Background checks performed by the church did not show Nichols’ criminal history.
Ethridge says the church consistently runs background checks on church members and parents who chaperon children and somehow Nichols had passed two such tests without raising any red flags.
"Even in the background investigation and the interviews with him and the references none of that information came up," he said.
What’s a church to do? For starters they gutted their website. Most links are broken, and no news or statements are available. They have not disclosed their vetting process. We don’t know if vetting included a legitimate background check or if they were simply googling a name. And finally, we know that the church is protecting it’s pastor. I want to know why.
Hat tip: SLOG
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Area 51
We buried my dad today in Area 51. It was supposed to be a simple memorial for our family. It ended up as a cluster. Fortunately, the people who work at Riverside National Cemetery did everything they could to help us.
Forest Lawn Cypress botched the arrangements. We showed up to find no memorial scheduled. Instead, they were planning a quick internment. My mom was distraught, my sisters were pissed and determined to salvage the day. You don’t want to get my sisters pissed, they are formidable adversaries when friendly, when pissed, oh man…
The staff at the cemetery stepped up. Edna, a coordinator working out of the main office, worked quickly to arrange a graveside service. She was the recipient of many hugs and handshakes for her effort. I plan to write her a thank you letter.
We did the internment service without clergy, without honor guard, and without much preparation. My sister Kim read a poem she wrote earlier in the day. Her son said a heartfelt prayer. Her daughter read some inspirational words spoken at the funeral of my grandmother. Our service was short and heartfelt. I felt good about it.
The burial was an unemotional event for me. I wondered at this after. How could I go from an emotional wreck last Friday to a stable and solid son today? The only thing I can come up with is that the healing process has started.
I can see quite a few trips out to Riverside in my future. Mom will need a ride. I have a history at that cemetery. While in the Air Force in the early 80s, I gave military honors to over 400 serviceman as part of the ceremonial Honor Guard. I felt like a man at the time. I saw the Honor Guard today. They looked like boys. Time moves quickly.
David Maisel’s Library of Dust
David Maisel is a photographer I follow. He put together a fascinating project called Library of Dust recently. It’s coming to the UCR/California Museum of Photography on August 31, 2010. I plan to catch the show.
Library of Dust depicts individual copper canisters, each containing the cremated remains of patient from a state-run psychiatric hospital. The patients died at the hospital between 1883 (the year the facility opened, when it was called the Oregon State Insane Asylum) and the 1970’s; their bodies have remained unclaimed by their families.
FLYP did a profile of David Maisel in 2009. There is a video page two that is interesting.
I find the whole concept of anonymous canned human ashes to be a good metaphor for the existential futility and singular loneliness of life. Plus I think the photos are cool.
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Youth Pastor Jermel Manns arrested
A convicted Illinois sex offender found work as a youth pastor in his uncle’s Cocoa, Florida church. Jermel Manns was using the name Jermel Beckford while working with the church’s children. His youth group called him Pastor J. He was arrested for sexting a teenager from his youth group. His uncle claims no knowledge of Jermel’s past conviction for molesting a teenage boy.
The senior pastor at the church, and Jermel's uncle, Errol Beckford, said he knew nothing of his past and was stunned to hear of his arrest.
“I says, what? Are you kidding me? He was a good pastor. He had 75 kids here. He built it up and they loved him," Beckford said.
If Errol Beckford knew nothing of Jermel’s past, then why did he let an adult male assume a new identity when working at the church? I think it’s possible that uncle Errol knew what his nephew hid in his past. It’s actually a reasonable explanation. Of course, I doubt the pastor would admit it because that would make him at least partially responsible for Jermel’s crimes. Pastor Erro Manns is obligated to protect his congregation’s children from sexual predators. I’m betting there was no background check.
The church involved is the Celebration Tabernacle Church in Cocoa, Florida.
New salty chocolate
Despite harassment from my disc golf buddies, I attended an indy craft show in Long Beach over the weekend put on by the good folks at Hand Made Brigade. Besides picking up some outstanding ceramics, I found some yummy chocolate. The C Salt Gourmet puts out a sea salt encrusted mixture of chocolate goodness that I find wonderful. I’m not a big chocolate or sweats eater. In fact, I don’t ever go out of my way for the sweet stuff. But the salty sweetness of her pistachio cherry chocolate with sea salt & caramel hooked me on the first taste. It really is too bad she does not sell and ship from her website. You’ll have to visit her booth and the next show or stop in at one of the shops that sell her chocolate.
I did not have the presence of mind to take any photo’s. I was too busy saying “Ooh, tasty.”
She has a blog: Hand Made With Love.
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Introducing On the way to Ithaca
Please join me in welcoming the newest member of the Atheist Blogroll, On the way to Ithaca.
Hi guys and gals of the atheist community, my name is Evan and I've been running the On the way to Ithaca blog since November 2009, which Mojoey was kind enough to add to the Atheist Blogroll recently. I've decided to come to terms with the atheistic worldview 2 years ago, after an intense struggle with my faith and after making a brief pit-stop on Deism and Agnosticism on the way. I must admit it wasn't easy since I was born and live in Greece and the Greek national identity is tightly interwoven with Eastern Orthodox Christianity, but here I am in any case.
I decided to start my blog after I had decided to read the Bible (the original Septuagint) again for a second time after my deconversion and write my thoughts on it (it's an ongoing project on my blog). I'm also translating interesting articles and news from english sources for my fellow Greek Atheists who aren't comfortable with reading from the original and I'm involved with the Greek Atheists Collective Blog. The blog is written exclusively in Greek (for now), but if anyone has any idea for an article that would interest english-speakers, drop me a line. I believe that is enough about me.
I'd also like to extend a request to other Atheists who live and blog in the greater Balkan area (that is, Albania, FYR Macedonia, Bulgaria, Turkey, Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, Croatia, Slovenia, Romania and Moldova) I'm attempting to create a resource (a blogroll of sorts, but not necessarily limited to blogs; any type of online material will do) which can be used can locate like-minded individuals in our corner of Europe. Whether you write in English or your native language, feel free to drop me a line at ithakiblog-contact@yahoo.gr. Of course, I'd appreciate any help in my effort to get this message out in the Web. Feel free to repost my message on your blogs, if you wish, and thank you in advance for your assistance and time.
Are you interested in becoming a member? Visit the Atheist Blogroll resource blog for more information.
Technorati Tags: Atheism,The Atheist Blogroll
Monday, June 28, 2010
New music: The Colorful Quiet
I found Clown Shoes by the colorful quiet because they followed me on Twitter. They are a new band to me but they’ve been around for a while. Check out their Myspace page for more info.
Enjoy.
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Sunday, June 27, 2010
Conquering Stress Eating
I’ve had a problem with food for a long time, longer than I care to remember. The pattern is always the same. I get stressed, I eat. I get upset, I eat. Or, I get pissed about being heavy, and I eat. I think I finally broke the behavior.
I’ve had difficult time over the last two months. I was working from China on a difficult project and under a ton of stress. This alone is enough to make me stress eat. Then my dad took a turn for the worse and eventually died. I would have normally eaten large amounts of comfort food to cope, but I did not. Something had changed.
I think my son helped. He dropped over a hundred pounds in less than one year. He’s healthy, in great shape, and enthusiastic about his weight loss method. It’s simple. He counts calories and gets exercise.
My wife and I started counting calories a few months ago. We use livestrong.com. She’s lost 25 pounds already and looks great. I’ve lost about 17. Given I was on the road and under a ton of stress, I’m pretty happy. Once I learned how many calories were in my food, I set a easy to achieve daily calorie goal. I’ve managed to stay under my goal on all but a very few days. I’m on track with my weight loss goal of 5 pounds per month. That helps me get through the next day.
Concentrating on calorie content makes me think about what I’m eating. Once I think about it, I usually choose a healthy or lower calorie option. When confronted with the desire to eat, I usually make the right choice. For the first time in my adult life, I’m losing weight without doing something stupid. This helped when the stress came. I made the right call on food, plus I was able to say no. There was no massive overeating. Instead of a large heavy meal, I chose a smaller version, or a healthy alternative. I did not gain weight, which makes me a happy man.
Hot tip: the Eat This, Not That books are helpful.
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Lenny Kravitz and choir
I love music.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Time heals all wounds
They say time heals all wounds. I sure hope so. My wounds seem to be getting worse instead of better. I don’t know if it is dealing with the loss of my father or the endless things that must be done to prepare for a funeral. For my small part, I’ve written the obituary, put together the media presentations for the funeral, picked the music, and wrote the eulogy. These tasks seemed small to me when I started them, but I’ve found them to be among the hardest things I’ve ever attempted. The emotional content is just too high. I’ve had no time for music, no time for photography, no time even for poetry, and I always read poetry. I even managed to skip blogging for a few days. I need to get back to it. It helps the healing.
I want to thank those of you who have offered your words of comfort and condolences. Your words helped me through the dark difficult days immediately after my dad’s death and have sustained me while I’ve toiled away at my various tasks. More importantly, you made me laugh and smile at a time when I desperately needed it.
I also want to thank my dear friends Al & Richard. I felt the love when you both reached out to me. Thanks for the thoughts.
And Brian, my friend and boss, I owe you in too many ways to count. Thank you for allowing me the time I needed to get through this. I will never forget your support.
More blogging to follow…
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Sunday, June 20, 2010
Death and euthanasia
My dad died on Saturday at 8:20 am. His family attended his passing. He took his last breath while a loving nurse named Mary held his hand, kissed his forehead, and told him that everything would be ok. My mother, exhausted after a week long vigil, held his hand while she slept. We woke her as he died.
I felt a sense of relief in his death that I had not anticipated, and guilt too. Why was I relived? I struggled with the question for the next hour. My emotions got the better of me. I could not talk. I could barely make eye contact with those around me. I grieved while struggling with my demons, but it felt good. It felt right.
My dad had actually died about two day before. At least his mind had died as his body dealt with the business of shutting down. We watched every minute of it. I’m happy we were there for him. I’m happy he did not die alone. But I have to wonder, what is the point of a lingering death? Why is it impermissible to help people die once they’ve reached the point of no return? Why is euthanasia considered unethical and against the law?
There was a point when the doctors said the end was near. They actually told us the process of dying had started. They gave us a paper that told us what to expect. The stages of death are predicable. And once they start, you know it. Having experienced the process, I think there is a point where giving an overdose of morphine is the humane thing to do. It’s against the law, but it’s against the law at least partially for religious reasons. I don’t think that’s right. I think I’ve found another cause to fight for.
And Mary – you have my gratitude and thanks. I stand in awe of your love and kindness. The world is a better place for your selfless acts of love.
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The needle and the damage done
How many of you have known a heroin addict? I’ve known a few. The drug is insidious. There are worse drugs, but few rival it for its long-term hooks. Users cannot get away from it. People who sell it, well lets just say, I have no respect for them. If a pastor were to sell heroin, that would be evil.
Robert Lee McQueen, a pastor at the Burning Bush Missionary Church and the owner of McQ Bail Bonds, was convicted Thursday after a four-day trial.
McQueen was convicted of one count of conspiring to distribute 100 grams or more of heroin, three counts of aiding and abetting the distribution of heroin, and two counts of distribution of heroin. He was also found guilty of possession of a firearm.
Think about it. The ideal of a Christian pastor contrasted with the imperfection of a convicted drug dealer. How does one get from serving people to preying on them? It blows this non-believer’s mind.
Heroin is evil. I know. Neal Young says it best.
Introducing Arnamuss
Please join me in welcoming the newest member of the Atheist Blogroll, Aranamuss.
I am the creator of the blog Aranamuss. This is a brand new blog, but I already have quite a few posts up and quite a few in the making - I intend to make this a very active blog.
The main focus of this blog is going to be on book reviews, atheist news, and philosophical musings. There will also likely be some posts about skepticism and science. I hope to bring some fresh insight to some issues, and get people thinking. I hope you check it out!
Are you interested in becoming a member? Visit the Atheist Blogroll resource blog for more information.
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Friday, June 18, 2010
The things I cannot do
I called our family pastor today. I asked him to come to the hospital and pray with my family. I do not consider this an odd request. Most of my extended family are Christians and with my dad near death, it was time to gather the family in prayer. Our family pastor is one of my best friends. I’ve known him for years. My family trusts him and at a time like this, you call people you trust.
Pastor Brad prayed for my dad. The room prayed with him. I watched. I always watch. Something deep inside me knows that I am not the guy who can offer spiritual comfort nor can I partake of it. I don’t understand it. I simply watch. After I hugged my wife. She provides all the comfort I need.
I called Pastor Brad during the 3rd quarter of game 7 of the NBA playoffs. I asked him to come, he did without any hesitation. He is a good man. I owe him. Next Saturday at sunrise I will play a round of discgolf with him. I intend to let him win.
I’m asked frequently about how I feel about prayer. My response is always the same. Prayer is something Christians do. I don’t think about it much. If I am in a situation where prayer is necessary, I choose respectful silence. It goes along with my live and let live philosophy. I don’t care about what other people do as long as the don’t compel me to participate or try to legislate their beliefs.
I don’t believe prayer delivers miracles, but I’ve witnessed it providing comfort to people overcome by grief or facing death. Tonight, I watched my dad agree to pastor Brad’s request for prayer. During the prayer, I saw a smile come to his lips and the tension leave his face. It was one of his last moments of consciousness. Does prayer work? To be honest, I have to give a qualified yes. There is no metaphysical component to it. The words and the people who speak them provide comfort. Some people need that, some do not. Prayer does not comfort me.
It’s 1:15 am. My dad lingers on the edge of death. I’m writing a blog post.
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Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Pastor Christopher Settlemoir arrested
He must be a menace to society. Otherwise, why would Judge Mathew Sabaugh set a $1 million dollar cash bond and make him wear a GPS tether? Baptist pastor Christopher Settlemoir stands charged with sexual assault of a 15-year-old boy. He faces up to life in prison.
The teen's mother went to the Warren Police Department last Thursday with text messages indicating the accused pastor allegedly had sexually assaulted her son. Settlemoir, who police say has been married for two years and has a 7-month-old daughter, turned himself in to police on Saturday, just prior to search warrants for the computers.
Settlemoir was the head pastor at Antioch Baptist Church and the principal of its school. The church and school website is down. It’s best to hide in these situations. Perhaps the public will forget.
Settlemoir is married with a new daughter. What a sad sad story.
Correction - Settlemoir was not the youth pastor, he was the head pastor.
Update 5/25/2011 - Pastor Chris Settlemoir sentenced
Youth pastor Efrain Caban arrested
If you are foolish enough to allow a youth pastor to sleep in your home with your children, at least make sure you lock your bedroom doors. Lutheran youth pastor Efrain Caban is alleged to have molested a 17-year-old boy in the boy’s home.
About 2:34 a.m. on Saturday, according to police, Caban unzipped the pants of a sleeping 17-year-old boy and began fondling him. The boy was a member of the church, police said.
The boy woke up and alerted his mother, who then called the police.
Efrain, who goes by the nickname “Papo” is a youth minister at Christus Lutheran Church in Camden. When I read of youth pastors allegedly committing sexual crimes, the first question that comes to mind is what are his qualifications. Judging by Caban’s MySpace page, he has no qualifications other than a desire to work with kids.
Pastor Carlos Mendez-Almendra arrested
1 pastor, 4 women, and a newly defunct church, this one will be juicy. Pastor Carlos Mendez-Almendra of Apostoles Prophetas was arrested on rape charges involving four women.
Kentucky State Police say Mendez-Almendra would go to the victims' homes, or invite them to his home for prayer, and then force them to engage in sexual activity.
He’s also charged with intimidating a witness. The crimes are alleged to have happened in Kentucky, so I think the pastor faces a maximum of six months in jail.
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Sunday, June 13, 2010
I get comments… fundietainment
I’ve posted on a Christian cult founded by the late Pastor David J. Meyers back in 2007. His followers are crazy. An anonymous poster got my attention when he or she asserted that nameless Wiccans had used the Harry Potter movies’ Avada Kedavra spell to weaken and kill their pastor. They think it’s real. They think it has some kind of power. They believe in witchcraft. How do people fall into such brainless idiocy?
It's occured to me that the poster who said 'avada kadavra david' and then it didn't work did it? holds to clue to David J. Meyers death. Those strange words mean DEATH SPELL. I am sure during his ministry he received death threats, and the various hacked off occultists he exposed threw spells against him. Up until now, they only weakened his health but he always rebounded. This time, the Lord allowed it and brought him home, as no man can withstand the pressure of a ministry like David had for so long, The Wiccans hated him. Well kids, he's out but not down for the count. He's in Paradise.
And God is not finished with you yet, you whosoever sent this final spell. It comes back threefold, remember? This was revealed to me about an hour ago, that Meyer was cast against for the final time. It's a real spiritual war, and real soldiers take hits and sometimes die. But it will come back three-fold, remember?
Read the full thread of the original post for more fundietainment, or check out the nutballs commenting on the post I made for Meyer’s death.
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3:20 am, Is this where I pray?
It was 3:20 in the morning three days ago. I stood before my dad’s sickbed in the cancer ward of the VA Hospital. My dad lay asleep next to my mom who snoozed uncomfortably in a recliner alongside his bed. I looked down at a man who a few months ago weighted 260 pounds, but now looked half that. His arms and legs have no visible muscle, his face is gaunt, almost skeletal, I can count each rib in his chest. I’ve never seen his ribs before. He’s in constant pain and dying slowly because he cannot eat. His cancer is everywhere. There is no hope. I know he will die soon.
I note the time in my journal with the annotation, 3:20 am: Is this where I pray? It was right after the words, 3:05 am: Dad does not know who I am. Asks for his son. I have no prayers in me. The thought makes me ill. Instead, tears flowed. There is little else I can do besides share the burden of attending his bedside with my family, and wait.
I took a picture. I will remember the moment the rest of my life.
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Pastor Robert McFadden guilty
Pastor Robert L. McFadden III pleaded guilty to three felony counts of child seduction. He faces six years in prison.
According to court documents, a 16-year-old girl told Lafayette Police Department detectives that she was given massages by McFadden on April 12 and April 14 that led to sexual contact. Under questioning during Tuesday's sentencing hearing, McFadden admitted to fondling and having sexual intercourse with the girl.
McFadden was the youth pastor at Evangelical Covenant Church of Lafayette. He was not a pastor there when the crime occurred.
See Youth pastor Robert McFadden arrested for more information.
WWJD – fired for becoming pregnant
Jarretta Hamilton was fired by Southland Christian School in St. Cloud, Fl. Her crime? She became pregnant without being married. More precisely, she conceived a few weeks before getting married.
Jarretta Hamilton, 39, admitted to school authorities at Southland Christian School in St. Cloud, Fla., in 2009 that she had conceived before her marriage in April of that year. One week after requesting maternity leave, she was unemployed.
She was not fired for being pregnant.
In a letter to Gay dated July 2009, the school said that Hamilton was not fired because she was pregnant, but because of "fornication, sex outside of marriage." The letter, which Gay provided to AOL News, says that Hamilton agreed in her job application to uphold standards related to the school's values.
When I read this story, I said to a friend, “Does that sound like the message of Christ to you?’ Firing somebody for having sex before marriage is a tad legalistic. What ever happened to forgiveness? I’m beginning to suspect that a lot of Christians have no idea how to actually act like a Christian. Instead they make up rules and apply them with complete disregard for decency or compassion.
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Saturday, June 12, 2010
Reiki tiki bullshit
I’m calling bullshit on Reiki, or “Healing Hands.”
When you begin, focus on the palms of your hands, relax, and slowly feel the higher energies filter through them. This may create a sensation of heat or tingling. here's what's going on. You raise your frequency ... bring in higher balanced energy ... transmit it to the other person by touching them, or holding your hands near their body. Some people wash their hands before and after a healing session.
I saw Healing Hands demonstrated a few nights ago. A woman named Laura was talking to me when she started experiencing acute pain. She is confined to a powered chair because of several different serious disabilities. Despite her limitations, she volunteers with a therapy dog at the VA Hospital. I found her odd, but likeable. More importantly, the service she provided to the patients on the cancer ward was invaluable. How could I not like her?
Before Laura’s pain started, she started experiencing blurry vision and was sweating from the right side of her body. As the pain started, Laura’s face became flushed and her eyes started rolling in her head. Since we were in a hospital waiting room, I alerted the nursing staff to the problem. An RN approached to help. What she did next blew me away.
She asked if she could use Healing Hands to release Laura’s pain. She claimed to be a master at Reiki. Laura agreed. I watched as she placed a hand above Laura’s head and one behind her back while she concentrated with her eyes closed. After a few moments she made motions like she was pulling something out of Laura’s body and throwing it away. She repeated this several times with her hands in different positions. The process took 5 to 6 minutes. She stopped when paged to a patient’s room. Laura did not notice. Her pain was overwhelming. I started to call the emergency room EMTs. She stopped me by saying, “I just need my morphine.”
I helped her get to her meds and watched as she prepared a dose using a syringe. She squirted it into her mouth then leaned back in her chair and moaned. After watching this, I suspected that drug dependency was one of her disabilities. After a few minutes she seemed to recover, although she was still in pain. The RN stopped by and said, “Glad I could help.” I let it go.
Two bible stories
I’ve been spending a lot of time at the VA hospital in Long Beach. In the early morning hours, between 2:00 and 4:oo am, the place is deserted and scary. People can walk in off the street at numerous points without going through security. I’ve never seen security, I just see crazy people and wounded vets. I ran into two crazy people Friday night, at least I think they were crazy.
I walked from the cancer ward to the break area, a distance of 600 feet, several times a night. In the early morning, hours before dawn, it is rare to run into people, but I did Friday night.
As I entered the break area a fat unhealthy looking man greeted me. I returned his greeting in kind but noticed that he was reading a big gold-edged bible, so I ignored him. It took me a few minutes to figure out how to work the vending machines, once I scored some hot coffee, I walked toward the exit. The Bible reader said, “You know, I’m going to die.”
“I’m sorry.” I said.
“I’m going to die, and you are too, the Bible says so.”
I had no intention of talking to him, so I made a quick exit. He repeats himself as I leave. His last words, spoken with a hint of hysteria while he pointed a fat finger at his bible were, “I’m going to die.”
I walked away fast. I was in no mood to talk to a nutter with a bible. A few minutes later I made the last turn in the hospital’s rat maze of corridors before arriving at the elevators. Ahead of me in the hallway I saw a man wearing an odd mix of hospital and street clothing. He tore off blue sanitary gloves and threw them to the ground as he jogged toward me. I was frightened and uneasy. The man was sweating profusely, out of breath, had a large grease mark covering part of his face near his right cheek, and was jerky in his movements. I figure him for a tweaker.
He made a right into the elevator a few seconds before I made a left. I hear him say, “Going up?” I nodded yes and stepped into the elevator next to another man you has his back firmly plastered to the wall opposite the tweaker. The other passenger jumped out on the 4th floor. I ask the tweaker if he’s been running. He paced back and forth and yells, “Hell yes I’ve been running.” He pointed at me, “Where the fuck is my bible?”
I don’t answer. Instead, I slid around to a put my back against the wall opposite him. He danced from foot-to-foot while wiping sweat from his face. He looked high and smelled like a sewer. “I lost my bible.” He says. “But I still have time.”
I jumped off at my floor and watched as the door closed. I figure two bible nutters in one night was enough, so I went back to my vigil without taking another break. It’s safer that way.
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Not so faithful and true
Pastor Shelly Hall of Faithful and True Ministry, was arrested for stalking a homeless woman in Lake County, Fla. The alleged victim is in protective custody.
An affidavit from the Groveland Police Department says Jordan lived at the Faithful and True Ministry Shelter for Women and Children for most of May. That's where she said Pastor Hall would corner her into rooms alone and come into her room as she was changing clothes for work; it even carried over to church fundraisers and the public library.
Here is the scam. Christian charities form around service to the homeless. Once the homeless are dependent on the services, an unscrupulous pastor demands favors in exchange for what are now vital services. Predatory pastors know the women are faced with a choice between food and shelter or the streets, they press their advantage. Can you guess who wins?
If this charge is true, I hope Hall does some hard time.
Pastor Lee Palmer sentenced
Pastor Lee Palmer was convicted of two counts of predatory criminal sexual assault, and one count of sexual abuse. He was sentenced to 19 years in prison. Palmer was unrepentant.
Mueller also cited Palmer's unwillingness to accept responsibility for his actions, stating that the man told investigators that he was "overcome by the demon of lust," that the victim was "asking for it," and that the victim was "in heat," when the assaults occurred, prosecutors said.
I don’t know what to say.
Pastor David J. Meyer dies
Pastor David J. Meyer is an honored member of my nutball family. I posted a nutball alert on him back in February of 2007. Meyer liked to link the Harry Potter movies to witchcraft in the worst possible ways. He died on June 8, 2010. By all accounts, it was a horrible death. R.I.P. David J. Meyer.
Links:
AwaitingHim (tribute)
Last Trumpet Ministries
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Thursday, June 10, 2010
I don't think prayer will work Jim
Rev. Jim Woodard thinks a twice daily mass prayer seeking relief from the effects of the BP oil spill will heal the land. The more people who pray, the more chance of winning the prayer lottery. God may hear a prayer and act on it. We will know becuase the land will be healed, and the ocean too. Let's hope the ocean is covered.
On Friday, Woodard launched a website, www.prayforourcoast.org, urging readers to consider Chronicles 7:13-14, in which God promises to heal the land if people turn to him in prayer.
"I know people are already praying," Woodard said. "I'm not downplaying that. But I thought, what would happen if we focused all that? What would happen if we got people to stop, twice a day, and pray about this?"
I'm sure the is something they could do, something that involves getting off their knees, something active that yields direct results. What is that word again? Oh, now I remember, it's called work. Pastor Woodard should encourage people to work to relieve the affects of the oil spill. It seems so simple? How did he miss that? Oh wait, prayer must be easier than work.
Prayer is easy, work is hard.
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Tuesday, June 08, 2010
I covet thee
The Olympus PEN – Do the demo, it’s the coolest thing ever.
But seriously, I covet these more, Leica M8, or the Nikon D3.
Camera porn… drool.
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More Catholic abuse news
I don’t have time to post about each case of clergy sexual abuse. There are too many new stories each day, despite what Phillip Jenkins would have us think in his USA today op-ed, How serious is the ‘predator priest’ problem?
The U.S. Catholic Church is still shuddering from the effects of the sexual abuse crisis. Most Catholics are still critical of the church's handling of the matter, and one in 10 are considering leaving the faith altogether. Some believe that clerical celibacy is at the core of the crisis, while others blame the all-male character of the priesthood. Reading such accounts, though, it's easy to forget that we have not the slightest idea how serious the abuse problem is among Catholic priests as opposed to other professionals dealing with children.
News flash Mr. Jenkins, we don’t care how big Catholic clergy sexual abuse is in comparison to similar abuse in the public sector. We care about how the Catholic church protects its pedophile priests at the expense of our child. We care because the Catholic church does not. We don’t see this behavior in the public sector.
Atheist Revolution reported on Pastor Oliver O’Grady, a Catholic priest who was bought off by his church with a $94,56 annuity that pays 788 per month for ten years. Catholic parishioners are upset. A post in the Irish Times suggests that the O’Grady, who molested 25 children in the United States, should get nothing. I agree.
A story in the Boston Glob called Mistrust, deep divisions await O’Malley in Ireland suggests that the Irish public and parishioners are upset because of the poor handling of sex abuse cases in Ireland.
“He’s going to find a very divided church,’’ said Colm O’Gorman, an Irish clergy sex abuse victim and the founder of the organization One in Four. “On the one side, he’ll find those who are still very resistant to change and unwilling to acknowledge the extent of a very clear and deliberate coverup, and on the other side he’ll find those who are significant reformers.’’
Apparently O’Mally, the Cardinal out of Boston, got the call to go to Ireland because he wrote a letter to the Pope.
A story out of German goes after the top Roman Catholic bishop for allegedly allowing a pedophile priest to be reappointed to a parish job in the 80s.
Prosecutors in the southwestern city of Freiburg said charges of aiding and abetting sexual abuse had been filed against Robert Zollitsch, head of the German Bishops' Conference and archbishop of Freiburg.
Zollitsch, 71, was head of church personnel in Freiburg when a Cistercian priest was given a parish job in Birnau despite charges of child abuse against the cleric being known to church authorities, prosecutors said.
I am often reminded by readers that not all Catholic Priests are monsters. I know this to be true. Many are fine examples of the best in human kindness and service. The number of priests who abuse is small, but the institutional misdirection by the Catholic church on behalf of the abusive priests is pervasive. Take the case of Los Angeles’ Cardinal Rodger Mahony, an internal investigation cleared Mahony of hindering clergy sexual abuses cases. Yet if you live in LA like I do, you know this man worked to hide the scope of clergy sexual abuse in Los Angeles. We’ve seen the stories for 15 years now. Why did it take 8 years to do the investigation? The Feds are looking into the case. I do not think they will be as kind.
The memo was released in response to questions about District Attorney Steve Cooley's handling of the priest abuse investigation, which began in 2002. Cooley is in the final week of a campaign to become the Republican nominee for California attorney general.
Cardinal Roger Mahony has come under fire for his handling of several abusive priests during his tenure in the Los Angeles archdiocese and agreed to pay $660 million in 2007 to more than 500 alleged clergy abuse victims.
Catholic scholars think Pope Benedict XVI reign will be defined by his handling of he clergy sexual abuse scandal. They like how he’s handled things. Time Magazine was not so kind.
Benedict now seems to understand the stakes. But Alberto Melloni, a church historian at the University of Modena, says other power brokers in the Vatican think the church can just ride out the storm. "They don't realize the deep bitterness among the faithful, the isolation of the clergy. We can't predict where this is going to wind up."
And if this is not enough to make you think Phillip Jenkins’ op-ed was off target, all you need do is read the story of Sister Margaret McBride as told by Dan Thomasson in the Abilene Online. The Catholic church lives in a reality that is out of step with the rest of the world. It is time we stop catering to it.
Monday, June 07, 2010
Introducing the Teenage Atheist
Please join me in welcoming the newest member of the Atheist Blogroll, the Teenage Atheist.
I'm a sixteen year Atheist from Ireland. I have been an Atheist since I was around twelve, and have always had a keen interest in science. I recently joined a Creationist forum in order to discuss evolution and to test both my patience and my debating skills. It was an irritating experience, but I learned a lot - not about evolution (the only thing they demonstrated was their lack of understanding of the concepts involved) - but about the creationist mindset, and it inspired me to create a blog.
My blogs primary aim is to refine my views and articulate my thoughts about atheism, evolutionism and some of my encounters with creationists and theists. I hope to receive feedback and criticism as I thoroughly enjoy debating. I also hope to provide food for thought and maybe a little spark of controversy to keep things interesting.
The blog is relatively new - however, I promise to be an active blogger and welcome all comments regardless of your viewpoint. I look forward to seeing what you have to say!
Are you interested in becoming a member? Visit the Atheist Blogroll resource blog for more information.
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Things I learned in Suzhou #6
Everybody is 22-years-old. I’m not kidding. The whole damn country is 22. I met hundreds of people on my last visit, they were all young. The only old people my age were janitors, maintenance workers, and gardeners. I saw the occasional grandma too, but anyone working, anyone I needed to talk to in order to get along, be it ordering coffee or taking a cab, was young.
It gives you a different perspective. Somebody told me there are more 20 to 22-year-old people in China than there are people in California. I believe it.
The girls pictured above were members of the hotel staff who worked the bar. They poured a mean Tiger beer and spent a great deal of time practicing their English with patrons. They were nice kids and as innocent as they come.
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Sunday, June 06, 2010
The futility of prayer
I spent a few hours at the VA hospital today visiting my dad. He’s dying of cancer. I don’t know how long he will survive. I was asked by a woman visiting another patient if I was praying for my dad. I said no. She gave me a funny look but said no more.
Later, as I walked the halls, I noticed a man sitting in on a bed in an isolation room. His face was missing. Our eyes met briefly. I could see he wanted to die. It looked like cancer would claim his life soon, but not until he had suffered some more.
The hospital staff is amazing. I’ve have nothing but good things to say about the loving team that cares for my dad. I don’t know how they do it without suffering along with the patients.
As I was leaving I ran into a lady I had seen a few time visiting another patient. She asked how my dad was doing. I told her the truth, “He’s going to die soon.”
“I’ll hold him up in prayer, God will heal him, you’ll see.”
I sighed, “No thanks, nobody can help him now.”
She reached for my arm. I think she wanted to put her arm around me to comfort me. I told her to stop.
“God can do anything. He is our creator. Don’t give up hope.”
“I just saw a man without a face. He’s suffering at a level few of us will ever have to endure.”
“I pray for him every day.”
“Lady … your prayers do not help. He will die soon. So will my Dad.”
She continued to reach for me. We were in the elevator by now, there was little room to maneuver. I continued to brush away her hands. “Your dad is in God’s hands. God has a plan.”, she said.
“Lady, does God’s plan include slowly killing my dad over three years while keeping him in constant pain?”
She gulped and licked her lips, “God has a plan."
I cut her off, “Bullshit. If these was a caring God he’d cure the cancer and end the suffering.”
There was a loud ding. An electronic voice announced that the elevator was going up. I jumped off and started to walk away. She was old and fat, and not able to keep up with me. The last thing she said was, “I can have my pastor call you.” I did not respond.
I’m usually very tolerant of hospital prayer warriors. My parents are Christians, so are most of my family. When somebody says, “I’ll pray for your dad,” I understand it as a humane gesture of care. I smile and say thanks. When somebody tells me God will perform a miracle, I call bullshit. I might have been nicer if I had not seen the man without a face, it bothered me. I felt helpless. I hate the feeling, and I’m getting a lot of it now with my dad. Cancer sucks.
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Things I learned in China #5
When the Chinese offer white liquor as the alcohol to use for toasts during a social dinner, run the other way. The stuff is rocket fuel. They call it Baijiu. There are many different types. The one pictured above tastes like grain alcohol flavored with rotten rice. I will never drink it again.
I attended a dinner where the host knew I could out drink everyone in the room. He front loaded the first toast for me with 4 ounces of Baijju against a half ounce for everyone else. He offered a toast speaking “ganbei”, or bottoms up. I nearly passed out a few minutes later, but managed to work through four bottles of the stuff and still walk back to my hotel. I had my revenge a few days later, I chose Jameson Irish Whiskey. Many Chinese and one Frenchman paid a horrible price that night.
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Pastor Michael Barnes Convicted
Former Catholic priest Michael Lowell Barnes was arrested in 2009 on child molestation charges dating back to the late 70s. He was associate pastor of an Essex parish in Baltimore, Maryland.
Barnes entered an Alford plea to child abuse as a custodian. 15 other sex offenses were dropped. In an Alford plea the defendant does not admit the act and asserts innocence but admits that there is enough evidence to convict. What a tool.
Things I learned in Suzhou #4
The Chinese take Buddha seriously, and then again, they don’t. I think Buddhism is largely ceremonial. Like many American’s who claim to be Christians but only practice their faith at lifestyle events, like weddings or funerals. The Chinese don’t really go to church, but they will go ass up in front of a statue without a second thought.
I was trying to figure out what the square stones in front of the Buddha statue were for when this lady came by and demonstrated their use for me. I watched as dozens of other people did the same thing.
I learned something else too. It’s ok to take a picture of some Buddha statues, but you’ll get yelled at for taking pictures of others. I think it all depends on how much gold leaf is involved.
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Pay no attention to the pedophile
When I learn of somebody consuming child porn, I feel ill. It is a crime I do not understand, nor would I have the strength to confront it if it were my job. Pedophiles are beyond the pale. When a pedophile priest or pastor is caught with child porn, that should be the end of their careers. In any trustworthy organization, this would be the case.
As we’ve learned lately, the Catholic church is not trustworthy. Case in point, the Catholic church treated a Danish priest convicted of downloading 38 movies involving sexual activities with minors as if it were a speeding ticket. They told nobody of his conviction and put him back to work with kids. There is not an acceptable excuse for this type of behavior.
What does it take to get a priest defrocked? We know it’s not child porn, nor is it child molestation, heck, repeated child rape is not enough to get you defrocked. I’m willing to bet that if a priest violated the Catholic church’s policy banning condom use, he would be out on his ass. Where are their priorities?
Things I saw in Suzhou #3
I should call this, things I did not see in Suzhou. I was there three weeks. I saw the sun twice. The place is perpetually hazy, cloudy, rainy, or just plain smoggy. This was an afternoon shot looking out toward the lake. It’s nothing but shadows and haze.
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Pastor Roan Faulkner arrested
When a woman comes to a pastor for spiritual counseling, you would think the the last thing on her mind is rape, right? Not so if you attend New Life Pentecostal Ministries in Catonsville. Its 62-year-old pastor, Roan Falkner Sr. stands accused of forcing a women to perform a sexual act during a spiritual counseling session.
Faulkner is the pastor of New Life Pentecostal Ministries. Police say he's refusing to discuss the incident, which happened in February, and investigators are concerned there may be other victims. He's being held on $300,000 bail.
Pastors + Power + Spiritual counseling = an opportunity for abuse. I wonder what his excuse will be?
Faulkner calls himself “Bishop” and his wife is called “Queen”. It looks like one of those family empire type churches where the pastor and wife are held up as special people. They tend to fall a lot harder once the charges of sexual excess start coming to light.
Things I saw in Suzhou #2
The Chinese use their ebikes for everything. The only thing missing in this photois a cell phone. They only go about 20 mph, but still, this does not look safe to me.
I have a flickr set of other ebike riders. They use their bikes for everything.
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Minuteman nutball Chris Simcox in trouble
SPLC has an interesting post up on Minuteman co-founder Chris Simcox. It seems he threatened to kill his wife and family last year.
The Phoenix New Times reports that Simcox was ordered to surrender his weapons.
A Maricopa County court commissioner granted the petition April 16, and ordered the 49 year-old Simcox to remain 200 yards away from Alena, their two children, and Alena's child from a previous relationship. The order prohibits Simcox from possessing, receiving, or purchasing firearms or ammunition. He was told to "surrender same" to the Scottsdale police within 24 hours of being served.
What’s Simcox going to do for fun now? Who will he threaten and intimidate? A Minuteman without a gun is like a man without his penis.
I’ve met the guy. He’s on my serious nutball and haters watch lists.
Things I saw in Suzhou #1
I was walking through the historic section of Suzhou when I happened upon a professional photo shoot. She was beautiful, but what I really coveted was the photographer’s camera rig.
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Introducing God is a myth
Please join me in welcoming the newest member of the Atheist Blogroll, God is a myth!
Hello everyone my name is David and my blogs focus is specifically about my opinions and views about religious beliefs, thoughts, and ignorance. Before becoming an atheist I was a former Pentecostal evangelist for four years. I am well schooled on theology and I feel that as a former evangelist I have an edge on a lot of other atheists who have never been on the other side of the fence.
As an atheist I am dedicated to learning from as many sources possible including fellow bloggers regarding religion and philosophy. Please feel free to leave comments on my blog regarding my posts no matter if they are negative or positive. I do not censor comments or anyone's opinions since I am a strong believer in freedom of speech and expression. Take care and I look forward to hearing from you all and most of all learning from you as well.
Are you interested in becoming a member? Visit the Atheist Blogroll resource blog for more information.
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Dinosaur mammoth fight – very cool
An old friend from high school is starting to dabble in YouTube. He is a fellow Atheist with an razor wit and I loved this great debunking of a fundy nutball. If you like it please pass it on. I hope to encourage my friend to make more.
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Introducing Stuck in Church
Please join me in welcoming the newest member of the Atheist Blogroll, Stuck in Church.
Hi, my name is Mark Serrels, I'm an Atheist and I'm Stuck in Church.
After marrying a Seventh Day Adventist Christian, and inheriting a Pastor for a father in-law, I made a pact with my wife: she would respect the fact that I would most likely never be baptised as a Christian, and in return I agreed to attend church with her on a regular basis, just to keep her company.
So I'm Stuck in Church, ensconced in a Christian community, in a Christian family with a Christian wife. I blog about my experiences - about being an Atheist when everyone around me is religious. I blog about the frustrations, the breakthroughs, the compromises, the lifestyle – all the pros and cons of a life spent helping my wife follow doctrines I don’t subscribe to!
Despite all this, my wife and I get on swimmingly, and we love each other very much! I created this website to show that Atheists and Christians can co-exist without shouting obscenities at each other. I want to help everyone realise that a little bit of tolerance can go a long way when it comes the living in a world with thousands of competing belief systems.
Then we can all give each other a long, slightly awkward group hug that lasts just that little bit too long...
Then go right back to shouting obscenities at each other again!
Check it out when you have the time: Stuck in Church
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Friday, June 04, 2010
Now what Gwen, start over?
I read stories of clergy sexual abuse and I'm struck time and again by the stupidity of those involved. The youth pastor throws away a life developed over years of patient study and service. All for what? A little sex? I never understand it. Gwen Hablin, the ex-youth pastor at St. Maximilian Kolbe Catholic Church in Liberty Township, threw her life away when she admitted to sex with a 17-year-old boy while on a church sponsored youth trip to Australia two years ago. Let's look at the life she threw away.
• 9 years of service to St. Maximilian Kolbe Catholic Church
• A Bachelor of Arts in Speech Communication
• Her master level studies in Counseling, Communication, and Ministry.
• Her self respect and honor.
I see from her Linkedin profile that she specialized in oral communication. That figures. She's looking for work now, I'm sure the Baptists are hiring.
This is an odd case. The crime happened in Australia. I would think that local authorities would be unable to prosecute and I doubt Hamblin would return to Australia for a trial unless compelled. I'll have to follow this case to see what happens. I'm not up on child sex abuse laws in Australia. Does anyone know what the penalties are? I'm behind the Great Firewall of China for another day, so I'm not able to use my normal resources.
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Wednesday, June 02, 2010
A day in the life of a stressed out Atheist
People deal with stress in different ways. I like to walk. It helps me clear my head and the physical exertion helps me to relax. I went for a walk last night at 2:00 am. It was either walk or stay in bed looking at the ceiling. I walked.
My home is a hotel near a large park in Suzhou, China. I started my walk after talking to hotel security. They advised against going out, too dangerous for Joe they warned. I went anyway. As I walked the perimeter, I noticed a hotel employee trailing silently behind me on an ebike. It made me smile. I've lived at the hotel for three weeks on this trip, and with many trips behind me, they've come to know me. They show it in small ways, like making sure I'm safe on a late night walk.
I'm the big distracted guy they call Buddha. I sit at the bar most nights with a beer in one hand and a book in the other. I talk to the staff, sip my beer, and listen to music. The staff keeps me safe at the bar too. My glass is never empty, and they chase away the local riffraff and hookers before I'm bothered. I feel the love.
Last night was typical. I listened to reggae, read a short story, and drank a Tiger beer. My stress of my job is waning. I had just cracked a bottle of Champaign the night before in celebration of a successful project. At one day post start up, we have only a few minor issues. Everything works. I can relax now.
I've been teaching the locals about American music. They think Mariah Carry and Whitney Houston are the face of American music. When show the depth and richness of American music, they seem confused. They've never heard the blues, and don't know punk rock. Rage Against the Machine gives them a headache, the same goes for Green Day, but when I play Bob Marley they smile. Last night I introduced them to Sun is Shining, one of Marley's classics. They listened to it a dozen times. What do I get in return? They follow me around a park at 2:00 am. That's enough for me.
The coolest guy at the hotel is the chef. He proudly came out as a lover of reggae last night. The kids working the bar all cheered. Joe made sure my steak was perfect later that night. The funny thing is, he also mentioned that reggae was Jamaican music. The bar staff was confused, it blew their minds. I tried to explain that America had co-opted reggae. I told them that there are probably more Jamaicans in America than there are in Jamaicans in Jamaica, and that reggae was now part of American culture. Trust me on this, that blew their minds.
I played Chant a Psalm by Steel Pulse before I left. We shared headphones, the buds were passed from person-to-person as the song was repeated. Somebody mentions a Psalm came from the bible. A discussion took place that left my head spinning. they think we are all Christians and that music is how we introduce religion to other cultures. I hastily explain that I appreciate the song because of its beauty. That appreciation of beauty is something that transcends religion. They know I'm an atheist. I'm the only American atheist they've ever met. It fascinates them. I tell them that beauty makes me happy, that listening to Steel Pulse is like listening to Dexter Gordon play jazz. They say, "like Mariah Carry?" I call for another beer and switch to Led Zeppelin. At least I'm drinking among friends.
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Tuesday, June 01, 2010
Why do victims expect compassion?
When a normal Joe sues a global corporation, he expects the corporation to play hardball in and out of court. Their lawyers will try every legal trick available to stall, force a settlement, or break your spirit. Why do people who sue the Catholic church expect them to act any different than a global corporation? The Catholic church is a global corporation. If you sue them for clergy sexual abuse and ask for millions of dollars, they will fight with every ounce of effort possible to see you fail. The lawyer's job is to limit the damage to the corporation. They will not play nice because of the nature of the crime or because they represent a church.
I've seen articles about victims of sexual abuse trying to kill themselves over their treatment at the hands of the Catholic Church. Expecting anything other than hardball tactics is infantile. The leadership would rather the victim settle out of court, forgive the sin altogether, or if necessary push you toward jumping off a bridge. They don't care. If they did the abuse would stop and victims would be taken care of by a loving church. Do you see that happening? I don't. Once you sue the church, you are no longer one of them. Their attitude is screw you, unto death if necessary.
The primary legal weapon of the global corporation is the countersuit. The Catholic church uses this tactic to destroy the support structure of the person suing. They will go after anyone even remotely involved in the case. Your mother and father, siblings, grandparents, are all targets. They want to spread the blame. Sure, you may have been abused, but was it not also true that your father beat you and your mother was inattentive?
…the diocese countersued Caruso's mother and father. They claimed the parents were negligent in failing to get counselling and medical help for their teenaged son and that Caruso's father regularly beat him…
Stop whining folks. The Catholic church is not your friend. They rape your children, shelter the abuser, and try to destroy your family if you attempt to defend yourself. Wise up. Where is the love Jesus is supposed to represent? They don't even know how to say the word. And God, the priests really only use his name during sex.
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Monday, December 13, 2010
A Jew in Dubai
No, not the Israeli Swim team.
Amy Winehouse:-
Done Events has announced that top international artists Amy Winehouse and Pharrell Williams...[will be] at the 2011 Gulf Bike Week, from February 10-12. Thomas Ovesen, Chief Operating Officer, Done Events, said: “Having Pharrell Williams with his band N*E*R*D, Mike Posner and the amazing Amy Winehouse
performing over the same weekend is a real scoop and will not only ensure a full house during the Gulf Bike Week event but will also kick off an amazing season of great entertainment in Dubai.”
On that event:-
The Gulf Bike Week 2011 is the Middle East’s only dedicated urban bike festival in the region. In 2010, the Gulf Bike Week attracted over 30,000 enthusiasts as well as over 14,000 concertgoers.
In 2011, more than 150 exhibitors and lifestyle brands including Harley Davidson, Suzuki, Honda, KTM, Ducati, BMW, Kawasaki, Victory, Yamaha, Polaris, Pirelli, Ed Hardy, Bauhaus, and Oakley will be participating at the Gulf Bike Week.
Her participation was problematic as one Gulf paper headlined:-
Winehouse cleared to perform in Dubai
On her Brazil tour in January, she
will be accompanied by former SAS officers and Brazilian police will be on high security alert to ensure her safety.
But, given her Star of David pendant prominently displayed the way she does,
she'll need a bigger guard detail in Dubai or she'll be hiding her religion.
Or arrested as a Mossad agent?
^
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How long will they kill our prophets while we stand aside and look? Marley, Bob
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Robert Nesta Marley, OM, (February 6, 1945 May 11, 1981) better known as Bob Marley, was a Jamaican singer, guitarist, songwriter and activist. He is the most widely known reggae musician of all time, famous for popularizing the genre outside of Jamaica. Much of his work deals with the struggles of the impoverished and/or powerless. Bob Marley is also renowned for the way in which he spread faith through his music.
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And what is an authentic madman? It is a man who preferred to become mad, in the socially accepted sense of the word, rather than forfeit a certain superior idea of human honor. So society has strangled in its asylums all those it wanted to get rid of or protect itself from, because they refused to become its accomplices in certain great nastinesses. For a madman is also a man whom society did not want to hear and whom it wanted to prevent from uttering certain intolerable truths. Artaud, Antonin
This quote is about madness · Search on Google Books to find all references and sources for this quotation.
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Antonin Artaud (September 4, 1896March 4, 1948) was a playwright, actor, and director.
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When you are old and gray and full of sleep, and nodding by the fire, take down this book and slowly read, and dream of the soft look your eyes had once, and of their shadows deep. Yeats, William Butler
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One ought, every day at least, to hear a little song, read a good poem, see a fine picture, and, if it were possible, to speak a few reasonable words. Goethe, Johann Wolfgang Von
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Dead Sea (Jordan)
From Wikitravel
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The Dead Sea beachfront
The Dead Sea (Hebrew: ים המלח, Hebrew transliteration:Yam HaMelach; Arabic: البحر الميت, Arabic transliteration: al-Bahir al-Mayyit) has its eastern coast in Jordan. It is the lowest point in the world at 394.6 m (1269 ft) below sea level.
[edit] Get in
On the Jordanian side, the Dead Sea is possible as a day trip from both Amman and Aqaba. The road is a good dual carriage way. Tourist areas are accessible from the main road that runs along the eastern side of the body of water and connects to Jordan's Desert Highway running to Amman. Highways leading to the Dead Sea are clearly marked by brown tourist signs. It is an ambitious 3-hour drive from Aqaba in southern Jordan.
Taxi services for travel to the Dead Sea can be purchased for the day 20JD if you hail a cab from down town, down town hotels charge 35JD for the same service. Many of the local hotels and resorts have shuttles that travel from Amman to the Dead Sea for a fee. There are a handful of bus lines that also run from Amman on a daily basis. Bus from Mujaharin bus station to Rame costs 1 JD. Taxi from Rame to Amman Beach 4JD or less. Especially on good weather Fridays and Sundays, busses leave from Muhajarin bus station directly for Amman Beach, but if not they will at least drop you of along the road only a couple of kilometers before reaching the Sea. If you are used to hitchhiking it is then very easy to get a lift onwards.
From Aqaba a taxi can be hired for a full day. If booked through the reception of a nice hotel expect to pay about 100 JD. If you find a driver on your own you an haggle and get the price down quite a bit (80 JD in January 2010 - possibly better deals can be agreed on). Make sure to arrange with the driver before you leave if you also want to stop by any other sites as part of your trip as the diver may not want to drive any farther than initially agreed.
The cost to enter the public tourist beach (Amman Beach) is 16 JD (April 2012) (with swimming pools) and 11JD for the Locals/Jordian beach (it's only 15m to left of the tourist entrance; not recommended for women on Fridays). Many hotels also sell day passes that include full use of hotel facilities as well as their Dead Sea beachfronts; at the Mövenpick Resort, day passes cost 20 JD per person for hotel guests, while non-hotel guests pay 40 JD on weekdays and 50 JD on weekend.
Around 10km south of Amman Beach is a local's favourite place that is easily recognized by a couple of stands selling snacks and water near the road. The place is dirty and nobody takes care of it, but if you're on a shoestring, the Dead Sea there is just as good as everywhere. There is a small water fall coming from a hot spring that can serve as a shower afterwards to wash off the salt from your skin. Getting a lift from there back to Amman is easy and occasionally even buses pass by on which you can jump on for a small fee.
[edit] Understand
Salt deposits
The water in the Dead Sea is extremely salty, and has been estimated to be the second saltiest major body of water in the world. Its name is derived from the fact that the water is far too salinated for marine inhabitation.
The Dead Sea is naturally endorheic (no outlet streams) with the Jordan River being its only major source. The northern part of the Dead Sea receives scarcely 100 mm (4 inches) of rain a year; the southern section receives barely 50 mm (2 inches). Due to the man-made reduction of the Jordan River (the river waters are 70-90 % used for human purposes) and the high evaporation rate of the Dead Sea, the sea is shrinking. All the shallow waters of the southern end of the sea have been drained and are now salt flats.
Although the Dead Sea would never entirely disappear (because evaporation slows down as surface area decreases and saltiness increases), measures are currently being proposed to siphon water from the Red Sea through a series of tunnels or canals in order to replenish the rapidly shrinking waters and provide water and electrical solutions to the surrounding countries.
[edit] Climate
The climate at the Dead Sea varies depending on the season. Temperatures during the tourist season can become extremely warm, ranging from 30°C (86°F) in the spring to upwards of 40°C (104°F) in the summer. The area receives an average of 330 days of sunshine per year, with rainy days occurring only during winter (if at all).
Although the Dead Sea is very sunny the low altitude and extra atmosphere makes the sunlight weaker. It is therefore said that sunbathing here carries a lower risk of sunburn, but it is still advisable to take normal precautions using sunblock and adapt gradually. This quality of the Dead Sea sunlight is the real secret behind its mythological curing ability for several diseases, especially skin diseases. This is, in fact, natural phototherapy.
Caution: During winter and spring there is a danger of floods on rainy days. The Dead Sea basin receives rainwater from relatively far-off areas like the Jerusalem Mountains. This means that sometimes during a sunny day a flood will suddenly and unexpectedly occur. Therefore, be careful when hiking to distant narrow places during these seasons and stay tuned to the weather news. The weather forecast always gives warnings if there is a possibility of flooding. Always do as national reserves staff order - they know the terrain very well. In 2007, several Israelis who had been "snappling" (rappelling) were killed by a flood because they did not obey national reserve staff orders.
[edit][add listing] See
The hypersalinated water of the Dead Sea itself is its own attraction. There are several nearby attractions that are worth attention:
shore
• Historic Mount Nebo provides a panorama of the Holy Land, and to the north, a more limited one of the Jordan River valley. The excavated remains of a church and a monument commemorating the biblical story of Moses and the bronze serpent stand atop the mountain. Mount Nebo is a short 15 minute drive from the Dead Sea. Visitors can plan to spend around an hour at the site at a cost of 2 JD per person.
• The nearby town of Madaba known as the 'City of Mosaics' is famous for its Byzantine and Umayyad mosaics, especially a large Byzantine-era mosaic map of Palestine and the Nile delta at St. George Church.
• The Baptism Site (Bethany Beyond the Jordan) at the Jordan River, the location archaeologists are claiming is the baptism site of Jesus by John the Baptist, is a short 10 minute drive from the Dead Sea resort area. The cost to enter the Baptism Site is 7 JD per person (January 2010). Buses transport visitors down to the river basin, and guided tours include visits to a Jordan River overlook, the excavated remains of the Baptismal Site, John the Baptist Church, and down to the River bank. Visitors may dip a foot in the waters, but may not enter the waters as the Israeli side may. A baptismal robe is required, but none are for sale on the Jordanian side as the shop owners have left.
• The Dead Sea Panoramaic Complex/Dead Sea Museum is a new complex of regional museum about the Dead Sea, panorama lookout, restaurant and conference hall on a steep cliff high above the Dead Sea near Hammamet Ma'in it is accessible from both the Dead Sea and Madaba by car, however it is difficult to reach by public transport. The museum is run by the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature, and has some fascinating information about the geology, ecology (animal and plant), archaeology, history and industry of the Dead Sea and surrounding area.It has also information about the environmental problem concerning the Dead Sea, such as decreasing of the Dead Sea water level and sinkhole in the Dead Sea coast. As the name suggests it has a magnificent view of the Dead Sea and the hills beyond it. Watching the sunset from here is a wonderful experience.
• The Mujib Reserve of Wadi Mujib is the lowest nature reserve in the world, located in the mountainous landscape to the east of the Dead Sea, approximately 90km south of Amman. The 220 square kilometers reserve was created in 1987 by the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature and is regionally and internationally important, particularly for the bird life that the reserve supports. The Mujib valley is being developed for adventure tourism, and a number of facilities have been established including a Visitors' Centre and a beach area on the Dead Sea. Experiencing Jordan’s Grand Canyon involves swimming, jumping, abseiling and floating. Its red walls are filled with running water that plunges through a 15 m waterfall.
• Hammamat Ma'in are a remarkable series of natural hot springs and waterfalls, some of which have been channeled into pools and baths. A spa resort is located in the vicinity of the waterfalls [1]
• Lot's cave is located on the site of the remains of an old Byzantine monastery and church (31:2:49.4N 35:30:6.0E) above the village of Al Safi. The cave is believed to the one Lot took refuge in with his two daughters when God according to the Bible destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. Entrance is free (March 2012). The site is officially closed for development work but a local guide can escort you up the 300 steps to the cave itself. If you are a small group you may be allowed to look inside the cave. From the site you can look out over the irrigated fields which have developed as the Dead Sea has retreated in recent years.
[edit] Talk
On the Jordanian side, both Arabic and English are spoken.
[edit][add listing] Do
It is nearly impossible to sink in the hypersalinated waters
Many visitors cover their bodies with theraputic mud
• Due to the hypersalination of the water, one can float with ease in the Dead Sea; in fact, it's nearly impossible to sink! A popular fad by visitors is to have their picture taken while reading a newspaper and floating on the surface of the water.
• The mud along the shore of the Dead Sea contains many minerals and is believe to have medicinal and therapeutic benefits. It is not uncommon for visitors to cover their bodies with the dark mud.
• There are many salt deposits and crystals scattered along the shoreline. Many visitors walk the beach in search of large pieces as souvenirs.
• The water of the Dead Sea has a greasy feel to it.
• Wear waterproof sandals. The salt is very jagged and can easily cut your feet.
• Beware! Several people drown every year in the Dead Sea because they do not obey the rule: Only float on your back. Accidents happen when someone tries to swim normally (stomach first) in the water - the legs will float better than usual and the head will be submerged. Note that this applies to weaker swimmers, and specifically to attempts to swim breaststroke. Breaststroke is also made difficult by the fact that the legs are raised too high in the water to provide normal forward motion when kicking. Moreover, the salt in the water stings cuts and causes great pain if it comes in contact with the eyes, adding to the panic if one's head is under water. A strong swimmer can easily swim freestyle; if you plan to try this, goggles are essential and should be tightly fitted. Although safe for a strong swimmer, and an unusual sensation because of the buoyancy of the water, it is not an undertaking most people are likely to sustain for long. Even with the eyes protected by goggles, water will get into the nose and sting, and onto the lips and inevitably into the mouth. It tastes disgusting.
there is trips runs from egypt and specially from sharm el sheikh for example rates Short of actual drowning, inhalation of the water can cause specific, sometimes lifethreatening medical problems not seen with other bodies of water, because of the water's very high electrolyte content so be sure of your swimming abilities and confidence in the water before deciding to swim on your front.
• Tip if in a resort: Wash the salt off in the beach showers before you use your towel. Otherwise the towel will get salty and leave salt on your skin when you use it after your shower (the salt can cause an itch).
• Zara Spa, Mövenpick Resort & Spa Dead Sea, Sweimeh, Dead Sea Road (approx. 55km south of Amman), + 962 5 356 11 11 (, fax: + 962 5 356 11 22), [2]. 8.30 am – 8.30 pm. There are several swimming pools, some of which feature different mineral concentrations, including a heated pool for winter. A wide private beach runs along the Dead Sea shore, and there are jacuzzis, tennis courts and a fitness centre. There are also four restaurants and several cafes and bars. edit
• Amman Beach is a public resort with clean facilities, including changing rooms, fresh water showers (both at the beach and in the changing rooms), a pool and a restaurant. Entrance is 15 JOD (January 2010). Lockers can be rented for another 1.5 JD, as well as towels (1.50 JD).
• O Beach Dead Sea . Tel + 962 5 3492000
[edit][add listing] Buy
Visitors can purchase packets of the famous mud, as well as other cultural artifacts and handicrafts, from local gift shops.
[edit] Eat & Drink
The restaurant options near the Dead Sea are sparse.
The Jordanian public beach contains an over-priced buffet-style restaurant and a small beach-side snack bar. It is recommended that visitors planning to visit the public beaches bring their own food and drinks. There are many resorts that can be found in Jordan to cater to tourists.
[edit][add listing] Sleep
[edit] Budget
• The Dead Sea Resthouse is a 2-star hotel (phone: 962 5 3560110).
[edit] Splurge
• Mövenpick Resort & Spa Dead Sea, Sweimeh, Dead Sea Road (approx. 55km south of Amman), + 962 5 356 11 11 (, fax: + 962 5 356 11 22), [4]. checkin: 15:00 hrs; checkout: 12:00 hrs. The Mövenpick Resort & Spa Dead Sea is found in a traditional village setting nestled amongst lush gardens that serve to restore your well-being and balance. Set on the northern shores of the Dead Sea, the resort and its Spa is an oasis of tranquillity. Despite the antique look of the village, all 346 rooms are luxuriously furnished in warm and natural colours. The latest Beach Rooms and Beach Suites are contemporary with modern furnishings and large terraces. Self-controlled air-conditioning, satellite TV, direct-dial phone, coffee and tea-making facilities, hairdryer, and a safe are standard fittings in every room. A special benefit is our free minibar, available in all rooms. As well as the famous ZARA Spa, there are several swimming pools, some of which feature different mineral concentrations, including a heated pool for winter. A wide private beach runs along the Dead Sea shore, and there are jacuzzis, tennis courts and a fitness centre. There are also a total of four restaurants and several cafes and bars. Rates starting from JOD 99.00++. (31°43'2.35N,35°35'12.47E) edit
• The Kempinski Hotel Ishtar [5] is a 5 star luxury hotel and spa (phone: +962 5 356 8888).
• Holiday Inn Dead Sea A new 5* resort, just about open in 2009. Also the first hotel on the road from Amman.
• The Jordan Valley Marriott Resort & Spa [6] is a 5-star luxury hotel (phone: 962 5 3560400).
• The Dead Sea Spa [7] is a 4-star hotel with many amenities (phone: 962 5 3561000). The hotel is in the hotel zone, along side the Marriot and Kempinski. Minibus rental with a driver to get here from Amman (including visits to Baptism Site and Mt. Nebo on the way) costs 50 JD. There are a few swimming pools, including 2 children's pools and direct access to the Dead Sea, on the hotels own beach. Wireless internet is available free of charge. Some building work is taking place at the hotel at present (October 2009).
[edit] Camping
[edit] Get Out
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Talk:United States of America/Archive 2003-2005
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Contents
This is an archive of all discussions started between 2003-2005 on Talk:United States of America.
Anyone want to start a discussion about how to break up the United States? I mean in the wiki article sense, not a revolution... I went ahead and took a stab at it, but I don't think it's quite what we want... suggestions?
Good idea. It is hard to write a country level article, as I discovered while doing Canada. Wikimedia not having any inherent sense of hiearchy doesn't help. One consequence of this is that you have to be careful about naming regions. I have taken a stab at rewriting your region names (e.g.: "Midwest" became "American Midwest" even though the text for the link still says "The Midwest" right now.) And Karen is right, some people might look for a list of all the states, so you should probably move that link up from the bottom of the article.
I would suggest as a next step going to the List of American States and trying to pick out what goes where. It would also add consistency to break up that list itself. For example, what about the Southeast? Florida and such? Do some states deserve their own "region" level article? (Ask yourself what each would contain an how they would be different before you answer that question ... it is harder than it seems! :) CL 02:38, 29 Oct 2003 (PST)
Should there be a hierarchy? I found it confusing as a first-timer, looking at the New England states. I would have guessed that you could look at the United States page, and then be able to follow some hierarchy to the region that you are looking for. The list of states is good, but maybe not sufficient.
However, California should be its own region. Hanzo
And, I think New England should be a region. Hanzo
Hazon, we really like having lots of different ways for people to get to content. So we already have a general A-Z lists of US states and now we are thinking of groupings for states, since it's a pretty long list to browse. So I think the first stab would be geographical regions, but there can be other ways too. Suggestions?
Well, I think that the New England states should be grouped as a region. They are Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Maine. A useful regional page could be written as an introduction, and since the states are small, visitors to this area can easily visit more than one on a single trip. Hanzo
Some notes: I changed the regions we have on this page to be a little more in line with common usage in the USA. I also added disambiguators to the names of the regions, except for those I thought were unambiguous (like New England).
I'm going to try to go through each listed region and add the appropriate states. I think one thing that would help would be to have a map of the US with our regions delineated, but we might just need to hack on this for a while. -- Evan 10:22, 29 Oct 2003 (PST)
New England is not really unambiguous: the northwest corner of New South Wales, Australia is also called New Enland. You'll even find a New England National Park in this region. D.D. 11:30, 29 Oct 2003 (PST)
Fair enough. I'm tempted to invoke the "better known" rule, but I broke down and just disambig'd the New England page instead. -- Evan 11:36, 29 Oct 2003 (PST)
I also want to note that the US is a challenge to our Wikitravel:geographical hierarchy. I think the solution is to think of regions as being nestable. That is, we can have regions in a country, which can themselves have regions, which can in turn have cities or attractions or what have you. Important destinations could be listed at multiple levels. For example:
• California
• Los Angeles (city)
• San Diego (city)
• San Francisco (city)
• Inland Empire (region)
• Central Coast (region)
• Deserts (region)
• Sierra Nevada (region)
• Northern California (region)
• Lake Tahoe (region)
• Central Valley (region)
• Bay Area (region)
• Oakland
• San Jose
• San Francisco
San Francisco is listed twice -- once for California, and once for the Bay Area. It's important enough to be "promoted" to a link from the California page, even though it's actually "contained" in the Bay Area. Not all cities need to be listed at the California level -- just the ones travellers would be looking for there.
Anyways, just some ideas. -- Evan 10:30, 29 Oct 2003 (PST)
I agree with that-- I think the "good"/"important" stuff should appear all over the place. It's not uncommon for people to go to the United States specificly to visit New York or San Francisco. So some places will be local, state, and national destinations. Unless we get into something where everyone thinks their home town is worth visiting the country for ;-)Majnoona
I agree too. Overlaps happen more than we can imagine, don't they :-) D.D. 11:42, 29 Oct 2003 (PST)
OK, so, I added a note about regions-within-regions to the geographical hierarchy page. Comments welcome. I think that the USA has turned out nicely for us. -- Evan 12:12, 29 Oct 2003 (PST)
Isn't it a little tiring to type out "United States of America" everytime you want to link to [New England (United States of America)]? Wouldn't "United States", "U.S." or "USA" do the same job? Why use the full name? The United Kingdom article is not at United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. --Jiang 17:45, 3 Dec 2003 (PST)
So, as to the name of the article: it started out from the Wikitravel:CIA World Factbook 2002 import as United States, and it looks like I changed the name to United States of America sometime in early August. I can't remember why and I don't see mention of it on this page. Go figure.
Personally, as an American, I like "United States of America" better than "USA" or "United States". It looks kinda neat. I usually call it "America", even though that makes Canadians hopping mad when I say it, but it's ingrained. You think "United States" is better? Or USA? USA is an abbreviation, and we don't have any other articles that have abbreviations as a name. It seems kinda overcasual.
I believe all the common
As to using "United States of America" as a disambiguator: first, you just don't have to do it that often. Our article naming conventions don't really require any kind of extra geographical information unless the name of a destination is ambiguous. So, we've got Dallas instead of "Dallas, Texas" or "Dallas TX" or "Dallas, Texas, United States of America".
Sadly, most of the traditional regional names for parts of the US are pretty ambiguous ("The South", for instance). Fortunately, you just don't have to use them that often. The rule on the article naming conventions page is to use the name of the containing geographical unit to disambig, so that's what we do. Frankly, I figure it's a lot easier to just write out the extra 22 chars than to rack my brain for why this should be an exception. --Evan 18:52, 3 Dec 2003 (PST)
I'm not asking that this particular article be named "USA". That would be inappropriate. I think it only benefits to move it to "United States" though.
The abbreviation/acronym U.S./USA can be used for disambiguators, such as [[[New England (U.S.)]] as opposed to its current location. --Jiang 19:50, 3 Dec 2003 (PST)
So, I ripped out the geography stats for the US, then reverted a few minutes later. I really don't find tabular data all that readable, nor is it particularly useful for travelers. I think that kind of encyclopedic/almanac data is better provided by Wikipedia, and probably doesn't belong on Wikitravel. Yes, we have about a hundred country articles with tabular data, but those are placeholders that we we're trying to knock out one by one. It took me a long time to scrub this article of sorghum-production stats, and I guess I'm just kinda knee-jerk about working them back in. --Evan 19:03, 3 Dec 2003 (PST)
The history section of the US article doesn't seem very helpful to someone interested in travelling here. Is this the sort of thing we want for wikitravel? I was under the impression that one goal was to keep all content sharply focussed on the needs and interests of travellers. The needs and inetrests of historians are better served at Wikipedia. --TimShell
Hmm. I figured that a bit of history is necessary to put any kind of historical monument, building, or whatever in some context. Most travel guides I've seen have at least some history, however brief. Do you think we need to pull history completely out? --Evan 16:13, 21 Dec 2003 (PST)
I think history should be left in. If you walk around uptown Charlotte, you see signs that say "Jefferson Davis was here" or "this was the location of the naval shipyard" (I find that one hard to believe, as there are no rivers in Charlotte, just creeks; the closest river is the Catawba, on the other side of Pineville), and you have to know that North Carolina was part of the Confederacy to understand them. -phma 16:13, 22 Dec 2003 (PST)
• Food: Most of the food in the US is less than perfect, in my experience. Now this is based on about seven year old data (last time I visited). Example: Most bread you get in the US is white bread. It's pretty difficult to buy healthy food in a normal supermarket. Correct me if I am wrong.
You are wrong. Only white bread? Did you actually look on the store shelves? Last time I looked there were all kinds of assortments of breads and I have traveled 49 US states. I will get up to Alaska soon... Mr. 193.231.238.215
So, have you read the United States of America#Eat section? Is there something missing there? --Evan 18:01, 8 Jan 2004 (EST)
• Entry into US: Sensible topic. I feel that a warning should be put into the US section on current US policy. This includes harassment at airports by less than well trained security staff, the need for biometric data and machine-readable passports, and the latest addition, the taking of fingerprints. I'll let someone else write this up, as I haven't traveled to the US recently (and won't, for that matter), but I feel it should be in there somewhere. It is quite relevant to a great many people; just make sure to leave out political bias (either way).
-- Nils 23:11, 08 JAN 2004 (CET)
Leave out political bias? What is up with your statement that you won't travel to the US: "...as I haven't traveled to the US recently (and won't, for that matter)..." Sounds like you are trying to make a statement here too. Mr. 193.231.238.215
Sounds like a statement of fact. - Huttite 02:51, 28 Mar 2004 (EST)
There's a lot in United States of America#Get in about visa requirements, security, etc. I don't have accurate info on fingerprinting or other requirements, although there's probably some somewhere. --Evan 18:01, 8 Jan 2004 (EST)
In the By Train section, there is a brief description of the train from Oakland to Chicago. Corrections:
1. The train runs daily, not "a few times a week"
2. The western endpoint of the run is actually Emeryville not Oakland. But who cares.
Great article! : Cjensen 18:56, 5 Mar 2004 (EST)
I updated it, but c'mon! B-) It's apparent from your ability to work with Wiki markup that you've got the skills to do that yourself. Don't be bashful; plunge forward and edit the articles. We need all the knowledge and help we can get. --Evan 19:04, 5 Mar 2004 (EST)
[edit] Last set of edits
So this last round of edits by an IP address kinda bug me-- lots of changing "most Americans" to "all" and adjusting the tone/point of many sections. I'm almost tempted to rollback or unedit some of it. Can others take a look and tell me what they think? Majnoona 13:19, 26 Mar 2004 (EST)
I just rolled back the edits. I was going through re-adding information that was taken out, and eventually I just realized that it wasn't worth the effort. --Evan 13:58, 26 Mar 2004 (EST)
Mr. 193.231.238.215, it would be appreciated if you could explain why you insist on your version of this article. I am not in a position to judge whether your changes are justified or not, but it seems to me (correct me if I'm wrong) that you prefer a bowdlerized or politically correct version. Articles in Wikitravel do not need either -- what they need is to reflect reality in the best possible way. Dhum Dhum Akubra 18:01, 26 Mar 2004 (EST)
Mr Akubra: I prefer a version without the "left coast" political slant that seems to permeate the USA page. You say "what they need is to reflect reality in the best possible way" and I agree, but not only the "left coast" distorted reality presented here. Mr. 193.231.238.215
I think what we need to avoid here is the idea that every possible angle of every issue needs to be pointed out. What a travel article should do is alert a traveller to possible issue that may come up. In some cases this means pointing out negative aspects of a destination, but I really don't think the orginal article was in any way unfair-- I mean it was mostly written by Americans (I'm one too). I'd like to invite Mr/Ms 193.231.238.215 to discuss their problems with the article here on the talk page-- or better yet, direct their energy towards other articles than could use their help. I'm also going to rollback the .215 rollback. Majnoona 18:55, 26 Mar 2004 (EST)
The IP address is in Romania. Is this one of the Romanian Wikitravelers who doesn't have an account here? -phma 19:03, 26 Mar 2004 (EST)
193.231.238.215, several people invited you kindly to discuss and explain your views of this article. Until now, you haven't done that. Instead you insist on your version without any explanation. This is not how Wikitravel works and it is not going to get you anywhere. If you have reasons why you think the article should be changed, I advise you to use this talk page to communicate. Dhum Dhum Akubra 07:39, 27 Mar 2004 (EST)
Would it make sense to add a note to him like Evan did in http://www.wikitravel.org/en/wiki/wiki.phtml?title=Pittsburgh&diff=0&oldid=17294 ? -Colin 07:52, 27 Mar 2004 (EST)
That might do the job of getting his/her attention. I really hope his/her actions are the result of an unfamiliarity with the "wiki way". So, we should explore every option soft security gives us. Dhum Dhum Akubra 08:19, 27 Mar 2004 (EST)
Okay, I did that. Hope it works. Colin 17:19, 27 Mar 2004 (EST)
Wow, this is kinda new for us I guess. This person is really uncooperative. The latest change comments:
• "(no facts given to backup this statement (environmental...)"
• "(removed amateurish sounding redundency (really, really big))"
• "(should not be advocating illegal actions = abandoning a car)"
Suggest a very, very strong opinion that doesn't really agree with the WikiTravel Way-- I mean, since when do we care if something is illegal? Or need to back things up with stats (actually, I'd hate to see this start). Not jump to conclusions, but is this maybe a Wikipedia person? Things tend to be a little more confrontational over there, and this guy/gal seems to have started off ready for a fight. I'd really like to try all the soft security options anyone can think off... Majnoona 16:13, 27 Mar 2004 (EST)
Since when do we care if something is illegal? What a statement... Next are you going to say that if you don't agree with the vegetarian hating cattle State wahoos that you should buy a gun and shoot them (then abandon it)? There is a big difference between making an observation of what people do (illegally abandoning a car) and giving the suggestion that it be done. The compromise of placing "illegally" in the sentence is better though. Mr. 193.231.238.215
OK, So lets try some compromising, OK?
• "(no facts given to backup this statement (environmental...)" The statement is that "Most Americans..." well, I'm an American and I'm concerned with the environment so that means that it is a fact that "Some Americans" are concerned-- how's that?
Look at the sentence: Although some question their busy lifestyle and its effect on the environment, most consider technological progress to be beneficial and inevitable. Some? Who is the writer talking about? Some Americans, some Europeans, some Asians, some cats and dogs...? And worse, before the compromise it said "Many..." If you are talking about Americans then say "Some Americans..." - the sentence is not clear. I also question the reason why an environmental statement like this is even included in a travel website. I realize that the people who have contributed the most to this page (you and Evan) are "left-coasters" and probably have very "liberal views" on the subject, but why not just leave this out? It is politically slanted and doesn't belong here. If you want to say something about pollution in the US then it would be better to cite examples than to make a unsupportable and generalized statement like this. Mr. 193.231.238.215
The point is about American culture, and thus it makes sense to talk about Americans' love of technology and faith in technological progress. Saying "All Americans consider..." would be factually inaccurate. --Evan 03:20, 28 Mar 2004 (EST)
I agree. Still it is not clear who is "some". I have edited this passage. Roll it back if you want... Mr. 193.231.238.215
• "(removed amateurish sounding redundency (really, really big))"
Uh, this wasn't "amateurish" (who/what would be "professional?"), but why don't we nix it for the sake of cooperation?
Oh, come on! It reminds me of a statement a brain dead cartoon character would make... weally, weally big... LOL! I am glad you finally removed this because it makes the USA page sound like it was written by a 3rd grader or worse... Mr. 193.231.238.215
• "(should not be advocating illegal actions = abandoning a car)"
Well, mentioning that some people choose to do something illegal is not "advocating," it's informing. So maybe mention that this is illegal and can get you in trouble?
Look at the sentence: Another option for long-distance car travel is to buy a car in the United States, and try to sell it again (or, just abandon it illegally) when leaving. Starting out with "Another option..." makes it seem that you are giving advice which included abandoning a car. This is irresponible. Even with the compromise (adding illegally) it still sounds like you are suggesting abandoning the car as a possibility. The whole sentence should be rewritten, actually. Mr. 193.231.238.215
Anyone want to try the others? All this rollbacking is making me dizzy. And there are so many other pages that actually need editing! Majnoona 16:22, 27 Mar 2004 (EST)
OK, I went ahead and made the above compromises-- I hope this will put an end to this so we can all move on to something more useful. Majnoona 16:32, 27 Mar 2004 (EST)
I like the sound of ... big. Really, really big .... Douglas Adams used this same phrase to describe the Universe; but then I suppose that means it is a copyright violation from The Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy - So I suppose we will need to wait a few years before we can use the phrase again. -- Huttite 21:07, 27 Mar 2004 (EST)
See my comments above... Mr. 193.231.238.215
Actually I was observing that we cannot use that particular phrase as it could be a copyright violation, though it would liven up the article if it could be used. - Huttite 02:15, 28 Mar 2004 (EST)
[edit] Mr. 193.231.238.215 Speaks
Actually I have commented in line with some statements above...
Regarding my attempted edit of the used car prices: "(even the cheapest used automobiles in the US run about $1000)" Change this to $500 and it would be more accurate on an average in the whole of the US. It would well serve the writers to remember that the USA is not only California and New York. Better yet, rewrite the sentence to say that "even the cheapest semi-reliable used automobiles in the US run about $1000" or "even the cheapest used automobiles worth owning in the US run about $1000". Fact in point - a friend of mine visting the US for a few months purchased a used automobile for $200, drove it from state-to-state with no break downs, and upon leaving and with a little cleaning sold it for $250. Mr. 193.231.238.215
I probably wouldn't recommend travelling the US in a $500 car, but, sure, fine. --Evan 03:20, 28 Mar 2004 (EST)
I wouldn't recommend it either but it happens. I am not sure whether it is a good idea to travel the US in a $1000 car. Thanks for the edit though: $500-1000 is a better number and the illegal abandon revision is much better. Mr. 193.231.238.215
Regarding this paragraph: Vegetarians will normally not have too much of a problem in urban areas, but it can be difficult getting much more than the fast-food "vegetarian special" -- french fries and a vanilla shake -- in some rural regions. Be forewarned: vegetarianism is considered a dangerously extreme political statement in some regions of the country, especially where the cattle industry is a major employer. It's best to be discreet.
My former girlfriend is a vegetarian. We traveled extensively and even in small towns of 10,000 people she was able to purchase a vegetarian "Big Mac" at McDonalds or a vegetarian "Whopper" at Burger King (I know... still not very healthy but she was kind of nutty that way anyhow). So the statement that "french fries and a vanilla shake" is the only thing you can get is incorrect and slanted. Most all chain retaurants such as Bob Evans and Cracker Barrel also serve meals that are acceptable to vegetarians. Finding vegetarian meals throughout the USA even in small towns is not the problem the writer makes it out to be. I question the tone of the the statement about vegetarianism in cattle industry regions. Is this from direct experience by the writer or just a "left coast" distortion of reality? Mr. 193.231.238.215
That's from my direct experience growing up in the Texas Panhandle and travelling North America by car for 15+ years, as well as from recommendations from other vegetarians.
Finding vegetarian meals is difficult in some areas; considerably more difficult than in, say, Europe. I think it's fair to say that if you have to check menus at a few restaurants before finding something to eat, it's "difficult". Often you have to put together a number of side dishes -- fries, a salad -- or eat breakfast food like eggs or pancakes for dinner.
And, yes, in many places vegetarianism is frowned upon as a threat to local industry. There are states in the US where "denigrating" meat is a civil offense.
McDonald's restaurants have vegetarian burgers in most of Europe and in Canada (that I know of), and in parts of the US but not all of it. Burger King has the recently-introduced BK veggie.
Lastly, thanks for joining the conversation. --Evan 03:20, 28 Mar 2004 (EST)
Points taken... I still would like to see the writing a little less slanted (or a little more moderate) towards the anti-vegetarianism side. I think your personal views are tainting the main points that should be made in the discussion . Basically you make it sound like most of America is anti-vegetarian except the "enlightened" urban areas. I call that biased writing. I take it you are a vegetarian?Mr. 193.231.238.215
I want to get across a couple of main points for vegetarian travellers (after all, this is the "Eat" section), and especially for ones who aren't from the USA. I think the two main points are a) it can be hard to get veggie food (for an admittedly arbitrary definition of "hard"), and b) vegetarianism has a political angle.
If I was going to add anything else in for vegetarians, it might be c) America has some really great food choices, and d) you can really get some great produce in the US.
The last thing I want to do is make Americans come off as some kind of superstitious yahoos about vegetarianism or anything else. I don't think it's ever necessary to denigrate the local population in any article on Wikitravel. Personal bias would probably make me more adamant about citizens of my country in particular. Sad to say, there are some things that it's hard to be "neutral" about.
Anyways, I'll make an attempt to rewrite the veggie paragraph a bit. --Evan 04:29, 28 Mar 2004 (EST)
Just to put a little twist on things, I'm a vegitarian, and pretty much have always been, and I'm from nowhere near either coast originally. That said, I think that any warnings about being able to feed oneself as a Vegi are in fact overdone. It could be that I stick close to college towns, or maybe it's because I really don't mind a grilled cheese now and then, but I've never had much trouble. Heck, I like truck-stops. In my travels I've found that a vegetarian lifestyle is actually harder in say, Lyon than it is in Champaign-Urbana. I don't feel like playing the "can I word it perfectly?" game so I'll leave it to y'all to fix up the USA page... but if I was gonna contribute to the vegi bit I'd say something along the lines of how a vegetarian can actually do pretty well across almost all of the country.
Meanwhile, Mr. 193.231.238.215, consider registering for an account. You seem to have a really good grasp of how Wiki format works, and you're not shy about contributing. You and I might have words on a particular edit somewhere down the road, but I think it's always better to have these conversations rather than to not have them. -- Mark 14:53, 29 Mar 2004 (EST)
I agree that very few people who are vegetarians will have a problem when traveling the US. My former girlfriend is a vegetarian and she had very little problem in all the traveling we did in the US with vegetarian meals. Agains, I think the vegetarian comments on the USA page should be moderated a little.
I've reworded the vegetarian paragraph to remove the value-laden word "difficult" and "hard", and rather point out what you need to do to eat veggie in the US. --Evan 11:41, 30 Mar 2004 (EST)
As far as registering, Mark, I am still undecided. When I came to this website I read the section "newcomers" and "plunge forward". One point made in "plunge forward" was this: "Ignoring authority. You have as much right to edit anything on Wikitravel as anyone else does. Don't bother asking whether it's all right to edit something. It is!". This all sounds fine and dandy until you make some edits to the USA page only to have them all undone by a few of the dictatorial-like members, hidden messages written to you, called "really uncooperative", etc... It really makes me want to contribute all right... Mr. 193.231.238.215
You're under no obligation to register; it just gives you a chance to set up a user page and have a more recognizable presence. I for one am really glad you took the time to "plunge forward"; I think this article is a better one thanks to your contributions. --Evan 11:41, 30 Mar 2004 (EST)
[edit] Abandoning a car vs Parking it long term
Is it really illegal to abandon a car on a street in the United States of America? Surely not. It may be illegal to take one if you do not own it, but to leave one that you do own... I think not. It may be an offence to park beyond the time limit, and city authorities and landowners may sieze vehicles that have overstayed their welcome, and sell the vehicle to recover costs, maybe even try to send the irresponsible owners a bill. But what ordinance makes simply leaving the vehicle illegal, meaning you can be imprisoned for doing so. If this were the case then the Police could arrest every driver who was issued a parking ticket! I don't think Homeland Security has got that strict.....yet. - Huttite 02:47, 28 Mar 2004 (EST)
Sorry Huttite, but if you do just a little research you will see that it is indeed illegal for an owner to abandon an automobile. We are not talking about parking the automobile for a few weeks or months here. Also, if you look at most city ordinances, leaving a vehicle parked on a city street unmoved for more than a certain period of time is prohibited. They can tow and impound the car if it exceeds the stated period of time. All that aside: Do you think it is responsible or even ethical to suggest that someone purchase a car when visiting the US and then abandon it when they are done like some unwanted trash? I doubt that you would like it if someone put the suggestion on the New Zealand page that "Another option is to go ahead and throw you unwanted trash on the streets of Wellington, after all you are only visiting - you don't have to deal with it..." Mr. 193.231.238.215
But can they arrest you and throw you in jail for abandoning the car? Will they extradite you from another country or ban you from coming back. Or is abandoning a car simply littering, a misdemeanor, as it is in many countries, where you are subject to a fine, and a bill for the removal costs. I would say that imprisonment makes it illegal, a fine means you have been irresponsible. Huttite 03:37, 28 Mar 2004 (EST)
Illegal means it is against the law. Do you think it is a good thing to suggest that someone buy a car when visiting the US and then just abandon it? Mr. 193.231.238.215
If someone buys a car when visiting for four weeks, surely the slugs at the DMV will not have sent you your new pink slip yet. And without a pink slip, how to you sell a car? Colin 03:57, 28 Mar 2004 (EST)
You only get a pink slip when buying a car on credit. If you pay cash for a car then it is a one day process to get the title changed and registered with plates. The process is: The owner signs the title over to you if front of a notary (most banks have notories who will do this for free), take the title to the Title Dept. and pay the fee, they print out a new title and hand it to you, take the title to the Licence and Registration to pay for the license plates. All done in one day. Who would buy a car on credit then abandon it anyhow? Mr. 193.231.238.215
Sorry, pink slip is the official "Proof of Ownership" document that you get in the mail from the DMV. You get a pink slip in the mail after about six to eight weeks if you buy using cash, as I did with my last vehicle. (In the old days, the Ownership papers were pink). The Important Part is that, at least in California, you must fill out a form THAT IS ATTACHED TO THE PINK SLIP in order to resell your vehicle. So my question was serious.... what is the method used to sell a car when you do not have the pink slip in your hands? And will this method be a LOT more hassle than leaving your car on the street with a TOW ME sign on it? Colin 04:18, 28 Mar 2004 (EST)
For details of the whole process visit the California DMV's website at http://www.dmv.ca.gov The "pink slip" that you are referring to is a California Cerificate of Title. I have never purchased a vehicle in California so it might be true that the DMV is very slow in issuing a Certificate of Title. Did you purchase you last vehicle from a private party with a clear Title or from a used car dealer? Or was it a new vehicle? Did you go directly to a main DMV office or through some DMV office that has to forward the request to a main office? Six to eight weeks seems like a very unreasonable delay when most other States take only minutes to print out a new Certificate of Title.
I have purchased vehicles in many other US States over the years and when paying cash for a vehicle it has usually been possible to get the Title and Registration done in one day unless it was over a Sunday. Purchasing the car on credit from that bank usually is a longer process since you will get a Memorandum of Title from the bank with the bank listed as the first lienholder on the vehicle. The bank (or creditor) keeps the Certificate of Title until the loan is paid off. So if it is not possible to go to the DMV office in California and recieve the Title the same day in the case of a cash purchase then what you are saying is true enough for California. Please realize that the USA is not just California when writing articles here though. Mr. 193.231.238.215
[edit] Left Coast Bias
What is, and where is, the left coast bias in the article? The article is written from a neutral point of view. Personally I disagree with most of the edits proposed by Mr. 193.231.238.215, however he has raised some valid points that need exploring. I believe the article generally follows a neutral point of view. The use of the words some and most are intended to indicate that there is a wide range of opinons and posibilities to be catered for. Saying it is difficult to find an item on a supermarket shelf does not mean it is impossible, but is something that the traveller needs to think about. I agree that the statements in this article are generalisations but that is what this article has to be - general - to cater for the wide range of travellers. Personally I have never had the opportunity to travel to the United States of America, but that does not mean I do, or do not, want to go there. Just I haven't been there yet. I have heard some interesting things about the USA, and have an opportunity to watch US TV news on occasions. It brings a different perspective to the world that I see from New Zealand. - Huttite 03:19, 28 Mar 2004 (EST)
It does not surprise me that you do not understand the "left coast" bias comment since you have never been in the US. If you want a Californian's or New Yorker's view of the US then then the USA page supplies that. Fortunately the USA does not consist of only those regions. Mr. 193.231.238.215
I am glad to hear the United States of America is more than California and New York. Many of those other parts obviously have differing opinions. Perhaps you could contribute some commentary on the political bias that people in different parts of the country have so those from downunder can understand why a country that advocates free trade has agricultural and industrial lobbies that appear to be highly protectionist, isolationist and Americocentric. - Huttite 07:40, 28 Mar 2004 (EST)
Would you rather that the US government outlaw all special interest groups such as the agricultural and industrial lobbies you mention? I would rather see the representatives in Congress do what is good for the American people instead of being the whores of lobbyists like some are today. By definition the lobbies are special interests that do not represent the general population's wishes. You need to separate the acts of special interest groups and the desires of the American people. There are greedy people everywhere - I bet even in New Zealand. (I have spent some time in New Zealand.) I don't think I need to explain further to you about political bias in the USA as you seem to have already mastered the art in your preconceived notions above about the USA. By your own admission you haven't ever visited the US to form a first hand opinion. Try that first before coming to conclusions supplied by others or the news media. Mr. 193.231.238.215
[edit] "Do" Section
That section should really be cleaned up. It advises that one of the best things to do is shoot guns. That is not exactly how the it should be interpreted. More importantly, the Constitution only grants the right to bear arms to citizens.
This is a terrible sentence: <<There is also plenty of land in the United States covered with houses, lawns, parking lots, and strip malls - perhaps more so per major urban area than in most other countries.>>
[edit] Sample Cities
US Cities should be ranked by destination travel statistics (see last edit). Any cities added beyond the top 10 visitors stats or top 15, etc., appears to be steering - like who's going to KC?
It seems odd that the nine sample cities does not include Las Vegas. Why not make it an even ten? Or remove New Orleans or Seattle. http://wikitravel.org/en/Las_Vegas
Seattle and New Orleans are listed because there is a consensus that they belong there. You are free to try to build a consensus for replacing one of them with Las Vegas, but I'm just guessing it's going to be an uphill battle (I for one don't care much for Las Vegas). At any rate, you'll fare better if you sign your posts to the talk pages. It's really easy, just type -- ~~~~. Thanks. -- Mark 08:46, 12 May 2006 (EDT)
If we make it ten, why not eleven? Or a dozen? Or a baker's dozen! The line has to be drawn somewhere, and nine is a pretty good number; beyond that you're not giving a sample... you're making a list. I've got nothing against Vegas, but if someone from another country is trying to figure out where to spend their visit to the US (which is what I gather the purpose of this list is), I can think of at least nine cities I'd suggest ahead of it. - Todd VerBeek 09:13, 12 May 2006 (EDT)
I would argue that the notion of a "sample" as being the goal for this section is off base. The general United States of America article should include only cities that are top international travel destinations. The list as it stands is good, but the lack of Las Vegas did stick out in my mind as I read the article - Las Vegas is a principal travel destination, indeed often the only destination, for a large number of visitors to the United States. In any rate, if we're going for an arbitrary number (and I can certainly see the practical value of this), 10 seems more natural than 9. And Todd, I'd suggest just about every other city in the US ahead of Las Vegas, but it nonetheless beats them on popularity. --Peterfitzgerald Talk 18:04, 5 March 2007 (EST)
Hi Peter, you can find the answer to your question regarding why lists of sample destinations consist of nine places, rather than say ten or some other number, on this page: Wikitravel:Geographical hierarchy#Dividing geographical units. Hope it answers your question satisfactorily. WindHorse 21:52, 5 March 2007 (EST)
I agree with the Las Vegas idea. I compared the list of our 9 "notable" cities to the list of cities by population (not that population alone makes a city notable), and our list of 9 seems a bit strange. Aside from my feeling that Las Vegas should be on a list of 9 notable U.S. cities, why is Boston on the list and not Philadelphia? Surely Philadelphia has equal colonial and historical credibility, but it also has triple the population of Boston and Philadelphia was the former capital of the U.S. It's also strange that, although Houston, San Antonio and Dallas are all three in the top ten most populous cities, not one Texas town gets on the "notable" list. Lastly, I feel compelled to urge replacing Seattle with Portland, Oregon. Blackberrylaw 05:14, 29 March 2007 (EDT)
I found an objective measure of top U.S. Cities for tourism. They are as follows according to a random website from 2001: CITY (MARKET SHARE VISITATION (000)) New York City 22.0% 4,803 Los Angeles 12.9% 2,816 Miami 11.7% 2,554 Orlando 11.3% 2,467 San Francisco 9.0% 1,965 Oahu/Honolulu 8.0% 1,747 Las Vegas 6.9% 1,506 Washington D.C. 5.5% 1,201 Chicago 4.9% 1,070
Boston 4.9% 1,070 Atlanta 3.2% 699 San Diego 2.7% 589 Tampa/St. Petersburg 2.3% 502 San Jose 1.9% 415 Philadelphia 1.9% 415 Houston 1.9% 415 Ft. Lauderdale 1.9% 415
Source: http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=318827
Thanks for the input. The figures you've provided are a useful reference. However, the list of sample cities is not decided on tourist figures alone, but considers various factors. A city that has a large corporate presence such as, for example, Seattle will receive a large number of visitors, but they are not tourists. Cities with strong baseball teams may also attract a large number of visitors, but again these are not tourists. However, in both cases the visitors will still require information about the city they are visiting. Geographical considerations are also taken into account. For example, on a tourist survey both Miami and St Petersburg might rank high, but only one would be considered for listing as they are both within the same region. Anyway, thanks again for seeking out the above list. As I said, the information will be a useful reference for choosing the cities to be included in the sample list, though for reasons I stated it cannot be a decisive factor. Take it easy. WindHorse 23:26, 12 August 2007 (EDT)
[edit] Almost all except -> all except
I changed "Almost all Americans, except the native population, are descended from immigrants" to "All Americans [...]". I can't think of anyone who's not American Indian who's not descended from immigrants. --Evan 04:44, 28 Mar 2004 (EST)
How about African Americans? They did not descend from immigrants. I wouldn't call forced slavery the same thing as immigration.
Websters says To enter and settle in a country or region to which one is not native.
I don't see any reference as to force or lack thereof. It would be presumed, that slaves did settle here, yes? 4.164.234.10 11:40, 18 Jul 2005 (EDT) (wp:user:Guy M)
[edit] what about Puerto Rico ?
The "United States" section of the CIA Factbook http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/us.html mentions these "Dependent areas":
American Samoa, Baker Island, Guam, Howland Island, Jarvis Island, Johnston Atoll, Kingman Reef, Midway Islands, Navassa Island, Northern Mariana Islands, Palmyra Atoll, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, Wake Island
They don't seem to be included in any "Region" at the moment.
Should we give them a separate "Region" ? "U.S. Islands", maybe ?
If we do that, should we demote Hawaii to be just part of that region, rather than an entire region to itself ?
-- DavidCary 17:24, 2 Apr 2004 (EST)
What about calling them Dependent Territories (of the United States) rather than U.S. Islands. Hawaii and Alaska were once both territories, before they became states. -- Huttite 20:37, 25 Dec 2004 (EST)
[edit] OK to categorize Florida as just another state in the South ?
I can understand making Texas a region all its own. But I would have lumped Florida in with the "South". But then, I still haven't visited Florida. I'd be happy if someone who has visited Florida would say "yes, it's definitely in its own category". -- DavidCary 17:24, 2 Apr 2004 (EST)
Yes, it's definitely in its own category. --Evan 23:23, 2 Apr 2004 (EST)
Yes, it's definitely in its own category. Very specifically, every winter, Florida becomes a province of Canada. (I've heard that 1/10 of Canada's population visits Florida every winter.) The northern part of the state (Jacksonville, the Panhandle) are part of The South, but the southern part of the state shares more, culturally, with the Northeast and with the Caribbean. Chip 00:29, 8 Jul 2004 (EDT)
Yes, it's definitely in its own category. I grew up in Florida, spending over 20 years there. It is increasingly competing with AZ for being the "State of the Living Dead", thanks to the relocation of aged retirees. And, now that the State goverenment has destroyed the citrus industry, it's sole primary industry is tourism entertainment, unlike GA which still produces marketable crops.
[[User: David L. Mohn}}
Former residents of Florida like to call it "God's Waiting Room". Jordanmills 21:02, 23 April 2006 (EDT)
just because florida is different from the rest of the south due to higher rates of tourism and retirement doesnt necesarily make it deserve its own heading in "regions". when I go through regions I dont think cultural regions I just think divisions of territory. with that said I think texas (despite its size and importance) should be lumped into a region as well and maybe put hawaii and alaska into "non continental us states" or something to that effect.
[edit] traffic accidents 4 times as tragic as shootings
"America has the highest rate of shootings in the industrialized world, by several orders of magnitude."
What is the source of this statement?
I don't know about other countries, but here's stats for the U.S.:
2001: in the United States:
• 47,288 Deaths Due to Unintentional (Accidental) Injuries: Transport Accidents
• 11,348 Deaths Due to Assault: Assault by firearm
-- http://nsc.org/lrs/statinfo/odds.htm
That says, contrary to what I see in the movies, that over 4 times as many people die in traffic accidents than from firearms. Perhaps, in our article, we should put 4 times the emphasis on traffic accidents as on shootings.
So what are the stats for other countries ? Are traffic accidents also much worse in the U.S. than in other countries ?
-- DavidCary 18:38, 2 Apr 2004 (EST)
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00046149.htm (study compares violence against among children, but a general point can be taken too)
I think the important point to emphazise is that the US is a more violent country than most industrialized nations. There are lots of historic and cultural reasons for this, none of which are particularly interesting. The important things is that travelers need to know that just because the majority of Americans look like Europeans doesn't mean they will act like Europeans. So a traveler from China, for example, who has experience with traveling to Europe should not automatically assume the US is just another European country.
-- Colin 19:17, 2 Apr 2004 (EST)
Also, there is nothing special about U.S. death rates on roads http://www.who.int/violence_injury_prevention/injury/chartbook/en/chap2_slide2.jpg
In fact, I would arge that given that the U.S. has more freeway driving going on, driving in the U.S. might actually be safer than many industrialized nations. (I'm such an optimist). Using the same logic (tell travelers what they don't already know), I don't see why we should warn anyone about the auto accident death rate, although it might be nice to reassure travelers that their own driving is still the most likely way they will die in the U.S. -- Colin 19:31, 2 Apr 2004 (EST)
I think it's worth an aside saying that the thing you really need to worry about is getting run over crossing the street. Actually the US is just about as safe as any other country for drivers, but it (along with Great Britain) is unusually dangerous for pedestrians. There have even been studies by the insurance industry showing that the police almost always report auto-pedestrian accidents as the pedestrian's fault, so not only are you likely to be run over if you are not extra careful, but you'll also wind up with a giant hospital bill if you survive. -- Mark 12:26, 6 Jan 2006 (EST)
[edit] Critique of the article
Today I stumbled across this article on the United States. I confess I didn't like it very much. But at first I was not sure why. So I went back and read the whole thing over again.
To provide some context for my comments, let me say I am seventy years old having spent the first 30 in a far west suburb of Chicago and the next 40 in Pittsburgh.
In my re-reading the first thing that caught my attention was the heading, "Culture". I thought, This couldn't have been written by someone who knew the country well. Then I thought, Well maybe that's good in a travel article, an outsider's perspective. But the more I read the more I felt that it was constructed of all the negative stereotypes that one reads in the European press. In some sense stereotypes are true, yet at the same time the article is biased in that there were next to no positive stereotypes to provide balance. Then I thought, Well my skin is just too thin. So for an unbiased comparison I thought I would read the "Culture" sections for some other countries. I checked Germany, Norway and numerous others: no "Culture". Well these countries certainly are regarded by many as having a culture, but maybe they're just too small for Wikitravelers to spend time on that aspect of them. So I checked China and Brazil, not pigeons for sure. Still, no "Culture" sections.
That, I think, goes a long way to explain what is distasteful about the US article: While the author(s) of other articles seem content with providing useful information for travelers, these author(s) felt an urge to go farther. For example:
Given America's place on the world stage, it may seem strange to non-Americans how they picture themselves: warm, thoughtful, friendly, uncomplicated, and righteous. Most Americans consider their place in the world as that of common sense and homely living -- "Mom and apple pie", as the saying here goes. The flipside of this attitude is a general anti-intellectualism, with "real people" being more respected than "snobs" and "bookworms". The simple sentimentalist and violent streaks in American media are a strong reflection of this attitude.
What is being said here? The sentence structure is convoluted but it sounds as though we picture ourselves as "warm, thoughtful, friendly, uncomplicated, and righteous". Well, some of us do and some of us don't; some of us are and some of us aren't. And, of course, all of this is true about people anywhere in the world. So what is really being said to the traveler here? Watch out for the cowboys? The author(s) don't come right out and tell us. In the same vein, they continue with the stereotype of anti-intellectualism. It is difficult to quantify intellectualism, but in any sense that one might actually measure -- scholarly journals, advanced degrees, political criticism, books published, things invented, I don't think we stack up too badly. But maybe they are only saying that we don't like intellectuals, not that we don't have them in full measure. In either case what is the message they are providing to the traveler?
More:
... people from other countries, especially in Asia and Latin America, are often viewed with suspicion. Americans have an ideal of what the "real" American culture is like, and although they may and often do experiment with immigrant cuisine and music, non-natives are considered by some as a threat to what's "really" American. Some foreign travelers may feel uncomfortable under the scrutiny of America's xenophobic side.
While it is certainly true that some Americans view people from other cultures with suspicion, in my experience it is not true that people from other countries are "often" viewed with suspicion. I suppose it depends on what the meaning of "often" is. And its meaning here should be, "compared to what other country". Who here shall cast the first stone? Are Americans more zenophobic than other people? Typically, the author(s) has again chosen a stereotype that is difficult to quantify. "non-natives are considered by some as a threat ...". The word "some" is convenient here because in any substantial population it is always true; so we can't fault the author(s) for making an untrue statement. But let us compare countries a little bit, for that is the real interest of the traveler after all. Should one be especially nervous as a foreigner in America? One could as well ask whether all Germans welcome the Turks with open arms? All French, the Algerians? All Italians, the Albanians, and this is to name only a few. Well I have taken the trouble to check the Wikitravel pages for these countries to see if travelers to these countries are properly cautioned. They aren't.
I will not continue further, though it would be easy to find much more in the same vein. My basic point here is not that Americans are perfect, though if we had any doubt about it we are nowadays informed regularly that we are not. My point is that much of this article does not belong in a travel-focused article, as witnessed by the fact that information of this type is not contained in other countries' articles, and conversely, if it does belong, then "culture" should be in the "country template" (it is not -- and probably a good thing too or we should really see the fur fly).
What we have in this article is editorializing in the guize of travel writing. I do not say this is intentional. I prefer to think merely that the author(s) is somewhat naive, or has expressed him- or herself poorly.
Sincerely, William M Goetsch 22:00, 2 May 2004 (EDT)
The Culture section should stay, but I agree that some of the negative POV should be removed. It's not true that the USA is the only country on Wikitravel with a culture section. Austria has one. If other large countries don't, it's because their entries are incomplete.
And yes, you can generalise about a country's culture, as long as you're making clear that you're generalising. You're essentially stating the mean of a Gaussian distribution, which will only overlap to a certain extent with a Gaussian distribution of another country. For example: If you bump into an American on the street, there's a 90% chance that they're of an uncomplicated nature. In Germany that chance may only be 10%. Thus it's not wrong to say that "Americans are, in the whole, uncomplicated, whereas Germans aren't" -- 137.222.40.132 11:02, 16 Sep 2005 (EDT)
I think your critique is right-on, at least in that it's not really possible to write about the U.S. having a culture. Checking the page history and noting the author of the "Culture" bits I think I can form a theory: the author is actually writing about his childhood home in the Texas Panhandle, as opposed to the U.S. as a whole.
I actually think it would be easy for any of us to fall into this trap. I have a totally different view of the U.S. having grown up mainly in a college town and then having lived in the inner city of Chicago, and later San Francisco. As such I've requesed myself from writing about the U.S.A. as a whole. I just really don't know what the Culture of the U.S. is.
I do suspect that anybody attempting to write about "American culture" is going to have the same exact problem. See I can't even decide what to call it. ;) -- Mark 04:03, 3 May 2004 (EDT)
Mr. Goetsch: feel free to make changes to the article to give more accurate information on the USA. Most of the parts that you found unpleasant were written by me. I am an American born and bred, and I tried to give as much info as I can about differences between the US and other English-speaking countries. You can consider it an insider's outsider's view.
The USA is more complete than other country articles, but that's not because we don't want this information -- that's what the Understand section is for. I'd love to see Germany or Norway have the depth of analysis as this page has.
It's hard to write about the culture of a place as big and diverse as the US without a lot of generalization. I especially tried to cover the aspects of US culture that seem to puzzle international visitors; these tend to be some of our country's less savory qualities. --Evan 01:34, 4 May 2004 (EDT)
Evan: I would like to do some work on this but I don't want to get into a pissing contest, especially with you who have originated the whole site. I believe you should rule in this matter, even if it is perhaps not the wiki way. Here is what I propose: I will rewrite the article in my own namespace incorporating all the good factual stuff from the present article. I will stick very close to the country template and I believe it will turn out somewhat shorter, but still plenty rich. I prefer not to put in a great deal of history -- which, after all, is not in the template. I believe it would more properly be in an encyclopedia. Maybe we can link to Wikipedia.
BTW: Although still a "newbie" I detect, perhaps wrongly, some tension between Wikitravel and Wikipedia. I wish you would confirm whether this is a valid hunch on my part, as I think Wikitravel would benefit from such cross-referencing and then we could focus more tightly on the traveler, which is, presumably, our primary remit. And we would then be able to use our resources more efficiently to fill in some of the many, many gaps in Wikitravel. And if we don't like what's in Wikipedia, why we can change it. Wikipedia would also benefit from our inserting external links in it to Wikitravel articles.
Anyway: After I'm done -- it will take maybe only a couple days -- then you read it. If you like it, or feel it is a better base from which to work, then fine, we'll move it in. If not, that will be the end of it and we'll stick to what's there. If you have invested in the present article to the point where even without seeing my approach you would like to keep what you have, please tell me. It'll save my effort. I won't have any serious regrets and there's plenty of other things to work on here. William M Goetsch 14:51, 4 May 2004 (EDT)
PS: I've done a little here that you can look at to help make up your mind, but I'm going to stop now till I hear back from you.
Bill: A couple of responses. First, Maj and I don't claim any special privileges on Wikitravel. We happen to have been around since the beginning, so we've probably got better long-term perspective than newcomers, but besides that we don't get any final say. The traveller comes first around here, not the founders.
Second, there's no bad blood between Wikitravel and Wikipedia that I know of. Cooperating with Wikipedia is part of our Fellow Traveller Expedition, and we have special ways to make links to Wikipedia. Many Wikitravellers are current or former Wikipedians.
That's not to say that we're exactly the same as Wikipedia. We have a different culture, different goals, and different ideas. We're separate, but amicably so.
Third, it's always a good idea to link to Wikipedia, but it's also good to remember that Wikitravel is not just a Web travel guide. These guides are supposed to be useful when printed out, so just linking to other sites isn't enough. I think the history of the USA on this page is about the smallest capsule history we could come up with. It has just enough info so that someone visiting a Civil War battlefield (say) would have some idea what the Civil War was.
Lastly, I'll try to take a look at your ideas and comment on them on that page. It's usually easier for everyone if you just update the page you want to change, though. Thanks again for your help, -- Evan 16:26, 8 May 2004 (EDT)
[edit] Editing of the article
Though "history" was the major change, I started at the beginning and worked through history. So I made some other changes besides just history. I took out Cincinatti as a major travelers goal, for example, and I reworked "geography" some too along the way. I plan to edit "culture" next. My aim is to clean it up, condense it, and make it more objective, though much of the original text is remains.
My general feeling is still that the article is too long, and that history would be better addressed by a reference to Wikipedia (although I haven't looked at the quality of theirs which can be spotty). If I am going to Britain I would certainly not desire to read its history on Wikitravel.
Still, I have tried to use a scalpel here, not a sawzall, in deference to the work that has been put in to it. William M Goetsch 13:41, 9 May 2004 (EDT)
More work on the article including Get In to Eat and Drink. Some typos injected. Will get them later. William M Goetsch 12:10, 10 May 2004 (EDT)
Editing complete down to Drink. William M Goetsch 12:27, 11 May 2004 (EDT)
Hi William. I appreciate your contributions to this article, and like most of the improvements.
I wanted to make a mild objection to one of your removals though. I thought the old 'Respect' section had useful and vital advice for the traveler. In particular, I think travelers from other countries need to be aware of the dangers of discussing race with an American (my favorite quote from before: The subject is extremely nuanced, and it is highly unlikely that any foreign traveler will be able to navigate the minefield of American race relations without stepping on something extremely explosive), Okay, maybe it was a bit strong before, but at the very least we need to say to someone "don't try to initiate a conversation about race unless you really know what you're doing." To me, the parts of the old 'Respect' section which were a bit overdone did, at least, seem to serve the purpose of explaining to the traveler exactly why they need to avoid racial topics like the plague.
I'd like to see Respect brought back, but of course I'd also like to hear from you first since you've put so much effort into this of late -- Colin 00:54, 17 May 2004 (EDT)
Colin: Curiously, my parents lived in Fremont, I believe in the 70s, and I visited them there several times. Anyway, re: "Respect: My reasons for removal of this section, strangely enough, mirror my reason for removing the section on topless bathing: It has unfortunately not been my experience to see many women at a beach willy-nilly stripping off their bras without first looking around to what others were or were not doing. Visitors usually have pretty good sense. In a more serious vein, I have frequently, in my travels, introduced "locally sensitive" issues in my conversations -- to the extent my Spanish, or my interlocutor's English, permitted -- and as a consequence I sometimes learned things I would not have otherwise. In any case, "social warnings" like these, as opposed to warnings about walking alone at night in questonable places, do not usually have serious consequences, as locals usually make allowances for traveler's faux pas, if such they are. Regards, William M Goetsch 10:58, 17 May 2004 (EDT) (Bill).
And I had another thought, perhaps more directly to the point you raise: In my view it would be desirable to have a traveler bring up "race relations" in a conversation here. They probably already have a worse view of Americans in this respect than is actually the case. In the same way, were I conversing with a serious person in, say, Lebanon, I would not hesitate to bring up the topic of Islamist terrorism, a similarly fraught subject I'm sure you will agree. This is how the world and gets to know one another and, in the longrun, hopefully, straightens itself out. Travel is all about breaking down barriers. Bill William M Goetsch 11:25, 17 May 2004 (EDT)
I have to say I agree with William here. During my travels I talked about a number of sensitive subjects in different countries. In Turkey I had conversations about the Kurdish situation, in Malaysia about the tensions between the Chinese, Indian and bumiputra population, in Australia about the situation of the Aboriginal people, in Argentina about machismo, ... and I never felt any hostility from the people I talked with. Of course, you don't lecture people about what you think is right or wrong. But if you listen to them you can learn something about the topic and why it is the way it is. And most of the times it is not an offence to tell them that you and the people in your country think or act differently for such and such reason. Akubra 16:41, 17 May 2004 (EDT)
That said, I think having a 'Respect' section is helpful to make travellers aware of the local sensitivities and give some clues on how to behave (such as taking off your shoes before entering a Hindu temple). Blatantly telling a Turkish soldier that you support an independent Kurdistan is not the way to go, but you can always talk to me about the Flemish-Walloon situation in Belgium when you happen to be here :-) Akubra 16:57, 17 May 2004 (EDT)
[edit] Road Nomenclature
So here in the United States, we have the original highway system (Route 66), the Interstate Highway System (Interstate 80) and also state routes (California Route 1). Sometimes a state route (California 97) preserves the same number across a few states (Oregon, Washington 97) or provinces (B.C. 97). It seems like we really ought to have a standard way of specifying the roads. I see stuff on wikitravel like I-80, I80, Interstate 80, Route 66, US 66, SR 97, CA 97, etc. Shall we standardize how we type these darn things in?
So here's a proposal to start things off. I'm not much attached to these! This is just to start the conversation.
• I-80 for Interstate 80. I see this dash stuff all the time on interstates. I don't know why it's only interstates that get the dash
• US 66 for Route 66. Most maps don't make it clear that Route 66 is the same as US Highway 66 so it's nice to specify the US instead of Route
• SR 97. It's an abbreviation for state route. Each state has a differently shaped sign for their state routes.
Comments please? -- Colin 23:51, 7 Jul 2004 (EDT)
There is no "California 97." It's "US 97," a route that continues with the same identity into Oregon and Washington. There are many highways like this, though they are not as predominant as they were prior to the advent of the Interstate Highway system. There are also "State Highways," officially and unofficially identified differently from state to state. (In some states, some abbreviation of the name of the state may precede the highway number, such as M-xx in Michigan; in others, the designation may simply be the word Route or Highway, while in others, the state's name may be used in full.)
State highways that cross state lines may keep the same number in both states, or the number may change as one crosses the border. In some cases, a state highway in one state will connect with a local road without a number in another. 4.243.146.84 01:14, 29 December 2006 (EST)
Oops, I hadn't seen this! I guess I agree with your proposal but it's also important to have some context for people. If you start just talking about "use the SR 97 to get there" it might not be clear that it's a road (versus a train or bridge or whatever)... And is "SR" a commonly used abbreviation? I haven't seen it... I'm just not sure how obvious the US road system is to someone from say, India, or Africa... but maybe I'm making assumptions. Majnoona 17:55, 30 Oct 2004 (EDT)
AAA uses the SR nominclature. This makes a small bit of sense to me since 1) you don't have to figure out the two letter abbrev for the state route (CA for California is obvious, but what does Idaho use?) and 2) if a state route crosses a state boundary, the number is frequently preverved.
You're right that this will confuse visitors from afar. So if we can agree on some kind of standard, we should explain the plethora of road names and how they are expressed in the USA article. Of course, this only helps folks who consult the USA article before going somewhere, but that's kinda how we do other stuff like phone numbers, so it seems like our style of doing things. We do, I think, need to at least explain the US Route / Interstate / State route division in the article.
I'm not super-attached to my proposal above. It was more just a point of reference for discussion. Do you have a preference for spelling out State Route or any other ideas? -- Colin 18:32, 30 Oct 2004 (EDT)
I'd prefer to refer to the highway by whatever name it is locally known (i.e. what it says on the signs). If a road is called "M-37" in Michigan and changes to "Indiana 37" in Indiana (it doesn't, but just for example), then call it "M-37" in articles about Michigan and "Indiana 37" in articles about Indiana. Because I honestly wouldn't recognize "State Route 37" or "S.R. 37" as being "M-37" (a road that nearly runs through my backyard). While it might be nice to nail down whether it's "US-69" or "U.S. 69" or whatever, I don't think completely consistency nationwide is necessary. (P.S. The reason interstates have a dash in the name is to make sure people don't mistake "I96" for "196".) - Todd VerBeek 19:06, 10 April 2007 (EDT)
I agree that if there is a local way of doing it, we should follow it. Here in Northern California, most people call it "Highway 11" whether it is a US Route, State Route, or Interstate. Though for Interstates, "Interstate 11" is just as common. And those darn Southern Californians call it "The 11" regardless of what it is. So we need an overall standard, but then alter that for states where they do have a commonly-used way of saying it. -- Colin 09:07, 12 April 2007 (EDT)
What people say probably isn't as useful as how it's identified on signs. People drop the prefixes, use traditional names, etc. in conversation, but I don't think we should do that here. What I meant is that, if state highways in Michigan are named "M-xx", then that's what we should call them in Michigan. - Todd VerBeek 08:10, 2 May 2007 (EDT)
[edit] Road designations
(Following section swept in from the Pub)
I'm not sure where a section should be inserted, or if I should declare style policy with at least some attempt at consensus, but it would be nice to have something. I posted the below to the MoS discussion page:
I can't find any other place discussing it, so I'll just kind of stick it in here. I've been using (at least in the US articles) what I think is the official designation system. Interstates are prefixed with "IH-", Non-interstate federal highways are prefixed with "US-", state roads are prefixed with "SH-" (I had to kick myself several times to stop using the prefix "TX-", which we Texans know isn't really official, but use any way), and others that might not be so popular across the country (I really don't know), like County Road ("CR-" here), Farm-to-Market Road ("FM-"), and Ranch Road ("RR-") are just spelled out. I wouldn't mind having a stated consensus on this though, especially with "FM-" (In Houston, at least, if you ask for "Farm to market road one nine six zero", you'll get a blank stare about half the time, but everyone knows of "FM ninteen sixty").
But I'm not familiar enough with even the whole US to tell which road types are widely known, and which just stick in my head. Please comment on the following list:
• Interstate Highway "IH", widely known
• US Highway "US", widely known
• State Highway "SH", widely known
• Farm-to-Market Road "FM", somewhat known
• County Road "CR", mostly local
• Ranch Road "RR", mostly local
Jordanmills 13:36, 10 April 2007 (EDT)
In my experience, interstates are always prefixed with "I-", and state highways vary by state (e.g. here in Michigan they're prefixed with "M-"). I don't think most people would understand "IH-" or "SH-". "FM-" and "RR-" are completely foreign to me, but if that's what the designation for a particular road is, so be it. The bottom line is that roads should be identified to by whatever name people use for them. - Todd VerBeek 16:40, 10 April 2007 (EDT)
I've seen it mostly as "IH-", but a quick look at the NHS web site [1] (which, I guess, is about as official as it gets) shows their regular use of "I-". I'd venture to say that your usage is more correct here. While I've also seen "SH-" and "SR-" used interchangably, the DOT/FHA also uses state-specific abbreviations for state highways and state routes. Additionally, there is apparently some difference between a "U.S. Highway" and "U.S. Route". Though I can't wade deep enough into the paperwork to figure out what it is. I may have dug myself too deep here. Jordanmills 18:44, 10 April 2007 (EDT)
Talk:United States of America#Road Nomenclature. I think we should have a Manual-of-Style entry for countries (or at least the major ones) describing our writing conventions. The country MoS would cover addresses, phone numbers, and highway stuff. The MoS for a country would not override the project-wide MoS, of course. -- Colin 17:30, 10 April 2007 (EDT)
Oh goody, link and discussion. I think country-specific MoS entries for country-specific naming conventions sounds like a good plan. Jordanmills 18:44, 10 April 2007 (EDT)
[edit] history
Net State http://www.netstate.com/ has detailed historical information on each state. Would this be appropriate to put in the United_States_of_America article ?
Probably not. We have Wikipedia links in the sidebar so that people can go to Wikipedia for more info on a location that's not strictly travel related. But putting in other links is too much of a slippery slope: there are heaps of sites about the history of many of the countries and destinations we list. -- Hypatia 13:15, 1 Nov 2004 (EST)
[edit] Internet TLD
Hmm, I would rather focus domains like .gov, .mil, .edu in quick bar. Domain .com is much more in international use.
To be precise, .gov and .mil are explicitly limited to the U.S. government and military respectively. .edu was originally a global TLD for educational institutions, but is currently restricted to those with U.S. accreditation (though some non-US institutions are grandfathered). On the other hand, .com, .net, and .org are international both in intended and actual use. There isn't any real logic in showing .com as a "US domain", nor in showing it but not .net and .org, unless commercial sites are the only sort of interest. Dtobias 15:20, 20 Aug 2005 (EDT)
[edit] Rollback
So, someone obviously worked really hard on this article recently, and I rolled back their changes. Here's why:
• Having every single state listed under Regions is just waaaaaay too much info. It's better as it is now: links to general regions (like New England and the Midwest , with each region having links to particular states.
• We don't need to have every single city in the US linked from Cities. We already picked out a small selection of really major cities for travellers; we don't need links to the top 20 or the top 50.
I think the key thing is remembering the 7+/-2 rule: make groups of links of around 5-9 items. If you have more items, break them down into sub-groups, and make new pages. --Evan 01:09, 7 Mar 2005 (EST)
Whoever did the work on the US today also expanded some of the region descriptions and other minor info. Since those changes looked good I've restored them. Hopefully that's OK. -- Wrh2 02:30, 7 Mar 2005 (EST)
[edit] No pictures!
The USA article currently has seventy-one (71) kilobytes of text and zero (0) pictures to accompany it! Surely there's a decent pic or two to slot in somewhere? Jpatokal 00:14, 5 May 2005 (EDT)
How about grabbing a couple of iconic images from the state/city pages? Maybe the Statue of Liberty shot from the New York (city) page and a Golden Gate Bridge shot from San Francisco? I'm sure there are probably other images that people associate heavily with America, but those are two suggestions. -- Wrh2 00:52, 5 May 2005 (EDT)
[edit] Scaring away the customers
As each author adds their own particular bugbear to this article the US is getting scarier and scarier and the article longer and longer. Gay bashing, monster storms, and my personal favorite: "[visitors] should familiarize themselves with the local climatology and pack clothes or items as appropriate." Sound as though our visitors are children: Be sure to pack your galoshes girls.
As to gay bashing I will challenge this paranoid author to name a city or state where there is no gay community, as he especially warns us to beware of. Start with Peoria Illinois ("If it plays in Peoria...). Doesn't he watch TV?
We can't put foam rubber on the playground of the whole US of A. Soon, reading this article, even if they can get a visa, they won't come. That would be too bad. Hey, a little wild and wooly is good for the soul.
Let us give a thought to balance.
William M Goetsch 16:29, 23 May 2005 (EDT)
Yes, junk does accumulate. Pointless stuff like "learn the climatology" should be deleted since it's obviously true for every destination. The gay bashing warning is exactly one short setence and pretty much says "you should be careful outside of SF/NY." I think that's fair. I live 30 miles from SF, and I think acting openly gay here would carry risks from some members of the local idiocracy. I reckon it could be fatal in parts of Mississipi. It's not that we are saying everyone outside SF is a homophobic murderer, it's just a "be careful" in case a gay visitor from another part of the globe is under the misaprehention that the US is filled with only accepting people. Colin 23:44, 23 May 2005 (EDT)
Well I'm not planning to take the warning out. I'm simply saying that the article on the United States seems to be building up with warnings much faster than any other country article. If one is gay and planning a trip to Morocco let's say, one is probably somewhat cautious before walking down the street holding hands with one's boyfriend. Yet, without looking, I would be willing to bet that the article on Morocco has not issued the same warning as does the United States article. I remember that a while back the United States article had a warning about nude beaches which I think I removed. I did this on the basis that rational people do not generally strip their clothes off at a beach willy nillie without looking around a little bit first. This is simply common sense. The United States article seems to be getting out of sync with comparable articles about other countries. I would prefer that authors with such fears, after adding them to the United States article, would add them as well to articles on other countries. And I would ask you whether you have taken the trouble to do this. The way it stands now, it looks like the United States is a pariah country out of sync with the rest of the world,yet in fact it is far more liberal than is most of the rest of the world, let's say Africa, the Middle East, India, China, Indonesia, and in fact the bulk of the population of the planet. So this displays us in a false bad light And plays on negative stereotypes which are building up around the world about our country. This discourages travelers From coming here which I feel is a bad thing. This is what I mean by balance.
William M Goetsch 15:00, 24 May 2005 (EDT)
I think the gay bashing warning goes too far. For example, the United Arab Emirates safety section says this: "The crime rate is extremely low in the United Arab Emirates, so there is nothing in particular to be concerned about, just be vigilant." Yet, homosexuality is punishable by death. I'd say that's something to worry about. If there are statistics that show a significant threat to homosexual tourists, then I think the comment is legitimate but the statistics should also be provided. In general the article seems absurdly anti-American and I'm a liberal blue-stater.
Feel free to plunge forward and make changes in the tone and content of the article. --Evan 15:50, 7 Jan 2006 (EST)
[edit] Auto-favorable bias
I changed much of the auto/train/bus entries. There is a difference between acknowledging widespread auto use in the U.S. and the author's assertion that this is "what America prefers." A little research into free-market economics will enlighten one to why auto-use is so popular, given its inefficiencies with energy use and its limited use in creating the places most likely to be visited in the U.S. (SF, NY, Chicago). Subsidized infrastructure for autos, of which there is no toll for use, will undoubtedly be chosen in favor of paying for travel on private lines which must maintain their own rights-of-way, or even government lines that are woefully underfunded and expected to maintain some semblance of national service. Er go, widespread auto use.
In terms of legibility your changes were much for the worse and I've reverted half of them. This is not Wikipedia and our focus is not on subsidized infrastructure, but getting around the US as the traveler sees it, and "America's love affair with the car is legendary" is a fact even if you, or for that matter I, don't like it. Jpatokal 21:27, 22 Jun 2005 (EDT)
[edit] POV in "Drink"
The drink section of this article seems to be very POV or non-sensical. Sentences such as:
• Asking for liquor plus mixer will sometimes get you funny looks, but you'll get what you want,
• You will find that the wines served in most bars and taverns in America is of the "bulk" variety, not very good, and often not served in proper glasses.
• Of course this fad may become extinct at any time.
• Some states also have a weird thing called 3.2 beer which is 3.2% alcohol.
I don't know enough about this stuff to change it myself, so I thought I'd put it here. Bob rulz 23:27, 26 Jul 2005 (EDT)
The article says that 80% of Americans drink regularly. I don't know where the author found this number, but it seems way to high. The American Council for Drug Education says nearly half of Americans over twelve drink, so 80% seems pretty ludicrous and may need to be ammended. Ajrhobby 23:49, 7 May 2006 (EDT)
Less than half seems improbably low to me. I just did some quick Googling for stats and what I found was all over the map... I suspect it depends a lot on how you define drink "regularly". Regardless, we don't need a statistic; just saying that its commonplace (as you changed it) is good enough. - Todd VerBeek 07:54, 8 May 2006 (EDT)
Hi Bob rulz. Are you aware that Wikitravel has no NPOV requirement? A travel guide, unlike an encyclopedia does not need a neutral point of view. Rather we try to be fair. Just thought you should know before you start complaining about POV. -- Mark 11:58, 8 May 2006 (EDT)
"Bob" posted those comments almost a year ago; I'm not sure he's still watching this page. :) And his criticism of some of it as nonsensical (or just odd) is valid, which is why most of that verbiage is gone now. - Todd VerBeek 12:14, 8 May 2006 (EDT)
I know. I just like to stomp all over POV and NPOV when I see the issue raised. Wikipedians dragging NPOV over here and insisting on it is one of my pet peeves, so I'd rather not leave an instance of somebody calling POV in a talk page unanswered. -- Mark 12:33, 8 May 2006 (EDT)
[edit] Mobile phones
" Consequently, one you purchased in another part of the world will probably not work in the US. "
I'm not too sure about that, most phones now days at Tri-band and should absoloutley work in the states as most GSM providers here from Cingular to T-mobile have roaming agreements with foreign carriers. I took my Tri-band GSM phone to Europe and used it all over the continent and the British Isles without a problem.
GSM works pretty much everywhere; other types of cell phones might not. Also, though GSM is standard in most of Europe and Asia, it's not in the US.
[edit] Regions
I'd just like to throw in my two cents in favor of the existing regions. Only a bureaucrat could love, or even understand, what eg. "North West Central" is supposed to mean... Jpatokal 23:00, 19 Sep 2005 (EDT)
What he said. -- Colin 23:05, 19 Sep 2005 (EDT)
Here, here. -- Ilkirk 13:11, 20 Sep 2005 (EDT)
[edit] duh. I read that diff a little too quickly
and yep, it's Dallas, Texas (like San Francisco, California))
[edit] Planned Parenthood
Planned Parenthood has long been listed as a resource in this article, and is persistently deleted. Many of us routinely restore the section and I thought it best to add a discussion here of this so that anyone who thinks it inappropriate would have both the reasons for it and a place to discuss it further. Here are my reasons why I think it appropriate:
1. PP provides general reproductive services and counseling. A traveller who stays a few months could reasonably have a need for any of the services.
2. I assume the traveller already has an opinion about abortion. The article does not provide advice about the subject, but merely an informational pointer. Note that this info serves to prepare the traveller about what to expect from Planned Parenthood -- even an anti-abortion traveller might want to know about this in order to either avoid PP altogether or to plan on refusing PP's advice before receiving counseling.
3. Some travellers -- particularly young and unwealthy travellers from countries with socialized medicine -- need all the pointers to free medical services they can get. Thus we also point out that emergency rooms must serve the poor and uninsured.
-- Colin 02:42, 21 Oct 2005 (EDT)
Thanks for getting the discussion going. I think this is a good case where the traveller comes first.
I'll be a little more pointed: I think that for many 20-40 year old travellers, reproductive services (including birth control and, yes, STD treatment) are going to be their main non-emergency health need.
By the way, I also think we could use some info on how to get other medical treatment with national health cards from various countries. --Evan 21:14, 21 Oct 2005 (EDT)
As far as I know, hospitals are required by law to treat all patients with emergencies, regardless of ability to pay.
There is simply no good reason to include a mention of abortion in a travel section. The traveller is unlikely to stumble into a Planned Parenthood office in the first place, and even if one who did was pro-life, they probably would not be overly offended anyway.
The traveller here for a few months who finds him or herself in need of "reproductive services" could easily find them by themself, in the phone book or on an internet search.
This kind of reminds me of the many travel books that almost assume or at least implicitly accept the traveller will engage in (usually) promiscuous sexual activity while travelling.
--User:Jakes18 16:27, 22 Oct 2005 (CDT)
First, it is not easy finding services like this in the phone book in the US. Some Pro-life groups routinely advertise deceptively described services to trick someone into visiting them instead -- and then become advocates against various behaviors. Second, the pointer does no harm to someone not seeking the services. Third, is it your theory that young Frenchmen (as a randomly chosen example traveller) will suddenly adopt the mores of conservative US while visiting?
Romance and travel do go together. And while by no means is it a universal sentiment, one ought to acknowledge that for many locations on the planet, sexuality and romance go together. Sure, you and I may think it unwise, but we don't get to decide the actions of the individuals involved in a romance, do we?
Lastly, we make decisions here by consensus. You must first lobby for a change in consensus -- which clearly is against you at present -- before you make a change in the article. Playing dictator upon the article will not work. -- Colin 18:34, 22 Oct 2005 (EDT)
This is getting a little silly. I don't care either way, but it seems that this revert war has got to be settled in some fashion... -- Ilkirk 14:26, 24 Oct 2005 (EDT)
I personally don't care either way whether planned parenthood stays or goes, but any effort to bully a change through without discussion is going to get reverted. At the moment there is one person arguing vehemently that it be removed without (IMHO) providing any compelling arguments, and several people arguing that it is a valuable piece of information. The policies of Wikitravel are very clear that in that case the information stays, although people should work together to find some text that is more acceptable to everyone. -- Wrh2 14:53, 24 Oct 2005 (EDT)
So it looks like we have the options of either pandering to Jake and letting his edit stick, or reverting it a couple of times per day until he gets bored. Perhaps somebody should write a "Jake's edit war" bot to deal with this specific unwanted edit? -- Mark 05:46, 25 Oct 2005 (EDT)
He'll get bored eventually and it's not like clicking "[rollback]" every now and then is going to be a major chore. I'm just afraid that this is just the harbinger of future Wikipedia-like flamage when snack packs of assorted nuts discover (Former Yugoslav Republic of) Macedonia, (Illegally Occupied) Northern Cyprus, (Part of China) Taiwan, etc... Jpatokal 05:58, 25 Oct 2005 (EDT)
[edit] Size rankings
A user keeps changing the size ranking of the United States based on comparison with China combined with Taiwan. I believe we should recognize the objective existing state of things rather than concern ourselves with the subjective of what some people wish things were -- especially since there are various groups with different, mutually exclusive subjective wishes.
At the very least, go fight it out on Wikipedia first. -- Colin 20:26, 2 Nov 2005 (EST)
Just to muddy the waters, the CIA world factbook colors the China map to include Taiwan, but lists the total area of China as 9.59 million square km (http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/ch.html). Personally this seems a silly thing to argue about, so maybe we could just re-word the offending sentence to read something like "The United States is one of the largest countries in the world based on land area (9.6 million km2) and on population (approximately 300 million)". -- Ryan 20:31, 2 Nov 2005 (EST)
That will just make him target the China area stat next. I'd prefer to just follow Wikipedia's decision on this -- they have more time for arguing than we do :-) -- Colin
I say we just let him have his way. A traveller only needs ballpark figures anyhow. -- Mark 23:36, 2 Nov 2005 (EST)
I don't care about the status of the US in a list. I care that we don't establish a practice of allowing Irredentist claims or other transnational claims, of which there are a slippery-slopeful, to override reporting about the actual facts on the ground. As an example of this principle, we have an article about Transnistria despite the wholehearted lack of international recognition (or even any example of disinterested recognition) for the country. How many countries claim bits of Antarctica, for example. Arguing about the current facts on the ground will forestall involvement in arguments regarding which country has the "right" to each piece of dirt. -- Colin 02:43, 3 Nov 2005 (EST)
I'm right there with you on the annoying nature of Irredentism. For me the important thing is that the thing travellers need to know about a place is who is in charge now. It might be interesting background that somebody else claims a place for some reason, but that's not the main point. I want to stress that the reason we mainly talk about current control is that that's what matters to the traveller. -- Mark 04:44, 3 Nov 2005 (EST)
The population of Taiwan is about 22 million. I don't understand how including or excluding Taiwan from the totals for China (1.3 billion) would change the ranking of the United States (295 million) as third in population behind China and India (1 billion). Is there a reason that Taiwan matters even in the slightest in this comparison? --Evan 23:54, 2 Nov 2005 (EST)
Duh -- I see now. The question is about area rather than population. The CIA Factbook area rankings includes Taiwan and still shows the US as larger. --Evan 00:03, 3 Nov 2005 (EST)
This is really easy to understand. The US breaks China up in it's statistics for a purely political reason, and who is the US to say how large China is? The CIA statistic excludes Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan, which are ALL a part of China.
Whether Taiwan is part of China or not is highly debatable. I would contend that it is not, and historically never been, except for a few decades in this century. However, whatever Taiwan's status, its land area is very small compared to that of the mainland, so it shouldn't make very much difference as to China's ranking in size.
Honk Kong and Macau are much smaller than Taiwan, at least in terms of land area, so whether their area is included or not is irrelevant. 4.243.146.84 01:22, 29 December 2006 (EST)
It's even easier to understand that this is not an encyclopedia. The important thing is that Travellers don't care. Just round the numbers off, and say "the US and China around around the same size". And please sign your posts. -- Mark 04:02, 3 Nov 2005 (EST)
[edit] "Mountain states" rather than "Rocky Mountains"?
There is discussion currently occurring on the Rocky Mountains (United States of America) article, as to whether a different name for this region should be found. The problem is that --
• on the one hand, it is misleading to lump states (notably Utah) into this region that don't have much to do with the actual mountain chain, since people not familiar with the Rockies will want a useful guide to them; while
• on the other hand, there is a lot more to the states covered in the region than merely the Rockies.
My proposal is to call the region either "Mountain states," "Mountain West," or "Rocky Mountain States," in each case with the obvious (United States of America) extension, and then modify the existing article so that it is part of the Rocky Mountains hierarchy rather than describing a region of the US. Content can then develop as appropriate for the two distinct articles in a way that makes them coherent and useful. Any thoughts on this? -- Bill-on-the-Hill 18:36, 31 Dec 2005 (EST)
I think that Mountain States is a good name. I do not think ther is a need to disambiguate with (United States of America) because Mountain States is also a play on words as in the States for USA, so Mountain States is fairly obviously the States in the United States of America that have Mountains in them, or are at least in the Mountain time zone. I do not think Mountain States would be confused with any other country's states with mountains, though if that does happen then we could disambiguate, or call it a famous place. -- Huttite 19:19, 31 Dec 2005 (EST)
OK, if there is no dissent in the next few days, I'm going to make this change. Speak now or forever be subjected to edits... -- Bill-on-the-Hill 18:59, 7 Jan 2006 (EST)
Would this not confuse people about other mountain areas in the US? You have the Appalachians, Ozark Mountains, Black Hills, Cascade Mountains and many others. Would all of these be "Mountain States"? I think the name should be more specific, as Mountain States is very ambiguous. Just my 2-cents. Xltel 21:41, 7 Jan 2006 (EST)
"Mountain West," then? Point is, Rocky Mountains is unsatisfactory. -- Bill-on-the-Hill 21:54, 7 Jan 2006 (EST)
I know that I am joining in very late on this discussion and of course I am more then willing to go with "Mountain West", but could I suggest a couple of alternatives, "Western Mountain Region" or "Western Mountain States". Any comments? Xltel 22:15, 7 Jan 2006 (EST)
Last call for discussion on this. There appears to be consensus that there is value to the change, and "Mountain West" appears to have the most advantages and fewest problems. Accordingly, unless there is dissent, I'll make the change to "Mountain West" over the weekend, with Rocky Mountains (United States of America) becoming a sub-region (which is about to get populated with all sorts of stuff). -- Bill-on-the-Hill 23:48, 20 Jan 2006 (EST)
Go for it! -- Mark 05:46, 21 Jan 2006 (EST)
I missed the last call, but I agree! -- Xltel 12:32, 21 Jan 2006 (EST)
I find the name "Mountain West" sub-optimal. I would never call this area "Mountain West", and I don't know anyone who would. I realize that "Rocky Mountains" and "Mountain States" are both ambiguous, but we're writing a travel guide, not a geography text book.
Considering our only difference right now between Rocky Mountains (United States of America) and Mountain West (United States of America) is that New Mexico is part of the first but not the second (which doesn't even really make sense, if the second is part of the first), could we instead just put an advisory on the Rocky Mountains page that other states have Rocky Mountains in them (and, indeed, parts of Canada)? --Evan 12:55, 21 Jan 2006 (EST)
No! No! NO!! The Rocky Mountains are a mountain range; the Mountain West is a region! They are distinct concepts. The Mountain West region contains a lot of other stuff beside the Rockies, and it is severely misleading to restrict that region, in the eye of the reader, to the mountain range. Meanwhile, the range fits neatly within the region apart from the New Mexico outlier, and also ties nicely to the overall Rocky Mountains article with its Canada counterpart.
The floor has been open on this one for a couple of weeks now, with what I think is a pretty clear consensus that the change could and should be made. -- Bill-on-the-Hill 13:07, 21 Jan 2006 (EST)
Bill -- sorry I didn't pipe in before; I realize you've done a lot of work on this already and I should have spoken up before.
I realize that the Rocky Mountains are a mountain range with a specific area that does not directly map to the borders of these states, but I think the "Rocky Mountain region" is a pretty well-established term in the vernacular. The Mid-Atlantic region is not literally in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, but we use the term to refer to that section of the Eastern seaboard. The Great Plains extend into more than the states mentioned -- some of the Rocky Mountain states, for example.
I've reverted your change; I'm sorry, but I just didn't like the way it worked. I've tried to answer some of your concerns by making some other changes. First, Utah is now unambiguously in the Southwest, which seems to have been a source of difficulty. I've also noted that NM isIn the Southwest but contains a significant portion of the Rocky Mountains, so it's also isIn Rocky Mountains. I'm working on the code to show more than one breadcrumb list on the top of the page (we need it for a lot of areas, not just NM), so in the next week or so NM will appear in both regions.
We typically don't have articles about geographical features like bodies of water, mountain ranges, plains, deserts, etc. However, I can see setting up some "extra-hierarchical" regions for particularly important features. I don't think we need to interpose another level of hierarchy into the system to note the relationship.
What if we change the name of the Rocky Mountains region to "Mountain States" (no disambiguator) and make a new article, Rocky Mountains, to specifically discuss the mountain range? And if we keep the two regions ("Mountain States" and "Southwest") more or less composed as they are now? With notes that Utah and New Mexico straddle both? --Evan 13:40, 21 Jan 2006 (EST)
I really disagree with this change for a couple of reasons, the biggest being that "Montains West" is not the most commonly used name for the area. Seeing it out of context, I'd have no idea what you're refering too. "Rocky Mountains" or "Rocky Mountain region" on the other hand, is used by every tourism authority I could find, plus libraries and map cataloging and classification systems ([2] defines is as "Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming"). A google search for "united states" "mountains west" doesn't get you anywhere. I just don't see this change being useful to travellers. I would go along with a clarification such as "Rocky Mountain States" (even though that doesn't quite go along with our usual naming conventions...). I'd be less happy with "Mountain states" but even that is clearer than "Mountains West" -- though it makes me think we'd spliting the country up by time zone or something. Majnoona 14:35, 21 Jan 2006 (EST)
I disagree with Mountain States for reasons stated previously. Just too ambiguious. I am sure the "Green Mountain State" of Vermont would for sure want to be in the Mountain States. Anyone not from Vermont is called a "flatlander". I think the name should have "West" and/or "Rocky" in it. How about "Rocky Mountain Region". Just add a disambig. Xltel 15:18, 21 Jan 2006 (EST)
Is Vermont also mad about not being included in the Mountain Time Zone ;-)? I think we usually try not to include the label in article names (ie not "California State" "Mission District" "Downtown Neighborhood"), but is that's really the only compromise we can find, I wont argue against "Rocky Mountain Region" Majnoona 15:28, 21 Jan 2006 (EST)
Alrighty then. For the record my observations tell me Vermonters are pretty passive. :) But, I am a hillbilly from the Ozarks.... ahhhhh... (more mountain states!!!) and only spent six months in Vermont I didn't really think of any division across time zones and I have seen cases where we have overlap in regions, districts, states, etc. I was just thinking of people recognizing the area for people in the U.S. and if any foreign visitor is asking someone about "Mountain States". True, The real mountains in the states are the Rockies, but there are some people that will not accept that, heck I lived in Poteau, Oklahoma for 27 years and they are sure they have the "World's Highest Hill. I certainly will to go with the consensus also. Thanks.... Xltel 18:21, 21 Jan 2006 (EST)
Sigh ... Look: the problem, however we want to wordsmith it, is that another page is needed that fits more smoothly into the "regions" hierarchy than Rocky Mountains (United States of America) does. There are a number of reasons for this, one of which is a newcomer in the form of the (welcome) ability that we'll soon have for doing two isIn breadcrumbs per article. The existing RM(USA) article fits nicely under the upper-level Rocky Mountains article, but something else is needed for the US regional hierarchy.
I really don't have a powerful preference for "Mountain West" over "Mountain States" over "Rocky Mountain States" over "Rocky Mountain Region" over who-knows-what, but let's do something and have it stick. I thought -- thought -- we had arrived at "Mountain West" via the usual and proper process of consensus building. Apparently not. So how about "Rocky Mountain Region (United States of America)" for the region name? Does THAT satisfy everybody? I repeat: we need a new name, and I would like to start working soon on populating the things the next ply down from this region. Can we FINALLY reach closure on this? (P.S. Thanks for the e-mail, Evan.) -- Bill-on-the-Hill 22:27, 21 Jan 2006 (EST)
Ah, that's the problem. The usual and proper process for consensus building in a wiki is as far as I can tell to do something and see who complains. There have been those who argue for trying to talk something out first, but for some reason that sort of conflict avoidance seems to leave questions unresolved for months or even years. Plunging forward will bring consensus quicker. That's why I said "Go for it". -- Mark 04:31, 22 Jan 2006 (EST)
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Australian Bureau of Statistics
Celebrating the International Year of Statistics 2013
ABS Home > Statistics > By Catalogue Number
5256.0.55.001 - Information Paper: Non-Profit Institutions - A Draft Information Development Plan, Jul 2010
Latest ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 27/08/2010 First Issue
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PREFACE
This Draft Information Development Plan (IDP) for the Non–profit Institutions Sector was prepared in response to a recommendation in the Productivity Commission Research Report “Contribution of the Not–for–Profit Sector”, 2010.
Comprehensive development and consultation for an IDP is a major undertaking. The ABS does not have the funding to fully develop some aspects of a measurement framework for the sector, particularly in the areas of social indicators and micro–data information. A substantial amount of further research and consultation would be required to do this because best practice regarding such frameworks is in its infancy.
Although the Draft IDP indicates that more work is required in some areas, the work has advanced sufficiently for some key data needs to emerge.
This document is released to help guide discussion of the statistical needs and priorities for the sector and also to draw attention to the statistical potential of information held in government administrative systems.
Stakeholders are invited to provide comments. Comments should be provided to
The Director
Macroeconomics Research Section
Australian Bureau of Statistics
Locked Bag 10
Belconnen ACT 2615
The ABS is willing to work with other agencies to explore sources of funding to meet the statistical information needs for the sector.
SUMMARY
BACKGROUND
The Productivity Commission Research Report “Contribution of the Not–for–Profit Sector" was released in January 2010. It used a variety of ABS and other statistical information to measure the contribution of the sector and also examined a range of issues that might affect the efficient functioning and strength of the sector. The Report makes a number of recommendations for government consideration.
One of the recommendations (recommendation 5.1) is that “The Australian Government should initiate an Information Development Plan for the not–for–profit sector” and that “Given its central role in providing data on the sector, and its legislated responsibility for statistical coordination, the Australian Bureau of Statistics should be given responsibility for formulating the Information Development Plan.”
This Draft Information Development Plan (IDP) has been prepared in response to the Productivity Commission recommendation.
The ABS is not currently in a position to engage in work to develop the Non–Profit Institution measurement framework or to undertake data collections related to the sector other than those for which a commitment already exists. However, comments on the Draft IDP will be useful if and when funding for these substantial bodies of work becomes available.
TERMINOLOGY
There are a number of terms in use to describe the sector, most of which do not have a precise meaning. This IDP uses the term “Non–Profit Institution” (NPI), consistent with the terminology and meaning in the United Nations “Handbook on Non–Profit Institutions in the System of National Accounts”. When referring to or quoting the Productivity Commission Report, the term ‘Not–for–Profit’ or other terminology is retained.
SCOPE OF THE IDP
The information being referred to in this IDP is statistical information that can be used to inform policy, research, advocacy and other information needs of governments, the NPI sector and researchers and contribute to a wider public understanding and debate around the dimensions of the sector and its role in delivering a wide range of social and other services. Given the substantial reliance of NPIs on volunteers to deliver services to members and the community, the IDP extends to the information needs of the volunteer sector. Government policy interest in NPIs embraces the contribution of volunteers.
This IDP has a primary focus on statistical information that is intended to be placed in the public domain. This includes data collected through government administrative processes, provided they are available or can be harvested in the future for statistical purposes. It is important that the design of administrative systems consider the statistical potential of any data collected.
STATISTICAL INFORMATION NEEDS – THE POLICY, RESEARCH AND ADVOCACY ENVIRONMENT
Along with private businesses and government agencies, Non–Profit Institutions provide a wide range of social, cultural, environmental and other services to their members and to the community. They generate substantial economic activity as employers and through their transactions with businesses, governments and the public. Statistical information systems in Australia are well developed for the business and government sectors, but there is a paucity of information on the activities and contribution of NPIs.
Governments partner with NPIs in providing a wide range of services to the community, including education, health, social services, housing, emergency services and employment placement. All levels of government have or are developing action plans to strengthen their relationships with the sector. Governments also have a regulatory role over fund raising activities conducted by NPIs.
At the Federal level this policy interest in the NPI sector is embodied in the Australian Government Social Inclusion Agenda, the National Compact with the Third Sector, the National Agenda on Volunteering and in relevant policy based portfolios. State and Territory governments have or are developing policies for their own constituencies. Included in these policies are action items to recognise and promote the full value and contribution of the sector and volunteers, to improve information sharing and access to publicly funded research, and to reduce administrative red tape and reporting costs.
The public has an interest to better understand the dimensions and role of the sector, and to engage in discussion and debate. NPIs and their peak organisations need a solid statistical evidence base to engage in the policy debate and to represent the interests of their members.
A number of Australian universities are involved in teaching, research and consulting activities related to NPIs. There is an active research community, and there are a number of national and international conferences devoted to research on the sector.
A MEASUREMENT FRAMEWORK
The Productivity Commission has proposed a framework that can be used to tease out the various aspects of the contribution of NPIs and to scope a data model to support it. It goes beyond the traditional input costs measurement and also includes outputs, outcomes and impacts. This is needed because a substantial part of the contribution of the sector is outside of the market pricing mechanism and requires a range of indicators of social outcomes and wellbeing of the population. The application of the framework to the measurement of outcomes and impacts is not well developed. Development is likely to be over the longer term.
AVAILABLE STATISTICAL INFORMATION
The key statistical source available to the Productivity Commission for its study was the ABS “Non–profit Institutions Satellite Account”, 1999–2000 and 2006–07. Despite the limitations of the satellite account as a comprehensive measure of the value of NPIs, the Productivity Commission was able to provide a satisfactory big picture assessment of the extent and structure of the sector, its funding and relationships with the wider economy using mainly this source.
The satellite account incorporates a range of published financial and other data on the sector. The surveys from which these data were sourced are useful sources of information on the sector in their own right. They include the ABS Survey of Voluntary Work, the ABS Survey of Non–Profit Institutions and other business surveys relating to NPI activities such as the Community Services Survey, Sports and Physical Recreation and Performing Arts. Some of these have been conducted infrequently.
The ACOSS Australian Community Sector Survey is an annual survey collecting a variety of information from the community and welfare sector, including factors affecting the current operating environment.
The ABS General Social Survey (GSS), incorporating the Survey of Voluntary Work, is a key source of information on volunteering available every four years. Another source is the Volunteering Australia annual “National Survey of Volunteering Issues”. State and territory governments have also produced studies of volunteering.
Giving Australia: Research on Philanthropy in Australia, released in 2005, was an initiative of the Prime Minister’s Community Business Partnerships coordinated by ACOSS with substantial academic and sector input. It was a major contribution to quantitative and qualitative information on givers and the recipients of giving. Also, the QUT Australian Centre of Philanthropy and Nonprofit Studies undertakes a study each year of tax–deductible donations claimed by Australians in their individual income tax returns.
A variety of financial and other information is available for various segments of the sector, from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) (aged care), and from the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR) (non–government schools).
Most of the available information relates to inputs – source of funding, operating costs, volunteer time and imputed value of volunteer time. For some segments (such as non–government education and aged care) there is a range of output indicators available, but these are generally lacking for other sectors. There appears to be very limited outcome indicators information available for the sector, although government performance reporting indicators and the AIHW health and welfare indicators have not been fully explored for this IDP.
The ABS has not investigated the availability of micro data sets, including longitudinal data bases relevant to the sector from government administrative processes.
UNMET NEEDS
The satellite account and most other information sources focus on inputs rather than outputs, outcomes and impacts. The satellite account also provides an ‘at cost’ measure of the outputs of the NPI sector. However, this has limitations and there is a widely held view that alternative or supplementary measures using a variety of social indicators are required to help shift the focus towards outcome measurement.
The ABS satellite account and some of these other sources are compiled on an infrequent and irregular basis. No commitment exists for their ongoing compilation so stakeholders are not able to rely on the information being available in the future. The length of time between the two available issues of the satellite account (1999–2000 and 2006–07) was considered too long to satisfactorily monitor the rapid structural change in the sector over that time.
Ongoing sources of information on the dimensions and characteristics of household and business giving and government funding are needed for analysis of the ‘supply’ side of NPI funding.
There is a strong interest from governments and NPIs in improving and streamlining administrative processes around financial reporting and program evaluation at the government service agreement level. There is a need to reduce the reporting burden on NPIs. The recent commitment to a standard chart of accounts for sector reporting is an advance. Governments also need improved information to help with the coordination of programs to assist NPIs.
Researchers would like to explore ways to get access to administrative data sets for the purpose of research into program effectiveness and to better understand areas of unmet social need.
Governments require a better understanding of small community organisations. They have a very important social impact at the local level, and all levels of government have policies in place to support them. Knowledge of the numbers and activities of organisations, their location, their membership, and whether they are able to raise adequate funds to meet demands for services from the community is required to help plan and cost government support programs.
There is a need to make statistical information more accessible, and to better promote its availability to the sector and other stakeholders for use in policy development, program administration and monitoring, research and advocacy. Given the wide range of potential sources of information for the different parts of the sector, common classifications and other data standards are required to make sense of the information.
FUTURE DATA DEVELOPMENT
Future statistical information development requires a collaborative effort between the various providers – the ABS, other government data providers, industry peak bodies and the academic and research community. Also, future Australian Government decisions around the Productivity Commission recommendations, including the establishment of a Centre for Community Sector Effectiveness, Office for NPI Sector Engagement and a National Registrar for Not–For–Profits will have a significant bearing on the course of information development and leadership of future initiatives. What can be done in practice to meet the information needs for the sector will depend on resources available and priorities against competing demands on scarce resources.
Broadly, the information development needs are as follows:
1. A commitment is required to fund an ongoing Non–Profit Institutions Satellite Account to monitor growth and structural change in the sector. Stakeholders have suggested an account every three years would be satisfactory. This requires funding of the main data source, an NPI survey.
2. Options should be developed to increase the amount of activity detail and data by state and territory in the satellite account. Some improvement is highly desirable, but consideration also has to be given to the development and ongoing costs involved. The satellite account is designed to produce high level information and cannot meet all expectations for data. Also, the satellite account scope could be extended to include a module including all volunteering, (i.e. volunteer services provided to government organisations as well as NPIs) to better promote the value of volunteering in the community.
3. Research and consultation is required in order to scope high level output and outcome indicators appropriate to the sector. This is a substantial project. The work already undertaken to develop indicators for the government sector under COAG initiatives and by the ABS, AIHW and other agencies to measure social phenomena and wellbeing more generally would be important guides. The difficulty will be to develop indicators that are reflective of NPI activity separate to the multitude of other factors that would typically influence community wellbeing. University research institutes in collaboration with sector peak bodies and other agencies might be best placed to lead the early development of ideas and to undertake initial assembly of available indicators.
4. The ABS will provide advice on the various ABS volunteering data sources (the Census of Population and Housing, the General Social Survey and the Time Use Survey), their value, limitations, coherence and appropriate use.
5. There is an ongoing interest in ABS industry surveys such as community services, performing arts, sports and physical recreation and hospitality clubs because they present the sector alongside the government and for–profit organisations in an industry and enable analyses of sector shares and cost structures. In the future, large scale surveys of these industries will not be taken except on a user pays basis.
6. AIHW provides a large amount of data and analysis on health and welfare. Discussions with AIHW and other government organisations are required to look at possibilities for better highlighting the role of NPIs in their data.
7. There is a need for ongoing information on the dimensions and characteristics of household and business giving. Further consideration can be given to using the ABS GSS or Household Expenditure Survey for collecting this information. The ABS annual Industry Surveys would provide an appropriate vehicle to collect information on business giving (and possible philanthropic foundations) every few years.
8. Consideration should be given to a process for asking governments to make changes to government financial reporting systems to better distinguish payments to NPIs.
9. There is strong interest in having a more definitive estimate of the numbers of NPIs, their activities and locations. Some progress can be made by further analysis of administrative registries of the Australian Taxation Office and Australian and state and territory government registries of incorporated associations and charities. This should be further investigated. However, this source would exclude the very large number of small unincorporated associations. Local governments and sector peak bodies might have the local knowledge to provide small area information suitable for some purposes, and state and territory governments might wish to investigate this approach to meet their specific policy needs. There would appear to be significant cost–benefit considerations to consider before any attempt is made to firm up estimates of the number of unincorporated associations at the national level.
10. Government agencies that have service contract and other financial and regulatory relationships with NPIs should give consideration as to how to improve the availability of confidentialised micro–data information for research use, and more generally improve information sharing and access to research results consistent with the Australian Government’s National Compact and similar state and territory initiatives.
11. Government agencies that have service contract and other financial and regulatory relationships with NPIs should give consideration as to how to improve and streamline administrative processes around financial reporting and program evaluation, and how to optimise the collection and use of information, including for statistical purposes (collect once, use often).
12. Consideration needs to be given to a process to make the diverse range of statistical information available more coherent, integrated and accessible. The availability of information needs to be better promoted to the NPI sector, government agencies, researchers and the public.
© Commonwealth of Australia 2013
Unless otherwise noted, content on this website is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 Australia Licence together with any terms, conditions and exclusions as set out in the website Copyright notice. For permission to do anything beyond the scope of this licence and copyright terms contact us.
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Australian Bureau of Statistics
Celebrating the International Year of Statistics 2013
ABS Home > Statistics > By Release Date
1350.0 - Australian Economic Indicators, Nov 2011
Previous ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 31/10/2011
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A monthly compendium of economic statistics, presenting comprehensive tables, graphs, commentaries, feature articles and technical notes. Primarily a reference document, the publication provides a broad basis for analysis and research on the Australian economy and includes statistics that can be applied to both macro-economic and sectoral analyses. The publication contains statistics under the following headings: national accounts, international accounts, consumption and investment, production, prices, labour force and demography, incomes and labour costs, financial markets, state comparisons and international comparisons.
© Commonwealth of Australia 2013
Unless otherwise noted, content on this website is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 Australia Licence together with any terms, conditions and exclusions as set out in the website Copyright notice. For permission to do anything beyond the scope of this licence and copyright terms contact us.
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Egmont Serieforlaget, 2003 Series
Series Timeline
See series details by issue (displays one row per issue with no gaps, by the regular issue sort order)
This page attempts to show how the issues in this series were published over time by laying them out in a timeline with alternately gray or white rows roughly corresponding to months. The correspondence is less accurate for bi-monthly, quarterly or annual books. Weekly or other more-frequent-than-monthly issues are simply grouped into the same color row by month.
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2003-05-00 [mai] 2003 [nn] Egmont Serieforlaget AS Egmont Serieforlaget AS 112 [695,00 NOK] ? 82-429-2069-9 ?
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<D <M <Y
Y> M> D>
Today's Pictures: Miscellaneous: An end-of-years extravaganza of miscellaneous one-off photos and sets too short to have their own galleries.
2009 includes Mission Accomplished, Zardoz Wines, TMBG, and Beth smashing a hard drive.
2008 includes L.H.O.O.Q., skeptical Sumana, DVD Commentary, and smug Adam Parrish.
Nostalgiathon 2009: Best of Crummy: In 2009 I wrote a lot of stuff. Most of that was novel-related (about 50k usable words so far!), but there was also a lot that I could show you immediately, and did. Here's the Crummy features and weblog entries that make me feel good about how I spent my time in 2009.
(I was planning to post the big "Best of Multimedia" entry tonight, but I don't have time to finish it, so hopefully that will come tomorrow.)
[Main]
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Ancillary benefits
Ancillary benefits
This article has been reviewed by the following Topic Editor: Richard Reibstein
Summary
Ancillary benefits are positive externalities which arise as a secondary consequence of a primary policy goal, such as reductions in urban air pollution (ancillary benefit) consequent to reductions of fossil fuels use (primary policy goal). They are also referred to as secondary benefits and as co-benefits.
Ancillary benefits of climate mitigation policies
The discussion of ancillary benefits has become important in relation to the development of climate change policy. Reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from, for example, the transport sector would also produce a reduction of other air pollutants, such as nitrogen oxides and particulates, which are emitted together with CO2 as a byproduct of fuel combustion. These secondary reductions would result in a diminution of urban air pollution, thus generating health improvements to the local communities. These health benefits, additional and secondary to the primary policy goal of CO2 abatement, are the ancillary benefits.
The largest share of the ancillary benefits of CO2 abatement is related to public health improvements: reduced mortality (in terms of avoided premature deaths) and morbidity (for example reductions in the number of cases of chronic respiratory diseases like asthma and bronchitis). However there are also significant benefits which relate to ecosystems, such as a reduction of the deposition of acids and particulates on water and land. In addition, reducing air pollution as an ancillary benefit would slow the degradation of historical buildings, improve visibility, and save on government expenditures required to meet established air pollution targets.
Monetary estimation of ancillary benefits
Ancillary benefits may be estimated in monetary terms – monetized - in order to inform decision-making, for example through a cost-benefit analysis of a given policy, whose ultimate costs will then be estimated by assessing the direct policy costs minus the ancillary benefits.
However, there are many uncertainties inherent in the methodologies used to monetize ancillary benefits, as with all benefit and cost estimation methods. One method is to use indirect valuation techniques based on “stated preferences” (instead of on preferences revealed through a market transaction) of willingness to pay (or willingness to accept compensation).
Though estimates vary considerably in the literature, it is clear that ancillary benefits have the potential to offset a significant part of climate policies mitigation costs.
Space and time dimension
A very important feature of ancillary benefits is the spatial and temporal dimension within which they occur. The specific climate benefits from reducing CO2 emissions are very difficult to estimate and accrue in the long-term to the global community without a direct beneficial feedback to the abating country. Costs born by one country may be enjoyed by another. And costs born today, may have benefits that will materialize perhaps decades into the future, and be enjoyed the most by future communities. Ancillary benefits on the other hand tend to accrue within the same time horizon as the mitigation costs, and tend to occupy the same spatial dimension as the abatement effort (although there are cases of inter-regional diffusion and distribution).
Further Reading
Citation
Vito De Lucia (Lead Author);Richard Reibstein (Topic Editor) "Ancillary benefits". In: Encyclopedia of Earth. Eds. Cutler J. Cleveland (Washington, D.C.: Environmental Information Coalition, National Council for Science and the Environment). [First published in the Encyclopedia of Earth January 13, 2009; Last revised Date May 24, 2012; Retrieved May 18, 2013 <http://www.eoearth.org/article/Ancillary_benefits>
The Author
Vito De Lucia is a research fellow at the Faculty of Law of the University of Tromsø, Norway. His research interests include international environmental law and politics, climate justice, critical and political ecologic approaches to law and legal theory. ... (Full Bio)
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Climate change
Climate change
This article has been reviewed by the following Topic Editor: Mohan Munasinghe
Editor's Note: This article was compiled and edited by Mohan Munasinghe, Cutler J. Cleveland, and Laura De Angelo. In the interests of maintaining scientific accuracy, this article is derived directly from material in the Synthesis Report and the Technical Summary of Working Group I, "The Physical Science Basis," of the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The full Synthesis Report and Technical Summary are reproduced in this Encyclopedia, and are available in their original PDF forms at the IPCC web site. The relevant IPCC Lead Authors are listed in the Acknowledgments at the end of this article.
Introduction
Climate change refers to a change in the state of the climate that can be identified by changes in the average and/or the variability of its properties (e.g., temperature, precipitation), and that persists for an extended period, typically decades or longer. Climate in a narrow sense is usually defined as the average weather, or more rigorously, as the statistical description in terms of the mean and variability of relevant quantities over a period of time ranging from months to thousands or millions of years. The classical period for averaging these variables is 30 years, as defined by the World Meteorological Organization. Climate change may be due to natural internal processes or external forcings, or to persistent anthropogenic changes in the composition of the atmosphere or in land use.
The temperature of the Earth has risen by about of 0.74 °C over the last century. While that may seem like a small increase, it has had profound effects on the planet's physical and biological systems, which, in turn, have impacted society. A large majority of the climate science community has very high confidence that the net effect of human activities since 1750 has been one of warming. They also conclude that most of the observed increase in global average temperatures since the mid-20th century is very likely due to the observed increase in anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) concentrations.
Global GHG emissions will continue to grow over the next few decades due to increases in the human activities that generate GHG, notably the combustion of fossil fuels and certain land use practices. A pronounced and swift change in climate change mitigation policies and related sustainable development practices could mitigate that trend. Continued GHG emissions at or above current rates would cause further warming and induce many changes in the global climate system during the 21st century that would very likely be larger than those observed during the 20th century. Higher temperatures would cause further widespread change, including: a decrease in snow cover and sea ice; an increase in frequency of hot extremes, heat waves and heavy precipitation; an increase in tropical cyclone intensity; precipitation increases in high latitudes and likely decreases in most subtropical land regions, among many other impacts; sea level rise, and accelerated species extinction, among many other impacts.
Figure 1. Changes in temperature, sea level, and Northern Hemisphere snow cover. Observed changes in (a) global average surface temperature; (b) global average sea level from tide gauge (blue) and satellite (red) data and (c) Northern Hemisphere snow cover for March-April. All differences are relative to corresponding averages for the period 1961-1990. Smoothed curves represent decadal averaged values while circles show yearly values. The shaded areas are the uncertainty intervals estimated from a comprehensive analysis of known uncertainties (a and b) and from the time series (c). (Source: IPCC)
These phenomena would have far-reaching impacts on society. Altered frequencies and intensities of extreme weather, together with sea level rise, are expected to have mostly adverse effects on natural and human systems. Projected impacts include increased pest outbreaks in agriculture, increasing water scarcity and diminished water quality, increased risk of heat-related mortality, relocation of coastal populations and infrastructure, and declining air quality in cities. There are sharp differences across regions and those in the weakest economic position are often the most vulnerable to climate change. Possible positive impacts of climate change include increased yields in colder environments and reduced energy demand for heating.
Some planned adaptation (of human activities) is occurring now; more extensive adaptation is required to reduce vulnerability to climate change. Unmitigated climate change would, in the long term, be likely to exceed the capacity of natural, managed and human systems to adapt. Making development more sustainable by integrating climate change adaptation and mitigation measures into sustainable development strategy, can make a major contribution towards addressing climate change problems. Although the problems are complex, we know enough today to take the first effective steps on adaptation and mitigation.
Observed changes in climate and their effects
Warming of the earth is unequivocal, as is now evident from observations of increases in global average air and ocean temperatures, widespread melting of snow and ice and rising global average sea level; this trend is in fact a long term progression, in which pre-civilization forces prevailed as early as 20,000 to 15,000 years before present, when the most recent glacial maximum was reached in the present Ice age. Eleven of the twelve years from 1995 to 2006 rank among the twelve warmest years in the instrumental record of global surface temperature (since 1850). The temperature of the Earth has risen by about of 0.74 °C over the last century. The temperature increase is widespread over the globe and is greater at higher northern latitudes. Land regions have warmed faster than the oceans.
Figure 2. Summer minimum arctic sea ice extent from 1979 to 2005. Symbols indicate annual mean values while the smooth blue curve shows decadal variations. The dashed line indicates the linear trend, which is –60 ± 20 × 103 km2 yr–1, or approximately –7.4% per decade. (Source: updated from Comiso, 2002)
Rising sea level is consistent with warming. Global average sea level has risen since 1961 at an average rate of about 1.8 mm/yr and since 1993 at about 3.1 mm/yr. Sea level rise is caused by thermal expansion of the ocean, melting glaciers and ice caps, and the polar ice sheets.
Observed decreases in snow and ice extent are also consistent with warming. Satellite data since 1978 show that annual average Arctic sea ice extent has shrunk by about 2.7% per decade. Mountain glaciers and snow cover on average have declined in both hemispheres.
Figure 3. A decrease in arctic sea ice extent will have significant impacts on all aspects of arctic life. (Source: NOAA)
From 1900 to 2005, precipitation increased significantly in eastern parts of North and South America, northern Europe and northern and central Asia but declined in the Sahel, the Mediterranean, southern Africa and parts of southern Asia.
It is very likely that over the past 50 years, cold days, cold nights and frosts have become less frequent over most land areas, and hot days and hot nights have become more frequent. It is likely that heat waves have become more frequent over most land areas, and the frequency of heavy precipitation events has increased over most areas.
There is evidence of an increase in intense tropical cyclone activity in the North Atlantic since about 1970. There is no clear trend in the annual numbers of tropical cyclones. It is difficult to determine longer-term trends in cyclone activity, particularly prior to 1970.
Average Northern Hemisphere temperatures during the second half of the 20th century were very likely higher than during any other 50-year period in the last 500 years.
There is widespread evidence from all continents and most oceans that many natural systems are being affected by regional climate changes, particularly temperature increases. These changes include:
• Changes in snow, ice and frozen ground have with high confidence increased the number and size of glacial lakes, increased ground instability in mountain and other permafrost regions and led to changes in some Arctic and Antarctic ecosystems.
• In terrestrial ecosystems, earlier timing of spring events and poleward and upward shifts in plant and animal ranges are with very high confidence linked to recent warming.
• In some marine and freshwater systems, shifts in ranges and changes in algal, plankton and fish abundance are with high
confidence
associated with rising water temperatures, as well as related changes in ice cover, salinity, oxygen levels and circulation.
Causes of change
The dominant factor in the radiative forcing of climate in the industrial era is the increasing concentration of various greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Several of the major greenhouse gases occur naturally but increases in their atmospheric concentrations over the last 250 years are due largely to human activities. Other greenhouse gases are entirely the result of human activities. The contribution of each greenhouse gas to radiative forcing over a particular period of time is determined by the change in its concentration in the atmosphere over that period and the effectiveness of the gas in perturbing the radiative balance.
Current concentrations of atmospheric CO2 and CH4 far exceed pre-industrial values found in polar ice core records of atmospheric composition dating back 650,000 years. Multiple lines of evidence confirm that the post-industrial rise in these gases does not stem from natural mechanisms.
The total radiative forcing of the Earth’s climate due to increases in the concentrations of the long-lived GHGs CO2, CH4 and N2O, and very likely the rate of increase in the total forcing due to these gases over the period since 1750, are unprecedented in more than 10,000 years. It is very likely that the sustained rate of increase in the combined radiative forcing from these greenhouse gases over the past four decades is at least six times faster than at any time during the two millennia before the Industrial Era, the period for which ice core data have the required temporal resolution. The concentration of atmospheric CO2 has increased from a pre-industrial value of about 280 ppm to 379 ppm in 2005. Atmospheric CO2 concentration increased by only 20 ppm over the 8000 years prior to industrialisation; multi-decadal to centennial-scale variations were less than 10 ppm and likely due mostly to natural processes. However, since 1750, the CO2 concentration has risen by nearly 100 ppm. The annual CO2 growth rate was larger during the last 10 years than it has been since continuous direct atmospheric measurements began. Increases in atmospheric CO2 since pre-industrial times are responsible for a radiative forcing contribution that dominates all other radiative forcing agents considered in this report.
Figure 4. CO2 concentration in the atmosphere. (Source: Keeling, C.D. and T.P. Whorf. 2005. Atmospheric CO2 records from sites in the SIO air sampling network. In Trends: A Compendium of Data on Global Change. Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U.S. Department of Energy, Oak Ridge, Tenn., U.S.A.)
The CH4 abundance in 2005 of about 1774 ppb is more than double its pre-industrial value. Current atmospheric CH4 levels are due to continuing anthropogenic emissions of CH4, which are greater than natural emissions. Emissions from individual sources of CH4 are not as well quantified as the total emissions but are mostly biogenic and include emissions from wetlands, ruminant animals, rice agriculture and biomass burning, with smaller contributions from industrial sources including fossil fuel-related emissions.
The N2O concentration in 2005 was 319 ppb, about 18% higher than its pre-industrial value. The increase in N2O is due primarily to human activities, particularly agriculture and associated land use change.
Attribution of climate change
Figure 5. The combustion of fossil fuels in power generation is a leading source of GHG emissions. (Source: U.S. EPA)
Attribution of causes of climate change is the process of establishing the most likely causes for the detected change with some defined level of confidence. Our ability to discern cause-and-effect in the climate system has improved significantly over time. The first IPCC Assessment Report (FAR) contained little observational evidence of a detectable anthropogenic influence on climate. Six years later, the IPCC Second Assessment Report (SAR) concluded that the balance of evidence suggested a discernible human influence on the climate of the 20th century. The TAR concluded that ‘most of the observed warming over the last 50 years is likely to have been due to the increase in greenhouse gas concentrations’.
Confidence in the assessment of the human contributions to recent climate change has increased considerably since the TAR, in part because of stronger signals obtained from longer records, and an expanded and improved range of observations allowing attribution of warming to be more fully addressed jointly with other changes in the climate system. In addition, some apparent inconsistencies in the observational record (e.g., in the vertical profile of temperature changes) have been largely resolved.
The key results of the IPCC's Fourth Assessment Report in the area of attribution are:
• It is extremely unlikely (<5%) that the global pattern of warming observed during the past half century can be explained without external forcing. These changes took place over a time period when non-anthropogenic forcing factors (i.e., the sum of solar and volcanic forcing) would be likely to have produced cooling, not warming. Attribution studies show that it is very likely that these natural forcing factors alone cannot account for the observed warming.
• It is very likely that anthropogenic greenhouse gas increases caused most of the observed increase in global average temperatures since the mid-20th century. Without the cooling effect of atmospheric aerosols, it is likely that greenhouse gases alone would have caused a greater global mean temperature rise than that observed during the last 50 years.
• It is very likely that the response to anthropogenic forcing contributed to sea level rise during the latter half of the 20th century, but decadal variability in sea level rise remains poorly understood.
• The observed pattern of tropospheric warming is very likely due to the influence of anthropogenic forcing, particularly that due to greenhouse gas increases.
• Difficulties remain in attributing temperature changes at smaller than continental scales and over time scales of less than 50 years.
Projected climate change
Figure 6. Solid lines are global averages of surface warming for scenarios shown as continuations of the 20th-century simulations. The pink line is not a scenario, but is for simulations where GHG concentrations are held constant at year 2000 values. The bars at the right of the figure indicate the best estimate (solid line within each bar) and the likely range assessed for the six SRES marker scenarios at 2090-2099. All temperatures are relative to the period 1980-1999. (Source: IPCC)
Future GHG emissions are the product of very complex dynamic systems, determined by driving forces such as demographic development, socio-economic development, and technological change. Their future evolution is highly uncertain. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) developed a set of scenarios to represent the range of driving forces and emissions in the scenario literature so as to reflect current understanding and knowledge about underlying uncertainties. Scenarios are alternative images of how the future might unfold and are an appropriate tool with which to analyze how driving forces may influence future emission outcomes and to assess the associated uncertainties.
There is high agreement and much evidence that with current development policies and emissions trends, emissions will continue to grow over the next few decades.The IPCC Special Report on Emissions Scenarios (SRES) projects an increase of global GHG emissions by 25 to 90% between 2000 and 2030, with fossil fuels maintaining their dominant position in the global energy mix to 2030 and beyond. More recent scenarios without additional emissions mitigation are comparable in range.
For the next two decades a warming of about 0.2°C per decade is projected for a range of SRES emissions scenarios. Even if the concentrations of all GHGs and aerosols had been kept constant at year 2000 levels, a further warming of about 0.1°C per decade would be expected. Afterwards, temperature projections increasingly depend on specific emissions scenarios.
GHG emissions in this range will cause further warming and induce many changes in the global climate system during the 21st century that would very likely be larger than those observed during the 20th century.
Based on these projected temperature increases, the IPCC projects a pattern of warming and other regional-scale features that include changes in wind patterns, precipitation, and some aspects of extremes and sea ice. These projected changes include:
• Warming is expected to be greatest over land and at most high northern latitudes, and least over the Southern Ocean (near Antarctica) and northern North Atlantic, continuing recent observed trends.
• Snow cover area is projected to contract. Widespread increases in thaw depth are projected over most permafrost regions. Sea ice is projected to shrink in both the Arctic and Antarctic under all SRES scenarios. In some projections, Arctic late-summer sea ice disappears almost entirely by the latter part of the 21st century.
• It is very likely that hot extremes, heat waves, and heavy precipitation events will become more frequent.
• it is likely that future tropical cyclones (typhoons and hurricanes) will become more intense, with larger peak wind speeds and more heavy precipitation associated with ongoing increases of tropical sea-surface temperatures.
• Increases in the amount of precipitation are very likely in high-latitudes, while decreases are likely in most subtropical land regions, continuing observed patterns in recent trends.
• Anthropogenic warming and sea level rise would continue for centuries due to the timescales associated with climate processes and feedbacks, even if GHG concentrations were to be stabilised, due to the time scales required for the removal of this gas from the atmosphere.
• Contraction of the Greenland ice sheet is projected to continue to contribute to sea level rise after 2100.
Impacts of future climate changes
The most vulnerable groups will be the poor, the elderly, and children, including those living in rich countries. The most affected regions will be the Arctic, sub-Saharan Africa, small islands, and Asian megadeltas. High risks will be associated with low-lying coastal areas, water resources in dry tropics and subtropics, agriculture in low-latitude regions, key ecosystems (such as coral reefs), and human health in poor areas. Moreover, extreme weather events will worsen (especially tropical cyclones and heat waves). The result is that prospects for achieving many of the eight 2015 Millennium Development Goals—which include poverty reduction, better health and education, gender equality, and saving the environment—will become even more remote.
Ecosystems
Figure 7. One of the projected impacts of future climate change is an increase in coastal flooding of low-lying areas such as Bangladesh. (Source: UNEP)
The resilience of many ecosystems is likely to be exceeded this century by an unprecedented combination of climate change, associated disturbances (e.g. flooding, drought, wildfire, insects, ocean acidification), and other global change drivers (e.g. land-use change, pollution, fragmentation of natural systems, over-exploitation of resources). Approximately 20-30% of plant and animal species assessed so far are likely to be at increased risk of extinction if increases in global average temperature exceed 1.5-2.5°C.
Food
Crop productivity is projected to increase slightly at mid- to high latitudes for local mean temperature increases of up to 1-3°C depending on the crop, and then decrease beyond that in some regions. At lower latitudes, especially in seasonally dry and tropical regions, crop productivity is projected to decrease for even small local temperature increases (1-2°C), which would increase the risk of hunger. Globally, the potential for food production is projected to increase with increases in local average temperature over a range of 1-3°C, but above this it is projected to decrease.
Coasts
Coasts are projected to be exposed to increasing risks, including coastal erosion, due to climate change and sea level rise. The effect will be exacerbated by increasing human-induced pressures on coastal areas. By the 2080s, many millions more people than today are projected to experience floods every year due to sea level rise.
Industry, settlements and society
The most vulnerable industries, settlements and societies are generally those in coastal and river flood plains, those whose economies are closely linked with climate-sensitive resources, and those in areas prone to extreme weather events, especially where rapid urbanisation is occurring. Poor communities can be especially vulnerable, in particular those concentrated in high-risk areas.
Health
Figure 8. Tropical Cyclone Monica off the coast of Australia in 2006. Increased tropical cyclone activity is one projected impact of future climate change. (Source: NASA)
The health status of millions of people is projected to be affected through, for example, increases in malnutrition; increased deaths, diseases and injury due to extreme weather events; increased burden of diarrhoeal diseases; increased frequency of cardio-respiratory diseases due to higher concentrations of ground-level ozone in urban areas related to climate change; and the altered spatial distribution of some infectious diseases. Climate change is projected to bring some benefits in temperate areas, such as fewer deaths from cold exposure, and some mixed effects such as changes in range and transmission potential of malaria in Africa. Overall it is expected that benefits will be outweighed by the negative health effects of rising temperatures, especially in developing countries.
Water Climate change is expected to exacerbate current stresses on water resources from population growth and economic and land-use change, including urbanisation. Changes in precipitation and temperature lead to changes in runoff and water availability. The negative impacts of climate change on freshwater systems outweigh its benefits (high confidence). For example, the beneficial impacts of increased annual runoff in some areas are likely to be tempered by negative effects of increased precipitation variability and seasonal runoff shifts on water supply, water quality and flood risk. Available research suggests a significant future increase in heavy rainfall events in many regions, including some in which the mean rainfall is projected to decrease. The resulting increased flood risk poses challenges to society, physical infrastructure and water quality.
Extreme events
Altered frequencies and intensities of extreme weather, together with sea level rise, are expected to have mostly adverse effects on natural and human systems. Examples include:
• Over most land areas, warmer and fewer cold days and nights, warmer and more frequent hot days and nights.
• Increased frequency of warm spells/heat waves over most areas.
• Increased frequency of heavy precipitation events over most areas.
• Increased areas affected by drought.
• Increased tropical cyclone activity.
• Increased incidence of extreme high sea level.
Risk of abrupt or irreversible changes
Anthropogenic warming could lead to some impacts that are abrupt or irreversible, depending upon the rate and magnitude of the climate change. Abrupt climate change on decadal time scales is normally thought of as involving ocean circulation changes. In addition on longer time scales, ice sheet and ecosystem changes may also play a role. If a large scale abrupt climate change were to occur, its impact could be quite high. For example, partial loss of ice sheets on polar land and/or the thermal expansion of seawater over very long time scales could imply metres of sea level rise, major changes in coastlines and inundation of low-lying areas, with greatest effects in river deltas and low-lying islands.
Climate change also is likely to lead to some irreversible impacts. Approximately 20-30% of species assessed so far are likely to be at increased risk of extinction if increases in global average warming exceed 1.5-2.5°C (relative to 1980-1999). As global average temperature increase exceeds about 3.5°C, model projections suggest significant extinctions (40-70% of species assessed) around the globe.
Impacts on regions
The impacts of climate change vary significantly among regions. Some regions are likely to be especially affected by climate change. These include:
• the Arctic, because of the impacts of high rates of projected warming on natural systems and human communities
• Africa, because of low adaptive capacity and projected climate change impacts
• small islands, where there is high exposure of population and infrastructure to projected climate change impacts
• Asian and African megadeltas, due to large populations and high exposure to sea level rise, storm surges and river
flooding.
Within other areas, even those with high incomes, some people (such as the poor, young children and the elderly) can be particularly at risk, and also some areas and some activities.
Adaptation and mitigation options
Figure 9. The construction of coastal dikes, such as this on on the coasts of the Netherlands, is one approach to climate change mitigation.
Societies can respond to climate change by adapting to its impacts and by reducing GHG emissions (mitigation), thereby reducing the rate and magnitude of change. Adaptation refers to initiatives and measures to reduce the vulnerability of natural and human systems against actual or expected climate change effects. Examples are raising river or coastal dikes, the substitution of more temperature-shock resistant plants for sensitive ones, etc. Mitigation refers to technological change and substitution that reduce resource inputs and emissions per unit of output. In reference to climate change, mitigation means implementing policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and enhance sinks. The capacity to adapt and mitigate is dependent on socio-economic and environmental circumstances and the availability of information and technology. However, much less information is available about the costs and effectiveness of adaptation measures than about mitigation measures.
Adaptation to climate change
Additional adaptation measures will be required to reduce the adverse impacts of projected climate change and variability, regardless of the scale of mitigation undertaken over the next two to three decades. Moreover, vulnerability to climate change can be exacerbated by other stresses. These arise from, for example, current climate hazards, poverty and unequal access to resources, food insecurity, trends in economic globalisation, conflict and incidence of diseases such as HIV/AIDS. There is high confidence that there are viable adaptation options that can be implemented in some sectors at low cost, and/or with high benefit-cost ratios. However, comprehensive estimates of global costs and benefits of adaptation are limited.
A range of barriers limits both the implementation and, effectiveness of adaptation measures. The capacity to adapt is, dynamic and is influenced by a society’s productive base, including, natural and man-made capital assets, social networks, and entitlements, human capital and institutions, governance, national income, health and technology. Even societies with high adaptive capacity remain vulnerable to climate change, variability and extremes.
Examples of planned adaptations include:
• Water: Expanded rainwater harvesting; water storage and conservation techniques; water re-use; desalination; water-use and irrigation efficiency
• Agriculture: Adjustment of planting dates and crop variety; crop relocation; improved land management, e.g. erosion control and soil protection through tree planting
• Infrastructure/settlement: Relocation; seawalls and storm surge barriers; dune reinforcement; land acquisition and creation of marshlands/wetlands as buffer against sea level rise and flooding; protection of existing natural barriers
• Human health: Heat-health action plans; emergency medical services; improved climate-sensitive disease surveillance and control; safe water and improved sanitation
• Tourism: Diversification of tourism attractions & revenues; shifting ski slopes to higher altitudes and glaciers; artificial snow-making
• Transport: Realignment/relocation; design standards and planning for roads, rail, and other infrastructure to cope with warming and drainage
• Energy: Strengthening of overhead transmission and distribution infrastructure; underground cabling for utilities; energy efficiency; use of renewable sources; reduced dependence on single sources of energy
Mitigation of climate change
No single technology can provide all of the mitigation, potential in any sector. The economic mitigation potential, which is generally greater than the market mitigation potential, can only be achieved when adequate policies are in place, and barriers removed.
Figure 10. Nuclear power, and other low-carbon sources such as solar, wind, and hydropower, are energy supply technologies that mitigate climate change. (Source: U.S. DOE)
There is substantial economic potential for the mitigation of global, GHG emissions over the coming decades that could offset the projected growth of global emissions, or reduce emissions below current levels No single technology can provide all of the mitigation, potential in any sector. The economic mitigation potential, which is generally greater than the market mitigation potential, can only be achieved when adequate policies are in place, and barriers removed. Bottom-up studies suggest that mitigation opportunities, with net negative costs have the potential to reduce emissions, by around 6 GtCO2-eq/yr in 2030, realising which requires dealing with implementation barriers.
Future energy infrastructure investment decisions, expected to exceed US$20 trillion between 2005 and 2030, will have long-term impacts on GHG emissions because of the long lifetimes of energy plants and other infrastructure capital stock. The widespread diffusion of low-carbon technologies may take many decades, even if early investments in these technologies are made attractive. Initial estimates show that returning global energy-related CO2 emissions to 2005levels by 2030 would require a large shift in investment patterns, although the net additional investment required ranges from negligible to 5 to 10%.
Key mitigation technologies and practices currently commercially available include the following:
• Energy supply: Improved supply and distribution efficiency; fuel switching from coal to gas; nuclear power; renewable heat and power (hydropower, solar, wind, geothermal and bioenergy); combined heat and power; early applications of Carbon Dioxide Capture and Storage (CCS) (e.g. storage of removed CO2 from natural gas)
• Buildings: Efficient lighting and daylighting; more efficient electrical appliances and heating and cooling devices; improved cook stoves, improved insulation; passive and active solar design for heating and cooling; alternative refrigeration fluids, recovery and recycling of fluorinated gases
• Industry: More efficient end-use electrical equipment; heat and power recovery; material recycling and substitution; control of non-CO2 gas emissions; and a wide array of process-specific technologies
• Agriculture: Improved crop and grazing land management to increase soil carbon storage; restoration of cultivated peaty soils and degraded lands; improved rice cultivation techniques and livestock and manure management to reduce CH4 emissions; improved nitrogen fertiliser application techniques to reduce N2O emissions; dedicated energy crops to replace fossil fuel use; improved energy efficiency
• Forestry: Afforestation; reforestation; forest management; reduced deforestation; harvested wood product management; use of forestry products for bioenergy to replace fossil fuel use
• Transport: More fuel efficient vehicles; hybrid vehicles; cleaner diesel vehicles; biofuels; modal shifts from road transport to rail and public transport systems; non-motorised transport (cycling, walking); land-use and transport planning
• Waste: Landfill CH4 recovery; waste incineration with energy recovery; composting of organic waste; controlled wastewater treatment; recycling and waste minimisation
Policies and instruments
A wide variety of policies and instruments are available to governments to create the incentives for mitigation and action. Their applicability depends on national circumstances and sectoral context. These policies and instruments include integrating climate policies in wider development policies, regulations and standards, taxes and charges, tradable permits, financial incentives, voluntary agreements, information instruments, and research, development and demonstration.
An effective carbon-price signal could realise significant mitigation potential in all sectors. Modelling studies show that global carbon prices rising to US$20-80/tCO2-eq by 2030 are consistent with stabilisation at around 550ppm CO2-eq by 2100. For the same stabilisation level, induced technological change may lower these price ranges to US$5-65/tCO2-eq in 2030. There is substantial evidence that mitigation actions can result in near-term co-benefits (e.g. improved health due to reduced air pollution) that may offset a substantial fraction of mitigation costs. There is also evidence changes in lifestyle, behaviour patterns and management practices can contribute to climate change mitigation across all sectors.
Figure 11. As of November 2007, a total of 175 countries and other governmental entities had ratified the Kyoto Protocol.
Many options exist for reducing global GHG emissions through international cooperation. Notable achievements of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and its Kyoto Protocol are the establishment of a global response to climate change, stimulation of an array of national policies, and the creation of an international carbon market and new institutional mechanisms that may provide the foundation for future mitigation efforts. Progress has also been made in addressing adaptation within the UNFCCC and additional international initiatives have been suggested. Greater cooperative efforts and expansion of market mechanisms will help to reduce global costs for achieving a given level of mitigation, or will improve environmental effectiveness. Such efforts can include diverse elements such as emissions targets; sectoral, local, sub-national and regional actions; RD&D programmes; adopting common policies; implementing development-oriented actions; or expanding financing instruments.
Key uncertainties
Figure 12. The effects of meltwater supply from the Greenland ice sheet is one source of uncertainty in our understanding of the impacts of climate change. (Source: Reuters/University of Colorado: Konrad Steffen)
The IPCC has identified a number of uncertainties whose resolution would improve our understanding of climate change. Some of the key uncertainties include:
• Climate data coverage remains limited in some regions and there is a notable lack of geographic balance in data and literature on observed changes in natural and managed systems, with marked scarcity in developing countries.
• Analysing and monitoring changes in extreme events, including drought, tropical cyclones, extreme temperatures, and the frequency and intensity of precipitation, is more difficult than for climatic averages as longer data time-series of higher spatial and temporal resolutions are required.
• Difficulties remain in reliably simulating and attributing observed temperature changes to natural or human causes at smaller than continental scales.
• Uncertainty in equilibrium climate sensitivity creates uncertainty in the expected warming for a given CO2-eq stabilisation scenario. Uncertainty in the carbon cycle feedback creates uncertainty in the emission trajectory required to achieve a particular stabilisation level.
• Climate models differ considerably in their estimates of the strength of different feedbacks in the climate system, particularly cloud feedbacks, oceanic heat uptake, and carbon cycle feedbacks, although progress has been made in these areas.
• Large scale ocean circulation changes beyond the 21st century cannot be reliably assessed because of uncertainties in the meltwater supply from Greenland ice sheet and model response to the warming.
• Projections of climate change and its impacts beyond about 2050 are strongly scenario- and model-dependent, and improved projections would require improved understanding of sources of uncertainty and enhancements in systematic observation networks.
• Understanding of how development planners incorporate information about climate variability and change into their decisions is limited. This limits the integrated assessment of vulnerability.
• Barriers, limits and costs of adaptation are not fully understood, partly because effective adaptation measures are highly dependent on specific geographical and climate risk factors as well as institutional, political and financial constraints.
• Estimates of mitigation costs and potentials depend on assumptions about future socio-economic growth, technological change and consumption patterns.
Conclusions
Figure 13. Africa is especially vulnerable to climate change impacts because of low adaptive capacity. (Source: NASA)
Warming of the climate system is unequivocal, as is now evident from observations of increases in global average air and ocean temperatures, widespread melting of snow and ice, and rising global average sea level. Many natural systems, on all continents and in some oceans, are being affected by regional climate changes. Observed changes in many physical and biological systems are consistent with warming. As a result of uptake of anthropogenic CO2 since 1750, the acidity of the surface ocean has increased. Global total annual anthropogenic GHG emissions, weighted by their 100-year global warming potentials (GWPs), have grown by 70% between 1970 and 2004. As a result of anthropogenic emissions, atmospheric concentrations of N2O now far exceed pre-industrial values spanning many thousands of years, and CH4 and CO2 now far exceed the natural range over the last 650,000 years. Most of the global average warming over the past 50 years is very likely due to anthropogenic GHG increases and it is likely that there is a discernible human-induced warming averaged over each continent (except Antarctica). Anthropogenic warming over the last three decades has likely had a discernible influence at the global scale on observed changes in many physical and biological systems.
With current development policies and emissions trends, global GHG emissions will continue to grow over the next few decades. For the next two decades a warming of about 0.2°C per decade is projected for a range of SRES emission scenarios. Continued GHG emissions at or above current rates would cause further warming and induce many changes in the global climate system during the 21st century that would very likely be larger than those observed during the 20th century.
The most vulnerable groups include the poor, the elderly and children. Some systems, sectors and regions are likely to be especially affected by climate change. The systems and sectors are some ecosystems (tundra, boreal forest, mountain, Mediterranean-type, mangroves, salt marshes, coral reefs and the sea-ice biome), low-lying coasts, water resources in dry tropics and subtropics and in areas dependent on snow and ice melt, agriculture in low-latitude regions, and human health in areas with low adaptive capacity. The regions are the Arctic, Africa, small islands and Asian and African megadeltas. Within other regions, even those with high incomes, some people, areas and activities can be particularly at risk.
Some planned adaptation (of human activities) is occurring now; more extensive adaptation is required to reduce vulnerability to climate change. Unmitigated climate change would, in the long term, be likely to exceed the capacity of natural, managed and human systems to adapt. A wide range of mitigation options are currently available or projected to be available by 2030 in all sectors, with the economic mitigation potential at costs that range from net negative up to 100 US$/t CO2-equivalent, sufficient to offset the projected growth of global emissions or to reduce emissions to below current levels in 2030. Many impacts can be reduced, delayed or avoided by mitigation. Delayed emission reductions significantly constrain the opportunities to achieve lower stabilisation levels and increases the risk of more severe climate change impacts. Making development more sustainable by integrating climate change adaptation and mitigation measures into sustainable development strategy, can make a major contribution towards addressing Climate_change problems. Although the problems are complex, we know enough today to take the first effective steps on adaptation and mitigation.
Glossary of Key terms
Adaptation: Initiatives and measures to reduce the vulnerability of natural and human systems, against actual or expected climate change effects. Examples are raising river or coastal dikes, the substitution, of more temperature-shock resistant plants for sensitive ones, etc.
Aerosols: airborne solid or liquid particles, with a typical size between 0.01 and 10 micrometer (a millionth of a meter) that reside in the atmosphere for at least several hours. Aerosols may be of either natural or anthropogenic origin. Aerosols may influence climate in several ways: directly through scattering and absorbing radiation, and indirectly through acting as cloud condensation nuclei or modifying the optical properties and lifetime of clouds.
Anthropogenic emissions: emissions of greenhouse gases, greenhouse gas precursors, and aerosols, associated with human activities, including the burning of fossil fuels, deforestation, land-use changes, livestock, fertilisation, etc.
Barrier: any obstacle to reaching a goal, adaptation or mitigation potential that, can be overcome or attenuated by a policy, programme, or measure. Barrier removal includes correcting market failures directly or reducing the transactions costs in the public and private sectors by e.g. improving institutional capacity, reducing risk and uncertainty.
Bottom-up models: bottom-up models represent reality by aggregating characteristics of specific activities and processes, considering technological, engineering and, cost details.
Climate: in a narrow sense is usually defined as the average weather, or, more rigorously, as the statistical description in terms of the mean and variability of relevant quantities over a period of time ranging from months to thousands or millions of years. The classical period for averaging these variables is 30 years, as defined by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO)World Meteorological Organization. The relevant quantities are most often surface variables such as temperature, precipitation and wind. Climate in a wider sense is the state, including a statistical description, of the climate system.
Climate model: a numerical representation of the climate system based on the physical, chemical and biological properties of its components, their interactions, and feedback processes, and accounting for all or some of its known properties. The climate system can be represented by models of varying complexity, that is, for any one component or combination of components, a spectrum or hierarchy of models can be identified, differing in such aspects as the number of spatial dimensions, the extent to which physical, chemical or biological processes are explicitly represented, or the level at which empirical parametrisations are involved. Coupled Atmosphere-Ocean General Circulation Models (AOGCMs) provide a representation of the climate system that is near the most comprehensive end of the spectrum currently available. There is an evolution towards more complex models with interactive chemistry and biology. Climate models are applied as a research tool to study and simulate the climate, and for operational purposes, including monthly, seasonal and interannual climate predictions.
Climate prediction: a climate prediction or climate forecast is the result of an attempt to produce an estimate of the actual evolution of the climate in the future, for
example, at seasonal, interannual or long-term time scales. Since the future evolution of the climate system may be highly sensitive to initial conditions, such predictions are usually probabilistic in nature.
Climate projection: a projection of the response of the climate system to emission or concentration scenarios of greenhouse gases and aerosols, or radiative forcing scenarios, often based upon simulations by climate models. Climate projections are distinguished from climate predictions in order to emphasise that climate projections depend upon the emission/concentration/radiative forcing scenario used, which are based on assumptions concerning, for example, future socioeconomic and technological developments that may or may not be realised and are therefore subject to substantial uncertainty.
Climate scenario: a plausible and often simplified representation of the future climate, based on an internally consistent set of climatological relationships that has been constructed for explicit use in investigating the potential consequences of anthropogenic climate change, often serving as input to impact models. Climate projections often serve as the raw material for constructing climate scenarios, but climate scenarios usually require additional information such as about the observed current climate. A climate change scenario is the difference between a climate scenario and the current climate.
Climate sensitivity: the equilibrium change in the annual mean global surface temperature following a doubling of the atmospheric equivalent carbon dioxide concentration.
Climate system: the climate system is the highly complex system consisting of five major components: the atmosphere, the hydrosphere, the cryosphere, the land surface and the biosphere, and the interactions between them.
Emission scenario: a plausible representation of the future development of emissions of substances that are potentially radiatively active (e.g., greenhouse gases, aerosols), based on a coherent and internally consistent set of assumptions about driving forces (such as demographic and socioeconomic development, technological change) and their key relationships.
External forcing: a forcing agent outside the climate system causing a change in the climate system. Volcanic eruptions, solar variations and anthropogenic changes in the composition of the atmosphere and land use change are external forcings.
Extreme weather event: an event that is rare at a particular place and time of year. Single extreme events cannot be simply and directly attributed to anthropogenic climate change, as there is always a finite chance the event in question might have occurred naturally.
Global surface temperature; an estimate of the global mean surface air temperature. However, for changes over time, only anomalies, as departures from a climatology, are used, most commonly based on the area weighted global average of the sea surface temperature anomaly and land surface air temperature anomaly.
Global Warming Potential (GWP): an index, based upon radiative properties of well mixed greenhouse gases, measuring the radiative forcing of a unit mass of a given well mixed greenhouse gas in today’s atmosphere integrated over a chosen time horizon, relative to that of carbon dioxide. The GWP represents the combined effect of the differing times these gases remain in the atmosphere and their relative effectiveness in absorbing outgoing thermal infrared radiation.
Greenhouse effect: greenhouse gases effectively absorb thermal infrared radiation emitted by the Earth’s surface, by the atmosphere itself due to the same gases, and by clouds. Thus greenhouse gases trap heat within the surface-troposphere system. This is called the greenhouse effect.
Greenhouse gas (GHG): gaseous constituents of the atmosphere, both natural and anthropogenic, that absorb and emit radiation at specific wavelengths within the spectrum of thermal infrared radiation emitted by the Earth’s surface, the atmosphere itself, and by clouds. This property causes the greenhouse effect. Water vapour (H2O), carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrous oxide (N2O), methane (CH4) and ozone (O3) are the primary greenhouse gases in the Earth’s atmosphere.
Ice sheet: a mass of land ice that is sufficiently deep to cover most of the underlying bedrock topography, so that its shape is mainly determined by its dynamics (the flow of the ice as it deforms internally and/or slides at its base).
Kyoto Protocol: The Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was adopted in 1997 in Kyoto, Japan, at the Third Session of the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the UNFCCC. It contains legally binding commitments, in addition to those included in the UNFCCC. Countries included in Annex B of the Protocol (most Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development countries and countries with economies in transition) agreed to reduce their anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions (carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons, and sulphur hexafluoride) by at least 5% below 1990 levels in the commitment period 2008 to 2012. The Kyoto Protocol entered into force on 16 February 2005.
Mean Sea Level: normally defined as the average relative sea level over a period, such as a month or a year, long enough to average out transients such as waves and tides. Relative sea level is sea level measured by a tide gauge with respect to the land upon which it is situated.
Methane (CH4): one of the six greenhouse gases to be mitigated under the Kyoto Protocol and is the major component of natural gas and associated with all hydrocarbon fuels, animal husbandry and agriculture.
Mitigation: technological change and substitution that reduce resource inputs and emissions per unit of output. Although several social, economic and technological policies would produce an emission reduction, with respect to climate change, mitigation means implementing policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and enhance sinks.
Nitrous oxide (N2O): one of the six types of greenhouse gases to be curbed under the Kyoto Protocol. The main anthropogenic source of nitrous oxide is agriculture (soil and animal manure management), but important contributions also come from sewage treatment, combustion of fossil fuel, and chemical industrial processes. Nitrous oxide is also produced naturally from a wide variety of biological sources in soil and water, particularly microbial action in wet tropical forests.
Projection: a potential future evolution of a quantity or set of quantities, often computed with the aid of a model. Projections are distinguished from predictions in order to emphasise that projections involve assumptions concerning, for example, future socio-economic and technological developments that may or may not be realised, and are therefore subject to substantial uncertainty.
Radiative forcing: The change in the net—downward minus upward—irradiance (expressed in Watts per square metre, W/m2) at the tropopause due to a change in an external driver of climate change, such as, for example, a change in the concentration of carbon dioxide or the output of the Sun.
Scenario: aplausible and often simplified description of how the future may develop, based on a coherent and internally consistent set of assumptions about driving forces and key relationships. Scenarios may be derived from projections, but are often based on additional information from other sources, sometimes combined with a narrative storyline.
Sensitivity: the degree to which a system is affected, either adversely or beneficially, by climate variability or climate change.
Sink: any process, activity or mechanism which removes a greenhouse gas, an aerosol or a precursor of a greenhouse gas or aerosol from the atmosphere.
Top-down models: top-down models apply macroeconomic theory, econometric and optimization techniques to aggregate economic variables.
Uncertainty: an expression of the degree to which a value (e.g., the future state of the climate system) is unknown. Uncertainty can result from lack of information or from disagreement about what is known or even knowable. It may have many types of sources, from quantifiable errors in the data to ambiguously defined concepts or terminology, or uncertain projections of human behaviour. Uncertainty can therefore be represented by quantitative measures, for example, a range of values calculated by various models, or by qualitative statements, for example, reflecting the judgement of a team of experts.
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC): The Convention was adopted on 9 May 1992 in New York and signed at the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro by more than 150 countries and the European Community. Its ultimate objective is the “stabilisation of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system”.
Vulnerability: the degree to which a system is susceptible to, and unable to cope with, adverse effects of climate change, including climate variability and extremes. Vulnerability is a function of the character, magnitude, and rate of climate change and variation to which a system is exposed, its sensitivity, and its adaptive capacity.
Treatment of Uncertainty
This article expressed scientific uncertainty using the system developed by the the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in the preparation of the Fourth Assessment Report (AR4).
Where uncertainty is assessed qualitatively, it is characterised by providing a relative sense of the amount and quality of evidence (that is, information from theory, observations or models indicating whether a belief or proposition is true or valid) and the degree of agreement (that is, the level of concurrence in the literature on a particular finding). This approach is used by WG III through a series of self-explanatory terms such as: high agreement, much evidence; high agreement,medium evidence; medium agreement, medium evidence; etc.
Where uncertainty is assessed more quantitatively using expert judgement of the correctness of underlying data, models or analyses, then the following scale of confidence levels is used to express the assessed chance of a finding being correct: very high confidence at least 9 out of 10; high confidence about 8 out of 10; medium confidence about 5 out of 10; low confidence about 2 out of 10; and very low confidence less than 1 out of 10.
Where uncertainty in specific outcomes is assessed using expert judgment and statistical analysis of a body of evidence (e.g. observations or model results), then the following likelihood ranges are used to express the assessed probability of occurrence: virtually certain >99%; extremely likely >95%; very likely >90%; likely >66%; more likely than not > 50%; about as likely as not 33% to 66%; unlikely <33%; very unlikely <10%; extremely unlikely <5%; exceptionally unlikely <1%.
Acknowledgments
This article is derived directly from material in the Synthesis Report and the Technical Summary of Working Group I in the Fourth Assessment Report (AR4) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Readers should refer to the complete AR4 report for a more detailed discussion of the material. IPCC Lead Authors who contributed to these reports are:
Synthesis Report
Core Writing Team:
Lenny Bernstein, Peter Bosch, Osvaldo Canziani, Zhenlin Chen, Renate Christ, Ogunlade Davidson, William Hare, Saleemul Huq, David Karoly, Vladimir Kattsov, Zbigniew Kundzewicz, Jian Liu, Ulrike Lohmann, Martin Manning, Taroh Matsuno, Bettina Menne, Bert Metz, Monirul Mirza, Neville Nicholls, Leonard Nurse, Rajendra Pachauri, Jean Palutikof, Martin Parry, Dahe Qin, Nijavalli Ravindranath, Andy Reisinger, Jiawen Ren, Keywan Riahi, Cynthia Rosenzweig, Matilde Rusticucci, Stephen Schneider, Youba Sokona, Susan Solomon, Peter Stott, Ronald Stouffer, Taishi Sugiyama, Rob Swart, Dennis Tirpak, Coleen Vogel, Gary Yohe
Extended Writing Team:
Terry Barker
Review Editors:
Bubu Pateh Jallow, Lucka Kajfež-Bogataj, Roxana Bojariu, David Hawkins, Sandra Diaz, Hoesung Lee, Abdelkader Allali, Ismail Elgizouli, David Wratt, Olav Hohmeyer, Dave Griggs, Neil Leary
Technical Summary of Working Group I
Working Group I should be cited as:
IPCC, 2007: Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Solomon, S., D. Qin, M. Manning, Z. Chen, M. Marquis, K.B. Averyt, M. Tignor and H.L. Miller (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA, 996 pp.
Coordinating Lead Authors:
Susan Solomon (USA), Dahe Qin (China), Martin Manning (USA, New Zealand)
Lead Authors:
Richard B. Alley (USA), Terje Berntsen (Norway), Nathaniel L. Bindoff (Australia), Zhenlin Chen (China), Amnat Chidthaisong (Thailand), Jonathan M. Gregory (UK), Gabriele C. Hegerl (USA, Germany), Martin Heimann (Germany, Switzerland), Bruce Hewitson (South Africa), Brian J. Hoskins (UK), Fortunat Joos (Switzerland), Jean Jouzel (France), Vladimir Kattsov (Russia), Ulrike Lohmann (Switzerland), Taroh Matsuno (Japan), Mario Molina (USA, Mexico), Neville Nicholls (Australia), Jonathan Overpeck (USA), Graciela Raga (Mexico, Argentina), Venkatachalam Ramaswamy (USA), Jiawen Ren (China), Matilde Rusticucci (Argentina), Richard Somerville (USA), Thomas F. Stocker (Switzerland), Ronald J. Stouffer (USA), Penny Whetton (Australia), Richard A. Wood (UK), David Wratt (New Zealand)
Contributing Authors:
J. Arblaster (USA, Australia), G. Brasseur (USA, Germany), J.H. Christensen (Denmark), K.L. Denman (Canada), D.W. Fahey (USA), P. Forster (UK), J. Haywood (UK), E. Jansen (Norway), P.D. Jones (UK), R. Knutti (Switzerland), H. Le Treut (France), P. Lemke (Germany), G. Meehl (USA), D. Randall (USA), D.A. Stone (UK, Canada), K.E. Trenberth (USA), J. Willebrand (Germany), F. Zwiers (Canada)
Review Editors:
Kansri Boonpragob (Thailand), Filippo Giorgi (Italy), Bubu Pateh Jallow (The Gambia)
Citation
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (Lead Author);Mohan Munasinghe (Topic Editor) "Climate change". In: Encyclopedia of Earth. Eds. Cutler J. Cleveland (Washington, D.C.: Environmental Information Coalition, National Council for Science and the Environment). [First published in the Encyclopedia of Earth July 19, 2010; Last revised Date July 7, 2012; Retrieved May 18, 2013 <http://www.eoearth.org/article/Climate_change>
The Author
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was established to provide the decision-makers and others interested in climate change with an objective source of information about climate change. The IPCC does not conduct any research nor does it monitor climate related data or parameters. Its role is to assess on a comprehensive, objective, open and transparent basis the latest scientific, technical ... (Full Bio)
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Longevity Meme Newsletter, November 22nd 2010
Permalink | View Comments (0) | Post Comment | | Posted by Reason
LONGEVITY MEME NEWSLETTER
November 22nd 2010
The Longevity Meme Newsletter is a weekly email containing news, opinions, and happenings for people interested in aging science and engineered longevity: making use of diet, lifestyle choices, technology, and proven medical advances to live healthy, longer lives. This newsletter is published under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license. In short, this means that you are encouraged to republish and rewrite it in any way you see fit, the only requirements being that you provide attribution and a link to the Longevity Meme.
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CONTENTS
- Coverage of the Future Tense Conference
- Suggestions for Year-End Charitable Donations
- How Would You Spend Millions on Longevity Science?
- Beliefs Matter
- Latest Headlines from Fight Aging!
COVERAGE OF THE FUTURE TENSE CONFERENCE
The recent Future Tense event saw researchers discussing engineered longevity and radical life extension, and was aimed at folk unfamiliar with the science and the goals of the aging research community:
http://www.fightaging.org/archives/2010/11/future-tense-conference-never-say-die.php
"Will 250 be the new 100 in the foreseeable future? Human life expectancy has made steady gains over the last two centuries, and anti-aging scientists seeking to spare human cells and DNA from the corrosion once deemed inevitable are eager to trigger a radical extension in our life spans. How likely is such a spike? And how desirable is it to live to be a quarter of a millennium? Will life-extending scientific breakthroughs translate into an interminable twilight for many, or will they also postpone aging?"
SUGGESTIONS FOR YEAR-END CHARITABLE DONATIONS
As the year comes to a close, many people make their donations to charitable causes. Here are some suggestions for advancing the cause of longevity science:
http://www.fightaging.org/archives/2010/11/suggestions-for-year-end-charitable-donations-to-further-longevity-science.php
1) SENS Foundation
The SENS Foundation funds research into rejuvenation biotechnology, and aims to encourage greater adoption of the repair-based engineering viewpoint espoused by biomedical gerontologist Aubrey de Grey. Repair the known forms of biochemical damage that cause aging, in other words, and thereby reverse and prevent the diseases and frailty of aging. This is sadly a minority position in the aging research community, and few researches have the defeat of aging as their goal. By donating to the Foundation, you help to fund present work into repair biotechnologies, and encourage more researchers to take up the fight against aging.
2) Methuselah Foundation
The Methuselah Foundation encourages science that will extend healthy human lives through research prizes and targeted investment in key companies. Most of you will hopefully be familiar with the Mprize for longevity science by now, and the Foundation recently launched the NewOrgan Prize aimed at speeding the new science of tissue engineering. Amongst the Foundation's investments are the noted organ printing startup company Organovo. Research prizes have a demonstrated multiple effect on donations - for each $1 in the pot, historical prizes have spurred between $15 and $50 in funds raised by competing teams. Long-term donors to the Foundation can join the 300, and will see their names inscribed on a monument designed to last for thousands of years.
3) Immortality Institute Research Project 2010b - Microglia Stem Cells
You might recall that the Immortality Institute regularly raises funds for small research projects in aging and longevity science, the last of which was a mitochondrial uncoupling experiment to take place in Singapore. The second project for 2010 is presently open, and the Institute is seeking a few thousand dollars in funding to get it started: Cognitive functions of the brain decline with age. One of the protective cell types in the brain are called microglia cells. However, these microglia cells also loose function with age. Our aim is to replace non-functional microglia with new and young microglia cells derived from adult stem cells. We will inject these young microglia cells into 'Alzheimer mice' - a model for Alzheimers disease. After giving the cells some time to work, we will sacrifice the mice and measure microglia activity, neurogenesis, proliferation of neuroprogenitors and plaque density in the brain. A reduction in plaque density of Alzheimer mice would be a first proof that the transplanted microglia are performing their expected function.
HOW WOULD YOU SPEND MILLIONS ON LONGEVITY SCIENCE?
Everyone has an opinion on how to spend a large amount of money on their favorite cause. What's yours?
http://www.fightaging.org/archives/2010/11/how-would-you-spend-millions-of-dollars-on-longevity-science.php
"How would you invest in research? This question is something of a litmus test: you can't answer it without sharing your opinions on what is important and what is not in present day aging science, related biotechnologies, and strategies for application or commercialization.
"Now for my part I think what is most needed today is a demonstrated success in the application of SENS research. Something that works to extend life in mice by repairing one of the forms of biochemical damage catalogued by Aubrey de Grey, and that we can all point to as an example of how longevity science should be done - a magnet for future fundraising, and validation for repair-based approaches to human longevity in the eyes of people yet to be convinced.
"So, given that, I wouldn't spread my non-existent large sum of money around between many different classes of project. I put it all into one of the SENS research themes most likely to achieve a good result soon. For $30 million, I'd probably go for biomedical remediation of the unwanted biochemicals that build up and degrade our metabolism. A great deal of this work is discovery: sifting soil for microbes that can digest the gunk that our bodies cannot break down, and then performing many, many low-cost chemical tests in parallel to find useful bacterial enzymes. $30 million will buy you coverage of a large swath of the possible search space, followed by tests in aged mice to demonstrate improvement in measurable biomarkers of health following treatment with the most promising candidates.
"A working method of biomedical remediation that improved measures of mouse health by eliminating the build-up of otherwise persistent metabolic byproducts would be exactly a form of limited rejuvenation. That would be big news."
BELIEFS MATTER
People believe a great many things, and those beliefs shape their actions - or lack of action, as the case may be:
http://www.fightaging.org/archives/2010/11/beliefs-matter.php
"traditions regarding what can be done and should be done with the bodies of the dead are powerful things, and cryonics - like so much of medicine has done at one time or another - breaks those traditions. So we see a certain level of hostility, something that is true of longevity science in general, and for the same broad reasons. There is an ongoing collision between hidebound cultural traditions and the moving boundary of what is possible in medical science.
"Over the decades ahead, the research community may, with sufficient directed funding, slow and reverse the course of aging, ultimately eliminate aging entirely (as well as the frailty and age-related disease it brings), and even provide a way to prevent other forms of death from being permanent under optimal circumstances. A substantial proportion of the population does not see these as desirable goals, however. That is a problem, our problem, and a challenge we have to surmount."
DISCUSSION
The highlights and headlines from the past week follow below.
Remember - if you like this newsletter, the chances are that your friends will find it useful too. Forward it on, or post a copy to your favorite online communities. Encourage the people you know to pitch in and make a difference to the future of health and longevity!
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LATEST HEADLINES FROM FIGHT AGING!
BUILDING BLOCKS FOR GROWING ORGANS
Friday, November 19, 2010
http://www.fightaging.org/archives/2010/11/building-blocks-for-growing-organs.php
From the Technology Review: "Growing living tissue and organs in the lab would be a life-saving trick. But replicating the complexity of an organ, by growing different types of cells in precisely the right arrangement - muscle held together with connective tissue and threaded with blood vessels, for example - is currently impossible. Researchers at MIT have taken a step toward this goal by coming up with a way to make 'building blocks' containing different kinds of tissue that can be put together. ... The MIT group [put] embryonic stem cells into 'building blocks' containing gel that encouraged the cells to turn into certain types of cell. These building blocks can then be put together [to] make more complex structures. The gel degrades and disappears as the tissue grows. Eventually, the group hopes to make cardiac tissue by stacking blocks containing cells that have turned into muscle next to blocks containing blood vessels, and so forth. ... The researchers expose clusters of stem cells called embryoid bodies to a physical environment that mimics some of the cues the cells experience during embryonic development. ... The result is a hydrogel block, half gelatin, half polyethylene glycol, with a sphere of embryonic stem cells inside. ... within an individual embryoid body, cells on the squishier, gelatin side took a different path from cells on the polyethylene glycol side. The gelatin is easier for the cells to push into, and this affects how they grow, directing them to become blood vessels." This sort of technology is a potential path to replicating the complexity of the extracellular matrix from the bottom up, necessary to the goal of producing highly structured tissue from scratch while ensuring it is laced with the required tiny blood vessels to support the cells.
ENGINEERED T CELLS VERSUS CANCER
Friday, November 19, 2010
http://www.fightaging.org/archives/2010/11/engineered-t-cells-versus-cancer.php
From MIT News: researchers "have had some striking successes treating melanoma with T-cell therapy, but so far it has been much less effective against other cancers. ... [An] obstacle is keeping the T cells alive once they are returned to the patient. Most T cells have a short lifespan, so after weeks of manipulation in the lab, they may die soon after they enter the patient. Furthermore, the tumor itself creates an environment very hostile to T cells. ... Giving patients large doses of growth factors called cytokines [helps], but those can have severe side effects, including heart and lung failure, when given in large doses. ... [researchers] recently developed a new approach that could avoid those side effects. They engineered T cells with tiny pouches that can carry cytokines, which are gradually released from the pouches, enhancing the longevity of the T cells that carry them. ... [they] used their modified T cells to treat mice with lung and bone marrow tumors. Within 16 days, all of the tumors in the mice treated with T cells carrying the drugs disappeared. Those mice survived until the end of the 100-day experiment, while mice that received no treatment died within 25 days, and mice that received either T cells alone or T cells with injections of cytokines died within 75 days. They are now working on ways to more easily synthesize the pouches at a large scale, so they can be tested in humans, using materials that would be more likely to get FDA approval."
EXERCISE!
Thursday, November 18, 2010
http://www.fightaging.org/archives/2010/11/exercise-1.php
Exercise is more powerful for the healthy than any presently available medical technology when it comes to maintaining health and establishing a good life expectancy: "Regular exercise can reduce around two dozen physical and mental health conditions and slow down how quickly the body ages, according to a research review summarising the key findings of 40 papers published between 2006 and 2010. .... Health conditions covered by the review include: cancer, heart disease, dementia, stroke, type 2 diabetes, depression, obesity and high blood pressure. ... The literature reviewed shows that how long people live and how healthy they are depends on a complex mix of factors, including their lifestyle, where they live and even luck. Individuals have an element of control over some of these factors, including obesity, diet, smoking and physical activity. ... Ideally, to gain maximum health benefits people should exercise, not smoke, eat a healthy diet and have a body mass index of less than 25. The more of these healthy traits an individual has, the less likely they are to develop a range of chronic disorders. Even if people can't give up smoking and maintain a healthy weight, they can still gain health benefits from increasing the amount of regular exercise they take. Physical inactivity results in widespread pathophysiological changes to our bodies. It appears that our bodies have evolved to function optimally on a certain level of physically activity that many of us simply do not achieve in our modern, sedentary lifestyles. ... What is clear from the research is that men and women of all ages should be encouraged to be more physically active for the sake of their long-term health."
AN UPDATE ON ALZHEIMER'S VACCINE DEVELOPMENT
Thursday, November 18, 2010
http://www.fightaging.org/archives/2010/11/an-update-on-alzheimers-vaccine-development.php
From ScienceDaily: "A new vaccine protects against memory problems associated with Alzheimer's disease, but without potentially dangerous side effects, a new animal study reports. ... Vaccines against amyloid-beta accumulation in the brain, one of the hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease, have long been considered a promising approach to developing a treatment. But finding a vaccine that is both safe and effective has been challenging. Previous research in mice showed that a vaccine that targets the human version of amyloid-beta reduces learning and memory loss associated with the disease. However, the vaccine caused dangerous autoimmune inflammation of the brain during human clinical trials. ... In the current study, researchers [tested] a vaccine developed against a non-human protein that had the same shape as amyloid-beta, but a different sequence of amino acid building blocks. The Alzheimer's mice that received the vaccine showed improved performance on memory and other cognitive tests. The vaccine also reduced the clumps of amyloid-beta and tau protein that may be toxic to brain cells. ... This finding is important because it shows that you don't need a human protein to get an immune response that will neutralize the toxic amyloid oligomers associated with Alzheimer's disease ... Because the protein was not human, [researchers] believe it is unlikely to cause the dangerous autoimmune response."
STEM CELL TRIAL FOR STROKE TREATMENT
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
http://www.fightaging.org/archives/2010/11/stem-cell-trial-for-stroke-treatment.php
From the BBC: "Doctors in Glasgow have injected stem cells into the brain of a stroke patient in an effort to find a new treatment for the condition. The elderly man is the first person in the world to receive this treatment - the start of a regulated trial at Southern General Hospital. He was given very low doses over the weekend and has since been discharged - and his doctors say he is doing well. Critics object as brain cells from foetuses were used to create the cells. The patient received a very low dose of stem cells in an initial trial to assess the safety of the procedure. Over the next year, up to 12 more patients will be given progressively higher doses - again primarily to assess safety - but doctors will be looking closely to see if the stem cells have begun to repair their brains and if their condition has improved. ... The first group of patients to receive the treatment will be men over 60 who have shown little or no improvement in their condition over a number of years. It is an ideal group to assess the safety of the procedure - doctors will be keen to know first of all that the treatment makes them no worse. But having such a precisely defined group will enable doctors and scientists to compare like with like if they notice any improvement - even in these early stages. If these trials show promise, doctors plan larger trials on a more varied group of patients. The earliest this could begin is in two years' time."
WORKING ON A BIOARTIFICIAL KIDNEY
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
http://www.fightaging.org/archives/2010/11/working-on-a-bioartificial-kidney.php
SFGate looks at ongoing work in replicating the function of a kidney: "The artificial kidney is still at least five years away from being tested in a human patient. Researchers have built a large model of the kidney - so big that it filled a hospital room - and used it on human patients to show that the theories behind it will work. And parts of the small kidney have been successfully tested in animals. If [the] team is successful, the kidney will be about the size of a large cup of coffee, and it would last for years, maybe decades, and require no pumps or batteries. Patients wouldn't need anti-rejection drugs either, because there would be no exposed natural tissues for the immune system to attack. ... The artificial kidney will be made of two parts - a filter side and a cellular side. On the filter side, silicone membranes with microscopic pores will separate toxins from the blood, much as dialysis machines do. The body's own blood pressure will force blood through the filter, so no pumps will be needed. The key to the filtration side is the silicone membrane, which can be made fairly inexpensively and precisely, much as computer chips are. ... On the cellular side, the filtered blood will be pumped over a bed of cells taken from either the patient's own failing kidneys or from a donor. The cells will sense the chemical makeup of the filtered blood and trigger the body to maintain appropriate levels of salt, sugar and water. ... It mimics more of a kidney function than just dialysis. When we think of kidneys, we think of waste removal. And dialysis just does that. Dialysis doesn't make you healthy - it just keeps you alive."
OLSHANSKY ON THE LONGEVITY DIVIDEND
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
http://www.fightaging.org/archives/2010/11/olshansky-on-the-longevity-dividend.php
Another Slate article, this time S. Jay Olshansky on the Longevity Dividend: "Aging bodies with chronic diseases are not the same as young bodies with independently acquired infectious diseases. Yet medicine continues to act as if the diseases of aging are separate from the consequences of aging itself. ... While we can extend life in aging bodies through behavioral improvements and medical treatments, the time has arrived to acknowledge that our current model of reactive medicine, of trying to treat each separate disease of old age as it occurs, is reaching a point of diminishing returns. ... Many scientists and geriatric physicians now suggest that the primary goal of medical technology should not exclusively be life extension but, rather, lengthening the period of youthful vigor. Although efforts to combat disease should continue, one way to protect against the unwanted prolongation of old age while simultaneously extending the period of healthy life is to pursue the means to modify the key risk factor that underlies almost everything that goes wrong with us as we grow older - aging itself. Those of us working toward this goal have referred to this shift in approach to public health as the 'Pursuit of the Longevity Dividend.' ... Medical institutes and public health professionals across the globe are dedicated to combating the causes and consequences of heart disease, cancer, stroke, and a myriad of other fatal and disabling conditions that plague humanity, and many people are alive today because of their heroic efforts. These battles need to continue. But so too should we fight on a new front: aging itself."
BETTER THAT BILLIONS SUFFER AND DIE THAN WE HAVE TO EVEN SLIGHTLY REARRANGE OUR LIVES
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
http://www.fightaging.org/archives/2010/11/better-that-billions-suffer-and-die-than-we-have-to-even-slightly-rearrange-our-lives.php
From the Huffington Post, an example of ill-thought opposition to working to defeat the suffering and death caused by aging: "Rapid turnover is nature's way of making sure that a species can keep up with changing circumstances and survive the long haul. But since humans have gone beyond basic biology, why not re-engineer ourselves for a lifetime without an end point? Or at least for one where we outlast the Roman Empire? Well, it turns out there are problems... even beyond the tedium of boorish men. Let me first state that if we can pull this off - cure death - it's self-evident that we'll also obliterate the debilities of aging. You'll be healthy to the end. Nonetheless, there are countless gotchas for any descendants that have made themselves as indestructible as zombies. First off, they'll need to engineer a major societal revamp. You can't have kids every two years forever: we don't have the real estate. And of course, marriages would have an expiration date. A myriad of other social structures would also have to be rejiggered: Imagine the frustration of waiting for a tenure slot at the local college which, even after millennia, is still stuffed with its original faculty. Other difficulties are neither obvious nor tractable. For example, today more than 30,000 Americans die annually on the roads. That means you have a 50 percent chance of being taken out in an auto accident if you live for 3,600 years. So if we extend our lifetimes to thirty or forty centuries, using a car becomes an existential threat. You won't do it."
INFRASTRUCTURE IMPROVEMENTS IN GROWING STEM CELLS
Monday, November 15, 2010
http://www.fightaging.org/archives/2010/11/infrastructure-improvements-in-growing-stem-cells.php
Infrastructure is important in stem cell research and development. When sourcing stem cells for experiments or therapies is hard and expensive, progress will be slow. Building the tools to enable reliable, uniform, and low-cost culturing of stem cells is a necessary step, and here is one example: "Growing human embryonic stem cells in the lab is no small feat. Culturing the finicky, shape-shifting cells is labor intensive and, in some ways, more art than exact science. Now, however, a team of researchers [reports] the development of a fully defined culture system that promises a more uniform and, for cells destined for therapy, safer product. ... It's a technology that anyone can use. It's very simple. ... At present, human embryonic stem cells are cultured mostly for use in research settings. And while culture systems have improved over time, scientists still use surfaces that contain mouse cells or mouse proteins to grow batches of human cells ... The new culture system utilizes a synthetic, chemically made substrate of protein fragments, peptides, which have an affinity for binding with stem cells. ... The system, according to the new report, also works for induced pluripotent stem cells, the adult cells genetically reprogrammed to behave like embryonic stem cells. ... The disadvantages of the culture systems commonly used now are that they are undefined - you don't really know what your cells are in contact with - and there is no uniformity, which means there is batch-to-batch variability. The system we've developed is fully defined and inexpensive."
AUBREY DE GREY ON REJUVENATION BIOTECHNOLOGY
Monday, November 15, 2010
http://www.fightaging.org/archives/2010/11/aubrey-de-grey-on-rejuvenation-biotechnology.php
From Slate, an example of Aubrey de Grey expanding the definition of regenerative medicine to include SENS: "Aging is bad for you. Whether you call it a disease, not a disease, a set of disease precursors, or some other variation on the theme, it is a medical condition, and thus a legitimate target - in principle - for medical intervention. But is it a practical target? Medicine generally targets individual problems - a particular strain of virus, for example, or damage to a particular area of flesh. Aging seems like a huge number of progressive, chronic diseases all interacting with one another. Might such complexity be beyond the power of medicine - even medicine decades hence - to address? Once these progressive, chronic diseases have become debilitating, piecemeal targeting of them is far less effective than medicine generally is against other, aging-independent diseases. The complexity is bad enough, but what's worse is that the diseases are progressive - they get harder to treat as time goes on, because they are simply the later stages of intrinsic, lifelong processes of accumulation of molecular and cellular damage. Is there a way out? ... in the past decade a new approach to medical intervention in aging has been explored: regenerative medicine. The attraction of this approach is that it acknowledges the irreducible complexity of aging but attacks the problem more pre-emptively than contemporary geriatric medicine does. Regenerative medicine can be defined as the restoration of structure to any damaged tissue or organ. As such, it encompasses molecular, cellular, and organ-level repair. As applied to aging, it amounts to preventative maintenance: periodic partial elimination of the accumulating damage of aging before that damage reaches a pathogenic level, thus postponing, maybe indefinitely, the age at which the ill-health of old age emerges."
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With almost all the countries entering the
Looked at on a geological timescale, the planet's biodiversity has always been faced with threats of one form or another. But, at present, the threat is more pronounced than ever: species loss is
Freshwater is the most fundamental natural resource. But its sources are fast dwindling or becoming contaminated throughout the world. At the start of the 21st century, nine countries with around 35
With urban and industrial development accelerating at a fast pace, waste disposal is becoming a major problem. Inordinate focus on household waste has often disguised the much larger volume generated
Despite environmental pressure against the use of chemical fertilisers, the deadly substances continue to be used unabated across the globe. At the end of the 20th century an average of 91 kgs of
Asia accounts for 62 per cent of the world's plantations. With 89 per cent of the new plantations coming up in the continent, they are increasingly becoming the source of debate and conflicts. Who
Today, around 36 million people are living with HIV/AIDS worldwide. Of these, 11.8 million are children and young people. Half of all new cases of HIV
Forests are depleting worldwide
The world's highest energy consuming country, the us , has done little to promote renewable energy. Being one of the major emitters of heat trapping gases like carbon dioxide, the us would be
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Bibliography: Inclusions
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Title: Inclusions
Author: Mark W. Tiedemann
Year: 2003
Type: ESSAY
ISFDB Record Number: 136258
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Copyright (c) 1995-2011 Al von Ruff.
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Cancers 2011, 3(1), 927-944; doi:10.3390/cancers3010927
Review
Inflammation and Tumor Microenvironment in Lymph Node Metastasis
Department of Dermatology, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI 53226, USA
* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 11 January 2011; in revised form: 17 February 2011 / Accepted: 21 February 2011 / Published: 1 March 2011
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Organ-Specific Metastasis Formation)
Download PDF Full-Text [937 KB, uploaded 1 March 2011 14:32 CET]
Abstract: In nearly all human cancers, the presence of lymph node (LN) metastasis increases clinical staging and portends worse prognosis (compared to patients without LN metastasis). Herein, principally reviewing experimental and clinical data related to malignant melanoma, we discuss diverse factors that are mechanistically involved in LN metastasis. We highlight recent data that link tumor microenvironment, including inflammation (at the cellular and cytokine levels) and tumor-induced lymphangiogenesis, with nodal metastasis. Many of the newly identified genes that appear to influence LN metastasis facilitate general motility, chemotactic, or invasive properties that also increase the ability of cancer cells to disseminate and survive at distant organ sites. These new biomarkers will help predict clinical outcome and point to novel future therapies in metastatic melanoma as well as other cancers.
Keywords: melanoma; lymph node metastasis; microenvironment; inflammation; cytokines; chemokines; epithelial-mesenchymal transition; lymphangiogenesis
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Cite This Article
MDPI and ACS Style
Wu, X.; Takekoshi, T.; Sullivan, A.; Hwang, S.T. Inflammation and Tumor Microenvironment in Lymph Node Metastasis. Cancers 2011, 3, 927-944.
AMA Style
Wu X, Takekoshi T, Sullivan A, Hwang ST. Inflammation and Tumor Microenvironment in Lymph Node Metastasis. Cancers. 2011; 3(1):927-944.
Chicago/Turabian Style
Wu, Xuesong; Takekoshi, Tomonori; Sullivan, Ashley; Hwang, Sam T. 2011. "Inflammation and Tumor Microenvironment in Lymph Node Metastasis." Cancers 3, no. 1: 927-944.
Cancers EISSN 2072-6694 Published by MDPI AG, Basel, Switzerland RSS E-Mail Table of Contents Alert
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Nano Express
Dynamic viscosity measurement in non-Newtonian graphite nanofluids
Fei Duan*, Ting F Wong and Alexandru Crivoi
Author Affiliations
School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, 639798, Singapore
For all author emails, please log on.
Nanoscale Research Letters 2012, 7:360 doi:10.1186/1556-276X-7-360
The electronic version of this article is the complete one and can be found online at: http://www.nanoscalereslett.com/content/7/1/360
Received:10 May 2012
Accepted:2 July 2012
Published:2 July 2012
© 2012 Duan et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract
The effective dynamic viscosity was measured in the graphite water-based nanofluids. The shear thinning non-Newtonian behavior is observed in the measurement. On the basis of the best fitting of the experimental data, the viscosity at zero shear rate or at infinite shear rate is determined for each of the fluids. It is found that increases of the particle volume concentration and the holding time period of the nanofluids result in an enhancement of the effective dynamic viscosity. The maximum enhancement of the effective dynamic viscosity at infinite rate of shear is more than 24 times in the nanofluids held for 3 days with the volume concentration of 4% in comparison with the base fluid. A transmission electron microscope is applied to reveal the morphology of aggregated nanoparticles qualitatively. The large and irregular aggregation of the particles is found in the 3-day fluids in the drying samples. The Raman spectra are extended to characterize the D and G peaks of the graphite structure in the nanofluids. The increasing intensity of the D peak indicates the nanoparticle aggregation growing with the higher concentration and the longer holding time of the nanofluids. The experimental results suggest that the increase on effective dynamic viscosity of nanofluids is related to the graphite nanoparticle aggregation in the fluids.
Keywords:
Dynamic viscosity; Graphite nanofluids; Nanoparticle aggregation; Non-Newtonian flow
Background
Nanofluids, consisting of suspended nanoscale solid particles, can improve thermal conductivity and heat transfer coefficient from the base fluids [1-10]. The effectiveness of thermal property enhancement of nanofluids depends on nanoparticle amount, particle size, particle materials, particle shape, base fluids, etc. However, since nanofluids are suspensions with nanoparticles in their base fluids, achieving a stable dispersion in nanofluids would benefit industrial applications. Nanoparticles are expected to stabilize the fluids more effectively than the microparticles, the fluid properties including the dynamic viscosity would change accordingly. The viscosity of nanofluids is important for nanofluid transport related to flow dynamics and heat transfer. The spherical shaped Al2O3, TiO2, and the other nanoparticles have been widely studied in the nanofluids [2-5,8]. The results showed an enhancement on the effective dynamic viscosity as an increase of concentrations. A strong correlation was indicated between the rheological behavior and the structure of nanoparticles in the nanofluids. The Al2O3-water nanofluid exhibited as a Newtonian flow after freshly prepared, but a shear thinning non-Newtonian flow after the aggregation was formed in the nanofluids. The dynamic viscosity had a significant increase as a result. However, the properties can be resumed after the re-ultrasonication process, in which the aggregates were dispersed again [11]. The main nonspherical nanoparticles in suspensions under the study are carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and graphite on thermal conductivity [1,9,10]. However, there are limited reports on the nanofluid dynamic viscosity with the nanoparticles at different heights to width aspect ratios, especially for the graphite nanoparticles. Ding et al. measured the dynamic viscosity of CNTs-water nanofluids as a function of shear rate, showing the fluids with a non-Newtonian property [10]. The viscosity of the nanofluids was found to increase with the increasing concentrations of CNTs and the decreasing temperature. Yang et al. investigated the rheological behavior of poly(α-olefin) solutions dispersed by the rodlike CNTs with an aspect ratio of about 30, or the disklike graphite nanoparticles an aspect ratio of about 0.025 [9]. The nanofluids acted as a shear thinning fluids. The above studies suggest that the nanoparticles may aggregate in the base fluids, and the aggregation would affect the rheological properties. To explicate the phenomena, the investigation of the dynamic viscosity is carried out in the graphite-water nanofluids for the potential application. The morphology of the nanoparticle aggregates and the structure in molecular vibration are demonstrated in this paper by using a transmission electron microscope and a Raman spectroscope, respectively.
Methods
In the experiments, a two-step method was used to prepare the graphite water-based nanofluids. The graphite nanoparticles were supplied by SkySpring Nanomaterials, Inc. (Houston, TX, USA) with a reported average size of 3 to 4 nm. We dispersed the nanoparticles in the 40 mL deionized water to prepare the nanofluids with the volume concentrations at 1 %, 2 %, 3 %, and 4 % without adding any surfactant in order to study the effect of nanoparticle aggregation. The next step for the nanofluids was to undergo a mechanical stirring process with a magnetic stirrer at a rotation speed 540 rpm for about 7 h. Then, the nanofluids were performed under ultrasonication by using the ultrasonic bath (Elmasonic E 15H, Singen, Germany) continuously for about 1.5 h to prevent the well-dispersed fluids from aggregation initially.
The effective dynamic viscosity of the graphite-water nanofluids was measured directly with a standard controlled shear rate rheometer (Contraves LS 40, Mettler-Toledo, Greifensee, Switzerland) which has a cup and bob geometry. This instrument requires only a volume of liquid of approximately 5 mL. The instrument was calibrated by measuring the dynamic viscosity of the deionized water. The calibration results showed the measurement error within ±1% from the viscosity value of 0.000891 Pa·s. All measurements in this study were performed at 1 atm and 298.15 K. The effective dynamic viscosity of the nanofluids was measured instantly after the ultrasonication agitation. Thereafter, the same nanofluids were measured again after 3 days, which is determined by the experimental observation with the stratified fluids. Before the measurement, the fluids were shaken to prevent the possible particle sediment in the measurement. The relative effective dynamic viscosity is calculated with a reference value of the base fluid (pure water).
A transmission electron microscope (TEM, JEOL, JEM-2010, Tokyo, Japan) is applied to reveal the microstructural morphology of the graphite particles in the dried samples from the nanofluids. In preparation, the nanofluids in the volume fraction of 1% were diluted so as to reduce the possibility of the particle agglomeration in preparing the TEM samples in the drying process [12]. Then, a little drop of the nanofluid samples was dried naturally by placing on the copper grid coated with carbon film. The TEM instrument was used at an operating voltage of 200 kV in the graphite-water nanofluids instantly after preparation (fresh) and 3 days after, respectively. The Raman spectra were to disclose the molecular structure of materials. A Renishaw inVia Raman spectroscope (Wotton-under-Edge, UK) was applied by using the 514 nm He-Ne laser source with a laser power setting at 10 mW to determine the structure of nanoparticle aggregation on the basis of the molecular vibration. The fresh nanofluids and the fluids held for 3 days were sampled and then measured at room temperature for the Raman spectra.
Results and discussion
The steady shear measurement was conducted at room temperature (298.15 K) for the series of nanofluids with the volume concentrations at 1%, 2%, 3%, and 4%. The effective dynamic viscosity of the fresh nanofluids, which were just prepared, is shown in Figure 1. It can be seen that the effective dynamic viscosity decreases with an increase of the shear rate in the nanofluids for a given concentration. The viscosity increases with the increasing loading of nanoparticles at the same shear rate, the effective dynamic viscosity has a higher value at 4 vol% than that at 1%. The dispersions with the graphite particles are shear thinning at low shear rates and approach a constant dynamic viscosity at high shear rates. The nanofluids act as the non-Newtonian flows.
Figure 1. The effective dynamic viscosity as a function of steady shear rate in the fresh nanofluids.
With the assumption of a pseudoplastic flow, the modified Cross model [13], expressed in Equation 1, is applied to fit the experimental data,
(1)
where R is the shear rate, μ0 is the dynamic viscosity at zero rate of shear, is the dynamic viscosity at infinite rate of shear, αand n are constant. The fitting parameters are listed in Table 1. The effective viscosities, and μ0, increase with an increase of the volume concentration from 1% to 4%. The dynamic viscosity at infinite shear rate of the 4 vol% nanofluids is over 2.68 times that of the 1 vol% nanofluids.
Table 1. Fitting parameters of the steady shear measurement for the nanofluids held 3 days (nff)
Similarly, the effective dynamic viscosity of the nanofluids held for 3 days is shown with a non-Newtonian behavior as well, illustrated in Figure 2. The effective dynamic viscosity decreases dramatically under low shear rates and approaches a constant dynamic viscosity at high shear rates. At a given shear rate, the dynamic viscosity increases with the increasing loading of particles, similar to that in the fresh nanofluids. However, the enhancement of the effective dynamic viscosity is much higher than the fresh nanofluids under the same volume concentration. The experimental data were also fitted to obtain the parameters of μ0, , α, and n, listed in Table 2. The dynamic viscosity at infinite shear rate, increases to 1.34 times for the 2 vol% of 3-day fluids, 3.39 times at 3 vol%, 11.21 times at 4 vol% in comparison with the 1 vol% nanofluids three days after the preparation.
Table 2. Fitting parameters of the steady shear measurement for the nanofluids held 3 days (nfo)
The fitting errors were analyzed for each of the effective dynamic viscosity measurements. The average fitting errors were calculated from Equations 2 and 3. The mean of absolute fitting errors and the absolute average fitting error are listed in Table 3.
(2)
where is the average of absolute fitting errors, MA, of the effective dynamic viscosity of the nanofluids, j is for the fresh nanofluids (nff ) and or the 3-day fluids (nfo), μfit is the fitted dynamic viscosity at the measured rate of shear, μeffis the measured dynamic viscosity, and k is the number of readings at a run of viscosity measurement.
(3)
where is the absolute average fitting error, AM.
Table 3. The fitting errors of the effective dynamic viscosity of fresh nanofluids and 3-day fluids
Figure 2. The effective dynamic viscosity as a function of steady shear rate in the 3-day fluids.
As listed in Table 3, the average of absolute fitting errors is 0.49% for the 1 vol% fresh graphite-water nanofluids compared with the value at 0.98% in the 1% nanofluids held for 3 days. For a higher volume concentration at 4%, the mean of absolute fitting errors is 1.28% for the fresh nanofluids, but 1.87% for the 3-day fluids. The absolute average fitting error has a smaller value compared with the mean of the absolute fitting errors in the same nanofluids. The maximum absolute average fitting error is 0.11% for the fresh nanofluids while it is 0.24% for the 3-day fluids. It can be seen that the fitting curve is very close to the experimental data.
Figure 3 shows the relative effective dynamic viscosity, , as a function of the nanoparticle volume concentration, in which μfis the dynamic viscosity of the base fluid. It is found that the viscosity ratio increases monotonically as a function of the volume concentration for both the fresh nanofluids and the 3-day fluids. The relative effective dynamic viscosity at infinite shear rate increases gradually to 2.92 in the fresh nanofluids, but up to 24.86 in the nanofluids held for 3 days from 1% to 4% in volume fraction. Yang et al. showed a similar trend in the nanofluids of graphite and poly(α-olefin) solutions, the relative effective viscosity increased from 1.15 at the volume fraction at 0.39% to 1.33 at 0.78% [9]. As seen from Figure 3, the relative effective dynamic viscosity shows a significant higher value in the 3-day fluids than that in the fresh nanofluids under the same concentration at the volume fraction of 1%, 2%, 3%, or 4%, respectively. The relative effective dynamic viscosity at infinite shear rate is 1.09 for the fresh nanofluids at the volume fraction at 1%, but 2.22 for the 1% 3-day fluids. As shown in the insert of 3, the increasing dynamic viscosity gradient reported by Yang et al. [9] is shown in between the fresh nanofluids and the fluids held for three days in this study. The enhancement can be mainly explained that a higher aggregation of nanoparticles, induced by a higher concentration, results in a higher effective dynamic viscosity [11]. Even though the nanofluids held for 3 days were remixed before the measurement, the shaking process cannot totally break down the aggregation formed with the time.
Figure 3. The relative dynamic viscosity,, as a function of particle volume concentration.
Similarly, Kim et al. reported that the CNT-based nanofluids had such the phenomenon by pointing out that the high surface effect and the strong van der Waals force drive the nanoparticles to form the aggregation in the suspensions [14]. Since most of aggregates might be destroyed under high shear rates, the nanofluids are shown in shear thinning non-Newtonian behaviors [9,11,15]. We have to mention that the graphite-water nanofluids have a different flow property from the Al2O3-water nanofluids, which are Newtonian flows if the nanofluids are freshly prepared, but non-Newtonian flows if the fluids have large aggregates [11]. The different results might be from the various nanoparticle sizes, species, and configuration. The graphite-water nanofluids might have the particle aggregation just after the preparation, and show the non-Newtonian flow properties. The size of aggregation in nanofluids would increase with the increase of the particle volume concentration and the holding time. Thus, it would take a higher force to break the ligand structure among particles in the aggregated fluids [9,11], as a result, a high effective dynamic viscosity ratio can be observed in Figure 3.
The effective dynamic viscosity enhancement can also be qualitatively explained with the viscosity ratio between a nanofluid (nf) and its base fluid (f ) in the model [16], , in which μ is the intrinsic viscosity for spherical particles with a value of 2.5, ϕa is the volume fraction of aggregates, and ϕmis the volume fraction of densely packed spheres. The volume fraction of the aggregates can be expressed as , in which dfis the fractal dimension of the aggregates. When the nanoparticle aggregation size, da, increases, the magnitude of increases. Thus, the volume fraction of the aggregates increases, and the viscosity ratio increases based on the model of Krieger and Dougherty [16]. As shown in the microstructure in Figure 4, the shape of graphite nanoparticles is not spherical, and the aggregates of particles are more complex in the 3-day fluids. The intrinsic viscosity, μ, consequently changes larger with the complicated shape [17]. This could also account for the rise in the effective dynamic viscosity as the volume concentration or the holding time increases. The relative effective viscosity of the 3-day fluids at the volume concentration of 4% is as 22.86 times as the value of the fresh nanofluids at 1 vol%, as shown in Figure 3.
Figure 4. TEM images of graphite nanoparticle aggregation from the fresh nanofluids (a) and 3-day fluids (b).
The TEM images of the graphite particles dried from the nanofluids are shown in Figure 4. It is found that the average diameter of graphite particles dispersed in the nanofluids just after the ultrasonic agitation is up to 50 nm shown in Figure 4a. The nanoparticles are still larger than those specified by the supplier in the powder form. It suggests that the graphite nanoparticles have aggregated into a certain size even in the fresh nanofluids, resulted from the high surface effect of nanoparticles and the inter-particle attraction [11,18]. However, the graphite particles were significantly aggregated if the nanofluids were held for 3 days, as shown in Figure 4b. The size of aggregated graphite particles is larger than 150 nm at least. The highly fragmented aggregation clusters were found in the microstructure analysis. The aggregation of nanoparticles in the graphite-water nanofluids increased with a longer holding time. It supports the aforementioned discussion that the effective dynamic viscosity increases at the 3-day fluids. Note that the nanoparticle boundary is detectable in the aggregates shown in Figure 4a. We can estimate that the largest dimension of the particle is at about 18 nm. Thus, if the 3 to 4 nm is treated as the thickness of the graphite nanoparticle, the height to width aspect ratio could be up to 0.17, which is much larger than those used by Yang et al. [9].
Figure 5 illustrates the Raman spectra at various volume concentrations from 1% to 4% for the fresh nanofluids and the 3-day fluids. Two characteristic peaks are observed in the graphite-based nanofluids, locating in the range of 1,570 to 1,594 cm−1 and 1,330 to 1,360 cm−1. These features could be characterized as the G peak and the D peak [19-21], marked in Figure 5. In the crystallization analysis, the G peak of graphite at 1,575 cm−1indicates the sp2vibration of the carbon atoms in the structure, and the D peak of graphite at 1,355 cm−1, suggesting the sp3hybridization of carbon atoms, is resulted from defects, disorder, and impurities in the materials. As illustrated in Figure 5, the intensities of the D and G peaks increase as an increase of the volume concentration in the fresh nanofluids, the strength of the D peaks increases to about 10 times as the volume concentration is 2%, and 20 times as the concentration is 4%. Then, the intensities acutely increase with an increase of the particle volume concentration in the 3-day fluids. A dramatic increase of the intensity at the D peak is found between the fresh nanofluids and those held for 3 days for a given concentration, i.e., the intensity increases over 70 times in the nanofluids with 1 vol%. The other three increase the intensity of the D peak above 100 times compared with the 1% fresh nanofluids. It is indicated that the effective intensity of the D peak in the nanofluids qualitatively reflects the size of the aggregation clusters of graphite nanoparticles in the nanofluids. The size of clusters became larger at a higher concentration and a longer holding time. The results from the Raman spectra are consistent with the dynamic viscosity measurements and the TEM microstructures. In addition, the intensity ratio at about a unit between the D peak and the G peak also suggests the cluster and chain groups formation [22].
Figure 5. Raman spectra of the fresh nanofluids and 3-day fluids.
Conclusions
The effective dynamic viscosity of the graphite-water nanofluids is experimentally found to decrease with an increase of shear rate in a given particle volume fraction (Figures 1 and 2). The nanofluids act as the shear thinning non-Newtonian flows. The data of the effective dynamic viscosity in nanofluids are fitted numerically, the relative effective dynamic viscosity at infinite rate of shear increases to 2.92 in the fresh nanofluids at 4 vol% in comparison of the base fluid, but 24.86 for the nanofluids held for 3 days (Figure 3). The microstructure of the diluted nanofluids indicates that the aggregation of nanoparticles is significantly higher in the 3-day fluids than that in the fresh nanofluids, as shown in Figure 4. The Raman spectra are used for showing the formation of larger graphite nanoparticle aggregation with an increase of the volume concentration or the holding time of the nanofluids in Figure 5. This study suggests that the aggregation would happen in the nanofluids which have not been treated specially by adding the surfactant, controlling the pH value, etc. The aggregation would dramatically change the nanofluid properties including viscosity consequently.
Competing interests
The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
Authors’ contributions
TFW carried out the viscosity measurement of nanofluids and participated in the manuscript writing. AC participated in analyzing of the data. FD initiated the study and revised the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Authors’ informations
FD is an assistant professor on thermofluids at Nanyang Technological University. TFW was an undergraduate student for his final year project under FD. AC is a Ph.D. student on nanofluids.
Acknowledgement
The authors acknowledge the support of MOE AcRT Tier 1 and the help from the staff of Materials Lab in Nanyang Technological University.
References
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J Heat Transfer 1999, 121:280. Publisher Full Text
4. Kwek D, Crivoi A, Duan F: Effects of temperature and particle size on the thermal property measurements of Al2O3-water nanofluids.
J Chem Eng Data 2010, 55:5690. Publisher Full Text
5. Timofeeva EV, Gavrilov AN, McCloskey JM, Tolmachev YV: Thermal conductivity and particle agglomeration in alumina nanofluids: experiment and theory.
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6. Sefiane K: On the role of structural disjoining pressure and contact line pinning in critical heat flux enhancement during boiling of nanofluids.
Appl Phys Lett 2006, 89:044106. Publisher Full Text
7. Xuan Y, Roetzel W: Conceptions for heat transfer correlation of nanofluids.
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8. Tseng WJ, Lin K-C: Rheology and colloidal structure of aqueous TiO2 nanoparticle suspensions.
Mater Sci Eng A 2003, 355:186. Publisher Full Text
9. Yang Y, Grulke EA, Zhang ZG, Wu G: Rheological behavior of carbon nanotube and graphite nanoparticle dispersions.
J Nanosci Nanotech 2005, 5:571. Publisher Full Text
10. Ding Y, Alias H, Wen D, Williams RA: Heat transfer of aqueous suspensions of carbon nanotubes (CNT nanofluids).
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11. Duan F, Kwek D, Crivoi A: Viscosity affected by nanoparticle aggregation in Al2O3-water nanofluids.
Nanoscale Res Lett 2011, 6:248. PubMed Abstract | BioMed Central Full Text | PubMed Central Full Text
12. Crivoi A, Duan F: Evaporation-induced formation of fractal-like structures from nanofluids.
Phys Chem Chem Phys 2012, 14:1449. PubMed Abstract | Publisher Full Text
13. Cross MM: Rheology of non-Newtonian fluids: A new flow equation for pseudoplastic systems.
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14. Kim B, Park H, Sigmund WM: Rheological behavior of multiwall carbon nanotubes with polyelectrolyte dispersants.
Colloid Surface Physicochem Eng Aspect 2005, 256:123. Publisher Full Text
15. Phuoc TX, Massoudi M, Chen RH: Experimental investigation of temperature and volume fraction variations on the effective thermal conductivity of nanoparticle suspensions (nanofluids).
Int J Therm Sci 2011, 50:12. Publisher Full Text
16. Krieger IM, Dougherty TJ: A mechanism for non-newtonian flow in suspensions of rigid spheres.
J Rheol 1959, 3:137. Publisher Full Text
17. Rubio-hernandez FJ, Ayucar-Rubio MF, Velazquez-Navarro JF, Galindo-Rosales FJ: Intrinsic viscosity of SiO2, Al2O3 and TiO2 aqueous suspensions.
J Colloid Interface Sci 2006, 298:967. PubMed Abstract | Publisher Full Text
18. Jiang L, Gao L, Sun J: Production of aqueous colloidal dispersions of carbon nanotubes.
J Colloid Interface Sci 2003, 260:89. PubMed Abstract | Publisher Full Text
19. Tuinstra F, Koenig JL: Raman spectrum of graphite.
J Chem Phys 1970, 53:1126. Publisher Full Text
20. Baby TT, Ramaprabhu S: Experimental investigation of the thermal transport properties of a carbon nanohybrid dispersed nanofluid.
Nanoscale 2011, 3:2208. PubMed Abstract | Publisher Full Text
21. Tamor MA, Vassell WC: Raman fingerprinting of amorphous carbon films.
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Syrian activists report raging battles in Aleppo historic districts
PanARMENIAN.Net - Syrian activists say raging firefights between government forces and rebels in the historic districts of central Aleppo have started a major fire in the city's medieval souks, or markets, The Associated Press reports.
The covered souks, some of the Middle East's largest, were once a major tourist attraction.
Rebels fighting to topple Syrian President Bashar Assad launched an offensive to drive his forces out of Syria's largest city and commercial hub.
Aleppo-based activist Ahmad al-Halabi estimates the blaze destroyed a majority of the shops in the district overnight. He said some were still on fire.
The Britain-based Observatory for Human Rights and other activists also reported Saturday that part of the souks were on fire. A video posted online showed smoke covering Aleppo, said to be a result of the bazaar fire.
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Jorge Rafael Videla, an austere former army commander, led Argentina during the bloodiest days of its Dirty War dictatorship.
According to the United Nations, April was Iraq's bloodiest month for almost five years, with 712 people killed.
Reports suggest the rebel fighters may have tried to blow up the walls of the prison, which holds some 4,000 inmates.
Moscow has condemned other nations for supporting rebel forces and failing to condemn what it describes as terrorist attacks on the Syrian regime.
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Team:Caltech/Human Impact
From 2010.igem.org
iGEM 2010
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Human Impact
With any new development in technology, there coincides a need to appropriate the new object in the established context. We intend to delineate any major questions about that process by pointing towards answers to these common concerns listed below, and describe how entrepreneurial and open-source work can coexist.
Feel free to jump to the Bottom Line.
What are the potentially proprietary components of a biologically engineered project?
Theoretically, a competitor should own any component submitted to the contest inasmuch as the competitor contributed to the novelty of the component in a major way. Whole organisms/subspecies/strains should not be owned if the competitor did not contribute to the differentiation of the species; isolated naturally-occurring genes should not be owned. Ownership of a biological organism or part cannot be claimed if the competitor did not partake in its creation – for example, the chemist who first isolates gold does not own all gold, but does own the isolation if it is a novel one, and this process would then be patentable. Following this logic it is also clear that isolating a gene does not lead to its patentability.
On 29 March 2010, US District Court Judge Robert Sweet ruled that "products of nature do not constitute patentable subject matter unless modified enough to be a fundamentally new product," invalidating many gene patents in the process [25]. Previously, roughly 40,000 United States patents exist that correspond to about 2,000 human genes, or 20 percent of the human genome. It is still too soon to know how this issue will fall in the appeals courts, but it shows the realization by the courts that genes are information, not chemicals. It also suggests that scientists and engineers may soon be able to utilize all the genes in the quickly-growing GenBank databases free of worry from IP infringement.
Similarly, modifications to biological organisms or parts need to be carefully considered for originality. The rewriting of a book, superficially changing names of characters, locations, etc is not copyrightable in its own right, although the new names and characters could be considered the work of the new “author”; forming a DNA sequence degenerate to an already existing one, then, should not lead to a copyright. Modifying a car engine design does not lead to the patentability of all cars with that engine design, only that of the engine design proper; thus, whole organisms with novel genes should not be patentable in their entirety; the significant changes made, however, are the property of the person responsible and are patentable.
What are the expected effects of proprietary work on the public nature of iGEM? What sort of interface can we expect in general between private and public property with respect to biological systems?
Private use of public property may lead to more novel ideas because of larger incentive and identification with private projects. Take Unix/Linux, for instance: private companies for years have used Unix/Linux, an open-source, public platform, to develop proprietary software. The privatization of development has resulted in refined, successful products such as the Red Hat and Android operating systems, yet the development of those and related software products does not infringe upon the original public nature of Unix/Linux.
For iGEM in particular, the private development of biological systems will not affect the public nature of iGEM or the Registry – the people developing those systems have full right to release their product to the Registry (thus making the parts public) or keep them for their continued private use. The use of parts already in the Registry is equivalent to taking the code base of Linux to form a novel operating system: although the code base is public domain, individual novel contributions are counted as personal property and thus the incentive for private development remains intact.
What is a patent?
Patent Process. Taken from the US Patent and Trademark Office website.
A patent is an establishment of exclusive rights between an inventor or his assignee for a finite period of time in exchange for public disclosure of an invention or innovation. Functionally, a patent gives an inventor the time to profit off of his invention for a time period wherein his competitors cannot copy or use the patented idea legally without an arrangement with said inventor. Additionally, a patent serves as a record of new technologies invented by others, such that a person wanting to develop a product and compete in a market knows what has been invented, what ideas/technologies are currently in place, and where new inventions can be made.
How would one go about obtaining a patent?
The process of obtaining a patent can be found on the USPTO website.
Further questions about patents are answered on the USPTO FAQ.
What is a copyright?
Copyright is a form of protection for original works of authorship fixed in a tangible medium of expression.
Copyright formally establishes the ownership between authors and both published and unpublished works.
How would one go about obtaining a copyright?
The process of obtaining a copyright can be found here.
What does iGEM or MIT own from this competition? in what capacity?
According to the BioBrick™ Public Agreement, neither iGEM nor MIT own the material submitted to the competition. The competition and the university are simply the venue for displaying the bioengineering projects. Any possible ownership does not fall on iGEM or MIT; parts, documentation, and presented materials are all property of the competitors participating in the iGEM competition.
What does the BioBrick™ Foundation own? in what capacity?
The BioBrick™ Foundation is a nonprofit organization storing open source material. It does not privately own any of the BioBrick™ parts. All of the BioBrick™ parts are available for anyone to use. A draft of a public agreement has been written to help define concerns about BioBrick™ submissions.
See the BioBrick™ Public Agreement draft (PDF).
What does the university own? in what capacity?
The university may lay claim to objects produced within the context of the university as agreed upon by students when they have matriculated and accepted working positions. For example, a university may own all developments funded by the university, while individual discoverers or developers may receive royalties on profits.
If another team patents a process for their project, and submit its BioBrick™ parts to the Registry, can I use those bricks in my project?
Certainly! The team can only patent a novel process it develops. It cannot both patent a brick and send it in to the Registry to be distributed. If a team uses a patented sequence in its project, you will need special permission from the patent-holder to obtain and use the sequence in your project, but in this case, the DNA would not be available in the Registry.
The iGEM requirement that BioBrick™ parts must be submitted to the Registry to be eligible for judging incentivizes the submission of new parts into the public domain, allowing other teams to build on them and create even better systems. This prevents the universal application of patents to all iGEM projects and maintains the open nature of the Registry. In this way, iGEM projects and entrepreneurial efforts can coexist peacefully, and indeed, fruitfully. Teams contribute to the overall body of available genetic parts, and can protect their innovation by patenting their unique procedure or a few parts specific to their application.
How does this apply to 3D printing, for example?
In our case, Caltech owns the IP for our project, since the entirety of the work was funded by the institute. However, each team member is eligible to receive a fraction of any profits derived from the technology that Caltech receives. However, we are submitting all the parts we produced to the Registry, meaning any other team can build on them. The only restriction is on the 3D printing procedure itself, which is protected by provisional patent: CIT 5637-P.
The Bottom Line:
We hope that our example will become the accepted means for teams to protect their innovation while still making their parts available for use by others. The Registry is predicated upon principles of generosity and openness, and its success is dependent on the willingness of teams to both utilize its resources and submit their own additions. However, there is no reason why this philosophy should be incompatible with entrepreneurial development, as with any other open-source system.
We believe that the BioBrick™ Public Agreement is a good step in the direction of a sustainable Registry and we hope future teams wishing to protect their work will consider doing so in a way that does not inhibit future iGEM innovation. That is, we hope they avoid patenting primary gene sequences whenever possible, and instead submit as many high-quality bricks to the Registry as possible. Rather, teams should work to patent their particularly innovative process. If a gene patent seems unavoidable, we encourage them to grant a free license to the Registry to distribute their brick for purely nonprofit research purposes.
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Australian Bureau of Statistics
Celebrating the International Year of Statistics 2013
ABS Home > Statistics > By Release Date
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Australian Bureau of Statistics
Celebrating the International Year of Statistics 2013
ABS Home > Statistics > By Catalogue Number
8140.0.40.002 - Summary of Industry Performance, 1998-99
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Data for different size classifications (such as small businesses) are also available. For further information please telephone (06) 252 5288.
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Tell me more ×
Answers OnStartups is a question and answer site for entrepreneurs looking to start or run a new business. It's 100% free, no registration required.
The question is simply "What approach should I take to find the right technology partner?"
Some background for context: I am currently employed full time in my industry and have been for over a decade. I have a compelling business idea which requires advanced skills for database and web application programming. Although I have some basic background in understanding modern web technologies, I clearly need a strong engineer / CTO / programmer partner to work with (or for) me on this project.
Once this startup is launched, I plan on departing from my full time job and spending my time on this new company.
What strategy or approach should I use in sourcing the right partner? Are there organizations or communities where I could find strong technology talent on the flip-side of my scenario?
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4 Answers
You'll probably want to tap your network first, before partnering with a complete stranger. It tends to work out better.
Otherwise invest some time and get to know the local startup and tech scene.
Somebody asked a similar question a couple of days ago and it has a bunch of thoughtful answers.
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There are really three ways
• Hire somebody but that requires money which is out of the question at your stage
• Advertise for somebody to partner but how do you know the person has the skills and dedication and is willing to invest his time for a potential payout?
• Involve people you know from work, networking etc, get them excited about the idea and ask if they are interested in working on it.
My preference is to involve people you know or have worked with. The advantage of co-workers is that you know there ability, attitude, work ethics etc.
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You sound like my opposite. I am a developer bootstrapping a startup and building the platform myself, but don't have a co-founder to help form relationships with first customers. Since I would never work for another startup for free or for equity (because I have enough failed startups to know this is too risky for my particular personality and balance sheet). My solution has been, honestly, to learn the business area myself, to force myself to connect with potential customers and partners, attend professional development events, and practice my pitch.
It could be that I'm at an advantage somehow because I can do the kind of work that makes the site happen despite customers, but it's probably that our roles are equally needed in a new venture.
One of the users on this site, Alain Reynaud (http://answers.onstartups.com/users/502/alain-raynaud) is the founder of http://fairsoftware.net, you should check that out. I haven't used it personally but it sounds like a match for what you're looking for.
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Try and find an engineer with experience in similar industries as the one you are targeting with experience in a variety of technologies (a jack of all trades) and convince him that your idea is worth investing time and effort in.
A good site to start networking with people from other backgrounds is LinkedIn.
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1 reputation
1
bio website itbuzzzz.blogspot.com
location Ahmedabad
age 23
visits member for 9 months
seen Aug 21 '12 at 3:20
stats profile views 0
Hello this is Rushabh L. Chheda and here goes my brief introduction.
About Me: I am passionate about programming as well as desigining concepts. I like to learn new languages and implement them in real-life applications.
I have knowledge about C, C++, Unix, SQL, PL/SQL, VB.net, ASP.Net, PHP and ANDROID.
GROUP named IT BUZZ on FaceBook : [http://www.facebook.com/home.phpsk=group_180224522015694&ap=1]
Also a PAGE on FaceBook namely : [http://www.facebook.com/iT.Buzzzz][1]>
Educational Background: I have done BCA(Bachelor in Computer Application) with 73.00% and completed SY-MCA (Master in Computer Application) with A- grade.
Contact: email: rushabh.it@gmail.com
Follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/rushabh2611
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This article is part of the supplement: Lupus 2012: New targets, new approaches
Email this article to a friend
Renal flare as a biomarker of incident and progressive chronic kidney disease in patients with lupus nephritis
S Parikh, A McKinley and BH Rovin*
• * Corresponding author: BH Rovin
Arthritis Research & Therapy 2012, 14(Suppl 3):A45 doi:10.1186/ar3979
Fields marked * are required
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Torrentflux with Transmissioncli
From NAS-Central Buffalo - The Linkstation Wiki
Revision as of 15:06, 24 January 2007 by 86.135.152.28 (Talk)
Jump to: navigation, search
Torrentflux is a multi-user GUI for BitTornado. It is scripted in PHP, with a MySQL database and runs on a web server. The most recent beta release also includes support for ADOdb, allowing for use of other database backends. Numerous "hacks" have been written to add additional functionality.
Transmission is a free, lightweight BitTorrent client. It features a simple, intuitive interface (we won't be using here) on top on an efficient, cross-platform back-end.
Contents
Requirements
You will need to install either:
1. LAMP Steps 1-5
2. LLMP
3. LLSP
Installation
First get python and perl
apt-get install python perl
Goto webservers root directory (/var/www)
cd /var/www
Download torrentflux-b4rt into said directory
wget http://download.berlios.de/tf-b4rt/torrentflux_2.1-b4rt-98.tar.bz2
Untar the downloaded file and move into it
tar -jxvf torrentflux_2.1-b4rt-98.tar.bz2 && cd torrentflux_2.1-b4rt-98
Configure and make transmissioncli
cd clients/transmission
tar -jxvf Transmission-0.7-svn1302_tfCLI-svn1995.tar.bz2
cd Transmission-0.7-svn1302_tfCLI-svn1995
./configure --prefix=/usr/local --disable-gtk --sysconfdir=/etc
make
make install
See if it's in the right place
updatedb
locate transmissioncli
Should be in /mnt/hda/usr/bin/transmissioncli
Populate the database
For Mysql Database
cd ../../../sql/mysql
mysqladmin create torrentflux
(if you set a passwd for mysql root then use this and enter passwd at prompt)
mysqladmin -p create torrentflux
and then
mysql torrentflux < mysql_torrentflux_tf-b4rt-97.sql
(if you set a passwd for mysql root then use this and enter passwd at prompt)
mysql -p torrentflux < mysql_torrentflux_tf-b4rt-97.sql
cd ../../html
mv config.db.php.dist config.db.php
(if you set a passwd for mysql root you need to edit)
pico config.db.php
add passwd
$cfg["db_pass"] = "<add passwd>"; // Password for Database
For SQLite Database
All this needs clarifying
cd ../../../sql/sqlite
sqlite torrentflux
Ctrl + Z
sqlite torrentflux < sqlite_torrentflux_tf-b4rt-97.sql
Ctrl + Z
cd ../../html
mv config.db.php.dist config.db.php
pico config.db.php
alter database type
$cfg["db_type"] = "mysql"; // Database-Type : mysql/sqlite/postgres
$cfg["db_type"] = "sqlite"; // Database-Type : mysql/sqlite/postgres
Apache
Make it readable for apache user:group
chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/torrentflux_2.1-b4rt-97/html
Now you will need to create a file in apache to see torrentflux
pico /etc/apache/conf.d/torrentflux.conf
and add this to that file
# Torrentflux Virtual Host Configuration file
Listen 8090
<VirtualHost _default_:8090>
DocumentRoot "/var/www/torrentflux_2.1-b4rt-97/html"
<Directory "/var/www/torrentflux_2.1-b4rt-97/html">
Options Indexes FollowSymLinks MultiViews
AllowOverride None
Order allow,deny
Allow from all
</Directory>
<IfModule mod_dir.c>
DirectoryIndex index.html index.php
</IfModule>
</VirtualHost>
Restart apache
/etc/init.d/apache restart
Lighttpd
Make it readable for apache user:group
chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/torrentflux_2.1-b4rt-97/html
Restart Lighttpd
/etc/init.d/lighttpd restart
Run it
Apache
Go to your Torrentflux on your Linkstation
http://<IPAdddress>:8090
Lighttpd
Go to your Torrentflux on your Linkstation
http://<IPAdddress>/torrentflux_2.1-b4rt-97/html
Configure it
You should see this
Enter user name and passwd - WARNING!! - That is for the superuser, so don't forget it
Check all the admin settings pages and configure your installation - i.e select transmissioncli as default client and point it in the right direction. You will need to correct everything highlighted red (apart from bittornado unless you are going to use it).
Bauldrick 11:38, 4 December 2006 (EST)
Personal tools
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The Development of Chinese Agricultural Land Transfer System: Transaction, Concentration and Commercialization
Du Yuneng, Sun Bo
Abstract
Currently, the Chinese agricultural land transfer activities are carried out extensively. Starting from the research on the historical development of Chinese agricultural land transfer, this paper analyzes three modes of Chinese agricultural land transfer, namely, transaction, concentration and commercialization. After that, the necessity of agricultural land transfer in China and the bottlenecks thereof are discussed. Finally, some policy proposals to perfect Chinese agricultural land transfer market are made.
Full Text: PDF
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Journal of Agricultural Science ISSN 1916-9752 (Print) ISSN 1916-9760 (Online)
Copyright © Canadian Center of Science and Education
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Minireview
Being in the right location at the right time
Rainer Pepperkok1*, Jeremy C Simpson1 and Stefan Wiemann2
Author Affiliations
1 Department of Cell Biology and Biophysics, European Molecular Biology Laboratory Heidelberg, Meyerhofstrasse, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany
2 Molecular Genome Analysis, German Cancer Research Center, Im Neuenheimer Feld, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
For all author emails, please log on.
Genome Biology 2001, 2:reviews1024-reviews1024.4 doi:10.1186/gb-2001-2-9-reviews1024
The electronic version of this article is the complete one and can be found online at: http://genomebiology.com/2001/2/9/reviews/1024
Published:29 August 2001
© 2001 BioMed Central Ltd
Abstract
Taking each coding sequence from the human genome in turn and identifying the subcellular localization of the corresponding protein would be a significant contribution to understanding the function of each of these genes and to deciphering functional networks. This article highlights current approaches aimed at achieving this goal.
Minireview
The spatial and temporal regulation of biochemical reactions in eukaryotic cells is achieved by a high degree of compartmentalization. Each protein is part of a functional biochemical network and all proteins within a particular network are at least once in their lifetime localized close to each other, within (or at) a particular organelle or compartment. This facilitates interactions and yet allows the segregation of different networks. Exchange of information between different organelles, and of proteins between networks, is essential for the proper function of the cell as an entity and is achieved by the active transport of material.
One of the best examples of such an assembly of networks is the secretory pathway. Secretory proteins move sequentially through the distinct membrane-bounded organelles of this pathway, receiving at each step specific enzymatic modifications necessary for their quality control and proper function. The communication and specific transfer of material between membrane organelles is mediated by distinct small membrane-bounded transport carrier vesicles containing a myriad of regulatory proteins. A key feature of any protein functionally involved in the secretory pathway is its permanent or transient localization to one of the appropriate transport carriers or organelles. Extending this concept to the whole cell, the determination of the subcellular localization of a novel protein is one of the essential steps in resolving its function. This includes imaging not only the protein's steady-state distribution but also the changes in localization that can occur in response to environmental conditions, during specific stages of the cell cycle or of cell differentiation. Indeed, changes in localization can also be caused by the breakdown of remote but functionally related organelles and/or cellular structures, such as Golgi fragmentation resulting from microtubule reorganization (see for example Figure 1c,d).
Figure 1. Highly dynamic and interdependent organization of distinct subcellular structures. The Vero cells in (a) show the normal arrangement of microtubules (green) radiating from the microtubule-organizing center. The Golgi complex (indicated by the arrow), a membrane-bounded organelle through which all secretory proteins pass en route to the cell surface, is stained with antibodies against the coat protein complex COPI (red; where red and green staining coincide they appear yellow). The Golgi complex resides as a tight structure at a central perinuclear location. The cell in (b) has been treated with the drug brefeldin A, which causes rapid removal of the COPI coat from Golgi membranes into a cytoplasmic pool, followed by disassembly of the Golgi apparatus. The microtubule network remains unaffected by this treatment, however. (c) Treatment of a cell with the drug nocodazole causes disassembly of the microtubules into their respective cytoplasmic tubulin monomers. This breakdown of the microtubule network, a key component of cell architecture, also results in the breakdown of the Golgi complex into distinct fragments spread throughout the cell (as indicated by the arrowheads). The cell in (d) has been transfected with a GFP-tagged novel cDNA, which when expressed localizes along the entire microtubule network (green). But as the expression level of this protein increases, it interferes with the microtubule network with the concomitant result that the Golgi is fragmented in a similar manner to that observed in (c) (as indicated by the arrowheads). This phenotypic effect illustrates the dynamic interdependency of organelles exemplified by Golgi morphology and the microtubule network. The nuclei of all the cells have also been stained with the DNA-chelating agent diamino phenylindole (DAPI; blue), showing that this organelle appears not to be affected by the various treatments. The bar indicates 10 μm.
Although studies to follow these dynamic events have been a difficult task in the past, the availability of green fluorescent protein (GFP) and its spectral variants has now facilitated localization experiments particularly aimed at observing protein dynamics in living cells [1,2,3,4]. The cDNA encoding GFP was cloned several years ago and encodes a 27 kDa protein that emits green fluorescence when excited with blue light, without the need for any co-factors. Thus, any cDNA can be fused with the coding sequence of GFP, and the localization of the expressed GFP fusion can be followed in living cells. This unique feature of GFP has led to the development of a number of 'localization screening assays', which can be performed in a systematic 'high-throughput' manner as typically required for large-scale post-genome projects.
GFP-based techniques
Most GFP-based techniques fuse either fragments of genomic libraries or individual clones from cDNA libraries to the coding sequence of GFP, then express the fusions in cells or tissues and determine their subcellular localizations by microscopic inspection. Subsequently, the respective cDNAs or genes are rescued from the cells or tissues, cloned and sequenced. Such strategies have already been conducted on a genome-wide scale in yeast [5,6] and have identified the localization of so-far uncharacterized proteins, or fragments thereof. The GFP-tagged proteins can be immediately followed in living cells by time-lapse microscopy to determine their cellular dynamics, which adds a further level of information to such screens. At least 50% of the cDNAs isolated in this way are already known and well characterized, however [6,7,8,9]. Furthermore, the same cDNA clones are isolated several-fold in one screen, as the primary criterion for selection is simply localization [5]. These aspects are major disadvantages of such morphological screens and make them inefficient. For example, in an attempt to isolate novel nuclear-envelope proteins, 550,000 starting cDNA clones were required to identify 27 clones localizing to this compartment, of which only two proved to be novel [9].
When tagging cDNA libraries with GFP, consideration must also be given to the effect of the reporter on masking targeting signals contained within the expressed proteins. Amino-terminal fusions of GFP to target proteins potentially block signal sequences associated with import into mitochondria or the endoplasmic reticulum, for example. Conversely, when using either random DNA fragments or even non-full-length cDNAs (of which there are significant numbers in cDNA libraries), the expressed proteins may appear to clearly localize, but the recorded localization may be aberrant, resulting simply from exposing a peptide sequence normally hidden in the full-length protein. This was clearly demonstrated in the 'motif-trap method' by which a large number of cryptic mitochondrial targeting signals were isolated - many corresponding to sequences derived from non-coding genomic DNA [10]. In an attempt to circumvent the problem of hidden amino-terminal targeting sequences, in one study [11] cDNAs were cloned from a library containing cDNA fragments upstream of GFP, and a retrovirus-mediated expression system was used to determine the cellular localizations of the encoded fusion products. Although this expression system is highly effective, the authors themselves concede that none of their cDNAs was full-length, and that the interpretation of the localization results is dependent upon the targeting sequences being present in the partial cDNA [11]. Thus, strategies using GFP tagging of whole cDNA or genomic libraries generate significant amounts of redundant or inaccurate data, all of which are time-consuming, and therefore expensive, to eliminate.
Methods are therefore now being devised to focus more rapidly specifically on those localizations of interest. For example, one possibility is first to isolate GFP-positive cells from the non-fluorescent cells using fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS), which is able to sort thousands of GFP-expressing cells within minutes into individual wells of multiwell plates, and subsequently to clone them. In this way only GFP-expressing cells have to be examined microscopically, which increases the speed of analysis. An improved variant of such an approach was described recently [7] with the aim of identifying proteins localizing to the nucleus. Pichon and co-workers first mildly permeabilized intact cells with detergent, in order to remove cytosolic but not nuclear GFP-fusion proteins, and then sorted the remaining GFP-positive cells using FACS. This resulted in a 70-fold enrichment of cells expressing GFP-fusion proteins in the nucleus compared to cultures that had not been treated and sorted.
Clearly, tagging sequenced full-length cDNAs on an individual basis retains the advantages but overcomes many drawbacks of the approaches described above [12,13]. One advantage is the availability of a large clone resource from genome projects, the cDNA sequences of which can be prescreened for already-known genes or species variants, so that only novel cDNAs need to be GFP-tagged and screened. In addition, different versions of full-length GFP fusions - tagged at either the amino or the carboxyl terminus - can be generated and compared, helping to circumvent the risk of masking targeting sequences. Indeed, as expected, often only one version of a GFP-tagged protein shows proper subcellular localization [13]. Although the tagging of full-length cDNAs is a relatively low-throughput process and is reliant upon the identification of novel cDNAs by other means such as systematic sequencing [14], it has a further clear advantage that no additional cloning is required once an interesting localization has been identified. Tagging of full-length cDNAs suffered until recently from the problem that conventional restriction-enzyme-based cloning had to be used, which is tedious and virtually impossible to do for any large set of molecules [12]. To overcome this problem, we have recently devised a method that uses a recombination-based cloning system to systematically tag with GFP open reading frames of full-length cDNAs that have been identified and sequenced by large-scale genome projects [13,14]. The whole procedure is amenable to automation, and other characterization studies (for example, mutagenesis, protein dynamics and identification of interacting partners) can follow the localization screen immediately without further generation of new reagents or lengthy cloning procedures to identify the full-length cDNAs.
In silico methods
Several bioinformatic tools have been developed with the aim of predicting protein localization on the basis of sequence features within the respective gene or cDNA. One of the early methods, PSORT [15,16], detects in sequences the signals required for sorting proteins to particular subcellular compartments. Although PSORT is a well-accessed program and is widely applicable to different organisms, its overall accuracy - at best, for yeast - is still in the region of 50%. Others have used phylogenetic profiles [17], more careful use of annotated databases such as the Meta-A evaluation of SWISS-PROT entries [18], or expression levels [19] as means to tap into the knowledge that can be gained from determining localization. More profitable, perhaps, is to concentrate on specific organelles and the sequence motifs that direct proteins to them. For example, defined signals for directing proteins to mitochondria, the secretory pathway or chloroplasts are now well characterized, and the success rate of prediction can be as high as 90%. Even the correct prediction of cleavage sites for the signal sequences is possible with more than 50% success rate [20]. Certainly the speed and cost of these methods is currently unsurpassed. As a result of more genome sequencing projects being completed, more data for comparisons are available, and so the quality of results using screening algorithms based on sequence homologies rises steadily. More databases, which integrate all this information, are therefore being implemented [21,22]. Experimental data gathered for individual genes, and ideally proteins, also funnels into such databases information that is then accessible to in silico tools. For many novel proteins, however, these tools remain at present suggestive at best, and for these molecules there is still no alternative to actual experimental verification.
In summary, a protein's localization and its subcellular dynamics are important parameters to know when trying to determine its function. With the availability of GFP and its variants, new in vivo approaches have been made possible, and these have already identified novel proteins in various desired locations. In due course, these techniques will undoubtedly be applied and perfected on a genome-wide scale. Furthermore, the reagents generated during the course of such projects (such as GFP-tagged proteins) are extremely useful for subsequent microscope-based functional studies with different foci - for example, the analysis of a protein's posttranslational modifications or the dynamics of interactions with binding partners in living cells [4]. This will ultimately allow us to identify functional networks of proteins in a morphological context and will greatly contribute to our understanding of whole-cell function.
Acknowledgements
We thank Jan Ellenberg for useful comments on the manuscript. J.C.S. was in part supported by an EMBO Long Term fellowship. The Wiemann and Pepperkok laboratories are supported by grants from the BMBF numbers 01KW9987 (German cDNA Consortium), 01KW0012 (to S.W.) and 01KW0013 (to R.P).
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10. Bejarano LA, Gonzalez C: Motif trap: a rapid method to clone motifs that can target proteins to defined subcellular localizations.
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11. Misawa K, Nosaka T, Morita S, Kaneko A, Nakahata T, Asano S, Kitamura T: A method to identify cDNAs based on localization of green fluorescent protein fusion products.
Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 2000, 97:3062-3066. PubMed Abstract | Publisher Full Text | PubMed Central Full Text
12. Hoja MR, Wahlestedt C, Hoog C: A visual intracellular classification strategy for uncharacterized human proteins.
Exp Cell Res 2000, 259:239-246. PubMed Abstract | Publisher Full Text
13. Simpson JC, Wellenreuther R, Poustka A, Pepperkok R, Wiemann S: Systematic subcellular localization of novel proteins identified by large-scale cDNA sequencing.
EMBO Rep 2000, 1:287-292. PubMed Abstract | Publisher Full Text
14. Wiemann S, Weil B, Wellenreuther R, Gassenhuber J, Glassl S, Ansorge W, Bocher M, Blocker H, Bauersachs S, Blum H, et al.: Toward a catalog of human genes and proteins: sequencing and analysis of 500 novel complete protein coding human cDNAs.
Genome Res 2001, 11:422-435. PubMed Abstract | Publisher Full Text
15. Nakai K, Horton P: PSORT: a program for detecting sorting signals in proteins and predicting their subcellular localization.
Trends Biochem Sci 1999, 24:34-36. PubMed Abstract | Publisher Full Text
16. PSORT [http://psort.ims.u-tokyo.ac.jp] webcite
17. Marcotte EM, Xenarios I, van Der Bliek AM, Eisenberg D: Localizing proteins in the cell from their phylogenetic profiles.
Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 2000, 97:12115-11220. PubMed Abstract | Publisher Full Text | PubMed Central Full Text
18. Eisenhaber F, Bork P: Wanted: subcellular localization of proteins based on sequence.
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19. Drawid A, Jansen R, Gerstein M: Genome-wide analysis relating expression level with protein subcellular localization.
Trends Genet 2000, 16:426-430. PubMed Abstract | Publisher Full Text
20. Emanuelsson O, Nielsen H, Brunak S, von Heijne G: Predicting subcellular localization of proteins based on their N-terminal amino acid sequence.
J Mol Biol 2000, 300:1005-1016. PubMed Abstract | Publisher Full Text
21. Yudate HT, Suwa M, Irie R, Matsui H, Nishikawa T, Nakamura Y, Yamaguchi D, Peng ZZ, Yamamoto T, Nagai K, et al.: HUNT: launch of a full-length cDNA database from the Helix Research Institute.
Nucleic Acids Res 2001, 29:185-188. PubMed Abstract | Publisher Full Text | PubMed Central Full Text
22. HUNT: Human full length cDNA database [http://www.hri.co.jp/HUNT/] webcite
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[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
[libreoffice-l10n] Git migration
Hi all,
Git migration should happen tomorrow. Please monitor the documentation
you have translated on the wiki, there will be some changes done on
the English pages that need to be reflected by your translation to
remain exact.
If you have any questions on this migration, please don't hesitate to
ask on the dev list.
Kind regards
sophi
--
Founding member of The Document Foundation
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Inventing the future is everybody's job
Image by opensource.com
(3 votes)
When Larry Huston faced the challenge of revving Procter & Gamble's innovation engine to contribute to $5 billion in annual topline growth, he opened up the ranks of the company's vaunted R&D operation to some 1.8 million scientists and researchers around the globe.
When Rob McEwen desperately needed fresh ideas about where and how to drill for gold in his Red Lake mine, he shared his company's proprietary data with thousands of potential prospectors, many of whom had no experience in the industry.
When, earlier this year, Iceland decided to craft an entirely new constitution in the wake of the breakdown of its financial system, the 25-person constitutional council decided to open the process to the public by publishing draft clauses and inviting (and later incorporating) comments and suggestions via a dedicated website, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.
It's tempting to conclude that the era of the all-knowing leader with all the answers has given way to a productive populism in which the contribution flows freely to enrich and enliven institutions and individuals alike.
And it's true that the whole world seems to have woken up to the notion that great ideas can come from anywhere (and anyone)--and that it's impossible to predict where the next great one will come from (or to employ all the relevant talent in the world). Exhibit A: the surge of crowdsourcing, mass collaboration, co-creation, and open innovation initiatives seeking to channel those ideas and leverage that talent in every realm of endeavor.
But when it comes to taking those ideas and turning them into a comprehensive view of the future, a compelling set of priorities, and a genuinely involving and ongoing collaboration with a community of stakeholders, there aren't many instructive models.
The fact is, inventing the future of an organization (or "strategic planning" to use the technical term), is still the well-guarded province of the executive elite. The stubborn model is: the boss thinks up the big vision, and the "troops" execute the plan.
Of course, the world is just too complex, change comes too fast, and the challenges we face are too immense (and interconnected), for an insular clique of executives to chart the course of an organization from a blank sheet of paper and sheer brilliance. If the goal is proactive change and continuous renewal, the responsibility for shaping direction must be broadly shared (within and beyond the walls of the organization).
That was the operating assumption when the Wikimedia Foundation set out to get ahead of some pressing challenges and chart a course for the future of Wikipedia and the other projects the nonprofit supports (including Wiktionary, Wikinews, Wikiversity, and Wikimedia Commons). The Wikipedia family of sites is the fifth most popular destination on the Web with more than 500 sites in 270 languages and 400 million visitors each month. Yet, despite continued growth in both contributed articles and readership, the Wikimedia editing community has plateaued near 100,000 active editors and, just as troubling, that pool is disproportionately male, young, and from the Global North.
Addressing those issues and realizing the deeply-held purpose of creating "a world in which every single human can freely share in the sum of all knowledge" would take a radically different approach to the "five year plan." That suited the ambitions of the Wikimedia team (a 50-person organization with just two staffers dedicated to the strategy process), which was driven by the "bigger, more exciting challenge: How do we do strategic planning for a movement?"
That challenge doesn't suggest many best practices, so the team started with a strong conviction that the more open, inviting, and participatory the process, the more powerful the result. The good news: Wikimedia is a volunteer-driven movement made up of hundreds of thousands of people bound by shared goals and practiced in the art of far-flung, large-scale collaboration. Plus, says Phillippe Beaudette, the facilitator for the strategic planning process (and now head of reader relations for Wikimedia), "the Wikimedia community would have hung us by our toenails if we tried to develop a strategic plan any other way."
As recounted in his fascinating story on the mix (co-written by his partner in the strategy process Eugene Eric Kim and Chris Grams), Wikimedia kicked off a year-long experiment in engaging a far-flung community of collaborators in the deep work of asking and answering the questions: Where are we now? Where do we want to go? And, How do we get there? From July 2009 though July 2010, more than 1,000 volunteers took ownership of a dedicated strategy wiki (open to the whole world during the process and now) produced nearly 1500 pages of strategy documents, including 900 proposals, in 50 languages.
Beaudette and Kim didn't take it from there. They made a second appeal to the community to dive into the proposals and supplementary research to categorize, prioritize and form task forces (some 1,000 volunteers were involved in this phase as well). Like all of the strategy work, the task forces were volunteer-led, largely self-directed, and completely public.
The result? A robust strategic plan detailing a set of beliefs, focusing priorities, and related commitments. The plan is available for the world to see (the best part may be the credits page listing the 1000+ co-authors of the plan). Just as important, the thoughtfulness and responsiveness of the process engendered a deep sense of commitment to and ownership of Wikimedia's future. When you involve your community in crafting a path forward, you don't have to spend a lot of time "selling" that vision. Not only are Wikimedians on board, they're taking charge, reports Beaudette. Today, the vision laid out in the strategic plan is unfolding via special projects, ongoing discussions, and self-organizing teams dedicated to specific proposals--from developing the Indian market to launching a "be bold" campaign).
The Wikimedia story may seem like an exception (what company would ever dream of inviting 1,000 customers and community members into the inner sanctum of strategy setting?), but I would suggest it's just a leading indicator. Check out the complete story on the MIX and dig into the treasure trove of documentation on the strategy wiki and soak up the lessons: never underestimate the number of talented individuals willing and able to contribute to your project given the right invitation. You can't open the door just a crack--don't just siphon off ideas, involve people in a process. Never forget that you serve the community--your job is to support them in realizing a shared goal. And remember, the real reward of opening your strategic process isn't that you'll be able to see around more corners, but that you've switched on a powerful current of participatory energy.
And share your participatory energy with us--join Philippe, Eugene, and Chris as contenders for the Management 2.0 Challenge!
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Quotation added by staff
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Style is a fraud. I always felt the Greeks were hiding behind their columns. Kooning, Willem De
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Live to learn, learn to live, then teach others. Horton, Doug
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Before you give up hope, turn back and read the attacks that were made on Lincoln. Barton, Bruce
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It's easy! Just pick the product you like and click-through to buy it from trusted partners of Quotations Book. We hope you like these personalized gifts as much as we do.
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Forgive, son; men are men; they needs must err. Euripides
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212 - The Extra Degree
The one extra degree makes the difference. This simple analogy reflects the ultimate definition of excellence. Because it's the one extra degree of effort, in business and life, that can separate the good from the great. This powerful book by S.L. Parker and Mac Anderson gives great examples, great quotes and great stories to illustrate the 212° concept. A warning - once you read it, it will be hard to forget. Your company will have a target for everything you do ... 212°
Click here to buy this »
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Click here to buy this »
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You can do anything if you put your mind to it... and you will succeed when you put your heart into it. Kessler, Daniella
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Click here to buy this »
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Quotes by Skarsgard, Stellen
John Stellan SkarsgÄrd (born 13 June 1951) is a Swedish actor, known internationally for his film roles in Angels & Demons, Breaking the Waves, The Hunt for Red October, Ronin, Good Will Hunting, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest and At World's End, Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist, Mamma Mia!..
"Sometimes I wish I had never met you. Because then I could go to sleep at night not knowing there was someone like you out there."
Skarsgard, Stellen on
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Done deal: Thibs to Bulls
RedsArmyAdmin June 5, 2010 Uncategorized 7 Comments
Via the Chicago Tribune
Tom Thibodeau has accepted the Bulls' 3-year offer to become the team's
18th head coach in franchise history, according to sources. No formal
announcement can be made until the conclusion of the NBA Finals between
the Lakers and Thibodeau's Celtics.
Congrats, Thibs.
Big loss for the Celtics. Should be interesting to see how this affects the C's next year… and whether the C's pull a "Let's do it for Thibs".
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Gang Green episode 6.20… a.k.a. COME TO OUR PAHTY!!!!
John - Red's Army March 6, 2013 Gang Green TV Comments Off
The Gang had a very special guest on for this show…. me…. and we talked a little C’s, and a little general NBA, and a LOT about our upcoming party this Sunday.
Yeah…. THIS Sunday.
If you don’t know by now, you can get all the details on our Facebook event page. Or, you can just keep reading.
• It starts at noon on Sunday. We’re getting a good hour of eating and drinking in before the start of the Celtics-Thunder game at 1pm.
• We’re buying you lunch. Did you hear me? WE’RE BUYING YOU LUNCH!!! Who can turn down free food?
• At halftime, Jessica Camerato from CSNNE is going to be answering your questions about the Celtics.
• We’re raffling off a bunch of prizes.. including tickets to the March 13 Celtics-Raptors game that includes Legends Passes… so you can get an amazing pre-game experience and then sit in some killer seats for the game.
Where is this happening? At The Place on Broad St. Check out some of the photos from last year’s party…. we turned it into a rockin’ Celtics Bar that was nothing but Green and White for as far as the eye could see.
Seriously… it was an awesome time… and we’re going to do it even bigger this year… so please join us. Bring as many people as you want. We’re all going to have a blast enjoying a great game together, and you’ll get free food and maybe some great prizes. Hope to see you there.
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NULL
built by Augusto Yeung
Click on an image to enlarge it
Target Environment Locomotion Method
Indoors 6 Legs
Sensors / Input Devices Actuators / Output Devices
leg touch sensors 12 Futaba S3003 servos
Control Method Power Source
Autonomous Battery
CPU Type Operating System
BASIC Stamp None
Programming Lanuage Weight
BASIC N/A
Time to build Cost to build
about 9 months HK$2000 (US$250)
URL for more information
http://www.geocities.com/augustoyeung/
Comments
The robot is built for my Final Year Project. In preliminary design, it should be able to climbs stair, walk 'forward, backward' and spin 'left and right' and of course 'stop. However, due to insufficient time, only part of the functions were added.
for more information. you may:
email me: Augustoyeung@hongkong.com
ICQ me: 1874702
Sorted by Robot
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Help Wikitravel grow by contributing to an article! Learn how.
Astrakhan Oblast
From Wikitravel
Europe : Russia : Volga Region : Lower Volga : Astrakhan Oblast
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Astrakhan Oblast (Russian: Астраха́нская о́бласть uh-struh-KHAN-skuh-yuh OH-bluhst’) is a region in the Lower Volga, descending from steppe along the Volga to the northwestern Caspian Sea. It borders Volgograd Oblast to the north, Kalmykia to the west, and Kazakhstan to the East
[edit] Regions
[edit] Cities
• Astrakhan — the capital and the region's biggest city by far
• Akhtubinsk
• Kharibali
• Znamensk — location of a major Russian missle test site, Kapustin Yar Cosmodrome (spaceport), and frequent UFO sightings, leading the town to be known as Russia's Roswell; Znamensk is currently a closed town due to its military significance
[edit] Other destinations
• Astrakhansky Nature Reserve — located along the giant Volga River Delta, this reserve is a bird-lover's paradise
[edit] Understand
Astrakhan Oblast is a region steeped in the history of Central Asia. Before the arrival of Russian power, this area was at times ruled by the Jewish Khazar Khaganate, the Golden Horde, and the Astrakhan Khanate (centered on the present day city). In 1556 Ivan the Terrible conquered the region and annexed most of its territory at a time when Russian-allied Kalmyks were attacking and displacing the Muslim Tatars of the region. In 1580, having seen off Ottoman challenges to Russian rule, Russia constructed Astrakhan's magnificent Kremlin, which is a mix of traditional Russian and Baroque styles. Astrakhan's nature as a pivotal region for Central Asia continued when Peter the Great established a major shipbuilding yard on the Caspian Sea and established the region as the base for Russian expansion into the great Khanates of Khiva, Samarkand, and Bukhara, located in present day Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.
Today Astrakhan Oblast is a relatively sleepy, sparsely populated region near the confluence of the Volga River and the Caspian Sea, notable for its large gas reserves. The region retains sizeable Kazakh and Tatar minorities.
[edit] Talk
Despite its multicultural past, nearly everyone in Astrakhan Oblast speaks Russian as a first language.
[edit] Get in
Astrakhan Oblast is served by rail from Volgograd.
[edit] Get around
[edit][add listing] See
[edit] Itineraries
• Volga River Delta
[edit][add listing] Do
[edit][add listing] Eat
[edit][add listing] Drink
[edit] Stay safe
[edit] Get out
The natural companion to an Astrakhan visit is its western neighbor Kalmykia. Probably the most convenient way to get there is to take a minibus (marshrutka) from Astrakhan to Elista.
It is also possible to relive your dreams of Russian conquest of Central Asia by taking the train west from Astrakhan to Atyrau, Kazakhstan.
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Australian Bureau of Statistics
Celebrating the International Year of Statistics 2013
ABS Home > Statistics > By Catalogue Number
5368.0.55.006 - Characteristics of Australian Exporters, 2010-11
Latest ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 28/05/2012
Page tools: Print Page Print All RSS Search this Product
TIME SERIES DATA
The following time series data cubes are available for free via the Downloads tab of this publication on the ABS website <http://www.abs.gov.au>. Tables 1 to 11 contain financial year data commencing with 2006-07. Tables 1 to 10 present the time series information for tables 1 to 10 in the publication tables.
Time series tables:
1 Goods and Services Exporters, by Value Range of Exports
2 Goods Exporters, by Value Range of Exports and Number of Export Transactions
3 Goods Exporters, by Industry of Exporter
4 Value of Goods Exports, by Industry of Exporter and Industry of Origin of Exported Commodity
5 Goods Exporters, by Industry of Exporter and Business Size
6 Number of Locations of Goods Exporters, by State of Origin of the Exported Commodity, by State of Locations of Exporter
7 Value of Goods Exports, by Industry of Exporter and State of Origin of Exported Commodity
8 Number of Goods Exporters, by Industry of Exporter, by Main State of Location of Exporter
9 Number of Small Goods Exporters, by Industry of Exporter, by Main State of Location of Exporter
10 Services Exporters, by Type of Service
Additional table:
11 Goods Exporters, by Country of Destination
© Commonwealth of Australia 2013
Unless otherwise noted, content on this website is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 Australia Licence together with any terms, conditions and exclusions as set out in the website Copyright notice. For permission to do anything beyond the scope of this licence and copyright terms contact us.
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Australian Bureau of Statistics
Celebrating the International Year of Statistics 2013
ABS Home > Statistics > By Release Date
1384.6 - Statistics - Tasmania, 2007
Previous ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 22/04/2004
Page tools: Print Page Print All RSS Search this Product
Contents >> Climate >> Floods
In Tasmania, floods mainly occur in autumn, winter and spring. However, they can occur at any time of the year and some of the most significant floods have occurred in summer. In 2000, estimates were made that the annual flood damage bill averages about $5.2 million.
One river system that experiences serious flooding is the South Esk River. This, along with the Macquarie, Meander and the North Esk rivers, forms the Tamar River Basin, with a combined catchment area of nearly 9,000 square kilometres.
Minor floods in the Derwent, Forth and Mersey rivers do not occur with the same regularity as in the South Esk, because of the Hydro-Electric Corporation power generation storages. However, these storages have little effect during major floods. Record floods swamped New Norfolk in April 1960.
Many of the smaller river systems in the north and north-west, about the East Coast and the south-east are subject to flash flooding. The rapid rise and fall of these fast flowing systems can cause significant damage:
• The Hobart floods of April 1960 caused an estimated £546,000 damage.
• Flash floods about the south-east in February 1996 caused an estimated $10 million damage.
River levels in the Huon River can also rise very quickly, particularly during spring when snowmelt can be significant. Flooding of rivers in the west and south of the state go largely unnoticed as they pass through rugged and sparsely populated regions.
Flood warnings
The data in this map is provided for flood warnings purposes and not all data will be available outside flood periods. Some of this data is provided to the Bureau of Meteorology by other agencies.
Previous PageNext Page
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Australian Bureau of Statistics
Celebrating the International Year of Statistics 2013
ABS Home > Statistics > By Release Date
3101.0 - Australian Demographic Statistics, Dec 2007 Quality Declaration
Previous ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 24/06/2008
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MEDIA RELEASE
June 24, 2008
Embargoed: 11.30 am (AEDT)
61/2008
Australia's population increases at fastest rate since 1988
Australia's population grew at its fastest rate since 1988 according to figures released today from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
The population growth rate for Australia during 2007 was 1.6% (or 331,900 people), for a total of 21,181,000 people.
Western Australia and the Northern Territory recorded the fastest population growth at 2.4%, followed by Queensland, 2.3%, Victoria 1.6%, Australian Capital Territory 1.3%, New South Wales 1.1%, South Australia 1.0% and Tasmania 0.8%.
Net overseas migration contributed more than half the population increase (184,400 people or 56%), and natural increase (the excess of births over deaths) added a further 147,400 people (or 44%).
The overseas migration increase represents an average of over 1,100 immigrant arrivals and 620 departures per day.
Queensland and Western Australia continued as the leaders in interstate migration, gaining 25,600 and 3,800 people respectively from the other states.
The Northern Territory (860), the Australian Capital Territory (350) and Tasmania (290) also grew from interstate migration, while New South Wales (-24,000), South Australia (-3,800) and Victoria (-3,100) lost people.
As at 31 December 2007, the resident population for each state and territory was:
New South Wales 6,927,000;Western Australia 2,131,000;
Victoria 5,246,000; Tasmania 495,800;
Queensland 4,228,000; Northern Territory 217,600;
South Australia 1,592,000; Australian Capital Territory 340,800.
More details are available in Australian Demographic Statistics, December Quarter 2007(cat. no. 3101.0), available for free download.
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Australian Bureau of Statistics
Celebrating the International Year of Statistics 2013
ABS Home > Statistics > By Catalogue Number
8221.4.55.001 - Manufacturing Industry, South Australia, 2001-02
Latest ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 21/11/2005
© Commonwealth of Australia 2013
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Australian Bureau of Statistics
ABS Home
CensusAtSchool Australia
CensusAtSchool home page > Mathematics - Quick C@S Activities
CaSQ 5 - Cause and Effect: Height and Dominant Hand Reaction Time
You can download this activity as a rich text file (RTF) using the link at the bottom of the page.
How to: Get a Random Sample from CensusAtSchool
Go to the CensusAtSchool Random Sampler and get a sample.
Reference year: (select year) Sample size: At least 20 students
Select questions: Height, Dominant Hand Reaction Time
Location: Select location Year level: Select a range of year levels.
To protect privacy there is a rule built into the sampler that the requested sample size cannot exceed 10% of the respondents for the parameters entered,
Please note: This task is designed to be completed by hand. It can also be completed using a computer or CAS calculator.
Task:
1. In your CensusAtSchool random sample, find the question about height, and the question about dominant hand reaction time, and enter both sets of twenty numbers as:
two columns in Excel, or
two separate lists in your CAS calculator, or
as a table in your workbook
Outliers are any values which appear to be very different from the majority of the data. They are extreme values and may have been caused by an error. They should be removed from your data set and replaced with the next value from your list.
2. Create a scatter plot, with height as the independent variable (x) and dominant hand reaction time as the dependent variable (y).
3. Examine the linear relationship of your scatter plot. Circle or lightly shade the correlation of your scatter plot in the table below.
Strong Positive CorrelationWeak Positive CorrelationNo CorrelationWeak Negative CorrelationStrong Negative Correlation
4. Does your graph suggest a relationship between height and dominant hand reaction time? Explain.
5. If someone found there was a correlation between height and dominant hand reaction time, is this the same as saying a person’s reaction time is caused by their height? Explain.
6. Can height be used to predict dominant hand reaction time? Draw conclusions from your graph, and write a summary paragraph. Some key words to use are: random sample, linear, correlation, cause, effect.
Download the full activity:
To provide any feedback regarding this activity, please contact ABS Education Services on 1800 623 273 or email education@abs.gov.au.
Back to Activities List for Mathematics Quick Activities.
© Commonwealth of Australia 2008
Unless otherwise noted, content on this website is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 Australia Licence together with any terms, conditions and exclusions as set out in the website Copyright notice. For permission to do anything beyond the scope of this licence and copyright terms contact us.
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Research article
Ultrasonographically detected gallbladder polyps: A reason for concern? A seven-year follow-up study
Wolfgang Kratzer1*, Mark M Haenle1, Andrea Voegtle1, Richard A Mason2, Atilla S Akinli1, Klaus Hirschbuehl3, Andreas Schuler4, Volker Kaechele1 and the Roemerstein study group
Author Affiliations
1 Zentrum für Innere Medizin, Klinik für Innere Medizin I, Universitätsklinikum Ulm, Robert-Koch-Str. 8, 89081 Ulm, Germany
2 University Hospitals of Cleveland Case Medical Center, Case Western Reserve, University School of Medicine 11100 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio 44106, USA
3 Zentralklinikum Augsburg, Abteilung Innere Medizin I, Stenglinstr. 2, 86156, Augsburg, Germany
4 Helfensteinklinik Geislingen, Medizinische Klinik, Eybstr. 16, 73312 Geislingen, Germany
For all author emails, please log on.
BMC Gastroenterology 2008, 8:41 doi:10.1186/1471-230X-8-41
The electronic version of this article is the complete one and can be found online at: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-230X/8/41
Received:27 March 2008
Accepted:15 September 2008
Published:15 September 2008
© 2008 Kratzer et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract
Background
The management of coincidental detected gallbladder polyps (GP) is still nebulous. There are few published data regarding their long-term growth. Objective of the present study was to investigate the prevalence and growth of gallbladder polyps in a survey of unselected subjects from the general population of a complete rural community.
Methods
A total of 2,415 subjects (1,261 women; 1,154 men) underwent ultrasound examination of the gallbladder, in November 1996 as part of a prospective study. Subjects in whom GP were detected at the initial survey underwent follow-up ultrasound examinations after 30 and 84 months.
Results
At the initial survey gallbladder polyps were detected in 34 subjects (1.4%; females: 1.1%, range 14 to 74 years; males: 1.7%, range 19 to 63 years). Median diameter was 5 ± 2.1 mm (range 2 to10 mm) at the initial survey, 5 mm ± 2.8 mm (range 2 to 12 mm) at 30 months and 4 ± 2.3 mm (range 2 to 9 mm) at 84 months. At the time of first follow-up no change in diameter was found in 81.0% (n = 17), reduction in diameter in 4.8% (n = 1) and increase in diameter in 14.3% (n = 3). At the time of second follow-up no increase in polyp diameter was found in 76.9% (n = 10) and reduction in diameter in 7.7% (n = 1). No evidence of malignant disease of the gallbladder was found.
Conclusion
Over a period of seven years little change was measured in the diameter of gallbladder polyps. There was no evidence of malignant disease of the gallbladder in any subject.
Background
The development and refinement of diagnostic imaging modalities such as computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and ultrasonography (US) and their widespread application have led to an increase in the coincidental diagnosis of gallbladder stones and gallbladder polyps [1,2]. As a result, clinicians are ever more frequently confronted with the question of how to proceed in cases of coincidentally discovered gallbladder polyps. The appropriate management of these entities remains controversial [3-5].
Gallbladder polyps represent a heterogeneous group of changes in the gallbladder wall and include entities such as cholesterol polyps, inflammatory polyps, adenomas, leiomyomas and lipomas [6]. The prevalence of gallbladder polyps is reported in the range of 0.3–9.5%, depending on the population studied and on the study design. Prevalence figures in European studies fall in the range of 1.0–4.8%, which is lower than reported in Southeast Asian populations [7-15]. In surgical and pathological studies, the prevalence of gallbladder polyps ranges from 0.004 to 13.8% [16].
To date, only a few studies have investigated the growth behavior of gallbladder polyps in follow-up [9,13,17-21]. Follow-up studies in cross sectional random samples have not been published. The majority of available data derive from surgical or ambulatory patients, or were conducted as part of preventive health measures (table 1) [13,17,18,21].
Table 1. Studies of the natural progression of gallblader polyps during follow up of patients and/or subjects
Objective of the present study, conducted as part of a complete prospective sonographic survey of a rural population [22,23], was to determine the prevalence of gallbladder polyps and their growth behavior in long-term follow-up.
Methods
In November and December 1996 we conducted a prospective epidemiological study on the prevalence of alveolar echinococcosis in Römerstein, a rural community in southwestern Germany. As part of this study, the population was also examined for gallbladder polyps [22,23]. Subjects were informed of the additional examination of the gallbladder at the time of the examination itself in order to minimize bias related to a potentially higher response rate on the part of inhabitants with upper abdominal complaints or disorders of the gallbladder. The present study was conducted in accordance with the principles of the Helsinki Declaration and was approved by the ethics commission of Ulm University.
Ultrasound examinations
All inhabitants aged six years and older were asked to present for examination after a four-hour fasting period. All study participants underwent ultrasound examination of the gallbladder at which gallbladder size in three axes, the gallbladder wall and gallbladder lumen were assessed. In cases of inconclusive findings regarding differentiation between gallbladder stones and gallbladder polyps, patients were examined in standing position.
The initial ultrasound examinations in 1996 were carried out by 8 assistants of the University Hospital of Ulm in 4 cubicles, where examinations were performed simultaneously. All personnel had been trained by the same experienced ultrasound examiner before the study, and this examiner was present in the examination room to provide a second opinion in cases in which the primary examiner could not give a definite diagnosis. The ultrasound examinations in 1999 and 2003 were all performed by the same experienced examiner.
The diagnosis of gallbladder polyps was made on the basis of the following criteria: hyperechoic structures without acoustic shadow that projected from the gallbladder wall into the gallbladder lumen and were either pedunculate or broad based; unequivocal visualization in two planes (longitudinal and in cross-section); no change in position of the wall change secondary to change in subjects' position; unremarkable gallbladder wall; unequivocal differentiation between a gallbladder septum and a gallbladder polyp. The diagnosis of "gallbladder polyp" was made only in cases fulfilling all the above criteria.
Ultrasound examinations were performed using three different types of ultrasound scanners (two units of the type ATL 800 and one ATL 9 HDI, manufactured by ATL Ultrasound Medical Systems, Bothell, WA, USA, each with either a 3.5–5 MHz or 4–7 MHz convex transducer head; and a Siemens Sonoline 400, manufactured by Siemens AG, Erlangen, Germany with a 5 MHz convex transducer head) by trained examiners working under supervision. The number of polyps and the diameter in millimeters of the largest polyp were then documented.
Follow-up 1999
Subjects diagnosed with gallbladder polyps at the initial survey in 1996 were sent a written invitation in May 1999 for follow-up examination. Follow-up examinations were conducted 30 months after the initial survey from May 25th to June 5th 1999. Of 34 subjects diagnosed with gallbladder polyps, 31 (91%) accepted the invitation. Two subjects did not respond to the written invitation, while the third refused the follow-up examination for personal reasons.
The ultrasound examinations were conducted using a Philips ATL HDI 5000 scanner with a 2–5 MHz convex transducer head. An increase or decrease in the diameter of the polyp was defined as a size change of greater than 2 mm.
Follow-up 2003
The second follow-up examination took place in October and November 2003 at 84 months after the initial survey. With the help of the Civil Registry Office of Römerstein, all 31 subjects participating in the first follow-up examination in 1999 were located. It was discovered that four individuals had moved, while one participant had died. The remaining 26 participants were sent a written invitation and were also contacted by telephone. Subjects were given the choice of being examined either at the University Hospital of Ulm or in Römerstein (school center). In order to maximize the response rate, subjects were also offered the option of being examined at home using a portable ultrasound scanner. Three subjects came to Ulm, while 14 were examined in Römerstein (school center) and five were examined in their homes. Examinations in Ulm and Römerstein were again conducted using a Philips ATL HDI 5000 scanner with a 2–5 MHz and 4–7 MHz convex transducer heads. Subjects examined in their homes were scanned using a portable SONOACE My Sono 201 scanner with a 2–5 MHz convex transducer head.
Three of the 26 subjects had undergone cholecystectomy in the intervening period. One further subject refused to participate in the follow-up examination for personal reasons. Thus, of the remaining 26 subjects, 22 (64.7%, n = 34; 14 males, eight females) participated in the second follow-up examination. Nine subjects could not be examined at follow-up: four had moved, one had died and three had undergone cholecystectomy.
Statistics
Because of the small number of subjects, data were analyzed descriptively.
Results
Of the total 3,841 registered inhabitants of the community of Römerstein six years of age or older, 66.6% (n = 2,560) participated in the initial survey in 1996. Excluded from the study were 145 initial respondents (5.7%), of whom 82 (3.2%) had undergone prior cholecystectomy. Sixty-two subjects (2.4%) were excluded because of inability to adequately visualize the gallbladder, while one subject (0.04%) was found to have both a gallbladder stone and a gallbladder polyp. At the initial examinations in 1996, gallbladder findings suggestive of malignancy were not identified in any subject.
Prevalence
The study population consisted of n = 2,415 subjects (1,261 women, median age 41.5 years, range 14–74 years; 1,154 men, median age 39 years, range 19–63 years). Sonographic criteria for gallbladder polyps were documented in 1.4% of subjects (n = 34; 1.1% in females; 1.7% in males). The highest prevalence of gallbladder polyps was observed in the group of subjects 36–45 years of age (females, 2.1%; males, 4.7%; figure 1). In the same study population, the prevalence of gallbladder stones was 7.8% (10.5% in females, 4.9% in males; 23).
Figure 1. Gallbladder polyps: prevalence in percent (%) in relation to age and sex at the initial survey in 1996.
Number and diameter of polyps
Data on polyp size are limited to n = 31 subjects because documentation of the diameter of polyps was not available in three subjects. The diameter of the largest polyp was 5 mm or less in 20 of 31 subjects (64.5%) and between 6 mm and 10 mm in 11 of 31 subjects (35.5%). No polyps were larger than 10 mm. Median polyp diameter was 5 mm ± 2.1 mm (range 2–10 mm) for all subjects; 4 mm ± 2.2 mm (range 2–9 mm) in females; and 5 mm ± 2.1 mm (range 4–10 mm) in males. Of the total 34 subjects with identified polyps, 85.3% had solitary polyps, while 14.7% had multiple polyps (2 polyps in two subjects, 3 polyps in two subjects, more than 5 polyps in one subject). All polyps were pedunculate. Broad-based polyps were not observed in any subject
Follow-up 1999
Of 34 subjects with identified gallbladder polyps at the time of the initial survey, 31 (91.2%; 13 women, 18 men) presented to the first follow-up examination. At the time of the first follow-up examination, polyps were again identified in 24 subjects (77.4%, n = 31). Polyps were no longer visualized in seven subjects. Among these seven subjects, two female subjects, however, had newly diagnosed gallbladder stones (figure 2). Median polyp diameter was 5 mm ± 2.8 (range 2–12 mm). Polyp diameter was less than 10 mm in 91.7% (22/24) of cases and less than 5 mm in 45.8% (11/24) of cases. Two polyps (2/24; 8.3%) were larger than 12 mm. In 81.0% (17/21) of cases, polyp size remained constant, while, in one subject (1/21; 4.8%), polyp diameter decreased and in three subjects (3/21, 14.3%), growth progression was observed (figure 2). In one subject, polyp diameter had doubled from 4 to 8 mm. Unfortunately, this subject left the community shortly after the first follow-up examination, preventing further follow-up. Examination of the two other subjects revealed size increase from 9 to 12 mm. Because of polyp size greater than 10 mm, these patients had been advised to consider cholecystectomy and subsequently did undergo the procedure. Histopathological studies in one subject revealed multiple gallbladder stones in an otherwise unremarkable gallbladder, while, in the second, cholecystitis of moderate severity was diagnosed. These three subjects with increases in polyp diameter did not report upper abdominal complains, nausea or vomiting, or intolerance of fatty foods; two, however, reported infrequent heartburn.
Figure 2. Initial study population in 1996 and results and ultrasound findings in 1999 and 2003.
Follow-up 2003
In the remaining 22 subjects, polyps were no longer visualized in nine persons. In three of these subjects, the first follow-up examination in 1999 had also failed to visualize polyps; follow-up in 2003 showed that no new sonographically visualized polyps had developed in the four-year interval in these subjects. Among the remaining four subjects without polyps, two were found to have developed gallbladder stones in the interval. In one other female subject, the findings of cholecystolithiasis from the first follow-up examination in 1999 was confirmed (figure 2).
Polyp diameter remained constant in 76.9% (10/13) subjects. In one subject (1/13; 7.7%) a polyp decreased in size. Two subjects (2/13; 15.4%), in whom the first follow-up examination in 1999 had failed to visualize the polyps found at the initial survey in 1996, again met sonographic criteria for the diagnosis of gallbladder polyps. A comparison of median polyp size over seven years suggests that their diameter does not significantly change. In all examinations, females had a smaller polyp diameter than did males. Thickening of the gallbladder wall was not observed in any subject. Median diameter of polyps for all subjects was 4 mm ± 2.3 (range 2–9 mm), for women, 4 mm and for males, 5 mm. For the whole population, 53.8% (7/13) of polyps were smaller than 5 mm, while 46.2% (6/13) showed a diameter between 6 and 9 mm.
Discussion
Prevalence study
The prevalence of gallbladder polyps in our population sample was 1.4% (males, 1.7%; females 1.1%), which corresponds to prevalence data published by Özmen et al. for Great Britain and by Heyder et al, for Germany [7,9]. Our data were collected as part of a complete survey of a rural population with a response rate of 66.6% [22,23]. To date, the only available data regarding the prevalence of gallbladder polyps in a representative population sample were published by Jørgensen et al., who reported a prevalence of 4.6% for males and 4.3% for females [8]. Prevalence data from larger, non-surgical patient populations derive from preventive medical studies or from selected populations in Japan and Taiwan, with prevalences in the range of 5.3–9.5% [10-14]. All studies show a predominance of males for the development of gallbladder polyps, compared to a female predominance for the development of gallbladder stones [10-14,23,24]. In our study, the peak age for first manifestation of gallbladder polyps lay between 36 and 45 years. In this age group, the respective prevalences for males and females stood at 4.7% and 2.1%, respectively. Segawa and Lin reported the highest prevalence for both sexes in the fourth decade of life [10,15]. Similarly, Okamoto and Jørgensen found the highest prevalence in males in the fourth decade, but in the fifth and sixth decades in females [8,10,11,15].
Follow-up study
To date, no data on the follow-up of gallbladder polyps derived from studies of representative population samples have been published. Of published studies, the majority used diagnostic ultrasound, while Eelkema et al. analyzed data obtained by cholecystography and Sugiyama et al. examined some of their patients using endosonography. Most subjects were surgical patients, although Collett et al. report on diabetics and healthy controls [9,13,14,17-21]. The average follow-up periods of the available studies range from nine months to 15 years. In most instances, patients were re-examined at intervals of six or 12 months. Similar to the study by Collett et al., we examined our subjects at established follow-up dates of three and seven years [19].
All gallbladder polyps diagnosed at the initial survey were 10 mm or less in diameter. A similar distribution was reported by Moriguchi et al., who reported diameters 5 mm and less in 57%, 6–9 mm in 37% and 10 cm and above in only 6% [13]. Jørgensen et al. and Csendes et al. reported diameters < 5 mm in even higher percentages of subjects, namely 85% and 80%, respectively, and did not, in their respective populations, identify any polyps larger than 10 mm in diameter [8,17]. The median polyp diameter in our initial survey was 5 mm ± 2.1 mm (range 2–10 mm), which was comparable to data reported by Shinkai et al. at 4.8 mm ± 2.9 mm. In the study reported by Collett et al., the average initial diameter was 3.9 mm. Heyder et al., however, reported larger diameters at 6 mm (range 2–15 mm) [9,19,20].
With respect to diameter, the majority of polyps showed no change at either the first (1999) or second (2003) follow-up examination. In 1999, polyp diameter remained constant in 81% (17/21) of subjects, with one person (5%) exhibiting reduction in the size of his polyp and three persons (14%) showing size progression (figure 3). A comparison of size progression between 1999 and 2003 shows that 91% (10/11) of polyps remained constant, one became smaller (1/11; 9%) but none became larger. Over the entire 84-month period 62% (8/13) of polyps showed no change in size, 15% (2/13) became smaller and 23% (3/13) became larger. Thus, our results lie between data published by Moriguchi and Sugiyama on the one hand and those of Csendes on the other [13,17,18]. Over an observation period of five years, Moriguchi et al. found an increase in polyp diameter in 11.7% (12/103), while in 84.5% (87/103), polyp size remained constant. Conversely, Csendes et al., who followed subjects for an average 71%, found no change in polyp diameter in 50% of subjects while an increase or decrease in diameter was observed in 25% each (table 1) [13,17].
Figure 3. Changes in gallbladder polyps (GP) between 1996 and 1999 and between 1996 and 2003.
At the first follow-up examination, 30 months after the initial survey and with a response rate of 91%, polyps were visualized in only 77% (24/31) of subjects; at the second follow-up examination, 84 months after the initial survey and with a response rate of 65%, polyps were identified in 41.9% (13/31) of subjects. The proportion of polyps that were no longer detected at follow-up examinations was lower in reports by other authors [13,17-19].
Of the three subjects in our study who exhibited polyps with size progression, two underwent cholecystectomy. The histopathological findings in one patient revealed multiple gallbladder stones in an otherwise unremarkable gallbladder. In all, 19.4% (n = 6) of all structures initially identified as polyps were identified as gallbladder stones at follow-up. Similar results have been reported from surgical series [6,4,25,26].
A possible reason for the false-positive ultrasound findings might be that polyps may form the site of origin in the development of gallbladder stones [6,27].
The histopathological findings in the second subject who had undergone cholecystectomy due to size progression revealed cholecystitis of moderate severity, which, at the time of the ultrasound examination, may have been polypoid in appearance [27,28]. A further reason for the failure to demonstrate polyps at histopathological examination could be that polyps may be destroyed by the mechanical action of the gallbladder wall.[8] This may also be an explanation for the observation in our study that the prevalence of gallbladder polyps among women and in advanced age is lower, while, at the same time, in this subsample, the prevalence of gallbladder stones is higher to a statistically significant extent. [23] Neither Sugiyama nor Moriguchi nor Csendes reported the development of gallbladder stones at follow-up [17,18,20].
One of the limitations of our study is the small number of only 34 subjects with polyps visualized at ultrasound. One reason may relate to the technically less advanced ultrasound scanners used at the initial survey compared with those used at follow-up. The portable ultrasound scanner used at the second follow-up examination of subjects in their homes may also have limited the strength of the findings and may possible have been the cause of false-negative findings.
Conclusion
The present study for the first time examined the growth behavior of gallbladder polyps in a representative population sample. In summary, we can conclude that the changes in size in the polyps over an observation period of seven years were slight. Size progression was observed in only three subjects. No evidence of development of malignant disease was observed. Remarkable was the high number of gallbladder stones at follow-up, which initially were diagnosed as gallbladder polyps.
Competing interests
The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
Authors' contributions
WK conceived and designed the study, acquired, analysed and interpreted data, and drafted the manuscript. MMH collected, assembled and interpreted the data and drafted the manuscript. AV collected, assembled and interpreted the data and revised the manuscript for important intellectual content. RAM drafted the manuscript. AA analysed and interpreted the data, and revised the manuscript for important intellectual content. KH acquired, analysed and interpreted data, and revised the manuscript for important intellectual content. AS revised the manuscript for important intellectual content. VK helped conceive and design the study, acquired, analysed and interpreted data, and drafted the manuscript. All authors approved the final version of the manuscript. WK is guarantor.
Acknowledgements
Members of the Roemerstein study group (in alphabetical order): Karlheinz Beckh, Birgit Bilger, Anke Dinkel, Willy A. Flegel, Matthias Frosch, Wilhelm Gaus, Bruno Gottstein, Birgit Hay, Lars Jenne, Peter Kern, Petra Kern, Jochen Kilwinski, Peter Kimmig, Klaus Koerner, Wolfgang Kratzer, Martina Kron, Richard Lucius, Peter Merkle, Michael Merli, Karin Naser, Martina Orth, Thomas Romig, Hanns Martin Seitz, Hans Sigel, Franz F. Wagner.
This publication is dedicated to our colleague, Carmen Frey, who died in a tragic car accident. She played an important role in the planning and carrying out of the follow-up examinations and in the analysis of the initial prevalence data. She is very much missed, both as a colleague to whom we could always turn, and as a devoted friend.
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Research article
Clinical features and risk factors for severe and critical pregnant women with 2009 pandemic H1N1 influenza infection in China
Peng-jun Zhang1, Xiao-li Li1, Bin Cao1, Shi-gui Yang2, Li-rong Liang1, Li Gu1, Zhen Xu3, Ke Hu4, Hong-yuan Zhang5, Xi-xin Yan6, Wen-bao Huang7, Wei Chen8, Jing-xiao Zhang9, Lan-juan Li2*, Chen Wang10* and for the National Influenza A Pandemic (H1N1) 2009 Clinical Investigation Group of China
Author Affiliations
1 Beijing Chao-Yang Hospital, Beijing Institute of Respiratory Medicine, Beijing Key Laboratory of Respiratory and Pulmonary Circulation Disorders, Department of Respiratory Medicine, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
2 State Key Laboratory for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, The First Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Key Laboratory of Infectious Diseases Key Laboratory of Infectious Diseases, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
3 Disease Control and Emergency Response Office, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, China
4 Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, China
5 The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui medical university, Hefei, China
6 Department of Respiratory, Second Hospital of Hebei Medical University, Shi Jiazhuang, China
7 Hang zhou No.1 People's hospital, Hangzhou, China
8 Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, China
9 the Second Affiliated Hospital, Nanchang University, Changchun, China
10 Department of Respiratory Medicine, Capital Medical University, Beijing Institute of Respiratory Medicine, Beijing Key Laboratory of Respiratory and Pulmonary Circulation Disorders, Beijing Hospital, Ministry of Heath, Beijing, China
For all author emails, please log on.
BMC Infectious Diseases 2012, 12:29 doi:10.1186/1471-2334-12-29
The electronic version of this article is the complete one and can be found online at: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2334/12/29
Received:12 August 2011
Accepted:1 February 2012
Published:1 February 2012
© 2012 Zhang et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract
Background
2009 pandemic H1N1 (pH1N1) influenza posed an increased risk of severe illness among pregnant women. Data on risk factors associated with death of pregnant women and neonates with pH1N1 infections are limited outside of developed countries.
Methods
Retrospective observational study in 394 severe or critical pregnant women admitted to a hospital with pH1N1 influenza from Sep. 1, 2009 to Dec. 31, 2009. rRT-PCR testing was used to confirm infection. In-hospital mortality was the primary endpoint of this study. Univariable logistic analysis and multivariate logistic regression analysis were used to investigate the potential factors on admission that might be associated with the maternal and neonatal mortality.
Results
394 pregnant women were included, 286 were infected with pH1N1 in the third trimester. 351 had pneumonia, and 77 died. A PaO2/FiO2 ≤ 200 (odds ratio (OR), 27.16; 95% confidence interval (CI), 2.64-279.70) and higher BMI (i.e. ≥ 30) on admission (OR, 1.26; 95% CI, 1.09 to 1.47) were independent risk factors for maternal death. Of 211 deliveries, 146 neonates survived. Premature delivery (OR, 4.17; 95% CI, 1.19-14.56) was associated neonatal mortality. Among 186 patients who received mechanical ventilation, 83 patients were treated with non-invasive ventilation (NIV) and 38 were successful with NIV. The death rate was lower among patients who initially received NIV than those who were initially intubated (24/83, 28.9% vs 43/87, 49.4%; p = 0.006). Septic shock was an independent risk factor for failure of NIV.
Conclusions
Severe hypoxemia and higher BMI on admission were associated with adverse outcomes for pregnant women. Preterm delivery was a risk factor for neonatal death among pregnant women with pH1N1 influenza infection. NIV may be useful in selected pregnant women without septic shock.
Keywords:
Pregnant women; Neonate; Pandemic H1N1 influenza; Mortality; Non-invasive ventilation
Background
Pregnant women are at an increased risk for contracting influenza and its complications associated with influenza [1]. Like previous epidemic and pandemic diseases, 2009 pandemic H1N1 (pH1N1) influenza posed an increased risk of severe illness among pregnant women [2-9]. A report from the first month of the pH1N1 outbreak noted that the rate of hospitalization among pregnant women was approximately four times the rate in the general population in the USA [3]. As reported by the California Department of Public Health (CDPH), a total of 10% of the 1088 patients who were hospitalized or died from the 2009 pH1N1 influenza were pregnant [10]. According to the Ministry of Health (MOH) of the People's Republic of China, pregnant women accounted for 13.7% of deaths associated with 2009 pH1N1 influenza [11]. Pregnant women with influenza appear to have an increased risk of miscarriage, premature birth and stillbirth [2,12,13]. Reports from Victoria in Australia [14,15], New York [16], and California [17], demonstrate that 2009 pH1N1 infection was associated with substantial maternal and fetal morbidity and mortality. However, information is limited concerning the risk factors for maternal and neonatal death when pregnancy is complicated by severe or critical illness related to 2009 pH1N1 influenza.
In this report, we described the characteristics of pH1N1 influenza in pregnant women and the risk factors for maternal and neonatal death.
Methods
Study patients
All patients who were admitted to hospitals with confirmed 2009 pH1N1 influenza from Sep. 1 to Dec. 31, 2009 from 27 Chinese provinces were screened if they fulfilled the diagnostic criteria for severe or critical cases. A confirmed case was a person whose pH1N1 virus infection was verified by real-time reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR) with or without the presentation of other clinical symptoms. Patients were excluded if they had been treated as outpatients or in emergency rooms or duration of hospitalization < 24 h, or if they had incomplete records of clinical outcomes. Severe and critical cases were defined according to the H1N1 2009 Clinical guidelines (Third Edition, 2009) released by the MOH (Additional file 1: Table S1). Our research retrospectively collected the patient's clinical information and did not involve the patient's personal information and samples, so there was no informed consent.
Additional file 1. The diagnosis criteria for severe and critical cases.
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Study design and data collection
The case report form included demographic information, underlying conditions, gestational age, vaccination status, treatment, intensive care unit (ICU) admission, complications, and maternal and neonatal outcomes. Body mass index (BMI) was calculated using height and weight recorded in the case report form, patients with BMI ≥ 30 were categorized as obesity. Indications for applying non-invasive ventilation (NIV): pregnant women who complained shortness of breath or blood gas analysis confirmed hypoxemia PaO2 to FiO2 < 300. One non-pulmonary major organ dysfunction or unconsciousness was contraindications for NIV. Indications to change from NIV to invasive ventilation: A cautious trial of NIV was attempted and response to NIV was monitored after the first hour or two. If there was a deterioration of oxygenation, invasive ventilation was considered. Definition of successful NIV: PaO2 to FiO2 improved and respiratory rate decreased during one or two hour NIV therapy. The patients successfully weaned off NIV and survived. Definition of failed NIV: During the one or two NIV trial, a deterioration of oxygenation was observed and invasive ventilation was needed. Data collection and analysis were coordinated by the MOH. A standard data collection form was used for each study site. Site investigators were primarily infectious disease physicians closely involved in taking care of such patients at their centers. The data were entered in duplicate into a computerized database. Patient confidentiality was maintained by recording only patient date of birth and gender on the data collection form. The research ethics board at Beijing Chao-Yang Hospital and The First Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University approved the study.
Analysis
We analyzed the reported demographic characteristics, underlying conditions, symptoms, treatments, complications, clinical course and maternal and neonatal outcomes. Means (standard deviations, SD) or medians (interquartiles, IQR) were calculated as summaries of continuous variables. For categorical variables, percentages of patients in each category were calculated. We compared clinical characteristics and clinical outcomes by using an ANOVA test, chi-square test, or Fisher's exact test or Wilcoxon rank-sum test as necessary. The primary outcome was in-hospital mortality. We performed univariable logistic analysis to investigate the potential factors on admission that might be associated with the maternal mortality. Factors with statistical significance (p < 0.05) in the univariate analyses were included in the multivariate logistic regression analysis. A p value of less than 0.05 was considered to indicate statistical significance. All analysis was carried out using SPSS for Windows (release 13.0).
Results
Clinical description of cohort
3570 severe or critical cases were screened and 394 cases involved pregnant women (Figure 1). Demographic characteristics, underlying conditions, symptoms, and lab findings of the 394 pregnant women are illustrated in Table 1. The median age was 25.0 years old (IQR 23.0 to 28.0) and 21 patients (5.6%) were more than 35 years old. Of all available data, 35 patients (14.4%) had a BMI of more than 30 and 10 patients (4.1%) had a BMI of more than 35. The median gestational age was 32 weeks (IQR, 26 to 37), with 72.6% of patients in the third trimester. Eleven patients (2.8%) had respiratory diseases and thirteen (3.3%) had cardiovascular diseases. Other coexisting diseases were rare in this analysis. None of the patients had been immunized against seasonal influenza or 2009 pH1N1. The median APACHE II score was 7.0 (IQR, 4-11). At the time of admission, 351 patients (90.0%) had pneumonia with an abnormal chest radiography or chest computed tomography. The most common symptoms were cough (372; 94.7%) and dyspnoea (199; 50.6%). The median PaO2/FiO2 on admission was 154.7 (IQR, 89.5-320.5) (Table 1). Of the 394 hospitalized patients, 246 (63.7%) were admitted to an ICU at a median of 8 days from onset of illness (IQR 5 to 14; Table 2).
Figure 1. Flow chart of patients enrolled and included in the analysis * Missing data for neonatal outcomes (n = 3).
Table 1. Demographic characteristics, underlying conditions, symptoms and lab findings of 394 pregnant patients*
Table 2. Treatment, complications, outcomes among pregnant women with confirmed 2009 pH1N1 influenza and neonatal outcomes*
Medication
378 (95.9%) patients received oseltamivir. The median time from onset of illness to oseltamivir therapy was 5 days (IQR 3 to 7), among them only 52 patients (14.0%) received oseltamivir within 48 h of onset of illness. 387 out of 394 patients received antibiotics. 244 received traditional Chinese medicine. Corticosteroid therapy was administered to 242 patients (Table 2).
Maternal and neonatal outcomes
The most commonly reported complication in this study was acute respiratory disease syndrome (ARDS) (151; 53.4%) (Table 2). 211 (59.4%) women delivered at a median of 6 days (IQR 3 to 12) after pH1N1 symptom onset. 122 out of 211 women delivered prematurely (Additional file 2: Table S2). The most common delivery method was cesarean delivery (172 patients, 82.7%) (Table 2). Among 143 live-birth deliveries for which the gestational age was known, 68 were premature (Additional file 2: Table S2). Among the 394 pregnant women in the study, 77 died (Table 2), 56 out of the 77 patients who died were in their third trimester. The main cause of death was refractory hypoxemia (66 patients, 85.7%). Of 5 patients with secondary infection, three patients had Acinetobacter baumannii, one patient had Aspergillus spp, and one patient had both Acinetobacter baumannii and Aspergillus spp.
Additional file 2. Maternal and neonatal outcomes by different delivery methods in different trimesters. Data are presented as no. (%)/total no.(%), if otherwise stated. Percentages are based on patients with complete information in the respective categories. * Two patients missed the detailed information in maternal outcomes. Neonatal outcomes were unknown in four cases. ** One patient missed the detailed information in maternal outcomes. Neonatal outcomes were unknown in two cases.
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Mechanical ventilation
62.4% of women included in the study required intensive care and 47.2% required mechanical ventilation. 83 patients received NIV and 38 patients succeeded with NIV. Among 45 patients who failed with initial NIV, 38 of them were then administered invasive ventilation, and 24 of 38 these patients died. The death rate was lower among patients who initially received NIV than those were initially intubated (24/83, 28.9% vs 43/87, 49.4%; p = 0.006).
Univariate analyses showed that patients who failed NIV treatment had higher APACHE II scores (OR, 1.14; 95% CI, 1.02 to 1.27; p = 0.01), more CNS symptoms (OR, 9.51; 95% CI, 1.15 to 79.03; p = 0.04), septic shock (OR, 27.93; 95% CI, 3.34 to 33.47; p = 0.002), and a higher incidence of acute liver damage (OR, 3.93; 95% CI, 1.07 to 14.52; p = 0.04) compared with those who succeeded with NIV therapy. Multivariable analyses suggested that pregnant women with pH1N1 virus complicated by septic shock (OR, 19.23; 95% CI, 1.97 to 187.13; p = 0.011) were less likely to be successfully treated by NIV (Table 3).
Table 3. Comparison between patients who succeeded with non-invasive ventilation and those who did not*
Risk factor for maternal and neonatal death
62 out of 208 births resulted in neonatal death. 118 out of 208 births were premature. A multivariate analysis was applied to investigate the factors associated with pregnant outcomes. A PaO2/FiO2 ≤ 200 on admission (OR, 27.16; 95% CI 2.64 to 279.70, p < 0.001) and higher BMI (i.e. ≥ 30) on admission (OR, 1.26; 95% CI 1.09 to 1.47, p = 0.86) were independent risk factors for maternal death (Table 4). Premature delivery (OR, 4.17; 95% CI 1.19 to 14.56, p < 0.001) was associated with neonatal death (Table 5).
Table 4. Univariate and multivariate regression analysis of the association of factors with death among pregnant women with confirmed pH1N1 influenza*
Table 5. Univariate and multivariate analysis of the association of maternal characteristics with death among neonates*
Discussion
The first case of 2009 pH1N1 virus infection in China was documented on May 10, the virus has rapidly spread throughout the mainland. A total of 126,000 confirmed cases were reported by Mar 31, 2010, including 7414 patients severe and 800 patients died. Among all these severe cases, about 13.7% of patients were pregnant women [18].
In this large study of pregnant women who were hospitalized with severe 2009 pH1N1 influenza, the clinical characteristics were similar to those reported by others [3,4,17,19]. 95.6% of patients were infected in the second or third trimester. In our study, the most common comorbidities were cardiovascular diseases (3.3%), diabetes mellitus (1.0%), respiratory diseases (2.8%), and obesity (18.5%). In our study, the prevalence of underlying diseases was much lower than reports from the United States (49.3%) [19], 56% in Australia [14], 34% in California [17], 22.8% in Brazil [20], and 62% in France [4]. In those studies, the main cause of underlying disease was asthma. A study compared asthma prevalence of Chinese adolescents living in Canada and in China. The authors found that for girls, the range of asthma was 4.3% in Guangzhou to 9.8% in Canadian-born Chinese adolescents. These results suggest that the lower prevalence of pre-existing asthma in our samples reflects prevalence of the disease in the Chinese population [21].
The mortality rate for severe or critically infected pregnant women in our study was 20%, similar to what was reported in Canada, Mexico, and New Zealand [22-25], but higher than in France (8% death in ICU-hospitalized pregnancy women) [4]. Risk analysis showed that a PaO2/FiO2 ≤ 200 and higher BMI (i.e. ≥ 30) on admission were risk factors for maternal death. Pregnancy and ARDS are associated with increased oxygen consumption, which can result in hypoxemia in the mothers and the neonates. We reported that a higher BMI was associated with maternal mortality after adjusting for baseline clinical factors. Observations of a high prevalence of obesity in severe and fatal cases of 2009 pH1N1 infection have been reported in Chile, Canada, the United Kingdom and Mexico [10,26,27]. As observed in Australia, 42% of patients had a BMI of more than 30 and 22% of patients more than 35, while the corresponding proportions in the general Australian pregnant population was 24% and 10% respectively [28]. However, our research retrospectively collected the patient's clinical information recorded in CRFs. Proportion of obesity has been overestimated based on BMI in the 3rd trimester of pregnancy.
Data from previous pandemics and seasonal influenza epidemics suggested that the risk of complications associated with influenza might be higher in the second and third trimester of pregnancy than in the first trimester [2,3,17]. We also observed a higher proportion of maternal death occurring in the second and third trimester. During the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic, in the United States, the rate of premature birth (30.2%) was higher than the rate of premature births (13%) reported in 2007 [29], consistent with data demonstrating a higher rate of premature delivery during previous pandemics [2]. Among women in our study for whom data on pregnancy outcomes was available, the rate of premature birth was 57.8%. In a multivariable analysis, preterm delivery contributed to fetal mortality. Delivery in severe and critically infected women after 37 weeks' of gestation had improved neonatal outcomes compared to similar patients who delivered before 37 weeks of gestation.
Evidence on the useful role of NIV in pregnant patients with ARDS secondary H1N1 viral infection was lacking. Dr. Amit Banga [30] reported a 28-year-old pregnant female with ARDS (PaO2/FiO2 155) due to community-acquired severe pneumonia who successfully treated with NIV. In 2009, Dr. Michel Djibre and collegues [31] reported a 38-year-old pregnant woman at 31 weeks' gestation with PaO2/FiO2 98 who was successfully treated with NIV. In our study, the success rate among pregnant women with H1N1 infection for NIV was 45.8%. A recent prospective multicenter survey also found that when NIV was used as first-line therapy for selected ALI/ARDS patients (those with 2 organ failures, hemodynamic instability, or encephalopathy were excluded), 54% avoided intubation and had excellent outcomes [32].
Apart from previous findings that major organ dysfunction and obtunded sensorium would obviously be unsuitable candidates for NIV, we found that pregnant women complicated by septic shock were less likely to be successfully treated by NIV. Our data also support that cautious selection of appropriate patients is important for successful application of NIV. Patients should be monitored closely for signs of NIV failure until stabilized. If there are signs of NIV failure, patients should be intubated promptly before a crisis develops.
Our investigation has several limitations. Firstly, we only evaluated pregnant women admitted to a hospital who fulfilled the diagnostic criteria of severe or critical cases. Secondly, it was an observational study, and could therefore only demonstrate associations and could not infer cause. Thirdly, we lacked follow up visits for maternal and neonatal outcomes. Lastly, despite the use of a standardized data-collection form, not all information was collected for all patients.
Conclusions
The clinical data reported herein is consistent with previous studies that demonstrate that pregnant women with influenza are at an increased risk of serious illness and death. Our novel findings included: 1) NIV was useful for some selected pregnant women with pH1N1 virus infection complicated by respiratory failure, but septic shock should be considered a contraindication; 2) a PaO2/FiO2 ≤ 200 and higher BMI (i.e. ≥ 30) on admission were independent risk factors for maternal death; 3) Premature delivery was an independent risk factor for neonatal death.
Abbreviations
NIV: Non-invasive ventilation; pH1N1: Pandemic H1N1; APACHE II: Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II; BMI: Body mass index; CDPH: California Department of Public Health; MOH: Ministry of Health; ARDS: Acute respiratory distress syndrome; rRT-PCR: Real-time reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction; ICU: Intensive care unit; OR: Odds Ratio; SD: Standard deviations; IQR: Interquartile range; CI: Confidence Interval; ALI: Acute lung injury; ARF: Acute Renal Failure; DIC: Disseminated intravascular coagulation; ORuadj: Unadjusted odds ratio; ORadj: Adjusted odds ratio.
Competing interests
The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
Authors' contributions
All authors made substantial contributions to conception and design, acquisition of data, or analysis and interpretation of data, reviewed and approval of the final manuscript. Drs. PJZ, XLL, BC and SGY contributed equally to this article. CW and LJ L, the principal investigator, takes full responsibility for the integrity of the submission and publication, and was involved in the study design as part of the steering committee, had full access to all the data in the study and takes responsibility for the integrity of the data and the accuracy of the data analysis. Drs Z PJ, L XL, CB, Y SG had full access to all of the data in the study, and they take responsibility for the integrity of the data and the accuracy of the data analysis and draft of the manuscript. Drs L LR and GLwere involved in the study design as part of the Steering committee. Drs XZ, HK, Z HY, Y XX, H WB, CW, Z JX were responsible for the patient enrollment and the data collection.
Acknowledgements
The authors gratefully acknowledge individuals who helped identify cases and collated clinical data: Drs. Shu-fan Song, Ran Li, Ting Yang, Yu-dong Yin, Chen Ma, and Lu Bai who participated in the collection of clinical data. Drs. Hui David Shu-Cheong (Hong Kong, China), Colin James McArthur (New Zealand), Dale Andrew Fisher (Singapore), OH Myoung Don (Korea), Satoko, CK, Jie Dong (World Health Organization) for technical support. Drs Evan Sander, Yan-hui Li, Fei Xiao, Jian-guo Zhu are thanked for reviewing of the manuscript.
This work was supported by a grant from the Ministry of Health of the People's Republic of China and the World Health Organization on the clinical study of the influenza A pandemic A (H1N1) 2009, grants from the Beijing Science & Technology (grant numbers Z09000700090903), and Major State Basic Research Development Program (grant numbers 2009CB522107), Mega-projects of Science Research for the 11th Five-Year Plan of China (grant numbers 2009ZX10004-901), and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant numbers 810 30032/H19, 81070005/H0104, 81001271).
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Research article
Health care utilization among complementary and alternative medicine users in a large military cohort
Martin R White1*, Isabel G Jacobson1, Besa Smith1, Timothy S Wells1, Gary D Gackstetter2, Edward J Boyko3, Tyler C Smith1 and Millennium Cohort Study Team
Author Affiliations
1 Department of Defense Center for Deployment Health Research at the Naval Health Research Center, San Diego, CA, USA
2 Analytic Services, Inc. (ANSER), Arlington, VA, USA
3 Seattle Epidemiologic Research and Information Center, Veterans Affairs Puget Sound Health Care System, Seattle, WA, USA
For all author emails, please log on.
BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine 2011, 11:27 doi:10.1186/1472-6882-11-27
The electronic version of this article is the complete one and can be found online at: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6882/11/27
Received:2 December 2010
Accepted:11 April 2011
Published:11 April 2011
© 2011 White et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract
Background
Complementary and Alternative Medicine use and how it impacts health care utilization in the United States Military is not well documented. Using data from the Millennium Cohort Study we describe the characteristics of CAM users in a large military population and document their health care needs over a 12-month period. The aim of this study was to determine if CAM users are requiring more physician-based medical services than users of conventional medicine.
Methods
Inpatient and outpatient medical services were documented over a 12-month period for 44,287 participants from the Millennium Cohort Study. Equal access to medical services was available to anyone needing medical care during this study period. The number and types of medical visits were compared between CAM and non-CAM users. Chi square test and multivariable logistic regression was applied for the analysis.
Results
Of the 44,287 participants, 39% reported using at least one CAM therapy, and 61% reported not using any CAM therapies. Those individuals reporting CAM use accounted for 45.1% of outpatient care and 44.8% of inpatient care. Individuals reporting one or more health conditions were 15% more likely to report CAM use than non-CAM users and 19% more likely to report CAM use if reporting one or more health symptoms compared to non-CAM users. The unadjusted odds ratio for hospitalizations in CAM users compared to non-CAM users was 1.29 (95% CI: 1.16-1.43). The mean number of days receiving outpatient care for CAM users was 7.0 days and 5.9 days for non-CAM users (p < 0.001).
Conclusions
Our study found those who report CAM use were requiring more physician-based medical services than users of conventional medicine. This appears to be primarily the result of an increase in the number of health conditions and symptoms reported by CAM users.
Background
Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is a term used to describe a wide variety of procedures, substances, and approaches for treating symptoms, illnesses, and injuries, as well as promoting good health. CAM therapies include a broad spectrum of ancient to new-age approaches that purport to prevent and/or treat numerous symptoms and medical conditions. Typically they are not considered part of conventional medicine, nor are they usually taught at U.S. medical schools [1]. In 2007, approximately 4 out of 10 adults in the United States reported using some form of CAM therapy in the past 12 months [2]. Similarly, in the United Kingdom and Australia, 46%-48% of adults reported using one or more CAM therapies in their lifetime [3,4]. The fact that CAM is becoming more widely accepted in the United States and abroad has inspired a body of literature directed at examining who uses CAM and for what reasons [5,6].
A number of studies have also looked at CAM in U.S. military populations and found it to be fairly consistent with that of civilians. Typical reasons cited for choosing CAM among military populations include current high daily stress, impact of military life on physical or mental health, physician-diagnosed chronic illnesses, and the potential side effects from prescription medications. Motivation for CAM use may also involve the realization that conventional care may not adequately address chronic conditions, which are often reported by those using CAM [7]. Although there is no shortage of studies involving CAM use among various defined populations in the literature, very few have considered health care utilization patterns among CAM users compared with nonusers. A recent study reported more frequent outpatient visits to physicians among those who used CAM compared to those who did not, but no difference was noted in the rate of hospitalization [8]. Additionally, Gray et al. found that CAM users reported more physical and emotional limitations, pain, and dysthymia, but were no more likely to have reported a chronic condition than nonusers [9]. A number of studies have also shown that CAM users tend to be individuals who have more comorbid, non-life-threatening health problems than nonusers [10-14]. In a cohort of military personnel, those who reported CAM use also reported a greater number of comorbidities and poorer overall health than those not reporting CAM use [15]. Findings such as these suggest those who choose CAM therapies may also have greater use of both unconventional and conventional medical services [16,17]. Understanding the health care utilization patterns of those who use CAM in a large active-duty military cohort could also increase our understanding of the health care requirements of this particular population of patients and help quantify their overall consumption of medical services.
Additionally, our study has the advantage of capturing both inpatient and outpatient care in a large population of participants who have equal access to high-quality medical services.
Methods
Prior to the start of the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, the Department of Deployment Health Research at the Naval Health Research Center launched the Millennium Cohort Study to assess any potential long-term health effects of military service. The survey questionnaire consists of approximately 450 questions concerning the health and well-being of the cohort participants and has been described elsewhere in detail [18,19]. Also incorporated into the baseline and subsequent surveys is the Medical Outcomes Study Short Form 36-Item Health Survey for Veterans (SF-36V) [20], a modified version of the Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36). This 36-Item questionnaire measures health functioning on eight scales, and is among the most widely used measure of quality of life [21].
Study Design
Participants were randomly selected from all U.S. military personnel on rosters as of October 2000. Reserve and National Guard members, those previously deployed and women were oversampled to ensure sufficient power to detect differences in these smaller subgroups. Beginning in 2004, survey questions regarding CAM use were expanded to include 12 specific measures of CAM (described below in greater detail). Only those service members on active duty (44,287) were included in this study, since Reserve and National Guard personnel are only eligible for military health care when on active status and some may have been inactive during our study period. Consequently their inpatient and outpatient care would not have been captured through our review of military records while inactivated.
This research has been conducted in compliance with all applicable federal regulations governing the protection of human subjects in research and was approved by the Institutional Review Board of the Naval Health Research Center (protocol NHRC.2000.0007).
Data Sources
In addition to our longitudinal survey instrument, other data sources include the Standard Inpatient Data Record (SIDR), which is an electronic database of standardized discharge information for any hospitalizations within the military health care system. These data contain a summary of discharge information, including date of admission and discharge, up to eight procedural codes, and up to eight individual discharge diagnoses for each hospitalization. Specific diagnoses are coded according to the International Classification of Diseases, 9th Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) [22]. Hospitalizations that occur outside of the Department of Defense (DoD) military health care system are available through the DoD TRICARE Management Activity's Health Care Service Record, and were used to ascertain DoD-reimbursed hospitalizations of active-duty personnel. Hospitalizations for complications of pregnancy, childbirth, and the puerperium were excluded from analyses examining overall odds of hospitalization in relation to CAM use but included in analyses describing odds of hospitalization for specific diagnoses by CAM use.
For ambulatory data, we used the Standard Ambulatory Data Record to capture outpatient visits. These data are generated by military treatment facilities and include for each outpatient visit up to four diagnoses using ICD-9-CM codes. Electronic military personnel files maintained by the Defense Manpower Data Center were also used to ascertain demographic information, including date of birth, marital status, sex, race/ethnicity, occupation, service branch, service component, education level, and pay grade. Self-reported survey data were used to ascertain body mass index (BMI = weight in kilograms/height in meters squared), smoking status, alcohol consumption, and Mental and Physical Component Summary scores from the SF-36V [23]. Instances of both inpatient and outpatient care were captured for the 12-month period following each subject's enrollment into the study.
CAM Assessment
We used 12 specific questions from the survey to assess CAM use. While these questions do not encompass the full spectrum of CAM use, they include those items believed to provide a clearer distinction between CAM and conventional medicine [1,5,10,24]. Our survey asked, "Other than conventional medicine, what other health treatments have you used in the last 12 months?", with the following options available as yes/no responses: acupuncture, biofeedback, chiropractic care, energy healing, folk remedies, herbal therapy, high-dose megavitamin therapy, homeopathic remedies, hypnosis, massage therapy, relaxation, and spiritual healing. For the purposes of these analyses, acupuncture, biofeedback, chiropractic care, energy healing, folk medicine, hypnosis, and massage therapy were grouped together as practitioner-assisted CAM therapies; herbal therapy, high-dose megavitamin therapy, homeopathic remedies, relaxation, and spiritual healing were grouped together as self-administered CAM therapies.
Statistical Analysis
Chi-square tests were used to examine demographic and military characteristics in relation to practitioner-assisted, self-administered or no CAM use, with p < 0.05 considered statistically significant. Hospitalization rate was calculated as number of first hospitalizations divided by total number of subjects and expressed as the annual number of first hospitalizations per 1,000 persons in relation to CAM use. Multivariable logistic regression was used to compare unadjusted and adjusted odds of hospitalization by practitioner-assisted, self-administered, and both practitioner-assisted and self-administered CAM use compared with non-CAM use. Individual multivariable logistic models were constructed to predict each of 15 diagnostic ICD-9-CM categories for both inpatient and outpatient visits by CAM use. All models were adjusted for the following covariates: sex, birth year, race, education, marital status, military pay grade, service branch, military occupation, BMI, smoking status, and alcohol-related problems. Regression diagnostics using a variance inflation factor of four or greater were used to assess multicollinearity among the covariates [25].
Lastly, the mean number of days hospitalized as an inpatient or receiving outpatient services was compared between CAM users and nonusers. Outpatient visits were counted as one half-day for each visit. Inpatient care was counted as total number of days hospitalized that occurred anytime during the 12-month observation period. Propensity scores were calculated using logistic regression to account for baseline differences in comorbidities between CAM users and nonusers (reported in a previous study [15]). These scores were calculated and included in multivariable logistic regression to control for differences in the number of self-reported health conditions and symptoms between CAM and non-CAM users when comparing hospitalization rates [26,27]. Data management and statistical analyses were performed using SAS software, version 9.2 (SAS Institute, Inc., Cary, NC).
Results
Of the 44,287 active-duty cohort members in this study, 29% (n = 12,717) reported using at least one practitioner-assisted CAM therapy, 27% (n = 11,996) reported using at least one self-administered CAM therapy and 61% (n = 26,982) reported not using any CAM therapy within the last 12 months. The frequency of the 12 CAM therapies reported for both men and women were massage therapy (24.7%), relaxation therapy (21.1%), spiritual healing (9.1%), chiropractic care (8.1%), herbal therapy (7.1%), high-dose megavitamin therapy (3.2%), folk remedies (2.3%), energy healing (1.4%), acupuncture (1.3%), homeopathic remedies, (1.3%), biofeedback (0.7%), and hypnosis (0.5%). Women reported the use of spiritual healing (13.5%) and herbal therapy (11.2%) at about twice the rate of men (7.3% and 5.5%, respectively). The other 10 CAM therapies showed similar use between men and women (data not shown).
Demographic and military characteristics of the study population by CAM use are shown in Table 1. Women reported a higher proportion of both practitioner-assisted (38.4%) and self-administered CAM use (35.4%) compared with men (24.8% and 23.7%, respectively). Reporting practitioner-assisted CAM therapies was highest among the following: women, younger individuals, those with a high school diploma or less, those who never married or were divorced, those serving in the Marine Corps, health care workers, healthy-weight individuals, current smokers, those reporting alcohol-related problems, and those reporting having one or more health conditions or symptoms. Individuals reporting one or more health conditions were 15% more likely to report CAM use and 19% more likely to report CAM use if reporting one or more health symptoms compared to non-CAM users (see Additional file 1 for list of health symptoms and conditions). Results for self-administered CAM use were very similar to practitioner-assisted CAM, with only a few exceptions. Those reporting self-administered CAM use showed a higher percentage of use among enlisted, Navy and Coast Guard, and under-weight individuals. Both the Mental and Physical Component Summary scores derived from the SF-36V were slightly lower in CAM users compared to nonusers.
Table 1. Demographic and military characteristics of 2004-2006 active-duty Millennium Cohort participants by complementary and alternative medicine use (N = 44287)
Additional file 1. Appendix. List of self-reported health conditions and symptoms assessed on the Millennium Cohort questionnaire
Format: DOC Size: 51KB Download file
This file can be viewed with: Microsoft Word Viewer
A total of 1,449 first hospitalizations occurred among this active-duty cohort within 12 months of completing the Millennium Cohort questionnaire. First hospitalization rates and adjusted odds ratios for demographic and military characteristics are displayed in Table 2. Only two characteristics were statistically associated with a hospitalization independent of CAM use: being female 1.93 (95% CI: 1.69-2.19) or being a current smoker 1.20 (95% CI: 1.05-1.36). Birth year, education level and service branch were statistically significant for a lower probability of having a hospitalization during the study period when compared with their respective reference groups.
Table 2. First hospitalization rates and adjusted odds ratios for active-duty military personnel over a 1-year period enrolled in the Millennium Cohort Study 2004-2006 (N = 42896)*
The unadjusted first hospitalization rate for non-CAM users was 30.5 per 1,000 and 39.0 per 1,000 for CAM users. When considering self-administered and practitioner-assisted types of CAM alone and in combination, the rate for practitioner-assisted only was 38.4 per 1,000, self-administered only was 32.9 per 1,000, and both was 43.3 per 1,000 (Table 3). Unadjusted and adjusted odds ratios for first hospitalizations are also shown in Table 3. Unadjusted odds of hospitalization among CAM users was 1.29 (95% CI: 1.16-1.43). After adjusting for covariates and differences in comorbidities (propensity scores) the adjusted odds of hospitalization for CAM users compared to nonusers diminished in magnitude and became statistically nonsignificant 1.04 (95% CI: 0.93-1.17). We observed a higher probability of being hospitalized among those who reported using energy healing, chiropractic, relaxation, or massage therapies. Those using energy healing were hospitalized primarily for mental disorders, and those using chiropractic, relaxation, or massage therapy were primarily seen for diseases of the musculoskeletal system (data not shown).
Table 3. First hospitalization rates by CAM use, unadjusted and adjusted odds ratios for active-duty military personnel
Active-duty Millennium Cohort participants were also evaluated for amount of time spent utilizing inpatient or outpatient care by CAM use. The mean number of days spent in outpatient health care for CAM users was 7.0 days and 5.9 days for non-CAM users (p < 0.001), while the mean number of days spent in inpatient care was 3.2 days and 3.1 days, respectively (p = 0.85). Thirty-nine percent of persons reporting CAM use accounted for 45.1% of outpatient care and 44.8% of inpatient care.
Separate multivariable logistic regression analyses across 15 broad ICD-9-CM categories, including pregnancy and childbirth, were conducted modeling inpatient or outpatient visits by CAM use. Figure 1 illustrates each of the odds ratios for inpatient hospitalization discharge diagnoses models (excluding diseases of the blood due to sparse cases). Only hospitalization for nervous system diseases was statistically higher among those reporting CAM use compared to non-CAM users 2.72 (95% CI: 1.28-6.70). We found the majority of ICD-9-CM codes for nervous systems hospitalizations (n = 31) were for unspecified causes of encephalitis (ICD-9-CM 323.9), migraine unspecified (ICD-9-CM 346.9), and optic neuritis (ICD-9-CM 377.3). Mental disorders showed a slightly reduced odds ratio for hospitalization in CAM users 0.68 (95% CI: 0.47-0.97).
Figure 1. Adjusted odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals for odds of a hospitalization visit for illnesses by CAM use versus non-CAM use, adjusted for sex, age, education, marital status, race/ethnicity, pay grade, branch of service, and occupation.
When outpatient visits were examined (Figure 2), CAM users were more likely to have had an outpatient visit for musculoskeletal system diseases 1.24 (95% CI: 1.21-1.26), mental disorders 1.22 (95% CI: 1.19-1.25), and injury and poisoning 1.08 (95% CI: 1.04-1.11). CAM users were less likely to been seen for the following: skin and subcutaneous diseases, circulatory diseases, pregnancy complications, digestive system diseases, nervous system diseases, neoplasms, and endocrine, nutritional, and metabolic disorders.
Figure 2. Adjusted odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals for odds of an outpatient visit for illnesses by CAM use versus non-CAM use, adjusted for sex, age, education, marital status, race/ethnicity, pay grade, branch of service, and occupation.
Discussion
Our study found that those who report CAM use were disproportionally over represented in both inpatient and outpatient medical encounters compared with non-CAM users. This appears to be the result of an increase in the number of health conditions and symptoms reported by CAM users compared with non-users. In general, individuals who reported CAM use also had slightly lower Mental and Physical Component Summary scores from the SF-36V than non-CAM users, which may indicate diminished function due to poorer health [28]. Hospitalization rates were higher among CAM users for all groups except those born before 1960. As a group, these individuals appear less healthy or may perceive themselves as less healthy than their non-CAM counterparts. More importantly, CAM users appear to have greater health care requirements and tend to use both conventional and unconventional health care services. These findings are consistent with a number of other studies that have noted that CAM users tend to have more comorbid, non-life-threatening health problems than nonusers [10,11,13,14].
Previous studies have characterized typical CAM users as female, middle aged and with more education [10,29]. Although not statistically significant, we saw the opposite trend in education and age in our study, with lower levels of education and a younger age group reporting more CAM use. Our findings of higher proportions for problems of the nervous system and sense organs that required a hospitalization among CAM users is also consistent with other studies [16,17]. However, we were not able to determine if these individuals were using CAM therapies specifically for these problems. For outpatient visits, higher rates for musculoskeletal diseases, mental disorders, and injury and poisonings were seen among CAM users compared with nonusers, and is consistent with findings previously published [17,30]. However, in this study, CAM users were also less likely to been seen for skin and subcutaneous diseases, circulatory diseases, pregnancy complications, digestive system diseases, nervous system diseases, neoplasms, and endocrine, nutritional, and metabolic disorders.
Current research indicates that CAM therapies are primarily being selected by individuals to augment but not replace conventional or mainstream medicine [1,31]. Studies of CAM use in military populations consistently indicate that approximately 40% report using some form of CAM therapy [15,32,33]. Unfortunately, studies have also shown that only 35% of persons who use CAM therapies share this knowledge with their primary health care provider [5]. This is particularly important for those who take herbal therapies or nutritional supplements because of the potential for adverse drug interactions given the important pharmacological activity of some herbal therapies and nutritional supplements [34,35]. There is well-documented evidence for herbal-drug interactions in the literature, and military health care provider awareness of CAM therapies by patients may help to avoid some potential adverse reactions [36-39].
This study has limitations that should be considered when interpreting findings. First, health outcomes that occur within a 12- month study period may not represent future health care utilization patterns in this population, given their relatively young age. Because this was an active-duty population, one might expect them to have a higher level of physical fitness and have lower disease burdens than non-active-duty personnel. In addition, we did not perform a comprehensive assessment of all CAM therapies and did not capture information on the frequency or total dose of CAM therapies. Lastly, we could not assess the health care utilization patterns among Reserve or National Guard personnel since they are only eligible for DoD health care when they are on active status.
Despite these limitations there are a number of strengths with this study. Having relatively complete inpatient and outpatient records provides objective data to assess the health care utilization of our active-duty population. The results of this study were based on a sufficient sample size from one of the largest studies of active-duty personnel, CAM use, and health care utilization. To our knowledge this is the first study looking at a large military cohort in this context. Finally, because military health care is equally accessible to all active-duty service members, all study subjects have equal access to health care during the observation period, minimizing any bias associated with differential access to health care resources.
Conclusions
Our findings provide evidence that CAM users are requiring more physician-based medical services than users of conventional care. CAM patients report a higher number of health conditions and symptoms than nonusers and have slightly lower Mental and Physical Component scores than non-CAM users. Whether CAM use represents the inability of current conventional medical practice to meet the health care needs of these individuals is not fully understood. Additional studies that include the circumstances and rationale that underlie the reasons these patients embrace CAM therapies may help to enhance conventional medical approaches.
List of Abbreviations
BMI: Body mass index; CAM: Complementary and Alternative Medicine; CI: Confidence Interval; DoD: Department of Defense; ICD-9-CM: International Classification of Diseases, 9th Revision, Clinical Modification; OR: Odds Ratio; SIDR: Standard Inpatient Data Record; SF-36V: Medical Outcomes Study Short Form 36-Item Health Survey for Veterans.
Competing interests
The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
Authors' contributions
All authors contributed to study concept and design. MW conducted the literature review, performed the analyses and prepared major portions of the draft manuscript, and edited the final version of the manuscript. IJ, BS and TS were instrumental in obtaining the data and helping with the analysis and providing critical review of the manuscript, in addition IJ wrote and provided the SAS code for doing some of the analysis. GG, EH, TW drafted sections of the manuscript and contributed to the interpretation of the results and provided critical review of the final manuscript. All authors interpreted the data, revised the article critically for important intellectual content and approved the final version.
Acknowledgements
We thank Scott L. Seggerman from the Management Information Division, Defense Manpower Data Center, Seaside, CA. Additionally, we thank Melissa Bagnell, MPH; Gina Creaven, MBA; James Davies; Lacy Farnell; Nisara Granado, MPH, PhD; Gia Gumbs, MPH; Lesley Henry; Jamie Horton; Amanda Pietrucha, MPH; Teresa Powell, MPH; Cynthia LeardMann, MPH; Travis Leleu; Jamie McGrew; Amber Seelig, MPH; Katherine Snell; Steven Speigle; Kari Welch, MA; James Whitmer; and Charlene Wong, MPH, from the Department of Deployment Health Research, Naval Health Research Center, San Diego, CA; and Michelle Stoia, also from the Naval Health Research Center. We appreciate the support of the Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, Rockville, MD. We also thank the professionals from the US Army Medical Research and Materiel Command, especially those from the Military Operational Medicine Research Program, Fort Detrick, MD.
The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not reflect the official policy or position of the Department of the Navy, Department of the Army, Department of the Air Force, Department of Defense, or the US Government. The Department of Veterans Affairs supported Dr. Boyko's involvement in this research. This research has been conducted in compliance with all applicable federal regulations governing the protection of human subjects in research (protocol NHRC.2000.0007).
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12. Shmueli A, Shuval J: Are users of complementary and alternative medicine sicker than non-users?
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15. Jacobson IG, White MR, Smith TC, Smith B, Wells TS, Gackstetter GD, Boyko EJ: Self-reported health symptoms and conditions among complementary and alternative medicine users in a large military cohort.
Ann Epidemiol 2009, 19(9):613-622. PubMed Abstract | Publisher Full Text
16. Al-Windi A, Dag E, Kurt S: The influence of perceived well-being and reported symptoms on health care utilization: a population-based study.
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18. Gray GC, Chesbrough KB, Ryan MA, Amoroso P, Boyko EJ, Gackstetter GD, Hooper TI, Riddle JR: The millennium Cohort Study: a 21-year prospective cohort study of 140,000 military personnel.
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19. Ryan MA, Smith TC, Smith B, Amoroso P, Boyko EJ, Gray GC, Gackstetter GD, Riddle JR, Wells TS, Gumbs G, et al.: Millennium Cohort: enrollment begins a 21-year contribution to understanding the impact of military service.
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20. Kazis LE, Miller DR, Skinner KM, Lee A, Ren XS, Clark JA, Rogers WH, Spiro A, Selim A, Linzer M, et al.: Patient-reported measures of health: The Veterans Health Study.
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33. Smith TC, Ryan MA, Smith B, Reed RJ, Riddle JR, Gumbs GR, Gray GC: Complementary and alternative medicine use among US Navy and Marine Corps personnel.
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34. Barrett B, Kiefer D, Rabago D: Assessing the risks and benefits of herbal medicine: an overview of scientific evidence.
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35. Hu Z, Yang X, Ho PC, Chan SY, Heng PW, Chan E, Duan W, Koh HL, Zhou S: Herb-drug interactions: a literature review.
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36. Abebe W: An overview of herbal supplement utilization with particular emphasis on possible interactions with dental drugs and oral manifestations.
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37. Heck AM, DeWitt BA, Lukes AL: Potential interactions between alternative therapies and warfarin.
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38. Bauer BA: Herbal therapy: what a clinician needs to know to counsel patients effectively.
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Pre-publication history
The pre-publication history for this paper can be accessed here:
http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6882/11/27/prepub
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Armstrong County, TexasEdit This Page
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Revision as of 01:18, 2 January 2013 by Lsgc (Talk | contribs)
This article is about a north Texas county. For other uses, see Armstrong.
United States Texas Counties A Armstrong County
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Texas
Online Records
Contents
County Courthouse
Armstrong County Courthouse
PO Box 309;
Claude, TX 79019
Phone: 806.226.2081
County Clerk has birth and death records from 1903,
marriage and probate records from 1890, court records from 1898 and land
records from 1883; Clerk Circuit Court has divorce records[1]
History
Parent County
1876--Armstrong County was created 21 August 1876 from Bexar Land District and organized in 1890. County seat: Claude [2]
Tradition states the county was named for an early pioneer family.
Boundary Changes
Record Loss
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Populated Places
Claude | Goodnight | Washburn | Wayside
Neighboring Counties
Resources
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Local Histories
• A Collection of Memories: A History of Armstrong County, 1876-1965, by the Armstront County Historical Society, an historical overview of Armstrong County, Texas discussing the ranches, families, and individuals important to the area. Read the book online from The Portal To Texas History.
• A Supplement To A Collection of Memories: A History of Armstrong County, 1876-1965, additional biographical and genealogical information. Read it online from The Portal to Texas History.
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Texas Counties Map. Click on the county to go to the TXGenWeb site.
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• Death Index 1964 to 1998 [no images] Name index to Texas Statewide Death Certificates or four million people who have died since 1964.
• Texas Death Records 1890 – 1976 [with images]
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Web Sites
References
1. Handybook for Genealogists: United States of America, 10th ed. (Draper, Utah: Everton Pub., 2002), Armstrong County, Texas. Page 658 At various libraries (WorldCat); FHL Book 973 D27e 2002.
2. The Handybook for Genealogists: United States of America,10th ed. (Draper, UT:Everton Publishers, 2002).
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Orange County California FamilySearch LibraryEdit This Page
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Revision as of 15:04, 14 April 2011 by Ccsmith (Talk | contribs)
Contents
Orange FHC
Orange California
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Hours of Operation
Holiday Schedule 2010
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The Orange FHC Facility
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(714) 997-7710
Entrance off the parking lot of the Latter-Day Saint Church.
The public is welcome!
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P.O. Box 6471
Orange, California 92863-6471
Orange Center Resources
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Collections
Installed Software
Free Database Access
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• WorldVitalRecords
• Genline.com (Swedish Records)
• Pedigree Resource File
• Scottish Church Records
• Korean & Vietnam Casualties
Description of some of the above databases
Footnote - Footnote is a subscription-based website that features searchable, original documents that provide users a view of the events, places and people that shaped the American nation and the world. The site will have over 25 million digital images by the end of 2007. Footnote is currently working with FamilySearch to index the American Revolutionary War Pension files. Additional projects with FamilySearch are under development.
Individuals with Footnote subscriptions will be able to sign in with the same Footnote username and password they use at home in order to save, annotate, and upload content.
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About this Journal Submit a Manuscript Table of Contents
ElectroComponent Science and Technology
Volume 7 (1980), Issue 1-3, Pages 39-45
doi:10.1155/APEC.7.39
Generalized Theory of Electrical Conductivity and Current Noise for Discontinuous Metal Films Over a Wide Range of Temperatures
1Istituto di Fisica Generale dell'Università di Torino, and G.N.S.M. (U.R.24), Torino, Italy
2Istituto Elettrotecnico Nazionale Galileo Ferraris di Torino, and G.N.S.M. (U.R.24), Torino, Italy
3Istituto di Fisica Sperimentale del Politecnico di Torino, and G.N.S.M. (U.R.24), Torino, Italy
4Istituto Elettrotecnico Nazionale Galileo Ferraris di Torino, and Gruppo Nazionale di Struttura della Materia (G.N.S.M. – U.R.24) del CNR, C. so M. D'Azeglio, Torino 42–10125, Italy
Received 3 July 1979
Copyright © 1980 Hindawi Publishing Corporation. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract
A complete discussion with an extension to the high temperature range of the main results of a recent theory1 on the electrical conduction and current noise in discontinuous metal films is given. In this theory the main conduction mechanism is a direct-tunnelling process of the electrons between metal islands within the insulator substrate. The tunnelling electrons must overcome a potential barrier which is temperature dependent. The model assumes that the electrons trapped in surface states can tunnel in the metal states giving rise to a double charge layer at the interface. The current noise is generated by a modulation mechanism of the carrier direct tunnelling due to thermal fluctuation of the potential barrier height, generated by a corresponding fluctuation of the surface charge.
Experimental results for the conductivity and current noise behaviour on Au film deposited on sapphire tube are also given up to a temperature of about 950 K, and interpreted on the basis of the above theory.
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About this Journal Submit a Manuscript Table of Contents
Gastroenterology Research and Practice
Volume 2012 (2012), Article ID 247309, 10 pages
doi:10.1155/2012/247309
Research Article
Differentiating Branch Duct and Mixed IPMN in Endoscopically Collected Pancreatic Cyst Fluid via Cytokine Analysis
1Center for Pancreatic Disease and Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Endoscopy, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, 75 Francis Street, Boston, MA 02115, USA
2Department of Pathology, University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA
3Department of Radiology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA
4Department of Pathology, Boston’s Children Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA
5Proteomics Center, Boston’s Children Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA
Received 1 October 2012; Revised 31 October 2012; Accepted 14 November 2012
Academic Editor: Massimo Raimondo
Copyright © 2012 Linda S. Lee et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract
Background. Differentiating branch duct from mixed intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm (BD-IPMN) is problematic, but clinically important as mixed IPMNs are managed surgically, while some BD-IPMN may be followed. Inflammatory mediator proteins (IMPs) have been implicated in acute and chronic inflammatory and malignant pancreatic diseases. Aim. To compare IMP profile of pancreatic cyst fluid collected endoscopically from BD-IPMN and mixed IPMN. Methods. Pancreatic cyst fluid from ten patients (5 BD-IPMN and 5 mixed IPMN) was collected by endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration or endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography. Concentrations of 89 IMPs in these samples were determined using a multiplexed bead-based microarray protein assay and compared between BD-IPMN and mixed IPMN. Results. Eighty-six of 89 IMPs were detected in at least one of the 10 samples. Fourteen IMPs were detected only in mixed IPMN, while none were only in BD-IPMN. Of these, TGF-β1 was most prevalent, present in 3 of 5 mixed IPMNs. Seventy-two IMPs were detected in both BD-IPMN and mixed IPMNs. Of these, only G-CSF () was present in higher concentrations in mixed IPMNs. Conclusion. TGF-β1 and G-CSF detected in endoscopically collected pancreatic cyst fluid are potential diagnostic biomarkers capable of distinguishing mixed IPMN from BD-IPMN.
1. Introduction
Many pancreatic cystic lesions have malignant potential, including branch duct and mixed intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms (BD-IPMNs). As the malignant risk is substantially greater for mixed IPMN than BD-IPMN, current management of mixed IPMN is surgical, while many BD-IPMN may be managed conservatively. Therefore, accurately distinguishing them has important clinical implications. Diagnosis of these lesions relies mainly on the combination of diagnostic imaging and analysis of cyst fluid obtained during endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration (EUS-FNA). While EUS-FNA is safe [1], the diagnostic accuracy of cytology, carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), amylase, and DNA markers from cyst fluid is limited [2, 3]. Traditional biochemical cyst fluid analysis generally requires 0.5–1 mL of cyst fluid. Particularly for small pancreatic cysts, EUS-FNA generally yields less than the essential minimum quantity, which limits the ability to classify these lesions. Therefore, better diagnostic biomarkers for pancreatic cystic lesions are needed.
Differentially expressed inflammatory mediator proteins (IMPs) may serve as diagnostic biomarkers for pancreatic cystic neoplasms. IMPs, which include cytokines, chemokines, and growth factors, are commonly associated with acute and chronic disease states. Cytokines are low molecular weight regulatory proteins produced by various cell types particularly during cellular stress events. Generally released in picomolar amounts, their concentration can increase over 1000-fold during physiological stress, such as trauma or infection [4]. Chemokines are a superfamily of small chemoattractant cytokines (8–10 kDa) which guide the migration of cells via corresponding chemokine receptors [5]. These proteins attract neutrophils, monocytes, and other circulating effector cells to sites of infection or tissue damage [6]. Similar to cytokines, many chemokines are considered proinflammatory. Other chemokines are considered homeostatic, involved in controlling the migration of cells during normal tissue maintenance or development [5].
The simultaneous analysis of numerous IMPs can be performed in a single experiment with a suspension microarray using IMP-specific capture antibodies coupled to color-coded microspheres. Current IMP microarrays are both sensitive to low concentrations of cytokines and amenable to high-throughput analysis [7], making this technique ideal for biomarker screening. Although the primary clinical use of this technology is in the analysis of urine and blood, microarray-based approaches may also be applied to proximal body fluids, such as pancreatic cyst fluid. We previously performed an analogous IMP microarray-based analysis of pancreatic fluid collected during secretin-stimulated endoscopic pancreatic function testing to characterize IMPs in chronic pancreatitis [8].
The primary objective of our exploratory investigation is to compare IMP profiles in endoscopically collected pancreatic cyst fluid aspirates of known BD-IPMN and mixed IPMN using a multiplexed IMP-targeted microarray.
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Study Population
The study was designed to analyze IMPs in endoscopically collected pancreatic cyst fluid using a multiplexed suspension microarray assay in an academic center. This protocol was approved by the Partners Institutional Review Board. The study population included adult patients referred to the Center for Pancreatic Diseases at Brigham and Women’s Hospital for evaluation of pancreatic cystic lesions. All subjects underwent the following: (1) comprehensive history and physical examination, (2) review of radiologic data, and (3) EUS-FNA and/or endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP).
Only patients with diagnoses of BD-IPMN and mixed IPMN were included. Definitive diagnosis was obtained from a combination of methodologies: a physician review of the patient medical history with radiologic imaging, endoscopic findings, and/or surgical pathology. A single abdominal radiologist (NS), blinded to the official radiology report, reviewed the radiologic studies, which included both abdominal computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography (MRCP). By radiology and/or EUS, BD-IPMN was defined as a unilocular or multiloculated pancreatic cyst with smooth or loculated margins with a demonstrable communication (short neck or long channel) to a nondilated main pancreatic duct [9, 10] (Figures 1(a) and 1(b)). Absence of a discernable communication does not exclude BD IPMN since the communication can be diminutive or blocked by mucus and hence not visualized. Mixed IPMN was defined as a cystic lesion with ductal communication and main pancreatic duct dilation greater than or equal to 5 mm (Figure 1(c)). Histologically, BD-IPMN and mixed IPMN were defined as a grossly visible, noninvasive, mucin-producing papillary epithelial neoplasm arising from the branch ducts or both branch and main pancreatic ducts, respectively [11]. ERCP findings diagnostic of at least main duct involvement in IPMN include the presence of a “fish mouth papilla,” indicating the presence of mucin within the main pancreatic duct and visualization of a fish egg appearance in the main pancreatic duct during pancreatoscopy [12].
Figure 1: Imaging of BD-IPMN and mixed IPMN. (a) MRI of BD-IPMN: arrow points to communication between BD-IPMN and normal main pancreatic duct. (b) EUS of BD-IPMN: arrow points to communication between cyst and main pancreatic duct. (c) MRI of mixed IPMN: arrow points to diffusely massively dilated main pancreatic duct.
2.2. Experimental Workflow
The overall analysis proceeded as follows: (A) EUS-FNA or ERCP sample collection, (B) particulate removal via centrifugation, (C) multiplexed IMP microarray assays, and (D) statistical analysis of the resulting profiles.
2.3. Endoscopic Ultrasound-Guided Fine Needle Aspiration (EUS-FNA) and ERCP
Endosonography was performed with a curvilinear echoendoscope (Olympus GF-UC(T)140P-OL5; Olympus America Inc., Center Valley, PA) using Aloka SSD-Alpha 5 and Alpha 10 (Olympus America Inc., Center Valley, PA) processors. Curvilinear echoendoscopes are modified, oblique forward-viewing instruments with curved linear ultrasound transducers providing real-time visualization of the aspiration needle. In brief, after obtaining informed consent and administration of intravenous conscious sedation, the echoendoscope was advanced into the upper gastrointestinal tract, the target lesion located, and FNA of the cystic lesion performed using a 22-gauge adjustable needle (EZ Shot, Olympus, Center Valley, PA). Aspirates were divided into three aliquots for (1) biochemical analysis of CEA and amylase, (2) IMP assay, and (3) cytologic evaluation with fluid placed into Cytolyt preservative (Cytyc, Boxborough, MA). Samples were stored at −80°C until IMP analysis (see Section 2.4). Antibiotic prophylaxis was administered during the procedure and for 3 days following the procedure.
The ERCP procedure proceeded in a similar manner to EUS with the exception of using a duodenoscope (Olympus TJF-160VF; Olympus America Inc., Center Valley, PA) and cannula (Tandem XL M00535700; Boston Scientific, Natick, MA) to cannulate the pancreatic duct. Pancreatic duct fluid was aspirated through the cannula and samples sent for analyses.
2.4. Pancreatic Cyst Fluid IMP Microarray Analysis
A suspension microarray assay was used to measure the concentration of 89 IMPs in pancreatic cyst fluid samples from 10 individuals. We selected this 89-cytokine panel as it was the most comprehensive panel available at the time of this study. A list of the IMPs investigated with their corresponding abbreviations is provided in Supplementary Table 1 available online at doi:10.1155/2012/247309. Unlike mass spectrometry-based proteomic assays of pancreatic fluids [1316], suspension microarray assays require only minimal sample preparation of centrifugation to remove particulates. Immediately following fluid collection, samples were aliquoted into 1.5 mL microtubes and centrifuged on an Eppendorf centrifuge 5415R at 4°C and 10,000 ×g to remove particulates. The supernatant was transferred into a new tube and stored at −80°C prior to analysis.
Immediately prior to the microarray analysis, the concentration of known standards was determined by a 5-parameter logistic regression algorithm with analysis of the median fluorescence intensity readings on an 8-point protein standard curve. This procedure ensured that the reading was within the linear range of the assay. The fluorescence intensity values of the standards were treated as unknowns, and the concentration of each standard was calculated using the derived regression equation. The ratio of the calculated value to the expected value of this standard was determined. A ratio between 70 and 130% for each standard indicated a good fit. If fluorescence intensity values of samples plateaued or were outside the range of standard curves, a retest with diluted samples was performed to ensure that the fluorescence intensity measurement of unknown samples fell inside the linear range of standard curves.
Levels of IMPs in cyst fluid were determined using microsphere-based suspension microarray technology (AssayGate, Ijamsville, MD) [17]. The microarray analysis was performed according to previously published methods [1820]. In brief, multiple analytes in a single aliquot (75 μL) of pancreatic fluid were simultaneously quantified with Bio-Plex 200 Bead Reader System (Bio-Rad, Hercules, CA). Microparticles were conjugated previously to differing concentrations of two fluorophores to generate distinct bead sets. Each bead set was coated with a capture antibody specific for one analyte. Captured analyte was detected using a biotinylated detection antibody and streptavidin-phycoerythrin conjugate. The bead analyzer was a dual laser, flow-based, sorting, and detection platform. One laser was bead specific and determined which analyte was being detected. The second laser determined the magnitude of phycoerythrin-derived signal, which is directly proportional to the amount of analyte bound. No more than 75 μL of pancreatic cyst fluid was used for each assay, and each sample was tested in duplicate.
2.5. Statistical Analysis
IMP concentrations were expressed in picograms per milliliter (pg/mL) of pancreatic cyst fluid and analyzed by the Kruskal-Wallis one-way analysis of variance by a rank test for two samples using SAS 9.2 (Cary, NC). A value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. For the purpose of this exploratory analysis, a value < 0.1 was considered a trend warranting further investigation. The Bonferroni or Benjamini-Hochberg correction method is generally used to account for multiple testing of collected samples, but was not used in our study as it is not required for exploratory data analysis [21].
3. Results
3.1. Patient Characteristics
The demographics and clinical characteristics of the 10 study subjects are shown in Table 1. Pancreatic cyst fluid was safely collected via EUS-FNA () and ERCP () from all subjects. Five patients had asymptomatic BD-IPMN with the final diagnosis made by surgical pathology in three patients and radiology in two patients. These patients both had MRCP demonstrating communication of a nondilated main pancreatic duct with the cyst. The nondilated pancreatic duct was confirmed by EUS in both patients. One patient with mixed IPMN presented with acute pancreatitis. Final diagnosis of mixed IPMN was determined by pathology in four patients and radiology in one patient who refused surgery. The latter patient had a diffusely dilated main pancreatic duct to 7 mm with communication of the cystic lesion to this pancreatic duct seen on MRCP and EUS. As expected, amylase and CEA concentrations were not significantly different between BD-IPMN and mixed IPMN samples.
Table 1: Patient characteristics.
3.2. Protein Microarray Assay Detected IMPs in All Ten Pancreatic Cyst Fluid Samples
The concentration of IMPs ranged from below the limit of detection to greater than 15,000 pg/mL, and several IMPs had median concentrations above >1000 pg/mL. In the BD-IPMN samples, ENA-78 and NAP2 were detected with median concentrations greater than 1000 pg/mL. Similarly in the mixed IPMN samples, HCC1, ICAM1, MIF, NAP2, PDGF-AA, and SCGF-B had median concentrations greater than 1000 pg/mL. Figure 2 summarizes the proteins detected in the BD-IPMN and mixed IPMN samples. Fourteen proteins were identified only in mixed IPMN fluid, while none of the assayed IMPs were solely found in BD-IPMN samples. In addition, 72 of the 89 IMPs assayed were present in both types of cysts (Supplementary Table 2), while 3 IMPs (b-NGF, IL-11 and IL-29) were not detected in either cohorts.
Figure 2: Venn diagram of IMPs identified in BD-IPMN and mixed IPMN. IMPs detected only in mixed IPMN are listed to the right of the diagram. Of the 89 IMPs assayed, three were not detected in either types of cyst (b-NGF, IL-11 and IL-29).
3.3. Fourteen IMPs Were Detected Only in Mixed IPMN Fluid Aspirates (Table 2)
Table 2: Inflammatory mediator proteins () detected only in mixed IPMN.
The following IMPs were all present in mixed IPMN and not detected in BD-IPMN samples: eotaxin 3, GM-CSF, I-309, IL-5, IL-9, IL-17, lymphotactin, TGF-β1, TGF-β2, TGF-β3, TNF-β, SCF, TPO, and TSLP. The concentrations of these IMPs in individual mixed IPMN samples ranged from 0.5 to 170.7 pg/mL. The majority of these IMPs was detected in one or two samples. TGF-β1, however, was identified in 3 samples. No IMPs were detected only in BD-IPMN cyst fluid.
3.4. Three IMPs Were Present in Higher Concentrations in Mixed IPMN Fluid Aspirates (Supplementary Table 2 and Figure 3)
Figure 3: Box and whisker plots of differentially expressed IMPs between BD-IPMN and mixed IPMN. (a) G-CSF, value < 0.05, (b) IL-23, and (c) VCAM-1, values < 0.1. Bottom and top edges of box at 25th and 75th percentiles, respectively. Horizontal line within box marks 50th percentile (median). Whiskers extend from box as far as data extend, at most 1.5 interquartile ranges. Outlier represented by “x”.
Among the 72 IMPs detected in both BD-IPMN and mixed IPMN samples, G-CSF (), IL-23 (), and VCAM-1 () had higher concentrations in mixed IPMN compared to BD-IPMN samples. None of the 72 proteins found in both BD-IPMN and mixed IPMN samples had significantly higher concentrations in BD-IPMN fluid samples.
4. Discussion
We identified IMPs with a microsphere-based suspension protein microarray assay in all endoscopically obtained pancreatic cyst fluid samples from patients with BD-IPMN and mixed IPMN. Our study differentiated the IMP profiles of BD-IPMN and mixed IPMN fluid aspirates. Specifically, we identified a total of 17 IMPs from the 89 tested that were differentially expressed between BD-IPMN and mixed IPMN. Fourteen IMPs were detected only in mixed IPMN, while three IMPs were present in higher concentrations in mixed IPMN.
Accurate differentiation between BD-IPMN and mixed IPMN has important clinical implications. Mixed IPMN harbors a risk of malignancy up to 50–70%, similar to main duct IPMN (MD-IPMN), compared to approximately 15–25% for BD-IPMN; therefore, current guidelines recommend surgical resection of mixed IPMN [22]. In contrast, many BD-IPMN, including small ones without suspicious radiologic features, may be managed conservatively [22]. Differentiating MD-IPMN from BD-IPMN by radiologic criteria is clearly defined in the recent International Association of Pancreatology guidelines [23] while mixed IPMN may be more difficult to separate from BD-IPMN [24]. Therefore, we focused our study on differentiating BD-IPMN from mixed IPMN as additional tools are needed to accurately classify IPMNs. We believe the IMPs we have identified differentiating mixed IPMN from BD-IPMN merit further investigation as potential biomarkers of pancreatic cystic neoplasms.
Cytokine and chemokine production is closely linked to pancreatic stellate cell function, particularly in the pathogenesis of pancreatic cancer [2528]. Pancreatic stellate cells express growth factors, chemokines, and cytokines known to participate in inflammatory and fibrotic responses to pancreatic injury [25, 2934]. These responses are often precursors to the development of malignant and pre-malignant lesions [3538]. The expressed cytokines and chemokines controlling the cellular functions of pancreatic stellate cells represent potential diagnostic and therapeutic targets, several of which have been identified in our current analysis of pancreatic cyst fluid, collected primarily by EUS-FNA.
The TGF-β family, in particular TGF-β1, is the most promising potential biomarker for mixed IPMN, as it was detected in three of the five mixed IPMN samples and none of the BD-IPMN samples. TGF-β is a family of proteins that control proliferation, differentiation, and other functions in most cells [39]. It plays a role in immunity and cancer by arresting the cell cycle at the G1 stage to stop proliferation, induce differentiation, and/or promote apoptosis [40]. The TGF-β family consists of three members with similar peptide structures (TGF-β1, TGF-β2, and TGF-β3), all three of which were identified only in mixed IPMN samples. Interestingly, multiple studies have demonstrated an association between TGF-β and pancreatic cancer [4148]. In addition, TGF-β signals through SMAD4, a critical tumor suppressor inactivated in half of pancreatic cancers [49].
G-CSF, IL-23, and VCAM-1 had higher expression levels in mixed IPMN compared to BD-IPMN and also represent potential diagnostic biomarkers. Additionally, these cytokines may lead to insights into the oncogenic nature of these pancreatic cystic neoplasms. Pancreatic cancer has been associated with elevated serum G-CSF [50, 51] and G-CSF positive immunohistochemistry [52]. G-CSF shares proinflammatory properties with IL-23, which we also measured in higher concentration in mixed IPMN [53]. IL-23 is produced by macrophages and thus has a role in the inflammatory response to infection and can promote tumor genesis and growth [54]. VCAM-1 mediates the adhesion of eosinophils, lymphocytes, monocytes, and basophils to vascular endothelium [55] and has been shown to be upregulated in pancreatic disease [56]; however, its role in mixed IPMN and cancer remains unclear.
Our results demonstrate the applicability of IMP analysis in differentiating mixed IPMN from BD-IPMN, but must be validated further in larger studies. IMP profile comparisons with other clinically relevant pancreatic cystic lesions, including mucinous cystic neoplasms and serous cystadenomas, is needed and will expand the diagnostic utility of this technique. A potential limitation is that the peak concentration of certain IMPs in pancreatic cyst fluid may depend on the degree of dysplasia in the cyst. Assessing IMP levels in pancreatic cysts with different grades of dysplasia merits further study. In addition, one of our patients with mixed IPMN had a history of acute pancreatitis, which can have an effect on the IMP levels in the pancreatic fluid. The larger size of pancreatic cysts in the mixed IPMN may have affected IMP levels as well, and this needs further study.
In conclusion, we have successfully identified differentially expressed IMPs in pancreatic cyst fluid of BD-IPMN compared with mixed IPMN using endoscopic collection methods in tandem with cytokine microarray technology. With further validation, our findings may enable the accurate differentiation of mixed IPMN from BD-IPMN using a diagnostic cytokine panel. The advantages of directly investigating pancreatic cyst fluid with this microarray technology include high specificity, small sample volume requirement, cost effectiveness, and complementarity to other detection methods, such as mass spectrometry, ELISA, and western blotting [57]. Further investigation of other pancreatic cystic neoplasms, as well as the different degrees of dysplasia in various pancreatic cysts, using the methods described herein may generate major insights into cytokine-mediated pathogenesis of pancreatic cancer.
List of Abbreviations
BD-IPMN:Branch duct intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm
MD-IPMN:Main duct intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm
EUS-FNA:Endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration
ERCP:Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography
IMP:Inflammatory mediator protein
CT:Computed tomography
MRCP:Magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography.
Conflict of Interests
The authors declare no competing interests.
Authors’ Contribution
D. L. Conwell and J. A. Paulo equally contributed to this work.
Acknowledgments
Funds were provided by the American College of Gastroenterology Clinical Research Award (LL, 2011), NIH NIDDK NRSA Fellowship (JP, NIH NIDDK 1 F32 DK085835-01A1), Harvard Digestive Diseases Center (DC, NIH 5 P30 DK034854-24), and NIH NIDDK (DC, 1R21 DK081703-01A2). J. A. Paulo (NIH NIDDK 1 F32 DK085835-01A1).
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About this Journal Submit a Manuscript Table of Contents
Stroke Research and Treatment
Volume 2011 (2011), Article ID 606780, 13 pages
doi:10.4061/2011/606780
Review Article
Ischemic Stroke during Pregnancy and Puerperium
1Dipartimento di Scienze Biomediche e Biotecnologie, Università degli Studi di Brescia, 25128 Brescia, Italy
2Dipartimento di Scienze Mediche e Chirurgiche, Clinica Neurologica, Università degli Studi di Brescia, P.le Spedali Civili, 1, 25100 Brescia, Italy
Received 10 August 2010; Accepted 4 December 2010
Academic Editor: Halvor Naess
Copyright © 2011 Elisabetta Del Zotto et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract
Ischemic stroke during pregnancy and puerperium represents a rare occurrence but it could be a serious and stressful event for mothers, infants, and also families. Whenever it does occur, many concerns arise about the safety of the mother and the fetus in relation to common diagnostic tests and therapies leading to a more conservative approach. The physiological adaptations in the cardiovascular system and in the coagulability that accompany the pregnant state, which are more significant around delivery and in the postpartum period, likely contribute to increasing the risk of an ischemic stroke. Most of the causes of an ischemic stroke in the young may also occur in pregnant patients. Despite this, there are specific conditions related to pregnancy which may be considered when assessing this particular group of patients such as pre-eclampsia-eclampsia, choriocarcinoma, peripartum cardiomiopathy, amniotic fluid embolization, and postpartum cerebral angiopathy. This article will consider several questions related to pregnancy-associated ischemic stroke, dwelling on epidemiological and specific etiological aspects, diagnostic issue concerning the use of neuroimaging, and the related potential risks to the embryo and fetus. Therapeutic issues surrounding the use of anticoagulant and antiplatelets agents will be discussed along with the few available reports regarding the use of thrombolytic therapy during pregnancy.
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Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2012, 13(5), 6507-6520; doi:10.3390/ijms13056507
Article
Growth Promotion of Yunnan Pine Early Seedlings in Response to Foliar Application of IAA and IBA
Yulan Xu 1,2,† , Yuemin Zhang 2,† , Yunfei Li 1 , Genqian Li 2,†,* , Daiyi Liu 2 , Minchong Zhao 2 and Nianhui Cai 2
1 College of Biological Science, Technology of Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China 2 Key laboratory for Forest Resources Conservation and Use in the Southwest Mountains of China, College of Forestry, Southwest Forestry University, Kunming 650224, China These authors contributed equally to this work.
* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 21 February 2012; in revised form: 18 May 2012 / Accepted: 21 May 2012 / Published: 24 May 2012
(This article belongs to the Section Bioactives and Nutraceuticals)
Download PDF Full-Text [315 KB, uploaded 24 May 2012 14:00 CEST]
Abstract: A field experiment was conducted using a 3 × 3 orthogonal regression design to explore the growth promotion of one-year-old Yunnan pine seedlings (Pinus yunnanensis Franch.) in response to foliar application of IAA (indole-3-acetic acid) at rates of 0, 200 and 400 mg·L−1 and IBA (indole-3-butyric acid) at rates of 0, 200 and 400 mg·L−1 in order to promote the growth during the seedlings’ early stage. The experiment was conducted at the Lufeng Village Forest Farm of Yiliang County in Kunming, Yunnan, China. The results showed that IAA and IBA were effective in growth promotion of Yunnan pine seedlings. The response of both growth increment and biomass accumulation to the concentration of IAA and IBA can be modeled using a bivariate surface response, and each growth index had a peak value. Growth indexes increased with the increase of the dosage of photohormones before reaching a peak value, and then decreased. The different growth indexes had various responses to the concentrations and ratio of IAA and IBA. The foliar application of IAA in combination with IBA showed the largest improvement on the biomass of the needles, followed by stems and roots. The higher ratio of IAA promoted stem diameter growth, root system development and biomass accumulation in the needles, while a higher ratio of IBA contributed to height growth and biomass accumulation in the stem. Based on the auxin effect equations on the different growth indexes and surface response, the optimum concentrations and the (IAA:IBA) ratios can be obtained. The optimum concentrations of IAA and IBA were 167 and 186, 310 and 217, 193 and 159, 191 and 221, and 206 and 186 mg·L−1, with corresponding ratios of 1:1.11, 1:0.70, 1:0.82, 1:1.15 and 1:0.90, respectively, at the maximum seedling height and collar diameter growth as well as biomass accumulation at the root, stem and needle. The above growth indexes were 22.00%, 79.80%, 48.65%, 82.20% and 107.00% higher than the control treatment.
Keywords: exogenous IAA and IBA; foliar application; seedling growth promotion; Yunnan pine (Pinus yunnanensis Franch.)
Article Statistics
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Cite This Article
MDPI and ACS Style
Xu, Y.; Zhang, Y.; Li, Y.; Li, G.; Liu, D.; Zhao, M.; Cai, N. Growth Promotion of Yunnan Pine Early Seedlings in Response to Foliar Application of IAA and IBA. Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2012, 13, 6507-6520.
AMA Style
Xu Y, Zhang Y, Li Y, Li G, Liu D, Zhao M, Cai N. Growth Promotion of Yunnan Pine Early Seedlings in Response to Foliar Application of IAA and IBA. International Journal of Molecular Sciences. 2012; 13(5):6507-6520.
Chicago/Turabian Style
Xu, Yulan; Zhang, Yuemin; Li, Yunfei; Li, Genqian; Liu, Daiyi; Zhao, Minchong; Cai, Nianhui. 2012. "Growth Promotion of Yunnan Pine Early Seedlings in Response to Foliar Application of IAA and IBA." Int. J. Mol. Sci. 13, no. 5: 6507-6520.
Int. J. Mol. Sci. EISSN 1422-0067 Published by MDPI AG, Basel, Switzerland RSS E-Mail Table of Contents Alert
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Nano Express
Temperature and Magnetic Field Effects on the Transport Controlled Charge State of a Single Quantum Dot
LA Larsson1*, M Larsson1, ES Moskalenko2 and PO Holtz1
Author Affiliations
1 IFM, Semiconductor Materials, Linköping University, 58183, Linköping, Sweden
2 A. F. Ioffe Physical-Technical Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, Polytechnicheskaya 26, 194021, St. Petersburg, Russia
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Nanoscale Research Letters 2010, 5:1150-1155 doi:10.1007/s11671-010-9618-x
Published: 5 May 2010
Abstract
Individual InAs/GaAs quantum dots are studied by micro-photoluminescence. By varying the strength of an applied external magnetic field and/or the temperature, it is demonstrated that the charge state of a single quantum dot can be tuned. This tuning effect is shown to be related to the in-plane electron and hole transport, prior to capture into the quantum dot, since the photo-excited carriers are primarily generated in the barrier.
Keywords:
Quantum dot; Wetting layer; Magnetic field; Temperature dependence; Charge state
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Nano Express
Preparation of monolayers of [MnIII 6CrIII]3+ single-molecule magnets on HOPG, mica and silicon surfaces and characterization by means of non-contact AFM
Aaron Gryzia1, Hans Predatsch1, Armin Brechling1*, Veronika Hoeke2, Erich Krickemeyer2, Christine Derks3, Manfred Neumann3, Thorsten Glaser2 and Ulrich Heinzmann1
Author Affiliations
1 Molecular and Surface Physics, Faculty of Physics, Bielefeld University, Universitaetsstrasse 25, 33615 Bielefeld, Germany
2 Inorganic Chemistry I, Faculty of Chemistry, Bielefeld University, Universitaetsstrasse 25, 33615 Bielefeld, Germany
3 Electron Spectroscopy, Faculty of Physics, Osnabrueck University, Barbarastrasse 7, 49069 Osnabrueck, Germany
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Nanoscale Research Letters 2011, 6:486 doi:10.1186/1556-276X-6-486
Published: 8 August 2011
Abstract
We report on the characterization of various salts of [MnIII6CrIII]3+ complexes prepared on substrates such as highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG), mica, SiO2, and Si3N4. [MnIII6CrIII]3+ is a single-molecule magnet, i.e., a superparamagnetic molecule, with a blocking temperature around 2 K. The three positive charges of [MnIII6CrIII]3+ were electrically neutralized by use of various anions such as tetraphenylborate (BPh4-), lactate (C3H5O3-), or perchlorate (ClO4-). The molecule was prepared on the substrates out of solution using the droplet technique. The main subject of investigation was how the anions and substrates influence the emerging surface topology during and after the preparation. Regarding HOPG and SiO2, flat island-like and hemispheric-shaped structures were created. We observed a strong correlation between the electronic properties of the substrate and the analyzed structures, especially in the case of mica where we observed a gradient in the analyzed structures across the surface.
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Nano Express
Detection of nerve agent stimulants based on photoluminescent porous silicon interferometer
Seongwoong Kim, Bomin Cho and Honglae Sohn*
Author affiliations
Department of Chemistry, Chosun University, 375 Seosuk-dong, Dong-gu, Gwangju 501-759, South Korea
For all author emails, please log on.
Citation and License
Nanoscale Research Letters 2012, 7:527 doi:10.1186/1556-276X-7-527
Published: 25 September 2012
Abstract
Porous silicon (PSi) exhibiting dual optical properties, both Fabry-Pérot fringe and photolumincence, was developed and used as chemical sensors. PSi samples were prepared by an electrochemical etch of p-type silicon under the illumination of 300-W tungsten lamp during the etch process. The surface of PSi was characterized by cold field-emission scanning electron microscope. PSi samples exhibited a strong visible orange photoluminescence at 610 nm with an excitation wavelength of 460 nm as well as Fabry-Pérot fringe with a tungsten light source. Both reflectivity and photoluminescence were simultaneously measured under the exposure of organophosphate vapors. An increase of optical thickness and quenching photoluminescences under the exposure of various organophosphate vapors were observed.
Keywords:
Photoluminescence; Porous silicon; Fabry-Pérot; Organophosphate; Sensor
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DIYbio/FAQ/Educational
From OpenWetWare
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This topic Educational Discussion & Resources is part of the DIYBio FAQ
Contents
What are some educational resources for DIYBio and Biology? What are all these terms and technologies DIYBio keeps discussing?
There are many biology and science resources on the net, especially with universities providing "open course ware" for viewing or download. The sections below of the DIYbio FAQ list hobbyist, industry, and university-sponsored educational resources which apply to biohacking.
Educational Videos
• See DIYbio/Videos for a collection of iGEM and Synthetic Biology videos.
For university video and audio:
• MIT OpenCourseWare (also on iTunes)
• UC Berkeley educational webcasts: Biology, Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, etc.
• Many universities are hosting classes (such as Biology) on YouTube
Here are a few industry-sponsored or non-profit-sponsored educational resources which apply to genetic engineering.
Educational Textbooks
Textbooks are by far one of the best ways to learn about the latest in Biology and Wetware.
Do you recommend any feeds, blogs, wikis, instructables, .. ?
• Add your favorite ones here.
Is DNA, RNA really like Software? What does DNA, RNA look like?
DNA is not really "like software." DNA is a physical structure, and much of biology operates on the physical (mechanical) fit of macro-molecules. Changing the sequence (the "software") can result in big changes in the physical structure, which changes the bio-properties of the macro-molecule.
Safety documentation
This section is for safety documentation from external bodies. DIYbio-related safety information is found in the other FAQ sections (See 'DIYbio FAQ on Methods').
What is synthetic biology and related technology? Does DIYBio do Genetic Engineering?
Synthetic Biology: A Definition [From Davidson College's Synthetic Biology Seminar in the Fall of 2007]
Synthetic biology refers to the design and construction of novel biological systems. Applying an engineering approach to biology, this emerging field provides an opportunity to: 1) develop new organisms that are capable of performing useful functions and 2) test our understanding how complex biological systems work.
In 1978, the Nobel Prize in Medicine went to Werner Arber, Daniel Nathans, and Hamilton O. Smith for the discovery of restriction enzymes. This discovery marked the beginning of recombinant DNA technology and genetic engineering. Researchers now had the ability to modify the genomes of organisms by cutting and pasting segments of their DNA. For years, genetic engineers have made slight genome modifications in organisms, either by the insertion or deletion of one or two genes, in order to observe phenotypic changes. More recently, as our knowledge of biological systems has grown, the new field of synthetic biology has begun to steal the spotlight. This field builds on the principles of genetic engineering, but attempts to modify genomes on a much larger scale. Instead of inserting or deleting one or two genes, synthetic biologists use recombinant DNA technology and, increasingly, artificial DNA synthesis to introduce whole gene networks into organisms. Because of its complex nature, synthetic biology brings together many different disciplines such as biology, math, engineering and chemistry to try to engineer genomes using preexisting and new biological systems and components. Mathematical modeling enhances the design of synthetic systems before implementation in the wet lab. The possible areas of influence for such biological devices are seemingly infinite, ranging from the production of reusable biofuels to the treatment of some or all cancers. The ultimate goal of synthetic biology is to both build novel (new) biological systems and to create a better understanding of existing ones.
Also see http://syntheticbiology.org/FAQ.html
Drew Endy - Informal - Broad overview
Professor Drew Endy explains that Synthetic Biology techniques are built on top of the foundational technologies of genetic engineering (PCR, oligonucleotides, and DNA sequencing) and are include abstraction, standardization (i.e., biobricks), and automated DNA synthesis. Insulation and Standard Measurement Units (i.e. signal carriers) in biological systems are also significant interests in current synthetic biology research. See also syntheticbiology.org.
What are BioBricks?
BioBricks can be described as Lego blocks for building biological systems. However they are in "alpha" state and do not yet work for building arbitrary biological systems. Research needs to be completed and this research will take at least another decade [1st hand quote from personal conversation with BioBricks founders -- jcline]. As of 2009, less than five Biobrick parts have been characterized with reliable and quantifiable behavior.
What is iGEM?
iGEM, the international genetically engineered machine competition, is the premiere undergraduate synthetic biology conference in the world using and developing Biobricks. iGEM teams have been testing and realizing the principles of synthetic biology on a massive scale for the last 5 years, illustrating the viability of garage biotechnology. Student teams are given a kit of biological parts at the beginning of the summer from the Registry of Standard Biological Parts. Working at their own schools over the summer, they use these parts and new parts of their own design to build biological systems and operate them in living cells. Check out igem.org or wikipedia for more info.
More on Synthetic Biology Projects and Parts
Legal Discussions
Legal discussions include both patent issues and safety-regulatory issues. Email safety@diybio.org to get involved in the discussions of safety.
Legal Discussions from the BioBrick Foundation
What's all this about "open", anyway?
This is the desire to continue to apply open source concepts to biology and related fields for great benefits.
"Open" means sharing the biological protocols, the instructions for building the equipment and sources of the materials, the directions for using the equipment, the source code of the software used for the equipment, the raw data from the experiment, the results and any other aspects of the experimental process, in a digital format, on the internet. All of this sharing occurs under typical information technology process (such as on a wiki, or source control, or open database) so that revisions of documents and data can be compared or copied to a new method (called "branching" in software terms). The sharing can be performed under a variety of permissions such as open source licenses which allow others to re-use, modify and distribute their own designs of the technology. Benefits:
Formal discussion of the BioBrick license is documented in BBF RFC 60:
BBF RFC 60: Open licensing of BioBrick(tm) parts
This document provides recommendations for licensing of community-created biological parts, especially in BioBrick standard. by Micha Lower, Anna Olchowik, Jaros³aw Pankowski, Milena Balekowa, Marta B³aszkiewicz, Dominik Cysewski, Kamil Koper, Joanna Leszczyñska, Cherry Moreno and Anna Puawska
DSpace, doi: 1721.1/60081 http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/60081
Background and References:
Dramatic recent expansion of intellectual property protection in the field of biotechnology has led to concerns that ongoing innovation will be blocked unless actionis taken to preserve access to and freedom to operate with those tools that are important for further research and development.
A great deal of the innovation we need to see will not come from academia or existing corporations, but from people noodling around in their garages or in start-ups yet to be founded.
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