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2-D or 3-D plot of output from dsolve odeplot(dsn, vars, range, options) output from a call to dsolve( ... , numeric) (optional list) axes and functions to plot (optional) range; range of the independent variable (optional) equations that specify plot options; see plot/options and plot3d/option The odeplot function plots or animates one or more solution curves (either 2-D or 3-D) obtained from the output (dsn) of a call to dsolve/numeric. Note: If you are using the output=piecewise option with dsolve/numeric, you should use the plot function to plot or animate your solution. The ordering of the coordinates is given by vars. If no coordinates are given, then it is assumed that a plot of the first dependent variable as a function of the independent variable is desired (that is, the first two coordinates of the solution). Significantly more flexibility is available in the specification of the coordinates. The coordinates can be functions of the independent variable, or any dependent variable and derivative values that are part of the dsolve/numeric solution. For example, for a second-order problem in y⁡x, you could specify a plot of y⁡x versus y⁡x2+ⅆⅆxy⁡x2 with y⁡x,y⁡x2+ⅆⅆxy⁡x2. Multiple curves can be plotted by specifying a nested list format. For example, x,y⁡x,x,ⅆⅆxy⁡x displays the dependent variable and its derivative as a function of x on the same plot. Curve-specific options can be specified for each curve (for plots with multiple curves) by including them in the desired variable list after the plot variables. Allowed options are color, linestyle, style, symbol, symbolsize, and thickness. (These are described in plot/options and plot3d/option.) For example, the plot described by the nested list above can be displayed with y⁡x in blue dots, and ⅆⅆxy⁡x as a red line of thickness 2 with the argument [[x,y(x),color=blue,style=point],[x,diff(y(x),x),color=red,thickness=2]]. The range argument defines the range of the independent variable to produce the plot, and must evaluate to real numbers. If not supplied, the range is determined as follows: If the dsolve/numeric output is not of a procedure type (that is, it is in the form of a matrix or Matrix), then the values present in the matrix are used directly for the plot. If the problem is a boundary value problem (BVP), then the plot is produced for the entire solution region. If the problem is a initial value problem (IVP), and was created with a range (rkf45 and rosenbrock only), then that range is used for the plot. If the problem is a IVP, _Env_smart_dsolve_numeric is set to true, and a prior call was made to the procedure, the plot is produced from the initial point to the point used in the prior call. Finally, if none of the above conditions are met, then the plot is produced for the range x0-10..x0+10, where x0 is the initial point for the IVP. If the default numerical IVP solvers rkf45 and rosenbrock were used with the range argument to obtain dsn, then an additional option is available to control the number of points used to produce the plot. The refine=v option tells odeplot to use v times the number of stored points for the plot, where v must be a non-negative integer or one over a non-negative integer. For example, specification of refine=1 tells odeplot to use all points in the stored solution, while refine=2 requests twice the computed points, and refine=1/3 requests one-third the computed points. Note: Use of this option with a range solution of dsolve/numeric produces an adaptive plot, where more points are plotted in more rapidly changing solution regions (that is, regions where a greater number of steps were required by the numerical method). See the Van der Pol example below. Note: This option cannot be used with the numpoints option. If not specified, the labels of the plot are obtained from the vars argument (or from the dsolve/numeric solution if vars is not specified). Since these are displayed as text, the derivative of y⁡x with respect to x is displayed as y', and the function y⁡x is displayed as y. Variables specified in vars using operator notation, such as D⁡y⁡x are left unchanged. For 2-D plots, if the length of the text of an automatically-generated axis label exceeds 10 characters, it is not displayed. To display long labels as a legend (instead of omitting them), specify the labels=legend option. Labels can be disabled by specifying them as empty strings or identifiers (that is, labels=["",""] or labels=[``,``]). If the frames=n option is given, then odeplot produces an animation of the solution over the independent variable range for the plot, from lowest to highest value. The final frame of the animation is the same as the plot created without the frames option. Note: The refine option cannot be used with animations, as odeplot must choose the points for the animated plot. Remaining arguments must be equations of the form option = value. These options are the same as found for plot (in the case of 2-D solution curves) or those found for plot3d (in the case of 3-D solution curves). See plot/options and plot3d/option for details. The result of a call to odeplot is a PLOT or PLOT3D data structure which can be rendered by the plotting device. You can assign this value to a variable, save it in a file, then read it back in for redisplay. See plot/structure for more details. dsolve/numeric solution using a range, so odeplot defaults to that range or with refinement dsolve/numeric matrix output Animation of a solution Note: To play an animation in this help page, right-click (Control-click, on Macintosh) the plot to display the context menu. Select Animation > Play. Specification of numpoints Multiple curves y⁡x and z⁡x against x. This is the command to create the plot from the Plotting Guide. Phase plot of y⁡x against z⁡x Limit the view of the phase plot Three-dimensional solution curve The command to create the 3-D plot from the Plotting Guide is Multiple curves with different options Same as above, but animated. Once again, note that to play an animation in this help page, right-click (Control-click, on Macintosh) the plot to display the context menu. Select Animation > Play. An example (the Van der Pol equation) where use of a solution with range and plotting with option refine gives a significantly higher quality plot than without: Download Help Document What kind of issue would you like to report? (Optional)
In this tutorial, we: Defined "heuristics" as "rule of thumb" strategies that can help you to generate ideas in the initial stages of working on a writing task. Discussed the importance of understanding your writing assignment. Identified three types of "unconscious" heuristic strategies (brainstorming, freewriting, and nutshelling), and four types of "conscious" heuristic strategies (Journalist's Questions, Aristotle's Topics, Tagmemics, and Synectics). Examined the development of a specific thesis from a general topic. If you are unclear on any of these areas, please use the navigation menu at the left to visit those sections for review. Congratulations on completing the Pre-Writing Strategies online tutorial! We hope that it gave you some new ideas and techniques for tackling your next writing project. If you want to test your understanding of the tutorial, keep on going to the quiz! Proceed to Take the Pre-Writing Strategies Quiz
The word ‘Yoga’ has been derived from the Sanskrit word ‘Yug’ which means the unity of the body, mind and soul. Powered by search to connect with the self, Yoga is the science of development of the individual consciousness. Yoga is thus an invaluable gift of India's ancient tradition. Effectuated by its global take, the UN instituted the International day for Yoga. The declaration came at the behest of Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi during his address to the UN General Assembly on 27 September, 2014, where he declared: “ Yoga is not about exercise but to discover the sense of the oneness with yourself, the world and nature”. In suggesting 21 June ( also the Summer Solstice), the International Day of Yoga, Mr. Modi said: “ The date is the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere and has a special significance in many parts of the world”. This year’s theme is “Yoga at Home, Yoga with Family”, to link with the current predicament of a global pandemic restricting mass gatherings. Digital platforms have been introduced as a medium for one and all to virtually participate in the observance of the occasion and the celebrations were broadcasted live on Youtube. The event began at 7 am on 21 June with an introduction of Yoga, followed by the demonstration of the inportant asanas. Students participated alongside their parents, attempting the asanas in unison. In place of the customary annual Yoga Olympiad, the government formulated a Yoga quiz for classes 6 to 12 for which students registered on the DIKSHA Portal. The quiz will remain open for a month and the last date of submission is 20 July, 2020. A mass and enthusiasm filled participation of students is being pursued at every level. Our School believes in the holistic development of the child and this includes mental health; the latter providing an anchor to strengthen students to navigate every phase of life. Apart from the virtual activities, meditation was also undertaken for our students to teach them learn calm and focus. Students recorded and shared their own videos of how they performed the asanas. Together with understanding the importance of a healthy lifestyle, students were prompted to make a habit of what was taught. For more pictures...Click here
NCI Dictionary of Cancer Terms The NCI Dictionary of Cancer Terms features 7,894 terms related to cancer and medicine. Browse the dictionary by selecting a letter of the alphabet or by entering a cancer-related word or phrase in the search box. - listen (pa-lee-FER-min) A form of keratinocyte growth factor (KGF) that is made in the laboratory. KGF stimulates the growth of cells that line the surface of the mouth and intestinal tract. Palifermin is used to prevent and treat oral mucositis (mouth sores) caused by high-dose chemotherapy and radiation therapy in leukemia and lymphoma. It is also being studied in the prevention and treatment of oral mucositis and dysphagia (difficulty swallowing) in other types of cancer. Palifermin is a type of recombinant human keratinocyte growth factor. Also called Kepivance.
BACK ROOM: Sybil Andrews (1898 – 1992) By Portia Priegert "Bringing in the Boat" Sybil Andrews, "Bringing in the Boat," 1933, linocut, 13” x 10.5”. With its strong diagonal composition and stylized geometry, Bringing in the Boat is a modernist gem, uniting themes of sport and male bonding in a visual language steeped in its era. That the artist was a woman might seem surprising, but then Sybil Andrews seems anything but ordinary. Her family owned a hardware store and couldn’t afford to send her to art school, so she apprenticed as a welder and worked at a British airplane factory during the First World War, studying art by correspondence. Eventually, she obtained formal training and became affiliated with the Grosvenor School of Modern Art in London, an influential centre for modernist printmaking. Bringing in the Boat traces to this early period of her career before she came to Canada in 1947 with her husband, Walter Morgan, to settle in Campbell River on Vancouver Island. Sport was an important theme at Grosvenor and hence more typical in Andrews’ early period. Pastoral subjects were common in her later work, more readily available in the Canadian resale market, making this linocut from a private British collection a choice find. “We chased it and were able to get it,” says Peter Ohler, a partner at Masters Gallery in Vancouver. The work , which has already been sold, is one of three trial proofs outside of Andrews’ usual edition of 60 prints, which means it is even rarer. American print expert Thomas Rassieur has observed that the rowers look almost robotic, an effect heightened by eliminating their individual features and remaking their hands as clamps and hooks. “The spirit of unified teamwork expressed in the print echoes the mass demonstrations of synchronized athletic prowess that we now associate with propaganda films of the interwar period,” Rassieur, a curator at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, wrote in 2008 in Rhythms of Modern Life: British Prints, 1914-1939. Andrews had a major exhibition at Calgary’s Glenbow Museum in 1982, and donated 575 works to the museum in 1991 along with the bequest of another 960 pieces the following year, making the institution a major centre for research into her life. Her cottage in Campbell River, where she gave art lessons after fleeing Britain’s post-war economic doldrums, has been preserved and is now used for community arts activities.
Spherical robots, sometimes regarded as polar robots, are stationary robot arms with spherical or near-spherical work envelopes that can be positioned in a polar coordinate system. Sounds pretty smart - you are free to use this if you want to impress a girl with your wit. So, these robots are more sophisticated than Cartesian and cylindrical robots, while control solutions are less complicated than those of articulated robot arms. This may be the reason why sometimes they are used as a base for robot kinematics exercises. Also, it should be noted that spherical robot type takes a significant spot in robot history, as some of the first robot arms can be counted into this type. Modern industrial robot arms kind of evolved from spherical robots and are sometimes regarded as this type, as their work envelope often is sphere-like as well. The spherical robots' structure is the one you can see at the left side of this picture. As you can see, it has two rotary joints and one linear. Thus a spherical work envelope is formed. Of course, it is not a sphere, but reachable places can still be calculated in a polar coordinate system. As you can understand, there can be more than three joints. However, these three are the basic ones that form the work envelope. Further joints would add more flexibility, but wouldn't radically change the reachable area. For example, if the gripper could rotate, this would be a 4-axis robot while the work envelope wouldn't change at all. A robot with an R-R-R structure with three rotary joints can be seen at the right side of the above picture. As you understand, robots of this kind have a near-spherical work envelope. Most modern industrial robots are derivatives of this type. As I mentioned earlier, stationary spherical robots have created industrial robots' history. In my opinion, it's so because robots of this type were simple enough to create control systems with available hardware at the time, yet enough flexible for real world applications. The Stanford arm was designed in 1969 by Victor Scheinman who at the time was a student working at the Stanford Artificial Intelligence Lab - SAIL. The arm has five rotary joints and one linear joint. The mechanical structure is the same I discussed above plus three rotary joints. The arm is all-electric, it had DC motors with potentiometers for position feedback and analog tachometers for velocity feedback. Also, it can be regarded as one of the first robots designed specifically for computer control. It seems needless to say as you probably understand it already - the Stanford arm is significant as it helped to form the knowledge base about robot control we use today. Image author: George C. Devol Unimate is another historical spherical manipulator. It is widely regarded as the first industrial robot. In 1961 first Unimate began its work at General Motors. At the beginning, it was used for die casting and spot welding as these applications proved to be financially beneficial. This success spawned the industrial robot industry as we know it today. It featured hydraulic drive and could execute commands stored on a magnetic drum. Unimate, cherished by George Devol and Joe Engelberger, was manufactured by the first industrial robot company - Unimation. Another interesting twist of fate took place in 1977. In that year Unimation acquired Victor Scheinman's company - Vicarm. Using this new knowledge that originated from the Stanford arm project they designed Unimate PUMA. In 1989 Unimation was acquired by Stäubli. As you see this type of robot arms is quite important because of its place in history.However, nowadays you won't see many of them actually being used, as articulated (anthropomorphic) robot arms are more flexible, and the software and hardware development allows us to use them with remarkable results.
Carthage was founded by a Phoenician princess, Alyssa, who in ancient texts is known as Dido. Destroyed by the Romans, Carthage would be reborn from its ashes and became a major city of the Roman empire. Carthage – Qart Haddasht or “new city” in the Phoenician language – was founded by a woman, Alyssa, who in ancient texts is known as Dido (“The Wanderer”). Sister of Pygmalion, the king of Tyre, she left Phoenicia with a handful of companions: her own brother had murdered her husband, a priest of the goddess Ashtart. It was, according to the texts, 814 B.C. Then, the decline of the Phoenician cities of the East caused Carthage to take up the key role in their network. She made it into one of the richest empires of its time. Only the Greeks could overshadow it; but it was the Romans, in the end, who overcame its might, invaded it and delivered it to the flames in 146 B.C. A century later, Carthage would be reborn from its ashes. Rebuilt in Rome’s image, it would be close to its equal in splendour due to the size and opulence of its monuments. The province of Carthage, Africa, would become one of the Empire’s most dazzling; it was also, in late antiquity, a key location for the spread of Christianity. This rich history has left countless traces scattered across a vast area. The different eras are intimately intertwined. These basins, although partly filled, still remain; the second contains a central island where traces of the former dry docks were found. Close by could be found the Punic sanctuary dedicated to the deities Tanit and Baal Hammon, today better known as tophet. It consisted of a vast open-air sacred space where the Carthaginians placed, for centuries, carved stelae bearing their wishes, these would be accompanied by offerings and animal sacrifices. The dimensions of the amphitheatre approached those of the Colosseum of Rome. The hippodrome, today long gone, was the second largest of the whole empire after the Circus Maximus. The new Carthaginians went to the theatre en masse; there they cheered for comedies and Latin tragedies, mime shows, tightrope walkers, public lectures given by speakers such as the great African writer Apuleius. Well preserved, this theatre used to be even bigger than it appears today: upper tiers were added to the stands built into the hillside, supported underneath by a structure of arcades. The rich Romans had superb villas with courtyards lined with alternating porticos, mosaic-tiled ceremonial rooms, gardens punctuated with marble statues and fountains. They went to unwind under the vaulted ceilings of the thermal baths built under Emperor Antoninus: their lower levels, well preserved, and a few immense columns give an idea of their colossal dimensions– up to thirty metres under the highest point of the highest vault. Close by, Punic tombs, remains of Roman houses, ruins of crypts and Christian basilicas intermingle. For Carthage was also a great hub of Christianity. Saint Augustine imposed his doctrine there through heated councils. Several ruins of Christian basilicas have been rediscovered; the one known as Damous el-Karita is the largest in Africa. Carthage was then abandoned for centuries, and its monuments looted: its marble and its granite were used to build the cathedrals in Pisa and Genoa, its most beautiful capitals and marble columns were taken to decorate the Al-Zaytuna mosque in Tunis. The site still remains strongly evocative of this city whose influence was felt for over a thousand years. According to legend, Byrsa Hill would be the founding place of the city. The site addressed the usual worries of the Phoenicians with the possibility of establishing a well protected and easily defensible port. Visible on the other side of the bay, Mount Bougarnine (“with two horns”) sheltered a sanctuary dedicated to the god Baal, renamed Saturnus Balcaranensis in the Roman era. The sanctuary dedicated to the goddess Tanit and the god Baal Hammon is a space where, layer upon layer, thousands of votive stelae have accumulated. Its nickname of tophet (of biblical origin) refers to the tales of child sacrifices that certain Greek and Roman authors returned with; but the reality of this archaic rite is disputed by leading experts. Carthaginian art, of Phoenician origin, often transmits an Egyptian or Greek influence. Carthage also extensively imported and copied the most beautiful manufactured products from around the Mediterranean basin. Excelling in pottery, metallurgy, the working of ivory and glass paste, the Carthaginians were generally open to influences from the world at large. It is in Tunisia that Roman mosaic attained a high level of artistry, thanks to the creativity and technical mastery of the local mosaic artists. Roman African mosaic is remarkable for the spontaneity of its scenes and the realism of its delicately nuanced colours. The restored Roman Villa known as La Voliere is remarkable with its pink marble colonnade and its appearance hall which overlooks a series of basins. The beautiful Romano-African homes were arranged around an interior courtyard, and their floors decorated with mosaics (the one featuring racehorses comes from another Carthaginian dwelling). The Baths of Antoninus are some of the most remarkable of the Roman world due to their opulence and their size (close to 300 metres in length). A few columns from the upper level have been preserved; one of them, 15 metres high, supported an arch with a peak height of 30 metres. The lower level consisted of spaces for relaxation and service. © G. Mansour, “Tunisie, patrimoine universel”, Dad Editions, 2016 Video: the Baths of Antoninus Video: the Cisterns of La Maalga The site of Carthage was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Happiness defined: the quality or state of being delighted, pleased, or glad, as over a particular thing Joy defined:the emotion of great delight caused by something exceptionally good or satisfying I’ve heard parents say that all they want is for their children to be happy. I do not want you two to be happy, but I do want you to have joy. Happiness has at its root word “happen”…happiness is based on something that happens to you. You are happy when you get the new electronic device you’ve been wanting. I will be happy in a month when I can eat Chipotle again. Happiness is something you feel, which means it’s something that can go away very quickly. But joy is something you have, something you are. It’s something deep down. It’s not based on anything outside of us, it’s not based on our circumstances. We can be in the worst place in of our lives with horrible things happening to us and we can feel joy all at the same time. And the reason we can experience joy is because we are Christians. The Bible speaks of happiness only 26 times. But it talks about joy and being joyful 270 times. God does not promise us happiness. In fact, God promises us that we will experience heartache and difficulties. Jesus says in John 16:33,“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” But here is why as Christians we can have a joy that will sink deep down and keep us steady and never go away no matter how we feel: We can have joy because… 1. Jesus died on the cross for your sins. He took on your sin so that you wouldn’t have to pay the price. Heaven is now your home; hell is not. What you have to look forward to at the end of this life far outweighs the troubles and far outweighs even the best happinesses. 2. Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to comfort you. You are never alone. 3. Whatever you ask the Father in Jesus’ name will be given to you, if it’s in his will. 4. Jesus promised to come back and to put an end to suffering. He is coming for us one day, and he will make everything right that is now wrong. 5. It’s one of the fruit of the Spirit and God wants us to have it. Though it’s great to be happy, happiness doesn’t last. Joy always will. Jesus, please fill us with your deepest joy that will take us through anything. Amen. If this post helped you, “Moving On as a Christian Single Mom” is for you, found here.
A start-up company has broken ground on a Texas pilot plant that is supposed to produce ethanol and diesel in a radical new way: with an organism that sweats fuel. The company, Joule Unlimited of Cambridge, Mass., has developed several patented gene-altered organisms that absorb sunlight and carbon dioxide and combine these into hydrocarbons. The organisms – basically single-celled plants – live in a panel that vaguely resembles a solar photovoltaic one. They lie under a glass sheet that is mounted on a frame to face the sun. They live in brackish water and need small amounts of chemical nutrients, said William J. Sims, president and chief executive of Joule. A move from the lab to the field will test their tolerance for temperature variations and other natural challenges, he said. They can survive cold, but the site, in Leander, about 30 miles north of Austin, was chosen because ice was unlikely, he said. Many companies are pursuing the development of fuel from algae that are immersed in water enriched with carbon dioxide and then soak up sunlight. The algae produce fats and lipids internally; the trick is then to crush them and harvest the oil in a way that does not use much energy. That step has not been widely commercialized. But Joule says its organisms release their oil and survive to make more. And the diesel fuel is easy to gather because, like most hydrocarbon oils, it is lighter than water and tends to separate. Ethanol mixes with water and must be distilled, but the technology for this is widely available. Although the technology is still at the laboratory stage, Joule’s system was recently identified by Technology Review, the M.I.T. magazine, as one of the 10 most important emerging technologies. The Leander pilot is supposed to begin in operation in June. Mr. Sims was guarded in addressing details about the organisms. He said that they were based on what occurred in nature that and each type would secrete a different chemical. The cells will eat, reproduce and then sweat; water flowing through the system will carry off the hydrocarbon fuel for separation, he said. After about eight weeks, workers will flush the system clean and start over with a new batch, he said. Carbon dioxide is trucked in for now, but the longer-term strategy is to locate the operation near a power plant that runs on coal or natural gas and captures its carbon dioxide. If a national cap on emissions is enacted, a power plant might be willing to pay a fuel plant to take its carbon dioxide gas. Another potential source is a conventional corn ethanol plant, which produces a pure stream of carbon dioxide. Last week Joule said it had raised $30 million in a second round of financing. The scale-up from the demonstration plant is simple, Mr. Sims said: just reproduce the cluster of panels, the piping that connects them and the separation plant. The company projects production of 25,000 gallons of ethanol a year from each acre, which would be many times higher than production from wood waste or other biomass source. Of course all of this remains to be demonstrated, but Joule hopes to be in commercial production in 2012.
A publication of the Archaeological Institute of America The Clovis Orthodoxy Monte Verde's great importance is that, granted the site is valid, it breaks the Clovis barrier, that is it is earlier than the widespread Clovis culture which has been accepted for nearly 50 years to be the earliest in the Americas. This belief in the Clovis-first model for the colonization of the New World had become so entrenched that many scholars felt that it stifled debate about the subject and that its proponents were self-appointed defenders of the faith. The rise of the Clovis Orthodoxy goes back to the first decades of this century. Throughout the 1890s William Henry Holmes of the Bureau of American Ethnology and Thomas Chamberlin of United States Geological Survey challenged many dubious claims for Pleistocene (Ice Age) archaeological finds in the New World, a role continued into the 1920s by physical anthropologist Ales Hrdlicka of the Smithsonian Institution. In 1926 Jesse Figgins of the Colorado Museum of Natural History sent a crew to collect a skeleton of an extinct bison from a fossil bed near Folsom, New Mexico. Figgin's crew found a stone point at the site but moved it before an archaeologist could verify its association with the bones. Hrdlicka refused to accept the find as evidence of Pleistocene occupation of the New World by humans. Figgins, infuriated, told his crew to contact him immediately if another such find was made and to leave the point undisturbed until he arrived. In August 1927 another point was found. It was left in the ground, examined by outside experts and photographed. The find proved that humans had entered the New World sometime before the end of the Ice Age some 10,000 years ago. In 1932 Figgins found larger, heavier fluted points with mammoth skeletons at a site in Colorado. Five years later, near Clovis, New Mexico, robust fluted points were again found with mammoth bones in a deposit beneath a layer containing Folsom points and bison skeletons. The robust points, now named Clovis, were recognized as even older than the Folsom points. Characteristic of both points is a flute, a flake struck off the base along the length of the point, presumably to facilitate hafting. The site names are also used for the peoples represented by these specific artifacts, while the broader term "Paleoindian" applies to Clovis, Folsom, and other early cultures. In 1964 University of Arizona geochronologist C. Vance Haynes linked the dates of Clovis sites obtained through radiocarbon dating, then a fairly new technique, and evidence about glacial conditions in the north. The distinctive points had been found throughout the continental United States, all in contexts dated to about 11,500-11,000 years ago, and none before 12,000, the date geologists believed an ice-free corridor opened up between the Cordilleran Glacier atop the Canadian Rockies and the massive Laurentide Ice Sheet to the east, permitting southward migration. Haynes proposed a very rapid occupation of the Americas, with Paleoindians virtually sweeping across the continents. This accorded well with the archaeological evidence. The Clovis toolkit--fluted points, bifaces, knives, scrapers, drills, and gravers--was apparently sufficient to enable them to exploit a range of environments. Evidence of the mobility of Clovis groups came from the identification of chert, jasper, chalcedony, and other types of stone valued for making tools that was carried long distances, often over distances of 200 miles. A view that Clovis Paleoindians--mobile big-game hunters pursuing the Pleistocene megafauna (mammoth, mastodon, and extinct bison)--were the first Americans was widely accepted. Claims were made from time to time that various sites, such as Meadowcroft Rockshelter in western Pennsylvania and Pedra Furada in Brazil, had pre-Clovis occupation phases. But none were convincing. Clovis-first was the rule. The Monte Verde Excavations From 1977 to 1985, Tom Dillehay of the University of Kentucky excavated at Monte Verde, some 31 miles (50 km) inland from the Pacific of southern Chile. The water-saturated deposits of the site, on Chinchihuapi Creek, afforded excellent preservation of organic remains in what was interpreted as a habitation surface, designated MV-II, of a small camp used by 20 to 30 people. Radiocarbon dates from the level averaged ~12,500 years ago. Among the features recorded by the excavators were two large and many small hearths and 12 huts about ten by 11.5 feet (3 by 3.5 m). Most of the stone tools found at the site were made of local raw material and consist of cobbles with a few flakes removed to make simple but functional working edges. There were two bifacially flaked points. Worked wood, from logs to branches, was also found. Bones, ivory, and possible tissue from mastodons were found along with remains of Pleistocene llamas, small mammals, fish, and mollusks. Remains of plants that could be from coastal to Andean to arid grassland habitats were recovered. The imprint of a human foot in clay is among the most intriguing finds from the site. Upstream, limited excavation uncovered another deposit, designated MV-I, with some possible stone tools and three possible hearths dated to ~33,000 years old. At 12,500, Monte Verde was earlier than any other site in North or South America by a full millennium. Moreover, it was nowhere near the Bering Strait, the place where most scholars assumed that people entered the Americas from Asia. That implied an even earlier arrival, after all it meant that people had to pass through the ice-free corridor and travel some 7,500 miles (12,000 km) south. Needless to say, the Clovis-first crowd didn't initially give in. In fact, the archaeological benediction of the site came only in 1997. That year many of the foremost Paleoindian specialists traveled first to Kentucky, to hear presentations by Dillehay and his team members and to view many of the artifacts, then to Valdivia, Chile, for further presentations and review of additonal, and finally to Monte Verde itself. Most of the site's occupation area had been obliterated by a bulldozer sometime after excavation, so the group had to content themselves with examining a few remnants. Later that year, the consensus was in and published in the journal American Antiquity: "The central issue dealt with at that final meeting was whether MV-II is archaeological, and, if so, whether there can be any reasonable doubt that the MV-II occupation is ~12,500 radiocarbon years old. On this critical issue there was complete unanimity: MV-II is clearly archaeological, and there is no reason to question the integrity of the radiocarbon ages." The validity of the dates received a boost when results of radiocarbon testing published in American Antiquity earlier this year by R.E. Taylor, a University of California-Riverside dating specialist, C. Vance Haynes, and others revealed nothing that might undermine the ~12,500 dating of the site in terms of either contamination, or the "old wood" effect, or radiocarbon reservoir. With Monte Verde generally accepted, the Clovis-first orthodoxy was overthrown and discussion on how and when the Americas were colonized became wide open.
I-Teams focus on commercial potential for KidzEyez device A technique for testing the peripheral vision of young children could be given a boost – thanks to the inventors putting it in the hands of Cambridge students. Dr Louise Allen, a paediatric ophthalmologist from Addenbrooke's Hospital and Associate Lecturer at the University of Cambridge, and her colleague Dr Adar Pelah of York University have created KidzEyez. Now a group of students on the University of Cambridge i-Teams Programme, mentored by the IfM's Dr Nikoletta Athanassopoulou, are helping formulate a plan to commercialise the product and help market it to health providers The new low-cost product is designed to help gather accurate readings of the field of vision of toddlers. The prototype device is a first in its field. Although similar products are used to measure peripheral vision of adults, they are not suitable for small children. Dr Allen and Dr Pelah's invention could become a lifesaver as potentially deadly neurological conditions - such as tumours of the optic chiasm and pituitary gland - can be picked up and treated earlier if visual field loss can be detected, preventing permanent loss of vision and neurological deficit. I-Teams is designed to analyse the commercial potential of an emerging, breakthrough technology. Students are drawn from across the university including engineering and technology disciplines. For more details check the website http://www.iteamsonline.org
Ticks are creepy, crawly, unwanted visitors on any dog. Not only are they gross, but they also can carry serious diseases. There are several species that vary in appearance, but all of the adults are small and round, with eight legs. All ticks feed exclusively on the blood of vertebrates. There are two families of ticks: hard ticks and soft ticks. They have four stages in their life: egg, larva, nymph and adult. Mating usually occurs while adult ticks are on the body of the host animal. The female then drops to the ground and deposits her eggs. When they are at the larvae stage they are called "seed ticks" with six legs. They attach themselves to a host, after receiving a blood meal, they drop to the ground and emerge as eight legged nymphs. Ticks prefer to attach themselves to the dog's head, ears, neck or paws. Usually, dogs with ticks show little irritation and the tick is mistaken for a growth on the dog's skin Many tick species can be carried indoors on animals, but cannot complete their entire life cycle inside. Once an infestation occurs inside a home, it can grow very rapidly. Typically, a few ticks are brought into the house or from an infested kennel, open field or other place where infested dogs have been located. After the ticks have engorged on a blood meal, they drop form the host and seek some protected situation in the immediate surroundings. For this reason, they may be found behind baseboards, under window and door moldings, in window pulley openings, or in furniture. All cracks and crevices in an infested premise must be treated for good control. If you happen to find a tick on your dog, they can usually be removed with forceps or large tick tweezers. The tick's head should be grasped as close to the dog's skin as possible. Remove the tick with a gentle, but firm, pull. If you feel uncomfortable with pulling the tick out, try painting the tick with nail polish remover (acetone). The tick should release and drop off -- just be sure to destroy it when it does! Do not attempt to burn the tick off with a hot match. If ticks have become a problem in your home, the infested house and/or kennel should be thoroughly cleaned in order to eliminate as many ticks as possible. Vacuuming is very helpful inside. Pet bedding and pet areas should be cleaned well. Residual insecticide sprays and dusts should be applied carefully to all potential tick harborage areas.
\|Evaluating an annuity\| \|Written by Janet Swift\| \|Friday, 05 March 2010\| Page 1 of 3 In this spreadsheet we use Excel's financial functions and the Scenario Manager to help decide whether it is worth purchasing an annuity. In order to work with Excel's financial functions we also need to understand some terminology and conventions. Present Value, PV, is used for the sum of money involved at the start of a loan or investment and Future Value, or FV, for the final amount. In other words, FV is what results after interest (which is a percentage rate - so many percent per month, so many percent per year and so on) has acted on PV. By convention cash paid out is negative and cash paid in is positive. So in the case of an investment the cashflow out is negative but its future value is positive. For a fuller discussion of this see Chapter Four of Financial Functions. The first function involved here is PV – the present value of a total series of future payments. The present value of a cashflow is simply the amount of money you would have to invest now at a prevailing safe interest rate to give you the same total amount of money as the total of the cash flow plus the interest it earns at the same rate. Enter titles and labels into a spreadsheet as follows: A2 Purchase price A4 Interest rate A5 Monthly income The annuity in our example costs $50,000 so enter -50000 in B2 – notice that it has to be negative because it is cash you are paying out. How this appears depends on formatting. Right-click on the cell B2 to open the Format Cells dialog, Choose Currency in the Number tab and then make a section in the Negative numbers section. Here we've selected the second option where negative numbers are shown in red. The annuity will pay the holder (money coming in) $345 per month so enter 345 in B5. Again set it to display in the same Currency formatting - you can easily do this by putting the cursor in the cell already set to this format and clicking on the Format Painter in the tool bar. This "picks up" the format and you can "brush it" over cell B5. Notice that as a positive value it displays in black. Enter 10 as an initial value of years in B3 and 3.5% in B4 as the rate of interest. If you see 4% you' need to format this cell to display 1 decimal place, see the Loan Repayment spreadsheet if you are unsure about this. Using Insert Function Now we need to calculate the value of the investment using one of Excel's functions. When using a function you are unfamiliar with Excel's Insert Function facility is a great help. If you don't know which function you want to to use place the cursor in the empty cell and click on the fx button to the immediate left of the Entry line. The search facility in the Insert Function dialog allows you to type in a brief description of what you require. In ths case you want to calculate "value of investment". Enter this is the top box and Excel selects FV - which is the required function, so click OK. \|Last Updated ( Friday, 16 April 2010 )\|
This was an important naval battle that was fought between the British under Admiral Sir George Rodney and the French under the Comte de Grasse between April 9th, 1782 and April 12th, 1782, during the Anglo-French War. The Battle was fought off the Island of Dominica and was named after the group of islands between Gaudeloupe and Dominica which were collectively known as the "Saintes". This battle was important to the British forces as the fleet was responsible for the blockade of Yorktown and was responsible in part for the British surrender. With the British surrender at Yorktown, the next phase of the French/Spanish plan was to invade Jamaica. On April 7, 1782 the French left Martinique to rendezvous with 12 Spanish ships of the line and to embark 15,000 troops. On hearing this Admiral Rodney left in pursuit of the French fleet the next day. April 9th saw the British fleet catch the French fleet and the two sides sailed in line for the next few days while repairing damage to their respective ships. At 7:40 am on the 12th, the British began to engage the French fleet and the two sides engaged each other in broadsides. Due to shifting winds, the British ships broke the line and delivered a devastating attack on the French fleet. Eventually with the French fleet in disarray, the Ville de Paris, struck her colours and the Comte de Grasse surrendered to the British. \|Ships of the Line.\| \|Bonhomme Richard firing broadside.\| \|The French ship of the line L'Orient burning.\|
Some surface testing systems detect specific pathogens, and others are designed for more general purposes. When testing cleanliness, most swabs test one of two things: phosphates or proteins. More specifically, some swabbing systems detect ATP (Adenosine triphosphate) and others detect protein (either specific allergenic protein, or general protein). The systems address entirely different needs. So how do you know when to use ATP swabs, general protein swabs, or allergen-specific swabs in your facility? Protein is found in most foods. Foods that are high in protein, including nuts, shellfish, soy, and milk appear on the list of major allergens. Interestingly enough, most fruits and vegetables contain a very minimal amount of protein — although these foods can still trigger allergic reactions in some people! Since food proteins are generally what trigger an allergic reaction, verifying that proteins have been removed from the work environment is vitally important. Can you prove that working surfaces are (largely) free from protein? If so, you can feel reasonably confident that the surfaces will not contaminate your products with traces of allergens. General Protein surface testing An effective and widely-used method, general protein testing checks for the presence of any protein on a surface. These surface tests do not differentiate between protein from nuts, meats, dairy, etc. – any protein will trigger a reaction. General protein swabs are less sensitive than allergen-specific tests, but they are also much less expensive. This makes them a good addition to a food safety program, especially when it comes to verifying that cleaning has taken place. Surface testing for general protein involves swabbing an area and then incubating the sample before reading the result. Some methods don’t require an incubation period, but they are less sensitive and not suitable for use with allergen cleaning. All methods of rapid protein surface testing will cause the sample to change colors when mixed with the reagent or through incubation. While there are many brands of general protein swabs, we are pleased to carry Hygiena’s AllerSnap™ protein tests. AllerSnap uses the biuret method (see more, below); it is safe, quick, easy and effective. The biuret method is a colorimetric technique specific for proteins and peptides. Copper salts in alkaline solution form a purple complex with substances containing two or more peptide bonds. The absorbance produced is proportional to the number of peptide bonds that are reacting and therefore to the number of protein molecules present in the reaction system. Read the article on Science Direct Protein swabs alone should not be used for allergen control since they only work on surfaces and only detect protein molecules with no differentiation. In other words, protein tests cannot tell the difference between protein from an allergen like peanut and any other protein. They are also less sensitive than tests for specific allergens. In situations where no test kit is available to screen for a particular allergen, verification with a kit like AllerSnap can be useful. Advantages of protein swab tests: - Detects protein from a wide range of allergens, including allergens for which there is no specific rapid test - Quick results – 5 to 30 minutes depending incubation - Cost effective to allow for collecting multiple data points - Easy to use and interpret Specific Allergen product and surface testing Unlike AllerSnap or other general protein swabs, specific allergen tests contain antibodies designed to react to very small amounts of very specific allergen proteins. In other words, a kit designed to detect peanut will “ignore” protein from milk or soy or chicken. They are almost always more sensitive than general allergen swabs. This makes them the superior choice for higher risk situations and also for program validation. Fun fact! It is a good idea to validate your cleaning program at least once a year with specific-allergen tests. Validation is the means of proving that your cleaning program does in fact work, when it is done properly. Additional validation is warranted when there are changes to your ingredients, processes, environment, or team. Rapid /On-Site testing for specific allergens There are also a variety of on-site lateral flow devices for detecting specific allergens, including AlerTox Sticks. The benefits of an LFD like AlerTox Sticks are many. Like ELISAs, they are more sensitive and more specific than the general protein swabs. They can also detect allergenic material in food samples, rinsewater samples, and surface samples. When you are trying to prove that your cleaning program works, specific allergen test kits are heavily indicated. Kits like AlerTox Sticks are also advisable for high-stakes allergen cleans, and monitoring incoming ingredients, rinsewater, and finished product. The process of getting set up to start testing is as simple as ordering a test kit and blocking off 15 minutes on your schedule. AlerTox Sticks come in a variety of allergens: almond, crustacean, egg, fish, hazelnut, milk, mustard, peanut, soy, and walnut. While gluten is technically not an allergen, GlutenTox Pro and GlutenTox Pro Surface are also suitable for most situations involving wheat as an allergen. Advantages of AlerTox allergen-specific LFD tests - Most sensitive and specific rapid option - Can be used on rinsewater and product in addition to surfaces - Quick results – appx 15 minutes - No equipment required - Cost effective compared to third party ELISA - Easy to use and interpret ELISA testing for specific allergens There are ELISA tests for specific allergens, which are frequently used by food safety labs. ELISA tests can detect allergens in products as well as in surface swabs. The biggest benefit to an ELISA test is the quantitative answer. When it comes to testing products, it’s informative to know whether you have a contamination issue of 15 or 1500 ppm. Surface testing results are qualitative: the test either did or did not detect allergen in question. PCR testing for specific allergens Sometimes, a lab will use a PCR test to look for a specific allergen. PCR tests are less common and more time-consuming than protein-specific LFDs and ELISAs. However, because PCR tests look for DNA and not for protein, there are cases where they are the best or only option. Celery is a prime example: since there is so little protein in celery, it is very hard to create an ELISA or LFD that can detect this allergen. However, a PCR test can easily look for celery DNA. ATP (adenosine tri phosphate) is the principal molecule for storing and transferring energy in all living cells. Adenosine triphosphate and its components, AMP and ADP (mono and di phosphate) are constantly interconverted as they participate in biological reactions.1 They are present in all living creatures, from bacteria right on up to humans. Note! Viruses do not produce ATP. Much like how general protein swabs cannot distinguish between protein from various sources, ATP tests cannot distinguish between bacteria, yeast, mold or food residue. By demonstrating that the amount of ATP (measured in RLU) has dropped sufficiently following sanitation, a facility can ensure that the risk of products being contaminated by microbial organisms has been minimized. 1 shortened Scitable definition of ATP ATP surface testing Surface tests for ATP are rapid and easy to conduct, but do require a special reading device called a luminometer. Each brand of testing swabs offers its own corresponding device. To run a test, an area is swabbed and exposed to a reagent that contains the enzyme luciferase. When ATP is present, it will react with the enzyme, and will emit light that can be detected by a luminometer. The luminometer measures the amount of ATP that is present in RLUs (relative light units), which corresponds to the amount of biological energy present in the sample. Fun fact! The reaction that produces the light is based on the enzyme luciferase, which is naturally occurring in fireflies and some marine animals! ATP testing can be a very effective tool in monitoring for pathogens, yeasts, molds, and other microbiological cleanliness concerns. If ATP isn’t present after cleaning, then there isn’t the opportunity for microbial growth that could lead to major issues down the line. Since ATP tests are portable, and can be conducted onsite, they can provide a quick analysis of cleaned surfaces and a verification of cleaning procedures. They are also used outside of the food industry anywhere that cleanliness is a concern. That being said: with very few exceptions, ATP swabbing is not a suitable method for allergen management. ATP is not protein and protein is not ATP. While there are correlations, they are not strong or consistent enough to base an allergen cleaning plan on. Instead, testing for proteins and testing for ATP are complimentary parts of a strong, holistic safety plan. Whether your facility is dedicated to producing gluten and allergen free products, or includes lines shared with allergen-containing recipes, identifying hazard points is your first step in managing the risk of cross-contact. Where is contamination most likely to occur? Which of your ingredients are highest-risk, and which steps in your manufacturing process are most likely to involve inadvertent exposure to gluten or allergens? A well thought out quality control plan takes experience and expertise to develop and to implement, but will result in benefits to your final product and ultimately the consumer.
Answer: It's true that God forbade the Israelites to use, or even possess yeast (or leaven) in their homes during the 8 days of Passover and Feast of Unleavened bread. It's also true that yeast was biblically a symbol for sin. It became a valuable word-picture for the Jews in understanding the way sin can spread throughout our lives. But it is untrue that Communion bread must be unleavened in order to be acceptable. I say this based on two important points: 1. It is incorrect to assume that the ceremonial requirements for Israel's worship observances transfer to the Church. Many Christians assume that Old Covenant regulations and prohibitions carry over to the New Testament Church. As you can imagine, this has resulted in huge and long-lasting debates: Should we still worship on the seventh-day Sabbath? What about requirements for clothing, or food laws? It is vitally important to remember that, as the Body of Christ, we are not under the Mosaic Covenant and the ceremonial regulations given to Israel are not in force for the Church. 2. There is nothing in the New Testament that suggests Communion bread must be unleavened. Yes, Jesus and His disciples would have eaten unleavened bread during the Last Supper, but that's because they were observing Passover. We must remember that Communion is not a recreation of Passover. It is a remembrance of Christ's death on the cross. Therefore the requirements and prohibitions placed on Israel for observing Passover do not transfer to our observance of Communion.
Think outside the worksheet! Visual models, hands on activities & interactive games will keep the practice paperless and help you develop a deeper understanding of math concepts. Learn mental strategies and improve your ability to solve math problems. Part B: Rational Numbers & Mental Math Strategies- Get better at doing math in your head! Do mental math with different kinds of numbers including fractions, integers and decimals.
What makes a good HSC teacher? is a great (updated) article by Wayne Sawyer based on research he did a while ago. Thoughts? “…flipping the system is about changing education from the ground up by allowing teachers to take the lead as a trusted and meaningful part of global education conversations.” Flip The System Australia: What Matters in Education edited by Deborah M. Netolicky, Jon Andrews and Cameron Paterson situates Australian education policy, research and practice within the context of […] Recently I overheard a conversation between parents in a bookshop. They were struggling to understand NAPLAN, “minimum standards” and what a “band 8” actually meant in the context of the Higher School Certificate. Neither were able to help each other. Announced by former education minister Adrian Piccoli in 2016, the policy required Year 9 students […] Recently I received a letter from English educators concerned about the changes to the Higher School Certificate. Many readers of this blog are passionate English teachers and I publish the concerns expressed by Associate Professor Jackie Manuel, Dr Don Carter and Janet Dutton below for your consideration. Dear colleagues and friends, We’re writing because we need […] I cannot draw. This has been my mindset since about 8 years of age. Aged 48, I now understand how it came to be that “I cannot draw” and how this mindset (and inability) developed. So, why can’t I draw? More importantly, how can I do something about it? In second class my friend was […] My EDGD 824 English method students have been considering the question: how do I ‘teach Shakespeare’ and have students enjoy the experience? and I would value your input and advice. There are more resources for teaching Shakespeare than any teacher could ever read, view or use but, of course, the plays and sonnets are what […] A blueprint is a reproduction of a technical drawing…invented in the 19th century, the process allowed rapid and accurate reproduction of documents used in construction and industry. The blue-print process was characterised by light colored lines on a blue background, a negative of the original. The process was unable to reproduce color or shades of grey. […]
A mass-produced 3D printed chocolate operation is incredible, but is it really 3D printing? The video in question is sourced from Fouche Chocolates, via 3Digital Cooks. In the several videos we can see their production machines creating intricate - and likely delicious - chocolate structures suited for cake toppings or simply to eat. We’ve seen chocolate printing previously, but never on a mass production scale such as this. Chocolate, if you treat it as a material for building rather than a food, has some rather awful properties. It requires very stringent temperature control during printing for not only structural strength, but also for taste. Even when printed, chocolate objects are not very strong, and they tend to deform if exposed to even moderate heat. Finally, chocolate is just not a strong material, meaning it cannot truly be printed easily in 3D. If you pile up enough of any material, the bottom will be unable to support the material above it, and in the case of chocolate, it doesn’t take much. Chocolate extrusions we’ve seen have been severely limited in height, with only a few coarse layers possible. For this reason many chocolate printers (or similarly weak food-paste extruding devices) often resort to printing a single layer. This may be a set of words, a logo or other design, as we saw above in XYZ Printing’s prototype food printer. Those prints are terrific for various uses, and they’re certainly printed. But are they 3D printed? We think not. There is no third dimension. Perhaps more research could reveal practical ways of printing larger structures with weak extruded materials, but until then these results can’t truly be called 3D printed.
Scarring is one of the primary concerns among patients considering plastic surgery at my Chicago practice. As a leader in the field of wound healing who’s conducted extensive research on the cause, prevention, and treatment of scars, I have decided to address the subject in a series of blog posts over the next few months. So what causes a scar to develop? Scars result any time a wound occurs and the skin heals itself. Traumatic injuries and surgical incisions both lead to scarring. The difference is in the former circumstance, scar formation is unpredictable. On the other hand, careful surgical techniques minimize and disguise scars. The healing process is similar for all skin, but scars do differ depending on the wound’s severity. When the skin is cut, the body immediately begins to heal by working to limit blood loss. New tissue gradually forms to cover the wound, and the body produces a protein called collagen to repair the skin. There are 4 common types of scars: - Immature hypertrophic scars: These red and slightly elevated young scars gradually return to normal over time. - Hypertrophic scars: These red and raised scars are itchy and may be thickened and widened, but they don’t extend beyond the wound’s borders. - Minor keloids: These raised and itchy scars extend across normal tissue, but they are limited to a specific area. - Major, high-risk keloids: These painfully itchy and elevated scars extend beyond the wound’s borders and may continue growing over time, causing large scars even when the injury is small. Hypertrophic scarring often occurs on areas of the body where the skin is particularly tight and may result when wounds get infected or reopen because collagen fibers are disrupted. It’s not clear exactly why keloid scars develop, but they are more common for people with darker skin. However, they may occur in people of any skin type. Board-certified plastic surgeons are trained to prevent the development of hypertrophic scars or keloids after surgery by using precise techniques and taking steps to prevent postsurgical infection. In my next blog post, I’ll discuss my approach to wound healing and the preventive techniques I use for patients, including innovative scar reduction techniques employed in tummy tuck surgery and other cosmetic procedures that require longer incisions.
The pervading carpet of perchlorate chemicals found on Mars may boost the chances that microbial life exists on the Red Planet — but perchlorates are also perilous to the health of future crews destined to explore that way-off world. Perchlorates are reactive chemicals first detected in arctic Martian soil by NASA's Phoenix lander that plopped down on Mars over five years ago in May 2008. It is likely both of NASA's Viking Mars landers in 1976 measured signatures of perchlorates, in the form of chlorinated hydrocarbons. Other U.S. Mars robots — the Sojourner, Spirit and Opportunity — detected elemental chlorine. Moreover, orbital measurements taken by the Mars Odyssey spacecraft show that chlorine is globally distributed. And more recently, NASA's Curiosity rover found perchlorates within Gale Crater, where it landed in August 2012. [Missions to Mars: Robotic Invasion of Red Planet (Infographic)] Finding calcium perchlorate "was one of our most unexpected results," said Peter Smith, the Phoenix principal investigator at the University of Arizona in Tucson. "Perchlorate is not a common word in the English language; all of us had to go and look it up," Smith said during Spacefest V, a conference held May 24-27 in Tucson, Ariz. "Perchlorate has become an important component of the soil … and half a percent is a fair amount," he said. Smith said microbes on Earth use perchlorate for an energy source. They actually live off highly oxidized chlorine, and in reducing the chlorine down to chloride, they use the energy in that transaction to power themselves. In fact, when there's too much perchlorate in drinking water, microbes are used to clean it up, he said. Furthermore, seasonal flow features seen on Mars may be caused by high concentrations of the brines of perchlorate, which has a strong attraction to water and can drastically lower its freezing point, Smith told SPACE.com. The high levels of perchlorate found on Mars would be toxic to humans, Smith said. "Anybody who is saying they want to go live on the surface of Mars better think about the interaction of perchlorate with the human body," he warned. "At one-half percent, that's a huge amount. Very small amounts are considered toxic. So you'd better have a plan to deal with the poisons on the surface." Any humans exploring Mars, Smith said, will find it hard to avoid the finest of dust particles. "It'll get into everything…certainly into your habitat." Undeniably, Martian dust devils laden with perchlorates are sure to be devilishly dangerous. But Smith also noted that perchlorate is used within the pyrotechnics industry, and ammonium perchlorate is also a component of solid rocket fuel. "So maybe you can mine it as an on-the-spot resource," he said. Good news, bad news Perchlorate has made, and continues to make, the search for organics on Mars all but impossible, said astrobiologist Chris McKay of NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif. "Its presence is good news for the possibility of life on Mars…but very, very bad news for humans, McKay told SPACE.com. "Once again, Mars is full of surprises." "It's bad for astronauts because it is toxic for humans, as it interferes with the thyroid," he said. McKay is one of the co-authors of a new research paper delving into perchlorates on Mars; the work was led by Alfonso Davila of the SETI Institute in Mountain View, Calif. That review is slated to appear in the International Journal of Astrobiology and focuses on perchlorate as both a chemical hazard as well as a resource for humans. The research emphasizes that perchlorate is widespread in Martian soils at concentrations of between 0.5 to 1 percent. There are dual implications of calcium perchlorate on Mars. On one hand, at such concentrations, perchlorate could be an important source of oxygen. But it could also become a critical chemical hazard to astronauts. In the forthcoming paper, the researchers propose a biochemical approach for the removal of perchlorate from Martian soil that would not only be energetically cheap and environmentally friendly, but could also be used to obtain oxygen both for human consumption and to fuel surface operations. [Search for Life on Mars: A Photo Timeline] In many ways, managing calcium perchlorate exposure on Mars is viewed as no different than managing for example, uranium, lead or general heavy-metal-contaminated areas in modern mines, where dust suppression, dust extraction and regular blood monitoring are employed. Other ideas suggested by the study team include a wash-down spray that can clean suits and equipment of dust deposits. More proposals are on the table, too. For instance, Mars suits could be kept on the outside of extravehicular activity rovers or habitation modules. The astronauts would climb into their suits through a bulkhead opening, and then the suits would be sealed from within. Thus, Mars crews avoid coming into contact with outside materials. This approach was originally proposed as a way for astronauts to avoid back contamination when coming in contact with rock and regolith materials. But it might also help in dealing with perchlorates. There is growing interest in appraising perchlorate as a long-term exposure risk to humans on Mars before the first human sets foot on the Red Planet. NASA has identified key strategic knowledge gaps that need to be addressed before humans can be sent to Mars. Two key areas are the potential hazards to humans, and the existence of resources that can support human and robotic operations. "I'd put it in the category of, this is exactly why we do robotic exploration before sending humans," Doug Archer, a scientist with the Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science Directorate of NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, said of the perchlorate research. Archer said perchlorate's existence on Mars would have posed an even larger problem had it not been discovered. "But now that we know it's there, I am confident we will be able to design around it," he said. "I have a lot of co-workers here at Johnson Space Center who work in the human exploration side of things, and none of them seem to think perchlorate is a showstopper. So sending robotic explorers as precursors to human exploration is shown to be a very useful strategy." Leonard David has been reporting on the space industry for more than five decades. He is former director of research for the National Commission on Space and is co-author of Buzz Aldrin's new book, "Mission to Mars – My Vision for Space Exploration," published by National Geographic. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on SPACE.com.
What Are All Of The English Titles? There are many different English titles still present in the modern day. Similar to English titles, Sealand has adopted many of their respected names, stature and importance. What Are All The Sealand Titles? The Sealand titles are very similar to English titles. The English titles “Count”, “Duke”, “Lord”, “Baron”, And “Sir”, are some of the most well-known and significant English titles in all of English history, and so, to honour their prestigious origins, Sealand adopted these names. When purchasing a title from Sealand, you are receiving an official title under the name of Sealand. An English title is not obtained by money, but by your birthright to have one – which we believe is harshly unfair. English titles should be that bestowed to those who deserve them, and so Sealand has given many an opportunity to receive an English title through the Principality of Sealand. English Titles At Sealand How Do I Obtain An English Title? Unfortunately, as mentioned, you must be born into a majority of the titles listed, and are usually kept within respected and aristocratic families. Many who already possess official English titles cannot have their titles revoked also, committing the person to the title throughout their life; however, a Sealand noble title will engrave your name with a title without having to have been born into any prestigious family. Sealand is able to title those due to being an independent state out of the reach of Britains control. Strewn within the sea, Sealand is able to title those who wish to bolster their name with an English title. History Of English Titles The history of English titles stretches through the centuries, far back into our past. There’s a reason why they’re so coveted, because they have persisted through cultural, historic, and significant changes, without falter. The first conception of a Noble english title came even before the concept of a Monarch, with many historians believing that the Baron and Earl predate all of British Peerage. Notable moments in the evolution of all the English titles is the removal of the Earl, the addition of the Duke and Marquess introduced in the 14th century, and the rank of Viscount later added in the 15th century. From one major change in England to the next, these English titles have endured nearly the countries entire history. And there, Sealand decided to honour that heritage, and our own Sealand noble titles are named after many of the English titles of old.
Throughout North America, honeybees are abandoning their hives. The workers are often found dead, some distance away. Meanwhile, the hives are like honeycombed Marie Celestes, with honey and pollen left uneaten, and larvae still trapped in their chambers. There are many possible causes of this “colony collapse disorder” (CCD). These include various viruses, a single-celled parasite called Nosema apis, a dramatically named mite called Varroa destructor, exposure to pesticides, or a combination of all of the above. Any or all of these factors could explain why the bees die, but why do the workers abandon the hive? Andrew Core from San Francisco State University has a possible answer, and a new suspect for CCD. He has shown that a parasitic fly, usually known for attacking bumblebees, also targets honeybees. The fly, Apocephalus borealis, lays up to a dozen eggs in bee workers. Its grubs eventually eat the bees from the inside-out. And the infected workers, for whatever reason, abandon their hives to die. There are hundreds of species of Apocephalus flies, and they’re best known for decapitating ants from the inside. The larvae, laid within an ant, migrate to the head and devour the tissue inside. The brainless ant wanders aimlessly for weeks, before the larvae release an enzyme that dissolves the connection between the ant’s head and body. The head falls off, and adult flies emerge from it. A. borealis has a similar modus operandi, but it targets bees not ants. Core discovered its penchant for honeybees by sampling workers that had been stranded in the lights of his faculty building, and other locations throughout the San Francisco Bay area. The fly was everywhere. It was parasitizing bees in three-quarters of the places that Core studied, and its DNA confirmed that the species that attacked honeybees was the same one that kills bumblebees. When Core exposed honeybees to the flies in his lab, he saw the same events that befall unfortunate ants. The flies lay eggs in a bee’s body and weeks later, larvae burst out from behind the insect’s head. It’s no surprise that the infected bees, with up to 13 larvae feasting on their brains, seem a little disoriented. They walk round like zombies, pacing in circles and often unable to stand up. They also abandon their hives. Core found that the dying insects literally head towards the light. Large numbers of them become stranded within bright lights. Many flying insects show a similar attraction, but the stranded bees were stock still rather than buzzing about. They would also head towards lights on cold, rainy nights when other insects seek shelter. It’s not clear why the bees would leave. It could be the fly’s doing, since several parasites can change the behaviour of their hosts. One virus compels caterpillars to climb to high spots where their bodies liquefy, releasing virus particles that rain down on the foliage below. Some fungi steer infected ants towards places with the right conditions for its spore capsules to develop (which erupt from the ants’ heads). Given such manipulations, perhaps the fly changes a bee’s daily rhythms or its sensitivity to light. Alternatively, the bees could flee their hives to avoid infecting their colony-mates. Such altruism is common among social insects – terminally ill ants, which have been infected with a fungus, will often walk off to die alone. None of this means that the fly is the sole cause of CCD. The other viruses and parasites that have been linked to CCD are still important. The fly could even transmit some of them. Core found that many flies tested positive for the Nosema parasite and the “deformed wing virus” (DMV). But certainly, Core’s evidence suggests that the flies are playing some role. Not only do the infected bees behaved in a way consistent with CCD, but the timing also fits. The flies attack the bees most heavily between October and January, and then once more in the late summer. Both peaks happen just before the times of year when CCD is most common in the Bay Area. Core hopes that beekeepers will now help to measure and monitor the spread of the flies. The easiest way is to stick light traps near a hive, and to check the trapped bees for fly larvae. Core himself will try to find out where the flies are attacking the bees, to find ways of stopping them. Similar flies attack honeybees in Central and South America, but North American bees have always seemed to be free of such parasites. That’s no longer the case. Core thinks that A.borealis may be a new threat. After all, honeybees have only recently started to gather around electric lights at night. Honeybees are so economically important that they are very carefully studied. If the flies have been attacking them for decades, we’d probably know about it. Either it has recently expanded its choice of host or it always targeted honeybees at low levels and is now picking up its game. Both scenarios are equally worrying. While bumblebees live in small colonies that die at the end of each year, honeybees live in massive hives that persist throughout the seasons and are often found in close quarters. If A.borealis has gained the ability to parasitise honeybees, its population could explode. That would spell problems not just for honeybees, but for bumblebees and the fly’s other victims. As Core writes, “The domestic honey bee is potentially A. borealis’ ticket to global invasion.” Reference: Core, Runckel, Ivers, Quock, Siapno, DeNault, Brown, Derisi, Smith & Hafernik. 2011. A New Threat to Honey Bees, the Parasitic Phorid Fly Apocephalus borealis. PLoS ONE Citation TBC
If you have no knowledge of the Polish language and want to learn it, no one will blame you for wanting to give up approximately 10 minutes after checking out the grammar and pronunciation. Polish is tough. Many learners agree that it’s one of the harder languages to learn if your native tongue is English. The good news is that the alphabet is the same…sort of. There’s a few extra letters in the Polish alphabet that are not in English. You might come across these from time to time in a Polish last name, recipe or city. Although I’m not qualified to teach you the entire Polish language, I can help you understand how to pronounce these letters so you’re more familiar when you encounter words that contain them. Below are explanations of the sounds, followed by an audio file. I do my best—I’m still an American. First up, the “A” with the little tail thing (I’m sure there’s a fancy name for it). When you see this in a word, DO NOT pronounce it like the letter “a.” Rather, it has a nasally “own” sound. Sounds kind of French. Cha, cha cha. The letter “Ć” has a “ch” sound, as in “church” or “choo choo.” There’s a little more to it, though. Check out the audio. Here’s the “E” with the little tail thing. It has an “en” sound, like in “ten” or “hen,” but there’s a nasal accent. Listen to the recording to hear it for yourself. Get ready for this. No, the letter “Ł” does not sound ANYTHING like the letter “L.” Instead, it has a “W” sound. Polish logic, right? So basically pronounce it like you would the English “W,” such as in “whale” or “win.” The nearest English equivalent to the Polish letter “Ń” is the “ny” sound in the word “canyon.” This one is easy. Pronounce “Ó” like “oo,” such as in “cool” or “tool.” The Polish letter “Ś” generally sounds like “shh.” Again, this is one you will want to hear because there’s a little twist. For me, the variations of the Polish letter “Z’s” are the hardest to pronounce because it’s hard to find an English equivalent. For the letter “Ź,” the nearest equivalent I found was the “si” sound in “Hoosier.” Again, it’s hard to find an English equivalent to teach the sound of the letter “Ż.” It sounds close to the “si” sound in the word “allusion.” You might be struggling to notice the difference between this and the last one. Check out the recording. I hope that helped you, even a little bit. I think even knowing that “Ł” sounds like “W” is important. Imagine the difference that can make in a word.
Poachers have been on a killing spree for years, but it seems that hackers are now the new threat to endangered animals because of cyberpoaching, which makes it easier for them to track the GPS location technology and obtain an easy prey. World Wildlife Fund has concluded that the wildlife-trafficking industry is worth $7.8 to $10 billion per year and parts from a single tiger can cost up to $50,000 on the black market. Cyberpoaching is a relatively new term and the first hacking attempt occurred last year when a poacher reportedly tried to hack a Bengal tiger’s GPS collar in the Panna Tiger Reserve. Since then, many proactive conservationists have been trying to prevent hackers from targeting easy kills like collared endangered animals. The World Wildlife Fund estimated that there are 3,200 tigers left in the wild and only 2,500 are breeding adults and Madhya Pradesh lost every tiger to poaching four years ago. Nowadays, hackers are a real threat to endangered animals because of cyberpoaching, which only requires them to hack the animals’ GPS location technology and obtain an easy prey. Although the security breach which happened last July at Panna Tiger Reserve did not result in killing the two-and-a-half-year-old Bengal tiger that wears a collar worth $5,000, proactive conservationists are now trying to find a method to fight back the imminent threat, namely cyberpoaching. Since the breach, Panna-211, the collared tiger was moved to Bori Satpura Tiger Reserve and a team of wildlife officials “stay within 1,600 feet of the tiger at all times to deter poachers.” Shivani Bhalla, National Geographic explorer and lion conservationist believes that poaching has changed and technology plays an important part in finding and killing valuable endangered animals. Hackers are indeed a threat to endangered animals and targeting GPS collars points out that cyberpoaching is a reality that cannot be denied. The data that the collars transmit is extremely valuable, because poachers can locate the animals faster and if they hack into the reserves’ monitoring program, killing endangered species would be easier. Although conservationists have been trying to save the animals from becoming soup or medication, the problem is the price of one collar; because they cost $5,000 per animal, collars are usually saved for the rarest species. Because these animals are also the most valuable on the black market, cyberpoaching is targeting these endangered creatures. Currently, there are two solutions that can be used against the tech-savvy poachers, namely a military system and drones. The RF Mesh radio network makes it difficult for poachers to gain access to and an organization in Namibia already tried it with the help of Google Global Impact Award. The other means of fighting cyberpoaching is by using drones and Kenya’s Ol Pejeta reserve already bought an “Aerial Ranger” from American company Airware. Although the machine cost $70,000, half of the sum was obtained with the help of a campaign and it promises to cover about 50 square miles in a 90-minute flight three times per day. Even if the drone is unarmed, it will help rangers detect poachers easier. Hackers are now a real threat to endangered animals and cyberpoaching has become a popular method used by those who hunt down creatures facing extinction, especially since technology is seen as an investment in this branch and the profit makes the wait worthwhile. By Gabriela Motroc
Click here to get started today! King James Dictionary 1. In fencing, to ward off to stop or to put or turn by as, to parry a thrust. 2. To ward off to turn aside to prevent a blow from taking effect. 3. To avoid to shift off. The French government has parried the payment of our claims. PAR'RY, To ward off to put by thrusts or strokes to fence. Dictionary of Words from the King James Bible. Public Domain. Copy freely. Material presented was supplied by Brandon Staggs and was derived from the KJV Dictionary found on his website located at av1611.com. The unabridged 1828 version of this dictionary in the SwordSearcher Bible Software. Entry for 'Parry'. King James Dictionary. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/kjd/p/parry.html.
This article originally appeared in Issue #12 of Think: The Lola Stein Institute Journal. Click here to view the complete publication. By BERNIE STEINBERG What is the mission of Jewish education? This basic question is as elusive as it is fundamental. And vital. For mission is the ultimate purpose, the "why" an institution exists, not the "how" it functions. Great organizations are driven by large purposes that transcend immediate needs and goals. In the words of Peter M. Senge, distinguished professor at MIT's Sloan School of Management, "being true to our purpose - has the greatest intrinsic significance" to the leader. "All the rest are means to the end... The ability to focus on ultimate, intrinsic desires, not only on secondary goals" is the mark of a mission-driven institution. Many young Jews settle for a thin Jewish identity, not by actual choice, but by default. Often immediate goals that appear self-evident require further thought. For instance, affiliation with the Jewish community might seem the obvious purpose of Jewish education, yet unless we reflect on the larger meaning of the community, we can't build educational institutions that actually support that goal. It is noteworthy that when the pre-eminent Jewish philosopher Franz Rosenzweig envisioned the Lehrhaus, his pioneering school of adult education in Frankfurt, he framed its mission by raising the big question: "What, then, holds or has held us together since the dawn of emancipation? In what does the community of our contemporary life show itself, that community which alone can lead from the past to a living future?" The crafting of curriculum, design of pedagogic methods, and selection of faculty of the Lehrhaus directly followed from Rosenzweig's answer to that large question. Great Jewish educational institutions need to answer questions of transcendent purpose in order to frame and inform the daily work of education. What are the big questions of Jewish life in the 21st century to which Jewish education is a vital response? How do we understand the existential condition and questions of today's students? And of critical importance: What is the content of and what is our approach to the Jewish legacy - the inherited collective experience of the Jewish people as articulated in the ideas, sources, norms, and narratives of the Jewish people from ancient times to the present? STRENGTHENING JEWISH IDENTITY? One way or another, most Jewish educational institutions regard the strengthening of Jewish identity as a primary goal. The nagging question remains: What is actually meant by the term? For "Jewish identity" functions as a sort Rorschach test, a vague image that can mean all the things to all people. Often Jewish identity is understood as Jewish pride; or self-assertion in response to anti-Semitism; or simply "feeling good" about being Jewish. In these visceral meanings, it is not clear if there is, or what is, the core of Jewish identity. What is the inner consciousness that infuses the heart and mind of the living young Jew? and equally, it is not clear, if or how, the Jewish legacy has anything to contribute to the intellectual, psychological, moral, or spiritual growth of young Jews. Sometimes the strengthening of Jewish identity is associated with "Jewish continuity." In this sense, Jewish identity means loyalty or conformity to what was. As a result, the educational model becomes the transmission of the Jewish legacy as a fixed entity, as a given. Often, motivated by the desire to measure concrete outcomes, Jewish identity is reduced to narrow behavioural terms, such as ritual observance, marriage choices, and institutional memberships. JEWISH IDENTITY AS DILEMMA AND OPPORTUNITY The above approaches to Jewish identity, whatever their validity, are simply too piecemeal, simplistic, or reductionist to undergird and inspire Jewish education. For Jewish identity is a complex of psychological, sociological, and philosophic factors that reflect the modern (and post-modern) condition of the Jewish people. Understood in these comprehensive terms, Jewish identity is a dilemma, a challenge, and an opportunity of living between worlds - the worlds of Jewish tradition and modern culture. Consequently, Jewish identity is constituted by substantive tensions: between competing world views and conflicting values, and, most critical, Jewish identity raises fundamental questions, such as: Why choose to be Jewish? For these reasons, Jewish education must address Jewish identity, not as a technical problem with clear-cut answers and mechanical solutions, but as an adaptive question: How must we connect Jewish learning with contemporary living? How do we equip young Jews to flourish in a complex, rapidly changing, and uncertain world in which there are competing claims of value and meaning, for which, in Rosenzweig's words, "the one recipe alone... is to have no recipes." This adoptive dilemma also presents a growth opportunity. For living in two worlds can provide wisdom and insights, valuable perspectives which can serve as correctives to the dogmatic and parochial thinking that inevitably results whenever we inhabit a single or a dominating universe or discourse. David Hartman puts this well: A living Jewish tradition can provide a person with a critical perspective on contemporary social reality by pointing to alternative possibilities and by providing a sense of distance that enables one to evaluate current beliefs and practices... It thus counteracts the ideological prejudice of modernity that equates "the now" with "the good," and the "latest" with the important and valuable. DIMENSIONS OF JEWISH IDENTITY: CHOICE, MEMORY, PURPOSE There are three defining aspects of Jewish identity which can inform the exploration of Jewish legacy: choice, memory and purpose. In an increasingly pluralistic, relativistic, global world, young Jews are barraged with a plethora of values and life options. They must sort out and distinguish the Jewish and non-Jewish elements within contemporary culture and within themselves. More challenging, they must critically evaluate each element and determine which Jewish values overlap, which complement and enrich, and which contradict contemporary values. Most important, they need to determine for themselves what makes sense and what matters to them. Uncritical loyalty to the Jewish past will not compel the present generation of young Jews. On the other hand, mindless conformity to the cultural fads of the moment, whether moral or intellectual, can cheat young Jews out of precious resources that can help them to grow and flourish as human beings and to cultivate a rich, purposeful life. Yet how can young Jews choose to be Jewish when they are confused about the substantive content of Jewishness and what it might offer? How can they freely choose, when immersed in a contemporary non-Jewish world in which assumptions and values - whether secular or Christian - are so deeply embedded that they feel self-evident, while fundamental Jewish ideas, beliefs, and values feel vague, remote, inaccessible, as though locked behind closed doors? If choice defines Jewish identity, then Jewish education needs to level the playing field: it needs to create a conversation between the Jewish legacy and Western values, an unapologetic, nuanced, and critical conversation. And it must give young Jews the language and tools to participate fully in that conversation. It must, in other words, provide real options. Many young Jews settle for a thin Jewish identity, not by actual choice but by default. Choice is dependent on a second defining aspect of Jewish identity: memory. Memory is necessary for the identity of all people. I know who I am because, in spite of changes throughout my life, my memories provide continuity from childhood to present self-awareness. A person with amnesia, we say, suffers a loss of identity. Just as individual identity requires personal memories, Jewish identity is dependent on the collective memories of the Jewish people. In the Jewish legacy, the imperative to remember is not a neutral cognitive action. As biblical scholar Nahum Sarna points out: The stern z-k-r (remember) does not connote mere intellectual activity, a simple recall or retrieval of information stored away somewhere in the cells of the brain... Hebrew z-k-r is better rendered "to be mindful," and this includes awareness and paying heed. To be mindful implies involvement. The attitude is subjective and relational. There is concern, engagement, and responsibility. This is why the stern z-k-r is frequently accompanied by a verb of action... The Jewish imperative to remember is an invitation to embark on a personal journey in time and space. Jewish collective memory reflects the accumulated experience of the ancient/contemporary people who have lived around the world in extremely diverse conditions. Jewish identity is enriched by memories which extend further back in time - beyond our lives, and beyond even the lives of our grandparents. Jewish collective memories evoke images and stories of the Jews in the desert, in Spain, India, and Italy; in situations of affluence and poverty; in circumstances of heroism and humiliation. Collective Jewish memory thus deepens personal Jewish consciousness, broadens Jewish horizons, and serves as a corrective to the parochialism of modern culture, and thereby transforms the identity of the modern Jew. No longer locked into the isolation of a radically individualistic self-understanding, he sees himself as part of a larger story, to which he is connected, to which he shares concern, to which he feels a sense of responsibility. Jewish moral values and aspirations are a third defining feature of Jewish identity. This approach to Jewish identity reflects a philosophic conception that links identity to moral value and aspiration. Charles Taylor writes in his magisterial work, Sources of The Self: The Making of Modern Identity: "Who am I? But this can't be necessarily answered by giving name and genealogy. What does answer this question is an understanding of what is of crucial importance to us. To know who I am is a species of knowing where I stand." Likewise, the question of Jewish identity cannot be adequately answered by appeals to ethnic loyalty, or defined by the accident of birth, i.e., I am a Jew because I was born a Jew. Rather, to know who I am as a Jew means to know where I stand and who I aspire to become as a human being through the lens of Jewish values and beliefs. For a young Jew to know where she stands means that she must have a firm sense of grounding; that she must have a rich moral language to discover, shape, and articulate her values; that she must envision a picture of the world, in which these values make sense, add up, cohere, lead to, and express a life of purpose. In the contemporary world, where there is a profusion of views, a profound skepticism about the very possibility that values have any "objective" or real meaning, and where possibilities of larger purpose are often cynically denied, the challenge and opportunity for Jews to discover and shape who they are and who they aspire to become is far from automatic. Young Jews need (and deserve the support of a model of Jewish education that actively explores the values and substantive content of the Jewish legacy, that is intellectually plausible and emotionally resonant. Havruta Learning: A Traditional Pedagogy for Contemporary Reality To this end, personal engagement with Jewish sources is a primary way to enable Jewish choice, enrich Jewish memory, and inspire Jewish purpose. The most effective pedagogy of engagement is through traditional havruta study (reading and discussing sources in pairs) adapted to the contemporary reality of the student. The root meaning of the word havruta means to connect, to befriend, which suggests that havruta learning is interactive, relational, and personal. Havruta learning should be integrated with modern disciplines so that students can sharpen their capacity for critical thinking as well as to explore substantial differences and overlap between Jewish and Western values. What, then, might be the Mission of Jewish Education in the 21st Century? To invite young Jews to explore the relevance of Jewish legacy to their personal lives through engaged conversation with the big ideas, values, and sources of Western culture; to empower them to discover and shape who they are and who they aspire to become; and to inspire them to see themselves as actors within the drama of the Jews people, as the authors who are writing the next act.
From April to September, 1945, and April to June, 1946, data were gathered on the breeding behavior of the black-headed grosbeak (Pheucticus melanocephalus) in Strawberry Canyon, on the campus of the University of California at Berkeley, California. Particular attention was given to the role of the sexes at the nest (Weston, 1947). Data were also gathered on variations of songs of the male during the breeding season. Proceedings of the Iowa Academy of Science © Copyright 1955 by the Iowa Academy of Science, Inc. Weston, Henry G. Jr. "Variation in Length of Songs of the Black-headed Grosbeak During the Breeding Season," Proceedings of the Iowa Academy of Science: Vol. 62: , Article 76. Available at: https://scholarworks.uni.edu/pias/vol62/iss1/76
Send the link below via email or IMCopy Present to your audienceStart remote presentation - Invited audience members will follow you as you navigate and present - People invited to a presentation do not need a Prezi account - This link expires 10 minutes after you close the presentation - A maximum of 30 users can follow your presentation - Learn more about this feature in our knowledge base article Do you really want to delete this prezi? Neither you, nor the coeditors you shared it with will be able to recover it again. Make your likes visible on Facebook? You can change this under Settings & Account at any time. 5 THEMES OF GEOGRAPHY ON SEATTLE WASHINGTON Transcript of 5 THEMES OF GEOGRAPHY ON SEATTLE WASHINGTON Seattle grows Strawberries, Blackberries, Mint, and many leafs and herbs Seattle is on an isthmus between the Pacific Ocean and the Lake of Washington. Seattle has dry summers and wet winters. You can find Grizzly Bears, Pygmy, Rabbits,Sea Anemones, Dear Ferns, and more. THE FIVE TEMES OF GEOGRAPHY Seattle Washington has 620,778 people. Their religions is mostly Christian and Baptist. Some of their cultural influences are gay marriage that was recently legalized in Seattle. Seattle have a Democratic government . Some of the tourists attractions are the Space Needle, Pike Place Market,and Seattle Art Museum. Location- A particular position on the Earth. Place- There are two different types of place 1. Physical Characteristics 2. Human Characteristics Human Environment Interactions -How people depend, adapt, and modify their environment. Movement-How people, ideas, and goods. Regions-How they form over time Seattle, Washington is located at 47 degrees north , and 122 degrees west. Seattle is east of the Pacific Ocean, and west of Idaho. Seattle moves in mostly cars and trains and taxi. Seattle also ship out products such as strawberries to other states that can not produce it. Seattle is located in the west region.
Vaccines are one of the greatest medical discoveries – they fundamentally changed modern medicine. Starting with the smallpox vaccine in the 18th century, more than 20 vaccines have been developed for human health and more than 16 for companion animal health. A vaccine is a preparation that helps the body’s immune system get ready to fight disease-causing organisms. If the immune system has “seen” an unfamiliar microbe (bacteria or virus) as part of a vaccine, it’s primed to produce antibodies if it “sees” (i.e. is exposed to) the same microbe again. Antibodies are what help the body fight infection and protect it from getting the same illness again. Vaccinations are intended to reduce the severity of the illness, and/or prevent the disease entirely, by creating immunity – and thus are also called immunizations. Over the past 60 years, vaccines have improved the lives of dogs and cats around the world and played an important role in public safety. While veterinary vaccination programs have not (yet) eliminated diseases, vaccines for rabies, distemper, parvovirus, feline leukemia and panleukopenia have greatly reduced the incidence of disease, improving animal welfare and reducing death. The greatest achievement with the vaccination of companion animals is the reduction of canine distemper – a contagious, serious, and often fatal disease of dogs – in areas where vaccines are used. Another great achievement is the elimination of dog-mediated rabies (rabies in people caused by dogs) in Canada, the United States, western Europe, Japan, and 28 of the 35 Latin American countries. Rabies, however, is still widespread in more than 150 countries around the world. Even though it’s preventable, it kills about 59,000 people each year. Ninety-nine percent of these deaths are caused by dog bites and about 40% of the victims are children younger than 15 years of age living in Asia and Africa. United Against Rabies, a four-way partnership between the World Health Organization, the Food and Agriculture Organization, the World Organization for Animal Health, and the Global Alliance for Rabies Control, has set a goal to eliminate dog-mediated rabies by the year 2030. The vaccines that are recommended for dogs and cats vary according to where they live and their lifestyle. Some vaccines are “core,” recommended for all dogs or cats, while others are recommended only in special circumstances. Core vaccines for dogs: - Canine distemper virus - Canine adenovirus-2 (canine hepatitis) - Canine parvovirus - Rabies virus Non-core vaccines for dogs in special circumstances: - Bordetella bronchiseptica + canine parainfluenza virus (kennel cough) - Borrelia burgdorferi or Lyme disease - Canine influenza (H3N8 and H3N2) Core vaccines for cats: - Feline panleukopenia virus (FPL) (also known as feline infectious enteritis or feline distemper) - Feline viral rhinotracheitis (also known as herpes virus-1 or FHV-1) - Feline calicivirus - Rabies virus Non-core vaccines for cats in special circumstances: - Chlamydophila felis - Feline leukemia virus (FeLV) - Feline infectious peritonitis (FIP) caused by FIP virus or feline coronavirus - Bordetella bronchiseptica - Feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) Immunization is such an important part of preventive health care for pets, and, as can be appreciated from the statistics on rabies, has obvious implications for human health. While some pet owners may be hesitant to vaccinate out of concerns about vaccine reactions or side-effects, the risks are very low (0.02% to 0.5%) and far outweigh the risks associated with acquiring one of these preventable, and often times deadly, diseases. With research advancements, and new technologies, the vaccination guidelines have been revised. Historically, many vaccines were administered every year, but with what we now know about vaccine immunity (i.e. protection), the intervals between vaccinations are being extended. As more studies emerge on the immunity created by vaccines, and vaccines improve, the vaccination guidelines will continue to be revised accordingly. Your veterinarian will keep you up to date on the current standards. Speak with your veterinarian about which vaccines your pet should receive and what schedule you should follow. This month check to make sure that your pet is up to date with all his or her vaccines!
Connecticut's small black bear population is under threat from a proposal in the General Assembly that would allow trophy hunters to gun down and bow hunt these noble creatures. Legislation legalizing bear hunting is moving quickly to the floor of both chambers for a vote, and we encourage our elected officials to oppose it. The bill, supported by the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, is the product of faulty reasoning and false rhetoric espoused by trophy hunters. Under the provisions of Senate Bill 522, hunters could be allowed to shoot our bears as they feed on piles of greasy, sugary or rancid baits and use packs of hounds or other unsporting and inhumane methods of hunting, which the bill does not prohibit. A 2017 paper published in Biology Letters found that trophy hunters pursue largely inedible species and especially carnivores such as black bears because "worldwide social media creates for trophy hunters a vast audience to which to boast." We've all seen those Facebook posts: The mighty warrior is shown dominating his prey with a single prop — his high-tech weapon. It's hardly a fair fight. Then the trophy hunter gets the animal mounted for display, while the meat is often wasted. According to a study published in Biological Conservation, most Americans want to see our wildlife conserved for future generations and protected from cruelty — even native carnivores like bears and wolves. Bears are highly sentient and family oriented. A mother black bear spends up to 18 months raising her cubs. She teaches them survival skills, including how to find foods like ants, wasps, bees, berries, nuts and fish. Cubs learn to climb trees to avoid predators. And most important, they learn from their mothers to gorge themselves in summer and fall to survive winter, the period of starvation. In spring, bears emerge anew to begin their cycle of life again. Through a variety of feeding behaviors, bears contribute to the biological diversity of our forests. They eat fruits and deposit them across long distances, which regenerates the forest; they break logs while grubbing, which facilitates decomposition and adds nutrients to the soil; and they topple branches which allows the sun to filter to the forest floor and stimulate new plant growth. Bears are also considered an "umbrella species," which means that when bears are conserved, so is the quality of the water we drink and the air we breathe. Many citizens of Connecticut, who have been in touch with the state Humane Society office, care about bears and would agree that they provide far more value in the wild than they do as dust-collecting rugs. While some may be keen to start a black bear trophy hunting season in Connecticut to reduce potential interactions with bears, the best available science is clear: Hunting does not alleviate human-bear conflicts. In a 2014 paper published by Ursus, biologists noted, "We found no significant correlations" between a reduction in human-bear conflicts following a bear hunt. "Empirical support for this assumption," they added, "is lacking despite considerable research." Bear expert Stephen Herrero explains that although accessible food and garbage is the primary cause of human-bear conflicts, we should appreciate the fact that "each year, millions of interactions between people and black bears occur without any injury to a person." Reducing conflicts in Connecticut can be achieved through common-sense behavior changes such as using bear-resistant trash cans, cleaning up strong-smelling attractants like barbecues and removing outdoor pet and bird foods. Bears are a slow-to-reproduce species and with a small population, hunting could have a devastating effect on their viability in Connecticut. We can easily modify our behaviors to live with black bears — for the benefit of future generations. As a charismatic, much-valued species, Connecticut's bears need more protections such as hunt-free refuges and safe passages between subpopulations, including highway-crossing structures. Connecticut lawmakers should reject the bill to legalize black bear hunting. Annie Hornish is the Connecticut senior state director for The Humane Society of the United States.
Unraveling multiple checkpoints for accurate selection of initiator tRNA on ribosomes for translation initiation Ribosomes comprise a large (50S) and a small (30S) subunits. To begin (initiate) protein synthesis, the two subunits associate on an mRNA (70S). Organisms possess two classes of tRNAs, the initiators (i-tRNA) and the elongators. The i-tRNA usually binds directly to ribosomal P-site during initiation, whereas the elongators bind the neighboring A-site following proper initiation. Initiation of protein synthesis determines the reading frame in the mRNA coding sequence. Any deficiencies in i-tRNA selection in P-site would cause production of mis-translated proteins/peptides, which could be detrimental to the cell. Selection of i-tRNA (and exclusion of elongator tRNA) in the P-site is assisted by its special structural features, various ribosomal P-site elements, and the initiation factors (IF1, IF2 and IF3). The bacterial i-tRNAs possesses two unique features: (i) a Watson:Crick mismatch at the top of the acceptor stem (1×72 position), which (together with the second and the third base pairs) guides the formylation of the amino acid attached to it; and (ii) the presence of 3 consecutive GC base pairs (conserved in all the three domains of life) in the anticodon stem. The two features were shown to be important for i-tRNA function, and their transplantation into elongator tRNA could convert it to an initiator but the mechanistic details remained obscure. Initiation in bacteria involves conformational rearrangements of i-tRNA, GTP hydrolysis, release of initiation factors etc. Although the deficiency of formylation of the amino acid on i-tRNA results in a severe growth defect, it is not essential in E. coli. Interestingly, the growth defects could be rescued by increasing the cellular i-tRNA amounts. On the other hand, the lack of 3GC pairs mainly affected their abundance in 70S complex, and this defect is not rescued by increasing the cellular amount of the i-tRNA mutant lacking the 3GC pairs. Systematic mutagenesis of individual GC base pairs suggested that although for the transition of i-tRNA into 70S complex as well as for the cell survival, the minimal requirement among the three consecutive GC pairs is that of the middle GC pair but the flanking GC pairs enhance the efficiency. Interestingly, in the absence of middle GC pair, the IF3 was still retained in the 70S complex. IF3 acts as anti-association factor during initiation and it leaves the 30S upon formation of 70S complex. Thus, the absence of 3GC pairs impairs the release of IF3 rendering the 70S complex unstable. How relevant are these observations in nature? A few species of mycoplasmas and rhizobium do possess variation to these sequences in the flanking pairs. Why do these organisms retain such variations if these tRNAs are less efficient in forming 70S complex? Analysis of polysomes from the species of rhizobium showed efficient formation of the 70S complex harboring i-tRNA, suggesting co-evolution of the ribosomes to compensate for the lack of the flanking GC pairs. Our genetic and the biochemical analyses suggest that the unique features of i-tRNA assist it in passing through the multiple checkpoints during initiation, in a sequential manner. Formylation primarily facilitates the initial recruitment of i-tRNA on the 30S ribosome while the 3GC pairs assist in the later steps of formation of 70S complex. Such a two-step scrutiny would ensure accurate and efficient selection of i-tRNA (over elongator tRNA) for initiation of protein synthesis. Sunil Shetty 1, Riyaz Ahmad Shah 1, Umesh Varshney 1,2 1Department of Microbiology and Cell Biology, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India Biozentrum, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland 2Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Jakkur, Bangalore, India Two highly conserved features of bacterial initiator tRNAs license them to pass through distinct checkpoints in translation initiation. Shetty S, Shah RA, Chembazhi UV, Sah S, Varshney U Nucleic Acids Res. 2017 Feb 28
What you need to know about FERPA FERPA stands for Family Education Rights and Privacy Act and is a Federal Law which mandates the level of communication that is allowed under the law. FERPA, enacted into law in 1974, provides for the right of students to inspect and review their own education records, the right to seek to amend those records, and the right to limit disclosure of information from the official records. This means that if you have a question about how your student is doing in classes, whether your student is attending classes, or want to talk about your student’s experiences on campus, you will need to communicate directly with your student. Students who want their parents to be able to talk with college officials directly must sign a waiver form, available in the Academic Support office. If your student transfers to another college, only he or she can request that the SMC transcript be sent. Read more about FERPA.
Apricot seeds or kernels are a controversial health food and purported cancer preventative and cure. The seeds are high in monounsaturated fat and a good source of protein and dietary fiber. The oil in the seeds offers vitamin E. However, the seeds also contain cyanide, a potentially deadly toxin. While your body can detoxify a small amount of cyanide, eating too many apricot seeds or kernels may be hazardous to your health. Video of the Day Bitter and Sweet Apricot Seeds The nutritional content and toxicity of apricot seeds varies according to cultivar. Some apricot seeds are sweet-tasting and low in cyanide. These sweet apricot seeds are suitable almond substitutes. Bitter almond seeds contain higher levels of cyanide. The product label should indicate whether apricot seeds are considered sweet or bitter. Expect a slightly bitter flavor even from sweet apricot seeds, however. A 1/4 cup serving of apricot seeds contains 160 calories, with 130 calories from fat, or 14 grams of fat. Only 1 gram of fat occurs as saturated fat. Apricot seeds are cholesterol-free, with negligible amounts of sodium or potassium. A serving of apricot seeds has 7 grams of carbohydrates with 2 grams in the form of sugars and 5 grams of dietary fiber. A single serving of apricot kernels contains 7 grams of protein. Apricot seeds are not a significant source of most vitamins or minerals, but there are 4 milligrams of vitamin E per 100 gram serving of apricot kernel oil. Amgygdalin and Pangamic Acid Apricot seeds contain amygdalin, which some researchers believe helps to prevent and cure cancer, and pangamic acid, which may be useful in treating ischemic heart disease. The levels of these compounds are highest in raw, whole apricot seeds as opposed to cooked or processed seeds. You may find sources refer to amygdalin as vitamin B-17 and pangamic acid as vitamin B-15, however, the FDA does not recognize these substances as vitamins and deems them unsafe for use in food or drugs. Cyanide occurs naturally in the seeds of apricots and related fruits, including cherries, peaches and almonds. The amount of cyanide per apricot seed varies according to its size and cultivar, but on average, an apricot seed contains 0.5 milligrams of cyanide, according to Stephen Krashen, Ph.D. of the University of California. The lethal dose of cyanide is between 0.5 milligrams to 3.5 milligrams per kg of body weight, depending on factors including age and liver health. Based on case histories, the lethal dose for a 175 pound man would range from 80 to 560 apricot seeds per day. For a 140 pound woman, the lethal dose would be from 65 to 455 seeds per day. Toxicity occurs at lower doses, so the lethal range should be viewed as an extreme upper limit. Packaging on seeds often includes a recommendation to start out with a low number of seeds and spread consumption throughout the day to see how well you tolerate them.
This independent study course focuses on practical solutions for the day-to-day frustrations and challenges common in today’s classroom. Love and Logic is a highly regarded approach that will: - Teach students to think for themselves. - Raise student level of understanding. - Prepare students to function in a society filled with temptation, decisions and consequences. - Put the teacher in control. Ultimately, the result is a more cohesive classroom – one where students enjoy learning, discipline is reduced, and more teaching can occur every day. This class is appropriate for teachers of grades K-12. \|We advise you to review and download a summary of the course syllabus before registering.\|\|Summary\| Text, Teaching with Love & Logic, is available is approximately $18 at Amazon.com I thoroughly enjoyed the Love and Logic class. I found the content applicable to my first grade classroom and I can see that it would hold the same value in a higher grade. My instructor was extremely easy to deal with and immediately answered any questions I had. Thank you for a great experience! 1st Grade Teacher You Might Also Be Interested In Course No. ED467g, ED567g Generation Z comprises students born since 1995 into a digital world made up of the Internet and cell phones. They are enmeshed in social media and criticized for lacking social skills. However, they are the future and we need to teach them in a manner that will lead to their success. To do that, learn how to best meet the unique needs of Generation Z and how to engage them in the K-12 classroom. Learn about what they think, where they are going and how they may change the world.
William shakespeare the personal history of william shakespeare is somewhat a acclaim and reverence for william shakespeare and his work reached its. William shakespeare was the most influential writer who ever but his influence goes beyond quotable 5 ways shakespeare changed the world about us. Shakespeare as a christian writer in the opening scene of the play literary critic helen gardner comments on how hymen speaks more solemnly than we. William shakespeare's relevance in today's society is changing but the high-water mark of his influence has already view all articles on william shakespeare. Is shakespeare still relevant today how does his work influence pop culture today do the themes of his plays continue to resonate with modern audiences or as a result of his legacy has he become a caricature of himself. In addition, shakespeare's works, which were often quoted, became such commonplace that they helped set the standards for modern english prior to shakespeare, english grammar and spelling had few standards in addition, many of shakespeare's expressions (such as a foregone conclusion) are commonly used today click the button below to view a random quote from shakespeare. The cecils and history where’s william in the and there is enough of it present in the works to suggest the author shakespeare and astrology shakespeare. Top 10 greatest shakespeare plays its influence is during his lifetime the play was one of shakespeare’s most popular works and it still. Some creative people have been so far beyond their own time that's what special about shakespeare his works are shakespeare holds up a literary mirror. To simply skim over such an integral part of literary history would be to take the innards out of a living, breathing creature a creature cannot survive incomplete, and literature cannot survive without william shakespeare notes 1 source: barnet, sylvan shakespeare: an overview richard iii by william shakespeare 1597 ed mark eccles. Boydell's collection of prints illustrating shakespeare's works world of william shakespeare society and their influence on shakespeare’s. And pictures about william shakespeare at from shakespeare's school years, his literary work shows the present ancient history with a. Considering how famous and well-regarded william shakespeare's work is as well as their lasting influence introduction to shakespeare: life and works related. Shakespeare's works (a-z) history of the collection making a scene learn about shakespeare in the classroom with our blog give give. Drama also became more popular thanks to the works of william shakespeare scene 2: life were better ended by their romanticism is a movement in literary. In an era in which history-of-ideas scholars who attempt to situate shakespeare’s plays within their to recognize the influence of the competing strands. The influence of shakespeare william shakespeare's influence on the english language essay - the english language has literary themes]:: 5 works cited. Their works spanning every period of history and many literary william shakespeare his literary influence is so great that his name has spawned a. Both allusions enable audiences and readers to see what shakespeare is referring to: (1) carrying the weight of the world on the shoulders, and (2) a winter landscape direct references a direct reference, on the other hand, is a specific mention of a person, a place, a thing, or an idea in mythology, literature, history, or everyday life. Life of william shakespeare his text and sources of the complete dramatic and poetic works and essential knowledge and literary terms to understand shakespeare. Romeo and juliet in the famous balcony scene by literary works, both in shakespeare's own day rock musical william shakespeare's romeo and juliet. William shakespeare which marked the years of dramatist’s literary work in the opening scene the hero in shakespeare is not an. Shakespeare's plays are also notable for their use of in his book shakespeare and the history of soliloquies the complete works of william shakespeare.Download
Today kicks off “March is Reading Month” and with that comes a focus on the foundation that proficient reading skills can provide a person. A great deal of attention by educators and policymakers is often placed on third grade reading levels because experts believe a child’s ability to read at that time in their life can be a crucial indicator for their future success. Additionally, in Michigan, Gov. Rick Snyder announced during his State of the State Address a $468 million proposal meant to increase reading proficiency in the State of Michigan. Part of this proposal includes a reading proficiency test for third-graders to better determine how their cumulative instruction has affected their reading skills, which would be separate than the Michigan Education Assessment Program (MEAP). However, the Governor has yet to release all the details behind this plan but in spring of this year we do know that the Michigan Test of Education Progress will replace the MEAP. Currently in the State of Michigan, the Michigan Education Assessment Program (MEAP) is used to determine how students in grades three through 11 measure up to the educational expectations set by the State Board of Education. For all grade levels the state’s goal is to have 80 percent of all of Michigan’s third-graders reading at a proficient level, according to the State of Michigan. With the extra attention currently being placed on reading proficiency in the State of Michigan, we chose to examine the percent of third and fourth-grade students who were deemed proficient on the MEAP reading exams in 2013-2014. The MEAP tests are given in the fall of every academic year, so we show both the third and fourth-grade reading proficiency percentages to provide readers a better understanding of where students’ reading skills, in accordance with state standardized testing levels, were at the beginning and end of third and fourth grade. On the state’s education website, mischooldata.org, fourth-grade reading MEAP scores are used on the dashboard for each school as a student outcome measure. For the 2013-14 school year, 61.3 percent of Michigan’s third-graders were deemed proficient in reading. When looking at this map we see several pockets of school districts where third-graders either performed at this level or below. In total, there were 53 school districts where less than 61.3 percent of the third-grade students were deemed proficient in reading. According to the Michigan Department of Education proficiency levels for the 2013-14 MEAP exam are determined as follows: “the 2011-2012 proficiency rate for each school and district in every subject [is] subtracted from the end 85 percent proficiency target rate for the 2021-2022 school year. That number [is] then divided by ten (the number of years between the 2011-2012 and 2021-2022 school years) to determine the annual increment for the subject target rate. This increment is added to the 2011-2012 subject proficiency rate and then again each year leading up to the 2021-2022 school year.” The proficiency rate varies from district to district but the percent deemed proficient, which is shown in the maps in this post, presents the percentage of students we met these standards. Pontiac School District in Oakland County had the lowest percentage of third-graders who met the proficiency standards at 25.7 percent. Detroit City School District had the eighth lowest percentage at 35.3 percent. On the opposite end of the spectrum during the 2013-14 school year, Grosse Ile Township Schools had the highest percentage of third-graders deemed proficient on the reading portion of the MEAP; 86.7 percent of those students were considered proficient. Seventy percent of Michigan fourth-graders were deemed proficient in the 2013-14 school year on the MEAP reading examination. In total, there were 49 school districts below the state’s proficiency level during the time frame examined. Again, the Pontiac School District had the lowest percentage of students deemed proficient in reading in the region (32%). The Detroit City School District had the sixth lowest percentage of all the districts in the region, with 42 percent of its students meeting the proficiency level. Northville Public Schools had the highest percentage of students who met the reading proficiency levels (91.2%). Grosse Ile Public Schools came in third in the region, with 90.3 percent of their fourth-graders meeting proficiency levels.
DAVIS – In new study, a researcher has reviewed the health benefits linked with light to moderate consumption of wine. Author Clare M. Hasler, from the University of California-Davis, provides a historical perspective of the health benefits of alcohol consumption. She revealed that the first noticeable bump in red wine sales came as a result of the French paradox in the early 1990s. Hasler also covers recent studies on the link between alcohol consumption and health benefits. She says that wine has the potential to protect against cardiovascular disease, and reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes. It can also improvement of cognitive function, and has also been linked with increased bone mineral density. “Although there is no consensus on whether red wine is more beneficial, it is my opinion that the high concentration of antioxidant polyphenolics in red and the potential anti-inflammatory properties of resveratrol support the choice of red wine as the alcoholic beverage of choice in moderation,” said Hasler. The study has been published in Food Technology magazine.
Concorde Flies for first time Although Concorde’s maiden flight was only a generation ago it seems to belong to an entirely different age, as separated from today’s vision of the world as say the Age of Exploration, or the Industrial Revolution . Concorde was developed in an era that was full of hope for technology and what it would do for mankind. The dream was that technology would offer freedom. Just four months after Concorde took off for the first time Apollo 11 made the first manned moon landing, promising somehow that humankind would escape the earth’s gravitational shackles and venture out into the stars. The establishment of a colony on the moon was almost taken for granted. What Concorde offered was the chance to bring the world closer together. It meant much more than wealthy businessmen and self-regarding celebrities reaching New York from London in three and a half hours instead of nearly eight. The beautiful airplane was the elegant embodiment of what PM Harold Wilson had called “The white heat of this revolution” in his 1963 speech to the Labour Party conference. Indeed, Concorde had been backed through its long and much criticised development by political visionaries like Tony Benn . On the afternoon of March 2nd 1969 Concorde 001, its registration F-WTSS marked on the fuselage, stood ready on the runway in Toulouse, forced to wait for several days because of unfavourable weather conditions. The French test-pilot André Turcat was at the controls, with co-pilot Jacques Guignard and two engineers, Michel Retif and Henri Perrier to accompany him on the flight. Brian Trubshaw, the British chief test-pilot watched on. Rather than passengers Concorde was carrying about ten tons of instrumentation to record every aspect of the flight. Two chase aircraft shepherded it up the runway as it took off, one to film the flight from close to, the other to verify speeds on an independent set of instruments. At 15.40 the great white dart began its journey along the runway, travelling almost a mile before lifting off to the spontaneous applause of watching news crews and journalists. It had been decided to keep the flight to the simplest possible level, so the tilting nose stayed down as did the landing gear. The plane that would eventually travel four times faster was only taken up to 300mph, and brought back down to earth a mere 27 minutes after take-off, flown manually throughout by Turcat. The flight had been untroubled, unlike the next - the first from British soil - when Trubshaw had to make a landing with both altimeters inoperative. It would not be until October 1969 that the plane would be allowed to exceed Mach 1 for the first time, on its 45th flight. Concorde was to say the least not a commercial success, thanks in part to the American attitude towards it, something that always smacked of pique at the Limeys and Frogs completely beating them to the punch. But it was until its withdrawal from service in 2003 a magnificent symbol of engineering genius, of the power of cooperation, and of the beauty that technology can create. A generation later we have the Millennium Dome as the visionary product of more recent leaders. God help us. More famous dates here 7171 views since 20th February 2007 On this day:
Keep the immune system strong and healthy It is certain that the potential killer strain of the coronavirus is global, which means that our island should take this threat seriously. While emphasis has been placed on practising good hygiene principles, keeping the immune system strong and healthy is equally important. What is the immune system? According to the anatomy and physiology for health professionals, the immune system is a series of cells, chemicals and barriers that protect the body from invasion by pathogens such as bacteria and viruses. How can we keep the immune system strong and healthy? Eat plenty of fruits and vegetables and whole grains. Exercise regularly, get enough sleep, practise good hygiene, take vitamins, especially Vitamin C and, of course, drink an adequate amount of water daily. What groups are most susceptible to the coronavirus? Persons with respiratory disorders such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, chronic bronchitis, asthma, persons with sickle-cell anaemia and other blood disorders. Also included, persons with diabetes, liver or kidney disorders or patients on dialysis and cancer patients. People whose immune systems are already compromised by illness are at a higher risk. So, while practising good hygiene, let us try and keep the immune system strong.
How Are Forensics Used in Car Accident Cases? Posted in Car Accidents on August 30, 2018. Car crashes can cause extensive damages to passengers and vehicles. Even the most minor rear-end accidents can lead to surprisingly serious damage, depending on the conditions of the road. When an accident leads to a property damage or personal injury claim, though, it can be difficult to receive your rightful compensation from the responsible party. Determining liability means understanding who was at fault for an accident. While the involved parties will each have their versions of the story, investigations don’t stop there. A thorough examination of the scene of the accident is essential to successfully understanding the circumstances of an accident – and thus determining fault for awarding compensation. Car accident forensics is a part of that. What Is Car Accident Forensics? Car accident forensics refers to the variety of techniques a police officer or independent investigator will use when attempting to determine the events of a car accident. This can involve studying the scene of the accident and the involved vehicles, as well as other calculations to get the best picture of events. Several different aspects play a role in such investigations: - Vehicle Damage. The position of any dents and scratches on involved vehicles can help determine where impacts occurred, as well as the directions the vehicles were traveling at the time of contact. - Kinetic Energy vs. Momentum. Kinetic energy dictates motion, and it may convert into other forms of energy at the time of impact. Investigators determine the momentum of each vehicle based on their size and distance traveled before impact to help identify the type of crash. - Crash Site. Road conditions, such as potholes or other evidence of disrepair and the weather conditions can also play a part in causing a crash. - Time and Distance. Both time and distance play a role in understanding speed. They can help determine the driver’s reaction time before the accident, which can then contribute to understanding if any distractions or impairments may have been involved. - Skid Marks. Tire marks on the roadway serve as evidence to the path, braking patterns, and speed of involved vehicles, which can all contribute to understanding fault. - As not all investigators can make it to the scene of the accident, photo and video evidence become a way to analyze vehicle damage and positioning. - The position and severity of injuries suffered by drivers and passengers can also help determine where, and how hard the vehicles impacted each other. - Vehicle Manufacturer Specs. Manufacturing specifications can combine with damage assessments to determine the minimum force of the collision, the potential that there were faulty or malfunctioning vehicle parts, and more critical details. - After cars have been removed from the scene of the accident, the position of other debris on the road can also help understand where the vehicles were at the time of the crash. - Speed vs. Force. Further collections of evidence can allow investigators to determine the force of the impact and the speed of each vehicle. With this information, professional investigators can determine the probable speed, positions, and angles of vehicles at different points in the accident. While these calculations lead to theoretical ideas of what happened in the accident, they are generally reliable for creating a likely scenario. The more data the investigator has, the more accurate their reconstruction of the accident will be. The accuracy of an investigation contributes to the important first step toward receiving rightful compensation after a car accident. While the police will investigate, it’s likely a driver’s insurance company will also conduct their own investigation as well. Taking the appropriate steps after an accident and having a skilled attorney on your side can help you have the necessary evidence to support your claim.
Nearly 300,000 women will get breast cancer this year. With a statistic like that, self-examinations for signs of breast cancer are a must. There’s no better time to start than Breast Cancer Awareness Month. In women, breast cancer is among the two most common types of cancer (second only to skin cancer) and is the second-leading cause of cancer death (second only to lung cancer), according to the American Cancer Society. The organization also reports that 297,790 women will learn they have invasive breast cancer this year, 55,720 will be diagnosed with ductal carcinoma in situ, and 43,700 cases will be fatal. The good news is that the breast cancer death rate plummeted by 43% between 1989 and 2020, thanks partly to screening efforts that identify the condition in its earliest stages. Screening for this disease has never been more essential, and there’s no better time to start than Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The techniques and frequency of breast cancer screening involve a few variables, such as risk factors, age, and tissue density. For example, women at average risk should get a yearly mammogram starting at age 40, while higher-risk women should start earlier. Regardless of your risk level, all women should perform regular breast self-examinations (BSEs) monthly. Our OWM Integrative Wellness team in Buffalo, New York, offers a state-of-the-art breast cancer screening with SonoCiné automated whole breast ultrasound (AWBUS). AWBUS is renowned for being an advanced breast screening tool that has proven to be better at detecting breast cancer. Whereas routine mammography misses about one-half of cancers in women WITH dense breast tissue and implants, AWBUS’ soundwaves can detect even the tiniest 3mm sized tumors (less than an eight a fifth of an inch) regardless of breast tissue type or history of breast augmentation surgeries. Dr. Leonard Kaplan strongly recommends women 40 an older at average risk consider adding an AWBUS screening to their annual mammogram. However for women who have dense breasts, breast implants or a family history of breast cancer, this exam is essential because of its ability to find cancers that are hidden. He says, “More than 50% of women in their 40s have dense breasts and are four to five times more likely to be incorrectly diagnosed with mammography alone.” “The AWBUS screening device is equipped with an ultrasound scanner and transducer that increases the visibility of cancers hidden by dense breast tissue or breast implants that can scan the whole breast, including the axilla (underarm/lymph nodes), under breast and breast plate regions” explains Dr. Kaplan. The robotic arm of the transducer moves over the area, obtaining consistent clear, high-resolution images and a video clip that allows the radiologist to better determine if cancer is present, and if found, it captures its precise location, size, and outline. Noting that AWBUS is 96 to 100% specific in detecting breast cancer, Dr. Kaplan reminds patients that, “When a breast tumor is small and in an early stage, it is more easily treated, and lifesaving.” This is why breast self-exams are critical in the fight against breast cancer. How to perform a breast self-exam Although performing BSEs is critical in detecting cancer early, it shouldn’t be the only tool in your arsenal. BSEs are most effective when paired with breast cancer screening and specialized testing when necessary. When and how often to perform a BSE The best time to perform a BSE is a few days after your period when your breasts are least likely to be swollen or tender. If you’re not menstruating, pick a day easy to remember, like the first or last day of the month. We recommend performing a BSE once a month to become familiar with how your breasts usually look and feel. What to look for During your BSE look for any changes in your breast tissue, including: - Thickening breast tissue (also check underarm area) - Changes in the size or shape of your breast - Dimpling or puckering of the skin - An inverted nipple - Redness, soreness, rash, or swelling - Any unusual discharge from your nipples Breast Self Exam (BSE) Steps Your BSE starts in front of a mirror and transitions to lying down. While many women like to complete the manual part in the shower, the vertical position doesn’t allow you to feel the tissues as thoroughly. Here’s how to conduct a thorough breast self-examination: 1. Use your eyes: Put your hands on your hips and stand in front of a mirror. Look for any changes in your breasts’ size, shape, or symmetry. 2. Use your hands: Lie down on your back to flatten the breast tissue and make it easier to examine. Use your right hand to feel your left breast and vice versa. 3. Move your hands: You can use two types of hand movements: vertical and circular. For vertical movements, imagine your breast as a grid and move your fingers up and down. For circular motions, start at the nipple and move outward in larger circles. 4. Apply pressure: Apply different levels of pressure to feel all the breast tissue. Remember, a BSE should cover the entire breast area, from your collarbone to the top of your abdomen and from your armpit to your cleavage. If you notice any changes or anything unusual during your BSE, don’t panic, but be sure to follow up with your provider. Automated whole breast ultrasound. Detecting concerning masses in women with dense breast tissue, augmentation, and history of previous biopsies and breast reductions is challenging. Dense tissue and scar appear white on a mammogram, making it difficult to differentiate potential cancerous areas. OWM’s radiation-free SonoCiné automated whole breast ultrasound technology enables us to visualize dense breast tissue in high resolution and pinpoint masses more accurately. The AWBUS technology comes with the added bonus of requiring no pressure plates, no breast squishing, and no discomfort.
This is a guest post by Annie Lynsen, on loan to AARP from Small Act. When you picture a typical drug addict, what age is that person? Between 1995 and 2002, the number of substance abuse treatment admissions for people 55 and older increased by 32 percent, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (2005). Typically, older drug addicts aren’t abusing “street” drugs like heroin or cocaine. They’re abusing what’s already in their medicine chests: prescription drugs. And they’re not alone; more than 15 million people in the United States are abusing prescription drugs, which is more than the combined number of people abusing cocaine, hallucinogens, inhalants and heroin. And lest you think this isn’t a problem, overdose deaths associated with prescription drugs outnumber overdose deaths by all combined illicit drugs. Furthermore, while about 10 percent of the nation’s population abuses alcohol, that number jumps to as much as 17 percent when looking at adults 65 and older. If you’re concerned a parent or relative is abusing drugs or alcohol, be on the watch for certain behaviors: - Memory trouble after having a drink or taking a medication - Loss of coordination (walking unsteadily, frequent falls) - Changes in sleeping habits - Unexplained bruises - Being unsure of themselves - Irritability, sadness, depression - Unexplained chronic pain - Changes in eating habits - Wanting to stay alone much of the time - Failing to bathe or keep clean - Having trouble concentrating - Difficulty staying in touch with family or friends - Lack of interest in usual activities If you notice some combination of these behaviors, talk to your parent’s or relative’s doctor about doing a screening test for substance abuse. You can also find programs for drug and alcohol abuse treatment on the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) website or by calling SAMHSA at 1-800-662-HELP. Photo: Ron Chapple/Getty Images
Report on UNCCD Impact Indicator Workshop Released 19 January 2012: The report from the Multi-National Final Workshop of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) pilot impact indicator tracking, which convened on 6-7 October 2011, in Changwon, Republic of Korea, has been released. The objective of the workshop was to facilitate countries piloting the UNCCD Impact Indicators to develop lessons learned on the feasibility and applicability of the indicators and to synthesize them into key messages to be presented to the tenth meeting of Conference of the Parties (COP 10) to the UNCCD, which met immediately after the workshop. The workshop was facilitated by the UNCCD Secretariat, the UN Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC), and Barron J. Orr from the Office of the Arid Lands Studies of the University of Arizona. Participants from Armenia, China, Colombia, Senegal, South Africa and Spain reported on their experience with the indicators. Key messages included: reporting on UNCCD Impact Indicators contributes to an improved understanding of the land degradation process; the UNCCD impact indicators can help to identify priority areas of intervention; the pilot exercise has raised awareness of data availability and accessibility; data and capacity for reporting the UNCCD impact indicators exist, but improvements are needed; harmonisation of data and reporting standards, nationally and internationally, should be encouraged where appropriate and feasible; data access can be improved through promoting cooperation among conventions, ministries and institutions; and the COP should encourage government institutional and financial commitment to facilitate data sharing, analysis and reporting. In addition, some pilot countries found that national data collated for reporting to other Rio Conventions were challenging to access. [Workshop Report]
Part of the series Australian Curriculum Civics & Citizenship. Australian Curriculum Civics and Citizenship (Years 3–6) is a series of four blackline master books written specifically to support the new national curriculum while also integrating other sub-strands of the Humanities and Social Sciences curriculum. The integration of the Humanities content allows for a more efficient way to include Civics and Citizenship content. Each book is organised into three sections: - Government and democracy - Laws and citizens - Citizenship, diversity and identity Each section contains units of work with a variety of activities that provide opportunities to answer key inquiry questions and practise the skills of inquiry learning. These skills encourage students to develop questions, research information, analyse sources, evaluate and reflect on evidence and communicate their understandings based on evidence. - Inquiry and skills links - Australian Curriculum Civics and Citizenship links - Australian Curriculum Humanities and Social Sciences integrated links - Civics and Citizenship-associated terminology - Additional activities \|Product Type\|\|Teacher Resources,\| \|Year Level\|\|Year 5,\| Be The First To Review This Product! Help other Teacher Superstore users shop smarter by writing reviews for products you have purchased.
Cases Predicted to More Than Triple — to 16 Million — by 2050 By Daniel J. DeNoon WebMD Medical News Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD March 20, 2007 – Alzheimer’s disease is rising rapidly in America, now affecting at least 5.1 million and expected to hit 7.7 million by 2030; perhaps tripling to 16 million by 2050. Those figures, released today by the Alzheimer’s Association, don’t tell the whole story. For one thing, they don’t include the 10 million Americans currently caring for a person with Alzheimer’s disease or similar dementias. Over 40% of these caregivers are stressed to the breaking point — financially, emotionally, and physically. The new numbers also conceal a frightening statistic: An estimated 500,000 Americans under age 65 — some as young as 30 — suffer early-onset Alzheimer’s disease. Soaring upward even faster than the Alzheimer’s case rate is the death rate. Deaths from Alzheimer’s rose nearly 33% from 2000 to 2004. And that’s an underestimate. The cause of death for Alzheimer’s patients is often wrongly attributed to other diseases such patients may have, says Stephen McConnell, PhD, vice president for public policy and advocacy at the Alzheimer’s Association. “This is not just a memory disease. It is a disease that kills you,” McConnell tells WebMD. “What should really scare us is that you see a decline in cancer and heart-disease deaths but a rapid increase in Alzheimer’s disease. And the two are not unrelated. As we live longer, we are more susceptible to Alzheimer’s.” In 2011, baby boomers will begin turning 65 — the age at which one in eight people has Alzheimer’s. That risk rises rapidly with age. Nearly one in five people who reach 84 will get Alzheimer’s disease. Those who live to be 85 or older have a 44% chance of Alzheimer’s. The new numbers come from the Alzheimer’s Association’s “Alzheimer’s Disease Facts and Figures 2007.” Included in this statistical abstract is a special report on the hidden cost of Alzheimer’s disease: the toll it takes on caregivers and families. Alzheimer’s Caregivers Stressed Physically, Financially McConnell says the new data now make it possible to calculate the cost of caring for Alzheimer’s patients. It is a staggering figure. “There are 10 million Alzheimer’s caregivers,” McConnell says. “Some have the job 24 hours a day, as at some point all Alzheimer’s patients need 24-hour care.” The value of this care: $83 billion a year, dollars not included in calculations of U.S. health care costs. “Families are bearing a very heavy burden. And this is not covered by health insurance,” McConnell says. Alzheimer’s falls into the category of long-term care, which is available only to Americans able to purchase expensive long-term care insurance or to those impoverished enough to qualify for Medicaid. If you think you or an elderly family member can afford Alzheimer’s care, you may be wrong. Two-thirds of free-living elderly people — and 84% of those at high risk of needing long-term care — cannot afford more than a year in a nursing home. Three-fourths of those at high risk cannot afford even a month of nursing-home care. Why? In 2006, a private room in an assisted living facility cost $35,616 a year. A private room in a nursing home cost $75,190 a year. Adult day services range from $25 to $100 a day. And home health aids cost $19 an hour. “Ultimately, we need financial insurance protection so the disease doesn’t bankrupt the whole family,” McConnell says. “It is unfair to make a family choose between sending their child to college and taking care of their dad.” Dollars represent only the financial cost of Alzheimer’s care. Two-thirds of these caregivers provide physically demanding care. This includes bathing, feeding, toilet trips, and incontinence care for patients whose confusion often leads them to struggle against the caregiver. More than 70% of caregivers do this for more than a year — and a third of them do it for five or more years. It’s no wonder 40% of Alzheimer’s caregivers report high levels of emotional stress. The physical stress of caregiving is summed up in one awful statistic: People who care for dementia patients have an increased risk of death. “Caregivers are doing a very important service to the country, but we need to do a better job of taking care of the caregiver,” McConnell says.
give (something) up Definition: to stop doing something. (This phrasal verb has more than one meaning) E.g.1: If you want to lose weight you’ll have to give up eating sweets. E.g.2: He put on a lot of weight when he gave tennis up. This phrasal verb can be separated (E.g. 2).
"Your thoughts create your life!" This is the message that Louise Hay has been teaching people throughout the world for more than 25 years. Now, children can learn and understand the powerful idea that they have control over their thoughts and words and in turn, what happens in their life. Within the pages of I Think, I Am! kids will find out about the difference between negative thoughts and positive affirmations, there are wonderful examples of kids turning 'negative' thoughts such as worry, anger and fear into positive words and actions that express joy, happiness and love. Fun, vibrant illustrations and simple text demonstrate how to make the change from negative thoughts and words to those that are positive. The happiness and confidence that come from this ability is something children will carry with them their entire lives.
Recycle Vehicle Fluids and Parts Motor Oil and Transmission Fluid According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), "the oil from just one oil change is enough to contaminate a million gallons of fresh water." Motor oil and transmission fluids are toxic substances. Toxic substances may cause injury or death when ingested, inhaled, or touched, depending on dose and length of exposure. Oil can and should be recycled and reused as fuel. Two gallons of used oil can provide a utility boiler with enough fuel to run the average household's electricity for about 24 hours. By recycling, you can prevent soil and water contamination, as well as damage to septic systems and wastewater treatment facilities. To recycle used motor oil and transmission fluid, take them to a service station, drop-off location, or household hazardous waste collection site. Keep all automotive fluids separate from each other. Gasoline, Power Steering Fluid, and Windshield Wiper Fluid Gasoline, power steering fluid, and wiper fluid should be completely used up. Gasoline and wiper fluids are toxic and flammable. Power steering fluid is toxic. If it is not completely used, be sure to store it safely and take it to a household hazardous waste collection location. Keep all automotive fluids separate from each other. Recycling gasoline, power steering fluid, and wiper fluid prevents soil and water contamination and reduces the risk of exposure to benzene and fire. Antifreeze and Brake Fluid Always take antifreeze and brake fluid to a service station, or household hazardous waste location for recycling. Never pour them down the sink, into septic tanks or storm drain, or on the ground. Keep all automotive fluids separate from each other. Recycling antifreeze and brake fluid prevents children and animals from being poisoned (they are attracted to the sweet taste) and prevents soil and water contamination. Antifreeze is toxic but can still be regenerated and reused. Brake fluid is toxic and corrosive and can sometimes be regenerated. Although auto batteries are toxic and corrosive, they contain recyclable metals. Unused auto batteries should be taken to a service station, drop-off location, or household hazardous waste collection site for recycling. Properly disposing of batteries prevents lead and sulfuric acid contamination of soil and water. Lead can cause mild to severe brain damage, especially to children, and sulfuric acid can burn skin and eyes. To properly dispose of oil filters, drain and collect used oil from the filter after the engine has been off for 24 hours. After the oil has been drained, take the filter and oil to a service station, drop-off location, or household hazardous waste collection site. Proper disposal prevents soil and water contamination, as well as damage to septic systems and wastewater treatment facilities. The used oil can be refined and reused. The filters contain recyclable metal. Nearly 200 million worn tires are generated each year. Some are recycled into products such as rubber mats or footwear; others are burned as fuel or retreaded and sold again. Recycling keeps millions of scrap tires out of landfills each year. Properly maintaining tires makes them last longer. Keep tires properly inflated, repair punctures, and maintain alignment. Rotate tires every 6,000 to 8,000 miles, and check tread wear indicators periodically. When the tire tread is worn to same height as the tread wear indicator, replace the tire - National Safety Council
Female Scientists Who Have Children Have Their Careers Set Back, A Recent Study Shows Many young girls dream of being scientists, following in the footsteps of Marie Curie and Dorothy Hodgkin to scale the heights of research and leave a lasting discovery or idea. But female scientists who have children often face rigid barriers to advancing their careers — and a recent study shows just how ingrained that problem is. The analysis from the Universities of Bath and Turin looked at the careers of 262 male and female scientists over a 10-year period, including citations (how much of their work is quoted by others), funding, and publications. And they found that female scientists often experienced a "motherhood penalty" that sounds a lot like sexism. To be sure, this is a phenomenon across all industries, especially in countries that are less gender-equal, or where support for working mothers isn't as readily available. But in looking at mothers in one particular field, this study was able to quantitatively show the affect of having children on the individual level. When scientists became mothers, the researchers found, they weren't cited as often as their peers — possibly, the people behind the study say, because their assumption of childcare responsibilities mean they can't network as effectively or travel for conferences. But that wasn't all. Women overall, according to the numbers of the researchers, received less funding from big science organizations than men did, whether they had kids or not. The researchers found a few possible explanations for this drop-off. One, the world of science funding continues to be very old-school, and the organizations that give out money are often much more likely to give out money to favorites, high-ranked people, and heads of laboratories. Two, the higher you go in the scientific disciplines, the fewer women you see. The combination of these factors, the researchers say, means that women rising through the ranks can't get the funding they need to make big scientific discoveries. Even if they're doing it unconsciously, places with money to give out in science often give it to men instead of women. But having a kid is stressful, you might say. Of course new parents would be likely to see some drops in their professional output while they cope with a radically changed family dynamic. Not so fast. The study found that when male scientists became fathers, their work started to be cited more by others, reflecting more networking and more publications. The researchers think that this could be down to "the desire to provide for their new offspring". Hello, gender roles. So what's happening here? Female scientists are being penalized if they decide to have a child and a career at the same time, because the world still expects women to carry the burden of the childcare. One 2016 study found that women do 40 percent more childcare and household chores than men on average, and another in 2015 found that 27 percent of women in senior business positions still said they did significantly more childcare than their husbands (44 percent of more junior women said they did). In contrast, male scientists who become fathers are given the freedom and space to pursue more work. What needs to happen for there to be change? Well, for a start, universities and scientific institutions need to step up and give more help to female researchers with young kids. Travel funding, better paid maternity leave (or any, in the U.S.), flex-time; whatever it takes. But the world in general also needs to stop expecting one gender to do all the work when it comes to child care. Once we move past that, then perhaps we'll really make some progress — and stop losing out on the discoveries scientist moms could be making,
\|Home Flowers Vegetables Herbs Bulbs Fruit Organic Trees 'n Shrubs How to Grow Plant Problems Houseplants\| on your favorite Flowers: How to Grow Columbine Flowers If you are both a gardener and a hummingbird lover, you probably have Columbine plants growing in your flowerbeds. Hummingbirds love the showy blooms, that are loaded with nectar. But, watch out....bees like them, too. Native to Asia, Europe and North America, Columbine are an easy to grow perennial. Lacy plants produce long- spurred showy blossoms, from late spring to early summer. Columbine colors include white, yellow, pink, blue, purple and bi-colors. Plants grow 15" - 20" tall. Also called the "Rocky Mountain Columbine", they are the state flower of Colorado. Columbine are grown from seed. Directly seed them into your flower garden. Sow seeds in the spring, and cover with 1/8" soil. Space seeds or seedlings 16-18" apart. If you have established plants, Columbine can also be separated by division in the spring. How to Grow Columbine: Grow Columbine plants in partial shade. They will do well in average soils and tolerate dry soil conditions. Soil should be well drained. Water only during extended droughts. Add a general purpose fertilizer once or twice a season. New Columbine plants will bloom in the second year. They look good in flowerbeds, containers, as edging, and in rock gardens. When selecting a location to plant them, look for an open area to attract Hummingbirds. Columbine will grow all season long. As a hardy perennial, they should survive light frosts. Insect and Disease: Columbine are resistant to insects and disease. If insect or disease problems occur, treat early with organic or chemical insect repellents and fungicide. Copyright © Premier Star Company
Having learned any number of things about Tibet recently I thought I would learn some more, and thankfully the new Modern China (34.2) arrived with an interesting article by Daphon David Ho “The Men Who Would Not Be Amban and the One who Would: Four Frontline Officials and Qing Tibet Policy, 1905-1911” The article looks at the New Policies period attempts of the Qing court to establish control over Tibet, at the same time that the British were trying to do the same thing. In 1905 most Tibetans did not see themselves as citizens of a modern Chinese nation, or of a modern Tibetan nation, or as subjects of the British Empire and various people wanted to resolve this problem Ho agrees with much of existing scholarship that one of the main events that split off Tibetan identity from Chinese identity was the brutality of the Chinese occupation of Lhasa in 1910, where Chinese behavior was, according to one Tibetan “worse than dogs and wild beasts.” Ho is mostly interested in showing how this mess was created by rivalries among Qing officials, but he also shows that there was at least the possibility that Tibet might have become China. The best hope for this came in the person of Zhang Yingtang, who served briefly as the Qing high commissioner for Tibet 1906-1907. Zhang promoted a peaceful version of Chinese-Tibetan reconciliation, and if you go to Lhasa today1 you will be shown Zhang Daren flowers, a symbol of the Tibetan people’s love for China. As Ho points out, Zhang is a lot more interesting than modern Chinese propaganda makes him. He had been minister to the U.S., Mexico and Peru, and was very much a part of attempts to construct a new Chinese nation, and while in Tibet he tried to create a Tibet that was part of this new China. In April 1907, [Zhang] published a treatise, “Improving Tibetan Customs” (Banfa Zang su gailiang), in both Tibetan and Chinese. Zhang’s plan can best be described as a peculiar blend of Confucian moral virtues, modern hygiene, and military spirit. He began by admonishing Tibetans about polyandry and sexual promiscuity, fretting about everything from extramarital affairs to siblings, nephews, nieces, aunts, uncles, and even in- laws sleeping in the same bed (QDZY: 1355-56). Zhang continued with a list of recommendations that included bathing regularly, trimming down the length of clothes (so as not to impede work), and studying Chinese, and a list of injunctions that criticized Tibetan customs such as sky burial. All of this is fairly typical Confucian nagging that could have just as well been directed at the Miao in 1740. Zhang goes on to urge a new level of militarism in Tibetan society. 1. When a boy turns eighteen, he should learn martial arts and the use of the Mauser gun (Maose qiang) so that he can defend his hometown. 2. The Mauser is an essential piece of equipment for protecting yourselves and your homes. Without it, you will surely be bullied. A Mauser costs 37 rupees, and 1,000 bullets costs 7 rupees. They are sold everywhere in India and Sichuan. Everyone, man or woman, should spend 44 rupees to buy a gun and bullets. When you are free, go hunting. Proceeds from the sale of several white foxes, lynxes, or tigers will repay the cost of the gun and bullets. After that, gains from hunting will be extra income. When foreign enemies or robbers come, you can fight them with your guns, for the sake of the Buddha. later he said that Today, the world is one of guns and cannons. There is no right or wrong, only weak and strong. If we cannot achieve self-strengthening, we will become prey. If people have the courage and uprightness to fight to the death for the country, then foreign enemies will not dare to insult us. … Military preparedness is something we cannot go a single day without deliberating. Train troops every day; everyone discuss military affairs (riri lianbing, renrenjiangwu). This is a vital eight-word formula. This emphasis on arming the people would have seemed a bit radical in China proper, although the militarism itself was pretty standard New Policies stuff. Unfortunately for Zhang, if he had managed to militarize Tibetan society to the extent he wanted my guess is this would have led to more conflict with the Han rather than a single Han-Tibetan culture. - I’ve never been [↩]
If theism (God exists.) is a blue pair of glasses, atheism (There is no God.) is a red pair, and pantheism (God equals the universe.) is purple; how do we, who are seeing the color blue, explain the color blue to someone who can only see red? Well, in the end, God himself has to take off a person’s red lenses and help put on the blue lenses; much like how the scales fell from the Apostle Paul’s eyes in the New Testament. It’s our job as Christians to be able to defend the blue lenses we are wearing and to explain how this perspective is true so that the atheist or pantheist would desire to put the blue lenses on. Being able to defend your faith is a necessary skill in this post-modern world. However, knowing where to start might seem like an insurmountable challenge for many people who have never studied the topic of apologetics, the study of our present reality and the different worldviews that we look through to observe our reality. There are four arguments that many apologists utilize when defending the Christian worldview: the Cosmological, the Ontological, the Teleological and the Moral arguments. #1 Cosmological – This argument stresses that every effect must have a cause. The universe has a beginning, so what caused that beginning? Whatever begins to exist must have a cause and since the universe began to exist, the cause of the universe is God. The reasoning behind this is that God exists outside of space and time and has the power to create space and time itself. If the universe came from nothing, from random chance as many people believe in this day and age… does that logically make sense? That nothing created everything? Or is it easier to believe that something, an all-powerful, all-knowing, all-present God created the massive expanding universe with a big bang? #2 Ontological – A philosopher’s favorite, this centuries-old argument is based on deduction and reasoning. It is based on how the concept of a God proves God’s existence. This is broken down into two attributes of God – his perfection and his necessity. If God is perfect, an absolutely perfect being cannot lack any perfection including existence; if it didn’t exist it would not be perfect. Therefore, God must exist. Likewise, if God exists, he must be a necessary being, and if he is necessary, then he must exist in order for the world to exist. Although this argument cannot fully prove the existence of God, it can prove certain things about his nature like God must necessarily exist if he exists at all… He cannot cease to exist or only exist contingently. #3 Teleological – Most Christians, even if they don’t realized it, have heard this argument before. It is the argument that says the world shows a great design; therefore, there must be a great designer who designed it. Like a watchmaker designs a watch, so God designed the universe. This is a favorite for people. Since there are many scientific facts and wonders that are so specific and articulate, it is easier to believe a designer designed it rather than random chance. For example, if gravity, the position of the sun or the earth’s atmospheric levels, were off by just a smidgen, life would not be possible on earth. There is a reason our world is called the Goldilocks planet and we haven’t found life anywhere else in the universe. Also, if you observe the complexity of a single protein molecule, a single cell, or the biology of the human body, you can find yourself in awe of the systematic, purposeful complexity of the human organism. Wouldn’t it take more faith to believe that eyes (by chance and over eons of years) slowly developed on people’s faces? Or that the cell came to be and became a fish which evolved over millions of years to become a monkey, which became a human because of natural selection? The Teleological argument is based on the following: Every design has a designer, the universe has a design if you only look at it; therefore, the universe has a designer. #4 Moral – Most people would say that murdering babies is wrong, that rape is wrong, that stealing is wrong, that cutting someone off at a roundabout is wrong . . . But why is that? If we are just a blob of stardust that evolved into a living organism why should we know what’s right and what’s wrong? Why should we care about morality? Other species on earth have no concept of morality… How can you tell a shark, “no, don’t bite me, that’s bad,” when he is just looking for his lunch? The Bible says in Romans 2:12 that the law of God is written on our hearts. Therefore, humans have a concept of morality, meaning that there must be a moral lawgiver for us to know and understand moral law. If there was no God or moral law giver, why should humans care about what is right or wrong? Why have police officers who enforce a law? Why a judicial system to keep criminals in check? Why have a hope for life at all if the world is random chance, and there is no purpose for the world or the universe? Where would your purpose or morality come from if there is no afterlife? Why do humans long to live forever? It is because the God of the universe has placed eternity in our hearts, and we long for something more, we long for a purpose and a relationship with our creator. And that proves that God exists! All of these arguments are solid tools for your apologetic toolbox, but there is one tool that is even more vital. . . Living a life of love. People need to know how much you care about them before they care about how much you know! When you talk to people about your faith, the most important thing to remember isn’t the statistics or the key aspects of certain arguments, it’s that Jesus loves the person you’re trying to persuade. Also, we can’t knock people’s worldview glasses off their heads . . . Only God and only that person can decide to change his or her worldview. Our goal should never be to prove how smart we are with apologetics, but how awesome and loving God is. Only then can we lead others to the truth of the gospel so they can see it clearly. by Melody Siebenmann
Why is Plagiarism a Violation of Ethics? Plagiarism is the copying of another’s writing for any reason without proper attribution and is a massive ethics violation that will get you in trouble at any level of your career. Plagiarism means you took someone else’s work in a way that wasn’t fair use and passed it off as your own idea without giving credit to the original author for their ideas. From middle school to a college program to the professional world, using the ideas of others without citing the original source is an offense against the academic and scientific community that will not go unpunished. This article will look at the definition of plagiarism, the multiple forms of plagiarism, why plagiarism is wrong, what can happen if you’re caught and what you can do about it instead. Ethics of Plagiarism When you do not cite the works of others in your writing, you are taking credit for their labor, which falls under the umbrella of serious academic and ethical issues. Essentially, plagiarizing is the same as theft or stealing, except it is another individual’s creative or intellectual property you’re taking rather than a physical item. Regardless of if you utilize another person’s work in its entirety or merely another person’s ideas without proper attribution, you’re in violation of ethical principles either way. When you write a paper and borrow ideas or quotes from other people, you must cite your sources in a specified format that allows other people, such as your readers, to find those works again. Correct citations ensure that original ideas get credited to their original author, who deserves recognition for the effort they put into researching and formulating the ideas. Why is Plagiarizing Wrong? You can plagiarize any creative or published work. That includes: - Published works such as books, magazine articles, or newspaper columns - Visual or graphic art such as paintings, photography, branding, or web designs - Musical compositions, beats, rhythms, or lyrics - Digital content such as blog posts, online zines, or even social media posts Borrowing or stealing others’ intellectual property and passing it off as your own is wrong predominantly because of the harm it causes the original creator. Oftentimes, you may get the rewards – such as financial gain, academic accolades, et cetera – where the creator should get it instead. This diminishes, dilutes, and taints the original author’s work with the fake or lower-quality version that you are putting out and claiming. Note that if you are found guilty of copyright infringement, this is even more serious than academic violations. Copyright laws are not known to be gentle, even if you claim your act of plagiarism was by mistake. Rather, the laws are in place to protect original creators, so they are protected and feel safe putting time and energy into unique artistic pursuits. Most people understand that stealing another’s artistic work is both wrong and very stupid. In today’s digital world, you are increasingly unlikely to get away with this intellectual theft. However, it’s important to note that there exist several types of plagiarism; many of which most people don’t even know. Forms of Plagiarism An important note about plagiarism is that it includes the un-cited use of any type of previous work. Whether you are summarizing, paraphrasing, or directly quoting, there’s a citation for that – and if you fail to use it, you are committing plagiarism. Let’s examine several forms more closely: If you completely neglect to annotate your papers in a way that acknowledges the material has been derived from an external source, that’s an act of direct plagiarism. Note that you must include a citation even if you are only borrowing an idea. Any type of original idea that is not simply a commonsense one, requires attribution. When you’re creating something that is supposed to be original work, and you reuse your own previously written content without indicating so, you’re committing self-plagiarism. In college or high school, this can be a serious academic issue because you are failing to complete the assignment as instructed. In science, academia, or the professional world, this creates a significant problem because you could be re-publishing old findings in a setting that prizes new information. Just like with the works of others, you need to cite your previous works if you opt to use them in a new piece of writing. In this case, copyright law is less of a concern, because it’s your own work and you’re unlikely to sue yourself. However, this isn’t guaranteed. If, for instance, you’re writing a book for one publisher and reusing words you wrote in a book for a different publisher without attribution, the original publishing house will not be happy with you. Inaccurate authorship is when you cite sources, but you do so incorrectly. You might attribute work to a different author than who wrote it, unintentionally or intentionally, to avoid giving credit to someone whose work you don’t want to acknowledge. Or you might simply list out their information incorrectly in such a way that your readers cannot find the correct source in the future. Even though you attempted to provide attribution, incorrect citations still constitute plagiarism. Patchwork plagiarism is when you pull pieces together from many different authors’ work and rearrange them so that it’s hard to tell where the information came from. In this situation, you still aren’t doing any original work of your own and are passing off the works of other authors as yours. With the sophistication of today’s online plagiarism checking software, this kind of misdeed will no longer fly under the radar. Accidental plagiarism is when you commit an act of plagiarism by accident. This includes small unintentional mistakes, such as improper paraphrasing or forgetting the quotation marks when using a direct quote. Although you may have tried to avoid plagiarism, even accidental plagiarism is still considered stealing from the original author and will lead to consequences. Common Excuses for Plagiarism Many people think that plagiarism has to be intentional, and that’s just not true. You can think of direct, intentional plagiarism as the first-degree murder of the plagiarism world. However, manslaughter still carries a considerable sentence. The equivalent in academia or career settings is still going to be serious for you, even if it was unintentional. That said, the “I didn’t know” excuse does not carry weight anymore. Considering the amount of time and effort teachers and professors put into helping students understand what plagiarism is and how it happens, it’s hard to believe that anyone wouldn’t know what they were doing. However, accidentally failing to cite sources, or citing them wrong can happen. That’s why it’s so important to be sure you’re attributing everything correctly – more on that in a bit. Other excuses include “I was tired” or “I didn’t think I was doing anything wrong”. Unfortunately, none of these will help your case. If someone else created it, and you used it without proper citations, then you’re in the wrong. Consequences of Plagiarism Even famous songwriters and authors have been caught and penalized for cases of plagiarism, much to their non-delight. George Harrison paid upwards of half a million dollars to correct his lapse when he failed to notice that “My Sweet Lord” sounded a whole lot like “He’s So Fine” by The Chiffons. New Yorker author Jonah Hill lost his career when he self-plagiarized and falsified a bunch of quotes by Bob Dylan, all of which Dylan himself refuted. Again, copyright laws don’t let you off the hook simply because you didn’t know what you were doing. If you’re in a professional setting and there are financial stakes involved, you might genuinely suffer legal consequences. However, even in an academic setting, where you aren’t breaking the law, ethical violations are still taken very seriously. You might be expelled from a certain department, lose a scholarship, pay fines, be expelled from the entire college or university, be forced to issue a public apology, and more. As none of the consequences of plagiarism are enjoyable, it’s logical to take additional steps to avoid being identified as a plagiarist. It’s definitely better to avoid the sanctions of higher education, adhere to plagiarism policy, and avoid academic dishonesty and research misconduct altogether. That’s where the alternatives come in. Alternatives to Plagiarism The simplest strategy to avoid plagiarism is by committing to creating your own original work. That means wherever possible, you should avoid directly quoting others. If you can paraphrase and then attribute work, do that. If you can come up with unique ideas, do that. If you absolutely have to use someone’s work in quoted form, that’s fine, as long as you use the correct text citations and works cited page. Attribution is the answer to any potential plagiarism charge, and it will protect your academic integrity from middle school onward. However, since so many plagiarism charges accrue to people who had no idea they were committing an ethical violation, it makes good sense to ensure you’re citing sources correctly. That’s where a plagiarism checker comes in. It can help you recognize and avoid citation issues in your papers, so you’re always in the clear. A handy tool such as Quetext will help you determine any instances of unoriginal wording, so you can avoid accidental plagiarism and prevent copying from a previously published work of your own. Better yet, if the plagiarism checker detects any unoriginal wording, it also includes an easy-to-use citation generator to help you automatically create and insert the required citations in MLA, APA, and Chicago styles. Now that you understand the ethics of plagiarism, as well as how to avoid it, you’re better prepared to face the rigors of school and the professional world with academic integrity in hand. Avoid punishment, keep your name in sparkling good order, and enjoy the ease and simplicity of creating perfect citations every time.
The following is a Woman of Courage profile produced by the St. Lawrence County, NY Branch of the American Association of University Women. The League of Women Voters was founded by Carrie Chapman Catt in 1920 during the convention of the National American Woman Suffrage Association. The convention was held just six months before the 19th amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified, giving women the right to vote after a 72-year struggle. Those early suffragists were determined that with women voting they would be able to right all the things that were wrong with our American Society. They reasoned that “with how much was accomplished without the vote - how much more would be accomplished with the vote.” They though this might take five years. As an example of how wrong they were, the original Leaguers worked on Child Welfare Reform for 18 years. Currently the League has been working on court reform in NYS for 40 years. The League started in 1920 in St. Lawrence County with local leagues in Canton, Potsdam and Ogdensburg. From the beginning its purpose was to educate all voters - men and women alike. In a letter written on Dec. 20, 1920 to Mrs. Raymond Brown in NYS from Bernice Seavey concerning the League here in St. Lawrence County, “The Republican machine has a very strong hold here, the League is not popular with the leaders which make it doubly hard for women to come in, the experience some of the women had in the last election has started them thinking for themselves, no knowing where such a state will lead them.” The letter goes on to describe Mrs. Robert Ford (Elizabeth Best Ford), “...she is a fearless fighter and has access to the right people. The Republican County Committee just hated her work last fall, at the same time they would have given any price and a ground tour if she would work for them.” Elizabeth Best Ford was truly the founding mother of the St. Lawrence County League. She was the chair for several years, the regional chair for the area, and one of the letters in the League archive describes being motored to Ogdensburg by Mrs. Ford, to call upon each of the members to rejoin and to recruit new members. She lived part of her life at 35 E. Main Street in Canton, NY. Referring back to the letter, Ms. Seavey told Ms. Brown that they couldn’t do much till Spring, “the little towns are so far apart, snow, bad roads, and cold - the women will not get out.” Mrs. Julius Frank (Marion Sanger Frank) in Ogdensburg was listed as a club (sic) the League should be affiliated with. Also in the archives there is mention of not wanting the state League to remove the county for being a hopeless case - “these people are slow to accept new things.” On Aug. 15, 1922, a convention was held for the League in the County Courthouse. A printed program listed Mrs. Robert Ford as Chairman. Other name mentioned included: Mrs. Fred Mason, Miss Elizabeth McFalls, Mrs. Rhode Dunham, Mrs. Fred Harris, Mrs. Edward Park, and Mrs. E. P. Harris. Richard Eddy Sykes gave the invocation. Ceylon Chaney, Supervisor, Welby Haile, County Clerk, and R. Porter Johnson, County Treasurer, presented a program on “Know Your County.” Bertram Snell (local member of Congress) presented a program on “The Year in Congress,” and James Dolan presented a program on the “Children’s Court.” H. B. Chase spoke on joining a political party, and W. D. Ingram spoke about “How Women Can Assist the District Attorney.” The convention featured a session on the independent voter and finished with Narcissa Cox Vanderlip talking about the League of Women Voters. Mrs. Vanderlip was the chair of the NYS League for many years. Among the issues adopted at the convention: The convention directed the National League to: Dues to join in that year were $1 and at that meeting it was voted to set aside 10 cents of each dollar to promote a regional League, to include Franklin and Clinton Counties. At another early League convention they held a tea for Jeanette Rankin, the first women to sit in the House of Representatives who was elected from Montana. Other letters and minutes mention that 17 towns has League members. Throughout the 1920s and ‘30s topics such as Women’s Place in Politics, her duties as citizen, and wining the peace predominated the topics studied. In 1938, “Know Your County” and a radio broadcast were mentioned. In 1939, the Milk Situation, the Life of Adolph Hitler, the St. Lawrence Seaway, and a discussion of venereal disease were on the agenda. In 1940, the League held a Voter’s Forum on the radio, the County Budget, and the European Situation were part of their “outlook for work.” The League of Women Voters was a federation of separate organizations, linked by a national League, and governed by state Leagues. Each member who joined a local league was also a state and nation member. Each league would hold conventions, each would have elected officers, and be able to send members to the conventions of the higher level League. Each League was also entitled to make recommendations for programs at the next level of League. At one time the LWVUS had 69 distinct programs that it was actively studying and taking action on - a program so unmanageable it was nicknamed the “Can of Eels.” Out of this the League adopted the “Principals” that guide the organization to this day. Though most people associate the League with Voter Service, it has been a moderate, multi-faceted organization since its inception. The League supports the concept that every issue is a women's issue and that we reflect America's pluralism, rather than the narrow focus of single or limited issues. The League is slow to support issues, using the consensus method of agreement. For example, Alice Paul proposed the Equal Rights Amendment in 1923, but it took over 50 years for the League to support that first wave of social reformers. The League is a nonpartisan political organization; it does not support political parties or candidates only issues. Many League members have gone on to hold elective office, many hold appointed office, and some organizations even have a League seat on their boards. Over the course of its life the county League has undergone many title changes as membership ebbed and flowed. In 1970 it was called the Canton-Potsdam League. In the past it had many different names, such as the Ogdensburg League, the Canton League, and the Potsdam League. Finally in the 1980's, in order to reflect the diversity of our membership, the name was changed back to the St. Lawrence County League, and in the 1990's we joined with Jefferson County. Many thanks to Millie Whalen, President of the St. Lawrence-Jefferson County League of Women Voters for the information in this Profile. For more information on the League of Women Voters: In 2009, a group of LWV's local members began the process of reviving the League in St. Lawrence County. More information available from Kathleen Stein. Return to the Women of Courage page. Return to the St. Lawrence County Branch homepage.
Climate change continues to be a hot topic in the news, and many consumers are keen to believe it’s livestock, not their own actions, that are contributing to any real or perceived environmental concerns our planet currently faces. The notion that cattle are just big gas chambers creating smog over pastures is once again being promoted by the media; this time, it’s The Washington Post (WP). I recently read an article featured in WP titled, “How cleaner burps could help fight climate change.” WP reporter Chris Mooney writes, “So-called ‘enteric fermentation’ in cows and other ruminant animals, like sheep and goats, contributed 26% of the country’s total emissions of methane, a hard-hitting greenhouse gas with much greater short term warming consequences than carbon dioxide does (though the latter packs a far greater long-term punch). Globally, meanwhile, methane emissions from livestock are an even bigger problem. Overall, the livestock supply chain emits 44% of the globe’s human caused methane, according to the U.N.’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) — and a large slice of that comes from cattle’s methane burps. So anything you could do to cut down on cow belching would, literally, help save the planet. How fast is expansion going to happen?” I’m more than a little disappointed that Mooney didn’t do more research before spewing statistics that are totally inaccurate. In fact, it’s long ago been pointed out that the 2006 FAO report titled “Livestock’s Long Shadow” misrepresents the livestock industry’s actual contributions to greenhouse gas emissions. The report says livestock production accounts for 18% of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions; however, that number is actually a small 5.8% and includes not just livestock production, but the entire agricultural industry, according to Frank Mitloehner, an internationally-renowned authority on agricultural air quality, animal-environmental interactions, and environmental engineering at the University of California-Davis. What’s more, the EPA stated in 2009 that the vast majority of GHG emissions come from the use of fossil fuels and electricity, not livestock production. Livestock-related greenhouse-gas emissions from 2006 add up to 181.9 teragrams of CO2 equivalent. And the EPA reports that the entire United States emitted 7,054.2 teragrams during that year. When doing the math, the greenhouse-gas sources directly related to livestock production in the United States only account for 2.58% of the total. When animal rights activists try to push Meatless Mondays for environmental reasons or someone feels righteous for skipping a burger while watching TV, using the lights or driving their vehicle, we should be equipped to share these figures on social media to help nix the idea that it’s cow burps, not people, who are contributing the most GHG emissions. The opinions of Amanda Radke are not necessarily those of beefmagazine.com or Penton Agriculture. You might also like:
Anish Kapoor has acquired exclusive rights to use a new material known as Vantablack. The substance was developed by Surrey NanoSystems for potential uses in optics and military applications, but will be used creatively, and exclusively, by the British artist. Vantablack is composed of microscopic carbon nanotubes – Vertically Aligned NanoTube Arrays. It absorbs more than 99.96 percent of visible light, which makes it the least reflective, blackest black, darkest substance in the world. The substance could conceal satellites and stealth jets, or improve optics in deep space telescopes and cameras. Because it absorbs almost all light, Vantablack prevents the human eye from perceiving any depth. Kapoor describes that it is “so deeply black that your eyes can’t really see it at all. It’s like staring into the kind of black hole found in outer space.” Vantablack is applied by chemical vapor deposition, which releases hazardous airborne nanotubes and can become as hot as 550° C. A new version, Vantablack S-VIS, is applied as an aerosol and is relatively cooler at 400° C. With this, new uses become possible. Anish Kapoor is well known as a sculptor and notably installed works at Versailles for its annual contemporary exhibition in 2015. With the announcement of his exclusive rights to use Vantablack, it seems that Kapoor may create an immersive installation: “Imagine a space that’s so dark that as you walk in you lose all sense of where you are, what you are, and especially all sense of time.” Some artists are upset that Kapoor has exclusive rights to use Vantablack. There is precedent, however. In 1960, the Nouveau réalisme painter Yves Klein worked with a chemist to develop a pigment for his signature monochrome paintings. No one else could use International Klein Blue. Rather than exclusivity, safety is a more likely reason for Kapoor’s monopoly on the new substance. Caravaggio, Michelangelo, and Goya are known to have suffered from lead poisoning from their paints. An 18th century pigment called Scheele’s Green exposed people (perhaps even Napoleon) to arsenic. Just last year, the EU Chemical Agency considered a ban on toxic Cadmium Red. Anish Kapoor’s exclusive rights to Vantablack will turn his studio into a lab for the blackest, darkest material in the world.
SNAPSHOTS: Re-thinking the way we teaching writing while embracing technology KYSTE 2014 Presentation - Click HERE FOR PRESENTATION SLIDES - Click HERE for Cheat Sheets on Apps mentioned, PLUS MANY MANY MORE!!! - How to create POW TOONS - Please visit www.ekuwritingproject.org for more information about the Kentucky Writing Project Summer Technology Academies where you get an iPad mini and three days of training!!!! SAMR Model: KWP SUMMER TECH CONFERENCE Tech DEMO for SI: May 18, 2013: Weebly's Wooble through the Weight of our Work - Watch Video above, then video below - Exam website and how it's used in classroom: I use this website as a point of central command for my students. It's pretty awesome when it comes to communication and responsibility on the student. There are no excuses because everything I give them in class and everything we discuss in class is located on the website. Once your words are published, the kids (and parents) have the responsibility placed on them. - High lights of the website: the assignment form application. I use assignment forms as a way of students to submit work. I use these for my bell work, homework submission, surveys, tests, and parent contact forms. - Blogs: I use blogs as a weekly forum for students to communicate and expand their ideas beyond the classroom. - Create your websites and develop them for your classrooms and for the EKUWP! Good luck! Screen Casting Workshop for EKUWP What is screen casting?
Our topic this half term is Space. We will be finding out about the planets; space travel and aliens in various ways. Creative:- painting our vision of a planet; making models of rockets and planets. Construction:- building rockets with the large construction blocks outside. Stories about aliens and space travel e.g. Happy birthday moon & Alien tea on the planet Zum Zee. Songs ranging from Twinkle twinkle little star to The planets revolve around the sun, hurrah, hurrah. Mathematics:- ordering the planets; sorting and matching; numbering the planets according to nearness to the sun etc. Paper copies of all documents and policies on the website are available from the school office.
A condition in which consumption of mint or mint bases products cause mild to severe, severe allergic symptoms is called mint allergy. These allergic symptoms include mostly respiratory disorders. Mint allergy can also be caused topically on the skin. Mint or Mentha is a worldwide used herb. It is familiar as a breath as well as a stomach cleanser. Oils and products containing mint proved beneficial in many ways. It can treat headaches and stomach disorders. It is widely used as an oral supplement in the dental world for its properties or freshening up the mouth. Many sweets and candies also have mint. people use mint with ginger to for best great tea flavor. If you are a green tea lover or Ginger user, you may read Ginger Allergy Symptoms. Topical creams tend to have mint. In the beauty world, mint is well known for its relaxing and soothing effect on inflamed skin. Yet allergies may prove to have an opposite effect on the surface. Mint Allergy Symptoms: People with mint allergy develop specific symptoms. These symptoms confirm the level of allergy. Symptoms of allergy when consumed are: - Mouth itching - Swollen tongue and lips - Itchy throat - Abdominal pain - Nausea and vomiting In case of topical application on the skin, the following symptoms occur: - Itching on the skin The most severe case of extreme allergy is asthma. The mint content causes swelling of the respiratory tract. This allergy is more common in people with a sensitive respiratory system. Once asthma develops, it may become fatal. Mechanism of Allergy Reaction: Mint causes mostly respiratory reactions through various mechanisms. These mechanisms include IgE-mediated hypersensitivity. This condition is hypersensitivity of the antibody IgE. Malfunction of this antibody causes allergy symptoms. Other mechanisms are nonimmunologic histamine release. As it is a well-known fact that the release of histamine is a common cause of any allergy. Hence these chemicals which directly stimulate the immune system tend to cause severe symptoms. Mint Allergy Treatment: This allergy is not very common. However, if one develops an allergy, one must avoid eating or having contact with mint. Mild symptoms often need no treatment and can only be controlled by preventing mint bases products. The symptoms can be managed by antihistamines (when consumed) or though tropical creams (in case of skin reaction). However, in severe allergic symptoms, the major problem is asthma and bronchoconstriction, which are severe respiratory problems. They cause difficulty in breathing. Although it can be controlled through bronchodilators, medical assistance must be taken immediately. Mint Cross Reactivity: Mint belongs to the Labiatae family of the plant kingdom. This family includes other herbs such as thyme, oregano, etc. and chemical substances such as turpentine oil, menthol, and peppermint may trigger a mint allergy. This condition means that a person can develop an allergy through these substances as well. Mint is not necessary to develop an allergy. The concept of cross-reactivity means the triggering of mint allergy through products not containing mint itself. The Reaction by Mint allergy: The first reaction to a mint allergy shows is the sneeze reflex. This technique is the most common and almost instant way of determining an allergy. The sneeze reflex is triggered to propel out the allergens from the respiratory tract. The over stimulations of nerves near the nostrils cause this sneeze reflex. Other reactions are more serious, which includes a state of anaphylactic shock. Mint containing products: Various products include mint, for example, toothpaste, bubble gum, mouth wash, dental floss, mouth freshener, candies, etc. All these products are for freshening purposes. Avoid these products as they may trigger the allergy. Even small amounts of mint can trigger the allergy. Mint Allergy FAQs: Can you be allergic to mint? Yes, you can be allergic to mint. The specific composition of mint can cause reactivity to the immune system. This condition triggers our immune system to detect it as a harmful substance. The defence mechanism then occurs in the form of an allergic reaction. 2. How common is a mint allergy? It is not very common. There are fewer pieces of evidence of a person being allergic to mint. This allergy can be treated or reduces by altogether avoiding mint and mint based products or food. 3. Why do you sneeze when you eat mint? If a person is allergic to mint, he can face allergic reactions such as sneezing. The sneezing action is reflex. This reflex action takes place when a harmful substance triggers the respiratory tract. The sneeze then expels that substance from the body through the nose by pressure. 4. What is mint cross-reactivity? Mint cross-reactivity means that the allergy is triggered by-products not containing mint. Such as turpentine oil, peppermint, menthol, thyme, oregano, etc. If a person uses these products, he may develop an allergy through them, without consuming mint.
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Another victim of this long winter could ultimately affect your next trip to the grocery store. During the winter, honey bees cluster together and vibrate their wing muscles to stay warm. However, becuase this winter has been so long and cold, the honey bees have eaten up all the stored honey and might starve to death or freeze to death. Farmers and growers use people like Don Lam to supply them with bees in the spring to make sure their crops get pollinated. “90% of our bee keeps have lost most of their bees this winter in this area,” Lam said. Soon Lam will head down to Georgia to replace his bee crops, but he placed his order last year and his supplier has told him anyone looking for extra bees is out of luck. Suppliers are sold out, which means farms, not just here in Michigan but througout the Midwest, will have fewer bees to pollinate crops. “Somebody raising apples, blueberries or crops like that needs the bees to come in a do the pollinating for them. That pollination success is based on sheer numbers; you just need sheer numbers of bees to come in a pollinate those flowers,” Lam said. Fewer bees means fewer apples and blueberries this year; ultimately you could see the prices of those products at the grocery store go up.
Commissioning care homes: common safeguarding challenges Common safeguarding issues – Maladministration of medication There are isolated cases of medication being mismanaged intentionally, such as the misappropriation and misuse of drugs by staff. There are more widespread issues regarding the misuse of sedatives to control challenging behaviour. There is no doubt that such issues are extremely serious and should be referred through safeguarding procedures. The issue of poor management of medication, however, is far more common. Recent research for the Department of Health shows that 7 out of 10 residents are exposed to at least one medication error per day. Mistakes are made by people across the process from the GP to the pharmacist and care home staff. In the care home, incidents occur where the resident is accidentally given the wrong medication, given too much or too little of their own medication or given it at the wrong time. Most errors do not result in significant harm but mistakes can lead to serious and, in some cases, fatal consequences. Good medical care also includes the proper use of non-oral medication, equipment and appliances including catheter care, use of oxygen etc. Only trained staff should be providing such care. - All residents should be supported to manage their own medicines unless they are assessed as lacking mental capacity to do so. - Medication should be stored in the resident's room in a locked cupboard. An assessment should be made of the risk to each resident and to others as a result of them having unsupervised access to the cupboard. - Robust systems for medication administration and record-keeping are clearly set out in the home's procedures. There is evidence that the manager checks adherence on a regular basis. - All staff responsible for administration of medication receive regular training and can demonstrate that they are competent in this area of practice. - Training includes administration procedures, knowledge of the medicines and expected effects of taking them, including side-effects and knowledge of the conditions or illnesses being treated. - Staff are aware that they should report concerns about over-medication through safeguarding procedures. - The home has an open and supportive culture. Staff discovering an error feel confident in reporting it and are not tempted to cover it up. - Staffing levels are always adequate to enable staff to adhere properly to agreed practice and protocols on the administration of medication. - The GP carries out regular reviews of all patients receiving medication and there is a focus on the reduction of medication where possible. - The home works with the GP and pharmacist to examine mistakes with a view to improvement. - Staff receive support from community health professionals in the management of health conditions. - The home has a multi-agency and person-centred approach to the management of challenging behaviour. - Where the decision to use, or not use, medication could be considered as serious medical treatment, staff should adhere to the Mental Capacity Act. If a person lacks capacity, and there are no relatives or friends to act in their best interests, staff should refer to an Independent Mental Capacity Advocate (IMCA).
HARTMAN, JOSEPH, farmer, educator, and politician; b. 16 Jan. 1821 in Whitchurch Township, Upper Canada, son of John Hartman and Mary Webb; m. 1 June 1843 Mary Ann Cosford, and they had three sons and three daughters; d. 29 Nov. 1859 in Whitchurch. Joseph Hartman’s Quaker parents emigrated from Columbia County, Pa, to Upper Canada in 1807, settling on a farm in Whitchurch Township where Joseph was born and raised. Not strong in health, he became a school teacher and in 1844, at the early age of 23, was named superintendent of education for the township. He continued to farm, however, and in 1848 was able to purchase 160 acres in Whitchurch which his father had leased shortly after arriving in Canada. Hartman entered local politics in 1847 and served on the Home District Council for three years. His political ascent began in 1850 with the reorganization of local government brought about by the Municipal Corporations Act [see Robert Baldwin]. Elected to the township council, he was chosen Whitchurch’s first reeve, an office he held until his death, and as reeve he sat on the county council. In 1853 he became warden of the United Counties of York, Ontario, and Peel. He did not stand for office in 1854 but was selected warden again in 1855, this time for the United Counties of York and Peel, and served for four subsequent terms, one of the longest wardenships in the history of the province. It was this solid base of local influence that facilitated Hartman’s move into provincial politics. In the general elections of 1851 he decisively defeated tory Hugh Scobie and Baldwin himself in the riding of York North, the old constituency of the recently resigned co-leader of the great reform coalition. Hartman’s margin of victory over James Hervey Price* in 1854 was a much narrower one, but he was returned again in 1857 with an overwhelming majority. Hartman also gained support by aligning himself with the radical Clear Grits, now developing as a potent electoral force. One of the Grits who supported Francis Hincks* and Augustin-Norbert Morin, Hartman crossed over to the opposition when their government failed to introduce legislation secularizing the clergy reserves. A New Connexion Methodist, he vigorously opposed state aid to religious bodies and sectarian school legislation. In May 1855 when Étienne-Paschal Taché’s school bill was introduced in the assembly late in the session after many Upper Canadian members had returned home from Quebec, Hartman joined forces with George Brown* in an unsuccessful attempt to recommit the bill for six months. The Taché bill, which allowed any 10 Roman Catholic freeholders in Upper Canada to elect trustees to manage a separate school in their district, was passed by Lower Canadian votes, with most of the westerners still present voting against it. That summer Hartman called for dissolution of the union. He was eventually won over to Brown’s political solution, representation by population, and in 1857 participated in the Toronto Reform Convention, further allying himself with Brown, the emerging leader of a new reform party. Above all else, Hartman reflected the concerns of his constituency; he addressed temperance meetings, advocated retrenchment, and proposed legislation on a number of minor municipal reforms. Himself a farmer representing a predominantly agricultural district, he was involved in various unsuccessful efforts to improve transportation in his riding. In 1855 he presented a bill to incorporate the Port Perry and Whitchurch Junction Railway Company, of which he was a shareholder, and in 1856 he helped found the Toronto and Georgian Bay Canal Company. A year later he was appointed chairman of a parliamentary committee to study the canal’s feasibility and the possibility of government aid. Perhaps not surprisingly, Hartman’s committee, which consisted of two fellow shareholders, Angus Morrison* and John William Gamble*, and four others through whose ridings the proposed canal would run, favoured the plan. Their involvement, which by later standards would constitute a conflict of interest, is fairly typical of situations that could easily arise in a developing Upper Canada at mid century. Another aspect of Hartman’s life which typifies the era was of a more tragic nature. His family had a long history of consumption or tuberculosis, for which there was then no cure. Joseph contracted the disease years before his death and was forced to wage a long debilitating struggle against its effects before finally succumbing at age 38. AO, MS 451, York County, King and Whitchurch township cemeteries, Aurora cemetery record; RG 8, ser.I-6-A, 11: 122; RG 22, ser.305, Joseph Hartman; ser.94, 8–9. PAC, RG 1, L3, 232: H14/186; 554: 12. York North Land Registry Office (Newmarket, Ont.), Deeds, Whitchurch Township, 3, nos.33135–36 (mfm. at AO, GS 6424). Can., Prov. of, Legislative Assembly, App. to the journals, 1857, app.61; Journals, 1857: 26, 138, 190; Statutes, 1854–55, c.195; 1856, c.118. Doc. hist. of education in U.C. (Hodgins), vols.11–13. Jaradiah, the scribe [Joshua Winn], Chronicles of the north riding of York, giving a brief historical account of the late parliamentary contest (Newmarket, 1854). The legislation and history of separate schools in Upper Canada: from 1841, until the close of the Reverend Doctor Ryerson’s administration of the Education Department of Ontario in 1876: including various private papers and documents on the subject, ed. J. G. Hodgins (Toronto, 1897), 69, 94–95, 110. Examiner (Toronto), November–December 1851, July 1854. Globe, 23 July 1855; 30 Nov., 2, 3 Dec. 1859. New Era (Newmarket), 1852–59. North American (Toronto), 4 Nov. 1851. North York Sentinel (Newmarket), 1856. Commemorative biographical record of the county of York, Ontario . . . (Toronto, 1907). History of Toronto and county of York, Ontario . . . (2v., Toronto, 1885), 2: 438, 454. J. M. S. Careless, Brown of “The Globe” (2v., Toronto, 1959–63; repr. 1972). Historical sketch of Whitchurch Township: centennial celebration of municipal government, 1850–1950 ([Stouffville, Ont., 1950]). James Johnston, Aurora: its early beginnings (Aurora, Ont., 1963). C. B. Sissons, Egerton Ryerson, his life and letters (2v., Toronto, 1937–47). Eric Jarvis, “The Georgian Bay Ship Canal; a study of the second Canadian canal age, 1850–1915,” OH, 69 (1977): 125–47.
Maypop (Passiflora incarnata) is one of six passionflower vines native to Florida. Passionflower vines are the larval host plant for our Florida state butterfly, the zebra longwing (Heliconius charithonia), the julia (Dryas julia), and the gulf fritillary (Agraulis vanillae). Visit Bob Montanaro’s blog for a fabulous photo of gulf fritillary butterflies checking out maypop and for beautiful photos of Bok Tower Garden. Pictured below are Judy Gersony, Bob Bruce, and Bob Montanaro checking out a maypop patch at Bok Tower. This drought-tolerant vine with divinely beautiful flowers can be aggressive in a home landscape due to its propensity to spread by suckers and climb by tendrils but is well-behaved in the hammock shade at the Oslo Riverfront Conservation Area. Extrafloral nectaries – glands that exude sugar on vegetative parts of the plant – are found on the leaf stems and on the bud and flower bracts of this plant, which an ant is checking out … Why would a plant have extrafloral nectaries? Ants attracted to the extrafloral nectaries will eat the butterfly eggs that turn into the caterpillars that graze upon the plant. Even when the plant is not flowering, it has a way to attract and reward its ant ‘protectors’. The intimate, complex relationships between native plants, insects, and animals are many. Maypop is pollinated by bumblebees, carpenter bees, and other insects. Wildlife esteem and spread the passionfruits.
The early history of the Bay Area is defined by expansion and rapid economic growth in the late 1800’s. This phenomenon can only be sustained by availability of vast quantities of resources, lumber for building. With growth came a large populace, who required food and water. Early on, the county identified the fact that their wealth resides within these resources and that they would have to protect those resources. The Board of Supervisors recognized this and in 1887 they appointed a Fire Commission, and in 1890 they organized a Volunteer Fire Company. In 1918 the Fire Commission asked the Redwood City Fire Department to make a Rural Fire Plan, but they lacked funding to do so. In 1924 under the Weeks Law, the U.S. Forest Service formed District 10 which included San Mateo, Santa Clara and Santa Cruz Counties providing $1,500 of funding for three Patrolmen and tool caches. Before County Fire was known by that name, it was the County Forest Service. The connection between firefighting and forestry in California is inexorably linked. The San Mateo County Fire Department inception followed a series of large devastating fires in the Butano and Pescadero Creek Drainages in the fall of 1921. At the time of the first fire, the Fire Chief/Fire Warden was Bert Werder. He served from 1921-1953, when his son Ernie took his place as Chief of the County Forest Service. Due largely to his influence and political connections, the Department grew rapidly and by 1936 had fire stations at La Honda Summit (Skylonda), Saratoga Gap (Saratoga Summit), Pescadero, and Montara, Rockaway Beach, and Gazos (Sandy Point). The Redwood City station was moved from Bert Werder’s house on Brewster Street to the old Juvenile Hall in Redwood City in 1936. In 1962, the county began contracting with the California Division of Forestry. San Mateo County Fire was placed under the authority of the Santa Cruz Ranger Unit until 1970 when the San Mateo – Santa Cruz Unit was established. During this period the department evolved from primarily a “wildland” organization (California Department of Forestry) to the 3rd largest all- risk fire department in the United States as we know it today (CAL FIRE).
Diverticulosis and Diverticular Disease: What to do outside the hospital. By Artemis Morris ND Diverticulosis is a condition of bulging pockets of potential inflammation and infection. Diverticulitis may develop in the large intestine (colon), and is characterized by severe abdominal pain and fever. These pockets, or diverticula, are common in the Western world but are rare in areas of Asia and Africa that are consuming a traditional high-fiber diet. 74 % of people over 80 years old have diverticular disease and the risk of developing these pockets increases with age, especially after 40 years old.1 You may have diverticulosis and not even know it since the symptoms can be mild (abdominal pain, diarrhea, constipation, mild bleeding) unless infection occurs. Infection with diverticulosis usually requires hospitalization and can present as severe abdominal pain. Fortunately, acute diverticulitis doesn’t need to reoccur, especially when changes in diet and supplementation are implemented along with conventional care. Outpatient treatment is safe and effective for approximately 90% of patients with uncomplicated diverticulitis and allows important costs saving to health systems without a negative influence on quality of life for patients with uncomplicated diverticulitis, and reduces health care costs by more than 60%.6 The current standard of care in the US for acute diverticulitis is antibiotics and a low fiber/residue diet with a high fiber diet recommended later for prevention. Some recent studies have brought standard of care with antibiotics under question, such as, the study by Lanas et al. (2013) in Spain. Lanas et al.'s epidemiological study of 228 patients who received the antibiotic riflaximin with fiber or fiber alone, found that there was a 20% recurrence when receiving antibiotics and fiber and only a 10% recurrence when receiving fiber alone.2 Surgery may also not be the best option for patients. Tursi's (2012) study showed that 25% of patients who had elective surgery for diverticulitis experienced persistent abdominal symptoms.5 The biggest risk factors for developing diverticular disease are a low fiber diet and history of constipation. Chronic constipation can increase the pressure in pockets of the colon until they bulge, causing diverticuli, which is a weakening and herniation of the colon wall. Addressing chronic constipation early on with diet changes and probiotics may also be preventative. The contributing factors to developing diverticular disease include diet, colonic wall structure, intestinal motility and possible genetic predisposition.2 A Medline and Cochrane Database review of studies on diverticulitis between January 1, 2000 and March 31, 2013 found that diverticulitis presents with altered gut motility, increased luminal pressure, and a disordered colonic microenvironment (microbiome). They concluded that studies demonstrate a lesser role for aggressive antibiotic or surgical intervention for chronic or recurrent diverticulitis than was previously thought necessary.3 So what do you do if antibiotics and surgery are not warranted? The role of probiotics and fiber along with dietary changes may be your best choice for treatment. 25-30 grams a day of fiber is recommended by the ADA even though more clinical studies are still needed for diverticular disease. Fibers that are incompletely or slowly fermented by the microflora in the large intestine are best for treating constipation and preventing the development of diverticulosis and diverticulitis. The ADA asserts that “a diet adequate in fiber-containing foods is also usually rich in micronutrients and nonnutritive ingredients that have additional health benefits and a fiber-rich diet is associated with a lower risk of colon cancer.”9 A review article found that insoluble fiber, especially the cellulose in fruits and vegetables, may be especially important in preventing diverticulosis. The ADA's Manual of Clinical Dietetics states, “Fiber can lower postprandial intraluminal pressure, and although there is no evidence that decreasing the pressure will prevent diverticulitis, it is a rational therapy until a definitive answer is found”. 10 Besides diet, the bacterial balance in the colon plays an essential role in the development of diverticulitis and diverticular disease. Probiotics, which are beneficial bacteria found in highest concentrations in the colon, can protect the gastrointestinal wall against infection, help promote normal stool development, and act a protective barrier to pathogenic bacteria. Tursi (2012) found that “probiotics inhibit pathogen adherence, improve mucosal defense by enhancing the integrity of tight junctions, decrease bacterial translocation, stimulate immunoglobulin A secretion in Peyer patches, enhance immune system activity by controlling the balance of pro and anti-inflammatory cytokines, interfere with pathogen metabolism, and have the ability to restore balance to enteric flora, primarily by decreasing the number of pathogenic gram-negative bacteria.”5 A double-blind placebo controlled trial of 210 patients receiving 10 days of treatment for 12 months found that a combination of mesalazine plus 24 billion active Lactobacillus case DG (0% reoccurence) was more effective than mesalazine alone (14% reoccurence) at preventing reappearance of abdominal pain for at least 24 hours. Furthermore, patients taking mesalazine alone has a similar results to patients taking the probiotic alone (13.7% vs 14.% respectively.)4 A study by Giaccari et al. (1993) using Lactobacillus sp. following rifaximin in 79 patients with colonic stenosis post-diverticulitis, found that most remained symptom-free for a period of one year. 7 Another study found that a combination of balsalazide and a broad-spectrum probiotic called VSL#3 was better than VSL#3 alone in preventing recurrence of diverticulitis, even though they were not statistical significance (73.33% versus 60%, P,0.1).8 The use of polybactertial lysate suspension has also shown promise in clinical trial of diverticulitis. Beta Glucan High Potency Synbiotic is one of my favorite products to use for diverticular disease because it is easy-to-use, it combines the best of both worlds in terms of prevention and management of diverticular disease, and is formulated with soluble and insoluble fiber prebiotics and probiotics. It contains a broad spectrum probiotic, prebiotics, and fiber: 33 billion cfu/tbl of certified strains of pedigreed probiotic with Therapeutic Foods in a synbiotic formula of L. acidophilus, B. longum, L. rhamnosus, L. plantarum, S. thermophilus and 5 grams of patented oat bran (75%) with high levels of beta glucan (10%), organic whole red beet root (15%) and organic inulin derived from chicory fiber (10%). A patented heat shearing technology is used to liberate the soluble beta glucan fiber, while disabling phytate’s ability to block the absorption of minerals. Advanced freeze-drying technology is used to dry the remaining components. Inulin stimulates the production of Bifidobacterium species and is considered a soluble prebiotic fiber, which by definition, resist digestion in the human small intestine and reaches the colon where they are fermented by the gut microflora (preferentially consumed by the Bifido and Lactobacillus genuses. As was stated previously, both probiotics and soluble fibers such as inulin have been found to be beneficial in diverticular disease. The choice of beta-glucan fiber, derived from oats, has immunomodulating properties which may aid in further supporting a fortress of biofilm health in the gastrointestinal system. Beta-glucan, similar to the slippery oats from which it is derived, may act as a demulcent to the digestive tract, which can help to imbed the probiotics in the biofilm and build back the disrupted biofilm lining of the digestive tract that is essential for optimal gastrointestinal health. In addition to the safety and scientific support for the use of probiotics and fiber in diverticular disease, the most important reason why I have confidence in using Beta Gluten High Potency Synbiotic for my patients is the clinical benefit I have seen in my patients over time. I have collected numerous case studies finding Beta-Glucan to be safe and effective in my patients with diverticular disease and would like to see more clinical studies on the subject to test my findings. Most people also find the taste slightly sweet and pleasant and enjoy the convenience of adding 2 tbs of powder to water and drinking it before bed, rather than needing to swallow capsules. The only types of patients which I am cautious in using Beta-Glucan are those with Celiac Disease since the beta glucans are derived from oats, which has negligible amounts of gluten (0.02%), but may sometimes find it to be incompatible due to cross-reactivity. While every patients' needs should be individualized, probiotics, prebiotics, and fiber is found to support a healthy biofilm, and in combination with an anti-inflammatory diet are essential components in restoring health and digestive function. The treatment will also relieve the intense pain and unpredictability that is a source of stress in patients with diverticular disease, and very importantly, will help to prevent reoccurrence of acute symptoms. Inflammation in diverticulitis can be detected by testing fecal calprotectin. Future studies aimed at testing products, such as Beta Glucan High Potency Synbiotic, that combine probiotics, prebiotics, and fiber may be a novel and safe approach to addressing diverticular disease in the future. 1. Diverticulitis Diet.http://www.webmd.com/digestive-disorders/diverticulitis-diet. Reviewed by Jennifer Robinson, MD on January 24, 2015. Accessed on April 30th, 2015. 2. Lanas A, Ponce J, Bignamini A, Mearin F. Rifaximin plus fiber supplementation versus fiber supplementation alone to prevent diverticulitis recurrence: a proofof-concept study. Digestive and Liver Disease. 2013;45:103–8. 3. Arden M. Morris, Scott E. Regenbogen, Karin M. Hardiman, Samantha Hendren . Sigmoid Diverticulitis: A Systematic Review. JAMA. 2014 ;311(3): 287-297, <http://ejournals.ebsco.com/direct.asp?ArticleID=49598939BED8B820649B> 4. Tursi A, Brandimarte G, Elisei W, Picchio M, Forti G, Pianese G, et. al. Randomised clinical trial: mesalazine and/or probiotics in maintaining remission of symptomatic uncomplicated diverticular disease – a double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled study. Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics. 2013;38(7):741-751. 5. Tursi, A. Advances in the management of colonic diverticulitis. CMAJ. 2012, 184(13):1470-1476. 6. Tursi, A. Efficacy, safety, and applicability of outpatient treatment for diverticulitis. Drug. Healthcare and Patient Safety. 2014; 6:29–36. 7. Giaccari S, Tronci S, Falconieri M, Ferrieri A. Long-term treatment with rifaximin and lactobacilli in post-diverticulitic stenoses of the colon. Eur Rev Med Pharmacol Sci. 1993;15(1):29–34 8. Tursi A, Brandimarte G, Giorgetti GM, Elisei W, Aiello F. Balsalazide and/or high-potency probiotic mixture (VSL#3) in maintaining remission after attack of acute, uncomplicated diverticulitis of the colon. Int J Colorectal Dis. 2007;22(9):1103–1108. 9. Position of the American Dietetic Association: Health Implications of Dietary Fiber Judith A Marlett, PhD, RDa, Michael I McBurney, PhDb, Joanne L Slavin, PhD, RDc. Journal of the American Dietetic Association. 2002; 102 (7): 993–1000. 10. Van Duny MA, Pivonka E. Overview of the health benefits of fruit and vegetable consumption for the dietetics professional: Selected literature. J Am Med Assoc. 2000; 100: 1511-1521. Disclosures: Dr. Artemis Morris is on the advisory board for Bioimmersion, but is not receiving any monetary gain for writing this article. I hope you enjoyed and learned from Dr. Morris' article! Suggested use of the Beta Glucan High Potency Synbiotic: two tablespoons in a tall glass of water. Mix and drink. We have also found out from other doctors that adding the Phyto Power and/or the Blueberry Extract helps reduce inflammation in the gut. For extra fiber, the Energy Sustain is excellent! Take one heaping tablespoon in water. You may add it also to the Beta Glucan mix. The Energy Sustain is smooth to drink (like the Beta Glucan) and is gluten free. The Last Quiz Answer: Humpback whales are known for their magical songs and their magnificent breaching into the blue skies of Hawaii. It is most likely that humpbacks sing to communicate with others and to attract potential mates. Could they also be showing off to their companions on how high they can fly. These amazing creatures feed on tiny krill, plankton and small fish. They migrate annually from summer feeding grounds near the poles to warmer winter breeding waters closer to the Equator. It a good time for us all to be in Hawaii. Females nurse their calves for almost a year, and calves do not stop growing until they are ten years old. They can grow to 62 feet long and weight up to 40 tons. It is truly shocking, the world we are creating for ourselves. How much time do we truly have left? Check this out: Holding your breath in India
Save your motor, and bank account. Detonation is the not so silent killer of rod bearings, pistons, connecting rods, main bearings, crankshafts pretty much anything in its way. Ever since the invention of the internal combustion engine detonation has loomed over engine builders, engineers, and speed demons awaiting its call to smash your dreams to tiny pieces and along with it your bank account. The good thing is detonation, aka "engine knock" or just "knock", can be avoided with an attention to detail and driver awareness. Modern engine management can even be tuned to aggressively identify and resolve detonation without the driver even being aware of its presence. Detonation and knock are the same thing. "Detonation" is the term used in chemistry to describe the combustion behavior, and "knock" is the older and more-commonly used word in the automotive industry. Either is OK to use, and commonly found in ASE materials. Detonation is when the air : fuel mixture burns at an extremely fast rate due to chamber conditions resulting in multiple flame fronts. Detonation results in a sharp rise in cylinder pressure and temperature far in excess of normal combustion. Detonation can vary in intensity from light, moderate, to severe depending on several factors. Here's a more technical definition: Detonation occurs after an ignition source, either pre-ignition or the spark plug firing, creates a primary flame front whos acoustic shock wave and thermal gradient kick off auto-ignition in the end-gas (remaining unburnt mixture). This auto-ignition energizes the shock wave further resulting in an exponentially accelerating burn rate. The rate of the primary burn and propagation of the detonation is relative to the homogeneity of the mixture and the sensitivity of the fuel. Pre-Ignition and Detonation are two different things. Pre-ignition is not detonation. They are two different things, but often occur together. Pre-ignition is when the mixture is ignited before the spark plug fires. While pre-ignition is often the cause or result of detonation, it can occur by itself in rare circumstances. This is the edge of the burning mixture. The spark plug fires and the flame radiates outward towards the walls of the cylinder. The leading edge is the flame front. This is the spent, consumed, burnt air:fuel mixture. This is a region of the mixture that is more volatile and nearest to auto-ignition. It can be due to a heated part of the piston or valve, or lesser octane due to fuel quality or oil vapor, or perhaps even both. In a perfect world the fuel and air molecules would be evenly distributed in a nice symmetrical pattern throughout the combustion chamber and kept at the same pressure and temperature. This would be a homogeneous mixture. The measure of how close the mixture is to this ideal situation is known as homogeneity. TDC / BDC Top dead center and bottom dead center. These both relate to the position of the piston in the cylinder. See the below image for more clarity. The start of the detonation cycle begins with a non-detonation firing event. The spark plug creates a spark at the moment the ECU signals, or the mechanical distributor causes, the ignition to fire. This moment occurs at a calculated or mechanically set point when the piston is still compressing the air : fuel mixture (on the upward stroke). The spark plug will fire anywhere from 40° to 5° before the piston reaches Top Dead Center, TDC. Since this even is before the piston reaches the top of its compression stroke, its more specifically known as BTDC (Before TDC). The spark kernal ignites the air : fuel mixture and thus begins the combustion event. The ignition creates the flame front which propagates at a nominal rate outwards. This ideally burns the entirety of the mixture and creates a rapid, but controlled, increase in chamber pressure as the piston is on its downward power stroke. This occurs between the ignition moment and about 30° ATDC (After TDC). Ideally, you want peak cylinder pressure to occur between 14 18° ATDC to maximize the mechanical leverage of the rod and crank positions. Prior to the piston reaching the bottom of its stroke, bottom dead center (BDC), the exhaust valves will begin to open. The residual pressure in the chamber is high which creates a strong blow-down in the exhaust once the valves reach significant lift (0.050 or 2mm). This allows the chamber to decompress before the upward exhausting stroke, reducing pumping losses. By allowing the exhaust gas to exit over a longer moment of time, the exhaust port can also be smaller in cross sectional size, improving engine performance at lower throttle / lower flow moments. Once the piston begins its upward stroke, the combined residual pressure and the pressure generated from the decreasing cylinder volume work to expel the majority of the exhaust gasses. Any left over exhaust gas creates dilution in the incoming mixture. This can be good or bad depending on you goal. Bad for power, but good for fuel economy and emissions since it displaces incoming fuel, acts as a defacto displacement reduction, and reduces NOx emissions by reducing the combustion temps; hence the purpose of modern EGR systems. Without getting too far into it, bigger cams create valve overlap which allows the intake pulse to blow down the chamber through the exhaust. It does this by actuating the intake valves before the exhaust valves are closed. As you can imagine, timing and valve position are important. At this point the combustion chamber has created heated regions of the piston crown, valve, or chamber that will contribute to the next cycles detonation. These are also known as hot spots. A small fraction before the piston reaches TDC the intake valves begin to open. The incoming air : fuel mixture blows down into the chamber as the piston generates vacuum on its downward intake stroke. Once the piston reaches BDC it then begins its return; the compression stroke of the drawn mixture. The hot spots in the chamber have begun to warm the incoming air : fuel mixture. During the compression stroke the piston travels upwards while the cylinder is still filling. The intake valves will begin to close a few degrees past BDC to allow complete cylinder filling. As the cylinder volume begins to decrease the air : fuel mixture is compressed together. This compression causes the molecules to rub against each other, which generates heat. The heat and pressure continue to build as the piston compresses the mixture. This pushes the mixture closer and closer to its auto-ignition point. This causes a highly accelerated burn rate which ramps up cylinder pressure and temperature even further, which in turn causes an even faster burn rate. The burn rate moves further and further away from controlled and begins to fall into the explosion category; hence detonation. To further the carnage the flame fronts slam into each other and cause a sharp, instant rise in cylinder pressure. This shock wave then travels through the piston, wrist pin, connecting rod, and attempts to shove the connecting rod into the bearing surface. The only thing preventing engine failure is about 0.002 of oil film at the rod bearing. Even if this dampens the blow, the force is transmitted to the crankshaft, which creates a sharp torsional and compressive load. This continues as the waves continuously bounce around the cylinder. This force is transmitted through the entire engine and the harmonic generated is what you hear as knock or ping. The frequency generated is a result of the engine bore and many other measures, but typically is around the 6400Hz range. Its similar in mechanism to the sound generated by an aluminum baseball bat when it makes contact. Its also what the knock sensor is actively listening for to determine the engine is knocking. When the knock sensor, a piezoelectric sensor, senses the harmonic (i.e. 6400Hz) it signals the ECU to take action. This action is almost always to reduce ignition timing. Reducing the timing cools the combustion somewhat and gives less time for detonation to occur. If the knock sensor continues to sense knock it will continue to reduce timing further and at a faster rate. This is because detonation needs to be over-corrected due to the added heat causing further and more significant detonation events, even pre-ignition. It may require 3 – 7° of ignition timing correction to tame severe detonation. Beyond moderate and heavy knock you get into what is known as superknock. When you have superknock it’s questionable if it even matters to reduce timing. Generally you’ve managed to reduce compression via piston ventilation or your connecting rod wants to leave the crankcase. There are several causes of detonation and each can be remedied multiple ways. Lets break down the individual sources of detonation. It’s important to note that each can be additive or part of the cause. There is no hard and fast rule for it. A very common cause of detonation is running too much ignition advance. This causes long burn times during critical moments where charge density is highest and the burn rate is at its peak. Aggressive timing advance increases pressure and heat while the mixture is being compressed. This can cause the remaining mixture to detonate. While less likely to occur compared to overly advanced ignition timing, running severe amounts of ignition retard provides a long window for hot spots in the chamber to pre-ignite the mixture and cause two asymmetric flame fronts, often resulting in detonation. This is a bit of a silent killer. Most people associate low RPM with being easy on the motor and in most cases they are right, but low RPM also equates to longer windows of time for detonation to occur. The faster the piston travels, the quicker you get away from the high compression moment and the less time the mixture is subjected to heating from hot sources in the engine. In tuning, this is most of the reason why you need to slowly add back ignition advance as the engine RPM rise. Adding high load (or high boost pressure / WOT) greatly increases the chance and severity of detonation. This is why nearly all OEMs recommend avoiding heavy acceleration in the lower half of the RPM range. Most people express compression ratios using the static compression ratio generated by the reduction in total cylinder volume (head volume + deck height volume + swept volume) from BDC to TDC. However, the dynamic compression ratio is more complex, but is a better representation of the actual compression ratio. Dynamic compression ratio uses the rod length, stroke, and rod angle, known as the rod to stroke ratio, or rod ratio for short, to determine the physical location of the piston when the intake valve closes. This begins the real measure of the compression ratio. As an example, a stock engine with a 10.5:1 static compression ratio may have a dynamic compression ratio of 8.0:1, but adding a higher duration camshaft can lower this dynamic compression ratio to around 7.7:1. This is why big camshafts necessitate higher static compression ratios, to help offset the original loss. Anything that alters the intake valve timing will also change the dynamic compression ratio. This includes secondary cam lobe profiles like those used on Honda’s VTEC as well as cam phasing technologies like BMW’s VANOS and Subaru’s AVCS. It’s important to adjust ignition timing to meet the needs of advancing or retarding the intake valve’s timing. Here’s the rule for cam phasing: Intake Cam Advance – This will close the intake valve sooner in the compression stroke. Advancing the intake cam will raise the dynamic compression ratio. This means you need to run slightly less ignition timing. Intake Cam Retard – This will close the intake valve later in the compression stroke. Retarding the intake camshaft will lower the dynamic compression ratio. This means you need to slightly increase the ignition timing. The 30° of intake advance range on the 08+ Subaru EJ257 engine will increase the dynamic compression ratio 1.33:1 at full advance. One thing to keep in mind is that compression ratio does not linearly increase pressure and temperature. As the graph below will show, there is an increasing rate of both pressure and temperature rise as the dynamic compression ratio increases. Running a considerably thicker headgasket opens up the area between the piston crown and pads on the combustion chamber, known as the quench area. The quench area is collaborative region between the cylinder head’s chamber design and piston crown. It relies on the attached boundary layer of molecules on both surfaces to displace virtually all of the air : fuel mixture inwards. This reduces chamber volume, which increases thermal efficiency. The quench effect also reduces the likelihood of detonation by creating large amounts of turbulent flow in the mixture, reducing available areas for hot spots, and reducing the distance the flame front needs to cover (which requires less timing advance). Typical quench spacing is about 0.040 or 1mm. In most engines, the coolant passes first through the block and then to the cylinder heads. This reduces the available thermal capacity and cooling ability of the fluid at the combustion chamber and exhaust ports. Which in turn raises the temperature of the combustion chamber, leading to greater mixture heating and the reduction in detonation threshold. During sustained, high load situations the coolant can begin to boil within the cylinder head(s). While a small amount of nucleate boiling is beneficial to cooling, there is a point where the vapor barrier builds and greatly reduces the cooling ability of the coolant. This will create a localized hot spot and most assuredly will cause detonation and/or pre-ignition. It goes without saying that a bad tune is going to cause problems for you and the engine. This is why you should always go with a tuner that has a wealth of knowledge and experience. While every engine operates within the realm of physical law, it is beneficial to have specific knowledge about the ECU parameters, how the ECU handles and reacts to those parameters, locations of key sensors, and all of the little quirks and issues of the vehicle being tuned. Octane rating is a measure of a fuel’s detonation threshold relative to reference fuels: n-heptane and iso-octane. The lower the octane rating, the more likely the fuel is to detonate. Alcohol based fuels like E85 can have misleading fuel octane ratings depending on the source or methods. E85 is 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline, sometimes referred to as "gasahol." Ethanol and methanol have a major benefit over gasoline: charge cooling. Ethanol and methanol, upon injection, will greatly reduce the temperature of the incoming air. Thus, the performance of ethanol in a limited, lab-based octane test is going to be understated, particularly for high-boost engines. Octane numbering is not a perfect measure. In fact, two 100-octane fuels can have considerably different detonation limits. Different blends and chemical compositions can reduce detonation in some engine setups. The fuel at gas stations is stored in an underground tank. These tanks are typically sealed from the elements by covers, but these covers can be damaged, worn, or improperly sealed which allows water and runoff to enter the tank. Alcohol’s affinity for water causes it to separate from the gasoline, which reduces the overall octane rating of the fuel. The water can also interact with the gasoline and further cause complications. The result is lower than expected performance and a high amount of detonation (knock). Another cause of “bad gas” is due to either mistakes or deception within the supply chain. Refineries make mistakes that can cause entire batches of fuel to be contaminated. Fuel wholesalers and suppliers can make errors when filling the tanks, inadvertently putting a lower octane fuel into the higher-octane tank. Store-owners can also engage in deceptive tactics such as diluting high-octane fuel with low-octane fuel to improve profit margins on pump sales. Fortunately, these incidents are fairly rare. An issue particularly troublesome on high RPM and high boost motors is aerated oil vapor being blown back through the intake track via the positive crankcase ventilation, PCV, system. The oil has a significantly lower auto-ignition temperature and will ignite early causing detonation in sufficient volumes. The oil comes from the high-pressure power stroke bleeding gas past the compression rings (rings #1 – 2) and down into the crankcase. The crankshaft is spinning at a high rate of speed, which creates a very turbulent environment of air and fine oil droplets known as “windage.” These droplets coat the cylinder walls and help to cool the engine and lubricate the pistons, but they also get blown down through the PCV. On modern vehicles, the PCV is routed back to the intake tube where the blow-by vapors are consumed by the engine. Typically this is not an issue, but in sufficient volumes it can be. This is why air : oil separators are installed on performance engines which are particularly prone to these issues. Ironically, there are rumors that the Mercedes AMG F1 team used octane-boosting agents in the motor oil to use it as a fuel, and possibly as a power adder. When an engine is spark advance limited (due to detonation), it's common to enrichen the fuel mixture beyond it's ideal ratio to reduce detonation via cooling and sub-optimal mixture quality. For example, if an engine makes peak output at 12:1 but occassionally knocks, it can be tuned to 11.8:1 or 11.6:1. This will have a smaller affect on the power output than reducing the ignition timing. AFRs are also relative to their calibrated fuel. This is why Lambda is a popular measure in engine tuning. Over the decades combustion chambers have evolved from large, slow burning designs like the publically popular “HEMI” chamber to smaller, faster-burning, pent-roof designs. This has greatly improved detonation resistance and allowed for much higher compression ratios in modern engines along with improved fuel economy. A slow burning chamber requires significant amounts of timing advance. Where a modern engine may use 20 – 25° BTDC an older chamber may use 40 – 45° BTDC. This gives significantly more time for detonation to occur. Another consideration for older cars and trucks are iron cylinder heads. Ductile iron is incredibly resilient, especially with heat, but it also doesnt conduct heat anywhere near as fast as aluminum. The result is less cooling of the combustion chamber and a greater chance for knock to develop with high amounts of continuous load or spark advance. Its common for iron headed motors to run a degree or two less timing. Spark plugs are rated in their ability to shed / resist heating from the combustion process. This rating is known as a heat range. Colder Heat Range plugs have less exposed area, thus they absorb less heat from the chamber and remain cooler. They will reduce detonation, but too cold of a plug can cause other issues like misfiring, lower performance, and fouling. Hotter Heat Range plugs have more exposed area, thus they absorb more heat energy and run warmer. They will increase the chance of detonation, but a sufficiently hot plug is needed to maintain a healthy combustion cycle. Each plug manufacturer has their own heat range scale. NGK for example offers a BKR5E plug which has a heat range of 5. An NGK BKR6E plug is one step colder with a heat range of 6. The BKR5E is standard on the naturally aspirated 140 HP Nissan SR20DE engine, but the BKR6E is the standard plug for the turbocharged 205 HP Nissan SR20DET engine. The higher the temperature the more likely detonation is to occur. For naturally aspirated engines the major source for hot air is the engine bay. Running an open element intake under the hood ensures you will be feeding heated air to the engine. Even with a basic air box or divider the IATs will climb. For supercharged and turbocharged engines the issue is much more dynamic. The air entering the air filter might be 100° F on a spring day, but after being compressed that temperature can exceed 400° F at high boost pressures. Fortunately, intercooling is far more popular and prevalent. An intercooler can shed off a large portion of that heat and get the air back down around 120 - 130° F, but it eventually will begin to warm up and lose efficiency. Known as heat soak, the amount of heat energy being pumped into the intercooler is greater than the amount it can shed to the air or water passing through its core. Eventually the boost temperatures will rise. You could see 130° F turn into 230° F rather quickly with some stock intercoolers. This is when detonation is more likely to occur. This is what happens when you are driving a car hard or "beating on it." The piston, chamber, coolant, oil, and intake air will begin to warm up the longer you drive the car hard. This makes detonation more likely, and in some instances, almost guaranteed. Race cars and high end OEM sports cars go to great lengths to reduce thermal creep and even tune to accomodate it. Unfortunately most street cars don't have adequate protections against thermal creep and as a result, can suffer engine failure if driven long enough. Follow these tips for reducing knock. One of the easiest ways to avoid detonation is to retard the ignition timing. This is what the ECU does when the knock sensor senses detonation. If you are driving a car with a 7000 RPM rev limit, avoid flooring it anywhere below about 3200 RPM. Downshift and use the powerband. Lugging the engine around at low RPM isn’t preserving your engine. If you can tune the engine’s cam phasing, then you will want to either reduce timing, enrichen the mixture, or close the intake valve a bit later. If you can’t, then just be careful about how much throttle you give it while the intake cam phasing is advanced. Typically this shouldn’t be a problem unless you’ve modified something, and at that point, you really should be getting a tune. This is a commonly overlooked or misunderstood area of engine tuning with amateurs. That's why it's important to go with an experienced and well-informed tuner. Here are some tips while building your motor: Subaru WRXs and STis have a relatively high piston failure rate due, in part, to the complexity and design of the power unit and the driving habits of their owners. Here’s an analysis of certain driving conditions that present an ideal foundation for detonation. Learn more about turbo Subaru ringland failure in the EJ25 Stuck in Traffic + Sudden Acceleration You’ve been stuck in stop and go traffic for 30 minutes, but suddenly you reach your exit and you go for it. You drop the hammer in 2nd gear and the EJ257 goes to work. Problem is … the 180° F air your turbo is ingesting is coming out of the turbo at over 400° F. That hot air is being fed to a heat-soaked, top-mounted intercooler (TMIC), which hasn’t had time to cool after being cooked under the hood. The result is feeding your engine 350° F air at 15 PSI of boost pressure. Add in additional compression from the AVCS cam phasing and you can see just how easy it is to grenade those brittle hypereutectic pistons. High Speed Runs You’re out on a cool night and you run into a Mustang that wants a piece of you. You start off in 2nd gear and the race is on. Third gear goes by and then 4th gear, it’s neck and neck and you go into 5th gear. After being heated from the quick sprint through 2nd – 4th gears the continuous load during 5th gear will add more and more heat to the system. At this point, the tune comes into play. Ignition timing needs to decay the longer the car stays into boost to accommodate the rising temperatures from the intercooler heat soaking and the combustion chamber rising in temperature. Many OEMs work this into their algorithmic tuning parameter(s), as does Subaru. As the coolant temperatures rise the ECU will begin to reduce timing. Unfortunately the Subaru system does not use a post intercooler temperature sensor and in most cases light detonation will begin to occur. If you stay in the throttle the car will be noticeably heat-soaked and feel flat as well. Ideally, the fuel mixture should be enriched to further reduce chamber heating. Aftermarket tuners can even trim individual cylinders and adjust timing / fueling depending on gear. It’s common for 5th and 6th gears to have reduced total ignition timing. On modified cars, depending on the mods, the car can quickly develop heavy knock and cause ring land failure. Certain mods like radiators, intercoolers, oil coolers, etc. will help prevent detonation in this case. Be mindful of how much heat you’re asking the engine to work with. After you’ve run it hard it’s a good idea to cruise a bit at speed to let the built-up heat escape via the heat exchangers. An intercooler can shed heat very quickly, in a matter of seconds at highway speeds, but the oil and coolant both may need a few minutes to settle back. Don’t vent the breathers to the open air. You want to maintain vacuum on the crankcase and heads as this improves ring seal, power, and efficiency. Venting oil vapor under the hood is also just a bad idea. Instead, plumb an effective air : oil separator canister inline to strip the oil vapor out of the breather gasses and run the cleaned air back into the intake tract. There are other methods for pulling vacuum on the crankcase such as going to a multi-stage dry-sump, vacuum pumps, or plumbing the PCV system to a shallow angle feed in the exhaust and relying on the Bernoulli effect to pull vacuum. These are meant for specific applications and should be installed by experienced builders. Synthetic PAO oils found in Group IV have about 10% higher auto-ignition temperatures than conventional oils. The ester based Group V stock oils have higher auto-ignition temperatures compared to synthetic oils, which offers slightly more safety against oil vapor induced detonation and pre-ignition. Even High Grade Oil can Reduce Knock! In US Government backed testing ester Group V oil allowed for an additional 1.5 of timing advance before knock developed compared to 3 other PAO Group IV oils. High performance oils also help to reduce friction and cool key components in the engine. In the event of detonation, its absolutely vital that the motor oil be capable of doing all that it can to absorb the blow. This involves proper flow and a stable profile to maintain pressure at all temperature ranges, especially elevated ones. The oil film is all that stands between detonation and bearing failure. I cannot stress this enough. A good tuner will not only get more power out of a setup, but they will do so safely. Radiators, oil coolers, and intercoolers are all absolutely vital to keeping your engine happy. Just because your coolant temps or charge temps are OK putting around town or ripping through a gear or two does not mean they are adequate! Ideally, you should be able to beat on the car for minutes and see very manageable temperatures. It's also vital that you give your heat exchangers a good, clean, and well-ducted stream of air flow. Look into it for any forced induction application or big bore N/A motor. It cools the inlet charge and is very tolerant of timing. There are a multitude of causes that generate detonation, and each has a specific fix, but the modal tone behind knock mitigation is simply to reduce the total amount of heat inputted into the engines cycle and slow the combustion rate down. While this ultimately limits an engines specific output and fuel economy, it greatly enhances the longevity of the motor. However, there are many things that can be done to raise the detonation threshold with careful design and implementation of engine systems. We are constantly looking for new content ideas and feedback from the community. Head over to our contact page and send us an email with your ideas, comments, or questions. Join our email list to be notified when we release new content. We respect your inbox and send only 1 - 4 emails per month. We will never spam, sell, or do annoying things with it ... ever.
Auguste Comte and Positivism Book Description HTML Positivism and the Positive Philosophy are the phrases which during the life of Auguste Comte, the eminent thinker who introduced them, had not made their way into writings or discussion. But those of his very few direct disciples have emerged from the depths, and manifested themselves on the surface of the philosophy of the age. This book discusses what they represent. Download it now!
Affective death spiral An affective death spiral (or happy death spiral) occurs when positive attributes of a theory, person, or organization combine with the Halo effect in a feedback loop, resulting in the subject of the affective death spiral being held in higher and higher regard. In effect, every positive thing said about the subject results in more than one additional nice thing to say about the subject on average. This cascades like a nuclear chain reaction. This process creates theories that are believed for their own sake and organizations that exist solely to perpetuate themselves, especially when combined with the social dynamics of groupthink. Affective death spirals are thus a primary cause of cultishness. The same process can also occur with negative beliefs instead of positive, leading to a death spiral of hate. - Affective Death Spirals - Resist the Happy Death Spiral - When None Dare Urge Restraint - Every Cause Wants To Be A Cult - Guardians of the Truth - Guardians of Ayn Rand - Evaporative Cooling of Group Beliefs
What are blockchain oracles? Blockchain oracles are entities that connect blockchains to external systems, allowing smart contracts to execute depending on real-world inputs and outputs. Oracles give the Web 3.0 ecosystem a method to connect to existing legacy systems, data sources and advanced calculations. Decentralized oracle networks (DONs) enable the implementation of hybrid smart contracts, in which off-chain infrastructure and on-chain code are coupled to provide complex decentralized applications (DApps) that react to real-world events and interact with traditional systems. Let’s say Alice and Bob wish to place a wager on the outcome of a horse race. The $80 total is held in escrow by a smart contract, with Alice betting $50 on team X and Bob betting $30 on team Y. How does the smart contract know whether to give the money to Alice or Bob when the game is over? The solution is that an oracle mechanism is required to retrieve accurate match outcomes off-chain and securely and reliably deliver them to the blockchain. Because of the distributed ledger aspect of the blockchain, each node in the network must obtain the same result given the same input. For example, if a node tries to validate another node’s transaction, it will get a different result. This architecture was created to be deterministic. Consensus is the technique for agreeing on a data value in blockchain, and determinism is required for nodes to reach a consensus. Some of them may be familiar to you, such as proof-of-work (PoW) with Nakamoto consensus and proof-of-stake (PoS) with Byzantine consensus. One of the main factors that make blockchain work in the first place is consensus. However, the blockchain world needs to connect with the actual world. To have DeFi, we need to get the price of Ether (ETH) and other cryptocurrencies into a contract. We require meteorological data to provide decentralized, trustless insurance. To use blockchain for one of its most essential uses, smart contracts, we need data. So, given this constraint, how do we connect the worlds? This guide aims to explain what blockchain oracles do, the blockchain oracle problem and introduce various blockchain oracle projects. Blockchain oracle problem The blockchain oracle dilemma highlights a key restriction of smart contracts, i.e., they cannot connect with data and systems outside of their native blockchain context in any way. External resources are referred to as “off-chain,” while data currently recorded on the blockchain is referred to as “on-chain.” Blockchains achieve their most beneficial qualities by being purposefully separated from external systems, such as the prevention of double-spending assaults, strong consensus on the authenticity of user transactions and the reduction of network downtime. To securely interact with off-chain systems from a blockchain and to bridge the gap between two environments, you’ll need an extra piece of infrastructure called an “oracle.” Because the great majority of smart contract use cases, such as DeFi, require knowledge of real-world data and events occurring off-chain, solving the oracle problem is critical. As a result, oracles broaden the types of digital contracts that blockchains may enable by providing a universal gateway to off-chain resources while maintaining the blockchain’s key security qualities. Asset prices for finance, identity verification for government, randomness for gaming, weather information for insurance are just a few of the industries that profit from integrating oracles with smart contracts. What do blockchain oracles do? Any device or entity that connects a deterministic blockchain to off-chain data is referred to as a blockchain oracle. Every data input is routed through an external transaction in these oracles. However, we can be certain that the blockchain contains all of the information needed to authenticate itself in this way. Oracles are regarded as blockchain middleware because they serve as a link between the two realms. Chainlink is the industry standard for decentralized oracles because it overcomes both access to outside data and the centralization of smart contract problems. So, what are Chainlink oracles? Chainlink is a decentralized oracle network that feeds real-world data to blockchain smart contracts. LINK tokens are digital asset tokens used to pay for network services. On the other hand, a single centralized oracle causes the particular problem that a decentralized, blockchain-secured smart contract is supposed to solve: a single point of failure. So how would you know whether your data is accurate if the oracle is faulty or compromised? What good is a safe, dependable, smart contract on the blockchain if the data it relies on is suspect? This problem is solved by Chainlink (a decentralized network of nodes), which uses oracles to provide data and information from off-blockchain sources to on-blockchain smart contracts. This technique, together with other secure technology, removes the reliability difficulties that could arise if only a single centralized source is used. Chainlink is blockchain agnostic as it connects all major public and private blockchain environments using a single framework, which provides a typical abstraction level for cross-network communication. Therefore, you can refer to decentralized data on-chain that has already been extracted from the real world and collected using services like Chainlink, which is similar to a public library, except for decentralized data. You can even create your modular oracle networks to obtain whatever specific information you require. Additionally, you can perform off-chain computations and transfer data to the actual world. Other top blockchain oracles are Witnet, Paralink, Provable and Dos.Network. These services provide oracles made up of a smart contract and some off-chain components that can query application user interfaces (APIs) and then send transactions to update the data in the smart contract regularly. Types of blockchain oracles Oracles give a blockchain or smart contract to communicate with external data. Instead, they serve as an interface to the world outside the blockchain. Outside data must be conveyed to the closed blockchain system in many circumstances, especially when smart contracts are linked to real-world events. External data is queried, verified and authenticated by crypto oracles, which then relay it to the closed system. After that, the validated data would be utilized to validate a smart contract. Hardware and software oracles Although this isn’t always the case, most crypto oracles analyze digital data. Hardware oracles deliver data from the physical world, while software oracles deliver data from digital sources such as websites, servers or databases. In addition, information from camera motion sensors and radio frequency identification (RFID) sensors can be delivered and relayed by hardware oracles. Real-time data, such as exchange rates, price variations and travel information, can be delivered through software oracles. Inbound and outbound oracles Oracles establish a two-way communication channel with blockchains, sending data in and out. While outbound oracles can deliver blockchain data to the outside world, inbound oracles are more likely to deliver off-chain — or real-world — data to the blockchain. In addition, the imported data can represent nearly anything from asset price swings to meteorological conditions to verification of completed payments. For inbound oracles, a common programmable scenario may be: If an asset reaches a specific price, put a buy order. On the other hand, outbound oracles alert the outside world of an event that occurred on-chain. Centralized and decentralized oracles A centralized oracle is managed by a single entity and serves as the smart contract’s sole data source. Using only one source of information can be dangerous because the contract’s effectiveness is solely dependent on the entity in charge of the oracle. A bad actor’s hostile intervention will also directly affect the smart contract. The fundamental issue with centralized oracles is that they have a single point of failure, making contracts more vulnerable to attacks and weaknesses. Some of the goals of decentralized oracles are similar to those of public blockchains, such as minimizing counterparty risk. For example, they make the information delivered to smart contracts more reliable by not depending on a single source of truth. The smart contract consults several oracles to assess the data’s validity and accuracy; this is why decentralized oracles are also known as consensus oracles. Other blockchains can use decentralized oracle services provided by some blockchain oracle projects. Individuals with specialized knowledge in a specific sector can sometimes act as oracles. They may gather information from various sources, check its legitimacy and convert it into smart contracts. Because human oracles can use cryptography to verify their identity, the chances of a fraudster impersonating them and giving tampered data are small. These oracles are made to work with smart contracts that are single. If the developer intends to deploy numerous smart contracts, it will be necessary to build various contract-specific oracles. Contract-specific oracles aren’t worth the time and work it takes to keep them up to date. Instead, they’re inconvenient and should only be utilized in specific situations. We’ve just talked about oracles in terms of seeking and supplying data so far (also known as data carrier oracles or automated oracles). However, oracles can be used to conduct any arbitrary “off-chain” compute solution, which is particularly beneficial given Ethereum’s inherent block gas constraint and very high computation cost. Computation oracles, rather than just relaying the results of a query, can be used to perform computation on a set of inputs and return a calculated result that would otherwise be impossible to calculate on-chain. For example, to estimate the yield of a bond contract, a computation oracle could be used to perform a computationally complex regression calculation. Oracle design patterns By definition, all oracles discussed perform a few key roles. These capabilities include the ability to: - Collect data from a non-blockchain source. - Using a signed message, send the data on-chain. - Make the data accessible by storing it in the storage of a smart contract. Once data is stored in a smart contract’s storage, other automated agreements can access it via message calls that invoke the oracle’s smart contract’s “retrieve” function. It can also be “called” directly by Ethereum nodes or network-enabled clients by “looking into” the oracle’s storage. The three main ways to set up an oracle can be categorized as follows: Immediate-read oracles provide information that is only required for a quick decision, such as “is this student above 25?” Those who want to query this type of data usually do so on a “just-in-time” basis, which means that the lookup is done only when the information is needed. Examples are dial codes, academic certificates, institutional memberships, airport identification and other oracles. An oracle that effectively provides a broadcast service for data that is likely to change (perhaps both regularly and frequently) is either polled by a smart contract on-chain or watched for updates by an off-chain daemon. Weather data, price feeds, economics or social statistics and traffic data are just a few examples of the publish-subscribe set-up. The most challenging category is request-response: This is where the data space is too large to be stored in a smart contract, and users are only anticipated to use a small portion of the whole information at a time. It’s also a viable business strategy for data providers. In practice, an oracle like this may be implemented as a system of on-chain smart contracts and off-chain infrastructure for monitoring requests and retrieving and returning data. A data request from a decentralized application is often an asynchronous procedure with multiple steps as follows: Applications of oracles in DApps Oracle is a mechanism for bridging the gap between the off-chain world and smart contracts used by many DApps on the market. The following are some instances of data that oracles may provide: - Time and interval data are used for event triggers based on exact time measurements. - Data from the capital markets, such as pricing bundles of tokenized assets and securities. - Benchmark reference data, such as interest rates, included in smart financial derivatives. - Weather data, for example, is used to calculate insurance premiums based on weather forecasts. - Geolocation data, such as that used in supply chain tracking. - For insurance contracts, damage verification is required. - Sporting events are used to resolve prediction markets and fantasy sports contracts. - Flight statistics, such as those used by groups and clubs to pool flight tickets. Beware of the security concerns Oracles play a critical role in smart contract execution by bringing external data into the equation. On the other hand, oracles pose a huge danger since, if they are trusted sources and can be hacked, they can jeopardize the execution of the smart contracts they feed. In general, while considering the employment of an oracle, the trust model must be carefully considered. You may be sacrificing the smart contract’s security by exposing it to potentially incorrect inputs if we presume the oracle can be trusted. However, if the security assumptions are carefully considered, oracles can be valuable. Some of these concerns can be addressed via decentralized oracles, providing Ethereum smart contracts with external data that is not trusted. You must carefully select it before you can begin exploring the oracles’ bridge between Ethereum and the real world.
We were watching the moon rising off Lake Michigan through 100x binoculars when we noticed a very thin black line crossing straight horizontally in a northerly direction about 1/3 up from the bottom of the moon. It moved at a rate that took about 7 seconds to cross the moon. The line was about 1/4 moon diameter long. It was very thin solid and black with proportions like a thin felt marker drew a line 1/2″ long. It don’t think it was a contrail because there was nothing that looked like an aircraft leading it. Also, it didn’t seem to fade out or linger at the end but seemed more like a solid object that was moving right across. The moon was only about 20% up from the horizon and was still orange at 10:30pm CST. It was impossible to estimate the actual size but it had the eerie appearance of being closer to the moon than to the earth. I’ve watched the moon hundreds of times through binoculars and I’ve seen silhouettes of aircraft crossing but never anything like this. Any ideas what it could have been? Check out the original source here SightingsReport.com UFO reports
Public-private partnerships (PPPs) are a mechanism for government to procure and implement public infrastructure and/or services using the resources and expertise of the private sector. Where governments are facing ageing or lack of infrastructure and require more efficient services, a partnership with the private sector can help foster new solutions and bring finance. PPPs combine the skills and resources of both the public and private sectors through sharing of risks and responsibilities. This enables governments to benefit from the expertise of the private sector, and allows them to focus instead on policy, planning and regulation by delegating day-to-day operations. In order to achieve a successful PPP, a careful analysis of the long-term development objectives and risk allocation is essential. The legal and institutional framework in the country also needs to support this new model of service delivery and provide effective governance and monitoring mechanisms for PPPs. A well-drafted PPP agreement for the project should clearly allocate risks and responsibilities. The PPP in Infrastructure Resource Center for Contracts, Laws and Regulations (PPPIRC) seeks to give a offer practical tools for developing a legal enabling environment and regulation of PPPs conducive to PPPs and to provide sample and annotated contracts and bidding documents from different sectors for PPP projects. For a general discussion on PPPs, please visit our sister website the PPP Knowledge Lab.
Last week, the Bureau of Labor statistics released its estimates for union members in the United States in 2012. CEPR published our own analysis of the numbers, including a breakdown of state union membership in the private and public sectors. Early analysis has emphasized specific measures such as the implementation of so-called “right-to-work” legislation in Indiana or the attacks on public-sector bargaining in Wisconsin. But, a look at changes across the states shows some geographical patterns that cross state lines. In the three maps below, the states shaded in red hues lost union members between 2011 and 2012; those in hues of blue saw gains. The darker the hue, the greater the gain or loss as measured in percent terms. Louisiana – in dark blue – saw the greatest overall gain with a 39 percent increase in total union members. Arkansas – in bright red – had the greatest decline, losing 21 percent of its union workers. Click Maps for Larger Version The first map shows the percent change in all union members (that is, combining the public and private sector). The deepest reds – indicating the biggest losses – were concentrated in the center of the country, in states such as Wisconsin, Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, and Illinois. The biggest concentration of blue shades – where union membership grew most –was in the west (California, Hawaii, and Nevada) and the south (from New Mexico through Texas and Louisiana all the way to Georgia and South Carolina – though the union base in many of these states is, of course, small). The next two maps look separately at the change in union membership in the private sector and the public sector. In general, union membership was more volatile in the private sector than the public, as seen by an overall darker map. The Midwestern and Great Lakes states, particularly those surrounding Missouri (Arkansas, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, and Indiana), had among the greatest losses in private sector union members. Most of the Appalachian states (Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky and Georgia), saw an increased number private sector union members, but, as mentioned, usually from a low base. Union membership in the public sector was more stable – see, for example, most of the Northeast Corridor and the West – with a few states that experienced fairly large swings. Wisconsin (down 32 percent), Virginia (down 30 percent) and Nebraska (down 26 percent) saw the greatest decreases in public sector union members. Meanwhile, Kentucky and Oklahoma each had increases in public sector union membership of over 20 percent. Louisiana – the darkest blue in any of the three maps – had the biggest jump, almost doubling (up 93 percent) its union membership in the public sector. Mapping the state union numbers gives a more complete picture of the state of unions. Some of these patterns just aren’t visible in the rows and columns of a table or in bars on a graph.
Many toddlers bite other children. This behavior is unacceptable and must be stopped as quickly as possible. Children who continue to bite will typically lose friends, be labeled a “biter” and become more aggressive. There are many reasons why toddlers bite. They might want attention. They might be protecting “their” toys or space. Children resort to biting when their frustration intensifies, their self-control disappears and their vocabulary to express themselves is limited. Parents must remain calm and firm. Nothing scares an out-of-control child more than an out-of-control parent. Try the following when your child bites: In a firm voice, say “No biting. We don’t bite other children.” With your child next to you, comfort the victim. Wash the bitten area with warm water if the skin is broken or put some ice on it if it is not. This will show your child that biting hurts and is a serious issue. Encourage, but don’t force, your child to help. Teach your child that biting is wrong by giving her a time-out next to you. Tell your child you want to show him what biting feels like. Be calm and matter-of-fact. Take your child’s forearm and press it into her own teeth. Say, “See? Biting hurts!” Later, teach your child phrases he or she needs to express himself, such as: "When you are done it’s my turn." And "I don’t like it when you grab my toy away from me." Teach your child to be aware of her levels of frustration or anger. Green light (I’m OK), yellow light (Starting to get angry) and red light (I’m really angry) work well. The danger zone is yellow to red so this is where children need to redirect themselves or be redirected. For more information see The Discipline Book by Martha and William Sears or www.zerotothree.org. PARENTING WITH PETE by Peter Herbst, MSW, LCSW, runs every other Thursday in The Jersey Journal. Have a question? Email him at email@example.com. Comment at http://www.nj.com/parenting-with-pete/.
Consider A Backyard Pond If you decide that you want to add a larger water feature, attract a wider variety of wildlife, or add an aesthetically pleasing feature to your land, you should consider a wildlife pond. Backyard water gardens and ponds have become increasingly popular in the last few years, and the options are endless. Even with the large array of sizes, shapes, and designs, creating a simple pond can be cost effective and can attract a variety of wildlife. Remember, however, that a wildlife pond is not the same as an ornate water garden you see advertised in garden stores or magazines. The most effective residential ponds assimilate into an informal yard or garden that has trees and shrubs designed to attract wildlife. If you decide that a wildlife pond is right for you, you’ll need to make some decisions before you start digging. Planning a Backyard Pond One of the first things to consider is what type of wildlife you want to attract. A backyard pond can be a simple, shallow pool that attracts primarily birds, a larger deeper pond with plants and waterfalls, or anything in between. Because there are so many options, it is important to consider what wildlife you are trying to attract. Listed below are some of the animals you may find at a wildlife pond, as well as some of their preferences in a pond. Birds will use even the smallest ponds for drinking and bathing, provided the water is not too deep. A larger pond can also provide for birds, as long as part of the pond has a shallow edge for them to land. Shallow rocks or sand along this area provide a non-slippery surface that birds like. A dripping feature or waterfall is also incredibly attractive to birds. Amphibians will use a backyard pond and the surrounding vegetation for food, shelter, and breeding. In the wild, frogs and toads lay their eggs in temporary pools or the shallow waters of natural ponds, seeking areas where there are no fish that can eat their eggs. Unfortunately, fish and amphibians do not usually co-exist in a wildlife pond either, so the usual recommendation is to have a fishless pond if you want to attract amphibians. Once tadpoles develop, they require shallow water so they can successfully come out from the pond. Some amphibians, such as bullfrogs, also need areas of deeper water (up to three feet), where they go underneath rocks and vegetation during winter. However, all amphibians require areas of wet vegetation, rocks, and logs around the pond’s edges to provide cover, shade, moisture, and food. If you want to add fish to your wildlife pond, it is best to include species that you would find in a natural pond. Many smaller sunfish species or a minnow such as the golden shiner can thrive in a backyard pond. Although exotic fish like goldfish and Japanese koi are popular, they would not survive in your wildlife pond and are really only appropriate in an ornamental pond. Exotic fish, in addition, tend to be more brightly colored and they are more easily spotted (and eaten) by predators. If you are concerned about fish eating your frog and toad eggs or tadpoles, you can increase their survival by providing areas of shallow water and dense submergent plants or rock structures where the eggs and developing tadpoles can hide from predators. Adding any type of fish to your backyard pond will mean more effort in maintaining water quality, temperature, and an adequate food source. Most fish also require a pond with at least two feet of water, although the exact depth depends on which type of fish you have. In general, it is recommended to add only one inch of fish for every five gallons of water (but remember that fish grow, so try to factor in their adult length). Many beneficial insects such as dragonflies, damselflies, pond snails and water striders are attracted to a wildlife pond if you put large numbers of flowering plants in or near the pond. Attracting a variety of insects to your pond also means there will be more food for birds, fish, and amphibians.
When you’re curling a dumbbell up toward your shoulder, your bicep muscle is shortening. That’s a concentric contraction. An eccentric contraction occurs when a muscle is actively lengthening. This typically happens when the muscle is approaching the maximum amount of force it can generate. A study published in the journal Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise analyzes the effect of high-force eccentric exercise on muscle cell growth. Researchers had 9 recreational athletes perform 300 eccentric leg extension actions to work their knee extensors. Muscle biopsies conducted 24 hours into recovery showed increased satellite cell formation in Type II fast twitch muscle fibers, the type of muscle used for short bursts of strength and speed. True Strength Moment: Satellite cells play an important role in the growth, repair and regeneration of muscle. If you can work some eccentric contractions into your muscle development efforts, the end result might help you get a little closer to your goals. You probably won’t have to do quite the number of reps used in this study.
European Copyright Directive: What do articles 15 and 17 mean? In September 2016, the EU put forward the idea of reforming the 2001 copyright law to adapt it to the digital age. After a long debate, the trialogue (Commission, Parliament and European Council) proposed a text of 32 articles to the members of parliament. On March 26th 2019 in the European Parliament in Strasbourg, the directive was approved: 348 in favor, 274 against, with 36 abstentions. The directive was also approved by the Council of the European Union on April 15th 2019. After publication in the Official Journal of the EU, on April 17th 2019, member states had 24 months to incorporate the directive into their national legislation. Now the ball is in the court of the member states. However, the debate remains heated, especially around articles 15 and 17. European Parliament - Strasbourg What the directive provides for It's true: the European Council approved by qualified majority, without discussion, the directive amending the rules on copyright. However, there are some countries that voted against: Italy, Sweden, Finland, Poland, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. Abstentions were Slovenia, Estonia and Belgium. Germany - although in favor - has officially invited the Commission, responsible for implementation, to avoid upload filters and censorship. These measures require the approval of a majority of member states representing at least 65% of the European population. Discussions on the directive seem to be never-ending. Copyright reform seeks to ensure that authors and copyright owners receive fair compensation from digital platforms, resulting from the publication of works on these platforms. So, on the one hand, we have the rights holders. On the other hand, the online platforms, first and foremost: Google, Facebook and YouTube. Thanks to this directive, the former will have a greater chance of negotiating agreements on remuneration resulting from the use of their works, while the latter will have to monitor and regulate the uploading of these works. These two factions have been on a collision course for some time, each entrenched in their own position. The most significant - and also the most discussed - changes concern Articles 15 and 17, respectively ex Articles 11 and 13: the first concerns the press, the second the "use of protected content by online content-sharing service providers" such as multimedia products. Article 15 (ex-Article 11) Article 15 changes the previous laws, both in form and substance. Article 11, was entitled "Protection of press publications concerning digital uses", whereas with the European Directive the wording changes to "Protection of press publications concerning online uses", the essential change concerning the word digital, it also includes documents that are not uploaded online, such as databases. In practice, this article allows the press to benefit from part of the earnings received by information aggregators and social networks thanks to the content produced by information sites. Google News and Facebook are clearly in the fireling line here. Some paragraphs of this article state that use without economic purpose should be free. Neither do hyperlinks nor the use of single words or "very short extracts" constitute a violation. Finally, member states themselves are be obliged to provide compensation to the authors. Article 17 (ex article 13) The same logic of protection applies to intellectual copyrighted works. Article 17 (ex Article 13) obliges online platforms to obtain authorisation from right holders to upload works and, where appropriate, to grant them fair remuneration. This article is based on proportionality, according to which startups less than three years old, with an annual turnover of less than €10 million and with an average monthly traffic of unique visitors of less than five million will have limited obligations. Once again, the targets are the big platforms, such as YouTube and DailyMotion. If they do not obtain authorisation, they can be held responsible for unauthorised communication. In essence: YouTube & Co are responsible for the uploading of works by third parties. Users can, however, freely upload protected content in the event “quotation, criticism, review” as well as “use for the purpose of caricature, parody or pastiche.” In addition, content providers are exempted both if they demonstrate that they have to “made best efforts to obtain an authorisation" to prevent copyright infringement and if they demonstrate that they have acted "expeditiously" to remove a content, after receiving a warning from the owner of the rights. This is a big change in web regulation: until now, in the eyes of the law, platforms were considered as passive hosts, not responsible for what was uploaded to their sites. But with the evolution of the internet this dogma has become increasingly obsolete: the web is now the number-one source of consumption of information and music. Beyond its "revolutionary scope," however, the directive remains controversial. Among the most frequent criticism is that of form. For example, the length of the "very short extracts" mentioned in Article 15 is not specified, just as (with regard to Article 17) the concepts of "expeditiously" actions and "made best efforts to obtain an authorisation" to be made by content providers seem random. More details on the Directive and on the NO side criticisms, in the next Leaders League article coming out next Tuesday. The European Commission’s approval of the copyright directive in April threw more gas on the fire. In a few years, the internet has become – among other things – the main market fo... The long-serving boss of Cobepa, Jean-Marie Laurent Josi talks about the business model of a Belgian investment firm that is trusted by major European families, one which marries t... Since the last half of 2008, it is no longer possible to conceal the term ‘crisis’. New paradigms have become apparent and structural changes are predicted. Indeed mar...
Combining gold with caffeine compounds is found to be effective in eliminating cancer cells. Well, there is a little disclaimer in the text telling us not to go crazy on the coffee expecting to make ourselves immune to the big C. But all the same, surely this calls for a mug of Gold Blend. The side effects of ingesting too much caffeine — restlessness, increased heart rate, having trouble sleeping — are well known, but recent research has shown that the stimulant also has a good side. It can kill cancer cells. Now, researchers report in the ACS journal Inorganic Chemistry that combining a caffeine-based compound with a small amount of gold could someday be used as an anticancer agent. Angela Casini, Michel Picquet and colleagues note that caffeine and certain caffeine-based compounds have recently been in the spotlight as possible anticancer treatments. But drinking gallons of coffee, sodas and energy drinks isn’t the solution. And the regular caffeine in these drinks would start to have negative effects on healthy cells, too, at the levels necessary to kill cancerous ones. Gold also can wipe out cancer cells, but, like caffeine, it can harm healthy cells. So, the research team put the two together into certain configurations to see whether the new caffeine-based gold compounds could selectively stop cancer cells from growing without hurting other cells. They made a series of seven new compounds, called caffeine-based gold (I) N-heterocyclic carbenes, in the laboratory and studied them. The scientists found that, at certain concentrations, one of the compounds of the series selectively killed human ovarian cancer cells without harming healthy cells. In addition, the compound targeted a type of DNA architecture, called “G-quadruplex,” that is associated with cancer. Source: American Chemical Society The authors acknowledge funding from EU COST, the University of Groningen, the Conseil Régional de Bourgogne, the Ministère de l’Enseignement Supérieur et de la Recherche and the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique.
February 2022 may turn out to be an important month in Chinese and world history. It was the month when China’s “no limits” embrace of Russia was codified in a sweeping statement of mutual support, just as Russian troops were massing on the borders of Ukraine. Russia’s invasion not many days later revealed what the world may look like if China’s leader Xi Jinping and his “best friend,” Russian President Vladimir Putin, succeed in their mission of replacing the American-led, rules-based international system with their vision of an authoritarian new world order. Russia’s war on Ukraine suggests that China’s new authoritarian world might be characterized by a return to 19th-century power politics and 20th-century blitzkrieg, with strong-men autocrats unleashing their militaries to crush neighbouring countries and threatening total destruction as means of coercion. We do not need to imagine what this new world will look like; we can see it in the pools of blood spreading across Ukraine. We can see it in the pictures and videos of Russian tanks barrelling through towns, homes pulverized by shelling, missiles crashing into high-rise apartment buildings, plumes of smoke rising from destroyed infrastructure, people cowering underground and half a million refugees – so far – fleeing to neighbouring countries. We can see it in the casualty statistics, including of civilians, children among them. If Putin’s latest threats are any indication, the new authoritarian world being ushered into existence by China and its autocratic allies apparently includes preparations to use nuclear weapons. Anyone who doubts Putin’s willingness to go to the extreme of using them should consider the widespread assumption by many experts barely a week ago that he would not be so irrational as to invade Ukraine. If for nothing else, February 2022 will be remembered worldwide as the month when Russia invaded Europe. For Ukrainians, it may forever be memorialised as their mensis horribilis – their horrible month. But might February also be remembered as a mensis horribilis for China’s global reputation and influence? The world’s outraged reaction to the Russian invasion of Ukraine juxtaposed alongside Chinese foreign ministry officials’ mealy-mouthed parroting of Russia’s justifications for the attack, along with their flat-out refusals to even call the invasion an invasion, suggests that China’s already declining reputation is set to fall further. What was Beijing thinking when it embraced an autocrat who had already annexed a huge chunk of a neighbouring country’s territory – the Crimean Peninsula – and deployed his war machine and mercenaries to other parts of Ukraine as well as to Georgia, Libya, Syria and beyond? At the very least, Chinese officials seem to have displayed poor understanding of Russian history and the psychology of Putin. Perhaps most profoundly, China’s reputation will suffer because, thus far, it has selectively ignored Russia’s violation of the sacrosanct principle of non-intervention that Xi and every leader of the People’s Republic of China before him has extolled repeatedly and forcefully, especially when the United States has violated it. To quote one of Xi’s many public statements on the importance he gives to protecting sovereignty: “The Chinese people share a common belief that it is never allowed and it is absolutely impossible to separate any inch of our great country’s territory from China.” If every inch of China’s territory is inviolable, why are huge swathes of the Ukraine up for grabs? What’s good for the goose is good for the gander. China’s hypocrisy speaks volumes about its willingness to say one thing for decades, and do another when given the choice between condemning an unjust war and being an apologist for an autocratic ally. Even some folks in China have spoken out against the war, pointing to their government’s obvious hypocrisy. Naturally, their words were quickly censored, apparently deemed to be “irrational.” China’s reputation can’t be helped by its topsy-turvy official advice to its citizens in Ukraine. They were initially advised to display Chinese flags on their cars, apparently under the assumption that this would offer some protection. That advice was quickly reversed when Chinese officials presumably realised that Beijing’s support for Putin could be viewed with some hostility by Ukrainians suffering the Russian onslaught. While other countries advised their citizens to leave Ukraine before the invasion, China told its citizens to stay put. They are now understandably cowering in fear, awaiting evacuation. In sum, when it comes to the war in Ukraine – possibly the greatest challenge the world has faced since World War II, apart from climate change – Chinese influence has so far been shown to be utterly impotent, if not complicit. The Chinese foreign ministry has been reduced to diatribes against the United States and feeble calls for “restraint on all sides” – hardly the robust action of a great power in a time of extreme crisis, and hardly likely to enhance its reputation globally. For all its economic wealth, political influence and military might – all greater than at any time in its history – China is left spouting verbal nostrums while cluster bombs blast the bodies of civilians in Ukrainian cities. To be sure, China’s failure to join the world’s condemnation of the Russian invasion of Ukraine will be of the greatest historical interest, and disapproval. But other events in February 2022 may also turn out to have undermined China’s global reputation and influence. The Winter Olympic Games in Beijing are likely to be remembered by many people around the world not for athletic feats but for the bear hug between Putin and Xi – and Putin’s prideful visage perched high above the opening ceremonies – concerns about China’s human rights record, and the audacity of choosing a Uyghur athlete from an ethnic group against which China has been accused of committing genocide to light the Olympic flame. Not to mention the incomprehensible public statements regarding whether Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai actually accused a senior Chinese official of sexual abuse, and restrictions on athletes and foreign journalists, among other things. The Olympics may have solidified support for the Chinese government at home, although this is by no means certain given debates on Chinese social media over whether Eileen Gu, a photogenic, gold-winning Chinese-American skier competing for China, or Xiaohuamei, a shivering woman found chained in a dirty shack, best reflects today’s China. What seems more certain is that for many people outside China, the 2022 Winter Olympics will be remembered as the “genocide games.” For others, they will at least have left a rather bad impression of the host country. Meanwhile, February brought China’s supposed victory against Covid-19, trumpeted repeatedly over the last two years, into doubt. Since early 2020, the Chinese government has felt warmed by the glow of its success in beating back the virus. However, an accelerating outbreak in Hong Kong is seeing tens of thousands of people being infected each day, a climbing death toll and a healthcare system that is profoundly overwhelmed – precisely what happened in other countries that China pointed to as proof of its superior model of governance. Hong Kong and the rest of China are shut up tighter than ever before. Beijing refuses to acknowledge that Western mRNA vaccines are superior to Chinese vaccine technologies, or even to approve their use, potentially leaving many millions of people vulnerable to infection with Omicron and no alternative to the government’s “dynamic zero-Covid” policy. At the same time, many other countries – including those that China deems to be in decline – are opening up and “living with” Covid-19 because they invested heavily in rapid development of mRNA vaccines and got them into people’s arms. At best, Chinese officials miscalculated, or at worst they put politics and national hubris above protecting people’s health. Either way, they are now on the back foot, with China’s borders closed and more lockdowns likely to come. China’s initial response to the outbreak in Hong Kong – to deliver crates of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), a cause célèbre of Xi – may bring into further doubt internationally the Chinese model for subduing the pandemic. When China is offering the world TCM and the United States is offering mRNA, it is manifestly evident whose reputation is up and whose is down. In other respects, February 2022 may be the month that the world not only woke up to the existential threat posed by Putin’s Russia but also to the potential threat of an emboldened China on the wrong side of history. China’s neighbours, especially the dozen or more with which it has land or maritime border disputes, will certainly take notice of what is happening in Ukraine. No doubt many people in Taiwan are watching with great interest – and more than a little horror. They will be noting the reactions of the Ukrainian government, military and people to Russia’s aggression, and indeed the world’s response to it. So far, those reactions suggest that any attempt by China to subdue Taiwan by force could elicit a much more robust response from people living there than Beijing may have been imagining until very recently, and that the world’s reaction to such an event could be far more painful for China than officials there might have anticipated. Already, the United States has sent a delegation to Taiwan to reaffirm its commitment to the island’s defence and apparently to signal to Beijing that the attention of Taiwan’s allies won’t be diverted by war in Ukraine. Despite China’s dramatic rise and profound desire to recast the international system in its likeness, the solidarity that has already arisen from war in Ukraine may yet justify placing some faith in the prevailing world order. Ordinary people and much of the world have demonstrated surprising willingness to suffer the consequences of standing up to Putin’s war machine. For anyone who observes international relations very closely, the response of Western countries over the last several days has been astonishingly quick and surprisingly robust; if hardly making up for their failure to do much after Russia annexed Crimea and while it was preparing its latest invasion. Assuming this solidarity does not wane, it may prevent or at least delay the arrival of a Chinese-led alternative world order. China’s rise still has the potential to do good for the world; it also has the potential to do great harm. A question is whether the events of February 2022 will stimulate reflection in Beijing and prompt a shift away from its warrior-like view of the world, or whether the war being waged by Xi’s best friend is a sign of things to come. \|HKFP is an impartial platform & does not necessarily share the views of opinion writers or advertisers. HKFP presents a diversity of views & regularly invites figures across the political spectrum to write for us. Press freedom is guaranteed under the Basic Law, security law, Bill of Rights and Chinese constitution. Opinion pieces aim to point out errors or defects in the government, law or policies, or aim to suggest ideas or alterations via legal means without an intention of hatred, discontent or hostility against the authorities or other communities.\|
The medieval airborne disease is still spreading and has prompted more fears in neighbouring countries that they could be hit with outbreaks. Since August 1 there have been 1,947 confirmed, probable and suspected cases of plague in Madagascar and 143 people have died after contracting the disease. Of the 1,947 cases, 1,437 were classified as pneumonic plague, 295 were bubonic plague, one was septicemic, and 211 were not yet classified. Further classification of cases is in process. Officials say the number of reported pneumonic cases in Madagascar is slowly declining - although more cases of plague are expected as the country enters peak epidemic season, which lasts until April. The plague epidemic in Madagascar is threatening to spill out into other parts of Africa While most cases are recorded in Madagascar occur in remote areas, this outbreak has also hit major urban centres with high populations, including the capital Antananarivo and the port city of Tamatave, allowing it to spread faster. Dr Tim Jagatic, a doctor with Medicins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders), told Express.co.uk about the cause of this year’s shocking outbreak. He said: “From November until April, there tends to be an outbreak of an average of 400 cases of bubonic plague per year. “But what happened this year is it looks like there was a case which happened a little bit earlier, in the month of August. “If a bubonic case goes untreated, it has the ability to transform into the pneumonic form. Madagascar is only now entering 'epidemic season' meaning more plague cases are expected to arise “It seems as though somebody who had the bubonic form didn’t get treatment, allowing the plague to transform into the pneumonic form. “He entered the capital city and then fell sick on a bus that was travelling to Toamasina, and a medical student tried to help him. “The medical student came into close contact with him and because it was the pneumonic form of the disease, happening earlier than its expected to in a part of the country where it typically doesn’t occur, it went unnoticed for a particular amount of time which allowed the disease to proliferate.” Dr Jagatic added: “A very important part of epidemiology is trying to find who or what was ‘patient zero’, so that we’ll be able to track exactly how it spread, what dangers it poses, who was in contact with that person. MAPPED: Nine nearby countries have been put on alert as the outbreak threatens to spread further “Once we find that out, it really helps us to cut the chain of transmission and find out what areas of a country we have to focus our resources on.” Comparisons have been made between the Madagascar outbreak this year and the 14th century Black Death, one of the worst plague outbreaks in human history which is widely believed to have caused the world population to shrink from an estimated 450 million down to 350–375 million in the 14th century. Dr Jagatic revealed why the two epidemics are being compared. He told Express.co.uk: “There’s a historical stigmatisation – people still use the term ‘Black Death’ which is a term which is associated with the outbreak in the thirteenth century in Europe when 50 million people died. “According to the records we’ve seen, it seems as though that name was associated with the disease because a lot of people, in this pre-antibiotic era, were falling into the septic form of the disease. “That septic form, as we now know, caused a loss of circulation in the fingertips and when you have a loss of circulation in the fingers they turn black. “This disease bore a strong association with sepsis, so every time somebody developed black fingers people expected them to die within the next day or so.”
You may first bring up your concerns with your child's pediatrician or family doctor. To ensure that another problem isn't at the root of your child's reading difficulties, the doctor may refer your child to: - A specialist, such as an eye doctor (ophthalmologist) - A health care professional trained to evaluate hearing loss (audiologist) - A doctor who specializes in brain and nervous system disorders (neurologist) What you can do To prepare for your appointment: - Make a list of any symptoms that your child is experiencing, including any that may seem unrelated to the reason for the appointment. - Prepare key personal information, including any major stresses or recent life changes. - Make a list of any medications, vitamins or other supplements your child is taking, including the dosages. - Ask a family member or friend along, if possible, for support and to help you remember information. - Make a list of questions to ask your doctor to help you make the most of your appointment. For dyslexia, some basic questions to ask your doctor include: - Why is my child having difficulty reading and understanding? - What kinds of tests does he or she need? - Should my child see a specialist? - Can dyslexia be treated? - Are there other diagnoses that can be associated with or confused with dyslexia? - Are there any alternatives to the primary approach that you're suggesting? - How quickly will we see progress? - Are there any brochures or other printed materials that I can have? Can you recommend any websites? - Will my other children have dyslexia, too? - What kind of help for dyslexia can I expect from my child's school? What to expect from your doctor Your doctor will likely have a number of questions for you as well, such as: Aug. 08, 2014 - When did you first notice that your child was having trouble reading? Did a teacher bring it to your attention? - How is your child doing academically in the classroom? - At what age did your child start talking? - Have you tried any reading interventions? If so, which ones? - Have you noticed any behavior problems or social difficulties you suspect may be linked to your child's trouble reading? - Has your child had any vision problems? - Can you describe your child's diet, including caffeine and sugar consumption? - NINDS dyslexia information page. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/dyslexia/dyslexia.htm. Accessed June 5, 2014. - American Academy of Pediatrics. Joint statement — Learning disabilities, dyslexia, and vision. Pediatrics. 2009;124:837. - Language-based learning disabilities. American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. http://www.asha.org/public/speech/disorders/LBLD.htm. Accessed June 5, 2014. - Information and resources for adolescents and adults with dyslexia — It's never too late. International Dyslexia Association. http://www.interdys.org/FactSheets.htm. Accessed June 5, 2014. - What are the signs of dyslexia? International Dyslexia Association. http://www.interdys.org/SignsofDyslexiaCombined.htm. Accessed June 5, 2014. - Dyslexia basics. International Dyslexia Association. http://www.interdys.org/FactSheets.htm. Accessed June 5, 2014. - Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD) and dyslexia. International Dyslexia Association. http://www.interdys.org/FactSheets.htm. Accessed June 5, 2014. - Hoecker JL (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. June 23, 2014. - Tervo RC (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. June 27, 2014. - Handler SM, et al. Learning disabilities, dyslexia and vision. Pediatrics. 2011;127:e818.
Implants in the brains of people with neurological disorders could help in developing treatments for people with Parkinson's disease, obsessive compulsive disorder and depression. A team from Medtronic of Minneapolis, Minnesota, has reported on its design for a neurostimulator at the Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society meeting in Minneapolis. The device uses electrodes to deliver deep stimulation to specific parts of the brain. Neurostimulators are already approved to treat conditions such as Parkinson's disease, essential tremor, and dystonia, as well as obsessive compulsive disorder. But existing devices deliver stimulation on a set schedule, not in response to abnormal brain activity. The Medtronic researchers think a device that reacts to brain signals could be more effective, plus the battery would last longer, an important consideration for implantable devices. Tim Denison, a Medtronic engineer working on the device, says that the neurostimulator will initially be useful for studying brain signals as patients go about their day. Eventually, the data collected will show whether the sensors would be useful for detecting and preventing attacks. Human trials are years away, but elsewhere, NeuroPace a start-up firm in Mountain View, California, is finishing clinical trials using its RNS smart implant device in 240 people with epilepsy, the results of which will be available in December, says Martha Morrell, chief medical officer at NeuroPace. An earlier feasibility study on 65 patients provided preliminary evidence that the devices did reduce seizures. The NeuroPace device is implanted within the skull where it monitors electrical activity via electrodes implanted deep in the brain. If it spots the "signature" of a seizure, it will deliver brief and mild electrical stimulation to suppress it. Mark George, a neurologist at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, says heart pacemakers developed in a similar way, as researchers learned to make them detect and react to signals from the heart. "I think it's absolutely inevitable that we'll develop a smarter, more intelligent way to figure out how and when to stimulate," George says.
Broad-striped Malagasy mongoose \|Broad-striped Malagasy mongoose\| \|Broad-striped Malagasy mongoose range\| The broad-striped Malagasy mongoose (Galidictis fasciata) is a species of Galidiinae, a subfamily of mongoose-like euplerids native to Madagascar. The species contains two known subspecies: Galidictis fasciata fasciata and Galidictis fasciata striata. Their main distinguishing factors are their stripes and their tails; G. f. fasciata has a fuller, reddish-brown tail and 8-10 stripes, while G. f. striata has a thinner, white tail and 5 stripes. They are all forest-dweller on the eastern side of the island, and their primary prey is small rodents. This species is most active in the evening and at night. - Wilson, D.E.; Reeder, D.M., eds. (2005). "Galidictis fasciata". Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494. - Hawkins, A.F.A. (2008). "Galidictis fasciata". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2008. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 22 March 2009. Database entry includes a brief justification of why this species is of near threatened - Blench, Roger and Martin Walsh: Faunal names in Malagasy: their etymologies and implications for the prehistory of the East African coast (2009) Re-linked 2014-08-13 \|Wikispecies has information related to Galidictis fasciata\| \|This article about a carnivoran is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.\|
Southern Health Centre is pleased to offer its patients in-office hysteroscopy. A hysteroscopy is a procedure used to look inside the uterus. A thin instrument called a hysteroscope is passed through the vagina and cervix into the uterus to help your doctor find the cause of a possible problem, to look for cancer in the lining of the uterus or to operate. Your doctor might suggest a hysteroscopy if you have: - Heavy and/or long menstrual periods - Bleeding between your periods - Bleeding after menopause - Irregular cycles - Severe cramping - Frequent miscarriages (lost pregnancies) - A displaced intrauterine device (IUD) - Difficulty getting pregnant (infertility) Following a diagnosis, hysteroscopy could be used to correct the problem with the help of special equipment. If you are having the operation done with under general anaesthetic: - You may need to have some blood work done, usually one week before your operation. - Most hospitals will ask to check with their admitting department the day of your operation to find out at what time you should come to the hospital. - Shower or bathe the night or morning before the operation. - Do not eat or drink (even water) after midnight on the night before the operation. - If the operation is going to be done while you are awake, your doctor will let you know at what time you should arrive at the clinic or hospital. Your doctor may also have additional instructions for you. At first, you will be given a medication called anaesthetic to block the pain. A general anaesthetic will make you unconscious during the operation. A tube or breathing mask may be used to help you breathe. A local anaesthetic (often used at the dentist’s) or regional anaesthetic such as an epidural (often used during child birth) can also be used, depending on your situation and the type of operation. Before the hysteroscopy, your cervix may be gently widened with another instrument to allow the hysteroscope to enter your uterus. Once inside, a gas or a liquid is usually inserted through the hysteroscope to expand the uterus, making it easier for the doctor to see. The doctor will then carefully look at the inside of the uterus, searching for the course of the problem. If there are any abnormal findings, the doctor may remove a small sample for further examination. If surgery is required to treat the problem, small instruments will be passed through the hysteroscope. Doctors may then repair the septum, remove fibroids or polyps, or use an electric current, extreme heat or cold to destroy the lining of the womb. At the end of the operation, the doctor will remove the instruments and the gas or liquid that was used. You may be able to leave shortly after the procedure, but most patients need to stay at the hospital for 2-4 hours until they recover. If you had an anaesthetic, you should have someone drive you home since it can make you feel sore, drowsy and “washed out”. You may experience nausea, sore throat (if a tube was placed in your throat during general anaesthetic) and some shoulder pain if gas was used. It is also possible you have cramps, spotting and light bleeding similar to what you would experience during your period. These symptoms are normal and may last up to a few days after the operation. Your doctor may give you a prescription for painkillers when you leave the hospital. You can also try some pain relievers like Acetaminophen or Ibuprofen that you can buy without a prescription. Depending on your progress, the nature of your work and your own pain tolerance, you might need to take a few days off work to fully recover. Your doctor will let you know when you should return for a check-up or report. Although hysteroscopy is a safe procedure, there still remains a small risk as with all operations. Safety measures are taken and you are monitored throughout the operation to reduce potential risks. - Problems can arise with the medications and anaesthetic given. - The cervix might get torn when instruments are passed through it or removed. If a woman were to become pregnant following such an injury, it might cause her difficulty carrying the pregnancy to term. - Although rare, the gas or fluid inserted in the uterus could spill into the blood stream and cause serious problems. - Organs close to the uterus like the ovaries, bladder or bowel could be damaged. Any unexpected damage or uncontrollable bleeding could require a blood transfusion or more surgery to repair the damage. - Infections can occur. Sometimes this is severe enough to require the patient to stay in the hospital for several days. Call the doctor or return to the hospital immediately if you develop: - A fever - Severe abdominal pain - Heavy vaginal discharge - Excessive bleeding Call the doctor during office hours if you: - Have abnormal bleeding or pain that continues more than 2 or 3 days - Would like to go over the results of your operation - Want to make another appointment - Experience increasing pain over the next few days
Blazars are the brightest of active galactic nuclei, and many emit very high-energy gamma rays. New observations of the blazar known as PKS 1424+240 show that it is the most distant known source of very high-energy gamma rays, but its emission spectrum now appears highly unusual in light of the new data. A team led by physicists at the University of California, Santa Cruz, used data from the Hubble Space Telescope to set a lower limit for the blazar's redshift (z ≥ 0.6035), which corresponds to a distance of at least 7.4 billion light-years. Over such a great distance, a substantial proportion of the gamma rays should be absorbed by the extragalactic background light, but calculations that account for the expected absorption yield an unexpected emission spectrum for the blazar. "We're seeing an extraordinarily bright source which does not display the characteristic emission expected from a very high-energy blazar," said Amy Furniss, a graduate student at the Santa Cruz Institute for Particle Physics (SCIPP) at UCSC and first author of a paper describing the new findings. The paper has been accepted for publication in Astrophysical Journal Letters and is currently posted on arXiv.org. Coauthor David Williams, adjunct professor of physics at UC Santa Cruz, said the findings may indicate something new about the emission mechanisms of blazars, the extragalactic background light, or the propagation of gamma-ray photons over long distances. "We're finding very high-energy gamma-ray sources at greater distances than we thought we might, and in doing so we're finding some things we don't entirely understand," Williams said. "Having a source at this distance will allow us to better understand how much background absorption there is and test the cosmological models that predict the extragalactic background light." The extragalactic background light (EBL) is the diffuse radiation from all stars and galaxies, a dim but pervasive glow that fills the universe. When a high-energy gamma-ray photon collides with a lower-energy EBL photon, they annihilate and create an electron-positron pair. The farther gamma rays have to travel the more likely they are to be absorbed by this mechanism. This limits the distance to which sources of very high-energy gamma rays can be detected. Measuring the EBL is extremely difficult because there are so many bright sources of light in our immediate neighborhood. In addition to estimates based on cosmological models, astronomers have used galaxy counts to set a lower limit for the EBL. Using a model close to this lower limit to calculate the expected absorption of very high-energy gamma rays from PKS 1424+240, Furniss derived an intrinsic gamma-ray emission spectrum for the blazar. The results, however, deviate from the expected emission based on current blazar models. Blazar emission is thought to result from a relativistic jet of particles powered by matter falling onto a supermassive black hole at the center of the host galaxy. "There may be something going on in the emission mechanisms of the blazar that we don't understand," Williams said. "There are more exotic explanations as well, but it may be premature to speculate at this point." Gamma rays from PKS 1424+240 were first detected by the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope and subsequently by the ground-based instrument VERITAS (Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System), which is sensitive to gamma-rays in the very high-energy (VHE) band from about 100 GeV to more than 10 TeV. To determine the redshift of the blazar--a measure of how much the light from an object has been stretched to longer wavelengths by the expansion of the universe--the researchers used data obtained by the Hubble Space Telescope's Cosmic Origins Spectrograph for another research program. In addition to Furniss and Williams, the coauthors of the paper include J. Xavier Prochaska, professor of astronomy and astrophysics at UCSC; Joel Primack, professor of physics at UCSC; Michele Fumagalli, a former UCSC graduate student now at Carnegie Observatories and Princeton University; Charles Danforth and John Stocke at the University of Colorado; Meg Urry at Yale University; Alex Filippenko at UC Berkeley; and William Neely at the NF/ Observatory.
Integrating Psychology and Law Into Undergraduate Instruction Undergraduate interest in psychological applications to the law has perhaps never been greater. Recent real cases that have involved aspects of psychology and law include the Central Park jogger case, in which four teenaged boys gave videotaped confessions that now appear to have been false (see Kassin, 2002). Due in part to both fictional (Silence of the Lambs, Profiler, CSI) and nonfictional (e.g., Court TV, Dateline, 48 Hours, Forensic Files) representations in the media, undergraduates are increasingly interested in learning about how psychology may be utilized in and by the legal system and about associated educational and career opportunities (Fulero, Greene, Hans, Nietzel, Small, & Wrightsman, 1999). For example, students invariably mention wanting to learn about being a “profiler.” Faculty can take advantage of student interest in the popular media's portrayal of forensic psychology to teach psychological concepts that have a place in the legal process (e.g., memory, perception, psychopathology, cognition, group processes) in a wide variety of subdisciplinary areas — clinical, cognitive, community developmental, industrial/ organizational, physiological, and social psychology. In this column we identify a variety of ways that faculty can enhance student learning and interest by using forensic psychology in the undergraduate curriculum. Although there is not universal agreement about exactly what is encompassed by “law and psychology” or “forensic psychology,” we define these terms broadly to include any application of psychological research, theory, or practice to the legal system or legal issues (see Wrightsman & Fulero, in press). Integrate Legal Applications Into Existing Courses Instructors can simply integrate legal applications of psychological principles into standard psychology courses already in existence. This is easy, as one is hard pressed to identify a psychology specialty area that is not relevant to, or cannot be applied to, some legal issue (see Table 1). This approach has several advantages: - It does not necessitate review and acceptance of new courses by the college or university, - It does not require instructors to teach an area and a set of concepts with which they are unfamiliar, - It provides opportunities for demonstrating applications of scientific psychology in real world contexts, - It exposes students to forensic applications that they would not otherwise experience, and - It serves as a “teaser” for more specialized forensic offerings that may exist within the department. Develop Specialized Courses and Seminars A second way to increase undergraduates' exposure to law and psychology is by offering focused courses. There are two primary types, each of which has its own advantages and limitations. Survey courses in psychology and law. Survey courses are challenging insofar as they require instructors to lecture about aspects of psychology in which they may not be expert. For example, a clinical psychologist may feel uncomfortable lecturing about the group psychology and decision-making research relevant to jury behavior, while a social psychologist may consider it a stretch to discuss authoritatively the specific physiology underlying development and use of the polygraph, or the use or misuse of psychological tests in forensic evaluations. In reality, however, such challenges are not that different from those posed to the many psychology professors who teach introductory psychology and must become “expert” in areas they may not have covered since their own undergraduate days. Developing and offering an introductory course in law and psychology is made easier by the relative large number of texts in the area. These texts are typically organized around legal issues (e.g., jury decision making, the insanity defense, corrections, abuse and neglect) that involve matters of psychology. Instructors should review competing texts carefully, since there is considerable variability in the substantive areas covered. For example, the undergraduate texts by Walker and Shapiro (2003), and Ackerman and Otto (in press) are more narrow and focus primarily on applications of clinical psychology to the law, while the texts by Wrightsman and Fulero (in press) and Bartol and Bartol (2004) are more diverse, and include applications of clinical, social, cognitive, and developmental psychology. \|Integrating Legal Applications into Existing Psychology Courses More focused undergraduate courses. An alternative approach is to develop and offer more focused undergraduate courses, typically revolving around a particular psychological specialty and its application and relevance to legal issues, such as eyewitness identification, the psychology of the jury, or law and mental illness. These courses typically have smaller enrollments, adopt a seminar format, and have one or more prerequisites such as completion of a forensic psychology overview course as well as an advanced course in the area of interest (e.g., developmental psychology, abnormal psychology, social psychology, cognition). Although these courses allow instructors to structure the semester or quarter around psycholegal topics of most relevance to their specialty area, they typically require compilation of a reading list or use of books developed primarily for graduate and professional audiences (e.g., Barthel, 1976, is a good supplemental reading for both eyewitness identification and false confessions; Finkel, 1988, for the insanity defense; Lykken, 1998, for polygraphy). Use the Opportunity to Instruct Students About Larger Issues Teaching undergraduates about psychology and law can be about more than introducing them to psychological applications in the legal system. In a course syllabus listed on her Web site (www.udel.edu/soc/vhans/cj346.html#info), Valerie Hans, professor of psychology at the University of Delaware, identifies three general course goals, including (a) increasing the student's understanding of the different perspectives and assumptions held by law and psychology about human behavior and the creative tension between the two, (b) demonstrating how psychological research can provide insight into the legal system and its operation, and (c) improving the student's ability to think critically and to evaluate the use of psychology within the legal system. Professor Mark Small of Clemson University suggested that such courses can, at the broadest level, help students understand the diverse contributions psychologists can make in legal settings as (a) “pure scientists” (by conducting research that shapes legal policy), (b) “problem solvers” (by conducting program evaluation and applied research in legal settings), and (c) “technicians” (by delivering psychological services in legal contexts or to persons involved in the legal system; 1993). Taking his suggestion a bit further, instructors can use psychology-and-law offerings as an opportunity to demonstrate the connection between research and practice and the scientist-practitioner approach most useful in clinical pursuits. Take Advantage of the Applied Nature of the Interface Area Perhaps the most valuable aspect of instruction in psychology and law is its ability to make clear to undergraduates the value of psychology in real-world settings and applications. This may serve not only to stimulate undergraduates' interest in psychology and law specifically, but in psychology more generally. As a way of further stimulating that interest, instructors should take advantage of numerous teaching aids that will make the course work more interesting and its relevance all the more obvious. There are a large number of readily available video resources (see Fulero, 2000). For example, the documentary The Interrogation of Michael Crowe does a good job of demonstrating adolescents' vulnerability to false confessions, while the Oscar-winning documentary Murder on a Sunday Morning makes clear the problems associated with false confessions as well as the limitations of eyewitness testimony (as does, in a more humorous way, the movie My Cousin Vinny). The classic movie Twelve Angry Men provides a starting point for discussion of persuasion and jury behavior and deliberations, while the more contemporary suspense movie, The Bedroom Window, shows the problems with eyewitness testimony, perjury, and litigation strategies employed by attorneys, as do the movies My Cousin Vinny and the older The Wrong Man. In addition to the above, a week rarely goes by without some TV news magazine (i.e., 60 Minutes, 20/20, Dateline, 48 Hours) focusing on some interesting psycholegal issue (e.g., eyewitness testimony, repressed memory, vulnerability of child witnesses to suggestion, the insanity defense). Court TV is also a valuable resource for trial-related material, and often offers transcripts or tapes for sale. At least two recent books have focused in whole or in part on psychology-and-law–related films. Bergman and Asimow (1996), in their book Reel Justice, review 69 lawrelated movies, some of which have psychological content. In addition, Wedding and Boyd (1999), in their recent book Movies and Mental Illness: Using Film to Understand Psychopathology, discuss films that are relevant to particular DSM-IV disorders and may be relevant to particular cases involving psychological disorders. Guest lecturers who work in the legal system can also do much to make clear the real-work relevance of what students are studying in the class. After reading about jury behavior and jury selection, students will be fascinated to hear a prosecutor and criminal defense attorney offer their jury-selection and case-presentation strategies. The potential role that psychologists can play in change-of-venue decisions can be demonstrated by having students actually develop and administer change-of-venue questionnaires revolving around criminal cases in the community. Other possible active-learning techniques are the use of focus groups and mock trials (see Berman, 2000; 2004; Perry, Huss, McAuliff, & Galas, 1996). How much students are learning can be demonstrated by regularly polling them about issues before they are introduced in class readings and lectures. For example, polling students about how frequently they believe the insanity defense is employed by criminal defendants and, when used, how successful it is, is a compelling way of demonstrating the public's misperception of this psycholegal area (see Borum & Fulero, 1999). The instructor can also provide students with a list of well-known, notorious offenders, and ask them to identify those that employed the insanity defense and how many were successful (students typically overestimate its use and success). Students also can be directed to review case materials of an insanity defense (either via text or video summary), deliberate as juries, and offer verdicts, with the “juries” being provided with different insanity standards. Querying students about child witnesses and their susceptibility to persuasion, what constitutes sexual harassment in the workplace, behaviors common and uncommon to children who have and have not been sexually abused, and behaviors frequently and infrequently observed among adult victims of sexual assault may serve as a way of introducing them to commonly held misperceptions and identifying roles that psychologists may play in litigation revolving around such issues. Starting the first class of the semester with a mock theft (making sure to stage it in a way that does not risk the safety of class members) and then asking students to complete descriptions of the suspects is an invaluable device to gain students' attention and make clear the real-world impact of the application of psychology to legal issues. Inviting a detective to class to discuss interrogation techniques employed with suspects will help students put the research regarding false confessions in perspective (see Lassiter, 2004). Inviting a polygrapher into class to demonstrate the technique with a live demonstration of its effectiveness with a class volunteer may make consideration of this investigative technique more interesting. The American Psychology-Law Society (APA Division 41) is an excellent resource for instructors and students interested in psychological applications to the law. Posted on the organization's Web site (www.unl.edu/ap-ls) are a number of syllabi from undergraduate and graduate courses taught by college and university faculty around the country, as well as an excellent summary of teaching and demonstration materials compiled by professor Edie Greene of the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs. The Web site also provides a list of graduate programs offering specialty training in law and psychology, and an e-booklet that introduces interested undergraduates to different career opportunities in forensic psychology. The organization also allows student memberships at a reduced price that includes receipt of its newsletter and its bimonthly journal, Law and Human Behavior. The section of APA's Web site devoted to law and psychology issues (www.apa.org/PsycLAW) also provides some helpful resources including access to amicus curiae briefs submitted on behalf of the organization, access to guidelines and other position statements of the organization that are relevant to matters of law and psychology, a listing of journals and books devoted to law and psychology, and links to other organizations examining the interchange between law and psychology. Instructors who wish to provide undergraduate students with material relevant to psychology and law have a wealth of available options. Books, movies, Internet or Web materials, as well as classroom activities and demonstrations can give students an appreciation for the complex application of psychology to legal questions. As psychology and law becomes a more popular undergraduate topic, such applications can both increase student interest and provide an introduction to more focused courses offered later in the undergraduate curriculum. Editor's Note: This paper is based, in part, on an invited presentation delivered by Randy Otto at the 2003 meeting of the National Institute on the Teaching of Psychology (NITOP). Direct all correspondence to Randy K. Otto, Department of Mental Health Law & Policy, Florida Mental Health Institute, University of South Florida, 13301 N. 30th St., Tampa, fl33612, email@example.com. - Ackerman, M., & Otto, R. K. (in press). Forensic psychology. New York: Wiley. - Barthel, J. (1976). A death in Canaan. New York: Dutton/Plume. - Barton, C., & Bartol, A. (2004). Psychology and law: Theory, research, and application. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth. - Bergman, P., & Asimow, M. (1996). Reel justice: The courtroom goes to the movies. New York: Andrews McMeel. - Berman, G. L. (2000, March). Can class participation be enhanced? Active learning exercises for undergraduates in a Psychology and Law course. In B. Bennett (Chair), Active learning techniques for use in a psychology and law course. Symposium conducted at the meeting of the American Psychology-Law Society, New Orleans, LA. (firstname.lastname@example.org) - Berman, G. L. (2004, March). What can I do to present a better case? The use of focus group simulations in an undergraduate legal psychology course. In J. Platania (Chair), Beyond active learning: Developing interdisciplinary and collaborative projects in psychology and law. Symposium presented at the American Psychology- Law Society, Scottsdale, AZ. (email@example.com) - Borum, R. & Fulero, S. (1999). Empirical research on the insanity defense and attempted reforms: Evidence toward informed policy. Law and Human Behavior, 23, 375-394. - Finkel, N. (1998). Insanity on trial. New York: Kluwer/Plenum. - Fulero, S. (2000, March). Lights, camera, action: The use of films and videos in the undergraduate teaching of psychology and law. Paper presented at the biennial meeting of the American Psychology-Law Society, New Orleans, Louisiana. - Fulero, S., Greene, E., Hans, V., Nietzel, M., Small, M., & Wrightsman, L. (1999). Undergraduate education in legal psychology. Law and Human Behavior, 23, 137-153. - Kassin, S. (2002, November 1). False confessions and the jogger case. New York Times, p. A31. - Kressel, N., & Kressel, L. (2002). Stack and sway: The new science of jury consulting. New York: Perseus Books Group/Westview Press. - Lassiter, G.D. (2004). Interrogations, confessions, and entrapment. New York, N.Y.: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers. - Lykken, D. (1998). A tremor in the blood: Uses and abuses of the lie detector. New York: Kluwer/Plenum. - Miller, L. A. (1997). Teaching about repressed memories of childhood sexual abuse and eyewitness testimony. Teaching of Psychology, 24, 250-255. - Perry, N. W., Huss, M. H., McAuliff, B. D., & Galas, J. M. (1996). An active learning approach to teaching the undergraduate psychology and law course. Teaching of Psychology, 23, 76-81. - Small, M. (1993). Legal psychology and therapeutic jurisprudence. St. Louis University Law Journal, 37, 675-700. - Walker, L., & Shapiro, D. (2003). Forensic psychology. New York: Kluwer/Plenum. - Wedding, D. & Boyd, M.A. (1999). Movies and mental illness: Using film to understand psychopathology. New York: McGraw-Hill. - Wrightsman, L., & Fulero, S. (in press). Forensic psychology (2nd ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
On today’s date in 1927, former Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King joined several international dignitaries in dedicating the Peace Bridge between Fort Erie, Ont. and Buffalo, N.Y. Today, the bridge is one of the busiest border crossings between Canada and the U.S. In 1977, to mark 50 years since the bridge’s opening, which took place in June 1927, Canada’s Post Office Department (now Canada Post) and the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) jointly issued a commemorative stamp to mark the event; however, in an atypical move for a joint issue, the two stamps are markedly different in their design. DESIGNED BY ROLF HARDER Canada issued a 12-cent stamp (Scott #737), which was printed by Ashton-Potter with multiple colours and general tagging along two opposing sides. Designed by iconic artist Rolf Harder, the stamp highlights the standard of enlightened international relations that is the friendship between Canada and the U.S. Commercial considerations aside, supporters of the Peace Bridge visualized it as a monument to the peaceful years since the War of 1812. By 1914, planning was well on its way to coming to fruition; however, the Second World War intervened and the project remained incomplete until 1927, about nine months after engineers began the job of overcoming the Niagara River’s strong currents. On Aug. 7, 1927, an all-star cast of dignitaries met to dedicate the bridge. Participating in the ceremony were the governor of New York; the premier of Ontario; the U.S. vice-president and secretary of state; the Canadian and British prime ministers; and the Prince of Wales.
Get your feet wet with Time-based One-Time Password (TOTP) security by building your own Arduino OATH system. OATH is an open standard authentication system that provides a platform to generate tokens, making your login more secure than a password alone would. The TOTP approach is what is used with many companies that issue hardware-based dongles for logging in remotely. This security may have been compromised but it’s still better than passwords alone. Plus, if you’re building it around an Arduino we’d bet you’re just trying to learn and not actually responsible for protecting industrial or state secrets. The hardware setup requires nothing more than the Arduino board with one button and a screen as a user interface. Since the board has a crystal oscillator it keeps fairly accurate time (as long as it remains powered). It will push out a new token every thirty seconds. The video after the break shows that the Arduino-calculated value does indeed match what the test box is displaying.
Aggregations to the climate zone level at national and global scale To derive long-term yield indicators at climate zone level (Y climate zone), results at weather station level are aggregated to the climate zone level by calculating their area weighted average: where Y station i is the long-term yield indicator at weather station level of station i, Area station buffer zone i the harvested area in the buffer zone around weather station i and w the number of weather stations located within the climate zone. A specific climate zone with the unique characteristics may be situated in different countries and in different continents. Consequently, climate zones can cross borders of neighbouring countries or may feature in different continents. This implies different options for aggregation: - Consider climate zones per country: aggregate results from all weather stations that are located within a specific climate zone and within a country. This will result in climate zone results at a national scale. - Aggregate all existing weather stations that are located within a specific climate zone, to obtain climate zone results at the global scale. So, each climate zone will have one value that reflects the global average of Yp, Yw, Ya and Yg. In the extended Global Yield Gap Atlas for advanced users these two scales for cllimate zone results are all included. The default Global Yield Gap Atlas provides results for climate zones at national scale. If you click on a climate zone, you will see its value and a table with all contributing weather stations and their values. For the climate zone results at national scale, the list consists of weather stations from one country. For the climate zone results at global scale, the table provides a worldwide overview of all contributing weather stations. Note that a climate zone in a certain country only gets coloured if this climate zone holds a weather station that has been used to simulate yield potentials for the crop of interest. Besides different climate zone aggregation levels the extended version for advanced users provides extra indicators for rainfed crops: - Potential yield and related indicators: - Potential yield (Yp) - Yield gap based on potential yield (Yp - Ya) - Relative yield ( Ya / Yp x 100% ) - Relative yield gap ( (1 - Ya / Yp) x 100% ) - the relative Water Productivity (Actual WP/Potential WP)
Dr. Charles Drew, the surgeon who pioneered methods of processing and storing blood plasma for transfusion, died from injuries resulting from a car accident in Burlington, North Carolina. He was 45. In addition, he directed blood plasma programs in the United States and Great Britain during WWII, but he left his post after the armed forces demanded segregated blood banks despite lacking scientific reasoning to do so. Drew was one of the first African-Americans to be offered membership to the American Board of Surgery and in 1944 received the NAACP Spingarn Medal for his groundbreaking contributions to modern medicine. Additionally, Clara "Mother" Hale was born on this day in 1905 in New York City. In response to exploding drug abuse issues in her Harlem community, she founded the Hale House, where she cared for hundreds of unwanted babies born with HIV/AIDS or from mothers with drug addictions. The Hale House was known as the first program in the country designed to deal with infants born addicted to illegal drugs. BET Health News - We go beyond the music and entertainment world to bring you important medical information and health-related tips of special relevance to Blacks in the U.S. and around the world.
This course describes how to define and work with the more complex data types that RPG supports. The course begins by describing how to define and work with variable-length data items. Arrays are covered next. You will see how to define, initialize, modify, search, and sort an array. The course then describes how to load a compile-time array by including the array data at the end of the source module. RPG tables are discussed next. As you will see, tables are defined and processed differently than arrays. The course ends by describing array data structures and multiple-occurrence data structures. You will see how to define each and how to reference the data that they contain. Approximate Study Time: 90 minutes After completing this course, you should be able to: - Define variable-length data items - Code an RPG program that uses variable-length data items - Define an array and a table - Define and load a compile-time array or table - Code an RPG program that processes an array or table - Define an array data structure and a multiple-occurrence data structure - Code an RPG program that processes an array data structure or a multiple-occurrence data structure Using Variable-Length Data Items Using Compile-Time Arrays Array and Multiple-Occurrence Data Structures This course is intended for programmers new to the RPG programming language. It can also be taken by RPG III programmers who want to learn RPG IV and by RPG IV programmers who want to learn the free-form syntax. This course assumes that you are familiar with computer programming concepts. In order to satisfy this prerequisite, you should have some programming experience with another programming language. This course also assumes that you have a working knowledge of basic IBM i concepts and facilities. You can satisfy this prerequisite by successfully completing the courses in the following series: In addition, the course also assumes you familiar with IBM i programming concepts and facilities. You can satisfy this prerequisite by successfully completing the courses in the following series: Finally, the course assumes that you have a basic understanding of free-form RPG programming concepts. You can satisfy this prerequisite by successfully completing the previous courses in this series:
by ASIFF HUSSEIN There is perhaps no other museum in Sri Lanka that so faithfully reflects traditional Kandyan society and culture as the Kandy National Museum. Situated in close proximity to the Dalada Maligawa or Temple of the Tooth in the heart of Kandy town, the museum building goes back to the reign of King Kirti Sri Rajasinha (1747-80) and was then known as the Palle Vahala. It is believed that the building which still retains its typically Kandyan architecture was then used by the royal harem. What is most interesting about the museum is the variety of artefacts relating to the Kandyan period. Whether dress and ornamentation, weaponry, pastimes, musical instruments or ola leaf manuscripts, they reflect a culture and lifestyle that is typically Kandyan. Take for instance the variety of dress and ornamentation displayed here. Among the traditional Kandyan male attire to be seen here are various mul-endum or nilame costumes said to have been worn by important personages of the past including the Kandyan national hero Monaravila Keppetipola and Sir Tikiri Banda Panabokke. There are also various sorts of tuppotti or lower garments worn by Kandyan notables, including the somana tuppottiya worn by high-ranking Kandyans and Kasav tuppottiya worn by the Radala aristocracy. Also displayed here are various types of Kandyan headgear including a kasav jagalat toppiya worn by Molligoda Adigar as well as three Kandyan caps, one of which is red and shaped somewhat like a Turkish fez and two of which are blue and conical shaped with flaps. That caps were widely worn by the Kandyans of yore is borne out by the notices of foreign travellers in the Kandyan kingdom such as the 17th century English writer Robert Knox. Among the articles of feminine attire displayed here are a few rare hattes or jackets including two old Kandyan mante hattes worked in gold embroidery. Feminine ornamentation is however displayed in all its beauty and variety. These include traditional necklaces such as polmal-male comprising of a chain of filigree beads strung together, pavalam pota consisting of stones and filigree beads and the Bebila-eta-malaya, a small necklace consisting of little metal discs, the centres of which are studded with stones. Among the ear ornaments are the todu, a disc-shaped ornament about two thirds of an inch in diameter, through the centre of which is passed a metal wire to which a bell-like ornament is suspended, the kola, a cylindrical ornament about an inch long with one of its ends studded with stones which seems to have had its origins in the leaf ornaments worn by the Kandyan women of yore as suggested by both its name and form, and the kuru, a trinket that seems to have been worn on the helix or upper rim of the ear as is to be seen in a few photographs of Kandyan women occurring in the Twentieth Century Impressions of Ceylon published in 1907. The bracelets displayed here are also to be found in great variety and include Seri valalu, Gedi valalu and Gal valalu. Also to be seen are old Kandyan havadi or waist-chains including the type known as Gedi-havadi comprising of seven filigree beads. A peculiar type of ornament is the Konda-mala, a mushroom-shaped ornament worn on the konde or hair-knot of the fair sex while another rare ornament is the botu-petta, a disc-like pendant suspended from the neck with a black thread that seems to have been worn by Kandyan women over a century ago at the time of their marriage, a practice known as botupetta-bandinava. Besides these are to be found traditional Kandyan pastimes such as old 18th century olinda keliya boards in various shapes and with motifs such as lion and pair of geese, and cloth used for an obsolete game known as pahanda keliya belonging to the same period. Among the weaponry displayed are Kandyan execution knives and kodituvakku or Kandyan ginjals, besides hunting axes used by the Veddas of Tamankaduwa and hunting spears from Halmilleva in Mannar district. Musical instruments include a davula and bera said to have been used by the royal drummer of Kirti Sri. There are besides these writing instruments known as ulkatu or styles, ivory combs with carvings of of animal and human figures, Kandyan spectacles in ivory cases and a mould from Pata Dumbara said to have been used to make sudu hakuru or white jaggery for the Kandyan kings. Other miscellaneous items include a huge flag known as the Kindura Kodiya of Udunuvara depicting a mythical figure with the head of a human and body of a bird, and an instrument of torture known as Dadukanda or stocks for the feet used to confine prisoners in the olden days. Last but not least must be mentioned the valuable collection of ola leaf manuscripts containing medical prescriptions and charms known as yantra.
\|Product Details \| University of Iowa Press Imagine a "gold and mercury image on a layer of silver bonded to copper," an all-metal photographic process that poisoned some its practitioners. Imagine an era long before a surfeit of images began to dull the viewer, when a visual reality--not a virtual one--captivated the imagination. The daguerreotype process is not only "one of the great artistic vehicles for rendering the human face," says John Wood, but an equally potent and elegant means of rendering a scenic image. The author has assembled the largest collection of daguerreotypes ever seen in book form, including Jean-Louis-Baptiste Gros's masterful studies of the Acropolis and the Seine, and Joseph Wilhelm Pero's striking images of Lubeck, Germany. From Library Journal Invented in 1839, daguerreotypes were small (the largest being 61/2" x 81/2") and could not be reproduced because there were no negatives. These two titles provide a visual reflection of the 19th century through these images and confirm the beauty and elegance of the early images themselves. Both volumes contain essays by Wood, a noted historian of early photography, who suggests that daguerreotypists regarded themselves as artists and recognized the artistic value inherent in photography.... read more
From The Cochrane Library This guide is created primarily for Evidence-based Nursing Practice course for the DNP students. I'd appreciate any feedback you may want to provide. This is a page in progress! The following information is based on quotes from experts in the field. "Evidence based medicine is the conscientious, explicit, and judicious use of current best evidence in making decisions about the care of individual patients. The practice of evidence based medicine means integrating individual clinical expertise with the best available external clinical evidence from systematic research." (Sackett et al. BMJ 1996;312:71-72 (13 January)) "The terms “evidence-based practice” and “evidence-based health care (EBHC)” are used more universally, though “evidence-based nursing” and “evidence-based medicine” are also used. All four terms refer to Sackett et al.’s (2002) definition... The goal of evidence-based nursing is to provide practicing nurses with evidence-based data to deliver effective care based on the best research; resolve problems in the clinical setting; achieve excellence in care delivery, even exceeding quality assurance standards; and to introduce innovation (Grinspun, Virani & Bajnok, 2001/2002). Evidence-based nursing also reduces the variations in nursing care and assists with efficient and effective decision-making." (Spector, N. Evidence-Based Health Care in Nursing Regulation, NCSBN) "An ongoing process by which evidence, nursing theory and the practitioners’ clinical expertise are critically evaluated and considered, in conjunction with patient involvement, to provide delivery of optimum nursing care for the individual." Scott, K. & McSherry, R. "Evidence Based Nursing: clarifying the concepts for nurses in practice." Journal of Clinical Nursing 2009; 18(8): 1085-95.
How are plants structured? How do they adapt to their environment? Why are minerals, air, and light important for healthy plant growth? The answers to these and other questions about complex plant processes, written in everyday language, allow gardeners and horticulturists to understand plants "from the plant's point of view." Photos & illustrations.
What is the concept of appreciation in real estate? What Does Home Appreciation Mean In Real Estate? Home appreciation relates to a house or investment property increasing in value over a period of time. A raised value of a property can lead to the owner making a profit upon selling it or earning more income through monthly rent from their tenants. What are the two types of appreciation in real estate? This expectation of growth in property value is referred to as home appreciation. There are two forms of real estate appreciation: natural and forced. Some real estate investors rely solely on natural appreciation, while others prefer to force appreciation through home improvements and expense management. What is equity appreciation in real estate? Property value appreciation looks at the property's current market value, much like the scenario described above. Investment equity appreciation, on the other hand, looks at how much money your particular investment in the property is worth. What is positive equity on a house? Equity is the difference between what you owe on your mortgage and what your home is currently worth. If you owe $150,000 on your mortgage loan and your home is worth $200,000, you have $50,000 of equity in your home. What is the formula for calculating appreciation and depreciation? Appreciation and depreciation using the formula - Higher There is another way of calculating the above using a formula. The formula is V = l ( 1 + i ) n where: V is the final value of the money. l is the initial value of the money.
What is anal cancer? Anal cancer forms in the anus, the opening at the lower end of the intestines where the end of the intestines connect to the outside of the body. As food is digested and passes through the stomach, colon, small and large intestines and rectum, waste matter is passed out of the body through the anus. The two main groups of anal cancers include: - Cancers of the anal canal – start from cells in the mucosa, the lining of the canal that connects the rectum to the anus. - Cancers of the anal margin – form where the anal canal merges with outside skin. More information about anal cancers (American Cancer Society) What anal cancer is not Anal cancer should not be confused with other gastrointestinal cancers such as colorectal, liver, pancreas, stomach neuroendocrine, or gastric and GE junction because these cancers can have different symptoms, outlooks, and treatments. Common types of anal cancer - Carcinoma in situ – abnormal cells on the inner surface layer of the anus that have not spread to deeper layers. - Squamous cell carcinomas – the most common type of anal cancer that begins in the squamous cells lining the anal canal and margin and have spread to deeper layers. - Adenocarcinomas – Less common, these cancers usually start in cells that line the upper part of the anus near the rectum. It’s possible that you could have one or more of the following tests (but not all of these will apply to your condition): - Imaging (CT or PET scan) - Lower endoscopy or colonoscopy - Meeting with your surgeon, medical oncologist and radiation oncologist Depending on your unique set of conditions, your treatment could include one or more of the following treatments (but not all of these will apply to your condition): Your full team of care providers will work closely together to review your diagnostic tests, identify the best course of treatment particular to you, and help you understand your diagnosis and what to expect with any treatment you have.
On the banks of the Ticinus river in Pavia are the remains of a bridge destroyed in World War II. The footings break the flow of the river and its disappearance has broken the aesthetic layout of the town. Pavia is built around two main streets in traditional Roman style – the new covered bridge built slightly downstream means the old Roman “via Cardo” (Corso Strada Nuova) now heads straight into the river. Well before they had founded Pavia the Roman army was in flight near here and also destroyed a bridge across the Ticinus during a hasty retreat from their first engagement with Hannibal. Hannibal’s superior Numidian cavalry won the day and the Roman Consul Cornelius Scipio was severly wounded in the fighting – Livy claims that his son (later Scipio Africanus) bravely rode into the midst of the battle to save his father. Today Pavia, a university town, is famous for its extraordinary towers, built by competitive rich men during the Renaissance. The taller the tower, the richer and more powerful you were. Three of them stand side by side in the middle of the university. Unfortunately another of the town’s towers, adorning its church in the main square, made the news twenty years ago when it collapsed killing several people. We followed the Roman retreat to the nearby and then recently founded colony of Placentia (modern Piacenza). Hannibal followed too after skirting the ruined bridge and camped nearby hoping for battle. The other Roman Consul Longus also arrived with his army after an incredible forced march from Lilybauem in Sicily. It was December and bitterly cold and wet and Scipio’s army was mostly raw recruits. Scipio urged caution but Longus had the better of a skirmish with some Carthaginian foragers and, afraid he would miss out on all the glory when the new Consuls arrived to take over in the new year, was keen to engage. This confidence was in spite of a defection from the Roman camp by several thousand of their Celtic allies, who went over to Hannibal. A key part of the Carthaginian general’s strategy was to win over the Celts in northern Italy who were considered important but not very reliable allies in his war against Rome. In fact, Hannibal, wary of assasination by these fickle friends, is thought to have worn wigs to avoid being recognised. Hannibal – an expert in the psychology of war and aware of the impetuous nature of Longus – set his trap. He sent his youngest brother Mago with a hand picked force to hide in some reeds near a bank of the Trebbia. Today there is an old stone bridge that crosses the Trebbia on the way in to the town of Rivergaro. The river is little more than a stream here, but this location is very atmospheric – with the Trebbia valley up to the right and the town down to the left, and plenty of undergrowth near the bank for soldiers to hide. A lovely green valley extends upriver – it so captivated Ernst Hemingway when he was here during World War II that the local sparkling water quotes him as describing it as ‘the most beautiful valley in the world.’ In a move that would start the battle, Hannibal sent his Numidian cavalry to harrass the Roman camp at first light and lure them out. Longus eagerly complied and sent his men across the swollen and freezing river towards the Carthaginian army. The Romans were now cold, wet and hungry (they hadn’t had breakfast) and for these reasons were perhaps beaten before they had even started fighting. They were so cold in fact, that they had trouble drawing their weapons when they reached the other side of the river after wading through its feezing rapids. The description of this intense cold in Livy and Polybius rang true for us – our night in Rivergano was one of the coldest we have experienced so far, including our Alpine passage. But waiting for the Romans on the other bank the Carthaginians were fresh, had breakfasted and had kept warm around their campfires. They had the better of the early engagement then Mago sprung from his hiding spot – “a manouevre which threw the whole Roman army into confusion and dismay” (Polyibus III.74) and all was lost for the Romans. Some Romans managed to reach the safety of Placentia as rain possibly covered their retreat. Carthaginian losses during the actual battle were minimal but the cold extracted a high price. All but one of Hannibal’s elephants died in the bitter weather that day and Polybius reports (Polyibus III.74) that many men and horses also froze to death. Longus tried to conceal the loss by claiming a storm had prevented his victory but the Senate and people of Rome soon learned the truth. The city went into a panic but the Senate managed to restore order and quickly went to work sending legions to places of strategic importance, enrolling citizens in the army and mobilising allies. Hannibal still had plenty of work to do – and we still have plenty of cycling left!
A 2018 restoration attempt left the 16th-century Statue of St. George looking like a cartoon character and in need of "unrestoration." The historic, 500-year-old sculpture of St. George is kept at St. Michael’s Church in the northern Spanish province of Navarra. It's attracted a lot of attention for the "botched" restoration attempted on it. The results were so bad that an "unrestoration" project was commissioned at a cost of about $34,000. The following is an excerpt from Smithsonian Magazine about the project. When a botched restoration attempt of a 500-year-old sculpture of St. George in northern Spain went viral last summer, commentators couldn't resist weighing in: The well-meaning paint job, many pointed out, made the wooden statue look more like Tintin than a legendary dragon slayer. Thanks to a roughly $34,000 USD “unrestoration” project, the statue—housed at St. Michael’s Church in the northern Spanish province of Navarra—has resumed a semblance of its original, 16th-century appearance. As Palko Karasz reports for The New York Times, experts from the local government’s culture department stripped the sculpture of its showy paint layers, assessed damage inflicted by the use of materials and processes “completely incompatible with the restoration of works of art,” and largely restored the walnut wood saint to his pre-2018 state. But while Carlos Martínez Álava, head of the historic heritage department, tells the Guardian’s Sam Jones that the statue “has the same colors [seen] before last year’s extremely unfortunate intervention,” the fact remains, he says, that “we’ve lost part of the original paint along the way.” The bits of paint that were lost have been filled in and from a distance it all looks the same. But when you get up close, you can see very clear what’s original and what’s not.Martínez Álava, head of the historic heritage department project Read the rest of the article by clicking the link below:
Why our “Big Brothers, Big Sisters” Buddy Programme Works at KingsgateJanuary 14, 2019 Social Relationships in Lower Secondary (Year 7 and 8)January 24, 2019 There is an open and often frequent debate about whether native speaker teachers or non native speakers teach better. There are complex explanations behind this debate supported by research but also some very subjective opinions. Let me explain why Kingsgate made a choice for all of our core teachers to be native English speaking teachers. Parents Demand Native English Speaking Teachers When we speak to several hundreds of potential new families the key question parents always ask is “Who will be teaching my child?” Malaysian parents overwhelming demand that their children be taught by teachers from countries such as the UK, the US, Australia and Canada. They want their child to adopt an accent that they consider to be “native” in style and they want pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar to be equivalent. Before we get into the debate about whether this rationale is right or wrong, let’s be clear that Kingsgate is satisfying a very strong and clear demand. Parents ask for it and we provide it. Are Native English Speakers better English teachers? Being a native teacher provides a number of advantages. 1. They have better language proficiency 2. They have a more extensive vocabulary 3. They are better at explaining cultural issues in the target language 4. They are more flexible in their ability to adapt language across different topics. There is no doubt that learning a first language is done automatically for native speakers. Initially, it is the only language they speak with one set of grammar rules, vocabulary and conventions. By default, they become good at it. Native English Speaking Teachers are excellent in the use of spontaneous language for various settings. They can teach conversation in a very natural and proficient manner. Pronunciation is accurate and clear and they serve as strong role models for students in all characteristics of language. Language is also a social process. When you are teaching a language you are also teaching culture and language within a context. They are not just words or phrases with simple technical functions. They also bring shared cultural understandings with embedded values such as idiomatic expressions, slang words, what to ask and what not to ask in different situations. Colloquial expressions, idioms, and phrasal verbs are more extensive and richer for native verse non-native English speakers so they can answer any questions more easily. Are there advantages to being taught English by local teachers? The advantages of being taught by non-native English speakers is the fact that both teachers and students share the same culture. They sometimes explain grammatical rules better as these rules often guided their understanding about how to use the language. Native speakers learn through complete immersion. Native speakers understand grammar rules but in their case it can be explanation of “why” rather than the rules that guide actions. Non-native speakers also serve very well as role models for successful language learning. “This is how I learnt best.” The teacher can also explain English language concepts using students first language when students encounter problems and draw connections, similarities and differences between the languages. Personally, I don’t agree with “English only” learning environments. Zero tolerance ignores the advantages non-natives have of discussing some concepts in their native tongue so that learners develop a more complete conceptual understanding. Teacher competence is not driven by our native tongue or cultural background but in truth the accreditation and certification requirements for teaching in the UK, USA, Australia and Canada are more rigorous than many countries. Also, above and beyond base line certification teachers from these countries keep learning, improving and developing far beyond these foundation levels. Career teachers with several years of experience also have several years of additional training and development in schools that operate at high standards. International schools are emulating or exceeding these same standards. Non-native speakers can definitely achieve these same levels of teaching competence and standard and often do but to generalise, less non-natives have this same opportunity and career pathway. Watch our Video to hear more about Kingsgate International School Contact us now to find out how your child can best prepare for success through our programmes.