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Photo: Arno & Louise (flickr)
You’ve probably seen cowboys in Westerns sometimes puts their ear to the ground to listen for a stampede or wagon train in the distance. But did you know that elephants can also communicate with seismic signals–sounds transmitted through the ground–sort of like in those old cowboy films? The difference is that elephants not only listen to, but produce loud low-pitched sounds that travel long distances through the ground.
Elephants have evolved some special adaptations that may help with detecting the subsonic seismic signals. For starters, their ears are tuned to hear lower sounds than other land mammals’ ears.
Unlike cowboys, the elephants don’t need to put their ears against the ground to hear the sounds well. Playback studies show that elephants can hear and discriminate different kinds of seismic calls standing up. For example, when scientists played alarm calls with special underground “rumble speakers,” nearby elephants froze and then moved into defensive postures.
Scientists think elephants may pick up the sounds using their feet like microphones that transmit the signal to their ears by bone conduction. Vibrations from the ground travel through the feet up through bones in the legs, shoulders, and skull to the ear. Elephant feet actually contain a dense pad of fatty tissue that is thought to help amplify the sound. In addition, the skin on the bottom of their feet contains special touch-sensitive cells called Pacinian corpuscles. These sensory cells may also help with detection or discrimination of sound vibrations in the ground. You might say that elephants stay alert by keeping a “foot” to the ground! | <urn:uuid:b0453baf-2ba8-4e24-afb2-46b116e69a51> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://indianapublicmedia.org/amomentofscience/quiet-noise-hurting-feet/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397111.67/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00007-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954311 | 339 | 4.21875 | 4 |
March 31, 2011
Electronic Field Trip Explores “Making History Live” through Performance
Colonial Williamsburg concludes its season of electronic field trips April 7 with “Making History Live.” The program takes a behind-the-scenes look at using performance to teach history. Through music, stories and dancing, it examines how African American character portrayals and programs are created for Colonial Williamsburg’s Historic Area.
Students learn that performance presentation involves far more than wearing period clothing and pretending to be a historical character. From in-depth historical research through passionate performances, experienced museum interpreters share their techniques for bringing the past to life. Character portrayals give voice to the individual experiences of real people from the past and teach students to appreciate that people are the very heart of history, whether the details of their lives are well-documented or unknown.
Produced by Colonial Williamsburg’s division of productions, publications and learning ventures, electronic field trips are broadcast one Thursday each month from October through April at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. Eastern time on participating public television stations and cable channels across the country. Targeted to grades 4–8, the distance learning programs span a broad range of historical subjects about people, issues and events from colonial times to the present day.
Each electronic field trip is supported with multi-disciplinary lesson plans, interactive student resources, program scripts and other materials to help teachers make history exciting and relevant for their students. These Web-based resources have been developed by teachers, historians and museum educators and meet national standards for civics education and 21st-century skills as well as state standards for social studies, technology, arts education and language arts. Selected programs also correlate to additional state standards.
Students in participating schools may submit pre-recorded video questions, e-mail or phone in questions to costumed interpreters and historians during the live televised broadcast. Registered users also may view electronic field trips and use teacher and student resources via the Internet on demand any time during the school year. Participating schools also have continuing access to technical support and teacher tutorials.
For more information about the electronic field trip series, visit www.history.org/trips, call 1-800-761-8331, or e-mail email@example.com. Colonial Williamsburg’s Electronic Field Trip series is supported in part by the William and Gretchen Kimball Young Patriots Fund.
The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation is the not-for-profit educational and cultural institution dedicated to the preservation, interpretation and presentation of the restored 18th-century Revolutionary capital of Virginia. Colonial Williamsburg is committed to expanding its thought-provoking programming through education outreach on site and online. Purchase of Colonial Williamsburg products and services supports the preservation, research and educational programs of the Foundation. Philanthropic support by individuals, corporations, and foundations benefits the educational mission of The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.
Williamsburg is located in Virginia’s Tidewater region, 20 minutes from Newport News, within an hour’s drive of Richmond and Norfolk, and 150 miles south of Washington, D.C. For more information about Colonial Williamsburg, call 1-800-HISTORY or visit Colonial Williamsburg’s website at www.colonialwilliamsburg.com. | <urn:uuid:9fe373bb-68a3-4496-a70a-dabd7727b0ba> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.colonialwilliamsburg.org/foundation/press_release/displayPressRelease.cfm?pressReleaseId=1706 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397865.91/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00087-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933139 | 679 | 2.6875 | 3 |
By Doug Hornig and Alex Daley, Casey Research
In the world of finance, there is always talk of bubbles – mortgage bubbles, tech stock bubbles, junk bond bubbles. But bubbles don’t develop only in financial markets. In recent years, there’s been another one quietly inflating, not capturing the attention of most observers.
It’s an education bubble – just not the one of student debt that has graced the pages of the New York Times and so many other publications in recent months.
The problem is not that we are overeducating ourselves as many would have you believe. Rather, it’s that we are spending a fortune to undereducate ourselves.
The United States has always been a very educated country. But it is becoming less and less so, especially in the areas that matter to our individual and collective economic futures. Our undereducation begins with a stubbornly high dropout rate among secondary education students. About a quarter of those who begin high school don’t finish.
In an educational system where graduation from high school at a minimum level often means no grasp of mathematics beyond basic arithmetic, no training in basic personal finance, and no marketable professional skills, this is an obvious problem We can and should do more to prepare high school graduates for the world they now live in.
The big problems aren’t rooted in high school education, however, but with the decisions we as a nation are making in the education we get beyond the compulsory level.
Of those students who do make it through high school, 30% will not go on to any further education. That means 70% enroll immediately in a two- or four-year degree program, a major increase from the about 49% three decades ago. Despite rising college entry rates, we are not graduating any additional college students. That’s largely because among those who immediately enroll in college post high school, some 40% are not expected to get their degrees within six years.
The result: our overall college-educated cohort has flatlined over the past 30 years. The number of American citizens aged 25-34 who have attained a college education – including either a two- or four-year degree program – is exactly the same as the percentage among 55-64-year-olds, at 41%. (The US is also the only developed nation where a higher percentage of 55- to 64-year-olds than 25- to 34-year-olds has graduated from high school.)
Thirty years ago that 41% figure led the world in college grads; now we’re 16th and trending lower.
Many have suggested that it’s because we have a less than stellar college education system. But nothing could be further from the truth. While it has some problems for sure, the US remains a leader in post-secondary educational quality. One need look no further than the increasing number of foreign students pursuing advanced degrees in the US. For the 2009-10 school year, about 690,000 non-US citizens were enrolled at colleges in the US – the highest level in the world and up 26% from a decade ago.
Not only are foreigners attending our schools in record numbers, they are far more apt to pursue high-level degrees than US students. Foreign students constitute 2.5% of bachelor’s degree students, 10% of graduate students, and 33% of doctoral candidates.
Despite a top-notch educational system in the US, we’re failing to take full advantage of the opportunities it provides. But the bad news doesn’t end there.
In the 21st century, intellectual capital is what truly differentiates in the job market and what helps a country grow its economy. Investments in biosciences, computers and electronics, engineering, and other growing high-tech industries have been the major differentiator in recent decades. In order to be competitive in those fields, however, a nation must invest in so-called “STEM” studies (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math).
During the latter half of the 20th century, as more and more US high-schoolers opted to at least start college and were able to afford to go, their choice of academic pursuits have tended away from STEM subjects and toward the less-rigorous liberal arts.
When fewer students attended college and even fewer jobs required technical skills, private employers, and especially government, could soak up the overflow, putting people to work provided they had a degree, any degree… for a while. English literature, sociology, psychology, communications, fine arts, gender studies, and the like were majors that led, inadvertently, to nontechnical jobs – the blue-collar work of an information economy, marketing, and business, and of course to teaching the increasing numbers of new college students.
However, more careers than ever now require technical skills. Economic growth has slowed and unemployment rates have spiked, making employers much pickier about qualifications to hire. Plus, boomers have chosen or been forced to work longer in those professorships and other jobs.
There is now a glut of liberal arts majors. A classic bubble, born of unrealistic expectations that the investment of a hundred grand (or more) must result in a cascade of job offers. Or at least one.
It’s not happening. A study from Georgetown University listed the five college majors with the highest unemployment rates (crossed against popularity): clinical psychology, 19.5%; miscellaneous fine arts, 16.2%; United States history, 15.1%; library science, 15.0%; and military technologies and educational psychology are tied at 10.9%.
Unemployment rates for STEM subjects? Astrophysics/astronomy, just about 0%; geological and geophysics engineering, 0% as well; physical science, 2.5%; geosciences, 3.2%; and math/computer science, 3.5%.
STEM jobs also pay more. The list of the 20 highest mid-career median salaries, by college degree, features no careers from the liberal arts. Instead, according to a survey from PayScale.com, at the top we find: petroleum engineering, $155,000/yr.; chemical engineering, $109,000; electrical engineering, $103,000; material science & engineering, $103,000; aerospace engineering, $102,000; physics, $101,000; applied mathematics, $98,600; computer engineering, $101,000; and nuclear engineering, $97,800.
Liberal arts degrees provide few prospects for graduates. Yet the bubble continues to inflate.
In 2009, 1,601,368 bachelor’s degrees were conferred in the US, a 30% increase from 2000, which should be a good thing. But of these, a large plurality, 590,678, or 36.9%, was awarded in one or another of the liberal arts. That’s higher than 2000’s 36.1%.
Moreover, the next most popular major was business, with 347,985 degrees, or 21.7% of the total (up from 20.7% in 2000). And it was followed by health professions at 120,488 (7.5% vs. 6.5% in 2000); and education at 101,708 (6.4% vs. 8.8% in 2000). The business bulge would be okay if students were trained in how to start their own businesses. But it’s more likely that they dream of a lavish Wall Street job, one few will ever attain. In fact, that PayScale survey listed business as only the 59th best-paying college degree.
At the other end, these are the bachelor’s degrees earned in STEM subjects, as a percentage of 2009’s total, compared with 2000: engineering, 6.4% (down from 8.8%); biological and biomedical sciences , 5.0% (down from 5.1%); computer and information sciences, 2.4% (down from 3.1%); physical sciences and science technologies, 1.4% (down from 1.5%); and at bottom, math and statistics, 1.0% (up from 0.9%).
Americans don’t get it. Foreigners studying here do. True, the highest concentration of foreigners is the 21% in business and management. After that, though, comes engineering at 18%, nearly triple the level of US students; physical and life sciences (9%), and math and computer science (9%).
More than one in three foreign students at US colleges are entering these fields. Compare that to to fewer than one in six US collegians. Fine and applied arts, English, and humanities collectively account for only 12% of the foreigners’ total.
There are any number of reasons for the emergence of the US’s liberal-arts bubble. One is easy money. Students have been encouraged to attend college by the availability of loans, both governmental and private sector, and the disproportionate wealth of their baby boomer parents’ generation.
In addition, many companies began requiring a degree – any degree – for entry-level jobs that could adequately be filled by a bright high-schooler.
Institutions of higher learning bear some measure of blame as well. Liberal arts programs are much more profitable than hard sciences – professor salaries are lower as their non-academic options are lower, less equipment is required, and of course, recruiting is easier.
Other factors might include the stigmatization of “nerds” who take on more challenging studies; the lack of quality math and science education in secondary schools (where are they going to get great teachers when there’s so much money to be made with the relevant degrees elsewhere?); and the widespread misperception that any college degree will punch one’s ticket to an easier life.
As more philosophy B.A.s wait tables, it’d be nice if we could wave a magic wand that populated high school science and math classes with teachers who inspire students and students who want to be inspired. But, alas, this a generational bubble.
Lacking that, high school counselors should begin warning students of the perils of spending four years pursuing an interest for which there is no market and advising their charges where the real opportunities lie.
Would-be liberal arts majors must face the reality that one of their few hopes for a future job is to teach the same subject to the next generation, and that competition for the few such specialized positions is going to be intense.
Furthermore, there remains a wide gap between males and females with regard to math and science. Since three females are now attending college for every two males, this is a vast untapped resource. If females currently are discouraged from becoming interested in STEM subjects from an early age, as much research indicates, that’s reversible. If they can actively be guided toward those fields, that’s doable, too.
The US has led the planet in scientific research and technological innovation for a long time. But that is changing. Other nations, especially in the developing world, are minting new scientists and engineers faster than we are. Without major changes to our cultural attitude towards math and science, and some pretty serious changes to the educational system to support it, we risk becoming second-class citizens in a techno-society that we largely invented.
[“People” has always been one of the most important elements in evaluating a company’s stock by Doug Casey’s famous 8 Ps method– in both the technology and metals sectors. Sharpen your investing skills across both by taking advantage of a limited-time holiday offer: subscribe to Casey International Speculator and receive a free subscription to Casey Extraordinary Technology. As always, it is completely risk-free for ninety days. Get started now – this exceptional value won’t last long!]
Use our custom search to find more articles like this | <urn:uuid:5fe606d7-e5a3-487b-98c7-446184239e5d> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://inflationdata.com/articles/2011/12/07/the-uss-education-bubble/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397562.76/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00168-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959115 | 2,466 | 2.625 | 3 |
Money raised through the British Birdwatching Fair has enabled EWNHS (BirdLife in Ethiopia) to embark on restoring the Liben Lark’s habitat—identified as perhaps the most precarious of all of Africa’s birds following research by BirdLife scientists.
Liben Lark Heteromirafra sidamoensis is restricted to highly threatened grasslands on the Liben plateau, Ethiopia, and in an area near the Somaliland border to the north-east. In 2009, BirdLife uplisted Liben Lark to Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, with warnings that, without immediate action, it was likely to become continental Africa’s first recorded bird extinction. Money raised by the British Birdwatching Fair has supported the Ethiopian Wildlife and Natural History Society (BirdLife in Ethiopia and Species Guardian for Liben Lark) to attempt to restore the lark’s habitat. The project has been working with the agro-pastoralist community that depends on the Liben Plain for its livelihoods, in order to win their support for conservation efforts.
Twenty-five singing male larks were counted on transects in November 2012, including five in areas recently cleared of scrub that had encroached the grassland, where none had been recorded since regular counts began in 2007. The total population is now estimated to number 130–390 individuals, all confined to an area of just 30–36 km2.
Work is underway to clear encroaching scrub, establish non-grazing areas, prevent further conversion of grassland on the plain, and to build conservation capacity. A committee with broad representation has been established to manage the restoration of the Liben Plain, while multi-stakeholder workshops have led to agreement to oppose any further agricultural expansion and work with conservation organisations to preserve pastoralism.
BirdLife International (2013) BirdLife is working with local communities to safeguard the Liben Plain for people and larks. Presented as part of the BirdLife State of the world's birds website. Available from: http://birdlife.org/datazone/sowb/casestudy/559. Checked: 01/07/2016
|Key message: Managing specific populations and addressing threats| | <urn:uuid:db1b531a-1d79-4b67-8d46-fd6a542f2039> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://birdlife.org/datazone/sowb/casestudy/559 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783402746.23/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155002-00057-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941859 | 464 | 3.390625 | 3 |
Definitions for AVENUEˈæv əˌnyu, -ˌnu
This page provides all possible meanings and translations of the word AVENUE
a line of approach
"they explored every avenue they could think of"; "it promises to open new avenues to understanding"
a wide street or thoroughfare
A broad street, especially one bordered by trees.
A way or opening for entrance into a place; a passage by which a place may be reached; a way of approach or of exit.
The principal walk or approach to a house which is withdrawn from the road, especially, such approach bordered on each side by trees; any broad passageway thus bordered.
A method or means by which something may be accomplished.
There are several avenues by which we can approach this problem.
Origin: From avenue, from avenue, feminine past participle of avenir, from advenire, from ad + venire.
a way or opening for entrance into a place; a passage by which a place may by reached; a way of approach or of exit
the principal walk or approach to a house which is withdrawn from the road, especially, such approach bordered on each side by trees; any broad passageway thus bordered
a broad street; as, the Fifth Avenue in New York
Origin: [F. avenue, fr. avenir to come to, L. advenire. See Advene.]
In landscaping, an avenue or allée is traditionally a straight route with a line of trees or large shrubs running along each, which is used, as its French source venir indicates, to emphasize the "coming to," or arrival at a landscape or architectural feature. In most cases, the trees planted in an avenue will be all of the same species or cultivar, so as to give uniform appearance along the full length of the avenue. The French term allée is confined normally to avenues planted in parks and landscape gardens.
Chambers 20th Century Dictionary
av′en-ū, n. the principal approach to a country-house, usually bordered by trees: a double row of trees, with or without a road: a wide and handsome street, with or without trees, esp. in America: any passage or entrance into a place: (fig.) means of access or attainment. [Fr.: from L. ad, to, venīre, to come.]
British National Corpus
Written Corpus Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'AVENUE' in Written Corpus Frequency: #4422
Rank popularity for the word 'AVENUE' in Nouns Frequency: #1925
The numerical value of AVENUE in Chaldean Numerology is: 1
The numerical value of AVENUE in Pythagorean Numerology is: 5
Sample Sentences & Example Usage
It's going to put it up there with Madison Avenue and Rodeo Drive.
It's just another avenue to open up a dialogue with parents about safety.
Alice Paul showed up and said, 'I'm going to march on Constitution Avenue, that's badass.
I was on the avenue on March 15 and without a doubt, today's demonstration was much smaller.
There is an avenue of direct communication between the police department and the Russian government.
Images & Illustrations of AVENUE
Translations for AVENUE
From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary
- алея, авенюBulgarian
- avingudaCatalan, Valencian
- avenue, alléDanish
- δρόμος, οδός, λεωφόρος, αστική οδική αρτηρίαGreek
- avenida, vía, caminoSpanish
- valtakatu, puistokatu, reittiFinnish
- sugárút, útHungarian
- պրոսպեկտ, պողոտաArmenian
- breiðstræti, troðIcelandic
- corso, vialeItalian
- გამზირი, პროსპექტიGeorgian
- weg, laanDutch
- aleja, podjazdPolish
- واټPashto, Pushto
- cale, avenueRomanian
- авеню, проспектRussian
- đại lộVietnamese
Get even more translations for AVENUE »
Find a translation for the AVENUE definition in other languages:
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Working Towards A Universal Flu Vaccine
FLORA LICHTMAN, HOST:
This is SCIENCE FRIDAY. I'm Flora Lichtman, filling in for Ira Flatow, who's out today. This week, the FDA approved a new influenza vaccine for this year's flu season, and soon enough summer will be over and you'll be standing in line again at your pharmacy or doctor's office, participating in that yearly ritual - your annual vaccination allocation.
But what if that didn't have to happen? Imagine a world without the seasonal flu shot. What if one shot could protect you against flu forever and protect you against all flus, including avian flu and swine flu?
Well, you'll have to keep imagining for a while yet because there's no universal vaccine, but researchers are working on it. And joining me now to talk about the effort is Dr. Gary Nabel. He's the head of the Vaccine Research Center at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases - that's part of the NIH - and he's co-author of a paper this week in the journal Science Translational Medicine on the topic. Welcome to the program, Dr. Nabel.
GARY NABEL: Thank you.
LICHTMAN: So what's the difference between a universal vaccine and the one that I get every year?
NABEL: Well, an ideal universal vaccine would be one that would be similar to a childhood vaccine - for example, like a measles vaccine that you might get early in life, and that would then give you protection against all flu viruses that you might ever see in a lifetime. That's an aspirational goal. We may not get to a completely effective vaccine like that.
But another option would be to maybe get a vaccine once every five years or once every 10 years. The idea either way is to expand coverage so you don't have to go in for a yearly shot.
LICHTMAN: And would they work differently? Is the mechanism different?
NABEL: Well, yeah, there might be subtle differences in that something that's truly universal would need to target something that is very constant and unchanging in the virus and something that would be accessible to our immune systems. And in an ideal world, if we could target the vaccine to those kinds of structures, and we see those in the virus, then we'd have our universal vaccine.
But we may not be that lucky. We may end up not being able to get a clear shot at something that's completely (unintelligible) and if that's the case, we would redirect it to the parts that we could see, and then you might have a little bit of escape every once in a while, and so they would be targeted to different regions.
LICHTMAN: Give me a rundown of virus anatomy. What are we actually targeting with these vaccines?
NABEL: Well, there are different targets that various scientists are studying for universal flu, but the one that has gathered the most interest is the one that we call the hemagglutinin, which forms part of the outer spike of the virus. The spike is really the part that attaches the virus to the cell that it's going to infect, and so by interfering with attachment, you prevent the infection entirely.
LICHTMAN: And is that the H for H1N1, for example, is that where that hemagglutinin, is that how it manifests the name?
NABEL: Yes, that's right. When you talk about the H and the N terminology, the H refers to the hemagglutinin, the N to the neuraminidase.
LICHTMAN: So it interferes with the spike, and this is something that you're working on, right?
NABEL: Correct, yes.
LICHTMAN: How does your - your vaccine has two parts. Walk me through them.
NABEL: Well, the approach that has proven successful in our hands is to essentially deliver a one-two punch with our vaccine. We prime the immune system by using a genetic vector that delivers the hemagglutinin in isolation into the muscle.
Once that DNA is introduced into the muscle, it just makes the viral hemagglutinin and induces an immune response to it.
LICHTMAN: Let me jump in right here because this part I really want to understand. So you put DNA into our bodies, and then what happens exactly on the cellular level?
NABEL: Well, the DNA is taken up into the muscle, and essentially the muscle becomes the manufacturing plant for the hemagglutinin. It actually uses the genetic instructions from the DNA to make the hemagglutinin on the surface, and so essentially you're using the body's machinery to present the foreign antigen to the immune system.
LICHTMAN: It reads these foreign blueprints then.
NABEL: That's right, that's right, and we essentially within the DNA give the instructions for that cell to read out the viral protein.
LICHTMAN: OK, so you put the cell to work, and then what happens? What's the second stage?
NABEL: Well, then after a few months, we come back and we boost the immune response, and we can do that in one of two ways. We can actually inject the standard inactivated vaccine, the one that you and I get every year in our flu shot, or we can also do it by using a different type of carrier, a viral vector, an adenovirus, that can do the same thing.
In our human studies, we've actually done it with the standard flu vaccine.
LICHTMAN: And these antibodies are responding to the conserved part of that hemagglutinin, is that right?
NABEL: Well, when we generate the immune response to the hemagglutinin, we actually do generate antibodies to the entire hemagglutinin. But within the spectrum of antibodies that are made, are these antibodies to the highly conserved region to the - this region that is on the base of that spike, we call it the stem, and that's a region that has been identified by others previously to be highly conserved and susceptible to antibodies that are directed to that particular region.
LICHTMAN: How do you know when a vaccine is ready for primetime, that it's effective enough, I guess?
NABEL: Well, we do things in stages. With all vaccines, we look initially in small-animal models. Then we look in the animal models that are most relevant to the human disease. In the case of flu, it's a ferret model. And then we also will look at some of the immune responses in monkeys.
And when we see that we're getting the kinds of desirable immune responses that would give us improved potency, improved breadth, the kind that we see with these anti-stem antibodies, then we begin to take those steps to test them in people.
LICHTMAN: Are there variations from person to person about how effective a flu vaccine is, or is it more targeted toward the virus? That is, if it works on the virus, it's going to work for all people.
NABEL: That's a great question. There are differences from one - certainly there are differences from one virus to another. In fact, the flu virus makes its living by essentially getting a makeover every year so that the immune system won't recognize the new virus that it recognized the year before.
But having said that, there is variability in the population in terms of how well any one person responds to a given vaccine. In some cases people may be taking medications that could blunt their immune responses. In other cases there can be genetic differences in terms of how well you respond to a particular foreign protein.
So there is variation in the human population, and that in fact is one of the challenges for developing vaccines for broad use.
LICHTMAN: How has technology changed the way that vaccines are made? Is it easier to sort of see responses in living things as they happen now?
NABEL: Yes, the technology has improved by leaps and bounds. We have, in the case of influenza, now a variety of different ways that we can read out virus neutralization. The traditional way was done using red blood cells, and we would look at the clumping of red blood cells, which is called hemagglutination. And the antibodies to flu would prevent the agglutination of red blood cells.
That was used for decades as the best marker of an immune response. Now we can look with automated assays at neutralization of the virus.
LICHTMAN: What does that mean?
NABEL: Well, we can actually grow the virus in cell culture, and we can add antibodies to the virus and see if they block the growth of the virus in cell culture. It's a much more physiologic readout of virus inhibition.
LICHTMAN: So you can sort of watch the fight happening in front of you?
NABEL: Oh, absolutely, yeah, in a test tube, and then that gives us more confidence of how those antibodies might work in the body.
LICHTMAN: Now, your lab has worked on this vaccine for a couple years, and you reported the findings a few years ago. What did you report this week that's new?
NABEL: Well, what we found several years ago, in 2010, was that we - we were able to use this prime-and-boost vaccine approach to elicit this more broad neutralizing antibody to the stem region of flu. When we did those studies, though, we did them in animals that had never seen the flu virus before. And most people have seen the flu virus, either they've seen it because they've been infected, or they've seen it because they've had vaccines.
And so the question actually was raised by us and by others at the time - you know, would this approach work in settings where the immune system had already seen flu? In this study, we answer that question. We deliberately infect animals, we looked at both mice and at ferrets, or we deliberately pre-vaccinate them, and then we immunize them the same way we did in our previous study and ask if they're capable of making these broad stem antibodies that are a target for a universal vaccine.
And fortunately we found that there was no blocking of this immune response when animals had been exposed to influenza previously.
LICHTMAN: So it would work even if you'd had the flu before.
LICHTMAN: So in people, if we fast-forward it, you wouldn't have to be a newborn to have a vaccine like this maybe work for you?
NABEL: That's exactly correct. If we had seen a problem of that sort, it might still work at a young age, but this now certainly would give us more reason to be optimistic that in people of all ages, regardless of whether they had been exposed to flu, that it would have a chance of working.
LICHTMAN: Dr. Gary Nabel, thanks for joining us today. We'll look forward to hearing more about this and following this in the news.
NABEL: Thank you, it's been a pleasure.
LICHTMAN: Dr. Nabel is the head of vaccine research, the Vaccine Research Center at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the NIH. And we'll be back more to talk with Maria Popova, super-blogger, uber-tweeter; and Danica McKellar after this break. Stay with us. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright National Public Radio. | <urn:uuid:899e20af-f580-4ea8-8af5-e1ee7e80fe6c> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://kvpr.org/post/working-towards-universal-flu-vaccine | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398516.82/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00086-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966447 | 2,478 | 2.6875 | 3 |
Please excuse me, but you should be taking the histology course to improve your observational capabilities as well as your technique in a new area of biology. If you are using a microscope to study tissues, then you are given a great oportunity to increase your confidence in your powers of observation. The rules of identification are designed for ease of learning, not inflexible memorization.
For example, what anatomic/histologic feature of the esophagus would permit you to identify the region of the esophagus from which a section had been taken (upper or lower)?
How would you describe a longitudinal section of bronchus in which you saw cardiac muscle fibers?
Give, in one word, the histologic/anatomic explanation for the literal collapse of a lung via a pneumothorax - from any cause, including a perforated chest wall. Why does the lung collapse? Hint: the use of the word 'collapse' is misleading.
[ http://www.medicinenet.com/pneumothorax/article.htm )
How would you characterize an epithelium which included both stratified squamous and islands of stratified cuboidal - even when such a thing was not described in the book?
If you were shown a diagram of the junctions between cardiac muscle cells and asked to predict a function for the horizontal and the vertical(transverse) components, what would you say?
Why is tooth enamel not renewable?
Do collagen fibers in bone run precisely parallel to the long axis of the shaft?
How are the protein components in Haversian systems comparable to the cellulose fibers in the rings of a branch or root of a tree? [This is NOT an easy one, it is MOST interesting. The possible explanations for the arrangements are even more interesting - if you can think of them.] =20
What is birefringence?
In ground bone preparations, why are the spaces once inhabited by osteocytes black in bright field viewing? [NOTE: There is an easy answer to this question, but the explanation for the phenomenon is a little more difficult.]
What are the similarities of the confocal scanning laser microscope and the scanning electron microscope? [This is a trap! The answer is more than the obvious.]
In what vertebrate can one see bile canaliculi with the standard student light microscope? [Unfair! Is this in the book? Will it be on the test?]
How can a giraffe breathe while he is swallowing? [Where does he get these questions??]
Which of the following are intimately involved in human reproduction?
e. none of the above
f. all of the above
I love this stuff!
Frederick C. Monson, PhD
Technical Director, MIRTC
West Chester University
West Chester, PA, 19383
From: firstname.lastname@example.org on behalf of DivaPrincess4444@aol.com
Sent: Mon 2/18/2008 5:28 PM
Subject: [Histonet] Histotechnologist
I'm currently taking a Vertebrate Histology class at a university this
semester, and I was wondering what kind of job opportunities there are for
histotechnologists, what duties they would perform on a job, where they might work,
and what an average salary might be.
**************Ideas to please picky eaters. Watch video on AOL Living.
Histonet mailing list
Histonet mailing list | <urn:uuid:3f544440-7fe6-4b9a-8674-da66a2b0b8fd> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.histosearch.com/histonet/Feb08A/RE.HistonetHistotechnolog.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783394987.40/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154954-00143-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.890084 | 732 | 3.015625 | 3 |
Definitions for nicobar islandsˈnɪk əˌbɑr
This page provides all possible meanings and translations of the word nicobar islands
An archipelago in the Indian Ocean.
Origin: Possibly from
The Nicobar Islands are an archipelagic island chain in the eastern Indian Ocean. They are located in Southeast Asia, 150 km north of Aceh on Sumatra, and separated from Thailand to the east by the Andaman Sea. Located 1,300 km southeast of the Indian subcontinent, across the Bay of Bengal, they form part of the Union Territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India. UNESCO has declared the islands as World Biosphere Reserve.
The Nuttall Encyclopedia
a group of picturesque islands in the Indian Ocean, S. of the Andaman Islands and midway between Ceylon and the Malay Peninsula; 14 of the 20 islands are inhabited, chiefly by indigenous Indians and Malays; after being in the hands of Denmark for upwards of 100 years, they were annexed by Britain in 1869; trade is carried on with India in cocoa-nuts, ambergris, tortoise-shell, &c.
The numerical value of nicobar islands in Chaldean Numerology is: 5
The numerical value of nicobar islands in Pythagorean Numerology is: 5
Sample Sentences & Example Usage
We will see the Indian Ocean grow in importance, too, particularly around traditional chokeholds, such as the approaches to the Malacca Straits and the Nicobar islands, so an improved U.S. relationship with the major submarine player in the area, India, is very significant.
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"nicobar islands." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2016. Web. 2 Jul 2016. <http://www.definitions.net/definition/nicobar islands>. | <urn:uuid:7aedd364-7d74-4740-841e-31af82641624> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.definitions.net/definition/nicobar%20islands | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783404826.94/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155004-00125-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.850201 | 459 | 3.203125 | 3 |
New York (Jan. 15)
Facts concerning Jewish men in the U.S. armed forces during the first year of the war which indicate that American Jews are contributing their full share to the national war effort, were released here today by the National Jewish Welfare Board in a report entitled “In The Nation’s Service.”
The JWE reports opens with a statement by General George C. Marshall, Chief of Staff, to the effect that “there are thousands of Jewish soldiers in the ranks of the Army, and many officers of that faith.” The statement emphasizes that the U.S. Army is composed of people of many religions and that all of them “are Americans and all are involved in our effort to promote peace and justice in the world.” A section of the report also carries statements from American generals and admirals praising the Jewish servicemen as ably upholding the tradition of Americans in combat, proving themselves to be among the best fighters in the world.
Reviewing the record of Jewish heroism in this war, the report points out that “despite the relatively small percentage of Jews in the general population, men of Jewish faith have distinguished themselves in almost every major encounter in the war.” It enumerates outstanding acts of heroism by Jewish servicemen at Pearl Harber, Bataan, Corregidor, Java, Australia, Wake Island, Midway, New Guinea, the Solomons, the Aleutians and other fronts, revealing that in the North African campaign Lieut. Colonel A.H. Rosenberg is credited, among others, with leading the first American troops into Algiers. In addition the report carries an incomplete listing of names, deeds and citations of Jewish servicemen who have been decorated for valor since Pearl Harbor. | <urn:uuid:d3f83860-d083-45d6-9e77-4c1e8030f95f> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.jta.org/1943/01/17/archive/record-of-jewish-participation-in-u-s-armed-forces-published-by-j-w-b | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393533.44/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00194-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958779 | 367 | 2.75 | 3 |
Basis: Long Established Paradigm
from the River”
Bar 1: Centuries living behind dikes entrenches a defensive
mentality based on fear of water.
Bar 2: Sunk
costs of massive infrastructure investment over two centuries inhibit any
suggestion to modify or remove that
Bar 3: Momentum of national and globally driven development based on conventional paradigms leading to intensification of agricultural practices.
Bar 4: Lack of access to critical new information due to technological sophistication and due to lack of integration across domains of inquiry, i.e., disciplines, practice, i.e., training, and governance, i.e., government jurisdictions
Bar 5: Concentrated lobbying power of prominent actors, i.e., individuals and organizations with ample financial and political capital, overwhelms dispersed and disorganized local farmers and activists.
Bar 6: System self-organizes around reward loops of subsidies and paybacks, which reinforces a tight elite network such that all funding is funneled into their political machines within the present agricultural regime,
Bar 7: Present institutional structures do not permit implementation of complex,
integrated programs that still follow administrative and sectoral lines.
Problems of Transition
Bar 8: Failure to reach
and keep consensus. Some particular interests and alliances of the subgroups take overall precedence over solutions agreed upon by all parties
Bar 9: The diversity of views, knowledge, and terminology in all the separate formal and informal networks stall initiatives.
Bar 10: Inertia of passive attitudes by local stakeholders sustained in the absence of leadership to build trust and understanding and motivate action across the region.
Bar 11: Huge investment of financial, political, and social resources needed to provide convincing evidence of benefits of alternative river management strategies.
Bar 12: Loss of natural capital, e.g., biodiversity, seed bank, and human capital, e.g., skills, local knowledge, due to death, termination of local practices, and regional emigration increase initial investments needed to re-establish the functional basis of a sustainable social-ecological systems (SES).
Basis: Emerging New Paradigm:
“Live in Harmony with
Bdg 1: More diverse view of options shared by a wider
portion of society, including river engineers that we have to learn to live with
a naturally flowing river
Bdg 2: Increasing engagement of leaders
and concerned citizens in considering and deciding on alternative management
Bdg 3: Shadow network spanning entire TRB functions to generate
new visions that influence regional debate.
Bdg 4: Flood,
water stagnation, drought, and political crises shift political climate such that
a window for alternative solutions appears in public debate.
Bdg 5: Awareness-raising of importance of local culture, markets, regional brands, etc., and individual responsibility in decisions of where and how one lives.
Bdg 6: CAP reform (2nd pillar) promises new system to subsidze ecological farming and land use change and management practices that boost environmental services.
Bdg 7: Innovative traditional and novel ideas show promise to concretely address drought and flood volume management as indicated by integrated basin computer models and pilot projects in western Europe and Hungary.
Bdg 8: Legacy of knowledge and experience in extensive land uses and cultivation practices that provide sustenance in a periodically inundated floodplain.
Bdg 9: Information dissemination by civic groups and individuals, facilitated by the shadow network.
Bdg 10: EU policies (Natura
2000, WFD, CAP reform) create a supporting reference framework with which to
examine and modify river management policy. | <urn:uuid:9e31b5e4-5586-45f2-b95b-fefa52178a28> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol13/iss1/art11/table1.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395546.12/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00015-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.89479 | 751 | 2.796875 | 3 |
Books: Die Grundlagen der Griechischen Syntax: Delbrück
Editor for this issue: Danniella Hornby
New! Visit LL's Multitree project for over 1000 trees dynamically generated from scholarly hypotheses about language relationships: http://multitree.linguistlist.org/
Links to the websites of all LINGUIST's supporting publishers are available at the end of this issue.
In this fourth part of his general work on syntax, published in 1879, Berthold Delbrück (1842-1922), the German scholar remembered for his contribution to the study of the syntax in Indo-European languages (his three-volume Vergleichende Syntax der indogermanischen Sprachen is also reissued in this series), concentrates on the syntax of ancient Greek. His focus is deliberately broad as he seeks to engage classicists who are interested in linguistics or in how the Greek language was actually used, rather than in highly specialised case studies. In twelve chapters, Delbrück guides the reader through the gender and case of nouns, and explains some features seen as peculiarities of Homeric Greek which in fact demonstrate its kinship as an Indo-European language with the Vedic language of the Hindu scriptures. He also covers the tenses and moods of verbs, prepositions, pronouns and particles, and word order.
Vorrede; Einleitendes; 1. Genus der Substantiva; 2. Die Numeri; 3. Die Casus; 4. Die Adjectiva; 5. Das Augment und die Genera des Verbums; 6. Die Tempora; 7. Die Modi; 8. Das verbum infinitum; 9. Die Präpositionem; 10. Welche Pronomina sind im Griechischen proethnisch; 11. Einmal gesetzte postpositive Partikeln; 12. Wortstellung. | <urn:uuid:97c60be9-dc2a-4f2f-8914-4229063b83d4> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://linguistlist.org/issues/23/23-2612.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397795.31/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00180-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.754579 | 420 | 2.71875 | 3 |
Posted: Jun 04, 2007
Published by: the area
Software: Autodesk 3ds Max
More techniques and procedures will be explained in this tutorial. And also problems you could encounter when applying the explained techniques.
Everybody wants to know about creases, especially when car modeling they're essential for a nice result. Very often you see those blobby creases which make a car look very undefined and ugly. In the next section I will try and explain way(s) of making them.
You can see the crease approaching! ;) Back to the PSO, select the newly created polygons (1), extrude inwards (2) (By Group, height -5.0). Then when you go back to the ESO, you should notice that the edges are still selected (3) (exactly the ones we want), chamfer them by an amount of 1.0 (4). Then if you want the cube to remain cubish (this is not necessary, but we'll do it anyway) select (5) and chamfer (6) the other edges with an amount of 2.0.
The important and essential steps are of course: chamfer edge, extrude inwards, chamfer edge, as described beforehand. If you want you could also chamfer the edges on the inside of the extrusion part. Anyways, apply a MS with iterations 2 and your result should match the next image:
That is it, there is nothing more to it: chamfer, extrude, chamfer. Remember that, apply it and it always works. At least is has for me in the last years.
I will have a go at it, so I select the edges (1) (by using 'Loop'), chamfer (2), since that shouldn't be any problem. And then select (3) the polies that need to be extruded inwards.
Here lies the problem... we can't just go and extrude! Since then the part where there already is a crease will be extruded inwards for the second time. There's a way to extrude anyways now, but it's very, very cumbersome and hard work. It would encompass extruding parts, then deletion of existing polygons, creating new ones and hoping it all matches up. As follows: deselect the already creased part (2), extrude inwards (3), select polies that are in the way (4), delete them (5), create new polies to fill up the gaps (6 + 7 + 8). It works, but then you also have to make the chamfering of the edges match. And believe me all this is very very tedious work.
So there's a solution, but is there others? Yes, yes there is. It's a trivial one: create all your creases that cross at the same time! This will save you so incredibly much time. As you can see in my Porsche WIP progress from image 2 to 3 I created all creases in one big sweep. It was one 'chamfer' command, one extrude and one chamfer again, because they were almost all linked together somehow it had to be done all at once.
It's very easy to think that this is not a problem. But I will show you it is! ;) You don't have to do this yourself, looking at my images and reading what I do will be enough to see what's going on.
As you can see, where the creases cross each other a big tearing / hole appears. Not what you could possibly want. The question of course is, before we can solve it: why is this happening? It is happening because densifying you mesh when chamfering has a direction and MS has too. MS tends to smooth negatively perpendicular to the average of normals of the surfaces. So if you would take the normals of two faces, averaged them, and then inverse it (make it negative), then you get the direction MS would work in. Sounds a bit complicated, but it's a feeling you will get along the way of learning how to model. In the next image I tried to explain by drawing some images, how the direction would be.
Now that we know the cause of the problem, we can go and do something about it. Naturally our mesh densifying by chamfering comes to the rescue. Select the four standing edges, see image below, and chamfer them, so that they create a sort of barrier for the MS.
Hooray! That'll teach 'em! We win, we will always win. :D Modelers: 1, MeshSmooth: 0. Anyways, when MS doesn't do what you want, like it did just now, then densify your mesh in the places you think the cause of the problem lies and see whether it gives the desired result. If not then try other places to densify, densifying is always the solution. Always.
This is a problem that is hard to avoid and also quite hard to defeat. In short it's a problem that you want to densify your mesh somewhere, and it does what you want, but as a side effect it has effect on your model when you MS which you don't want.
All is well, yet now the problem: what if I want a rectangular inset in the side? I'll do it and the problems will occur automagically.
Looks good, but in fact it's fairly hopeless. From this angle it's hard to see the problem, but let me rotate the camera for you. See this side view:
It's not circular anymore see the right part of the previous image, there's a bulge right now. It seems minor, but believe me this is something that you see when you use reflective materials such as a car paint or chrome. Also realize that this problem will always occur when you have a curved surface and you start extruding inwards and chamfer some edges. It's a problem you'll be facing non-stop if you're working with cars. There's almost no car where there's no things that go inside on the car body and those are the places where it goes wrong. With NURBS this would be a piece of cake, but we're modeling indirectly, so it may look like it's going okay but the only thing that counts is after you have applied meshsmooth.
As said, there's very little that you cannot solve by making your mesh denser. And that is no surprise, since what you de facto do is play to be MS, you are actually smoothing things out. So try to make your mesh as undense as possible and let MS do the work, yet if that doesn't give the wanted result, then you densify it at place where it fucks up. If that gives wrong result again, try to tweak it and fool MS.
Newest users comments View All 8 Comments | <urn:uuid:a2bf9f49-6d8b-4646-9daa-56843233fda3> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://area.autodesk.com/tutorials/polygon_modeling_6_techniques_ii | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396949.33/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00108-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960867 | 1,439 | 3.59375 | 4 |
The Harmful Algal Blooms and Hypoxia Research and Control Amendments Act of 2011 (S.1701) was introduced by Senators Olympia Snowe (D-ME) and Bill Nelson (D-FL) yesterday to address the problem of Harmful Algal Blooms (commonly known as "HABs") that are making our coasts and oceans increasingly harmful to public health. Senate Bill 1701 also has six other co-sponsors, representing the East, West and Gulf coasts in the Senate. The Senate Bill complements H.R. 2484 introduced in the House by Representative Andy Harris (D-MD) on July 11, 2011. The house version of the bill states its purpose as "to reauthorize the Harmful Algal Bloom and Hypoxia Research and Control Act of 1998 to include a comprehensive and integrated strategy to address harmful algal blooms and hypoxia, to provide for the development and implementation of a comprehensive research plan and action strategy to reduce harmful algal blooms and hypoxia, and for other purposes."
Harmful Algal Blooms are accumulated patches of microscopic, single-celled plants that are normally not harmful and serve as the energy producers at the base of the food web in the ocean. Phytoplankton are believed to generate as much as 80% of the world's oxygen supply. They absorb nutrients and carbon dioxide from the water and produce oxygen through photosynthesis. However, during the harmful algal blooms, most of the phytoplankton eventually die and sink to the bottom, where they are decomposed by bacteria. In addition, at night when photosynthesis stops, algae and other aquatic plants produce carbon dioxide and consume oxygen. These processes deplete the dissolved oxygen necessary for the survival of fish and other organisms. The lack of oxygen leaves hypoxic “dead zones” where almost no marine life can survive.
A range of human illness can be caused by HABs, including the consumption of neurotoxins that are passed on through shellfish. Not only is coastal tourism affected negatively by this phenomenon, HABs shut down fisheries, harming the fishing industry too. Today, there are 405 dead zones in the world, including one in the Gulf of Mexico that is roughly the size of New Jersey.
The new Senate Bill 1701 will drive the development and implementation of a national program to address HABs and hypoxia by improving our ability to predict, mitigate, reduce and control them. This legislation strives to improve collaboration and coordination across the agencies and organizations responsible for implementing the plan, as well.
Stay tuned for how you can support this important oceans legislation! | <urn:uuid:553362f1-baff-43e4-a00b-a16b114b6b2a> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.surfrider.org/coastal-blog/entry/harmful-algal-bloom-bill-introduced-in-the-senate | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398869.97/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00157-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946717 | 548 | 2.90625 | 3 |
You are what you eat. For centuries, this has been the basis of most cuisines across the world. But it was Ayurveda, the 5,000 year-plus-old Indian health science, which first introduced the art of ‘personalised cooking’. In fact, it went a step further by demonstrating how not only what you eat makes a difference but how it is prepared also makes a difference.
Based on the understanding of the unique combination of Vata (Ether), Pitta (Fire) and Kapha (Water) that constitutes the human body and balances its life forces, the Ayurvedic cuisine encompasses dishes made with such combination of food that optimises these elements in the human body. Often considered as the father of Indian vegetarian cuisine, thanks to its plants and plant produce’s heavy usage, Ayurveda in its journey to evolve dishes that create the perfect balance in the body has also introduced most of the cooking styles that are termed healthy today, like pan frying, roasting, steaming and blanching.
The answer to ‘why’ some dishes in the Indian culinary repertoire are fried while others are steamed or even roasted can be found in Ayurveda. This ancient science actually discovered how cooking and the time taken to cook can change the composition of a particular food and its effect on the body. Like the lycopene in tomatoes, which enhances while cooking can be easily extracted. Likewise for onion. Tempering it with hing balances the diuretic properties in onion that makes it good for cough and cold and helps in digestion. In fact, ayurvedic cooking bars from using browned onions that have lost all their nutrients and can cause acidity in a few cases. Blanching carrots robs them off their betacarotene, and so best eaten raw. In fact the all-popular steam cooking done by wrapping vegetable in a leaf is also quintessentially ayurvedic in nature.
Legend has it that it was this understanding of science that allowed Draupadi and the five Pandavas survive in jungle. The kheer, a dish that finds mention both in Mahabharta and Ramayana was in fact an Ayurvedic invention. It combines the fat in milk with the starch in rice to boost energy.
The art of lactic fermentation and its use was yet another gift of Ayurveda to the culinary world. The proof of this is the high use of ghee and yogurt in ayurveda to treat a huge array of illnesses, from constipation to ulcers and even hangovers. An old scripture found from the Gupta period states the use of ghee to make a vegetarian spread for Khastriyas before the war. It is said that after the Kalinga war, Emperor Ashoka gave up meat in favour of vegetarian food, five times a week, because it kept him agile and alert. Soups, yet another innovation from ayurvedic kitchen, too were hugely consumed back in time. In Chola kingdom, it was used both as a morning beverage and for improving appetite. Soup was often the food given to new lactating mothers to regain strength.
Salads, mostly prepared raw with sprinkling of ginger slivers and lemon juice, first documented in the Ashoka period was thanks to Ayurveda. In fact, this earlier version of ‘raw food diet’ was adopted by the Buddhist from Kalinga (present day Odisha and West Bengal) who took it to other countries and continents while they travelled. Many food historians attribute the tradition of eating raw food or par boiled food in Chinese cuisine to Ayurveda and to the Chinese pilgrim Fa Hsien (c. 337–422 AD), who visited India many a time to document the culinary and health system, notes that Indian cuisine then, especially the vegetarian side, used minimum spices and cooking time so as to impart that right flavour to the dish without compromising on the nutrients.
It is this philosophy of cooking that is still followed by those practicing Ayurveda, and makes it a healing and restorative cuisine. What also lends ayurvedic cooking its unique identity aside the cooking method used for each food and the good use of local ingredients, is the use of certain herbs and practices. Most recipes in Ayurveda call for kasturi (curcuma aromatic), a fragrant variety of turmeric root instead of ordinary turmeric (curcuma longa) because of its aroma and nutrients. It also uses a lot of flowers and berries in its dishes instead of spices like chillies to extract the required flavor without too much cooking. So assuming that Ayurvedic dishes are all bland is truly a misconception. A spice and meat jaded palate will find it high on subtlety, but that is because each dish is made to suit a person’s character, which is a mix of Vatta Pitta and Kapha.
So how does one incorporate Ayurvedic cooking in one’s lifestyle? As Gita Ramesh, founder of Kairali Ayurveda Healing Village in Kerala, states in her book The Ayurvedic Cookbook, “by first finding what composition you are, usually people are a combination of Pitta-Kapha and Vatt-Pitta (the first character being dominant), and then eating according to your individual character. And following a proper routine, which is a ix of food and exercise.”
Though interestingly, she adds, ‘when it comes to vegetables and fruits, had in moderation everything benefits. And by moderation, I mean portion sizes that fit into a fist.”
Here are a few recipes to help you get started:
White Radish Salad
1 Radish, medium size, grated
1-inch Ginger, thinly sliced
1 Green Chilli, shredded
1 tbsp Coriander leaves, chopped
10 ml lime juice
Mint for garnish
Squeeze excess water from the radish. Now add the ginger, green chilli, coriander leaves and lime juice, Give it a good toss and serve with mint.
Tip: The radish juice can be made into a soup, but its best had fresh with a little lime juice and black salt for a clear stomach. Also, if you do not want to use chillies, pepper powder (freshly pounded) is a better alternative. Have a sweet tooth? You can also drizzle a little honey on the top.
Banana Cucumber Salad
2 Bananas, medium size
15 ml Lime juice
15 gm Peanuts, roasted and crushed
15 gm Grated Coconut
2 Cucumbers, medium size
Salt and chillies to taste
Mint for garnish
Slice the bananas into chips, grate the cucumber. Now in a bowl, add the bananas, cucumber, coconut and peanuts. Add the lime juice, chillies and give it a good toss. Adjust seasoning and garnish with int.
Tip: Those allergic to peanuts can substitute it with pinenuts that has the same nutty flavour. You can also use slightly sweetened yogurt/curd for the salad instead of lime juice.
Yellow pumpkin Soup
500 gm Yellow Pumpkin, diced
1 Onion, large
2 Green chillies
1-inch Ginger, sliced thinly
¼ tsp Cumin, roasted
2 Cloves garlic, chopped
A spring of Curry leaves
Salt to taste
Pressure cook all the ingredients except salt for 10 minutes in 2 cups of water. Once cooled, use a blender to turn the pulp into a smooth paste. Boil the paste with a little more water, adjust seasoning and served with sliced curry leaves.
Tip: want more zing in the soup? Toss the curry leaves in a little sesame oil.
A variation of the popular cabbage toran, it can be cooked faster than most Instant noodles.
400gm Carrot, diced into small squares
1 tsp Mustard seeds
Curry leaves for tempering
30gm Fresh Coconut, grated
2tsp Vegetable Oil
1 Dry red chilli, seeds removed
¼ tsp turmeric
½ tsp Cumin
Salt to taste
In a pan, heat oil, add the mustard and cumin seeds. Once they began to splutter, add the chilli and bruised curry leaves and cover to let out the aroma. Remove the curry leaves and add the carrot and turmeric. Cook till done. Add the grated coconut, mix well, add the curry leaves and cook for some time. Remove and serve hot.
Tip: The philosophy of cutting the vegetable uniformly helps vegetable cook faster. This is the reason that most Ayurvedic dishes have vegetables chopped alike so as they cook together and fast. The secret of making good toran is to cook coconut till it become slightly translucent.
Recipe And Picture Courtesy: Kairali Ayurveda Healing Village, Palakkad | <urn:uuid:39445617-101e-4a48-a7c4-02144af35f5c> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://indianexpress.com/article/lifestyle/food-wine/the-legend-of-ayurveda-cooking-and-how-it-can-heal-your-body/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783394937.4/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154954-00143-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937739 | 1,861 | 2.625 | 3 |
A Jovian Planet (often called "gas giants") is a giant gaseous planet with an overall composition of Hydrogen, Helium, and Hydrogen compounds, with a density less than 2 g/cm3. Unlike Terrestrial planets, each Jovian planet rotates quickly and is orbited by rings and satellites.
- "Jovian Planets", CADRE design Pty. Ltd.
- Bennet, Jeffrey, et al. "A Different Kind of Planet." The Essential Cosmic Perspective. 4th ed. San Francisco: Pearson Education, Inc., 2008. | <urn:uuid:25317e30-807e-4d45-bb40-778ac7783dab> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.conservapedia.com/Jovian_Planet | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397865.91/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00194-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.848205 | 121 | 2.875 | 3 |
Organizing to Win: What History Teaches Us
by Trish Kahle
No two historical situations are exactly the same, but sometimes the similarities are too eerie to ignore.
After a decade of right-wing reaction and working class retreat, crisis led to an explosion–but I’m not talking about the revolutionary explosion of the Arab Spring, or the occupation of the Wisconsin state capitol by union members and their allies, or Occupy Wall Street. I’m talking about 1930.
A reporter for the New York World described March 6, a day that began with President Hoover claiming employment would rise and ended with more than 500,000 people in the streets of 25 US cities, like this:“Women struck in the face with blackjacks, boys beaten by gangs of seven and eight policemen, and an old man backed into a doorway and knocked down time after time…. One of [the women] fought savagely howling curses…. A detective ran up and while the policemen held her crashed his blackjack into her face three times before a man dragged her away.”
Despite the repression, the protesters were back again later that year. This fight–the fight for basic relief and welfare services for the skyrocketing numbers of unemployed–was ultimately successful, securing $1 million in new relief funds (in today’s money, that would $14 million). Even more importantly, however, this victory was the beginning of a larger social struggle–and it was a struggle–that we now remember under the broad name “The New Deal.”
Typically, we are told that the New Deal was a reform program championed by FDR. But this story is not only false, it obscures the lessons we can learn from the struggles of the 1930s about how to organize–and more importantly–how to win. The Great Depression, which lasted from the stock market crash of 1929 until World War II, was a school of struggle for hundreds of thousands of members of the American working class. As people came to understand their collective power–whether by sitting in on the floors of their factories, fighting lynching and racist court decisions, demanding price control through roaming boycotts, or organizing the unemployed as a force of potential labor and social upheaval–they learned through trial and error what worked and what didn’t.
This is to point out how fluid and dynamic the struggle that culminated in the Social Security Act was. There was not a meeting after the October 1929 crash where workers sat down and decided to pursue such a program. In fact, when the SSA was passed in 1935, there was still very little consensus over whether the program met the demands of the people who had fought for it, and if it were not for WWII, the social tensions that were behind the massive strike waves, anti-eviction campaigns, and sharecropper organizing could have escalated. The organizers of the 1930s did not have the bounds on their thinking that the knowledge of the coming war imposes on us. In fact, Social Security was part of a bigger struggle that had a broad vision for a society that put working people first, that ensured people would not starve as their farms blew into sand across the Dust Bowl. Because of this, we cannot talk about Social Security without also talking about that larger struggle–a struggle in which many people died to ensure that the dictates of the market would not determine whether or not a person would eat.
Much like the people who formed unemployed councils in the early years of the 1930s, the American working class finds itself in a barely contained free-fall. Living standards, which had been in decline since the 1970s, took a nose dive after the 2008 economic crash. Around the world, poor and working people have been blamed for a crisis they didn’t cause. And instead of making the banks and multi-national corporations that caused the crisis pay for it, the ruling class–the 1%, as it were–are ramming through austerity packages around the globe, causing their profits to spike while wages, benefits, and real employment numbers continue to drop. Now, to add insult to injury, American politicians, Democrat and Republican, have put the social welfare policies on which millions of American rely on the block to receive the budget axe. The same policies for which women were beaten by policemen in the streets of New York, for which tenants defied eviction orders, for which unemployed people and workers were shot at by gun thugs are being stripped away. Not only will these austerity measures not fix the financial crisis, they will create a social catastrophe.
But if there’s one lesson we can learn from the struggles of the 1930s that culminated in, among other things, Social Security, the cornerstone of the too-meager American social safety net, it’s this: FDR might have signed the SSA into law, but it was the people like us–the workers, the farmers, the unemployed–who created it.
We can’t wait for a politician to save Social Security. I’m writing this in the middle of election day, and I know that whichever candidate wins, the people living in this country will lose unless we form our own political alternative, one steeped in the deep but too often forgotten tradition of grassroots organizing and workplace democracy of this country.
Trish Kahle is a PhD Candidate in US Labor History at the University of Chicago. | <urn:uuid:259defa4-0d98-4ea0-befc-3eb188f46c28> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.iiron.org/2012/11/06/organizing-to-win-what-history-teaches/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783392069.78/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154952-00002-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975247 | 1,099 | 3.015625 | 3 |
An astonishing photo of a newborn baby delivered still inside its intact amniotic sac is making the rounds online, months after Greek obstetrician Dr. Aris Tsigiris posted the image on the Facebook page of his medical practice on March 11.
Dr. Tsigiris, an OB/GYN operating out of Marousi, the suburban city northeast of Athens in which Greece hosted the 2004 Olympics, wrote in Greek that the healthy baby was delivered surgically by cesarean section, still surrounded by the amniotic sac filled with placenta.
The delivery was an "ultra rare" occurrence, said Dr. Tsigiris, in which the baby felt and behaved as if it had not yet been born even though it had already exited the womb.
During pregnancy, unborn babies float in the amniotic sac, a fluid-filled membrane that cushions, protects, and nourishes them as they develop.
The amniotic sac usually breaks when a pregnant woman goes into labor - an occurrence that's generally known as the "water breaking," with amniotic fluid gushing out of the birth canal, and signals that the baby is on its way.
In rare occurrences, like this one, the amniotic sac does not rupture on its own. Such a birth, in which the baby is delivered surrounded by all or part of the amniotic membrane, is known as an "en caul, or "veiled," birth.
Dr. Tsigiris said that such veiled births are more common, but still quite rare, in premature births. According to BabyMed, less than 1 in 80,000 babies are born with a caul.
Dr. Aris Tsigiris, an obstetrician in Greece, took a fantastic photo of a newborn baby in its intact amniotic sac, after a cesarean en caul delivery. [Facebook]
Cesarean deliveries en caul might actually help protect fragile premature babies from pressure trauma in the uterus, according to a 2010 study that found such benefits to leaving the amniotic membrane intact until after removal from the womb.
Former farrier and animal behaviorist Neven Gibbs said that en caul births are also extremely rare among other mammals, requiring the mother to tear the amniotic sac herself if the offspring does not break it open with its own claws, hooves, or teeth.
While it might seem alarming for a baby to born surrounded by a watery bubble, Dr. Tsigiris said there is no danger of the newborn drowning inside the exposed amniotic sac, since the placenta continues feeding it nutrients and oxygen through the umbilical cord.
The baby immediately takes its first breath of air once the amniotic sac is ruptured, a simple surgical technique called an amniotomy in which a thin hook opens the membrane.
Dr. Tsigiris expressed awe at the sight of the baby enclosed in its amniotic membrane, saying in Greek that sometimes "nature transcends itself, leaving even obstetricians speechless," and thanking the Association des Sages Femmes du Cap Bon (Midwives' Association of Cap Bon) for its assistance.
Facebook users marveled at the sight, adding over 10,000 "likes" to the photo within 24 hours of its posting, according to a translation of the Greek site News 247. By June, it had gathered over 8,000 shares and almost 800 comments.
Dr. Aris Tsigiris captured a photo of a newborn baby in its fully intact amniotic sac, a rare “veiled birth” in which the baby feels as if it is still in the womb. [Facebook / Aris Tsigiris]
In medieval Europe, according to BabyMed, babies born with a caul had mystical associations of greatness, and midwives would often preserve the membrane for the mother to keep as an heirloom.
In literature, the protagonists of both Charles Dickens' David Copperfield and Betty Smith's A Tree Grows in Brooklyn were born with a caul -- in both novels, the membrane was preserved and sold for its purported ability to ward off drowning.
In 2011, reports the Daily Mail, the actress Jessica Alba gave birth to a daughter who was born en caul in an intact amniotic sac, inspiring her to name the baby Haven.
Source: Lin CH, Lin SY, Yang YH, et al. Extremely preterm cesarean delivery "en caul". Taiwan J Obstet Gynecol. 2010. | <urn:uuid:b54dea3f-a5f4-460e-9716-494cde1bcbc2> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.medicaldaily.com/newborn-baby-delivered-floating-intact-amniotic-sac-en-caul-greek-doctor-graphic-photo-246557 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397562.76/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00020-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961874 | 930 | 2.578125 | 3 |
The Camino de Santiago (the Way of St. James) is a large network of ancient pilgrim routes stretching across Europe and coming together at the tomb of St. James (Santiago in Spanish) in Santiago de Compostela in north-west Spain.
Yearly, hundreds of thousands of people of various backgrounds walk the Camino de Santiago either on their own or in organized groups. People who want to have peace of mind will benefit from an organized tour or a self-guided tour while many will opt to plan the camino on their own.
The most popular route (which gets very crowded in mid-summer) is the Camino Francés which stretches 780 km (nearly 500 miles) from St. Jean-Pied-du-Port near Biarritz in France to Santiago. This route is fed by three major French routes: the Voie de Tours, the Voie de Vezelay, and the Voie du Puy. It is also joined along its route by the Camino Aragones (which is fed by the Voie d’Arles which crosses the Pyrenees at the Somport Pass), by the Camí de Sant Jaume from Montserrat near Barcelona, the Ruta de Tunel from Irun, the Camino Primitivo from Bilbao and Oviedo, and by the Camino de Levante from Valencia and Toledo.
The network is similar to a river system – small brooks join together to make streams, and the streams join together to make rivers, most of which join together to make the Camino Francés. During the middle ages, people walked out of their front doors and started off to Santiago, which was how the network grew up. Nowadays, cheap air travel has given many the opportunity to fly to their starting point, and often to do different sections in successive years. Some people set out on the Camino for spiritual reasons; many others find spiritual reasons along the Way as they meet other pilgrims, attend pilgrim masses in churches and monasteries and cathedrals, and see the large infrastructure of buildings provided for pilgrims over many centuries.
Walking the Camino
Walking the Camino is not difficult – most of the stages are fairly flat on good paths. The main difficulty is that few of us have walked continuously for 10, 20 or 30 days. You learn more about your feet than you would ever have thought possible!
The purpose of this website is to give you information about what it is actually like to walk one of the Caminos, and to choose which one would be the most congenial. Do not assume that you need to walk the Camino Francés just because everyone else does – the other routes are much emptier and have lots to offer.
Origins of the pilgrimage
The history of the Camino de Santiago goes back at the beginning of the 9th century (year 814) moment of the discovery of the tomb of the evangelical apostle of the Iberian Peninsula. Since this discovery, Santiago de Compostela becomes a peregrination point of the entire European continent.
The Way was defined then by the net of Roman routes that joined the neuralgic points of the Peninsula. The impressive human flow that from very soon went towards Galicia made quickly appear lots of hospitals, churches, monasteries, abbeys and towns around the route. During the 14th century the pilgrimage began to decay, fact brought by the wars, the epidemics and the natural catastrophes.
The recovery of the route begins at the end of the 19th century, but it is during the last quarter of the 20th century when the authentic contemporary resurge of the peregrination takes place. There is no doubt that the social, tourist, cultural or sport components have had a great importance in the “jacobea” revitalization but we cannot forget that the route has gained its prestige thanks to its spiritual value. | <urn:uuid:de3bcffd-2a61-4a79-85aa-01782eb2f513> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://santiago-compostela.net/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395620.56/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00105-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954752 | 814 | 2.671875 | 3 |
People who are underweight or frail have low reserves for bouncing back after an illness or injury. In the later years, this can lead to permanent ill health or disability. If you have trouble keeping your weight up, it's critical that you take special measures to build your weight, energy, and resilience. Every day, follow your doctor's recommendations and:
Eat three meals plus three snacks, and never miss a meal.
Choose higher-calorie foods from each food group, such as whole milk instead of skim milk. But try to keep your overall saturated fat intake low-high cholesterol can affect anyone.
Eat the highest-calorie foods in a meal first.
Use liquid supplements, such as Ensure or Boost, between meals.
If you are having trouble getting the food you need because of transportation, financial, or health problems, ask your doctor about local meal programs. Most communities have Meals on Wheels programs that can deliver food to your door. And there are meals at churches and community centers that can nourish your needs for both food and social time. | <urn:uuid:6e9d7d15-cda9-4d5e-a568-38ec75c32b96> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.webmd.com/healthy-aging/guide/healthy-aging-getting-nutrition-you-need?page=2 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783399425.79/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154959-00015-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967533 | 217 | 2.8125 | 3 |
Firefly Chemistry (Oct, 1937)
HOME-LABORATORY STUNTS WITH LUMINOUS SUBSTANCES
By Raymond B. Wailes
AMONG the most mysterious and beautiful of chemical experimerits are those producing substances that glow in the dark. With the aid of your home laboratory, you can make any number of common household products self-luminous. Coffee, tea, pepper, chili powder, mustard, cocoa, ginger, and many other groceries will produce a really visible light in a dark room, after you have treated them with the proper chemicals. You may even be able to make a flower from your garden emit enough illumination to allow you to read a few letters of print, and you will find that oil of bergamot, an ingredient of inexpensive perfumes, gives an especially strong glow.
All that you will need to produce these strange effects is a little grain or J denatured alcohol, a common alkali such as lye, hydrogen peroxide from the drug store, and one of the newer, “made with electricity” bleaching liquids and laundry whiteners. There are several of these liquids, widely advertised and obtainable at any grocery store. They are solutions of sodium hypochlorite, and you will find that this statement appears on the labels of the bottles.
Suppose you start in by purchasing about an ounce of oil of bergamot at the drug store. Add half a teaspoonful of it to an ounce of grain alcohol, rubbing alcohol, or radiator alcohol. Also dissolve in the liquid several pieces of solid sodium hydroxide (ordinary household lye will do), or potassium hydroxide. Now add about half a teaspoonful or so of drug-store hydrogen peroxide, and a like amount of the sodium hypochlorite solution. Darken the room, or take the mixture into a dark closet.
You will see light streaming from the liquid—”cold” light, soft and heatless like that of the firefly. Usually the mysterious glow is yellowish-green. Chemi-luminescence is the name given to the weird phenomenon.
In experiments with substances other than oil of bergamot, you may need to accustom your eyes to the darkness before performing the experiment, as the light is very faint. However, a strong glow may be obtained from the chili powder which is used in flavoring chili con carne—especially the very hot kind. A single can of chili powder from the grocery store will be enough for innumerable experiments. Steep a little of it in alcohol and add alkali, hydrogen peroxide, and sodium hypochlorite as before. The resulting liquid shines plainly in the dark.
Paprika powder, given the chemical treatment just described, also will glow in a darkened room, as will other spices, condiments, and kitchen staples. You will find it a fascinating pastime to try out a little of everything on the pantry shelf, to see what substance will give the strongest light. Grass, leaves, and flowers also can be used in your experiments if you macerate or grind them with the alcohol to extract the active constituents. Sometimes, in the case of flowers, the alkali will help to extract the glow-producing substance if it is added to the alcohol before soaking the plant. Instead of the liquid clothes whitener, an antiseptic solution found in many home medicine chests, technically known as a modified Carrel-Dakin solution, may be employed as an alternative source of sodium hypochlorite.
Now you will be interested to make the acquaintance of the ideal luminous material—a chemical produced by recent research, capable, under certain conditions, of giving off more cold light than any other substance known. Not only can you read print by its light, but you can even wander about your darkened laboratory by its illumination. Chemists call it “3-aminophthalhydrazide,” and it bears the common name of luminol. Many dealers in chemicals can supply it, and sixty cents’ worth will provide you with plenty for your experiments. Do not confuse it with luminal, another organic chemical, which is used in sleeping tablets; this is not the material you want.
To perform experiments with luminol, two solutions are made, producing light when they are mixed. One of the accompanying illustrations shows a copy of Popular Science monthly photographed by the light of the resulting mixture alone, using a gallon jug of it. To make enough to fill a vessel of this size, proceed as follows:
For the first solution, dissolve about two tenths of a gram of luminol in about an ounce of water, which has previously been made alkaline with a small piece (about the size of a pea) of sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide. Ordinary lye may be used for the alkali. When the luminol has dissolved, add about two quarts of water.
To make the second solution, dissolve half a gram of potassium ferricyanide (also known as red prussiate of potash) in several ounces of water. Then add about an ounce of hydrogen peroxide of drug-store strength (three percent), and dilute with about two quarts of water.
If you do not have facilities for measuring the luminol and the potassium ferricyanide in fractions of a gram, use a piece of each about the size of a pea. A little variation in the proportions used will not matter.
When the first and the second solutions are mixed, bluish-green light streams from them, rivaling the illumination of a ten-watt lamp. The glow lasts for several minutes, slowly dimming as time goes on. To restore its brillance, however, you need only add more potassium ferricyanide or more alkali, either in solid form or in solution. If you use the solid, the resulting glow is extremely intense near the surface, where the concentration of the newly added chemical is greatest. Stir the liquid, and it will swirl about to form beautiful luminous clouds.
To enhance the beauty of the display from luminol, try putting some of the luminous mixture in cut-glass vases, many-faceted vinegar cruets, and ornamental perfume bottles. The vessels will glow in the dark as if afire.
Dip a strip of lace or a piece of an old lace curtain in the mixed liquid, and then hang it up in the dark. The startling result, with every line of the pattern outlined in glowing fire, surpasses description.
For any display of home magic, luminol offers fascinating possibilities. Flowers in a vase, previously sprayed with one of the two solutions, magically light up as if they were burning when sprayed with the other solution in the dark—and will be found whole and unharmed by the mysterious fire when the lights are turned on again. For ar-other effect that is really startling when it is accompanied by a bit of drama in a darkened room, you can wet your hands with one solution and use a cloth moistened with the other one as a towel. (Be sure to wash your hands carefully to remove the chemicals, when you are through.) Weird and fantastic decorations for a magical seance can be made by winding cloth tape around stiff wire bent to represent thunderbolts, serpents, and other symbols, and letting the luminous mixture of the solutions trickle down the cloth.
If you can obtain a glass coil or worm, such as is used in some types of laboratory condensers, you can produce a beautiful spiral column of glowing light—a sort of “witch’s lamp”—by allowing the luminol mixture to drip through it. The source of the liquid will be invisible in the dark if you keep the two solutions apart, in a pair of separatory funnels which release them drop by drop, and let them mix just as they enter the glass coil.
A FOUNTAIN of light that will make a gorgeous display of radiance can be constructed from a pair of gallon jugs. Fill one of the jugs with the glowing luminol mixture and let the fluid siphon into the other jug, which is inverted and supported at a lower level. The lower jug is fitted with a two-hole cork carrying a medicine-dropper nozzle, through which the luminous fountain spurts upward within the vessel, and another glass tube for a drain. The height of the resulting fountain depends upon the difference in level between the two jugs. A screw-type pinch clamp on the rubber tubing connecting the jugs will help to regulate the flow and turn the fountain on and off.
For sure-fire results in chemical magic with luminol, use freshly made-up solutions and do not combine them until the moment arrives for your display. It is possible, however, to keep the separate solutions as long as several days, the one containing the hydrogen peroxide being the first to go stale by losing some of its oxygen.
Chemists do not fully understand the strange phenomenon of cold light. Oxygen evidently plays an important part in it, however. Omit the hydrogen peroxide from the mixture of chemicals used in the luminol experiments, and you will get no light.
Suppose you try to supply oxygen in some other way—by blowing your breath, for instance, through a solution containing only luminol, alkali, and potassium ferricyanide. Still you get no glow. Does it take oxygen in the peculiar nascent or active form that hydrogen peroxide liberates, to make luminol glow? You can readily find out. Decomposing water with electric current will also liberate nascent oxygen, and you can show that this will enable you to dispense with the hydrogen peroxide.
FOR this interesting experiment, dissolve a bit of luminol in water that has been made alkaline with a fragment of sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide. Also stir in a small crystal of potassium ferricyanide. Then pass a current of electricity through the solution. The source of the electric current may be three dry cells wired in series, or so that the electric circuit passes through each in turn. Connect the positive (center) terminal of the combination to a copper wire bent into the shape of a star, and the negative (outer) terminal to a carbon rod. When the star and the rod are immersed a short distance apart in the liquid, to serve as electrodes, current passes through the solution. Darken the room and you will see the wire star glowing with a soft blue light. Evidently the new-born oxygen liberated at this electrode makes up for the absence of any hydrogen peroxide in the solution. To observe the glow best, arrange the electrodes with the star on the side nearest you, since the action of the electric current gradually darkens the liquid and dims the light.
A mayonnaise jar with the top cut off makes a neat electrolytic cell, or receptacle for treating liquids with electric, current, in experiments like the one just described. You will be surprised to find how cleanly you can remove the tops of these jars with the aid of an easily made electric bottle cutter. It will also cut glass tubing of any diameter larger than half an inch, and bottles of all shapes and sizes. This handy device consists of a length of nichrome wire to which ordinary house current is supplied through a pair of electric heating elements. The latter are connected in parallel.
TO CUT a jar or bottle, file a mark I around the entire circumference where the break is to be made. Then plug the cord of the electric bottle cutter into an outlet, and hold the scratched mark on the glass against the red-hot nichrome wire, turning the jar or bottle constantly. Presently a crack will start. Continue rotating the glass vessel, however, until the crack has traveled all the way around it. Then the halves will fall apart of their own accord, or can easily be drawn apart. Emery cloth or an abrasive stone will smooth and round the sharp edge. By using a large enough loop of nichrome wire, even gallon jugs may be cut in two.
When a dye called fluorescein is used instead of luminol, the fountain-of-light apparatus will yield another spectacular lighting effect. Unlike luminol and other substances that glow of their own accord, fluorescein produces light of its own only when it is illuminated. Dissolve the merest pinch of the dye in water, together with a bit of alkali—say, sodium hydroxide or lye. The liquid glows or fluoresces when light strikes it —particularly ultra-violet light—and the yellow solution turns a queer, bluish color. An argon bulb, obtainable from any dealer in electrical supplies, makes a good source of ultra-violet rays for this purpose. As a matter of fact, an ordinary ten-watt lamp can be used, but the visible light that it gives off will make the effect much less spectacular. If you let the alkaline solution of fluorescein run through your fountain, and suspend the argon lamp just above the lower jug, you will obtain a beautiful display. | <urn:uuid:685f3d85-54b7-4f7d-9e78-eb8668216692> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://blog.modernmechanix.com/firefly-chemistry/2/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395620.9/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00045-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.929773 | 2,752 | 2.9375 | 3 |
For the first time, genetically engineered tomato plants produced a peptide that mimics the actions of good cholesterol when eaten, researchers reported at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2012.
In the study, mice that ate the freeze-dried, ground tomatoes had less inflammation and reduced atherosclerosis (plaque build-up in the arteries).
"We have found a new and practical way to make a peptide that acts like the main protein in good cholesterol, but is many times more effective and can be delivered by eating the plant," said Alan M. Fogelman, M.D., senior author of the study and executive chair of the Department of Medicine and director of the Atherosclerosis Research Unit in the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.
Researchers genetically engineered the tomatoes to produce 6F, a small peptide that mimics the action of ApoA-1, the chief protein in high density lipoprotein (HDL or "good" cholesterol). They fed the tomatoes to mice that lack the ability to remove low density lipoprotein (LDL or "bad" cholesterol) from their blood and readily develop inflammation and atherosclerosis when consuming a high-fat diet.
After the mice ate the tomatoes as 2.2 percent of their Western-style high-fat, calorie-packed diet, those given the peptide-enhanced tomatoes had significantly:
- lower blood levels of inflammation;
- higher paraoxonase activity, an anti-oxidant enzyme associated with good cholesterol and related to a lower risk of heart disease;
- higher levels of good cholesterol;
- decreased lysophosphatidic acid, a tumor promoter that accelerates plaque build-up in arteries in animal models; and
- less atherosclerotic plaque.
"To our knowledge this is the first example of a drug with these properties that has been produced in an edible plant and is biologically active when fed without any isolation or purification of the drug," Fogelman said.
Co-authors are Arnab Chattopadhyay, Ph.D.; Mohamad Navab, Ph.D.; Greg Hough, B.S.; David Meriwether, B.S.; Gao Feng, Ph.D.; Victor Grijalva, B.S.; James R. Springstead, Ph.D.; Mayakonda N. Palgunachari, Ph.D.; Ryan Namiri-Kalantari, B.S.; G.M. Anantharamaya, Ph.D.; Robin Farias-Eisner, M.D., Ph.D.; and Srinivasa T. Reddy, Ph.D. Author disclosures are on the abstract.
The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute funded the study.
Follow news from the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions 2012 via Twitter: @HeartNews.
Statements and conclusions of study authors that are presented at American Heart Association scientific meetings are solely those of the study authors and do not necessarily reflect association policy or position. The association makes no representation or warranty as to their accuracy or reliability. The association receives funding primarily from individuals; foundations and corporations (including pharmaceutical, device manufacturers and other companies) also make donations and fund specific association programs and events. The association has strict policies to prevent these relationships from influencing the science content. Revenues from pharmaceutical and device corporations are available at www.heart.org/corporatefunding.
Note: Actual presentation is 4 p.m. PT/ 7 p.m. ET Monday, Nov. 5, 2012 in Room 502a.
All downloadable video/audio interviews, B-roll, animation and images related to this news release are on the right column of the release link at http://newsroom.
General B-roll and Photos | <urn:uuid:4c54dcd6-54f6-4ee7-929a-3c49fcc9f5c8> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-11/aha-get102412.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783394414.43/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154954-00010-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.897089 | 779 | 2.8125 | 3 |
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A fuel pump relay is an electrical device much like an automotive fuse. It directs current to the electric fuel pump and ensures that the part receives enough power to operate properly, but not too much as to damage it. Fuel pumps require a lot of power to operate and this could cause overheating of the wiring system and the pump if were not for the relay.
In most automobiles, the fuel pump relay is underneath the vehicle's hood and attached to the firewall. It is a small black plastic box with a wiring harness plugged into the bottom of it. The relay operates as a monitor for the power going to the fuel pump, activates it when the ignition is turned on, and turns the pump off when the vehicle is turned off. The fuel pump can be heard humming when the ignition switch is first turned to the on position. This provides fuel for the vehicle to start up, and once the vehicle is running, the vehicle's computer sends a signal, and the fuel pump relay turns off. The vehicle's fuel pump will now be powered through another source, typically in the oil pressure sending unit.
To test the relay in the event of a non-starting vehicle, drivers can turn the key to the on position and listen for a buzzing or humming sound coming from the vehicle's fuel tank. If there is no noticeable sound, the problem could be the fuel pump or the relay. It is much easier to test the relay than to change the fuel pump.
In most vehicles, there will be two or more relays in the same location. Most are the same, and the vehicle's owner's manual will provide information about where they are. A driver can unplug the relay to test if it's causing a problem. If there is another relay next to it, he can unplug it and plug the fuel pump wiring harness into it. He should then turn the vehicle's key to the on position and again listen for the sound of a running pump.
If the pump runs, it is time to buy a new relay at the auto parts store. If the pump still isn't working, the driver needs to check the fuel pump. This will require removing the fuel tank. Individuals should use caution when working around fuel and be sure to keep the work area clean to prevent accidents.
One of our editors will review your suggestion and make changes if warranted. Note that depending on the number of suggestions we receive, this can take anywhere from a few hours to a few days. Thank you for helping to improve wiseGEEK! | <urn:uuid:9fbbfb0b-a304-4f6c-a476-7940ca984e9f> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-fuel-pump-relay.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783392527.68/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154952-00146-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959732 | 521 | 2.8125 | 3 |
Exercising language is the work of a lifetime - a cradle-to-grave adventure in which we extend and refine our oral and written skills - and the coaching of writing may usefully be considered a lifetime sport, one that causes suffering to teach us humility and then offers unexpected moments of joy to teach us hope and commitment and professional perseverance.
- William Strong, teacher and author
The "Teachers Toolbox" is designed to offer concrete ways that teachers can support writers during all stages of the writing process. It is organized in a question-answer format with questions grouped under the following headings:
- Incorporating Writing into the Content Area Classroom
- Supporting Student Writers Through Conferencing
- Developing Focus and Purpose in Writing
- Organizing Writing
- Using Support and Elaboration Effectively
- Dealing with Issues of Style and Audience
- Focusing on Language Conventions.
As Olson (2003) points out, "… one of the key differences between experienced and inexperienced readers and writers is that experienced readers and writers are strategic: They purposefully select and implement strategies in order to construct meaning. In order to become strategic, inexperienced readers and writers need both the knowledge and the motivation to select, apply, and monitor their use of strategies" (p. 101). The suggestions that follow build upon the idea that teachers can combine direct instruction, modeling, practice, and coaching to support student writers of all ability levels. | <urn:uuid:1d9b1be3-3542-4793-aead-c542a0f05a86> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.dpi.state.nc.us/curriculum/languagearts/secondary/writing/010toolbox | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783391766.5/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154951-00029-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93786 | 295 | 3.03125 | 3 |
If Halloween by itself wasn't frightening enough, this Oct. 31 has been set by U.N. demographers as the official day when the 7 billionth person will be born, as TIME says, "on a planet already strapped for resources."
No one knows where this 7 billionth person will "officially" be born, but TIME says he or she may be born in India, "which will be the world's most populous nation by 2030."
Halloween might be the appropriate day for this "sobering" event to happen, "a reminder of our planet's predicament," where, according to TIME, "there's a distinct whiff of panic and fear" around this event, especially since our population is increasing by 10,000 an hour and the U.N. median forecast is that we will have 9.3 billion people by 2050.
In an interview with TIME, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, answering a question on how the world can support -- environmentally and economically -- a population of 7 billion, 8 billion, 9 billion, notes that he suspects that the 7 billionth citizen will be born "into a world of contradiction."
After reading TIME's excellent yet foreboding spread of articles on this topic, I would hasten to add that the 7 billionth, the 8 billionth and especially the 9 billionth child will be born into a world of frightening uncertainty.
Perhaps the only thing we can say with certainty is that the 9 billionth child -- and I am not trying to be sardonic here -- will be a boy or a girl, unless the world community in earnest addresses "[c]limate change, food-security issues, energy shortages, water scarcities, disease, health issues and gender empowerment," in an integrated way, as Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urges.
Let's try to make Halloween 2050 a "treat" for the 9 billionth child.
Please read more here. | <urn:uuid:2f14bd18-e943-40ac-a8da-18276039fc67> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dorian-de-wind/this-halloween-the-7-bill_b_1065089.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397696.49/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00201-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939912 | 404 | 2.53125 | 3 |
Mathematics Knowledge & Skills
Mathematics Knowledge and Skills refers to the conceptual understanding of numbers and their relationships, combinations, and operations. It also includes reasoning, measurement, classification, patterns, and shapes and their structure. Math skills during the early years help children to connect ideas and develop logical and abstract thinking. Young children learn to question, analyze, and understand the world around them.
Toolkit for Professional Development
Use the toolkit's Know, See, Do, and Improve sections to learn about and try best practices in math teaching at the early childhood level. Find tools to review and improve math teaching practices.
The materials in this toolkit are designed as professional development activities and resources. Head Start programs use a research-based curriculum. Some programs choose to add a supplemental curriculum with a focus on math. This kit can be used to enhance a quality curriculum that offers clear content, well-designed learning activities, and a research-supported scope and sequence.
Know / Read About It
Learn about high-quality math teaching at the early childhood level and important concepts in young children's math learning.
Looking for "big-picture" messages about teaching math to young children? These resources provide a quick overview.
Mathematics Knowledge & Skills
This video highlights the elements of the Head Start Child Development and Early Learning Framework's (HSCDELF) math domain. It gives examples of teachers and children engaged in math learning.
Select the link to watch the entire HSCDELF video.
See pages 16 and 17 of the HSCDELF [PDF, 2MB] for more about the math domain elements.
Math Matters: Recommendations and Research
This presentation focuses on the importance of children's early math learning and ways that teachers can effectively support it. Download the Math Matters PowerPoint Presentation [PPT, 4MB] and Presenter Notes [PDF, 299KB].
What We Know about Early Math Learning [PDF, 119KB]
This article describes effective ways for teaching staff to encourage young children's mathematical skills.
What We Know about Improving Math Teaching [PDF, 105KB]
Read about how to help teachers improve their practices in teaching math to young children.
Explore these resources for more information about effective math teaching.
Office of Head Start Math Webcasts and Lessons
Watch these six webcasts on math domain elements. They include demonstrations of teaching strategies for early childhood math.
High Five Mathematize: An Early Head Start and Head Start Math Resource Guide
This comprehensive guide outlines ways to support teaching staff in helping children birth to 5 understand developmentally appropriate math concepts.
Front Porch Series Broadcast Calls
The National Center on Quality Teaching and Learning's Front Porch Series includes several presentations on math. Select from the broadcasts below to get started.
Math Teaching Practices: Helpful Resources [PDF, 73KB]
Find resources to encourage young children's math learning.
Math Domain Elements: Helpful Resources [PDF, 78KB]
Discover strategies for teaching children about individual math domain elements.
Math for Infants and Toddlers: Helpful Resources [PDF, 74KB]
The materials listed in this resource discuss ways to support infant and toddler math learning.
These tools can help guide curriculum decisions.
How to Select an Early Mathematics Curriculum [PDF, 77KB]
Explore what questions to ask when evaluating a math curriculum.
Choosing a Preschool Curriculum [PDF, 298KB]
This resource can help programs choose a preschool curriculum and assure high-quality implementation of it.
Head Start Curriculum and Assessment Alignment Tool [PDF, 357KB]
Use this tool to determine how well an early childhood assessment or curriculum aligns with the domains and domain elements of the HSCDELF.
See / Take A Look
Watch these video clips of teachers interacting with young children. Trainers and teachers can use these examples to identify and describe key math teaching practices. This video guide [PDF, 86KB] gives suggestions for ways to use the video to improve math teaching skills or learn new ones. Select the math concepts below to get started.
Do / Try It
Use these resources to help teachers practice math teaching skills and create plans to try new strategies in the classroom. Teachers also can get ideas for ways to extend math activities to engage families.
Let's Practice! Staff Learning Activities
These materials can help teachers practice effective math teaching.
Practice and Plan to Mathematize [PDF, 344KB]
Learn more about how to encourage children's math skills throughout the day. Brainstorm language and steps to take to include mathematizing in the classroom.
Let's Check! Are We Using the Curriculum Well? [PDF, 145KB]
These activities can help staff explore their math curriculum.
Math Materials Around the Room [PDF, 60KB]
Identify math materials to put in all areas of the classroom to help children develop math skills.
Math Talk Around the Room [PDF, 63KB]
Teachers can use this tool to brainstorm math language.
Practice Finding the Math [PDF, 644KB]
Learn how language can guide math learning with these photographs of young children doing activities in the classroom.
Snapshots of Math Learning [PPTX, 13.3MB]
Use these photos of children engaged in math learning to enrich professional development programs for teachers.
Support teachers in planning math activities with these tools.
Mathematics Planning Form [PDF, 55KB]
Teaching teams can use this tool to plan math activities and language that support children's learning throughout the day.
Curriculum Web Planning Tool: Extending Early Mathematics Knowledge Through Planned Learning Experiences Around Books [PDF, 465KB]
These four examples of curriculum webs illustrate ways for teachers to extend math concepts in children’s books to other classroom activities.
Enrich math learning with these recommendations for classroom activities.
Math Vocabulary and Phrases [PDF, 76KB]
Teachers can use the math vocabulary and phrases in this resource to strengthen children's math learning.
Math Through Books [PDF, 112KB]
Learn more about how to draw out the math in books to help children learn math concepts.
Finding the Math in Books: Ideas for Teaching Staff[PDF, 743KB]
Find suggestions for how teaching staff can use children’s books to highlight math learning. It includes books with Spanish versions.
Materials to Support Math Learning [PDF, 64KB]
Here's a list of possible math materials to put throughout the classroom to engage children in all types of math learning—patterns, geometry, number concepts and relationships, and measurement.
Math Through Songs and Music [PDF, 105KB]
Check out what math concepts children can learn when they sing common preschool songs!
Math Through Games [PDF, 82KB]
See all the math concepts children can learn when they play a variety of games.
Share these ideas for math learning with families.
A Family Note on Finding the Math [PDF, 349KB]
Offer these tips to families to encourage them to use everyday experiences to help young children learn math.
Improve / Improving Your Practice
Strengthen math teaching by helping teachers review and refresh teaching practices with a peer, a coach, or a teaching team.
Tips in 10
Engage teachers in math learning and reflection during staff meetings with these 10-minute professional development activities. The complete versions of these activities, plus many more, are available in High Five Mathematize. The activities include:
Use sticky notes to make triangles and other shapes (page 111).
- Picture Posters
Look at photographs to brainstorm vocabulary and concepts to "mathematize" children’s activities (page 55).
- Playing with Patterns
Play with small objects to sort, match, and make patterns (page 153).
- Finding the Measurement in The Three Bears
Write down measurement concepts you hear in a children’s story (page 208).
- Songs and Sums
Think of ways to use songs to highlight math concepts (page 59).
Taking it to the Classroom
These resources provide ideas for collaborating with teachers as they implement effective practices.
Find an overview, research, tips, and ideas for coaching teachers in using effective teaching practices.
Last Reviewed: July 2015
Last Updated: October 28, 2015 | <urn:uuid:997e33a7-a315-49cb-a680-46fe926741b4> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/tta-system/teaching/practice/curricula/MKandS.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783408828.55/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155008-00132-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.869633 | 1,716 | 4.59375 | 5 |
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Status and Trends of the Ashy Storm-Petrel on Southeast Farallon Island, California, Based upon Capture-Recapture Analyses
William J. Sydeman, Nadav Nur, Elizabeth B. McLaren and Gerard J. McChesney
Vol. 100, No. 3 (Aug., 1998), pp. 438-447
Published by: Cooper Ornithological Society
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1369709
Page Count: 10
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We conducted a capture-recapture study on the population size and trends of the Ashy Storm-petrel (Oceanodroma homochroa) on Southeast Farallon Island (SEFI), California, based upon data collected in 1971, 1972, and 1992. From March through August, birds were lured to fixed-site sampling locations using taped vocalization playback. Using program JOLLY, we estimated population size and evaluated statistical models using goodness-of-fit and Likelihood Ratio tests. On the southwestern slope of Lighthouse Hill, amidst prime breeding habitat, numbers of breeding birds decreased from 1,271 ± 140 (x̄ ± SE) in 1972 to 710 ± 117 in 1992, a decline of 44% (approximate 95% CI = 22-66% decline; λ = -2.8% per annum); for a variety of reasons, we consider this to be the most reliable indicator of population change. In 1971, on a portion of SEFI relatively disjunct from the sampling area in 1972, 2,131 ± 322 breeding birds were estimated. To produce an overall early 1970s estimate with which to compare to 1992, we summed population estimates from 1971 and 1972. An overall value of 6,461 birds, of which 3,402 (53%) were breeders, was obtained for the early period. In 1992, the overall population in roughly the same area was estimated at 4,284 ± 409 birds, of which 1,990 ± 408 (46%) were presumed breeders. These results, encompassing peripheral as well as more centrally located storm-petrel habitat, indicate an overall population decline of 34% and a comparable decline in breeding birds of 42% over the past two decades. However, oceanographic conditions varied between 1971-1972 and 1992, and reduced food availability in 1992 may have influenced colony attendance and breeding effort. Nonetheless, the apparent population decline over the past 20 years suggests that the species warrants management and/or additional protective status.
The Condor © 1998 Cooper Ornithological Society | <urn:uuid:2a50b0b2-f8cf-4054-87bd-b14ffc732460> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.jstor.org/stable/1369709 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393533.44/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00078-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.898705 | 640 | 2.734375 | 3 |
This is a guest post by Lisa Nielsen. She’s in charge of technology and teacher training for the New York City public schools, and she is the author of the book Teaching Generation Text. None of the opinions in this post reflect the views, opinions, or endorsement of her employer.
I’ve been a public school educator for more than a decade, but when parents ask for my advice, I sometimes suggest they leave school. (In fact I published a guide to help teens opt out of school.)
Education reform is happening today, but it’s slow. Parents need to do what is in the best interest of their children, right now. For some this means working hard with a school to adapt to meet a child’s needs. (I outline a plan for this in Fix the School, Not the Child.) But many schools are rigid and don’t believe students are entitled to a customized learning experience. It is at this point I suggest parents consider leaving school behind and empowering their children with the freedom to learn what they want in the way that is best for them.
Here are ten reasons why leaving school behind may be the best way for children to find success and happiness.
1. Learning is customized not standardized
- In school learning is standardized to what someone else says is best.
- At home learning is customized to what the child and parent feel is best.
2. Associate with those you enjoy rather than those who share your birth year
- In school students are grouped by date of manufacture.
- At home children can choose to be with those whose company they enjoy.
3. Freedom to learn with their tools
- In school students are often banned from using they tools they love to learn with — such as a cell phone.
- At home children can learn with the tools they choose. For many children technology open doors that schools slam shut.
4. Socialize with those who share your passions not just your zip code
- In school students have little opportunity to socialize and even when they do it is generally confined to those with whom they’ve been grouped with by year and geography.
- At home children have the opportunity to socialize and make global connections with others of any age who share their talents, passions, and interests.
5. Do work you value
- In school students do work someone else wants for someone else’s purpose.
- At home children can engage in meaningful work for reasons they determine are important.
6. Don’t just read about doing stuff. Do it!
- In school students are forced to sit at desks all day reading and answering questions about stuff other people do.
- At home children don’t need to spend their time reading and writing about what other people do. They can go do stuff.
7. Travel when you want
- In school they tell you when to go on vacation and families hop off to crowded destinations together.
- At home families can decide when travelling works best for them and also get better rates.
8. You are more than a number
- In school the only things students have to show for their work are numbers and graphs known as report cards, transcripts, or data reports.
- At home children often put together meaningful portfolios that can be reflected upon and powerfully capture and celebrate learning. This can be done at school, but it rarely happens as little time is left for assessment and reflection after testing and test prep.
9. Real life measures are better than bubble tests
- In school we measure students success with bubble tests and response to prompts.
- At home we measure success by what children accomplish that matters to them. Some teens like Leah Miller have developed their own personal success plan (see hers here). She sets her goals and then assesses her success in meeting them.
10. Independence is valued over dependence
- In school students are dependent on others to tell them what to do and when. They spend their time as compliant workers and are discouraged from questioning authority.
- At home children are encouraged to explore, discover, and develop their own passions and talents and given the freedom to work deeply in these areas. They know how to learn independently because they are interested, not because they are told to do something.
I am passionate about helping children learn innovatively. Home education is a great option to consider for many parents. For more ideas about learning innovatively you can visit The Innovative Educator blog. | <urn:uuid:1b2e9b38-89ff-4635-9987-771306b596f9> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://education.penelopetrunk.com/2011/07/16/if-the-school-wont-customize-take-your-kid-out/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396945.81/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00050-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969971 | 917 | 2.6875 | 3 |
Tips for Healthy Digestion.
Today’s busy lifestyles have led to changes in our eating habits, and not necessarily for the better. We shovel in a quick bite of food at our desk, in the car or while standing over the kitchen counter. We eat late at night in front of the television, or we skip meals altogether. The food choices we make have changed as well, often choosing packaged, processed convenience foods filled with hidden salt, fat and sugar. These poor eating habits can have a direct effect on our bodies, and not just by giving us a stomachache.
A whopping 70 percent of our immune system is clustered around our digestive tract. Food allergies, bacterial imbalance, enzyme or acid deficiencies, yeast overgrowth, parasites and stress all negatively impact not just our digestion, but also our entire immune system. Painful conditions such as gas, bloating, heartburn, reflux, constipation, diarrhea, irritable bowel syndrome, Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis are all related to inflammation in the digestive system. And when our bowels aren’t moving properly, waste builds up in our body, creating toxicity and hindering our overall health.
Getting to the bottom of it
Let’s face it: few of us like to spend much time thinking about the contents of our toilet. But together with your general feelings in and around your gut, the frequency and quality of your bowel movements can provide a lot of information about your digestive health.
Use this simple questionnaire to determine whether your digestion could use some help—answer yes or no to the following questions:
Do you have less than one bowel movement a day?
Do you ever have stools that are black in color?
Have you ever noticed blood in your stool?
Have you ever noticed mucous in your stool?
Are your stools very narrow?
Do you have a tendency towards loose stools or diarrhea?
Do your stools sink?
Do you experience excessive gas?
Do you experience abdominal bloating?
Do you have heart burn, indigestion, or reflux?
Do you have recurring nausea?
Do you have abdominal pain or cramping?
Do you notice food in your stools (besides corn)?
If you answered yes to even one of these questions, your digestive system needs work.
What does healthy digestion look like?
Optimal bowel function is one bowel movement after each meal—ideally three times a day, but a minimum of once daily. Any less than that, and you’re constipated. Quality matters, as well. The perfect bowel movement should float, be free of food particles and mucous, and not be overly narrow.
Mucous in or covering the stool, or narrow stools, is a sign of inflammation of the bowel. Strong-smelling gas could be caused by a deficiency of the enzymes necessary to properly digest protein or an imbalance of healthy gut flora (e.g., parasitic infection). If you wake in the morning with a nice flat stomach but look five months pregnant by day’s end, your digestion also needs help. Abdominal tenderness is yet another indication that your bowels could be inflamed and that you need to investigate your food choices, bacterial balance, enzymes and the state of your digestive-tract wall.
Some digestive problems are caused or exacerbated by adverse reactions to particular foods. Such reactions can impair the release of enzymes, the movement of your intestines and the walls of your GI tract. An extreme example is the ever-increasing Celiac Disease, an immune reaction to gluten that interferes with nutrient absorption in the small intestine. In other cases, the barrier of the intestinal wall can become permeable, allowing foreign substances to pass into the bloodstream, this is called Leaky Gut Syndrome. When this disruption occurs, inflammation, immune compromise or allergies may result and lead to hormonal imbalance.
What can you do to improve digestion?
1. First things first: you should remove the allergenic foods that can be the culprit behind your digestive disturbances. These are primarily wheat, dairy, corn and eggs, but are not limited to them. If there are certain foods that give you an adverse or less than desirable feeling afterward try eliminating them too. After two weeks, begin to introduce each item one by one. If you find that your digestion goes downhill, you have found the cause.
2. You should include a non-psyllium (and therefore non-irritating) fibre supplement in your smoothies or in a large glass of water twice daily. Try one or two tablespoons of ground flaxseed, chia or Salba seeds, or add in a good prepared product from your local health food store.
3. Add these must-have supplements for digestive health:
A probiotic supplement: Healthy bacterial balance in our digestive tract is easily affected by poor dietary habits and by the use of medications, such as birth control pills, corticosteroids and antibiotics. Everyone can benefit from the use of probiotics for healthy digestion, regular bowel function and immunity. Look for a supplement with 10 to 15 billion cells per capsule and take it on rising, before breakfast.
Magnesium citrate or glycinate: This supplement can encourage bowel movements because it’s a natural muscle relaxant. Take 200-800 mg per day, normally at bedtime. Start with a low dose and increase it gradually.
Essential fatty acids: These help lubricate the bowel. If you choose a liquid form, one tablespoon per day is sufficient. Good brands include Udo’s Choice, Essential Balance, Nordic Naturals, Carlson, Nutra Sea or Clear Omega. Liquid forms of fish oil supplements should be kept in the freezer. If you choose capsules, take two to four capsules a day with food. If you find that fish oil “repeats”, put the bottle in the freezer and take it with food, or try an enteric-coated formula. You can also add these fats into your smoothies if you would prefer to swallow less pills.
With these simple tips your belly should be happy in no time.
Jenn Pike is Owner of Simplicity Yoga & Fitness Therapy studio in Keswick , Ontario Canada. Jenn is a Registered Holistic Nutritionist, ERYT 500 hr certified Yoga Instructor, STOTT Pilates trained instructor and Master Personal Trainer. She is also lead Holistic Nutrition and Wellness expert for Sadie Nardini. Jenn is host to two of her own shows Core Fusion Flow, a yoga and pilates pratice, and Living Simpliciously with Jenn, a show all about food, nutrition, shopping, cooking and living your well-balanced life to the fullest.
Jenn is a proud wife and mother to two amazing children
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|Compartmented Mode Workstation Labeling: Encodings Format Oracle Solaris 10 8/11 Information Library|
Example 8-2 shows the encoding of an inverse word that is not necessarily in a hierarchy. A single marking (or compartment) bit is necessary, and this bit must be specified as an initial marking (or compartment) bit, as described in Chapter 3, Classification Encodings. This example is the simplest and most common example of the association between a human-readable inverse word and the internal format. Inverse words can also have multiple associated bits, and may be in hierarchies with other words.
Example 8-2 Inverse Words
name= word2; markings= ~1;
Appendix B, Annotated Sample Encodings contains examples of inverse information label words: bravo4, charlie, REL CNTRY1, REL CNTRY2, REL CNTRY3. | <urn:uuid:b98fe7be-cca3-4d2b-bd92-b4a3d85f9696> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://docs.oracle.com/cd/E23823_01/html/819-0874/sec8-3.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783391519.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154951-00177-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.867162 | 199 | 2.65625 | 3 |
|You won't see this in all-Black cities|
Today their Silver Spring community of Hillandale is home to people of every race and ethnicity — the epitome of what one sociologist calls “global neighborhoods” that are upending long-standing patterns of residential segregation.So what happens to those communities that are classified as Black enclaves? Well, Black kids vying for initiation into gangs and high levels of Black crime make Trick-or-Treating (and the ability to create lasting relationship and build communities) an impossibility.
Around the region and across the country, the archetypal all-white neighborhood is vanishing with remarkable speed. In many places, the phenomenon is not being driven by African Americans moving to the suburbs. Instead, it is primarily the result of the nation’s soaring number of Hispanics and Asians, many of whom are immigrants.
The result has been the emergence of neighborhoods, from San Diego to Denver to Miami, that are more diverse than at any time in American history.
As the nation barrels toward the day, just three decades from now, when non-Hispanic whites are expected to be a minority, these global neighborhoods have already begun remaking the American social fabric in significant ways. Their creation and impact have been especially pronounced in the Washington area, where minorities are now the majority.
A Washington Post analysis of 2010 Census data shows a precipitous decline in the number of the region’s census tracts, areas of roughly 2,000 households, where more than 85 percent of the residents are of the same race or ethnicity — what many demographers would consider a segregated neighborhood.
In the District, just one in three neighborhoods is highly segregated, the Post analysis found. A decade ago, more than half were.
From Loudoun to Fairfax to Montgomery, communities that are growing are also growing more integrated, with people of every race and ethnicity living side by side. Prince George’s stands virtually alone as a place that is gaining population yet has an increasing number of residents living in neighborhoods that are overwhelmingly one race — in this case, African American.
A Washington Post analysis of census data shows that the number of Prince George’s neighborhoods where more than 85 percent of residents are the same race or ethnicity — what demographers consider a high level of segregation — has inched up, from 25 percent in 1990 to 27 percent last year.
Though the increase is small, any uptick is startling in comparison with everywhere else in the region. While the all-white neighborhood has all but disappeared from Northern Virginia, Montgomery and the District, the all-black neighborhood is on the rise in Prince George’s.
Yet the Prince George’s experience also illustrates the limits of integration. Most blacks and whites still live in separate neighborhoods, despite the dismantling of legal segregation decades ago.
Today, integration has moved beyond black and white. Integrated neighborhoods often are created when Asians and Hispanics move into predominantly white neighborhoods, said John Logan, a Brown University sociologist who has studied segregation patterns for 30 years. He says these “global neighborhoods” pave the way for more blacks to move into a community without triggering white flight.
In the Washington region, 90 percent of whites still live in neighborhoods where they are a majority or the largest group. Many whites remain unwilling to buy houses in black neighborhoods, Logan said, and so are most Asians.
“It’s going to be a long, long time before that disappears,” he said.
Some whites with deep roots in Prince George’s say they sense that the white exodus from the county is largely over and that Hispanics have helped make the county feel more diverse than ever.
Maryland state Del. Justin D. Ross (D) and his wife are raising four young children in Hyattsville, not far from the University of Maryland in an area that has long attracted a mix of people. His two oldest children attend University Park Elementary School, where the student body is 30 percent black, 30 percent Hispanic, 26 percent white and 8 percent Asian.
“We’re giving [our children] a competitive advantage in a real world that will look much different than the one my parents grew up in,” said Ross, 35, who is white and grew up in Prince George’s.
But most white longtime residents have friends and neighbors who have left the county and made little secret of why, said several who met on a recent afternoon to discuss white flight and diversity.
“A lot of white people don’t want to live around black people. It’s crazy, I know,” said John Petro, a developer who lives in a predominantly black subdivision in Bowie and has no intention of moving away.It’s crazy? Hmm… in virtually every major city in America that has a high population of Black people, nearly all-white suburbs have been created. It would be crazy if it were only one city; that it is EVERY city where Black and white people interact that has seen an exodus of the latter (with the former then in charge of a city that they inevitably see collapse) means it is definitely NOT CRAZY!
“They don’t always say ‘black,’ ” said Jane Eagen Dodd, a retired schoolteacher who lives in an Upper Marlboro community with a rich mix of people from different backgrounds. “They say, ‘The county is changing.’ ”
So what is Trick-or-Treating like in Prince George’s County, where crime is a huge problem (thus, disproving Putnam’s study on how communities that are homogeneous are much better than the diverse cities)?
How many of the kids in Prince George’s County are bused into the dwindling few all-white enclaves around D.C.?
The Washington Post can brag about Prince George's County offering Black people a chance to be around "Black role models" while gloating about the end of all-white enclaves. But where will Black kids be able to Trick-or-Treat when these all-white enclaves disappear?
Halloween is the one night of the year where an entire community leaves their homes and interacts with each other. Interesting that Putnam's study on how racial diversity erodes community trust needs a caveat: the greater the percentage of Black people in a community (even if it is an all-Black enclave), the less the community trust. | <urn:uuid:c4c6d8ac-0f23-4d52-a6a4-0d8141205de0> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://stuffblackpeopledontlike.blogspot.com/2011_10_01_archive.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398075.47/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00021-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957024 | 1,334 | 2.5625 | 3 |
The Five Most-Powerful Navies on the Planet
It’s a universal truth handed down since antiquity: a country with a coastline has a navy. Big or small, navies worldwide have the same basic mission—to project military might into neighboring waters and beyond.
The peacetime role of navies has been more or less the same for thousands of years. Navies protect the homeland, keep shipping routes and lines of communication open, show the flag and deter adversaries. In wartime, a navy projects naval power in order to deny the enemy the ability to do the same. This is achieved by attacking enemy naval forces, conducting amphibious landings, and seizing control of strategic bodies of water and landmasses.
The role of navies worldwide has expanded in the past several decades to include new missions and challenges. Navies are now responsible for a nation’s strategic nuclear deterrent, defense against ballistic missiles, space operations, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief. With that in mind, here are the five most powerful navies in the world.
First place on the list is no surprise: the United States Navy. The U.S. Navy has the most ships by far of any navy worldwide. It also has the greatest diversity of missions and the largest area of responsibility.
No other navy has the global reach of the U.S. Navy, which regularly operates in the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Oceans, as well as the Mediterranean, Persian Gulf and the Horn of Africa. The U.S. Navy also forward deploys ships to Japan, Europe and the Persian Gulf.
The U.S. Navy has 288 battle force ships, of which typically a third are underway at any given time. The U.S. Navy has 10 aircraft carriers, nine amphibious assault ships, 22 cruisers, 62 destroyers, 17 frigates and 72 submarines. In addition to ships, the U.S. Navy has 3,700 aircraft, making it the second largest air force in the world. At 323,000 active and 109,000 personnel, it is also the largest navy in terms of manpower.
What makes the U.S. Navy stand out the most is its 10 aircraft carriers—more than the rest of the world put together. Not only are there more of them, they’re also much bigger: a single Nimitz-class aircraft carrier can carry twice as many planes (72) as the next largest foreign carrier. Unlike the air wings of other countries, which typically concentrate on fighters, a typical U.S. carrier air wing is a balanced package capable of air superiority, strike, reconnaissance, anti-submarine warfare and humanitarian assistance/disaster relief missions.
The U.S. Navy’s 31 amphibious ships make it the largest “gator” fleet in the world, capable of transporting and landing on hostile beaches. The nine amphibious assault ships of the Tarawa and Wasp classes can carry helicopters to ferry troops or act as miniature aircraft carriers, equipped with AV-8B Harrier attack jets and soon F-35B fighter-bombers.
The U.S. Navy has 54 nuclear attack submarines, a mix of the Los Angeles, Seawolf, and Virginia classes. The U.S. Navy is also responsible for the United States’ strategic nuclear deterrent at sea, with 14 Ohio-class ballistic missile submarines equipped with a total of 336 Trident nuclear missiles. The USN also has four Ohio-class submarines stripped of nuclear missiles and modified to carry 154 Tomahawk land attack missiles.
The U.S. Navy has the additional roles of ballistic missile defense, space operations and humanitarian assistance/disaster relief. As of October 2013, 29 cruisers and destroyers were capable of intercepting ballistic missiles, with several forward deployed to Europe and Japan. It also monitors space in support of U.S. military forces, tracking the satellites of potential adversaries. Finally, the U.S. Navy’s existing aircraft carriers and amphibious vessels, plus the dedicated hospital ships USNS Mercy and USNS Comfort, constitute a disaster relief capability that has been deployed in recent years to Indonesia, Haiti, Japan and the Philippines.
The People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) has come a long way in the last 25 years. The spectacular growth of the Chinese economy, which fueled a tenfold defense-budget increase since 1989, has funded a modern navy. From a green-water navy consisting of obsolete destroyers and fast attack boats, the PLAN has grown into a true blue-water fleet.
The PLAN currently has one aircraft carrier, three amphibious transports, 25 destroyers, 42 frigates, eight nuclear attack submarines and approximately 50 conventional attack submarines. The PLAN is manned by 133,000 personnel, including the Chinese Marine Corps, which consists of two brigades of 6,000 marines each.
The People’s Liberation Army Navy Air Force provides fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters for China’s new aircraft carrier, helicopters for surface ships, and shore-based fighter, attack and patrol aircraft. The PLANAF has 650 aircraft, including J-15 carrier-based fighters, J-10 multirole fighters, Y-8 maritime patrol aircraft, and Z-9 antisubmarine warfare aircraft. | <urn:uuid:a16e79ee-5e7f-459a-bbc7-10e5f7fa348c> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://nationalinterest.org/feature/the-five-most-powerful-navies-the-planet-10610 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396027.60/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00021-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939156 | 1,082 | 2.953125 | 3 |
What’s a pog? If you didn’t come of age during the 1990s, the name may not ring a bell. But for the children of the ’90s who grew up with a Cabbage Patch Kid in one hand and a Beanie Baby in the other, pogs were an important fact of life.
Pogs transcended their lowly cardboard form to become an important cultural artifact of the ’90s, from memorializing popular icons of the time to becoming an obsession for its young players. And pogs are still used today, in a much different capacity than the schoolyard game – as official army currency overseas.
After reaching peak popularity in the mid-90s, pogs faded into obscurity from popular culture. Need a pog refresher course? Check our interactive trivia pogs, and revisit the decade’s most popular cardboard circles with us here:
1. Pogs take their name from a popular Hawaiian juice.
POG, the game’s namesake drink, is an acronym for the juice’s ingredients: pomegranate, orange and guava. Drank by 1.3 million Hawaiians each month, POG is sold in select parts of the West Coast, so if you live in California, Oregon or Washington, you may be able to get your hands on a bottle.
2. The game’s origins date back to 17th-century Japan.
Born during the Edo Period (early 1600s-late 1800s), the classic Japanese game of Menko is credited as the inspiration for pogs. Menko’s playing pieces were the size of milk caps, displayed pictures of Japanese cultural icons and were later made from cardboard – just like pogs. The gameplay was also similar, involving players trying to flip the pieces of their competitors.
3. Pogs in their present form came to America via Hawaii.
Menko migrated to Hawaii with the Japanese immigrants that settled there in the 20th century. In Hawaii, the game was played with the brightly-colored milk bottle caps from Maui’s Haleakala Dairy, which originally bottled the popular POG juice. As the story goes, the dairy workers would play games during their breaks with milk caps, becoming pogs’ early predecessor.
4. The game of pogs was popularized by a Hawaiian elementary school teacher.
A sixth-grade teacher at Waialua Elementary, Blossom Galbiso introduced her students to the old bottle cap game to help improve their math skills. The simple classroom game helped ignite a phenomenon, as the game spread in popularity across the island and soon to mainland America, where the icons players used evolved from the Haleakala Dairy bottlecaps to small cardboard circles.
5. Pogs evolved into promotional items.
In the minds of big brands, letting kids play pogs with milk caps was a wasted opportunity. As the craze spread to America, companies like Coca-Cola, McDonalds, American Airlines and Nintendo released their own sets of branded pogs.
Hollywood also got in on the pogs action, releasing pieces for major releases. And you weren’t a ’90s icon unless your face was on some pogs – even Bill Clinton had some!
6. The U.S. military uses pogs as overseas currency.
To American troops around the world, pogs are more than just a ’90s fad. The Army and Air Force Exchange Service, the U.S. military’s merchandise supplier, began supplying troops in Afghanistan with pogs in 2001 for use as army currency, aiming to cut down the weight of shipping heavy nickles and dimes overseas. With the official name “POG gift certificates,” AAFES pogs maintained the name and size of the schoolyard game with a simpler design. The army pogs were released in 5, 10, and 25 cent denominations and are still used to this day to buy items from AAFES stores around the world. | <urn:uuid:0b024550-5e03-4e8d-9d33-abbfb85d7a7f> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://tvblogs.nationalgeographic.com/2014/06/26/6-facts-about-pogs-the-1990s-favorite-forgotten-game/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395992.75/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00112-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964008 | 833 | 3.078125 | 3 |
Lava vs Magma
The difference between lava and magma pertains to their location. Well, before going into a discussion about this difference, let us see what each term refers to. Not many of us know that the temperature beneath the surface of the earth increases as we go down. In fact, the temperature at the centre or core, as it is called, is so high that it consists of nothing but molten rocks and other solid materials because of extremely high temperatures. This mixture of molten rocks is called magma. This magma resides in certain places called chambers that have passages up to volcanoes. When volcanoes erupt, it is this magma that is constantly fed into the volcanoes. When this magma comes out of volcanoes, it is referred to as lava. Though technically speaking, there is no difference between magma and lava as it is magma that is referred to as lava, there are many who remain confused about their differences. This article attempts to find out differences, if any, between magma and lava.
What is Magma?
Magma, as we discussed earlier, is molten rock. We stand on the cool earth, and cannot even think or imagine how hot down there at the center of the earth. As one travels down the crust and enters the mantle, the temperature gradually increases, and there are pockets of mantle where one can find molten rock. This molten rock, called magma, finds its way up to the surface of the earth through fissures and cracks and also through chambers that fed into volcanoes.
The earth’s crust is made up of plates that keep on colliding with each other. Normally, these plates fit together like pieces of a huge jigsaw puzzle, but when they move, they cause friction and release of lots of energy. When plates collide, one section slide over another, and the one beneath is pushed down. This causes molten rock or magma to squeeze up between the plates. For those who think of volcanoes as fury of nature, they are actually giant safety valves that release the pressure that builds up because of high temperatures inside the earth. The magma that reaches the mouth of the volcano is around 700-1300 degrees Celsius.
Depending on their chemical composition, there are three types of magma as well. They are Basaltic magma, Andesitic magma, and Rhyolitic magma. Basaltic magma is low in K and Na and high in Fe, Mg and Ca. Andesitic magma is intermediate in Fe, Mg, Ca, K and Na. Rhyolitic magma is high in K and Na and low in Fe, Mg and Ca.
What is Lava?
Lava is also molten rock. When the magma that has been gathering under the earth’s crust comes out of a volcano, it is termed as Lava. There are different types of lavas that are classified according to their consistencies or viscosity. Lava that is thin can flow downhill for kilometers and makes a gentle flow or slope. Thick lava finds it difficult to flow, and the thickest lava does not even flow and plugs up the mouth of a volcano, causing great explosions in future. Let us see what the different types of lava are. There are three main types of lava. They are A’a, Pahoehoe, and Pillow Lava.
A’a is the first type of lava, and it is pronounced as ‘ah-ah.’ This type of lava does not flow very quickly. It will look like a slow moving mass of lava with a hard surface. Once this lava hardens, it is very hard for anyone to walk on that surface. Then, there is Pahoehoe lava. This name is pronounced as pa-ho-ho. This type of lava can easily flow down the slopes because the viscosity is lesser than A’a lava. Finally, we have Pillow Lava. This type of lava you get to see when an underwater volcano erupts. Just like hot water, when this hot lava meets with the cool water, it automatically cools down and forms a kind of a hard shell. When more lava comes from the volcano mouth, the shell cracks and more pillow like hard surfaces are built.
What is the difference between Lava and Magma?
• Magma is the molten rock material deep inside earth’s crust. Meanwhile the same magma, when it finds its way to a volcano through fissures and cracks, and comes out of the mouth of the volcano, is referred to as lava.
• So magma is deep underground, while lava is the hot mixture of gases and molten rocks that comes out of the volcano.
• There are three types of lava as A’a, Pahoehoe and Pillow lava. Depending on their chemical composition, there are three types of magma as well. They are Basaltic magma, Andesitic magma and Rhyolitic magma.
Images Courtesy: Lava flow on Hawaii via Wikicommons (Public Domain) | <urn:uuid:4b931caa-62d9-4234-9009-72526f488908> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.differencebetween.com/difference-between-lava-and-vs-magma/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395620.56/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00201-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95783 | 1,060 | 4.40625 | 4 |
With only bones for clues, scientists continue
to puzzle over many details of dinosaur
appearances and physiology. Detective
work by a paleontologist at Ohio University
now indicates that the creatures' fleshy
nasal passages were larger than had been
thought, which could lead to more-realistic
depictions and greater understanding of
their respiratory functions.
In the August 3 issue of the journal Science,
National Science Foundation (NSF)-supported
researcher Lawrence Witmer reveals that
nostrils on many dinosaurs were much farther
from the eyes and closer to the mouths
than previously depicted. By comparing
telltale markings on bones from their
present-day relatives, he has shown that
many dinosaurs had large nasal passages
that might have been important for heat
exchange and other key physiological processes.
Witmer is an associate professor of biomedical
sciences and an anatomist in the university's
College of Osteopathic Medicine. X-ray
examinations of skulls from more than
65 surviving dinosaur relatives - including
crocodiles, birds and lizards - helped
him infer the probable location of cartilage,
blood vessels and other soft tissues that
made up the extinct creatures' nasal cavities.
He discovered that nearly all animals share
these traits, which gives weight to his
assertion that previous depictions of
dinosaur nostrils were inaccurate.
"Our findings were consistent, even in
turtles and mammals," Witmer said. "We
saw an unusual commonality of how the
nasal components relate and are positioned.
It turns out that the nostril positioning
applies to almost all animals."
As a result, scientists may have to change
the conventional view of dinosaur nostrils,
which have until now been based on the
placement of cranial cavities near the
eye sockets. Witmer found the largest
nasal passages in horned dinosaurs like
Triceratops, duck-billed dinosaurs,
and brontosaurs like Diplodocus,
the latter of which was 80 to 90 feet
long and weighed more than 40 tons.
Other scientists had studied dinosaur noses,
Witmer said, but their focus was primarily
on olfactory functions. He isn't only
interested in how the animals were able
to smell; his main goal is understanding
overall dinosaur physiology. As his research
progressed, Witmer was surprised to learn
that no one had previously examined the
position of nostrils.
"Learning the biological rules for assembling
the bones of extinct animals, like dinosaurs,
is notoriously hard," said Jack Hayes,
NSF program director for ecological and
evolutionary physiology. "But learning
the rules for how to place the rest of
the animal on those bones may be even
harder. Because both the general public
and many biologists are keenly interested
in dinosaurs, new tools for reconstructing
the anatomy and biology of dinosaurs are
valuable. What's exciting about Witmer's
findings is that they may make it possible
to explore the function of dinosaur respiratory
systems in more detail."
This rendering reflects the new position
of the nostrils on the sauropod dinosaur
Diplodocus (left and bottom right).
Top right is the skull of Diplodocus;
middle right is the traditional view with
the nostril located more to the rear of
the head, which has been refuted by the
new research by Ohio University's Lawrence
A larger version
Copyright Science/Paintings by
M. W. Skrepnick under the direction of
L. M. Witmer
Ohio University paleontologist Lawrence
Photo by: Jo McCulty.
Changing nostril position in Tyrannosaurus
rex. The middle image is the traditional
view with the nostril located more to
the rear of the head. The image at lower
right is a new restoration based on Witmer's
study reflecting the forward position
of the nostril. The image at upper left
is the skull.
A larger version is
Copyright Science/Paintings by
W. L. Parsons under the direction of L.
Note to Editors | <urn:uuid:8774ebf3-1255-46fd-b16a-04c04524f69c> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.nsf.gov/od/lpa/news/press/01/pr0160.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396538.42/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00198-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936674 | 885 | 4.40625 | 4 |
by Gregory McNamee
Lemmings have long been associated with mass mindlessness and mass suicide. But the creatures, small migratory rodents of the Arctic and subarctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere, aren’t actually suicidal. The Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat, among other sources, has reported that it is thanks to a 1958 Walt Disney documentary, White Wilderness, that it is widely supposed that the little creatures are programmed to fling themselves from tall cliffs into the sea, where they drown.
Some lemmings have indeed found reason to jump into the sea over the years (see the video in the Britannica article). When they do, it is for good reason: lemmings sometimes experience boom-and-bust, Malthusian swings in population. When their colonies become too large and competition for food becomes intense, lemmings migrate to find new territories—readily swimming, if need be, in order to get from one place to another, but exposing themselves to drowning, predation, and other dangers along the way, and sometimes not finding sufficient sanctuary for all of their numbers when they arrive in their new habitat.
Deaths thus occur during that move. A horde of lemmings on the move lends opportunity to stampeding and accidents, and deaths of that accidental kind have also been recorded in populations on the move. Yet mass suicides of a kind depicted in the Disney documentary have never been recorded in nature, and our image of the rodents as young Werthers is simply wrong, and needlessly so.
Even so, times are hard for lemmings, as they are for most other creatures on Earth. The number of lemmings seems to be declining. Loss of habitat is to blame, specifically, the lack of the pocket of air between snow and ground called the “subnivean space.” There lemmings winter and give birth to prodigious litters of young. Thanks to widespread warming in the Arctic region, however, this insulated gap, which gives the lemmings access to moss and other foodstuffs, is disappearing; instead, snow melts during the day and freezes at night, producing an impenetrable layer of ice and depriving the lemmings of cold-weather habitat.
Given the loss of that ancient way of life, a cliffside dive may not look so bad.
Related Advocacy for Animals Content
This piece first appeared on the Britannica Blog on November 28, 2012. Our thanks to the editors for permission to reuse this post. | <urn:uuid:4cf5ccac-2324-4501-9f94-4830e8c6d748> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://advocacy.britannica.com/blog/advocacy/2014/01/lemmings-bent-on-self-destruction/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395166.84/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00163-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950152 | 522 | 3.046875 | 3 |
22 Feb. 1802–6 Feb. 1882
Walter Gwynn, civil engineer and militia general, was born in Jefferson County, [West] Va., the son of Humphrey Gwynn of the Gloucester County, Va., family of that name. Appointed to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point on 10 Sept. 1818, he studied engineering under Claudius Crozet (1790–1864), an artillerist and engineer formerly under the command of Napoleon and subsequently employed by the state of Virginia as principal engineer. A distinguished graduate of the Military Academy (ranking eighth in his class), Gwynn was commissioned a second lieutenant of artillery on 1 July 1822 and was promoted to the rank of first lieutenant in 1829. In the following year, when the Petersburg and Roanoke Railroad Company was chartered, he was employed by that company as one of the engineers to locate and survey the route. In 1832 he resigned his military commission and gave himself over entirely to his career as a civil engineer, beginning with various Virginia railroad companies. By 1835 Gwynn had completed his survey of a proposed railway to run from Farmville to Cartersville, and in 1836 he published his report on the survey of the Danville, Roanoke and Junction Railroad. Concurrently, he supervised the preliminary survey for the projected route of the Danville to Evansham Railroad and served as chief engineer to the Portsmouth and Roanoke Railroad.
When the directors of the Wilmington and Raleigh Railroad Company, chartered by the North Carolina General Assembly in 1833, began seriously to consider construction of their road in 1835, Gwynn was given the office of chief engineer. Edward Bishop Dudley appears to have been the person chiefly responsible for his selection. It is probable that Gwynn's advice had an influence in the decision of the directors to alter the northern terminus from Raleigh to Weldon where connections were possible with two of the Virginia lines for which Gwynn had served as engineer, the Petersburg and Roanoke and the Portsmouth and Roanoke railroads. (In 1852 the name of the Wilmington and Raleigh Railroad was changed to the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad Company.) By August 1836 Gwynn had completed his survey of the route from Wilmington to Weldon, and on 25 Oct. 1836 Governor Edward B. Dudley lifted the first spade of earth from the proposed rail bed. On 7 Mar. 1840, the last spike was driven, completing what was then reported to be the longest track of rail in the world—161 1/2 miles from the Cape Fear River to the Roanoke River.
Recognition of Gwynn's professional abilities came early in his career. At the February 1839 Baltimore convention of engineers, he was one of a committee of seventeen appointed to draft a constitution for an American society of engineers. Shortly thereafter, he was introduced to the Russian delegation of commissioners sent to America by Czar Nicholas I. The introduction was presumably effected by Moncure Robinson of Virginia, under whose supervision Gwynn had worked as an engineer for the Petersburg and Roanoke Railroad and who had been tendered but had refused the offer of a commission as the imperial chief engineer. The delegation then offered Gwynn the position of chief engineer of the St. Petersburg to Moscow railway at a salary of $25,000. Initially tempted by the offer, he proceeded so far as to form a corps of engineers for the undertaking, but upon learning of the severity of the Russian winter refused the commission at the last and continued his association with North Carolina and Virginia internal improvements.
During the 1840s Gwynn expended the greater part of his professional energies in connection with Virginia works, first with the Portsmouth and Roanoke Railroad, then with the James River and Kanawha Canal. As president of the former from 1842 until 1845, he assumed the role of chief opponent to Francis E. Rives in a struggle for control of the railroad bridge at Weldon. It was during this controversy that Rives removed a mile of track belonging to the Portsmouth and Roanoke Railroad, and Gwynn retaliated by restoring the track and overturning an engine and cars that Rives had borrowed from the Petersburg and Roanoke Railroad. The controversy came to an end after the Portsmouth and Roanoke was forced into bankruptcy and acquired by the Virginia Board of Public Works. Leased to the city of Portsmouth as the Seaboard and Roanoke Railroad (which acquired title to the controverted bridge in 1851), Gwynn's company eventually became the parentstem of the Seaboard Air Line (now Seaboard Coast Line) Railroad.
Gwynn succeeded to the eleven-year tenure of Joseph Carrington Cabell as president of the James River and Kanawha Canal Company in 1846, following a series of financial disasters. During his twelve-month presidency, the Virginia legislature granted a loan of $1,300,000 to the company and Gwynn gave up the office of president in order to assume that of chief engineer. He served as chief engineer to the canal company from 1847 until 1853, during which time he completed the works from Lynchburg to Buchanan and perfected the tidewater connection by way of a series of locks and basins capable of moving vessels from the canal into the lanes of shipping in the suburb of Richmond called Rocketts, the head of navigation on the James River.
Once Gwynn had his plans and specifications worked out for the completion of the James River and Kanawha Canal, he left the execution of them in the hands of able assistants while reserving to himself general superintendence of the work. This freed him to act concurrently as chief engineer to other works and to turn his attention once more to North Carolina. As early as 1836 Gwynn had envisioned a rail system linking North Carolina to the other southern states for their mutual commercial benefit in times of peace and for mutual defense in times of war. He had already connected the state to Virginia by way of the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad. A line chartered in 1847 to run from Wilmington to Manchester, S.C., gave him an opportunity to further realize the commercial and defense scheme he had described a decade earlier. In 1848 Gwynn accepted the office of chief engineer to the Wilmington and Manchester Railroad and held it until 1853. It was in bridging the Pee Dee River for this line that he achieved for the first time in the South the sinking of cast iron cylinders by atmospheric pressure, a technique he had seen demonstrated not long previously at West Point.
The chartering of the North Carolina Railroad in 1848 further fleshed out Gwynn's 1836 scheme of tying the southern states together, for this commenced an east to west line that could ultimately connect with western South Carolina, Georgia, and Tennessee rail systems. On 12 July 1850, he was engaged as chief engineer of the North Carolina Railroad. He began surveying the route from Goldsboro to Salisbury by way of Greensboro on 21 August, and his completed report was presented to the stockholders in May 1851. The original watercolor drawings of the survey are in the North Carolina State Archives where they are bound in five elephant folio volumes. Gwynn's relationship to the company was not altogether a happy one, a fact made apparent by the General Assembly's joint select committee (headed by Jonathan Worth) to inquire into the management of the North Carolina Railroad. The Worth report reveals that the practice of the company's committee of four directors was to settle matters without consulting the chief engineer. There was constant strife between Gwynn and the contractors who were building the road, though the chief engineer was technically empowered with final and conclusive authority to see that the contract to build the road was faithfully executed. Gwynn disapproved of the contractors' work on the eastern division of the road; it never did receive his approval.
Simultaneously with his work as chief engineer to the North Carolina Railroad, Gwynn was given the responsibility as consulting engineer for making preliminary surveys of the route of that railway's eastern and western extensions—the Atlantic and North Carolina Railroad (Goldsboro to Beaufort) and the North Carolina and Western Railroad (Salisbury to the Tennessee border). Both surveys were begun and completed in 1854, the former on 17 October and the latter on 5 December. Upon formal organization of the two new companies, the position of chief engineer was given to William Beverhout Thompson (a Virginia protégé of Gwynn's) and James C. Turner, respectively.
In 1856 Gwynn's connection with the North Carolina Railroad came to an end, and so did his career with North Carolina rail systems. It was a career that had played a leading role in every major antebellum railroad in North Carolina, except for the Raleigh and Gaston Railroad. Gwynn's work contributed largely to as much of a series of trunk lines as was available to the state during the Civil War. Had his work as chief engineer of the Rabun Gap Railroad leading from Anderson, S.C., to Knoxville, Tenn. (subsequently the Blue Ridge Railroad), been completed, and had the Western North Carolina Railroad been extended from Asheville to Ducktown, Gwynn would very nearly have seen realized his 1836 dream of a southern defense system based on interconnecting railways.
In 1857 Gwynn communicated to his daughter-in-law's father, Chief Justice Thomas Ruffin, his intention to remove with his family from Raleigh to Columbia, S.C. The opening of the Civil War, in fact, found Gwynn in Charleston where he was, at age fifty-nine, suddenly projected into the military career he thought he had abandoned a generation earlier. In March 1861 he was given the rank of major in the Provisional Army of the Confederate States of America and charged with constructing batteries at various strategic Charleston points (beyond Fort Moultrie, across the bay, on Morris Island, and on the beach at Fort Johnston). For his role in the reduction of Fort Sumter, Gwynn was subsequently praised in dispatches of Brigadier General P. G. T. Beauregard and Lieutenant Colonel R. J. Ripley. Less than two weeks after the fall of Sumter, Gwynn had toured the coast of North Carolina and returned to Virginia.
On 21 Apr. 1861, he was nominated by Governor John Letcher to the rank of major general of the Virginia Volunteers and given command of the forces defending Norfolk. When the Virginia council determined, however, that Robert E. Lee should be the only officer in the Volunteers with the rank of major general, Gwynn and his fellow officer, Joseph E. Johnston, were confirmed a rank below as brigadiers. From 21 April until the Confederate government brought the Virginia Volunteers into the regular C.S.A. Army and the defenses of Norfolk into the care of its military establishment on 23 May, Gwynn executed his command well and diligently. On 23 May he surrendered his command to Brigadier General Benjamin Huger, his commission in the Virginia Volunteers having expired with their dissolution. On 24 May Gwynn departed Norfolk for North Carolina, where he had kept up connections (and from which he had just two days earlier requested the loan of troops for the defense of Norfolk).
In Raleigh on 25 May 1861, Gwynn accepted a commission as brigadier general in the North Carolina Volunteers and assumed command of the outer coastal defenses of the state from Onslow County north to the Virginia border. He made an immediate inspection of his command. Gwynn found Fort Macon, until recently under Federal control, to be too exposed to land attack for his liking and garrisoned by too small a number of soldiers for his comfort. He urgently recommended to Governor John W. Ellis that a forward post, a string of vedettes, field batteries, and a signaling system be added. He then charged engineers under his command (formerly engineers with the state's various railroads) with constructing fortifications at Hatteras Inlet (Forts Clark and Hatteras), Oregon Inlet (Fort Oregon), and Ocracoke Inlet (Fort Ocracoke). Gwynn warned Governor Ellis that a force of 5,000 men would be needed to defend the coast. Believing that a Federal attack might be launched before the fortifications were completed, Gwynn attempted to borrow tools and slaves from Currituck County planters in early June—"Delay is dangerous," he admonished them. Activated by this sense of danger, Gwynn personally borrowed 4,000 pounds of powder from the Navy Yard at Norfolk for use of the forts, enlisted the aid of New Bern women in preparing 12,610 ball cartridges, and with his money purchased 8,000 percussion caps to be used at the fortifications. On 28 June he advised the military board at Raleigh that the privateering successes of its "mosquito navy" would force the Federal military into an offensive attack on the coast. The state's Secession Convention voted on 27 June to disband the North Carolina Volunteers effective 20 August upon expectation of their being taken into the regular Confederate establishment. Thunderstruck, Gwynn reminded Governor Henry T. Clark (Ellis having died on 7 July) that the dissolution of the Volunteers on 20 August would leave the coastal forts defenseless. When that date arrived, Gwynn found himself without a command and the northeastern coast found itself with approximately 600 defenders distributed in six fortifications strung out over 85 miles of coast. Six days later a Federal fleet of seven warships and an assault force of 880 soldiers set sail for the North Carolina coast. On 28 August Fort Clark fell and Fort Hatteras the next day. Forts Oregon and Ocracoke were abandoned during the first week of September. Fort Roanoke fell on 8 Feb. 1862, New Bern on 14 March, and Fort Macon on 25 April. Gwynn's worst fears were realized.
For the next several months the eastern rivers and their estuaries lay open to the Federal forces occupying the outer coast, and those forces seized the opportunity to terrorize the river towns and eastern railways. The North Carolina delegation to the Confederate Congress, probably under the leadership of William T. Dortch of Wayne County, began agitating for the central government to provide for the defense of North Carolina's inner coastal plain and eastern rivers. Upon their earnest solicitation Gwynn was given a commission on 9 Oct. 1862, with the rank of colonel in the regular army, and directed by the C.S.A. secretary of war to make a defensive survey of Neuse, Tar, Roanoke, and Chowan rivers. He was to obstruct the rivers and erect batteries suitable to small garrisons in sites capable of receiving and being defended by larger forces sent to succor the garrisons. Engineers for the works were to be furnished by Colonel (subsequently Major General) Jeremy F. Gilmer of the C.S.A. Corps of Engineers. Gilmer, who appears to have resented Gwynn's appointment (possibly because of the implied political intervention), carefully referred to him as "Colonel Walter Gwynn, Civil Engineer." He insisted that command of the military engineers who might be assigned to serve under Gwynn should not be placed under Gwynn's command but reserved for Gilmer's own control and direction. Relations between the two officers were cold, formal, and strained. Gilmer resisted every effort by Gwynn to augment the small garrisons with extensive defense works to be occupied by larger relief forces. On 14 October Gilmer perfected his move to cripple Gwynn's command authority by forcing upon him a junior officer with power to control the purse as a disbursement officer. Thus Gilmer succeeded in circumscribing Gwynn, countermanding his orders, and forcing revision of his work. Finally, on 18 Feb. 1863, Gilmer was able to transfer the river defense works near Goldsboro, Kinston, Tarboro, and Hamilton from Gwynn's command to that of Lieutenant Colonel W. H. Stevens. This, naturally, led to Gwynn's resignation of his commission, upon which he resumed civilian life for the duration of the war.
After the Civil War Gwynn returned briefly to North Carolina. Some of his earlier work for the state had been in the character, though not in the name, of principal state engineer for internal improvements. In April 1839, for example, Gwynn had accepted a commission from Governor Dudley to complete the drainage of the swamplands owned by the state at Pungo and Alligator lakes. In this Gwynn succeeded to the work of a friend, fellow engineer, and former West Point classmate, Charles B. Shaw of Charlottesville, Va., whom he had recommended for the job in 1837. By 1842 Gwynn had completed the reclamation of 65,000 acres from the swamplands bordering the two lakes. Simultaneously he surveyed the open grounds in Carteret County with a view to their drainage and reclamation, a work first considered in the days of Hamilton Fulton but not undertaken until 1852. Fulton's earlier examination of the possibility of reopening Roanoke Inlet, made in 1820, had also been taken into consideration by Governor Dudley who had commissioned Gwynn to make a new examination in 1840. It was with reference to this examination that the Bureau of Topographic Engineers remarked to Secretary of War Joel R. Poinsett on 28 Feb. 1840, "Any survey made under the personal superintendance of Major Walter Gwynn, would receive the confidence of this Bureau, as his intelligence and experience are well known." As had been the case in Fulton's report, Gwynn's report had not resulted in an attempt to reopen the inlet. In 1856 Gwynn had investigated the conditions of Cape Fear and Deep rivers and had reported to the General Assembly on the work of improvements in the navigation of those streams. Now, after the Civil War, Gwynn was appointed by Governor Jonathan Worth in 1867 to make a new survey of the capital and to report on the public lands in the city and on its outskirts; the first postbellum map of the city resulted from this survey. On 1 Feb. 1867, Gwynn was commissioned agent of the Literary Fund to supervise and superintend all the swamplands belonging to that agency. Gwynn's report later that year to Governor Worth was his last work for the state; it was published posthumously in 1883 in a state public document entitled Reports on the Swamp Lands of North Carolina Belonging to the State Board of Education.
Gwynn married Elizabeth Rush (of the Maryland family of that name) about 1829 and had by her six children: Bruce, Walter Ballard, Henry Upton, Peyton, William, and Mary. He died in Baltimore, Md. His body was returned to Richmond and buried in Hollywood Cemetery close to the crumbling remains of the James River and Kanawha Canal. Here there is more than a small touch of irony. A contemporary, writing of Gwynn's construction of the canal's tidewater connection, stated that Gwynn had "made for himself a reputation among his fellow engineers which will last for all time." Within a few years of Gwynn's death, it was as if neither the engineer nor the work had ever existed. A rather handsome portrait of Gwynn dating from the 1840s is owned by the Confederate Museum, Richmond, Va.; a photograph from much later in life was published in the fifth volume of Walter Clark's Histories of the Several Regiments and Battalions from North Carolina.
John G. Barrett, The Civil War in North Carolina (1963).
Cecil K. Brown, A State Movement in Railroad Building (1928).
Wayland F. Dunaway, "History of the James River and Kanawha Company," in Columbia University Studies in History, Economics and Public Law 104 (1922).
North Carolina State Archives (Raleigh) for Governor's Office Records (Internal Improvements), Governor's Papers (Edward B. Dudley, John Ellis, Henry T. Clark, and Jonathan Worth), and Supreme Court Records (Original Case Papers nos. 3863, 5646, 5647).
Official Records of the War of the Rebellion, Army, ser. 1, vols. 2, 18, 51 pt. 2.
Charles W. Turner, "Virginia Antebellum Railroad Disputes and Problems," North Carolina Historical Review 27 (July 1950).
Virginia State Archives (Richmond) for Records of the Board of Public Works.
Wilmington The Daily Review, 10 Feb. 1882.
"Walter Gwynn, Brigadier-General" Cropped. Histories of the several regiments and battalions from North Carolina, in the great war 1961-'65. Full image and book at http://archive.org/stream/historiesofsever05clar#page/n43/mode/1up
1 January 1986 | Stevenson, George, Jr. | <urn:uuid:dac330f4-41b0-48f5-9389-958e09684a91> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://ncpedia.org/node/6161/backlinks | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396222.11/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00092-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978738 | 4,353 | 2.953125 | 3 |
Treating Trigger Finger with Alternative Therapy Orlando
Trigger finger is a painful condition that can cause the fingers or thumb to catch or lock in a bent position. This problem often stems from inflammation of tendons that are located within a protective covering called the tendon sheath.
The affected tendons are tough, fibrous bands of tissue that connect the muscles of the forearm to your finger and thumb bones. Together, the tendons and muscles allow you to bend and extend your fingers and thumb.
A tendon usually glides quite easily through the tissue that covers it because of a lubricating membrane surrounding the joint called the synovium. Occasionally a tendon may become inflamed and swollen. When this happens, bending the finger or thumb may pull the inflamed portion through a narrowed sheath. Trigger finger may be caused by highly repetitive or forceful use of the finger and thumb. Medical conditions that cause changes in tissues, such as rheumatoid arthritis, gout, or diabetes also may result in trigger finger. Prolonged, strenuous grasping, such as with power tools, also may aggravate the condition.
People that typically get trigger finger are farmers, industrial workers, and musicians are frequently affected by trigger finger since they rely on their fingers or thumbs for multiple repetitive movements. Trigger finger is more common in women than in men and tends to occur most frequently in people who are between 40 and 60 years of age.
One of the first symptoms may be soreness at the base of the finger or thumb, on the palm of the hand. The most common symptom is a painful clicking or snapping when attempting to flex or extend the affected finger. This catching sensation tends to worsen after periods of inactivity and loosen up with movement.
In some cases, the finger or thumb that is affected locks in a flexed position or in an extended position as the condition becomes more severe, and must be gently straightened with the other hand. Joint contraction or stiffening may eventually occur.
No X-rays or lab tests are used to diagnose trigger finger. It is generally diagnosed following a physical exam of the hand and fingers. In some cases, the affected finger may be swollen and there may be a nodule or bump over the joint in the palm of the hand. The finger also may be locked in a flexed (bent) position, or it may be stiff and painful.
The first step to recovery is to limit activities that aggravate trigger finger. Occasionally, your doctor may put a splint on the affected hand to restrict the joint movement. If symptoms continue, anti-inflammatory medications, such as ibuprofen or naproxen, may be prescribed. Your doctor may also recommend an injection of a steroid medication into the tendon sheath. If the condition does not respond to conservative measures or consistently recurs, alternative therapy should be considered before you resort to surgery to release the tendon sheath and restore movement. Acupuncture can be helpful to relieve joint pain, but the results are not going to happen over night. Depending on how long a patient has had this condition can affect how long the treatments may take. For example, someone that has an acute case may respond faster to alternative therapy, maybe 6-8 weeks, as opposed to a more chronic condition that could take months. This should not discourage on from trying alternative medicine, it is important to establish the treatment protocol and how long you might need to have treatments to decide if acupuncture is right for you.
Also, adding natural herbs can also help reduce the inflammation rather than take over the counter ant-inflammatory medicine.
If you think you want to try traditional Chinese medicine to help with your trigger finger, call today to set up a complimentary consultation. Four Seasons Acupuncture services the residents of Orlando, Winter Park, Altamonte Springs, Longwood, Lake Mary, and Maitland.
We are located at the corner of 17-92 and Horatio in Maitland.
110 N. Orlando Ave. Suite 3 Maitland, Florida 32751 | <urn:uuid:5094c0f3-ae74-445f-879d-93fdaf8b668d> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.4seasonsacupuncture.com/treating-trigger-finger-alternative-therapy-orlando/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398873.39/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00187-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.9447 | 814 | 2.78125 | 3 |
The world’s largest solar thermal plant recently opened in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The new plant is almost double the size of what was previously the largest solar thermal facility (located in Denmark), and it will generate enough power to heat water for a university of 40,000 students. GREENTecONE, an Austrian solar design company, supplied the solar panels for the project.
The 388,000 square foot (36,000 square meter) rooftop system is the size of five soccer fields and was built at a cost of $14 million. The solar technology is just one of the many features that will make the new $11.5 billion Princess Noura Bint Abdulrahman University for Women in Riyadh a showcase for environmental innovation. The project is also a signal that countries in the Middle East, which have become wealthy thanks to fossil fuels, are now planning for post-oil future.
Plentiful sun shines down on Saudi Arabia, and the solar panels that allow this project to run are massive. Each one covers 107 square feet (10 square meters) and weighs 375 pounds (170 kilos). The panels have a transparent coating to enhance their performance, and they also require a special mounting system to keep them bolted to the roofs when Saudi Arabia’s notoriously vicious sandstorms hit Riyadh.
Watch for similar projects to appear in Saudi Arabia the coming decade. The Kingdom has set a goal for 10 percent of its energy to come from solar power by 2020. Currently oil is plentiful, and over half of Saudi Arabia’s electricity comes from the country’s black gold. But with oil pricing at over $100 a barrel, it makes economic sense for Saudi Arabia to reduce their dependency at home and export more of it abroad. With the country expected to grow even more in the coming years, Saudi Arabia could become a global leader in solar power generation. | <urn:uuid:c11bfe30-ed44-4b1f-8e27-6565100139af> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://inhabitat.com/world%E2%80%99s-largest-solar-thermal-plant-opens-in-saudi-arabia/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398209.20/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00150-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947315 | 379 | 2.859375 | 3 |
|Somalia Table of Contents
The colonial era did not spark foreign economic investment despite the competition of three major European powers in the area of present-day Somalia. Italy controlled southern Somalia; Britain northern Somalia, especially the coastal region; and France the area that became Djibouti. Italian parliamentary opposition restricted any government activity in Somalia for years after European treaties recognized Italian claims. In the early twentieth century, projects aimed at using Somalia as a settlement for Italian citizens from the crowded homeland failed miserably. Although in the early 1930s Benito Mussolini drew up ambitious plans for economic development, actual investment was modest.
There was still less investment in British Somaliland, which India had administered. During the prime mininstership of William Gladstone in the 1880s, it was decided that the Indian government should be responsible for administering the Somaliland protectorate because the Somali coast's strategic location on the Gulf of Aden was important to India. Customs taxes helped pay for India's patrol of Somalia's Red Sea Coast. The biggest investment by the British colonial government in its three-quarters of a century of rule was in putting down the rebellion of the dervishes. In 1947, long after the dervish war of the early 1900s, the entire budget for the administration of the British protectorate was only £213,139. If Italy's rhetoric concerning Somalia outpaced performance, Britain had no illusions about its protectorate in Somaliland. At best, the Somali protectorate had some strategic value to Britain's eastern trading empire in protecting the trade route to Aden and India and helping assure a steady supply of food for Aden.
The two major economic developments of the colonial era were the establishment of plantations in the interriverine area and the creation of a salaried official class. In the south, the Italians laid the basis for profitable export-oriented agriculture, primarily in bananas, through the creation of plantations and irrigation systems. In both the north and the south, a stable petty bourgeois class emerged. Somalis became civil servants, teachers, and soldiers, petty traders in coastal cities, and small-business proprietors.
The plantation system began in 1919, with the arrival in Somalia of Prince Luigi Amedeo of Savoy, duke of Abruzzi, and with the technical support of the fascist administration of Governor Cesare Maria de Vecchi de Val Cismon. The Shabeelle Valley was chosen as the site of these plantations because for most of the year the Shabeelle River had sufficient water for irrigation. The plantations produced cotton (the first Somali export crop), sugar, and bananas. Banana exports to Italy began in 1927, and gained primary importance in the colony after 1929, when the world cotton market collapsed. Somali bananas could not compete in price with those from the Canary Islands, but in 1927 and 1930 Italy passed laws imposing tariffs on all non-Somali bananas. These laws facilitated Somali agricultural development so that between 1929 and 1936 the area under banana cultivation increased seventeenfold to 3,975 hectares. By 1935 the Italian government had constituted a Royal Banana Plantation Monopoly (Regia Azienda Monopolio Banane--RAMB) to organize banana exports under state authority. Seven Italian ships were put at RAMB's disposal to encourage the Somali banana trade. After World War II, when the United Nations (UN) granted republican Italy jurisdiction over Somalia as a trust territory, RAMB was reconstituted as the Banana Plantation Monopoly (Azienda Monopolio Banane--AMB) to encourage the revival of a sector that had been nearly demolished by the war.
Plantation agriculture under Italian tutelage had short-term success, but Somali products never became internationally competitive. In 1955 a total of 235 concessions embraced more than 45,300 hectares (with only 7,400 hectares devoted to bananas), and produced 94,000 tons of bananas. Under fixed contracts, the three banana trade associations sold their output to the AMB, which exacted an indirect tax on the Italian consumer by keeping out cheaper bananas from other sources. The protected Italian market was a mixed blessing for the Somali banana sector. Whereas it made possible the initial penetration by Somali bananas of the Italian marketplace, it also eliminated incentives for Somali producers to become internationally competitive or to seek markets beyond Italy.
The investment in cotton showed fewer long-term results than the investment in bananas. Cotton showed some promise in 1929, but its price fell following the collapse in the world market. Nearly 1,400 tons in 1929 exports shrank to about 400 tons by 1937. During the trust period, there were years of modest success; in 1952, for example, about 1,000 tons of cotton were exported. There was however, no consistent growth. In 1953 exports dropped by two-thirds. Two reasons are given for cotton's failure as an export crop: an unstable world market and the lack of Somali wage labor for cotton harvesting. Because of the labor scarcity, Italian concessionaires worked out coparticipation contracts with Somali farmers; the Italians received sole purchasing rights to the crop in return for providing seed, cash advances, and technical support.
Another plantation crop, sugarcane, was more successful. The sugar economy differed from the banana and cotton economies in two respects: sugar was raised for domestic consumption, and a single firm, the Italo-Somali Agricultural Society (Societa Agricola Italo-Somala--SAIS), headquartered in Genoa, controlled the sector. Organized in 1920, the SAIS estate near Giohar had, by the time of the trust period, a little less than 2,000 hectares under cultivation. In 1950 the sugar factory's output reached 4,000 tons, enough to meet about 80 percent of domestic demand; by 1957 production had reached 11,000 tons, and Italian Somaliland no longer imported sugar.
Labor shortages beset Italian concessionaires and administrators in all plantation industries. Most Somalis refused to work on farms for wage labor. The Italians at first conscripted the Bantu people who lived in the agricultural region. Later, Italian companies paid wages to agricultural families to plant and harvest export crops, and permitted them to keep private gardens on some of the irrigated land. This strategy met with some success, and a relatively permanent work force developed. Somali plantation agriculture was of only marginal significance to the world economy, however. Banana exports reached US$6.4 million in 1957; those of cotton, US$200,000. But in 1957 plantation exports constituted 59 percent of total exports, representing a major contribution to the Somali economy.
The colonial period also involved government employment of salaried officials and the concomitant growth of a small urban petty bourgeoisie. In the north, the British administration originally had concentrated on the coastal area for trading purposes but soon discovered that livestock to be traded came from the interior. Therefore, it was necessary to safeguard caravan routes and keep peace in port areas, requiring the development of police forces and other civil services. In British Somaliland, many of the nomads scorned European education and opposed the establishment of Christian missions. Consequently, only a small pool of literate Somalis was available to work for the British administration. Kenyans therefore were hired. In the south, however, Somalis sent children to colonial and mission schools, and the graduates found civil service positions in the police force and as customs agents, bookkeepers, medical personnel, and teachers. These civil servants became a natural market for new retail businesses, restaurants, and coffee shops. Hargeysa in the precolonial period had almost no permanent commercial establishments; by 1945, nearly 500 businesses were registered in the district. The new salaried class filled the ranks of the Somali nationalist movement after World War II. Literate in Italian or English, these urban Somalis challenged colonial rule.
Source: U.S. Library of Congress | <urn:uuid:3ef4b3a6-a3a1-42c7-b68a-f64a650630a1> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://countrystudies.us/somalia/57.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396029.85/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00135-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954398 | 1,610 | 3.921875 | 4 |
Amyloid plaques in the brain may cause walking pace to slow down before causing signs of dementia.
Researchers led by Natalia del Campo, PhD, of the Gerontopole and the Center of Excellence in Neurodegeneration of Toulouse, in France, hypothesized that a slower speed of walking may be related to the amount of amyloid plaque people with Alzheimer's have built up in their brains, even if they do not yet have external symptoms of Alzheimer's disease.
Scientists consider amyloid plaques the most likely cause of the damage that underlies Alzheimer's.
Amyloid precursor protein (APP) occurs throughout the body. The amyloid hypothesis proposes that there is a fault with the processing of APP in the brain, leading to the production of a short fragment of APP, a sticky protein known as beta-amyloid.
The accumulated clumps of beta-amyloid are known as amyloid plaques.
When this sticky protein fragment accumulates in the brain, it is thought to trigger the disruption and destruction of nerve cells that cause Alzheimer's disease.
Brain scans, motor and cognitive skills examined
The team looked at 128 people with an average age of 76 who did not have dementia but who were considered at high risk for developing it because they were experiencing problems with their memory.
Positron emission tomography (PET) scans were carried out on the participants' brains to measure for amyloid plaques.
Of the participants, 48% had a level of amyloid often associated with dementia.
The participants' thinking and memory skills and their ability to complete everyday activities were also tested. A total of 46% of the participants had mild cognitive impairment, which can signal the start of the dementia that occurs in Alzheimer's disease.
Walking speed was measured using a standard test that times people on how fast they can walk about 13 feet at their usual pace. The average walking speed was 3.48 feet per second. All but two of the participants were in the normal range of walking speed.
Association between walking speed and amyloid levels
The researchers found an association between slow walking speed and amyloid in several areas of the brain, including the putamen, a key region involved in motor function.
When they compared how fast people walked both with and without taking into account the amount of amyloid, the researchers found that the amyloid level accounted for up to 9% of the difference in walking speed.
The relationship between amyloid levels and walking speed did not change when researchers took into account age, education level or level of memory problems.
Del Campo says:
"It's possible that having subtle walking disturbances in addition to memory concerns may signal Alzheimer's disease, even before people show any clinical symptoms."
She also notes, however, that the study only shows an association and does not prove that amyloid plaques cause the slowdown in walking speed. She adds that there are many other causes of slow walking in older adults. | <urn:uuid:00a0e628-b94e-403d-af91-a98866a33a06> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/303436.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396887.54/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00130-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965393 | 620 | 3.546875 | 4 |
Bad Reasons FallacyTaxonomy: Logical Fallacy > Formal Fallacy > Bad Reasons Fallacy
Argument A for the conclusion C is bad.
Therefore, C is false.
This fallacy consists in arguing that a conclusion is false because an argument given for it is bad. It is most likely to occur in the course of a debate, when one side argues badly for the truth of a proposition, and the other side uses the bad argument as a reason to conclude that the proposition is false. It is always tempting, in the heat of debate, to think that one has established one's own case when all that one has succeeded in doing is undermining the opposition's case. To commit the Bad Reasons Fallacy is to act as though argumentation is a zero-sum game in which, if the other side loses, then you win.
One way that a deductive argument can be bad is for it to be unsound, that is, for it to be invalid or to have at least one false premiss. As a result, there are two versions of this fallacy when argument A is deductive:
- Argument A has a false premiss. If an argument has a false premiss, then even if it is valid, it fails to prove its conclusion. However, this does not show that the conclusion is false, as it's possible to give false premisses for a true conclusion.
- Argument A is invalid. If an argument is invalid, then even if its premisses are true, it fails to prove its conclusion. However, this does not show that the conclusion is false, for it's possible to argue invalidly for a true conclusion.
Since the conclusion of a sound argument is always true, it's tempting to think that the relation between the unsoundness of an argument and the falsity of its conclusion is parallel, that is, that the conclusion of an unsound argument is always false. However, the conclusion of an unsound argument may be either true or false. Misunderstanding this asymmetry between sound and unsound arguments is probably one psychological source of this fallacy.
In some cases, such as legal trials, where there is a presumption and a corresponding burden of proof, it is legitimate to reason that a proposition is false if all of the reasons given for it are bad. For instance, in a criminal trial in which there is a presumption of innocence, the jury should conclude that the defendant is innocent if all of the prosecution's arguments for guilt are unsound. However, it would still be fallacious to conclude that the proposition is false just because one argument for it is unsound, unless it is the only argument.
Subfallacy: Fallacy Fallacy
Nigel Warburton, Thinking from A to Z (Second Edition) (Routledge, 2001), pp. 25-26. | <urn:uuid:0f4d0ddd-5d00-4b04-899a-fe12ca40021a> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.fallacyfiles.org/badreasn.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783394987.40/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154954-00145-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93526 | 583 | 3.671875 | 4 |
An Introduction to Statistical Concepts, Third Edition
Publication date: March 2012
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This comprehensive, flexible text is used in both one- and two-semester courses to review introductory through intermediate statistics. Instructors select the topics that are most appropriate for their course. Its conceptual approach helps students more easily understand the concepts and interpret SPSS and research results. Key concepts are simply stated and occasionally reintroduced and related to one another for reinforcement. Numerous examples demonstrate their relevance. This edition features more explanation to increase understanding of the concepts. Only crucial equations are included.In addition to updating throughout, the new edition features: New co-author, Debbie L. Hahs-Vaughn, the 2007 recipient of the University of Central Florida's College of Education Excellence in Graduate Teaching Award. A new chapter on logistic regression models for today's more complex methodologies. More on computing confidence intervals and conducting power analyses using G*Power. Many more SPSS screenshots to assist with understanding how to navigate SPSS and annotated SPSS output to assist in the interpretation of results. Extended sections on how to write-up statistical results in APA format. New learning tools including chapter-opening vignettes, outlines, and a list of key concepts, many more examples, tables, and figures, boxes, and chapter summaries. More tables of assumptions and the effects of their violation including how to test them in SPSS. 33% new conceptual, computational, and all new interpretative problems. A website that features PowerPoint slides, answers to the even-numbered problems, and test items for instructors, and for students the chapter outlines, key concepts, and datasets that can be used in SPSS and other packages, and more. Each chapter begins with an outline, a list of key concepts, and a vignette related to those concepts. Realistic examples from education and the behavioral sciences illustrate those concepts. Each example examines the procedures and assumptions and provides instructions for how to run SPSS, including annotated output, and tips to develop an APA style write-up. Useful tables of assumptions and the effects of their violation are included, along with how to test assumptions in SPSS. 'Stop and Think' boxes provide helpful tips for better understanding the concepts. Each chapter includes computational, conceptual, and interpretive problems. The data sets used in the examples and problems are provided on the web. Answers to the odd-numbered problems are given in the book. The first five chapters review descriptive statistics including ways of representing data graphically, statistical measures, the normal distribution, and probability and sampling. The remainder of the text covers inferential statistics involving means, proportions, variances, and correlations, basic and advanced analysis of variance and regression models. Topics not dealt with in other texts such as robust methods, multiple comparison and nonparametric procedures, and advanced ANOVA and multiple and logistic regression models are also reviewed.Intended for one- or two-semester courses in statistics taught in education and/or the behavioral sciences at the graduate and/or advanced undergraduate level, knowledge of statistics is not a prerequisite. A rudimentary knowledge of algebra is required. | <urn:uuid:b9ad8bc1-3426-41b4-a5b6-cb186e8a2b3e> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.ebookmall.com/ebook/an-introduction-to-statistical-concepts-third-edition/debbie-l-hahs-vaughn/9780415880053?ean=9781136490125&format=epub-drm-download | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397749.89/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00090-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.906621 | 687 | 2.515625 | 3 |
Graphene, single-atom-thick sheets of pure carbon, is lighter than steel but many times stronger, with better electrical conductivity than copper. It's even transparent. One day graphene could support flexible electronics, solid lubricants and even a space elevator.
But before that happens the stuff must be mass-produced, and a team led by Jonathan Coleman, a professor of chemical physics at Ireland's Trinity College in Dublin, thinks they've found a way to do it. They put graphite (from which graphene is derived) into a solution and stirred it with rotors moving at thousands of revolutions per minute — which worked even with an ordinary blender. Their work is detailed in the April 20 issue of the journal Nature Materials.
Making lots of graphene isn't easy. There are a number of methods, such as chemical vapor deposition, which involves turning carbon into a vapor that collects on a surface, heating silicon carbide (SiC) to leave the pure carbon — graphene — behind, or simply tearing off sheets of single carbon atoms from blocks of graphite. The latter method is called the "Scotch Tape" method, because initially tape was stuck to a graphite block and the graphite was just peeled off. [8 Chemical Elements You've Never Heard Of]
Current methods, though, are expensive and difficult to carry out on an industrial scale. On top of that, to get the wonder-material properties, graphene has to be of high quality — the carbon atoms that form the sheets have to be in near-perfect hexagonal patterns.
Coleman said his team started from methods involving bombarding graphene in liquid form with high-frequency sound. They wanted to make the material without the ultrasound, simplify the process and cut energy costs. When they tried stirring the liquid, they produced high-quality flakes of graphene.
"Under the electron microscope it looks just like a diagram in a textbook," Coleman said.
The stirring works in two ways. First, the liquid is spinning around and it's not moving at the same speed throughout. So the grains of graphite get hit with more force on one side than the other, a phenomenon called shear. Carbon atoms in graphite are arranged in hexagonal patterns like chicken wire, piled on top of each other in layers. The bonds between the layers are weaker than the bonds within them, so when the buffeting in the water breaks up the grains, they tend to break into flat sheets — graphene.
Ordinarily the sheets of graphene would stick back together in clumps. But that's where the solvent comes in. One of the solvents they used was N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone, common to the petrochemical industry. As the sheets of graphene separate the solvent sticks to the carbon atoms. That keeps the single sheets of graphene separate, with the result being a liquid solution full of micrometer-size flakes of pure, high-quality graphene.
What's next for kitchen-made graphene
Though the sheets are tiny, this process can make lots of them. And unlike other processes for making graphene, if some of the carbon doesn't make the perfect sheets that's OK, because the non-graphene carbon can be filtered out and put through the process again.
Besides chemical solvents the process also works with surfactants in water. The team even tested a kitchen blender using ordinary dishwashing liquid.
The researchers made up to 21 grams (about seven-tenths of an ounce) of graphene using 300 liters (80 gallons) of water and surfactant. That may not sound like much, but it's enough to cover about 290 square feet. Coleman said he and his team are working with a British company, Thomas Swan, exploring how to commercialize this production method.
Other research teams are looking at other methods. A start-up in Philadelphia, Pa., Graphene Frontiers, got a $744,600 grant from the National Science Foundation to explore chemical vapor deposition, what it calls a "roll-to-roll" process.
And there are still challenges to making the equipment used in Coleman's study: A small rotor in a blender or laboratory table is not moving as fast as a large one in an industrial vat. But the fact that even a blender works bodes well for future manufacturing — it means the equipment should be relatively simple. Coleman noted there was some surprise that a blender could generate enough energy. | <urn:uuid:ee21dbdd-93e3-483c-9d5e-6abe38c4a3ec> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.livescience.com/44978-kitchen-recipe-for-graphene-developed.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395546.12/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00065-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955726 | 910 | 4.09375 | 4 |
Many differences divide traditional North American and Asian food cultures -- cooking methods, dining habits, famous recipes. They each have signature ingredients -- think of soy sauce, ginger and sriracha in Southeast Asian food or butter and molasses in Southern food. But a new study from an international team led by Yong-Yeol Ahn and Sebastian Ahnert, published in Scientific Reports, shows that there are actually deeper patterns at play.
It turns out North American and Western European cuisines tend to include ingredients with similar flavor molecules together in one recipe, while East Asian and Southern European cuisines tend not to. That means that the ingredients in most recipes traditionally associated with Western cuisine overlap and deepen each others' constituent flavors, while those in Asian recipes tend to bristle against one another with distinctive flavors.
The researchers discovered this trend by analyzing recipes they found online at AllRecipes and Epicurious. They downloaded the tens of thousands of recipes available on each of those databases, then added added data on the underlying flavor molecules that make each ingredient taste the way it does.
The process of appending flavor molecule information to ingredients allowed them to find the degree of taste-similarity of any given pair of ingredients. This in itself led to some interesting findings -- including the "flavor network" visualized above, which divides the world of ingredients into different zones of similar flavor groups. That allowed the researchers to empirically demonstrate the overlap in flavors between alcohols and fruits, between vegetables and herbs and between meats and beans.
But the real interest of the study comes through its application of this raw data to differences in cultures' cuisines. After a lot of dense statistical analysis, the researchers found that much of the divide between the flavor-coordination tendencies of each cuisine can be ascribed to the prevalence of just a few ingredients.
The harmoniousness of North American cuisine's flavors really stems from its reliance on a few heavy-tasting products commonly associated with baked goods, especially milk, butter, cocoa, vanilla, cream, cream cheese, egg, peanut butter and strawberries. And the study chalked the dissonance of East Asian cuisine up to its use of beef, ginger, pork, cayenne, chicken and onion. These ingredients are characteristic of each cultures' recipes -- and share relatively many flavor molecules, and relatively few flavor molecules, respectively, with the ingredients they're often paired with.
One intriguing nugget from the study, though, bodes well for the future careers of the world's ambitious chefs. In the introduction to the piece, the researchers note that the ingredients they found in their two recipe databases could theoretically be combined into 10 quadrillion recipes -- of which only one million, just .0000001%, have already been recorded. | <urn:uuid:771864df-4bf6-49e9-9079-0facb2392f97> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/15/western-asian-flavor_n_1152211.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396455.95/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00090-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941999 | 560 | 2.78125 | 3 |
Sagas & Legends
Thorolf again in Finmark.
That winter Thorolf went again to Finmark, taking with him about a hundred men. As before, he held a fair with the Finns, and travelled far and wide over Finmark. But when he reached the far east, and his coming was heard of, then came to him some Kvens, saying that they were sent by Faravid, king of Kvenland, because the Kiriales were harrying his land; and his message was that Thorolf should go thither and bear him help; and further that Thorolf should have a share of the booty equal to the king's share, and each of his men as much as two Kvens. With the Kvens the law was that the king should have one-third as compared with his men when the booty was shared, and beyond that, as reserved for him, all bearskins and sables. Thorolf put this proposal before his men, giving them the choice to go or not; and the more part chose to venture it, as the prize was so great. This is was decided that they should go eastwards with the messengers.
Finmark is a wide tract; it is bounded westwards by the sea, wherefrom large firths run in; by sea also northwards and round to the east; but southwards lies Norway; and Finmark stretches along nearly all the inland region to the south, as also does Halogaland outside. But eastwards from Naumdale is Jamtaland, then Helsingjaland and Kvenland, then Finland, then Kirialaland; along all these lands to the north lies Finmark, and there are wide inhabited fell-districts, some in dales, some by lakes. The lakes of Finmark are wonderfully large, and by the lakes there are extensive forests. But high fells lie behind from end to end of the Mark, and this ridge is called Keels.
But when Thorolf came to Kvenland and met king Faravid, they made them ready for their march, being three hundred of the kings men and a fourth hundred Norsemen. And they went by the upper way over Finmark, and came where the Kiriales were on the fell, the same who had before harried the Kvens. These, when they were aware of the enemy, gathered themselves and advanced to meet them, expecting victory as heretofore. But, on the battle being joined, the Norsemen charged furiously forwards, bearing shields stronger than those of the Kvens; the slaughter turned to be in the Kiriales' ranks—many fell, some fled. King Faravid and Thorolf took there immense wealth of spoil, and returned to Kvenland, whence afterwards Thorolf and his men came to Finmark, he and Faravid parting in friendship.
Thorolf came down from the fell to Vefsnir; then went first to his farm at Sandness, stayed there awhile, and in spring went with his men north to Torgar.
But when he came there, it was told him how Hildirida's sons had been that winter at Throndheim with king Harold, and that they would not spare to slander Thorolf with the king; and it was much questioned what grounds they had had for their slander. Thorolf answered thus: 'The king will not believe this, though such lies be laid before him; for there are no grounds for my turning traitor to him, when he has done me much good and no evil. And so far from wishing to do him harm (though I had the choice), I would much rather be a baron of his than be called king, when some other fellow-countrymen might rise and make me his thrall.'
Next: CHAPTER XV. King Harold and Harek. | <urn:uuid:32772c6b-7abe-45fd-80f6-fe8cb9105f8b> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://sacred-texts.com/neu/egil/egil15.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397744.64/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00133-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.988658 | 800 | 2.59375 | 3 |
Cockerell (1930) reported a small fossil fauna from Terlingua that included Ovis, as well as vampire and leaf-nosed bats, noting that most of the material was too fragmented for specific identification. The material from the Isleta Caves quite likely represents domestic sheep.
Croxen et al. (2007) listed "Ovis sp. nov. (mountain sheep)" without further comment.
Irvingtonian: El Golfo (Croxen et al. 2007).
Rancholabrean: Pinto Basin (Jefferson 1991c); Terlingua (Cockerell 1930).
Mid Wisconsin: Shonto (McDonald et al. 2004)
Late Wisconsin/Holocene: Isleta Caves (Harris 1993c); Schuiling Cave (Jefferson 1991b).
Cockerell 1930; Croxen et al. 2007; Harris 1993c; Jefferson 1991b, 1991c; McDonald et al. 2004; Wilson 1942.
Synonyms. Ovis auduboni Merriam 1901, Ovis catclawensis Hibbard and Wright 1956. Ovis auduboni later was characterized as a large, massive subspecies of O. canadensis, thus accounting for assignment of late Pleistocene sheep from our area to this taxon. Ovis catclawensis was described from Catclaw Cave in Mohave County, Arizona, as differing "from the known North American Recent and fossil species of Ovis by its larger size and wider lower premolars and molars (Hibbard and Wright 1956:106).
Harris and Mundel (1974) recorded the presence of a very large Bighorn Sheep from Charlies Parlor, Animal Fair, Dry Cave.
Fig. 1. Bighorn Sheep posterior skull and horn cores from Charlies Parlor, Dry Cave. UTEP 22-252.
The measurements of the specimens (posterior skull with horn cores, fragmentary dentary with p4-m3, and a partial M3) compare favorably with or are larger than those of the holotype of Ovis catclawensis. Bone material 14C dated at 15,030 ± 210 BP came from the same level. Noting that this indicates that large Ovis, also reported elsewhere at earlier dates in the Pleistocene (Stokes and Condie 1961), survived to near the end of the Pleistocene, Harris and Mundel concluded that the simplest explanation for the pattern of late Wisconsin and post-Pleistocene size characteristics in Ovis was that the large-sized sheep (Ovis catclawensis) represented Ovis canadensis that decreased in size at the end of the Pleistocene. The evidence would suggest that this decrease in size occurred in perhaps less than 2000 years. Harris and Mundel synonymized O. catclawensis with O. canadensis while noting that the large-sized taxon could be recognized as a chronologic subspecies, O. canadensis catclawensis.
Smartt et al. (1990) likewise noted that measurements of the Witch Cave specimen are larger than those of modern O. canadensis, but in line with late Pleistocene fossils. They assigned the remains to O. c. catclawensis.
Medial Irvingtonian: Slaughter Canyon Cave (Morgan and Harris 2015).
Late Irvingtonian: Elsinore: Pauba Formation (Pajak et al. 1996: cf.).
Irvingtonian/Rancholabrean: Manix Lake (Jefferson 1991b).
Rancholabrean: Bloomfield (Morgan and Lucas 2005; Stovall 1946); Boulder City (Jefferson et al. 2015, Stokes and Condie 1961); Bow Willow (Jefferson 2014); Campbell Hill (Jefferson 1991b: cf.); Desert Sunlight Project (Jefferson 2014); Palomas Creek Cave (Harris 1993c).
Rancholabrean/?Early Holocene: Mitchell Caverns (Jefferson 1991b: cf.).
Wisconsin:Witch Cave (Smartt et al. 1990).
Mid Wisconsin-Holocene: Lower Sloth Cave (Logan 1983: O. canadensis and O. c. catclawensis); Shelter Cave (Harris 1993c).
Mid/Late Wisconsin/Holocene: Glendale (Jefferson et al. 2015); Sierra Diablo Cave (UTEP).
Mid/Late Wisconsin: CC:5:5 (Mead et al. 2003); Pintwater Cave (Hockett 2000); Rampart Cave (Carpenter 2003).
Late Wisconsin: Antelope Cave (Reynolds, Reynolds, Bell, and Pitzer 1991); Dust Cave (Harris and Hearst 2012); Gypsum Cave (Glowiak and Rowland 2003); Muskox Cave (Logan 1981); Charlies Parlor (Harris and Mundel 1974);
Late Wisconsin/Holocene: Burnet Cave (Schultz and Howard 1935); Miles Avenue Bridge (Jefferson 2014); Calico Lakes (Jefferson 1991b); Catclaw Cave (Hibbard and Wright 1956); Kokoweef Cave (Reynolds, Reynolds, et al. 1991); Newberry Cave (Jefferson 1991b); Pendejo Cave (Harris 2003); Stanton's Cave (Harington 1984); Williams Cave (Ayer 1936).
Ayer 1936; Carpenter 2003; Glowiak and Rowland 2003; Harington 1984; Harris 1993c, 2003; Harris and Hearst 2012; Harris and Mundel 1974; Hibbard and Wright 1956; Hockett 2000; Jefferson 1991b, 2014; Jefferson et al. 2015; Logan 1981, 1983; Mead et al. 2003; Morgan and Harris 2015; Morgan and Lucas 2005; Pajak et al. 1996; Reynolds, Reynolds, et al. 1991; Reynolds, Reynolds, Bell, and Pitzer 1991; Schultz and Howard 1935; Smartt et al. 1990; Stokes and Condie 1961; Stovall 1946.
Last Update: 16 Feb 2016 | <urn:uuid:02048c19-01ee-47e0-ae25-1a0f48296d16> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.utep.edu/leb/pleistNM/taxaMamm/Ovis.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783392527.68/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154952-00181-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.808691 | 1,243 | 2.796875 | 3 |
Environmental Factor, December 2011, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
Wood stove intervention can reduce childhood pneumonia
By Ed Kang
Considered the gold standard of scientific experiments, the randomized, controlled exposure study in Guatemala measured differences between open burning (left) and cookstoves with chimneys. (Photo courtesy of Kirk Smith)
Smith is considered by many to be the father of the cookstove movement. He has spent decades in places such as India, China, Guatemala, and Nepal, studying the effects of biomass burning and indoor air pollution. (Photo courtesy of Kirk Smith)
Cooking stoves with chimneys can lower exposure to indoor wood smoke and reduce the rate of severe pneumonia by 30 percent in children less than 18 months of age, according to a new air pollution study funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), part of the National Institutes of Health.
The study in the Nov. 10 issue of The Lancet showed that rates of severe childhood pneumonia were significantly reduced in households provided with a wood stove connected to a chimney, compared with homes where open, indoor wood cooking fires were used. The lead researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, report that carbon monoxide exposure levels were reduced 50 percent on average in the homes equipped with chimneys.
Though childhood deaths from pneumonia are relatively uncommon in the United States, it kills more children worldwide than any other disease, and open fires used for heating and cooking are thought to be a major cause. Pneumonia kills an estimated 1.4 million children each year.
“Exposure to smoke from cooking stoves is a major global public health problem that affects nearly half of the world's population and contributes to approximately 2 million deaths per year,” said Linda Birnbaum, Ph.D., director of NIEHS and the National Toxicology Program. “This is one of the first studies that shows how an intervention can reduce indoor air pollution from wood smoke, so people can live healthier lives.” Birnbaum noted that the paper's release also coincides with World Pneumonia Day(http://worldpneumoniaday.org/) on Nov. 12, which is geared toward raising awareness of the effects of pneumonia globally.
The NIH Randomized Exposure Study of Pollution Indoors and Respiratory Effects (RESPIRE) trial included a total of 534 households in rural Guatemala with a pregnant woman or young infant. The study participants were randomly assigned to receive a locally developed cookstove with a chimney or to continue cooking using traditional open wood fires. In all, 265 children were from the chimney-stove homes and 253 children were in the control homes. Trained field workers visited the homes every week for two years to record the children's health status. Sick children with cough and fast breathing were referred to physicians.
Although the study did not significantly reduce the total number of diagnosed childhood pneumonia cases, the reduction in severe pneumonia would likely result in reduced childhood mortality, according to the researchers.
“We found as large a benefit for severe pneumonia as more well-known public health interventions, such as vaccinations and nutrition supplements,” said Kirk Smith, Ph.D., lead researcher for the study and a professor of global environmental health at the University of California, Berkeley. “Future investments into viable, large-scale stove and fuel interventions to reduce child exposure to household air pollution are certainly worth making.”
Citation: Smith KR, McCracken JP, Weber MW, Hubbard A, Jenny A, Thompson LM, Balmes J, Diaz A, Arana B, Bruce N.(http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22078686) 2011. Effect of reduction in household air pollution on childhood pneumonia in Guatemala (RESPIRE): a randomised controlled trial. Lancet 378(9804):1717-1726.
(Ed Kang is a public affairs specialist in the Office of Communications and Public Liaison and a regular contributor to the Environmental Factor.) | <urn:uuid:0828f6f3-7032-4108-97b0-18375f45f8ea> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.niehs.nih.gov/news/newsletter/2011/december/science-woodstove/index.cfm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397213.30/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00152-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945281 | 822 | 3.15625 | 3 |
Have you ever dreamed of having one of those replicators from Star Trek? Ever wanted to make just about anything at the flip of a switch?
Well guess what? You're in luck, because in this Instructable I will show you how to make the closest thing to a replicator that current technology can manage; a 3D printer.
Wait a minute, isn't there another Instructable on how to make a 3D printer from Legos
? Yep, there is, but this 3D printer is different; it's a polar 3D printer and it's capable of printing out so much more than just chocolate.
Now at this point in the intro you're probably thinking what do I mean by polar
3D-printer. Is it a 3D-printer that only works in the in the polar regions?
A polar printer is a printer whose principal axes, or how it can move, are radius(in and out), angle(spin clockwise/counter clockwise), and as opposed to a Cartesian printer whose principal axes are X(left/right), Y(up/down). In other words, it moves just like a polar coordinate system.
So why did I make a polar 3D printer instead of a good ol' Cartesian 3D printer?
1. I didn't have enough Legos to build a Cartesian printer.
2. I hope to eventually add a 3D laser scanner
to it so I can scan in objects and send them to another printer somewhere else in world. Making sort of a 'teleporter'.
Before I begin this Instructable, I must remind you all of something; I have not yet finished developing control software for it.
Before you start posting variants of "This Instructable sucks" in the comments, I would like to remind you of something, the Altair 8800
, the world's first successful personal computer, the computer that is the reason why you are able to read this Instructable and post derogatory comments, came with no control software either. But the Altair 8800 had prospects and it ignited a revolution. In fact, Bill Gates and some friends started Microsoft by writing software for the Altair.
I hope that this 3d printer will ignite the 3d printing revolution, so build one and join the revolution!!!
I would also like to thank the people at reprap.org
for their help and support. | <urn:uuid:af9b20bf-7fad-4798-ab78-eb86ca39d64b> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.instructables.com/id/Build-a-Polar-3-D-Printer-from-Legos/?comments=all | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397213.30/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00174-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943181 | 494 | 3.078125 | 3 |
This perennial shrub with its striking, large, lemon-yellow flowers and velvety leaves is perfect as an informal border or as a centrepiece in a small garden.
Hibiscus calyphyllus is a dense, perennial, rounded shrub; up to 3 m high; the leaves are large, up to 50 mm in diameter, light green, soft and velvety; the flowers are lemon-yellow, large, up to 100 mm in diameter, with a deep red to blackish centre; the fruit is a papery capsule that splits open to reveal hairy to hairless seeds. It is fairly fast growing and will flower repeatedly, the flowers lasting for a reasonable amount of time. Flowering time: all year round, but mainly from January to April.
Distribution and habitat
The natural habitat of Hibiscus calyphyllus is open bush, thickets and forests, often also found along rivers. It is relatively frost tolerant, requires a moderate amount of water and prefers warm to cooler areas. Natural distribution stretches from the Eastern Cape in South Africa to tropical East Africa and Madagascar and the Mascarene Islands. The plant has also been seen growing in the following regions in the USA : Lafayette, Tennessee ; Austin, Bryan, and San Antonio in Texas. It is also said to have naturalized in Hawaii.
Derivation of name and historical aspects
The name Hibiscus is derived from the Greek word for marshmallow.
Hibiscus, also known as rosemallow, is a large genus of about 200-220 species belonging to the Malvaceae family, which includes members such as cocoa, cotton, okra, baobab and durian. It is native to warm temperate, subtropical and tropical regions throughout the world.
About 59 species of Hibiscus occur in South Africa. They range from shrubs and trees to highly aromatic herbs. Although many Hibiscus species worldwide are popular garden plants, most of those grown in gardens are not indigenous to South Africa. The popular Hibiscus rosa-sinensis and its hybrids which can be seen in many South African gardens, actually originates in China.
The pollen in the large flowers attracts insect pollinators such as butterflies, which in turn will lure insectivorous birds such as barbets, robins and flycatchers to the garden.
Certain species of moth and butterfly larvae are known to feed on various Hibiscus species. This includes the Arrow Sphinx moth ( Lophostethus dumolinii) and Koppie Charaxes (Charaxes jasius saturnus) butterfly.
Uses and cultural aspects
In addition to being a popular garden subject, Hibiscus calyphyllus is apparently also a source of food in the Okavango Delta, where the flowers are cooked and eaten when there is a shortage of food.
Hibiscus species across the world are used for many things ranging from ornamental garden plants to paper-making ( Hibiscus cannabinus ). In the Caribbean, Hibiscus sabdariffa is used to produce herbal teas, jams and is also eaten as a vegetable. In the Hindu religion, Hibiscus plays a significant role as an offering to the Goddess Kali and Lord Ganesha.
Growing Hibiscus calyphyllus
Hibiscus calyphyllus can be planted in groups as an informal border, using In this case plant 3-5 plants together, or one to two plants can be used as a focus point in a small garden. It can also be used as a container plant providing that a large container is used. It should be planted in full sun but can stand light shade under a tree or on a patio. It needs a moderate amount of water on a regular basis.
Although Hibiscus calyphyllus prefers moist, hot summers, it is semi-frost resistant. In a cold, frosty garden, however, a warmer, sheltered spot in the garden is preferable and will produce better results. It is a relatively fast-growing plant, providing that it is planted in fertile, rich and well-drained soil. Enrich the soil with a considerable amount of compost and organic material. The soil pH should range from mildly acidic (6.1 to 6.5) to neutral (6.6 to 7.5). Prune the shrub towards the end of summer.
This plant can be propagated by way of herbaceous stem cuttings or from seed, which should be sown directly after the last cold period. Allow the seedheads to dry on the plants, then remove them and collect the seed.
References and further reading
Lou-Nita Le Roux
Lowveld National Botanical Garden | <urn:uuid:6b51beef-f69e-4bd6-82e7-83723739a9f3> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.plantzafrica.com/planthij/hibiscaly.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783403825.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155003-00003-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940085 | 985 | 3.25 | 3 |
Colebrook's Notable Trees
Legendary frontiersman Johnny “Appleseed” Chapman
said it best: "Nothing gives more yet asks less in return than a tree."
In Colebrook, trees contribute to our town’s rural beauty. They offer places for relaxation and recreation. They provide food and shelter for wildlife. They improve our air and water quality, save on energy costs, and help reduce global warming.
With the goal of bringing attention to the importance of trees to our everyday life, the Colebrook Land Conservancy set out, with your help, to identify our town’s special trees. We thank those who participated in our survey and the State of Connecticut’s Department of Environmental Protection that helped make this project possible with an America the Beautiful grant. Here’s the report of our findings:
We started with the granddaddy of all Colebrook trees: the “Colonial Pine” in North Colebrook. When named in 1787 for its 13 main branches, representing the 13 original colonies, it was already a mature tree. Today it measures 16 feet 3 inches in circumference, stands 120 feet tall, has a limb spread of 47 feet, and has only seven branches remaining. According to the arborist who recently examined this tree, we can expect to enjoy the Colonial Pine for a few more decades before it succumbs to old age and the natural end of its life span.
The Colonial Pine was named in 1787 for its 13 main branches, representing the 13 original American colonies.
Most cities and towns used American elms for their central greens and street trees because of their long straight trunks that widened to leafy canopies on top. Colebrook was typical of these towns. A map of the Town Center drawn by Adeline Wheeler in 1931 shows more than a dozen elms along with several sugar maples. The popularity of the American elm and its relative density led to the quick spread of the “Dutch” elm disease in the early 1930s and the death of most elms. While some of the maples remain, the last surviving American elm in the Center, which was on Schoolhouse Road, was taken down in July 2007. There are at least two young American elms being nurtured in Colebrook, one in the southwest section of town, the other in Robertsville.
Few trees were as versatile historically as the American chestnut, whose nuts provided food for humans and animals, whose wood was used in construction, and whose bark was used in tanning leather. While chestnuts were a dominant tree in most of the Eastern forest, this was not the case in early Colebrook, according to a 1760 survey. Other early records also tell of going to Sandisfield or Tolland to purchase chestnut shingles and fence posts, although there were several shingle mills right here in Colebrook that produced mostly white pine shingles.
Sadly, the American chestnut was virtually eradicated by a blight in the early decades of the 20th century. Although you can find sprouts from old trees, they all seem to succumb to disease before they become significant. There is a good example of an Asian-American chestnut on Eno Hill.
The American Chestnut is all but gone from our landscape, but this healthy Asian-American Chestnut stands atop Eno Hill.
An oak in front of the Colebrook Historical Society has grown from a second-generation acorn of the famed Charter Oak in Hartford.
In the Hale forest are sugar maples and white birch that are of great age. A black walnut on Phelps Road is reputed to be the oldest such tree in Colebrook and boasts a circumference of 9 feet 10 inches, a branch spread of 85 feet and an estimated height of 70 feet.
Colebrook abounds in large trees. Here are outstanding ones we heard about:
- A sugar maple diagonally across from the Rock School on Route183 has a circumference of 15 feet 10 inches, a branch spread of 54 feet and an estimated height of 55 feet.
- A white pine on Sandy Brook Road, just east of the Town Garage, has a 12-foot 2-inch circumference, a limb spread of 58 feet and stands 135 feet tall.
- On Moses Road is a smooth bark hickory with a circumference of 4 feet 6½ inches, a branch spread of 32 feet and an estimated height of 70 feet.
- A horse chestnut on Chapin Road that was planted in 1937.
- A black tupelo growing on the north side of the Sphagnum Swamp in the Algonquin State Forest has a circumference of six feet 3¼ inches, an estimated branch spread of 30-35 feet and an estimated height of 55 feet.
- Off of Deer Hill Road is a tulip-tree with a circumference of 9 feet 7 inches and a grove of tulip-trees whose circumferences all exceed 8½ feet.
- Two ash trees on Millbrook Road have circumferences of 16 feet 4 inches and 15 feet 7 inches.
- Near Rockwell Road is a remarkable striped maple with a circumference of 24 inches, a height of 35 feet and a limb spread of 20 feet.
This large Sugar Maple is diagonally across from the Rock School on Route 183.
During the course of this survey, one landowner discovered eight state notable trees on their property. A Fraser fir is the largest in the state and a Chinese hemlock is tied for #1. There is also a Hinoki cypress ranked # 2; a black cherry and a Japanese umbrella pine both are the 6th largest in Connecticut; a Japanese white pine is #7; a weeping hemlock is #9; and a weeping beech comes in at #26. To have one state notable tree is impressive, to have eight is fantastic.
A 1760 survey noted 19 varieties of trees in Colebrook. In our 2006 survey, 84 different types were identified. We have trees that provide food: apple, black cherry, black walnut, butternut, crabapple, pear, hickory and pecan. In our woodlands we can find ash, beech, various birches, oaks, hemlocks, ironwood, maples, pines, poplars, black tupelo, spruce and cedars. Along our roadsides we see locusts, catalpas, birches, sassafras, horse chestnuts, sycamore, tamarack, and willow. Our native species are enriched with exotics such as: dawn redwood, dogwoods, Fraser fir, Hinoki cypress, Japanese umbrella pine, Japanese white pine, Swiss stone pine, weeping beech, and weeping Japanese cherry.
This Black Locust in the Town Center is one of 83 different native and non-native trees identified in our 2006 Colebrook survey.
The American elm and American chestnut, once so numerous, are all but gone in Colebrook. At present, several other species of trees are also in jeopardy. The wooly adelgid threatens the survival of our hemlocks. Maples, beeches, ashes and birches also are facing an uncertain future. It is important that we work to assure the health and diversity of our woodlands.
- Beech (45%)
- Hemlock (25%)
- Maple & Hard Maple (11%)
- Birch: black, yellow, grey, white (8%)
- Ash: Black, Red, White (3%)
- Alder (2%)
- Witch Hazel (2%)
- Chestnut (1%)
- Basswood (American linden) (1%)
- Elm (0.5%)
- Butternut (0.5%)
- Red Oak (0.5%)
- White Oak (0.5%)
- Apple (Pyrus malus)
- Arbor Vitae (Northern white cedar) (Thuja occidentalis)
- Ash (Fraxinus americana)
- Basswood: American linden (Tilia americana), European linden (Tilia europaea), white (Tilia heteruphylla)
- Beech: Ameican beech (Fagus grandifolia), *weeping (Fagus pendula), *copper (Fagus sylvatixa v. purpurea)
- Birch: black (Betula lenta), yellow (Betula alleghaniensis), gray (Betula populifolia),white (Betula papyrifera), river (Betula nigra)
- Black alder (winterberry) (Ilex verticillata)
- Butternut (Juglans cinerea)
- Cedar: white (Chamaecyparis thyoides)
- Cherry: black (Prunus serotina), *weeping (Prunus pendula), choke cherry (Prunus virginiana)
- Chestnut: American (Castanea dentata), Asian-American (Castanea hybrid)
- Crab apple: (Pyrus x prunifolia), *flowering (Malus coronaria)
- *Dawn redwood (Metasequoia glyptosrobiodes)
- Dogwood: flowering (Cornus florida), *Chinese (Cornus kousa), *alternate leaved ( Cornus alternafolia)
- Elm: American (white) (Ulmus americana), slippery (red) (Ulmus rubra)
- *Fraser fir (Abies fraseri)
- Hemlock: (Tsuga canadensis), *weeping (Tsuga pendula), *Chinese (Tsuga chinensis)
- Hickory: shagbark (Carya ovata), smooth bark (pig nut) (Carya glabra)
- Honeylocust (Gleditsia tricanthos )
- *Hinoki cypress (Chamaecyparis obtuse)
- Horse chestnut (buckeye) (Aesculus hippocastanum)
- Hornbeam (blue beech) (Carpinus caroliniana)
- Ironwood (hop hornbeam) (Ostrya virginiana)
- Linden (Tilia europaea)
- Locust: black (Robinia pseudo-acacia)
- *Japanese umbrella pine (Sciadopitys verticillata)
- *Japanese white pine (Pinus parvaflora)
- Juniper: common (Juniperus communis), red cedar (Juniperus virginiana)
- *Magnolia (Magnolia acuminate L.)
- Maple: sugar (rock) (Acer saccharum), red (Acer rubrum), Norway (Acer platanoides), mountain (Acer spicatum), striped (Acer pensylvanicum), silver (Acer saccharinum)
- Mountain-ash (rowan) (Sorbus sp.)
- Northern catalpa (Catalpa bignonioides)
- Oak: red (Quercus rubra), white (Quercus alba), chestnut (Quercus prinus), black (Quercus velutina), pin (Quercus palustris)
- *Peach (Prunus persica)
- Pear (Pyrus communis)
- *Pecan (Carya illinoensis)
- Pine: white (Pinus strobus), red (Pinus resinosa), pitch (Pinus rigida)
- Poplar: quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides), cottonwood (Populus deltoides), large- toothed (Populus grandidentata)
- *Quince (Cydonia oblonga)
- Sassafras (Sassafras albidum)
- Spruce: black (Picea mariana), *Norway (Picea abies)
- Sumac: staghorn (red) (Rhus typhina)
- *Swiss stone pine (Pinus cembra)
- Sycamore (buttonball) (Platanus occidentalis)
- Tamarack (American larch) (Larix laricina)
- Tulip-tree (Liriodendron tulipifera)
- Tupelo: black (Nyssa sylvatica)
- Walnut: black (Juglans nigra)
- Willow: black ( Salix nigra), weeping (Salix babylonica), white (Salix alba)
- Witch hazel (Hamamelis virginiana)
* Indicates a tree not native to the area
Beyond Phelps meadow on the east side of Route 183 are stands of White Pine.
Enjoy the Special Views, Vistas
and Groves of Trees in Colebrook
- The row of large hemlocks across Sandy Brook.
- If you can find your way to “Happy’s Pines” in the Kitchel Wilderness, it will be well worth the trek.
- The full canopy of trees on roads without power lines or where trees provide a canopy atop power lines: the top of Deer Hill Road, Rockwell Road from the Center to the Lily Pond, Bunnell Street from Phelps Road north about two-tenths of a mile, parts of Sandy Brook Road, Phelps Flat Road, Pisgah Mountain Road, Beech Hill Road from Sandy Brook Road to the next bridge, Beech Hill Road down from Chapin Road to Route 8, and Church Hill Road.
- The row of spruce trees on Colebrook River Road (Route 8) in Robertsville.
- The show of trees lining Sandy Brook and Still River as seen from the bridges in Robertsville.
- The spectacular oak trees along Gaylord Road.
- The row of Japanese dogwood trees just west of the intersection of Smith Hill and Deer Hill roads.
- The Japanese maple at the intersection of Smith Hill and Deer Hill roads.
- The white willow at the corner of Smith Hill and Bricklemaier roads.
- Look north across the first vista on Smith Hill Road up from Deer Hill Road and see the two very tall white pines on the ridge.
- Sugar maples on the west side of Old Colebrook Road and along Smith Hill Road.
- Sugar maples in the fields on the east side of Smith Hill Road.
- The two spruce trees on the east side of the Colebrook Church and the one beside the Colebrook Store.
- The flowering crabapples on the road to the recreation area.
- On Center Brook Road are fine old sugar maples and while you’re there, take a look over at Center Brook where you can see a lone larch on the island.
- Along Rockwell Road is an unobstructed stretch of mature mixed deciduous and coniferous forest featuring a variety of birch trees.
- Walk along the Hale Trail and you’ll see remarkable hemlock and pine.
- Weeping willows south of Phelps Road from the bridge just east of Pine Road.
- Oaks on the east side of Bunnell Street near Shantry Road.
- Two stands of white pine across Phelps meadow on the east side of Route 183.
From Smith Hill Road you can see these large trees on the ridge. They survived lumbering because they didn’t contain straight boles and would yield small amounts of usable timber compared to the effort required to harvest them, thus earning the name “wolf trees.”
Where We Go From Here
In addition to chronicling our notable trees, the Colebrook Land Conservancy hopes this survey serves as a basis for a tree maintenance and replacement program. We need to watch our trees, particularly those under threat, such as hemlocks, beeches, maples, ashes and birches, and be ready to intervene if they show signs of insect infestation or disease. The trees on town property should be regularly examined and provided with optimal conditions for health and growth. It’s an effort requiring the cooperation of the people of Colebrook, but aren’t our trees worth it?
For their help in developing this report, special thanks to Colebrook Land Conservancy Trustees Leelaine Picker and Robert Grigg, who is also Town Historian.
© The Colebrook Land Conservancy, Inc. 2007- top - | <urn:uuid:3588da52-8d74-4b28-9a8d-d75cb2de0701> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://colebrooklandconservancy.org/trees.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783402699.36/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155002-00172-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.88643 | 3,469 | 3.359375 | 3 |
Automatic question generation
In this project we are developing novel Automatic Question Generation (AQG) approaches that generate trigger questions as a form of support for students' learning through writing. The approach first automatically extracts citations from students' compositions together with key content elements. Next, the citations are classified using a rule-based approach and questions are generated based on a set of templates and the content elements. A pilot study using the Bystander Turing Test investigated differences in writers' perception between questions generated by our AQG system and humans (Human Tutor, Lecturer, or Generic Question). It is found that the human evaluators have moderate difficulties distinguishing questions generated by the proposed system from those produced by human (F-score=0.43). Moreover, further results show that our system significantly outscores Generic Question on overall quality measures.
Researchers: Ming Liu, Rafael A. Calvo
in collaboration with Vasile Rus (University of Memphis) | <urn:uuid:a6d20323-6fa8-4ef3-88db-02a597c2c087> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://sydney.edu.au/engineering/latte/projects/aqg.shtml | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393997.50/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00115-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.921766 | 193 | 2.5625 | 3 |
Half a century after first getting a bead on quasars, astronomers still lack a basic understanding of how the most luminous objects in the universe work, a prominent researcher says.
Scientists first measured the distance to a quasar — an incredibly bright galactic core powered by a supermassive black hole — 50 years ago this Saturday, March 16, finding that it lay billions of light-years away.
The discovery was a seminal one in astronomy, opening the distant, ancient universe to observation and study. But in the decades since, researchers have shed little light on the powerful engine that drives quasars, says astrophysicist Robert Antonucci of the University of California, Santa Barbara.
"We have found thousands of quasars in the past 50 years, but we still don't have good physical models for how they radiate their prodigious energy," Antonucci writes in the current issue of the journal Nature, which was published online on March 13. "Without predictive theories, we have nothing. Our best hope for understanding quasars is that extraterrestrials might drop in and explain them to us." [Most Powerful Quasar Discovered (Video)]
The brightest objects in the universe
Quasars radiate energy broadly across the electromagnetic spectrum, but they take their name from their radio emissions. Astronomers dubbed them"quasi-stellar radio sources" because the signals appeared to be coming from one place, like a star. The shortened version of the moniker, "quasar," stuck.
Many quasars blast out twin jets of particles that travel at nearly the speed of light, which in turn create enormous, radio-emitting "lobes" near the quasars, Antonucci writes.
Scientists think quasars and other types of active galactic nuclei mark a particular stage in the lifetime of galaxies, one at which their central black holes, which can be more massive than 10 billion suns, are gobbling up lots of gas, dust and other matter.
"This trait was more common in the past, so there are fewer quasars today," Antonucci writes. "Now starved of fuel, black holes linger in galaxies, including our Milky Way."
Astronomers have been documenting ever-more distant quasars, pushing back closer and closer to the Big Bang that created our universe 13.7 billion years ago. But a fundamental understanding of quasars remains elusive, Antonucci says.
"The theory of radio sources has not changed significantly in the past 30 years," he writes. "Basic questions remain: do the jets and lobes comprise electrons and protons or electron-positron pairs? Do the protons carry a lot of energy, as cosmic rays do? Is the energy divided evenly between electric and magnetic fields? Without answers to these [questions], we can set only lower limits on how much energy the jets and lobes hold."
It doesn't help that astrophysicists continue to investigate quasars using models developed for much smaller black holes, Antonuccci says.
"These models simply don't match the observations without lots of special pleading," he writes. "The properties of small accretion disks that are inferred to exist around stellar-mass black holes cannot be scaled up to explain the spectra of much more luminous quasars."
But a better understanding of quasars is achievable, Antonucci adds, urging his colleagues to work on developing advanced computational models of black-hole systems. And more sensitive X-ray telescopes could make a difference, too.
"The important thing is that the X-rays come from so extremely close to the black hole, much closer than the optical light," Antonucci told SPACE.com via email. "So it offers a hope of giving us a picture of the 'central engine' of the black hole, where the gravitational potential energy is actually produced. That's where the money is."
Antonucci voiced optimism that astronomers will unlock quasars' key mysteries, though he's not sure about the timeline.
"Eventually, I suppose we'll get it, although I may be in heaven by then, or else in the other place!" he told SPACE.com.
Related on SPACE.com and MNN: | <urn:uuid:a72dd653-4ba2-47fa-a0fc-8c517db3b2d3> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/space/stories/quasars-still-mystify-50-years-later | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783402699.36/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155002-00015-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943326 | 868 | 4 | 4 |
The slow-ass neutrino modem MAR 26 2012
With their ability to move seamlessly through walls, rocks, lead shielding, and entire planets, neutrinos would seem like a great choice for a new method of wireless communication. Scientists at Fermilab have demonstrated sending messages via neutrino but the downside is that the slippery particles can also move seamlessly through detectors.
In the Fermilab experiment, the physicists fired a proton beam into a carbon target to produce a shower of particles called pions and kaons that quickly decay into neutrinos. For every pulse of 22.5 trillion protons, the physicists registered an average of 0.81 neutrino with the 170-ton MINERvA detector.
That translates into a data rate of 0.1 bits/second, or just slightly faster than America Online's dialup service circa 1992. (Hey, hey, if you liked that one, perhaps you'll also enjoy my impression of Dana Carvey doing George H.W. Bush.) | <urn:uuid:869dbd83-e577-461f-b17f-e9e40480a1c6> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.kottke.org/12/03/the-slow-ass-neutrino-modem | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397428.37/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00128-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.928399 | 209 | 2.546875 | 3 |
Teaching Geography: Workshop 2
Before You Watch
Before viewing the video programs for Workshop 2: Latin America, please read the National Geography Standards featured in this workshop. You may read the standards here on the Web, in your print guide, or in Geography for Life. We encourage you to read Geography for Life in its entirety as you move through the workshops. It contains further background on the National Standards, numerous examples and rich illustrations aiding interpretation, valuable tools for strengthening and developing lessons, and additional insight on geography's significance to our daily lives.
The National Geography Standards highlighted in this workshop include Standards 4, 7, 9, and 15. As you read the standards, be thinking about how they might apply in lessons you have taught.
Also, prior to attending the workshop, you should explore the associated key maps and interactive activities and read the video program overviews below, paying close attention to the Questions to Consider.
Video Program Overviews: Latin America
Part 1. Guatemala and Mexico: Population Migration
During a few months of each year in Guatemala, millions of Maya have been migrating from the highlands to Guatemala City for temporary employment. Why is this seasonal migration so prevalent? Why don't the Maya have sufficient land to support themselves, and why is there so little industrial growth? Geographer George Lovell relates this seasonal migration pattern to the collapse and explosion of Maya population. In doing so, he examines the Guatemalans' history of violence against the Maya, starting with the sixteenth-century conquistadors. Through historical survey and one-on-one interviews with Mayan families, Lovell investigates the geographic roots of migration; the cultural conflict regarding land use and ownership; and the extreme effects of temporary displacement to the city on the rural Mayan population. Using Guatemala as one geographic example, we can begin to understand the nature of human settlement, distribution, and interdependence.
This workshop includes a classroom segment featuring geography teacher Randy Hoover leading his class in an investigation into the reasons Mexican people migrate to Northern Mexico and the United States in search of employment. His class participates in group activities creating visual organizers which they use to present their findings and analysis to their classmates.
Participants will be able to:
- explain the relationship between migration and cultural conflict;
- identify factors associated with rural to urban migration and transnational migration;
- identify the tools used by geographers;
- understand how group investigations engage students in developing geographic perspectives; and
- apply the geographic inquiry process to your own teaching.
Questions to Consider:
- What are some causes for migration in Guatemala?
- What are the features of rural to urban migration? Transnational migration? How do they differ?
- What tools do you see geographers using to answer their questions about Guatemala?
- How does teacher Randy Hoover engage students in developing geographic perspectives through group investigation?
- How might you adapt Randy Hoover's use of geographic inquiry to investigate a question appropriate to a topic that you teach?
Mr. Randy Hoover, seventh-grade world geography teacher, Dover-Sherborn
Middle School, Massachusetts
Randy Hoover is social studies curriculum leader at Dover-Sherborn Middle School, a public school in suburban Boston. A former member of the Massachusetts Council for Social Studies Board of Directors, Randy is a National Geographic Society teacher consultant and has presented workshops at the National Council for Geographic Educators' conference and the Northeast Regional Conference for Social Studies. Now in his tenth year of teaching, he is the recipient of three summer fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Part 2. Ecuador: Preventing Tragedy Through Understanding Geography
In the Andes of Ecuador, inhabitants live with the constant threat of eruptions in a region called the Valley of the Volcanoes. Monitoring and mapping these geological hazards are Patty Mothes and Peter Hall at the Geophysical Institute in Quito, Ecuador. Their findings will be applied to the population and infrastructure of the area.
One of the volcanoes Patty has been studying is the 16,500-foot mountain
called Tungurahua, at the foot of which lies the town of Baños. Since the
tragedy of Tungurahua's eruption 90 years ago, Baños has grown rapidly, tremendously
increasing the potential for human catastrophe. Using prisms, Patty measures
the volcano for any changes that might indicate activity. Despite her efforts,
many inhabitants are doubtful regarding the threat of Tungurahua, and such
attitudes have prompted a campaign to increase public awareness of the volcano
and how to respond in the case of an eruption. While researchers cannot control
such geographical phenomena, their attempts to understand and predict them
are inherent to the safety of the inhabitants of the Valley of the Volcanoes.
This workshop is followed by a classroom segment featuring environmental science teacher Carole Mayrose as she engages her students in an exploration of volcano location. Her class gains insight into the relationship between volcanoes and earthquakes and discusses the advantages and dangers of living near a volcano.
Participants will be able to:
- explain how physical systems influence the Earth's features;
- explain positive and negative influences of physical systems on human activity;
- explain how technology helps our understanding of natural hazards;
- explain how teachers can use student curiosity as an entry point for teaching about physical features; and
- identify how instruction can be adapted to accommodate the learning requirements of students at all levels.
Questions to Consider:
- What is the relationship between earthquakes and volcanoes?
- What constructive and destructive features of volcanoes are explained in the case study?
- How has technology been applied to volcanoes to make us "smarter" about their activity?
- How does Carole Mayrose use the volcano to interest students in human and physical geography?
- What strategies does the teacher use to adapt classroom instruction for her special needs students in learning geography?
Ms. Carole Mayrose
Tenth- through twelfth-grade environmental science teacher, Northview High School, Brazil, Indiana
Carole Mayrose teaches all levels of high school Earth science. As part of her teaching mission, she endeavors to provide all her students with the tools and skills that will help them complete school and succeed in life. She is featured teaching a class about the relationship between the locations of earthquakes and volcanoes, and the effects of living near such natural hazards. | <urn:uuid:51a1d836-cf5f-4d9a-bdd2-2fc6d134deaf> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.learner.org/workshops/geography/workshop2/wkp2befo.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397111.67/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00057-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936343 | 1,319 | 3.90625 | 4 |
The Shell logo. The Greyhound bus. The S-1 locomotive. The Lucky Strike package. The Coldspot refrigerator. The Studebaker Avanti. These and many other modern design icons were all created by Raymond Loewy, "the father of industrial design."
Arguably one of the most influential designers of the 20th century, Loewy has been called the "man who shaped America." He left his mark countless times on everyday culture from household products, to transportation to corporate identity. Loewy was one of the first designers to understand the link between design and the economy. He expressed this connection by stating: "Between two products equal in price, function, and quality, the better looking will outsell the other."
Raymond Loewy (1893-1986), a brilliant designer and, without doubt, the most versatile ambassador of this discipline, became a design legend in his own lifetime. He was the most influential protagonist of industrial design that North America has ever known and has had a significant impact on the tastes and lifestyles of several generations. Loewy’s design philosophy still has an influence on the industrial design world today.
Download the full portrait as PDF file. | <urn:uuid:375fa734-91fb-4fc2-a081-6dc3a268a513> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.raymondloewyfoundation.com/en/raymond-loewy.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395166.84/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00087-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971446 | 248 | 2.65625 | 3 |
In a sweeping victory for the gray wolves of the northern Rockies, the Bush administration has moved to reinstate federal Endangered Species Act protection for wolves. The federal government asked a federal court for permission to withdraw its March 2008 decision that dropped Endangered Species Act protections for wolves in the northern Rockies.
In July, a federal judge stopped the slaughter of wolves in response to a case brought by Earthjustice seeking reinstatement of federal Endangered Species Act protections. The court issued an injunction applying to wolves in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. The court ruled that conservation groups were likely to succeed in their claims that Wyoming's management of wolves was inadequate and that wolves in the three states suffer from a lack of genetic connectivity.
"This is great news for the wolves. We are one step closer to true recovery of a native to the northern Rockies that was driven to extinction in most places," said Earthjustice attorney Doug Honnold.
"It's time for the government to address connectivity and the failure of state laws to adequately protect wolves," continued Honnold. "We are close to having healthy sustainable populations of wolves and now the government needs to come up with a new approach that gives us a self sustaining wolf population as required by federal law."
The news comes at the same time the government released a report finding wolves are not as plentiful in the northern Rockies as federal authorities had forecast as recently as this past spring. New government data suggest there are fewer than 1500 wolves, instead of the 2000 earlier predicted, in the northern Rockies population. So far, government scientists have not documented whether the population decline is due to disease or illegal, unreported wolf killings. Since the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) delisted wolves on March 28, states have assumed legal management authority for wolves leading to the shooting of at least 170 wolves. The region's population of 1,450 wolves falls short of the 2,000 to 5,000 wolves that independent scientists have determined to be necessary to secure the health of the species.
In a February Science magazine article, even the top federal official in charge of recovering wolves, Ed Bangs, said he personally thought the FWS recovery target of 300 wolves was too low.
The same magazine article reported that Dr. Robert Wayne, a professor of evolutionary biology at the University of California, sent a letter to the FWS in 2007 saying that the recovery goal "severely underestimates the number of wolves required for maintaining a genetically healthy, self-sustaining meta-population."
With continued efforts, legitimate wolf recovery in the region is readily attainable. However, Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana have refused to make enforceable commitments to maintaining viable wolf populations within their borders.
Earthjustice filed suit on behalf of Defenders of Wildlife, Natural Resources Defense Council, Sierra Club, Center for Biological Diversity, The Humane Society of the United States, Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance, Friends of the Clearwater, Alliance for the Wild Rockies, Oregon Wild, Cascadia Wildlands Project, Wildlands Project, and Western Watersheds Project.
Doug Honnold, Earthjustice, (406) 586-9699
Suzanne Asha Stone, Defenders of Wildlife, (208) 424-0932
Louisa Willcox, Natural Resources Defense Council, (406) 222-9561
Franz Camenzind, Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance, (307) 733-9417
Earthjustice is the premier nonprofit environmental law organization. We wield the power of law and the strength of partnership to protect people’s health, to preserve magnificent places and wildlife, to advance clean energy, and to combat climate change. We are here because the earth needs a good lawyer. | <urn:uuid:05ebb3a8-4410-4e7c-8244-373fe99b70fc> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://earthjustice.org/news/press/2008/bush-administration-giving-up-on-wolf-delisting-for-now | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395613.65/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00200-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938912 | 752 | 3.359375 | 3 |
Mon Apr 30, 2012, 05:06 PM
Dead_Parrot (14,413 posts)
Supercomputing Power Could Pave the Way to Energy-Efficient Engines
Neon lines and dots of aqua, violet, crimson, and pink dissolve into smoky swirls—that's what the burning of fuel looks like when it is simulated on one of the world's most powerful supercomputers.
These psychedelic snapshots could pave the way for the development of cars that use 25 percent to 50 percent less fuel than the autos of today. But the problem of improving upon the 150-year-old internal combustion engine is so complex that the scientists who work on it are eager for a major development in the supercomputing world to occur later this year. The U.S. Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in Tennessee is set to deploy a massive upgrade to Jaguar, the nation's fastest supercomputer and Number 3 in the world. The new system, called Titan, is expected to work at twice the speed of the machine that is currently the fastest supercomputer in the world, Japan's K computer.
Although most news coverage of the supercomputing world focuses on the race among nations for supremacy (China leapfrogged the United States in 2010, and both were surpassed by Japan last year), Oak Ridge convened a conference last month in Washington, D.C., to focus on the real-world problems that high-power supercomputing seeks to address. Tackling the world's energy challenges is high on the list. Scientists are looking forward to bringing Titan's speed and power to calculations that may open the door to viable fusion technology, lead to a better understanding of climate change, and greatly improve that inefficient but ubiquitous energy generator—the internal combustion engine.
"We're at kind of an interesting time," mechanical engineer Jacqueline Chen, of the Sandia National Laboratories' combustion research facility, told the audience of about 100 supercomputing experts from around the world. "While we are still using monolithic fossil fuels—gasoline, diesel, and aviation fuels—there's a wide, diverse stream of new fuels that has emerged and is evolving." At the same time a new generation of high-efficiency, low-emissions combustion systems are in development. "So we've got two moving targets," she said. The simultaneous change in fuels and engine systems greatly complicates research to reduce petroleum reliance and lower carbon dioxide emissions.
"The only way to get there in a reasonable, timely manner is to really understand the underpinning fuel and combustion science," Chen said. Her work is aimed at developing validated models that will predict how new fuel and engine combinations will work, an effort she says will "greatly enable engine designers to shorten their product design cycles."
1 replies, 970 views
Always highlight: 10 newest replies | Replies posted after I mark a forum
Replies to this discussion thread
Supercomputing Power Could Pave the Way to Energy-Efficient Engines (Original post)
Response to Dead_Parrot (Original post)
Wed May 2, 2012, 11:10 AM
PamW (1,825 posts)
The new system, called Titan, is expected to work at twice the speed of the machine that is currently the fastest supercomputer in the world, Japan's K computer.
The reign of Japan's K computer is coming to an end this year. Currently being deployed is the new world champion; Sequoia:
Sequoia is a petascale Blue Gene/Q supercomputer being constructed by IBM for the National Nuclear Security Administration as part of the Advanced Simulation and Computing Program (ASC). It was delivered to the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in 2011 and will be fully deployed in 2012
When the plans for the IBM Sequoia were revealed in February 2009, the targeted performance of 20 petaflops was more than the combined performance of the top 500 supercomputers of the time. The 20 petaflops target will make Sequoia almost twice as fast as the current record-holding, 10.51 petaflops K computer and equal to the intended performance of the Cray Titan | <urn:uuid:f327ebcd-42d6-4656-afb7-08cf10a2060f> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.democraticunderground.com/112713561 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395346.6/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00045-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930741 | 857 | 3.140625 | 3 |
Frequently Asked Questions
- Who is admitted to a mortuary?
- What is forensic pathology?
- What is Forensic Science?
- What is Clinical Forensic Medicine?
- What is The Donor Tissue Bank of Victoria (DTBV)?
- What is The Centre For Human Identification?
- Can I do Training and Research?
- What is an autopsy?
- Why do people have autopsies?
- How can you identify a deceased person?
- What is DNA?
Not everyone who dies in Victoria is admitted to the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine.
Only those people whose death is reported to the coroner are brought to mortuaries like ours. These deaths include unexpected, sudden or traumatic deaths including those who die in custody or in association with a medical procedure. Each year between 3000 and 4000 people are admitted to the mortuary.
All deceased people undergo a preliminary examination by a forensic pathologist who provides the coroner with information which allows them to decide whether an autopsy is necessary. The majority of forensic autopsies are conducted on people who have died from unexplained natural disease, suicides, accidents, or where the circumstances of the death are unknown.
Forensic pathologists assist coroners, police and courts to resolve critical medical issues, including causes of death and how injuries might have occurred. In other places around the world forensic pathologists might be referred to as ‘Medical Examiners’ or ‘Medical Coroners’. (NB. In Australia Coroners are Legal Judicial Officers not Pathologists.)
Forensic pathologists focus on the examination of deceased people, to determine how the death occurred and what the cause of death might mean for the health and wellbeing of the family. In this work we are assisted by a range of other forensic experts including mortuary forensic scientists, forensic toxicologists, forensic nurses, radiologists, paediatric pathologists and neuropathologists who support us in particular cases.
Much of the work forensic pathologists do is looking for patterns and trends in death and injury to help detect crimes and identify potential fatal hazards in the community that can be prevented.
We provide this information to coroners, who as lawyers can evaluate the broader social and legal issues and make recommendations that are aimed at preventing similar deaths in the future.
Our forensic scientific service provides forensic toxicology, molecular biology (DNA) and entomology expertise to investigators and the courts.
Forensic Toxicology analysts test for drugs and poisons and provide expert evidence to our courts on the effects of these substances.
In particular our toxicologists look at alcohol, drugs of abuse, and a large range of over-the-counter and prescription drugs in fatal and non-fatal incidents including homicides. We also undertake therapeutic drug monitoring in a range of industries to help maintain a safe workplace.
Our Molecular Biology laboratory provides DNA typing services for human identification, determination of parentage and other legal proceedings that require DNA analysis and advice.
Entomology is the analysis of insect life which can help to establish the time of death of an individual. This may be important in cases involving murder, suicide, accident, or suspected neglect of persons in care.
Clinical Forensic Medicine (CFM) is a medical specialty which deals with the interaction of clinical medicine and law. Our doctors have training in a range of medical specialties including emergency medicine, general practice and sexual health.
The division of Clinical Forensic Medicine at the Institute provides a range of clinical services and medical advice particularly in the investigation of violent crimes against the person, but also in a range of other criminal offences, such as sexual assault and child abuse.
Our doctors also provide expert advice to court on the effects of alcohol and drugs in relation to driving related offences and where such substances may have impaired the mental state of alleged offenders.
Support and care of victims is an integral part of the medical services we provide. Our aim is to ensure that the health and well being of our patients is our highest priority.
The Donor Tissue Bank of Victoria is Australia’s only tissue bank which screens donors, processes, stores, tests and distributes multiple types of tissue from the one facility. It is a public sector not-for-profit organisation.
Our tissue bank nurses offer relatives the opportunity to salvage something positive from the tragedy of the loss of someone they loved.
The Centre for Human Identification (CHI) is a specialist group of pathologists, clinicians, radiologists, odontologists, (dentists) anthropologists and molecular biologists who work together in the identification of the living and the dead.
Our team use their expertise to identify possible offenders as well as unknown bodies and skeletal remains. This work is particularly important in responding to mass disasters and humanitarian investigations involving mass graves and possible human rights abuses.
In the past we have assisted with human identification in the former Yugoslavia, Iraq, Burma, East Timor, Sri Lanka, the Solomon Islands and Indonesia. In the Asia Pacific region we have played a major role in the response to the tsunami, the Bali bombing 2005, and closer to home, the Victorian bushfires of 2009.
The VIFM offers specialist training in a variety of medical and scientific fields predominantly through Monash University where we operate as the Department of Forensic Medicine. Our doctors and scientists undertake fundamental and applied research in health, analytical science and law designed to improve the safety and wellbeing of our community and to ensure that our courts are provided with credible expert evidence on which our justice system can rely.
An autopsy is a medical examination which involves dissection of the body using techniques similar to a surgical operation.
The aim of an autopsy is to discover the following information:
- The identity of the deceased person
- When they died
- The nature and extent of any disease they currently suffer from, or have suffered in the past
- The nature and extent of any injury they are suffering from or have suffered in the past
- The cause of their death
- The circumstances of their death and how they died
- Evidence of natural diseases that could affect other members of the family or members of the community
Prior to conducting an autopsy, the forensic scientists in the mortuary conduct specialist medical imaging procedures which may include x-rays and CT scans of the body.
During the autopsy the major organs of the body are removed for examination by the pathologist, and specimens such as blood and tissues for scientific analysis are taken.
Specimens may be tested to determine the identity of the person, to detect infection or the presence of drugs or poisons.
Once the post-mortem examination of the body is complete, the forensic scientist involved repairs the incisions made during the autopsy, and prepares the body for release to the funeral director.
An autopsy should be considered a public health procedure. It can help detect infectious disease hazards, identify preventable trauma, inform treating medical practitioners about the effects of prior and recent medical treatment, and in forensic cases, can assist police and justice agencies in assembling the evidence required for criminal proceedings.
Given the value of the autopsy for public health and the administration of justice, it is essential that the results of an autopsy are recorded in very considerable detail.
This is usually done by the pathologists preparing an autopsy report which is a written description of the autopsy findings and includes the pathologist’s comments regarding the autopsy findings and the medical cause of death.
In forensic cases this medical cause of death is usually adopted by the coroner. However, a coroner can amend a pathologist’s cause of death on the basis of further evidence available to a coroner which may not have been available to the pathologist at the time of conducting the autopsy.
It is the coroner’s responsibility to make a finding that includes: the identity of the deceased, how death occurred and the cause of death. This information is vital for the community to ensure that hidden homicides are detected and preventable causes of death are recognised so as to make our community healthier and safer in the future.
In order to do this, coroners often ask for the assistance of the pathologist to determine whether an autopsy is necessary. Having discussed the matter with a pathologist and the familiy, if the Coroner believes that an autopsy is necessary they will direct that one be perfomed by a pathology specialist such as a forensic pathologist.
Deaths reportable to the coroner include those that are: unexpected, for example suicide; accident or injury; violent or unnatural, for example homicide; as a result of anaesthesia; ‘held in care’ prior to death, for example in custody or prison; where a doctor is unable to sign a death certificate or the identity of the deceased is unknown.
Identification may be achieved by a number of methods:
- visual identification by family or friends
- the circumstances in which the death occurred (eg. location of the body)
- dental records
- Comparative DNA analysis
- evidence of prior disease or medical treatment (surgery)
DNA is short for deoxyribonucleic acid. DNA makes up the genetic “blueprint” which contains all the information necessary to make a living being. DNA is found inside the nucleus of almost every cell in the human body.
DNA is wound into tight thread-like structures called chromosomes. Humans have 46 chromosomes in total, half of which are inherited from the mother (in the egg), and half from the father (in the sperm). Forty-four of these chromosomes are called autosomes and the other two are sex chromosomes, known as the X and Y chromosomes.
We have two copies of each of the genes contained on the autosomes, one copy is inherited from our mother and the other from our father. | <urn:uuid:b1e73024-6a6e-476c-a1fc-c4184ec0a51d> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.vifm.org/about-us/frequently-asked-questions/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395613.65/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00157-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948292 | 1,984 | 2.703125 | 3 |
NASA's recycled Stardust spacecraft flew past comet Tempel 1 late last night (Feb. 14), snapping photos of the site where a different probe crashed into the icy surface nearly six years ago.
Before Stardust encountered Tempel 1, the comet was visited once before, in July 2005, when NASA's Deep Impact spacecraft plunged a small probe into the icy surface to determine the comet's composition.
The new images from yesterday's Stardust flyby identify the Deep Impact crash site, giving scientists the unique ability to identify changes on the surface of Tempel 1 in the years between the two missions.
"We do have a comparison of the Deep Impact area in 2005 and 2011, and it does show an impact crater," Joe Veverka, Stardust-NExT principal investigator at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., said in a news briefing today (Feb. 15). "Erosion on the scale of 20 to 30 meters of material has occurred in the five or six years since we took the first picture. We are seeing a change, but we have to spend time quantifying the changes and understanding what they mean."
The crater is about 150 meters (492 feet) across, and from the images, the scientists can see where ejecta from the impact came up and fell back to the surface.
"One of the bottom-line messages is that the surface of the comet where we hit is very weak — it's fragile," said Pete Schultz, Stardust-NExT co-investigator at Brown University in Providence, R.I.
Stardust's rendezvous with comet Tempel 1 brought the probe to within 110 miles (178 kilometers) of the icy body at its closest approach, which occurred at 11:40 p.m. EST yesterday (0440 GMT today). As the Stardust spacecraft trekked past, it snapped 72 high-resolution photos of the icy comet.
Comet Tempel 1 is 3.7 miles (6 km) wide, and makes one orbit around the sun every 5 1/2 years. Yesterday's flyby, part of the Stardust-NExT mission, will allow scientists to examine how much the comet has changed since the Deep Impact encounter.
"This is exciting for us, it's the first time we've ever had the opportunity to visit a comet twice," said Tim Larson, Stardust-NExT project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.
The first images released from the flyby showed comet Tempel 1 from a distance of about 1,600 miles (2,575 km). These pictures were the first ones taken by the spacecraft as it approached the comet. Mission scientists had hoped that the initial set of photos beamed back to Earth would be five images from Stardust's closest approach, but a minor glitch caused the probe to send the images in chronological order instead.
"It did not jeopardize data onboard," Larson said. "Everything was safely stored in memory and was ready to be sent down. We just had to wait a little longer."
Researchers are also hoping to use Stardust-NExT to map the surface of Tempel 1. The spacecraft took pictures of many of the same areas previously seen by the Deep Impact probe, but Stardust was also able to image new terrain, and will continue to do so as it travels away from the comet.
As Stardust flew by the comet, the spacecraft also encountered the comet's veil of gas and dust. Stardust is equipped with sensors that can detect when the spacecraft is hit by dust particles from Tempel 1.
"Stardust went through this cloud of gas and dust through the comet and had a dozen impacts on the front leading edge of the spacecraft," said Don Brownlee, Stardust-NExT co-investigator from the University of Washington in Seattle.
Scientists found that the material spewed from comets is not done so in a uniform way, but instead comes in intermittent bursts and puffs. Analysis of this data could help scientists understand more about how comets form, and how these primordial objects send gas and dust into space.
1,000 percent successful
Overall, the Stardust mission managers declared the flyby an overwhelming success.
"We're tremendously happy," Veverka said. "If you ask me, was this mission 100 percent successful in terms of science? No, it was 1,000 percent successful."
The comet-chasing Stardust spacecraft has spent 12 years in space and has traveled more than 3.5 billion miles (5.7 billion km) during that time. In 2004, the probe visited comet Wild 2 and collected samples in a small container that was later returned to Earth.
After Stardust's rendezvous with comet Wild 2, NASA repurposed the spacecraft to visit Tempel 1, and renamed the mission Stardust-NExT, for New Exploration of Tempel.
Yesterday's encounter, however, will likely be the final mission for Stardust, since the spacecraft used up most of its remaining fuel to catch up to comet Tempel 1, researchers said.
You can follow SPACE.com Staff Writer Denise Chow on Twitter @denisechow. | <urn:uuid:7eb87b9e-5ea3-4b9d-b2b6-d9e57adeb9a1> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.space.com/10870-nasa-comet-tempel1-results.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783392527.68/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154952-00020-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950647 | 1,069 | 3.015625 | 3 |
WASHINGTON, Oct. 24, 2011 — So you get a prescription from the doctor. Do you take all of the medicine and keep taking it as the doctor ordered? Studies show that half of all patients do not, and for some conditions, the number of medication drop-outs is even higher. One of the main reasons: Patients cannot stand the side effects that go hand-in-hand with the good effects of some medicines.
A new episode in the 2011 edition of a popular video series from the American Chemical Society (ACS), the world’s largest scientific society, focuses on research that helped ease side effects of treatments for diseases that affect millions of people around the world: schizophrenia and cancer.
ACS encourages educators, schools, museums, science centers, news organizations and others to embed links to Prized Science on their websites. The videos discuss scientific research in non-technical language for general audiences. New episodes in the series, which focuses on ACS’ 2011 award recipients, will be issued in November and December.
“Science awards shine light on individuals who have made impressive achievements in research,” noted ACS President Nancy B. Jackson, Ph.D. “Often, the focus is on the recipients, with the public not fully grasping how the award-winning research improves the everyday lives of people around the world. The Prized Science videos strive to give people with no special scientific knowledge the chance to discover the chemistry behind the American Chemical Society’s national awards and see how it improves and transforms our daily lives.”
Helping People Stay on Their Medication features the research of John Lowe, Ph.D., winner of the 2011 ACS Award in Industrial Chemistry sponsored by the ACS Division of Business Development and Management and the ACS Division of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry. About 24 million people worldwide have schizophrenia, a debilitating mental illness with symptoms such as delusions and apathy. Schizophrenia drugs go a long way toward treating these symptoms, but they have side effects. Among them: unwanted weight gain, an increased risk of diabetes and heart disease and making involuntary movements. These side effects make many patients unwilling to continue treatment. Lowe and colleagues at Pfizer developed ziprasidone, or Geodon, which has fewer side effects than other schizophrenia drugs. In addition, his research led to the development of a drug called aprepitant, or Emend, which relieves nausea and vomiting in patients on cancer chemotherapy.
The ACS administers more than 60 national awards to honor accomplishments in chemistry and service to chemistry. The nomination process involves submission of forms, with winners selected by a committee consisting of ACS members who typically are technical experts in the nominee’s specific field of research | <urn:uuid:056a588d-e6d5-4ff6-8fd2-c537d4128827> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/pressroom/newsreleases/2011/october/helping-people-stay-on-their-medication-acss-latest-prized-science-video.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395613.65/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00088-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942497 | 547 | 2.609375 | 3 |
Western bracken fern, Bracken fern, Western bracken, Bracken
Dennstaedtiaceae (Bracken Fern Family)
Wasowski, Sally and Andy
A very aggressive fern
of worldwide distribution for dry woodlands. The only fern
for most dry shade situations. Ideal for dry Post Oak (Quercus stellata
) forests and pine forests. The tripartite, furry, silvery fiddleheads emerge in early spring. The roots colonize aggressively and extend deep in search of moisture, as far as 10 feet deep in some locations.
Image Gallery: 5 photo(s) available
Plant CharacteristicsDuration: Perennial Habit: Herb
, Fern Leaf Retention: Deciduous Size Notes:
Normally from 1 to 4 feet tall Leaf:
Dark to light Green Flower:
Fruit: Size Class:
1-3 ft. , 3-6 ft.
Bloom InformationBloom Color: Not Applicable
Bloom Notes: Not a flowering plant. Reproduces by spores.
, DC Canada: BC
, PE Native Distribution: In
every state of the US and almost every province of Canada. Almost worldwide. Native Habitat:
Dry woodlands, wet swamps and marshes, old fields, thickets
Growing ConditionsWater Use: Low , Medium
Light Requirement: Part Shade , Shade
Soil Moisture: Wet , Moist , Dry
Soil pH: Acidic (pH<6.8)
CaCO3 Tolerance: Medium
Soil Description: Acid clays, loams, and sands, preferably poor and sterile
Conditions Comments: Does not tolerate flooding. Though tolerant of dry soils, it goes dormant during droughts that last more than a week or two and will begin to die if it doesnt receive rain for 3 months. Requires a lot of water to get it established, but once established, relatively drought-tolerant, persistent, and aggressive.
BenefitUse Ornamental: Great foliage groundcover for dry woodlands
Use Wildlife: Provides shelter to small animals
Use Food: EDIBLE PARTS: Unfurled fronds. Gather young, tightly furled fiddleheads in early spring as soon as they first appear. Remove brownish, papery scales by rubbing with the hands. Soak for several hours in lightly salted water. Cook for 20 minutes on low heat in a pan filled with about 1/2 inch water. Drain well and serve like greens. (Poisonous Plants of N.C.)
Warning: POISONOUS PARTS: All parts, fiddleheads (curled-up leaves). Low toxicity if ingested. Symptoms include weakness, high fever, incoordination, convulsions. Toxic Principle: Thiaminase, a proteinaceous enzyme causing a reduction in vitamin B1; also a glycoside. (Poisonous Plants of N.C.)
Interesting Foliage: yes | <urn:uuid:1c9c7f45-86c9-406f-a142-37c003f3b274> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.wildflower.org/mobile/plants/result.php?id_plant=ptaq | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395560.69/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00090-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.842118 | 622 | 3.390625 | 3 |
June 3, 2004 By Jim McKay, Justice and Public Safety Editor
Though right now the notion of a digital Pearl Harbor -- a malicious attack that cripples the Internet -- is merely a theory, an event such as the northeastern blackout in August 2003 demonstrates the real probabilities. The blackout, which cut off electricity to 50 million people in the Northeastern United States and Canada, resulted from one company's reliance on a computer that failed.
Similar incidents can be expected in the future. Experts warn that chances for disruption are increasing because of the Internet's growth and our reliance upon it for critical tasks, such as power grids, air traffic control and 911 services, to name a few. Add the Internet's openness and the prevalence of defect-laden software, and disruptions become all but inevitable in the face of so many threats.
"The problem with the Internet is we developed it so fast and furiously, and didn't take a step back and build it foundationally with security in mind," said Phyllis Schneck, chairwoman of the national board of directors for the FBI's InfraGard. "We're in the process of correcting that now, but everything done thus far has been a Band Aid."
In the short term, there is no real solution except to reduce the number and severity of interruptions. "I'm of the school that says something is going to happen," said John McCarthy, executive director of the Critical Infrastructure Protection Project at the George Mason School of Law. "You're not going to stop everything."
Threats range from electrical sabotage by terrorists, to accidental cutting of cables by construction crews, to perhaps the most likely culprit, a virus. Nearly 80 percent of e-mails businesses receive are spam, according to Schneck. "Every piece of electronic content I intended to send and you didn't intend to receive is a potential attack."
Walter Tong, senior information security adviser for the Georgia Technology Authority (GTA) sees hackers as the biggest near-term threat. "That's what's on my mind. It can get scary."
What's scary is the potential for a hacker to exploit the Internet's vulnerabilities and cause a major disruption. Those vulnerabilities might not be yours; they could be your neighbor's, but everyone is at risk.
"We're all virtual now, so it doesn't matter," Tong said. "I could have a super-duper security policy and my technologies lined up to it supertight so nobody can get in, but if I have connectivity to somebody who's not [protected], that's my vulnerability."
It's easy for hackers to find holes in software because it's so defective, said Watts Humphrey, a fellow at the Carnegie Mellon University Software Engineering Institute.
"We've got basically terrible practices today being practiced by software developers, even software researchers," he said, adding that even good quality software has plenty of defects and can create havoc like in the Northeast blackout.
In that instance, Ohio-based FirstEnergy Corp. neglected to trim trees that encroached over power lines, which started the chain of events that led to the blackout. A software bug, however, was responsible for the alarm system's failure to alert FirstEnergy to the problem until it was too late.
The chaos that followed included darkness for 50 million people in seven states and parts of Canada. At least 10 major airports and nine nuclear plants were shut down; thousands of people were stranded on subways; hospitals, prisons and emergency service providers had to switch to generators; ATMs stopped working; and the Mets game was canceled.
Some have warned that the Northeast blackout could serve as a blueprint for a hacker wanting to disable an infrastructure.
Internet Nodes Vulnerable
Systems fail because | <urn:uuid:095dbd7a-1328-4c97-aec2-e06ac119c770> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.digitalcommunities.com/articles/Internet-Takedown.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395679.18/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00169-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964877 | 758 | 2.515625 | 3 |
I've just read North Korea’s “successful” satellite in orbit, but tumbling and useless. How can we tell a satellite is tumbling or not? It's so far away!
First, let's clear the part about how far away Kwangmyongsong 4 (KMS-4, NORAD ID 41332) is. It was inserted into a 472.6 km × 508.5 km near-polar sun-synchronous orbit with inclination of 97.5°. It is not geosynchronous, so its orbit takes it over all the longitudes of the globe, and latitudes of 80.5° North to 80.5° South. That means that roughly once per day, it will be nearly directly overhead over any spot of the Earth's surface, at an altitude of 472.6 - 508.5 km above mean sea-level. You can see its orbit for yourself with tools such as Satflare, N2YO, Heavens Above, and so on.
It's orbital period is 94.3 minutes, and its nodal precession rate is approximately 1° (360/365.25) per day. That means that maximum equatorial separation between its ground tracks is 23.5° or 2,616 km. Half of that is our worst case observational angle to it relative to zenith from any point on the Earth's surface at least once per day, as long as it's within the ±80.5° latitude. That means that we can observe its passes with fixed ground facilities every day at a distance of between 472.6 and 1,405 km and at higher latitudes, this ground track separation decreases further still.
That's not too bad, and we can track so distant objects down to about a couple of centimeters in size even with civilian ground based radars, such as e.g. NASA's Haystack Auxiliary Radar, and who knows what capability military has, but I wouldn't put it past them that they use active radar and are illuminating the object with phased array microwave systems to get even better resolution and increase the object's radar signature. In fact, NASA's Deep Space Network is capable of achieving a similar feat on their own, and that's not a classified system.
OK, so how do we know it's tumbling out of control? We can simply infer that via periodically changing radar signature. A tumbling object that isn't spherical and reflecting in observational wavelengths uniformly in all directions, will produce sinusoidal dips and increases in brightness of the reflected photons (in whichever wavelength). If that spin rate is too fast to be deliberate, you can reasonably conclude that it is spinning out of control and it isn't simply a case of a curious attitude control. The object is roughly 200 kg in mass, and there is a limit to its ability to neutralize its angular momentum.
Also, if the intelligence community leaks such information despite the fact that it would suit them better that the object remains a threat to someone's national security and they get some nice new toys, erm, assets and/or permission to scratch an itch, pardon, to mitigate the threat, I would tend to believe them.
And if you prefer to believe the civilian society, there's even no need to believe anyone focused on their own national interests. Remember Progress M-27M? While we knew it was tumbling out of control because we saw the start of that in a live webcast from its own camera, and there was no reason to doubt official press releases, even amateurs and all over the world were able to confirm its spin rate. While it would take a bit better equipment to do the same for around 40 times less massive object at twice the orbital altitude, I wouldn't put it past the more persistent enthusiasts to confirm this for KMS-4 as well. Stay tuned. | <urn:uuid:90e92c93-6e18-48ea-a4ac-9c476291fff6> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://space.stackexchange.com/questions/14014/how-to-tell-a-satellite-is-tumbling-and-out-of-control | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397567.28/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00030-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957385 | 796 | 2.734375 | 3 |
Rajasthanís most romantic name is Chittaur. Chittorgarh is a city in
Rajasthan state of western India. Chittorgarh was founded by Bappa
Rawal in 8th century, it is located at an elevation of 408 mts above
sea level. Chittorgarh city is located on the banks of river Gambhiri
and Berach. Mirabai, 16th century poet and Rani Padmini belongs to
The way to the Chittorgarh fort is pointed by a winding road which is
protected by seven fortified gateways. There are 7 gateways to the
main gate which are Hanuman Pol, Ganesh Pol, Bhairon Pol, Lakshman
Pol, Ram Pol, Jorla Pol, and Padan Pol. On the east there is a gate
called Suraj Pol. On the way up to the fort, there are 2 chhatris
where Kalla and Jaimal heroes of the 1568 reign fell during the fight
Chittorgarh is famous for its large fort which is 495 feet high and 3
miles long and also for Kirtistambha (Tower of Victory) and
Vijaystambha. It is one of the largest fort of India and stands tall
in Chittorgarh. Chittorgarh fort is perched on a 152 m high rocky
hill. It is the symbol of Rajput pride and loyalty.The
memorial of Rawat Bagh Singh is close to the Padan Pol. When Chittor
fort was attacked second time, Rawat Bagh Singh take the help of King
Vikramaditya to fight against Bahadur Shah who was the Sultan of
Gujarat. In 1534 AD Bhairondas Solanki fought against Sultan Bahadur
Shah. Bhairon Pol is named in the remembrance of Bhairondas Solanki.
Near the Jorla Pol there are two gateways. The Lakshman Pol, the
Hanuman Pol and the Ram Pol have a temple in their surrounding area.
a symbol pride, spirit and romance of Rajputs people of Chittor always
chose death before surrendering against anyone. It is a symbol of all
that was true, brave and noble in the superb Rajput tradition. It is
believed historically that Chittor was built by the Maurya dynasty.
Mauryan rule ended in 271 B.C. as a dominant power in India. Chittaur
was attacked three times and on each occasion the rite of Jauhar was
performed. To avoid any harm from enemies, the children and women of
the Rajput kings done Jauhar (mass self sacrifice in a holy fire).
attack was by Alauddin Khilji, the Sultan of Delhi in 1303 AD who was
enamoured by the beauty of Padmini whose face he had seen reflecting
on a mirror. Rani Padmini preferred death to abduction and committed
jauhar along with all the other ladies of the fort.
The second was in 1533 when the Sultan of Gujarat attacked Bikramjeet
of Chittaur. Rani Karnavati, a Bundi Princess, take the Jauhar in
which many children and women perished. The ultimate sacrifice for
freedom Jauhar was again performed for the third time after the Mughal
Emperor Akbar captured Chittorgarh in 1568.
Then the capital was moved west to Udaipur in the foothills of the
Aravalli Range where Rana Udai Singh II had established a residence in
1559. Udaipur remained the capital of Mewar until it acceded to the
union of India in 1947 and Chittorgarh gradually lost its political
importance. Chittorgarh remains replete with historic associations and
holds a very special place in the hearts of Rajputs, as it was a
bastion of the clan at a time when every other stronghold had
surrendered to attack. It is often called as the "Bhakti aur Shakti ki
It is also
considered that Bhim, one of the hero of the epic Mahabharta visited
this place to learn the secrets of immortality and became the devotee
of a saint, but his anxiety to perform all the rites deprived him of
his goal and out of anger he stamped on ground creating water
reservoir, this reservoir is now known as Bhim Lat. According to a
belief in the middle of 8th century the founder of the Sisodia clan,
Bappa Rawal received Chittaur, as a part of the dowry after marriage
with the last Solanki princess. His descendants ruled Mewar upto 16th
century after that which extends from Gujarat to Ajmer. | <urn:uuid:f15ea9d3-557f-4364-b311-0a09ca88daf4> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.rajasthanvisit.com/ChittorgarhFort.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783400572.45/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155000-00040-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959527 | 1,033 | 2.859375 | 3 |
Category:Cebuano terms derived from Proto-Philippine
|Recent additions to the category|
|Oldest pages ordered by last edit|
» All languages » Cebuano language » Terms by etymology » Terms derived from other languages » Austronesian languages » Malayo-Polynesian languages » Borneo-Philippines languages » Philippine languages » Proto-Philippine
Terms in Cebuano that originate from the Proto-Philippine language. | <urn:uuid:23b58002-0678-4052-85d5-287ed5acdc13> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/Category:Cebuano_terms_derived_from_Proto-Philippine | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398216.41/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00009-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.688716 | 100 | 2.6875 | 3 |
Mathematics is a standard part of any educational curriculum, including kindergarten and early education. Fundamental math skills serve as the building blocks for post-secondary education, as well as important life skills. A poor understanding of number systems can affect an adult's ability to find work, and it can also hinder them from successfully navigating the country's financial markets; without a grasp of basic math, banking, household budgeting, and managing your credit are all much more difficult.
According to the U.S. Center for Educational Statistics, one in five adults possess math skills equivalent to those of an average eighth-grader. Recent studies argue there is a link between the mastery of early math skills and future performance. Researchers at the University of Missouri corroborated this theory by testing first graders for basic math skills, and then testing them again as seventh graders for math skills that were somewhat predictive of future employability. Students who performed poorly on the first test performed poorly on the later test, indicating that early education in mathematics (or a lack thereof) can have a lifelong impact.
A different study, published in The Journal of Neuroscience, used MRI imaging on high school seniors while they solved basic math problems like addition and subtraction. Students who exhibited low or limited brain response also performed poorly on the PSAT college board exams; students who scored well on the PSAT showed increased neurological activity while solving these basic equations.
What Math Skills Are Considered Fundamental?
Most elementary educators agree there are five essential math concepts which should be taught at all grade levels. These concepts can be introduced with increased complexity as children age and refine their understanding, but it is essential for all students to be exposed to the mathematical core during the window between kindergarten and fifth grade. W. Stephen Wilson, a mathematics professor and former senior advisor to the U.S. Department of Education, breaks down the five most important concepts at length.
- Numbers. The foundation of mathematics, children must first learn to recognize and name numbers. When children learn to count, addition and subtraction are introduced. All mathematics essentially drills down to these two operations, so the instant recall of basic math facts is required for any student to advance in math skills. Multiplication and division are later layered onto addition and subtraction.
- Place Values. The place value system is another idea that is fundamental to understanding math at all levels. Introduced first as ones, tens, and hundreds, the place value system ultimately prepares elementary students for higher math. Algebra's polynomial system is based on place values, as are advanced multiplication and algorithm calculations.
- Whole Numbers. Repeated lessons in addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division of whole numbers fosters a solid grasp of mathematics and confidence in its logic. Additionally, these basic calculations are actually simple formulas that prepare students for the more complex algorithms found in algebra, calculus, and trigonometry. Long division is especially important as it introduces rational numbers and estimation.
- Decimals and Fractions. The logical extension of teaching whole numbers is to introduce fractions and decimals. Becoming comfortable with these calculations prepares students for several advanced mathematical disciplines, particularly algebra. Fractions, decimals, and ratios also abound in adult life, both in business and at home.
- Problem Solving. As students enhance their mathematical abilities, more complex ideas are added to the curriculum. Building new skills on established competencies will allow students to confirm their new knowledge by solving problems that gradually increase in complexity. At its earliest level, problem solving introduces the translation of words into math and teaches critical thinking.
How Can Teachers and Parents Help?
Given what is known about the importance of establishing a solid foundation in math during elementary school, any reinforcement of what’s taught in the classroom can be helpful. Most K-5 children effectively learn math skills by playing games and taking part in activities that encourage participation from everyone involved. Today's students also have access to a wealth of electronic devices and programs that can be very helpful during the educational process.
Activities at Home
Many of the things that might happen in a typical American household involve math; these are great opportunities for parent to contribute to their child's education. Grocery shopping, for example, provides both basic arithmetic lessons (such as selecting items on sale, like five apples for $5) and, later, exercises on percentages, ratios, and for older children. Purchasing anything with cash can lead to a discussion on money and its denominations.
Cooking and baking lend themselves especially well to math education, as well. Recipes must often be doubled or halved to accommodate the number of people who will be eating, and this invites practice in division or multiplication. Measuring ingredients is a natural way to explore the idea of fractions. Even very young children can be asked to count three eggs or place ten cookies in a container.
Family games can also be secretly repurposed as math lessons. The ever-popular game of Go Fish can be modified so that players need "+1" matches. For example, a player holds a 3 and its matching card is 3+1, so she would "go fish" for a 4 from her opponent. A traditional bingo game allows very young children to practice number recognition; bingo cards can even be modified with images that represent numbers, like the side of a die. The hidden answer for Hangman can be a math word, and older children can substitute letters with numbers and symbols to form an equation instead of a word. A handful of Lego bricks can be attached in a way that demonstrates fractions.
Apps and Games
Today’s primary school students have much more technologically savvy learning resources than those of past generations. It’s not uncommon for younger kids to have access to wireless devices like a tablet, or at the very least a parent’s smartphone. Currently Google Play offers more than 1,000 math game apps for kids under 12, and Apple offers even more for iPhones and iPads. A quick Internet search will reveal many app reviews, often written by teachers, that you may find helpful.
Examples of games your kids can play without realizing they’re learning something include:
- Marble Math: Players of this game drag a marble around a screen (or tilt the device) to hit the correct answers to math challenges. Younger players can identify odd and even numbers, perform simple addition and count by fives in the Marble Math Junior version. Older kids play the game the same way, but the challenges are meatier and may involve decimals, fractions, Roman numerals, or negative numbers.
- Mathris: This game is played much like the iconic 1980s Tetris. However, correct answers are stacked instead of blocks. Playing this game successfully requires adept mental addition and multiplication skills. Reviewers claim that this is an excellent alternative to "drilling" math facts or speed tests.
- Mystery Math Town: This app is appealing to youngsters; a friendly little ghost needs help rescuing hidden fireflies. Players embark on a journey to help, solving equations and using other skills to unlock rooms and explore passages. The game is customizable for each player.
- DragonBox: Advertising itself as a way to “secretly teach algebra,” this app is ideal for younger students who are able to recognize whole numbers, or older elementary students who are beginning to discover algebraic equations. Players’ pet dragons grow as children solve increasingly difficult equations and move into new game worlds.
There is no shortage of online math resources for teachers and parents; a Google search for ‘math games for kids’ returns roughly 71 million results. To refine your search, it may be best to exclusively visit sites that are hosted or written by educators. Homeschoolers in particular offer comprehensive advice on interesting ways to educate children.
Here are some of the more useful sites we managed to dig up:
- MathPlayground was created by a teacher. This site is targeted to kids of any age and is packed with math games. Other resources include videos, problem solving tasks, and traditional math practice that kids can do online.
- Numbernut is a very comprehensive math site, also created by an educator. Numbernut is broken up by math skill levels. Younger users can practice shapes and colors, counting, addition, and other basic math skills.
- Elementary Math Games was originally designed as an educator resource, but now students can access its free flash-based games and online puzzles.
- ABCya is an award-winning site filled with games and apps for kids. Math skills embedded in these games include addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, fractions, counting money, and telling time.
It is well known that a thorough understanding of basic math during one's primary school years is necessary for success later in life. Children’s fascination with games and all things electronic plays smoothly into education strategies for both teachers and parents. Supplementing a child’s mathematical education is easy, and requires no more access to the Internet and a little planning.
Online Certificate Programs by School
|Herzing University -
Herzing's online certificate program offers the flexibility, personalization, and support you need to succeed in today's ever-changing job market. Discover Herzing's hands-on coursework, experienced faculty, and student-first approach which sets them apart from other online universities.
Ultimate Medical Academy -
Get personalized attention with UMA.
One-on-one tutoring, pre-interview coaching, job search assistance, alumni services—they’re all included in Ultimate Medical Academy’s competitively priced tuition. As a nationally accredited school, we provide quality career training online and at our two campuses in the Tampa Bay area of Florida. Let’s talk about your needs, your career goals and how UMA can help you succeed.
Gainful employment information can be found at ultimatemedical.edu/gainful-employment.pdf and includes information on tuition, loan debt, completion, placement and occupations.
|Penn Foster Career School -
Penn Foster Career School offers over 85 online career diploma and certificate programs that can help students prepare for a career path in some of today’s fastest growing fields. If you are looking for training in allied health, business, education, or the trades, then Penn Foster Career School is a great choice. Penn Foster Career School is regionally accredited by the Commission on Secondary Schools of the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools and nationally accredited by the Distance Education Accrediting Commission. | <urn:uuid:15ca291a-5ad0-49fd-b472-92d4aa9ae86c> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.onlinecertificateprograms.org/blog/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395992.75/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00105-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954118 | 2,149 | 4.09375 | 4 |
WASHINGTON (CBSDC) – A new study finds that the Antarctic Peninsula started warming naturally over 600 years ago.
The study – published in the science journal Nature last week – found that the “high rate of warming over the past century is unusual (but not unprecedented) in the context of natural climate variability over the past two millennia.”
According to the Christian Science Monitor Journal, the warming trend in the Antarctic Peninsula was caused by natural variations.
“By the time the unusual recent warming began, the Antarctic Peninsula ice shelves were already poised for the dramatic break-ups observed from the 1990s onwards,” said the British Antarctic Survey, according to the Christian Science Monitor Journal.
Scientists say that several ice shelves around the peninsula have collapsed in recent years due to the region warming nearly 5 degrees Fahrenheit per century.
“What we are seeing is consistent with a human-induced warming, on top of a natural one,” Robert Mulvany, lead author at the British Antarctic Survey, told the Journal.
Scientists studied the ice on James Ross Island, which is on the northern part of the peninsula.
“If this rapid warming that we are now seeing continues, we can expect that ice shelves further south along the peninsula that have been stable for thousands of years will also become vulnerable,” Nerilie Abram, of the Australian National University, told the Journal. | <urn:uuid:27585205-ebad-4338-823b-6823e9b1ea48> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://washington.cbslocal.com/2012/08/27/study-antarctic-peninsula-started-warming-naturally-over-600-years-ago/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783404826.94/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155004-00009-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94172 | 285 | 3.53125 | 4 |
Last year, Japanese electronics company, Pioneer, finished development on its small size full color hologram printer and has now decided to use this technology to create 3-D holographic prints of babies’ faces while they’re still in the womb. According to a YouTube video detailing this brand new service, “When expecting mothers receive ultrasounds during physical examinations, 3-D images of the unborn child are taken. We can translate that data into a physical form and create a commemorative photo for parents to keep, in anticipation of the upcoming birth.”
Using Pioneer’s new equipment, it’s easy for pretty much anyone to produce beautiful Lippmann holograms, not just the shiny cellophane patterns that you see on wrapping paper. Producing a card-sized full-color holographic picture takes approximately two hours, while monochromatic cards take only 90 minutes to render and print.
“Up until now, creating this sort of 3-D image required one to make a physical model of the photo’s subject and shine light on it from two separate angles. While this new printing technique may still seem like a large undertaking because it requires use of a dark room and special equipment, creating a real-life model is no longer necessary. The same results can be achieved using a simple computer design program.”
Pictures are printed on a high-grade holographic film called Bayfol® HX, created by the polymer production company Bayer Material Science. The holograms are printed systematically at 300 by 200 units (card-sized) and are visible at an angle of up to 25 degrees, both up and down and left to right, creating 60 different points of view all around.
“A beam of light is shone onto the film based on a chart documenting all points of reference for each area of the picture subject. Wherever that light interferes with a reference light shone from the back side of the film, a mark is made. In this way, the card is systematically filled and a single hologram is created.”
We’re told that Lippmann holograms are best viewed under white light. The pictures being showcased in the project’s promotional video below are displayed in special card cases and jewelry boxes containing white LED lights. These pieces come highly recommended as souvenirs of pregnancy and childbirth, because nothing screams life-long keepsake like the holographic face of your unborn fetus.
Source: Net Lab | <urn:uuid:91d240ea-5f4c-4203-b468-178da211bc9d> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://en.rocketnews24.com/2013/05/14/babys-first-portrait-get-3-d-holographic-print-of-your-unborn-child/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397428.37/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00004-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.913309 | 508 | 2.5625 | 3 |
The Theme of Health in Organic Chemistry
The Organic Chemistry Behind Medicines
Our bodies contain thousands of organic compounds. Proteins, carbohydrates, nucleotides, and lipids are some examples that we learned about in this chapter.
Pharmaceuticals are also organic compounds. And, while we are constantly bombarded with pharmaceutical advertisements on both TV and in popular magazines, we probably don't pay close attention to these, and we definitely don't pay attention to the accompanying fine print that is full of confusing medical terms.
However, upon a closer look, we'd be surprised at how much we are able to understand from the organic chemistry we've learned in this chapter. Remember, both doctors and scientists started where we are right now…introductory organic chemistry.
Let's take a look at a few common pharmaceuticals.
One of the best selling drugs in the United States is Lipitor. High cholesterol is a common problem, with 1 in 5 adults having been diagnosed with high cholesterol. What exactly is cholesterol?
Cholesterol is an organic molecule involved in building cell membranes. In the diagram of cholesterol below, we can see several functional groups that we discussed previously in this chapter, including a hydroxyl group, a hydrocarbon chain, several hydrocarbon rings, and even a double bond:
The hydroxyl group allows for cholesterol to interact with other organic molecules. Specifically, cholesterol interacts with the fatty acids, another type of molecule we discussed in this chapter.
If your cholesterol levels become too high, cholesterol plaques stick to the walls of arteries and inhibit blood flow. This is similar to when a large chunk of ice cream gets stuck in your milkshake straw, but much more serious (incidentally, too many milkshakes might be why our cholesterol levels are so high in the first place, but we digress).
In comes Lipitor, the cholesterol hero. The molecular structure of Lipitor also contains functional groups we know. Hydroxyl groups, benzene rings, carboxylic acids, amines, and ketones…the gang's all here.
Together, Lipitor's functional groups interact with cholesterol's functional groups, resulting in the breakdown of cholesterol and making the world a better place.
Blood clots don't always form where and when we'd like them too. When we need to remove unwanted blood clots, who ya gonna' call? Clot busters!
Plavix is a drug used to inhibit blood clots, or bust them, if you will. The molecular structure of Plavix contains a benzene ring, a halogen, an amide, and an ester. It also contains an inorganic sulfur atom, a functional group covered in a previous chapter.
Does thinking about pollen make you want to sneeze? If so, you are not alone.
Singulair is used to treat seasonal allergies and some types of asthma. It contains a whole slew of functional groups; benzene rings, hydroxyl groups, carboxylic acids, amines, double bonds and a halogen are all included. Luckily we don't have to learn how to name this one.
Singulair works to block allergic reactions in our lungs before they can happen. That's right, all those functional groups you see in this diagram are just a bunch of bodyguards, working to keep your lungs protected. | <urn:uuid:bec9a742-70c5-46d9-98f5-0a8a80017893> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.shmoop.com/organic-chemistry/health.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396887.54/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00124-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935753 | 690 | 3.375 | 3 |
How to Help Prevent Summer Regression
by KIRSTEN MYERS
Executive Director of Special Services
Rockford Public Schools
While summer vacation is a highlight for any child and family, it is also a time when students forget a good deal of what they learned the previous school year. As a result, the first several weeks of each new school year is spent on assessing where students are in relationship to where they should be coming into the next grade level. This can be challenging to both parents and teachers alike as many weeks are spent reviewing and recouping literacy and numeracy skills lost over the summer vacation.
Helping your child to retain what they learned last year doesn’t mean a summer vacation full of hours spent crying over worksheets, tutoring or taking classes. There are several ways, noted below, in which parents can help prevent their child from losing information that they learned during the previous grade. It is as simple as spending 20 to 30 minutes per day on a few mathematical equations coupled with time spent reading high interest books.
Tablets or Computers—An easy and motivating way to retain skills is to have your child play educational games on a tablet or computer. The Educational Freeware website, www.educational-freeware.com, provides users with reviews of the best free learning games, software and websites. Additionally, Kahn Academy, offers over 3,200 videos on everything from arithmetic to physics and offers hundreds of skills to practice. With Kahn Academy, students can review previous skills and prepare for the next school year while working at their own pace.
Free Worksheets—There are several numeracy and literacy websites online that offer free printable worksheets. You can find specific skill worksheets by typing your child’s grade followed by the term “free math/literacy worksheets” into your search bar, and you will have a plethora of worksheets to choose from. Simply print the worksheets and allocate a small amount of time each day to work on them.
Workbooks—One of the easiest ways to help a child retain the information they learned last year is to purchase a skills workbook at your local bookstore. Educational workbooks are easy to find as they are nearly always labeled by grade level.
The Library—Reading is critical for students as it is the gateway to all learning. To help your child retain their reading skills over the summer, visit your local library and choose books that are of high interest to your child. Additionally, most city libraries have a Summer Reading Program where children fill out forms to show how much they’ve read which may make them eligible to win small prizes from the library.
Parents, teachers and students can agree that when regression occurs, it makes moving forward in their academic subjects that much more challenging when the new school year starts. With a little family time and dedication, you can help your child retain the material they learned last year in preparation for the 2012/2013 school year. | <urn:uuid:1f7223ee-ca1d-405c-9bea-18591e7e30c3> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://rockfordsquire.com/2012/07/19/school-beat-24/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397562.76/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00180-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957454 | 610 | 3.078125 | 3 |
Psychology is a systematic and scientific study of human behavior. It deals with two critical relationships: the Brain Functions and Behavior and the Environment and Behavior. As scientists, psychologists follow scientific methods using careful observation, experimentation and analysis in a creative and innovative manner, evolving new approaches from established knowledge to meet changing challenges of people and societies. They develop theories and test them through their researches. They conduct both basic and applied researches in diversified fields and serve as consultants to communities and organizations. There are many subfields of psychology like Experimental, Quantitative, Social, Evolutionary, Developmental, Educational, Cognitive, Clinical, Counseling, Engineering, Forensic, Health, Industrial, Rehabilitation, Sports and Neuro Psychology to mention just a few. | <urn:uuid:5ccbcc52-6714-40de-9b22-65c1ffc0e1e6> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.banasthali.org/banasthali/wcms/en/home/lower-menu/faculties/social-science/psychology/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395039.24/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00022-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932176 | 149 | 3.21875 | 3 |
The Beauty of the Dwellings of the Garden
Palaces and mansions are among the most beautiful residences in the world. When people describe the beauty of these residences, they always mention, for example, their views, valuable furnishings, beautiful décor, columns, and gilded woodwork.
In the verses of the Qur’an that speak of the Garden, Allah often mentions such dwellings that are pleasing to human beings: mansions, palaces and pavilions. These dwellings are rare in this world, but they are numerous and in perfect and splendid condition in the Garden and Allah’s beloved slaves will live in them.
Some of the hadith in which the wealth and abundance of these dwellings are described are as follows:
We asked: “What is the Garden made of?” The Prophet said: “A brick of gold and a brick of silver, its mortar is of strongly scented musk, its stones are pearls and emeralds, and its soil is of saffron. Those who enter it will be in affluent circumstances and will not be destitute, they will live for ever and not die, their garments will not wear out, and their youth will not pass away.” (Narrated by Abu Hurayra, at-Tirmidhi)
The walls of the Garden are built of bricks of gold and silver, its dust of saffron… (Imam Ghazzali, Ihya Ulum ad- Din, vol. 4)
The hadith point out that the dwellings of the Garden are made from the most valuable materials, and, instead of common gravel and pebbles, there will be pearls and rubies.
The Mansions of the Garden:
No matter how beautiful the things of this world may be, inevitably they have many imperfections. The most beautiful mansion in this world cannot compare in beauty to a mansion in the Garden. Above all, time has a destructive effect on all worldly beauty. For example, if a mansion is unused and is abandoned, it will fall into decay. Its furnishings will age and become mouldy from moisture and damp and begin to rot. The resilience of their fabrics will decrease over time and their colours will fade. The furnishings will become covered with layers of dust and there will be spiders’ webs everywhere. In the course of time, such a beautiful dwelling will become unliveable. But the dwellings of the Garden are not subject to all these imperfections or to the destructive ravages of time. When the Qur’an describes these mansions of the Garden, it says that rivers flow beneath them and that they are built on high and secure places:
As for those who have iman and do right actions, We will lodge them in lofty chambers in the Garden, with rivers flowing under them, remaining in them timelessly, for ever. How excellent is the reward of those who act. (Surat al-‘Ankabut: 58)
It is not your wealth or your children that will bring you near to Us – only in the case of people who have iman and act rightly; such people will have a double recompense for what they did. They will be safe from all harm in the High Halls of the Garden. (Surah Saba’: 37)
Every detail in the description of the Garden speaks to every period of time and appeals to everyone. Rubies, emeralds, pearls and other precious stones are rare and valuable and everyone appreciates them. For this reason, that the mansions are made of these stones is an important indication of their priceless value.
Among these stones, the reddish transparent ruby is the rarest precious stone in the world. The shiny, smooth, round pearl has an extraordinary aesthetic beauty. Its formation is very special. Over time, a little grain of sand inside an oyster irritates the soft inward of the oyster which covers it with calcium carbonate until it eventually becomes a thing of striking beauty. Of course, these descriptions and comparisons with regard to the Garden are examples taken from the conditions pertaining in this world. These comparisons are necessary as a means to broaden our horizons and for us to think about the Garden. But the beautiful things of the Garden will be much more magnificent than the jewels of this world.
Everything in the Garden has been created to be as pleasant as possible. The Prophet says the following about the mansions in the Garden:
In the garden there is a tent of pearls, whose width is sixty miles, in each corner of which the believer will have a wife whom the others will not see. (Sahih al-Bukhari)
Another thing that adds to the beauty of these mansions is the splendid setting in which they are located. For example, as we see in many descriptions, some mansions are surrounded by greenery and stand over or near water.
In addition, there is another characteristic of these mansions in the Garden:
There are mansions made of emeralds and jewels. (Imam Ghazzali, Ihya Ulum ad-Din [The Revival of the Sciences of the Deen]
Everything has been created in the Garden according to what people desire and nothing they wish to see is withheld from their eyes. Allah reveals this in the Qur’an:
… They will have there all that their hearts desire and their eyes find delight in… (Surat az-Zukhruf: 71)
Cities in the Garden:
There is a river known as “Rayyan” in the Garden. A city of coral has been built upon it. It has seventy thousand gates of gold and silver. (Ahmad Diya ad-Din al-Kamushkhanawi, Ramuz al-Ahadith, vol. 2, p. 326/4)
In the above hadith, our Prophet tells of gold and silver, the symbols of splendid wealth and art. Because both these metals are brilliant, resilient, easy to shape and difficult to find they have held an important place throughout history. There is only as much as 0.004 grams of gold in a ton of earth; the amount per ton obtained in gold mines, however, varies between 6 and 12 grams. Therefore, to obtain a gold plate, tons of rocks must be refined. The fact that gold is hard to obtain and is rarer than other metals in the world increases its value greatly. And this shiny, resilient and easy to shape metal has also a strong aesthetic appeal to people.
The aesthetic and artistic value of gold makes it the metal of choice in the production of fine works of art. Many of the things we find rich and extravagant are either made of gold or decorated with it. In the adornment of objects, in bookbinding, calligraphy, miniatures and illumination, gold is indispensable. The lavish use of gold in the dwellings described in the hadith is a blessing that people find pleasing. In this world, people see gold often in the form of ingots; once in a while they come across a few gold-plated objects and accessories and perhaps even palaces with excessive use of gold such as in gilt columns. All these things are amazing to those of us who are accustomed to seeing only a few pieces of jewellery made of gold. This being the case, we cannot easily imagine a skyscraper or a mansion, a villa or a summer house made purely of gold. Just the idea that there may be such things gives pleasure and excitement to the human spirit. The hadith we have quoted previously tells us that the buildings in the Garden are made of gold and silver bricks. This increases the beauty of the already splendid houses in the Garden and makes them even more magnificent.
[It is built of] one brick of gold and one brick of silver, its mortar is of strongly scented musk, its stones are pearls and emeralds, and its soil is of saffron… (Narrated by Abu Hurayra, at-Tirmidhi)
In the hadith below, another aspect of the splendour of the Garden is emphasised by reference to a gold pillar:
In the Garden there is a gold pillar with cities of beryl [a bright, green precious stone resembling emerald] on it, and these shine like stars in the Garden… (Ahmad Diya ad-Din al-Kamushkhanawi, Ramuz al-Ahadith, vol. 1, p. 125/6)
Another interesting aspect of the above hadith is the high elevation of the cities. Certainly in this world a highly elevated city is to be preferred because of the view and refreshing climate. When we consider that these cities are in the splendid setting of the Garden, we can better understand to what extent these dwellings will be pleasing to the human spirit. These dwellings spoken of in the hadith – cities on pillars – have a parallel in the verses of the Qur’an that tell us about high-ceilinged halls built one above the other:
But those who have taqwa of their Lord will have high-ceilinged Halls, and more such Halls built one above the other, and rivers flowing under them. That is Allah’s promise. Allah does not break His promise. (Surat az-Zumar: 20)
When we think of life in a city, first of all, many problems come to mind. Traffic, health, communication, air pollution, infrastructure, water, electricity, telephones and security have become matters that people have to struggle with. Many professions have even come into existence to mitigate these problems and help people lead more untroubled and ordered lives. The reasons for such problems will be eradicated in the Garden and there is no possibility that such conditions could ever exist in the cities there.
The Qur’an tells us that the climate of the Garden will be the most pleasant and comfortable for the human spirit: “…they will experience there neither burning sun nor bitter cold.”(Surat al-Insan: 13) For this reason, there will be no need for heating systems or air conditioning. As we will see in the following chapters, communication will be no problem in the Garden. Allah knows the truth.
When the buildings of the Garden are mentioned in the hadith, the Prophet says that their mortar will be a sweet-smelling material called musk. We can see that all the blessings that Allah has created in the Garden appeal to all our senses. A sweet aroma is a wonderful blessing for human beings. The scent of roses, carnations, lilies, hyacinths, lilacs, acacia and pine trees are all gifts of Allah to human beings. In addition, these wonderful smells have a pleasing effect on the human spirit. Nothing in this world will be able to compare with the aromas of the Garden and people will enjoy all their unexpected subtleties. The fact that the mortar of the buildings is composed of musk is one of the best examples of this. This is only one of the wonderful things that Allah has created for believers in the Garden.
The Palaces of the Garden:
In one hadith, the palaces of the Garden are mentioned:
In the Garden, there are palaces built of emeralds and jewels and in each building there will be 70 rooms of red colour and in each room 70 sub-rooms of green colour and in each sub-room there will be one throne… There will be 70 dining cloths in each room and 70 kinds of food on each dining cloth. There will be seven servants in each room… (Imam Ghazzali, Ihya Ulum ad-Din, vol. 4)
We are told that the palaces of the Garden are made of the most precious stones, that they are decorated in the most beautiful and pleasing manner and that they are full of blessings. Believers who are not content with the life of this world and who are not deceived by the attractions of this transitory world will be blessed in the Hereafter with real gifts that are perfect and everlasting. Because they have had a pure iman, and have willingly made serious effort toward the attainment of the Garden, they will have true delight forever in its beautiful dwellings. As well as containing every luxury and splendid wealth, this environment will be a pure and noble place where the people of the Garden always remember Allah and give Him heartfelt thanks. In the Qur’an, Allah tells us that the people of the Garden live there in continual thankfulness and happiness:
They will say, “Praise be to Allah Who has fulfilled His promise to us and made us the inheritors of this land, letting us settle in the Garden wherever we want. How excellent is the wage of those who work!” (Surat az- Zumar: 74)
The Cool Pavilions of the Garden:
Many hadith describe the tents that are among the dwellings of the Garden. Some of these hadith are as follows:
A tent [in the Garden] is like a hollow pearl, thirty miles in height and in every corner of the tent, a believer will have a wife who cannot be seen by the others. (Narrated by Abu Musa al- Ash’ari; Sahih al-Bukhari, vol. 4, hadith no: 466)
In the Garden the believer will have a tent made of a single hollow pearl, whose width will be sixty miles. The believer will have wives in it, and he will go to each of them with out any of them seeing each other. (Narrated by Abu Bakr ibn Abdullah ibn Qais, Sahih Muslim, vol. 4, hadith no: 2838)
The least of the people of the Garden in rank is the one who will have eighty thousand servants and seventy two wives, and for whom will be set up a dome of pearls, aquamarine and rubies similar in dimensions to the distance between Jabiyah and San’a. (Abu Sa’id al-Khudri, at-Tirmidhi)
Everything in the Garden has been created in the most perfect way and the pavilions are as comfortable as possible to give pleasure, comfort and relaxation to believers. The Messenger of Allah tells us that these pavilions are extraordinarily capacious and made of precious jewels. In the hadith we are told that those who belong to the people of the Garden live a wonderful life with their families and friends within broad and lofty pearl. Certainly this is a wonder from the incomparable creative power and artistry of our Lord. A person who lives within the countless deficiencies, imperfections and restrictions of this world is delighted just to imagine such beauty. This splendour together with the numbers of servants there will be in these tents of the Garden made of emeralds and rubies is an announcement of glad tidings for those who work in this world in the hope of pleasing Allah, obtaining His mercy and entering the Garden.
The Markets of the Garden:
Markets are places where people are able to acquire the goods they need. In them there are all kinds of food and other articles. People go to these places looking forward to eating good food, trying different tastes, buying stylish clothes and appliances to make their work easier; they buy things they like which they think will make them comfortable. So, if people enjoy this blessing even a little in this world, Allah will make it perfect in the Garden. The markets in the Garden, with their countless variety of blessings and their sights that create a pleasing sense of abundance, appeal to the desires of the people of the Garden. In addition, in the Garden many kinds of inconveniences associated with worldly markets will disappear. For example, when people go through markets in this world, they quickly become weary even though they enjoy themselves. Most people do not have as much time as they would like to go around in them. Besides those few people who have enough money to buy what they want, most people cannot purchase everything they desire and there are many who cannot afford to buy even what they need. As long as they can pay the price they can select what they want from the abundance. But if they cannot afford it, they must be content only with browsing in these places. However, the Messenger of Allah tells us that people can have as much as they want of everything in the markets of the Garden. There, it will not be a matter of shopping; everyone will be able to have whatever he likes. There will be a variety of blessings in these markets that people have never seen or even imagined before. In His great kindness, Allah will give everyone what they desire and no one will want for anything.
This situation is described in the hadith:
So we will come to a market surrounded by angels in which there is that which eyes have never seen the like of, the ears have never heard and which has never occurred to human hearts. That which we desire will be carried to us, and nothing will be sold in it or bought. In that market the people of the Garden will meet each other, so that a man of high rank will come forward and meet those who are lesser than himself [and none of them will be low people] and the clothes he has on will amaze and delight him. Before he ceases speaking, an even finer raiment will appear upon him. That is because it is not fitting for anyone to sorrow in it. (Narrated by Abu Hurayra, Sunan Ibn Majah; at-Tirmidhi) There is in the Garden a market wherein there will be no buying and selling, but forms of men and women. So when a man wishes a form, he will enter into it. (Narrated by Ali, at-Tirmidhi)
Another blessing mentioned in the hadith is the physical features of men and women. To be able to change one’s style at will and to appear wearing different fashions is something that many people in this world dream about. Most people would like to have a beautiful, healthy and unblemished face and body. From birth, people have been given a certain hair colour, iris colour, facial features, skin tone, and height and body type. However, in the Garden there is no worldly sense of monotony from the existence of one kind of beauty; a person’s looks change when and however he may desire, as in this hadith containing the transformation of the man’s clothing in an instance. This is another blessing.
In another hadith, we are told about the pleasant social life in the markets of the Garden where believers sit in beautiful, fragrant, comfortable places, and meet and converse with one another:
It is certain that there are such markets in the Garden in which no goods are exchanged. When the inmates of the Garden arrive there, they will recline on fresh and bright pearly earth of musk. They will meet with each other as they did in this world. They will talk of how they were in this world and how they worshipped our Lord, of how they enlivened the nights in prayer, of how they fasted during the day, of the wealth and poverty of the world, of death… and of how they are the people of the Garden. (Mukhtasar Tadhkirah al-Qurtubi, p. 326/565) | <urn:uuid:c79deb94-55b7-417d-a3f1-57055203801b> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://evolutiondeceit.com/en/books/47829/Jannah-The-Garden-from-the-Quran-and-Hadith/chapter/13238/The-Beauty-of-The-Dwellings-of-The-Garden | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396106.71/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00115-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962898 | 4,010 | 2.5625 | 3 |
About 208,000 young people under 20 years of age have diagnosed diabetes. Most of them have type 1 diabetes. As obesity rates in children continue to soar, type 2 diabetes, a disease that used to be seen primarily in adults over age 45, is becoming more common in young people. Children with diabetes and their families face unique challenges when dealing with diabetes.
Learn how to lower the risk for getting type 2 diabetes and learn more about type 1 and type 2 diabetes in young people, including how to manage the disease for health and well-being. | <urn:uuid:be298887-e762-435e-9b1c-26fe3238b6cd> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/health-communication-programs/ndep/living-with-diabetes/youth-teens/Pages/index.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395620.56/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00114-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947006 | 111 | 3.28125 | 3 |
December 31, 2005
Mount St. Helens’ Lava Baffles Scientists
SEATTLE -- Roughly every three seconds, the equivalent of a large dump truck load of lava - 10 cubic yards - oozes into the crater of Mount St. Helens, and with the molten rock comes a steady drumfire of small earthquakes.
The unremitting pace, going on for 15 months now, is uncommon, said U.S. Geological Survey geologist Dave Sherrod. Experts say it is unclear what the activity signifies or how much longer it will continue."One view of this eruption is that we're at the end of the eruption that began in 1980," Sherrod said. "If it hadn't been so cataclysmic ... it might instead have gone through 30 or 40 years of domebuilding and small explosions."
St. Helens' violent May 18, 1980, eruption blasted 3.7 billion cubic yards of ash and debris off the top of the mountain. Fifty-seven people died in the blast, which left a gaping crater in place of the perfect, snowclad cone that had marked the original 9,677-foot peak known as "America's Mount Fuji."
St. Helens - now 8,325 feet - rumbled for another six years, extruding 97 million cubic yards of lava onto the crater floor in a series of 22 eruptions that built a 876-foot dome.
The volcano, about 100 miles south of Seattle, fell silent in 1986.
Then, in September 2004, the low-level quakes began - occasionally spiking above magnitude 3. Since then, the mountain has squeezed out about 102 million cubic yards of lava, more in 15 months than in the six years after the eruption.
Sherrod describes the movement of lava up through the volcano as being "like a sticky piston trying to rise in a rusty cylinder. These quakes are very small - we think they're associated with that sticking and slipping as the ground is deformed and relaxes."
The dome collapses and grows and collapses and grows, he said. "It changes its location ... it can't seem to maintain its height at much more than it is now " - about 1,300 feet. "Then it kind of shoves the sandpile aside and starts over."
It's not entirely clear where the lava is coming from. If it were being generated by the mountain, scientists would expect to see changes in the mountain's shape, its sides compressing as lava is spewed out.
At the current rate, "three or four months would have been enough time to exhaust what was standing in the conduit. ... The volume is greater than anything that could be standing in a narrow 3-mile pipe," Sherrod said.
That suggests resupply from greater depths, which normally would generate certain gases and deep earthquakes. Neither is being detected.
"That's one of the headscratchers, I guess," Sherrod said.
All the recent activity has remained within the crater, though scientists - keenly aware of the potential damage that silica-laced ash can pose to jet engines - monitor St. Helens closely for plumes of smoke and ash. Some have gone as high as 30,000 feet.
On the Net: | <urn:uuid:4270d7bf-d445-43ac-9fbd-bb1e8c72817f> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/344568/mount_st_helens_lava_baffles_scientists/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783399385.17/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154959-00076-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970008 | 667 | 3.34375 | 3 |
What is in this article?:
- Eight Okla. streams recommended for removal from impaired list
- No regulation necessary
- A New Year opens with good news on Water Quality
- Eight more streams are candidates for removal from Federal impaired streams list.
- Voluntary action from farmers credited for success
Voluntary actions by Oklahoma’s farmers, ranchers and other landowners in partnership with the Oklahoma Conservation Commission, the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and the local Conservation Districts to reduce non-point source pollution in water has led to the recommendation that eight additional streams be removed from the federal list of “impaired” water bodies, according to Shanon Phillips, Director of the Oklahoma Conservation Commission Water Quality Division.
“We are very excited to have eight more streams proposed for removal from the state impaired-waters list,” Phillips said. “By working with landowners to address non-point source pollution in a manner that respects private property rights, we are making real progress in improving water quality in Oklahoma.”
According to Phillips, approximately 500 streams statewide are monitored on a rotating basis by the Oklahoma Conservation Commission (OCC) to determine if they are attaining water quality standards, particularly those impaired by nonpoint or diffuse sources. This information is then used to determine Oklahoma’s proposed impaired-waters list, which is then submitted to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for final approval. This final action by EPA determines what streams are determined to be impaired and placed on what is commonly referred to as the 303(d) list.
Last spring four Oklahoma streams had seen enough reduction in non-point source pollution to be removed from this 303(d) list. In addition, another 170 streams were not placed on this list due largely to the work done by agriculture producers and other landowners to address non-point source issues in their watersheds. | <urn:uuid:b6f97fb9-b120-46c8-b860-3b6a7a3d8fd2> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://southwestfarmpress.com/management/eight-okla-streams-recommended-removal-impaired-list | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397842.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00135-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945274 | 387 | 2.84375 | 3 |
Can you fill in the empty boxes in the grid with the right shape
Someone at the top of a hill sends a message in semaphore to a
friend in the valley. A person in the valley behind also sees the
same message. What is it?
What is the missing symbol? Can you decode this in a similar way?
The Vikings communicated in writing by making simple scratches on
wood or stones called runes. Can you work out how their code works
using the table of the alphabet?
I was looking at the number plate of a car parked outside. Using my special code S208VBJ adds to 65. Can you crack my code and use it to find out what both of these number plates add up to?
Semaphore is a way to signal the alphabet using two flags. You
might want to send a message that contains more than just letters.
How many other symbols could you send using this code?
Ruth from Swanborne House School describes some unusual shapes very clearly.
Go to last month's problems to see more solutions.
When you think of spies and secret agents, you probably wouldn’t think of mathematics. Some of the most famous code breakers in history have been mathematicians.
A game for 2 people that everybody knows. You can play with a
friend or online. If you play correctly you never lose! | <urn:uuid:ccbfa66c-454b-445c-83f7-1bbc2c9c2353> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | https://nrich.maths.org/thismonth/1and2/2004/03 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395160.19/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00146-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930772 | 283 | 3.265625 | 3 |
Learn something new every day
More Info... by email
LED is an acronym for Light-Emitting Diode and refers to an electronic semiconductor device through which an electric current is passed in order to emit light. More efficient in operation than incandescent light bulbs and rarely subject to burning out, LEDs are used in a variety of different applications, including digital watches and flat-screen televisions. A work light is a light specifically manufactured for use in a particular job-related situation, such as for theater technicians, automobile mechanics, and marine applications. An LED work light is a work light that in addition to its other specifications being met, uses a Light-Emitting Diode, and the best LED work light to choose will be the one with the specs best suited to the job at hand.
There is a certain set of features that distinguish most LED work lights and reviewing them can help you determine if the LED work light you are considering is the best choice for you. The first important distinction is between the LED work light that is a separate device, as opposed to the one that is built into a tool. For example, the Milwaukee® 2629-22 M18 Compact Cordless Bandsaw has an LED work light built into the saw, but in most cases, the light is a separate device.
The first thing to look at in a separate LED work light is probably the type of light it is. Consider whether you need a spotlight, a floodlight, a flashlight, or a bar light. These types of light are each valuable, but not interchangeable. Once you have found a collection of lights of the sort that you need, you can begin to narrow your LED work light choice down by other features.
The power of the light is likely to be near the top of the list. If your work requires a high intensity light, nothing else will do. In addition, the size of the device producing the light can be critical: in certain work situations there is only so much room.
The work area will also be important in determining several other factors about the LED work light you are seeking. Consider if the light must be waterproof, or at least water resistant. Also think about whether the heat output is an important factor. Too hot a device can be uncomfortable in some situations.
The method for keeping the LED work light in position is another important factor. Work lights come in a variety of designs, including the flashlight model which has to be held or laid on its side, the bar light with a hook on one end, the light attached to a stand, the lamp on a tripod, the light on a pedestal mount, and the lamp on a gooseneck.
The power for the LED work light is another important consideration. If it runs off batteries, it is important to know the burn time and the recharge time. The way or ways available to charge the light might influence your decision. Other features that you may find include drop-resistance, overcharge protection, rotation and tilt of the light housing, and multiple LEDs.
It's still hard to choose wisely online. I've been doing research about this LOFTEK handheld work light, but it's still hard to pull the trigger. How do you think of one. Thanks.
Good article. I think the main things to consider when getting a work light is the brightness and the versatility. I have one of these lights and even though it looks kind of weird, it has all the features that I need as an auto tech.
One of our editors will review your suggestion and make changes if warranted. Note that depending on the number of suggestions we receive, this can take anywhere from a few hours to a few days. Thank you for helping to improve wiseGEEK! | <urn:uuid:1bd47bd4-5c2b-4f49-955a-3f66cd1327ce> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.wisegeek.com/how-do-i-choose-the-best-led-work-light.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395548.53/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00149-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951796 | 764 | 2.75 | 3 |
- Supreme Court has grown more and more skeptical of affirmative action programs in recent decades
- 2003 Supreme Court cases regarding U of Michigan admissions upheld use of race only as one factor within carefully constructed admissions processes, but predicted end of affirmative action within a generation
- Affirmative action remains a controversial political issue today
Despite Allan Bakke's victory on the specific issue of his admission, the Bakke decision actually served to solidify the use of racial classifications within carefully constructed affirmative action programs. In fact, two years later, the Court suggested that even some quota systems were permissible. In Fullilove v. Klutznick the Court upheld a federal law requiring that ten percent of all public works contracts be awarded to minority-owned businesses.
But in the decades since, the Court has suggested that programs like these are under increasing scrutiny and require increasingly narrow construction. For example, in 1986 the Court held that a contract that gave minority teachers more protection against lay-offs than white teachers was unfair (Wygant v. Jackson Board of Education). Similarly, in 1989, the Court struck down a municipal program that set aside 30% of all public works contracts for minority businesses (City of Richmond v. J.A. Croson Company). In both instances the Court found inadequate proof of specific, local discrimination to warrant the use of racial classifications. It insisted that affirmative action programs employing racial classifications were still permissible, but only when constructed as a remedy for proven and specific discrimination in the past.
Finally, in 2003, the Court returned to the issue of affirmative action programs in higher education in considering two cases involving the University of Michigan: Gratz v. Bollinger, concerning the use of race in undergraduate admissions, and Grutter v. Bollinger, concerning the law school admissions process. The result was another "split decision" that served notice that affirmative action programs employing racial classifications, while still acceptable, will be subject to very close scrutiny by the Court in the future. If racial classifications are applied too heavily, as was the case with Michigan's undergraduate admissions policies, according to the Court, they will be struck down. If race is used more carefully along with many other factors in order to achieve diversity, as was the case with the law school admissions program, the Court would accept it. But, added Justice Sandra O'Connor, the Court's support for even these more narrowly constructed programs was not endless. Within a generation, she predicted, the use of these sorts of racial classifications would not be acceptable to the Court.
Justice O'Connor's suggestion that the Court's patience for affirmative action was limited has been echoed in the political arena by state initiatives seeking an end to racial classifications in college admissions and public hiring. In 1996, California voters passed Proposition 209 making it illegal to "grant preferential treatment to, any individual or group on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin in the operation of public employment, public education, or public contracting." The state of Washington passed a similar initiative in 1998; Nebraska did the same in 2008, and in 2000, the Florida legislature also banned the use of racial classifications in college admissions.
For many, these events portend the end of a misguided and unfair strategy to redress past discriminatory practices. According to these critics, granting preferential treatment to minorities violates the rights of majorities. By separating performance from reward, affirmative action threatens America's educational and industrial superiority. It leaves a cloud of suspicion hanging over the achievements of all African-Americans, and it actually delays the development of a truly color-blind society.
But supporters of affirmative action argue that without it America's colleges and industries will never overcome the legacies of centuries of racial oppression. They point to the dramatic decline in minority enrollment at the University of California after the passage of Proposition 209. And they argue that advocates of a racially neutral, level playing field ignore the fact that whites still enjoy certain cultural and economic advantages—that is, even today, whites benefit from subtle forms of racial preference.
In hindsight, sorting out legal and philosophical questions is easy. Looking back at the desegregation struggles of the 1950s, right and wrong seem to jump off the page and the video clip. But, despite what some say, history does not exactly repeat itself. It offers to every generation its own unique challenges, its own philosophical, legal, and political dilemmas. History can provide us with a certain framework, a set of examples that add dimension to our judgment. But it can't give us all the answers. History will, however, judge us—just as we judge the history that came before us. | <urn:uuid:2fad2d07-3631-46df-8851-360da3f184c1> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.shmoop.com/equal-protection/reverse-discrimination.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395548.53/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00038-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945748 | 941 | 2.734375 | 3 |
Earlier this week, I was incredibly humbled by the outpouring of geoblogospheric support for a DonorsChoose project to help South Carolina elementary school students become weather detectives. With only minutes to spare before the project lost its chance, with help from 13 donors, the last dollars were raised to get those students a thermometer, wind vane, rain gauge, weather maps, and weather related books and craft supplies that will really enrich their educational experience. The thank-you letter from the teacher brought tears to my eyes. Here it is:
Thank you so much for generous gift. Without your donation, this unit would not be possible. My students will now have a chance to measure with these weather tools just like meteorologist do. The alternative would be to visit local websites and write the temperature, wind speed and direction, and rain fall amounts. Because of your generosity, my students are fortunate to now have a weather vane, anemometer, rain gauge, and thermometer. Now they can measure weather conditions, write the data in a table, and then interpret the data.
The craft materials allow my students to create models of the weather cycle and clouds. They can create booklets on severe weather, clouds, and weather tools, too.
I am also very excited about the new books about weather we will receive. Some of these books are just not available in the library. Now that we have the books for our class, I can read the books to the class, and the students can read them as individuals and take Accelerated Reader tests.
So much good will come from this project. Students will work with every modality, visual, kinesthetic, and auditory.
Again, thank you for your generous gift. Now my students can be true weather detectives!
We did a good thing. Thanks to those who donated and those who spread the word. But there’s so much more to be done.
Weather is just one small part of the Earth system…maybe it’s time to turn our focus to another vital component…water.* There are two fantastic projects in our challenge that only have a few days left to meet their funding goals. Appropriately, one has to do with groundwater and the other has to do with surface water.
“Where does that water go?” needs just $50 to bring a groundwater flow table to students at a magnet school in Charlotte, North Carolina. The model would allow the teacher to “simulate many real-world groundwater concepts involving aquifers, sinkholes, caverns, geysers and hot springs” and offer “hands-on demonstrations allow the user to trace underground water patterns using colored dye.” Here’s what it looks like:
It’s a pretty cool little model that looks like it will do a great job of helping the students visualize where water goes when it sinks into the ground. Let’s help them get it with just $50 more in donations in the next 10 days. This is definitely a case where every $5 will make a big difference.
The surface water project that I’m championing is called “Clean It Up!” and involves high school students in Chicago. It’s a bit more of a challenge financially – needing $385 of our dollars in the next 10 days. But the note from the teacher is inspirational:
Think about the first time you learned of an issue you care passionately about. Perhaps it was climate change, the achievement gap, poverty, or war. These resources will allow my students to become captivated and inspired by the current situation of water pollution in Chicago. They will bring a real-world issue into the classroom, and allow them to discover a passion for solving the issues of waste-water in Chicago rivers.
Not only will they learn about what should and should not be in our rivers, lakes and ponds, but they will be able to test for it and analyze the political and social motivations that keep our waterways polluted.
Our project will include research on the history and current issues in Chicago, and require students to discover methods for cleaning up Chicago rivers. They will be required to present those findings to our local officials, moving from scientific investigation to civic engagement.
My 5th grade teacher once told me that you only get a few opportunities to become environmentally passionate. I am not simply requesting resources for a unit on water and soil, I am requesting an opportunity to inspire my students. An opportunity to allow them to fulfill their potential of being stewards for the environment.
What a great integrative experience for high school seniors. Let’s help them Clean it Up!
*Don’t worry, rocks are coming. And you all have been doing a great job of funding rock projects without too much need for cheer-leading on my part. | <urn:uuid:e55bd5f8-24be-457d-8f10-38c51616d6a5> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://all-geo.org/highlyallochthonous/2010/10/from-weather-detectives-to-water-warriors/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397565.80/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00033-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954767 | 990 | 2.65625 | 3 |
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The quantum mind or quantum consciousness is a protoscientific hypothesis that posits a connection between consciousness, neurobiology and quantum mechanics. There are many blank areas in understanding the brain dynamics and especially how it gives rise to consciousness. The hypothesis claims that quantum mechanics is capable of explaining conscious experience.
The quantum mind theory is founded on the premise that quantum theory is necessary to fully understand the mind and brain, particularly concerning an explanation of consciousness. This is considered a minority opinion in science, although it does have the support of the well-known mathematical physicist Sir Roger Penrose. Other proponents include Stuart Hameroff, Karl Pribram and Henry Stapp. Brian Flanagan and Michael Lockwood. (See references below.) -->
A key argument underlying the quantum mind thesis is that classical mechanics cannot fully explain consciousness. Proponents have suggested that quantum mechanical phenomena, such as quantum entanglement and superposition, may play an important part in the brain's function, and could form the basis of an explanation of consciousness.
The quantum mind thesis does not as yet have any evidence to confirm its validity, but some role of quantum processes in consciousness has not been completely ruled out. Sufficient understanding of the operation of the brain could prove the proposition false.
The nature of consciousness and its place in the universe remain unknown. Classical models view consciousness as computation among the brain's neurons but as yet has failed to describe an exact mechanism. Quantum processes in the brain have been invoked as explanations for consciousness and its enigmatic features. Some theories have been subjected to experimental tests and evidence indicating that quantum non-locality is occurring in conscious and subconscious brain functions has been claimed, however these results have not gained wide acceptance.
Supporters argue that the brain can no longer be seen as simply a vast piece of organic clockwork, but as a subtle device amplifying quantum events and that quantum computation would surely be advantageous from an evolutionary perspective, and biology has had 4 billion years to solve the decoherence problem and evolve quantum mechanisms.
The main argumentative line can be summed up as follows: Human thought, based on the Gödel result, is sound, yet non-algorithmic, and the human thinker is aware of or conscious of the contents of these thoughts. The only recognized instances of non-algorithmic processes in the universe, based on accepted physical theories are purely random or the reduction of the quantum mechanical state vector. Randomness is not promising as the source of the non-algorithmicity needed to account for consciousness, therefore certain quantum mechanical phenomena must be responsible.
Critics deride this comparison as a mere "minimization of mysteries," ( A term coined by David Chalmers, the idea that since quantum and consciousness are both mysteries, they must be related.) and point out that the brain is too warm for quantum computation, which in the technological realm requires extreme cold to avoid "decoherence" (i.e. the loss of seemingly delicate quantum states by interaction with the environment.)
Various quantum theories of mindEdit
Modulating quantum jumpsEdit
The first modern pioneer of this field was biologist Alfred Lotka, who in 1924, proposed that the mind controls the brain by modulating the quantum jumps that would otherwise lead to a completely random existence. However, the first detailed quantum model of consciousness was by a physicist, Evan Walker. In 1970 he proposed a synaptic tunneling model in which electrons can "tunnel" between adjacent neurons, thereby creating a virtual neural network overlapping the real one. It is this virtual nervous system that for Walker produces consciousness and that it can direct the behavior of the real nervous system. In short the real nervous system operates by means of synaptic messages while the virtual one operates by means of quantum tunneling.
David Bohm took the view that quantum theory and relativity contradicted one another, and that this contradiction implied that there existed a more fundamental level in the physical universe. He claimed that both quantum theory and relativity pointed towards this deeper theory. This more fundamental level was supposed to represent an undivided wholeness and an implicate order, from which arose the explicate order of the universe as we experience it.
Bohm's implicate order applies both to matter and consciousness, and he proposed that it could explain the relationship between them. Mind and matter are here seen as projections into our explicate order from the underlying reality of the implicate order. Bohm claims that when we look at the matter in space, we can see nothing in these concepts that helps us to understand consciousness.
In trying to describe the nature of consciousness, Bohm discusses the experience of listening to music. He thinks that the feeling of movement and change that make up our experience of music derives from both the immediate past and the present being held in the brain together, with the notes from the past seen as transformations rather than memories. The notes that were implicate in the immediate past are seen as becoming explicate in the present. Bohm compares this to consciousness emerging from the implicate order.
Bohm sees the movement, change or flow and also the coherence of experiences such as listening to music as a manifestation of the implicate order. He claims to derive evidence for this from the work of Piaget in studying infants. He claims that these studies show that young children have to learn about time and space, because they are part of the explicate order, but have a 'hard-wired' understanding of movement, because it is part of the implicate order. He compares this 'hard-wiring' to Chomsky's theory that grammar is 'hard-wired' into young human brains. In his writings, Bohm never proposed any specific brain mechanism by which his implicate order could emerge in a way that was relevant to consciousness.
Recent papers by physicist Gustav Bernroider, have indicated that he thinks that Bohm's implicate-explicate structure can account for the relationship between neural processes and consciousness. In a paper published in 2005 Bernroider elaborated his proposals for the physical basis of this process. The main thrust of his paper was the argument that quantum coherence may be sustained in ion channels for long enough to be relevant for neural processes, and that the channels could be entangled with surrounding lipids and proteins and with other channels in the same membrane. Ion channels regulate the electrical potential across the axon membrane, and thus play a central role in the brain's information processing.
Bernroider bases his work on recent studies of the potassium (K+)ion channel in its closed state and draws particularly on the atomic-level spectroscopy work of the MacKinnon group . The ion channels have a filter region which allows in K+ ions and bars other ions. These studies show that the filter region has a framework of five sets of four oxygen atoms, which are part of the carboxyl group of amino-acid molecules in the surrounding protein. These are referred to as binding pockets. Two K+ ions are trapped in the selection filter of the closed ion channel. Each of these ions is electrostatically bound to two sets of oxygen atoms or binding pockets, involving eight oxygen atoms in total. Both ions in the channel oscillate between two configurations.
Bernroider uses this recently revealed structure to speculate about the possibility of quantum coherence in the ion channels. Bernroider and co-author Sisir Roy's calculations suggested to them that the behaviour of the ions in the K channel could only be understood at the quantum level. Taking this as their starting point, they then ask whether the structure of the ion channel can be related to logic states. Further calculations lead them to suggest that the K+ ions and the oxygen atoms of the binding pockets are two quantum-entangled sub-systems, which they then equate to a quantum computational mapping. The ions that are destined to be expelled from the channel are proposed to encode information about the state of the oxygen atoms. It is further proposed the separate ion channels could be quantum entangled with one another.
David Chalmers Edit
"One possibility is that instead of postulating novel properties, physics might end up appealing to consciousness itself, in the way that some theorists but not all, hold that quantum mechanics does."
"The collapse dynamics leaves a door wide open for an interactionist interpretation."
"The most promising version of such an interpretation allows conscious states to be correlated with the total quantum state of a system, with the extra constraint that conscious states (unlike physical states) can never be superposed. In a conscious physical system such as a brain, the physical and phenomenal states of the system will be correlated in a (nonsuperposed) quantum state. Upon observation of a superposed external system, Schrödinger evolution at the moment of observation would cause the observed system to become correlated with the brain, yielding a resulting superposition of brain states and so (by psychophysical correlation) a superposition of conscious states. But such a superposition cannot occur, so one of the potential resulting conscious states is somehow selected (presumably by a nondeterministic dynamic principle at the phenomenal level). The result is that (by psychophysical correlation) a definite brain state and a definite state of the observed object are also selected."
"If physics is supposed to rule out interactionism, then careful attention to the detail of physical theory is required."
1. Humans have abilities, particularly mathematical ones, that no algorithmic computer (specifically Turing machine) could have, because computers are limited by Gödel's incompleteness theorem. In other words, he believes humans are hypercomputers. (The argument was originally due to John Lucas.)
Gödel demonstrated that with any recursively enumerable set of axioms capable of expressing Peano arithmetic, it was possible to produce a statement that was obviously true, but could not be proved by the axioms. The theorem enjoys general acceptance in the mathematical community.
Penrose, however, built a further and highly controversial argument on this theorem. He argued that the theorem showed that the brain had the ability to go beyond what can be demonstrated by mathematical axioms, and therefore there is something within the functioning of the brain that is not based on an algorithm (a system of calculations). A computer is just a system of algorithms, and Penrose claimed that Gödel's theorem demonstrated that brains could perform functions that no computer could perform.
Penrose is not interested in explaining phenomenal consciousness, qualia, generally regarded as the most mysterious feature of consciousness, but instead focuses mainly on the cognitive powers of mathematicians.
2. This would require some new physics. Penrose postulates that the currently unknown process underlying quantum collapse supplies the non-algorithmic element.
The random choice of, for instance, the position of a particle, which is involved in the collapse of the wave function was the only physical process that Penrose could find, which was not based on an algorithm. However, randomness was not a promising basis for the quality of mathematical judgement highlighted by his Gödel theorem argument.
But Penrose went on to propose that when the wave function did not collapse as a result of a measurement or decoherence in the environment, there could be an alternative form of wave function collapse, which he called objective reduction (OR). In this, each quantum superposition has its own space time geometry. When these become separated by more than the Planck length, they are affected by gravity, become unstable and collapse. OR is strikingly different both from the traditional orthodoxy of Niels Bohr's Copenhagen interpretation of quantum theory and from some more modern theories which avoid wave function collapse altogether such as Many-worlds interpretation or some forms of Quantum decoherence theory.
Penrose further proposes that OR is neither random nor governed by an algorithm, but is 'non-computational', selecting information embedded in the fundamental level of space time geometry.
3. Collapse requires a coherent superposed state to work on. Penrose borrows Stuart Hameroff's proposal about microtubules to supply this.
Initially, Penrose had lacked any detailed proposals for how OR could occur in the brain. Later on cooperation with Stuart Hameroff supplied this side of the theory. Microtubules were central to Hameroff's proposals. These are the core element of the cytoskeleton, which provides a supportive structure and performs various functions in body cells. In additions to these functions, it was now proposed that the microtubules could support macroscopic quantum features known as Bose-Einstein condensates. It was also suggested that these condensates could link with other neurons via gap junctions. This is claimed to permit quantum coherence to extend over a large area of the brain. It is suggested that when one of these areas of quantum coherence collapses, there is an instance of consciousness, and the brain has access to a non-computational process embedded in the fundamental level of space time geometry.
At the same time, it was postulated that conventional synaptic activity influences and is influenced by the activity in the microtubules. This part of the process is referred to as 'orchestration' hence the theory is called Orchestrated Objective Reduction or more commonly Orch OR.
Hameroff's proposals like those of Penrose attracted much criticism. However the most cogent attack on Orch OR and quantum mind theories in general was the view that conditions in the brain would lead to any quantum coherence decohering too quickly for it to be relevant to neural processes. This general criticism is discussed in the Science section below.
Evan Harris WalkerEdit
Information theory is concerned with the capacity to contain or carry information. Is there such a thing as a conscious field and a conscious channel capacity?
Information theory is concerned with the measurement of information in terms of logarithmic probability—how many bits of information does it take to represent a certain type of information such as, let’s say, the letter “T” in print. Since we don’t know all the possible permutations or “combinations” of such a question we use statistical probability in order to be very accurate in our measurements. We add up all the logarithmic contributions of each possible symbol being measured in terms of its chance of occurrence. It is expressed as log₂P. This gives us an informational field potential.
A physicist, Evan Harris Walker developed a scientific theory about how the brain might, at quantum levels, process information. In his book, The Physics of Consciousness, he adds log₂P to Schrödinger’s equation. What he demonstrates mathematically is that when information is measured by consciousness and will channel capacities in terms of a closed loop, it forces one real solution only when one probable state happens and all other possible states disappear. He offers/proposes physical evidence that this process is occurring in the brain.
Physically, Henry Stapp's approach is aligned with objective collapse theory, in that the deterministic evolution of the wave function, and its indeterministic collapse are seen as two real and ontologically distinct phenomena. Collapse events occurring within the brain — the mind's observation or measurement of the brain — are particularly important. Since Stapp sees collapse as a mental process and the deterministic evolution of brain states as physical, his approach is philosophically aligned with interactionist dualism. The process by which collapse selects an actuality from a set of possibilities is seen by Stapp as literally a process of choice, and not merely a random dice-throw. His approach has implications with regard to time. Since the future depends on decisions in the present, it is not pre-existing, as in the block universe theory; rather there is an evolving universe in which subjects participate, as in Whitehead's metaphysics.
Stapp envisages consciousness as exercising top-level control over neural excitation in the brain. Quantum brain events are suggested to occur at the whole brain level, and are seen as being selected from the large-scale excitation of the brain. The neural excitations are viewed as a code, and each conscious experience as a selection from this code. The brain, in this theory, is proposed to be a self-programming computer with a self-sustaining input from memory, which is itself a code derived from previous experience. This process results in a number of probabilities from which consciousness has to select. The conscious act is a selection of a piece of top-level code, which then exercises ongoing control over the flow of neural excitation. This process refers to the top levels of brain activity involved with information gathering, planning and the monitoring of the execution of plans. Conscious events are proposed to be capable of grasping a whole pattern of activity, thus accounting for the unity of consciousness, and providing a solution to the 'binding problem'.
Stapp's version of the conscious brain is proposed to be a system that is internally determined in a way that cannot be represented outside the system, whereas for the rest of the physical universe an external representation plus a knowledge of the laws of physics allows an accurate prediction of future events.
Stapp proposes that the proof of his theory requires the identification of the neurons that provide the top-level code and also the process by which memory is turned into additional top-level code.
In 1989 the British psychiatrist Ian Marshall examined similarities between the holistic properties of Bose-Einstein condensates and those of consciousness. In 1968 the British physicist Herbert Fröhlich had suggested that condensation similar to Bose-Einstein can be achieved in Nature by biological organisms which are in a non-equilibrium state. In Marshall's hypothesis, the brain contains a Frölich-style condensate, and, whenever the condensate is excited by an electrical field, conscious experience occurs. Marshall theory contends that the brain would maintain its dynamical coherence due precisely to the properties of such a condensate.
Synaptic quantum uncertaintyEdit
John Carew Eccles speculated in 1986 that the synapses in the cortex may respond in a probabilistic manner to neural excitation; a probability that, given the small dimensions of synapses, could be governed by quantum uncertainty.
Consciousness as the observerEdit
The philosopher Michael Lockwood noted that special relativity implies that mental states must be physical states. He argued that sensations must be intrinsic attributes of physical brain states. Thus in quantum terms each sensation corresponds to an observable event in the brain; this makes the observer, in quantum mechanics, conscious of the physical world.
Nick Herbert, a physicist, has been even more specific on the similarities between Quantum Theory and consciousness. Herbert thinks that consciousness is a pervasive process in nature and that it is as fundamental a component of the universe as elementary particles and forces. James Culbertson, a pioneer of research on robots, has even speculated that consciousness may be a relativistic feature of space-time. In his opinion, too, consciousness permeates all of nature, so that every object has a degree of consciousness. This view is referred to as Conscious Matter.
Stuart Hameroff, A. Nip, M. Porter and J. A. Tuszynski have claimed that the neuronal cytoskeletons are primary residence for consciousness and that the specific protein organization and functions help the quantum mind control overall brain dynamics according to the received electromagnetic input. He proposes that when the microtubules strongly interact with the local electromagnetic field solitons could be generated and could propagate along intraprotein conduction aromatic acid pathways. Thus quantum soliton creation could be induced in microtubules via interaction with the local electromagnetic field. See Quantum brain dynamics
Thought as a hologramEdit
Many properties of the brain are the same properties that are commonly associated with holograms: memory is distributed in the brain and memories do not disappear all of a sudden, but slowly fade away. To psychologist Karl Pribram, a sensory perception is transformed in a "brain wave", a pattern of electromagnetical activation that propagates through the brain just like the wavefront in a liquid. The various waves that travel through the brain can interfere. The interference of existing waves (a memory), and a fresh perceptual wave (sensory input) generates a structure that resembles a hologram that is experienced as thought. Pribram refers to this as Holonomic brain theory
A string theory modelEdit
A string theory model was developed by D. Nanopoulos in 1996 that was further refined into a QED-Cavity model by N. Mavromatos in 2000 suggesting dissipationless energy transfer and biological quantum teleportation.
The Heisenberg and Von Neumann tradition has always viewed the brain as a quantum measuring device but others, claim that brain substrates can hold second-order quantum fields, which cannot be treated as mere measuring devices. This is the position of Kunio Yasue, a Japanese physicist who has developed quantum neurophysics. Yasue presents the brain as a macroscopic quantum system wherein the classical world can originate from quantum processes. Not a connectionist, the fact that neurons are organized inside the brain is not relevant to Yasue. See Quantum brain dynamics for references.
Space-time theories of consciousnessEdit
Alex Green has developed an empirical theory of phenomenal consciousness that proposes that conscious experience can be described as a five-dimensional manifold. As in Broad's hypothesis, space-time can contain vectors of zero length between two points in space and time because of an imaginary time coordinate. A 3D volume of brain activity over a short period of time would have the time extended geometric form of a conscious observation in 5D. Green considers imaginary time to be incompatible with the modern physical description of the world, and proposes that the imaginary time coordinate is a property of the observer and unobserved things (things governed by quantum mechanics), whereas the real time of general relativity is a property of observed things.
Quantum spin-mediated consciousnessEdit
The spin-mediated consciousness theory, initially proposed by biophysicist Huping Hu with his collaborator Maoxin Wu is a theory that says quantum spin is the seat of consciousness and the linchpin between mind and the brain, that is, spin is the mind-pixel. According to this theory, Quantum consciousness is intrinsically connected to the spin process and emerges from the self-referential collapses of spin states and the unity of mind is achieved by entanglement of these mind-pixels.
The Orch OR modelEdit
The theory espoused by Roger Penrose and Stuart Hameroff is Quantum-gravitational Consciousness, and currently it is one of the best developed and the most popular. The Orch OR model presumes that the microtubule network within neurons acts like a quantum computer. The tubulins are in superposition and the collapse of the wave function is driven by the quantum gravity. Penrose and Hameroff believe that conscious information is encoded in space-time geometry at the fundamental Planck scale and that a self-organizing Planck-scale process results in awareness.
This approach by B. Flanagan builds on his work in mind/brain identity theory, positing an identity between photonic fields and their concomitant perceptual fields. Pointing to the symmetries and phase relations observed with color and sound, this work was extended to include considerations from Kaluza-Klein theory, gauge theory, fiber bundle theory, string theory, Chern-Simons theory and M-theory.
Quantum mysticism Edit
The implications of Quantum mind theories have not been missed by believers of the paranormal, anxious for scientific justification of their beliefs. Some have claimed that quantum mechanics has eliminated the separation between mind, body and the world. The term "quantum consciousness" now shows up in the popular literature in connection with astrology, homeopathy, ghosts, angels, precognition, telepathy, alien abduction, acupuncture, and even how to achieve multiple orgasms. The writings of Fritjof Capra and Deepak Chopra have been instrumental in popularizing the view that there exists a connection between mysticism and quantum mechanics.
Broadly, the arguments against the possibility are:
First, comparatively large and high temperature items like neurons just do not exist in persisting states of linear superposition capable of exhibiting interference effects, and quantum mechanics offers no reason to think they should. All brain scale systems spend their time in well defined classical states; their behavior, even after interaction with thoroughly quantum systems like a decaying atoms, can be described perfectly well with ordinary probability calculus. It turns out that effective classicality extends, under almost all conditions, far below the neural level to that of medium-sized molecules.
Secondly, the truth of decoherence is that, regardless of whether there are any conscious observers around or not, objects which would be expected to behave in an essentially classical manner, do exactly that. Interaction between objects and their environments, both external and internal, does the job of 'observation' erroneously accorded only to conscious observers, effecting a process which is experimentally indistinguishable from state vector reduction.
Thirdly, none of the theories explains how the activity of single synapses enters the dynamics of neural assemblies, and they leave mental causation of quantum processes as a mere claim. Thus they are essentially unsatisfactory with regard to a sound formal basis and concrete empirical scenarios and lack compelling argument or evidence that requires that quantum mechanics play a central role in human consciousness.
Many-minds interpretation Edit
There is another type of quantum theory of mind called the many-minds interpretation that is invoked as a conservative version of the many-worlds interpretation of quantum theory and does not involve collapse of the QM wave function.
Consciousness causes collapse Edit
Consciousness causes collapse is the speculative theory that observation by a conscious observer is responsible for the wavefunction collapse and that the process of measurement in quantum mechanics is consciousness itself.
The main argument against the quantum mind proposition is that the structures of the brain are much too large for quantum effects to be important. It is impossible for coherent quantum states to form for very long in the brain and impossible for them to exist at scales on the order of the size of neurons. Price, for example, says that quantum effects rarely or never affect human decisions and that classical physics determines the behaviour of Neurons.
In quantum terms each neuron is an essentially classical object. Consequently quantum noise in the brain is at such a low level that it probably doesn't often alter, except very rarely, the critical mechanistic behaviour of sufficient neurons to cause a decision to be different than we might otherwise expect. (...)—Michael Clive Price
One well-known critic of the quantum mind is Max Tegmark. Based on his calculations, Tegmark concluded that quantum systems in the brain decohere quickly and cannot control brain function, "This conclusion disagrees with suggestions by Penrose and others that the brain acts as a quantum computer, and that quantum coherence is related to consciousness in a fundamental way"
Proponents of quantum consciousness theories have sought to defend them against Tegmark's criticism. In respect of QBD, Vitiello has argued that Tegmark's work applies to theories based on quantum mechanics but not to those such as QBD that are based on quantum field theory. In respect of Penrose and Hameroff's Orch OR theory, Hameroff along with Hagan and Tuszynski replied to Tegmark. They claimed that Tegmark based his calculations on a model that was different from Orch OR. It is argued that in the Orch OR model the microtubules are shielded from decoherence by ordered water. Energy pumping as a result of thermal disequilibrium, Debye layer screening and quantum error correction, deriving from the geometry of the microtubule lattice are also proposed as possible sources of shielding. Similarly, in his extension of Bohm's ideas, Bernroider has claimed that the binding pockets in the ion selection filters could protect against decoherence. So far, however, there has been no experimental confirmation of the ability of the features mentioned above to protect against decoherence.
Another line of criticism is that no physical theory is well suited to explaining consciousness, particularly in its most problematical form, phenomenal consciousness or qualia, known as the hard problem of consciousness. It is not so much that colours and tastes and feelings—qualia or secondary qualities—have been deliberately banished, but more that they cannot be captured in any mathematical description, which means they cannot be explicitly represented in physics, since all physical theory is expressed in mathematical language (as explained in Eugene Wigner's famous paper The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Mathematics in the Natural Sciences). If no physical theory can express qualia, no physical theory can fully explain consciousness. Replacing the mathematical apparatus of classical physics with the mathematical apparatus of quantum mechanics is therefore of no help in understanding consciousness, and indeed there is no known example of a quantum equation which encapsulates a taste or colour.
As David Chalmers puts it:
Nevertheless, quantum theories of consciousness suffer from the same difficulties as neural or computational theories. Quantum phenomena have some remarkable functional properties, such as nondeterminism and nonlocality. It is natural to speculate that these properties may play some role in the explanation of cognitive functions, such as random choice and the integration of information, and this hypothesis cannot be ruled out a priori. But when it comes to the explanation of experience, quantum processes are in the same boat as any other. The question of why these processes should give rise to experience is entirely unanswered.
- Quantum psychology
- David Bohm
- Electromagnetic theories of consciousness
- Evolutionary neuroscience
- Holonomic brain theory
- Many-minds interpretation
- Quantum brain dynamics
- Quantum indeterminacy
- Sensory Integration Dysfunction
- Space-time theories of consciousness
- Spin-Mediated Consciousness Theory
- Theory of mind
- Bohm interpretation
- Consciousness causes collapse
- Electromagnetic theories of consciousness
- Evolutionary neuroscience
- Hard problem of consciousness
- Holonomic brain theory
- Mechanism (philosophy)
- Quantum brain dynamics
- Quantum mechanics
- ↑ Bohm 2005
- ↑ Piaget 1956
- ↑ Bernroider 2003
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Bernroider 2005
- ↑ Jiang 2003
- ↑ Jiang 2003
- ↑ Zhou 2001
- ↑ Morais-Cabral 2001
- ↑ Doyle 1998
- ↑ Chalmers, D. Consciousness and its Place in Nature
- ↑ Chalmers, D. Consciousness and its Place in Nature
- ↑ Chalmers, D. Consciousness and its Place in Nature
- ↑ Chalmers, D. Consciousness and its Place in Nature
- ↑ Nagel 1958
- ↑ #Reference-idGrush1995
- ↑ Churchland 1996
- ↑ Georgiev, Danko. Falsifications of Hameroff-Penrose Orch OR Model of Consciousness and Novel Avenues for Development of Quantum Mind Theory
- ↑ Review of Penrose, The Emperor's New Mind
- ↑ Puttnam, H. Review of Penrose, The Emperor's New Mind
- ↑ Hameroff 1987
- ↑ stapp, H. Quantum Approaches to Consciousness
- ↑ Importance of quantum decoherence in brain processes by Max Tegmark in Phys. Rev. E (2000) Volume 61, pages 4194 - 4206.
- ↑ Hagan 2002
- ↑ Saul-Paul Sirag"Consciousness:A Hyperspace View"
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs named
- ↑ Dennet, D. Facing Backwards on the Problem of Consciousness
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- A Possible Connection Between Self-Consciousness and Quantum
- Dictionary of Philosophy of Mind - quantum consciousness
- Center for Consciousness Studies, directed by Stuart Hameroff
- Hameroff's Quantum Consciousness site
- Introduction to Quantum Computation
- Online papers on consciousness
- Online Journal about neuroscience and quantum physics
- M-theory as a matrix model
- Noether's theorem and Lie symmetries for time-dependent Hamilton-Lagrange systems
- Nonlocal currents as Noether currents
- Problem with Quantum Mind Theory
- Quanta & Consciousness
- Quantum Approaches to Consciousness
- Quantum Consciousness
- Quantum optical coherence in cytoskeletal microtubules: implications for brain function
- Spin & Consciousness Research
- The Science and Philosophy of Consciousness
- Why Classical Mechanics Cannot Naturally Accommodate Consciousness But Quantum Mechanics Can
|This page uses Creative Commons Licensed content from Wikipedia (view authors).| | <urn:uuid:4e1b49da-66fd-4a33-b45e-9ecaf718761f> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://psychology.wikia.com/wiki/Quantum_mind | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783400031.51/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155000-00092-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.923011 | 7,463 | 2.671875 | 3 |
LGBT Voices for Equality: Kyrgyzstan
Most Americans would have a hard time finding Kyrgyzstan on a map, let alone telling you about its geopolitical environment. But those who care about human rights should take note of what’s happening there. A sweeping homophobic bill is on the verge of becoming law.
Last year members of the Kyrgyz Parliament, the Jogorku Kenesh, introduced legislation that would criminalize any public expression that could "create a positive attitude to unconventional sexual orientation." The bill emulates Russia's 2013 propaganda law, but goes even further.
People could go to jail for expressing the most basic sentiments about their own identities.
The bill has received overwhelming support from lawmakers, easily passing two of the three required legislative readings. It is unclear when the final reading will take place, but there is little chance of serious opposition. It appears that only President Almazbek Atambayev will be able stop the bill from becoming law.
The bill is already having a chilling effect on LGBT life in Kyrgyzstan. Bias-motivated violence has increased, attacks on NGOs have been documented, and incidents of police enforcing the bill, even though it is not yet law, have been reported. If President Atambayev signs the bill, there is little doubt that the situation will get much worse.
Earlier this year Kyrgyzstan's neighbor to the north, Kazakhstan, considered a similar propaganda bill. Although tabled during an Olympic bid this summer, the Kazakh LGBT community fears that a victory for homophobia in Kyrgyzstan would pave the way for lawmakers to reintroduce the bill at home.
Russia’s influence is on the rise in many Central Asian states. The export of homophobia, on both legislative and cultural levels, should be a concern for the global human rights community. What happens next in Kyrgyzstan may be a bellwether for the region.
While we don’t know how President Atambayev will act, the human rights community should not stand silently by.
What the U.S. Government can do:
- Speak directly to the Kyrgyzstan government about the negative impact a propaganda law would have on the U.S.–Kyrgyzstan bilateral relationship.
- Work with NGOs on the ground, as well as supportive political leadership in the country, on a countrywide strategy to prevent this law from moving forward and to discourage the introduction of other legislation that would negatively impact the rights of the LGBT community.
- Communicate with and support groups such as Labrys and Kyrgyz Indigo who are the most effective voices for change in their country, including through material support.
- Partner with the Council of Europe to promote its leverage, particularly given Kyrgyzstan’s status as a “Partner in Democracy,” to move Kyrgyzstan towards compliance with agreed upon commitments to respect human rights and fundamental freedoms, including for LGBT people. | <urn:uuid:8de2a8c6-a227-4b61-b0ef-f285e3f4c005> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.humanrightsfirst.org/blog/lgbt-voices-equality-kyrgyzstan | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397864.87/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00073-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95371 | 608 | 2.671875 | 3 |
lynx, name given to several related small, ferocious members of the cat family. All have small heads, tufted ears, and heavy bodies with long legs and short tails. All are primarily terrestrial, although they are able to climb trees. The Eurasian lynx, Lynx lynx, is found in coniferous forests of N Eurasia. As a result of hunting by humans and the general deforestation of Europe, the northern lynx is now very restricted in its European range and may be extinct in W Europe, but efforts have been made to restore it to parts of its former range.
The Canada lynx, L. canadensis, is similar in size and appearance as well as habitat to its Old World counterpart; it ranges from the northern limits of the Canadian forests to the extreme N United States. The Canada lynx may attain a length of more than 3 ft (90 cm), with a 5-in. (13-cm) tail, and may weigh up to 40 lb (18 kg). Its long fur is yellow-brown to grayish, slightly spotted with black. It has long black ear tufts and large feet, adapted to moving on deep snow. A nocturnal hunter, it preys on a variety of game, sometimes as large as deer, but is particularly dependent on the snowshoe rabbit as its staple diet. The Canada lynx population fluctuates in cycles correlated with the fluctuation of the snowshoe rabbit population. Efforts have been made to return the Canada lynx to parts of its former range in the United States (Colorado).
The bobcat, L. rufus, also known as bay lynx or wildcat, is a small North American lynx found in thickets, swamps, and rocky areas from the S of Canada to central Mexico. It has a longer tail, shorter ear tufts, and smaller feet than the Canada lynx; its coat is a redder brown and more spotted. It commonly weighs about 20 lb (9 kg), although some individuals grow much larger. It lives on a variety of small and medium-sized prey; its raids on livestock and poultry have made it a target of farmers. The Iberian lynx, or Spanish lynx L. pardinus, which once ranged over the Iberian Peninsula, is now found only in small areas in S Spain, where its population numbers about 1,000 to 1,500.
The term lynx is also used for a number of unrelated cats. The jungle cat, or jungle lynx Felis chaus, of N Africa and Asia, is more closely related to the domestic cat. It lives in a variety of habitats, especially open woodlands and scrub. The caracal, Caracal caracal, of the dry country of Africa and W Asia, is also called the Persian, African, or desert lynx.
Lynxes are classified in the phylum Chordata, subphylum Vertebrata, class Mammalia, order Carnivora, family Felidae.
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2012, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. | <urn:uuid:815fb3d1-b13d-4718-a99b-ab827f0281b4> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.factmonster.com/encyclopedia/science/lynx.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396027.60/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00166-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963105 | 646 | 3.8125 | 4 |
The body contains more calcium than any other mineral. Calcium and phosphorus account for 75% of total mineral element in the body. The new born infant has about 28gm of calcium as a store. Ninety-nine per cent of the total calcium in the body is concentrated in the bones and teeth; the remainder is in the fluids and soft tissues.
Calcium serves two important functions in the body the building of bones and teeth and regulating certain body processes. The need for calcium in the building of the skeleton is of course, grater during the year of. However the need doesn’t end when full growth is attained. Once the bone is formed, it continues to change with the processes of building new bone and maintaining the old. The normal behavior of heart muscles, nerves and the blood clotting processes all depend on the presence of calcium.
Building Bones and Teeth
Calcium and phosphorus are mainly present in bones and teeth. Calcium together with other mineral elements gives rigidity and permanence to bones and teeth. These characteristics make it possible for the bone to be support of the body, providing the rigid structure two which the muscle tissue is attached. Bones forms protective cavities for vital organs–the heart and lungs in the chest cavity, the brain in the cranial cavity. Bone will with stand almost as much weight as cast iron before breaking. It is itself light in weight.
The calcium absorbed combines with phosphorus and water to form calcium phosphate. First fibrous network made up of collagen and other nitrogenous substances is formed. Then the bone minerals are deposited on this network as crystals. These crystals are redissolved and recrystallised to form bone tissue. During recrystallization some of the water is lost and the structure of crystals is also changed to form bone.
A number of factors influence the mineralization and resorption of bone. Amount of vitamin D at the bone site are essential for the deposit of minerals in to the matrix. On the other hand the activities of the parathyroid gland bring about resorption of bone. The emotions have an important bearing up on the calcium balance.
Teeth like the bones contain both organic and organic matters with the inorganic portion comprising the major part. Enamel, the outermost covering is approximately 99.5% inorganic matter; dentine the portion beneath the enamel and surrounding the tooth pulp is about 77% and cementum, the classified portion covering the root of the tooth is approximately 70% inorganic matter.
Enamel, the hardest tissue in the body, contains 36% calcium and 17%phosphurus, which are more of minerals than is contained in any other tissue. Dentine is 27% calcium and 13% phosphorus. Some exchange of minerals between enamels and saliva occurs. While bone has the capacity to repair itself after a portion has been injured mechanically or through decay, the enamel is not able to do this. | <urn:uuid:c55ba311-9029-4954-a731-0518667d0c83> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.preservearticles.com/201106017394/what-is-the-importance-of-calcium-in-human-body.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783399428.8/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154959-00095-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.934204 | 596 | 3.78125 | 4 |
Local ranchers safeguard California’s natural environments
Cows, Cooper’s Hawks and Calippe Silverspot Butterflies, oh my!
By Daniel Sinton
Jack Varian is every bit as protective of the watershed on his land which feeds headwaters of the Salinas River and Monterey Bay on his V6 Ranch in Parkfield as he is of the cattle he raises. Tim Koopmann is a fierce guardian of the endangered California tiger salamander that live on his 850-acre cattle ranch in Sunol.
Whether it is Hearst, Kester, Santa Margarita, or other ranches like them, the ranchers who protect them are safeguarding the last, best remaining habitats in California.
More than ever, ranches are where the Golden State’s most cherished open spaces lie. To protect their land from development, Varian and Koopmann have placed conservation easements on their properties through California Rangeland Trust, a non profit created to conserve the open space, natural habitat, and stewardship provided by California’s ranches. A conservation easement ensures their working ranchlands can never be lost to development. More than 277,000 acres of private lands have been protected through California Rangeland Trust since 1998, including 105,984 acres in San Luis Obispo County.
“Many people don’t realize how critical ranches are to California’s environment,“ said Nita Vail, Chief Executive Officer, California Rangeland Trust. “By protecting private ranchlands through conservation easements, we ensure that California’s most important resources are protected as well. That includes water, food, air and wildlife.“
Ranches are critical to watersheds
Just how important are private ranches to California’s environment? Consider that more than 90 percent of California’s drinking water runs over ranches like Varian’s. Even through our current drought, Varian is enacting conservation methods, such as managed grazing, to protect natural habitats.
“For me, taking caring of land and watersheds is a moral responsibility that includes all critters like raccoons, deer, trees and flowers and microscopic organisms that dwell below the soil surface,” Varian said.
Endangered and threatened species habitats found on ranches
Like Varian, Koopmann guards the water on his land as well as some important endangered species. Surprisingly, 95 percent of federally threatened or endangered species spend at least part of their lives on private ranches like Koopmann Ranch. Koopmann has spent years not only studying wildlife on his ranch, but restoring habitat as well, working with biologists, government entities and universities to help endangered species, like California red-legged frog and Callippe Silverspot Butterfly, thrive.
“The ranching community has a natural resource ethic as stewards of the land,” said Koopmann. “We have a real respect for wildlife and its resources. It’s our job to perpetuate habitats for them.”
Much of California’s open space can be found on ranches
More than 105,000 acres of grazing lands were lost to urbanization between 1990 and 2004 and 750,000 more are in danger of being lost by 2040. While California Rangeland Trust has been able to help many families conserve their ranches, more funding is needed to help more than 100 families and 500,000 acres awaiting protection on the organization’s waiting list.
“These ranches are the last frontier for California’s environment,” said Vail. “Through conservation easements, we are taking care of our environment, our agricultural economy and generations of families that have managed these cherished open spaces.”
Daniel Sinton is a fifth-generation rancher in San Luis Obispo County and a member of the California Rangeland Trust board of directors. | <urn:uuid:4024213c-214f-47b5-903a-2b0e30b4c9c2> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://pasoroblesdailynews.com/ranches-safeguard-californias-natural-environments/17920/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397744.64/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00030-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.934557 | 816 | 2.703125 | 3 |
Using Measurement and Management to Track Aggregates Performance.
By Alan R. Bessen and Sam Sawant
“Management by numerical goal is an attempt to manage without knowledge of what to do.”
– W. Edwards Deming
In this article, sustainability, which often refers only to energy and environmental concerns, is expanded to include efforts to increase yield, reduce waste and increase profit. Common programs focused on Performance Sustainability include Statistical Process Control (SPC), Total Quality Management (TQM), Six Sigma, and Lean programs along with Benchmarking and Best Practices initiatives.
Each of these programs relies on analysis of historical data as the primary information source for establishing the performance capabilities of the production process. Most often the data used is provided through a corporate accounting system which rarely includes current performance data.
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) developed from these initiatives are generally derived using daily, monthly or annual performance statistics to establish measureable targets required to achieve daily, monthly or annual corporate financial objectives.
Daily or monthly KPIs may provide useful accounting measures but have little or no impact on actions resulting in managing or improving performance. Even a daily report arrives too late to make changes in what happened at the beginning of a shift much less the previous day.
In fact, it is often too late to even identify the cause of yesterday’s performance failure. Establishing targets and measuring performance this way has little value. Actually, reliance on accounting measures alone often results in a reactive approach to management often limited to explaining actions that occurred, or did not occur, days or weeks in the past. The most common accounting based measurement responsible for this is the variance report.
Variance reports basically compare cost per unit produced over the past month with a previously predicted target value. Target values are generally derived from budgets based on months-old “best guess” or historical statistics without adequate consideration for current operational realities such as equipment condition, design limitations, market variations, raw material quality, sourcing options, inventory imbalance, etc.
Information in the variance reports is both too little (no process specific detail) and too late (the month is over) to be of real value to the people actually working to keep the plant operating.
To supplement accounting measures and effectively support Performance Sustainability, KPIs must be carefully selected, specifically developed and effectively utilized to provide valid measurement of both current and expected performance in each operating mode.
Not everything measured is a KPI. Within the production process a KPI represents a performance target used to compare actual vs. expected results for a designated portion of the processing system.
For maximum effect, KPIs must focus on specific elements within the process that offer actionable feedback to frontline personnel, preferably in real-time, enabling changes to be made within the daily on-the-job time frame.
Real-Time Operator Interface
The example interface in Fig. 1 provides the plant operator continuous real-time belt scale feedback on key process measures including daily production tons and yield percentage as well as instantaneous indication of rate changes. When combined with other process measures such as crusher amperage, bin levels and feeder settings the operator has continuous and comprehensive feedback on system performance enabling improvement adjustments to be made with confidence.
KPIs based on real-time performance data are referred to as Dynamic KPIs. Dynamic KPIs utilize recorded statistics to establish and update targets for key elements of the production process in each operating mode. They should be limited only to those items within direct control of the plant operator and include only those items where real-time data is available for feed back as adjustments are made.
Real-Time Performance Benchmarks
Non-KPI measures monitored by the control system are used to assist the operator in maintaining optimal performance. These measures represent discrete details within the process that often combine to provide the actual value to be compared to the target KPI. Their purpose is to provide current data to the plant operator to assist in adjusting process variables to improve performance. (Fig. 2)
Key Product Yield Improvement
Real-time product yield data as seen in Fig. 3, gives the plant operator an ability to assess the effect of various plant configurations on key product and by-product yield. Inadequate yield data often results in unnecessary operating hours, added operating cost and lost profit as the plant operates blindly accepting whatever is produced without regard for current inventory or sales demand.
System limiting, but commonly unseen, process variability caused by such things as improper crusher feed distribution, crusher liner wear, inconsistent feed rate control and performance limiting flow restrictions are also identifiable by observing variations in product yield.
Performance Benchmarks and KPIs derived from real-time historical data are substantially more realistic than even the short-duration measures used to create the initial process flow model. They provide current, statistically relevant measures of maximum achieved rate in each mode that can be used to provide a valid assessment of whether or not current performance is acceptable.
A Real-time Measurement Interface (RMI) linked to key performance details as in Fig. 4 will provide the plant operator continuous performance feedback in either statistical or graphic display. The same data can be used to provide management reports and can be configured for real-time remote display or email alarm notification over a corporate network or as a web-based interface.
- Optimizing Performance comes from measuring, managing and controlling your process. Field measurement and flow validation will identify process capability and identify improvement opportunities. Valid data representing current performance is necessary to establish or support operational realities such as maintenance/overhaul intervals, current process limits, inventory issues and capital improvement justifications.
- Optimizing Profit requires knowledge of both process capabilities and projected sales requirements for each inventoried product.
- Maximum Profit comes from balancing plant performance and capacity with sales demand. A comprehensive production model enables production, sales, inventory and cost balancing. Without acceptable sales and inventory forecasts the plant is driven blindly by short-term sales demand without realistic regard for managing production yield or operating costs. Without an effective means of modeling sales requirements and production capacity there is no practical means of creating a common understanding of capabilities and limits among sales and operations personnel and therefore no hope of optimizing profit.
- KPI measures produced in the accounting system are inadequate for optimizing or sustaining performance and profit. They have little or no impact on actions resulting in managing or improving performance on a daily basis. Accurate evaluation of the present state of a process is necessary to achieve optimal performance. The more accurate and timely data is, the more likely intended targets will be valid and desired results will be achieved.
- A Real-time Measurement Interface provides performance statistics necessary to establish valid process-based Dynamic KPIs. It also supplies current process data to the plant operator enabling improvement adjustments to be made with confidence during the production shift.
- Performance Management requires a corporate cultural commitment to measuring and managing the production process.
- Technology makes it possible to simplify critical aspects of process measurement. However, data alone provides little or no value.
Reduced operating cost and increased profit relies totally on effective and Sustainable Performance Management.
- You cannot manage what you cannot control!
- You cannot control what you do not measure!
- If you don’t measure it, you are not managing it! | <urn:uuid:e7481acf-827b-4183-bee1-c954123f8fda> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.rockproducts.com/index.php/features/10775-measuring-up.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783404826.94/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155004-00197-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.929351 | 1,484 | 2.53125 | 3 |
Psychology 3102 (Carey):
Introduction to Behavioral Genetics
March 2, 1999
Check outhttp://www.nhgri.nih.gov/DIR/VIP/Glossary, the Human Genome Project's glossary of genetic terms. Has pretty pictures and sounds.
Adenine A base pair or nucleotide of DNA and RNA. Pairs with thymine in DNA, and pairs with uracil in RNA.
Allele The various sequences of DNA nucleotides for a locus or gene. E.g., the ABO blood system locus has the A, B, and O alleles and the Rhesus (Rh) blood group locus has positive (+) and negative (-) alleles. A gene or locus that has more than one common allele is called a polymorphism.
Amino acids The basic building block of proteins and enzymes. There are twenty amino acids, each of which is coded for by a codon (three adjacent nucleotides).
Amniocentesis Prenatal diagnostic technique in which a needle is inserted into the abdomen of a pregnant woman (usually in the 16th week of pregnancy) and a small amount of amniotic fluid is extracted. Fetal cells in the amniotic fluid are then analyzed for genetic abnormalities.
Anticipation Term used to denote a disorder that has an earlier age of onset and greater severity in more recent generations of a pedigree.
Autosome A pair of chromosomes that are alike in males and females; any chromosome other than the X and Y sex chromosomes.
Base pairs (bp) Also called nucleotides, base pairs comprise the information of DNA and RNA. They are linearly arranged with each nucleotide pairing with a complementary nucleotide. There are four base pairs for DNA. Adenine (A) pairs with thymine (T) and cytosine (C) pairs with guanine (G). For RNA, uracil (U) takes the place of thymine.
bp Abbreviation for base pair.
cDNA Abbreviation for complementary DNA.
centiMorgan (cM) Named after Thomas Hunt Morgan who discovered linkage and recombination. A unit used to measure the statistical distance between two loci. One cM is equivalent to the recombination frequency of 1% between the two loci.
Chromosome A structure of DNA and protein found in the cell nucleus. Each chromosome contains hundreds or thousands of the genes. Humans have 23 pairs of chromosomes, one of each pair being contributed by the mother and the other by the father. Genes are linearly arranged on the chromosome.
Cloning Cloning has two different meanings. (1) Two or more organisms with identical genotypes, usually with the implication that one organism has been derived from the genetic material of the other organism. (2) Gene cloning refers to the isolation (and often sequencing) of a gene) and the subsequent production of many copies of the gene to study it.
cM Abbreviation for centiMorgan.
Codon A sequence of three nucleotides that code for an amino acid. E.g., the sequence adenine-adenine-adenine (AAA) codes for the amino acid phenylalanine. Some codons also work as punctuation marks denoting the start and stop of a peptide chain.
Complementary DNA (cDNA) A single strand of DNA that is synthesized in the laboratory to have a complementary sequence to a particular messenger RNA.
Congenital A trait or disorder that is present from birth; may be due to genes and/or prenatal environment.
Congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) Sometimes referred to as adrenogenital syndrome, CAH is a genetically heterogeneous collection of Mendelian recessive disorders where androgenizing substance build up in a developing fetus and masculinize the organism. The degree of masculinization is usually incomplete and dependent upon the actual Mendelian disorder. Individuals who are chromosomally XX are given gender corrective surgery, hormone replacement therapy, and are raised as girls.
Conserved DNA sequences Sequences of DNA that have changed very little over evolution. They are believed to code for proteins, enzymes, or regulatory regions that are especially important for life.
Contig (contig map) Short for "contiguous." Cloned sections of DNA that are contiguous and overlap each other. A number of contigs permit the mapping of a large section of a chromosome.
Crossing over (recombination) The pairing up of homologous chromosomes and the exchange of genetic material.
Cystic fibrosis A recessive genetic disorder that involves an accumulation of mucous in the lungs, creating difficulty in breathing and providing a ripe medium for infections. The most common Mendelian disorder among individuals of European ancestry.
Cytosine A base pair or nucleotide of DNA and RNA. Pairs with guanine.
DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) The molecule that contains the genetic code for all earthly life forms except for a few types of virus. The molecule resembles a spiral staircase. The sides of the staircase are composed of sugars and phosphates and the rungs consist of a pair of nucleotides (or base pairs). The particular ordering of the nucleotides is responsible for the genetic instructions behind growth and development and behind the regulations of many physiological functions.
DNA fingerprint A series of DNA polymorphisms typed in a single individual; usually encountered in forensic applications and paternity testing.
DNA probe A single-stranded DNA (or RNA) sequence labeled with special chemicals. The sequence of nucleotides for the probe is engineered to complement another single-stranded DNA (the target sequence). The probe binds with the target and then techniques are used to "light up" the special chemical to see exactly where the target is located.
Dominance One of Mendel's original laws which he thought applied to all hereditary traits but is now know to apply to only some. Mendel defined it as the fact that the phenotype for a heterozygote is the same as the phenotype for one of the two homozygotes. Today dominance is defined at the fact that a heterozygote does not have a phenotypic value that is the exact average of the phenotype value of the two homozygotes.
Editing The process during which the introns in the transcripted RNA are cut out and the exons are spliced together to form messenger RNA.
Embryonic stem cells Embryonic cells, usually taken from a mouse, that are engineered by homologous recombination. The resulting gene(s) are then implanted into other embryos to produce transgenic organisms.
Endoplasmic reticulum A network-like structure scattered throughout the cell. Ribosomes, the locations for protein manufacture, are densely located on the endoplasmic reticulum.
Environment of evolutionary adaptation (EEA) The environment and ecology during which a species evolved as opposed to the environment and ecology in which we find the species today.
Enzyme A type of protein responsible for a chemical reaction in the body. A substrate binds to the enzyme, the enzyme performs the reaction, and the substrate is converted into a product. Enzymes typically end in the suffix "ase" with the body of the term denoting the effect. E.g., polymerase results in a polymer chain being created (as in splicing two sections of DNA together).
Epistasis Statistical interaction among different genes.
Exon A nucleotide sequence within a gene that contains part of the blueprint for a polypeptide chain. Often, the exons within a gene are interspersed with noncoding regions (or introns). After transcription of the DNA into RNA, the introns are spliced out and the exons are joined together to form messenger RNA. Exons are also called "coding regions."
Fitness See reproductive fitness.
Fragile sites A particular section of a chromosome where, under the microscope, the chromosome appears to break apart (or nearly break apart) when the chromosomes are chemically treated in an appropriate way. There are several fragile sites throughout the genome, the most widely reported of which is the site on the X chromosome responsible for Fragile X syndrome.
Fragile X syndrome An X-linked disorder due to an unstable trinucleotide repeat (CGG), fragile X is characterized by mental retardation, attention and conduct problems, abnormally long face with large ears, and macroorchidism (in postpubertal males). Normal individuals have between 6 and 50 CGG repeats while fragile X individuals have between 230 and 1000 repeats. The most common Mendelian disorder associated with mental retardation, fragile X has a prevalence of 1/1250 (males) and 1/2500 (females).
Gamete A cell containing half of the genetic information that is used for reproduction; a sperm or egg cell.
Gene A sequence of DNA packaged in a chromosome that contains the information to make a polypeptide chain or an RNA molecule.
Gene targeting Creating mutations in a single gene that is then implanted into an embryo for the purpose of creating transgenic animals. See also homologous recombination, embryonic stem cells, and knockout mice.
Genetic drift (random genetic drift, random drift, or drift) The change in allele or genotypic frequencies due to chance and to chance alone.
Genetic heterogeneity The same disorder (or trait) can be due to different loci. E.g., albinism, congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH).
Genetic marker A polymorphic section of DNA that has a known location on a chromosomes. Genetic markers are used in linkage analysis to test whether a trait allele cosegregates with a marker allele within pedigrees.
Genome The total genetic information for an individual organism or for a species. The human genome consists of about 3 billion nucleotides.
Genomic imprinting (parental imprinting or imprinting) A recently discovered phenomenon in which an allele may be differentially expressed in the phenotype depending on whether it was inherited from the father or the mother.
Germ cell A cell that gives rise to a sperm or egg cell; sometimes used to refer to the sperm or egg itself.
Guanine A base pair or nucleotide of DNA and RNA. Pairs with cytosine.
Haplotype (haploid genotype) A "genotype" consisting of the alleles for two or more linked loci; the alleles on a chromosome. For example, the haplotype Ab/aB denotes that a person has alleles A and b on one chromosome and alleles a and B on the other chromosome.
Heritability The degree to which observed (or phenotypic) individual differences can be attributed to genetic individual differences; the ratio of genetic variance to phenotypic variance. Broad-sense heritability is places all types of genetic variance in the numerator (additive genetic variance, dominance genetic variance, and all forms of epistatic genetic variance). Narrow-sense heritability places only the additive genetic variance in the numerator.
Heterozygote An organism or genotype that has two different alleles at a locus. E.g., for the ABO blood system, genotypes AB, AO, and BO are heterozygotes.
Homologous recombination A laboratory technique in which a section of DNA on a chromosome is replaced by another similar sequence. The purpose is usually to "knockout" the gene to determine what happens when the gene is disrupted.
Homozygote An organism or genotype that has two copies of the same alleles at a locus. E.g., for the ABO blood system, genotypes AA, BB, and OO are homozygotes.
Huntington's Disease (HD) A presenile dementia caused by an autosomal dominant gene located on the short arm of chromosome 4. The problem with the HD gene is a unstable trinucleotide repeat. The disorder involves gradual loss of motor coordination and dementia (a progressive and irreversible loss of cognitive functioning).
Imprinting see genomic imprinting
Independent Assortment One of MendelÌs original laws stating that the hereditary factor for one trait (e.g., pea shape) is independent of the hereditary factor for another trait (e.g., pea color).
Intron A section of DNA within a gene that does not code for a polypeptide chain. When a gene is transcribed into RNA the transcript RNA contains both the introns and the sections that contain the code for the peptide (exons). Introns are cut out and exons are spliced together to form messenger RNA.
Karyotype Pictures of stained chromosomes ordered by size.
kb Abbreviation for kilobase.
Kilobase (kb) 1,000 base pairs or nucleotides
Knockout mice Mice genetically engineered by homologous recombination so that a particular gene does not function and hence is "knocked out." Has nothing to do with Mike Tyson.
Linkage (linked genes) Genes that are close together on a chromosome.
Linkage analysis A procedure used to find the approximate chromosomal location of a gene. Linkage analysis traces the cosegregation of a trait allele with one or more marker alleles within pedigrees.
Locus Usually, another name for a gene; a continuous section of DNA on a chromosome.
Lyonization (Lyon hypothesis, X inactivation) The inactivation of one of the X chromosomes in the somatic cells of a female. Hence, females are genetic mosaics with respect to their X chromosomes.
Major gene (major locus) A gene that is part of a polygenic or oligogenic system but has a large influence on the phenotype.
Marker gene (marker locus or markers) A continuous sequence of DNA with a known chromosomal location. Markers are used in linkage analysis to find a gene for a trait or disease.
Meiosis Process of cell division during which a germ cell containing the full chromosome complement of an organism produces the sperm or egg cells with one-half of the chromosome complement of the organism.
Mendelian disorder or trait (monogenic disorder or trait) A disorder or trait due to a single gene.
Messenger RNA (mRNA) RNA that has been transcribed from DNA and then edited to contain the information for making a polypeptide chain.
Methylation In genetics, the attachment of methyl groups to nucleotides, especially cytosine, resulting in a reduced transcription of genes.
Mitochondria Organelles scattered through the cell that are responsible for oxidative metabolism. Mitochondria contain mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) that is inherited through only the mother.
Mitosis Process of cell division that ends in two identical cells.
Monogenic disorder or trait (Mendelian disorder or trait) A disorder or trait due to a single gene.
Mosaic The existence of two genetically different cell lines in the same individual.
Mutagen Something that can cause a mutation (e.g., UV radiation, X-rays).
Mutation A irregular change in the DNA. Germinal mutations occur in the production of sperm or egg and are transmitted to the next generation. Somatic mutations, far more common than germinal mutations, influence all other cells of the organism. Mutations may affect only a single nucleotide (point mutation) or large sections of DNA up to a whole chromosome.
Natural selection Evolutionary process initially described by Charles Darwin and Alfred Wallace. Differential reproduction and subsequent transmission of heritable traits as a function of adaptation to the environment.
Nucleotide see base pair.
Neutral gene (or neutral locus) A section of DNA that does not contribute to reproductive fitness.
Nucleus The part of a cell that containing the chromosomes. With few exceptions (e.g., red blood cells), all cells have a nucleus.
Oligogenic disorder or trait Polygenic transmission but the number of genes influencing the disorder or trait is small.
Oligonucleotide A short nucleotide sequence of single-stranded DNA or RNA often used as a probe to find a matching sequence of DNA or RNA. Oligonucleotide primers are used in the polymerase chain reaction to make multiple copies of the gene of interest.
Oncogene A gene that can transform cells into cancer cells.
Parental imprinting see genomic imprinting.
Path analysis A visual, pictorial, and diagramatic method used in genetics to test mathematical models of genetic and familial transmission of traits.
PCR Abbreviation for polymerase chain reaction.
Penetrance The probability that an organism will exhibit a disorder (or trait) in the phenotype given that the organism has a genotype that allows the disorder (or trait) to be exhibited. If the probability is 1.0, the locus is termed fully penetrant. If the probability is less than 1.0, the locus is termed incompletely or partially penetrant. Retinoblastoma, a dominant disorder leading to cancer of retinal tissue, is 90% penetrant; hence, 90% of those who carry the gene will exhibit the trait. Modern methods of genotyping have demonstrated that many Mendelian disorders previously thought to be fully penetrant actually have very high penetrance but are not completely penetrant (e.g., cystic fibrosis).
Peptide chain (polypeptide chain) A sequence of two or more amino acids linked together. A gene contains the code for the sequence of amino acids in the polypeptide chain.
Pleiotropy (pleiotropism) The fact that a single gene influences more than a single phenotype.
Polygenic More than a single locus influences the phenotype. Sometimes used to denote the possibility that a large number of loci influence the phenotype.
Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) A technique for making many copies of a DNA sequence from only a small amount of DNA.
Polymorphism A gene that has more than one common allele.
Population structure A nonstandard term used in this text to refer to the spatial, temporal, dispersal, and mating aspects of a population (or species) as they effect the population's (or species') evolution.
Positional cloning Locating the precise position of a gene for a trait by comparing the DNA of individuals who have the trait with the DNA sequence of their family members who do not have the trait.
Preparedness (prepared learning) A genetic and/or biological predisposition that makes it easy for members of species to learn some behaviors but hard to learn others.
Probe A single stranded section of DNA that is labelled (radioactively or florescently). The probe will bind to its complementary DNA sequence and the label "lights it up."
Promoter region (promotor gene) A section of DNA usually upstream from a structural gene. The promoter region (gene) is where transcription enzymes bind and initiate transcription of the structural gene.
Protein One or more polypeptide chains taking on a three dimensional configuration. Proteins serve as structural components of a cell (structural proteins), assist in chemical reactions (enzymes), and serve as signaling molecules.
Pseudogene A gene with a nucleotide sequence very similar to a structural gene, but because of mutations can no longer be transcribed or translated.
Recombination A fancy term for crossing over.
Reproductive fitness The number of gametes or offspring that an leaves to the next generation. Absolute fitness refers to the raw number of gametes or offspring. Relative fitness divides absolute fitness by the absolute fitness of a reference indvidual. Fitness may also be expressed in terms of genotypes or phenotypes instead of individuals.
Restriction enzyme (technically, restriction endonuclease) An enzyme that recognizes a certain section of DNA and cuts the DNA at that spot.
Restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) Different alleles for a locus are determined by cutting the DNA with a restriction enzyme and analyzing the lengths of the resulting sections. A RFLP is usually used as a genetic marker.
Ribonucleic acid (RNA) A single-stranded sequence of nucleotides comprised of adenine, uracil, cytosine, and guanine. There are several species of RNA, the most important of which for protein synthesis are messenger RNA (mRNA), ribosomal RNA (rRNA), and transfer RNA (tRNA).
Sequence Tagged Sites (STS) A relatively short segment of DNA that occurs only once in the human genome, has a known chromosomal location, and has a known nucleotide sequence. STS serve as "landmarks" of the genome and assist in the development of further chromosomal mapping and DNA sequencing.
Segregation One of Mendel's original laws stating that of the two parental alleles at a gene, only one taken at random is transmitted to an offspring.
Shifting balance theory A theory developed by Sewall Wright to explain the dynamic interaction among the different forces of evolution.
Sickle cell anemia A recessive disorder due to a point mutation (the change of a single nucleotide) in the locus coding for theb polypeptide chain of the hemoglobin molecule. Under certain conditions, particularly oxygen deprivation, the abnormal hemoglobin molecule will change the shape of a red blood platelet into something resembling a crescent moon or sickle. These sickled cells clog up the fine capillaries, depriving the target organs of oxygen. The sickle cell allele is found in high frequency in malarial regions in Africa, the eastern Mediterranean, some Arab countries, and the Indian subcontinent. The reason for its high frequency is that heterozygotes are more resistant to malaria than normal homozygotes.
Somatic cell Any cell of the organism that is not a germ cell.
Structural gene A gene containing the code for making a polypeptide chain, a protein, or an enzyme.
STS Abbreviation for sequence tagged sites.
Tay Sachs Disease A disorder of lipid (fat) storage caused by an autosomal recessive allele. Infants with Tay Sachs fail to develop normally and usually die within a few months of birth. The Tay Sachs allele is found with high frequency among Askenazie Jews (Jews of eastern European ancestry), and a concerted effort in this community to identify heterozygotes (carriers) has dramatically reduced the frequency of the disorder.
Thymine A nucleotide of DNA only. In RNA thymine is replaced by uracil. Pairs with adenine.
Transcription The process whereby a strand of RNA is synthesized from the DNA resulting in a "mirror image" of the DNA.
Transfer RNA (tRNA) A molecule of that contains, among other things, a recognition site of 3 nucleotides (called an anticodon) and an amino acid. In protein synthesis, the anticodon pairs with the codon from messenger RNA and the amino acid is transferred into the growing polypeptide chain.
Translation. The process in which the sequence of information on the messenger RNA is read and a chain of amino acids is constructed from the information.
Translocation The process in which a segment of one chromosome breaks off and attaches to anther chromosome.
Trisomy Having three chromosomes instead of two homologous chromosomes. Trisomy 21 is the most frequent cause of Down's Syndrome.
Tumor-suppression gene A gene whose normal function is to prevent the transformation of a cell into a cancer cell. If a tumor-suppression gene mutates, cancer may result.
Uracil A nucleotide of RNA only. In DNA, thymine takes the place of uracil. Pairs with adenine.
Variable expressivity (variable expression) A single locus can result is a different degrees of expression of a phenotypic trait. E.g., untreated phenylketonuria results in intelligence starting from severe mental retardation but going into the normal range.
Variable number of tandem repeats (VNTR) A polymorphic section of DNA where the polymorphism consists of the number of times that a nucleotide sequence is repeated. E.g., one allele may have the sequence CAGAT repeated 6 times while another allele may have the same sequence repeated 10 times.
X inactivation See lyonization.
X-linked A gene located on the X chromosome.
zygote A fertilized egg. | <urn:uuid:e8bb11db-049b-4e13-89e5-e920726b4464> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://ibgwww.colorado.edu/~carey/p4102dir/handouts/glossary.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783402746.23/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155002-00076-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.906465 | 5,111 | 3.984375 | 4 |
U.S. Department of Transportation
Federal Highway Administration
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
Washington, DC 20590
Federal Highway Administration Research and Technology
Coordinating, Developing, and Delivering Highway Transportation Innovations
This magazine is an archived publication and may contain dated technical, contact, and link information.
|Publication Number: Date: Summer 1994|
Issue No: Vol. 58 No. 1
Date: Summer 1994
At 4:31 a.m. PST on Monday, Jan. 17, 1994, the ground shook for approximately 20 seconds in the Northridge section of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles, Calif. The earthquake had a Richter magnitude of 6.7. Its epicentral region was the same area that had been rocked during the 1971 San Fernando earthquake. Fifty-seven people lost their lives as a result of the Northridge quake.
Our society--our way of life--depends on a complex network of infrastructure systems. These systems are lifelines that provide transportation and communication services, a supply of energy and fresh water, and the disposal of wastewater and waste products. Among the oldest of these lifelines are our transportation systems--highways, railroads, mass transit, ports, waterways, and airports.
The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has a vested interest in ensuring that the critical resource represented by the nation's roads and bridges is not undermined, threatened, or destroyed by natural hazards. To this end, it conducts, sponsors, or otherwise participates in extensive research to identify new technologies or new applications of existing technologies that will mitigate the effects of such natural hazards as flood, fire, windstorm, and earthquake. Specifically, this effort tries to determine how highway structures should be built or how they should be strengthened (retrofitted) to minimize the effects of natural hazards.
This research has paid off! Many valuable lessons have been--and continue to be--learned about how to build and retrofit better, stronger, more hazard-resistant roads and highways. Slowly and steadily, these lessons have been translated into practical technological applications. New highway structures replace the old; existing structures are strengthened through retrofitting. These new and strengthened structures are helping to avoid much of the worst damage and are precluding additional damage when new disasters strike. But it takes a long time to do research and apply technologies. Also--and unfortunately--this research is, of necessity, grounded in tragedy and destruction, since we learn from yesterday's failures.
Thus, when a disaster such as the Jan. 17, 1994, Northridge, Calif., earthquake occurs, the results are simultaneously: unfortunate--the lives lost, the destruction of property and infrastructure; positive--the enhanced performance of new and retrofitted infrastructure; and hopeful--the improvements the Northridge lessons will allow us to make as our knowledge base grows.
The hazard to bridges
Highway systems contain many elements--pavements, tunnels, slopes, embankments, retaining walls, etc.; however, the most vulnerable element in the highway system appears to be bridges.
There are about 575,000 bridges in the United States. About 60 percent of these were constructed before 1970 with little or no consideration given to seismic resistance. Historically, bridges have been vulnerable to earthquakes, sustaining damage to substructures and foundations and, in some cases, being completely destroyed. In 1964, nearly every bridge along the partially completed Cooper River Highway in Alaska was seriously damaged or destroyed. Seven years later, the San Fernando earthquake damaged more than 60 bridges on the Golden State Freeway in California. This earthquake cost the state approximately $100 million in bridge repairs. In 1989, the Loma Prieta earthquake in California damaged more than 80 bridges and caused more than 40 deaths in bridge-related collapses alone. The cost of the earthquake to transportation was $l.8 billion, of which the damage to state-owned bridges was about $300 million.
Approaches to improved seismic response
Much has been learned from these failures. Currently, two approaches are being taken to improve the seismic resistance of highway bridges. The first approach requires considerable time, but is economically reasonable. Design guidelines are upgraded as more knowledge is gained about the response of specialized transportation structures to seismic activity. These new design guidelines can be applied to new construction as older bridges that are either structurally unsound or functionally obsolete are removed from service.
The second approach involves identifying those existing bridges that are important to the network and are susceptible to significant damage or collapse in the event of an earthquake. These structures can then be strengthened or retrofitted to enhance their response to seismic activity. Seismic retrofitting is a relatively new concept in bridge engineering and was motivated by the damage sustained by highway bridges during the 1971 San Fernando earthquake. The earthquake clearly pointed out the existence of a number of deficiencies in the then-current bridge design specifications. It also focused on the fact that numerous existing bridges may be expected to fail in some major way during their remaining life if subjected to strong seismic loads. However, because of the difficulty and cost involved in strengthening an existing bridge to new design standards, it is usually not economically justifiable to do so. This second approach thus requires significant capital expenditure; it consequently can prove economically infeasible in many cases.
A balance between these two approaches is needed to strengthen the highway system against seismic attack. This balance can be accomplished by upgrading those structures that form vital links in the network and are vulnerable to damage, while at the same time imposing new applicable, geographically appropriate, seismic design standards on replacement bridges and new construction.
Damage was extensive to residential and commercial buildings and lifelines in the epicentral region. The main shock and aftershocks affected the built environment in an area of about 900 square kilometers (350 square miles). (1) In addition to Northridge, residents of Sylmar, Newhall, San Fernando, Burbank, Van Nuys, Glendale, and Santa Monica were affected. By earthquake standards, this magnitude 6.7 event was a moderate quake. By comparison, the 1964 Alaska earthquake had a magnitude of 8.1; the 1971 San Fernando had a 6.4; the 1987 Whittier Narrows had a 5.9; the 1989 Loma Prieta had a 7.1; and the 1991 Sierra Madre had a 5.8. Technicalities related to type of faulting, fault mechanisms, geology, and structural design considerations make it impossible to relate or compare damage between these events and thus indicate that the Richter magnitude, by itself, is a poor guide for quantifying the level of expected damage.
It is pointed out that all of the above earthquakes are considered to be moderate-to-large events, yet all fall far short of the expected "Big One." In fact, many seismologists believe that the "Big One" may not occur in California at all, but rather in the Midwest, the East, or on some other yet-to-be-defined fault system. The fault that ruptured under Northridge had not been identified by seismologists prior to the earthquake!
Bridge performance in the Northridge earthquake(1)
There were about 2,000 bridges in the epicentral region of the Northridge quake. Of these, only six bridges failed and four others were so badly damaged that they will have to be replaced. These failures did, however, create severe hardships for the traveling public, involving as it did some of the busiest freeways in the world, including the Santa Monica Freeway (Interstate Highway 10) and the Antelope Valley Freeway (state Route 14)-Golden State Freeway (I-5) interchange. The failure of those bridges was primarily due to the failure of the supporting columns that had been designed and constructed before 1971. The timing here is critical, for following the 1971 San Fernando earthquake, the standards for earthquake design began to be toughened considerably. However, two bridges--both constructed shortly after the 1971 earthquake--on the Simi Valley-San Fernando Valley Freeway had severe column distress that resulted in bridge failure.
Other damage to bridges included spalling and cracking of concrete abutments, spalling of column-cover concrete, settlement of bridge approaches, and tipping or displacement of both steel- and neoprene-type bearings. Slight shear cracking of column bents also occurred at the Marina-San Diego Freeway interchange.
On the other hand, several other bridges experienced relatively minor damage, yet those designed to current criteria performed as expected and met the intent and philosophy of the bridge specification of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO). On those bridges, damage was visible and will be relatively easy to repair. There were, however, unforeseen circumstances. Even though the Balboa Street bridge over Route 118 was designed to current criteria, it incurred significant damage when a colocated water main burst and washed out the embankment, exposing most of the concrete piles that supported the abutment. Although this bridge performed well, it indicates that secondary effects from an earthquake can create major damage.
Retrofitting technologies--including the use of hinge or joint restrainers and column jacketing--performed very well. Although some restrainers failed, primarily by pulling through concrete bolsters, it is believed that none of these failures were the primary cause of span collapse, with perhaps the exception of the Gavin Canyon bridge on I-5. (See title page photo) That structure, however, was very highly skewed, which greatly increased hinge seat movement. Restrainers are not designed to carry the loads imposed by multiple spans once the structural integrity of intermediate columns are lost. This earthquake provided the first test of columns confined by steel jackets and none experienced failure.
As in the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, the implementation of hinge and joint restrainers is credited with preventing the collapse of many of the bridges in the epicentral region. This technology clearly represents one of the most cost-effective retrofit measures that can be implemented nationally, although use is not a guarantee that span collapse or damage can be avoided. However, restrainers will significantly reduce bridge damage in small-to-moderate quakes.
The Northridge quake resulted in the following recommendations:
(1)All photographs used with this article illustrate the bridge performance and damage discussed in this section.
Designing a highway bridge to withstand large earthquake forces is a technically challenging and, until relatively recent times, daunting problem. However, recent earthquakes, coupled with FHWA and state-sponsored research efforts, have taught us much about bridge performance under these conditions.
Although it is virtually impossible to design or retrofit a bridge to be "earthquake-proof," a number of basic principles have been identified that, if followed, will improve the seismic performance of bridges and minimize the likelihood of structural collapse.
Bridge damage observed in recent earthquakes is generally attributed to one or more of the following:
Recommendations for new design
The following are recommendations, based on past experience and research, for the seismic-resistant design of new or replacement highway bridges:
Recommendations for existing construction
The following are retrofitting recommendations. Note that some of the recommendations for new designs also can be applied to existing structures (e.g., using soil improvement technologies).
The Northridge earthquake showed us that we are indeed on the right track with regard to the development of effective seismic-resistant highway bridge design and retrofit procedures and technology. New designs hold up; retrofitting works. The evidence suggests, in fact, that had Caltrans had the time to complete its current retrofit program before the earthquake took place, many of the structural failures would not have occurred at all and much of the damage would have been minimized.
Some people believe that structures can or should be made earthquake-proof. Unfortunately, earthquake design and retrofit are still more of an art than a science. At this time, research and engineering have provided the tools to improve the seismic performance of bridges and minimize the liklihood of structural collapse. Until such time as we better understand the science, damage and failure will continue to occur--albeit at a reduced level.
Research in earthquake engineering is still needed. Far too many buildings and lifelines, including the transportation system, were damaged by the Northridge earthquake. Research programs--notably the FHWA Seismic Research Program being conducted by the National Center for Earthquake Engineering Research, the Caltrans research program, and the research programs of the other states--are expected to advance the state of the practice in bridge and highway engineering. These programs will provide improved tools to assess the vulnerability of highway systems and corresponding technologies to retrofit deficient systems in a cost-effective, timely, and efficient manner.
The 1906 San Francisco earthquake, which caused millions of dollars in damage, was considered ill fortune--the city was rebuilt in an almost identical fashion. After the devastating Santa Barbara earthquake in 1925, however, engineers began to include earthquake design provisions in building codes. It took almost another 20 years for similar provisions to be included in highway bridge design. And it took another 30 years--in the aftermath of the 1971 San Fernando earthquake--for earthquake design criteria to be toughened and a seismic retrofit program to be instituted.
In 1971, FHWA began a modest $3-million, basic research program to develop national bridge seismic design guidelines. The study evaluated then-current criteria used for seismic design, reviewed recent seismic research findings for their potential use in a new specification, developed new and improved seismic design guidelines, and evaluated the impact of these guidelines on construction and cost. The guidelines were completed in 1979 and adopted by AASHTO as its Guide Specification for Seismic Design of Highway Bridges in 1983. This specification became the national standard in 1992, following the Loma Prieta earthquake.(3)
FHWA's prominent role in earthquake research did not end with the adoption of this standard. The agency's commitment to mitigation of the highway-related effects of earthquakes was renewed with the establishment of a Seismic Research Program, mandated by the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 and conducted for FHWA by the National Center for Earthquake Engineering Research. The Seismic Research Program covers all major highway system components (bridges, tunnels, embankments, retaining structures, pavements, etc.). Its first product, however, deals with bridges. Seismic Retrofitting Manual for Highway Bridges, which summarizes lessons learned from more than 20 years of earthquake engineering research and implementation and which provides procedures for evaluating and upgrading the seismic resistance of existing bridges, will be published this fall.
The FHWA Seismic Research Program is focusing research in four priority areas to improve the seismic performance of bridges:
The program's approach involves: (1) assimilating the large body of research work that has been, and is being, conducted in response to recent earthquakes, including the Northridge and 1989 Loma Prieta earthquakes, (2) undertaking physical testing where data are needed, and (3) supplementing data using analytical computer techniques to extrapolate information. The results will be used to update and clarify the AASHTO specifications for new bridge design, while parallel research is focusing on the development of nationally applicable seismic retrofit measures and guidelines. Thus, FHWA research will continue to lead the development of the next generation of national seismic design and retrofit technology.
(1) Jack P. Moehle (editor). Preliminary Report on the Seismological and Engineering Aspects of the January 17, 1994, Northridge Earthquake, Report No. UCB/EERC 94.01, University of California-Berkeley, January 1994.
(2) Seismic Retrofitting Manual for Highway Bridges, Publication No. FHWA-RD-94-052, Federal Highway Administration, Washington, D.C., not yet published.
(3) Standard Specifications for Highway Bridges, Fifteenth Edition, American Association of State Highways and Transportation Officials, Washington, D.C., 1992.
(4) Seismic Design and Retrofitting Manual for Highway Bridges, Publication No. FHWA-IP-87-6, Federal Highway Administration, Washington, D.C., 1987.
(5) Seismic Retrofitting Guidelines for Highway Bridges, Publication No. FHWA-RD-83-007, Federal Highway Administration, Washington, D.C., 1983.
(6) M.J.N. Priestley, F. Seible, and C.M. Wang. The Northridge Earthquake of January 17, 1994--Damage Analysis of Selected Freeway Bridges, Report No. SSRP-94/06, University of California-San Diego, February 1994.
James D. Cooper is chief of the Structures Division, Office of Engineering and Highway Operations Research and Development at the FHWA's Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center in McLean, Va. He received his bachelor's degree and master's degree in civil engineering from Syracuse University.
Ian M. Friedland is assistant director for bridges and highways at the National Center for Earthquake Engineering Research. He received his bachelor's degree in civil engineering from Cornell University and his master's degree in structural engineering and structural mechanics from the University of Maryland.
Ian G. Buckle is deputy director of the National Center for Earthquake Engineering Research and professor of civil engineering at the State University of New York-Buffalo. He received his undergraduate degree and doctorate in civil engineering from the University of Auckland, New Zealand.
Roland B. Nimis is the regional structural engineer for the FHWA's Region 9 Office in San Francisco and is also currently serving as acting director of engineering. He received his bachelor's degree in civil engineering from California State University.
Nancy McMullin Bobb is the division bridge engineer in the California Division of FHWA in Sacramento. She received her bachelor's degree in civil engineering from the University of Nevada-Reno and her master's degree in civil engineering from the University of California-Davis. | <urn:uuid:349bcc80-44b1-4286-baae-4110266633b1> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/publicroads/94summer/p94su26.cfm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398869.97/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00083-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948685 | 3,674 | 2.75 | 3 |
The brain is affected by factors we don’t always look into in our daily lives. Everything from the food we eat, the little bad habits we’ve formed over the years, and extent to which we use the brain: all these factors play a role in the development of our mental power, sometimes boosting our intelligence and sometimes lowering it.
Certain habits have been known to lower intelligence by killing brain cells or promoting mental stagnation but luckily you can learn how not to destroy your most vital organ by avoiding these bad habits.
In order to experience a heightened state of brain function, make sure you avoid habits that inhibit mental health and learn new ways to promote brain function. Any positive change is sure to reflect in you regardless of how many bad habits you have; so start by learning what kills your brain.
High Blood Sugar
Overeating, poor memory, learning problems, depression- all these conditions were linked in a recent study to consumption of too much sugar. These effects point to a larger problem which health experts are only beginning to understand; how sugar consumption affects normal brain function. The U.S Department of Agriculture reports that the average American consumes 156 pounds of added sugar annually.
This sounds quite alarming especially when you picture what 156 pounds of sugar would look like on the shelves at your local grocery store. Most people have no idea how much sugar they consume because sugar is always present in our diet but health experts recommend a reduction in sugar intake, which you can do by avoiding food and drinks loaded with sugar.
Your brain uses up significant amounts of oxygen in order to function properly- which can be a problem if you’re constantly exposed to air pollutants. Polluted air impairs the supply of oxygen to the brain, which lowers cognitive function and could also cause actual physical changes to the brain. Air pollution is caused by industrial waste, vehicles, dust, etc, and the pollutants can reach deep areas of your organs, inhibiting proper function of your body.
Sleep allows your body to repair itself- and that means facilitating creation of new cells in all organs, the brain included. Long term sleep deprivation can in fact cause brain damage as new cells are not being generated and the brain loses its ability to communicate properly with the nerve cells. Both short-term and long-term sleep restriction have negative effects on the brain which is why doctors recommend 8 hours of sleep each night to allow the body time to repair itself.
What do you think happens to the cells when they’re not provided with healthy nutrients needed to survive? The cells starve and then slowly begin to die! A little bite of junk-food here and there does not affect your brain significantly, but eating unhealthy foods on a daily basis compromises your health and promotes weight gain, making you lose both mental and physical energy. The good thing is you have complete control over what you choose to eat so it shouldn’t be so hard to switch from junk to nutritious foods which promote health and longevity.
Junk-food encourages malnutrition because it tends to kill appetite and it has little nutrition. Your brain requires fuel in order to work properly and this fuel comes from actual nutrients, not fried junk. Bad food destroys organs in the body, and if not monitored, could damage your brain so stay away from it and other habits that kill your brain.
Alcohol and Cigarettes
In addition to causing cancer, heart disease, and myriad of diseases, a new study suggests that smoking may cause gradual cognitive decline in men. The study focuses on NNK, a compound normally found in tobacco, and which becomes carcinogenic when altered by metabolic processes in the body. Unlike alcohol, this compound does not appear to harm the brain cells directly; instead it causes neuro-inflammation, which in turn causes other disorders including multiple sclerosis.
Alcohol may cause a temporary chemical imbalance and even structural changes in the brain when consumed in high volumes over a long period of time. MRIs of most alcoholic patients show decreased brain volume.
Your mother was right- breakfast is king! If you’re one of those people who simply can’t eat anything in the morning, you may be lowering your blood sugar levels, which also means low nutrient supply to vital organs. Take a few minutes each morning to eat something healthy so your body gets renewed, and experience heightened alertness, high energy and improved productivity at wok or school. Aim for proteins and vitamins to get you that healthy combination needed for strength and mental performance.
Little Mental Stimulation
Your brain works a lot like the muscles in your body- it needs to be exercised, otherwise it won’t be very sharp. This is why most smart people like filling puzzles or playing other mind games. Learn how to play chess, scrabble and other fun games that stimulate the mind and get you working at your best. Creative thinking is also an effective way to stimulate the brain, so find some time for inspiring music and the arts, and see how it changes your way of thinking.
Gluttony and Cholesterol
Not everyone realizes it but gluttony causes more problems than you’d imagine. It hardens blood vessels, restricting the supply of oxygen and nutrients to vital parts of the body- including the brain. Ensure you serve decent amounts so your blood vessels function better, and remember to hydrate so you can excrete toxins from the blood.
Cholesterol builds up in the arteries and reduces blood flow, making it impossible for the blood to receive enough oxygen and nutrients. Saturated fats not only cause heart attacks, they also destroy your brain. A healthy diet and regular should be enough to keep your heart pumping well.
Carbon Dioxide Poisoning
A lot of people -especially kids- don’t realize this but covering your head while you sleep increases the amount of carbon dioxide entering the body, and reduces oxygen in the process, causing damage to the brain. You need fresh air when sleeping to allow proper gaseous exchange so avoid tight fittings when sleeping at don’t cover your head.
Okay here are the 9 Things That Kill Your Brain. What do you think about this? Do please share you thoughts with me by using the comment box below.
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11 Dec 2012:
NASA Visualization Captures
Record Year for Wildfires in the U.S.
This year has been an unusually severe one for wildfires in the U.S., with more than 9.1 million acres of land burned through the end of November, federal officials say. The total affected area, which is
depicted in a new NASA map (right), is already the third-largest since records were first kept
in 1960, and will likely break previous records by year’s end. The most intense fires occurred in the western U.S., where several major fires during the early summer — sparked by a combination of drought, light winter snow pack, and the long-term effects of climate change — forced evacuations in some areas. In the visualization, which shows all fires that occurred between Jan. 1 and Oct. 31, areas of yellow and orange indicate larger and more intense fires, while many of the less intense fires, shown in red, represent prescribed burns started for brush clearing or agriculture and ecosystem management. The visualization was based on data collected by NASA satellites. “This type of long-term fire monitoring will only become more important as the climate changes and certain areas prone to fire become drier,” Louis Giglio, a scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, said during a recent meeting
of the American Geophysical Union.
Yale Environment 360 is
a publication of the
Yale School of Forestry
& Environmental Studies
Yale Environment 360
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Few-leaved (Hieracium murorum)
Wild Flowers of Sleepy Hollow Lake From All-Creatures.org Art and Photo Journals and Galleries Directory
Dedicated to the Preservation and Restoration of the Whole of Creation: Humans - Animals - Environment
"And God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good.
And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day" (Genesis 1:31)
Hawkweed, Few-leaved (Hieracium murorum)
Table of Contents
(Few-leaved Hawkweed (Hieracium murorum) - 01
) There are about fifty
species of hawkweed in the United States. The few-leaved hawkweed is one of these.
Some are native and others were naturalized from Europe. We were not able to find
out whether the few-leaved hawkweed was native or European in origin.
(Few-leaved Hawkweed (Hieracium murorum) - 01a
) At first glance, the
few-leaved hawkweed bloom and basal rosette leaves look like those of a dandelion.
The branching stem with a single composite flower at the end of each branch points to our
recognizing this wildflower as a hawkweed.
(Few-leaved Hawkweed (Hieracium murorum) - 02
) Hawkweed are members of
the Composite or Aster family, meaning that what appears to be a single flower with many petals is
really a composite of many individual flowers. The saw-toothed ends of the ray
flowers are a characteristic of the Hawkweed. The bloom of the few-leaved hawkweed
has a very compact cyme or bloom.
(Few-leaved Hawkweed (Hieracium murorum) - 03
) Few-leaved hawkweed, as
well as the other hawkweeds, have been used in herbal medicine for the treatment of
inflammations and digestive problems. Perhaps the three visiting insects are there
to partake of some of its healing properties! Can you spot them? For
comparison in size, the few-leaved hawkweed bloom is only about 3/4 inch across.
(Few-leaved Hawkweed (Hieracium murorum) - 03a
) This is one of the
insects (unidentified) that is visiting this few-leaved hawkweed (previous photo at 5:30).
Another insect is located near the end of a ray flower at 8:00 and the third is
located (partially hidden) midway between the center and the outer edge at 11:00.
(Few-leaved Hawkweed (Hieracium murorum) - 04a
) Because of its
unusual and out of context characteristics, this is one of those photos you want to label,
"What is it?" In reality it is the bright center of the few-leafed
hawkweed: another creative wonder of the Lord our God.
| Wild Flowers of SHL:
| Art and Photos |
Presented here are just a few of the countless components of God's creation.
Just as we cannot have human and animal life without water and plants, neither
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prayer that this series will motivate people to live and act in a cruelty-free
manner; that we would no longer hurt or destroy each other, the animals or our | <urn:uuid:0d9ed5cf-d342-421b-bb31-dd532ff240f8> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.all-creatures.org/picb/wfshl-hawkweed-mur.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393997.50/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00103-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946945 | 742 | 2.640625 | 3 |
This lesson is designed for social studies classes, grades 9-12.
In this lesson, students will:
- Examine the president's commitment to AIDS relief for Africa and the reasons for this initiative.
- Analyze the history of U.S. funding for HIV/AIDS research, treatment, and prevention programs since the early 1980's.
- Develop a position on future U.S. aid for HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention.
- Articulate viewpoints in a policy debate.
Related National Standards
These standards are drawn from "Content Knowledge," a compilation of content standards and benchmarks for K-12 curriculum by McRel (Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning), at http://www.mcrel.org/standards-benchmarks/.
Standard 8: Knows essential concepts about the prevention and control of disease
Standard 8: Uses listening and speaking strategies for different purposes
Standard 9: Uses viewing skills and strategies to understand and interpret visual media.
Standard 23: Understands the impact of significant political and non-political developments on the United States and other nations.
Standard 28: Understands how participation in civic and political life can help citizens attain individual and public goals
Standard 1: Understands and knows how to analyze chronological relationships and patterns.
Standard 2: Understands the historical perspective
Thinking and Reasoning
Standard 1: Understands and applies the basic principles of presenting an argument,
Standard 3: Effectively uses mental processes that are based on identifying similarities and differences.
Standard 5: Applies decision-making techniques.
Working with Others
Standard 1: Contributes to the overall effort of a group.
Standard 2: Uses conflict-resolution techniques
Standard 3: Works well with diverse individuals and in diverse situations.
Standard 4: Displays effective interpersonal communication skills
Standard 5: Demonstrates leadership skills
Estimated Time to Complete Lesson
Two to three 50-minute class periods, depending on the number of lesson activities used
Backgrounder for Teachers
In President Bush's 2003 State of the Union Address he announced a plan that would commit billions of dollars to prevent and treat HIV/AIDS in the most afflicted countries of Africa and the Caribbean. This announcement marked an enormous evolution of the U.S. position on the disease since the Reagan Administration. (Find more details at NOW's detailed timeline on U.S. HIV/AIDS policy.)
HIV/AIDS continues to be a global pandemic. (See NOW's map of global AIDS statistics.) The treatment portion of the President's HIV/AIDS plan has provided medication to millions of poor people with AIDS. It has been universally praised as compassionate. The prevention side of the plan, however, has been more controversial. As a matter of policy, any group that receives HIV/AIDS money from the U.S. must publicly pledge its explicit opposition to prostitution. Critics say that taking such an oath would disavow some of the very people these groups are trying to reach to prevent the spread of HIV. In addition, 33% of prevention funds are set aside for programs that will only promote abstinence and faithful, heterosexual marriage. Opponents to that policy think that it is critical to include an emphasis on condom use in any HIV/AIDS prevention strategy.
The African country of Uganda receives U.S. money for the prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS, and is an interesting case study in how U.S. policy affects global health issues. Consistent with U.S. policy, Uganda currently promotes abstinence and faithfulness, and does not emphasize condom use. Previously, the country's AIDS prevention strategy had given condom use equal billing with abstinence and fidelity. They called it the "ABC" strategy because it encouraged Abstinence, Being faithful, and using Condoms. While using the "ABC" strategy, Uganda's HIV/AIDS rate went from an estimated 25-30% in the early 90's to about 5% today. Critics of U.S. policy worry that de-emphasizing condom use will result in a wider spread of the virus. (Learn more about Uganda from NOW's Uganda photo essay.)
The Related Resources section of this lesson plan includes links to additional background information on the issues addressed in this lesson plan.
Assumed Student Prior Knowledge
It is assumed that students have some prior knowledge of the HIV/AIDS epidemic and the efforts by governments, activists groups, and individuals to combat the disease. It would also be helpful if students knew about the widespread epidemic in Africa.
Note: To prepare your class for this lesson's activities, you might want to help students understand the importance of discussing controversial issues in class and to remember to respect others who might present divergent, or opposing viewpoints. Students should agree to a set of rules of conduct when engaged in controversial discussions. A sample set of guidelines for discussing controversial subjects can be found at the University of North Carolina Web site (http://www.unc.edu/srp/srp2000/guidelines.html).
Warm-up Activity: "President Bush's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief."
Activity II: How Did We Get Here?
- Place students in small groups of 3-4 students and distribute the handout "President Bush's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief." (See Materials Needed section.)
- Have student groups work together to review the excerpts of the President's speech and discuss the questions on the handout.
- Follow-up with a large-group general discussion of the following:
- What was the occasion of the speech?
- Why was this particular occasion chosen to make this announcement?
- What words or phrases did the President use to instill feelings of fear or uneasiness, hope, confidence, or pride in the audience?
- How might you as an American citizen respond to the president's call to action? What questions do you or what else do you want to know have after reading the speech?
In this activity students review a timeline showing U.S. policy and events related to HIV/AIDS from 1980 to 2005 and then prioritize the five most important events from a policy standpoint.
- To prep students for the timeline analysis, have them view a segment from the 11/04/05 NOW program and/or read its transcript (available on 11/05/05).
Begin with: "Leap back a quarter of a century…"
End with: "…that led to President Bush's historic announcement in January of 2003: 15 billion dollars to fight global AIDS."
Explain to students that they are going to watch a brief summary of how U.S. policy on HIV/AIDS has evolved since the early 1980's. Ask them to take notes on how different presidents have responded to the AIDS crisis.
- Place students in small groups and distribute the student handout: "Timeline of Events in U.S. Global HIV/AIDS Policy." Note: A more detailed timeline of U.S. policy is provided on the NOW Web site. The handout's abbreviated version is designed to help students locate key information more quickly.
- Have student groups briefly review the timeline and their notes from watching the video, discuss the questions listed on the handout, and complete the "Ranking Key Events" chart at the end of the handout.
- Review student findings once the groups have finished their ranking discussions.
- Debrief the activity by asking students to identify key events that seemed to promote a change in policy between 1980 and 2005.
Activity III: Policy Debate
- Explain to students that they will be conducting a policy debate on the funding of AIDS programs. To introduce the issues that students will debate, show them a segment from the 11/04/05 NOW program and/or read its transcript.
Begin with: "Many of the AIDS prevention programs around the world…"
End with: "…Then it'll go to somebody else."
Focus student viewing by asking them to write down what pledge is required of groups who wish to receive HIV/AIDS money from the U.S.
- Introduce the following statement for debate: "The United States Congress should fund foreign aid programs for HIV/AIDS that support an 'abstinence-only' education and counseling approach."
- Divide the class into four large groups: advocates for funding abstinence-only programs, advocates against funding abstinence-only programs, and two groups of decision makers. (Note: The two advocate groups should be even in size, so if necessary, ask students to be in the decision-maker groups to balance the advocate groups' numbers.)
- Distribute the student handout, "Advocate's Planning Guidelines" to each advocate and the "Decision Maker's Planning Guidelines" handout to each decision maker. Also, distribute the three articles, "Beyond Slogans: Lessons from Uganda's ABC Experience," "The War Against AIDS and Condoms," and "The ABC of AIDS" to all students. (This reading can be done as homework.)
- Have students work independently or with one other student who has the same role and review the articles. Instruct students to identify the source of their information and feel free to mention this during the debate. Students can go to other sources for more information if necessary as time allows.
- Both groups of advocates should complete their planning guides. Decision makers should only complete Section 1 of their planning guide. They will complete the remainder after the debate.
- Once students have completed their planning guides, have them meet in large groups of other students with the same role to share and discuss the information they have collected. The two advocate groups should determine their best reasons and evidence and the decision makers should determine their best questions for Part 1 on the planning guide.
- Form small debate groups composed of an advocate for each side and two decision makers. In some groups you might have more than two decision makers per group.
- Explain the debate format below to all groups to conduct their debate:
- The Advocate For should begin and present and defend his or her position on the issue. (10 minutes) During this time the Advocate Against should listen, but may not speak. They can write notes if necessary. The Decision Maker(s) may ask questions at any time.
- Then the Advocate Against explains and defends his/her position on the issue. (10 minutes) (Same rules as above.)
- In the last 10 minutes, each advocate group may refute the arguments made by the other side one point at a time. The Decision Maker(s) should moderate this so that each advocate group takes turns rebutting the other side's points. The Decision Maker(s) can also ask questions during this time to either advocate.
- Following the debate the Decision Maker(s) completes his or her planning guide. (This can be done as a homework assignment, if necessary.)
- Decision Makers announce their decisions about funding abstinence-only foreign aid programs and the rationale for their decisions.
- Teacher should debrief the activity by asking students the following questions:
a. Which arguments by either side were the strongest? Which arguments were the weakest? Why?
b. Which ones were the best supported with evidence and were most convincing?
c. Which values are at the center of the controversy? What values are in conflict?
d. How can the groups achieve consensus on this issue? What would such a policy look like?
- Conclude this activity by asking students to write a newspaper editorial explaining their thoughts on AIDS funding. The editorial should take a position on the issue, provide reasons for their position, and cite specific pieces of evidence to support their reasoning.
1. Assess the completeness of student work on the "Ranking Key Events" section of the timeline handout.
2. Evaluate the debate activity on students' participation in the preparation groups and their conduct during the debate, including the depth/quality of their arguments and evidence, and the organization/persuasiveness of their presentations.
3. Grade the editorial for accuracy in following the guidelines above, the extent of evidence used, the quality of arguments, as well as the writing's organization and persuasiveness.
In addition to the ideas below, be sure to review the Starter Activities and Take Action Ideas related to this lesson's topic.
1. Write a public service announcement on AIDS prevention and support for treatment. This can be either for radio, television, or print media. As resources allow, produce the announcement in its respective format (audio, video, or print) for presentation to the class.
2. Conduct a follow-up investigation on the countries mentioned in the 11/4/05 NOW broadcast by researching the AIDS prevention and treatment programs in Thailand, Uganda, Brazil, and the United States. Compare and contrast the extent of the epidemic in each country (see the NOW map with related statistics), the programs in place to address the problems, and their achievements and shortcomings. Make recommendations on how the programs in each might improve the situation.
3. Make contact with AIDS organizations in your community and find out what they do to educate people on the nature, treatment, and prevention of HIV/AIDS. Report back to the class for discussion, publication in the school newspaper, and/or a fundraising campaign.
4. Research the numerous organizations involved in the fight against AIDS. Find several that approach the problem from different angles and promote different philosophies in the process. Many of these groups provide opportunities and instructions on forming local chapters. Create a committee of students and teachers to examine these organizations and determine which one might be best for organizing a local chapter in your school or community.
Below are some sites that provide useful information related to this lesson's topic. The NOW site has additional Global Health and AIDS Web site recommendations (http://www.pbs.org/now/resources/science.html) that may be of interest.
Acres of Love
This organization provides care, love and hope for abandoned and HIV positive babies and children.
Rx for Survival, A Global Health Challenge
This Web site looks at the most critical and emerging threats to global public health and chronicles the leaders who, against all odds, are doing something about them.
Student Global AIDS Campaign
The Student Global AIDS Campaign is a national movement committed to bringing an end to HIV and AIDS in the U.S. and around the world.
NOVA: "Surviving AIDS"
This 1999 program and Web site provides interesting perspectives on AIDS research and the body's natural defenses against HIV.
About the Author
Greg Timmons is a teacher, curriculum writer, and Executive Director of The Constitution Project in Portland, Oregon. He has taught middle school and secondary social studies for over 30 years, written lessons, and directed institutes on U.S. Constitution-related issues. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Oregon Council for the Social Studies. | <urn:uuid:ff9069f0-3578-4638-9d84-1d99c5fb3624> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.pbs.org/now/classroom/aidspolicy.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783402516.86/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155002-00201-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.929675 | 3,043 | 3.46875 | 3 |
TROY, N.Y. (AP) - Dolphins have a kick that would make Olympic medalist Michael Phelps jealous.
How dolphins are able to swim so fast first drew the attention of - and confounded - researchers in 1936.
Now a team of scientists has used sophisticated underwater digital video and millions of tiny bubbles to measure the power of a dolphin's tail.
They calculate that dophins can produce as much as 212 pounds of thrust with their tail muscles. That's more than triple what a top Olympian like Phelps can generate.
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute engineering professor Tim Wei presents the findings today in San Antonio at an American Physical Society conference.
On the Net:
(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) | <urn:uuid:1d8f1605-df6c-4632-9764-300a1c02fc16> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.kxii.com/news/tx/headlines/35006744.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397636.15/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00088-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.915242 | 156 | 3.078125 | 3 |
In post conflict countries, those who have made it out of the country are keenly aware that the livelihoods of those left behind vitally depend on remittance transfers. While concerns have been expressed about the possibility that remittances may stoke conflict, the majority view is that Diaspora support from abroad can contribute to democracy. It has been clearly established that private remittances are of central importance for restoring stability by enhancing human security in strife-torn societies. As in much of Sub-Saharan Africa, due to the predominantly informal nature of remittance delivery mechanisms, the magnitude of remittances to the economies of these regions has been under-estimated.
Remittances can play a unique role in reconstruction and development in post conflict countries. This was the conclusion at an event hosted by the World Bank on January 8th. Participants discussed a new report from the interdisciplinary research Task Force at the Boston University Center for Finance, Law & Policy: “Remittance Flows to Post-Conflict States: Perspectives on Human Security and Development”. This is one of the first attempts to systematically analyze the role of remittances amidst the considerable challenges posed by rebuilding post-conflict economies.
The African Institute of Remittances (AIR) will be taking careful note of these findings. Designed as an African led initiative to deal exclusively with the challenges of leveraging remittances in order to maximize their impact on economic and social development on the continent, AIR will dedicate its efforts to meeting the significant demand for technical assistance and capacity-building services in African countries. While remittances play a vital role in developing economies under normal circumstances, their contribution to the reconstruction of fragile societies is even more critical. | <urn:uuid:be889a1e-6245-4b1b-92c6-08042853eb64> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://blogs.worldbank.org/nasikiliza/remittances-reconstruction-and-development-tool | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398075.47/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00082-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94521 | 347 | 2.53125 | 3 |
Olive leaf extract is obtained from the olive leaves of the tree called Olea europaea (olive tree) that is well known for its anti-microbial properties. Olive leaves in particular are popular for their ability to resist attack by insects and other microbes. The active constituents in olive leaves are the polyphenolic compounds, triterpenes, secoiridoids, flavonoids and the antioxidant oleuropein which exhibits potent antimicrobial properties (1,2,3). The bioactive compound secoiridoidoleuropein constitutes about 6-9 % of dry matter of the olive leaves.
The benefits of olive leaf extract is attributed to the presence of the polyphenolic compounds in olive leaves. The monoterpenes, triterpenes and flavonoids in the olive leaves exhibit potent anti-microbial, antioxidant, natural anti inflammatory and immune-boosting properties which account for the olive leaf extract benefits.
Antioxidant effect: The specific molecules in olive leaves that show potent antioxidant effect are oleuropein, hydroxytyrosol,oleuropein aglycone, and tyrosol. The prime phenolic compounds in the olive leaf extract being the glycosylated form ofoleuropein and ligstroside. Research studies also reveal that the ethanol component of olive leaf extract exhibited protection against genotoxicity through powerful antioxidant action. Olive leaf extract benefits the body by inhibiting the oxidative stress and through free radical scavenging potential in cultured human cells.
Immune-booster: Studies have indicated that olive leaf extract inhibit acute infection and also prevent cell-to-cell transmission of HIV-1. The study conclusions show that treatment with olive leaf extract increased the apoptosis (cell death) of virulant cells, inhibited replication of virus and decreased HIV-1 associated changes. Olive leaf extracts were said to boost the immune system by effectively inactivating the virus cells. The compound oleuropein in olive leavespenetrated the viral cells and inhibited their replication.
Analgesic: All parts of olive tree are traditionally used as an analgesic owing to its anti-inflammatory effect. A study investigated the analgesic properties and concluded that olive leaf extract benefits as an analgesic and natural anti-inflammatory compound. The hydroxytyrosol and oleuropein compounds were found to contribute to the analgesic effect of the olive leaf extract. The same study confirmed the natural anti-inflammatory effect of olive leaf extract(4).
Anti-bacterial: The natural anti-bacterial effect of the olive leaf extract is exhibited by conversion of the compoundoleuropein into elenoic acid in the body. Elenoic acid is known to be a potent virucidal agent which inhibits the replication of bacteria and virus(5). This compound is present in mature olive leaves is nature's defense mechanisms against micro-organisms and pests that infest the plant.
Studies reveal that the beneficial effects of olive leaf extract are augmented by the bioavailability of their polyphenolic constituents. These compounds are easily absorbed through the gastrointestinal tract and reflects as higher levels in blood(6,7,10)
The antimicrobial and antibacterial activity of olive leaves were attributed to the presence of plant chemicals oleuropein and caffeic acid which inhibited the microbial action. A study showed that water extracts of olive leaves showed complete inhibition of bacterial activity and complete destruction of E.coli bacterial cells(8). The seven phenolic compounds identified in olive leaf extract namely caffeic acid, verbascosie, oleuropein, luteolin 7-O-glucosise, rutin, apigenin7-O-glucoside and luteolin 4'-O-glucoside showed an unusual combined antibacterial and antifungal action against gram positive and gram negative bacteria(9).
The broad spectrum of olive leaf extract benefits with its rich array of phenolic compounds and plant chemical oleuropeinmakes it an effective nutraceutical and dietary supplement for maintaining everyday health. The natural anti-bacterial properties present in olive leaf extract implies the significance of olive leaves in human health and nutrition. | <urn:uuid:088cad66-e66c-4156-8034-5dc39a0cc8c0> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.rochway.com.au/blog/natural-anti-bacterial-effects-of-olive-leaf-extract/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395679.92/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00093-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.926387 | 862 | 2.828125 | 3 |
chrisv at adam.com.au
Thu Sep 19 02:36:24 EST 1996
With todays rate of increase in name changing of bugs and classifications
I'm wondering if anyone can give me a current definition of a coliform?
Besides being oxidase negative, non spore forming, lactose fermentive
gram negative bacteria.
Also are any of the following classed as coliforms Serratia, Hafnia,
Kluyvera, Leclercia, and Adecarboxylata. I have heard that some Hafnia
are classed as coliforms and some are not???
As a bonus question does anyone know what the differences between E.coli
and E.coli inactive are besides one being lazier than the other.
Thanks in advance for any info.
More information about the Microbio | <urn:uuid:f605456c-16fd-4121-a6a8-522837c10439> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.bio.net/bionet/mm/microbio/1996-September/006776.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395560.14/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00067-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.894463 | 182 | 2.625 | 3 |
As in dance, music in modern Malaysia is divided into traditional and western types. Traditional music is usually associated with the traditional theatre forms such as Mak Yong, Wayang Kulit, Joget Gamelan, Hadrah, Dabus, Kuda Kepang, Gendang Kling, Mek Mulung, and a host of other minor entertainment activities. This type of music is based on either the pentatonic 5-tone or heptatonic 7-tone scales; and is performed mainly by percussion-dominated ensembles which include combinations of three types of instruments, namely the:
Aerophone (wind instruments), such as the serunai, pinai, seruling and selumprit flutes.
Membranophone (drum-sounds produced by membrane-covered musical instruments) such as the gendang, geduk, gedombak, rebana, kompang, tar and jidor drums.
Idiophone (percussion instruments of fixed immovable surface), such as gong, kesi, canag, saron, kenong, gambang kayu, bonang, etc; and
Chordophone (string instruments), such as the rebab.
Traditional music reached its zenith during the Melaka Sultanate (1411-1511) when it was an integral part of the ritualistic and secular entertainment of both court and folk life. Thenceforth, the various royal courts in Peninsular Malaysia maintained their own dance and music troupes. The common people, too, developed their respective forms of folk music.
When the British gained complete political, administrative and economic control of the country (1905-1957), they established their own educational system through which western music – namely Mozart, Beethoven and Chopin, was introduced first to the Malay aristocracy, and later filtered down to the masses.
In post-Independence Malaysia, the movies, especially Broadway musicals, also had a hand in popularising western music. Malay movies followed suit with songs of Malay flavour based on western tempered scale and arrangement. The songs of the late Malay movie legend P. Ramlee bear testimony to this fact.
A great majority of the present-day local recording artistes, such as Fauziah Latiff, Ella, Search and Wings, while singing Malay lyrics actually imitate their western counterparts as far as melodic structure and arrangement are concerned. Some, like Zainal Abidin, M. Nasir and Sheqal, try to blend eastern and western music, and do come up with an interesting new sound.
However, despite the onslaught of this foreign influence and inroads by television and video entertainment, traditional music in Malaysia still survive and flourish in a wide variety of forms. It is performed during ceremonial occasions, and as an accompaniment to dance and drama for entertainment. Dance and drama themselves are of course closely related to music.
The basic element in traditional music is the drum (gendang), of which there are at least 14 types, four of which are beaten without the accompaniment of any other musical instrument. These are the rebana besar, rebana ubi, kompang and tar.
The nobat is a special royal orchestra consisting of usually four or five members, using the flute, trumpet, gong and drums; and only performed during state ceremonies. There are four such orchestras in the Peninsular at present, the oldest in Kedah, and the others in Terengganu, Perak and Johor. The number of musical instruments in the nobat varies from one group to another. However, there are five basic instruments which include the:
- Nafiri – the royal trumpet
- Serunai – the flute
- Gendang nobat besar – the main drum
- Gendang nobat kecil – the double-sided drum
- Gendang negara – the one-sided drum
There are certain traditional steps or requirements observed when the nobat is to be performed. It can only be performed for the Sultan, the Crown Prince, the Bendahara and the Temenggong. The most important use of the nobat is during the coronation of the Sultan, where it is believed that he will not be accepted as the ruler unless the nobat is played.
The rebab is a type of three-stringed violin played in the Mak Yong dance-drama. Other musical instruments played during the Mak Yong performance are the gendang and gong. There is also singing involved in the Mak Yong, both solo and in a group. There are more than 30 types of Mak Yong songs, among them the Pakyung Muda, Kijang Mas, Sedayung and Sedayung Mak Yong.
The Wayang Kulit music is another type of music popular in the Malay community. Music is very important in the performance of the wayang kulit because it enhances the story by making it more interesting and entertaining. The wayang kulit orchestra usually consists of 12 instruments, the most important being the flute (serunai).
There is also music that accompanies traditional dances such as Tarian Asyik and other Malay folk dances. Gamelan music is a form of traditional music widely performed in Malaysia during ceremonial occasions. The instruments used include gongs, xylophones and a cylindrical drum.
There are also various forms of traditional music in Sabah and Sarawak. The Kadazans and Dayaks also like to play the gong. There are four types of gongs mainly the Tawag-tawag, cenang, gong agung and tenukol. There are also many types of flutes made from bamboo. The Kadazans play a two-stringed guitar called sundalang; and the sumputon, a trumpet-like instrument made from pumpkin and bamboo. | <urn:uuid:d573245b-bbeb-4f26-a590-378c7a3ca32c> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.asian-recipe.com/malaysia/my-information/malaysian-usic.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397696.49/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00060-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954369 | 1,238 | 3.1875 | 3 |
If you hit the gym before work every day, that morning workout may not be doing as much for you as you think. According to a recent New York Times article, sitting at a desk for more than six hours a day can actually put you at a greater risk for a number of diseases that can drastically shorten your life, such as diabetes and heart disease. Recently, more and more people have been turning to ergonomic solutions, such as the stand-up desk, to reduce this risk.
Why Exercise Has Little Impact
Many people who sit at their jobs probably don't think about the damage that it does to their bodies, particularly if they are otherwise active. However, recent studies show that sitting for long periods of time, particularly at a desk, negates any type of exercise done during the day. This means that if you work out for an hour in the morning, it is not going to benefit your body in the same way if you sit the rest of the day. One way that many people are trying to battle this problem is by using a stand-up desk, which greatly reduces the time spent sitting on the job.
There are other factors that also have a canceling-out effect on any kind of exercise you might do during the day when you sit for a living. Whether you sit at a desk in an office instead of using a stand-up desk, work from home and have an ill-fitting chair, or even if you sit on the couch for hours at a time after work, there are other habits associated with sitting that have a poor effect on your overall health. The biggest factor is poor diet because in many cases, people who have desk jobs don't eat right when it comes to breakfast and lunch. They often eat meals on the go, snack more, and eat more fast food. Some people even eat sitting at their desks, and if they eat fatty fast food every day, that 20 minute walk they took that morning isn't going to have any kind of positive affect on their bodies. Another factor that can have a negative impact is sitting posture. Many people do not sit at their desks correctly, which leads to back pain, numbness in the extremities, and other skeletal and joint problems. Buying a stand-up desk can alleviate some of these factors and discourage you from getting too used to sitting at your job all day.
The Biomorph Solution
If you would like to make a healthier choice when it comes to ergonomics, then call Biomorph today at 888-302-DESK to order a stand-up desk, ergonomic tables, and other high-quality furniture that can improve both your health and quality of life. Your job shouldn't have to endanger your health, and we can help you discover ergonomic solutions that will have a positive impact on your daily life, no matter how you make a living. | <urn:uuid:9ccb32c6-ceea-4a72-890a-80664377c38f> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.biomorphdesk.com/blog/regular-exercise-does-not-cancel/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396147.66/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00121-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978198 | 582 | 3.125 | 3 |
Does the name Mary Sidney ring a bell? No, I thought not. According to Tudor Place, she was born into the aristocracy in 1561; was “carefully educated, acquiring a knowledge of Latin, Greek, and Hebrew;” became a member of Queen Elizabeth’s Royal Household in 1575; lost her mother, father and brother (Sir Philip Sidney) in 1586; founded a literary circle that included Edmund Spenser and Ben Jonson; and died in 1621. She was also “the first English woman to achieve a significant literary reputation.”
Speaking of significant literary reputations, does the name William Shakespeare ring a bell? It would be hard to find anyone in the English-speaking world who hasn’t heard of him. With all due respect to the hundreds of Shakespearean scholars, with their millions of words about Shakespeare as author, there is a tenable authorship question. As the Shakespearean Authorship Trust puts it, “For 400 years, doubts have been recorded about whether William Shakespeare actually wrote the works attributed to him.”
Did Shakespeare’s plays arrive from Olympus? In a New York Times article, Shakespeare biographer, Stephen Greenblatt, writes,
The work is so astonishing, so luminous, that it seems to have come from a god and not a mortal, let alone a mortal of provincial origins and modest education.
… it would have been impossible, completely and entirely, for any woman to have written the plays of Shakespeare in the age of Shakespeare … it is unthinkable that any woman in Shakespeare’s day should have had Shakespeare’s genius. For genius like Shakespeare’s is not born among labouring, uneducated, servile people.
But, then again, Robin P. Williams, a scholar of The Authorship Question, writes, “there is no documented evidence that Shakespeare was a writer.” And in a recent New York Times interview, Joyce Carol Oates, responds to this question “If you could meet any writer, dead or alive, who would it be? What would you want to know?” with this answer,
We would probably all want to meet Shakespeare—or so we think. (We could ask the man if he’d really written all those plays, or if, somehow, he’d acquired them from—who?—Sir Philip Sidney’s sister, perhaps? Wonder what W.S. would say to that.)
A whirlwind of doubts, questions, theories, beliefs, and passions surrounds the Shakespearean authorship question. But unfortunately, evidence is scarce, and facts few. Personally, I am persuaded by Williams’ book, Sweet Swan of Avon: Did a Woman Write Shakespeare?, that Mary Sidney, the Countess of Pembroke, is the true Shakespeare. Part of my persuasion comes from reading Shakespeare from the fresh perspective of a woman as the writer. Consider these lines, for instance, from The Taming of the Shrew:
Why, sir, I trust I may have leave to speak;
And speak I will; I am no child, no babe:
Your betters have endured me say my mind,
And if you cannot, best you stop your ears.
My tongue will tell the anger of my heart,
Or else my heart concealing it will break,
And rather than it shall, I will be free
Even to the uttermost, as I please, in words.
In Shakespeare’s day, women had to be obedient, demure and, most of all, quiet. Yet Mary Sidney was “allowed” to translate and publish psalms and an original verse drama. And she was a wealthy, highly educated, energetic woman with a wide range of interests (which coincide in a fascinating way with Shakespeare’s work) in alchemy, hunting, hawking, travelling, medicine, magic, music, bowling, dancing, singing, needlework and, last but not least, acting and the theater, in which she was involved from a young age. Countless more fascinating coincidences between Mary Sidney’s life and the work of Shakespeare are painstakingly presented in Sweet Swan of Avon. One can only hope that concrete evidence about the authorship will emerge eventually.
In our day, women still have to fight to be published (see the 2012 Vida Count). But I find it extremely inspiring to think of a woman as the true author of Shakespeare, turning patriarchal literary history on its head and forever, completely and entirely, justifying the value of women writers.
Portrait of Mary Sidney Herbert by Nicholas Hilliard, c. 1590, from Wikimedia Commons | <urn:uuid:92477600-c942-4bef-8ed2-39f1ec786910> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://msmagazine.com/blog/2013/04/25/was-mary-sidney-really-william-shakespeare/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395679.92/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00168-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958427 | 968 | 3.109375 | 3 |
Focus on the Family has launched an odd attack on legislation I introduced in the Senate to help prevent and respond to bullying in schools. Their legislative bullying highlights the type of intolerance and ill-informed divisiveness that contributes to the harassment in schools that this legislation seeks to prevent.
The Safe Schools Improvement Act, introduced in the House by Congresswoman Linda Sanchez, would require schools and districts receiving designated federal funds to adopt codes of conduct specifically prohibiting bullying and harassment, including conduct based on a student's actual or perceived race, color, national original, sex, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or religion.
This bill has widespread support from educators, administrators, civil rights organizations and the National PTA. Yet, Focus on the Family has launched a campaign to brand the bill part of a vast LGBT conspiracy "to promote homosexuality to kids" and to push a "pro-gay curricula."
These charges are, of course, false. The legislation would not affect curriculum. The only goals are to help ensure that every child receives a quality education that builds self-confidence and that no child is so afraid to go to school for fear of unchecked bullying and harassment.
What is true and inescapable is the countless news reports in recent years which have shown that bullying and harassment are widespread and affect millions of students every day. According to the Department of Education, nearly one in three school children between grades six through ten are affected by bullying and harassment.
Studies show that the impacts of bullying and harassment have long-term consequences, including decreased concentration in the classroom, increased absenteeism, and lower student achievement. In extreme cases, some victims of bullying have even committed suicide as a result of rampant bullying left unchecked by school administrators.
Without support from teachers and counselors, this behavior can have devastating effects on young people. In Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, one girl says she was bullied by a group of boys almost daily throughout sixth and seventh grade and that this bullying contributed to her development of anorexia nervosa. The school's guidance counselor allegedly told her that "boys will be boys" and the bullying was allowed to continue. She has since enrolled in a private school where her mother pays tuition to ensure her daughter attends a safe school.
In Springfield, Massachusetts, Carl Walker Hoover resorted to suicide after facing endless taunting from fellow students who called him "gay" and made fun of his clothes. He was in just the sixth grade. A few months later in a nearby town, Phoebe Prince, 15, also committed suicide after facing a barrage of harassment both at school and online through Facebook.
This legislation would ensure that schools and school districts implement effective prevention programs in order to better prevent and respond to incidences of bullying and harassment both in school and online that have an impact in the classroom. It would also require that states report data on incidences of bullying and harassment to the Department of Education.
The only way to combat intolerance and harassment is to have an open and honest dialogue -- that counts for the public policy arena as a well as the classroom. | <urn:uuid:6e057a82-629e-408b-afff-dd1c7291f494> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bob-casey/focus-on-the-family-stand_b_709651.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783391519.0/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154951-00173-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970875 | 617 | 2.734375 | 3 |
World Convention is currently building a global reference for the countries and territories where we know there are Christian – Churches of Christ – Disciples of Christ Congregations. Of the 193 United Nations States, the Stone-Campbell Movement exists in 174. This listing includes other nations and territories, numbering 195 countries where there is at least one representation of our churches.
Rather than waiting for comprehensive, complete information we are putting up the details we have available. If you can correct or add to this information, please contact the World Convention Office with details at email@example.com.
Vanuatu is an archipelago in the South Pacific made up of 13 large islands and approximately 70 islets. It was thought to be first inhabited by Melanesians about 5000 B.C. The first European visitors were the Portuguese early in the seventeenth century. Captain Cook explored the islands in 1774, giving them the name New Hebrides. Administered jointly by Britain and France from 1887, the archipelago became independent in 1980 taking the name of Vanuatu. The people are known as ni-Vanuatu.
The population numbers less than 200,000 but is extremely diverse. 105 indigenous languages are spoken with the pidgin form known as Bislama being dominant.
Presbyterians make up the largest religious group but Catholicism, indigenous beliefs, and Seventh Day Adventist make up large percentages. The Church of Christ represents about 3.8 % of the population, the highest per capita of people associated with the Movement in any country of the world.
Late in the nineteenth century the New Hebrides and other islands supplied labourers, taken by colonial traders as indentured people, for the sugar and cotton plantations in Australia and Fiji. In Australia these laborers on the sugar plantations were collectively known as the Kanakas. John Thompson saw the need and opportunity to evangelize among these displaced persons and on January 1, 1893 opened a mission near Childers, Queensland under the auspices of the Australian Foreign Missionary Committee. Land was purchased, chapels and schools erected, and the converts were taught evangelism and stewardship for the Lord’s work. In the first ten years of the mission over 160 islanders were baptized. Many of these individuals returned to their homes and built chapels and schools on the same order as those they had seen in Australia and began to teach their countrymen.
Among those who returned to the New Hebrides to evangelize were John Wye on the island of Pentecost in about 1900, Willie Vuti at Nduindui on the island of Aoba (now Ambae) in about 1901, Wille Tabi Mancon at Ranwadi, central Pentecost in 1902 and Thomas Tumtum in Banmatmat, southern Pentecost, at about the same time. The initial starting date for Churches of Christ in Vanuatu is difficult to pinpoint, however, in 2001 the Churches of Christ of Vanuatu celebrated their centenary.
Willie Tabi Mancon, perhaps more than any other, is given much credit for the beginning work in Vanuatu. Praying for a missionary to come, Willie wrote to John Thompson and told him to send a missionary “plenty quick.” Thompson soon visited Vanuatu spending much of his time in Ranwadi, baptizing and preparing teachers among the ni-Vanuatu. John Thompson suffered a severe attach of malaria and was forced to return to Australia. It was more than four years before another missionary would come to give assistance to those already working in Vanuatu. By the time Frank Filmer arrived from Australia he had a great deal of follow-up to do, thanks to the native teachers. Within a few months more than 100 were baptized pushing the number within the church to over 300 with eight meetings for the breaking of bread and 800 attending classes. Later the Filmers, Frank and Rosa, moved to Banmatmat to set up a center for training and evangelism. Today Banmatmat is still a center for education for the Churches of Christ of Vanuatu as the home of Banmatmat Bible College, constructed in 1964. Recently the school has been damaged by earthquakes and has experienced staffing difficulties.
In other locations throughout Vanuatu the work gained strength as the ni-Vanuatu returned from the plantations of Australia. The church on Ambae led by Willie Vutigele, Toa Nawaka and Peter Pentecost were encouraged greatly by Presbyterian missionary Peter Milne who baptized their converts and supported their decision to identify themselves as Church of Christ. In 1907 Mr. and Mrs. Fred Purdy came from the Australian Churches as missionaries. By 1910 Purdy boasted 500 members in the churches and 1000 attending Bible classes in 50 schools. Other missionaries from Australia included Theodore and Henrietta Waters and Alf Chappell who worked in Maewo. Theodore learned the Nduindui language and translated several books of the Bible into that tongue for the natives. A steady stream of Australian and New Zealand missionary families have labored in Vanuatu since the pioneer efforts.
Among the dramatic changes that took place in the lives of the ni-Vanuatu upon the introduction of Christianity by their own people was a shift in some customs and tribal practices. For example, those who returned from Australia taught their fellow countrymen that tribal warfare and cannibalism were against the love of God. Land dives were questioned as compatible with the way of God. Also, the traditional pig-killing ceremony was abolished in some Christian villages. By 1933 the first ni-Vanuatu elders were appointed with the authority to perform baptisms, preside at communion, and conduct weddings. By 1939 there were about 40 churches with a membership of about 1,200, more than half of whom live on Ambae. This year marked a change in eras for the church in Vanuatu because of the outbreak of the Second World War. The islands of the South Pacific saw intense action and bloody fighting. American forces established bases on Vanuatu following victory in the Battle of the Coral Sea in 1942. The influx of Americans and their supplies greatly altered the way of life on Vanuatu for the future.
Following the war new missions stations were opened and a new crop of missionaries from Australia established new work, including pastoral centers, medical work and schools. One very positive step for the ni-Vanuatu was they began to conduct the new evangelistic outreaches entirely on their own. They appointed their own missionaries and supported them financially. By 1968 they began to send missionaries to other countries, beginning with August and Maelene Ben and Bill and Janet Bule as workers to Papua New Guinea and in 1969 the local churches sent Amos Waki to New Caledonia. Among the ni-Vanuatu of this period, Abel Bani was considered the “head teacher,” an influential leader. Many new and modern buildings and facilities were built at home. Seeing the need to provide training for the next generation of leadership Japeth Garae and Samuel Bule were sent to be educated at Woolwich Bible College in NSW, Australia. Later this vision for trained leaders was translated into an indigenous Bible college at Banmatmat, which opened in 1965. The following year the Vanuatu National Conference of Churches of Christ was established and previously isolated churches became more aware of each other and began to work together, a general conference having first been held in 1958. By 1973 the Conference of Churches of Christ in the New Hebrides (Vanuatu) was constituted. Australia and New Zealand became partner churches and still provide valuable assistance to the ni-Vanuatu. Eventually a Bislama hymnbook and New Testament were published and have helped to make the churches more indigenous rather than dependent upon Australian forms of worship.
Since the mid-1960s the Churches of Christ have been members of the Vanuatu Christian Council and have placed greater importance on ecumenical partnerships. In addition to the Bible College in Banmatmat there are two secondary schools, Ranwadi on Pentecost and Londua on Ambae. Until 1982 the Conference sponsored medical ministries as part of their outreach, such as a hospital in Nduindui, but these were handed over to the government due to the rising cost of providing medical services and government policy. In the 1980s the Conference restructured and appointed directors to oversee areas of Church Development, Mission and Evangelism and Youth and Christian Education. Conference offices are in Luganville on the island of Santo. Communication between churches and in remote areas is the major difficulty for the Conference. Radio plays an important role in the life of the ni-Vanuatu as there are few telephones in the country. Email has greatly increased communication opportunities. Major revivals broke out among the people in 1981 and 1988 and had great effect on the churches. Current population of Churches of Christ is estimated at 80 congregations and almost 7,000 members. Given the low population of Vanuatu and the high membership of Churches of Christ it is reasonable to assume that members of Churches of Christ would attain high government positions. The March 1998 elections saw seven of fifty seats in the Vanuatu parliament go to members of Churches of Christ. In addition two members held minister level positions within the government.
1997 saw the election of Aldean Liu as the seventeenth conference President and first woman to hold the office. In 2001 Conference President Judith Vusi presided over televised centenary celebrations on the island of Espiritu Santo with 1500 in attendance, including the President of the Republic. Today the churches are growing and much good work is being done in church planting in various parts of Vanuatu including Tanna where the John Frum Cargo Cult has its roots.
The a cappella Churches of Christ have a presence in Vanuatu initiated through Bible correspondence courses sent out by Robert Martin from Fiji. John W. Hall moved to the islands about 1979 and began a church through the contacts made from the correspondence courses. Several others have followed their lead. Tobey and Kathy Huff have worked in Port Vila for 38 years.
Clinton J. Holloway
National Profiles Editor
Revised by Gary Holloway, January 13, 2014
For further historical reference:
Jubilee Pictorial History of Churches of Christ in Australasia, edited by A.B. Maston, Melbourne, 1903
Partners, One Hundred Years of Missions Overseas by Churches of Christ in Australia 1891-1991, edited by Keith Bowes, 1990.
How the Gospel Came from Australia to the New Hebrides, article by Ronald Saunders appearing in May 19, 1945 Christian Standard partially reprinted from the Australian Christian.
Samuel Vusi, Principal of Banmatmat Bible College has written his BD dissertation on early history of Churches of Christ in Vanuatu. No other bibliographic information is currently available.
Vanuatu Conference of Churches of Christ
P.O. Box 86
Telephone/Fax: (678) 36633
Banmatmat Bible College
P.O. Box 13
South Pentecost, Vanuatu
Ranwadi High School
P.O. Box 11, Lonore
South Pentecost, Vanuatu
Londua Secondary and Vocational School
P.O. Box 86
West Ambae, Vanuatu
See the Vanuatu Conference on Churches of Christ for information on conventions. | <urn:uuid:687c3adf-7b89-4469-8b06-bd1088777e78> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.worldconvention.org/resources/profiles/vanuatu/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783399522.99/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154959-00172-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966925 | 2,342 | 2.796875 | 3 |
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