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Can special education students benefit from learning a new language? What about students from other alternative placement settings?
I believe many special needs student can. It really depends on the individual child, and if needed, tailoring classroom accommodations for that student to succeed.
There are fourteen categories of disabilities under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, yet the individual abilities and needs for students under the same disability category can vary dramatically. | <urn:uuid:f9983b03-b2ff-4993-bed5-2c6323c8aff5> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://theflashcard.org/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783391519.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154951-00071-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939285 | 84 | 2.71875 | 3 |
High: 89°F ~ Low: 67°F
Friday, July 1, 2016
I Am Surprised And HumbledPosted Saturday, October 10, 2009, at 2:45 PM
The Nobel Peace Prize Medal
The Nobel Peace Prize is one of five Nobel Prizes that was to be the legacy of the Swedish industrialist and inventor Alfred Nobel. According to Nobel's will, the Peace Prize should be awarded "to the person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses."
Alfred Nobel was born in Stockholm, Sweden and came to the United States at the age of eighteen to study chemistry. His father was a wealthy industrialist who had invented plywood and later spent his energies building torpedoes. Alfred returned to Sweden and devoted himself to the study of explosives, and especially to the safe manufacture and use of nitroglycerine, the primary active ingredient in dynamite.
A French newspaper published a premature obituary of Nobel and it was reported to have become the vehicle that brought him to the decision to leave a better legacy after his death. The obituary stated "The merchant of death is dead" and went on to say, "Dr. Alfred Nobel, who became rich by finding ways to kill more people faster than ever before, died yesterday." Nobel soon signed his last will and testament and set aside the bulk of his estate to establish the annual prizes that were to be awarded without regard to race or nationality.
Whether to sooth his conscience or to recognize those whose efforts have promoted peace, Alfred Nobel's prize has become an international symbol. Since 1901 many qualified recipients have lived up to his ideals such as:
*Jean Henry Dunant the founder of the Red Cross.
*President Theodore Roosevelt for his mediation of the Russo-Japanese War.
*President Woodrow Wilson for founding the League of Nations.
*Mother Teresa for her work in India to the poor.
*Lech Wał'sa for founding Solidarity in Poland and helped form a non-communist country.
*Desmond Tutu fought for racial equity in South Africa
*Martin Luther King Jr.'s desire for equal rights in America
Many other names grace the list and there were many that could have made the list like:
*Mahatma Gandhi (though nominated five times)
*Pope John Paul II
Some have made the list and you question the reason for their inclusion. Our president is one of the rare people who have been recognized for the Nobel Peace Prize but has not yet made any real changes to influence world peace. He has talked peace and his desire should be commended. However, since 1901, for all the desire and effort, lasting peace has not yet come to our world.
The reason is simple, peace cannot come to a community, a nation, or a world until the heart is changed. If you want to change the world, change the heart of the individual. One man tried it. He also promised peace, but he would never have been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.
You see, he was a criminal of the state. He was despised by the prevailing religious structure because he challenged their traditions. The host government thought him to be a troublemaker. He was tried and found guilty and put to death as a common criminal...that's not what you look for as a candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize.
But the truth is that he is more deserving than all the men and women who have received the prize. The plan that he put into action, a plan of love, acceptance and forgiveness has changed more lives than any winner of the Peace Prize.
President Obama, if you really want to change the world and bring lasting peace, look to a man named Jesus for your model. I hope that someday you will be deserving of the prize Mr. President, he certainly was.
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Phil Warren is a local pastor and has lived in the Dexter community for the last 12 years. He has six children and four grandchildren and his wife Cindy is a local teacher. He enjoys photography, reading, writing and golf. He also loves coaching in the local park leagues. Phil spent his early years growing up in the hills near Wappapello Lake. He moved to Granite City, IL. during his grade school years. Phil worked 13 years at McDonnell Douglas Aircraft in St. Louis and has pastored since 1986. He also served in the U.S. Army as a military policeman and was stationed at Ft. Campbell KY. and Seoul, Korea. He attended college at SIUE and Oakland City College. | <urn:uuid:ec1153bd-3cd0-4578-a482-4c268ee1030b> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.dailystatesman.com/blogs/1479/entry/30612/desc | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783403502.46/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155003-00150-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.980215 | 1,004 | 2.734375 | 3 |
Colme's “inch—Saint,” MACBETH, i. 2. 63. “Now called Inchcomb [or Inchcolm], is a small island lying in the Firth of Edinburgh [of Forth], with [considerable remains of] an abbey upon it, dedicated to St. Columb; called by Camden Inch Colm or The Isle of Columba. . . . Inch or Inshe, in the Irish and Erse languages, signifies an island [generally a small one]. See Lhuyd's Archæologia” (STEEVENS) .
Table of Contents:
codpiece - comparative | <urn:uuid:7a70b079-3f35-44a7-b3a0-bee4720a8393> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.03.0067:entry=Colme's | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393442.26/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00047-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.839174 | 138 | 2.5625 | 3 |
Here are two examples of ways you can use the walls of your classroom, church hallway, or home to engage your children (and adults) when teaching about our faith:
Start with a large piece of bulletin board paper (available at teacher stores) and have it cut to the desired length. I asked them to cut this one to 6 feet. Then attach the desired border around the edges. (Also available at the teacher store)
For the first bulletin board – “Visiting an Orthodox Church During Vacation“, I also attached a road with cars leading to an Orthodox church.
I purchased the road and cars from a teacher store and then copied a church out of the following coloring book.
Next, I printed off photos of different churches we have visited while we were traveling and on vacation. I labeled each of the photos telling where the church was located on a passport I purchased from the teacher store as well.
This bulletin board would ideally be placed in the parish hall where everyone would see it during fellowship hour. This bulletin board could be a means to encourage families to seek out an Orthodox parish while they are on vacation (especially during the summer months) and then invite them to post their photo along with where it was located on the parish bulletin board. This is a great activity not only for the kids and families but for ALL of the adults at the parish – young and old!
The second bulletin board is learning about Saints Around the World or Our Patron Saints.
I started off with posters of the continents. You could also use an extra large map of the world as well.
Then we studied about each of our patron saints in our family. We learned about their life, the time period they lived in, and where they lived.
As the map begins to be filled, this is also a perfect opportunity to talk about missionaries. Who are they? What do they do? Where have they gone?
What kinds of bulletin boards have you used in your parishes and homes to help teach about our faith? | <urn:uuid:f72283ca-27d3-4a91-b5af-cda460d1ab60> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.illumination-learning.com/blog/2013/10/interactive-bulletin-boards-for-our-church-schools-homes/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783402479.21/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155002-00149-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978352 | 412 | 3.015625 | 3 |
Origin of the surname
The surname Poulton was probably given to individuals who came from the one of the many villages in Britain that are named Poulton. The word is simply the combining of the two Old English words Pol and Tun meaning Pool and Settlement or Enclosure (i.e. 'settlement by the pool'). The 'ton' at the end of the name may signify whether it is a Saxon or Norman word.
Spelling variations include: Poulton, Poolton, Pulton, Pullton, Polton, Pouleton and many more.
The name was first found in Cheshire where they were anciently seated at Poulton cum Spital cum Seacombe, just west of Birkenhead.
Places with the name of Poulton are referred to in the Doomsday Book. They are variously Pontone; Pulton; Poltone; Poltun; Poltune.
The list of Poulton towns and villages includes:-
The earliest named Poultons are:-
Poulton, 1830 - 1884
John Poulton was born in 1830 at Preston in the English County of Lancashire. Little is known of his family or childhood but, like many young men in this region, he went down the mines at an early age. He married Elizabeth Clarkson on 1 May 1854 at Lancashire and they had a son, John, in 1858.
Their son was still in nappies when John and Elizabeth decided to leave England and emigrate to Australia. This was a decision made by numerous young couples in the area in the 1850s. No doubt the unhealthy and dangerous nature of the miner's work was a significant factor in their decision. The fact that their first child (before John junior) had died young would also have been an important factor.
The young couple emigrated from Liverpool on 13 November 1859 aboard Fitzjames. It was, however, a tragic journey due to the death of their young toddler en route to Sydney. It must have been a heavy burden for both parents to bear, particularly Elizabeth who was in the advanced stages of pregnancy.
The lonely couple arrived in Sydney on 20 February 1860 and soon found lodgings in Botany Road where their daughter, Alice Clarkson Poulton, was born six weeks later.
Very little more is know of the lives of John Poulton and Elizabeth Clarkson. She was not present when he died at Coonamble Hospital on on 5 September 1884 of acute inflammation of both lungs. He was just 54 years old and, most probably, a victim of the coal dust inhaled during the years spent down a Lancashire mine.
Clarkson Poulton, 1860 - 1927
Ma Bowen: Alice Clarkson Poulton 1860-1927
Alice Clarkson Poulton (pictured here circa 1920) was born on 23 March 1860 in Botany Road, Sydney a few weeks after her parents (John Poulton and Elizabeth Clarkson) arrived in Australia on board Fitzjames.
Little is known of her life until she married John
Henry Bowen on 20 October 1878 in Coonamble. She had 12 children during the
next 22 years before her husband died in 1902 when her youngest (Uncle Bill) was
just 2 years old. Her children were:
Thomas Martin Bowen (25 Jul 1879 - c1880)
Albert John Bowen (28 Dec 1880 - )
Ellen Ruby Bowen (16 Sep 1882 - 14 Apr 1912)
James Daniel Bowen (4 Dec 1884 - )
Elizabeth Alice Bowen (10 Aug 1887 - ); Auntie Liz
Ivy May Josephine Bowen (14 Nov 1889 - ); Auntie Ive
John Martin Bowen (25 Dec 1891 - )
Lillian May Bowen (22 May 1893 - ); Auntil Lil
Thomas William Bowen (29 Nov 1895)
Alice Mary Bowen (21 Mar 1897 - c1983); Auntie Min
Cornelius Patrick Joseph Bede Bowen (6 Feb 1899 - c1940); Uncle Con
William Bede Bowen (4 Nov 1900 - ); Uncle Bill
family portrait circa 1892
Back row: John Henry Bowen, Ellen Ruby Bowen
Middle row: Elizabeth Alice Bowen, Alice Clarkson Bowen (nee Poulton) nursing John Martin, Ivy May Josephine Bowen, James Daniel Bowen
Front row: Albert John Bowen
Ten years after her husband died, in 1912, tragedy struck again as her daughter (Ellen Ruby Bowen) died of typhoid leaving Ma to rear three young grandchildren (Jack, Leila and Ena Murphy) in addition to several of her own children who were still at school.
In those days there was no welfare and, with no husband, times were very hard. It was necessary for this extended family to support one another through a very difficult time. The family was very close for several generations afterward as as her children and grandchildren learned from Ma Bowen's experience..
Read how the family lived in the years before, during and after World War I in Ena Ruby Murphy's account of her childhood in Ma Bowen's care.
Alice Clarkson Bowen (nee Poulton) was 67 years old when she finally passed away on 27 November 1927. She is buried in the Bourke cemetery.
Bowen clan, Christmas 1961
Back: Judy Dickson, Alison Barton, Alice Dugan, Marie Turner, Leila Barton, Peta Fleming, Ena Kessey, Penny Kessey, Halvar Kessey, Joe Williams
Middle: Debbie Turner, Donna Turner, Lei Barton, Jack Barton, Laurie Dugan
Front: Peter Dickson, Lee Turner, Max Bannister, Johnny Dickson, x, Tickie Thorne, Bruce Fleming, Jim Fleming, Claire Barton
© Copyright Jim Fleming 2002.
This page created on 30 June 2002.
Last edited on 26 May 2004.
Click here for information on contacting the web master. | <urn:uuid:b867de77-8add-42e2-ad3d-b2041f44a2ad> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://members.ozemail.com.au/~jim.fleming/Poulton.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397842.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00010-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963368 | 1,217 | 2.6875 | 3 |
A Mediterranean diet rich in fruits, vegetables, olive oil and a little wine can cut the risk of heart attacks and strokes by 30 percent, researchers reported on Monday in a study that shows the real-life benefits of a diet long encouraged by doctors.
The results were so startling that the study was cut short after less than five years, and the results rushed to publication in the New England Journal of Medicine.
“A Mediterranean diet supplemented with extra-virgin olive oil or nuts reduced the incidence of major cardiovascular events,” the researchers, led by Dr. Ramon Estruch of the Carlos III Health Institute in Barcelona, wrote.
The study was done in Spain, where people already supposedly eat the Mediterranean diet -- which is characterized by lots of salad, fruit, vegetables, nuts, a little fish, a little lean meat, a small amount of cheese and olive oil. Wine is also served at meals. But the 7,400 volunteers in the trial got extra counseling, and either a weekly supply of extra-virgin olive oil or mixed nuts.
Many studies have shown that people who eat a Mediterranean diet are less likely to die of heart disease. This one was powerful because it randomly assigned people to eat such a diet as part of their normal lives over several years.
The 7,400 patients aged 55 to 80 were all high risk of heart disease because of diabetes, a family history of heart disease, high blood pressure, unhealthy cholesterol levels or they were overweight or smokers.
They were randomly assigned to one of three groups: a Mediterranean diet with extra-virgin olive oil added; the same diet but with mixed nuts; or just a standard diet with advice to cut fat. They were given either a liter of olive oil per week (for the olive oil group), 30 grams of walnuts, hazelnuts and almonds (for the nut group), or little non-food presents for the control group.
They all got individual and group counseling.
After nearly five years, 58 people who simply followed a low-fat diet had strokes, but just 32 people did if they ate a Mediterranean diet with nuts, and 49 who followed the Mediterranean diet with extra olive oil. The Mediterranean diet also cut the risk of heart attack.
Thirty people died from heart disease in the control group, compared to 31 who ate the Mediterranean diet with nuts and 26 who at the Mediterranean diet with olive oil.
But the people who ate a Mediterranean diet were less likely to die overall in the five years, compared to those in the control group. Overall, the Mediterranean diets cut the risk of heart disease death, heart attacks and strokes by 30 percent, the researchers calculated.
"This is another piece of evidence for the benefits of diets containing 'good' fats such as those in olive oil and nuts," said nutrition expert Marion Nestle of New York University.
"I wonder whether they plan to continue the trial for a longer time—I didn’t see any comment on that—because a few more years might give greater clarity," Nestle added in an e-mail.
There are lots of reasons why a Mediterranean-style diet might reduce heart disease. Researchers had noticed that people in Northern Europe, who eat butter and lard more than olive oil, were more likely to die of heart disease than their Southern European neighbors, even if they were just as overweight and exercised the same amount. A study of the diet’s benefits published back in the 1960s showed the diet cut the rate of strokes and heart attacks, probably because it lowered cholesterol levels.
Olive oil and nuts contain monounsaturated fats, which are better for artery health than the saturated fats found in butter, meat and lard. The diet is also high in fiber and vitamins such as A, C and E, as well as minerals. Walnuts and fish are rich in omega-3 fatty acids, which have been shown to benefit heart health. And reducing meat has been shown to cut the risk of both heart disease and cancer. | <urn:uuid:ec3b3fdc-8e55-473e-bd04-793b93c2eeba> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://vitals.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/02/25/17087082-tasty-diet-cuts-heart-disease-study-finds?lite&ocid=msnhp&pos=6 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393997.50/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00106-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973968 | 817 | 2.703125 | 3 |
You can feel your heart thudding away every time you put your hand to your chest, but do you have any idea what’s really going on in there or what keeps your heart ticking as it should? WebMD the Magazine asked Richard Krasuski, MD, director of Adult Congenital Heart Disease Services and a staff cardiologist at the Cleveland Clinic, to help explain some amazing and little-known facts about the human heart.
Having palpitations means that you are unusually aware of your heartbeat. The experience of palpitations is often described differently by different people. Some people report a vague "fluttering" in their chests or the feeling of a "skipped beat." Others note a "pounding sensation" or feel that the heart is "jumping out of my chest." Palpitations are rarely painful.
What are the different types of palpitations?
The pattern of the palpitations can be very helpful in determining the type of arrhythmia that caused them. If you see a doctor about your palpitations, it is very helpful if you can demonstrate the rhythm and speed of the palpitations by tapping your fingers on a desk or table. This can help your doctor figure out whether the palpitations were the result of an arrhythmia and in some cases may allow a relatively accurate diagnosis as to the specific arrhythmia that caused the palpitations.
Your doctor will likely not diagnose an arrhythmia based on your demonstration. But it can be a very helpful start if you are not experiencing arrhythmia while you are in your doctor's office (which means your doctor will be unable to record the arrhythmia on an EKG during the visit).
How do palpitations cause chest discomfort?
Some people experience rapid heart rates not as palpitations but rather as chest pain. In people who have healthy hearts, palpitations may cause a pounding or thumping sensation that can be painful or uncomfortable, rather than the heavy, tight, or squeezing sensation, called angina, usually associated with heart attacks. In people who have coronary artery disease, a rapid heart rate can cause angina. How you describe your pain may help your doctor figure out whether the chest pain is the result of an abnormal rhythm or angina. In many cases, your doctor may not be sure based strictly on your description. So he or she will probably order an electrocardiogram (EKG, ECG) or further stress testing to evaluate the rhythm or rule out angina. | <urn:uuid:5939d32d-0875-44de-abe2-3557e17ebe32> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.webmd.com/heart-disease/tc/heart-rhythm-problems-symptoms-topic-overview | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783402746.23/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155002-00188-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943821 | 523 | 3.046875 | 3 |
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) (established 1958) is the government agency responsible for the United States of America's space program and long-term general aerospace research. A civilian organization, it conducts research into both civilian and military aerospace systems.
Table of contents
Vision and mission
Its vision is:
- To improve life here,
- To extend life to there, and
- To find life beyond.
Its mission is:
- To understand and protect our home planet;
- To explore the Universe and search for life; and
- To inspire the next generation of explorers.
- For additional background, please see the Space Race article
Following the Soviet space program's launch of the world's first man-made satellite (Sputnik 1) on October 4, 1957, the attention of the United States turned toward its own fledgling space efforts. The U.S. Congress, alarmed by the perceived threat to American security and technological leadership, urged immediate and strong action; President Dwight D. Eisenhower and his advisers counseled more deliberate measures. Several months of debate produced agreement that a new federal agency was needed to conduct all nonmilitary activity in space.
On July 29, 1958, President Eisenhower signed the National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958 establishing the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). When it began operations on October 1, 1958, NASA consisted mainly of the four laboratories and some 8,000 employees of the government's 46-year-old research agency for aeronautics, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA).
NASA's early programs were research into manned spaceflight, and were conducted under the pressure of the competition between the USA and the USSR (the Space Race) that existed during the Cold War. The Mercury program, initiated in 1958, started NASA down the path of human space exploration with missions designed to discover simply if man could survive in space. On May 5, 1961, astronaut Alan B. Shepard Jr. became the first American in space when he piloted Freedom 7 on a 15-minute suborbital flight. John Glenn became the first American to orbit the Earth on February 20, 1962 during the 5-hour flight of Friendship 7.
Once Mercury proved that manned spaceflight was possible, project Gemini was launched to conduct experiments and work out issues relating to a moon mission. The first manned Gemini flight, Gemini III, was flown by Virgil "Gus" Grissom and John W. Young on March 23, 1965. Nine other missions followed, showing that long-duration human space flight was possible, proving that rendezvous and docking with another vehicle in space was possible, and gathering medical data on the effects of weightlessness on humans.
Following the success of the Mercury and Gemini programs, the Apollo program was launched to try to do interesting work in space and possibly put men around (but not on) the Moon. The direction of the Apollo program was radically altered following President John F. Kennedy's announcement on May 25, 1961 that the United States should commit itself to "landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth" by 1970. Thus Apollo became a program to land men on the Moon. The Gemini program was started shortly thereafter to provide an interim spacecraft to prove techniques needed for the now much more complicated Apollo missions.
After eight years of preliminary missions, including NASA's first loss of astronauts with the Apollo 1 launch pad fire, the Apollo program achieved its goals with Apollo 11 which landed Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the moon's surface on July 20, 1969 and returned them to Earth safely on July 24. Armstrong's first words upon stepping out of the Eagle lander captured the momentousness of the occasion: "That's one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind." Ten more men would set foot on the Moon by the end of the Apollo program in December 1972.
NASA had won the space race, and in some senses this left it without direction, or at the very least without the public attention and interest that was necessary to guarantee large budgets from Congress. After Lyndon Johnson left office NASA lost its main political supporter, Werner Von Braun was moved to a position lobbying in Washington and plans for ambitious follow-on projects to construct a space station, establish a lunar base and launch a manned mission to Mars by 1990 were proposed but with the end to procurement of Saturn and Apollo hardware there was no capability to support these. The near-disaster of Apollo 13, where an oxygen explosion nearly doomed all three astronauts, helped to recapture attention and concern, but although missions up to Apollo 20 were planned, Apollo 17 was the last mission to fly under the Apollo banner. The program ended because of budget cuts (in part due to the Vietnam War) and the desire to develop a reusable space vehicle.
Other early missions
Although the vast majority of NASA's budget has been spent on human spaceflight, there have been many unmanned missions instigated by the space agency. In 1962 the Mariner 2 mission was launched and became the first spacecraft to make a flyby of another planet – in this case Venus. The Ranger, Surveyor, and Lunar Orbiter missions were essential to assessing lunar conditions before attempting manned Apollo landings. Later, the two Viking probes landed on the surface of Mars and sent color images back to Earth, but perhaps more impressive were the Pioneer and particularly Voyager missions that visited Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune and sent back science and color images from all.
Having lost the space race, the Soviet Union had, along with the USA, changed its approach. On July 17, 1975 an Apollo craft (finding a new use after the cancellation of Apollo 18) was docked to the Soviet Soyuz 19 space craft. Although the Cold War would last many more years, this was a critical point in NASA's history and much of the international co-operation in space exploration that exists today has its genesis here. America's first space station, Skylab, occupied NASA from the end of Apollo until the late 1970s.
The space shuttle became the major focus of NASA in the late 1970s and the 1980s. Planned to be a frequently launchable and mostly reusable vehicle, four space shuttles were built by 1985. The first to launch, Columbia did so on April 12, 1981.
The shuttle was not all good news for NASA – flights were much more expensive than initially projected, and even after the 1986 Challenger disaster highlighted the risks of space flight, the public again lost interest as missions appeared to become mundane.
Nonetheless, the shuttle has been used to launch milestone projects like the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). The HST was created with a relatively small budget of $2 billion but has continued operation since 1990 and has delighted both scientists and the public. Some of the images it has returned have become near-legendary, such as the groundbreaking Hubble Deep Field images. The HST is a joint project between ESA and NASA, and its success has paved the way for greater collaboration between the agencies.
In 1995 Russian-American interaction would again be achieved as the Shuttle-Mir missions began, and once more a Russian craft (this time a full-fledged space station) docked with an American vehicle. This cooperation continues to the present day, with Russian and America the two biggest partners in the largest space station ever built – the International Space Station (ISS). The strength of their cooperation on this project was even more evident when NASA began relying on Russian launch vehicles to service the ISS following the 2003 Columbia disaster, which grounded the shuttle fleet for well over a year.
Costing over one hundred billion dollars, it has been difficult at times for NASA to justify the ISS. The population at large have historically been hard to impress with details of scientific experiments in space, preferring news of grand projects to exotic locations. Even now, the ISS cannot accommodate as many scientists as planned, especially with the space shuttle out of use until March 2005 at the earliest, bringing expansion to a halt and limiting it to a two person crew.
During much of the 1990s, NASA was faced with shrinking annual budgets due to Congressional belt-tightening in Washington, DC. In response, NASA's ninth administrator, Daniel S. Goldin, pioneered the "faster, better, cheaper" approach that enabled NASA to cut costs while still delivering a wide variety of aerospace programs (Discovery Program). That method was criticized and re-evaluated following the twin losses of Mars Climate Orbiter and Mars Polar Lander in 1999.
Mars and beyond
Probably the most publicly-inspiring mission of recent years has been the Mars Pathfinder mission of 1997. Newspapers around the world carried images of the lander dispatching its own rover, Sojourner, to explore the surface of Mars in a way never done before at any extra-terrestrial location. Less publicly acclaimed but performing science from 1997 to date (2004) has been the Mars Global Surveyor orbiter. Since 2001, the orbiting Mars Odyssey has been searching for evidence of past or present water and volcanic activity on the red planet.
On January 14, 2004, ten days after the landing of Mars Exploration Rover Spirit, President George W. Bush announced the Vision for Space Exploration. Humankind will return to the moon by 2020, and set up outposts as a testbed and potential resource for future missions. The space shuttle will be retired in 2010 and the Crew Exploration Vehicle will replace it by 2014, capable of both docking with the ISS and leaving the Earth's orbit. The future of the ISS is somewhat uncertain – construction will be completed, but beyond that is less clear. The Centennial Challenges, technology prizes for non-government teams, were established in 2004.
Some commentators such as Mark Wade note that NASA has suffered from a 'stop-start' approach to its manned programmes. The Apollo spacecraft and Saturn family of launch vehicles were abandoned in 1970 after billions of dollars had been spent on their development. In 2004 the U.S. Government proposed eventually replacing the Shuttle with a Crew Exploration Vehicle that would allow the agency to again conduct manned visits to the Moon. Despite the reduction of its budget following project Apollo, NASA has maintained a top heavy bureacracy resulting in inflated costs and compromised hardware.
NASA space missions
Manned space missions
- Mercury program
- Gemini program
- Apollo program
- Space Shuttle
- International Space Station
- Project Constellation
Unmanned space missions
- Earth Observing
- Mars missions
- Saturn missions
- Multi-planet missions
- Asteroidal/cometary missions
- Proposed or canceled planetary-asteroid missions
- Great Observatories for Space Astrophysics
List of NASA administrators
- T. Keith Glennan (1958–1961)
- James E. Webb (1961–1968)
- Thomas O. Paine (1969–1970)
- James C. Fletcher (1971–1977)
- Robert A. Frosch (1977–1981)
- James M. Beggs (1981–1985)
- James C. Fletcher (1986–1989)
- Richard H. Truly (1989–1992)
- Daniel S. Goldin (1992–2001)
- Sean O'Keefe (2001–2005)
- Michael Griffin (2005–)
In addition to headquarters in Washington, D.C., NASA has field installations at:
- Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California
- Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California
- John H. Glenn Research Center at Lewis Field, Cleveland, Ohio
- Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory, near Pasadena, California
- Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas
- White Sands Test Facility, Las Cruces, New Mexico
- John F. Kennedy Space Center, Florida
- Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia
- George C. Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Alabama
- John C. Stennis Space Center, Bay St. Louis, Mississippi
Awards and decorations
NASA presently bestows a number of medals and decorations to astronauts and other NASA personnel. Some awards are authorized for wear on active duty military uniforms. Current NASA awards are as follows:
- Congressional Space Medal of Honor
- NASA Distinguished Public Service Medal
- NASA Distinguished Service Medal
- NASA Equal Employment Opportunity Medal
- NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal
- NASA Exceptional Administrative Achievement Medal
- NASA Exceptional Bravery Medal
- NASA Exceptional Engineering Achievement Medal
- NASA Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal
- NASA Exceptional Service Medal
- NASA Exceptional Technological Achievement Medal
- NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal
- NASA Public Service Medal
- NASA Space Flight Medal
- 1958 – National Aeronautics and Space Administration PL 85–568 (passed on July 29)
- 1961 – Apollo mission funding PL 87–98 A
- 1970 – National Aeronautics and Space Administration Research and Development Act PL 91–119
- 1984 – National Aeronautics and Space Administration Authorization Act PL 98–361
- 1988 – National Aeronautics and Space Administration Authorization Act PL 100–685
- NASA Budget 1958–2005 in 1996 Constant Year Dollars
- Space Shuttle
- Space exploration
- Space race
- Wernher von Braun
- Robert Gilruth, Chris Kraft, Gene Kranz (flight directors)
- KC-135 Reduced Gravity Aircraft
Other space agencies
- Canadian Space Agency
- China National Space Administration
- European Space Agency
- Italian Space Agency
- Indian Space Research Organisation
- National Space Agency of Ukraine
- Russian Aviation and Space Agency
- Soviet space program (historical)
- NASA Home Page
- NASA History Series Publications
- Cassini Imaging Laboratory – Stunning images of the planets taken by the Cassini exploratory spacecraft. | <urn:uuid:99830640-cbd5-4903-9dd7-cc42695a6c17> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://enc.slider.com/Enc/NASA | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395560.14/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00196-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932676 | 2,851 | 3.578125 | 4 |
One strategy I use to introduce my students to books is that I talk about the characters in the books as if I know them, as if they are my friends. I explain that just like real friends, they (the students) will be intrigued by some and may choose to meet them; they will be unimpressed by some and choose not to meet them. They choice is theirs to make; I have the privilege to describe my friends and their situations so my students can make an informed decision.
The first day in my Adolescent Literature class we invest time introducing ourselves to each other. I know we have to begin building a community of learners and provide a safe learning environment if students are going to take risks and discuss ideas and situations that are controversial. We have to have a sense of safety and community because strangers do not discuss topics that make them uncomfortable ( Benton & Daniel, 1996 ). After students and I have introduced ourselves, I tell them about the newest friend I have made in the book i am currently reading because there is intensity in my telling as I tell about the character in the present tense.
For instance, last year I began telling them about Tish in Cynthia Voigt's When She Hollers . I was genuinely concerned about Tish's well being since I had to close the book and go to work; I left her at her school after the teacher was so blatantly incompetent and unfeeling. I explained to my students that Tish has been sexually abused by her stepfather and she is tired of it; she is desperate. She is carrying a knife in her boot. She told him at breakfast that she had a knife; her mother was in the kitchen but chose to ignore the conversation. Tish has not met one adult who will advocate for her. I am frustrated. I need to get back to the book to see how Tish is doing and what she's deciding to do. I so hope she doesn't hurt herself! I promise the students I will have read the book by our next class meeting, but I also promise them I won't tell them how it ends. I can see many of them care about my friend, Tish; this is the beginning of their introduction to Young Adult Literature. Several students had read the book by the next class.
This semester as students were introducing themselves to the class, I told a musician about A. C. Lemieux's Do Angels Sing the Blues? The main character, Boog, is devoted to his music and has the support of his parents. His best friend, Theo, is the lead singer and has the charisma for the group, but Theo's father thinks his music is a waste of time and hassles him to do something important. I confess that I am not musically inclined, but I cared about music when I read this book. I felt the cathartic release and the creative expression that Boog felt.
"Oh by the way," I add, "another great book that has a strong musical theme is Bruce Brooks' Midnight Hour Encores. Sib, a sixteen-year-old female, wants to see her mother. Her dad, Taxi, is agreeable and in fact, he buys a VW van to travel across the country as a way to set the stage for Sib to know her mother. During their journey Taxi talks of life 16 years ago by describing the causes, politics, and thinking of the time. While Taxi talks, Sib interprets what she is hearing on the cello. It's a fascinating journey and I don't play an instrument. People who know music, lose themselves in this book!"
Throughout the years I have gradually learned to give students more choice in what they read. I provide them with a partial bibliography, seven pages long. I try to model what I hope they will do in their future classrooms: give their students choice in their reading and time to talk about the books ( Atwell, 1998 ; Rief, 1992 ; Rosenblatt, 1978 ). To let them know what some of the books are about, I tell them about what my friends are doing, how they are being challenged, and describe their situations. I talk about them in the present tense. I use strong verbs and I am emotional when I tell them about the authority-hungry adults who not only offer no help but rather purposefully put obstacles in their way.
For instance, I tell them about Chris Crutcher's Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes. Eric Calhoune and Sarah Byrnes are best friends, partly because no one else would be their friends. Eric is overweight and Sarah is disfigured by scars. That's why they became friends but that's not why they stayed friends. Eric is telling us the story. He admires Sarah's toughness. She presents a steel-hard exterior to the world. She takes a beating from Dale Thornton, local bully, rather than giving him her lunch money; and when Dale threatens Eric for his money, Sarah threatens Eric if he does give Dale his money. She wore Dale down and he targeted easier prey.
Sarah and Eric start an underground newspaper entitled, "Crispy Pork Rinds" to represent Sarah's burned face, Eric's fat, and the leftover news no one else prints. They experience the power of the pen as they anonymously attack others. When Eric goes out for the swim team, Sarah announces she knows he won't be her friend for much longer because he'll lose his excess weight and be accepted by others. Thus, the title of the book, Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes ; Eric continues his swimming, but tries to eat enough to stay fat so Sarah will know how important her friendship is to him.
One day in Contemporary American Thought (CAT) class Sarah zones out; she does not get up when the bell rings; and she is hospitalized in a mental institution. Eric is extremely worried about his tough friend. He goes to see her but it's like she's not there. He is afraid. If something can mess up Sarah Byrnes, then Eric knows he could be annihilated.
I tell students a little bit about Chris Crutcher, that he is a therapist in a mental health facility in Washington state. His books deal with hard issues that many, too many, of our students face. As in all of Chris Crutcher's books, there is a strong adult mentor. Coach Lemry is the teacher of CAT and the swim coach. She is trustworthy, thoughtful, and an advocate for students. She also knows where her expertise ends and it is refreshing to hear an adult admit that she does not know something, but it's especially difficult to hear her say that when she's talking about my friend, Sarah Byrnes. Even though I know it's true.
In The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle , by Avi, Charlotte is traveling by ship from England to America in the early 1800s. She is a proper young lady, accustomed to the finer things in life, accustomed to polite society. She is the only passenger on the ship, a mistake at the outset of the books, so her only equal is Captain Jaggery, Zachariah, the old Black cook, tries to befriend Charlotte, but she is offended by his gesture. Zachariah gives her a dirk and tells her of the last voyage aboard the Seahawk when Capt. Jaggery had a crewmember's arm severed for not trying a knot to his expectations. Charlotte is horrified that Zachariah is telling her these lies about the Captain.
We witness Charlotte's transformation as she learns of human nature apart from titles, begins wearing sailor's clothing, and learns how to be a crew member. Charlotte's entire world is turned upside down when she considers that those in authority might be wrong and even cruel.
At the beginning of the semester students present their own book activities to the entire class. These activities range from readers' theater scripts, dioramas, bulletin boards, collages, structural critiques, aesthetic responses, memorabilia bags. Found poems, I AM poems, stimulated journals, ABC poems, letters to and from characters, semantic differential forms, character sketches, visual representations, and more. These ideas are found in Joan Kaywell's four volume series of Adolescent Literature as a Complement to the Classics . Even with 35-50 students in a class, the first two to three weeks every student can usually present his or her activity because they don't know each other very well, and strangers don't confide in strangers.
However, by the fourth week of class, we have to begin our small group discussion so everyone has the opportunity to share his or her activity and talk about the book in depth. Then each group decides on one activity that the whole class needs to see/hear/experience. Students choose their own groups and they may change groups from week to week, although when a student has changed to another group, he or she has always stayed with their second group choice. I provide them with a form to fill out so I know who is in which group; they write their name, book title, author, and activity.
Having the small books discussions is probably the most unselfish professional act I perform; class is not as much fun for me because I cannot be in each of the small groups, but students love their groups. They develop friendships with each other as they share their vicarious experiences with their new book friends. They talk frankly and openly with their friends in this small and safe environment. Then when they share with the whole class, they have had their activity validated by their small group, and their confidence is evident and their presentation is rehearsed.
I am always thrilled and amazed by the rich discussion that we do engage in during the semesters. I tell students at the beginning of the semester that I hope each of us (myself included) will be uncomfortable sometime throughout the semester because we are confronted with a new idea or a new perspective than the one we have always had about something. I promise them I will make the classroom safe intellectually, physically, and emotionally, but until someone tests that safety, being safe will be taken for granted. Everyone has the opportunity to speak. I will defend your right to speak even if I do not agree with you. Hopefully we will not always agree on everything; that would be boring but safe, much like Sameness in Lois Lowry's The Giver . When someone makes a statement that challenges what you believe, You may questions their idea but I will not allow anyone to attack someone else verbally or physically.
Students have shared with the class their own bouts with depression after reading Zibby O'Neal's The Language of Goldfish . After presenting an original artistic drawing representing her interpretation of O'Neal's In Summer Light , one student confided her attempts to commit suicide. I have found that students completely relate to O'Neal's characters and struggles of they don't get it because if doesn't speak to their experiences. During a presentation another student shared her recent decision not to take the drug ecstasy. Classmates had all kinds of questions and were amazed to learn how prevalent the drug was on their campus and in their city. Classmates also responded with encouragement for the speaker to stick with her decision to stay away from the drug. One student entrusted us with his struggle accepting the fact that his wife's brother is gay. He admitted that he liked his bother-in-law as a person, but he was shocked to learn that he was gay. He had to think through his prejudice and it was not easy.
Through my years of teaching Adolescent Literature at the university level, I am especially pleased that discussions about homosexuality have become more common and thoughtful. Ten years ago students were very reluctant to read books that depicted gays and lesbians, and discussions tended to be superficial. Students have privately confided in me that they were beginning to understand what their brothers who died of AIDS had lived through, as they determine when it is safe to share their deceased loved one with others.
Four years ago students read the books out of curiosity and snickered when they talked about the books. One student told the whole class, "I read this book [holding Annie On My Mind ] because I had never read a lesbian book before. I read it very quickly because I was looking for the lesbian parts. [She giggled.] I read right over them. They weren't that good, really. [She giggled again.] I think I will reread it because I think it's really a love story about two people rather than just a lesbian story." Even with her giggling, I was pleased with the truth she spoke. I commented that we will have made great strides when we can truly see gays and lesbians as people dealing with the very issues and situations that straight people do.
In the past year, my students read many books that have gay and lesbian characters and they openly discussed the conflict of the story without getting distracted by the characters' sexual orientation. I see this as a huge marker that we are making progress as a society. Our literature is reflecting our society, and our students are indicating our society is more open to diversity. I am hopeful we will get to the point where characters can be gay and that not be the issue.
Throughout the semester, my students and I refer to our friends. I know it sounds hokey, but it works. I think it works because I am sincere. I really feel like I have made many friends by reading so much. When we talk about the book, we talk about the characters as if we really know them. We have invested a lot of emotional energy with some of the characters. It's like we've been through the experiences together. A student who was not majoring in education donated the books he had bought that semester with a note attached that read, "Please share these books with other students. I want to share my new friends with others."
Patricia L. Daniel is an Associate Professor of English Education at the University of South Florida, Tampa, FL.
Atwell, Nancie. In the Middle: New Understanding about Writing, Reading, and Learning . 2 nd Edition. New York: Heinemann, 1998.
Avi. The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle . New York: Avon, 1990.
Benton, J. E., and Daniel, P. "Learning to Talk about Taboo Topics: A First Step in Examining Cultural Diversity with Pre service Teachers." Equity and Excellence in Education , 29, (3), 8-17.
Brooks, Bruce. Midnight Hour Encores . New York: Harper Keypoint, 1986.
Crutcher, Chris. Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes . New York: Bantam Doubleday Dell, 1993.
Kaywell, Joan. (Ed.) Adolescent Literature as a Complement to the Classics . Norwood, MA: Christopher Gordon, 1993.
Kaywell, Joan. (Ed.) Adolescent Literature as a Complement to the Classics. Vol. II . Norwood, MA: Christopher Gordon, 1995.
Kaywell, Joan. (Ed.) Adolescent Literature as a Complement to the Classics. Vol. III . Norwood, MA: Christopher Gordon, 1997.
Kaywell, Joan. (Ed.) Adolescent Literature as a Complement to the Classics. Vol. IV . Norwood, MA: Christopher Gordon, 2000.
LeMieux, Anne. Do Angels Sing the Blues? New York: Avon, 1995.
Lowry, Lois. The Giver . New York: Bantam Doubleday Dell, 1993.
O'neal, Zibby. The Language of Goldfish . New York: Penguin, 1980.
O'neal, Zibby. In Summer Light . New York: Bantam Doubleday Dell, 1985.
Rief, Linda. Seeking Diversity . New York: Heinemann, 1992.
Rosenblatt, Louise. The Reader, The Text, The Poem: The Transactional Theory of the Literary Work . Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press, 1978.
Voight, Cynthia. When She Hollers. New York: Scholastic, 1994. | <urn:uuid:07fca8b8-8191-4ad7-a29e-d9485bc43dd3> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/ALAN/v29n2/daniel.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783391519.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154951-00072-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979301 | 3,320 | 3.078125 | 3 |
Has anyone seen these lovely QR codes sneaking up on teaching resources everywhere? How can they be used? How do they help students? And how do we make them? Today I’ve set out to give you the down and dirty.
QR codes are like hyperlinks for your smart phone or tablet. To use a QR Code, you download a QR Code Scanner app onto your phone or tablet. The app uses the built in camera to scan the code and then take you to the designated website, just like when you click on a hyperlink it takes you to a specific website.
So, in order to use QR codes in your classroom, your students have to have access to a phone or tablet. My students use one of the 5 iPads we have in our classroom, but I have heard of many schools where students BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) and scan the QR codes with their smart phones or personal tablets.
QR codes can be used to aid in research, as an answer key or simply as an easy technology center. Here are some suggestions for how you can use QR codes in your classroom:
1.) Make internet research easier for your students by giving them QR codes to websites that might help them find the correct information. I have added QR codes to the Internet Scavenger Hunts that my students have completed this year and it has made the whole process so much easier! I print out the list of questions as well as their QR codes. The students scan the codes to take them to the websites where they read, watch videos, play games, or generally search for their answers. It prevents me from having to link up websites to Edmodo, gives them quality sources that they might not find on a Google search and prevents them from having to toggle between too many screens on the iPads. I like the process so much that I am slowly going back through all of my Internet Scavenger Hunts to add QR code pages.
2.) Post the answers online and let students use QR codes to check their work. When my students are doing their Problem Solving Path problems, they are allowed to check their work by scanning the QR codes on the posters. These QR codes take them to a site I have created with the answers. This allows them to check their own work, rather than running to me to be checked repeatedly. If they find they have gotten the wrong answer, they are given the opportunity to go back and fix their work. Again, this can be done independently, causing students to have more control over their learning, and preventing a management issue. (Disclaimer: Be sure to have all of the answer keys posted before starting this process. I have fallen behind on posting the answers and boy do the kids get mad if they can’t check their work because Mrs. Raki is behind!)
3.) Differentiate your technology center by posting different QR codes for different groups. Since all of the QR codes will look the same, students will never know who is being asked to visit what site, making it very easy for you to give easier sites to students who struggle and difficult sites to students who need a challenge. I often have specific sites QR coded for skills that I need certain students to work on. Then, I can hand them the QR code they need and they can go to work.
4.) Share students’ online projects by posting QR codes in the hallway. I have long struggled with how to “showcase” all of the online work that my students do, creating videos, Prezis,, LiveBinders, and more. Recently, I decided to create little posters with a screenshot of their work and a QR code and hang them in the hallway. This enabled me to easily share students’ work with parents and visitors who often have a smart phone with a QR code reader in their back pocket. Additionally, the other classes have brought their iPads out in the hall to scan our codes and see what we’ve been working on. So, we have brought about collaboration and prevented the need for scheduling a “showing”.
5.) Make a grab bag of QR codes. Push your students to try new presentation methods by making a QR code grab bag. When given a choice, my students all want to present their information the same way – generally using whatever the newest presentation method is, currently they are stuck on Powtoon. To get my kids out of a rut, I will create QR codes for 4 or 5 different presentation sites – Prezi, LiveBinders, Powtoon, Weebly, Animoto etc and mix the QR codes together in a bag. Then each student or group of students will grab a QR code and scan it. Whichever site they find is the site they need to use to create their presentations.
Now, for our final question – how do you create QR codes? Well, there are many free QR code generator sites out there, including http://qrcode.kaywa.com/ and http://goqr.me/. You simply find the link that you want to link to – be sure it is the exact place you want your students to land. Copy this link, paste it into the generator and hit submit. The generator will then create a code that you can either download or print screen and voila, you have a QR code image. Simple, easy, interactive and makes differentiation fun.
How do you use QR codes in your classroom?
For more ways to use iPads in the classroom, click on the banner below. | <urn:uuid:124eaae9-bdfc-48db-b839-77c30148a8ce> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.rakisradresources.com/2014/04/five-ways-to-use-qr-codes-in-classroom.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783392069.78/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154952-00052-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951651 | 1,129 | 3.3125 | 3 |
OFFICE OF PUBLIC INFORMATION
JET PROPULSION LABORATORY, CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
PASADENA, CALIFORNIA. TELEPHONE 354-5011
AUGUST 25, 1971
The Mariner 9 spacecraft will complete its 87th day of travel today having covered 140,000,000 miles on its 247 million mile journey to Mars since launch on May 30.
The 2200 pound spacecraft is 20,000,000 miles from Earth as it slowly draws away from Earth towards the orbit of Mars. It is traveling on a curving path around the Sun at 61,000 miles per hour relative to the Sun.
The previous abnormal high rate of usage of the nitrogen gas in the attitude control subsystem has stabilized to a normal 4 to 6 milli-pounds per day. There is sufficient gas to allow orbital operations of one year if an extended mission, beyond the basic 90 day mission, is funded.
On November 13th the flight path of Mariner 9 will intersect the orbital path of Mars and the firing of a 300 pound thrust retro engine will insert Mariner into a Mars orbit.
Basic objective of the mission is 90 days in orbit and mapping of about 70% of the Martian surface with two television cameras. Other experiments will record atmospheric and surface data. | <urn:uuid:501c1c6f-012c-4bac-b8f6-4e2afd0696a0> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/releases/70s/release_1971_0591.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396106.71/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00195-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.87902 | 291 | 3.09375 | 3 |
High School Cyber Cafes
This is Bob Doughty with the VOA Special English EDUCATION REPORT.
Cyber Café computer centers are found in many cities around the world. Now, a few American high schools are opening these centers. For example, a high school in the state of Maryland began operating a Cyber Café last March. All students at Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School in Bethesda can use the Cyber Café. But school officials say it especially helps students who have no computer or cannot use the Internet at home.
The officials say thirteen percent of the students at the school are from poor families. Many students have arrived in the United States from other countries only recently. Students in the school's program for learning English speak twenty-three other languages.
The idea for a Cyber Cafe at Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School began three years ago. At that time, officials were planning to restore the school building. Parents interested in technology proposed a Cyber Café.
They wanted this center even though schools in the area had suffered budget cuts. The community wanted to help. It wanted all students to have the best chances to learn.
Officials in the area supported the idea. So did an organization called the Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School Educational Foundation. The foundation includes parents, teachers, former students, and business, community and other leaders.
Over two years, the foundation collected money for a Cyber Café and other new computers. It received more than one-hundred-seventy-thousand dollars. The Café now has sixteen computers, a printer and a device called a scanner. School official Ann Hengerer (HEN-grr-er) says students use the Internet to complete research. They also write homework and required papers on the computers. In addition, they can send and receive electronic mail. That is especially helpful for the many students who have family members in other nations.
The Cyber Café also serves a social purpose. Visitors can stop by for a drink of coffee, tea or hot chocolate. On Long Island, in New York, the Walter G. O'Connell Copiague (Co-PAYG) High School has six computers in its Cyber Café. One student at the school says students can start their homework even before they leave school.
This VOA Special English EDUCATION REPORT was written by Jerilyn Watson. This is Bob Doughty. | <urn:uuid:91b93679-9a03-4739-b0ff-36e46a7c2886> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.manythings.org/voa/0/11174.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397213.30/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00052-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969562 | 485 | 2.6875 | 3 |
The Voting Rights Amendment Act of 2014 is Unsound Policy: Legislation Unjustly Discriminates Against White Voters and Creates Opportunities for Special Interests to Determine Voting Laws
by Amy Ridenour
On January 16, Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-WI), Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) and Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT), introduced legislation, the "Voting Rights Amendment Act of 2014 (VRAA)," to amend the Voting Rights Act of 1965.1
The VRAA provides people who believe voting law should protect the rights of all citizens equally, regardless of race or national origin, with a great deal about which to be concerned.
The VRAA also provides the U.S. Department of Justice with new mechanisms through which it can impose itself on the states, giving the department de facto legal authority to block or impose voting policies on certain states in accordance with the views of whomever is attorney general.
There are other significant concerns about the VRAA, but the scope of this paper will be limited to those two.
On June 25, 2013, in Shelby County v. Holder, the U.S. Supreme Court invalidated Section 4(b) of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. Section 4(b) provided the formula used by the Act's Section 5 to determine which states and localities were required to receive advance permission, or preclearance, from the federal government before changing any of their voting laws.
In overturning Section 4(b), writing for the majority of the Court, Chief Justice Roberts said the coverage formula that made sense in 1965 and which were ruled constitutional by the Supreme Court as a temporary, emergency matter soon thereafter, no longer made sense.
Nearly 50 years later, things have changed dramatically... The tests and devices that blocked ballot access have been forbidden nationwide for over 40 years. Yet [Congressional reauthorizations of the Act have] not eased Section 5's restrictions or narrowed the scope of Section 4's coverage formula along the way. Instead those extraordinary and unprecedented features have been reauthorized as if nothing has changed, and they have grown even stronger...
Although the Court's invalidation of Section 4(b) at least temporarily defanged Section 5's preclearance authority, the Voting Rights Act nonetheless still provides the federal government with significant authority to guard against voting rights violations in states and localities.2
The Court decision made it clear that if Congress were to modernize Section 4, the re-written statute could well pass constitutional muster.
The VRAA, however, is not a simple modernization of Section 4. It is a whole new ballgame.
The VRAA Fails to Protect All Voters Equally Under the Law
Whereas the original Voting Rights Act was intended to stop any state or locality from "den[ing] or abridg[ing] the right of any citizen of the United States to vote on account of race or color," the VRAA contains mechanisms intended to prohibit "discrimination on the basis of race, color, or membership in a language minority group" - except, in some cases, if the persons being discriminated against are non-Hispanic whites.
Specifically, the VRAA provides the U.S. attorney general with powers over localities that have had "persistent, extremely low minority turnout" for at least 15 calendar years as compared to minority voter turnout nationally.
However, if whites are a minority in a community, and for 15 calendar years or longer the white turnout rate within that community is substantially lower than the voter turnout rate for white voters nationally, no notice is taken, and no powers are granted.
The legislation contains definitions for "minority" and "nonminority" for the purpose of identifying which population groups receive full protection.
Minorities, whose voting rights are protected under the provision, are defined as persons "who identify themselves as being of Hispanic or Latino origin; of a race other than white; or of 2 or more races." The legislation goes on to say, "the term ‘nonminority' means persons who identify themselves as being not of Hispanic or Latino origin, white; and not of any other race."
This VRAA provision, therefore, fails to equally protect non-Hispanic whites who do not "identify themselves" as having some non-white3 ancestry.
The VRAA Could Enshrine the Left's New Definitions of "Voting Rights" into Law Over the Objections of States and Localities
No discussion of new federal powers to force the states to protect voting rights in the states and localities can be complete without an analysis of what the political left and the leadership of one of America's two major political parties presently considers to be a "voting right."
Most Americans may suppose the "voting right" is easily and accurately described as the right to vote on the same terms as any other citizen in a climate without burdens such as poll taxes, land ownership requirements, literacy tests or the like. Or, as the 1965 Voting Rights Act defined it, as the right to vote without any denial or abridgement as a result of race or color.
Judging by the overwhelming support of both parties for the original Voting Rights Act,4 this was a consensus, bipartisan definition in 1965. It is no longer.
Today the political left and the national leadership of the Democratic Party consider the following, among other things, to be "voter suppression" (aka, impermissible violations of the right to vote):
Requiring people voting in-person to vote in their own precinct;
States not requiring that high schools hold voter registration drives;
Not allowing 16- and 17-year-olds to "pre-register" to vote before they turn 18;
Not allowing in-person voting for multiple weeks;
Requiring voters to select each candidate individually in order to vote for that person, as opposed to marking a ballot once to vote a straight party-line ballot;
Not allowing candidates filing to run for office to do the filing via the Internet;
Linking the date of a primary election in one state to the date of the primary election in another state;
Eliminating voter registration on election day;
Requiring all polling places in a state to open at a uniform time;
Raising maximum campaign contribution limits;
Allowing other registered voters living within the same county, as opposed to the same precinct, to challenge the legitimacy of a person's voting qualifications.
There is broad public agreement that federal interference in state and local election procedures is warranted in cases of intentional discrimination. The Voting Rights Act itself remains popular and there is no reasonable expectation that the many powers it retains are in danger of being abridged by either federal court or Congressional action.
But there is no public consensus that involvement of the U.S. attorney general is warranted if a state determines that its high schools will not 'pre-register' minors; if a state decides to have in-person voting for everyone only on election day, or for a single week as opposed to two weeks; or if a state decides that all voting places will open uniformly at 7 am across a state, as opposed to 7 am in some precincts and 8 am in others, among other examples.
There does appear to be a strong public consensus against a core value within the VRAA: Those provisions extending protections to self-determined racial or ethnic minorities, with a specific carve-out denying those identical protections to non-Hispanic whites.
Polls on whether college admissions should be colorblind show overwhelming support for race-neutral admissions. For instance, a July 2013 Gallup poll5 found Americans choosing the colorblind option 67%-28%. Strong majorities of Republicans, independents and Democrats preferred the colorblind policy, as did whites (75%-22%) and Hispanics (59%-31%). Of groups polled, only blacks supported racial preferences, and even then it was close, by a mere 4 point margin. The question of racial preferences in college admissions is not, of course, identical to the question of racial preferences in voting rights law enforcement, but it is similar and may provide a guide to likely public sentiment regarding the enactment of voting rights protections for members of all races except one.
Writing about the VRAA, liberal columnist Kevin Drum said it well when he wrote on Martin Luther King Day in 2014, "Half a century ago, the fight over the VRA was a fight between racists and everyone else. Today, it's a fight between Republicans and Democrats."6
The post-Shelby decision Voting Rights Act retains substantial powers for the protection of voting rights. It does so in a colorblind manner, using a traditional, court-tested definition of voting rights that has long been the accepted standard for both major political parties and all population groups.
The Voting Rights Amendment Act of 2014, or VRAA, would weaken the moral authority of the original Voting Rights Act by undermining the original act's prohibition against government action based on race or color. The VRAA also undermines federalism by giving the federal government additional opportunities to replace the judgment of state and local elected bodies with those of federal officials, and it risks allowing federal officials to repeatedly redefine "voting rights" under law in accordance with the views of whichever individual won the last presidential election and his or her allies.
Amy Ridenour is chairman of the National Center for Public Policy Research.
1 A copy of the proposed legislation was available online at http://www.leahy.senate.gov/download/1-16-14-senate-bill as of January 21, 2014.
2 For an analysis of the many powers the federal government retains in the Voting Rights Act since the Shelby decision, see the testimonies of the Election Law Center's J. Christian Adams and the Heritage Foundation's Hans A. von Spakovsky before the U.S. House Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice on July 18, 2014. Transcripts were available online as of January 21, 2014 at http://judiciary.house.gov/index.cfm/hearings?ContentRecord_id=3798FE70-B5F1-C18F-30C6-70FAF7EBCA5C.
3 "White" is not defined in the law.
4 The final version of the 1965 Voting Rights Act passed the House by 328-74 (Democrats by 217-54; Republicans by 111-20) and Senate by 79-18 (Democrats by 49-17, Republicans by 30-1).
5 "In U.S., Most Reject Considering Race in College Admissions," Gallup, July 24, 2013, available online at http://www.gallup.com/poll/163655/reject-considering-race-college-admissions.aspx as of January 20, 2014.
6 Kevin Drum, "Can Three Lawmakers Revive the Voting Rights Act After the Supreme Court Trashed It?," Mother Jones, January 20, 2014, available at http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2014/01/voting-rights-act-revive-supreme-court-congress as of January 20, 2014. | <urn:uuid:5e4b4266-3b79-45bc-ada2-6876848b8e78> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.nationalcenter.org/NPA655.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783402479.21/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155002-00000-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943615 | 2,298 | 2.546875 | 3 |
Named By: David Burnham, Kraig Derstler, Phil Currie, Robert Bakker, Zhou Zhonge & John Ostrom - 2000.
Synonyms: Bambiraptor feinbergorum.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia, Dinosauria, Saurischia, Theropoda, Dromaeosauridae, Eudromaeosauria, Saurornitholestinae.
Species: B. feinbergi (type).
Size: 90 centimetres long for the holotype, but since this is a juvenile, adults would have been larger at somewhere over a meter.
Known locations: USA, Montana, Glacier National Park - Two Medicine Foundation.
Time period: Campanian of the Cretaceous.
Fossil representation: Almost complete specimen of a juvenile dinosaur. Additional remains have since been attributed to the genus.
after the title character in the 1942 film Bambi,
a small dromaeosaur dinosaur that has caused a lot of excitement in the
science of palaeontology. Discovered by a fourteen year-old Wes
Linster in 1993, the Bambiraptor holotype is of
well preserved individual that is estimated to be around a ninety-five
per cent complete dinosaur. In addition to this the bones display
very little distortion (fossils often become distorted due to the
immense pressures of layers of rock lying on top of them, especially
in lightly built animals) so it has been relatively easy for
palaeontologists to reconstruct this dinosaur when compared to what
they usually have to work with. This has led to Bambiraptor
popularly dubbed a ‘Rosetta stone’ after the discovery of the stone
that allowed for the decryption of Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, but
in Bambiraptor the reference is more to it
revealing answers about the
The holotype fossil for which Bambiraptor is named is of a juvenile dinosaur, something that has led to some controversy over the facts and actual validity of this genus. Firstly is that Bambiraptor is often credited at being ninety centimetres long, but because the most complete specimen is only that of a juvenile, it is a certainty that adult Bambiraptor would have been bigger than this. In 2010 Gregory S. Paul estimated the length of an adult Bambiraptor at a larger one hundred and thirty centimetres long, which if accurate would still make Bambiraptor small, but nearer the size of other small dromaeosaurs.
Another misconception is that of intelligence, since Bambiraptor is thought to have had a large brain in relation to the size of its body. The size of the brain in proportion to the size of the body is termed Encephalization quotient, or EQ for short and basically works upon the principal that the larger the brain is in relation to the body the more intelligent the animal. This is why dinosaurs with a high EQ level like Troodon are often credited as being the most intelligent dinosaurs, but the theory is a controversial one. The main problem here is that the method for determining EQ does not fully take into account the kind of brain tissues involved, which is why an animal with a brain double the size of another animal with a same sized body can be seen on paper to have double the intelligence, even if the extra size was only attributed to something like extra brain cells for a greater sense of smell. The animal with a smaller brain however might have a larger cognitive centre (memory, problem solving, etc.) and actually be more intelligent than the larger brained animal but with less capable senses (smell, vision, etc.). Additionally you have to remember that the Bambiraptor holotype is of a juvenile, and juvenile creatures usually do have proportionately larger brains than adults because even though their bodies are still growing, they still need to be smart enough to process their surroundings. As such determining EQ especially from a juvenile can give a skewed interpretation of an animal’s actual intelligence.
Another thing that needs to be considered is that animals, and particularly some dinosaurs have been seen to make marked morphological changes as they reach different ages (a good example being the leg proportions between juvenile and adult tyrannosaurs), and being described from a juvenile specimen, some palaeontologists have considered the possibility of Bambiraptor actually being a juvenile of a previously described genus. Here some have pointed to the similar Saurornitholestes as the possible adult form of Bambiraptor, however most other palaeontologists continue to support the idea that Bambiraptor should be treated as a distinct genus.
One thing that is likely for Bambiraptor whether it was a juvenile or adult is the presence of feathers. Although not confirmed to be present in the holotype or any other remains so far attributed to the genus, many of the other dinosaurs that Bambiraptor is related to be known to have had them. Additionally some that have not had feathers preserved do also sometimes have the attachments for even better developed feathers. If indeed present upon the body, then Bambiraptor probably would have had a covering of primitive downy feathers that served as insulation.
Because of its small size, Bambiraptor is thought to have been a hunter of small mammals and reptiles like lizards which would have been very common small prey during the Late Cretaceous. The arms of Bambiraptor are thought to have been very dexterous as well as fingers that were semi opposable. What this means is that Bambiraptor could have possibly held small prey in its arms and actually lift them up to its mouth for easier feeding. It’s also possible that this greater dexterity may have also been for climbing. Bambiraptor however would have faced competition from slightly larger related dinosaurs such as the aforementioned Troodon and Saurornitholestes as well as Dromaeosaurus. Other threats could have also been the tyrannosaurs Daspletosaurus and Gorgosaurus, particularly juveniles of these two genera which would have been a lot faster and more agile than adults.
Bambiraptor has sometimes been credited with two species names when in fact it currently only has one. The species name B. feinbergi is in honour of both Michael and Ann Feinberg who bought the holotype from a fossil dealer and then donated it to science. However because feinbergi is in the singular vernacular, a pluralised version of feinbergorum was later proposed. This was used by a few people at first, but under naming guidelines set out by the ICZN (the body that governs the naming of animals) the first species name is not only valid but still has priority over the new version. For this reason Bambiraptor feinbergorum is now treated as a synonym to Bambiraptor feinbergi. | <urn:uuid:aad26592-e992-464c-aa15-c6cca7e34342> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.prehistoric-wildlife.com/species/b/bambiraptor.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398873.39/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00133-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962509 | 1,445 | 3.34375 | 3 |
Poor bees. First, there's the honeybee colonies collapse disorder, then there's this: a parasite that turns bees into zombies.
Honeybees (Apis mellifera) in California and South Dakota have been observed acting zombielike, wandering away from their hives at night and crawling around blindly in circles.
These insects have been rendered insensate by a parasitizing fly that lays eggs in the bees’ bodies. After the bee dies a lonesome death, pupae crawl out and grow to adult flies that seek new bodies to infect. | <urn:uuid:32bdacf3-0e65-4ceb-b05c-7c48f8cab65c> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.neatorama.com/2012/07/24/zombie-bees/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395621.98/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00140-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.929516 | 118 | 2.640625 | 3 |
Innovators at NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC) have patented a method of heat treating friction stir welded plates made of 7X50 aluminum alloy. The process reverses the deleterious effects of welding, restoring the alloy's mechanical properties. The method increases tensile and yield strengths, minimizes or eliminates stress corrosion cracking, and increases ductility over non-treated welded plates. Conventional practice is to rivet splice plates in the welded region, which significantly increases weight. The new JSC-developed method is also a superior alternative to a prior method of heat treatment that causes large columnar grain and allows stress corrosion cracking. JSC has received patent number 6,802,444 for this technology.
- Reduced Weight: Eliminates the need for fasteners
- Lower Cost: Allows welding instead of machining from larger plates
- Robust: Maintains original mechanical properties of materials
- Aircraft components
- Aerospace equipment
- Automotive and recreational equipment
JSC has one patent issued (U.S. Patent No: 6,802,444 → ) for this technology.
This technology is being made available through JSC's Technology Transfer and Commercialization Office, which seeks to transfer technology into and out of NASA to benefit the space program and U.S. industry. NASA invites companies to consider licensing this technology for commercial applications.
If you would like more information about this technology or about NASA's technology transfer program, please contact:
Technology Transfer and Commercialization Office
NASA's Johnson Space Center | <urn:uuid:9230adec-341a-4287-bc53-477b54731bd0> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/techtransfer/technology/MSC-23472-1_heat-FSW-aluminum.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396106.71/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00030-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.905791 | 314 | 2.75 | 3 |
Compiled by Arden Rice Sujewicz, January 2000
American Census: a Social History. Margo J. Anderson, Yale University Press, 1988. Anderson demonstrates that throughout its history the census has been a highly politicized process. Early attempts at apportionment, the counting of slaves and freed blacks, and later the effects of industrialization and immigration all brought political pressure from varying sides to bear on the Census Bureau. Political controversy over the questions included on the census and the statistical methods employed are shown not to be new either.
Equal Representation: a Study of Legislative and Congressional Apportionment in Wisconsin. H. Rupert Theobald, Legislative Reference Bureau, Reprinted from the 1970 Wisconsin Blue Book, 1970. (328.135/W7a) This comprehensive history of apportionment law in Wisconsin up to 1970 examines the state's constitutional mandates and their implementation through various legislative actions, population changes, and Wisconsin and United States Supreme Court cases. The study includes a number of historical maps and tables, summaries of relevant Wisconsin case law, and a chronology of Wisconsin apportionment from 1836 to 1969.
Political Gerrymandering and the Courts. Edited by Bernard Grofman, Agathon Press, 1990. (328.13/G89a) This collection of essays on partisan gerrymandering includes several articles on the Davis v. Bandemer case. Additional case studies from Indiana and California in the 1970s and 1980s are also reviewed.
"Politics '98 - What Really Matters: Power to Redistrict is the True November Prize". John Nichols, Nation, November 2, 1998 (328.135/N51) http://www.the nation.com/1998/issue/981102/1102nich.htm This article describes how both national parties are focusing their attention more closely on state elections in the hopes of gaining more influence over the 2000 redistricting process at the state level.
Race, Redistricting and Representation. David T. Canon, University of Chicago Press, 1999. (328.134/C16) Canon argues that rather than creating a type of "political apartheid," black majority districts actually promote a "politics of commonality" by opening the political process to black candidates who fairly represent the interests of both blacks and whites. In making his case, Canon analyzes the political and legal debates for and against racial redistricting. He then compares the legislative behavior of members of the Congressional Black Caucus to white House members representing districts with black populations of 25% or more.
The Realists' Guide to Redistricting: Avoiding the Legal Pitfalls. J. Gerald Hebert, Donald B. Verrilli, et al. Jenner and Block, 1997. (328.135/H351) A succinct guide to navigating the legal and judicial constraints of redistricting written by attorneys with firsthand experience in redistricting litigation. Much of the book focuses on the Voting Rights Act.
The Reapportionment Puzzle. Bruce E. Cain, University of California Press, 1984. (328.135/C12) A thorough description of the redistricting process and the conflicting interests involved, based on the experience of a consultant to the California Assembly's Election and Reapportionment Committee during the 1980 redistricting.
Redistricting Case Summaries for the 90s. National Conference of State Legislatures, November 1998. (328.135/N214b) This handbook is a compilation of redistricting court case summaries arranged by state. It includes an index of cases, a subject index, and contacts for each state.
Redistricting Law 2000. National Conference of State Legislatures, Redistricting Task Force, February 1999. (328.135/N214c) A comprehensive guide to federal and state law involving redistricting, this book is arranged in chapters by subject with relevant caselaw integrated extensively into the text. An index to cases cited, a glossary, and a lengthy bibliography are also included. Several appendices compare the redistricting laws and procedures across the 50 states.
"Redistricting: the Other Y2K Problem". Tim Storey, State Legislatures, September 1998, p.1922. (328.11/N214/v.24, no.8) Storey outlines the steps states must take to prepare for the redistricting process, including working with the Census Bureau, purchasing technology for database construction and mapping, and allocating staff.
State Redistricting Profiles 2000. National Conference of State Legislatures, October 1999. (328.135/N214d) This recently published guide contains concise factual information about each state's legal and organizational framework for redistricting. Entries for each state include constitutional and statutory citations, statistical information about congressional and legislative districts, political entities responsible for redistricting, deadlines, Voting Rights Act information, and state contacts.
"Ten Secrets of Redistricting". Steve Miller, State Legislatures, September 1999, p. 2629. (328.11/N214/v.25, no.8) Miller presents 10 guidelines for effectively managing a redistricting office based on the author's experience as the staff director for Mississippi's redistricting committee.
Who Counts? The Politics of Censustaking in Contemporary America. Margo J. Anderson and Stephen E. Fienberg, Russell Sage Foundation, 1999. (317/An2a) The implementation and outcomes of the past three censuses are detailed in this thorough analysis of the statistical methods employed by the Census Bureau. The author devotes considerable attention to the under count in previous censuses, the use of sampling methods in the 2000 census, and the measuring of racial and ethnic minority populations.
Please note: Several new books have recently been published on redistricting. As these books are added to our collection, they will appear on the library's Selective List of Recent Acquisitions.
Related Web Sites:
http://www.census.gov/clo/www/redistricting.html - Census 2000. This Census Bureau site explains how the Bureau will cooperate with state and local governments to provide population totals for election precincts according to P.L. 94171. The site includes detailed guidelines and a lengthy bibliography on the Redistricting Data Program.
http://www.igc.org/cvd/redistricting/index.html - Center for Voting and Democracy: Redistricting Introduction and Index. The Center is a nonprofit organization that informs the public about voting systems that promote voter participation and fair representation. Their redistricting page contains links to a dozen reports on their web site related to proportional representation, race conscious districting, and partisan gerrymandering.
http://www.ncsl.org/programs/legman/elect/redist.htm - NCSL Elections and Redistricting. A central source for information on NCSL's Redistricting Task Force, their meetings, reports, and publications. The site also contains links to state sites for legislative redistricting maps and/or committees as well as related U.S. Supreme Court cases. For best results use the site's search engine with the keyword redistricting.
Back to Welcome | <urn:uuid:2e9306d9-02b8-482b-8661-5507576c79e3> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.utm.edu/organizations/civilrights/Baker_Carr/furtherreading.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783402479.21/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155002-00023-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.899451 | 1,476 | 2.9375 | 3 |
Inscription: "After the Battle of Antietam on 17 Sept. 1862, Gen. Robert E. Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia recrossed the Potomac River into Virginia. After President Abraham Lincoln's constant urging, the Union Army of the Potomac, led by Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan, pursued them. Lee ordered part of his army south to Culpeper Court House. To screen Lee's march, Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart's troopers fought a series of engagements against the probing Federal cavalry. On 31 Oct., Stuart attacked Brig. Gen. George D. Bayard's command near Mountville, drove it southeast through Aldie and discovered the Union army's left flank." | <urn:uuid:1adb6a4e-dbc8-429b-97b1-17b1c436710f> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.virginia.org/Listings/HistoricSites/StuartandBayardMarker/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395560.69/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00040-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936134 | 153 | 2.9375 | 3 |
Construction Of An Ellipse
An illustration showing how to construct an ellipse using a string. "Having given the two axes, set off from c half the great axis at a and b, which are the two focuses of the ellipse. Take an endless string as long as the three sides in the triangle abc, fix two pins or nails in the focuses, one in a and one in b, lay the string around a and b, stretch it with a pencil d, which then will describe the desired ellipse."
Albert A. Hopkins Scientific America: Handy Book Of Facts And Formulas (New York: Munn & Co., Inc., 1918) 39 | <urn:uuid:5c8caccb-a824-40d3-88c9-dbedbf1006a2> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://etc.usf.edu/clipart/50000/50084/50084_construction.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397565.80/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00074-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.857554 | 140 | 3.75 | 4 |
Western Xia Imperial Tombs
National Commission of the People's Republic of China for UNESCO
Yinchuan City, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, China
The Secretariat of the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the World Heritage Centre do not represent or endorse the accuracy or reliability of any advice, opinion, statement or other information or documentation provided by the States Parties to the World Heritage Convention to the Secretariat of UNESCO or to the World Heritage Centre.
The publication of any such advice, opinion, statement or other information documentation on the World Heritage Centre’s website and/or on working documents also does not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of UNESCO or of the World Heritage Centre concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its boundaries.
Property names are listed in the language in which they have been submitted by the State Party
Western Xia Imperial Tombs are the royal mausoleums of the emperors in the Western Xia Dynasty (1038-1227). Located at the eastern slope of the Helan Mountains, western suburb about 35km away from Yinchuan City in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, the Tombs are the best-preserved historic cultural heritage representing the Tangut civilization at the largest scale and in the highest rank.
Built between the 11th and 13th centuries, the Tombs are connected with the Helan Mountains in the west and with the Yinchuan Plain and the Yellow River in the east. They are situated in a spacious land higher in the west than the east. Occupying an area of some 50 square kilometers, the Western Xia Imperial Tombs include 9 imperial mausoleums, 254 subordinate tombs, 1 site of large architectural complex and more than 10 brick-and-tile kiln sites. The imperial mausoleums are lined up along the eastern slope of the Helan Mountains from north to south. The whole grand burial complex extends like a long and narrow south-north ribbon.
Set in the vast Gobi desert in front of the rolling Helan Mountains, the Tombs narrates the unique historical atmosphere and ethnic features of the Western Xia Dynasty by the magnificent layout, tiered tomb walls, high towers and various mausoleum buildings. Many unearthed funerary objects and the remaining cultural relics such as inscriptions, stone statues and building components take on vivid shapes, unique ornamentations, and living nomadic features.
Justification of Outstanding Universal Value
The Tangut civilization, an ethnic minority civilization, prospering in an agricultural-husbandry area in Northwest China, shows its excellent adaptability and outstanding cultural diversity. The general layout of the Tombs imitates the imperial mausoleum construction of the Northern Song Dynasty. In terms of site selection, layout, burial ways, building techniques and arts, the builders not only learned the experience from the ritual system and cultural achievements of the Northern Song Dynasty but also combined their own ethnic customs such as mountain worship, belief in necromancy and aesthetic orientations, reflecting the strong characteristics of the Tangut civilization’s inclusiveness and cultural fusion. As the site of the large tomb group for the Western Xia emperors, the Tombs bear special witness to the long vanishedTangut civilization.
Criterion (iii): Tangut civilization was created by the Tangut people, an ethnic minority group, and prospered in an agricultural-husbandry area in Northwest China between the 11th and 13th centuries. Occupying a special position in the Chinese history, the West Xia civilization made great contributions to China’s diverse culture. As the imperial mausoleums of the Western Xia Dynasty, the Tombs have well preserved the Tangut civilization at the largest scale and in the highest rank, which also could serve as a special witness to the existence of the long vanished Tangut civilization with excellent adaptability and outstanding cultural diversity.
Statements of authenticity and/or integrity
The Western Xia Imperial Tombs remain as ruins since the fall of Western Xia Dynasty in 1227. People can clearly see the location and layout of the burial complex. A variety of cultural relics have been well-preserved, including the tomb walls, tomb platforms, foundations and building components. The burial ways, construction techniques and arts of the Tombs truly reflect the unique values of Tangut civilization in widely learning from others and advocating cultural fusion. Therefore, the Tombs manifest a high degree of authenticity.
The Western Xia Imperial Tombs have all attributes that contributing to the heritage values such as the setting, location, layout, the imperial mausoleums, the subordinate tombs and large building complex sites, as well as all related cultural relics. They bear testimony to the unique heritage values of the Tangut civilization. Various mausoleum sites in large numbers reflect the immense scale and high rank, various composition and exquisite craftsmanship of the Western Xia Imperial Tombs, representing the well-developed and distinctive Tangut civilization. Effective conservation and management measures have been taken to protect the Western Xia Imperial Tombs. Negative impacts have been controlled. The nominated property has high degree of integrity.
Comparison with other similar properties
1. Comparison with other Western Xia sites in China
The Western Xia Empire existed for nearly two centuries before the conquest by the Mongols. Most of the empire’s cultural heritages have vanished. Among the few surviving Western Xia historical remains there are some 10 burial sites, more than 10 city sites including the Black City, Buddhist temples, pagodas, cave temples, detached royal palaces and gardens. In terms of the state of conservation and historical value and other comprehensive comparisons, the Western Xia Imperial Tombs are the best preserved site with the largest scale and highest rank in all sites of the Tangut civilization. Besides, they are also the only relics bearing full testimony to the Tangut civilization.
2. Comparison with mausoleum systems of Liao, Jin, Uighur and Tubo (Ancient Tibetan dynasty).
From the early 9th century to the 14th century, many northern-Chinese tribes rose in the endless disputes and accelerated the process of the feudalism under the influence of the Han culture. They ruled over all or part of China. The Khitan people founded “Liao” (916-1125) and built the imperial mausoleum–the Liao Tombs. The Tangut people founded “Western Xia” (1038-1227) and built the Western Xia Imperial Tombs. The Jurchen people founded “Jin” (1115-1234) and built the Jin Tombs. The Qochu (Qara-hoja in Uygur) and Tubo people also left the tombs of their kings. These ethnic minorities in northern China are closely related to the Han culture due to the geographical proximity, military conflict and cultural penetration. Their mausoleum systems not only drew upon experience from the Han culture but also maintained their own traditional ethnic cultures. By comparison, the Western Xia Imperial Tombs and other counterparts in the same period, all took reference from the mausoleum systems since the Tang and Song dynasties and meanwhile showcased their own ethnic features and cultural connotations. The Western Xia Imperial Tombs prove to be a unique mixture blended by the Song mausoleum system, traditional Tangut culture and Buddhist culture. They are unique in inheritance, funeral customs, layout and architectural design. Compared with the tombs of Liao, Jin, Uighur and other nomads, the Western Xia Imperial Tombs bear witness to the civilization of different nations and take a special position in China’s ancient mausoleum system due to the huge size and the preserved state.
3. Comparison with Song Tombs in Gong County
According to New Chronicle of Ningxia in Emperor Jiajing’s Reign of the Ming Dynasty, “Lying east of the Helan Mountains are the imperial tombs of Western Xia modeled after the Song tombs”. The Western Xia Imperial Tombs and Song Tombs in Gong County are ancient imperial mausoleums built roughly at the same period. The Tangut people of the Western Xia Empire had close ties with the Song People in economic, political, cultural and other sectors. The Western Xia emperors identified and adopted the Song culture, which could explain many similarities between Western Xia Imperial Tombs and Song Tombs in Gong County. Yet the Western Xia Imperial Tombs show a remarkable distinction from the Song Tombs in Gong County due to the unique lifestyle, religious belief and funeral customs in the Western Xia Regime. The main differences lie in the heritage values and timelines, especially in mausoleum system and funeral customs. The Song Tombs in Gong County demonstrate typical funeral customs and cultural inheritance from the Han Chinese, while the Western Xia Imperial Tombs show the unique lifestyle, religious thoughts and values orientation of the Tangut people under the influence of the Han culture and, attesting the cultural exchanges among nations in northwest China.
4. Comparison with nomadic nations’ properties in Inland Eurasia
In the arid and semi-arid zones of the Inland Eurasia there are continuous deserts and grasslands. Nomadic nations roamed free on the vast steppe and created their unique grassland civilization. However, they left few heritages and those inscribed on the World Heritage List are even much less, only including the Site of Xanadu, Yuan Dynasty’s Upper Capital in China, the Orkhon Valley Cultural Landscape in Republic of Mongolia, Rock Carvings in Tanum in Sweden. The Western Xia Imperial Tombs as one of the few large cultural heritages of nomadic nations in Eurasia has unique values. They have witnessed the Tangut civilization created by one of the nomadic nations in Inland Eurasia and can fill the gap in cultural heritages of nomadic nations. | <urn:uuid:8f1f6aa9-14da-4dc7-ab4d-92b2ae1b6d66> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/5811/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393332.57/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00055-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.904532 | 2,040 | 2.96875 | 3 |
The Semantic Web provides a common framework that allows data to be shared and reused across application, enterprise, and community boundaries. It is a collaborative effort led by W3C with participation from a large number of researchers and industrial partners. It is based on the Resource Description Framework (RDF), which integrates a variety of applications using XML for syntax and URIs for naming.
Tim Berners-Lee, James Hendler, and Ora Lassila have described the Semantic Web as "an extension of the current web in which information is given well-defined meaning, better enabling computers and people to work in cooperation." Tim Berners-Lee, James Hendler, Ora Lassila. . The Scientific American, May 2001. | <urn:uuid:b61fa0e2-cd71-4c75-8757-c92ff354254e> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://liswiki.org/wiki/Semantic_Web | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396945.81/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00128-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.909199 | 150 | 3.15625 | 3 |
Today we feature a photograph of Renegade Apache Chief Geronimo. Geronimo led numerous raids against both US and Mexican interests in the years between 1858 and 1886. At one point, over 5,000 US troops were assigned to capture Geronimo. This represented about 25% of the entire US army at the time. He and his band of warriors were among the last group of Native Americans to submit to US government authority. This last vestige of Native American independence came to an end on this day (September 4) in the year 1886 as Geronimo surrendered to General Nelson Miles near Skeleton Canyon, Arizona. | <urn:uuid:9a3fd687-e252-4f60-99d1-0b8449b7a4cf> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://old-photos.blogspot.com/2007/09/renegade-apache-geronimo.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783402479.21/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155002-00156-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970531 | 127 | 3.25 | 3 |
Suppose a pharmaceutical company needs to verify the purity of a new drug they have made. They first would figure out what the percent composition for each element is supposed to be. Then they would compare that result to the percent composition obtained experimentally. If the numbers don't match, that means the compound is not pure and the chemists have some work to do.
How would we go about calculating this number? We've already learned that the formula of a compound tells us the number of atoms of each element in a single molecule. For example, methane has the formula CH4. In English, that's one carbon atom and four hydrogen atoms.
The percent composition is obtained by dividing the mass of each individual element in 1 mole of the compound by the total molar mass of the compound. That gives us the fractional composition. To get the percent composition we just need to follow up with a quick multiplication by 100. For all those math lovers, let's look at the definition expressed in equation form:
where n is the number of moles of the element in 1 mole of the compound.
Back to the CH4 example: in one mole of methane, there are 4 moles of hydrogen and 1 mole of carbon. We can also say that for every four moles of hydrogen there is 1 mole of carbon. Po-TAH-to, po-TAH-to. We already calculated the molar mass of CH4 to be 16.042 g. Our handy-dandy periodic table informed us that the molar mass of carbon is 12.01 g and the molar mass of hydrogen is 1.008 g.
Sample ProblemCalculate the percent composition of carbon and hydrogen in methane.
How do we check our percent composition answers? Add up all of the percent composition values. If your answer is not 100%, then Houston, we have a problem. Keep in mind that, due to rounding, the values might not always be exactly 100%; they'll be very close, though.
Speaking of problems, let's try another to make sure we've got the hang of this.
Sample ProblemWhat is the percent composition of hydrogen and oxygen in hydrogen peroxide, H2O2?
First of all, let's calculate the molar mass of H2O2 knowing that the molar masses of H and O are 1.008 g and 16.00 g, respectively.
molar mass H2O2 = 2(atomic mass of H) + 2(atomic mass of O)
molar mass H2O2 = 2(1.008 g) + 2(16.00 g) = 34.02 g | <urn:uuid:f7aa5b75-ed76-4b70-b4aa-dfa6968150c1> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.shmoop.com/stoichiometry/percent-composition.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397567.28/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00103-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933335 | 545 | 4.125 | 4 |
In late winter, beekeepers often find themselves thinking about their bees. Apprehension is most common when the previous fall had dismal honey production and when houses creak and snap on bone-chilling nights during January and February. Unfortunately, there isn’t much northern beekeepers can do during the dead of winter. At best, newspaper can be added on top of fiberboards of live hives that are completely saturated and candy boards given to populous hives that are low on stores. Both of these conditions are actually a good thing. This year, many New England beekeepers will find some of their hives cold and silent. After recovery from the dreaded feelings of failure and despair, the only thing to do is determine the cause of death via a postmortem.
There are a number of reasons that hives fail to survive the winter. Following are some common causes and conditions that beekeepers will encounter:
Starvation: Symptoms of starvation are easily distinguished by finding the cluster within a hive devoid of honey, or separated from honey stores that remain within the hive. Classic signs of starvation include a large cluster of dead frozen bees with the core bees headfirst in the comb. Frequently there is a patch of brood under the cluster.
Since the introduction of parasitic bee mites and Nosema ceranae, hives often starve with sufficient honey reserves since they have very small clusters. Essentially, these hives suffered a premature loss of adult bees in late fall and during the early part of winter and the cluster didn’t have a critical mass to generate heat and allow for movement. These colonies often have a small patch of brood within the cluster since bees will not abandon their brood in order to move onto honey. These small clusters are usually situated on the sunny side or warm side of the hive.
Tracheal mite: Colonies that succumb to tracheal mite (HTM) frequently exhibit abnormal behavior prior to death. Hives that have heavy infestations often break cluster on cold sunny days in February and March and cluster on the exterior sunny side of the colony. Symptoms of acute dysentery and/or Nosema are evident and a large number of bees are found on the bottom board or more frequently directly in front of the hive. The clusters of hives that perish from HTM are usually the size of a baseball or grapefruit and located on the outermost frames near the hive wall on the sunny side or hive’s front. A common trait of hives lost to HTM is an abundance of honey. Fortunately, unlike hives infected with American foulbrood, the honey and equipment are safe for feeding and restocking purposes with minimal cleanup. Therefore, block all entrances in these hives so other bees in the area don’t rob the honey when warm weather arrives.
Nosema: Hives lost to Nosema have symptoms of acute dysentery. Often there is excessive bee excrement on the inner cover, top bars and front of the hive near the entrance(s). There are usually a handful of bees remaining that appear bloated and wet.
Hives lost to Nosema ceranae often have a small cluster and a small patch of brood located directly under the top bar of the upper hive body. In northern climates there is associated dysentery and an absence of significant numbers of dead bees on the bottom board.
Varroa collapse: The symptoms of Varroa collapse vary somewhat according to treatment efficacy during the previous fall and pathogens associated with the mite infesta- tion. Small clusters are commonly found on the warm side of the hive with ample honey stores remaining. If the fall treatment was late or ineffectual, Varroa can be readily seen lodged between the ventral abdominal sclerites. Likewise, a number of bees with stunted abdomens and deformed wings are apparent. Upon examination of the lower hive body, combs with partially emerged bees (heads exposed with tongues extended) are visible. Upon removal, these bees often have stunted abdomens, deformed wings and mites within the cells. Hives that succumb to Varroa have very few bees remaining. If the fall treatment was effective, few mites are present and there are fewer bees with stunted abdomens and deformed wings. Again, the premature death of adult bees reduced the critical mass needed for thermoregulation in winter.
Queen issues: Failing queens and queenless colonies are a common reason for hive mortality over winter. Hives with queen problems are recognized by a disproportionate number of small drones (reared in worker comb) within the cluster. In addition, inspection of brood frames in the lower hive body and/or within the cluster will reveal drone pupal caps in worker comb.
Shrews: Evidence of shrew depredation is often first recognized upon removal of the outer cover. Broken bees are scattered on the inner cover (i.e. detached heads, abdomens and wings). The bee’s thoraces are absent since shrews eat these “meaty” appendages. Likewise, broken bees are found on the bottom board with shrew tunnels burrowed through the dismembered corpses. The combs of colonies killed by shrews are dam- aged and appear as if the wax and pollen was shaved off. The shrew will only chew the wax to the midrib (foundation) and not chew through the comb and make a nest like mice do. A musky odor is also common in hives lost to shrews, unlike the smell of urine associated with mice.
Other symptoms common among dead hives include: a sour smell caused by fermentation of uncapped honey and/or sugar syrup. Uncapped honey will absorb water from the air, thus diluting the honey, which initiates fermentation. It is important to initially shake the excess water from these frames, and again just prior to restocking the hive since water will again infiltrate these combs. In addition, hives with excess moisture (dead or alive) will frequently have a fluffy-white or blue-green mold on the outer frames and interior hive walls. These molds aren’t cause for concern and are often strains of penicillin.
What to do: In general, most hive equip- ment can and should be reused when the bees die, except when American foulbrood is the cause. In the case of starvation, the majority of frames need minimal attention except for those with excessive amounts
of dead bees stuck in the cells. Before temperatures warm and the dead bees begin to decompose, shake the bees off the combs and clean the bottom board, etc. Sometimes a majority of bees can be shaken out of the cells or removed with a shop vac. Some bee- keepers give combs with excessive dead bees to strong hives in spring so the bees can remove the corpses. A better strategy would be to cull the combs filled with dead bees and insert new foundation. Plastic frames can be scraped to the midrib and given back to hives. Frames with only a few bees stuck in the cells need no action and should be reused since bees can easily remove the dried corpses. Frames that have wet, mushy, decomposing corpses should be culled since fly maggots and hive beetles infest them— culling makes life easier for the bees.
Hives lost to queen issues need minimal action and should be treated as above. If there are brood combs with exces- sive drone comb, they should be culled. Likewise, combs with exces- sive shrew damage need replacement since the bees will likely rebuild the dam- aged comb with drone cells. Frames with minimal shrew damage can be reused.
Regarding Nosema, scrape and clean the woodenware and cull frames with exces- sive feces running down the comb. For minimally stained frames, scrape the top bars. The cappings on frames of honey can be cleaned by gently wiping the feces off with a cloth dipped in a bleach solution (1 bleach : 9 water). Warm water works well and gloves are recommended. Heat or acetic acid fumigation are the standards for killing Nosema spores when treating large amounts of equipment. Consult beekeeping textbooks for specifics.
Hives lost to Varroa over the winter can be successfully restocked. Unfortunately, recommendation for restocking equipment that has undergone colony collapse isn’t clear-cut in light of some CCD reports. A common concern about restocking this equipment pertains to the stability and virulence of virus particles within the equipment.
A number of commercial beekeepers state that the equipment needs to “rest,” vacant of bees prior to restocking. The question is, for how long and under what conditions?
In 2008, I successfully restocked equipment that had succumbed to parasitic mite syn- drome (PMS) brood, deformed wing virus infection of bees and brood, and Nosema the previous season. I must admit that frames with excessive amounts of dead brood were culled and replaced with foun- dation. Likewise, frames that had bee excre- ment running down the comb were culled. Only the newer and best looking frames of comb, honey and pollen were restocked.
Good news! Punxsutawney Phil did not see his shadow on Ground Hog day. Therefore, spring will arrive early and you will soon hear the birds chirping. | <urn:uuid:624f3ce8-02bb-40a4-99aa-480b5a692c3e> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://mainebeekeepers.org/information-for-beekeepers/when-disaster-strikes/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395560.69/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00025-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944621 | 1,923 | 3.28125 | 3 |
History & Mission
Lead Safe Illinois
Lead Safe Illinois is convened by the Illinois Lead Safe Housing Task Force and the Loyola University Civitas ChildLaw Center's Policy Institute. The Illinois Lead Safe Housing Task Force, formed in 1997, is an alliance of individuals and public, private, and not-for-profit groups committed to ending childhood lead poisoning that advocates for policy reform, promotes public awareness, and fosters collaborations to achieve its mission. The Task Force is chaired and staffed by the Civitas ChildLaw Center's Policy Institute, a part of Loyola University Chicago School of Law. The Policy Institute promotes child-centered laws, policies and practices, and aims to improve the functioning of the legal, social welfare, juvenile justice, health care and other systems that impact children and families.
Lead Safe Illinois is a campaign to eliminate lead poisoning in Illinois by raising awareness and advocating for legislation and policy reform to prevent childhood lead poisoning. The campaign works with several lead-safe community initiatives throughout the state to eliminate childhood lead poisoning.
Healthy Homes/Healthy Communities Initiative
Beyond the scope of lead poisoning and it's costs to a child's health and future, it has long been recognized that various indoor toxic hazard pose the same burdens and risks to children and families. It is also true that scientists have long recognized that indoor toxic hazards typically pose far greater risks to children’s health than outdoor exposures because of the concentrated levels.
Health hazards encountered in the home include: dust, mold, and pests which can cause asthma; lead, pesticides, food additives, and other toxic materials which can result in learning disabilities, and behavioral and health problems; and dangerous gases such as carbon monoxide and radon which can result in long term brain damage, cancer, and death. The costs to the individual of these toxins can be school absenteeism, learning difficulties, academic failure, lack of employment, life-long health problems, socialization problems, criminal records. Societal costs include healthcare, hospitalization, joblessness, special education, and the juvenile and criminal justice systems.
Stemming from Lead Safe Illinois and in response to the risks that these toxins pose to children and families’ health, the Center for the Human Rights of Children, Center for Urban Environmental Research and Policy, Center for Urban Research and Learning, Loyola University Medical Center, and Loyola Law School’s Civitas ChildLaw Center (“The Centers”) at Loyola University Chicago developed the “Advancing Healthy Homes/Healthy Communities—Tackling Environmental Disparities (“Healthy Homes/Healthy Communities Initiative”) project.
The mission of the project is to develop Loyola University’s capacity as a leading educational institution with a commitment to building a holistic approach in creating healthy homes and healthy communities free of environmental and social toxins. | <urn:uuid:9f48a3ca-b24b-4ff3-910d-088b1b8f6110> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://luc.edu/healthyhomes/about/historymission/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397749.89/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00113-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937643 | 584 | 2.78125 | 3 |
I have been trying to figure this out and just can’t seem to get it. I am hoping someone out there can help.
have 4 cells with text in them that I am trying to combine into one cell and not have any blank lines between the text.
The cells are arranged like this:
A1="One" B1=Cell where the text is combined
I set the cell alignment in B1 to wrap text and use the following formula in B1:
The problem is if
there isn’t anything in one of the cells in column A it makes a blank line between the text in column B. I am trying to get
the text to the top of B1 and not have any blank lines between the lines of text.
Is there a way to change the
formula so that it will do the following three things:
1. If the cell A1 doesn’t have anything in it then don’t put the value in B1.
2. If A1 has something in it and A2 has something in it then put the text of A1 in B1 and HAVE a carriage return after the
3. If A1 has something in it and A2 does not have anything in it then put the text of A1 in B1 but DO NOT have a carriage
return after it.
Thank you for your help in advance. | <urn:uuid:8078bc64-dadf-4b59-8c74-7ec6137a05c6> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.knowexcel.com/view/696031-delimited-text-by-carriage-return.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396029.85/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00038-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948243 | 289 | 2.578125 | 3 |
Grain Free Cat Foods
Is this a trend that is based on real science, or a fad that has caught on?
First, we must understand that a cat is an obligate carnivore. That means the cat, be it a tiger or an ordinary house cat, must eat other animals to fulfill their needs for certain types of nutrients. In their natural habitat, cats are hunters that consume prey high in protein with moderate amounts of fat and minimal amounts of carbohydrates. Cats also require more than one dozen “essential elements”, including vitamins, minerals, fatty acids, and amino acids. “Essential” means the nutrients must be supplied by the diet because the cat cannot create it. Several of these “essential” elements include the amino acids taurine and arginine, certain fatty acids such as arachidonic acid and vitamins niacin, A, D and B-12. What is the primary or only source of these needed nutrients? Animal tissue. Once again, the carnivorous cat utilizes animal sources of nutrients more readily than plant sources. For example, cats cannot convert beta-carotene from plants to vitamin A (as some animals do), so they need preformed vitamin A from an animal source. Preformed vitamin A needs no conversion.
Why not a dog food for a cat? Because dog foods have lower protein, taurine, niacin, vitamin B6, methionine and choline than what cats need. Also, dog foods will not typically address the urinary acidification and magnesium content appropriate for reducing the risk for struvite crystal formation. A key point to remember is that cats are neither small dogs nor humans.
Every protein source contains different levels of amino acids and each protein is different in its ability to be broken down into amino acids. The ability of a protein to be used by the body and its amount of usable amino acids is termed “biological value”. Egg has the highest biological value and sets the standard by which other proteins are judged. Egg has a biological value of 100. Fish meal and milk are close behind with a value of 92. Beef is around 78 and soybean meal is 67. Meat, bone meal and wheat are around 50, and corn is 45. Things like hair and feathers would be very high in protein, but would be down at the bottom of the list for biological value.
Does a high protein percentage (as shown on the package) mean that a pet food is automatically better than others with lower percentages?
No, a higher percentage of protein doesn’t mean that a pet food is always better than another food with a lower percentage. A lower protein percentage isn’t automatically bad, either, provided that the protein included in the food comes from a good source such as fish, chicken or lamb. Don’t rely solely on the percentage of crude protein shown in the guaranteed analysis on the package when choosing a food. While it seems safe to assume that a high percentage of protein means that a food contains a lot of useable protein (and is therefore better than another food), this is not always the case. Always evaluate the source of the protein – not just the amount – when considering and comparing pet foods.
In summary, a cat’s natural diet is low in carbohydrates and they are not designed to digest carbohydrates. Regardless of whether grain or non grain carbohydrates are used, they are added to dry cat food because it is mechanically necessary to produce the kibble and carbs are less expensive than meat; not because carbohydrates are healthy or necessary for your cat. The same can also be said of the protein source in cat foods; plant proteins are easier to bind and thus easier to hold a kibble together, but not necessarily the best proteins to use for a cat’s diet. Where is the line for too much plant protein versus animal protein in a feline diet? It wasn’t but 30 years ago or so that a large company tried to market an all soy- based cat food, only to discover the taurine deficiencies cats ran into with this approach; but on a positive note, this is how feline taurine requirements were identified!
Grain free cat foods are all hype. What is important are low carbohydrate cat foods, as that is where the science of common sense really lies. | <urn:uuid:0d825d94-599b-49ed-9a04-7e7f583f88e4> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://drtims.com/grain-free-cat-foods/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393997.50/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00002-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946044 | 888 | 2.90625 | 3 |
British Jews and the Dream of Zion
Radio 4, Monday April 28
On the eve of the 60th anniversary of Israel, here was a programme which told the story of the involvement of British Jews, and indeed non-Jews, in the foundation of the Jewish state.
Don’t get the idea that the British side of the story was somehow a sideshow. Jews in Britain may have been low in numbers compared to the great populations in Eastern Europe and the growing community in America. But Britain, as the dominant world power, played a huge part in the story, according to this well-researched and fascinating documentary presented by Jonathan Freedland and with intriguing detail supplied by the likes of academics Colin Schindler and Geoffrey Alderman.
Indeed, the leading characters were on British soil from the late 19th century onwards. There was Theodor Herzl, the founder of modern Zionism, who came to London to lobby the British government for their help in setting up a Jewish homeland in Palestine, Uganda, Tasmania, Alaska or just about anywhere, really. It is hard to imagine a political figure with an obscure idealistic notion generating the near hysteria that Herzl did in 1898 when he spoke in the East End. Thousands gathered to hear him and thousands more spilled on to the streets. All to hear about a dream of national self-determination which seemed about as likely as, well, as a kibbutz in Kampala.
London continued to be the fulcrum of activity, particularly when, in the First World War, Palestine suddenly became the front line of the conflict.
A new activist, a young chemist called Chaim Weizmann who was doing great work with acetone at Manchester University, led the campaign for the new movement of Zionism to receive government backing. This duly came with the 1917 Balfour Declaration, in which the Foreign Secretary, Arthur Balfour, announced this country “viewed with interest” the foundation of a Jewish homeland in Palestine. Weizmann was sitting outside the cabinet room when he was told about the announcement. “It’s a boy,” said Conservative politician Sir Mark Sykes.
Weizmann, not a religious man, was later spotted performing a Chassidic dance with his colleagues.
JC columnist Alderman revealed a slightly surprising fact about Balfour — commonly thought of as one of the architects of the Jewish state. He was borderline antisemitic, claimed Alderman. He recalled a Balfour speech in which he said: “We do not want a people apart.” It was, he said, a line worthy of Enoch Powell.
Not everyone was excited about the new movement. The top-hatted Jews of the West End were threatened by the implication of split loyalties, while the firebrand socialists were against Zionism for political reasons and the Chassidim railed against Herzl as a false messiah.
Following the Second World War, the issue surfaced again — this time because of the Holocaust.
Freedland interviewed an unlikely kitbbutznik called Tony Benn who happened to be rowing on the Sea of Galilee when the announcement of independence was made. As a socialist, he was a supporter of the idea of a homeland for a dispossessed people. It was, he said, “a moment of great hope”. Although that hope was later betrayed by the way the state had developed. He was not on his own. Britons queued up to help the new Jewish state, and many of them were not Jewish.
Israel is now of course a strong, independent and well-established state which no longer relies on the efforts of friendly volunteers for its survival. Just as well, really. | <urn:uuid:4ace4c94-3ace-40dc-9e10-cb622e18d877> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.thejc.com/print/853 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783399428.8/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154959-00002-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97924 | 768 | 2.65625 | 3 |
These sites provide information about the chemistry of mixtures and solutions. Learn what mixtures and solutions are made of, what their properties are, how to separate components of mixtures, and methods of separation. There are examples of mixtures encountered in daily life, classroom activities, experiments, interactive games, and animations. There is a link to eThemes Resources on Chromatography
These websites are about chromatography. Includes information about using chromatography for ink identification. There are several lesson plans, experiments, and an interactive story. Includes a link to an eThemes resource on Forensic Science. | <urn:uuid:565d043d-6a8e-49ab-81ee-08c00ee183bf> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | https://ethemes.missouri.edu/themes/894?locale=en | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395621.98/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00062-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.914627 | 119 | 2.984375 | 3 |
Most people have to look up to the heavens, but a rare view of the Northern Lights was enjoyed by passengers on a plane flying above the clouds.
The spectacular lights of the Aurora Borealis lit up the sky last night, giving a unique perspective of the celestial phenomenon to people on a flight from Gatwick to just off the coast of the Shetland Isles.
The red, yellow and green lights were clearly visible, shining and dazzling above and beyond the clouds.
The flight was chartered by Aerobility, a charity that gives people with disability the chance to fly, and had 74 passengers on board, including BBC's The Sky At Night presenters Pete Lawrence, Jon Culshaw and Dr Paul Abel.
The British Airways flight took off at 8.20pm and shortly after departure the cabin lights were turned off to help the passengers' eyes adjust to the night sky.
The aircraft returned to Gatwick at around midnight.
On Thursday night, the lights of the Aurora Borealis lit up skies as far south as Gloucestershire, Essex and Norfolk, the result of a strong magnetic storm.
The lights could be enjoyed in Glasgow, Orkney and Aberdeenshire in Scotland, at Preston in Lancashire and in Whitley Bay, North Tyneside.
The Northern Lights are usually visible in only the more northern parts of the UK, but a surge in geomagnetic activity led to them appearing much further south than usual.
The display occurs when explosions on the surface of the sun hurl huge amounts of charged particles into space, according to the British Geological Survey .
Those thrown towards Earth are captured by its magnetic field and guided towards the geomagnetic polar regions. Charged particles collide with gas molecules in the atmosphere, and the subsequent energy is given off as light. | <urn:uuid:34a36fcd-1f96-4760-8a2b-7a4ce359e92b> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.heraldseries.co.uk/uk_national_news/11047529.Flight_offers_Northern_Lights_sight/?ref=nt | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393997.50/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00060-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959302 | 369 | 2.75 | 3 |
Ideally, tires should be rotated every 3,000 to 5,000 miles. When this is done consistently, the tires are more likely to maintain good handling and traction and deliver maximum tread life. However, it's important to remember that tire rotation alone cannot guard against rapid or uneven wear if your vehicle has faulty mechanical parts or improper tire inflation pressure.
Rotation Patterns Explained
Forward Cross - The most commonly used rotation pattern, designed primarily for front wheel drive vehicles - which most cars have.
Rearward Cross - For rear wheel and 4-wheel drive vehicles.
X-Cross - Also for rear wheel and 4-wheel drive vehicles - but can also be used as an alternative to the Forward Cross method for front wheel drive vehicles.
Front-to-Rear & Rear-to-Front - Primarily used for performance vehicles equipped with directional tires of the same size.
Side-To-Side - Primarily used for vehicles equipped with non-directional tires of different sizes.
What about the spare tire? - If your spare tire is of the same size as the four tires in service, you should include that spare in your rotation pattern. Follow the manufacturer's recommended rotation sequence, or introduce the spare into the rotation pattern in the right rear position.
Temporary-use spares cannot be included in your tire rotation. | <urn:uuid:eaa06104-8cea-4b46-9866-b3d5ab123001> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.kumhotireusa.com/tire/basics/tire-rotation | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396106.25/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00035-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932772 | 275 | 2.75 | 3 |
More than 33 percent of teens were overweight or obese in 2010, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Teens who carry around extra weight are not only at a greater risk of developing adult diseases like diabetes, but the extra weight also takes a toll on their emotional health. Depending on their activity level, most teens need 1,800 to 3,200 calories a day to maintain a healthy weight, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and most can safely lose weight following a 1,500-calorie meal plan. But it is important to talk to a doctor before your teen starts a weight-loss plan.
Grains are a good source of fiber, B vitamins, iron and magnesium. On a 1,500-calorie weight-loss plan, teens need 5 ounces of grains a day, with at least 3 ounces coming from whole grains. Including more whole grains in your diet helps with weight management, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. A 1-ounce grain serving might be one slice of whole-wheat bread, 1 cup of whole-grain cold cereal or 1/2 cup of cooked rice or pasta.
Veggies are low in calories and high in filling fiber. On a 1,500-calorie weight loss plan, teens should get 2 cups of vegetables every day. Make sure your teen eats a rainbow of vegetables each week to obtain a variety of vitamins and minerals.
Fruits are also low in calories and high in fiber, vitamins and minerals. Teens should aim for 1 1/2 cups of fruits each day on a weight-loss plan. Encourage your teen to eat the fruit instead of drinking the juice to help with calorie and hunger control.
Teens require dairy foods for calcium and vitamin D, which are necessary for strong bones and teeth. If your teen doesn't like to drink milk, substitute low-fat cheese, low-fat yogurt or soy milk. Teens can have three servings of dairy products a day on a 1,500-calorie plan. A serving is equal to 1 cup of milk or yogurt, or 1 1/2 ounces of cheese.
Protein foods help build and repair muscles and organs. They are also a good source of B vitamins and iron. Teens should aim for 5 ounces of protein foods a day. Protein foods include not only meat and fish, but also beans. A 1/4-cup serving of cooked beans is equivalent to 1 ounce of meat. Keep protein choices lean to help reduce calories.
Fat and Sweets
It's OK for teens to have treats; they just need to watch their portions. When it comes to fat, teens should choose oils such as olive or vegetable oil, and limit their daily amount to 3 teaspoons a day. Limit treats, whether it's ice cream or a cookie, to no more than 120 calories a day.
Putting It Together
Encourage your teen to eat smaller meals with a couple of small snacks spread throughout the day. Eating more often can help control hunger. Each meal should include a food from each of the food groups for balance. For example, a healthy breakfast meal might include a one-egg veggie and cheese omelet with a slice of whole wheat toast and 1 cup of milk. Fruits and vegetables make healthy snack choices.
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Childhood Obesity Facts
- HealthyChildren.org: Obesity's Impact on Teen Health
- KidsHealth: How Can I Lose Weight Safely?
- ChooseMyPlate.gov: My Food Plan
- KidsHealth: MyPlate Food Guide
- U.S. Department of Agriculture: ChooseMyPlate.gov: Grains
- U.S. Department of Agriculture: ChooseMyPlate.gov: What Counts as a Cup in the Dairy Group?
- U.S. Department of Agriculture: ChooseMyPlate.gov: What Counts as an Ounce Equivalent in the Protein Foods Group?
- U.S. Department of Agriculture: 2010 Dietary Guidelines: Chapter 2: Balancing Calories to Maintain Weight
- Visage/Stockbyte/Getty Images | <urn:uuid:93b03f0f-ffd0-4913-8fb4-bb2adcb6786a> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://livehealthy.chron.com/1500calorie-meal-plans-teenage-weight-loss-3990.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783394987.40/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154954-00004-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.92827 | 850 | 3.34375 | 3 |
1. Pishan 皮山 [P’i-shan] = modern Pishan or Guma – see note 1.15 above.
2. Wucha 烏秅 [Wu-ch’a]. This name is given as Wuhao 烏耗 [Wu-hao] in the Shanghai (1888) edition which Chavannes used. The character: 耗 hao (or mao) – ‘to diminish’; ‘news’; ‘to consume’, ‘to dispense’ – is almost certainly a copyist’s error for the very similar-looking cha 秅 used in the Shanghai Zhonghua Shuju (1965) edition of the Hou Hanshu, the Hanshu, the Shuijingzhu and other texts, as Chavannes first pointed out:
“The commentary of 676 indicates that, according to the Qianshuyinyi [Ch’ien-shu-yin-i], this name ought to be pronounced Yanna 鷃拏, but that, according to another gloss, the word 烏 is pronounced as a combination of yi 一 and jia 加 (thus ya), while the word 耗 is pronounced as a combination of zhi 直 and jia 加 (thus cha). The commentator moreover reconciles these two different explanations by saying that if one rapidly pronounces the sounds indicated in the second gloss, one ends up with the sounds indicated by the first. – We will remark that in the Qian Hanshu (chap. XCVI, n, p. 4a), the name of this kingdom is spelled Wucha 烏秅, the written form found in the Beishi (chap. XCVII, p. 3b), which, besides, is a little closer to the aforementioned second gloss which indicates the sound cha. We must therefore admit that the reading Wucha is closer to the true pronunciation of this placename than the reading Wuhao. Finally, this is best it seems [as] the same name is written Wusha 烏 鎩 by Xuanzang.” Translated and adapted from Chavannes (1907), p. 175, n. 3.
See also the
discussion by Petech (1950), pp. 68-69. The Hanshu
(CICA, pp. 101, 103, 104) says Wucha is south of Puli (Tashkurghan),
south-west of Xiye (Karghalik), adjoins Wulei (Sarhad) to its south, and Nandou
(the Chitral/Kunar Valley) to its west, and says (ibid. p. 97) that it is
1,340 li (557 km) southwest of Pishan, and comes just before Xiandu
‘Hanging Passages’ = Hunza/Gilgit) on the way to Jibin.
An examination of the map will show that Wucha may, with some confidence, be located near modern Ghujak Bai (Aijie Keboyi), at the junction of the Mintaka and Tashkurgan Rivers, about 70 km south of Tashkurgan.
The Hanshu (CICA, p. 98) when it says that Wucha adjoins Zihe (Shahidullah) and Puli (Tashkurghan) in the north. This may be explained by the confusion in the Hanshu of Zihe (Shahidullah) and Xiye (Karghalik), as the Hou Hanshu (see the end of Section 5) makes clear. Karghalik is actually northeast of Wucha or Ghujak Bai. It could also indicate that they were under the control of a single ruler during the time of the Former Han, but his command of the southern route to Shahidullah had been lost by the time of the Later Han.
From Ghujak Bai the main route headed some 80 km southwest over the Mustagh Pass (5,827 m. or 19,117 ft). This pass used to be used until recent centuries but the advance of glacier ice has forced people to use the so-called “New Mustagh Pass” (5,800 m. or 19,029 ft.), about 16 km further west; but this is also heavily glaciated and difficult. The alternative is to head another 30 km or so west over the far easier and lower Kilik Pass (4,827 m. or 15,837 ft.) into the upper reaches of the Hunza Valley.
Notes on the Mustagh Pass adapted from Merzliakova (2003): “Height = 5706 m” [17, 720 ft.]. “The Pass lies in Muztag range, in Karakorum Mountains. “The Pass lies over the main axis of the Himalayas, and divides the Chinese dominions from the British dependencies. It is also on the watershed between the rivers which flow into the Indian Ocean and those which flow towards Turkestan....” “One of the highest and most difficult in the Himalayas.” “The Pass was in use in former days, till the advance of the ice upon it made it difficult that a new one was sought for, and what is known as the New Muztagh Pass, some ten miles further west along the range.”
Notes on New Mustagh Pass from Merzliakova:
5800 m [19,029 ft].” “The Pass is
glaciated. It lies at the head of the Chiring glacier. An ancient route to
Central Asia went here.
The discovery that Chiring is a surging glacier gives a new slant to an old debate about the role of glacier fluctuations in historic closings of this and other glacier passes to Inner Asia [summarized by Shipton, 1938]. Maps, drawings, and photographs from 1856, 1861, 1929 and 1937 show the lower Chiring was easily crossed by travelers [Godwin-Austen, 1864; Desio, 1929; Shipton, 1938; and Kick, 1993]. Although altitude and bad weather posed problems, the upper glacier also offered a relatively straightforward traverse to the Pass. However, in 1887 a British explorer, Francis Younghusband, coming from the Chinese side, found the Pass closed. After crossing by another route, he attempted to ascend the Chiring but found it impassable because of "... an immense ice-slip on to the glacier and gigantic blocks of ice... tumbled about on top of one another..." [Younghusband, 1896, 205B6]. His descriptions accord with the effects of a surge and strongly suggest that the Chiring last surged in 1885-87, giving a surge cycle of about 110 years.” “Ancient route to Central Asia went there. When the Pass was discovered, it became more usable than the more difficult Muztagh Pass.”
Notes on the Kilik Pass adapted from Merzliakova (2003): “Height = 4877 m [16,001 ft], or 4827 m [15,837 ft].” "The Pass leads to the Pamir plateau." The ancient trade routes, a part of the famous “Silk Route”, went here. [In the 19th century]: Diplomatic mail runners used this Pass. At present: “Near the Pass there are herds of grazing yaks and dzos (cross between a yak and a domestic cow).” “Misgar villagers in China have divided the route to the Mintaka Pass into 4 ‘stages’. At the 2 stage from Misgar to Murkushi the routes to Kilik and Minataka divide. Misgar, the chief town in the previously off-limits valley of the same name, was the last outpost of the British empire in the colonial era, and the point from which mail runners left to carry the diplomatic dispatches over the Kilik Pass to the British envoy in Chinese Kashgar. In 1894 George Nathaniel Curzon paid a visit to Baltit, and then, accompanied by the Mir, continued on up to the top of the Kilik Pass on the Tagh-Dumbash Pamir. It is on record that, after taking the elevation at the summit of the Pass and finding it to be 15870 feet, he sat down on a rock and wrote a letter to “The Times.”
“The Kilik pass is wide and gentle
- actually a huge grassy alp. The trails are broad, easy to follow, and probably
the easiest trails in all Northern Pakistan.” This note was written by John Mock
and Kimberley O’Neil on: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/himalayanet/message/11.
Downloaded on 25 April 2003. Note: It is marked as being 15,837 ft [4858 m] on
my “Road Map of Pakistan,” 1st edition (1975).
The route then headed south and west across the terrifying xiandu
or ‘Hanging Passages’ – the rickety pathways constructed along the cliff-faces
on the way to Gilgit. The main, and relatively easy, route from Gilgit headed
down the Chitral Valley to Swat and Gandhara in Northern Pakistan or on to the
region of modern Jalalabad in eastern Afghanistan; another route led to
Ghujak Bai also controlled the route south to the alternate Kunjerab Pass (4,700 m or 15,420 ft) to Hunza, which is the route taken by the modern Karakoram Highway. To the southeast of Ghujak Bai there is also a route connecting it with Mazar and Shahidullah (see notes 5.1 and 6.1 above).
縣度 [Hsüan-tu, often incorrectly given as Hsien-tu], from: 縣度
suspend”, ‘hang’, ‘dangerous’ + 度
= GR 11640a: “7. – To cross (the water by ferry). To cross (over)].”
From this we get the infamous, ‘Hanging Passages’ – the narrow and
dangerous hanging footpaths of the Hunza region.
It is significant that Xuandu is not listed as a guo (= ‘kingdom’ or ‘country’) in any of the ancient Chinese texts. It is clearly described as a locality, not a state. The name translates literally as ‘Hanging Passages,’ and it has long been recognised that it refers to the terrifying hanging pathways, locally known as rafiks, which are so characteristic of the route through the Hunza valley to Gilgit. The most difficult passage in the whole Hunza valley is the section south of the junction of the Misgar and the Hunza rivers. See, for example, Chavannes (1905), p. 529, n. 5.
Although it was impossible to take pack animals over this route, a route barely practicable for people on foot, it was by far the shortest route from the Tarim Basin to Gandhara and Jibin in what are now northern Pakistan and southeastern Afghanistan. The Hanshu describes Xiandu as follows:
“What is termed the Suspended Crossing is a rocky mountain; the valley is impenetrable, and people traverse the place by pulling each other across with ropes.” CICA, pp. 99 and n. 169, 100.
The following descriptions will illustrate why this route was so feared:
thus by granite precipices and huge wastes of ice and snow, affording only a
hazardous passage during a few summer months into the neighbouring countries,
Hunza-Nagar has but one vulnerable point on the southern part of the Hindoo
Koosh, the ravine of the Kanjut River; while the junction of that torrent with
the Gilgit River is the one gateway of the country assailable for an invading
force. Even this entrance is practically closed during the summer months; for
then the river, swollen by the melting snows, becomes an unfordable and raging
torrent, overflowing the whole bottom of the valley at many points, so that the
only way left by which one can ascend the gorge is a rough track high up upon
the cliff-side, carried along narrow ledges, and overhanging frightful
precipices – a road fit only for goats and cragsmen, which could be easily held
by a handful of determined men against a large force; while at this season the
river can only be crossed by means of the frail twig-rope bridges, which will
support but two or three men, and can be cut adrift with a knife in a few
Such is the road into Hunza-Nagar from our side; but at the head of the Kanjut Valley there is a group of comparatively easy and low passes, leading across the Hindoo Koosh on to the Tagdambash Pamir, in Chinese territory, which are used by the Kanjuts on their raiding expeditions....” Knight (1893), pp. 345-346.
“As one ascends the valley beyond Hunza.... It is only at certain points, where passage along the cliffs would otherwise be absolutely impossible for the best cragsmen, that any steps have been taken to open a road, and then it is but the narrowest scaffolding thrown from ledge to ledge. One comes upon position after position of immense natural strength in this gorge, where the dangerous and only path passes under stout sangas, which could be held by a handful of men against a host. Even as the Kanjuts had left the approaches to their valley below Nilt as difficult of access as possible, so had they done here, at the outlet of their country on to the Pamirs, rendering it almost impossible for an enemy to invade them from either direction.” Ibid. pp. 488-489.
“Rafiks, the local name for such galleries, are fastened to the sheer cliffs by branches of trees forced into the fissures of the rock and covered with small stones. Elsewhere natural narrow ledges are widened by flat slabs packed over them. In some places the rafiks “turn in sharp zigzags on the side of cliffs where a false step would prove fatal, while at others again they are steep enough to resemble ladders. To carry loads along these galleries is difficult enough, and . . . for ponies, sure-footed as they are, wholly impassable.” Even his [Aurel Stein’s] terrier, Yolchi Beg, so nimble on the rocks of Mohand Marg, was fearful and allowed himself the indignity of being carried. Rafiks alternated “with passages over shingly slopes and climbs over rock-strewn wastes.” To negotiate this terrain, the “baggage animals were left behind [at Chalt] and coolies taken for the rest of the journey up to the Taghdumbash Pamir.” Mirsky (1977). p. 121.
“The next day’s march [from Khudabad] to Misgar, he had been warned, would be the worst part of the route. By starting before dawn while the river was still low enough to ford, he avoided a long detour and a perilous crossing on a rope bridge. Then the going reached a climax of “scramble up precipitous faces of slatey rocks . . . with still more trying descents to the riverbed”; slower still was the progress along rafiks clinging to cliffs hundreds of feet above the river. But the previous five days had toughened him, and he felt fresh when he emerged from the rocky gorge to an open valley.... Here he discharged the “hardy hillmen who had carried our impedimenta over such trying ground without the slightest damage.” Beyond, the route was open to baggage animals at all seasons.” Mirsky (1977), p. 125.
appear to have controlled the whole region from the late 1st century, and for
most (or all) of the 2nd century CE.
There is a brief mention in Ban Chao’s biography that, “(Ban) Chao then crossed
the Congling and got as far as Xiandu.” Although this must have occurred
sometime in the late 1st century, there is no indication of the specific date,
or any other details. One can only assume that the reference was to a brief
foray of little on-going consequence or, perhaps, a meeting with Kushan
Xiandu (‘the Hanging Passages’) formed a natural frontier between the Indian subcontinent and the territories of Central Asia. Indeed, the Weilue notes that after crossing the Xiandu one entered the territory of the Da Yuezhi who were in control of northern India at the time. From Xiandu (Hunza/Gilgit) there were four main routes one could take:
1. south along the Astor river and across the Burzil Pass into Kashmir,
Burzil Pass adapted from: Merzliakova (2003): “Height = 3200 m [10,499 ft] , or 4500 m [14,764 ft],
or 5000 m [16, 464 ft].” “The crest of the Pass is wide and covered in summer
with alpine grass vegetation.” “The Pass was practicable for horses and
”It is covered with snow from 20th of October….” “The trade routes split in Skardu with one leading to Satpara over the Deosai and Burzil Pass into Srinagar (Kashmir) and another leading to Gol. The first one named Gilgit route was active up to Pakistan's independence. The travelers used horses and ponies. It was the oldest route connecting Gilgit with Srinagar via Burzil Pass and Skardu through Chotta Deosai and Sadpara. On the beginning of XX century a hut of post courier was situated on the crest of the Pass. He brought mail from India to China. After Pakistan's independence, the accessibility to Northern Areas was improved as a jeepable link with Rawalpindi was developed through Kaghan Valley and Chilas by army engineers. This track linking Gilgit and Skardu was developed in the mid-fifties and it was shorter. The importance of the Pass came down.” “There are no vegetation around the Pass and much snow.”
Author’s note: It is marked as being 13,775 ft [4,199 m] on my “Road Map of Pakistan,” 1st edition (1975).
a difficult route along the Indus River Valley to Taxila, rarely used in ancient
times. It roughly corresponds to the route taken by the modern Karakoram highway
3. through the Swat Valley to Gandhara and Peshawar or,
4. the easiest route of all, whenever it is politically feasible, which leads via the Chitral valley directly to the region of modern Jalalabad (Jibin), and on to Kandahar (Wuyi) or Kabul (Gaofu).
Wuyishanli (shortened to Wuyi in the Weilue) is almost certainly a
transliteration of Alexandria and, according to most authorities, stands here
for Kandahar, one of the many Alexandrias established by Alexander the Great,
and the chief city of the province of Arachosia. See the discussions in Daffinà
(1982), p 319; Chavannes (1905): 555, n. 6; Pelliot (1959), p. 29; Pulleyblank
(1963), pp. 116, 128; and CICA, p. 112, n. 250.
Alexandria-in-Arachosia or Alexandropolis, from which the modern name of Kandahar is derived, was founded in the spring of 329 BCE.
“Arachosia, Persian HARAUVATISH or HARAHVATISH, in ancient times a province of the Achaemenid, Seleucid, and Parthian empires. It occupied southern Afghanistan and was bounded on the south by Gedrosia (Baluchistan). The capital city, Alexandria-of-the Arachosians, was founded by Alexander the Great and is usually identified with Qandahār. Arachosia was famous for its ivory and elephants.” NEB, I, p. 471.
Yu (1998), pp. 168-169, however, suggests that it more likely referred to
both Arachosia and Drangiana (modern Seistan), to the west. I agree with him on
the grounds that the descriptions in both the Hanshu and the Hou Hanshu mention only one state
between Jibin to the northeast and Tiaozhi and Lijian to the west.
Also, we know that they were closely associated from early times, forming two adjoining provinces of the Achaeamid empire, and later, in the time of Aśoka and the Seleucid king, Antiochus II that “it is clear that the two kingdoms were then contiguous with a frontier west of Kandahar….” Sherwin-White and Kuhrt , p. 80.
Yu (p. 169) goes on to propose that Wuyishanli probably referred to Alexandria Prophthasia (Farāh), south of Herat. However, I feel that his arguments could equally be applied to Kandahar:
1). that it is hot, covered in vegetation and flat,
2). That it was cut off and remote and Han envoys only reached there rarely and it was the extreme point of the Southern Route
And, as Kandahar has for long been the larger and more prosperous region, and famous as one of the few places where elephants could be bred and raised successfully in captivity (meaning it was the coveted production area of the ancient equivalent of tanks), I am inclined to accept, along with most other authorities that Wuyishanli here referred primarily to Arachosia, a kingdom centred on Kandahar.
(Old Persian harahuvati, corresponding to Sanskrit sarasvati ‘rich
in rivers’) was the well-named land of present southern Afghanistan, the valley
of the Upper Helmand (Avestan Ha’tumant ‘rich in dams’) and the
tributaries where the Thamani (Herodotus III.93, 117) lived..., the people of
Arachosia must have been settled agriculturalists from an early time in this
fertile land comparable to Bactria in the north. Similar to Bactria in the
north, Arachosia was the centre of Achaemenid rule over neighbouring tribes to
the south and east and Darius was fortunate to have a loyal satrap who, after a
number of battles with the rebels sent against him from the west, was able to
consolidate the rule of the new king.
The lower course of the Helmand river and the Hamun lake was occupied by the Zrangi (Old Persian Z(a)ra(n)ka, with local zB for Old Persian d-), which name has been explained as ‘sea land’ by many scholars, unsuccessfully, I believe. The name survived into Islamic times as Zarang, the capital of the country. The Hamun lake area played an important role in Zoroastrian tradition and as the homeland of the hero Rustam. By geography and history it has been connected with Arachosia and the upper Helmand rather than with Fars province or the west. The invasion of Saka tribes in the second and first centuries before our era undoubtedly changed the population for their name was applied to the land which has held to this day, Seistan. In pre-Achaemenid times as today it is a land where the steppe and sown are intermingled and nomads are on all sides of the lake which is large in winter while almost vanishing in the late summer.” Frye (1963), pp. 71-72.
of the Department of Ancient Near East, St. Petersburg Branch of the Institute
of Oriental Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences, kindly wrote on 18 May 2002
informing me that the form Ha’tumant in the above quotation is incorrect:
“Avestic Haetumant-, (Greek Etymandres), not Ha’tumant. The Kandahar inscription
of Ashoka seems to be not in Aramaic language, but some local Iranian or Indian
language in Aramaic script ….”
The rich agricultural lands along the Helmund River centred on Kandahar have, since ancient times, formed an essential link and staging post on the shortest and easiest routes between Persia and India. From northern Parthia one travelled to Herat and then on to Kandahar. From southern Parthia the route travelled through Persepolis to Kandahar. The Persian name for the city was Kapisakaiš but it was renamed Alexandria after Alexander’s visit in 329 BCE and the present name, Kandahar, is ultimately derived from Alexandria
The city of Kandahar itself is located on the Tarnak River, one of the tributaries of the Helmand has, since early times, been a major centre of trade. The ancient city, which was sacked by Nadir Shah in 1738 was located about 6 km west of the present city and was the capital of the whole region since Achaemenid times. It was famous for its elephants which thrived in the hot and humid conditions (see below). Its’ pomegranates, melons and grapes are still deservedly famous throughout Afghanistan. There is also an abandoned gold mine about 3 km north of the city that may have had some importance in antiquity.
It appears that the Kushans never conquered this region and it remained under a series of semi-autonomous or autonomous Parthian rulers until the arrival of the Sasanians about 240 CE. See: Simonetta (1978), p. 186.
“Alexander moved on swiftly to Kandahar [from the west] to Kandahar, where he founded [or, rather, renamed!] another town, Alexandria in Arachosia (the part of Baluchistan which lies behind the Quetta Hills). Again, this has been a strategic site throughout Afghan history, and Kandahar has been occupied from then till now. In the old citadel, a temple to the deified Alexander has been discovered, along with an inscription in Greek and Aramaic by the Indian emperor Ashoka who lived a few decades after Alexander. (This is a place where the Indian and West Asian culture zones have always overlapped.) In the bazaar in the old town, the hakims (traditional doctors) claim descent from the doctors who went with Alexander – descendants of the physicians Philip and Critobulos. They still practise the Yunnani (Greek) herbal medicine which can be found right across Pakistan and North India.” Wood (1997), p. 136.
From Kandahar there were two main routes to the Indian subcontinent. One route ran northeast upstream along the Tarnak River past modern Ghazni to Kabul and, from there, through the Khyber Pass (1,067 m or 3,500 ft) into the Gandharan plains of northern Pakistan. The other ran southeast, via the relatively easy Khojak (2,707 m or 8,881 ft) and Bolan (1,798 m or 5,899 ft) passes, to the lower Indus River, in what is now southern Pakistan. All three passes are open all year.
“Those who go from Persia, from the kingdom of Horaçam (Khoraṣan), from Bohára,
and all the Western Regions, travel to the city which the natives corruptly call
Candar, instead of Scandar, the name by which the Persians call Alexander....” –
Barros, IV, vi. 1.” Yule and Burnell (1886), p. 154.
“A Persian army was reported to be massing for an attack on Herat in western Afghanistan [in 1836]. Encouraged, partly financed and probably officered by Russians, it looked as if the hour of reckoning might already be nigh. Herat could not be expected to hold out for long and, as Burnes knew only too well from his strategic studies, once Herat fell the easiest of approaches to India, that via Kandahar, would lie right open.” Keay (1977), pp. 142-143.
“Zaranj-Kandahar-Ghazni Route: The other important route from Zaranj [in the Helmand basin in Seistan] was the famous Kandahar route which still plays an important role in the political and economic system of modern Afghanistan and Pakistan. The main stages on this route were Bust Banjaway and Ghazni. This route went through the Garmsil region, that is, Zanbuk, Sanizan and Haruri on the left bank of the river Khwash. Between Haruri and Bust it crossed a desert. Between Bust and Banjaway of Rukhaj it crossed two tributaries of the Helmand namely the Arghandab and the Tarnak and reached Ghazni which was situated to the northeast of Banjaway.” Verma (1978), pp. 46-47.
Here is the account of the Hanshu on the Kingdom of Wuyishanli:
“The seat of
the king’s government is at . . . [the text seems to be defective here] and it
is distant by 12,200 li [5,073 km] from Ch’ang-an. It is not subject to
the protector general . . . [There are many] households, individuals and persons
able to bear arms, and it is a large state. To the north-east it is a distance
of 60 days’ journey to the seat of the protector general. It adjoins Chi-pin in
the east, P’u-t’ao in the north, and Li-kan and T’iao-chih in the west ; after
travelling for some one hundred days one then reaches T’iao-chih.. [a passage on
Tiaozhi (T’iao-chih) is inserted here in the Chinese text – in the middle of the
section on Wuyi].
The land of Wu-i is very hot ; it is covered in vegetation and flat. For matters such as grass, trees, stock-animals, the five field crops, fruit, vegetables, food and drink, buildings, market-stalls, coinage, weapons, gold and pearls, [conditions] are identical with those of Chi-pin, but there are antelope, lion and rhinoceros.
The way of life is such that a serious view is taken of arbitrary murder. The obverse of the coins shows only a human head with a rider on horseback on the reverse. Their staves are embellished with gold and silver.
[The state] is cut off and remote and Han envoys reach it only rarely. Proceeding by the Southern Route from the Yü-men and the Yang barriers, and travelling south through Shan-shan one reaches Wu-i-shan-li, which is the extreme point of the Southern Route; and turning north and then proceeding eastward one arrives at An-hsi.” CICA, pp. 112-113.
This description of the region of Kandahar (Arachosia) seems reasonably
accurate. Certainly it is hot and fertile. The mention of pearls is presumably a
reference an active trade in pearls,
though it is not clear whether they originated in the Persian Gulf or in Indian
waters. (They are
also mentioned in the account on Jibin – which was even further
The reference to the “serious view taken of arbitrary murder” is perhaps reflective of the influence of Buddhism. The early arrival of Buddhist ideals in the region is confirmed by a bilingual inscription (in both Greek and Aramaic) by Ashoka (died c. 238 BCE) which advocates a vegetarian diet and the avoidance of, or at least restraint in, the hunting and killing of animals.
I have been unable to find references to coins from Kandahar with the portrait of the king on one side and a horseman on the other, but the coinage of the area is poorly known. Certainly silver coins that would fit this description were issued by Eucratides I (c. 170-145 BCE) – probably from Taxila, and by the late 1st century CE Kushan monarch now known as Wima Taktu or Soter Megas, apparently issued from Balkh and/or Kapisha. So, it is quite possible that similar coins were circulating in, or were issued from, Kandahar during the time of the informant for the Hanshu.
The reference to lions and rhinoceros in the Hanshu is accurate. Lions were found in southeastern Iran until recent times. Rhinoceros, though now extinct in the region, were still being hunted in the Afridi hills northeast of Kandahar in the sixteenth century:
“c. 1555. –
“We came to the city of Purshawar, and having thus fortunately passed the
Kotal we reached the town of Joshāya. On the
Kotal we saw rhinoceroses, the size of a small elephant.” – Sidi ‘Ali, in
J. As. Ser. 1. tom. ix. 201.” Yule and Burnell (1886), p. 700.
“1519. – “After sending on the army towards the river (the Indus), I myself set off for Sawâti, which they likewise call Karnak-Khaneh (kark-khâna, ‘the rhinoceros-haunt’), to hunt the rhinoceros. We started many rhinoceroses, but as the country abounds in brushwood, we could not get at them. A she rhinoceros, that had whelps, came out, and fled along the plain; many arrows were shot at her, but... she gained cover. We set fire to the brushwood, but the rhinoceros was not to be found. We got sight of another, that, having been scorched in the fire, was lamed and unable to run. We killed it, and everyone cut off a bit as a trophy of the chase.” – Baber, 253.” Quoted from Baber in: Yule and Burnell (1886), p. 762. Also see Chandra (1977), p. 9.
The so-called “antelope” is discussed at some length by Hulsewé and Loewe
on page 114, n. 262. Unfortunately, they seem to have made a mistake with the
Chinese and rendered it tiaoba
[t’iao-pa] – first character GSR
1145o, instead of taoba 桃拔
[t’ao-pa] – first character GSR
1145u. In any case,
the important thing is that they point out that it was said to be another name
for the fuba, a specimen of which was sent as a present to Emperor Zhang
in 87 CE
by the king of Parthia. This was most probably the Persian or Goitered Gazelle –
Gazella subgutterosa. See note 10.5 below.
Kandahar and the associated district of Arachosia was not only of great importance because of its fertility in an otherwise barren region and its strategic position in controlling the main southern route between India and Persia. It also provided the hot and steamy conditions and abundant fodder needed for the breeding and raising of herds of war elephants along the Helmand River to the west of Kandahar.
“Suitable sites for elephant-parks are rare in both Syria and Afghanistan. And the Seleucids’ war-elephants, like the Ghaznavids,’ were sinews of war in the literal sense. In discussing Ashoka’s inscription at Qandahar, I have recalled that the first Seleucus ceded all his provinces west of Qandahar and south of the Hindu Kush to Chandragupta Maurya in exchange for 500 of the Indian emperor’s elephants; and the price in terms of ceded territory turned out not to be excessive from Seleucus’s point of view. Those 500 elephants were trumps. They won him his victory over his rival Antigonus ‘One-Eye.’ In fact, they won him his empire. No wonder that he and his successors took trouble to provide their elephants with congenial accommodation.” Toynbee (1961), p. 72.
6. Paizhi 排持 [P’ai-chih] or Paite 排特 [P’ai-t’e]. This may have been a transcription of some foreign name, but the reconstructed ancient pronunciations do not resemble any name known from other sources and neither of the characters in it are commonly used to transcribe foreign sounds. According to K. 579x + 961p, 排持 should have been pronounced something like: *b’εr-dəg. See CICA, p. 112, n. 250. Yu (1998), p. 168, however, suggests:
“In the Houhanshu, ch. 88, it is recorded: “[The state of Wuyishanli, which] covers several thousand li 里, has changed its name into Paite排特.” Similarly, the “Xirongzhuan” of the Weilue records that “Wuyi’s other name is Paichi” (持 is noted mistakenly as 持 in the original text). “Pai-te” [buəi-dək] can be read as a short transcription of “Prophthasia”.
However, I am not sure from which edition of the Hou Hanshu Yu got the form of the name: 排特 Paite, although it is known in other sources:
“This information [i.e. 排持 as an alternate name for Wuyi(shanli)] is found again in the Hou Hanshu (chap. CXVIII, p. 4b). The edition of the Sanguozhi, said to be of the Northern Song gives the reading Paite 排特 (critical notes of Qianlong).” Translated and adapted from Chavannes (1905), p. 555, n. 7.
The Shanghai edition of 1888 which Chavannes used; the Shanghai: Zhonghua shuju, Min guo 25 edition, and the Shanghai Zhonghua Shuju 1965 edition (reprint 1973), all have the same form: 排持 Paichi, which is also found in the Weilue. This form does not suggest the reconstruction of the name “Prophthasia.”
Another suggestion has been that排持 Paichi might have been a “slip of the pen” for 塞持 Saichi (literally: “Governed by the Sai/Saka”). However, I consider this unlikely, as the characters for Pai 排 and Sai 塞 not only look so different, but the reconstructed ancient pronunciations are also quite dissimilar, and unlikely to have been confused.
It is possible that the name should be considered literally. The character pai 排 (GR 8449) can have the meaning of ‘shield’ or ‘platoon(s), and chi 持 (GR 1872) means ‘to take in hand’, ‘to govern’, ‘maintain’, or ‘guard with firmness’. I suspect that this literal translation of the name is possibly the explanation for the name Paichi, and could possibly have represented something like “Guarded or governed by platoons”, or “Military Post”, being somewhat similar to the English military term, “Cantonment”. | <urn:uuid:d8ad857d-7ce1-4713-a54a-f428fc60c739> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://depts.washington.edu/silkroad/texts/hhshu/notes8.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396949.33/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00008-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953711 | 8,704 | 2.828125 | 3 |
Imagine if you were working on a 40-year-old computer at your office. Your IT department wouldn't even know what to do with it.
That's the problem NASA's Voyager mission faces. The spacecraft was built in 1975 and has a computer from the Atari age. The last guy who truly understands how to program it is 80-year-old NASA engineer Larry Zottarelli.
And he's retiring.
NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft is 20 billion kilometers away from Earth (in 2013, it became the first man-made object to leave the solar system). The primary mission of Voyager was to explore Jupiter and Saturn, but its mission was extended long beyond its intended purpose. Needless to say, it would be a little difficult to upgrade its on-board computer.
"It's like flying an Apple II computer," said Suzy Dodd, Voyager's project manager. "It should be in a museum."
Zottarelli has been on the Voyager mission since the day it launched: September 5, 1977. He works on Voyager's flight data systems, which have just 64 kilobytes of memory (0.000064 gigabytes) and run a long-since retired computer language.
To determine that Voyager 1 had left the solar system, the team had to listen to audio recorded by Voyager's 8-track tape recorder (interstellar space sounds different than the outer reaches of the solar system). But Voyager was only programmed to play back its recordings for 45 seconds twice a year. Dodd wanted to get Voyager to speed that up a bit.
Zottarelli was her guy.
"Larry is a puzzle solver," she said. "It's like Tetris. You have to figure out how all the blocks fit best together -- except when you put things in, you have to take other things off."
Understanding how to do that has been a huge challenge for the team of relative newbies. Dodd was just 16 years old when Voyager launched. Some of the instructions have gotten lost -- and manuals only go so far anyway.
"We often have questions about how something works," she said. "People who work on the project now don't know why something was built a certain way -- and with Voyager in its 38th year, it's hard to find the documentation that goes with it."
Virtually every document about Voyager was printed or written down on paper. Each time the Voyager team moved locations, some of the papers would be lost during the packing process.
Dodd has a secretary whose full-time job is scanning paper about Voyager into a document cloud system to make the manuals easily searchable. But engineers don't always write stuff down. Some Voyager engineers have passed away, taking the spacecraft's secrets with them.
For example, the Voyager team realized last decade that part of the spacecraft's flight software was going to turn off in 2010. Dodd called as many retired engineers on the Voyager team as she could, but no one remembered why that routine was programmed into Voyager.
Dodd and her team guessed that no one dreamed the mission would last as long as it has, and the team wanted to ensure that there was enough power for some of Voyager's other routines. She opted to override that command and keep Voyager running.
With Zottarelli retiring, the challenge is to bring someone on who knows older programming languages and isn't 80 years old.
"Finding people who can do that are few and far between," Dodd said.
Though NASA found a younger engineer who was brought on to work with Zottarelli for a year and eventually replace him, Dodd said it's an impossible task.
"No one will replace him," Dodd said. | <urn:uuid:eba84457-24a5-477c-801a-d2273467d5f5> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://money.cnn.com/2015/10/27/technology/voyager-nasa/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396945.81/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00162-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97985 | 753 | 3.40625 | 3 |
Older women have a higher risk of stroke than men and should strive to reduce that risk, say the first guidelines aimed specifically at preventing stroke in women.
Women share many of the same risk factors for stroke with men, but their chances of having a stroke can be increased by hormones, pregnancy and childbirth, said Cheryl Bushnell, M.D., associate professor of neurology at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem, N.C., who led the team of experts who developed the guidelines.
Women are also more likely than men to have high blood pressure, migraine with aura, atrial fibrillation, diabetes, depression and emotional stress, all of which also increase their stroke risk, according to the new guidelines published in the journal Stroke. Women tend to live longer than men, which helps explain why the risk of stroke in women ages 55 to 75 is higher in women than men.
Previous heart disease guidelines included information about preventing stroke in women, but the advice was buried within all the other recommendations, Bushnell told the Washington Post. “We wanted to take topics that are really women-specific and emphasize stroke and put it all in one guideline,” she said. Stroke is the third leading cause of death for women, who make up more than half of the 800,000 people in the United States who have a stroke each year, notes the American Heart Association (AHA). Even though women often have the same stroke symptoms as men, they may be more subtle, Bushnell pointed out to the Post. Plus, women are more likely than men to have difficulty speaking or communicating after a stroke.
To lessen their risk, women need to pay close attention to their blood pressure and have it treated if it’s high, Bushnell said. Other ways to reduce risk, per the new guidelines: Exercise regularly, don’t drink too much alcohol, don’t smoke, and eat a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, grains and olive oil and low in saturated fat (sound familiar?).
Among specific new guidelines that affect women over 50:
- Women who have migraine headaches with aura should stop smoking to avoid a higher risk of stroke.
- Women 75 or older should be screened for atrial fibrillation – an irregular heart rhythm – risk because of its link to a higher risk for stroke.
Stroke symptoms and warning signs
Women often fare worse than men when they have a stroke, so it’s important to know the symptoms. A stroke occurs when a blood vessel that carries oxygen and nutrients to the brain is either blocked by a clot or bursts, according to the AHA. When part of the brain is cut off from the blood, and thus the nutrients and oxygen, it needs, brain cells die. Stroke symptoms – such as weakness or numbness on one side of the body or difficulty talking – often develop suddenly and without warning. Sometimes they occur on and off over a day or two.
Because the best window of treatment is about three hours from the start of symptoms, it’s crucial to call 911 immediately if you suspect you or someone else is having a stroke. The longer the blood flow is cut off to the brain, the worse the damage. There are three types of stroke. Most strokes are ischemic, which means they happen when a blood clot blocks a blood vessel in the brain or an artery. If administered quickly, clot-busting drugs can greatly reduce the damage of this type of stroke.
A second type of stroke, hemorrhagic, occurs when a blood vessel in the brain breaks, causing bleeding in the brain. These strokes may require surgery. A third type of stroke is a transient ischemic attack (TIA); a TIA happens when blood to the brain is disrupted temporarily. Although symptoms may last for only an hour or so and go away, these ministrokes are often a warning sign that a major stroke could be on the way. If you have a TIA, you should always call your doctor or go to an emergency clinic right away.
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- Join AARP: Savings, resources and news for your well-being
See the AARP home page for deals, savings tips, trivia and more | <urn:uuid:06f379fe-3ace-496f-9b30-5dd6af4d2984> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://blog.aarp.org/2014/02/07/new-guidelines-aim-to-reduce-womens-stroke-risk/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395679.18/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00152-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947286 | 907 | 2.96875 | 3 |
Chicago — Jack Sheaffer likes to drive by the vacant lots, dilapidated buildings, and debris of West Madison Street in Chicago. There he sees a vision of hydroponic gardens and bustling industry, fed by the wastes of a great city.
''You've got to get all the loops,'' Mr. Sheaffer says. ''If you don't have all the loops, the city gets weaker and weaker. For 50 or 100 years, we've been draining our cities of resources.''
He's not talking about traffic ''loops'' in this case, but the streams of circular water systems he's designed, streams that he says solve ''the water crisis'' while enriching soil and powering business.
Sheaffer sees this approach as a small-scale, even private sector, way of rebuilding much of the country's infrastructure.
Outside of Chicago, in suburban Du Page County, he's proved the idea works. Visitors come from around the world to view his waste-treatment system at the 274-acre Hamilton Lakes complex in Itasca.
The community, with lots of green grass and foliage, is self-sufficient in water, returning its storm and waste water into the ground to replenish natural aquifers.
The Hamilton project was Sheaffer's answer to critics who said he could not repeat the success of a water system he built in 1973 in Muskegon, Mich., a city with high energy costs.
Now Sheaffer, a formy Army science adviser who helped design the original US Clean Water Act, is getting more chances to prove his ideas.
Construction will soon start on a federally funded circular system in Vineland, N.J., and plans are in place for another circular system at a high-tech center in Colorado.
If successful, the $24 million Vineland project will take the waste water of 50,000 people and return it to the soil.
In the process, the system will produce fuel and fertilize cornfields to offset costs.
''I think right now we're at the crossroads,'' says Sheaffer, who has spent more than a decade fighting traditional concepts of water treatment. ''We have the opportunity to do things right or go back to the old days.''
Here's how a circular system works: Water is drawn from natural shallow-aquifer wells replenished by rain and, after use, goes through a series of lakes where it is aerated and treated.
Then it is used for irrigation, finally filtering through the ground to recharge the aquifers.
There is no apparent discharge of polluted water into river systems, and no need to depend on costly pipelines.
The systems are designed to use storm water and eliminate flooding as well.
But many water engineers are not convinced of the concept's practicality. ''When you look at the flow designs, they make sense,'' says Allan Poole, water director of Naperville, a fast-growing city in Du Page County. ''But when you consider running it day-in and day-out, and the possibilities of ground-water contamination, you wonder.''
Mr. Poole and Sheaffer were on opposite sides of a controversy over piping lake water to Chicago's far western suburbs. Sheaffer claimed it wasn't necessary; Poole and officials of more than 20 suburbs said ground water was not sufficient to cover future growth.
At Hamilton Lakes, the Trammell Crow Corporation could not build a traditional water system because of restrictions on the local treatment plant. Trammell Crow called in Sheaffer, and spokesmen say the company is happy with the results. However, company officials add that as they build more structures on the land they may switch to a conventional system.
Sheaffer claims he can increase the system's capacity, and that other companies or communities can utilize golf course and park space for similar systems.
Airports are also potential water resources, Sheaffer says. He has drawn up plans to use an airport west of Chicago as the focus of a circular water system.
If the plan is approved, waste water will be pumped into lagoons and thence between runways to irrigate land, raising corn that he says could be processed into airplane fuel.
New technology developed in the Chicago area will make circular systems more cost-effective for such projects, Sheaffer claims.
A process called Photozone, now being used by missionaries in third-world countries, treats water without chlorine, using ultraviolet light.
Initial tests indicate it could provide low-cost treatment for water in the initial stage of Sheaffer's ''loop.''
''I always try to work on things from the standpoint of an overall philosophy ,'' said the former University of Chicago researcher, who last year cowrote a book called ''Future Water.''
He adds, ''I see wastes as resources.''
Shaeffer's ideas range from designs for an ''environmental'' house he plans to build for his family to thoughts about how to keep the proposed 1992 Chicago World's Fair watered and clean.
And while he prefers commuting by train, when he does drive a car downtown, he likes to drive along West Madison Street and dream. | <urn:uuid:1d9c6633-7188-4519-905b-e171c8424482> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.csmonitor.com/1984/1121/112119.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783403823.74/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155003-00083-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955262 | 1,043 | 2.71875 | 3 |
To colonists living in Savannah, the back country seemed like a very distant frontier. In the early 1760s the area north and west of Georgia’s coast previously inhabited by Native Americans was opened up for settlement. It was a wilderness where few whites lived. Steve Froehle, a frontier reenactor talks about settlers pouring south from Virginia and the Carolinas seeking economic opportunities that fresh lands offered. Betty Slaton of the Washington Historical Museum demonstrates open fire cooking techniques that back country residents would have used for baking biscuits and cakes. The style of houses settlers built, from dugouts that were basically holes in the ground to log cabins, are also discussed. The people who moved into the back country had to be self-reliant, determined, and strong to survive.
Teacher tip: After viewing the video, discuss the concepts of self-reliance and self-sufficiency. How are they different and how do individuals learn them? What would be the benefits of moving into territory that was virtually unknown at the time? | <urn:uuid:5f888726-9c62-44eb-8aae-848d0d6bf2c8> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.gpb.org/georgiastories/story/back_country_settlers | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397565.80/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00185-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974309 | 209 | 3.96875 | 4 |
PAPI PRESET Events
A Maintenance Guide
Preset events, also known as predefined events, are a common set of events deemed relevant and useful for application performance tuning. These events are typically found in many CPUs that provide performance counters and give access to the memory hierarchy, cache coherence protocol events, cycle and instruction counts, functional unit, and pipeline status. Furthermore, preset events are mappings from symbolic names (PAPI preset name) to machine specific definitions (native countable events) for a particular hardware resource. For example, Total Cycles (in user mode) is PAPI_TOT_CYC. Also, PAPI supports presets that may be derived from the underlying hardware metrics. For example, Total L1 Cache Misses (PAPI_L1_TCM) might be the sum of L1 Data Misses and L1 Instruction Misses on a given platform. A preset can be either directly available as a single counter, derived using a combination of counters, or unavailable on any particular platform.
The PAPI library names approximately 100 preset events, which are defined in the header file, papiStdEventDefs.h. For a given platform, a subset of these preset events can be counted through either a simple high-level programming interface or a more complete C or Fortran low-level interface. A table of the currently defined preset events can be found here. To determine exactly which preset events are available on a specific platform, run the papi_avail utility in the papi source distribution.
The exact semantics of an event are platform dependent. PAPI preset names are mapped onto available events so as to map as many countable events as possible on different platforms. Due to hardware implementation differences, it is not necessarily feasible to directly compare the counts of a particular PAPI preset event obtained on different hardware platforms.
The Event Definition File
The definitions of PRESET events are stored in a comma-separated-values (csv) text file called papi_events.csv. The csv format is commonly used to represent data arranged in rows and columns, such as a spreadsheet like Microsoft Excel. Each column in a row is separated by a comma from the next column, and rows are separated by line endings including CR, LF, or CRLF. csv files are human readable, can be edited with any text editor, and can be loaded into any application, such as Excel, that recognizes the format. The papi_events.csv file contains PRESET event definitions for all common cpus supported by PAPI.
Event tables are prefaced by one or more CPU names that are matched internally to PAPI to find the set of events appropriate for a given CPU. If there is more that one CPU name, they act as synonyms. There can also be more than one table with the same name. In such cases, the second table overrides or appends to the contents of the first table. With this feature, common tables for multiple similar architectures, such as Intel SandyBridge and IvyBridge, can be augmented with event definitions specific to a given architecture. Event tables consist of a series of event definitions as described below.
Specifying PRESET event definitions
The general format of the event table entries consists of comment rows, CPU identifier rows, and PRESET definition rows. These rows are further defined below:
PRESET,PAPI_SP_OPS,DERIVED_POSTFIX,N0|N1|4|*|N2|8|*|+|+|,FP_COMP_OPS_EXE:SSE_FP_SCALAR_SINGLE,FP_COMP_OPS_EXE:SSE_PACKED_SINGLE,SIMD_FP_256:PACKED_SINGLE This definition multiplies the second operator (FP_COMP_OPS_EXE:SSE_PACKED_SINGLE) by 4 and multiplies the third operator (SIMD_FP_256:PACKED_SINGLE) by eight and then adds these two values to the first operator (FP_COMP_OPS_EXE:SSE_FP_SCALAR_SINGLE) to form the sum of all single precision floating point operations for Intel SandyBridge.
Loading a papi_events.csv File
By default, the PAPI configuration script uses a simple shell script to convert the papi_events.csv file into a properly formed c header file, papi_events_table.h, which contains the PRESET event definitions. This file is then included in papi_libpfm_presets.c to provide built-in definitions for PRESET events. If you wish to load PRESET definitions at runtime instead of compile time, you have several options:
The csv data format is a handy and useful way to define PRESET events for PAPI cpu components. It’s also flexible enough to allow you to test alternate definitions for many basic PAPI events. Many of the principles behind the definition of DERIVED events for PAPI PRESETS are also applicable for USER DEFINED events as well. Future directions for PRESET events may include expanding the existing table of events for cpus, or extending the PRESET model to other component domains. | <urn:uuid:0cca27c9-0098-4c5c-9210-1396836afa47> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://icl.cs.utk.edu/projects/papi/wiki/PAPITopics:PRESETS | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398873.39/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00153-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.878475 | 1,101 | 2.5625 | 3 |
Constant of Proportionality
Definition of Constant of Proportionality
If a quantity x is proportional (directly) to another quantity y, then x is written as x = ky, where k is called the Constant of Proportionality.
More About Constant of Proportionality
- The constant ratio between two quantities is also called as constant of proportionality i.e. if x is proportional (directly) to y, then k = x/y.
- The constant of proportionality can never be zero.
Video Examples: The Constant of Proportionality
Example of Constant of Proportionality
Circumference (C) of a circle is proportional to its diameter (d). Circumference of a circle is given as
C =πd where π is the constant of proportionality.
Solved Example on Constant of Proportionality
Ques: Ethan pays $30 per day for his stay in a hotel. Identify the constant of proportionality that relates his rental charges (y) to the number of days (x) he stays in the hotel.
D. x and y
Correct Answer: C
Step 1: As the rental charges and the number of days vary directly, the equation is of the form y = kx, where k is the constant of proportionality.
Step 2: y = (30)x [Substitute k = 30.]
Step 3: y = 30x is the direct variation model that relates the rental charges to the number of days.
Step 4: Therefore, 30 is the constant of proportionality. | <urn:uuid:32143c61-b0a7-4321-8e4f-3271103e8e2b> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.icoachmath.com/math_dictionary/constant_of_proportionality.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783400572.45/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155000-00170-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.897942 | 328 | 4.15625 | 4 |
Red-light-sensitive protein enables noninvasive neuron studies
July 9, 2014
MIT engineers have developed the first light-sensitive protein molecule that enables neurons to be silenced noninvasively. Using a light source outside the skull makes it possible to do long-term studies without an implanted light source.
The protein, known as Jaws, also allows a larger volume of tissue to be influenced at once. The researchers described the protein in Nature Neuroscience.
Optogenetics, a technology that allows scientists to control brain activity by shining light on neurons, relies on opsins, light-sensitive proteins that act as channels or pumps that influence electrical activity by controlling the flow of ions in or out of cells.
Researchers insert a light source, such as an optical fiber, into the brain to suppress or stimulate electrical signals within cells. This technique requires a light source to be implanted in the brain, where it can reach the cells to be controlled. The neurons to be studied must be genetically engineered to produce the opsins.
Also, inserting optical fibers into the brain “displaces brain tissue and can lead to side effects such as brain lesion, neural morphology changes, glial inflammation and motility, or aseptic compromise,” the researchers say in the paper.
In addition, such implants can be difficult to insert and can be incompatible with many kinds of experiments, such as studies of development, during which the brain changes size, or of neurodegenerative disorders, during which the implant can interact with brain physiology. And it is difficult to perform long-term studies of chronic diseases with these implants.
The new noninvasive approach could pave the way to using optogenetics in human patients to treat epilepsy and other neurological disorders, the researchers say, although much more testing and development is needed. Led by Ed Boyden, an associate professor of biological engineering and brain and cognitive sciences at MIT, and a member of MIT’s Media Lab and the McGovern Institute for Brain Research,
Most of the natural opsins now used for optogenetics respond best to blue or green light. Boyden’s team had previously identified two light-sensitive chloride ion pumps that respond to red light, which can penetrate deeper into living tissue (red light is less absorbed by hemoglobin, myoglobin, and lipid than blue, green, or yellow wavelengths). However, these molecules, found in the bacteria Haloarcula marismortui and Haloarcula vallismortis, did not induce a strong enough photocurrent — an electric current in response to light — to be useful in controlling neuron activity.
So graduate student Amy Chuong set out to improve the photocurrent by looking for relatives of these proteins and testing their electrical activity. She then engineered one of these relatives by making many different mutants. The result of this screen, the “Jaws” protein, retained its red-light sensitivity but had a much stronger photocurrent — enough to shut down neural activity.
“This exemplifies how the genomic diversity of the natural world can yield powerful reagents that can be of use in biology and neuroscience,” says Boyden. Using this opsin, the researchers were able to shut down neuronal activity in the mouse brain with a light source outside the animal’s head. The suppression occurred as deep as 3 millimeters in the brain, and was just as effective as that of existing silencers that rely on other colors of light delivered via conventional invasive illumination.
A key advantage to this opsin is that it could enable optogenetic studies of animals with larger brains, says Garret Stuber, an assistant professor of psychiatry and cell biology and physiology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. “In animals with larger brains, people have had difficulty getting behavior effects with optogenetics, and one possible reason is that not enough of the tissue is being inhibited,” he says. “This could potentially alleviate that.”
Working with researchers at the Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research in Switzerland, the MIT team also tested Jaws’s ability to restore the light sensitivity of retinal cells called cones. In people with a disease called retinitis pigmentosa, cones slowly atrophy, eventually causing blindness.
Friedrich Miescher Institute scientists Botond Roska and Volker Busskamp have previously shown that some vision can be restored in mice by engineering those cone cells to express light-sensitive proteins. In the new paper, Roska and Busskamp tested the Jaws protein in the mouse retina and found that it more closely resembled the eye’s natural opsins and offered a greater range of light sensitivity, making it potentially more useful for treating retinitis pigmentosa.
This type of noninvasive approach to optogenetics could also represent a step toward developing optogenetic treatments for diseases such as epilepsy, which could be controlled by shutting off misfiring neurons that cause seizures, Boyden says. However, since these molecules come from species other than humans, “many studies must be done to evaluate their safety and efficacy in the context of treatment,” he says.
Boyden’s lab is working with other research groups to further test the Jaws opsin for other applications. The team is also seeking new light-sensitive proteins and is working on high-throughput screening approaches that could speed up the development of such proteins.
The research at MIT was funded by Jerry and Marge Burnett, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the Human Frontiers Science Program, the IET A. F. Harvey Prize, the Janet and Sheldon Razin ’59 Fellowship of the MIT McGovern Institute, the New York Stem Cell Foundation-Robertson Investigator Award, the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, and the Wallace H. Coulter Foundation.
MIT | Associate Professor of Biological Engineering and Brain and Cognitive Sciences Ed Boyden explains optogenetics and how it is used in neurological research. | <urn:uuid:28137c75-ea6f-4e2d-ad88-61c227ee651e> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.kurzweilai.net/red-light-sensitive-protein-enables-noninvasive-neuron-studies | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397696.49/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00058-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937951 | 1,228 | 3.015625 | 3 |
Amateur Radio (also called Ham Radio) is the use of designated radio frequency spectrum for purposes of private recreation, non-commercial exchange of messages, wireless experimentation, self-training, and emergency communication. The term "amateur" is used to specify persons interested in radio technique solely with a personal aim and without pecuniary interest, and to differentiate it from commercial broadcasting, public safety (such as police and fire), or professional two-way radio services (such as maritime, aviation, taxis, etc.).
Some sites to get an idea of what Ham Radio is about:
American Radio Relay League
What is Ham Radio?
EmergencyRadio.org - Learn how Amateur Radio can help in emergency situations--from fires to tornadoes and hurricanes.
WeDoThat-Radio.org - The DIY Magic of Amateur Radio.
Wikipeda Amateur Radio - Covers history, activities, practices, licensing, in space, and Amateur Radio in pop culture.
LEARA Training Classes
No classes planned at this time.
Throughout the history of Amateur Radio many more experienced members of the ham radio community have mentored newer members in every facet of the hobby. These mentors are known as "Elmers." LEARA has a group of Elmers who are ready and waiting to assist beginners and those willing to learn more about Amateur Radio.
If you (or someone you know) is a new licensee or is thinking of becoming an Amateur Radio operator and would like assistance, please send an e-mail message to LEARA's Elmers or contact Marv - W8AZO. If there is no answer, please leave a message that includes:
- Your name.
- Call sign. If not yet a ham, indicate that you are interested in becoming one.
- What kind of help you need (e.g.: basic operation, radio/antenna set-up & tuning, CW practice, etc.).
- Your home address. This will be used so we may match you with a nearby "Elmer."
- A phone number where the "Elmer" may contact you.
- Any other details that might help us choose the proper Elmer for you.
How do I get my Ham Radio license?
You can get your Ham Radio license in three easy steps:
- Study the question pools or training manuals.
- Take practice tests.
- Find an exam session near you.
Question Pools & Training Materials
To obtain an Amateur Radio license or upgrade your current license class, you'll need to be aware of the material that will appear on the exam. The ARRL VEC Question Pools include all possible questions you might see on the exam. The Question Pools change every few years, so if you've put down the books for a while, you should get the latest questions.
The latest ARRL VEC Question Pools are available for free and for all Amateur Radio license classes. There are three classes: Technician (entry level), General, and Extra. Each license class gives you more privileges and frequencies in which you can operate. The ARRL Question Pools are simply the questions and answers. They do not include explanations of the questions and answers as you would find in a training manual. The ARRL and W5YI offer excellent training manuals for every Amateur Radio license class.
A free alternative to the license manuals are the "No-Nonsense Study Guides." They are available for the Kindle, Nook, or PDF.
Once you feel you know the material well enough, you can take some online sample tests. The HamExam testing system will track your progress and give you an idea of how well you're doing.
Don't take just one practice test because the question selection for the actual exam is random. Take multiple sample tests to make sure you know the material thoroughly. Another popular site for practice exams is QRZ.
Exam Testing Sessions
Once you feel you know the questions well enough and have passed sample tests, you're ready to take your exam. Both the ARRL and W5YI websites keep listings of testing sessions. Check these sites couple times a month as they are frequently updated.
Once you've decided on a date and location, contact the Volunteer Exam Coordinator (VEC) to reserve a seat at that session. Even if walk-ins are allowed, it's still a good idea to contact the VEC to verify information such as: location, directions, date, start time, testing fee, valid forms of ID, and test you plan on taking so the VEC has enough copies. You definitely need to contact the VEC ahead of time if you have any special needs or any assistance is required in completing the exam; such as a large print edition. For the exam session you are allowed to bring pens or pencils (preferred- so you can change answers) and a basic or scientific calculator. You are not allowed to bring calculators that store programs or text. The testing fee for the exams is about $15.
Once you've passed your exam and received your license, you're ready to become a LEARA member! Congratulations! | <urn:uuid:756e2a61-2a9b-43d2-8f66-d907d506af90> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.leara.org/licensing-and-education | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398209.20/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00093-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.922063 | 1,050 | 3.09375 | 3 |
Create maps of the areas mentioned in the book. Use the details supplied by Bradford and also refer to early published maps to better understand the territories of the Pilgrims, Dutch and Native Americans.
Learn about Native American History
Learn about Native American history. Focus on the tribes mentioned in the story such as the Pequot, Massachusetts, Narragansett, Mohicans, etc.
Visit a Native American Historical Site
Visit a Native American historical site in or around the Plymouth Plantation. Go there on a field trip or use the internet to research the sites in the area.
Learn About Petroglyphs
Learn about petroglyphs created by the early Native American tribes. Compare them to the history documented by Bradford and other whites.
Create a Puzzle
Create a historically based crossword puzzle based on the activities and people at Plymouth Plantation.
Write a Short Story
Write a short story from...
This section contains 513 words
(approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) | <urn:uuid:c1f9fce4-f219-485d-8f15-61d30ef2c16b> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.bookrags.com/lessonplan/of-plymouth-plantation-1620-1647/funactivities.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783399522.99/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154959-00036-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.911431 | 210 | 4.125 | 4 |
Female insects have one goal in life: to find the best place to lay their eggs. For fig wasps, that is the developing fruit of the luscious fig plant. However, when one particular parasitic fig wasp (Apocryta westwoodi grandi) descends onto a recently fertilised fruit, she has to bore her way through the tough unripe fig to find the larvae of other insects that are already developing within, which she will then parasitize to give her own eggs the best start. Fortunately, the insect's immensely long (7-8mm) and slender (~15 μm) ovipositor - which injects eggs into the fig - is equipped with a sharp tip, ready to bore through the woody fruit. However, Namrata Gundiah from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, was intrigued by the differences between the egg delivery systems of the boring parasitoid wasps and the wasps that pollinate the fig's flowers. 'Our first question was what are the different adaptations that these two species undergo?' says Gundiah. She publishes her discovery that the tiny fig wasps are equipped with a zinc tipped drill bit for boring in The Journal of Experimental Biology at http://jeb.
Teaming up with graduate student Laksminath Kundanati, Gundiah used scanning electron microscopy to take a high resolution look at the tips of the insects' ovipositors and was amazed to see that the end of the boring wasp's ovipositor looked like a drill bit, complete with teeth to bore through the woody fruit. In contrast, the tip of the pollinator wasp's ovipositor closely resembled a spoon-like structure. And, when they looked along the length of the borer's ovipositor, Kundanati and Gundiah noticed tiny pits in the shaft, roughly in the location where the structure bends as the female drives the tip into the fruit to allow the ovipositor to flex without breaking. They could also clearly see sensory structures at the tip that could help guide the ovipositor to the best locations for the wasp to lay her eggs.
Next, the duo investigated the material from which the drill bit was made. 'We asked what could enhance the hardness of the structures', recalls Gundiah. Focusing a beam of electrons on the minute tip, Kundanati and Gundiah recorded the X-ray spectra emitted by the material and discovered that the tooth structures were enriched with zinc. 'Zinc mainly increases the hardness, which will affect the wear resistance of the drill bits', explains Gundiah.
Kundanati and Gundiah then prodded the minute drill bit with an atomic force microscope (AFM) probe to indent it to measure how hard the zinc-enriched teeth were. Gundiah admits that pinpointing the tiny teeth on the miniscule curved structure was particularly challenging: 'Usually, AFM is done on relatively large surfaces and so it doesn't matter where you go and indent the material', chuckles Gundiah. But eventually the duo recorded the hardness of the teeth at 0.5 GPa: 'That is almost as hard as the acrylic cement used for dental implants', says Gundiah.
Finally, knowing that the females impale unripe figs with their ovipositors many times during the course of their lives, Gundiah decided to measure the buckling forces exerted on the slender structure as the female drives the ovipositor in. Kundanati filmed the tiny wasps on fig trees around the institute campus by attaching a microscope objective to a video camera. He clearly saw the slender structures bend and flex as the insect drove it in and calculated that the 15 μm diameter structure can tolerate buckling forces of almost 7 μN.
Having characterised the fig wasp's drill bit, Gundiah is keen to design a minute boring tool based on the lessons that she has learned from the insects.
IF REPORTING THIS STORY, PLEASE MENTION THE JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL BIOLOGY AS THE SOURCE AND, IF REPORTING ONLINE, PLEASE CARRY A LINK TO: http://jeb.
REFERENCE: Kundanati, L. and Gundiah, N. (2014). Biomechanics of substrate boring by fig wasps. J. Exp. Biol. 217, 1946-1954.
This article is posted on this site to give advance access to other authorised media who may wish to report on this story. Full attribution is required, and if reporting online a link to jeb.biologists.com is also required. The story posted here is COPYRIGHTED. Therefore advance permission is required before any and every reproduction of each article in full. PLEASE CONTACT email@example.com | <urn:uuid:f1ef2479-3b1c-4896-91e5-d84d31b22dcc> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2014-05/tcob-pfw052214.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393332.57/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00120-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942732 | 987 | 3.609375 | 4 |
Science in Christian Perspective
Man, like all other forms of life, is influenced by his environment. This environment is made up of the social as well as the physical surroundings. However, man, in turn, through his superior intellect, can influence and alter this environment. He has done this frequently in the past in order to contribute to his immediate welfare, but many times, in the case of the physical environment, he has disregarded the long-term effect of his interference. Since the influence of the environment may become more critical as the human population increases, some of the more obvious limitations of the physical environment will be presented here briefly, followed by a discussion of the less obvious effects of the social and psychological environment on the physiology.
The availability of food and water has a strong influence on all living things. This factor is of most critical or primary importance in any consideration of increasing populations and is currently a serious problem for many peoples of the earth. A man can live for about 12 days without water (1) and somewhat longer than a month without food (2) under optimum conditions of temperature and rest and for varying lengths of time with inadequate or reduced diets. The availability of food is influenced by the meteorological conditions. In the extreme hot and cold barren areas of the earth the small amounts of existing life available for food will support a limited number of men.
In addition to its effect on other animals and plants, climate has a direct effect on man. Since man cannot adapt biologically to these extremes, he must construct elaborate cultural buttresses for protection. All this increases greatly the effort required to survive in such climates.
Another environmental factor is the gaseous content of the inspired air. For man, a decrease of oxygen concentration or pressure by one half, poses a serious problem as does the increase of carbon dioxide to as little as 3 percent of the inspired air for any length of time. This is not generally a problem for man except when he goes below or far above sea level but could conceivably become a problem due to large-scale manipulation by man.
The problem of adequate physical space has disturbed man thus far only when he voluntarily insisted on living in crowded areas or was forced to do so by manmade boundaries such as immigration quotas and socioeconomic patterns. Man's need for space may be more sociological and psychological than it is physiological. Certainly a high population density creates more human encounters and limits freedom, therefore it would seem axiomatic that more social and psychological problems would develop. This is borne out by studies of both animal (3) and human behavior. But in addition to affecting behavior there is evidence that these social and psychological problems created by a high population density, also create tensions that affect the physiological functions of the body. This will be discussed later. In addition to the direct effect of limited space on man is its effect on the biotic world and thus on man's food supply. An example of this effect is the'need of plants for space for roots and foliage and of some animals for more than one environment or location in order to complete their life cycles.
In the process of changing his own environment man has frequently altered the environment of plants and animals. This includes altering the water supply through massive earth removal projects or destruction of forests, cutting off the sun, poisoning the air and water with industrial wastes (4), and by numerous other means. By such acts man has hindered die growth and survival of plants and animals which at the same time decreased his own food supply. He also has upset the balances of nature by destroying certain species in an area, encouraging the population growth of another species upon which it feeds, which may then become a plant of animal pest of man (5).
The following example of man's disturbance of the intricate balance of nature is taken from a college biology text (6).
"In protecting domestic animals and expressing a dislike for certain kinds, man may have killed off as far as possible all hawks, owls, wolves, foxes, coyotes, mountain lions and snakes from an area. As a result the grass on which he sought to pasture his herd went into decline because there was no longer any appreciable check on the mouse and grasshopper population. No hawks, owls, foxes, and snakes meant more mice which scoured the region thoroughly for grass seeds to feed their increasingly numerous young and thereby stopped the grass from maintaining its normal rate of reproduction. And by killing off the wolves, mountain lions and coyotes there was not an adequate check on the deer and elk population which soon increased beyond the number for which there was food. As a result, they frantically chewed on the young growth of every tree within reach on the mountainside and killed off the forest so thoroughly that the snow melted and ran off in eroding streams early in the summer, leaving the grass lands dry and parched later in the season, because the water had
*Presented at the Sixteenth Annual Convention of the American Scientific Affiliation held at Houghton, New York, August, 1961.
**Dr. Kreider was with the U, S. Army Quartermaster Research and Engineering Center, Natick, Massachusetts. Present address is U. S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine, Natick, Massachusetts.
By such action man has decreased the potential food supply which is already short in many parts of the earth. It is very essential that the indifference of the past concerning the destruction of other living things, be replaced by a planned farming of the land and water and proper disposal of harmful wastes. With an increasing human population, the balance of nature will become more difficult to maintain and could conceivably be the limiting factor on human population growth. Lack of food would serve as a stressful situation decreasing the general health and vitality and the reproductive potential.* This is supported by many studies concerning the effects of stress on the body (7).
Apart from these limiting factors of the physical environment are the physiological effects on the physiology of the sociopsychological stresses which exist in a society of high population density. No one needs to be convinced that man suffers from social and emotional tensions and stresses. The development of peptic ulcers and the ejection and riddance response of the large bowel give evidence of harmful results of nervous stresses. Wolff (8) described this ejection and riddance response. He said "a given subject confronted by overwhelming environmental demands may elaborate a pattern of ejection. Thus a person who has taken on more than he can handle or feels inadequate to the demands of his life situation or a thwarted person filled with hatred, defiance, contempt and the unconscious need to be rid of a threatening or overwhelming situation, yet passive withal, may suffer from diarrhea." This person though outwardly calm is "sitting on a powder keg" of intense hostility, resentment and guilt. This "ejection response" is a sign of mental disorder and breakdown. Dr. Wolff also states that it is the pressure of competition for social position and economic security that shortens man's life over that of his wife who is spared much of this by the pattern of our present social structure. There is also some evidence that stress hinders reproductivity in humans. Menstrual upsets during emotionally stressful periods or the development of pregnancy after a change of environment in women who previously did not become pregnant are the most obvious examples.
It would seem axiomatic that as our population density increases so would also increase these same pressures and tensions of life which would then certainly be 11stressor agents" in the General Adaptation Syndrome of Selye (7). The following is a brief explanation of the general response to stress. Normal healthy animals, including man, at rest demand of their bodies only a low level of activity. There are, however, numerous stressor agents such as nervous tensions, wounds, infections, poisons, cold, and muscular exercise which produce a high level of activity. One specific function or structure may be affected more than others, but there will also be a general increase of the level of many functions. The body attempts to overcome the stimulat ing effects of these stresses and return to the original resting level or "steady state" even though the stressor agents are still there. In this the nervous and endo crine systems play a particularly important part. The General Adaptation Syndrone is the total of the changes caused by the stress plus the body's adaptive reactions. This syndrome develops in 3 stages: (1) the alarm reaction. This is the initial response to the stress. An example of only one of the many functions that might be affected in general, is the blood pressure. A sudden sharp change, either increase or decrease, might be expected in this stage. (2) The stage of resistance. Here the individual continues to perform in spite of the heavier load and increase in the rate of "wear and tear." To follow through on our example, the blood pressure would return towards normal. If the stress persists long enough, the third stage would ensue. (3) The stage of exhaustion. Here there is failure of certain functions. It would appear that reserve energy is drawn from those functions less immediately vital to the individual, such as reproduction, growth and resistance to infectious disease and parasitism in order to supply energy for the essential functions. However, if the stressor is not withdrawn other functions may be affected and incanacita tion and death mav result.
Pure sociopsychological factors in a population of high density serve as stressor agents producing deterioration of numerous reproductive functions, decrease of resistance to disease, and actual death so as to regulate population growth. (9, 10). However, only experimental evidence for the deterioration of the reproductive capacity will be presented here. Thus as early as 1931 Crew and Mirshaia (11) compared the reproductive functions of numerous small laboratory animals in dense populations with those of animals in sparse populations, and reported that in high population densities reproduction of female mice was depressed. Also when male albino mice, which have been segregated since weaning, are placed together in groups of 1, 4, 8, 16, 32 per cage for a week, there is atrophy of the gonads and sex accessories in the dense populations, which progresses more or less linearly as the logarithm of the population increases. Similar results were obtained in populations of wild house mice (9).
Andervont (10) reported that in a group of females, estrus cycles began at an earlier age, were more frequent and lasted until a greater age in segregated mice than in their litter mates kept in groups of 8 each in a normal mouse cage. In another series of experiments, no young were produced and no females became visibly pregnant when mice were crowded 20 males to 20 females to a cage for 6 weeks, although abundant food and water were available. When the population size
was reduced to 10 males and 10 females all of the females became pregnant, but the number of implanted ova was reduced significantly and only 7 of the 10 females developed pups (9). The remainder lost their progeny in utero during the early stages of pregnancy. The onset of pregnancy was also considerably delayed in these animals. Therefore, there was decreased fertility, decreased implantation and a marked increase in intro-uterine mortality. Futhermore, after the young were born, there was a decrease in lactation in white mice and voles as measured by the weight of the young in comparison to the young of a group of mothers not previously crowded (9). In males where the weight of the reproductive organs is indicative of reproductive stimulation and capacity there was a decrease in organ weight. Finally the results show that some small animals respond to increased population density by a depression of reproductive function at all stages of the processes.
The effect of social stress within a population was also studied by comparing the socially dominant and subordinate animals. When house mice are placed together there is immediate fighting, which soon ceases with the establishment of a social hierarchy with one mouse dominant over the other and another subordinate to all of the others. The remaining mice arrange themselves in some sort of hierarchy in between. The subordinate animals were frequently placed under stress of having to cower before the more dominant animals. It was found that the reproductive organs were heavier and reproductive performance was best in the socially dominant females in each population even though they were obliged to fight more to maintain their status (9).
Christian (9) studied these effects on reproductivity and also the evidence of decreased resistance to disease and increased mortality which result from sociopsychological stresses in a population of high density, and concluded that the underlying mechanism involves the neuroendocrine system. He describes the process as follows: Social pressure works through the hypothalamus of the central nervous system and the anterior lobe of the pituitary gland to stimulate three basic actions of the "alarm reaction." They are as follows: (1) decrease of production and release of growth hormone, (2) decrease of production and release of gonadotrophins, and (3) increase of production of the adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH). These responses represent the "stage of exhaustion" and produce their effects in the following way (Figure 1): As a result of the decrease in growth hormone there is a withdrawal of the stimulus for growth and metabolic activity which in turn suppresses antibody production, phagocytosis, inflammation and granulation eventuating in decreased resistance to disease and increased mortality. This then has the effect of slowing or limiting the population increase. Through another basic response to stress, a decrease in gonadotrophins, there is a withdrawal of stimulus to the reproductive organs so that there is a suppression of spermatogenesis, estrus and sex steroids which decreases fertility, fecundity, maturity, and lactation. As a result, the population increase is checked by a second effect, a decrease in the birth and survival of new individuals. Through the third mechanism, an increase in ACTH stimulation, there is an increased production of corticosteroids by the adrenal cortex. This potentiates both of the previous effects: the suppression of metabolism, which decreases the resistance to disease, and, at the same time, depression of reproductive function. The result is further decrease in population through a decrease in birth and survival of new individuals and an increase in the death rates.
Much evidence for the above pattern is found in animal studies (9) but little definitive knowled ge is available for humans. Even though there are many parallels in the responses of animals and humans, caution must be exercised in applying these mechanisms to man. However, even if they do apply to man it is hoped that the human population will never become so dense that these mechanisms will be called into operation to any large extent since it would result in an increase in the incidence of nervous and degenerative diseases and in early death.
From the foregoing discussion it may be concluded
that as the population increases the physical factors of
the environment such as food, water, atmosphere, and
living space will become more critical and may limit
the population. At the same time social and psychological stresses will increase and may produce a reduction of reproductive capacity, resistance to disease and
longevity through neuroendocrine pathways as implied
from animal studies.
1. Adolph, E. F., and Associates. Physiology of Man in the Desert. Interscience, 1947.2. Benedict, F. G. A Study of Prolonged Fasting. Carnegie Institute of Washington, 1915.
5. Andy, J. R. In Farber, S. M., and R. H. L. Wilson. The Air We Breathe - A Study of Man and His Environment. Thomas, 1961.
6. Milne, L. J., and M. Milne. The Biotic World and Man. Prentice-Hall, 1958.7. Selye, H. The Stress of Life. McGraw-Hill, 1956. | <urn:uuid:def39d48-65b2-4b77-aa5b-f6fb22cfe16e> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.asa3.org/ASA/PSCF/1962/JASA6-62Kreider.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397213.30/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00168-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.9586 | 3,243 | 3.25 | 3 |
The late Jerome Lemelson was a renowned and prolific inventor. Born in 1923, Lemelson amassed more than 550 patents covering a range of creations, from automated manufacturing systems to cassette players, from crying baby dolls to camcorders, from fax machines to personal computers.
In 1954 and 1956 Lemelson lodged patent applications that described, according to court papers, "specific methods and apparatus for performing the inspection and measurement of objects". One possible application was the scanning of bar codes.
The 1954 patent was abandoned, but its successor was granted in 1969. The 1956 patent was granted in 1963 – but not before further text and drawings were added. Critics accused Lemelson of manipulating the patent system by constantly amending his pending patent filings as new products came to market. These "continuations-in-part" continued until 1993.
The patents were known as "submarine patents" because they spent so long in the unfathomable depths of the US Patent and Trademark Office. They were assigned, along with numerous other patents, to the Lemelson Medical, Education & Research Foundation, set up by Lemelson's estate when he died in 1997.
Around 1998, the Foundation began sending letters to Symbol Technologies and Cognex Corporation, claiming that their products infringed upon the Foundation's patents. They were not the only ones: the Foundation has sued over 800 businesses, according to Bloomberg News, and has to date received over $1 billion in licence fees. This money is used for philanthropic purposes, "to inspire, encourage and recognize inventors, innovators and entrepreneurs," according to the Foundation's website.
Symbol and Cognex fought the Foundation.
Symbol is a manufacturer of bar code readers. Cognex is a large supplier of a machine vision systems. Machine vision is the ability of a computer to 'see', often using robots equipped with video cameras, analogue-to-digital conversion and digital signal processing for purposes such as medical image analysis.
Symbol and Cognex separately filed legal actions asking the court to declare that their products did not infringe upon the patents. In 2000 the cases were consolidated, together with the claims of seven other bar code manufacturers.
Cognex and the bar code manufacturers argued that the patents were invalid because they infringed a doctrine known as "prosecution laches", described by the court as "an equitable doctrine based on the unreasonableness of the delay in prosecuting a patent application".
In January 2004, the Nevada District Court found in favour of the manufacturers. According to Judge Philip Pro, Lemelson's delay in prosecuting its claims was "unreasonable and unjustified" and prosecution laches did apply.
Said the Judge, "Decades of delay preceded the assertion of patent claims and Lemelson has offered no adequate explanation for that delay".
The Foundation appealed, and on Friday the Appeals Court for the Federal Circuit upheld the earlier ruling.
“There are no strict time limitations for determining whether continued refiling of patent applications is a legitimate utilisation of statutory provisions or an abuse of those provisions,” said Judge Alan D Lourie, giving the Court ruling.
He gave examples of legitimate reasons for refiling a patent application, including:
- The filing of a divisional application in response to a requirement for restriction;
- The refiling of an application containing rejected claims to show evidence of unexpected advantages of the invention that did not exist previously;
- To add subject matter to support broader claims as an invention develops; or
- For other reasons where the refiling is not unduly successive or repetitive.
However, “refiling an application solely containing previously-allowed claims for the business purpose of delaying their issuance can be considered an abuse of the patent system,” wrote the judge.
Judge Lourie's opinion added that this is particularly the case where repetitive refilings show a pattern of "unjustifiably delayed prosecution."
Jesse J Jenner, who led the team of lawyers representing the plaintiffs, called the ruling “the right decision”.
“As a result of the Federal Circuit decision, hundreds of other companies that have been sued or threatened by litigation should now be free of the Lemelson infringement threats,” he said. | <urn:uuid:8227a6aa-f6f9-4082-a9d6-cea08ff77269> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.out-law.com/page-6111 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783402746.23/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155002-00162-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958027 | 863 | 2.65625 | 3 |
When Baby has Diarrhea – Feeding a Baby to Help Stop and Alleviate Baby Diarrhea
Diarrhea in infants can be a very worrisome occurrence as most parents fear dehydration and the worsening of painful diaper rash. When baby has diarrhea, many parents wonder what foods may help “bind” baby up and stop the diarrhea.
What are the possible cause of diarrhea in babies?
Children can have acute and chronic forms of diarrhea. Infection with the rotavirus is the most common cause of acute childhood diarrhea. Rotavirus diarrhea usually resolves itself within 3 to 10 days. Children who are 6 to 32 weeks old can be vaccinated against the rotavirus with a vaccine called Rotateq. Here are a few of the common causes of diarrhea:
- food sensitivities
- functional bowel disorders
If your child has diarrhea, do not hesitate to call the doctor for advice. Diarrhea is especially dangerous in newborns and infants, leading to dehydration in just a day or two. A child can die from dehydration within a few days. The main treatment for diarrhea in children is rehydration to replace lost fluid quickly. NDDCHI
What foods should you feed a baby when he has diarrhea? What foods should you avoid when baby has diarrhea?
Please offer your baby small meals when he has diarrhea. Offering smaller meals will allow baby’s digestive system to work slowly. The tiny intestines and still fragile digestive system will take a bit of time to get back on track and healed. Don’t worry if it takes 3 to 4 days for your baby’s stools to get back to “normal”; healing takes time.
B.R.A.T – When baby has diarrhea, remember B.R.A.T.
Bananas – Rice – Applesauce – Toast
The foods that make up the B.R.A.T diet are those foods that will help cause the bulking and hardening of the stool. These foods include grains, and certain fruits. Below are more foods that will help firm-up and bind baby’s stools when diarrhea occurs.
- Rice and/or Homemade Rice Cereal
- Breads – specifically toasted breads
- White potato
Foods to Avoid with Infant Diarrhea
Avoid any foods that are used to help alleviate constipation and certain fruits as well. Below is a list of foods to avoid when baby has diarrhea:
- dairy products (yogurt is the exception due to its helpful bacteria – consult your baby’s pediatrician about feeding yogurt with diarrhea)
- Fruits that begin with the letter “P” such as peaches, pears, prunes, and plums
- apricots and other “Stone” fruits are typically known to help loosen stools so avoid those fruits as well
- High Fiber foods
Applesauce vs. Diluted Apple Juice
As we mention on our page about Infant Constipation, please keep in mind that Applesauce is actually a binding food. Applesauce is the whole of the fruit. It contains a higher level of pectin – which firms up stools and may thus lead to constipation.
Apple juice contains more of the sugars found in the apple and it also contains more actual liquid; hence apple juice is a good remedy to help relieve constipation.
Learn More about Diarrhea at the National Institutes of Health
Bring on the BRAT!
Bananas, rice cereals, applesauce and bread are some great foods to offer your baby when he has a bout of diarrhea!
It is important to always consult your baby’s pediatrician when baby has had diarrhea for 2 days(or longer) and his or her skin does not “spring-back” when gently pushed. The inability of the skin to “spring-back” suggests baby may be suffering from dehydration. | <urn:uuid:2516fb4d-e6e9-451b-81f3-b516dd60e497> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://wholesomebabyfood.momtastic.com/baby_diarrhea_foods.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395560.69/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00027-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945524 | 823 | 2.734375 | 3 |
Why EWNRA is so important?
- Divers natural resources wealth but is degrading at an alarming rate specifically wetlands,
- Loss of biodiversity and decline in freshwater availability,
- High population growth and as a result high dependence on the NRM,
- No specific policy in the country that address wetland issues, read more...
Ethio Wetlands and Natural Resources Association is a local non-governmental organization established in 2000 with environmental and development objectives specifically focusing on wetlands and natural resource conservation in the country. The organization strives to realize its vision of seeing healthy Ethiopia’s wetlands and related ecosystems providing sustainable benefits to local and global environment and development. read more... | <urn:uuid:48be06ff-9d1e-43d2-8ab7-6981045e5bca> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://ewnra.org/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395166.84/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00115-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.896637 | 137 | 3.015625 | 3 |
, Schol. ad
Aristoph. Cl. 449
; Suidas, s. v.), dim.
CENTUNCULUS, patchwork, a covering or garment
consisting of several pieces of cloth sewed together, worn by slaves (Cat. Agr. 2
p. 234, M.), also by soldiers when working in the
trenches (Caes. B.C.
3.44); used as a coverlet for beds
; Sen. Ep.
8); as a curtain hung up instead of a door (Juv.
; Petron. 7; cf. Mart. 1.35
); placed under the pack-saddles of mules (Liv. 7.14
2.59, 2); also as a cap under the helmets of
soldiers to prevent chafing of the head (Amm. 19.8, 8). Centones were also
hung upon earthworks and similar fortifications, to protect them from fire,
and to blunt the force of weapons (Caes. B.C.
2.9; Dig. 33
, tit. 7, s. 12.18). Workmen called
were employed to make centones for this use in
war (Cod. Theod. 14, tit. 8, s. 1; 16, tit. 10, s. 20.4). Makers of
patchwork for clothes were also called by the same name ( Vestiarius Centonarius,
was likewise the name given to a poem made
up from lines or parts of lines of other poets, like the Cento Nuptialis
of Ausonius, made up from Virgil. | <urn:uuid:7303765e-5be0-43fc-820a-2dc89f5be4f0> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0063%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DC%3Aentry+group%3D4%3Aentry%3Dcento-cn | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783399425.79/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154959-00004-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.839071 | 355 | 3.09375 | 3 |
Electrical Wizard: How Nikola Tesla Lit up the World by Elizabeth Rusch, illustrated by Oliver Dominguez; $17; Candlewick; ages 4-10.
Long before Tesla was a Palo Alto car company, Serbian-born inventor Nikola Tesla set out to prove that alternating current was the most efficient form of electricity. His biggest doubter and rival? Thomas Edison. Nevertheless, Tesla's Hall of Electricity triumphed at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair. He went on to harness the power of Niagara Falls for Northeast electricity. His inventions did, in fact, light up the world.
This stunning picture-book biography of the eccentric, brilliant, Silicon Valley-like inventor includes information on the rivalry between Tesla and Edison, extensive scientific notes, and a bibliography.
Locomotive by Brian Floca; $18; Jackson/Atheneum/Simon & Schuster; ages 4 and up.
All aboard for a remarkable journey that's perfect for train enthusiasts or American history buffs. On one level it's a picture book about a mother and two children traveling on the new transcontinental railroad from Omaha to join their father in Sacramento in the summer of 1869. But really, the locomotive, or "iron horse," is the main character — the noises it makes, how it works, who makes it work, and how it completely transformed travel to California.
"Locomotive" shows the building of the transcontinental railroad; how steam powers the engine; the labor and mechanics involved in a cross-country train trip; how passengers slept, ate, and even used the train's toilet (not in a station, please); and the variety of landscapes and wildlife seen out the windows. All that, plus remarkably detailed notes and endpapers.
Flora & Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures by Kate DiCamillo, illustrated by K.G. Campbell; $18; Candlewick; ages 8-12.
Warning: kids who read "Flora & Ulysses," or who have this charming, comic-book-style illustrated novel read to them, may very well want their own pet superhero squirrel who types poetry, flies, and is able to rescue fathers who are attacked by evil cats. They will want their own Ulysses.
Ulysses, the superhero squirrel, knows his rescuer Flora has a big heart, a "capacious" heart. He uses big words because he is a poet, and because Kate DiCamillo respects her young audience enough to use larger-than-life vocabulary that kids can figure out, or ask their parents about. Ulysses's journey from backyard squirrel to reborn superhero, then marked-for-murder squirrel involves a colorful, quirky cast of heroes and villains, humor and heart.
The 14 Fibs of Gregory K. by Greg Pincus; $17; Levine/Scholastic; ages 8-12.
Gregory has a hard time telling his math-genius family members — especially his father — that he likes writing, not math. So what does he do? Enters himself in a city-wide math competition. He also tells his best friend that his parents agreed to send him to Author's Camp with her, when really they're threatening him with Math is Magic Camp unless he gets a B in his least favorite subject.
Only a kid as clever as Gregory could figure out how to use a formula called the "Fibonacci Sequence" to write his way out of the hole he digs for himself. He gets a little help from an awesome math teacher, his good friend Kelly, his (sometimes) understanding family, and a lot of pie. (And pi.)
The Lord of Opium by Nancy Farmer; $18; Jackson/Atheneum/Simon & Schuster; ages 12 and up.
Fans of former Menlo Park author Nancy Farmer's 2002 National Book Award-winning masterpiece, "The House of the Scorpion," may be adults now, but I hope they revisit the clone Matt in this sequel filled with clever twists and turns.
Matt returns to Opium a reluctant drug lord, under pressure to keep up opium production even while his country is in lockdown. He also has a different, more pressing mission: to figure out how to free the zombie-like, worker-bee eejits. Even the father of Matt's friend, formerly a world-famous musician, has been turned into a mind-numbed eejit.
To succeed, Matt must use remarkable determination and wits, call on his friends' ingenuity (including that of a smart-mouthed seven-year-old fellow clone named Listen), and battle an African drug lord, an evil physician and his scientist children, among others.
Yes, there's a huge cast of characters and wildly imaginative settings and situations. In other words, another Nancy Farmer gem.
This story contains 734 words.
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If you are a paid print subscriber and haven't yet set up an online account, click here to get your online account activated. | <urn:uuid:178f016c-f908-4f60-b485-7f489b010367> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://paloaltoonline.com/print/story/print/2013/12/06/childrens-books-for-the-holidays-or-for-every-day | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396455.95/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00122-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96149 | 1,064 | 2.90625 | 3 |
The black and white photo was taken in Vienna 70 years ago this week: it shows a crowd of ordinary Austrians and a handful of officials sporting swastika armbands. All of them are grinning or smirking. At their feet six raggedly clad Jews are on their knees, being forced to clean the pavement with brushes.
The picture is a snapshot of the instant "people's justice" meted out by Aryan Austrians against the perceived enemies of the Third Reich. It was taken only hours after 105,000 Nazi storm troopers, many of them singing, marched into the country on 12 March 1938 and formally declared political union or "Anschluss" with Germany.
Last night, 80,000 candles were lit on Vienna's Heldenplatz square to mark the 70th anniversary of the darkest chapter in Austrian history. The candles represented the total number of Austrian Jews and other victims who lost their lives as a result of Nazi rule.
In March 1938, tens of thousands of Austrians gathered in the square to welcome home Adolf Hitler, who was born in Austria, like a prodigal son. In deliberate contrast to that loud enthusiasm, yesterday's sombre ceremony was called "The Night of Silence".
Despite open displays of remorse about the Nazi era, the 70th anniversary of Austria's annexation has inevitably revived a long-running debate about whether its citizens were victims or willing accomplices of the Third Reich.
Public reluctance to confront the issue was underscored this week by Otto von Habsburg, the 95-year-old son of the country's last emperor. He told a meeting of the ruling conservative People's Party: "No state in Europe has a greater right than Austria to call itself a victim." He went on to dismiss an Allied wartime declaration that Austria shared responsibility for the Nazis as "hypocrisy and lies". The thousands who greeted Hitler were just like "high-spirited football fans", he insisted.
His remarks followed publication of an opinion poll on Tuesday which showed that almost two thirds of Austrians wanted an end to what was described as the "endless discussion" about the country's role during the Second World War. (The result of a similar poll conducted eight years ago was the same).
However, new evidence and a growing mass of research about Austria's role during the Third Reich suggests that the argument that the vast majority of its citizens were willing accomplices to Nazi rule has become incontrovertible.
Less than a month after German troops marched into Austria, Hitler ordered that the invasion be ratified by plebiscite. The poll conducted on 10 April 1938 showed that 99.75 per cent of Austrians were in favour of the annexation. Subsequent claims that the results were doctored by the Nazis were later substantiated. But recent research suggests that the actual number in favour of Nazi rule was still about two thirds of the electorate.
Professor Gerhard Botz, a historian at Vienna University who has researched the period closely, said yesterday: "Hitler was welcomed into the country as a successful Austrian who was returning home from abroad and suddenly letting his own people take part in his successes. He was a sort of ersatz monarch."
Gershon Evan, an Austrian Jew whose parents were arrested and killed by the Nazis, recalled during a television broadcast yesterday how quickly racial persecution took hold in Vienna, a city in which every 10th citizen was then Jewish. "What happened in Germany over five years, happened in Vienna in five days," he said. "We had no idea that we would face such violence."
Austria's Jewish community numbered some 200,000 before the Second World War and was considered one of Europe's most vibrant. Most, like Mr Evan, managed to flee the country after the Anschluss, but 65,000 were murdered in the Nazi death camps. New research has shown that the number of Austrians who held key positions in Nazi concentration camps was disproportionately high. Today, Austria is home to 10,000 Jews.
Film footage of the jubilant reception given to Hitler in Vienna has frequently been dismissed in Austria as stage-managed Nazi propaganda. "This kind of argument is used by the Austrians who claim that they are innocent and the Nazis were the invaders," said the Viennese author and historian Brigitte Hamann.
However, new independent film material about the period was shown for the first time in Germany this week. The colour footage, shown on Germany's ZDF channel, was taken from 90 minutes of film shot by an Austrian forester called Marilius Mayer in March 1938. The film shows images of a provincial town in which the locals have turned out en masse to demonstrate their support for the invading Nazis. The streets are hung with hundreds of red, black and white swastika banners and the town square has been hastily renamed "Adolf Hitler Platz".
Earlier this week a poignant ceremony was conducted by Vienna's now tiny Jewish community to mark the anniversary. Seventy years after it was forcibly shut down and taken over by the invading Nazis, members gathered to reopen the Hakoah sports club – an institution that once produced Olympic champions for Austria.
The club was evidence enough of the prevailing attitudes in 1930s Austria before it was shut down. It existed because the overwhelming majority of the city's other sporting organisations refused to accept Jews as members. Hakoah, founded in 1909 and named after the Hebrew word for "strength", produced athletes who won Olympic medals in swimming and wrestling.
After the Second World War, Vienna's surviving Jews refounded the club but their attempts to return to their former premises were thwarted by bureaucracy and official reluctance to acknowledge Austria's Nazi role or pay compensation. The club finally secured a site close to its original premises in 2002 under a £100m reparations settlement for Jewish victims of Nazi rule.
Ronald Gelbard, the manager of the reopened Hakoah club, insisted that Austria's non-Jews were welcome. "We are a Jewish organisation but anyone can use the facilities regardless of faith," he said. | <urn:uuid:4ed3e00c-0283-4a24-8239-fa4f24dc85dc> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/anschluss-and-austrias-guilty-conscience-795016.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397565.80/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00132-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.980197 | 1,234 | 2.515625 | 3 |
03 February 2015
The Shape of Things to Come:
Future Demography Around the World
Professor Christopher Whitty
It is appropriate that this lecture is being delivered at Gresham College as one of the founders of demography was William Petty. Physician, astronomer, economist and MP, he was Gresham Professor of Music and also helped lay the foundation of modern census techniques.
The world is currently going through some of the most rapid demographic shifts in history, which have never occurred before and for reasons that will be explored later are very unlikely to occur again. This will shape our choices and is going to throw up some serious policy challenges. Two parts of this shift tend to dominate public debate; the global increase in the general population, and the ageing population in richer countries. This lecture, whilst touching on this will look in more detail at the shape of the demographic profile of different countries, how this is changing and what the possible effects of this will be on society including on health. The lecture will first consider drivers of demographic changes, and in particular the phenomenon of the demographic transition. It will go on to look at some of the really marked shifts in demographic structure and dependency ratios between several key countries and within them over the next 4 decades and consider the possible implications. Finally it will turn to the UK and some of the possible implications of demographic changes for UK policy especially for the very old. Of children born in 2015 1 in 3 born in the UK will reach 100 years of age; most will reach over 90. Demography is not destiny, but it is one of the things about the future which can be predicted with reasonable certainty, and provides major opportunities and constraints on what a society can do, as we will explore.
Drivers of demographic change.
Multiple things drive changes in the shape of the demographic profile of countries. The key ones are the numbers of children being born (fertility), their survival through childhood, the age of which they die, and migration patterns. The starting point for this series of lectures was outlined in the initial lecture in this series looking at health in the very young and very old. Two major changes are happening throughout the world; a significant reduction in childhood mortality everywhere, meaning that the chance that a child surviving the first 28 days will survive through to late adulthood is now high almost everywhere, and a gradual upward shifting of the age at which adults die.
As countries get richer, child mortality drops, female education increases and contraception becomes widely available, and then after a time lag the number of children per mother has historically tended significantly to decline. The drivers of this change in family size choice are complex, but this appears at least on historical basis to be a one-way phenomenon; it is very rare for any generation of mothers to have more children on average than their predecessors. In many parts of the world, including most of Europe and large parts of Asia and Latin America there are now 2 or fewer children born to every mother- so fertility is below replacement levels (Fig 1). Populations are still growing (population momentum), but this is because adults are living longer not because more children are being born every generation. Data presented comes either from the United Nations and its bodies, or the UK Office for National Statistics.
Fertility rates in Europe: most are below the 2.1 child per mother that is roughly the replacement rate.
This process of dropping childhood mortality followed after a lag period by dropping fertility of mothers leads to the demographic transition (Fig 2).
Schematic of the demographic transition.
It starts with a steady state with large numbers of children per mother, a high proportion of which die so the population is stable, and eventually ends up with a much smaller number of children where very few of them die and the population is stable. The period between the two is the one that leads to a dramatic shift in the shape of the population pyramid, and also to an explosion in numbers in a country. In the initial lecture of this series I explored some of the reasons that children are dying at a much lower rate everywhere in the world, but particularly in the developing world (most recently and most rapidly in Africa). These include better nutrition, water and sanitation, preventative medicines such as vaccination, improved housing stock and curative medical services. At the same time in richer industrialised countries mortality, especially due to cardiovascular disease has also dropped rapidly partly due to societal changes (such as reduced smoking) and partly due to improved preventive and curative medicine. In future lectures I will consider why this reduction in cardiovascular disease has been so marked and what it means for the very old.
The reason women have fewer children is clearly complex and depends on many factors including their age at marriage (which is increasing), their education (also increasing) and the availability of a mixture of contraceptive methods that are socially acceptable locally as well as child survival. All of these have some way to go in many countries before they reach steady state but it is clear that women with reasonable life choices and free availability of contraception do not choose to have multiple children on the whole. There are now very few high fertility countries (those with over 3 children per woman) where fertility rates are not dropping, in some cases very rapidly.
There are a large number of possible demographic pyramid shapes which we will go through with examples of current country structures and where they are likely to go in the next thirty years. But to understand the basics here below are three current population pyramids. The first, illustrated by Nigeria (Fig 3, L), shows a high fertility population only starting to go through the demographic transition. The second is when child mortality has reduced but after a lag fertility has reduced and the population gradually (or rapidly) expands as these surviving children become adults. An example in Bangladesh (Fig 4, middle). The third is an ageing population, illustrated by Japan in 2030 (Fig 5, Right). Each of these present significant challenges to the society and to policy makers within it but rapid shifts between them can require a wrenching change in society and economies.
Population pyramids for Nigeria (2010), Bangladesh (2010) and Japan (2030)
The demographic dividend.
Whist the demographic change can create major problems, it also creates opportunities. The most well known is the demographic dividend. For a generation or two countries move from a position with a high dependency ratio to a very low one. The dependency ratio is the number of working-age adults compared to the combination of children+dependent elderly. Initially his is high due to large number of children compared to adults (Africa at present (Fig 6, Left), but moves to one where the number of elderly retired is high compared to working age adults (Europe, Fig 7, Right). In the period between those points there is a time when the dependency ratio is very low: this is the demographic dividend. Some countries such as China have used this period of demographic dividend rapidly to expand their economies. There is noting automatic about this however; if unemployment is high it just leads to large numbers of unemployed young adults. Greece for example currently has a very favourable demographic profile in terms of dependency ratio but this has not translated automatically into a rapidly growing economy.
Dependency ratios for Africa (L) and Europe (R) 1980-2050. Low is good from an economic point of view.
Implications for the balance of populations between countries.
Looking at the world as a whole there is going to be over the next fifty years a marked shift in where the majority of the global population lives. At the point where some of the audience was born Europe had around 20% of the world population and was significantly more populous than Africa. By the time most of us die Africa will make up around a third of the world population, Asia more than 40% of the reminder and Europe will around 7% with the USA even smaller. This has significant implications in terms of economics which are obvious. For those who are worried about a Malthusian end to the human race with massive overpopulation leading to extreme scarcity remember that the demographic transition is a temporary phenomenon, with a short (but intense) period of population growth between mortality going down and fertility going down. What is the ‘optimum’ human population is subjective and has been the subject of violent debate over centuries, with environmental, economic and philosophical dimensions, which it is not the aim of this lecture to cover. As an objective fact however population growth has already slowed in Europe, is slowing rapidly in Latin America and Asia and in all probability will do so by the end of the century in Africa. At that point the population of the world is likely to remain fairly stable (or even shrink) but of a completely different population structure to that which we entered the 19th Century with.
The shape of some important population pyramids.
In this section of the lecture I will go through a number of countries with important population pyramids that change over the next few years because of either rapid transition or particular factors. To understand them it is easiest to see all the pyramids and how they progress over time, and there inevitably quite a lot of them so I recommend looking at the slides (or better still watching the lecture online). The data for all of these comes either from the UN Population Division or the UK Office for National Statistics, all freely available.
To illustrate the kinds of issues demographic projections help with an example of a country about to go through a major change that may have international implications is Iran. In Iran at the moment there is a very major bulge of population in young adults (including young men of fighting age) (Figure 9a). There was a significant decision by the Government to encourage a smaller family size, and allow families the means (contraception) to achieve it which once achieved is not reversed, means that looking thirty years into the future Iran will look very different (Figure 9b).
Population pyramid in Iran, 2010 and 2050.
A similar policy decision was taken in China and here an equally striking change occurs (Figures 10a L and 10b). China’s dependency ratio, once dominated by children, is now very low- but will increase again soon due to elderly adults (Figure 10c, R). Certain countries illustrate some very major events in their history which have had a significant impact on demography.
The change in China's population pyramid and dependency ratio 2010-2050.
In southern Africa the impact of HIV on population structures has been substantial, illustrated here by Zimbabwe (Figure 11), and the effects of this will be felt for a long time.
Population pyramid for Zimbabwe, 2010-30 with a major shoulder due to HIV.
The impact of the world wars and the 1918-20 flu pandemic can be seen in many countries including the UK (Figure 12).
The UK 1921 and 2011. It is easy to see the gap due to children not being conceived during WW1, and the missing men who died. This is followed by a baby boom. The post WW" baby boom is only now reaching retirement.
Turning to the UK, it is instructive to compare the UK population pyramid now and in thirty years’ time with that of Germany, the USA and France. In all countries dependency ratios as currently defined are going to worsen although much more gradually in the UK than for example Germany. Part of the explanation for this is migration patterns which are not considered extensively in this lecture as they are not a medical issue. Demographic profiles are not however just an issue for a country as a whole; major effects can be very local. Large urban centres such as London are likely to remain relatively young if current trends continue because there is continual process of in migration of younger people from elsewhere in the UK (and overseas) and an out migration of older people either when they start having families and need to commute, or once they retire. The result is that inner London looks forever young (Figure 13)- but many other areas of the country are therefore going to age more rapidly than average figures would suggest because age is exported to them from the cities.
Inner London (L), Chichester (R), with UK average superimposed.
Where the elderly live is already concentrated and will become more so over the next 20 years. The demographic profile therefore of central London and other major cities on the one hand, and of a south east country town or rural areas will look even more different in 30 years than it does now with significant implications for policy. How to deliver health and other care when such a high proportion of many areas is elderly is going to require a significant rethink of our current models. As most of Europe is aging faster than the UK this is going to be a problem for the whole continent.
Distribution of people aged 85 or over in 2033. Southwark highlighted for comparison- as UK ages, Southwark does not. ONS.
It is extremely unlikely that any future generation will go through as profound a shift in population structure as the current one. The UK has took great advantages from its demographic transition and the demographic dividend that followed, and will have to be equally imaginative in responding to the shifts that will be coming in the next 20-30 years as the population ages. Arguably too little policy time has been spent on an issue which is predictable, profound, and permanent. Globally by the end of this century, barring unforeseen circumstances, the period of extraordinary change in demographic profile which we have seen in the last century and we will continue to for this one will gradually come to an end and we will be left with a stable population with a relatively stable age structure (still ageing in Africa). Demographic profile changes and demographic transitions do not either lead automatically to good or to bad outcomes but they are predictable major drivers of how society will look and how economies will operate and we need to take account of them in the way that we plan and respond both internationally and domestically.
© Professor Christopher Whitty, 2015 | <urn:uuid:a58be497-ed4b-4a16-ac77-214419ee802e> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/the-shape-of-things-to-come-how-our-changing-demographic-structure-will-shape | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783404382.73/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155004-00053-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.9623 | 2,828 | 2.625 | 3 |
In literature, colloquialism is the use of informal words, phrases or even slang in a piece of writing.
Colloquial expressions tend to sneak in as writers, being part of a society, are influenced by the way people speak in that society. Naturally, they are bound to add colloquial expressions in their vocabulary. However, writers use such expressions intentionally too as it gives their works a sense of realism. For instance, in a fiction story depicting American society, a greeting “what’s up?” between friends will seem more real and appropriate than the formal “How are you?” and “How do you do?”
Colloquialism Examples in Everyday Life
Colloquial expressions vary from region to region. Below is a list of some colloquialism examples of American origin:
- a bunch of numpties – a group of idiots
- to bamboozle – to deceive
- go bananas – go insane or be very angry
- wanna – want to
- gonna – going to
- y’all – you all
- go nuts – go insane or be very angry
- look blue -look sad
- buzz off – go away
Examples of Colloquialism in Literature
Mark Twain in “Adventure of Huckleberry Fin” used Black American Vernacular to realistically show how the “negroes” [Black Americans] talked:
“I didn’t want to go back no more. I had stopped cussing, because the widow didn’t like it; but now I took to it again because pap hadn’t no objections… But by-and-by pap got too handy with his hick’ry, and I could’t stand it. I was all over with welts. He got to going away so much, too, and locking me in. Once he locked me in and was gone three days. It was dreadful lonesome.”
The use of double negatives is evident in the above passage that is a typical characteristic of Black American Vernacular.
John Donne uses colloquialisms in his poem “The Sun Rising”:
“Busy old fool, unruly Sun,
Why dost thou thus,
Through windows, and through curtains, call on us?
Must to thy motions lovers’ seasons run?
Saucy pedantic wretch,”
The poet addresses the sun in an informal and colloquial way as if it were a real human being. He asks the sun in a rude manner why had he appeared and spoiled the good time he was having with his beloved. Not finishing there, he commands the “saucy pedantic sun” to go away.
We cite the use of colloquial expressions in a play “Burro Genius” by Victor Villasenor:
“”I don’t understand!” roared my father, putting his money back in his pocket. “Hell, I’ve forgotten more than you or most people will EVER UNDERSTAND!”
“Salvador,” said my mother as quietly as she could, “why don’t you and Mundo go outside and let me talk to this woman alone.”
“Damn good idea!” said my father.”
“Salvador” uses colloquial words like “Hell” and “Damn” that gives insight into his aggressive and harsh nature. The idea of using Colloquialisms is to put in diversity into the characters.
Yet another instance of colloquialism can be seen in “Of Mice and Men’ by John Steinbeck:
“Sure I will, George. I won’t say a word.”
“Don’t let him pull you in—but—if the son-of-a-bitch socks you—let ‘im have it.”
“Never mind, never mind. I’ll tell you when. I hate that kind of guy. Look, Lennie, if you get in any kind of trouble, you remember what I told you to do?”
Lennie raised up on his elbow. His face contorted with thought. Then his eyes moved sadly to George’s face. “If I get in any trouble, you ain’t gonna let me tend the rabbits.”
In the above example, the writer shows how vulgar colloquial expressions can be depending upon who uses them and when they use them. The above colloquial expressions are realistic enough as they are uttered by middle aged men of a working class who are not well educated and refined.
Function of Colloquialism
Colloquial expressions, in a piece of literature, may give us deep insights into the writer’s society. They tell us about how people really talk in their real life. Therefore, they help a writer to form strong connections with readers. Colloquial expressions impart a sense of realism to a piece of literature which again attracts readers as they identify it with their real life.
Moreover, they add variety to the characters which makes them more interesting and memorable. | <urn:uuid:8d588558-8caa-4b4e-9d36-4fe118b301e1> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://literarydevices.net/colloquialism/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783399425.79/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154959-00115-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955249 | 1,114 | 3.03125 | 3 |
Big square baler harvesting wheat straw for production of cellulosic ethanolEnlarge Photo
Cars and utility vehicles are getting greener, but they're far from the only vehicles out there.
To reduce the environmental impact of internal-combustion engines in a meaningful way, the emissions of commercial vehicles have to be curtailed as well.
Manufacturers of tractors and bulldozers have begun to adopt emission-reducing technologies--such as particulate filters and efficiency-focused engine management software--to meet new U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) standards.
These so-called Tier 4 standards call for a 90-percent reduction in particulate matter and nitrogen oxides in 2014-model-year vehicles, compared to those from 1996.
Caterpillar D6K bulldozerEnlarge Photo
The Diesel Technology Forum--a trade group that represents diesel manufacturers--says the industry has gone even further, reducing particulate and nitrogen oxide emissions by 99 percent, and "significantly" reducing carbon-dioxide emissions.
Agricultural and construction vehicles also benefit from the "Ultra-Low-Sulfur Diesel" fuel phased in by the EPA between 2006 and 2010.
The fuel has a sulfur content of no more than 15 parts per million, against several times that previously, meaning that it will not poison more advanced emissions aftertreatment systems fitted to modern diesel engines.
However, there remains plenty of room for improvement.
While fleet emissions of passenger cars and commercial trucks tend to decline as new vehicles replace older ones, the process takes longer and can be more convoluted for tractors, bulldozers, and other non-road diesels.
The replacement rate for farm and construction equipment is much slower than that of road-going cars and trucks. Farmers typically wait as long as possible before buying new equipment--and since the new, cleaner tractors are expected to cost more than older, dirtier ones, that probably won't change.
The wider variety of applications make it harder to apply a given emission-reducing solution across the board as well, and the volumes are far lower than for vehicle engines built in the hundreds of thousands or millions annually.
Still, stricter regulations, and the efforts manufacturers have made to meet them, mean that the next generation of agricultural and construction equipment will pollute less.
That means they will finally be subject to the same forces applied to passenger vehicles--which have been required to emit steadily fewer pollutants for four decades now. | <urn:uuid:3b827db3-d79e-4734-a0ac-d0ad359a338d> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1091028_its-not-just-cars-diesel-tractors-construction-equipment-clean-up-emissions-too | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395166.84/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00092-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938013 | 503 | 2.8125 | 3 |
You can use your engineering knowledge for most nefarious purposes. -Prof. PK
Sunday, January 14, 2007
Saturday, January 13, 2007
Quote of the unspecified temporal interval
Coffee is a beverage that puts one to sleep when not drank.
Thursday, January 11, 2007
Powerhouse to barnyard - The gas engine
In my earlier post ‘The Powerhouse’ I covered a little about stationary steam engines and the technology behind them. If you’ve already read that, or if you know a few things about steam engines, you’ll probably find that you understand a great deal about antique gas engines as well.
Gas engines (or more appropriately, combustion engines) were basically the next evolutionary step in the development of machinery and machine operation. They were often made in a format very similar to that of the existing steam power of the day. A cylinder was mounted (often horizontally) on a frame, it held a piston connected to a pushrod that turned a crankshaft, flywheel, and pulley.
The general appearance of steam and gas engines is often quite similar, but the method of obtaining power is somewhat different. Naturally, while a steam engine’s power is supplied by a boiler, a gas engine relies upon some combustible liquid or vapor being ignited in the cylinder. Unlike most steam engines, the power is supplied on one side of the piston only. In fact, while a steam engine can be powered through almost all of it’s stroke (except the very end) a typical gas engine ran on a 4 cycle system where power could only be provided about a quarter of the time. Like many steam engines, this energy was used to turn a flywheel which smoothed out the flow of power from the engine.
There were other differences as well. Combustion can produce high pressures from relatively small amounts of fuel and air, so the huge pistons and valves seen in steam engines were not necessary. Of course the power stroke of a combustion engine can be rather violent so sturdy bearings, and crankshafts were necessary.
The control methods for these engines also had strong ties to their older steam engine counterparts. Typically a centrifugal governor was mounted somewhere on the engine either by taking power from the crankshaft, or by putting governor weights directly on the flywheel. Here’s an example.
On this engine, made by the Abenaque Machine Works, a small driveshaft is geared to the main crankshaft (behind the flywheel) This shaft has two weights (painted red) which are pinned in place so that they can pivot away from the shaft when they’re spinning quickly or be pulled inward by a spring at slower speeds. This is the same principle as in the steam engine governor from my ‘Powerhouse’ post. The way this principle is used, however, is noticeably different.
Achieving reliable and controlled combustion requires a consistent fuel supply and the ability to thoroughly mix the fuel with air. Fuel injection was unheard of when engines like this were first being built. Even good adjustable carburetors weren’t available for the early years of these one cylinder machines, so creating a reliable and controllable fuel supply for every stroke was not really an option. Even if the designers of the first gas engines had been able to provide a precise throttle and carburetor system, it’s questionable it would have been a success. Many engines were expected to run on multiple fuels, including gasoline, various grades of oil, or natural gasses. This no doubt created too many variables for early gas engine technology to compensate.
The solution found was the hit and miss style of operation. On a 4 cycle engine of any kind, it’s possible to have a power stroke on every second complete revolution of the crankshaft, but what’s the point of having a power stroke when you still haven’t used the energy from the last one? When a gas engine provides more power than is needed, it’s simply stored in the flywheel, so that the engine keeps running regardless of whether or not another power stroke is made. Because of this, all you have to do is keep the exhaust valve open to relieve pressure in the cylinder, and the engine will coast for a while after making a power stroke.
Here’s how it happens. An engine is running at the speed set by the governor. A load is applied to the engine (usually by way of a belt to some other machine.) This slows the engine down, so the weights of the governor are pulled inward by a spring or counterweight and this triggers some type of cam or linkage. The engine’s exhaust valve closes, the intake valve opens briefly to allow fuel and air to be drawn into the cylinder, and the piston compresses the mixture in the cylinder. A spark from the magneto and spark plug ignites the fuel and the piston completes its stroke under power, causing the crankshaft and flywheel to accelerate. The acceleration causes the weights on the governor to be pulled outward. The exhaust valve opens to allow the spent fumes to escape, and it is held open because the governor is now moving fast enough that it is not necessary to make another power stroke. And the cycle begins again.
The sound of an engine like this is pretty unmistakable because you can hear it fire once and then it will usually ‘chuff’ softly several times as the piston cycles with the exhaust valve open.
The introduction of combustion engines created the need for another design change. The hottest part of a steam engine is steam that comes from the boiler. Even a boiler with a superheating system would never produce steam hot enough to melt steel. (If it did, it would melt the boiler.) Consequently, the steam cylinders, though hot to the touch, did not require a cooling system to maintain the integrity of the metal. Gas engines, however, had the ability to produce temperatures that would soften or melt most steels. This meant that new systems had to be invented to keep the gas engines cool as they ran.
A simple method of keeping a gas engine cool was to add cooling fins. Much like the computer cooling systems of today, this approach increased the surface area available to expel heat by means of heat radiation or convection. Such designs were often quite simple as in the case of this model gas engine, which has a set of fins around the outside of the cylinder.
Another method of cooling was commonly used on gas engines to keep them from overheating; the cooling tank. The basic explanation is that if you stick a pot of water on top of a gas engine’s cylinder, it won’t overheat because as soon as the water gets to 212F the water will start to boil away and take the excess heat with it.
The design of the tank varied from engine to engine, sometimes becoming a bit artistic, but typically it was just a rectangular tank mounted on top of a cylinder. Of course these engines were made with a water jacket around cylinder to cool it from all sides. On smaller engines, it was even possible to build the engine so that the tank was the only thing visible, and the cylinder simply ran through the tank. If extra cooling was needed, water could even be circulated through a radiator, much like on a car.
Of course I can't talk about cooling without mentioning this circa 1912 Aermotor. In this case, a tank with cooling fins was mounted vertically on top of the cylinder. This was likely intended to help increase the amount of convective heat loss, because the air which is heated by the fins will naturally tend to rise, creating more circulation along the length of the fins. Also, this design shed enough heat that you didn't continually need to add more water to the hopper (which was quite common in open hopper engines)
Of course, these fins also have the effect of making the engine look a bit outlandish.
Over all, gas engines tended to remain fairly simple in design for many years. This could likely be attributed to the fact that farms were the most common place to use a gas engine of this sort. If the engines were made too complex or require too much maintenance, they lose their usefulness in this environment. Eventually carbureted engines would become more common, as the improvements in design and manufacturing made it possible to control an engine by its fuel supply rather than simply using hit and miss operation. Much of this development was no doubt driven by the development of automobiles and tractors which required more powerful, smoother running engines. Still, these small engines were a familiar sight until electric motors became strong enough (and common enough) to be used in their place.
While your typical combustion engine was found on a farm, powering small pieces of equipment, there were other engines which were much larger and much more complex. Larger engines were needed in many applications. Factories, mills, power plants, ships, and other heavy equipment needed power too, and although they had relied upon steam in years past, many of them converted over to combustion engines.
These applications required plenty of power and long hours of operation, meaning that the engine had to require very little time for servicing and repairs. This is where diesel engines really shined.
Some of these engines still had the same cylinder and flywheel arrangements as their barnyard counterparts, but they they were usually noticeably larger, and it was fairly common to see them made with multiple cylinders.
These engines are not easy to come by, but when you get a chance to see one in operation it’s quite impressive. Here’s an example of a page engine which was originally used to power a drag line.
Today this beast resides in the powerhouse museum on the Mt. Pleasant fairgrounds. It’s a two cylinder diesel manufactured by Page Engineering Company (Chicago IL) where it has been restored to running condition. This engine produced 110 hp. When you consider the horsepower cranked out by today’s automotive engines, this may seem rather small, especially for an engine with 13” bore cylinders. Still it was quite powerful for an engine in its time.
Labels: Old Technology
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Powers of observataion
A life lesson: No matter how good your powers of observation may be, a little bias in analysis goes a long way.
A biologist, a physicist and a mathematician were sitting in a street cafe watching the crowd. Across the street they saw a man and a woman entering a building. Ten minutes they reappeared together with a third person.
"They have multiplied," said the biologist.
"The original measurement wasn't accurate," the physicist sighed.
"If exactly one person enters the building now, it will be empty again," the mathematician concluded.Editors note: Had there been an engineer present, he probably would have asked how they built a new model so quickly.
Thursday, January 04, 2007
Wednesday, January 03, 2007
I see that Mr. Completely has been running into some power trouble lately.
I think it's best if one has a backup plan in case the power goes out. Things like flashlights to find your way around, battery powered radios for weather forecasts, and plenty of extra ice to keep the refrigerator cool.
Of course if you wanted to keep blogging, I suppose something like a wind up hard-disc player might be handy. | <urn:uuid:7dca0ccb-1de1-470b-8b48-3c7be826b511> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://engineeringjohnson.blogspot.com/2007_01_01_archive.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396945.81/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00118-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975282 | 2,349 | 2.9375 | 3 |
The International School for Holocaust Studies
An Interview with Samuel and Ada Willenberg
By Sheryl Ochayon
My colleague Liz Elsby and I sat down to interview Samuel Willenberg on Sunday, December 4, 2011 in his apartment in Tel Aviv, Israel. His wife, Ada, herself a survivor of the Warsaw Ghetto, sat with us, plied us with tea and pastries, and added to our knowledge and to the discussion.
Samuel was born in 1923 in Czestochowa, Poland. When the Germans invaded Poland he was 16 years old, but he enlisted in the Polish Army in order to fight against them and was wounded severely. His family moved to Opatow for a time. In the fall of 1941, while hiding from the Germans, his two sisters were arrested in Czestochowa. His parents managed to survive in Warsaw with false documents. Samuel himself was taken together with the Jews of Opatow to Treblinka, when the Opatow ghetto was liquidated. He spent about ten months at forced labor in the Treblinka death camp, and participated in the revolt there on August 2, 1943. Later, Samuel joined the Polish underground and took part in the Warsaw Uprising of 1944. For his bravery he was awarded the Virtuti Militari medal, the highest military commendation in Poland, and the Komandorski Order of Polonia Restituta. He made aliyah to Israel in 1950.
Treblinka was the most lethal extermination camp of Operation Reinhard, where approximately 870,000 Jews were murdered during the thirteen months that the camp was in operation, from July, 1942 through August, 1943. Currently it is believed that there are only two survivors of Treblinka who remain alive in the world: Samuel and Kalman Taigman.
Samuel has created a series of fifteen sculptures that are scenes from Treblinka. They have been displayed in Germany, in Poland and in Israel.
Samuel, where did you learn to create art?
My father was an artist – I guess I have the genes.
Did you draw when you were a child?
My father was a painter. My mother didn’t allow me to pick up a pencil - she didn’t want me to be a poor artist!
So you never learned to draw? It came to you naturally?
In the camps, did you ever think about art?
No. In the extermination camps I didn’t think of art; the sculptures I did later, after the war.
My artistry is my memory – my ability to remember what my eyes saw… I remember pictures. I see the pictures from “there”, even today.
How did you start sculpting?
When I retired, I took courses in art at a local university in Tel Aviv (“University Ammamit”) . I began with painting but I decided to sculpt.
The sculptures that you sculpt, are they connected to what you experienced? Do they somehow “translate” pictures that you have in your head?
Yes! When you see my sculptures – you see Treblinka.
When you do a sculpture, would you say that you sculpt more for the purpose of making art or for the purpose of documentation, in order to document what happened?
Definitely for purposes of documentation.
The first sculpture I did was the “Scheissmeister”.
Why was that the first?
Because it’s a symbol of German cynicism, a symbol of EVERYTHING. [Samuel says this through clenched teeth]. With the clothing of the hazzan, with the clock, because of this I did it first…. He is screaming. He’s screaming to the heavens. But God is not there. There is no God.
Which sculpture do you think is the strongest?
Everyone thinks a different sculpture is the best. My wife likes the sculpture of the father helping the son take off his shoes. This is what happened right before they went to the gas. This is what the whole history of the Shoah looks like.
Can you tell us more about the sculpture of the little boy with the father helping him to take off his shoes?
Yes. You need to understand where this is happening - that it’s not just a father helping the boy off with his shoes at home – this is happening on the way to the gas chamber. That’s the explanation - it changes the whole meaning. The little boy is holding a string, because the “reds”, the people with the red armbands on the ramp, gave strings to the people getting off the train and told them to tie their shoes together.
… This scene with the boy and the father - I saw this happen. I was next to them. I saw the people that this happened to. It happened near a barrack. I saw it happening! Others were taking off their shoes, but by themselves. And then afterwards, I saw the scene always before my eyes. I still see these things today.
After you finish a sculpture, how do you feel?
After I finished the Scheissmeister, I felt like him – like the Scheissmeister. I relived the situation, I was part of him. That’s why he is screaming.
How did you feel while working on a sculpture?
When I was sculpting it was impossible to bother me, to talk to me, until I finished sculpting. I become the sculpture; I am inside it.
Ada: When he sculpted, he was “inside” it; he was agitated.
Samuel: But when I finished, I never felt relief. There is no relief! It never gets easier to bear. I only felt a kind of satisfaction.
Every time I made a sculpture, I saw the scene – I lived it. The scene with the boy and the father - I saw this happen. And then afterwards, the scene was always before my eyes.
So the sculptures tell your story instead of you?
Ada: Why instead of him? He tells his story, too – he has told it to groups in Treblinka more than 30 times. He talks to groups in Israel that come from all over the world.
How long does it take you to do a sculpture?
Each is different, but all the sculptures of Treblinka I did in 3 years. I don’t make all the details exact.
Do you still sculpt?
No, there wasn’t anyone to sculpt for. The Israeli newspapers didn’t even cover the exhibitions. I had a well-publicized and well-reviewed exhibition in Warsaw, though. In my exhibition in Warsaw, the caretaker wrote beautifully about my sculptures that they were “grotesque” and showed “the most tragic moments of extreme horror”; she wrote, “The tormented figures of the camp are returning back to life.”
Did you ever sculpt anything that happened to you after Treblinka?
No, only Treblinka. Treblinka was the most….
No, the rest is the history of Poland.
But I did create maps – actually drawings – of Treblinka. These were made on the basis of the measurements of the camp recorded in 1944 and published in 1946 in the first Bulletin of the Central Commision for the Investigation of German Crimes in Poland, a commission created after the war by the provisional Polish government to take evidence of the crimes. I created the drawings in 1981, when my book first came out. Many models of Treblinka have been made throughout the world on the basis of these renderings.
Which sculpture was the most difficult for you to do because it involved the most painful incident for you?
The most difficult sculpture to do was the sculpture that I didn’t do. It’s the sculpture of when I discovered the truth about my sisters. I wasn’t able to make this sculpture. Not at all.
Ada: He relives this incident all the time. On one hand, he is full of the joy of life. On the other hand, he still “sees” this all the time, he remembers.
Samuel: I return to it every single day – I live it, even if I don’t want to, alongside my day-to-day life.
What do you think of artists who make Holocaust art without having experienced the Holocaust?
This is normal – in every time, in every era there are artists who never see the incidents they represent in their art.
Do you think there are any limits to Holocaust art?
It depends on the artist. It depends whether history accepts the art. It depends on the trends – you can’t know in advance. Look at expressionism – the colors they used. Cubism. It’s the same thing – it’s normal.
There are sculptures with a lot of details, and there are those with less. Why is that?
I didn’t want to create naked women. But [in the sculpture of women on their way to the gas chambers, created in 2000] there are a lot of suitcases – because the Holocaust was not just murder, it was also robbery. And what a robbery!
Which sculpture do you feel is the most important?
There are two: the first is the sculpture of the uprising itself. It shows the heroism of the Jews in trying to destroy Treblinka. You know, rebelling in a death camp was a very difficult thing. It was not easy to organize an underground – many prisoners were strangers to each other, and each was afraid of the other because there were informers among the prisoners who might tell the Germans about any conspiracy to revolt. It was a different situation than the uprisings in the ghettos, where there were youth groups and everyone knew each other, relied on each other and trusted one another. In Treblinka it was dangerous to let people in on the secret of the underground because this invited betrayal. I wrote in my book about a prisoner called Kronenberg, a journalist who had worked for Chwila, a Polish-language daily Zionist newspaper published in Lwow. He was entrusted with the secret of the uprising. One day he was caught by the Nazis for not working, and was taken to the Lazarett. As soon as he realized he was about to be killed, he tried everything to save his life, including telling the Germans that there was an underground in the camp, and promising to tell them everything he knew about it if they would only let him live.
In the sculpture of the revolt you can see the young boys who removed grenades, pistols and other weapons from the Nazi’s storeroom. One of them is handing over a grenade that was hidden in a bucket used for potatoes. These weapons were delivered throughout the camp. You can also see the overturned baby carriage used by my best friend in the camp, Alfred Boehm, to collect garbage. Alfred was the liaison between the boys and the rest of the camp. He was killed in the gunfire during the uprising – I found him slumped next to his carriage. I am the man on the right, escaping with a gun in my hand.
The sculpture of the escape is also important. It shows what happened when the prisoners in the camp tried to escape while trying to dodge gunfire from the Ukrainian guards in the watchtowers. The camp was surrounded by two rows of barbed wire, but also by anti-tank barriers. Many of the prisoners who tried to escape were killed while trying to climb over the wires, and in order to escape I actually had to climb over the bodies of my friends who were killed
there. I was wounded in my foot during the escape.
Can you tell us the story of Ruth Dorfmann?
I was not a frissiere (barber); there was a group of barbers but I was not one of them. Suddenly a big transport arrived, so Kiwe, the SS-man, grabbed some of us to help. I wore the white robe, and I had the scissors, in the “jupa” – the hut that the Germans built. I cut her hair cleanly, for a reason. I did more than I had to – I made it a clean haircut, because if I had just cut randomly here and there, they [the women] would have understood [that the haircut was not for purposes of disinfection, as the Germans told them, but that they were going to be killed. –Ed.] I cut cleanly, as though with a razor, to make it smooth. For a reason. And this girl started talking. She had come from the Warsaw ghetto. She was beautiful. She was naked. And in the background there was fog, like mist, that was rising from the ground, from the warm clothing left on the ground, from the body heat left in the clothing, and maybe also because the women had urinated. They had just come from the big room where all the women were forced to take off their clothing, into a smaller room, through some doors. So in the background there was mist rising from the clothing. And she started talking. She said, “I am Ruth Dorfmann.” I remember! She said, “I have a diploma.” She had learned in the ghetto. She was about 20, my age.
How old were you?
I was 19, turning 20. I turned 20 in Treblinka.
And she was talking. She asked, “How long will it take?” She knew [that she was about to be killed]! They all knew!
You know, I made a sculpture of a painter who painted all the signs that were on the ramp. Why? Why? The Germans made signs: signs to Bialystok, a clock that didn’t really work. The Germans made it look like a real train station…. And it really looked like one.
Tell the story of the sculpture of the girl from Warsaw who lost her mind and stood with the piece of bread.
Ada: You know, Samuel knows the stories of Treblinka. But in the Warsaw ghetto – I was there – there were people dying of hunger, there were people who committed suicide, there were people who went crazy. I was lucky that I was still a girl – maybe I didn’t understand everything. But a lot of adults went crazy.
Samuel: Some killed themselves.
Ada: Many people went crazy. So simply, around January 18th, when Ruth Dorfmann arrived on the transport, many of the Jews living in Warsaw already knew where they were being taken. By January there were already instances where people had escaped from the trains on the way to Treblinka and came back to the ghetto and told stories – and we didn’t want to believe them. Even today I can’t believe what went on in Treblinka, so how could they then? I was about 13 years old in the ghetto. I remember that there were those who came [back to Warsaw] and told that they had escaped from the train, or from the camp itself – but people didn’t believe them. And then those who did begin to understand – some of them went crazy, and others committed suicide. And this girl, she was one of those who went crazy.
Samuel: It was winter. There was a girl who got off the train, and just stood there. Everyone else went inside the yard – “Schnell, schnell, schnell, schnell!!” [“Fast, fast, fast!” the Germans yelled]…
Ada: And they went in towards the “Death Road”.
Samuel: But this girl stood still. The barracks were just like the ones in Majdanek – they were actually stables for horses – just like in Birkenau. There were two prefabricated barracks standing together. Here there was an opening. And suddenly Miete of the SS – the “Angel of Death” – told the girl to move forward. We saw her entering the sorting yard. He nudged her forward into the yard, like a child rolling a ball forward. And suddenly she saw all the people, all the colors, the open suitcases.
And we saw her. We stopped working and we all stared at her.
Ada: And she was dressed differently…
Samuel: You see that she was wearing high heels. She was dressed in all kinds of things she had probably found in one of the destroyed houses in Warsaw, where the people had run away at the last minute. And probably when they ran, they left shoes like this behind. They didn’t wear shoes like this!
Ada: I know – my mother was taken to Treblinka. And I know that every time we were called to assemble in a courtyard and rounded up for an Aktion, people wore layers of clothing – they wore as much clothing as they could. Because we believed we were being taken to a labor camp. So you wore a lot of clothing so that you would have a change of clothing – three dresses, several pairs of underwear. So people usually wore very practical clothing. And this girl…
Samuel: She was dressed like a ballerina!
Ada: She was dressed like for a ball. With the high-heeled shoes.
Samuel: And she was staring with these eyes – it was abnormal. She was clutching a piece of bread to her chest. It was something extraordinary.
Where did she get the bread? Was it bread that was given out by the Germans at the Umschlagplatz?
Ada: No, I don’t think so. When the Germans first started the transports from Warsaw, the miserable people in the ghetto who didn’t have anything to eat would go to the Umschlagplatz because there the Germans gave them bread and jam.
Afterwards, the Germans already stopped with this.
Samuel: It wasn’t in the first days of the transports [so the bread she was clutching wasn’t given to her by the Germans]. It was December, 1942 or January, 1943 – around when Arthur Gold, the conductor from Warsaw, came.
You don’t understand. I saw people, pass by – artists. People you’ve never heard of. And they were killed in Treblinka. It’s hard to explain what art there was! Culture. Warsaw was culture!
Tell us about the sculpture of Arthur Gold.
[The sculpture shows the trio of violinists that the Germans forced to play in the camp. They played popular prewar tunes. Samuel wrote that the tunes reminded the prisoners of years gone by, and “left us depressed and sore of heart. The Germans were pleased with themselves: they had succeeded in organizing an orchestra in the death camp.” Willenberg, p. 133].
Samuel: During the time of the exhibition of my sculptures in Israel, the Polish Ambassador came. I put a tape on the side, and while I explained the sculpture to the audience, I put on the music [of Arthur Gold]. I put on music and he cried.
Ada: You know why he cried – because my husband said, “We will stand here for a moment in memory of Arthur Gold. He isn’t alive anymore, no one remembers him, he has no grave, so we’ll stand here for a minute and listen to his music.” And the ambassador cried.
Samuel: You know why they dressed the orchestra like this? So that the SS-men could make fun of them, and could laugh at them. To show them that they were nothing, that they were not men. To make them into clowns. This made it easier for the SS to kill them – it’s much easier to kill if it’s not a human being that must be honored.
What about the sculpture of the man with the baby carriage?
Ada: You know that the Germans had a special department, the Flaschensortierungkommando. Before the war there was no plastic, so everyone had glass bottles that they used in order to bring things with them – medicines, everything. And suddenly the Germans made a special work detail – a detail that collected all the bottles – they did this because glass remains in the earth and doesn’t disintegrate for thousands of years…
Samuel: The Germans were afraid that someone would find all these bottles, in the middle of the forest, and get suspicious: where did so many bottles come from? So the Germans made a new department to clean up all the glass.
What is the sculpture of the man without the leg?
Ada: This sculpture is of a German war veteran from WWI who lost his leg. He thought that if he came to Treblinka with all his medals, that he’d get some kind of special treatment, but they killed him just like they killed all the other Jews – they killed him in the Lazarett with a bullet because he couldn’t walk.
And the sculpture of the stretcher?
This is the group that had to clean the cattle cars – they took the corpses out of the trains at the time that the trains arrived. They were called the “Blues.”
We are indebted to Samuel, and to Ada, for sharing their time and their insights with us and for allowing us to see Samuel’s wonderful sculptures, which bring the scenes of Treblinka back to life.
The Scheissmeister was a prisoner put on duty to guard the latrine, so that no prisoner could spend more than two minutes there. As Samuel himself says in his book, “When the Germans noticed that the prisoners were going to the latrine too often and spending too much time there, Lalka [Kurt Franz, one of the SS men who later became the camp Kommandant, nicknamed “Lalka”, which means “doll” in Polish, for his “baby face” - Ed.] ordered the Vorarbeiters [sic] [Jewish foremen of a labor detail] to go to the storeroom and procure two rabbinical black suits and a couple of black hats with pompoms on them. Two prisoners were equipped with whips and ordered to don this getup. It was their job to make sure no more than five prisoners entered the outhouse at any one time and that they spent no longer than one minute inside. Alarm clocks dangled from their necks on strings. They were called the Scheisskommando – the “Shit Detail”. The Germans enjoyed their joke raucously….” Samuel adds that the Germans purposely made the prisoner who was the “master” of the Scheisskommando look ridiculous. “It was incredibly humiliating.” Samuel Willenberg, Revolt in Treblinka (Warsaw: Jewish Historical Institute, 2008), pp. 135-136, 273.
A hazzan is the cantor who sings liturgical music in a Jewish synagogue.
The “reds”, or the Transportkommando, were among the few Jewish prisoners who were kept alive in order to work for the Germans at Treblinka. A group of “about forty prisoners was engaged in the activities carried out on the square where the victims undressed. They directed the victims, relayed the German orders to undress, and distributed string for tying shoes together so they could be easily reused in the future without having to sort them….In Treblinka this team wore red armbands and became known as ‘the reds,’ or, in the prisoners’ special slang, the ‘burial society’ (Chevra kadisha).” Yitzhak Arad, Belzec, Sobibor, Treblinka: The Operation Reinhard Death Camps (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1987), p. 108.
By “ramp”, Samuel is referring to the train platform at Treblinka onto which Jews from all over Poland and a number of additional countries, as well as about 2,000 Sinti and Roma, disembarked from the cattlecars and entered the camp to be exterminated.
Samuel’s sisters were murdered at Treblinka. He became aware of this when, as he was sorting the possessions of Jews in the sorting yard at Treblinka, he found a small brown coat that had belonged to his little sister, Tamara, who was five years old. A skirt worn by his older sister Itta was clinging to the skirt, “as if in a sisters’ embrace.” Samuel was able to recognize the coat as his sister’s because his mother had lengthened its sleeves with bits of green cloth as his sister grew. Willenberg, Revolt in Treblinka, p. 72.
The uprising at Treblinka took place on August 2, 1943. As Samuel writes in his book, “It was a singular and unique day, one which we anticipated and hoped for. Our hearts pounded with the hope that maybe, just maybe our long-nurtured dream would come true. We harbored no thoughts of ourselves and our lives. Our only desire was to obliterate the death factory which had become our home.” Willenberg, Revolt in Treblinka, p. 180.
Samuel described the scene as follows: “The machine gun stepped up its bursts. Behind me, at the outer fence, tragedy. The brave ones climbed up the iron and wire complex only to be hit there by a bullet. They fell with screams of despair. Their bodies remained hanging on the wires, spraying blood on the ground. No one paid any attention to them. More prisoners climbed over the still-quivering bodies and they, too, were cut down and fell, their crazed eyes staring at the camp, which now looked like a giant torch…I crawled through the open area and reached the barriers….The dead had created a sort of bridge over the barbed-wire complex across which another escapee moved every moment…With a leap, I climbed the bridge of bodies. I heard a shot, felt a blow – but another jump, and I was in the forest….” Arad, Belzec, Sobibor, Treblinka, p. 292.
The sculpture of the girl whose hair is only partially cut is connected to the story of Ruth Dorfmann. The events that Samuel describes here occurred in mid-January, 1943, when transports from the Warsaw Ghetto began reaching Treblinka every day after a letup of several months. At that time, Samuel was working in the sorting yard, sorting and packing up the personal effects of murdered Jews.
A group of ten to twenty men in the camp were forced to cut the hair of the women immediately before they were sent to the gas chambers. Samuel generally worked in the sorting yard, but in the incident he is speaking about, because of the size of the transport, extra men were needed to cut the women’s hair. Haircutting in the Operation Reinhard camps began in September or October, 1942, after the SS Main Office for Economic Affairs and Administration issued an order dated August 16, 1942 that provided, “care is to be taken to make use of the human hair collected in all concentration camps. This human hair is threaded on bobbins and converted into industrial felt. After being combed and cut, the women’s hair can be manufactured as slippers for submarine crews and felt stockings for the Reichsbahn.” Arad, Belzec, Sobibor, Treblinka, p. 109.
Samuel is referring to the German’s blatant and painstaking use of signs (including other signs for “First Class Waiting Room”, “Second Class Waiting Room”, “Ticket Booth”, and so on), and other means of deception on the ramp to fool the arrivals at Treblinka into thinking that they had reached a harmless, pastoral train station in a transit camp and would be showered and sent on to labor camps. Victims were to be deceived until the very end.
The reference here is to the path taken by most of the people who arrived at Treblinka: they were taken and forced to undress, women had their hair cut, and then all were sent to the gas chambers. The Germans cynically referred to the path to the gas chambers as the Himmelstrasse – the road to heaven. Prisoners more realistically called it Death Road.
Samuel indicated, on the sketch of Treblinka that he drew in 1981, a space near the rear gate between two huts that abutted the train platform. This was not the way most prisoners were led into the camp; they went in through the main gate and never saw the sorting yard, which would have revealed all the secrets of Treblinka and given them clues that Treblinka was a death camp. This was purposeful deception by the Germans.
The reference here is to the plundered Jewish property. Suitcases were opened on the ground for sorting, and there was what Samuel himself describes as a “towering multicolored mountain” of property in the sorting yard. Willenberg at p. 79.
Samuel is referring to the prisoners working in the sorting yard, sorting through the possessions of the murdered Jews.
In his book, Samuel finishes the story of the girl: “Like an apparition from another world, she approached the sorters one after another, glancing at the contents of the suitcases as if she were visiting a market at a sidewalk of street peddlers. She wandered among us, showing us a gentle smile and terrified eyes. Stopping at one of the suitcases, she withdrew kerchiefs of various colors and flung them into the air, as if dancing. Work came to a halt; everyone contemplated this strange specimen of colorful Warsaw misery….Suddenly her skinny face froze with fear. Terror seized her from top to bottom, driving the madness from her….She contemplated us with the fear of a person who, with the intuition of an animal, senses that her end is near.” Miete propelled the girl toward the area of the sorting yard near where an innocent fence with interwoven pine branches camouflaged the Lazarett – the so-called “field hospital”, also disguised with a Red Cross flag. In the Lazarett, prisoners who couldn’t walk or would have held up the extermination process were killed with a gunshot to the back of their heads. The girl from Warsaw was killed this way in the Lazarett. According to Samuel, the workers in the sorting yard paid the little girl from Warsaw their last respects when they heard the gunshot. Willenberg, pp. 77-79.
The deportation area where the trains left with their human cargo.
This was a ruse used by the Germans to get unsuspecting, starving Jews to volunteer for deportation.
Arthur Gold was a well-known conductor of popular music, like waltzes and tangos, that was brought from the Warsaw ghetto and murdered in Treblinka.
In his book, Samuel describes the clothes the Germans forced the musicians to wear. “They ordered our tailors to sew jackets of shiny, loud blue cloth, and to attach giant bow ties to the collars. Dressed not as prisoners any longer but as clowns, they provided entertainment after roll call, day in, day out. …The music was usually accompanied by the tenor of the crane engine. The diligent machine kept on exhuming and relocating corpses in the death camp even after 6:00 p.m., for the Germans had decided to expedite the matter of covering all traces and burning the bodies. The moment the concert ended, the SS-men ordered us to march toward the entrance to the hut….”
Translated, the Bottlesorting Detail. The baby carriages and strollers of the children who were murdered at Treblinka were used by this work group to collect bottles, thermoses, jars and aluminum containers. Children’s strollers were also used by the prisoners to collect garbage.
“This group of forty to fifty prisoners worked at the train platform. The team’s job was to open the freight cars and transfer the orders of the SS man in charge to disembark from the train. After the victims disembarked, the team workers removed the bodies of those who had died en route and transferred them to the burial ditches. Then they cleaned the cars and removed any remaining belongings to eliminate any traces of the transport cargo. Two or three prisoners would clean each freight car, and within ten to fifteen minutes the entire train had been cleaned. In Treblinka the platform workers’ team wore blue armbands, and thus were known as “the blues.” Arad, Belzec, Sobibor, Treblinka: The Operation Reinhard Death Camps, at p. 108. | <urn:uuid:fe2c6224-090d-4397-9abb-24b735396599> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://yadvashem.org/yv/en/education/interviews/willenberg.asp | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783402516.86/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155002-00099-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.983276 | 6,925 | 2.890625 | 3 |
The establishment of Soweto is, like Johannesburg,
linked directly to the discovery of Gold in 1885. Thousands of
people from around the world and South Africa flocked to the new
town to seek their fortunes or to offer their labour. Within 4
years Johannesburg was the second largest city. More than half
the population was black, most living in multi racial shanty towns
near the gold mines in the centre of the town. As the gold mining
industry developed, so did the need for labour increase. Migrant
labour was started and most of these workers lived in mine compounds.
However other workers had to find their own accommodation often
in appalling conditions.
residents of what is now known as Soweto were located into the
area called Klipspriut in 1905 following their relocation from “Coolietown” in
the centre of Johannesburg as a result of an outbreak of bubonic
plague. The Johannesburg City Council took the opportunity to
establish racially segregated residential areas. Some residents
were to be relocated to Alexandra township (near the present
day Sandton). This group comprised black, Indian and coloured
families and they received freehold title to their land (this
was subsequently reversed by the Apartheid Government). Only
black families were located into Klipspruit and the housing was
on a rental basis. Klipspruit was subsequently renamed Pimville.
demand for housing for the large numbers of black people who
had moved into Johannesburg grew to such an extent that new housing
was built in an area known as Orlando, named after the first
administrator Edwin Orlando Leaky.
In the 1940’s a controversial character James
Mpanza led the first land invasion and some 20000 squatters occupied
land near Orlando. James Mpanza is known as the “Father of
In 1959 the residents of Sophiatown were forcibly
removed to Soweto and occupied the area known as Meadowlands. Sir
Earnest Oppenheimer, the first chairman of the Anglo American Corporation,
was appalled by the housing shortage and was instrumental in arranging
a loan for the construction of additional housing and this is commemorated
by the Oppenheimer Tower in Jabulani.
Current status of Soweto.
Soweto falls within the municipality of the Johannesburg
Metro Council in the province of Gauteng which appropriately means
place of Gold.
rental houses have now been sold to the tenants who received
a subsidy from the government to cover the cost of the houses.
Private sector housing was developed from the 1980’s funded
by the various banks. Freehold title is available to the properties.
Services are provided by the Johannesburg Metro council
and electricity by Escom.
Origins of the name.
Soweto obtained its name from the first two letters
of South Western Township which was the original description of
is a symbol of the New South Africa, caught between old squatter
misery and new prosperity,
squalor and an upbeat lifestyle, it’s a vibrant city which
still openly bears the scars of the Apartheid past
and yet shows what’s possible in the New South Africa” | <urn:uuid:63df3d01-0372-4176-aa51-0dc16c889d16> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.soweto.co.za/html/i_overview.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397567.28/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00189-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964851 | 678 | 3.34375 | 3 |
Bahrain Military Capabilities of the Persian Gulf States
Sources: The Library of Congress Country Studies; CIA World Factbook
During the decade after the outbreak of the Iran-Iraq War, all the gulf states set out to strengthen their armed forces by converting to the most modern weapons they could obtain and assimilate. By 1993 each state had at least a modest inventory of tanks and other armored equipment, air defense missiles, combat aircraft, armed helicopters, and missile-armed naval craft with which to deter an intruder. Kuwait is less prepared than the others, not having recovered from the losses it suffered in personnel and equipment during the Persian Gulf War. A fundamental constraint for all the gulf states has been the limited pool of qualified manpower and, in most countries, the problem of attracting recruits when better employment opportunities exist in the civilian sector. The emphasis on advanced weaponry is part of an effort to minimize the need for personnel. As stated by a senior Kuwaiti officer, the object is to obtain the best equipment technologically, "easy to maintain, understand, and operate . . . the greatest firepower for the smallest human effort." But integrating modern weapons into the gulf armies and ensuring their effective operation create other problems. Such problems include the necessity of continued reliance on foreign officers and foreign maintenance and training staffs at a time when all gulf states are trying to achieve greater self-sufficiency. Dependence on foreign personnel, moreover, implies a degree of loyalty and trustworthiness that may not be forthcoming in times of crisis.
Although in every case the gulf armies are much larger than the air forces and navies, the ground forces have traditionally been oriented toward counterinsurgency actions and the protection of the ruling families. Most of the armies are organized into one or more combat brigades; actual fighting strengths are generally lower than the brigade structure implies. Except for the officers and men who were briefly exposed to modern military operations during the Persian Gulf War--and in the late 1960s and first half of the 1970s during Oman's war with Dhofari guerrillas and their supporters in the PDRY--most have not faced actual combat situations.
In recognition of the great strategic importance of their air and sea defenses, the gulf states have all introduced modern combat aircraft and air defense missile systems, such as the United States Hawk surface-to-air missile (SAM). Several of the states have in their inventories or on order attack helicopters to help protect their oil facilities and oil drilling platforms in the gulf. All the gulf states have communications, control, and warning systems for the effective use of their fighter aircraft and antiaircraft missiles. But each air force is small, and, unless integrated with others, the overall effectiveness of the GCC in air defense is marginal. In spite of the attention the problem has received, there is no common network linking all air defense squadrons and SAMs to the Saudi Arabian air defense system and to the Saudi airborne warning and control system (AWACS) aircraft. Technical difficulties, including the incompatibility of national communications systems and the reluctance to turn control of national air defense over to a unified command structure, account for this weakness.
Fast-missile attack craft acquired by all of the gulf navies with small but well-trained crews could inflict damaging blows to heavier fleets and discourage hostile amphibious operations. The sixty-two-meter corvettes belonging to Bahrain and the UAE are the largest vessels among the gulf navies. As the tanker war demonstrated, the navies lack minesweeping capability, and their shipboard defense weapons against air attack are also weak. Only Oman has available larger amphibious transports to convey troops and vehicles for defending islands or remote coastal areas.
Defense expenditures of the gulf states are among the highest in the world relative to population. According to an analysis covering 1989, prepared by the United States Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, Qatar recorded the highest per capita military expenditures of any country in the world, followed by Israel and the United States. Oman ranked fourth and Kuwait sixth. The UAE was eleventh highest; Bahrain, listed in twentyseventh place worldwide, had the lowest outlays relatively of the gulf states. Military spending as a percentage of central government expenditures also is high, amounting to more than 40 percent in Oman and the UAE, for example. In contrast, military spending in Bahrain is 13 percent of central government expenditure. Military expenditures as a percentage of the gross national product (GNP--see Glossary) are more moderate except for Oman, whose military outlays were more than 20 percent of GNP in 1989. Force ratios are also high in Oman and the UAE; both countries had about twenty men in uniform per 1,000 population in 1989. Their respective rankings were eleventh and twelfth highest in the world. Bahrain and Kuwait had manpower levels of about ten per 1,000 population, whereas the level for Qatar was fifteen per 1,000 in 1989.
In spite of the small personnel pools and the desire of all the gulf governments to train nationals to replace foreigners as quickly as possible, constraints found in traditional Islamic societies prevent the widespread recruitment of women to serve in the armed forces. Oman and Bahrain have allowed a few women to enlist. They receive combat-style training and learn how to operate small arms. In Bahrain, however, almost all the women have been assigned to hospital staffs. In 1990 the UAE introduced a five-month training course for female recruits with the assistance of a team of female soldiers from the United States. About 1,200 women applied; only seventy-four were accepted. Two top members of the first class were selected to continue with officer training at the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst, in Britain. The other graduates of the first class were assigned as bodyguards of female members of the ruling families and as specialists in such fields as military intelligence.
Before the Persian Gulf War, some women served in support departments of the Kuwaiti armed forces, including engineering, military establishments, moral guidance, and public relations. In July 1991, noting that a large number of women had volunteered for service in the postwar military, the minister of defense said that some would be accepted for a training period of three to six months but would initially be unsalaried. A role would then be found for them. The minister cautioned that acceptance by Kuwaiti society was essential for the government to move ahead with this plan.
Data as of January 1993
NOTE: The information regarding Bahrain on this page is re-published from The Library of Congress Country Studies and the CIA World Factbook. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Bahrain Military Capabilities of the Persian Gulf States information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Bahrain Military Capabilities of the Persian Gulf States should be addressed to the Library of Congress and the CIA. | <urn:uuid:0a700866-4153-4728-92f3-10e54263c0b1> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.photius.com/countries/bahrain/national_security/bahrain_national_security_military_capabilitie~97.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395346.72/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00139-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959607 | 1,373 | 2.578125 | 3 |
At AIDS.gov we’ve been thinking a lot about the power of storytelling. In the HIV community, everyone has a story to bring to the table, and more people are sharing theirs with new media. Many tools are available to help to facilitate storytelling and have conversations around HIV.
One example of a tool used to share stories with social media is Storify , a website that gathers tweets, blog posts, online videos, photos, news articles, and more from around the web and places them into a single post, or “story.” It provides a space where audiences can see social media conversations from different channels happening in one place. These conversations can be curated to share multiple voices and shared via other existing networks (embedded into websites or blogs, linked to on Twitter and Facebook) to reach audiences. Storify stories archive these conversations and allow audiences to access them at any time. Check out an example from the White House highlighting a Twitter chat on the intersection of HIV/AIDS, violence against women, and gender-related health disparities. Visit Storify’s website to learn more and take a guided tour of its features.
Another approach to tell stories is through digital storytelling. Digital storytelling features a brief, personal narrative story enhanced by sound, video, and symbolic imagery. Stories are user-generated and don’t depend on a third party to frame the experience of the storyteller.
To commemorate National Asian and Pacific Islander HIV/AIDS Awareness Day on May 19, the Banyan Tree Project launched a new community-driven, community-owned initiative that puts the power to end HIV stigma back in the hands of the community. The initiative,”Taking Root: Our Stories, Our Community” is intended to facilitate the creation of an Asian and Pacific Islander community story about the effects of HIV.
According to the Banyan Tree Project: It’s been said that it takes a thousand voices to tell a single story. “Taking Root” is grounded in the power of the individual story, but its territory extends beyond the individual. We are a multitude of voices: there is no singular Asian American or Pacific Islander experience, and the face of HIV is as diverse as the people affected by it. Through the connections forged by these individual experiences, we are able to tell a story about the ways we are affected by HIV. Together, these stories heal and it is through the telling and witnessing of them that we learn to overcome our silence and shame.
The Banyan Tree Project trained Asian and Pacific Islander storytellers affected by HIV to create their own digital stories. They developed their stories during an intensive three-day workshop facilitated by the Center for Digital Storytelling . Participants were trained in the process of producing their own story, from developing their own narratives and producing voiceovers, to using audiovisual and editing equipment to create the final videos. These stories are simple yet powerful, with three-minute narratives recorded over a slideshow of photographs and text.
Earlier this month we attended the Banyan Tree Project’s flagship Asian and Pacific Islander HIV Awareness Day event in San Francisco where six digital stories were screened. Below is one of these digital stories, and you can see others on www.banyantreeproject.org .
The Banyan Tree Project plans to promote these videos nationwide at other events and via social media. Follow updates on these digital stories on Twitter with the hashtag #withoutshame .
Do you have a digital story about HIV to share? Spent some time on Storify? To find out about creating your own Taking Root story or hosting a workshop in your area, contact firstname.lastname@example.org. | <urn:uuid:777bc85b-7895-4b74-9b49-0269dc7b4f59> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://blog.aids.gov/2012/05/digital-storytelling-a-community-tool-to-end-hiv-stigma.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397695.90/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00170-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937979 | 767 | 2.96875 | 3 |
Samuel Ringgold (January 15, 1770 - October 18, 1829), a republican, was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, representing the fourth district of Maryland from October 15, 1810, to March 3, 1815. He also served in the Maryland House of Delegates (1795) and the Maryland State Senate (1801-1806). Ringgold's military career included serving during the War of 1812, and serving as a brigadier general in the Maryland militia.
Ringgold had two sons who served in the military. His son Samuel (1796-1846) was an officer in the U.S. Army during the Mexican-American War. His son Cadwalder Ringgold (1802-1867) was a naval officer. | <urn:uuid:3820c032-985e-4034-a9bc-234e58c97db7> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.mysticgames.com/famouspeople/SamuelRinggold.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396959.83/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00033-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.982558 | 163 | 2.59375 | 3 |
Descending from Your Falsetto Singing Voice
Moving out of your falsetto down to your middle voice and chest singing voice requires practice to be performed smoothly without straining your voice. The goal of this exercise is to use the easy feeling of falsetto and get your notes in your middle voice to have that same ease of sound without pressure.
The following illustration allows you to flip out of falsetto down into your chest voice so you can really feel the difference between them. After you experience the flip, you can develop smooth transitions by gliding down from falsetto instead of falling down. You may want to visualize the lower note in front of you to prevent the bottom note from falling down and creating a big crack between the notes.
When the notes in your middle voice are feeling easy, you want to find that same sensation of moving from falsetto to head voice with ease. The long-term benefit is that you’ll be able to easily sing a song or musical pattern that moves from middle voice to head voice because you know how to thin out your rubber band. The shift may be bumpy in the beginning, and that’s normal.
As the transitions get smoother, you can make the shift more easily. Go ahead and let it bump for now. Preventing the bump entirely prevents you from feeling the difference between the two sounds.
Using the pattern in the following illustration, sing from your falsetto and flip down into your middle voice (or chest voice) on the last five repetitions of the pattern on the CD. Let the sound flip and make a noticeable change. You want to allow big changes when you move between the pitches in the beginning. The more you work this transition, the more confident you’ll feel making a smooth transition later.
In this pattern (see below illustration), sing the first note in falsetto and slide down into your middle voice (or chest voice, on the last three repetitions) on the vowels, as written. You may feel confused in the beginning when you’re making the transitions.
To help smooth the transition, think of gliding down or sliding between the notes, and gradually open the space in your throat as you slide down. Give yourself some time to explore a smooth transition as you descend in pitch. The more you practice, the more secure you’ll feel moving down out of falsetto. | <urn:uuid:567aa90b-3b3b-4be0-adc7-60fec722ae67> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/descending-from-your-falsetto-singing-voice.navId-811115.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783399385.17/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154959-00171-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.934739 | 496 | 2.578125 | 3 |
In India, Landmark Ruling Recognizes Transgender Citizens
India now has a third gender.
The Supreme Court has recognized the country's transgender community as being in a third neutral category — neither male nor female.
In handing down the ruling, Justice K.S. Radhakrishnan said, "Transgenders are citizens of this country ... and recognition as a third gender is not a social or medical issue but a human rights issue."
Article 15 of India's Constitution guarantees that no state can discriminate against citizens on the basis of religion, caste, race or sex.
The decision by the two-judge bench applies to what in India are traditionally known by the Hindi word hijras. The term is loosely used to include eunuchs and transvestites. The court stated, "transgender is generally described as an umbrella term for persons whose gender identity, gender expression or behavior does not conform to their biological sex."
Activists say because the transgender population has not been legally recognized, its members have been ostracized, abused and forced into prostitution. Many eke out an existence as sex workers or beggars.
India's hijras are easily spotted on the street and can be found wending their way through traffic at intersections, clad in colorful saris and bright lipstick. They tap on car windows, begging or sometimes demanding a bit of change.
Estimated to number between 2 and 3 million, they have long been a prominent but marginalized part of Indian culture.
Hijras are deprived of jobs, education and health care; turned away at hospitals, limited by the practice of male and female wards. India had taken steps to ensure their recognition when India's Election Commission earlier allowed a third gender of "other" on voter registration forms for the national elections now taking place.
But the Supreme Court on Tuesday expressed concern over transgenders being harassed in society and said "it was the right of every human being to choose their gender."
It directed the government to bring them into the mainstream, ordering it to set aside quotas for jobs and education for transgender individuals, bringing them in line with the benefits already afforded other minority groups and lower castes. The court said hijras will be entitled to "all other rights," including passports, voter cards and driving licenses.
The prominent transgender activist Laxmi Narayan Tripathi initially brought the suit in 2012 seeking equal rights. She said the decision was hard-won in this traditionally conservative country. "Today, I feel a proud citizen of India," Tripathi said.
But while the court has declared discrimination against the transgender community illegal, whether the practice will end is far from certain. Formidable obstacles remain in the way sexuality is perceived in India.
As recently as December, India's Supreme Court reinstated a ban on gay sex, a colonial-era law dating back to 1861. The widely criticized decision reversed the Delhi High Court, which had ruled the law prohibiting "carnal intercourse against the laws of nature" an infringement of fundamental rights. But the Supreme Court justices said the provision would hold until Parliament chose to amend it, as it was a matter left for legislators and not the judiciary.
Amnesty International praised Tuesday's ruling as reaffirming "constitutional values of inclusion and equality" but said it "should provide the impetus for a new government to repeal" what it called the "absurd law" criminalizing sex between consenting same-sex partners.
Religious groups across India said the Supreme Court's December ruling ought to be respected. A senior leader with the Hindu-nationalist BJP party argued that overturning it would be illegal, immoral and against the ethos of the Indian culture.
With polls predicting the BJP, the country's main opposition party, on the verge of coming to power, transgender activists are not letting down their guard. They say the battle today may have been won, but the war is far from over. | <urn:uuid:5552e156-3904-4835-933a-1910d73451fc> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://wcqs.org/post/india-landmark-ruling-recognizes-transgender-citizens | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397695.90/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00157-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962045 | 793 | 2.578125 | 3 |
In 2007, the Museum’s Botany Department was awarded a grant from the Blasker-Rose-Miah Fund of the San Diego Foundation to conduct local climate-change research using botanical data. The goal was to compile and analyze all available plant-specimen data that has been collected from San Diego County as well as identify locations and key indicator species that exhibit measurable responses to climate.
Our Museum collections tell us about conditions that existed in our history. We have been collecting and preserving plant specimens since 1874 and continue to add new records as a result of the San Diego County Plant Atlas project. The specimen with label data records historic information about San Diego County—what plants grew where, and what time of year they were flowering.
Recent studies have demonstrated that the flowering times of plants can be a useful indicator of local climate change. Historical phenological records are relatively rare; therefore, herbarium specimens are an excellent resource to get a glimpse into the past to see when specific plants were in flower. The SD Herbarium has a large collection of plants collected in San Diego County that can be used in research, particularly in studies on local climate change.
Phenology refers to the timing of specific biological events (for example, first openings of leaf and flower buds, insect hatchings and bird migration) in relation to changes in season and climate. Phenological responses to seasonal changes (such as variation in day-length, temperature, and rain or snowfall) can be ideal indicators of the impact of local climate change.
While no definitive species were identified as having significant shifts in flowering time during the course of this project, a summary of collections data for 85 potential indicator species was compiled. One particular “taxa of interest” (Ceanothus) was selected for detailed analysis, based on criteria developed from a workshop involving local scientists and biologists, and the review of the literature. Phenological data for Ceanothus did not show trends that corroborate with changes in our local climate. Future studies could be done on the targeted taxa to see if some plants are responding to changes in our climate. | <urn:uuid:ccc4e00a-db67-47e1-9677-760ffba4fa25> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.sdnhm.org/science/botany/projects/climate-change/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783403826.29/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155003-00118-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947736 | 433 | 3.671875 | 4 |
Lord Wakefield of Hythe sincerely believed that the world would benefit from an interest in aviation through the development of aeromodels. In 1911, then Sir Charles Wakefield, held a competition for aeromodels on the grounds of the Crystal Palace. This is a very large arboretum building which had been constructed for the nineteenth century International Exposition near London, England.
For this contest managed by the "Kite and Model Aeroplane Association", Sir Charles had made a sterling silver-gilted cup, standing about 18 inches high. In fact this "Gold Cup" was very similar to the present "Wakefield Cup", and was probably made by the same Master Silversmith in London: Sansom & Creswick. The Wakefield Gold Cup contest of 1911 was won by E W Twining, of London, on July 5, and Sir Charles Wakefield was in attendance to watch the competition, and to present the "Wakefield Gold Cup" to Mr Twining. The aeromodel that Twining flew was a canard. Twining patterned his aeromodel after the theories of the Wright Brothers famous "Flyer", and Santos Dumont. Twining mentioned that the original "Wakefield Gold Cup" was last won by either a Dutch, or Belgium competitor, whose family may still have this trophy. World War I, intervened, and this trophy was lost, but not forgotten. In 1927, now Lord Wakefield of Hythe, was asked by F de P Green of the SMAE if the 1911 "Gold Cup" could again be used for an aeromodelling event, only to learn that the 1911 "Gold Cup" was lost. At this time Lord Wakefield decided to sponsor a new aeromodelling competition. It was then that F de P Green asked the President of the Society of Model Aeronautical Engineers, Sir Sefton Brancker, if the SMAE would be interested in forming a rules committee that would manage a new International Aeromodelling competition. The Governing Board of the SMAE voted to approve the request, and to appoint Mr A F Houlberg, and Dr A P Thurston to head the Wakefield International Trophy Committee. It was through the efforts of these two gentlemen that the Wakefield International Trophy Rules were first formulated. These "Wakefield Cup Rules" were in two parts, the first being the basis for the competition, the General Rules:
This was followed by part two of the Wakefield Rules, the Specifications:
The first Wakefield International Cup Contest was held in 1928 at Hendon Aerodrome, near London, England. There is no evidence to indicate that Lord Wakefield of Hythe attended the contest, but knowing how important this contest was to him I would guess that he was there to present the new "Silver Cup". His interest in aeromodelling never waned, and by 1936 when the English team returned from the USA after Albert Judge had won back the Wakefield Cup, Lord Wakefield personally hosted the team at a restaurant in Piccadilly, London. This unflagging, and single minded devotion to aeromodelling by Viscount Lord Wakefield of Hythe must have in some way prepared the many English aeromodellers who flew in the Wakefield Event, to devote their careers to the aviation industry in their country, and in some way added to the survival of their country during World War II, at least that's what I believe. One outstanding example would have to be Robert Copland who died in 1996. Actually Lord Wakefield of Hythe believed fully in friendly international aeromodelling, and the Wakefield International Cup contest has always been that, regardless of those today who admire nationalistic military displays of uniformed marching units waving flags, like at the "Olympics".
Viscount Wakefield of Hythe died in March 1941, at an estimated age of 61 years. While he was living he was referred to as "The Patron Saint of Aviation", a title that he much deserved. He will be loved forever by those who fly in the contests of his namesake. Although today's rules bear little resemblance to the Wakefield Rules that were first written by the SMAE in 1927, the "spirit" of The Event prevails. This spirit, I believe, is present because there are many people still alive today who have been involved in the perpetuation of the Wakefield event from the beginning, Gordon S Light the 1932 and 1935 Wakefield Champion for one. This condition is now in the stage of attrition, and within a few short years it will climax with the fact that there are no longer any survivors left in the world who remember, or even care about history of the Wakefield Cup event. At this stage in time the Wakefield Cup event will be in serious jeopardy. | <urn:uuid:37010a12-a78a-4330-9927-e7ed6475d546> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.fai.org/f1-free-flight/wakefield-international-cup/427-ciam/ciam-f1/ciam-wakefield/33215-lord-wakefield-of-hythe-1880-to-1941 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783399385.17/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154959-00124-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977513 | 993 | 2.609375 | 3 |
Historic Jeffco: Mount Vernon Canyon
A Brief History of Mount Vernon Canyon
The I-70 Foothills of Colorado
The Ancestral Rocky Mountains began to gradually uplift from shallow tropical seas about 300 million years ago. A "dinosaur speedway" at the base of the foothills is said to have flourished until 64 million years ago. The melting of the Ice Age—from 1.8 million to 20,000 years ago—gradually formed mountain meadows, valleys and canyons. Mount Vernon Canyon now supports Interstate 70 in the foothills directly west of Denver, Colorado.
Archaeologists have found many prehistoric treasures near today’s Heritage Square, southwest of Golden, at the base of Lookout Mountain. Paleo, Clovis, Plano and Folsom artifacts have been identified at several foothills locations. Some historians and archaeologists believe Colorado Ute Indians evolved from the "Clovis" migration around 14,000 years ago. Arapaho arrowheads, dating back to A.D. 1750, have been found on Lookout and Genesee Mountains.
The 1859 Gold Rush
The steep and rugged canyon rises 2000 feet within three miles. It was named after Mt. Vernon Towne, the first Colorado territorial government capitol, at the mouth of the canyon in 1859. The Mt. Vernon toll gate to the canyon was promoted as "The Gateway to the Rockies." Mt. Vernon Creek still flows down the canyon past two remaining historic homes built by pioneers to attract travelers to gold territory.
The toll road from Mt. Vernon to Genesee Mountain was often washed out by rain and melting snow. A competitive toll gate was established in 1861 at the Apex settlement for a wagon road that rose and crossed Lookout Mountain to Genesee Mountain. The Patrick family from Missouri controlled the Genesee toll gate adjacent to their two-story house that has been preserved in Genesee Park. It is the oldest building in continuous use in the area. Denver Mountain Park personnel have lived in the Patrick house since 1914.
Most travelers from Mt. Vernon and Apex passed through the Genesee gate to Bergen Park and continued west through Soda Creek and Floyd Hill to Central City and Idaho Springs or went south through Evergreen to South Park.
The Rockland Community
A few hardy pioneer families settled in Mt. Vernon Canyon and supported themselves by ranching and harvesting timber. Their summer gardens of potatoes, vegetables and grain were not disturbed by wildlife. Deer, elk, fox and rabbit ran for their lives at the sight of humans who usually had a loaded gun ready for needed food.
Most settlers built cabins near the creek for convenient water supply and to avoid wind. They built the Rockland School in 1873 and Rockland Church in 1879. It took two to three days for Rockland families to travel by horse-drawn wagon to Golden, gather supplies, and return home. Historic ranches and the school were taken out by I-70 but historic Rockland Church still stands as testimony to early community values.
Railroad entrepreneurs bypassed Mt. Vernon canyon’s steep grade for the more gradual rise west through Clear Creek Canyon in the 1870s. The old rocky canyon road was taken over by Jefferson County in 1880 but was never paved.
Real Estate entrepreneurs and missionaries
In 1890, Denver investors hired Frederick Law Olmsted to design a "city on the hill" on their 2,389-acre Denver and Lookout Mountain Resort. Olmsted was famous for designing extraordinary landscape projects, including Central Park in New York City in 1857 and Chicago’s World Columbian Exposition in 1893, among many others. His work inspired the "city beautiful" movement, the national park system, comprehensive community planning and landscaping with native trees and plants.
The Lookout Mountain Resort was promoted as “Denver’s greatest future attraction.” The plan for clusters of summer cottages, connected by winding trails through native flora that led to the resort hotel, never materialized. Except for the Cedar Lake Reservoir (planned by Olmsted) dug in 1895, the mountain properties with extraordinary views of the eastern plains and Rocky Mountains had no municipal water supply or reliable roads to the area until 1912.
In 1905, promotion for the development was renewed by British real estate developer Rees Vidler who gained Golden water taps in exchange for a right-of-way across the Lookout resort land. The pristine mountain water was piped from the Beaver Brook Watershed (Squaw Mountain) to Cedar Lake and down into Golden where it was treated for city customers.
Vidler constructed a “funicular” railroad track for open cable cars to bring visitors up from Golden to his real estate office on the east summit of Lookout in 1912.
He formed an alliance with “Cement Bill” of Golden who built the Lariat Trail, the first reliable access to the area from 1911 to 1914.
Another successful newcomer was Frances Xavier Cabrini who founded the Institute of the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart in 1880.
In 1912, she founded a summer orphanage and farm on 800 acres as one of 67 schools, orphanages, hospitals and day care centers during her lifetime.
She was canonized in 1946 and is now known as the Saint of Immigrants. Mother Cabrini’s Shrine continues to serve 200,000 annual pilgrims from around the world annually.
Denver sets land preservation precedent
Legend says that "City Beautiful" competition around the country inspired prominent Denver businessmen to explore projects to attract tourism. One of the most legendary business leaders was John Brisben Walker who preserved Red Rocks Park (until Denver acquired it in 1927). After twenty years of "brainstorming" tourism attractions, Walker representing the Denver Real Estate Exchange, Elmer Sommers of the Denver Motor Club and Charles Johnson of the Denver Chamber of Commerce convinced Denver’s Mayor Speer to promote their plan for a "Denver Mountain Parks" system in Jefferson and Clear Creek Counties in 1911.
Businessmen funded a massive campaign in every newspaper, civic society and labor organization asking Denver voters to approve a tax of one-half mil to finance the Mountain Park System. The promotion claimed the parks were "Denver’s chance to open a gateway into the mountains, and to take the lead in the work of making Colorado more attractive to tourists than Switzerland." Jefferson County officials did not support the project.
Denver voters approved the tax in May, 1912. The Mountain Parks Committee of businessmen hired Olmsted’s son "Rick" (Olmsted died in 1903) to design the system based on their extensive research and preliminary planning. Rick Olmsted was familiar with the area from experience as a surveyor apprentice in Colorado in 1894.
The first acquisition in 1912 was Genesee Park "to preserve scenic views of the Continental Divide and Mt. Evans." Some "public-spirited" investors had purchased 1200 acres of Genesee Mountain from a sawmill-timber company in 1911 to hold it until Denver could permanently preserve it. In 1914, the city enclosed 160 Genesee Park acres to preserve two native species that were nearly extinct, wild elk and American bison.
Colorow Point, a .37-acre parcel near today’s Lookout Mountain Nature Center, was acquired in 1915. The site preserved extraordinary views of Clear Creek Canyon and access to the historic Beaver Brook Trail, which Denver secured easements to preserve.
The acquisition of Lookout Mountain Park (65.7-acres) in 1917 provided a burial place and museum for Buffalo Bill Cody. From 1912 to 1927, Denver built roads across Lookout into Genesee Park, west to Bergen Park and Mt. Evans, south into Evergreen, the Evergreen Lake and dam, and east along Bear Creek to Morrison. This system of "scenic drives" offered picnic sites, fishing and hiking for tourists and Coloradans. It initiated Jefferson County residents’ most treasured gift—preservation of native land. Genesee Grange #219 became the center of a more prosperous Rockland community in 1912.
Wealthy nature lovers build summer cabins
Denver made Jefferson County foothills accessible and popular by building hiking trails, tent colonies and picnic shelters through the mountain park system. Wealthy entrepreneur and philanthropist Charles Boettcher built Lorraine Lodge on Lookout Mountain in 1917. Denver built the Chief Hosa Lodge and Campground in Genesee Park in 1918.
Visitors to the Denver Mountain Parks made tourism profitable in Golden, Mt. Vernon Canyon, Evergreen, Kittredge and Morrison. Many Lookout Mountain entrepreneurs managed popular restaurants, dance pavilions, camping sites and tourist “gift shops” from 1912 until the Great Depression in 1930. Nearly all Lookout Mountain land was platted with residential lots by 1924.
The Denver Ski Club leased northeast Genesee Mountain land from homesteader Lucian M. Ralston in 1921 for a ski jump. Thousands of Denverites attended event competitions during the 1920s. Economic depression of the 1930s, lack of snow and better transportation on U. S. Hwy 40 to West Slope skiing (in 1937) ended the ski jump. The “Twisted Pine” ski club house was purchased by Denver Girl Scouts for taxes in the 1930s. The ski jump scar is still visible from I-70 above Chimney Creek condominiums west of the “space house.”
The first successful Lookout Mountain resort was Mount Vernon Country Club, established in 1922. The popular social and recreation club had a golf course, croquet courts, 100 acres of open space for nature trails and excellent clubhouse dining. Some members built cottages and stayed for the summer. Other non-residential members traveled up and down the Lariat for dinner dances and summer recreation. "The Club" faltered during World War II when the golf course became open space, but came back into popularity during the 1950s and continues to be one of the area’s most popular attractions. Members acquired more land during the 1960s for a total of 1200 acres of open space.
The Denver Kiwanis Club attempted a similar resort east of Genesee Mountain in 1924. The "Kiwanis Reservation" was expected to be a "mountainous rendezvous" for visiting Kiwanians to find "opportunities for rest, recreation and pleasure, amid unusually congenial surroundings." Some wealthy club members built cabins but the resort never developed.
1930s to 1950s—from Depression to Boom
To counter lost income during the Great Depression and World War II, some Rockland families became fox fur farmers. One entrepreneurial Denver dentist, Menefee Howard, established a huge mink and chinchilla farm where the retail Genesee Towne Centre now stands.
Construction of U.S. Highway 40 on the north side of Mt. Vernon in 1937 greatly improved access to the area. The first one-room Rockland school (1873) was taken out by the new highway and a new two-room Rockland school was built for 17 students in 1936. Telephones and electricity became common by World War II. It was a small and friendly mountain community where "everybody knew everybody" at the community Ralston Store.
After the war, developers filed new plats with larger lots for custom homes in Panorama Estates, Panorama Heights, Clear Creek Heights and Paradise Hills. Most Mt. Vernon Country Club cottages were expanded from two to twelve times original size.
Business on Lookout Mountain boomed — Wild Rose Lodge, Mt. Vernon Canyon Inn, Lookout Mountain Trading Post, Jack & Marie’s Cafe, Robin’s Nest, Thunderbird Inn, Brown’s Cabins, Cubby Hole Tavern, Flying Horse Inn and Chuck Wagon Cafe. The Lighted Lantern became a popular square dance place. Sam’s Cowhide Corners became "Sams," a wildly popular college student haunt during the 1960s (now the Crystal Rose event center).
In spite of disapproval of the "Tee Pees" curio shops (now Walmart, Amaco and MacDonalds), the most respected local business was El Rancho. Travelers continued west on Hwy 40, turned south to Bergen Park and Evergreen, or stopped to enjoy dinner, dancing and the hospitality of Paul and Donna McEncroe. The restaurant continues to thrive today.
Unmanaged growth thrives
The Ralston Elementary School was built for 100 students in 1955. The Genesee Grange, stagnant since the 1920s, moved into the second Rockland School building and again became a center of community activities. The second Rockland Church was built in 1960. Land for the new church and school was donated by the Ralston family who settled in the area in 1896.
Competitive mortgage rates were not available for mountain properties until Hiwan began to develop in Evergreen in 1960. There were 254 improved properties in Mt. Vernon Canyon in 1948. By 1968, there were more than 1,000.
Some of the 1890 Lookout Mountain resort land became Panorama Estates, a 63 home development, in 1954. It became known as the Beverly Hills of the foothills development. Then "Paradise Hills Ranch" was filed for 167 horse-owning families in 1963. The development stalled in 1975 until the Lookout Mountain Water District was formed in 1988. Some Cedar Lake area land became a resort for antenna owners (see Antenna Tower Struggle).
“Unmanaged growth” concerns prompted some residents of Mt. Vernon Country Club and Rilliet Park to preserve 2,000 acres by 1965. One resident, Carla Coleman, personally preserved over 600 acres managed by her Northwoodside Foundation land conservancy. Some of those same citizens became Jefferson County leaders for a 1/2-cent sales tax to develop an Open Space program in 1972. The voters approved the open space tax and and defeated a referendum to host the 1976 Winter Olympics. Also in 1972, the state legislature required counties to regulate subdivision land use.
A new town named “Genesee”
The mountain community, where more everybodies knew everybody, felt threatened with extinction in 1971 when land developers proposed "an entire town" covering 1889 acres for 2,324 residential units plus a commercial center. Genesee land investors expected to house 8,000 more residents in the area. Citizens had already fought to defeat proposals for a chemical plant near El Rancho and Denver prison next to the bison herd in Genesee Park. They lost a battle against a hotel operation that was not developed (today’s Riva Chase neighborhood).
County Commissioners listened to hours of testimony by members of the Hill and Dale Society (HADS), Mountain Area Planning Council (MAPS) and Protect Our Mountain Environment (POME) and denied the Genesee proposal. The land developers took their case to court hoping to overturn the denial. MAPS and HADS became "co-defendants" with the county. Genesee developers outraged citizens further by negotiating to bring the 1976 Winter Olympics to the historic Mt. Vernon Canyon ski jump.
The investors withdrew the law suit and proposed a revised plan, withdrew it and purchased more water rights. The third proposal was for 1,542 units and 360,000 square feet of commercial space on 2,040 acres for an estimated population of 4,000. Half of the land would be preserved as "open space."
The Genesee Master Plan was approved on January 3, 1973. HADS filed a civil action suit against the County Commissioners hoping to reverse the decision. Genesee land developers filed "SLAPP" suits against individual citizen members of HADS. Both parties withdrew their legal claims in January 1974.
More "drama" arrived with actors Woody Allen and Diane Keaton in May of 1974. The Hollywood film crew were attracted to Mt. Vernon Canyon’s most notable landmark, Charles Deaton’s “Sculptured House” on Genesee Ridge to shoot the film “Sleeper.”
Pressured by economic inflation and gasoline shortage caused by the oil embargo in 1976, the land investors sold their “Genesee Land Company” to Fidelity Mutual Life Insurance Company. Genesee Real Estate Company was formed to market new homes within the Master Plan. Fidelity sold filings to individual home building companies. When more than half the lots were sold in the largest residential area (750 homes) in 1979, Fidelity turned control over to the homeowner association. The Genesee Foundation was controlled by a resident-elected board of directors.
Genesee residents gradually partnered with their longer-time neighbors as diligent "environmental protectors" during the 1980s and 90s. The remaining lots on Lookout Mountain were filled by families who also care enough to do the necessary "homework," write letters and attend public hearings to influence elected representatives. Some outsiders judge this as "not in my backyard" (NIMBY) behavior. Others respect the active commitment of involved, intelligent citizens taking responsibility for the fragile, semi-arid mountain environment.
Visionary leadership among today’s population of 9,000 continues to care collectively through a non-profit, informal "Town Council" — Canyon Area Residents for the Environment (CARE). Everyone within the eclectic community treasures the legacy of preserved land by Denver, Jefferson County, Mt. Vernon Country Club, the Genesee Master Plan, Rilliet Park Association, Northwoodside Foundation and Clear Creek Land Conservancy.
In 1996, a private land owner prepared to develop 177-acres that includes a segment of the historic Beaver Brook Trail. Some community leaders wrote earnest checks to the landowner requesting a six-month delay for them to raise $700,000. JeffCo Open Space Advisory Committee agreed to acquire the land, which was part of the county’s long-term plan, on the condition that citizens raise $105,000 (15%) from within the community. With approval of the County Commissioners, and without media fanfare or merchant promotions, the Clear Creek Land Conservancy raised $105,000 within three months!
In 1998, 1999 and 2000, thousands of citizens from both sides of I-70 and the Greater Golden area researched, wrote letters, attended meetings, testified at public hearings and donated $1000s to defeat a proposal for a “supertower” of hundreds more antennas on Lookout Mountain and another tower on Mt. Morrison. The non-conforming use of historic Lookout land remains the area’s most dangerous problem. The visual and radiation pollution affects over 800 high altitude families and the Ralston Elementary School. Businesses within five miles suffer from severe radio frequency interference.
Local residents and business owners treasure living with wildlife, watching constant weather changes from the Continental Divide to the Denver metro area, from their serene natural environment. The diverse mix of joggers and cyclists, horseback riders and artists, home-office entrepreneurs and Denver business executives all agree: the preservation of 8,000 pristine acres within the area is the greatest treasure on earth!
For more historical perspective, see Public Attractions, Neighborhoods, Legacy of the Lariat Trail, and Antenna Tower Struggle. | <urn:uuid:c64f6593-2615-4531-9d11-12aa3db031e7> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://citymtnviews.com/historic/mtvernoncanyon/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783400031.51/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155000-00044-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953632 | 3,989 | 3.4375 | 3 |
The NGSS raise the level of the challenge for all of us. Our job is to help you succeed in this challenging environment.
The practices describe behaviors that scientists engage in as they investigate and build models and theories about the natural world and the key set of engineering practices that engineers use as they design and build models and systems. The NRC uses the term “practices” instead of a term like “skills” to emphasize that engaging in scientific investigation requires not only skill, but also knowledge that is specific to each practice. Part of the NRC’s intent is to better explain and extend what is meant by “inquiry” in science and the range of cognitive, social, and physical practices that it requires.
Although engineering design is similar to scientific inquiry, there are significant differences. For example, scientific inquiry involves the formulation of a question that can be answered through investigation, while engineering design involves the formulation of a problem that can be solved through design. Strengthening the engineering aspects of the Next Generation Science Standards will clarify for students the relevance of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (the four STEM fields) to everyday life.
Crosscutting concepts have applications across all domains of science. As such, they are a way of linking the different domains of science. They include: patterns, similarity, and diversity; cause and effect; scale, proportion and quantity; systems and system models; energy and matter; structure and function; stability and change. The Framework emphasizes that these concepts need to be made explicit for students because they provide an organizational schema for interrelating knowledge from various science fields into a coherent and scientifically-based view of the world.
Disciplinary core ideas have the power to focus K–12 science curriculum, instruction, and assessments on the most important aspects of science. To be considered core, the ideas should meet at least two of the following criteria and ideally all four:
Disciplinary ideas are grouped in four domains: the physical sciences; the life sciences; the earth and space sciences; and engineering, technology and applications of science. Read more about the three dimensions in the NRC Framework online here.
The next step is for states and critical stakeholders in education to develop science standards based on the Framework. The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) will mark a major paradigm shift in U.S. science education.
Writing of the Next Generation Science Standards is currently underway. The timeline as of March of 2012 is as follows:
26 states have signed on as NGSS Lead State Partners. The example and leadership provided by these states will be key to fostering additional state adoptions.
For more information on the development process, click here. | <urn:uuid:e8f88fb9-dd8b-4339-851c-6ec0b811b42e> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.pearsonschool.com/index.cfm?locator=PS1oW9 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397873.63/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00029-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.9401 | 549 | 3.984375 | 4 |
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The fifth edition of this market-leading book provides mechanical engineers with the most up-to date coverage of mechanical measurements. Sound theory is highlighted by rich and current practical examples. New chapter-opening learning objectives and outcomes explore the critical concepts that will be discussed. New and revised examples and problems clearly show how the information is applied in the field.
Expanded discussions are included on measurements, equipment, and basic metrology. The DFT concept presentation is now simplified. More pictures have also been added to make the material easier to learn. Mechanical engineers will then better understand the elements for the design of measurement systems and measurement test plans.
The textbook also includes updated coverage on probability and statistics and uncertainty analysis to include new international and US standards on the classification of errors in measurements. Readers can also learn how to utilize software tools with access to LABVIEW files for self-tutorials on critical concepts and MATLAB files for system analysis. | <urn:uuid:5272bb44-91ae-4efd-aee4-46d23b318461> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.knetbooks.com/theory-design-mechanical-measurements-5th/bk/9780470547410 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783403826.29/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155003-00179-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.919755 | 198 | 2.515625 | 3 |
August 5, 2014
Topic: Campus News
A four-foot-deep moat dug around the large bur oak tree at the Stephen M. Ross School of Business makes the tree look even more massive than it is.
A crew from Environmental Design, a Texas-based company that specializes in transplanting large trees, is on campus this week to prepare the tree for a short move later this fall to a new location along Tappan Street.
The excavation work has allowed the transplant crew to begin the process of driving 44-foot-long pipes beneath the tree. The pipes, nearly 50 of them, will create a platform for the tree and four feet of earth that will be moved with the tree.
Frank Hughes, the transplant project manager, explains it this way: "I'm moving a piece of earth that happens to have a tree in it."
Workers are preparing this bur oak to be relocated at the Stephen M. Ross School of Business. (Photo by Scott C. Soderberg, Michigan Photography)
Hughes has been moving trees for 33 years. He says the tree at the Ross School is not the largest his crew has tackled.
The 200-year-old, 65-foot-tall tree stands next to the Computer and Executive Education Building, which will be demolished to make way for an expansion at the Ross School. A new, larger building that will connect to existing buildings will be constructed on that site on the north side of the Ross School complex as part of a $135 million, donor-funded expansion at the school.
Hughes explains that once the pipes are in place and secured on each side of the tree to create a platform, the moat will be filled in to keep the tree healthy until moving day. Once that date – expected to be in late October – is set, workers will return for another week of preparation.
They will again excavate the area around the tree and create a ramp up to the nearby walkway. Then large air bladders will be inserted beneath the tree and inflated to lift the 700,000-pound package of tree and earth. A trailer designed to move extremely heavy objects will move the tree to the front of the Ross building.
There it will face Tappan Street in the same way it faced what was once Monroe Street, explains Larry Bowman, the university's project manager for the Ross School expansion. He said the university and the transplant firm are taking great care to give the tree the best possible chance for thriving in its new location.
The tree is one of a handful of older bur oaks on Central Campus. Others can be found near the Clements Library, Hatcher Library and Barbour Residence Hall sites. The university also is taking extraordinary measures to protect another large oak in the Ross School courtyard during construction.
University officials estimate the cost of the project to be approximately $300,000-$400,000. The cost for relocating the tree is part of the project costs for the Ross School expansion. | <urn:uuid:6d5c1a3a-f844-4eda-8046-a8655add727b> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://record.umich.edu/articles/crew-readies-bur-oak-relocation-ross-school | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396887.54/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00152-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956624 | 611 | 2.625 | 3 |
Ships face reality of lower Great Lakes water levels
The Soo Locks will open with the official start of the main shipping season on the Great Lakes.
But somebody’s got to break the ice first.
Mike Davanzo is the Commanding Officer of the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Mackinaw. We caught up with him on the icebreaking ship.
“I am on the bridge of the Mackinaw and we’re breaking the ice on the upper approaches of the Soo Locks in preparation for lock opening.”
When the locks open, ships known as salties can come into the Great Lakes from foreign ports.
“The St. Lawrence Seaway will open up on the 22nd of March, and then once that opens up the salties will start coming in and then the Soo Locks will open on the 25th and the whole region will be open to traffic as we clear the waterways of the ice.”
Some people have tossed out the idea that our warming climate could change the length of the shipping season. Over the years, there’s been less ice on the Great Lakes because the lake water has been warming. Researchers at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have found that ice cover has declined more than 70 percent on the Great Lakes since 1973.
Glen Nekvasil is the vice president of the Lake Carriers’ Association. It’s a trade group for the vessel operators on the Great Lakes that fly the U.S. flag.
I asked him what he thought about the possibility of a longer shipping season.
“Let’s not go retiring our Coast Guard icebreakers, you know what I mean? But the length of the navigation season is something that could be looked at.”
The Lake Michigan-Lake Huron system has hit record low water levels. Nekvasil says that has serious consequences.
“Water levels are critical to our industry. Depending on the size of your vessel, you lose anywhere from 50 to 270 tons of cargo for each inch of draft. So at the end of last season, our biggest ships were losing more than 10,000 tons of cargo each trip.”
He says because of antitrust laws, trade associations can’t have knowledge of freight rates, but he says it’s clear that carrying less cargo has economic implications.
“When they’re not carrying cargo, that means less revenue, and that means less ability, less financial resources for them to maintain and modernize their vessels. But really, the most important question here is the companies and the industries that we serve. The steel industry in this country still generates more than 200,000 jobs, and you cannot make steel without iron ore. And most of the iron ore that American blast furnaces use is mined in Minnesota and Michigan and shipped on the Great Lakes. Same thing with the coal for power generation, the limestone for the construction industry. These cargos support a lot of jobs.”
I asked Nekvasil if there’s a point where water levels could dip so low that it would no longer be feasible to transport materials and goods on the lakes.
“There’s a point where number one, it would no longer be economically feasible to operate the vessels – I mean, it still costs just as much money to carry 60,000 tons as it does 70,000 tons. You also reach a point where the vessel isn’t low enough in the water to be safely operated. That’s the reason why we no longer take coal to Dunkirk, New York. There just isn’t enough water in the harbor now to fully submerge the propeller and the rudder, so it would not be safe for the vessel to try to enter the harbor.” | <urn:uuid:e62915b5-4a09-4432-91dc-98099b3e0313> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://michiganradio.org/post/ships-face-reality-lower-great-lakes-water-levels | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783392159.3/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154952-00017-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94987 | 794 | 2.71875 | 3 |
Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine (TCVM), although relatively new to the Western world, is a medical system that has been used in China to treat animals for thousands of years. It is an adaptation and extension of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) used to treat humans. Speaking broadly, Chinese Medicine is a complete body of thought and practice grounded in Chinese Daoist philosophy. Though it can be traced back over two millennia in recorded history, it, like any medical system, continues to evolve today, and current research on acupuncture and herbal medicine is beginning to shed light on its mechanism of action.
Chinese Medicine Theory
Chinese Medicine is based on the Daoist worldview that the body is a microcosm of the larger, surrounding universe. As such, the cosmic laws and forces that govern the external world also govern the body’s internal environment. Just as life-energy or “Qi” is an innate force of the universe, it too is a fundamental force of the body, driving its every action and transformation. Yin-Yang theory, which is central to Daoist philosophy, also features prominently in Chinese Medicine. This theory describes how opposing forces of the universe - light and dark, hot and cold, etc,- mutually create and transform each other, and play a key role in the characterization of physiological function and disease.
The Ancient Chinese observed yearly cycles through five seasons – spring, summer, late summer, autumn, and winter, which they corresponded to the Wu Xing, or Five Elements, consisting of Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water. Just as the Earth cycles through these five seasons, the body, too, passes through the five phases in its own life cycle. In this way, a young pup is said to be in its Wood (or spring) phase of life, while an old mare is said to be in its Water (or winter) phase. Moreover, the bodily organs have also been mapped to the five phases, and the Five Element Theory is used to explain the functional relationships between organ systems. For instance, the Kidney, corresponding to the Water element, is the “mother” of the Liver, a Wood element organ, because Water generates Wood in the way that watering a tree makes it grow.
Disharmony and Disease
In Chinese Medicine theory, disease is understood as an imbalance in the body, and diagnosis proceeds through identifying the underlying “pattern” of disharmony. Pattern diagnosis differs from conventional Western medical diagnosis in that it takes into account not only disease signs but how these signs relate to the individual patient. Thus, TCVM practitioners will consider the temperament, sex, age, activity, and environment of an animal along with the animal’s particular disease signs. This approach stems from the belief that the body is as an interconnected system of forces and functions so that disease and disharmony must be examined with respect to the whole patient. For this reason, Chinese Medicine is often regarded as more holistic than conventional Western Medicine.
The Four Branches of TCVM
Once a particular type of disharmony or disease pattern is identified, treatment often proceeds through a combination of treatment modalities. Though the terms Chinese Medicine and acupuncture are often used interchangeably in the West, acupuncture is actually only one modality or “branch” of TCM and TCVM. There are actually four branches of TCVM – Acupuncture, Herbal Medicine, Food Therapy and Tui-na (Qi-gong, a form of Chinese meditative exercise, is a fifth branch of TCM that is excluded from TCVM because it cannot be performed by animals).
Acupuncture is a treatment that involves the stimulation of points, typically achieved through the insertion of specialized needles into the body. Acupuncture points typically lie along the body’s Meridian Channels along which Qi flows. Most veterinary acupuncture points and Meridian lines are transposed to animals from humans, though knowledge of some “classical points” defined on particular species have been retained and are used to this day.
Herbal Medicine utilizes herbal ingredients listed within the Chinese Herbal Materia Medica in particular combinations or formulas to treat particular disease patterns. Herbal formulas are administered orally and are typically given in powder form to horses and other large animals and in tea pill or capsule form to cats and dogs.
Food Therapy is the use of diet to treat and prevent imbalance within the body. It utilizes knowledge of the energetics of food ingredients to tailor diets for individual animals.
Tui-na is a form of Chinese medical massage in which different manipulations are applied to acupoints and Meridians to promote the circulation of Qi and correct imbalances within the organ systems.
“Integrative” Medicine: TCVM and Western Veterinary Practice
TCVM is often viewed as a form of complementary therapy, and is best when used in conjunction with Western Veterinary Medicine (WVM). Both TCVM and WVM have their own strengths and weaknesses. TCVM is a holistic approach that is suited to assessing the well-being of the whole patient, and treatments are generally non-invasive with few side effects. However, TCVM lacks the tools necessary to pinpoint illness to specific disease-causing agents like pathogenic bacteria or viruses, and treatments are better suited for chronic conditions than acute ones. On the other hand, WVM utilizes the tools of modern science to diagnose disease with great precision, and Western drugs and procedures are powerful and fast acting. However, its insistence on detailed diagnosis may come at the expense of getting the larger picture. Furthermore, while modern medicine can perform miracles for trauma and acute injuries, it has little to offer chronic conditions like liver failure and atopy which can be treated effectively with acupuncture and herbal medicine. In many ways, TCVM and WVM each has what the other lacks. Thus, the best medical system involves the integration of the two systems, so that the strengths of one can compensate for the weaknesses of the other.
Watch the Discovery Innovations Special on TCVM
Watch the PBS Spotlight on TCVM | <urn:uuid:45517ba7-faac-43ad-83d1-929e7c7f5e10> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.tcvm.com/About/WhatisTCVM.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783403508.34/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155003-00028-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94174 | 1,241 | 3.203125 | 3 |
COST OF QUALITY: COST OF QUALITY Prepared by: : Arslan Ahsan Definition of cost of Quality: Definition of cost of Quality It’s a term that’s widely used – and widely misunderstood. The “cost of quality” isn’t the price of creating a quality product or service. It’s the cost of NOT creating a quality product or service. Every time work is redone, the cost of quality increases. Obvious examples include: The reworking of a manufactured item. The retesting of an assembly The rebuilding of a tool The correction of a bank statement The reworking of a service, such as the reprocessing of a loan operation or the replacement of a food order in a restaurant What are the high costs of poor quality? : What are the high costs of poor quality? Experts estimate 20-30% costs of poor quality for defective or unsatisfactory products because the costs of poor quality are more than the obvious cost of scrap or rework. costs associated with quality management are as follows Prevention Appraisal Internal failure External failure COST OF QUALITY: COST OF QUALITY PREVENTION Cost incurred to prevent (keep failure and appraisal cost to a minimum) poor quality. Example: New product review, quality planning, supplier surveys, process reviews, quality improvement teams, education and training. Remove and prevent defects from occurring in production process Production Design Review Training Supplier Evaluation Quality Audits Preventive Maintenance COST OF QUALITY: COST OF QUALITY APPRAISAL Cost incurred to determine the degree of conformance to quality requirements (measuring, evaluating or auditing). Example: Inspection, testing, process or service audits, calibration of measuring and test equipment . Identify poor quality products after they occur but before shipment to customer Inspection Process control Equipment costs Material Receiving inspection (from vendor) COST OF QUALITY: COST OF QUALITY INTERNAL FAILURE Cost associated with defects found before the customer receives the product or service. Example: Scrap, rework, re-inspection, re-testing, material review, material downgrades Failure during the production process Machine downtime Poor quality material Scrap Rework Re-inspection Disposal costs COST OF QUALITY: COST OF QUALITY External Failure Cost: Cost associated with defects found after the customer receives the product or service. Example: Processing customer complaints, customer returns, warranty claims, product recalls. Failure after the product is shipped Returns Lost Market Share Delivery Delay Customer dissatisfaction COST OF QUALITY: COST OF QUALITY Appraisal, internal and external costs decrease as the quality level or quality consistency increases. Prevention costs increase as the quality level or quality consistency increases. Quality Level is measured by product or service design. Quality Consistency is measured by conformance to specifications. PowerPoint Presentation: Cost Category As Quality increases, cost…… Comments Prevention Costs Increases Costs are associated with preventing defects before they happen. Examples are the costs of process design, product and service design, employee training, and supplier programs. Appraisal Costs Decrease Costs are incurred in assessing the level of quality attained by the operating system. Examples are costs of quality audits and Statistical Quality Control programs. PowerPoint Presentation: Cost Category As Quality increases, cost…… Comments Internal Failure Costs Decrease These costs result from defects generated during production of a product or service. Costs result from yield losses and the need to rework products or services because of defective workmanship. Yield Losses are incurred if the defective item must be scrapped. Rework Costs are incurred if the item is rerouted to some previous operation to correct the defect. Estimating Yield Losses: Manufacturing the head of a fireplace shovel requires four steps as shown in Fig. below:: Estimating Yield Losses: Manufacturing the head of a fireplace shovel requires four steps as shown in Fig. below: Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 4 Defective? Go to inventory YES NO Scrap Estimating Yield Losses: Each operation generates the following average proportion of defects. : Estimating Yield Losses: Each operation generates the following average proportion of defects. SR # Operation Description Proportion defective 1 Cut off blade 0.01 2 Weld Shank to blade 0.04 3 Heat and roll blade 0.02 4 Stamp blade 0.06 How many units of the raw material (Shanks and steel blanks), on the average, are needed at operation 1 to ensure 100 non-defective shovel heads after operation 4? Estimating Yield Losses: Solution: Estimating Yield Losses: Solution B (1-d1) (1-d2)……... (1-dn) = M B = M/ (1-d1) (1-d2)……... (1-dn) B = 100/ (1-0.01) (1-0.04) (1-0.02) (1-0.06) B = 100/ 0.8755 = 114 114 Shanks and 114 Steel blanks are needed at the start. Where B = number of Shanks required = number of Steel blanks required = average number of units of the raw material needed at the start of the production process- the decision variable. d1 = average proportion of defective units generated at operation 1 and so on. M = desired number of units of finished products. Estimating Yield Losses: Solution: Estimating Yield Losses: Solution The output of each operation is the input for the next operation. The input for operation 2 is B multiplied by proportion of non-defective Shovels generated by operation 1 or B (1-0.01). The input for operation 3 is B (1-0.01) (1-0.04). The input for operation 4 is B (1-0.01) (1-0.04) (1-0.02). The input for inspection is B (1-0.01) (1-0.04) (1-0.02) (1-0.06). The Raw material costs: Increased by 14%. Hidden Costs: Labor and machine costs Increased by 14%. Also manufacturing time and WIP increases. Rework Costs: Rework Costs If we need to produce 100 items/ day. If there are chances of 10% items being defective. At the inspection stage we expect to process at least 110 items/ day. We have to process 110 items per day. Following costs occur: More labor, machine and inspection hours WIP increases because of defective units in line for longer time. Increase manufacturing time. PowerPoint Presentation: Cost Category As Quality increases, cost…… Comments External Failure Costs Decrease These costs arise from product or service failure at the customer level. Examples are Warranty repairs, Loss of market share and lawsuits arising from injury or property damage from use of the product or service . Cost of finding defect: Cost of finding defect As the product is going from initial process towards customer, the cost to find and correct a defect is increasing. If defect detection occurs once the product left the plant, the costs will raise in accordance to the efforts spent to locate, return or replace it. If additionally this product is already delivered to the customer, it is possible to face costs of penalties, a drop of customer confidence and a spoiling of company's reputation. Cost of finding defect: Cost of finding defect External Failure Costs : External Failure Costs Warranty Costs: A Warranty is a written guarantee of the integrity of a product or Service and of the producer’s responsibility to replace or repair defective parts or to re-perform the service to the customer’s satisfaction. Examples are: T.V. repairs = 90 days. New automobiles for three years or 36000 miles, whichever comes first. External Failure Costs : External Failure Costs Litigation Costs: Defective products can injure and even kill consumers who purchase them. Such a defect could arise from poor product design and/ or non-conformance to specifications. | <urn:uuid:1329445f-b1ca-430d-bcb1-7eb5ff6cf76e> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.authorstream.com/Presentation/aSGuest120579-1262323-cost-of-quality/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398869.97/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00193-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.915379 | 1,644 | 3.109375 | 3 |
Greenhouse Gas Emissions
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Canada's total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissionsFootnote in 2014 were 732 megatonnes (Mt) of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2 eq), or 20% (120 Mt CO2 eq) above the 1990 emissions of 613 Mt CO2 eq. Steady increases in annual emissions characterized the first 10 years of this period, followed by fluctuating emission levels between 2000 and 2008, a steep decline in 2009, and a gradual increase thereafter.
Canada's emissions growth between 1990 and 2014 was driven primarily by increased emissions from mining and upstream oil and gas production as well as transport. Emission reductions from 2005 to 2014 were driven primarily by reduced emissions from the public electricity and heat production category.
Greenhouse gas emissions, Canada, 1990 to 2014
The line chart shows Canada's national greenhouse gas emissions in megatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent from 1990 to 2014.
Data for this chart
|Year||Total greenhouse gas emissions|
(megatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent)
Download data file (Excel/CSV; 1.06 KB)
Note: The national indicator tracks seven GHGs, carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), sulphur hexafluoride (SF6), perfluorocarbons (PFCs), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) and nitrogen trifluoride (NF3), released by human activity (reported in Mt CO2 eq). Emission levels for some previous years have been revised in light of improvements to estimation methods and availability of new data.
Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada (2016) National Inventory Report 1990–2014: Greenhouse Gas Sources and Sinks in Canada.
Greenhouse gases trap heat in the Earth's atmosphere, just as the glass of a greenhouse keeps warm air inside. Human activity increases the amount of GHGs in the atmosphere, contributing to a warming of the Earth's surface. This is called the enhanced greenhouse effect.
Over the past 200 years in particular, humans have released GHGs into the atmosphere primarily from burning fossil fuels. As a result, more heat is being trapped and the temperature of the planet is increasing. Sea levels are rising as Arctic ice melts, and there are changes to the climate, such as more severe storms and heat waves. All of this impacts the environment, the economy and human health.
- Greenhouse Gas Emissions per Person and per Unit Gross Domestic Product
- Greenhouse Gas Emissions by Economic Sector
- Greenhouse Gas Emissions by Province and Territory
- Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Large Facilities
- Global Greenhouse Gas Emissions
- Canada's Action on Climate Change
- Drivers and Impacts of Greenhouse Gas Emissions
- Environment and Climate Change Canada – Climate Change
This indicators are used to measure progress toward Goal 1: Climate Change – In order to mitigate the effects of climate change, reduce greenhouse gas emission levels and adapt to unavoidable impacts of the Federal Sustainable Development Strategy 2013–2016.
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- Date modified: | <urn:uuid:54942ca1-5a24-4467-9391-1297f9bb1346> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.ec.gc.ca/indicateurs-indicators/default.asp?lang=en&n=FBF8455E-1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783403502.46/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155003-00170-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.839329 | 643 | 3.71875 | 4 |
Chinese painting is one of the oldest continuous artistic traditions in the world. The earliest paintings were not representational but ornamental; they consisted of patterns or designs rather than pictures. Early pottery was painted with spirals, zigzags, dots, or animals. It was only during the Warring States Period (403-221 BC) that artists began to represent the world around them.
Chinese Painting in the traditional style is known today in Chinese as guó huà (国画 = Chinese Painting), meaning 'national' or 'native painting', as opposed to Western styles of art which became popular in China in the 20th century. Traditional painting involves essentially the same techniques as calligraphy and is done with a brush dipped in black or colored ink; oils are not used. As with calligraphy, the most popular materials on which chinese painting are made of are paper and silk. The finished work can be mounted on scrolls, such as hanging scrolls or handscrolls. Traditional painting can also be done on album sheets, walls, lacquerware, folding screens, and other media.
Artists from the Han (202 BC) to the Tang (618–906) dynasties mainly painted the human figure. Much of what we know of early Chinese painting (figure) comes from burial sites, where paintings were preserved on silk banners, lacquered objects, and tomb walls. Many early tomb paintings were meant to protect the dead or help their souls get to paradise. Others illustrated the teachings of the Chinese philosopher Confucius, or showed scenes of daily life.
Many critics consider landscape to be the highest form of Chinese painting.The time from the Five Dynasties period to the NorthernSongperiod (907–1127) is known as the "Great age of Chinese landscape". In the north, artists such as Jing Hao, Fan Kuan, and Guo Xi painted pictures of towering mountains, using strong black lines, ink wash, and sharp, dotted brushstrokes to suggest rough stone. In the south, Dong Yuan, Juran, and other artists painted the rolling hills and rivers of their native countryside in peaceful scenes done with softer, rubbed brushwork. These two kinds of scenes and techniques became the classical styles of Chinese landscape painting.
Specifics and study
Chinese painting and calligraphy distinguishes themselves from other cultures' arts by their emphasis on motion, and charge with dynamic life. The practice is traditionally first learned by rote. The master showing the 'right way' do draw items, which the apprentice have to copy strictly, continuously, until the move become instinctive. In contemporary times, debate emerged on the limits of this copyist tradition within the modern art scenes, where innovation is the rule, while changing lifestyles, tools, and colors are also influencing new waves of masters.
Watch the video, you will have more understanding of chinese painting | <urn:uuid:67812e03-5992-4ccf-9e5f-4bebc3428819> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.artisoo.com/-ezp-20.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397562.76/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00083-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969058 | 592 | 4.125 | 4 |
While many students across the United States spent their vacation swimming and playing with friends, a select group of scientifically minded kids have been hard at work honing inventions that could improve the lives of others -- oh, and possibly win them $25,000.
As finalists in the Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge, 10 middle school students have been fine-tuning innovative solutions all summer long to present this October in the hopes of being named America's Top Young Scientist.
Curious to see what a better future looks like through the eyes of tweens? Here are four of the wild and life-changing ideas currently in the running.
"The inspiration for my project began this summer in Texas where we have a big problem with mosquitoes, some of which carry West Nile virus," said David Cohen, 12, of Dallas. "I was thinking about how to stop mosquitoes from spreading diseases and it occurred to me that it might be easier to stop them while in their premature phases, before they are able to fly."
Cohen subsequently built a robot prototype that can be placed in bodies of water where mosquitoes breed and eliminates them.
Katherine Wu, a 13-year-old from North Potomac, Maryland, set her sights on the open road when designing her invention.
"Every year, my family drives down to Florida and has fun in the amusement parks there," said Wu. "But the road trip from Maryland to Florida is quite long. From the backseat, I could hear my mom keep talking to my dad to make sure he wouldn’t fall asleep while driving [late at night]."
To provide a safe alternative for those driving alone, Wu created "A Driver's Companion," a small device that monitors brain waves to determine drowsiness. Should a driver begin to fall asleep, audio and light signals immediately alert them to the risk of danger.
Meanwhile, in Evans, Georgia, 11-year-old Nikita Rafikov is working on a way to get rid of track lighting forever.
"I was inspired by an idea of using proteins in architecture when I started my first project, green fluorescent protein (GFP) to light up the house and actin protein to move walls," said Rafikov. "However, actin seemed unrealistic to build the prototype with, so I decided to use magnetic liquid."
The GFP protein, which is found in some species of jellyfish, could potentially provide a new natural lighting solution for homes as it would cause materials it was used in to glow from within.
Sahil Doshi, a 14-year-old from Pittsburgh, focused his innovation on building a better battery. His PolluCell uses carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases as a low-cost energy alternative.
"My inspiration for this project was the lack of energy in third-world countries today and the astounding amount of carbon dioxide pollution," said Doshi. "I was also inspired by Elon Musk, whose innovativeness and persistence convinced me to pursue a solution to two ailing problems in our world."
To follow along with the competition through October, visit www.youngscientistchallenge.com | <urn:uuid:421c0aea-dce7-4ac1-a0d8-c87131018690> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://abcnews.go.com/Lifestyle/kid-inventors-vie-top-honors-national-science-competition/story?id=25203512 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398209.20/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00055-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973498 | 640 | 3 | 3 |
DOLLARS DON'T ALWAYS SPELL LEARNING
June 24, 2009
Many, including the courts, have blindly accepted the assumption that more money will improve student performance at our nation's public schools. However, almost no one has seriously examined the empirical evidence to determine its validity, say authors Eric A. Hanushek and Alfred A. Lindseth.
The authors look at four states -- Wyoming, Kentucky, New Jersey and Massachusetts -- where courts ordered the legislatures to appropriate more money for public schools on the presumption that increased spending would improve performance. Their conclusion: Court-ordered funding does not necessarily improve test scores, and blacks, despite the increased spending, are even worse off.
- In 1995 the state's Supreme Court ruled the state's education funding system was unconstitutional, and ordered the Legislature to spend whatever it took to make education in the state the "best."
- Despite unprecedented increases in school funding, the achievement of Wyoming's students has largely failed to keep up with the nation or even with its much lower-funded, although demographically similar, neighboring states.
- The 1989 Rose decision resulted in a court order for certain structural changes and increased funding; the structural changes were implemented, but they produced no improvements in classrooms.
- The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) scores, sometimes referred to as the nation's report card, showed little or no progress in Kentucky public schools; of special significance was the impact on black students, who make up 11 percent of the state's public school enrollment; the authors write that black students in Kentucky "have fallen even further behind the nation" during the court-ordered remedy.
In New Jersey:
- The state has been wrestling with its education system and court orders to fix it since 1970; there are more than 600 school districts in the state with 31 known as Abbott districts, named after the court case that resulted in $1.5 billion in additional education spending (per-pupil spending in New Jersey exceeded $20,000 last year).
- According to the authors, there is little evidence that the state's black students have progressed much, if at all, relative to black students nationwide; they do note that Hispanic students have made "significant progress," but they don't see a direct connection between spending and achievement.
- Education spending has increased from $3 billion to $10 billion over the past decade because of a court order.
- However, it has been accompanied by major structural changes that include "a rigorous regimen of academic standards, graduation exams, and accountability."
Source: Cal Thomas, "Dollars don't always spell learning," Washington Times, June 24, 2009.
Browse more articles on Education Issues | <urn:uuid:970cf458-2f55-4467-b059-45a260ce88b8> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.ncpa.org/sub/dpd/index.php?Article_ID=18129 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783399425.79/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154959-00016-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961018 | 552 | 2.921875 | 3 |
Everyday Noise Levels May Affect the Heart
Even not-so-loud sounds seemed to raise people's heart rate in small study
"And some people are more sensitive to noise than others," Gan said. If noise affects the heart by stressing people out, he said, then your personal sensitivity to it would be important.
The new findings, reported in the May issue of the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, are based on 110 adults who wore portable devices that measured their heart activity and noise exposure during their normal daily routines.
What was "interesting," Eriksson said, is that lower-level noise seemed to curb activity in the parasympathetic nervous system -- the branch of the nervous system that acts as a "brake," lowering heart rate and relaxing the blood vessels, for example.
Louder noise, meanwhile, seemed to rev up the sympathetic nervous system -- the branch that boosts heart rate, constricts blood vessels and otherwise sends us into "fight or flight" mode.
The value of the findings is that they suggest a biological reason for why noise has been linked to ill heart effects, said Alexandra Schneider, one of the researchers in the Institute of Epidemiology at Helmholtz Zentrum Munchen, in Germany, who worked on the study.
"Our main focus was to find a possible mechanism that could be responsible for the observed health effects in other studies," Schneider said.
The study was not designed to offer people advice on how much noise is "bad" for their hearts, she said.
Gan agreed. "This study is a first step in exploring the underlying biological mechanisms for the association between noise exposure and cardiovascular disease," he said. "We need more studies like this."
A big question, said study author Schneider, is whether the short-term effects of noise, repeated over time, ultimately affect heart health -- particularly for people who already have chronic medical conditions.
Although the study tied increased noise exposure to a rise in heart rate, it did not establish a cause-and-effect relationship. | <urn:uuid:fb423a07-71ea-4a17-a4de-2117162422c7> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.webmd.com/heart/news/20130509/everyday-noise-levels-may-affect-the-heart?page=2 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783400031.51/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155000-00119-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964206 | 417 | 3.3125 | 3 |
FAO provides free access to statistics treasure trove
World's largest database of food, hunger and agricultural information now fully accessible online
9 July 2010, Rome - FAO is granting free and open access to its central data repository, FAOSTAT, the world's largest and most comprehensive statistical database on food, agriculture, and hunger, the UN agency announced today.
Previously, it was possible to download without charge a limited amount of information from FAOSTAT – which contains over one million data points covering 210 countries and territories -- but access to larger batches of statistics required a paid annual subscription.
The power of numbers
"We are now providing totally free access to this immense pool of data," said Hafez Ghanem, FAO Assistant Director General for Economic and Social Development. "This information is an important tool in the fight to alleviate poverty, promote sustainable development and eliminate hunger. We're particularly keen on making sure that economists, planners, and policy-makers in the developing world, where that tool is needed most, can get at it and put it to good use."
Ghanem also noted that the move forms part of an ongoing FAO effort to provide easier and more direct access to its vast information assets, an initiative that came out of an independent external evaluation and strategic planning process initiated by FAO's Members in 2008.
"FAOSTAT is a powerful tool that can be used not just to see where hunger occurs, but to drill down and better understand why hunger occurs -- and what might be done to combat it," added Pietro Gennari, FAO Statistics Division Director. "It’s especially designed to support monitoring, analysis and informed, evidence-based policy-making specifically related to rural and agricultural development and hunger reduction, the only tool of its kind.”
In addition to aiding development planning, the information contained in FAOSTAT gives developing countries the intelligence they need in order to participate in and benefit from international trade in an effective and competitive manner. Donor countries can also use it to identify specific sectors where aid might be most effectively targeted.
A reservoir of knowledge
FAOSTAT includes data on agricultural and food production, usage of fertilizers and pesticides, food aid shipments, food balance sheets, forestry and fisheries production, irrigation and water use, land use, population trends, trade in agricultural products, the use of agricultural machinery, and more.
FAOSTAT can be consulted using English, French or Spanish and allows users to select and organize the statistical information into tables and charts according to their needs and to download it in Excel format. The original statistic data is supplied by individual countries and regional development organizations in standardized formats. Records go back to 1961, the dawn of the Green Revolution.
This reservoir of knowledge is already being used by economists, planners and national development authorities, donor agencies, international aid organizations, other UN agencies, NGOs, academic researchers, investors – and farmers.
Current subscribers who will now have free access to FAOSTAT include international news agencies, development institutions, universities, government ministries and international organizations. | <urn:uuid:678fb747-1e54-4591-be46-b7e22d6e5505> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.fao.org/news/story/it/item/43724/icode/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783391634.7/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154951-00191-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.916295 | 623 | 2.609375 | 3 |
We already have amassed a considerable body of scientific knowledge about the dangers of MDMA.
At a time when the abuse of most illicit drugs has leveled off or declined slightly among the Nation's youth, one drug has soared in popularity. It is known by many names, among them "MDMA," "ecstasy," "X," or simply "E." (See "MDMA/Ecstasy-A Drug With Complex Consequences") MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine) is the only drug whose use has increased significantly among the Nation's 10th- and 12th-graders during each of the last 2 years. Last year it extended its reach to younger adolescents as use increased among eighth-graders. Recent epidemiologic data indicate that MDMA abuse also is spreading beyond its base of youthful users who attend dance clubs
or all-night parties called "raves." Increasingly, Americans of all ages, social classes, and sexual orientations are using the drug in diverse social settings throughout the country.
In 1999, NIDA mounted its Club Drug Initiative to respond to recent increases in the abuse of MDMA and other drugs, such as gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GHB), Rohypnol, ketamine, and methamphetamine. The ongoing initiative seeks to increase awareness of the dangers of these drugs among teens, young adults, parents, and communities. NIDA is supporting a broad range of animal and human studies on MDMA and other club drugs. The goal of those studies is to provide scientific information about the nature and extent of club drug abuse, the biological and behavioral effects of the drugs, and the personal and public health consequences of their abuse.
Some of the early fruits of NIDA's club drug research, along with the findings of international experts who have been studying MDMA for years, were featured at NIDA's scientific conference, "MDMA/Ecstasy Research: Advances, Challenges, Future Directions," at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, in July. The conference highlighted the advances research has made in understanding MDMA and addressing the many questions we still must answer to develop prevention and treatment approaches to stem the abuse of this drug. (See "NIDA Conference Highlights Scientific Findings on MDMA/Ecstasy.")
Research clearly shows a pervasive perception among users that MDMA is a "fun" drug with minimal risks. We know that people are more likely to use a drug if they think they have nothing to lose by doing so. Thus, the myth that ecstasy is a benign drug that exacts virtually no price for its euphoric effects may at least in part be driving the widespread increases in the drug's abuse. This dangerous misperception challenges the drug abuse research, treatment, and prevention community to identify the true costs of using ecstasy and convey this information in ways that will effectively reduce abuse.
We already have amassed a considerable body of scientific knowledge about the dangers of MDMA. This drug can produce significant increases in heart rate and blood pressure that can last for several hours. MDMA abusers commonly take multiple tablets within brief time periods, often along with other commonly abused substances, such as alcohol, and while dancing for extended periods in hot and crowded conditions. These factors can dangerously increase MDMA's toxicity and lead to dehydration, hyperthermia, seizures, and heart or kidney failure. In fact, we have seen a nearly 18-fold increase in MDMA-related emergency room incidents from 1994 to 2000 reported by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's Drug Abuse Warning Network.
Research presented at the conference suggests some users dismiss the potential medical consequences because they do not often witness them. A pilot ethnographic study by researchers at Wright State University School of Medicine in Dayton, Ohio, indicates that ecstasy users in Central Ohio see a disjunction between media messages about the dangers of MDMA use and what people in their social networks tell them about their experiences with the drug. As a result, they feel they can use MDMA casually with few problems beyond a possible increase in anxiety, depression, and restlessness that some users experience a day or two after using the drug.
MDMA users may not think that transient mood disturbances are too high a price to pay for MDMA's euphoric effects. However, those symptoms provide a warning that potentially serious underlying brain damage is occurring. Increasingly, studies show that regular MDMA use causes long-lasting damage to brain cells that contain a critical neurotransmitter, serotonin, which helps regulate mood, pain, appetite, and sleep.
NIDA also is supporting prevention research to develop effective approaches that can address the entire spectrum of MDMA users.
Studies have associated MDMA use with loss of the serotonin-synthesizing enzyme tryptophan hydroxylase, depletions in serotonin content in tissue, and decreases in the structural component of serotonin neurons that enables the cells to convey signals. We do not yet know if the alterations are permanent, but we do know that they can persist for many years in animals and may be equally long-lasting in people. The consequences of such damage may include memory impairments, disrupted sleep cycles, mood disorders such as depression, and persistent anxiety, particularly among moderate to heavy MDMA users.
As ongoing research provides more information about MDMA, NIDA is using all means of dissemination to keep the Nation up to date. This past spring, we teamed with the award-winning PBS series for teens, "In the Mix," to develop a television show on ecstasy. "Ecstasy" first aired last April and is regularly rebroadcast in all major markets of the country on more than 90 PBS stations with an audience of more than 1 million viewers.
In the last 2 years, our ongoing Club Drug Initiative has mailed a Community Drug Alert Bulletin on MDMA and other club drugs to nearly half a million physicians, treatment providers, nurses, and other clinicians; made English and Spanish fact sheets on MDMA available through our fax-on-demand service, NIDA Infofax; and distributed colorful postcards showing a brain scan of dramatic changes that linger in the brain's serotonin system weeks after MDMA is used. The cards are popular with young people and encourage them to contact NIDA for facts about MDMA. Current information on MDMA can be found at www.clubdrugs.gov.
NIDA also is supporting prevention research to develop effective approaches that can address the entire spectrum of MDMA users. Our research recognizes the need for prevention interventions aimed at different groups of MDMA users, such as men who have sex with men, ethnically diverse urban youths, and predominantly white heterosexual users in the Midwest. (See "The Many Faces of MDMA Use Challenge Drug Abuse Prevention.")
We have learned a lot about MDMA, the people who abuse it, and the short- and long-term consequences of such abuse. These answers - and those still to come
from ongoing NIDA-supported research - will provide a solid foundation for the public policy, prevention, and treatment responses that will enable us to stem the abuse of MDMA and reduce its potentially devastating health consequences. | <urn:uuid:b6895410-1a18-4872-af91-514d76a5a676> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://archives.drugabuse.gov/NIDA_Notes/NNVol16N5/DirRepVol16N5.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395166.84/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00092-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945946 | 1,420 | 3.25 | 3 |
Researchers at Northwestern University believe they have found a way to cure skin diseases through a topical, gene-altering lotion.
"We like to treat skin diseases with topical creams so that we avoid side effects from treatments taken by mouth or injected," said Dr. Amy Paller, chair of dermatology and professor of pediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.
Researchers face the challenge of successfully creating a cream that can penetrate the skin enough to treat diseases.
Study agents used nanotechnology to place gene-altering structures on top of gold particles targeting epidermal growth receptors. These receptors are the markers related to various types of skin cancers. During this process, researchers were determined to penetrate the skin without eliciting an immune response.
"The problem is that our skin is a formidable barrier," Paller said. "Genetic material can't get through the skin through regular means."
Researchers combined their compounds with the over the counter ointment, Aquafor, which is commonly used for skin irritation.
This study is the first of its kind to successfully offer topical gene therapy without toxic effects.
Although the study did not report any side effects, Dr. Mark Abdelmalek, chief of the division of laser and dermatologic surgery at Drexel University School of Medicine believes that this type of nanotechnology can cause long-term problems in the human body.
"It's naive to expect that putting something like this in the body would have absolutely no side effects,” Abdelmalek said.
"It is temporarily changing the protein while the structure is in contact with the cells, but it doesn't permanently change the genetic defect," he said. "This is all brand new and exciting, but there's still many things we just don't know."
Also On Black America Web:
This Week’s Celebrity Instagrams (6/18-6/24)
25 photos Launch gallery
1. Me & the homie @jaleelwhite #RujohnFoundation Happy to be in Jamaica! Good times
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5. Good Morning. Early day in Detroit! Making press rounds for @thebossnetwork's Ladies That Lead Tour. Thank you @traycemadre and @colourbynumbr for my glam.
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6. POWER the best show on TV @djenvy, Queens we so big out here. #EFFENVODKA #FRIGO
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7. They said u lost a step, wasn't explosive as once was, the best days was in the real view, questioned your drive, your leadership, your commitment, you don't have killer instinct, going back home is the worst mistake in your career, he got the coach fired, players traded, won't work between him and Kyrie, Him and Kev won't work, love your teammates to much, there's no way he can deliver a championship in his hometown, etc etc etc.... But guess what THATS NONE OF MY BUSINESS #StriveForGreatness #ThisOneIsForTheLand #PutSomeRespeckOnMyName Hahahaha!!! Yes sir
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8. Oooooh weeee this man right here is responsible for at least three of our four babies!! #JOE ❤❤❤🎤 #rnb #king #voicelikebutter #ForPeetesSake
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9. Hanging with my @abcnetwork family! @abcunclebuck tonite y'all check us out ! @anthonyanderson @traceeellisross
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10. My broski ( @sayeedshahidi ) and I are on Top 5 Live on @go90 at 5 (which is super duper close)! Make sure to tune in :) #UncleBuck #Blackish
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11. Lights out💤 #GoodNight
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12. Late nights mornings
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13. Ran into the lovely talented @siedahgarrett on this brutiful favvuz deh!
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14. #halal #love #thedargans #kattwilliamsSHOW #mashallah when that Jennah piece HIT!! @sweetjennahcollection glasses by @baddieglamaccessories LIZ 😍 @dynamiteko top @dazzledmv and jeans @thevision414 and shoes: @louboutinworld
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15. Big Hair and Optical Illusions #OceanDrive #MiamiLiving #coverparty
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16. MAMA and THE SAVAGES ... ⚓️ #supportyourlocalgirlgang
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17. From the bottom of my ❤️, thank you new followers & old! & hello fellow night owls! #grateful #racheltrue #naturalhair #curlyhair #curlygirl #healthyhair
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18. I feel so grateful because I met these amazing young minds, visiting from Houston TX, during their college tour stop today at #usc.These students are ALL extraordinary and embody academic excellence so I'm humbled to have shared a few moments with them to applaud and celebrate their bright futures ahead! Thank you @EmergeFellows for inviting me to speak and blessing me with your love and attention this afternoon!
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19. Happy Fathers Day Pops. U taught me how to be a man. Lessons of love, hard work & gratefulness. Sorry the fishing didn't stick. LOL. I Love U!
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20. Sky Zone and Ice Cream! Best Fathers Day Ever!! Photo credit @mariahcarey
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21. Look what finally came in the mail 😎 #mtvmovieawards2016 💥+🌽! #straightouttacompton
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22. Claudia Jordan: ....
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23. 'Member that time I almost knocked a bajillion dollar camera off the car? Really? Yeah, me neither! #Greenleaf Episode 2 comin atcha!
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24. Full of love. #birthday #Cabo
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25. Oh hey! Look who just joined Snapchat
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Insect Control: Horticultural Oils
Various oils have been used for centuries to control insect and mite pests. Oils remain an important tool to manage certain pest problems (e.g., scales, aphids, mites) on fruit trees, shade trees and woody ornamental plants. Several recently developed oils extend this usefulness to flowers, vegetables and other herbaceous plants. Oils also can control some plant diseases, such as powdery mildew. Oils used to protect plants have been called by many names, but perhaps horticultural oils best describes them.
Oils have different effects on pest insects. The most important is that they block the air holes (spiracles) through which insects breathe, causing them to die from asphyxiation. In some cases, oils also may act as poisons, interacting with the fatty acids of the insect and interfering with normal metabolism. Oils also may disrupt how an insect feeds, a feature that is particularly important in the transmission of some plant viruses by aphids.
Oils pose few risks to people or to most desirable species, including beneficial natural enemies of insect pests. This allows oils to integrate well with biological controls. Toxicity is minimal, at least compared to alternative pesticides, and oils quickly dissipate through evaporation, leaving little residue. Oils also are easy to apply with existing spray equipment and can be mixed with many other pesticides to extend their performance.
Insect and Mite Control
Historically, the primary reason oils were developed was because of their effectiveness on otherwise hard-to-control pest problems on fruit trees. They were used as a dormant-season application (before bud swelling and bud break) to kill mites and insects, such as scales and aphids, that spent the winter on the plant. Dormant oil applications also control certain overwintered shade tree pests.
Recently, improvements in refining have produced oils with increased safety to plants and thus expanded their potential uses. Summer or foliar treatments are now possible for a variety of pests during the growing season. Oils also can be mixed with other insecticides, providing a broader spectrum and greater persistence of control. Spider mites, whiteflies and young stages of scales are common pests that can be controlled by oils during the growing season.
Oils are sometimes applied to prevent transmission of viruses. Many viruses spread by aphids (nonpersistent viruses), as well as some that are mechanically transmitted by people, can be inhibited by oil applications. Oils used to inhibit virus transmission are sometimes called "stylet oils," a reference to the piercing and sucking mouthparts (stylets) of aphids that transmit these viruses.
Oils also are useful against powdery mildew. Diluted horticultural oils, often mixed with a small amount of baking soda, can be an effective control for this common plant disease. The neem oil products have been effective against several types of powdery mildew and rust.
Some plant pests controlled by horticultural oils.
Dormant Season Applications
- Aphids that curl leaves in spring
- Caterpillars that winter as eggs on the plant (leafrollers, tent caterpillars)
- Mites that winter on the plant (e.g., conifer-infesting species)
- Scale Insects (e.g., pine needle scale, striped pine scale, Kermes scale, cottony maple scale)
Insects and Mites
- Eriophyid mites
- Scale Insects
- Spider mites
- Powdery mildew
- Some aphid-transmitted viruses
For expert advice on Horticultural Oils and other products visit you local garden center.
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Return To Articles Homepage | <urn:uuid:cc8c86ba-02ae-4fe3-b66d-29cf0aecb941> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.fertilome.com/Article/insect-control-horticultural-oils-0 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783394987.40/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154954-00122-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953172 | 769 | 3.3125 | 3 |
Fourteen mountain peaks on Earth stand taller than 8,000 meters (26,247 feet). The tallest of these “eight-thousanders” is Mount Everest, the standard to which all other mountains are compared. The Nepalese name for the mountain is Sagarmatha: “mother of the universe.”
Everest’s geological story began 40 million years ago when the Indian subcontinent began a slow-motion collision with Asia. The edges of two continents jammed together and pushed up the massive ridges that make up the Himalayas today. Pulitzer-winning journalist John McPhee summed up the wonder of the mountain’s history when he wrote Annals of the Former World: “The summit of Mount Everest is marine limestone. This one fact is a treatise in itself on the movements of the surface of the Earth. If by some fiat, I had to restrict all this writing to one sentence; this is the one I would choose.”
In other words, when climbers reach the top of Mount Everest, they are not standing on hard igneous rock produced by volcanoes. Rather, they are perched on softer sedimentary rock formed by the skeletons of creatures that lived in a warm ocean off the northern coast of India tens of millions of years ago.
Meanwhile, glaciers have chiseled Mount Everest’s summit into a huge, triangular pyramid, defined by three faces and three ridges that extend to the northeast, southeast, and northwest. The southeastern ridge is the most widely used climbing route. It is the one that Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay followed in May 1953 when they became the first climbers to reach the summit and return safely.
Climbers who follow this route begin by trekking past Khumbu glacier and through the Khumbu ice fall, an extremely dangerous area where ice tumbles off the mountain into a chaotic waterfall of ice towers and crevasses. Next, climbers reach a bowl-shaped valley—a cirque—called the Western Cwm (pronounced coom) and then the foot of the Lhotse Face, a 1,125-meter (3,691-foot) wall of ice. Climbing up the Lhotse face leads to the South Col, the low point in the ridge that connects Everest to Lhotse. It is from the South Col that most expeditions launch their final assault on the summit, following a route up the southeastern ridge.
Some climbers opt for the northern ridge, which is known for having harsher winds and colder temperatures. That is the path that British climbers George Mallory and Andrew Irvine used in 1924 during what may, in fact, have been the first ascent. Whether the pair made it to the summit remains a topic of controversy, but what is known for certain is that the men were spotted pushing toward the peak just before the arrival of a storm. Mallory’s corpse was discovered near the northeast ridge at 8,160 meters (26,772 feet) by an American climber in 1999, but it still isn’t clear whether he reached the summit.
Despite its reputation as an extremely dangerous mountain, commercial guiding has done much to tame Everest in the last few decades. As of March 2012, there had been 5,656 successful ascents of Everest, while 223 people had died—a fatality rate of 4 percent.
Read more about the world’s fourteen tallest peaks in our new feature: The Eight-Thousanders.
References and Further Reading
- Arnette, A. Everest Gallery. Accessed December 20, 2013.
- 8000ers Mount Everest. Accessed December 20, 2013.
- The Economist (2012, May 29) Stairway to heaven. Accessed December 20, 2013.
- GlacierWorks (2013) Everest Tour. Accessed December 20, 2013.
- Gizmodo (2011, February 2) The Open Graveyard of Mt. Everest’s Death Zone. Accessed December 20, 2013.
- National Geographic (2013, June) Maxed out on Everest. Accessed December 20, 2013.
- National Geographic (2012) On Everest. Accessed December 20, 2013.
- Searle, M. (2013) Colliding Continents: A Geological Exploration of the Himalaya, Karakoram, and Tibet (New York: Oxford University Press)
- Peakbagger Mount Everest. Accessed December 20, 2013.
- University of Montana (2013) Everest Education Expedition. Accessed December 20, 2013.
- EO-1 - ALI | <urn:uuid:7c6a5463-c0f1-4cd0-9023-4a6a90e7bae8> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=82578&eocn=home&eoci=iotd_grid | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393146.70/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00195-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945908 | 936 | 3.796875 | 4 |
12/06/2012 - Rio+20 faces challenges that the Rio Earth Summit could not have foreseen: a growing gap between the rich and the poor, a global economic crisis, and some 2 billion more people by 2050 relying on the planets natural resources and the environment.
The OECD delegation to Rio+20, led by Secretary-General Angel Gurría, invites you to 3 side-events:
Tuesday 19 June, 2:00 – 6:00p.m.: Green Innovation in Tourism, hosted by the OECD, UNEP and the UNWTO. Venue: SENAC, Av. Ayrton Senna, Barra da Tijuca.
Thursday 21 June, 5:00 – 6:30p.m.: Tailoring Green Growth Strategies to Country Circumstances: practical steps towards achieving sustainable development. Venue: RioCentro T9.
Friday 22 June, 2:30 – 4:30p.m.: High-Level Event on Green Growth and Developing Countries. Venue: EU Pavillion, Athlete’s Park, RioCentro
OECD’s key inputs to Ri0+20. OECD’s key inputs to Ri0+20
For further information about these events, or for interviews with OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría or other OECD staff please contact Helen Fisher, OECD communications manager (phone: + 336 07 39 39 72).
On current trends, by 2050 there could be 4 billion people living in water-stressed areas. The world will use 80% more energy, most of it based on fossil fuels, increasing green house gas emissions by 50% by 2050 and temperatures by up to 6°C by the end of the century.
Sprawling cities, farming and climate change could kill off another 10% of biodiversity and mature forests, and air pollution will be the top environmental cause of premature deaths worldwide by 2050. The number of premature deaths from particulate air pollution could double, reaching 3.6 million people pear year globally. .
There’s only one way forward – going green to boost economic growth and improve the environment. Countries will need to choose a green growth path that fits their specific challenges, while taking into account social issues by investing in people, making employment more inclusive, and redistributing taxes/transfers.
Pricing natural resources properly, making pollution more costly, and removing fossil fuel subsidies would be good for the environment and national economies. Smarter regulations can also help protect human health and the environment, support new clean technologies and boost green private investment and jobs.
Aid from donor countries – more than USD 5 billion annually for environmental protection – as well as technology transfer, open trade, and investment can give all countries a fair chance to grow green.
More OECD work related to Rio + 20 can be found at: www.oecd.org/rio+20. | <urn:uuid:ab45ce2f-e228-412f-9e1c-77e5d46d8829> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.oecd.org/development/environmentrio20mustdeliverinclusivegreengrowthsaysoecdsgurria.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396459.32/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00106-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.883546 | 595 | 2.9375 | 3 |
Integral Field Spectroscopy
Integral field spectroscopy (IFS) is a mode of instrumentation that enables spectra to be obtained of a 2-dimensional region of the sky.
From IFS observations a "data cube" is generated, which is essentially a stack of many images of the same part of the sky, each at a different wavelength. Such data enable ground-breaking discoveries about the motions and makeup of gas and stars in extended sources, such as gas clouds or dense star-clusters in the Milky Way, regions around active galactic nuclei, and even entire galaxies.
Conventional spectrometers or spectrographs have entrance apertures that sample a single point, or a long line (slit) on the sky. By using fiber-optics or relay optics, it is possible to remap a two-dimensional region on the sky into the long slit of a conventional spectrograph. UW astronomers have developed unique integral field units (IFUs) to convert conventional long-slit spectrographs into engines for IFS, including the SparsePak IFU for the Bench Spectrograph on the WIYN 3.5m. | <urn:uuid:b10793be-1272-45f8-a0d6-fa2dd68310c2> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.astro.wisc.edu/our-science/research-areas/instrumentation/integral-field-spectroscopy | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783399428.8/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154959-00150-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.877592 | 242 | 2.8125 | 3 |
Teenage Girls With ADHD Act Out
Study Portrays a Group Plagued by Depression, Anxiety, Substance Abuse
May 24, 2005 (Atlanta) -- Teenage girls with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are much more likely to act out, suffer depression, and smoke than adolescents without the condition.
A new study -- which may offer the best snapshot to date of teenage girls with ADHD -- portrays a group that is also plagued by anxiety, eating disorders, and alcohol and drug abuse.
"As girls mature, there's a rise in mood and anxiety disorders, disruptive behaviors, and substance-abuse problems," says researcher Joseph Biederman, MD, professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.
Boys and Girls Affected Equally
Though many doctors believe that boys with ADHD are much more likely to develop these problems than girls, Biederman says his study shows that just isn't so.
"The picture of ADHD is almost identical among the genders," he says. Regardless of gender, it's advisable to screen kids with ADHD for other conditions.
Brad Reimherr, MD, associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Utah, isn't surprised. He says his own study of adult sufferers of ADHD shows that women are even more impaired than men.
"Both in terms of symptoms of hyperactivity and attention deficit itself and also in terms of other emotional ailments, women were more likely to have problems," Reimherr tells WebMD.
Part of the problem, he agrees, is that society thinks of ADHD as a male disorder. Males act out more and tend to get more attention.
Females -- regardless of age -- are more apt to be misdiagnosed, typically with anxiety or depression, he says. As a result, the condition often goes untreated, even though studies show that women respond well to ADHD medications, Reimherr says.
More Than 1 in 5 Act Out
The study, presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychiatric Association, included 235 teenage girls, about half of whom had ADHD. Their average age was 17.
About nine in 10 had received treatment for their disorder, usually a combination of drugs and counseling, Biederman says.
On almost every measure, the ADHD sufferers fared worse than their unafflicted counterparts:
- More than 20% were disruptive vs. 3% of those without ADHD.
- More than one in three suffered major depression, compared with three in 100 of those without ADHD.
- 56% suffered anxiety vs. 19% of those without ADHD.
- 4% drank alcohol vs. 1% of those without ADHD.
- 12% used drugs compared with 4% of those without ADHD.
Anorexia and bulimia each claimed about 5% of ADHD sufferers.
Particularly alarming, he says, is that 28% of the girls with ADHD smoked, compared with 13% of the others.
"ADHD is a clear risk factor for smoking, and girls are affected as much as boys," Biederman says. | <urn:uuid:75d7fafe-3632-463c-9270-d329ace69374> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.webmd.com/add-adhd/childhood-adhd/news/20050524/teenage-girls-adhd-act-out | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396959.83/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00106-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971116 | 625 | 2.53125 | 3 |
Man With a Mission
Kelly Carney doesn't remember a time that he wasn't interested in aviation, astronomy, or the space program. This was probably due to a combination of growing up near an airport, having an older brother who had a telescope, and becoming aware of the world during the Apollo missions to the Moon.
More so than the televised launch, space rendezvous, and lunar walks, Apollo 13 had the greatest impact on his future career choice as it made Carney aware of all that was going on behind the scenes. It was then that he realized the excitement involved in engineering work. Becoming a NASA engineer was a dream job, something that Carney could barely hope for, especially since by that time the space program was losing much of its initial public support.
For over fifteen years, Carney worked as a structural dynamist on a variety of space projects, including Galileo, the Space Station, and Cassini. At the same time, he continued his education, obtaining his Ph.D. from Case Western University. After transferring to a group performing aircraft engine safety research, Carney became involved in the analysis of impacts.
Image Left: Kelly Carney at NASA Glenn's Research Center laboratory. Image credit: NASA
Carney began to use LS-Dyna, a software program originally created to model nuclear explosions, but which is now being used to simulate everything from car crashes to metal forming. Through this activity, he discovered that modeling of materials, usually metals involved in engine impacts, is a critical element in an accurate analysis.
Carney now is part of the ballistic impact lab team at NASA Glenn's Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio. On the day of the Columbia accident, Carney and the team began discussing ways their work could contribute to the investigation of the cause of the accident. As part of an inter-center analysis team formed by the Shuttle project, the impact lab team began to work on a material model of the external tank foam that was seen on videotape impacting the leading edge of Columbia's wing.
Initially there were a number of analytical groups volunteering to aid in the Columbia investigation. In order to have a tightly controlled team, Shuttle management used the first full-scale test as a metric, and a number of groups were working on the same impact problem. The groups that came closest to predicting the results of that test used the foam model that Carney had developed at Glenn. So Glenn's ballistic impact team, this part led by Carney, was tasked with creating material models of all the potential debris and the Shuttle leading edge material, the Reinforced Carbon Carbon.
Carney was able to create materials models that are being used in the Space Shuttle re-certification efforts for the RCC, the ablators (materials that prevent Shuttle hardware from being damaged due to aero-heating on launch), and for ice. Ice was a particular challenge since no existing materials model was adequate to model it and fundamental research had to be done on an extremely demanding time schedule. To know the results of Carney's work is being used for the Return to Flight effort has made the long hours and time away from his family worthwhile. His life-long dream has paid off in getting humans back in space.
NASA's John F. Kennedy Space Center and Glenn Research Center | <urn:uuid:45836453-fb1a-412f-83f7-eb93a43a1a66> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.nasa.gov/missions/shuttle/f_rtf-kelly.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396887.54/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00080-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977983 | 659 | 3.59375 | 4 |
The dust storm that plagued Iraq on August 8, 2005, and delayed constitution talks lingered over the region the next day. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) flying onboard the Aqua satellite took this picture on August 9, 2005. In this image, a pale beige cloud of dust several hundred kilometers across sweeps out of Iraq and over the Persian Gulf in the southeast.
This dust storm was caused by a phenomenon known as a shamal (also called a shumal, or shimal). A shamal is a northwest wind that can last several days. Shamals cause some of the most destructive dust storms in the Middle East.
NASA image created by Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response team.
- Aqua - MODIS | <urn:uuid:4ccc1805-fcc4-4499-8fd1-71cd37269294> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/view.php?id=15244&eocn=image&eoci=related_image | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393463.1/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00149-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937626 | 156 | 3.59375 | 4 |
void (*signal(int sig, void (*func)(int)))(int);
Set function to handle signal
Specifies a way to handle the signals with the signal number specified by sig.
Parameter func specifies one of the three ways in which a signal can be handled by a program:
- Default handling (SIG_DFL): The signal is handled by the default action for that particular signal.
- Ignore signal (SIG_IGN): The signal is ignored and the code execution will continue even if not meaningful.
- Function handler: A specific function is defined to handle the signal.
Either SIG_DFL or SIG_IGN is set as the default signal handling behavior at program startup for each of the supported signals .
- The signal value to which a handling function is set. The following macro constant expressions identify standard signal values:
|SIGABRT||(Signal Abort) Abnormal termination, such as is initiated by the abort function.|
|SIGFPE||(Signal Floating-Point Exception) Erroneous arithmetic operation, such as zero divide or an operation resulting in overflow (not necessarily with a floating-point operation).|
|SIGILL||(Signal Illegal Instruction) Invalid function image, such as an illegal instruction. This is generally due to a corruption in the code or to an attempt to execute data.|
|SIGINT||(Signal Interrupt) Interactive attention signal. Generally generated by the application user.|
|SIGSEGV||(Signal Segmentation Violation) Invalid access to storage: When a program tries to read or write outside the memory it has allocated.|
|SIGTERM||(Signal Terminate) Termination request sent to program.|
Each library implementation may provide additional signal value macro constants that can be used with this function.
Notice that not all running environments are required to generate automatic signals, not even in the specific cases described above, although all running environments must deliver signals generated by a explicit call to the raise function.
- A pointer to a function. This may either be a function defined by the programmer or one of the following predefined functions:
|SIG_DFL||Default handling: The signal is handled by the default action for that particular signal.|
|SIG_IGN||Ignore Signal: The signal is ignored.|
If a function, it should follow the following prototype (with C linkage):
void handler_function (int parameter);
The return type is the same as the type of parameter func.
If the request is successful, the function returns a pointer to the particular handler function which was in charge of handling this signal before the call, if any. Or either SIG_DFL or SIG_IGN if before the call the signal was being handled by the default handler or was being ignored, respectivelly.
If the function was not successful in registering the new signal handling procedure, it returns SIG_ERR and errno may be set to a positive value.
/* signal example */
#include <stdio.h> /* printf */
#include <signal.h> /* signal, raise, sig_atomic_t */
sig_atomic_t signaled = 0;
void my_handler (int param)
signaled = 1;
int main ()
prev_handler = signal (SIGINT, my_handler);
/* ... */
/* ... */
printf ("signaled is %d.\n",signaled);
signaled is 1.
Undefined: calling this function in a multi-threaded program causes undefined behavior.
No-throw guarantee: this function never throws exceptions.
- Generates a signal (function | <urn:uuid:3b9f1679-76bb-428d-9f52-65b8ae0fc8d0> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.cplusplus.com/reference/csignal/signal/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393442.26/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00026-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.803395 | 778 | 2.671875 | 3 |
A LANDSCAPE MODEL FOR SERDP
A landscape perspective views the spatial aspects of a region in which a site occurs including the ecological, socioeconomic, and political pressure for land use changes and their impacts. Land-use models typically project land use changes using maps and consider spatial implications that may arise such as edge effects or habitat fragmentation implications for species or ecological systems.
A landscape model can be used to assess the impact of land use activities on natural and cultural resources. It can project the loss/alteration of habitat and the resulting impact on biodiversity. Land-use activities can be characterized using a common set of parameters (magnitude, frequency, areal extent, spatial distribution, predictability) that can be applied both to alternative activities and different levels of the same activity. This approach permits the incremental and cumulative effects of diverse activities, such as road building, military maneuvers, grazing, timber harvests, and environmental restoration, to be evaluated. Evaluating the risk posed to habitats and species can be expressed as the probability of a decline or enhancement in the abundance of guilds of species features. Although such an approach is generic, with appropriate databases it can be applied to any site.
- Quantitatively characterize land-use activities. A matrix of characteristics to describe land-use activities in terms of magnitude, frequency, areal extent, spatial distribution, predictability, and effects on habitat quality can be developed. For example, some types of troop training are low-intensity impacts that are dispersed throughout a site, whereas construction of an industrial facility is a high-intensity activity that occupies a limited area.
- Develop a land-cover change risk model. A spatially-explicit, land-cover change model can be developed to simulate potential changes in or loss of individual cover types in response to the land-use activities. Inputs to the model include the matrix of parameters describing land-use activities, and gridded (digital raster) maps of site characteristics, such as present land cover, slope, aspect, soils, etc. The model simulates the impact of land use activities on land cover. A probabilistic model allows representation of stochastic aspects of the land-use activity (e.g., the frequency of training maneuvers) or its effect on the habitat (e.g., the degree to which a forest is damaged by artillery fire) can be represented. Land-use activities that are relatively deterministic and depend on the suitability of the land (e.g., location of new runways) also are easily accommodated within a probabilistic model by setting the appropriate probabilities to 1.0 and fixing specified parameters. From the model, tables and maps of potential land-cover change due to land-use activities can be produced for a particular site. The land-cover change projections can be developed for different scenarios of land-use activities and land cover patterns. Stochastic simulations with the model can be replicated many times and the results summarized statistically, thereby providing an estimate of the magnitude and range of potential effects.
- Develop a natural resource-susceptibility model. The second model can be developed to relate characteristics of species and ecosystems to land-cover patterns resulting from land-use activities, as projected by the land-cover change model. This natural resource model matches land cover characteristics (e.g., frequency of land cover types, abundance of suitable habitat, size of habitat patches, frequency of edges, corridors, etc.) to species and ecosystems characteristics (e.g., home range size, vegetation patterns). For example, activities that cause habitat fragmentation can be detrimental to species that require large blocks of contiguous habitat (e.g. forest-interior species). This model is probabilistic to ensure its compatibility with quantitative risk assessment. Potential effects on species and ecosystems of no management, alternative land-use activities, environmental restoration, or natural events can be examined. The probability of an undesired outcome (such as loss of a population of interest) is estimated by Monte Carlo simulations of the models under particular scenarios and examination of the frequency distribution of outputs. The visualizations that will accompany this spatially-explicit model will also permit managers to "see" the effects of alternative activities on populations of interest.
In addition to its use for management of natural resources, the landscape approach is directly applicable to (1) planning for facility closures and realignment (e.g., identification of facility closures that provide the best conservation opportunities); (2) developing environmental restoration and waste management strategies; (3) supporting compliance with the Endangered Species Act, the National Historic Preservation Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, and the Executive Orders for Floodplains and Wetlands; and (4) developing integrated risk assessments that address cumulative effects.
Return to the Model Categories page
Return to the Web Site Map
Return to Ecological Modeling home page | <urn:uuid:ea165705-1c9e-4d78-985f-6494e23a530b> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.esd.ornl.gov/programs/SERDP/EcoModels/landscap.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397213.30/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00180-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.896942 | 991 | 3.234375 | 3 |
You can’t throw a DNA sequencer these days without hitting a geneticist who’s found some disease-causing mutation. But mutations-- changes in the protein-encoding sequence of DNA bases--aren’t the only things that can go wrong with a gene. Sometimes a gene with a perfectly normal base sequence doesn’t produce the protein it ought to--and sometimes cancer is the result. Now researchers think they know why such seemingly good genes go bad. The reason is an error in a system called methylation, which normally helps determine whether genes are switched on or off.
Although all our cells have the same genes, they do not all make the same proteins; each type of tissue makes its own distinctive set. Methylation is one of the cell’s ways of turning off DNA it doesn’t need. When a cell first develops in the embryo, and again each time it divides, an enzyme called DNA methyltransferase cruises along the newly formed DNA and adds a chemical cap--a methyl group--at specific sites: sites where the base cytosine (C) is followed by the base guanine (G). For some reason, regions of DNA that are heavily methylated coil up tightly, like an unstretched Slinky. That seems to be how the cell packs away, out of the reach of gene-activating proteins, the large stretches of DNA that aren’t genes at all but ancient, noncoding junk.
Actual genes are blocked in a more direct way: methyl groups bind to the gene’s promoter region, at the beginning of the gene, thus preventing proteins from binding to that region and turning the gene on. Consider as an example the gene for hemoglobin. Every cell has it, but only red blood cells need it. Thus, in all cells except red blood cells, the promoter region of the gene is methylated and the gene is turned off.
No one knows how the cell knows to leave some CG groups unmethylated and some genes on. Indeed, about half our genes have promoters that are littered with CG groups and yet are shielded from methylation: these are the housekeeping genes that every cell needs. The tumor- suppressor genes are one group of housekeeping genes. They make proteins that prevent cells from dividing too rapidly. A few years ago it occurred to tumor biologist Stephen Baylin at the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions that if a tumor-suppressor gene were accidentally methylated, a cell might become cancerous. Methylation effectively takes that gene out, says Baylin. It’s the same effect as a mutation.
Baylin and his colleagues first tested their hypothesis on the Von Hippel-Lindau gene, a tumor-suppressor gene that has been linked to kidney cancer. In 20 percent of the kidney tumor samples they looked at, the Hopkins researchers found abnormal methylation. Instead of finding two mutated VHL genes, as the traditional cancer model predicts--every cell has two copies of the gene, and only if both are damaged does the cell lack the tumor suppressor--they found only one. The other VHL gene appeared perfectly normal--except that its promoter was methylated.
Next Baylin and his colleagues looked at p16, a tumor-suppressor gene linked to many cancers. Examining tumor samples from the lung, head, and neck, they found abnormal methylation of the p16 promoter in roughly 20 percent. Most recently they found abnormal methylation in 40 percent of colon tumor samples and in 30 percent of breast cancer samples.
In some cancer cells the patterns of DNA methylation are being grossly altered, Baylin concludes. Instead of having mutations in the coding region of the gene that would alter the protein, what they actually have is this methylation of the promoter. So they’re not even making the protein. More evidence of a link between abnormal methylation and cancer comes from researchers at MIT: they found that mice with low levels of the enzyme that methylates DNA also had fewer precancerous colon polyps.
Since no one knows what controls the normal methylation pattern, no one knows what causes abnormal methylation either. But Baylin sees a silver lining in his discovery of a new form of cancer-causing genetic havoc. This is a potentially reversible process, he says. The reason we know that methylation is a really important part of gene silencing is that you can turn the genes back on--at least in cell culture--by treating them with drugs. Several people and companies are beginning to explore this approach. | <urn:uuid:ad2bc458-eb3d-409f-a402-5cad3812eef2> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://discovermagazine.com/1995/dec/anewkindofglitch606 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393442.26/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00051-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952765 | 936 | 3.765625 | 4 |
To be included in the catalogue, a galaxy cluster had to have at least 50 members in the magnitude range m3 to m3+2, where m3 is the magnitude of the third brightest cluster member, within a radius of about 1.5 megaparsecs (just under 5 million light-years). Abell classified such clusters as regular and irregular, and ranked them on six-point scales according to both their richness (population density) and distance (1 to 6, for closest to furthest). The Catalog proved of seminal importance to extragalactic astronomy, leading to a better understanding of the nature and properties of clusters of galaxies, and the identification of superclusters and large-scale structure.
Following the latest (1989) revisions and extensions to include rich clusters in the southern hemisphere, Abell's Catalog now consists of the Northern Abell Catalog (clusters A1 through A2712), the Southern Abell Catalog (A2713 through A4076), and the Supplementary Southern Abell Catalog (A4077 through A5250). Among the best-known Abell clusters are the Perseus Cluster (A426) and the Coma Cluster (A1656).
Related category• GALAXIES
Home • About • Copyright © The Worlds of David Darling • Encyclopedia of Alternative Energy • Contact | <urn:uuid:01f744fe-97b4-4691-818d-15feb98599a9> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/A/Abell_cluster.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783403508.34/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155003-00159-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.895049 | 270 | 3.4375 | 3 |
The unnamed grandmother in “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” considers herself morally superior to others by virtue of her being a “lady,” and she freely and frequently passes judgment on others. She claims that her conscience is a guiding force in her life, such as when she tells Bailey that her conscience wouldn’t allow her to take the children in the same direction as the Misfit. She criticizes the children’s mother for not traveling to a place that would allow the children to “be broad,” and she compares the mother’s face to a cabbage. She chastises John Wesley for not having more respect for Georgia, his home state. She also takes any opportunity to judge the lack of goodness in people in the world today. During all this, she proudly wears her carefully selected dress and hat, certain that being a lady is the most important virtue of all, one that she alone harbors.
The grandmother never turns her critical eye on herself to inspect her own hypocrisy, dishonesty, and selfishness. For example, the conscience the grandmother invokes at the beginning of the story is conveniently silent when she sneaks Pitty Sing into the car, lies to the children about the secret panel, and opts not to reveal that she made a mistake about the location of the house. When the Misfit systematically murders the family, the grandmother never once begs him to spare her children or grandchildren. She does, however, plead for her own life because she can’t imagine the Misfit wanting to kill a lady. She seems certain that he’ll recognize and respect her moral code, as though it will mean something to him despite his criminal ways. She tries to draw him into her world by assuring him that he’s a good man, but even though he agrees with her assessment of him, he doesn’t see this as a reason to spare her. Only when the grandmother is facing death, in her final moments alone with the Misfit, does she understand where she has gone wrong in her life. Instead of being superior, she realizes, she is flawed like everyone else. When she tells the Misfit that he is “one of [her] own children,” she is showing that she has found the ability to see others with compassion and understanding. This is a moment of realization, one that is immediately followed by her death.
With his violent, wanton killing, the Misfit seems an unlikely source to look to for spiritual or moral guidance, but he demonstrates a deep conviction that the other characters lack. Unlike the grandmother, who simply assumes that she is morally superior to everyone else, the Misfit seriously questions the meaning of life and his role in it. He has carefully considered his actions in life and examined his experiences to find lessons within them. He has even renamed himself because of one of these lessons, believing that his punishment didn’t fit his crime. Because the Misfit has questioned himself and his life so closely, he reveals a self-awareness that the grandmother lacks. He knows he isn’t a great man, but he also knows that there are others worse than him. He forms rudimentary philosophies, such as “no pleasure but meanness” and “the crime don’t matter.”
The Misfit’s philosophies may be depraved, but they are consistent. Unlike the grandmother, whose moral code falls apart the moment it’s challenged, the Misfit has a steady view of life and acts according to what he believes is right. His beliefs and actions are not moral in the conventional sense, but they are strong and consistent and therefore give him a strength of conviction that the grandmother lacks. Twisted as it might be, he can rely on his moral code to guide his actions. The grandmother cannot, and in the last moments of her life, she recognizes his strength and her weaknesses. O’Connor called the Misfit a “prophet gone wrong,” and indeed, if he had applied his moral integrity to a less depraved lifestyle, he could have been considered a true preacher, pillar, or teacher. | <urn:uuid:5b855f5b-f82d-4224-97e2-aa67bf62f83a> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.sparknotes.com/short-stories/a-good-man-is-hard-to-find/canalysis.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395679.92/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00033-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.984717 | 865 | 2.9375 | 3 |
Lessons Learned In New Orleans Can Help Other K-12 Schools Achieve Energy Efficiency
February 23, 2012
In 2005, following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), at the request of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), began providing technical assistance to New Orleans' schools to improve energy efficiency and reduce school operating costs. Initial technical assistance provided by DOE/NREL included energy audits of open and operating school facilities and consultation on energy-efficient design strategies, energy modeling, and pre-design and design reviews for new schools.
The experiences of incorporating energy efficiency after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in four new schools—Langston Hughes Elementary School, Andrew H. Wilson Elementary School (which was 50% new construction and 50% major renovation), L.B. Landry High School, and Lake Area High School—and one major renovation, Joseph A. Craig Elementary School—are described in two new publications to help other school districts and design teams with their in-progress and future school building projects in hot-humid climates.
Read Building Energy-Efficient Schools in New Orleans: Lessons Learned, which provides detailed information on the planning, energy assessments and monitoring, and outcomes from NREL’s/DOE’s work with the New Orleans Public Schools district, or read the summary.
Learn more about NREL’s/DOE’s work in New Orleans. | <urn:uuid:311e33d7-0cfe-4c34-a02e-b90d036370a3> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.nrel.gov/tech_deployment/news/2012/1798.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783408828.55/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155008-00103-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932951 | 294 | 2.890625 | 3 |
Are the technologies and comforts of modern society making us inactive and lazy?
In a recent study published by the British medical journal, the “Lancet,” in 2008 physical inactivity led to the death of nearly 5.3 million people across the world – that’s one in every 10 deaths.
It’s been reported that the problem of physical inactivity is growing in pandemic proportions.
Dr. Michael Joyner, a physiologist at the Mayo Clinic, writing in “The Journal of Physiology,” expands on concerns about the lack of physical activity and says that inactivity or a lack of exercise should be treated as if it were a medical condition.
Joyner says that the idea of inactivity’s impact on our health has been emerging in the medical community for at least the last 10 years.
“We’re looking at the exercise, inactivity/activity all wrong,” he says. “We’ve defined the normal state as the physically inactive state when in fact the normal state is the active state and so many of our lifestyle-related diseases and chronic diseases have their root cause in physical inactivity.”
Joyner also says that innovative treatments for many of these health problems center on increasing people’s physical activity.
He suggests that inactivity be “medicalized,” similar to what has been done to treat other health issues such as addiction and smoking. That way, Joyner says, new treatments can be developed including those that focus on behavioral modifications and physical activity.
Taking it further, Joyner suggests that nations take public health measures to help promote physical activity.
So why has a lack of physical activity become such a problem? Joyner says there are what he describes as “death spirals” occurring simultaneously that encourages us to be less physically active and eat too much.
For example, he points out, that instead of getting their children to go outside and play, many parents today simply allow them to sit around the house to watch TV or play video games. And, rather than encourage them to walk or ride their bicycles to school, some parents just drive their kids to and from their school’s doorstep.
Adults too have been sucked into the inactive lifestyle, according to Joyner. He says that more people today are working in urban environments, where it might be difficult to be physically active all day long.
“In places like the United States and other developed countries, we’re sort of prisoners to our cars and so forth,” Joyner said.
Joyner says that less activity along with all of the rich, calorie-laden food that’s quickly available and ready to eat can combine into a real problem.
That problem, he says, includes non-communicable diseases like diabetes, hypertension, obesity, heart disease, stroke, and depression, which have been affecting the developed world and are increasingly affecting countries that are in economic transition.
According to Joyner, the diseases are all linked to lower levels of physical activity.
On the other hand, he says, people who maintain an active lifestyle are relatively protected from the conditions. Joyner also points out that those who already have the diseases can get better when they become more physically active.
Joyner warns that if nothing is done to address inactivity, people are going to continue to get sick, their kidneys and blood vessels will fail, and they will need plenty of costly medical treatments.
Joyner says that if physical inactivity were treated as a medical condition, doctors and other providers can be better educated about the benefits of physical activity and become much more aware of the value of prescribing exercise instead of drugs.
If after reading this you recognize that you aren’t as physically inactive as you should be, Joyner says a number of studies have shown that 150 minutes a week of “moderately vigorous physical activity” offers a level of protection from potentially deadly diseases and conditions.
“The easiest way to do that,” Joyner says, “is to go out on five 30-minute walks a week, and push it a little bit.” But he warns not to push too hard, “just a good brisk walk.” If you find it difficult to do 30 minutes at a time, Dr. Joyner suggests that you can break up the walking sessions into three 10-minute segments and only do what you can handle.
For those people who have been inactive for a long period of time, gained some weight or have developed medical problems, getting physically active can be an even more difficult challenge.
If you have high blood pressure, high cholesterol, are a smoker or are over 45 years of age, Joyner says that you might want to see your physician before starting a physical activity or exercise program.
But don’t be discouraged, Joyner adds that in general, data shows that a majority of people can go out and walk to their level of discomfort without a lot of risk, meaning that most can begin a walking program relatively easy.
Dr. Michael Joyner is with us for this week’s radio edition of Science World and he talks about the dangers of being physically inactive and most importantly what we can do to help ourselves get and stay active and healthy.
Listen to the interview below. | <urn:uuid:40d0420d-f12e-4159-bb0d-70cb3e180ad0> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://blogs.voanews.com/science-world/2012/08/18/study-not-keeping-physically-active-could-kill-you/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396538.42/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00093-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964001 | 1,104 | 3.21875 | 3 |
1301.0 - Year Book Australia, 2002
Previous ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 25/01/2002
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Population statistics are measures of the size, growth, composition and distribution of the population as well as the components that shape population change. Although population statistics are not in themselves indicators of wellbeing, they underpin the discussion of a wide range of issues relating to the population, including immigration, multiculturalism, ageing and population sustainability. | <urn:uuid:f2c6b0e4-d401-4287-8883-5851d11fa293> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.abs.gov.au/Ausstats/abs@.nsf/0/293F7027110CB413CA256B350010B3FA?opendocument | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396106.25/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00152-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.918625 | 107 | 2.984375 | 3 |
Please note: This information was current at the time of publication. But medical information is always changing, and some information given here may be out of date. For regularly updated information on a variety of health topics, please visit familydoctor.org, the AAFP patient education Web site.
Information from Your Family Doctor
Warning Signs of Primary Immunodeficiency
FREE PREVIEW. AAFP members and paid subscribers: Log in to get free access. All others: Purchase online access.
FREE PREVIEW. Purchase online access to read the full version of this article.
Am Fam Physician. 2003 Nov 15;68(10):2011.
What is a primary immunodeficiency?
A primary immunodeficiency is a genetic problem with the immune system. The immune system protects the body against infection—and fights infection when it happens.
People who have a primary immunodeficiency disorder get infections easily. The infections tend to come back often and are hard to cure.
There are more than 80 different kinds of primary immunodeficiency disorders. Some are common. Others are rare.
What are some warning signs of a primary immunodeficiency?
As part of a national educational program, The Jeffrey Modell Foundation (http://www.jmfworld.com) has developed a list of warning signs for primary immunodeficiency. Talk to your doctor if you or your child has more than one of these warning signs:
Eight or more ear infections in one year
Two or more serious sinus infections in one year.
An infection that does not get better even after two or more months of antibiotic therapy
Poor weight gain or lack of normal growth in your baby
Deep skin or organ abscesses that keep coming back
After the age of one year, hard-to cure thrush (a fungal infection) in the mouth or elsewhere in the skin
Need for intravenous antibiotic treatment to clear infections
Two or more serious infections deep below the skin
A family history of primary immunodeficiency
More Information About Primary Immunodeficiency
For more information, you can contact these groups:
The Jeffrey Modell Foundation
747 Third Avenue
New York, NY 10017
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Want to use this article elsewhere? Get Permissions | <urn:uuid:ee3896ec-7448-4a9c-8502-d507d1483a33> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.aafp.org/afp/2003/1115/p2011.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395546.12/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00047-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.892364 | 665 | 3.0625 | 3 |
Brest (brĕst) [key], city (1990 pop. 153,099), Finistère dept., NW France, on an inlet of the Atlantic Ocean. It is a commercial port, an important naval station, and the seat of the French Naval Academy. There is a national engineering school in Brest and nearby is the Oceanographic Center of Brittany. Electronics equipment, metals, paper, and clothing are the chief manufactures. The city dates from Gallo-Roman times. The spacious, landlocked harbor was created in 1631 by Cardinal Richelieu as a military base and arsenal. In 1683, during the reign of Louis XIV, Marshal Vauban built the ramparts and a castle. The French repulsed the English in 1694 off Brest; in 1794 the English, under Lord Howe, defeated the French fleet. During World War II the Germans had a huge submarine base at Brest. Their heavily fortified submarine pens showed few cracks under Allied air raids; but the city itself was almost completely destroyed. The German garrison capitulated to U.S. troops in 1944.
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2012, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. | <urn:uuid:aea2901d-7b97-4da9-bfd2-7b5cfa1b7cf5> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.factmonster.com/encyclopedia/world/brest-city-france.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395546.12/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00047-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948469 | 250 | 3.296875 | 3 |
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) — New York state has the most segregated public schools in the nation, with many black and Latino students attending schools with virtually no white classmates, according to a report released Wednesday.
The report by the Civil Rights Project at the University of California at Los Angeles looked at enrollment trends from 1989 to 2010.
In New York City, the largest school system in the U.S. with 1.1 million pupils, the study notes that many of the charter schools created over the last dozen years are among the least diverse of all, with less than 1 percent white enrollment at 73 percent of charter schools.
LINK: Read The Full Report
“To create a whole new system that’s even worse than what you’ve got really takes some effort,” said Gary Orfield, co-director of the Civil Rights Project and an author of the report.
He and his fellow researchers say segregation has the effect of concentrating black and Latino students in schools with high ratios of poor students compared with the statewide average. Black and Latino students who attend schools that are integrated by race and income level perform significantly better than their peers in segregated schools, the authors note.
The study suggests that New York’s segregation is largely due to housing patterns but that it could be mitigated through policies intended to promote diversity.
“No place in the South is as segregated as New York and has not been for some time,” Orfield told 1010 WINS’ Holli Haerr.
Other states with highly segregated schools include Illinois, Michigan and California, according to the Civil Rights Project.
In New York, about half of the state’s public school students were from low-income families in 2010, the report says, but the typical black or Latino student attended a school where close to 70 percent of classmates were low-income. The typical white student went to a school where just 30 percent of classmates were low-income.
“For New York to have a favorable multiracial future both socially and economically, it is absolutely urgent that its leaders and citizens understand both the values of diversity and the harms of inequality,” the study’s authors say.
New York City Department of Education spokesman Devon Puglia did not address the findings of the report, but said, “We believe in diverse classrooms in which students interact and grow through personal relationships with those of different backgrounds.”
State Education Commissioner John King called the findings troubling and added, “The department has supported over the years various initiatives aimed at improving school integration and school socioeconomic integration, but there’s clearly a lot of work that needs to be done — not just in New York but around the country.”
The report, which used U.S. Department of Education statistics, also noted increasing segregation in upstate cities including Buffalo, Rochester and Syracuse.
In the Syracuse metropolitan area, the report says, the number of black students increased by 4 percent between 1989 and 2010, but black isolation increased dramatically. In 1989 the typical black student went to a school that was one-third black, but in 2010 the typical black student went to a school that was nearly half black.
Pedro Noguera, a New York University education professor, said it’s disturbing that policy makers have focused so little on racial integration in recent years.
“We’ve been talking about reforming schools in New York and elsewhere. This issue was never addressed,” Noguera said.
He added, “When you concentrate the neediest kids together in under-resourced schools they tend not to do very well.”
The UCLA report recommends that state and local education agencies develop policies aimed at reducing racial isolation and promoting diverse schools.
The report suggests voluntary desegregation programs in upstate cities like Rochester, where low-income populations are surrounded by more affluent communities.
In New York City, Orfield said, a system of unscreened “choice” schools would foster more diversity than the current New York City high school choice system, which sees entrance tests at top schools excluding most black and Latino students.
“If you just offer choice, the people with the best information will get into the best schools,” he said.
Requel Russell-George, the mother of two students at Public School 169 in the Bronx, which has about 75 percent black and 19 percent Latino students, said she feels the school is “excellent” but she would like to see more diversity.
“I do feel that it would be great for our children and other children to be exposed to other cultures,” Russell-George said. “You’re more knowledgeable and things are not mysterious to you as you get older.”
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(TM and © Copyright 2014 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2014 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.) | <urn:uuid:2ec6fc09-5664-449c-b0fe-0582c218054d> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2014/03/26/report-ny-schools-are-most-racially-segregated/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783403826.29/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155003-00174-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962308 | 1,144 | 2.609375 | 3 |
World's Largest Urban Forest Was Planted by Hand
Photo via FrogView
From the top of Rio de Janeiro's towering mountain of Corcovado, at the feet of the iconic Christ the Redeemer statue, the high rise urban centers neatly tucked along the shoreline are dwarfed by the rugged natural skyline. On these peaks, for as far as the eye can see, grows the dense jungle of the Tijuca forest -- the largest urban forest in the world -- which gives Rio the feel of city that has managed to coexist with nature like none other on the planet. But things weren't always so harmonious. In fact, there was once a time where these hills were stripped bare, deforested to make room for plantations. The truth is, this sprawling forest was replanted by hand.For as much attention that's given to deforestation in the Amazon rainforest in the last centuries, Brazil's Atlantic forest ecosystem has fared much worse. Home to a multitude of unique species, the Atlantic forest once extended along nearly the entire Brazilian coastline, though today only small patches remain. To support Brazil's population, the majority of which live in close proximity to the ocean, these forests were largely cut down to make room for development -- and Rio's Tijuca forest was no exception.
Photo: Stephen Messenger
From the time that Rio de Janeiro was established in 1565 to the mid-19th century, its numerous hillsides, once lush with tropical forests, had been cleared of vegetation for timber and fuel to help grow the burgeoning city. Eventually, nearly all of Rio's hillsides would be stripped bare forests as coffee and sugarcane plantations took their place. Between 1590 and 1797, for example, the number of cane mills jumped from six to 120 -- at the expense of the city's Atlantic rainforest.
But for all the benefits garnered from deforesting the hillsides in those early days, the destruction was a cause for concern even then. As early as 1658, residents of Rio began to rise in defense of the forests, fearing that the degraded land was impacting the city's water supply. Still, it wasn't until 1817 that the city government first issued regulations to protect the few remaining patches of forest.
After a series of droughts in the mid-19th century, it became clear that the forest needed to be revitalized to ensure a clean supply of water. So, in 1860, Emperor Pedro II issued an order to reforest the barren hills of Rio with the native plants that flourished there centuries earlier.
The massive undertaking saw hundreds of thousands of seedlings planted by hand; natural regeneration and municipal regulation helped fill in the rest. Efforts were also made to reintroduce native fauna, thought the forest's tumultuous 400 year history has yet to recover all of its natural biodiversity. Over the next few decades, the Tijuca Forest gained National Forest status, receiving with it numerous protections and expansions to its boundaries.
Photo: Stephen Messenger
Today, Tijuca is the largest urban forest in the world, attracting around 2 million visitors annually. But amid the seemingly unspoiled natural setting in the middle of one of Brazil's major urban centers, it remains possible to see the hollow shells of ranch houses the young forest has yet to claim entirely.
Still, from the lofty vantage of Tijuca's Corcovado peak, the forest appears untouched. And among the pilgrims of many creeds gathering around the feet of a giant stone statue of Jesus on a lush green hillside, there exists a glimmer of hope -- that even if a forest can't be saved where deforestation persists, perhaps, in the end we can still be redeemed.
More on Replanting in Brazil
Reforestation in Brazil's Atlantic Forest Could Help Biodiversity
Reforesting 20 Million Square Kilometers by 2020 (Video)
Can Sustainability Grow in a Deforested Rainforest? | <urn:uuid:b390094f-4bd1-45f2-b44a-f1dc0898a239> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.treehugger.com/natural-sciences/worlds-largest-urban-forest-was-planted-by-hand.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395679.92/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00181-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960092 | 804 | 3.21875 | 3 |
Located in the middle of San Francisco Bay, Alcatraz Island is best known as the site of the infamous penitentiary where some of the country's most notorious criminals were imprisoned.
The first European to discover the small island was Spanish naval officer Juan Manuel de Ayala, who in 1775 named the island 'Isla de los Alcatraces' (Island of Gannets) for the many seabirds on the rocky island
(he probably saw cormorants instead of gannets, a sort of pelican).
Another common name for Alcatraz is 'The Rock' as the 22 acre (9 ha) large island isn't much more than a large rock. Initially there wasn't even any soil, it was all transported to the island in the early twentieth century so that prison wardens could create a garden.
Since the island was strategically located the army built a fort here in the 1850s to defend the bay. During that time the West Coast's oldest lighthouse was also built here in 1854. It was replaced in 1909 by the tower that still stands today.
In 1907 the fort was converted into a military prison which quickly gained a reputation for being harsh.
By the 1920s and 30s, during the days of gangsters and prohibition, federal agencies decided that
Al Capone Mugshot
Alcatraz Island would be the perfect location for high-profile criminals such as Al Capone to be held once captured. So the site was handed over to the federal government in 1933 and became a federal penitentiary the following year. It kept that function until 1963 when the prison became too costly to maintain.
After its post-prison years, the island was the site of an American Indian occupation and protest movement from 1969-1971. Members of many different tribes took up residence on the island for eighteen months, claiming the land should have been returned to the Native Americans. They left the island in 1971, but many buildings were damaged. Visitors to the island can still find some remnants of those years while exploring the islands.
The prison became famous for its notable inmates like Al Capone, Bill "Machine Gun" Kelly, Alvin "Creepy" Karpis - a partner of the notorious Ma Barker - and "Birdman" Robert Stroud. To keep all these high profile prisoners under control they had to stay in their cell for 16 to 23 hours per day and were not allowed to talk to each other. Prisoners causing trouble could lose privileges such as
reading books or receiving visitors. The worst were put in isolation cells, where they had no privileges and could only leave the cell for ten minutes each week to take a shower.
Alcatraz was well-known as the prison from which no one could escape and, despite many attempts, no one successfully fled Alcatraz during its twenty-nine years in operation. To keep prisoners from escaping the island was protected by barbed wire, watchtowers and remote controlled doors. But what made any escape attempt a perilous endeavor was the cold water and strong current in the bay around the island.
The most famous attempt to escape from the prison was that by the Anglin Brothers and Frank Morris; a dramatized version of the escape was made into the 1979 movie 'Escape from Alcatraz'.
While the three companions succeeded in getting off the island they probably drowned in the bay.
Though Alcatraz Island is federally owned, visitors must book transportation through a private company in order to gain access to the island. Plans should be made well in advance, especially during the summer months, as Alcatraz tours fill up quickly. Most tours include the Alcatraz Cellhouse Audio Tour, which is essentially a self-guided tour of the prison. Visitors can also explore the area outside the prison as well. The area is a good place to peruse native plants and birds but it can be difficult to navigate for anyone with a handicap. | <urn:uuid:5c465950-77c9-4b75-936f-09c8002608e1> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.aviewoncities.com/sf/alcatraz.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395166.84/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00193-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979949 | 805 | 2.828125 | 3 |
North Carolina Department of Correction News - July 1999
Chaplain serves as coordinator of Native American spirituality
|Medicine bags, smudging, pipe
ceremonies and sweat lodges understanding Native American Indian religion can be a
real challenge for those outside of the Native American community. Yet, the Division of
Prisons has a responsibility to provide spiritual and ministerial services to all inmates
incarcerated in our prisons, including Native American inmates.
With more than 550 different tribes of Native Americans in existence today - all with their own unique religious practices, coming up with one set of approved guidelines for the practice of Native American Indian religion within the context of the prison system has proven to be a difficult task. Needing some assistance establishing such a set of guidelines, the Division of Prisons turned to Ray Littleturtle for help.
A member of the Lumbee and Creek tribes, Littleturtle has served as an advisor for the Division of Prisons religious services for the past 13 years, offering insight into Native American spirituality. However, as the Indian inmate population continues to grow there are now around 650 Native American Indian inmates in our prisons it became clear that the Division needed more than just an advisor to handle the practice of Native American religion within the prison system. In January, Littleturtle joined the Division's religious services staff as a contract chaplain in charge of Native American religion.
"In my new role, Im serving as the coordinator of Native American spirituality for all the prisons," he said. "Native American religion is unique in that it brings with it a certain symbolism not as prevalent in other religions like medicine bags, braids, headbands and other things that identify one as a Native American. My wish is to educate prisoners on how to properly avail the religion and educate the staff, so they can have an appreciation and understanding of why the Indian inmates do the things they do while practicing their spirituality."
In an effort to promote understanding of the Native American Indian religion, Littleturtle has narrated a video on Native American faith practices and developed "A Guide to Understanding Native American Religion." In the booklet, he explains, in detail, the meanings behind the various practices, methods and sacred items used by Indians practicing their faith.
For example, sage, tobacco, cedar and sweetgrass are considered sacred by Native Americans. These four sacred plants are used for purification, healing and as a medium for prayer. A bundle of the four sacred herbs is used for smudging, a process in which the herbs are lit until a smoke is released. The individual then cleanses himself with the smudge by allowing the smoke to pass over his head, body and into the heart.
Another ceremony, the pipe ceremony, is used as means through which Native Americans send their prayers to the Creator. The individual begins his inward prayer while smoking the pipe, and the release of the smoke carries the prayer to the Creator. Other items such as medicine bags contain herbs, dirt, stones, hair and other various natural items, representing sacred memories and reminders.
Another common practice used in Native American religion is the sweat lodge. Sweat lodges are not currently allowed within the prison system for security reasons but are used to unify the body, heart, soul and mind. During a sweat, individuals enter an enclosed area that contains a rock pit to produce heat and steam. The individuals sing and pray as the steam creates an atmosphere that opens the body to cleanse it of impurities through the skin, the heart by prayer, the soul by spiritual communication and the mind by the unification of the whole person.
It is Littleturtles job as chaplain to identify the various faith practices used by the different tribes and pull out common elements that can be used within the confines of a prison.
"Im trying to develop a comprehensive directory of services for Native American inmates who want to practice their faith," he said. "With more than 550 different tribes, each with their own ceremonies and practices, it leaves me with the problem of coming up with a middle-of-the-road approach, so we dont have inmates trying to do 550 different things. Im trying to pull out the common elements and come up with one set of approved guidelines for the practice of Native American spirituality within the entire prison system."
Littleturtles office is based out of Robeson Correctional Center, but he travels to the various prisons across the state. Anyone needing Littleturtles assistance can reach him at Robeson at 910-618-5535 or through the Divisions religious services office at 919-733-3226.
NC DOC Homepage
NC DOC News
NC DOC WEB Index
E-mail NC DOC | <urn:uuid:22459015-e9eb-4ea4-ad68-81d11b547bd0> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.doc.state.nc.us/NEWS/1999/9907news/littleturtle.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783392527.68/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154952-00168-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95227 | 952 | 2.515625 | 3 |
Split Leaf Philodendron
Easy to Grow Tropical
Split-leaf philodendron (sometimes referred to as philodendron bipinnatifidum) is a climbing, evergreen perennial vine. This plant has large perforated leaves on thick plant stems that, given the right conditions, can grow into large trees.
Its long cord-like roots and 1-3 ft leaves give an impressive "rainforest" look to any garden.
This plant likes to sprawl out so don't plant it too close to walls or high traffic areas. Its huge leaves are a great shelter for tender plants that could benefit from its canopy.
It can be grown in the coastal south with protection and is almost always winter hardy in growing zone 9.
As an indoor plant, it will typically grow to 6-8 ft. with mostly uncut leaves. Mature plants will produce large, glossy, dark green leaves with distinctive cuts and will bear arrow shaped flowers.
Split Leaf Philodendron makes an excellent container-grown decoration indoors or outside on decks. Choose a bright spot with indirect or filtered light, such as a south-facing window. | <urn:uuid:93f593de-03eb-4e55-aae9-089750f298fd> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.brighterblooms.com/product/split-leaf-philodendron.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783391634.7/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154951-00106-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93674 | 238 | 2.578125 | 3 |
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