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This article answers some general questions about arthritis including how arthritis affects the body and some statistics on who gets arthritis.
What is arthritis?
The word arthritis literally means joint inflammation ("arthr-" means joint; "-itis" means inflammation). It refers to more than 100 different diseases. These diseases usually affect the area in or around joints such as muscles and tendons. Some of these diseases can also affect other parts of the body including the skin and internal organs.
There are many types of arthritis. Most forms of arthritis are chronic which means they may last a lifetime.
Who gets arthritis?
Nearly 40 million Americans or one in every seven people have arthritis. It affects people of all ages but it most often comes on as a person gets older.
How does arthritis feel?
Arthritis usually causes stiffness pain and fatigue. The severity varies from person to person and even from day to day. In some people only a few joints are affected and the impact may be small. In other people the entire body system may be affected.
The joints of the body are the site of much of the action in arthritis. Many types of arthritis show signs of joint inflammation: swelling, stiffness, tenderness, redness or warmth. These joint symptoms may be accompanied by weight loss, fever or weakness.
When these symptoms last for more than two weeks, inflammatory arthritis such as rheumatoid arthritis may be the cause. Joint inflammation may also be caused by infection which can lead to septic arthritis. Degenerative joint disease (osteoarthritis) is the most common type of arthritis; joint inflammation is not a prominent feature of this condition. While normal joints can support a vast amount of use, mechanical abnormalities of a joint make it susceptible to degeneration.
It is healthy for you to keep active and move your joints. If you do not move a joint regularly, the muscles around it weaken and/or become tight. The joint can stiffen or even freeze. When you do try to move the joint and muscles hurt because they have been still for so long.
Many things affect how your joints and muscles feel. Pain may be caused by swelling, joint damage, muscle tightness or spasm. Muscles hurt after doing exercise or activities you aren't used to; sometimes when the joint is damaged simple activities stress the joint.
When your joints are inflamed or damaged, you need to take certain precautions as you do all your daily activities. Your doctor or therapist can teach you exercises and the correct use of heat and cold to decrease pain. You can also learn how to use your body with the least stress to your joints for less pain, easier movement and even more energy.
Arthritis can make it hard to do the movements you rely on every day for work or taking care of your family.
Can arthritis cause numbness?
Numbness is often a symptom of nerve involvement. For instance, numbness in the arm may be related to nerve irritation in the neck. In such a situation, turning or bending the head to the involved side may increase the symptoms. For example, a pinched nerve in the right side of the neck may cause numbness in the arm and hand when a person attempts to look back over the right shoulder. If nerve irritation becomes more severe, the arm and hand may become weak. A physical examination X-rays and an MRI of the neck and electrodiagnostic tests may be useful in establishing the diagnosis.
Why do joints make popping and cracking noises?
Joints can make different noises--some are serious and some are not.
Some people learn how to "pop their knuckles." By pushing or pulling a joint in a certain way an air bubble can suddenly appear in the joint with a "pop." Once the bubble is there the joint cannot be popped again until the air has been reabsorbed.
Some joints crack as the ligaments and tendons that pass over them slide past bumps on the bones. Individuals who "crack their neck" make noise in this way.
Other joints lock up intermittently--often with a loud pop--because something gets caught in between the joint surfaces. A torn cartilage in the knee or a loose piece of bone or cartilage in the joint can do this. Once a joint is stuck in this way, it may need to be wiggled around to unlock it. This may also cause a pop.
Finally joints that are arthritic may crack and grind. These noises usually occur each time the joint is moved. This noise is due to the roughness of the joint surface due to loss of the smooth cartilage.
Can cracking knuckles cause arthritis?
There is no evidence that cracking one's knuckles can cause arthritis directly. However repeated injury of a joint or repeatedly causing it to swell can injure the cartilage and potentially lead to degenerative joint disease.
What are the warning signs of arthritis?
Pain from arthritis can be ongoing or can come and go. It may occur when you're moving or after you have been still for some time. You may feel pain in one spot or in many parts of your body.
Your joints may feel stiff and be hard to move. You may find that it's hard to do daily tasks you used to do easily, such as climbing stairs or opening a jar. Pain and stiffness may be more severe during certain times of the day or after you've done certain tasks.
Some types of arthritis cause swelling or inflammation. The skin over the joint may appear swollen and red and feel hot to the touch. Some types of arthritis can also cause fatigue.
What causes arthritis?
There are more than 100 different types of arthritis. What causes most types is unknown. Because there are so many different types there are likely to be many different causes.
Scientists are currently researching what roles three major factors play in certain types of arthritis. These include the genetic factors you inherit from your parents, what happens to you during your life and how you live. The importance of these factors varies for every type of arthritis.
How is arthritis diagnosed?
It's important to find out if you have arthritis and what type it is because treatments vary for each type. Early diagnosis and treatment are important to help slow or prevent joint damage that can occur during the first few years for several types.
Only a doctor can tell if you have arthritis and what type it is. When you see your doctor for the first time about arthritis, expect at least three things to happen. Your doctor will ask questions about your symptoms examine you and take some tests or X-rays.
You can help your doctor by writing down information about your symptoms before your appointment. Bring your answers when you see your doctor.
Arthritis may limit how far or how easily you can move a joint. Your doctor may move the joint that hurts or ask you to move it. This is to see how far the joint moves through its normal range of motion. Your doctor may also check for swelling, tender points, skin rashes or problems with other parts of your body.
Finally your doctor may conduct some laboratory tests. These may include tests of your blood, muscles, urine or joint fluid. They also may include X-rays or scans of your body. The tests will depend on what type of arthritis your doctor suspects. They help confirm what type of arthritis your doctor suspects based on your medical history and physical exam and help rule out other diseases that cause similar symptoms.
The overall results from your medical history, physical exam and tests help your doctor match your symptoms to the pattern for a specific type of arthritis.
It may take several visits before your doctor can tell what type of arthritis you have. Symptoms for some types of arthritis develop slowly and may appear similar to other types in early stages. Your doctor may suspect a certain type of arthritis but may watch how your symptoms develop over time to confirm it.
What type of doctors treat arthritis?
Part of your treatment plan may involve working with different health-care specialists. Some common health-care professionals and their role in your treatment are described below. Most doctors make referrals to one of a group of health professionals with whom they work. But you too can ask your doctor to request medical services you think might help you.
Your family doctor may be an excellent source of medical care for your arthritis. Besides having your medication records, your family doctor already has your medical history, is familiar with your general physical health and knows of any past illnesses or injuries. All these facts will give your family doctor a head start in prescribing a treatment plan most suited to your needs.
If your arthritis affects many joints or other parts of the body or seems resistant to treatment, you may benefit from seeing a rheumatologist. This is a doctor with special training and experience in the field of arthritis. Your family doctor, the local chapter of the Arthritis Foundation or the county medical society can refer you to a rheumatologist. You can also search for a rheumatologist on the American College of Rheumatology web site.
- Family physicians and general practitioners provide medical care for adults and for children with different types of arthritis. These doctors also can help you find a specialist if necessary.
- Internists specialize in internal medicine and in the treatment of adult diseases. They provide general care to adults and often help select specialists. Internists should not be confused with interns who are doctors doing a year's training in a hospital after graduating from medical school.
- Rheumatologists and orthopedists specialize in treating people with arthritis or related diseases that affect the joints, muscles, bones, skin and other tissues. Most rheumatologists are internists who have had further training in the care of people with arthritis and related diseases. Some rheumatologists also have training in pediatrics. Orthopedists can offer treatment methods including surgery.
- Ophthalmic specialists provide eye care and treatment.
- Pediatricians treat childhood diseases.
- Physiatrists are doctors who specialize in physical medicine and rehabilitation. They may be asked to evaluate your conditions and may direct or prescribe your physical therapy and rehabilitation.
- Podiatrists are experts in foot care. If arthritis affects your feet ,a podiatrist can prescribe special supports and shoes.
- Psychiatrists treat mental or emotional problems that need special attention.
- Nurses trained in arthritis care assist your doctor with your treatment. They also help teach you about your treatment program and can answer many of your questions. Nurses also provide care during hospitalization.
- Occupational therapists can teach you how to reduce strain on your joints while doing everyday activities. They can teach you how to manage stress more effectively, recommend and show you how to use self-help devices, suggest ways to make everyday and work activities easier and teach you how to reduce strain on your joints and conserve energy. They may also provide you with splints and other joint protection devices.
- Pharmacists fill your prescriptions for medicines and can explain the drugs' actions and side effects. Pharmacists can tell you how different medicines work together, when and how to take your medications and can answer questions about over-the-counter medicines.
- Physical therapists can show you exercises to help keep your muscles strong and your joints from becoming stiff. They can help you learn how to use special equipment to move better. Some physical therapists also are trained to design personal fitness programs, such as prescribed muscle strengthening and range of motion exercises for cardiovascular health maintenance and weight control. They can also show you non-medication ways to control pain. If you've had surgery, they can give you pre- and post-surgical care and show you the correct use of devices such as walking aids.
- Psychologists can help you solve emotional or mental problems. They can offer counseling for individual or family support and help you discover effective ways to cope with the emotional aspects of having arthritis.
- Social workers are specially trained to understand situations that may be difficult to deal with or to talk about. People often meet with a social worker to discuss personal family, social or financial issues that occur as a result of having arthritis. They often suggest appropriate community resources.
- Certified dietitians (nutritionists) can help by teaching you about any special dietary programs or about healthier ways to eat.
- X-ray and laboratory technologists perform tests which help your doctor make a diagnosis or follow the effects of certain medications.
What is the patient's role in treating or managing arthritis?
The patient is the most important member of the health care team.
The patient plays an important role in his or her medical care. The patient can contribute to the success of a treatment plan by:
- learning about arthritis
- following through with treatment
- reporting progress and setbacks to health team
- keeping a positive attitude
- developing relationships with the rest of the health care team
Keeping a positive attitude, though sometimes difficult, is an important ingredient in overcoming arthritis. Asking questions and finding out as much as you can about of arthritis and its treatment is important. So talk over your concerns with your doctor. If you still need more information (or if you have difficulty talking to your doctor), ask the nurse, physical therapist, social worker, occupational therapist to help you find answers to your questions.
What are the types of arthritis?
Arthritis most often affects areas in or around joints. Joints are parts of the body where bones meet such as your knee. The ends of the bones are covered by cartilage, a spongy material that acts as a shock absorber to keep bones from rubbing together. The joint is enclosed in a capsule called the synovium. The synovium's lining releases a slippery fluid that helps the joint move smoothly and easily. Muscles and tendons support the joint and help you move. Different types of arthritis can affect one or more parts of a joint. This often results in a change of shape and alignment in the joints.
Certain types of arthritis can also affect other parts of the body, such as the skin and internal organs. There are more than 100 different types of arthritis. It is important to know which type of arthritis you have so you can treat it properly. If you don't know which type you have, call your doctor or ask during your next visit. Some common types of arthritis are described below.
The most common type of arthritis is osteoarthritis. It affects many of us as we grow older. It is sometimes called degenerative arthritis because it involves the breakdown of cartilage and bones. This causes pain and stiffness. Osteoarthritis usually affects the fingers and weight-bearing joints including the knees, feet, hips and back. It affects both men and women and usually occurs after age 45. Treatments include pain relievers or anti-inflammatory drugs, exercise, heat or cold, joint protection, pacing your efforts, self-help skills and sometimes surgery.
Fibromyalgia affects muscles and their attachments to bone. It results in widespread pain and tender points which are certain places on the body that are more sensitive to pain. It also may result in fatigue, disturbed sleep, stiffness and sometimes psychological distress. Fibromyalgia affects mostly women. It is common and often misdiagnosed. Treatments include exercise, relaxation techniques, pacing your activities and self-help skills.
In rheumatoid arthritis, a fault in the body's defense or immune system causes inflammation or swelling. Inflammation begins in the joint lining and then damages both cartilage and bone. Rheumatoid arthritis often affects the same joints on both sides of the body. Hands, wrists, feet, knees, ankles, shoulders and elbows can be affected. Rheumatoid arthritis is more common in women than in men. Treatments include anti-inflammatory and disease-modifying drugs, exercise, heat or cold, saving energy, joint protection, self-help skills and sometimes surgery.
Gout results when the body is unable to get rid of a natural substance called uric acid. The uric acid forms needle-like crystals in the joint that cause severe pain and swelling. Gout usually affects the big toe, knees and wrists. More men than women have gout. Treatments include anti-inflammatory and special gout drugs and sometimes a diet low in purines. Foods such as organ meats, beer, wine and certain types of fish contain high levels of purines.
Low back pain
Low back pain results from a back injury or certain types of arthritis. Back pain is one of the most common health problems in the United States. It can occur at any age in both men and women. Treatments include pain relievers or anti-inflammatory drugs, exercise, heat or cold joint protection, pacing your activities and self-help skills.
Bursitis and tendinitis
Bursitis and tendinitis result from irritation caused by injuring or overusing a joint. Bursitis affects a small sac that helps muscles move easily; tendinitis affects the tendons that attach muscle to bone. Treatments include anti-inflammatory drugs heat or cold and exercise.
Other types of arthritis
What are bone spurs?
Bone spurs are of two basic types. One is the kind that arises near a joint with osteoarthritis or degenerative joint disease. In this situation, the cartilage has been worn through and the bone responds by growing extra bone at the margins of the joint surface. These "spurs" carry the formal name "osteophytes." They are common features of the osteoarthritic shoulder, elbow, hip, knee and ankle. Removing these osteophytes is an important part of joint replacement surgery but removing them without addressing the underlying arthritis is usually not effective in relieving symptoms.
The second type of bone spur is the kind that occurs when the attachment of ligaments or tendons to bone become calcified. This can occur on the bottom of the foot around the Achilles Tendon and in the coroacoacromial ligament of the shoulder. These spurs often look impressive on X-rays, but because they are in the substance of the ligaments rarely cause sufficient problems to merit excision.
What are common arthritis treatments?
There are many things that help reduce pain, relieve stiffness and keep you moving. Your care may involve more than one kind of treatment. Your doctor may recommend medications but there are many things you can do on your own to help manage pain and fatigue and move easier.
Finding the right treatment takes time. It can involve trial and error until you and your healthcare team or therapist find what works best. Be sure to let your doctor know if a treatment is not working. Your treatment may also change as your arthritis changes.
Treatments for arthritis can be divided into several categories: medication, exercise, heat/cold, pacing, joint protection, surgery and self-help skills. You can do things in each of these areas to help yourself feel better and move easier.
Many different drugs are used to treat arthritis. Some are available without a prescription; others must be prescribed by your doctor. You should always check with your doctor before taking any medication even over-the-counter drugs. Your doctor can tell you how much and when to take them for best relief as well as how to avoid any drug-related problems.
These are some of the common medications used to treat arthritis. Your doctor may prescribe other medication to treat specific forms of arthritis or in specific situations.
Anti-inflammatories reduce both pain and swelling. These medications are called nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). Some NSAIDs such as aspirin, ibuprofen and naproxen sodium are available without a prescription; others are only available by prescription. The most common side effect of these medications is stomach upset. Call your doctor if stomach pain is more than mild and lasts.
Aspirin is commonly used to treat many forms of arthritis. Aspirin-free pain relievers may be recommended by your doctor if you just need pain relief, are allergic to aspirin or have had an ulcer. Acetaminophen gives temporary relief of common arthritis pain but does not reduce swelling. It is available without a prescription.
Corticosteroids are prescribed to reduce severe pain and swelling. They are given by injection or in pill form. Injections can bring quick relief but can only be used several times in one year because they weaken bone and cartilage. Because of potentially serious side effects, corticosteroids must be prescribed and monitored by a doctor.
Disease modifiers tend to slow down the disease process in rheumatoid arthritis. Researchers do not know how this happens. These drugs are available only by prescription and may take several weeks or months to work. Your doctor will carefully monitor you for side effects.
Sleep medications may promote deeper sleep and help relax muscles. These drugs may help people with fibromyalgia sleep better. They are available by prescription and are used in very low doses at bedtime.
- What is its name?
- How much do I take?
- How and when do I take it?
- How long will it be before it works?
- What benefits can I expect?
- When should I contact my doctor if I don't get relief?
- What side effects should I watch for?
- What other drugs should I not take with it?
Regular exercise is important to keep you moving and independent. Exercise helps lessen pain, increases movement, reduces fatigue and helps you look and feel better. Three types of exercises can help people with arthritis.
- Range-of-motion exercises reduce stiffness. They keep your joints flexible by moving them to their fullest extent. Most people should do these exercises daily.
- Strengthening exercises increase or maintain muscle strength. Strong muscles help keep your joints stable and make it easier to move. Most people should do these exercises daily or every other day.
- Endurance exercises build fitness. They help keep your heart healthy and control your weight. You should exercise for a total of 20 to 30 minutes three times a week at a pace that raises or sustains your heart rate. Most people can build your endurance by exercising for shorter periods of time several times a day.
Plan your exercises at times of the day when you have less stiffness or pain. Start slowly. Build up the amount of time you exercise and the number of repetitions you do. Exercise at a level that allows you to talk comfortably during the activity. If pain from exercise lasts more than two hours you may have done too much. Reduce your level of activity next time. Stop exercising right away if you have chest pains severe dizziness or shortness of breath or if you feel sick to your stomach.
Heat and cold
Using heat or cold over joints or muscles may give you short-term relief from pain and stiffness. You can also use heat or cold to help prepare for exercise. Some people feel better using heat; others prefer cold.
Heat helps relax aching muscles. Sources of heat include heating pads, hot packs, hot tubs or heated pools. Cold numbs the area so you don't feel as much pain. You can apply cold with ice cold packs or even bags of frozen vegetables.
It's important to use heat and cold safely. Don't use either treatment for more than 20 minutes at a time. Let your skin return to normal temperature between applications. Don't use heat with rubs or creams since this can result in skin burns.
For more information on using heat and cold correctly talk to your physical therapist.
Pacing yourself saves energy by switching periods of activity with periods of rest. Pacing helps protect your joints from the stress of repeated tasks and helps reduce fatigue.
Alternate heavy or repeated tasks with easy ones. Change tasks often so you don't hold joints in one position for a long time. Plan rest breaks during your daily activities.
You can protect your joints by using them in ways that avoid excess stress. Protecting your joints makes it easier to do daily tasks.
Joint position means using joints in the best way to avoid excess stress. Use larger or stronger joints to carry things. For instance, carry your grocery bags using your forearms or palms instead of your fingers.
Walking or assistive devices can keep stress off certain joints. Your doctor may suggest using a cane crutches or a walker to reduce stress on your hips and knees.
Many assistive devices have special features that help make tasks easier. Special aids with larger handles such as extra-thick pens make it easier to hold and write. Longer handles and reachers give you better leverage. Lightweight items such as plastic dishes are easier to carry.
Weight control involves staying close to your recommended weight or losing weight if you are overweight. Weight control helps reduce your risk for developing osteoarthritis in the knees or gout. If you already have knee osteoarthritis losing weight may lessen pain by reducing stress on your joints. Exercise and reducing calories will help you lose weight. If you need to lose a lot of weight work with your doctor and a registered or licensed dietitian to find the best weight-loss program for you.
Most people with arthritis will never need surgery. However surgery can help in some cases when other treatments have failed. It can reduce pain, increase movement and improve physical appearance.
Two kinds of surgery help people with arthritis. The first kind repairs the existing joint by removing debris, fusing or correcting bone deformity. The second replaces the joint with an artificial joint.
If your doctor suggests surgery, you may want to ask another doctor for a second opinion. Orthopedic surgeons are the doctors who perform most joint replacements. Plastic surgeons may help with hand surgery.
What's new in arthritis research?
Progress is so fast in some areas of arthritis research today that the media often report new findings before the medical journal with the information reaches your doctor's office. As a result, you need to know how to evaluate reports on new arthritis research.
Arthritis researchers are looking at four broad areas of research. These include causes, treatments, education and prevention.
Researchers are learning more about certain conditions. For example in osteoarthritis, researchers are looking for signs of early destruction of cartilage and ways to rebuild it. For rheumatoid arthritis and other types that involve inflammation, researchers are trying to understand the steps that lead to inflammation and how it can be slowed or stopped. An initial study suggests that fibromyalgia affects more older people than originally thought and often may be overlooked in this group. Your doctor can tell you about other new research findings. If you would like to take part in arthritis research, ask your doctor for a referral to a study in your area.
Many people help make arthritis research possible. The federal government through its National Institutes of Health is the largest supporter of arthritis research. Drug companies do the most research on new medications.
Some of this material may also be available in an Arthritis Foundation brochure.
Adapted from several pamphlets originally prepared for the Arthritis Foundation, one of which is by Beth Ziebell Ph.D. This material is protected by copyright. | <urn:uuid:199f2f62-6c2a-41e0-a23b-a9cf454ff0af> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.orthop.washington.edu/?q=patient-care/articles/arthritis/frequently-asked-questions-about-arthritis.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398628.62/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00087-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946449 | 5,557 | 3.53125 | 4 |
A "vampire" star that underwent an outburst in 2000 after gulping down part of a companion star looks to be a ticking time bomb: It is poised to become the long-sought fuse to a certain type of supernova.
The gas-sucking star is part of a double star system known as V445 in the constellation of Puppis ("the Stern").
In November 2000, this system underwent a nova outburst, becoming 250 times brighter than before and ejecting a large quantity of matter into space.
To study the system further, a team of astronomers used the NACO adaptive optics instrument on the European Southern Observatory?s Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile to obtain very sharp images of V445 Puppis over a time span of two years.
Helium, not hydrogen
The images show a bipolar shell, initially with a very narrow waist, with lobes on each side. Two knots are also seen at both the extreme ends of the shell, which appear to move at about 19 million mph (30 million kph).
The shell ? unlike any previously observed for a nova ? is itself moving at about 15 million mph (24 million kph). A thick disk of dust, which must have been produced during the last outburst, obscures the two central stars.
The VLT data also suggest that V445 Puppis could one day explode as a Type 1a supernova.
Type 1a supernovas are a particular family of these life-ending stellar explosions, one prominent feature of which is a lack of a hydrogen signature in their spectrum, despite the fact that hydrogen is the most common element in the universe.
V445 Puppis is the first, and so far only, nova showing no evidence at all for hydrogen. It provides the first evidence for an outburst on the surface of a white dwarf dominated by helium.
"This is critical, as we know that Type Ia supernovae lack hydrogen," said team member Danny Steeghs of the University of Warwick in the United Kingdom, "and the companion star in V445 Pup fits this nicely by also lacking hydrogen, instead dumping mainly helium gas onto the white dwarf."
A crucial question
Type 1a supernovas are thought to arise in stellar systems composed of two stars, one of them being the end product of the life of sun-like stars ? white dwarfs. When such white dwarfs, acting as stellar vampires that suck matter from their companion, become heavier than a given limit, they become unstable and explode.
But the process isn't quite as simple as that: As the white dwarf cannibalizes its prey, matter accumulates on its surface. If this layer becomes too dense, it becomes unstable and erupts as a nova. These controlled, mini-explosions eject part of the accumulated matter back into space.
The crucial question is thus to know whether the white dwarf can manage to gain weight despite the outburst ? that is, if some of the matter taken from the companion stays on the white dwarf, so that it will eventually become heavy enough to explode as a supernova.
Combining the NACO images with data obtained with several other telescopes allowed the astronomers to determine the distance to the system ? about 25,000 light-years from the Sun ? and its intrinsic brightness ? over 10,000 times brighter than the Sun.
This implies that the vampire white dwarf in this system has a high mass that is near its fatal limit and is still simultaneously being fed by its companion at a high rate.
"Whether V445 Puppis will eventually explode as a supernova, or if the current nova outburst has pre-empted that pathway by ejecting too much matter back into space is still unclear," said team member Patrick Woudt of the University of Cape Town in South Africa. "But we have here a pretty good suspect for a future Type Ia supernova!"
The findings for V445 Puppis are detailed in the Nov. 20 issue of the Astrophysical Journal.
- Top 10 Star Mysteries
- Video ? Vampire Star Sucks Life of Companion
- What Is a Supernova? | <urn:uuid:8e94669b-909d-498b-93ab-6ef91ddbfe9a> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.space.com/7546-vampire-star-ticking-time-bomb.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395621.98/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00082-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947586 | 850 | 2.890625 | 3 |
#1 The History of Islamic Slavery in Africa04-01-2012, 03:05 AM
Two Views of The History of Islamic Slavery in Africa
By Susan Stephan
Slavery in the Arab World
New Amsterdam Books, New York, NY 1989
In his fact-filled work on the history of the Muslim Arab slave trade in Africa, Murray Gordon notes that this trade pre-dated the European Christian African slave trade by a thousand years and continued for more than a century after the Europeans had abolished the practice. Gordon estimates the number of slaves “harvested” from Black Africa over the period of the Muslim Arab slave trade at 11 million – roughly equal to the number taken by European Christians for their colonies in the New World.
“Despite the long history of slavery in the Arab World and in other Muslim lands, little has been written about this tragedy,” writes Gordon in his introduction. “Except for the few abolitionists, mainly in England, who railed against Arab slavery and put pressure upon Western governments to end the traffic in slaves, the issue has all but been ignored in the West.”
‘Conspiracy of Silence’ on Arab Slave Trade
Gordon decries a “conspiracy of silence. . .[that] has blocked out all light on this sensitive subject.” Among scholars in the Arab world, the author points out, “No moral opprobrium has clung to slavery since it was sanctioned by the Koran and enjoyed an undisputed place in Arab society.”
The book starts out with a brief outline of the growth of the Islamic attitude toward slavery. There is no evidence that Muhammad sought to abolish slavery, notes Gordon, although he urged slave-owners to treat their slaves well and grant them freedom as a meritorious deed.
“Some Muslim scholars have taken this to mean that his true motive was to bring about a gradual elimination of slavery. Far more persuasive is the argument that by lending the moral authority of Islam to slavery, Muhammad assured its legitimacy. Thus, in lightening the fetter, he riveted it ever more firmly in place.”
High Rate of Black African Casualties
While Gordon acknowledges that at times the Islamic version of slavery could be more “humane” than the European colonial version, he provides many facts which point out that the Muslim variety of slavery could be extremely cruel as well.
One particularly brutal practice was the mutilation of young African boys, sometimes no more than 9 or ten years old, to create eunuchs, who brought a higher price in the slave markets of the Middle East. Slave traders often created “eunuch stations” along the major African slave routes where the necessary surgery was performed in unsanitary conditions. Gordon estimates that only one out of every 10 boys subjected to the mutilation actually survived the surgery.
The taking of slaves – in razzias, or raids, on peaceful African villages – also had a high casualty rate. Gordon notes that the typical practice was to conduct a pre-dawn raid on an unsuspecting village and kill off as many of the men and older women as possible. Young women and children were then abducted as the preferred “booty” for the raiders.
Young women were targeted because of their value as concubines or sex slaves in markets. “The most common and enduring purpose for acquiring slaves in the Arab world was to exploit them for sexual purposes,” writes Gordon. “These women were nothing less than sexual objects who, with some limitations, were expected to make themselves available to their owners. . .Islamic law, as already noted, catered to the sexual interests of a man by allowing him to take as many as four wives at one time and to have as many concubines as his purse allowed.” Young women and girls were often “inspected” before purchase in private areas of the slave market by the prospective buyer.
Racism Toward Black Africans
Some of Gordon’s research disputes the oft-repeated charge that racism did not play a part in Islamic slave society. While it is true that the Muslims of the Middle East took slaves of all colors and ethnicities, they considered white slaves more valuable than black ones and developed racist attitudes toward the darker skinned people.
Even the famous Arab philosopher Ibn Khaldun, expressed racist attitudes toward black Africans: “The only people who accept slavery are the Negroes, owing to their low degree of humanity and their proximity to the animal stage,” Khaldun wrote. Another Arab writer, of the 14th Century, asked: “Is there anything more vile than black slaves, of less good and more evil than they?”
Gordon covers the Arab/African slave trades up until the mid-20th Century, noting that Saudi Arabia only abolished the practice in the early 1960s. Unlike the European nations and the USA, the Arab nations did not abolish African slavery voluntarily out of moral conscience, but due to considerable economic and military pressure applied by the great colonial powers of time, France and Britain. Slavery is still practiced in two Islamic nations: The Sudan and Mauritania.
Further reading about the Arab/Muslim slave trades can be found in the following book:
continue next postThe difference between pigs and people is that when they tell you you're cured it isn't a good thing.
04-01-2012, 03:06 AM
Race and Slavery in the Middle East
Oxford University Press (Trade); Reprint edition (April 1992)
An excerpt from this book can be found here
To learn more about the 21st Century slave conditions in The Sudan and Mauritania, please visit www.iabolish.org
# # #
White Slaves, African Masters
An Anthology of American Barbary Captivity Narratives
Edited and with an introduction by Paul Baepler
The University of Chicago Press 1999
This book illuminates a subject once well-known in the history of the West but which is now somewhat neglected: the enslavement, over several centuries, of tens of thousands of white Christian Europeans and (later) Americans in Muslim North Africa -- or the so-called “Barbary” states of Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Tripoli. Over the course of 10 centuries, tens of thousands of these unfortunates became the possessions of Muslims in North Africa courtesy of the feared Barbary pirates. These pirates cruised the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean in search of European and, later, American ships to pillage and plunder.
Edited by a lecturer at the University of Minnesota, Paul Baepler, this book focuses on first-person accounts of American Christians who served as slaves to high-ranking Muslim officials in North Africa. Baepler also provides fascinating background commentary that puts the narratives into historical perspective. He includes two “fictional” narratives of female captives. (According to Baepler, Christian women captives of the Barbary states – unlike male captives – usually did not publish their testimonies under their real names, due to the fact that many of them had been “dishonored” by service in the harems of Barbary potentates.)
As Baepler notes in his introduction, Christian slaves of European ancestry were hardly an uncommon phenomenon in the Barbary States. The Barbary pirates were excellent seafarers and, from the Coasts of North Africa, sailed as far north as Iceland (where they went ashore and captured 800 slaves during one incident) and as far West as Newfoundland, Canada, where they pillaged more than 40 vessels at one time. By 1620, reports Baepler, there were more than 20,000 white Christian slaves in Algiers alone, and by the 1630s that number tolled more than 30,000 men and 2,000 women. The most famous of all white Christian Europeans to serve as a slave in the Barbary States was probably Miguel de Cervantes, the great Spanish author of the “Don Quixote” epic, who was taken as a slave in the late 1500s.
An Important Source of Revenue
European and (later on) American slaves appeared to have been important source of foreign revenue for the local economies for several centuries. First, European and (later) American governments paid huge sums in “tribute” to the Muslim governments in exchange for “peace treaties” that were supposed to halt the pirate attacks on their trading and naval ships. Those nations who did not pay suffered the consequences. Second, enslaved Europeans and Americans were often redeemed for a handsome ransom. And third, even if the Muslim governments received no “tribute” or ransom, they still benefited from the unpaid labor of their captives.
Baepler quotes a Barbary Coast maxim that illustrates the viewpoints of the pirates and their sponsoring states: “The Christians who would be on good terms with [the Barbary States] must [either] fight well or pay well.”
The first-person narratives reproduced in this book do not support the often-repeated contention that slavery was somehow a more human institution in the Islamic world than it was in the European colonies of the New World.
By and large, the Christian slaves were poorly fed and housed, existing, by one account, on a meager ration of two slices of bread and a small quantity of beans per day. Clothing – and medical care -- was provided by sympathetic free Europeans living in North Africa; slave-owners provided nothing. Spanish Catholic priests even built a large hospital in Algeria to look after ill and dying Christian slaves.
The most popular punishment was the “bastinado” – hundreds of blows on the soles of the feet with a thick wooden truncheon. For more severe offenses, such as attempting to escape or ridiculing the Muslim religion or prophet, slaves were executed in particularly cruel ways: by crucifixion, burning at the stake or impalement on huge iron hooks until death. The narrators of these slave accounts witnessed many acts of brutality toward the Christian slaves, as well as toward the general North African populace ruled over by the elite: the beys, deys and bashaws of the Barbary States.
Baepler quotes from, but does not include, the narrative of one James Riley, an American Barbary captive of the early 1800s who published a book about his experiences upon returning to the United States. The book became an influential “best-seller” in the young nation of the USA and influenced those Americans who worked for abolition of the shameful practice of Black African slavery in the Southern States of the USA. Riley’s book was said to have greatly influenced one young lawyer named Abraham Lincoln, who, as 16th president of the United States, signed the Emancipation Proclamation abolishing slavery in the U.S. in 1863.
As for the Barbary pirate slave trade, it continued sporadically up until the dawn of the 20th Century, and was not abolished until military and economic pressure was applied by the colonial powers of Europe (with, in come cases, assistance from the military might of the USA).The difference between pigs and people is that when they tell you you're cured it isn't a good thing.
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MONDAY, Jan. 3 (HealthDay News) -- A collaboration of U.S. scientists and private companies are looking into a test that could find even one stray cancer cell among the billions of cells that circulate in the human bloodstream.
The hope is that one day such a test, given soon after a treatment is started, could indicate whether the therapy is working or not. It might even indicate beforehand which treatment would be most effective.
The test relies on circulating tumor cells (CTCs) -- cancer cells that have detached from the main tumor and are traveling to other parts of the body.
In 2007, researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital, developed a "microfluidic chip," called CellSearch, which could count the number of stray cancer cells, but that test didn't allow scientists to trap whole cells and analyze them.
But on Monday, Mass General announced an agreement with Veridex LLC, part of Johnson & Johnson, to study a newer version of the test. According to the Associated Press, the updated test requires only a couple of teaspoons of blood.
The microchip is dotted with tens of thousands of tiny posts covered with antibodies designed to stick to tumor cells. As blood passes over the chip, tumor cells separate from the pack and adhere to the posts.
Scientists are wagering that this type of test, if successful, might also detect cancer early in its course, predict the odds for a recurrence, and assess a patient's general prognosis.
"There has been speculation that these [stray] cells are the ones that are responsible for the spreading of the disease," noted one expert, Dr. Massimo Cristofanilli, professor and chairman of medical oncology at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia. "Simple enumeration tells us that this patient has a worse prognosis . . . Now the question is, what other information we can gather, if we are able to capture these cells? For example, could we do gene analysis profiling and can we get information for the best treatment?"
As it stands today, biopsy -- an invasive and sometimes even hazardous procedure -- is one of the few ways doctors can get key information about a cancer's size and characteristics.
"Many people consider [the new blood test to be] a 'liquid biopsy,' so that eventually we can access cancer cells that are representative of the tumor without performing an invasive biopsy," said Cristofanilli, who is not involved in developing the test.
Experts stressed that the new type of test, if it ever arises, may still be years away, and researchers still aren't sure what these circulating tumor cells (CTCs) actually mean.
"They may be able to detect small amounts of cancer cells but we don't know the significance of that. We may be detecting things that don't have clinical significance," explained Dr. Jay Brooks, chairman of hematology/oncology at Ochsner Health System in Baton Rouge.
And as Cristofanilli pointed out, these plans so far are "only for research. The test is not available for clinical use." According to the AP, four major cancer centers -- Mass General, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, the University of Texas' M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston -- will begin studies using the new test this year.
The test would need to be developed "along with the process of new drug development and new targeted therapies so we can better use the information with a clinical purpose," Cristofanilli added.
There's more on cancer's spread at the U.S. National Cancer Institute.
SOURCES: Jay Brooks, M.D., chairman of hematology/oncology, Ochsner Health System, Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Massimo Cristofanilli, M.D., professor and chairman, department of medical oncology, Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia; Jan 3, 2011 Associated Press
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Scientists are widely known for their inclination to drone on about esoteric topics in a language of jargon. But every so often, they can surprise us with conciseness. Take these three pithy offerings published in reputable scientific journals, for example:
In his contribution to the November/December 2013 issue of Evolutionary Anthropology, esteemed biological anthropologist Ian Tattersall, curator emeritus at the American Museum of Natural History, did not mince words. In fact, he only wrote two of them: "Enough already."
The statement concluded a year of back and forths between Tattersall and one of his colleagues, Boston University anthropologist Matt Cartmill. The tiff began with Cartmill's paper "Primate origins, human origins, and the end of higher taxa," continued with Tattersall's "Higher taxa: An alternate perspective," continued again with Cartmill's "The end of higher taxa: a reply to Tattersall," before Tattersall finally declared "Enough already."
Cartmill and Tattersall's recent exchange was the latest in a series of erudite bickering that's been ongoing since the 1980s. Though good friends, the two share manifold disagreements on Systematics -- the study of the diversification of living forms -- and how it should be used. By examining the relationships between species, we can track how life gradually transformed over billions of years from single-celled organisms to become whales, spiders, and even humans. In essence, Cartmill questions why often tiny differences separate certain animals into different species and families while others do not. Tattersall views this stance as an attack on Systematics itself, avowing that it's vital to document every tiny change and classify species accordingly.
Shortest Abstract (see important update below!):
In 2011, particle physicists were flabbergasted when they discovered that neutrinos could apparently travel faster than light, breaking the universal speed limit proposed by Einstein. Their result was later proven to be in error.
But before the mistake was revealed, physicists scrambled to account for the mind-boggling result. A group from the H.W. Wills Physics Laboratory in Bristol and the Indian Institute of Technology wondered, ""Can apparent superluminal neutrino speeds be explained as a quantum weak measurement?" Their abstract succinctly and bluntly answered that question: "Probably not."
In 1974, clinical psychologist Dennis Upper found himself stricken with writer's block. Though pen was to paper, no words would flow. He decided to solve his problem with a scientific experiment. Yet, as is frequently the case in science, his experiment didn't work as intended, and that's putting it euphemistically. Despite the failure, his work, "The unsuccessful self-treatment of a case of “writer's block,” was published in the prestigious Journal of Applied Behavioral Analysis. It is reproduced in its entirety below:
Despite the paper's glaring brevity, Upper's reviewer hailed its brilliance:
"I have studied this manuscript very carefully with lemon juice and X-rays and have not detected a single flaw in either design or writing style. I suggest it be published without revision. Clearly it is the most concise manuscript I have ever seen-yet it contains sufficient detail to allow other investigators to replicate Dr. Upper's failure. In comparison with the other manuscripts I get from you containing all that complicated detail, this one was a pleasure to examine. Surely we can find a place for this paper in the Journal-perhaps on the edge of a blank page."
Update Nov. 10, 2015: The University of Richmond's Dr. Jeffrey Seeman kindly emailed and informed us that there is, in fact, a shorter abstract than the one listed above. The abstract for his 2012 paper on the life of Nobel Prize-winning organic chemist Robert Burns Woodward (which was presented at the Fall 2012 American Chemical Society National Meeting) was just four letters: "Blue." Why? Because Dr. Woodward's favorite color was blue, and he always wore blue suits with blue ties. We apologize for the mistake and thank Dr. Seeman for letting us know! | <urn:uuid:4ea188ff-b3a5-4ee5-a419-68232365c59e> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.realclearscience.com/blog/2014/01/shortest_science_papers.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783394414.43/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154954-00138-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962678 | 840 | 2.609375 | 3 |
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Copper tape is tape made from strips of copper. This tape comes in varying widths, and it may be adhesive or nonadhesive. There are a wide range of uses for this tape, ranging from gardening to amateur radio operations, and this product is available from places like hardware stores, gardening stores, and electronics stores. The cost varies, depending on the width of the tape and whether or not it is adhesive.
In electronics, copper tape is valued because copper is conductive and highly reliable. This tape may be used for shielding various electronic components, or for other electronics projects. Tapes for use in electronics are often of the extra thin foil tape type, which makes them lightweight and easy to handle, although thicker tapes are also available. Electricians may keep a roll on hand for various projects, as do people who work with audio components.
Crafters also use copper tape. In stained glass and mosaic work, the tape may be used to hold elements of a design together, and it can also be used to create decorative accents in various crafts projects. Copper tape for crafting is often used with solder and a soldering iron, with the crafter soldering the ends of the tape together or bending the tape and soldering it to create a frame for a craft project. Craft stores often sell several different thicknesses of copper tape for different projects, along with other metal tapes.
Gardeners can utilize this tape for a range of garden projects, with one of the more interesting uses of copper tape in gardening being as a form of natural pest control. Slugs and snails have difficulty passing over copper, because the metal reacts with the viscous fluids they secrete, so copper tape can be used to create a very effective slug barrier around a flowerbed, tree, or flower pot.
Copper is famous for its tendency to develop a patina over time. While the patina is not harmful, it can interfere with the conductive properties of copper. For this reason, some copper tapes are coated in substances which are designed to prevent the development of a patina, and they may be packaged in airtight or oiled packaging so that the tape does not patina while it is stored. People who are concerned about patina can rub it off with a soft cloth and a product designed for cleaning copper, although the patina will eventually reappear.
I have thought about using copper in my home for both decorative and practical purposes. However, I am very concerned about the threat of intruders who are looking to steal the valuable metal in order to resale it.
So, I scaled down my plans and thought of smaller ways that I could introduce the lovely look of new copper as well as copper which has patina on it.
Is it possible to use things like copper foil and copper tape to decorate with, or is this just a wacky fantasy idea that I’ve dreamed up?
I am both an avid gardener and a crafter, so I use copper tape all of the time!
I do use it around my flower beds to keep pests away, but I also have a very pretty way to use it as well.
I like to dress up my plain terra cotta pots with this copper foil tape. You can either take it and just edge the pot with the it (the self-adhesive kind works great because you don’t have to deal with glue or paste) or you can create designs on the pots. This can give them a really unique flare.
Some people don’t like the look of patina on their copper, but I truly do relish the look. It shows that this is something that is beautiful throughout each transition it makes. I wouldn’t clean it off for a thing! | <urn:uuid:58eb7dc8-3d16-408a-8419-77023c9b6344> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-copper-tape.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397744.64/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00103-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956011 | 781 | 2.703125 | 3 |
Sensory activities are an important way to encourage kids of any age to explore the colors, textures and shapes around them. From dyed pasta pieces to autumn textures and scents, learn how to create a fall sensory box.
Sensory integration (SI), also known as sensory processing (SP) is the way your body organizes sensory messages and tells your body how to respond with the appropriate motor and behavioral reactions. However, for children with Sensory Processing Disorder, the brain is unable to receive and interpret sensory information correctly, making it difficult to process and respond to sights, sounds, textures and more — even everyday tasks. By stimulating children's senses through sensory boxes, these activities disguise sensory therapy through fun activities.
The beauty of this activity is that there are no limits to what a sensory box can contain. For a fall-themed sensory box, consider adding in things that are associated with the autumn season, such as:
While a study published in the Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology reports that one in every six children may experience sensory processing challenges that are substantial enough to disrupt everyday life, sensory processing disorders span a broad spectrum of severity. So, whether your child is affected by autism and Sensory Processing Disorder or you are just looking for a way to encourage your child to stimulate and explore through touch, smell, taste, sight and sound, all children can benefit from the fun and stimulation of a fall sensory box! Now that you've discovered how easy it is to create a fall sensory box, get your youngster exploring the sights, smells, sounds and textures of autumn!
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Past and Present: Privacy
Living in the age of the internet and social media challenges our right to be left alone. Historically, technological developments rush ahead of legal protections, leaving the Supreme Court to apply 18th century language to a brave new world.
85 years ago, the court considered how Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable searches and seizures applied to the latest communication device: the telephone. In 1928, Roy Olmstead managed a business that imported and distributed alcohol throughout the Pacific Northwest. For five months, federal agents listened to Olmstead's telephone conversations through a wiretap. They produced more than 700 pages of typed conversation that the federal government used to prosecute Olmstead for violating the National Prohibition Act. In so doing, however, they raised questions about reasonable expectations of privacy and the limits of gathering evidence.
When Olmstead's case came before the Supreme Court, the court ruled five to four against him. Chief Justice William Howard Taft argued that the Fourth Amendment protects only physical locations, people and property. In Olmstead's case, the federal agents had not "searched" his business and hadn't "touched" his property, but instead had gathered only his words. Therefore, Olmstead's Fourth Amendment rights had not been violated.
In his dissent, Justice Louis Brandeis referred to the origins of the Fourth Amendment-- a protection deemed necessary because of sweeping searches and seizures conducted by British customs agents in the 1760s. He realized that colonial protections in an industrializing nation could leave citizens vulnerable. So he argued that, as technology advances, so should constitutional protections.
Brandeis' dissent set the foundation for interpreting the Fourth Amendment protections more broadly and producing a right of privacy. While Brandeis could not foresee the internet or social media, he understood that technological advances would continually challenge Fourth Amendment protections and the right to be left alone. | <urn:uuid:29734090-860b-46d5-a2b2-cde2f52dc8a8> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://kmuw.org/post/past-and-present-privacy | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395992.75/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00076-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949506 | 381 | 3.765625 | 4 |
In His divine role, the Lord could have selected any portion of this bounteous planet to accomplish His mission. He could have selected the beautiful islands of the sea with their lush vegetation and breathtaking beauty. He could have chosen the scenery of Switzerland or Scandinavia, or He could have preferred to walk upon the acres of Africa or Australia.
Instead, he selected a land with places stark and arid, a land where nomads dwell, living in tents and wandering as freely as the sheep and goats that they tend. He took advantage of the setting to teach with geographical visual aids, and to fulfill scripture.
Birth in Bethlehem
He chose to the born in Bethlehem, adjoining Jerusalem. Why Bethlehem? Is there symbolic significance in the meaning of the name Bethlehem, which in Hebrew means “house of bread”? The Great Provider declared Himself to be the “bread of life.” (See John 6:48.) How appropriate it was that He, the “bread of life,” was to come from the “house of bread.”
But why among the animals? He, who John declared to be the “Lamb of God” (John 1:29), was born during the season of Passover amongst the animals, as were other lambs being prepared for Paschal sacrifice.
At the birth of Him who once identified himself as the “bright and morning star” (Rev. 22:16), a new star appeared in the heavens. (See Matt. 2:2; 3 Ne. 1:21.) Shining brightly over Bethlehem, that star had been placed in orbit far in advance of the foretold event in order that its light could coincide in time and place with His blessed birth.
At the arrival of Him who is called “the light of the world” (John 8:12), darkness was banished as a sign of His holy birth. (See 3 Ne. 1:15, 19.) He was born the Son of God and the son of a virgin mother, as foretold by Isaiah (see Isa. 7:14) and other prophets. (See 1 Ne. 11:13–21; Alma 7:9–10.)
Exodus And Childhood
The place of His birth was to be in close proximity to Egypt in order to fulfill prophecy: “[Joseph] took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt: … that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son” (Matt. 2:14–15).
But He didn’t stay in Egypt very long. As a child, the Savior was brought to the village of Nazareth. I am intrigued with the symbolic significance of the fact that some scholars suggest that the word Nazareth is derived from the Hebrew word neser, which means “branch.” Jesus, the divine Branch, was to be reared in the place with the name meaning “branch.” Jeremiah further prophesied that the Lord would “cause the Branch of righteousness to grow up unto David; and he shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land” (Jer. 33:15).
The River Jordan was the site Jesus chose for His baptism by John to “fulfill all righteousness” (Matt. 3:15; see also 2 Ne. 31:5–6). Is it significant that this sacred ordinance was performed in virtually the lowest body of fresh water on the planet? Could He have selected a better place to symbolize the humble depths to which He went and from which He rose? By example, he taught us that he literally descended beneath all things to rise above all things. Surely, being baptized after the manner of His baptism signifies that through our obedience and effort we, too, can come from the depths to ascend to lofty heights of our own destiny.
We don’t know the precise location where Jesus was baptized. Both the Bible and the Book of Mormon indicate that the baptism took place in the vicinity of Bethabara. (See John 1:28; 1 Ne. 10:9; JST, John 1:34.) Bethabara in Hebrew means “house of the crossing.” Could it be that Christ chose this location for His baptism in the River Jordan as a silent commemoration of the crossing of the faithful Israelites under Joshua’s direction so many years before (see Josh. 3), as well as a symbol that baptism is a spiritual crossing into the kingdom of God?
Mountain in the land were also made holy by Jesus. He employed them as spiritual and visual aids to teach His followers.
Nearly a week after the Lord was with His disciples at Caesarea Philippi, Jesus took “Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high [page 17] mountain apart,
Scholars do not know for sure whether Mount Hermon or Mount Tabor was the actual site of the Transfiguration. What is more important is that Moses and Elijah there conferred keys of the priesthood, under the direction of the Lord, on Peter, James, and John.
Remarkable is the fact that Moses and Elijah were those who conferred those same special keys upon Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery in the Kirtland Temple, 3 April 1836, just one week after the dedication of that temple. (See D&C 110:11–16.)
For centuries faithful Jews have anticipated the return of Elijah at the Passover. Isn’t it interesting that the date of 3 April 1836 was one of the few times when Easter Sunday coincided with the beginning of Passover? Elijah did return as had been hoped, at the Passover, on Easter, to restore keys of the sealing power that were uniquely assigned to him to convey.
Those same keys are used today to effect eternal linkage in the holy temples of the Lord. We know that the Lord will honor these ordinances, performed by His duly authorized agents, as He declared, “Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven” (Matt. 18:18). Each such eternal ordinance is performed in a holy temple, appropriately known as a “mountain of the Lord’s house” (Isa. 2:2; see also 2 Ne. 12:2).
Mountains were often used anciently for some of the same purposes temples are used today. Moses, for example, was brought to Mount Sinai to be instructed there by the Lord.
Mountains are not easy to climb. Then, as now, the Lord called His disciples to climb mountains to emphasize the efficacy of effort and obedience. He will ask the same of you, figuratively and possibly literally, also.
There is another important mountain known in today’s Israel, as in yesteryear, as Mount Moriah. Now ornamented by objects and mosques of man, it still suggests sacred recollection of the obedience and faith of Abraham and Isaac. Their long three-day journey from Beersheba to Mount Moriah was taken at the request of God. Moriah in the Hebrew language means “seen or chosen by Jehovah.”
The first sacred temple of Jerusalem was constructed on Mount Moriah.
Underground tombs were commonly used for interment of the dead. Jesus was elsewhere when His dear friend Lazarus died. But the Lord knew very well what had transpired. The scriptural account relates that not until Lazarus had been dead four days did Jesus appear on the scene. At the late date Martha, sister of Lazarus, exclaimed, “By this time he stinketh” (John 11:39).
Jesus then “cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth.
“And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go.
“Then many … believed on [the Lord]” (John 11:43–45).
There is great significance to the four-day interval between the death of Lazarus and his being called forth alive from the tomb. A portion of that significance was that, according to some Jewish traditions, it took four days before the Spirit finally and irrevocably departed from the body of the deceased person, so that decomposition could then proceed. The Master, in order to demonstrate His total power over death and His control over life, knowingly waited until that four-day interval had elapsed. Then He raised Lazarus from the dead!
Symbols of the Atonement
Olive trees are special in the Holy Land. The olive branch is universally regarded as a symbol of peace. This tree provides food, light, heat, lumber, ointments, and medicine. It is now, as it was then, crucial to life in Israel. It is not a deciduous tree, but ever bearing—always green. Even if the tree is chopped down, life will spring from its roots, suggesting everlasting life.
Jesus came to the base of the Mount of Olives to effect the first component of the Atonement. This He did at the Garden of Gethsemane. The word Gethsemane comes from two Hebrew roots: gath, meaning “press,” and shemen, meaning “oil,” especially that of the olive.
There olives had been pressed under the weight of great stone wheels to squeeze precious oil from them. So the Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane was literally pressed under the weight of the sins of the world. He sweat great drops of blood—his life’s “oil”—which issued from every pore. (See Luke 22:44; D&C 19:18.)
Jesus was accorded titles of unique significance. One was the Messiah, which in Hebrew means “anointed.” The other was the Christ, which in the Greek language means “anointed” as well. In our day, as it was in His day, the ordinance of administration to the sick includes anointing with the consecrated oil of the olive. So the next time you witness consecrated oil being anointed on the head of one to be blessed, and these sacred words are said, “I anoint you with this consecrated oil,” remember what that original consecration cost. Remember what it meant to all who had ever lived and who ever would yet live. Remember the redemptive power of healing, soothing, and ministering to those in need. Remember, just as the body of the olive, which was pressed for the oil that gave light, so the Savior was pressed. From every pore oozed the life blood of our Redeemer. And when sore trials come upon you, remember Gethsemane.
The second phase of His atonement was effected on the cross. Hours before that was accomplished, Pilate delivered the lamb of God to be crucified at the same time Paschal lambs nearby were being prepared for sacrifice. (See John 19:13–14).
The crucifixion took place at a hill called Golgotha (Hebrew) or Calvary (Latin) meaning “the skull.” The skull symbolized death. At a place such as this, the atoning sacrifice was completed. On the cross, the Savior of the world was lifted up over death in the greatest of all possible significance—the realization and reality of the Lord’s power over death.
God the Father offered His son Jesus at Golgotha (or Calvary), a northern outcropping of Mount Moriah, where Abraham had nearly sacrificed Isaac some two thousand years previously. Foreseen long before, there the Savior’s atoning sacrifice was completed.
But of course that was not the end. It was but a new beginning. The reality of the resurrection was the most glorious event of all. The Apostle Paul wrote that after three days in the tomb Jesus had “Risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. …
“For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive” (1 Cor. 15:20, 22).
As a resurrected personage, the Lord charged his disciples with this important responsibility: “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15).
“Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world” (Matt. 28:19–20).
This charge still applies to each of us. All true disciples of the Lord bear that sacred responsibility.
But the Savior’s ministry was not limited to the Holy Land. He spoke of “other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: … they shall hear my voice” (John 10:16).
Love for those other sheep brought the resurrected Lord to them on the American hemisphere. (See 3 Ne. 15:21.) He taught the gospel to them. He established His church. He charged them with the responsibility of keeping records of His ministry among them.
This precious record we received from them as the Book of Mormon is the great clarifying scripture. It is the great missionary scripture. It is another testament of Jesus Christ. We testify that God our Father, and His Son, Jesus Christ, appeared to the prophet Joseph Smith in upstate New York in 1820. There and then the promised restitution of all things was begun. The great latter-day work of which we are a part was established, on schedule, to bless a waiting and weeping world.
But eventually the Lord will return to the land that He made holy by His mission there in mortality. In triumph, He will come again to Jerusalem. In flaming royal robes of red to symbolize His blood, which oozed from every pore, He shall return to the Holy City. There and elsewhere, “the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together” (Isa. 40:5). The Mount of Olives to which He will return “shall cleave in twain” (D&C 45:48).
Our sacred charge is to prepare the world for that glorious second coming of the Lord.
May we sense and appreciate the symbolic significance of His mortal ministry in this Holy Land. May we understand His ministry to other sheep that He loved. May we realize our role in the restoration He has required, to prepare the world for His second coming. May we comprehend the eternal consequences of the endless life of our Lord, whose servants we are. May we have power and strength to motivate ourselves to do His will in the mountainous responsibilities that are before us. | <urn:uuid:12c8ad3b-f666-4262-8292-d7a32f5fe4d5> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | https://www.lds.org/liahona/1991/02/in-this-holy-land?lang=eng | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396224.52/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00003-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97199 | 3,106 | 3.296875 | 3 |
The theme for this year’s World Oceans Day is Youth: The Next Wave for Change. By participating in Shedd Aquarium’s work-study program, Chicago-area teens can become just that: the change that they want to see in others. Over the course of their time at Shedd, the teens in the work-study program develop into role models for the guests that they interact with daily in the galleries and exhibits. As they become members of the workforce, they also discover their own passions and how to share them with others.
Shedd’s work-study program offers Chicago-area teens three fun and unique paid learning opportunities either during the summer or on weekends during the school year. Each opportunity supports the aquarium’s mission of connecting people to the living world, inspiring them to make a difference.
Teens can dig into gardening by joining our Green Gardeners. This group works part-time with Shedd’s horticulturalist. By connecting the work they do in Shedd’s award-winning gardens back to the animal collection, teens can deepen guests’ understanding of the nature that is right in their backyards.
Our Shedd Ambassadors work-study experience brings teens face to face with the daily operations of a cultural organization. Teens develop their customer-service techniques while incorporating the aquarium’s mission into their everyday actions, such as making sure guests can find their favorite animals and offering tips for interesting new connections with the collection.
Young Naturalists teens connect with guests in a variety of ways. They engage the younger audiences with play, they connect guests to exhibits and animals through stories, and they build off visitors’ past experiences to help them make more personal connections to nature.
Our summer work-study teens will begin their Shedd journeys soon, and we can’t wait to see what new connections and actions they inspire. Join these future change-makers and the rest of the Shedd family to celebrate World Oceans Day this year.
Posted by Renee Birk, learning engagements
The teen work-study programs are sponsored by the Sara Lee Foundation. | <urn:uuid:26b4c000-bb5c-43fe-9e08-da401e99805c> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.sheddaquarium.org/blog/2012/June/Youth-The-Next-Wave-for-Change/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783392069.78/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154952-00177-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953942 | 440 | 2.625 | 3 |
Microsoft and the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology have partnered and begun work on software that takes 22 years of news archives to try to predict the future. Using New York Times archives, Wikipedia, and 90 other web resources, they hope to prevent future diseases, riots, and death. This is one of a number of future-predicting initiatives, including “Recorded Future,” a site that analyzes news, blogs, and social media. Researchers are also trying to use Twitter and Google to track flu outbreaks.
The researchers at Microsoft and Technion say that their software has the advantage over humans because of it’s ability to learn, research continuously, has no bias, and has a larger access to news. | <urn:uuid:c071fa17-43b0-45c5-a5bc-a1bdadfb8934> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://nyconvergence.com/2013/02/researchers-use-nyt-archives-to-predict-the-future.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783403826.29/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155003-00071-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945508 | 149 | 2.890625 | 3 |
BR 5:04, Aug 1989
Mission To Alexandria
Truth and legend about the creation of the Septuagint, the first Bible translation
It often comes as a surprise to laypeople to learn that ancient copies of the Bible vary, sometimes in minor ways, but sometimes, also, in important ways. Variation exists between any two manuscripts of the Bible, even when they are written in the same language. But apart from minor variations among ancient manuscripts, when all the evidence from antiquity is compared, two important traditions of the biblical text emerge. They are the Masoretic text and the Septuagint. The Masoretic text (MT, for short) is the Hebrew text as standardized by Jewish scribes in the tenth century A.D. Although our oldest extant copy of the MT is about a hundred years later, the texts these scribes worked with were obviously much older than the tenth century A.D. and were directly linked to still earlier texts, as we now know from the Dead Sea Scrolls. | <urn:uuid:8f219a3a-1a79-4f4f-a9f4-66dfc2b8fbd9> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://members.bib-arch.org/publication.asp?PubID=BSBR&Volume=05&Issue=04&ArticleID=09 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783399385.17/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154959-00109-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96942 | 207 | 3.296875 | 3 |
Individual differences |
Methods | Statistics | Clinical | Educational | Industrial | Professional items | World psychology |
|Born||Jerome Seymour Bruner|
Template:Birth date and age
New York, NY
|Known for||cognitive psychology|
Coining the term "scaffolding"
|Notable awards||International Balzan Prize, CIBA Gold Medal for Distinguished Research Distinguished Scientific Award of the American Psychological Association|
Jerome Bruner was born on October 1, 1915 in New York, to Heman and Rose Bruner, who immigrated from Poland. He received a bachelor's degree in psychology, in 1937 from Duke University. Bruner went on to earn a master's degree in psychology in 1939 and then a doctorate in psychology in 1941 from Harvard University.
n 1939, Bruner published his first psychological article, studying the effect of thymus extract on the sexual behavior of the female rat. During World War II, Bruner served on the Psychological Warfare Division of the Supreme Headquarters of the Allied Expeditory Force Europe committee under Eisenhower, researching social psychological phenomena.
In 1945, Bruner returned to Harvard as a psychology professor and was heavily involved in research relating to cognitive psychology and educational psychology. In 1970, Bruner left Harvard to teach at the University of Oxford in England. He returned to the United States in 1980 to continue his research in developmental psychology. In 1991, Bruner joined the faculty at New York University, where he still teaches students today. As an adjunct professor at NYU School of Law, he studies how psychology affects legal practice. Throughout his career, Bruner has been awarded honorary doctorates from Yale and Columbia, as well as colleges and universities in such locations as Sorbonne, Berlin, and Rome, and is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Bruner's ideas are based on categorization. "To perceive is to categorize, to conceptualize is to categorize, to learn is to form categories, to make decisions is to categorize." Bruner maintains people interpret the world in terms of its similarities and differences. Like Bloom's Taxonomy, Bruner suggests a system of coding in which people form a hierarchical arrangement of related categories. Each successively higher level of categories becomes more specific, echoing Benjamin Bloom's understanding of knowledge acquisition as well as the related idea of instructional scaffolding.
He has also suggested that there are two primary modes of thought: the narrative mode and the paradigmatic mode. In narrative thinking, the mind engages in sequential, action-oriented, detail-driven thought. In paradigmatic thinking, the mind transcends particularities to achieve systematic, categorical cognition. In the former case, thinking takes the form of stories and "gripping drama." In the latter, thinking is structured as propositions linked by logical operators.
- Main article: Cognitive psychology
Bruner is one of the pioneers of the cognitive psychology movement in the United States. This began through his own research when he began to study sensation and perception as being active, rather than passive processes. In 1947, Bruner published his classic study Value and Need as Organizing Factors in Perception in which poor and rich children were asked to estimate the size of coins or wooden disks the size of American pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters and half-dollars. The results showed that the value and need the poor and rich children associated with coins caused them to significantly overestimate the size of the coins, especially when compared to their more accurate estimations of the same size disks. Similarly, another classic study conducted by Bruner and Leo Postman showed slower reaction times and less accurate answers when a deck of playing cards reversed the color of the suit symbol for some cards (e.g. red spades and black hearts).
These series of experiments issued in what some called the 'New Look' psychology, which challenged psychologists to study not just an organism's response to a stimulus, but also its internal interpretation. After these experiments on perception, Bruner turned his attention to the actual cognitions that he had indirectly studied in his perception studies.
In 1956, Bruner published a book A Study of Thinking which formally initiated the study of cognitive psychology. Soon afterwards, Bruner helped found the Center of Cognitive Studies at Harvard. After a time, Bruner began to research other topics in psychology, but in 1990 he returned to the subject and gave a series of lectures. The lectures were compiled into a book Acts of Meaning and in these lectures, Bruner refuted the computer model for studying the mind, advocating a more holistic understanding of the mind and its cognitions.
- Main article: Developmental psychology
Beginning around 1967, Bruner turned his attention toward the subject of developmental psychology. Bruner studied the way children learned and coined the term "scaffolding", to describe the way children often build on the information they have already mastered.
In his research on the development of children (1966), Bruner proposed three modes of representation: enactive representation (action-based), iconic representation (image-based), and symbolic representation (language-based). Rather than neatly delineated stages, the modes of representation are integrated and only loosely sequential as they "translate" into each other. Symbolic representation remains the ultimate mode, for it "is clearly the most mysterious of the three."
Bruner's theory suggests it is efficacious when faced with new material to follow a progression from enactive to iconic to symbolic representation; this holds true even for adult learners. A true instructional designer, Bruner's work also suggests that a learner (even of a very young age) is capable of learning any material so long as the instruction is organized appropriately, in sharp contrast to the beliefs of Piaget and other stage theorists. (Driscoll, Marcy). Like Bloom's Taxonomy, Bruner suggests a system of coding in which people form a hierarchical arrangement of related categories. Each successively higher level of categories becomes more specific, echoing Benjamin Bloom's understanding of knowledge acquisition as well as the related idea of instructional scaffolding.
In accordance with this understanding of learning, Bruner proposed the spiral curriculum, a teaching approach in which each subject or skill area is revisited at intervals, at a more sophisticated level each time. Bruner's spiral curriculum draws heavily from evolution to explain how to learn better and thus it drew criticism from conservatives. First there is basic knowledge of a subject, then more sophistication is added, reinforcing the same principles that were first discussed. This system is used in China. In the United States classes are split by grade—life sciences in 9th grade, chemistry in 10th, physics in 11th. The spiral teaches life sciences, chem, physics all in one year, then two subjects, then one, then all three again to understand how they mold together.
Bruner also believes learning should be spurred by interest in the material rather than tests or punishment, we learn best when find the knowledge we're obtaining appealing.
- Main article: Educational psychology
While Bruner was at Harvard he published a series of works about his assessment of current educational systems and ways that education could be improved. In 1961, he published the book Process of Education. Bruner also served as a member of the Educational Panel of the President's Science Advisory Committee during the presidencies of John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson. Referencing his overall view that education should not focus merely on the memorization of facts, Bruner wrote in Process of Education that 'knowing how something is put together is worth a thousand facts about it.' From 1964-1996, Bruner sought to develop a complete curriculum for the educational system that would meet the needs of students in three main areas which he called Man: A Course of Study. Bruner wanted to create an educational environment that would focus on (1) what was uniquely human about human beings, (2) how humans got that way and (3) how humans could become more so. In 1966, Bruner published another book relevant to education, Towards a Theory of Instruction, and then in 1973, another book, The Relevance of Education was published. Finally, in 1996, Bruner wrote another book, The Culture of Education, reassessing the state of educational practices three decades after he had begun his educational research. Bruner was also credited with helping found the early childcare program Head Start. Bruner was deeply impressed by his 1995 visit to the preschools of Reggio Emilia and has established a collaborative relationship with them to improve educational systems internationally. Equally important was the relationship with the Italian Ministry of Education who officially recognized the value of this innovative experience.
Language development Edit
- Main article: Language development
In 1972 Bruner was appointed Watts Professor of Experimental Psychology at the University of Oxford, where he remained until 1980. In his Oxford years, Bruner focused on early language development. Rejecting the nativist account of language acquisition proposed by Noam Chomsky, Bruner offered an alternative in the form of an interactionist or social interactionist theory of language development. In this approach, the social and interpersonal nature of language was emphasized, appealing to the work of philosophers such as Ludwig Wittgenstein, John L. Austin and John Searle for theoretical grounding. Following Lev Vygotsky the Russian theoretician of socio-cultural development, Bruner proposed that social interaction plays a fundamental role in the development of cognition in general and language in particular. He emphasized that children learn language in order to communicate, and, at the same time, they also learn the linguistic code. Meaningful language is acquired in the context of meaningful parent-infant interaction, learning “scaffolded” or supported by the child’s Language Acquisition Support System (LASS).
In Oxford Bruner collected a large group of graduate students and post-doctoral fellows who participated in the effort to understand how young children manage to crack the linguistic code, among them Alison Garton, Alison Gopnik, Magda Kalmar hu:Kalmár Magda (pszichológus), Alan Leslie, Andrew Meltzoff, Anat Ninio, Roy Pea, Susan Sugarman , Michael Scaife, Marian Sigman , Kathy Sylva and many others. Much emphasis was placed on employing the then-revolutionary method of videotaped home-observations, Bruner showing the way to a new wave of researchers to get out of the laboratory and take on the complexities of naturally occurring events in a child’s life. This work was published in a large number of journal articles, and in 1983 Bruner published a summary of them in the book Child’s talk: Learning to Use Language.
This decade of research firmly established Bruner at the helm of the interactionist approach to language development, exploring such themes as the acquisition of communicative intents and the development of their linguistic expression; the interactive context of language use in early childhood; and the role of parental input and scaffolding behavior in the acquisition of linguistic forms. This work rests on the assumptions of a social constructivist theory of meaning according to which meaningful participation in the social life of a group as well as meaningful use of language involve an interpersonal, intersubjective, collaborative process of creating shared meaning. The elucidation of this process became the focus of Bruner’s next period of work.
Narrative construction of reality Edit
- Main article: Narrative construction of reality
In 1980 Bruner returned to the United States, taking up the position of professor at the New School for Social Research in New York City in 1981. For the next decade, he worked on the development of a theory of the narrative construction of reality, his work culminating in several seminal publications. His book Actual Minds, Possible Worlds has been cited by over 16,100 scholarly publications, making it one of the most influential works of the 20th century.
- Main article: Legal psychology
In 1991, Bruner arrived at NYU as a visiting professor to do research and to found the Colloquium on the Theory of Legal Practice. The goal of this institution is to "study how law is practiced and how its practice can be understood by using tools developed in anthropology, psychology, linguistics, and literary theory." Currently Bruner is Senior Research Fellow in Law at NYU.
|Jerome S. Bruner elected APA President|
In 1962 he received the APA Award for Distinguished Scientific Contributions to Psychology
- Bruner, J.S., Goodnow, J.J. and Austin, G.A. (1956) A Study of Thinking, New York: John Wiley.
- Bruner, J.S. (1960)The Process of Education
- J.S. Bruner, R.R. Olver and P.M. Greenfield (1966)(eds) Studies in Cognitive Growth, New York John Wiley.
- Bruner, J.S. (1966)Toward a Theory of Instruction
- Bruner, J.S. (1973a) Beyond the Information Given: Studies in the Psychology of Knowing, New York:W.W. Norton.
- Bruner, J.S. (1986)Actual Minds, Possible Worlds
- Bruner, J.S. (1990)Acts of Meaning
- Bruner, J.S. (1996)The Culture of Education
- Minding the Law (2000)
- Making Stories: Law, Literature, Life (2003)
- Bruner, J. S. & Goodman, C. C. (1947). Value and need as organizing factors in perception. Journal of Abnormal Social Psychology, 42, 33-44. Available online at the Classics in the History of Psychology archive.
- Bruner, J. S. & Postman, L. (1947). Tension and tension-release as organizing factors in perception. Journal of Personality, 15, 300-308.
- Bruner, J. S. & Postman, L. (1949). On the perception of incongruity: A paradigm. Journal of Personality, 18, 206-223. Available online at the Classics in the History of Psychology archive.
- Bruner, J.S. and Minturn, A.L. (1955) Perceptual identification and perceptual organisation, Journal of General Psychology 53: 21-8.
- Bruner, J,S. (1957) On perceptual readiness, Psychological Review 64: 123-51.
- Bruner, J.S. and Kenney, H. (1966) The development of the concepts of order and proportion in children.In: J.S. Bruner, R.R. Olver and P.M. Greenfield (eds) Studies in Cognitive Growth, New York John Wiley.
- Bruner, J.S. (1964) The course of cognitive growth, American Psychologist 19: 1-15.
- Bruner, J.S. (1972) The nature and uses of immaturity, American Psychologist 27: 687-708.
- Bruner, J.S. (1973b) The organisation of early skilled action, Child Development 44: 1-11.
- Bruner, J.S. (1975) The ontogenesis of speech acts, Journal of Child Language 2: 1-19.
- Wood, D., Bruner, J., & Ross, G. (1976). The role of tutoring in problem solving. Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, 17, 89-100. (Addresses the concept of instructional scaffolding.)
- Bruner, J.S. (1991)"The Narrative Construction of Reality" Critical Inquiry, 18:1, 1-21.
|This page uses Creative Commons Licensed content from Wikipedia (view authors).|
<ref>tags exist, but no
<references/>tag was found | <urn:uuid:4b9b953b-a66a-41fa-af0f-d882935a34b5> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://psychology.wikia.com/wiki/Jerome_Bruner | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397797.77/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00011-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935096 | 3,267 | 2.671875 | 3 |
The block diagram of a simple implementation of a complete FM system using a generic FM radio chip is shown in Figure 2:
Figure 2: Block diagram of the system
With the advent of modern programmable SOCs, there is no need for any additional external components other than a few passive ones to implement the complete design. The SOC sends commands and receives status messages from the FM radio chip over an I2C port. The SOC connects to the tablet through the established USB interface. An application is used as the front-end on the tablet to access the FM radio for scanning and selecting channels.
When the FM radio receives a command to lock to a particular frequency, it outputs analog audio on specific pins. The analog output from the FM radio receiver is further processed by the SOC and the digitized audio is streamed over USB to the tablet computer. The power required for the FM radio chip operation is derived from the USB bus. The current required for most FM radio chip is typically a few milliamps or even less at 1.8V. This is well within the capability of USB bus and an acceptable level for a portable device.
The following resources are required in a SOC to implement a radio accessory:
- Analog to Digital Converter (ADC)
- Communication protocol (I2C / SPI)
- USB interface
- Filter Block
Generally, the amplitude of the output audio signal from an FM radio chip will be of the order of 100mV. An amplifier
is used for the amplification of the analog audio obtained from the FM receiver prior to feeding it to the ADC in a SOC. The strength of the analog audio output is increased after passing it through a programmable gain amplifier (PGA) as shown in the block diagram. This ensures that the entire input range of the ADC is utilized and results in a faithful reproduction of the audio at the output of the FM radio chip. It is also possible to digitize the signal by using an ADC with a smaller input range. However, the smaller the amplitude of the signal, the more vulnerable it is to system noise.
Analog to Digital Converter
(ADC) samples the analog output of the amplifier at the rate of 44.1 kHz and converts it to a 16-bit digital value. The sampling rate is chosen as 44.1 kHz which is in accordance with the Nyquist principle which states that the sampling frequency must be at least two times the maximum operating frequency.
is a standard protocol, such as I2C or SPI, that is used to interface the SOC with the FM receiver. If I2C is used, the SOC will act as the Master and the radio receiver chip will act as the slave, with a data rate of 100/400 kHz. Commands to change the channel or to scan the FM band can be issued to the FM receiver chip from the I2C master over the I2C bus. The FM receiver chip is capable of decoding predefined commands to perform various tasks. If RDS is used, then the digital information received can be read from the FM receiver by the controller using the I2C interface. It is possible to read other status information such as the RSSI from the FM radio receiver via I2C and display the same on the tablet or PC.
Direct Memory Access
(DMA) In many microcontrollers, DMA is a powerful feature that helps in offloading data transfers between memory locations to improve performance. DMA can be used to transfer the converted digital values from the ADC to memory or directly to USB while the CPU is handling other critical tasks.
is used to interface the host tablet with the SOC. A USB interrupt endpoint is used to receive various commands from the host, such as channel scan, channel increase, channel decrease, etc. Note that if the command size is small, the control endpoint on the USB device can be used to transfer commands. It is possible to use the control endpoint itself for sending commands. The commands can be sent as vendor-defined commands; however, on a control endpoint, a maximum of 8 bytes of data can be sent in one USB packet. The digital data at 44.1 kHz obtained from the ADC is transmitted to the host using Isochronous USB transfer mode. Isochronous transfer is ideal for this transmission as it is capable of maintaining consistent delivery time due to its guaranteed latency, allocated bus bandwidth, and lack of error correction and handshaking. Note that errors are detected through the CRC field but are not corrected. An occasional data error or missed transfer will not be perceived by the human ear; it takes frequent halting to reach the point of notice. As there is no error correction, there is no halt in the data transmission even in the presence of packets containing errors. A microcontroller supports a maximum packet size of 1023 bytes for an isochronous endpoint. | <urn:uuid:267a92cc-6600-4bfd-a659-a3b64fbc8fee> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1279474&page_number=2 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393533.44/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00127-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.923459 | 989 | 3.15625 | 3 |
New Land Pattern Musket
This new land pattern musket, with United States musket ramrod in place, is identified in connection to the British Indian Department during the War of 1812. Dated to the later years of the war, this weapon would have been carried by officers or staff of the British Indian Department, which consisted of roughly one hundred officers who worked as interpreters, agents, and envoys to various First Nations tribes during the war. The British Indian Department sought to further British interests amongst First Nations warriors in British North America through these efforts, and hoped that strengthened ties would serve both parties well during the War of 1812.
New Land Pattern Musket© Parks Canada | <urn:uuid:07f46f23-1a8a-43f4-8233-f4d753a3b852> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.pc.gc.ca/culture/1812/artefact/semaine6-week6.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783403823.74/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155003-00004-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974865 | 139 | 2.765625 | 3 |
How science really works or why exoplanets were completely unknown before 1995, now just 20 years ago.
An explosion of our knowledge about the universe changed our view to the universe completely: Nearly 2000 extrasolar planets (1854 in dec. 2014) detected in extremely short time, in less than 20 years!
Nearly 2000 exoplanets — planets orbiting other stars — have been detected since the first exoplanet was discovered in 1995 with potentially enormous philosophical implications[**]. Without any exageration probably the biggest scientific discovery ever.
A first cosmic census estimates at least 50 billion (exo-)planets in our galaxy, the Milky Way. And this in contrast to the fact that just 20 years ago astronomers and phycisists told us we're the only planetary system in the whole universe. SETI 1995: "in fact many authorities felt our(s)" (...planetary system...) "might be unique".
200 years astronomers have searched in vain the night sky for planets around other stars...
Geschichte dieser Site(deutsch)
(Some links on these pages point today to nowhere land. I don't change this because I think this is a document.)
"No one would have predicted 10 years ago that we'd have any extrasolar planets. Even though we have now found more than 100 of them, these are still the early days in planet hunting." (planet hunter Geoffrey Marcy 2003)
"Astronomers have looked for
planets around other stars for over 50 years, with little success. But in the
mid-1990's that changed, and astronomers have been surprised ever since. "
Planets outside our solar system far out in the universe is the hottest topic of astronomers and astrophysics these days. On these pages you can read why they were detected and why they were detected so late, now only 20 years back ( in 1995 ). And now we have already nearly 2000 discoveries...
Further you can read why this disproves three of the main today used hypothesis in modern astrophysics and astronomy. Not by doubtfull and unprovable claims but by computer programs which are repeatable and verifiable by everyone. Data for these computer programs is from highly trustable federal instances (US and european) and accessible to everyone. If this would concern only astronomy and astrophysics one could say: 'if one or the other star gets classified wrong is of no concern to me'. No, the consequences out of these wrong hypothesis concern everyone, even more, human lives depend on and are endangered by these wrong hypothesis. Not to speak of the severe damage that the whole science experiences, starting by geology over biology over archaeology and and and....
The theories build around dark matter can be taken as disproved by now. Different researchers worldwide have found proves for this and at the same time strenghtening the here said. The XENON detector which should detect dark matter delivers only negative results. See also here. And here.
But it seems it won't take long till the here written is fully accepted. Now you can already hear astronomers say: 'planets are no big deal! They are commonplace! And 40 or more percent of the stars must have planets!' Others speak already of 70-80%. Read again these pages and you will know it's exactly 100 percent. May be some wobble so faint that we can't measure it, but that changes nothing on the fact that all 'shining' stars have planets.
Others tell in 2009 : "There could be one hundred billion Earth-like planets in our galaxy...". and Berkeley says in end of 2010: "Earth-Sized Alien Planets May Be Surprisingly Common" and "25% of Sun-like stars have Earth-like planets.. (and)...there could be even more Earth-size planets"
A first cosmic census estimates at least 50 billion planets in our galaxy, the Milky Way. And this in contrast to the fact that just 20 years ago astronomers and phycisists told us we're the only planetary system in the whole universe.
Evidence from observations lead now in 2013 more and more researchers to the same conclusion: "Extrapolating from Kepler's currently ongoing observations and results from other detection techniques, it looks like practically all Sun-like stars have planets".
And you can already hear: 'Nobody knows how brown dwarfs form'. Which is only a very small step away from: 'Nobody knows how stars form'. If you follow todays literature which states: 'Brown dwarfs form like stars'(The Brown Dwarf — Exoplanet Connection, J. W. Mason,Springer 2008) this is already today a synonyme. Even clearer: "(We) have (currently) no definition of what a planet is". Which is nothing else than the negative expression of: "We have currently no definition what a star is" .
By scrutinizing the planets found so far astronomers more and more realize that many of the planets found have masses which classify them according to todays definition as stars, disproving thereby todays theories on stars (and proving everything written on these pages thereby). And much to the surprise of astronomers many are orbiting in the opposite direction to the rotation of their host star, thereby disproving one of the central hypotheses of todays astro-physics. Read more..
After 20 years now (!) these papers (A&A,Jan 2011) are first proves of the calculations and descriptions on this site: "The barycentric motion of exoplanet host stars: tests of solar spin-orbit coupling" or this pdf: "Does a Spin–Orbit Coupling Between the Sun and the Jovian Planets Govern the Solar Cycle?" (more under new facts and links)
Copyright © R,Cooper-Bitsch 2006,2009,2010
**) The US-National Research Council : "The discovery of life on another planet is potentially one of the most important scientific advances of this century, let alone this decade, and it would have enormous philosophical implications."
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Higher than a Sea-Bird's Eye View: Coral Reef Remote Sensing using Satellites
This Web Seminar took place on December 15, 2009, from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time. Presenting was Mark Eakin Coordinator of the NOAA Coral Reef Watch (CRW) program, and he was assisted on the chat by NOAA colleagues Britt Parker and Tyler Christensen. In this Seminar, Dr. Eakin focused the presentation on the effect of climate changes on coral reef ecosystems and the tools that NOAA and others can use to track those changes.
This Web Seminar is the third in a series of web seminars on climate change sponsored by NOAA, as well as other governmental organizations. This presentation began with some background information about coral, then focused on the impact of climate change on coral reef ecosystems. Participants learned how to use Google Earth to track the conditions of the ocean and to view areas of concern for coral reefs throughout the world.
Forty-four (44) participants were present at the live Web Seminar in addition to the presenter and NSTA staff. Participating educators represented the states of Alabama, California, Colorado,
Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, New Hampshire,
New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia,
Washington and Wisconsin. Two participants attended the Web Seminar from a country outside the United States: Qatar and Romania.
Seminar participants received one of the NSTA SciGuides. A certificate of attendance was deposited into participants My PD Record and Certificates area in the NSTA Learning Center for completing the evaluation form at the end of the program.
Here are some comments provided by the participants at the end of the Web Seminar:
- “It gave me more understanding of the corals. I want to learn more.”
- “How to obtain remote sensing data.”
- “How physical affects due to global warming influence biological systems.”
- “Just talked about the global warming issue today. This seminar shows another interaction.”
Thanks to the participants and the presenter for the learning opportunity, the interactions, and a job well done!
To see more programs on Climate Change visit: http://learningcenter.nsta.org/products/
For more information contact email@example.com
Underwritten in part by: NOAA | <urn:uuid:7d6cc4e1-89f2-40db-a037-f3cea3935bb5> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://learningcenter.nsta.org/products/symposia_seminars/fall09/NOAA/webseminar3.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397749.89/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00090-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.903399 | 510 | 2.609375 | 3 |
In my quest to find the secrets to truly outstanding, clean, humanely raised beef I was perusing the scintillating, fascinating FSIS/USDA Web site and look what I saw in a section called Why is Beef Called a "Red" Meat? "Other 'red' meats are veal, lamb, and pork."
Now I've long known that pork is a red meat but imagine my surprise when I discovered that the US government calls it a red meat, too.
So why should this matter? Have you heard the marketing slogan "Pork, The Other White Meat"? If the government categorizes pork as a red meat, how does this kind of advertising make it past the National Advertising Review Board?
No matter, I love pork. Bacon, chops, hams, I even tried tongue once. But here's something that's important to know: as with beef, the flavor and texture of pork is influenced by the place and conditions in which it was raised and what it ate. In fact, due to the way a pig's digestive system works, pork is probably even more reflective of "terroir."
If you care a lot about taste and texture, I suggest that you look for pork from pigs who've seen the light of day. I am developing a more detailed list of questions to ask but here's a little acid test or mini-cheat sheet, if you will.
- Ask the butcher or seller the name of the farm.
- Ask the breed.
- Ask how it was raised.
- Check to see that it is light red in color.
If you do see pork that has a red hue, or lord forbid some marbling, don't think something's wrong with it. In fact, you may be looking at be something that will taste absolutely delicious on your plate. | <urn:uuid:56c34bf6-5e62-4332-8b85-e8b80e110185> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://discoverbeef.blogspot.com/2009/05/pork-other-red-meat-tm.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395160.19/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00128-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963627 | 375 | 2.875 | 3 |
RAY SUAREZ: The most significant legislative effort so far to tackle climate change began winding its way through Congress today. The Senate agreed to begin a week-long debate on a bipartisan bill forcing a major cut in U.S. emissions.
The bill would impose new regulations on industry to lower overall emissions to the 2005 level by the year 2020. By the middle of this century, the bill would require greenhouse gases to be cut by 66 percent.
SEN. BARBARA BOXER (D), California: This comprehensive bill is long overdue.
RAY SUAREZ: The bill’s major tool for enforcing the cuts is also the biggest obstacle to passage. It’s what’s called a cap-and-trade system, allowing companies to continue releasing greenhouse gases into the environment, provided they buy the right to do so in the form of carbon credits.
Some credits would be granted to companies, but a percentage of other credits would be sold at auction.
SEN. BEN CARDIN (D), Maryland: This bill is important for an energy policy for America for security. It’s important for an energy policy for America for our economy. Look at the price of gasoline at the pump. And it’s critically important for our environment.
TELEVISION AD NARRATOR: Congress is at it again. This time, they’re pushing massive new taxes and regulations in the name of global warming.
RAY SUAREZ: For months, both sides have been drawing battle lines around the Climate Security Act and are taking their fight to the airwaves. Opponents say the bill will lead to a spike in energy prices, among other economic costs. The bill’s supporters say it will spur new energy innovations.
TELEVISION AD NARRATOR: Some in big oil and coal will do anything to drive this bill into the ground.
RAY SUAREZ: Today, White House officials made it clear the president would veto the bill. And the president criticized it in remarks he made this morning.
GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States: You know, there’s a much better way to address the environment than imposing these costs on the job creators, which will ultimately have to be borne by American consumers.
And I urge the Congress to be very careful about running up enormous costs for future generations of Americans. We’ll work with the Congress, but the idea of a huge spending bill fueled by taxes increases isn’t the right way to proceed.
RAY SUAREZ: Most observers see the fight as a pivotal moment in the climate change debate, one that might forecast a new direction after the election. All three presidential candidates have proposed mandatory curbs on emissions.
Senators describe bill's issues
RAY SUAREZ: For a closer look at this bill and where this issue is headed, we turn to two senators who are key to this debate: Senator Joe Lieberman, co-sponsor of the bill with Senator John Warner of Virginia. Senator Lieberman is an Independent Democrat from Connecticut.
And Senator Lamar Alexander is a Republican from Tennessee and a member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.
Well, Senator Lieberman, let's start with how. How would your bill achieve near-term reductions in emissions and drastic cuts over the long haul?
SEN. JOSEPH LIEBERMAN (I), Connecticut: Ray, the first good news to say is that this is the first time either house of Congress has considered a bill favorably reported from a committee that actually would do something to stop global warming.
So I think that shows that there's increasing acceptance of the fact that we've got a problem.
We had some choices, Senator Warner and I, my Republican co-sponsor. We could have gone at this by increasing or adopting a carbon tax. We thought that was a wrong idea and would guarantee no reduction in emissions. We could have gone with an old-fashioned, big-government, command-and-control system, and we thought that was too inflexible.
So we went with a market-based system. It's worked to reduce acid rain for the last 18 years.
Basically, we set a cap on how much greenhouse gas can be put into the atmosphere, and we slowly reduce it over 40 years. And we give 2,100 facilities -- not every mom-and-pop store -- but 2,100 big facilities a cap and credits. If they can't get to where we say they've got to go, they've got to go out and buy some credits to continue to do so.
If they can do better than the cap, they can go into the market and sell those and make some money. And so we want to use the power of the marketplace to drive innovation and to reduce greenhouse gases, and I think, along the way, make this country energy independent.
RAY SUAREZ: Senator Alexander, the words "market" and "marketplace" are usually music to Republicans' ears. Do you think it will work?
SEN. LAMAR ALEXANDER (R), Tennessee: Well, this bill won't work. I give Senator Warner and Senator Lieberman a lot of credit for trying, but too much of the bill has turned into a well-meaning contraption.
The first problem is, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, which has analyzed it, it's a 53-cent gas tax increase per gallon on top of the nearly $4 we're paying today.
Second problem with it is the 53 percent gas tax increase per gallon, according to the EPA, isn't enough of an increase to make much difference. And so it wouldn't reduce carbon. So it wouldn't reduce what it's said it would do.
So this is a well-intentioned effort, but the wrong way to deal with a real problem.
Helping Americans, the environment
RAY SUAREZ: Well, Senator Lieberman, a lot of the debate during this afternoon's cloture motion, which you won 74-14, went to current energy prices and whether this would make the cost in the near term of the gas people buy and the other energy-related products they buy more expensive.
SEN. JOSEPH LIEBERMAN: Yes, obviously, all the American people, including members of the Senate, are agitated about the cost of a gallon of gasoline. But the claim that passage of this Climate Security Act would exacerbate the problem has it exactly wrong, in my opinion.
This Climate Security Act is probably the one best way to reduce the cost of gasoline or other energy in the years ahead.
By the Energy Department's estimate, this bill, if adopted, would add two cents to every gallon of gas a year. We don't look to pay just two more cents a gallon, instead of the buck more addition, almost doubling that we're paying now.
The second point is that this money is going to be used for something. And here's where it's the answer to high gas price increases.
In dealing with climate change, you've got to break our dependence on oil and foreign oil. You've got to re-invest the money this market raises into fuel-efficient cars, into hybrids, into electrics, into cellulosic biofuels.
We're going to reduce how much oil we're going to consume in the transportation sector, which will reduce demand and, therefore, I think reduce the price of gasoline.
And more important, a lot more vehicles after this bill passes are going to be powered on something other than oil we have to buy from tyrants in places like Iran and Venezuela. So this is the answer, not the exacerbation of the gas price problem.
RAY SUAREZ: Well, Senator Alexander, do you agree, first off, with the goals of the bill? Do you think that something has to be done and very soon to reduce emissions? And how would you get there, if not using Senator Lieberman's suggested means?
SEN. LAMAR ALEXANDER: Well, if we're just dealing with climate change, I'd get there this way. I'd focus just on power, electricity, and on fuel.
Senator Lieberman and I have a bill, a separate bill, that would put controls on power plants. That's 40 percent of the carbon. Then I'd leave the rest to the economy alone and put some controls on gradually reducing the amount of carbon in fuel. For example, if you drove a plug-in electric vehicle, then you would reduce the amount of carbon.
That would leave alone the manufacturing. And that would be fewer surprises, less cost, and a lot less complicated.
The Warner-Lieberman bill would raise over 10 years a trillion dollars, which would then be brought to Washington. And there's nothing more dangerous than a trillion-dollar slush fund in Washington, D.C., with 535 congressmen spending it for everything.
If we were to bring any money to Washington for a climate change bill, it ought to all go back directly to the taxpayers who sent it here to help pay for their higher electric bills or their higher gas prices. But I would just focus on fuel and power and leave the rest to the economy alone.
Why is settled, how is disputed
RAY SUAREZ: Well, Senator Lieberman, you heard your colleague suggest that if you just concentrated on power plants and transportation, just with those two sectors, you'd take a huge bite out without touching manufacturing. Why not?
SEN. JOSEPH LIEBERMAN: Here's the good news about Lamar's idea here. It's what we agree on. We agree that there is a problem, that climate change is a problem.
Secondly, we agree that it's not going to get solved voluntarily, that there ought to be a mandate.
And, third, we agree on the cap-and-trade system. We disagree on what we'd apply it to. As Lamar said, he wants to apply it to the power sector, which produces 40 percent to 45 percent of the emissions. That's significant.
Senator Warner and I want to additionally apply it fully to the transportation sector and the industrial sector, which gets us up to about 85 percent of the emissions. And to me, it's too big and too urgent a problem to do it piecemeal.
Also, we're talking about a market mechanism here. And markets work better when more people are involved.
So I think we've got a good faith disagreement, if I can call it that. But what's really heartening and, to me, encouraging about what's possible to get done in Congress this year is all the things that Lamar Alexander and I agree on.
RAY SUAREZ: Senator Alexander, what does it mean to you that so little of today's debate focused on whether change was needed and whether it was happening and so much was focused on the how?
SEN. LAMAR ALEXANDER: I think that's very encouraging. I think most senators understand what most people do. At least, I believe climate change is a real problem and that humans are contributing to it and we need to deal with it.
But the difference I have is I think we have other problems. We have a problem of an increased demand for energy. We have a problem with increased prices of energy. We have clean air -- in Tennessee, I'm as concerned about sulfur and nitrogen and mercury as I am about carbon.
So I wish the president would come here and say, instead of going to Saudi Arabia and say, "Pump more oil," I wish he'd say, "Let's have a new Manhattan Project for clean energy independence," some of the things Joe Lieberman just talked about.
Some of it would be exploring for new oil, offshore, more nuclear power plants. But the rest of it would be plug-in cars, give some competition to Big Oil. And from the day the president said that, I believe the speculators would get nervous, the oil countries would begin to get nervous, prices would stabilize, and we'd be well on our way, within three or four or five years, to being reasonably independent in our production of energy.
Aiming for energy independence
RAY SUAREZ: Senator Lieberman, as this debate rolls out, do you see the lines that are rising up more on region and more on whether a state has extracted industries or large coal deposits than you do on party lines?
SEN. JOSEPH LIEBERMAN: First, let me say that I -- in response to what Senator Alexander just said -- that I think this bill is the energy independence bill. It is the Apollo Project for energy independence, because we'd take all that money that this market will make and re-invest it in a way that no other bill has done. It's the biggest, boldest energy independence program America could have.
I hope this doesn't break on party lines. Right now, there's more Democrats than Republicans by a lot supporting the legislation. I don't think the American people break that way.
But, listen, there's a lot of local concerns here, too. If you come from a state with a certain kind of coal, you want to make -- and you want to do something about climate change, you want to do something about climate change and support this bill, but you want to make sure that we're going to make sure that your coal folks back home are not pushed out of business. And we've tried real hard to do that in a lot of different ways.
This is a -- look, climate change, global warming is a big problem. It requires a big solution. That's what this bill is, and that's why the debate in the next couple of weeks on it is going to be very important.
I hope the American people follow it. I think we've got more than 50 votes now. We're not at 60. If folks at home call their senators and urge them to vote for it, we'll break the filibuster and get this thing moving finally.
RAY SUAREZ: Extremely quickly, Senator Lieberman -- because I want to hear from your colleague on this before we go -- is this really a bill that's going to be settled by the next president? Is this the opening shot of a debate that really doesn't end until the next Congress?
SEN. JOSEPH LIEBERMAN: Well, we sure hope we can get it done this year. I understand it's going to be hard. But the great news is we're going to break the ground here. I think we're going to get over 50 votes.
And then whoever of the remaining candidates for president is elected is basically for a bill like this. And I hope, when they're elected, they'll say, "Let's get this Climate Security Act adopted by Memorial Day." We can do it.
RAY SUAREZ: OK.
And Senator Alexander?
SEN. LAMAR ALEXANDER: I think the new president should come to Congress and say not let's have a climate change bill. Say, "Let's have a clean energy independence bill," and deal with high gas prices, electricity prices, clean air, climate change, national security, not by higher taxes and another trillion dollars, not by a 53-cent gas tax increase, but by exploring, by building nuclear power plants, and agreeing on six or seven things to do, like reducing solar costs and plug-in vehicles that will make us more independent so we can have clean energy. That would be the goal.
RAY SUAREZ: Senator Lamar Alexander, Senator Joe Lieberman, gentlemen, thank you both.
SEN. JOSEPH LIEBERMAN: Thank you, Ray. | <urn:uuid:3528e14e-9c6a-471c-bae5-2940942ce825> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/politics-jan-june08-carbon_06-02/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396147.66/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00064-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966569 | 3,262 | 2.546875 | 3 |
Russia’s prime minister, Vladimir Putin, was waiting there to pay his nation’s respects – and atone – for the terrible Soviet crime at Katyn.
In 1939, Stalin and Hitler invaded and partitioned Poland. Stalin sought to wipe out Poland’s national identity. The Soviet dictator ordered the NKVD secret police to murder 22,000 Polish officers, intellectuals and political figures at Katyn.
Soviets propaganda blamed this crime on the Nazis. The truth was only revealed in 1989 by Russia’s late president, Boris Yeltsin. One wonders how many other Nazi "crimes" were committed by the Soviets.Share | <urn:uuid:ac547759-fedf-4096-88bb-860b2a7e53b5> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://teaattrianon.blogspot.com/2010/04/russia-comes-clean.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783402516.86/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155002-00064-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935649 | 133 | 3.171875 | 3 |
Speech-Language Pathology Study Guide (Praxis Study Guides)
Complete with a targeted review of all the material on the selected Praxis exam in addition to a full-length practice test, these test preparation guides are written by the makers of the real tests. Thorough explanations of the answers are provided and helpful test-taking strategies are found throughout the guide. The three categories of assessments covered correspond to the three milestones in teacher development-academic skills assessment, subject assessment, and classroom performance assessment. Reflecting the rigorous and carefully validated nature of the exams, these guides provide beginning teachers the information needed to succeed.
About the Author(s)
Educational Testing Service (ETS) is the world's premier educational testing organization and the only publisher of GRE and TOEFL test preparation materials containing authentic test questions from start to finish.
An adequate option, August 23, 2005
This study guide is ok, but not great. Because it was published in 2003, and probably written in 2002, I think that some of the information is outdated. A list of study topics are provided but not the information that goes with the topic. The practice test is ok but there were a few answers I did not agree with. (and this could be due to newer research than the book has) I would have liked a second practice test.
This is the best of the not so great options. It is the most recently published, which is why I selected it, but it could use some updating. I would like to see a cd-rom added with more practice questions
Rating: 1.0 | Added on: 7 Jan 2007
Rate this book: | <urn:uuid:fb533c10-86a1-4511-84ff-e1c724bb98eb> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.biology-online.org/books/speech-language_pathology_study_guide.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396106.71/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00176-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951263 | 337 | 2.734375 | 3 |
Untitled, Chrysler Building, completed 1930, New York, 1929,
Berenice Abbott, American, 1898 – 1991, Gelatin silver print
More than fifty prints, drawings, and photographs chosen from the Philadelphia Museum of Art collection demonstrate the many ways artists chose to portray the new giants in their landscape. Roughly spanning the years between 1905 and 1940, the works will reflect a wide range of styles and practices. Among the famous skyscrapers featured are Chicago’s gothic-ornamented Tribune Tower, New York City’s Art Deco Empire State Building, and Philadelphia’s modernist PSFS Building. The exhibition includes prints by John Marin and Charles Sheeler, photographs by Berenice Abbott and Alfred Stieglitz, and drawings by Earl Horter and Abraham Walkowitz.
Exhibition: Skyscrapers: Prints, Drawings, and Photographs of the Early Twentieth Century, June 6 – November 1, 2009 at Philadelphia Museum of Art | <urn:uuid:43479a6f-3371-4c9e-822e-8783c69a783a> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.dailyicon.net/2009/08/exhibition-skyscrapers-at-the-philadelphia-museum-of-art/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783399117.38/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154959-00185-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.887061 | 205 | 2.5625 | 3 |
Winter Survival Strategies
For wildlife, it's time to display winter survival adaptations … or a lack thereof. What strategy will you choose? Your options to deal with winter are limited to five basic strategies:
#1) Die - Annual plants and many adult insects die-off, leaving offspring as seeds, eggs or larval caterpillars or aquatic nymphs. People avoid this strategy; too radical.
#2) Don't live here - Leave. Songbirds, hawks, waterfowl, several bats, monarch butterflies and resident human "snowbirds" migrate south to warmer climes.
#3) Remain inactive all the time - Hibernate - True hibernating mammals include only woodchucks and woodland jumping mice whose deep sleep metabolic rates and body temperatures plummet to a near-death state for months.
#4) Remain inactivemost of the time - Bears, skunks, raccoons, chipmunks are among common mammals who sleep away the coldest days in a "winter torpor" that includes lowered metabolic rates. During warm spells they awaken in dens and may even leave for short periods of limited activity before returning to their light sleep. Human couch potatoes use this strategy.
#5) Be active - Be very active - Carnivores: foxes, coyotes, bobcats and weasels are active hunters. Herbivores like snowshoe hares, moose and porcupines and rodents including squirrels and beavers remain active, feeding on twigs, bark or stored seeds.
Tracks in snow reveal the species most active are best-adapted to consume and conserve precious calories during our long northern winter. | <urn:uuid:a5690f9f-7882-489a-b405-b4ac05e8f43f> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://nhpr.org/post/winter-survival-strategies | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398075.47/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00077-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.885204 | 343 | 3.453125 | 3 |
This holiday season, many people have renewed the age-old custom of building and displaying miniature Victorian-style holiday villages in their homes. Young and old alike participate in the design of these traditional holiday decorations based on the old German markets of Thuringia.
Museum in Miniature
Today's miniature village-scapes derive from the miniature villages designed to adorn the table atop which the first holiday trees sat in the late 19th century. Contemporary versions, though, feature varied tiers, miniature buildings, ersatz snow and figurines galore. Many mini-holiday village installations rival the work of any professional museum exhibition designer. Enthusiastic holiday decorators may employ mini-factory buildings of cardboard or lithographed tin to gumdrop pathways and chocolate bar rooftops. Many of the items in these displays were acquired from friends, family members and during flea market or yard sale shopping sprees over the months, all in anticipation of the holiday season.
Photo courtesy of www.DrLoriV.com
Village houses made of cardboard from the 1920s.
Made of cardboard and filled with candy, miniature holiday houses were initially used to decorate a table top beneath early Christmas trees. In the 19th century, small block villages were manufactured in Germany for the world market. Along with the Christmas tree, Prince Albert of Great Britain introduced the Christmas village to the world based on Germany's famed Christmas markets or villages, a tradition that dates back to the mid-1500s. The Thuringian Christmas or holiday markets grew into holiday fairs. Back then, the merchants offered necessities of the season including hand-blown Lauschen ornaments, silver tinsel and miniature architectural structures and innovative toys. Christmas markets and holiday villages were set up in German towns to provide citizens with the special needs of the season like regional crafts, gifts and specialty foods.
Originally intended as sets for display under the Christmas tree, miniature villages simulated winter wonderlands. In the early 20th century, Christmas villages evolved with the popularity of toy towns and Lionel train sets. In America, cardboard candy containers and miniature tin houses were displayed beneath Christmas trees as early as the 1920s. By the 1930s, many toy and miniature building manufacturers including the toy train maker, Lionel, offered Christmas villages in sets of eight structures each. Why eight? That was the number of holiday lights on a circa 1920 string which would be hidden within each mini-building. The set of eight little village buildings would create a suitably diverse holiday town complete with church, shops, and a few well-appointed homes.
By the post-war years, miniature Christmas villages were produced from flocked cardboard in Germany, Japan and the U.S. These printed villages could then be folded compactly for shipping and assembled upon arrival for display beneath the Christmas tree or on the family piano.
Little Houses/Big Money
Famous miniature "architectural firms" included the McLoughlin Brothers of New York and the Built-Rite Toys firm, who teamed up with the Warren Paper Products Company to offer mini-holiday town displays in the early decades of the 1900s. A Sears & Roebuck miniature Christmas village would have cost only 69 cents in 1934.
After World War II, Bachmann Brothers introduced the Plasticville line of miniature buildings to accompany model trains. Miniature Christmas villages often command high prices at auction. For instance, a miniature village from the Bliss Company offered a lithographed cardboard pharmacy, opera house, bank, and post office and sold for $16,500. That's big money for some little houses. Happy holidays.
- Ph.D. antiques appraiser and author, Dr. Lori presents antique appraisal events nationwide. Dr. Lori is the star appraiser on Discovery channel's hit TV show, Auction Kings. Visit www.DrLoriV.com, www.Facebook.com/DoctorLori, or call (888) 431-1010. | <urn:uuid:9974810b-4bd2-46ac-b3dc-5d50bebcb48e> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.journal-news.net/page/content.detail/id/602182/Miniature-holiday-villages-seeing-resurgence-in-US.html?nav=5016 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783403826.29/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155003-00160-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940638 | 805 | 2.65625 | 3 |
Is Introspection the Right Method of Studying Psychology?
For many years introspection provided a foundation to psychological
research. Critical examination of such self observation methods, has
provided insight into the fragile nature of introspection's
relevance to the study of psychology. Introspection, derived from
the Latin "intro" and "specio" (literally meaning to look into) may
be seen to be the process by which an individual directly examines
his own thoughts or mental processes.
Man appears to have had an ageless fascination with introspection,
and "the way in which the mind perceives itself", Augustine, De
Trinitate. For example, the ancient Greeks emphasised the importance
of "knowing yourself" Sophocles' Oedipus Rex. This interest is
perhaps common to the human population; as to have knowledge of the
processes of the mind, based on personal experience, is to grasp
something of the nature of consciousness itself; for without being
conscious experiences would not exist. "no one can possibly doubt
that he lives, remembers,understands, wills, thinks, knows and
judges. For even if he doubts he lives."
Descartes 1640, cited in Putman 'Philosophy and Our Mental life'.
Despite what appears to be a common need for introspection,
introspection can only be relevant to the individual as it is
chiefly concerned with self reflection. To achieve a situation which
is conducive to such examination is in itself a feat, as in order to
focus on the process of the mind Putman suggests the would- be self
observer must try to remove himself from immediate contact with the
environment, "we have to exclude from our consideration everything
which enters our acquaintance from the outside by the bodily
senses". Putman 'Philosophy and Our mental Life'
But surely this suggested method of introspection is paradoxical as
to totally remove the subject's perception of his surrounding
environment would render him unconscious :as consciousness is
founded on perception? However presuming a relatively pure state of
self reflection can be obtained (that is "the mind coming to reflect
its own operations about ideas it got by sensation and storing new
sets of ideas", Putman 1986) the problem of public access is still
Introspection is private and therefore may be viewed as a
nonscientific method of studying psychology: as the thoughts or
mental processes, perceived by the observer cannot be exactly
replicated in another independent observer. Consequently it can be
said that self reflection is a subjective operation. Introspection
can only portray "the way things seem to you not the way they are"
Stevan Harnad, 1995. That is introspection is reliant not only on
personal perception but also upon the individual's understanding and
interpretation of the observed factors. This makes introspection
between observers futile as conflict may exist in two forms.
Firstly, due to the personal nature of introspection, the observer
cannot experience or replicate the exact experience of another.
Secondly the observer may believe to be influenced in the same way
by the same experience, although in reality the experiences of both
observers are very dissimilar. For example, introspector 'a' may
remember a time when he felt sick before going onto a stage to
perform. Introspector 'b' ( if able to confirm this feeling at all)
may also remember being nervous in a similar situation; but in
reality introspector 'a' was experiencing a much more intense form
of stress. Can the introspectors therefore be experiencing the SAME
feelings? In effect no one can experience what another person
experiences as only the person experiencing the situation has an
experience of it. The conundrum presented here is that there is, and
can be, no conclusive proof, or even evidence to suggest that both
observers experience the same or even similar mental states."Who can
be sure that two given feelings are exactly the same" William James.
Another paradoxical situation which is evident is the conflict of
the observer observing the observed. Does therefore introspection
involve a split consciousness? Introspection by nature necessitates
the observer to inspect the way in which his own mind operates.
However accepting that the mind only has two states, one of
consciousness and one of unconsciousness, and that in no way can two
conscious states function together, how can the observer that is the
subject, provide an objective assessment of the mental processes
which he himself is inducing. To observe, in itself, is influencing
the state of the mind, by evoking mental processing. This distortion
of the observed mental processes is inevitable, after all "a thinker
cannot divide himself in two" Comte. James provides a superficially
plausible explanation in that "a fact may be shielded through the
medium of memory, not at the very moment of our perceiving it, but
the moment after: and this is the mode in which our best knowledge
of our intellectual acts is generally acquired". That is, that
introspection, far from being related to a 'split consciousness'
(which does not exist) is the inspector of memory; or retrospection.
Only the instigator of the thoughts, himself, knows the true nature
of their being. Nevertheless, even this can be argued against as the
ultimate source of knowledge may not be apparent to the thinker, as
introspection is unable to probe deep enough to locate the exact
birth place of thought or experience.
" we are all faced with events which occur at the private level and
which are important to the organism... which may someday be made
accessible to every one"
Burhus, Frederick, Skinner, cited in Ibid., p273- 275.
Skinner's comment here may be seen to be contradictory to the nature
of introspection as private thoughts are literally personal. More
extraordinarily Skinner is suggesting that the causes of thoughts,
which remain a mystery even to the observer himself, will eventually
be made public. Introspection (like any method of psychological
study) is unable to reveal the causes of reasoning or mental
processes or indeed, the real motives or causes behind any action.
For example if observer 'a' introspects on the reason why he calls
the colour red, "red", he will ultimately be unable to produce a
feasible answer. He may conclude that he calls it red because he
learnt to call it such at an earlier point and therefore he is
simply recalling the term. On closer inspection he will be unable to
produce a reason for how he remembered that particular tone as being
called red. Consequently it can be said that introspection is
concerned with such unconscious reasons. William E. Lyons 1986,
describes introspection as "an eye witness account of items floating
by in the stream of consciousness". However if this is
introspection's main concern what relevance has it to the study of
psychology? Perhaps introspection can be used as a method of
confirmation to distinguish between repressed memory and
imagination, though retrospection. However here two flaws are
highlighted in this method of study, as people may be highly
Repressed memories may be seen as being memories which are forgotten
(generally for a purpose e.g. if the images are harmful to the
subject) but resurface at a later time to reveal something about the
past. The observer may be coerced, by an authoritative person into
believing that fake memories, that is unreal and imaginary images,
are in fact real through a process of suggestion. The problem of
suggestibility may be exaggerated if the memories are partially real
and partially imaginary, as confusion results over the reality of
the events that occurred. This in turn illustrates the unreliable
nature of introspection. Introspection itself relies on the
examination of memories. Such memories may be distorted by the
observer himself, or by new information collected from other
sources. Therefore if self reflection is centring around fake or
distorted memories, what can it reliably confirm? The problem is
highlighted, as the observer is generally unaware of the source's
bias. For example the introspector may know that something happened
to him, as introspection provides him with "confirmation" of the
suggested occurrence, but really he only thinks that it happened to
him. Here we return to the problem of the observer observing the
observed, as confirmation would be more valuable from an external
observer. The introspector can not provide a reliable judgement,
upon himself, as in doing so he is influencing the nature of the
observed material. Descrates perception of 'true knowledge' may, in
this way, be seen to be unreliable, "never accept anything as true
if I had not evident knowledge of it being so...and to embrace to
my judgement only that which presented itself to my mind so clearly
and distinctly. I had no occasion to doubt it".
It is also important to consider whether introspection has a value
to psychology. Introspection may be seen to be vaguely useful to
psychological research as it provides a general social model, though
the input of empathy and self character study. Nevertheless, because
of introspection's subjective nature, empathy too must be viewed
with caution. Can the observer be sure that his introspection is a
true reflection of others views or feelings? Perhaps here exact
replication of feelings, thoughts and mental processes is of less
importance as a general wider understanding will suffice. The use of
self character study must not be totally debased. However, as this
too may be seen to have some relevance in examining social concerns,
for example, cultural groups believe themselves to have similar
thoughts and feelings. Surely this understanding of each others'
views would have to reflect on a degree of introspection; as to
empathise with the views of others a member of the group must
firstly recognise his own being or "self". In this way introspection
may be used in psychology in order to initiate the formulation of
hypotheses; for occasionally a general understanding of the
population may be needed.
Another use argued by Heinz Kohut is that "introspection and empathy
are essential ingredients of psychoanalytical observation and that
the limits of psychoanalysis are defined by those of introspection
and empathy". However this may be viewed sceptically as the
potential limits of introspection and empathy are very restricted.
If an individual himself is unable to locate or understand the
causes of his thoughts what hope has another; even if it were
possible for the psychoanalyst to comprehend the exact introspective
thoughts of the patient?
In conclusion it can therefore be said that introspection has little
value as a scientific evaluation of the mind as this form of
experience is subjective, and therefore personal. Introspection can
only reveal the way in which the introspector examines and
understands the environment; and his own mental processes. Even this
is of limited value as self- reflection may be distorted by self-
observation; and also by the influence of others where the
introspector has a suggestible nature. Further more, true knowledge
of the workings of the mind can never be totally revealed using this
self- examination method, as many of the processes of the mind occur
due to unconscious causes. Therefore it is beyond the grasp of
Augustine, De Trinitate, bk.10, sec7, vol.8 Augustine:Later Works,
trans. and ed. J.Burnaby (SCM Press 1955) p.80
Ibid., Skinner p.282. "About Behavioursim" p.17,27
Kohut, H.(1995) Journal of Psychotherapy. Practical and Research.
Spring vol 4, 163-177
Putman, "Philosophy and our Mental Life", p.291
Lyons,E., William,(1986) "The Disappearance of Introspection" The
Massachusettes Institute of Technology: MIT Press.
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Aspirin, Coumadin Make Strokes Milder
Message to Atrial Fibrillation Patients: Know Your INR
Sept. 10, 2003 -- Aspirin and Coumadin lower the risk of stroke for people with atrial fibrillation. And when people taking these blood-thinning drugs do have a stroke, it's milder.
Nearly all the milder strokes happened in patients whose INR value was at 2.0 or more. The INR is a measure of how well blood thinners are working. The higher the INR, the greater the blood-thinning effect of the drug.
The new findings come from a study of 13,559 atrial fibrillation patients who suffered strokes. Massachusetts General Hospital researcher Elaine M. Hylek, MD, and colleagues compared the patients' use of aspirin and Coumadin, their INR values, the severity of their strokes, and their 30-day death rates.
"Patients with atrial fibrillation and an INR of less than 2.0 who had an ischemic stroke [a stroke caused by a blood clot] faced a risk of death within 30 days that was more than 30 times the risk among patients with an INR of 2.0 or greater," Hylek and colleagues report in the Sept. 11 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine.
Fluttering Hearts Need Thinner Blood
Atrial fibrillation is the irregular contraction of the upper chambers of the heart. This makes the heart muscle flutter and beat abnormally. People with this condition are at enormously increased risk of stroke because blood clots can form within the heart chambers and travel to the brain. But blood-thinning medicines minimize this risk by reducing the formation of clots.
Blood thinners are recommended for nearly everyone with atrial fibrillation. In the Hylek study, the outcomes of patients taking aspirin when they had a stroke was similar to patients taking Coumadin and whose INR was less than 2. The data indicate that an INR of less than 2 will substantially increase the likelihood of death and the severe disability from atrial fibrillation-related stroke.
"It is very unusual to have a stroke when on [blood-thinning] therapy," Hylek says in a news release. "This study shows that it is possible to reduce the severity and complications for patients who do experience this uncommon event." | <urn:uuid:fc068748-0a5a-41ec-90ce-a7ae49a7451c> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.webmd.com/stroke/news/20030910/aspirin-coumadin-make-strokes-milder | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783404382.73/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155004-00176-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945546 | 499 | 2.609375 | 3 |
Enzymes are proteins which catalyse, or speed up, biological reactions. Several enzyme catalysed reactions occur during breadmaking. First, starch has to be broken down into sugar. The sugar then has to be broken down into simple sugars to allow yeast to react with these sugars during the process called fermentation (rising).
Starch belongs to a group of chemical compounds called carbohydrates. Pure dry starch is a white granular powder. Wheat flour contains 70-73% starch and most commonly anywhere between 8 -14.5% protein.
Yeast belongs to the fungi family. It is a very small single cell micro-organism. Like all other fungi it doesn't have the power to produce food by photosynthesis. Instead it ferments carbohydrates (sugars) to produce carbon dioxide and alcohol which gives bread it's texture, colour and aroma. | <urn:uuid:6268e0ca-632c-416d-924a-27d5934b46a6> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.bakeinfo.co.nz/Facts/Bread-making/Bread-ingredients | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395166.84/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00020-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959293 | 173 | 4.03125 | 4 |
Thanks to La Niña, more "Friendlies" will remain in Baja until mid-April 2012.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Original article: http://pressreleaser.org/not-too-late-bajas-famous-whale-watching-now-at-its-height/1370246
San Ignacio Lagoon, Baja California Sur, Mexico (PressReleaser) March 08, 2012 — (Ecotourism-Newswire.com)
Each year, gray whales migrate thousands of miles, from northern Alaska to Baja. It is the longest migration of mammals on earth. And this year, it is still going strong. The Sea of Cortez has also filled with blue, humpback, Bryde’s, and pilot whales - 2/3 of marine mammal species call this sea home in the spring.
In the shallow, protected waters of three Pacific lagoons, the gray whales congregate to mate, give birth, and -- in the case of "the friendlies" -- interact with curious travelers.
February is often thought as peak season for whale watching. However, the whales do not migrate all at once; there is a steady stream of whales heading south in December. This year La Niña has created cooler water temperatures, and more whales are going farther south and staying longer in the sub-tropical areas. Thanks to the favorable conditions, the San Ignacio Lagoon has seen a record breaking number of grays this season. The migration north typically begins in February with the single whales leaving first; the mothers and babies stay long into April.
About "The Friendlies": whales seeking the company of humans
San Ignacio Lagoon is the acknowledged "home of the friendlies." For 30 years now, the whales here have seemed to actively seek out human contact. Mother whales wintering here appear to teach their babies to approach human visitors. This is not a staged experience performed by captive whales. These are free, wild whales who play with humans by choice.
Baja is the only place in the world where whales are known to exhibit this behavior. It is because of the "friendlies" that Baja Expeditions' head naturalist Jose Sanchez calls San Ignacio Lagoon "the most magical place on the planet to see gray whales.” Sanchez says people love the intimate feeling of connection they experience when visiting the whales in this, the smallest and most conservatively-protected of the three lagoons.
A close encounter with a friendly whale can be a life-changing experience. “Whale Watching in Baja” is a featured journey in author Patricia Schultz's book 1,000 Places to See Before You Die. Schultz recommends Baja Expeditions as “the only operator to use,” praising the company’s naturalist guides, small groups, seasoned crews and local chefs.
For more information visit http://www.bajaex.com
Note to Editors: pre-cleared photos and interviews are available upon request. "Spyhopping" photo, © 2011 by Jose Sanchez
SIDE BAR: HOW TO TAKE THIS TRIP YOURSELF
Baja Expeditions organizes premier whale watching trips that start and end in San Diego’s Old Town. These multi-day trips include a charter flight direct to the lagoon, making transportation simple and convenient.
Guests are picked up by a luxury shuttle in San Diego, and flown in a 14 passenger Cessna Caravan from Tijuana (Click to see video of border crossing) to the lagoon. In San Ignacio, guests stay in sturdy waterfront cabanas or safari-style tents. Guests enjoy three full days of twice-daily excursions into the whale watching area, delicious meals, and happy hours beneath a star-studded night sky.
Dates available: March 10-14, 14-18 and 18-22nd. Prices have been discounted from $2395 to $2150/person. Call to ask about custom trips from now through mid-April.
San Ignacio Lagoon, a part of the Vizcaino Biosphere Reserve, was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1993. This designation protects not only the gray whales, but also seals, blue whales, sea turtles, and many species of birds and terrestrial animals and plants. There are 890 World Heritage sites worldwide, from Stonehenge to the Serengeti.
Click for a PDF of the San Ignacio itinerary: http://bajaex.com/Documents/WWSI-Itinerary-2012.aspx
Click here to see a short video of a whale watching excursion filmed in at San Ignacio Lagoon in February 2012: http://youtu.be/XKooWgNZUKQ
Click for a backgrounder on gray whales: http://www.marinebio.net/marinescience/05nekton/GWlagoons.htm
About Baja Expeditions
Baja Expeditions is the world's leader in eco-adventures to Baja, and the oldest and largest adventure travel expedition operator in Baja California, Mexico. Founded in 1974, we have been protecting wild Baja for over 37 years by sharing the natural wonders with interested travelers. Baja Expeditions has offices in San Diego, California and La Paz, Mexico.
Whale watching, sea kayaking, sailing, snorkeling, hiking, scuba diving and natural history expeditions are Baja Expeditions’ featured trips. Guests include vacationers, families, school groups, honeymooners, corporate outings, as well as devoted ecotourists. The level of physical activity is tailored to the group, from “extreme” athletes to laid-back retirees.
Baja Expeditions Inc. | <urn:uuid:e7992a9a-99a8-472d-b31a-746dd4b54d90> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://pressreleaser.org/not-too-late-bajas-famous-whale-watching-now-at-its-height/1370246 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783391519.0/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154951-00021-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.897396 | 1,215 | 2.6875 | 3 |
WHITPAIN — School may be out for the summer, but there was plenty of exciting chemistry experiments for students still to perform in Blue Bell.
The Wissahickon Valley Public Library held its annual Science in the Summer program June 25 and 26 for rising students in grades two through six. The program, now in its 28th year, is sponsored by GlaxoSmithKline and the Franklin Institute, and offers students a chance to come to the library for a few hours over two days, to perform fun and interesting experiments, while learning about the science concepts behind them. Students are divided into two levels: second- and third-graders in level one; fourth-, fifth- and sixth-graders in level two.
Tegan Conner-Cole, WVPL youth services librarian, said the program is designed to make learning fun.
“It’s fantastic,” Conner-Cole said of the program. “It’s an enrichment course for (students). They get to come in for a couple days during the summer and have hands-on science that maybe they didn’t get in the classroom, or maybe it re-enforces something they learned … It helps the kids. It brings them into the library and introduces them to science concepts. They almost always go and look for books on the subjects (afterward) or books to do experiments that they did in here or to kind of expand on the experiments.”
This year’s focus was chemistry, and students performed a number of experiments that dealt with mixing different materials and the chemical reactions that result. Bill Vosburgh, the science teacher overseeing the program, said the purpose was to learn about science in a safe and fun way.
“Number one, we want to keep them safe,” he said. “Number two, we want them to have a good time. Today we’re talking about density in the first part and we’ll talk about acids and bases in the second part, just play with them and see what they do, which is what we did here.”
Vosburgh said he enjoys watching the students learn while they’re entertained.
“They have fun,” he said. “Learning is fun. That’s the best thing. Learning is fun.”
He said real learning comes through exploration versus regurgitation, so students are encouraged to think about what’s going on in front of them as the different experiments are underway.
“Experience is one of the best teachers,” he said. “And me talking up here telling them stuff, they learn nothing. But if I set the stage by safety and comfort, and enjoyability, and having fun, then they’re going to be very susceptive to learning science, and that’s what I’m trying to get them to do.”
Students and parents said they really enjoyed the program because it makes science fun and interesting.
Alex Grass, 9, a rising fourth-grader at Gwynedd Mercy Academy, said he thought the program was “pretty exciting.”
“I got to do what I like doing most — science,” he said, adding he enjoyed learning how to hammer a nail using a banana. “It was pretty silly.”
Debbie Grass, Alex’s mom, said her son absolutely loves coming to the program.
“It’s great,” she said. “It’s a two-day camp. I wish it were longer. He absolutely loves it. It’s great that it’s provided by GSK and the Franklin Institute.”
Nine-year-old Oliver Zulicki, from St. Helena School, said he enjoyed mixing materials together and discovering what kind of reaction it would create.
“I think (my favorite experiment) was probably (making) Gak,” he said. “Because it’s sort of gooey and disgusting, which sort of defines chemistry.”
Oliver’s sister, Charlotte, 11, also from St. Helena, said she enjoyed making crystals from water and liked making Gak, too.
“Gak is just cool,” she said.
Theresa Zulicki, Oliver and Charlotte’s mom, said she was impressed by what her children learned in just one day.
“(They said) the focus of the camp was chemistry, different elements, what makes up different elements and I think some of the hands-on things that they got to do,” she said, adding everything at the library is great. “To me it was kind of a sure thing. I always like the fact that here we are out of school, but they’re enjoying still learning.”
Follow Eric Devlin on Twitter @Eric_Devlin. | <urn:uuid:65b35a66-dd8c-47bd-81a5-14e9125238dc> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.thereporteronline.com/social-affairs/20140627/science-in-the-summer-at-wissahickon-valley-public-library-keeps-students-learning?source=othersalsoread | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397749.89/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00197-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978248 | 1,040 | 2.59375 | 3 |
Static electricity is the build up of electric charge on the surface of objects that is generated at the atomic level. Everything we interact with is made of atoms, and as a result, anything can hold either a positive, negative or neutral electric charge depending on the balance of electrons and protons that the atoms or molecules of an object contain.
If an atom contains the same number of electrons or protons then it will have a neutral electric charge. However, since electrons can move from one atom to another depending how strongly they are bound, this can affect the polarity of the atom and it’s electric charge. If one element gains an electron, it becomes negatively charged, and if an atom loses an electron, it becomes positively charged. This is called the Triboelectric Effect. When the opposing charges are separated, it is called static electricity.
Some materials such as, glass, hair, nylon, wool tend to release electrons and become positively charged, while others such as, polypropylene, vinyl, silicon and Teflon gain electrons, becoming negatively charged as a result of the Triboelectric Effect.
The ability of material to retain or surrender its electrons depends entirely on the conductivity of that material. For example, Copper is a conductive material that holds on to its electron tightly, while a non-conductive material, such as plastic, easily surrenders its electrons because they are weakly bound to the atom. As a result, sensor surfaces coated with a conductive transparent material such as Indium Tin Oxide (ITO) prevents static charge build up.
The sensors in new digital cameras today have an anti-static coating to minimize static charge build up and the attraction of dust particles; however, it does not always eliminate all charges and weak residual charges can still remain on the sensor surface.
ITO (Indium Tin Oxide) coating is a transparent and conductive metal oxide that allows static charges to flow from non-conductive surfaces, such as the glass covering a digital camera sensor. The ITO coating on the sensor lets a static charge dissipate through the circuitry or wiring harness and away from the sensor surface.
The new fluorine coating technique provides the same anti-static and stain resistant protection as Indium Tin Oxide. This technology allows the sensor to be free of most static charges.
Static forces refer to build up of static charges on the sensor that can attract particles of opposite charge. With the help of anti-static coatings, this tendency is reduced to a large extent but not entirely eliminated.
Atomic forces refer to attraction between the atoms that make up dust and that of the sensor. This force is directly proportional to contact points between these two elements. The smoother the surface of the sensor, the more contact points between the sensor and dust particles are created and the stronger the attraction force becomes between objects. However, this force is independent of static charges and cannot be eliminated or reduced by antistatic coating. This is the reason why dust particles still attach to these surfaces despite anti static coating applied to them.
Ordinary silicone is used in construction of regular blowers for sensor cleaning, including early generation digital cameras bodies. However, the Zeeion® blower by VisibleDust uses a new silicone compound called Silicone RX.
Silicone RX used in the Zeeion® blower generates both positive and negative ions with a ratio favoring more negative ions. The negative charge produced by the Zeeion® eliminates dust and residual electrostatic charges from the anti-static coated sensor surface. This technique is refered to as a passive and selective ionization and eliminates the need for battery or electric current to induce a charge to the blower.
The anti-static capability of silicone RX used in Zeeion ® is weak compared to an electronic ionizer, generating ions in the range of 600-1200 per cubic centimeter. The battery-operated ionizers generate ions of equal amount (both positive and negative) in the range of 200,000 to 2,000,000 per cubic centimeter. This is the reason why most air purifiers use negative ions to eliminate airborne dust particles.
Negative ions force dust particles to clump together and eventually are trapped by either a positively charged plate or simple filtration system. Since most sensor surfaces in new digital cameras are coated with an anti-static material such as Indium Tin Oxide (ITO) or Fluorine, it is unnecessary to use high-powered and battery-operated anti-static ionizers to neutralize the weak static charges on the sensor surface. Doing so can create an adverse effect on the automatic sensor cleaning system. Therefore, the Zeeion® blower is best suited for this task without the risk of damage to the camera
The Zeeion® blower is a weak selective ionizer that generates more negative ions than positive ions in the range of 600 to1200 per cubic centimeter. This is enough charge to remove the weak residual static charge from the coated sensor surface without disabling the sensor cleaning system unlike a high-powered electronic ionizer.
In addition, most electric or battery-powered ionizers use high voltage to ionize air molecules and produce large amounts of both negative and positive ions within the range of 200,000 to 2,000,000 per cubic centimeter.
Therefore, the Zeeion® blower with its weak and selective ion generation capability should be used for sensor dust and sensor static charge removal. It is not designed for surfaces that require high levels of ion production.
Beside the image sensor, dust and particulate matter can also attach to the internal part of sensor chamber. Like the camera body, the chamber cavity is made from synthetic plastics or polymers that can hold static charges and attract dust.
By removing the static charges from these surfaces using high-powered electric or battery-operated devices dislodge harmful particles that have attached to the chamber from static charge and then fall onto the sensor. Then during wet cleaning, a loose macroparticle can inadvertently be squeezed against the sensor surface, scratching it.
The Zeeion® being a weak and selective anti-static ionizer blower works only to remove the weak residual charges off the coated sensors of digital cameras. It will not dislodge the macro-particles from deeper cavities that may fall on the sensor.
The small anti static force of the Zeeion® is sufficient enough to clean the sensor without the adverse effects caused by using high-powered electric or battery-operated ionizers.
Most current sensors are equipped with vibration mechanism to shake dust off the sensor onto a sticky collection pad or adhesive tape. Using a high-powered electric or battery-operated ionizers generate large numbers of both positive and negative ions, rendering these collection pads ineffective.
The function behind most sticky collection pads or adhesive tapes is that the static charge of “adhesive” draws the weightless particles to their surfaces, capturing them.
Once these pads are neutralized from the high-powered ionizer, it is difficult for the dust particles to attach to the surface of the collection pad. And, since dust doesn’t follow a gravity route, the weightless particles, shaken from sensor surface by the vibrating cleaning mechanism, continue to wander inside chamber. Eventually the floating particles will settle in undesirable places such as crevices, gaps or the image sensor itself. Those particles being already immobilized on the adhesive tapes may come loose as result creating more contamination in cleaning process.
The Zeeion® blower doesn’t interfere or compete with this dust capture mechanism due to its selective and weak ionizing capability. It is safer and better suited for this task.
No, every test using any brand of blower shows inconsistence results. This is because sensors inside the camera are influenced by many factors such as, mirror retraction, airflow, chamber design, camera age, lubricants and moving parts – all contributing to sensor contamination. The important aspect to consider is the long-term and harmful contamination ordinary blowers can produce inside the camera body.
The Zeeion® blower relies on scientific research, advanced technologies and superior materials to provide numerous advantages over ordinary blowers.
Yes. The Zeeion® blower produces both negative and positive with a ratio favoring more negative ions than positive at much lower quantity than air ionizers used in offices or homes.
A simple ionizer used for air purification produces between 2,000,000 and 200,000,000 ions per cubic centimeter, where as the Zeeion® generates ions within a range of 600 to 1200 ions per cubic centimeter.
Both negative and positive ions can co-exist in any environment until they come in contact with objects of an opposite charge. In some environments such as a waterfall the negative ions may take over positive ions in numbers. In other settings, such as a congested highway, the positive ions can be dominant; where as, in a controlled environment such as semiconductor facility, the ratio is controlled and kept neutral.
No, Silicone RX and regular silicone generate similar static charges, which are quite low compared to other materials.
There are many reputable camera accessories made from regular silicone such as blowers, camera body armor, lens hoods and components used in construction of camera bags.
Since the human body is made up of 98% water, it can hold a large amount of electric static charges (10-20 Kv). This is usually generated when a body is in motion and can be greatly increased when walking on surfaces such as, wooden floors or carpet in a dry climate condition.
The resting body produces less than 0.5 Kv of electric static charge.
As a result, holding an object, including any blower, in a high static environment, or when in motion, can register abnormal readings due to the additional charge transferred from the body to the blower.
Taking static charge readings in this way is inaccurate and misleading for the consumer and is often used as an advertising tactic to give credit to lower quality imitation blowers and products.
To provide an accurate reading, the body should be at rest or grounded while taking a reading of a blower using a static charge meter or subtracting the static charge reading of the body from the total registration when performing a static charge test. This will provide an accurate and proper static charge reading.
The following results were obtained when the body of test subject was at rest, minimizing the static charge build up from the body when holding the following blowers.
Silicone Rx blower = 0.5-3.0 Kv static charge
Regular Silicone blower = 0.5-3.0 Kv static charge
Rubber blower = 0.1-2.0 Kv static charges
Resting body = Less than 0.5 Kv static charge
Walking body on wooden floor with rubber shoes during peaks storage = 10-20Kv static charges
Test person + holding any brand of blower after walking = 10-20 Kv static charge
It is important to note that during the test brining the body close to the testing device will result in a higher reading.
Before using or working with any electronic device such as a digital camera, make sure you are grounded. This will ensure that any electric static discharge from your own body will not be transferred through the sensitive electronics in your device or digital camera.
The best approach is to use grounding equipments such as those sold in many electronic stores to avoid any risk.
During sensor cleaning or when approaching electronic devices, the body should be at rest first with proper grounding. You can also use devices such as anti-static bracelets to prevent static charge build up.
HEPA filters can remove as much as 99.9% of the moisture from the air, so when using a blower in this environment more static charge will be created. During the winter cold air can also increase the static charge.
During the summertime the water molecules in the air help electrons to dissipate from the human body and other objects reducing their static charge. Therefore, it is care should be taken when working with electronic devices in dry, cold environments.
HEPA filters also remove moisture and contaminants from the air; however, it provides reservoir with moisture creates environment for fungus growth. The spores from fungus are chemical resistant. Any blowing might transfer these spores to camera cavities or lenses. We all know that problem with old lenses are fungus growth.
Zeeion® uses a small translucent filter to avoid these problems. The Zeeion® filter doesn’t remove moisture or promote fungus growth.
It takes on average of 1.1 second. It seems to be slow compared to regular blower. However, the proper method is to blow air at the sensor once and pause a few second before applying the second blow again. The less number of blows at the sensor provide least amount of disturbances and reducing the risk of bombarding the sensor with loose particles. Sudden rush intake of air from tiny hole by ordinary blowers results in more contacts between air molecules. This air generates more static charges when blown at the sensor.
The small size of Zeeion® makes it easier to carry inside the camera bag compared to large bulky blowers. In addition electronic ionizers are banned from being taken on board of an airplane when travelling. The Zeeion® can be carried safely anywhere.
We all have come across the situation that the above phenomenon seen on the image sensor could not be explained. This is due to the fact that blower can causes some sort of damage due to its projectile action of forcing sands and other particles onto the sensor at high speed. This is similar to damage caused by gravel landing on the windshield at high speed causing chips.
Filters are placed to prevent this kind of damages. Both front and back filters can be replaced. The body of Zeeion® can be washed once the front and back filters are taken out. The replacement filters are sold separately.
Yes, the front valve closes upon air intake while the back of the blower draws air into the chamber away from the contamination source. The result is clean, uncontaminated air directed at the sensor. This is a unique feature of Zeeion® blower.
Like any innovative product, the Zeeion ® blower is made with materials that are more complex to manufacture requiring additional development and research to produce. In addition, any silicone derivative costs more than rubber or latex counter part.
Zeeion® blower is an innovative safe product that is highly effective for sensor dust removal. Built on scientific research, advanced technologies and quality materials providing numerous advantages over ordinary blowers.
It is a selective ionizer with weak anti static capabilities made specifically for sensor dust removal. It does not disable the automatic sensor cleaning system of cameras as most high powered electronic ionizers do. Therefore, it is not designed to remove static charges from surfaces requiring high generation of ions of both positive and negative as electronic or battery operated ionizers do. Zeeion® blower is specifically designed as a sensor cleaning tool.
Zeeion® with its patented features is the safest and most efficient non-contact dust removal tool used by many professional photographers. | <urn:uuid:f9af7bd8-61ed-4129-bc60-f47d4428ec32> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.visibledust.com/technology.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783408840.13/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155008-00142-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.921691 | 3,112 | 3.984375 | 4 |
- About WKU T&D
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- Theatre in Diversion
Here, students learn the basic fundamentals of scenic construction. Subjects such
as tools, materials, proper methods, and shop safety are covered. Other subjects include;
hardware, rigging, automation, and hand drafting. Students are also given the opportunity
to turn knowledge learned in the classroom into practical experience by working alongside
fellow classmates and instructors in the Scene Shop.
Students enrolled in this course will learn the basic skills of theatrical rigging.
Discussion topics include; proper techniques and procedures, materials, strength analysis,
knots, and system inspections. Hands-on experience is gained by completing lab hours
in the scene shop; assisting in the construction and installation of main-stage productions.
An introduction to the fundamental design concepts, techniques and processes common
to all areas of theatre production.
Design I Syllabus - coming soon
An introductory course in basic elements and techniques of design for scenery, costumes
and lighting for the theatre.
This course presents basic principles for designing theatre scenery. The student will create designs for three plays, including one complete design with drafting, sketches and a model.
Rendering for Theatre
This one semester course covers rendering for scenic, costume, and lighting design
while exploring a variety of artistic media and techniques.
Rendering for Theatre Syllabus
This course covers the art an techniques used in scenic painting.
A study of the historic decor of the major periods of theatrical production and the
problems of the costumed actor, with manners and movements of the respective periods.
Prof. Tom Tutino instructs student Jessi Sprankle in the art of Scenic Painting.
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Note: documents in Quicktime Movie format [MOV] require Apple Quicktime, | <urn:uuid:1c5bc3fe-9f3b-4490-9808-26ab2d293a92> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.wku.edu/theatre-and-dance/scenic-courses.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398628.62/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00130-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.841181 | 454 | 2.53125 | 3 |
Stitches (Sutures, Wound Closures)
Benjamin Wedro, MD, FACEP, FAAEM
Dr. Ben Wedro practices emergency medicine at Gundersen Clinic, a regional trauma center in La Crosse, Wisconsin. His background includes undergraduate and medical studies at the University of Alberta, a Family Practice internship at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario and residency training in Emergency Medicine at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center.
Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD
Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD, is a U.S. board-certified Anatomic Pathologist with subspecialty training in the fields of Experimental and Molecular Pathology. Dr. Stöppler's educational background includes a BA with Highest Distinction from the University of Virginia and an MD from the University of North Carolina. She completed residency training in Anatomic Pathology at Georgetown University followed by subspecialty fellowship training in molecular diagnostics and experimental pathology.
- Stitches facts
- Why is wound closure important?
- How does the health-care professional assess a wound?
- How is the type of closure material chosen?
- How is skin closure achieved?
- How is repair of deep tissues achieved?
- When and how are sutures removed?
- What happens to the site after suture removal?
- Are there any special considerations regarding wound repair?
- Wounds or lacerations must be explored and thoroughly cleaned prior to closure.
- Suture materials vary in their composition and thickness, and the choice of the appropriate material depends upon the nature and location of the wound.
- Staples, Steri-Strips, Band-Aids, and skin glue can be alternatives to suture material for skin closure.
- Dissolvable suture material may be used for the repair of deep tissues.
- Most sutures are left in place for seven to 10 days.
Why is wound closure important?
The ability to close a skin wound is an important skill learned by medical care providers. Whether the skin injury was made by a scalpel in the operating room or by a fall in the street, the decision as to how and when to repair the damage needs to be individualized for each patient and situation.
The skin has many layers from the epidermis on the outside, to the deeper subcutaneous tissues and the dermis in between. Each of these layers has other sub-layers that help the skin perform its functions. The skin provides a barrier to the outside world and the dangers of infection, environmental hazards and chemicals, and temperature. It contains melanocytes that can darken or tan the skin while protecting the body from ultraviolet radiation. It also plays an important role in temperature and fluid regulation.
Different options exist for repairing lacerated skin and providing a nice cosmetic outcome. However, there are two important steps that need to occur before the skin is closed.
- Exploration: Most wounds need to be examined and explored to their full depth, looking for dirt and debris that may have entered and making certain that the anatomic structures beneath the damaged skin are intact and not injured. For example, in a hand or finger laceration, the care provider will want to make certain that the blood vessels, nerves, and tendons beneath the skin have not been cut. This is done both by physical examination of the hand and finger, evaluating their power and motion, blood supply and nerve sensation, and also by looking inside the wound, identifying the tendon and perhaps the artery and nerve bundles to make certain that they are intact.
- Cleaning: When the skin is broken, the outside world invades the body and may cause infection. Before the skin is closed, the wound must be washed out or irrigated thoroughly to prevent the occurrence of an infection. Sometimes, a small amount of dirty tissue needs to be cut out, and this is called debridement.
The purpose of wound care is not simply to yield a good-looking scar. All wounds will eventually heal over time, although closing the skin edges will make that healing time shorter. The primary purpose of seeking medical care from a health-care professional is to get the wound properly cleaned and make certain everything is in good working order beneath the damaged skin.
When a laceration occurs, there are some reasonable first aid and home-care steps to consider. Washing with tap water to clean the wound is always helpful. Studies have shown that plain tap water is as good as any special fluids that are used in hospitals for cleaning wounds. The wound should be lightly bandaged and elevated if possible.
The amount of blood supplied to different parts of the body varies. A wound on the face, scalp, or hand may bleed profusely while one on the shin or back may not. Bleeding will often stop with direct pressure at the bleeding site and elevation of the injured part of the body.
Find out what women really need. | <urn:uuid:49868946-1702-4f66-8a00-d7262f4a9539> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.rxlist.com/stitches/article.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397565.80/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00201-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937337 | 1,015 | 2.796875 | 3 |
Robert I of Scotland, the great-grandson (four times removed) of David I, claimed the Scottish throne in the wake of the death of William Wallace in 1305, in defiance of English king Edward I's asserted rule over the country. After defeating and killing his political rival, John Comyn, in Dumfries in 1306, he was crowned King of Scotland at Scone, near Perth, in a ritual of full solemnity. The first decade of his reign, however, was spent in fighting off the military resistance of Edward I's English army, finally gaining a decisive victory at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314.
Editors. "Reign of King Robert I of Scotland (Robert the Bruce)". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 31 July 2012
[http://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=651, accessed 29 June 2016.] | <urn:uuid:a14abe4a-4c34-4ea4-a1e2-92efd6b445e3> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=651 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397428.37/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00031-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967457 | 192 | 3.546875 | 4 |
Credit: © Dietrich Haeseler
Yuzhnoye Lox/Kerosene rocket engine. 78.4 kN. Zenit stage 2 attitude control engine. In Production. Isp=342s. Four-chamber pump-fed single-run engine operated in a staged combustion scheme with afterburning of the generator gas. Development began in 1976.
The RD-8 was designed from the beginning for high reliability (no less than 0.995%) long service life (more than 4000 seconds); and for installation in the upper stage after a factory firing test without the need for post -test refurbishment. A safe shutdown was commanded upon depletion of any propellant component. The propellants were ignited in the gas generator and chambers by use of a starting fuel. The control units were fed with helium through electropneumatic valves. The engine could stay ready on the pad, filled with propellants, for 24 hours before a launch would need to be scrubbed and the engine purged and recycled. The engine design of the engine allowed for multiple bench firing tests.
Application: Zenit stage 2 attitude control engine.
Chambers: 4. Engine: 380 kg (830 lb). Chamber Pressure: 76.50 bar. Thrust to Weight Ratio: 21.03. Oxidizer to Fuel Ratio: 2.4.
More... - Chronology...
Status: In Production.
Unfuelled mass: 380 kg (830 lb).
Height: 1.67 m (5.47 ft).
Diameter: 4.00 m (13.10 ft).
Thrust: 78.40 kN (17,625 lbf).
Specific impulse: 342 s.
Burn time: 1,100 s.
First Launch: 1976-85.
Associated Launch Vehicles
Zenit-2 Ukrainian orbital launch vehicle. Two-stage version that continued to be used for launch of Russian military satellites tailored to it after the fall of the Soviet Union. More...
Associated Manufacturers and Agencies
Yuzhnoye Ukrainian manufacturer of rockets, spacecraft, and rocket engines. Yangel Design Bureau, Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine. More...
Lox/Kerosene Liquid oxygen was the earliest, cheapest, safest, and eventually the preferred oxidiser for large space launchers. Its main drawback is that it is moderately cryogenic, and therefore not suitable for military uses where storage of the fuelled missile and quick launch are required. In January 1953 Rocketdyne commenced the REAP program to develop a number of improvements to the engines being developed for the Navaho and Atlas missiles. Among these was development of a special grade of kerosene suitable for rocket engines. Prior to that any number of rocket propellants derived from petroleum had been used. Goddard had begun with gasoline, and there were experimental engines powered by kerosene, diesel oil, paint thinner, or jet fuel kerosene JP-4 or JP-5. The wide variance in physical properties among fuels of the same class led to the identification of narrow-range petroleum fractions, embodied in 1954 in the standard US kerosene rocket fuel RP-1, covered by Military Specification MIL-R-25576. In Russia, similar specifications were developed for kerosene under the specifications T-1 and RG-1. The Russians also developed a compound of unknown formulation in the 1980's known as 'Sintin', or synthetic kerosene. More...
Shnyakin, V N, Shidkostnye Raketye Dvigateli - Opisanie i Osnovnye Tekhnicheskie Dannye, GKB Yuzhnoe "Yangel", Dnepropetrovsk 1996 via Dietrich Haeseler.
Novosti kosmonavtiki, Issue 11, 1997 via Dietrich Haeseler.
Yuzhnoye Company Web Site, Web Address when accessed: here.
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||December 12, 2003
Legendary Soldier - Native Leader
In my Remembrance Day article on soldier Tom Anderson I mentioned Tom's friend and fellow soldier Francis "Peg" Pegahmagabow, Canada's most decorated native veteran. In a letter from Francis to Tom Francis explained that his name in English means "approaching tornado", an entirely appropriate name. One source noted that few of the First Contingent returned. Francis Pegahmagabow, an Ojibwa from the Parry Island Reserve near Parry Sound survived the whole war and won the prestigious Military Medal for gallantry three times. His achievements as a soldier have been widely acclaimed and included in two publications Forgotten Soldiers (Canadian War Museum) and Native Soldiers Foreign Wars (Dept. of Veterans Affairs). Neither of these books tells the sad story of his problems when he returned home and his remarkable leadership in the early movement for native rights and self-determination. A new book Pegahmagabow: Legendary Warrior, Forgotten Hero (2003) by Adrian Hayes corrects this oversight.
|| The new book about Francis Pegahmagabow the legendary soldier and native activist.
Hayes' beautifully designed 96-page gem has 47 photographs and is of interest as military history and native history. Francis Pegahmagabow's life as a soldier who killed and captured many of the enemy is remarkable. After recuperation on at least 2 occasions he could not wait to get back for more. He was not only a good soldier but a good leader. As the photo on the front of the book shows the trenches of WWI were not pleasant. Towards the end of the war he became difficult and did not suffer fools gladly.
The new book, 5 years in the writing, provides scholarly detail from archival research, interviews, etc. on Pegahmagabow's war experience and his return to Parry Island to a "life of severe hardship and near poverty in the 1920's and 1930's" and his emergence as an outstanding native leader.
Life on the Reserve
He married and had 6 children and got few veterans benefits. He later got an increase in his benefits because of war related ill health. He was refused financial help from Indian Affairs for a farm he was developing and was turned down several times for a team of horses. Many Indian Agents under the Indian Act treated aboriginals like children assuming they were not responsible. Any monies were controlled by the agent, often in a most patronizing and arbitrary way. Pegahmagabow the tough old soldier, who was easy to anger, fought the system going to lawyers and becoming Chief of the reserve. He got to know
F.O. Loft, a Six Nations Mowhawk and a Lieutenant in WWI who founded the early League of Indians of Canada.
"Peg" found some work as a guide and during WWII worked as a guard at a munitions plant at nearby Nobel. He also served as a Sergeant-Major in the militia where he did an excellent job.
Native Leader and Activist
As a native leader Peg did not hesitate to write letters to the Prime Minister and others with the grievances of his people and he challenged authority regularly. He learned how to use sympathetic lawyers to help his cause. The last third of the book details this activity and shows how he became a leader in the movement for self-determination.
Many people think the native movement for justice began in the 1960's but Hayes dispels this. Pegahmagabow died in 1952 at age 63. A delegation went to the League of Nations in 1923 seeking sovereignty for the Six Nations Confederacy but were ignored. Natives later sought membership in the United Nations and were ignored. A League of Indians was formed in the 1920's, to bring a more cohesive approach to recognition.
In 1943 the Brotherhood of Canadian Indians was established and called a convention. The Dept. of Indian Affairs strongly objected and would not support it financially. They called the leaders troublemakers. Pegahmagabow had been elected Chief of the Parry Island Band again after a lengthy hiatus and attended the Conference adding his prestigious name to the event.
The Native Independent Government (NIG) was another group established to pursue their cause. In 1943 Peg became the Supreme Chief of the NIG. The Union of Ontario Indians was formed in 1943 and remains active today. Space does not allow for a full review of the evolution of native rights. Over the next 50 years the government began to show change with a push from events like Oka and
|| Plaque unveiling on the Rotary/Algonquin Fitness Trail in Parry Sound in July 2003 honouring Algonquin veterans, and in particular Francis Pegahmagabow whose family including daughter Marie and son Duncan (on right) are shown.
Today there have been several land claims settled and more in the works and native self-government is growing. The Metis First Nation recently received significant recognition. Pegahmagabow now 50 years after his death would have been pleased that native veterans or their spouses have now received compensation for past wrongs.
The new book will go a long way to solidify Francis Pegahmagabow's place as a remarkable Canadian and an outstanding aboriginal. Haynes states in his book that Peg was "In many ways a man ahead of his time (who) helped set out the course followed by Canada's native leaders". He is enshrined in the Indian Hall of Fame at the Woodland Centre in Brantford. On July 26, 2003 the Rotary-Algonquin Regiment Fitness Trail opened in Parry Sound recognizing the Algonquin Regiment and in particular Francis Pegahmagabow (see photo).
The book is published by Fox Meadow Books, Bracebridge, (www.foxmeadowbooks.com) The company has produced several other quality history books including the Gilded Cage - the German
P.O.W. book I have written about.
Heritage Perspective Home Page | <urn:uuid:4e2e6f0f-36e8-415d-9a31-ceeda0d0de4a> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.pastforward.ca/perspectives/dec_122003.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783392099.27/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154952-00000-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979648 | 1,217 | 2.5625 | 3 |
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Friday, July 1, 2011
From barbecue season through tailgating time, grilling is more of a lifestyle than a method of cooking food. It can be a delicious part of healthy living if you follow these tips to maximize flavor while minimizing your cancer risk.
Can eating grilled foods really increase cancer risk?Unfortunately, certain aspects of the grilling process can cause changes in food thatmay contribute to your cancer risk. Although more studies are needed to confirm the link between grilling and cancer in humans, it’s certainly worthwhile to decrease your exposure to any possible carcinogens. The danger comes from two sources:
Can these risks be avoided?Absolutely! In fact, grilling can be one of the healthiest methods of cooking if you pay attention to a few factors:
Get startedWe’ve compiled some ofour favorite summer grilling recipesfrom Mass General’s “Be Fit” healthy eating program and other trusted sources. Give them a try, but remember: You can make all your favorite summer recipes healthier if you keep our healthy grilling tips in mind. Enjoy!
Back to Top | <urn:uuid:73096203-36b1-4729-80ed-ba4cd99a8eca> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.massgeneral.org/cancer/about/newsarticle.aspx?id=2834 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783391519.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154951-00187-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.907679 | 241 | 2.71875 | 3 |
Frostbite is what happens when body tissues freeze -- ice crystals actually form in the cells of the affected part of the body. If the crystals are large enough, they will burst and kill the cells; therefore, frostbite actually causes damage to skin and soft tissues. The degree of damage is similar to that of burns: first-degree frostbite may cause little more than tingling, a burning feeling, and redness, while second-degree frostbite produces blisters and third-degree (deep) frostbite will damage the soft tissue under the skin. Since it takes time for the freezing to do its damage, frostbite may turn out in the end to be more severe than it first seemed.
Frostbite damage depends on how cold the frozen tissues get. Since blood flow from the center of your body helps keep tissues warm, frostbite occurs most often in parts far from the core -- like fingers, toes, hands, feet, and the tip of your nose. Frostbite is accompanied by vasoconstriction (narrowing of blood vessels, which cuts down on blood flow) in the cold tissue, which keeps the affected tissue from being warmed and makes the cold damage worse. The damage can become even more severe if an affected part is re-warmed and then freezes again. Because of this, frostbitten areas should be rewarmed outside a health-care facility only if there is no chance of them being frozen again on the way to the hospital. Mild, superficial (first- and second-degree) frostbite may respond to blowing warm (not too hot -- you don't want to burn the victim) air over the affected areas, or by putting them in the patient's armpits; the rewarmed parts should be covered with clean, dry dressings after rewarming to protect them from both further cold and other injuries. Deeper frostbite should be treated by putting the affected part in lukewarm water; since deep frostbite can cause permanent damage to tissue, and since people with deep frostbite may also be hypothermic, this should be done in a hospital or an emergency-medicine facility, or at least with your doctor's advice.
Preventing frostbite is mainly a matter of keeping yourself -- especially the more distant parts of your body -- warm. If you are going out in cold weather, protect your hands and feet with appropriate gloves, socks, and boots. Waterproof or water-resistant hand and foot protection is a good idea too, since wet clothes can take heat away from your body and increase the risk of frostbite. In cold, windy weather, you need to protect your face as well -- unlike Rudolph, who can keep his nose warm as well as bright, your nose can freeze up. And be careful of the wind in cold weather: wind-chill factor, or (more properly) wind-chill temperature, refers to the apparent temperature in windy weather. Since high wind causes moisture to evaporate from your skin and clothes, thus lowering the skin temperature, the higher the wind speed, the easier it is for you to be frostbitten. | <urn:uuid:6b307fd5-62ee-467e-b5a8-a871543fc74a> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.drreddy.com/frost.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396959.83/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00005-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94702 | 640 | 3.265625 | 3 |
Make programs help to manage the complexity of building
software programs from many source file and library
components. Make programs read Makefiles, which are
description files that specify the parts and processes that
should be used to build a software product.
Make programs have been the dominant programs for doing
software builds for more than 25 years. The first make
program was created in the mid-1970s. In the 1980s, make
was extended with more advanced features. In the 1990s,
several new make replacement programs were created to offer
new description languages for makefiles. | <urn:uuid:cb371882-2ec6-420b-b9c1-d3ce6ad466ea> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.dmoz.org/desc/Computers/Software/Build_Management/Make_Tools | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393332.57/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00003-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960535 | 121 | 2.96875 | 3 |
In Miami's Cuban exile community of the 1960s and 1970s, the unifying bond remained the enclave's ties to the homeland. These ties influenced how Cuban theater developed in Miami, reflected in concepts such as the sala-teatro (pocket theater) and venues opening across Miami with names borrowed from Havana, such as Las Máscaras, Teatro Martí, and La Comedia. Another sign of attachment to the old country manifested itself in the kinds of shows favored by the new art and theater organizations. Whether dedicated to lyric theater, comedy, or drama works, they continued important traditions well-established in the island such as opera, zarzuela, and sainete, among others. The theater seeds planted in the 1960s found fertile ground, as demonstrated by the organizations showcased in the last section and which are still active today.
If the zarzuela was the theatrical genre favored by Cuban audiences in the first half of the 20th century, it is not surprising that the early exiles, composed mainly of Cuba's upper-middle classes, very soon started to produce in Miami the lyric genre in general and zarzuelas, both Spanish and Cuban, in particular. Lyric theater served to create an "imagined community" that continued to ally itself to the upper-class Cuba that no longer existed on the island or in exile. As an early program states, the zarzuela specifically was considered one of the best examples of the Spanish traditions important to Cubans and to those from other Latin American countries who were settling in Miami during the 1960s and 1970s. The zarzuela enthusiasm among the exile community even generated its own composers. For exiles, zarzuelas were, and still are, prestigious social and cultural events, much like the opera was for Republican Cuba's upper and middle classes.
Sociedad Pro-Arte Grateli
In Miami, the lyric theater scene has been dominated by the enduring Sociedad Pro-Arte Grateli, which through the years has brought to South Florida a wide variety of offerings. Grateli is an acronym for Gran Teatro Lírío (Great Lyric Theater). The group's complete name, however, is reminiscent of Cuba's Sociedad Pro-Arte Musica, an association founded in Havana in 1918 that was responsible for the development of music and lyric theater in Republican Cuba.
In this clip, Pili de la Rosa narrates the founding of Grateli in 1968 by herself, set designer Demetrio Menéndez, soprano star Marta Pérez, and actor Miguel de Grandy II. Marta Pérez and Miguel de Grandy II had formed part of Pro-Arte Musical's activities. In addition to zarzuelas, Grateli also promoted the taste for popular music among Miami's Cuban audiences by including danzones, guajiras, sones, and even boleros in sainetes and bufo sketches in its programming.
Miami's First Zarzuela Production
The first zarzuela that Grateli staged was the quintessential La verbena de la paloma (The Fair of the Dove, 1894). In this interview clip, Pili de la Rosa explains that even though they had no money for the production, each of Grateli's founders contributed $250 for the $1,000 needed to rent the Dade County Auditorium. They were able to print an extensive program written in Spanish and English. In addition to theatrical information, the advertisements in the program demonstrate a well-developed ethnic enclave that, in only ten years, already had a candidate running for city commissioner of Hialeah.
Cecilia Valdés: Cuba's Classic Zarzuela
In 1970, Grateli presented the timeless Cuban zarzuela Cecilia Valdés (1932) by Gonzalo Roig, based on Cirilo Villaverde's antislavery novel Cecilia Valdés o la Loma del Angel (1839). Marta Pérez, who had the leading role in the New York premiere, shared the role of Cecilia with fellow soprano Blanca Varela. Cecilia is a lower-class mulata de rumbo (mulatta of the street), who could pass as white and is usually played by a white actress. The affirmation of the song "Yo soy, Cecilia Valdés" ("I am, Cecilia Valdés"), as sung by Pérez, can be perceived as an affirmation of Cuban identity and culture by an exile community with emotional ties to both the music and the storyline.
El cafetal and Blackface
Grateli produced the U.S. premiere of Gustavo Sánchez Galarraga and Ernesto Lecuona's El cafetal (The Coffee Plantation, 1929) in 1978. It is considered the first mature Cuban zarzuela because of its elaborate plot, choruses, and extended arias. It is also the first Cuban zarzuela in which the black protagonist is not the negrito of the bufo tradition. In Miami, as it was done in Cuba, most black characters as well as the classic slave chorus were performed in blackface.
An Exile Zarzuela
Luis Carballo wrote La gentil de ayer (The Graceful One of Yesteryears) in 1976 for soprano Virginia Alonso. It was the first zarzuela authored in exile and bore witness to the enthusiasm generated by the genre in the community. The world premiere also included Chamaco García and Mara González.
Throughout this period, Grateli implemented a subscription-based formula that helped them to produce the most important Spanish zarzuelas, including La rosa del azafrán (The Saffron Flower, 1930), Las Leandras (1931), Luisa Fernanda (1932), Doña Francisquita (1923), and Los gavilanes (The Hawks, 1923). Spanish zarzuelas allowed them to diversify their audience base since other Latin American immigrants and exiles were also familiar with the repertoire.
FORUM and Sociedad Artístico Cultural de las Américas were companies that also produced zarzuelas such as Las Leandras (photograph) and María la O. Even Teatro Martí, known primarily for presenting comedies, initiated a season of zarzuelas following the tradition of Havana's Teatro Martí.
Operas and Operettas
Operas and operettas were very popular in Cuba since the 19th century, and this tradition also crossed the Florida Straits. In 1972, Maestro Manuel Ochoa produced the U.S. premiere of Emilio Arrieta's Spanish opera Marina (1855).
Opera Pan-Americana de Miami and Opera Guild of Greater Miami also produced operas and operettas for the Spanish-speaking audience, such as Jean Gilbert's La casta Susana (The Girl in the Taxi, 1910) and Franz Lehár's La viuda alegre (The Merry Widow, 1905).
Lyric Theater in a New Home
By the mid-1970s, Miami was undoubtedly the U.S. capital of zarzuelas, and even the leading voices from the New York City Opera and the Metropolitan Opera were lured to the city by them. Zarzuela's dance and musical numbers and conflicts appealed to the personal and collective struggles of communities trying to put down roots in a foreign country.
The popularity of lyric theater in general and zarzuelas in particular, within a Latino community in the making, demonstrates the ways in which music and spectacle worked not only as a projection of social status but as construction of ethnic identity.
One of the major success stories in Miami's theatrical life is Teatro Prometeo at Miami-Dade College, the only Spanish-language conservatory in the country for actor training. Its creation can be attributed to two main factors: the artistic vision, will, and nerve of a truly committed theater artist, Teresa María Rojas and the pedagogical vision of Miami-Dade College President Eduardo Padrón.
Throughout the years, Prometeo has featured many Miami and U.S. premieres of Cuban and international playwrights. It has also carried out programs specifically for young and elderly audiences and ventured into performances in non-traditional theater spaces such as community centers, the street, and public transportation. Prometeo continues to thrive today, with Colombian-born Joann María Yarrow as its current director.
In 1973, Rojas and Griselda Nogueras founded the short-lived Studio Tres in Miami. Their first Spanish-language production was William Inge's Picnic, which had premiered 20 years earlier on Broadway. They introduced to Miami a formula that would characterize Rojas' future productions: pairing at least one experienced, well-known actor with new, young faces. In this case, Picnic marked the return of the great Cuban actress Rosa Felipe to the stage along with then newcomers Mario Ernesto Sánchez and Alina Interián.
Miami's Teatro Prometeo
Rojas' experience with Picnic led to the creation of Miami's Teatro Prometeo. It took off in 1972 when Eduardo Padrón, then Dean of Education at what is today Miami-Dade College, asked Rojas to develop an acting program in Spanish for the school. The curriculum put in place by Rojas was similar to the Drama program offered in English and also led to an Associate's Degree. In this interview clip, Rojas narrates the history of the group when they rehearsed in a garage before being invited to Miami-Dade College's downtown campus and how they got their start at the College.
Francisco Morín and Havana's Teatro Prometeo
Prometeo and its success owe much to a luminary of Cuban theater, Francisco Morín. Teresa María Rojas was one of the female stars of Morín's famous Prometeo theater group in Havana. Founded in 1948,Morin's theater group was the training ground for many professional actors. Morín himself is considered one of Latin America's most accomplished directors, credited with ushering "Cuban theater into modernity" for his staging of Virgilio Piñera's Electra Garrigó in 1948. In launching a new theater program for Miami-Dade College, Rojas paid tribute to Morín by naming it Teatro Prometeo. They also kept Andrés García's logo of two palm trees outlining the drama and comedy masks and implemented Morín's vision of theater as a laboratory for a continuous learning experience.
From the very beginning, Prometeo presented itself as a community theater with a mission to perform quality productions for free in different neighborhoods. One of their first full productions was Robert Lamoureux's French mystery farce La sopera (The Soup Bowl, 1971). This show was staged first at Miami Senior High Auditorium and then presented in outdoor parks in Little Havana and Wynwood. Prometeo actors traveled through these neighborhoods on a fire truck announcing the performances.
Science Fiction on Stage
In 1975, Prometeo presented 2075. Written in Paris in 1963 by Teresa Casuso, it was one of the first science fiction plays shown on a Miami stage. In the play, a sleeping beauty wakes up one-hundred years later to find a perfect world where there is no pain, sickness, or envy. It was an innovation to place a television set on stage, with the audience able to see itself on it during the first part of the play. Rojas directed a rather large cast of 17 Promethean Players. Even though they received mixed reviews and despite the aged storyline, the acting, directing, and stage design made this play a major success for the acting troupe.
Lydia Cabrera at Prometeo
One of the highlights of Prometeo's performances was the presentation in 1976 of Lydia Cabrera's Suandende during a conference in her honor at Florida International University. Cabrera was a renowned writer and authority on Afro-Cuban religions. Rojas directed Cabrera's short story with choreography by Armando Navarro. The narrator (in the photograph on the left) also played the drums, providing rhythm and tempo to the performance.
Prometeo and Art Theater
Prometeo celebrated its fifth anniversary with the production of Jean Anouilh's La alondra (The Lark) at Gusman Cultural Center. Almost 40 students were involved in the production. The group received many thank you notes for bringing to Miami quality theater, which meant a genre other than slapstick comedy. That same year, Rojas directed three other productions and won the Don Quijote Award for Cultural & Artistic Work.
Towards the end of the decade, the Promethean Players embarked on a new journey: they started attending theater festivals and returned home with sweeping victories. In 1978, they traveled to El Paso, Texas, to participate in the Golden Age Theater Festival, also known as Chamizal for the park in which the festival takes place. Prometeo competed with Calderón de la Barca's El Gran Teatro del Mundo and won all five top prizes. They are pictured here with the awards received at Chamizal. That same year they also competed at the American College Theatre Festival in Gainesville with Fernando Arrabal's Garden of Delights.
By 1979, when they returned to Chamizal with a modern version of Lope de Vega's La dama boba (The Foolish Lady), they were invited to open the festival. Rojas won best director for a second time, and the Players won best actor and best supporting actress awards.
Teresa María Rojas and Her Legacy
When Rojas was asked in an interview about her influence on others, she replied that she did not think she had had a major impact, as she explains in this clip. However, under Rojas' dynamic leadership, Prometeo incorporated Miami's best artists as teachers and offered a wide array of courses including acting, dance, expressive movement, singing, and stage and costume design.
Throughout the years, Rojas created a multiethnic pool of actors for Miami by discovering, training, and nurturing important theater artists, such as Nilo Cruz, the first Latino Pulitzer prizewinner for theater, and Mario Ernesto Sánchez, founder and director of Teatro Avante.
Prometeo and Teresa María Rojas changed the face of theater in Miami and the lives and minds of hundreds of individuals. For most of the Promethean Players, she really taught them the value of life and what it meant to be an artist, as shown in a student's thank you note. In Rojas' own words: "My ambition is not to see my players in Broadway or Hollywood but to make them live 24 hours a day as artists. In that way they will live life to the fullest."
The resilience of the individuals and theater organizations featured in this section speaks volumes about their capacity to survive and grow in the midst of challenges of all kinds. Not only were they able to adapt to the values of their new society, but they also mirrored throughout their work a shared human experience based on the impact of exodus and resettlement and a mission to bring first-rate theater to their new hometown and to do it in their mother tongue, Spanish.
In 1979, Mario Ernesto Sánchez, Alina Interián, and Teresa María Rojas founded RAS, which later became Teatro Avante. The consummation of their efforts can be seen in their over 30 years of existence and their creation of the prestigious International Hispanic Theatre Festival of Miami, now in its 27th edition, under Sánchez's determined stewardship. The other two companies profiled in this section, Teatro Bellas Artes and Hispanic Theater Guild (Teatro 8), have also persevered in bringing universal theater to their Spanish-speaking audiences.
RAS and Teatro Avante
In 1978, ex-Promethean Player Alina Interián and Mario Ernesto Sánchez joined forces with Teresa María Rojas to create RAS Community Theater, the company that would become Teatro Avante in 1986. They opened their first space in 1981 with floor and light plans designed by María Julia Casanova. Between 1981 and 1986 the name RAS and Teatro Avante were used interchangeably, although RAS was the theater group and Avante its theatrical space.
From the very beginning, the organization's main goal was the preservation of Hispanic, especially Cuban, cultural heritage. They chose Virgilio Piñera's Electra Garrigó for its inauguration and brought Francisco Morín to direct it. This was the first Piñera play staged by Avante, which would go on to produce a number of additional works by Piñera, including the world premiere of Piñera's Una caja de zapatos vacía (An Empty Shoebox, 1987).
Mario Ernesto Sánchez
Mario Ernesto Sánchez arrived in the U.S. in 1962 through Operation Pedro Pan, a program that saw 14,000 Cuban children arrive in exile during the 1960s without their parents. Sánchez started his theatrical career singing and dancing in Añorada Cuba and playing the character of Perucho Figueredo in Manuel Ochoa's De Belén a Bayamo in 1968. After studying with Teresa María Rojas and Griselda Nogueras, he went on to work at Prometeo, acting and directing for the company.
Sánchez became a regular in the Miami theater scene of the 1970s, performing with groups ranging from Grateli to Studio Tres and El Carrusel. At the helm of his group, Teatro Avante, he has received numerous awards throughout the years including the "Distinguished Career Award" from the Florida Theatre Conference for his contribution to the development of theater in Florida.
Alina Interián entered the world of the theater in the early 1970s after training under Teresa María Rojas. As one of the co-founders of RAS/Teatro Avante in 1978, she starred in their inaugural production of Virgilio Piñera's Electra Garrigó. Interián was also part of the opening of the new theater space, establishing the name of Teatro Avante with Bernard Slade's Homenaje (Tribute) in 1981. She is currently the Executive Director of The Florida Center for the Literary Arts at Miami-Dade College, which organizes the Miami Book Fair International and oversees Prometeo Theater.
In 1978, Teatro América took over a space that had been renovated by New York's Repertorio Español when they launched a theater venture in Miami. Teatro América focused on musical theater and comedies, like most of their colleagues at the time.
Teatro de Bellas Artes
In the early 1980s, Teatro América became Teatro de Bellas Artes and soon Pili de la Rosa and María Julia Casanova joined the new theater as directors. Bellas Artes' inaugural musical comedy Lucy was adapted by Casanova with music by Anam Munar. Lucy Pereda and Carlos Grillone (as pictured) played the leading roles.
Marcos Casanova and Hispanic Theater Guild (Teatro 8)
Marcos Casanova arrived in Miami in 1974 and acted in many important plays such as Antonio Gala's Anillos para una dama (Rings for a Lady) as well as comedies. In 1987, he became famous as a playwright for his comedy Las Carbonell en la Villa Jabón Candado (The Carbonell Sisters in Candado's Villas), inspired by Raúl de Cárdenas' Las Carbonell de la Calle Obispo, and he won the Letras de Oro prize in 1994 for La libertad prestada (Borrowed Freedom).
The actor-director was also involved in the founding of the Hispanic Theater Guild in 1989 and the opening of its theater venue, Teatro 8, in 2000, which occupies the former Teatro Casanova created by María Julia Casanova (no relation) in 1992. Teatro 8 has been responsible for innumerable premieres including the Spanish-language world premiere of Nilo Cruz's Two sisters and a piano in 2007.
What began as the Hispanic Theater Festival in 1986 is today the International Hispanic Theatre Festival, the longest running theater festival of its kind in the U.S. Produced by Teatro Avante and Mario Ernesto Sánchez, the Festival is recognized as "the most distinguished U.S. portal to the Americas" by American Theatre editor Randy Gener (2010) and has received several international awards. Its precursors were the Gran Festival de las Salas Teatro de Miami (Great Festivals of Miami's Pocket Theaters), first held in 1975 with the participation of the most important local Spanish-language companies; and the yearly Festival of Ethnic Theater, organized by Sánchez between 1984 and 1986, that presented one-act plays by Jewish, Black, and Hispanic artists. | <urn:uuid:f8289846-083e-4aa9-b4ab-efcb60761616> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://scholar.library.miami.edu/miamitheater/section2.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395346.72/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00109-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95536 | 4,469 | 3.109375 | 3 |
| Policy for Safe use of Hydrofluoric Acid
PURPOSE: This policy establishes safe work procedures for personnel working with hydrofluoric acid (HF), a highly hazardous chemical. It outlines safe work practices and response in case of emergency to minimize health risks.
SCOPE: This policy covers all university campuses including Morningside (MS), Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory (LDEO), Medical Center (CUMC) and Nevis.
APPLICABILITY: This policy covers users of HF, the researchers whose work presents the highest potential for exposure, Facilities workers and first-responders to incidents involving HF releases.
The hydrofluoric acid is a clear and colorless corrosive liquid. HF is also available as gaseous material. All forms of HF can cause sever burns to tissue, which makes its handling and use, especially hazardous. HF easily dissolves glass and can attack enamels, pottery, concrete, rubber, leather, many metals and organic compounds. Upon reaction with certain metals, explosive hydrogen gas may be formed. HF has many industrial applications but in an academic environment it is normally used in small quantities for fabrication of electronic components, etch glass, biological staining, mineral digestion, etc.
HF, though a weak acid, is physiologically a very potent chemical due to fluoride ions, which can bind with Calcium and Magnesium ions in the tissue. Concentrated HF, liquid or vapor, may cause sever burns, electrolyte imbalance, pulmonary edema and or life threatening cardiac arrhythmias. Even moderate exposure may rapidly progress to fatality if not treated promptly and properly. Symptoms of exposure may be delayed for several hours, therefore, immediate medical intervention; even in the absence of symptoms is necessary.
I. Working safely with HF
- Chemical Fume Hood: The safest place to work with HF is in a properly working chemical fume hood. Before use, always check the fume hood is certified and working properly. Procedures involving even small quantities of dilute HF solutions must not be performed on the lab bench. Avoid older fume hoods with soapstone work surfaces. Prevent contamination of the work surfaces by placing plastic trays or bench paper on the work surface before starting HF procedures.
- Gloves: Working in a fume hood protects the worker from inhalation exposure, and, to a certain extent, splashes, but the hands are still vulnerable to HF exposure. HF readily penetrates skin and becomes trapped under fingernails. Heavy neoprene or nitrile rubber (recall that HF attacks natural rubber) gloves are best for working with HF; however the increased thickness of the gloves reduces dexterity, increasing the possibility of spills. Wear two pairs of nitrile exam gloves at a time, changing the outer pair often. When working with larger quantities of HF in procedures that do not require as much dexterity, wear heavy nitrile or neoprene rubber gloves, with a nitrile exam glove worn under the outer glove.
- Body Protection: When working with HF, wear clothing and personal protective equipment (PPE) that provides protection in the event of a spill: long-sleeved shirt, long pants, and closed shoes. Always wear a lab coat, chemical-resistant apron and sleeves. Do not wear shorts and sandals in laboratory.
- Eye Protection: Goggles, along with a face shield, should be worn when handling HF to prevent eye/face exposure.
II. Limitations on the Use of HF:
Hydrofluoric acid is an extremely hazardous material. Lab personnel should work in the buddy system and NO one be allowed to work alone. For safety reasons the use of hydrofluoric acid by the University staff or students should preferably be limited to office hours (You must discuss change in procedures with your supervisor). Only persons who have read and understood this document and who are suitably trained should be allowed to use this substance. Furthermore:
- Do not eat, smoke, or drink where HF is handled or used.
- Wash hands thoroughly with soap and water after handling HF.
- Inform any first responder called to deal with an incident involving HF about the hazards associated with this substance, and
- Provided with appropriate protective gloves, a copy of this policy andSDS to the responder.
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Skin Exposure Rapid decontamination is critical to minimizing/preventing injury. If exposure occurs, remove contaminated clothing and immediately wash the affected area with copious amounts of water for 15 minutes. Have someone else call for medical assistance during this time. After washing the affected areas, apply calcium gluconate first aid gel. Calcium gluconate binds HF and prevents it from penetrating deeper into tissues. This is critical.
III. Emergency Measures During Exposure to hydrofluoric acid
Avoid all type of exposure to HF. When working, pay close attention to the task at hand and do not allow yourself to become distracted. Contact with dilute HF solutions may not produce immediate pain, but may result in severe burns without immediate treatment.
- Inhalation: Immediately remove victim to clean air until emergency personnel arrives on scene. Unlike external splashes, inhalation exposure is a serious medical emergency as it is more problematic because there are no immediate decontamination procedures. Keep person calm until medial help arrives.
- Eye Exposure: Immediately flush eyes for at least 15 minutes with copious amounts of water until emergency personnel arrive on scene.
ALL HYDROFLUORIC ACID EXPOSURES ARE A MEDICAL EMERGENCY! IMMEDIATELY CONTACT HOSPITAL and CAMPUS SECURITY AND ARRANGE FOR IMMEDIATE MEDICAL TRANSPORT. A COPY OF THIS POLICY andSDS MUST BE TO THE MEDICAL PERSONNEL.
IV. Waste disposal procedures and accidental releases.
Spent HF solutions is disposed of as hazardous waste through EH&S. Drain disposal is not allowed. You must consult EH&S for disposal if you have any question.
V. Spill Management
All areas where HF is used must have proper spill control kit. Small spills can be neutralized by covering with acid neutralizer/sodium bicarbonate, and absorbed with spill control pads/absorbents. Once the spill is contained isolate the room and leave the area immediately. Call EHS for help.
If it is a large spill immediately evacuate all persons in the area and close all doors. Any type of spill/accidental release of HF must be reported immediately to EHS during working hours at MS Campus (212) 854 – 8749; at CUMC Campus (212)-305-6780, and at LDEO Facilities (845) 365-8600 and LDEO Security and Safety (854) 365-8865 after hours call the Public Safety at (212) 854-5555 and ask for EHRS.
VI. Incompatibles and Storage
Store HF in a cool and dry place away from incompatible materials separated from other chemicals. NEVER STORE HF IN GLASS CONTAINERS! Hydrofluoric acid reacts with many materials therefore avoid contact with glass, concrete, metals, water, oxidizers, reducers, alkalis, combustibles, organics and ceramics. HF must be stored in tightly closed containers made of polyethylene or fluorocarbon plastic, lead, or platinum. Secondary containment of polyethylene must also be used.
Protect containers from physical damage. Storage facilities should have adequate ventilation and constructed for containment and neutralization of spills. Handling and storage of HF requires special materials and technology for containers, pipes, valves, etc., which is available from suppliers. Containers of this material may be hazardous when empty since they retain product residues (vapors, liquid); observe all warnings and precautions listed for the product.
A separate policy is attached with this document (see Attachment A) detailing complete medical surveillance and emergency response.
- Immediately wash the contaminated area with copious amount of water then carefully apply calcium gluconate gel as per instructions of the manufacturer.
- Take injured person to the local area Hospital for further assessment and treatment by the medical personnel. It is recommended that the person be accompanied.
- If transport is not available an ambulance must be called; speed of treatment is of the essence.
Any Department working with HF must keep Calcium gluconate gel on-site. It is the responsibility of the PI to maintain an up-to-date stock. PI must inform employees about the presence and location of the gel, advise to use it and this policy before they allowed working.
DELAY IN FIRST AID OR MEDICAL TREATMENT OR IMPROPER MEDICAL TREATMENT WILL LIKELY RESULT IN GREATER DAMGE OR MAY, IN SOME CASES, RESULT IN FATAL OUTCOME.
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INFORMATION AND TRAINING
- The Principle Investigator shall train employees who handle hydrofluoric acid on the hazards of HF and what to do in the event of an exposure or a spill or other emergency.
- The SDS together with this policy shall be used to train employees on the hazards of HF
- A Safety Data Sheet (SDS) on HF and copy of this policy must always be kept in the immediate work area where HF is used.
- Must ensure personnel are trained in the safe use of HF and this policy.
- Ensure stocks of calcium gluconate are on hand in case of emergency.
- Ensure HF spill kit is present and workers know how to use in case of a spill.
- Require employees to work in a buddy system.
- Check integrity of fume hoods periodically to ensure they are working properly.
- Ensure their employees DO NOT work on fume hoods when they are in use.
- Ensure employees responding to repair and emergencies are familiar about HF hazards and use appropriate PPE.
- Coordinate with PI for routine maintenance of fume hoods.
- Provide fume hood certification annually.
- Follow up on exposure or spill incidents
- Review and update this policy as necessary
- Provide training
ATTACHMENT A: Toxicological Properties of Hydrogen Fluoride
ATTACHMENT B: Policy for Handling and Treatment of Personnel Exposed to Hydrogen Fluoride
ATTACHMENT C: General information about HF and medical follow-up
ATTACHMENT D: Material Safety data Sheet (SDS) of Hydrofluoric Acid (HF)
Toxicological Properties of Hydrogen Fluoride
I. Properties of hydrogen fluoride. Hydrogen fluoride gas and hydrofluoric acid have nearly the same toxicological properties in living tissues/systems, and can be considered interchangeable; for the purposes of this section of the policy, the term “HF” will be used to denote either the gas or the liquid acid. The use of HF gas at CU tends to be confined to the Department of Electrical Engineering, often in gaseous mixtures (5% HF) with Helium or Neon.
In aqueous solution, hydrofluoric acid is only a weak acid, having a pKa = 3 (in contrast, HCl has a pKa = -8, and perchloric acid has a pKa = -10). In terms of acid strength (i.e., degree of dissociation in water), HF is similar to formic acid. HF does not dissociate strongly in water because HF molecules form hydrogen bonds with water molecules and because there is a large negative change in entropy when HF molecules react with water (less entropy = more order). Other hydrogen-halide molecules form only weak van der Waals forces with water molecules.
HF interacts corrosively with a wide variety of materials. This property makes HF both useful and hazardous. HF dissolves most metals, natural rubber, concrete, glass, fiberglass, ceramics and glazes. HF does not attack metallic Lead and Platinum, polyethylene, polypropylene, Teflon, Plexiglas (= acrylic), and wax.
Airborne concentrations of HF are difficult to detect precisely using direct-reading electronic instrumentation, and HF-specific test strips tend to have a large margin of error. However, HF has good warning properties, detectable by humans at concentrations as low as 0.04 ppm (the OSHA Permissible Exposure Limit (PEL) for HF is 3 ppm)
II. Toxicology of hydrogen fluoride. In the body, HF readily penetrates skin, corroding soft tissue and bone. Inhaled HF vapor/gas is corrosive to the respiratory system and can cause delayed pulmonary edema. Systemic HF poisoning removes Ca2+ from soft tissues and bones, creating a disturbance of Ca2+ concentrations (hypocalcaemia). Ca2+ regulation is critical for normal cell function, neural transmission, bone integrity, blood coagulation and intracellular signaling. Sudden death following acute HF exposure is common.
Use the utmost care in preventing exposure to even the most dilute HF solutions. Although exposure to concentrated HF solutions (>50%) will cause immediate pain, more dilute solutions (20% - 50%) may not cause any pain on contact and may go undetected for hours. Delays in first aid/treatment of HF exposure result in painful, slow-to-heal burns and systemic HF poisoning.
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Environmental Health & Safety
Policy for Handling and Treatment of Personnel Exposed to Hydrogen Fluoride
PURPOSE This policy ensures proper decontamination, emergency handling and treatment of personnel exposed to hydrogen fluoride (HF) at Columbia University.
APPLICABILITY: This policy covers all Columbia University personnel at all campuses.
SCOPE Occupational exposure to hydrogen fluoride is a true medical emergency. Personnel exposed to HF liquid solution or condensed vapors must be decontaminated with copious amount of water to avoid secondary contamination. Rescuers should don proper personal protective equipment (PPE) before coming in contact with contaminated individuals and clothing.
PROCEDURE HF is a highly corrosive and odorous substance that can cause immediate or delayed severe injury. Systemic effects include cardiac arrhythmia and electrolyte abnormalities, which can lead to sudden death. Inhalation of HF vapors can cause respiratory irritation, swelling and fluid accumulation in the lungs (pulmonary edema). Symptoms may be delayed for several days, especially in case of exposure to dilute solutions of HF (less than 20%). The following procedures should be followed:
- Rapid decontamination is critical. Contaminated clothing should be removed, double bagged and labeled as hazardous waste.
- Exposed skin should be washed with water for 15 minutes.
- Burned areas of the skin should be treated with topical calcium gluconate gel.
- If eyes are affected, irrigate with water or saline solution for at least 15 minutes.
2. First Aid
- In an emergency, attention should be given to the airway breathing and circulation of the exposed person.
- Properly protected responders (trained and attired) should remove the exposed person from the contaminated area.
- In case of ingestion, an exposed person who is conscious should be given 4 to 8 ounces of water or milk. In addition, 4 ounces of an anti-acid, such as Maalox, may be given.
- After decontamination, the exposed person should be transported as soon as possible to the nearest Emergency Room.
- Provide a copy of policy and attachments to the EMS personnel.
- Notify Environmental Health and Radiation Safety (EH&S) Department at (212) 854-8749 (MS) or 212-305-6780 (CUMC) with the workers name, location and nature of the incident, telephone contacts as well as the name and location of the medical facility the exposed person was taken to for medical treatment.
- Notify Public Safety about the hydrogen fluoride exposure.
- Complete the Incident Form and fax it EH&S at (212)305-0318.
- Shall investigate the incident and make appropriate recommendations to avoid recurrence.
Created by Marc Wilkenfeld, MD and Muhammad Akram, PhD,
General Information about HF and Medical Follow-up
See Recommended Medical Treatment for Hydrofluoric Acid Exposure
(Honeywell HF Information; http://www.hfacid.com)
Safety Data Sheet (SDS) of Hydrofluoric Acid
(Copy of SDS attached from J. T. Baker Chemical Company )
Go to Top | <urn:uuid:86122259-48ae-49e8-ba3f-d60215c6fc23> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.ehs.columbia.edu/hfPolicy.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397567.28/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00146-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.897706 | 3,418 | 2.78125 | 3 |
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Wealthy Families Spawned Industrial Revolution Argues Historian
wealth, not social status or literacy, was the best predictor of the number of surviving children. Overall, the rich were leaving twice as many children as the poor. Survival of the fittest here meant survival of the richest. He argued that this meant downward social mobility, as the poor failed to reproduce themselves and the rich produced surplus children who were then forced to take over the occupations of the poor.
Thus the children of wealthier families were forced, through the low survival rates of less wealthy families, to 'slide down the social hierarchy to find work, bringing with them bourgeois values' This means that 'today's population is descended from the economic upper classes of the Middle Ages'. Values like hard work, patience and peacefulness permeated society, encouraging the acquisition of skills and literacy. He goes on to add a genetic layer to his thesis suggesting that through the 'middle class' gene pool being handed down:
'people were better mentally equipped to learn about and accept mechanisation. This resulted in a more organised society and more efficient methods of production. So, in the centuries leading up to the Industrial Revolution, man was genetically adapting to the modern world.
Why didn't the revolution start in the much larger populations of Japan or China? Because, says Clark, their elites had only small numbers of children, meaning they failed to generate 'the downward social mobility which lit the blue touch paper to the Industrial Revolution'. Moreover, early English society was unusually stable during these years: 'In most English villages, nothing happened from 1200 to 1800' thus encouraging the 'survival of the richest not the fiercest.' I'm not so sure I buy that 'nothing happened' bit. What about the Black Death, Wars of the Roses and the Civil War? Scarcely 'nothing' I'd suggest, but the argument that its the values and genes of the wealthy stratum of Middle Ages England which has transformed the world, is intriguing, controversial and worthy of consideration.
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"They say that God is everywhere, and yet we always think of Him as somewhat of a recluse.” – Emily Dickinson
In 1882, Nietzsche put the following words into the mouth of one of his characters:
God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him. How shall we, murderers of all murderers console ourselves? … Is not the greatness of this deed too great for us? Must we not ourselves become gods simply to be worthy of it? (The Gay Science)
Despite the fact that Nietzsche chose a madman to utter this sentiment, it remains that the crippling effects of religious scepticism evident here had in fact been seeping across the world, certainly throughout Britain long before the Victorian era. Innovations in geology, German biblical studies, and translations of subversive material such as George Eliot’s of The Life of Christ meant that increasing numbers of Christians were finding it difficult to believe in the figure of Jesus Christ as a historical reality. R. L. Brett writes that “the Jesus of history has been replaced by a symbol” (10). The uncertainty in what was previously considered religious fact was pushed further with the publication of Darwin’s Origin of Species in 1859. Theories of evolution by natural selection stood in stark opposition to the teachings of Genesis the literal truth of which had been called into question decades before Darwin. The concept of natural selection seemed to remove any purpose from history and any divine providence from the universe. Key to all these developments was the possibility and probability of biblical writers being fallible, thereby denying the belief of Divine Inspiration. A book that was central to the Christian faith was being transformed from a divine truth to a mere literary text. This had a huge impact on believers; Bishop Lee of Manchester insisted “All our hopes for eternity, the very foundations of our faith, are taken from us, if one line of that Sacred Book be declared to be unfaithful or untrustworthy” (Colenso, The Pentateuch and Book of Joshua Critically Examined,176). The perceptible decline in spirituality and the increasing acceptance of agnosticism and atheism is naturally apparent in the literature of the age. Of course, everyone did not react in the same way: some, such as John Keble, failed to recognise a disappearance of God; others, including Thomas Carlyle, George Eliot and John Stuart Mill, saw God’s retreat as an emancipating license for individuals to follow their own codes of morality. For poets such as Matthew Arnold and Gerard Manley Hopkins, however, the retreat, the possible disappearance or death of God was totally intolerable. J. Hillis Miller writes that “at all cost they must attempt to re-establish communication” (13). Despite the overwhelming emphasis placed on the Victorian era as the first period of real doubt, it is interesting to examine the fraught attempts of some to revive God, to ensure his survival. For Arnold and Hopkins it appears this is attempted through similar methods: reconnecting with fellow human beings and with nature, returning to the form of poetry and abandoning the Church of England.
Arnold and Hopkins both express a deep discontent with the isolated state of the Victorian person, believing him to be alienated from nature and other human beings. The barrier Arnold perceives between men is evident in his ‘Marguerite’ poems as he laments, “We mortal millions live alone” (ln. 4). This self-containment of man is a concept totally abhorrent to Arnold and interestingly recurs in ‘The World and the Quietist’:
Deafened by his own stir
The rugged labourer
Caught not till then a sense
So glowing and so near
Of his omnipotence (ll. 20-24).
The implication here is that man, so consumed in his personal travails and so alienated from companions, has begun to believe in his total independence. It would seem Arnold is heralding Nietzsche’s sentiment: because of the neglect of God’s presence man has begun to believe himself a god.
It follows that Arnold endorsed the need for a reunion of some sort. A. L. Rowse observes that companionship was central to Arnold’s beliefs, “love for others, considerations for their well-being, as much as one’s own: only this gives happiness and joy in life” (Matthew Arnold: Poet and Prophet, 168). Textual evidence is found in ‘Isolation. To Marguerite’, as Arnold writes of happier men,
– for they, at least,
Have dreamed two human hearts might blend
In one, and were through faith released
From isolation (ll.37-41).
Although Arnold continues to discern the implicit solitude of man he maintains it is eased by the union of two people. In perhaps his most well-known and acclaimed poem, Arnold implies that in the contemporary spiritual wasteland love is the only consolation:
Ah, love, let us be true
To one another! For the world, which seems
To lie before us like a land of dreams,
… Hath really neither joy, nor love, nor light. (‘Dover Beach’, ll. 29-31, 33).
It would seem Matthew Arnold has little faith in a universal recovery. He sees in the Victorian landscape a spiritual and emotional emptiness and while this cannot be removed it can at least be lightened by engaging in human love and relationship with others. This love is arguably analogous or can at least be compared to the love of God: as Rowse explains,
What is most revealing of him personally is a moving passage on the power of love, which he put forward by analogy with the religious spirit: ‘Of such a mysterious power and its operation some clear notion may be got by anybody who has ever had any overpowering attachment, or has been in love. Everyone knows how being in love changes for the time a man’s spiritual atmosphere, and makes animation and buoyancy where before there was flatness and dullness (166).
In his appeal in ‘Dover Beach’ and the consolation described in the Marguerite poems Arnold would appear to consider his subject as synonymous with experiencing the love of God. Only in finding companionship and rediscovering God’s love can the “strange disease of modern life” (‘The Scholar-Gipsy’, ln. 202) be eased.
Like Arnold, Gerard Manley Hopkins recognises a wearied modern man who is more concerned with profit and who is systematically ignoring God’s message:
Generations have trod, have trod, have trod;
And all is seared with trade; bleared, smeared with toil;
And wears man’s smudge and shares man’s smell (‘God’s Grandeur’, ll. 5-7).
The repetitions of ‘have trod’ reflect Hopkins’ disgust at the long-failing ignorance and selfishness of his fellow man. Similarly, the internal rhyme of ‘seared’, ‘bleared’ and ‘smeared’ mirrors modern man’s life, a repetition of dreary and progressively more sullied moments. The workers who are searing, blearing and smearing the world are obviously unaware how these destructive movements are nullifying any relationship with its creator. Hopkins also believed a reconnection with God’s creations would invigorate a relationship with the creator. While Arnold turned to the fulfilment of love between people, Hopkins looked to the beauty and intricacies of nature.
Hopkins’ sense of wonderment in the God-created world is evident in his various exclamations and ejaculations as he beseeches the reader to “Look at the stars! look, look up at the skies! / O look at all the fire-fold sitting in the air!” (‘The Starlight Night’. ll. 1- 2). What is particularly interesting to note is how Hopkins succeeds in invigorating repetition in this poem. Whereas in ‘God’s Grandeur’ the reader feels oppressed by the excessive recurrences of phrases and sounds, in this poem the reader is inspired by his amazement as he recognises the extraordinary in the everyday. This ability of Hopkins to find a heaven in a wild flower is abundant as he comments that “Thrush’s eggs look little low heavens” (‘Spring’, ln. 3) or as he cherishes the “lovely behaviour / Of silk-sack clouds” (‘Hurrahing in Harvest’, ll. 2-3). Hopkins explicitly states his admiration of nature in his journals, writing, “I do not think I have ever seen anything more beautiful than the bluebell I have been looking at. I know the beauty of our Lord by it” (Miller, 313). Hopkins’ joy, even euphoria, at re-discovering nature then is because he sees all things as created in Christ. Christopher Devlin points out that “[Hopkins] thinks of Christ’s created nature as the original pattern of creation, to a place in which all subsequent created beings must attain in order to be complete” (Miller, 312-3). This evaluation seems justified when we read the following verses: “I walk, I lift up heart, eyes, / Down all that glory in the heavens to glean our Saviour” (‘Hurrahing in Harvest’, ll. 5-6). Similar to Arnold’s belief that God’s love can be felt through fellow-feeling, Hopkins maintains through his journals and through his poetry that God remains omnipresent and that one simply has to look, really look at the beauty of nature to see the beauty of Christ.
After recognising that God is indeed still present in friendship, love and in nature, these poets express a preoccupation with how best to communicate with Him. For both, the medium of poetry was of vital importance for expressing religious belief. Arnold believed implicitly in the superiority of poetry for reflecting the divine. In his introduction of ‘The Study of Poetry’ (1888) Arnold writes of lost faith resulting from the failure of religious ideas and facts; but importantly he notes that
for poetry the idea is everything; the rest is a world of illusion. Poetry attaches its emotion to the idea; the idea is the fact. The strongest part of our religion today is its unconscious poetry (Brett, 77).
Believing in the special abilities of the poet, Arnold describes “the poet, to whose mighty heart / Heaven doth a quicker pulse impart, / Subdues that energy to scan / Not his own course, but that of man” (‘Resignation’, ll. 144-147). Not only are the faculties of the poet more acute, Arnold also bestows him with considerate selflessness. He reiterates this belief as his speaker insists “the poet more, than man…Deeper the poet feels” (ll. 204, 206). Looking to Arnold’s critical writing readers can discern a similar importance is placed on the role of poetry. In ‘Literature and Dogma’ he demythologises the New Testament and evokes instead the poetry of the biblical writing maintaining it is this that keeps God’s presence tangible. He writes of those who have discarded the Bible after learning of its apparent inaccuracies and impossibilities:
To these persons we restore the use of the Bible, if, while showing them that the Bible-language is not scientific, but the language of common speech or of poetry and eloquence, approximative language thrown out at certain great objects of consciousness which it does not pretend to define fully, we convince them at the same time that this language deals with facts of experience most momentous and real (126- 7).
Arnold ultimately believed that in the numerous discordant voices about God’s presence, the voice of the poet and the poetry he saw as implicit in religion could and should be the unifying force. And others responded to this belief; I. A. Richards maintained in his Principles of Literary Criticism that if the complete collapse of traditional beliefs should occur “we shall then be thrown back as Matthew Arnold foresaw, upon poetry. It is capable of saving us; it is a perfectly possible means of overcoming chaos” (Brett, 75). Conservative John Keble similarly argued that “Christian belief has a ‘handmaid’ in poetry: an essential theological tool to help bring Anglicans closer to God and the Church” (Scheinberg, 164). Some critics have gone as far as to suggest that Arnold, disillusioned with the state of Christianity, attempted to make a surrogate religion of poetry. This seems, however, too extreme a statement and Brett readily dismisses it, arguing that Arnold merely saw great poetry as “a glass in which men could discern an image of eternal truth…The Bible for him was the supreme example” (83). It remains that one of the most significant means for reconnecting with God, in Arnold’s eyes at least, was through the reading and writing of poetry.
Hopkins also saw poetry as the highest mode of reasserting God’s presence in the world. For Hopkins “any two things however unlike are in something like” (Miller, 277) and therefore they may also be said to rhyme. By poetically portraying the rhyme of Christ, Hopkins was not only paying homage to the deity that created these patterns but also saw himself as strengthening God’s presence in the world. He admits that “design, pattern or what I am in the habit of calling ‘inscape’ is what I above all aim at in poetry” (Miller, 281). Reading ‘The Windhover’, which Hopkins considered his greatest work, one is struck most powerfully by the highly patterned form of the poem. The conventional syllabic structure of the sonnet is broken as Hopkins orders his verses according to the number of accented syllables instead, a practice he termed “sprung rhythm”. Adjectives, verbs and nouns are obscured as he writes of the “daylight’s dauphin, dapple-dawn- drawn Falcon” (ln. 2). These words could be taken to mean that the dappled dawn light draws (i.e. sketches) the falcon so the speaker can see it, or that the dappled dawn draws (i.e. attracts) the falcon, or that the dappled falcon is attracted by the dawn (see Landow). It appears that Hopkins intended the reader to come upon these various meanings. The multifaceted sense characterises the unfathomable omnipresence of Christ in the world. Further, the “-ing” suffix used to rhyme the first eight verses is also present internally in the first stanza. The sound occurs in adjectives (“wimpling”, ln. 4), nouns (“wing” (ln. 4), “thing” (ln. 8) and verbs (“riding” (ln. 2), “gliding” (ln. 6) linking the different parts of the sentences together with intense unity. Again, Christ is represented in this unity. As well as the structure of the poem being assured in the terse arrangement of sounds and sense, the subject of the poem, that is the windhover, is actually explicitly linked to Christ. The “Brute beauty and valour and act” (ln. 9) of the bird “here / Buckle” (ll. 9-10) and are recognised as being subsidiary to Christ’s existence in the world. It is worth noting that when a falcon is in flight it becomes the shape of a cross and yet it cannot be compared to Christ, “my chevalier” (ln. 11) who is “a billion / Times told lovelier, more dangerous” (ln. 10-11). The poem is also, of course, offered ‘To Christ our Lord’. Hopkins aim in this poem as in others is to raise everyday objects and occurrences to the level of miracles, but through revelation rather than mere assertion. His inspiration is certainly his response to the omnipresence of Christ.
‘The Windhover’ is but one demonstration of Hopkins’ use of poetry as the most articulate way of unifying his experience of the world and God. J. Hillis Miller provides a useful expansion on this thought:
beginning with a sense of his own isolation and idiosyncrasy, Hopkins turns outside himself to nature, to poetry, and to God. Gradually he integrates all things into one chorus of many voices all singing, in their different ways, the name of Christ. Poetry is the imitation and echo of this chorus (323).
Hopkins found that the most fitting way of expressing his devotion to Christ was through the inscape of words, his poetry. It helped bare a heart in hiding and was a means of fully recognising the reflection or rhyme of “Christ in ten thousand places, / Lovely in limbs, and lovely in eyes not his” (‘When Kingfishers Catch Fire’, ll. 12-13). It is clear, however, that Hopkins’ view of poetry was, on the whole, very different to Matthew Arnold’s. He struggled for some time with the belief that writing poetry was too individualistic and self-indulgent for a Jesuit priest and burned his early poems upon conversion to Catholicism. Even after he began writing again in 1875, Hopkins put his responsibilities as a priest before his poetry (see Everett). Unlike Arnold, who saw the poet as granted greater virtues and poetry greater intrinsic worth than the ordinary man or writing, Hopkins believed poetry was not something in itself to be idolised but a means for worshipping Christ and affirming his existence.
In his willingness to sacrifice his poetry, it becomes obvious that Hopkins allegiance to the Catholic Church was paramount in his life. Indeed, it appears that in order for Arnold and Hopkins to feel a real presence of God in their lives the doctrines of the Anglican Church had to be forsaken. In Hopkins’ case, he abandoned a High Church Anglican upbringing in his conversion to Roman Catholicism in 1866 (Everett). For Hopkins, the feeling of a real, tangible connection with God was central to the Catholic faith. The crucial difference was the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist compared to mere symbols of Christ’s body and blood in Protestantism. “The great aid to belief and object to belief,” he writes in a letter, “is the doctrine of the Real Presence in the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar. Religion without that is sombre, dangerous, illogical, with that it is…loveable” (Miller, 312). The physicality of Christ and the notion of Him being really present are particularly tangible as Hopkins describes communion offerings being carried from the tabernacle as “Christ from cupboard fetched” (‘The Bugler’s First Communion’, ln. 10). The calm that he found on conversion to Catholicism is also reflected in his poetry. In the beautiful lyric ‘Heaven-Haven’, Hopkins deliberates upon his conversion desiring to go “Where springs not fail…Where no storms come” (ll. 2, 6). Catholicism is represented as a place of tranquillity where the difficulties and doubts of Anglicanism, “the swing of the sea” (ln. 8), can be abandoned. Hopkins also deliberates on the wretched condition of Britain due to its neglect of Catholicism. In ‘The Wreck of the Deutchland’ and ‘The Loss of they Eurydice’, Hopkins sees shipwreck, with its severe loss of life, as an analogy of England’s lapse from Catholicism, which he deplores:
Day and night I deplore
My people and born own nation,
Fast foundering own generation. (‘The Loss of the Eurydice’, ll. 86-88)
He compares the British people who do not attest to Catholicism to the lost crew, “in / Unchrist, all rolled in ruin—” (ll. 95-96). Although Hopkins did feel isolation in this choice of Christian denomination, evidenced in his lament “To seem the stranger lies my lot, my life” (ln. 1), it remains that Hopkins believed Catholicism to be the only and the ultimate truth and therefore the ultimate saviour of British faith.
Unlike Hopkins who found he achieved comfort in the ceremonies of Catholicism, Matthew Arnold believed it was necessary to divorce religious belief entirely from dogma. He suggested “dogma means not necessarily a true doctrine, but merely a doctrine or a system of doctrine determined, decreed, and received” (Blackburn, 313). For Arnold the real message of Christianity was fellow feeling and following a system of morality or what he termed “righteousness” (Brett, 80). These beliefs are reflected in his poetic as well as his critical writing. He comments on the inevitable failure of rationalising the divine, saying “Alas, too soon all / Man’s grave reasons disappear!” (‘The New Sirens’, ll. 89-90). And he pities the “exiles…false ones…Seeking ceiled chambers and a palace-hall” (‘New Sirens’, ll. 37, 39, 40); it seems here that those who return to the institution of the church are not only misguided but doomed to remain outcasts. This belief is further sanctioned in ‘The Scholar-Gipsy’ where Arnold comments on how those who remain “Light half-believers of our casual creeds” (ln. 172) will continue to “hesitate and falter life away, / And lose to-morrow the ground won to- day” (ll. 178-179). For any progress in communication or true connection with God, Arnold believed it was necessary to eliminate the casual creeds. This belief is explained most concisely and most powerfully in the following words:
God’s wisdom and God’s goodness! – Ay, but fools Mis-define these till God knows them no more. Wisdom and goodness, they are God! – what schools Have yet so much as heard this simpler lore? (‘The Divinity’, ll. 9-12)Although attempting to further oneself in wisdom and goodness was considered religious to Arnold, he still remained distinctive from others who proposed a religion of humanity or morality. He never reduced religion solely to morality; religion, he declared, was morality “touched by emotion”(Arnold, cited in Brett, 82). This phrase and another notorious remark that God is “a tendency not ourselves that makes for righteousness” (Arnold, cited in Brett, 82) brought Arnold derision and hostility. The philosopher F. H. Bradley and writer T. S. Eliot rejected Arnold’s logic, Eliot claiming that “the effect of Arnold’s religious campaign is to divorce religion from thought” (Brett, 82). This perhaps is an extreme reaction to what Arnold felt was the only natural progression for the state of religion in the Victorian era. Regardless of how he was received by his contemporaries, Arnold maintained the belief that in order to regain a real connection with God, it was important to discard dictates by the Anglican Church or any other.
To conclude, both Gerard Manley Hopkins and Matthew Arnold found the condition of God’s ever-quickening retreat from contemporary life intolerable and both continued to fight for a reconnection with God. This was to be achieved through the reconnection of the individual with his fellow man in love and friendship, and also through rekindling an intimacy with the natural world. Poetry was, understandably, key to both poets. Arnold maintained an almost religious-like faith to the spiritual power and significance that poetry possessed whereas Hopkins found the poetic patterns he created were the most developed way to represent the omnipresence of Christ in the patterns of the world. Finally for Hopkins the embracing of Catholicism was essential. Arnold on the other hand, fought against everything that organised religion peddled through their “nonsense beliefs” and base worldly rationalisations. He maintained that the kingdom and wisdom of God was within each individual and it was through acting righteously that one could attain to a spiritual ease. It remains to be seen, however, how successful these attempts to revive God were for the two men. Matthew Arnold, coming under much criticism from his peers, was perhaps condemned to remain in a state of limbo. He wrote in his preface to God and the Bible (1875), “At the present moment two things about the Christian religion must surely be clear to anybody with eyes in his head. One is, that men cannot do without it; the other, they cannot do with it as it is” (Brett, 77). It would seem that Arnold was, however, unable to find a fitting and effective resolution. He describes himself as “Wandering between two worlds, one dead, / The other powerless to be born” (‘Stanzas from the Grande Chartreuse’, ll. 85-86). Hopkins on the other hand seems to be a poet and a man who succeeded in transcending quite completely the spiritual condition of his age. Even with the hesitation and the doubt of the so-called ‘Terrible Sonnets’ in his later years, Hopkins’ last words as he lay dying of typhoid fever on June 8, 1889, were, “I am happy, so happy” (Everett). Despite recognising the fallen state of man and nature, Hopkins continued to believe in the salvation of Christ and the ultimate joy of being reunited with God. He succeeds in the end in recovering for himself a world like that of Eden before the Fall, an accomplishment which, despite all his protestations and efforts, Arnold never wholly achieves.
- David De Laura on Arnold's Religious Beliefs
- Makes culture rival historical Christianity
- E. D. H. Johnson on Arnold's rejection of religion
- "Yet hear my paradox": Hopkins's biblical allusions, the Crucifixion, and the Aesthetics of Pressure and Pain
Arnold, M. The Poems of Matthew Arnold, Ed. Kenneth Allott. London: Longmans, Green and Co Ltd., 1965.
Arnold, M. Literature and Dogma, (1873), [retrieved 29/11/06: http://lion.chadwyck.co.uk/searchFulltext.do?id=Z100738792&divLevel=1&queryId=../s ession/1165169252_9167&area=Prose&forward=textsFT&pageSize=&warn=No&size=6 08Kb].
Blackburn, W. “The Background of Arnold’s “Literature and Dogma”, Modern Philology, vol. 43, no. 2, (Nov., 1945): 130-139. [retrieved 29/11/06: http://links.jstor.org/sisi?sisi=0026- 8232%28194511%2943%3A2%3C130%3ATBOA%22A%3E2.0.CO%3B2-8].
Brett, R. L. (Ed) Poems of Faith and Doubt: The Victorian Age. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1965.
Brett, R. L. Faith and Doubt: Religion and Secularization in Literature from Wordsworth to Larkin. Cambridge: Mercer University Press, 1997.
Colenso, J. The Pentateuch and Book of Joshua Critically Examined. London: Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts, & Green, 1865.
Everett, G. Gerard Manley Hopkins: A Brief Biography, (1988), [retrieved 29/11/06: http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/hopkins/hopkins12.html].
Fraser, H. Beauty and Belief: Aesthetics and religion in Victorian literature. London: Cambridge University Press, 1986.
Hopkins, G. M. The Poetical Works of Gerard Manley Hopkins, ed. Norman Mackenzie. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1990.
Landow, G. "Dappled" in "The Windhover", (2000), [retrieved 29/11/06: http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/hopkins/hopkins7.html].
Miller, J. Hillis, The Disappearance of God: Five Nineteenth-Century Writers. London: Oxford University Press, 1963.
Nietzsche, F. The Gay Science, section 125, tr. Walter Kaufmann. [retrieved 29/11/06: http://www.historyguide.org/europe/madman.html].
Rowse, A. L. Matthew Arnold: Poet and Prophet. London: Thames and Hudson, 1976.
Scheinberg, C. “Victorian poetry and religious diversity”, The Cambridge Companion to Victorian Poetry. Ed. Joseph Bristow: 159-179.
Last modified 13 July 2007 | <urn:uuid:7819c69f-6c6f-47a8-ab96-bb74a0e54bab> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://victorianweb.org/authors/arnold/deverteuil.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395548.53/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00005-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95098 | 6,229 | 3.296875 | 3 |
Very little happened on February 26th, 1836 concerning the siege of the Alamo. However, there is an interesting illustration, using the maps from yesterday. In the bottom map, you can see the mission's water well in the middle of the courtyard. The well was inadequate for the needs of the fort and a scouting party was sent outside of the fort to the East to gather water from the surrounding acequia (irrigation ditch). A common practice of the Spanish most likely brought to Spain during the time of the Arab Caliphate. The Spanish used the practice extensively in the American Southwest, running the ditches around fields and through towns. The San Antonio de Valero Mission had operated farmland to the north and south along the river and had diverted irrigation ditches to surround the fields. There was also a ditch dug around the Mission, as well as one on the west side of the courtyard running north-south.
You can see the irrigation ditches labeled on the first map. Interestingly, if you look at the modern map of San Antonio you can also see that the courtyard ditch followed Alamo St./Alamo Plaza; the Eastern ditch followed 3rd St. to Bonham, then Bonham St. to Crockett; and the Western ditch followed Broadway/Losoya Sts.
This map shows the layout of the village of Bexar, the river and the Mission-fort. The top is East; North on the Left.
Compare to this:
Layout of the fort; compare to the brown outline in the picture above: | <urn:uuid:2f2dba2f-b1ba-430d-80a4-7e3c8429aa5a> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.midnitetease.com/serendipity/archives/422-Remember...part-four.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397748.48/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00002-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961828 | 316 | 3.453125 | 3 |
Freeway noise can be much louder than expected over 300m in some atmospheric conditions
Ovenden, Shaffer, Frenando. Impact of meteorological conditions on noise propagation from freeway corridors. J. Acous. Soc. Am. 126 (1), July 2009, 25-35.
This study combined field recordings and new acoustic modeling to describe the effects of wind shear and temperature differentials on the distance over which road noise exceeds regulatory limits. The particular concern here is whether reducing the height of barrier walls (which is sometimes allowed when quiet road surfaces are used) will lead to increased noise at a distance. This study could offer important additional information for use in recent US National Park Service efforts to understand the ways that road noise affects the "effective listening distance" of animals nearby. The results MAY also have applicability to some wind farm noise issues, though extrapolation from these results must be made with extreme caution.
The essence of this study's results is that sound may bounce off a layer boundary that is caused by wind shear or temperature layers at 30-50 meters high (a wind shear is a situation in which wind speed increases substantially with height, especially when there is a relatively sharp boundary between low and higher wind speeds). Most sound propagation models assume relative uniformity in the atmosphere; this study aimed to see how propagation differs from traditional models when the atmosphere is more varied. In some conditions, the researchers here found that while sound levels remain close to what traditional sound models would suggest at ranges of 200-300 meters, noise levels can actually increase at ranges of 300 meters and beyond, creating conditions in which regulatory limits are exceeded at these greater distances. In some conditions, increases occur in chaotic patterns at closer ranges, as well. The difference between traditonal sound models and the results here were as high as 15-20dB, and quite commonly occurred at 5-10dB.
While there is much interest in what may be causing reports of excessive noise from wind farms, and this work may inform these inquiries, it should be noted that the wind shears studied here may not apply to many industrial wind farms. Most notably, the hub heights of turbines may well be above the level of the wind shears addressed here (especially in problematic situations in which night time wind shears trigger turbines into action), so that the noise is not reflected downward in patterns similar to those of ground-based noise such as traffic. However, there clearly are some atmospheric conditions in which wind farm noise is higher than expected, sometimes at surprisingly large distances, so consideration of these effects would be a very useful topic for further study. It is quite possible that the turbine sound that does project down toward the ground during wind shear conditions is subject to the same factors that create chaotic and at times surprisingly high levels at larger distances; this could partially account for unusually high noise levels reported by some neighbors at certain times.
Exciting new models for assessing and visualizing extent of noise impacts in the ocean
Clark, Ellison, Southall, Hatch, Van Parijs, Frankel, Ponirakis. Acoustic masking in marine ecosystems: intuitions, analysis, and implication. Mar Ecol Prog Ser, Vol. 395: 201-222, 2009. [DOWNLOAD (pdf)]
This has to be one of the most exciting papers I've seen this year; reading it was downright joyous, especially in contrast to decidedly unsatisfying previous attempts to address cumulative impacts of ocean noise (mostly undertaken by large committees and resulting in vague and complex conceptual approaches that are nearly impossible to implement). By contrast, here we have, at last, a clear and strikingly rigorous approach to assessing the impacts of ocean noise sources on the communication of whales. As promised in the introduction, the authors "present an analytical paradigm to quantify changes in an animal's acoustic communication space" and "a metric to quantify the potential for communication masking." While of course, much uncertainty remains, both in some of the specific terms used in these metrics and in assessing the biological impact of reduced communication space, the tools provided here will open a vast and exceedingly useful new doorway for biologists and ocean managers.
Researchers will find much to work with in the suite of new metrics and relatively simple functions used to calculate them, including factors that reflect "ancient ambient" conditions as well as "present ambient" and "present noise sources", a more nuanced twist on signal-to-noise ration called the "recognition differential", acknowledgement of subtle biological inputs such as "signal processing gain", and "potential communication space" for a sender, and for a receiver hearing multiple other animal senders….this is just a hint of the power of these combined metrics, and surprisingly, most of the functions are really quite simple, though they do of course interact in complex ways. The present examples focus on the effects of low-frequency shipping noise on low-frequency communication by large whales, and incorporate differences in the specific frequency ranges used by the three species addressed; the model can easily be used to address mid- or high-frequency noise sources and higher frequency animal sounds such as those used for echolocation.
For the rest of us who are not designing new studies, though, the power of this approach is equally clear, and can readily inform both public awareness and policy-making. Extending the nascent idea of "communication space" (which has recently been introduced in terrestrial ecosystems by researchers at the National Park Service and Colorado State) into ocean habitats, we are presented with an intuitively obvious way to both imagine and assess the effects of ocean noise – measuring the area in which an animal can hear or be heard by others of its species. As its first application, this paper presents data from ongoing work at Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary offshore from Boston Harbor. There, a network of hydrophones is collecting soundscape data that allows researchers to both pinpoint and track the locations of whales and ships, along with the actual received sound levels throughout an extended area. By plugging this data into their new equations, the researchers are able to, for the first time, quantify the effects of shipping noise on local populations of fin, humpback, and right whales.
The results are both fascinating and sobering. Thanks to slightly different frequency bands used by each species, and the lower source level of right whale calls, the impacts of shipping noise on these three species vary substantially. On the day used for this initial analysis, two ships passed through the region (an average of six ships has been noted here). On a low-traffic day with two ships, the Communication Space for humpbacks were reduced by an average of 11%, fins by 33%, and right whales by a staggering 84%. For most of the day (from 5am until 5pm), right whale Communication Space was diminished by 88-98%. While we do not know how this vastly shrunken communication range affected the whales, the authors note that "we do know that these whales counter-call and use these episodes of calling to find each other and to aggregate, so one immediate cost is the loss of opportunities to form social groups. Right whales form aggregations during mating and during feeding, so one likely cost is the loss of mating and feeding opportunities."
Back to the science-advancement side of things, the authors stress that this metric provides "a critical missing link to the major current dilemma of assessing noise impacts" that can, for the first time, "quantify biological cost within an ecological framework." They note that this model is a key step toward giving some practical form to the previous PCAD (Population Consequences of Acoustic Disturbance) model proposed by the National Research Council in 2005. There is still uncertainty in some key variables. Most strikingly, we don't know how far these species actually communicate; while we know they can be heard for tens to hundreds of kilometers, limited studies have only confirmed communication exchanges in the range of 20km, which is used in this model for now (if actual communication ranges are longer, as is entirely possible, then reductions in Communication Space would be much greater, especially for the fin and humpback whales). The authors note it was 1971 when Payne and Webb first raised the question of whether shipping might reduce long-range communication for some large whales, and that "that hypothesis was ignored for a quarter of a century." They conclude: "As the planet's dominant species, humans have choices to make. In the case of the ocean's acoustic ecological habitat, the choices we are making now have profound implications for the future of marine mammals. It is our opinion that the right choice cannot wait another 3 decades."
Summary of human and natural noise in the sea
John A. Hildebrand. Anthropogenic and natural sources of ambient noise in the ocean. Mar Ecol Prog Ser, Vol. 395: 5-20, 2009. [DOWNLOAD]
This is a good current overview of the known sources of both human and natural sounds that contribute to the cumulative background ambient noise level of the seas. For each noise source, the author includes frequency bands and source levels, as well as a sense of how widespread the source is. Some lesser-considered noise sources are included, such as acoustic modems used to transmit data from industrial and scientific sites at sea. The key omissions are sources that are still relatively rare, though increasing in number: undersea mining and oil and gas subsea processing installations. Unlike a similar presentation to the IWC a few years ago, the author does not attempt the much harder challenge of calculating the total sound energy that each noise source contributes to the global ambient noise budget (that paper ruffled some feathers by suggesting that seismic surveys may contribute nearly as much as shipping; it is likely that there is not enough solid data to assess how much air gun sound actually moves from continental shelves and slopes into the ocean basins). The paper also includes a good basic summary of sound measurement systems, and is a good starting place for those wishing to get up to speed on the diversity of ocean noise sources.
The main take-away is familiar: at low frequencies, shipping is the dominant noise source (with some indications that seismic surveys are contributing more as they move to deeper water) and has impacts at ocean-basin scales; in mid-frequencies, sounds travel tens of kilometers, with wave and wind sounds dominant (with mid-frequency sonars from 300 ships, operating up to 10% of the time each, also significant); at high frequencies, sounds travel only tens to hundreds of meters, and the main source of noise is actually thermal noise of water molecules (with depth-sounder sonars on many to most ships also a factor).
Specific data that may be worth holding in mind includes source levels of two important low-frequency sounds. Pile driving (increasingly used for siting offshore wind turbines) can be close to 200dB at 100m, with repetition every 2 to 4 seconds; since this takes place in relatively shallow waters, the impact is fairly local despite being low-frequency. Shipping noise varies from 195dB re uPa2/Hz for fast-moving supertankers to 140dB for small fishing vessels and 150-180dB re 1uPa for small private motorboats. Also of note is that wind turbines, after installation, are relatively quiet: the highest tonal component yet measured is 151dB re 1uPa at 180Hz, and broadband low frequency noise at four different wind farms was just 100-120dB re 1uPa.
Parks and Sanctuaries: Collaborative noise management in protected areas
Leila T. Hatch, Kurt M. Fristrup. No barrier at the boundaries: implementing regional frameworks for noise management in protected areas. Mar Ecol Prog, Vol. 395: 223-244, 2009. [DOWNLOAD]
Yet another excellent and ground-breaking synthesis, this one highlighting the similar challenges and opportunities present in managing protected areas on land and in the sea. The authors, one of whom works for the National Park Service, and the other a National Marine Sanctuary, have both been active in focusing on the noise intrusions and impacts relevant to their respective jurisdictions. This paper addresses several important themes and calls for a more integrated and dynamic approach to managing the acoustic resources in protected areas.
It's well worth reading the entire paper, which includes many useful insights, ideas, and case studies, including cogent discussions of the various management challenges that need to be overcome (including different cultures and priorities within agencies that need to collaborate, and a natural resistance to bringing more detailed and expensive-to-collect data requirements into EIS processes that have been sufficient in the past). Here, I'll highlight a few of the key passages. This excerpt frames the impacts of noise in a concise and new way:
"Hearing extends animal awareness under all conditions, and is essential when vision is compromised."
"Noise presents at least 4 threats: diversion of attention and disruption of behavior, habituation or ‘learned deafness’, masking of important signals, and spurious physiological stimulation. These threats present several costs: compromised physiological function, diversion of time and energy, failure to detect important cues, impaired acoustical advertisement and communication, and reduced utilization of important habitats or resources. All of these costs have consequences for fitness."
"Terrestrial noise management is informed and encumbered by the history of community noise management. Historical noise studies and regulations focused on maximum tolerable conditions for humans, in terms of health effects or annoyance. The concept of preserving a high quality acoustic environment has been largely ignored until very recently….An enormous gulf separates the outstanding acoustical conditions that the NPS is required to protect and the noise exposures that result in health effects or high levels of annoyance." However, "In the marine realm, emerging noise management practices are not burdened by the history of community noise management….The broad mandate of the National Marine Sanctuaries Act provides a unique opportunity to create noise management practices and regulations that represent today’s best available science."
"Parks and sanctuaries should be afforded heightened levels of noise protection. Sanctuaries should become quiet refugia for species, as well as enhanced environments for the development of science and technology that promote the research and management objectives throughout the regions they occupy."
The authors note that current regulatory responses to noise are focused on the impacts of discrete sound sources on individual animals; they encourage a broader view that would take into account the ways that effects on species ripple through an ecosystem (e.g., effects on prey species will have an indirect but crucial impact on predators). They summarize several leading-edge computer models that are capable of ever more accurate and dynamic modeling of multiple sound sources and entire populations of animals in a region (though note that even these cannot yet take into account inter-relationships between species). There is also a time-scale limitation on most current impact analyses: the five-year span of most permits.
As examples of noise in protected areas, the authors discuss both data and management approaches taken in Grand Canyon National Park and Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary (in each case, the protected unit with the longest history of acoustic monitoring). In the Grand Canyon, aircraft are audible for a third or more of the day in the entire park: "If a visitor does not want to hear aircraft at Grand Canyon, they need to be in a busy parking lot or near one of the rapids on the Colorado River." In Stellwagen, low frequency noise in the shipping lanes "were >82 dB 50% of the day and as high as 110 dB 5% of the day."
The paper concludes with for elements of a "common ground" that these case studies suggest as cornerstones of a constructive forward motion in managing noise impacts:
- Investment in expanded and continued acoustic monitoring, especially for "evaluating which sanctuaries contain relatively quiet versus relatively noisy conditions."
- Development of new impact assessment tools, such as visual representations of acoustic data, and effective metrics with which to summarize and compare results. They stress that these metrics are most useful when they relate directly to "functional consequences" for animals that are easy for managers to interpret and for the public to understand (such as the newly emerging metric of reduced listening area). New modeling techniques offer several advantages, including "a rigorous framework for spatial interpolation, when acoustical monitoring data are sparsely distributed." The authors stress that the degree of uncertainty in the models' results needs to be emphasized, and that "in the face of considerable scientific uncertainty, the precautionary principle should be applied to ensure that areas of designated national importance fulfill their protective mandates."
- Enhanced interagency coordination. In particular, "Noise should be addressed by emerging regional management frameworks (i.e. The Gulf of Mexico Program, West Coast Governors’ Agreement on Ocean Health, Northeast Regional Ocean Council), and during the design, implementation and evaluation of protected areas."
- Public engagement and education regarding the benefits of quieting natural areas.
Humpbacks avoid boat noise at nearly 5 miles
Sousa-Lima and Clark. Whale sound recording technology as a tool for assessing the effects of boat noise in a Brazilian marine park. Park Science 26:59-63. [DOWNLOAD]
Using an array of pop-up recorders, this study was able to track eleven individual singing humpback whales and monitor their movements in response to four separate approaches by a tourist boats in the Abrolhos Marine National Park off Brazil, in the main humpback breeding grounds in the southwest Atlantic. Nine of the eleven whales moved away from the boat; of these, four continued singing and five stopped singing (these did not resume singing for at least 20 minutes). Six of the nine began moving away while the boat was more than 4km (2.5mi) away; this distance was chosen as the onset of the "exposure" period, since it had been previously shown to be the median distance at which humpbacks respond to boats. In fact, the mean distance at which the nine whales began moving away was 7.5km (4.7mi); previous studies have suggested that 8km is the greatest distance at which humpbacks would exhibit avoidance, with some studies suggesting they would not move until boats were within 300 meters. The authors note that earlier studies suggesting whales would only move when boats are closer "could be a reflection of smaller sampling areas or specific close-range analytical designs, it could also be a bias toward less sensitive whales."
Earlier, the authors point out that other research had proposed that "individuals that are most sensitive to boat approaches would abandon preferred areas because of increased boat disturbance. Assuming this is true, only the individuals less sensitive to boat disturbances would remain in the area." This is a proposition that is gaining increasing credence within the research community (see Bejder et all 2009, below). The present authors continue, "The effect this selection for boat noise–habituated males could have on the population structure is unknown; it could affect female choice and consequently the distribution of breeding success among the males of this population."
Importantly, the authors note that "during the post-exposure period, singers were still moving away from the boat, which suggests a residual avoidance of the disturbance area."
Overview of new autonomous ocean noise recorders for use in small and large areas
Van Parijs SM, Clark CW, Sousa-Lima RS, Parks SE, Rankin S, Risch D, Van Opzeeland IC. Management and research applications of real-time and archival passive acoustic sensors over varying temporal and spatial scales. Mar Ecol Prog Ser, Vol. 395: 21-36, 2009. [DOWNLOAD]
Very good overview of the range of recent research using acoustic recorders, including both archival systems (deployed for weeks to years, with data downloaded periodically) and real-time systems (in which data is available on an ongoing basis remotely). Includes discussion of acoustic systems deployed in Brazil, Antarctica, the US, and Norway, as well as a series of studies using towed hydrophone arrays in the Pacific. The authors stress the importance of the different research designs and baseline information necessary to effectively study behavior that takes place on different scales, and suggest adaptation of long-standing terminology used in other fields to discuss relevant oceanic scales (synoptic scales for regional marine areas of >2000 km2, mesoscale as areas between 1 and ~2000 km2 in size and microscales as areas <1 km2).
The importance and the flexibility of these new technologies is well expressed in the paper's conclusion: "Archival and real-time passive acoustic arrays are now among the lowest cost approaches for mesoscale monitoring of marine areas and can be used to monitor vocal marine life in areas difficult to survey by traditional visual methods. Fixed autonomous passive acoustic arrays sample continuously for prolonged periods of time, allowing assessment of seasonal changes in distribution and acoustic behavior of individuals without introducing into the environment the types of disturbances generated by the presence of survey vessels or aircrafts. Unlike more traditional visual methods, passive acoustic technologies can survey in darkness and remain active during adverse weather conditions. Further, the ability to retrieve and redeploy archival ARUs provides a level of flexibility in data acquisition that is not available with other fixed long- term monitoring systems."
Whale watching boat noise and impacts on dolphins – including some key new findings on high levels of masking and sound peaks during frequent gear-shifting
Jensen, Bejder, Wahlberg, Aguilar Soto, Johnson, Madsen. Vessel noise effects on delphinid communication. Mar Ecol Prog Ser, Vol. 395:161-175, 2009. [DOWNLOAD]
This study was designed to determine how much the sounds of motorboats (whale watching or private recreation) reduce the communication ranges of dolphins and pilot whales. The researchers assessed natural background ambient noise in shallow (dolphin) and deep water (pilot whale) environments, as well as doing field measurements of the noise from two outboard motorboats, then deployed D-tags on pilot whales to assess received levels. The results reinforce some standard whale-watching guidelines, and highlighted some previously un-noticed impacts.
Engine noise at 5 knots and 50m (typical limits for whalewatching) did reduce communication ranges significantly: by 26% in dolphins and 58% in pilot whales (living in quieter deepwater habitats). Slower speeds of 2.5 knots produced virtually no masking noise, suggesting that at the closest ranges, slower speeds are important (the authors take special note of the need for research vessels using "close follow" techniques to be aware of this, so as not to change behavior by their presence). Speeds of 10 knots produced dramatic reductions in communication range, even at 100 and 200 meters, though the researchers note more uncertainty about these results.
In the tagging experiments, the pilot whales experienced often extreme masking noise levels within pilot whale whistle frequencies, up to 55dB above the levels that would begin to obscure communication; which the authors note that this "suggest(s) that vessel noise may be an important factor in determining range of communication signals in this deep-water environment with significant whale-watching and commercial marine traffic activities."
In addition, whale watching boats shift shift gears quite often in order to remain in proximity of the dolphins or whales they are observing (as often as 2 or 3 times a minute); this study found that gear shifting creates pulses of much louder sound (up to 200dB re 1 uPa peak-peak) containing a much broader range of frequencies, especially higher frequencies. Since such unpredictable bursts of sound tend to elicit more powerful short-term behavioral responses, "steps taken to lessen the erratic movement and number of gear shifts of vessels…would lessen the impact." Finally, the authors note that this study only addresses communications masking, and that, while not investigated here, some higher frequency noises created by cavitation (especially at higher speeds) "has the potential to impact foraging toothed whales by masking weak echoes from their echolocation signals."
Acknowledging differing underlying values as a key to breakthroughs in conservation conflicts
Raphael D. Sangarin and Larry B. Crowder. Breaking through the Crisis in Marine Conservation Management: Insights from the Philosophies of Ed Ricketts. Conservation Biology, Volume 23, No. 1, 24-30. [DOWNLOAD]
This short paper is well worth a read by all who have been frustrated by the lack of constructive progress in moving beyond contentious conflict in addressing environmental challenges. Here, two contemporary researchers (one with a focus on policy, and the other on marine conservation) sketch the three-part approach of Ed Ricketts, a mid-20th century marine ecologist (immortalized as "Doc" in Steinbeck's Cannery Row). In addition to his scientific work, Ricketts articulated an approach to science and policy that drew from Taoism, Buddhism, and his friendships with Steinbeck and Joseph Campbell. While the three aspects of Rickett's approach are far more philosophical than practical, they bear consideration in light of the seeming inability of the best intentions of both scientists and policy-makers to effectively turn the tide of ocean ecosystem collapse. At its heart, Ricketts' approach contains two key aspects. First, a clear and ongoing commitment to observing what is, rather than a focus on what should be – with a related emphasis on shifting relationships rather than facile attempts to assess simple cause and effect in what are always complex, holistic systems. Central to this approach is a conscious intent to avoid neatly preconceived ideas about who or what is to blame for the problem under consideration. Second, and most resonant for me, Ricketts emphasizes that most intractable conflicts over policy are, at root, reflective of differing underlying priorities, worldviews, or "sacred values." The key factor that drives "breakthroughs" is a shared commitment to be forthcoming about each party's underlying values. Sharing the diverse "core needs" is, in Ricketts' view, the foundation of a constructive search for mutually favorable solutions, rather than a mutually damaging fight to chip away at two widely different, predetermined positions. The authors suggest that today's rapidly expanding toolbox of monitoring technologies provides us opportunities to initiate the sorts of ongoing observations that underlay Ricketts' approach, and that developments over the last generation in policy and public engagement support an attempt to be more explicit about the underlying values that are too often unspoken as competing advocates argue their sides in a fight to "win" in policy decisions which have turned unwittingly into battles, thanks to a simplistic focus on particular causes and effects within systems that are spinning out of control due to countless inter-related factors. As in his time, it is not altogether obvious how to apply Ricketts' ideas in practice, but reading this brief overview of his thoughts, along with the context provided in relation to current attempts to define and enact Ecosystem Based Management in the oceans, is bound to spur some new perspectives among reflective policy players today.
Related: A key paper cited by Sangarin and Crowder is another short essay perspectives piece, which suggests that the repeated failure of worldwide fisheries management might be ameliorated by inverting the traditional "trophic pyramid" that places humans at the top, and instead using a model that puts humans at the bottom, or at the tipping point of a circle which explicitly includes consideration of three key factors: ethics, corporate responsibility, and social justice.
Bundy, Chuenpagdee, Jentoft, Mahon. If science is not the answer, what is? An alternative governance model for the world's fisheries. Front Ecol Environ 2008; 6(3): 152-155. [DOWNLOAD]
Moderate seismic survey noise linked to increase in blue whale calling
L. Di Lorio and C.W. Clark. Exposure to seismic survey alters blue whale acoustic communication. Biology Letters doi:10.1098/rsbl.2009.0651 [DOWNLOAD]
This study found that a seismic survey in wide bay at the mouth of the St. Lawrence Seaway caused blue whales feeding and socializing nearby to double or triple their call rates. The calls were near-range communication signals, rather than the long, loud songs that are heard over hundreds of miles. The research was meant to simply learn more about these social calls, but during the study, their recordings began to pick up the pulses from a seismic survey. “The whales made more calls on days when the testing was happening. It seems they are having to repeat themselves in order to not lose information,” said lead researcher Lucia Di Lorio. During the four days in which survey sounds were heard, the whales also increased their call rates when the sparkers were audible than when they were not, and tended to rapidly increase call rates when the sounds appeared.
The results were especially surprising, since the survey in question was using a much lower-power sound source (sparkers) than the airguns used in most surveys. The electronic sparkers top out at only 190dB, rather than the 230-240dB of airguns. Sparkers are slightly higher frequency as well, but still solidly centered in low-frequency bands of 30-450Hz, primarily 60-250Hz, very similar to airguns, and matching key blue whale communication frequencies.
The study notes that “Our results clearly show that blue whales change their calling behaviour in response to a low-medium power technology that is presumed to have minor environmental impact. In fact, the mean sound pressure impinging on the (study) area, and thus probably on the whales present there, was relatively low, 131 dB re 1 uPa (peak to peak, 30 – 500 Hz) with a mean sound exposure level (SEL) of 114 dB re 1 mPa2 s. The increase in calls was a contrast to some other studies, which have found call rates reduced near seismic surveys, perhaps in part due to animals moving away; in some cases, animals call louder or change the pitch of their calls to cope with noise intrusions. This is the first study to find a marked increase in call rates, or repeating themselves, which Di Lorio suspects may be due to the key role of this area in socializing and feeding (i.e., the communication is time- and place-dependent, and cannot easily be postponed until a quieter time).
The study concludes by noting that the St. Lawrence Estuary “is an important feeding area where blue whales acquire energy and also a place where this wide-roaming, highly dispersed population congregates to engage in social interactions. Reducing an individual’s ability to detect socially relevant signals could therefore affect biologically important processes. This study suggests careful reconsideration of the potential behavioural impacts of even low source level seismic survey sounds on large whales. This is particularly relevant when the species is at high risk of extinction as is the blue whale.”
UPDATE: A skeptical note received by email from a longtime correspondent: “To me, given a detectable new sound, mammals tend to decrease vocalization if it induces fear, or increase vocalization if it stimulates interest. How a sparker could block communications rather eludes me, but whales responding to a pulse—be it noncoherent noise stimulates noise, or actual whale talk directed at the pulse—comes to mind….Sperm whales in the GOM seemed to alter click patterns and perhaps anticipated a pulse once they got the beat. That was a casual observation by one of the acoustic team - always thought that would have been a great add-on study but we were already at overload working on acoustic tracking for tagging purposes. More at home, my grey parrot, who talks quite a bit, of course becomes completely silent when visitors ask ‘if he talks?’ - his reaction to seeing new people is silence. Now, if you go into another room and play classical music, the next question is ‘how do you stop him?’ I think there is a complexity to animal behavior and acoustic responses and the reasons blue whales would increase calls could be many.”
What do beaked whales hear?
Finneran, Houser, Base-Guthrie, Ewing, Lingenfelser. Auditory evoked potentials in a stranded Gervais' beaked whale (Mesophlodon europaeus). J.Acous.Soc.Am 126(1), July 2009. 484-490.
This study took place with a stranded beaked whale that was euthanized after three days in captivity; it was very ill (organ failure due to bacterial infection) throughout. Since beaked whales seem to be more affected by Naval mid-frequency active sonar, the study was designed to see whether beaked whale hearing is more sensitive than other closely related families of cetaceans. The results find a hearing sensitivity curve that is similar to those of dolphins and orcas, with no indication of greater hearing acuity. The highest frequency that could be heard was 80kHz (though this could be limited by hearing impairment in this individual, as one earlier study of this species found good sensitivity than at 80kHz , and did not test higher). Highest sensitivity was found at 40kHz (i.e. the animal can hear sounds at this frequency when they are relatively faint--higher and lower frequency sounds must be louder to be heard) No tests were done using frequencies below 20kHz; mid-frequency active sonar ranges from 2-10kHz.
Some breeding birds avoid areas within 500-800m of wind turbines
Pearce-Higgins, Stephen, Langston, Bainbridge, Bullman. The distribution of breeding birds around upland wind farms. Journal of Applied Ecology, doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2664.2009.01715.x [DOWNLOAD]
This comprehensive survey of breeding birds in non-agricultural British uplands (moors and grassland) included weekly surveys during the breeding season at 12 different wind farm sites, along with comparable nearby landscapes without turbines. Half the wind farms were from the previous generation (WAY back in the '90s), with hub heights of 40m and less; the other half had hub heights of 60-70m. Of the twelve species that were observed often enough to provide good data, five seemed relatively unaffected by turbines (including kestrel, lapwing, grouse, skylark, and stonechat), while 7 species were less likely to nest within 500m of turbines, with smaller (i.e., not statistically significant) effects extending to 800m, or roughly half a mile. For six of the species (buzzard, hen harrier, plover, snipe, curlew, and wheatear), numbers were reduced by 39-52%.
The authors note that there is a pressing need for examination of the reasons for the depressed numbers: "we do not know whether our observations of avoidance of turbines reflect a behavioural displacement, the local population consequences of collision mortality or reduced productivity, or both. The distinction is important. If there is high mortality of birds breeding close to the turbines associated with collision (ed. note: or reduced productivity), then a wind farm may become a population sink if repeatedly colonized by naive birds. If, however, the birds simply avoid breeding close to the turbines, then…displaced birds may settle elsewhere with little cost." They also note that "Whether wind farms result in meaningful population-level effects at a regional and national scale depends both upon the mechanisms involved, and the overlap between bird distribution and wind farm development," and encourage new development to avoid high densities of open country species, until these factors can be more clearly understood.
They note the contrast between these findings and those of Devereux et al (2008), which "may suggest that species occupying remote semi-natural habitats are more sensitive to wind farm development than species occupying intensive production landscapes." (Ed. note: The earlier study looked at wintering birds in farmland, rather than breeding birds in uplands.)
Habituation often misused or wrongly assumed in impact assessments
Bejder, Samuels, Whitehead, Finn, Allen. Impact assessment research: use and misuse of habituation, sensitization and tolerance in describing wildlife responses to anthropogenic stimuli. Mar Ecol Prog Ser, Vol. 395:177-185, 2009. [DOWNLOAD]
This paper serves as an excellent review of an important line of reasoning that is skeptical of facile claims that animals readily habituate to human disturbances such as noise. While the paper may be seen by some as little more than a set of "what if" propositions designed to undermine the simple observation of animals not being affected by a disturbance (and in this way, proposing an extreme precautionary view that supposes the worst in situations where we do not have complete information), the underlying intent is more serious than this: when policy decisions are being made based on a simplistic assessment of the situation, then we should at least be aware of the limitations of our terms and our study designs. This paper adds clarity to these issues in important ways.
The authors distinguish between true habituation (which is a learning process that occurs over time) and tolerance (which can be measured instantaneously), and suggest that most impact studies are designed in ways that can only confirm tolerance, since they do not track the responses of individual animals over time. Further, they point out that even studies of tolerance can be easily distorted if the most sensitive animals leave at the first disturbance, leaving more tolerant individuals as the "study group." Another key – and often ignored – factor is that any behavioral response is influenced by many factors, not just the invasive human disruption being studied; for example, increased human noise may be one factor in an animal's decision about moving away, but this decision is also dependent on other key factors, such as the quality of the site where the animal current is (e.g. for feeding, mating, resting), the distance to and quality of other suitable sites, the relative risk of predation or density of competitors in other sites, and any investment the individual or group has made to the site (e.g., establishing a territory, gaining dominant status, or acquiring environmental information). It is commonly assumed that avoidance or lack of avoidance of a human sound source is a good indicator of whether that sound has a negative impact; the authors stress that this is an unwarranted and often incorrect assumption, and point out that the few studies that have assessed both behavioral responses and physiological measures (heart rate, stress hormones) have often found physiological markers of a negative response even when animals exhibited little or no behavioral reaction, i.e., when they appeared to tolerate the intrusion.
This paper serves as a good starting point for examining previous research that has raised similar questions about the design of behavioral response studies, and the use of these studies in making policy decisions (In particular, previous work by JA Gill and L Bejder). The core message here is that managers should be very cautious in assessing claims of habituation (since few studies truly are designed to prove habituation), and likewise that habituation or tolerance do not necessarily imply the lack of negative impacts on individuals or populations. As they conclude, "Most studies are restricted to monitoring short-term, observable, behavioral responses, (which) limits the scope of conclusions that can be drawn…The conclusion is likely to be specific only to the response variable that has been monitored…(while) animals may become habituated in one modality but not in another….The most effective course of action in impact studies would therefore be to complement behavioral assessment with monitoring of physical condition and physiological measures such as heart rate, body temperature and/or hormonal levels."
"Worst case" wind turbine noise can occur 30% of summer/fall nights
Clifford P. Schneider. Measuring background noise with an attended, mobile survey during nights with stable atmospheric conditions. Internoise 2009. [DOWNLOAD PAPER(pdf)]
This well-designed study, by a retired New York State Department of the Environment staffer, sheds light on several key questions surrounding standard noise assessments of wind farms. Most strikingly, it quantifies the extent of one of the key atmospheric components of excessive wind farm noise, finding that stable night time atmospheres may occur two-thirds of the time in the summer and fall, with wind high enough at turbine height to trigger them into action on 30% of nights, increasing to 40% in June and July. On these "worst case" nights, turbine noise is likely to be significantly louder than local background ambient noise from late evening until the beginning of the pre-dawn bird chorus. Schneider's study also included a brief but useful test of whether a quick but systematic mobile sound survey can be used instead of set of arbitrarily-chosen monitoring sites (addressing questions about whether arbitrary site selection accurately measures local averages) – he did 10-minute recordings at 21 sites, one every mile along two rural roads, and compared the results to 5 baseline sites chosen arbitrarily around the same town.
This study took place in the township of Cape Vincent, New York, which sits at the confluence of the St. Lawrence River and Lake Ontario, where two wind farm proposals would place 200 turbines in town, covering the majority of its land area. Local and state ordinances require sound to be within 5dB of average ambient noise levels; the wind developer's sound level report based their projected compliance on a day-night average of 45dBA. By contrast, Schneider's study focused in on the times when other wind farms have generated the most problematic noise impacts: nights when wind is low at ground level but high enough at hub height to trigger turbines to turn on. In these conditions, night-time background ambient sound levels are very very low, and turbine noise can dominate the nighttime soundscape. The results are striking, to say the least.
Night-time sound levels were at or below the lowest that the researcher's meters could record, 25dBA, for most of the late-night hours at 4 of the 5 locations, and under 30dB from 9pm-4:30am at three; one site received shore waves and dropped below 35dB for just a few hours in the middle of the night. Average readings along the mobile monitoring route (which was traversed over the course of three nights) were similar, and generally ranged from 25-32dB, with one site at 36dB. By contrast, measurements near a wind farm in the region, also measured at several (10) locations, showed the quietest times of night (L90) ranged from 35-43dB, and the average (LEQ) from 36-45dB. Bottom line: wind turbine sounds are likely to be 10-15dB louder than background ambient sound on these "worst case" nights in Cape Vincent.
But how often do such nights occur? In what is likely to be the section of the study with them farthest-reaching impact, the results suggest that turbines could be operating (hub height winds >4 m/s) on nights with very still, quite ground conditions (ground wind <1.5 m/s) for 42% of nights in June and July, and for a total of 30% of nights from June through October. This lines up well with the only other study that I know of that specifically addressed stable night air conditions, the van den Berg study that found such conditions occur about a third of the time in the Netherlands, with similar levels suspected in many temperate zones. Using New York State DEC standards for predicting human reaction to noise, which is based on increasing levels of industrial noise above background ambient, this study suggests that (counter to the developer's prediction that no residents will experience noise more than 5dB above ambient, i.e., loud enough to trigger complaints), the vast majority of households in town will find the noise "very noticeable" (9-14dB above ambient) on these nights, with 34% finding it "objectionable" (84 homes at 14-19db above ambient) and a further 19% finding it "very objectionable to intolerable" (48 homes at 19-25dB above ambient).
It is important to note that these levels of audibility and possibly objectionable sleep disruption will occur on a minority of nights; indeed, on an annual basis, probably around 15% of nights. And, on those nights, just a portion of the population will be affected. This perspective is part of what has led to our current acceptance of relatively small setbacks from homes (often 1000-1500 feet). Our social decisions about wind farm siting will need to grapple with the question of how much disturbance we consider acceptable – in this case, a third to half of the residents of Cape Vincent may be looking at troubling noise levels for a third to half of summer and autumn nights. To protect most residents from most of the noise intrusions (keeping noise levels to 5-10dB above ambient) would require setbacks of 1km or so, which would likely mean more like 30-50 turbines in Cape Vincent, rather than the planned 200.
Two other results are worth mentioning. As mentioned above, the systematic mobile sound assessments matched closely with those made at arbitrary locations, suggesting that either method is reliable. The author notes that the arbitrary locations that he chose were well away from buildings, while a systematic mobile survey with a random start avoids possible problems of subjectivity in site selection. He notes: "I could have increased the measures SPL (at the arbitrary locations) if I had located equipment closer to homes, barns, and roads, and if I had picked nights with moderate winds." Further, he notes that the attended metering used in the mobile survey allows identification and documentation of noise intrusions, some of which might be of interest in assessing either true ambient or noise conditions with turbines operating (i.e., a site with many cars passing will show elevated sound levels, compared to one with fewer; this increased noise could either lead to over-estimate of quiet times at these sites, or improperly suggest that turbines are the primary source elevating sound levels at a site.) Finally, this study's measurements of dBC (low frequency sound) found substantial variability at different sites, more variable than audible sound, including several sites where the difference between dBA and dBC approached 20dB; this suggests that later measurements with turbines operating may not necessarily suggest that the turbines are the source of such variability.
Animal listening area and alerting distance reduced substantially by moderate human noise
Barber, Crooks, Fristrup. The costs of chronic noise exposure for terrestrial organisms. Trends in Ecology and Evolution, 2010. [ARTICLE IN PRESS AVAILABLE HERE]
This is one of the most important and interesting papers published this year. It emerges from the partnership between the National Park Service's Natural Sounds Program and researchers at Colorado State University, who have been working together for several years to create metrics that are more useful for assessing the biological impacts of moderate human noise on wildlife. The assessments presented here, along with the paper's review of recent studies documenting changes in foraging, anti-predator behavior, reproductive success, density and community structure in response to noise, form the basis for a much more cogent assessment of noise impacts on wildlife.
The focus of this research is the ways that moderate increases in background noise can affect animals. The authors note that both air and road traffic in the US has tripled in recent decades; even in National Parks, noise is audible 25% of the time in more than half of sites assessed. Over 80% of US land area is close enough to roads for some low-frequency masking to occur, with passing trucks and motorcycles increasing the sound levels at 1km to 40dB(A).
One of the new proposed metrics is the effective "listening area." Changes in listening area has impacts involving both communication and what the authors term "adventitious" sounds (sound made largely by movement, which are important in predator/prey awareness). For predators, the listening area is the area over which they might hear the rustling of their prey, and for prey, it is the area in which they are alerted to approaching predators, whether wingbeats or footsteps; in each case, the most important sounds are those right at the edge of audibility. Social groups rely on hearing each other's alarm calls or songs inviting mating; reduced listening areas for these calls result in effectively reducing the number of individuals in any given communication network. Each animal has its own auditory acuity, so can hear at different distances; but for all animals, increasing background noise will reduce their natural listening area in predictable ways. The authors note analyses of transportation noise impacts often assert that a 3dB increase in noise – a barely perceptual change – has "negligible" effects, whereas in fact this increased noise reduces the listening area of animals by 30%. A 10dB increase in background noise (Ed. note: likely within a few hundred meters of a road or as a private plane passes nearby) reduces listening area by 90%.
Throughout, the authors stress the difficulties in separating noise-related effects of traffic from other related forces, such as habitat fragmentation or threat responses; there is also a fascinating short section citing studies showing behavioral changes in response to quiet recreation, sometimes even more dramatic than those caused by vehicles. Though only a few studies have directly addressed this ambiguity, many studies cited here provide strong indications that acoustic masking is a significant factor in behavioral changes near roads. Among the findings that caught my eye/ear:
- Masking affects not only audibility, but understanding: "thresholds for discrimination between calls of the same species were consistently higher than were detection thresholds for the same calls." Not surprising, but easy to forget: background sound often obscures the words being said, though we can still hear the voice.
- Bats that listen for ground movements of their prey hunt more in quiet areas than noisy ones; similarly insect-eating birds are more likely to avoid noisy areas than other birds.
Masking can also make it more difficult for animals to tell what direction a call (such as a mating call) is coming from
- Pronghorn antelope showed a marked shift in proportion of time spent foraging and in vigilance (looking around) when closer to roads: foraging dropped from 45% of the time to 35%, while vigilance increased from 40% to over 50%.
- Two key studies of increased vigilance in clearly noise-triggered contexts: Ground squirrels showed a marked increase in vigilance behavior when hearing squirrel alarm calls at a site in a wind farm than in a quiet site (including a slightly less "relaxed" non-vigilance baseline state), and a lab study with chaffinches found that the mean time spent pecking (eating) between times scanning the area decreased when noise was introduced.
The authors conclude by stressing: "Chronic noise exposure is widespread. Taken individually, many of the papers cited here offer suggestive but inconclusive evidence that masking is substantially altering many ecosystems. Taken collectively, the preponderance of evidence argues for immediate action to manage noise in protected natural areas….The costs of noise must be understood in relation to other anthropogenic forces, to ensure effective mitigation and efficient realization of environmental goals. Noise pollution exacerbates the problems posed by habitat fragmentation and wildlife responses to human presence; therefore, highly fragmented or heavily visited locations are priority candidates for noise management. Noise management might also offer a relatively rapid tool to improve the resilience of protected lands to some of the stresses imposed by climate change."
Bias in Military (or Conservation) Funded Ocean Noise Research
Wade, Whitehead, Weilgart. Conflict of interest in research on anthropogenic noise and marine mammals: Does funding bias conclusions? Marine Policy 34 (2010) 320-327.
(Ed. note: This lay summary includes more analysis and interpretation by AEI than we generally include; some of this commentary questions the conclusions of the paper, and some of it addresses the underlying controversies surrounding ocean noise issues. I have attempted to be clear about which statements are simple summations of the report's data and findings, and which are AEI's reflections or perspectives. It is a long read, but the issues that triggered this study are important ones. Though the clear-cut results reported here are difficult to take at face value, it is well worth considering the underlying forces that drive tensions between environmental groups and Navy/industry actions in the seas.)
In the United States, the US Navy funds about half of the research into the effects of ocean noise on wildlife. For many years, conservation groups have questioned whether this preponderance of funding is skewing research results, whether by constraining the types of questions being studied, or by leading researchers to downplay negative impacts of noise in order to continue receiving funding. This paper investigates the latter possibility, by comparing five recent reviews of the effects of ocean noise on wildlife, one funded by a leading environmental group, three that received substantial Navy funding, and two funded by organizations with no particular stake in the debate. The researchers compared the number of citations in each that showed an effect of noise, or not, or that showed both an effect and lack of effect. They also attempted to identify funding sources of the primary papers cited in each of these secondary reports, and to correlate the funding source with the same three parameters (noise shown to have an effect, noise causing no effect, or aspects of the primary research showing both effects and no effect).
Using both simple citation counts and G-test statistical analysis to test for a null hypothesis of random connection between funding sources and outcomes, the authors report a significant correlation between funding source and proportion of citations reporting "no effect" of noise. The five review papers certainly show a trend, though it appears to AEI that three papers that form the anchors of that trend each may be somewhat shaped by its original intention.
Reviews: Proportion of citations of each stance
The authors recognize that the one conservation-funded paper ("Oceans of Noise", WDCS) drew almost only on studies that did show an effect of noise, and re-analyzed the trend with that one excluded; a significant effect remained, though it was half as strong. However, one of the "independent" papers, a chapter in a book on the ocean environment (Hildebrand), was perhaps similarly constrained by its purpose; it was titled "Impacts of Anthropogenic Noise," and was not necessarily intended as a comprehensive assessment of what does and does not cause an effect. On the other end of the spectrum of the five surveys, the only Navy-funded survey that diverged notably from the other independent paper (from ICES), was the third National Research Council report, which addressed the difficulties in determining when repeated behavioral disruptions of a portion of a population accumulates to the point of becoming "biologically significant." Thus, this survey could be expected to include more papers that were exploring the edges of impacts, and so it is not surprising that to do so, more citations would appear that show no effect. Given these underlying intentions of the two reports showing the fewest "no effect" citations, and the one showing the most "no effect" citations, it appears that the five papers being compared are not quite on the same playing field. The other three papers (ICES and the first two NRC reports on noise and marine mammals) showed no marked differences in balance between citations, with the Navy-funded reports actually having a lower proportion of "no effect" papers and higher proportion of "effect" papers than the ICES survey.
Primary papers: funding sources and results reported
Turning to the primary papers, the situation is not muddied by the variable intentions of the reviews. Here, there is a clearer trend of increasing conclusions of "no effect" as funding moves from conservation to no-agenda to industry and military funding. Again, the 19 conservation-funded papers nearly all reported an effect, with just one showing both effect and no effect to separate questions being investigated. The 67 military-funded papers, by contrast, were far more likely (2.3 times as likely) to come to a no-effect conclusion than papers funded by other (non-conservation and non-industry) sources. However, and significantly, less than 30% of military-funded papers came to that conclusion, while about 50% did report an effect of noise, and 20% showed both effects and lack of effects. Likewise, in the first two NRC reviews, about 20% of citations showed "no effect," while over 60% showed an effect; even the most "extreme" review had more citations showing an effect than not.
Of special note is that the authors did not find any strong trend toward bias of results reported by independent, academic researchers receiving Navy funding for research studies - these studies showed a similar proportion of effect and no effect results as studies funded by neither the military nor conservation groups (though when comparing military-funded studies with all the others, including consevation-funded, a non-statisticially significant trend of 1.64 times more "no effect" findings was observed). As the authors stress in consideration of the possible bias of conservation-funded primary studies, conflicts of interest would be dangerous if scientists "orient(ed) their goals, methods, analysis or interpretation towards the perceived interests of the….community that funded them." The authors conclude that "much of the bias in military-funded research was in work carried out at military institutions, rather than in studies funded by the military but carried out at universities and other institutions." This seems to suggest that the concern about bias in funding alone is negligible, thus diffusing concerns that cash-strapped academic researchers are "cooking the books" to retain Navy funding. Research coming directly out of military offices is likely to remain less reliable as representing "the whole picture," as may research entirely funded by conservation groups. Still, by integrating and considering the full range of studies reported in all of these reviews, the public can get a pretty decent picture of current state of our understanding of the effects of ocean noise.
Of note, though, is that the proportion of "no effect" to "effect" findings is slightly lower in military-funded studies. In addition, military-funded studies are more likely to report BOTH effects and lack of effects in a single paper; this could indicate either a more careful assessment of the margins where effects are just noticeable, or a tendency to split the difference in order to either underplay the effects or accentuate the non-effects to assuage funders.
Overall, at both layers of analysis, it seems clear to AEI that the conservation-funded papers and survey report showed the most obvious "bias." However, this is not necessarily problematic (unless used as a baseline to suggest bias in others). As the authors note, "conservation groups do not fund research unless they have previously identified a potentially damaging effect," and since conservation groups' focus on precautionary approaches, and their mandate to "publicize activities that are potentially damaging to the environment" is quite transparent, it "should not be problematic unless threats are 'hyped' where there are none." (Note: while non-existent threats are rarely hyped by conservation groups, a more difficult question arises when moderate or minor threats are presented to the public as more dramatic than they may be.) The authors note that while these results could suggest that conservation funding may be considered problematic, "the argument can be made that their role as a preventative authority is necessary."
Indeed, while primary research and even survey reviews funded by the military are evidently not overly biased toward finding no effect (since in both cases, they include far more results showing effects than not), it also appears to AEI that in practical terms, the EIS's generated by the Navy and the mitigation measures imposed by regulators on both military and oil and gas activities are largely grounded in the belief – and regulatory determination – that any effects of these activities are "negligible," to use the formal term. Thus the focus of the conservation community on funding research and publishing overviews that emphasize credible studies outlining observed negative effects is understandable, given these groups' role in raising public awareness and balancing the singular interpretation of the more nuanced research by the military and industry. It might be more fruitful to explore ways that the "balance" of Navy-funded studies and reviews serve as a fig leaf for actions that nearly always presume no harm. Another key question not yet considered with the rigor brought to this study is whether Navy-funded research is oriented toward studies that, by the questions being asked, may be more likely to come up with "no effect" findings, as apparently the investigations that conservationists tend to fund ask questions that lean toward those that are likely to show an effect. Similarly, the questions being asked can color the perceived importance of changing our ways of using sound in the sea. For example, a study might seek to identify "recoverable thresholds" of exposure (the maximum sound can an animal experience, causing temporary hearing shifts, but with their hearing returning to normal after a few minutes or hours), while another study may be looking for "behavioral thresholds" (the sound exposure that triggers behavioral changes). Implicit in the first question is the thought that as long as the effect is not permanent, it's acceptable; conversely, the second question implies a desire to minimize disturbance of animals. Indeed, the first question seeks the maximum sound level we can feel comfortable imposing, while the second inquires as to the minimal sound that the animal might be affected by.
More to the point, though, many or most of the studies that do show effects are somewhat ambiguous (e.g., only a proportion of the population shows the effect, or the practical import of the change or effect is difficult or impossible to determine), while a finding of "no effect" is more clear-cut. It is not outlandish on the face of it for the Navy to say, as it does, that their actions are not likely to cause any major disruption of animal life: the only clear-cut evidence we have is that extremely loud sounds at very close range (tens of meters) can injure animals, while the rest of the research really is shades of grey. Nearly all of the controversy over military and oil and gas noise today boils down to differing interpretations of how important moderate behavioral changes are, and whether they should be avoided or not. And science is nearly incapable of shedding any definitive light on how important behavioral changes are, thus leaving the two sides largely reliant on their divergent faith: the Navy and oil industry's faith that the behavioral changes are transient and negligible, and environmentalists' faith that chronic behavioral disruption by human noise is bound to have negative consequences. Meanwhile, ethical questions about humanity's relationship to the natural world are outside the bounds of discussion on one side, and central to the whole discussion, on the other. In the end, studies like this – and indeed, reviews such as those considered here – are largely diligent exercises in quantifying an issue that has become, for all practical purposes, an exercise in divergent world views talking at and past each other.
Two Pinger Studies: Harbour Porpoise Bycatch Reduced, Common Dolphins Show Little Response
Palka, D.L., M.C. Rossman, A.S. VanAtten, and C.D. Orphanides. 2008. Effect of pingers on harbour porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) bycatch in the US Northeast gillnet fishery. Journal of Cetacean Research and Management 10(3):217-226.
Berrow, S., R. Cosgrove, R.H. Leeney, J. O'Brien, D. McGrath, J. Dalgard, and Y. Le Gall. 2008. Effect of acoustic deterrents on the behaviour of common dolphins (Delphinus delphis). Journal of Cetacean Research and Management 10(3):227-233.
Two studies of the use of pingers on gillnets came up with starkly different results for two key species of dolphins. The first, a long-term study of actual by-catch off the northeast coast of the US from 1999-2007, found that harbour porpoise bycatch was reduced 50-70% in fisheries that used pingers, with no bycatch at all in nets using 15cm mesh. Most importantly, there were no long-term increases in by-catch, which offers strong evidence that the porpoises are not habituating to the pinger sounds. However, the second study found that pingers that caused evasive responses in bottlenose dolphins had no effect on common dolphin behavior. A pinger source that allowed several types of signals to be tested also elicited no response in the common dolphins; the researchers conclude that “pinger, at their current state of development, may not provide a consistently effective deterrent signal for common dolphins.”
Treefrogs Call More when Human noise intrudes
Kaiser, K & JL Hammers (2009) The effect of anthropogenic noise on male advertisement call rate in the neotropical treefrog, Dendropsophus triangulum. Behaviour 146: 1053-1069.
This detailed study of treefrog calls in an Amazonian neotropical forest showed a near-doubling of call rates when frogs were exposed to recordings of a variety of human noises. Engine noise, music, and intermittent engine noise were all tested. Call rates increased by roughly 75% in the presence of motor noise and music, and nearly tripled when motor noise was presented intermittently. The response of this species of frog, to increase call rates, matched their response to increased presence of other frogs of this species; a chorus of treefrog calls produced the same change as the same volume of anthropogenic noise. While other species were not studied, the researchers note that their observations suggest that other chorusing frogs responded similarly to the anthropogenic noise, also increasing their call rates, while solitary-calling frogs ceased their calls during noise, and resumed when the noise stopped.
The researchers note that road construction and traffic are extending into ever more pristine habitats in neotropical forests worldwide. Unlike birds, frogs are considered incapable of short-term changes in call frequency (e.g., many birds have been shown to shift their calls to a higher pitch to be better heard in noisy urban environments); increasing call rates imposes a fairly substantial energetic cost on the calling males. The impact of increased noise on the effective call distance for males (or audibility distance for females), and the resultant difficulty of females to hear the calls was not studied, but is mentioned as another likely impact of increasing road noise in neotropical forests.
Reef Fish Hearing Measured
Parmenter, Colleye, Mann. Hearing ability in three clownfish species. Journal of Experimental Biology 212, 2023-2026 (2009)
Recent years have seen increasing interest in the question of whether and how reef fish may use sound for communication or orientation; however, while it was known that fish make sounds, their hearing capacities have not been widely measured. This study used AEP to measure the auditory response of clownfish to various frequencies of sound. Clownfish were found to detect sound from 75Hz to 1.8kHz, and to be most sensitive to sounds below 200Hz. It’s long been known that the sounds made by fish are closely related to their size, with lower frequency sounds made by larger fish. Interestingly, younger (i.e. smaller) fish have best hearing sensitivity at frequencies lower than the sounds they make, but close to the dominant frequencies of larger fish calls. It is suggested that this allows juvenile fish to hear and localize the position of adults, which may be useful as juveniles return to their home reefs.
Offshore wind farms: impact area on porpoises is small during operation, but potentially over 20km during construction
These two papers, from related research teams, assessed the impacts of construction and operation of wind farms in Europe on local populations of harbor porposeis and harbor seals.
Tougaard, Henriksen, Miller. Underwater noise from three types of offshore wind turbines: Estimation of impact zones for harbor porpoises and harbor seals. J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 125 (6), June 2009. 3766-3773.
Underwater noise was recorded from three different types of wind turbines in Denmark and Sweden. The authors note that virtually all airborne noise from the turbine blades is reflected off the surface of the water, while vibrations from the machinery are transmitted through the tower and into the foundation, from where it radiates out into the water column and seabed. In general, turbine noise was only measurable above ambient noise at frequencies below 500Hz, with total SPLs of 109-127db re 1uPa rms, measured at 14-20m from the turbines’ foundations. By comparing measured sound levels with audiograms of harbor seals and harbor porpoises, the researchers determined that the sounds were only slightly audible for the porpoises at ranges of 20-70m, whereas harbor seals may hear the sounds at ranges of 100m to several kilometers. As a bottom line, researchers suggest that behavioral changes are very unlikely in harbor porpoises except at very close ranges, while seals may have some behavioral reaction out to a few hundred meters. For both species, masking is predicted here to be low to non-existent (due to differences between vocalization frequency patterns and the predominantly low-frequency turbine noise), and the sound is too low to cause physical injury, no matter how close the animals are.
Tougaard, Carstensen, Teilmann, Skov, Rasmussun. Pile driving zone of responsiveness extends beyond 20km for harbor porpoises (Phocoena phocoena (L.)) (L). J.Acous.Soc.Am. 126(1), July 2009. 11-14.
This study took place during construction of an offshore wind farm in the North Sea. Acoustic T-PODs were placed in the wind farm and in two locations outside the wind farm, at 7 and 20km away. During pile driving operations, which generate high-intensity impulsive sounds (235dB peak-peak), detections of harbour porpoises declined at all listening stations. (The baseline was detections during construction, but without pile driving activity taking place) The declines were not dramatic (within the 95% confidence bars in most cases, barely beyond them in some cases), but were consistently found. There was no clear difference in detection rates at 7 and 20km, which implies that the displacement effect extends well beyond 20km. The differences inside the wind farm were minimal when pile driving was occurring, though total detections were lower inside the farm than outside at all times, suggesting that animals inside the construction zone were individuals who were more acclimated or tolerant of the ongoing construction noise.
A Summary of Recent Studies of Wind Farm Noise Annoyance and Possible Health Effects
The take-away from these new reports appears to be that while significant proportions of the population are affected by moderate wind farm noise, neither increasing wind farm noise nor even annoyance to it lead inevitably to health effects. There is an entire separate body of research investigating various attitudinal aspects related to stress and health, which only muddy the waters as we try to interpret these direct studies on wind farm noise. Some studies indicate that attitudes toward a noise source can affect both annoyance and stress responses, and that a subjective sense of being threatened can likewise increase physiological responses to noise; however, once again, these correlations are far from universal, so they cannot be used to "explain away" either annoyance or health impacts that do take place, any more than annoyance can be used as a clear indication of eventual health effects.
There is far more gray than black and white in these reports. Still, they provide a concrete picture of annoyance and sleep deprivation increasing as turbine noise increases, along with a better sense of the proportion of affected neighbors who will experience these impacts at various distances and received sound levels. Clearly, 35-45dB is a range at which impacts on neighbors become far more widespread. The social question that will need to addressed is what proportion of nearby neighbors we will accept causing sleep deprivation or annoyance in: 10%? 20%? Where will we draw the line, beyond which we consider turbine placement too close?
Minnesota Dept of Health
Minnesota Department of Health, Environmental Health Division. Public Health Impacts of Wind Turbines. May 2009. [DOWNLOAD REPORT HERE]
This state agency report provides a good overview of the current state of knowledge regarding wind farm noise propagation, with particular attention given to possible low frequency noise impacts. The report makes no dramatic recommendations, though the data presented suggests that audible and low-frequency noise could affect neighbors within a half mile to mile. Among the key pieces of information contained in this report, gleaned from previous research studies:
- A reminder that the 2007 report on wind farms and human health from the National Academies of Science concluded that "noise produced by wind farms is generally not a major concern beyond a half mile" (i.e., under a half mile can be problematic).
- Some individuals have extraordinary sensitivity to low frequency sound, up to 25dB more sensitive than presumed (average) thresholds at some frequencies
- Some people can dismiss and ignore repetitive but low intensity noise, while for others, the signal will grow and become more apparent and unpleasant over time. These reactions may have little relationship to will or intent, and more to do with previous exposure history and personality.
- The difference, in dB, between soft (acceptable) and loud (annoying) noise is much less at low frequencies, due to the our perceptual compression of the full audible range.
- Compiled data from two recent Swedish studies (summarized below) suggest that wind farm noise levels of over 40dB(A) lead to annoyance in about half the population, while slightly lower sound levels of 35-40dB(A) leads to annoyance in about a quarter of the population.
- A surprising study from New Zealand found that over half of household 2-2.5km AND 5-9.5km from wind farms could hear them at times (fewer in between heard them); these wind farms were in mountainous terrain, which likely explains the great distances at which they could be heard.
- Two charts from a 2006 report by the UK Department of Transport and Industry suggest that low frequency noise (LFN) from wind turbines can be well above audible levels, and above the UK's night noise LFN criterion, at frequencies of 50-200Hz.
Summary of Three European Studies
Eja Pederson. Effects of wind turbine noise on humans. Third International Meeting on Wind Turbine Noise, Aalborg, Denmark, June 2009.
This review by one of the leading researchers of wind turbine noise, annoyance, and health, compiles data from three studies, two in Sweden and one in Holland. The results, while indicating clear thresholds for annoyance and sleep disruption at sound levels often experienced by wind farm neighbors, also illustrate the subtleties inherent in making generalizations based on ambiguous data. The author makes a key introductory point: that wind farms "often are placed in rural settings considered places with low exposure (to) environmental stressors….in such a setting, even when the levels are comparably low, (wind farm noise could) be perceived as a potential health risk."
The heart of the studies shows a correlation between increasing noise levels and annoyance. This effect was clearly stronger in the two flat, rural areas, than in a study that took place in a more suburban, rolling landscape that had more other noises present. A dramatic increase in proportion of people annoyed by turbine noise took place when the noise was over 40dB(A); here, 25-45% reported annoyance in rural settings, and 10% in the suburban area. At 35-40dB, annoyance ranged from 16-20% in rural settings but was only 5% in suburban; at 30-35dB, annoyance hovered around 10% in rural areas.
The studies showed no direct correlation between noise levels and health effects related to stress (including headaches, tiredness, tenseness, and irritability); this is not surprising, since at all noise levels, a majority of the population was not annoyed, so also not likely to be stressed. Among those experiencing annoyance, there was a correlation with stress effects, but it was far from universal (correlations generally in the 1.25 range).
Sleep disruption from any source was reported by 15-20% of rural respondents even at sound levels under 30db; some may interpret this as evidence of impact from wind turbines at very low sound levels, but it could as well be considered a baseline of sleep disturbance from non-wind farm causes. At sound levels of 30-40dB, 5-8% more rural residents reported sleep disruption, and as levels rose above 40dB, a total of 30-40% of rural residents reported being awakened.
More Insight into Noise Perception and Annoyance
Kerstin Persson Waye. Perception and environmental impact of wind turbine noise. Presentation at Inter-noise 2009.
This is another paper that re-analyzes results from the several previous studies, including the Swedish and Dutch ones cited above (Waye and Pederson were co-authors of one of these earlier studies), and adds several interesting and important points to the discussion.
First, she cites studies that suggest that the swishing nature of turbine noise is especially problematic, leading to a much higher correlation with annoyance than simple dB level measurements. Indeed, even at sound levels of only 35-40dB(A), when swishing was present, 45% of respondents reported being "rather" or "very" annoyed; over 20% were similarly annoyed at 30-35dB.
Waye delves too-briefly into studies addressing the connection between SEEING turbines and being annoyed by them. This is an especially difficult question, but she cites studies suggesting very high correlations between visibility and annoyance, much higher than the related correlation between visibility and audibility. This ties into other studies suggesting that those who don't like seeing turbines, also don't like hearing them; again, though, it's important to remember that even these strong correlations are not universal, and many who experience noise issues are content to see turbines, if they are far enough away to not create audible disruptions to their recreational, work, and sleep life.
In parsing the data from the three studies also addressed by Pederson, above, Waye adds two key pieces of information: first, all these wind farms consist of relatively small turbines, by current standards: 500-800kW. Second, our consideration of annoyance thresholds at various dB levels is greatly enhanced by also including a graph showing that, in addition to those annoyed at each sound level, another 40-70% of the population could HEAR the turbines, but did not report annoyance. For example, at 30-35dB, over half of rural residents reported hearing the turbines, while only 8-12% were annoyed; at 35-40dB (within most global regulatory limits), 85% heard them, while just under 20% were annoyed; and at 40-45dB (within common US regulatory limits), 95% heard them, while 45% were annoyed.
Finally, Waye addresses a commonly reported finding: that annoyance levels are higher for wind turbines than for noise from less dynamic industrial sources, such as factories. She cites a study that shows that annoyance when indoors is pretty much the same, but that outdoors in rural settings, annoyance is significantly higher at sound levels above 35dB (annoyance at the one suburban wind farm was nearly identical to that from factory noise, again suggesting that expectations in rural setting plays a key role). Waye suggests that in rural settings, recreational and "restorative" aspects of outdoor experiences are impinged upon by wind farm noise. A final fascinating tidbit in her paper is that people who move from cities to the country are significantly more sensitive to noise than people who had always lived in the country; that is, those who actively chose to relocate to the country are more attached to the quiet nature of the landscape, while those who grew up there are more accepting of changes. (Ed. note: As with so many statistics in these studies, though, this should not be over-emphasized; surely many long-time locals also struggle with noise impacts. Indeed, the difference in sensitivity to noise, while an interesting finding, is just 15%)
Low-Frequency Active Sonar Annual Report to NMFS
Annual Report No. 1: Operation of the Surveillance Towed Array Sensor System Low Frequency Active (SURTASS LFA) Sonar Aboard the R/V Cory Chouest and USNS Impeccable (T-AGOS 23) Under the National Marine Fisheries Service Letters of Authorization of 15 August 2007. Department of the Navy, Chief of Naval Operations, September 2008. [DOWNLOAD (pdf)]
This report details the actual operations of the US Navy's two LFAS-equipped ships, from mid-August 2007 to mid-August 2008. Both ships remained close to the Asian Pacific coast, near China, the Philippines, and Japan. The Letter of Authorization issued by NMFS, allows the Navy to use LFAS for up to 432 hours per vessel each year. During this year, the Cory Chouest used the system for 25 days, totaling 71 hours of transmissions, and the Impeccable used it on 24 days for a total of 65 hours of transmissions. During these missions, both passive acoustic detection and an active "whale-finder" high frequency sonar were used to supplement visual marine mammal observers; no whales were heard via passive listening, one group of whales was spotted visually, and on 19 occasions, whales or turtles were spotted by the whale-finder sonar. Operations were suspended 43 times, including the 20 encounters just noted, and 23 times when the whale-finder sonar was not working correctly. Such shut-downs occur when whales may move within 1km of the ship; the whale-finder sonar reliably detects whales out to 2km away. Based on current population studies of whales in the region, the report estimates that LFAS operations injured no animals, and created possible behavioral reactions (received levels of 120dB or more) in less than 1% of most cetacean species, with no more than 3% of any species affected.
The report notes that the LFAS source transmitter send out sound in a full 360 degrees, at a source level of 215dB or less, using a variety of signal types at 100-500Hz. The document provides a good overview of the Navy's EIS process since it began in 1996, along with court challenges and rulings from 2002-2008.
Safety Thresholds for Ocean Noise Should Address Character of Signal, Not Just Loudness
Michael Stocker. The importance of incorporating signal characteristics in the evaluation of noise exposure impacts on marine life. Acoustical Society of America presentation, May 2009.
This paper is a literature review that presents evidence suggesting that our current reliance on simple amplitude (dB level) limits as the foundation of noise-exposure guideline for sonar and other ocean noise sources may not provide the assumed protection for animals. The author proposes several other characteristics of sound signals that may have biologically relevant effects that contribute significantly to possible injury or behavioral responses to human sound.
Current safety thresholds are largely based on hearing tests with captive dolphins. A striking graphic in this paper shows the wide variability in these lab-based results from one species, with reported hearing thresholds varying by up to 50dB. This could well be due to large individual variations in hearing health among captive dolphins; the author stresses as well that the simple sine-wave-based signals used in most hearing tests may not be especially relevant to cetacean hearing. He notes that predominant natural ocean noises (waves, rain, etc.) are relatively simple sine-like sounds, so that ocean species may in fact be adapted to NOT hear them as well as sounds important to communication or which are threats. He concludes his overview of existing hearing studies: "It is clear that animal hearing systems are not just 'auditory frequency bins' but include complex ways of discriminating the characteristic differences between biologically useful signals, 'safe sounds,' and 'pernicious sounds.'" He then cites studies from Holland that have used various non-sinusoid signals to determine discomfort levels, and associated "discomfort zones" related to various signal differences; and, studies indicating that signals with high "kurtosis" (variability in sound levels and harmonic content) produce greater physiological damage than similarly-loud sounds with low kurtosis.
The author concludes by noting that current regulations are based on simple lab auditory threshold tests that are favored because they are easily replicable, but which "only demonstrate the subject's sensitivity to the test signal and do not necessarily reflect the subject's auditory thresholds to the range of signals that they might encounter in their own habitat." He suggests that exposure criteria should be modified to reflect characteristics known to enhance behavioral responses or increase the risk of physiological injury; he proposes evaluation of the following signal characteristics:
- Rise time of impulse signals
- Periodicity of intermittent signals
- Kurtosis, evaluated three ways: FFT of spectral distribution, amplitude variability, and spectral variability.
Measuring Air Gun Propagation from New NSF Research Ship R/V Langseth
Tolstoy, Diebold, Doermann, Nooner, Webb, Bohnenstiehl, Crone, Holmes. Broadband calibration of the R/V Marcus G. Langseth four-string seismic sources. Geochemistry Geophysics Geosysytems, Vol. 10, Number 8. August 2009. [DOWNLOAD (pdf)]
This study marks the primary calibration of the new seismic survey vessel managed by Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory (LDEO) and often chartered by the National Science Foundation for academic surveys. The Langseth's air gun arrays are different than those on the previous vessel, the R/V Ewing, as it uses four identical 9-gun linear arrays of somewhat smaller air guns, rather than up to 20 separately towed and larger air guns. Tests were run in a deep water site and a shallow water site, since sound propagation varies considerably with depth. Sound levels were calculated using both 90% RMS (re 1uPa) and SEL (re:1uPa2s). The resulting exposure radii (safety zones to prevent exposure at the given level) are as follows:
|dB threshold RMS
|dB threshold SEL
Interestingly, actual received levels at distances over 3km at the deep site were below the slope of the statistical "line" the data created at closer ranges; thus the very distant exposure radii are likely over-estimates. As has been widely noted in recent years, sound energy was concentrated in the 10-300Hz range (120-150dB energy spectral density at 1km), but continued to have significant energy up to 1kHz (100-120db shallow, 90-110dB deep) and 20kHz (60-80dB shallow, 20-60 ESL deep). Of special note in this study is the further clarification that, contrary to previous assumptions, differences between RMS and SEL are not consistent, but rather vary greatly with water depth. Reverberations in shallow environments create a smaller difference (about 8dB) than in deep water (about 14dB).
Fin Whales Seem to Avoid Seismic Survey
Castellote, Clark, Esteban. Mediterranean fin whale migration movements altered by seismic exploration noise. Presentation at Acoustical Society of America, May 2009.
This study took place in the western Mediterranean, off the coasts of Spain, France, and northwestern Italy; its main purpose was to simply identify seasonal patterns of fin whales and better understand their migratory movements, using the now-common Cornell Marine Autonomous Recording Units (MARU), which are deployed for weeks or months, and then "pop up" for recovery. By chance, an medium-sized academic seismic survey took place in the vicinity of the recorders for ten days, from 8-17 December 2006, using 5 typical air guns and 4 small "sleeve" guns, totaling 1555 cubic inches. The resulting changes and in fin whale call rates strongly suggest that they shifted their migratory path, though given the limited "perspective" offered by two MARUs deployed near each other, and the fact that understanding of normal migratory pattern is limited, the study is not conclusive.
During the ten days before the survey began, whale calls were heard fairly regularly; during the first three days of the survey, it appears that whales vocalized more, while moving to a different position relative to the recorders. The call rate was most dramatically higher on the 2nd day of the survey: whale calls were heard for over 20 hours, rather than the 6-8 hours that was more typical before and after the survey (some non-survey days peaked at 12-14 hours). The researchers note a dramatic change in bearing (angle at which most of the calls came from) during this peak early in the survey, which was followed by a dramatic drop in calls, to zero on the 4th day of the survey, and continuing at zero or close to it for two weeks after the survey was completed; presumably the whales moved out of range of the recorders (the peak in call rates may represent more whales being temporarily closer as their route shifted). By the beginning of January, whale calls sporadically rose again to near the levels before the survey, and, by January 7th, became more consistent, and back to the bearing that had been noted before. The researchers cite a few other studies that have shown displacement or changed vocalizing patterns near surveys, to bolster their sense that this study should be added to that emerging body of research suggesting behavioral effects that are not fully accepted yet by the scientific and industrial communities.
Ocean Acidification Not Likely to Increase Ambient Background Noise
Reeder, Chiu. Ocean acidification and its impact on ocean noise level: An analysis using empirical and physical models of acoustic transmission loss. Presented at ASA October 2009 meeting.
Udovydchenkov, Duda. Ocean noise level change in response to ocean acidification. Presented at ASA October 2009.
These two papers take a closer look at the widely-noted ocean noise implications of increasing ocean acidification (a combination of factors related to global warming is triggering a steady increase in the ocean’s pH, which decreases sound absorption). When the acidification results were first released there was much speculation that shipping noise would propagate farther, resulting in cumulative ambient noise increases throughout the oceans. These two papers, presented at this fall’s Acoustical Society of America meeting, both come to the same conclusion: low frequency noise will not be significantly increased due to ocean acidification; rather, the primary changes will occur at mid-frequencies. This calms concerns about shipping noise, but may (over time) lead to slightly larger areas being impacted by mid-frequency active sonar, some acoustic harassment devices used by fish farms, noise from recreational boating, and other mid-frequency noise.
Rather than simply looking at the effects of sound absorption, both papers assessed the combined effects of many factors in sound propagation: seabed attenuation and boundary effects, waveguide physics, and the distribution of pH and absorption through different depths of water. The first paper looked at shallow water, a surface duct, and deep ocean, and found that the maximum change in noise transmission occurs at about 2kHz, with no significant change below 800Hz. The second paper notes that at low frequency, little sound is absorbed anyway, so pH-related absorption effects are much smaller than all the other effects, and that at high frequencies, sound does not propagate very far, also minimizing effects of decreased absorption; the authors note that effects can be sizable at middle frequencies. (Ed. note: for both papers, pre-conference abstracts do not quantify the mid-frequency effects; details will follow after the presentations and with later publication of results.)
Sleep "Arousal" and Awakening Could be Cause of Wind Farm Health Woes
Christopher Hanning. Sleep disturbance and wind turbine noise. June 2009 [DOWNLOAD REPORT]
(Ed. note: this is not a peer-reviewed paper; it was written for an anti-wind group in Swinford, UK. However, Dr. Hanning, unlike some other physicians wading into industrial wind noise issues, is not writing outside his area of expertise. He's a renowned sleep disturbance expert: his school hospital named their sleep lab after him.)
This report by a UK MD whose specialty is sleep disorders takes a comprehensive look at factors affecting sleep disturbance caused by nearby wind farms, and is highly recommended reading for anyone working to develop regulations at the local or state level. Hanning’s primary point is that external noise need not wake a sleeper to cause problems, and the repeated “arousals” can break the most restful periods of sleep. He notes that “The sleep, because it is broken, is unrefreshing, resulting in sleepiness, fatigue, headaches and poor memory and concentration.” These are precisely the symptoms often reported by people living near wind farms.
He stresses that arousals are also associated with “physiological changes, an increase in heart rate and blood pressure, which are thought to be responsible for the increase in cardiovascular risk. Arousals occur naturally during sleep and increase with age (Boselli 1998) which may make the elderly more vulnerable to wind turbine noise. Arousals may be caused by sound events as low as 32 dBA and awakenings with events of 42dBA (Muzet and Miedema 2005), well within the measured noise levels of current wind farms” and the levels permitted by most jurisdictions.
The report also summarizes other studies suggesting that night-time noise levels are often higher than sound models predict, as well as one that suggests that wind farms cause high levels of annoyance at lower sound levels than other common noise sources. He concludes that “While it may be possible to produce a reasonable acoustically based theoretical approach to calculating set back distances (Kamperman and James 2008b), it makes more sense to rely on recommendations from observations of the effects on real people at established wind farms.”
Some Birds Choose Noisy Areas For Nests
Francis, C.D., Ortega, C.P., and A. Cruz. 2009. Noise pollution changes avian communities and species interactions. Current Biology DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2009.06.052
A new study surveyed nesting birds in New Mexico woodlands with oil and gas compressors, and came up with a surprising result. While, as expected, most birds were more numerous in areas farther from the compressors, two species seemed to prefer these areas. Black-chinned hummingbirds and house finches had more than 90 percent of their nests at the noisy sites. The researchers dug a bit deeper, and found that nests in the quiet areas were more likely to be attacked by predators, with predator birds significantly less abundant around noisy sites. It is suggested that the noise may mask their calls or make it harder for them to find their prey.
Increase in Noise Levels Leads to More Annoyance Than Similar Noise in Steady State
Brown, Kamp. Response to a change in transport noise exposure: Competing explanations of change effects. J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 125 (2), February 2009
This literature review addresses an interesting question, and one that may be relevant to concerns about noise from wind farms. A long history of studies of human annoyance responses to traffic noise seems to suggest that a change in noise levels (for example, traffic noise increasing from 50dB to 60dB) triggers more annoyance than occurs when exposure is steady at the higher level (in this case, a steady 60dB). This paper reviews many proposed explanations for this affect; while no single explanation is identified as most likely, several common ones are shown to be unlikely, and a set of plausible explanations remains. Among the explanations that are rejected is the common assumption that the annoyance after an increase is transient, and over time will dissipate as people adapt to the new noise level; in fact, evidence suggests that annoyance remains for years after a change. Also of note is that the one study that looked closely at whether attitudes toward a noise source is related to annoyance after an increase in noise found that neither prior attitude nor changes in attitude could account for the increased annoyance. This paper, and its many citations, are highly recommended for anyone addressing community responses to new or increased noise sources.
Harbor Porpoise TTS, Behavioral Response at Moderate Noise Levels in Lab Tests
Lucke, Seibert, Lepper, Blanchet. Temporary shift in masked hearing thresholds in a harbor porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) after exposure to seismic airgun stimuli. J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 125 (6), June 2009.
Field researchers have observed for years that harbor porpoises appear more sensitive to noise than most other cetacean species, moving away from noise sources at greater distances than typically considered problematic (belugas and bowhead whale mothers are also more behaviorally sensitive to noise). This study was the first that measured harbor porpoise auditory sensitivity in the lab, using Auditory Evoked Potential measurements (brain-wave scanners that note auditory brain activity), and the results confirm that this species' avoidance behavior occurs at relatively low sound levels, and may be linked to a similarly low threshold of TTS (temporary hearing loss). The test animal was a wild-born ten-year old porpoise who has lived in captivity in Denmark for most of his life; the testing facility is open to the sea, so background noise (ranging roughly from 60-80dB pressure spectral density) is dominated by local shipping sounds. A single small (20 cubic inches) airgun was used as the sound source, gradually moving closer until a TTS was observed at one of the 3 tested hearing frequencies (4, 32, and 100kHz). The airgun source sound was, as is typical, loudest at low frequencies (max of 150dB SPL at 300Hz), but had significant energy at higher frequencies as well (100-110dB SPL from 2kHz to 5kHz), at the relatively close range used in this test (14-150m).
The key finding was that the airgun sounds caused TTS in the 4kHz hearing range at received levels of 165.5dB SEL (202.1dB peak to peak); perhaps more importantly, recovery was quite slow, with reduced sensitivity (i.e., sound had to be louder than normal to be heard) still measured at 29 hours post-exposure. Based on the pattern of recovery, the researchers estimate that the animal's hearing returned to normal at about 55 hours. Also striking was the clear avoidance of the airgun sounds exhibited by Eigil, the test animal. While there was no apparent avoidance during initial exposures at 145dB SEL (174dB peak to peak), at levels above this, he tried to move away, and eventually resisted being placed in the exposure station (a small part of the pool where he was constrained during the actual tests, and where received level from the airguns was highest). This avoidance of the testing location continued for the rest of the 4.5 months that the tests continued.
Current US regulatory measures, while still evolving, have zeroed in on a proposed TTS threshold of 198Db (SEL) for both single impulses and multiple impulses; this is based on earlier TTS studies of bottlenose dolphins and belugas. The authors of this paper point out that these "mid-frequency" cetaceans may well have different hearing sensitivity thresholds than "high-frequency cetaceans" such as the harbor porpoise; thus, this study provides new information that could inform regulatory thresholds for seismic surveys and pile-driving (during construction of wind farms, bridges, or piers) in harbor porpoise habitat. The US Navy, in estimating the numbers of animals that will be behaviorally affected by sonar training, has been singling harbor porpoises out as more sensitive to disruption, and assuming that any animal exposed to 120dB will potentially change its behavior to some degree.
SEL Metric Does Not Simplify TTS Assessment
Mooney, Nachtigall, Breese, Vlachos, Au. Predicting temporary threshold shifts in a bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus): The effects of noise level and duration. J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 125 (3), March 2009.
This study, from one of the leading researchers investigating Temporary Threshold Shift (TTS; temporary decline in hearing sensitivity) after exposure to loud noise in dolphins, calls into question one of the key advantages of the Sound Exposure Level metric. SEL measurements are designed to measure total sound exposure over a given period of time; simply stated, SEL remains constant when sound intensity increases while duration decreases (e.g., twice as loud for half as long should result in "equal energy", or the same SEL). The assumption was that SEL offered an "equal energy" metric that could allow biologists and ocean regulators to set a SEL threshold that would apply to many types of noise exposure. However, this study indicates that a given SEL dB level (arrived at via a mathematical equation combining sound energy from many noise pulses over time) did not seem to induce TTS in the single captive dolphin used in this study. As with other metrics, higher SELs were required to induce TTS with shorter duration sounds. By extension, the hypothesis that TTS is caused by a given level of sound energy (the "equal energy" hypothesis) is called into question. The relationship appears to be logarithmic, rather than linear. In this study, the sound source was short (20ms) digitally generated tone bursts.
Related: Mid-Frequency Sonar Must Be Very Loud/Close to Trigger TTS
Mooney, Nachtigall, Vlachos. Sonar-induced temporary hearing loss in dolphins. Biology Letters, doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2009.0099
The same team more recently found the same difficulty with using SEL to predict TTS when using a recording of a US naval mid-frequency active sonar; short duration MFA "pings" had to be ramped up to a SEL of 214dB (equivalent to 203dB SPL rms) to induce a modest TTS of 6dB, which faded rapidly back to normal hearing levels in 20-40 minutes, a higher SEL than had induced TTS using longer duration sounds in the above study. This was the first hearing test on dolphins to use actual mid-frequency active sonar signals; previous studies had used sonar simulations or tones at similar frequencies. Ed. note: The usual caveats are in order here, as a long-time captive dolphin may not hear as well as his wild relatives; it is often assumed that captive dolphins are less sensitive both physiologically (hearing loss from living in noisy pens) and behaviorally (habituated to noise, and given food to remain in the test area), though the relative lack of clear studies on wild animals makes this assumption difficult to confirm.
Wind Turbines Do Not Seem to Displace Wintering Farmland Birds
Devereaux, Denny, Whittingham. Minimal effects of wind turbines on the distribution of wintering farmland birds. Journal of Applied Ecology 2008, 45, 1689-1694.
In what be the first study examining whether wind farms displace birds, this team studied bird distributions around two small wind farms in England (each had 8 2MW 60m hub-height turbines in two rows). Birds of four different functional groups (seed-eaters, corvids, gamebirds, and skylarks) were counted at five distances (multiples of 150m, out to 750m). After controlling for crop types and boundary effects, there was no overall significant difference in distribution by distance. One species was an exception to the overall findings: the largest and least maneuverable bird, the common pheasant, was more common as distance increased. Two other species not included in the overall study of functional groups were also less abundant within 150m: the mallard and the wood pigeon, also both less maneuverable than most of the other birds in the area (the authors note that counts were low enough for these that the pattern may have been skewed by a few large flocks). In some cases (skylarks and corvids), the data showed statistically significant increases in bird numbers closer to the turbines. The authors make a point of noting that this winter study needs to be complemented by similar investigations of distribution during the breeding season, when birds may be affected differently. This study did NOT study noise, but just the presence of the turbines.
Related: Compressor Station Noise Can Reduce Forest Bird Abundance
Bayne, Habib, Boutin. Impacts of Chronic Anthropogenic Noise form Energy-Sector Activity on Abundance of Songbirds in the Boreal Forest. Conservation Biology, Volume 22, No. 5, 1186-1193, 2008.
This study used an innovative study design to separate the effect of noise from the also-important effects of habitat disruption and edge effects caused by energy development. The authors compared bird distributions around (quiet) well pads and (constantly noise-producing) coalbed methane compressor stations in the forest of Alberta. They found that areas near well pads had a passerine density of 1.5 times higher than areas near compressor stations; one-third of the species studied showed this affect. The noise levels produced by the compressor stations is typically 75-95 dB(A) at the source, sometimes reaching 105dB(A) at large facilities; compressor noise is commonly heard at distances of well over 1km in the boreal forest; with 5000 compressor stations in boreal Alberta, the question of noise-related displacement is potentially significant. In addition to the overall tendency for passerines to be found in greater numbers near quiet energy installations than noisy ones (with three species especially affected), seven other species showed less dramatic but still noticeable differences, while eleven other species showed no difference. Red-eyed Vireos, White-throated sparrows, and Yellow-rumped warblers were particularly affected, with chickadees, jays, and wrens showing little effect.
Right Whales Experience Dramatic Variations in Noise During Annual Movements Along North American Coast
Parks, Urazghildiiev, Clark. Variability in ambient noise levels and call parameters of North Atlantic right whales in three habitat areas. J. Acous. Soc. Am. 125 (2), February 2009.
This study used pop-up recorders to examine ambient noise conditions and right whale calls in three of the species' annual habitats: The Bay of Fundy, Cape Cod Bay, and the coast of Georgia. While the variability of calls was subtle, there was some indication that louder call patterns were in response to the peak sound in an area, rather than the overall noise level. However, the seasonal variability of noise experienced by this population is the key finding here. Overall sound levels were highest during the summer season spent in the Bay of Fundy, and lowest in the winter off Georgia. Likewise, the percentage of time that the habitat was "loud" (ambient noise over 105dB re 1uPa in the 50-350Hz frequency range of right whale contact calls) varied dramatically: in the Bay of Fundy, it was loud 85-95% of the time, in Cape Cod Bay it was loud 53-63% of the time, and off Georgia it was loud only 20-30% of the time. While the quiet is surely appreciated during calving time in Georgia, the high proportion of noisy times in the Bay of Fundy could impede summer social interaction, perhaps including mating. The population of North Atlantic right whales is precarious, and slowly decreasing; the researchers conclude with the urgent observation that "Locating the mating grounds for right whales and quantifying the noise occurring in their breeding areas may be crucial in understanding how increases in ambient noise may limit the range of communication signals that are vital for successful reproduction."
Orcas Increase Volume of Calls in Synch With Increasing Boat Noise
Holt, Noren, V. Veirs, Emmons, S. Veirs. Speaking up: Killer whales (Orcinus orca) increase their call amplitude in response to vessel noise. J. Acous. Soc. Am. 125(1), January 2009.
This study found that Southern Resident killer whales, who are nearly always within earshot of boat traffic, increase their call amplitude by 1dB for every 1dB increase in background noise levels. Call amplitudes ranged from 133-174dB re 1uPa (mean 155dB), while background noise (measured in the 1-40kHz band) ranged from 98-123dB (mean 110dB), as nearby boat counts ranged from 1-46. Of course, source levels of calls vary, based on the type of call; still, there was a significant correlation between call source level and background noise for all call types. The detailed analysis was restricted to the one call type with the largest sample size. It appeared that call amplitude was relatively unaffected until background noise reached 105dB, though the researchers note a small sample size below that level, and suggest further investigation to see whether there is a threshold at some point. Above 105dB, calls increased 1dB for each 1dB of increased boat noise. Interestingly, they found no increase in duration of calls; an earlier study had found that calls were longer in noisy conditions. The researchers suggest that this difference may be due to differences in study design, or due to the fact that the current study site did not provide any "no boat noise" conditions (i.e., perhaps call duration increases at the first appearance of background noise, with call amplitude increasing with the noise).
Boats Reduce Foraging Time in Orcas
Lusseau, Bain, Williams, Smith. Vessel traffic disrupts the foraging behavior of southern resident killer whales Orcinus orca. Endangered Species Research, Vol. 6: 211-221, 2009.
This recent paper continues a line of research undertaken by this team throughout this decade, which investigates the ways that boat traffic changes orca behavior, with a special focus on foraging activity (a 2004 paper by these researchers suggests that reduced foraging is the most significant impact on an animals' energy budget; ie, the extra energy used in, e.g., avoidance is much less significant than the much larger decrease in energy received when foraging is reduced). As in their study of the northern orcas of BC, and in line with studies by others of delphinid species in other parts of the world, this study found that orcas around San Juan Island reduced their time spent foraging by about 21% when boats were within 400m (from 76% of the time to 60% of the time). They had hoped to identify behavior patterns when 100m, 400m, and 1000m or more from boats; unfortunately, in the San Juan Islands, boat traffic is nearly constant, and there were very few opportunities to observe orcas with boats more than 1000m away. In the end, the authors show a clear affect with boats within 100m and 400m, as well as an apparently smaller affect when boats were within 1000m. The authors note that it is possible that the 400m affect is mainly caused by boats not far beyond 100m (a study with finer spatial analysis would be needed to clarify this). Nonetheless, they show that the current whale watching standard of remaining 100m away is not sufficient to avoid disrupting the key foraging behaviors of orcas.
Related: Number of Vessels May Play Larger Role than Proximity of Vessels
Williams, Bain, Smith, Lusseau. Effects of vessels on behavior patterns of individual southern resident killer whales Orcinus orca. Endangered Species Research, Vol. 6: 199-209, 2009.
This companion paper by the same research team does not address foraging, but rather looks at overall behavioral effects of the same boat traffic measured in the above study. They find that behavioral changes such as swimming speed and directness of travel path changed slightly in response to boats, and in general, they found that changes were more correlated to the number of boats within 400 yards than by the proximity of the boats, whereas current whale watching standards address only how close each boat is, rather than total numbers of boats. They also note that, given the difficulties in finding clear patterns within this noisy environment, it may be hard for managers to feel that the data is solid enough to warrant additional protections. However, the authors conclude with the observation that it appears that this population is food-limited (many researchers consider declining salmon runs to be a primary factor in population stagnation and sometimes dips), and suggest that reducing the ambient noise levels would improve the whales' ability to find the limited food that remains in the region. Ed. note: This paper's focus on numbers of vessels corresponds well with the Holt paper directly above, which finds overall ambient noise is closely tied to the number of boats in the vicinity.
Soundscapes, Acoustic Daylight, and Fish Hearing
Richard Fay. Soundscapes and the sense of hearing in fishes. Integrative Zoology 2009; 4: 26-32.
This fascinating review offers a wide-ranging consideration of the implications of a simple observation: goldfish have an acute sense of hearing, though they do not vocalize or engage in any known sound communication. What are they listening to? Fay introduces several key lines of research into fish hearing, some dating from the 80s, and some from the past decade. His own research, along with that of several others, has demonstrated that fish can isolate multiple sound sources (though studies cited are limited to two distinct sounds, rather than much more complex mixes of sound). From there, Fay suggests that fishes' sensitivity to particle motion in water, via their lateral lines, provides them the ability to engage in what in human perception is termed "auditory scene analysis," or the perception of a complex environment by distinguishing the many sound sources and their motion through the soundscape. The most intriguing suggestion in the paper is less solidly fleshed out: that fish make use of reflections of ambient sound to build this "auditory scene." That is, ambient noise can act as "acoustic daylight," with subtle differences in the echoes of the overall ambient sound bouncing off specific objects being a source of perception (as light reflects off objects to create visual perception). Fay mentions one study in which goldfish were shown to be able to perceive a single point source of delayed (as if echoed) signal in a noise field; this was apparently done with artificial noise sources, though the researchers (and Fay) propose that it represents an ability of goldfish to perceive the fish bladder of another fish re-radiating ambient noise. This may well be true, though this (and one other related study that showed fish using echoes from self-produced sound) do not yet cross the chasm of showing that fish process complex acoustic scenes by using reflections of ambient noise. Yet the point of this review is not to "make a case" for these higher order perceptual abilities, but rather to open our minds to the likely fact that fish listen to much more than simply communication signals, which have been overlooked due to our "profound ignorance of the other possible sounds and sources that probably have biological significance to fish," and to suggest that "environmental soundscapes (are) most probably important sources of information." This more modest first step is clearly successful here, opening the way to future studies of the undoubtedly subtle and complex sensory world of fishes.
IUCN Report Highlights Noise Impact of Shipping in Mediterranean, Calls for MPAs to Provide "Acoustic Comfort"
Ameer Abdulla, Olof London (editors). 2008. Maritime traffic effects on biodiversity in the Mediterranean Sea: Review of impacts, priority areas and mitigation measures. Malaga, Spain: IUCN Centre for Mediterranean Cooperation. 184 pp. [DOWNLOAD(pdf)] [WEBSITE]
This comprehensive look at Mediterranean shipping, from the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, includes a long section in the early pages on noise impacts. Due to the concentration of shipping in the Mediterranean, ambient noise is 40dB higher than in relatively shipping-free seas such as the Sea of Cortez. Among the recommendations made in regards to noise are that "Much effort should be devoted to developing a legal framework within which underwater noise is recognized and regulated as a threat," and the advocacy of MPAs that are designed to provide acoustic protection to critical and productive habitats, where "noise levels should not be allowed to exceed ambient by more than a given value, including noise from sources located outside the MPA." In addition, the report stresses the importance of moving rapidly to develop regional hydrophone networks with which to monitor noise and develop current "noise budgets," as well as the need for expanded research with Auditory Brainstem Response techniques to examine hearing sensitivity and changes due to noise exposure, and analysis of stress hormones in response to noise. The authors of the report forge important new ground as they summarize:
"In addition to defining which impacts should be avoided or mitigated, we also need to draw up a model of 'acoustic comfort' that we should guarantee to animals, at least over sufficiently extensive protected areas. This is a novel concept. It means we should define the (near to) zero-impact noise level that a habitat should have for each type of marine life."
Yet Another Study Shows Dramatic Decrease in Dolphin Foraging Near Boats
Antonella Arcangeli and Robert Crosti. The short-term impact of dolphin-watching on the behaviour of bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) in western Australia. Journal of Marine Animals and Their Ecology. Vol 2, No. 1. 2009. [DOWNLOAD PAPER]
Over the past few years, a steady trickle of new studies have indicated that many species may decrease foraging activity in the presence of boats. In many situations, it can be difficult to have enough sightings without boats to create a data set large enough to have statistically significant results (e.g., orcas in the Pacific northwest, or dolphins in the Mediterranean). Also, the presence of the observation boat can confound results. This study took place in a bay near Bunbury, 200km south of Perth, western Australia, a location where these limitations could be overcome. The weather conditions in summer are generally calm, allowing excellent observing conditions, with the observation inflatable's motor often shut down; observations were only made in quite calm seas (Beaufort 2 or lower). A large local population of dolphins offered plenty of data, and the population is generally stable in place, engaging in a series of regular behaviors over relatively prolonged timeframes. Behavior "without" boats present was noted when no boats (other than the observation inflatable) were within 350m; behavior "with" boats present was noted when tour boats came within 150m. (Ed. note: it would be interesting to consider the data when tour boats were 150-350m distant, to assess whether the observed effects extend to greater distances). Over the course of 65 hours of observation by a single observer, 1028 3-minute behavioral samples were taken, 781 with no boat (average duration 69 min.), and 247 with a tour boat present (average duration 47 min.). As usual with such studies, several behavioral states were analyzed: Traveling, Socializing, Resting, Milling, Feeding, and Diving. All showed some change in the presence of boats, with Traveling, Milling, and Diving all increasing in the presence of boats, and Socializing, Feeding, and Resting decreasing. Of these, the most relevant to an animal's energy budget all were negatively affected: Traveling increased from 27% of the time to 46%, Resting decreased from 31% to 20%, and by far the largest energetic impact was seen in Feeding, which reduced from 20% of the time to just 7.6% of the time. This is the most dramatic decrease in feeding seen in such studies (others have tended to find a 25-35% decrease in foraging). This may indicate that the relatively localized population had plenty of time to eat when the boats were not present, and chose to either leave or play with the boats when they were present. The study did look at attraction/deterrence, finding that in in 20% of cases, dolphins moved closer to the boats, while in 28% of encounters, they moved away (about half the time, there was no spatial difference, though behaviors may still have changed). The Discussion section of this paper includes an unusually detailed comparison of the findings and the contexts of this and several similar studies, as well as consideration of the ways that in other settings, were human activity is more prevalent, these behavioral changes could have longer-term, population-level impacts.
Excellent Review of the Effects of Human-Generated Sound on Fish
Popper and Hastings. The effects of human-generated sound on fish. Integrative Zoology 2009; 4: 43-52
This recent review is a great place to get up to speed on the current state of our knowledge regarding the effects of human sound on fish. It begins by sketching a sense of the "natural" and 21st-century aquatic world's acoustic nature, and proceeds to review various possible physiological and behavioral effects of human sounds ranging from sonars to pile-driving, seismic surveys, shipping, and even research vessels themselves. The authors note that a significant challenge to improving our understanding of the behavioral effects of noise sources is our inability to observe wild fish over large enough areas (fish-finding sonars can only see fish out to a few hundred meters, not enough to observe possible avoidance of noise sources). As is usually the case with ocean noise issues, the concerns about noise and fish far exceed the ability of our limited data to discern possible effects. As the authors note, "Because of a striking paucity of well-designed and controlled experimental data, very little is actually known...Human-generated sounds, even from very high intensity sources, might have no effect in some cases or might result in effects that range from small and temporary shifts in behavior all the way to immediate death."
Following are some highlights of the 2008 Research Summaries;
see archive pages linked above for more entries
Pinger Study Illustrates Extreme Variability of Real-world Sound Propagation
Shapiro, Tougaard, Jorgensen, Kyne, Balle, Bernardez, Fjalling, Karlsen, Wahlberg. Transmission loss patterns from acoustic harassment and deterrent devices do not always follow geometrical spreading predictions. Marine Mammal Science, 25(1): 53067 (January 2009)
This study was designed to investigate why acoustic harassment devices, or pingers, on fishing nets do not always succeed in keeping dolphins away. The researchers did a series of recordings around pingers of several different styles, and found that the received sound levels did not simply increase as they came closer, but fluctuated dramatically; thus, animals approaching the nets may not have clear sense of how far away they are. While the results here are somewhat mixed for pingers (overall, the average sound level DOES go up as the animals approach, albeit mixed with large variations), the study offers a fascinating glimpse into the real-world factors that will often confound simple geometric or spherical-spreading models generally used to predict sound exposure levels around any sound source. The researchers suggest that many factors likely contribute to the variation: changes in directivity of the source, subtle differences in source level for each ping, and, most influentially, as a result of the constructive and destructive interference of direct, surface-reflected, and bottom-reflected sound waves.
Ed. note: This graph is a great picture of the degree of variation seen. Note a routine variation of 10-15dB, with some more dramatic shifts: at 400m, the sound shifted from around 127dB to over 150dB; and again, at just under 200m, from just above 130dB to over 160dB (around a general average at that distance of perhaps 150db). Given the increasing concern among biologists about behavioral disruptions triggered by noise, it is extremely important to acknowledge that real-world exposures can vary to this degree; many more animals respond behaviorally at 150dB and above, than down at 120-140dB.
Related: Beaked Whales Very Sensitive to Pingers; By-Catch Reduced to Zero over 11 Years
Carretta, Barlow, Enriquez. Acoustic pingers eliminate beaked whale bycatch in a gill net fishery. Marine Mammal Science, 24(4):956-961 (October 2008).
This study documents a dramatic shift in beaked whale bycatch by gill nets set for sharks and swordfish in the California Current. Over the first 6 years of data, 1990-1996, 33 beaked whales died in the nets; after installation of pingers in 1996, NO beaked whales were caught by the nets over the succeeding 11 years, though 260 cetaceans of 11 other species did drown in the nets. Ed. note: this result seems to dovetail well with observed reactions of beaked whales to other sounds; it appears they are especially sensitive to noise, perhaps at a wide range of frequencies.
Passive Acoustic Detection of Beaked Whales: Easy Within 1km, Nearly Impossible Beyond 4km
Zimmer, Harwood, Tyack, Johnson, Madsen. Passive acoustic detection of deep-diving beaked whales. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, November 2008, Volume 124, Issue 5, pp. 2823-2832.
Beaked whales spend very little time at the surface, with foraging dives that last an hour or more, including about 30 minutes of active echolocation at the feeding depth. Visual detection is very difficult, so the possibility of using Passive Acoustic Detection (PAD) is an attractive complement to visual spotting. However, these high-frequency clicks attenuate rapidly. According to this paper, acoustic modeling suggests that in "good conditions,"e.g. wind speed of 2 m/s, a hydrophone close to the surface should detect beaked whales with a high probability within .7km. At the other end of the detection range, no whales would be detected at distances greater than 4km, except in very low ambient noise or unusually good propagation conditions. The detection curve generated by the models, drops steeply as distance increases, with a relative leveling off that suggest roughly 50% detection when whales are 1.5-3.5km distant. Additionally, the researchers substituted some actual dive profile data obtained in D-Tag studies, and found that in these instances, detection probability may rise somewhat, with 80% detection being possible at distances of 1.5-2.5 km. Actual detection of real whales is complicated by the fact that the sound of the clicks is highly directional; only clicks directed nearly directly toward the receiver will be heard at the modeled distances, but echolocating whales do scan in many directions, so at least some clicks from any whale should be detected. Finally, the relatively quiet interval between deep foraging dives can be as long as 110 minutes, meaning that listening time should be roughly 140 minutes to have a high probability of detecting if beaked whales are present. This, in turn, suggests that a slow-moving vessel (such as gliders or drifting buoys) will be more successful than a fast-moving active sonar vessel. (That is, if detections are only going to occur within roughly 4km, the listening platform should not move out of a relatively similar area during the 2-hour-plus PAD session.) Ed. note: While it has still not been confirmed to all observers' satisfaction, there is some evidence that beaked whales affected by mid-frequency active sonar may well have been tens of km from sonar vessels. Thus, PAD may be useful for avoiding nearby exposure, but may not fully mitigate for effects that could occur at greater distances, including fleeing in ways that disrupt the whales' post-dive recovery and oxygen/nitrogen rebalancing.
Detailed Review of Sound Exposure Impacts on Puget Sound Orcas Released by NOAA
Marla Holt, Sound Exposure and Southern Resident Killer Whales (Orcinus orca): A Review of Current Knowledge and Data Gaps. NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS-NWFSC-89, February 2008. 77pp. [DOWNLOAD REPORT(pdf)]
This review includes summaries of most of the studies of ambient and shipping noise in the range of the southern resident orca pods of the Pacific Northwest. Topics covered include ambient sound patterns, shipping noise, whale watching noise, orca auditory capabilities and auditory effects of sound exposure, including masking and hearing loss, and behavioral changes in the presence of excess sound. An important section looks at the emerging concept of "zones of influence" of sound: the zones of audibility, response, masking, and hearing loss or injury. The report concludes with a section that assesses the likelihood of acoustic impacts and suggestions for future research.
The report is a treasure-trove of clear information on noise/sound impacts. Among the points that stood out in my reading are the following. Ambient noise is generally elevated at least 10-15dB by small boats, and 20-25dB by large ships (another study indicates increases more in the range of 50-70dB in the presence of various boats). The section on hearing sensitivity makes a point about captive animal testing that is rarely noted: when animals receive negative reinforcement for reporting a "false positive" (i.e. responding as if hearing a sound, when no sound was played), they may well become conditioned to be conservative in their response to faint sounds, and so the results can easily underestimate the hearing sensitivity of the species (for orcas, only two studies have been done on captive whales to assess hearing sensitivity curves). Tentative measurements of the critical ratios for orcas (tentative because, again, there are few test subjects) suggest that they are more affected by masking than many other toothed whales: to hear a target sound in noise, the target sound must be 20dB louder than ambient at 10kHz, and 20dB louder than the noise levels at 80kHz. There are some indications that orcas spend less time feeding and more time traveling or resting when boats are nearby (within 100m or 400m); likewise, they may travel in less direct paths in the presence of boats within 1000m (though interestingly, one study suggests that when there are many boats present, paths are more direct; perhaps there is little use in trying to avoid boats in this instance). An interesting study (based on models, not measured/observed results in the field) suggest that the presence of boats can significantly decrease the detection range for an orca echolocating on a salmon: boats at 400m decreased the detection range by roughly 35-90%, and boats at 100m decreased the detection range to as little as 0-20m, or 90-100%.
European Cetacean Society Workshop Addresses Offshore Wind Turbine Impacts on Marine Mammals
Evans, P.G., Ed. ASCOBANS/ECS Workshop: Offshore Wind Farms and Marine Mammals: Impacts and Methodologies for Assessing Impacts. ECS Special Publication Series No. 49, February 2008. 70pp. [DOWNLOAD REPORT]
Prospect of Widespread Offshore Development Requires Cumulative Impact Analysis
Simmonds, Dolman. All at sea: renewable energy production in the context of marine nature conservation.
This survey of potential conservation impacts of offshore wind development quotes several previous studies that address specific concerns. Madsen et al. (2006) comment that “if the very large offshore wind farms are realised... this could involve construction activities at several locations in the area [of the German Bight] simultaneously every summer for the next decade.”
Madsen, P.T., Wahlberg, M., Tougaard, J., Lucke, K. and Tyack, P. 2006. Wind turbine underwater noise and marine mammals: implications of current knowledge and data needs. Mar Ecol Prog Ser., 309: 279-295. Wahlberg and Westerberg (2005) concluded that fish behaviour could be affected at ranges of several kilometres. Wahlberg, M. and Westerberg, H. 2005. Hearing in fish and their reactions to sounds from offshore wind farms. Mar Ecol Prog Ser., 288: 295-309. Carstensen et al. (2007) commented that ‘given the extensive plans for expanding the offshore wind energy sector, it is important to know the effect of single wind farms and well as the cumulative affects of several wind farms within the range of each marine mammal species”. Indeed, it would make good sense to consider the cumulative impact of all new developments on
populations and yet, in our experience, this rarely seems to happen. Carstensen, J., Henriksen, O.D. and Teilmann, J. 2007. Impacts on harbour porpoises from offshore wind farm construction: acoustic monitoring of echolocation activity using porpoise detectors (T-PODs). Marine Ecology Progress Series 321: 295–308.
UK Offshore Development Scaling Rapidly to Much Larger Facilities
Prior, McMath. Marine mammals and noise form offshore renewable energy projects—UK developments.
This paper notes that offshore wind farm development in the UK has taken place in licensing "rounds," with rapid increases in the size of wind farms being built. Round 1 was an initial demonstration phase, with eleven projects permitted so far (and five in operation), each relatively small in scale (less than 30 turbines) and relatively short construction phases (as short as one month). Fifteen Round 2 projects have been proposed (with four approved so far); these are larger developments often including hundreds of turbines. Round 2 construction will likely take place over a number of seasons, so construction disturbance will be longer and the impacts could be different than those seen in Round 1. In addition, piles of up to 6 feet in diameter have been proposed to support larger turbines; this will lead to substantially increased noise during construction, with disturbance impacts extending over tens of kilometers. Proposals for Round 3 are currently undergoing Strategic Environmental Assessment; however, the proposed capacity of development may be as much as four times the eventual level built out under Rounds 1 and 2 combined. Concern over cumulative impacts may be prominent during the consenting process, particularly if construction operations on adjacent sites takes place concurrently, giving rise to the potential for longer term and geographically widespread increases in underwater noise.
Porpoises Numbers in Wind Farms Can Vary Dramatically
Teilmann, Tougaard, Carstensen. Effects from offshore wind farms on harbour porpoises in Denmark. Included in:
In a paper summarizing the results from acoustic monitoring at two Danish offshore wind farms, results clearly show a dramatic difference in harbour porpoise responses. At one wind farm, Horns Reef, porpoises numbers decreased modestly during construction (both inside the farm in in monitoring sites 10km away), and decreased a bit more during early start-up, when maintenance activity was highest, but rebounded to baseline (pre-construction) levels early in the first year of normal operations. However, at the Nysted wind farm, the decrease in porpoise numbers that likewise began during construction was not reversed during the first two years of operations: porpoises mostly avoid the wind farm (though numbers were slowly increasing by the end of the second year), while they returned to the areas 10km away once construction ended. The authors note two possible explanations for the different long-term impacts of the wind farms. The area around Horns Reef is an important harbour porpoise habitat, with a larger natural population density; it is possible that the "the porpoises around Nysted are not particularly interested in the area and will simply avoid it if disturbed." In addition, the area around Nysted is relatively sheltered, whereas Horns Reef has higher wind and waves, and thus a higher background natural ambient noise level, so that "the relative noise level from the turbines is higher and audible to the porpoises at greater distances at Nysted than at Horns Reef." The authors conclude that "it can be concluded that the same species may react differently to similar types of disturbance (wind farms) in different localities. This is an important conclusion for future monitoring programmes of wind farms and other offshore installations."
Orcas Avoid Mid-frequency Sonar Signals, but not LFAS; Herring Unaffected
Kvadsheim, Benders, Miller, Doksaeter, Knudsen, Tyack, Nordlund, Lam, Samarra, Kleivane, Godo. Herring (slid), killer whales (spekknogger) and sonar - the 3S-2006 cruise report with preliminary results. Norwegian Defence Research Establishment (FFI). 30 April 2007
This paper reports preliminary results from an ambitious multi-national Controlled Exposure Experiment using acoustic D-tags, which allow researchers to record received sound levels while charting dive patterns. Six orcas were tagged, with 17 hours of data collected, with one animal exposed to LFAS signals, two to mid-frequency active sonar signals, and one used as a control, fewer samples than hoped. The whale exposed to LFAS signal did not change its behavior, nor did its companions. However, the group exposed to mid-frequency sonar signals ceased feeding and moved rapidly away; in addition, they exhibited an unusual dive pattern, diving roughly twice as deep (over 60m) as normal (20-45m), including a highly unusual reversal of their ascent (coming up to 15m from the surface, then retreating again to 60m). [Ed. note, not part of the report narrative, based on observation of included diagrams: Four other dives during the 35-minute sonar transmission were within the normal range of depth (the deep dive was the third of five dives during sonar transmission), with three longer than normal rest periods at the surface during the hour after sonar transmission ceased.] Received levels did not exceed 150dB re 1uPa. Looking at longer-term responses, while the experimental use of sonar in the herring trials did not seem to deter orcas from the general area, by contrast, no orcas were seen during three days of a planned Navy exercise in the area that included mid-frequency sonar use. The herring trials used bottom-mounted sensors to chart the mean depth of a school of herring as a sonar vessels passed nearby. Herring at shallow depths (25-50m) tended to show a minor downward reaction as the sonar source ship passed overhead, while herring located deeper, or in less dense schools, showed no detectable reaction; no horizontal avoidance was seen. While herring hearing curves suggest they should be able to clearly hear LFAS signals, but not mid-frequency signals, the responses were the same for all signals (including ship-only, no sonar), suggesting that the herring may have been responding to the sound of the ship, rather than the sonar signal; such reactions to ships have been seen for many fish species. A related trial using orca echolocation signals on the herring showed more of a response, suggesting that the herring could distinguish between the mid-frequency sonar and the orca sounds, but the three trials all produced slightly different response patterns, suggesting the need for further study.
Review of Possible Ways that Increasing Ocean Noise May Affect Marine Mammals
Peter L. Tyack. Implications for marine mammals of large-scale changes in the marine acoustic environment. Journal of Mammalogy, 89(3): 549-558, 2008. [DOWNLOAD PAPER(pdf)]
In this wide-ranging literature review, Peter Tyack of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute sketches the history of research into the effects of noise on marine life, with some references as well to effects seen in terrestrial creatures. He begins by noting that while acute disturbance of individuals attracts the most attention, the likely more profound effects of chronic disturbance on population vitality (success in foraging and mating) are much harder to discern. Several examples are presented of studies that documented both temporary and long-term abandonment of key habitat when loud noise was present (including gray whales abandoning a birthing lagoon for several years, then returning when the salt production facility was abandoned, and dolphins moving away from foraging habitat when shipping traffic is heavy).
Next, Tyack turns to a detailed examination of the question of whether global shipping may be dramatically decreasing the area within which whales can hear each other's calls, beginning with the thought that the unintentional consequences of increased shipping noise may be creating unexpected problems analogous to those created by the introduction of industrial-waste gasses into the atmosphere, which went unnoticed for decades. Following on models created in the 1970s, updated to take into account the hundred-fold increase in shipping noise since then, he notes that "the increase in ambient noise from shipping seems to have reduced the detectable range of low frequency whale calls from many hundreds of kilometers in the prepropeller ocean down to tens of kilometers in many settings today." (For example, the finback whale range shrank from at least 400km in the pre-engine ocean to 90km in the 1960s, down to 32km today.) He notes that, as populations of great whales fall, the separation between them may increase, with these increases in shipping noise compounding the challenge of finding mates or sharing information about active feeding grounds. However, he then goes on to point out that there is, so far, no clear evidence that the great whales do indeed communicate over long distances; clear responses to the calls of other whales have been seen only at ranges of 10km or less; the fact that a human acoustic sensor can detect a signal at 400km does not necessarily mean that the whales themselves rely on hearing signals at such distances. He suggests that acoustic tags may help to clarify whether distant, faint signals from conspecifics (whales of the same species) do in fact trigger any discernable reaction (calling in response, or moving toward the distant whale).
While noting that it may be impossible to design scientifically valid studies to uncover the possible cost of "lost opportunities" when communication is drowned out by shipping noise, an indirect way to get at this question is within reach of researchers: if animals alter their calls in noisy conditions, we can infer that the noise is disrupting their normal communication channels. And indeed, Tyack notes a long list of studies that show such changes, such as beluga whales and manatees increasing the volume of their calls in noisy conditions, and an apparently dramatic increase in the frequency (pitch) of right whale calls in sections of the ocean where low-frequency shipping noise is more intense. While noting that these and other studies "suggest that vessel noise clearly does interfere with communication in marine mammals," Tyack also notes that we do not know how costly these adaptations are, or what noise level would preclude such compensation. Also, he asks, "When does noise so degrade the usefulness of a habitat that animals leave? Can this level be predicted by the compensation behavior?" As of yet, these are unanswered, and difficult to answer, questions.
Finally, Tyack turns to research that show clear disturbance reactions to ocean noise, including killer whales staying 4km away from acoustic harassment signals near fish farms, dolphin numbers dropping to 8% of normal within 3.5 km of similar noise-makers on other fish farms (with those small numbers implying that the avoidance distance was far greater). He notes that the degree of displacement or behavioral response is not necessarily a direct indicator of the severity of impact, suggesting that "if an animal is in bad enough condition that the risk of altering behavior is high, then it may be less likely to show a disturbance response." For example, hungry animals will linger in a feeding area the longest. He also notes that some responses to noise may be caused by noise sources that resemble a predator's call (as in recent modeling Tyack has done that suggests beaked whale decompression sickness may result from a long series of near-surface dives as the whales flee sonar signals that they mistake for orca calls). He cites some compelling studies on terrestrial animals showing that repeated disturbance exacts high costs in reproductive success and overall health (including a study of geese that showed that when undisturbed, geese increased their body mass and had a 46% breeding success, whereas in nearby areas where farmers scared them off their fields, they did not gain mass and had a breeding success of only 17%).
To conclude, Tyack suggests that there are several lines of research that have so far received little attention, which could help to move key understanding of noise impacts forward, including: focusing on the most vulnerable animals as subject of study into the effects of disturbance, further study of the possibility that predator responses underlay key behavioral impacts (including fleeing, increased vigilance, and avoiding habitats), and following up on the recent theory of allostasis (behavioral changes that allow an animal to maintain equilibrium in the face of external environmental changes or stressors) as a way of understanding the costs and benefits of changing behavior in the face of noise.
Workshop Report: Encouraging Establishment of Noise-Free Zones in and Around Marine Protected Areas
Agardy, Aguilar, Canadas, Engel, Frantzis, Hatch, Hoyt, Kashner, LaBrecque, Martin, Notarbartolo di Sciara, Pavan, Servidio, Smith, Want, Weilgart, Wintle, Wright. 2007. A Global Scientific Workshop on Spatio-Temporal Management of Noise. Report of the Scientific Workshop. 44 pages. [DOWNLOAD(pdf)]
In June 2007, a workshop was held in the Canary Islands to consider the potentials for extending the management principles used in Marine Protected Areas to provide some protection from anthropogenic noise. Fundamental to the purpose and effectiveness of MPAs are "spatio-temporal restrictions" (STRs) of specific human activities: for example, excluding fishing, from a specific area (spatial restriction), or sometimes at times of special biological importance, such as spawning (temporal restriction). Few of today's MPAs are large enough to provide protection from "elevated levels of ensonification:" buffers of tens of kilometers would be necessary for protection from mid-frequency sound, and a hundred or more kilometers from low-frequency sound. Of today's 350 MPAs that include some cetacean habitat, 64 are large enough to provide some mid-frequency protection, 20 are large enough to provide at least some low-frequency protection (e.g. shipping), and only the 6 largest are probably sufficient to protect from shipping noise. (of course, shipping is not generally excluded from MPAs: this is merely a hint at the scale of noise STRs that would be useful.) The Workshop report includes several key sections:
- Descriptions of some existing attempts to provide STRs focused on noise: In 2003, Brazil established a large buffer zone around a small existing MPA, to exclude the sounds of seismic survey airguns from entering the MPA (the buffer was withdrawn by a court due to jurisdictional issues; attempts are underway to re-establish it). In the Canary Islands, a 50 nautical mile buffer zone has been established around the islands, in which active sonar is not allowed (there have been some subsequent strandings that raise questions whether this is large enough a buffer).
- Recommendations for MPA managers, centered on a framework for making management decisions regarding possible noise-related STRs.
- Recommendation that noise-producers provide more information, and longer lead times prior to operations near MPAs, to allow for analysis of effects of proposed noise. A far-reaching element of this is a call for use of "detectability curves" to reflect how easy it is to find various species of whales, and to insure that more effort is made to find hard-to-detect whales, rather than assuming that they are not present if none are found using standard observational techniques.
- Recommended measures that could reduce the noise impacts of the primary noise producing activities.
- Suggested MPAs or proposed MPAs where noise-oriented STRs could be introduced, as case studies for future MPA management protocols. These include the PELAGOS Sanctuary in the northwestern Mediterranean, off France, Italy, and Monaco, the Alborian Sea/Strait of Gibraltar, the Bay of Bengal, and East Asian waters off Japan, China, and the Philippines.
Ocean Fish Vary Widely in Startle Response to Noise
Kastelein, van der Heul, Verboom, Jennings, van der Veen, de Haan. Startle response of captive North Sea fish species to underwater tones between 0.1 and 64kHz. Marine Environmental Research 65 (2008) 369-377.
This study exposed eight marine fish species to pure tones ranging from 100Hz to 64kHz. The tests took place in specially designed quiet tanks; species were chosen in part due to their economic importance to fisheries. Some species did not respond to the sound at all, even at the highest dB levels that could be produced, while others exhibited very clear startle responses to a relatively narrow range of frequencies (generally 100-700Hz), at received levels of about 100dB (re 1uPa, rms) for the lowest frequencies, with the startle threshold increasing to the range of 160dB as frequency increased to 700Hz. Only one species responded to higher frequencies than this: Horse mackerel responses extended up to 2kHz. The species that did not startle at all were Atlantic cod, Pollack, Common eel, and Atlantic herring. Horse mackerel startled to the widest range of frequencies, with Sea bass also quite responsive; Thicklip mullet and Pout both startled to a narrower range of frequencies. Interestingly, for fish that have established audiograms, it appears that the startle response does not begin until the noise is 10-30dB above the hearing threshold; and, again, some fish showed no startle even at levels up to 45dB above their presumed hearing threshold. The researchers note that these results on captive fish to pure tones can not be reliably extrapolated to wild fish in varied contexts or to more complicated sounds, but suggest that the extreme variability seen here is an important consideration in more natural situations as well. They suggest further study using "sounds more similar to anthropogenic noise, to more complicated sounds, such as sweeps, and to the actual broad-band noise of, for instance, wind turbines and shipping..."
Related research: Some Fish Affected by Sound of Pingers
R.A. Kastelein et al. Effects of acoustic alarms, designed to reduce small cetacean bycatch in gillnet fisheries, on the behavior of North Sea fish species. Marine Environmental Research 64 (2007) 160180
Pingers are used in large fishing nets, to alert dolphins so they avoid entanglement and drowning. This study found that some pinger signals seem to affect he behavior of Sea bass, mullet, and herring (increased swimming speeds and/or movement toward or away from surface). The researchers note that "Pingers developed to reduce odontocete bycatch should not deter the fisheries’ target species from the gillnets, and should not deter target or non-target fish from ecologically important areas such as feeding and breeding grounds, or mask their communication sounds" | <urn:uuid:6d333970-6627-4112-b20c-c9cfcce9e7e8> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.acousticecology.org/scienceresearch.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783403823.74/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155003-00126-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951336 | 31,356 | 2.65625 | 3 |
No one body currently administers the different treaties and multi-lateral environmental agreements so mandates overlap, enforcement inconsistent and disjointed. The numerous actors on the international environmental field need coordination by a new Global Environmental Organization (GEO), say authors of "Emerging Forces in Environmental Governance".
Edited by Professors Norichika Kanie and Peter M. Haas, the book says the new global environmental institution would help consolidate and coordinate environmental policy research, technology databases, and information clearing-houses, conduct training, and centralize the secretariats that administer global environmental agreements.
A GEO could serve as well as a legal advocate for environmental protection and regulations to counterbalance the WTO by collecting a roster of international environmental lawyers to participate in WTO panels, the book says, adding it could also organize high-profile annual ministerial meetings to address environmental issues, ensure widespread involvement in environmental policy, and galvanize rapid responses to new alerts. Also called for is the creation of an international High Commissioner for the Environment.
The book says the UN Environment Programme is overstretched, with a large mandate but relatively little funding and personnel, and recommends it focus on science and co-ordination of scientific activities throughout the UN system, overseeing the monitoring of environmental conditions, and providing authoritative information to the international community.
Other recommendations in the book include an NGO watchdog to monitor state and industry compliance with multilateral environmental treaties, akin to Amnesty International.
Enforcement: World Environmental Court, Security Council, among global options
Authors of the second UNU book explore like themes, including the need for improving compliance with and enforcement of international environmental laws.
"Reforming International Environmental Governance: From Institutional Limits to Innovative Solutions," edited by W. Bradnee Chambers and Jessica F. Green, says options include a World Environment Court, a UN Environmental Security Council with binding enforcement powers, and expansion of the UN Security Council mandate to include environmental security. The Security Council can already act in cases of armed conflict which arise because of environmental or resource depletion, but it is unclear whether it does or should have the mandate to act, for example, when there are environmental threats to peace and stability.
According to Mr. Chambers, the book aims at fundamental questions about how institutions can most effectively address global environmental problems.
"Even though governments have complained a lot about the problem, they have offered no solutions except the status quo," he says. "The basic question to ask ourselves is why, after witnessing a proliferation of international organizations, hundreds of treaties, new agencies and new environmental programmes in every relevant UN organization, nevertheless we see the environment getting worse, not better. Is something wrong with the current institutional setup? If so what is it? How can we improve these organizations?"
With reform of international environmental governance an important topic in both the political and the academic arenas, these two volumes offer important information about the current complex dynamics of multilateral agreements, the costs and benefits of different models and approaches to reforming international environmental governance.
Established by the U.N. General Assembly in 1973, UNU is an international community of scholars engaged in research, advanced training and the dissemination of knowledge related to pressing global problems. Activities focus mainly on peace and conflict resolution, sustainable development and the use of science and technology to advance human welfare. The University operates a worldwide network of research and post-graduate training centres, with headquarters in Tokyo. | <urn:uuid:43252d63-7ed4-4d28-b2b9-aed0c6df55e8> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2004-06/unu-ewn060204.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397873.63/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00023-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.927721 | 689 | 2.6875 | 3 |
How to Navigate the Internet for Health Information
If you’re like me, then you have used the internet to search for health related information – A LOT. One report indicated that Americans spend an average of 52 hours a year obtaining information from the internet, but actually only visited with a physician 3 times a year. Let’s face it, unlike your doctor; the internet can always see you right now. With so much information available, and no one to truly regulate what content is displayed, how can anyone trust what they read?
Here a few tips to consider:
Who developed the site? The website should clearly indicate who develops and updates their content, as well as provide a means for contacting them. Sites developed by a major medical association, patient advocacy group, or clinicians are generally more reputable and up to date. Be wary of any site that provides medical information and is also trying to sell you something – that is a huge conflict of interest.
Caution with search engines – The exact wording you enter into your search and which engine you use could both significantly impact the sites that you are directed towards. Some search engines allow organizations to pay for premium access at the top of the list. Do not assume that just because a link is at the top of the search or on the first page that it is the most accurate source of information. It may help to try several different searches and visit multiple sites to compare information.
Medical studies – Many attention grabbing headlines are first reported by newspapers or online reporting agencies. They often have clever or attention seeking wording, such as ‘first ever’ or ‘new cure’ for a certain condition. Many people may not even read the article, but use the headline to draw conclusions, which is not the best idea. In addition, many of the studies are actually conducted in animals or were reported from a medical conference and not a peer reviewed medical journal, which can both dramatically affect the ability to replicate and generalize the findings. Bottom line – if it sounds too good to be true, it usually is.
Celebrity testimonials – Keep in mind that many of these are paid endorsements with companies using a beautiful famous person to basically help sell their product. Other celebrities may offer their opinion regarding health conditions as they or a loved one may be affected. The most recent controversial example is with some celebrities publicly stating that vaccines cause autism, a statement that is completely false and not backed by any scientific evidence. However, a celebrity’s broad ranging appeal and ability to reach the general public far surpasses that of experienced physician experts.
I try my best to be a strong advocate for my patients and I have spent countless hours perusing the internet to better understand the information that my patients are reading. This is even challenging for me at times, due to the sheer volume alone. I have found that there is a significant amount of misinformation available at the click of a mouse. The best advice I can offer is to use the internet with caution, as a way to gather information and develop questions that you can then discuss with, not in place of, your physician. | <urn:uuid:f181b701-2456-4634-9161-b2b667397b22> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://700childrens.nationwidechildrens.org/navigate-internet-health-information/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397213.30/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00075-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965183 | 633 | 2.609375 | 3 |
Unsafe water is one of the leading causes of child mortality in Afghanistan, with more than 40 percent of child deaths caused by diarrhea and acute respiratory infection. Clean water can prevent these illnesses. See how a World Vision deep well is changing life in young mother Maryam's village.
Water is the foundation of life; it plays a vital role in the well-being of families. Nevertheless, in areas of poverty, there is never enough water — especially clean water. Many people spend their entire lives searching to find enough, just to survive.
In places like Robata Parniyan, a village in Afghanistan, people lose large amounts of time gathering water, while many suffer from waterborne diseases and hygiene-related problems because of that water.
“I was sick for four days. I had dysentery and vomiting,” says Maryam, 24. “As our economic condition wasn’t good, I tried to use a home remedy, but it was useless. My husband had to take me to clinic for treatment.”
Maryam’s sickness not only put her own health at risk; it also jeopardized the health of her 4-month-old baby girl. “[When I was sick], I had to feed my baby with powdered milk and sometimes with tea and sugar,” she says, noting how her milk supply decreased due to her own dehydration. “My child cried. The [powdered milk] didn’t satisfy her. I was really sad that because of my sickness, my child’s future was in danger."
At the clinic, the doctor recommended that they stop drinking water from their shallow well because that water was endangering their health.
Maryam, her family, and all the other community members in her village depend on water from such questionable sources.
“We don’t have enough money to dig a deep well,” said Maryam with a look of hopelessness in her eyes.
The shallow wells bring with them a host of problems: The water is salty and, because it is close to the surface and uncovered, often contaminated.
Unclean water is one of the most deadly threats for children in Afghanistan. More than 40 percent of child deaths are due to diarrhea and acute respiratory infection. Young babies are especially at risk as mothers who lack breast milk mix the contaminated water with powdered milk to provide food for their children.
In February 2009, World Vision conducted a baseline survey of all four target districts (Kohsan, Zindanjan, Karukh and Chest-I-Sharif) to assist in the identification and prioritization of problems that exist within the community. The survey revealed that 25 percent of children under 5 years old had diarrhea during the time of the survey, while 45 percent of children said they had suffered from diarrhea at some point during the two weeks prior to the survey.
Although many know that the water is dangerous, they have no alternative. They don’t have enough income to purchase clean water or to buy the fuel necessary to boil the salty water to kill the bacteria.
World Vision is currently implementing a four-year, USAID-funded child survival grant called Better Health for Afghan Mothers and Children, which aims to produce sustainable improvements in maternal, newborn, and child health for nearly 200,000 people in the above four districts of Herat Province.
As part of the program, World Vision has repaired 30 damaged wells in 10 villages of Zindajan and Kohsan districts, and drilled two new 30 meter deep wells in the Robata Pariyan and Rabat Afghan villages.
“Three days ago, we stopped using salty water,” says Maryam with a smile. “Currently for drinking, cooking, and washing, families use the well dug by World Vision. The water is a little bit tasteless for us, because we drank salty water for a long time.”
“Today and yesterday, I went to school on time because I didn’t have to walk a far distance to gather water,” says 12-year-old Ali.
A single well in the center of a village will not solve all of the problems related to a shortage of clean water. There are 60 households in this village. Some families have to walked around 10 kilometers (about six miles) to collect water from this well, a task that will be difficult during the winter. There is still more work to be done.
“World Vision is a great organization that helps poor people and digs wells for them," says villager Nor Bibi. "If the help of such an organization were not in the country, I don’t know what would happen to the people. I hope this organization makes at least two more wells, so all families can enjoy drinking safe water.”
More than 768 million people do not have access to clean drinking water, and about 2.5 billion people do not have proper sanitation. You can help. Contact your member of Congress and urge them to support the Water for the World Act! | <urn:uuid:47e91cf7-4a06-4392-9866-9d433bbc65eb> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://blog.worldvision.org/content/health-and-happiness-through-clean-water?vnc=TKUfqD4ieLm4XT6RrfVFFbClJXZrcomz_xSBvzkHg9c&vnp=72 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783400031.51/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155000-00039-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974505 | 1,045 | 3.25 | 3 |
Using mulch around your garden plants or landscape can enhance their appearance, decrease erosion, maintain water and also improve the soil. Not all mulch materials have the same properties or work well for the same plants. Below are some types of mulching materials.
Wood and Bark
Sawdust, chipped word, ground wood and bark are all cheap materials that aid in water conservation and enhance moisture penetration. You can use them alone or place them over landscape fabric or plastic. Wood mulches that have not composted can withhold the soil nitrogen during decay, but they become a rich source of nitrogen after some years pass. Some wood mulches can be a haven for termites and other insect pests, but cedar and eucalyptus are insect-resistant.
Grass, Hay, and Straw
You can harvest these mulch materials from the landscape or buy them at an affordable price from local sources. They are consistently available and simple to use although they may mat when you apply thick layers. Straw does not have any seeds but grass clippings, and hay may have weed seeds that can attack your landscape. Ensure the Grass-type materials for mulching are completely dry when you use them to prevent mold.
Leaf Mold and Compost
These mulches have decayed partially, and they are not as decorative as the other materials. The upside is that there are less apt to tie up any useful nutrients that your plants need. They are inexpensive and effortless to find although you must prepare them well so that you can get rid of seeds and other items that may cause problems later on. Use leaf mold carefully in soils that have a high pH as it can be acidic.
The paper offers a cheap, easy-to-apply option for mulching particularly for vegetable gardens. Shredded newspapers are as effective as grass and hay but have the upper hand in that there are no weed seeds. Newspapers, whether shredded or folded, do not have stability when it is windy, so they require some compost or straw to keep them in place. The downside is that paper can be a haven for earwigs and sow bugs.
These materials are popular in commercial farms and some large home-based growing areas. They can warm the soil during spring and decrease erosion and evaporation. Black plastic controls weeds while clear plastic does not unless you use it as part of the process of soil solarization. Polypropylene fabric can be pricey than any other plastic options, but it lets the water and air to go through.
You can access information on other mulching materials at Open Permaculture school and Regenerative Leadership Institute online.
Relative location is perhaps the most important aspect of permaculture design and it requires that each element be placed in a relationship to assist the other elements. The primary concern when it comes to permaculture is the relationship among the various components and how they interact with one another, hence the importance of relative location. Determining the relative location of specific elements requires a clear understanding of its inputs and outputs as well as its nature.
For example, deciduous trees can be placed on the sunny side of a house or food crops. This way, they can provide protection against the sun’s rays during summer and in autumn-winter, the trees shed the leaves and allow more warmth to pass through to crops or house. Water tanks can be placed on the uphill of a garden and allow the water to run downhill by the sheer force of gravity. A sun powered pump can be used to pump water uphill to the tank.
You can locate your garden just behind the kitchen to allow for easy access. In this case, the garden’s output is an input to the kitchen. The output of the kitchen including kitchen scraps is a good input to the worm farm, which contributes significantly to the growth of crops in the garden.
The orientation chosen for trellises should ensure that plants don’t shade each other out, and that it maximizes on exposure to sunlight. Weather elements like the sun, wind and rainfall should also factored in when applying the principle of relative location in permaculture design. Consider planting your fruit trees along the chicken run. This supplies the chicken with feed in form of fresh fallen fruit, while at the same time providing fruit trees with manure in the form of decomposing chicken excrete. Additionally, chickens act as a natural pest controller as they feed on harmful insects and the trees offer protection against sun.
When applying the principle of relative location in permaculture design, it is important to remember that elements don’t just constitute of what you add to the design. Existing structures like sun, wind, rain, mountains, gulleys, river banks, buildings and other structures are also considered elements. Put simply, the principle of relative location can be optimized by placing them near others whose inputs and outputs flow into each other, or where they interact to bring out best desired effect. More about relative location and permaculture design can be learnt at Open Permaculture School and Regenerative Leadership Institute (visit site).
Protecting the wetlands is important if we are to save river sources and millions of flora and fauna living in the water catchment area. Unfortunately, many human activities are directly messing up with the water catchment areas and causing the drying of lakes, rivers, and other natural water bodies. The leading environmental training institutions such as Open Permaculture School and Regenerative Leadership Institute continue to teach on various areas of water conservation. Here are some of the ways we can rehabilitate the depilated water catchment areas as per the training.
With the increase in the number of the urban areas also brings an increase in the number of septic systems draining into the wetlands. There are several septic systems around the world that drain into water bodies others leak the sewage accidentally into these fields. A characteristic of this kind of pollution is the smell of sewage when there is rainfall. Septic systems should be inspected and pumped every five years to ensure that they are working right. Low flow toilets should be used to help conserve the water.
Fertilizers and pesticides
Unfortunately, most of the wetlands are found in agricultural rich regions where the use of fertilizers and pesticides is the order of the day. These substances end up in the water catchment areas and mess up with the flora and fauna in the ecosystem.
There are alternatives to chemical fertilizers and pesticides that are organic pesticides. Compost manure and domestic animal dropping are also safe soil enrichers to use. It is important to have the soil tested before applying any fertilizer. This helps you avoid over-applying some fertilizers that are not of any good to the soil. As for pests, you could use the Integrated Pest Management that reduces the reliance on chemical herbicides and pesticides.
Recreational use of the catchment areas
The wetlands are recreation destinations offering lots activities such as rafting, swimming, motor boat rides, fishing, hiking bird watching and many more. Care should be taken when engaging in the above sports to prevent the overuse of the facilities and damage to the ecosystem. There should be a limit for the motorboat speeds, hiking and so much more. Care should be taken to avoid littering the area with plastic bags and other inorganic waste.
Trees can be harvested in wetlands but in a controlled manner. If some few mature tree as cut, there should be many more native trees that are planted in their place. Care should be taken to avoid to avoid damaging important animal habitats. The flora and fauna in the water catchment areas co-exist to create harmony and balance in the eco-system.
The experimental confirmation is overwhelmingly clear. Carbon dioxide levels in the environment are at levels higher than they’ve been in centuries and they are as yet going up. Whether you trust the by and large acknowledged hypothesis this is brought on by man or not, we can all concur that everybody needs to cooperate to decline carbon dioxide outflows. In any case, this is by all account not the only motivation to shoot for basic living. It advantages both the world’s nature and future, and your wallet.
What does it mean, manageable living. Basic living is an expansive term that includes any number of way of life decisions that at last prompts decreasing the perpetual and pessimistic effect a man, family or organization has on the biological community. Feasible living is independent, it decreases the utilization of limited assets on the earth and rather uses renewable vitality.
The way things are, feasible living can incredibly build the measure of reserve funds on regular buys. Maybe just pennies at once, these reserve funds can just increment after some time, making a little venture today a potential productive benefit tomorrow or one year from now.
One of the keys of practical living is the way to go of environmentally friendly power vitality. While thoughts of sun oriented and wind vitality have been around for a considerable length of time (or on account of wind, subsequent to the first mechanical windmills), just in the last 5 or 10 years of the restrictive expenses been tended to for more prominent and more noteworthy effectiveness. Today, rooftop lain sun powered boards or little housetop wind turbines are fundamental to reasonable living. Some are so successful at catching this normal and renewable force source that those joined with the city power lattice can frequently lessen their power bills – as well as dispose of them inside and out. A chosen few are notwithstanding turning a benefit by offering vitality outfit by sunlight based boards. Straightforward living won’t simply spare you cash, it may make you some money also!
Different strategies for manageable living is judgment skills changes that will lower warming expenses, for example, introducing twofold sheet windows all through, upgrading to a littler and more productive water radiator, and decreasing the miles driven. Supporting nearby homesteads and deliver drives down the monetary and ecological expenses of transportation sustenance around the globe as does developing some of your own produce in your window ledge or patio. Finding a way to accomplish basic living can have enduring and, particularly on account of sustenance, charming results for a considerable length of time to come, as you can find on Regenerative Cell Institute. Supportable living is likely a decision now, yet not far off, the need to safeguard common assets and the planet itself will require more exertion and maybe a higher expense. Better to be at the lead of economical living today.
To work with the water, in permacultural way ( not destroying but coexisting ) of non-destruction, we first need to understand the water, its flow and its characteristics. Using the full power of water and its flow is best seen in making swales.
There are practical courses in which you can learn all this in first hand, just look for Vladislav Davidzon online, he organizes some pretty awesome courses. There are five practical steps in using and conserving water, but I want to focus on only one of them, soil contouring. But having other 4 in mind is also an important thing, while working with water. Water is life, and it must be your aim to bring water to your permaculture system. You can chose your own permaculture design. Best way of doing that is by making swales, and that I will go through in this article.
Remove vegetation from the future swale location. Digging your future swale while tripping on vegetation can only slow your work progress and it can lead to injuries. So before starting anything clear all vegetation from that spot. But don’t remove vegetation any further it will help prevent erosion of land around your swale.
Level the ground as much as possible to prevent water from going where it wants. You can use mechanical help for this if you want, for it will be more precise. But you can do it by yourself with a help from some make-do tools like piece of string and so on.
Dig the ditches on edges of your swale. This should be first step in actual swale digging. Make sure they all have same or similar depth. Earth you dig out this way should be used in making of the berm. All rocks you find while digging should be put to side because they will help later. Make sure all sides of ditches are smooth to prevent erosion.
Drainage should be lower than the swale in order to care excess water away. If you don’t have drainage system it can cause destruction of berm and with that whole swale. If you plan on having few swales then drainage from one can fill other and so on.
Use rocks you dug out to prevent erosion. This can be done by putting rocks on the entrance of the swale in order to break the flow of water better and prevent erosion. This can be done on all places where you reroute the water flow.
Secure the berm by patting down any earth you place there. Level the berm with sides of the swale. This can be done by walking on the berm while it is made and patting earth down with your weight.
Tree planting can be done on the berm to increase its strength and integrity. Trees should be fruit ones so you have something from that planting, and you can plant berry plants with strong roots too.
Test the swale by filling it up. This test should mimic the actual water flow. By doing this you will test your swale and find about mistakes before actual water comes down in it.
Observe changes swale does to the land around. It will be a beautiful thing to watch, a work of your hands changing the landscape and nature towards better future.Read More
In the late 1970s and after the hippy movement a strong feel towards nature and everything that would stop green gas emission was being popular, and a system that an Australian professor created in that time was no exception. Bill Mollison, together with his graduate student David Holmgren, coined the term “permaculture” and the elaborate system that they established was accepted all over the world, since it praised nature and all of the designs and patterns that exist in our environment. There are 12 permaculture design principles today that they abide by.
Vladislav Davidzon, one of Mollison’s students, had a deep understanding for these issues and in 2004 he started his own design school – Regenerative Leadership Institute. As he already was one of the leading figures in the field on environment protection, Davidzon was also a respectable entrepreneur with highly successful projects and profitable international companies. His earlier projects also had strong mark of being eco-friendly, for example: ThinkHost – the first web hosting company that was powered exclusively on renewable energy sources (wind and solar energy) and Common Circle Expeditions (Sustainable Energy in Motion) – bike rides in Oregon and Hawaii with stops to visit organic food farms and locations with permaculture design.
Regenerative Leadership Institute was also started on the foundations of permaculture and sustainable living, but it’s CEO and the brains behind the whole project, Vladislav Davidzon, had some unconventional ideas of how to organize and run permaculture courses. He included a pragmatic approach into the teachings on this subject, and insisted heavily on immersion in nature, so majority of the Regenerative Leadership Institute’s programs are held in parks, woods and usually always in tents and with the rest of the camping gear. However, they have accepted modern technology in the sense that courses from this design school can be freely accessed on their website, and this online revolution happened in 2013 when they crowd-founded enough money to upload all of the content.
Nowadays, this company is spread in over 195 countries and boasts over 250,000 people who attended the program. Regenerative Leadership Institute offers great possibility for a life changing experience for people of any race, religious or age group, and in their Retreat they accept everybody who is willing to make a change in the world and live in accordance with nature and its ultimate laws. Some of the topics that high-quality instructors teach in this school are connected with protection and preservation of soil, usage of renewable energy, recycling of waste, social interactions and integration, and many, many more. | <urn:uuid:be788ec2-853e-446d-9654-1b944ed26758> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.tradepartnersuk-usa.com/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783391519.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154951-00123-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953182 | 3,327 | 2.984375 | 3 |
Sundials are devices for telling time by measuring the position of the shadow of the sun. This category lists websites concerned with the theory of sundials.
Related categories 2
The Analemmatic Sundial
Describes design and construction of a six meter wide analemmatic sundial in Canada.
Descriptions of these vertical post sundials, why they work, detailed account of the maths necessary to plot the hour lines.
The British Sundial Society
Information on the society, links, beginner's pages, including simple sundial patterns and templates, online facilities to calculate hour lines for different sundial types.
Describes different types of sundials, has other technical and general information. Offers free Shadows software to compute sundials of a number of different types for anywhere in the world.
Encyclopaedia Britannica - Sundials and Shadow Clocks
Animations of some of the historical stages of the development of sundials.
Frans Maes' Sundial Site
Describes a number of sundials of different types, mostly from northern Europe.
Jaipur - Jantar Mantar
Describes the jantar mantar (or yantra mandir) of Jaipur, and the massive sundials and other astronomical devices built there.
Macmillan Hunter Sundials
A range of sundials for measuring the hours and reading the season as well as astronomical instruments for complex calculations.
The North American Sundial Society
Includes general information, links, a register of dials in North America, and a message board.
A Photo Collection of Beautiful Painted Wall Sundials
Photographs with descriptions, showing a number of patterns painted on walls.
Describes sundials that can tell sunrise and sunset times, the angle of solar declination and the time at night. (Flash based site).
Sunbeams & Sundials - Liverpool Museums
Guides to the use of the sun for telling time and marking the seasons.
SUNDI: Sundial Design Software
Shareware and freeware software for design and planning for the most popular.
Sundial - Wikipedia
Account includes a description of the commoner types, an explanation of the relevant science and maths, and a history of sundial use.
Sundial Design Program
Software to design a vertical (wall mounting) sundial for walls that face up to 60 degrees away from due-south.
Describes sundial parts and names, the basic types, and has make your own pages for three simple types of dial.
The Sundial Primer - Get "Hooked on Gnomonics"
Offers advice, instructions, and resources for creating a wide variety of sundials.
Describes the history and development in Europe from the time of the Greeks. Includes literary and poetic references.
Sundials of Scotland
Descriptions with photographs of Scottish sundials, ancient, old and new as well as sundials from some other places. Includes registers of sundials seen, which are fully searchable by any criterion.
Sundials on the Internet
A major information source, with projects, detailed technical information, links to related sites, listings of societies.
Sundials: the Art of Shadows
An essay on the use of sundials in gardens.
Other languages 1
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Did she come from the Sea or does anyone know?
People think that Aphrodite came from sea foam and later appeared on Mount Olympus. Mount Olympus was the home of Olympian gods, and the human offences. Aphrodite had curled eye lashes and she dressed incredibly elegante. The one thing that is different about Aphrodite is that she was an exception to the Greek family tree. It was also said that she would usually have more than one person that she liked at a time. | <urn:uuid:42287d85-88b4-40dc-ba97-7382dcd689e5> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://kcollins2004.weebly.com/where-aphrodite-came-from.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397111.67/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00095-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.99599 | 100 | 2.546875 | 3 |
California’s Department of Toxic Substances Control has announced the beginning of a new program that will be designed to monitor and regulate toxic substances found in consumer goods.
On Thursday the DTSC implemented the first phase of the agency’s new “Safer Consumer Products” program by releasing the names of three types products it says contain substances that are toxic to the human body and are under regulatory consideration by the state.
The three Priority Products are:
- Children’s padded sleeping products like sleeping mats and bassinets that contain unreacted diisocyanates, a known carcinogen
- Spray polyurethane foam (SPF) materials used for insulation that contain unreacted diisocyanates, a suspected carcinogen
- Paint and varnish strippers, and surface cleaners that contain methylene chloride, a known carcinogen
Debbie Raphael, the director of department at the DTSC, stressed that at this stage, the department was not banning these substances. “We are starting a conversation with manufacturers.”
Raphael noted that months of effort was put into researching each of the products and the associated chemicals used in them, and that the DTSC is hoping to engage product manufacturers in removing these substances from standard consumer use by finding safer alternatives.
Deputy Director of the DTSC, Meredith Williams, said that researchers have been able to confirm that there are already products on the market that can replace the use of diisocyanates in children’s products and paint and varnish strippers. The spray polyurethane foam, however, does not yet have a safe alternative on the market. The department was therefore appealing to manufacturers to find alternative manufacturing processes that don’t require the use of unreacted diisocyanates. According to the DTSC, exposure is known to cause asthma and skin rashes and is suspected to cause cancer.
“People become more sensitized to them after one use,” said Williams. She admitted, however, that finding an alternative for the chemical in this product may be difficult, since the diisocyanates act as a propellant for the foam insulation.
“This will be a challenge for manufacturers,” she said.
Williams said the goal of the announcement was also to encourage (California) consumers to make “educated decisions” about the items they buy and “to be aware of the possible exposure” to toxic chemicals that may be under state review, but are not yet under new regulations.
“I want to stress again, this is not a ban. This is a process,” said Williams. Consumers who purchase any of these kinds of products are encouraged to read the labels and ask questions. If they are unsure about whether the products they are buying contain these toxic substances, “ask the manufacturer. If that fails, ask the retailer.”
The department’s Safer Consumer Products regulations went into effect in October 2013, and is directed toward increasing review and regulation of toxic substances in consumer products. The department said that if warranted, it may choose to ban these three toxic substances from use or sale in California, following a 12-month review process. For now, however, the program’s aim is to encourage discussion and research into alternative methods for manufacturing these consumer products.
The Oakland, Calif.-based Center for Environmental Health released a statement Thursday welcoming the DTSC’s decision to include these three products on its new Priority Products list. CEH says it has been attempting to raise awareness about the dangers of diisocyanates, which are currently being used in children’s bedding products as a flame retardant. The nonprofit organization recently launched litigation against manufacturers that use the chemical in children’s bed products.
“The state’s action today is a small but important step in the drive for safer products made without harmful chemicals,” said Michael Green, CEH’s executive director. “Our work has already demonstrated that national makers of children’s nap mats can eliminate all flame retardants, which are completely unnecessary and can harm children’s health. We expect any other companies that make these products will be able to work with DTSC and follow suit quickly.”
Federal regulations concerning toxic chemicals in consumer products have not been updated for more than 30 years. The CEH said that although Congress is currently reviewing proposals to update these rules, current proposals in both the House and Senate could preempt these efforts. If passed, they could also preempt state regulations like California’s Prop 65, which has been successful in pushing for better oversight of manufacturing processes for consumer products sold within the state.
Image of baby in bassinet by Shingleback | <urn:uuid:dd6b5500-0a5e-4ccc-ad54-ef4babb23985> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.triplepundit.com/2014/03/california-launches-review-toxic-chemicals-consumer-products/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783399385.17/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154959-00140-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961298 | 988 | 2.640625 | 3 |
Katherine Pollard, Ph.D., Gladstone Institutes (image) Gladstone Institutes Share Print E-Mail Caption Dr. Pollard's lab developed a unique algorithm to hunt down fast-mutating DNA sequences. In so doing they have uncovered new clues that distinguish humans from our closest primate relatives. Credit Chris Goodfellow/Gladstone Institutes Usage Restrictions Please contact Gladstone Press Relations for reprint permissions Share Print E-Mail Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system. | <urn:uuid:e98c7b6b-a8ad-4975-900b-432a6d23fa56> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.eurekalert.org/multimedia/pub/64495.php?from=253662 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396945.81/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00191-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.834323 | 134 | 2.546875 | 3 |
Do we get wiser as we age, or do our mental abilities decline? The answer is probably both, new research says.
Researchers from the University of California, Riverside, and Columbia University tested the decision-making skills and intelligence of 336 participants for a study published in Psychology and Aging. There were 173 participants between ages 18 and 29, and 163 between 60 and 82.
They were tested on basic financial literacy, debt literacy, how much they considered future financial situations, and their tolerance for investment risk. (You can find the tests and questions used beginning on page 59 of the study, although you won’t be able to easily grade yourself.)
Despite the loss of mental sharpness that comes with age, the study found that older participants performed as well or better than younger ones in every area.
The theory behind the results is that intelligence can be categorized in two ways: fluid and crystallized. Fluid intelligence is “the ability to generate, transform and manipulate information,” the study says. In other words, it’s the ability to respond to something new. Crystallized intelligence, meanwhile, basically fits the textbook definition of wisdom — “experience and accumulated knowledge.”
As we age, the study says, we lose fluid intelligence but gain crystallized intelligence. The latter can offset — partially or in full — the former. Certain tasks are best suited to each form of intelligence.
“For decisions that rely heavily on processing new information, it is likely that the negative effects of aging will outweigh its positive effects relatively early in middle age,” the study concludes. “On the other hand, if the decision relies on recognizing previously learned patterns in a stable environment, age may be an advantage.” Providing analogies to familiar tasks can help older people manage new ones, it adds.
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- Delaying Retirement Will Keep You Smarter Longer | <urn:uuid:7adb7c6b-29cd-47d8-a584-6c53806e5c45> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://blog.credit.com/2013/09/study-with-age-comes-financial-wisdom/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398873.39/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00160-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938414 | 421 | 3.46875 | 3 |
In January 2010, Douglas Woodhams (University of Zurich) led a group of researchers to collect frogs and sample skin peptides and skin bacteria in two Panama locations (Torti and El Copé). Approximately 152 frogs were sampled representing nineteen species. All frogs were also swabbed and will be tested for the presence of Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd). The same location in Torti was sampled in 2007, and there was no evidence for the presence of Bd in 2007. The current study will show whether or not Torti remains Bd-free in 2010. Analysis of the skin peptide activity against Bd and bacterial species will demonstrate whether skin peptide defenses and microbial skin communities change when amphibian species come into contact with Bd. These studies will help to suggest which species are most vulnerable to Bd infections and should be the focus of conservation efforts. | <urn:uuid:e5eda69d-09ed-45d2-988b-e2d21f1c7034> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://amphibianrescue.org/2010/03/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783391766.5/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154951-00138-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939719 | 183 | 2.703125 | 3 |
January 18, 2011
Discovery Of A Gene Associated With A Leukemia Mostly Affecting Children
Cyndia Charfi, a Ph. D student in biology at Universit© du Qu©bec à Montr©al (UQAM), supported by her thesis supervisors, Professor Ó°ric Rassart, and Adjunct Professor Elsy Edouard, UQAM, Department of Biological Sciences and BIOMED Research Centre, made a major breakthrough in research on B-cell acute lymphocytic leukemia, a disease that occurs most commonly in children. She has successfully identified a gene that may facilitate the diagnosis of this cancer, which is characterized by an abnormal proliferation of B-cells, antibody-producing cells that defend the body against infection. Her findings were recently published in the prestigious scientific journal Blood.
The researchCyndi Charfi first compared the transcriptome (the set of active genes in a cell) of leukemic and healthy mice. From this analysis, she was able to isolate groups of genes with abnormal activity in the leukemic mice. This led to the discovery that excessive synthesis of the Fmn2 gene and protein is associated with B-cell lymphocytic leukemia.
Although mice cells are genetically similar to human cells, they clearly are not identical. So the young researcher continued her work, this time using human cells. Her results were the same: abormal activity of Fmn2 gene was observed in human patients with B-cell lymphocytic leukemia and particularly in children.
Better diagnosis for better treatment
Leukemia refers to all cancers that attack the bone marrow cells. The bone marrow produces blood cells, hence the term "blood cancer". As there are several types of blood cells (including B-cells), there are also several types of leukemia, and the treatment differs for each type. The faster and more accurate the diagnosis of the type of leukemia, the better the treatment.
What is the significance of this discovery? According to Professor Rassart, "although it is basic research, Cyndia Charfi's findings represent a major advance and a step closer to improved diagnosis and, hopefully, treatment of this cancer, whose victims, we should recall, are mainly children."
The results of Cyndi Charfi's research are published in the December 2010 issue of Blood under the title "Gene profiling of Graffi murine leukemia virus induced lymphoid leukemias: identification of leukemia markers and Fmn2 as a potential oncogene."
On the Net: | <urn:uuid:00fed32b-4ad5-4e07-ae1c-e96cf018a3d4> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.redorbit.com/news/health/1981168/discovery_of_a_gene_associated_with_a_leukemia_mostly_affecting/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783400572.45/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155000-00083-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948654 | 518 | 3.3125 | 3 |
Peripheral vision, or side vision, is the wide-angle field of vision that appears beyond central vision. Loss of peripheral vision narrows the field of vision, giving the appearance of looking through a tunnel. The condition is often called "tunnel vision" or peripheral field defect. Other symptoms of tunnel vision are reduced vision in dim light and difficulty walking.
A sudden loss of peripheral vision can indicate a stroke and requires immediate medical attention.
One cause of the condition is optic nerve damage resulting from glaucoma--a category of eye problems that result from a buildup of pressure inside the eye. Loss of peripheral vision is an early indication of glaucoma. Another cause is eye blockages, or occlusions, in the veins and arteries causing "eye strokes" that compromise peripheral vision. When blood flow to the eye is blocked, the retina and optic nerve fail to receive oxygen and nutrients.
Peripheral vision loss can also result from retinitis pigmentosa--degeneration of the retina; detached retina--in which the retina becomes separated from connecting tissue; injury or concussions; disease; or papilledema--swelling of the optic nerve head; and neurological damage. Eye "floaters"--black spots or thread-like webs inside the field of vision--can also result in loss of peripheral vision. A temporary loss of peripheral vision may result from high levels of adrenaline caused by panic, anger, stress, alcohol, or drugs. The temporary condition usually resolves itself.
A thorough eye examination from an ophthalmologist or optometrist can diagnose the cause of peripheral vision loss and determine appropriate treatment. If glaucoma is the cause, treatment can help the condition. A detached retina can be corrected by surgery.
While eyeglasses or contact lenses are not useful in treating loss of peripheral vision, a type of lens using prisms may be employed to expand the narrowed field of vision. Low-vision specialists can offer help with special devices used to accommodate such vision losses. | <urn:uuid:56da2bf3-c7aa-41d8-8587-9ff4f05d37df> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.improve.com/Peripheral-Vision-Problems/3613 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395620.9/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00094-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.910199 | 411 | 3.21875 | 3 |
3 Answers | Add Yours
Steinbeck took his title from a poem by the Scottish poet Robert Burns. The narrator of the poem has destroyed a mouse's home while plowing his fields, and is filled with regret. In a famous line, he reflects that the "best-laid schemes o' mice an' men / Gang aft agley [go often awry]."
The title for John Steinbeck's novel "Of Mice and Men" comes from a poem written in 1785 by the Scottish poet Robert Burns. The poem is entitled "To a Mouse, on Turning Her Up in Her Nest, with the Plough.
Perhaps the most famous line from that poem is "The best laid schemes o' mice an' men gang aft agley." Which means something like "The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry."
The Steinbeck novel focuses on the problems faced by Depression-era farmers hoping to own their own land, but having their hopes shattered.
The title comes from a poem "To a Mouse" by Robert Frost where the author sympathizes to a mouse for destroying it's home. The poem talks about how technology has made mankind powerful.
We’ve answered 328,204 questions. We can answer yours, too.Ask a question | <urn:uuid:5288959a-36af-4708-a20f-925b1843a7c9> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.enotes.com/homework-help/where-did-title-mice-men-come-from-110361 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783402516.86/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155002-00060-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978101 | 264 | 2.671875 | 3 |
In the absence of comprehensive federal climate legislation, state governments and the executive branch have moved forward with efforts to reduce greenhouse gases. Two important components of effective policies are (1) tools to limit the potential for carbon emissions to shift outside a jurisdiction (carbon leakage), and (2) cross-boundary linkages to improve effectiveness and reduce costs. For instance, states may adopt life cycle analysis as part of regulations or carbon taxes, and they may link carbon trading schemes with other states or with foreign jurisdictions. The executive branch may address carbon leakage by tailoring regulations to the potential for emissions to shift abroad and may also enter into cooperative agreements with other nations through executive agreements.
These important components of climate policy could easily be supplied by Congress, but efforts to supply them by states or executive branch encounter constitutional challenges. This article argues in favor of the constitutionality of such efforts. It rejects attacks on state policies based on the compact clause, dormant commerce clause, and foreign affairs preemption. It also argues in favor of EPA authority to tailor regulations to limit leakage and in favor of presidential efforts at international cooperation. | <urn:uuid:86c99baf-a901-4aa5-a9a5-0fa6afbe5fb5> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://lsolum.typepad.com/legaltheory/2012/11/farber-on-climate-policy-divided-powers.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783394987.40/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154954-00095-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941997 | 221 | 2.625 | 3 |
Facts, Identification & Control
Although commonly referred to as bean weevils, the Acanthoscelides obtectus technically belongs to a cadre of seed beetles. In comparison to rice and wheat weevils, bean weevils are rounder in form. They are hairy and shaped much like teardrops. Bean weevils also do not possess the telltale jutting snout present on true weevil species.
Bean weevils are faint olive in color, although darker shades may be visible on the wings. Legs are ruddy in appearance, and the hind legs bear spiny protrusions. The antennae of the bean weevil also appear reddish in coloration.
Behavior, Diet & Habits
Bean weevils will feed on most any available food source, including peas, cowpeas, lentils and other legumes. Farmers may unknowingly mistake infested beans for healthy ones, as the presence of bean weevils is not commonly recognized until empty husks are found within harvested crops.
Female specimens penetrate developing bean pods in order to lay eggs. The entry portals are then sealed, and hairy, white larvae are left inside to develop. In favorable, warm conditions, larvae feed on the bean within which they were laid until only the husk remains. Following pupation, newly developed adults pierce through the bean in order to emerge. Through this process, beans are destroyed.
Signs of Bean Weevil Infestation
Signs of bean weevil activity would be the adults themselves and the damaged beans.
These weevils may enter homes in search of food. Because they are attracted to light, bean weevils can be found near windows of infested structures. To prevent been weevil infestations, stored foods should be kept in leak-proof glass, metal or hard plastic containers.
If a bean weevil infestation is found within your home, it may be useful to sweep or vacuum infested areas. Infested products should be discarded. Contact your local pest control professional to discuss efficient eradication methods. | <urn:uuid:4b6e2398-4c1d-4c83-82ce-1b4fd7957966> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.orkin.com/other/weevils/bean-weevil/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783399106.96/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154959-00066-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.910753 | 431 | 3.625 | 4 |
The article below is a summary taken from an advisory report (pictured).
It’s a basic checklist for anybody who wishes to influence local government on the multiple ways that councils are able to respond to the Peak Oil issue.
Click here to download a complete copy of the report.
The decline of global oil production will radically change the way our societies are run: our transport systems, how we produce food, where we work and live.
There are a great many things that councils must do, and policies that need to be changed, if we are to have any chance of mitigating the economic effects of peak oil. On the plus side, some of these initiatives already exist (recycling, etc.) but these efforts need to be significantly expanded, and entire areas of policy remain unaddressed.
The continued expansion of road and air infrastructure no longer makes any sense. Forecasts of a massive increase in road travel over the next thirty years are based entirely on historical data, and will soon be rendered meaningless by peak oil. New major road developments run the risk of turning into expensive white elephants. Instead, we must start preparing for a contraction in all travel modes that depend on oil.
Food supplies should be of primary concern. Prices are already soaring globally, partly due to the dash for biofuels. As oil production declines these pressures are only likely to increase, and the dilemmas they pose will only sharpen in the future. In a world of constrained transport, food security will increasingly depend upon local supply. We need to start planning for these changes now.
The most fundamental change needed is in the way people think. Local policy will be fundamental to the transition to a lean-energy future, but councils cannot achieve everything by themselves; the necessary changes will require much greater co-operative spirit within and between communities in future. Hearts and minds are critical; now is the time to change them.
1. Preparing for peak oil
Peak oil means local authorities need to plan for the likelihood of rising oil prices and shrinking fuel supplies. First steps should include:
- A detailed energy audit of all council activities including transport and buildings. This will point the way to immediate cost savings, emission reductions and greater energy security, and better prepare the authority for any short term interruptions to energy supplies
- An in-depth assessment of the impact of peak oil on the local economy, environment and social services including food and agriculture, health and medicine, transport, education, waste, water supply, communications, and energy use
- The development of an emergency plan to respond to sudden interruptions in oil supplies and/or sharply rising oil prices, with a particular emphasis on ‘at risk’ communities
- Set specific targets for reducing oil and natural gas consumption in the local government, business and household sectors, by a significant proportion within a defined period
- Encourage a major shift from private to public transport, cycling and walking, through investment in public transport and expansion of existing programmes such as cycle lanes and road pricing
- Reduce overall transport demand by using planning powers to shape the built environment
- Shape planning rules to encourage the greatest energy efficiency in new and existing buildings
- Promote the use of locally produced, non-fossil transport fuels such as biogas and renewable electricity in both council operations and public transport
- Prevent infrastructure investments that are not viable in a low energy society
- Develop rigorous energy efficiency and energy conservation programmes that help businesses and individuals to reduce their oil dependency
- Support the growth of businesses that supply renewable and energyefficient solutions
- Launch a major public energy-awareness campaign incorporating leaflets, the internet and an expanded network of energy-saving advice centres. The more people understand peak oil, the more likely they are to support or accept demand management measures
- Find ways to encourage local food production and processing; facilitate reduction of energy used in refrigeration and transportation of food
- Set up a joint peak oil task force with other councils, and partner closely with existing community-led initiatives such as the Transition Network and the Relocalization Network
- Adopt the Oil Depletion Protocol and the ‘Five principles’ proposed by Post Carbon Cities
2. Peak oil and climate change
Council policies on peak oil and climate change should be closely coordinated and mutually reinforcing. Most policy options will help mitigate both problems, but where priorities conflict, peak oil must be given adequate weight. Councils need to understand and connect these issues in both strategy and internal and external communication, and should propagate this understanding into the wider local, regional and national government strategic framework
Councils need to develop positive ways to educate the public about peak oil, to effect behaviour change and reduce oil dependency throughout business and the community. Local authorities should distribute educational leaflets to households in their area, focussing on positive solutions and the incidental benefits, such as the impact on climate change. The role of institutions and individuals, and the need for immediate action, should all be emphasized
Where councils already operate a service offering information and advice on climate change and energy saving, its remit should be expanded to include peak oil. If a council does not offer such a service, it should consider setting one up
Councils also need to conduct an internal education and awareness-raising programme to inform all their councillors, officers and employees on peak oil issues and the available solutions towards reducing oil dependency
4. Expand existing initiatives
Many initiatives are already underway at the local government level that will help the transition from pre-peak plenty to post-peak scarcity, for example: road pricing, energy efficiency/insulation programs, promotion of renewables, recycling/reuse. These can all be further legitimised as policies that will help mitigate peak oil; if the general public understand peak oil, they are more likely to participate and support local government initiatives in these areas
Each local authority should consider nominating an officer to develop and coordinate its response to peak oil both internally and in cooperation with other councils. Where possible, councils should set up a task force on peak oil
The council’s peak oil task force should partner closely with existing citizen initiatives which are already working on energy planning to foster community based solutions
See also related articles here and here. | <urn:uuid:04b292a8-b289-4f99-b32a-e22a21a1159c> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://peakoiltas.org/category/tasmania/sectors/local-government/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393997.50/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00193-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944895 | 1,262 | 3.046875 | 3 |
Did you know?
The name Riemvasmaak, which means 'tie a piece of leather tightly', comes from the Khoi word 'konkaib', which also means ‘to tie leather thongs'.
The Riemvasmaak Hot Springs are located in a deep ravine bordered by 80m-high granite cliffs, north of the Augrabies Falls, about 60km from the small Northern Cape town of Kakamas.
The area known as Riemvasmaak spans 75 000ha of rugged and remote desert-mountain wilderness between the Orange and Molopo rivers and is very remote – it's an area known for its rugged wilderness.
The Riemvasmaak Hot Springs are the product of volcanic eruptions. Though these have long since ceased, deep underground activity still heats the waters of these springs.
The space in which the two pools are situated is made up of magnificent, lunar-like surroundings; unique vegetation that is marked by indigenous camel thorn and shepherd’s trees; and wildlife that includes creatures from hyraxes (also known as 'dassies') to antelope and baboon. Raptors such as the Verreaux and fish eagle breed here, while pale-winged starlings are prolific.
Accommodation is available in cleverly designed self-catering chalets that blend into the rocky surrounds and offer great views. Once without electricity, they are now equipped with power and hot water, but visitors are advised to bring drinking water, food and towels.
Arrangements can be made at the local tourism office for meals. One can also arrange to have a meal at a local home and spend time with the people of Riemvasmaak village.
Other than the natural hot springs, tourists are drawn to Riemvasmaak by its 4x4 trails and scenic hiking trails.
Under apartheid policies during the 1960s, the inhabitants of Riemvasmaak were split up and forcibly relocated to areas a long distance away, while their lands were taken by the then-South African Defence Force for use as a military training ground.
After democracy in 1994, the Riemvasmaakers reclaimed their lands, making history by lodging the first land-restitution case in the new South Africa.
Travel tips & Planning info
Who to contact
Tel: +27 (0)73 383 8812 or + 27 (0)83 873 7715 (Clarissa Damara)
Green Kalahari Tourism
Tel: +27 (0)54 337 2800
How to get here
From Upington take the N14 towards Keimoes and then Kakamas. It is well signposted. The distance is just over 100km, and should take around one to two hours.
Best time to visit
The winter months of May to August are recommended for their mild temperatures as the summers can be very hot.
Around the area
Visit the Augrabies Falls, where the Orange River thunders down a 60m waterfall.
Tours to do
The nearby town of Kakamas, built by stock farmers at the end of the 19th century, is interesting, with its old hydro-electrical power station resembling an Egyptian temple, a memorial shaped as an obelisk, and German war graves.
Having your own car will give you the freedom to move around. Hiring a 4x4 is a good idea as there are various rough-terrain trails in the area.
What will it cost
Rates are reasonable. Enquire at Riemvasmaak Tourism Centre for details.
Length of stay
Riemvasmaak is a two to three-day destination.
What to pack
You need to be well prepared to visit Riemvasmaak as there is limited access to facilities and amenities. Take along firewood, food and beverages, fuel and personal items as well as all drinking water (about four litres a day)
Where to stay
The conservancy has comfortable self-catering chalets or camping facilities, but you'll need to bring in most of what you need. The campsite is at the hot springs and you drive about 4km on a gravel road into the gorge. A 4x4 is not required.
What to eat
The community at Riemvasmaak can prepare a traditional meal – this needs to be organised in advance. For the rest, this is your chance to indulge in South Africa's favourite pastime: the braai (barbecue).
Check the listed Northern Cape website for events in the area during your stay.
Fresh and dried fruit from farm stalls in the area. | <urn:uuid:ddaa4853-d281-411d-94db-723481a9cabd> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.southafrica.net/za/en/articles/entry/article-southafrica.net-riemvasmaak-hot-springs-northern-cape | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783400572.45/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155000-00167-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953426 | 956 | 2.53125 | 3 |
Last modified: 2016-02-27 by rick wyatt
Keywords: san francisco | california | bart | phoenix | goan institute |
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image by António Martins-Tuválkin, 22 May 2008
Description: A white field, with a phoenix rising from flames. There is a motto beneath the phoenix on a ribbon, "Oro en paz. Fierro en guerra." According to Whitney Smith's The Flag Book of the United States [smi75a]:, the flag was official as of 16 Dec 1940.
Jon Radel, 25 October 1996
About the yellow border: the original flag was white with the Phoenix/motto, and a yellow FRINGE. When it came time to mass produce the flag, the yellow fringe somehow became part of the design of the flag itself. Then when an indoor flag is needed, you guessed it, it gets yellow fringe in addition to the yellow border!
Nick Artimovich, 23 October 1996
Motto: Translated, the motto is "Gold in Peace, Iron in War".
Jerry Lorigan, 26 October 1996
The phoenix was chosen as a symbol to commemorate not the 1906 earthquake/fire (which hadn't occurred yet), but the even more disastrous fire of 1852. This fire destroyed even more of the then mostly wooden city, which was quickly rebuilt, earning San Francisco the slogan "The City that Knows How."
James J. Ferrigan III, 8 December 1999
The border of the flag, termed golden in the descriptions (e.g., www.sfgov.org/site/visitor_index.asp?id=8081), is shown in this (official) design as light orange. The crest shown on the flag (a real armorial crest, not the full achievement of a coat of arms) shows the phoenix emerging from a wall of flames, which rest upon a golden and black torse. The letters spelling out "San Francisco" at the bottom of the flag are usually (very dark) blue, but a version with black letters can be seen at www.usflags.com/images/products/Product-4553.jpg (context at www.usflags.com/productDetail.asp?ItemID=4553).
An actual flag shown in use shows more important variations from the image at the official website: The large flag photo taken at the SF Ferry Building in 2006 (www.flickr.com/photos/cbcastro/369562966) shows golden yellow border, golden yellow scroll with black lettering and a much simplified phoenix design, in very dark brown, without any lining suggesting feathers in the inside of the outline, and with black and white torse - see a rendition of these colours here.
António Martins-Tuválkin, 22 May 2008
On January 8, 1900, San Francisco Mayor James D. Phelan addressed the S.F. Board of Supervisors, and as reported in the San Francisco Chronicle of January 9, 1900, stated: "I recommend to the Board finally to adopt a flag for the city of San Francisco. Other cities have their ensigns. Upon ours should be inscribed the sentiment now upon the city's seal. Oro en paz fierro en guerra. It is singularly appropriate by reason of the fact that California is the Golden State and San Francisco has become the point of debarkation for our troops, whose heroic work in the Pacific has been the principal event of the closing century, and our own California boys, mustered in San Francisco, were the first to the front [in the Spanish American War]. Gold is emblematic of prosperity and iron emblematic of fortitude and courage and when the war ceases we hope that productive industries and prosperity, of which iron is also emblematic, may permit us to read the inscription, Gold and iron in peace."
The Chronicle reported that Mayor Phelan had won a $50 prize for an article he had written on "How to Make Corporations Pay Their Taxes", in an article of February 21, 1900, "and at once offered to give the $50 as a reward for the best design to be submitted for a municipal flag, which he has for some time advocated."
On March 17, 1900, the San Francisco Chronicle reported in its editorial column, being no friend of Phelan: "By invitation of Mayor Phelan, designs are being submitted for a municipal flag. Competitors may choose a guinea pig, a rat or a monkey as the central figure."
On April 15, 1900, the Chronicle announced the selection of a design for the San Francisco flag, the design of John M. Gamble, stating: "A design for a municipal flag was yesterday [4/14/1900] selected from among some fifteen designs placed in competition before the Commission appointed for the purpose of recommending the most appropriate civic banner to the Board of supervisors .... Action by the Board of Supervisors will be necessary before the flag is regularly adopted as the official banner of the city, and it is probable that this action will be taken on Monday ...." The design is shown, along with Gamble in line drawings accompanying the article. The flag as designed does not bear the yellow border, nor any other border, nor the words "SAN FRANCISCO" as does the present flag.
In an April 19, 1900 Chronicle article it was reported that Mayor Phelan had transmitted the flag design to the Board of Supervisors for adoption, with the adoption issue coming before the Board on the following Monday at its regular session. The Mayor is reported to have stated: "New York and other cities have such flags, which are used on appropriate occasions. The desirability of a city ensign occurred to me during the reception of the troops returning from the Philippines last fall, when the city tug, which met every returning transport, had no official mark of identification."
The San Francisco flag appears to have been first displayed publicly during the annual San Francisco police inspection parade held on or about May 1, 1900 [ I can't immediately find the date of the Chronicle's report of the parade]. The flag is displayed in a line drawing accompanying the article, upon a staff. The mayor delivered a silken San Francisco flag along with the national flag. I have seen a photograph of what I believe to be this parade, with the San Francisco flag displayed on a staff.
Bill Trinkle, 12 October 1998
image by Guillermo Tell Aveledo, 1 July 2000
1899 Almanac Image
The City of San Francisco's original flag is illustrated in the SF Municipal Almanac 1899-1900 edition. This flag was described as white with a black phoenix and scroll, with golden yellow flames, lettering and scroll reverse. There is no mention of fringe.
image by James J. Ferrigan III, 12 July 2000
April 1900 Newspaper Image
A slightly different image appeared in the SF paper on April 15, 1900. This flag is also shown without fringe. Both flags are shown with 8 points on the flames. This flag was used by the SF Police Department in parades and ceremonies.
image by James J. Ferrigan III, 12 July 2000
October 1929 Magazine Image
In 1926 the flag was described as no longer serviceable and a replacement flag was sought. This flag was replaced with a flag in 1929, an illustration of which appears in the Oct issue of Overland Monthly. Note the appearance of fringe.
In 1940 the flag was placed before the S.F.Board of Supervisors to be officially adopted, which it was on 16 December 1940.
The flag in City Hall was yet another version also bearing fringe. The fringe was described as "bordered in gold." This is the origin of the golden yellow picture frame border shown on the Museum of San Francisco's web site.
Both of the flag manufacturers in San Francisco, The Emerson Flag Co. and The Paramount Flag Co. began to produce versions of the flag. Paramount's more closely complied with the ordinance, Emerson's was more embellished, three colors in the flames and serifs on the letters. In 1963 Mayor George Christopher identified the Paramount design as the "official flag". Note the two color flames and the San-serif lettering. Both versions are still in use at City Hall.
James J. Ferrigan III, 12 July 2000
image by Joe McMillan
In response to an inquiry about a flag seen flying at Pacific Bell Park during a World Series game, Renee Dunn, Manager, Communications, Port of San Francisco, wrote "The white flag that you see at Pacific Bell Park is indeed the Port of San Francisco's logo. The building does represent the Ferry Building, which is the centerpiece of our waterfront. The ballpark is on port property and the SF Giants have authorized flying the Port's flag."
Graham Bartram, 23 October 2002
The tower in question is the San Francisco Ferry building, formerly a busy auto and passenger ferry landing, now again serving smaller passenger commuter ferries and as headquarters for the SF Port Authority. It is a well known San Francisco landmark.
Michael Smuda, 23 October 2002
image by Michael Smuda, 14 April 2001
B.A.R.T. is the acronym for the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit operating in the San Francisco/Oakland area. BART is a public transit system, which makes it basically a government agency. The Board of Directors are elected in public elections representing various areas of San Francisco, Alameda and Contra Costa counties. The system operates computer controlled trains on six foot gauge track with third rail electrical pickup. One interesting feature is the Oakland to San Francisco tube, a two track bore running 265 feet under the San Francisco Bay for about 7 miles.
The flag is almost an LOB. The logo for BART is a black lower case 'b' and a light blue/teal 'a' in a white background the "BART' in black letters above the 'ba'. The flag is a light blue/teal rectangle (3:5) with the black 'b' and a white 'a' without the 'BART' portion of the logo. The logo can be seen on the BART web page at www.bart.gov.
Michael Smuda, 14 April 2001
image by António Martins-Tuválkin, 30 July 2007
The flag is blue with a white border. Blue symbolizes the sky and the ocean. In the center is a dove symbolizing that Goans are peace-loving at heart. The word GOA appears in the center of the dove. The words JUSTICE appears at the top of the flag and TRUTH at the bottom in orange letters, orange symbolizing the sun. The words EQUALITY appears on the left and FREEDOM on the right in green letters; green symbolizing the earth.
Thanh-Tam Le, 28 July 2007 | <urn:uuid:b9150f54-1ca5-4a88-9832-0be67488c011> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/us-ca-sf.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783408840.13/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155008-00158-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936072 | 2,273 | 2.65625 | 3 |
PITTSBURGH, May 27 A genetic mutation for inherited lymphedema associated with lymphatic function has been discovered that could help create new treatments for the condition, say researchers at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health. Their findings are reported in the June issue of the American Journal of Human Genetics.
Lymphedema, the swelling of body tissues caused by an accumulation of fluid in a blocked or damaged lymphatic system, affects more than 120 million people worldwide. The most common treatments are a combination of massage, compression garments or bandaging.
"Lymphedema was first described hundreds of years ago, and yet it remains a very poorly understood disease," said David N. Finegold, M.D., co-principal investigator of the study and professor of human genetics, University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health. "Unfortunately, there is no drug available to cure or even treat it. Most people with inherited lymphedema suffer their entire lives with treatments that address symptom relief only."
The study is based on the University of Pittsburgh Lymphedema Family Study, which began collecting data from affected families in 1995 to learn more about the risk factors and causes of inherited, or primary, lymphedema.
Previous research has helped identify six genes linked to the development of lymphedema, but until now researchers had no insight into the genetic factors responsible for lymphatic vascular abnormalities.
In their study, Dr. Finegold and colleagues sequenced three genes expressed in families with primary lymphedema. Mutations in one of these genes, GJC2, was found in primary lymphedema families and are likely to impair the ability of cells to push fluid throughout the lymphatic system by interrupting their signaling. Without proper signaling, cell contraction necessary for the movement of fluid did not occur, leading to its accumulation in soft body tissues.
"These results are significant because they give us insight into the cell mechanics that may underlie this condition," said Dr. Finegold. "With further research, we may be able to target this gene with drugs and improve its function."
|Contact: Clare Collins|
University of Pittsburgh Schools of the Health Sciences | <urn:uuid:2a77563e-d047-4af2-a6f9-66574b36f5a7> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.bio-medicine.org/medicine-news-1/Pitt-researchers-discover-gene-mutation-linked-to-lymphatic-dysfunction-72819-1/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397696.49/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00052-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954299 | 448 | 3.203125 | 3 |
Laurus Energy, one of only a handful of companies working on a clean coal technology called underground coal gasification, has signed a deal with an Alaskan development company to derive gas from coal that promises to be cheaper and more eco-friendly than natural gas — a lofty claim.
The Houston company has formed a joint venture with Alaska’s Cook Inlet Region (CIRI) that will pump out syngas (the result of the coal gasification process) at a commercial scale. Underground coal gasification (UCG) not only allows companies to tap into coal resources that are too deep to mine, it also generates a diversity of products, from fuel for heating and electricity, to automotive fuels, says Laurus CEO Rebecca McDonald.
With UCG, Laurus is able to access coal located more than 100 meters under the earth. Oxidants are pumped down into these coal seams causing combustion underground, which releases gas. This product is combined with hydrogen and methane, and carbon dioxide is removed much more easily than it is from coal burned above ground.
“There’s a lot of coal in North America, but most people don’t know that there’s probably five to seven times the amount of coal that you can mine,” says McDonald. “That’s 1.7 trillion metric tons of coal that can be tapped using this technology cleanly, abundantly and at a low cost.”
Once the synthesis gas is made, it can be used in the same pipelines and boilers that currently use natural gas, meaning there’s no need to upgrade or swap out legacy technology (saving even more money). When the carbon dioxide is pulled out of the syngas, it can be used to make transportation fuels and diesel that can be used in standard automotive and jet tanks.
In addition to the new development outside Anchorage, Alaska, Laurus has a project in Alberta, Canada, just outside of Edmonton. The company is waiting for its final permits to do a calibration burn underground — the last step before it can start producing syngas at scale. When this is complete, Laurus will be the first company to produce commercial quantities of syngas on the continent.
If all of this falls into place, the syngas could be slightly less costly than natural gas, at $2 to $3 per 1 million British Thermal Units (1 BTU is the amount of energy needed to heat one pound of water by 1 degree Fahrenheit).
The way McDonald sees it, the U.S. only has two options for reasonably priced, faster, cleaner power: nuclear and underground coal gasification. And the latter is much more likely to take shape, she says.
“I don’t think the country has the appetite for nuclear right now,” she says. “We still don’t know how to dispose of it, and the time frame for bringing that along is 15 to 20 years out. The time frame for UCG is one to three years out.”
She warns that UCG is not to be hastily compared to other clean coal technologies, which include capturing and sequestering the greenhouse gases before or after they are released from coal-fired power plant smoke stacks. This is much more expensive and difficult to implement, McDonald says, and the result isn’t nearly as environmentally friendly as it is with UCG.
“Yes, it is made from coal, but there is no mining, no ash, no slag, no disruption of the earth’s surface, and you aren’t burning the coal in a smokestack,” McDonald says. “When most people think about or criticize clean coal, they are thinking about something else entirely.”
Also helping Laurus avoid the typical hordes of clean coal opponents is the fact that it’s not requesting any money from the U.S. government to develop its technology, unlike many renewable energy companies. Because the cost of its developments and equipment is so low, and the price point is already so competitive with natural gas, it won’t require ongoing federal subsidies.
That said, it has raised a fair bit of private capital, primarily from Mohr Davidow Ventures. The firm first invested in the company in 2007. Now it’s gearing up for a second round of fundraising, although an amount hasn’t been disclosed.
McDonald hopes that this second round will be enough to carry the company into profitability, with both UCG sites in Alaska and Canada up and running. This would be a big step for North America in this area, which has been trailing far behind Russia and neighboring countries like Uzbekistan — all of which have been using the process since the 1940s. | <urn:uuid:89e9f23a-eab5-440c-995d-43bc0ca1adf2> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://venturebeat.com/2010/06/07/laurus-signs-deal-to-make-coal-cleaner-and-cheaper-than-natural-gas/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783392159.3/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154952-00093-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954537 | 981 | 2.71875 | 3 |
Scorpions are not technically insects.
They are actually related more closely to spider’s ticks and mite type creepy crawlies.
The body of a scorpion is divided into two parts, the abdomen and the cephalothorax.
A type of shield called a carapace will cover the cephalothorax.
Usually they have two eyes in the middle and then another two or three pairs of eyes at the front of their cephalothorax.
The middle or abdomen of a scorpion has twelve segments which are very easy to see and count.
The last four or five form the tail which is their main self defense weapon.
This is the area that holds the bulb-shaped organ containing the venom glands and a sharp, curved “needle”, called the aculeus that delivers the venom.
All scorpions have 8 legs.
The front pair of legs are more like arms, and are used to hold onto their prey and for self defense for the scorpion.
They also have something called pectines, and are the only animal alive with these.
Pectines are structures with teeth along the edges, that are shaped and look like a comb.. These are used to detect vibration.
When scorpions reproduce the male deposits its sperm on the ground where the female picks it up from crawling through it.
Females have live little ones and will carry them with her until they molt for the first time.
Scorpion with Young
Scorpions favor warm desert type areas. They hunt during the night and will hide and rest during the day.
Scorpions are among the most ancient of all creatures.
The sting is normally used to paralyze prey and for self defense, but it can be fatal to humans. | <urn:uuid:c7a26b0b-59bc-455f-a211-9da2cfa2cf36> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.itsnature.org/ground/creepy-crawlies-land/scorpion/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783391766.5/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154951-00080-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95641 | 375 | 3.625 | 4 |
Moderator – Dr.Amitabh kumar , Professor
Presenter – Dr.Sriharsha Rayam
• Average time to develop new drug is 10 -12 years.
• On an average out of 10,000 – 30,000 potential
substances only 1 could make it to the market.
• As per 2006 estimates, the cost of bringing a new
drug could vary from 500 million to 2,000 million
unmet medical need;
new diseases ( AIDS, Alzheimer’s; obesity);
low efficacy (dementia, cancer);
side effects (antidepressants, antipsychotics)
cost of therapy; (Interleukins)
costs to individual/country; (Alzheimer’s; spinal
sustain industrial activity ( pharmaceutical industry
employs thousands and makes a massive contribution
to overseas earnings); patent expiry
WHY ARE NEW DRUGS NEEDED?
• Folk medicine - natural product remedies
• Early 19th century - extraction of compounds from plants
(morphine, cocaine )
History of Drug Discovery….
• James Lind – Citrus fruits – Scurvy – clinical trail
1909 - First rational drug design.
• Goal: safer syphilis treatment than Atoxyl.
• Paul Erhlich and Sacachiro Hata wanted to maximize toxicity
to pathogen and minimize toxicity to human (therapeutic
• They found Salvarsan (which was replaced by penicillin in the
• Mid to late 20th century
- understand disease states, biological structures, processes,
drug transport, distribution, metabolism.
Medicinal chemists use this knowledge to modify chemical
structure to influence a drug’s activity, stability, etc.
• procaine = local anaesthetic; Procainamide = antirhythmic
Drug development process – 3 main phases
• 1.drug discovery phase
• 2.preclinical phase
• 3.clinical trial phase
Drug discovery phase
1. Random screening
2. Serendipity ( By chance )
3. Rational drug designing
4. Designing of a prodrug or an active metabolite as a
• Blind hitting procedure where new chemical
entities are subjected to pharmacological
• Studies on animal models , isolated tissues etc
• It is time consuming, expensive, inefficient in
providing fruitful results ,burdensome
• Morphine, Atropine , digitalis, Quinidine,
2.SERENDIPITY (BY CHANCE / HAPPY
• New use from old drug or its side effects
• Lignocaine & Phenytoin
• Methotrexate – psoriasis
• Cyclophosphamide & Azathioprine – Graft rejection
1928, Fleming studied Staph, but contamination of plates with
airborne mold. Noticed bacteria were lysed in the area of mold.
A mold product inhibited the growth of bacteria: the antibiotic
3.RATIONAL DRUG DESIGNING
• A. compound centered approach
: from natural products – Pencillin,paclitaxel,cyclosporine
DA – complex molecules – difficult to synthesized
: from synthetic products – from pharmacological data
Ex: Based on proponolol structure- B blokers
H2 blockers - modifying structure of histamine
• Molecular modification ended up in molecular
New drugs are serving as me too drugs , no added
B. Target centered approach
* Biochemical or molecular targets
Ex: ACE blockers or AT II blockers
-Now a days large number of drugs this way
-Promising agents for lead optimisation
4. DESIGNING OF A PRODRUG OR AN
ACTIVE METABOLITE AS A DRUG
• Administered as the precursor of a drug and is converted
into active therapeutic agent Ex; Levodopa
• Paracetamol, an active metabolite of phenacetin
• N-acetyl procainamide, an active metabolite of
procainamide does not cause SLE
• After the synthesis or isolation of the compound =
• Purity by physico chemical and analytical studies
Then these are subjected to biological screening
LEAD COMPOUND - which have a potential of becoming
•compounds can elicit a positive response in a particular
assay, which is called a hit.
• “Lead” is a hit series for which the structure–activity
relationship is shown and activity demonstrated both in
vitro and in vivo
Leads are optimised with respect to
Pharmacodynamic properties-efficacy, potency,
Pharmacokinetic properties- metabolic stability and
Chemical optimisation-ease of chemical synthesis &
PRECLINICAL EVALUATION PHASE ( ANIMAL
Major areas are:
Pharmacodynamic studies In vivo in animals, In vitro
Absorption, distribution , elimination studies
Acute ,sub acute, chronic toxicity studies (toxicity profile)
Therapeutic index (safety & efficacy evaluation)
•Action relavent to proposed therapeutic use are
studied on animals
Ex: Antihypertensive activity – dogs,cats,rats
To find out – B.P
- ECG changes
- inotropic & chrinotropic efforts
- CO & t.p.r
•Once L.C exibits promising results – futhur studies at
•Receptor activity in vitro on cultured cells
•Further extended to molecular level to find out
receptor affinity & selectivity by performing in vitro
studies on cell membrane fractions from organs
•Graded response assy or Quantal assay - ED 50 of
New compounds subjected in several species of
Studies should establish
a) Relative bioavailability of the compound on oral or
b) Elimination half life for assessment of optimal dosage
Acute toxicity studies most commonly median lethal
i.e. LD50 is determined.
Drug is given in graded doses to at least 2 animal
species by at least 2 routes.
To minimize biological variation, animal groups should
Percentage of animals dying in each group within
specified time (24 hrs) is plotted against the dose.
Other toxic symptoms suffered also recorded.
Sub acute toxicity
To identify target organs susceptible to drug toxicity.
Laboratory studies like hematology, renal ,hepatic
function test are carried out.
Animals are maintained at max. tolerated dose for 4 wks
– 3 months & killed for HPE.
If drug intended for chronic use in humans.
2 species of animals ,1 rodent and 1 non rodent are
Drug administered for many months (6-24
months),detailed biochemical & histological
measurements are made.
To evaluate cumulative toxicity
To assist carcinogenic potential
Study may run simultaneously with clinical trial.
Test for fertility & reproductive performance
Carried out in rats, treated with new drug before & after
Effects on early & late stages of embryonic & fetal
development are studied .
Carried out in 2 animal species to assess the effects of
drug on organogenesis.
Drugs given after mating
Fetuses are carefully examined for abnormalities.
It is invivo – invitro test conducted to detects
compounds which induces genetic damage directly or
The following standard test is generally expected to be
1. A test for gene mutation in bacteria – AMES test
2. An invitro test with cytogenetic evaluation of chromosome
damage with mammalian cells
3. In vivo test for chromosomal damage using rodent
Frequency of damage cells ,Total number, types and
frequency of metaphase chromosomal aberration
• for all drugs that are expected to be clinically used
for six months as well as for drugs used frequently in
an intermittent manner in the treatment of chronic or
• Animals :
rodent 2 animal species , same dose of chronic study,
for 2 years.
• Parameters :
Autopsy and detailed Histopathology of organ and
These studies are required when the new drug is proposed
to be used by some special route in human.
Rectal tolerance test
1. Dermal toxicity:
Animals: rabbit & rat
Parameters: erythema & edema
2. Vaginal toxicity:
Animals: rabit & dog
Parameters: swelling, closure of introitus & histopathology
of vaginal wall.
3. Rectal tolerance test-
Animals: rabbit & dog
Parameters: sign of pain, blood/mucus in faeces,
histopathology of rectal mucosa.
4. Ocular toxicity-
Parameters: Slit Lamp Test & Fluroscent Dye Test
Relative margin of safety of a drug
• Maximum Tolerated Dose
• No Adverse Effect Dose
• Human Equivalent Dose
• About 2.6m animals/y used in procedures in UK (11.6m in Europe)
• Likely to increase; more research, more targets, genetic capability
• 3Rs -- 3Rs -- 3Rs
• REPLACEMENT: use non-animal tests if possible (cheaper, less
trouble, less variable but not possible for everything at this time)
• REDUCTION: get the statistics right, don’t replicate work
unnecessarily, don’t overbreed
• REFINEMENT: reduce suffering and severity of procedure, pay
attention to housing, stress, husbandry and rich environments,
proper analgesia and pre- and post- operative care
CLINICAL TRIAL PHASE(HUMAN PHASE)
• To determine safety & efficacy of a new drug in humans
• Good clinical practices (GCP) by international Conference on
Harmonization (ICH) and declaration of Helsinki.
• It provides details about – designing the trail
- collection of data
- recording of information
- statistical analysis
- documentation & reporting
• When the new compound passes the preclinical phase ,
manufacturer may file a Investigational New Drug (IND)
application to authorized drug control body
• In INDIA - drugs controller general,Govt.of india,Delhi
• It contains information about the test drug –
- source,structure,manufacturing data
- preclinical data
- dosage forms,investigational protocol
- details about investigators
- agreement from the sponsers
- certification that Informed Consent will be
obtained from volunteers
Eight basic elements of informed consent
purpose of the research
risks or discomforts
any benefits to the subject which may reasonable be expected from
Any alternative procedures or treatment that may be available to the
confidentiality of records identifying the subject will be maintained
any compensation and whether any medical treatments are
available if injury occurs
An explanation of whom to contact for answers to questions about
the research and research subjects’ rights
A statement that participation is voluntary
Ethics committee & its
• At the institutional level – independent E.C to ensure
rights & welfare of the participants
- review protocol
- safeguard the rights , safety of trail subjects
- periodical review – SOPs
• 7 members – Member secretary
- chair person (outside)
- medical & non medical persons
ROLE OF PLACEBO
• Placebo controls – on healthy volunteers – Appetite
stimulant or new vaccine
• No place – Pt suffering from a disease – effective drug
• Ethics – consent is taken
PHASES OF CLINICAL TRIALS
• 4 phases
PHASE 1 CLINICAL TRIALS :
• Begins after 30 days of filing IND.
• Drug given to 20-100 healthy volunteers
• Duration could vary from 1 month to 1 year.
• Following is studied here :
• Drug absorption/Metabolism in human.
• Effect on organs and tissues. -Side affect of different
• Thus early evidences on effectiveness are achieved
*NON BLIND OR OPEN LABEL TRAIL
Phase I studies are carried out in 2 stages
Single rising dose
Each volunteer given a single dose of drug/placebo.
Dose-escalating study design.
Initial dose and route of administration decided from existing
8 -12 volunteers .
2-4 volunteers receive placebo and 6-8 volunteers receive drug
STAGE 1–SINGLE RISING DOSE
Started after single dose administration results
Drug / placebo given repeatedly for 1 or more weeks
E. g. Antibiotics given for 5-7 days
Anticonvulsants tested for 4 weeks or more
Interval between doses is usually one half life.
Kinetic data obtained from blood and urine sample
collected after 1st
and last dose
STAGE 2 REPEATED ADMINISTRATION
PHASE 2 CLINICAL TRIALS :
• Therapeutic exploratory trial
• First time in patients
• Less than 300 patients
• Doses are usually less than the highest doses
used in phase I
*SINGLE BLIND TRAIL
1. Efficacy in patients
2. Safety issues
3. Optimum dose finding
Dose efficacy relationship
Therapeutic dose regimen
Duration of therapy
Frequency of administration
PHASE II DIVIDED INTO EARLY & LATE
• EARLY PHASE II
small number of pts – upto 200
detail therapeutic benefited & ADR
idea to establish dose range
SINGLE BLIND STUDY
• LATE PHASE II
large number of pts – 200-400
DOUBLE BLIND STUDY
third party holds the code identifying studies
PHASE 3 CLINICAL TRIALS :
• By several physicians at many centres
• Large scale – 1000 to 5000 plus
• To further establish the safety & efficacy
• Long term side effects in patients
• Duration could vary from 5 years to 6 years.
• DOUBLE BLIND CROSS OVER design
• At end of trail statistical analysis of data is
Pts groups Week 1 Week 2 Week 3
PLACEBO NEW DRUG
PLACEBO NEW DRUG STANDARD
NEW DRUG STANDARD
Double-Blind Cross Over design
• NDA Refers to New Drug Application
• Formal proposal for the FDA to approve a new drug for
• Sufficient evidences provided to FDA to establish:
• Drug is safe and effective.
• Benefits outweigh the risks.
• Proposed labeling is appropriate.
• launched to the Market
• Post marketing surveillance – field trails
• No fixed duration
• To discover relatively rare side
effects(congenital effects) or drug interactions
• From hundreds to thousands of people
• Usually takes place after drug is approved to
provide additional information on the drug’s
risks, benefits and optimal use
PERIODIC SAFETY UPDATE REPORT
• Report any new information about the new drug & its
• Every 6 months for 2 yrs & annually next 2 yrs
Where the drug
Thalidomide was developed by German pharmaceutical company
Grünenthal. It was sold from 1957 to 1961 in almost 50 countries
under at least 40 names. Thalidomide was chiefly sold and
prescribed during the late 1950s and early 1960s to pregnant
women, as an antiemetic to combat morning sickness and as an aid
to help them sleep. Before its release, inadequate tests were
performed to assess the drug's safety, with catastrophic results for
the children of women who had taken thalidomide during their
From 1956 to 1962, approximately 10,000 children were born
with severe malformities, including phocomelia, because their
mothers had taken thalidomide during pregnancy. In 1962, in
reaction to the tragedy, the United States Congress enacted laws
requiring tests for safety during pregnancy before a drug can
receive approval for sale in the U.S.
Phocomelia presents at birth very short or absent long bones
and flipper-like appearance of hands and sometimes feet.
• Pharmakon – a drug , vigilare – to be observant
• Continuous monitoring for unwanted effects & other
safety related aspects of marketed drugs
• Thalidomide, Isotretinoin ,
• Fenfluramine & Phentermine – PHTN & valvular H.D
• Troglitazone – liver toxicity
• WHO – safety monitoring of medical products -
setting a P.V centre in every country
• P.V – Detection,Assessment, Understanding and
Prevention (DAUP) of ADR
• INDIA ,National P.V centre – AIIMS, New Delhi by central
drug standard control organization (CDSCO)
• 2 zonal , 8 regional & 28 peripheral P.V centres
• Generated data – global P.V database at WHO-Uppsala
• Reporting ADR includes:
• Pharmaceutical companies are commercial enterprises
• Pharmaceutical companies will, therefore, tend to avoid
products with a small market (i.e. a disease which only
affects a small subset of the population)
• Pharmaceutical companies will also avoid products that
would be consumed by individuals of lower economic status
(i.e. a disease which only affects third world countries)
Choosing a Disease
Most research is carried out on
diseases which afflict “first world”
countries: (e.g. cancer,
depression, diabetes, flu, migraine,
Choosing a Disease
The Orphan Drug Act
• The Orphan Drug Act of 1983 was passed to encourage
pharmaceutical companies to develop drugs to treat
diseases which affect fewer than 200,000 people
• Because the cost incurred will not be recovered
• So rare diseases are left untreated – orphan diseases ,
drugs – orphan drugs
• Govt. offered tax relief and exclusive marketing rights
• > 300 drugs
Ex: factor XIII , Erythropoietin , Atravaquone ,
Antithrombin III , Miltefosine , Acetyl cysteine , Relaxin
New tools for drug screening
HIGH THROUGHPUT SCREENING
Screening large libraries of 2 lakh compounds
Rate of 1,00,000 compounds/day
In HTS chemicals are tested for their ability to modify a
Methods – screening of combinatorial chemistry
,genomics, proteomics & peptide
Drugs are tested for their activity on these molecules using
plates wherein a large number of compounds are
Screening depends on inhibition of enzymic products which
are detected using fluoroscopy or photometry
24 WELL PLATE.
96 WELL PLATE.
- COMPOUND STORAGE.
- COMBINATORIAL CHEMISTRY.
- SAMPLE COLLECTION.
384 WELL PLATES.
-DNA LIBRARY MANIPULATION.
1536 WELL PLATES.
Minimizing cost and maximizing patent life time.
Highly efficient development.
Availability Of Instruments.
HTS is a remarkable achievement in drug discovery process
to speed up preclinical discovery process. This automation in
the process is supported by the excellent software packages.
The goal of the HTS is to accelerate drug discovery by
screening large libraries at a rate that may exceed 50,000
compounds per week.
CASSETTE DOSING / N-IN-ONE DOSING
• Elegant, inexpensive , time intensive novel technique –
aim to rapidly assess P.K of large number of compounds
• Several compounds(5-10) to single animal & rapid sample
analysis by liquid chromatography or mass spectography
• Advantages – to reduce no. of animals
- increased quality of kinetics data
- reduce the amount of the drug
- time minimized
• Disadvantages – drug to drug interactions
- false positives
Micro dosing / First In Human( FIH) studies /
•Study of new drug in microdoses to derive PK information in
human before undertaking phase I studies is called PHASE 0
or lower of the expected therapeutic dose.”
A dose less than 100ug
•(The test compound has no pharmacologic effect at
• Microdosing approach in man could ‘accelerate’ drug
development without compromising clinical safety
• Microdosing helps researchers select better drug candidates
for clinical trials by providing early human PK and
• Reduced cost of development
• Reduced development time
Determine the pharmacokinetics
Determine a non -toxic dose range
Determine the safety of an chemical entity
? Predictive accuracy of microdosing
PK at microdose vs. therapeutic dose
False positive/ negatives
Compound metabolism and solubility (limited solubility
at higher doses; ? Microdose too small)
Study mainly based on PK parameters - not efficacy and
• 3rd world diseases?
• orphan drugs with few users?
• improve safety and efficacy records
• reduce animal utilisation (cell lines; early
human volunteers, )
• new diseases (AIDS; Alzheimer’s; CJ
disease;human BSE variant; obesity; cancer)
• new biology - (clone human receptors;
disease model by gene changes)
The future ?
• Pharmacological basis of Therapeutics – Goodman &
Gilman 12th Edition .
• Principles of pharmacology – HL Sharma & KK sharma 2nd
• Drug Screening methods – Gupta 2 nd edition
• Experimental Pharmacology – Bikash Medhi
• Text book of pharmacology – K. D. Tripathi.7th Edition.
• Basics & clinical pharmacology – Katzung 11th
• www.history of clinicaltrails.in | <urn:uuid:959a15e8-0421-4688-a2b2-a8f2a472faba> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.slideshare.net/sriharsharayam/new-drug-development-by-harsha | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393146.70/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00033-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.811459 | 4,610 | 3.203125 | 3 |
The results of a University of Queensland study will be used to lobby the Federal Government to protect one of the world's largest manta rays from commercial fishing.
Marine scientists have been studying reef manta rays off Lady Elliot Island near Bundaberg in southern Queensland for the past five years.
Head researcher Cathy Townsend says they have found the island is extremely important for the rays during winter because of an abundance of plankton but in other parts of the world, the rays are in danger.
"What they are being caught for is their gill rakers which are used in traditional Chinese medicines and are worth a lot of money," she said.
The latest data will be collated to try to convince the Federal Government to list the mantas under the Environmental Protection Act so they cannot be fished in Australian waters. | <urn:uuid:c78ef12e-5468-477b-b3c1-9854ce183001> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2012-11-01/study-to-help-push-for-reef-manta-rays-protection/4345754?pfm=sm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783399106.96/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154959-00095-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959652 | 166 | 2.921875 | 3 |
In a medical emergency the first minutes of response time can be crucial. Much of that time is spent on the way to hospitals, and technology is making the ride more efficient.
Although ambulances don't have all the resources of an E-R, technology is giving paramedics more tools to save lives.
In this world, every second counts. Technology at at Care Ambulance headquarters is literally saving lives.
Technicians routinely work off computer aided dispatch systems.
"The CAD system takes the place of all paper. So when a call comes in from the fire department, it drops right into our dispatchers screens" explains Bob Barry, Director of Public Relations at Care Ambulance.
GPS figures out which ambulance is closest to the scene and dispatches it.
Paramedic Brent Gable said, "All the information will drop directly into the Garmin, thus allowing the EMT to not have to get a map book to guide themselves in."
Brent explains "Once they arrive on scene, the call will drop into the tablet".
Specialized tablets create a paperless record, easily sending information from the field to waiting doctors.
"I can actually go in and document on a patient image exactly where the injury was and exactly what was bothering the patient when we transported them to the hospital" said Brent.
Reponse times are down, and patient survival rates are up.
Brent says, "All of this allows us to be more efficient and respond to the patien'ts needs much faster."
Across the nation mobile medical devices are helping too. Mechanical CPR machines free up paramedics hands, and bone injection guns deliver medication faster.
Army deveolped advanced gauzes improve clotting for less bleeding, and hand held ultrasound machines give paramedics a better look.
This technology doesn't come cheap, the equipment is expensive, and so is the training, but the impact on lives is priceless. | <urn:uuid:b06a01f3-284b-4ab2-98ac-3c8b427671a7> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://fox6now.com/2012/06/04/advances-in-ambulance-tech-2/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395992.75/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00149-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937567 | 393 | 3.03125 | 3 |
When the poet and novelist Robert Graves titled his account of the period between the two world wars The Long Weekend, he was summoning the sort of irony appropriate for a period that seems to us now a feckless pause between world crises. Certainly the “Roaring Twenties” retain a bit of luminosity, but the 1930s do not retain any sheen, in large measure due to the rampant, and eventually tragic, political polarization of the decade. The far Right and the far Left were never stronger nor more active than in this decade, and not just in their respective bastions of Germany and the Soviet Union; everywhere, all around the globe, in the midst of democracies and in the shadows of fading monarchies, these political extremes flourished and sparred. The worst scene of sparring–indeed of furious bloodletting that presaged the coming world conflict–was in Spain, where General Franco’s forces benefited from Nazi money and air support while the motley Republican army, with its International Brigade of young intellectuals from all around the world, trained under Soviet military advisors. But the Spanish Civil War elicited more than grave physical combat; it was also the source of fierce combat among men of letters in the West.
The sharpest battle of the intellectual war occurred in 1937, when Nancy Cunard and a group of other Left-wing writers in Paris (including the young British poets W. H. Auden and Stephen Spender) sent out a questionnaire to 200 writers in Europe, with this provocative content: “Are you for, or against, the legal government and people of Republican Spain? Are you for, or against, Franco and Fascism? For it is impossible any longer to take no side.” The confrontational questionnaire elicited 147 answers, the overwhelming majority of which–126–supported the Republic. Five writers explicitly responded in favor of Franco (among them the novelist Evelyn Waugh and the WWI poet Edmund Blunden). Among sixteen responses that Cunard, in her eventually published compendium, grouped under the skeptical heading “Neutral?” were those of some of the most famous writers of the age: H. G. Wells, Aldous Huxley, Ezra Pound (even at this time deeply involved in the Italian Fascist party), and the Anglo-American poet T. S. Eliot. Since the mid-1930s was not an era where attempts at neutrality would be tolerated, these writers were taken either as morally weak and equivocal or as mere closet Fascists trying to protect their reputations. In fact, several of them were either equivocal or Fascist or both. Not so with T. S. Eliot.
Pursuit of a Via Media
Eliot’s actual response, in fact, is a distillation of a much broader and more penetrating agenda, which he spent the last half of his life pursuing. He wrote this response to Cunard: “While I am naturally sympathetic, I still feel convinced that it is best that at least a few men of letters remain silent.” Rather than a deft side-stepping of the issue, what Eliot offers here is the credo that he had been developing since his conversion to Christianity and entrance into the Anglican Church in 1927: a socio-political version of the Anglican theological tenet know as via media.
Anglicanism has made its mark on ecclesiastical history, in large measure, by filling the void between the poles of Roman Catholicism and Reformation Protestantism. The notion of pursuing a via media, a “middle way,” has meant less a third alternative than a comfort with the ambiguity and resistance to the dogmatism that defines both extremes. Anglican theology, however, is not void of content by any means but is, rather, a coalescing of the “middle ground” into a place of theological mooring. Transposed to the socio-political sphere, this precludes a grouping of Eliot with the weak, compromising demeanor of many of his British fellows during the 1930s. Just as the theological via media has content, so does Eliot’s fundamental schema for culture: a “neo-medieval vision” for society. Certainly this is not a call for a historical reprise, since Eliot’s understanding of the Middle Ages was quite idealized. But he was after a model of order and faith. What this came to mean, in Western society between the two world wars, was that Eliot’s pursuit of a political via media differed radically from the other political options brought to the forefront of intellectual life. Eliot’s was a transcendent “middle way,” hearkening both backward and forward toward a medievalism that might effect healing precisely because it is not bound to a humanistic view of man and society.
Since Eliot made precious few explicit pronouncements regarding the outworking of his faith, one must find other sources for exploring the exact nature of his socio-political thought. Such a forum is readily provided by the journal The Criterion, which Eliot edited from its founding in 1922 (the first publication of The Waste Land appeared in the first number) until its closure in January of 1939. Certainly The Criterion was not founded with such a sweeping motive as thorough cultural transformation; it was intended as a cosmopolitan review of literature and intellectual discourse. But there was present, even in Eliot’s early championing of the literary function of a review, a sense of political mission: the healing of Europe’s intellectual wounds, which were perhaps more deep-seated than even the physical destruction of the First World War, through the avenue of an international concourse of minds.
This project of healing Europe by means of a quarterly review, though it produced in The Criterion an amazing and cosmopolitan expanse of literature and criticism in the mid-1920s, proved ill-fated for two reasons. First, the closing down of international communication at the end of the decade, as totalitarian regimes began to flex their muscles in the sphere of culture, destroyed the idealism that the “mind of Europe” could be salvaged through cooperation. This imposed silence alone would have dealt a great blow to Eliot’s hopes for The Criterion were it not for the confluence of a second, very different factor, which immediately gave the journal a new set of possibilities: Eliot’s spiritual awakening to Christianity, which he formalized in 1927 with his baptism and confirmation into the Church of England. Again, the guiding ethic of Anglicanism, his chosen route, is important; the pursuit of the via media in matters of theology seemed to hint at a path through the socio-political melee as well.
Perhaps the first full-blown application of the via media in this sphere began in December of 1928, when Eliot presented a lengthy review article titled, “The Literature of Fascism,” taking the role of one “interested in political ideas, but not in politics.” What followed over the next few numbers was an extended tri-partite debate between Eliot, the Communist writer A. L. Rowse, and the Fascist writer James Barnes. Eliot gave each man opportunity to review the recent literature of his own political camp, and then Eliot responded in an article titled, “Mr. Barnes and Mr. Rowse.” Digging at the root of both ideologies, Eliot found that they are both merely surrogate religions:
Fascism and communism, as ideas, seem to me to be thoroughly sterilized. A revolutionary idea is one which requires a reorganization of the mind; fascism and communism is now the natural idea for the thoughtless person. This in itself is a hint that the two doctrines are merely variations of the same doctrine: and even that they are merely variations of the present state of things…. What I find in both fascism and communism is a combination of statements with unexamined enthusiasms.
This is typical of Eliot’s treatment, in the late 1920s and early 1930s, of the theories behind these two increasingly magnetic poles. The constant implication is that the via media to which he points, with its roots in the Middle Ages and its emphasis on human dignity and simplicity, is the only socio-political option that has taken into account, by clear-sighted examination, the problematic status of human nature.
A Backward-Glancing Move
But what good was the via media in the face of the very actual and pernicious manifestations of the 1930s, of Hitler and Stalin and Franco? And are we talking about the same kind of “middle ground” upon which Neville Chamberlain and others stood at Munich during the 1938 accords, the bitterly ironic purchasing of “peace in our time”?
These hard questions are a good entry point to Eliot’s actual and, I think, profound political vision. Eliot always argued in The Criterion of his interest in political ideas rather than Realpolitik, but such an angle did not at all mean that he had nothing to say on the political issues of the day. In fact, the articles, reviews, and commentaries in The Criterion of the 1930s were overflowing with political arguments. Not incidentally, these arguments were unequivocally anti-Nazi. Indeed, as early as the April 1931 number, Eliot reprinted a speech that Thomas Mann had delivered in Berlin the previous autumn, titled, “An Appeal to Reason.” The text provides an amazing early critique of National Socialism’s emotional excess and, in Mann’s mind, return to barbaric and pagan modes: “It is distinguished in its character as a nature-cult, precisely by its absolute unrestraint, its orgiastic, radically anti-humane, frenziedly dynamic character.” But the criticisms of the Fascist excess are only part of the story–the negative part. Eliot becomes constructive with regard to his via media as well, going so far as to print a lead article in the October 1931 number, written by the economist A. J. Penty, defending the medieval economic scheme as far more efficient, and moral, than any modern alternative. In early 1932, Eliot begins turning to one of his closest friends, the Roman Catholic historian Christopher Dawson, to provide accounts of medievalism as the crowning age, rather than the dark age, for the Western tradition. In his own “Commentary” for the April 1932 number of The Criterion, Eliot begins to define the parameters that such a backward-glancing move would create for his own politics, when he muses that:
The mystical belief in herd-feeling, which has been elevated to a psuedo-science under such names as ‘social psychology,’ is one of the most disquieting superstitions of the day…. It is apparent in extreme Nationalism, as well as in Communism; and indeed, the two do not seem very far apart…. It is a symptom of weakness, but the weakness is only in part pathological; for the rest it is just the essential feebleness and impotence of the individual man which Christianity has always recognized.
Despite this nascent articulation, it is only in the American Lecture Tour of 1932—33 that Eliot comes into full recognition of the route that will comprise the “middle way.” In the Turnbull Lectures at Johns Hopkins in early 1933, Eliot gives an account of poets who have been truly “metaphysical,” in the sense of presenting an account of the world that unifies poetic and philosophic forces. Dante in the thirteenth century, Donne in the seventeenth, and Jules Laforgue in the nineteenth all arose in ages crying out for synthesis, and each afforded as much as he could, though Dante’s was most complete, Donne’s less so, and Laforgue’s mainly inchoate. But the lectures ultimately beg the question, Who will be the next “metaphysical” poet to emerge? The answer, not so far below the surface, is Eliot himself. His will be the proclamation of a unity of spiritual and socio-political forces toward one end: the “good life,” in the medieval sense of simplicity, unanimity of soul and spirit, and oneness of intellectual purpose. The glue that holds everything together is Christianity, and Eliot himself will blaze the “middle path” through his fusion of the intellectual and the creative in his work.
From mid-1933 until the closing of The Criterion with the January 1939 number, Eliot pursued a spiritual via media, a repeated call for a socio-political transformation to the tenets, if not the modes, of medievalism. This was performed in the spiritual vacuum effected by the absolute polarization, by the time of the Spanish Civil War, between Right and Left. Furthermore, though rooted in transcendent principles and a vision of this life by reference to the next, Eliot’s vision was frequently and decidedly brought to bear on the political realities of the day. The situation was not “either/or,” but “both/and.” He could not be the prophet without seeing the world around him.
A Mosaic of Faith and Culture
Let me turn back to 1937, an obscure year of polarity and enmity, as the place to say a final word regarding the pursuit of the medieval way, the via media. What is it that Eliot was proffering in his response to Cunard’s questionnaire: “While I am naturally sympathetic, I still feel convinced that it is best that at least a few men of letters remain silent”? I believe he was giving a glimpse of why his “middle way,” his spiritual order, was so needed. The outcry against him, which in many permutations endures to this day, indicates why it has never come about. It is a scandalon, a stumbling block in this world system. Those who would perpetuate a transcendent via media today invariably find that the stumbling block is very much in place.
With that in mind, what can we learn for our present historical moment from the strange model that T. S. Eliot affords? There are many lessons, but I think three are paramount. First, Eliot’s editorial work of nearly two decades with The Criterion shows us that the Christian thinker, even the Christian imaginative artist, can and should play a part in the analysis and guidance of culture at large. Second, Eliot’s dogged and lucid adherence to his transcendent via media, in the midst of political fray and derangement, shows us that we need not commit ourselves to Faustian bargains in the political sphere but, rather, that we should act on convictions and principles when we suggest remedies for socio-political woes. The test of pragmatism–often a faulty gauge of necessity and even of desirability–need not reign supreme. A final lesson to be gained from Eliot’s via media, aiming as it does firmly backward toward a medievalism that joined faith and culture in one elaborate mosaic, is that new solutions and innovations are not always the best cure for what ails us culturally. In fact, Eliot would argue that the simplest era of the last few millennia, the Middle Ages, serves a paradigm for the simplest of solutions: to let faith in Christ exude out of the next life back into this one, at every level of culture and in every way imaginable. Perhaps, as Eliot says in the visionary passage at the end of “Little Gidding,” the final of the Four Quartets,
We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time. | <urn:uuid:9970eef6-3274-4b62-ab38-355f627ec4fc> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.acton.org/pub/religion-liberty/volume-9-number-5/t-s-eliots-political-middle-way | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398873.39/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00008-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965317 | 3,252 | 2.515625 | 3 |
Home Healing & Spirituality
Om mani padme hum
By Nancy Brands Ward, NewsReview.com, July 1, 2010
New UC Davis study finds that practicing meditation can indeed improve perception
Berkeley, CA (USA) -- Repeat the ancient mantra—Om mani padme hum (“Hail the jewel in the lotus”), om mani padme hum—again and again until the chaos of your thoughts quiets, the thump of your heart becomes clearly evident and your attention turns to the easy movement of breath through your nostrils … in and out … in and out. You’re no longer lost in thought. You’re not spaced out. You’re paying attention to what’s going on in the present moment. You’re meditating.
<< Clifford Saron, a scientist at the UC Davis Center for Mind and Brain, leads a team of 25 prominent neuroscientists and psychologists working on the Shamatha Project, a complex study of meditation.
PHOTO BY MIKE IREDALE
Buddhists have been practicing meditations like this one and hundreds of variations for more than 2,500 years. It’s only in recent years, though, that the contemplative practice has moved into the mainstream. In 2007, more than 9 percent of Americans were meditating according to the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine. The fascination with meditation continues perhaps driven by a desire to gain health benefits, find spiritual comfort or to say “no” to high-velocity lives that leave us disconnected from ourselves and others.
Over the past 50 years, scientists have also been asking questions about the human mind and attempting to figure out the benefits of training it through meditation. Type “meditation” into the PubMed index, and it returns nearly 2,000 published research articles on the subject. Much of the early work is today considered too deeply flawed to be meaningful. But recent work provides evidence that meditation can offer relief for conditions such as anxiety, stress, depression, pain and insomnia. Functional MRIs reveal changes resulting from prolonged meditation in the brains of Buddhist monks.
Now, led by UC Davis researchers, the longest and most complex study of meditation ever undertaken is beginning to publish its first results after more than two years spent analyzing mountains of data.
The Shamatha Project sought to discover whether anyone can achieve the remarkable calm, focus and joyfulness that monks and yogis display often in the face of great hardship and suffering. It’s a question that hounded Clifford Saron, associate research scientist at the UC Davis Center for Mind and Brain and leader of a team of 25 prominent neuroscientists and psychologists working on Shamatha, since meeting some of these extraordinary people through a study he organized in the 1990s.
Just how long or often someone would have to engage in meditative practice to gain these characteristics remains unanswered, although 60 people enrolled in two groups in the project appear to have made strides toward achieving enhanced states of calm, focus and joyfulness after three months of intensive meditation training at the Shambhala Mountain Center in Colorado. Progress was assessed using a variety of state-of-the-art measures, including electrophysiological testing using EEG/ERP and other standard psychological assessment tests.
The first official findings released from the Shamatha Project uphold a claim by meditators that the practice improves perception. An article published last month online in Psychological Science reports that study participants became better at making fine visual distinctions and sustaining attention during a 30-minute test.
Shamatha Project scientists used a variety of state-of-the-art measuring techniques, including electrophysiological testing, where subjects wear a “wired” cap while they meditate (above), to discover how meditation impacts lives.
PHOTO BY MIKE IREDALE >>
Lead author Katherine MacLean, who also works at the UC Davis Center and whose work on the project formed the basis of her doctoral dissertation, derived her tests from those used to assess vigilance in radar operators. It’s a lot more complicated than this, but simply put: People watched lines appear on a screen and clicked a mouse each time they spotted one that was shorter than the others. By midway through the study, those who meditate had become better at identifying a smaller difference between long and short lines and at sustaining attention.
Adults are usually lousy at paying vigilant attention, especially when the task is monotonous or boring. Most begin making mistakes on this test within 10 minutes. But as it became easier for meditators to pick out the shorter lines, they were able to sustain their attention for longer periods.
“To show that in just a month and a half of intensive mental training, that is a pretty remarkable feat,” MacLean said. “It’s encouraging to see that there can be changes well into adulthood.”
What does all this have to do with whether or not ordinary meditators can achieve the kind of joyful compassion that Saron witnessed in yogis and monks who’d spent a lifetime in meditative training?
Most of us have trouble tapping into what we’re thinking and feeling in the moment, or a few minutes later, or even hours or days later. That’s understandable since more than 99 percent of our experience is not in our conscious awareness. But what if through meditation we were able to rest between our thoughts and feelings long enough to identify them as they occur? We then might be able to gain control of our thoughts, learn to regulate our emotions, and improve our ability to act with kindness and compassion.
This is the potential some believe mediation has for transforming our lives. It’s what the Shamatha Project set out to examine: How does meditation practice affect people’s lives in the world?
Although the Shamatha Project was first conceived by Buddhist scholar B. Alan Wallace of the Santa Barbara Institute for Consciousness Studies years ago, it didn’t officially begin until early 2007. That’s when two groups of 30 people ages 21 to 70 with varied experience with meditation—one served as a control group and later also took the training—were recruited. During the three-month experiment, they spent on average five hours a day practicing an array of meditation techniques taught by Wallace, including a focus on breath.
Did intensive practice help participants regulate their emotions or increase compassion? The scientists assessed emotional responses by showing the meditators graphic scenes of human suffering and recording the minute changes in facial expressions that reveal emotions. They will compare these observations with how the retreatants said they felt when viewing the images to evaluate awareness of emotions.
To get at emotion regulation and compassion from another angle, researchers showed documentary footage of soldiers bragging about getting psyched up to shoot Iraqis. These were followed by images of suffering—including children—and soldiers describing the difficulty of the war. Preliminary findings indicate that those who had been practicing intensive meditation were less likely than controls to show emotions that may be interpreted as distancing themselves from others.
In addition to the improvements in what Buddhists call “attentional vividness,” those receiving the intensive training overall experienced greater well-being and less anxiety than those who did not undergo the training. Reports that tie results together will be forthcoming.
Saron, who doesn’t maintain a regular meditation practice today but has participated in many retreats over the past 35 years, described observing the openness, warmth and joy among participants toward the end of the study as one of the high points of his life. He concluded: “I didn’t need any scientific evidence for the utility of seriously investigating one’s mind. But that’s me.”
For more information on the Shamatha Project, go to the UC Davis Center for Mind and Brain website at http://mindbrain.ucdavis.edu, or to www.shambhalamountain.org/shamatha. | <urn:uuid:8f7f1d28-91ab-454d-8192-e2a043a92df6> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.buddhistchannel.tv/index.php?id=7,9316,0,0,1,0 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397695.90/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00005-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954244 | 1,643 | 2.5625 | 3 |
In an emergency room at Beerwah, Queensland, the phone rings almost 100 times a day.
The emergency room is one at the Australian Wildlife Hospital, providing veterinary care for sick and injured wildlife — admitting anywhere in the region of 30 different species on a daily basis — with injuries resulting from accidents, acts of deliberate cruelty, or conflict.
Arethusa came into the emergency room suffering from fractured ribs and internal abdominal bleeding. Frodo came in with a gunshot wound, sustaining a fractured skull and significant damage to the stomach and intestines. Travis and his mother were run over by a hit and run vehicle.
These four were koalas, but the hospital deals in animals common to the Australian landscape — from Brushtail Possums to Bearded Dragons.
The koalas themselves, cute cuddly creatures, with a sleepy demeanour, renowned as a representation of Australia have recently been in the news for being endangered and for a curious case of koala chlamydia. Koalas are in serious decline, suffering from many of the effects the veterinarians at the Australian Wildlife Hospital see on a daily basis — as well as habitat destruction, domestic dog attacks, bushfires and disease. The Australian Koala Foundation estimates that there are less than 80,000 koalas left in the wild, possibly as few as 43,000.
Over the past few years researchers have been distilling and putting together a case to add another reason for koala decline to the list. Roughly 600 koalas per year are seen to at the hospital, and most present with other primary conditions. A number of koalas, however, have presented at the hospital with serious illness associated with regenerative anaemia and now trypanosome infections.
To say little is known about systemic and blood parasites of native wildlife in Australia would be an understatement. Researchers are only just beginning to understand the diversity of trypanosomes in Australian marsupials. Much is still to be learnt. Their evolutionary biology, transmission, and resulting potential impact on the wildlife. The possibility that indigenous wildlife trypanosomes can act as a reservoir for human pathogenic infections is all to be seen.
What we do know is that, in Australia, the introduction of trypanosomes are as a direct result of human activities. Being almost certainly responsible for introducing trypanosomes from one wildlife population to another. The vector — what transmits the parasite from animal to animal — of Australian trypanosomes is not known. Although, researchers have the flea in mind as the usual suspect.
To date around 10 trypanosome species and genotypes have been identified in marsupials; from the northern brown bandicoot, the platypus, the woylie, the chuditch, the eastern grey kangaroo, the common wombat, and the swamp wallaby.
The koalas that came into that emergency room over a two year period were systematically studied; collecting blood samples during routine veterinary examinations, detailing geographical origin, as well as sex, age and reason for admission. The standard patient history.
One such patient led to the description (morphologically, pathologically, and genetically) of a trypanosome in the blood. A new species, named Trypanosoma irwini… named in honour of the late great Australian Steve Irwin. A fitting tribute to an original patron of the Australian Wildlife Hospital.
Originally appearing at Australian Science Mag
Hamilton, P., & Stevens, J. (2011). Resolving relationships between Australian trypanosomes using DNA barcoding data Trends in Parasitology, 27 (3) DOI: 10.1016/j.pt.2010.11.009
McINNES, L., GILLETT, A., RYAN, U., AUSTEN, J., CAMPBELL, R., HANGER, J., & REID, S. (2009). Trypanosoma irwini n. sp (Sarcomastigophora: Trypanosomatidae) from the koala (Phascolarctos cinereus) Parasitology, 136 (08) DOI: 10.1017/S0031182009006313
Thompson, R., Lymbery, A., & Smith, A. (2010). Parasites, emerging disease and wildlife conservation International Journal for Parasitology, 40 (10), 1163-1170 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpara.2010.04.009 | <urn:uuid:ba36095d-5a09-4612-8e55-11b884db23d8> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | https://scienceleftuntitled.wordpress.com/tag/koala/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783392099.27/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154952-00107-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.931301 | 934 | 3.203125 | 3 |
Frolic Shipwreck Park Project
The Frolic, built in 1845 by the Gardener brothers of Baltimore, Maryland, was a sailing Clipper Brig used for trans Pacific voyages between Asia and San Francisco. The vessel wrecked en route in 1850 near Mendicino, California.
Recently the Frolic was designated as California's newest underwater shipwreck park and is currently under investigation by Indiana University in collaboration with California Department of Parks and Recreation.
Last updated: November 28, 2006
Questions or Comments: Underwater Science
Copyright 2006, The Trustees of Indiana University | <urn:uuid:5b491f3f-de9b-4198-bccc-2ed3ae4ce2bf> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.indiana.edu/~iuscuba/frolic/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783402516.86/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155002-00037-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.913651 | 117 | 2.640625 | 3 |
One of the lessons learned from the MDGs is that the poverty, hunger, and malnutrition goals within MDG1 were poorly linked, and results poorly correlated. For example, of the 21 countries that have already achieved the hunger goal, only 6 have achieved the underweight goal; including Mali, which has made no progress on underweight (World Bank Guidance Note on Multisectoral Approaches to Nutrition, forthcoming 2013). Some indicator of access to diverse foods (such as dietary diversity) is one way that the goals of hunger and improved nutrition can be integrated.
Main opportunity: that there is increasingly interest within the agriculture sector in how to improve nutrition impact. In my opinion, reframing the concept of food security back to its roots -- nutritious foods for a healthy and active life -- is the single most important thing we can do, from an advocacy perspective. Agriculture projects often aim for improved food security, and if the common understanding is that food security means diverse, nutritious foods – so that becomes a measured goal of agriculture investments – this would be a giant step toward nutrition outcomes from agriculture. This general view was also supported within the FSN Forum Discussion 83, by contributions from Rachel Nugent and others.
The main challenge is how to increase incentives and accountability within the agriculture sector to reduce hunger AND malnutrition, while protecting natural resources. Indicators that measure access to diverse foods, and indicators of sustainability of production and distribution, would be an important part of accountability.
Consensus on how agriculture can work for nutrition would be very helpful to provide a basic idea of how to get action started in national agriculture plans and projects. FAO has recently supported a Synthesis of Guiding Principles on Agriculture Programming for Nutrition published by a dozen institutions:www.fao.org/fileadmin/user_upload/wa_workshop/docs/Synthesis_of_Ag-Nutr_Guidance_FAO_IssuePaper_Draft.pdf
This report provides several guiding principles, each one supported by a large majority of the institutions, to address hunger, food insecurity and nutrition in an integrated way. A brief is attached.
The objectives should be time bound: this creates the opportunity to determine whether countries are on track or not, which has been politically powerful.
Specific feedback on each objective:
a. 100% access to adequate food all year round: Access to adequate food, of course, needs to be understood as diverse, nutritious foods for a healthy and active life; not just calories.
b. Zero stunted children less than 2 years old: Given our definition of stunting as -2 SD below the mean, zero stunted children is not possible, since in a healthy population, 2.5% of children will fall below that cutoff. Politically speaking, 0% sounds powerful, so the wording could be changed to 0% excess stunting.
c. All food systems are sustainable: Sustainability needs to be defined simply and clearly with indicators. Otherwise governments cannot be held accountable to it. Lack of accountability to indicators of sustainability is the bane of decades-long calls for sustainability. Only what gets measured gets managed. A research agenda put forth by Bioversity International calls for clear metrics on sustainable diets and food systems, certainly an agenda well worth pursuing if we are serious about this goal, as we must be. (https://www.securenutritionplatform.org/Pages/DisplayResources.aspx?RID=138)
d. 100% increase in smallholder productivity and income: Extremely important that we define productivity and income carefully. If productivity is taken to mean tonnes/ha of staple grains, that would be a missed opportunity, not what is most important as a global target to reducing hunger. Micronutrient deficiencies (hidden hunger) persist, and we have much more obesity now than in 1990. Increasing just staple grains and calories will not solve these problems. Productivity increases for non-staple crops (legumes, vegetables, fruits) are essential to balance local and global diets. Income also must be carefully defined. Women’s income is particularly important for hunger and malnutrition reductions. If we focus only on the household level, we may miss the most important route income can take: through the hands of women.
e. Zero loss or waste of food: Reducing food waste is a no-brainer for increasing food availability, and I very much support its inclusion in this list of targets. Food waste is also tied to water waste, which is also critical to human well-being (see SIWI report link below). Again, clear indicators need to be identified for different stages: production, transport, marketing, and consumption. Addressing aflatoxins in soils and storage is an important component of reducing food waste, since contaminated grain should not be consumed.
Cette consultation thématique est conduite par la FAO et le PAM en partenariat avec « The World We Want »
La consultation est facilitée par le Forum Global sur la Sécurité Alimentaire et la Nutrition (Forum FSN) | <urn:uuid:313f102e-600f-4067-8b68-3c2d90f151a7> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.fao.org/fsnforum/post2015/fr/node/2580 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395548.53/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00110-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.921011 | 1,037 | 3.296875 | 3 |
the 1994/95 school year my friend-colleague and I asked ourselves:
"How can we get the children to play in a creative and constructive
way with a machine: the computer? How can we present this "object"
to children who don't know it? Would this type of experience
So we began to read and study and search for news and information.
We were more and more convinced that there shouldn't be just
a computer in the classroom - it had to be accompanied by something
simple, spontaneous, creative and easily accessible.
And so this was our first idea for a project, with the title,
patchwork to machine", which summed up our approach towards
the children. The approach we planned involved experiences in
class which emphasized perception, representation and symbol.
These experiences could be obtained both through leftover materials
(such as pieces of cloth and cardboard) and through structured
materials (for example logic blocks and rulers), eventually
bringing them together into a first acquaintance with the computer.
In the early years we only had an old IBM model available, which
the children called Luca Corrente. Luca Corrente, however, didn't
"know" how to do much. With him the children were only able
to play a little DOS game, using the arrow keys, or type out
Then the father of a little girl in our class lent us his PC
(christened "Luca Corrente's brother" by the children). This model
also "knew", as the children put it, how to draw thanks to Paint
software, with lots of tools (paint tins, scissors, rubber,
brush...) and colours with varied shades.
So the children learned to use the mouse for drawing, as well
as the usual brushes, paints, coloured pencils, chalks and wax
crayons. Lots and lots of stories grew out of the drawings.
The following year, stimulated by the enthusiasm of the children
and their parents which resulted from this initial experience,
we tried to take the analysis of a work of art as our starting
point. For this we chose a Kandinsky painting: "Points in the arch".
Patrizia and I continued very cautiously, step by step, to propose
new ideas and experiences. Thus, moving on from looking at the
whole image, the children chose various fragments of the work
to copy, using both felt-tip pens and the paint program. Each
fragment led to the invention of a story. As time, and the school
years, passed we all grew more confident in handling the "machine",
which offered us enormous opportunities for expression and development.
In the meanwhile the computer in use was no longer an object
on loan. We now had two of them in class, complete with scanner
and printer (purchased thanks to a contribution from the Multilab
National Experimental Pilot Project).
Using an educational CD, "The castle
of the imagination", we continued to combine experiences
with the "machine" and work in class. Things that were first
tried out using the CD were then rediscovered through play experience
using coloured patches, cardboard, plastic bags and drawings
on the floor. But the computer also made us feel nearer to children
and teachers in other schools. And so there emerged the first
ideas for an exchange with a nursery school in Udine through
journey of a postcard.
From the computer that provided us with off-line games we could
now, thanks to the Internet, make use of another way of communicating.
The idea was, therefore, to create a chain story by joining
up with other schools in different cities: Udine, Cosenza, Milan,
E-mail messages and postcards were read out in class,
followed by exchanges of ideas. This led on to drawing parts
of the invented story on the computer to send to other schools.
Children and colleagues from the primary school also began to
express a wish to work together with us. And this was how the
project "The child between science and creativity" began, designed
to involve pupils right up to the academy of fine art.
Combining experiences of both a scientific and an artistic nature
through the four elements of life provided us with an ever-greater
stimulus to go on and formulate new ideas. It was therefore
possible to create transversal programmes cutting across schools
and communicating through "Reality, fantasy and virtuality".
In each case we met and discussed communication media and levels. | <urn:uuid:8cf715dd-533a-4617-a654-e705f87047f3> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.descrittiva.it/calip/aw_en/index.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783399117.38/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154959-00008-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947743 | 955 | 2.796875 | 3 |
(Brain Tumor; Glioma)
Astrocytoma is type of cancerous brain tumor. This type of tumor begins from small, star-shaped cells in the brain called astrocytes. Astrocytes are one of several types of supporting cells in the brain. These types of cells are called glial cells. An astrocytoma is a type of the larger group of brain tumors called gliomas.
Astrocytoma may occur anywhere in the brain, but particularly the cerebrum in adults and the optic nerves in children.
The exact cause is unknown. Some possible causes of brain tumors include:
- Certain occupations
- Environmental factors
The exact risk factors for astrocytomas have not been identified. Some studies suggest the following risk factors may increase your chance of this tumor:
- Genetic disorders, including neurofibromatosis and tuberous sclerosis
Occupational exposure to:
- Oil refining
- Rubber manufacturing
The first symptoms of any brain tumor can be caused as the tumor grows. The growth can increase pressure in the brain. Symptoms may include:
- Visual changes
- Personality changes
- Problems with memory, thinking, and concentration
- Problems with walking
Symptoms will vary depending on the location of the tumor. For example:
- Frontal lobe—Gradual changes in mood and personality, loss of muscle function on one side of the body
- Temporal lobe—Problems with coordination, speech, and memory
- Parietal lobe—Problems with sensation, writing, or fine motor skills
- Cerebellum—Problems with coordination and balance
- Occipital lobe—Problems with vision, visual hallucinations
You will be asked about your symptoms and medical history. A physical exam will be done.
Your doctor may need to look at pictures of your brain. This can be done through:
You may also have biopsy/resection to remove a sample of brain tissue to test it for cancer cells.
A specialist will determine the grade of the tumor. Astrocytomas are graded from I to IV. These grades indicate the outlook and rate of tumor growth.
- Grades I and II—These low-grade astrocytomas grow slowly. They generally stay in an area of the brain. They are more commonly found in younger patients. Grade II astrocytomas can spread.
- Grades III and IV—These high-grade tumors grow rapidly. They can spread throughout the brain and spinal cord. Aggressive treatment is needed. This is the most common type found in adults. Grade III tumors are called anaplastic astrocytoma. Grade IV tumors are called glioblastoma multiforme or GBM.
Treatment is based on the location, size, and grade of the tumor. Treatment may include:
Surgery involves the removal of as much of the tumor as possible. High grade tumors are treated with surgery. Surgery is followed by radiation or chemotherapy to help prevent further spreading.
Radiation therapy involves the use of radiation to kill cancer cells or shrink the tumor. Radiation may be:
- External radiation therapy—Radiation aimed at the tumor from a source outside the body
- Internal radiation therapy, which is also called brachytherapy—Radioactive materials placed into the body near the cancer cells
Chemotherapy is the use of drugs to kill cancer cells. It may be given in many forms, including pill, injection, and a tube called a catheter. The drugs enter the bloodstream. They travel through the body destroying mostly cancer cells. Some healthy cells are also destroyed.
There are no prevention guidelines since the exact cause of astrocytoma is not known.
American Brain Tumor Association
American Cancer Society
Brain Tumor Foundation of Canada
Canadian Cancer Society
Astrocytoma. American Brain Tumor Association website. Available at: http://www.abta.org/brain-tumor-information/types-of-tumors/astrocytoma.html. Accessed June 11, 2015.
General information about adult brain tumors. National Cancer Institute website. Available at: http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/pdq/treatment/adultbrain/HealthProfessional. Updated June 5, 2015. Accessed June 11, 2015.
Last reviewed June 2015 by Mohei Abouzied, MD
Please be aware that this information is provided to supplement the care provided by your physician. It is neither intended nor implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice. CALL YOUR HEALTHCARE PROVIDER IMMEDIATELY IF YOU THINK YOU MAY HAVE A MEDICAL EMERGENCY. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider prior to starting any new treatment or with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. | <urn:uuid:6b735095-f44c-43d6-850a-4d24518ac208> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | https://www.mountsinai.org/patient-care/health-library/diseases-and-conditions/astrocytoma | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398516.82/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00149-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.921273 | 1,007 | 3.75 | 4 |
Microbe Multiplication Magic
Download this Activity
Activity Component Lesson Plan [PDF - 164 KB]
In this activity, students will learn how rapidly Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria reproduce. They will also see how environmental conditions such as temperature can affect the reproduction rate of E. coli. They will figure out how they might disrupt the environment that allows E. coli to reproduce, thus reducing the spread of infection.
- Calculate and graph the growth of bacteria under different environmental conditions
- Explain the role of the environment in the spread of disease
This activity fulfills science and health education standards [PDF - 164 KB].
BAM! Body and Mind Resources:
- The Immune Platoon — Profiles the body's own super hero team dedicated to protecting it from infectious and other diseases that threaten good health.
- Page last reviewed: May 9, 2015
- Page last updated: May 9, 2015
- Content source: | <urn:uuid:bc6d9ea6-8f14-4e7e-88a5-7936770b4914> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.cdc.gov/bam/teachers/epi-microbe-magic.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397428.37/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00199-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.867056 | 198 | 3.953125 | 4 |
Women in their mid-to-late 60s who break a hip are five times more likely to die within a year compared to women of the same age who didn’t break a hip.
This death rate, according to a study published in the latest Archives of Internal Medicine, is surprisingly higher than those seen among women in their 70s and 80s who broke a hip.
“You’d think a 65-to-69 year-old would be more able to bounce back from a hip fracture,” says Erin LeBlanc, a study author and investigator at the Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research, which led the study. But women in their 60s have a lower risk of dying from other causes than older women, so a hip fracture is more likely to translate into a higher mortality risk.
It has long been known that hip fractures are associated with an increased mortality rate in older women, but LeBlanc says it hasn’t been clear whether it’s from the hip fracture itself or an underlying health condition. So she and a team of researchers designed a study involving about 5,500 women to look more closely at the impact of hip fractures among women in certain age groups. The study used participants in a larger, federally-funded Study of Osteoporotic Fractures, which began in 1986 and enrolled 9,700 women age 65 and older to see how changes in bone density affects the risk of fractures as women age.
During a 20-year period there were 1,116 hip fractures. Researchers categorized the women with fractures by age and then matched them with 4,464 women of the same age who didn’t break a hip to serve as controls. The study also controlled for other underlying health conditions.
The study found that a hip fracture in women ages 70-79 doubled the risk of dying within a year. For women age 80 and older death rates were similar among those who broke a hip compared to those who didn’t. But for women 80 and older who were considered to be in good health, a hip fracture nearly triples the risk of dying within a year compared other healthy women in the same age group.
LeBlanc says the findings suggest the hip fracture increases the risk of dying. She says women can take steps to reduce the risk of hip fractures by getting screened for osteoporosis, making sure they get enough vitamin D and calcium and discussing with their doctors whether they should start a medicine designed to treat osteoporosis. While there have been some safety concerns with the most common type of osteoporosis medicines, bisphosphonates, the drugs have been shown to reduce the risk of hip and other fractures seen with osteoporosis.
LeBlanc said preventing falls is also important. Removing tripping hazards like small area rugs and improving lighting in the home can help, along with strength and balancing exercises. | <urn:uuid:dbebe9e8-0e8a-4dd1-bbe0-91baac057397> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://blogs.wsj.com/health/2011/09/27/hip-fractures-tied-to-death-in-60-something-women/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783408840.13/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155008-00001-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966978 | 597 | 2.84375 | 3 |
The market analysis is a section in a business plan that presents information about the commercial market in which your business operates, the purchasing habits of customers in that market, and information about competitors. Based on market research and intended to attract investors, a strong analysis will show why your business is a strong addition to a given market and how it will earn money. These steps will guide you through the process of how to write a market analysis and give some tips for making a strong impression on investors.
1Describe your market in general terms that are relevant to your business.
- In addition to geographic and demographic information, include details about industry in the area, purchasing trends, and spending power.
2Describe which area of the local economy your business contributes.
3Identify what type of customer you are targeting and their trends and include figures and predictions for future growth.
4Describe the market research you have done, covering past developments in your given segment and typical revenues and profits.
5Describe customer behavior and preferences, as well as areas for improvement in the segment of the economy that includes your business.
- Include information on how your business will improve on services or goods offered by competitors.
6Indicate how the structure of your business responds to needs discovered during market research.
- Most importantly, distinguish your business from the competition and show, with statistical backing, how your business will grow.
7Identify competitors and explain their strengths and weaknesses.
8Provide an analysis of the future growth of the market, including any predicted changes in customer behavior or spending.
9Describe your business' role in the market and its advantage over competitors.
10Describe your business' place in the future of the market.
11Describe any weaknesses in your business model and how these will be addressed.
12End your analysis by providing another brief overview of market trends and competition, and how your business will address market needs and compare favorably to competitors.
- The form of your market analysis will vary depending on the type of business plan you are writing. For a formal plan that will be presented to investors, write at least one paragraph for each of the steps above, including charts, graphs and other pertinent information that shows the amount of market research you have done.
- Your market research should be directed primarily at identifying types and trends of customers in your market. When writing a market analysis, you want to prove that there is a demand for your product and that you have the means to meet that demand; providing detailed information about buying trends--backed up with statistics--will go most of the way to showing investors that you can succeed in your market.
- Do not attempt to fudge numbers or pass over troubling data. Investors will notice these oversights, and it is better to admit troubling information from your market research--and, especially, how you plan to address these problems--than to leave the impression that you have not done enough analysis.
Things You'll Need
- Business plan
- Market research
Categories: Official Writing and Complaints
In other languages:
Español: escribir un análisis de mercado, Italiano: Scrivere un'Analisi di Mercato, Português: Escrever uma Análise de Mercado, Русский: подготовить анализ рынка, Deutsch: Eine Marktanalyse schreiben, Français: présenter une analyse de marché
Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 167,237 times. | <urn:uuid:67e58788-62c8-4a19-a79c-a476a33a5f66> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.wikihow.com/Write-a-Market-Analysis | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397562.76/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00039-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.923522 | 761 | 2.734375 | 3 |
|Treating Measles in Children (Document & Slides) (WHO - OMS, 1997, 60 p.)|
|Part 6. PREVENTION|
DO NOT MISS OPPORTUNITIES
Use every available opportunity to ensure that children are immunized
All opportunities for immunization should be taken. For instance, children of immunizable age attending outpatient clinics or admitted to hospital for other conditions should be immunized with all appropriate antigens (including measles vaccine) immediately if there is no documentation of immunization on the immunization card or road-to-health card. The immunization status of all children discharged from hospital should be checked and appropriate vaccines administered. Do not forget to ask whether the mother needs a dose of tetanus toxoid. | <urn:uuid:20f278ed-da8d-4f04-a685-2bf4c8732fc5> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.nzdl.org/gsdlmod?e=d-00000-00---off-0who--00-0----0-10-0---0---0direct-10---4-------0-1l--11-en-50---20-about---00-0-1-00-0--4----0-0-11-10-0utfZz-8-00&a=d&c=who&cl=CL1.126&d=HASH379b75a2b24a47170ec1d4.9.2 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393997.50/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00137-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.82247 | 156 | 2.765625 | 3 |
Technology Used in Digital Compact Cameras
Canon's digital compact cameras are highly regarded for their high image quality, high performance, convenience and ease of use. The body incorporates the latest technology such as optical technology that the company has developed as a camera manufacturer.
An Ultra-Small Lens Unit with a Lens-Shift Type Image Stabilizer*1
Contributing to a Smaller Camera Body and Higher Image Quality
A variety of technologies are used for image stabilization in digital cameras. Since the 1980s, Canon has been improving the performance of its lens-shift type image stabilizer (IS), also incorporated into compact digital cameras. The information detected by a gyro sensor within the camera is used to analyze the amount of movement and shift the corrective optical lens within the lens unit to negate this movement.
Canon's compact digital cameras employ lens units incorporating UA lens*2 elements that provide excellent expression while ensuring a compact camera body, and Canon's unique image stabilization technology is used in these ultra-small precision units. The proprietary ceramic ball support system is employed to drive the corrective optical lens element. This system features low susceptibility to the effects of magnetism, less thermal deformation than metal, and low friction. This works in concert with a high-precision control circuit to provide smooth, precise movement and outstanding responsiveness.
Ceramic Ball Support System for Shifting Lens
- *1 Lens-shift type Image Stabilizer
Image sensor shift type and electric image processing type stabilization are other image stabilization methods. A lens-shift type image stabilizer has the advantage of providing a wider adjustment scope with almost no deterioration in image quality.
- *2 UA lens (Ultra-high refractive index Aspherical lens)
A glass-molded (GMo) aspherical lens with an ultrahigh refractive index. In addition to this aspherical lens, an impeccably sharp image befitting of a Canon lens is produced through the optimal combination of various lenses with different optical characteristics.
Canon has further evolved its image stabilization technology to develop "Intelligent IS," which automatically selects the optimal image stabilization settings according to the shooting conditions. The impact of camera shake on an image differs depending on factors such as whether a still image or movie is being shot, the zoom position and the shooting distance. Intelligent IS is technology for controlling optimal image stabilization by enabling the camera to determine the shooting conditions using Scene Detection technology each time a shot is taken. For example, when the distance to the subject is determined to be close in normal shooting of a still image, Hybrid IS*3 mode for correcting the shift blurring that is conspicuous in macro shots is started. Furthermore, if it is determined that an immobile subject is the target when shooting movie with a telephoto lens, Powered Image Stabilization mode for correcting slow camera shake is started.
In this way, Intelligent IS automatically selects optimal image stabilization settings from seven different modes, enabling the camera to make the most effective image stabilization.
- *3 Hybrid IS
Camera shake can result in angular blur, caused by the camera moving at an angle in relation to the subject, or shift blur, caused by the camera moving up, down left or right in a plane parallel to the subject. The Hybrid IS developed by Canon appropriately corrects both of these types of camera shake, and effectively performs image stabilization at close distances in addition to ordinary image stabilization.
The Brain of Canon's Ever-Evolving Digital Cameras
Light entering a digital camera through its lens is converted into electric signals by a CCD/CMOS image sensor. From these signals the digital image processor*4 generates image data with natural color reproduction, rich gradation, and low noise. DIGIC, Canon's digital camera image processor, is a high performance LSI chip that uses unique architecture to make constant high-speed processing possible.
Using algorithms developed by Canon, DIGIC makes possible the high-speed processing of such tasks as reducing false colors and moiré patterns, and canceling noise during long exposures or at high ISO speeds, in addition to providing a higher resolution signal output to LCD monitors. The processing and memory components are configured in a layered structure to conserve space, contributing to reducing the size of the camera. Furthermore, Canon's digital compact cameras employ technology called the HS SYSTEM, which enables high-definition images to be shot with little noise even in low light and supports a wide range of shooting such as scenes with a mixture of bright and dark areas, and those taken at night. This was made possible by DIGIC fully drawing out the capabilities of the high-sensitivity image sensor with increased light-gathering capability.
DIGIC 5*5 has further increased the speed of image processing, while also providing higher image quality to augment l functionality such as Scene Detection technology. Of these, the performance of noise reduction for only reducing the noise component while maintaining definition when shooting at high ISO speeds has been dramatically improved. It is also possible to correct dark areas to prevent unnatural transitions from bright to dark within an image. Moreover, it also enables the use of Multi-Area White Balance which adjusts the overall image to match natural light even when there are two light sources with different color temperatures, such as a fluorescent lamp and a mercury lamp. This is achieved by dividing the image into several areas and determining the type of light source based on the color information for each area.
DIGIC 5 Image Processor
Multi-Area White Balance
- *4 Image processor
A micro-computer that integrates a CPU, memory to house processing programs, a timer function, and input/output onto a single integrated circuit. Because high-speed image signal processing is necessary in digital cameras, Canon has made an effort to incorporate signal processing into an LSI since when it was common to use software to perform signal processing, and this has enabled faster signal processing, higher image quality and higher functionality in its digital cameras.
- *5 DIGIC 5
DIGIC 5 is the latest version of Canon's DIGIC image processor, which is used in Canon's PowerShot, PowerShot ELPH(IXUS), and EOS-series cameras. DIGIC is a high-performance image processor with functions to process from low-end devices to high-end devices, customized to provide the best optimal performance in every individual camera model in which it is used.
Face, Motion and Scene Detection Technology
Three Core Technologies Supporting Shooting at Optimal Settings
Canon's digital compact cameras incorporate technologies enabling easy shooting of beautiful photos by automatically detecting the optimal settings for various subjects, movements and scenes.
Face Detection technology, which can recognize human faces in a picture and adjust such factors as focus and exposure accordingly through a combination of a face detection algorithm based on the features of people's faces and iSAPS technology. Up to 35 faces can be detected in a frame, of which up to 9 can be tracked on the LCD monitor.
Motion Detection technology responds to movement of the subject. It determines whether or not the subject is moving, immediately detects the speed and direction of movement, and limits the effect of blurring of the subject as much as possible by selecting the optimal ISO sensitivity, shutter speed and f/ number (aperture).
Scene Detection technology automatically determines the type of scene being shot. It determines optimal settings based on a comprehensive set of information including brightness and contrast of the subject, distance to the subject and color of the entire image.
Canon's compact digital cameras combine these three image detection technologies to provide the Smart Auto function. Up to 32 types of scene can be automatically identified simply by pointing the camera at the subject, and the brightness and color are adjusted to match the scene.
Overview of Scene Detection Technology
Sharp Focus and Optimal Exposure for Registrants with Face ID
Canon's face detection algorithm has evolved further. With the new Face ID function built into the Smart Auto mode, the camera automatically detects pre-registered certain people when shooting, and adjusts the focus and exposure to the optimal settings for that registrantson a priority basis.
Up to twelve people can be registered on one camera. Subjects are registered by face, name, and birth date and classified into three age categories: Babies under two years old, Children between two and 12, or Adults over 13. When the camera recognizes a subject as a child, it automatically switches to Servo AF mode to make sure that the focus and exposure keep up with the subject even in motion.
Classification Table Showing 58 Available Scenes
Advanced Subject Detection that Follows the Subject
Canon has developed a new algorithm that further evolves Face Detection technology to provide Advanced Subject Detection, which supports not only human faces, but also animals and vehicles. The camera automatically detects the main subject and focuses upon it, displaying a frame around it on the LCD monitor. Furthermore, if it is moving, autofocus tracks it, and both focus and exposure continue to be adjusted while the shutter button is held halfway.
Advanced Subject Detection
Smart Flash Exposure Effective in Backlit and Dark Scenes
Flash control technology based on Face, Motion and Scene Detection technology is called Smart Flash Exposure, in which the camera automatically controls a comprehensive range of variables such as the amount of light emitted, shutter speed, aperture and ISO sensitivity under backlit or dark conditions. For example, when there is a difference in the distance to the subject and the background in a dark room, this provides a balanced image by brightening the background and preventing blown highlights on the subject.
Smart Flash Exposure
Realizing High-Speed, High-Precision Control
Over many years of camera development, Canon has gathered a vast amount of photographic data, creating a database with extensive statistical analyses of the correlations between focal length or zoom position, surrounding brightness, and subject-to-camera distance.
Making use of this Photographic Space database, Canon developed iSAPS (intelligent Scene Analysis based on Photographic Space) technology, which predicts the scene a user is about to photograph and promptly selects the optimal settings for key functions. This technology combines shooting parameters from recently taken shots with the camera's built-in data to estimate the distance between the camera and the subject, improve AF (Auto Focus)*6 precision and speed, and enable optimal AE (Auto Exposure) and AWB (Auto White Balance) performance.*7
Conceptualization of Photographic Space
- *6 iSAPS high-speed AF
iSAPS AF predicts the focus setting based on previously shot scenes, reducing the time required for focusing.
- *7 iSAPS intelligent AE/ AWB
iSAPS AE/AWB applies optimized algorithms for each shot according to the shooting mode selected by the user, which minimizes mistakes thanks to more precise exposure and white balance matched to the selected shooting mode and surrounding environment. | <urn:uuid:b9994c07-87da-421d-9d21-5133e37c84fa> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.canon.com/technology/canon_tech/explanation/dc.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397213.30/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00037-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.907023 | 2,204 | 2.796875 | 3 |
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On June 6, 1944, D-Day, thirteen Comanches in the Fourth Infantry Division, Fourth Signal Company, made an amphibious landing with thousands of Allied troops along the Utah Beachhead on the Normandy coast of France. While under German fire, they immediately began to lay wire for communications transmission lines and began to send their messages in a form never before heard in Europe, in coded Comanche. During the next eleven months, this small, select group of Native Americans—the Comanche Code Talkers—would play a contributing role in the Allied war effort. They would transmit coded orders and messages in a form that the Germans, Italians, and even other Comanches not trained as code talkers could not understand. The Germans remained perplexed about this code, a form they were never able to break, for many years following the war. The Comanche Code Talkers were a small group of Comanche men who were specially recruited and trained in communications skills and used their native Comanche language to communicate critical messages during World War II.
Of all of the Plains tribes, the Numunuu, meaning "People" or "The People" (often spelled by Anglos as "Numina," and popularly known as the Comanches), are one of the most well known by name (Richardson 1933; Wallace and Hoebel 1952; Kavanagh 1996), but have long been one of the least understood in terms of actual cultural content. Originally a part of the Numic-speaking Shoshone from Wyoming, the Numunuu, or Comanches, separated and migrated southward in the mid- to late seventeenth century. By the early to mid-eighteenth century, the Comanches had gained firm control of much of Texas, southwestern Oklahoma, and portions of eastern New Mexico. The seminal role played by the Comanches in the military and political development of Texas, New Mexico, and Mexico during 1706-1875 was enormously significant. During this period, the Comanches were integrally involved in the evolving competition for trade with the Spanish, French, and, later, Mexicans and Americans. Economically, the Comanche language had long been of great importance as a trade language in the Southern Plains. Throughout much of the 1700s and 1800s, the Comanche language served as a lingua franca for much of the intertribal and Indian-Anglo trade in the region. A mobile hunting-gathering population, the Comanches possessed a strong warrior ethos, and for men the means to social status were largely acquired through a war record (Meadows 1999). In prereservation times, the Comanches are better viewed as a number of linguistically and culturally related tribes (generally described as divisions), as they never comprised a single political or geographically centralized entity until after entrance onto a reservation (Kavanagh 1996). After more than 150 years of warfare, competition with numerous other tribes and Anglo nations, and disease, the last remaining autonomous bands of Comanches were forced onto the collective Kiowa, Comanche, and Apache Reservation in southwestern Oklahoma in 1875. What followed were decades of status as governmental wards, forced reduction of their lands, inadequate food, mandatory boarding schools, denial of citizenship and civil rights, continual broken treaties and legal agreements, forced allotment of their remaining lands, and an Anglo-based assimilationist war against their culture, religion, and language.
Sixty-five years later the United States Army came seeking the aid of the Comanches and their language in preparation for World War II. The Comanches had numerous reasons to resent the Taiboo' (Anglos). But in spite of all of the past experiences and the often paternalistic treatment of the Comanches by the government, when the call of duty came, they, like other Native American populations, patriotically joined in the defense of America. Prior to their recruitment, the Comanches had no idea of the ultimately unique role that they and their language would play in the outcome of that war. There was no way they could have known that they would be selected to carry out highly specialized communications service that would be unique in the European campaign. The Comanches represent a population whose loyalty to their people and the American country was unswerving in its devotion, and they were unhesitant in their decision to make the necessary sacrifices called for in the Second World War.
While many works have focused upon the broad impacts that World War II held for Native Americans, few works have focused on individual communities or topics, and even fewer have included accounts from Native Americans themselves. One of the best works on Native Americans in World War II (Bernstein 1991) is strictly based on Anglo archival materials and demonstrates no input from Native American veterans. Most studies concerning the role of Native American Code Talkers in World War II focus only upon the Navajo; however, several other tribes participated in similar fashion.
This book traces the development and history of Native American code talking, beginning with the Oklahoma Choctaws in World War I. I then focus on the United States armed forces' decision to use Native American code talkers in World War II, examining the development of the Comanche and Navajo Code Talker programs. The Comanche Code Talkers who served as communications operators in the European theater of World War II were the first organized native code-talking unit in World War II. As cryptology, World Wars I and II, and United States military communications are all enormous topics, this work does not attempt to provide a comprehensive account of these subjects, only a general background for understanding the role of Native American code talkers in World Wars I and II and those events in which the Comanche Code Talkers were involved and for which documentation exists. Because the Comanche Code Talkers were only involved in the operations extending from France through Germany, I do not address the North African and Sicilian campaigns. While select aspects of the European theater are discussed, they are largely in relation to the regions in which the Comanches served. Some of the ins and outs of signals/intelligence work during World War II, and the experiences collected from the emic perspective of the code talkers who remain alive—what they experienced, what they thought was important about their service, and how they felt about their experiences—form the content upon which much of this work focuses. This work is the story of a number of young Choctaw and Comanche men, their experiences as code talkers, and their unique contribution in military service in World Wars I and II, and how their experiences relate to Comanche and larger Native American service in the U.S. military. For more comprehensive accounts of the European theater of World War II, the reader may refer to other works, such as Kahn (1967), MacDonald (1969), Weigley (1981), and Stetson Conn's (1963) nine-volume United States Army in the World War II: The History of the European Theater of Operations. For a thorough history of the U.S. Army Signal Corps Branch, see Raines (1996).
Context and Theory
This work is interdisciplinary, emphasizing historical and firsthand ethnographic data, while addressing theoretical concerns of dependency theory, the Native American martial ethos, processes behind Native American militarization and armed forces service, Native American military syncretism, and United States armed forces attitudes toward Indian servicemen as communications operators. Most authors attempting studies of Native Americans in World War II have essentially explained Indian entrance into the military as an attempt to legitimize themselves as American citizens. This work demonstrates clearly that this process of militarization is far more complex than most Native American scholars realize. As it affected the Comanche Code Talkers, the militarization context is a reflection of the larger regional processes that I have found regarding service in World Wars I and II for most Kiowa, Comanche, and Apache veterans and their traditional military society structures (Meadows 1995), and that Tom Holm (1996) has found for Native American Vietnam veterans collectively.
Theoretically, the Comanche Code Talkers serve as a case study which demonstrates that Native American motivations for enlisting in World War II and many other conflicts take complex, multifaceted, yet largely culturally based forms rather than the primarily assimilationist forms proposed in prior historical works relying on dependency theory. Native Americans did not join the armed forces in World Wars I and II solely to prove or to legitimize themselves as American citizens; many already knew that they held dual citizenship as members of their respective tribes and as American citizens via the allotment process, the 1924 Indian Citizenship Act, and the 1936 Oklahoma Indian Welfare Act. As this work will point out, most joined for a complex combination of: (1) traditional sociocultural influences (warrior-based themes), (2) acculturative influences (boarding school), (3) contemporary economic factors (employment), and (4) patriotism for the defense of their own lands, peoples, and the United States. The opportunity to (5) use their unique linguistic skills and to (6) remain in a select Native American unit with fellow Comanche kinsmen provided two additional incentives for these men during World War II. As with other Native Americans in United States military service, the Comanche Code Talkers demonstrate how a group of individuals syncretized native concepts with military service in a basically foreign institution while maintaining a strong sense of their own ethnic identity—a uniquely Comanche sense of identity. In doing so, they gave service in the United States military a meaning far beyond that of simply legitimizing themselves as American citizens.
This work also provides historical documentation that will more clearly convey the temporal developments and historical dimensions involving the Choctaw, Comanche, Navajo, and other Native American code talkers. This work distinguishes two distinct types of Native American code talking and clarifies many of the larger developments of Native American code talkers as a whole. I also demonstrate that the full potential for using Native American code talkers in World War II was unrecognized at the logistical levels of the United States armed forces and therefore underutilized.
These were but a few Comanche men participating in an amphibious landing of seven thousand ships transporting 250,000 troops of American, British, Canadian, Free French, Polish, Norwegian, and other nationalities who began their advance on five strategic beachheads. In a war in which millions of men and women served, one might ask, what is so significant about a small group of, originally seventeen and later thirteen, soldiers? What makes the contributions of such a small number of men significant given the massive scope of the war? Although these soldiers underwent much of the same military training as their peers, and performed many of the same duties, they were uniquely different from most Anglo soldiers. In addition to their contrasting cultural background and upbringing, these men brought a rare and special skill to be used as a weapon in their military service—their native language. By using their native language in a coded form, thirteen Comanche Code Talkers were able to send communications throughout their division that were faster than any of the then-existing Anglo coded forms and that were never broken by the Axis forces. In addition, the Comanches represent one of at least nineteen Native American groups known to have used various coded and noncoded forms of their native language for United States armed forces military communications in World Wars I and II. As will be demonstrated, only the conservative policies of the upper echelons of the United States Army regarding the ability of Native Americans as communications operators prevented the Comanches and other tribal groups in the European theater from contributing to the degree that the Navajos in the Marine Corps did in the Pacific theater of operations. In examining the development of Native American code talkers in the United States armed forces, I provide data demonstrating that Native Americans as code talkers held greater potential in terms of available numbers, diversity of languages, and possibility for rotation than was either realized or used in the war. Excepting select aspects of their respective backgrounds, the primary differences between the experiences of the Comanche and Navajo Code Talkers in World War II were those of military policy, unit size, and the extent of their use.
Three factors of a personal nature led me toward this study. First, coming from a family containing many veterans, I grew up hearing of their experiences in World War II, Korea, and Vietnam, and have always had an interest in military topics and veterans. Second, my early exposure to and participation in Native American dance, the evolution of the contemporary Plains Indian powwow from earlier military societies, and the associated honoring of veterans in these activities only strengthened my interests. Third, upon becoming familiar with this topic and discovering that only a few of the code talkers remained alive, I realized the urgency of time if this project were ever to be undertaken.
During research for my doctoral dissertation (Meadows 1995), I conducted ethnographic fieldwork on nineteenth- and twentieth-century military societies and veterans' issues among the Kiowa, Apache, and Comanche of southwestern Oklahoma. During my research I was fortunate to meet Mr. Forrest Kassanavoid, an extremely knowledgeable elder, a fluent Comanche speaker, a head man of the Comanche War Dance Society, and a World War II veteran. During one interview, Forrest told me he had served as a "Comanche Code Talker" during the war, and he proceeded to discuss this topic for the next hour. During subsequent visits with Forrest he began to relate to me the detailed history of the Comanche Code Talkers from their formation in late 1940 to the present. As I began to learn more of the code talkers' experiences, I realized that they were a largely unrecognized and undocumented subject. Although I was busy with the research for my dissertation, I realized that this was a subject that deserved serious attention. Considering the small number of remaining code talkers, their ages, and the almost total lack of documentation available on the subject, I felt the situation was urgent and decided to make the time to record their experiences. When I suggested to Forrest that we continue to document the group's history for a possible publication, he responded favorably and encouraged me to "work up" some material on them. Interviews with the other surviving members provided additional materials. Although several small grant requests to fund this research were turned down, I considered the personal expense justified and more than worthwhile and managed to give some monetary compensation to the members as the work progressed.
The research for this work combines anthropological and historical methodologies. The material for this work was very interdisciplinary, involving firsthand ethnographic fieldwork with the basic information obtained from the actual Comanche Code Talkers themselves and archival materials from Native American history, United States military records, United States Army organizational and signals intelligence data, newspapers, and appropriate secondary literature sources to test pertinent ideas and hypotheses. Archival research produced many vital, but highly fragmentary, sources, often in the form of newspaper articles and brief military-based publications. Most published sources on Native American code talkers focus only on the Navajo; the Comanches are generally either mentioned in passing or, more often than not, not at all. Some sources even incorrectly and unsupportedly state that the Comanches did not serve as code talkers. Indeed, the only formal sources on the Comanche Code Talkers are by one of the unit's own members, the late Roderick Red Elk (1991, 1992), who published brief accounts both of his personal experiences and those of the group. Inquiry and correspondence with army and Marine Corps military archives provided prompt, but minimal, material. No prior comprehensive account of the Comanche Code Talkers' experiences exists. To achieve a thorough account of this group, an ethnohistorical approach combining elements of anthropological fieldwork and archival research was necessary. Whereas most definitions of ethnohistory focus on combining archival and library research with the insights gained from using an anthropological concept of culture, my approach differs. My ethnohistorical methodology emphasizes significant firsthand ethnographic and linguistic fieldwork and extensive archival research to obtain as thorough and holistic an approach to a subject as possible.
The greatest hindrance encountered in this project was time. Only five of the original seventeen Comanche Code Talkers and their commanding training officer were living at the time I began my research. The vast majority of the information contained in this study was obtained from my fieldwork in the form of audio and video tape-recorded interviews with the three surviving members who saw combat action (Forrest Kassanavoid, Roderick Red Elk, and Charles Chibitty), and through correspondence with their training officer, Major General Hugh F. Foster Jr., U.S. Army (Retired). An interview with Albert Nahquaddy Jr. (one of two surviving members who were trained as code talkers but discharged prior to service overseas) provided additional information about the period from the group's origin through their stateside training. Finally, an audio recorded archival interview with the late Mr. Haddon Codynah, another of the code talkers who saw combat action, added a sixth voice to the work. Although six of eighteen consultants is statistically a good sample and their accounts clearly address most of the group's experiences, the ability to have worked with other, now deceased members would only have enriched this material further. However, to have waited any longer would have resulted in losing much of the remaining knowledge concerning the code talkers. In hindsight this decision proved sound, as three of the four remaining members passed away before this manuscript came to print.
Indian support and encouragement, both from Comanches and other tribes, were very positive during this project. Sharp criticism by two earlier non-Indian reviewers was also very beneficial. After reading the manuscript one military historian nearly accused me of making up the entire account, responding that he did not believe the Comanches ever served as code talkers, and strenuously criticizing my assertion that sufficient numbers of fluent Native Americans in many tribes existed in World II to have formed other code-talking units. This response led me to provide additional quantitative data to complement my qualitative data, and became the majority of Chapter 2. One Anglo historian stated that after all of the harsh past treatment Indians had received, she found it a "striking irony" that Native Americans found themselves in a position to be useful in wartime communications and would enlist for military service for the reasons I propose. However, as explained by the code talkers themselves, these reasons are supported. Even more ironic is the fact that while this individual writes about Native American veterans, her work shows no evidence of having conducted any firsthand research with them. These criticisms, while largely the result of not working with Native Americans, only allowed me to further improve and enhance this manuscript.
By the spring of 1996, what was intended as an article had grown to a book-length manuscript. One of my personal tenets in conducting anthropological and Native American research is to allow my consultants to read and discuss drafts of my manuscripts prior to their publication. That summer I sent drafts of the manuscript to Mr. Kassanavoid, Mr. Red Elk, Mr. Chibitty, Mrs. Judy Allen, and Major General Foster, who provided constructive reviews and comments. Their responses were favorable. I had already decided to dedicate the book to the seventeen Comanche Code Talkers. Because Forrest Kassanavoid had played such an instrumental role in participating in and encouraging my research on the Comanche Code Talkers, I had also decided to include a special dedication of the work to him. On September 20, 1996, I received a phone call from Major General Foster informing me that Forrest was gravely ill. Forrest was undergoing cancer treatments when I last visited him the previous July. Later that afternoon after my classes, I called to check on him, planning to inform him of the dedication. However, before I could tell him, his wife Marian informed me that he had died at home in Indiahoma, Oklahoma, less than two hours earlier that afternoon. Everyone who knew Forrest lost a wonderful and cherished friend. Forrest was a tremendous friend to many people, Indian and non-Indian alike, and an extremely knowledgeable elder. During this project he always declined to accept any money I offered for his help. He was enthusiastic just to see the research undertaken and to contribute to it. I have therefore included a special dedication to him to recognize and honor his friendship, enthusiasm, and the tremendous input upon which this work so heavily rests.
Format and Content
My goal is to convey an overview of the experiences, throughout their lives, of a small group of Native American veterans who performed a unique form of service in a divisional-level communications system in the European theater during World War II. It is an inspiring and little-known piece of history. I have tried to detail the human experience of these men and relate it to the larger significance of the duties they undertook as code talkers. An additional goal is to honor and give recognition and historical clarity to these gracious men who, having made such a unique contribution to the United States armed forces, were only recently recognized for their dedication and sacrifice. Another focus of this work is historical clarity regarding the actual development of Native American code talkers in World Wars I and II, which in earlier works has often been presented inaccurately.
The format of this work is largely chronological. Chapter 1 introduces the origin of codes, military code formation, prior studies of Native American military literature and code talking, native motivations for service in World War I, the development of the first Native American code talkers (the Choctaws) in World War I, and other native groups which provided coded and noncoded military communications in their native languages during World War I. This chapter concludes by offering the first formal definition of the two distinct forms of Native American code talking. Chapter 2 explores a national-level debate among the branches of the United States armed forces concerning the possibility and potential for using Native American code talkers in World War II. Linguistic and demographic data indicate that the potential for using Native American code talkers was not fully recognized and was underutilized by the United States armed forces at this time. An examination of the distribution of Native American code talkers in World War II concludes this chapter. Chapter 3 covers the prewar experiences of the Comanches: their recruitment, basic training, communications training, assignments, code formation, and athletic and cultural activities. Chapter 4 briefly describes the communications role the Comanche Code Talkers performed in relation to the larger army military structure and organization from 1940 to 1945. Chapter 5 relates the code talkers' actual combat experiences and use of the code from D-Day, June 6, 1944, to the end of the European war in May 1945. Chapter 6 concludes by focusing upon the postwar experiences of the code talkers, including their educational, professional, and cultural pursuits; public acknowledgment; and the Comanche Code Talkers' own reflections on their military service and the importance of native linguistic retention. It also includes the first extensive comparison between two units of Native American code talkers (Comanche and Navajo).
While numerous sources have been written on the Navajo Code Talkers, only a relatively small amount of this material conveys the Navajos' own thoughts, reflections, and interpretations of the events surrounding their military role. In an attempt to improve upon this approach, and because only a few of the members remained alive at the time I began my research, I chose a broader, more interdisciplinary, and dialogical method for this work. I have used extensive interview materials and direct quotes to bring forth the participants' own explanations, assessments, and reflections about various portions of their experiences as code talkers. While much of the military history surrounding code talkers has focused on the more serious and strictly "historical" developments of their experiences, such accounts have often left out many of the more day-to-day and even humorous, dangerous, and compelling experiences that were a part of the larger story. I have chosen to include a variety of these materials to provide a more well-rounded, realistic, and accurate account of the code talkers' experiences. I wish to show the Comanche Code Talkers as they were then and are now, and as "they" remembered their experiences. They were a group of young men who underwent a wide range of human experiences and emotions and remain quite modest, yet forthright, in their recollections. Thus, in an effort to make this a more dialogical work, a large amount of quoted materials from personal interviews and correspondence—focusing on the subjects stressed by the remaining code talkers—is used to allow the actual participants to tell much of their own stories themselves.
Although initially choosing to quote the Comanche Code Talkers verbatim from my interviews with them, I later chose to lightly edit these quoted materials for several reasons. Because most humans do not speak extemporaneously in a fluid, cohesive, and nonrepetitive fashion, spoken prose may sound wonderful, but it usually looks terrible in print. Repetitious use of the same words and ideas and frequent interjections detract from the fluidity of the speaking and, more importantly, from the meaning of the code talkers' statements. I have edited verbatim texts as lightly as possible to reduce them to clear, straightforward statements, eliminating repetitions of the same words and ideas in the same situation while retaining the basic ideas as well as the style of the speaker. I have cited sources as thoroughly as possible to identify them for future scholars. Some materials and citations have been kept anonymous for reasons of privacy.
This work is directed toward a wide audience including those interested in Choctaw and Comanche history, twentieth-century Native American history, World Wars I and II, Native American military and veterans' studies, military history, and signals intelligence. I have tried to find the right balance among a broad multidisciplinary approach, scholarly objectivity, and a deep and abiding respect for the life experiences of my friends and consultants. Because much of the recognition for the Comanche Code Talkers came after the majority of the members had passed on, this work is directed at documenting and honoring their service. It is the author's hope that the families of the Comanche Code Talkers and future generations of Comanches will find this work worthwhile. | <urn:uuid:6052ecc6-66db-452c-8667-276f58c50495> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://utpress.utexas.edu/index.php/books/meacom | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783391766.5/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154951-00078-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966341 | 5,347 | 4.3125 | 4 |
Introduction to Real-Time Operating Systems
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A real-time operating system or RTOS (sometimes known as a real-time executive or kernel) is a library of functions that implements rules and policies to manage time-critical allocation of a computer system's resources. RTOSes are commonly used in embedded systems. The RTOS provides a software abstraction layer to the underlying microcontroller or processor (CPU). The developer's application code uses the inherent capabilities of the RTOS to manage access to and scheduling of CPU resources. This paper presents the fundamentals of real-time operating systems (RTOS), hard vs. soft real-time, multitasking and preemption. | <urn:uuid:6a038dbf-6ca0-4838-ab94-a9937d05d2f9> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.techonline.com/electrical-engineers/education-training/tech-papers/4413933/Introduction-to-Real-Time-Operating-Systems2 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397562.76/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00054-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.874415 | 137 | 3.546875 | 4 |
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Honor 1Definition: Esteem due or paid to worth; high estimation; respect; consideration; reverence; veneration;
manifestation of respect or reverence.
Honor 2Definition: That which rightfully
attracts esteem, respect, or consideration;
self-respect; dignity; courage; fidelity; especially, excellence of character; high moral worth; virtue; nobleness;
specif., in men, integrity; uprightness;
trustworthness; in women, purity; chastity.
Honor 3Definition: A nice sense of what is right, just, and true, with course of life correspondent thereto; strict conformity to the duty imposed by conscience, position, or privilege.
Honor 4Definition: That to which esteem or consideration is paid; distinguished position; high rank.
Honor 5Definition: Fame; reputation; credit.
Honor 6Definition: A token of esteem paid to worth; a mark of respect; a ceremonial sign of consideration; as, he wore an honor on his breast; military
Honor 7Definition: A cause of respect and fame; a glory; an excellency; an ornament; as, he is an honor to his nation.
Honor 8Definition: A title applied to the
holders of certain honorable civil
offices, or to
persons of rank; as, His Honor the Mayor. See Note under Honorable.
Honor 9Definition: A seigniory or lordship held of the king, on which other
Honor 10Definition: Academic or university
Honor 11Definition: The ace, king, queen, and jack of
trumps. The ten and nine are sometimes called Dutch
Honor 12Definition: To regard or treat with honor, esteem, or respect; to revere; to treat with deference and submission; when used of the Supreme Being, to reverence; to adore; to worship.
Honor 13Definition: To dignify; to raise to distinction or notice; to bestow honor upon; to elevate in rank or station; to ennoble; to exalt; to glorify; hence, to do something to honor; to treat in a complimentary manner or with
Honor 14Definition: To accept and pay when due; as, to
honora bill of exchange.
honor 15Definition: a
woman''s virtue or chastity
honor 16Definition: the quality of being honorable and having a good name; "a man of honor"
honor 17Definition: a tangible symbol signifying approval or distinction; "an award for bravery"
honor 18Definition: the state of being honored
honor 19Definition: accept as pay; "we honor
honor 20Definition: show respect towards; "honor your
honor 21Definition: bestow honor or
rewards upon; "Today we honor our
soldiers"; "The scout was rewarded for | <urn:uuid:5a79697e-8a01-4ade-8491-ca5c2f79bf9a> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://ardictionary.com/Honor/4198 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783404382.73/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155004-00105-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.843112 | 693 | 2.71875 | 3 |
Animal researchers reported Sunday a major advance toward the development of an artificial pancreas that could provide long-lasting therapy for diabetes--without daily insulin injections--and potentially eliminate its crippling side effects.
The Massachusetts scientists devised a technique that allows them to transplant insulin-secreting pancreatic cells from cows, dogs and pigs into rats without suppressing the recipient's immune system and without fear of rejection. The transplanted cells, encased in newly synthesized, porous, hollow fibers, release insulin that controls blood sugar levels precisely.
Scientists have been trying to use human pancreatic tissues to treat some of the more than 1 million insulin-dependent diabetics in the United States, but the number of human pancreases that can be obtained from cadavers is quite small. If researchers could develop a successful technique for using pancreatic tissue from cows, for example, the number of people that could be treated potentially would be limitless.
Researchers have been attempting to construct such artificial pancreases for more than two decades, but the new advance, reported Sunday in the prestigious Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, is the first to achieve long-term success in rodents.
The researchers, at BioHybrid Technologies Inc. in Shrewsbury, Mass., are now testing the devices in dogs as well, with preliminary results that look "very successful," according to BioHybrid President William L. Chick, and could potentially begin human trials in as few as five years.
"This is wonderful," said biochemist Joan Harmon of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. "These are the best results I have seen so far."
Type 1 or insulin-dependent diabetes occurs when the body's immune system destroys insulin-secreting islet cells in the pancreas. Insulin is normally released by the pancreas when the level of sugars in the bloodstream rises after eating. The insulin enables body cells to use the sugars for energy. If the body does not receive insulin, it must use stored carbohydrates for energy. The buildup of toxic byproducts from that process eventually leads to coma and death.
Diabetes is now treated with insulin obtained from cows or pigs or with human insulin produced by genetic engineering techniques. But because it is injected periodically, the levels of blood sugar go through wide variations. Many researchers believe that these concentration swings cause the long-term side effects of diabetes, including nerve damage in the limbs, kidney malfunction and blindness.
Researchers think that the use of a transplanted or artificial pancreas could control those swings and minimize side effects, but they have encountered a number of problems.
Pancreas transplants have had some success; more than 50% of them now survive for 5 years, according to Harmon. But only limited numbers of pancreases are available and they provoke a strong immune response that must be controlled with relatively large doses of immunosuppressive drugs.
Useful insulin pumps that can be implanted in the diabetic's abdomen have also been developed. These release a slow, steady stream of insulin, supplemented by larger doses after a meal. But because researchers have not yet developed an implantable sensor that can quickly and accurately determine the amount of sugar in the blood, control of sugar levels is still not as precise as would be desirable.
Many researchers have thus pinned their hopes on living islet cells from a donor. Such cells have their own built-in sugar sensors and could thereby provide precise control, releasing insulin only when blood sugar rises. If these cells could be successfully enclosed in a semipermeable plastic membrane, they would be protected from attack by the recipient's immune system, but still interact with blood.
Unfortunately, Harmon said, the outside of the membranes constructed up to now tended to become overgrown with body cells, thereby choking off the flow of nutrients in, and of insulin out. The islet cells in such chambers thus die within two to four weeks.
The key difference in the new device developed by diabetologist Chick and his colleagues at BioHybrid is the use of a membrane material synthesized by W.R. Grace & Co. of nearby Lexington, Mass. The plastic used in the membrane resists the overgrowth of cells and thus remains unclogged.
Chick said that the devices have been tested for well over 100 days in the rats "with no signs of overgrowth" or clogging. The membranes also have very small passageways through them so that insulin and nutrients can pass through, but not immune cells that would attack the islet cells inside. | <urn:uuid:453aacb8-a40d-4ea1-b74f-306f67d70b92> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://articles.latimes.com/1991-12-16/news/mn-528_1_artificial-pancreas | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397696.49/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00012-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949363 | 927 | 3.109375 | 3 |
1 Answer | Add Yours
Number of ways to select 1st digit = 7
Number of ways to select 2nd digit = 6
Number of ways to select 3rd digit = 5
Number of ways to select 4th digit = 4
So with out repetition number of 4-digit numbers that can be formed are `7xx6xx5xx4 = 840` .
We have 3 odd number and 4 even number in the set.
Ways to select two odds `= ^3C_2 = 3`
Ways to select two even `= ^4C_2 = 6`
Number of 4-digit numbers with two even and two odd `3xx6 = 18`
But we can rearrange these four digits within the number.
So total number of ways `= 18xx4! = 432`
So we can form 432 four digit numbers for the given condition.
We’ve answered 328,058 questions. We can answer yours, too.Ask a question | <urn:uuid:908ad9c7-a8bf-4c70-b745-f5b854ab88cb> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.enotes.com/homework-help/find-how-many-four-digit-numbers-can-formed-by-442830 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398216.41/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00134-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.887047 | 210 | 2.984375 | 3 |
“The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration.”
— The 16th Amendment
Monday marked the 100th anniversary of the day that U.S. Secretary of State Philander C. Knox took pen in hand and affirmed that the 16th Amendment, having been passed by Congress and ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the states, was part of the U.S. Constitution.
The income tax is 100 years old. Got any big plans to celebrate? Probably not.
The First Amendment has a lot of fans. The Second Amendment is huge. The 13th Amendment was a star on Oscar night. Chicks dig the 19th. We’ll drink to the 22nd, which overturned the 18th. But few people love No. 16, which is strange, considering how much we all benefit from it.
From the air we breathe and the water we drink to the security we feel at night, from the teachers in the classroom to the meat on the table to the airplanes that do not crash, from FEMA and CIA, FBI and BATF and dozens of other alphabet agencies and programs, taxes — as Justice Holmes observed — are what we pay for civilized society.
Most Americans will admit that, albeit grudgingly. We’d just rather that somebody else pay a bigger share. The late Senate Finance Committee Chairman Russell Long, D-La., put it best: “Don’t tax you. Don’t tax me. Tax that fellow behind the tree.”
It’s amazing to realize, but the passage of the 16th Amendment wasn’t even close. Lincoln had briefly imposed an income tax to pay for the Civil War. Congress passed a 2 percent tax in 1894, but the Supreme Court threw it out two years later.
So the only way to get one on the books was to the amend the Constitution. It passed the Congress in July 1909 and whizzed through legislatures in Southern and Western states.
Harvard historian Jill Lepore, in a short history of the income tax published in The New Yorker last November, wrote, “The tax was intended to answer populist rage at the growing divide between the rich and the poor.”
A panic that followed the San Francisco earthquake of 1906 had created a deep recession. Congress created the Federal Reserve to shore up failing banks. People thrown out of work were outraged that the richest 1 percent of households held more than a third of the nation’s wealth. One percent of taxpayers held a third of wealth — land, stocks, bonds, art, savings accounts, jewels, cars, boats, the whole kaboodle.
Today it’s 43 percent. The next-richest 4 percent hold another 29 percent of the wealth. That’s 5 percent of households controlling 72 percent of the wealth.
And what have we got for public outrage? Anti-tax crusaders. Tea-party Republicans. We’ve got people chained to the oars in one of those “Ben-Hur” Roman galleys, rooting for Caesar.
Safety net program
How is it that the Americans of 1913 were so much smarter than Americans of 2013? My theory: We’ve got a better quality of not-rich now than we did back then. We’ve got television and the Internet to distract us and delude us and social safety net programs to preserve us from the worst effects of income inequality.
We see a guy on TV settling into a leather seat on his Gulfstream-V, we identify with that guy, not the people who pump the fuel or empty the toilets or serve the drinks. We are an aspirational people, not a realistic one. It’s part of our charm.
Also: We are easily bamboozled. Lepore’s piece in The New Yorker recounts the long effort that began with Andrew Mellon, Treasury secretary under three Republican presidents, to convince Americans that the income tax was the spawn of Satan. She recounts the effort by Robert B. Dresser, the Grover Norquist of his day, to repeal the “Marxist” 16th Amendment. She describes the brilliant Republican strategy, quickly adopted by Democrats, of describing Americans as “taxpayers” instead of “citizens,” pitting them against “tax-eaters.”
You know who should celebrate the tax’s birthday? Republicans. Lepore quotes the late liberal economist John Kenneth Galbraith, who suggested that by defusing populist rage and giving wealthy Americans the right to say, “See, we’re paying our share,” even if they aren’t, the income tax might have saved capitalism.
Kevin Horrigan is a columnist for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
Copyright 2013 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. | <urn:uuid:aab836c2-f9c0-4a01-826e-7bdcf1a15f45> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.vindy.com/news/2013/feb/27/a-century-of-taxing-government/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395346.72/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00046-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958023 | 1,057 | 3.09375 | 3 |
Contextual correlates of adolescents' moral decision-making
The purpose of the study was to examine the impact of interpersonal and environmental variables affecting adolescents' domain judgments and moral decision-making regarding common school-based transgressions. Two hundred eighty-nine students in Grades 9–11 participated in this study. Participants provided severity ratings and domain justifications for eight common school-based transgressions perpetrated by a best friend or a casual acquaintance. Participants' demographic information and perceptions of their school culture were also measured. The results of the study demonstrated that the nature of adolescents' relationship with the transgressor influenced their moral domain judgments. Students judged transgressions perpetrated by an acquaintance as breaches of moral standards more so than transgressions perpetrated by a best friend. Transgressions judged to be moral issues were considered most severe, whereas those evaluated as personal issues were rated as least severe. In addition, adolescents' perceptions of their school culture influenced their judgments of transgression severity. Adolescents who perceived a positive school culture judged peers' transgressions as more severe than those who held negative perceptions of their school. In judging peer transgressions, adolescents' perceptions of their school culture also influenced their domain judgments. Differences in adolescents' evaluations and permissibility of school-based transgressions may be attributed to their informational assumptions of what constitutes right and wrong behaviors in the school setting. Finally, sex differences were found in students' use of moral, social-conventional and personal domain justifications. Overall, the results of this study offered insight into the contextual variables that influence adolescent moral decision-making. Study findings provide implications for the implementation of effective, educational programs directed at promoting safe, participatory, democratic school environments.^
Education, Educational Psychology|Education, Secondary
Kristin Leigh Orlovsky,
"Contextual correlates of adolescents' moral decision-making"
(January 1, 2011).
ETD Collection for Fordham University. | <urn:uuid:829a8752-7c46-46a0-8cda-8f6d1f9d8e64> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://fordham.bepress.com/dissertations/AAI3461891/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397567.28/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00095-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95213 | 386 | 3.09375 | 3 |
Concurrent with the decline of the Delhi Sultanate in the north, the Bahmani Sultanate was established in the southern peninsula of India in the middle of the 14th Century. The sultanate and its successors continued their grip on the upper peninsula, with fluctuating fortunes, till the 17th Century when they were gradually supplanted by the Mughal Empire. Even after the rise of the Marathas a portion of the peninsula remained under the Muslim state of Hyderabad till the middle of the 20th Century.
One would expect a large converted population in this region with such a long period of foreign occupation but it is not so. The proportion of Muslims in the peninsula corresponds with the ratios found in upper India and not with the proportions of Punjab or Bengal—the rural populace is mostly of the indigenous faith while the converts are concentrated in the cities that were the centers of Islamic power in the south.
Additionally there are pockets of Muslim populations in the coastal regions. These are the descendants of the Arab traders and some converts who were allowed to settle in the region by the local kings—a clear indication of how important the sea-borne trade was to the economies of the southern kingdoms. It was this trade that attracted the European powers who established settlements in the coastal towns, which later grew into colonies with their own administrative setup.
Apart from trade the coastal ports were bases from which merchants and explorers traveled to Africa, Arabia, South-East Asia, and China to spread the different phases of Indian civilization in those areas. Thus the historical background of the southern regions will be made first through the study of naval power and its reach, and later to the politico-military relations of the kingdoms in the peninsula.
Trade and exploration
The ancient text Rigveda speaks of a ship with a hundred oars (sataritra) and also mentions eastern and western oceans (samudra). A stone seal discovered from an old archaeological site depicts a mast-less ship with a central cabin and a steersman seated at the rudder—ships of similar make are known in ancient Sumer and Egypt. The ports of this period along the Gujarat coast have waterways, docks, and channels where ships of all sizes could ply. The discovery of seals and other objects of this civilization found in Mesopotamia indicate a flourishing trade between the two regions.
Now if ships from the western coast of India regularly plied to West Asia all those thousands of years ago, it falls to reason that they would have also explored the coast along the southern peninsula in this time—precious stones and metals from the south are present in these northern sites while the latter’s bronze age tools have been found, but only in traces, in the south. Movements of populations between the two regions are another corollary to long-term trade relations.
On the eastern coast as well trade and exploration must have been prevalent since ancient times. This is seen in Vedic literature that refers to an eastern ocean and also in the text of the Ramayan, where a specific reference is made to the islands of Java and Sumatra besides Sri Lanka. The Sangam literature of a later period describes a flourishing sea-trade in the south and mentions foreign sailors in the India ports of the east coast. The excavations at the ancient port of Arikamedu have revealed several Roman coins, which is a factual confirmation of the Roman Senator Pliny’s complaint that the excessive import of Indian goods was draining the Roman Empire of its wealth.
Indian merchants and adventurers went further than mere trade to explore the vast chain of isles in South East Asia and the Pacific Ocean. These adventurers introduced the early Vedic culture to the people living there and created several Hindu Kingdoms across that region. Of course such links between South East Asia and India were known in earlier times—and every new development later on in India was similarly transported to these lands and vice versa. Relations between these Asian and Indian kingdoms were mostly cordial through the centuries and only in one instance degenerated into a full-scale war for the control of the maritime trade. Indian shipping and trading outposts are noted also at the Chinese ports in the ancient texts of that civilization.
From the ports on the western coast of the peninsula and Gujarat, Indian merchants plied their ships to Iran, Arabia, and eastern Africa. These merchants established trading settlements and outposts in those lands while a similar facility was provided to the foreign merchants trading in India—facilities that would prove to be something of a disaster in later times with the Islamic and European traders turning their settlements into separate ghettos (in the case of the former) and colonies (in the case of the latter).
The horse trade
While there have been innumerable articles for export from and import to India one article slowly acquired gigantic proportions in the value of import and played a crucial role in the military history of the peninsula. This was the horse.
No indigenous horse-breeds are known in the peninsula except the Dakhini because much of the land is forested and hilly while the climate is too humid to sustain horses. On the other hand the dry grassy plains of northern India have been home to several indigenous horse breeds from the earliest times. The Rig Veda declares the land around the Saraswati River (modern Rajasthan) as the place where the best horses were found. Similarly horse remains, a horse figure, and horse saddles have been unearthed in some levels of the ruined ancient cities of the Bronze Age.
Model horse from the Bronze Age
It was in the North India that chariots were first used in war and it was from here that this military technology spread to the eastern and southern parts of the continent. On the other hand the use of elephants in war began in the east and spread to the other regions and also to the outside world as described in earlier posts. Several centuries passed before developments of stirrups and the recurved bow gave the Central Asian horsemen an edge over both chariots and elephants. From this point on cavalry became an important arm of all armies. Since the tall and sturdy foreign horses were more suited to cavalry than the medium-sized local breeds used earlier in drawing chariots, there was a great demand for importing the former.
The southern powers also noted this change and began the import of horses directly from Arabia or Iran. Naturally merchants of those regions, particularly the Arabs, began dominating the trade along the western coast of India. The sea-borne horse trade continued till the decline of the Mughal Empire in the south, while before them both the Bahmani Sultanate and the Vijaynagar Empire had been dependent on imported horses for their military power—the latter had an agreement with the Arab merchants to bring thousands of such horses to the ports under the direct control of Vijaynagar. In an earlier era the Pandya dynasty imported horses at great expense to the number of 2000 every year by an agreement with Arab merchants.
The reason for such hefty imports is attributed by the Arab writer Wassaf to the ignorance of the South Indians in training and maintaining horses. The Venetian traveler Marco Polo, who visited the coast of Malabar on his return from China, gives three reasons for the same only one of which is really credible. The real cause for the waste of horses was the hot and humid climate in the south, which of course was the reason why no indigenous horses were found there in the first place. The Indians could not have been merely ignorant of training horses since the Muslim rulers in the Deccan also imported horses in large numbers every year.
Apart from the export of horses, the Arabs had conquered the entire land from Spain, across Africa, and to the borders of India in the 7th Century CE. Control of the entire western trade came into their hands while Indian merchants still controlled the trade with eastern Africa, South-East Asia, and China. On the western coast down from Gujarat, Konkan, and Malabar, settlements of Arab traders and merchants came up, which were encouraged by the numerous Hindu rulers.
Trade was so important to the economy and strength of these states that they went out of their way to provide facilities to the Arab merchants. Separate colonies were assigned for their habitation where they built mosques and freely practiced their faith—they were even allowed to marry with and convert local people. Every new Arab merchant who came to Calicut was assigned a Nair bodyguard, a Chetty accountant, and a broker for help in the inland trade by the Zamorin. In some states these Muslims even became ministers and commanders of the war fleets while royal monopolies in various articles of trade were assigned to them by the Hindu rulers in return for a fixed annual fee.
Even the powerful Rashtrakutas of an earlier era welcomed the Arab settlers because of their reliance on imported horses. Arab writers like Masudi record these rulers as being friendly to Islam while Al Istakhri in his description of the Rashtrakuta lands says, “There are Musalmans in its cities, and none but Musalmans rule over them.” In this way colonies of Muslims sprouted all along the western coast, living separately from the original inhabitants and freely converting them. These settlers had their own administrators and qazis and did not submit to the prevailing law of the land.
In the north though, the presence of indigenous horses freed the Pratihar Empire from any reliance on these traders. This fact was acknowledged by the Arab writer Sulaiman who credits the Pratihar King with having the best cavalry and then remarks, “Among the princes of India, there is no greater foe of the Muhamaddan faith than he.” This is the right place to mention the politico-military campaigns of the Arabs in India—in 712 CE after conquering the Kingdom of Sindh, which was then suffering from internal conflict, the Arabs sent armies to probe the other parts of India.
In the east the Arab invader Junaid was defeated by a confederacy of clans (later known as Rajputs) headed by Nagabhatta Pratihar. In the north Lalitaditya of Kashmir similarly repulsed an Arab incursion into Punjab. The Arabs then sent a naval expedition to the Gujarat coast where Chalukya Vikramaditya II and his feudatories defeated them. The Arabs were trounced even by a small kingdom in Saurashtra ruled by the Saindhavas, who called themselves masters of the western sea (apara-samudradhipati) and commanded a strong naval force. The Arab power in Sindh was finally broken by Nagabhatta II of the Pratihar Empire. The Islamic expansion under the Turks to the peninsula will be described later.
The Arab monopoly on the western Indian trade inflated the prices of these goods several times till they reached the markets of Europe. They were first shipped to the Arab ports and then transferred overland to the Mediterranean ports—on the way Turk and Arab rulers imposed several duties and imposts on them. The merchants of Venice and Genoa then took these goods to Europe and increased the prices to make a profit on them before selling them in the markets.
To bypass the monopolies of these merchants rising sea powers like Spain and Portugal had been exploring the waters to their west and south in order to find a direct route to India. At the same time the European powers had been fighting the attempts of the Islamic powers, Arabs and Ottomans, to conquer their lands from across the Mediterranean Sea.
When the Portuguese turned the southern tip of Africa and discovered a route to India in the 15th Century they came into conflict with the Arab traders. The Arab settlers in the Hindu Kingdoms of Malabar strongly opposed the welcome given by the local rulers to these strangers and fought them on land and sea. The superior artillery and marksmanship of the Portuguese gave them an edge over the Arabs and the Hindu rulers—in 1505 the Portuguese king decided to appoint a Viceroy to permanently command his forces in India.
Now even the Muslim rulers on the mainland were concerned at the Portuguese success—the Sultans of Bijapur and Gujarat sought the aid of the Sultan of Egypt. The combined Muslim fleet won a victory over the Europeans at Chaul on the Konkan coast but in 1509 the Portuguese defeated them near Diu (Gujarat coast). In 1511 they captured Goa from the Sultan of Bijapur—subsequently the Egyptian fleet returned home and the local rulers made peace with the Portuguese. The crowning glory for the Portuguese was the capture of the trading ports of Malacca (in the east commanding the all-important bottleneck of the Malacca Straits) in 1511 and Ormuz (in the west commanding the approach to the Persian Gulf) in 1513.
In the wake of the Portuguese came the Dutch, the English, and the French. All through the 16th and 17th Centuries they established trading houses (and later factories) in the ports of western, southern, and eastern India. But of these powers only the Portuguese imitated the Arabs in settling down in the country, inter-marrying with and converting the locals to Christianity, and fighting wars with the Indian powers. The other nations remained interested purely in trade.
The Portuguese fought wars with the Sultans of Bijapur, the Marathas, and the Mughals. They were successful when defending their island-fortresses or when fighting on the open seas but were usually trounced when they ventured onto the land—the Mughal historian describes specific reasons for the Portuguese defeat. In the same period the European traders at Surat defended their factories during Shivaji’s raid on that city and received commendation from Aurangzeb for this feat. However in the second raid by the Marathas in 1670 Shivaji came to an understanding with the Europeans.
In the late 17th Century the English traders in Bengal and Surat also fought skirmishes with the local Mughal officials following a trade dispute. The English were supreme at sea or in sending raiding parties along the coast but could not hold captured land for a long period—the war concluded with a mutually agreeable settlement. In a later period, the collapse of the Mughal Empire and the constant raiding of the Marathas, forced the European factories to build fortified settlements and raise armies for their defence—these armies began intervening in the conflicts of the local powers and eventually acquired political control over them.
Indian naval powers
From the earliest times there are references to Indian powers sending naval expeditions to distant lands. The following sketch is a reproduction of a fresco from the ancient Ajanta caves depicting the transport of armies by boat to Sri Lanka. In southern India the Chola dynasty made a mark on Indian History with their succession of naval victories in the 11th and 12th Centuries CE—Rajaraj Chola first defeated the Chera navy at Trivandrum and then annexed a portion of northern Sri Lanka.
He conquered Orissa and acquired the ports of the eastern coast and even sent a naval expedition that conquered the Maldive Islands. With the increased naval resources of these lands his successor Rajendra Chola sent maritime expeditions against the Sailendra Empire of Indonesia—a Chola inscription describes “many ships in the midst of the rolling sea” transporting armies to those countries. However there are no records of any specific naval battle—most of the fighting was on land. From this insufficient evidence it is concluded that naval wars, of the kind witnessed in the Mediterranean from the earliest times, were unknown in all of the eastern waters.
The naval campaigns of the later rulers of Malabar and the increasing role of the Arabs in them have been outlined in the conflict with the Portuguese. On the northern coast the Siddis of Janjira established an independent naval power that dominated the coast of Maharashtra till the rise of Shivaji. The Maratha ruler first hired Muslims to man his navy while later the Angre Sardars became commanders of that force—this navy later operated as an independent force but even in the early period was not always under the direction of the Maratha rulers.
On the open seas the superior range and firepower of the European vessels usually gave them victories over the Indian ships. However within the coastal waters the smaller and lighter Indian ships could outmaneuver the bigger sea-faring vessels of the foreigners—they could take shelter in bays and lagoons or sail upriver to avoid the enemies’ guns. These powers also raided the coastal villages under each other's control and built numerous forts to shelter their small armies. The conflict of the Europeans with the mainland powers was complicated by the introduction of new factor in the balance of power on the high seas.
As described above the European powers had been fighting naval wars with the Ottoman Empire and its Arab feudatories for several centuries. In these fights European ships, armed with the newly developed artillery, roamed the open seas and attacked both the war and merchant vessels of the enemy—in many cases the captains of such ships were granted commissions by their rulers to commit piracy on Muslim shipping as a legitimate means of self-defence.
Such a policy was initially repeated by the Portuguese in Indian waters. In other words, “To prey upon Muhammadan ships was simply to pursue in other waters the chronic warfare carried on against Moors and Turks in the Mediterranean.” Piracy was known in the east before the coming of the Europeans but it was a low-level raiding of vessels near the coast—the pirates lived on islands or forts built on the coast and even sent raiding parties on land. But more importantly these pirates were usually of poor means and remained outside the control of society or government—while the Europeans were usually ex-naval officers or civilians of the highest class.
The story of only one of these pirates will illustrate firstly the superior use of artillery by the Europeans and secondly the complications introduced into their relations with the Mughals on account of such piracy. Henry Bridgman (alias Evory), a mate on an English ship, overpowered the officers in 1694, renamed his vessel Fancy and became a pirate. His ship had 46 guns and 150 fighters on board and after capturing several vessels in the Gulf of Aden, Evory took a rich merchant ship name Fath Muhammadi belonging to a merchant of Surat.
Only a few days later, and in alliance with some other pirate ships, Evory attacked the Ganj-i-sawai, a ship belonging to the Mughal Emperor off the coast of Maharashtra. Even though this was a large ship with 80 guns and 400 musketeers on board, the accurate firing of the Europeans from all sides caused heavy casualties among the defenders. While the pirates boarded the ship and plundered the passengers its captain, Muhammad Ibrahim, hid in the cabin. After three days Evory departed with his loot and the Ganj-i-sawai was taken to Surat by its crew. In retaliation the Mughals imprisoned the English traders at Surat and demanded compensation from the East India Company.
In fact for every incident of piracy the European traders were held responsible, and were either punished or forced to pay compensation. But as the incidents of piracy mounted, Aurangzeb threatened to stop all trade by the Europeans, until they found a way to stop piracy. As it turned out, he was so dependent on the Europeans for the safety of pilgrims going to Mecca that such harsh policies did not work—and he had to be content with the Europeans providing escorts to the Mughal ships sailing to Arabia.
The site and several others like it were discovered along the lower course of the Indus River and its tributaries in the early 20th Century—for this reason the name Indus Valley Civilization was applied to these sites. Subsequently older and more numerous sites were discovered in the eastern plains (the course of the ancient River Saraswati) and along the coast of Gujarat. So a more accurate name used nowadays is the Sindhu-Saraswati Civilization.
The logs of Indian teak, which grows in South India, found in the palace of Nebuchadenezzar confirm this exploration.
In religion it was Shaivism, Vaishnavism, and Buddhism, while newer immigrants created their own kingdoms that replaced the older kingdoms or fought against them. Languages like Sanskrit and Pali also influenced the local dialects.
In a case of reverse influence the migration of the Thai Ahoms into the Brahmaputra valley of North-East India in the 13th Century CE.
The war between the Chola dynasty of South India and the Sailendra Empire of Indonesia in the 12th Century CE. Another lesser conflict was between the Islamic invaders of Bengal and their Mughal successors with the neighboring Mag Kingdom of Arakan from the 12th to the 17th Century.
An inscription in the southern city of Mysore states, “Brave men…penetrating lands of the six continents by land and water routes and dealing in various articles such as horses and elephants, precious stones, perfumes and drugs either wholesale or in retail.”
The horse of the Maratha homeland; very small in size and now extinct. See http://nrce.nic.in/eqindia.htm
The Rig Veda describes these horses as having only 34 ribs.
In particular the port of Bhaktal. After the Portuguese conquest of Goa Krishnadevaraya made an agreement with them for buying all horses that were delivered to their port.
1) No horses were bred in the south, 2) the foreign merchants did not allow any horse trainer to come to South India and there were no local farriers, 3) the local people fed the horses cooked food in their ignorance. Of the three only the first is corroborated by evidence while the last two appear to be spiced up stories.
During Aurangzeb’s war with the Marathas the waste of army horses in campaigns prompted that Mughal Emperor to issue commands for the direct purchase of horses from Arabia and Persia—it was their strenuous exertions in the humid climate that caused the early demise of the horses imported from the dry climes of Western and Central Asia.
The title of the rulers of Calicut, which was derived from Samudrika.
The term Rajaputra (prince) was in use throughout northern and central India but it was among these clans, namely Chauhans, Guhilots, and Pratihars, which faced the brunt of the Islamic onslaught that the word Rajput became current and replaced the word Kshatriya.
Among these were Dantidurga who founded the Rashtrakuta power and Pulaksein who established the rule of the Chaulukya dynasty in Gujarat. These Chaulukyas were considered to be different from the Deccan Chalukyas.
The colonial historians like Elphinstone found it difficult to stomach these repeated defeats of the Arabs at a time when they had conquered lands from Spain to Iran. So they sought to explain these away by suggesting that either the Arabs were not interested in conquering India or that the Thar Desert prevented their further advance. Both of these reasons are negated by the several invasion attempts described above—in fact the organized Indian empires of the time were too powerful to be defeated by a power based in Sindh.
As a consequence in whatever new lands they first found, the inhabitants were usually called Indians.
The very next a year a vicious battle between the Arab traders, armed and equipped by the Zamorin of Calicut, and four Portuguese vessels was fought leading to the capture of the larger Muslim ships and the massacre of their crews.
Khafi Khan states, “…they are weak in fighting on the plain and use no weapon except the musket and a short sword looking lie a spit, and do not ride good horses.”
The French sent gifts to Shivaji while the Dutch were asked to remain quiet as the Marathas looted the nearby houses. A trading house of the ruler of Kashghar resisted the invaders but eventually those Central Asians took shelter in the fort of Surat while in another quarter the Ottoman traders successfully defended themselves. At the English factory a hot exchange of fire led to the loss of several Marathas and over the next few days they tried to bomb or storm the factory in revenge—ultimately they made friends with the English when the latter sent certain gifts to Shivaji.
However the conflict continued with mixed results for several generations and ended with the Cholas finally abandoning their claims over Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula.
The Sri Lankans won their independence from the Cholas in 1070 CE and one of their later kings, Parakrambahu sent a naval expedition against the rulers of southern Myanmar—here again armies were transported by ship and battles were fought on the land.
On some occasions they even resorted to piracy when their salaries were not paid by the central government.
From “Pirates of Malabar” by Biddulph.
And most of the pirates were Englishmen. On ships licensed by King Charles I, Captain Cobb and Sir William Courten engaged in acts of piracy. In a late period Captian William Kidd became a pirate even though his ship, the Adventure, had been equipped by a syndicate of English noblemen to act against the pirates of the Indian Ocean.
In desperation Aurangzeb wrote to his chief of artillery to, “ask the Feringi gunners how the pirates can be chastised and the sea-route kept open for travelers to the Holy Cities and for the traders—whether by friendliness or conciliation or by force and fighting.” | <urn:uuid:3f0803d1-dca1-44b0-846b-f1b9e5cda6e2> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://horsesandswords.blogspot.com/2006_06_01_archive.html | 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 | 0.970324 | 5,285 | 3.984375 | 4 |
Print the Blizzards reading
comprehension passage and questions (see
Students should read the passage
silently, then answer the questions. Teachers may also use the text as
part of a classroom lesson plan.
During the winter season, does it get cold where you live? If you live in the south, you may have never seen snow. If you live in the north, you may have received more than your fair share of snow. In order to make it snow it has to be cold outside. The reason the south does not get snow very often is that it does not get cold enough for snow to form.
Winter brings snow to many parts of the United States. Winter storms can be quite dangerous. If massive amounts of snow fall at one time, this is called a blizzard. All that snow can cause roads to become blocked. Sometimes it may be so bad outside that the power lines fall down.
The cold temperatures in winter can also be bad if you do not have warm weather during other times of the year. This is why it is so important to have the right clothing. During any type of cold weather, you need to keep warm, dry, and covered. This is especially true during a blizzard.
Many different elements occur during a blizzard. Some of the things you may have heard of and others you may not be sure what they are. In some storms, there is freezing rain. Freezing rain occurs when it rains and it is so cold outside that the rain freezes when it hits the ground.
Print this science worksheet for this lesson.
Includes reading passage, questions,
and answer sheet.
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| Author:||Wanda Mashburn
|System:|| Etowah County|
|School:|| Whitesboro Elementary School ||
|Lesson Plan ID:
This lesson is a fun fact gathering mission! Alabama is rich in history, museums, natural and manmade attractions, and some just plain wacky attractions. Students will work in collaborative groups to create a guide to sites in Alabama with descriptions, map locations, expenses involved, and other useful information. Come on! Let's explore Alabama!
|TC2(3-5) ||2. Use various technology applications, including word processing and multimedia software. |
|TC2(3-5) ||8. Collect information from a variety of digital sources. |
|TC2(3-5) ||9. Use technology tools to organize, interpret, and display data. |
|SS2010(4) Alabama Studies||1. Compare historical and current economic, political, and geographic information about Alabama on thematic maps, including weather and climate, physical-relief, waterway, transportation, political, economic development, land-use, and population maps. |
|SS2010(4) Alabama Studies||2. Relate reasons for European exploration and settlement in Alabama to the impact of European explorers on trade, health, and land expansion in Alabama. |
|SS2010(4) Alabama Studies||5. Describe Alabama's entry into statehood and establishment of its three branches of government and the constitutions. |
|SS2010(4) Alabama Studies||16. Determine the impact of population growth on cities, major road systems, demographics, natural resources, and the natural environment of Alabama during the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. |
|Primary Learning Objective(s):
Students will state facts about Alabama. Students will create a multimedia presentation identifying specific places in Alabama. Students will use the Internet to locate information about Alabama. Students will create a map showing specific attractions in Alabama.
|Additional Learning Objective(s):
|Approximate Duration of the Lesson:
|| Greater than 120 Minutes|
|Materials and Equipment:
Index cards, vertical files, encyclopedias, textbooks, magazines, reference/resource books, pamphlets, poster board or paper, scissors, markers or crayons, glue, road maps
|Technology Resources Needed:
Computer(s) with Internet access; printer (preferably color); word processing software; presentation software; network folder, floppy disks, or blank CDs to save work, access to scanner is desirable but not essential
This activity may be used as an opening school activity to acquaint students with their state or a year's end culmination activity. Students may need instructions on Internet use, search engines, word processing, how to cut and paste to a report or presentation software, and how to save. All students should be reminded of copyright laws and how to cite information from the World Wide Web.
Teacher should bookmark in advance the sites that are listed in order to maximize computer time.
Assign students to small groups (3-5 students, including exceptional students in each group). Each group is assigned a particular category of destinations (such as historical, entertainment, recreational/sports, cultural, educational, scenic, or unusual). Information is to be collected for a minimum of 5 destinations. The group should brainstorm places they know that fit the assigned category. The group should then browse the printed literature for confirmation of listings and find additional destinations. The group should then search Internet sites for their particular destinations, searching for the needed information. Have the group write each site on an index card including destination name, web address, reference footnotes, and other pertinent information.
Have students continue to search as needed. Then the groups should use their index cards to decide which sites they will promote. Let students revisit the Internet and/or printed literature for any additional information needed on each site and add to the index cards.
Students should locate pictures from Internet sites and/or printed sources to print, save or scan for later use. Instruct groups to create a presentation-sized map of Alabama on paper with chosen sites indicated (students may refer to reference materials and/or road maps in locating sites). Other students in the group may begin creating the multimedia presentations. Review the steps of creating a presentation before the students begin. Work closely with the groups to assist with the presentation. (The groups will need a couple of days to complete their multimedia presentations.)
Have students create an alphabetized typed list of sites to be presented (complete with pictures and map).
Have students present their multimedia presentations as well as their maps of Alabama. Use the attached rubric to grade the presentations.
)This site informs viewers of different facts about Alabama.
)This site lists many of Alabama's great attractions.
|Attachments:**Some files will display in a new window. Others will prompt you to download.
||Your Rubric Multimedia Project Alabama the Beautiful.htm|
The attached rubric will be used to assess the group presentations.
This lesson may be extended to alphabetizing or categorizing all groups' destinations and creating a digital presentation on CD of all Alabama locations to donate to the school library. To extend math skills, students could choose five favorite destinations in Alabama from the comprehensive list compiled by the class and use road maps to calculate mileage traveled to visit all five and approximate cost if traveling by car or bus.
Each area below is a direct link to general teaching strategies/classroom
for students with identified learning and/or behavior problems such as: reading
or math performance below grade level; test or classroom assignments/quizzes at
a failing level; failure to complete assignments independently; difficulty with
short-term memory, abstract concepts, staying on task, or following directions;
poor peer interaction or temper tantrums, and other learning or behavior problems.
|Presentation of Material
||Using Groups and Peers
|Assisting the Reluctant Starter
||Dealing with Inappropriate
Be sure to check the student's IEP for specific accommodations.
|Variations Submitted by ALEX Users: | <urn:uuid:13de4dee-3747-4caa-bd3f-a63ac00de78f> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://alex.state.al.us/lesson_view.php?id=11093 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397873.63/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00101-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.853074 | 1,328 | 3.578125 | 4 |
Unclean hands can spread infectious diseases, which, according to the Centers for Disease Control, are the third-leading cause of death in the United States. Every year, children miss more than 164 million school days because of illness. It is believed that these days could be reduced if children merely washed their hands properly and regularly.
Failure to wash, or insufficiently washing hands, contributes to almost 50 percent of all food-borne illness outbreaks, too. Even so, a 2005 observational study found only 83 percent of American adults washed their hands in public restrooms, even though 91 percent say they do.
More than half of the parents and guardians of schoolage children don't realize the importance of hand washing in stopping the spread of sickness. That's why the Soap and Detergent Association thinks it's time for everyone to practice good hand hygiene.
"Proper hand hygiene is one of the most effective methods to help prevent the spread of contagious and potentially dangerous diseases at school every day," says Nancy Bock, SDA's vice president of education.
A. Get a paper towel ready.
B. Turn on the water.
C. Wet your hands. To save water, you can turn off the faucet before you soap up.
D. Apply the soap, and rub the hands together with vigorous friction.
E. Pay attention to all of the fingers, in between, all around the fingernails, all the way up around the wrist. Wash for at least 30 seconds.
F. Rinse the hands.
G. Use that prepared towel to dry them and turn off the faucet.
Annette Vandy Bogurt, director of Kids Kampus day care at Lakeshore Baptist Church in Grand Haven, Michigan, encourages the children with a singalong when they wash up before and after meals and snacks.
"They like when we sing together," she says, and demonstrates: "This is the way we wash our hands, wash our hands, wash our hands..."
Soaps that make lots of bubbles encourage the children to spend more time washing, she said. And children get reminders at other times when they need to wash.
"Kids are kids. They're going to be wiping their noses and stuff like that."
For elementary students in West Michigan, a local organization is ready to supply the ABCs of proper hand washing.
Laura Arends, staff and curriculum director for Walker Medical Instructional Services, was looking for curriculum to teach adults proper hand-washing technique when she came across a program for kids. "We wondered if it wouldn't be more effective to start with the younger generation," Arends says. Soon, the GlitterBug curriculum was born.
The folks at Grandview Elementary in Grandville, Michigan, were eager participants in the fledgling program. Armed with UV lights and "lotion potion," to specially treat toys and books, Arends and a co-worker spent two days in kindergarten through fourth grade classrooms, showing kids how easily germs can be spread. "We actually talked to them about pathogens," Arends says. After students passed around the "lotion-potioned" objects children typically share, they were taught proper hand-washing procedures.
"We suggest getting a paper towel ready, turn on the water, wet your hands, apply the soap, rub the hands together with vigorous friction," says Arends. "Pay attention to all of the fingers, in between, all around the fingernails, all the way up around the wrist, at least for 30 seconds. Rinse the hands and use that prepared towel to dry them (and) turn off the faucet. Otherwise, you will re-contaminate your hands."
Once students thought their hands were sufficiently clean, out came the UV lights. And there were all the "germs" from the treated items proving to them that sufficient wasn't good enough. "The kids loved it," Principal Jean Carroll-Hamilton says. "There were several kids who thought they had washed their hands thoroughly and had to go back three or four times."
So, is the program effective? Carroll-Hamilton thinks so, noting, "My own children attend this school and I've noticed a difference at home."
Clean hands = healthier kids
A study of 305 Detroit school children found that youngsters who washed their hands four times a day had 24 percent fewer sick days caused by respiratory illness and 51 percent fewer days attributed to upset stomach than those who washed less often.
Flu shots are recommended for children over the age of six months. Call your doctor or click here to find out where to get flu shots. | <urn:uuid:3576f63a-abaa-4784-af21-f39906c4a7df> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.mlive.com/behealthy/index.ssf/2009/09/backtoschool_tips_get_germs_of.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783402746.23/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155002-00191-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968834 | 951 | 3.1875 | 3 |
The super-cold temperatures are chilly enough to have preserved ice for billions of years in the craters, according to NASA scientists.
"This is an exciting time for LRO," Richard Vondrak, who heads the solar-system exploration division at the Goddard Space Flight Institute in Greenbelt was quoted by Christian Science Monitor.
The data released said that the thermal measurements showed daytime temperature over much of the Moon's surface reach 220 degree Fahrenheit, which is hotter than boiling water before plummeting to frigidness at night.
While, the temperatures in the dark craters which never saw sunlight remained below minus 400 degrees Fahrenheit making them solar system's coldest areas.
Pluto is currently considered the coldest planet with minimum temperature ranging fron minus 391 to minus 346 degree Fahrenheit.
Launched in June, the orbiter on a one year mission officially began its mapping mission last week, orbiting the Moon some 30 miles above the surface. | <urn:uuid:c3c2983a-ba98-4055-ac1c-4c8b403ce595> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.rediff.com/news/report/moon-not-pluto-the-coldest-in-solar-system/20090928.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783400572.45/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155000-00128-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.915509 | 192 | 3.21875 | 3 |
While use of e-cigarettes is booming, they have escaped the kind of health-protecting regulations that apply to tobacco cigarettes — until now. The federal Food and Drug Administration is proposing rules that outlaw selling e-cigs to children, ban free samples, and require e-cig makers to disclose ingredients, include warning labels and prove any health claims.
E-cigarettes deliver nicotine into the lungs using water vapor, which reduces the amount of toxic chemicals a user inhales compared to smoking tobacco.
The FDA’s proposed rules are looser than those for tobacco cigarettes. The electronic version can be advertised on TV, for example, and may be offered in flavors that might make them more appealing to children. The FDA has no say over restrictions on where tobacco or e-cigarettes may be used – that’s left to state and local governments.
What’s your opinion about health rules for e-cigarettes? Vote in our poll below. | <urn:uuid:3b433480-6e6a-4264-8f5d-1f2c42dce480> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.pennlive.com/opinion/index.ssf/2014/04/should_federal_health_rules_fo.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398209.20/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00001-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.910702 | 194 | 2.59375 | 3 |
INTRODUCTION TO UNIT
Target Grade Level:
Middle School, Grades 6 - 8
In this four-lesson unit and culminating performance assessment, students will examine and analyze several historic maps of the era representing both the cultural perspectives of Euro-Americans and American Indians.
Primary sources, including maps, a video interview, objects, and other documents, will be examined. Students start by mapping their neighborhood, then organize and compare historical information from maps using diagrams and charts, and, finally, in the role of a park ranger, develop a presentation on the characteristics of Euro-American and American Indian maps. Through this investigation students will come to the deeper understanding that a map tells us a great deal about its maker.
Please note: This unit assumes that students know the "basics" of the Lewis and Clark expedition— dates, the Louisiana Purchase, major geographic features of the territory including rivers, terrain and mountain ranges, current states comprising the area of the Purchase, etc.
Explore Connections to Today for this unit.
A map tells us about both the land being described and the mapmaker.
ESSENTIAL UNIT QUESTION
What can maps tell us about places and the people who make them?
KEY KNOWLEDGE OBJECTIVES
- know Jefferson's instructions to Meriwether Lewis concerning the expedition's geographic mission
- know that historical documents and maps are primary sources on which our interpretation of the past is partially based
- identify some of the major characteristics of nineteenth-century Euro-American and American Indian maps
KEY SKILL OBJECTIVES
- summarize the geographic goals of the Lewis and Clark expedition
- analyze a historical document, for the purpose of better understanding the intentions of its writer and the historical context in which it was written
- compare American Indian and Euro-American maps | <urn:uuid:626929df-a6af-4c8c-8b58-ea82b62af32d> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.lewisandclarkexhibit.org/4_0_0/page_4_1_2_1_0.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396106.25/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00180-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.90521 | 371 | 4.375 | 4 |
Is there scientific evidence for the phenomenon called love? What are the roles of science and religion in helping us to define it? Asking these questions can point out the inadequacies of both science and religion in helping us to see ourselves and our role in the universe truly.
See if you agree with this thought-provoking commentary:
Love is that which helps us to understand the truth about ourselves and our possibilities. Are there people and teachings, methods and disciplines, ideas, forms of organization and community pattern, attitudes toward death, sex, material goods, children, time and every other concern of human life which can awaken in us an ableness to hear and understand sacred ideas?
Religion has failed us by assuming that we have the ability to understand and take in the great teachings of the past. It fails by assuming that as we are, we are able to receive the love of which it speaks.
Science–especially psychology–is a reaction to this blindness of modern religion, a reaction that takes us far over to the other direction by assuming that there is no help for man “out there.” In moving to that extreme, in denying the existence of higher levels of intelligence in the external universe, it never finds its way to search for these same levels within man himself, levels of receptivity, organs of intelligence which can mirror in microcosm the laws of a conscious universe.
The error of humanism–the error of modern psychology–is not that it seeks for help within man alone, but that it so radically underestimates just what it is that can be found within man. But to glimpse such high possibilities in ourselves it is necessary to have a system of cosmology, a metaphysics, that communicates the existence in reality of these levels. Otherwise we are stranded with undeniable fact that, as we are, we are totally cut off from the great cosmos. Psychology underestimates what we can become; modern religion overestimates what we are.
Adapted from A Sense of the Cosmos, by Jacob Needleman (Monkfish Book Publishing, 2003). Copyright (c) 2003 by Jacob Needleman. Reprinted by permission of Monkfish Book Publishing.
Adapted from A Sense of the Cosmos, by Jacob Needleman (Monkfish Book Publishing, 2003). | <urn:uuid:3e79c552-3275-40bb-b6b1-e919d82f9530> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.care2.com/greenliving/a-definition-of-love.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783399425.79/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154959-00087-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948175 | 467 | 2.609375 | 3 |
|By Louis Imershein||
|February 17, 2014 11:00 AM EST||
The initial wave of data efficiency features for primary storage focus on silos of information organized in terms of individual file systems. Deduplication and compression features provided by some vendors are limited by the scalability of those underlying file systems, essentially the file systems have become silos of optimized data. For example, NetApp deduplication can't scale beyond a 100 TB limit, because that's the limit in size of its WAFL file system. But ask anyone who's ever used NetApp deduplication if they've done it on a 100 TB file system, and you're likely to hear "are you crazy?" It's one thing to claim that data efficiency features can scale, quite a different one to actually use them with performance at scale.
Challenges around scalability generally center on two areas: scalability of random IO and memory overhead. Older solutions, like the one from NetApp, face the first challenge while newer flash-based storage systems are struggling with the second. I'll review both here:
The IO Challenge
Primary data-oriented storage devices handle both streaming and random throughput and therefore are sensitive to latency effects. Data efficiency requirements for primary storage must have fast hashing techniques to reduce the impact of latency. Fast hashes are non-cryptographic in nature and so require data comparison when used to do deduplication. It works like this:
- When a new chunk of data is read in it is first given a name using the hash algorithm.
- The system then checks a deduplication index to see if a chunk with that name has been seen before (note that this can consume disk IO and tremendous amounts of memory if done wrong).
- If the name has been seen we need to take extra steps. Because fast hashes are non-cryptographic, it is possible to have a name match while the data content differs. This is known in computer science as a hash-collision. To account for this, the existing copy of the chunk must be read in and compared bit-by-bit to the new. If they match, only a reference to the chunk is created. If not, then the new chunk must be written.
Essentially, this form of deduplication means trading a write of a duplicate chunk for a read. Depending on the design of the underlying block virtualization layer, duplicate chunks may be widely dispersed throughout the system. In that case, the bigger the system gets, the more expensive reads get - so processing of duplicate data becomes slower and slower as the storage system fills - this is why you won't find many 100 TB NetApp file systems with deduplication turned on. Certainly not for primary storage applications, the system would be flooded with random read requests and NetApp's deduplication process can end up taking months, years or even never complete.
A number of techniques have been used to reduce the impact of IO in other products. For example, the Hitachi NAS (HNAS) and Hitachi Unified Storage (HUS) solutions from HDS make use of hardware-acceleration to generate cryptographically secure hashes that do not require a data compare at all - this allows for linear scaling of deduplication performance on volumes up to 256 TB in size. Data is also written out before it is deduplicated to avoid introducing any latency through the hash computation process itself.
Permabit's own Albireo Virtual Data Optimizer (VDO) product, a plug-in module for Linux-based storage solutions, takes a different approach but with a similar result. VDO works inline to provide immediate data reduction. When data is written out, the VDO process intelligently lays it out in a sequential pattern, so that subsequent read compares of duplicates are more likely to be sequential as well. Both solutions do a fine job at solving the problem in real world scenarios, they just take different approaches.
The Memory Challenge
Many of today's flash array vendors are providing deduplication using similar fast hashing techniques to what I outlined above. With flash, the cost of doing random reads for read compares is a non-issue (random seeks on flash are much less expensive than for hard drive environments) so the use of the fast hash alone is enough to minimize latency. These systems (such as EMC's recently launched XtremIO product) are focused on delivering performance and the big challenge to performance at scale is available memory (DRAM). As above, after chunks are read in, they are named using a fast hashing algorithm. After that, the flash system must determine whether or not a chunk has been seen before. To get at this information as quickly as possible, flash-based storage systems have tended to use huge amounts of DRAM to cache chunk names in memory. It's not uncommon to see flash storage systems that allocate 16 GB of working cache per TB of storage. To support a 256 TB storage volume, such a system would require a TBs of DRAM. The increased hard costs in terms of more expensive (denser) DIMMS, as well as the increased cost of the server board required to support this many DIMMs combine to make this an extremely costly and unpopular proposition. Combine this with the fact that DRAM prices are not falling at the same rate as flash prices, and you can see why no vendor today makes a 256TB flash storage array with global deduplication capabilities.
The solution to the memory challenge is coming, in the form of a next generation of flash storage products that utilize Albireo indexing and Albireo VDO. Unlike the flash arrays described above, flash-optimized arrays with VDO takes advantage of advanced caching techniques to operate with 128 MB of working cache per TB of storage and deliver excellent performance. With VDO, a 256 TB system can be delivered with as little as 32 GB of RAM while delivering 1M IOPS performance. The net result is a cost effective and easily deployed data efficiency solution for flash arrays.
Deduplication Scalability by Vendor
As you can see in the table above, forward thinking vendors like HDS have done a good job at overcoming limitations in their data efficiency features and have products on the market today that can scale to meet the requirements of the large enterprise. Many other vendors are lagging behind, because of their inability to address IO and/or memory requirements, a serious downfall since data efficiency is at the core of distinguishing storage solutions, a critical end user requirement, and a ‘must have' component for 2014. Permabit's VDO product overcomes both of these limitations through the use of advanced memory-efficient caching techniques.
Internet of @ThingsExpo, taking place November 1-3, 2016, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA, is co-located with the 19th International Cloud Expo and will feature technical sessions from a rock star conference faculty and the leading industry players in the world and ThingsExpo Silicon Valley Call for Papers is now open.
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Machine Learning helps make complex systems more efficient. By applying advanced Machine Learning techniques such as Cognitive Fingerprinting, wind project operators can utilize these tools to learn from collected data, detect regular patterns, and optimize their own operations. In his session at 18th Cloud Expo, Stuart Gillen, Director of Business Development at SparkCognition, discussed how research has demonstrated the value of Machine Learning in delivering next generation analytics to imp...
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SYS-CON Events announced today that ReadyTalk, a leading provider of online conferencing and webinar services, has been named Vendor Presentation Sponsor at the 19th International Cloud Expo, which will take place on November 1–3, 2016, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA. ReadyTalk delivers audio and web conferencing services that inspire collaboration and enable the Future of Work for today’s increasingly digital and mobile workforce. By combining intuitive, innovative tec...
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Amazon has gradually rolled out parts of its IoT offerings, but these are just the tip of the iceberg. In addition to optimizing their backend AWS offerings, Amazon is laying the ground work to be a major force in IoT - especially in the connected home and office. In his session at @ThingsExpo, Chris Kocher, founder and managing director of Grey Heron, explained how Amazon is extending its reach to become a major force in IoT by building on its dominant cloud IoT platform, its Dash Button strat...
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Connected devices and the industrial internet are growing exponentially every year with Cisco expecting 50 billion devices to be in operation by 2020. In this period of growth, location-based insights are becoming invaluable to many businesses as they adopt new connected technologies. Knowing when and where these devices connect from is critical for a number of scenarios in supply chain management, disaster management, emergency response, M2M, location marketing and more. In his session at @Th...
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The cloud market growth today is largely in public clouds. While there is a lot of spend in IT departments in virtualization, these aren’t yet translating into a true “cloud” experience within the enterprise. What is stopping the growth of the “private cloud” market? In his general session at 18th Cloud Expo, Nara Rajagopalan, CEO of Accelerite, explored the challenges in deploying, managing, and getting adoption for a private cloud within an enterprise. What are the key differences between wh...
Jun. 24, 2016 11:15 AM EDT Reads: 560
It is one thing to build single industrial IoT applications, but what will it take to build the Smart Cities and truly society changing applications of the future? The technology won’t be the problem, it will be the number of parties that need to work together and be aligned in their motivation to succeed. In his Day 2 Keynote at @ThingsExpo, Henrik Kenani Dahlgren, Portfolio Marketing Manager at Ericsson, discussed how to plan to cooperate, partner, and form lasting all-star teams to change t...
Jun. 24, 2016 11:00 AM EDT Reads: 921
In his keynote at 18th Cloud Expo, Andrew Keys, Co-Founder of ConsenSys Enterprise, provided an overview of the evolution of the Internet and the Database and the future of their combination – the Blockchain. Andrew Keys is Co-Founder of ConsenSys Enterprise. He comes to ConsenSys Enterprise with capital markets, technology and entrepreneurial experience. Previously, he worked for UBS investment bank in equities analysis. Later, he was responsible for the creation and distribution of life sett...
Jun. 24, 2016 10:30 AM EDT Reads: 846
19th Cloud Expo, taking place November 1-3, 2016, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA, will feature technical sessions from a rock star conference faculty and the leading industry players in the world. Cloud computing is now being embraced by a majority of enterprises of all sizes. Yesterday's debate about public vs. private has transformed into the reality of hybrid cloud: a recent survey shows that 74% of enterprises have a hybrid cloud strategy. Meanwhile, 94% of enterpri...
Jun. 24, 2016 09:45 AM EDT Reads: 1,140
SYS-CON Events announced today that Bsquare has been named “Silver Sponsor” of SYS-CON's @ThingsExpo, which will take place on November 1–3, 2016, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA. For more than two decades, Bsquare has helped its customers extract business value from a broad array of physical assets by making them intelligent, connecting them, and using the data they generate to optimize business processes.
Jun. 24, 2016 09:30 AM EDT Reads: 1,091
There are several IoTs: the Industrial Internet, Consumer Wearables, Wearables and Healthcare, Supply Chains, and the movement toward Smart Grids, Cities, Regions, and Nations. There are competing communications standards every step of the way, a bewildering array of sensors and devices, and an entire world of competing data analytics platforms. To some this appears to be chaos. In this power panel at @ThingsExpo, moderated by Conference Chair Roger Strukhoff, Bradley Holt, Developer Advocate a...
Jun. 24, 2016 09:30 AM EDT Reads: 561
Internet of @ThingsExpo, taking place November 1-3, 2016, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA, is co-located with 19th Cloud Expo and will feature technical sessions from a rock star conference faculty and the leading industry players in the world. The Internet of Things (IoT) is the most profound change in personal and enterprise IT since the creation of the Worldwide Web more than 20 years ago. All major researchers estimate there will be tens of billions devices - comp...
Jun. 24, 2016 08:45 AM EDT Reads: 1,091
There is little doubt that Big Data solutions will have an increasing role in the Enterprise IT mainstream over time. Big Data at Cloud Expo - to be held November 1-3, 2016, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA - has announced its Call for Papers is open. Cloud computing is being adopted in one form or another by 94% of enterprises today. Tens of billions of new devices are being connected to The Internet of Things. And Big Data is driving this bus. An exponential increase is...
Jun. 24, 2016 08:45 AM EDT Reads: 1,186
A strange thing is happening along the way to the Internet of Things, namely far too many devices to work with and manage. It has become clear that we'll need much higher efficiency user experiences that can allow us to more easily and scalably work with the thousands of devices that will soon be in each of our lives. Enter the conversational interface revolution, combining bots we can literally talk with, gesture to, and even direct with our thoughts, with embedded artificial intelligence, wh...
Jun. 24, 2016 08:30 AM EDT Reads: 760
Cloud computing is being adopted in one form or another by 94% of enterprises today. Tens of billions of new devices are being connected to The Internet of Things. And Big Data is driving this bus. An exponential increase is expected in the amount of information being processed, managed, analyzed, and acted upon by enterprise IT. This amazing is not part of some distant future - it is happening today. One report shows a 650% increase in enterprise data by 2020. Other estimates are even higher....
Jun. 24, 2016 08:15 AM EDT Reads: 1,169
Cognitive Computing is becoming the foundation for a new generation of solutions that have the potential to transform business. Unlike traditional approaches to building solutions, a cognitive computing approach allows the data to help determine the way applications are designed. This contrasts with conventional software development that begins with defining logic based on the current way a business operates. In her session at 18th Cloud Expo, Judith S. Hurwitz, President and CEO of Hurwitz & ...
Jun. 24, 2016 08:15 AM EDT Reads: 1,396
In his general session at 18th Cloud Expo, Lee Atchison, Principal Cloud Architect and Advocate at New Relic, discussed cloud as a ‘better data center’ and how it adds new capacity (faster) and improves application availability (redundancy). The cloud is a ‘Dynamic Tool for Dynamic Apps’ and resource allocation is an integral part of your application architecture, so use only the resources you need and allocate /de-allocate resources on the fly.
Jun. 24, 2016 07:30 AM EDT Reads: 941
The 19th International Cloud Expo has announced that its Call for Papers is open. Cloud Expo, to be held November 1-3, 2016, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA, brings together Cloud Computing, Big Data, Internet of Things, DevOps, Digital Transformation, Microservices and WebRTC to one location. With cloud computing driving a higher percentage of enterprise IT budgets every year, it becomes increasingly important to plant your flag in this fast-expanding business opportuni...
Jun. 24, 2016 07:15 AM EDT Reads: 1,141
industrial company for a multi-year contract initially valued at over $4.0 million. In addition to DataV software, Bsquare will also provide comprehensive systems integration, support and maintenance services. DataV leverages advanced data analytics, predictive reasoning, data-driven diagnostics, and automated orchestration of remediation actions in order to improve asset uptime while reducing service and warranty costs.
Jun. 22, 2016 11:00 AM EDT Reads: 1,328
Vidyo, Inc., has joined the Alliance for Open Media. The Alliance for Open Media is a non-profit organization working to define and develop media technologies that address the need for an open standard for video compression and delivery over the web. As a member of the Alliance, Vidyo will collaborate with industry leaders in pursuit of an open and royalty-free AOMedia Video codec, AV1. Vidyo’s contributions to the organization will bring to bear its long history of expertise in codec technolo...
Jun. 19, 2016 12:45 PM EDT Reads: 1,218 | <urn:uuid:7625ade9-34fb-4092-ac69-e4b32717d03c> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://virtualization.sys-con.com/node/2967650 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783392099.27/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154952-00042-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930342 | 3,664 | 2.6875 | 3 |
http://www.preyerplanning.com/images/cavernpics/caverns-skyline-anthodites-02.jpg-one example of an Anthodite formation. This picture was taken in Skyline Caverns, which is one of the only public places you can view them. The picture below is also another photo taken from Skyline Caverns of the "Reflecting Pool", an optical illusion which forces the viewer to believe the pool of water is many feet deep, when it is only a few inches deep.
The shot above is another example of the unique Anthodites of Skyline Caverns. The shot below is an example of a helictite.
This is an Aragonite formation found in Lechuguilla near Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico. Aragonite is similar to Calcite except for the crystalline structure. Calcite crystals tend to be tooth-like while Aragonite is long and needle like. Both are made up of Calcium Carbonate (CaCO3). The shot below also from Lechuguilla Caverns are bottlebrush formations. Bottlebrushes form when Stalagtites are in water for extended lengths of time. If the pool becomes supersaturated (much more solute which is Calcite than solvent which is water), then the Stalagtite becomes coated with Pool Spar, crystals that grow underwater, or as in the case below with mammaries. Lechuguilla Cave is the deepest cave in the United States.
A Bottlebrush formation with Pool Spar.
Ohio Caverns are located in West Liberty, Ohio. Ohio Caverns are unique because the stalagtites and stalagmites are formed by pure calcite which gives them it's white appearance. The picture below is Crystal Lake. It is a basin formed in Mammoth Cave in Kentucky. Mammoth Cave is the longest, but not the deepest cave in the world.
In Almeria, Spain a giant cave of gypsum was discovered. The cave was formed about six million years ago when the Mediterrean Sea evaporated and left these huge deposits salts that have formed into a 8 meter by 1.7 meter geode. The Spanish government is concerned about theft and has posted guards near the cave. The photos above and below can be found here.
Snotites are one of the few cave formations not developed by Calcite, Aragonite or even Carbonic Acid. According to Stephen Marshak, who wrote Essentials Of Geology, "Colonies of bacteria metabolize in sulfur-containing minerals in warm water. They create thick mats of living ooze in the complete darkness of the cave. Long gobs of this bacteria slowly drip from the ceiling" (Marshak 456). Snotites earn their name because of the mucus-like texture. The pictures above and below are snotites found in Cueva De Luz, Mexico.
Unique Cave Formations
Introduction- Spaleothems are defined as naturally occuring mineral cave depositions. The most common are stalagmites, which are columns that form from the bottom up and stalactites, which build from the top down. There are other uncommon types of spaleothems that occur such as soda straws, bacon, helictites and cave pearls. One extremely rare spaleothem formation are called anthodites. In the states of Virginia, Missouri, and Texas all of these formations are so rare that they are protected by law.
Geologic Processes- In order to understand how cave formations form, we must understand how the cavern itself is formed. Caverns are formed when either rain, runoff rain water or surface water goes into the topsoil or A-Horizon. Then Carbonic Acid and Carbon Dioxide mix with the soil when plants grow. This forms an acid that is literally cutting and eats away at the limestone to form cracks in it, much in the same way that water forces cracks to open in frost wedging. This geologic process is a type of chemical weathering.
Courtesy of http://www.bhs.berkeley.k12.ca.us/staff/lamosslee/mcnp/
Bacon or Curtain Formations- Bacon formations are spaleothems that are thin sheets of Calcite and Iron Oxide that are deposited by water and drips from ceilings. Water is the main factor in forming bacon strips and will make a drapery formation when more and more water is left behind. These forms the orange and brown alternating bands that are make the bacon formations it's appearance. The orange and brown coloring is formed by Iron Oxide. If water continues to drop then stalagmites will form. The picture below shows a typical bacon formation.
This is a typical example of a bacon formation.
Soda Straw Formations- Soda Straws are a unique type of stalagtites that form when Carbon Dioxide gas reacts with the Calcite in caves. When this happens many rings of Calcite and form hollowlike tubes from these fragile spaleothems. If Soda Straw formations end up blocking each other during the growth of the cave, they will eventually form into a stalagtite.
Soda Straws in Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico.
Cave-pearl formations-These formations are usually seen in younger or underdeveloped caves and caverns such as Luray and Endless Caverns in Virginia. William McGill a former state of Virginia state geologist expresses his theories on these formations. "Cave-pearls were probably formed by the crystallization of Calcium Carbonate around impurities in evaporating water. When broken they are found to be hollow and show radial structure" (McGill 133). Cave-pearls also are formed under water in shallow pools and basins. Then they are rounded by the constant rubbing against each other in water.
A formation of Cave Pearls.
Helictites are also a very interesting cave formation. These form depending on the impurities in water trickling along stalagtites and bacon formations, and end up growing like mistletoe. The factors that influence it's growth are changes in direction, humidity, temperature, and volume (McGill 121). There are many strange helictites including beet-shaped and potato-shaped ones. They also form when crystallization of calcium carbonate that have impurities or the condensation of water that does drip that also contain impurites. Below is a very unique formation of a helictite.
Anthodites are extremely rare cave formations that form in limestone caves such as Skyline Caverns in Virginia. Anthodites are named after it's Greek origin which means "flower-like" because of the thin crystal like segments growing from the base and they resemble stone flowers. Anthodites are extemely fragile and in places were they are publicly displayed, nets are placed to protect these rare formations. In the state of Missouri, a law called the "Cave Resource Act" protects the Anthodites and are protectedby the law as if were endangered species.
It is generally believed that Anthodites are formed out of a different crystalline form of Limestone (CaCO3) and is called Aragonite. Aragonite is unique because unlike Calcite which crystallizes in hexagonal (six-sided) form, Aragonite crystallizes in octahedral form, which is eight-sided.
An impressive and close-up view of Anthodites.
Products of the Geologic Process- Cavern formations produce a usual and most likely product and that is the collapse of a cave. Eventually the ceiling of caverns gets so heavy that it no longer can support the columns, stalactites, and other formations. A sinkhole is created and sediments are deposited on it or vegetation will grow upon it. Some are so deep or close to sea level that a lake will form. In some places the lake will evaporate and may form gypsum beds or playa lakes.
Impacts- The most obvious impact about cave formations is opportunity to make a quick buck here and there. Ever since these caves were first discovered tourist from around the United States have come to visit these caves and caverns such as Luray, Skyline, Ozark and Mammoth. Geologists and enviromentalists alike have pressured state governments to protect formations so that caves may continue to grow. Many states such as Texas and Virginia have already issued state laws that protect formations so that they might be available for future generations. Another impact is spaleology research. New findings are constantly being discovered. One finding is in the formation of cave coral trace amounts of opal were found in Wind Cave in South Dakota (Tullis 265). That is what makes caves so interesting.
9. McGill, William. Caverns Of Virginia. State Commission on Conservation and Development. Richmond, Virginia. 1933
11. Marshak, Stephen. Essentials of Geology. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. 2004.
12. Tullis, Edward. The Black Hills Engineer. Black Hill Caves. South Dakota State School of Mines. Rapid City, South Dakota. 1938. | <urn:uuid:35571a08-5a41-4dd4-82be-7a491c3f8fef> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://legacy.earlham.edu/%7Ebrizeja/caveformations.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783391634.7/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154951-00172-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947151 | 1,914 | 2.96875 | 3 |
- Buyers Guide
The design and modeling of microscale electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) is a unique engineering discipline. At small length scales, designs must consider the effects of several physical phenomena. For example: electromagnetic-structural, thermal-structural, and fluid-structural interactions (FSI) are typical issues in the design of resonators, sensors, actuators, piezoelectric, and microfluidics systems.
The MEMS Module solves problems that couple structural mechanics, microfluidics, and electromagnetics. These physics can be solved individually, or in any arbitrary combination. Special formulations exist for electrostatic actuation, piezoelectrics, microfluidics, thin film damping, FSI, joule heating with thermal expansion, two-phase flow, and others. Lumped parameter extraction and connection to external electrical circuits via SPICE netlist is made easy. Built upon the core capabilities of COMSOL Multiphysics, the MEMS Module can be used to address almost all simulations in the microscale domain.
See more from us in our Buyers Guide directory listing. | <urn:uuid:a779f11f-e8f2-4a64-9984-0a2ddcb64f97> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.microwavejournal.com/articles/16379 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395992.75/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00006-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.808412 | 237 | 2.640625 | 3 |
The notions of sustainable design and energy efficiency first entered global consciousness following the energy shortages of the 1970s and 1980s. Influenced by ideas of energy independence, many designers in Europe and North America sought ideas and strategies that could help create energy-efficient buildings and cities. As they searched for design solutions, some researched the environmentally responsive elements of traditional architecture, while others developed new solutions that employ modern technologies and high performance materials.
As the energy crisis subsided, the building industry in North America returned to business as usual, allowing its European counterpart – which emphasized technological solutions – to take a lead. But with the revival of global interest in sustainability – this time driven by both environmental and energy concerns – the dormant dialogue between the two approaches to sustainable design returned to play a role in shaping the global sustainability agenda. Oscillating between advocates of passive design and proponents of technological solutions, this dialogue continues to enrich the discourse on the future of sustainable design and development
Regional Drivers of Sustainability: Past and Present
In the Middle East however, this dialogue took on a form that reflected the region’s climatic and socio-economic context. Like other hot and dry climates, many parts of the Middle East have a heritage of traditional architecture that featured environmentally responsive cooling strategies, a heritage that was largely ignored during the region’s colonial period. As the region transitioned into independent nation states, its post-colonial period was characterized by a strong sense of national identity and an urgent need for nation building. But this desire for development
was undermined by the lack of local industrial and technological bases. In this challenging socio-economic context, the limited discourse on sustainable design inevitably adopted the notion of appropriate technology – a common notion at the time which suggested modern complex technologies should not be used if simpler technologies would suffice – and saw traditional architecture as an essential source of inspiration.
As notions of climate change and sustainability became part of global discourse in the 1990s, they slowly found their way to the region’s national agendas. But the current forces behind the region’s sustainability agendas are different from those of the post- colonial period and are also distinct from the European and North American forces which emphasize the need to reduce carbon emissions and conserve resources while maintaing economic development and human welfare.
Instead, the education, discourse and practice of sustainability in the Middle East are driven by a convergence of pressing issues that collectively demand a more efficient and sustainable use of resources. These drivers are: high domestic energy use, diminishing water resources, a desire to demonstrate environmental stewardship and commercial development pressures. Prime amongst these forces is domestic energy use. While the region historically enjoyed an abundance of cheap subsidized energy – especially in resource-rich countries – the rapid growth of its urban centers and its domestic consumption has resulted in increasing strains on its economies and energy infrastructures. Saudi Arabia, for example is estimated to use a third of its oil production to satisfy domestic energy needs, a ratio that is expected to rise to approximately 50% by 2030, if growing consumption patterns do not change. These rising, and even wasteful, consumption patterns are also compounded with the prospects of a peak in oil production and a strong public resistance to any reduction in energy subsidies. Thus, faced with limited policy options to reverse the consumption patterns that their subsidies have created and to avoid long term economic crises, regional policy-makers turned to energy use in buildings, given its high cost-effectiveness, and encouraged energy efficiency in residential and commercial buildings.
Equally important to energy use is water scarcity. While the region has the lowest renewable freshwater resources per capita and many of its countries rely on non-renewable aquifers or on energy-intensive desalination for their water supply, its wasteful water consumption patterns do not reflect this scarcity or the high cost of desalination. Egypt for example – which for decades enjoyed the use of two thirds of the Nile’s water – is expected to face water shortages by 2017. Abu Dhabi on the other hand, which has almost no fresh water resources, uses more than half of its domestic energy consumption in water desalination. As water crises looms, Middle East nations are beginning to reconsider their water consumption patterns.
The desire to demonstrate environmental stewardship by some governments and organizations comes next as a driver for sustainable design in the region. Governments seeking to diversify their economies, encourage sustainable development, or even gain political legitimacy, are increasingly embarking on large scale projects that adopt sustainable design. Similarly, commercially-driven developers keen on competing in the global market are increasingly experimenting with buildings that can be marketed as being green.
As might be expected, as the regional impetus for sustainability changed over the years, the dominant approaches to sustainable design have also changed to reflect this impetus. This resulted in the development of three approaches to sustainable design in the region: a revivalist approach, a progressive approach, and a hybrid approach.
The Revivalist Approach
As noted above, the initial discourse and practice of sustainable design in the Middle East revolved around strategies, techniques, and elements adopted from traditional architecture.
This revivalist approach to sustainable design dominated the architectural discourse in education and practice and for many years appropriated all notions of sustainable and energy-efficient design.
Much of this revivalist dominance is attributed to the work of the late Egyptian architect, Hassan Fathy (1900-1989). Fathy – together with his disciples – developed an approach to sustainable design which relied on the use of local, low-impact materials and traditional environmentally-responsive design strategies such as shading, natural ventilation, evaporative cooling, thermal mass and microclimatic elements (such as courtyards). As a result of their work – and in spite of the disparity in their focus on energy efficiency and their ability to apply these strategies successfully – they were collectively credited with reviving long forgotten traditional knowledge.
Their approach to energy-efficient design, however, was characterized with a number of flaws that proved detrimental to their success. These flaws include the formulaic use of traditional design elements; an exclusive use of appropriate technology that bordered on rejection of modern technology; a prescriptive use of low comfort levels; and a ‘master architect’ approach to design that failed to seek essential interdisciplinary collaboration. Thus, in spite of the revivalists’ claims that their designs were as environmentally-responsive as traditional architecture – and are therefore inherently energy efficient, the performance of their built projects – such as the New Bariz Village Market in Egypt’s western desert and the Kafr Elgouna Resort in Hurghada – failed to live up to the ideals they espoused. So with the advent of the global sustainability movement, the role of the revivalists in practice diminished, giving way to the emergence of two new approaches, a progressive approach and a hybrid approach.
The progressive approach
Practitioners of the progressive approach seek to use the latest technologies to achieve energy-efficient buildings, a design approach that is diametrically opposite to the revivalist approach.
Progressives appear to be more concerned with technology transfer than appropriate technology and have almost no interest in lessons learned from local traditional design. To achieve their energy targets, their designs rely on shading and technologies such as high-performance glazing, efficient cooling systems, and integrated renewable energy system. As such, they are largely dependent on foreign industrial bases to supply solutions for local and regional design challenges. Their subscription to narrow comfort standards has also minimized their passive design options by encouraging ‘sealed-envelope’ designs and by excluding strategies such as natural ventilation.
A limited number of buildings that belong to this approach emerged over the last 20 years around the Gulf region. Most prominent amongst which is the World Trade Center tower in Bahrain (by Atkins), which incorporates three large wind turbines, and the Al Faisaliah Tower in Riyadh (by Foster and Partners), which features high performance facades and complex and efficient cooling systems. Affiliated with this approach is also the National Commercial Bank in Jeddah (by SOM) and the plethora of unbuilt schemes that emerged in the years preceding the recent economic downturn. These unbuilt schemes, such as the DIFC Lighthouse Tower (by Atkins) and Burj Al-Taqa in Dubai (by Gerber Architekten), have all promised great energy performance through a mix of efficient cooling and lighting systems, and on-site renewable energy generation. The emergence of this approach coincided with a predominant lack of understanding of sustainable design amongst local design professionals. This lack of sustainability knowledge prevented them from taking a leading role in the design process in spite of their local knowledge, which created a vacuum for foreign – and especially European – designers to fill. As a result, projects that belong to this approach often appeared to emulate the European approach to energy-efficient design. Not only do their designs emphasize building envelope and efficient active systems, but they also appear to adopt design strategies such as extensive glazing that were developed for colder climates and even subscribe to European high-tech aesthetics.
This imported nature of the progressive approach raises concerns not only regarding its appropriateness to the region’s climate, but also regarding the general sustainability of reliance on imported technologies and the practicality of maintaining imported systems.
The Hybrid Approach
As its name indicates, the hybrid approach represents an attempt to combine the revivalist and progressive approaches. As a fairly new approach that first appeared in the early years of the twenty first century in the UAE, Egypt and Jordan, it promises to be the most balanced of all three approaches. Its advocates claim to combine principles learned from traditional architecture with modern technologies to reduce the environmental impact of development while maintaining acceptable comfort levels. Practitioners of the hybrid approach often combine the use of passive ventilation and cooling strategies with the need to maintain thermal comfort throughout the year.
Buildings that belong to this category, for example, balance the use of shading and thermal mass with envelope insulation, and balance natural ventilation – using elements such as wind towers and solar chimneys – with the use of efficient cooling systems, as is the case in the King Abdullah University for Science and Technology (by HOK), the new campus of the American University in Cairo (by Community Design Collaborative, Sasaki, and others) and the Masdar Institute for Science and Technology (by Foster and Partners). Water use has also been given its due attention in this approach with water conservation measures becoming an integral part of its design strategies.
Advocates of this approach are also distinct in their attitude towards of the role of renewable energy in design. Unlike the revivalists, who generally steer away from renewables, and the progressives, who often place renewables at the heart of their sustainability strategies, the hybrid approach practitioners have adopted a balanced approach towards renewables. Armed with the now-common knowledge of the relative cost effectiveness of energy efficiency measures, they consider renewables as a last resort measure to be used after exhausting the use of passive design strategies and efficient active systems.
Such notions of combining passive strategies with efficient systems and renewables and using adaptive comfort models may suggest that this approach merely represents a local manifestation of the direction in which global sustainable design is currently heading. However, the local design solutions produced by this approach in response to its climate and socio-economic context asserts its distinctly regional nature. In addition, the hybrid nature of this approach has often necessitated a collaboration between local and foreign designers to combine local knowledge with global expertise. This dialogue occasionally facilitates knowledge transfer and supports the development of a generation of local design professionals that understand sustainable design in their local context.
The Regional Players
As varied as the approaches to sustainability are, as is the nature of the stakeholders pushing its agenda forward. This variety in players reflects the political and socio-economic realities of the countries in which they operate. In countries where there is a relatively strong civil society such as Jordan and Lebanon, sustainability has been championed by NGOs and professional associations, who work at grassroots level to create awareness, build organizations such as green building councils and empower professionals through education. In countries with strong central bureaucracies, on the other hand, players tend to emerge from within the government’s research and educational institutions. Egypt represents a prime example of this category, where its green building council forms part of a government body and its efforts to promote sustainability focus on developing policy and enforcement measure such as energy efficiency standards and rating systems.
Between these two extremes lies a variety of conditions. These conditions include professionals establishing green building councils in parallel to governmental efforts to develop energy codes, as is the case in Dubai, Saudi Arabia and Morocco. They also include combinations of government-backed and commercially-backed organizations as is the case in Qatar and Abu Dhabi.
In the Qatari case, the government funded Green Building Council acts as an advocate for sustainability while the commercially-funded, Gulf Organization for Research and Development develops and promotes a green building rating system. Similarly, the Estidama initiative in Abu Dhabi was created by the municipal Urban Planning Council to develop sustainable design guides and a mandatory rating system. Simultaneously, the government supported the creation of commercial entities such as the Masdar Initiative, which acts as a catalyst for sustainable development through its investments in renewable energy and pilot projects. These pilot projects include the master plan for Masdar City and a number of key buildings planned for its centre.
But while the government-backed Masdar Initiative is a regional leader, it is certainly not alone in investing in sustainable design. In recent years, several institutions have invested in creating excellent examples of sustainable design. These examples include higher education campuses such a the American university in Cairo, the American University in Beirut and the King Abdullah University for Science and Technology. They also include schools such as Lycée Charles De Gaulle in Damascus and a small number of civic buildings, residential developments and private residences.
While the list above may suggest that sustainable design has spread into many sectors around the region, it also suggests that its manifestations remain limited not only quantitatively, but also qualitatively to high profile clients for whom financial return is not the only concern. This is evident in the lack of examples from profit-driven developments such as commercial offices and hospitality facilities, or from cost sensitive projects such as medium to low cost housing.
Notwithstanding the recent interest in social sustainability around the Middle East and despite research efforts to combine sustainable design with low cost housing in Egypt, not one project has yet emerged that addresses large scale housing or successfully integrates sustainable design within a local economic and social sustainability agenda. These observations raise questions on the viability of sustainable design in the region and suggests that there are challenges preventing it from becoming part of mainstream industry and design practice.
As one might expect, the region’s environmental challenges are at the top of this list of challenges. Since moderating indoor environments effectively in this challenging climate requires a substantial reduction in heat and solar gain and an optimization of cooling, sustainable design here often requires a combination of passive and active cooling strategies to achieve acceptable comfort levels. This combination often creates ‘radical’ designs that pose additional programmatic and cost challenges, and occasionally produce design forms that are unwelcome by some developers and occupants in the region. Integrating a mixed- mode ventilation and cooling strategy, for example, has associated capital costs that might not be appropriate for every project’s funding model. Similarly, while it is an established fact that in order to reduce solar heat gain it is preferable to limit the use of glazing, many developers and occupants are unwilling to accept any design form that does not feature excessive glazing. As a result, it has become common for design teams to abandon their ambitious sustainability aspirations during the design process, occasionally resigning themselves to the use of standard mechanical systems.
There are also economical challenges to sustainable design, with energy subsidies that act as a disincentive for energy efficiency and a construction industry that is reluctant to adopt sustainability standards due to its concerns about supply chain changes and increased capital costs. Challenges also exist within the design process. Confusion amongst local designers on which sustainable design approach to adopt, coupled with a lack of region-specific knowledge in architecture education, and consequently amongst local design professionals, has prevented local designers from taking a leading role in the sustainable design process.
But while these challenges may appear daunting, the varied efforts taking place in the region may indicate that the tide is turning – albeit slowly – towards sustainable design in the Middle East. An increasing collaboration with foreign architects, coupled with a recent interest in sustainable design amongst young professionals, indicate that knowledge-related challenges are likely to be overcome in the short to medium term.
Similarly, as the region continues developing the hybrid approach to design, and as its industry continues streamlining its practices, adopting energy efficiency standards and creating new supply chains for sustainable materials, additional capital costs are likely to diminish, paving the way for the savings from reduced energy and water use to act as financial incentives. Finally, as the region’s current state of political flux stabilizes, it is hoped that its states would finds their steps towards sustainable development policy, accelerating the pace of change, and ultimately creating cleaner and greener cities for the region and a more sustainable future for its people.
Karim Elgendy is an architect and a sustainable design consultant based in London. He can be contacted at: Karim [at] Carboun [dot] com . This article was originally published in the English and German editions of DETAIL Green magazine , Issue 2-2011, under the title ‘Sustainability in the Desert’
To discuss this article, please join Carboun’s vibrant discussion group on Linkedin. For news and updates on sustainability from around the region, join Carboun’s Facebook page or follow its Twitter feed. | <urn:uuid:7526bd63-3dac-448c-96e0-af2888a2d427> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.carboun.com/sustainable-design/sustainability-in-the-desert/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783391634.7/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154951-00199-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950381 | 3,595 | 3.15625 | 3 |
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