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The power of genetics and neuroscience is revealing the chemical clockwork underlying love...
“Love is the drug and I need to score,” sang Bryan Ferry in the seventies, earning him a smash hit and a small fortune. But apart from being a catchy song lyric, this line is also looking like a scientifically-accurate fact of life.
That’s because, in recent years, researchers have begun to bring the power of modern genetics and neuroscience to bear on the workings of the human psyche, including the “big” question of love and what is it?
Somewhat unromantically, the results of these endeavours are showing is that the simple answer is that love amounts to little more than a chemical addiction. In fact the same brain circuits become active when volunteers in a scanner are shown pictures of their loved ones as when a nicotine-starved smoker lights up their first cigarette of the day! And the molecular clockwork of that lovin’ feelin’ is a small family of nerve transmitter chemicals called oxytocin, vasopressin and dopamine.
Oxytocin is released in the brain during orgasms, during childbirth and by breast feeding, which has led scientists to suspect that it may be linked to mother-baby bonding and that perhaps this, “love” and partner attachments are all a manifestation of the same process.
Experimentally the evidence is quite compelling. Amongst sheep, a mother can be persuaded to foster a lamb that isn’t her own by delivering a brief puff of oxytocin into her nose before introducing the lamb, and unmated female rats become highly maternal around rat pups that they would previously have killed when given a dose of the chemical beforehand.
Humans are affected too. Volunteers given doses of oxytocin develop enhanced sensations of trust for those nearby, become more sensitive to the emotions of others and also spend longer looking at peoples’ faces (as opposed to the breast or trouser region). This suggests that, couples who experience orgasms together are effectively programming each others’ brains to love and trust one another!
But trust also usually demands monogamy, the mediator of which is vasopressin. Studies on voles have shown that a polygamous vole species known as the meadow vole can be transformed into behaving like its monogamous prairie vole cousin either by adding extra vasopressin to its brain or by increasing the brain’s sensitivity to the substance.
The same seems to apply to humans: a study carried out last year in Sweden found that individuals with one variant of a gene used in the brain to detect vasopressin levels were twice as likely to report a recent marital crisis, and only half as likely to be married in the first place, compared with individuals not carrying that form of the gene.
Administering vasopressin to volunteers also produces changes in behaviour. Men adopt a more aggressive posture including looking more menacing and also becoming much more protective of their partners. And when shown photographs of other peoples’ faces they tend to rate them as looking less friendly than they did before vasopressin was given.
So what about the addictive part of love? The sensation that you cannot survive without the other person, and the rush of joy when you see them after being away?
This is down to dopamine, the brain’s pleasure chemical. When nerve cells squirt small amounts of this into a brain region called the nucleus accumbens it produces sensations of euphoria and satisfaction.
We use this circuitry to reward ourselves when we do something right, whether that’s learning a new fact, passing a driving test or making someone happy. It’s the way that the brain reinforces learning and good behaviour. It’s also the target of drugs like cocaine and heroin, which effectively short-circuit this same brain mechanism to achieve their pleasurable effects.
But this is also where Bryan Ferry’s famous lyric comes in, because dopamine lies downstream of the effects of the other two chemical love-drugs, vasopressin and oxytocin. When these chemical signals are active they trigger the release of an addictive surge of dopamine in order to consolidate their effects. So you are, quite literally, getting hooked on your partner.
Being able to distil love down to a series of chemical reactions like this is informative and helpful on the one hand because it will very likely enable scientists and doctors to help patients with conditions like autism, which make it hard for them to form relationships with other people.
But it also opens the door to a much more nefarious future, and in which we will have the pharmacological ability to manipulate love with a drug. For now though, the chat up line “could you just sniff this” should probably serve as a warning...!
Chris thanks for this very thought provoking article (What Is Love?) I was surprised to learn that we now have the capability to distil love down to a series of chemical reactions. How exciting!
Wow... That makes these lyrics right on..." You might as well face it you're addicted to love....
Joking aside, The article is great and I just must say that love really does feel addictive and it makes you certainly crave it and need it in your life to feel whole and complete.. its nice to know that there really is a chemical reaction happening here..... Karen W., Thu, 4th Mar 2010
Puts a whole new spin on the claim of "chemistry" between two people doesn't it! chris, Mon, 15th Mar 2010
Yes it certainly does...LOL.. Karen W., Wed, 17th Mar 2010
I had a project due and this stuff really helped thanks The good kid, Fri, 11th Mar 2011
Pleasure - glad to have helped Chris, Mon, 9th May 2011
I`m not sure that love and science are connected doelmel, Sat, 13th Aug 2011
i know a few people who could do with dopamine suppressors nicci.day, Fri, 19th Aug 2011
maybe like the diff betwween gravity & magnetism? = child love, sex love,god love , ,,,,00ps, surpassed my 2 parameters CZARCAR, Fri, 19th Aug 2011
Chris, I really enjoyed your article! Great stuff with the scientific research, particularly the polyamorous voles. As a student and enthusiast of Love I really appreciate your thoughts, so much so that I included it in an blog article, 101+ Ideas On What Is Love. Check it out if you have a moment: http://www.love-olution.com/blog/2012/05/101-ideas-on-what-is-love-philosophically-scientifically-spiritually-and-beyond/ Thanks again for your contribution Chris! Aaron Mangal, Wed, 2nd May 2012 | <urn:uuid:90fbacca-4693-4356-8249-12f59cf7a7b3> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.thenakedscientists.com/HTML/articles/article/what-is-love/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396875.58/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00107-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955348 | 1,425 | 2.546875 | 3 |
What is Biochar
Biochar can be defined simply as char (charcoal) used for agricultural purposes. It can be produced from any type of biomass, including agricultural and forestry waste streams and manure. Biochar is manufactured by heating the biomass feedstock in an oxygen deprived environment, a process which is called "pyrolysis". Syngas, a flammable combination of hydrogen, carbon monoxide and methane, and excess heat are byproducts of the pyrolysis process. Once the reaction is started, it is largely self-sustaining, requiring no additional input of energy.
Once it is produced, biochar is spread on agricultural fields and incorporated into the top layer of soil. Biochar has many agricultural benefits. It increases crop yields, sometimes substantially if the soil is in poor condition. It helps to prevent fertilizer runoff and leeching, allowing the use of less fertilizers and diminishing agricultural pollution to the surrounding environment. And it retains moisture, helping plants through periods of drought more easily. Most importantly, it replenishes exhausted or marginal soils with organic carbon and fosters the growth of soil microbes essential for nutrient absorption, particularly mycorrhizal fungi.
Studies have indicated that the carbon in biochar remains stable for millenia, providing a simple, sustainable means to sequester historic carbon emissions that is technologically feasible in developed or developing countries alike. The syngas and excess heat can be used directly or employed to produce a variety of biofuels.
When biochar is created from biomass, approximately 50% of the carbon that the plants absorbed as CO2 from the atmosphere is "fixed" in the charcoal. As a material, the carbon in charcoal is largely inert, showing a relative lack of reactivity both chemically and biologically, and so it is strongly resistant to decomposition. Hence, biochar effectively recycles carbon from the atmosphere back to the soil in form that is at least an order of magnitude more stable than the organic material it was created from.
Of the many organic and inorganic substances that contain carbon atoms, only diamonds could potentially provide a more permanent carbon store than charcoal. Hence, biochar offers us a golden opportunity to remove excess CO2 from the atmosphere and sequester it in a virtually permanent and environmentally beneficial way.
Effect of Biochar on Soil Fertility
Below are a series of photos illustrating the effect of biochar on soil fertility. A vast majority of biochar trials to date show positive results such as these. They were taken during the International Biochar Initiative Conference held in Terrigal, Australia from April 29 to May 2, 2007.
The test plots shown in the photographs compare the following after 10 weeks:
1) Plain soil
2) Soil + NPK (Nitrogen, Phosphorous, and Potassium fertilizer)
3) Soil + Biochar
4) Soil + NPK + Biochar
Scientific Research on Biochar
Biochar has been the focus of a significant body of scientific research to date, and the number and scope of research projects is rapidly expanding. There are several resources currently available on the Internet related to scientific papers and research which are listed below.
International Biochar Initiative Bibliography
The International Biochar Initiative maintains a comprehensive listing of most scientific papers related to biochar. Go
Johannes Lehmann, an associate professor of Cornell University's Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, is one of the principal researchers working on biochar. Listed on his website are the biochar-related publications he has contributed to. Go | <urn:uuid:4bf74886-1ac1-4666-9f65-5a7ad6d47e8c> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.carbonzero.com/index.cfm?view=44.14&lan=en | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396147.66/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00172-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.928264 | 728 | 3.859375 | 4 |
|Definition||:||Secondary School Certificate|
|Category||:||Academic & Science Exams & Tests|
What does SSC mean?
The Secondary School Certificate, also known as SSC, is a public examination taken by students in Bangladesh, Pakistan and in the states of Tamilnadu, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Goa in India after successfully completing at least ten years of schooling. It is followed by Higher Secondary (School) Certificate (HSC). SSC is an equivalent to GCSE in the England.
|Sort By:||Popularity||Alphabetically||Filter by:||Country/Region:||Category:|
||SSC||Swedish Space Corporation|
||SSC||School Site Council|
||SSC||Staff Selection Commission| | <urn:uuid:3d15defe-3542-471a-a182-176f8a14fb83> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://fullforms.com/SSC/Secondary-School-Certificate/808 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783402516.86/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155002-00045-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.838523 | 171 | 3.09375 | 3 |
It's fairly simple. The voltage is produced by the Alternator. If the car is running and you see a battery light come on this is caused because the draw is GREATER than what is being produced by the alternator. Simple math, if the output is 320 volts and the alternator is supplying 300 volts then the remaining draw is supported from the battery.
When the alternator fails, you will draw power directly from the battery until is has depleted it's charge. With a normal battery is will inevitably take its toll and the battery will never hold a full charge. This is why dry cell batteries are better, even if after a full draw cycle it will still re charge to full power.
SO when you replaced the battery this is why the warning light was off and the car ran ok for a short time AND since the alternator was not producing enough output it again failed.
Good for future diagnostic tools! | <urn:uuid:20e1911c-ef55-480e-8c1a-6f5a92a6f478> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showpost.php?p=14996284&postcount=16 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396147.66/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00201-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970057 | 186 | 3.1875 | 3 |
- September 11 World Trade Center Site Memorial Ceremony and Remembrance 2007 The New York Historical Society will be opening an exhibition commemorating the events of September 11 called "Here Is New York: Remembering 9/11. — “September 11 World Trade Center Site Memorial Ceremony”, newyork-
- Look up commemoration in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. Commemoration may refer to: Commemoration (prayer), a prayer of the Roman Catholic Church. — “Commemoration - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia”,
- Synonyms for commemoration. Other words for commemoration. Different words for commemoration. Antonyms of commemoration. — “commemoration - Synonyms from Roget's A-Z Thesaurus and”,
- COMMEMORATION: A Dream Fulfilled is an artwork of Inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States of America became a living testimony to the fulfillment of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s, "I Have a Dream" speech. — “Commemoration 2009: A Dream Fulfilled. Barack Obama's”, commemoration2009.com
- CAIN: From Mourning to Melancholia? The Ambivalent Role of Commemoration in Facilitating Peace-Building in Northern Ireland., by John Nagle 2008 This paper explores the potential of commemoration to assist successfully with contemporary conflict transition efforts in Northern Ireland. — “CAIN: Victims: From Mourning to Melancholia? The Ambivalent”,
- Official website of the 5th Annual Katrina Commemoration March Secondline on August 29th 2010 The New Orleans Katrina Commemoration Foundation is a local grassroots organization formed to commemorate loved ones lost during Hurricane Katrina and the Great Flood. — “Katrina Commemoration”,
- Definition of commemoration from Webster's New World College Dictionary. Meaning of commemoration. Pronunciation of commemoration. Definition of the word commemoration. Origin of the word commemoration. — “commemoration - Definition of commemoration at ”,
- Definition of word from the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary with audio pronunciations, thesaurus, Word of the Day, and word games. — “Commemoration - Definition and More from the Free Merriam”, merriam-
- Virginia Sesquicentennial Commemoration of the American Civil War. — “Virginia Sesquicentennial Commemoration of the American Civil War”,
- commemoration n. The act of honoring the memory of or serving as a memorial to someone or something. — “commemoration: Definition, Synonyms from ”,
- The yearly celebration or commemoration of the first exchange of texts between two people. — “Urban Dictionary: commemoration”,
- Media in category "Commemoration" The following 23 files are in this Retrieved from "http:///wiki/Category:Commemoration". — “Category:Commemoration - Wikimedia Commons”,
- As 2007 approaches plans are well underway all over the world to commemorate the 95th Anniversary of the tragic loss of R.M.S. Titanic and over BELFAST TITANIC SOCIETY COMMEMORATES CENTENARY OF RMS OLYMPIC'S LAUNCH The Belfast Titanic Society will mark 100 years since the launch of Titanic's. — “Titanic > Commemoration (Encyclopedia Titanica)”, encyclopedia-
- Commemoration definition, the act of commemorating. See more. commemorating the lesser feast on days on which two feasts of unequal rank are celebrated. — “Commemoration | Define Commemoration at ”,
- A time-lapse sequence of the one year commemoration at Ground Zero of the September 11th tragedies. Beginning in the early morning on September 11, 2002, Bagpipe and drum processionals from each of the five boroughs marched toward the World Trade Center site. — “EarthCam - Ground Zero Cams”,
- Definition of commemoration in the Online Dictionary. Meaning of commemoration. Pronunciation of commemoration. Translations of commemoration. commemoration synonyms, commemoration antonyms. Information about commemoration in the free online. — “commemoration - definition of commemoration by the Free”,
- commemorate + -ion, from Old French commemoration (French: commémoration), from Latin commemorationem, verb commemorare. The act of commemorating; an observance or celebration designed to honor the memory of some person or event. — “commemoration - Wiktionary”,
- brings you news, reviews, blog posts, photos and videos related to Projects, Home Improvement, DIY. — “This domain may be for sale. Contact ”,
- Commemoration - from WN Network. WorldNews delivers latest Breaking news including World News, U.S., politics, business, entertainment, science, weather and sports news. Search News and archives in 44 languages. — “Commemoration”,
- Conducts the annual Badge Appeal and supports the sub-branches of the Returned Services League of Australia. Welcome to the ANZAC Day Commemoration Committee of Queensland Incorporated web site. — “ANZAC Day Commemoration Committee”, .au
- Thank you for visiting the USDA Forest Service's Northern Region 1910 Fire Commemoration Information web site. This website is designed to assist you in locating information on both the Fires of 1910 and the Commemoration events of 2010 that are occurring in Northern Idaho and Western Montana. — “1910 Fire Commemorative Information site”, fs.fed.us
- Find dictionary definitions, audio pronunciations, and spellings for commemoration in the free online American Heritage Dictionary on Yahoo! Education. — “commemoration - Dictionary definition and pronunciation”,
related videos for commemoration
- MLK Commemoration Speech Nobel Prize
- Nyanza Commemoration A montage of the 15th Commemoration of the genocide in Rwanda. The video shows highlights from the ceremony and ends with a clip from President Paul Kagame's speech to the thousands who were present.
- Bernadette McAliskey - James Connolly commemoration Veteran civil rights activist and socialist republican Bernadette McAliskey speaks at éirígí's James Connolly commemoration in Arbour Hill, Dublin, 12 May 2007. In this clip she talks about the nature of republican and socialist ideologies.
- Dallas Stonewall Commemoration Speakers share their message to the crowd on the 41st Anniversary of the Stonewall Rebellion. A special thank you to organizer Shannon Kern for hosting the event and allowing us to film the event. Speakers: Daniel Cates Shannon Kern CD Kirven Jesse García Nonnie Ouch Other speakers not featured in this video are: Rafael McDonald Michael Robinson Attendees included the well known LGBT figures including: Israel Luna (filmmaker), Krystal Summers (actress/dancer) and Elizabeth Pax (singer). Subscribe to the DallasVoice YouTube page for the latest in Texas LGBT news! Filmed and Edited by: Bronathan (Brent Paxton & Jonathan Vincent) For more LGBT video content visit:
- Dr. Rev. Martin Luther King Commemoration at UVa Dr. Albert Paul Brinson talks about the legacy of his close friend, the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and the civil rights movement. Brinson helped fight for civil rights in his native Georgia and throughout the South.
- 1916 Commemoration in London 10 April 1966 Over 5000 attended the 1916 Easter Rising commemoration held at Trafalgar square, London in 1966. The South London Girl Pipers headed the parade which included members of the old IRA and Cumann na mBan. Actor Eddie Golden read the Proclamation. Ruairi Brugha, son of Cathal, gave an address where he said: "We on our part must realize that force may not bring unity. That the reverse in fact can be true. Force can create resistance and what we are trying to bring about is unity. It was force that kept Ireland in chains."
- 1916 Easter Rising Commemoration (2010) Easter rising against British rule in Ireland, Commemorated. GPO Dublin. Sunday 4th April 2010 (94th Anniversary)
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- Fold the Wish: Rogers Pass 1910 Avalanche Commemoration Origami Crane Community Project
- Commemoration Day Speech 2008 Outstanding figures in science, medicine and business recognised at Imperial College London's Commemoration Day speech by former Rector Sir Roy Anderson. www3
- The Commemoration Mar Benyamin Shimun the (Martyr) Part 1 HH MarDinkha IV Catholicos Patriarch Commemorating Mar Benyamin Shimun (the Martyr) Edited by Ashoor Baba To Download Linda George's Songs go to AmazonMP3, Itunes.
- Normandy Speech: Ceremony Commemorating the 40th Anniversary of the Normandy Invasion, D-Day 6/6/84 President Reagan's Address at the Ceremony Commemorating the 40th Anniversary of the Normandy Invasion, D-day at Point-du-Hoc - 6/6/84. For more information on the ongoing works of President Reagan's Foundation, visit us at
- Youth Day (June 16) Commemoration President Jacob Zuma on 16 June 2009 delivered a keynote address at the 2009 Youth Day Commemoration and launch of the National Youth Development Agency at Katlehong Stadium in Ekurhuleni in Gauteng Province.
- Apollo 11 commemoration ("Hope Eyrie") Song written by Leslie Fish & performed by Julia Ecklar. From the CD "To Touch the Stars" - Video editor Per Malm Higher res version now at:
- Black April Commemoration Vietnamese American Coalition video A non-profit organization planned and executed a Black April Commemoration for the 30th of April 1975 when the Fall of Saigon ended a long civil war in Vietnam.
- Ojamajo Doremi 10th Anniversary Commemoration - "Watashi no Tsubasa" So, today is the tenth anniversary of the first airing of Ojamajo Doremi! (Or rather, it was yesterday in Japanland, but whatever.) And since it's my FAVORITE ANIME EVAR I thought I'd do something to commemorate this momentous occasion. Yeah so anyway I sang "Watashi no Tsubasa," the ending to Dokka~n!, and here it is. :D I also uploaded this to Nico yesterday: www.nicovideo.jp oh also the audio's a bit messed up at around 3:25 sorry about that it happened during video compression idk how. 8( ENJOY!
- Slavery and the University: Commemoration, Reflection and Celebration The Slavery and the University Conference at Emory University ended with a commemoration, reflection and celebration where the story of slavery at Emory began, its original campus at Oxford College. The successful four days brought together nearly 300 people to discuss the role of slavery in the founding of many schools, bringing to light numerous new facts and groundbreaking scholarship. The event also honored Catherine Andrew "Miss Kitty" Boyd, a slave owned by Emory's first Board of Trustee's President, Bishop James Osgood Andrew. Her great-great-great granddaughters received the honors on her behalf.
- Armenian Genocide Commemoration In Ottawa This is David Warner speaking at the Turkish Embassy. "I should like to see any power of the world destroy this race, this small tribe of unimportant people, whose wars have all been fought and lost, whose structures have crumbled, literature is unread, music is unheard, and prayers are no more answered. Go ahead, destroy Armenia. Send them into the desert without bread or water. Burn their homes and churches. Then see if they will not laugh, sing and pray again. For when two of them meet anywhere in the world, see if they will not create a New Armenia." WILLIAM SAROYAN
- Holocaust Victims' Names Commemoration Rabbi Israel Meir Lau, Chairman of the Yad Vashem Council, speaks about the importance of commemorating the Jews who perished during the Holocaust. Rav Lau, himself a child survivor of Buchenwald, powerfully calls upon Jews across the world, to join efforts to recover the names of each individual Shoah victim by filling out Pages of Testimony in their memory and submitting them to Yad Vashem. Search for information or submit names of people you know of who perished during the Shoah on Yad Vashem's Central Database of Shoah Victims' Names. bit.ly Filmed in Tel Aviv, July 2009.
- Commemoration Of Jason Ch'ng We have lost an extrovert and sociable friend. Let's cherish the moments we have had together.... RIP Jason.You'll always be in our heart.
- Commemoration Ceremony Abu Abdullah Rudaki Good News Broadcast attended the Commemoration Ceremony on 1150th Anniversary of the birth of Abu Abdullah Rudaki. To watch the Ceremony please click on the following: we also share the text of His Excellency, Mr. Ban Ki-moon, Secretary General of the United Nations and His Excellency, Ambassador Sirodjidin Aslov, Tajikistan speech at the UN and Art Exhibit. "There is no joyfulness in this world greater than the vision of the friend's face; There is no bitterness upon the heart More than separation and distance from the friend." Rudaki Secretary-General's remarks at commemoration ceremony on 1150th anniversary of the birth of Rudaki Ambassador Tanin of Afghanistan , Ambassador Khazaee of Iran , Ambassador Aslov of Tajikistan , Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, It's a great pleasure for me to participate in this special commemoration. Let me welcome to the United Nations all the distinguished scholars and artists who have come here to share your wisdom and talent with us. I am grateful to our hosts, the Permanent Representatives of Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Iran , for organizing this meaningful gathering. The fact that we are all here today, eleven and a half centuries after his death, speaks volumes about the enduring influence of Abu Abdullah Jafar ibn Mohammad Rudaki. How fitting that the United Nations, which stands for peace, development and human rights, should commemorate the life of this poet, who so beautifully extolled the virtues of good and ...
- 90 Years On, the 2006 Easter Commemoration (the 2016 Commemoration will be memorable) The Easter Rising (Irish: Éirí Amach na Cásca), was an insurrection staged in Ireland during Easter Week, 1916. The Rising was mounted by Irish republicans with the aims of ending British rule in Ireland and establishing an Irish Republic. It was the most significant uprising in Ireland since the rebellion of 1798. Organised by the Military Council of the Irish Republican Brotherhood, the Rising lasted from Easter Monday 24 April to 30 April 1916. Members of the Irish Volunteers, led by schoolteacher and barrister Patrick Pearse, joined by the smaller Irish Citizen Army of James Connolly, along with 200 members of Cumann na mBan, seized key locations in Dublin and proclaimed an Irish Republic independent of Britain. There were some actions in other parts of Ireland but, except for the attack on the RIC barracks at Ashbourne, County Meath, they were minor. The Rising was suppressed after seven days of fighting, and its leaders were court-martialled and executed, but it succeeded in bringing physical force republicanism back to the forefront of Irish politics. In the 1918 General Election, the last all-island election held in Ireland, to the British Parliament, Republicans won 73 seats out of 105, on a policy of abstentionism from Westminster and Irish independence. This came less than two years after the Rising. In January 1919, the elected members of Sinn Féin who were not still in prison at the time, including survivors of the Rising, convened the First Dáil and ...
- 1981 H Block Hunger Strike Commemoration 25th Anniversary Bik McFarlane sings Song for Marcella (a song he wrote himself in prison in 1991) at the Hunger Strike Commemoration held in Casement Park GAA grounds in Belfast 13th August 2006.
- Times Square Armenian Genocide Commemoration 2009 0001 Copy Armenian Genocide Times Square Knights of Vartan
- Japan Tsunami - a sad musical commemoration Rob Smallwood's piano version of Eric Clapton's 'Tears in Heaven', dedicated to those who have suffered loss as a result of the Tsunami in Japan.
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- Easter Sunday 2010 - Tyrone County Commemoration Easter Sunday 2010 - Tyrone County Commemoration. Held in Carrickmore
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- In commemoration of Gebran Tueni You can kill us, but you can never silence us. This Tv ad, was produced in Lebanon by An-Nahar in November 2006, in commemoration of Gebran Tueni, former publisher of Lebanese daily newspaper An-Nahar, that was assassinated in a car bomb on the 12th of December 2005, and promotes the freedom of speech and the power of media. You can learn more about him on
- commemoration 2
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- Osmonds 'One Bad Apple' Pioneer Day Commemoration - Pioneer Day Commemoration, SLC, Utah. 26th July 2008. This was the Osmonds first No.1 hit. As members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (commonly known as Mormons), we stand as Christians to the world, the Osmond's being one of our finest ambassadors, their music and lyrics really stand the test of time! http
- R.BAGGIO NO.200 GOAL
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- Stop the Denial 2009 Greek Genocide UN Commemoration New York Promotional video for Commemoration of Greek Genocide to be Held opposite the United Nations on Monday, April 6th 2009 From 12 Noon-2 PM For more info visit
- Frozen Silence - Commemoration Frozen Silence Commemoration nice Ambiance Musik for cold days
- 200th Video Commemoration This is my 200th video on Youtube. With this video, I am commemorating that - giving thanks to all of my subscribers and viewers. I also mention AnnSpade for getting me started on the vlogging path. Also mentioned: maneki cats. Satellite Website: www.Xaves511.com
- 15th International Brigade Commemoration
twitter about commemoration
- imgarysmith: RT @ShaneCulleton: I love #StPatricksDay An American commemoration of the mythical exploits of a Welshman! How #Irish is that?
- jutyar_84: Commemoration of Halabja holocaust is a strong message to us to fight against chauvinism
- RigaDaily: Court grants permission for Latvian Waffen-SS commemoration http://sns.ly/qjcMy0
- akglondon: In Paris tonight? Join @akgparis and the Jacques Rouchon studio for an auction to benefit an AIDS charity: http://bit.ly/dZQ8w1
- SPDRecipe: I heard the entire city of Chicago went on a bender last weekend, as is typical this time of year in commemoration... http://dlvr.it/KZ07x
- WicklowSinnFein: RT @An_Phoblacht: RT @DublinSinnFein: CHANGE re Tom Smith Commemoration in Dublin today > Assemble at Glasnevin Cemetery 2:30pm instead of Berkeley Road
- SeanRepublican: RT @An_Phoblacht: RT @DublinSinnFein: CHANGE re Tom Smith Commemoration in Dublin today > Assemble at Glasnevin Cemetery 2:30pm instead of Berkeley Road
- An_Phoblacht: RT @DublinSinnFein: CHANGE re Tom Smith Commemoration in Dublin today > Assemble at Glasnevin Cemetery 2:30pm instead of Berkeley Road
- KathrynReport: C-130 formation flying over Manteca Missing man formation for Memorial Day Weekend commemoration: A rare missing... http://bit.ly/eb907k
- festinagirl: RT @ShaneCulleton: I love #StPatricksDay An American commemoration of the mythical exploits of a Welshman! How #Irish is that?
- ShaneCulleton: I love #StPatricksDay An American commemoration of the mythical exploits of a Welshman! How #Irish is that?
- Lopez_Muse: RT @lopezlinkph Ongoing until April 20,2011, exhibit caps the yearlong commemoration of the Lopez Museum jubilee! http://fb.me/CIMUaybv
- bizneweurope: RT @RigaDaily: Waffen-SS commemoration parade held peacefully in Latvia http://sns.ly/qdcLy9
- lachlanr: My street has been closed off for a quiet & dignified commemoration of the Catholicisation of Ireland.
- powercastam: In commemoration of the Lenten Season, SM City Taytay together with the Marian Devotees of Rizal proudly present... http://fb.me/QGu2lPob
- HolocluckHenly: @marimccann @salazarjack Yeah and a commemoration is a commemoration. It's about the RESIDENTS stopping for a moment to give kudos.
- Katzpyjamaz: Happy St Patrick's day! I'm wearing my green jumpsuit today in commemoration of my ancestors. Lol!
- royalwed2011: Commemoration newspapers about Royal Family?: by TrevorLowe Question by annikaskoog2: Commemoration newspapers about Royal Family? I ...
- juriskazha: My video of the March 16 Latvian Legion commemoration on my Free Speech blog http://bit.ly/evU1As
- superegobeats: In commemoration of Patty's Day, I've uploaded a free irish beat for 2 days only, so get it while its here! Also, for Milwaukee fans, I...
- vgbnd: From the Ponce Massacre of 1937 to the current student strike at the University Of Puerto Rico a commemoration of... http://fb.me/CwNIrF2S
- vgbnd: From the Ponce Massacre to the University Of Puerto Rico student struggle a commemoration of struggle 3/20 3PM in... http://fb.me/vxOMCsfy
- jazzingitup: @theutahjazzblog So you know: Vanilla Ice and MC Hammer not really considered rap music. Try some Nate Dogg in commemoration.
- jtaggatz: Commemoration of St. Patrick, Bishop and Evangelist http:///4gp5wj7
- vocabuild_toeic: scrutinize 綿密に調べる / dilute 薄める / beneficiary 受取人 / clerical worker 事務職員 / in commemoration of 記念して / confiscate 押収する
- BuyRareStamps: New Post - Japan&Russia war Commemoration with rare stamp-1900s. Read it now at http://bit.ly/eivq6j
- allisonjenn: @_MJKamp i miss you more let's make a pact to start drinking at 9am tomorrow in commemoration
- AFHistorian: RT @KevinLevin: Bill for Commemoration of Civil War Sesquicentennial Reintroduced http://ow.ly/4gajF #cw150
- ANZ_NZ: FYI- All ANZ branches in CHCH region will be closed tmrw for #EQNZ Commemoration Day. Includes branches in Ashburton, Kaiapoi & Rangiora...
- EmilyHill_Indie: @KevinLevin Okay! Okay! But why not think about this LAST year? I don't No what 2 think of this Fast Eddy commemoration, is it a good thing?
- npantages: "We are going to have a large gathering as if it were a commemoration of the day of your birth." - 50 cent.
- lopezlinkph: Ongoing until April 20,2011, exhibit caps the yearlong commemoration of the Lopez Museum and Library jubilee! http://fb.me/CIMUaybv
- KevinLevin: Bill for Commemoration of Civil War Sesquicentennial Reintroduced http://ow.ly/4gajF #cw150
- ASBBank: All ASB branches in #chch will be closed tomorrow as our people join their fellow Cantabrians for the Commemoration Day service #eqnz
- cqbsg75: RT @olmosperfect: : Walkout to be shown as part of Colorado Chavez Commemoration http://bit.ly/dYW3Kr #EJO #EdwardJamesOlmos
- MFM_HIVandAIDS: Christensen Set to Give Keynote at White House Commemoration of National Women & Girls HIV/AIDS #hiv #aids http:///m/19320186
- newtrayburn: Bill for Commemoration of Civil War Sesquicentennial Reintroduced in Washington by Democrats Webb & Landrieu http:///4ks9gvx
- vb_toeic_inv: 企てる, 衛生的, 全員一致, 記念して, 秘密に, 反抗して / hatched a plot, hygienic, in a unanimous decision, in commemoration of, in confidence, in defiance of /
- ya_throat: Think I'll wear red in commemoration of St. Patricks Day,
- LanghamAuckland: @wordgirlwriting You may want to experience Tea Royale from 1 April, in commemoration of the Royal Wedding http://bit.ly/eJTnYr
- olmosperfect: : Walkout to be shown as part of Colorado Chavez Commemoration http://bit.ly/dYW3Kr #EJO #EdwardJamesOlmos
- briankerry: Bill for Commemoration of Civil War Sesquicentennial Reintroduced: Jim Webb (D-VA) and Mary L. Landrieu (D-LA) r... http://bit.ly/g3e8qy
- RigaDaily: Waffen-SS commemoration parade held peacefully in Latvia http://sns.ly/qdcLy9
- mullerbrockmann: RT @AugustWinfield: @mullerbrockmann I'm sure the deliverable from all this is not self-interest or commemoration, but a desire to raise awareness. #falloutmsg
- guyniche: Triangle Shirtwaist Fire 100th Anniversary Commemoration is on March 25th. Check out photos on Cornel U Website http://t.co/rRZtYrl
- seanantrim: Christy clark outs herself as a communist with 28% minimum wage hike in commemoration of 140 years since Paris Commune. #bcpoli
- Genocideupdates: ANC-Glendale to Host Annual Blood Drive for Genocide Commemoration - Asbarez Armenian News http://bit.ly/eVEJVf
- ihaterooster: Damn I needed Nate Dogg on a hook or 2, lemme hurry up n be a great rapper before yall be watching my videos in commemoration
- jbieber_vicio: RT @ItMileyCyrus_: when i arrive in Brazil i want commemoration... <33
- alinemiguita: RT @ItMileyCyrus_: when i arrive in Brazil i want commemoration... <33
- siissam: @ItMileyCyrus_ you go have very commemoration , *-*
- IsabellaMassari: RT @ItMileyCyrus_: when i arrive in Brazil i want commemoration... <33
- siissam: RT @ItMileyCyrus_: when i arrive in Brazil i want commemoration... <33
- ItMileyCyrus_: when i arrive in Brazil i want commemoration... <33
- whsvnews: Bill for Commemoration of Civil War Sesquicentennial Reintroduced http://bit.ly/iiTnQP
- IHENEORG: http:///upcoming-events/2011/3/16/yom-hashoah-community-commemoration-events-omaha-lincoln.html Yom HaShoah Community Events
- RashaA8eedi: RT @mariwanhama: A handicap in #Halabja hurls artificial leg at PM Barham Salih, at commemoration of 23 yrs of chemical attack, to to protest poor service
- Yampanda: i cry silently in my corner for the loss of sweet potato and in commemoration of adam.
- hassibah: RT @mariwanhama: A handicap in #Halabja hurls artificial leg at PM Barham Salih, at commemoration of 23 yrs of chemical attack, to to protest poor service
- WestpacNZ: All Westpac branches in #chch will be closed tomorrow, 18 March, for Canterbury Earthquake Commemoration Day #eqnz
- EAintheEAST: @KorgUSA founder Tsutomu Katoh dies from cancer, NO commemoration found on website or twitter page.
- EAinthedirty: @KorgUSA founder Tsutomu Katoh dies from cancer, NO commemoration found on website or twitter page.
- EAintheAU: @KorgUSA founder Tsutomu Katoh dies from cancer, NO commemoration found on website or twitter page.
- EAintheEU: @KorgUSA founder Tsutomu Katoh dies from cancer, NO commemoration found on website or twitter page.
- EAintheWEST: @KorgUSA founder Tsutomu Katoh dies from cancer, NO commemoration found on website or twitter page.
- fmcgnz: New World and Pak'nSave supermarkets to close for Commemoration Day http://bit.ly/fjhYNM
- fmcgnz: New World and Pak'nSave supermarkets to close for Commemoration Day http://bit.ly/fjhYNM #fmcg
- GorranGuy: RT @mariwanhama: A handicap in #Halabja hurls artificial leg at PM Barham Salih, at commemoration of 23 yrs of chemical attack, to to protest poor service
- freepresss: ANC-Glendale to Host Annual Blood Drive for Genocide Commemoration: Armenian National Committee of Glendale in p... http://bit.ly/dMkh0U
- scraplovecreate: Deeply Personal Stories from the Civil War Distinguish 150th Anniversary Commemoration in Pennsylvania http:///
- kamzou08: Ethically Cleansing the Internet: Last weekend, I flew to Virginia for the ninth annual commemoration of the onl... http://bit.ly/ftNXKR
- Asbarez: ANC-Glendale to Host Annual Blood Drive for Genocide Commemoration http://goo.gl/fb/xisbb #community #featuredstory
- ChristchurchNZ: Speech: Canterbury Earthquake Commemoration Day Bill, Third Reading - Te Ururoa Flavell: TE URUROA FLAVELL (Māori... http://nzne.ws/7ND6
- Xenos187: Commemoration, check out the videos #RIP RT @Awl: Nate Dogg, 1969-2011 - http:///?p=75950
- ScoopParliament: #NZParliament: Canterbury Earthquake Commemoration Day Bill, Third reading: TE URUROA FLAVELL (Māori Party—Waiar... http://bit.ly/i6HVQl
- An_Phoblacht: RT @DublinSinnFein: CHANGE re Tom Smith Commemoration in Dublin tomorrow > Assemble at Glasnevin Cemetery 2:30pm instead of Berkeley Road
- hystericalblkns: RT @jmjohnso26: Video: Slavery and the University: Commemoration, Reflection and Celebration. (@hystericalblkns) More videos... http:///xin1sk5hee
- quelindacondom: All We Are Sayin is Give Female Condoms a Chance - Exactly one week before the annual commemoration of... http:///xjg1sk94e6
- WWKaikoura: RT @HanmerSprings: Tomorrow Canterbury Earthquake Commemoration Day will be held - Friday 18 March. http://fb.me/RBq7mMFt
- HanmerSprings: Tomorrow Canterbury Earthquake Commemoration Day will be held - Friday 18 March. This is a holiday for all... http://fb.me/RBq7mMFt
- CooperWine: RT @chipmclaughlin: In commemoration of it being #WAwine month, I will again be drinking #WAwine tonight. Tonight (right now) will begin with @coop_cwc Chard!
- coop_cwc: RT @chipmclaughlin: In commemoration of it being #WAwine month, I will again be drinking #WAwine tonight. Tonight (right now) will begin with @coop_cwc Chard!
- chipmclaughlin: In commemoration of it being #WAwine month, I will again be drinking #WAwine tonight. Tonight (right now) will begin with @coop_cwc Chard!
- jmjohnso26: Video: Slavery and the University: Commemoration, Reflection and Celebration. (@hystericalblkns) More videos... http:///xin1sk5hee
- itsaprcompany: RT @sohailanjum: A company in china has printed a pic of harry instead of william onto its royal wedding commemoration mug << #mewant this collectors item
- JoshyBadNames: How bummed am I that I work tonight? I'll wear my Nike Frees in commemoration of all the running and jumping I want to be doing.
- RigaDaily: Court grants permission for Latvian Waffen-SS commemoration http://sns.ly/qfcLy3
- DublinSinnFein: CHANGE re Tom Smith Commemoration in Dublin tomorrow > Assemble at Glasnevin Cemetery 2:30pm instead of Berkeley Road
- sohailanjum: A company in china has printed a pic of harry instead of william onto its royal wedding commemoration mug << #mewant this collectors item
- Aleisterion: On March 21st is the commemoration of the epiphany of the Stele of Revealing, as given via Aiwass through Rose Kelly: http://bit.ly/fiHWhj
- sinliar: @HayleyWestenra hi hayley hand thinking, we're all with you in Christchurch for the commemoration
- crysticouture: RT @Aleisterion: March 17th is the commemoration of the Invocation of Thoth. For the ceremony, download the free pdf here: http://bit.ly/ieDOVa
- Aleisterion: March 17th is the commemoration of the Invocation of Thoth. For the ceremony, download the free pdf here: http://bit.ly/ieDOVa
- PumkinSpice242: In commemoration of the late Nathaniel Dwayne Hale (aka) Nate Dogg, every shall wear a black or white bandanna tied around their heads
- KarlaPearce: RT @Restaurant2010: Just had a tasting of our Majes-Tea, bursting full of sweet little treats in commemoration of the #royalwedding http://bit.ly/hzZNxv
- berkeleychick: Ah, memories... RT @SpinsVixenella: HAPPY NEKKID SPINELLI DAY!! It's the annual commemoration of Spin's 1st nekkidness on #GH 3/16/08!
- ciborg54: Everyone need to blast "Regulate" today in commemoration for Nate Dogg #salute
- CEQgovtnz: Department of Labour: Q&As about the Commemoration Day for employers and employees http://cot.ag/dVKuPO #eqnz
- kindafunny: Rt Heck ya @SpinsVixenella: HAPPY NEKKID SPINELLI DAY!! It's the annual commemoration of Spin's 1st nekkidness o
Blogs & Forum
blogs and forums about commemoration
“As the local newspaper Contra Costa Times observes, San Francisco has been "struggling with the difference between commemoration and celebration" leading up to 100th anniversary of the 1906 earthquake”
— Commemoration or celebration? | News | ,
“Exploring Michigan and the American Civil War Michigan Civil War Blog. Exploring Michigan and the American Civil War. Commemoration. September 11, 2010. Never forget. Nine years ago this date was a Tuesday, a work day. Today it is a Saturday, and it's before 8:00 am EDT as this is posted”
— Michigan Civil War Blog: Commemoration,
“We grassroots commemorating loved ones lost during Katrina and Levee Failures flooded New Orleans 29 August 2005”
— Forum - new orleans katrina commemoration,
“Blog. Commemoration of the Life and Work of Loni Ding. Posted November http:///blog/events/2010/03/02/loni-ding-an-appreciation”
— CAAM Home : Commemoration of the Life and Work of Loni Ding,
“Happy anniversary, everybody. Well, unless you're Willie Randolph. Two years ago today, we woke up to the news that the Mets fired Willie Randolph in Anaheim after the local newspaper deadlines had passed. The media feasted on the timing of the”
— In Commemoration | ,
“4 Responses to "Berlin 1989-2009: a musical commemoration" commemoration /2009/11/09/berlin-1989-2009-a-musical-commemoration – view”
— Jamendo Blog " Blog Archive " Berlin 1989-2009: a musical,
“Blog. Contact Us. Commemoration. April 7th marks the 16th Anniversary of the start of the is this year supporting three commemoration events in the UK to mark”
— Commemoration " Survivors Fund Blog, survivors-
“Prague " Prague Blog " Commemoration Day of victims of Communism Well, it is all related to the history and one exceptionally sad story of one incredibly”
— Commemoration Day of victims of Communism | Prague Blog,
“New: A large number of photos and some You Tube clips can now be found on the Dutch/Flemish WW I Forum: So when looking through the photographs of this battle here on the blog, and in the exhibition, it may be puzzling that some depict this morass with men and horses up to their waists in mud,”
— Australian War Memorial - Blog Tag - Commemoration, awm.gov.au | <urn:uuid:b5f9e115-fbc4-4d5c-9b06-5df489a232db> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://worddomination.com/commemoration.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783391634.7/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154951-00072-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.882917 | 8,778 | 2.8125 | 3 |
Chapter 09: The Chamber of Commerce
Rapid Transit in New York City and in the Other Great Cities · Chamber of Commerce, 1906
While the Rapid Transit Commission of 1894 was vainly striving to perfect a plan that would give the people the transit facilities they so sorely needed, the Chamber of Commerce was giving attention to the same problem. Members of the Chamber were familiar with the work that had been done, and were convinced that the remedy must be sought along different lines. The work so done resulted in the framing of a bill that was passed by the Legislature in May, 1894. Under that act, and amendments, the present subway was constructed.
Rapid Transit Committee Appointed. At a meeting of the Chamber, held February 1, 1894, William D. Sloane offered the following resolution:
"Resolved, That the president be authorized and requested to appoint a committee of five to examine the subject of rapid transit, and report what action, if any, on the part of the Chamber of Commerce, it is advisable to take for the purpose of aiding in the solution of this important problem."
"Resolved, further, That this meeting be adjourned until Thursday, February 15, at half-past twelve o'clock, for the purpose of receiving and taking action upon the report of the committee to be appointed under the provisions of the above resolution."
The following committee was appointed: Alexander E. Orr, Cornelius N. Bliss, John A. Stewart, J. Edward Simmons, John Harsen Rhoades.
Report of Committee. A portion of the report presented at the later meeting was as follows:
"In view of the present needs and the probabilities-not to speak of the possibilities-- of the future of this city as the commercial metropolis of the United States, New York requires, and should have, the very best system of rapid transit that the legislative and municipal authorities of the state and city can authorize, and engineering and mechanical skill, and money within reasonable bounds, can provide."
"Her geographical position is such that growth can only be made in one direction-towards the north-and it does not require elaborate argument to prove that in order to insure the comfort and happiness of the people, as well as continuous prosperity and development, there must be an efficient, convenient, and safe system of rapid transit between the business and residential divisions of the city, which, of necessity, will always be widely apart from each other."
Elevated Railroads Not Rapid Transit. "The ways and means of communication that have heretofore been provided are now found to be entirely inadequate. It is true that the surface roads were a great improvement on the old style omnibus, and the elevated roads, in many ways, an improvement on the surface roads; and it is acknowledged that the city has derived very great benefit through their construction and operation; but it is also true, and a truth that must not longer be overlooked, that they cannot, in any practical sense, be said to be systems of rapid transit, or meet the needs, nor can they be made to meet the needs, that are daily becoming more and more apparent, and that should not be longer ignored."
"It is evident to all who study the question in the light of to-day that if in the past there had been intelligent appreciation of the possibilities of New York, and that growth could only be made in one direction, suitable provision would have been made for rapid transit when streets and avenues were being located and land was comparatively cheap. In that case, the problem that now confronts us could have been easily solved. But there was no such appreciation; and ten or twenty years hence the same criticism will apply to us if, suffering as we now are because of past thoughtlessness, and as we shall continue to suffer with increasing intensity as we grow in years and population, we fail, even at this late date, to provide for present and prospective relief. The growth of New York has no more culminated to-day than it had a decade ago, and your committee hazards the opinion that, with ordinary forethought on the part of her citizens and the taking advantage of opportunities as they arise, it is impossible to say with any degree of certainty when, in the future, the culminating point will be reached."
Municipal Credit For Building Road. "For reasons that need not be stated in this report, your committee cannot advocate the building of any system of rapid transit by the city of New York; but, under certain safeguards to be provided by legislation, it urges upon the Chamber the propriety of recommending that a single exception be made to the admirable law which restricts municipal credit being lent to promote private enterprises."
"For the reasons stated above, effective rapid transit construction must now prove a very costly undertaking, and does not present to capital-- which is always more or less timid-- sufficient inducements to attract the large sums necessary to insure a complete system of rapid transit development. This is why the Rapid Transit Commission has been unsuccessful in inducing private enterprise to accept any plan that they have recommended in the past two years, nor will they be successful for many years to come, in the opinion of your committee, unless in some legitimate way private enterprise is stimulated."
Private Capital Will Not Undertake Work. "A corporation organized for the purpose of rapid transit construction could not expect to obtain the necessary capital upon a better basis than six per cent. interest per annum, while money borrowed upon the credit of the city of New York could be obtained for three per cent. Hence it is evident that the revenue necessary to protect the fixed charges on capital borrowed in the ordinary manner must be double the amount of that needed to provide for the fixed charges on capital borrowed upon the city's credit. If, therefore, the city should agree to lend its credit to such corporation to the extent of two-thirds of the cost of the completed system, with the view of minimizing the volume of fixed charges, the needed stimulus referred to above would be presented and a large margin of safety secured."
The report then referred to the building of the Union and Central Pacific Railroads, both of which were private enterprises. The completion of these roads was deemed essential to national development, and the credit of the Federal Government was lent to provide, in part, for their construction, and a second mortgage, subject to a prior lien of equal amount, was taken as security for the credit so advanced. Although this was a departure from conservative principles, the result proved the wisdom of the course, for hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of wealth were added to the resources of the whole country.
Advantages of Rapid Transit. The report set forth further the following:
"Aside from the advantages of comfort and convenience to the people, New York would gain immensely in revenue through rapid transit contact with the yet undeveloped portions of the city lying to the north. It is a well known fact that in four years after the elevated roads had been permanently established one ward alone (the Nineteenth) increased in taxable value more than fifty millions of dollars, a sum many times greater than the cost of their construction, and there is no reason to doubt that similar experiences will follow rapid transit development."
"It is not proposed, however, that the city should lend its credit for the whole amount needed, or take undue risk. The transaction should be based upon business principles of equity and safety. Not more than two-thirds of the cost of construction should be the maximum credit granted, secured by a first lien upon the completed structure, its franchise and equipment."
"Your committee realizes the gravity of the action it proposes the Chamber shall take in urging an exception to a wisely enacted law, but the whole question is of such paramount importance, and further delay is so dangerous, that exceptional measures are necessary to insure success. If the following resolution, which is presented for the consideration of the Chamber, shall be adopted, your committee asks to be continued:"
City to Lend Its Credit. "'Resolved, That the Chamber of Commerce of the State of New York requests the proper authorities of the city, the Legislature of the State, the Constitutional Convention, and the Rapid Transit Commission to take such action as may be necessary to enable the City of New York to lend its credit to corporate enterprise for the construction of a rapid transit system in the said city, upon such terms and conditions as the Legislature may impose; provided, however, that the loan of such credit shall be restricted to such one purpose; and, provided further, that such loan shall not exceed in amount two-thirds the cost of construction, and be a first lien upon the property; and, provided further, that the aggregate amount of the credit to be so loaned shall not exceed the sum of thirty millions of dollars.' "
It will be observed that the resolution proposed that the city should lend its credit to a private corporation which should build the road, and, presumably, own and control it; the city having no financial interest in it after the amount borrowed had been repaid. The resolution did not look to municipal ownership, control or operation.
A Grave Question. In the discussion following the presentation of the report, Morris K. Jesup said:
"We all agree, at least I do, with that part of the report which sets forth the importance of rapid transit in this city. It is a grave question in my mind, and I have thought a good deal about it, as to whether we ought to set the example of asking the voters of this State to undo such a wise provision as now exists with reference to the city's being empowered to lend its credit to private enterprises. I am free to say that, so far as my own mind is concerned, it is not made up as yet; and before entering into a discussion of the matter, as I think it ought to be discussed, we should have a larger attendance than we have here to-day, so that if we do decide that it is best to adopt the recommendations of the committee, it shall be done after a very careful and serious consideration of the whole matter. I therefore move that the report be printed; that a copy be sent to each member of the Chamber, and that final action be postponed until the next regular meeting of the Chamber, to be held two weeks hence."
Importance of Rapid Transit. Jacob H. Schiff said in part:
"If we do not get rapid transit sooner or later-- we may not see it, but coming generations will feel it-- we shall lose our importance as a commercial metropolis. Such things work slowly, but they work surely; and I cannot see why, in a matter that is just as important to the city of New York as the supply of its water or the supply of anything it needs for its daily wants, the citizens of New York should not put their hands in their pockets and tax themselves at as low a rate as possible, instead of taxing themselves at as high a rate as possible, which they will have to do if private capital builds the road. It will not cost six per cent., but will probably cost ten or twelve per cent., to get private capital to build that road; for, in all probability, five per cent. bonds will have to be issued, which will be sold, say at 80, and stock will be issued, which will be thrown in as a bonus, and on which in years to come some ten per cent. dividends will be paid; so that it will not cost six per cent. to the city of New York to build this road, but ten or twelve per cent., and every man, woman, and child in the city of New York will have to pay a part of it.... I am heartily in favor of the report of the committee and hope it will pass."
Legislation Unprecedented. Abram S. Hewitt said:
"Mr. President and gentlemen, I suppose there is no one in this room who does not concur fully with the statement of the committee that rapid transit is indispensable for the present comfort and future growth of this city. The committee, however, proposes a new departure-legislation without precedent, so far as I now recall, in the history of the United States, or the State of New York, or the city of New York. They propose that the credit of the city of New York shall be loaned to a private company for the construction of a work of a public nature, but to be owned and administered by private individuals.... The constitution of the State of New York absolutely prohibits the loaning of the public credit of the state, or of any city or municipality in the state, in aid of any private enterprise. It does not prohibit, however, the construction of public works by municipalities, to be owned by them in such ways as they may see fit, except that they must not issue bonds beyond ten per cent. of the assessed valuation. That is the only limitation."
Erie Canal. "When the State of New York was confronted by a greater problem than this, the greatest that has ever presented itself to a civilized community on this side of the Atlantic-- the construction of the Erie Canal, upon which has been built up the superstructure of the whole state, its prosperity, commercial, agricultural and otherwise-- the state took it in hand; became the owner, borrowed the money, paid for the work, and, perhaps unfortunately, retained the administration of the property after it was constructed."
Croton Aqueduct. "The city of New York has pursued the same system. The Croton Aqueduct was constructed by the public, at its own cost, and administered by its own officers. In no instance has the city of New York gone into partnership with a private company. In no instance has the government of the United States ever done such a thing."
Mr. Hewitt stated that the loaning of the public credit, in the case of the Union and Central Pacific Railroads, was an illustration of the danger of any connection between the state and private enterprises. While that great enterprise returned more than it cost in increased value of the property of the country, it is also true that "every dollar of the money advanced by the government in aid of that enterprise was misapplied by the people who had charge of the enterprise." The money was not used for the construction of the road, but was put into private pockets.
"Gentlemen, bear with me, because I am going to point out what I conceive to be the danger of a departure from well-recognized principles of action. This committee who have brought in this report are among the ablest and most reputable men in this Chamber. In their own spheres of action there are no men whom we would follow more willingly and even blindly to a conclusion; but able and intelligent as they are, I doubt whether they have given that attention to the underlying principle in their report which it would receive from the hands of statesmen. In the only departure which I have ever known the city of New York to make from the sound principle of having no connection whatever with private enterprises, the scandal was equally great."
Brooklyn Bridge. "The Brooklyn Bridge was originally a private corporation with private stockholders. The city of New York never loaned its credit to the Brooklyn Bridge, not a penny, but what it did was to subscribe for a portion of the stock. The city of Brooklyn did the same thing. The administration of the work was in the hands of private stockholders, and it terminated in a scandal; and the result was that the city of New York and the city of Brooklyn were compelled to do what they ought to have done in the first place, or to have done nothing-- they were compelled to buy out the private stockholders and become the sole owners of the work. Now I think these illustrations are sufficient to point out to the members of the Chamber the danger of any proposition which shall look to a partnership between the city of New York and any private company for any purpose whatever, however urgent.... The scandal of the Brooklyn Bridge led to the inhibition which is now in the Constitution against allowing any credit of the city to private enterprise. It was not in the original Constitution of 1846, but was inserted by amendment in order to avoid just such propositions as the one this committee have submitted to this Chamber."
Dangerous For City to Lend Its Credit. "Now I like to get up and down town in comfort, and I confess I am unable to do so at present; but I am not willing to do so at the expense of what I regard as the fundamental principles by which governments of great communities like New York should be conducted. You may get temporary relief, but you will have set a precedent that is so dangerous that you will have speculators, men who are seeking to carry on enterprises for their own profit, appealing before the legislature and coming to the city of New York, and you will be entreated to lend the public credit for the execution of works which in themselves would be desirable, but which, if the public became interested in them, would become abuses and scandals."
"Nor is there the slightest necessity for such a course in this case; and this is a point which I beg gentlemen to consider most carefully. Mr. Schiff has been good enough to allude to the fact that while I was mayor I gave some attention to this question of rapid transit. I may say to you, gentlemen, and Mr. President, that I gave all the attention that it was possible for me to give, with such abilities as I may happen to possess, to the solution of the question. I had consultations with the most experienced and able engineers. I consulted with the ablest lawyers in the city."
Conclusions of Mr. Hewitt. "The conclusion was: First, that as the Constitution stood, and as the law stands, it was competent for the legislature of the State of New York to authorize the city of New York to construct the work."
"Second, it was concluded that to get rapid transit the underground system must be adopted; that it was impossible to get real rapid transit with an overhead railway."
"Third, that the city of New York could borrow the money and provide the capital-- as all the committee agree, and as Mr. Schiff has told us-- at a cost not exceeding three per cent."
City Ownership Not Favored. "And lastly, that the danger and abuse that might come from the construction of the work by city officials and the operation of the railway afterwards by public officers, could be avoided by the simple process of making a lease to a responsible corporation who would have the expenditure of the money in construction, under the supervision of city officers, and who would be sure to make it as light as possible, because they would have to pay interest on every dollar that was expended."
Prophetic Remarks of Mr. Hewitt. The following further remarks of Mr. Hewitt were prophetic:
"It was thought that that could be made to work out in practice, and the draft of a law was made and sent to the legislature, and I regret to say not a man in the legislature could be found to advocate it, and it was finally introduced as a personal favor by a member of the legislature who was willing to do me a kindly service. It was referred to the committee and never reported back; and the reason was that there was no money for any private individual behind that act. Nobody could make a cent out of it."
"But this would have happened if it had been enacted: The work would have been constructed; the money furnished by the bonds of the city of New York at three per cent.; and it would have been leased, as I had reason to think, although I am not at liberty to mention names, by a responsible corporation, at five per cent., and the difference of two per cent. would have retired the bonds in thirty-three years, and the city of New York would be the absolute owners, free and clear of all indebtedness, of this great enterprise, which is as essential to its prosperity as is the Croton Aqueduct. It would have been conducted on exactly the principles on which the Croton Aqueduct has been conducted. Now this committee, whom I respect very much, come to this body and recommend a departure from this sound principle."
"I agree with Mr. Jesup in what he has said, that such a proposition as this needs to be most carefully considered, and I trust, therefore, that his motion that it be laid upon the table and that it be printed and sent to the members of the body for consideration, will be carried; because it will be a very serious thing indeed if this Chamber, which is supposed to represent the commercial intelligence of New York, shall commit itself to propositions, or legislation, that have been condemned not only by the judgment of the greatest statesmen of this country, but by the experience of every state and city that has attempted to become a partner with private individuals in the construction and management of public enterprises."
It was voted to defer further consideration of the question until the next regular meeting, March 1, 1894. At that meeting Mr. Hewitt offered the following resolutions as a substitute for those presented by the committee:
City Credit To Be Advanced. "Resolved, That, in the judgment of the Chamber of Commerce of the State of New York, additional rapid transit facilities are so necessary to the growth and prosperity of the city of New York that the use of its credit would be justifiable, in case it is not found possible, after careful investigation and liberal concessions in regard to taxation and right of way, to secure the construction of a proper system of rapid transit by private enterprise."
City To Own Rapid Transit System. "Resolved, That in case the credit of the city is used, the ownership of the rapid transit system should be vested in the city, but its construction and operation should be entrusted to such responsible corporation now existing or hereafter to be formed, as may be willing to pay, in addition to the interest on the city bonds, the largest annual rental, such excess to be used as a sinking fund to retire the bonds of the city, and when the bonds are so retired, the lease to be terminated."
"Resolved, That thereafter the lease should be sold to the highest bidder, upon such terms as may be prescribed by the city authorities, for periods not exceeding thirty years, in the same general manner as the ferries are now sold, with the stipulation that the successful bidder shall purchase from the previous lessee the rolling stock and other personal property at its fair valuation, to be determined by arbitration."
Control of System. "Resolved, That proper safeguards and conditions ought to be provided by appropriate legislation in reference to the issue of the city bonds and the construction and operation of the rapid transit system, under the general supervision of a board of engineers, so as to insure economy of cost and adequate accommodations for the public use, and that the committee be continued, with power to add to their number, to confer and co-operate with the authorities of the city, in reference to the general plan and the needed legislation."
Mr. Hewitt said also that he had had opportunities to take the opinions of the best engineers and most competent authorities upon the subject of rapid transit, and that he had never known anyone who had studied the question to reach any other conclusion than that the system must be of an underground character; that a system upon masonry arches, like Berlin, would be enormously expensive and an injury to the general aspect of the city; and that the improvements made during the last six years in regard to lighting, ventilation and motive power have removed objections that formerly held good concerning underground roads. Continuing, he said:
Must Be An Underground Road. "Conceding, then, that we must have a new system, and that it must be an underground system, the question comes as to how its construction can be secured. There are only three methods: either by private capital, or by an association of private capital with the city, or by the city itself. Those are the three alternatives."
"The method of construction by private capital was the one arrived at by the Rapid Transit Commission, and I wish to say, in justice to that Commission, that they gave a most exhaustive and intelligent examination to the whole question, and I have no doubt they conceded, in the plan which they devised and which was offered at public auction to the bidders, all that they thought the public would grant in the way of immunity from taxation and privileges to use the streets. As you know, that plan failed. There was no bidder. I think that fact demonstrates the conclusion that it is idle to expect that private capital, unassisted in the same way, will undertake the construction of this very important and very expensive work."
Mr. Hewitt explained that the second method-- by association of private capital with the city-- would require a change in the Constitution of the State, and that the safeguards now thrown around the lending of the credit of municipalities of the state were none too strong. Any proposition looking to a change should be most carefully considered. In the present case it should first be shown that the work could not be done in any other way. He continued:
Credit of the City. "The advocates of this proposition have made no demonstration, and they cannot make the demonstration; for the very simple reason that if this work could be secured by the use of the credit of the city of New York to the extent of two-thirds of its cost, certainly it could be secured by the use of the credit of the city of New York to the extent of its entire cost; and the step from two-thirds to three-thirds is a very small one indeed, when you get over the idea that the city's credit may be used. It is a very small one, indeed, in reference to the fundamental fact, that in the case where the city's credit is loaned to a private corporation the work becomes the private property of that corporation; whereas, in the other case, by the advance of a very much smaller additional amount, the work becomes the property of the city, subject to its control and management; and if it be profitable, as I believe it will be at the end of thirty years, then the gains will flow into the city's treasury instead of into the treasury of a private corporation."
Administration Not To Be In Hands Of City. "It has been objected to the undertaking of this work by the city and on account of the city that there would be scandals involved in the expenditure of this large amount of money by the city authorities, and that the administration of such a work by the city authorities after it was constructed would result in an intolerable abuse, and would practically turn over the city of New York to the politicians and their followers. This objection would be an absolutely conclusive one to my mind, and I suppose to the mind of everybody else, if it were necessary that either the construction or administration of the work should reside in the hands of the city officials. There is no such necessity. The construction of this work, and its administration after it is constructed, can be put up at public auction to the highest bidder, upon the simple condition that the bidder shall be responsible; and, secondly, that he shall pay the interest upon the city bonds and give reasonable security of his ability to do so; and, thirdly, such further sum as in competition he may bid in addition to the rate of interest upon the city bonds. This mode of construction insures the most absolute economy. That is to say, the economy of a private owner in the building of the work, because the lessee will have to pay a rental upon the cost of the work, and he will therefore keep the cost of the work down to a minimum. In regard to the administration of the work, it will be conducted just as other railway corporations are conducted. Competent men will be employed-not politicians-- because the lessee will find that his profit depends upon the economy with which the work is operated."
Mr. Hewitt did not believe that the road should be operated by a commission in behalf of the city. He cited the case of the Croton Aqueduct, from which great abuses had arisen, and added:
Neither Construction nor Administration to be Confided to a Commission. "With this experience before us I do think that we ought not to confide either the construction of this work or its administration to any commission. I think the only path of safety is to lease it, as the ferries are leased, and as many other public works are leased, to private individuals, but keeping sure that at the end of a reasonable term the property shall revert to the city, to be again leased, either at lower rates of fare, which will contribute enormously to the prosperity and growth of this city, and to the advantage of its working classes, or yielding a larger revenue to the city treasury, to be used in the reduction of the rate of taxation."
"You will see from what I have said that I am in favor, therefore, of the use of the city's credit for the construction of this work."
Views of Mr. Inman. John H. Inman, a member of the Rapid Transit Commission of 1891-4, said:
"In regard to the rapid transit scheme proposed by Mr. Hewitt, there is no assurance that a responsible bid by a responsible corporation will be made to lease and operate it on the lines indicated by him. A million dollar guarantee (the amount named by Mr. Hewitt) would be insufficient. Of course, anyone who had a million dollars would be willing to put up that amount for the opportunity of saying at the end of five years (which time it would take to construct the road) whether they would take the lease or forfeit the guarantee, as by that time (that is to say, after the road was constructed) the practicability of an underground rapid transit system would be demonstrated, and if successful, the parties putting up the million dollars would have a great big thing in being able to control this system and its earnings for thirty years. Whereas, on the other hand, if for any reason the underground system should be a failure, the party putting up the money risks only the million dollars, while the city must stand the real loss.... I am very much in favor of Mr. Hewitt's scheme, and will do my best towards carrying it out; but it is in the air, in my opinion. I am as fond of Mr. Hewitt as any man present, but I must say that I do not think there is anything tangible about his scheme. It proposes to spend $40,000,000 to $60,000,000 of the city's money, and he only names a guarantee of a million dollars for faithfully executing the work, and for guaranteeing to carry out the terms of the lease for a period of thirty years, which, in my opinion, is entirely inadequate. Upon a responsible guarantee I would say go ahead."
Mr. Orr's Remarks. Alexander E. Orr said:
"The question that the Chamber is now called upon to decide is simply this: Shall we urge that a single exception be made in behalf of rapid transit construction, to an admirable law (viz., that which forbids any city in this State lending its credit to promote private interests,) so that private enterprise may be stimulated into providing for a great public need, or shall we recommend, irrespective of consequences, a strict adherence to the statute? That is the question."
"I am free to say that I should hold the same opinion that I did when we went before the Board of Aldermen and advocated the building of our rapid transit system by the city, provided we had men at the helm of our municipal affairs that we could trust; but as that is not now the case, nor is there any prospect that we soon shall have, I could not and I would not, as a member of this committee, put myself on record as advising the Chamber to recommend that the city should build this much needed system of rapid transit, which, as far as the light we have had on the subject leads us to believe, would be an expenditure of some fifty millions of dollars, at least, to be controlled by the power which controls the municipal government of the city of New York."
Substitute Resolutions Adopted. On motion the substitute resolutions offered by Mr. Hewitt were adopted. The President of the Chamber, Charles Stewart Smith, and Abram S. Hewitt were added to the committee.
At the regular monthly meeting of the Chamber on April 5 the committee on rapid transit submitted a copy of the bill which it had prepared and caused to be introduced into the legislature. The following is a synopsis of the bill which was drafted by Henry R. Beekman:
Bill Prepared by the Chamber. The bill provides for a new Board of Rapid Transit Commissioners, consisting of the Mayor, the Comptroller, the President of the Chamber of Commerce, ex-officio, and five others named in the bill. The Board may fill vacancies.
Aside from this, the scheme of the bill is to extend the powers of the Board of Rapid Transit Commissioners, under the act of 1891, so as to confer upon said Board the right, if in its judgment it is found desirable, of providing for the construction and operation of rapid transit roads for and on account of the city. The existing powers, therefore, which by law are now vested in the Board of Rapid Transit Commissioners are still retained.
Outline of Bill. If the Board shall determine that it is expedient that a rapid transit road should be constructed at the expense of the city, it is authorized to use any plan which has been heretofore adopted by the old rapid transit commissioners, and which has received the constitutional consent of the legal authorities and the property owners, or of the General Term of the Supreme Court, in case the property owners shall have refused their consent; or it may proceed to devise and adopt new routes and plans which must, in turn, be submitted to the Common Council and to the property owners, or to the General Term of the Supreme Court, for the requisite approvals.
When the plans are finally adopted and consented to, the Board is authorized to advertise for proposals for the construction and operation of the road. Power is given to the commissioners, if they see fit to do so, to make one or several contracts for the construction of the entire system, or parts of a system, of rapid transit. The commissioners are authorized to reject all the bids and re-advertise, or they may accept any bid that, in their judgment, will best promote the public interest.
Bidder to Construct and Operate Road. The successful bidder is then required to enter into a contract for the construction of the road, and also to equip, maintain, and operate the same for a term of years to be specified in the contract, not less than thirty-five nor more than fifty years. The annual rental to be paid by the contractor to the city must be an amount, to be fixed by the commissioners, not less than the interest on the bonds issued by the city to pay for the construction of the road, and an additional sum, not less than one per cent., upon the amount of said bonds. In order to secure the city, the contractor is required to enter into a bond with sureties which shall be satisfactory to the commissioners. He is also required to make a deposit of one million dollars with the Comptroller of the city, which sum is to be repaid to him, with interest at the same rate as that paid by the city upon the bonds issued under this act, as soon as the road has been constructed, equipped and the operation of the same commenced to the satisfaction of the Board.
Bonds to be Issued. For the purpose of paying the cost of construction the city is authorized to issue its bonds, principal and interest payable in gold coin, to an amount not exceeding fifty millions of dollars. The road itself, upon being constructed, immediately becomes the property of the city for which it is constructed. The rolling stock and other equipment of the road is to be the property of the contractor, provided by him at his own expense.
Renewal of Lease. As a substitute for the security of one million dollars, when repaid, the city is to have a first lien upon the rolling stock and equipment. Power is also given to the Board to enter into any agreement that may be considered wise in reference to renewals of the lease, or the purchase by the city of the rolling stock and equipment at a valuation, if the lease is not renewed, and the property of the contractor, embracing his interest in the franchise and the equipment of the road, is to be exempt from taxation.
The contract is also to provide the rates of fare to be charged and the character of service to be furnished. The rentals received are to be paid into the sinking fund for the redemption of the city debt.
Sections 39 to 63, both inclusive, relate exclusively to judicial proceedings for the appointment of commissioners of appraisal and the conduct of such proceedings, where the Board of Rapid Transit Commissioners shall find it necessary to condemn any property in order to provide for the construction of such road.
The bill also contains a provision that where in the existing law a vote of four members of the Board is required, the number shall be increased to six. This is in effect giving the same veto power to two members of the Board that the existing law now provides for; the present Board consisting of five persons, and the Board provided for in the act consisting of eight persons.
Old Commission to Deliver Records to New. The bill also terminates the offices of the present commissioners of rapid transit, and requires them to transfer and deliver to the new Board all the records, maps, plans and other property relating to their work. Provision is also made for the payment of the expenses and compensation of the out-going commissioners. This was considered just. It was necessary to make provision for it in the act, in view of the fact that the payment of the compensation of the commissioners under the present law is dependent upon their making a successful sale of a franchise for rapid transit, which has not yet been done. Provision is also made for the payment of the expenses of the new Board of Rapid Transit Commissioners, and also a reasonable compensation to the members thereof, other than the Mayor and Comptroller, which compensation is to be ascertained and determined in the manner provided for in the existing law; that is, by the General Term of the Supreme Court, but it is to be paid to them from time to time.
The persons named in the bill as passed were: William Steinway, Seth Low, John Claflin, Alexander E. Orr and John H. Starin.
It will be seen from the foregoing that the Chamber of Commerce took up the discussion of rapid transit problems at its meeting on February 1, 1894; that a sub-committee was appointed to examine the subject and report what action it was advisable to take; that this committee reported at the adjourned meeting on February 15; that at a meeting, held on March 1, resolutions offered by Mr. Hewitt were adopted, and that at the next regular meeting, April 5, the committee reported that a bill had been prepared and caused to be introduced into the Legislature. The bill so prepared passed the Legislature and was signed by the Governor May 22, 1894.
Results. The Chamber of Commerce worked two months upon problems that had engaged earnest attention for a quarter of a century. It found the correct solution. That it did so was due to the clear judgment of Mr. Hewitt, a man singularly well equipped both as a successful merchant and trained in the affairs of state. The Chamber has not forgotten the man or his service. | <urn:uuid:3d0d5392-c24e-4529-acab-a95489856950> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.nycsubway.org/wiki/Chapter_09:_The_Chamber_of_Commerce | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395679.18/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00069-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97685 | 8,164 | 2.6875 | 3 |
In which Scrabble dictionary does CONJUNCTS exist?
Definitions of CONJUNCTS in dictionaries:
noun - one that is joined with another
There are 9 letters in CONJUNCTS:
C C J N N O S T U
All anagrams that could be made from letters of word CONJUNCTS plus a
Scrabble words that can be created with letters from word CONJUNCTS
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Images for CONJUNCTSLoading...
SCRABBLE is the registered trademark of Hasbro and J.W. Spear & Sons Limited. Our scrabble word finder and scrabble cheat word builder is not associated with the Scrabble brand - we merely provide help for players of the official Scrabble game. All intellectual property rights to the game are owned by respective owners in the U.S.A and Canada and the rest of the world. Anagrammer.com is not affiliated with Scrabble. This site is an educational tool and resource for Scrabble & Words With Friends players. | <urn:uuid:35796408-2394-46ec-9349-7c4474a983e6> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.anagrammer.com/scrabble/conjuncts | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395548.53/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00133-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.904935 | 255 | 2.59375 | 3 |
World Carfree Day 2007
20th September, 2007
Are you ready to leave the wheels in the drive?
This Saturday car owners around the globe are being asked to leave their vehicles at home. 'World Carfree Day' was begun in 2000 by the World Carfree Network and is now an annual event. Organisers hope the day will act as a showcase for how our cities might function and feel without cars. They want people to get out and stay out of their vehicles.
The organization aims to raise awareness amongst citizens of the pressing need to lower carbon emissions, but it also has more permanent aims. It is calling upon governments and cities alike to make permanent changes that would encourage and facilitate drivers to either walk, cycle or use public transport. These measures include not only infrastructural and policy changes from the top, but also events such as carfree street festivals and street closures on a more local level.
Rhandall Ghent, the initiative's founder said:
‘World Carfree Day is the perfect time to take the heat off the planet and put it on politicians and planners to give priority to cycling, walking and public transport.’
Experts from the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change research, in conjunction with the World Carfree Network, have released figures showing that a third of the reduction in carbon emissions from transport needed by 2050 could come from driving citizens replacing their cars with other more eco friendly forms of transport.
The Carfree Network has produced a 12-step Autoholics Anonymous programme to support and guide drivers who are trying to give up their cars. Click here to find out more.
This article first appeared in the Ecologist September 2007
Using this website means you agree to us using simple cookies. | <urn:uuid:e219ddaf-8128-4cbd-8ff0-e90c2e426340> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.theecologist.org/back_archive/20002009/269257/world_carfree_day_2007.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395613.65/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00033-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960729 | 355 | 2.796875 | 3 |
Some mornings my mind gets trapped in a fog of pain. I can’t concentrate, my body aches, I’m nauseated, I’m irritable, and I can feel my pulse pound-pound-pounding in my head. I haven’t done anything extreme to warrant this internal pestilence. Rather, not doing something is the source of my problem. I’m in withdrawal—I’m craving my drug. I haven’t had my coffee (and with it, my morning dose of caffeine).
Everybody knows caffeine. They know the jolt of energy it might give you. They know it lurks in coffee and energy drinks and soda. They know having too much in the evening will make you restless all night. They know how it infiltrates the totally mundane aspects of our lives. But it has also crept into less likely places. Caffeine is found in gum, waffles, jelly beans, syrup, water, ice cream, lollipops, chocolate candy, and more. By the Food and Drug Administration‘s estimates, 80 percent of adults in the US consume caffeine every day. It’s so silent, prevalent, and covert that we often forget it’s a drug—the world’s most popular drug.
In 1994, researchers at Johns Hopkins confirmed what has always been anecdotally regarded as true: caffeine is addictive. As the New York Times then reported, “Caffeine addicts may try to give up their coffee, tea or cola habit but usually cannot, even when it threatens their health. Like emphysema patients who continue smoking cigarettes, they continue to use caffeine against their doctors’ orders.” In May 2013, the American Psychiatric Association labeled caffeine withdrawal as a mental disorder in the 5th edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), further legitimizing the power of caffeine.
Caffeine has such an incredible effect on our bodies because of two unique properties:
- It’s both water and fat soluble, which gives an an all-access pass to our bodies and lets it cross the blood-brain barrier;
- And it’s similar enough in molecular shape to adenosine that it can block adenosine receptors in the brain.
Adenosine plays many roles related to energy in the human body. To speak very generally, every time a neuron fires, adenosine is produced. As this adenosine builds up, it eventually binds with adenosine receptors which signal the brain to relax. This is why we get drowsy. Our body has a natural way of shutting down. Caffeine plays the perfect adenosine impersonator. It binds to the adenosine receptors, but it fails to signal the brain to slow things down. With caffeine on the receptors, there’s no place for the adenosine to go, so the body fails to slow down.
Blocking the receptors does have some ancillary effects: it allows the brains stimulants like dopamine and glutamate to work more efficiently; and the build up of adenosine causes the pituitary gland to produce more adrenaline. But the main effect is to prevent the brain from slowing down. Stephen R. Braun, author of Buzz: the Science and Lore of Caffeine and Alcohol, compares ingesting caffeine to “putting a block of wood under one of the brain’s primary brake pedals.” The caffeine doesn’t stimulate the brain itself, but it does ruin the brakes.
Because of this, coffee can’t get you more wired than your body could naturally be. It doesn’t over-stimulate you. It just lets you work at your peak while keeping tiredness at bay. It’s best to think of caffeine as something that will make you faster, not smarter or more powerful.
When people consume caffeine on a regular schedule, the body starts to catch on and the brain adapts its biochemistry. It knows it should be tired, but for some reason the adenosine receptors don’t seem to be working, so it develops more adenosine receptors. This is why people grow a tolerance for caffeine. X amount of caffeine used to be able to block Y receptors. But now there are twice as many receptors, you’ll need more caffeine for it to have any effect.
And if you suddenly stop taking caffeine after your biochemistry has altered itself, you pull the rug out from underneath the whole system. With no caffeine, none of the receptors are being unnaturally blocked so the brain receives an influx of signals telling it to slow down. And headaches, extreme drowsiness, and nausea come cascading down on your body as a result.
Fortunately caffeine withdrawal can be treated in two ways: consuming more caffeine (I suppose that’s not a real treatment), or not consuming coffee for a little over a week. Caffeine does have benefits and withdrawal isn’t particularly pleasant, so as long as you’re consuming a healthy amount of caffeine (under 400 mg/day) feel free to keep at it. But if you do want to kick the caffeine habit, it only takes 10 days or so for your body to reestablish a baseline for life without the neurotransmitter impostors. | <urn:uuid:1f783b56-8de6-41bc-932b-0ad37c143b1f> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://theairspace.net/commentary/this-is-your-brain-on-caffeine-the-most-common-psychoactive-drug/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395679.92/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00041-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.922633 | 1,106 | 2.828125 | 3 |
What is the importance or significance of Ashada masam? Why Ashad month considered inauspicious? This article gives brief details and information about Ashada masam. Ashada masam or Ashad month, also corresponds and coincides with Aadi Masam or Aadi month in Tamil calendar, is considered as inauspicious in Hindu Astrology.
Auspicious programs like Marriages, gruhapravesh, sacred thread wearing, beginning house constructions (Shankhu Sthapana), and many other important functions are postponed due to Ashada month. It is also known as Shunya masam (Null month).
In Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, there is a rare ritual followed in Ashada masam that newly married daughter in law and her mother in law will not stay at one home. Newly married couple stay away from each other in Ashad month i.e., wife goes to her mother’s house for a month. After spending Ashada masam at her mother’s house, she comes back in Shravan month. Hindu Astrology has every reason to explain this rare ritual followed in Ashadh maas. Usually, Ashad month comes in June – July in Gregorian calendar. When a newly wedded couple got their sexual interaction in June, there is a chance of delivering baby in hot summer. New-born baby and mother may suffer a lot from the heat and temperature in summers. To avoid this, newly married couples are advised to be parted during this month.
People apply Mehndi designs on their hands and feet in Ashad month in many places of India. The main reason behind is to get rid of the effects of climate changes that may occur in this month (June – July).
Even though Ashada mahina is inauspicious for auspicious programs, it is very auspicious for pujas and vrata. Rath Yatra in Puri Jagannath temple and Palki Yatra in Pandharpur Vittala temple are celebrated in Ashad month. Chaturmas Vrat begins in this month. As per ‘Vaikhanasa Samhita’, devotees should worship Saptamatruka shakti Goddesses, Lord Bhairava, Varaha, Narasimha, Mahishasura Mardhini, Goddess Durga in Dakshinaya period which begins in Ashada Masa. | <urn:uuid:902847a9-0a51-42fc-98a6-7fd4f0e150b8> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://hindupad.com/ashada-masam-importance-why-ashad-month-is-inauspicious/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395560.14/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00078-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944631 | 502 | 2.875 | 3 |
All eBooks in .NET Framework
.NET is a software framework developed by Microsoft and first introduced in 2001. It allows developers to efficiently create programs in a consistent manner and run them across a variety of Windows environments. This unified framework offers a number of benefits to developers including code reuse, simplified debugging, and improved security. The latest version of .NET features a compiler platform, Roslyn, which provides open source compilers for C# and Visual Basic with excellent code analysis tools. | <urn:uuid:083628a7-b080-4a1c-92ab-adb268882fe9> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.apress.com/microsoft/net-framework?p=6 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396106.25/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00125-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.906643 | 97 | 2.546875 | 3 |
Repointing Historic Masonry
I read that it's necessary to use "soft" mortar for repairs to historic masonry. When inquiring about repointing our 1820's brick home and stone foundation, a contractor suggested that it's fine for the brick walls, but not strong enough for the foundation. Would it be appropriate to use the hard mortar for the stone?
The mortar bedded between the bricks and stones of your home is traditionally lime-based mortar. This "soft" mortar consists primarily of sand and lime. "Hard" mortar is made with Portland cement, which was not commercially available in North America until about the mid 1870s. Even then, it was mostly used as an additive to the mortar mixture and was not a primary ingredient in mortars until around 1930.
Repointing or other repairs to historic brick walls with modern mortar, containing Portland cement, can cause extensive damage to the old bricks. The old, soft, lime-based mortar between the bricks has served as a path for any moisture within the walls to escape. Denser, less permeable Portland cement mortar applied to the joints can force moisture to migrate through the face of the bricks instead. When the moisture evaporates, it leaves soluble salt deposits in the hard "skin" of the bricks. The salts then crystallize, causing the surface of the brick to "spall." Once the soft, inner portion of the brick is exposed to the weather, it can rapidly erode.
There are other benefits to using lime-based mortar for old masonry:
Unlike stiff, brittle modern mortars, lime-based mortar's elasticity absorbs stresses, movement and vibrations. Portland cement can trap moisture in the old, soft bedding mortar, which can result in the joints swelling. Lime mortar can heal itself by perpetually dissolving lime that naturally fills small cracks and voids that may develop (picture stalactites forming).
The properties of lime-based mortar also make it a wise choice for repointing and repairs to stone walls and foundations. Although I've seen no significant damage to hard, igneous or metamorphic stones pointed with hard mortar, soft sedimentary stones can suffer the same fate as bricks. I've found some limestone and sandstone foundation so severely eroded, that the mortar joints now project well beyond the surface of the stones. Soft mortar doesn't seem to be a weakness when used in stone structures. I've visited some 700-year-old Edwardian castles that have performed quite well without the hard stuff ever being used.
That bag of lime that you might have in the shed, used for reducing the acidity of the soil in the garden, isn't the right stuff to create this old-style mortar. The garden lime is simply pulverized limestone. For repointing old masonry, you'll need limestone that was burned in a kiln to create "quicklime." The quicklime is then "slaked" with water to create lime putty, typically sold wet, in sealed buckets. Natural hydraulic lime is processed in a similar way, but can be supplied in bags as a dry powder. In the last decade, word has really spread about using appropriate mortar for historic buildings, resulting in several suppliers producing the correct lime, and even pre-mixed mortars (already blended with the sand) for restoration and preservation of our historic masonry structures.
William Kibbel III is a home inspector and restoration consultant specializing in historic residential and commercial buildings. He is vice president of Tri-County Inspection Company, serving Southeastern Pennsylvania and Central New Jersey. | <urn:uuid:53bfce06-0737-45eb-bd6d-c9e7e9634325> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.oldhouseweb.com/how-to-advice/repointing-historic-masonry.shtml | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397428.37/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00150-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949291 | 730 | 2.71875 | 3 |
Toddler Veronica Capobianco was forcibly removed from the home she shared with her parents and given to a man she had never met. This is not an illegal abduction, although it certainly sounds that way. This action was court-ordered.
In late July the South Carolina Supreme Court upheld a judge's decision that removed a 2-and-a-half-year-old from her adoptive family after a bitter custody battle with her birth father. This ruling has sent shock waves through the American adoption system.
Veronica Capobianco was adopted in 2009 by Matt and Melanie Capobianco of Charleston, S.C., in an open adoption in Oklahoma.
Four months after the finalization of the adoption, Dusten Brown, Veronica's biological father, filed for custody under the federal Indian Child Welfare Act, which protects Native American families from being separated.
The 1978 law grants tribes a unique right to intervene in adoption cases. Under the law, a child should be placed with a member of the child's extended family, whether they are Indian or not; a member of the child's tribe; or a member of another Indian tribe.
Veronica's birth mother, Christina Maldonado, who is not Native American, put her daughter up for adoption because she claimed she did not have the resources to care for the baby. She stated that she received no financial support from Brown, and, according to public records, Brown abdicated parental responsibility during the pregnancy and was not present at the birth of Veronica.
The state of South Carolina finalized the adoption and terminated Brown's rights as a father for lack of action on his daughter's behalf. Brown waived his right to contest the adoption. At that time, Veronica, then an infant, legally become the daughter of the Capobiancos.
Four months later, Brown changed his mind and decided that he wanted custody despite the fact that he had never met the baby. His lawyers filed suit against the Capbiancos to gain custody of Veronica.
No other American would be able to challenge legal parental rights, but Brown cited the Indian Child Welfare Act, which affords him special standing that no Americans but Native Americans enjoy. Brown's application of the Indian Child Welfare Act is widely seen as a perversion of its intent, because this is the first time the law has been used to dissolve a family unit.
On Dec. 30, 2011, a South Carolina family court judge ruled that although the state recognized the Capobiancos as the legal parents of Veronica, the Indian Child Welfare Act trumped South Carolina law.
The Capobiancos were ordered to pack up Veronica and give her to Brown, a man she had never met. He put her in a truck outside her family home in Charleston and drove her to his home in Oklahoma (incidentally, not on the reservation).
The Capobiancos appealed the judge's decision to the Supreme Court in South Carolina. During the pending court case the Capbiancos pleaded for visitation, but Brown prohibited them from having contact but for one occasion on New Year's Eve 2011.
On April 17, 2012, in a closed hearing, the South Carolina Supreme Court heard arguments from both sides. The ruling that affirmed the family court judge's decision to remove Veronica from the Capobiancos' home came down at the end of July.
The adoption community has been devastated by this news. Enabling a birth parent to claim parental rights at any point in a child's life without concern for that child's welfare or that child's legal family casts more shadows and doubt onto a process already plagued by confusion and swathed in difficulty. This case may make it that much more difficult to find adoptive parents willing to open their homes and hearts for fear of having their child ripped out of both. | <urn:uuid:c74c6215-4213-4e8b-9da3-ef3a22554ed7> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.huffingtonpost.com/andrea-poe/veronica-capobianco-case_b_1826591.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396459.32/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00170-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975558 | 769 | 2.625 | 3 |
Downdraft furnaces, also called downflow furnaces, and updraft furnaces, also called upflow furnaces, are forced-air units that take in cool air and send out heated air in two different ways. The type of furnace that you have will depend solely on where your furnace is located, either in the basement or a crawlspace or on an occupied floor.
A downdraft furnace pulls in air from above, heats it, and sends it out to ductwork that rests below the unit. These types of furnaces are commonly mounted in the living area of a home, either in a closet or an access room. The ductwork is mounted below the floor to distribute the heated air evenly to the living space.
An updraft furnace pulls in air from the bottom of the unit and sends heated air upward into the duct system. Cold air return ducts are channeled into the bottom of the unit so that the air can be filtered and heated before being sent back into the home. Updraft furnaces are commonly mounted in basements or in sealed below-grade crawlspaces.
- Comstock/Comstock/Getty Images | <urn:uuid:fe4057ec-c63c-4bcd-b360-8b1b3fa597f7> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://homeguides.sfgate.com/difference-between-downdraft-updraft-furnace-87701.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398516.82/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00118-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939529 | 235 | 2.65625 | 3 |
|Values are valid only on day of printing.|
Screening for galactosemia
Galactose-1-phosphate uridyltransferase (GALT) deficiency is the most common cause of galactosemia and requires lifelong restriction of dietary galactose.
Classic galactosemia can be diagnosed by analysis of GALT enzyme.
The preferred test to evaluate for possible diagnosis of galactosemia, routine carrier screening, and follow-up of abnormal newborn screening results is GCT / Galactosemia Reflex, Blood.
For monitoring of dietary compliance, see GAL1P / Galactose-1-Phosphate (Gal-1-P), Erythrocytes.
This test is not appropriate for the diagnosis or monitoring of galactosemia. For diagnosis, see GCT / Galactosemia Reflex, Blood. For monitoring, see GAL1P / Galactose-1-phosphate (Gal-1-P), Erythrocytes.
See Galactosemia Testing Algorithm in Special Instructions. | <urn:uuid:26c10c4f-7dfb-4713-b877-28534415961e> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.mayomedicallaboratories.com/test-info/pediatric/catalog/Overview/83638 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397749.89/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00114-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.707934 | 226 | 2.71875 | 3 |
|Basic information||Name: Ramsdorf|
This is an OFFICIAL meteorite name.
Abbreviation: There is no official abbreviation for this meteorite.
Observed fall: Yes
Year fell: 1958
Mass: 4.68 kg
This is 1 of 9422 approved meteorites (plus 3 unapproved names) classified as L6. [show all]
Search for other: L chondrites (type 4-7), Ordinary chondrites (type 4-7), L chondrites, and Ordinary chondrites
Writeup from MB 13:
Warning: the following text was scanned and may contain character recognition errors. Refer to the original to be sure of accuracy.
FALL OF THE METEORITE IN RAMSDORF, G F R
The place of fall or discovery: Township of Ramsdorf, district of Borken, Munster, Westphalia, GFR; φ = 51°3l 'N; λ = 6°56' E of Greenwich.
Date of fall or discovery: FALL, July 26, 1958, 18 hr 30 min.
Class and type: STONY, chondrite.
The number of individual specimens: 1
Total weight: 4.682 kg.
The circumstances of fall or discovery: The meteorite fell from a clear sky and neither light nor percussion phenomena were observed. The fall was accompanied by a noise similar to that of propeller; it started and stopped suddenly. Shortly afterwards children and young people discovered steam rising from a tube-shaped depression in the ground. The following morning the depression was excavated and at a depth of 40 cm. the meteorite was discovered. The depression had an eastward direction and an incline angle of about 30° to the vertical. The children broke the meteorite into five parts which match each other, thus making it possible to reestablish the original shape of the meteorite; it is polyhedral with rounded ribs and regmaglipts visible in places.
SOURCE: R. Mosebach, Der Gesteinsmeteorit von Ramsdorf. Natur und Volk, 88, NO. 10 329-338, 1958 and a letter sent by Prof. S. Hoffmeister to E.L. Krinov on January 26, 1959, and by Prof. E. Preuss on Febr. 13, 1959.
|References:||Published in Meteoritical Bulletin, no. 13, Moscow (1959)|
This is 1 of 8 approved meteorites from Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany (plus 1 unapproved name)
This is 1 of 51 approved meteorites from Germany (plus 22 unapproved names) (plus 2 impact craters)
Direct link to this page | <urn:uuid:25fb77fc-ece6-4153-97df-04de8b89a894> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.lpi.usra.edu/meteor/metbull.php?code=22386 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397213.30/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00055-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.864959 | 576 | 2.765625 | 3 |
The Charter of the United Nations is the foundational treaty of the international organization usually referred to as the U.N. That Charter was signed in San Francisco on June 26, 1945, sixty-seven years ago this week.
It took only about four months for the five permanent members of the Security Council and the majority of the other signatories to ratify the Charter. Thus, on October 24, 1945, the U.N. was formally established for the purpose of maintaining peace in the world.
There are now many critics of the United Nations, as there have been through the years. There are, to be sure, many weaknesses in it—as there are in all human institutions. But, at least and surely partly due to the work of the U.N., there has not been another world war since it was founded in the year the Second World War ended. (It is interesting to note that the Charter was approved even before WWII ended in the Pacific.)
In this country, part of the opposition to the U.N. comes from those who affirm the concept of “manifest destiny” and “American exceptionalism.” If the USA is unique and qualitatively different from all the other countries in the world, belonging to an organization that basically recognizes the equality of nations is not seen as something positive.
For many years the U.N. has been working on issues such as the deterioration of the natural environment and the problem of climate change (global warming). Just last week (June 20-22), the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD) was held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (That meeting was also called Rio+20, as the Earth Summit was held in Rio in 1992.)
Some people think that concern for the environment is bad for business and say that human-caused global warming is nonsense. Such persons are less than enthusiastic about the work of the U.N. and the UNCSD, which emphasized, among other things, “a green economy.”
On the other hand, before and during the Rio+20 meetings, there was criticism of the UNCSD from the other side of the spectrum. The People’s Summit, which also convened in Rio, charged that the U.N. conference was making too many concessions to the world’s biggest corporations and to global capitalism.
Similarly, according to Ecumenical News International, “The Geneva-based Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance (EAA) said that while the conference’s final document . . . . acknowledged that access to food is a human right, it did not pay adequate attention to needed changes in agriculture that favor the small farmer over big corporations.”
|Ban Ki-moon (b. 1944)|
The theme of the Rio+20 conference was “The Future We Want.” In a YouTube video, U.N. General Secretary Ban Ki-moon spoke about the kind of future he wants: a future where everyone can breathe clean air, drink safe water, and have enough to eat.
Ban’s hopes for the future of humanity are good ones. If the United Nations doesn’t take the lead in seeking to reach those goals for the peoples of the world, who will? | <urn:uuid:5fcd3f08-ec56-44e8-ab66-a9f81e878acf> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://theviewfromthisseat.blogspot.com/2012_06_01_archive.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397748.48/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00156-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970592 | 672 | 3.125 | 3 |
PORTLAND, MAINE — A dashing young man wearing a green felt cape and a silver crown strides over to a group of visitors.
"I am William of Normandy," he announces. "I am one of the mightiest feudal lords that ever lived."
It's no ordinary day on the battlefield for William the Conqueror, who is really seventh-grader James Pelletier. He's performing in his school's Medieval Knights program, which includes skits with characters like Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine, Joan of Arc, and Roger Bacon.
These students are on a "learning expedition" at King Middle School in Portland, Maine, a public school with a decidedly different approach.
The school's curriculum was designed by Expeditionary Learning Outward Bound, a Cambridge, Mass., based-organization. The group has replaced long hours of classroom work with in-depth explorations of themes through community service, field work, or group performance.
Expeditionary Learning throws convention to the wind: Rigid scheduling and class periods are out, tracking is practically nonexistent, and students work with the same teacher for more than one year. Children still learn the traditional subjects but spend less time watching a teacher in front of a blackboard.
"[Students] learn more. They do better," says Expeditionary Learning Outward Bound president Greg Farrell. "They are able to achieve at high levels, and do more things they didn't think they could do through the traditional chalk and talk, when teachers dominate the time."
Expeditionary Learning's system-wide philosophy - which is now in place at nearly 50 schools around the United States - affects all the grades and classes of a school. All delve into expedition themes each year:
* At the Rocky Mountain School of Expeditionary Learning (Grades K-12) in Denver, third-graders studied the subject of homes. They built a replica of Henry David Thoreau's cabin on their playground and visited the original site in Concord, Mass.
* Middle-school students at the School for the Physical City in New York became stewards of a local park and renovated it.
* At the Table Mound Elementary School in Dubuque, Iowa, in a program called "Books! Books! Books!," first-graders create their own class books and many individual books.
"The essence of expeditionary learning is that it motivates students," says Dan Eaton, whose seventh-grade son attends the King school. "And I think motivated kids are good students."
The program was originally funded for five years by New American Schools, a nonprofit corporation in Arlington, Va. Schools hoping to adopt it now must foot the tab themselves. District approval is required, and 80 percent of a school's faculty and all of its leadership must sign on.
Broad student appeal
Expeditionary Learning says the program helps spark a wide variety of students, from those in need of a tough challenge to low performers. School-district test results show significant improvement in standardized tests by the third year of implementation in 9 of 10 Expeditionary Learning schools. A more complete assessment of student achievement by the RAND Corp. is under way.
That performance is key, say experts. A catchy-sounding curriculum is fine. But schools need strong basic academics too, says Theodore Sizer, education professor emeritus of Brown University in Providence, R.I. "The success depends on the particulars," he says. "We confuse serious education with models, and models are ... just the shell. It's what you do inside the shell that's crucial."
Expeditionary Learning Outward Bound acts as a consultant to its schools, and has branch offices around the country. Teachers and administrators follow guidelines and consult with a school "designer," who visits regularly. The first-year cost for a school with 25 teachers is approximately $78,350.
Students aren't the only ones that test new methods. Teachers go on one-week learning expedition summits where they, like students, study themes in depth.
The five-year-old educational design tends to suit small high schools but has been successful with lower grades as well - public or private. While students of all ability levels are suited for the program, Mr. Farrell says, the approach may work best for those who have had problems learning in traditional schools.
Here at the King school, 22 percent of students are foreign born and speak a total of 28 languages. Many come from low-income backgrounds. As a traditional school 5-1/2 years ago, King had its share of problems, says principal Mike McCarthy.
"When I first got here, it was a typical junior high school - a lot of discipline problems, not a lot of interdisciplinary work," Mr. McCarthy says.
After Expeditionary Learning was introduced, students became more engaged, test scores have improved, and disciplinary referrals dropped, he says.
Students get a dollop of several academic subjects. For their Medieval Knights program, youngsters wrote reports on medieval characters in addition to putting on a play.
When they published a field guide of Casco Bay in an earlier expedition, students used science, art, research, writing, and computer skills. Youngsters did extensive on-site and laboratory work on organisms, as well as underwater photography and snorkeling. Shortly after that, an oil spill fouled Casco Bay.
"It then became real to the kids," McCarthy says. As part of their follow-up field work, "they saw animals drenched in oil and talked to the cleanup crew."
More demands on teachers
Despite its successes, expeditionary learning is not without its challenges. Teachers may find they have less free time - whether it's because they're buying art supplies or shopping for costumes.
"It's a lot of work. You have to do a lot of scrambling to put resources together," says language-arts teacher Karen MacDonald.
But students seem to appreciate that. Seventh-grader Krista Robinson likes the school better than others she's attended.
"When I was younger, I went to a parochial school then I went to a public school," she says. "The biggest change of all would be the freedom we have here. They trust you a lot more with learning. It's more hands on. It's more involvement with the whole class." | <urn:uuid:6f4908d3-afb5-4297-9384-9d4d7ea37b5c> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.csmonitor.com/1998/0224/022498.feat.learning.2.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397865.91/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00169-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974536 | 1,299 | 3 | 3 |
This on-line project is part of the Center for Improved Engineering and Science Education (CIESE) program, which has developed internet activities for the elementary, middle, and high school level student. This series of activities explores the mathematical and environmental aspects of population growth. Using archived census and demographic data as well as up-to-the-minute population estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau, students learn how to model population growth and study the implications of a changing population. The project provides instructions, activities, back-up information, data links, reference materials, on-line help, and an instructor guide.
Intended for grade levels:
Type of resource:
No specific technical requirements, just a browser required
Cost / Copyright:
Copyright 1999, 2001 Stevens Institute of Technology Center for Improved Engineering and Science Education, All Rights Reserved. The Trustees of Stevens Institute of Technology, Copyright Owner, provides the information on this server to anyone, but retains copyright on all text and graphic images.
DLESE Catalog ID: DLESE-000-000-001-637
This resource references 'Center for Improved Engineering and Science Education (CIESE)'
Resource contact / Creator / Publisher:
Publisher: Center for Improved Engineering and Science Education
Contact: Mercedes McKay
Center for Improved Engineering and Science Education | <urn:uuid:34d0f3c8-ff60-49cc-bccf-64d533fbdab8> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.dlese.org/library/catalog_DLESE-000-000-001-637.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396949.33/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00113-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.836962 | 269 | 3.484375 | 3 |
APRIL 9, 2014 — In a new report released today, DNV GL answers the question: How can a ship manager identify the biggest sources of useful energy that are currently being wasted on ships?
"Ship operations and environmental legislation have become more complex, and it has become increasingly difficult to assess or even define efficiency with consistency and accuracy," said Rune Torhaug, Director, Strategic Research & Innovation, DNV GL. "We have therefore revisited the basic and universal laws of thermodynamics to develop a methodology based on exergy, sometimes called available energy, which is a metric for describing the maximum useful energy that can be derived from a process, component or system."
The methodology can be adjusted to suit newbuilds still in the design phase or operating ships, and it is designed to help managers make the most out of their Ship Energy Efficiency Management Plans. Using both on board measurements and the DNV GL modeling suite COSSMOS, energy losses throughout the ship including hull, propulsion power train, machinery and electrical systems are quantified and ranked. Even difficult-to-capture processes such as throttling and fluid mixing can be incorporated.
The report includes an analysis of a waste heat recovery system. These complex systems can easily contain 70 components.
"Through our exergy-based methodology, the true sources of useful energy losses were identified, revealing a picture far from self-evident. Subsequent optimization in DNV COSSMOS yielded an increase in fuel savings that halved the payback time of the system," said George Dimopoulos, senior researcher and project manager.
A second study examined the fuel pre-processing sub-system for the marine fuel cell on board the offshore supply vessel Viking Lady. This resulted in a solution capable of a remarkable 50 per cent reduction in exergy losses.
When the main engine of an aframax tanker was analyzed using operating data in combination with COSSMOS modeling, the true sources of losses were identified with greater accuracy than a traditional energy analysis, says Mr. Dimopoulos. "In fact, the standard energy analysis failed to identify the turbocharger as being the second largest contributor to exergy loss."
DNV GL says its new energy management methodology will work for all ships, and all system and components that convert energy on board and "thus offers ship managers an unparalleled way of prioritizing investment in technology alternatives or new operational strategies." | <urn:uuid:fa0ce384-39af-4ad9-9c1b-94b59cf578db> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.marinelog.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=6517:dnv-gl-finds-new-way-to-identy-energy-wastes&Itemid=231 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395160.19/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00022-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951338 | 489 | 2.609375 | 3 |
Modern Language Studies
Studying another world language serves as a gateway to other peoples and cultures. The rewards and possibilities available to people who are proficient in more than one language and sensitive to other cultures are endless and exciting. At Lycoming College we offer a wide variety of courses in French, German, and Spanish which enable students to expand their current skills and take on new challenges in our increasingly global community. Professionals who know other languages are able to travel and exchange information around the corner and around the world.
Over the years, our students have recognized that through language proficiency and the study of literature, culture and film, they gain a deeper understanding of other societies and traditions as well as clearer insight into their own society. Our students benefit from small classes, tutors, native-speaking teaching assistants from around the world, and a supportive faculty who serve as teachers, advisors, and mentors.
Modern technology enhances language study at Lycoming. Our language laboratory is designed as a video theater in which satellite television brings foreign culture directly to students. Resources include software tutorials, multimedia instruction, and access to online foreign language materials. | <urn:uuid:b15eb068-9dd0-482a-9ce8-f4d838fd78b1> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.lycoming.edu/modernLanguageStudies/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398216.41/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00122-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958311 | 225 | 2.625 | 3 |
1 the act or an instance of simulating
2 the assumption of a false appearance or form
3 a representation of a problem, situation, etc., in mathematical terms, esp. using a computer
4 (Maths, statistics, computing) the construction of a mathematical model for some process, situation, etc., in order to estimate its characteristics or solve problems about it probabilistically in terms of the model
5 (Psychiatry) the conscious process of feigning illness in order to gain some particular end; malingering
English Collins Dictionary - English Definition & Thesaurus
Add your entry in the Collaborative Dictionary.
- Create your own vocabulary list
- Contribute to the Collaborative Dictionary
- Improve and share your linguistic knowledge
"Collins English Dictionary 5th Edition first published in 2000 © HarperCollins Publishers 1979, 1986, 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000 and Collins A-Z Thesaurus 1st edition first published in 1995 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995" | <urn:uuid:e5b486d9-5e63-4f18-9bdb-d1a1f15b85e9> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://dictionary.reverso.net/english-definition/simulation | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783394414.43/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154954-00187-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.790669 | 201 | 2.703125 | 3 |
Avoid ghutkha, prevent cancer: Expert
By 2020, according to a World Health Organization (WHO) estimate, every home will have a cancer patient, but are we conscious enough to take preventive measures?
The question is “Are we able to reduce the statistics which is the main cause to the deadly disease cancer?”
To address this issue, Dr. Vikash K Agarwal, an eminent oncosurgeon, Chairman, Global Cancer Trust and Ex. Surgeon TATA Memorial Hospital organized a Cancer Awareness Programme on World Cancer Day in association with Heritage Institute of Technology today at The Heritage campus.
“At an early stage, if cancer is detected it is curable but are we conscious about the deadly disease cancer and taking steps to prevent it,” said Dr. Agarwal.
He said that majority of the youth nowadays consuming tobacco due to peer pressures rather than stress and anxiety. “60% of the profits are earned by selling a pouch of ghutkha, which is really deadly,” said Dr. Agarwal.
He said “we are not aware about our bodies and the bad impact of consuming tobacco for which our country is more prone to cancer.”
He sighted some of the shocking cases which came across him where a person had suffered from cancer and died living alone his wife and son in the nuclear family.
By giving pictorial examples he cited the after effects of cancer, especially oral cancer which is very much common in India. “Before you take your first pouch of Ghutkha, think twice,” said Dr. Agarwal.
One of the faculty members asked about people who consume more cigarettes but still not having cancer. To the reply of this question, Dr. Agarwal said that some people have a strong immunity system which prevents the occurrence of cancer inspite of having tobacco.
Giving the example of Lisa Ray and Yuvraj Singh, who survived from the deadly disease, he said that before it enters one’s body, it should be prevented.
On the other hand Dr. Agarwal also spoke about Breast Cancer and cervical Cancer which is very much common in women, since one out of 87 in rural India and one out of 20 in urban India get it.
He narrated the symptoms of breast cancer and how can it be prevented.
“Stay Healthy, eat vegetable and maintain a healthy diet. Don’t forget to exercise at least 15 minutes a day and say no to tobacco,” said Dr. Agarwal as the remedial measure to prevent cancer.
The programme was also contributed by Mr. Vikas Banka, Dr. Pranay Chaudhuri, Principal, Heritage Institute of technology, CEO, Pradip Agarwal and Executive Director, Probir Roy.
More than 100 faculty members and students attended the programme. | <urn:uuid:420ee2e5-87d3-46f4-961a-d8eca3cd07a8> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://health.sify.com/avoid-ghutkha-prevent-cancer-expert/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397428.37/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00150-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965586 | 596 | 2.78125 | 3 |
Physical Sciences Vs. Life Sciences
Difference Between Physical Sciences And Life Sciences
The physical sciences involve research on the structure and properties of nonliving things. These may range from the invisible particles that make up atoms to huge masses of stars called galaxies.
Astronomy, chemistry, geology, meteorology, and physics are among the physical sciences. Astronomy is the study of planets, stars, comets, and other objects in the universe. Chemistry deals with the composition, structure, and properties of substances. It also deals with changes that occur in substances. Geology is the study of rocks, minerals, and fossils. It also explores Earth’s composition and history. Meteorology is the study of how changes in Earth’s atmosphere produce weather. Physics focuses on matter and energy. Matter is the material that makes up everything in the universe. And energy is what makes matter change and move.
The life sciences, or biological sciences, involve the study of living things. Zoology and Botany come under life sciences. Several of the life sciences are called biomedical sciences. These sciences are used in medicine. They include anatomy, cell biology, physiology, genetics, molecular biology, and biochemistry. Anatomy is the study of the structure of living things. Cell biology concerns the structure and function of cells. Physiology deals with how living things function. Genetics focuses on how biological instructions called genes determine the traits of living things. Molecular biology is the study of proteins and other big molecules that are important in health and disease. Biochemistry is the study of chemical processes that occur inside living things. | <urn:uuid:b2e77f59-730d-40ef-b806-aa2d93078120> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://vspages.com/physical-sciences-vs-life-sciences-22239/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395160.19/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00150-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.910482 | 324 | 3.375 | 3 |
Big data processing will be the future of innovation. Our greatest discoveries will come not from carefully conceiving a theory and testing it, but by throwing every possibility up against a CPU wall and seeing what sticks.
And as GigaOm points out, we're quickly reaching a point where the CPU in its current form just won't do.
The shift is a move from creating scads of information in a format that can be stored cheaply, to being able to process and analyze that information more cheaply as well (all the while adding new layers of data thanks to a proliferation of devices and networks). The challenge is that under the current computing paradigm, adding more processing is problematic both because it's becoming more difficult to cram more transistors onto a chip, and those chips and their surrounding servers are sucking up an increasing amount of power.
The solution? Rethink its design. GPU computing, while great for supercomputing, is inferior when it comes to raw number crunching [To clarify, GPUs are better for parallel sets of data that utilize the same operation/algorithm, while the standard CPU is better for processing a single, large, complex set of data. Thanks, Nitesh] And packing more and more transistors in different configurations--Intel's 3D chips, for example—will only go so far. HP has been reconsidering every aspect of the processor, and think they found the future of computing in a new circuitry component: the memristor.
HP's answer is its concept of nanostores, chips that tie the memory and the processor together using a completely new kind of circuit called a memristor. The basic premise for HP is that 80 percent of the energy inside a data center is tied to moving data from memory to the processor and then back again. We're already seeing the trend of moving memory closer to the processor (that's what the addition of Flash inside the data center is about) to speed up computing.
And even beyond the preservation of Moore's Law or market relevance, the need for companies pushing CPU design forward is important for the future of science. Take for example, this New Yorker piece on quantum computing and the leading mind behind it, David Deutsch. It's big idea is that if we build a working quantum computer, it could theoretically process more numbers than there are believed particles in the universe.
What's that good for? It could prime factorize absurdly large numbers in a matter of seconds. And it could prove the validity the Many Worlds Interpretation. The theory essentially supposes that there is a different universe for every possible permutation of anything in the universe. One scientist, Peter Shor, developed an algorithm for quantum computers that would potentially support this theory, if we ever had a quantum computer powerful enough to run it on.
The theory also explains how quantum computers might work. Deutsch told me that a quantum computer would be "the first technology that allows useful tasks to be performed in collaboration between parallel universes." The quantum computer's processing power would come from a kind of outsourcing of work, in which calculations literally take place in other universes. Entangled particles would function as paths of communication among different universes, sharing information and gathering the results. So, for example, with the case of Shor's algorithm, Deutsch said, "When we run such an algorithm,, countless instances of us are also running it in other universes."
[Image via Flickr/velvetkevorkian] | <urn:uuid:ffdd2ab8-13b0-491a-b889-2ce497d5ab3b> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://gizmodo.com/5802374/to-keep-innovating-and-discover-parallel-universes-we-need-to-rethink-the-cpu | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397636.15/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00143-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94133 | 703 | 3.1875 | 3 |
Hard Hatted Women began in 1979 when three women, a telephone repair technician, a steelworker and a truck driver, formed a support group for tradeswomen. Since then the organization has worked to offer support for women in and seeking non-traditional jobs.
Hard Hatted Women assists women in obtaining a variety of blue collar jobs. There are union apprenticeships in the building and manufacturing trades. There are union and nonunion jobs in manufacturing. They have also assisted women in getting into road construction jobs in the skilled trades.
There are many more opportunities for women in good paying nontraditional jobs with benefits. The U.S. Post Office, Police Department, and Firefighters are all careers that are looking to recruit women. All of the careers mentioned above require different skills and have different entry requirements.
Hard Hatted Women starts teaching kids - girls and boys - in kindergarten up through the 12th grade. The average age for their Pre Apprenticeship Training (PAT) program is 34 years of age. | <urn:uuid:4cc3c922-0b69-4bc5-8f36-67deb320e0a6> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.clevelandwomen.com/resources/hardhat.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393332.57/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00071-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961741 | 205 | 2.71875 | 3 |
FDR, 32nd president
FDR was in office a long time (three terms!) and is known for many great things. But one of his lowest points came after the attacks on Pearl Harbor. Many feared a Japanese invasion of the West Coast, and Japanese-Americans came under suspicion. FDR signed an executive order that allowed the exclusion of certain people from military zones. The entire West Coast was deemed a military zone, and as a result, over 100,000 people of Japanese heritage were forcibly removed from the West Coast and sent to live in camps farther east. | <urn:uuid:37da2865-2d3d-4a98-af4d-bfdc3dc54b84> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.sparknotes.com/mindhut/2013/11/19/great-presidents-who-made-great-big-mistakes/slide/7 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396106.71/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00076-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978516 | 114 | 3.0625 | 3 |
This poem relies upon the poetic devices known technically as synesthesia (use of one sense to describe the workings of another) and paronomasia (wordplay). The predatory fly, functioning as in poem 187, waits to claim a corpse. The room is still, but this stillness resembles the interval between the heavings of a storm. Eyes had cried all they could; the patient, who is speaking, is beyond willing life, though she has willed her “Keepsakes.” The language is both theological and legal: “when the King/ Be witnessed—/ in the Room—.” Then, hesitantly but unmistakably, the fly interposes itself between the dying speaker and the light. Its buzz is “Blue—uncertain stumbling.” The windows fail, and the speaker cannot “see to see—.”
Characteristically, there is no enlightenment at the moment of death, merely a failing of the human objects designed to admit light. Thus, human sight does not allow human understanding. Dickinson once wrote to Higginson, using her distinctive capitalizations, that, “The Ear is the last Face We hear after we see.” Clearly, she identifies the “eye” with the “I.” The King is present to witness the death, but it remains a legal transaction. Neither he nor the speaker have the will to alter things, beyond ensuring that the material objects willed fall to the wills of their new owners. | <urn:uuid:fa39e303-7eb3-4ad8-b027-1be4fe303493> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.enotes.com/topics/heard-fly-buzz-when-died | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396959.83/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00169-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960661 | 310 | 3.140625 | 3 |
Create a temporary fileTag(s): IO
import java.io.File; ... File temp = File.createTempFile("real",".howto"); temp.deleteOnExit();
(Javadoc) The prefix argument must be at least three characters long. It is recommended that the prefix be a short, meaningful string such as "hjb" or "mail". The suffix argument may be null, in which case the suffix ".tmp" will be used. To create the new file, the prefix and the suffix may first be adjusted to fit the limitations of the underlying platform.
If the prefix is too long then it will be truncated, but its first three characters will always be preserved. If the suffix is too long then it too will be truncated, but if it begins with a period character ('.') then the period and the first three characters following it will always be preserved.
Once these adjustments have been made the name of the new file will be generated by concatenating the prefix, five or more internally-generated characters, and the suffix.
The location of the directory used to hold temporary files is defined by the property java.io.tmpdir. The default value can be changed with the command line used to launch the JVM :
java -Djava.io.tmpdir=C:\mydir myClass
On some plateform, the temporary directory returned by java.io.tmpdir do not include a trailing slash. That is,
Win NT --> C:\TEMP\ Win XP --> C:\TEMP Solaris --> /var/tmp/ Linux --> /var/tmp
String tempdir = System.getProperty("java.io.tmpdir"); if ( !(tempdir.endsWith("/") || tempdir.endsWith("\\")) ) tempdir = tempdir + System.getProperty("file.separator"); | <urn:uuid:26a57048-10c8-4f00-8d40-952114409114> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.rgagnon.com/javadetails/java-0484.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393332.57/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00179-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.754464 | 391 | 2.9375 | 3 |
In a core melt accident, if the molten core is not retained in-vessel despite severe accident mitigation actions, the core debris will relocate to the reactor cavity region and interact with the structural concrete - potentially resulting in basemat failure through erosion or overpressurisation. This would result in the release of fission products into the environment. Although this is a late release event, the radiological consequences could be substantial enough to warrant an effective mitigation strategy for preventing such a release. The severe accident management guidance (SAMG) for operating light water reactor plants includes, as one of several strategies, flooding the reactor cavity in the event of an ex-vessel core melt release.
The Melt Coolability and Concrete Interaction (MCCI) Project was dedicated to provide experimental data on this severe accident phenomena and to resolve two important accident management issues:
To achieve these basic objectives, supporting experiments and analyses were performed at Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), with a view to providing an understanding the phenomena, and to produce a consistent interpretation of the results relevant to accident management.
Previously, an internationally-sponsored programme has already been carried out at ANL to address the corium coolability issue. The MCCI project aimed to complete this earlier research and achieve the following technical objectives:
The first MCCI experiments focused on water ingress mechanisms, as these are thought to be the most effective ones for cooling the melt. These experiments have demonstrated how cooling of the melt by water is affected by the concrete-melt composition and that cooling of the melt by water is reduced at increasing concrete content, i.e. cooling by water flooding is more effective in the early phase of the melt-concrete interaction. The effect of concrete type, such as siliceous and limestone types (used respectively in Europe and the United States), has also been addressed. Material properties such as porosity and permeability have been derived from these tests.
A first melt-concrete interaction test with siliceous concrete in 2003 produced unexpected results (a strong asymmetry in concrete ablation), although the associated analytical exercise proved very valuable in helping to understand code capabilities and shortcomings. A second test was carried out in 2004 at 30% lower power than the first on limestone concrete (instead of the siliceous concrete used in the first test). The strength of the solid upper crust, a parameter that is of great interest for modelling and understanding MCCI at plant scale, was also determined during these experiments. A third test with siliceous concrete was successfully carried out in 2005, yielding excellent data on axial and radial concrete ablation.
The first phase of the programme (MCCI-1) was completed in 2005. The experiments on water ingress mechanisms showed that cooling of the melt by water is reduced at increasing concrete content, implying that water flooding is more effective in the early phase of the melt-concrete interaction. The effect of concrete type, i.e. siliceous and limestone types (used respectively in Europe and the United States), was also addressed in the first phase of the programme. Material properties such as porosity and permeability were derived. Tests also showed appreciable differences in ablation rate for siliceous and limestone concrete, which is a relevant finding that requires confirmation. A workshop on the results of MCCI-1 took place on 10-11 October 2007 in Cadarache. This project was followed by the MCCI-2 project.
The data abstract is public.
Belgium, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Japan, Norway, Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United States.
January 2002 to December 2005
USD 1.2 million per year
US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (USNRC)
M. T. Farmer, S. Lomperski, D. Kilsdonk, R. W. Aeschlimann, and S. Basu, A Summary of Findings from the Melt Coolability and Concrete Interaction (MCCI) Program, Paper 7544, 2007 International Congress on Advances in Nuclear Power Plants (ICAPP'07), Nice, France, 13-18 May 2007.
Last reviewed: 25 August 2014 | <urn:uuid:947c4523-3e16-4703-8f7b-7ed536b9aa58> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.oecd-nea.org/jointproj/mcci.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398628.62/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00186-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947425 | 865 | 2.921875 | 3 |
Tuesday August 26 2014
Breakfast can be an energy booster
"Breakfast might not be the most important meal of the day after all,” the Mail Online reports.
The concept that breakfast is the most important meal of the day is up there in the pantheon of received wisdom with “never swim after eating” or “getting wet will give you a cold”. But is there any hard evidence to back the claim?
A new study in 38 lean people found that six weeks of regularly eating breakfast had no significant effect on metabolism or eating patterns for the rest of the day compared to total fasting before midday.
It also found no difference between the groups at the end of the study in body mass, fat mass, or indicators of cardiovascular health (such as cholesterol or inflammatory markers).
There are various important limitations to this trial though such as the short follow-up time. For example, people who fasted had much more variable blood sugar levels in the afternoon and evening, and we do not know what the longer-term effects of this could be.
Overall, based on this study alone, we would not recommend completely starving your body of all nutrition before 12pm each day, not least because not eating something in the morning may not make you feel very happy or energetic, if nothing else.
Where did the story come from?
The study was carried out by researchers from the University of Bath and published in the peer-reviewed American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. The study has been published on an open-access basis, so is available for free online. The work was funded by a grant from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council. The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
In concluding that breakfast is not the most important meal of the day, the Mail does not consider the various limitations of this very small study.
What kind of research was this?
This was a randomised controlled trial looking at how breakfast habits were associated with energy balance in the rest of the day in people living their normal daily life.
As the researchers say, it is the popular belief that “breakfast is the most important meal of the day”. But this assumption is only grounded in cross-sectional studies observing that eating breakfast is associated with reduced risk of weight gain and certain chronic diseases (such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease). However, this does not prove cause and effect. The researchers also note that such observational studies do not take into account the fact that people who eat breakfast also tend to be more physically active, eat less fat, be non-smokers and moderate drinkers, opening up the possibility of confounding factors.
So it could be the case that rather than regularly eating breakfast making you healthy, healthy people are more likely to eat breakfast.
The researchers say that though breakfast is said to influence metabolism, studies have lacked measurement tools capable of accurately measuring this during normal daily activities. This study aimed to get a better indication of this by measuring all aspects of energy balance, including the heat generated during physical activity, and in-depth laboratory tests (including blood tests and DEXA scan of bone mineral density).
Ultimately, they wanted to find out whether eating breakfast was a cause of good health or whether it was simply a sign of an already healthy lifestyle.
What did the research involve?
The research was given the title the “Bath Breakfast Project”. Adults between the ages of 21 and 60 were eligible for the trial if they were either normal weight (20 to 25kg/m²) or overweight (25 to 30kg/m²). People were randomised to eat a daily breakfast or to extended morning fasting for six weeks. Each of the two randomised groups was intended to include an even balance of normal and overweight participants, and of people who frequently and infrequently ate breakfast. This was done to allow a stratified (representative) analysis based on these two factors.
The total sample size was around 60-70. This publication reports the findings for the 38 "lean" people in the study – omen with a DEXA fat mass index of 11kg/m² or less, and men with a fat mass index of 7.5kg/m² or less (DEXA fat mass index is assessed using X-rays to give a very precise measurement of body fat).
Before the trial, participants came to the laboratory to have baseline measurements taken. This included blood tests to look at hormones, metabolites and blood fats, assessments of metabolic rate, and body mass and fat mass measurements. A small tissue sample was also taken to look at key genes related to appetite and physical activity.
The breakfast group were told to eat 3,000kJ (around 720 calories – or around two bacon sandwiches) of energy prior to 11am, with half of this provided within two hours of waking. The breakfasts were self-selected by the participants, though they were said to be provided with detailed examples of the foods that would give the appropriate energy intake. The extended morning fasting group could drink only water before 12pm each day.
During the first and last weeks of the six-week trial, participants kept detailed records of their food and fluid intakes for later analysis of daily energy and macronutrient intake. During these two weeks, they were also fitted with a combined heart rate/accelerometer to accurately record energy expenditure/physical activity habits for the entire duration of each of these seven-day periods. A glucose monitor was also fitted under the skin.
They were told when these devices were fitted: “Your lifestyle choices during this free-living monitoring period are central to this study. We are interested in any natural changes in your diet and/or physical activity habits, which you may or may not make in response to the intervention. This monitoring period has been carefully scheduled to avoid any pre-planned changes in these habits, such as a holiday or diet/exercise plan. You should inform us immediately if unforeseen factors external to the study may influence your lifestyle.”
After the six weeks of the trial, the participants returned to the laboratory for repeat body measurements.
What were the basic results?
The study reports data for the 33 people who completed the trial, 16 in the breakfast group and 17 in the fasting group. These people were of average age 36, 64% were female and 79% of them regularly ate breakfast.
The researchers found that compared to the fasting group those in the breakfast group generated significantly more heat energy during physical activity before 12pm, and also engaged in more physical activity, in particular more “light” physical activity. Resting metabolic rate was stable between the groups, and there was no subsequent suppression of appetite in the breakfast group (energy intake remained 539 kcal/d greater than the fasting group throughout the day).
There was no difference in waking or sleeping times, and at the end of the study there were no differences between groups in body mass or fat mass, body hormones, cholesterol or inflammatory markers. There was no difference between groups in fasting blood sugar or insulin at six weeks, but during continuous sugar monitoring in the last week of the trial the fasting group demonstrated more variability in their afternoon and evening sugar measures.
How did the researchers interpret the results?
The researchers conclude that: “Daily breakfast is causally linked to higher physical activity thermogenesis [heat generation] in lean adults, with greater overall dietary energy intake, but no change in resting metabolism. Cardiovascular health indexes were unaffected by either of the treatments, but breakfast maintained more stable afternoon and evening glycemia [glucose control] than did fasting.”
This trial aimed to measure the direct effect that eating breakfast or fasting before 12pm has on energy balance and indicators of cardiovascular health in people living their normal daily lives. The trial has been carefully designed study and has taken extensive body measurements to try and measure the direct effects of breakfast or fasting upon the body. However, there are limitations to bear in mind:
- This study reports the findings for the 33 lean people in the study. The researchers randomised between 60 and 70 people, including a balanced mix of normal weight and obese people. A later publication will report the findings in the remaining obese cohort.
- The intervention was intended to apply “under free-living conditions” where all lifestyle choices were allowed to vary naturally. However, it is difficult to gauge how accurately people did comply with their allocated interventions. Compliance was said to be confirmed via self-report and verified via continuous glucose monitoring; however, this only apparently happened during the first and sixth weeks of the trial. It is unclear whether compliance would have been accurately measured during the intervening weeks.
- The study only measures the effect of a very specific intervention of eating 3,000kJ for breakfast, or eating absolutely nothing at all, except for water before 12pm. This total fasting example is quite extreme, and its effects have only been measured over six weeks. We don’t know what the longer-term effects upon health would be. For example, the study did find that people who fasted had much more variable blood glucose control in the afternoon, and we don’t know what the longer-term effects of this pattern would be.
- The study has also not measured the wider effects upon general feelings of wellbeing, emotions, concentration, lethargy, etc, that fasting may have. Participants in the fasting group were observed to do less physical activity in the morning, and this may have been an indicator of them feeling that they had less energy.
- Study of different timings of breakfast, or different compositions (e.g. of carbohydrate, protein or fat) or different total calories, may be more beneficial for future study than the comparison of this 3,000kJ breakfast or total fast before 12pm studied here.
Overall, this study does not settle the debate on whether breakfast is the most important meal of the day, because it was quite narrow in its scope. Dr Betts, a senior lecturer in nutrition, metabolism and statistics, told the Mail Online that “It is certainly true that people who regularly eat breakfast tend to be slimmer and healthier, but these individuals also typically follow most other recommendations for a healthy lifestyle, so have more balanced diets and take more physical exercise."
In normal life situations, breakfast does therefore seem to be linked to health in some way, though direct cause and effect is difficult to apply, due to the influence of other health and lifestyle factors in relationship. However, this study does not provide many more answers of whether we should eat breakfast, or what type of breakfast we should eat.
However, based on this study alone we would not recommend missing breakfast, not least because it may have a negative impact on your mood; you could spend all morning feeling “hangry”.
If you have slipped into the habit of skipping breakfast, then it is never too late to break the habit.
Read about five breakfast recipes specifically designed for people who hate eating breakfast.
Analysis by Bazian. Edited by NHS Choices. Follow Behind the Headlines on Twitter. Join the Healthy Evidence forum. | <urn:uuid:6226401e-1560-4cb9-b276-a81013d5d46b> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.nhs.uk/news/2014/08august/pages/breakfast-not%20the-most-important-meal-of-the-day.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397873.63/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00010-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973249 | 2,274 | 2.90625 | 3 |
Quaoar (minor planet 50000)
Quaoar lies about 42 AU (6.5 billion km) away from us, more distant than either Pluto or Neptune, and moves in a nearly circular orbit with an eccentricity of less than 0.04, meaning that its distance from the Sun changes by only about 8% over the course of a Quaoar year (equal to 285 Earth years). This is very different from Pluto, which has an eccentricity about 6 times larger.
The diameter of Quaor is roughly 1,200 km (740 miles), which is about the size of Pluto's moon Charon. This gives Quaoar a volume about the same as that of all the asteroids in the main asteroid belt put together.
See also largest known Kuiper Belt objects.
Related category NOTABLE ASTEROIDS, CENTAURS, AND KUIPER BELT OBJECTS
Home • About • Copyright © The Worlds of David Darling • Encyclopedia of Alternative Energy • Contact | <urn:uuid:06802874-dc0f-4bab-b433-5ac56479aa00> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/Q/Quaoar.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783399522.99/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154959-00115-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.895375 | 209 | 3.171875 | 3 |
Can a student design change the world? Absolutely, and the Copenhagen Wheel — a hybrid-electric wheel you can bolt onto almost any bike — might soon prove how fast that can happen.
Developed by a student team out of MIT's SENSEable City lab, the wheel recently won the U.S. round the James Dyson Awards. Even Sir James lauded the design's versatility and elegance, telling us, "It's a well thought out design in that it addresses a number of problems beyond tired legs."
Co.Design recently talked with Christine Outram, who, as a graduate student, led the effort to bring the Copenhagen Wheel from a mere drawing to a full-blown working product. Here, she talks about the criteria the team laid out to guide the product's development, and how the wheel is "more than a piece of transportation," and could lead to full-blown carbon credit programs.
Let's start at the beginning. How did the idea came about?
The project started at the SENSEable City Lab at MIT, which usually collaborates with cities and telecoms and other places with extra data lying around, with the goal of creating a vision for the city in 15 years. The city of Copenhagen saw something called the Real-Time Rome, which used cell-phones and GPS monitors on busses to look at how people and public transport are interacting. They wanted to buy it, but being a university, the lab couldn't really sell the project to them. So we agreed to take a look at Copenhagen, to see how technology could improve on the city.
And so, what issues did you look at once the student workshop began?
Initially there were five students involved, including myself. And the most striking thing you notice about Copenhagen is all of the bikes — 36% of people in Copenhagen bike to work. That trend began in the 1970s, with roads being strategically cut off, and cars being taxed 180%. The city mentioned that they wanted to reach 50% by 2015, but they weren't coming close. That figure had actually plateaued some time ago.
So then we started thinking: Why wouldn't someone get on a bike? It comes down to distance, topography, safety, and infrastructure. Weather is a factor, but we couldn't change that [laughs].
Pretty early on, the idea of putting an electric wheel on a bike came about, because it could help put people on bikes that live further out or live below big hills. One of the students in the workshop created a really nice rendering, but we didn't have any idea at that point about how it would actually work. And that's when the lab went into the second phase, with a new batch of students — the "urban demo" phase. This was focused on choosing the batteries and the motor, and making the design real.
So how does the wheel work?
Inside of the hub, there's a 250 watt motor. And when you pedal, there are sensors in the wheel that detect torque. So once the torque sensor detects a certain amount of exertion, it knows to supplement your pedaling. So if you're going up a hill, you get more an assist. The idea is not that you stop pedaling and the motor takes over — you're always pedaling, and the feeling is like having a friend pedaling with you.
You brake by pushing back on the pedals, and much like a Toyota Prius, the motor converts the friction created into electricity, which charges the battery. Also, when you're going downhill, the gears in the hub switch so that they can recover energy there as well.
As far as engineering goes, the main thing is that you don't want the batteries or the motor to spin with the wheel, creating momentum. So these sit near the axle, in a fixed position. The spinning part of the wheel actually rotates around them.
Finally, you choose how much assist you want through the iPhone interface. You can choose from low to high amounts of assist — so anywhere from 100% boost to a 300% boost.
It seems like the real insight was creating a wheel that can attach to any bike. How did that idea come about?
The idea was generated in the student workshop and was then explored on a more technical level as the project progressed. Early on, we also worked with the Smart Cities Lab at MIT. Their projects - the RoboScooterand the CityCar really inspired us.
From there, we really treated it like a design project and we we weren't interested in an incremental improvement on electric bikes, since they're all pretty clunky with hard-wiring and external batteries. So we started with a design brief, that had four main criteria: 1. All of the components should fit in the hub. 2. It should be easily retrofitable and modular, so that you could plug in different components such as a bigger battery if you live near hills or environmental sensors if you're a city looking to gather data. 3. It should be your friend, and be able to tell you how well you're doing. 4. It should have a social component that connects with your friends and encourages you to cycle.
You student team at MIT was pretty multidisciplinary. How did that affect the product that ultimately emerged?
I should say that the guidance came from the leader of the lab, Carlo Ratti, who has a background in civil engineering and architecture, and Assaf Biderman, who was a physicist and works on tangible interfaces. Multidisciplinary backgrounds like theirs are really the key. When you including an electrical engineer and an electrical engineer and an architect, all these people have to speak the same language. It can't be that you create something that works and put a pretty case over it. For instance, we could have easily hardwired a battery into the thing, but we wanted the battery to removable. The glue among everyone was an end-use focus. And that's a design way of thinking.
So what did an architect like yourself contribute to the process?
The skill that architects bring is being able to think top down and bottom up at the same time. You have to have vision for an overall building design, but also be able to think about the design of a doorjam to prevent leaks when it rains. That sort of simultaneous thinking helps in these types of projects, and I think it helped that I continued with the project between both the brainstorming and the building.
Anything more you'd like to add about the product?
What I really like is that it's not just a piece of transport. By including environmental sensors in the hub, you can use this to gather fine-grained data from a fleet of bicycles, just as a byproduct of people taking a normal route everyday. Moreover, you can also gather data about how many cycle miles are being logged over time, so you could watch whether the wheel is having an impact on a city's carbon emissions. You can even imagine the wheel becoming the basis for carbon credits awarded to cities, or even competitions between cities across the world.
So is there VC backing? How are you guys staying in business? And what's next?
We're actually funded right now by the ministry of the environment in Italy, which is paying for the material cost of the 12 prototypes we've build. Those will soon go into a serious phase of beta testing, for example, riding up hills in San Francisco to see if they survive. Then, we're looking to go commercial in 10-12 months. We already know that the final version is going to be far smaller and lighter that what you see now, thanks to custom motors and better battery selection.
And the cost?
It'll be about $600 retail, which we think is pretty reasonable, once you consider that your average electric bike is $1000, and you don't have to get rid of what you already have. | <urn:uuid:b1b54033-44b9-4814-8c15-1911aeb21882> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.fastcodesign.com/1662213/how-mits-hybrid-bike-wheel-came-to-life | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783391519.0/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154951-00131-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975649 | 1,617 | 2.640625 | 3 |
by Paul Marmet
In papers published about a decade ago, the author and colleagues predicted the widespread presence of hydrogen in the molecular (H2) form in space (Marmet and Reber 1989; Marmet 1990a,b). Although hydrogen in the atomic form is easily detected through radioastronomy, the molecular form is difficult to detect. We showed that the presence of this missing mass would explain the anomalous rotational motion observed in galaxies, which is otherwise explained by exotic hypotheses, such as swarms of invisible brown or white dwarfs, or weird atomic particles called WIMPs or axions, and "quark nuggets."
We also showed that the presence of large amounts of the hard-to-detect molecular hydrogen in interstellar space could provide an alternative explanation to the Big Bang theory, by explaining the observed redshift as a result of the delayed propagation of light through space, caused by the collision of photons with interstellar matter.
The more commonly held view explains the observed shift in frequency of the spectral lines detected from distant galaxies as arising from a Doppler shift (a shift in the frequency of a wave caused by the relative motion of the emitting object and the observer). The downshift in the frequency, toward the red end of the spectrum, is taken to mean that distant galaxies are receding from us, thus implying an expanding universe.
prediction, based on a critique of many of the commonly held
assumptions of cosmology, was the result of a serious study of
the molecular structure of hydrogen and of the astronomical
observation of atomic hydrogen in space. However, the
astrophysicists preferred to ignore H2, and instead to hypothesize the existence of weird
Using the European Space Agency's Infrared Space Observatory, E. A. Valentijn and P. P. van der Werf recently detected huge amounts of molecular hydrogen (H2) in NGC 891, an edge-on galaxy 30 million light-years away in Andromeda (Valentijn and van der Werf 1999). In their report, published in September 1999, they state that their result "matches well, the mass required to solve the problem of the missing mass of spiral galaxies." They conclude that the galaxy contains 5 to 15 times more molecular than atomic hydrogen. [For a second Internet news story on this discovery click here.]
It is generally accepted that atomic hydrogen is by far the most abundant particle in the universe. It is also well established that about 10 times as much molecular hydrogen as atomic hydrogen solves the missing mass problem. Finally, Valentijn adds: "The halo culture that has grown up around the dark matter problem might never have arisen if the ISO results had been known earlier."
Two months after the publication of this discovery, in a piece published in Nature, Nov. 25, 1999, P. Richter, et al. reported the discovery of the absorption lines of molecular hydrogen in a high-velocity cloud of the Milky Way halo (Richter et al. 1999).
Nature of Molecular Hydrogen
Molecular hydrogen is rarely looked for in space. In most papers in astrophysics, the word hydrogen is mentioned without distinguishing whether it is atomic or molecular. Yet it is a well-known fact of basic chemistry that atomic hydrogen is extremely unstable, and that it reacts violently to produce molecular hydrogen, which is extremely stable. Given a bottle of pure atomic hydrogen, one would expect an immediate energetic explosion, producing molecular hydrogen at a very high temperature.
Atomic hydrogen (H), composed of a single proton and electron, is the simplest existing stable atom. Because of the spin structure of the particle, it is easily detectable using a high frequency radio signal at 21-cm wavelength. Atomic hydrogen in galaxies and in intergalactic space can be detected very easily, because the atomic hydrogen can change its spin (which changes its energy).
Electromagnetic radiation is emitted at the wavelength of 21 cm, or an absorption line is observed (in the background radiation) at that wavelength. However, when two atoms of atomic hydrogen combine, forming molecular hydrogen (H2), their spins are coupled and completely cancel each other. The radio-frequency spectral line at 21 cm no longer exists, and the molecular hydrogen becomes totally invisible at that wavelength.
The possible vibrational and rotational states for the two hydrogen nuclei in the diatomic hydrogen molecule are well known (cf. Herzberg 1950). However, the only two electrons are so tightly coupled, that they form a pair in which the electric field and the spin of the electrons are completely cancelled.
Molecular hydrogen possesses no permanent dipole. Such a perfect coupling is unusual among diatomic molecules. For example, in the cases of nitrogen and oxygen, there are seven and eight electrons per atom, so that when combined, it is not possible to fulfill such a perfect coupling of spins (with zero permanent dipole) for all seven or eight pairs of electrons.
When light passes through normal molecular gases, such as oxygen, nitrogen, and others, radiation excites the resulting electric dipole in the molecule, and some energy is scattered or absorbed. However, in the case of molecular hydrogen, there is no dipole moment, so that no radiation can be absorbed or emitted.
excited molecules possess an electric or magnetic dipole, and
emit photons (light) after about 10-8 seconds. By comparison, the spontaneous emission of
light from the first rotational state of molecular hydrogen is
practically impossible. A transition from the second rotational
state (producing a photon of light) is relatively much more
probable, but occurs only once in about every 1,000 years. One
must reach the sixth state before the probability of the
transition occurring becomes once a year. These so-called
forbidden transitions are so improbable that we cannot hope to
detect cold molecular hydrogen in space. Because the universe
has an average temperature of 3K, the detection of most of the
molecular hydrogen still remains unlikely.
There are many misleading statements concerning the detection of hydrogen in the universe. Without making any distinction between atoms and molecules, most papers in astrophysics state that the amount of hydrogen in the universe is well known because it is easily detectable out to considerable distances. The presence of an enormous amount of molecular hydrogen certainly makes this statement erroneous.
However, it is well known that atomic hydrogen in space was certainly naturally transformed into H2. Over billions of years, dust, three-body interactions, and even photon emission have produced H2. Once molecular hydrogen is formed, it is so stable that it has little probability of dissociation. It cannot be argued that H2 does not exist in space because it could be ionized or dissociated by ultraviolet radiation. If there were enough ultraviolet radiation to ionize H2, that same radiation would also ionize atomic hydrogen. This is not the case, because non-ionized atomic hydrogen is observed, even though it requires less energy to ionize the atomic than the molecular form of hydrogen.
These considerations show, that as a result of the large amount of atomic hydrogen already observed in space, and the extreme stability of molecular hydrogen, the chemical equilibrium giving the relative abundance between atomic hydrogen and molecular hydrogen in space, strongly favors the formation of the diatomic form (H2) over the monoatomic form. We must thus conclude that the recent discovery of H2, is no surprise, and should have been expected from the known facts concerning the natural equilibrium between H2 and H. It is expected that much more colder H2 will also be discovered.
Dark Matter and the Redshift
The presence of H2 also has important consequences regarding the origin of the universe and the interpretation of the cosmological redshift. This author has been arguing for several years that this huge amount of transparent H2 in space is interacting with light received from the cosmos (Marmet 1988, 1990a, b). The essential argument is summarized as follows:
Even when H2 is not excited to specific quantum states, there is another kind of interaction that perturbs and slows down the moving photon. We know that light interacts with a transparent medium, because its velocity is reduced, without scattering, as calculated and observed using the simple index of refraction of gases. Cosmic light, moving across billion of light years, suffers an almost unimaginable number of collisions with those transparent molecules of hydrogen in the universe.
Light is a wave-train of electromagnetic radiation. As a result of its coherence, which is maintained during a time span (known as the time or length of coherence), the phase of the electromagnetic field progresses regularly in time. Using the Fourier transform, we can calculate that an electromagnetic wave train (which never can last an infinite time), always possesses two frequency components: the usual high-frequency component, but also a very low frequency component, which depends on the time of coherence.
From the electron-proton structure of hydrogen, it can be calculated that some energy is lost (scattered) during the interaction of light with hydrogen, which depends on that low-frequency component (time of coherence). We have shown that the passage of light through hydrogen, either atomic or molecular, is always (slightly) inelastic. It is also known that the energy loss is compatible with the relationship "" Consequently, the redshift following the collision of a photon with H2 is indistinguishable from the phenomenon caused by the Doppler effect.
Only the warmest molecular hydrogen (involving higher vibration and rotation quantum numbers) is detectable now. When the technology develops to the point that we can detect the colder H2 in the universe, a larger quantity of H2, coming from colder molecular hydrogen in galaxies, will certainly be discovered.
We know that the H2 molecule produces about the same (non-Doppler) redshift as monoatomic hydrogen, but the number of H2 molecules is much larger. Because atomic and molecular hydrogen have an approximately homogenous distribution in the universe, this induces a non-Doppler redshift, which is proportional to the distance of the light source (just as for an apparently expanding universe, assumed with a Doppler interpretation).
The Doppler interpretation of the redshift is a variation of the Creationist theory, since it claims that the universe was created from nothing, 15 billion years ago, with a sudden Big Bang.
The recent discovery of an enormous quantity of molecular hydrogen not only solves the problem of missing mass; it also solves the problem of the redshift, in a non-expanding unlimited universe. The Doppler interpretation of the redshift is a variation of the Creationist theory, since it claims that the universe was created from nothing, 15 billion years ago, with a sudden Big Bang. Since a much larger amount of molecular hydrogen than previously admitted has been observed in the universe, we can now see how this hydrogen is responsible for the redshift observed. That molecular hydrogen is responsible for the redshift which is erroneously believed to have a cosmological Doppler origin.
It is unfortunate that the existence of H2 has been ignored for so long. As noted by one of the recent discoverers, E.A. Valentijn, the missing mass problem might never have arisen if the Infrared Space Observatory results (or predictions of H2) had been known earlier. It is also true that the problem would not have arisen, if the arguments presented by this author and others for the necessary presence of H, had been heeded.
the new discovery, science can now have a logical and realistic
description of nature, because we no longer have to speculate
with such exotic hypotheses as WIMPs and "quark nuggets" to
explain the missing matter in the universe.
He is the author of Einstein's Theory of Relativity vs.
Classical Mechanics, published by Newton Physics Books in
Gloucester, Ontario. Marmet can be reached by e-mail.
G. Herzberg, 1950. Spectra
Molecules (Second edition,) D. van Nostrand Co.
P. Marmet, 1988. "A New Non-Doppler Effect," Physics Essays, Vol. 1 p. 24.
------P. Marmet, 1990a. "Big Bang Cosmology Meets an Astronomical Death," 21st Century Science and Technology, Vol. 3, No. 2 (Spring), pp. 52-59.
-----P. Marmet, 1990b. "The Deceptive Illusion of the Big Bang Cosmology," Physics in Canada, Vol. 46, No.5, pp. 97-101.
-----P. Marmet, 1992."The Cosmological Constant and the Redshift of Quasars," IEEE, Transactions on Plasma Science, Vol. 20, No. 6 (Dec.), pp. 958-964.
P. Marmet and G. Reber, 1989. "Cosmic Matter and the Non-Expanding Universe," IEEE, Transactions on Plasma Science, Vol. 17, No. 2 (Dec.), pp. 264-269.
P. Richter, S. Richter, K. S. de Beer, N. Widmann, N. Kappelmann, W. Gringel, M. Grawing, J. Barnstadt, 1999. Nature, Vol. 402 (Nov. 25), p.386.
E. A. Valentijn and P. P. van der Werf, 1999. "First Extragalactic Direct Detection of Large-Scale Molecular Hydrogen," Astrophysical Journal Letters, Vol. 522, No. 1 (Sept. 1), pp. L29-35. | <urn:uuid:e040b610-3b60-4681-960d-2c802f93a166> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.newtonphysics.on.ca/hydrogen/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783403826.29/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155003-00154-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.927327 | 2,818 | 3.875 | 4 |
Princess Diana Biography: Life and Death
Born July 1st, 1961 in Sandringham, Norfolk, Diana Spencer grew up in an aristocratic family. She eventually began a courtship with Prince Charles, which led to one of the most anticipated and most watched weddings of the twentieth century. As a member of the Royal Family, Diana used her status to draw attention to worthy causes like AIDS and leprosy. However, after producing two sons, her marriage went cold and was rife with affairs on both sides. Charles and Di divorced in 1996, but the paparazzi did not leave the Princess alone until she was killed in a horrific car crash the next year. In this video, WatchMojo.com explores the life, accomplishments and death of Diana, Princess of Wales. | <urn:uuid:e6cd87d8-fa21-4cdd-9796-fae83ba22072> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.watchmojo.com/video/id/11200/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396455.95/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00147-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.981359 | 160 | 2.53125 | 3 |
X and the City, a book of diverse and accessible math-based topics, uses basic modeling to explore a wide range of entertaining questions about urban life. How do you estimate the number of dental or doctor's offices, gas stations, restaurants, or movie theaters in a city of a given size? How can mathematics be used to maximize traffic flow through tunnels? Can you predict whether a traffic light will stay green long enough for you to cross the intersection? And what is the likelihood that your city will be hit by an asteroid?
Every math problem and equation in this book tells a story and examples are explained throughout in an informal and witty style. The level of mathematics ranges from precalculus through calculus to some differential equations, and any reader with knowledge of elementary calculus will be able to follow the materials with ease. There are also some more challenging problems sprinkled in for the more advanced reader.
Filled with interesting and unusual observations about how cities work, X and the City shows how mathematics undergirds and plays an important part in the metropolitan landscape.
John A. Adam is professor of mathematics at Old Dominion University. He is the author of A Mathematical Nature Walk and Mathematics in Nature, and coauthor of Guesstimation: Solving the World's Problems on the Back of a Cocktail Napkin (all Princeton).
"[Adam's] writing is fun and accessible. . . . College or even advanced high school mathematics instructors will find plenty of great examples here to supplement the standard calculus problem sets."--Library Journal
"For mathematics professionals, especially those engaged in teaching, this book does contain some novel examples that illustrate topics such as probability and analysis."--Choice
"Read this book and come away with a fresh view of how cities work. Enjoy it for the connections between mathematics and the real world. Share it with your friends, family, and maybe even a municipal planning commissioner or two!"--Sandra L. Arlinghaus, Mathematical Reviews Clippings
"It goes without saying that the exposition is very friendly and lucid: this makes the vast majority of material accessible to a general audience interested in mathematical modeling and real life applications. This excellent book may well complement standard texts on engineering mathematics, mathematical modeling, applied mathematics, differential equations; it is a delightful and entertaining reading itself. Thank you, Vickie Kearn, the editor of A Mathematical Nature Walk, for suggesting the idea of this book to Professor Adam--your idea has been delightfully implemented!"--Svitlana P. Rogovchenko, Zentralblatt MATH
"[Y]ou'll find this book quite extensive in how many different areas you can apply mathematics in the city and just how revealing even a simple model can be. . . . A Mathematical Nature Walk opened my eyes to nature and now Adam has done the same for cities."--David S. Mazel, MAA Reviews
Table of Contents
Other Princeton books authored or coauthored by John A. Adam: | <urn:uuid:dc39556e-f2d5-4a5c-acc9-2a0c5c48edb8> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://press.princeton.edu/titles/9663.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396027.60/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00072-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.902611 | 607 | 2.890625 | 3 |
January 29, 2014
Scientists in US and Japan achieve possible breakthrough on stem cells (Deutsche Welle, 1/29/14)
Scientists reported in this week's Nature journal that they had found a way to reprogram mature mouse cells into an embryonic-like state that allows them to generate many types of tissue.The research suggests that scientists could in the future similarly reprogram human cells, offering a simpler way to replace damaged cells or grow new organs for sick and injured people.The experiments, reported in two papers in the journal Nature on Wednesday, involved scientists from the RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology in Japan and Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School in the United States."It's very simple to do," said Dr. Charles Vacanti of Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. "I think you could do this actually in a college lab."
Stem cell 'major discovery' claimed (James Gallagher, 1/29/14, , BBC News)
Stem cell researchers are heralding a "major scientific discovery", with the potential to start a new age of personalised medicine.Scientists in Japan showed stem cells can now be made quickly just by dipping blood cells into acid.Stem cells can transform into any tissue and are already being trialled for healing the eye, heart and brain.The latest development, published in the journal Nature, could make the technology cheaper, faster and safer.
Where does Michael; J. Fox go to buy back his soul?
Posted by Orrin Judd at January 29, 2014 12:55 PM | <urn:uuid:a796d83f-4155-487b-bd87-b0001729247b> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://brothersjuddblog.com/archives/2014/01/thanks_w_117.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783399522.99/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154959-00017-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946079 | 318 | 3.171875 | 3 |
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Salmon study completed
Sinclair Creek in Radium Hot Springs used to see kokanee salmon swimming upstream during spawning season each year. In 2001 over 11,000 kokanee spawners were recorded in the three kilometre stretch of water from the Columbia River to Sinclair Falls. Since then, no salmon have been recorded due to impediments downstream.
In 2002 investigations showed that fish passage was blocked by a number of beaver dams. The Village of Radium Hot Springs hired Gerry Naito of Naito Environmental of Vernon to conduct a study in August 2006 to determine the feasibility of restoring passage of the kokanee salmon into Sinclair Creek.
The main channel of the creek was diverted by a dam in 2002, causing the creek to form a new path. Naito found there were several small and porous dams that would allow fish to pass through, however upstream there was a larger dam that would impede passage.
From 2001-2003 the village conducted habitat enhancement and restoration work along Sinclair Creek. This included creating a variety of habitats, which now support bull trout and eastern brook trout.
Naitos study raised questions on how to reestablish a passage for the kokanee salmon. To restore fish passage to the former main channel that no longer supports water flow since the dam diverted the path in 2002, four dry dams on the path would possibly need to be removed. Also, the existing dam that caused the diversion would need to be addressed. Naito suggested manually making an opening in the dam each year prior to passage (usually from late August - early October).
According to Naito this will allow fish to pass without causing fish stranding or habitat loss that would occur if the dam were completely removed.
Naito recommended that the creek is inspected annually before peak spawning season to look for fish passage barriers and to breach barriers by hand to allow for passage. He also suggested that the village investigate whether the local school district may want to participate in the Kokanee in the Classroom Program. | <urn:uuid:3aa55abe-b6a1-447c-a5a5-8faf984e2c85> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.portorchardindependent.com/news/18268189.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397696.49/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00118-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963264 | 434 | 3.28125 | 3 |
Viral Load Measurement
A viral load test measures how much human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is in the blood. Viral load is first measured when you are diagnosed with HIV infection. This initial measurement serves as the baseline, and future viral load measurements will be compared with the baseline. Since viral load can vary from day to day, the trend over time is used to determine if the infection is getting worse. If your viral load shows a steady increase over several measurements, it means the infection is getting worse. If the trend in viral load decreases over several measurements, it means that the infection is being suppressed.
The viral load is measured using one of three different types of tests:
- Reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test
- Branched DNA (bDNA) test
- Nucleic acid sequence-based amplification (NASBA) test
These tests measure the amount of the genetic material (RNA) of HIV in the blood. But each test reports the results differently, so it is important to use the same test over time.
Why It Is Done
A viral load measurement test is done to:
- Monitor changes in the HIV infection.
- Guide treatment choices.
- Monitor how well treatment is working.
You and your doctor may set up a different schedule for the test, but the most common schedule is the following:
- If you are not receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART), your viral load should be measured every 3 to 4 months.
- If you are receiving antiretroviral therapy:
- A viral load measurement is taken before you start treatment. This is your baseline measurement.
- Another viral load measurement is taken 4 to 8 weeks after you start treatment to determine your response to the medicines. When you start treatment or switch to new medicines, some decrease in your viral load is expected.
- If the expected decrease in viral load occurs and your CD4+ cell count remains stable, your viral load will be measured every 3 to 6 months. The CD4+ count monitors how well your immune system is working.
Your doctor may consider your viral load measurement along with your CD4+ count to decide when to start antiretroviral therapy. | <urn:uuid:c2115122-1716-41aa-9e97-58a86ae3f21e> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.webmd.com/hiv-aids/viral-load-measurement | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398628.62/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00023-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.912218 | 465 | 3.578125 | 4 |
Optimizing Corn Production in the Face of Climate Change
Kenya is no stranger to adaptation when it comes to food production. Kenya's cultural and political underpinnings are reliant upon adaptation to current climatic conditions. Present predictions are that drastic adaptation will be necessary once again. According to the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and the Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa (ASARECA), climate change is likely to threaten maize production for farmers in certain areas of Kenya. Conversely, other arable landmasses that have been less suited to maize production are likely to become better suited to this important crop forcing agricultural officials and farmers to reassess their farmland use and suitability.
Their report, released today, offers tremendous optimism despite the impending climate change, citing a potential to actually thrive if farmers are provided with the right tools. According to the report, "Kenyan farmers make up 75 percent of the country's labor force but have a 'low adaptive capacity' due to limited economic resources, heavy reliance on rainfed agriculture, frequent droughts and floods, and general poverty. But they believe that given the right direction, support, services, and policies now, along with more options in what and where they grow, Kenya can make a major transformation in its ability to cope with the changing climate." Timothy Thomas, a research fellow at IFPRI and co-author of the analysis says, "Climate predictions for Kenya's most important crop, for example, tell us where maize farmers may need to shift to other crops, where they might need to introduce drought-resistant varieties, and even new areas where maize can grow."
These shifting weather patterns and demographics are likely to alter farming and food security in Kenya between now and 2050. These shifts will establish the framework for discussion in Kenya's National Adaptation Planning (NAP) conference that gets underway today in Naivasha. This will likely be the first in a series of collaborative discussions pertaining to agriculture and environment concerns to proactively deal with food production challenges and opportunities presented by climate change. According to Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), it is attracting representatives from government, farmer organizations, research institutes, agriculture-oriented industries, and civil society groups who are seeking consensus on agriculture-related actions to be included in Kenya's National Climate Change Action Plan (NCCAP).
Read more at EurekAlert!
Corn production under drought conditions image via Shutterstock. | <urn:uuid:0d98bbdb-53fb-4d00-968e-0eb9d0eff149> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.enn.com/agriculture/article/46427 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783400572.45/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155000-00109-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.926777 | 502 | 3.25 | 3 |
Slide Show: Economy & Energy Conservation
This slide show is in PDF format. You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view this slide show.
Adobe Acrobat Reader is a free program.
The PDF file size is 448 kilobytes.
Presenting the complete slide show will take about 90 minutes.
You can view and print this version, but you cannot modify it.
Read the information on the copyright page.
● The presentation reviews the definitions of economy and efficiency.
● The difference between economy and efficiency is explained.
● Factors that contribute to improving economy are discussed.
● Energy conservation in terms of equipment—weight, friction, and aerodynamics—is reviewed.
● Energy conservation in terms of riding strategy and tactics is reviewed.
● The energy savings of drafting and the energy cost of surging are reviewed in detail.
● The role of momentum in energy conservation reviewed.
● Energy conservation examples are discussed in many cycling disciplines, including criteriums, road races, time trials, climbing, and descending.
Below is a sample slide from the show.
Click on the image to enlarge it. | <urn:uuid:b537b877-1681-4bf2-a0c7-6fa238f766c4> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.arniebakercycling.com/slide_shows/ss_economy_energy_conservation.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393146.70/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00019-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.90281 | 234 | 2.75 | 3 |
Most CAD users are very familiar with history-based parametric modeling. It is likely what they learned in school and actually may be the only 3D CAD technology they have ever used. As a matter of fact, most do not know that there is even an alternative. When the topic of 3D CAD comes up, it is almost always in the context of parametric history-based modeling. “3D CAD” IS parametric history-based modeling for most people.
There is now certainly more attention being given to history-free, direct modeling and as such, many people are now experiencing it for the first time. This first exposure can be a good experience or a bad experience depending on many different factors. Here are a few things to consider before getting too frustrated with it and putting it back on the shelf.
Creating models without a history tree is fundamentally different than creating models through a history tree. And don’t confuse direct modeling with direct editing. Direct editing is available in either technology and as such many CAD users may be familiar with the concepts. Direct, history-free modeling is much more than direct editing. To take full advantage of history-free modeling, it will require that you think outside the familiar history-based box.
For most 3D CAD users the common reaction to history-free direct modeling is that it seems to be too freeform and “unstructured.” A history-based CAD system, to a certain extent, guides the user through a structured modeling process. Many have developed modeling standards and best practices to ensure consistency in the process. A properly structured modeling process may yield a properly structured model. With a properly structured model, flexibility AND inflexibility can be provided where necessary. The investment in learning how to use the structured modeling process to get a structured model that works as intended can be rather high. For those that have made this investment, it may be difficult to accept this “unstructured” history-free environment.
For some, when stating that history-free modeling is “too unstructured” they are in fact referring to the modeling process. They find value in a system that, to some extent, guides or imposes a particular modeling process. They find it helpful in that there is only a few ways to get a particular result. Again, the process is guided and structured. They gain some sense of “safety” in this environment. With history-free modeling there is no concept of a structured modeling process. There is complete flexibility in how the model is created and edited. This “unstructured” modeling process may be considered too “unsafe” for them. Perhaps this “unsafe” environment might allow them to do something to the model that they should not do. However, it must be considered that a structured modeling process certainly does not guarantee “safety”. Recreating history-based models is all too common.
Closely related to the “structured modeling process” is the “structured model”. For others, “structured” refers to the structured model, a model that is embedded with design intent to the point that it closely represents the physical. The concept of the structured model (design intent) came into existence with the introduction of history-based modeling. “Capturing design intent” was the justification used for the high investment required in the structured modeling process of history-based CAD. Many have come to accept that a structured modeling process is the only way to develop well structured models and to yield models that behave as intended. In the early years of direct history-free modeling, embedding structure and intelligence into the model was not possible, so there is certainly some validity to these notions. Several history-free systems today still do not provide the capability to add structure and intelligence to the model. PTC CoCreate Modeling is one of the few that does provide a good set of tools for adding structure. Structured history-free models are a reality, but the process of adding this intelligence is not as inherent with the modeling process as it is with history-based CAD. With a history-free tool like CoCreate, you can add structure to the model anytime in the process, even after the model is fully developed and refined or even to an IGES or STEP model. With history-based CAD, the development of model structure starts the moment you begin the process of modeling – and it is not optional.
So if you are one that is concerned about an unstructured modeling process, be sure that you clearly understand the value of the structured process and its support of your design process. Be sure that the significant investment in this structured process provides real value. In many cases it does not, and that is why many have added direct, history-free modeling to their toolset. Mistakes can be made in both technologies and in either case your work must be validated. This validation can happen real-time with or without a structured modeling process.
If you are one that is concerned about the structured model, you actually have two choices now. Both technologies can provide similar results, but the means to the end is very different. In a situation where every part model needs to be well structured and changes are predictable and controlled, history-based modeling may be a good choice. In a situation where it is more important to get quick results, and the investment into the structured model is only needed occasionally, your best choice may be direct, history-free CAD.
Initial reactions to direct history-free modeling are usually based on a few key factors:
- Previous CAD experience and individual productivity will certainly impact your initial reaction. However, these should not be significant factors when determining the viability of the technology. (Unless you work by yourself, and the resulting CAD data has no lifespan or future value.)
- The type of work you do, including your process requirements, will also have a big impact on your initial reactions. Process and process requirements should always be key criteria in the analysis of technology.
- The capabilities of the direct modeling tool may also have an impact on your initial reaction. There are many new and very immature examples of direct modeling out there. In some cases they are very poor representations of what direct modeling can and should be. Be sure to look at a few before making any final judgment.
Be careful in weighing your criteria (reactions) as you experience this new world of “explicit” “history-free” “direct” modeling. Take a step outside your comfort box, keep an open mind and focus on your product development process requirements. | <urn:uuid:e196af77-8cab-469e-9c1c-e61db52be09b> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://p-hamilton.blogspot.com/2009/07/direct-modeling-thinking-outside-box.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783399106.96/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154959-00123-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959054 | 1,359 | 2.625 | 3 |
m. c. 1270
m. MAY 1302
Facts and Events
Eleanor was firstly married in 1299 to Philip de Toucy, son of Narjot de Toucy and Lucia of Tripoli. Their marriage was dissolved on 17 January 1300 by Pope Boniface VIII because they were related and had not sought permission from the pope to marry.
On 17 May 1302, Eleanor married secondly to Frederick III of Sicily. Her father and her new husband had been engaged in a war for ascendancy in the Mediterranean Sea and especially Sicily and the Mezzogiorno. The marriage was part of a diplomatic effort to establish peaceful relations which would lead to the Peace of Caltabellotta (19 August 1302).
The peace divided the old Kingdom of Sicily into an island portion and a peninsular portion. The island, called the Kingdom of Trinacria, went to Frederick, who had been ruling it, and the Mezzogiorno, called the Kingdom of Sicily contemporaneously, but called the Kingdom of Naples by modern scholarship, went to Charles II, who had been ruling it. Thus, the peace was formal recognition of an uneasy status quo.
Eleanor and Frederick had nine children: | <urn:uuid:b7a698d7-d930-43c5-8f3e-7b962b75c52e> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.werelate.org/wiki/Person:Eleanor_of_Anjou_(1) | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393997.50/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00105-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.9828 | 248 | 3.0625 | 3 |
Tailoring disease screening programs to individuals
Researcher developed a customized computer algorithm that provides a better decision support tool
Oguzhan Alagoz teaches industrial and systems engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
March 18, 2014
Oguzhan Alagoz believes that many existing disease screening programs all too often take a one-size-fits-all approach. To be sure, “it is important to catch a disease early,” he says. “But still, most screening programs treat everyone the same.”
In breast cancer, for example, “they say any woman who turns 40, or 50, should start screening every year, and they don’t differentiate women by individual risks,” says Alagoz, an associate professor of industrial and systems engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
“The common characteristic of all of these guidelines is age,” he adds. “They specify age, but don’t specify whether women with higher or lower risk should or should not be screened, nor do they take into consideration a woman’s personal preferences about mammography. We have to start tailoring screening recommendations to the individual woman.”
To try to address this, the National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded scientist has developed a computer algorithm that will allow women to reach a decision customized for them. “You enter your age, your risk factors and how you personally feeling about screening,” he says. “Then our model helps you make a decision about mammography.”
Although implementation is beyond the scope of his research, he believes the ideal scenario would be to have a woman use the computer model in consultation with her personal physician. “We shouldn’t over-trust the model,” says Alagoz, who also holds a secondary appointment as an associate professor of population sciences in the university’s school of medicine and public health.
“Over-trusting technology in medicine may not be the best thing to do, but it will help you,” he adds. “It also will help the physician and the women who might be missing certain things. I see this not as a method to guide the whole decision, but as a decision support tool.”
Ultimately, he sees the research as a framework for developing better screening policies for other cancers as well, including prostate and colorectal cancers as well as other conditions, such as diabetic retinopathy.
“Any improvement on cancer screening and diagnosis would directly affect millions of people being screened for cancer, and indirectly affect almost the whole population being screened for other diseases,” he says. “Furthermore, the potential life savings and dollar savings of the proposed research are substantial.”
Alagoz is conducting his work with an NSF Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) award, which he received in 2009 as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The award supports junior faculty who exemplify the role of teacher-scholars through outstanding research, excellent education, and the integration of education and research within the context of the mission of their organization. NSF is funding his work with about $430,000 over five years.
As part of the grant’s educational component, he is training doctoral students to use such operations research techniques to solve complicated decision problems in medicine, and plans to integrate his findings into new courses. “The research will introduce operations research tools to the medical community through a successful application of these tools to a complicated and controversial problem in medicine,” he says.
He says there were a number of computational challenges he had to overcome in developing the model, and hopes to soon test it in a local clinic, although widespread clinical practice is likely several years away. “This is really very much still only on paper and in the computer,” he says.
His description of the algorithm and how it works appeared in the journal Operations Research.
“Every model is a representation of a real life system,” he says. “For this algorithm to work, we have to somehow represent the existence of cancer and probability of getting it over a lifetime.”
For this, he used the so-called Markov decision process model, a popular operations research tool used in various areas of applications. His model only considers the present state–for example, the current condition of a patient–to predict the probability of a future state, in this case, the chances of a patient’s developing cancer over a certain time period.
“There are already several risk assessment/predictions models that can tell you the probability of getting cancer over the next five or ten years, but this model also will consider your preferences and your risk and tell you at what age you should get a mammogram,” Alagoz says. “Then it will tell you, if it is negative, you should get it at such and such an age. It makes a recommendation to you about when you should get your next mammogram and all kinds of other statistics.”
The major difference between this model and other existing predictive algorithms “is that it takes into account how the woman feels about the procedure,” he says, citing fears over mammography, the risk of false positives that could result in unnecessary biopsies and other tests. “We have to somehow translate your feelings into numbers, that is, how much quality of life is lost due to your feeling toward mammography, a false positive, a biopsy, and the possibility of breast cancer.”
Alagoz hopes to include compliance as a factor in the next generation model. “What if she doesn’t come back, how should we adjust our model to recommend more or less aggressive screening?” he says. “If compliance is very high, then less aggressive screening recommendations make more sense.”
He also is using the model for investigating important screening policy questions such as what age to stop screening, what ages should be screened more aggressively, and the role of compliance in screening recommendations, among other things.
Alagoz is conducting his research with input from the medical community.
“The physicians are helping me build the models,” he says. “When you build these models, you have to make some assumptions. I am not a physician, so I meet with physicians/epidemiologists every week who help me build the correct models.”
|—||Marlene Cimons, National Science Foundation|
University of Wisconsin-Madison
#0844423 CAREER: Optimizing Disease Screening & Diagnosis | <urn:uuid:f32b1f68-dbb7-4d34-9915-c398e2f1ee8a> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://blog.thesietch.org/2014/03/17/tailoring-disease-screening-programs-to-individuals/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395613.65/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00165-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956698 | 1,378 | 2.796875 | 3 |
Crocs survived the Cretaceous extinction due to slow growth rates?
|December 3, 2011||Posted by News under extinction, Intelligent Design, News|
From “The hare and the tortoise: Or, rather, the dinosaur and the crocodile” (The economist, Dec 3rd 2011), we learn:
Fashion affects all human activities, and science is not exempt. In the field of palaeontology, for example, the stock of crocodiles is rising. Their role in Mesozoic ecosystems, including as predators of dinosaurs, has been reassessed over the past few years—and their diversity of forms (even including herbivorous species) is becoming increasingly apparent. This shift of perception is causing fossil hunters to take a renewed look at crocodiles, dinosaurs and the similarities and differences between them.
The researchers report that dinosaurs grew more quickly than crocs.
… the features indicating rapid growth were added one by one during the Triassic (the period immediately before the Jurassic). That is not terribly surprising. What is surprising is that all of these features were present in the last common ancestor of dinosaurs and crocodiles. The former, in other words, perfected rapid growth and went on to dominate the Mesozoic, while the latter gave it up.
Crocodiles had the last laugh, though. Fast-living dinosaurs were unable to survive the crisis at the end of the Cretaceous, when an asteroid hit Earth and brought photosynthesis to a halt. Slow-living crocs, by contrast, were able to cling on until conditions improved, and are now found throughout the tropics and subtropics. Thus, 65m years ago, were the fates of two groups of animals decided by evolutionary differences inculcated 220m years ago.
The money shot would be to know how that happened | <urn:uuid:41a90f26-f68f-4b6e-89e2-c4ffedcd5c64> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.uncommondescent.com/intelligent-design/crocs-survived-the-cretaceous-extinction-due-to-slow-growth-rates/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398209.20/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00035-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974362 | 377 | 3.03125 | 3 |
The Rue Montorgueil, like its twin painting The Rue Saint-Denis (Rouen, musée des Beaux-arts), is often thought to depict a 14 July celebration. In fact it was painted on 30 June 1878 for a festival declared that year by the government celebrating "peace and work". This was one of the events organised for the third Universal Exhibition in Paris a few weeks after it opened, and intended to be a symbol of France’s recovery after the defeat of 1870. As well as demonstrating nationalist enthusiasm, the celebrations of 30 June 1878 were also an opportunity to strengthen the position of the Republican regime, still fragile only a few months after the major confrontations of 1876-1877 between its supporters and the conservatives. It was only two years later, in 1880, that 14 July was designated the French National Day.
This painting proposes a distanced vision of an urban landscape by a painter who did not mix with the crowd, but observed it from a window. The three colours vibrating in Monet's painting are those of modern France.
The impressionist technique, with its multitude of small strokes of colour, suggests the animation of the crowd and the wavering of flags. This allowed the American historian Philip Nord to write that it perfectly fits the "republican moment" marking the emergence of a democratic society and its roots in contemporary France. With this painting, Monet revealed a hidden aspect of modernity, while simultaneously achieving the work of a "reporter". | <urn:uuid:fad89e49-23a1-45f1-aa79-b79a276dc57f> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.musee-orsay.fr/en/collections/works-in-focus/search/commentaire_id/la-rue-montorgueil-7081.html?no_cache=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396949.33/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00156-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971764 | 309 | 3.46875 | 3 |
WALTHAM (CBS) – Engineers in a Waltham lab are creating a metal version of the fastest animal on land. It’s a cheetah-robot, and at 18 miles per hour, it has already broken the record for the fastest legged robot ever.
“Our goals are certainly better than 20 miles per hour with this machine. Next generation machine we hope is going to go faster,” says Al Rizzi, of Boston Dynamics.
So far, the company is one-third of the way into its project funded by the U.S. Department of Defense. Not only is it fast, its four legs can take it to places other machines can’t get to. Engineers plan to spend the next two years perfecting the cheetah’s balance and equipping it to work outside in rugged weather and terrain.
“It has military applications in terms of serving as a scout robot for a unit. It also has interesting applications for civilian search and rescue and emergency response,” says Rizzo.
WBZ-TV’s Christina Hager reports | <urn:uuid:f7d92dce-dcb3-4977-9e70-1328e42dec45> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://boston.cbslocal.com/2012/03/06/waltham-lab-creates-fastest-legged-robot-ever/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783403826.29/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155003-00163-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952571 | 232 | 2.609375 | 3 |
Gillmore, Gavin K, Crockett, Robin, Denman, Tony, Flowers, Alan and Harris, Richard (2012) Radium dial watches, a potentially hazardous legacy? Environment International, 45, pp. 91-98. ISSN (print) 0160-4120Full text not available from this archive.
This study re-examines the risk to health from radium ((226)Ra) dial watches. Ambient dose equivalent rates have been measured for fifteen pocket watches giving results of up to 30μSvh(-1) at a distance of 2cm taken with a series 1000 mini-rad from the front face (arithmetic mean ambient dose equivalent for pocket watches being 13.2μSvh(-1)). A pocket compass gave rise to a similar ambient dose equivalent rate, of 20μSvh(-1), to the pocket watches, with its cover open. Eighteen wristwatches have also been assessed, but their dose rates are generally much lower (the arithmetic mean being 3.0μSvh(-1)), although the highest ambient dose equivalent rate noted was 20μSvh(-1). A phantom experiment using a TLD suggested an effective dose equivalent of 2.2mSv/y from a 1μCi (37kBq) radium dial worn for 16h/day throughout the year (dose rate 0.375μSvh(-1)). For this condition we estimated maximum skin dose for our pocket watches as 16mSv per year, with effective doses of 5.1mSv and 1.169mSv when worn in vest and trouser pockets respectively. This assumes exposure from the back of the watch which is generally around 60-67% of that from the front. The maximum skin dose from a wristwatch was 14mSv, with 4.2mSv effective dose in vest pocket. Radium ((226)Ra) decays to the radioactive gas radon ((222)Rn), and atmospheric radon concentration measurements taken around a pocket watch in a small sealed glass sphere recorded 18,728Bqm(-3). All watches were placed in a room with a RAD7 real-time radon detector. Radon concentration average was 259±9Bqm(-3) over 16h, compared to background average over 24h of 1.02Bqm(-3). Over 6weeks highs of the order of 2000Bqm(-3) were routinely recorded when the heating/ventilation system in the room was operating at reduced rates, peaking at over 3000Bqm(-3) on several occasions. Estimates of the activity of (226)Ra in the watches ranged from 0.063 to 1.063μCi (2.31 to 39.31kBq) for pocket watches and from 0.013 to 0.875μCi (0.46 to 32.38kBq) for wrist watches. The risk from old watches containing radium appears to have been largely forgotten today. This paper indicates a health risk, particular to collectors, but with knowledge and appropriate precautions the potential risks can be reduced.
|Uncontrolled Keywords:||radium, radon, watches, health risks, radon concentrations, reconnaissance, wrist|
|Research Area:||Geography and environmental studies
Mechanical, aeronautical and manufacturing engineering
|Faculty, School or Research Centre:||Faculty of Science, Engineering and Computing > School of Geography, Geology and the Environment
Faculty of Science, Engineering and Computing > School of Mechanical and Automotive Engineering
|Depositing User:||Automatic Import Agent|
|Date Deposited:||24 May 2012 09:14|
|Last Modified:||24 Aug 2012 14:28|
Actions (Repository Editors)
|Item Control Page| | <urn:uuid:7711cc64-b860-4d48-bd56-151b0262fa86> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://eprints.kingston.ac.uk/22939/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393518.22/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00148-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.899808 | 797 | 2.578125 | 3 |
We are only in the very early stages of nanotechnology bringing new abilities to DNA reading, but the latest such nanotech advance comes from New Mexico Tech profs Peng Zhang and Snezna Rogelj, described in an article by George Zamora:
NM Tech Researchers Develop Nanomaterial Bio-sensor
New Mexico Tech researchers have developed a highly sensitive nucleotide sensor that uses the special light-emitting properties of some nanoparticles in analyzing and identifying individual components of single strands of DNA and RNA…
“In a proof-of-concept experiment, the designed nucleotide sensor displays high sensitivity and specificity, with the capability of differentiating a single-base mismatch in a 26-base nucleotide target,” said Zhang. “This is an important finding in relation to the study and treatment of many genetic-based diseases, such as Sickle Cell Anemia, which are due to a single-base mismatch on just one base protein”…
Zhang said he and his fellow research team members are hoping to make the technology they have developed even more “useful and meaningful” by soon adapting it to detect and kill cancer cells.
Exciting work: an early nanomaterial used to detect a DNA difference and, with additional work, hoped to be able to kill cells. All of us concerned about cancer are pleased. Let’s also keep an eye on potential misuse of related sensing/killing abilities, which could be used — someday — in a weapon. I have not heard of plans for such a thing, but it’s an obvious idea and we should keep an eye out for it.
In addition to her interesting research, Prof. Snezna Rogelj has a sense of humor. —Christine | <urn:uuid:64f75118-3909-42e9-9791-4d82f5253509> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.foresight.org/nanodot/?p=2361 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783408828.55/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155008-00108-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955758 | 360 | 3.09375 | 3 |
Gujarat was initially a part of Bombay, and it attained statehood in 1960. It is surrounded by Maharashtra and the Union Territories of Daman and Diu, and Nagar Haveli, towards the south; Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh towards the north east and east; the Arabian sea to the west and south west; and in the north by Pakistan. Known as the 'Jewel of the West', the state has 26 districts, 242 towns, 226 talukas and 18,618 villages.
Member Representation at the Centre and State
Gujarat sends 26 members to the Lok Sabha and 11 members to the Rajya Sabha. The State Legislature is unicameral in nature and has a strength of 182 members.
The first Assembly election in Gujarat took place in 1960 and the Indian National Congress (INC) was the winning party. Jivraj Narayan Mehta was nominated as the Chief Minister. Winning subsequent elections, the INC continued to be very much in power till 1974. The Chief Ministers who served during these years are; Balwantrai Mehta, Hitendra K Desai, Ghanshyam Oza and Chimanbhai Patel.
In the fifth Assembly Elections held in 1975, the Janata Front came to power and Babubhai J Patel became the Chief Minister. But, the government lasted for only a short period and INC came back to power with Madhav Singh Solanki as the CM. This government also did not last long and Janata Party came back to power in 1977, with Babubhai J Patel once again as the Chief Minster.
Then, in the sixth Assembly election held in 1980, the INC came back to power and was in power till 1990. In the eighth Assembly elections held in 1990, a Janata Dal-Bharatiya Janata Party coalition government was formed with Chimanbhai Patel as the Chief Minister. In the ninth Assembly elections in 1995, INC came to power with Chhabildas Mehta as the CM. In the tenth Assembly Elections held in 1998, BJP came to power and has been in power since then. Keshubhai Patel was nominated as the Chief Minister. In the Eleventh Assembly elections held in 2002, Narendra Modi became the Chief Minister and continued to be in power till he won in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections and gave the post to another BJP leader.
Coming to the Lok Sabha elections, the third Lok Sabha election was held in 1962, and the Indian National Congress (INC) emerged as the winning party. The INC continued to be in power for the next two terms - 1967 and 1971. In the sixth Lok Sabha elections held in 1977, Bharatiya Lok Dal came to power. The next election held in 1980, saw the INC come back to power. The party clinched a victory in the eighth Lok Sabha elections too. The ninth Lok Sabha elections saw the Janata Dal come to power. After that, it was the turn of the Bharatiya Janata Party to emerge victorious in the tenth, eleventh and the twelfth Lok Sabha elections. In the thirteenth Lok Sabha elections, the National Democratic Alliance (BJP) came to power. This alliance retained its hold in the fourteenth and fifteenth elections held in 2004 and 2009, respectively, and continues to be in power.
Current Constitution of the State Government
The Gujarat government was led by BJP with Narendra Modi as the Chief Minister. The party position is as follows:
Major Political Parties in Gujarat
|Party||Number of Seats|
The national parties that have a presence in Gujarat are :
- Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)
- Indian National Congress (INC)
- Communist Party of India (CPI)
- Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)]
- National Congress Party (NCP)
There are many registered parties like :
Top Political Leaders in Gujarat
- Bharatiya Janata Dal (BJD)
- Janata Dal (united) [JD(U)]
- Lok Jan Shakti Party
- Rashtriya Lok Dal
- Narendra Modi : Narendra Modi is the current Chief Minister of Gujarat and is BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate. This is his fourth consecutive term as the Chief Minister, which makes him the longest serving Chief Minister of Gujarat. A BJP member, Modi has earned accolades for his commendable work in the development and progress of the state.
- Keshubhai Patel : Keshubhai Patel is a former Chief Minister of Gujarat. In 1977, he was elected to the Lok Sabha. He was earlier associated with the Jan Sangh but when it dissolved in 1980, he became a part of the BJP, and acted as a senior organiser. He led the party to victory in the 1995 elections and became the Chief Minister. However, he resigned few months later, only to become the Chief Minister once again in 1998. In 2002, he resigned due to ill health. Later in 2002, he was nominated to the Rajya Sabha.
- Madhav Singh Solanki : A senior Congress leader, Madhav Singh Solanki was the Chief Minister of Gujarat for four times.
- Shankersinh Vaghela : An politician from the INC, he is currently the Leader of Opposition in the Gujarat Legislative Assembly. He has been a member of the Lok Sabha for four terms. From 1996-97, he was the Chief Minister of Gujarat and has also been a member of the Rajya Sabha. He represents the Kapadvanj constituency in Gujarat.
No. of PCs :26
No. of Polling Days :1
Polling Dates :30 April (Phase 7)
No. of Polling Stations :45313
No. of Polling Station locations :27360
Total Electors :3,98,71,571 (as on 3rd January 2014)
Electors in Age Group 18 to 25 years :15.03%
Women Electors : 47.67%
Poll Expenditure Limit per Candidate :Rs. 70 lakhs
|Major issues and concerns
Suicide by farmers : Around 60 farmers have committed suicide in 2012-13 in the state either because of crop failure, bad debt or other agrarian reasons.
Poverty : As per the 2011 census, 31.8% citizens of the state have been categorised as Below Poverty Line, which is worse than many other states in the country.
Malnourishment : The Ministry of Women and Child Welfare has reported that 38% of children in the state are undernourished, which means that two of every five children are malnourished.
Communal Violence, Water crisis
Gujarat Parliamentary Constituency Winners 2009
|PC No.||PC Name||Category||Winning Candidate||Gender||Party||Total Votes|
|1||Kachchh||(SC)||Jat Poonamben Veljibhai||F||BJP||285300|
|2||Banaskantha||GEN||Gadhvi Mukeshkumar Bheiravdanji||M||INC||289409|
|4||Mahesana||GEN||Patel Jayshreeben Kanubhai||F||BJP||334631|
|7||Ahmedabad East||GEN||Harin Pathak||M||BJP||318846|
|8||Ahmedabad West||(SC)||Dr. Solanki Kiritbhai Premajibhai||M||BJP||376823|
|9||Surendranagar||GEN||Koli Patel Somabhai Gandalal||M||INC||247710|
|10||Rajkot||GEN||Kuvarjibhai Mohanbhai Bavalia||M||INC||307553|
|11||Porbandar||GEN||Radadiya Vitthalbhai Hansrajbhai||M||INC||329436|
|12||Jamnagar||GEN||Ahir Vikrambhai Arjanbhai Madam||M||INC||281410|
|13||Junagadh||GEN||Solanki Dinubhai Boghabhai||M||BJP||355335|
|15||Bhavnagar||GEN||Rajendrasinh Ghanshyamsinh Rana (Rajubhai Rana)||M||BJP||213376|
|16||Anand||GEN||Solanki Bharatbhai Madhavsinh||M||INC||348655|
|18||Panchmahal||GEN||Chauhan Prabhatsinh Pratapsinh||M||BJP||282079|
|19||Dahod||(ST)||Dr. Prabha Kishor Taviad||F||INC||250586|
|20||Vadodara||GEN||Balkrishna Khanderao Shukla (Balu Shukla)||M||BJP||428833|
|21||Chhota Udaipur||(ST)||Rathwa Ramsingbhai Patalbhai||M||BJP||353534|
|22||Bharuch||GEN||Mansukhbhai Dhanjibhai Vasava Amrasinhbhai||M||BJP||311019|
|24||Surat||GEN||Shrimati Darshana Vikram Jardosh||F||BJP||364947|
|25||Navsari||GEN||C. R. Patil||M||BJP||423413|
|26||Valsad||(ST)||Kishanbhai Vestabhai Patel||M||INC||357755|
||Parliamentary Constituencies in Gujarat
Last Updated on : September 12, 2014 | <urn:uuid:ed8d6382-fef8-4f8e-82ae-58d786d81cb5> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.mapsofindia.com/parliamentaryconstituencies/gujarat/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783394987.40/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154954-00004-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.927497 | 2,076 | 2.640625 | 3 |
"In spite of current ads and slogans, the world doesn't change one person at a time. It changes as networks of relationships form among people who discover they share a common cause and vision of what's possible."
The constellation model was developed by and for the Canadian Partnership for Children's Health and the Environment (CPCHE). The model offers an innovative approach to organizing collaborative efforts in the social mission sector and shares various elements of the open source model. It emphasizes self-organizing and concrete action within a network of partner organizations working on a common issue.
Constellations are self-organizing action teams that operate within the broader strategic vision of a partnership. These constellations are outwardly focused, placing their attention on creating value for those in the external environment rather than on the partnership itself. While serious effort is invested into core partnership governance and management, most of the energy is devoted to the decision making, resources and collaborative effort required to create social value. The constellations drive and define the partnership.
The constellation model emerged from a deep understanding of the power of networks and peer production. Leadership rotates fluidly amongst partners, with each partner having the freedom to head up a constellation and to participate in constellations that carry out activities that are of more peripheral interest. The Internet provided the platform, the partner network enabled the expertise to align itself, and the goal of reducing chemical exposure in children kept the energy flowing.
Building on seven years of experience, this article provides an overview of the constellation model, discusses the results from the CPCHE, and identifies similarities and differences between the constellation and open source models.
Canadian Partnership for Children's Health and the Environment
In 2000, a small group of Canadian non-government organizations (NGOs) started talking about children's environmental health. Coming from a variety of backgrounds such as childcare, public health, and environmentalism, these groups were increasingly worried about the risks posed to children by toxics and other environmental hazards. Yet, no one group on its own had the mandate, skills or resources to deal with this complex issue. They realized there was only one way to address this growing issue: working together. This decision resulted in the creation of the CPCHE, with the aim of working together to create a healthy environment for children in Canada.
The decision to work together led quickly to a slate of thorny questions. How would they set collective goals? Would they have to agree on everything? How could they preserve their autonomy and diversity? Who would be in charge? How could they best leverage each others' talents? The group knew they wanted to create a flexible, lightweight and adaptable partnership, not a heavy new umbrella NGO. With this in mind, they developed the constellation model of partnering.
The constellation model is designed to bring together multiple groups or sectors working toward a joint outcome. The focus is on action rather than dialogue. Public education, service delivery, research and other tangible social change activities are handled by small, self-organizing teams called constellations. These teams are threaded into the overall partnership which is held together using a governance and management framework that balances leadership amongst all participating partners. The aim is not to create a new organization, but to get things done in a nimble, high impact manner.
Figure 1 shows the main components of the constellation model. Key to the success of the model are: lightweight governance, action focused teams and third-party coordination. These three elements make it possible to respond quickly to new ideas while still working on more protracted issues and preserving organizational autonomy within the collaborative. Partners apply the principle of emergence, listening for new opportunities that relate to the primary strategic work of the group. The constellation structure allows them to respond quickly to these opportunities, to only engage with the activities that matter to them, and to stay away from activities that don't align with their interests. Constellations are not a monolithic set of integrated projects, but rather loosely coupled coordinated initiatives. This loose coupling is central to maintaining autonomy while ensuring that the group is moving towards it strategic goals..
Figure 1: The Constellation Model
A constellation-based partnership is created in response to a need or opportunity that begs attention. This need or opportunity is described as a magnetic attractor. Its draw will determine the level of priority that the partners will give to the work of the partnership. It will determine the level of energy and initiative taken, as well as the scope of work and the circle of partners who choose to join in.
For CPCHE, the initial magnetic attractors were the need to raise awareness and mobilize action around toxic exposures and children's environmental health. In particular, the group wanted decision-makers, service providers and caregivers to understand the pressing need to address both well known threats such as use of lead jewellery and emerging threats such as biphenol A in plastic baby bottles. Although organizations were trying to work on these issues individually, it was clear that they were competing with each other for scarce resources and that their actions were uncoordinated. This resulted in confusion and limited impact.
Once the group was formed around the magnetic attractor, they needed to quickly form a stewardship group, known as a coordinating committee, to serve the broader collective vision. In small partnerships, this group can be composed of representatives from each of the partnering organizations. In larger partnerships and networks, it may be made up of well-trusted members of the broader group who voluntarily step forward. However this group is defined, its members act as stewards of the community interest and the work that is being undertaken in relation to the magnetic attractor, and not as representatives of their organization's interests. Each organization will be able to pursue its self-interests through the constellations.
The stewardship group is responsible for the overall health of the partnership and ensuring that constellations are aligned with the purpose of the partnership. In CPCHE's case, this work started with the creation of three key documents. The first document provided a set of guiding principles and defined the magnetic attractor that the group would focus on. It stated: "... all children and adults have the right to know about proven and potential hazards to their environmental health and safety." The second document provided governance terms of reference including a partnership agreement and framework to guide how the partners will work together. The third document was a strategic plan that articulated overarching goals related to changing practices of parents and childcare workers and shifting policy to protect children. The three documents provided a framework to support clear action on behalf of the partners.
Action-Focused Work Teams
Constellations can be formal projects, opportunistic initiatives, or working groups that guide particular aspects of the work of the partnership. While they are focused around practice and the specific interests of members, they must also be consistent with the overall vision and plan of the partnership. Two elements are needed to create a constellation: i)a need or opportunity; and ii) energetic leadership by one or more partner. When a constellation starts up, the participating partners define terms of reference. What are their goals? How do they want to work? The group also discusses who amongst them should provide the energy to play a leadership role, who has the organizational capacity to be the financial lead and what role each of the members will play. Roles and responsibilities are matched with the assets of each group. Leadership moves from partner to partner, as does any potential funding that may be associated with the constellation.
Constellations have a number of characteristics that make them different from traditional committees. They privilege initiative takers over position and authority. Money and responsibility are spread around. When the need or opportunity has been met, constellations can be creatively destroyed or wound down. As each constellation is permeable -- groups can leave or join at will -- there is a natural pressure to remain relevant. Also, they are meant to be small pieces of a strategic whole, weaving together a bigger picture of the partnership within the ecosystem.
Between 2001 and 2008, CPCHE began over 15 different constellations anchored around issues such as pesticide by-laws, promoting awareness amongst health and child care workers, and monitoring toxic substances, mercury, consumer products, and lead exposures. More than half of the constellations created have been phased out because the goals have been achieved or there is no longer energy. Clearly, this approach has allowed the partners to galvanize quickly around a specific issue and then to disband when the issue has been addressed or when the energy of the group wanes. This has happened without disrupting the vision or stability of the overall partnership.
When non-profits set up collaborative projects, they typically house the secretariat function within one of the partners, usually the partner with the most capacity. However, placing the coordination function within one of the partners completely and permanently alters the power dynamic of the group. When one partner takes power, the others defer responsibility and many partners lose energy and motivation.
With the constellation model, the secretariat or coordination function resides outside of the core partners. Staff are either consultants or work for a third party intermediary organization. These people should be familiar and interested in the nature of the collaborative work, but should not have a seat at the table as a content provider. Their job is to support the process of the collaboration by guiding the planning process, facilitating meetings, supporting new constellations, fundraising for joint projects, mediating conflict, helping information to flow, and building the overall capacity of the group to work towards their desired outcome.
At the core of the secretariat is at least one person committed to helping the group along. This is not a junior coordinator position as a highly skilled and discriminating person who embodies collaborative leadership is required. Effectively, this position is the Executive Director of the partnership, but with a focus on process rather than content. Their purpose is to support the content experts who are drawn from the organizations that make up the partnership. This person must strike a balance between driving the group process forward with nurturing leaders from the partner organizations.
In the constellation model, fiscal and legal responsibility moves around in order to avoid creating a new organization. Constellations drive the model: leadership and resources for these constellations are constantly coming from different places and going to different organizations. The member managing a particular project takes legal and fiscal responsibility for that project. This "in motion" money and power management ensures that active partners are compensated for their initiative and makes it less likely that the money and power will pool in one partner. It is the role of the secretariat, in concert with the stewardship group and the funding community, to balance the flow of leadership and money. The secretariat must have a commitment to building the capacity and involvement of the less active members.
One challenge with the lack of incorporation is the ability to amass core funding to pay for the secretariat. Most grant funded organizations cover these costs by charging an overhead fee. However, with no grants going directly to the partnership as a whole, there is no overhead fee to serve this purpose. CPCHE's solution was to allocate a portion of the administrative fees from each grant that the partners received to the running of the secretariat. In a case where standard overhead fees are 15%, 10% was retained by the lead partner and 5% allocated to the running of the partnership itself. This ensured that, over time, some unrestricted income is accumulated to be used at the discretion of the stewardship group to serve the collaboration. Initially these funds were held in trust by one of the partners. Now, the trust fund sits with the Centre for Social Innovation in Toronto, an organization that is in the business of providing third-party support services for initiatives like CPCHE.
The constellation model can not work without the Internet. Tools like e-mail lists, tracking changes in documents, and a shared web site are critical to facilitating collaboration amongst the group. Collaboration happens at meetings, online, and over the phone between meetings. The "space between" is especially critical in making sure that the group is fully informed and engaged.
Results and Challenges
The constellation model has created a resilient ecosystem in Canada comprising more than 1000 thought leaders and service providers who work on children's environmental health issues. There are provincial collaborations on children's environmental health emerging in the provinces of Alberta, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. There are new links amongst industry, government and NGOs as a result of CPCHE's collaborative approach to policy consultation. This network mesh represents an important asset for addressing the environmental threats to children in the coming years.
There are a number of easy to identify achievements. Partners: i) implemented a model they designed seven years ago; ii) collectively raised $3 million for children's environmental health work, and leveraged millions more of in kind resources; and iii) produced a number of important publications on environmental health risks for children, ranging from research on the control of toxic substances to accessible plain language guides that help parents and daycare workers keep children safe.
Harder to measure achievements are also evident. First, application of the model resulted in an observable shift from competition to collaboration, both amongst the partners and within the broader children's environmental health space. Second, CPCHE's work has influenced changes to the Pest Control Products Act, the Chemicals Management Plan for Canada, and the Mandatory Core Guidelines for Health Promotion in Ontario. It helped shape the debate around the new Canadian Environmental Protection Act and sparked discussions about reopening the Canadian Hazardous Products Act. In April 2008, the Minister of Health announced a ban on bisphenol A in baby bottles. He articulated that the government would use a precautionary approach in its review of chemicals through the Chemicals Management Plan. This sparked a market transformation which has seen a near disappearance of bisphenol A in products sold in Canada. It has also set a precedent for banning a substance. This decision is a direct result of the work of CPCHE's talented partners and its powerful approach to social change. The breadth of knowledge and diverse constituency represented by CPCHE partners has been central to this success in the realm of policy.
Third, CPCHE has helped improve practices on-the-ground amongst health and day care workers. Over 1500 health and child care workers have attended CPCHE health promotion workshops where they learn about environmental risks to children and ways to avoid these risks. As a result, more people working in health care are paying attention to environmental risk factors for children.
The partnership has struggled at times. The most significant challenges have been around capacity and speed. Building the capacity of all the partners to contribute in a meaningful way is essential. Special effort was needed early on to ensure that smaller partners had the ability to play as equals in the group. There is now an element of group readiness to create constellations. However, it took a lot longer than was expected to get the group to this point.
Similarities and Differences with Open Source Model
Over the past few years, we have seen an increasing number of efforts to draw the experience of open source into new domains. Work in areas like open educational resources build upon the open source approach quite literally, encouraging teachers to openly license, share and remix educational content. Efforts in areas like open philanthropy are less literal, drawing more on the ethos and practices of open source and less on the idea of producing open digital artefacts. Open Source Comparison
The constellation model falls in this second camp, drawing inspiration from open source. Some of the elements that the constellation model shares with open source include:
- Action teams come together to achieve a goal based on mutual self interest where the balance between community and self drives peer production.
- Clear but lightweight coordination structures ensure that individual and organizational energies align towards achieving the greater goal.
- Meritocracy is balanced with inclusion as the best ideas and approaches rise to the top and are strengthened by the expertise of the community.
- Individuals and groups get in or out at any time based on their own interests and needs.
- Leadership and community health are valued.
The main differences are:
- The constellation model focuses on promoting social values while the open source model focuses on digital assets that can be distributed under open source licenses.
- The lack of focus on digital assets means it is not easy to fork a team. The right to fork is not only missing, it would be antithetical to the need to coordinate activities towards the magnetic attractor.
- The constellation model draws teams from partner organizations in an ecosystem while the open source model draws individuals from anywhere.
The links between open source thinking and the constellation model are not accidental. A number of people involved in the early design of the constellation model were involved in open source projects. The constellation model intentionally drew on the practices of open source from its inception.
The CPCHE collaboration happened in a high impact and relatively nimble fashion which is not typical in social mission partnerships. CPCHE used open source-like organizing to move the market in toxics and chemical safety, having a direct effect on policy in Canada and ripple effects globally. It has also built a lasting network of people committed to children's environmental health.
The constellation has the potential to help organizations solve concrete problems within the context of a rapidly changing, complex social issue ecosystem. Other organizations like the Ontario Nonprofit Network, Front Line Partners for Youth and telecentre.org are now experimenting with the model.
The CPCHE constellation example shows that we can maintain organizational independence and collaborate effectively with others. This is the way we need to work to drive social innovation.
This article was adapted from Listening to the Stars: The Constellation Model of Collaborative Social Change published in the first edition of Social Space, a journal published by the Lien Centre for Social Innovation at the Singapore Management University. | <urn:uuid:8f63dfea-17ac-4451-b908-4de508de7800> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://timreview.ca/article/183 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783404405.88/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155004-00139-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956976 | 3,613 | 3.0625 | 3 |
This unplugged lesson entry continues on from the one started yesterday, involving a group of elementary level migrant and refugee students (16 attending today).
As a prelude, at the end of last lesson I was slightly concerned that we were getting a little too tied up in emergent grammar, and I wanted the next lesson to involve more interaction, more doing with language rather than analysing it. I had also set this lesson up to apply a version of the "Learner's Notebook as Coursebook" activitiy sequence demonstrated here. I had asked the students to find a small news article at home and copy it into their notebooks. Based on the texts that came to class, I had a rough plan to engage in some general reading and listening skills, a dictogloss activity, and some sort of communicative task work.
Today's lesson turned out to be a brilliant illustration of how completely unexpected texts can come into the classroom when learners are the ones choosing them, but also a very good example of how things don't progress quite the way we might have initially planned. As you will see, as the lesson progressed I had to scale back and apply some of the activities in more feasible/appropriate ways.
As with yesterday's class, the three hour session was broken into three separate lessons of 50-55 minutes, with 5-10 minute breaks in between.
1) General hellos and attendance paperwork. Getting to know two new students who were not present the day before.
2) Students were asked to get out the news story texts we had agreed they would find and copy into their notebooks the day before.
Of the sixteen attendees (fourteen of whom had been there the day before), only four students had actually found and copied down texts. Of those four, three were stories copied from books about fairy tales (case of misinterpreting the homework directions!), leaving me with just one short entertainment article from a Russian lady -- talking about an upcoming movie about Marilyn Munroe.
Hence, we only ended up with one text in the class that fit the requirements of a news story, but also only one that was of appropriate length and audience to use in class.
So our text about the Marilyn Monroe movie was it! With only one text to use in class, I immediately ditched the idea of doing reading comprehension questions and skillwork and went straight to the dictogloss, using our Monroe text.
3) Dictogloss application
I decided to read the text out myself, considering this was the first try at a dictogloss for the class and the learners are still relatively low level. Based on the example portrayed here, I had the students rule up a notebook page with two columns and three boxes in each, with the top box on either side being relatively small.
The learners initially reacted to the dictogloss the way all new students exposed to it react... panic and confusion! With a lot of gentle examples and coaxing and encouragement, they finally got into the swing of it, and in their paired groups actually did a pretty impressive job with it (considering their level). Towards the end, I explained why and how I was using the dictogloss in class to help them improve their integrated listening skills.
Being a first time application and a relatively low level, following the note-taking and collaboration in pairs, I skipped over the text reconstruction stage and instead elected to ask a variety of questions to the class about the text. The lady who had provided the article became my assistant, and indicated whether students' answers to my questions were right, wrong or "close".
Students really appeared to enjoy the later stages of the dictogloss and then the Q&A session that followed (the Russian teacher's assistant was very popular!).
4) New vocabulary
While the article was quite short, there were a good 10-12 words that the learners indicated that they hadn't quite caught, didn't know how to spell, or else didn't understand. Using the whiteboard, I invited students to make guesstimates of the words, then wrote out their correct forms, explained meanings, supported with examples, and regularly invited students to give me their own meaningful statements using the words once they had been explained.
Words like "iconic" and "assistant" and "pleasure" got a lot of interest, and students made some great efforts to use them with reference to things in Australia or abroad. We also did some breaking down into different parts of speech to show how some words worked as verbs, nouns, or adjectives, and how they were commonly used in a variety of potentially relevant sentences or short spoken exchanges between people.
As with the grammar-oriented session the day before, learners appeared quite absorbed and interested in this particular part of the lesson, even though it was much more about lexis than grammar and phonology.
To finish up this part of the lesson, using the listed vocabulary on the board, we put together a summary of the original article (confirmed by the owner of it, the Russian student). Students began to express their own opinions about some of the actors in the movie, and the idea of this particular movie itself.
[Break time: The article had been about actors and movies. The learners were showing interest... Did we have a potential discussion topic here? In the next lesson I figured a "Finding Out" activity could be the way to go, using questions relevant to cinema.]
Students ruled up a 4 X 4 grid on the next page of their notebooks. Together as a class we came up with four questions people might ask each within a cinema theme or situational meeting:
1. Do you like to go to the cinema?
2. Who is your favourite actor?
3. What's your favourite movie?
4. What kinds of movies do you like?
These were listed down the left hand row of boxes in the grid, leaving 12 blank squares for each grid. Before starting, I reviewed and extended reduced forms (Who is your = Whoozya?) based on similar examples covered yesterday and last week.
As per the dictogloss above, this was a new activity for the learners, so it needed to be shown through some examples. I also adjusted the common rules of "Finding Out" so that, instead of having three names across the top of the grid (and hence three people in total to talk to), students would ensure every blank grid featured an answer from a different student. (This new rule was inserted to get students out of their chairs and wondering around to talk to other people, many of whom they didn't know all that well up to this point in time.)
The Finding Out activity went extremely well, with students catching on to how it worked relatively quickly and then really applying themselves to it.
During the class-wide mingling and Q&A, I wandered about, helping the occasional learner express him/herself more clearly. We had to pause a couple of times to explore language or vocabulary that it was clear were causing some difficulties and breakdowns at a class-wide level. For example, the prompt "what kinds of movies do you like?" ended up generating a much longer list of types (based on the learners own attempts to describe them) than I would have at first predicted. Beyond the common action, comedy, horror, science fiction and drama, it turned out students also wanted to express categories like documentaries and historical dramas (which most of them initially expressed as 'real stories' or 'old stories').
This information gathering took up the rest of the second lesson in this sequence.
[Break time: I reflected at this point that we had done a pretty good job so far today in (a) Extending out from the initial selected news story about the Marilyn Monroe movie to get more into sharing personal preferences within the "movies" theme, and (b) Covering a range of skills including listening, vocabulary building, and interactive/integrated speaking -- talking and collecting information in grids. I decided that this gathered information would be ideal for extending into simple report writing, followed up with some oral reports based on them. I also reflected on some of the expressions, grammar and phonological patterns we had come up with the day before, and started thinking about how I could recycle and review them before the end of this lesson today.]
I explained to the students how we were basically going to read horizontally across each row in the Finding Out grids to create a simple report with information gathered together for each of the four questions -- which would comprise separate paragraphs.
Before writing, I illustrated an example on the whiteboard and gave them the question prompts from Finding Out as reported speech topic sentences to start each paragraph, along with some signpost language to indicate basic progression. For example: First, I asked my classmates if they like to go to the cinema; Finally, I asked my classmates about the kinds of movies they like.
I also demonstrated how to avoid putting sentences on completely separate lines and how to group them in basic paragraphs, with the relevant information for three different students following on from the respective topic sentence as demonstrated above. Finally, I indicated I wanted one blank line between each paragraph to ensure they were clearly separated.
Evidently I explained and demonstrated this all much more clearly than I have here just now in my post, because every single learner got the message and began writing his/her report exactly according to the instructions I had given!
They needed about 25 minutes or so to write their reports, with occasional queries to me about spelling or language use (I took the chance to review how to convert from 1st to 3rd person forms for the purposes of reporting information about their classmates - something we had done last week as well.)
When all the reports were ready, I did a quick review of the past tense verb endings we had dealt with yesterday in relation to chatting about previous weekend activities (in particular the [d] / [t] / [ad] sounds for 'ed'), some quick practice, and then showed how the 3rd person endings for simple present followed a similar pattern (namely [z] / [s] / [az]). That led into a brief explanation about present simple tense, and how it was appropriate for this Finding Out information because we were dealing with favourites/constants/facts.
Based on that information, students did a quick review of their work and attempted to select or self-correct those parts of their reports that needed to demonstrate present simple tense. There were several queries and checks to me as they did this, but I refrained from helping, telling them that help would come later...
Students now took turns delivering their written reports orally. As each was read aloud, I would regularly startle the student (and the class) by raising a hand and saying "WAIT!" in a rather dramatic fashion. This interruption came at times when a student either made a mistake in pronunciation, or demonstrated very accurate pronunciation (in particular for those 3rd person "(e)s" endings). Essentially, a student would glance up and wonder whether they were going to be corrected or congratulated. It was delivered and taken in a fun and humorous spirit, and the class (including individual students reading aloud) clearly appeared to enjoy it. As they became used to certain patterns in my interruptions, some students -- usually giggling -- attempted to beat me to it by congratulating or correcting themselves as soon as I began to raise my arm.
The lesson ended with smiles and laughter (and, I hope, some slightly deeper awareness about certain pronunciation patterns), with about 4 students needing to read their reports in our next class together. There wasn't any need to pick up and check the reports, as almost every student had managed to accurately correct their writing through the read aloud and teacher interruption cycle.
Before they left, I reminded them that it would be a lot more interesting if all of them brought simple news articles next time, rather than just four of them (and of those four, three who brought along texts that were too big and too specialised in interest area to be workable with the wider class). They appeared to take that on board in the right spirit.
[Post lesson/session reflection: Very different to yesterday's lesson, and quite interesting in terms of how well everything flowed out from the initial news article a learner had brought in. I felt better about the fact that we'd done more in the way of listening and interaction, as well as getting some essential basics down when it came to simple text-level writing skills. Several aspects or examples (or extensions) of the grammar and vocabulary covered yesterday found their way quite naturally into this lesson as well, which made for a nice sense of cohesion. A lot less whiteboard work from me, a lot more speaking and writing work from them. The 'mingling' aspect of the "Finding Out" activity appeared to do a lot to create more bonding around the class -- there was a more relaxed and friendly feeling atmosphere at the end of this class.] | <urn:uuid:05dd914c-50b2-4efd-a1e6-af39539eea93> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://jasonrenshaw.typepad.com/jason_renshaws_web_log/2010/10/unplugged-teaching-journal-entry-2-my-week-with-marilyn.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395560.14/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00139-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977095 | 2,656 | 2.78125 | 3 |
Botswana has a surface area of 581,730 km2 of which 84% is the Kgalagadi Desert.
Location within Africa
Botswana is centrally located in the heart of Southern Africa. It shares borders with Zambia in the north, Namibia in the north, west and north west, Zimbabwe in the north east and South Africa in the south and south east. Botswana is centrally located in the Southern African region, making the country the perfect gateway to the Southern African Development Community (SADC), which has its headquarters in Gaborone.
Gaborone is the capital and largest city of Botswana with a population of 231,626 (2011 census), about 10% of the total population of Botswana. Its greater metropolitan area is home to 421,907 inhabitants (2011 census). Gaborone covers an area of 169 km2.
Botswana’s population has recently surpassed 2 million. The 2011 census showed that there were 2 024 904 persons in Botswana during the 2011 Population and Housing Census, compared to 1 680 863 in 2001.
Adult Literacy Rate
The Literacy rate in Botswana was 84.5% in 2010 for adults aged 15 and older, according to the World Bank.
The official language in Botswana is English, which is taught from Secondary School onwards, and is the operating language of the government, national institutions and commerce.
Setswana is the most widely spoken language in Botswana, by about 80% of inhabitants (2011) and is considered the national language.
Weights and Measures
Standard time zone: UTC/GMT +2 hours
Time zone: CAT - Central Africa Time
Botswana's energy capacity is thermal, mainly coal-fired, with some small diesel generators in rural areas. The bulk of domestic electricity production is generated by the Morupule coal-fired station. More than half of Botswana’s power requirements are imported from South Africa and Zambia.
Increased urbanisation in the face of scarcity of resources to expand and maintain energy plants, has contributed to the fact that only 22% Botswana’s population have access to electricity. The SADC average for percentage electrification is at most 20%.
The Ministry of Mineral Resources and Water Resources has overall responsibility for power. The Botswana Power Corporation (BPC) reports to the Ministry and generates, transmits and distributes electricity in Botswana, under the provisions of the Botswana Power Corporation Act. BPC imports electricity from ESKOM, from the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority and, since 1991, from Zambia.
A small Independent Power Producer (IPP), Bemco, supplies the town of Ghanzi in Western Botswana. Botswana has no hydroelectric power resources and all power is from thermal generation. Installed electricity capacity is 220,000 kW and domestic production totalled 901 million kW hours. An additional 228 million kWh was imported mainly from South Africa.
Consumption per capita is estimated at 874 kWh. Almost all of Botswana's power comes from the coal-powered Morupule Power Station. The country is undertaking a rural electrification programme and a 15 year planning programme is being developed to cater for the expected increase in supply of electricity across the Botswana grid. ABB Transmission and Distribution, a SA Company, has undertaken numerous projects in Botswana, building power lines.
Electricity tariffs in Botswana are the highest in the southern African region and its high tariffs have been blamed for the re-location of certain energy-intensive industries to neighbouring countries. Although Botswana is ideally suited for solar energy applications, enjoying over 3,200 hours of sunshine per year, its contribution to the national energy balance is insignificant.
Solar energy is currently used for home lighting and water heating, electricity production for telecommunications equipment, and in the rural areas where access to conventional electricity is difficult. Significant business opportunities lie in the manufacture or assembly of solar energy equipment.
In the near future, the BPC plans to build four 150 MW coal-fired power plants alongside the existing four 33 MW coal-fired power plants at its Morupule Power Station, located approximately 280km north of Gaborone. | <urn:uuid:d2096bb6-1fc0-4814-8a14-96f6710c6cfb> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.bitc.co.bw/key-facts-and-figures | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397842.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00183-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937418 | 860 | 3.203125 | 3 |
The Brain’s Stopwatch – Emotions and Time Perceptionby Juliette Siegfried, MPH | April 4, 2013
Albert Einstein, when asked to explain his theories in layman’s terms, once famously said, “When a man sits with a pretty girl for an hour, it seems like a minute. But let him sit on a hot stove for a minute and it’s longer than any hour. That’s relativity.”
That’s also how our brains work to “tell time,” according to research conducted by Sylvie Droit-Volet from Blaise Pascal University and Sandrine Gil from Poitiers University, France. These neurophysiologists point out that although we have five senses with which to measure the universe around us, our brains have no specific receptors with which to measure time. Most of the time we manage anyway, have a pretty good idea of whether things happen “on time” or “not on time,” and after the age of six we can make fairly accurate assessments of time duration — how long it takes for common actions to happen.
After the age of eight we also begin to develop remarkably sophisticated abilities to “count time,” meaning to accurately tell how many seconds or minutes have passed between an initial “Start now” stimulus and a final “Stop now” stimulus. Brain researchers in the early 60s theorized that this sense of “subjective time” was due to a mechanism in our brains similar to a stopwatch, which operates similar to the ticking of a clock. When we pay attention to it, this internal clock allows us to develop a pretty good sense of objective time.
But does this “brain stopwatch” always “tick” at the same rate?
Have you ever, for example, been in a dangerous situation like an automobile accident and had your perception of time “slow down,” as if objective time itself were passing more slowly? Have you ever had a conversation with a beautiful person, à la Einstein’s quote above, and felt time pass more quickly? How does that happen if we’ve got an internal stopwatch in our brains constantly ticking away?
To find out, Droit-Volet and Gil conducted a number of experiments in which subjects were shown excerpts from three different types of potentially emotion-provoking films and then asked to subjectively estimate the duration of a visual stimulus. One group of films was designed to provoke fear (Scream, The Blair Witch Project), another group to provoke sadness (Philadephia, City Of Angels), and a third group to provoke neutral reactions.
After watching the fear-provoking films, the subjects consistently perceived the stimulus as lasting longer than it really did; the emotion of fear seemed to trigger a “slowing down” of time. There were no such time distortions after watching the other two groups of films. Speculating about the possible causes of this, the researchers suggested that the phenomenon might be partly physiological — the emotion of fear causes a state of physical arousal that may also speed up our “internal clocks.” When you are afraid, your heart speeds up, your blood pressure increases, your pupils dilate, and your body unconsciously goes into “fight or flight” mode, preparing to either defend itself or run away. The sad or neutral films may not have affected the subjects’ sense of time as much because there was no corresponding change in physiological functions.
Gil and Droit-Volet also found this time dilation effect when subjects merely looked at the face of someone close to them expressing an emotion such as shame. Previous studies have indicated that when we see shame in others, we instinctively try to mimic the other person’s emotional state. As Droit-Volet explains,
This reflective activity distracts attention from time-processing, so that estimated time seems shorter than it really is.
She also points out that these changes in our perception of time are not the result of a malfunction of our internal clocks, but a shifting of our attention in response to events:
There is no single, uniform time, but rather multiple times which we experience. Our temporal distortions are a direct translation of the way in which our brain and body adapt to these multiple times, the times of life.
More research must be conducted to understand exactly how our perceptions of time change, but one thing is certain — they change. Time really is relative.
Buhusi CV, & Meck WH (2005). What makes us tick? Functional and neural mechanisms of interval timing. Nature reviews. Neuroscience, 6 (10), 755-65 PMID: 16163383
Droit-Volet S, Fayolle SL, & Gil S (2011). Emotion and time perception: effects of film-induced mood. Frontiers in integrative neuroscience, 5 PMID: 21886610
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Like what you read? Give to Brain Blogger sponsored by GNIF with a tax-deductible donation.Make A Donation | <urn:uuid:49e24755-e755-4a83-a8a1-97ff7a053652> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://brainblogger.com/2013/04/04/the-brains-stopwatch-emotions-and-time-perception/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396106.71/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00019-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936867 | 1,217 | 3.265625 | 3 |
Translation of pustule in Spanish:
- Example sentences
- Lesions consist of erythematous papules, nodules, pustules, verrucous, or granulomatous lesions.
- Two months later, the purulent discharge, pustules, and erythema had resolved, and the nodules had diminished in size.
- These pimples vary according to the severity of the acne and range from whiteheads, blackheads, pustules, nodules to cysts.
What do you find interesting about this word or phrase?
Comments that don't adhere to our Community Guidelines may be moderated or removed. | <urn:uuid:58e48bf1-38e4-41fb-9b41-5b2f701db1d9> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/translate/english-spanish/pustule | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393997.50/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00020-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.843304 | 139 | 2.59375 | 3 |
I find that sometimes the simplest of concepts might be more complex than first anticipated and might not be 100% understood by everyone. In the case of user accounts and where they are located, I find this to be one of those areas. When running a corporate network or even small business network, it is key to know where your user accounts are so you can control them. Without control of user accounts bad things can occur. For example, if local accounts can be created which have local admin privileges, these computers where the accounts reside become unmanageable and can cause significant damage to the network without controls. Understanding and controlling local and domain user accounts correctly is vital to a safe, secure, and well managed network.
Logging in Initially
At the initial logon is when a user is given the option to logon with either a local or a domain user account! The GUI is not 100% clear to this fact, but it is exactly what is occurring. Moving from Windows XP to Windows 7 is another move that makes this concept complicated. At logon of a Windows XP computer, the user can either select the domain (or one of many trusted domains) or the local computer, as can be seen in Figure 1.
Figure 1: Initial logon on Windows XP allows users to choose a local or domain user account.
For Windows 7, the logon has changed and the options are even more complicated. Figure 2 illustrates a Windows 7 computer joined to a domain and the options available to the user logging on.
Figure 2: Initial logon on Windows 7
If the user chooses any option but the one that says (this computer) after it for Windows XP, the user will be logging on with a domain account. The list of options above the option that says (this computer) includes the domain the current computer has joined, as well as all other trusted domains for the domain which the computer has joined.
In order for a user to choose any of the listed options, the user must have a known username and password for that option. For all of the domains listed, the user accounts are stored on the domain controllers for the listed domain. For the local computer, the user accounts are listed in the local security accounts manager (SAM) on the computer where the user is currently typing.
Here are a few key technical points about domain membership, domain controllers, and user accounts.
- A computer can only be a member of one domain at any time
- A domain controller can only be associated with one domain at a time
- There should be a minimum of (2), but usually more domain controllers per domain
- A user account can only be listed in a domain one time
- A user account can be listed in all domains, but only one time
- A trusted domain should not duplicate the user accounts from one domain to the other; it is the trust relationship which allows for a user to logon from a computer joined to one domain, which has a trust with another domain. Duplication of accounts negates the point of the trust.
Default Local Accounts
For a windows 7 computer, there are only a few default user accounts. This is by design, as for a corporation the number of local accounts on a desktop should be limited. Ideally, there should not be any additional local user accounts created on a corporate desktop. This will negate the user from logging in locally at the initial logon. The default user accounts for a Windows 7 computer include:
- Guest (Disabled by default)
- <configured admin>
There is a big difference between Windows 7 and Windows XP in this instance, as Windows 7 forces the installation to create a new user account, which will be used in lieu of the built-in Administrator account. The reason for this is to reduce the overall attack surface, as the built-in Administrator can be disabled, configured with a significant password, etc.
Local Account Scope
When a user logs on with a local user account the scope and access that the user has access to, is significantly reduced. Local user accounts only have access to resources on the local computer and nothing else. A local user account can’t be placed on an access control list (ACL) or placed in a domain group. Thus, the access in a corporate environment is diminished enough to make the configuration undesired.
Default Domain Accounts
There are plenty of default domain accounts when Active Directory is installed. For a Windows Server 2008 or 2008 R2 freshly installed domain controller for a new domain, the list of user accounts include:
- Guest (Disabled by default)
- Krbtgt (Kerberos service account)
- <configured admin>
Again, notice that in a newer operating system domain, there is a forced admin account to be created, which is intended to be used in lieu of the built-in Administrator. For the domain, it is not highly suggested to disabled the Administrator account, but rather rename it, configure a long and strong password, and then create a false Administrator account (which has no admin privileges).
Domain Account Scope
The scope of a domain account is where the power of a Windows Active Directory domain comes into play. Domain user accounts can be configured for the following:
- Domain group membership
- Located on an ACL for ANY resource on any computer that has also joined the domain
- Located in a local group of ANY computer that has joined the domain
- Placed in a user right of ANY computer that has joined the domain
- To receive centralized Group Policy settings to set security, profile, desktop, etc. information
As you can see, the role of a domain user account is a “true enterprise” account. To allow users to logon with a local account creates an insecure situation, as there is little that can be done to control local accounts. Domain user accounts can be controlled, disabled, and managed centrally.
The concept of domain vs local user account is really not much of a debate. For any organization, I highly suggest that all local user accounts be deleted and only those that are truly required be allowed. This might include service accounts, developer test accounts, application type accounts, etc. Allowing a user to log on to the local computer provides little control. The worst possible case is to allow a user to logon with local administrative privileges, which is impossible to control. It also creates a situation where the user can attack the network from a computer that is part of the domain. This is never good. Removing all local user accounts forces the user to logon using a domain user account. This immediately gains benefits for the entire enterprise and the network admins can control all access and functionality of the user account in this scenario. | <urn:uuid:c98abb61-0e55-464c-a320-767b6ab797cd> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.windowsnetworking.com/articles-tutorials/netgeneral/Local-vs-Domain-User-Accounts.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783408828.55/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155008-00175-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.926208 | 1,371 | 2.96875 | 3 |
To the editor:
Lately, there's been a lot of focus on bullying. Most of the focus has been on bullying in schools and among teens. It is a fact that bullying has gotten out of hand in recent years, but a good question is where do our young people learn this behavior in the first place? Not only in schools from their peers, but also at home.
Parents, one or the other or perhaps both, may bully the other parent and the children notice and pick up on that kind of behavior and see the results - you get your way when you bully, you can make things happen, you have control.
There are no repercussions to bullying until it gets so bad it is finally reported, usually long after the damage is done. But how many times doesn't it get reported and a person suffers in silence?
Also, another point to bring up is children who bully grow up to be bullies, not only at home but also at work. Co-workers of a bully can suffer just as much as a teen. And like school, it can go on and on in the workplace without repercussions. It may get reported, but nothing happens. We are supposed to buck up and take it. Shrug our shoulders and get used to it. The bully may get reprimanded and that could be OK, one time. But one time should be enough.
How do you know if someone is getting bullied? Not always is it something that others would notice. It can be very underhanded and sneaky behavior toward a certain individual but then are nice to others.
If a person, student or employee, has been bullied and has reported it, more than likely it is true - no one wants to admit being bullied - it can make you appear weak and no one wants to appear to be weak.
What should be done with bullies? Once reported, or noted, that someone is being a bully - they should have consequences. Being expelled from school and attending a course on "Bully Management" (like Anger Management) and/or be fired would be the best solution. It should not be tolerated under any circumstances. For a school or work establishment to tolerate that behavior is showing a lack of control of their students and employees. If we want bullying to stop - it should be stopped everywhere! | <urn:uuid:e4f81eac-2135-4492-9cbf-267e85a66f3a> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.marshallindependent.com/page/content.detail/id/532353/Bullying-happens-everywhere-and-needs-to-stop-everywhere.html?nav=5072 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397213.30/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00114-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979738 | 468 | 2.859375 | 3 |
Where does an organism store reserves of the amino acids it needs to build various proteins it needs -- in the liver ? in the blood ? in every cell ?
In the sense that you have asked the question, humans have no stores of amino acids. Amino acids obtained from the diet are quickly incorporated into new proteins or are metabolised as fuel molecules.
Proteins are subject to continual turnover, and the amino acids that are released by degradation are either reused or metabolised in exactly the same way.
This is one of the reasons why the diet must contain appropriate levels of essential amino acids (those we cannot make for ourselves) since these are continually being released from proteins and used as fuel - we have no mechanism for storing them in case of future dietary deficiency.
During starvation the protein turnover process releases amino acids from muscle and these are mainly used as fuel molecules. This is why muscle wasting occurs in starvation, although the mobilisation of fat reserves helps to delay this as long as possible as tissues, including brain, switch over to relying on ketones (derived from fat breakdown). | <urn:uuid:43737a93-2c31-409b-846d-2f73f178b1db> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://biology.stackexchange.com/questions/5277/where-does-an-organism-store-reserves-of-amino-acids | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783391519.0/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154951-00025-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968925 | 219 | 3.640625 | 4 |
The best coaches continually challenge their athletes.
March 2007 -- This second installment of a two-part article on coaching and mentoring young athletes is reprinted with permission from the Mental Toughness Newsletter. Part 1 ran in the February issue of ADDvantage.
Let’s take a look at what makes a really good coach. As a tennis-teacher or coach, reading this will help you learn which behaviors and characteristics will best motivate and inspire your players, and you can also see how you measure up as a coach.
- The very best coaches get their athletes to believe in themselves - Good coaches inspire their players to do more than they think they can. In fact, all good teachers do this. Part of this involves building the athlete up rather than knocking him down. This self-esteem building is not a gimmick nor is it done artificially. A coach doesn’t praise a mediocre effort. He simply makes it a practice to catch his athletes doing things right.
- Truly effective coaches do not use embarrassment and humiliation as "teaching tools" - One of the characteristics of badly misguided coaches is that they regularly use embarrassment and humiliation. They think nothing of calling out or putting down an athlete in front of his peers, fans or parents. These coaches mistakenly believe this is the way to build character and mental toughness. What they don’t understand is that these abusive techniques are the most effective way to emotionally destroy kids. There is nothing educational or constructive about it.
- Great coaches are great life teachers - A good coach understands that what he is teaching goes far beyond the X’s and O’s of the court, track or field. As a consequence, this kind of individual does not just teach the skills, technique and strategy within the narrow confines of the sport. Instead, he looks for opportunities to teach the more important life lessons, such as rebounding from failures and setbacks, trusting your teammates, sacrificing individual needs for the benefit of the group, dealing with winning and losing, good sportsmanship, fair play, honesty, integrity, etc.
- The best coaches keep the game in perspective - Somewhat related to No. 3, the best coaches are able to keep their sport in perspective. They understand that what they teach and how they teach it will have an impact on the student that goes far beyond the sport. They know that long after the athlete has put away his bats, balls, racquets and other sport paraphernalia, the effect of his relationship with the coach will continue to influence that individual’s life and happiness.
- Great coaches do not let their egos and self-worth get tied up in the outcome - The best coaches are psychologically healthy enough to know they are not their performances, regardless of what others may say. They do not feel diminished as a person when their teams fail nor do they feel that much better about themselves when their squads succeed. These people understand that coaching is only one of many things that they do and therefore they do not let this one thing solely define themselves as individuals. Coaches who get into trouble with their athletes do so because they are emotionally more vulnerable and tend to feel threatened by a loss or failure.
- Great coaches understand individual differences in their athletes - The best coaches know that each athlete is different in attitude, personality, sensitivity, and how they handle criticism and adversity. These coaches take the time to get to know each athlete’s individual differences and styles. They then hand-tailor what they say to and how they treat this athlete to achieve maximum coaching effectiveness.
- The best coaches coach the person, not just the athlete - Good coaches take an interest in the athlete’s life off the field, court or track. They do not see a student’s personal, academic or social problems as a distraction. In fact, they view these "outside problems" as an opportunity to further build a relationship with the athlete and help him become a better person. This kind of caring is never lost on the athlete. Coaches who take an interest in the athlete’s total life are more trusted and respected than those who don’t, and they are better motivators.
- The best coaches are flexible - Be flexible enough to examine yourself when your athletes struggle. Assuming that they are the ones with the problem is not the mark of a good coach. Coaches who are rigid, who continually adopt the attitude that "It’s my way or the highway," are far less effective than coaches who have mastered the art of being flexible. Understand here that flexibility does not mean being wishy-washy. You can be flexible and strong at the same time.
- The great coaches are great communicators - You can’t be effective as a coach unless you can successfully reach the people with whom you work. Good coaches understand that communication is a two-way street and involves a back and forth between coach and athlete. Bad coaches think that communication is a one-way street. You talk and the athletes listen. Period! Instead, effective communication requires that you as a coach carefully listen to what your athletes are saying. If you can’t learn how to listen then you will never truly be effective in reaching your players.
- Good coaches take the time to listen to and educate their athletes’ parents - Many coaches find it inconvenient that they have to deal with the parents of their athletes. If your job entails having to interact with parents, understand this: Your life will be far easier and you will be much more effective if you make it a regular practice to communicate with and educate parents about the sport and the role they need to play on the team. Your success as a coach often depends upon getting parents to work with you, not against you. This means you must learn to listen to their concerns and questions. Be proactive with parents, not reactive. Use an educational, preventative model when working with them rather than crisis intervention.
- Good coaches "walk the talk" with their athletes and parents - If you want to be effective in reaching the people you coach, then you must learn to put your actions where your mouth is. That is, there must be some congruence between what you say and how you act. If you are teaching your players about the virtues of consistent, hard work yet you yourself are inconsistent in this area, then what you are really teaching your athletes is that you are a hypocrite, it’s really OK to slough off, and that talk is cheap. What I’m really saying here is that your most powerful teaching tool is modeling. You should operate upon the principle that your actions will always speak much louder than your words.
- Good coaches keep the learning environment emotionally safe - There are a lot of social things that go on in sports between teammates that make the learning environment emotionally unsafe: scapegoating, ostracism, cruelty, petty jealousies, and the list goes on and on. Good coaches understand that the emotional climate on the team is everything and dramatically affects how players practice and perform. Good coaches make it their job to directly and immediately deal with the social garbage that sometimes arises between players. They make it very clear to their athletes which behaviors are appropriate and acceptable when interacting with teammates and which are not and therefore will not be tolerated. As a consequence, this kind of coach creates an atmosphere of safety on the team that is absolutely crucial for optimal learning and peak performance.
- Great coaches continually challenge their athletes to do better and push their limits - The best coaches do not allow their players to just get by with the status quo. They refuse to tolerate mediocrity in effort, attitude, technique, training or performance. Because they continually challenge their athletes, they are able to keep them highly motivated. There is nothing more motivating to an athlete than being challenged, experiencing the success of rising to meet that test and as a result, improving. When coaches fail to adequately challenge their athletes, they will end up losing those athletes to boredom and apathy.
- The best coaches continually challenge themselves - Good coaches always maintain a "beginner’s mind" when it comes to their professional development within the sport. They understand that regardless of how much success they may have had in the past doing things their own way, they can always learn new and better ways of teaching the sport. These coaches are always open to learning the very latest that may be available within their field, be it strategy, technique, conditioning, mental training or motivation. They attend coaching conferences, read new books, watch and listen to what’s current on DVD and CD programs, and actively explore ways of getting the job done better. These coaches do not fight what is usually a fast-changing technology within their sport.
- The very best coaches are passionate about what they do - As a coach, your passion for the sport and for coaching as a profession is what will ultimately make you a great coach. Passion is infectious and if you approach your practices and competitions with it, soon after your athletes will "catch" it. It gets them excited and gives them a reason to stretch themselves. If you’re bored coaching then you will bore your athletes. If you can’t seem to find the passion in coaching then perhaps it’s time that you seriously considered doing something else.
- Good coaches are empathetic and tuned in to the feelings of their players - Empathy is the ability to tap into another’s emotions, experience what they are feeling and to then communicate your understanding to that person. This goes a long way in building an athlete’s loyalty, self-esteem, motivation and, ultimately, peak performance. However, being empathic doesn’t necessarily mean you are an emotional pushover. You can understand where your players are coming from and still make coaching decisions you feel are necessary.
- Good coaches are honest and conduct themselves with integrity - How you conduct yourself in relation to your athletes, their parents, your opponents, the referees, the fans and the media is never lost on your players. They see and hear virtually everything you say and do. Be an honest role model. Demonstrate character and class. These qualities are far more important than how many games or championships your teams have won.
- The best coaches make the sport fun for their athletes - It doesn’t really matter on what level you coach, from the pros all the way down to Little League. It doesn’t really matter whether a national title is at stake or just simply bragging rights around the neighborhood. Sports are just games and games are meant to be fun! One of your most important jobs as a coach is to find creative ways to integrate this fun into what you do over the course of the season, on a daily basis in practice and during those important competitions. Fun is the glue that bonds "peak" and "performance" together. When an athlete is enjoying himself, he is loose and relaxed - two of the most crucial ingredients to peak performance. Keep in mind that it’s perfectly fine for you to make the fun "goal directed." Just don’t get too caught up in how important a particular game or tournament may be.
- Good coaches are not defensive in their interactions with their players or parents - Part of being a good communicator is that you have to be open to negative feedback and criticism. This is not something that is easy to do and most of us respond to negative feedback by getting defensive, closing off and going on the counterattack. If you want to be successful as a coach you have to learn to be open to all kinds of feedback. You have to train yourself to carefully listen to what others have to say to you and consider their comments and points of view. This is especially important if the comments and negative feedback are coming from your players. Sometimes the complaints from your athletes hold the seeds to your becoming a better, more successful coach. Put the defensive stance away. It’s unbecoming and ultimately counterproductive.
- Great coaches use their athletes’ mistakes and failures as valuable teaching opportunities - One of the bigger teaching mistakes that coaches make is to get angry and impatient with their athletes when they mess up or fail. This response to your athletes’ mistakes will ensure that they will make plenty more of them. Coaches who consistently yell at their players for screwing up end up making them too nervous to play to their potential. Good coaches know that mistakes and failures are the necessary prerequisites to learning, improvement and success. They instill in their players the understanding that mistakes and failures are feedback about what you did wrong and specifically what you need to do differently next time. In other words, the best coaches teach that failure is feedback and feedback is the breakfast of champions!
Alan Goldberg, Ed.D., is a former No.1 singles player for the University of Massachusetts Minute Men and two-time conference champion. He has taught tennis professionally for 22 years and has worked as a sport psychology consultant for a number of high school and college teams, as well as with several players on the pro tour. He is the author of Tennis with the Competitive Advantage, a four-CD mental toughness training program. For more information about Goldberg, visit www.competitivedge.com. | <urn:uuid:5d2ac823-198f-4f8a-bc83-fe96b7ce4492> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.addvantageuspta.com/default.aspx?act=newsletter.aspx&category=ADDvantage&MenuGroup=ADD-depts&NewsLetterID=742 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395620.56/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00185-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975766 | 2,706 | 2.546875 | 3 |
The heat and common foliar diseases of summer can take their tomato plants. However, you may be able to get a new flush of growth -- and fruit -- by pruning the plants back by about half and fertilizing them. If the roots are still healthy, you should see a strong flush of new growth.
The extreme heat takes its toll on plants. Keep plants watered, but water wisely. Give established plants a good soaking about once a week, rather than sprinking them lightly every day. You'll encourage plants to develop deep root systems that are less prone to drying out, and you'll minimize foliar disease problems. New plantings, seedlings, and container-grown plants will need more frequent watering.
Sow Fall Beans and Cukes
There's still time for a last crop of bush beans and cucumbers. Look for the fastest-maturing varieties you can find -- remember that vegetables grown in fall need about 14 extra days to mature compared with spring-seeded crops due to fall's shorter days and less intense sunshine.
Despite the heat, late summer is the best time to dig, divide, and replant bearded iris. If your iris stands are getting crowded, often evidenced by reduced flowering, it's time to divide. Cut the foliage back to 4-inch fans to make them easier to handle. Divide the roots, making sure each division has one or two leaf fans. Older rhizomes that have few white feeding roots should be discarded, as should any with small holes that indicate the presence of borers. Expect reduced flowering the first season after replanting, followed by a strong comeback the following year.
Cut Back Herbs
Trim back mint, thyme, oregano, and other perennial culinary herbs. More branches will emerge, keeping the plants bushy and full. Use the clippings fresh or freeze them for later use. If you haven't done so already, harvest basil by cutting branches back by half or more; you'll get lots of new growth for a second batch of pesto. | <urn:uuid:fd466871-2c74-453d-adb2-73535106d830> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://garden.org/regional/report/arch/reminders/2197 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395548.53/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00162-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939547 | 418 | 2.875 | 3 |
How To Eat Fried Worms
by Thomas Rockwell Illustrated by Emily McCully
Reviewed by Emily M. (age 8)
Emily M. is a student in Mrs. Jerome and Mrs. Poitra's 2nd-3rd Grade Class
It all began on an ordinary day. Alan and Billy made a very unusual bet that Billy could not eat 15 worms in 15 days.
Alan said he would pay Billy $50 if he won. After that Alan and Billy got in to a fight. Do you think they made up? Read this book to find out.
My favorite part was the mud fight!!! I think it would be fun to have a mud fight. Billy was my favorite character. I liked him because he was brave to eat worms. I thought it was gross when they were eating the worms. I thought I would be sick!
I recommend this book for ages 8 to 14. Younger children wouldn't be able to read the words by themselves. | <urn:uuid:74d4a7bc-1398-4721-bf31-9aa6c0a916ba> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://spaghettibookclub.org/review.php?review_id=10301 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396887.54/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00125-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.992534 | 198 | 2.875 | 3 |
Child protection services are about protecting children under 16 from abuse and/or neglect while making every effort to keep families together. Under the Children and Family Services Act, designated social workers in child welfare agencies are required to assess reports of alleged child abuse and neglect.
There are different kinds of child abuse:
- Physical abuse
The intentional use of force on any part of a child's body that results in injury.
- Emotional abuse
Anything that causes serious mental or emotional harm to a child, which the parent does not attempt to prevent or address.
- Sexual abuse
The improper exposure of a child to sexual contact, activity or behaviour.
Any lack of care that may cause significant harm to a child's development or endangers the child in any way.
Everyone has the duty to immediately report to a child welfare agency even a suspicion that a child under 16 may be in need of protective services. Reports may be made anonymously. Once a report is made, child protection social workers assess the information provided to determine an appropriate response.
If you suspect that a child is being abused or neglected, please contact the child welfare agency in the area where the child lives. It is best if you contact the agency by telephone or in person. To find the child welfare agency in your area, please contact the agency or district office of the Department of Community Services nearest you for more information.
After regular business hours call 1-866-922-2434 if you believe a child is in immediate danger. | <urn:uuid:d95ed31c-ccd2-45e0-be01-ce85c54ccfbd> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.novascotia.ca/coms/families/abuse/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397213.30/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00098-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.915593 | 305 | 3.015625 | 3 |
Looking through an atlas has always been a fascinating way to explore the world. Around the World is a contemporary evolution of an atlas tailored to our information age that takes its readers around the globe in 272 pages.
In this book, compelling information graphics illustrate how natural and man-made phenomena impact our lives. They take us on an entertaining and informative journey that gives us a deeper, more intuitive understanding not only of our planet’s geography, but also of the key personal and global developments of the twenty-first century.
Alongside classic facts about nature, history, population, culture, and politics, Around the World’s eye-catching information graphics clearly explain complex processes such as global trade and evolving demographics. The book gives added insight into our modern world through its visual exploration of topics such as the changing speed of travel.
Around the World alternates between providing information on general subjects such as families, languages, life expectancies, natural disasters, eating habits, economies, prosperity gaps, or religions and providing more specific details about hobbies, coffee consumption, overfishing, soccer, and internet providers. Of course, the book also depicts events that have left indelible marks on our collective conscience including September 11, the Olympic Games, Japan’s Fukushima disaster, and the sinking of the Titanic.
Like any other atlas, Around the World cannot claim to be a complete record. Rather, it serves as a rich cornucopia of information about local peculiarities of global relevance that bring home the little differences—as well as the astoundingly large similarities—among the citizens of the world. Simultaneously objective and enthralling as well as attractive and informative, Around the World’s international collection of illustrations and information graphics is for anyone who is and will remain curious about our planet and the people that live on it. | <urn:uuid:6669fad5-bae5-465f-95a7-b3029b811c1c> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://usshop.gestalten.com/around-the-world.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783402746.23/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155002-00031-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.919716 | 376 | 2.546875 | 3 |
People are finally starting to take to the streets to protest climate change. But for those who won't or can't do that, there are plenty of other actions you can take now to damp down climate change.
On Saturday, August 26, tied to the anniversary of Katrina, climate activists sponsored a demonstration at the headquarters of NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration).
Mike Tidwell, director of the US Climate Emergency Council, explained why the event was held in front of NOAA: "Over the past year there have been six scientific studies, which have shown a connection between global warming and stronger, more destructive Category 4 and 5 hurricanes. Yet the leadership of NOAA openly denies this connection and censors its own scientists."
On Friday, August 25th, people gathered in front of the Capitol in Austin, Texas, to protest expedited permits for 17 new coal-fired power plants. In the heat of one of the hottest summers ever, protestors said "no" to more asthma, mercury pollution and greenhouse gasses.
Those Texas coal plants are part of a surge of new "merchant" coal power plants being proposed. These plants aren't planned to meet the energy demand of specific communities, rather they are built on speculation to serve the spot power market. A coal plant sited inexpensively in rural Iowa will send power to Chicago while spewing pollution over local corn fields and farmers.
With 153 new coal plants on the drawing board right now, the Energy Information Administration projects a 66 percent increase in coal-based power production and a 43 percent increase in CO2 emissions by 2030.
Meanwhile, people in Vermont are planning a five-day march across the state beginning on August 31, called, "The Road Less Traveled: Vermonters Walking Toward a Clean Energy Future." The walk will culminate in a Labor Day "Meeting on the Green" with political candidates at Burlington's City Hall Park.
Environmental writer Bill McKibben, who plans to attend the Vermont walk (you can sponsor him here), says protest is the next step for those concerned citizens who have already done things like change their light bulbs, buy locally grown food, and purchase a hybrid vehicle.
But let's stop right there. How many of us have even done the first thing on the list, change our light bulbs?
According to the Rocky Mountain Institute, lighting is responsible for about a fourth of the electricity consumed in the United States, of which 20 percent goes to extra air conditioning to remove unwanted heat given off by light bulbs. More than 90 percent of the energy consumed by a standard incandescent bulb is given off as heat, while only 10 percent is converted into light. That's a 10 percent efficiency of converting electricity to light.
By contrast, a compact fluorescent (CF) light bulb is from 35 percent to 66 percent efficient, depending on the design. The new LED lights are even more efficient. By one estimate, if every American household changed just three incandescent light bulbs to CF bulbs, we could eliminate 11 fossil-fuel-fired power plants.
If we can stop even a fraction of those new coal plants being built just by changing our light bulbs, shouldn't we do it already? And why haven't we banned the incandescent bulb yet? When we learned that leaded gas was poisoning kids' brains, we phased it out. Those bulbs are poisoning our kids' future.
But as long as the old-fashioned filament bulb sits there on the store shelves, clear or frosted, white or colored, cheap and abundant, there will always be some of us who will take them home and screw them in.
That's why we need to ban the bulb. It's the kind of political action we could be marching and protesting about. There is an organization working in Britain to ban the incandescent bulb, but I don't know of a serious effort in the US.
And maybe an outright ban isn't the most politically savvy approach in the USA, where we have this nutty idea that we have a God-given right to drive Hummers and own things like 72-inch plasma TVs and jet skis. So fine. A big fat carbon tax on incandescents will do the job. There is a good discussion of this issue at www.treehugger.com, along with some thoughts on recycling CF bulbs (they contain mercury) and the superior virtues of LED lights.
Now is definitely the time to bring these issues up.
The California legislature adjourns for the year on Thursday, so this week will be the last chance for California to pass Governor Schwarzenegger's global warming bill. A cap and trade bill, it would mandate that all businesses reduce greenhouse gases by 25 percent by the year 2020. An important companion bill would bar California utilities from buying electricity from out-of-state power plants that don't cap emissions. That would force more than two dozen coal-fired plants under development in the West to adopt non-polluting technologies or lose access to the California market.
And even bigger opportunities are on the horizon. Last Thursday, California Senator Diane Feinstein outlined the Democrats' thinking on climate change policy, describing a legislative package she intends to introduce in the next Congress in January. The bills would increase car mileage standards and offer incentives for power producers to meet emission standards. She called for a 70 percent cut in carbon dioxide emissions below 1990 levels as what is needed to begin stabilizing the atmosphere.
Senator Feinstein said, "It is time to stop talking and to begin acting," but the details, including the strength of "incentives" have yet to be worked out, and there will be a lot of pressure on the Democrats from industry to avoid mandatory caps.
Businesses are lobbying hard against the California global warming bill, saying that emission caps will just drive business to their competitors in other states. That's why ultimately federal emission caps are essential.
When solid carbon emissions caps are in place, most likely your utility will either buy CF light bulbs for you or give you a rebate. It will make economic sense. But don't wait until then because there are lots of other things you will need to do to save energy - everything from weatherizing your home to buying more energy efficient appliances. Here's a handy To Do List for you.
Buy those light bulbs now. We've got to get going on the little things, because we simply have to start somewhere.
Chaos theory affirms that a butterfly flapping its wings in Africa can set off a chain of events that causes a tornado in Kansas.
In the same way, it is perfectly possible that a person in Chicago who changes a light bulb can prevent a hurricane in Florida, or at least save a rural community in Iowa from a disruptive and toxic coal-fired power plant.
And now, just before another national election, when the political winds blow fitfully, is the time when each small voice raised in favor of a new low-carbon economy can make a big difference. | <urn:uuid:46cf08b4-6c04-4cf3-8c71-644f4251683a> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.energybulletin.net/print/19772 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397865.91/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00171-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949332 | 1,420 | 2.625 | 3 |
The latest news from academia, regulators
research labs and other things of interest
Posted: Feb 27, 2013
Novel nanotube-based photodetector gathers light in and beyond visible wavelengths
(Nanowerk News) Researchers at Rice University and Sandia National Laboratories have made a nanotube-based photodetector that gathers light in and beyond visible wavelengths. It promises to make possible a unique set of optoelectronic devices, solar cells and perhaps even specialized cameras.
A traditional camera is a light detector that captures a record, in chemicals, of what it sees. Modern digital cameras replaced film with semiconductor-based detectors.
This illustration shows an array of parallel carbon nanotubes 300 micrometers long that are attached to electrodes and display unique qualities as a photodetector, according to researchers at Rice University and Sandia National Laboratories.
That boots the broadband detector into what Rice physicist Junichiro Kono considers a macroscopic device, easily attached to electrodes for testing. The nanotubes are grown as a very thin "carpet" by the lab of Rice chemist Robert Hauge and pressed horizontally to turn them into a thin sheet of hundreds of thousands of well-aligned tubes.
They're all the same length, Kono said, but the nanotubes have different widths and are a mix of conductors and semiconductors, each of which is sensitive to different wavelengths of light. "Earlier devices were either a single nanotube, which are sensitive to only limited wavelengths," he said. "Or they were random networks of nanotubes that worked, but it was very difficult to understand why."
"Our device combines the two techniques," said Sébastien Nanot, a former postdoctoral researcher in Kono's group and first author of the paper. "It's simple in the sense that each nanotube is connected to both electrodes, like in the single-nanotube experiments. But we have many nanotubes, which gives us the quality of a macroscopic device."
With so many nanotubes of so many types, the array can detect light from the infrared (IR) to the ultraviolet, and all the visible wavelengths in between. That it can absorb light across the spectrum should make the detector of great interest for solar energy, and its IR capabilities may make it suitable for military imaging applications, Kono said. "In the visible range, there are many good detectors already," he said. "But in the IR, only low-temperature detectors exist and they are not convenient for military purposes. Our detector works at room temperature and doesn't need to operate in a special vacuum."
The detector is also sensitive to polarized light and absorbs light that hits it parallel to the nanotubes, but not if the device is turned 90 degrees.
The work is the first successful outcome of a collaboration between Rice and Sandia under Sandia's National Institute for Nano Engineering program funded by the Department of Energy. François Léonard's group at Sandia developed a novel theoretical model that correctly and quantitatively explained all characteristics of the nanotube photodetector. "Understanding the fundamental principles that govern these photodetectors is important to optimize their design and performance," Léonard said.
Kono expects many more papers to spring from the collaboration. The initial device, according to Léonard, merely demonstrates the potential for nanotube photodetectors. They plan to build new configurations that extend their range to the terahertz and to test their abilities as imaging devices. "There is potential here to make real and useful devices from this fundamental research," Kono said.
Source: Rice University
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Check out these other trending stories on Nanowerk: | <urn:uuid:304d98f8-d536-48a1-a1e7-510204a8c684> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.nanowerk.com/news2/newsid=29272.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396887.54/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00160-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944768 | 798 | 3.328125 | 3 |
The Native American Community
Compiled by Clifton L. Holland
General census information
Los Angeles has the highest urban Indian population in the country, with over 150,000 people that identify as Native American who live in Los Angeles County. Having that history and having that number kind of goes along with the percentages in the Native American community in the U.S, where 60% of Native Americans primarily live in urban areas such as Los Angeles, Denver, Albuquerque, Seattle, San Francisco, to name a few, and then 40% live in rural reservations, villages or pueblos.
However, there are no federally recognized tribes in Los Angeles County. There are cultural groups that have inhabited the L.A. county area, which include the Tataviam, the Gabrieleno/Tongva, as well as the Chumash, but they are not federally recognized.
Maps of the Native American population in Los Angeles, 1990
The IDEA Strategic Mapping and Information Service, directed by Clifton L. Holland, has produced a series of computer maps on ethnic and religious diversity in the Los Angeles 5-County Region, based on the 1990 Census of Population. See the following links:
Los Angeles County: ../laco/nh-amind.pdf (note PDF format). Orange County: ../orco/d-amind.pdf (note PDF format).
Santa Rosa Island, one of the Channel Islands of California off the Southern California coast, is the site of Arlington Springs Man, human bones dated to 10,000-13,000 B.C., among the oldest remains discovered in the Americas.
The region that became Los Angeles was settled by the Tongva tribe, sometimes called the Gabrieliños, thousands of years ago. A small, but distinct tribe of Tataviam natives lived in the northern San Fernando Valley and became known as Fernandeños. The Cahuillas occupied the eastern deserts and mountains of present-day Riverside and San Bernardino counties. Far to the south were the Kumeyaay, occupying San Diego and Imperial counties. The large Chumash tribe occupied the coast from Malibu northward to San Luis Obispo County. The Channel Islands supported Tongva and Chumash, and their active trade with the mainland led the tribes to achieve what anthropologists regard as the finest boatbuilding skill among the North American tribes. Trade in raw materials and finished products spread across Southern California; soapstone from Santa Catalina Island passed from hand to hand to be traded for obsidian from the Paiutes of the Owens Valley, 200 miles inland. Pitch from seeps like the La Brea Tar Pits was another important trading commodity. Local tribes produced notably high quality baskets, some sealed with pitch, that are prized by museums.
Explorer Juan Cabrillo stopped at present-day San Pedro in 1542 and was greeted by Tongvan men who rowed out to meet his ship in their expertly crafted ti'ats. The explorer died later that year while wintering over at Santa Catalina Island and no European was seen again locally for 227 years. At the time of the arrival of Spanish missionaries in the late 18th century, there were an estimated 5,000 Tongvans living in 31 known village sites.
In common with other California tribes in the mission system, some Tongva cooperated with the missionaries, while others took up unsuccessful, armed resistance to European conquest. Native religious and hunter-gatherer practices were redirected into Roman Catholicism and agriculture. Though destructive of their culture and depriving them of their liberty, the mission system valued the individual Native Americans and employed them on the mission farms and ranches. When the missions were disbanded, the natives were thrown back on their own much-reduced resources. The Tongva tribe still exists, with perhaps a few thousand members but no reservation. The other local tribes that have reservations have survived and have achieved new prominence with the advent of Indian gaming.
Prepared for the Los Angeles County American Indian Children's Council
Heidi Frith-Smith, M.P.H., RD, Candidate for M.A.
Heather Singleton, M.A., Research Associate
UCLA, American Indian Studies Center
Since the 1950s American Indians have migrated to urban areas in large numbers. The impetus for this was the U.S. government's Relocation Program for American Indians. Between 1952 and 1970 the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) relocated about 100,000 Indians to cities in an effort to terminate Indian reservations and move Indian labor from rural areas. The BIA program was only part of the reason for migration. The push of poverty on the reservations warring with the pull of economic opportunity in urban areas was a powerful force (Champagne et al., 1996). Today, the urban American Indian population accounts for the majority of the Indian population (up to 2/3) in the United States.
Several characteristics are unique to the urban American Indian community. In Los Angeles County, the make up of the urban American Indian community is culturally diverse with more than 100 tribes represented (Champagne, 1996). Far from being a homogenous group, L.A. County's urban American Indian population represents a plethora of different cultures. Los Angeles County is also home to tribes indigenous to the area - the Gabrieleno/Tongva and the Fernandeño, who live in scattered communities throughout the county.
Another aspect unique to urban American Indians is their wide geographic dispersion. American Indians tend to live among other groups rather than cluster together in homogeneous neighborhoods. As a result of this geographic dispersion urban American Indians are often overlooked; this can render them virtually invisible within the county. The cities that tend to have the highest clusters of American Indians in Los Angeles are Bell Gardens, Cudahy, El Monte, Norwalk, Pomona and Long Beach. An examination of service planning areas for Los Angeles County shows that 19 percent of the American Indian population resides in the San Fernando area, 18 percent in San Gabriel and 16 percent in South Bay/Harbor (Los Angeles County Children's Planning Council, 1996). Unlike other groups, urban American Indians are not covered by one county Service Planning Area (SPA), but instead are dispersed throughout the 8 SPA's. This can clearly affect service delivery.
Perhaps the most unique aspect of American Indians is the Nation-to-Nation relationship that tribes share with the federal government. This relationship extends to urban American Indians as well. Each member of the urban American Indian population in Los Angeles County is a member of a sovereign nation and as such, they are entitled to be seen as a political entity, as opposed to an ethnic group. The State and Federal government, in deference to this relationship, have created special "set-aside" programs specific to American Indians. Los Angeles County has acknowledged this relationship in the past, as well. After the Board of Supervisors created the Los Angeles City/County Native American Indian Commission in 1976, the county then advocated for special "set asides" for Community Service Block Grants to the urban American Indian community in Los Angeles. Lack of knowledge about this Nation-to-Nation relationship by county agencies can be a significant barrier to a full understanding of the rights of urban American Indians.
In 1997, the IDEA DATABASE for the Los Angeles 5-County Region contained the following Native American churches, sorted by clascode:
|BAPTIST||B2.2101||BGC||FIRST INDIAN BAPTIST CHURCH||9817 CALIFORNIA AVE||SOUTH GATE||CA||90280-4611||213-564-4161|
|BAPTIST||B2.2313||SBC||FIRST SOUTHERN BAPTIST INDIAN CHURCH||9325 STATE ST||SOUTH GATE||CA||90280-4213||213-569-3222|
|BAPTIST||B2.2313||SBC||SOUTHERN BAPTIST INDIAN CHURCH||1347 CAMEO LN||FULLERTON||CA||92631-2509|
|METHODIST||B2.3216||UMC||NATIVE AMERICAN UNITED METHODIST||12111 OLIVE ST||NORWALK||CA||90650-3131|
|INDEPENDENT FUNDAMENTALIST||B2.406||IBCH||AMERICAN INDIAN BIBLE CHURCH||11214 BAYLA ST||NORWALK||CA||90650-7701||310-863-5022|
|INDEPENDENT FUNDAMENTALIST||B2.406||IBCH||AMERICAN INDIAN BIBLE CHURCH||5840 MAIN ST||SOUTH GATE||CA||90280-7848||310-634-3421|
|INDEPENDENT FUNDAMENTALIST||B2.407||IFCA||FIRST AMERICAN INDIAN CHURCH||2218 HANCOCK ST||EAST LOS ANGELES||CA||90031-3406||213-225-8376|
|PENTECOSTAL||B4.0401||AGGC||BELL GARDENS INDIAN REVIVAL CENTER||5602 E GAGE AVE||BELL GARDENS||CA||90201-1614||213-773-4357|
|PROTESTANT-UNCLASSIFIED||B5.0||PRXX||BRIGHTER DAY INDIAN CHURCH||11153 S BROADWAY||LOS ANGELES||CA||90061-1950||213-756-8434|
|PROTESTANT-UNCLASSIFIED||B5.0||PRXX||MUSCOGEE MISSION||4730 GAGE AVE||BELL||CA||90201-1313||213-589-2043|
|ANIMIST-NATIVE AMERICAN||D5.1011||NAUC||AMERICAN INDIAN UNITY CHURCH||9972 RUSSELL AVE||GARDEN GROVE||CA||92644||714-638-8116|
Note: The religious Traditions and Classification Codes (CLASCODES) used in this table are explained in A Classification System of Religious Groups in the Americas by Major Traditions and Family Types (created by Clifton L. Holland of IDEA-PROLADES Ministries, latest version 2007).
In 2007, the following churches were added to the database:
|Native American United Methodist Church of Southern California||800 S Lemon St., Anaheim, CA 92805||(714) 535-2429|
|Native American Adventist Fellowship||1111 W 6th St., Los Angeles, CA 90017||(213) 481-2780|
|PCUSA Native American Ministry||6323 W. 80th St., Los Angeles, CA 90045||(310) 670-5076|
|American Indian Unity Church||13671 Glendora St., Garden Grove, CA 92843-3238||(714) 638-8116|
History of AIBI
In the late 1930's a Bible study in the Los Angeles, California area began, which later grew into First American Indian Church (FAIC).
A group of men from the FAIC began to talk about the need for a Bible training organization that would help train them to reach their own people for the gospel of Jesus Christ. As they prayed, the men began contacting various organizations that were working on different reservations. At that time, none of the organizations contacted had personnel available for such a ministry. However, the men of FAIC felt that the Lord was leading. In the fall of 1966, they organized the American Indian Bible Institute (AIBI) with their purpose statement taken from 2 Timothy 2:2: "...And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faitful men who will be able to teach others also." The goal? -- to help develop a second, third and a fourth generation of spiritual leaders that are equipped to then reach out and develop other leaders.
Soon after the beginning of AIBI, there were requests for Bible training materials for those not able to attend classes in the Los Angeles Area. The resources were made available in printed form to help with the development of Biblical leaders in other areas. Since then, additional manuals and training diagrams were developed and used in the extension program. They were designed for use by over 100 different tribes and bands in North America which soon proved useful in any culture as they were based on Biblical principles rather than culturally specific methods.
In 1999, several of the manuals were put on the Internet for easier access by former students and staff members. The results were beyond expectation as the Lord took the media of the Internet and brought them not only to staff and former students but to groups and individuals around the world.
In June of 2000 AIBI Resources became an official ministry of the organization to help develop this new area that provided the complement to the Bible Institute by reaching not only into their "Jerusalem and Judea" as commanded in Act 1:8, but also into their "Samaria and the ends of the earth."
The AIBI Team is also involved in various church planting, leadership development, and cross-cultural ministries in the Southern California as well as in some areas in Arizona.
Cultural and Ethnic Resources: http://email@example.com#native
Ne'ayuh, a project of Community Partners
Red Box, Angeles Crest Highway and Mt. Wilson Rd., 12 miles north of La Cañada
Project Director: Kat High
Celebrating native Americans in Los Angeles
The Los Angeles area is home to more Native American people than any other place in the United States. Some belong to tribes indigenous to California; others were relocated to the area from homelands outside the state. These are not the casino-rich Indians we read about in the newspaper. Typically, the Native Americans in the area don't belong to federally recognized tribes and or have land to call of their own.
This project consisted of a storytelling day to take place on the summer solstice 2003, at the Haramokngna American Indian Cultural Center in the Angeles National Forest, a gathering place for Native American people and others interested in Native American culture. The storytellers were members of the five major tribes of the San Gabriel Mountains area: the Tongva, Chumash, Tataviam, Serrano and Kitanemuk, as well as representatives of the Coastanoan Rumsen Ohlone tribe from Chino, CA, and a red/black Indian organization.
The day-long event, which is free and open to the public, will be videotaped for broadcast on a community college channel. "We hope that these stories will give a sense of community to the scattered Native American people of Los Angeles and provide non-Native people with a greater respect for our heritage, culture and traditions," said Project Director Kat High, a native California of Hupa descent.
PBS EXPLORES THE LIVES OF THE FIRST AMERICANS
DURING AMERICAN INDIAN HERITAGE MONTH - JUNE 2007
In Part One, A Seat at the Drum, journalist Mark Anthony Rolo sets out to learn how Native Americans in Los Angeles preserve a tribal identity, survive economically and cope with the pressures of a federal relocation program and assimilation in a multicultural metropolis.
In A Seat at the Drum, Ojibwe journalist and
playwright Mark Anthony Rolo seeks to learn how Native Americans in Los Angeles preserve a
tribal identity, survive economically and cope with the pressures of assimilation in a
challenging metropolis. His personal quest to come to terms with these issues leads
him to meet Native community leaders, Indians relocated from reservations, boarding school
students, Native business leaders and single parent families whose stories typify the
experiences of urban Indians.
In A Seat at the Drum, journalist Mark Anthony Rolo (Bad River Ojibwe) journeys to Los Angeles, the city that filled his imagination as a child, growing up on the poor side of Milwaukee with his Ojibwe mother, white father and ten siblings. There he meets many of the thousands of American Indian families who were relocated from poor reservations to the cities in the last half of the 20th century, creating the largest Native American community in the nation over 200,000 according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Rolos journey begins at what has been the gateway to Indian life in Los Angeles the Sherman Indian School in Riverside, one of the last boarding schools created by the Bureau of Indian Affairs at the end of the 19th century. As Rolo says, Five generations of Indians from tribal reservations as far away as New Mexico, Montana and North Dakota have passed through Sherman on their journey into white culture. Children came to Sherman as Lakota or Creek but graduated as Americans. We meet Tara Baugus, a former Sherman student who teaches the Navajo language at her alma mater, which now embraces the teaching of the Native languages it once tried to extinguish. We also meet Randy Edmonds, a participant in the Federal relocation program of the 1950s who left Clinton, Oklahoma by train with hopes of a new job and a new life; Paula Starr, who runs the Southern California Indian Center, which helps second and third generation urban Indians connect with their tribal roots through classes in drum, dance and language; and Annette Phoenix, a single mom of four who relies on the center to help her teach her children about their heritage. Rolo also joins a mens prayer breakfast at the Indian Revival Center, where men from fifteen different tribes come together to discuss how they combine their traditional beliefs with their Christian faith.
Rolo finds that although relocated Indians seem to lose their tribal identity, indigenous California tribes such as the Gabrieleno/Tongva and the Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians strive to strengthen theirs. Original inhabitants of the Los Angeles Basin, the Gabrieleno/ Tongva tribe grasps threads of their original birdsongs, traditional ways and history in an attempt to gain Federal recognition, and with that, the golden road that the Pechanga have achieved. The Pechanga, a dwindling band before the National Indian Gaming Act was passed, are now so prosperous that Governor Schwarzenegger looks to them and other gaming tribes to help bail out California debt.
But how much Indian blood makes one an Indian? Does a Federal I.D. number entitle you to a share of the casino profits? Should Native Americans who have never lived on the reservation still be able to vote in tribal elections? And do the wealthy Indians bear responsibility for philanthropy toward the poor? Throughout his journey, Rolo finds reasons to rejoice and reasons for concern and, ultimately, his own seat at the drum.
American Indian Resource Center
Huntington Park Library
Michael McLaughlin (Winnebago), Librarian
6518 Miles Ave, Huntington Park, CA 90255-4388
The American Indian Resource Center (AIRC) was established in 1979 to meet the informational, cultural and educational needs of Native Americans in Los Angeles County and to make information about them available to the larger community.
The AIRC collection is the largest public library collection in the U.S. that focuses on American Indians. AIRC materials include audiocassettes, books, compact discs, films, magazines, microfilm, newsletters, newspapers, and videocassettes. Most of these materials can be checked out.
The collection attempts to cover the full spectrum of American Indian experience in the continental United States - from Pre-Columbian times to the present. Subjects covered include art, architecture, bibliographies, biographies, education, fiction, history, languages, literature, government relations, federal Indian law, tribal law, tribal studies (individual tribes) and geographic area studies (e.g., California Tribes).
AIRC has the only complete sets of Indian Census Records (1885 - 1940) and Records of the Indian Claims Commission (1946-1977) outside of the National Archives in Washington, D.C.
Other government publications include copies of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR 25) "Indians", treaties, tribal codes and bylaws, census rolls for the Five Civilized Tribes, and other historical records.
The Vertical Files (VF) consist of approximately 800 alphabetically arranged files by subject headings with unique significance to American Indians - notable individuals, organizations, Indian specific issues, and events - historic and contemporary.
The tribal and organization newspapers and newsletters collection consists of over 130 titles including both historic and contemporary publications.
AIRC has directories of the Bureau of Indian Affairs offices and tribal government offices throughout the United States and Alaska.
AIRC serves as an information referral center for and about American Indians - local, regional, and national - in a variety of subject areas including health, education, occupations, legal issues, economic issues, politics, culture, and cultural events.
If you need in-depth research assistance please contact the AIRC librarian to make an appointment.
American Indian NDN 101, an informal questions and answers forum, is held every third Saturday of the month from 1 5 PM. This is an open forum to ask questions and get some answers about American Indian history and current affairs. This forum is geared towards adults, high school to graduate students, professionals, and anyone interested in American Indians. If you have a specific subject of interest please contact the librarian in advance.
Tribes of Los Angeles County
The Gabielino/Tongva is the indigenous tribe of Los Angeles. Tongva means "People of the Earth" in the Tongva language. They are currently organized in different bands.
The Fernandeño/Tataviam Tribal Government is the governing body for the Fernandeño/Tataviam Tribe a Native American tribe of the Antelope, San Clarita and San Fernando Valleys in California. Tataviam means "People Facing the Sun"
Current Status of American Indians in Los Angeles
The following publications were produced by the UCLA Ralph & Goldy Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies:
Socioeconomic Characteristics of American Indians in Los
By Paul M. Ong and Douglas Houston
With Jennifer Wang and Jordan Rickles
Socioeconomic Status of American Indian Adults in Los
by Paul Ong
Policy Brief: http://lewis.sppsr.ucla.edu/publications/policybriefs/AIANAdultReport2.pdf
American Indian Adults in Los Angeles, California and the
by Paul M. Ong with Hyun-Gun Sung, Andrew M. Uchida and Julia Heintz-Mackoff
Policy Brief: http://lewis.sppsr.ucla.edu/publications/policybriefs/AIANAdultReport1.pdf
American Indian Children in Los Angeles, California and
by Paul Ong with Hyun-Gun Sung and Julia Heintz-Mackoff
Policy Brief: http://lewis.sppsr.ucla.edu/publications/policybriefs/AIANReport1.pdf
The Status of American Indian Children in Los Angeles.
by Paul M. Ong with Hyun-Gun Sung and Douglas Houston.
Policy Brief: http://lewis.sppsr.ucla.edu/publications/policybriefs/AIANChildren1.pdf
American Indian Social Service Organizations in Los Angeles
The work includes evaluation of texts, resource materials and fiction by and about Native peoples; conducting of teacher workshops, in which participants learn to evaluate children's material for anti-Indian biases; administration of a small resource center and library; and distribution of children's, young adult, and teacher books and materials, with emphasis on writing and illustration by Native people.
National American Indian Organizations
General Information Websites | <urn:uuid:3f4552d6-9c5d-47d0-bd99-c562639114b2> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.prolades.com/glama/la5co07/native_american_indian_community.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397795.31/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00136-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.92527 | 5,002 | 3.0625 | 3 |
Exams and Tests
Your doctor will diagnose hepatitis B based on a physical exam and blood tests. He or she also will ask about your medical history (including possible risks for the virus, such as your job and sexual activity).
Blood tests to diagnose hepatitis B
Blood tests are done to help diagnose hepatitis B. They include:
- Hepatitis B and C: Should I Be Tested?
Blood tests to check for liver damage
Blood tests may be done to help find out if your liver has been damaged. They include:
Tests if you are having treatment or are thinking about it
Tests may be done if you have chronic hepatitis and are considering antiviral treatment. These tests also may be used to find out whether treatment has helped control liver damage. The tests include:
- Imaging tests.
- Removing a tissue sample from the liver (liver biopsy).
Test for liver cancer
An alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) test may be done. If the AFP level is high, it may point to liver cancer.
If you have chronic infection, you will need to visit your doctor regularly. He or she will do blood tests to check your liver function and the activity of the virus in your body.
Some of the tests can tell your doctor if the virus is multiplying in your liver. This raises your risk for chronic hepatitis. | <urn:uuid:f022a5aa-277e-4653-a600-e1758774c26f> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.webmd.com/hepatitis/hepb-guide/hepatitis-b-exams-and-tests | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783403823.74/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155003-00163-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936223 | 281 | 3.125 | 3 |
Water on Mars: The secret's in the pebbles
Curiosity rover found rocks made of smooth, round pebbles, adding to the growing pile of evidence for water flowing across the surface of Mars. To smooth the pebbles, they must have bounced along in a stream between 4 inches and 4 feet deep, scientists say.
Courtesy of Malin Space Science Systems / NASA
Mars Rover Curiosity Finds Pebbles Likely Shaped by Ancient River
By: Denise Chow
Published: 05/30/2013 02:06 PM EDT on SPACE.com
Smooth, round pebbles found by NASA's Mars rover Curiosity provide more evidence that water once flowed on the Red Planet, according to a new study.
The Curiosity rover snapped pictures of several areas with densely packed pebbles, and by closely analyzing the rock images, researchers discovered that the shapes and sizes of the individual pebbles indicate that they traveled long distances in water, likely as part of an ancient riverbed.
The rocks were found near Curiosity's landing site, between the north rim of Gale Crater and the base of Mount Sharp, a peak that rises 3 miles (5 kilometers) above the crater floor.
Round and smooth
Scientists divided a photo mosaic of an area called Hottah into smaller frames to study the small rocks, which were cemented together and ranged in size from 0.08 inches (2 millimeters) to 1.6 inches (41 mm) across. In total, the researchers examined 515 stones and noticed that their surfaces were round and smooth.
Rocks worn by wind are typically rough and angular, whereas stones in water tend to become smooth over time, as the rocks get churned around with coarse grains of sand.
"We could see that almost all of the 515 pebbles we analyzed were worn flat, smooth and round," study co-author Asmus Koefoed, a research assistant at the Niels Bohr Institute at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark, said in a statement.
The cemented sections of rock were likely formed by a combination of fine sand, mud, gravel and pebbles, the researchers said. This mixture clumped together and hardened, creating the solid formations seen by the Curiosity rover. Over time, as sand particles were blown across the surface of Mars, the tops of these cemented rocks became worn and flat, the researchers added.
"The main reason we chose Gale Crater as a landing site was to look at the layered rocks at the base of Mount Sharp, about five miles away," study co-author Dawn Sumner, a geologist at the University of California, Davis, said in a statement. "We knew there was an alluvial fan in the landing area, a cone-shaped deposit of sediment that requires flowing water to form. These sorts of pebbles are likely because of that environment. So while we didn't choose Gale Crater for this purpose, we were hoping to find something like this."
The Martian pebbles offer tantalizing clues about Mars' aqueous past, said Morten Bo Madsen, head of the Mars research group at the Niels Bohr Institute.
"In order to have moved and formed these rounded pebbles, there must have been flowing water with a depth of between 10 centimeters (4 inches) and 1 meter (3.3 feet) and a flow rate of about 1 meter per second — or 3.6 km/h (2.2 mph) — slightly faster than a typical natural Danish stream," Madsen said in a statement.
Scientists have long been interested in the search for water on Mars in order to determine if conditions on the planet were ever hospitable for microbial life.
Although modern-day Mars is an arid place, there is substantial evidence that water likely flowed on the planet's surface several billion years ago. NASA's Spirit and Opportunity rovers, which both touched down on Mars in 2004, found signs of the planet's watery past.
In 2008, the agency's Phoenix Mars Lander confirmed the existence of current water-ice on Mars, after it scraped away clumps of dirt on the surface of the Red Planet.
The results of the new study show that Curiosity, which was launched in August 2012, has already achieved one of its main objectives: to investigate whether areas of Mars could have been habitable for ancient microbial life. The answer, apparently, is yes.
The results of the new study will be published in the May 31 issue of the journal Science.
- 'Nine-Cruise-Ship-Sized' Asteroid To Be Radar Pinged On Fly-By | Video
- Mars Rover Curiosity's 7 Biggest Discoveries (So Far)
- Mars Myths & Misconceptions: Quiz
Copyright 2013 SPACE.com, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. | <urn:uuid:14c8f823-c313-4b46-bc61-8fa1ee137c45> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://m.csmonitor.com/Science/2013/0530/Water-on-Mars-The-secret-s-in-the-pebbles | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397636.15/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00109-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953508 | 1,012 | 3.890625 | 4 |
A newly released report by David Deming, assistant professor at the Harvard Graduate School for Education, shows that school choice doesn’t just foster academic improvement and increased graduation rates—students are also safer.
Deming studied data on the amount of criminal activity that occurred in the Charlotte–Mecklenburg school district (CMS) after the district ended its policy of busing students in 2001. CMS had enacted its busing policy to satisfy Swann v. Charlotte, a court order to desegregate schools in the district starting in 1971. In 2001, the court order was overturned, and CMS was told it could no longer determine school assignments based on race. A year later, CMS decided to implement a one-time, lottery-based school choice program for its students. Parents of CMS students were allowed to submit up to three school choices for their children but were guaranteed a spot in the school in their district, if they chose that school.
Deming’s findings, detailed in Education Next, were clear about the positive effects school choice can have on a community.
In general, high-risk male youth commit about 50 percent less crime as a result of winning the school-choice lottery. They are also more likely to remain enrolled in school, and they show modest improvements on measures of behavior such as absences and suspensions.
Deming’s findings add to a growing body of research detailing the many benefits of school choice and increased student safety. Research conducted on student safety in Milwaukee charter schools has shown increases in student safety when compared to traditional public schools. And similarly, access to the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program has provided students an alternative to the often unsafe D.C. Public Schools. In fact, for the 2007–2008 school year, had it not been for the scholarships, D.C. voucher students would have had to attend one of 70 assigned public schools in which there were:
- 2,379 reports of crime-related incidents, more than 650 of which were violent crimes;
- 855 property-related crimes; and
- 43 reports of gunshots.
School safety is a critical piece in determining whether a child has a quality educational experience. Education researcher Patrick Wolf, the lead investigator for the congressionally mandated evaluations of the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program, found that parents of voucher students felt satisfied with their child’s safety after two years of attending their private school, thus allowing them to turn their attention to their child’s academic needs.
[F]amilies have shifted their focus from an emphasis on school safety to matters concerning their children’s academic development. These parents feel that their basic concerns about safety have been assuaged, and they can now turn their attention to monitoring their children’s grades, test scores and other aspects of their academic development.
The Charlotte study is another example of why families should be empowered to choose an educational option that is in the best interest of their children and why it is critical for policymakers to continue the momentum established in 2011, the “Year of School Choice.”
Evan Walter is currently a member of the Young Leaders Program at The Heritage Foundation. For more information on interning at Heritage, please visit: http://www.heritage.org/about/departments/ylp.cfm | <urn:uuid:f7b08f22-f3f7-424a-8681-3a85d704b09d> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://dailysignal.com/2012/03/12/school-choice-increases-student-safety/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397428.37/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00036-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979892 | 681 | 2.734375 | 3 |
Ocean Acidification Diagram
Diagram showing the chemical processes involved in ocean acidification. Image from the University of Maryland.
Originally uploaded in CLEAN:CLEAN Network:Workshops:Climate Complexity Workshop 2012:Workspace.
Image 33564 is a 320 by 466 pixel JPEG
Last Modified: 2012-09-07 13:30:48
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What kind of a king is King Henry V? Is he a good king or merely a successful one?
The qualities that make Henry universally admired include his bravery, his eloquence, his ability to appear regal or humble depending on the demands of the situation, and his willingness to step down from his position and talk with the common soldiers, as he does the night before the Battle of Agincourt. His less admirable qualities include his insistence on disowning his responsibility for other people’s deaths and his heartlessness toward his former friends.
Whichever qualities we find most striking in Henry, it is important to note that in order to be effective, it is essential that Henry appear to be good. Henry’s claim to the English throne is weak, since his father was a usurper, and for Henry to appear to be a legitimate king he has to seem like he has God on his side. Thus, for instance, he makes sure that the Archbishop of Canterbury publicly presents the arguments supporting Henry’s legal claim to the French throne, even though the arguments are logically tortured, and even though the audience already knows that it cannot trust the archbishop.
Shakespeare provides us with plenty of clues that Henry is self-consciously performing the part of the good king, but he doesn’t necessarily give us the sense that Henry is in fact bad. Henry V explores the idea that the qualities that make one a great king are not necessarily morally admirable ones—what makes a good king is not what makes a good person. Henry is willing to kill his former friends coldly and slaughter thousands of French people in the heat of battle to satisfy the demands of his throne; he must put his personal feelings second to the requirements of rulership and achieve the result he desires at any cost. Henry’s act of placing responsibility for the war on others helps him to achieve his goals, as it burdens others with the moral pressure of stopping the war. This behavior may make Henry seem unlikable, but it also makes him a great leader and leads directly to the triumph at Agincourt in Act IV. Ultimately, the answer to the question may be that there are no good kings—just effective ones.
Henry V spends a lot of time simply giving speeches to others (to the French ambassador, before the town of Harfleur, and before Agincourt, for example). What effect do Henry’s speeches have, and how are they important in the play?
King Henry speaks a great deal in this play, as he understands the power of his words to elicit action. Sometimes his speeches are meant to stir soldiers’ morale, as with the speech at the Battle of Harfleur in Act III, scene i, and before the Battle of Agincourt in Act IV, scene iii. Other times they are meant to intimidate, as when he speaks to the French ambassadors in Act I, scene ii or the governor of Harfleur in Act III, scene iii. Even when he is talking to his soldiers in disguise, as in Act IV, scene i, or courting Catherine in Act V, scene ii, Henry seldom gets interrupted and is usually able to sway the mind of the person to whom he is talking. Henry’s side always wins in battle or argument, partly because Henry uses his charisma as an effective tool: for Henry, the act of speech, or rhetoric, is a vital weapon of both persuasion and war.
Women are almost absent from the play, allowing male-to-male relationships to dominate. What do you think of the male bonding, or the structures of friendship and enmity between men, in the play? Which characters have these relationships and which do not? How does King Henry participate in these relationships?
Oddly enough, King Henry, the character around whom everyone else in the play revolves, spends much of his time alone—even when he is surrounded by a crowd. He is often surrounded by other people, but seldom talks to anyone alone or outside of formal war business. One exception is his interlude in disguise, in Act IV, scene i, in which he talks face-to-face with various soldiers, only to come away with a still stronger sense of the special position of a king.
In comparison to the sense of fellowship among Pistol, Nim, Bardolph, and the boy, or the friendship between Fluellen and Gower, Henry doesn’t seem to have any close friends. Falstaff, once a close friend, dies rejected in Act II, scene iii, and Henry has Scrope killed in Act II, scene ii, just before Scrope can attempt to assassinate him. It even seems dubious that Henry will find companionship with his future wife: Catherine, who barely speaks English, is marrying him for political reasons. King Henry exists in the strange isolation of power, a condition he touches on in his monologue the night before the Battle of Agincourt.
1. Some contemporary critics are uneasy with Henry V because they feel it glorifies war and imperialism. They note that when the play was produced during the World War II era, it was easily turned into patriotic propaganda. Do you agree with their assessment? Does the play present a realistic picture of war?
2. How does Shakespeare use individual characters to present a broad panorama of the various peoples and cultures that were part of Britain during Henry’s reign? What are some of these cultures, and how does Shakespeare’s evocation of them relate to the Chorus’s first speech before Act I?
3. Throughout the play Shakespeare employs a number of recurring metaphors to describe and characterize war. What are some of these metaphors? What do they have in common? How might they help the audience to picture a massive battle on a small stage?
4. How are marriage, families, and parenting treated in the play? How do they relate to the political realm?
I just finished Henry V, the 19th Shakespeare play, in my quest to read all the Bard by his 450th birthday next year. If you're interested, visit my blog to find out what I thought of it and more on what I thought of Henry:
1 out of 2 people found this helpful | <urn:uuid:f5b176e7-3bef-439b-9c97-94eb0cfb3931> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/henryv/study.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395992.75/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00128-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979477 | 1,278 | 3.109375 | 3 |
You're hurrying along and the front of your shoe catches on a crack in the cement, sending you tumbling to the ground. When you get up, you find that not only is your ego bruised, but you've managed to peel away the skin on your elbows and knees. You've got yourself a collection of painful scrapes.
If it's any consolation to your bruised ego and skin, you've just had one of the most common accidents. Americans get almost 18 million lacerations a year. Now your biggest concern is figuring out how to take care of yourself without alerting the whole office to your fiasco. In the following pages, we'll teach you the easiest, most effective home remedies to help heal cuts and scrapes.
How the Body Heals
Cuts and scrapes should be attended to immediately because of the risk of infection. Skin is the body's shield against germs. When a foreign body invades the skin, germs have an open invitation to raid healthy cells. Left untreated, cuts and scrapes can become painful sores, which are wounds that are slow to heal. Sores can also come from acute or chronic bacterial or fungal infections or from diseases that affect the body's ability to heal, such as diabetes or AIDS.
An amazing number of things happen when you cut or scrape yourself. When you disrupt the skin, a clear, antibody-containing fluid from the blood, called serum, leaks into the wound. The area around the cut or scrape becomes red, indicating that more blood is moving into the wound site, bringing with it nutrients and infection-fighting white blood cells. Nearby lymph nodes may swell. After a few days, pus (which contains dead white blood cells, dead bacteria, and other debris from the body's inflammatory response to infection) may form. And finally, a scab develops to protect the injury while it heals.
A scrape tends to hurt more than a cut because a scrape removes a larger area of skin and exposes a greater number of nerves. Scrapes often damage some blood vessels, so they are prone to bleed but usually not as heavily as cuts do.
As you can see, there's a lot more to know about everyday cuts and scrapes than you might imagine. In this article, we'll offer you helpful hints to take care of one of life's most frequent problems. We'll begin in the next section with some tips on how to keep your wounds clean and healthy.
For more information on cuts and scrapes and how to heal them, try the following links:
- To see all of our home remedies and the conditions they treat, go to our main Home Remedies page.
- For minor scrapes and nicks, you can turn to your garden to help the cut heal faster. Find out more in Herbal Remedies for Cuts.
- You can learn more about the specifics of the healing process by reading out How Blood Works page.
- How to Remove Blood Stains will teach you important techniques for rescuing your favorite clothes.
This information is solely for informational purposes. IT IS NOT INTENDED TO PROVIDE MEDICAL ADVICE. Neither the Editors of Consumer Guide (R), Publications International, Ltd., the author nor publisher take responsibility for any possible consequences from any treatment, procedure, exercise, dietary modification, action or application of medication which results from reading or following the information contained in this information. The publication of this information does not constitute the practice of medicine, and this information does not replace the advice of your physician or other health care provider. Before undertaking any course of treatment, the reader must seek the advice of their physician or other health care provider. | <urn:uuid:714502f3-38f8-4aa8-af85-4118c1bb80ae> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://health.howstuffworks.com/wellness/natural-medicine/home-remedies/home-remedies-for-cuts.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783402699.36/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155002-00094-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93926 | 749 | 2.796875 | 3 |
Newcastle Study: 600 Calorie Diet
Extreme low-calorie diets, such as the 600 calorie diet studied by Newcastle University have been hailed as extremely effective in helping people with diabetes to control their blood glucose levels.
In some instances, reports of temporary diabetes cures have been reported from following an extreme low-calorie diet for a short period.
Is this the 600 calorie diet that was in the news?
A Newcastle University study, funded by Diabetes UK, examined 11 people with diabetes who slashed their food intake to 600 calories per day for 8 weeks.
Three months later, 7 of the 11 people studied were free of diabetes.
- Read more about the 600 calorie diet in the news
As with other very low calorie diets, you should consult a doctor before undertaking such a diet.
What was involved in the diet used in the study?
The diet was predominantly based around:
- Optifast meal replacement sachets, which provided 75% of the calories (600 cals)
- The other 200 calories came from non-starchy vegetables.
Note: The diet is referred to as the 600 calorie diet (rather than the 800 calorie diet) due to the meal replacement aspect of the diet totalling 600 calories.
How does an extreme low-calorie diet affect the body?
An extreme low-calorie diet (usually based on diet drinks and non-starchy vegetables) reportedly prompts the body to expel fat clogging the pancreas, helping people with type 2 diabetes to ‘wake up’ their insulin producing cells.
The Newcastle Diet is a very low calorie diet which was used as part of a clinical study by Newcastle University. Very low calorie diets should only be started with the approval and support from your doctor.
The diet gained a lot of media attention when the results were published in June 2011. The study, funded by charity Diabetes UK involved 11 participants with type 2 diabetes who were medically supervised throughout.
3 months after the study was completed, 7 of the participants were deemed, by the researchers, as being free from diabetes.
The diet was based upon 3 sachets of Optifast meal replacement shakes a day - accounting for 600 calories per day. In addition, participants ate 250g of non-starchy vegetables a day, adding a further 200 calories per day. Participants drank water or calorie-free beverages.
People in the study were on the diet for 8 weeks. After the diet, participants returned to a normal diet taking on board advice on healthy eating and portion size.
The researchers believe the diet’s success is linked with loss of fatty tissue from around the liver and pancreas. The study’s participants were given MRI scans which showed that the level of fat from around these organs had decreased from elevated to normal levels over the course of the study.
Being a very low calorie diet, it is important to gain approval and supervision from your doctor before starting the diet. Note that some people may be advised by their doctor against going onto the diet on grounds of health.
So low-calorie diets bring blood glucose levels down?
In the aforementioned study, people with diabetes who did not get the special diet were also assessed.
After one week, those on the extreme low-calorie diet had pre-breakfast blood glucose levels close to normal. This was in line with decreasing fat levels in the pancreas.
So the study cured people of type 2 diabetes?
The study showed marked improvements in blood sugar levels to the extent where the participants appeared to be cured.
However, as is the case with pre-diabetes, those participants who benefitted the most from the study will still need to be disciplined with their diet and exercise to prevent or delay the return of diabetes symptoms.
Were there any side effects of the diet?
A number of side effects were observed in participants during the first few days of the diet, such as:
People involved in the study were advised to keep up their fluid intake and wrap up to keep warm.
Does Diabetes UK agree with the findings of the extreme low-calorie diabetes diet study?
The director of research at Diabetes UK, Iain Frame, claimed that people should not embark on this type of extreme diet without the help and approval of a dietitian or doctor.
He was reported in the news as saying: "We welcome the results of this research because it shows that type 2 diabetes can be reversed, on a par with successful surgery without the side effects. However, this diet is not an easy fix and Diabetes UK strongly recommends that such a drastic diet should only be undertaken under medical supervision.
Despite it being a very small trial, we look forward to future results, particularly to see whether the reversal remains long term.” | <urn:uuid:70f4d1af-3e44-4a1f-b0b5-a426a2f926af> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.diabetes.co.uk/diet/newcastle-study-600-calorie-diet.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397213.30/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00162-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962008 | 979 | 2.828125 | 3 |
By Julie Ann Madden
The Union County Historical Society hosted a program, “History of Cookbooks,” on June 17.
Did you know the first cookbook was written on a clay tablet in about 1500 B.C. by ancient Greeks or Romans?
It contained “very elegant recipes,” said Sandra Stickney of Elk Point, S.D., who was the program speaker.
In 1392, the French had a cookbook, “The Forme of Cury,” which gave instructions for cooking snail, frogs and such things, she said. It contained 194 recipes, showing the elites’ recipes for entertaining.
It wasn’t until the 18th Century that American cooks had their first cookbook published. The immigrants used cookbooks they’d brought with them, and up until the 18th Century, American mistresses read recipes to their servants and slaves who did the cooking.
The first cookbook published by an American author was in 1796, “American Cookery” by Amelia Simmons, an orphan and probably domestic helper. One fact in her book still holds true today: the smell, such as of meats, denotes the goodness (or spoilage) of foods, said Stickney.
The second American cookbook was written by Sarah Josepha Hale, who is better known as the woman who wrote “Mary Had A Little Lamb,” and campaigned for a holiday of thanks, which became Thanksgiving when Abraham Lincoln declared it a holiday in 1863.
The third notable American cookbook was authored in 1896 by Fannie Merritt Farmer, who was employed at a Boston cooking school. This was the first time a cookbook used exact measurements for ingredients, said Stickney.
From those vintage cookbooks, there is now a plethora of volumes, including types like “kitchen bibles” with measuring tables, baking time tables, and cooking instructions and household tips; international ethnic cookbooks translated into English; and professional cookbooks or “textbooks” for chefs and culinary experts.
Cookbooks have evolved into single subject cookbooks such as a “desserts” cookbook and “community” cookbooks written by families documenting family favorites or church groups and organizations as a way to raise funds for projects.
One of the area’s most popular cookbooks was the 1930s “Your Neighbor Lady” cookbooks created by WNAX Radio Station’s Wynn Speece. The small cookbooks not only featured recipes but creative writings of area women who submitted their work and photographs of radio listeners plus household and cooking tips. The Union County Historical Society has several editions of these cookbooks in their museum in Elk Point.
Other books in the museum’s collection include: “Kitchen Fun Cookbook” for children, dated 1932; “The Eleanor McGovern Cookbook”, which contains a collection of South Dakotans’ family favorites; a “College Woman’s Cookbook”, dated 1923 with some recipes of Iowa State University, Northwestern College and the University of Missouri students; one of the first tiny paperback cookbook-pamphlets published by a food product company featuring recipes using Rumford baking powder, dated 1926 and another, Oxidant Flour, dated 1944; a 1908 “Dainty Dishes for All Year Round” with ice cream, sherbet and punch recipes; “Home Canning & Drying of Vegetables & Fruits,” 1918, published by National War Garden Commission; and a 1926 “The Value of A Banana.” The museum’s collection also includes local cookbooks, including the Fowler Family Cookbook, Prairie Estates Cookbook and Lawrence Donnelly Family Cookbook.
Stickney noted the U.S. Department of Agriculture used to put out a lot of booklets on food management and recipes, trying to be sure people were cooking and storing food properly. Union County had 34 “Extension” clubs where each woman was assigned to go to a program and then bring the information back to her fellow club members.
One cookbook was newspaper clippings of recipes glued into a school paper-type notebook.
After Stickney’s presentation, members of the audience shared their “cookbook” memorabilia.
Mary Wilcox of Elk Point shared one of her favorite cookbooks, “Betty Crocker’s Cooky Book,” dated 1963, which compiled favorite cookie recipes of each decade from 1880 – 1960. Her favorite recipe was “Ginger Creams.”
Alice Mae Kennedy of Beresford, S.D., told the attendees she was on the committee which created the centennial cookbook for South Dakota’s 100th anniversary called “Senators of the State.” It had a blue cover.
Area museums may now have some of the best vintage cookbooks….who would have thought?
Cooky Choice of the Decade, 1910 – 1920
Betty Crocker’s Cooky Book, 1963
The favorite of Mary Wilcox of Elk Point, SD
“Most of the nation’s families still lived on farms and in rural areas where molasses was used more commonly than sugar. When chores were finished, children trooped to the cooky jar for cookies like these.”
1/3 cup shortening 1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sugar 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 egg 1 teaspoon ginger
1/2 cup molasses 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 cup water 1/2 teaspoon cloves
2 cups Gold Medal flour 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Mix shortening, sugar, egg, molasses and water thoroughly. Measure flour by dipping method* or by sifting. Sift dry ingredients together and blend in. Chill dough. Heat oven to 400 degrees (moderately hot). Drop dough by teaspoonfuls about 2 inches apart on lightly greased baking sheet. (Cookies will spread slightly during baking.) Bake at 8 minutes or until almost no imprint remains when touched lightly. While slightly warm, frost with lemon- or vanilla-flavored icing.
Easy Creamy Icing
1 cup sifted confectioner’s sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla or other flavoring
1 1/2 Tablespoons cream or water
Blend sugar, salt and flavoring (try lemon, almond or peppermint flavoring for variety). Add cream to make easy to spread. If desired, tint with a few drops of food coloring. Spread on cookies with spatula or pastry brush. Makes icing for three to five dozen cookies, depending on size.
*Dipping Method: Dip 1 cup measuring cup for dry ingredients into the flour. Take table knife and scrape off excess flour to have 1 level cup of flour. | <urn:uuid:2bae0547-85c7-4560-ba74-f5de73ddfeb6> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://akronhometowner.com/pages/?p=6643 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783394937.4/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154954-00182-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953786 | 1,430 | 2.640625 | 3 |
March 13, 2012 12:00AM
No one has ever seen a Higgs boson, but physicists around the world are using one of the largest machines in the world to try to find one.
Dr. Tim Bolton, a physics professor at Kansas State University, will explain what the Higgs boson is and why the thought of discovering one makes physicists’ hearts beat faster when he delivers a public lecture on the Pittsburg State University campus on Wednesday, March 14. The lecture, part of the 2012 Physics, Mathematics and Engineering Lecture Series, will take place at 2 p.m. in 102 Yates Hall.
The Higgs boson is a hypothetical sub-atomic particle that is fundamental to contemporary physics models. Currently, scientists are using the Large Hadron Collider, the world’s largest particle accelerator, near Geneva, Switzerland, in their search for the elusive Higgs boson.
In his lecture, Boson will discuss why finding the Higgs boson is so important to physicists and where he expects them to find it.
The lecture is free and open to the public. | <urn:uuid:38e5d5c3-35ca-4355-b59a-60906216a2ab> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.pittstate.edu/news/lecture-explores-search-for-tiny-hypothetical-particle | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397695.90/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00036-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937885 | 225 | 3.109375 | 3 |
WEDNESDAY, Dec. 14 (HealthDay News) -- Decking the halls (and elsewhere) for the holidays may be getting more dangerous, a new government report finds.
In November and December 2010, more than 13,000 people were treated in U.S. emergency departments for injuries involving holiday decorations, up from 10,000 in 2007, and 12,000 in 2008 and 2009, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).
"A well-watered tree, carefully placed candles, and carefully checked holiday light sets will help prevent the joy of the holidays from turning into a trip to the emergency room or the loss of your home," said CPSC chairman Inez Tenenbaum in an agency news release.
While deaths and injuries caused by Christmas tree and candle fires have fallen, there are still a high number of decorating-linked incidents overall. Between 2006 and 2008, Christmas tree-related fires caused an annual average of four deaths and $18 million in property damage a year. And in the same time period there were a total of about 130 deaths and $360 million in property damage due to fires caused by candles.
The CPSC, along with UL (Underwriters Laboratories), which helped craft the report, offered a number of holiday safety tips:
- If you buy a live tree, check it for freshness to help lower the odds of fire. A fresh tree is green, its needles are hard to pull from branches and its needles don't break when bent between your fingers. The bottom of a fresh tree is sticky with resin and the tree shouldn't lose many needles when it's tapped on the ground. Keep the tree well-watered and away from heat sources such as fireplaces, radiators and vents.
- If you buy an artificial tree, look for the label "fire resistant." While this does not mean the tree cannot catch fire, it is more resistant to catching fire.
- When decorating the tree with small children, don't use sharp, weighted or breakable decorations. Don't use trimmings that resemble candy or food, or trimmings with small removable pieces.
- Keep burning candles within sight and extinguish all candles before you go to bed, leave a room, or leave the house. Candles should be placed on stable, heat-resistant surfaces where children and pets cannot reach them or knock them over. Keep candles away from items that can catch fire and burn easily, such as trees and other evergreens, decorations, curtains and furniture.
- Use only decorative lights that have been tested for safety by a nationally recognized testing laboratory. Check new and old light sets for broken or cracked sockets, frayed or bare wires, or loose connections. Throw out damaged sets. Do not use electric lights on a metallic tree.
- Check extension cords to make sure they're rated for the intended use. Make sure outdoor lights have been certified for that use and plug them into a ground-fault circuit interrupter (GFCI)-protected receptacle or a portable GFCI.
- Be careful when using fire salts and keep them away from children. These products, which produce colored flames when thrown on wood fires, contain heavy metals that can cause gastrointestinal irritation and vomiting if swallowed.
- Don't burn wrapping paper in the fireplace. It could cause a flash fire as the paper ignites suddenly and burns intensely.
"This is easily the busiest time of year, but it's important to make time for safety while celebrating the holidays," John Drengenberg, director of consumer safety at Underwriters Laboratories , said in the CPSC news release. "By committing a few minutes each day to safety, many accidents can be avoided and your holidays will be memorable for all the right reasons."
The American Academy of Pediatrics also offers more holiday safety tips.
-- Robert Preidt
SOURCE: U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, news release, Dec. 13, 2011
Related medicine news :1
All rights reserved
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. Specialized Warm-Up May Reduce Girls Knee Injuries5
. Children With Head Injuries Can Face Lifetime of Problems6
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. Sports-related knee injuries in children have increased dramatically over the past decade | <urn:uuid:aa4dfa9e-5be9-4512-8f68-5edcf9a7c2bf> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.bio-medicine.org/medicine-news-1/Injuries-Linked-to-Holiday-Decorating-on-the-Rise-87899-1/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396100.16/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00095-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.931355 | 996 | 2.953125 | 3 |
Mathematics through/for understanding social life: productive pedagogies meets critical mathematics
Atweh, Bill & Bland, Derek C. (2005) Mathematics through/for understanding social life: productive pedagogies meets critical mathematics. In Goos, M., Kanes, C., & Brown, R. (Eds.) Mathematics Education and Society, July 2005, Gold Coast, Australia.
This paper discusses how the involvement of young people in "real" research activities can be an effective pedagogy for learning for mathematics as well other life skills. However, such collaboration with young people presents dilemmas to their teachers. The concepts of productive pedagogy developed by one school reform movement in Australia are used to reflect on the SARUA project that works for students from underrepresented backgrounds in higher education.
Impact and interest:
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|Item Type:||Conference Paper|
|Keywords:||young people researchers, productive pedagogy, SARUA project, access to university, socioeconomic disadvantage, Bill, Atweh, Student research|
|Subjects:||Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification > EDUCATION (130000) > SPECIALIST STUDIES IN EDUCATION (130300)
Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification > EDUCATION (130000)
Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification > STUDIES IN HUMAN SOCIETY (160000) > SOCIOLOGY (160800) > Sociology of Education (160809)
Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification > EDUCATION (130000) > CURRICULUM AND PEDAGOGY (130200) > Mathematics and Numeracy Curriculum and Pedagogy (130208)
|Divisions:||Current > QUT Faculties and Divisions > Faculty of Education|
|Copyright Owner:||Copyright 2005 (please consult author)|
|Deposited On:||06 Jan 2006 00:00|
|Last Modified:||29 Feb 2012 13:16|
Repository Staff Only: item control page | <urn:uuid:888c48df-96a2-4ec8-a241-d35f2c0c74cb> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://eprints.qut.edu.au/3001/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783404382.73/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155004-00092-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.824328 | 581 | 2.859375 | 3 |
Middletown >> As students gear up for back-to-school, the Connecticut River Watershed Council (CRWC) urges teachers and educators to explore River of Words along the Connecticut River, an environmental art and poetry program promoting watershed awareness, literacy and the arts. Visit http://row.ctriver.org for more information, including online lesson plans that are aligned with Common Core State Standards and highlight innovative teaching strategies for connecting youth to the natural and cultural resources of their local environments.
“It’s exciting to see the river through young people’s eyes,” says Carol Berner of Smith College, River of Words along the Connecticut River program coordinator. “Their poems, paintings and parades bring new perspectives to the river’s ecosystems. Students are inspiring their communities to pay attention to the environment and protect the health of the river.”
The website also showcases creative ways in which youth are interacting with their watersheds and provides educators with resources to inspire and inform their classrooms. The Project Gallery features student videos, booklets, artwork, and poetry on environmental topics including the annual CRWC Source to Sea cleanup. Recent News celebrates and disseminates current school and community projects, building new connections between students and teachers upstream and downstream.
The River of Words along the Connecticut River program engages young people and educators in four states through school programs, professional development workshops, publications, and community projects. Offered in partnership with the Connecticut River Watershed Council, the program draws on the internationally recognized pedagogic model of River of Words integrating science, literacy and the arts in place-based K-12 curriculum.
CRWC advocates for the entire, four-state Connecticut River watershed, working to protect water—the river, its tributaries, lakes, fish — and the land, plants, and creatures connected to that water to keep them safe now and for future generations. To learn more about CRWC, or to make a contribution to help protect the Connecticut River, visit www.ctriver.org or call 413-772-2020 x201. | <urn:uuid:80d1034a-7db9-40b1-ab52-c6eadf4fecd9> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.middletownpress.com/general-news/20130825/connecticut-river-watershed-council-offers-education-resources-for-teachers | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398869.97/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00074-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938486 | 423 | 2.921875 | 3 |
|Ano Nuevo, CA|
Description: Most visitors today come to Año Nuevo Point to view the elephant seal colony, which takes up residence on the beaches in the area at various periods throughout the year. Those who trek out to the point to peer across a quarter-mile stretch of water to see the toppled tower and dilapidated keepers’ dwellings on Año Nuevo Island are definitely in the minority.
Año Nuevo Island is five miles south of Pigeon Point and roughly nine acres in size. After surveying the coast north of Monterey for the U.S. Coast Survey, A. M. Harrison made the following recommendation for a light at Año Nuevo in an 1855 report. “Point Año Nuevo possesses all the requisites as a site for a guide to Santa Cruz harbor, and would also prove of advantage to the vessels in the coasting trade. This point once made, it becomes a matter of little difficulty to reach Santa Cruz; and vessels from the Northward, bound to Monterey, and even up and down the coast, would find a light here very serviceable.”
Before an appropriation for a first-order light on Año Nuevo Island was made in 1868, the Carrier Pigeon was lost in 1853, followed by the Sir John Franklin in 1865, and the Coya in 1866. Año Nuevo island had been reserved for light-house purposes by the President of the United States, but the owners of the surrounding rancho still claimed title to the island. After some difficulty, the government finally purchased Año Nuevo Island and land on Pigeon Point for $10,000 in 1870.
The Lighthouse Board decided to place a first-order light on Pigeon Point and erect just a fog signal station on Año Nuevo Island. The first blast of the island’s twelve-inch steam whistle was emitted on May 29, 1872, with John Kenney as the first head keeper. Kenney served just six months before being removed, and most of his immediate successors served just a year or two before being removed or resigning. The keepers’ dwelling was placed at the southern end of the island, with a wooden walkway running north to the fog signal, located about halfway up the western side of the island. To collect water for the thirsty steam whistle, a water catchment basin and cistern were built on the slop just east of the fog signal building.
A duplicate steam whistle was added to the station in 1880, and on January 1, 1881, the characteristic of the fog signal was changed from a fifteen-second blast each minute to a ten-second blast followed by fifty-five seconds of silence. The fog signal was in operation roughly 700 hours a year and consumed about forty tons of coal. To protect the fog signal building, a seventy-foot-long seawall was built along the bluff nearby bluff, and a cave in the sandstone just north of the structure was filled with cement in the spring of 1886.
On February 12, 1890, the island’s first light, a lens lantern mounted on a post on the seaward side of the fog signal, was placed in operation to improve the station’s effectiveness. Ten years later, a small frame structure, with plate-glass planes, was constructed around the lantern to protect it from the weather.
Thomas Butwell became head keeper at Ano Nuevo in 1894, after having worked as a boatman in San Francisco. Keeper Butwell brought his full-blooded setter Jip to the island, and when the dog passed away three years later, his death was noted in a San Francisco paper. Jip, whom the paper called the most sagacious and useful canine, was known in San Francisco as “The dog detective,” “The dog life-saver,” and “The dog paper-carrier.” Some of Jip’s most noteworthy acts were saving a boy who had fallen off the end of Mission Street from drowning, finding a boy who had been lost for four days, and helping the police apprehend numerous thieves and wrongdoers. Any human would have been proud to have an obituary with as many meritorious deeds as found in Jip’s.
The dwelling for the two keepers is barely sufficient for one, as both are men of family, and are worthy of something better in the way of living accommodations. The dwelling is a one-story frame structure, 36 feet by 28 feet in plan, with a small kitchen attached and no cellar. It has been partitioned off, so that the two keepers with their families live in it, but at great inconvenience and discomfort. The Board is of the opinion that it is necessary to encourage capable men to take service with the Light-House Establishment; that to do so it is necessary that they should be provided, at least, with reasonable accommodations. It is estimated that an additional keeper's dwelling can be built here for $6,000, a much larger sum than would be required were it not that the island is in the open sea, outside of all freighting accommodations, and that the material for the dwelling would have to be transported to the site by special arrangements.A nine-room, two-story addition was attached to the original dwelling in 1905, resulting in “ample accommodation for the keepers and their families.”
Fences were built around the dwelling to keep the island’s sea lions from invading the house and adjacent garden. Permission was granted in 1899 to the State Fish Commission to thin out the island’s sea lion herd that was affecting the fishing industry, provided the keepers were not interfered with and the carcasses were removed from the island. Just days after the killing started, the Lighthouse Board revoked its permission due to protests they had received. In 1916, the keeper’s complaints about the sea lions, which they were forbidden to kill, were picked up by newspapers throughout the country: “When he opens the door troops of young sea lions march into the house, and at meal time the entire colony surrounds his domicile, barking for admittance. Sleep is difficult, he declares, for the slightest disturbance in the night is a signal for a sea lion chorus which can be heard all over the island.”
A 15,000-gallon redwood water tank was erected on the island in 1907, and in 1911, a lantern room was placed atop the tank for displaying a fourth-order light. In 1914, a square, skeleton tower with an enclosed watchroom and lantern room was built next to the water tank, and the Fresnel lens was transferred to this structure.
At 4:40 a.m. on October 22, 1926, an earthquake struck the station and shook the incandescent oil vapor lamp off its base and sent it crashing into the lens. About one-third of the lens prisms were shaken out of the brass framework and fell to the lantern room floor. Thought it was nearing sunrise, the keepers promptly displayed a hand lantern to seaward. An hour later, a second quake struck, and the tower rocked so much that the lens was torn loose from its table and thrown to the floor, with about half of the glass falling through the hatch into the watchroom. Crockery, glassware, and clocks were broken and thrown about in the keeper’s dwellings, and several gallons of kerosene sloshed out of the 200-gallon storage tanks in the oil house. A replacement fourth-order lens was shipped to the station, and the light was soon back in commission.
The station on Año Nuevo Island was deactivated in 1948, replaced by a whistle buoy anchored about 1,600 yards south of the island. Frank Spenger bid $100,000 for the island at an auction in March 1958 with the intention of building a causeway to the island and converting the abandoned light station into a resort and commercial fishing base. The State of California, however, had first dibs on Año Nuevo Island, and it acquired the island in April 1958 for $51,094 and incorporated it into the newly acquired reserve on the adjacent mainland. The island had been offered to the state in 1956 for $18,000, roughly half of its estimated value, but after the state failed to finalize the purchase, the island went to auction. The success of the auction prompted the federal government to raise the state’s sale price to half of the winning bid plus the cost of the auction.
Nature and vandalism quickly took their toll on the station’s buildings following abandonment of the island. In 1976, the state cut down the steel lighthouse as it was likely to collapse. The toppled tower remains on the island and can easily be viewed from the mainland.
Año Nuevo Island and Point are part of a Wildlife Protection Area located in Año Nuevo State Reserve, which features a live SealCam on their website. Modern visitors can experience the seals’ calls and grunts and strong odor that so bothered the keepers by taking a 1.7-mile hike from the parking area at the state park. The parks visitor’s center has a model of the island, showing how the station looked during its prime.
From December to March, access to the point is permitted only on regularly scheduled guided walks. During these months the females give birth to their pups, and the giant bull seals fight for dominance and the privilege of mating with the females. At other times of the year, visitors are free to visit the point during park hours. The seals return to the beach to molt from April until August. The historic fog signal buildings on the island are used as a laboratory/dormitory for the Institute of Marine Sciences at the University of California Santa Cruz.
The lighthouse is on Año Nuevo Island,
part of the Año Nuevo California State
Reserve, which is located fifty-five miles south of San Francisco on Highway 1 between Half Moon Bay and Santa Cruz. Ano Nuevo Island is owned by California State Parks. Grounds/dwelling closed.
Ano Nuevo Island is owned by California State Parks. Grounds/dwelling closed.
Notes from a friend:Marilyn writes:
It is hard to get close up to this island. We had explored renting kayaks to go out to the island, but the water in that area is deceptively rough with strong undercurrents. It is also a popular place for great white sharks to hang out, given the large sea lion population. We were thus forced to settle for a picture from the beach. Take a nose plug with you; those sea lions aren't exactly perfumed!
See our List of Lighthouses in California
Pictures on this page copyright Kraig Anderson, Jef Poskanzer , used by permission. | <urn:uuid:f2a1034d-72cb-445a-b646-28d2e19b17a7> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.lighthousefriends.com/light.asp?ID=79 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393442.26/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00144-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974098 | 2,276 | 2.96875 | 3 |
- Year Published: 1831
- Language: English
- Country of Origin: France
- Source: Hapsgood, I., trans. (1831). The Hunchback of Notre Dame. New York: Carey, Lea, and Blanchard.
- Flesch–Kincaid Level: 12.0
- Word Count: 8,237
Hugo, V. (1831). Book Sixth, Chapter 3. The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Lit2Go Edition). Retrieved June 30, 2016, from
Hugo, Victor. "Book Sixth, Chapter 3." The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Lit2Go Edition. 1831. Web. <>. June 30, 2016.
Victor Hugo, "Book Sixth, Chapter 3," The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Lit2Go Edition, (1831), accessed June 30, 2016,.
At the epoch of this history, the cell in the Tour–Roland was occupied. If the reader desires to know by whom, he has only to lend an ear to the conversation of three worthy gossips, who, at the moment when we have directed his attention to the Rat–Hole, were directing their steps towards the same spot, coming up along the water's edge from the Châtelet, towards the Gr ve.
Two of these women were dressed like good ~bourgeoises~ of Paris. Their fine white ruffs; their petticoats of linsey– woolsey, striped red and blue; their white knitted stockings, with clocks embroidered in colors, well drawn upon their legs; the square–toed shoes of tawny leather with black soles, and, above all, their headgear, that sort of tinsel horn, loaded down with ribbons and laces, which the women of Champagne still wear, in company with the grenadiers of the imperial guard of Russia, announced that they belonged to that class wives which holds the middle ground between what the lackeys call a woman and what they term a lady. They wore neither rings nor gold crosses, and it was easy to see that, in their ease, this did not proceed from poverty, but simply from fear of being fined. Their companion was attired in very much the same manner; but there was that indescribable something about her dress and bearing which suggested the wife of a provincial notary. One could see, by the way in which her girdle rose above her hips, that she had not been long in Paris.—Add to this a plaited tucker, knots of ribbon on her shoes—and that the stripes of her petticoat ran horizontally instead of vertically, and a thousand other enormities which shocked good taste.
The two first walked with that step peculiar to Parisian ladies, showing Paris to women from the country. The provincial held by the hand a big boy, who held in his a large, flat cake.
We regret to be obliged to add, that, owing to the rigor of the season, he was using his tongue as a handkerchief.
The child was making them drag him along, ~non passibus Cequis~, as Virgil says, and stumbling at every moment, to the great indignation of his mother. It is true that he was looking at his cake more than at the pavement. Some serious motive, no doubt, prevented his biting it (the cake), for he contented himself with gazing tenderly at it. But the mother should have rather taken charge of the cake. It was cruel to make a Tantalus of the chubby–checked boy.
Meanwhile, the three demoiselles (for the name of dames was then reserved for noble women) were all talking at once.
"Let us make haste, Demoiselle Mahiette," said the youngest of the three, who was also the largest, to the provincial, "I greatly fear that we shall arrive too late; they told us at the Châtelet that they were going to take him directly to the pillory."
"Ah, bah! what are you saying, Demoiselle Oudarde Musnier?" interposed the other Parisienne. "There are two hours yet to the pillory. We have time enough. Have you ever seen any one pilloried, my dear Mahiette?"
"Yes," said the provincial, "at Reims."
"Ah, bah! What is your pillory at Reims? A miserable cage into which only peasants are turned. A great affair, truly!"
"Only peasants!" said Mahiette, "at the cloth market in Reims! We have seen very fine criminals there, who have killed their father and mother! Peasants! For what do you take us, Gervaise?"
It is certain that the provincial was on the point of taking offence, for the honor of her pillory. Fortunately, that discreet damoiselle, Oudarde Musnier, turned the conversation in time.
"By the way, Damoiselle Mahiette, what say you to our Flemish Ambassadors? Have you as fine ones at Reims?"
"I admit," replied Mahiette, "that it is only in Paris that such Flemings can be seen."
"Did you see among the embassy, that big ambassador who is a hosier?" asked Oudarde.
"Yes," said Mahiette. "He has the eye of a Saturn."
"And the big fellow whose face resembles a bare belly?" resumed Gervaise. "And the little one, with small eyes framed in red eyelids, pared down and slashed up like a thistle head?"
"'Tis their horses that are worth seeing," said Oudarde, "caparisoned as they are after the fashion of their country!"
"Ah my dear," interrupted provincial Mahiette, assuming in her turn an air of superiority, "what would you say then, if you had seen in '61, at the consecration at Reims, eighteen years ago, the horses of the princes and of the king's company? Housings and caparisons of all sorts; some of damask cloth, of fine cloth of gold, furred with sables; others of velvet, furred with ermine; others all embellished with goldsmith's work and large bells of gold and silver! And what money that had cost! And what handsome boy pages rode upon them!"
"That," replied Oudarde dryly, "does not prevent the Flemings having very fine horses, and having had a superb supper yesterday with monsieur, the provost of the merchants, at the Hôtel–de–Ville, where they were served with comfits and hippocras, and spices, and other singularities."
"What are you saying, neighbor!" exclaimed Gervaise. "It was with monsieur the cardinal, at the Petit Bourbon that they supped."
"Not at all. At the Hôtel–de–Ville.
"Yes, indeed. At the Petit Bourbon!"
"It was at the Hôtel–de–Ville," retorted Oudarde sharply, "and Dr. Scourable addressed them a harangue in Latin, which pleased them greatly. My husband, who is sworn bookseller told me."
"It was at the Petit Bourbon," replied Gervaise, with no less spirit, "and this is what monsieur the cardinal's procurator presented to them: twelve double quarts of hippocras, white, claret, and red; twenty–four boxes of double Lyons marchpane, gilded; as many torches, worth two livres a piece; and six demi–queues* of Beaune wine, white and claret, the best that could be found. I have it from my husband, who is a cinquantenier**, at the Parloir–aux Bourgeois, and who was this morning comparing the Flemish ambassadors with those of Prester John and the Emperor of Trebizond, who came from Mesopotamia to Paris, under the last king, and who wore rings in their ears."
* A Queue was a cask which held a hogshead and a half.
** A captain of fifty men.
"So true is it that they supped at the Hôtel–de–Ville," replied Oudarde but little affected by this catalogue, "that such a triumph of viands and comfits has never been seen."
"I tell you that they were served by Le Sec, sergeant of the city, at the Hôtel du Petit–Bourbon, and that that is where you are mistaken."
"At the Hôtel–de–Ville, I tell you!"
"At the Petit–Bourbon, my dear! and they had illuminated with magic glasses the word hope, which is written on the grand portal."
"At the Hôtel–de–Ville! At the Hôtel–de–Ville! And Husson–le–Voir played the flute!"
"I tell you, no!"
"I tell you, yes!"
"I say, no!"
Plump and worthy Oudarde was preparing to retort, and the quarrel might, perhaps, have proceeded to a pulling of caps, had not Mahiette suddenly exclaimed,—"Look at those people assembled yonder at the end of the bridge! There is something in their midst that they are looking at!"
"In sooth," said Gervaise, "I hear the sounds of a tambourine. I believe 'tis the little Esmeralda, who plays her mummeries with her goat. Eh, be quick, Mahiette! redouble your pace and drag along your boy. You are come hither to visit the curiosities of Paris. You saw the Flemings yesterday; you must see the gypsy to–day."
"The gypsy!" said Mahiette, suddenly retracing her steps, and clasping her son's arm forcibly. "God preserve me from it! She would steal my child from me! Come, Eustache!"
And she set out on a run along the quay towards the Gr ve, until she had left the bridge far behind her. In the meanwhile, the child whom she was dragging after her fell upon his knees; she halted breathless. Oudarde and Gervaise rejoined her.
"That gypsy steal your child from you!" said Gervaise. "That's a singular freak of yours!"
Mahiette shook her head with a pensive air.
"The singular point is," observed Oudarde, "that ~la sachette~ has the same idea about the Egyptian woman."
"What is ~la sachette~?" asked Mahiette.
"Hé!" said Oudarde, "Sister Gudule."
"And who is Sister Gudule?" persisted Mahiette.
"You are certainly ignorant of all but your Reims, not to know that!" replied Oudarde. "'Tis the recluse of the Rat–Hole."
"What!" demanded Mahiette, "that poor woman to whom we are carrying this cake?"
Oudarde nodded affirmatively.
"Precisely. You will see her presently at her window on the Gr ve. She has the same opinion as yourself of these vagabonds of Egypt, who play the tambourine and tell fortunes to the public. No one knows whence comes her horror of the gypsies and Egyptians. But you, Mahiette—why do you run so at the mere sight of them?"
"Oh!" said Mahiette, seizing her child's round head in both hands, "I don't want that to happen to me which happened to Paquette la Chantefleurie."
"Oh! you must tell us that story, my good Mahiette," said Gervaise, taking her arm.
"Gladly," replied Mahiette, "but you must be ignorant of all but your Paris not to know that! I will tell you then (but 'tis not necessary for us to halt that I may tell you the tale), that Paquette la Chantefleurie was a pretty maid of eighteen when I was one myself, that is to say, eighteen years ago, and 'tis her own fault if she is not to–day, like me, a good, plump, fresh mother of six and thirty, with a husband and a son. However, after the age of fourteen, it was too late! Well, she was the daughter of Guybertant, minstrel of the barges at Reims, the same who had played before King Charles VII., at his coronation, when he descended our river Vesle from Sillery to Muison, when Madame the Maid of Orleans was also in the boat. The old father died when Paquette was still a mere child; she had then no one but her mother, the sister of M. Pradon, master–brazier and coppersmith in Paris, Rue Farm– Garlin, who died last year. You see she was of good family. The mother was a good simple woman, unfortunately, and she taught Paquette nothing but a bit of embroidery and toy–making which did not prevent the little one from growing very large and remaining very poor. They both dwelt at Reims, on the river front, Rue de Folle–Peine. Mark this: For I believe it was this which brought misfortune to Paquette. In '61, the year of the coronation of our King Louis XI. whom God preserve! Paquette was so gay and so pretty that she was called everywhere by no other name than "la Chantefleurie"—blossoming song. Poor girl! She had handsome teeth, she was fond of laughing and displaying them. Now, a maid who loves to laugh is on the road to weeping; handsome teeth ruin handsome eyes. So she was la Chantefleurie. She and her mother earned a precarious living; they had been very destitute since the death of the minstrel; their embroidery did not bring them in more than six farthings a week, which does not amount to quite two eagle liards. Where were the days when Father Guybertant had earned twelve sous parisian, in a single coronation, with a song? One winter (it was in that same year of '61), when the two women had neither fagots nor firewood, it was very cold, which gave la Chantefleurie such a fine color that the men called her Paquette!* and many called her Páquerette!** and she was ruined.—Eustache, just let me see you bite that cake if you dare!—We immediately perceived that she was ruined, one Sunday when she came to church with a gold cross about her neck. At fourteen years of age! do you see? First it was the young Vicomte de Cormontreuil, who has his bell tower three leagues distant from Reims; then Messire Henri de Triancourt, equerry to the King; then less than that, Chiart de Beaulion, sergeant–at–arms; then, still descending, Guery Aubergeon, carver to the King; then, Mace de Frépus, barber to monsieur the dauphin; then, Thévenin le Moine, King's cook; then, the men growing continually younger and less noble, she fell to Guillaume Racine, minstrel of the hurdy gurdy and to Thierry de Mer, lamplighter. Then, poor Chantefleurie, she belonged to every one: she had reached the last sou of her gold piece. What shall I say to you, my damoiselles? At the coronation, in the same year, '61, 'twas she who made the bed of the king of the debauchees! In the same year!"
* Ox–eye daisy.
** Easter daisy.
Mahiette sighed, and wiped away a tear which trickled from her eyes.
"This is no very extraordinary history," said Gervaise, "and in the whole of it I see nothing of any Egyptian women or children."
"Patience!" resumed Mahiette, "you will see one child.—In '66, 'twill be sixteen years ago this month, at Sainte– Paule's day, Paquette was brought to bed of a little girl. The unhappy creature! it was a great joy to her; she had long wished for a child. Her mother, good woman, who had never known what to do except to shut her eyes, her mother was dead. Paquette had no longer any one to love in the world or any one to love her. La Chantefleurie had been a poor creature during the five years since her fall. She was alone, alone in this life, fingers were pointed at her, she was hooted at in the streets, beaten by the sergeants, jeered at by the little boys in rags. And then, twenty had arrived: and twenty is an old age for amorous women. Folly began to bring her in no more than her trade of embroidery in former days; for every wrinkle that came, a crown fled; winter became hard to her once more, wood became rare again in her brazier, and bread in her cupboard. She could no longer work because, in becoming voluptuous, she had grown lazy; and she suffered much more because, in growing lazy, she had become voluptuous. At least, that is the way in which monsieur the cure of Saint–Remy explains why these women are colder and hungrier than other poor women, when they are old."
"Yes," remarked Gervaise, "but the gypsies?"
"One moment, Gervaise!" said Oudarde, whose attention was less impatient. "What would be left for the end if all were in the beginning? Continue, Mahiette, I entreat you. That poor Chantefleurie!"
Mahiette went on.
"So she was very sad, very miserable, and furrowed her cheeks with tears. But in the midst of her shame, her folly, her debauchery, it seemed to her that she should be less wild, less shameful, less dissipated, if there were something or some one in the world whom she could love, and who could love her. It was necessary that it should be a child, because only a child could be sufficiently innocent for that. She had recognized this fact after having tried to love a thief, the only man who wanted her; but after a short time, she perceived that the thief despised her. Those women of love require either a lover or a child to fill their hearts. Otherwise, they are very unhappy. As she could not have a lover, she turned wholly towards a desire for a child, and as she had not ceased to be pious, she made her constant prayer to the good God for it. So the good God took pity on her, and gave her a little daughter. I will not speak to you of her joy; it was a fury of tears, and caresses, and kisses. She nursed her child herself, made swaddling–bands for it out of her coverlet, the only one which she had on her bed, and no longer felt either cold or hunger. She became beautiful once more, in consequence of it. An old maid makes a young mother. Gallantry claimed her once more; men came to see la Chantefleurie; she found customers again for her merchandise, and out of all these horrors she made baby clothes, caps and bibs, bodices with shoulder–straps of lace, and tiny bonnets of satin, without even thinking of buying herself another coverlet.—Master Eustache, I have already told you not to eat that cake.—It is certain that little Agnes, that was the child's name, a baptismal name, for it was a long time since la Chantefleurie had had any surname—it is certain that that little one was more swathed in ribbons and embroideries than a dauphiness of Dauphiny! Among other things, she had a pair of little shoes, the like of which King Louis XI. certainly never had! Her mother had stitched and embroidered them herself; she had lavished on them all the delicacies of her art of embroideress, and all the embellishments of a robe for the good Virgin. They certainly were the two prettiest little pink shoes that could be seen. They were no longer than my thumb, and one had to see the child's little feet come out of them, in order to believe that they had been able to get into them. 'Tis true that those little feet were so small, so pretty, so rosy! rosier than the satin of the shoes! When you have children, Oudarde, you will find that there is nothing prettier than those little hands and feet."
"I ask no better," said Oudarde with a sigh, "but I am waiting until it shall suit the good pleasure of M. Andry Musnier."
"However, Paquette's child had more that was pretty about it besides its feet. I saw her when she was only four months old; she was a love! She had eyes larger than her mouth, and the most charming black hair, which already curled. She would have been a magnificent brunette at the age of sixteen! Her mother became more crazy over her every day. She kissed her, caressed her, tickled her, washed her, decked her out, devoured her! She lost her head over her, she thanked God for her. Her pretty, little rosy feet above all were an endless source of wonderment, they were a delirium of joy! She was always pressing her lips to them, and she could never recover from her amazement at their smallness. She put them into the tiny shoes, took them out, admired them, marvelled at them, looked at the light through them, was curious to see them try to walk on her bed, and would gladly have passed her life on her knees, putting on and taking off the shoes from those feet, as though they had been those of an Infant Jesus."
"The tale is fair and good," said Gervaise in a low tone; "but where do gypsies come into all that?"
"Here," replied Mahiette. "One day there arrived in Reims a very queer sort of people. They were beggars and vagabonds who were roaming over the country, led by their duke and their counts. They were browned by exposure to the sun, they had closely curling hair, and silver rings in their ears. The women were still uglier than the men. They had blacker faces, which were always uncovered, a miserable frock on their bodies, an old cloth woven of cords bound upon their shoulder, and their hair hanging like the tail of a horse. The children who scrambled between their legs would have frightened as many monkeys. A band of excommunicates. All these persons came direct from lower Egypt to Reims through Poland. The Pope had confessed them, it was said, and had prescribed to them as penance to roam through the world for seven years, without sleeping in a bed; and so they were called penancers, and smelt horribly. It appears that they had formerly been Saracens, which was why they believed in Jupiter, and claimed ten livres of Tournay from all archbishops, bishops, and mitred abbots with croziers. A bull from the Pope empowered them to do that. They came to Reims to tell fortunes in the name of the King of Algiers, and the Emperor of Germany. You can readily imagine that no more was needed to cause the entrance to the town to be forbidden them. Then the whole band camped with good grace outside the gate of Braine, on that hill where stands a mill, beside the cavities of the ancient chalk pits. And everybody in Reims vied with his neighbor in going to see them. They looked at your hand, and told you marvellous prophecies; they were equal to predicting to Judas that he would become Pope. Nevertheless, ugly rumors were in circulation in regard to them; about children stolen, purses cut, and human flesh devoured. The wise people said to the foolish: "Don't go there!" and then went themselves on the sly. It was an infatuation. The fact is, that they said things fit to astonish a cardinal. Mothers triumphed greatly over their little ones after the Egyptians had read in their hands all sorts of marvels written in pagan and in Turkish. One had an emperor; another, a pope; another, a captain. Poor Chantefleurie was seized with curiosity; she wished to know about herself, and whether her pretty little Agnes would not become some day Empress of Armenia, or something else. So she carried her to the Egyptians; and the Egyptian women fell to admiring the child, and to caressing it, and to kissing it with their black mouths, and to marvelling over its little band, alas! to the great joy of the mother. They were especially enthusiastic over her pretty feet and shoes. The child was not yet a year old. She already lisped a little, laughed at her mother like a little mad thing, was plump and quite round, and possessed a thousand charming little gestures of the angels of paradise.
She was very much frightened by the Egyptians, and wept. But her mother kissed her more warmly and went away enchanted with the good fortune which the soothsayers had foretold for her Agnes. She was to be a beauty, virtuous, a queen. So she returned to her attic in the Rue Folle–Peine, very proud of bearing with her a queen. The next day she took advantage of a moment when the child was asleep on her bed, (for they always slept together), gently left the door a little way open, and ran to tell a neighbor in the Rue de la Séchesserie, that the day would come when her daughter Agnes would be served at table by the King of England and the Archduke of Ethiopia, and a hundred other marvels. On her return, hearing no cries on the staircase, she said to herself: 'Good! the child is still asleep!' She found her door wider open than she had left it, but she entered, poor mother, and ran to the bed.—–The child was no longer there, the place was empty. Nothing remained of the child, but one of her pretty little shoes. She flew out of the room, dashed down the stairs, and began to beat her head against the wall, crying: 'My child! who has my child? Who has taken my child?' The street was deserted, the house isolated; no one could tell her anything about it. She went about the town, searched all the streets, ran hither and thither the whole day long, wild, beside herself, terrible, snuffing at doors and windows like a wild beast which has lost its young. She was breathless, dishevelled, frightful to see, and there was a fire in her eyes which dried her tears. She stopped the passers–by and cried: 'My daughter! my daughter! my pretty little daughter! If any one will give me back my daughter, I will he his servant, the servant of his dog, and he shall eat my heart if he will.' She met M. le Curé of Saint– Remy, and said to him: 'Monsieur, I will till the earth with my finger–nails, but give me back my child!' It was heartrending, Oudarde; and IL saw a very hard man, Master Ponce Lacabre, the procurator, weep. Ah! poor mother! In the evening she returned home. During her absence, a neighbor had seen two gypsies ascend up to it with a bundle in their arms, then descend again, after closing the door. After their departure, something like the cries of a child were heard in Paquette's room. The mother, burst into shrieks of laughter, ascended the stairs as though on wings, and entered.—A frightful thing to tell, Oudarde! Instead of her pretty little Agnes, so rosy and so fresh, who was a gift of the good God, a sort of hideous little monster, lame, one–eyed, deformed, was crawling and squalling over the floor. She hid her eyes in horror. 'Oh!' said she, 'have the witches transformed my daughter into this horrible animal?' They hastened to carry away the little club–foot; he would have driven her mad. It was the monstrous child of some gypsy woman, who had given herself to the devil. He appeared to be about four years old, and talked a language which was no human tongue; there were words in it which were impossible. La Chantefleurie flung herself upon the little shoe, all that remained to her of all that she loved. She remained so long motionless over it, mute, and without breath, that they thought she was dead. Suddenly she trembled all over, covered her relic with furious kisses, and burst out sobbing as though her heart were broken. I assure you that we were all weeping also. She said: 'Oh, my little daughter! my pretty little daughter! where art thou?'—and it wrung your very heart. I weep still when I think of it. Our children are the marrow of our bones, you see.—–My poor Eustache! thou art so fair!—If you only knew how nice he is! yesterday he said to me: 'I want to be a gendarme, that I do.' Oh! my Eustache! if I were to lose thee!—All at once la Chantefleurie rose, and set out to run through Reims, screaming: 'To the gypsies' camp! to the gypsies' camp! Police, to burn the witches!' The gypsies were gone. It was pitch dark. They could not be followed. On the morrow, two leagues from Reims, on a heath between Gueux and Tilloy, the remains of a large fire were found, some ribbons which had belonged to Paquette's child, drops of blood, and the dung of a ram. The night just past had been a Saturday. There was no longer any doubt that the Egyptians had held their Sabbath on that heath, and that they had devoured the child in company with Beelzebub, as the practice is among the Mahometans. When La Chantefleurie learned these horrible things, she did not weep, she moved her lips as though to speak, but could not. On the morrow, her hair was gray. On the second day, she had disappeared.
"'Tis in truth, a frightful tale," said Oudarde, "and one which would make even a Burgundian weep."
"I am no longer surprised," added Gervaise, "that fear of the gypsies should spur you on so sharply."
"And you did all the better," resumed Oudarde, "to flee with your Eustache just now, since these also are gypsies from Poland."
"No," said Gervais, "'tis said that they come from Spain and Catalonia."
"Catalonia? 'tis possible," replied Oudarde. "Pologne, Catalogue, Valogne, I always confound those three provinces, One thing is certain, that they are gypsies."
"Who certainly," added Gervaise, "have teeth long enough to eat little children. I should not be surprised if la Sméralda ate a little of them also, though she pretends to be dainty. Her white goat knows tricks that are too malicious for there not to be some impiety underneath it all."
Mahiette walked on in silence. She was absorbed in that revery which is, in some sort, the continuation of a mournful tale, and which ends only after having communicated the emotion, from vibration to vibration, even to the very last fibres of the heart. Nevertheless, Gervaise addressed her, "And did they ever learn what became of la Chantefleurie?" Mahiette made no reply. Gervaise repeated her question, and shook her arm, calling her by name. Mahiette appeared to awaken from her thoughts.
"What became of la Chantefleurie?" she said, repeating mechanically the words whose impression was still fresh in her ear; then, ma king an effort to recall her attention to the meaning of her words, "Ah!" she continued briskly, "no one ever found out."
She added, after a pause,—
"Some said that she had been seen to quit Reims at nightfall by the Fléchembault gate; others, at daybreak, by the old Basée gate. A poor man found her gold cross hanging on the stone cross in the field where the fair is held. It was that ornament which had wrought her ruin, in '61. It was a gift from the handsome Vicomte de Cormontreuil, her first lover. Paquette had never been willing to part with it, wretched as she had been. She had clung to it as to life itself. So, when we saw that cross abandoned, we all thought that she was dead. Nevertheless, there were people of the Cabaret les Vantes, who said that they had seen her pass along the road to Paris, walking on the pebbles with her bare feet. But, in that case, she must have gone out through the Porte de Vesle, and all this does not agree. Or, to speak more truly, I believe that she actually did depart by the Porte de Vesle, but departed from this world."
"I do not understand you," said Gervaise.
"La Vesle," replied Mahiette, with a melancholy smile, "is the river."
"Poor Chantefleurie!" said Oudarde, with a shiver,—"drowned!"
"Drowned!" resumed Mahiette, "who could have told good Father Guybertant, when he passed under the bridge of Tingueux with the current, singing in his barge, that one day his dear little Paquette would also pass beneath that bridge, but without song or boat.
"And the little shoe?" asked Gervaise.
"Disappeared with the mother," replied Mahiette.
"Poor little shoe!" said Oudarde.
Oudarde, a big and tender woman, would have been well pleased to sigh in company with Mahiette. But Gervaise, more curious, had not finished her questions.
"And the monster?" she said suddenly, to Mahiette.
"What monster?" inquired the latter.
"The little gypsy monster left by the sorceresses in Chantefleurie's chamber, in exchange for her daughter. What did you do with it? I hope you drowned it also."
"No." replied Mahiette.
"What? You burned it then? In sooth, that is more just. A witch child!"
"Neither the one nor the other, Gervaise. Monseigneur the archbishop interested himself in the child of Egypt, exorcised it, blessed it, removed the devil carefully from its body, and sent it to Paris, to be exposed on the wooden bed at Notre– Dame, as a foundling."
"Those bishops!" grumbled Gervaise, "because they are learned, they do nothing like anybody else. I just put it to you, Oudarde, the idea of placing the devil among the foundlings! For that little monster was assuredly the devil. Well, Mahiette, what did they do with it in Paris? I am quite sure that no charitable person wanted it."
"I do not know," replied the Rémoise, "'twas just at that time that my husband bought the office of notary, at Bern, two leagues from the town, and we were no longer occupied with that story; besides, in front of Bern, stand the two hills of Cernay, which hide the towers of the cathedral in Reims from view."
While chatting thus, the three worthy ~bourgeoises~ had arrived at the Place de Gr ve. In their absorption, they had passed the public breviary of the Tour–Roland without stopping, and took their way mechanically towards the pillory around which the throng was growing more dense with every moment. It is probable that the spectacle which at that moment attracted all looks in that direction, would have made them forget completely the Rat–Hole, and the halt which they intended to make there, if big Eustache, six years of age, whom Mahiette was dragging along by the hand, had not abruptly recalled the object to them: "Mother," said he, as though some instinct warned him that the Rat–Hole was behind him, "can I eat the cake now?"
If Eustache had been more adroit, that is to say, less greedy, he would have continued to wait, and would only have hazarded that simple question, "Mother, can I eat the cake, now?" on their return to the University, to Master Andry Musnier's, Rue Madame la Valence, when he had the two arms of the Seine and the five bridges of the city between the Rat–Hole and the cake.
This question, highly imprudent at the moment when Eustache put it, aroused Mahiette's attention.
"By the way," she exclaimed, "we are forgetting the recluse! Show me the Rat–Hole, that I may carry her her cake."
"Immediately," said Oudarde, "'tis a charity."
But this did not suit Eustache.
"Stop! my cake!" said he, rubbing both ears alternatively with his shoulders, which, in such cases, is the supreme sign of discontent.
The three women retraced their steps, and, on arriving in the vicinity of the Tour–Roland, Oudarde said to the other two,—
"We must not all three gaze into the hole at once, for fear of alarming the recluse. Do you two pretend to read the Dominus in the breviary, while I thrust my nose into the aperture; the recluse knows me a little. I will give you warning when you can approach."
She proceeded alone to the window. At the moment when she looked in, a profound pity was depicted on all her features, and her frank, gay visage altered its expression and color as abruptly as though it had passed from a ray of sunlight to a ray of moonlight; her eye became humid; her mouth contracted, like that of a person on the point of weeping. A moment later, she laid her finger on her lips, and made a sign to Mahiette to draw near and look.
Mahiette, much touched, stepped up in silence, on tiptoe, as though approaching the bedside of a dying person.
It was, in fact, a melancholy spectacle which presented itself to the eyes of the two women, as they gazed through the grating of the Rat–Hole, neither stirring nor breathing.
The cell was small, broader than it was long, with an arched ceiling, and viewed from within, it bore a considerable resemblance to the interior of a huge bishop's mitre. On the bare flagstones which formed the floor, in one corner, a woman was sitting, or rather, crouching. Her chin rested on her knees, which her crossed arms pressed forcibly to her breast. Thus doubled up, clad in a brown sack, which enveloped her entirely in large folds, her long, gray hair pulled over in front, falling over her face and along her legs nearly to her feet, she presented, at the first glance, only a strange form outlined against the dark background of the cell, a sort of dusky triangle, which the ray of daylight falling through the opening, cut roughly into two shades, the one sombre, the other illuminated. It was one of those spectres, half light, half shadow, such as one beholds in dreams and in the extraordinary work of Goya, pale, motionless, sinister, crouching over a tomb, or leaning against the grating of a prison cell.
It was neither a woman, nor a man, nor a living being, nor a definite form; it was a figure, a sort of vision, in which the real and the fantastic intersected each other, like darkness and day. It was with difficulty that one distinguished, beneath her hair which spread to the ground, a gaunt and severe profile; her dress barely allowed the extremity of a bare foot to escape, which contracted on the hard, cold pavement. The little of human form of which one caught a sight beneath this envelope of mourning, caused a shudder.
That figure, which one might have supposed to be riveted to the flagstones, appeared to possess neither movement, nor thought, nor breath. Lying, in January, in that thin, linen sack, lying on a granite floor, without fire, in the gloom of a cell whose oblique air–hole allowed only the cold breeze, but never the sun, to enter from without, she did not appear to suffer or even to think. One would have said that she had turned to stone with the cell, ice with the season. Her hands were clasped, her eyes fixed. At first sight one took her for a spectre; at the second, for a statue.
Nevertheless, at intervals, her blue lips half opened to admit a breath, and trembled, but as dead and as mechanical as the leaves which the wind sweeps aside.
Nevertheless, from her dull eyes there escaped a look, an ineffable look, a profound, lugubrious, imperturbable look, incessantly fixed upon a corner of the cell which could not be seen from without; a gaze which seemed to fix all the sombre thoughts of that soul in distress upon some mysterious object.
Such was the creature who had received, from her habitation, the name of the "recluse"; and, from her garment, the name of "the sacked nun."
The three women, for Gervaise had rejoined Mahiette and Oudarde, gazed through the window. Their heads intercepted the feeble light in the cell, without the wretched being whom they thus deprived of it seeming to pay any attention to them. "Do not let us trouble her," said Oudarde, in a low voice, "she is in her ecstasy; she is praying."
Meanwhile, Mahiette was gazing with ever–increasing anxiety at that wan, withered, dishevelled head, and her eyes filled with tears. "This is very singular," she murmured.
She thrust her head through the bars, and succeeded in casting a glance at the corner where the gaze of the unhappy woman was immovably riveted.
When she withdrew her head from the window, her countenance was inundated with tears.
"What do you call that woman?" she asked Oudarde.
"We call her Sister Gudule."
"And I," returned Mahiette, "call her Paquette la Chantefleurie."
Then, laying her finger on her lips, she motioned to the astounded Oudarde to thrust her head through the window and look.
Oudarde looked and beheld, in the corner where the eyes of the recluse were fixed in that sombre ecstasy, a tiny shoe of pink satin, embroidered with a thousand fanciful designs in gold and silver.
Gervaise looked after Oudarde, and then the three women, gazing upon the unhappy mother, began to weep.
But neither their looks nor their tears disturbed the recluse. Her hands remained clasped; her lips mute; her eyes fixed; and that little shoe, thus gazed at, broke the heart of any one who knew her history.
The three women had not yet uttered a single word; they dared not speak, even in a low voice. This deep silence, this deep grief, this profound oblivion in which everything had disappeared except one thing, produced upon them the effect of the grand altar at Christmas or Easter. They remained silent, they meditated, they were ready to kneel. It seemed to them that they were ready to enter a church on the day of Tenebrae.
At length Gervaise, the most curious of the three, and consequently the least sensitive, tried to make the recluse speak:
"Sister! Sister Gudule!"
She repeated this call three times, raising her voice each time. The recluse did not move; not a word, not a glance, not a sigh, not a sign of life.
Oudarde, in her turn, in a sweeter, more caressing voice,—"Sister!" said she, "Sister Sainte–Gudule!"
The same silence; the same immobility.
"A singular woman!" exclaimed Gervaise, "and one not to be moved by a catapult!"
"Perchance she is deaf," said Oudarde.
"Perhaps she is blind," added Gervaise.
"Dead, perchance," returned Mahiette.
It is certain that if the soul had not already quitted this inert, sluggish, lethargic body, it had at least retreated and concealed itself in depths whither the perceptions of the exterior organs no longer penetrated.
"Then we must leave the cake on the window," said Oudarde; "some scamp will take it. What shall we do to rouse her?"
Eustache, who, up to that moment had been diverted by a little carriage drawn by a large dog, which had just passed, suddenly perceived that his three conductresses were gazing at something through the window, and, curiosity taking possession of him in his turn, he climbed upon a stone post, elevated himself on tiptoe, and applied his fat, red face to the opening, shouting, "Mother, let me see too!"
At the sound of this clear, fresh, ringing child's voice, the recluse trembled; she turned her head with the sharp, abrupt movement of a steel spring, her long, fleshless hands cast aside the hair from her brow, and she fixed upon the child, bitter, astonished, desperate eyes. This glance was but a lightning flash.
"Oh my God!" she suddenly exclaimed, hiding her head on her knees, and it seemed as though her hoarse voice tore her chest as it passed from it, "do not show me those of others!"
"Good day, madam," said the child, gravely.
Nevertheless, this shock had, so to speak, awakened the recluse. A long shiver traversed her frame from head to foot; her teeth chattered; she half raised her head and said, pressing her elbows against her hips, and clasping her feet in her hands as though to warm them,—
"Oh, how cold it is!"
"Poor woman!" said Oudarde, with great compassion, "would you like a little fire?"
She shook her head in token of refusal.
"Well," resumed Oudarde, presenting her with a flagon; "here is some hippocras which will warm you; drink it."
Again she shook her head, looked at Oudarde fixedly and replied, "Water."
Oudarde persisted,—"No, sister, that is no beverage for January. You must drink a little hippocras and eat this leavened cake of maize, which we have baked for you."
She refused the cake which Mahiette offered to her, and said, "Black bread."
"Come," said Gervaise, seized in her turn with an impulse of charity, and unfastening her woolen cloak, "here is a cloak which is a little warmer than yours."
She refused the cloak as she had refused the flagon and the cake, and replied, "A sack."
"But," resumed the good Oudarde, "you must have perceived to some extent, that yesterday was a festival."
"I do perceive it," said the recluse; "'tis two days now since I have had any water in my crock."
She added, after a silence, "'Tis a festival, I am forgotten. People do well. Why should the world think of me, when I do not think of it? Cold charcoal makes cold ashes."
And as though fatigued with having said so much, she dropped her head on her knees again. The simple and charitable Oudarde, who fancied that she understood from her last words that she was complaining of the cold, replied innocently, "Then you would like a little fire?"
"Fire!" said the sacked nun, with a strange accent; "and will you also make a little for the poor little one who has been beneath the sod for these fifteen years?"
Every limb was trembling, her voice quivered, her eyes flashed, she had raised herself upon her knees; suddenly she extended her thin, white hand towards the child, who was regarding her with a look of astonishment. "Take away that child!" she cried. "The Egyptian woman is about to pass by."
Then she fell face downward on the earth, and her forehead struck the stone, with the sound of one stone against another stone. The three women thought her dead. A moment later, however, she moved, and they beheld her drag herself, on her knees and elbows, to the corner where the little shoe was. Then they dared not look; they no longer saw her; but they heard a thousand kisses and a thousand sighs, mingled with heartrending cries, and dull blows like those of a head in contact with a wall. Then, after one of these blows, so violent that all three of them staggered, they heard no more.
"Can she have killed herself?" said Gervaise, venturing to pass her head through the air–hole. "Sister! Sister Gudule!"
"Sister Gudule!" repeated Oudarde.
"Ah! good heavens! she no longer moves!" resumed Gervaise; "is she dead? Gudule! Gudule!"
Mahiette, choked to such a point that she could not speak, made an effort. "Wait," said she. Then bending towards the window, "Paquette!" she said, "Paquette le Chantefleurie!"
A child who innocently blows upon the badly ignited fuse of a bomb, and makes it explode in his face, is no more terrified than was Mahiette at the effect of that name, abruptly launched into the cell of Sister Gudule.
The recluse trembled all over, rose erect on her bare feet, and leaped at the window with eyes so glaring that Mahiette and Oudarde, and the other woman and the child recoiled even to the parapet of the quay.
Meanwhile, the sinister face of the recluse appeared pressed to the grating of the air–hole. "Oh! oh!" she cried, with an appalling laugh; "'tis the Egyptian who is calling me!"
At that moment, a scene which was passing at the pillory caught her wild eye. Her brow contracted with horror, she stretched her two skeleton arms from her cell, and shrieked in a voice which resembled a death–rattle, "So 'tis thou once more, daughter of Egypt! 'Tis thou who callest me, stealer of children! Well! Be thou accursed! accursed! accursed! accursed!" | <urn:uuid:b7a9e9fd-1d5e-4f48-9e9f-63c15ad3042e> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://etc.usf.edu/lit2go/107/the-hunchback-of-notre-dame/1903/book-sixth-chapter-3/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398075.47/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00195-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.982243 | 11,067 | 2.578125 | 3 |
Interbots, a spin-off of Carnegie Mellon University’s Entertainment Technology Center, has developed a new robotic toy called Popchilla that will be used to study autism. Children with autism will play with it, and hopefully respond to the robot’s “emotions”, which are communicated through a mix of gesture, expression, and voice. The robot’s ears and paws can move, its eyes change from a friendly green to an angry red, and its mouth opens and closes when it sings. A 1o week trial will be conducted this fall at the Autism Center of Pittsburgh in McCandless.
“Kids with autism have difficulty recognizing emotions … in others or themselves. They get mad because they don’t know what they’re feeling. Popchilla is there to facilitate communication, and for some kids any communication is good communication. I have two autistic children of my own … They’re enamored of computer animations. They’re drawn to cartoons. They’d much rather watch cartoons than interact with humans.We have tested many different children, all with different levels of severity of autism. In all the cases, the interest in the robot was piqued, whereas interest in a therapist or a peer was unremarkable. In one case, we had a child who was basically nonverbal pick up a spoon and ‘feed’ Popchilla. Another responded by following along with a song or two.” said Cindy Waeltermann, founder and director of the Autism Center of Pittsburgh. | <urn:uuid:2d5f7acd-172e-464c-a655-8e4fc3fa03e4> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.plasticpals.com/?p=24780 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396106.25/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00033-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957543 | 321 | 3.375 | 3 |
This Thanksgiving, choose kindness. Walle thanks you.
Thanksgiving is a time of gratitude and reflection. It is a celebration of life and hope for a bright future. Yet the festivities center on a dead animal, a bird who was once a candidate as America's national bird, a bird who forms friendships and has a broad language of calls. Every year, more than 40 million turkeys are slaughtered for Thanksgiving alone, a holiday that is supposed to revere life, yet sadly doesn't.
Walle was saved because someone saw her as a sweet bird needing to be saved, not eaten
Walle was supposed to be one of the 40 million this year, shackled and slaughtered for Thanksgiving. She saved herself, walking off the "free-range" farm and wandering until someone picked her up. Someone who saw her as a sweet bird needing to be saved, not eaten.
She had already suffered. The farmer had cut off apart of her beak and the first digit of her toes. Debeaking is common, because overcrowding creates an unnatural social structure, increasing aggression. Imagine being stuck in an elevator for five months with 10 strangers and you might see how fighting would be inevitable. Turkeys are de-toed to make grabbing them by the legs prior to slaughter easier for the handlers. Both are painful and cause lifelong discomfort to the birds.
Amazingly, this mistreatment hasn't deterred Walle from being friendly
with all walks of life, including humans. As she recovered from a
respiratory infection, she loved visits from staff, reveling in any brief
contact. Healthy, she greeted humans cheerfully with a sweet, child-like
trill. Her favorite past-time is being scratched right below her chest - she
leans into the touch, and helps by grooming her personal masseuse.
Walle, like all white-breasted production turkeys, has been bred to grow fast and large. Domestic production turkeys cannot fly, unlike their wild counterparts. They cannot mate naturally and are all artificially inseminated. If humans children grew at the same rate as turkeys, they'd weigh 250 lbs by the age of two! All turkeys slaughtered for consumption are babies, killed at the young age of 4-6 months. That's only 5-7% of their natural lifespan!
Turkeys are fascinating animals. They have an actual language, can be trained similar to a dog, and form strong bonds with other turkeys and species. This Thanksgiving, please give the turkeys thanks by not eating them. It's that simple. There are plenty of alternatives, from commercial products to making your own. Examples include Tofurky, and Field Roast.
When given a choice between unnecessary suffering and kindness, shouldn't our moral imperative be compassion? This Thanksgiving, choose kindness. Walle thanks you. | <urn:uuid:330fa1a2-fcec-460f-9db6-710dfc84e348> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.all-creatures.org/stories/a-walle.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783394937.4/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154954-00067-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96874 | 584 | 2.609375 | 3 |
Cell Phones May Cause Cancer, Says New Study
According to the International Agency for Research on Cancer the radiation in cell phones may cause cancer.
The group came to this conclusion after analyzing 30 previous studies which had explored the link between cell phones and cancer.
As a result of this finding, cell phones have now been given a “2 B” classification by the agency , the same designation given to DDT and gasoline engine exhaust. (Two things you certainly wouldn’t want to put close to your brain on a regular basis.)
Nevertheless, since none of the studies on cell phones and cancer have tracked people for more than 10 years, some experts question the validity of any reported link between the two.
What do you think? Will this grim finding have any effect on your cell phone usage? | <urn:uuid:b6dfb7c8-0f6c-4272-8a2f-7e4ab0778be1> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://mooseradio.com/cell-phones-may-cause-cancer-says-new-study/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783403826.29/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155003-00067-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947585 | 165 | 2.546875 | 3 |
Chemistry is the scientific study of matter and its properties. Since matter is anything that has mass and occupies space, this means chemists are interested in just about everything! Through investigating the substances and reactions that occur in our world, students of chemistry can better appreciate the harmony between scientific knowledge and biblical teaching. With the knowledge and tools for proper stewardship of God's creation, those committed to excellence in chemistry can make a difference in a wide span of concerns and issues.
Chemistry has five main branches: organic (carbon compounds), inorganic (compounds of all the other elements), biological (reactions and substances in living organisms), analytical (techniques for measuring chemicals), and physical (interactions between matter and energy).
During your studies at MVNU, you will explore each of these specialties and learn how they integrate into the large body of scientific understanding.
If your interest is chemistry, you will find a place to belong and excel at MVNU. Our Department of Chemistry and Physical Science offers programs that will prepare you well to:
Work as a chemist in academic, government, or industrial laboratories;
Teach chemistry and physical science in grades 7-12;
Work as a medical technologist in a hospital;
Enter medical, dental, optometry, pharmacy and other health-professional schools;
Do graduate work in chemistry or a chemistry-related discipline, including biochemistry, forensic science, molecular biology, pharmacology, toxicology, and many more. | <urn:uuid:28d6421c-7315-4f00-8250-cdc3ec3bee43> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | https://www.mvnu.edu/academics/natsocsci/chemistry/chemistry.asp | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393997.50/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00012-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946414 | 301 | 2.796875 | 3 |
One of the most common vaccines in the United States is the DTaP vaccine. The vaccine is meant to prevent the spread of Diphtheria, Tetanus and Pertussis from an infected or exposed person to another person.
The DTaP vaccine was introduced in 1997 by the FDA to replace the DTP vaccine formula, which was linked to safety issues concerning young children.
What is the DTaP vaccine?
A shot of DTaP provides protection against three bacterial illnesses.
- Diphtheria is a bacterial infection spread from person to person. The infection causes a thick coating in the back of the throat, which leads to difficulty breathing, heart failure, paralysis and even death.
- Tetanus enters the body through open wounds or cuts. People with tetanus experience painful muscle contractions and tightening all over the body, especially the jaw. Death occurs in every two out of ten reported cases.
- Pertussis (whooping cough) is a highly contagious disease spread from person to person. In children, coughing spells reduce the ability to eat, drink and breathe. Whopping cough can last for weeks and lead to seizures, pneumonia, brain damage and even death.
DTaP Side Effects
Approximately 25% of children who receive the DTaP vaccine experience minor side effects.
These include low-grade fever, redness, swelling or tenderness at the injection site. Additionally, children may become fussiness, tiredness or vomiting following the immunization.
Moderate to severe side effects include seizures; non-stop crying that lasts over three hours and fever over 105 degrees F occur less frequently.
Children may experience rare but serious side effects like brachial neuritis, Guillan-Barre syndrome (GBS) and Acute Disseminated Encephalomyelitis (ADEM).
- Brachial neuritis causes inflammation of nerve bundles in the shoulder, arms and fingers and results in muscle weakness or atrophy.
- Guillan-Barre syndrome has no cure and includes symptoms of blurred vision, paralysis and low blood pressure.
- Acute Disseminated Encephalomyelitis, ADEM, causes headaches, lethargy, weight loss, vomiting, seizures and coma.
Who is should receive the DTaP vaccine?
Doctors recommend that all children receive the DTaP vaccine series to prevent the spread of diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis.
Infants receive a series of five doses of the vaccine beginning at two months of age. The remaining doses occur at four months, six months, between 15 and 18 months, and the final dosage before entering school between four and six years of age.Most children who receive the full series of the shots are protected throughout their childhood from contracting these diseases.
Certain considerations need to be taken before the shot is administered to prevent potential side effects. For example, If a child has a moderate to severe sickness delay the shot until the child has recovered.
Avoid the vaccine in the event of previous life-threatening allergic reaction, seizure or fever over 105 degrees.Children who experienced a nervous system or brain disease within seven days of a previous DTaP vaccine should not receive another dose.
Children over the age of seven years old, adolescents and adults receive a different version of the vaccine called Tdap. This single dose vaccine protects against the same diseases, but it is formulated for people ages 11 through 64 years old. | <urn:uuid:03557be6-0d81-4091-860a-3336aabf2098> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.vaccineinjuryhelpcenter.com/side-effects-of-the-dtap-vaccine/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393093.59/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00037-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930794 | 713 | 3.640625 | 4 |
From now until September 14, nearly 100 striking works of art by Gustave Doréone of the most extraordinary artists of the 19th centuryare being showcased at the National Gallery of Canada
for the North American exclusive exhibition Gustave Doré (1832 1883): Master of Imagination. These spectacular and familiar works, in which fantasy and reality overlap, have inspired generations. Organized by the National Gallery of Canada in collaboration with the Musée dOrsay in Paris, the exhibition is the first comprehensive retrospective in thirty years devoted to this tremendous artist.
A master of many genres
At just 15 years of age, Doré began his career as a caricaturist. He later became a professional illustrator, contributing to the birth of the comic strip and the graphic novel. Doré created well-known illustrations for classics such as Perraults Fairy Tales, Cervantes Don Quixote and Dantes Inferno, as well as his extraordinary edition of the Bible. Doré also revived history painting to depict the disasters of the Franco-Prussian War from 18701871 and the consequent loss of his native Alsace.
Gifted with remarkable inventiveness, this ardent and prolific artist captured the intensity of nature and created otherworldly realms of fantasy. This ingenuity led him to produce large-scale canvases and enormous Baroque sculptures, as well as insightful ink drawings and detailed engravings. Unswayed by new trends, Doré was guided principally by his own extraordinary imagination and has since become a fertile source of inspiration to many 20th- and 21st-century artists and filmmakers.
A brilliant artist, reinstated
The exhibition showcases Dorés great artistic diversity. During his lifetime, he was known mostly as an illustratormuch to his chagrin; he dreamed of becoming one of the most renowned painters of his time. Dorés versatility can be seen across his prints, drawings, watercolours, paintings and sculptures, ranging from spectacular panoramas to intimate studies on paper. By presenting the broad range of mediums with which he worked, the exhibition seeks to re-establish Doré as a complete artist.
An exhibition with seven themes
The exhibition focuses on seven themes: following an operatic-style overture built around the exceptional loan of Poème de la Vignean immense bronze that belongs to the de Young Museum in San Franciscothe exhibition continues through the Satirical and Popular Reporter, Literary Imagination, Landscapes, the Franco-Prussian War, journeys in Spain and London, and finally the rebirth of Religious Art.
The exhibition is enriched with excerpts from some 20 films projected on three screens, produced by some of the worlds cinematic giantsfrom Georges Méliès, Jean Cocteau, Cecil B. DeMille to Jean-Jacques Annaud, and Roman Polanski whose works were unquestionably influenced by Doré. Guests can also learn more about Doré by watching a 52-minute documentary produced by ARTE, showing in one of the exhibition rooms.
Gustave Doré (1832 1883): Master of Imagination brings together works from prestigious public and private collections, including the Musée dOrsay, San Franciscos De Young Museum, the British Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Art Institute of Chicago. | <urn:uuid:c770654e-8341-4523-85ab-aa2d61f84eb3> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://artdaily.com/news/70762/Nearly-100-striking-works-of-art-by-Gustave-Dor--on-view-at-the-National-Gallery-of-Canada | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398075.47/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00040-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965957 | 686 | 2.625 | 3 |
British silver hallmarks were introduced and first used in 1327. After this date, it was an offence to sell any precious metal without the appropriate hallmarks.
The majority of hallmarks consist of four or five symbols which provide precise information:
a – Maker's Mark
b – Assay Mark (Early Sheffield)
c – Date Letter
d – The Sterling Mark
e – The Duty Mark (monarch's head)
1 - The Sterling Mark
For pieces assayed in England, this is depicted as a lion passant - a lion seen from the side.
For pieces assayed in Scotland, this is depicted by a thistle.
For pieces assayed in Ireland, this is depicted by a crowned harp.
This confirms the silver content of .925.
2 - The Assay Mark
This identifies where the item was quality tested and assayed.
There have been eleven Assay Offices used over the centuries, but only four are currently in operation in the UK.
Assay Offices still in operation:
London: Leopards Head, 1327 - present day
Edinburgh: Castle (pointed towers), 1457 - present day
Birmingham: An Anchor, 1773 - present day
Sheffield: A Crown, 1775 - 1975
The York Rose, 1975 - present day
Dublin: A Harp, 1637 - present day
(following the formation of the Irish Free State in 1922 Dublin became subject to the laws of the Republic of Ireland, and not those of Great Britain)
Other Assay Offices:
Glasgow: A Tree, closed 1964
Chester: A Shield with Sheaves of Corn, closed 1962
Newcastle Upon Tyne: Three Castles, closed 1884
Exeter: A Castle (traditional towers), closed 1883
York: Half Leopard's Head/Half Fleur De Lys
or Half Rose Crowned/Half Fleur De Lys
or A Cross charged with Five Lions Passant, closed 1858
Norwich: A Castle over a Lion Passant, closed 1702
3 - The Date Letter
This mark denotes the year the item was assayed.
Not only does the date 'letter' change with the year, but also the 'shape' surrounding the letter. (NOTE: There may be instances where consecutive letters denote the same year; pieces in a canteen of cutlery, for example, may have two date letters such as M and N, yet all the pieces were made in the same year).
4 - The Maker's Mark
Normally this consits of the maker's initials written in a particular font, surrounded by a particular shape.
5 - The Duty Mark
This is depicted as the monarch's head and was used to show that duty had been paid on the item.
The Duty Mark was used between December 1784 - April 1890. | <urn:uuid:e5249583-a205-4d2d-8771-069f226fca23> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://stores.ebay.com/AC-Silver-Antiques/Silver-Hallmarks.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783394987.40/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154954-00010-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932519 | 597 | 3.3125 | 3 |
Over the last several decades, evidence has piled up that Mars once played host to liquid water on its surface. But in its current geological era, the red planet is too cold and has too little atmosphere to allow liquid to survive for long. Even at the peak of Martian summer, water would evaporate off quickly during the day, or freeze solid as soon as night hit. But that doesn't mean it couldn't exist beneath the surface, where pressures and temperatures might be quite different, so researchers have been looking for signs that some subterranean liquid might bubble to the surface. Now, scientists are reporting some changes on the Martian surface that seem to be best explained by a watery seep.
The information comes courtesy of the finest resolution camera we've ever put in orbit there, the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The MRO has been circulating Mars for long enough that it's been able to image certain areas multiple times over a Martian year or more, which has enabled the authors of a new paper to identify seasonal changes on the planet's surface.
One of the changes that the authors spotted was a "recurring slope lineae," or RSL (their name, not ours). These were regions of steep downward slopes (25 degrees or more) that darkened during the Martian summer and reverted to a lightened color once summer ended. These were mostly concentrated in the southern hemisphere, but tended to be on northward-facing slopes, suggesting they required elevated temperatures to form. They were also associated with channels that are visible year-round, and they appeared to flow around obstacles, rather than simply barreling down-slope. Typically, they appeared at the base of a bedrock outcrop; in a few locations, hundreds of these RSLs were present.
Overall, the authors have confirmed 7 sites with RSLs, and have a strong indication of another dozen—the latter just haven't been imaged long enough to confirm their annual reappearance. Another 20 sites appear to be worth following up on. Each site hosts anywhere from a dozen to thousands of these features on different areas of the slope, each less than five meters across.
All of that, to the authors' mind, implies that the features are caused by seeping water. There are a number of other potential sources, such as debris flows or seasonal coverings of dust, but they don't fit the observations nearly so well. Debris flows can easily end up covering obstacles in their path rather than flowing around them, and there's no reason they should be limited to equator-facing slopes. Dust in the Martian atmosphere should cover all features with the same general time course, but dust at other sites doesn't seem to track with the RSLs over the course of a Martian year. And there's no reason for any simple geological processes like these to be limited to so few sites on the surface of the entire planet.
Liquid water, however, would be expected to be very limited in scope. And the association of the RSLs with exposed bedrock would seem to suggest a source inside the Martian crust.
There are two potential problems with this explanation identified by the authors. The first is that many of the slopes are expected to have temperatures well below the freezing point of water. This, they contend, isn't really an issue; a salty brine can depress the freezing point of water by as much as 70K, meaning that all of the sites should be expected to have liquid brines during the Martian summer, when the RSLs appear.
The second issue is much more serious: the MRO also has a spectrometer on board, which should be able to pick up a clear indication of water in the area. It doesn't. The authors suggest that the brine might be flowing below the surface, which would keep it from wetting material that can be imaged by the spectrometer, but that seems like a weak explanation—if it's not at the surface, why is the surface so obviously changing color?
This isn't the first case where a feature on Mars has been interpreted as indicating the presence of liquid water, but many of the past findings haven't shown the sort of seasonal activity and bias toward the warmer slopes of a feature that the authors have found here. The lack of a clear signal from water is definitely troubling, but the paper can be viewed as inviting the wider community to think a bit about the results, and either come up with a better explanation for these features, or suggest why the spectrometer wouldn't be seeing any water. | <urn:uuid:9dfcac37-258a-4daf-b672-cf5c0cef7dc1> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://arstechnica.com/science/2011/08/seasonal-changes-on-mars-hint-at-watery-flows/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395546.12/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00165-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977966 | 935 | 3.890625 | 4 |
The hyoid bone is located between the chin and the thyroid cartilage. It is also at the base of the mandible, or lower jawbone. Unlike other bones within the skeleton, the hyoid does not feature any major points of articulation (joints) with other bones.
The hyoid bone can be divided into three component parts: the body of the hyoid, the greater cornua, and the lesser cornua. The body of the hyoid is centrally located, while the cornua are on both sides. The lesser cornua are small conical projections oriented upwards. The greater cornua extends backwards from the body of the hyoid. Since cornua come in pairs, the greater and lesser cornua can be differentiated into left and right sections.
This bone also provides a place of attachment for many muscles associated with the mouth's floor, as well as the larynx (voice box), pharynx (throat), and epiglottis (flap of tissue located at the top of the larynx). While the hyoid bone provides protection to these organs, it can be fractured if exposed to excessive forces. Typically, a broken hyoid results from forced strangulation (i.e. choking). | <urn:uuid:829bda48-fd6a-45f6-9885-661f43f3fd58> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.healthline.com/human-body-maps/hyoid-bone | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395613.65/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00161-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.926427 | 253 | 3.8125 | 4 |
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Latest round of climate talks end
The latest in a series of international climate talks ended August 14 in Bonn. The December 2009 Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in Copenhagen is supposed to establish a new post-Kyoto Protocol agreement scheduled to take effect in 2012.
According to the UN climate convention secretariat, plans currently offered by industrialized countries (other than the US) would reduce greenhouse gas emissions to between 15 and 21 percent below 1990 levels by 2020. President Obama has set a target of just reducing U.S. emissions to 1990 levels by 2020. The scientists in the International Panel on Climate Change have said that emissions need to be cut between 25 and 40 percent from 1990 levels to prevent major impacts from heatwaves, floods and rising sea levels.
On August 11, the UN Secretary-General warned that "If we fail to act, climate change will intensify droughts, floods and other natural disasters. Water shortages will affect hundreds of millions of people. Malnutrition will engulf large parts of the developing world. Tensions will worsen. Social unrest -- even violence -- could follow."
Anders Turesson, the chief climate negotiator for Sweden, which is now leading the European Union, observed that "What we're talking about is a profound change of industrial civilization. It would be surprising if there weren't stumbling blocks." | <urn:uuid:a8aa2e9d-7741-45be-b24f-168ea650e0ff> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.citnet.org/Latest%20round%20climate%20talks%20end | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397795.31/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00014-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936523 | 318 | 3.140625 | 3 |
Epilepsy, or recurrent afebrile seizures, is a pediatric disorder occurring
in 5.2 to 7.3 per 1,000 school-age children. Fortunately, most children
who have a single seizure will not go on to develop epilepsy. Even when
they do, the majority will have a relatively benign disorder that can
be effectively controlled with a single antiepileptic drug and, over time,
the disorder often resolves itself, allowing the discontinuation of treatment.
Proper selection of medication is critical, since all antiepileptic drugs
have a potential for significant side effects that may become more severe
with higher doses and with polydrug therapy (taking more than one anti-epileptic
Despite proper selection of medication and satisfactory compliance,
some patients continue to suffer from epileptic seizures. In these children,
drug dosages are gradually increased and sometimes more than one medication
is used at a time to try to achieve seizure control.
Children with epilepsy are at risk for associated problems like learning
disabilities, attention deficit disorder and depression. Pediatric neurologists
work with the parents to try and ensure that children with epilepsy are
treated like ordinary kids. In addition to treatment with medications,
some novel therapies like pacemakers (vagal nerve stimulator) and, in
some cases, epilepsy surgery, or diet control, are being used. All of
these treatments are offered at our Comprehensive Epilepsy Center.
Headaches are more common in children than most people think. It is estimated
that half of all adult migraine patients experience migraines before age
15 -- with some occurring as young as two to three years of age. Studies
indicate that approximately five to eight percent of children have migraine
headaches. The peak age of onset for migraine with aura (temporary visual
disturbances, such as flashes of light) is age 5 to 10 for boys and age
12 to 13 for girls. For migraine without aura, the peak age of onset is
age 10 to 11 for boys and age 14 to 17 for girls. Prior to puberty, the
prevalence of migraine appears to be equal to or slightly higher in boys
than girls. After puberty, however, nearly three times as many females
as males suffer from migraines.
Migraines are episodic disorders that may occur as often as 10 to 15
times a month or as rarely as once a year. Onset may be at any time of
day, including first thing in the morning; migraine seldom awakens the
patient at night. The headache typically lasts from 4 to 72 hours in the
adult population. In children, however, the duration might be much shorter,
lasting only 2 to 4 hours. After the pain subsides, the patient may feel
"normal" or may be fatigued, have a poor appetite, and feel achy. This
is known as the postdrome. Migraine headache is thought of as the "sick
headache" because it is often accompanied by nausea and/or vomiting. Children
may be especially sensitive to light or sound, not always both, and their
stomach problems may be worse than those of adults who have migraine.
Even with these severely debilitating symptoms, the child will seldom
scream with pain. More often, he or she will insist on lying down in a
dark, quiet room. If sleep ensues, the pain will often (though not always)
subside prior to awakening.
Children and teenagers can also suffer from chronic daily headaches,
cluster headaches and tension headaches. Headaches may also be the symptom
of an underlying problem (virus, meningitis, brain tumor).
Neuromuscular diseases are progressive disorders caused by the improper
functioning of muscles and nerves. They include muscular dystrophies and
spinal muscular atrophy.
Attention deficit disorder, with or without hyperactivity, means that
the child (or adult) has difficulty paying attention in situations where
attention and focusing is needed. It is diagnosed by using rating scales,
which are completed by the teacher and the parents and the child if the
child is old enough to do so. Symptoms must:
ADD is not diagnosed by medical tests, although tests may be used if other conditions are expected.
ADD is treated with therapy, behavioral modification and, in some cases,
medication. Some families believe that alternative therapies are useful,
although these are not proven.
- Have occurred before the age of seven
- Been present for more than six months
- Be present in two out of three settings (home, school, in public)
Autism and pervasive developmental disorder (PDD) are disorders characterized
by impairments in socialization and communication. They are associated
with restricted patterns of interest and usually are first noted around
the age of two. The child exhibits a lack of social and language development
and limited interpersonal interaction. Children with autism and PDD may
be easily disturbed by the slightest change in environment and have repetitive
self-stimulatory behaviors such as rocking, head banging or flapping of
hands. They also have a limited repertoire of interests and activities.
Autism and pervasive developmental disorder are on the same continuum,
but PDD has less severe symptoms. The language of children with PDD and
autism may range from none (non-verbal) to difficulties with pragmatic
language (carrying on a conversation). Language problems may include use
of jargoning (gibberish,) repetitive language, and echolalia (repeating
words or phrases.) It is very important that any child with speech delays
be evaluated to determine whether other autistic characteristics are present.
Diagnosis is made by using standardized scales, such as the CARS (Childhood
Autism Rating Scales). Neither autism nor PDD are diagnosed by using MRIs
or any other medical tests.
Children with abnormal head size may be referred to neurologists. Abnormal
head size includes microcephaly (small head size) and macrocephaly (large
One cause of macrocephaly is hydrocephalus. Hydrocephalus is caused by
a problem with the cerebrospinal fluid, either the abnormal production
of fluid; blocked flow of fluid; or impaired production of cerebrospinal
fluid. If there are symptoms of increased intercranial pressure, surgical
treatment is sometimes necessary.
Brain tumors may vary from benign to malignant. The child may have symptoms
of headache, vomiting, change in consciousness, change in vision, and
Children may be referred because of "cranial vault abnormalities." These includes craniosynostosis, meaning that one or more of the sutures
(places where the bones of the skull meet and fuse) have fused prematurely. This is diagnosed by physical examination and CT scan and, if warranted, is corrected surgically.
Plagiocephaly is flattening of the skull, usually in the back, and usually requires only positioning to improve the appearance.
The obstruction of blood flow may occur in arteries or veins and may be
caused by blood clots or bleeds. Common symptoms are focal seizures and headache.
Most common causes are congenital heart disease, sickle cell anemia, meningitis,
infections, lupus or metabolic disorders.
Cerebral palsy is a non-specific term used to describe a disorder in muscle
function that is characterized by changes in muscle tone (hypertonia or
hypotonia) as a result of brain dysfunction. It is present at birth and
does not worsen with time. Symptoms may include spasticity (stiffness),
involuntary movements (chorea, athetosis), ataxia (balance/coordination
difficulties) or a combination of the above. Descriptions of these symptom
can be found below.
Spastic Cerebral Palsy: There are different categories of spastic
cerebral palsy. Sometimes the medical team uses these terms:
- Diplegia - the legs are more involved than the arms (most common)
- Quadriplegia - the legs and arms are equally involved
- Hemiplegia - one side of the body is involved, with the arm often
more involved than the legs (least common.)
- Athetoid - involves writhing-like movements
Ataxia - the inability to make smooth, accurate,
Chorea - continuous random movements
Dystonia - abnormal muscle contractions that
lead to jerking, twisting, spasms and stiffening at rest or during attempts
Spasticity (hypertonia) - increased muscle
stiffness that worsens with rapid movement and may be associated with
increased reflexes and stiffness
Hypotonia - low muscle tone. These children
appear a little "floppier" or "looser" than usual and may drool, be late
walkers, speak late or articulate poorly
Mild hypertonia and hypotonia may be present without a diagnosis of
Tics/Tourette's Syndrome - involuntary production
of movements or sounds that are sudden, stereotyped, non-rhythmic and
repetitive. They may be simple motor, which are fast brief movements involving
one motor group (sniffing, shrugging, eye blinks, etc.) or complex motor,
which are relatively coordinated movements that seem purposeful (skipping,
twirling) or simple or complex motor tics. A child is diagnosed with Tourette's
syndrome when both vocal and motor tics are present for more than one
year. One subtype of tics is Pandas - tics and obsessive behavior associated
with strep infections. | <urn:uuid:899fa613-322b-47a7-aa0e-aabef1ee5156> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.wehealny.org/services/bi_pedsepilepsycenter/Diagnosis.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783399522.99/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154959-00162-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933113 | 2,045 | 3.671875 | 4 |
Keep this glossary of nutraceutical compounds and ingredients as handy reference list for the wellness ingredients you need..
Alpha-linolenic acid – an omega-3 fatty acid important for brain and cardiovascular health. (See "Omega-3.")
Alpha-lipoic acid – an antioxidant coenzyme that also may enhance insulin function and counteract insulin resistance.
Anthocyanins – powerful antioxidants responsible for the red, blue and purple coloring in berries and other plants. (See “Flavonoids.”)
Antioxidants – chemical compounds that scavenge reactive oxygen species (ROS), which are by-products of the oxidative reactions that can cause cell damage. (See "ORAC.")
Beta-carotene – see “carotenoid,” below.
Carnitine – a compound derived from the amino acid lysine; aids fatty-acid metabolism, energy and growth.
Carotenoids – class of a group of flavonoid vitaminic compounds, such as beta-carotene, related to vitamin A. Found in red, orange, green and yellow vegetables, fruits and plants, plus a number of other food sources. Carotenoids are well-studied and have strong antioxidant, anticarcinogenic, antitumorigenic and anticataract abilities.
Choline – a saturated amine compound essential for cardiovascular and brain function, and cell membrane structure and repair. It also helps the body utilize B vitamins and lower levels of homocysteine, helping to prevent heart disease.
Chromium – a mineral that, in its trivalent form, is considered nutritionally essential although in trace amounts (25-35 micrograms per day). Chromium has been shown to contribute to glucose metabolism by enhancing the effects of insulin.
Cinnamide – an active chemical compound from cinnamon shown in some studies to increase insulin response and help management of blood sugar for persons with diabetes.
Coenzyme Q-10 (CoQ-10) – is a vitaminlike molecule critical to energy production in every animal cell that also acts as an antioxidant. Found mostly in meat, poultry and fish with smaller amounts in plant sources, specifically nuts and seeds.*
Curcumin – an active compound in spices such as turmeric and cumin, which has shown a strong ability to help regulate blood sugar.
DHA – Docosahexaenoic acid; one of the polyunsaturated omega-3 fatty acids (oils) important to brain and cardiac health (see omega-3, below).
EPA – Eicosapentaenoic acid; an omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid important to brain and cardiac health (see omega-3, below). Ellagic acid – a polyphenolic acid found in berries, grapes and walnuts with high antioxidant capacity.
Epigallocatechin Gallate (EGCG) – EGCG is a natural polyphenolic compound and the most active component of green tea. It’s a natural antioxidant that helps prevent damage to healthy human cells and the vascular system.
Fiber – any of a group of indigestible plant polysaccharides, including cellulose, lignin, pectins, beta-glucans, inulin and oligosaccharides. Fibers promote intestinal health by normalizing transit time, decreasing exposure of the gut wall to carcinogens, and promoting the growth of healthy bacteria.
Flavonoids – the larger class of plant polyphenols, which includes such compounds as anthocyanins, flavanols, flavones, flavonols and isoflavones. They act as antioxidants and are believed to also contribute to genetic expression and cell-signal regulation, suggesting a second level of cancer protection.
Folate – a B vitamin also known as folic acid; helps prevent neural tube defects during fetal growth and development. Also helps prevent cardiovascular disease and is needed to build and repair DNA and RNA, the building blocks of cells. Found in whole grains and nuts.
Fructooligosaccharides (FOS) – also known as oligofructose, FOS is a short-chain polysaccharide (oligosaccharide) used as a low-calorie sweetener. Also has been shown to be beneficial for gut health by promoting probiotic bacteria (see inulin, below). Also may help increase absorption of certain minerals such as calcium and magnesium.
Inulin – a soluble, short-chain fiber that has been shown to help limit hunger and energy intake by fermenting in the colon, helping to modulate the release of hormones that influence appetite, and promotes probiotic bacteria.
Isoflavones – flavonoid phytochemical compounds, also classed as phytoestrogens (see below) such as daidzein and genestein, found in soy. Highly studied for possible effectiveness against certain cancers, heart disease and osteoporosis. Involved in gene expression and cholesterol management and possibly cognitive function.
Lignan – an antioxidant phytoestrogen found in high amounts in flax seed and other seeds. Converted in the gut to estrogenlike compounds enterodiol and enterolactone by intestinal bacteria.
Lutein – an antioxidant and anti-cataract carotenoid found in eggs, dark leafy greens and red and orange fruits, vegetables and plants. Critical to eye health.
Lycopene – carotenoid antioxidant found in tomatoes, watermelon and other red vegetables. Known primarily for cancer-protective effects, especially prostate cancer, but also may help regulate blood pressure, reduce risk and effects of emphysema.
Nutraceutical – a chemical compound, natural or synthesized, that is a part of a food or added to a food in order to provide health benefit or help prevent or treatment a disease or physical condition.
Omega fatty acids – any of several classes of unsaturated fatty acids (i.e., omega-6, and omega-3) including the essential fatty acids linoleic acid (omega-6) and linolenic acid (omega-3).
Essential fatty acids are vital to the structure and function of tissues, especially nerve and brain tissues and cell membranes. Research has shown omega oils contribute to memory, cognition, lung health, skin integrity and health and cardiovascular health while protecting against Alzheimer’s, depression, asthma, ADHD and even certain cancers.
Phytochemical – although literally “plant chemical,” usually refers to any compound from a plant source that may be efficacious to health. Used interchangeably with “phytonutrient.” About 10,000 have been identified to date, and perhaps as many more remain unidentified.
Phytoestrogen – also called “plant estrogens,” these phytochemicals show mild estrogenlike ability. Soybeans are a major source of these highly studied compounds. They may help regulate cholesterol and reduce the risk of some cancers. They might help maintain bone density post-menopause and could be mildly helpful at reducing menopausal symptoms.
Phytosterol – also called plant sterols, phytosterols are steroid alcohols naturally occurring in plants. In addition to antioxidant capacity, they have shown strong ability to help reduce serum cholesterol and protect against cardiovascular disease.
Polydextrose – a fiber made up of dextrose, sorbitol and citric acid. A lower-calorie sweetener, polydextrose acts as a prebiotic fiber to promote gut health.
Polyphenol – antioxidant flavonols which have been shown to help reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, cancer and the onset of Alzheimer’s. Found in high levels in grape seeds and skins, as well as in black currants, pomegranates, yerba maté, green tea, dark chocolate, red wine and virgin olive oil. Prebiotic – compounds that can promote the growth of healthful bacteria in the digestive tract, especially the colon.
Probiotic – any of a number of beneficial bacteria or yeast, such as lactic acid bacteria. They convert carbohydrates (such as the milk sugar lactose) into lactic acid, aiding digestion and lowering gastrointestinal pH. See “yogurt cultures.”
Quercitin – a highly bioactive and antioxidant flavonoid compound in tea and grapes (especially red wine), apples and cranberries. Acts as the base for number of other flavonoids. Shows strong anti-inflammatory activity and inhibits the manufacture and release of histamines.
Resistant starch – starch, such as high amylose corn, that resists digestion in the small intestine while helping to form butyrate and encourage healthful flora in the large intestine. Has proven valuable in weight management and cancer prevention.
Resveretrol – a polyphenolic compound found in grape seeds and skins; studied for its antioxidant and anticancer effects.
Selenium – a mineral unique in having antioxidant properties; found in nuts and whole grains. Sterol – see “phytosterol,” above.
Tocopherol – a natural form of vitamin E with strong antioxidant capacity. Found in nuts, whole grains and other plant sources, tocopherols are critical to cellular health and protect against cardiovascular disease and other diseases.
Tocotrienol – an isomer of vitamin E found in palm oil and other plant sources which has strong antioxidant capacity.
Xanthine – an isomer of caffeine found in plants such as yerbamaté; although it has a stimulating effect it is reported to trigger fewer enervating side effects than caffeine and be less irritating to the digestive system.
Yogurt cultures – live, active microbes, specifically lactobacteria, that help foster a healthy colon, help lower cholesterol and reduce the risk of colon cancer. Include Lactobacillus bulgaricus, S. thermophilus, L. acidophilus and L. bifidus and L. reuteri.
Zeaxanthine – an antioxidant and anti-cataract carotenoid found in eggs, dark leafy greens and red and orange fruits, vegetables and plants. Critical to eye health. | <urn:uuid:d9a59ef4-d473-446d-ad4d-0fea44ddb05f> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.foodprocessing.com/ingredient-glossary/?show=all | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395560.69/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00102-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.908883 | 2,127 | 3.34375 | 3 |
|About the presenter: John A. Tetnowski, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, is an Associate Professor and the Ben Blanco Memorial Endowed Professor in Communicative Disorders at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. He is a "Fluency Specialist" approved by ASHA's specialty commission on fluency disorders. He has treated people who stutter for over 15 years.|
|About the presenter: Joseph Donaher is the Coordinator of the Stuttering Program at the Center for Childhood Communication at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. He is a Board Recognized Specialist in Fluency Disorders and teaches graduate level courses on stuttering and fluency related disorders at Temple University where he is pursuing his Ph.D. under the guidance of Woody Starkweather. His areas of interest pertain to clinical management of young people who stutter and fluency disorders secondary to neurological conditions such as Tourette Syndrome and ADHD.|
Differential diagnosis is an important aspect of successful treatment in fluency disorders. Many families believe that all fluency disorders are classified as stuttering. Professionals who treat fluency disorders are well aware, however, that there are many other types of fluency disorders. These include cluttering, psychogenic stuttering, neurogenic stuttering and other disorders that appear on the surface to be stuttering, but are different in their symptoms, course of development, and treatment (ASHA, 1999). One of these fluency disorders that has gained attention in the past few years is associated with Tourette's Syndrome.
Tourette's Syndrome is a motor disorder characterized by the presence of motor or vocal tics. The diagnosis is confirmed by the presence of these tics and is marked by an impairment to social and/or occupational functioning. Onset is typically before the age of 18 (DSM-IV, American Psychiatric Association, 1994). It has been suggested that some symptoms associated with developmental stuttering may also be associated with Tourette's Syndrome (Abwender et al., 1998). These symptoms specifically include motor tics. Other symptoms of stuttering (i.e., secondary or associated characteristics) have also been documented in Tourette's Syndrome. These behaviors can include the aforementioned vocal tics, but can also include behaviors such as eye deviation, and/or lip raising (Conture & Kelly, 1991). Due to overlapping symptoms, it is often difficult to separate stuttering from other neurological, psychological, or motor speech disorders (Van Borsel & Vanryckeghem, 2000). Even when a correct diagnosis is made, there is limited data on how these clients respond to treatment or what is the best course of action to take in therapy.
The purpose of this paper is to present two different case studies that have been diagnosed with fluency disorders associated with Tourette's Syndrome. Both subjects are minors and will be referred to by pseudonyms throughout this paper. The first case, was referred from a Tourette's Syndrome clinic, and therefore had already received the proper diagnosis. The main function of the first case presentation will be to emphasize the planning and goal setting. The second case was referred by his mother, and was not diagnosed with Tourette's Syndrome. The emphasis for the second case presentation will be on the differential diagnosis and referral.
John Doe is an 8-year-old boy who was referred for a speech evaluation by his neurologist due to concerns regarding an inability to produce clear and fluent speech. John's mother reported that he has stuttered since he began speaking but the behaviors have increased recently. There is no significant family history of stuttering.
Medical/ Developmental/Educational and Social History:
Mr. and Mrs. Doe reported that John's medical history is remarkable for allergies, chronic colds, several ear infections and a right-sided hernia. John was diagnosed with Tourette's Syndrome and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) at six years of age by his neurologist. John is currently taking .5 mg. of Risperdal daily to control his tic behaviors. His tics began at age five with throat clearing, teeth clenching, eye blinking and eventual facial grimacing. John lives with his parents and an older sister. Mr. and Mrs. Doe describe him as inquisitive, energetic, sensitive and interesting. They feel that John's speech pattern is beginning to prevent him from participating in activities and are concerned that the recent changes may lead to increased teasing, reduced self-esteem and problems with peers. John recently completed first grade. Throughout the previous school year, John appeared disinterested in the curriculum. His teachers reported that he had difficulty staying on task and frequently was distracted. He has reportedly demonstrated difficulty following multi-step directions. During the past school year, he received pull-out speech therapy and tutoring in reading.
Results from academic testing suggested that John's intellectual abilities fall within the Average Range. However, some specific areas of difficulty were noted including the processing of spoken language, phonological awareness skills, linguistic organization and formulation skills and verbal and working memory abilities. Therefore, John was reported to show signs of a language-based learning disability.
John was also evaluated and followed by a speech and language pathologist, who indicated delayed expressive and receptive language skills. Specific weaknesses included his ability to follow directions presented verbally, his knowledge of basic linguistic concepts and his ability to formulate and organize language. Mr. and Mrs. Doe reported that the school-based therapy addressed ways to present information to John and strategies to assist him in sequencing and processing information. The school based clinician was not concerned with John's disfluency since she felt the behaviors were simply part of his Tourette's Syndrome and could not be changed, according to Mrs. Doe.
Current Speech Evaluation:
John was referred for a follow-up speech evaluation from the Tourette's Clinic at a major medical center. The findings of the current evaluation are summarized below:
John is an 8-year-old boy who was referred for a speech evaluation due to concerns regarding the production of fluent speech. In addition to individual therapy, it was suggested that part of his intervention eventually take place with peers who demonstrate similar characteristics. The desensitization that is gained by such a meeting may reduce anxiety and promote more fluent speech. In addition, this group would serve as an ideal place to promote socializing skills while working on conversational skills.
John should also receive individual therapy for 60 minutes per week. Given his distractibility and difficulty with following directions, intervention will take place during shorter, more frequent sessions to ensure John's comprehension and mastery of techniques. The clinician will attempt to simplify directions, provide repetition of all ideas/concepts, provide written descriptions and visual aids whenever possible and take advantage of the family's willingness to participate in therapy. The goals of therapy should include attempts:
John is currently enrolled in speech therapy one time per week in a group with a peer demonstrating similar behaviors. The group works primarily on social interaction skills and identifying good speech habits. They work on topic maintenance skills, listening skills and turn taking. John's speech is becoming more fluid as he takes more time to organize and formulate his thoughts. John is beginning to show more confidence in his own abilities and is becoming more interactive and social. His family is highly involved in therapy and has been advocating for John with his teachers and the school administration.
Case # 2
James Q. Public is an 11-year-old boy who was referred for a speech evaluation by his mother secondary to a concern that the school-based services were not intense enough to foster true change. James's mother reported that he has stuttered since he began speaking but the behaviors have increased recently. There is no significant family history of stuttering.
Medical/ Developmental/Educational and Social History
According to Mrs. Public, James did not begin to stutter until he was 11 years old. His history includes an educational/medical diagnosis of "possible ADHD." James has an above average intelligence as measured by school psychologists, and is enrolled in the "gifted program" at his school. James takes no medications other than occasional medications for seasonal allergies. His language abilities are above expected levels as measured by standardized language tests. In addition, his conversational skills are judged to be adequate in dialogue situations. The chief compliant at the time of his referral to a university speech and hearing clinic was that his mother reported him to be "disfluent in all situations." He had received almost two years of fluency shaping therapy in the public school system, with little or no progress noted.
Current Speech Evaluation:
The current speech evaluation took place at a university speech, language and hearing center at the request of his mother who was concerned about the lack of his progress in stuttering therapy. The findings are summarized below:
This client was referred to a pediatric neurologist with suspicion of Tourette's Syndrome. The pediatric neurologist made the diagnosis of mild Tourette's Syndrome. This came within 24 days of his evaluation at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette's Speech, Language and Hearing Center.
Following his diagnosis of mild Tourette Syndrome, James and his mother decided against pharmacological intervention. He returned to the university speech and hearing center where he began speech therapy with goals outlined to increase awareness of vocal tics, and control the disfluencies through cancellations, pullout, and preparatory sets. The client decreased his disfluencies to less than 2.5% in all situations after 1 and 1 /2 semesters of therapy at the university clinic. He has maintained these levels for over one year post dismissal and is happy with his current levels of fluency. According to parent reports, the symptoms associated with Tourette's Syndrome have not progressed.
Both of these individuals came to speech and language centers for either a "second opinion" or a more in-depth evaluation. In both cases, it appears as if the family knew there was something affecting the child's speech, in addition to just stuttering. It is interesting to note that John already carried the diagnosis of stuttering/cluttering while James and his family were unaware of this diagnosis. In both cases, the importance of an in-depth evaluation with a carefully constructed intervention plan led to eventual gains in speech and language goals.
In summary, it is apparent that all cases referred to speech-language pathologists for stuttering, may indeed be something other than "just stuttering." There are documented cases in the literature of stuttering related to Tourette Syndrome disorders (Van Borsel & Vanryckeghem, 2000), Multiple Sclerosis (Mowrer & Younts, 2001), Parkinson's Disease (Goberman and Blomgren, 2003), and many other motor and neurological conditions (Helm-Estabrooks, 1999). It is indeed the job of the skilled speech-language pathologist to 1.) recognize these cases 2.) assess all contributing factors including speech, language, social, educational, and developmental aspects 3.) plan appropriate, individualized therapy strategies for the patient and their family, and 4.) make all necessary referrals for the total care of these individuals. We hope that these case studies will help families and clinicians in the accurate diagnosis and appropriate treatment for all types of fluency disorders.
Abwender, D.A., Trinidad, K.S., Jones, K.R., Como, P.G., Hymes, E., & Kurlan, R. (1998). Features resmbling Tourette's syndrome in developmental stutterers. Brain and Language, 62, 455-464.
American Psychiatric Association (1994). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. (4th ed.) Washington, D.C.
American Speech-Language-Heraing Association Special Interest Division 4: Fluency and Fluency Disorders.(1999, March). Terminology pertaining to fluency and fluency disorders: Guidelines. Asha, 41 (Suppl. 19), 29-36.
Conture, E.G., & Kelly, E.M., (1991). Young stutterers' nonspeech behaviors during stuttering. Journal of Speech and Hearing Research, 34, 1041-1056.
Goberman, A.M. & Blomgren, M. (2003). Parkinsonian speech disfluencies: effects of -dopa-related fluctuations. Journal of Fluency Disorders, 28, 55-70.
Helm-Estabrooks, N. (1999). Stuttering associated with acquired neurological disorders. In R.Curlee (Ed.), Stuttering and Related Disorders of Fluency. New York: Thieme Medical Publishers.
Mowrer, D.E. & Younts, J. (2001). Suden onset of expressive repetitions in the speech of a patient with multiple sclerosis: A case report. Journal of Fluency Disorders, 26, 269-310.
Tetnowski, J.A., Jones, E.D., Breaux, R.A., & Roussel, N.C. (2001). Differential diagnosis of stuttering and Tourette's syndrome: A case study. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, New Orleans, LA.
Van Borsel, J., & Vanryckeghem, M. (2000). Dysfluency and phonic tics in Tourette syndrome: A case report. Journal of Fluency Disorders, 33, 227-240. | <urn:uuid:cb55fac7-08e3-4171-b000-513838509a56> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.mnsu.edu/comdis/isad6/papers/donaher6.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783403826.29/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155003-00162-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966631 | 2,752 | 2.9375 | 3 |
Posted by ESC on February 06, 2001
In Reply to: Working like a trojan posted by Barbara on February 05, 2001
: Does anyone know the origin and/or meaning of "working like a trojan"?
WORK LIKE A TROJAN - "Trojan originally referred to the inhabitants of Troy, the ancient city besieged by the Greeks in their efforts to retrieve their queen, Helen, who had been abducted by the son of the King of Troy. According to legend, as recorded in both Vergil's 'Aeneid' and Homer's 'Illiad,' the Trojans were a hard-working, determined, industrious people. Hence: 'He worked like a Trojan." From "Morris Dictionary of Word and Phrase Origins" by William and Mary Morris (HarperCollins, New York, 1977, 1988). | <urn:uuid:5b71ea5c-30b1-4786-90ee-78119b08a88b> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.phrases.org.uk/bulletin_board/7/messages/801.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397567.28/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00117-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976295 | 173 | 2.640625 | 3 |
North Island, New Zealand
8.82 S 176.00 E
summit elevation 760 m
Taupo Volcano is large and has many vents, most of which are now under Lake Taupo. The volcano makes up only the northern half of the lake and a small surrounding area.
Taupo Volcano photos by John Seach
Taupo volcano is not a mountain because the eruptions have been explosive and formed a caldera. Rhyolite accounts for about 98% of all erupted material at Taupo. Most of the rhyolite has been erupted explosively as pumice and ash.
Eruptions of basalt are rare at Taupo volcano. Some small basaltic cones about 500 m across and 200 m high have been formed. Examples are seen around the lake shoreline near Acacia Bay.
Hydrothermal vents in Lake Taupo
The inferred central vent of the 1.8 ka Taupo eruption is located near Horomatangi Reefs. The hydrothermal vents were discovered during a submersable survey in 1998.
1983 Earthquake swarm
In June and July 1983 an earthquake swarm was located under Horomatangi
Reefs. Focal depths were 5 km.
1964-65 Earthquake swarm
Between December 1964 and February 1965 a swarm of 1126 earthquakes began in the western edge of lake Taupo and migrated southeast. The earthquake magnitudes ranged from 2.7 to 4.5.
1.8 ka Taupo eruption
The most recent eruption at Taupo volcano generated 35-100 cubic km of material, and was one of the largest eruptions on earth in the past 5000 years. The Plinian eruption column probably would have been 50 km high, which collapsed to produce pyroclastic flows. Pumice fallout from the eruption extended for 220 km on land. Three eruptive centres have been identified with the eruption. They are aligned NE-SW fissure centred on Horomatangi Reefs.
26.5 ka Oruanui eruption
This eruption generated 430 cubic km of fall deposits and 300 cubic km of
pyroclastic material. The eruption was a caldera-forming event.
186 AD Taupo ( fifth largest caldera forming eruption in history).
26,500 years ago, (largest eruption)
150,000 years ago
330,000 years ago | <urn:uuid:9c25d1c3-4320-43a1-b0dd-14b0a9e3fed7> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.volcanolive.com/taupo.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398216.41/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00156-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947291 | 494 | 3.609375 | 4 |
Definitions of bittersweet
a. - Sweet and then bitter or bitter and then sweet; esp. sweet with a bitter after taste; hence (Fig.), pleasant but painful. 2
n. - Anything which is bittersweet. 2
n. - A kind of apple so called. 2
n. - A climbing shrub, with oval coral-red berries (Solanum dulcamara); woody nightshade. The whole plant is poisonous, and has a taste at first sweetish and then bitter. The branches are the officinal dulcamara. 2
n. - An American woody climber (Celastrus scandens), whose yellow capsules open late in autumn, and disclose the red aril which covers the seeds; -- also called Roxbury waxwork. 2
The word "bittersweet" uses 11 letters: B E E E I R S T T T W.
No direct anagrams for bittersweet found in this word list.
Words formed by adding one letter before or after bittersweet (in bold), or to beeeirstttw in any order:
s - bittersweets
All words formed from bittersweet by changing one letter
Browse words starting with bittersweet by next letter | <urn:uuid:b06b40ae-e36e-4754-b08f-bead0bf17297> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.morewords.com/word/bittersweet/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395620.9/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00162-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.856856 | 261 | 2.734375 | 3 |
ANAHEIM, Calif. – The current U.S. education system is stifling students' creativity.
That's a major problem that Ken Robinson highlighted in his keynote address at the EDUCAUSE 2013 conference for higher education IT leaders on Wednesday, Oct. 16. An Englishman who now lives in Los Angeles, Robinson has written several books on innovation in education, worked in the education field and has spoken around the world at conferences like this one.
Creativity, imagination and innovation-putting good ideas into practice-transforms human life, he said. And technology serves two big purposes that help transform human life:
1. It allows people to do things they couldn't do before
2. More importantly, it enables them to do things they couldn't previously conceive of.
But the current education system is so busy testing students and asking them to find the "right" answer that creativity gets pushed out of the way.
He showed a short video to illustrate his point. In the video, students were shown a picture of a triangle and asked to draw the right painting with the triangle. Most of them used the triangle as a roof for a house, and many of their houses looked very similar, with little color and no intriguing designs.
In another scenario, students were asked to complete the picture that had a triangle. They came up with a variety of creative ideas, including a cat, a boat and an interesting looking creature. And they used more colors.
Now which would you rather have: a bunch of drab houses that look similar, or colorful creations of all kinds?
"Creativity — the idea of original thinking — most often comes when people ask a different question," Robinson said.
Instead of asking students to find the right answer, education leaders need to change the question so that it allows students' imaginations to take off, Robinson said.
But both students and faculty have pushed back on this concept, said Nikki Boots, an instructional designer from Dartmouth College in Hanover, N.H. Students want to know what their professors are looking for when they make an assignment and want to know how to get the right answer. Instead of putting on a show with a lecture and teaching to an exam, faculty members have to put in more work to prepare for the questions that students might ask them during class discussion. And that scares them.
"The faculty, if they're older, that's how they were tested and measured and it's hard for them to think in this different way, especially when they're in STEM subjects," Boots said.
While many professors react to technology with fear, students want more technology. But they often don't like having to put more work into a class, especially when they're paying $60,000 a year for tuition and are expected to learn about something on their own so they can teach the rest of their classmates, Boots said.
Higher education is in a crisis right now because the general public says that colleges are not providing what they need anymore, while those inside education think they're doing a critical task that needs to be accomplished, said Associate Vice President Mike McPherson from the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. But assumptions are not always right.
"We can't assume that we have the right answer, that we already know the right answer and everybody else is confused," McPherson said. "If we go in with that position that we have the right answer, we're more likely to end up in conflict with the people who are paying the bills."
On his campus, massively open online courses (MOOCs) are part of the answer to this education conundrum. But it's not the whole answer, McPherson said.
The university is experimenting with MOOCs because it's trying to figure out how to make the residential campus experience more effective and relevant with technology, McPherson said. Technology could make it possible for every undergraduate students to start creating knowledge from the moment they step on campus. The University of Virginia just doesn't have the capacity to do that now.
Ironically this conference is near Disneyland, where creativity and imagination reign, and everything seems possible. Just the other day, McPherson watched as young children walked through Downtown Disney with their Mickey and Minnie hats and princess dresses. These children are part of the next generation of students, and he wants to leave a better world for them and for his grandchildren. After this session, he'll be thinking about what he can do in his role at the University of Virginia to make the world a better place.
As his grandchildren have come along, they have inspired him to start asking different questions and think more in the mindset of a child who believes that anything is possible. And that's something everyone could use more of, he said.
"Living in this world in which anything is possible — animals talk, people fly, I go like this and I have my magic wand — you could say it's childish," McPherson said. "But it's also imagination without constraints, and many of us left that behind, and we need that." | <urn:uuid:105d5d90-a54e-460c-9e8f-3e63670e48b8> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.centerdigitaled.com/news/What-Children-Can-Teach-Education-Leaders-about-Creativity.html | 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 | 0.979856 | 1,042 | 2.9375 | 3 |
India’s Unsavory Food Safety System
What do you get when you combine a rapidly growing economy, a billion plus people, and desperate farmers trying to keep up with food inflation?
Bad apples—lots of 'em. According to a report published Monday, India is struggling to deal with a growing food contamination problem, affecting approximately 13 percent of its supply. As Reuters' Matthias Williams and Annie Banerji write, the world's second most populous nation has recently been dealing with everything from vegetables tainted with rat poison to murderous moonshine, killing hundreds and hospitalizing thousands more.
The problem is a logistical one. Much of the produce sold in local markets is sourced from hundreds of miles away, leaving merchants vulnerable to fruit rotting before it can be sold. To combat this, traders intentionally select unripe fruit and later fatten them up with calcium carbide, a cancer-causing chemical that hastens the ripening process from a few weeks to a matter of hours. If the fruit has already gone bad, it can be dipped in artificial colors to help encourage a sale.
Another problem is a lack of enforcement for safety standards. A month ago, a report by India's health agency (FSSAI) found that most Indians are drinking contaminated milk that is either watered down or adulterated with products like fertilizer, bleach, or detergent to thicken the milk and give it a more appetizing appearance. "In China, those people who were found to be contaminating milk with melamine, they were given something as severe as a death sentence," said Savvy Soumya Misra of the New Delhi-based Center for Science and Environment (CSE) to Reuters. "But here, we're not even giving them any kind of punishment. So how are they supposed to get scared of the authorities?"
Misra raises a valid point. If unscrupulous manufacturers in China are willing to risk execution to profitably spoil food products, what's stopping the same from happening in India, where there is very little punishment at all?
If America's experience can teach the world anything, it's that regulation is necessary when it comes to food. Contamination and recalls will happen; the important thing is that the information is then disseminated as quickly and widely as possible. Manufacturers also need to build relationships with farmers themselves. As the AP's Nirmala George writes, if the Indian government were willing to acquiesce to supermarket giants such as Walmart, Tesco and Carrefour, they could build contracts directly with farmers and use their refrigerated trucks to preserve stocks and bypass middlemen. I'm the last person to endorse anything Walmart, but if it means getting produce to market cheaper, faster, and safer for consumption, the pros may outweigh the cons.
"It's criminal neglect on the part of the government to allow this volume of wastage," said Biraj Patnaik, an adviser to India's Supreme Court on food policy, to the AP in August. "Just cutting back on the waste would make such a dent in bringing down food inflation, making food more affordable, and hence, available to poor families." | <urn:uuid:b858b8e0-5fcc-4617-aed3-3f45f636e9ce> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.takepart.com/article/2012/02/13/indias-spoiled-food | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783403825.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155003-00093-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963283 | 642 | 2.8125 | 3 |
Tony O’Lenick looks to Sergio R.S. Costa, of Chemflex Quimica, to explain the difference between carbomer and alkyl carbomer.
Carbomer: The term carbomer refers to a series of polymers of acrylic acid used as thickening agents and emulsion stabilizers to provide suspending proprieties to aqueous formulations. Carbomers are all chemically similar, differing from each other only in their molecular weight, or “n” value, and viscosity. Carbomers have the ability to absorb and retain water, and these polymers can swell to many times their original volume. In addition, these products are not dispersants and have no tolerance to electrolyte, which can limit their use in some applications. Carbomers are used in many applications including hair gels, silicon gels, etc.
Alkyl Carbomer: Alkyl carbomers are a new family of copolymer resins, developed as recently as the 1980s. These products are the result of the copolymerization of acrylic acid and alkyl acrylate. The presence of a hydrophobic alkyl group has several effects upon the product. The alkyl product improves electrolyte tolerance and is much easier to disperse. This class of polymers is used in applications where the standard carbomers cannot provide satisfactory results, including hand sanitizers, lotions, creams and shampoos.
The difference chemical difference between a regular carbomer and alkyl carbomer is the presence of the alkyl group; the main difference between the two is in their formulation. If thickening is required and the standard carbomer works well, it is generally recommended. If, however, the presence of electrolyte is incompatible with the formulation or there is a problem with dispersion in the formulation, alkyl carbomer is recommended. | <urn:uuid:183e11da-7fe6-4e84-aa4d-21ca138ef7be> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.cosmeticsandtoiletries.com/formulating/function/viscositymod/100927064.html?mobi=y | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396224.52/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00001-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948467 | 385 | 3.046875 | 3 |
Endometriosis is a common disorder of a woman's reproductive organs and pelvic area. Endometriosis is often associated with painful menstrual periods, and if left untreated, can result in complications, such as difficulty getting pregnant, infertility, and the formation of painful adhesions. Endometriosis is not curable in many cases, but it can be successfully treated to minimize discomfort and increase the chances of conceiving a pregnancy.
Endometriosis occurs as the result of an abnormal growth of endometrial tissue. Endometrial tissue makes up the lining of the uterus. It has special qualities because it responds to changing hormones by becoming thickened and engorged with blood during each menstrual cycle. It is normally shed during the menstrual period if a pregnancy doesn't occur.
In endometriosis this endometrial tissue begins to grow in places outside the uterus. Typical sites include the fallopian tubes, intestines, vagina, and on scars that may form after abdominal surgery.
This misplaced endometrial tissue thickens, engorges with blood and bleeds during the menstrual cycle, just like the normal tissue in the uterus. However, there is no place for the abnormally placed endometrial tissue outside the uterus to shed blood. This results in the formation of cysts, scars, and adhesions.
This process can also block or affect the fallopian tubes so that conception and pregnancy are less likely to happen. It can also result in complete infertility. Other symptoms of endometriosis are often associated with heavy or painful periods. For more details about symptoms, refer to symptoms of endometriosis.
Risk factors for the development of endometriosis include having a mother or sister with the disorder, never having children, starting the menstrual period at an early age, and frequent or long periods.
Symptoms of endometriosis can mimic symptoms of other conditions, such as potentially fatal uterine cancer, so if you experience symptoms, it is important to promptly seek medical care and diagnosis. For information on misdiagnosis, refer to misdiagnosis of endometriosis.
Diagnosis of endometriosis begins with a thorough medical history, including symptoms, and examination, including a pelvic examination. Diagnostic tests include a transvaginal ultrasound. In this test a picture of the reproductive organs is created using sound waves produced by a probe placed in the vagina.
Another common diagnostic test is a laparoscopy. In this procedure, the reproductive and abdominal organs, such as the intestines and liver, are examined by using a tiny lighted instrument that is inserted through a small incision below the belly button.
Treatment of endometriosis is tailored to the individual case, the severity of symptoms, and the presence of any complications. Women who have no or minimal symptoms may not need specific treatment.
For more severe symptoms or those causing problems, such as infertility in a woman who wants to get pregnant, there are a variety of treatments available. These may include pain medications, medications that suppress the abnormal endometrial tissue from growing, and surgery, including hysterectomy in some cases. For more information on treatment, refer to treatment of endometriosis. ...more »
In this condition, tissue from the uterus is misplaced inside the abdomen,
causing a variety of problems.
Endometriosis is a difficult condition to diagnose,
often starting with no symptoms or only mild symptoms.
Symptoms may include abdominal pain, period pain, heavy periods, infertility,
and many other symptoms of endometriosis.
Symptoms are often cyclical because of the locations of the tissue
and the displaced uterine tissue may also inappropriately respond
to hormone cycles.
Once symptoms appear, endometriosis is often misdiagnosed as other conditions such as IBS,
cystitis or pelvic inflammatory disease. ...more »
Symptoms of endometriosis run the gamut from none, to minimal, to severe. Symptoms of endometriosis occur with hormonal changes in the menstrual cycle, and they are often associated with heavy, uncomfortable, and irregular menstrual periods. Symptoms generally occur during the time of life when a woman is having menstrual cycles and disappear after ...more symptoms »
Although endometriosis may not be curable in all cases, there are treatments available to minimize symptoms, allowing many women to lead a normal, active life and to conceive a healthy pregnancy.
Treatment for endometriosis consists of a multi-faceted plan that is individualized to the severity of the disease and symptoms, the presence of complications, ...more treatments »
Symptoms of endometriosis can be similar to and confused with symptoms of other conditions, such as uterine cancer, cervical polyps, irritable bowel syndrome, pelvic inflammatory disease, and ovarian cysts. Some of these conditions can be very serious, even fatal, if left untreated. In addition, untreated endometriosis can also lead to serious complications, such as ...more misdiagnosis »
Symptoms of Endometriosis
See full list of 24
symptoms of Endometriosis
Treatments for Endometriosis
See full list of 19
treatments for Endometriosis
Home Diagnostic Testing
Home medical testing related to Endometriosis:
Wrongly Diagnosed with Endometriosis?
Endometriosis: Related Patient Stories
Read more about Deaths and Endometriosis.
Alternative Treatments for Endometriosis
Alternative treatments or home remedies that have been listed in various sources as possibly beneficial for Endometriosis may include:
Types of Endometriosis
Read more about Types of Endometriosis
Diagnostic Tests for Endometriosis
Read more about tests for Endometriosis
Review possible medical complications related to Endometriosis:
Causes of Endometriosis
Read more about causes of Endometriosis.
More information about causes of Endometriosis:
Disease Topics Related To Endometriosis
Research the causes of these diseases that are similar to, or related to, Endometriosis:
Endometriosis: Undiagnosed Conditions
Commonly undiagnosed diseases in related medical categories:
Misdiagnosis and Endometriosis
Unnecessary hysterectomies due to undiagnosed bleeding disorder in women: The bleeding disorder
called Von Willebrand's disease is quite common in women, but often fails to be correctly diagnosed.
Women with the...read more »
Alzheimer's disease over-diagnosed: The well-known disease of Alzheimer's disease
is often over-diagnosed.
Patients tend to assume that any memory loss or forgetulness symptom...read more »
Dementia may be a drug interaction: A common scenario in aged care is for
a patient to show mental decline to dementia.
Whereas this can, of course...read more »
Rare type of breast cancer without a lump: There is a less common form
of breast cancer called inflammatory breast cancer.
Its symptoms can be an inflammation of the breast tissue, such as with a breast rash
with...read more »
Tremor need not be Parkinson's disease: There is the tendency to believe that
any tremor symptom, or shakiness, means Parkinson's disease....read more »
Leg cramps at night a classic sign: The symptom of having leg muscle cramps,
particularly at night, is a classic sign of undiagnosed diabetes.
However,...read more »
Rare diseases misdiagnosed as Parkinson's disease: A rare genetic
disorder is often misdiagnosed as Parkinson's disease for men in their 50's.
The disease Fragile X disorder can show...read more »
Female athlete syndrome leads to undiagnosed osteoporosis: Younger women are not usually
considered as candidates for diagnosis of osteoporosis.
However, a pattern of three conditions can occur in female athletes:...read more »
Misdiagnosed weight-related causes of infertility: A woman's weight status
can affect her level of fertility.
Although obesity or overweight can in...read more »
Read more about Misdiagnosis and Endometriosis
Endometriosis: Research Doctors & Specialists
Research related physicians and medical specialists:
- Infertility Specialists:
- Pregnancy & Fertility Health Specialists:
- Womens Health Specialists:
- Pain Specialists:
- Arthritis & Joint Health Specialists (Rheumatology):
- Senior Health Specialists (Geriatrics):
- more specialists...»
Other doctor, physician and specialist research services:
Hospitals & Clinics: Endometriosis
Research quality ratings and patient safety measures
for medical facilities in specialties related to Endometriosis:
Hospital & Clinic quality ratings »
Choosing the Best Hospital:
More general information, not necessarily in relation to Endometriosis,
on hospital performance and surgical care quality:
Endometriosis: Rare Types
Rare types of diseases and disorders in related medical categories:
Latest Treatments for Endometriosis
See full list of 11
latest treatments for Endometriosis
More Endometriosis animations & videos
Research about Endometriosis
Visit our research pages for current research about Endometriosis treatments.
Clinical Trials for Endometriosis
The US based website ClinicalTrials.gov lists information on both federally
and privately supported clinical trials using human volunteers.
Some of the clinical trials listed on ClinicalTrials.gov for Endometriosis include:
See full list of 29
Clinical Trials for Endometriosis
Statistics for Endometriosis
Endometriosis: Broader Related Topics
Types of Endometriosis
Endometriosis Message Boards
Related forums and medical stories:
User Interactive Forums
Read about other experiences, ask a question about Endometriosis, or answer someone else's question, on our message boards:
Article Excerpts about Endometriosis
is another benign condition that affects the uterus.
It is most common in women in their thirties and
forties, especially in women who have never been
pregnant. It occurs when endometrial tissue begins
to grow on the outside of the uterus and on nearby
organs. (Source: excerpt from What You Need To Know About Cancer of the Uterus: NCI)
Definitions of Endometriosis:
A condition in which functional endometrial tissue is present outside the UTERUS. It is often confined to the PELVIS involving the OVARY, the ligaments, cul-de-sac, and the uterovesical peritoneum.
- (Source - Diseases Database)
The presence of endometrium elsewhere than in the lining of the uterus; causes premenstrual pain and dysmenorrhea
- (Source - WordNet 2.1)
Contents for Endometriosis:
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- Ask or answer a question at the Boards: | <urn:uuid:5143562e-f2ea-422f-a2f0-dab935462311> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.rightdiagnosis.com/e/endometriosis/intro.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783399428.8/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154959-00000-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.916057 | 2,357 | 3.40625 | 3 |
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