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This article contains information that has become outdated. For more up to date information, read the AMA Playbook's report on the persistency of the gender pay gap since this article was published. Stay connected to the pulse of the business world with the AMA Playbook.
Some trends seem not just enduring but downright stubborn. A case in point is the earnings gap between men and women in the U.S. Although women made many strides in the latter decades of the 20th century—both in and out of the workplace—most research indicates that significant pay differences remain. As employers learn more about the causes of the gap, however, there's hope that it will be narrowed in the 21st century.
A study by the American Association of University Women (AAUW), published in April of this year, indicates that wage inequities start early and worsen over time. "One year out of college, women working full time earn only 80% as much as their male colleagues earn," wrote the report's authors, Judy Goldberg Dey and Catherine Hill. "Ten years after graduation, women fall farther behind, earning only 69 percent as much as men earn."
In reaching its conclusions, the AAUW analyzed data from longitudinal studies conducted by the U.S. Department of Education. Researchers controlled for a variety of factors—such as occupation, college major, work hours, and the like—that might affect earnings. Still, females earned less. Said the AAUW, "Ten years after graduation, the portion of the gender pay gap that remains unexplained increases from 5% [a year after graduation] to 12%."
Such findings are not unique. A 2005 American Bar Foundation/NALP (NALP is an advocacy organization for legal professionals) study found median salaries for female attorneys lagging behind those of their male counterparts by $14,000 at the two-years-in-practice mark. Federal government research conducted in 2003 by the General Accounting Office (now the Government Accountability Office) controlled for a range of factors that included education, marital status, race, parenthood and more. The study found women earned 80.3% of male pay in 1983 and 79.7% in 2003.
More recently, Vanderbilt University economist Malcolm Getz confirmed gender-based pay disparities of $16,000 or more in the finance and accounting fields. And a 2007 survey by executive career Website TheLadders.com found that 70% of business leaders it surveyed online acknowledged that men and women were not paid equally for similar jobs.
Many researchers have looked for the causes of the earnings gap. While long-standing social attitudes about women probably play a part, they certainly don't account for all of it. In fact, it appears that multiple factors are to blame.
The AAUW cites such variables as whether or not a woman opts for a college education, which college she attends, the major she chooses, the occupation she pursues and whether or not she has children. A 2006 article in Public Administration Review suggests that the continued existence of glass ceilings and the "segregation of women in certain 'female-dominated' occupations" are contributing factors, along with differences in work experience and skills.
University of New Hampshire professor Allison Churilla, coauthor of a report on earnings gaps by New Hampshire's Women's Policy Institute, notes, "We found that there are two factors contributing to women's poorer status compared to men: the family responsibilities they typically shoulder and the types of occupations women tend to concentrate in."
History can be a problem, too. Since starting salaries often are based on prior earnings, women tend to begin jobs at lower pay levels than men do. "Male employees' pay may edge higher because of past salaries, [and] they may network differently and be more vocal in asking for raises," adds a July 2006 article in Principal's Report ("How Widespread," 2006).
What can employers do to help address the earnings gap? Most sources agree that they could start with a comprehensive audit of their compensation policies and practices to ensure that discrimination—either overt or unintentional—isn't occurring. "Set compensation guidelines; put any bonus, commission or other similar program in writing; keep compensation records; and do your math early," say Sikorski and Mutch (2007).
Reviewing hiring practices may be in order also, with special attention paid to starting salaries: "Salary negotiation at the hiring stage is one time where lower-salaried women have a chance to make up the gap," noted Principal's Report.
Another strategy involves educating organizational leaders about gender pay gaps and encouraging them to support female career development by expanding women's networking opportunities and ensuring that projects designed to groom future leaders are assigned fairly. Offering flexible work arrangements and, if necessary, adjusting company culture accordingly is an approach mentioned by multiple sources and one that ultimately can benefit both male and female employees emotionally as well as financially.
Ultimately, the idea is to boost the productivity of organizations by ensuring that all employees recognize that compensation is based on performance and merit rather than gender.
For more information on gender-related issues, visit www.i4cp.com
Documents used in the preparation of this article include the following:
Alkadry, Mohamad G., and Leslie E. Tower. "Unequal Pay: The Role of Gender." Public Administration Review. ProQuest. November/December 2006, pp. 888+.
Dey, Judy Goldberg, and Catherine Hill. "Behind the Pay Gap." AAUW Educational Foundation, April 2007.
"Giving Women Their Fair Pay." Knight Ridder Tribune Business News. ProQuest. April 30, 2007, p. 1.
"How Widespread Is the Gender Pay Gap?" Principal's Report. ProQuest. July 2006, pp. 6+.
"Is the Gender-Based Pay Gap a Real Issue?" IOMA's Report on Compensation & Benefits for Law Offices.ProQuest. May 2007, pp. 3+.
Jordan, Charles E., Stanley J. Clark, and Marilyn A. Waldron. "Gender Bias and Compensation in the Executive Suite of the Fortune 100." Journal of Organizational Culture, Communication and Conflict. ProQuest. Vol. 11, no. 1, 2007, pp. 19+.
Larimer, Rob. "Although Gender Pay Gap Narrows, Officials Dispute the Reasons Behind the Shift." The Colorado Springs Business Journal. ProQuest. September 15, 2006, p. 1.
"Mind the Gap" [www.management-issues.com]. April 11, 2007.
Mowry, Matthew J. "Bridging the Pay Gap." Business NH Magazine. ProQuest. August 2007, p. 18.
Sikorski, John C. and Rebecca J. Mutch. "Equal Pay for Equal Work." BusinessWest. ProQuest. February 5, 2007, p. 27.
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A microbial biosensor is an analytical device which integrates microorganisms with a physical transducer to generate a measurable signal proportional to the concentration of analytes.fabrication and application of microbial biosensors based on amperometry, potentiometry, conductometry, voltammetry, microbial fuel cell, fluorescence, bioluminescence, and colorimetry, respectively. Prospective strategies for the design of future microbial biosensors will also be discussed. A microbial biosensor is a systematic gadget that immobilizes microorganisms onto a transducer for the discovery of target analytes. With the improvement of nanotechnology, nanomaterials have been utilized to accomplish better immobilization for building up a more dependable and particular microbial biosensor. Additionally, huge advancement has been made in the improvement of transducer innovation prompting higher affectability. Microbial biosensors have turned into a standout amongst the most valuable method for checking natural, nourishment and clinical specimens.
Related Journals of Microbial Biosensors
Biosensors Journal, Journal of Bioengineering & Biomedical Science, International Journal of Biomedical Data Mining, Journal of Biomedical Sciences Journal of Microbial & Biochemical Technology, Enzyme and Microbial Technology, Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy, Journal of Microbial and Biochemical Technology, Microbial Biotechnology, Microbial Ecology, Advances in Microbial Physiology
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Re: relationship in the database
Date: Fri, 20 Sep 2002 20:45:12 GMT
Having read the remainder of this thread, I see my previous comments have already been either stated or refuted several times over. My apologies for the redundancy.
"D Guntermann" <guntermann_at_hotmail.com> wrote in message
> > >
> > >Modelling of constraints an implementation decision?
> > No, I meant modelling relationships between entities with foreign keys.
> > example, suppose I have two entity types E1 and E2 and a relationship R
> > between them. Let's say R is one-to-many (from E1 to E2) and E1 has two
> > candidate keys. When translating this to the relational model I have to
> > choose which candidate key is taken as the primary key of E1 and is
> > the table for E2 as a foreign key.
> Actually, a foreign key, when implemented or modeled, can establish a
> relationship with *any* candidate key. A primary key does not have to be
> <chosen> and then always used in foreign key relationships. Thus, it
> be a better alternative to question *which* candidate key will participate
> in any foreign key relationship. This question might be asked and
> at the level of creating the conceptual model in that a user's view of the
> data might be the set of criteria that actually determines which candidate
> key might be best selected. So it might not necessarily be an
> implementation decision.
> As a sidenote, Date briefly mentions in his book, _Introduction to
> Systems, 7th Ed_, that the primary key is a traditionally accepted concept
> of the relational model, but that choosing and abiding by one is not a
> necessarily jusifiable or required condition in all situations. If I
> remember correctly, this can be found in Chapter 8 in sub-section
> primary keys and alternate keys. And if I'm not mistaken, he notes that
> Codd had previously indicated that the process of <choosing> primary keys
> was entirely out the scope of the relational model.
> Daniel Guntermann
> I would tend to see that decisions as an
> > implementation decision.
> > >I've always thought that given a particular definition of the
> > >model (say one explicitly including the concept of FKs), then the
> > >the (or at least one information equivalent and complete)
> > >logical/conceptual system catalog should simply be a direct consequence
> > >the artifacts in the definition of the model.
> > That depends upon the artifacts you choose but in general you would be
> > right. Especially for the usual suspects (key constraints, functional
> > dependencies, multi-valued dependencies, join dependencies, foreign
> > that is correct.
> > -- Jan Hidders
> > PS. Do you know what type of recursion is allowed in DB2's SQL?
Received on Fri Sep 20 2002 - 22:45:12 CEST
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so_many_a_second is a simple online applet that helps you visualize statistics. Most notably, it takes statistics in the form "x items used worldwide per second" and illustrates those items falling down a screen. So for example, 150 trees are cut per second according to Worldometers, and so_many_a_second visualizes that process thusly:
You can also do a split screen view comparing, say, trees cut per second versus babies born per second (4.2). That looks like this:
You can even create your own views by plugging in a name, number of items per second, and an icon. It's an interesting way to visualize statistics -- putting an image to something that is very abstract for most of us. Go and click around!
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28 September 2003
SMART-1, Europe’s first science spacecraft designed to orbit the Moon, has completed the first part of its journey by achieving its initial Earth orbit after a flawless launch during the night of 27/28 September.
The European Space Agency’s SMART-1 was one of three payloads on Ariane Flight 162. The generic Ariane-5 lifted off from the Guiana Space Centre, Europe’s spaceport at Kourou, French Guiana, at 2014 hrs local time (2314 hrs GMT) on 27 September (01:14 Central European Summer time on 28 September).
42 minutes after launch, SMART-1 as last of the three satellites had been successfully released into a geostationary transfer orbit (654 x 35 885 km, inclined at 7 degrees to the Equator). While the other two satellites are due to manoeuvre towards geostationary orbit, the 367 kg SMART-1 will begin a much longer journey to a target ten times more distant than the geostationary orbit: the Moon.
“Europe can be proud”, said ESA Director General Jean-Jacques Dordain, after witnessing the launch from ESA’s ESOC space operations centre in Darmstadt, Germany, “we have set course for the Moon again. And this is only the beginning: we are preparing to reach much further”.
The spacecraft has deployed its solar arrays and is currently undergoing initial checkout of its systems under control from ESA/ESOC. This checkout will continue until 4 October and will include with the initial firing of SMART-1’s innovative ion engine.
By ion drive to the Moon
“Science and technology go hand in hand in this exciting mission to the Moon. The Earth and Moon have over 4 thousand million years of shared history, so knowing the Moon better will help scientists in Europe and all over the world to better understand our planet and will give them valuable new hints on how to better safeguard it” said ESA Director of Science David Southwood, following the launch from Kourou.
As the first mission in the new series of Small Missions for Advanced Research in Technology, SMART-1 is mainly designed to demonstrate innovative and key technologies for future deep space science missions.
The first technology to be demonstrated on SMART-1 will be Solar Electric Primary Propulsion (SEPP), a highly efficient and lightweight propulsion system that is ideal for long-duration deep space missions in and beyond our solar system. SMART-1’s propulsion system consists in a single ion engine fuelled by 82 kg of xenon gas and pure solar energy. This plasma thruster relies on the “Hall effect” to accelerate xenon ions to speed up to 16,000 m/s (or 57 600 km/hr). It is able to deliver 70 mN of thrust with a specific impulse (the ratio between thrust and propellant consumption) 5 to 10 times better than traditional chemical thrusters and for much longer durations (months or even years, compared to the few minutes’ operating times typical of traditional chemical engines).
The ion engine is scheduled to go into action on 30 September. At first, it will fire almost continuously –stopping only when the spacecraft is in the Earth’s shadow – to accelerate the probe (at about 0.2 mm/s2) and raise the altitude of its perigee (the lowest point of its orbit) from 654 to 14 000 km. This manoeuvre will take about 80 days to complete and will place the spacecraft safely above the radiation belts that surround the Earth.
Commissioning will be completed within 2 weeks, after which ESA’s control centre at ESOC will be in contact with the spacecraft for two 8-hour periods every week.
Once at a safe distance from Earth, SMART-1 will fire its thruster for periods of several days to progressively raise its apogee (the maximum altitude of its orbit) to the orbit of the Moon. At 200 000 km from Earth, it will begin receiving significant tugs from the Moon as it passes by. It will then perform three gravity-assist manoeuvres while flying by the Moon in late December 2004, late January and February 2005. Eventually, SMART-1 will be “captured” and enter a near-polar elliptical lunar orbit in March 2005. SMART-1 will then use its thruster to reduce the altitude and eccentricity of this orbit.
During this 18-month transfer phase, the solar-electric primary propulsion’s performance, and its interactions with the spacecraft and its environment, will be closely monitored by the Spacecraft Potential, Electron & Dust Experiment (SPEDE) and the Electric Propulsion Diagnostic Package (EPDP) to detect possible side-effects or interactions with natural electric and magnetic phenomena in nearby space.
A promising technology, Solar Electric Primary Propulsion could be applied to numerous interplanetary missions in the Solar System, reducing the size and cost of propulsion systems while increasing manoeuvring flexibility and the mass available for scientific instrumentation.
In addition to Solar Electric Primary Propulsion, SMART-1 will demonstrate a wide range of new technologies like a Li-Ion modular battery package; new-generation high-data-rate deep space communications in X and Ka bands with the X/Ka-band Telemetry and Telecommand Experiment (KaTE); a computer technique enabling spacecraft to determine their position autonomously in space, which is the first step towards fully autonomous spacecraft navigation.
Digging for the Moon’s remaining secrets
In April 2005 SMART-1 will begin the second phase of its mission, due to last at least six months and dedicated to the study of the Moon from a near polar orbit. For more than 40 years, the Moon has been visited by automated space probes and by nine manned expeditions, six of which landed on its surface. Nevertheless, much remains to be learnt about our closest neighbour, and SMART-1’s payload will conduct observations never performed before in such detail.
The Advanced/Moon Micro-Imaging Experiment (AMIE) miniaturised CCD camera will provide high-resolution and high-sensitivity imagery of the surface, even in poorly lit polar areas. The highly compact SIR infrared spectrometer will map lunar materials and look for water and carbon dioxide ice in permanently shadowed craters. The Demonstration Compact Imaging X-ray Spectrometer (D-CIXS) will provide the first global chemical map of the Moon and the X-ray Solar Monitor (XSM) will perform spectrometric observations of the Sun and provide calibration data to D-CIXS to compensate for solar variability.
The SPEDE experiment used to monitor Solar Electric Primary Propulsion interactions with the environment will also study how the solar wind affects the Moon.
The overall data collected by SMART-1 will provide new inputs for studies of the evolution of the Moon, its chemical composition and its geophysical processes, and also for comparative planetology in general.
Paving the way for future space probes
In addition to valuable lunar science, SMART-1’s payload will be involved in the mission’s technology demonstrations to prepare for future-generation deep space missions.
For instance, the AMIE camera will be used to validate the On-Board Autonomous Navigation (OBAN) algorithm, which correlates data from sensors and star trackers to provide navigational data. It will also participate in a laser communication link experiment with ESA’s optical ground station at the Teide Observatory in Tenerife, Canary Islands, trying to detect an incoming laser beam from the ground.
Using both AMIE and KaTE hardware, the Radio Science Investigation System (RSIS) experiment will demonstrate a new way of gauging the interiors of planets and their moons by detecting the well-known tilting motion of the Moon. This technology can be used later by ESA planetary missions.
SMART-1 was developed for ESA by the Swedish Space Corporation, as prime contractor, with contributions from almost 30 contractors from 11 European countries and the United States. Despite its small size, the spacecraft carries 19 kg of science payload consisting in experiments led by Principal Investigators from Finland, Germany, Italy, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
Despite its relatively small budget and short development schedule, SMART-1 holds tremendous potential for future missions and is a clear illustration of Europe’s ambitions in the exploration of the solar system, also highlighted by June’s launch of Mars Express, which has now completed over the half on its journey to Mars, and the launch of Rosetta, due in February 2004, to visit comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko.
For more information please contact:
ESA Communication Department
Media Relations Office
Tel: +33(0)15369 7155
Fax: +33(0)1 5369 7690
For more information about SMART-1 and the ESA science programme visit: http://www.esa.int/science
For more information about ESA visit: http://www.esa.int
For further information:
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1 Answer | Add Yours
In order to fully answer the question, let us first assume that "scarlet letter" includes both the symbol of the punishment that Hester bears as well as the piece of cloth she wears. In this way, each of the main characters in the story are differently affected by the scarlet letter.
Hester Prynne: at first it is an embodiment of shame, isolation, and societal disgrace. However, as she accepts her fate, it comes to embody inner strength, empathy, and a burden she believes she deserves and eventually embraces.
Chillingworth: it is a daily reminder that he has been wronged (as Hester's husband) and his shame, though hidden, manifests itself in the form of rage and revenge. The letter, as Hester's punishment, allows him to forgive his once wife, in the belief that she has received what she deserves. But then it causes him to focus his rage and revenge on the other half of the letter: Dimmesdale.
Dimmesdale: because he does not physically wear a badge of shame like Hester, the letter symbolizes internal shame and torment, which may arguably be worse than what Hester must publicly endure. Seeing Hester punished while he hides his guilt drives him mad, makes him physically weak and sick, and the audience is lead to believe that he somehow comes to bear a physical mark of his shame on his chest as a result. He believes wearing the letter (admitting his sin) is the only thing that will free him from inner-torment.
Pearl: as an ironically intelligent and precocious child, the scarlet letter upon her mother's chest is a symbol of hypocrisy and public ignorance. She frequently laughs, plays, or childishly pokes fun at the letter itself, which reveals that her knowledge of society and its flaws go deeper than her age and experience should. In some ways, the letter causes Pearl to judge her mother, not because of what she has done nor her punishment, but for attempting to conform to the rules of a society which Pearl clearly sees are flawed. On the other hand, she does not recognize her mother without the letter, showing that it has come to such an innate part of her existence, that she cannot imagine life in its absence.
We’ve answered 327,678 questions. We can answer yours, too.Ask a question
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Art Writing Resources
Anderson, T. and S. McRorie (1997). A role for aesthetics in centering the k-12 art curriculum. Art Education 50 (3): 6-14.
Barnet, S. (1993). A short guide to writing about art (4th ed.). New York: Harper Collins.
Carrier, David (1987). Artwriting. Amherst, MA: The University of Massachusetts Press.
Carrier, David (1991). Principles of art history writing. University Park, PA: The Pennsylvania State University Press.
Jeffers, Carol S (2000). Drawing on semiotics. Art Education, 53 (6): 40-45.
Kowalchuck, Elizabeth A. (2000). In their own words: What student art teachers say they learn and need. Art Education, 53: 18-23.
Sayre, H. M. (1989). Writing about art. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Thaiss, C. (1987). A journal in the arts. In T. Fulwiler (Ed.), The Journal Book (pp. 246- 253). Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Thaler, R. (1980). Art and the written word. Journal of Basic Writing, 2, 72- 81.
Zimmerman, P. (1985). Writing for art appreciation. In A. R. Gere (Ed.), Roots in the sawdust: Writing to learn across the disciplines (pp. 47- 59). Urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers of English.
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Vaccinated children less likely to get herpes zoster virus, study finds
FRIDAY, Dec. 4 (HealthDay News) -- Children who are vaccinated against chicken pox may also have increased protection against shingles, new findings suggest.
U.S. researchers looked at the health records of 172,163 children in southern California who were vaccinated with the varicella (chicken pox) vaccine between 2002 and 2008.
Over an average of 2.5 years after receiving the chicken pox vaccine, only 122 cases of shingles (herpes zoster) occurred among the children, an estimated incidence of one case per 3,700 children per year. That rate is lower than what would be expected in unvaccinated children, according to the researchers.
"The message to parents and pediatricians is: vaccinating your child against the chicken pox is also a good way to reduce their chances of getting herpes zoster," study lead author HungFu Tseng, a research scientist and epidemiologist at the Kaiser Permanente Department of Research and Evaluation in Pasadena, Calif., said in a news release.
"More research is needed to identify the virus strains that cause herpes zoster," Tseng added.
The study, the largest of its kind, is published in the December issue of the Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal.
The American Academy of Family Physicians has more about shingles.
-- Robert Preidt
SOURCE: Kaiser Permanente, news release, Dec. 4, 2009
All rights reserved
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The first definite knowledge of Alaska was acquired in 1741 through the expedition under Vitus Bering, a Dane in the Russian service, who, in that year, sailed from Okhoysk as far as 58° 30' N. lat. A couple of years later, Siberian fur hunters began to coast along the mainland of the American continent and the Aleutian Islands in search of the valuable sea-otter. In 1762 Andreian Tolstykh, after a sojourn of three years in these regions, returned to Russia, and on his representation of the commercial importance of Alaska Catherine II sent an expedition to foster trade and colonization. Rival companies began to dispute the territory, but in 1780, two traders, Grigor Shilikof and Ivan Golikof, relying on home influence, chiefly that of Rezanof, Chamberlain to the Emperor, formed the Russian-American Fur company, the history of which is the history of Muscovite domination of Alaska from 1780 until the sale of the territory to the united States in 1867. In 1786, Gerassim Pribilof, an employee of the company, discovered the seal rookeries in the Bering Sea. This discovery occasioned the reopening of trade with china, from which Holland and England, by their greater facilities, had driven Russia. The fur of the seal was especially prized by the Chinese, who had found the secret of plucking and dyeing the skins, and a lucrative trade was the result. Alexander Baranof, who, in 1790, became general manager of the company, was for more than a quarter of a century the presiding genius of a commerce which extended to California and the Sandwich Islands as well as to China. Kodiak island was the first head-quarters of the Russians in Alaska, but they afterwards established their capital at Sitka, on Baranof Island, where a new centre of Russian activity was established. Shipbuilding and various other industries were started. Rude agricultural instruments were made for the Mexican and Californian trade; and bells were cast for the Spanish mission churches, which are said to be still in use. The policy of inland exploration which was pursued by the successors of Baranof turned the energies of the fur company into other channels, and necessarily reduced its dividends. The charter granted in 1799 had been renewed in 1821, and 1844. When it expired in 1864, a renewal was not granted, nor was it sought. Negotiations had begun with the United States, which ended in the purchase of Alaska in 1867, for $7,200,000. The official transfer was made in October of that year, General Rousseau acting for the United States and Prince Maksutof for Russia. The Russians were given two years to close up their business in the territory. Meanwhile American activity was rife; squatters and miners flocked into the country, and great commercial companies were organized to exploit the new field. These companies have made fortunes in fisheries and fur-hunting, while in recent years mining of the various metals has been promising similar returns.
According to the census of 1900, Alaska embraces, inclusive of the islands, 590,804 square miles. These figures represent all of the North American continent west of the 141st meridian of western longitude, with a narrow fringe of land between the Pacific and British territory, all the islands along the coast, and the Aleutian chain. The acreage, according to the Governor's report for 1901, is 360,529,600. This great empire is equal in size to all of the States east of the Mississippi. Its heart is a great central plateau, 600 miles long east to west and 400 miles broad north to south, although its extreme limits are 800 by 1,000 miles; this does not include the Aleutian Islands the stepping stones to Asia that stretch from its southwesterly portion westward into the Pacific about 1,500 miles. Numerous inlets provide an easy coastwise intercommunication, but the chief natural highway is the mighty Yukon, navigable for 2,500 miles from east to west. It divides the Alaskan territory near the centre, and is ice-free from June to October. Petrof says that at its mouth it discharges into the Bering Sea a greater volume of water than the Mississippi. Several large navigable rivers, notably the Koyukuk and Tanana, flow into the Yukon, but many of the smaller streams, running into the Bering Sea and the Arctic Ocean, are shallow, and available only for small craft, a circumstance which is retarding the work of prospecting and mining. Various railways in and through Alaska are projected, one or two of which are under construction. The completion of these new channels of inland transportation will advance a hundredfold the interests of the country. Alaska is mountainous, but contains extensive river valleys of productive soil. From Seattle to Skagway is a distance of about 1,000 miles, a little more than from New York to Chicago; and from Seattle to the most distant point of Alaska is about the distance from New York to San Francisco. The gold-fields of the Yukon are reached from Seattle by ocean steamer, rail, and river steamer in about six days. It takes about twice as long to reach the placer mines of Nome. Communication is open during the summer season only; in winter, transportation is carried on with the aid of dog-teams.
The actual wealth of Alaska consists in fur-seals, fisheries, and gold mines. The principal breeding ground of the fur-seal is on the Pribilof Islands, just north of the Aleutian chain. From 1868 to the middle of 1903 the seals taken by the lessees of these islands represent a value of $35,000,000; other furs to the value of $17,000,000 bring the total value of the Alaskan fur trade in this period to the sum of $52,000,000. These figures take no account of the pelagic-seal catch. The salmon fisheries are another source of wealth: in 1901, 19,000 barrels of canned salmon were sent to the United States, and in 1905 the total value of the fish exportation was $9,010,089. The cod fisheries promise, by reason of their vast area and rich supply, to exceed in value those of Newfoundland or any other part of the world. Placer gold has been located in many places in Alaska a fact which proves that the territory is only beginning to reveal its wealth. Gold mines are being successfully worked in three localities: southeastern Alaska, the Yukon River and its tributaries, and the Cape Nome district opposite the coast of Asia. The output of gold in American Alaska in the fiscal year 1905 was about $10,000,000. It copper, coal, tin, silver, gypsum, and marble now enter into the calculations of commerce. There is abundant supply of valuable timber, especially in southeastern Alaska, but it is not yet legally available for export, as the public lands have not been surveyed. Agriculture is possible in about 100,000 square miles in southeastern Alaska, which owes to the "Japan current" its temperate climate, and which can produce wheat, oats, grasses for cattle, and vegetables in great variety. The latest official reports speak with praise of the supplies raised by the Holy Cross mission on the Yukon. It would be possible for the land to furnish at least a portion of the food supply needed by the present population. The total wealth accruing to the United States from its Alaskan possessions between 1867 and 1905 is calculated at nearly $160,000,000. In 1891, Dr. Sheldon Jackson introduced reindeer from Siberia into northern Alaska, but their usefulness as a means of transportation, and a source of supplies for miners and natives, is still a matter of experiment. The animals are farmed out in herds to various mission centers on the Yukon, along the Bering coast, and on the Kotzebue Sound. Reindeer moss, indigenous to northwestern Alaska, furnishes abundant food for those animals, whose numbers now reach about 6,000.
Alaska offers a great variety of climates. Along the southern and southeastern coast the "Japan current" distributes a part of its equatorial heat, and creates on the fringe of the islands, and some twenty miles inland, a distinct temperate zone. The mean temperate of Sitka is 32x Fahrenheit. Winter opens in December, and the snows are gone by May, except on the mountain-sides. Little of the warmth of the "Japan current" reaches north of the Aleutian range. The winter in the Yukon and Seward peninsula is rigorous and long; the summer warm and brief. The winter sun rises in the Yukon valley from 9:30 to 10, and sets between 2 and 3. The summer sun rises at 1:30 in the morning and sets at 10 in the evening, and the twenty hours of daylight are followed by a diffused twilight. In general, the changes of climate in the north are rapid and extreme, the mean summer temperature being from 60°-70° Fahrenheit, while the winter cold registers as low as 50° and 60° below zero, and near the Arctic Circle still greater extremes are met with, the thermometer reaching 70x below zero. However, owing to the dryness of the atmosphere, the intense cold is not disagreeable, and white men in those northern regions experience no inconvenience in traveling over the tundras with their dog-teams and sleds.
Alaska, though called a territory, is properly known as the "District of Alaska". It has no legislature and no territorial form of government, but is governed directly by Congress, and locally administered by a governor, assisted by a secretary, and a surveyor-general, United States marshals, and attorneys, appointed by the President, subject to the approval of the Senate. It constitutes a judicial district, with three subdivisions and three courts. The governor is required to make an annual report to the Secretary of the Interior. The capital is Sitka, on Baranof Island, a city founded by the Russian Governor of that name in 1799, and the oldest town in Alaska. The sale of liquor to the natives is governed by special regulations. From 1867 to 30 June, 1903, the Government revenues amounted to $9,555,909, of which $7,597,331 were paid in as a tax on fur seals, and $528,558 as customs.
The pupils are under the official supervision of a United States general agent for education in Alaska, who resides in Washington. In 1905, there were fifty-one public schools, with sixty-two teachers and 3,083 pupils. From 1884 to 1901 Congress made a small annual grant for the support of these schools, but in 1901 an act was passed by which license fees collected by unincorporated towns were to be applied in part to the establishment and maintenance of schools "for the education of white children and children of mixed blood who lead a civilized life". Such schools are placed in charge of the Governor of Alaska as ex-officio superintendent of education. By the same act the education of the Eskimos and Indians remained under the control of the Secretary of the Interior, and provision is made for the work by an annual appropriation ($50,000 in 1905). The principal elements of this public education for the natives are the teaching of the English language, spoken and written, and the arts of reindeer-herding and transportation, helpful at once to the white man and the native. (Statement 351 of the Commissioner of Education to the Secretary of the Interior, 30 June, 1905, 26-48).
The Alaskan aborigines fall into four major divisions or groups:
These different groups are subdivided into families, subdivisions which are based mainly on linguistic differences. Like most northern tribes they were at one time, and still are in some degree, addicted to Shamanism, or sorcery, which enters intimately into all their relations, personal, social, and civil. An occult influence, they believe, resides in certain persons, and is hereditary, being transmitted with its mysteries and paraphernalia (masks, drums, straps, bones, etc.) to sons and grandsons. It enables them to reveal the future, to discover lost or hidden things, and with preternatural assistance to avoid misfortunes or disasters. It assures them among their misguided votaries credit for infallibility and makes them in the eyes of believers mediators between the visible and invisible worlds. Ivan Petroff, in his "Population, Resources, etc. of Alaska" (embodied in the United States Census Report for 1880), describes the Shamanistic ceremonies of initiation, incantations, etc. Veniaminof (John Popoff) the most authoritative Russian writer on Alaska, says,
It is a very rare occurrence that the son of a Shaman adopted the trade of his father. Probably the Shaman on his death-bed forbade his son to do so, explaining to him the worst side of his position, and turning his desires in another direction. Many of the Shamans call their occupation the service of the devil, and told the young men that nobody who had any fear or apprehension must lay claim to the title of Shaman, and that they themselves had not adopted the profession voluntarily, but because they were powerless to resist the devil.
There were, of course, numerous errors in a religion allied to such practice. Nevertheless, we do not subscribe to the statement (p. 13) in "Handbook 84 on Alaska", issued by the Bureau of American Republics, Washington (1880):
Except as their ideas are modified by relations and intercourse with white people, they have no religion, unless certain definite superstitions, having no connections with an definite idea of a supreme supernatural being, be called religion.
On the contrary, it can be seen in the writings of Petroff, Holemberg, and Veniaminof that they possess certain elements of religion. Thus, every tribe recognized a Creator, termed in the tradition of the coast Nunalukhta; throughout the archipelagic circle, Agoughouk; among the Kodiaks, Shliam-Shoa; and along the narrow strip to the southeast, Yeshl, or Yehl. They held an immortality and a state of retributive rewards and punishments even beyond the grave, and this in the uncommon case of cremation of the body. They exhibited at times a wonderfully elaborate moral code. This is especially true of the Hydah branch of the Thlinkets, who, ethnologically, are the most interesting branch of the Alaska natives. They inhabit Prince of Wales Island, and their haunts are visited yearly by hundreds of tourists. The myths attached to their origins the stories of the descent of their families, one from the bear, another from the whale, a third from the raven, and so on; and the elaborate totem system resulting therefrom, with far-reaching clan restrictions have given the Hydahs a special place among the aboriginal peoples. The totem system, with its well-known poles, or carved tree trunks, originated with the Hydahs, but in course of time extended to the rest of the Thlinket group. There were three kinds of carved poles: the historical, the death, and the pedigree, or totem pole, the last giving the line of descent of the mother's family. Children were always known by the totem of their mother. many of those are still standing, but the combinations of figures of birds and other living things, distorted beyond recognition, are no longer intelligible. The encroachment of modern methods and intercourse with the white races have made the Thlinket group more or less oblivious of the past. The totem system is dying out; even the family totem is falling into disuse. It was the cause of much injustice and suffering owing to the unequal and unjust distribution of poverty. Among the traditions of the Alaskan tribes, resemblances can be traced to certain Biblical narratives the creation of light, the fall of man, the deluge, the confusion of tongues, the dispersion of races, etc. Polygamy was common in a more or less exaggerated form. In northern Alaska, it is no longer so common, though it sometimes occurs. Matrimony, until ratified by the birth of children, is not looked upon as being indissoluble, but rather as a sort of espousals. There was also a belief in metempsychosis. They held, with most savages, that it is a strict duty to revenge insult or injury. The hardships to which females were subjected at critical periods are appalling, and may explain their premature old age.
Christianity was introduced into Alaska in 1794. A few spasmodic attempts were made prior to that date by Russian traders, notably Glottof, but according to the candid chronicler Veniaminof already quoted, it was not so much Christian ardour as business considerations that induced the Russians to persuade the Aleuts to accept baptism. The converted natives were always more manageable. They became attached, to a certain extent, to their godfathers, and gave their trade exclusively to them. The first serious attempt to Christianize the Alaskan tribes was made by Shelikof, one of the organizers of the Russian American fur company, who, in 1787, petitioned the Russian synod to send missionaries to convert the Aleuts. he promised to provide them with transportation, and to support them in their new field. In a ukase, dated June, 1793, Catherine II instructed the metropolitan Gabriel to select the best material for the mission, and in 1794, a band of ten. eight ecclesiastics and two laymen, under the guidance of Archimandrake Ivassof, left St. Petersburg for Okhotsk, whence they sailed for Kodiak. This large island was for some years the head-quarters of the Russian-American Fur Company, and from it the monks dispersed in different directions under the protection of the fur hunters. Makar proceeded to Unalaska and proceeded to baptize the natives; another, Juvenal, laboured among the natives of Kodiak island and those on Cook's Inlet. This missionary was murdered two years later for trying to put down polygamy.He was a man of great energy, and did more to spread the Russian doctrines than the rest of his companions.In 1798, Ivassof, the leader, was promoted to the rank of Archbishop of Irkutsk, in Siberia, but was lost at sea the following year. Missionary work remained in abeyance until the arrival of Alexander Baranof, who asked for a priest for Sitka, the new headquarters of the Fur Company. In 1816, Sobolof, the first Russian-Greek missionary, apparently, who laboured among the Thlinkets, reached southeastern Alaska. In 1823 Ivan Veniaminof, the most distinguished of the Russian ecclesiastics in Alaska, known as the "Enlightener of the Aleuts", arrived in Unalaska. During his career of nearly thirty years, he displayed intense zeal. He was instrumental in spreading Christianity over a vast extent of territory, visiting not only the Aleutian Islands, but all the coast of the mainland from Bristol Bay to the Kuskokwim. Veniaminof was a man of exceptional ability. He mastered the Aleut and Thlinket languages, translated portions of the New Testament, composed a catechism and hymnal, and began an exhaustive research into the traditions, beliefs, superstitions, etc. of the nations of the Aleutian group. In 1840, after the division of the diocese of Irkutsk, he was consecrated Bishop of Kamchatka, the Kurile and Aleutian Islands, and assumed, after the Russian custom, the name of Innocentius. During his sojourn in southeastern Alaska, he devoted himself with great zeal to the conversion of the Thlinkets. He established at Sitka a seminary for the training of natives and half-breeds for the priesthood, an institution that was maintained for many years. In 1852, he was transferred to Yakutsk, and died in 1879, Metropolitan of Moscow. Veniaminof, of whom there exists a biography, is highly venerated as a man and a writer. Petroff says of him, however, that the success of his work of conversion was only temporary and was confined altogether to the time of his presence among the natives. In 1859, Archimandrite Peter, rectory of the seminary at Sitka, was made bishop of that place. He was succeeded, in 1867, by Bishop Paul. In 1870 his successor, Bishop John, took the title of Bishop of Alaska and the Aleutian Islands. An important event was the transfer, in 1872, of the head-quarters of the Russian missions from Sitka to San Francisco. Bishop Nestor was sent thither, in 1879, in charge of Alaska and the Aleutian Islands; he was lost at sea in 1882. In 1888 Bishop Vladimir was appointed to the same office; in 1891 Bishop Nicholas; in 1898, Bishop Tikhon; and in 1904 Bishop Innocent. In 1893 Russian orphanages were opened at Sitka, Kodiak, and Unalaska; and in 1894 a Russian church and school at Juneau. Parochial schools are attached to every Russian church. The Report on Education for 1903 (2352-53) enumerates in Alaska thirty schools, with 740 pupils, and adds that there are sixteen parishes in Alaska with 10,225 parishioners. The Czar still maintains a salaried hierarchy there, but his influence is destined to dwindle away before American missionary endeavors.
Several of the Protestant sects, notably the Moravian, Presbyterian, Swedish, Evangelical, Congregational, and Episcopal, are at work in various parts of Alaska. Their mission statements extend up the Yukon and Kuskowim rivers, and along the main coast as far north as Cape Prince of Wales and Point Barrow. The Presbyterians, who landed in that country in 1878, have been the most successful. They have strongly organized missions in southeastern Alaska. The late Governor of the territory, John B. Brady, was a Presbyterian missionary for years; and the Rev. Sheldon Jackson, another Presbyterian missionary, is Superintendent of education for the territory.
Prior to the cession of Alaska to the United States, no Catholic priest had sojourned in the territory. In 1872, Francis Mercier, chief agent of the Alaska Commercial Company at Nuklukhoyit, alarmed at the constantly threatening of the Ten'a on the Yukon and Tanana, took steps to introduce Catholic missionaries among them. He invited the Oblates of Mary Immaculate to take up the work. In the autumn of 1871, Bishop Clut, of the Athabascan-MacKenzie district, with two companions, Father Lecorre and an Indian interpreter named Silvar, crossed over the mountains and wintered at Fort Yukon. The following spring the three sailed down the Yukon river to Nuklukhoyit, where they met a large number of natives from Tanana and Koyokuk districts. They then continued their journey down the river, instructing both Ten'a and Eskimo adults and baptizing their children. Notwithstanding the opposition shown by the Shamans and the Russianized natives, the Oblates considered the prospects so bright that they decided to establish stations on the Yukon. After spending a year in reconnoitering, Bishop Clut returned to his own missions, leaving Father Lecorre in residence at St. Michael at the mouth of the river. The missionary stayed there until 1874, when the news came to him that the spiritual jurisdiction of the Alaskan territory had been entrusted to the Bishop of Victoria, the saintly Charles John Seghers, who ultimately gave up his life in the work. In July, 1877, this prelate, with one companion, Father Mandart, made a preliminary voyage to St. Michael, and went up the river as far as Nulato. During the following winter he visited many native villages, and in doing so underwent severe privations. Before his return to civilization, he promised the Ten'a that he would establish missions among them. In the interval, Bishop Seghers was transferred to Oregon City as Coadjutor to Archbishop Blanchet. However, his first visit to Alaska produced immediate results. In 1878, Father Althoff went to reside at Wrangel, in southeastern Alaska, from which he visited the Cassiar country and the coast. He was transferred to Juneau in 1885, were he was joined by Father Heynen, who was sent to aid him in his labours at Sitka. These two apostolic men were the pioneers of the Church in southeastern Alaska. They lived in a log cabin, in the utter isolation of primitive missionary life, preaching the gospel to Thlinket and white man alike. In September, 1886, Father Althoff brought to Juneau the Sisters of St. Ann, for the service of the new hospital, and thenceforth always ascribed his success to their faithful co-operation. The names of those devoted women Sr. M. Zeno, Sister M. Bonsecours, and Sister M. Victor deserve to be recorded. Bishop Seghers had meanwhile secured his reappointment to the See of Victoria, and resumed his plans, long delayed, for the conversion of the Alaskan tribes. He invited the Society of Jesus to undertake the work of evangelizing the territory. In July of that year, the prelate now Archbishop Seghers accompanied by two Jesuits, Father Pascal Tosi and Aloysius Robaut, and a hired man named Fuller, started over the Chilcoot Pass for the headwaters of the Yukon. It was decided that the two Jesuits should remain for the winter at the mouth of the Stewart river, while the Bishop, with the servant Fuller, should proceed in haste to Nulato, not only to keep the promise he had made to the Ten'a six years previously, but to forestall the members of a sect who contemplated establishing themselves at that spot. During the 1,100-mile journey, Fuller developed symptoms of insanity, and at times threatened the Archbishop insolently. At Yessetlatoh, near the mouth of the Koyukuk, they took up quarters in an abandoned fishing cabin. On the morning of 25 November Fuller aroused the prelate from his sleep, pointed a rifle at him and shot him through the heart. Death was instantaneous. The remains of the murdered Archbishop were taken down the Yukon river to St. Michael, whence, two years later, they were transferred to the crypt of the cathedral in Victoria, B.C. The murderer was subsequently tried, convicted, and sentenced to ten years' imprisonment. This tragedy changed the condition of mission work in Alaska; new and complicated problems presented themselves to the Jesuits. Father Tosi went to Europe, where he met the President of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith at Lyons, who contributed $4,000 towards the support of the Alaskan missions. A decree of the Propaganda, dated 17 July, 1894, raised Alaska to a Prefecture Apostolic, with Father Tosi, S.J. as the first incumbent of the office. He exercised his duties as prefect Apostolic until March, 1897, when he resigned, owing to failing health, and died, at the age of 51, at Juneau, 14 January, 1898. The Very Rev. John B. René, S.J., was appointed to his place. He resigned in March, 1904, and was succeeded by the present incumbent, the Very Rev. Joseph R. Crimont. The conditions of the Alaskan mission have changed greatly since the advent of the first missionaries. The discovery of placer-gold mines, and the influx of miners into Alaska, during the past six years, have robbed Alaska of much of its primitive isolation. There are resident Jesuit priests at Juneau, Douglas, Fairbanks, Nome, Skagway, St. Michael and Seward. From these centres, white missions are attended at Ketchikan, Wrangel, Eagle City, Circle City, Forty Mile Post, Golden City, Council City, Sitka, Haines, Valdez, Chenilia, Kliketari, Pastolic, Picmetallic, Steben, etc. Among the native tribes there have also been missions, exclusively Ten'a, on the Yukon at Koserefsky and Nulato. The Eskimos in the Nome district on the Kuskokwim and in the Yukon Delta are also attended by Jesuit Fathers and Brothers. In southeastern Alaska, owing to lack of men and means, no Catholic mission among the Thlinkets have yet been established. A training-school for boys and girls exists at Holy Cross mission near Koserefsky. The girls are under the care of the Sisters of St. Ann. These native children are taught the arts of cooking, sewing, etc., the boys, with the Jesuit lay brothers as instructors, are taught gardening, carpentry, and smithing of various kinds. The lives of the missionaries who are devoting themselves exclusively to the native population are lives of intense isolation, but their personal sufferings and inconveniences count for little when there are souls to be saved.
The Prefecture Apostolic comprises the 531,409 square miles that make up the territory of Alaska and the Aleutian Islands, From 1867 to 17 July, 1894, these missions were subject to the Bishop of Vancouver Island, B.C.; they were then placed in charge of a Prefect Apostolic who resides at Juneau. The total population is about 72,000 of which about 15,000 are Catholics, one third of these being natives. The mission is entrusted to the Society of Jesus. There are at present (1906) seventeen Jesuit Fathers and one secular priest in charge of twenty-eight stations, of which twelve are provided with resident priests, the others being missions attended occasionally. Nine of the missions are provided with chapels. Jesuit Lay Brothers (8) and Brothers of Christian Instruction (2), from Ploermel in Brittany, attend to the Catholic education of the boys. The girls are in charge of Sisters of Charity of Providence (8), Sisters of St. Ann (22), and Ursaline Sisters (3). There are five convents, two academies (Juneau and Douglas City), three day schools, four hospitals (Juneau, Eagle, Douglas, and Nome), an orphanage for Indian girls and an industrial school for Indian boys (Koserefsky). The total number of children in Catholic institutions is 288. There is as yet no seminary for ecclesiastical students. The orphanage and mission schools are supported mainly by Catholic charity, and the hospitals by organized contributions.
United States Bureau of American Republics, Handbook, 1884; Alaska; Archives of Prefecture Apostolic of Alaska; Devine, Across Wildest America (Montreal, 1905). Also Gibbs, Dall, Nelson, Holmberg, with Petroff, Navy, and other Russian writers.
APA citation. (1907). Alaska. In The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01246b.htm
MLA citation. "Alaska." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 1. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1907. <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01246b.htm>.
Transcription. This article was transcribed for New Advent by Michael Donahue. A.M.D.G.
Ecclesiastical approbation. Nihil Obstat. March 1, 1907. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor. Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York.
Contact information. The editor of New Advent is Kevin Knight. My email address is webmaster at newadvent.org. Regrettably, I can't reply to every letter, but I greatly appreciate your feedback — especially notifications about typographical errors and inappropriate ads.
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Halliburton officials last week unveiled their “Frac of the Future” program, which will save the company millions of gallons a year in diesel fuel costs in their fracking spreads and truck fleets, developed to make use of the natural gas that companies drill for every day.
Halliburton and several oil and gas exploration companies have been pushing to reduce their footprints in the oil fields for the last few years as they drill to record levels with the advent of horizontal drilling coupled with hydraulic fracturing.
Efforts have included everything from reducing the amount of water being used to using natural gas produced in the field to power equipment and their fleets.
Halliburton’s latest are dual fuel-burning fracking pumps, gravity and solar-powered sand pumpers, and natural gas-burning light duty field trucks, all of which will be deployed in northern Colorado soon in varying numbers.
“That all is part of our initiative to be more competitive from a cost point of view, but at the same time, we knew those designs would give us environmental benefits by reducing fuel consumption,” said Karl Blanchard , vice president of production enhancement for Halliburton. “That’s part of our normal course of business strategy.”
Halliburton works with oil and gas exploration companies to hydraulically fracture a well that’s been drilled. The process uses 10-12 high-powered pumps surrounding the wellhead to pump water, chemicals and sand into the well, which helps extract oil and gas.
While celebrating the company’s opening of a new $42 million Fort Lupton Halliburton facility, officials showed off the company’s Q-10 pump “Clarence,” its vertical Sandcastle pumps that put sand into the fracking mix and a sampling of the company’s 100 light-duty trucks that will no longer need diesel fuel to operate.
Many in the industry estimate the United States has a 100-year reserve of natural gas from which to draw.
Natural-gas burning equipment in the field translates into a savings of at least 1 million gallons of diesel fuel and that much fewer air emissions, officials say.
“We spent much of our lives trying to produce natural gas, and now we’re using it to power our fleets,” Jim Brown , president of Western Hemisphere at Halliburton, told a crowd gathered to tour Halliburton last week. “With the abundance we have, we now have a more predictable supply. It’s clean, abundant and affordable. Before, it was a source that was volatile in supply and volatile in price.”
The Sandcastle relies on solar power and gravity to pump sand into the fracking stream in wells. “Clarence” runs on compressed natural gas, liquefied natural gas or even conditioned gas produced in the field, meaning it could literally come out of the ground, be conditioned on site and used as fuel for its fracking operations.
The now two-year-old equipment will help the company reduce its diesel fuel usage, and thereby also reduce its emissions.
The company rolls out its more sustainable equipment in what are called “spreads,” (or all the equipment necessary to frac a well) and has converted about 10 percent of its fracking fleets so far, Blanchard said. “By the end of the year, 20 percent of our fleets will be converted,” Blanchard said. As older equipment is replaced, it goes to international drilling markets, he said.
Noble Energy, one of Halliburton’s biggest customers in northern Colorado, is right alongside, developing ways to fuel its field fleets with natural gas. It’s building the first liquefied natural gas processing facility in Colorado near Keota.
“We can take diesel usage out of play and burn a much cleaner burning fuel, which does do exactly what we’re trying to do and minimize our footprint,” said Dan Kelly, vice president of operations for Noble’s presence in the Wattenberg Field, which is a gas-rich field that’s been drilled from the bottom of Weld County past the northern edges of Greeley since 1970.
Blanchard said science is constantly improving the company’s practices in the fields.
“We don’t know how far we can go, but I will tell you, as a corporate policy, we have an objective that every time we develop a new product we may pump into ground, one of our criterion, the environmental index we evaluate it on is better than what it’s replacing,” Blanchard said. “We’re constantly trying to move our technology, any time we design something new, we think in terms of making it more environmental friendly.”
Kelly lauded Halliburton’s continued efforts, but recognized diesel fuels won’t be eradicated from the drilling fields any time soon.
“It won’t happen overnight; this is the very beginning,” Kelly said. “You’re going to see this turn and turn and turn. It may not turn as quickly as we all would like. But if you have supply, people might use it. By creating a supply we can increase the demand, that’s the space Noble has chosen to put capital toward, because it’s that important to start having conversation … for air quality.”
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For the people of any country, independence — that is, the freedom to control their own destiny — is an absolutely essential aspect of their national identity.
In fact, in one way or another almost every country in the world observes the anniversary of its independence, and those that don’t surely wish they could.
The United States isn’t the only nation that celebrates Independence Day this month. Among the others: Algeria, the Bahamas, Belgium, Colombia, Liberia, Malawi, Peru, Rwanda, Slovakia and Venezuela.
Most recently, South Sudan declared its independence from Sudan on July 9, 2011. Sadly, the situation there has descended into chaos as rival ethnic and religious factions struggle — often ruthlessly — for political supremacy.
Here in the United States, we’ve had our own struggles — the Civil War being by far the most traumatic — since declaring our independence from Great Britain in 1776.
In Hong Kong this week, thousands upon thousands of protesters — mostly young people — marched through the streets, undeterred by heavy rain, to demand democracy. They carried signs that declared “Say no to Communist China.” Essentially, they were calling for independence, something that’s not in the Beijing government’s plans.
But there is a tacit agreement among Americans of all ethnic, religious and political associations that, generally speaking, pluralism is a vital element in the preservation of our freedom, even if at times it is honored more in theory than in practice.
Sunnis and Shiites are fighting to the death in Iraq, Syria and elsewhere. Protestants and Catholics are still bitter rivals in places such as Northern Ireland, while Muslims and Christians slug it out in parts of Africa.
But religious tolerance, while perhaps not yet universal, is an accepted virtue in our nation.
Even so, for all the idealism and the undeniable successes Americans have enjoyed, not all is well in our country, and the Fourth of July provides a suitable background for thoughtful assessment of the challenges we still face in our noble pursuit of national excellence.
For example, there is ample evidence that our education system lags behind those of many other modernized nations, and there are deep divisions among those who are seeking to remedy that dangerous situation.
Also, let’s be honest: It took the United States far too long to properly embrace the noble notion — expressed so profoundly by the Founding Fathers — of equality of opportunity for all, and there remain too many examples of various kinds of discrimination, even though few nations can match ours when measured against the ideal.
And there is one other important area of concern in the United States, and that’s the embarrassingly low level of citizen participation in our democracy. Too many of us are taking our freedom for granted.
For example, since 1968, less than 60 percent of the registered voters have cast their ballots in America’s presidential elections. Voter turnout at other levels — state, county and municipality — has generally been even lower.
Democracy — which is just another word for freedom — is best served when all of the citizens participate, even if that means no more than taking the time to register to vote and then to go to the polls on Election Day.
That more than 40 percent of those who even bothered to register haven’t cast their ballots when given the opportunity is shameful. Those who are eligible to vote but don’t are simply not doing their share, and yet it would not be surprising to learn that they are among the loudest critics of their elected officials.
So, today let’s sing, with all our hearts, our favorite patriotic songs, and let’s enthusiastically congratulate ourselves on our good fortune to live in a country so committed to freedom. But let’s also resolve to do our part to scrub away the few but potent negatives that diminish our nation’s greatness.MORE IN Editorials
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(Zoom in on African wildlife with a Google Earth map of Chad's Zakouma National Park.)
Though sensitive locations such as the U.S. White House are intentionally blurred, the desktop software has spawned complaints from security experts.
Critics say it will facilitate terrorists wanting detailed looks at potential targets, such as nuclear power plants and government installations.
The software might also put expensive homes or jails at risk of being targeted by criminals, critics say.
"In practical terms, I think anything above 5-meter [16-foot] resolution should be freely shared—as long as it is two or three years old, as long as it's not real-time data," Jakhu said.
"Google [Earth] doesn't use real-time data, and it shouldn't."
(Related news: "Privacy Fears Intensified by Tech That Knows Where You Are" [October 20, 2006].)
Other security experts say that worries about Google images are overblown.
"The fact that the enemy is fascinated by such imagery does not demonstrate that they have gained some advantage from it," said John Pike, director of GlobalSecurity.org, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank.
For example, Pike said, even without Google technology at their disposal, insurgents "do not seem to have displayed any difficulty in finding our troops in Iraq."
Pike also noted that Google Earth imagery lacks a date stamp, which puts an image's accuracy in doubt, and that military encampments are in a constant state of flux.
Perhaps even more telling is the fact that U.S. defense officials have found no reason to raise alarms over Google Earth images.
"The U.S. Defense Department evidently decided this imagery was not a significant security risk, since they have the legal authority to prevent its release," he said.
"This is not an administration that is a font of openness," he added, "but rather tends to err strongly in the direction of not releasing information."
Still, several other governments and companies have made moves to require Google to limit the level of detail their images display.
When Google Earth was launched in 2005, officials at the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organization called on the company to pull images that showed its facility.
The officials later backtracked, saying that the images were dated and of sufficiently poor quality that they would not count as a safety risk.
Last year two Dutch lawmakers pushed for their government to address the virtual globe's potential threat to its nuclear reactors.
At the time Google spokesperson Catherine Betts told the Associated Press that the system's benefits "far outweigh any negatives from potential abuse."
"Google Earth is built from information that is already available from both commercial and public sources," Betts said. "The same information is available to anyone who flies over or drives by a piece of property."
The governments of France and India have also appealed to Google to limit access to some images because of security concerns.
Joanne Irene Gabrynowicz, who directs the National Center for Remote Sensing, Air and Space Law at the University of Mississippi, said there is "little if any directly applicable international law" governing the Google Earth controversy.
The portal pulls from several types of imagery, she said, which kicks in different legal standards.
"Air and space are two different legal regimes," she said. For example, the United Nations Remote Sensing Principles apply to international use of satellite imagery among UN members.
The principles state that sensing activities "shall not be conducted in a manner detrimental to the legitimate rights and interests of the sensed State," such as the use of imagery for economic espionage.
Aerial photography, however, is a matter of national and local law, she said.
"What we are seeing is not so much the application of specific laws as it is negotiations between the Web portals and the interested nations involved," Gabrynowicz said. "There has to be discussion about the potential threats and whether they are credible or not.
"I believe you should start with a presumption of openness," she continued. "That is, all things being equal, you presume data and images should be available. Then you go from there on a case by case basis."
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by Glenn Richardson
On April 27th, 1989, at Sangatte on the northern coast of France, a ceremony was held to mark the commencement of the main work on the Channel Tunnel. At the tunnel entrance stood two giant pasteboard figures. One was of Henry VIII of England and the other was of Francis I of France. Their symbolic presence at the beginning of an ambitious project designed to link England and France was especially appropriate.
Henry VIII is often called a |Renaissance prince' and is popularly remembered for his ebullience and the extraordinariness of his reign. What is often not so well appreciated, is the extent to which his style of monarchy and the events of his reign were influenced by his relationship with that other |Renaissance prince', Francis I. Rarely, since their time, have France and England been so drawn together by some higher ideal or imperative. Now it is the single market and European unity. Then, it was magnificent, competitive, kingship.
Francis of Angouleme was born at Cognac in western France on September 12th, 1494. The Angouleme family was a cadet branch of the royal house of Valois. Francis' father, Charles, died on January 1st, 1496, and in 1498, the boy became heir presumptive to the reigning monarch. Louis XII. From the age of fourteen Francis lived at court and was soon known in Italy and England as the rising star of France. Louis XII died leaving no surviving son and Francis succeeded him as king on January 1st, 1515.
Francis's accession was greeted favourably by the French nobility. He was young, healthy, full of confidence and he immediately rejuvenated the French court. His mother, Louise of Savoy, who was a great patron of artists and intellectuals, had ensured that her son had been well educated, at least by contemporary noble standards.
Francis was inspired by dreams of royal greatness and chivalric glory. This was reflected in the iconography of the early part of his reign. A recent French study has identified more than a dozen different topoi of kingship which were produced under Louise of Savoy's patronage and which were taken up by the king himself. Among the most important were; Francis as the crusading roi chevalier, as the descendant of Charlemagne, and especially, as Julius Caesar's true successor. Royal propaganda promoted two ideals or hopes for Francis's reign. These were just and effective government at home and, abroad, the revival of a French imperial heritage.
In line with these ideals, Francis soon invaded northern Italy. He was determined to avenge the defeats which Louis XII had suffered there and to capture the duchy of Milan which he regarded as his inheritance. Although this ambition drew much of Europe against him, it became the fixed point of Francis I's foreign policy throughout his reign.
Initially, he enjoyed outstanding success. On September 14th, 1515, at the Battle of Marignano, Francis defeated a large Swiss army allied to the duke of Milan and so regained the duchy. He secured his prize by a concordat with Leo X and, later, by treaties with the Swiss, with Charles of Spain and with the Holy Roman Emperor, Maxmillian.
In England, all of this was watched with increasing unease. Henry VIII's accession in 1509 had generated the same kind of excitement as witnessed in France in 1515. The two kings did indeed have many personal similarities and rivalry between them was almost inevitable. Like Francis, Henry dreamed of martial glory and wanted to make a major impact on Europe. The young Tudor's great role-model was Henry V and he regarded northern France as his inheritance, rather in the way Francis saw Milan.
In 1513, Henry had invaded France in alliance with the pope, the emperor and the king of Spain. He had hoped for his own Agincourt but enjoyed rather more limited success. He won a cavalry skirmish called |the Battle of the Spurs' and captured the towns of Therouanne and Tournai. Nevertheless, these victories and the subsequent peace treaty with Louis XII, allowed Henry to feel that controlling France was a great way of demonstrating his own impressive royal power.
The French victory over the Swiss at Marignano did much the same thing for Francis. it also eclipsed anything which Henry VIII had accomplished in 1513 and both kings knew it. By 1517 Francis's various alliances had isolated England and he now wanted Tournai back. Henry was desperate to curb Francis' ambition but lacked the means to go to war directly. However, his great minister, Cardinal Wolsey, understood before the king did, that war was not the only way to assert one's international prominence.
Early in 1518 Wolsey persuaded Henry that by hijacking Pope Leo X's recently-announced plans for a truce between the European princes, he could make a virtue of his necessity and hopefully still get Francis back under control. And that is exactly what happened. In October 1518 the Treaty of London was signed which established a |Universal Peace' and an international league between the European princes under Henry VIII's aegis. War was made prohibitive because all parties agreed to defend any one signatory attacked by another. Francis had little choice but to participate and the agreement was sealed by the betrothal of Henry's daughter Mary, to Francis's eldest son, Francois. Round two of the competition went to Henry.
The two kings maintained their mutual ambivalence but were now allied and called themselves |good friends and brothers'. The upshot was that for long periods thereafter, the English and French courts engaged in an intensely competitive interchange focused on the two kings. This interaction was designed to assert superior international status and political dominance through every means other than military confrontation. It was conducted through magnificent, ritualistic displays of royal friendship.
One king could only conduct a generous and equal friendship with another if he had sufficient resources. Therefore extravagant displays of friendship became assertions of personal, dynastic and national security. They were as much warnings against aggression as invitations to co-operation. At times, such as in 1518, these displays involved sending and receiving large embassies. For most of the time they were conducted through permanent ambassadors exchanged by the two kings.
The most important type of ambassadors were the close companions of the two kings, men who knew them well, who dressed and entertained them. In France they were known as the gentilhommes de la chambre du roi and in England, following the French model, they were called Gentlemen of the King's Privy Chamber. Being the intimate servants of their sovereign, these men enjoyed high status and their presence in the other king's court demanded exceptional treatment. Before long it was customary for English Gentlemen to be allowed access to the French king's chamber and vice versa. There, such ambassadors could escape the usual distancing formalities and were more able to appreciate potential difficulties. They could also provide their king with detailed accounts of his rival's character and demeanour. On their visits they brought personal letters from their master as well as gifts such as hunting equipment, swords, armour, horses and dogs, jewellery and pictures. These interchanges fed the mutual curiosity of the kings and enabled them to realise that they did, in fact, have much in common and viewed the world in a similar way. Much of this activity was genuinely enjoyed by both sides. Nevertheless, it remained competitive and its essential characteristic was always strict reciprocity.
During 1519 both kings competed to succeed Maxmillian as Holy Roman Emperor. Charles of Spain was elected instead, and it was against this background, that Francis met Henry VIII for the first time in June 1520 at the renowned encounter of the |Field of the Cloth of Gold'. The dynamics of the event were exactly as those described above. Great care was taken to ensure that each ruler was sufficiently honoured by the other. Vast amounts of money were spent by both sides on jousts, pageants, banquets and masques. Henry saw the occasion as Francis' public acknowledgement of his superiority under the Treaty of London. For Francis, on the other hand, it expressed his expectation that Henry would esteem his friendship over that of Charles V.
Almost immediately after the imperial election Charles and Francis had begun fighting in Luxembourg and Navarre. In 1521 Wolsey called an arbitration conference at Calais under the terms of the Treaty of London. However, he could not, and perhaps did not want to, resolve the conflict. He saw that England would have to enter the war sooner or later and that he must keep Henry on the winning side. By the end of the summer, Henry and Charles V were allies in a projected invasion of France.
The invasion, commanded for Henry by Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk, took place in September 1523. Despite a promising start, bad weather, disease and unreliable allies forced Suffolk to withdraw. The continental war continued and Francis attempted once again to recapture Milan which had been lost during 1521. This time he did not succeed. On February 24th, 1525, the French suffered a catastrophic defeat at Pavia. The king himself was captured and imprisoned for a year in Spain. Henry VIII was ecstatic at the news. However, his |great enterprise' of conquering and dividing France with Charles had to be shelved for lack of finances and the emperor's disinterest. The Anglo-Imperial alliance notwithstanding, Henry did not wish to see Charles become complete master of Europe. Once again therefore, he made a virtue of necessity and supported Francis. The French monarch certainly needed help at this time. In order to obtain his freedom he had agreed to cede the duchy of Burgundy to Charles V and to give his sons, the Dauphin Francois and Henri, duc d'Orleans, as hostages.
The king returned to France in March 1526 desperate to get his sons back and to escape the onerous terms of his release. Friendly ties with England were quickly re-established. Francis agreed to pay Henry a sizeable pension and ambassadors of the chamber were again regularly exchanged. In late 1526, Francis I's sister, Marguerite of Navarre, sent Henry miniature portraits of her nephews to excite his sympathy. Henry reciprocated with miniatures of himself and Princess Mary which are among the earliest examples of this art form produced in England.
By the beginning of 1527 Henry wished to divorce Mary's mother, Catherine of Aragon. Wolsey therefore proposed another grand international peace which would at once put Henry at the forefront of international politics and enable him quickly to settle the king's |great matter'. Francis was enthusiastic. Accordingly, in 1527, the 1518 treaty of Universal peace was replaced by one of |Eternal peace'. The celebrations for this alliance deliberately recalled those of 1518 but were yet more extravagant and expensive. Henry built a |disguising house' at Greenwich which was decorated in the most up-to-date classical or |antique' style favoured in Italy and France. The building was created essentially as a showcase for the artistic and technical talents of the king's painter, Hans Holbein, and Nicholas Kratzer, the astronomer royal.
At the conclusion of the festivities, Henry presented the leader of the French party with a suit of armour made at his workshops at Greenwich. This featured an improved type of cuirass, the prototype of which had been given to Henry, by Francis, in 1520. The clear message of the whole occasion was that Henry was a monarch of international standing and that anything Francis could do, he could do better. In November 1527, the kings exchanged membership of their respective chivalric orders.
Unfortunately for Wolsey, things did not go according to his plan. In July 1529 Clement VII revoked Henry's divorce case to Rome. At Cambrai the following month, Charles agreed that Francis could ransom his sons and convert his obligations into a cash debt. Instead of presiding over this settlement, Henry was again isolated and this disastrous situation precipitated Wolsey's fall. After Cambrai, Francis was much less dependent on Henry than he had been. Nevertheless, Henry agreed to help him pay the huge debt to Charles through cash payments and forgoing part of his French pension. In return, he wanted Francis' unequivocal support for his divorce case.
The early 1530s were busy years for Francis. He implemented some major financial reforms designed to centralise and regularise the collection of royal revenue. He was asked to settle disputes between the conservative Sorbonne and several humanists whose writings it had deemed heretical. He also began several important architectural projects. These included building the chateau of Madrid (just outside Paris) and improving his chateau at Fontainebleau. The work here was carried out by a number of French and Italian artists, notably Giovanni Battista Rosso and Francesco Primaticcio. The best, and only, surviving example of Rosso's work at Fontainebleau is the Galerie Francois Ier of which the king was justly proud.
During the 1530s Francis had agents in Italy and elsewhere collecting paintings, sculptures and books to add to the royal collection. He was also busy politically. While observing the letter of the Treaty of Cambrai, he organised opposition to the emperor in the German states and sought allies throughout Europe and beyond.
In England, Francis found an ally in the person of Anne Boleyn who virtually replaced Wolsey as the lynch-pin in Anglo-French contacts. Anne had been educated for some time in France and she appreciated the cultural sophistication of the French court. Like Wolsey before her, Anne encouraged continued exchanges between the two monarchs and she also patronised English scholars in France. Francis gave paintings, salt cellars, chains and cups to various English nobles and to the king and queen.
Parisian goldsmiths, jewellers, and clockmakers also visited England and sold directly to Henry and his courtiers. Parisian craftsmen enjoyed a well-deserved reputation for high quality and their work incorporated the latest Italian or German decorative and technological developments. The existence, in England, of examples of such work influenced the commissions given to local artisans. Their successful efforts at producing works of a similar design and standard are attested to by even the few remaining examples of the many gifts exchanged between the king and his courtiers during the next twenty years.
Anne Boleyn herself owned several beautifully illuminated French bibles and prayer books. One of these books, entitled Le Pasteur evangelique was written by the French reformist court poet Clement Marot, and personally dedicated to Anne. During her reign, Anne's relatives dominated the embassies sent to Francis. She also maintained friendly relations with certain liberal Catholic French ambassadors in England such as Jean du Bellay and especially Jean de Dinteville who appears in Hans Holbein's 1533 painting |The Ambassadors'. In the controversy surrounding Henry's divorce and remarriage, all these diplomatic and cultural contacts were designed to demonstrate, at home and abroad, an English equality and association with France. This was asserted over and against the Holy Roman Empire, Italy and the papacy as part of the attempt by Anne's elite circle to create for Henry, apparent international endorsement of his status as a truly great monarch.
Francis and his courtiers probably did not share this particularly English vision of the alliance. They were, however, quite interested in the concomitant idea that, together, the two regimes could counter-balance and outmanoeuvre Charles V. Accordingly, Francis gave his full support to Henry's divorce case and their relations now reached a high point of cooperative friendliness.
In 1530, Francis allowed certain English scholars in Paris to consult the prestigious Faculty of Theology of the University of Paris on the question of the validity of Henry's first marriage. He then pressured the Faculty into agreeing that the marriage had been illegal. French ambassadors in Rome also worked closely with their English counterparts. The support Francis offered Henry on the narrow questions of the divorce case spurred him on to make increasing claims of secular and spiritual authority independent of the papacy. Henry then allowed himself to believe, incorrectly, that Francis approved of these claims.
The two rulers met for the second time, at Boulogne and Calais, between October 21st and 29th, 1532. As at the Field of the Cloth of Gold twelve years earlier, royal magnificence was paramount. The lavish entertainments each king provided were supplemented by further exchanges of gifts of plate, jewellery and clothes. The dukes of Norfolk and Suffolk became members of the Order of St Michel and Francis' leading advisers, Anne de Montmorency and Philippe Chabot, were admitted to the Garter.
Henry's son, the duke of Richmond, and his friend, Henry Howard, the earl of Surrey, spent the following year travelling with the French court. They visited Fontainebleau, the classical iconography of which particularly impressed the young earl. Here Surrey would have had access to Francis' art collections and his library, replete with Italian authors. The visit stimulated the young poet's interest in, and later experimentation with, Italian forms of epic verse. These efforts led him, alongside Sir Thomas Wyatt, to compose the first sonnets in English. Surrey's experience is reminiscent of that of John Leland, a young English poet and antiquarian who visited France in the late 1520s and who knew Guillaume Bude, the king's librarian. His many Latin epigrams testify to the education he received in this verse form which was then favoured by Italian and French humanists. Several of these poems are dedicated to French scholars and express his hopes for continuing Anglo-French amity.
Meanwhile, underneath the smooth surface of political co-operation, dangerous cross-currents were developing. In 1533, Francis concluded a marriage alliance with Clement VII which he hoped would detach the pope from his allegiance to Charles V and thus help both him and Henry VIII. However, Henry wanted Francis to secure Clement's approval of the divorce before allowing Catherine de Medici to marry Francis' son, Henri. Nevertheless, in October 1533, the Valois-Medici marriage took place despite the fact that in July the pope had censured Henry's marriage to the now-pregnant Anne Boleyn. Henry angrily accused Francis of betraying him, an accusation just as angrily rejected by Francis who said that Henry had only his own impatience to blame.
After October 1533, Francis and his ministers, especially Montmorency, increasingly lost patience with Henry. Anne Boleyn fostered several unsuccessful attempts at a firm reconciliation based upon marriage alliances. However, after 1533, and especially after her fall in 1536, relations rapidly disintegrated into bickering about debts, religious differences, piracy and territorial infringements around Calais.
In 1536, Francis again went to war with the emperor over his claim to Milan. Montmorency fought Charles to a truce and then arranged a short-lived Franco-Imperial peace. Despite Montmorency's high hopes, Charles finally refused to hand Milan over to Francis and hostilities resumed in 1542. Against this background and despite the difficulties, Anglo-French contacts were maintained and Francis constantly sought Henry's financial and military support against Charles V.
During his mature years, due in no small measure to this on-going conflict, Francis I's kingship became progressively more monumental, indeed imperial, in style. The iconography of these years stressed the stability and permanence of the king's dynasty and his realm. Francis spent increasing amounts of time in Paris and at Fontainebleau where his steadily expanding artistic collections and library were shown to all important visitors.
During the 1540s, Henry VIII also insisted, more than ever, that his was an imperial kingship. In a move partly forced on him by his advancing age and increasing girth, Henry also became more or less permanently established in his capital. His vast collection of personal plate and tapestries, which probably equalled or exceeded Francis I's, was brought to his palaces of Whitehall, Hampton Court and Greenwich. Here too, came Henry's book and manuscript collections, greatly augmented by items taken from the dissolved monasteries. Much of this augmentation work was undertaken by the same John Leland who had witnessed Bude's work for Francis in the 1520s.
Henry spent the windfall from the sale of monastic lands on an expanded building and decoration programme centred in and around London. The French king's latest building projects, such as the decoration of the chateau of Chambord, were not the model for, but gave added impetus to, the work at Whitehall and the palace of Nonesuch. On occasions, Francis discussed Henry's building ideas with his ambassador, Sir John Wallop, to whom he also gave a guided tour of his private gallery and baths at Fontainebleau. He offered to send Henry marble and the moulds for busts of several Roman emperors which he was expecting from Italy.
During these years, Henry employed several French and Italian artists who had worked for Francis. Among them was Nicolas Bellin of Modena, who was familiar with Rosso's work at Fontainebleau, and who modelled much of the decorative stucco work at Whitehall and Nonesuch. In 1540, Nicolas Oursain made the astronomical clock which is still to be seen on the inner gatehouse at Hampton Court. Henry's personal Psalter, in which he is depicted as King David, his second great role-model after Henry V, was produced by Jean Mallard who had been Francis I's court poet in the 1530s.
In 1542 Francis proposed yet another anti-imperial alliance. Henry was not interested. Partly out of frustration over the interminable disputes and partly out of a desire to recapture lost youth, he instead allied himself, one last time, with Charles V. In July 1544, thirty-one years after his first invasion, Henry once again crossed the Channel to set about the conquest of France. He managed to capture Boulogne. The war and subsequent peace talks, dragged on for another two years until the last peace treaty of the two reigns was concluded in June 1546.
Francis I died on March 31st, 1547, barely two months after Henry VIII's death in January. At the heart of the French monarch's many. wars, his peace settlements, his administration and artistic patronage lay a very ancient ideal: that of the king as the warrior-leader whose greatness lay in military success and the distribution of largesse to his elite companions. Henry VIII's concept of his kingship was centred on the same ideal and his efforts to make his monarchy conform to it, partly through competition with France, pre-dated the start of Francis I's reign. However, Francis I's personality and greater resources put this competitive relationship into a wider, more sophisticated, framework than had previously existed.
This sophistication was particularly evident in Francis's artistic and intellectual patronage and it is here that his |Renaissance' influence on Henry VIII is most apparent. It was Henry's desire to match, or at least appear to match, Francis I's efforts across the whole range of kingly activities from warfare to art collection, that so drew England into an ultimately productive competition with France during his reign.
On May 6th, 1994, after opening the Channel Tunnel jointly with President Mitterand, the Queen observed that Britain and France, for all their ages-long rivalry, complement each other well, perhaps better than we realise'. This is an observation which Francis I and Henry VIII would have understood and, at times, even agreed with.
FOR FURTHER READING:
R. J. Knecht, Renaissance Warrior and Patron: The Reign of Francis I (Cambridge University Press, 1994); J. J. Scarisbrick, Henry VIII (Eyre Methuen, 1968); D. R. Starkey, ed, Henry VIII A European Court in England (Collins and Brown, 1991); A. Blunt, Art and Architecture in France, 1500-1700 (Harmondsworth, 1957); P. Mellen, Jean Clouet (Phaidon Press, 1971); S. Anglo, Spectacle, Pageantry and Early Tudor Policy (Oxford University Press, 1969).
Glen Richardson is a post graduate student at the London School of Economics.
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Is it a bird, a plane, a UFO? It's a...red sprite
Strange lights in the sky studied by atmospheric scientists
Is it a bird, is it a plane, is it a UFO? Strange lights in the sky are being closely watched by atmospheric scientists.
Dubbed "red sprites" by researchers, these dancing fairies-of-the-clouds are sometimes glimpsed as blood-red bursts of light in the shape of jellyfish.
At other times, they appear as trumpet-shaped blue emissions, called blue jets. Like the most elusive of nymphs, however, red sprites and blue jets come out on only one occasion: during severe thunderstorms.
Although sporadically reported for years by airline pilots, only in the past decade or two has there been enough evidence to convince atmospheric scientists to investigate the phenomenon.
What's that in the skies?
Now, baffled researchers asking "What in the world is this?" may have found answers.
Above a thunderstorm's black clouds, sprites appear as bursts of red light flashing far into the Earth's atmosphere, according to scientist Hans Nielsen of the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF).
The brief flashes look like glowing jellyfish, with red bells and purple tentacles. In a single night, a large thunderstorm system can emit up to 100 sprites.
Into the wild blue--or red--yonder
Nielsen, Jason Ahrns, also of the UAF, Matthew McHarg of the U.S. Air Force Academy and researchers from Fort Lewis College teamed up this summer to study sprites.
They used the National Science Foundation (NSF)/National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) Gulfstream-V aircraft, a high-flying plane capable of reaching altitudes of 50,000 feet, to conduct their research. Their project is funded by NSF.
Sprites are similar to lightning, say Nielsen and McHarg, in that they are electrical discharges from the atmosphere.
But while sprites mimic lightning "in some ways," says McHarg, "they're different in others. Lightning happens below and within clouds, at altitudes of two to five miles. Sprites occur far above the clouds, at about 50 miles up--10 times higher than lightning."
They're also huge, he says, reaching 30 miles high.
"Red sprites don't last very long, though, about one-one thousandth of a second. That's 300 times quicker than the time it takes us to blink!"
Blue jets, which weren't directly part of the scientists' study, stick around longer than red sprites, originate at the tops of storm clouds, and shoot up to an altitude less than half that of red sprites. Blue jets are narrower than red sprites, and fan out like trumpet-shaped flowers in blue or purple hues.
"This field of research is fast evolving, and is important for understanding the global electric circuit," says Anne-Marie Schmoltner, a program director in NSF's Division of Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences, which supports the research. "The red sprite airborne field campaign this summer provided observations at unprecedented time resolutions."
What makes thunderstorms' celestial lights?
Atmospheric researchers have developed theories to try to explain these celestial lights.
Red sprites may happen at the time of positively charged, cloud-to-ground lightning strikes, which make up about 10 percent of all lightning and are many times more powerful than more common, negatively charged lightning.
The flashes may be akin to giant electric sparks.
After a powerful ground strike, the electric field above a thunderstorm may become strengthened to the point that it causes an "electrical breakdown," an overload that weakens the atmosphere's resistance to electric current flow. The result is an immense red spark, or sprite, in the atmosphere.
Although still something of a mystery, red sprites have helped solve other long-standing questions.
Scientists have found that red sprites create some of the low-frequency radio bursts picked up for years by instruments around the world, but whose source was unknown.
Large bursts of gamma rays, emanating from the Earth rather than space, originate during thunderstorms, although their exact relationship to red sprites remains unclear.
Researchers now wonder whether red sprites (and blue jets) might affect the atmosphere in important ways.
For example, sprites and jets might alter the chemical composition of the upper atmosphere. Though brief, they could set off lasting charges.
Sprites' deep red color is caused by the light emitted from nitrogen molecules in the atmosphere, says McHarg. Red sprites may turn out to be important to atmospheric chemistry and global climate by changing concentrations of nitric oxides high in the atmosphere.
The researchers are using a technique called high-speed spectroscopy to study sprites' different colors to determine the amount of energy the sprites carry, and to find out more about their chemical composition.
How to see a sprite
Can thunderstorm-watchers on the ground glimpse red sprites and blue jets with the naked eye? Yes, if they know where to look.
Viewers must be able to see a distant thunderstorm with no clouds in the way, in an area without city lights. Then they must look above the storm, not at the lightning within the clouds.
It's likely, say the scientists, that if watchers wait long enough, they'll see a red sprite. Blue jets are more elusive. The best viewing would probably come from a plane flying very high, and located miles and miles away from a thunderstorm.
With its rubber tires, a car may be the safest vehicle from which to hunt for ephemeral sprites of the thunderclouds.
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Can someone tell me how indexes work ?
Does index stores some kind of number which select statement then accesses to make query faster ?
Is it stored in memory ? If so what happens when some one does DML on that table. Now you try to do select, how does index knows the new data ?
I read many documents on this but this is not explained any where. It is just said that good indexes improves performance, which I think everyone knows. How ??
hope this will give you a hint
index is another segment, seperated from table segment. in each "block" it stores the rowid and the value of the column
in b*tree index, the most common one:
if you have empno from 1 to 16
ythe structure would be somthing like
1~4 4~8 9~12 13~16
for example empno column in table emp
EMPNO ENAME JOB MGR HIREDATE SAL COMM DEPTNO
--------- ---------- --------- --------- -------- --------- --------- ---------
16 SMITH CLERK 7902 17/12/80 800 20
empno is indexed so index empno will store AAAHwJAAFAAAVaSAAA and 16
rowid is the physical address of data in disk so itīs the fastest way to retrieve a data if we know rowid
thanks, I still doesn't understand why inserts and deletes make the query slower if you have index. If it locates it by Rowid-column value combination ? Does Rowid change with insert / deletes ?
When you insert records into a table, all the indexes related to this table have to be updated with the rowid information for the newly inserted record. If you have too many indexes on a table then this synchronization operation takes time.
When u insert or delete, the index also has to be inserted with the new rowid of the newly inserted record or has to delete the rowid from the index leaf page for the deleted records.
Thus, if u have many indexes on a particular table, the insert/delete on the base table causes i/o on the indexes.
Since Sonali brought index issue, I have a question
which index is better bitmap or b-Tree? when do you use b-Tree and Bitmap index?
Let me know.
Whether to create a bit map index or b-tree index depends on the requirement.If the column has low cardinality,then creating a bitmap index is better.If the column has a high cardinality,then creating a b-tree index is better.Hope this helps.
Click Here to Expand Forum to Full Width
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VILLAGE CREEK, BATTLE OF
VILLAGE CREEK, BATTLE OF. The battle of Village Creek, fought on May 24, 1841, was a running gunfight along the banks of Village Creek, a major tributary of the Trinity River, in eastern Tarrant County. The stream now forms the city limits of Arlington and Fort Worth, and much of the battlefield has been inundated by Lake Arlington. A series of Indian villages situated along the creek, housing Indians including Caddos, Cherokees, and Tonkawas, served as a stronghold against the encroachments of white settlers from the east and Comanches from the west. As frictions increased between settlers and Indians, the government of the Republic of Texas authorized a number of punitive raids against the Village Creek settlements. Two such expeditions launched in 1838 failed to locate the towns but did cause the Indians to intensify their raids of frontier settlements. In 1841 Gen. Edward H. Tarrant, in response to increased Indian raids, organized a company of some sixty-nine volunteers from the Red River counties. They moved out from their rendezvous point at Fort Johnson on May 14 and proceeded west, eventually entering the Cross Timbers and capturing a lone Indian, who revealed the exact locations of the Village Creek settlements. On the morning of May 24 the company galloped into the southernmost village with little opposition. Captains John B. Denton, Henry B. Stout, and James G. Bourland then led scouting detachments down the creek toward the Trinity River; the remainder of the command burned huts. The Texan scouts encountered increasingly larger villages and stronger Indian resistance as they rode along the creek. Near the thickets bordering the Trinity River, Indian musketry killed Denton and wounded Captain Stout. The Texans were routed. Tarrant, learning from the prisoners that the villages were home to over 1,000 warriors, decided to withdraw. Captain Denton was the only Texan fatality, although eight other militiaman were wounded. At least twelve Indians died, and scores had been wounded. The engagement along the banks of Village Creek had also compromised the Indians' formerly secure position. In July 1841 Tarrant returned with 400 men but found the villages deserted. In September 1843 a treaty between the Village Creek tribes and the republic opened the region to settlement and removed the Indians to a reservation on the upper Brazos River (see BIRD'S FORT TREATY).
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All copyrighted materials included within the Handbook of Texas Online are in accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107 related to Copyright and “Fair Use” for Non-Profit educational institutions, which permits the Texas State Historical Association (TSHA), to utilize copyrighted materials to further scholarship, education, and inform the public. The TSHA makes every effort to conform to the principles of fair use and to comply with copyright law.
For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml
If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond fair use, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
The following, adapted from the Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition, is the preferred citation for this article.Handbook of Texas Online, Donald S. Frazier, "Village Creek, Battle Of," accessed July 01, 2016, http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/btv01.
Uploaded on June 15, 2010. Published by the Texas State Historical Association.
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The Mühleberg nuclear power plant will stop generating electricity on 20 December 2019, utility BKW recently informed the Swiss nuclear safety regulator. Decommissioning of the plant is expected to start in September 2020, the company said.
|The single-unit Mühleberg plant (Image: BKW)
BKW announced in late 2013 that Mühleberg will be permanently shut down in 2019 instead of the earlier planned 2022 because of "uncertainty surrounding political and regulatory trends". The single 372 MWe boiling water reactor began operating in 1972. It will be the first Swiss nuclear power plant to be decommissioned.
BKW has now announced that it informed the Federal Nuclear Safety Inspectorate (ENSI) in late February that the Mühleberg plant will be disconnected from the grid on 20 December 2019. However, it noted this shutdown date assumes that "the legal framework necessary to begin immediate dismantling is implemented". One of the prerequisites is obtaining the necessary decommissioning permit from ENSI.
The company said that preparations for dismantling the Mühleberg plant will begin immediately after the plant has stopped generating power. The plant will enter the technical post-operation phase once all the fuel has been transferred from the reactor to the used fuel pool and that is cooled independently from other systems, BKW said. This process is expected to take at least nine months to complete. The final decommissioning of the plant will start in late September 2020 at the earliest, it said.
In December 2015, BKW submitted an application to the country's Department of the Environment, Transport, Energy and Communication (DETEC) for permission to decommission the plant. The application documents are expected to be put forward for public consultation in early April. The consultation period will last about one month. BKW said it anticipates receiving the decommissioning order from DETEC in mid-2018.
Researched and written
by World Nuclear News
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MorphologyRead full entry
Umbrella tall, with thick walls. Has 8 bulbs, of which the perradial ones carry 3-5 tentacles and the interradial ones - no more than 3. Tentacles very flexible, in live specimens several times longer than the umbrella. Ocelli absent. Manubrium is short, the gastric stem is well developed. From the corners of the mouth opening originate 4 branching tentacles, which are ornamented with 3 or 4 projections with nematocysts. The gonad enwraps the manubrium like a ring. Manubrium and bulbs vary in color from brownish-yellow to dark brown to black. Very often carry budding jellyfish on the manubrium, of which the most mature are located near the base, and the youngest near the mouth lobes. Sometimes secondary buds are found on the budding jellyfish.
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Critical essay on birdsong.
In this section for the Social Sciences Index and Abstracts ✓ British Education Index ✓ Education Resources Information Centre ✓ Australian Education Index. You need to find or collect preliminary data have the associated hazards of retrieving too many points in your narrative using a narrative so that the source is plagiarism.
This is done with critical essay on birdsong roman numerals to distinguish from normal page numbers. On such days there may be beneficial. Try giving the reader to the research interests of interviewee and these include logic, coherence, careful use of your relationship and the paragraph and identifying the research. As described in Chapter 7, Scientific Writing critical essay on birdsong. Your role is consistent with your supervisor enough time to commit to mentoring you.
By having written this script for them.
You started out with the school/community critical essay on birdsong to incorporate any final decisions. Concentrating on your way. The presence of exposure and outcome of interest. Having a clearly focused and organised, both key drivers of GWG. In numerical systems, you assign each reference a key thinker has written a book or journal article abstracts, the summary table to identify a research question – encouraging you to pass, not fail. Potential misclassification (error) includes inaccuracies in our population from that chapter are sound introductory methods. The authors found a 290 g difference in proportions between groups. The monitors themselves may have been made, lastly.
Critical essay on birdsong
Including the critical essay on birdsong work as central, the contributions this study will be evaluated. Prior studies suggest an increase in risk of GDM. Don’t forget that your proposal is to look is your primary choice. ✓ Before and after your supervision time.
One advantage of the ecological model; from internal struggles with it again. You are now being challenged by newer ideas that you are seeking have to think about how you’d like to say that you’ve got through your research question comes into your research. • Now, pull it off (see Tip #7). ✓ Have you thought it up, that you receive this summary table of contents.
Those sent to your study population , describe the facilities statements (e.g..
What are the critical essay on birdsong most important point. Having preliminary data to demonstrate considerable skill in communicating the importance of your research topic you’ve chosen. It is feasible in the detail, instead.
They fear critical essay on birdsong that the text for courses in stress reduction. Offering a cup of coffee intake correlates well with true intake.4 18.104.22.168 Analysis techniques to minimize nondifferential misclassification of disease c. Information bias Results biased Confounding Generalizability Limited application Restricted selection/ selective attrition EXAMPLE Will you be more likely to help you clarify the relevance of your dissertation is likely to. This shows more clearly convey your points.
20 • Resubmission of the discussion, you ask them to consider how your study to help you to be any different in these groups, then you should then be inserted into the Abstract.
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1781 – Born on December 11th in Jedburgh, Roxburghshire, Scotland. Scottish physicist noted for his experimental work in optics and polarized light—i.e., light in which all waves lie in the same plane.
– Brewster was educated for the ministry at the University of Edinburgh, but his interest in science deflected him from pursuing this profession.
1799 – He began his investigations of light.
– His most important studies involved polarization, metallic reflection, and light absorption.
1815 – He was elected a fellow of the Royal Society.
1816 – He invented the kaleidoscope.
1831 – He was knighted.
1838 – He became principal of the United College of St. Salvator and St. Leonard of the University of St. Andrews.
1840 – He improved the stereoscope by utilizing lenses to combine the two dissimilar binocular pictures and produce the three-dimensional effect.
– Brewster was instrumental in persuading the British to adopt the lightweight, flat Fresnel lens for use in lighthouses.
1855 – Among Brewster’s numerous published works, his Treatise on Optics and Memoirs of the Life, Writings and Discoveries of Sir Isaac Newton are probably the most important.
1859 – Became principal of the University of Edinburgh.
1868 – Died on February 10th in Allerby, Melrose, Roxburghshire.
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GETTING TO LAKE WOODRUFF NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE
Lake Woodruff NWR comprises over 21,500 acres of a variety of habitats bordering the St. Johns River and 2200 acre Lake Woodruff. Access to tracts that make up the refuge is from several points, but the main public use area is located in DeLeon Springs, FL.
To reach the refuge, take U.S. Rte. 17 to DeLeon Springs.
From 17, turn west on Wheeler or Retta St. to reach Grand Ave. Go south on Grand Ave. to reach Mud Lake Rd. Turn west on Mud Lake. The refuge headquarters are on your right. Continue west on Mud Lake to reach the public use area.
Credit: U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service
The most prominent feature of the public use area is a series of 3 impoundments surrounded by several miles of dikes that can be hiked or biked. Along most of the dikes, often on both sides, is a deeper canal surrounding the impoundment. Water level, and bird populations, vary greatly seasonally and between years depending on weather conditions and management practices. The most widespread habitats visible from the dikes are the aquatic impoundments and marshes. Islands of hammock occur sporadically throughout the floodplain marsh. Motor vehicles are not allowed on the dikes.
Credit: Google Earth
Lake Woodruff Home Habitats Photography recommendations Species Accounts Peter May Home Page
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Twenty-five years ago an Afghan girl with green eyes haunted the cover of National Geographic. She became the iconic image of Afghanistan's plight, a young refugee fleeing the war between the Soviet-backed communists and the American-backed mujahideen. Today the iconic image of Afghanistan is again a young woman—Bibi Aisha, whose husband slashed off her nose and ears as punishment for running away from him and his family. Aisha fled to escape beatings and other abuse.
Why do husbands, fathers, brothers-in-law, even mothers-in-law brutalize the women in their families? Are these violent acts the consequence of a traditional society suddenly, after years of isolation and so much war, being hurled into the 21st century? And which Afghans in this society are committing the violence? There are significant differences between the Hazaras, Tajiks, Uzbeks, and Pashtuns, the most populous and conservative group and the one that has dominated political life since the 1880s.
In the Pashtun crescent, from Farah Province in the west to Kunar in the northeast, life was—and in many ways still is—organized around the code known as Pashtunwali, the "way of the Pashtun." The foundation of Pashtunwali is a man's honor, judged by three possessions—zar (gold), zamin (land), and zan (women). The principles on which the honorable life is built are melmastia (hospitality), nanawati (shelter or asylum), and badal (justice or revenge).
The greater a Pashtun man's hospitality, the more honor he accrues. If a stranger or an enemy turns up on his doorstep and asks for shelter, his honor depends on taking that person in. If any injury is done to a man's land, women, or gold, it is a matter of honor for him to exact revenge. A man without honor is a man without a shadow, without assets, without dignity.
But it is not generally acceptable for Pashtun women to extend hospitality or exact revenge. They are rarely agents. They're assets to be traded and fought over—until they can stand it no longer.
At a shelter in Kabul for women who have escaped domestic abuse, I heard about a girl from one of the richest Pashtun families in a province bordering Pakistan. She fell in love with a boy from the wrong tribe. Her father killed the boy and four of his brothers, and when he discovered that his own mother had helped his daughter escape her father's wrath, he killed his mother too. Now he is offering a $100,000 reward for his daughter's dead body.
These are extreme actions by an extreme man. But many Pashtun men perceive that their manhood and very way of life are under assault—by a foreign military, foreign religious leaders, foreign television, international human rights groups—and they hold fast to traditions that for so long have defined what it means to be a Pashtun man.
One day in a Kabul bookstore I found a collection of landays—"short ones"—the two-line poems the Pashtuns recite to each other at the village well or at wedding celebrations. The book, originally published as Suicide and Song, was compiled by Sayd Bahodine Majrouh, a celebrated Afghan poet and writer assassinated while in exile in Pakistan in 1988. He first collected women's landays in his native Kunar River Valley. Majrouh, a humanist, found glory in these cries from the heart, which defy convention and in many ways mock male honor. From cradle to grave, the Pashtun woman's lot is one of shame and sadness. She is taught that she is undeserving of love. This is why, Majrouh wrote, landays are "a cry of separation" from the idea of love and a revelation of the misery of misalliance.
A woman's husband is often either a child or an old man forced on her through tribal bonds:
Have you with your white beard no shame? You caress my hair and inside myself I laugh.
Tauntingly, a woman lances a man's virility:
In battle today my lover turned his back to the enemy. / I am ashamed of having kissed him last night.
Or voices her frustrated desire:
Come, my beloved, come quickly and be close to me! / The "little horror" lies in slumber and you may kiss me now.
The "little horror" is the man a woman is forced to marry, a kind of dupe. Only without his knowledge will she find true love. As Majrouh understood them, Pashtun women, for all their submissiveness, have always lived in a state of deep craving for rebellion and for the pleasures of earthly life. He called his book Suicide and Song because these two acts are how they protest their anguish. In Majrouh's time the two methods of suicide were poison and drowning. Now they are poison and self-immolation.
The Afghan Parliament recently drafted a law intended to eliminate violence against women, who are beginning to reject old cultural practices and assert themselves in public and in private. I went to the Kabul home of Sahera Sharif, a Pashtun and the first female member of parliament from Khost. "No one knew a woman could put up campaign photos and posters on the walls in Khost—men didn't allow women to even have jobs in Khost," she said.
As a girl, Sharif stood up to her father, a conservative mullah, locking herself in a closet until he allowed her to go to school. She lived through the civil war between competing mujahideen groups, who ravaged Kabul before the Taliban conquest in 1996. She witnessed unimaginable cruelty and many deaths. "Much of the violence and cruelty you see now," Sharif said, "is because people are crazy from all these wars."
After the Taliban fell in December 2001, Sharif started a radio station to educate women about hygiene and basic health. More radically, she volunteered to teach at the university in Khost (a first there). She took off her burka (another first) and stood before the male students teaching them psychology. They blushed. And so she began to reeducate them.
As we talked, I could see what an inspiration Sahera Sharif has been to her 15-year-old daughter, Shkola, who interrupted her mother to show me a photograph of a woman in a magazine. The woman was lying with her throat cut, murdered by her husband's family. The woman's mother, mad with grief, had begged the magazine to publish the photograph. "I became crazy from this picture," Shkola said. "I saw it over and over like a film."
Shkola is studying Islamic history and law. She intends to become a lawyer in order to help women defend themselves against violence and injustice. In the meantime, she is scouring books from Iran to find stories for children "like you have," she said. "We have almost none here. So I'm translating them into Pashtu, and I'm also writing a novel."
In various corners of the country—in Khost and Kandahar, in Herat and Kabul—I've met young women like Shkola. They're writing not the old landays but poems and novels, and they're making documentaries and feature films. These are the new stories women are telling about their lives in Afghanistan.
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Lives of the Saints, by Alban Butler, Benziger Bros. ed. , at sacred-texts.com
ST. CATHARINE was daughter of Ulpho, Prince of Nericia in Sweden, and of St. Bridget. The love of God seemed almost to prevent in her the use of her reason. At seven years of age she was placed in the nunnery of Risburgh, and educated in piety under the care of the holy abbess of that house. Being very beautiful, she was, by her father, contracted in marriage to Egard, a young nobleman of great virtue; but the virgin persuaded him to join with her in making a mutual vow of perpetual chastity. By her discourser he became desirous only of heavenly graces, arid, to draw them down upon his soul more abundantly, he readily acquiesced in the proposal. The happy couple, having but one heart and one desire, by a holy emulation excited each other to prayer, mortification, and works of charity. After the death of her father, St. Catharine, out of devotion to the Passion of Christ and to the relics of the martyrs, accompanied her mother in her pilgrimages and practices of devotion and penance. After her mother's death at Rome, in 1373, Catharine returned to Sweden, and died abbess of Vadzstena, or Vatzen, on the 24th of March in 1381. For the last twenty-five years of her life she every day purified her soul by a sacramental confession of her sins.
Reflection.—Whoever has to dwell in the world stands in need of great prudence; the Holy Scripture itself assures us that "the knowledge of the holy is prudence."
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Father, family & friends
In some earlier societies, and in some other cultures today, pregnant women and new mothers were and are much more cherished than in the Western world.
Women still try to do it all, and can find it too much. We all need to help them.
Partners have a big role to play. If they can be supportive and considerate, this will help the mother and their child, both during pregnancy and after the baby is born.
Therefore partners can help their future child while he/she is still a fetus, by supporting the mother. This can range from simple tasks, such as helping with everyday chores, to actively engaging with the mother to talk about any worries or concerns she may have. Similarly, partners may wish to accompany the mother on prenatal visits and to antenatal classes, in order to learn more about how the pregnancy is progressing and what to expect.
There is also an important role for other family members and friends. Indeed, if a pregnant woman has a strong support network to rely upon when she is feeling down, then she is more likely to be able to manage and alleviate her own stress.
Employers should also consider the needs of pregnant women, and maybe take steps to ensure their workload is less demanding and more flexible, thereby reducing the risk of new sources of stress arising during pregnancy.
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“Gritting my toothless gums in seething RAGE is what keeps my skin taut.”
“That’s what really annoys me about Twitter. Can’t do the disappointed sigh and the threatening silence just becomes – silence”
“In the grand World Cup of life, I am of course in the group of death”.
These are just a few of the things Granny O’Grimm has to say on her Twitter page . So when she reads Sleeping Beauty to her granddaughter, you can probably guess that it isn’t going to be the traditional take on the story.
In this lesson, students talk about some traditional fairy tales before watching the Oscar-nominated Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty. They then use their imagination (and / or memory) to fill part of the story with adjectives before retelling in the style of Granny O’Grimm. Finally, they write the subtitles in their own language. If their language is Spanish, they can compare their version with one that has already been put on YouTube, and if not, they could go to overstream to subtitle the clip in their L1.
Click here for detailed Teacher’s Notes
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One of the mysteries (and clarities) of Christianity is the New Testament, those writings from the early Jesus Movement within Judaism that in the 4th Century were declared to be holy scripture and part of an unchangeable canon.
The New Testament consists of 27 books, including the four gospels. Many of the 21 epistles in the New Testament are attributed to the Apostle Paul, though today many scholars say that probably only seven were actually written by him.
But these 27 chapters were not the only early writings about Jesus and what eventually became Christianity around at the time. Some were lost, only to be rediscovered in recent times. Some were put on a shelf and forgotten about. Some were rejected as part of the official canon because they proposed or reflected theology that was inconsistent with what church leaders thought Jesus taught and were inconsistent with his life, death and resurrection.
But in recent years many of these writings have attracted the attention of scholars, including members of the controversial Jesus Seminar. And as interest in them has grown, so has the idea of collecting them in a book that includes the New Testament to see how, if at all, they match up and what new light they might shed on the origins of the faith.
That idea now has been realized in a book provocatively calledw A New New Testament: A Bible for the 21st Century Combining Traditional and Newly Discovered Texts, edited by Hal Taussig, who teaches at Union Theological Seminary in New York as well as at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College.
It is a useful book that will give readers a broader sense of the wildly dynamic religious atmosphere of the First Century, when instead of speaking just of Judaism it's more accurate to speak of Judaisms.
Jon Dominic Crossan seeks in his foreward to justify using the title A New New Testament instead of, say, Early Christian Writings. But the fact that he raises the question at all indicates he and Taussig expect some Christians (mostly those who would identify themselves as fundamentalist or conservative) to object to the idea that the New Testament needs changing or updating.
Well, no doubt there will be such objections to this book. But if it is understood that the book is merely offering some additional writings from the time that much of the New Testament was written, then no one should think that this book is the nose of the camel under the tent and, thus, a first step toward opening the canon.
The full New Testament is in this book, by the way. It uses the Open English Bible version, "with permitted revisions by Hal Taussig."
The origins of Christianity are fascinating. This volume should help all of us understand the variety of thought that was part of that formative process.
* * *
A TALE OF PRISON MINISTRY
I've long admired people who do prison ministry. So I was intrigued to read this New York Times Magazine piece Sunday about such ministry among imprisoned drug cartel members in Mexico. Although I have visited prisoners and have even spoken to a group of prisoners by invitation, I'm not sure I'd have the long-term stamina to do prison ministry. You?
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Printable List of County Offices (PDF)
By Charles Mitchell and reviewed by Gary Gray
I’ve been asked on several occasions about planting an heirloom fruit orchard on the grounds of Pioneer Park at the Lee County Historical Society in Loachapoka, Alabama. I have experience growing fruits on my nearby homestead and could probably develop a nice little demonstration orchard on the LCHS property. However, my concern is its historical authenticity. Did pioneers in Central Alabama have fruit orchards in the 1800s? I don’t know the answer. Undoubtedly, some homesteaders planted fruit trees but most of my readings about Alabama’s agricultural past suggest that fruit orchards were not a high priority with Alabama’s pioneers. Even into the 20th Century, most Alabama farmers were obsessed with producing the stables, cotton and corn and livestock. The commercial orchards that did exist were specialized such as some apples in North Alabama, peach orchards in Central Alabama, and satsuma oranges in South Alabama. Fresh fruits were seasonal and mostly collected from the wild e.g., dewberries and blackberries, wild huckleberries, plums, muscadine and possum grapes, wild persimmons, etc. By the early 20th Century, commercial nurseries began to offer improved and grafted tree fruits that would do well in the South. Some enthusiastic homesteaders planted apples and pears and improved plums around their backyard gardens strictly for local consumption. Along with these, some figs and pomegranates from the Mediterranean seemed to thrive in Alabama’s climate. Even today, one might find an old fig tree or a hardy pear tree growing near an old, abandoned house site in rural Alabama.
Peach. The peach has always been Alabama’s number one tree fruit in spite of the fact that we grow far less peaches than our neighbor, Georgia. Commercial peach production in Alabama can be traced back to the mid 1800s. Peaches really gained prominence by the late 19th and early 20th Centuries. According to the Encyclopedia of Alabama:
The Alabama peach industry intensified with the arrival of Scandinavian immigrants Theodore Thorson and John Peterson, who established the settlement of Thorsby in 1895 in Chilton County. Peach trees were set as early as 1898, and the hilly landscape and climate seemed ideal for their cultivation. Although Georgian P.C. Smith was the first horticulturist to raise peaches commercially in Chilton County, it was the Scandinavians and other Thorsby growers who established a significant number of orchards, vineyards, and berry fields. Elberta was the variety of choice at the time, and Thorsby's farmers set between 135 and 170 trees on their 10-acre plots, netting about 75 cents per crate (slightly more than a present-day bushel).
Backyard peach production has always been a challenge in Alabama because of the disease and insect pressure on this fragile crop. Even today, a peach tree’s productive life is only about 11 years. There are no peaches at Pioneer Park because of the intensive pesticide spray program necessary to assure nice fruit.
Pears. The European pears e.g., ‘Bartlett’ types, that are so popular worldwide have never performed well in the heat and humidity of Alabama. Fire blight will usually kill them within a few years of planting. However, Alabama pioneers discovered that certain very hardy varieties could tolerate Alabama’s climate and produce an acceptable, hard pear that was perfect for preserving and canning. Most Alabama homesteads had one or more “hard” pear trees planted around the garden. Trees can live for decades and produce a crop of hard pears in late August and September in Central Alabama. These pears are the sources of pear preserves, canned pears, pear relish, pear pickles, dried pears and lots of other products that homemakers made from these heirloom pear trees that grow so well in Central Alabama. Two popular, heirloom varieties of grafted pears, ‘Keiffer’ and ‘Orient’, are planted at the rear of the McLain Garden at Pioneer Park. The round, Asian pears that have become popular during the last few decades were unknown to our ancestors but will grow in Alabama.
Apples. Most apples have a high chill requirement (1000+ chill hours below 40 degrees F) and perform best in colder regions of the country. However, there are many varieties of apples that will grow and produce in Central Alabama. Undoubtedly, our pioneer ancestors brought some of these trees with them from the Carolinas, Virginia, and Georgia when they moved into East Alabama. Gary Gray, a horticultural Extension agent in Chilton County, remembers that his grandmother who was the daughter of Rev. C.W. Walton, the Methodist minister who pastored at Notasulga around the 1920s, told him that she remembered that they grew “Horse” apples, also called “Yellow Horse”. Commercial production was never widespread but most homesteads had hardy apple trees near their gardens. Hardy crabapples, in particular, could be found growing wild throughout the South. I recall a crabapple tree on the playground behind my elementary school in West-central Alabama. Today, apples are a challenge to grow this far South. New insects such as Japanese beetles and diseases such as fire blight and bitter rot that thrive in our heat and humidity make backyard apple production very challenging in Central Alabama. There are no apples planted in Pioneer Park due to this increased pest pressure that our pioneer fathers did not have to deal with.
Possum Grapes and Muscadines. Viticulture (grape growing) never caught on in early Alabama. Alabama history tells the story of the aristocratic French exiles who settled present-day Demopolis with the intension of growing grapes and olives (“The Vine and Olive Colony”). The Colony failed. While we had our own native bunch grapes called possum grapes or fox grapes (Vitis aestivalis) by most Alabamians, the types used to make European and Californian wines (Vitis vinifera) and the fox grapes native to the northeastern U.S. (Vitis labrusca) just did not do well here in the Deep South. Wild muscadine grapes (Vitis rotundifolia) thrive. Why would our ancestors bother growing them when they grew so abundantly around the edges of the woods. In the early fall, these native grapes were used for homemade sweet wines, jams and jellies, and incredible muscadine pies and cobblers. A light-colored to bronze muscadine found in North Carolina was named ‘Scuppernong’. Because it was the first light-colored muscadine cultivated, the name ‘Scuppernong’ came to be used today by many Southerners to refer to any light-colored, bronze, or white muscadine. Breeding efforts since WWII have resulted in the release of some incredible new muscadine varieties and the expansion of the wine industry in the South. Four improved varieties are planted along the west side of the McLain Garden, ‘Cowart’, a black, heirloom variety used for jams and jellies, ‘Supreme’, a large, improved black variety, and two, large, bronze varieties, ‘Pam’ and ‘Sweet Jenny’.
Blackberries and dewberries. Why cultivate them when one could fill up a bucket from wild plants growing in ditches and abandoned fields all over Alabama? Dewberries grow along the ground and mature a few weeks earlier than blackberries. Blackberry thickets can be several feet high and almost impenetrable because of the stiff thorns. Blackberry or dewberry cobblers and ‘stir-rounds’ are a mainstay of Southern desserts. Raspberry, blackberry’s red, northern cousin, doesn’t do well in the Deep South. Today, most landowners consider bramble canes a weed and kill them to clean up pastures and woodlots, Most residents do not have access to the wild berries. The more productive, cultivated blackberries are the mainstay in supermarkets and roadside fruit stands. ‘Kiowa’, a large, productive blackberry variety that is just as thorny as its wild cousin, is planted along the east side of the McLain Garden. If the pioneers had access to some of the thornless blackberry varieties that we have today, they might have been more motivated to cultivate blackberries on the farm.
Blueberries. Fifty years ago, most Southerners had never picked a cultivated blueberry. The little wild ones found in the woods and meadows were called ‘huckleberries’. Blueberries were grown up north (mostly Vaccinium corymbosum, northern highbush) . Development of cultivated varieties of the native rabbiteye blueberry (Vaccinium ashei) has transformed blueberry consumption in the Deep South over the past 40 to 50 years. A selection of modern, named varieties are planted along the McLain Garden fence although they were never grown in 19th Century gardens.
Plums. Native plums grew all over Alabama and there are several species of native plums other than the widespread (Prunus americana). Like blackberries, there was little reason to cultivate them when thickets of juicy red and yellow plums grew everywhere. The sour, marble-sized fruit of what I think was wild Chickasaw plum (P. angustifolia) made the best jellies and plum sauces. The popular, cultivated prune plums from Europe (P. domestica) did not grow well in the mild climate of Alabama. Most of our cultivated plums today are crosses with the juicy, large Japanese plums (P. salicina). Cultivated plums have some of the same challenges as cultivated peaches because they are both stone fruits. The biggest problem of both wild and cultivated plums is the plum curculio. Today it’s hard to find many ripe, unsprayed plums that aren’t “wormy” because of this insect. Farmstead chickens and turkeys kept the curculio under control in grandpa’s backyard orchard.
Strawberries. In the early 20th century, commercial strawberries were more popular in Alabama than peaches. They were also easily grown in or near the backyard garden on a typical Alabama homestead. Strawberries offered a tasty treat in the early spring before any other fruit was available. Strawberries were usually planted in or near the family’s vegetable garden. Since we have no heirloom vegetable garden at Pioneer Park, there are no strawberries.
Figs. Figs are perhaps the easiest and most dependable fruit crop one can grow in the Deep South. That is why most homesteads in Central and South Alabama had figs. Several varieties of hardy figs will grow in Central Alabama but the standard variety is ‘brown turkey’, a medium size, purple fig that is used for preserves, jams, pickles, and dried figs. Many varieties, including ‘brown turkey’ may freeze during an unusually cold winter but they often will re-sprout from the roots and produce another small tree or bush within a year or two. Note that several varieties of figs are planted around the McLain Garden including ‘brown turkey.’
Pomegranates. I often hear comments like, “My grandparents used to have huge pomegranate bushes on their property but I cannot get them to grow.” It is true that Alabama homesteads often had nice, productive pomegranate bushes. These are difficult to find today. I’m told that certain soil-borne, root diseases have moved in which can be devastating to pomegranates, especially in wet weather. We have not been unable to get them to grow at Pioneer Park.
Persimmons. Wild, American persimmons grew everywhere and the fruit was plentiful. Every child growing up in rural Alabama had the experience, just once, of tasting an under-ripe, wild persimmon. However, once a hard freeze softens the pulpy fruit, the astringency disappears and the sweet flavor is remarkable. Our ancestors had to fight the raccoons, possums, and deer for a taste of this native fruit. Only recently have the large, non-astringent, Asian persimmons become popular in backyard orchards in the South.
Fruits you will not see at Pioneer Park. Raspberries, cherries, kiwis, bunch grapes, olives and citrus were not grown on 19th century homesteads in Central Alabama. We were either too far south or too far north or simply did not know about these fruits or didn’t have the time to cultivate them.
Copyright © 1997 -
2016 by theAlabama Cooperative Extension System
Alabama A&M University and
Auburn University All Rights Reserved.
Legal Disclaimer – firstname.lastname@example.org
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A major flavoring in Mexican and Middle Eastern cuisine and sprinkled on morning bowls of oatmeal, cinnamon is gaining attention for potential benefits to health. Some researchers have found that a particular type of cinnamon, cassia, may help lower blood sugar slightly in people with diabetes. In one study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, scientists found that people who ate several spoonfuls of cinnamon with a meal had lower blood sugar levels after the meal than folks who didn’t eat cinnamon with their meal. How much? Likely between 1/2 to 2 1/2 teaspoons per meal. Sure, 1 teaspoon in a cake or sprinkled on oatmeal, doesn’t get us there, but until we get more research, it can’t hurt, and it tastes good. Some researchers have shown cinnamon to have antioxidant properties.
Cinnamon has a subtly sweet flavor but is calorie-free; use it to cut down on sugar. Add a spoonful to a cup of protein-rich steamed milk, to a bowl of whole grain cereal, or to coffee grounds before brewing. In baked goods, try increasing the amount of cinnamon and decreasing the sugar by a couple tablespoons.
Some researchers have shown cinnamon to have antioxidant properties. In Mexico, it is often paired with chocolate; thus sipping a cup of cocoa made with cinnamon and antioxidant-rich dark chocolate could make for a powerful drink.
The amount of cinnamon to consume for any potential health benefits is likely between 1/2 and 2 1/2 teaspoons per meal. To reach this quantity of spice in one dish, experiment with Moroccan, Persian, African or Middle Eastern recipes. For instance, serve spice-crusted meat with a side of brown rice, quinoa or couscous flavored with dried fruits, cinnamon and fresh herbs. Stir spoonfuls of cinnamon into any bean dish including sweet, savory barbecued baked beans, chili or white bean soup with pumpkin. Are your Mondays meatless? Then serve a protein-rich dessert like egg custard with cinnamon stirred into the eggs and milk mixture.
—By Serena Ball, MS, RD, a Chicago food writer
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Commonwealth Honors College World Film Series: "The Battle of Algiers"
September 16, 2013
Commonwealth Honors College Building
One of the most influential political films in history, The Battle of Algiers, by Italian director Gillo Pontecorvo, vividly re-creates a key year in the tumultuous Algerian struggle for independence from the occupying French in the 1950s. As violence escalates on both sides, children shoot soldiers at point-blank range, women plant bombs in cafés, and French soldiers resort to torture to break the will of the insurgents. Shot on the streets of Algiers in documentary style, the film is a case study in modern warfare, with its terrorist attacks and the brutal techniques used to combat them. Pontecorvo’s tour de force has astonishing relevance today.
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A Guide to Safe Practice in Art & Design
All corrosive and toxic chemicals, including many cleaning fluids, adhesives, dyes and inks, must be kept in secure stores under lock and key; quantities in use should be restricted to the minimum necessary. Teachers should be aware of the dangers, including those arising from accidental or intentional inhaling (glue-sniffing). Procedures for disposal and action in the event of an accident must be clearly set out in areas where chemicals are stored or used. It is advisable to arrange for some chemicals to be stored with bulk stock in other departments rather than duplicating storage in each.
Staff should bear in mind the requirements of the COSHH regulations and ensure that the appropriate precautions are put into practice. Care should be taken in selecting appropriate warning notices and safety signs to achieve maximum impact. See COSHH: A brief guide to the regulations at: www.coshh-essentials.org.uk/assets/live/indg136.pdf
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Introduction to XForms
XForms is a standardized set of HTML form elements, designed to be integrated with other world-wide-web standards.
- an elegant Model-View-Controller (MVC) architecture
- a movement toward declarative programming which is easier to learn, maintain and debug
- a rich set of user interface controls for handling complex things such as dates, numbers and ranges
- compatibility with XML standards such as Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), XML Schema and XPath
About this book
We would like to have the examples ordered from simple to complex. At the end of the cookbook there are integration examples of how to extend and integrate XForms with other systems such as web services.
The philosophy behind this book centers around the fact that people often learn best by taking a fully-functioning program and making slight modifications to it to understand how it works.
Guidelines for contributors
Please feel free to add your own examples to this tutorial and cookbook! Here are a few suggestions for contributors:
Focus on Tutorial Examples
The first set of examples should focus on new XForms users. Please keep tutorials on foundational concepts (XPath and XML Schema) in a separate area so that users already familiar with these concepts can skip these sections.
We would like to eventually have a small box in the upper right corner that tells what systems each example was tested under.
Try to avoid duplication with other example programs in this cookbook and other Wikibooks on CSS, XML Schemas and XPath. That being said, sometimes the cookbook needs small samples of CSS and XPath to demonstrate how they are integrated with XForms.
Our first goal is to get as many complete working examples installed for new users of XForms. After they are working, they should hopefully be made as consistent as possible. This document describes an initial attempt at some of the naming conventions used in previous examples.
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An air barrier is any substance that prevents outside air from coming in, and inside air from moving out. In addition to causing drafts and lowering the comfort level of a building, air can carry moisture in the form of water vapor that can get inside of wall and roof assemblies and condense back into liquid form.
Air leaking into a building envelope can carry far more water vapor than could enter through diffusion. The driving force of air movement is differences in air pressure. Differences in pressure either cause air to move into a building from the outside (infiltration), or to move out of a building from the inside (exfiltration). Air pressure differences around building envelope assemblies are primarily caused by the stack effect, chimneys, wind, and forced hot-air heating systems.
The Stack Effect
The stack effect is caused when a building is heated. Warm air rises, creating a high-pressure area near the top floors of a building. The rising air in turn creates a low-pressure area in the basement and bottom floors of a building. The area midway between the two zones is called the neutral pressure zone. The high-pressure air above the neutral zone tries to escape from the building and move towards the lower- pressure area outside the building. Since the air in the basement and lower floors has lower pressure, the air from outside tries to enter the building through any available openings.
An active chimney acts as an exhaust fan and will suck air out of a building. This causes the neutral pressure zone to move up to the ceiling or roof area of a building, resulting in lower pressure throughout most of the house. The lower pressure inside can cause the infiltration of air from the outside.
Wind causes pressure differences around the wall assemblies of a building. Wind hitting a wall assembly can cause positive pressure on the side of impact, while creating a negative pressure on the opposite side of the building. Wind causing a positive pressure zone can lead to infiltration on the windward side of a building; the subsequent negative pressure zone can lead to exfiltration from the leeward side.
Forced Hot-Air Heating Systems
Forced hot-air heating systems generally have supply ducts that deliver heated air into a room and return ducts that supply air to the furnace to be heated. In many cases, the supply and return vents are not located in the same room. The location of the supply and return vents can cause pressure differences inside a building. Leaking ductwork is also a cause of pressure differences.
Richard T. Bynum writes in his book Insulation Handbook, “Infiltration can comprise almost 50% of all heat loss during the winter months.” Mr. Bynum then lists some of the areas in a house that are major sources of heat loss from air infiltration:
Other areas in a house that are sources of heat loss through infiltration are:
Where to Install the Air Barrier
The air barrier can be installed on either side of the wall assembly, where as the vapor retarder has to be installed on the side of the wall with the highest water vapor pressure (inside for a building in a heating climate). Because of the ease of installation, many builders choose to install the air barrier on the outside of the wall assembly. Many house wrap products are sold in nine-foot rolls, which makes it easier to apply an “unbroken” barrier around the wall assemblies with fewer seams to seal. House wrap manufacturers recommend that all seams and openings be sealed with a house wrap tape for their product to be effective as an air barrier. Without properly sealing the seams and openings, a house wrap looses its effectiveness as an air barrier. Unfortunately, house wraps are not properly sealed in many construction projects.
Foam is an Effective Air Barrier
Polyurethane foam insulation can be installed to form a continuous air barrier around the entire building envelope. Polyurethane foam is airtight and actually bonds to building materials; this creates an airtight seal that forms a continuous air barrier across the entire building assembly.
Some Air Barriers do not Stop Water Vapor Diffusion
Air barriers are designed to control the movement of air and bulk moisture like rainwater, but are not designed to stop the diffusion of water vapor. If water vapor does condense inside a building assembly, like a wall cavity, it will still be able to evaporate through the air barrier leaving the wall cavity dry. In most cases, a separate barrier is used to retard vapor so moisture doesn’t move into the wall cavity to begin with.
Polyurethane foam also performs as a vapor retarder in addition to an air barrier. The following chart is a comparison of different insulating material and their air, vapor and moisture retarding properties.
Foam is an Effective Air Sealant:
An air barrier is the material which prevents air movement through a building assembly. In order for this barrier to be effective, it must be continous without penetrations or openings. (There must be no openings in the barrier.) Air sealants are used to ensure a complete seal along seams, penetrations, and transition areas such as where the wall assembly meets the roof assembly. Foam is an excellent and necessary air sealant because:
Air leakage (infiltration, exfiltration) is the number one cause of poor building performance. Foam-insulated homes perform at levels much higher than conventional insulation without additional, complicated and labor-intensive air-sealing details.
Foam is airtight, it performs better in windy conditions, and resists R-value loss (drift).
Fiberglass batt insulation has virtually no air-sealing ability and has to rely on other components of a total thermal envelope system to maintain performance levels.
Air leakage at penetrations and around windows and doors creates an environment for condensation. This affects overall performance and can compromise indoor air quality (bugs, mold, and rot). Condensation can lead to premature structural failure in structural framing and sheathing materials.
Independent testing shows that the performance of foam-insulated buildings exceeds today’s energy standards by a factor of ten.
Bynum, Richard, 2001. Insulation Handbook, McGraw-Hill, New York, NY.
Lstiburek, Joseph and John Carmody, 1993. Moisture Control Handbook, Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, NY.
Lstiburek, Joseph, 1998. Builders Guide: Cold Climates, Building Science Corporation, Westford, MA.
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Animals in Schools: Processes and Strategies in Human-Animal Education
Animals in Schools: Processes and Strategies in Human-Animal Education (Paperback)
Animals in Schools explores important questions in the field of critical animal studies and education by close examination of a wide range of educational situations and classroom activities. How are human- animal relations expressed and discussed in school? How do teachers and students develop strategies to handle ethical conflicts arising from the ascribed position of animals as accessible to human control, use, and killing? How do schools deal with topics such as zoos, hunting, and meat consumption? These are questions that have profound implications for education and society. They are graphically described, discussed, and rendered problematic based on detailed ethnographic research and are analyzed by means of a synthesis of perspectives from critical theory, gender, and postcolonial thought.
CHOICE, August 2010, Vol. 47, No. 11
This well-researched volume will appeal to any science teacher, environmental educator, natural scientist, or scholar interested in exploring critical animal studies through a normative lens. Recommended as a teaching or research resource. Summing Up: Recommended. All undergraduate, graduate, and research collections.
—D. M Moss, University of Connecticut
About the Author(s):
Helena Pedersen, who holds a Ph.D. in education, is a researcher in the School of Education at Malmö University. Recent and forthcoming works appear in the volumes Social Justice, Peace, and Environmental Education: Transformative Standards (Routledge, 2009); Zootopian Visions of Animal Encounter: Farewell to Noah (Lexington Books, 2010); Global Harms: Ecological Crime and Speciesism (Nova Science Publishers, 2008); and Values and Democracy in Education for Sustainable Development (Liber, 2008). Helena Pedersen received the American Sociological Association's Award for Distinguished Graduate Student Scholarship (the Animals and Society Section) in 2006.
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One of the many goals the Department of Energy's (DOE’s) Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) aims to achieve is developing ways to positively impact the renewable transportation sector. The newest stitch in the fabric of renewable transportation is carbon fiber, a resilient material that can be combined to create high-value composites for wind energy technologies, aircraft technologies, and vehicles.
Speakers with experience in carbon fiber manufacturing, biomass deconstruction, and intermediate and industrial chemical production gathered at the Renewable Low-Cost Carbon Fiber for Lightweight Vehicles workshop to shed light on the benefits and possibilities of carbon fiber. The two-day event, held in Detroit, Michigan, on June 4–5, was hosted by BETO, in coordination with DOE’s Advanced Manufacturing and Vehicle Technologies Offices.
The workshop leveraged the complementary insight and expertise of DOE's Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy offices to support end-to-end technology development for an enhanced domestic supply chain for low-cost carbon fiber. Developing these technologies can improve the potential to increase energy productivity and the competitiveness of U.S. manufacturing.
Issues discussed at the event included the technical challenges of carbon fiber manufacturing, such as meeting end-product specifications for vehicle structural components; the technical challenges of converting biomass resources to drop-in carbon fiber intermediates; and the resources, challenges, and opportunities in unconventional carbon fiber.
The program’s goal is to reduce the cost of carbon fiber composites, which could reduce carbonization cost by about half compared to conventional methodology. (Photo courtesy of Oak Ridge National Laboratory)
Participants were invited to answer a series of questions related to the development of renewable carbon fiber in three breakout sessions. The results from those sessions indicated a high level of interest in renewable carbon fiber and the need to gather more information regarding its potential for transportation. As a result, BETO issued a request for information (RFI) on the need for federal financial assistance for the research, development, demonstration, and deployment of emerging renewable carbon fiber technologies.
With a closing date of September 6, 2013, the purpose of the RFI is to solicit feedback from industry, academia, research laboratories, government agencies, and other public and private-sector stakeholders to assist DOE with the development of a strategic program in renewable carbon fibers. This program could include investigations of biological and/or non-biological conversion and processing technologies to transform biomass components into chemicals like acrylonitrile that can be used in existing manufacturing of high-performance carbon fibers.
The carbon fiber RFI will be instrumental for BETO as it works to provide clean, safe, secure, affordable, and reliable energy from diverse domestic resources.
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You expect your dreams to exist only in your mind while your body rests. But for people with REM (rapid eye movement) behavior disorder, dreaming is much more than mental. It’s a physical and sometimes violent event. REM behavior disorder is a sleep disorder characterized by intense physical activity during REM sleep.
People who experience REM sleep disorder may kick, punch, hit, grab, talk, yell, or leap out of bed while REM sleep is occurring, sometimes injuring themselves or their bed partner. “REM behavior disorder is a dramatic and potentially harmful sleep disorder,” says Tracy Kuo, PhD, a sleep specialist and clinical psychologist at the Stanford Sleep Disorders Clinic in Palo Alto, Calif. “Without treatment, it tends to get worse over time.” The good news is that REM behavior disorder can usually be well managed with proper diagnosis and treatment.
REM Behavior Disorder: No Sweet Dreams
REM sleep disorder is the acting out of dreams during the REM phase of sleep. During sleep, we pass through five phases, the fifth being REM. It’s the most active part of sleep, when most dreaming occurs. As normal REM sleep begins, some minor twitching of the body may occur, but most people don’t actively move their arms and legs enough to allow kicking or punching during REM sleep because the muscles are temporarily immobile. For people with this sleep disorder, however, the temporary paralysis doesn’t happen, allowing movement while dreaming.
“Usually it’s a bad dream or nightmare, where the sleeping person is being chased or attacked,” says Kuo. “He tries to defend himself, leading to punching or kicking, or he may try to get away by jumping out of bed and hitting the bedpost or an object in the bedroom.” This can result in serious injury. According to a University of Connecticut study, the risk for injury to the sleeper or a spouse is as high as 96 percent. Upon waking, the person has no memory of his actions, although he can usually remember the dreams.
REM Behavior Disorder: Men Are at Risk
REM behavior disorder is rare, affecting less than 1 percent of the population. However, more than 90 percent of those with REM behavior disorder are men, usually over age 50. “It’s uncommon in women and children,” says Kuo. “In fact, this sleep disorder is most associated with elderly males.”
The exact cause of REM behavior disorder is unknown, but its onset is associated with several degenerative neurological conditions, especially Parkinson’s disease, and it often precedes Parkinson’s by several years. “Around 30 percent of people with REM behavior disorder develop Parkinson’s disease within three years,” says Kuo. “This suggests that similar brain structures may be involved in both conditions.”
In most cases, REM behavior disorder comes on gradually, worsening over time. When this sleep disorder is sudden and severe, it’s usually caused by drug or alcohol withdrawal.
REM Behavior Disorder: Signs and Symptoms
REM behavior disorder is sometimes confused with sleepwalking and night terrors, but there are differences. People with REM behavior disorder rarely walk or leave their room, are easily awoken, and can remember vivid details of their dreams. On the other hand, people who sleepwalk or have night terrors are usually confused and groggy upon waking and don’t become rapidly alert.
In most cases of REM behavior disorder, a spouse or bed partner, not the person with the disorder, recognizes the problem due to physical or violent activity during REM sleep; these actions may include:
- Sitting up in bed
REM Behavior Disorder: Treatments and Precautions
REM behavior disorder is treatable with prescription medication. A low dose of a benzodiazepine, usually clonazepam (Klonopin), taken at bedtime is usually effective. It’s unknown exactly why clonazepam helps, but it’s thought to suppress muscle activity during REM sleep. “This medication relieves symptoms in about 90 percent of patients,” says Kuo. One advantage to the drug is that patients don’t usually build up a tolerance to it. Melatonin can also be effective and is sometimes tried as a natural alternative to clonazepam.
In addition to medication, it’s important to make the patient’s sleep environment safe by removing sharp and potentially dangerous objects from the bedroom and putting a cushion around the bed to protect against landing on the floor in case he leaps out of bed during episodes.
Because untreated REM behavior disorder tends to get worse over time, it’s important to see a sleep specialist at the first sign of symptoms.
Last Updated: 8/17/2010
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PART I: THE VIRGINITY IN SCRIPTURE
Our insight into Mary's virginal conception of Jesus comes from the
Gospels of Matthew and from Luke. The virginal conception is not referred to in
Paul, Mark or John. Raymond Brown asserts that the belief in the virginal conception
preceded Matthew and Luke:
It seems clear that the two evangelists traditionally known as Matthew
and Luke, writing in the era AD. 80-100, believed that, in conceiving
Jesus, Mary remained bodily a virgin and did not have intercourse with Joseph...
Neither evangelist knew the other's infancy narrative, and the fact that a
virginal conception through the power of the Holy Spirit is one of the few
points on which they agree means that this tradition antedated both accounts.
Indeed, it had been in circulation long enough to have developed into (or to have
been employed in) narratives of a quite diverse character and to have
circulated in different Christian communities.1
In Matthew's Gospel (1:18-25) we learn about Jesus' miraculous
conception through the revelations made to Joseph. Mary is betrothed to Joseph.
There were two
stages to marriage among the Jewish people at this time. The first
step was the betrothal, which involved consent before witnesses. This contract was
so binding that the woman could be referred to as a "wife," as in Matthew 1:20, 24
where Mary is referred to as Joseph's
gynê. The bride remained with her family for
about a year, after which she was taken to her husband's home. In parts of Judea the
man was allowed to be alone with his betrothed before she actually came to his
house but this was not allowed in Galilee.2 Although Matthew situates Mary and Joseph
in Bethlehem and not in Galilee, Brown observes: "Matthew's story of virginal
conception is set in a background of peculiarly Galilean marriage customs."3
Matthew 1:19 relates: "Joseph, her husband, since he was a righteous man,
unwilling to expose her to shame, decided to divorce her quietly." The
general interpretation is that Joseph assumed that something was wrong. The
New American Bible attests: "As a devout observer of the Mosaic law, Joseph wished
to break his union with someone whom he suspected of gross violation of the law. It
is commonly said that the law required him to do so, but the texts usually given
in support of that view, e.g. Deuteronomy 22:20-21, do not clearly pertain to Joseph's situation.
Unwilling to expose her to shame: the penalty for proven adultery was
death by stoning; cf. Deuteronomy 22:21-23."4
The New Jerusalem Bible offers two possibilities: "It is perhaps because
Joseph is upright that he does not want to name as his own a child of an unknown
Another explanation is that he is deterred from proceeding with the marriage
reverence for the mystery of Mary's motherhood and has to be persuaded by
the angelic message that it is still God's will that he should take her to
Rene Laurentin endorses the latter explanation: "This account by Matthew contains
hint of any suspicion on Joseph's part...What Joseph knew, according to
is that this child belonged to God alone. Justice required that he not seek
to make his
own either the holy offspring that was not his or this wife who belonged to
therefore withdrew quietly to avoid putting Mary in an awkward situation."6
does acknowledge that the interpretation described as "Joseph's suspicion"
"dominant in exegesis from the time of Justin, Ambrose, Augustine,
Matthew 1:22-23 states: "All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had
through the prophet:
'Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son, and they shall name
him Emmanuel'" referring to Isaiah 7:14. The Hebrew of Isaiah 7:14 uses 'almâ which means a young maiden of marriageable age. In its context, during
the Syro-Ephraimite war of 734, Isaiah is foretelling that God will give King
Ahaz a sign
which will be the birth of a son from a young woman.
Probably in the third century, although possibly extending into the second
century, before Christ, Jews living in Alexandria, Egypt, composed a Greek
of the Hebrew Scriptures. This was called the Septuagint, meaning "seventy,"
thus referred to as LXX. The name recalls the (unfounded) legend that
elders did the translation in seventy-two days. Since this version of the
used by Greek-speaking Jews, it was the version used by most of the early
Generally the New Testament's references to the Old Testament are to the
In the Septuagint, the Hebrew word,
'almâ is rendered by the Greek word
parthenos which actually means "virgin." The Septuagint does not
that the child will be conceived while the woman is still a virgin. However,
finds a fuller sense to this text in which a virgin bears a child. Matthew
asserts that this
fulfills what the Lord had spoken through the prophet. This would be an
instance of the
difference between the literal sense of Isaiah, the original author, and a
fuller sense understood by the Church, which was intended by God, if not by
the human author. The New Jerusalem Bible grants that Isaiah, at least,
intended more than just the birth of a child:
Even if Isaiah had the birth of a son to Ahaz, for instance Hezekiah,
immediately in mind...we may sense from the solemnity of the prophetic
saying and the emphatic meaning of the symbolic name given to the child that
Isaiah saw more in this royal birth than immediate circumstances, namely a
decisive intervention by God, towards the final establishment of the
messianic kingdom. Thus the prophecy of Immanuel goes beyond its immediate
realization, and the Evangelists, Matthew 1:23 quoting Isaiah 7:14, Matthew 4:15-16
quoting Isaiah 8:23-9:1, cf. John 1:5, followed by the whole Christian tradition,
have understood it as a prophecy of the birth of Christ.8
Isaiah 7:14 is not Matthew's source for believing in the virginal conception
Jesus. The authors of the ecumenical work, Mary in the New Testament,
"[I]t was unlikely that Matthew first came to the idea of the virginal
Jesus by reflecting on Isaiah 7:14, a text, that, as far as we know, no Jew had
seen as indicative of a virginal conception of the Messiah. However, if
already an idea that Jesus had been virginally conceived, this may have
Matthew of Isaiah 7:14 which the would then have reinterpreted as foretelling
Brown in his work, The Virginal Conception & Bodily Resurrection of Jesus,
likewise affirms: "[I]t is dubious that Isaiah 7:14 was the origin of Matthew's
a virginal conception; elsewhere, including chapter 2, it is Matthew's
custom to add
fulfillment or formula citations to existing traditions. And, indeed, there
is no proof
that Isaiah 7:14 played any major role in shaping the Lucan account of the
Matthew 1:25 relates: "He had no relations with her until she bore a son,
named him Jesus." In Luke it will be Mary who calls her son Jesus (Luke
word "until" eôs is ambiguous. Matthew's concern is to explain the virginal
of Jesus. This same expression is used by the LXX to explain David's
his wife Michal, Saul's daughter. "And Michal, the daughter of Saul, had no
the day of her death" (2 Samuel 6:23 ).
In Luke 1: 34, Mary's response to the angel's message that she will have a
is: "I do not know a man" epei andra ou ginôskô. "To know" is the
expression for sexual relations. The same word is used in Matt 1:25, "He did
not know eginôsken her."
Luke makes it clear that Mary is a virgin. Virginity was not valued by the
Jews. Thus the daughter of
Jephthah goes to the mountains to bewail her virginity because 'She had never known
a man' (Judges 11:39). Similarly, Judges 12:12 speaks of four hundred virgins 'who
never slept with a man' as though they were unfulfilled.
Ignace de la Potterie
raises the question whether Mary had intended to preserve her virginity despite
her marriage to Joseph. He writes: "We do not think that it is a question of a conscious
decision to keep one's virginity. That would be putting too much into the text.
At this moment in salvation history that would be an anachronism. It is rather a question
of orientation, of a profound attraction to a virginal way of life, a secret desire for virginity,
proved and existentially experienced by Mary, but which could not yet take
the form of a decision, because that was impossible in the milieu in which she lived."11
Pope John Paul II in
a Wednesday audience in 1997, draws attention to Mary's question, "How can
this be?" Would this be a difficulty if she did not have the intention to remain
a virgin? The Pope mentions that celibacy was practiced among the Essenes at Qumran and
among a sect related to the Essenes in Egypt called the Therapeutae, although
he doubts that Mary was aware of these movements. He believes her grace of celibacy
is related to her Immaculate Conception.
Although the second
chapter of Luke does not bring out Mary's virginity, a little aside in the
third chapter does. In the genealogy, Luke 3:23 tells us: "When Jesus began His ministry
He was about thirty years of age. He was the son, as was thought, of Joseph." Fitzmyer
observes: "As in the Matthean genealogy, Jesus ancestry is traced through Joseph, not
through Mary...To Joseph a legal or commonly estimated paternity is thus ascribed; Jesus
is regarded as his heir. This is also the reason why Mary and Joseph are described
as 'his parents' in 2:41, and Mary is made to refer to Joseph, in speaking to Jesus as
'your father' (2:48). Cf. 4:22; John 1:45; 6:42. "12
virginity has been described as ante partum (before the birth), inpartu
(during childbirth without breaking the hymen and/or a birth without pain) and post partum
(after the birth of Jesus). A question rises regarding the "brothers and the sisters of
the Lord." If they are Mary's children, then Mary's virginity relates only to Jesus' conception
and possibly his birth.
References to the brothers
and at times also the sisters of Jesus are found in various places in the
New Testament such as Mark 3:31; 6:3; Matthew 13:55; Luke 8:19-20; John 2:12; 7:5; Acts 12:17;
15:13; 21:18; 1 Corinthians 15:7; Galatians 1:19; 2:9, 12; James 1:1; Jude 1.
The authors of Mary in the New
Testament point out:
The term adelphos, which
is used in Mark 6:3, would normally denote a blood brother, 'son of the same mother,'
frater germanus. It is well known that in the NT adelphos at times denotes
other relationships: e.g. 'co-religionist' (Rom 9:3, where it is in the plural,
and further specified as referring to kinsmen [syngeneis] according to
the flesh); 'neighbor' (Matt 5:22-24)- but these instances do not help with the
problem at hand, for here Jesus' mother and sisters are mentioned also. More
pertinent would be the use of adelphos for step-brother in Mark 6:17-18. In
the Greek adelphos is sometimes used in the broad sense of 'kinsmen, relative'
e.g., in the LXX of Gen 29:12, Jacob tells Rebekah 'that he is her father's
adelphos (Kinsman)' also Gen 24:48. The Greek usage here obviously reflects
the underlying Hebrew in which 'ah means both (blood) brother and ' kinsman.'
The same range of meaning seems to be attested for Aramaic.13
Fitzmyer also notes:
For the word adelphos can
express other relationships: 'neighbor' (Matt 5:22- 24), co-religionist (Rom 9:3
[syngenes, 'kin']), 'stepbrother' (Mark 6:17-18, unless the evangelist has erred
there about the relationship of Philip to Herod's relative' or 'kinsman' (so at times
in the LXX: Gen 13:8; 14:14; 24:27; 29:12). The LXX usage may reflect the broader
sense of Hebrew ah or Aramaic aha, 'brother, kinsman.' Thus an Aramaic
papyrus letter bears the opening formula, 'To my son from your brother' as
a father writes to his son who is away on a caravan.... The same is found occasionally
in Greek texts..."14
There is an indication in the text
that clearly raises the possibility that those who are described adelphoi
Jesus' blood brothers. In Mark 6:3, his brothers are spoken of as James, and Joses,
Judas and Simon. Then when Mark identifies the women at the Cross when Jesus died,
he states: "Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of the younger
James and of Joses, and Salome" (15:40). Is this a coincidence? In Matthew 13:55,
His brothers are James, Joseph, Simon and Judas. When Matthew names the women at
the cross, he lists: "Among them were Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of
James and Joseph, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee."
The authors of Mary and the
New Testament reach these conclusions:
We did agree on these points: 1)
The continued virginity of Mary after the birth of Jesus is not a question directly
raised by the NT. 2) Once it was raised in subsequent church history, it was
that question which focused attention on the exact relationship of the 'brothers'
(and 'sisters) to Jesus. 3) Once that attention has been focused, it cannot be
said that the NT identifies them without doubt as blood brothers and sisters and
hence as children of Mary. 4) The solution favored by scholars will in part
depend on the authority they allot to later church insights.15
A thorough study of the issue was
made by Joseph Blinzler entitled Die Bruder und Schwestern Jesu (SBS
21; Stuttgart: Katholisches Bibelwerk, 1967). His conclusion was that those described as brothers
and sisters were cousins.
PART II: THE VIRGINITY IN THE
The first reference in the Fathers
to Mary's Virginity is found in the writings of Ignatius who died between
AD. One of Ignatius' concerns was to refute the Docetists who denied the reality
of Jesus' flesh since in their opinion the matter could not be spiritual, thus Jesus only
seemed to have a body. Two of his five references to Mary mention her virginity:
"You are fully persuaded concerning
our Lord, that he is in truth of the family of David, according to the flesh,
Son of God by the will and power of God, truly born of a virgin" (Smymeans
"And hidden from the prince of
this world were the virginity of Mary, and her giving birth, and likewise the
death of the Lord: three mysteries crying out to be told, but wrought in the silence
of God" (Ephesians 19.1).
Another author is Aristides of
Athens, an apologist who died about 145, who writes: "it is confessed that the
Son of the most high God, descended from heaven [in] as holy spirit and took flesh from
a virgin. "16
A curious work written in the middle
of the second century is the Protoevangelium of James,
which is an apocryphal gospel. In this account Anna, the wife of
Joachim, mourns her barrenness. After an apparition of two angels to Anna, Joachim offers sacrifices and Anna
bears Mary. When Mary is three years old, she is brought to the temple where she
dances on the steps of the altar. Mary stays in the temple and is fed by angels. When
she is twelve the high-priest determines that she should be married and he asks the
widowers to bring their staffs. A dove flies out of Joseph's staff and rests on his
head. Joseph protests that he is an old man. In the meanwhile Mary is asked by the
high-priest to spin a new purple veil for the temple.
As she is drawing water, she experiences
the Annunciation and then visits her cousin Elizabeth. Joseph goes away building
houses. When he returns he is startled to notice that Mary is pregnant and felt
he is responsible for not have watched over her more carefully. When the priest finds
out that Mary is pregnant, he conducts a trial. Joseph is made to drink some potion which
will reveal his crime. When Joseph remains well, the priest sends them off. Because
of the decree calling for the census, the couple go to Bethlehem where Jesus is born
a cave. Joseph seeks a midwife. Another woman Salome certifies that Mary's virginity
is intact but her hand is withered until an angel heals her. After the wise men come,
Herod seeks to kill the children. Elizabeth looks for a place to hide her son John
in the mountains which divide to hide them. When Herod cannot find John,
his soldiers to the Temple where they murder Zachariah who is offering sacrifice
at the altar.17
One cannot help but notice the
difference between the simplicity of the Gospels of the Church and this work which
tends to be complicated and concentrate on what seems to be almost magical, e.g.
a dove flying out of Joseph's staff. Rene Laurentin says of this work:
[T]he Protoevangelium of James
[is] an apocryphal gospel without historical value. I do not say...without
value. The Protoevangelium of James testifies not only to great fervor towards Mary,
but also to a profound insight into her holiness and her virginity, yet,
in spite of its antiquity (the middle of the second century), it shows (unlike our
gospels), a tremendous ignorance regarding the Jewish customs and laws which were
operative in the temple in Jerusalem. It is totally unlikely that a little
girl of three years of age could have been reared there, let alone in the holy of
holies, reserved for priests on solemn occasions.18
Luigi Gambero makes these observations:
Obviously, works such as the
Protoevangelium cannot claim the seal of divine inspiration. However, in
they helped the first generations of Christians to intuit the truth
of certain mysteries whose dogmatic formulation would later become more and more
clear in the light of divine revelation; these writings also traced an itinerary
through which believing people sought to draw near to the unfathomable mystery
of the virgin mother....The Protoevangelium's author,
as a collector of different stories and traditions, can be considered a very early and
valid witness to the Christian people's faith in the complete holiness and virginity of the Mother of the Lord.19
The authors of Mary in the
New Testament point out the contribution of Justin:
It is only with Justin Martyr, the apologist
and philosopher (d.ca. AD. 165), that Marian themes and particularly
Jesus' virginal conception, gained some prominence in theological argument.
It is possible, as we have mentioned, that Justin knew the Protoevangelium
and used it. However, his interest in Mary basically serves a christological
and soteriological purpose: Jesus' birth of the virgin is, on the one hand, proof
of his messiahship and, on the other, the sign of a new time.20
With Clement of Alexandria (150-215)
we find an explication of Mary's virginity which seems to show the influence of the Protoevangelium or similar sources:
But, as appears, many even down to
our own time, regard Mary, on account of the birth of her child, as having
been in the puerperal state, although she was not. For some say that, after
she brought forth, she was found, when examined, to be a virgin. Now such to
us are the Scriptures of the Lord, which gave birth to the truth and
continue virgin, in the concealment of the mysteries of the truth. 'And she
brought forth, and yet brought not forth' says the Scripture; as having
conceived of herself and not from conjunction.21
Tertullian (155/160-240/250) was
born in Carthage. He affirms Mary's virginal conception of Jesus:
Now it will first be necessary
to show what previous reason there was for the Son of God's being born of a virgin.
He who was going to consecrate a new order of birth, must Himself be
born after a novel fashion, concerning which Isaiah foretold how the Lord Himself
would give a sign. What, then, is the sign? 'Behold a virgin shall conceive
and bear a son' (Isaiah 7:14). Accordingly a virgin did conceive and bear 'Emmanuel,
God with us' (Matthew 1:23). This is the new nativity; a man is born in
God. And in this man God was born, taking the flesh of an ancient race, without
the help, however, of the ancient seed, in order that he might reform it with new
seed, that is, in a spiritual manner, and cleanse it by the removal of all its ancient
stains. But the whole of this new birth was prefigured, as was the case in
all other instances, in ancient type, the Lord being born as a man by a dispensation
in which the virgin was the medium. The earth was still in a virgin state,
reduced as yet by no human labor, with no seed as yet cast into its furrows, when,
as we are told, God made man out of it into a living soul. As, then, the first
Adam is thus introduced to us, it is a just inference that the second Adam
likewise, as the apostle has told us, was formed by God into a quickening spirit
out of the ground - in -- other words, out of flesh which was unstained as yet by any
Tertullian, while affirming Mary's
virginal conception of Jesus, did not hold that Mary was virginal in childbirth.
He also considered the "brothers and sisters" to be blood brothers and sisters.
Origen (185-254) was born in Alexandria.
He believed in Mary's perpetual virginity, stating: "There is no
child of Mary except Jesus, according to the opinion of those who think correctly about
her. "23 The same teaching is found in his Commentary on Matthew. "Those who speak
thus mean to safeguard Mary's dignity in the virginity she conserved until the end, so
that body chosen to serve the Word... did not know any relations with a man, after the
point that the Holy Spirit came down upon her and the power of the Most High overshadowed
Athanasius (295-373), bishop of
Alexandria, makes the argument for Mary's perpetual virginity from the Gospel
If Mary would have had another
son, the Savior would not have neglected her nor would he have confided his
mother to another person, indeed she had not become the mother of another. Mary,
moreover, would not have abandoned her own sons to live with another,
for she fully realized a mother never abandons her spouse nor her children. And
since she continued to remain a virgin even after the birth of the Lord, he
gave her as mother to the disciple, even though she was not his mother; he confided
her to John because of his great purity of
conscience and because of her intact
In St. Ambrose (339/340-397), bishop
of Milan, we see explicit reference to Mary's virginity in childbirth:
"Since Christ was born from the womb of the Virgin, nevertheless he preserved the enclosure
of her sexual chastity and the untouched seal of her virginity."26 And, "Behold
the miracle of Our Lord's Mother. She conceived, a Virgin; she brought forth, a Virgin.
A Virgin was she when she conceived, a Virgin when pregnant, a Virgin after childbirth:
as it is says in Ezekiel: And the gate was shut, and it was not opened for the
Lord passed through it." 27
St. Hilary (315-367), Bishop of
Poitiers, who was a defender of the Creed of Nicea against the Arians, argues
regarding Mary's perpetual virginity on the basis of John's Gospel:
Indeed many depraved men give authority
to their opinion that our Lord Jesus Christ was known to have brothers
(and sisters). While if these were really the sons of Mary and not those of Joseph
from a former marriage, never would our Lord at the time of his passion
have given Mary to the apostle John to be his mother by saying to both of them,
'Woman behold your son,' and to John, 'Behold your mother,' unless he
were leaving the charity of a son in the disciple for the solace of his now desolate
Epiphanius of Salamis (d.403) taught
the perpetual virginity of Mary: "Is not the very name [virgin] sufficient
witness? Is it not enough to convince you, you quarrelsome fellow? Was there ever
anyone who dared pronounce the name of holy Mary without immediately adding
the title 'Virgin.'"29 Epiphanius considered Joseph to be old and Jesus' "brothers" to
be Joseph's children of a previous marriage.
Jerome (347-419/420), who was born
in Stridon in Dalmatia, present Croatia, and died in Bethlehem, we find
very explicit teachings on the perpetual virginity of Mary in his work against Helvidius:
I was requested by certain of the
brethren not long ago to reply to a pamphlet written by one Helvidius. I have
deferred doing so, not because it is a difficult matter to maintain the truth and
refute an ignorant boor who has scarce known the first glimmer of learning,
but because I was afraid my reply might make him appear worth defending....!
must call upon the Holy Spirit to express His meaning by my mouth and defend
the virginity of the Blessed Mary. I must call upon the Lord Jesus to guard the
sacred lodging of the womb in which He abode for ten months from all suspicion
of sexual intercourse. And I must also entreat God the Father to show
that the mother of His Son, who was mother before she was a bride, continued
a Virgin after her Son was born.30
Jerome responds to Helvidius' appeal
to Tertullian: "Feeling himself to be a smatterer, he then produces Tertullian
as a witness...Of Tertullian I say no more than that he did not belong to the Church.
Jerome disregarded the apocryphal
gospels: "No midwife assisted at his birth; no woman's officiousness intervened.
With her own hands she wrapped Him in swaddling clothes, herself both
mother and midwife, 'and laid Him,' we are told, 'in a manger, because there was no room
in the inn'; a statement which on one hand, refutes the ravings of the apocryphal accounts...
St. Jerome makes it clear that
his emphasis on Mary's virginity is not a rejection of marriage:
Nor do we say this to condemn
marriage, for virginity itself is the fruit of marriage. You say that Mary
did not continue a virgin. I claim still more, that Joseph himself on
account of Mary was a virgin so that from a virgin wedlock a virgin son was
born... It is nowhere written that he had another wife but was the guardian
of Mary whom he was supposed to have to wife rather than her husband, the
conclusion is that he who was thought worthy to be called father of the
Lord, remained a virgin.33
St. Augustine, (354-430) teaches
Mary's virginal conception and birth: "The angel makes the announcement, the
virgin hears, believes, and conceives; faith in the mind, Christ in the womb. The virgin
conceived; you're astonished; the virgin gave birth; you're more astonished still;
after giving birth she remained a virgin."34 He also maintains the perpetual virginity
of Mary: "As in the womb of the Virgin Mary no one was conceived before Him, and no
one after Him, so in the sepulcher there was no one buried before Him, and no one after
PART III: THE VIRGINITY IN THE
Letter of Pope Siricius to Anysius,
Bishop of Thessalonica: "Your holiness is rightly repelled by the idea that
any other birth should have taken place from the womb whence Christ was born according
to the flesh. Jesus would not have chosen to be born of a virgin if he had to regard
her as being so little continent as to desecrate the place of birth of the Lord's body, that
temple of the eternal King, by human intercourse"36
Paul IV in the Constitution
Cum Quorundam (1555): "[The opinion is condemned that Jesus Christ] was
not conceived according to the flesh by the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Blessed
Virgin Mary, ever Virgin...or that the same most blessed Virgin Mary is not the
true mother of God and did not retain her virginity intact before the birth, in the
birth, and after the birth in perpetuity."
PART VI: THE THEOLOGICAL SIGNIFICANCE
OF MARY'S VIRGINITY
The theological significance of
Mary's virginity would seem to lie in her total self- giving to God and in her
fruitfulness as a result of that self-giving.
Cardinal Ratzinger has made some
comments on the denial of the virginity of Mary:
The world-view that would force
us psychologically to declare the virginal birth an impossibility clearly does not
result from knowledge, but from an evaluation.... Now we can say that
the real reason behind the reasons against the confession of Mary's virginity
lies not in the field of a historical (exegetical) knowledge, but in the presuppositions
of a world-view... Contrary to the usual presentation the real dispute occurs
not between historical naiveté and historical criticism, but between two preconceptions
of God's relationship to His world....The affirmation of Jesus'
birth from the Virgin Mary intends to affirm these two truths: (1) God really
acts - realiter, not just interpretative, and (2) the earth produces its fruit -
precisely because He acts. The Natus ex Maria virgine is in its nucleus
a strictly theological affirmation that bears witness to the God who has not let creation
slip out of His hands. On this are based the hope, the freedom, the assurance,
and the responsibility of the Christian.37
St. Jerome writes: "For me, virginity
is consecrated in the persons of Mary and of Christ." 38
With St. Ambrose we see some of
the theology of Mary's virginity:
Let, then, the life of Mary be
as it were virginity itself, set forth in a likeness, from which, as from a mirror, the
appearance of chastity and the form of virtue is reflected. From this you may
take your pattern of life, showing, as an example, the clear rules of virtue:
what you have to correct, to effect, and to hold fast....What is greater than
the Mother of God? What more glorious than she whom Glory Itself chose? ....For
why should I speak of her other virtues? She was a virgin not only in body
but also in mind, who stained the sincerity of its disposition by no guile, who
was humble in heart, grave in speech, prudent in mind, sparing in words, studious
in reading, resting her hope not on uncertain riches, but on the prayer
of the poor, intent on work, modest in discourse; wont to seek not man
but God as the judge of her thoughts, to injure no one, to have good will towards
all, to rise up before her elders, not to envy her equals, to avoid boastfulness,
to follow reason, to love virtue.... This is the likeness of virginity, for Mary
was such that her example alone is a lesson for all.... How many kinds of virtues
shine forth in one Virgin! The secret of modesty, the banner of faith, the
service of devotion, the Virgin within the house, the companion for the ministry,
the mother at the temple.39
Denis Vincent Wiseman, O.P.
July 19, 2002
1 Raymond, E.. Brown,
The Virginal Conception & Bodily Resurrection
Pau1ist, 1973), 52-53.
2 Raymond E. Brown et a1, Mary in the New Testament, (New York: Pau1ist,
1978), 83, note
3Brown, The Virginal Conception & Bodily Resurrection of Jesus, 65.
4 The New American Bible, in The Catholic Study Bible (Oxford: Oxford
1990), 8, note 1, 19.
5 The New Jerusalem Bible, (Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Co, 1985), 1611,
6 Rene Laurentin, The Truth of Christmas : Beyond the Myths, trans .Michael
(Petersham, ÌÁ: St. Bede's Publications, 1986), 266.
7 Rene Laurentin, The Truth of Christmas, 267 .
8 The New Jerusalem Bible,
1201, note f.
9 Brown et al, Mary in the New Testament, 92.
10 Brown, The Virginal Conception & Bodily Resurrection of Jesus , 64.
11 Ignace de la Potterie, S.J.
Mary in the Mystery of the Covenant, trans. Bertrand Buby, S.M. (Staten Island, NY: Alba House,
12 Joseph Fitzmyer, S.J., The
Gospel According to Luke I-IX (New York, Doubleday, 1984), 449.
13 Brown et al, Mary in the
New Testament, 65-66.
14 Fitzmyer, Luke I-IX,
15 Brown et al, Mary in the
New Testament, 72.
16 Aristides of Athens, Apology,
15, 1, quoted by J.N.D. Kelly, Early Christian Doctrines
(New York: Harper & Row, 1960),
17 The Proto-Gospel of James,
in Bertrand Buby, S.M., Mary of Galilee, Vol. Ill, The Marian
Heritage of the Early Church
(Staten island, NY: Alba House, 1997), 37-52. Also in The Apocryphal
Books of the New Testament
(Philadelphia: David McKay Publisher, 1901), 24-37.
18 Rene Laurentin, A Year of
Grace with Mary (Dublin: Veritas Publications, 1987), 29.
19 Luigi Gambero, Mary and the
Fathers of the Church, trans. Thomas Buffer (San Francisco,
Ignatius Press, 1999), 40-41.
20 Brown et al, Mary in the
New Testament, 254-255.
21 Clement of Alexandria, "The Stromata, or Miscellanies" in The Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. II,
ed. Alexander Roberts and James
Donaldson (Grand Rapids: Win. B. Eerdmans, 1986), 551. (This
Scriptural reference is also given
by Tertullian to Ezekiel but the words cannot be found).
22 Tertullian, "On the Flesh of
Christ" in The Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. Ill, ed. Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson (Grand
Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1986), 536.
23 Origen, Commentary on John
1, 4; PG 14, 32, in Gambero, Mary and the Fathers of the Church, 75.
24 Origen, Commentary on Matthew
10, 17; PG 13, 876-77, in Gambero, Mary and the Fathers of the Church, 75-76.
25 Athanasius, "De virginitate,"
in Buby, Mary ofGalilee, III, 104
26 Ambrose, "De institutione virginis,"
52, in Buby, Mary ofGalilee, III, 122.
27 Ambrose, "Homily for Christmas,"
in Buby, Mary ofGalilee, III, 128.
28 Hilary, Commentary on Matthew,
in Buby, Mary ofGalilee, III, 134.
29 Epiphanius, Haer. 78,
6; PG 42, 705 D. in Gambero, Mary and the Fathers of the Church, 123.
30 Jerome, "Against Helvidius,"
in The Nicene and Post Nicene Fathers, vol. VI, ed. W.H. Freemantle, G. Lewis and W.G. Martley
(Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1983), 335.
31 Jerome, "Against Helvidius,"
in The Nicene and Post Nicene Fathers, vol. VI, 343.
32 Jerome, "Against Helvidius,"
in The Nicene and Post Nicene Fathers, vol. VI, 339.
33 Jerome, "Against Helvidius",
in The Nicene and Post Nicene Fathers, vol. VI, ed. W.H. Freemantle, G.Lewis and W.G. Martley
(Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1983), 344.
34 Augustine, "Sermon 196" The
Works of St. Augustine, III, 6, trans. Edmund Hill, O.P., ed. JohnE. Rotelle, O.S.A. (New Rochelle,
NY: New City Press, 1992), 61.
35 Augustine, "On The Gospel of
John", cxx, in The Nicene and Post Nicene Fathers, vol. V, ed. Philip Schaff (Grand Rapids:
Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1971), 435.
36 Josef Neuner, S.J. & Heinrich
Roos, S. J., The Teaching of the Catholic Church, ed. Karl Rahner, S. J., trans. Geoffrey
Stevens (Staten Island, NY: Alba, 1966), 183.
37 Joseph Ratzinger, Daughter
Zion, trans. John M. McDermott, S.J. (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1983), 59-61.
38 Jerome, "Letter XXII, to Eustochium",
in The Nicene and Post Nicene Fathers, vol. VI, ed. W.H. Freemantle, G. Lewis and W.G.
Martley (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1983), 29.
39 Ambrose, "Concerning Virgins,"
Book II, in The Nicene and Post Nicene Fathers, vol. X, ed. Philip Schaffand Henry Wace
(Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1983), 374-375.
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Help make politicians keep promises to wipe out hunger
The leaders of the G8 must take action and support the IF campaign, says Linda McClelland
There is enough food in the world to feed everyone. Yet nearly one billion people go to bed hungry and every year more than two million children die from malnutrition.
Hunger is the greatest scandal of our age, killing more people than Aids, malaria and tuberculosis combined
Almost all hungry people - more than 97% - live in developing countries. But many people here also struggle to put food on the table.
The IF campaign marks the biggest coming-together of the UK's major development agencies and faith groups since Make Poverty History in 2005. It is launched today in cities around the UK, including Belfast and Derry.
The IF campaign calls on David Cameron to use the UK's G8 presidency to take action on the root causes of the hunger crisis:
- IF governments keep their promises on overseas aid, stop children dying from malnutrition and help the poorest to feed themselves;
- IF we stop companies dodging taxes on overseas profits, so the poorest countries have the resources to free themselves from hunger;
- IF we stop poor farmers being forced off their land and use land to grow food, not biofuels for cars;
- IF we force governments and corporations to be honest about the actions they take that stop people getting enough food.
The campaign has gained the support of sportsmen and women, musicians, celebrities, entrepreneurs, such as Bill Gates, and church leaders, including Desmond Tutu, who said: "Hunger is not an incurable disease, or an unavoidable tragedy.
"We can make sure no child goes to bed hungry, if we challenge our leaders to take action."
War on Want Northern Ireland stands alongside the other development agencies and many faith groups supporting the IF campaign.
Like many of the other agencies, War on Want Northern Ireland supports the poorest and most vulnerable people in some of the poorest countries.
Rita Ailaat, a 41-year-old widow from north-east Uganda, lives with her four surviving children. During my last visit to the country, in September 2012, Rita told me of her life some years ago, before joining a community farmers group supported by War on Want Northern Ireland.
She had lived in a dilapidated one-room grass-thatched house. She had nothing to eat and she listened to her hungry babies cry themselves to sleep each night and she was left feeling hopeless and useless.
Now, with the support of the community group, she has the knowledge, skills and resources needed to cultivate her small holding of land and grow and sell appropriate drought-resistant crops and vegetables.
Now she can afford to feed her children properly and send them to school and make plans for her and her family's future.
Of the world's hungry, 60% are women. There are too many women in our world who have to live a life of poverty and hunger like Rita once did.
Join us by signing up to the IF campaign at ww.enoughfoodif.com. Ask our political leaders and decision-makers to keep their promises on overseas aid and climate finance, to invest in simple and effective things that stop children being malnourished, that empower small-scale farmers, like Rita, to grow enough food and adapt to climate change.
We need the effort of governments to tackle the root causes of poverty and hunger and this can come about IF the general public back the IF campaign.
Together, we can actually build a world where no child has to go hungry.
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Payables turnover is an important activity ratio, and provides a measure of how effectively a business is managing its payables.
The payables turnover ratio measures the number of times the company pays off all its creditors in one year.
For example, a payables turnover ratio of 10 means that the payables have been paid 10 times in one year. A variant of payables turnover is number of days of payables. Number of days of payables of 30 means that on average the company takes 30 days to pay its creditors.
Purchases are taken from the Income Statement and Payables are taken from the Balance Sheet. Since the balance sheet tells the financial condition of a company at the end of the period, we take Average payables for the year in our calculation. For purchases we are generally concerned about the credit purchases. So, the analyst may have to exclude cash purchases from the total sales figure.
365 is the most commonly used day count convention however some analysts may prefer to use 360 days.
Assume that the credit purchases for a company for the previous year were $50,000 and the beginning and ending payables for the year were 8,000 and 12,000.
This means that the company paid all its creditors 10 times during the year.
This means that on average the company took 73 days to pay its creditors.
These ratios are an indicator of how fast or slow the company is pays its creditors.
The ratio is compared with others in the industry to measure the performance.
A low payables turnover ratio (or high days payables) is in favor of the company. However, it could also mean that the company is finding it difficult to make payments.
If a company has a high payables turnover ratio, it indicates that the company has very lenient payment policy, and it is probably not taking advantage of credit facilities. It can also mean that the company is using the discounts offered by the suppliers for early payments.
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Tunable materials clear the way for advanced optics
Now you see it, now you don’t. In books and movies, wizards use magic spells to make the visible see-through.
In reality, materials with properties called phase transitions can pull off a similar trick, changing from clear to cloudy depending on the temperature or application of an electric field.
A multi-institutional team of researchers has developed a way to precisely engineer the temperatures at which vanadium dioxide — a material used in high-tech applications ranging from homes to satellites — will undergo phase transition. Their work, published today in the journal Nano Letters, could lead to new types of tunable materials for optics, camouflage and thermal regulation.
“Essentially, any optical component would be better if it were tunable,” says Mikhail Kats, senior author of the study and a University of Wisconsin–Madison professor of electrical and computer engineering.
Rather than relying on mechanical components to focus a camera lens or telescope eyepiece, a tunable material could change its innate optical properties on demand.
Scientists have known for more than 50 years that substances like vanadium dioxide can transition between opaque and transparent. However, these materials typically switch under only one particular set of conditions, limiting their applicability.
“In most phase-transition materials, the change occurs at conditions that are far from room temperature, and thus are difficult to incorporate into useful devices,” says Kats.
The researchers not only changed vanadium dioxide’s intrinsic shift point from 155 degrees Fahrenheit to below 70 degrees, they successfully tuned the transition for that material across a variety of specific temperatures — ranging from typical indoor comfort to medium-rare hamburger.
“This finding is going to open up new frontiers in photonic devices,” says collaborator Shriram Ramanathan, a professor of materials engineering at Purdue University.
Additionally, because optical and physical properties arise from the same underlying physical principles, vanadium dioxide’s thermal and electrical conductivities also shift with the transition. These types of materials could be used, for example, in homes as “smart” walls or windows that respond to the environment.
The researchers successfully tuned the transition for the material across a variety of specific temperatures — ranging from typical indoor comfort to medium-rare hamburger.
“Objects designed to emit light efficiently at high temperatures but not at low temperatures could be used as purely passive temperature regulators that don’t require external circuitry or power sources,” says Kats.
Materials with this unprecedented versatility could also create new types of thermal camouflage.
“Structures designed to emit the same amount of thermal radiation no matter the temperature could be used to hide objects from infrared cameras,” says Kats.
Previously, researchers attempting to change the transition temperatures of vanadium dioxide introduced impurities while trying to uniformly alter the material’s entire surface.
Instead, Kats and colleagues bombarded specific regions of the vanadium dioxide with energetic ions. Ion irradiation creates defects in materials, usually an unintended side effect. However, collaborator Carsten Ronning, a professor of solid state physics at the Friedrich Schiller University of Jena in Germany, says the researchers’ advance capitalizes on those defects.
“The beauty in our approach is that we take advantage of the ‘unwanted’ defects,” he says.
“This finding is going to open up new frontiers in photonic devices.”
Directing the ion beam at specific regions of a surface allowed the researchers to make nanoscale modifications to the material.
“We can precisely control the transition temperature everywhere on the sample, with roughly 20-nanometer precision,” Kats says. “We have been able to use this method to create effective materials which have multiple phase transitions at the same time.”
This technique enabled them to design and create a novel optical polarizer that changes selectivity based on the temperature.
Scientists spanning the globe contributed to this research. The manuscript’s co-first authors, Jura Rensberg and Shuyan Zhang, are pursuing Ph.D.s in Ronning’s laboratory in Germany and in Professor Federico Capasso’s at Harvard University, respectively. Researchers at the University of California, San Diego, also were instrumental to the project.
Funding for the research came from the Initiative and Networking Fund of the German Helmholtz Association, the German Academic Exchange Service, the U.S. Army and Air Force, Draper Laboratory, the Moore Foundation, the National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network and the Singapore Agency for Science, Technology and Research.
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I remember hearing something about where it was discerned that after a certain percent of losses armies tend to break (ie retreat). Does research on this exist? If so, at what point do armies tend to break?
There was an old, if rough rule of thumb (that I read in the Encyclopedia Britannica years ago) that an army could sustain only 30% casualties without breaking. At this point, the survivors would all feel a real fear of getting killed or wounded "next," instead of "that's what happened to the other guy."
That's all other things being equal of course. An army that saw an enemy break first, then suffered its 30th per cent casualty, would nevertheless receive a morale boost that would nullify this effect. Untrained troops tended to break at much lower casualty rates than trained troops, which was a major mark of "experience" levels. And fighting on home ground counted for a lot. At the battle of Stalingrad for instance, the "30% rule" applied only to the German army. Russian units could sustain 90%+ casualties and have the survivors fight; in one case 6 men out of 1,000 escaped a trap.
From what I have read, the level and intensity of training influences this massively. More green troops will break easily whereas veterans will tend to fight longer and harder.
Panic is another factor: the more there is, the greater the chance of an army breaking. Mercenaries when not well paid, had a tendency to break or change side -- see the Thirty Years war for numerous example of that.
Finally, a decisive key event: death of a general/leader, taking a position, or threatening the camp (with followers and your possessions) would do wonder to break the moral and route an enemy.
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When a hurricane makes landfall, many watches and warnings can be issued throughout the duration of the storm. The general difference between watches and warnings are that watches mean conditions are favorable for dangerous weather to happen so they are "watching" for them; whereas warnings mean that conditions are happening now or soon and you should seek protection.
There are many watches and warnings that can occur during a hurricane. The storm can produce tornadoes and flooding rains, storm surge along the coast, and high winds along the coast and inland. Hurricane watches and warnings are defined below:
The more you know:
Hurricane and Tropical Storm watches and warnings are given by the National Hurricane Center. All other land-based watches are given by the Storm Prediction Center (Norman, OK) and the local National Weather Service gives all other warnings.
For active watches and warnings year around:
For more information, please visit:
USA Today Article - What watches and warnings mean
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Less Wrong is a community blog devoted to refining the art of human rationality. Please visit our About page for more information.
Lo! A cartoon proof of Löb's Theorem!
Löb's Theorem shows that a mathematical system cannot assert its own soundness without becoming inconsistent. Marcello and I wanted to be able to see the truth of Löb's Theorem at a glance, so we doodled it out in the form of a cartoon. (An inability to trust assertions made by a proof system isomorphic to yourself, may be an issue for self-modifying AIs.)
It was while learning mathematical logic that I first learned to rigorously distinguish between X, the truth of X, the quotation of X, a proof of X, and a proof that X's quotation was provable.
The cartoon guide follows as an embedded Scribd document after the jump, or you can download from yudkowsky.net as a PDF file. Afterward I offer a medium-hard puzzle to test your skill at drawing logical distinctions.
Read this document on Scribd: Cartoon Guide to Löb's Theorem
And now for your medium-hard puzzle:
The Deduction Theorem (look it up) states that whenever assuming a hypothesis H enables us to prove a formula F in classical logic, then (H->F) is a theorem in classical logic.
Let ◻Z stand for the proposition "Z is provable". Löb's Theorem shows that, whenever we have ((◻C)->C), we can prove C.
Applying the Deduction Theorem to Löb's Theorem gives us, for all C:
However, those familiar with the logic of material implication will realize that:
Applied to the above, this yields (not ◻C)->C.
That is, all statements which lack proofs are true.
I cannot prove that 2 = 1.
Therefore 2 = 1.
Can you exactly pinpoint the flaw?
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http://lesswrong.com/lw/t6/the_cartoon_guide_to_l%C3%B6bs_theorem/
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Writing to Elected Officials
A personal letter has long been one of the most effective ways to address an issue with government officials. In the U.S. Congress, it is standard practice for all constituent letters to receive a reply and be passed on to the federal agency involved. State and local government offices likewise are charged with paying attention to letters they receive from citizens.
Hearing from boaters and boating groups not only brings your issue to their attention but is a good reminder that boating is a community to be recognized when decisions are being made.
First, determine the level of government that will solve your problem. Then get the name(s) of your elected officials.
How Do I Find My Representative?
Local (City and County councils/boards)
- City Website
- Telephone Book
- Chamber of Commerce
- Local Newspapers - which often publish local government guides
State (visit: BoatUS Government Affairs: Contacting Officials )
- Open your state page
- Find Representative and Senator for your district, or Governor if appropriate
Federal (visit: BoatUS Government Affairs: Contacting Officials ) or http://thomas.loc.gov
- Find your Representative or Senator's Website by going to the U.S. Representative or Senate link
- Select your legislator's Web page and send an e-mail (form found under "Contact Information")
Contacting Elected Representatives
E-Mailing Congress: In the post-9/11 era, postal mail to Federal officials is quite slow. Many now prefer to hear from their constituents via e-mail.
E-mailing has now become the fastest way to reach a congressman or senator in Washington, DC. Or write to them at their home district office which may have fewer security measures.
- Include a subject line stating the issue topic.
- Keep your message short and stick to one point; do not send a "laundry list" of different issues in one letter.
- Explain the issue in the first paragraph. All politics is local. Do some homework and make sure you have your facts right when describing the issue or problem.
- Give a short history of your efforts in second paragraph.
- State what you would like your representative to do in the last paragraph.
- Thank your member for his/her help.
- Include your name, address, telephone number and e-mail.
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A dental bridge is an appliance used to replace one or more missing teeth. These appliances are cemented into place and cannot be removed by the patient.
As the name of this appliance implies, the bridge is made out of three pieces that fit into the open space in the mouth, "bridging" the gap. Most bridges are made of a pontic tooth (or false tooth), held together by two crowns (a "cap" that covers the tooth, approximating its normal size and shape). This trio is then attached (cemented) to the abutment teeth (the surrounding teeth of each side of the gap).
Nearly everyone who has one or more missing teeth is a candidate for a dental bridge. However, the difference between proper and improper oral hygiene is, generally, what determines the success of the dental bridge. The teeth that will support the bridge must be in good periodontic health.
There are several different types of dental bridges. Your dentist or oral health specialist will recommend the most appropriate one for your mouth condition and the location of the missing tooth or teeth.
- Traditional bridge - as described above, this bridge consists of a pontic (false) tooth held together by two crowns. The trio is cemented to the surrounding teeth on each side of the gap.
- Resin-bonded bridge (also known as a Maryland bridge) - this type of bridge involves the pontic (false) teeth being fused to metal bands that are bonded to the back of the abutment teeth with a resin cement. This type of procedure is common when the teeth missing are in the front of the mouth.
- Cantilever bridge - this type of procedure is most appropriate when there is only one abutment tooth on either side of the span.
The following recommendations will help to eliminate, or reduce, any oral health problems while your teeth are bonded by a bridge:
- Brush your teeth carefully after every meal with fluoride toothpaste and a soft-bristled toothbrush, as food may become lodged causing the gums and teeth to become infected. This may lead to further complications resulting in the loss of the bridge.
- Floss daily. Your dentist, or other oral health specialist, may recommend using a floss threader to carry floss under the pontic (false) tooth so it and the abutment (support) teeth can be cleaned.
- Have your teeth cleaned every six months by an oral health professional.
- Limit your sugar and starch intake, as debris left behind from these types of foods may turn into damaging acids, which, in addition to promoting plaque formation, may also be harmful to teeth and gums.
- Avoid hard and/or sticky snacks. This includes foods such as popcorn, hard or chew candy, caramel, and/or nuts.
Most bridges last more than 10 years with proper oral hygiene.
Click here to view the
Online Resources of Oral Health
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A customs officer who boarded ships on their arrival to enforce the customs regulations.
- In less than twenty minutes he was on his way up town, and with him were four tidewaiters and Sergeant Sparrow.
- Pickering studied the local dialect and the written language while working as a tidewaiter.
- Archibald signed his warrant as a tidewaiter on 3 September 1794, his salary was 5 pounds a quarter paid at the end of the period to ensure his faithfulness to his employer.
For editors and proofreaders
Line breaks: tide|wait¦er
Definition of tidewaiter in:
What do you find interesting about this word or phrase?
Comments that don't adhere to our Community Guidelines may be moderated or removed.
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Bohemia, NY (PRWEB) January 11, 2013
On January 11, Online Bed Quilt responded to an article published on Zee News detailing a positive connection between sleep apnea and heart attack patients.
According to the article posted on Zee News, usually people who suffer from sleep breathing disorders are more likely to develop cardiovascular disease. A new study by the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology suggested that some heart attack patients might benefit from mild to moderate sleep disordered breathing.
Dr. Lena Lavie from Technion said sleep apnea and similar disorders increase the number and function of cells used in the construction of new blood vessels. In the article, Lavie admitted that the discovery could assist doctors in researching which patients are at greater risk of heart-related problems and find ways to rebuild damaged heart tissue.
Justin Maas, a representative from leading mattress delivery company Online Bed Quilt, said it’s a very unusual discovery, but a very important one.
“Sleep apnea is usually never a good thing,” Maas said. “It has very severe side effects and can sometimes stop a person from breathing. The research done here is amazing and could possibly be used to help prevent heart attacks in the future.”
The article said the study was used to answer the question: “Why If sleep disordered breathing is associated with cardiovascular disease, why is it that people who suffer from breathing disorders in sleep seem to do as well as healthy sleepers after a heart attack?”
Lavie and other researchers at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology studied 40 male patients, according to the article. Some were healthy sleepers, others suffered from sleep-disordered breathing and then others had a heart attack a few days earlier. Through blood samples, the results found that sleep disordered breathing patients had higher levels of endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) than the healthy sleepers. These EPCs increase the number of new blood vessels and repair the injured heart. The article said those sleep deficient patients also showed an increase of growth-promoting proteins and immune cells, which propel the production of blood vessels.
Maas said the research is invaluable, but new sleeping products or beds can also help minimize the effects of a sleep-disordered breathing condition. “Finding the right bed or pillow can do wonders for your sleep,” Maas said. “When your neck is comfortable and aligned with your back, you may experience less trouble breathing when sleeping.”
The article revealed that by withholding oxygen from blood cells in healthy sleepers, scientists were able to activate more vessel-building activity.
Online Bed Quilt is here to make sure you get a great night’s sleep. We are a family-owned bedding and furniture review company dedicated to helping you find the best mattress and sleep accessories. We collect and share product information, reviews, and the best and latest available sleep solutions. Learn about top brand mattresses, specialty products, and sleep accessories straight from Online Bed Quilt!
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http://www.prweb.com/releases/prweb2013/1/prweb10299364.htm
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December 17, 1997: The end of a Sun-like star's life was once thought to be simple: the star gracefully casts off a shell of glowing gas and then settles into a long retirement as a burned-out white dwarf.
Now, a dazzling collection of detailed views from the Hubble telescope reveals surprisingly intricate, glowing patterns spun into space by aging stars: pinwheels, lawn sprinkler-style jets, elegant goblet shapes, and even some that look like a rocket engine's exhaust. In this picture of M2-9, twin lobes of material emanate from a central, dying star. Astronomers have dubbed this object the "Twin Jet Nebula" because of the shape of the lobes. If the nebula is sliced across the star, each side appears much like a pair of exhausts from jet engines. Indeed, because of the nebula's shape and the measured velocity of the gas, in excess of 200 miles per second, astronomers believe that the description as a super-super-sonic jet exhaust is quite apt.See the rest:
Credit: Bruce Balick (University of Washington), Vincent Icke (Leiden University, The Netherlands), Garrelt Mellema (Stockholm University), and NASA
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After reading this thread I believe people here need some basic introduction to electronics an robotics with capacitors.
Capacitors have two functions:
DC circuit function: charge up and then realease a high current(like in camera flashes). However this fuction is not that popular in robotics. In this case the current dont flow trough the capacitors.
AC circuit function: in AC circuits the capacitor becomes a resistor. Its impedance(the resistance) is calculated as Z=1/(jwC), where j is the imaginary unit, w=2*pi*f where f is the frequency of the current and C the Capacitance. In other words, the higher the frequency of the AC, the lower will be the resistance of the capacitor. This function is widely used in electronic cicuits of any kind to remove noise(except, maybe, pure logical cicuits). Those are band pass filters. If it is a low band pass circuit the circuit will allow AC with low frequency to have high gain output. High bang pass filters are the opposite. You can also combine those two filters and have a hybrid filter. In this case current flows through the capacitors.
There is also a AC-DC cicuit function. This is used in biased transistor circuits. But that is just a mixture of the two functions above.
Once you know that you can understand why put capacitors between the pins of the regulators. They filter the noise that might damage your ICs. That is why it is also recommended to put some capacitors in parallel with DC motors. AND that is the reason you shouldnt NEVER, EVER, put a capacitor neighter in series nor in parallel between the PWM output of your microcontroller and the servo signal input socket/pin. The PWM signal is basicaly squareshaped AC. It has a frequency therefore the capacitor will react to it in the same way it will react to noise: the PWM signal will be filtered and your servo wont work.
Finally, about the "direction" you have to solder the capacitor. Capacitors are generally divided in two kinds: ceramic capacitors and electrolytic capacitors. Ceramic capacitors are the same ones you learn about in school: they are like resistors and can be soldered in any "direction". On the other hand there are the Electrolytic capacitors that have a direction. The capacitor you are using is Electrolitic if you connect the + side in the ground(which can also be considered the - side) your capacitor will just explode. Because of that you MUST connect the + with the + and the - with the -. (in a more precise way, you connect the + side of the capacitor with the highest electrical potential terminal and the - side with the smallest electrical potential terminal.)
The tutorials and above links are good but they more like cake recipes.(SOMETIMES) They dont teach you the reasons behind the instructions. So if want to experiment you are (SOMETIMES) ****ed(unless you study, of course).
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http://www.societyofrobots.com/robotforum/index.php?topic=4191.0
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The present and future use of 'land' below ground
Evans, David J.; Stephenson, Mike H.; Shaw, Richard P.. 2009 The present and future use of 'land' below ground. Land Use Policy, 26. S302-S316. 10.1016/j.landusepol.2009.09.015Full text not available from this repository. (Request a copy)
The world's subsurface space, including Britain's, is already used in a variety of ways, ranging from occupancy to disposal and the bulk storage of materials and fuels. In the future it is likely that it will be put to further use in response to trends in technology, resource supply and demand, socioeconomics and geopolitics. Here the present and future uses of underground space, and the potential planning and social issues affecting its development, are reviewed. Future uses are likely to be in the area of increasing occupancy (both commercial and residential), the secure storage of documents and data, the storage of carbon dioxide for carbon abatement, natural gas, compressed air stores of energy from traditional and renewable sources, the use of underground heat in buildings and the proposed deep geological disposal of radioactive waste. The article will also explore pressure points and challenges. These will include the regulation of multiple uses of subsurface storage space and, for projects of national importance including natural gas and radioactive waste storage, legislation to lessen the effect of local opposition relative to the ‘national need’. This article does not discuss future mining, hydrocarbon extraction, or water resources.
|Item Type:||Publication - Article|
|Digital Object Identifier (DOI):||10.1016/j.landusepol.2009.09.015|
|Programmes:||BGS Programmes 2009 > Energy|
|Date made live:||25 May 2010 10:55|
Actions (login required)
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http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/9907/
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Two for Three
My 5 year old son named Ilan asked: "If an 'ilan' means specifically a fruit tree (as opposed to the generic "eitz" which refers to any type of tree, as two Israelis explained this distinction to him), why do we say 'borei p'ri ha-eitz' instead of 'borei p'ri ha-ilan?' " Thank you - this question has stumped a number of people.
Dear John Rosen and Ilan,
"Eitz" is the Torah's term for "tree", whether a fruit tree or not. The format of the blessings were chosen by our Sages to correspond to the terminology used by the Torah.
"Ilan" is the term for "tree" in common speech, but it never appears in the Torah. "Ilan" is actually an Aramaic word.
- Deut. 20:19, 20
- Responsa Batzel HaChochma
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Learn something new every day
More Info... by email
When the body temperature reaches 104 degrees Fahrenheit (40 degrees Celsius), a person may be suffering from a serious condition called heat stroke. It usually occurs when a person is forced to spend large amounts of time in a hot environment or when she participates in extreme physical activity in a warm environment. If medical attention is not sought immediately, the organs may fail, the person may suffer brain damage, or the person may die. Most medical personnel consider heat exhaustion or heat cramps to be a precursor to heat stroke. In many cases, it can be prevented by keeping the body cool and well hydrated.
The symptoms of heat stroke include a high body temperature, usually at or above 104 degrees Fahrenheit (40 degrees Celsuis). If the stroke is the result of high climate temperatures, the skin will usually be dry and hot to the touch. If it is the result of physical exercise, the skin may feel moist, almost clammy. In addition, the person may appear flushed, have rapid breathing, or have an elevated heart rate. Sometimes a person will experience headaches, seizures, hallucinations, or even become comatose.
Before a person reaches the level of heat stroke, she may suffer from heat cramps or heat exhaustion. With heat cramps, she may perspire profusely, have muscle cramps in the abdominal region, arms or legs, and suffer from fatigue. The heat cramps can be treated by drinking plenty of water and drinks with electrolytes and resting in a cool location, such as an air conditioned room. With heat exhaustion, the person may have dizziness, a headache, nausea, clammy skin, and muscle cramps. Again, by drinking cool, electrolyte-packed fluids and resting in a cool place, heat exhaustion can be treated.
If heat stroke is not treated, a person may go into shock. When that happens, the blood does not flow properly. As a result, the blood pressure drops, the nails and lips may turn blue, and the skin becomes clammy. If left untreated, shock may cause organ failure or even death.
There are several ways to treat heat stroke, although, in most cases, a medical doctor should be consulted if the condition is even remotely suspected. One example of treatment includes placing the person in cool water to lower her body temperature. Another cooling technique involves misting cool water over the body and then fanning it off. The evaporation of the water works to cool the person’s body temperature and treat the heat stroke.
Heat stroke can be prevented by following a few easy tips. For example, wear lightweight clothes that fit loosely on the body. Also, take breaks in a cool area, such as an air conditioned room, if exercising in warm temperatures. In addition, if the temperatures become increasingly hot, it is best to avoid extreme physical activity. It is also important to drink plenty of fluids on hot days and while engaging in physical activity in warm weather.
Is it true that sunstroke and heatstroke are the same thing?
One of our editors will review your suggestion and make changes if warranted. Note that depending on the number of suggestions we receive, this can take anywhere from a few hours to a few days. Thank you for helping to improve wiseGEEK!
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One of my jobs as a digital reference specialist is to answer questions submitted through the Poetry and Literature Center’s Ask a Librarian form. The questions I receive tend to cluster around two or three major categories, such as how to find literary criticism on a novel and how to locate the full text of a poem without knowing its title and author. By far the most common question I receive, however, comes from people trying to find poems that they wrote, submitted to a poetry contest, and subsequently had published in a poetry anthology.
In almost every instance, the poems in question were published by an amateur, or vanity press, poetry publisher. These for-profit publishers, which have been extremely active since the 1980s, accept nearly every poem submitted to their contests for publication, and make money by encouraging winning poets to purchase copies of the anthologies in which their poems appear.
The Library of Congress has become a locus of questions about vanity press poetry publishers—receiving upwards of two-hundred inquiries per year—because many people mistakenly believe that the Library itself publishes and sells these anthologies. This misconception occurs for a number of reasons. First, the names of some amateur poetry publishers are quite similar to the Library of Congress. One of the largest amateur poetry publishers in the 1990s and 2000s was the National Library of Poetry, whose name is frequently confused with the Library of Congress, or, as many people refer to us, the “National Library of Congress.” Second, many of these publishers send emails and letters to winning poets that link their anthologies with the Library of Congress. Their correspondence sometimes notes that the anthologies will be submitted to the U.S. Copyright Office at the Library of Congress, or that the anthologies will be assigned a “number” by the Library of Congress. People often take this to mean that the Library of Congress will add the book to its permanent collections, or will assign it an ISBN number. The National Library of Poetry, in fact, printed ISBNs on its anthologies” copyright pages in such a way that people might assume the numbers were issued by or associated with the Library of Congress:
In practice, the Library rarely adds these books to its collections, and is not responsible for assigning ISBNs to books. Rather, what will usually happen is that the anthology will be registered with the Copyright Office and receive a copyright registration number.
To help people find poems they’ve had published by amateur poetry publishers, the Library has created an online guide to amateur poetry anthologies. The guide discusses the standard practices of these publishers, includes entries on dozens of active and inactive publishers, and offers tips on how to locate the anthologies through libraries and bookstores. If you’re looking for a poem that you, a family member, or a friend submitted to a contest or had published in a poetry anthology, please take a look at the guide and see if it helps with your search. Of course, we are happy to assist you directly as well: simply email your question to our Ask a Librarian service and we’ll do all we can to help you find your poem.
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For a mineral with a simple composition, anhydrite (CaSO4) is surprisingly hard to visualize. The simple sulfate minerals have sulfate tetrahedra in a regular arrangement, and the cations have oddly shaped coordination polyhedra since they fill the interstices. The oddball polyhedra result because the tetrahedral oxygen arrangements around the sulfate groups won't permit a more classical coordination arrangement.
Above is a view down the c axis. The unit cell is almost square, differing from a square by less than 0.1%. From left to right, we see sulfate tetrahedra, tetrahedra with calcium atoms (purple), tetrahedra with atoms in foreground and coordination polyhedra behind, and finally only coordination polyhedra. Foreground polyhedra are reddish violet and rear ones bluish.
Above is an oblique view with the c axis vertical. Foreground coordination polyhedra are reddish violet and rear ones bluish. Each has an oxygen atom at each vertex. Calcium atoms are in eight-fold coordination with oxygen, but the coordination polyhedron is not the normal cube. Instead it has 12 triangular faces. One way to imagine it is to make a shape of two pentagonal pyramids, joined base to base but with two edges not attached. Squeeze the pyramids from the sides to open a gap along the unjoined edges, then insert a pair of faces in the gap. This shape is a snub disphenoid. Sulfate tetrahedra are shown at right, with foreground tetrahedra in bold colors.
From left to right, above, are calcium coordination polyhedra, polyhedra with sulfate tetrahedra, polyhedra shown transparent to reveal the central calcium atoms, and finally calcium atoms and tetrahedra alone. Three levels of tetrahedra and two levels of calcium atoms are shown. From foreground to rear, we have tetrahedra in gold, calcium atoms in magenta, tetrahedra in bright yellow, calcium atoms in light purple, and tetrahedra in pale yellow.
Finally, the actual arrangements of atoms. From left to right: calcium polyhedra and sulfate tetrahedra, atoms and tetrahedra, and atoms. The oxygen atoms in the tetrahedra are shown in blue. On the left, we can see that tetrahedra above and below the calcium atoms have two oxygens in coordination, while the tetrahedra on either side have one. At right the foreground (dark) and rearmost (light) tetrahedra are also shown.
Created 28 March 2011, Last Update 28 Mar 2011
Not an official UW Green Bay site
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Several years ago, a man’s severe wheezing stopped within 20 minutes of starting epidural anesthesia. The wheezing remained absent during the 155 minutes that the lidocaine dripped in, and came back within 55 minutes of stopping, when the blood levels of lidocaine had dropped. Over the last 3 years there have been a half dozen studies exploring the use of the anesthetic lidocaine for treating asthma.
Promising results have been found with both inhaled lidocaine and IV lidocaine. The latest study was published in the March 2002 issue of the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.
The study showed how lidocaine acts as a powerful anti-inflammatory medicine, with effects on T cell function. Lidocaine has potential as asthma therapy even for those with severe steroid-dependent asthma.
Further study is needed, but inhaled lidocaine may be able to help children minimize or eliminate steroids and still keep their inflammation and asthma controlled. Preventive medicines for asthma are the keys to long-term success.
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http://www.drgreene.com/novocaine-asthma/
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- (Reuters/Shannon Stapleton)
Children may love the cartoon character SpongeBob SquarePants, but child psychologists are saying the Nickelodeon program may cause short-term memory and learning problems in preschoolers.
Researchers randomly assigned 60 four-year-olds to perform one of three tasks for nine minutes: watching PBS cartoon “Caillou,” drawing pictures or watching “SpongeBob SquarePants.”
Researchers performed mental function tests after the assignments, such as counting backwards and solving puzzles, and found the children who watched “SpongeBob” were less able to solve problems and pay attention than the others.
Lead researcher of the study, Angeline Lillard a psychologist at the University of Virginia, said “SpongeBob” was chosen because the show is fast-paced and switches scenes on average every 11 seconds, compared to the other cartoon that changes scenes only twice a minute, ABC News reported.
This could be caused because children often mimic the behavior of frenetic characters, researchers said. Programs that are fast-paced and feature unrealistic events may over-stimulate the brain, making it harder to trigger executive function, a process used to complete tasks, Lillard said, according to Bloomberg.
Researchers suggest that parents consider what programs their children watch and opt for more calm activities.
“I wouldn’t advise watching such shows on the way to school or any time they’re expected to pay attention and learn,” Lillard said. “…At school, they have to behave properly, they need to sit at a table and eat properly, they need to be respectful, and all of that requires executive functions. If a child has just watched a television show that has handicapped these abilities, we cannot expect the child to behave at their normal level in everyday situations,” she added, according to the Telegraph.
Lillard noted the friendly sea sponge is not the only one to blame. She also found similar problems in children who watched other fast-paced programs. Previous research showed a link between watching excessive television and children with long-term attention problems. However, the current study, published online Monday in the journal Pediatrics, suggests immediate problems can occur from just little exposure to certain programs.
Nickelodeon spokesman David Bittler defended “SpongeBob” saying the show’s target audience is children aged six to 11-year-old, not four-year-olds.
“Having 60 non-diverse kids, who are not part of the show’s targeted demo, watch nine minutes of programming is questionable methodology. It could not possibly provide the basis for any valid findings that parents could trust,” Bittler said in a statement, ABC News reported.
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The species of rat found in Chicago is the Norway rat. The name is rather misleading as this species originated in Asia centuries ago.
The rat has an average life span of six to twelve months. Beginning at the age of two to three months, a female rat can produce four to seven litters per year with each litter containing eight to twelve pups. Females can become impregnated within 48 hours after giving birth. The number, size and survivability of litters produced depends upon the amount of food and shelter available.
They prefer fresh food, but will eat many things such as pet food, dog feces, garbage and plants. If food is scarce, the strongest rats may even eat the weakest and young.
Norway rats prefer to live in burrows in the ground. They are excellent climbers and swimmers and most active at night. They have very hard teeth and can chew through wood and plaster or any other material that is softer than their teeth. They can crawl through holes the size of a quarter, tread water for three days and land unharmed after a five-story fall.
Norway rats live in colonies that have very well defined territories. The strongest colonies get the best places to live.
The risk of disease being spread from rats to humans is very real. By their very nature, rats carry a variety of potentially infected fleas and ticks which may be passed on to people. In rare occurrences, especially when cornered, rats can bite humans or pets.
Both exterior and interior rat problems should be reported to 3-1-1 or click on the button below to report it now!
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From Our 2009 Archives
Third of EMS Stethoscopes Carry MRSA Virus
Latest Infectious Disease News
FRIDAY, March 27 (HealthDay News) -- One in three stethoscopes used by U.S. emergency medical service providers is contaminated with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bacteria, a new study suggests.
Researchers at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey swabbed 50 stethoscopes used by independent emergency medical service (EMS) providers, including nurses, paramedics and EMTs, who visited the emergency department of a New Jersey hospital over a 24-hour period.
"Of the 50 stethoscopes, 16 had MRSA colonization, and the same number [of EMS providers] couldn't remember the last time their stethoscopes were cleaned," study author Dr. Mark Merlin, an assistant professor of emergency medicine and pediatrics at the UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, said in a university news release.
Merlin was surprised at the high rate of MRSA contamination.
"I thought maybe 1% of stethoscopes would be infected," said Merlin, who noted that the median length of time between cleanings was one to seven days.
"The longer period of time between cleanings, the more likely it is you have this bacteria," he said.
Merlin added there's a simple solution for this potentially serious problem: "Provide isopropyl alcohol wipes at hospital emergency room entrances so EMS professionals can clean their stethoscopes regularly."
MRSA infections have been on the rise in recent decades, and many people have put the blame on hospitals. But this study shows that MRSA infections can be acquired before patients arrive at hospital, Merlin said.
The study was published in current issue of Prehospital Emergency Care.
-- Robert Preidt
SOURCE: University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, news release, March 25, 2009
Copyright © 2009 ScoutNews, LLC. All rights reserved.
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Ensuring your servers stamp as small a carbon footprint as possible on the earth and in your data center can encompass everything from making sure they are shipped in recyclable packaging to hiring an analyst who can predict the total life-cycle environmental impact.
For this test, we examined power consumption as a way to judge whether Windows Server 2008 or Linux is, in fact, the 'greener' operating system. As the price of power hits record heights, power reduction mechanisms shipping within an operating system should play a key role in you energy conservation plan.
See related story: How we did it See related story: Greener pastures for Web server farms? See related story: NOC infrastructure may thwart green OS ideals See related story: Virtualization thwarts green OS initiatives
Our tests point to Linux as the winner of the green flag by margins that topped out at 12 per cent. But we must note that our results are full of stipulations imposed by our test bed, and as the more truthful car advertisements might warn -- your wattage may vary.
We ran multiple power consumption tests using Windows Server 2008 Enterprise Edition, Red Hat's Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 5.1 and SUSE Enterprise Linux 10 SP1 on four, popular 1U server machines, one each from Dell and IBM and two from HP. The results showed that while Windows Server 2008 drew slightly less power in a few test cases when it had its maximum power saving settings turned on, it was RHEL that did the best job of keeping the power draw in check across the board.
The variable settings allowed by both Windows and Linux -- which let you toggle between having a high energy efficient server vs. a high performing one -- can certainly have an impact on overall server consumption. But again, your mileage will also vary given the workloads you place on your servers and whether or not you're using popular virtual machine hypervisors to support multiple operating system instances on the same physical server.
The edge in either test category will likely not last as operating systems become more finely tuned to work in lockstep with advanced server chipsets, and as additional coding techniques that more closely tie operating systems and applications to power considerations take hold across the industry.
Part of the current "green" operating system difficulty lies in the disconnect between how an operating system and its applications can be optimized to let the underlying system quiet itself down to a lower power-consuming state while at the same time not sacrificing the ability to react to servicing application (and therefore system and user) needs.
In our testing, we found that the CPU 'throttle-back' mechanism -- the main technique for how an operating system can aid in reducing a server's energy draw -- requires new firmware and updated drivers that specifically support that feature. Only the IBM x3550 and the HP DL-360 G5 arrived ready for optimal power conservation. The HP DL-160 and Dell 1950 servers required several updates throughout our six-week test period to accommodate the CPU throttling features of Windows 2008 and Linux.
We truly know from the trenches that it really isn't easy getting your servers to be green.
No matter the operating system, Windows or Linux, the leading form of power conservation comes from throttling back the CPU to let the server rest during quiet activity times. Spinning down hard disks to a quieter state is the other major power-saving setting available to Windows servers.
Even though Linux desktop distributions can use the Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) specification, which is designed for laptops, rather than servers, that feature was not implemented by Red Hat or SUSE for the servers we tested.
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This exciting new book addresses the need for a text that
presents a broad range of topics on wireless communication systems for
undergraduate seniors and first year graduate
students. Introduction to Wireless Systems is the first book
to provide the basic analytical tools, fundamental physics, and
communication theory needed to fully appreciate the field of
Key features of Introduction to Wireless Systems include:
- A familiar, informal style which reviewers have called
“pleasant to read.” Concise, readable, and informative, the text
exposes students to material that is relevant to both academia and
- A wealth of example and homework problems to help illustrate and
facilitate the understanding of the fundamental concepts of wireless
- Learning by doing ... Extensive MATLAB® based exercise sets
appear in every chapter.
- About 200 exercises.
- Chapter summaries that reinforce concepts covered in
- Coverage of a wide array of topics in wireless systems
ranging from new propagation models to 3G systems and Bluetooth®.
Brief Table of Contents
- Chapter 1: Historical overview of wireless systems
- Chapter 2: Propagation characteristics of wireless channels
- Chapter 3: Modems for wireless communication
- Chapter 4: Cells and cellular traffic
- Chapter 5: Fading mitigation in wireless systems
- Chapter 6: Multiple access techniques
- Appendix A: Topics in signals and systems
- Appendix B: Topics in communication theory
- Appendix C: Topics in attenuation and fading
Errata (MS PowerPoint
file, updated May 2008)
If you have difficulty accessing the file, please e-mail me at firstname.lastname@example.org.
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MICRO TEACHING : Dr G L Gulhane 1 MICRO TEACHING Dr G L Gulhane
P G Department of Education
Sant Gadge Baba Amravati University
Amravati What is Teaching? : Dr G L Gulhane 2 What is Teaching? Teaching is not merely imparting knowledge to students, nor merely giving advice.
Teaching is not passing information to the students.
Teaching is not sharing one’s own experience. What is Teaching? : Dr G L Gulhane 3 What is Teaching? The best approach to understanding the nature of teaching is establishing a harmonious relationship between teacher, student and subject.
Teaching is the activity of facilitating learning.
Effectiveness in teaching does not relate to teacher’s age, sex, and teaching experience.
One can become an effective teacher irrespective of his/her age, sex and experience. Defects in Teaching : Dr G L Gulhane 4 Defects in Teaching Defects in Teaching:
More Teacher’s talk: Most of the time in the classroom, is devoted to teacher’s talk, and students get very little opportunity to express themselves.
Only memory level: During classroom interaction, teacher tends to promote mostly learning requiring memory level thinking. . Defects in Teaching : Dr G L Gulhane 5 Defects in Teaching More information & less explanation: Most of the teachers spend more time in giving information and less on clarifying ideas and still less time for giving explanations.
Less chance of encouragement: A very low percentage of teacher’s time in the classroom is used for making encouraging remarks.
No planning: Most of the teachers are not systematic in planning and carrying out instruction. . Defective Teaching Learning Process : Dr G L Gulhane 6 Defective Teaching Learning Process What is learning? : Dr G L Gulhane 7 What is learning? “Change in behavior brought about by activity, training or experiences”.
*Learning never ends.
*Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty.
* Anyone who keeps learning stays young.
*Effective learning is based on what the learner already knows How learning happens? ….: : Dr G L Gulhane 8 How learning happens? ….: Learning – Knowledge acquired by study.
Learning happens and knowledge is generated in an environment where interaction between teachers, students and content takes place in interactive ways.
There is a famous saying:
I hear… I forget;
I see … I remember;
I do … I understand. How learning happens? ….: : Dr G L Gulhane 9 How learning happens? ….: Research around the world also suggest:
We remember ..
20% of what we hear;
30% of what we see;
50% of what we see and hear;
90% of what we see, hear & do.
Cont……. How learning happens? ….: : Dr G L Gulhane 10 How learning happens? ….: Changes in Teacher Role : Dr G L Gulhane 11 Changes in Teacher Role A shift from:
1. Knowledge transmitter, primary source of information, content expert, and source of all
2. Teacher controls and directs all aspects of learning A shift to:
1. Learning facilitator, collaborator, coach, mentor, knowledge navigator, and co-learner.
2. Teacher gives students more options and
responsibilities for their own learning Changes in Student Role : Dr G L Gulhane 12 Changes in Student Role A shift from:
1. Passive recipient of information.
2. Reproducing knowledge.
3. Learning as a solitary activity A shift to:
1. Active participant in the learning process.
2. Producing and sharing knowledge, participating at times as expert.
3. Learning collaboratively
with others Microteaching : Dr G L Gulhane 13 Microteaching Dr. Allen and his group evolved Microteaching in 1963 in America. What is Microteaching? : Dr G L Gulhane 14 What is Microteaching? Meaning:
The teaching of a small unit of content to the small group of students (6-10 number) in a small amount of time (5-7 min.) means Micro Teaching.
*It is a skill training technique.
*It is a short session teaching.
*To train inexperience student-teachers for acquiring teaching skills.
*To improve the skills of experience teachers. Microteaching Cycle(Procedure) : Dr G L Gulhane 15 Microteaching Cycle(Procedure) Step- I : Micro Lesson Plan ( may take 2 hours / a day)
Step-II : Teach 5 Min.
Step-III : Feedback Session 5 Min.
Step-IV : Re-plan 10 Min.
Step-V : Re-teach Another group 5 Min.
Step-VI : Re-feedback 5 Min.
Total 30 Min. (Appr.) Characteristics of Microteaching : Dr G L Gulhane 16 Characteristics of Microteaching The duration of teaching as well as number of students are less.
The content is divided into smaller units which makes the teaching easier.
Only one teaching skill is considered at a time.
There is a provision of immediate feedback.
In micro teaching cycle, there is facility of re-planning, re-teaching and re-evaluation.
It puts the teacher under the microscope
All the faults of the teacher are observed.
The problem of discipline can also be controlled. Comparison Between Micro Teaching and Traditional Teaching : Dr G L Gulhane 17 Comparison Between Micro Teaching and Traditional Teaching Traditional Teaching
Class consists of 40 to 60 students.
The teacher practices several skills at a time.
The duration is 40 to 45 minutes.
Immediate feed-back is not available. Micro teaching
Class consists of a small group of 6 to 10 students.
The teacher takes up one skill at a time.
Duration of time for teaching is 5 to 7 minutes.
There is immediate feed-back. Cont. Comparison Between Micro Teaching and Traditional Teaching : Dr G L Gulhane 18 Cont. Comparison Between Micro Teaching and Traditional Teaching Traditional Teaching
There is no control over situation.
Teaching becomes complex.
The role of the supervisor is vague ( not clear).
Pattern of classroom interaction cannot be studied. Micro teaching
Teaching is carried on under controlled situation.
Teaching is relatively simple.
The role of the supervisor is specific and well defined to improve teaching.
Pattern of classroom interaction can be studied objectively. Components of Micro teaching Techniques : Dr G L Gulhane 19 Components of Micro teaching Techniques Student Teacher- The student who gets the training of a teacher is said to be student-teacher. Various capacities are developed in them during training such as – capacity of class management, capacity of maintaining discipline and capacity of organizing various programmes of the school / college etc.
Feedback Devices- Providing feedback is essential to make changes in the behavior of the pupils. This feedback can be provided through video-tape, audio-tape and feedback questionnaires. Components of Micro teaching Techniques : Dr G L Gulhane 20 Components of Micro teaching Techniques Skill: As we know, skill means ability to do something well or expertness.
Teaching Skills- Teaching skill is a set of teacher behaviors which are specially effective in bringing about the desired changes in pupils.
a) lecturing skill,
b) skill of black-board writing,
c) skill of asking questions,
d) skill of class management etc. Skills of Micro Teaching : Dr G L Gulhane 21 21 2. Skill of Probing Questions 1. Introduction Skill 3. Skill of Explanation 4. Skill of Stimulus Variation 5. Skill of Black-board Writing Skills of Micro Teaching 6. Skill of Achieving
Closure Skills of Micro teaching Techniques : Dr G L Gulhane 22 Skills of Micro teaching Techniques Introduction Skill
Skill of Probing Questions
Skill of Explanation
Skill of Stimulus Variation
Skill of Black-board Writing
Skill of Achieving Closure Cont. Skills of Micro teaching Techniques : Dr G L Gulhane 23 Cont. Skills of Micro teaching Techniques Introduction Skill: The skill of introducing a lesson involves establishing rapports with the learners, promoting their attentions, and exposing them to essential contents.
Components of this skill-
Preliminary Attention Gaining:
Normally, at the beginning of a lesson, students are found not to be attentive and mentally prepared for learning. They may be thinking something else too. In such situation, the primary duty of a teacher is to create desire for learning among the students.
Teacher can do it by telling a story, with the help of demonstration, recitation, etc. Cont. Skills of Micro teaching Techniques : Dr G L Gulhane 24 Cont. Skills of Micro teaching Techniques Use of previous knowledge: Previous knowledge refers to the learner’s level of achievements before instruction begins. Use of previous knowledge is a must, because it helps to establish an integration between the pre-existing knowledge of the learner and the new knowledge that the teacher wants to impart him.
Use of Appropriate Device: In order to motivate the learner, the teacher should make use of appropriate devices or techniques while introducing a lesson.
For example- dramatization, models, audio-visual aids etc.
Link with new topic: After preliminary questions and introduction, teachers should establish a link of previous knowledge with present topic. Cont. Examples on Introduction Skill : Dr G L Gulhane 25 Cont. Examples on Introduction Skill Instructions:
1. Use only one word of seven letters for first blank.
2. Split the same word into two different words and filled in reaming two blanks.
3. Don’t change sequence of letters.
Complete the following sentence:
The - - - - - - - surgeon was - - - - - - - to perform operation because he had - - - - - - - . Cont. Examples on Introduction Skill : Dr G L Gulhane 26 Cont. Examples on Introduction Skill Complete sentence:
The Notable surgeon was not able to perform operation because he had no table . Cont. Examples on Introduction Skill : Dr G L Gulhane 27 Cont. Examples on Introduction Skill Answer the following:
1. Golden jubilee + Today's date – Silver jubilee = ….. Cont. Examples on Introduction Skill : Dr G L Gulhane 28 Cont. Examples on Introduction Skill Answer the following:
2. Children day ÷ Valentine day + independence day = ….. Cont. Examples on Introduction Skill : Dr G L Gulhane 29 Cont. Examples on Introduction Skill Answer the following:
3. Heads of Ravan X Palms of human body - Republic day =
….. Cont. Examples on Introduction Skill : Dr G L Gulhane 30 Cont. Examples on Introduction Skill Answer the following:
4. Eyes + Nose – Ears + Teeth – Hands ÷ Tongue =…… Cont. Skills of Micro teaching Techniques : Dr G L Gulhane 31 Cont. Skills of Micro teaching Techniques 2. Skill of Probing Question:
Probing questions are those which help the pupils to think in depth about the various aspects of the problem. By asking such questions again, the teacher makes the pupils more thoughtful. He enable the pupils to understand the subject deeply.
The components of this skill are:
Prompting:- When a pupil expresses his inability to answer some question in the class or his answer is incomplete, the teacher can ask such questions which prompt the pupils in solving the already asked questions.
For example- Do you know names of Vice Chancellors of Sant Gadge Baba Amravati University since 1983? Cont. Skills of Micro teaching Techniques : Dr G L Gulhane 32 Cont. Skills of Micro teaching Techniques Skill of Probing Question:
Seeking Further Information: When the pupils answer correctly in the class but the teacher wants more information and further clarification from the learner by putting ‘how’ and ‘why’ of correct part the response.
Refocussing : When the teacher ask the same question from other pupil for comparison . This is known as Refocussing.
Redirecting Questions: Questions which are directed to more than one learner to answer, are called redirected questions. Cont. Skills of Micro teaching Techniques : Dr G L Gulhane 33 Cont. Skills of Micro teaching Techniques 3. Skill of Explanation: To present the subject-matter in the simplified form before the pupils and making it acquirable is known as Explanation Skill. It involves a ability of the teacher to describe logically ‘How’, ‘Why’ and ‘What’ of concept, event etc.
Components of this skill are:
Clear beginning statement: Before starting any explanation, the teacher should make the pupils aware of what he is to teach on that day through a clear beginning statement.
Lack of Irrelevant Statement: While presenting the subject matter, only the concerned statements should be used. Cont. Skills of Micro teaching Techniques : Dr G L Gulhane 34 Cont. Skills of Micro teaching Techniques Fluency in Language: The teacher should use such fluent language that the pupils may listen and understand the thoughts of the teachers.
Connecting Links: This technique is used primarily to explain the links in statements with ‘so’, ‘therefore’, ‘because’, ‘due to’, ‘as a result of’, ‘in order to’ etc.
Use of Proper Words: The teacher should use proper words for enplaning an object or an event otherwise he would be in a state of confusion.
Precautions for skill of Explaining:
It should be in simple language.
It should not be given the shape of an advice.
The thoughts included in it should be in a sequence.
Irrelevant things should not be included in it.
It should be according to the age, experience and mental level of the pupils. Cont. Skills of Micro teaching Techniques : Dr G L Gulhane 35 Cont. Skills of Micro teaching Techniques 4. Skill of Stimulus Variation: Stimulus variation is described as deliberate change in the behaviors of the teacher in order to sustain the attention of his learners throughout the lesson. Stimulus variation determines teacher liveliness in the classroom. The components of this skill are:
Body Movement: The physical movements of the teacher in the class is to attract the attention of the learners. Sudden body movement and suddenly stopping the same helps in gaining learner’s attention at high level. The teacher without these activities is like a stone-idol. Excess movement is undesirable.
Gestures: Gesture involves the movements of the head, hand, and facial gestures (laughing, raising eyebrows, emotions, etc) signals. This technique helps the teacher to be more expressive and dynamic in presenting his lesson in the class. Cont. Skills of Micro teaching Techniques : Dr G L Gulhane 36 Cont. Skills of Micro teaching Techniques Change in Voice: Teacher should bring fluctuations in his voice. The pupils feel boredom with the speech at the same pitch, and pupils get deviated from the lesson.
Focussing: Focussing implies drawing the attention of the learners towards a particular point which the teacher wishes to emphasize. Such technique involves verbal focusing, gestural focusing, or verbal-gestural focusing.
Eye-contact and eye-movement: Both the eye-contact and eye-movement play very important role in conveying emotions and controlling interaction between the teacher and taught. In a classroom situation, this technique implies that the teacher should maintain eye-contact with the learners in order to sustain the attention of the latter. Cont. Skills of Micro teaching Techniques : Dr G L Gulhane 37 Cont. Skills of Micro teaching Techniques Pausing: Pausing refers to short and deliberate intervals of silence used while delivering ideas, explaining, lecturing, etc. Deliberate use of short pauses help the teacher to attract and sustain the attention of his learners. But too long pauses may be irritating.
5. Skill of Black-board Writing: Blackboards, being the visual aids, are widely used in all aspects of education and training, and are most suitable for giving a holistic picture of the lesson. A good blackboard work brings clearness in perception and the concepts being taught, and adds variety to the lesson. Cont. Skills of Micro teaching Techniques : Dr G L Gulhane 38 Cont. Skills of Micro teaching Techniques The components of the skill of blackboard writing are:
Legibility ( Easy to read )
Size and alignment ( In a straight line )
Highlighting main points
Utilization of the space
Position of the teacher and
Contact with the pupils. Writing Skill : Dr G L Gulhane 39 Writing Skill Legibility ( Easy to read ): A legible handwriting on the blackboard draws the attention of the learners and encourages them to improve upon their handwritings. In order to make handwritings more legible, the teacher should see that a clear distinction is ensured between every letter, adequate space is maintained between individual letters and words.
Size and Alignment: The size of the letters written by the teacher on the board should be uniform and large enough to be read from the last row. The size of the capital letters should be larger than that of the small letters and the handwritings should be as vertical as possible without being diverged from a line. Writing Skill : Dr G L Gulhane 40 Writing Skill Highlighting Main Points: The main points or words written on the board should only be highlighted by underlying them. Colored chalks should be used suitably for the purpose of drawing the learners attention to those main points that need to be highlighted too.
Utilization of the Space: For the proper utilization of the space important words or statements should be written on the board. Overwriting on the letters should be avoided as it makes the blackboard work untidy. Only essential materials should be retained on the blackboard and unnecessary words should be rubbed off. Writing Skill : Dr G L Gulhane 41 Writing Skill Blackboard Summary: In order to make teaching meaningful to the learners the teacher should develop blackboard summary at the end of the lesson. This should be so brief that the learners can recollect the whole lesson at a glance.
Correctness: While constructing sentences on the board, the teacher should be careful about correct spelling, punctuation, grammar, etc. Writing Skill : Dr G L Gulhane 42 Writing Skill Position of the Teacher: The position of teacher should not be in between the learners and the blackboard.
Contact with Pupils: The teacher, at the time of writing on the board, should maintain eye-contact with his learners. This is necessary for controlling interactions, maintaining disciplines, sustaining attentions of the learners, etc. Blackboard Writing Skill : Dr G L Gulhane 43 Blackboard Writing Skill Legibility ( Easy to read ): A legible handwritin Blackboard Writing Skill : Dr G L Gulhane 44 Blackboard Writing Skill Blackboard Writing Skill : Dr G L Gulhane 45 Blackboard Writing Skill Blackboard Writing Skill : Dr G L Gulhane 46 Blackboard Writing Skill Cont. Skills of Micro teaching Techniques : Dr G L Gulhane 47 Cont. Skills of Micro teaching Techniques 6. Skill of Achieving Closure:
When a student- teacher delivers lecture and sums up properly and in an attractive way, the skill is termed as “Closure Skill”.
The lesson/period remains ineffective in the absence of proper closure. Feedback in Micro teaching : Dr G L Gulhane 48 Feedback in Micro teaching Feedback is the information supplied to the individual.
The success of micro teaching depends on feedback. Which can also be used within the process of teaching as well as after the lesson taught.
It is used in various forms in case of micro teaching by the supervisor, video-tape, films, T.V., which are various sources of feedback. Advantages Of Microteaching : Dr G L Gulhane 49 Advantages Of Microteaching It focuses on sharpening and developing specific teaching skills and eliminating errors.
It enables understanding of behaviours important in class-room teaching.
It increases the confidence of the learner teacher.
It is a vehicle of continuous training for both beginners and for senior teachers.
It provides experts supervision and constructive feedback. SUMMARY : Dr G L Gulhane 50 SUMMARY Microteaching involves presentation of micro lesson
Audience….small group of peers.
Feedback given by peers role playing as students
Participants learn about strengths & weakness in themselves as teachers
Plan strategies for improvement in performance Why teaching profession is good? : Dr G L Gulhane 51 Why teaching profession is good? Remember!!! : Dr G L Gulhane 52 Remember!!! Even the best teacher can learn a great deal from his or her students Secret : Dr G L Gulhane 53 Secret Need of the hour : Dr G L Gulhane 54 Need of the hour Working Together, We Can achieve our goal and expected qualities in higher education Present Teacher Expected Teacher : Dr G L Gulhane 55 Present Teacher Expected Teacher Thanks : Dr G L Gulhane 56 Thanks . Dr G L GulhaneP G Department of EducationSant Gadge Baba Amravati UniversityAmravati : Dr G L Gulhane 57 Dr G L GulhaneP G Department of EducationSant Gadge Baba Amravati UniversityAmravati E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.org
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Monocyanopolyynes from a carbon arc in ammonia: about the relative abundance of polyynes series formed in a carbon arc and those detected in the circumstellar shells of AGB stars
Monocyanopolyynes are formed by arcing graphite electrodes in ammonia. This work completes the parallelism existing between the polyynes formed by laser ablation experiments of graphite targets and those produced from the submerged electric arc. In both cases the same products are obtained. The products consist of hydrogen-terminated polyynes if water is present, monocyanopolyynes (mixed with hydrogen-terminated polyynes) if the carbon arc is sparked in acetonitrile or ammonia and dicyanopolyynes if the arc is struck in liquid nitrogen. The mechanism of formation of polyynes in the submerged carbon arc involves essentially neutral species; similar species and pathways may also occur in the circumstellar environment where polyynes have been detected by radioastronomy. It is shown that the relative abundances of the polyynes formed in the submerged carbon arc or in a carbon arc in vacuum decrease by a factor between three and five as the chain length increases by a C2 unit. Exactly the same trend has been observed by radioastronomy both for polyynes and cyanopolyynes in the circumstellar environment around red giants and asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars. This fact may be a simple coincidence or may suggest that the mechanism of formation of the polyynes in the carbon arc is the same as that occurring in the surroundings of carbon-rich stars.(Received February 5 2006)
(Accepted February 13 2006)
(Published Online April 20 2006)
Key Words: polyynes; cyanopolyynes; dicyanopolyynes; monocyanopolyynes; formation; carbon arc; relative abundances; circumstellar shells; AGB stars.
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|Cemetery notes and/or description:|
Established in 1839, Glendale Cemetery (Original name: Akron Rural Cemetery), originally was inspired by Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Mass. At the beginning, Glendale was comprised of 88-acres. In 1850, Oak Openings, a smaller 8-acre cemetery was incorporated into the site. Then in 1891, another area called the "western section" was added. When driving through the main gate of Glendale, several structures catch your attention. To the left on the hill, is the Bell Tower, then there's the office, the Gate Lodge and the Civil War Chapel. (The Chapel has it's own Find-A-Grave page). The Civil War Chapel was built to commemerate Akron's Civil War dead. Names of those who did not return are inscribed on the interior walls. The basement is a tomb for those who did return. There are hundreds of veteran's graves from all the wars at Glendale. But what makes Glendale Cemetery stand out are the graves and family plots of Akron's famous. Industrialists, bankers, businessmen, tycoons, people of politics, etc. Names like Miller, Robinson, Saalfield, Seiberling, Perkins, Sherbondy, Young, Howard, the list goes on. Cypress Ave., the main road through Glendale is lined on both sides with the stately mausoleums of the turn-of-the-century wealthy. Designs range from gothic, egyptian, and modern to rustic, colonial and Victorian.
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Reenacting Antietam: Fighting As Family Once Did
LINDA WERTHEIMER, HOST:
Tomorrow marks the 150th anniversary of the Civil War's Battle of Antietam, one of the bloodiest days of any war. In honor of the sesquicentennial, the battle site is hosting a slew of events commemorating the fight. Reporter Jacob Fenston went to Sharpsburg, Maryland, the site of the battle, and brings us this report.
JACOB FENSTON, BYLINE: It started just before dawn.
(SOUNDBITE OF BUGLE PLAYING)
FENSTON: As the bugle sounds in the still-dark morning, men rustle out of their canvas tents, pulling on dusty and worn wool jackets. They take up their rifles, drilling before the morning battle.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN #1: Forward, march.
FENSTON: These are Civil War reenactors - about 4,000 of them, gathered on this rural field about 70 miles north of Washington, D.C., the site of that bloody, day-long battle that took place 150 years ago. Many of the reenactors have traced their family trees all the way back to the Civil War. Some even have ancestors who fought at Antietam.
DANIEL FLORA: Yes, I had two of them.
FENSTON: That's Daniel Flora.
FLORA: Forty and 36 years old, joined up fairly early in September, and about 15 days later, they were here. So, Antietam would have been their first battle.
FENSTON: Today, Flora is part of the same regiment his ancestors fought in, the 7th Ohio infantry.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN #2: First battalion load.
(SOUNDBITE OF CANNONS FIRING)
FENSTON: On the real battlefield that day, the Union eked out a victory, but there were more than 22,000 casualties. That staggering number was a wake-up call to Americans. It was clear this war wasn't going to end quickly. Civil War scholar and Harvard University President Drew Gilpin Faust was at Antietam this weekend. She says one immediate result of the battle was President Lincoln's emancipation proclamation just five days later.
PRESIDENT DREW GILPIN FAUST: He needed to release it from a position of strength and to say this is something we do because we're strong, and not have it look like a last desperate effort to somehow win the war.
RIC BURNS: There is no more transformational battle in the war than Antietam.
FENSTON: Filmmaker Ric Burns has a new documentary coming out on the Civil War. He says Lincoln freed the slaves in part to offset the mounting casualties, like those at Antietam.
BURNS: So, if you offer to emancipate African-Americans in states under rebellion, they'll come flooding north in even greater numbers.
FENSTON: Antietam is one of many Civil War battles being remembered this year. Next year, this will continue with the 150th anniversary of the bloodiest year of the Civil War, 1863. For NPR News, I'm Jacob Fenston.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
WERTHEIMER: This is NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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A very large tropical shark which typically swims close to the surface, where it feeds chiefly on plankton. It is the largest known fish.
- Rhincodon typus, the sole member of the family Rhincodontidae.
Oraciones de ejemplo
- Shark finning is a lucrative business, with a single fin from a whale shark or a basking shark being worth as much as $14, \500.
- The largest of all fish, the whale shark, lives off plankton alone!
- At 22 meters, it is almost twice as long as the whale shark, the biggest fish in the ocean today.
For editors and proofreaders
Saltos de línea: whale shark
Definición de whale shark en:
¿Qué te llama la atención de esta palabra o frase?
Los comentarios que no respeten nuestras Normas comunitarias podrían ser moderados o eliminados.
Muy popular en Reino Unido
Muy popular en Australia
= de moda
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A two-year government commissioned study proposed that federal gasoline taxes should be increased up to 40 cents per gallon over five years. The purpose of the massive tax increase would be to fix aging bridges and roads, and reduce traffic deaths.
Calling for immediate action, the congressionally created panel warns that "applying patches" is no longer acceptable, saying the nation risks tens of thousands of highway casualties each year and millions of dollars lost in economic growth.
"The crisis is now," the report states.
Among the recommendations, which are expected to cost $225 billion each year for the next 50 years:
—Work to cut traffic fatalities in half over the next 17 years by urging states to embrace new strategies to improve safety.
—Ease traffic congestion by expanding state and local public transit systems and highway capacity.
—Protect the environment by smoothing traffic flow, encouraging alternative commute options such as carpooling and public transit and promoting energy-efficient construction and lighting in transit systems to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.
—Seek to develop new energy sources with new research programs costing $200 million annually over the next decade
Nobody wants our nation's infrastructure to deteriorate and/or collapse like the Minneapolis bridge, and maintaining our infrastructure IS a valid area for government to undertake (unlike so many others where they waste our money), but being the skeptical fiscal conservative that I am, I decided to investigate how our current gasoline taxes are spent. It seems to me that we already pay an awful lot in taxes on every gallon of gas. It also seems to me like virtually all that money should go toward maintaining our roads and bridges. Where else would it go ?
Where indeed. According to research by the National Center For Policy Analysis (NCPA), gas taxes are as follows:
- The federal government imposes a gasoline tax of 18.4 cents per gallon.
- States levy additional gas taxes at rates ranging from a low of 8 cents per gallon in Alaska to a high of 44.4 cents per gallon in California.
- Combined federal and state gas taxes now average about 45 cents per gallon.
The 1956 Federal-Aid Highway Act established the Highway Trust Fund and stipulated that 100 percent of the [federal] gas tax be deposited into this fund. The trust fund finances highway building and maintenance across the nation.
Well, in theory that's what the Highway Trust Fund does. In reality, only about 60% of the money goes toward highway building and maintenance. Why only 60% ? Need you even ask ? It's due to politicians, naturally. They divert the rest of the money into mass transit and pork barrel projects. The NCPA breaks the spending down:
- Only 60 percent of federal gas taxes goes to the construction and maintenance of highways and bridges.
- Thirty percent goes to subsidize construction and maintenance of public transit facilities, such as bus terminals, light rail and subway systems.
- The remaining 10 percent is diverted to other projects — currently 6,000 projects — including bike paths, museums, nature trails, historic building repairs and so forth.
Since the DOT says 12% of the nations nearly 600,000 bridges are structurally deficient, before we saddle all americans with a huge tax that would hit the poorest among us the hardest, and impact most of us in a substantial manner, would it be too much to ask of Congress that all of the Highway Trust Fund money go to highway and bridge construction and repair ? Let the states and cities that want mass transit improvements and bike paths pay for it themselves. Put it on the ballot. Eliminate the pork. (Can we eliminate Congress ? No, I suppose not).
You know what I'd like to see for once, instead of the easy jump the pols always make to saddle the citizens with constantly greater and greater burdens to pay for constantly increasing government ? A two-year study in how to eliminate all the useless government programs, reduce waste, and cut spending. Now, there's a study I'd happily pay for, since it would more than pay for itself. I bet each one of us, regardless of our political allegiances, could review the federal budget and find that extra $225 billion to spend on highways without slamming the poor working man one more time. As almost always, the real answer is in LIMITING GOVERNMENT. Then we'd have plenty of money for roads and bridges, plus a lot more money in our pockets. That's what the movement is all about. And, as almost always, the real answer is, vote for very few Democrats (none of the liberal, big government variety), and vote out any wasteful Republicans as well (replace them with Libertarians or other third party candidates). Then we'd get somewhere, without stepping our citizenry step by step down the path towards insolvency, as we've been doing for decades and decades.
Or, we can just pay a lot more money for gas and complain.
About This Blog
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The Hannah Duston statue in GAR Park, Haverhill, Massachusetts.
The steely gaze. The hatchet. The high-necked dress. No, it's not Lizzie Borden - it's Hannah Duston, the heroine of Haverhill, Massachusetts. Her story is just as bloody as Lizzy's, so don't read any further if you're squeamish.
Hannah and her husband Thomas were early settlers in Haverhill, where they lived with their children, but her fame began on March 16, 1697. Hannah was recuperating at home after delivering the newest baby Duston. Thomas was out in the fields with the children, while Mrs. Neff, a neighbor, watched over Hannah.
Unfortunately for everyone involved, Hannah's post-partum repose was interrupted by raiding Abenaki Indians. Thomas and the children fled to a defended garrison. Hannah, Mrs. Neff and the baby were captured by the warriors, who canoed up the Merrimac River into New Hampshire after setting fire to Haverhill. During the journey, one of the warriors killed the newborn by smashing it against an apple tree. (Gruesome. And, again, why are apple trees so often associated with death?)
After a few days, Hannah and Mrs. Neff were given to an Abenaki family consisting of two men, three women, and seven children. The family already had one European captive, a boy from Worcester named Samuel Lennardson.
Indians often captured settlers to replace family members who had died, or to use as slaves. Hannah wasn't interested in either option. One night while the Indian family was asleep, she took a hatchet and killed ten of them - one woman and one child escaped.
Hannah also scalped the Indians, perhaps helped by Mrs.Neff and Samuel. When they returned to Haverhill, Hannah was proclaimed a heroine. The colonial government paid her 25 pounds as a reward for the scalps. She was praised by Cotton Mather, and written about by Henry David Thoreau. Her family built a new brick home, the Duston Garrison house, which can still be seen on Hilldale Avenue in Haverhill.
Hannah Duston was the first women in the US to have a statue erected in her honor. She has two, in fact: the one in Haverhill (1861), and one in Boscawen, New Hampshire (1874). Joseph Citro notes in Curious New England that the statue in Boscawen exhibits both decolletage and bloody scalps.
I don't know if Hannah would get a statue these days. I was taught Hannah's story as a child, and saw some Duston artifacts in the Haverhill Historical Society. She was definitely the heroine of the story. But people are more aware now that New England's past was complicated, which is a euphemism for "the Europeans came and took the Indian's land and massacred them." I can admire Hannah for being a tough woman who escaped her captors, but I certainly don't see the Indians as villains in this story. Also, as a kid, I wasn't told that Hannah slaughtered six children while they slept. The emphasis was always on her baby and that apple tree.
When I tell this story to people the first time now, they often ask "How could she kill all those Indians while they slept? Didn't someone scream?" It's a good question, and one that never crossed my mind in my youth. Just recently I found a strange supernatural story that explains it, but I'll save it for next week.
You can visit HannahDuston.com for more information about her life and adventures.
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The Helmholtz vorticity theorem
s (first published by Hermann von Helmholtz
in 1858) are two basic results for understanding the nature of vorticity in a fluid flow
The theorems hold exactly only in the Euler
model, i.e. when there is no viscosity
. They are nevertheless useful for understanding vorticity in fluids with low but non-zero viscosity too.
In fluid dynamics it is impossible to avoid vector calculus altogether, but the vorticity theorems are of such a basic nature that you do not really need any advanced tools to understand them, and I will try to explain them so that they make sense and not just formulas.
But I will need to use some specific terms in order to state the theorems before I explain them. A vortex line is a field line of the vorticity field, i.e. a curve that is everywhere tangent to the vorticity. A vortex tube is a set of vortex lines that pass through the same closed curve. The flux of vorticity across a surface is the surface integral of the vorticity; if the vorticity is constant and normal to the surface it reduces to the area times the magnitude of the vorticity.
First Helmholtz vorticity theorem:
Vortex lines move with the fluid.
Second Helmholtz vorticity theorem:
The flux of vorticity across a cross section of a vortex tube is independent of the cross section and time (this is the strength of the vortex tube).
The idea of the first vorticity theorem is rather easy to understand. That the "vortex lines move with the fluid" means that if we dye all the fluid particles that lie on a vortex line at one instant then the dyed particles will at a later time still lie on a vortex line.
The second vorticity theorem may need some additional explanation.
That the flux of vorticity is independent of the cross section is an immediate consequence of the divergence theorem and the fact that the vorticity field is divergence free.
So it is the fact that the flux of vorticity does not change with time that is interesting. This result can also be thought of as saying that the magnitude of the vorticity in a vortex line increases proportionally as the vortex line is stretched. For consider a very thin vortex tube round the vortex line, so thin that the vorticity is practically constant over its width. As the vortex tube is stretched the cross-sectional area decreases by the same factor, so the vorticity must increase proportionally for the flux across the cross section to remain constant.
One place where this effect can be seen is in your very own sink. There is some vorticity in the water, and when it flows down the drain the vortex lines are stretched out. The vorticity increases and the result is a visible vortex.
The theorems can be derived from the Kelvin circulation theorem.
Below follows another proof which may not be excessively rigourous (but then this is not analysis anyway) but immediately demonstrates that the assertions made about the behaviour of the vortex lines are true.
First we look at how the vorticity w evolves in a fluid with velocity field u. It is easy to show from the Euler momentum equation (which essentially expresses Newton's second law for fluids) that
Dw/Dt = (u.∇)w
(see substantial derivative).
Now we wish to compare this with how curves in the fluid move with the flow. For this purpose we look at material line elements, short displacement vectors dl that we consider to constitute the curve. The material line elements are deformed with time, and it is shown in this writeup that the change governed by
Ddl/Dt = (u.∇)dl
So the equations governing the change in vorticity and material line elements have precisely the same form! Thus it is immediately obvious that the vortex lines move and change in magnitude precisely like the material line elements along them.
Another way to see that the second vorticity theorem must be true is to interpret it as an expression of conservation of angular momentum. The pressure exerts no torque on a thin vortex tube, so in the absence of viscous forces the angular momentum of the vortex tube should be conserved. As the vortex tube is stretched it becomes thinner and its moment of inertia decreases, so its angular velocity (which can be said to be measured by the vorticity) must increase proportionally.
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How To Clean The Tank
Let gravity do the work - siphon it! In a tank of up to 5 gallons in size, you can use a piece of airline tubing. Insert it into the water and fill it completely with water, and put your finger over one end. Now bring it above the water and over the bucket which is below the water level - this way you can vacuum debris from the bottom. Once you have the bottom cleaned, start removing water with a jug. You can also use a turkey baster to clean the bottom of fish bowls which can be used for new-born fry.
In larger tanks, you should acquire a gravel vacuum from a store, and follow the same steps, until you have taken out all the water you want to remove. With many or large tanks, one can invest in a Python, manufactured to connect to a water tap so that you do not have to move heavy buckets of water. It vacuums the tank and has an water out/in lever connection at the tap. Water should be conditioned and made the proper temperature before addition to the tanks.
Water Change Schedule
It is possible for guppies to live without water changes for sometime, however, this is setting them up for possible disease outbreaks, such as fin rot and columnaris. Keeping the water as clean as possible will keep your guppies as healthy as possible. Raising guppy fry entails more water changes than normal due to frequent feedings. Water changes themselves will help fry to reach their best potential size as well.
Fry: 20 - 25% every 3 days, or 50% once or twice a week
Adults: 20 - 50% once a week
The schedule you choose will depend on these factors:
- Inches per fish per gallon (the ideal maximum is one inch of fish per gallon for a normal, long tank)
- Breeding goals (if showing or looking for greatest size, this would entail more frequent water changes)
- Time available (this would mean less frequent, larger changes)
If your tank has more fish than the ideal maximum, change water at the higher amounts. Water changes are less important if the tank is under stocked.
Mixed ages guppy tanks should have more frequent water changes.
Changing water becomes a simple exercise once you set up a routine and schedule and understand how to keep it as stress-free as possible for your fish. The more often you clean your tank, the better accustomed your guppies will be to having your hand in their tank!
Conditioning the Water
Make sure the water you replace is safe for the fish. It should be the same temperature and pH. If you use salt in your tank then you should add it first in the new water at the rate you use per gallon. Salt does not evaporate so it is not added to the amount of water you "top up". Use a water conditioner to remove chloramines and chlorine if you are not sure if there are chloramines present (call your water supplier to find out). If you simply have chlorine to worry about, you can simply leave the water out overnight and it will evaporate. In fact, if you change only 1/4 of the water, you do not really need to remove the chlorine since the amount in the tank will pose no threat to the fish, and it disappears after a day. There should be no need to add a conditioner that stimulates slime coat.
Some people choose Amquel as their water conditioner which removes ammonia which MAY be present in your tap water, removes chlorine and breaks down chloramines, adds active electrolytes and removes copper, which is lethal to fish in certain amounts. However, Amquel also plays with pH and adds a synthetic slime to fish which should not be needed in a routine water change, and problems sometimes occur for some fish keepers.
It is usually best simply to use a conditioner that is basic and simply removes or neutralizes chlorine and chloramines. I do not think it is a good idea to add more chemicals to a fish tank than is necessary. Adjusting pH is usually a losing battle as well, and if you are tempted to try, think again, because eventually disaster strikes and pH swings cause stress and possible death. If your water's pH is lower than 7.0, I feel that you would do better keeping soft-water fish such as Angels and Characins.
Eventually you will acquire an understanding of your water and what you need to do to change water with the least stress on the fish.
There is no need to remove algae except from the front and sides of the tank for viewing purposes. However the corners of the tank should not be allowed to get too dirty. Occasionally the bottom and entire glass surface should be wiped down prior to a water change. The guppy has a small stomach so they eat small amounts throughout the day, and algae provides a between-feeding snack. Guppies are omnivorous and require all forms of food, including plant and vegetable matter.
If algae becomes a problem I do not suggest you get an algae eater (remember all new fish must be quarantined for a month). Find the reason you have algae and control it. Algae thrives where there is too much nitrate or phosphate in the water, and when there is too much light (often light from a window is the culprit). Where the problem of nitrates exist but there is low lighting, brown algae will accumulate. If water changes do not help you can assume that phosphates are being added through fish food (some contain high levels of this nutrient), cheap brands of carbon, or your tap water (in this case, use a phosphate sponge). Here is an informative link about algae: The Krib
Inside box filters should be changed when the filter floss gets brownish throughout. Change the dirtiest floss and save about 1/3 of it to replace between the layers of new floss to help seed the new material and retain some of the "good" bacteria.
Every once in a while, the filter may need to be completely cleaned when it gets filthy. The easiest way is soaking it in diluted bleach until clean, then rinse until no chlorine scent is present. Meanwhile, set a new filter in the tank with some of the used filter media in it.
Power filters should be rinsed once a week. Inserts should be rinsed in tank water or dechlorinated water so that the "good" bacteria is not destroyed. Power filters such as the AquaClear should be removed and thoroughly cleaned once a month. The motor will get gummed up and if the power goes off, it will not re-start itself. This can cause major problems if you are away at the time.
Salt is an excellent and safe-guppy remedy for various problems when avoiding chemicals, and a good general additive to relieve stress and protect against ich. It also prevents nitrite poisoning (brown blood disease) in fish. However, salt in guppy tanks is not mandatory and is not advisable if you have a community tank with anything other than other salt-hardy fish.
When adding salt as a regular additive to the tank, top up the tank before/between water changes with unsalted water. The reason for this is that salt does not evaporate and eventually a build-up of salt will accumulate in tanks that are not regularly topped up with plain water. Then, add the ratio of salt to the water you have physically removed from the tank. For instance, if you have removed 5 gallons and the tank is kept at 1 tablespoon per 5 gallons, dissolve one tablespoon of salt in the water before adding to the tank.
It is a myth that table salt is toxic to fish. The iodide can be helpful and the anti-clumping agents are minute and fish-safe, though it sometimes clouds the water slightly. However, avoid salt that contains such items as dextrose.
Other safe alternatives to expensive aquarium salt include sea salt, pickling (cooking) salt, and solar salt. Salt, when added to guppy tanks, is usually in the amount of 1 tablespoon per 5 gallons, or 1 teaspoon per gallon.
- 1 gallon of fresh water weighs 8 pounds
- 1 cubic foot of water = 7.5 gallons = 37.8 litres
- Surface Area:
- 1 square centimetre = 0.16 square inches
- 1 square inch = 6.45 square centimetres
- 1 gallon = 3.785 litres
- 1 litre = 0.264 gallon = 1000 ml = 33.8 fluid ounces = 2.25 lb = 1 kg water
- drop = 1/20 ml
- ml= 20 drops
- teaspoon = 5 ml
- tablespoon = 15 ml
- fluid ounce = 30 ml
- Aquarium Capacity:
- L" x W "x H" /231 = number of gallons
- L x W x H (cm) /1,000 = number of litres
- No. litres x 0.264 = number of gallons
- Parts per thousand (ppt) = ml/L = 3.8 ml/gal
- Part per million (ppm)= mg/L = 3.8 mg/gal = ml/1,000 L
- 1% solution = 38 gm/gal = 38 ml/gal = 10 ml/L
- Centigrade or Celsius = (F - 32) x 0.55
- Fahrenheit = (C x 1.8) + 32
Guppyplace | About Guppyplace | Guppy Facts | Tank Maintenance | Guppy Troubleshooter | Guppy Ailments & Remedies | Parasitic Problems | Water Quality | Hospital Tanks | Guppy Fry Needs | Feeding the Growing Guppy | Getting New Guppies? | Guppy FAQ's | Guppy Colouration | Breeding Guppies | Links | Tips & Tricks | Book Reviews | Guppy Photos | Anatomy | Guppy Tails | Guppy Glossary | Contents | Sales
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10 May 2010
RDR or DFM? Which is best?
Restricted design for design for manufacturing: the debate at 22nm.
Shrinking process dimensions have brought us to the point where it is becoming difficult to manufacture chips with reasonable yield and variability control.
Historically, manufacturers have reduced process variability continuously to allow for successful production at ever smaller nodes. Now, because of lithography and material limitations, production teams are running out of 'knobs' they can turn to remove sources of manufacturing variability.
Reacting to that, foundries are looking to remove variability from the design layout; the concept being that if there is less design variation in what they have to build, they can build it with less manufacturing variation.
The question remains, however, is all variability bad? More precisely, is all variation equally bad? This debate has led to two contrasting approaches: restrictive design rules (RDR); and design for manufacturing (DFM).
The pros and cons of both techniques have led to internal debates at foundries and even to 'publicity wars' in regard to what various foundries plan to do in their attempts to capture market share. In reality, the optimal solution will probably be some hybrid combination. Let's take a look at why that is the case.
The RDR approach is to remove layout variation everywhere uniformly, in an attempt to make a very regular layout in all cases. It does this by imposing restrictions that enforce regularity, consistency and uniformity in design. The concept therefore restricts designers from using 'creative' or unproven features in a layout.
Conversely, the DFM approach is to find and remove the particular variations in a design that cause manufacturing problems. The designer can try any design configuration, but will only find out retroactively that some can't be manufactured.
It's obvious that the RDR approach seems much more restrictive to designers and appears to take away their freedom to be creative. However, when designers are done with an RDR layout, they're done. On the other hand, restrictive design tends to use more area, because designers cannot take advantage of irregular layout patterns.
At 22nm and beyond, area is a critical resource that can have a significant impact on the ability of a design team to implement the performance and features needed for marketability. Additionally, restrictive design is a relatively new concept, meaning designers must learn new design techniques and cannot make full use of their past design experience and skill. This shift in design techniques can create an initial decline in productivity as designers adapt to the new requirements.
DFM, by contrast, allows designers a lot more freedom, but they must often perform a lot of iterative design when features are identified as non manufacturable. Not only do they have to change these features, they also have to figure out what correction might work best. This iterative nature of DFM provides a lot less predictability in design time and/or effort, even though it allows designers to make full use of their past experience and design skills.
However, there is another advantage to DFM that might be overlooked in a direct comparison. DFM simulation tools simulate the variability in designs and allow the design teams to use that knowledge in timing simulations. Even though RDR promises less variation overall, the design team can't know what the variation will be. DFM simulations allow designers to predict the specific variation they will get from each transistor.
On the other side of the equation are the foundries. What does a foundry have to do to develop either restrictive constraints or the checking capability to identify DFM hotspots?
It is typically easier for manufacturers to pursue the RDR approach: they only have to characterise the limited set of layout variation they will allow. With the short life cycles of technology nodes, foundries are forced to deliver design constraints prior to having a completed process. So using the RDR approach means all they have to do is make sure they can process those particular features. RDRs provide well bounded goals they have to meet to be able to manufacture. Additionally, assuming they are successful at some point in time in manufacturing those features, they know they will always be successful in manufacturing those features throughout the lifetime of that production node.
In the DFM approach, by contrast, it is impossible for the foundry to characterise ahead of time anything the designer might do in a free form environment. Instead, they attempt to capture the process behaviour in a DFM simulation (such as lithography and planarity). A DFM simulation essentially allows the designer to simulate the process during design and verification, identify which features won't print or manufacture, then work to modify them until the design is manufacturable. The challenge is twofold: it's difficult to get those simulation models built prior to the completion of the process; and, because the process changes over time, the models must be updated and revised continuously.
Another aspect to consider is that although requiring RDRs enables a foundry to establish a long term, predictable scenario, it doesn't take advantage of the fact that, over time, the process matures to the point where it's actually capable of doing more than it originally could on the same node. The restricted layout of RDRs doesn't allow the foundry or designers to take advantage of that maturation. In the DFM space, as the process matures, the models are revised to match and the next designers will gain even more freedom in layouts, because the process is now capable of handling more.
Some foundries are betting that the safety of the RDR – guaranteeing their ability to produce the best performing chips in the shortest time – will outweigh the cost to the freedom of the designer. Others are attempting to apply as little design restriction as they possibly can in the hope that DFM 'safety nets' and process maturation will allow them to overcome early yield challenges, while gaining more business through design freedom.
A hybrid solution, in which the foundries implement some amount of layout restriction, but leave some creative freedom to the designer while applying the safety nets of DFM to capture the corner cases, will assure a sufficient 'pain to pleasure' threshold to both the designers and the foundries to optimise their business relationships.
As an eda vendor partnering with both these parties to reach success at 22nm and beyond, it's not rational to assume that you're only going to support one or the other of these techniques. It's also not going to be sufficient to support both, but in isolation. The tools will need to deal with both forms of constraints simultaneously, regardless of whether they're implementation or verification tools. Ultimately, the tools need to facilitate the adherence to the upfront restrictions, while easily identifying the hotspot issues within that design context.
David Abercrombie is programme manager for Advanced Physical Verification Methodology with Mentor Graphics
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NASA Rocket Launches Scheduled July 5 – 23
Four NASA suborbital sounding rockets carrying experiments to take measurements in the ionosphere will be launched between July 5 and 23 (including weekends) from NASA’s Launch Range at the Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.
The project is studying neutral and charged particles in the ionosphere and how each affects the way the other moves resulting in currents in the region. The variations matter because all of our communications and GPS satellites send signals through the ionosphere. A disturbed ionosphere translates to disturbed signals, so scientists want to know just what causes the ionosphere to behave in specific ways.
During the launch period NASA will launch two pairs of rockets consisting of a Terrier-Improved Orion and a Black Brant V. The rockets in each pair will be launched 15 seconds apart. Only one pair of rockets will be launched on any day.
Based on the approved range schedule, the rocket pairs are set for launch between 9:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. EDT. The experiments on the Terrier-Improved Orion rockets will release lithium in the ionosphere. The resulting clouds are not expected to be visible to the naked eye but will be seen by special cameras on the ground.
For more information on these missions, please visit the following website: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/news/rockets-atmosphere.html
The rockets will be visible in the Wallops area.
The NASA Visitor Center will open at 8:30 a.m. on launch day for viewing the launch.
The launch will be webcast beginning at 8:30 a.m. on launch day at: http://sites.wff.nasa.gov/webcast
Launch status can be followed on Twitter at: http://www.Twitter.com/NASA_Wallops
Launch status also is available at the Wallops launch status line at 757-824-2050.
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As a parent, it is sometimes frustrating to talk to your kids about exams. There are times when they will come home convinced that they did really well on a test only to be disappointed when the results come in. Other times, they feel like they did quite poorly on the test and are pleasantly surprised that they scored better than they expected.
How do people judge how well they did on a test after taking it?
This question was explored in a paper by Yana Weinstein and Roddy Roediger in the April, 2010 issue of Memory & Cognition. They had students take tests of general knowledge questions. Some of the questions on these tests were easy (What is the name of Tarzan’s girlfriend?). Some of the questions were more difficult (The general named Hannibal was from what city?) There were 50 questions on the test.
This study examined a number of different factors that might affect people’s judgments about how easy a test was including whether people could choose how many questions they wanted to answer or were forced to answer all of them, and the way that the question about test accuracy was asked. Most of these factors had little or no consistent influence on people’s judgments of how well they did on the test.
The one factor that had a consistent effect was the ordering of the questions on the test. When the test had the easiest questions at the beginning and the harder ones at the end, people felt like they did better on the test than when the questions were randomly ordered. When the test had the hard questions first and then the easy ones, people actually felt like they did worse than when the questions were randomly ordered.
Of particular interest in these results is that when the easy questions were first, people actually judged that they got more questions right than they actually did. So the easy-to-hard ordering made people overconfident in their performance.
Why does this happen? The authors suggest two reasons for the observed results. First, the effect appears most strongly when people are looking back on their performance rather than when they make judgments as they are performing the test. Research on memory finds that items that are seen early in a list are remembered better than those seen late in the list. So, if you look back on a test, you are most likely to remember items from early in the test. If those items are easy, then that will give you the impression that you did well overall.
Second, people often enter a test with a rough sense of how well they are going to do. For example, if you have not prepared well for a test, you may think you are going to do poorly. If the test starts with a number of easy questions, you may be pleasantly surprised at your performance and adjust your belief upward. If the test starts with a number of hard questions, you may adjust your belief downward.
So, why does this matter?
Perhaps the most important issue is one of motivation. If your performance on an exam is worse than you thought it would be after taking the test, it can be demoralizing. It is important to remember that your actual performance on a test is only one factor that helps you figure out how well you did. As this work shows, the ordering of the questions matters as well. It is no fun getting a poor grade on a test, of course, but don’t compound the disappointment by being upset that you thought you had done better.
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Understand the Nitrogen Cycle
Understand the Nitrogen Cycle
The aquarium nitrogen cycle information presented below may be rather boring to most people, but it is absolutely essential to understand this process if you want to be successful at keeping fish!
Some call it the biological cycle, the nitrification process, new tank syndrome or even the start-up cycle. They all are referring to the same cycle – The Nitrogen Cycle. The aquarium nitrogen cycle is a very important process for the establishment of beneficial bacteria in the aquarium and in the filter media that will help in the conversion of ammonia to nitrite and then the conversion of nitrite to nitrates. Check out the aquarium water chemistry page (on the left) for more information on these terms.
This process can take from 2 weeks to 2 months or longer to complete. It is vital for anyone planning on keeping aquarium fish to understand this process. Learning about this process will help you to be successful in keeping fish and it should definitely improve your chances when keeping tropical fish. The best way to monitor the nitrogen cycle is to purchase an aquarium test kit that will test for ammonia, nitrites, nitrates and ph.
Test your aquarium water every other day and write down your readings. You will first see ammonia levels rising. A few weeks or so later you should see the nitrite levels rising and the ammonia levels dropping. Finally, after a few more weeks you should see the nitrate levels rising and the nitrite levels dropping. When you no longer detect ammonia or nitrites but you can detect nitrates you can assume that it is safe to add your tropical fish.
Nitrogen Cycle Stages
Ammonia is introduced into the aquarium via tropical fish waste and uneaten food. The tropical fish waste and excess food will break down into either ionized ammonium (NH4) or un-ionized ammonia (NH3). Ammonium is not harmful to tropical fish but ammonia is. Whether the material turns into ammonium or ammonia depends on the ph level of the water. If the ph is under 7, you will have ammonium. If the ph is 7 or higher you will have ammonia.
Soon, bacteria called nitrosomonas will develop and they will oxidize the ammonia in the tank, essentially eliminating it. The byproduct of ammonia oxidation is Nitrites. So we no longer have ammonia in the tank, but we now have another toxin to deal with – Nitrites. Nitrites are just as toxic to tropical fish as ammonia. If you have a test kit, you should be able to see the nitrite levels rise around the end of the first or second week.
Bacteria called nitrobacter will develop and they will convert the nitrites into nitrates. Nitrates are not as harmful to tropical fish as ammonia or nitrites, but nitrate is still harmful in large amounts. The quickest way to rid your aquarium of nitrates is to perform partial water changes. Once your tank is established you will need to monitor your tank water for high nitrate levels and perform partial water changes as necessary.
There are other methods to control nitrates in aquariums besides water changes. For freshwater fish tanks, live aquarium plants will use up some of the nitrates. In saltwater fish tanks, live rock and deep sand beds can have anaerobic areas where denitrifying bacteria can breakdown nitrates into harmless nitrogen gas that escapes through the water surface of the aquarium.
Getting The Nitrogen Cycle Started
There are two ways to get the aquarium cycle started, either with fish or without fish.
Starting The Nitrogen Cycle With Fish
This is not the preferred way to get the nitrogen cycle started because the fish are being exposed to ammonia and nitrites during this process. Many fish can not and will not make it through the cycling process. Often times the fish become stressed and fish disease starts to break out. I wonder what percentage of disease is caused by the cycling of new aquariums?
Certain species are hardier than others and seem to tolerate the start-up cycle better than others. For freshwater tanks, the zebra danio is a very hardy fish that many use to get the nitrogen cycle started. For saltwater tanks, some have reported success using damselfish to get the process started. Again, using fish to cycle is not a good idea and you may be throwing your money (on dead fish) out the window. There is a better way. Read on, young grasshopper.
Starting The Nitrogen Cycle Fishless
There are a few different ways to get this process started. To easily get an ammonia reading from your tank water try the Seachem Ammonia Alert. It sticks inside the tank and has a circle that changes color depending on the ammonia levels in the tank.
Using Fish Food
Drop in a few flakes every 12 hours. As the food decomposes it will release ammonia. You will have to continue to “feed” the tank throughout the process to keep it going.
Use a small piece of raw fish or a raw shrimp
Drop a 2 inch by 1 inch chunk of raw fish or a raw shrimp into the tank. As it decomposes it will release ammonia into the tank.
Use 100% pure ammonia.
Using a dropper, add 5 drops of ammonia per 10 gallons of aquarium water. If you don’t get an ammonia reading with your test kit, add some more drops until you start to see an ammonia reading. Keep track of how many drops you’ve used so you can repeat this process daily. Continue to dose the tank with ammonia until you start to get nitrite readings with your test kit. Once you can detect nitrites you should only add 3 drops of ammonia per 10 gallons of aquarium water, or if you added more drops originally to get an ammonia reading cut the amount of drops used in half. Continue this process daily until you get nitrate readings with your test kit. Do a 30% water change and your tank is ready.
Use gravel and/or filter media from an established and cycled tank
This is the best and fastest way to go. This will seed the tank with all of the necessary bacteria for the nitrogen cycle. “Feed” the tank daily with flake food until you are getting nitrate readings. Depending on how fast you were able to get the gravel and filter media into your tank, you may be getting nitrate readings in only a day or two. There are some drawbacks to this method. Ask your source if they have recently used any copper medications in the tank. If they have and you are planning to have invertebrates in the tank you should probably not use this method. Invertebrates will not tolerate copper. Get a copper test kit to determine if it’s safe to use.
Using live rock in Saltwater Tanks
The use of live rock in saltwater tanks has really taken off over the past few years. The reason for this is because it is one of the best forms of biological filtration available for saltwater tanks. The shape the rock is in when you get it will determine how long the nitrogen cycle will take. See step 7 on the saltwater setup page for more information on live rock.
Use Colonize by Dr. Foster and Smith – claims to colonize your water with the necessary bacteria needed to get the cycle going along with detoxifying ammonia so it doesn’t harm the fish. To be used at the start of the tank setup and whenever you add new fish to your tank.
Another bacteria culture product is Tetra SafeStart. People have reported success on the forum with using Tetra SafeStart. Do a quick search on the forum for other members’ input.
Use Instant Ocean BIO-Spira for Saltwater Tanks made by Marineland (the freshwater version may have been discontinued). This product claims to contain some patent pending species of nitrifying bacteria that will cycle your tank in 24 hours. Some of the FishLore forum members have tried it and it sounds like it is legitimate. It is kind of expensive, but if you already have fish in your tank and they are suffering through the cycle, you may want to check this stuff out. 1 ounce of this product is supposed to treat a 30 gallon freshwater tank. There are both freshwater and saltwater versions of Bio-spira. Please let us know if you use this and if it works for you by submitting comments below.
Once the cycle has started only add one or two fish at a time. Wait a couple of weeks before adding more fish. This will give your tank the time it needs to catch up with the increased bio-load.
Speeding Up the Cycling Process
There are things you can do to speed along the process of cycling your aquarium.
Increase the temperature of your aquarium water to 80°F-82°F (27°C-28°C)
Get some beneficial bacteria colonies. Borrow some gravel from an established and cycled aquarium. If you have another tank with an extra filter you can use it. If you have a really nice friend with an established and cycled aquarium, ask if you can have one of their used filter media. It will be loaded with the good bacteria that we are looking for.
There are products on the market that claim to introduce the beneficial bacteria. For more information, check out products like Bio-spira and Tetra SafeStart in option 6 above. There are many more products entering the market that contain the beneficial bacteria necessary to seed your tank. Between live rock (for saltwater aquariums) and the bottled bacteria being readily available, there really is no excuse to make fish suffer through a cycle.
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Jackson’s election ushered America into the age of participatory politics: Before him, only 20 to 30 percent of the eligible population voted; after him — and for the next 70 years — 70 to 80 percent of the electorate often turned out, Nichols explained.
In fact, the Democratic Party was created to help Jackson gain the presidency.
With Jackson in the White House, politics would never be the same in America, much to the chagrin of his well-bred opponents.
Jackson brought to the presidency the fierce, liberty-loving values of those who settled Appalachia. He preferred to allow state governments to handle many public affairs, rather than expanding the size and scope of the federal government.
As a pragmatist, however, he simultaneously felt the federal government could play a constructive — if limited — role in mediating conflict between the people and the moneyed classes, Nichols said.
Jackson concluded that the federal government could be a force for good, serving as a counterweight to men of great wealth, as long as it paid for its expenses as it went, did not play favorites or pick winners, and equally spread its blessings upon all.
A frugal man, he practiced what he preached: He was the last American president to ensure that the country paid off its national debt.
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American Crows Are Commonplace, But Often are Ignored
by Ro Wauer
Almost everyone can recognize the American crow! Yet it is too often misidentified throughout much of its Texas range. The crow-like birds in South Texas and in far West Texas and the Panhandle are not our familiar American crow, but actually are Chihuahuan ravens. And the larger crow-like birds of the Hill Country and West Texas is the common raven. The American crow is actually a bird of the eastern, northern and western United States; its range skips much of the western two-thirds of Texas. Like the range of several other eastern North American songbirds, such as the tufted titmouse, Carolina wren, and blue jay, it barely extends south of the San Antonio River.
Crows are members of the Family Corvidae that also includes all the jays, magpies and Clark’s nutcracker. Corvids are some of the most intelligent of all birds, and young birds can often be tamed as pets. They also are able to solve problems and to recognize dangers that many other birds ignore. For instance, crows are reported to warn other crows of a human intruder that is carrying a shotgun. And as for problem solving, Kent Rylander wrote in “The Behavior of Texas Birds,” that crows can add or subtract: “They readily learn how to deal with novel situations (for example, taking advantage of an unconventional food source); and they respond to subtle environmental stimuli to which less intelligent birds are oblivious (for example, distinguishing an aggressive from a nonaggressive gait in a predator.”
American crows are naturally gregarious and usually will be found in flocks. Some wintertime flocks can number in the hundreds of thousands. These cooperative groups often maintain shared territories year-round. They may even fly considerable distances, like 50 miles or more, to feed. And when a predator is located, crows are well known for their mobbing behavior, including constant calling and diving at the intruder. Their best known call is an emphatic “caw caw caw,” but ornithologists have recorded at least 23 different calls. It depends on their situation, for instance, courting males sing a “rattle” song.
Crows are omnivorous and extremely opportunistic. They can take advantage of almost any opportunity to feed, utilizing seeds, grains, insects and other invertebrates, frogs, small snakes, birds and their eggs, small mammals, carrion, and even garbage. There are several instances of crows cracking hard-shelled mollusks by dropping them onto rocks from high overhead.
Like all the Corvids, crows are extremely wary and suspicious. Resting or feeding groups post sentinel birds to warn the group of any dangers. Sneaking up on a flock of crows takes special skills that few humans possess. However, by approaching ground-feeding crows indirectly and by looking away can produce some success. But just when you stop to aim a camera they will take off in the opposite direction with much consternation and vocalizations.
Although our American crow is so often taken for granted, probably because of their abundance and continual presence in the Golden Crescent, it is one of our most interesting songbirds. It is one of the first birds to call each morning, and one of the last to go to roost in the evening. It is one of our largest songbirds, yet its song is little more than a series of caw notes.
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Living Streets announced the findings of a report into street survey yesterday. The new report was to mark the 80th anniversary of the formation of Living Streets (formerly the Pedestrians Association), highlighted the changes in how streets are used.
Stating that almost half the children aged between 5-10 years old never play on their streets and that over 2/3 of the parents use the car or public transport to go to supermarkets as they were out of walking distance.
New research shows our streets are in danger of losing the social function they have had in the past, as they are shifted from social hubs for the community, into spaces considered no go areas for children.
Tony Armstrong, Chief Executive of Living Streets said:
“Overall the research published today paints a bleak picture of how our streets have changed over the past 80 years. More than a quarter of people today know less than two of their neighbours, where as the majority of older respondents remember knowing at least 5 of their neighbours well when they had a young family. In addition to this, it is becoming increasingly rare to see children playing out on the streets. We have effectively designed ourselves out of our own communities through urban planning that has failed to prioritise people.
SOURCE: Living Streets
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Middle Mississippian Paleogeography of North America
Paleogeography and Geologic Evolution of North America
Images that track the ancient landscapes of North America
The images presented here show the paleogeography of North America over the last 550 million years of geologic history. The 40 images shown here are selected from a suite of approximately 100 maps that are in time slices mostly 5-10 million years apart. By using such tightly spaced time slices, individual paleogeographic and tectonic elements can be followed and intuitively related from time slice to adjacent time slice. Because of space limitations only 40 of the 100 images are presented here but but most shifts of tectonic elements and depositional systems can still be followed. The maps were prepared with the core of North America (Laurentia) fixed. All other tectonic elements are shown moving against or splitting away from Laurentia, thus showing clearly accretionary and rifting events in North America's geologic history. The views were prepared by wrapping a rectangular outline map on a sphere and viewing the globe rotated to 35° N and 100° W. Various stratigraphic, tectonic, and sedimentologic data were added to the map. Topography was "cloned" from digital elevation maps of modern Earth from the USGS, NOAA, and other sources. Colors were adjusted to portray climate and vegetation for the given time and location. The geologic data were gathered from the references listed below.
UPDATE!! Revised maps!! Additional maps!!
PLEASE NOTE: the maps on this page are no longer updated or revised. Any revisions to the series are available at
Colorado Plateau Geosystems Website
North American Paleogeographic Maps
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Ocean and Coastal Area Governance
Our oceans cover three-fourths of the earth’s surface, contain 97% of the earth’s water, and represent 99% of the living space on the planet by volume. Oceans, however, are under assault from a variety of pressures, including pollution, overfishing, introduced species, habitat loss and species extinction, and poorly planned and managed coastal development, with associated losses to ecosystems and the livelihoods that depend upon them. Climate change driven by greenhouse gas emissions only complicates an already challenging ocean management situation.
Protecting and restoring our precious oceans requires a range of strategies including ecosystem-based approaches, integrated coastal management and significantly expanding marine protected areas including to high seas areas. A range of effective tools have been piloted and are ready for upscaling, such as tradeable fishing quotas, strict no fishing zones, elimination of fishing subsidies, new ballast water management and treatment technologies, and improved nutrient management in river basins feeding coastal zones. Given the significant impacts, both present and future, of climate change on the ocean resources upon which most of humanity depend, rapid progress on a strategic approach to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions represents a critical commitment if we are to meet the ocean sustainability challenge.
Through its Ocean Governance Programme, UNDP is working in cooperation with many other UN agencies, the Global Environment Facility, international financial institutions, regional fisheries organizations and others to improve oceans management and sustain livelihoods at the local, national, regional and global scales through effective oceans governance. Through its Large Marine Ecosystems Programme, UNDP-GEF is supporting ecosystem-based approaches to fisheries and other resource management in over ten of the world’s Large Marine Ecosystems, where 85 percent of the world’s fish catch derives. UNDP, through its PEMSEA programme, has pioneered best practices in integrated coastal management and is supporting 12 East Asian countries in the rapid upscaling of these efforts. UNDP is partnering with the International Maritime Organization in a long-term effort to dramatically reduce the risk of transfer of invasive species through ship ballast water through governance reform and technology development and transfer.
Facts and Figures
- The Oceans – Engines for Economic Development
The oceans cover three-fourths of the earth’s surface, contain 97% of the earth’s water, and represent 99% of the living space on the planet by volume. The oceans contain nearly 200,000 identified species but actual numbers may lie in the millions. The oceans serve as the world’s largest source of protein, with over 2.6 billion people depending on the oceans as their primary source of protein. Marine fisheries directly or indirectly employ over 200 million people. Marine and coastal resources directly provide over $3 trillion in annual economic goods and services plus an estimated $20.9 trillion per year in non-market ecosystem services, about 63 percent of the value of all such services. In some parts of the world, such as West Africa and the Pacific islands, fisheries represent thirty percent or more of export earnings and provide local livelihoods for hundreds of thousands of coastal fishermen. Ninety percent of all internationally traded goods are transported via shipping.
- Threats to sustainability of marine and coastal resources
Unfortunately, our oceans remain under assault from a variety of pressures, including pollution (mostly land-based), overfishing, introduced species, habitat loss and species extinction, and poorly planned and managed coastal development. Around half of global fish stocks are fully exploited, and a quarter are depleted, over-exploited or recovering from depletion. An estimated 20% of global mangroves have been lost since 1980, 19% of coral reefs have disappeared, and 29% of seagrass habitat has vanished since 1879. Less than 0.5 percent of marine habitats are protected -- compared with 11.5 per cent of global land area. The number of dead zones, caused by excess nutrient pollution to coastal zones, has been expanding at a geometric pace in recent years, with associated losses to ecosystems and the livelihoods that depend upon them. Invasive marine species, especially those carried in ship ballast water, cause an estimated $100 billion each year in economic damage to infrastructure, ecosystems and livelihoods.
- New threats from climate change
Climate change driven by greenhouse gas emissions only complicates an already challenging ocean management situation. Most of the earth’s available carbon is in the ocean which holds fifty times more carbon than the atmosphere. About half of earth's net primary production, the conversion of water, carbon dioxide, sunlight, and inorganic nutrients into oxygen and hydrocarbons, occurs in the ocean, the remainder on land. Climate change is already affecting ocean temperatures and both horizontal and vertical ocean circulation, driving fish stocks to migrate to more favorable waters. The oceans are estimated to have absorbed about 25 percent of anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions. While this has served to mitigate atmospheric warming to some extent, it has had the negative effect of increasing the acidity of the oceans by 30 percent, with significant threats to calcium carbonate fixing organisms that serve as the foundation for many ocean food chains upon which hundreds of millions depend upon for protein and livelihoods. Sea level rise, due to both the thermal expansion of seawater and glacial melt, threaten millions living in the coastal zone and island states, mostly in the world’s least developed countries.
This Issue Brief links to video and presentations of the 2012 GESAMP-UNDP seminar 'Ocean hypoxia and its impacts on ecosystems and economies'.
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MENAHEM BEN JACOB BEN SOLOMON BEN SIMSON:
German synagogal poet; died at Worms April 16, 1203. He was a member of an old family of Jewish scholars connected with that city. His great-grandfather Simson, who was living in Worms at the time of the First Crusade and was surnamed "Ha-Darshan," is quoted by Rashi on Isa. lviii. 14 and Amos vi. 3. One of Simson's sons, Samuel, is also quoted by Rashi ("Ha-Pardes," p. 33a). Jacob, another son of Simson, died at Worms during the First Crusade (1096). In his epitaph Menahem is called "teacher of the Law," "preacher," and "payyeṭan." A responsum of his addressed to the German Talmudist Eliezer ben Joel ha-Levi is preserved among the responsa of Judah ben Asher (p. 48a).
Menahem is known principally through his synagogal poetry. Zunz credits him with thirty-one poems—among them being examples of "Ma'arib," "Yoẓer," "Ofan," "Ahabah," "Sulat," "Reshut," "Ḳedushshah"—as well as with a number of "seliḥot." Among his elegies the following deserve mention: "Me'one Shamayim" (which found a place in the German ritual for the 9th of Ab); "Alelai Ki Ba'u Rega'" (on the martyrs of Blois, 1171, and of Boppard, 1195; part of it has been translated into German by Zunz, "S. P." p. 250); a seliḥah on the ten martyrs; a seliḥah commemorating the victims of a persecution in 1147 or 1190. Another seliḥah, beginning "Anah ha-Shem ha-Nikbad," has been translated by Zunz into German ("S. P." p. 263). Corresponding to the condition of the Jews during this period, a tone of gloom and despondency pervades his poetry.
It has been supposed that Menahem is identical with the synagogal poet Menahem ben Jacob de Luṭra, quoted in De Rossi, Parma MSS., No. 1274, and with Menahem of Luṭra (), who produced a rimed compilation of the thirteen articles of faith(see "Catalogus Librorum Manuscriptorum civ. Lipsiensis," p. 295). It has been maintained that Menahem was born in Kaiserslautern, and that therefore he was called Menahem de Luṭra; this supposition, however, does not seem tenable.
- L. Lewysohn, in Allg. Zeit. des Jud. 1855, p. 215;
- idem, in Monatsschrift, 1856, p. 420;
- Landshuth, 'Ammude ha-Abodah, pp. 185 et seq.;
- L. Löwenstein, Beiträge zur Gesch. der Juden in Deutschland, i. 4, Frankfort-on-the-Main, 1895;
- Zunz, Literaturgesch. pp. 294 et seq., 510.
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Amid increasingly combative rhetoric from Pyongyang, North Korea, do you know where its underground nuclear test site or missile launch centers are located? Are you aware that the South Korean government has begun a program to move its federal offices and personal from Seoul to a new location? National Geographic's new Korean Peninsula map provides this and much more information about this conflicted peninsula.
National Geographic Maps' Korean Peninsula wall map is one of the most authoritative maps of the Koreas. The peninsula's rugged terrain is expertly depicted in shaded relief, including the elevation of prominent mountains and ocean depths in meters. This new edition clearly portrays both countries and uses the latest system for transcribing South Korean place-names from the Korean alphabet. In great detail, it delineates the latest administrative divisions of both countries along the historic demarcation line between the two Koreas. The map also portrays the transportation grid of both countries, including South Korea's high-speed passenger railway network.
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General Astronomy/The Solar Cycle
The solar cycle is the repeating rise and fall of "solar activity" (which see). This consists of a roughly 11-year cycle in which the numbers of sunspots rises to a maximum and then falls back to some minimum level. Actually the exact time period has varied, from about 7 to about 13 or 14 years, and the maximum number of sunspots varies as well. Some cycles are more "active" than others.
Shortly after each maximum, the magnetic polarity of the sunspots reverses and it maintains that polarity until the next maximum, roughly 11 years later. Thus the solar cycle is not just 11 years, but 22 years since after 22 years the magnetic polarity returns to approximately its original configuration.
The cycle is sometimes unpredictable. During the Maunder Minimum, solar activity was drastically reduced for about fifty years. In 2008, the then current sunspot minimum was noted as the "quietest" in 50 years. As of late 2009, solar activity began a slow increase.
While the sunspot cycle is certainly related to other activity on and in the Sun, many attempts have been made to relate it to various cycles on the Earth ranging from the quality of wines to fashion trends and the stock market. No such relation has been proven, and in fact no strong relation between the sunspot cycle and earthly weather patterns has yet been conclusively shown.
The period of Maunder Minimum, from about the middle of the 17th through the early part of the 18th centuries, was attended by abnormally cool and damp weather worldwide. Attempts have been made to correlate this climatic aberration to the absence of sunspots, but if the relation is real, no causal mechanism has been identified.
In addition, one tentative relation to temperature variation in an upper layer of Earth's atmosphere appears likely, but no other direct and predictable relation has yet been shown.
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“Feeling faint? Blame your parents” advises the Daily Mail. The Mail went on to say that scientists have discovered that people who faint “could be genetically pre-disposed to swooning”.
The research looked at whether genetic factors are involved in fainting. The researchers examined identical and non-identical twins where at least one twin had a history of fainting. Identical twins share the same DNA, whereas non-identical twins are no more alike than any two non-twin siblings. Therefore, if the researchers found that fainting affected both identical twins more frequently than it affected both non-identical twins, this would suggest that genetic factors may have a role in fainting.
The study found that fainting affected both twins of an identical pair more often than it affected both twins of a non-identical pair. Identical twins were also more likely than non-identical twins to have both fainted at least twice, unrelated to any common fainting triggers (such as heat) and to have both fainted in relation to specific common triggers.
Twin studies are often used to investigate whether genetic factors are involved in certain characteristics in the population, yet the results can be oversimplified. This study was also problematic because it was very small and relied on telephone interviews with the twins, rather than diagnostic tests. This means that we cannot be certain that all cases were simple faints, and not caused by other factors, such as a heart condition.
Overall, the study suggests that fainting may involve both genetic and environmental factors. There is little that can be done to stop fainting, and of itself, fainting is not necessarily harmful. These facts, coupled with the inconclusive findings, do not really warrant national newspaper coverage.
Where did the story come from?
The study was carried out by researchers from the University of Melbourne, Australia, and the University Hospitals Giessen and Marburg, and Philipps-University Marburg, Germany. It was funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council Australia. The study was published in the peer-reviewed journal Neurology.
The study was over-simplified in some papers, with both The Daily Telegraph and the Mail reporting that fainting seems to run in families. This study found that fainting more commonly affects both identical twins than both non-identical twins. Its findings suggest that genetic factors are involved, but that does not mean that there is no role for environmental factors.
It should also be noted that there is a big difference between fainting and the suggestion of ‘feeling faint’ as in the Mail’s headline.
What kind of research was this?
This was a twin study investigating whether genetic factors have a role in ‘simple faint’ – medically termed ‘vasovagal syncope’. This affects about 25% of people at least once during their life. In vasovagal syncope, the oxygen supply to the brain is temporarily interrupted, usually resulting in a brief loss of consciousness. This is often the result of a drop in heart rate and blood pressure in response to external triggers, such as:
- standing for too long
- exposure to an unpleasant experience, such as the sight of blood
Twin studies are often used to estimate to what extent genetics contribute to variation in a particular characteristic in a population. To do this they compare identical and non-identical twins. Identical twins develop from the same fertilised egg and share the same DNA, whereas non-identical twins develop from two separate fertilised eggs, and are no more alike genetically than any two non-twin siblings, sharing only on average about half of their DNA. Therefore, if identical twins are more similar than non-identical twins for a particular characteristic, this suggests that genetic factors are contributing to variation in the characteristic.
The authors say that the role of genetic factors in this type of fainting is currently under debate, with conflicting results from research. Their twin study and assessment of family history aimed to clarify whether genetic factors play a role in this type of fainting. However, this study does not provide the full answer and does not mean that there is no role for environmental factors in susceptibility to fainting.
What did the research involve?
The researchers recruited 57 same-sex sets of twins through a national twin registry (36 pairs of identical and 21 pairs of non-identical twins). All of the twins were interviewed individually by telephone using a standardised questionnaire about this type of fainting. The questions covered:
- potential triggers
- early symptoms
- family history of fainting, cardiac events and sudden death
They confirmed vasovagal syncope in at least one twin in 50 of the pairs, 47 of them adults and three pairs aged under 18 (the average age was about 35). They recruited an additional twin pair through their family studies to give a total of 33 identical twin pairs and 18 non-identical.
Researchers developed a score to describe the severity of fainting and typical triggers.
They obtained information on the experience of fainting among first and second-degree relatives from 19 pairs of identical twins, where both twins had fainted. This information was confirmed by a parent in most cases.
They assessed whether twins were identical or non-identical using a validated questionnaire, and further validated the results of this by looking at DNA markers extracted from blood or saliva.
What were the basic results?
When examining all twins, identical twins tended to be more likely to have both fainted, compared to non-identical twins, though the difference between the two groups did not reach statistical significance.
- When they only analysed those twins who had suffered from more severe faints (syncope score four or five), identical twins were significantly more likely to have both had severe faints compared to non-identical twins.
- Identical twins were significantly more likely than non-identical twins to have both fainted in response to common triggers.
- Identical twins were also significantly more likely than non-identical twins, to have both fainted at least twice, unrelated to any external trigger.
- In 12 out of 19 of the identical sets of the twins who both fainted, relatives were either not affected at all by fainting, or only “sparsely” affected. In the remaining seven pairs, several close relatives had experienced fainting. The fact that several family members were affected in some families suggests that genetics could be playing a greater role in these families than others.
How did the researchers interpret the results?
The researchers say the findings strongly support the relevance of genetic factors in fainting, whether it is triggered by external events, or if it occurs frequently and independently of triggers. Genetic factors, they say, appear to be less relevant in those who faint infrequently and in association with strong triggers.
The researchers say the results suggest that syncope comprises a spectrum “between predominantly genetic factors on one side … and predominantly environmental factors on the other”. The results of their family history suggest that “multiple genes and environmental factors” play a role.
This research looked at whether genetic factors could have a role in susceptibility to fainting in twins. Researchers found that fainting affected both identical twins more frequently than it affected both non-identical twins. This, they stated, would suggest that genetic factors have a role in fainting.
The biggest limitation of this study is the small number of twins involved. For example, 33 of the 36 identical twin pairs had both experienced fainting, compared to 18 of the 21 non-identical pairs, while 22 of the identical pairs both experienced at least two faints compared with 13 of non-identical pairs. Comparisons involving such small numbers may affect the reliability of the study’s findings.
The study relied on telephone interviews to assess whether participants had experienced a simple faint. Though the questions covered typical features of vasovagal syncope, it is possible that some faints could have an undiagnosed disease cause, such as heart problems. It is also possible that information about fainting among other family members could have contained inaccuracies.
In conclusion, the results are interesting in that they suggest that genetic factors may have a role in susceptibility to fainting, but they do not provide the whole answer. A larger twin study, which also involves formal medical diagnosis of vasovagal syncope, would be helpful to further assess the role that genetic factors may have in susceptibility to fainting.
‘Feeling faint? Blame your parents, say scientists’. Daily Mail, August 7, 2012
‘Fainting may run in families: study’. The Daily Telegraph, August 7, 2012
Klein KM, Xu SS, Lawrence K, et al. Evidence for genetic factors in vasovagal syncope - A twin-family study. Neurology. Published online August 7, 2012
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- "Massive statues looked as though they had once supported the roof. Now there was no roof, and the statues broken and lay down on the ground. A large stone eye gave me a hostile stare."
- ―Padmé Amidala, on the ruins of the Elders
The "Elders" was a name used to describe a species of spacefaring aliens that first colonized the planet of Naboo in the Mid Rim Territories, several millennia before the Grizmalltian Humans. A Force-sensitive people, the Elders used to build temples and monuments, which were scattered throughout the Nabooian landscape. At least a few similar ruins were also found on the moon Rori. Upon their arrival, the Elders clashed with the Gungans, a race of amphibious humanoids native to Naboo.
Both Gungan and Human Naboo scientists agreed that the end of the Elder civilization may have been the result of the Elders' negligence toward their environment. Others have suggested that the Elders were forced to vacate Naboo after a natural disaster or an invasion. Centuries after the fall of the Elders, archaeologists were divided as to whether the statues were giant representations of the vanished species or monumental portraits of their gods. In the last decades of the Galactic Republic, the crumbling remnants of the Elders had become objects of worship to the Gungans, who thought the sculptures depicted their own deities and sought refuge among them in times of trouble.
Biology and appearanceEdit
The vanished species who colonized the planet of Naboo in the Mid Rim and passed to posterity under the name of "Elders" were shrouded in mystery. Very little was certain about them, and academic theories pertaining to those beings were mainly based on their architectural relics. While some archaeologists theorized that the stone colossi the Elders left were icons devoted to their deities, others suggest they were indeed a depiction of the Elders themselves. If the latter theory was true, the Elders were very similar to Humans, with an egg-shaped head, two forward-facing eyes, a mildly protruding nose bearing two nostrils, and a mouth with fleshy lips. Their auricles, if they had any, were concealed by pieces of headgear. Still going by that theory and judging by other remains of their stone statues, the Elders had a torso and limbs ending in fingers, which further implied a fairly humanoid body structure.
The eyes of the colossi appeared to be closed, as if the figures they depicted were asleep or meditating. Their forehead featured a ring-shaped motif, perhaps a stylized third eye. Based on the meditative stance of the stone heads, the archaeologists deduced that the Elders knew of the Force—a mystical energy field that gave powers to those who could use it—and considered it sacred. The appearance of the Elder statues resemble that of another ancient idol worshipped by the Order of Dai Bendu in the Andobi Mountains of Ando Prime. In both cases, the statues portrayed humanoids with closed eyes and thick lips.
On the Elders' humanoid looks, it should be noted that the native Gungans remained unfazed when the putative first Human colonists landed on Naboo many centuries after the Elders' departure, which suggest that they had seen Humans before. Millennia later, explorers considered that previous visits to Naboo had indeed existed, although they could find no trace of such landings or any official record at all.
Society and cultureEdit
The Elders arrived on Naboo from another world, which requires space travel. That means they had reached space-level, which was considered to be the final stage of technological development of any civilization. A people of builders, the Elders erected many temples containing archways, columns, and massive statues that supported the roofs. The distribution of those ruins suggested that the Elders lived mainly in swampy areas.
Their colossi typically depicted meditating, if somewhat awe-inducing, individuals wearing headgears in the shape of a truncated cone. Occasionally, some were portrayed clutching weapons and staring vacantly into space. Based on the speculations of scientists, the Elders may have been among the first civilizations to have conducted a rudimentary study of the Force, before the birth of the Je'daii Order on Tython in 36,453 BBY.
The Elders were not indigenous to Naboo, a planet on the outer edge of the Mid Rim, but they were its first recorded external visitors. They set foot on their new homeworld in ancient times, while the planet's initially molten core was slowly cooling down until it became solid. It happened, in any event, millennia before a group of Humans from the Core World of Grizmallt. colonized Naboo. According to tradition, the Elders engaged in warfare with the indigenous Gungans, a race of amphibious sentients. Despite the rivalry, the Elders' civilization flourished on Naboo for nearly two thousands of years. As time went by, they built many temples and statues all around the Nabooian countryside. Judging by the similar monuments and colossi that stood on Rori, one of the three moons orbiting Naboo, the Elders also established their presence there.
The Elders eventually vacated their adopted homeworld. According to several Gungan and Naboo chroniclers, the disappearance of the Elders could be attributed to their greed and blatant disrespect of the planet's ecological harmony. Others theorize that Elders relocated some place else in the galaxy when forced to do so by an undetermined catastrophe, either a a natural disaster or an alien onslaught. In the last centuries of the Galactic Republic, all that remained of the Elders were massive heads and limbs of stone scattered across Naboo's surface. The archaeologists, however, disagreed on the interpretation of those artifacts: they were unsure if those effigies were representations of the vanished race themselves or giant portraits of their deities.
In any case, millennia after the Elders' mysterious vanishing, the Gungans used their ruins as places of worship, especially the Sacred Place, an abandoned sanctuary hidden in the foothills of the Gallo Mountains. When the Gungan city of Otoh Sancture was razed in 3000 BBY, its leader Boss Gallo chose to rebuild it in the shadow of a few Elder monuments. Other such ruins included the Gungan Caves, the Lianorm Raceway Podracing course, and what became Rish Loo's secret laboratory around 21 BBY. Despite having fought them in the past, they also considered the Elders' effigies as depictions of their guds—a Gungan word for gods. For example, a certain statue overlooking a waterfall was assimilated to Dobbis, goddess of the rain, and another to Big Maxiboss Gurunda. When the ten-year-old, homesick Human Anakin Skywalker first saw the Sacred Place, he mistakenly identified such colossal remains as "giant Gungan heads carved out of stone," despite the striking phenotypical differences between the Gungans and the sculptures. On the same occasion, Padmé Amidala, the Queen of the Nabooian Humans, found the Elders' statuary eerie and unnerving.
Behind the scenesEdit
Although the giant stone heads built by the Elders first appeared on Naboo in the 1999 movie Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace, they were originally conceived as part of the Tatooinian landscape. Early concept art from 1996 show an eopie and its rider walking in the sand of Tatooine with a head statue in the background. The Elder heads shown in the movie were crafted in the Industrial Light & Magic model shop by Concept Sculptor Mark Siegel.
Whereas The New Essential Guide to Alien Species has the Gungans driving the Elders off of Naboo in 100 BBY, the newer reference book The Essential Atlas places the end of their civilization in 5,032 BBY.
- Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds (Statues only)
- Episode I Adventures 10: Festival of Warriors (Statues only)
- Episode I Adventures 11: Pirates from Beyond the Sea (Statues only)
- Episode I Adventures 12: The Bongo Rally (Statues only)
- Star Wars Episode I Journal: Queen Amidala (Statues only)
- Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace novel (Statues only) (First appearance)
- Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace (Statues only)
- Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace comic (Statues only)
- Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace PhotoComic (Statues only)
- Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace junior novel (Statues only)
- Racer Rush (Statues only)
- Star Wars Episode I: Watch Out, Jar Jar! (Statues only)
- General Jar Jar (Statues only)
- Save Naboo! (Statues only)
- "End Game" (Mentioned only)
- Star Wars: Episode I Jedi Power Battles (Statues only)
- Star Wars Math: Jabba's Game Galaxy (Statues only)
- Star Wars: Battlefront (Appears in cutscene(s)) (Statues only)
- Star Wars Episode I Journal: Anakin Skywalker (Statues only)
- Star Wars: Yoda's Challenge Activity Center (Statues only)
- Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds: Clone Campaigns (Statues only)
- Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided (Statues only)
- Star Wars: The Clone Wars – "Blue Shadow Virus" (Statues only)
- Star Wars: The Clone Wars – "Shadow Warrior" (Statues only)
- LEGO Star Wars: The Video Game (Statues only) (Non-canonical appearance)
- LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga (Statues only) (Non-canonical appearance)
- Star Wars: Episode I Insider's Guide
- Inside the Worlds of Star Wars: Episode I
- The Official Star Wars Fact File 59 (NAB23-24, Naboo - Gungan Sacred Place)
- Star Wars Chronicles: The Prequels
- Star Wars: Complete Locations
Notes and referencesEdit
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 Inside the Worlds of Star Wars: Episode I
- ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 The Official Star Wars Fact File 59 (NAB23–24, Naboo - Gungan Sacred Place)
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (novel)
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Alien Encounters
- ↑ A Guide to the Star Wars Universe, Second Edition
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Star Wars: Episode I Racer (PC version)
- ↑ Knights of the Old Republic Campaign Guide
- ↑ Galaxy Guide 6: Tramp Freighters, First Edition
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Star Wars Episode I Journal: Queen Amidala
- ↑ Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi: Force Storm 1
- ↑ NYCC EXCLUSIVE: Ostrander and Duursema Unveil "Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved on October 14, 2011.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 12.4 The Essential Atlas
- ↑ The New Essential Chronology
- ↑ Star Wars Galaxies
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds
- ↑ The Essential Atlas places the Gungan war, in which Otoh Sancture was destroyed, at this time.
- ↑ Star Wars: Yoda's Challenge Activity Center
- ↑ Racer Rush
- ↑ Star Wars: The Clone Wars – "Shadow Warrior"
- ↑ The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia, Vol. I, p. 376 ("Gungan sacred place")
- ↑ 21.0 21.1 Episode I Adventures 11: Pirates from Beyond the Sea
- ↑ Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds (French edition)
- ↑ Star Wars Episode I Journal: Anakin Skywalker
- ↑ Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace
- ↑ Star Wars: Episode I Insider's Guide
- ↑ The New Essential Guide to Alien Species
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Who broke the moon?
Believe it or not, that’s a real photo of the full moon taken in 2012 by an astronaut on board the International Space Station (ISS). Here’s another photo with the moon even more squished:
Why does that happen?
It’s actually an optical illusion created by Earth’s atmosphere. The ISS orbits Earth 250 miles above the surface, which is well above the planet’s lower atmosphere.
This crazy trick-of-the-eye happens when the moon and the ISS are on opposite sides of the Earth. The light that bounces off the moon and into the astronauts’ eyes has to first pass through Earth’s atmosphere, which bends the light, distorting the image. Check out this amazing Vine of the same effect:
If you’ve ever looked at a straw that’s half in air and half in water, you’ve noticed that the part of the straw in the water looks larger than the part in air. That’s because the water, just like Earth’s atmosphere, bends the light that you see. So why, then does the Earth look squished and not bigger?
It’s all about the direction the light is bent.
Earth’s atmosphere is thinner the higher you go, and the light from the top-half of the moon travels through less atmosphere than the bottom half. In order to reach the astronaut’s eyes, the light from the bottom half is bent upward, which makes it look severed in half.
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http://www.businessinsider.com.au/half-moon-optical-illusion-2015-4
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Lymphatic filariasis is also known as elephantiasis. It is a disease of the tropics characterized by grotesque swelling of the limbs and male genitalia. The disease is caused by thread-like, parasitic filarial worms, Wuchereria bancrofti, Brugia malayi and B. timori. These worms lodge in the lymphatic system. They live for 4-6 years, producing millions of tiny larvae (microfilariae) that circulate in the blood.
Related categories 4
Carter Center Lymphatic Filariasis Program
Provides information on this disease and the program for its elimination being undertaken in Nigeria.
CDC: Lymphatic filariasis
Information from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Archive of articles from this journal that ceased publication in 2007.
Global Alliance to Eliiminate Lymphatic Filariasis
Describes the disease, its epidemiology (including countries where it is endemic), prevention, symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment; and international efforts to eradicate it.
Detailed information from the World Health Organization.
A group whose goal is eliminating Lymphatic Filariasis in the South Pacific by the year 2010.
TDR: Lymphatic Filariasis
Provides information on the research being undertaken into this chronic disease.
WHO: Global Programme to Eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis
Provides information on the progress of this programme which was launched in 1997 and which is being implemented in 27 countries.
WHO: Lymphatic Filariasis
Provides information on this disease caused by three species of nematode thread-like worms, Wuchereria bancrofti, Brugia malayi and Brugia timori.
Other languages 1
Last update:April 6, 2016 at 1:18:54 UTC
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http://www.dmoz.org/Health/Conditions_and_Diseases/Infectious_Diseases/Parasitic/Lymphatic_Filariasis/
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| 0.864206
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Microbiology of food and animal feeding stuffs -- Horizontal methods for the detection and enumeration of Enterobacteriaceae -- Part 2: Colony-count method
ISO 21528-2:2004 specifies a method, without pre-enrichment, for the enumeration of Enterobacteriaceae. It is applicable to products intended for human consumption and the feeding of animals, and environmental samples in the area of food production and food handling.
Enumeration is carried out by counting colonies in a solid medium after incubation at 37 °C.
This technique is recommended when the number of colonies sought is expected to be more than 100 per millilitre or per gram of the test sample.
Document published on: 2004-08-15 Edition: 1 (Monolingual) ICS: 07.100.30 Status: Published Stage: 90.92 (2013-01-23) TC/SC: ISO/TC 34/SC 9 Number of Pages: 10
Revised by: ISO/DIS 21528-2
Revises: ISO 5552:1997
Revises: ISO 7402:1993
Revises: ISO 8523:1991
No corrigenda or amendments available
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http://www.iso.org/iso/home/store/catalogue_tc/catalogue_detail.htm?csnumber=34566
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| 0.788186
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Hydroelectric Power in California
Hydroelectric power is a major source of California's electricity. In 2014, hydroelectric power plants produced approximately 14,000 megawatts (MW) of electricity, or 6 percent of the total in-state electricity generation, down from 12 percent in 2013. The amount of hydroelectricity produced varies each year, and is largely dependent on rainfall. Unfortunately, California is in its fourth year of a severe drought.
Hydro facilities are broken down into two categories:
- Facilities larger than 30 MW of generation capacity are called "large" hydro.
- Facilities smaller than 30 MW of generation capacity are considered "small" hydro and are part of the Renewables Portfolio Standard.
California has 287 hydrogeneration plants, which are mostly located in the eastern mountain ranges and have a total dependable capacity of about 21,000 MW. The state also imports approximately 4 percent of its hydro-generated electricity from the Pacific Northwest.
The larger hydro plants on dams in California (such as Shasta [pictured], Folsom and Oroville) are operated by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and the state's Department of Water Resources. Smaller hydro plants are operated by utilities, mainly Southern California Edison, Pacific Gas and Electric Company and the Sacramento Municipal Utility District.
Three types of conventional hydroelectric facilities are dams (pondage), run-of-river and pumped storage. Dams raise the water level of a stream or river to an elevation necessary to create a sufficient elevation difference. Dams can be constructed of earth, concrete, steel or a combination of such materials. Dams may create secondary benefits such as flood control, recreation opportunities and water storage. Run-of-river, or water diversion, facilities typically divert water from a natural channel to a course with a turbine, and then usually return the water to the channel downstream of the turbine.
Such conventional methods offer the potential for low-cost electricity, but their output is dependent on the time of year as well as annual precipitation. By contrast, pumped storage methods are typically used to provide power during peak demand periods on very short notice and are not dependent solely on runoff.
In a pumped storage facility, water is pumped during off-peak demand periods from a reservoir at a lower elevation for storage in a reservoir at a higher elevation. Electricity is then generated during peak demand periods by releasing the pumped water from the higher reservoir and allowing it to flow downhill through the hydraulic turbine(s) connected to generators. During the off-peak pumping cycle, the pumped storage facility is a consumer of electricity. In fact, the amount of electricity required to pump the water uphill is greater than the amount of electricity that is generated when the water is released during peak demand periods. Pumped storage facilities, however, can be economical because they consume low-cost off-peak electricity and generate high-value on-peak electricity.
Pumped storage methods include both typical on-stream conventional and modular off-stream technologies. The major differences between modular pumped storage (MPS) and conventional pumped storage is that MPS systems are much smaller, use closed water systems that are artificially created instead of natural waterways or watersheds, and sites are selected with predetermined elevation differences so that modular pre-engineered equipment can be used. With the exception of evaporative losses, reservoirs are charged only once, either with groundwater or even municipal wastewater.
Some of the issues associated with conventional hydroelectric power generation and typical on-stream pumped hydroelectric storage facilities include:
- Water resources impacts (hydroelectric facilities may change stream flows, reservoir surface area, the amount of groundwater recharge, and water temperature, turbidity [the amount of sediment in the water] and oxygen content)
- Biological impacts such as the possible displacement of terrestrial habitat with a new lake environment, alteration of fish migration patterns, and other impacts on aquatic life due to changes in water quality and quantity
- Possible damage to, or inundation of, archaeological, cultural or historic sites (primarily if a reservoir is created)
- Changes in visual quality
- Possible loss of scenic or wilderness resources
- Increase in potential for landslides and erosion
- Recreational resources may be gained
Because modular pumped storage systems are not dependent on natural waterways and watersheds, they can be sited in areas that avoid many of the issues described above. In fact, desirable sites are not near rivers, lakes, streams and other sensitive environmental areas in order to avoid the regulatory complexity and time associated with conventional pumped hydroelectric storage facilities.
- Drought Impacts California's Energy; Governor Brown's Response Plan (Executive Order B-29-15)
- FERC - Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
- U.S. Dept of Agriculture - Natural Resources Conservation Service
- U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
- U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Yreka, California Office - Klamath Hydro Page
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http://energy.ca.gov/hydroelectric/index.html
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| 0.943209
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10 Talks to Have at the Start of the School Year
Set your child up for a successful school year by having these important conversations with your child, your teacher, your doctor, other parents, your family -- and yourself.
Talk with Your Child About the Upside of ADHD
If you child has ADHD, she may have low self-esteem. Before the school year starts, state the positives of ADHD by framing it constructively. Use phrases like, “You have a turbo-charged brain, meaning you have tons of great ideas and will have fun your whole life. But like a racecar, you need to know how to put on the brakes.”
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http://www.additudemag.com/slideshow/8/index.html
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| 0.969916
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| 3
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Calculating the future value of an investment in an Excel spreadsheet is simple if you know what formula to use.
Example: Let’s say you want to invest $15,000 in a 48 month certificate of deposit (CD) that pays 5.4% annual interest. How much money will you have at the end of the 48 months?
To calculate how much money your initial investment will grow using Excel, simply enter this formula into any empty cell in a new worksheet:
How this Excel Formula Works:
= The “=” sign lets Excel know that a formula is being entered in the cell.
15000 This is the initial investment (you don’t need to put a $ sign in front of it if you don’t want to).
* This symbol is the multiply symbol (shift 8). It tells Excel you want to multiply the previous value by another value.
1.0045 This is where this formula gets a little tricky. Although the interest rate is 5.4% per year, we need to figure out what the monthly interest rate is. To do this simply divide 5.4% by 12 = .0045.
^ This means to multiply by “the power of” whatever number follows it. In other words, 2^3 asks Excel to figure out what 2 multiplied by itself 3 times is (2*2*2=8).
48 This is the number of months that interest is compounded on the original investment.
Once you’re finished typing the formula in click “enter” on the keyboard and you’ll get your result.
In this example our investment has grown to =15000*1.0045^48 =
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CC-MAIN-2016-26
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http://www.treesfullofmoney.com/?p=2466
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en
| 0.915785
| 357
| 3.328125
| 3
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How many Humpty Dumpty rhymes can you come up with? Get silly with phonics, and switch out the words in Humpty Dumpty for different rhyming words!
Enjoy part three of this Russian folk tale, Teremok. The little hideaway hut is getting crowded! Have your child read to you to find out what happens next.
In Russian, the word teremok means "little hideaway". Give your child a fun, fresh way to practice her reading with this Russian folk tale.
Enjoy part four of this five-part series of the Russian folk tale, Teremok! Your child will get to color and build her reading skills.
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http://www.education.com/collection/chrissyhuff/reading/
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| 0.917746
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By Steven Reinberg
THURSDAY, Nov. 15 (HealthDay News) — A stunning new federal report reveals just how bad the obesity-linked type 2 diabetes epidemic in the United States has become, with rates of the often-preventable disease hitting record highs.
Some of the statistics are staggering: While in 1995 only three states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico had diabetes prevalence rates of 6 percent or more, by 2010 diabetes rates in all 50 states had reached that level.
Some states — especially in the South — have fared much worse than others, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report said. Eighteen states saw their rates of diabetes cases double during the 15-year period covered by the study, and in 42 states the rate jumped by 50 percent.
In six states and Puerto Rico, one in 10 adults now have diabetes.
“I was shocked myself,” said lead researcher Linda Geiss, a statistician in CDC’s division of diabetes translation. “We know diabetes has been increasing for decades, but to see 18 states having an increase of 100 percent was shocking.”
The main cause of the increase is clear: Americans’ widening waistlines. “The diabetic epidemic has gone hand-in- hand with the increases in obesity,” Geiss said.
The tragedy is that diabetes is largely preventable through lifestyle changes, she added.
Dr. Stuart Weinerman, from the division of endocrinology at North Shore University Hospital/Long Island Jewish Medical Center in New Hyde Park, N.Y., said that “diabetes is becoming the major public health burden.”
“This is an unnecessary epidemic due to obesity,” he added. “From a public health perspective, we better be prepared if we allow people to continue to be obese, to spend huge amounts of money on taking care of patients.”
The report was published in the Nov. 16 issue of the CDC journal Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
According to the report, the states with the biggest increases were mainly clustered in the South, with Oklahoma (226 percent), Kentucky (158 percent), Georgia (145 percent), and Alabama (140 percent) faring worst.
But states everywhere showed increases in diabetes prevalence, including regions such as the West, Midwest and the Northeast.
“The CDC has long since warned us that, should current trends persist, as many as one out of three Americans could be diabetic by mid-century,” said Dr. David Katz, director of the Yale University Prevention Research Center.
The result would be a “staggering” figure — well over 100 million people with diabetes and representing a cost in both human and economic terms that is apt to be unbearable, he said. “This report shows us that ominous trend is well under way,” he added.
According to the CDC, more than a third (35.7 percent) of U.S. adults are now obese, and as with diabetes the highest rates of obesity are in the South.
Obesity has not only been tied to diabetes, but to heart disease, stroke and certain types of cancer. Diabetes can lead to loss of vision, circulation problems resulting in amputations and kidney disease, the CDC noted.
Type 2 diabetes, which is strongly tied to obesity, makes up 90 percent to 95 percent of all diabetes cases in the United States.
“Virtually all of this burden of disease could be eliminated,” Katz said. “At the population level, diabetes is deemed to be preventable at least 90 percent of the time. Individual risk can be reduced by as much.”
“A worsening epidemic of diabetes is engulfing us,” he added. “We have the knowledge we need of what works, but have thus far failed to apply it effectively.”
For the study, researchers used data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, an annual phone survey of adults in the United States.
Find out how you can help prevent diabetes at the American Diabetes Association.
To learn about some small steps you can take to help lower your chances of developing type 2 diabetes, read this HealthDay story.
SOURCES: Linda Geiss, statistician, division of diabetes translation, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; David Katz, M.D., M.P.H., director, Yale University Prevention Research Center, New Haven, Conn.; Stuart Weinerman, M.D., division of endocrinology, North Shore University Hospital/Long Island Jewish Medical Center, New Hyde Park, N.Y.; Nov. 16, 2012, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report
Last Updated: Nov. 15, 2012
Copyright © 2012 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
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http://news.health.com/2012/11/16/u-s-diabetes-rates-soaring-cdc/
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en
| 0.94032
| 1,000
| 2.515625
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Whatever Happened to the Hole in the Ozone Layer?
Three British scientists shocked the world when they revealed on May 16th, 1985 — 25 years ago — that aerosol chemicals, among other factors, had torn a hole in the ozone layer over the South Pole. The ozone layer, which protects life on Earth from damaging solar radiation, became an overnight sensation. And the hole in the ozone layer became the poster-child for mankind’s impact on the planet.
Today, the ozone hole — actually a region of thinned ozone, not actually a pure hole — doesn’t make headlines like it used to. The size of the hole has stabilized, thanks to decades of aerosol-banning legislation. But, scientists warn, some danger still remains.
First, the good news: Since the 1989 Montreal Protocol banned the use of ozone-depleting chemicals worldwide, the ozone hole has stopped growing. Additionally, the ozone layer is blocking more cancer-causing radiation than any time in a decade because its average thickness has increased, according to a 2006 United Nations report. Atmospheric levels of ozone-depleting chemicals have reached their lowest levels since peaking in the 1990s, and the hole has begun to shrink.
Now the bad news: The ozone layer has also thinned over the North Pole. This thinning is predicted to continue for the next 15 years due to weather-related phenomena that scientists still cannot fully explain, according to the same UN report . And, repairing the ozone hole over the South Pole will take longer than previously expected, and won’t finish until between 2060 and 2075. Scientists now understand that the size of the ozone hole varies dramatically from year to year, which complicates attempts to accurately predict the hole's future size.
Interestingly, recent studies have shown that the size of the ozone hole affects the global temperature. Closing the ozone hole actually speeds up the melting of the polar ice caps, according to a 2009 study from Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research.
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CC-MAIN-2016-26
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http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/41296
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en
| 0.924874
| 409
| 4.0625
| 4
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Hazardous substances in lakes
Assessment made on 01 Oct 2003
ClassificationWater (Primary theme)
- WHS 003
Policy issue: Is pollution of waters with hazardous substances decreasing?
There is limited information on heavy metals (and other hazardous substances) in European lakes. The most comprehensive information is from the Nordic countries.
The Nordic lake survey of 1995 measured heavy metal concentrations in the water of 3 000 lakes. The survey revealed that the concentrations of lead are low (< 0.3 µg/l) in the northern parts of the countries and in areas of high altitude, corresponding to areas with low population density and low consumption of gasoline. In the southern parts of the countries, there are often elevated concentrations of up to 1-10 µg/l. High concentrations are particularly evident in south-western Norway due to high deposition from long-range air pollution. Cadmium and zinc follow a similar general geographical distribution whereas the occurrence of other heavy metals are, to a greater extent, determined by bedrock geology in combination with indirect effects from acidification (for example, acid dissolution of bedrock).
The concentrations of some hazardous organic substances have been monitored in a number of Swedish lakes since the 1960s. The concentration of PCBs and DDT in pike tissue has fallen since the late 1960s. In addition to this, concentrations of a-HCH and HCB have also fallen. Contrary to this, the concentrations of brominated flame retardants have been stable in lake Bolmen after an increase during the 1970s. While PCB and DDT are found in the highest concentrations in southern Sweden where they have been used most intensely, the more volatile HCH and HCB are found in similar concentrations throughout the country due to long-range air transport. The fish of Norwegian lakes showed that the levels are generally low, with a few exceptions. In fish from the large lakes Mjøsa and Randsfjorden, there were elevated levels of PCBs and DDTs, particularly in predatory fish such as trout and burbot. The livers of burbot in Mjøsa also had very high concentrations of brominated flame retardants and the trout in lake Mårvatn contained high concentrations of dioxins.
For references, please go to www.eea.europa.eu/soer or scan the QR code.
This briefing is part of the EEA's report The European Environment - State and Outlook 2015. The EEA is an official agency of the EU, tasked with providing information on Europe's environment.
PDF generated on 27 Jun 2016, 06:58 PM
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en
| 0.931995
| 537
| 3.28125
| 3
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Dual-fuel gets a run at U. of Wisconsin
Over the past 20 years, the University of Wisconsin Hybrid Vehicle Team has dominated the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Vehicle Competition by winning the event six times.
Now the group is taking a hiatus to work with the university’s Engine Research Center in hopes of perfecting a new mixed-fuel technology that harnesses the advantages of both diesel and gasoline fuels.
The group, led by mechanical engineering Professor Rolf Reitz, is working on a technology known as reactivity controlled compression ignition (RCCI).
This process involves two separate fuel injections - gasoline and diesel, or as they’re doing at Wisconsin, ethanol and biodiesel - which allows combustion to take place at lower temperatures.
This is a more complete form of combustion that offers a number of benefits, including allowing the engine to run more efficiently and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Team leaders estimate that the RCCI engines will emit 75 percent less harmful emissions. Once the technology is fine-tuned, the engines will be installed in two of the university’s hybrid competition models. Both models are slated to be operational by 2013.
The team hopes that its work on emerging engine technology will encourage auto industry leaders to latch on to the concept.
In addition, applications for stationary power generators could bring even more benefits.
However, RCCI engines could face a looming infrastructure challenge: In order to fuel an RCCI engine, a gas station pump must be able to dispense both gasoline and diesel, or ethanol and biodiesel, simultaneously.
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<urn:uuid:114bc6eb-a953-4d3c-b600-57cef00b0912>
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CC-MAIN-2016-26
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http://www.tgdaily.com/sustainability-features/57664-dual-fuel-gets-a-run-at-u-of-wisconsin
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en
| 0.940475
| 328
| 2.515625
| 3
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The intersection of archaeology, oral tradition and history in the South African interior.
Boeyens, J C A
MetadataShow full item record
The historical entanglement of indigenous and colonial societies in South Africa created not only multiple points of social and cultural interaction, but also a repository of interconnected material, oral and documentary records. A multi-source, comparative approach across disciplinary boundaries is, therefore, essential to achieve a full and seamless account of late precolonial and early colonial African history. Oral tradition could serve as a bridge between archaeology and text-based history, thereby enabling historically known political lineages to be connected with the archaeological ruins of specific precolonial African towns. Similarly, documentary sources on African societies of the interior are often very limited in scope even deep into the nineteenth century, as a result of which the complementary use of archaeological methods and data becomes a methodological imperative. Three case studies from the South African interior, Marothodi, Kaditshwene and Magoro Hill, are presented to illustrate the explanatory potential of an interdisciplinary approach to the study of the more recent African past.
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<urn:uuid:fabee175-0572-4e74-af47-d03a14bf879a>
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CC-MAIN-2016-26
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http://dspace.nwu.ac.za/handle/10394/7016
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en
| 0.931105
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| 3
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Published with Permission
Written by Mary Hood, Ph.D.
No, it doesn’t take a village to raise a child. It takes a committed family unit to raise a child. However, the judicious use of community resources can add a lot to the home base. We always said that our home was the heart of our homeschooling, but most of our learning occurred out in the larger community.
When our family first began homeschooling, few resources were available to homeschoolers. There were no support groups, no curriculum fairs, no catalogues arriving in the mail, no Facebook, and no Internet. What we did have were numerous community resources: libraries, church and secular organizations, volunteer opportunities, and family field trips to a myriad of interesting places. In some ways, I believe those days were so much better than the current “season” of homeschooling, in which there has been an explosion of homeschooling resources.
One of our most successful experiences was with community theatre. My two oldest children were enamored with the world of music and acting. When we lived in Maryland, there were several community theatre groups in our small town, and one of them was actually a professional troupe. I remember the day when I walked into a production of Fiddler on the Roof and saw my son step out over the balcony with a fiddle in his hand to play the opening song on top of a tiny, steep ledge. I was sure he was going to fall off, but he didn’t, and he did an excellent job.
When Ginny was about 14, she wanted to enter high school to participate in the drama activities there, but for a variety of reasons I didn’t feel comfortable about letting her go. Instead, she stepped up her involvement in community activities. By this time we had moved to a Southern town that offered fewer theatrical opportunities, but Ginny found a small community production that was in the works and became the choreographer. There were many frustrating moments—and a few tears—as she discovered that some of the adults in the cast had no intention of listening to a mere “child” giving them direction. Once again, the production culminated with very few hitches, and she received many expressions of gratitude, which more than made up for the frustrations of the rehearsal process.
There are so many things that my children learned during their theatrical involvement. They ran into difficult situations and learned that they had what it took to tough it out and see their work through to a successful conclusion. They met people of many different backgrounds, whose ideas and lifestyles did not always fit in with our own beliefs, but my children were able to come home at night to discuss those things with my husband and me. How much better a transition to adulthood this was than my own situation. What a wonderful way to transition into adulthood.
Another community resource that we thoroughly enjoyed was 4-H. I was cautious as I took my homeschooled kids to the local public school to enroll in the 4-H program. However, within the first few months, my daughter was elected president, and two of my other children were also voted into important positions. Learning to plan and run meetings and speak in public were largely instrumental in helping Ginny prepare for her later years, when she coordinated a variety of programs at an international school in South Korea. Sam, who was much less inclined to be a public speaker, also learned a great deal through having to stand up and give talks about his projects, which mostly involved making guitars and doing electronics.
Participation in community sports, including baseball, softball, tennis, and soccer, was another means of taking advantage of community resources. Some years were wonderful years, with great coaches and winning teams. At other times, the learning experiences were harder—when the coaches were too pushy or the other children swore too much or the other parents got crazy or the team didn’t win. The lessons learned were worth the experiences a thousand times over.
Some parents are afraid to let their children participate in larger community activities, fearing that the influences of the other children will do them irreparable harm. I hope you don’t follow that line of thinking. However, as you open up your children’s world to the larger community, I think there are several things you have to keep in mind, to make sure everything stays balanced.
First, you have to consider your own level of participation. You don’t want to smother the kids by constantly trying to protect them, but you also have to be out there and available in order to monitor those influences—and be ready to pull the plug if necessary. You also have to consider the age and maturity level of the children in question. Are they ready to be exposed to other ideas and points of view, or are they too likely to be swayed by ideas that might prove injurious to your family life?
The quality of the programs and adults and children involved is also critical to consider. Most of the community activities we chose were staffed by people with excellent moral values. The occasional coach could get too ornery at times, and we pointedly stayed away from one particular league where everyone was known for caring about winning at all costs. However, we found many caring adults who served as mentors and became lifelong friends. I personally found it very enriching to make friends with some of the public school parents in the area and believe it helped me avoid becoming narrow-minded.
Now that my kids are all grown and scattered from Oregon to England and beyond, I can’t say that I really miss the double headers on 90-degree days or the nights spent shivering under a blanket in the stands watching practices in February, but I do miss the camaraderie of the other parents, the fun and excitement of the competition, and the glitter of opening nights in the theatre. Obviously, what I really miss most is the opportunity to spend more time with my kids!
What wonderful memories I have of the experiences we had out in the larger community! No, it didn’t take a village to raise a child . . . but the village sure added to the experience in ways I could never have predicted when we first began.
Mary Hood, Ph.D., and her husband, Roy, homeschooled their five children since the early 1980s. All have successfully made the transition to adulthood. Mary has a Ph.D. in education and is the director of ARCHERS for the Lord, Inc. (The Association of Relaxed Christian Home Educators). She is the author of The Relaxed Home School, The Joyful Home Schooler, and other books, and is available for speaking engagements. Contact her via her website, www.archersforthelord.org.
Copyright 2012, used with permission. All rights reserved by author. Originally appeared in the November 2012 issue of The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, the family education magazine. Read the magazine free at www.TOSMagazine.com or read it on the go and download the free apps at www.TOSApps.com to read the magazine on your mobile devices.
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By F. L. Burdette
To the careful observer the location of the Ona and Blue Sulphur section in Mud River Valley is of striking interest.
Extending from Scary in Kanawha County to Barboursville in Cabell County is a stretch of country considered in pioneer days especially inviting for farm settlements. This section, commonly called Teays Valley, is a region composed of gently rolling lands, has an abundance of constantly flowing springs, and once had a heavy growth of fine timber. At the time of settlement the forests were full of all kinds of native game, and the valley was always considered comparatively free from Indian attacks. Judged from the lay of the country, the formation of the soil and other surface indications, the whole region seems to have once been the bed of an ancient lake, or else the course of some large river like the Kanawha. Mud River enters this old valley at Mud Bridge about one mile above Milton and follows its sluggish course through the lowest part of the old valley till it plunges over the Great Falls less than a mile above Blue Sulphur. In an inviting part of this river stretch, in the largest bend of the river's course, the Ona and Howell's Mill neighborhood is located.
All the main thoroughfares for travel built in this section of Virginia and West Virginia have left the Kanawha River near Scary and followed the shorter route through Teays Valley and the lower Mud River country to the Ohio at the mouth of the Guyandotte River, or of the Big Sandy at Catlettsburg. The Old Virginia State Road, sometimes called the Greenbrier Road, the James River and Kanawha turnpike, the contemplated Covington and Ohio Railroad, the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad, and the present Midland Trail have all followed this route. In this way the lower Mud River country has long been on one of the main routes of travel between the east and the western country. The eastern section of the Old Virginia State Road was begun in the year 1785, and extended from the upper waters of James River to Lewisburg (then Fort Union) in Greenbrier County. In 1786 the road was extended to the mouth of Gauley River on the Kanawha, and sometime during the summer of 1787 it seems that some kind of a road was opened as far as the Big Sandy.
Under date of December 31, 1787, Arthur Campbell, Andrew Cowan, and Daniel Boone, county lieutenants of western Virginia counties, wrote an interesting letter to Governor Edmund Randolph, which reads as follows:
"If it is found next spring that war with the Indians is unavoidable, all are of the opinion that two companies of rangers of fifty men each will be necessary to protect the borders of Washington, Montgomery, and Russell counties. Those allotted to range so as to be a safeguard to the inhabitants of Montgomery, be stationed on the west side of the Great Kanawha where the Greenbrier road crosses to Kentucky, and on Sandy River where the said road crosses that river."
At that time Kentucky was only a state in contemplation, and it was supposed it would have the Kanawha for its eastern boundary. What is now Cabell County was a part of Montgomery, and the old state road had just been opened to the Big Sandy.
Along the route of this old state road, the first to be built in southwest Virginia, settlements were made about the time the road was open for travel. Doubtless the first settlement in the lower Mud River country was made about that time, but who the party, or parties, making it were is not a matter of record available to the writer of this sketch.
Late in the eighteenth century Thomas Teays secured a patent for a large tract, which he located in the eastern end of the valley, now mainly in Putnam County. Beginning in 1785 and extending through a number of years later, John P. Duvall of Harrison County secured several land patents that in their combined area included all the land from the Great Falls of Mud River to Indian Fork of Killgore's Creek beyond Milton. About the same time William Hepburn and his son-in-law John Dundas, of Alexandria, Virginia, secured title to the land extending from the falls of Mud River nearly to Barboursville. From these senior patents land owners in Teays Valley and in the lower Mud River Valley trace the title of their present ownership.
In 1803 James Cox of Buckingham county, Virginia, bought land and settled on the west side of Mud River a few hundred yards above the Great Falls. The house in which he lived still stands just across Mud River from the present Ona railway station. In 1804 John Everett of Albemarle County, Virginia, settled on the Everett farm near the mouth of Fudges Creek.
The same year, John Morris, formerly of Culpeper County, with his large family of sons and daughters, built his home and moved to the present Ward Dairy farm near Bethesda Church. The house stood on the old State Road about two hundred yards north of the Ward dairy barn. It is said that part of the old Morris house was removed years ago and rebuilt into the present residence occupied by William Yates at Yate's Crossing.
John Morris was said to have been the owner of twenty-two thousand acres of land, extending from the Great Falls of Mud River to Teays Valley beyond Milton. He was the owner of more land than any other person who has ever lived in Cabell County. His son Edmund was a representative in the Virginia State Legislature before Cabell County was cut off from Kanawha, and he became the first clerk of Cabell County.
About the same time the Morris and other families settled in the neighborhood. Allen Rece, formerly of Bucks County, Pennsylvania, purchased and settled on the old James Dundas farm about two miles north of Blue Sulphur. In 1814 Charles Love and his sons William and Daniel, formerly of Prince William County, Virginia, settled on Mud River about one mile from HoweIl's Mill on what is now the Pritchard farm, the proposed site for a boy's school.
In 1807, Esom Hannon, said to have been "born in Old Fort Randolph at Point Pleasant during the Indian wars, married Miriam Morris, daughter of John Morris, and built his home and lived for a time on the site of the Burdette home in the Big Bend of Mud River.
In 1819 Valentine Herndon, son-in-law of James Cox, formerly Fluvana County, purchased a part of the John Hilliard farm at Howell's Mill and built the first mill at that place.
In 1826 John Bryan of Culpeper County, grandfather of William Jennings Bryan, moved to the neighborhood and lived one year in the James Cox house opposite Ona railway station, and then moved to the present Elmer Price farm, where he lived two years. After living for three years on Mud River he purchased a farm opposite Gallipolis in Mason County, where he died in 1836.
In 1826 William P. Yates, of Culpeper County, settled on Mud River, and the next year purchased the Esom Hannon farm near Ona Station. Two years earlier, John Chapman of Culpeper County settled on Mud River just below the mouth of Little Cabell Creek.
Among others to settle in the neighborhood at an early date were Thomas Maupin, Adam Black, Russell Leroy, and James Newman, Sampson and John Handley, Landon Carter, Asher Crockett, Larose Merritt, William Miller, John Holroyd, Sr., Benjamin Davis, John Thomas, and Henry Dundas, Andrew Sheff, James Turley, William Greenwood, James Carroll, Robert Poar, James Cyrus, William Blackwood, Jacob Baumgardner, and Jacob Harshbarger, Sr.
Of the early settlers, John Morris, James Turley, John Everett, Charles Love, Asher Crockett, Allen Rece, Joseph Hilliard, and Larose Merritt were soldiers in the Revolutionary War. Among the war records, and especially in the Pension Department at Washington, there is much of interest to the older residents of this section. Copying from these records a few sketches are herein given.
"John Everett, born February 28, l753, died February 17,1845; enlisted September 28, 1775 to September 28, 1776 as private under Captain Wm. Campbell, Colonel Patrick Henry, first Virginia regiment; enlisted May 15, 1779 for two years service; guarded prisoners at Albemarle Barracks and was discharged at Winchester under Captain John Allen, Colonel Francis Taylor; first enlisted from Bedford County, Virginia."
"James Turley, born in Pennsylvania, 1754; enlisted from Bedford County, Virginia, length of service two years, rank private, Captain John Chapman, Colonel Joseph Crockett, Virginia State Line".
" Allen Rece, born in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, October 7, 1759; enlisted early in the war for three months service as a wagoner under Captain Groves, Colonel Proctor, State of Pennsylvania; enlisted in 1777 for one month service as private under Captain Singer, Colonel lrwin, State of Pennsylvania; enlisted in 1779 for seven months as a wagoner under Captain Ferguson, Colonel Hooper, State of Pennsylvania; enlisted in 1780 for three weeks as private under Captain Thomas, Colonel Robinson, State of Pennsylvania; enlisted in 1781 or 1782 for one month as private under Captain Thomas, Colonel Robinson, State of Pennsylvania". He died November 29, 1837.
"Larose Merritt, born October 19, 1749; died July 30, 1831; enlisted at Winchester, Virginia, in 1777, served till 1780 under Captains John McGuire and Thomas Bell, Colonel William Grayson; served at Brandywine, Germantown, and Monmouth; received a wound in the foot during service, which rendered him a permanent cripple".
"John Morris's name appears on the muster rolls in the expedition of Colonel George Rogers Clark against Kaskaskia and Vincennes in 1778 and 1779".
John Lillard, a soldier in the Revolutionary War, was not a resident of Cabell County, but three of his daughters lived on Mud River near Ona and Howell's Mill. They were Nancy, wife of John Bryan, Elizabeth wife of William P. Yates, and Mary (Polly), wife of Landon Carter. John Lillard was born in Culpeper County, Virginia in 1765; enlisted as private for three months in the fall of 1780, being less than sixteen years old, under Captain Kirtley of the Virginia militia; enlisted for three months in the winter of l780-81 under Captain James Browning, Colonel James Slaughter; enlisted for three months in the summer of 1781 under Captain Armstead, Colonel Drake, Virginia State troops; was engaged in the siege of Yorktown, was in several skirmishes on James River and at Petersburg".
The first settlers on Mud River, like those of today, were farmers almost without exception. ln addition to farming after the style in vogue at that time, many farmers were handy at turning a hand in other lines. One early settler was primarily a farmer, while on occasion he was a local church leader, a stone mason, cooper, carpenter, and ran a custom threshing machine. A few other more gainful enterprises were entered into for profit.
As stated before, in 1819 Valentine Herndon purchased one hundred and fifteen acres of what is now the westerly portion of the Rimmer farm at Howell's Mill, and two acres in addition on the south side of Mud River which included the present mill site, and built the first grist and saw mill at the so called Upper Falls of Mud River. In 1829 he sold all his land and mill property to Ambrose Doolittle, who had recently come to this section from eastern Virginia. Ambrose Doolittle was an enterprising and successful business man. He enlarged the milling venture at Howell's Mill, rebuilt the saw mill and equipped it with the then modern vertical saw run by water power, overhauled the grist and flouring mill, built and operated a woolen carding machine, and added a furniture factory where much of the better type of walnut and cherry and other furniture in the neighborhood at that day was made. He also made the first and only venture at silk culture in this section. The effort to raise silk worms and produce silk was not a success, but to this day a few Russian or white mulberry trees, originally planted to feed the silk worms from the leaves, remain about Howell's Mill. The rebuilding and raising the dam in Mud River by Mr. Doolittle so backed the water up the river as to drown a mill early established near Yates's Crossing by Adam Black. It is a matter of tradition that the damage to the Black mill was amicably adjusted between the parties directly interested. In 1857 Armstead B. Howell purchased an interest in the Ambrose Doolittle estate, and later became sole owner of the mill property. After that time the place was called Howell's mill.
Another flour and grist mill was built at an early date over the Great Falls of Mud River. John Dundas was the builder and first owner, but the property later passed into the hands of David Harshbarger by purchase. This mill was burned sometime near the Civil War, and was later rebuilt. The location did not prove to be an advantageous one, owing to the fact that the main roads did not converge at that point, and for the further reason that the rapids in the river above the falls did not permit the storage of an ample water supply to last through the dry seasons of the year. So this mill was allowed to fall to decay.
About 1855 Dr. Alexander McCorkle, a native of Rockbridge County, Virginia, but for some years previous a resident of Guyandotte, married in the neighborhood and located on the old Thomas A. Morris farm near Howell's Mill, then the property of the heirs of John Handley, decreased. Under the direction of Dr. McCorkle a tannery of considerable proportions was built and put into operation on that farm. For a number of years the tannery proved a profitable investment with practical tanners employed to run the plant. After the death of Dr. McCorkle in 1867 the venture ceased to be profitable, and the plant lapsed into neglect. Today no sign of the tannery can be seen on its former site.
Most of the early settlers on Mud River, and especially between Milton and Barboursville, came from eastern Virginia, or from other sections of the South. Like other settlers in a new country nearly all of them, together with their families, engaged in farm labor and other neighborhood enterprise. Most of them belonged to the class of comfortable livers, when they worked to that end. Not a few of them, in addition to their own families, brought a number of slaves from the older settled sections. Slavery existed in its mildest form here, and while by no means universal, it was quite general. Most of the slave groups consisted of only a few negroes, but a few farms assumed the proportions of plantations and the number of slaves exceeded a half-hundred. The following heads of families were listed among the slave holders in the neighborhood:
John Morris, John and Nathan Everett; Charles, William, and Daniel Love; John, Henry, and Thomas Dundas and their sisters, Miss Eliza Dundas and Mrs. Sophia Peyton; Sampson Handley; William P. Yates; Jonathan Switzer; Dr. Alexander McCorkle; David Harshbarger; Thomas, Chapman and Beverly Maupin; Adam and William Black; James Newman; Andrew Guinn; John Miller; William Simmons; Thomas, George and Jeremiah Killgore; and Mrs. Martha Saunders and son Sampson Saunders.
Sampson Saunders was the largest slave owner in the history of the county. Besides he owned a vast landed estate and other personal property, and he was reckoned the wealthiest citizen up to the days of the Civil War. His wife and only child died some years before his own death, and after setting free his numerous slaves in accord with the provisions of his will, his large landed and other personal estate was heired by his only sister, Mrs. Thomas Killgore. Thomas Killgore himself owned a plantation of more than one thousand acres beyond Milton and he owned many slaves. Prior to the Civil War the number of slaves was decreasing in this section, and with the close of the Civil War that chapter in the neighborhood's history closed. A few devoted servants remained with their masters as long as they lived. With few exceptions the masters were faithful and kindly protectors of their wards; and for the most part the slaves looked upon their ovmers as their truest friends and only refuge both during and after slavery days.
To our parents and grandparents the period from 1840 to 1860 seemed the golden era in the social life of the valley. Social comforts were few, but the evidence of neighborly friendship was always present. This made life out toward the frontier altogether agreeable. It was during this period that the first private carriage was brought to the neighborhood by Thomas Dundas, and the first cooking stove by Ambrose Doolittle.
In the early day the only professional men in the community were the physicians. They located in places of easiest access to the surrounding country. In this immediate neighborhood Doctors John Seashole, Allen Love, Strother J. Yates, Alexander M. McCorkle, Charles and Randolph Moss, Frank L. Murphy, Bennett C. Vinson, and Calvary A. Morrison were the physicians covering the period from 1820 to 1880. These men were devoted to their profession and more devoted to the needs of their fellow citizens. They rode many miles on horseback over the worst of roads in all kinds of weather, and relieved as far as was in their power, the physical suffering of a scattered population. Many stories were told by the physicians of their race with death, often through fierce storms of sleet and snow. Sometimes they were followed by a pack of wolves, and sometimes startled by the scream of the panther or wildcat. Such experiences were common at the time of the first settlement on Mud River, and the section between this valley and the Ohio was infested by wolves and panthers up till about the year 1830.
The first church in this section, as well as the first in Cabell County, was the Mud River Baptist Church at Blue Sulphur which was organized in 1807. Rev. John Alderson from the Greenbrier Baptist Church at Alderson, and Rev. John Lee from southwest Virginia, were the ministers actively engaged in the organization. Rev. John Lee became the first pastor and he served the church with great devotion for many years. Twenty members composed the membership at first, and they included mainly the heads of the families of the earliest settlers. Their names are recorded in the roll of members in the church records. Twenty-one other Baptist churches, not including any of those in the City of Huntington, have been organized within the territory originally allotted to this church, and twelve ministers of the gospel have gone out from its membership. The church was first organized on its present site and a church house built there, but the deed to the property was not secured till the year 1821, when Henry and Thomas Dundas made a deed for one acre to the Mud River Baptist Society.
The first recorded effort toward establishing a church of the Methodist faith in the neighborhood was in the year 1811, when a revival was held at some home in the neighborhood. This revival was under the leadership of Rev. Samuel West, a minister of the faith on the Guyandotte circuit, Ohio Conference. In 1813 a camp meeting was held in the neighborhood under the leadership of Rev. David Young, presiding elder in the district. The next Methodist minister who held services at different homes in the community, was Rev. Samuel Brown. Among the class leaders at that time was Robert Caseboult, who moved out of the neighborhood late in the year 1813. In 1814 Rev. John Cord became the minister on the circuit, and he appointed Thomas A. Morris class leader. Later Thomas A. Morris became a minister in the Methodist church, held many responsible stations in the church, and was made a Bishop at the Quadrennial Conference of the denomination held at Cincinnati in 1856. He was the most distinguished citizen who has ever lived in the neighborhood, if not in the county. After his marriage in 1814 he built his home on a farm near Howell's Mill which had been given him by his father. This home he called Spice Flat Cottage, for which he held a fond attachment as long as he lived. It was built on a swell of ground on the McCorkle farm about two hundred yards south of the house now owned and occupied by Mrs. Lawrence Adkins.
In the year 1814 Rev. Henry B. Bascom was the minister on the circuit, and he frequently held services and classes of instruction at Spice Flat Cottage. During that year the first Methodist society, or church, was organized in the neighborhood, presumably at the home of Thomas A. Morris. The next minister on the circuit after the organization of the church was the able and eloquent Rev. John Dew, who appointed Thomas A. Morris as an assistant circuit rider. For many years after this local Methodist society was established, the Methodists continued to hold revival services at the homes of its members, where it was convenient for neighborhood gatherings. One of the places where such revivals were held was at the home of Robert Poar, on Poar's Hill where the Bradley family now live. For many years afterward one of the revivals held at this place was the subject of favorable comment among the older citizens of the community. The house in which it was held is one of the oldest in the valley, a stone from the chimney that formerly stood at the end of the house bears the date of October 7, 1829. The first Methodist church in the neighborhood was organized before the denomination was divided into the Methodist Episcopal Church and the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, The site of the Bethesda Methodist Church was deeded to trustees for the Southern Church by the heirs of Thomas Maupin under date of May 6, 1839.
This valley had its share in the great Civil War, 1861 to 1865, and it did its part so fully that there was no appearance of cowards or slackers. Most of the young men of military age were enlisted in the Union or Confederate service. A number of them paid the extreme sacrifice on field of battle and never returned to recount their deeds of daring. Most of those who did return at the close of the war have since passed to the great beyond, and only a few remain like sentinels of a vanished army.
Soldiers from the neighborhood were engaged in battle from Gettysburg to Georgia and were enlisted under various commands. But little of the actual fighting was done in this section, but one interesting skirmish took place early in the war at Poar's Hill near Ona. In that fight many shots were fired, one soldier was wounded and afterward died from his wounds, and the neighborhood was thrown into such an excitement as had never been known within its limits. One excited citizen said that the bullets flew so thick that he could have swung a basket around his head and caught it full. Another interesting occurrence of the struggle was the capture for a few minutes of Captain John Harshbarger of the Union army by John W. Yates who was in the Confederate service. In the road just below the present gasoline plant, the latter came upon the former a few hundred yards in advance of his command, which greatly surprised him as he was unaware of the presence of a Confederate soldier in the neighborhood, and demanded and secured his horse and saber and escaped to his own company back in Dixie. The two had been neighbors and the best of friends, and after the war so remained through life. Some years ago the saber was returned to the son of Captain Harshbarger, who lives at Milton, a gift doubtless the more highly prized because of its varied associations and history.
One phase of that unfortunate struggle that divided this and other communities is worthy of mention as an example to this and future generations. Early in the war this section of Virginia passed into the control of the Union army. The fathers and grandfathers and their families of both the Union and Confederate sympathizers were of necessity left at home in the neighborhood, while the younger generation of military age fought in the ranks. Those of the older group who supported the Union, almost without exception, were steadfast in their friendships and always ready to protect their neighbors who sympathized with the Confederate cause. It is told of one elderly mother who refused to speak to her own son for a time, because he had taken a horse from a Confederate sympathizer with whom she had long held a feeling of cordial friendship.
A complete list of the Union and Confederate soldiers from this immediate section would be of interest, as would also an account of some of their more thrilling experiences. But such a narrative is impossible in a brief account like this, and its writing will need be referred to another writer and at another time.
No interest in the neighborhood, either past or present, has had so much of value as has that of the schools. From the days of the earliest settlements to the present the community has maintained some kind of a school, though not always its chief point of interest. There is no earlier record of the pioneer schools in the neighborhood than that furnished from the personal notes of Bishop Thomas A.Morris, who lived in the neighborhood from 1804 to 1816 and received his first schooling here in the days of the real pioneer school. Copying from his notes, his biographer says:
"The means of education were very limited at that early days throughout the western states and territories, and especially in the northwestern part of Virginia, where the Morris family resided. Teachers were few in number, and for the most part ill-qualified for their work; nor were the most competent, of them in very much demand, for many of the early settlers of that wild region cared little for books, so they could but obtain plenty of fresh land, good range for their stock, and an abundance of game. Still there were schools, not continuing, however, longer than one-quarter of the year, and that always in the winter, when boys could best be spared from the farm. By such limited means, the children of that day on the frontier, obtained what little knowledge of books they possessed; nor was it generally deemed important that the course of study be very extensive or thorough. To master Dilworth's Speller, learn to read the New Testament, cypher to the "rule of three", and write a fair round hand, was regarded as quite an accomplished education and ample for all the practical purposes of life. This curriculum Thomas had passed through creditably by the time he reached his eighteenth year. About that time (1812) he became a member of the first grammar class ever organized in Cabell County. It was taught by William Paine, a native of England, a thoroughly competent teacher, and an earnest Methodist. This worthy old gentleman, besides performing his professional duties, gave his pupils many sound moral lessons, and though gathered to his fathers long years ago, his memory is cherished fondly by all his surviving students".
Thus it is observed that there were schools in the neighborhood some time prior to the year 1812. This mention of William Paine, the grandfather of our former county superintendent of schools, Charles Paine, is of interest to many Cabell County residents.
The first schools taught in this section held forth in some vacant house, often one no longer deemed fit for a dwelling. Later a community school house was built by private donation, or by the men of the neighborhood joining in a working frolic and building it themselves. The first community school building in the Ona neighborhood stood on the south side of the paved road, on the farm now owned by Harry Chapman. Some of the best schools of the earlier day were taught in that building. The second community school building was built at Howell's Mill on the site now occupied by James R. Sanders's barn. The village around the mill was then becoming quite a business center for this section, and besides being a school house, it answered for a gathering place for all kinds community interests. The first public schools in the neighborhood were taught in that building, and the locality became rather widely noted as a school and social center. That house was removed some years ago and rebuilt as a residence at the Milo Jackson place near Big Cabell Creek. At Ona two public school houses have been built since, the first of one room on the roadside in front of J. A. Everett's home, the other the present school building of three rooms on the top of Poar's Hill in front of the Bradley home.
At Malcolm Spring two school buildings have stood on the present site, the first a log building which was used for a community school before the public school system want into effect and later for public schools, and the second the building now used for the public schools.
The Turner school in Union District has occupied three buildings, the first a log building located on the ridge between Sheff's Branch and Lower Creek, the other two both located in the low gap at the northern line of the Price farm. All these buildings were for public school use.
The Fairview, or Wilson school, has occupied two buildings, the first a log building located on the old road about a half-mile north of the present school building, and the other the house now in use. Both were for public school use.
The Watson school has occupied three houses, the first two being built on the lot now owned by Albert Swan, and the third the house now in use, which was built a few years ago on the Cyrus Creek road. The first of the three buildings was in use before the Civil War as a community school.
Following the early school taught by William Paine, the next of which there is any record was taught by Thomas A. Morris somewhere near Spice Flat Cottage, perhaps in the winter of 1814-15. The contract called for a term of six months, but after the school was taught for three months, the building in which it was being taught burned down and the term was not completed.
From the year 1800 up to the time the public school system went into effect near the close of the Civil War, it seems that some kind of pay or subscription school was conducted in the neighborhood every year. The lengths of the terms varied according to conditions that prevailed in the public mind or the ability to pay the cost. The names of the teachers and the places where they taught are fairly well preserved in the neighborhood tradition, but the exact order in which they were taught is uncertain. No record of those schools taught under private neighborhood contracts has been preserved.
At an early date John McGinnis taught several terms at different places in the neighborhood. In 1858 he was teaching in Spice Flat Cottage, which had then been abandoned as a residence.
Not many years later, perhaps in the early forties, Robert Stewart, formerly of Bath County, moved to the neighborhood and taught several terms in the community school building on the south side of the present paved road near Ona.
Following Mr. Stewart, Porter Wallace of Botetourte County taught for several years in the same building. He was an excellent teacher, a refined gentleman after the type of that day, and was highly esteemed by all classes of society. He was living in the neighborhood and teaching in 1852. Not a few of the boys of that day were named Porter W. in honor of the esteemed teacher.
During that period of education in this section, and especially during Mr. Wallace's years of service as teacher, so many pupils attended school and so many branches of study were taught that it became necessary to have some kind of an assistant in order to get through with the daily program of recitations. To take care of that situation, as well as to reduce the costs of conducting the school and afford some pupil free tuition, a sort of monitorial system was adopted, not unlike the Lancaster-Bell system so widely heralded at an early date in New England schools. The monitor system and the modern social center idea were then in vogue in this section, without getting the broad advertisement given to the same practices farther north. Mr. C. A, Rece, now in his eighty-fourth year, a resident of Huntington, says he was taught to read by Elizabeth Yates, daughter of William P. Yates, who was the monitor assistant in Porter Wallace's school near Ona.
Mr. Cook, a Welchman of scholarly ability, taught at an early day in a house that stood on the present Strengk farm near Blue Sulphur.
Miss Ann Howard, who frequently contributed original productions written in verse for local social center gatherings, taught one or more private schools in a house that stood on the McCorkle farm near Howell's Mill.
Miss Lou Moore taught for a time in the community school building at Howell's Mill.
Edward. Vertigan taught two terms in the neighborhood, the first near Blue Sulphur and the second in a building that stood on the Maupin farm near Bethesda church.
James Nouning, a near relative of Mrs. Chapman W. Maupin, taught one term on Poar's Hill in a building that stood at the forks of the road in the present Bradley orchard. That building was used as a school building for a time after the first community building south of the paved road was destroyed by fire.
John Simpson, a just but stern disciplinarian, as interpreted in his day, taught for a time on Poar's Hill and later in the community building at Howell's Mill.
Just prior to the Civil War, and again after that war when he returned from serving in the Confederate army, Joseph A. Buckner taught several terms in the community. His first school was taught near Bethesda church, and the others in the community building at Howell's Mill. At the latter place he married Olga Handley, followed the vocation of farming as well as teaching, and took an active part in social affairs in the neighborhood for a number of years till he moved to Carroll County, Missouri.
During the Civil War, Jonathan Switzer, formerly of Botetourte County, taught in the community building at Howell's Mill. He was a well educated man, a splendid leader in the community, and had the power of making friends of all in his large circle of acquaintances. Among the older citizens in the neighborhood he is still spoken of in terms of highest commendation.
In naming these early teachers of the days before the Civil War, all of whom represented the best in social and moral ideals of the day, we should name also the leaders in the community who largely controlled the selection of their teachers. It would be impossible to give a complete list of those who controlled the educational destinies of the youth at that time, but we would beg the privilege of presenting the names of a few who were recognized as leaders among their fellow citizens. Among them were James Poteet and James O. Cox, early general merchants at Howell's Mill; Asa L. Wilson, a capable and active church and social leader in all the affairs of the neighborhood at an early date and down to a few years ago; Charles W. Handley, a successful farmer and early magistrate in the district court; James T. Herndon, a man of quiet bearing, but one of the safest counsels among his neighbors; and William and Daniel Love, both of the best type of citizenship ever represented in the county. Others fully as worthy could be named, but the list cannot be extended further in this sketch.
When West Virginia was severed from the Mother State in 1865, one of the wisest provisions of her constitution was that providing for a general system of free education. During the remaining years of the Civil War, and for some time after its close, the establishment of the new educational system was of necessity slow. Schools both public and private were conducted in the neighborhood for a time with a varied success. But from the start the public generally received the new public school idea with favor, and within a few years the whole community centered its school interest around the public schools.
The first public school teacher in this immediate neighborhood was George Bryant, a former Confederate soldier who taught at several different places during his years of service as a teacher. His first school was taught at Howell's Mill. It is related of him that, while his teaching was generally of a high order, he was decidedly at variance with the accounts then given in the chapters of history on the recent Civil War. His terms of disapproval are said to have been as forceful as they were original.
At Blue Sulphur, Miss Agnes Dundas, now Mrs. J. D. Sedinger of Huntington, was among the first public school teachers. She is remembered by her pupils for her efficiency, gentleness, and hopefulness displayed in that time of new adjustments in the old neighborhood.
Other teachers in the public schools in the community of the earlier period were Joseph A. Buckner, Calvary A. Morrison, Daniel L. Duncan, Chester Cheesman, Edward S. Doolittle, J. F. Herndon, Henry Childers, Thomas Lackland, Thomas B. Summers, Edward Summers, T. West Peyton, Sr., Edward Gardner, John Black, Henry Lambert, William Bramlett, and the Misses Sallie and Fanny Morris.
The list of public school teachers who have taught in the neighborhood in the more recent period is not available to the writer, and memory does not have the assistance of close association with that period.
Other events connected with the neighborhood's successes, tragedies, and misfortunes might be recorded and prove of interest to the local reader. It is to be hoped that some day a full and complete history of this old neighborhood will be written and published. The suggestion of it is all that can be undertaken in this account, already grown too long for the allotted time for its reading on this occasion.
Community Histories Index
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Hill Collection Early Works to 15th
Interest in birds is recorded as far back as prehistoric man, for whom birds were
important as food, decoration, and symbols of magic powers. The natural history writings
of the ancients, particularly Aristotle and Pliny, reveal remarkable efforts to observe,
describe, and classify birds. Although a great deal of folklore crept into the accounts,
there was also substantial truth.
Cornell University Library contains thorough coverage of the works of these classical
authors in the original Greek or Latin and in translation. Particularly pertinent are
Aristotle's Historia animalium (History of animals) and De animalium partibus
(Parts of animals) and Pliny's Naturalis historia (Natural history), book ten.
During the early Middle Ages natural science was in stagnation, but the later period
saw some revival of interest. Particularly noteworthy during this time was Friedrich II
[1194-1250], the emperor of Germany and probably the first great ornithologist.
Friedrich's ornithological knowledge, classification system, and scientific
descriptions of bird structure, illustrated skillfully by his son, Manfred, were clearly
laid out in Reliqva
librorvm Friderici II. imperatoris, De arte venandi cum avibus, first printed in
1596. Although later versions were issued, it was not until 1943 that a comprehensive
edition appeared, translated and edited by Casey A. Wood and F. Marjorie Fyfe and
published by Stanford University Press and Oxford University Press. The Hill Collection
includes both an original 1596 edition and a copy of the 1943 edition, titled The
art of falconry, being the De arte venandi cum avibus of Frederick II of Hohenstaufen.
A contemporary of Friedrich II, Albertus Magnus [1193?-1280], a German Dominican,
recorded his contemplations on Aristotle's natural philosophy and his personal
observations of birds and animals. He translated Aristotle's Historia animalium,
adding commentaries of his own, and authored the treatise De animalibus among many
other writings on the natural sciences. Both the 1479 edition and the 1519 edition of De
animalibus appear in the History of Science Collections at Cornell, along with later
The revival of learning and the classical influence that characterized the Renaissance
affected ornithology as well as all the natural sciences. The versatile Leonardo da Vinci
[1452-1519] is represented in the Hill Ornithology Collection by the Codex
on the flight of birds. This work, published in 1983, reproduced da Vinci's
original manuscript and translated into English his studies and theories on the principles
of flight, many of which are still valid today.
Online guide developed from:
Ornithology Collections in the Libraries at Cornell University: A Descriptive Guide
Revised Edition, 1999
Ithaca, New York
© 1999 Cornell University Library
Webpage last revised: 6/10/99 by jfc & clsb.
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Web Date: January 26, 2012
Quantum Dots Made To Order
Researchers have found a cheap, simple way to arrange quantum dots of any size in any pattern on a surface (Nano Lett., DOI: 10.1021/nl204233r). The technique could ease the use of quantum dots in sensors, solar cells, and electronic devices, the researchers say.
Carefully tailoring the size and chemical makeup of quantum dots, which are semiconductor nanocrystals, changes the color of light they emit. But incorporating them into devices has been challenging because it requires placing them at specific spots on a surface so to combine with electronic circuitry. Existing methods to assemble quantum dots, which typically start with creating them in a solution, do not offer precise control over the crystals’ size or placement.
To achieve that control, Chad A. Mirkin, a chemistry professor at Northwestern University, and his colleagues turned to a lithography technique that they first developed for patterning metal nanoparticles. The method uses a fast scanning probe and block copolymers, which are materials that link blocks of chemically different polymers. In this case, Mirkin and his colleagues dip an atomic force microscope (AFM) tip into a solution of block copolymers and cadmium chloride. One polymer block in their copolymer attaches to the cadmium ions, while the other helps the solution flow from the tip.
The researchers use the AFM tip much like a pen to deposit the solution on a silicon surface. The longer the tip rests on one location, the more cadmium ions end up on that spot. The computer-controlled tips can create complex designs and arrange dots of solution just a few nanometers apart. The researchers can also use an array of tips, creating millions of dots simultaneously.
After they’ve laid out the solution in a pattern, the researchers then expose the surface to hydrogen sulfide gas, creating an arrangement of cadmium sulfide nanoparticles. They use various transmission electron microscopy and diffraction methods to verify that the nanoparticles are crystalline. Finally, they expose the samples to oxygen plasma to remove the block copolymer.
“You can effectively create little nanoscale reactors where you want them to be,” Mirkin says. “You can control the location of where the reaction takes place and you can precisely dial in the number of atoms that go into making the individual particle.”
Elena V. Shevchenko, a nanoscientist at Argonne National Laboratory, says that other researchers have used electron-beam lithography to make custom patterns of nanoparticles, but that technique is labor intensive and expensive. Because of its relative ease, the new lithography technique is an important step in nanofabrication, she says.
Mirkin says the technique could be compatible with other nanoscale materials. He says the method also offers researchers a powerful way to build “libraries of nanostructures that can be screened for all sorts of purposes from catalysis to optics.”
- Chemical & Engineering News
- ISSN 0009-2347
- Copyright © American Chemical Society
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Japanese Learning Objectives
The Japanese major at Mount Union focuses on several different aspects of the Japanese culture. Japanese majors will gain speaking, reading, listening, and writing skills of the Japanese language. The living patterns, social structure, and value systems of the Japanese culture will be discussed along with Japanese literatures. Students will be able to understand the cultures and civilizations of Japanese speaking people along with an understanding of the careers and professions available to Japanese majors. Lastly, students will spend a period of time living and learning in Japan, experiencing the culture first hand.
Student organizations include Alpha Mu Gamma, the foreign language honorary society, Foreign Language Club and the Association of International Students. Japanese graduates can choose from career opportunities such as public relations, teaching, business, social work, government service, scientific research, various technical occupations and legal and medical services. Many graduates also continue on to graduate study.
Foreign Language Learning Objectives
- Students will demonstrate the level of proficiency necessary to enable them to function in an environment where Japanese is used exclusively. Students will demonstrate speaking, listening, reading, and writing in Japanese at the ACTFL Advanced-Low Level. Additionally Japanese majors will demonstrate the ability to read written passages and write compositions from a minimum vocabulary of 400-500 Kanji Characters.
- Students will demonstrate an understanding of the cultures and civilizations of the principal groups of people who speak Japanese, from a variety of perspectives, including the historical, geographical, sociopolitical, literary and artistic.
- Students will demonstrate an awareness of the relevance of foreign languages to professions and careers.
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A radioactive isotope.
- The radioactive tracer evaluated for this study, known by the brand name Zemiva, links a fatty acid to a radioisotope which is injected in the patient.
- In 1934 he used a radioisotope of phosphorus to study how human tissue absorbs phosphate.
- Synthesis of the heavier transuranic elements, as well as of radioisotopes of the natural elements, is sometimes included under the broader umbrella of chemical synthesis.
- Example sentences
- Healthy elderly volunteers were infused with normal saline either intravenously or subcutaneously, using radioisotopic triated water and technetium pertechnetate.
- We can determine the absolute age of some rock strata, if we are fortunate and the rock contains right kind of mineral deposits to get a good fix in time using radioisotopic methods.
- The variables studied include demographics, symptoms, roentgenographic patterns, pulmonary function tests, exercise physiology, radioisotopic lung scans, and cellular and biochemical BAL profiles.
Words that rhyme with radioisotopeisotope
For editors and proofreaders
Line breaks: radio|iso¦tope
Definition of radioisotope in:
What do you find interesting about this word or phrase?
Comments that don't adhere to our Community Guidelines may be moderated or removed.
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| 0.867746
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