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Just a couple years ago, fitness bracelets were basically glorified step counters worn on your wrist. Now, they’re doing everything from measuring your heart rate on a run to warning you to get out of the sun. And they’re everywhere. Every company from Fitbit to Jawbone and Microsoft makes a pretty advanced piece of wrist-worn technology now — all with the promise of better health.
But what’s in these things, anyway?
Even though fitness bands are fairly simple compared to full-blown smartwatches, a growing number of sensors crammed inside has turned them into complex labs on your wrist. For example, Microsoft’s Band advertises 10 different sensors in the tiny package. With expectations higher than ever, bands are getting very technical and complicated to compete.
These are the sensors inside, making it happen.
The most common and basic tracker included is the accelerometer. It can be used for multiple things, but is typically put to work counting steps. By measuring orientation and acceleration force, they can determine whether the device is horizontal or vertical, and whether it’s moving or not.
Not all accelerometers are created equal. You’ll find both digital and analog ones, different sensitivities, and different numbers of axis. The very basic ones will only have two axis, while three-axis sensors can measure their position in three dimensions. At this point, most fitness trackers use fairly advanced accelerometers for increased accuracy.
GPS is decades-old technology, but its appearance in fitness bands is relatively new because the chips are becoming more efficient — nobody wants a huge band on their wrist to accommodate a giant battery.
GPS is still fairly power hungry compared to other sensors.
The global positioning system a comprises a network of 29 total satellites orbiting the Earth — at any location, a person should be in range of four satellites needed to pinpoint an exact location.
The GPS receiver receives a high-frequency, low-power radio signal from the satellites. The time it takes for a signal to reach your wrist can be translated into your distance from the satellite, which can be translated into precise coordinates with data from enough satellites. GPS chips continue to get better at handling battery usage, but GPS is still fairly power hungry compared to other sensors.
Unlike simple step counting, GPS allows runners, walkers and cyclists to easily map their exercise and analyze the terrain where they were excising.
Optical heart-rate monitors
Unlike the EKG a doctor might use to measure your heart rate, an optical heart-rate monitor measures your heart rate using light. An LED shines through the skin, and an optical sensor examines the light that bounces back. Since blood absorbs more light, fluctuations in light level can be translated into heart rate – a process called photoplethysmography.
Currently, using an optical heart rate monitor on the wrist just isn’t as accurate as using one on the fingertip or on the chest. The chest-worn models more closely mimic an EKG machine.
There are also a lot of nuances to photoplethysmography, so there will be more variation from brand to brand. For instance, each band has to compensate for skin tone. Despite some lofty by manufacturers, the accuracy of results can vary significantly. These aren’t for professional athletes, they’re more used for overall heart-rate guidance – especially the wrist-worn types.
Galvanic skin response sensor
Galvanic skin response sensors measure electrical connectivity of the skin. When internal or external forces cause arousal — of any kind — the skin becomes a better conductor of electricity. Essentially, when you start to sweat, either from exercise or something else, the band will be able to monitor that.
An LED shines through the skin, and an optical sensor examines the light that bounces back.
Detecting when someone is sweating gives the software more information about what a user is doing, which allows for better health tracking. Being able to correlate the level of activity with a different source than just gravity from the accelerometer, allows these programs to take on a more trainer-like role — recommending specific exercises and levels of exertion.
Even a basic thermometer can provide valuable information by way of your skin temperature. Rising skin temperature can indicate to a fitness band that you’re exerting yourself, or if your heart rate isn’t rising accordingly, that you might be getting sick.
Ambient light sensors
Ambient light sensors are all around us. For instance, one tells your phone to dim its screen at night and brighten it in the sun. A fitness tracker uses it for the same purpose, and for detecting the time of day.
The way an ambient light sensor works, the light spectrum is narrowed so that only forms of light visible to the human eye are detected. That light is translated into a digital signal and fed to the processor inside the band.
But what about other forms of light? Instead of telling your fitness band how bright it is around you, UV sensors tell it when you may be absorbing harmful UV radiation – usually from the sun. Software compares this data to the values recognized by scientists to be harmful, and warms you to get out of the sun if you’re likely to burn.
Jawbone’s new UP3 wrist band uses a single bioimpedence sensor to cover three bases: heart rate, respiration rate, and galvanic skin response. According to the company’s own blog post explaining the technology, “The sensor measures very tiny impedance changes within your body. For heart rate, we are measuring the impedance changes created by the volume of blood that is flowing in the Ulnar and Radial arteries.”
The same sensor, worn around the wrist, will also be able to tell respiration and hydration by looking at metrics like oxygen in the blood. It does this by using four electrodes that drive a tiny bit of electrical energy to each other, and then measuring the results.
These sensors may provide a fitness band with reams of data about your heart-rate, body temperature and even elevation, but it’s not worth much without software to translate it into useful advice. From anticipating illness to spurring you on to more exercise tomorrow, it’s all of these sensors working together that truly provide a clear picture of your health today, and what you can do to improve it tomorrow.
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As every schoolchild knows, or should know if he or she was paying attention, Andrew Johnson was the first U.S. president to be impeached. For most of us, that's the only thing we know. However, there's a lot more to this complex man. Andrew Johnson National Historic Site in Greeneville, Tennessee, tells the story of the 17th president and the impact he had on the United States.
A Little History
Andrew Johnson (1808-1875) was born in Raleigh, North Carolina. His father died when he was just three years old. When he was just 10, his mother apprenticed him to a tailor, a position he was supposed to hold until he turned 21. However, after a few years he ran away and eventually settled in Greeneville in eastern Tennessee in 1826. He opened up a tailor shop there, and soon married Eliza McCardle.
While Johnson had no formal education, his wife helped to improve his basic skills in math and writing. While his tailor business flourished, Johnson found time to enter the political arena, and he moved up the political ladder in a methodical manner: alderman, mayor, state representative, state senator, U.S. Representative, governor of Tennessee, and U.S. senator.
Though Andrew Johnson lived in the South, he was a Southern Democrat loyal to the Union cause. When Tennessee seceded from the Union, President Abraham Lincoln appointed Johnson the military governor for the state. Three years later, he became Abraham Lincoln's vice-president.
When President Lincoln was assassinated in 1865, Vice President Johnson was elevated to president. As president, Johnson was not popular with his Republican Congress. He refused to compromise. As Daniel Luther, a ranger at the historical site, puts it, "He wasn't one of them. He wasn't a good smoozer."
President Johnson vetoed more bills than any other president before him. He wanted to readmit the Southern states much as they were before the war but without slavery. He battled with Thaddeus Stevens, the character played by Tommy Lee Jones in the movie Lincoln.
His frictions with Congress left his opponents anxious for an excuse to get rid of Johnson. They passed the Tenure of Office Act, which required Senate approval before a president could remove an appointee.
President Johnson, however, was not to be swayed. He declared the Tenure of Office Act unconstitutional and removed Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton. That was the excuse that Congress needed. The House moved to impeached President Johnson, and the Senate tried him, but the chamber failed by one vote to muster the two-thirds majority necessary to convict him. It was certainly a close call.
During his four years in office, Andrew Johnson did more than just survive impeachment. He purchased Alaska from Russia. He started the Easter egg roll on the White House lawn. He was the voice for the working class. As a senator, he had introduced the Homestead Act, which President Lincoln signed in 1862.
President Johnson believed in the strict interpretation of the U.S. Constitution. Therefore, he vetoed the Freedman's Bureau, which provided aid to ex-slaves. He also pardoned Dr. Samuel Mudd, who was suspected as an accomplice in the assassination of President Lincoln and imprisoned on Dry Tortugas off the tip of Florida. That was one more decision that could not have endeared him to his Republican Congress.
There was no way that Johnson was going to run for president for a second term. He returned to Greeneville, though he later was re-elected to the U.S. Senate.
The Andrew Johnson site became a national monument in 1942 and a national historic site in 1963.
How to see Andrew Johnson National Historic Site
Ideally, you'll be able to set aside most of a day to see the site and talk to the rangers. The site consists of four separate locations--visitor center, early home, the Homestead, and cemetery. The Homestead can only be seen on a free guided tour, offered almost every hour on the half-hour. To start your visit, park at the Visitor Center.
Make a reservation to tour the Homestead later in the day. Then watch the 14-minute film, which will give you a good understanding of Andrew Johnson's life and the political conditions of the times.
Andrew Johnson's first tailor shop, a wooden building, is inside the visitor center. To preserve the building, the State of Tennessee erected a building around it in 1926 and opened it to the public. You can peek in the tailor shop, but it's surrounded by railing. The Memorial Building, which encloses the tailor shop, was later deeded to the National Park Service.
After seeing the exhibits on Johnson's interaction with Congress, you can decide if he was guilty or not guilty. You'll get a ticket and vote by putting the ticket into one of two boxes - guilty, not guilty. The ballots are counted once a year. Not guilty wins each time by a large margin.
If you're lucky, Ranger Daniel Luther will greet you from behind the visitor desk. Ranger Luther was in the theater for 30 years. "What is a NPS uniform but a costume?" says the ranger, who plays Andrew Johnson at various events at the site and in town.
Across the street from the visitor center, you can tour his early home on your own. Johnson and his family lived in this modest two-story brick home from the 1830s until 1851.
The Homestead, President Johnson's home, is a block-and-a-half up Main Street from the visitor center. The tour starts on the porch. Ranger Kendra Hinkle grew up in Greeneville and started volunteering at the site when she was still in high school. "They couldn't get rid of me, so they hired me," she said. Now she's a park ranger who leads tours of the Homestead.
As Andrew Johnson moved up in the world, he became quite wealthy and acquired a great deal of land in the area. He had a few household slaves, who stayed on as servants after the Civil War. The home is restored to its appearance in 1869 after Andrew Johnson returned from Washington. The house has six bedrooms, a dining room, parlor, kitchen on the bottom floor.
Outside, the two-acre plot of land had a vegetable garden, a smoke house, and the privy. His two daughters, three sons, and five grandchildren lived here on and off. All three sons died early in life: one in the Civil War, one by laudanum poisoning, and one from tuberculosis. It was a hard life, even for supposedly rich folks.
Eliza also had tuberculosis so she had her own bedroom where she could rest during the day. Greeneville changed hands many times during the Civil War and both Union and Confederate forces stayed in the house. Though new wallpaper was hung after the family came back from Washington, the National Park Service exposed some graffiti written on Eliza's bedroom walls by Civil War soldiers. One pencil scrawl said Andrew Johnson the old traitor.
The president's descendants lived here until 1956. Margaret Johnson Patterson Bartlett, the president's great-granddaughter who was the last person to live here, would dress up as Eliza Johnson and give tours. She petitioned government officials to have the house preserved.
Andrew Johnson National Cemetery
Andrew Johnson is buried on a hill a few blocks from his home on his own land. "It was probably a cow pasture," said Ranger Jim Small. In his coffin President Johnson was wrapped in a flag with a copy of the Cnstitution beneath his head. Eliza, who died six months later, is buried next to him, and many of his descendants are buried in the cemetery, too.
Veterans and their dependants are buried in the rest of the cemetery. Ranger Small explained that "Andrew Johnson Cemetery is only one of two National Park Service military cemeteries still open to new veterans; the other is Andersonville National Historic Site."
Talking to the Rangers
One of the pleasures of going to a small historic site early on a weekday is being able to talk to the rangers.
What is it like to have a national park site in the middle of a town? I asked.
One ranger said, "Oh, most people don't know it's a national park." Another said, "businesses have an overinflated idea of the number of people it attracts and the economic impact of the park site." Over 51,000 people visited the park in 2012.
It seems that Andrew Johnson is still a controversial figure, and historians keep bringing out new books on the 17th president. According to Ranger Luther, the American Association of State and Local Historians criticized the historic site for too positive a portrayal of Andrew Johnson. It's natural to feel empathy and affection for a historical figure that you're dealing with every day. After spending several hours with President Andrew Johnson, I too liked the guy.
Greeneville is named for Nathanael Greene, a Revolutionary War general. Greene received 25,000 acres as a land grant but he never lived here. Loyal patriots who settled here honored their hero. If you want more history, visit the Nathanael Greene Museum.
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Last name: Schmidt
Perhaps the most ancient of all descriptive surnames, and in its various forms the most popular in the Western world, this is a name of great honour, and probably not what it seems. Recorded in the spellings of Schmidt, Schmit, Shmit, Schmitt (German), de Smid and Smid (Flemish), Smidt, Smed, Smut and Smed (Scandanavian) Szmidt and Szmyt (Polish) Smid (Czech) Schmidt, Szmidt, Shmidman etc (Askenazic), Smith, Smyth (British) and in approximately one thousand four hundred other variations from Grensmidt to Brooksmith to Schmiedal to Smuts, all are forms of the ancient 'smitan', meaning 'to smite'. The conventional wisdom is to say that this means that a schmid(t) is or was originally 'a worker in iron'. This is open to question. The word 'smitan' is so ancient that it predates all known written history. It appears in all European languages. We believe that the original meaning of 'Schmid/Smith' is a soldier or warrior, but perhaps one who wore armour, which he would have had to repair. This would lead to an association of ideas. What is certain is that in the Medieval period every branch of 'schmitting' had its own distinctive terminology. An ancient coat of arms from Rothenburg in Bavaria, has the blazon of a red field charged with two battle hammers in saltire, and a tree branch palewise. Amongst the earliest German recordings of the surname are probably those of Henricus Schmitt of Rostock in 1287 and Nicolas Smedeke of Greifswald in 1388. Niclas Schmidt (also recorded as Schmid), is registered at Athens, Green County, New York, on April 26th 1739. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Johannes Schmitt, which was dated 1268, recorded in Hamburg, North Germany, during the reign of Emperor Alphonso 1 of the German Empire (1257 - 1273). Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.
© Copyright: Name Origin Research www.surnamedb.com 1980 - 2016
Want to dig deeper into your family history? Take a look at our page on building a Family Tree
. Or get scientific and enter the exciting world of Ancestral DNA
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after Unknown artist
pencil and crayon, 1910 (1855)
6 7/8 in. x 5 3/8 in. (175 mm x 135 mm) paper size
Given by W.M. Campbell Smyth, 1935
Click on the links below to find out more:
Sitterback to top
- Florence Nightingale (1820-1910), Reformer of hospital nursing and of the Army Medical Services. Sitter associated with 36 portraits.
Events of 1910back to top
Current affairsGeorge V succeeds Edward VII to the throne. The Liberals win narrow victories after calling two General Elections following escalating tension between the Liberal administration and the Lords reached crisis point with the Lords' unprecedented rejection of Lloyd George's 1909 budget. The budget included tax reform intended to fund social reform and a rearmament programme, but was seen by the Conservative Lords as an assault on property.
Art and scienceThe critic and Bloomsbury group member Roger Fry curates a ground-breaking and, at the time, shocking exhibition in London's Grafton Galleries, Manet and the Post-Impressionists. The exhibition introduces the work of contemporary European artists to the London art establishment, including Manet, Cezanne, Gaugin and Van Gogh, and Fry became a champion of modern art, coining the term 'Post-Impressionism'.
InternationalJapan annexes Korea as a colony, an indication of Japan's ambitious imperialist aims and attempts to control trade and influence in East Asia. Japanese occupation of Korea lasted until 1945, after Japan surrendered to the Allied forces at the end of the Second World War and Korea was divided in two by the United States and the Soviet Union.
Exhibitions and displays
- Framing the Face: Collars and Ruffs
Until 31 December
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|Clea Home Page||Please sign our mailing list|
Required Windows SoftwareClick Filename to Download
This is a zip file that contains an .exe file that will
install itself when you run it on your computer.
|Purpose: To illustrate how the
velocities of galaxies are measured using a photon-counting spectrograph.
To show how this information, along with estimates of galaxy distances
(from their integrated apparent magnitudes) yields the classic Hubble redshift-
distance relation. To determine the value of the Hubble parameter and the
expansion age of the universe.
At the controls of a simulated telescope, students view distant clusters of galaxies and obtain their spectra with a photon counting spectrometer. The telescope offers two fields of view, a wide field view of 2.5 degrees, and a magnified field ("instrument view") of 15 arc-minutes. Stars are represented by realistic point spread functions scaled to magnitude, and galaxies by images from actual CCD frames. In the instrument mode, students can position the slit of a spectrograph on the galaxy and take spectra. The photon counting spectrograph simulates actual Poisson statistics and contains both a sky background and a galaxy spectrum. The relative contribution of the galaxy depends on how much "light" from the image is included in the slit, so that the highest signal-to- noise is obtained when the slit is positioned on the brightest part of the galaxy, just as with a real spectrograph. Students are advised to obtain spectra with signal-to-noise of about 10, so that they can see and measure the Ca H and K lines, which are used to determine the redshift of the galaxy.
Wavelengths can be measured using the mouse cursor, and recorded for further analysis. The spectrometer also records the integrated apparent V magnitude of the galaxy, which is used, along with an assumed absolute magnitude, to determine the distance of the galaxy. With this information for five or six galaxies at various distances, students can plot out a Hubble diagram, determine the Hubble parameter, and estimate the age of the universe.
A wide variety of instructor-settable options are available. Instructors can construct their own galaxy fields using GENSTAR, a utility supplied by CLEA, and can even install their own image files to represent galaxies. The integration time to reach a given signal- to-noise can be set to conform to the needs of the class and the speed of the computer. Even the value of the Hubble parameter can be specified by the instructor; the default is 75 km/sec/Mpc.
|Overview of Software||CLEA Home Page|
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See Anesthesia and Bloodletting in
Obstetrics on next page
Era Birthing Bed
Bed and Speculum
necessity for a pelvic
evaluation led to the development of the examination table. The
furniture for this purpose was called "Speculum Table"
where speculum vaginal examinations were performed. A simple and
cheap portable table for delivery and operations. It is equipped with a
sliding stirrups and a sliding platform to catch secretions. This
table was believed to be owned by doctor in Alabama during the Civil
era. A similar table is illustrated on James V. Ricci, MD, 1949
The Development of Gynaecological Surgery and Instruments, pg 496. Chap
operations were done to extract a dead fetus from a dead mother.
Numa Pompilius (715 - 672 BCE), a legendary king of Rome forbids
a dead woman until her baby was taken out of her. Early
believed that: "He who
does not bury the baby causes the promise of
life to perish with the mother!" No one survived the
in Paris between 1787 to 1876 when the procedure was done on 24 living
patients. The surgical knife shown is unplated steel with ivory
used around 1860.
probably goes back to the eight Century BCE. Numa Pompilius (715
- 672 BCE), a king of Rome forbids the burial of a pregnant woman
the young has been excised. The law continued under the Caesars
it acquired the name Lex Caesare. Some scholars believed
the name was derived from the Latin word Caedere, meaning to
cut. In 1867, there were 54% maternal deaths out of 1,605
done in the United States.
is a scalpel
made of unplated steel with smooth ebony handle used circa 1860.
Since the time of
Hippocrates, 5th Century
BCE, doctors usually placed their ears on a patient's chest to listen
the heartbeat and lung sounds. Faced with breasty woman, Dr Rene
Laennec modestly insisted on using a rooled-up sheets of paper as shown
on picture. Thus, in 1816, the first stethoscope was
|| A replica
of the wooden
monaural stethoscope made by Rene
Laennec in 1819. A solid
cylinder with a drilled
center. It could
by pulling the other half of the stethoscope for closer listening.
in the chest end is for listening to the lungs. To listen to the
heart , the plug is inserted.
|| Three separate
pieces that fit
together to form a 33 cm long, 3 cm diameter instrument was made by
& Dome Co. circa 1955.
The first blood transfusion
done from animals
like sheep or calf to man. James Blundell (1790-1878) have done
first sucsessful human to human blood transfusion. It was done on
patients who would have exanguinated from post-partum bleeding.
1849, nineteen cases were successfully transfused; however, five
ended in death. This was a remarkable accomplishment considering
that blood grouping was unknown until 1900, and blood banking until 1936
||To overcome the clotting
problem, blood transfusion
was done directly from donor to patient. Circa 1850s.
A cased blood transfusion
syringes, and needles dated 1913.
Century Blood Transfusion Set
A rare antique blood transfusion
syringe from the 19th Century. The syringe is placed in the
original silk lined leather box.
German Antique Blood Transfusion Set
Complete with illustrations and
|Ergot of rye was
introduced by John
Stearns (1770-1848) in 1807 for postpartum hemorrhage and for
of anticipated bleeding. It was of little help on patients who
have lost significant blood volume.
Fluid Extract Ergot
Circa 19th Century
a pregnant belly. It was used as an offering to St. Gerard
after the woman's prayers about her pregnancy have been
19th Century, Sicily. (11 x 9.5 cm.)
Ebony mouth gag. 6 cm
length, 3 cm widest
Council of Cologne
A woman's mouth was to be kept
open with a mouth
wedge in order for her child in her womb to breath air while it was
removed by operation.
Circa. 19th Century
Tradition and extreme modesty
doctors from examining female patients. This solid ivory figurine
serves as a devise used by women to indicate to the doctor the part of
the body in which ailment was present. Physicians carry it with them to
the bedside, or at times the patient brings it with her ( Ming Period
The nude lady is ornately carved, 14 cm in length, 4 cm wide, on a
postures practiced throught the centuries. Childbirth during the
medieval times took place on a stool or in the lap of another woman.
Others have it kneeling or squatting. In Taunton England, standing up
was the choice. Mauriceau of France made a daring innovation when
he started to deliver his patients in bed.
Childbirth during the medieval
times took place
on a stool or in the lap of another woman.
Mauriceau of France on the 17th
Century made a
daring innovation when he started to deliver his patients in bed!
If mothers could not breastfeed
their newborn themselves, the well to do hires a wet nurse.
Mothers who cannot afford to employ a wet nurse would ask a close kin
to do the task. Midwives or the physicians often times were asked
to select a breast to do the job adequately.
C 1895 - 1900
Small leather cased amputation kit
by Otto Helmond,
Pitt. Pa. All metal handle on the amputation saw denoting post
During the Civil War 1861-
1865, medicine barely
rosed up from its medieval period. Amputation was the only
reasoned treatment for gun shot wound, severe laceration, severly
infected limb, or fracture . Amputation accounted for 75 % of all
the surgeries done during the civil war. Records showed more or
30, 000 amputations were performed on the Union side with
than 25 % mortality. Few doctors knew how to administer ether or
chloroform although available and the principle of antisepsis was
unknown. Surgery was performed with bare unwashed hands in the
fields. The surgeons used the same amputation kits, rubbing
them between cases with a piece of dirty rags.
Boxed Pessaries with
Circa. Early 1900's
pessary made of gold
Mushroom shaped Pessary
Medical instruments from the
end of the 19th
century through early 1900's, include descriptions of "pessaries" that
resemble modern IUD (Intrauterine device). The existence of
laws that prohibit the use of the mails for contraceptive devices may
been the reason for the false advertisement.
Anthony Comstock was an anti-sin
whose activities resulted in the passage of the 1873 federal postal law
prohibiting the propagation of birth control information and
devices through the U.S. mail. He labeled contraceptive
as "lewd, lascivious, and obscene," that he burned tons and tons
contraceptive materials. In 1930, a U.S. federal court
the Comstock law unconstitutional.
Forerunner of Modern Day IUDs
was illegal to sell or
promote any form
of contaceptives during early 1900s. These birth control devices
were sold and advertised as pessaries. They were place in
the cervix with the stem inside the uterine cavity. These
pessaries were the
of the modern day IUDs.
was introduced in the mid 19th Century. This underarm bent
is clumsy, heavy, and inaccurate. Its scale etched on an ivory
read only if in place. If removed before recording, the mercury
drops in the process. It was superior to the hand on the
method . The thermometer is 17.5 x 5 cm.
Glass and ivory in brown leather case.
German word for life awakener. A counter irritant
The sharp needles in the tip of the instrument were dipped in a mixture
of menthol, camphor, turpentine, and vegetable oil. The head of
device was placed on the area of ailment. The toggle was drawn
to cock the spring then released driving the needles into the patient's
skin (ouch!), and presumably curing numerous illnesses. Seemed to
work, most patient never came back for a second treatment! The
ebony tube contained a handle with coiled spring attached.
27 x 3 cm.
Warning! Warning! Warning!
Medications mentioned on this web
for historical information only. Do not attempt to take or apply
any of the medicine to yourself or to others. It will cause
damage to your health and to others.
For Venereal Disease
Treatment for female
Gonorrhea: Cleanse vagina, cervix and urethra with saturated
of boric acid. Dry with pledget cotton, held by a uterine
Soak pledget in a 1% aqueous Methylene blue solution and apply it
up to the cervical canal, vagina, and urethral opening. Treat 2x
Syringes for injecting
medicine to the vagina.
Varying lengths: 14, 20, 22 cm.
Secret for Venereal
Boric acid powder,
Burnt alum powder,
Dissolve 1 dram in
pint warm water, wash and inject into vagina immediately after sexual
oil was commonly used medication to prime labor. Two table spoons
of castor oil was given followed by ten grains of quinine. This regimen
was repeated if labor does not start in one hour. An enema was
also given in conjuction with the above mediccations if labor does not
ensue. See other uses of enema below. (Warning: Do not attempt to use the
above medications. It will do irreparable damage to you and your
to divide the pubic bone to accomplish delivery of the fetus on
labor. It was first performed by J.R. Sigault in 1777. (Sometimes
called the Sigaultian Operation). Reintroduced by Morisani
of Naples in 1866, in France by Spinelli in 1891. Introduced in
Circa Early 1900
a union of the pubic bone was mistakenly regarded as a cause of
labor. The surgical separation of the pubic bone called
was in fashion one time and in competition with Cesarean section in the
mid 1800 through early 1900. Although the United States abandoned
the procedure because of the mutilation it did to the mother, European
and South American accoucheurs continued to perform these horrible
up to the mid 20th Century.
Art work by
string saw developed
by Leonardo Gigli (1863-1908) for dividing the pubic bone. It was
believed that cutting the segment of the pelvis made it moveable, and
to the pressure of the uterus to accomplish delivery of the
The operation is also called Hebotomy or Hebosteotomy.
The length of the chain saw and handles measure 45 cm. Comes with
a large curved unplated steel symphysiotomy needle, 9cm
steel instrument used to amputate the cervix to eradicate cancer of the
cervix, or to treat uterine prolapse. It has a chain loop
that is tightened by turning the handle clockwise until the cervix is
This technique was introduced by Gustav Simon in 1850.
was out of the question because it was fatal. (L 36 cm)
The cervical stump in abdominal
amputated by a chain ecraseur in the late 19th Century. The chain
was placed around the cervix and was tightened so as to strangulate and
lacerate the cervix, thus lessening the chance of hemorrhage. (L
Late 19th Century
The wire ecraseur
around the base
of uterine polyp or tumor. The handle was turned to tighten the
until the tumor came off. (L 15 cm)
Levi Lane, in 1878 performed the
vaginally. Palmer Dudley found no cases of vaginal
LAVH (Laparoscopic Assisted Vaginal
Maxentius Gutberlet introduced the
of cutting the uterine attachments by abdominal approach and then
to removal of the uterus from the vagina as early as 1810.
Ref: James Ricci, M.D.
The Dev of Gyn Surg
and Instr. pg 387
Norman Publishing, 1990
Fielding Ould (1710-1789) in 1742,
he first suggest
episiotomy to avoid perineal injury.
Paul Dubois (1795-1871) introduced
Braun Ritter von
gave the name episiotomy.
Ref: James Ricci, M.D.
Norman Publishing, 1990
like retroflexion were attributed to several women's complaints.
Among them were painful menstrual cramps, and infertility. It is
a scissor-like instrument for dividing the cervix (inset on
The opening of the sharp edge was adjusted with a screw inside the
James Young Simpson introduced the metrodome in 1860.
Circa 19th Century
A brass stork cord scissors.
are flat and were used to compress the fetal cord until it could be
off with string and cut. Note the image of an infant on the
belly. Midwives in mid 1700 often debated about how long a fetal
cord should be cut. They believe to cut the cords longer on the
so "they would be well provided for the encounter of Venus!" On
the other hand, the cords were cut shorter on the female because "they
would be modest and their privities narrower to make them more
to their sexual partner!" (9 x 4.5 cm)
During the rule of King
aristocrat women resorted to enemas as often as 4 times a day to
improve their complexion and retain thier youthful appearance. Cloyster of opium were given
to relax an irritable colon .
Whitridge William's Obstetrics
The gold standard textbook in
the world. On its 21st edition 2001.
classic texbook used by
and practioners alike for 100 years. On Chapter XV, Conduct of Labor,
"The physician should
not to send for him if the labor commences at night, between 11 P.M.
7 A.M., unless it seems necessary that he should see the patient at
On the other hand, when the pains begin between 7 A.M. and 11 P.M., the
physician should be notified immediately, so that he may make his plans
accordingly." Hmmm, the good old days huh!!
John Whitridge Williams
(1886-1931), a Professor
of Obstetrics in John Hopkins University and author of Americas's most
popular obstetric text, first published in 1903.
See Anesthesia and Bloodletting in
Obstetrics on next pageAnesthesia
All statements in
this web page
regarding date, age, and origin are statements of opinion. All
and materials on this web page are protected by copyright laws.
obtain direct permission fromto
use any and all materials on this site, including photographs and
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country of Japan has a very, long history.
To understand the warlords of Japan, you need to
understand why they even existed.
You see, castles in Japan, known as Nihon Shoki,
were first mentioned in historical documents, showing
them as being constructed sometime around 720 AD.
Consisting of a simple stone wall, these castles
became most popular during the 16th century
at which time the societal, technological, and political
conditions had undergone significant role changes.
This role would continue to change until 1615.
recent years, two types of fortification remains were
discovered, showing the age to be around the 6th
or 7th century.
One such structure was called Chashi, which was
located on the country’s northernmost island of
Hokkaido and Honshu, the northeastern most area.
The second structure was called Kogo-Ishi, which
was found in Kyushu, a south island on the mainland.
At first, historians believed Kogi-Ishi was
stones surrounded by various scared sights.
However, it is not believed that the stones were
actually apart of the mountain fortification, which were
comprised of rows of stone that ran along the side of
small hills. It
is also believed that these fortifications were
constructed in response to ongoing threats from China
during the Heian era, which ran from 794 to 1185,
Samurai became increasingly known, building strong armed
forces that would fight for autonomy.
The samurai families wanted to become a part of
the court so they moved to Kyoto, the capital city where
they began fighting for power and control.
Soon, territorial warlords and samurai fought for
overall power, working to conquer specific domains.
This era became known as the Medieval era.
that time, warfare was limited so battles were fought
briefly, usually consisting of fighting between 24 to 30
men or possible 100 to 200 mounted warriors.
The primary weapon was the sword or arrows being
these battles, defensive fortification and castles was
not the hub of the battle as they were in other
fact, with the exception of a few castles in northern
Kyushu, they were not constructed to be strong and
sturdy because they were under constant attack. Therefore, these structures were never built as a permanent
while stone walls were uncommon, these structures were
built on steep mountain ridges where the people could
see the enemy coming.
the latter part of the 14th century, dispute
began over the Imperial succession and national leaders
showed up in the 16th century, which meant
fighting in Japan became worse.
In fact, the fighting was so bad that during the
Muromachi period from 1336 to 1576, the reference was
“war years”. Because
of this, Japanese warlords became more prominent,
building permanent fortifications and residences with
rooftop towers. It
is estimated that as many as 1,000 castles were built
during this time.
of a change in style of warfare and the growth in power
of the Japanese warlords, the castle underwent many
physical changes. Then
in the early 17th century, swords were
replaced by firearms.
This meant the way in which battles were fought
also changed from infantry to Calvary battles. This also meant that stronger fortification was required.
As the desire for power among the Japanese
warlords increased, the battles during the Sengoku
period from 1467 to 1603 were horrific.
To provide protection to the larger territories,
the Japanese warlords had to build more complex and
Azuchi-jo, which translates to “castle”, was built
in 1576 by Oda Nobunaga, which was the beginning of a
new generation of castles.
Moving forward, technology in construction also
advanced. These newer castles were often associated with government and
commerce, making the steep hillside locations no longer
a viable option. Therefore,
castles were now built on low-lying plateaus, making the
Hirayama-jo, translating to “plain mountain”, the
However, since guns were now used, this was not a
larger and stronger stone walls were erected and a new
defense mechanism put in place, moats, and spikes, among
other things. At
this time, the Japanese warlord was the master of his
personal space, now able to establish and run taxation
rates, laws, and measure/weight systems.
Many castles were constructed in the center of
the warlord’s domain, meaning the castles were now
used for more than a defensive tool.
In addition, the Japanese warlords were now using
these castles as their homes.
Because there was an abundance of work to be
done, people came from near and far.
new towns were created such as Jokamachi.
With the growing number of castles, many major
cities still standing today was formed, one being Tokyo.
Influencing the building styles and techniques
for building castles were influenced by three primary
warlords known as Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Leyasu, and Oda
Nobunaga. Of the three, Hideyoshi build the Osaka castle in 1582.
This castle was the most incredible of all built,
massive in size with five towers and standing nine
stories high. Interestingly,
it took a full three years and 100,000 men to complete.
Sadly, this castle was completely, destroyed in
1615 during a long battle.
there were many additional castles built and destroyed,
the Japanese warlord played a major role in how well
they survived. While
the warlord also faded eventually, they hold a special
place in history, which surely would have been much
different without them.
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| 3.703125
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Trees are the answer, but what are the questions?
And if trees are in question what are the
answers? Trees and forests are such an integral part of
This year iConserve PA (DCNR’s citizen conservation awareness program) will provide ideas on how to help in four key ways: protecting trees and forests; planting trees; buying sustainable tree and forest products; and exploring and enjoying the forests. Through the iConservePA website, innovative programs, new publications, and a knowledgeable team of experts, DCNR hopes to build awareness around the many issues facing these resources and how their condition is related to water quality; climatic and environmental health; the availability of forest products; the integrity of habitat and wildlife; the opportunities for recreation; and our own health and welfare.
Protection is possibly the most important step to
address. Trees and forests play a crucial role in
maintaining our water supplies, acting as a natural filter
Trees and forests also play a major role in helping to combat climate change. Carbon dioxide is the leading greenhouse gas and our large tracts of forest land are instrumental in mitigating climate change and storing carbon dioxide. Individuals can assist by properly caring for their own trees so that they can grow strong, live long, and perform these functions for many years.
Invasive plants and pests are major threats to our trees
and forests and an ongoing struggle to combat. Become
familiar with invasives and, to keep them from taking
over our native plant populations, learn techniques for
their removal. Also learn to recognize invasive pests and
the ways they can be accidentally introduced to an
environment. One easy practice to avoid such
Planting trees is another step in aiding the trees and
forests cause. Pennsylvania was at one time almost
completely covered with forests, but every day we lose
about 350 acres of forest lands and open spaces to
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| 0.945147
| 389
| 3.5625
| 4
|
For the benefit of those unacquainted with the Turing Test, it is a test proposed by computer scientist and philosopher Alan Turing. The idea was that a person would talk with a computer, unaware of who/what they were talking to. If, at the end of the conversation the person is unable to determine whether they were talking to a human or a robot (i.e. the computer has fooled the questioner into thinking they're a person) then they're said to have passed a key measure of sentience.
Now, after a search on Memory Alpha, I've found no references to the Turing test which got me thinking : When was the Turing test passed in Star Trek?
I would expect it to be passed before the time of Lore (e.g. 2330s) considering he would pass the test. I want to know if there was any reference in Star Trek materials (i.e. TV episodes, movies, comics, books) to the Turing Test and, if so what this reference involved.
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A new study found that a six-month program of Tai Chi exercises helped people with various stages of Parkinson’s disease improve stability, their ability to walk and reduced the frequency of falls.
The study, published this week in the New England Journal of Medicine compared a six-month tailored Tai Chi program to resistance training and stretching to see which was most effective at improving functional movement, walking and balance for Parkinson’s patients.
Parkinson’s is a neurological disorder caused by a loss of neurons that producedopamine, a chemical involved with muscle function and movement coordination. That can result in tremors, stiffness, poor coordination and more difficulty doing daily activities. It can also lead to a higher risk of falls, which can cause serious injuries. Tai Chi, a discipline that incorporates slow, deliberate movements, plus breathing, has health benefits that include reducing stress and improving balance and posture.
For the study the researchers randomly assigned 195 men and women ages 40 to 85 who were in stages one to four of Parkinson’s disease (on a scale of one to five) to the exercise groups. The study participants were randomly assigned to an hour long, twice weekly sessions of Tai Chi, resistance training or stretching for six months. Researchers assessed their status at the beginning of the study, at three and six months, and three months after the study ended.
At the end of the study the Tai Chi group did better than the stretching group on a few measures: leaning without losing balance, having better directional control of their body, and walking skills. They outperformed the resistance training group on balance and stride length. Those in the Tai Chi group also reduced their frequency of falls more than the stretching group, and on a par with the resistance group. Three months after the study ended, those in the Tai Chi group were able to maintain the benefits they had gained.
“Since many training features in the program are functionally oriented,” said Oregon Research Institute scientist Fuzhong Li in a news release, “the improvements in the balance and gait measures that we demonstrated highlight the potential of Tai Chi-based movements in rehabilitating patients with these types of problems and, consequently, easing cardinal symptoms of Parkinson’s disease and improving mobility, flexibility, balance and range of motion.” Li was the lead author of the study.
Li explained that Tai Chi has several advantages. “It is a low-cost activity that does not require equipment, it can be done anywhere, at any time, and the movements can be easily learned. It can also be incorporated into a rehabilitation setting as part of existing treatment. Similarly, because of its simplicity, certain aspects of this Tai Chi program can also be prescribed to patients as a self-care/home activity.”
Dr. Chenchen Wang, who is studying tai chi for arthritis and fibromyalgia, said the results of the Parkinson’s research were “dramatic and impressive.” She heads the Center for Complementary and Integrative Medicine at Tufts Medical Center in Boston. She added that one of the strengths of the study was that researchers could measure the results directly instead of relying on the patients’ own reports. But a placebo effect can’t be totally discounted, she said, since the participants knew which exercise program they were assigned and that could have influenced results.
The findings will receive a lot of attention in the Parkinson’s community, said Blair Ford, medical adviser with the Parkinson’s Disease Foundation and a professor of clinical neurology at Columbia University in New York. “Tai chi and probably equivalent methods are helpful at improving balance and decreasing falls and that’s very, very important for Parkinson’s disease,” Ford said in a Feb. 7 telephone interview. The study “might just get tai chi on the map as a conjunctive treatment for Parkinson’s. Medications alone don’t prevent falling.”
Andrew Feigin, a neurologist specializing in Parkinson’s disease at the North Shore-LIJ Medical Group in Great Neck, New York, said the findings give scientific backing to doctor recommendations that patients try exercises like tai chi to improve balance. “Balance and gait are problems that people with Parkinson’s disease have,” said Feigin, who wasn’t an author of today’s paper. “Things like stretching and resistance aren’t really working on balance. Tai chi really focuses on improvements in balance. It’s nice to get some actual data that shows doing those things can be helpful.”
“The results from this study are quite impressive,” says Ray Dorsey, a neurologist and associate professor at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore. “It’s always difficult to compare results across studies, but the magnitude of the impact that they had is larger, in some cases, than what is seen with medications in Parkinson’s,” says Dorsey, who also directs the Movement Disorders Center and Neurology Telemedicineat Johns Hopkins. He was not involved in the research.
Estimates vary, but at least 500,000 people in the United States have Parkinson’s and as many as 10 million people worldwide are living with the disorder, according to the Parkinson’s Disease Foundation, based in New York. Men are more probable than women to have the disease. The study was paid for by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. Click here to read the rest of the article.
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|Welcome to the next 10 Billion Acres!|
Respect the Need for Air: try holding your breath.
SUMMARY. This is a Green Paper™ that defines the true cause of Global Climate Change. We have also determined the proper solution for fixing the problem. Climate Change is just an 'early warning symptom' of a much greater threat to Humanity than most realize. Since 1492, civilization's sprawling expansion has progressively deforested 8 Billion Acres of the surface of Planet Earth. As a result, Humanity has progressively eliminated nearly 55% of the Trees (and associated plants) covering the Earth's surface. Average US grove growths have between 149 and 200 Trees per acre. Young Tree growths can yield as many as 1500 trees per acre.
To allow greater termite and insect populations (critical for ecosystem balance), and more plant, loam and maintenance accessibility, 10 Billion Acres has earmarked 3-5 Billion Acres as a goal for reforestation at 200 trees per acre, minimum, 450 trees per acre, maximum. This leads to a quota of 1 Trillion Trees (a net minimum new growth figure) with a goal to replace them within 25-30 years to prevent Human Extinction from reaching a point of no return within the next 300 years. If we do not meet these goals, the Human Species will begin to die off in 150 years and will, unless nature intervenes on its own, be extinct by the year 2260 - 2300. Limiting Human Population or reducing Carbon Emissions from Industry, Transportation and Agriculture will have NO or NEGLIGABLE effect, less than than 1.6% on the timeframe, maximum.
Reforestation of 5 Billion Acres or more and protection of the Algae/Phytoplankton/O2-producing-Micro-organisms in the Ocean from Agri and Industrial runoff, is the entire solution.
The ACSA's 10 Billion Acres Project has fact checked and rechecked these figures for 15 years and found not even a single reason for doubt: Human Extinction is assured within 300-500 years, if we do not act now. By the time the extinction trend begins, we will have long since gone beyond a point of no return and it will be far too late to repair the Earth's atmosphere.
Below is a picture of a forest clearing in preparation to building a shopping mall. There is a huge amount of information on this website including forest canopy depletion maps from this century that are indisputable. Feel free to reference it in any of your papers.
As a result just of humanity's sprawling expansion (not logging), we've deprived the Earth's Carbon - Hydrogen - Oxygen - Nitrogen cycles of having sufficient CO2 sequestration by Trees and plants such that the natural balance has been entirely disrupted! That is causing heat to build and redistribute throughout our atmosphere, and gradually slowing down the atmosphere's most important and critical oxygen replacement cycle. The normal climatic cycle, which relies on the Trees, plants, algae, phytoplankton and certain CO2 breathing micro-organisms for full Oxygen (O2) production, has been disrupted and it is worsening. As it worsens the atmosphere steadily de-functionalizes until at a point in the not too distant future, it will no longer be able to properly support human life.
In 1492, our atmosphere could replace/replenish itself in entirety on a 250-500 year cycle. Today, that cycle has risen to more than 2500 years and is heading towards 5000. Eventually, it will take too long, and human existence will be threatened by atmospheric collapse. We must act now, or by the time it reaches the extinction level, it will be TOO LATE! Our first priority: replace the lost Trees and plants. Second: protect the phytoplankton, Algae and other Oceanic and River Oxygen-producing microorganisms. Simple, easily implemented steps are all it will take. But if we continue to ignore our stewardship responsibility, Planet Earth will become uninhabitable and Humanity will become extinct!
We can protect the Atmosphere's oxygen and gas balances in such a way as insures the Earth's ability to support human existence. All we need do is replant the trees, nurture them, and protect our Oceans and Rivers from agricultural and industrial run-off!
HELP US START THE RE-PLANTING PROCESS!
NEW! Find out how to donate by clicking HERE>
The 10 Billion Acre Story
Here's the problem
we face, as well as a definition of the real causes of Global Climate Change:
the world's climate and temperatures were stable and safe for
humanity 500 years ago.
As a result there is no longer sufficient Tees and Algae (and Phytoplankton/Microbes) on the Planet to reduce the amount of Carbon added to the Atmosphere by Volcanic Activity and Plant Decomposition alone! As a result, CO2 is steadily increasing in the Atmosphere!
Each year, the amount of carbon they produce exceeds the Trees and Algae/Phytoplankton's/Microbes ability to reduce carbon by 4.5 Billion Tons. As a result, since 1492, 730 Billion Tons of Carbon have accumulated in the Atmosphere. In addition, Human related emissions added from an additional 1.1 to 1.6 Billion tons of Carbon more each year.
But if we only eliminate ALL HUMAN RELATED EMISSIONS, 4.5 Billion tons would still accumulate every single year! We cut down so many trees, that what's left WONT DO THE JOB! In fact, within 25 years if we do not replant the Trillion Trees we cut down and they have not reached 15-18 years maturity, humanity will become extinct between 250 and 500 years from now and in the interim, climate change will create intolerable living conditions on Earth!
The Tree clearing was
done mainly by civilization's expansion and fires. Logging and
Wood Industries are generally respectful of the forests and replant
forest areas they perform logging activities in so that new growth
will eventually become wood products (with some noteworthy
exceptions). Civilization has also cleared plant life in
If we keep cutting down trees and plants, the Atmosphere will become tragically damaged, leading to our extinction for maged, leading to our extinction for LACK OF SUFFICIENT SUSTAINABLE O2 in the AIR FOR US ALL TO BREATHE! The true threat is the ongoing disruption of the environmental chains that produces Oxygen which are far more at risk! Humanity, and all life that breathes Oxygen (O2), are at risk of becoming extinct.
10 BILLION ACRES
TAKES ITS CASE TO THE UN and THE WORLD BANK
The 10 Billion Acres Project was started in 1993. In 2005, we supported a report issued by the World Bank and the United Nations, the Millennium Eco Assessment Report, which study confirms the 10 Billion Acres' Project's goals. More info about the United Nations MEA Report:
If we don't have sufficient numbers and a
proper balance of Trees, Plants and Algae(including Phytoplankton
and CO2 consuming microbes), eventually we won't be able to breathe:
the atmosphere around us will cease being able to support human
existence in a sustainable manner. We've already caused the
atmosphere to have a greatly lengthened cycle of Oxygen exchange
(the time it takes to exchange all the Oxygen from CO2 and NO). The
rate was much faster when there were more trees: 500 years was
needed to completely replace all oxygen.
As a result of deforestation it is taking place at a slower rate, relying upon Algae/Phytoplankton/CO2-using-microbes more than Trees and Plants versus the ratio in 1492. It has expanded fourfold, exchanging the oxygen at what is approaching a dangerously slow rate, causing a net decrease in the amount of oxygen (the atmosphere's ratio of oxygen to nitrogen has remained the same, so a corresponding decline in the volume of nitrogen has also taken place). It is now 2000 years (in 1492 it was more like 500 years) for a complete "change of air". Tree clearing, plant clearing, plant decomp and mankind's use of combustion, along with uncontrolled fires, have taken their toll, alarmingly so.
This degradation of the ability to replenish oxygen and a change in the balance of Trees and Plants to Algae/PPlankton/CO2-consuming-microorganisims has reduced the atmosphere's ability to eliminate heat, as well as reduced its capacity to process CO2, and has reduced the amount of oxygen while maintaining its ratio. Heat is being redistributed to the poles, melting the ice shelves, raising the Ocean's level. If we do not replace the trees civilization has cleared, we're all in deep trouble. Unless we replace the Trees and Plants we cleared, and restore the balance of Trees to Algae/Phytoplankton/CO2-using-microorganisms, we face extinction through lack of breathable oxygen, nitrogen deficiency, global warming and widespread planetary flooding. But decreasing industrial, auto and waste emissions is not going to solve that problem, in spite of what some have argued. It will only prolong the likely day when we reach the "Zero Point of No Yield", where the atmosphere can no longer support human existence. Unless we plant trees in vast numbers, we'll reach that day blinded by our own inaction.
Carbon Dioxide is the stuff we exhale.
Carbon Dioxide is called, in short, a "Greenhouse Gas" because a) originally thought of in Horticulture as a set of nutrient or expelled Gasses found in the horticultural Greenhouse, used by plants and trees which convert CO2, one of the gasses, to oxygen and use or emit other gasses (it was originally noted that if such gasses built up in the top of a Horticultural Greenhouse, under the Roof, some of them, particularly CO2, tended trap the Sun's energy at the same time as the glass roof blocked infra red energy rising in water vapor from the floor: heating the Greenhouse, allowing the effect to be leveraged to keep plants warm); as well as b) because it is correspondingly one of the most significant causes of the alleged atmospheric "Greenhouse Effect": the rise in temperature that the Earth experiences because certain gasses, these same Greenhouse Gasses, in the upper atmosphere (water vapor, carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, and methane, for example) trap energy from the sun and could be responsible for some aspect of Global Warming. The cause for the rise in CO2 is in general: reduction of the Earth's capacity to process it, animal life, decomposition of plants, volcanic activity, and human industrial and energy production activities, in that order.
RESEARCH IS AIMED AT CONTROLLING GREENHOUSE GASSES IN AGRICULTURE
However, while the potential for Greenhouse Gasses to buildup in the Earth's upper atmosphere (which is being attributed incorrectly in the Press as a byproduct solely of Industrial Emissions and Fossil Fuel use) is what scientists are claiming is causing Climate Change, the lack of a roof over the Earth's atmosphere as is found on a Horticultural Greenhouse has led other scientists to question how so much CO2 and other greenhouse gasses could build up at the top of the Atmosphere, or are suggesting that CO2 distributes evenly throughout the Atmosphere. These scientists as insisting that the specific structure of the atmosphere is not the same as the roof of a greenhouse, and that gasses from human activities that heat the atmosphere can't appreciably accumulate tat levels sufficient to produce enough heat, or, in the case of CO2, rapidly ionize at high altitudes, producing Carbon fallout and Ozone which affixes to the Ozone layer at the top of the atmosphere, helping protect us from harmful solar radiation. Nonetheless, the public has come to be proselytized by the doomsayers, among them, former Vice President Al Gore, who insist CO2 will superheat the earth if we don't cut back on Auto, Energy and Industrial Emissions.
The actual volumes of Plant/Oceanic/Fossil Contribution to Atmospheric CO2, in billions of tons: Note that the chart does not accurately depict Animal Life's respiratory contribution, which is 66+ Billion Tons higher than the figures indicated. Most studies promoting the Greenhouse Effect on Climate Change omit this key contributing factor so as to achieve "the scare factor" that Global Warming is from fuels and industry. In fact, O2 breathing animals contribute ten (10) times as much to the CO2 in the atmosphere as do fuels and industrial processes. However, the reduced volumes of Trees and plants has caused a shortfall in the ability of the Atmosphere and Planet to process CO2.
The claims that we are experiencing a Greenhouse Effect in the atmosphere is attractive to those who might benefit from exploiting the concept. Politicians are latching on to this readily available claim for the purposes of political gain. For example, recent publicity efforts by former Vice President and present Venture Capital VP Al Gore says it's all about automobile emissions and fossil fuel use. He also claims that wasteful use of energy is the cause (he should talk! his family estate house uses as much electricity as a small community and is left running day by day!) We beckon Mr. Gore to consider the science of 10 Billion Acres... The following represents the general consensus regarding Mr. Gore's publicitous campaign, which while laudable for its motives, seems suspiciously political rather than scientific.
We say that in terms of what the primary climate change cause is, Al's just plain wrong: he's misdirecting the public away from that which would be most embarrassing to those invested in Coal and Wood products, and, entirely without necessity as they are not responsible for the loss of 8 billion acres of trees: civilization is, the spread of it caused the deforestation. In our research, we've discovered that climate change is the byproduct of our times, and that as to Oxygen depletion: it's all about the ratio of Trees versus Algae/Phytoplankton/CO2-using-microbes in bearing the load of Carbon Dioxide conversion into Oxygen. Were there enough Trees in the equation, Climate Change would not be occurring other than that which would be normal for the Earth's and Oceans' cycles during this Era. All the cars, industry and energy waste in the world would have little or no impact. Today, they are only having nominal impact. While Energy Management is vital to conserve energy sources, and emissions controls are vital to preserve the quality of the air we breathe and the water we drink, Climate Change of the Global Warming alleged by Al Gore would involve far more CO2 sources than your granddad's '65 Oldsmobile. In reality, Atmospheric Quality hinges on a far greater contributing factor: the loss of 8 Billion Acres of Trees since 1492 being THE PRIMARY CONTRIBUTOR. We've unwittingly rolled the Earth's climate back to a time of greater warmth, higher ocean levels, and more deserts, a time before the era of the Dinosaurs! Yet the real problem is that Al Gore is overstating Humanity's role in Climate Change, and ignoring the more threatening consequence: clearing of trees is threatening to undermine the entire Oxygen content of our atmosphere, as well as contributing in a smaller way to global warming and climate change.
Today the Earth is, unknown to most climatologists apparently, in the middle of an ICE AGE. We are traversing the portion of that Age known as "the Interglacial Period", a period of natural warming characteristic of the midpoint of all ice ages: we are about 18,000 years into what is a normal period of warming expected to last about a total of 20-25,000 years.
Temperature Change over the course of the Earth's Epochs
In the last 65 million years the planet has not been as warm as it was during the Mesozoic. In fact, during the last million years the planets temperature has been so low that there have been repeated episodes of mass glaciations. This trend extends to the present where the present epoch, the Holocene, is considered an interglacial period. An interglacial period is considered a period of temporary warming between extended periods of glaciations. ( This chart shows where we stand today versus the prior epochs on Earth, along with an indicator of the effects of Deforestation as the Earth loses its ability to process CO2. )
(Chart Courtesy of
F. Michael Real, Chatham University, Pittsburgh, PA USA)
During the Interglacial
Period, the Polar Icecaps melt normally, and Glaciers melt and
recede. Fresh water is released until eventually, the
temperature of the Earth reduces from a natural combination of
orbital wobble change and higher water levels, and the next phase of
the ICE AGE occurs: THE GREAT FREEZE. That freeze over is
anywhere from 250 to 10,000 years away. In the meanwhile,
Polar Cap melt and Glacial decline is a normal process of the
Interglacial Period. Were we to base the analysis and
evaluation of environmental climate change solely on the meltdowns
occurring naturally, we'd be entirely incorrect in our
We have to actually compare the normal rate of change expected for such a period of glacial decline with today's melts. Which is difficult, since the prior ICE AGE and its Interglacial Period predated modern science, and judging it from geological formations is, at best, difficult if not impossible. Furthermore, we are in a cycle of current and salt content shift, a natural process in the Ocean, that causes heating and cooling in the Ocean, which is not affected by our industrial or automobile emissions, as verified by noted weather and environmental scientist, Dr. William Gray, a pioneer in the science of seasonal hurricane forecasts (news...> "Al Gore gets the Cold Shoulder"), who insists Gore and others are brainwashing and intentionally scaring people: "We're brainwashing our children," said Dr Gray, 78, a long-time professor at Colorado State University. "They're going to the Gore movie [An Inconvenient Truth] and being fed all this. It's ridiculous!" states Dr. Gray.
Dr Gray, whose annual forecasts of the number of tropical storms and hurricanes are widely publicized, said a natural cycle of ocean water temperatures - related to the amount of salt in ocean water - was responsible for the global warming that he acknowledges has taken place. "The human impact on the atmosphere is simply too small to have a major effect on global temperatures," Dr. Gray said. "It bothers me that my fellow scientists are not speaking out against something they know is wrong," he said. "But they also know that they'd never get any grants if they spoke out. I don't care about grants."
In a different way, we agree with Dr. Gray.
Controversially, the 10 Billion Acres project has determined that Industrial and Energy/Waste Greenhouse Gasses from modern commerce have only had a 2-4% impact on the overall climate change. Hence, we believe that the greater issue is the fact that the amount of Atmosphere, which is relatively speaking no thicker than the skin on an apple, bearing oxygen and nitrogen, has seen a 33% decline since 1492, caused by a shift in oxygen production off of the Trees cleared by civilization, and the shift of responsibility to produce it onto Algae/Phytoplankton/CO2-using-microbes in the vast majority. While the ratio of O2 to Nitrogen remains the same, our atmosphere is actually 33% less in overall volume, even though it occupies more or less the same area, it is much more rarified at its top than in 1492. Prolific amounts of Jet travel in the upper atmosphere has not helped much, but is largely responsible for only about 1/10th of 1%.
Nonetheless, the clearing of trees to the extent civilization has, is an entirely different thing. This condition has not existed on Earth since long before the Dinosaurs and early Tropical Forests, when Trees were lower in number and the atmosphere's oxygen was the byproduct mainly of Algae/Phytoplankton photosynthesis or metabolism.
This "tree decline" situation is getting increasingly dangerous. We could be pushing the Interglacial Period's normal meltdown of icecaps and glaciers to the point where they could collapse, leading to a drastic rise in the Ocean's level, flooding 1/4 of the continents on which we live. We could also be creating a "Zero Point of No Return" where the levels of Greenhouse Effect, CO2 buildup and degeneration of Algaes and Trees and Plants become no longer capable of sustaining human life by failing to produce enough Oxygen. We face possible extinction, as early as 100-250 years from now, if we continue to clear and not replant trees.
|BEGIN THE RE-PLANTING PROCESS!|
Al Gore is aware of the real facts but is not speaking them.
We believe, with all due respect, that Al Gore knows this to be
factual, since he does make a very tiny mention of loss of trees
causing some aspect of his claims of global warming. Yet being of
political motives, we believe Mr. Gore has not fully considered the
dangerous consequences that his misleading the public might cause:
human extinction when the oxygen exchange rate in our atmosphere
exceeds its capacity to support human existence. In spite of the
worthiness of bringing public attention to climate change, the
science quoted by Mr. Gore in his film "An Inconvenient Truth" does
not reflect reality (citing experts in a Court Case who analyzed the
film). Instead, Mr. Gore has minimized the responsibility of
deforestation and coal mining, two key factors that have gradually
reduced the Earth's Atmosphere's and Ocean's ability to process CO2
steadily since 1492 until now where Human Life is threatened with
Such has changed the ratio of Trees to Algae/Phytoplankton massively in the favor of Algae/Phytoplankton, and has altered the Oceans and Rivers by eliminating the natural filtration afforded by Coal, which is "the Earth's Liver"**. Yet, with enough public awareness we can solve these problems, so long as we do not wait too long. We can re-grow the Trees and place rock filtration in place of Coal where it was mined out. Unfortunately, the consequences of Mr. Gore's publicity programs could undermine public awareness sufficiently to lead to a dangerous situation where nothing is done about reforesting and replacing the forever lost coal. Ecology is a delicate balance. Disrupt it in this major a way, and you clearly have environmental catastrophe on your hands.
It's easy to get a multitude of grant hungry scientists to testify on your behalf.
In Christopher Columbus's
day, and Galileo's day, one could have obtained the signatures of a
multitude of well respected scientists all of who would have sworn
that the Earth was flat or that it was at the Center of the
Universe. Mr. Gore has obtained the signatures of a multitude
of their modern day peers swearing that Global Warming is about just
auto emissions and fossil fuels. Those factors are far less
significant than what the 10 Billion Acres Project is addressing.
It's the big picture that everyone is missing, they think this
website is just about preserving forests. Preserving a forest
means replanting or protecting 10-20,000 trees.
Right now, our planet has come up short about 850 Billion trees. It takes more than becoming a "tree hugger" to understand the big picture here. We are not "tree huggers", the 10 Billion Acres Project is aimed solely at repairing the planet's ability to support life, atmospheric and oceanic. It is not enough to restrict emissions, as we have short changed life by defeating the natural balance of Trees versus Oceanic and Wetland Algaes/Phytoplanktons/CO2-using-Microbes. The results? The Atmosphere is storing heat, and CO2, and humanity is suffering - less oxygen leads to more disease, and eventual extinction. Why do we need to act now, quickly, one might ask? One need take a look at the entire picture, the Big Picture: let's go back in time to when the American continent was first settled by Europeans. We have 500 years damage to undo. Only we don't have 500 years to undo it in...
10 Billion Acres is
roughly: 15.625 million square miles, a size about half that of the
African continent, so one can see that a lot of tree clearing, 8
Billion Acres, has taken quite a toll. Imagine a square 3577 miles on a side.
That's about the area of trees cleared by Humanity since 1492.
Even returning 1/4 of that in trees would go a long way toward
solving the problem.
LET'S TAKE A LOOK BACK IN 1492:
When Columbus first landed in America in 1492 nearly 18.5 Billion Acres of Forests covered Planet Earth. Yet, the total human population of Earth was only about a half billion. Today, there are in excess of six billion human beings: but there are far fewer trees. Only 8.5 Billion Acres of Forests remain in the world today. As a result, the Earth's atmosphere has changed. There has been a near 33% reduction in Oxygen (O2) in our atmosphere since 1492. There has been a marked increase in un-breathe-able Carbon Dioxide (CO2), it has quadrupled. Trees represent the most significant source of breathable oxygen, we depend upon them to replenish our atmosphere as we exhale CO2. Yet the steady deforestation of the Planet since 1492 has led to a steady decline of Oxygen. The result: nearly 66% of all oxygen in our atmosphere comes from Algae/Phytoplankton and CO2 using microbes in the Oceans, Rivers, Lakes and Wetlands, where in 1492, only 33% relied on Algae/phytoplankton/CO2-using-microbes. The trees produced 66% of the oxygen and the Planet had the capacity to process 100% more Carbon Dioxide (CO2) per year, much of which was latent capacity.
With human population on the rise, Humanity is on a near term collision path with the decline in the number of Trees. Today, Trees above the "northern dew line" carry most of the oxygenation responsibility: during Winter, Oxygen declines as the Trees naturally hibernate, in Spring it renews as they sprout leaves and grow. But it is not renewing at the levels it used to anymore. A very severer decomposition process known as "Eutrophication" and Dephosphate/Denitrogen/Deoxygenation could result in a cascade of damage to the atmosphere over a relatively short span of years that without being held in check by Tree planting, could lead to human extinction.
We have determined that this is the byproduct of bad forestry management practices (not by any one group, just the global byproduct of all human activity, resulting in massive Tree and Plant life losses): deforestation, industrialization and logging, without Global Reforestry - the failure to practice planting self-sustaining forests on empty land and in cities throughout the world.
New York City's Mayor Bloomberg recently announced an initiative to plant a million new trees on the streets of the City of New York, for a project founded by famed actress and diva Bette Midler. While 8500 times too small a planting to solve the problem, it is a great step in the right direction.
We say: keep up the good work, Mayor Bloomberg! Thank you Bette Midler: a definitive step in the right direction! Every city follow Bette and Mike's example globally and we'll be on the road to saving the Planet! However, we actually need to work faster and at a much larger volume of planting in time to head off climate change.
Charles Foster, our learned advisor on Atmospheric Mechanics (the Mathematics of Atmospheric Behavior), has calculated that using a "planting factor" of about 100 to 294 trees to an acre (an aggressive figure), 1 million trees planted in New York City would represent only 3,400 to 10,000 Acres when compared to a typical forest. Replacing 3, 5 or 8 Billion Acres of trees represents nearly 1-3 million times that which New York City is planning, to give one an idea of the enormous magnitude of the solution. Mayor Bloomberg's historic effort represents a step in the right direction, one that needs to be followed by many, many more steps.
The steady decline in the Earth's atmospheric O2 content is now officially a threat to Human Survival in the not too distant future. It will hit home far, far sooner than mere global warming, over population or pollution of the environment, however it will steadily worsen the climate changes. The lack of Trees (and plants) to "scrub" CO2 from the Atmosphere is also creating a "greenhouse gas canopy" (G2C) in the upper atmosphere, causing heat to be retained by the atmosphere, leading to climate change in a variety of ways. In various ways, this "CO2 Greenhouse Gas Canopy" being caused by Forest depletion worsens climate conditions. For example: it causes deflection and filtration (wavelength shift) in Sunlight, causing increases in temperature in some areas, decreases in others. For example: at high angles of Sunlight incidence, toward the poles, it is focusing the Sun's light on the Ice Cap's fringes, like a lens, increasing melting. Adding to the complex problem is the clearing of rainforests, over 20% of these crucial rainforest areas are now gone. These dense zones of Trees and Plants are in constant danger from the spread of civilization and industry.
THE SCIENCE OF OXYGEN and CARBON IS STRAIGHT FORWARD:
The oxygen in our atmosphere is almost completely the product of the photosynthetic activity of green plants, phytoplankton, CO2-using-microbes and algae. The oxygen content of the atmosphere increased continuously during earth history since the first occurrence of organisms that were able to split water and perform photosynthesis. The increase stopped when a balance, today's 21 percentage by volume was reached. The source of the atmospheric oxygen was mainly water and to a lesser extend other oxides. Respiration and combustion are energy-consuming processes. The end product of respiration is carbon dioxide. The redox reactions taking place within organisms are discussed here.
Millions of years ago, prior to the arrival of Algae, Phytoplanktons, CO2-using-microbes and Lichens which are symbiotically linked to Algae, there was no free Oxygen in the Atmosphere. The ecosystem that resulted from the arrival of Algae / Lichens symbiosis fostered the production of oxygen that allowed creatures who convert (redox) oxygen into CO2 to develop and thrive, and then, over land that Trees and Plants evolved to thrive on their CO2. As the Earth's Ecosystem of producers, consumers and decomposers gradually developed, a natural balance occurred. However, Human Activity has had significant impact on the over all balance, leading to a shift of oxygen production back onto Algae, Phytoplanktons and CO2-using-microbes, and away from Trees and Plants by our reducing the numbers to below 1/2 of the volume of Trees and Plants found on Earth in 1492. This has created a byproduct that has allowed fossil fuels and industrialization to increase CO2 in the atmosphere without it being converted by plants and algae, a general reduction in the volume of free O2 in the atmosphere, and an increase in heat in our Oceans and Atmosphere, leading to the presently recognized trend in climate change and icecap melts, leading to a more immediate danger of continental flooding.
BLUE GREEN ALGAE GROWN IN A LABORATORY, UP CLOSE.
HOW MUCH DO WE HAVE?
The atmosphere contains about 1.3 x 1014 tons of free oxygen today. In 1492, the atmosphere was much larger at 2.0 x 1014 due to the presence of nearly 9 Billion more acres of Tree growth. The atmosphere was wider in diameter, with a greater carbon processing and heat dissipation capacity. The lithosphere carries an even 5.5 x 1016 tons of bound oxygen, more than a hundred times more than the atmosphere. (In 1492 it bore nearly 6.75 x 1016 tons, so there has been some lithospheric reduction as well.) Its main part is bound as carbonates, silicates, sulfates, and other oxides. In the atmosphere, oxygen occurs mainly unbound, while the strongly ionizing cosmic radiation causes the production of ozone and atomic oxygen within the stratosphere. The ozone layer protects the biosphere effectively from short-wave UV-radiation.
Over the decades, human activities have used up increasing amounts of oxygen while carbon dioxide is set free, while over 500 years, humanity reduced the Trees in number by some 100 Billion net losses. A decrease of free oxygen has continued at small rates until nearly 25% of it has depleted in the last 300 years, 30% over 500 years, from Tree, shifting the balance onto Algae, Phytoplanktons and CO2-using-microbes that has a potentially devastating effect on Oceanic ecology. A noticeable increase in the atmosphere's concentration of carbon dioxide has been registered as well.
A main characteristic of
the oxygen cycle is its connection with a part of the carbon cycle
that plants and algae have a key position in. The modern exchange
rate of atmospheric oxygen is a relatively high: 2,000 years. In
other words: plants produce 1/2000 of the whole atmospheric oxygen
each year and the same amount of oxygen is consumed by oxidation.
Increasing tree growth from 8.6 Billion Acres found today to 18.5
billion Acres, will double the exchange amounts reducing the
exchange rate to 500 years in capacity, quadrupling the ability to
process carbon, and reducing the burden on Algae/Phytoplankton and
CO2-using-microbes photosynthesis and metabolism to 1/2 its present
level, while retaining the capacity potential of the Algae/Lichen
The carbon dioxide of the atmosphere is completely exchanged within 300 years at present rates, which is not enough to equal the growth rate of carbon in the atmosphere produced by human activity. Increasing it to the level supported by 18.5 billion Acres of Trees and supporting plants, would decrease the carbon dioxide exchange cycle to roughly 1/4 (75 years). This would exceed the carbon release rate by human activity and fossil fuel consumption by nearly a factor of two, allowing the atmosphere to expand, cool naturally, and the seas being heated by retention by algae, plankton and microbes and processing by algae, phytoplankton and Microbes feeding cycles, to cool naturally, until reaching a proper heat to oxygen to carbon ration of .5 to 21 to 1, allowing the regular weather cycles to resume, and eliminating the Arctic and Antarctic melts and unusual weather being seen today altogether.
The total amount of water, namely 1.5 billion cubic kilometer is completely split by photolysis and reproduced by oxidation within 2 million years. These values show the water cycle changes just little without the activity of plants, while the oxygen and the carbonate cycle would be altered drastically without plants. Nonetheless, the algae-fication cycle has been seen to retain heat and remove nutrients at rates that heat the oceans and the reduction in atmospheric pressure and atmospheric diameter, has shown the ability to raise ocean temperature as much as 1 degree per decade, a drastic change that can lead to total Arctic melt, and continental flooding, if we do not shift the burden of Algae and phytoplankton providing oxygen back onto Trees and supporting plants immediately (within the next 50 years).
the Earth's Layers
SOME HANDY DEFINITIONS:
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THERE ARE OTHER PARTS OF THE ATMOSPHERE THAT NEED HELP.
79 percent of the atmosphere consist of free nitrogen and at least the same amount of bound nitrogen is found in the lithosphere. These large reservoirs are not immediately available for plants. In this context, microorganisms have a central role. Nitrogen fixation is the cue. Plants use nitrogen almost only as ammonium and nitrate ions. In organic materials, nitrogen is mainly required for the production of the amino-groups found in proteins or nucleic acids. Nitrate and nitrite bacteria convert the amino groups back to nitrate or nitrite. Nitrate-reducing bacteria living in the soil or in water reduce oxidized nitrogen compounds and do thus close the cycle. Nitrogen fixation and reduction do roughly balance one each other.
The production of ammonium compounds and nitrates is a limiting factor of plant growth. It is true that the lithosphere contains almost unlimited amounts of nitrates, but they occur mainly in depths that are unreachable for plant roots. For humans, too, it is uneconomical to exploit this pool.
Nitrogen compounds are usually very water soluble, large amounts are therefore lost by leaching. They may, especially if occurring in addition with extensive fertilizing, accumulate in lakes or ponds and cause eutrophication, a process which if it increases to include destruction of River and Ocean algae along with continued reduction of Tree and Plant life on earth could lead to our extinction.
Many nitrogen fixing bacteria and blue-green algae are free-living, others live in symbiosis with plants like with the leguminosae Cycas or Ginko. The symbiotic species bind about ten times as much nitrogen as the free-living. Free-living bacteria and algae fix on average 1g/square meter/year. The highest measured value is 20 g/square meter/year.
The relatively high rice yields of South and South-East Asia are partly based on the occurrence of extensive populations of blue-green algae like Nostoc. They live in the shallow stagnant waters where rice cultures are cultivated. In the whole contemplation of the nitrogen cycle, global or regional changes are of secondary importance. Far more important are the local concentrations and there again mainly the concentrations in the rhizosphere of the plants.
Hence the relationship between Algae/Phytoplankton/CO2-using-microbes to Trees and Plants that produce oxygen, has much more subtlety than previously believed, as Algae also play a vital role in creation of the nitrogen nutrient cycle for plants, and in CO2 that emits from the ground where decomposing plant biological material is disturbed.
Disruption of the balance of Trees and Plants versus Algae/Phytoplanktons/microbes, has caused, among other things, a high nitrogen overload content to fall in rainstorms, leading to so-called "Acid Rains" that damage plants and human activity. Over the years, the largest disruption has occurred due to over-blooming of algaes, at a disproportionate level, leading to oxygen production at the expense of nitrogen distribution, further decreasing the atmospheric nitrogen cycle and ability to dissipate heat and supply appropriate nutrients to that which feeds humanity. Effects on the Phosphorous and Sulfur elements of the Atmosphere are also significant but bear further analysis elsewhere on this website.
UNFORTUNATELY, THERE ARE CONDITIONS THAT ARE WORSENING THE PROBLEM:
At the very poles, the
Sun's heat is heating the upper atmosphere by higher concentrations
of CO2 in small amounts, but largely due to the Interglacial Period,
the part of this ICE AGE during which the atmosphere heats, the
oceans warm a bit, and the Polar Caps and Glaciers rapidly melt.
That causes lower temperatures right at the Poles, feeding ice
formation into the melting fringe packs with more ice, a recycling
effect accompanied by the increasing general level of water
temperature globally led by Algae blooms. This has the
consequential effect of slowly decreasing the concentrated levels of
the Polar Ocean temperature (slowly, because water expands when it
freezes, contracts as it melts) lowering temperatures in the
northern most Ocean currents, drawing them up to the Poles to cool
them, while the remaining 85% of the Ocean is heating up.
When the northern currents chill, it leads to a not quite as severe, yet no less dangerous "The Day After Tomorrow" (2004 - Roland Emmerich) like effect: increasing snow amounts in the northern areas during Winter, pockets of extreme snow, and increased atmospheric turbulence towards the middle regions in the Spring and Summer, and a worsened Hurricane / Typhoon Season and warmer middle states weather, depleted water in drought prone areas and so forth. This has the bad side effect of creating worse periods of collateral storm systems, raising higher summer temperatures, causing much more coastal flooding damages and more beach erosion, which when coupled to the Ocean's temperature changes due to salt content this decade, is causing Scientists to misread the changes.
Resultantly, far more rain
occurs in some areas, causing land flooding and river overflow
flooding, while barometric effects cause wind change, shifts to the
Jet Stream, and other major air flows. That change has potentially
catastrophic impact on current Farming zones, the earth's food
producing centers. Increased arid dryness and drought drastically
and unexpectedly in various parts of the world, could lead to
"dustbowl" syndrome in areas ordinarily the source of the world's
The combination when Solar Flare cycles peak and heat the middle of our atmosphere towards the equator, can be deadly in terms of storm violence and tropical surges, as seen when Hurricane Katrina nearly washed Louisiana and parts of Alabama and Mississippi out to sea a few years back. As the air pressure drops or gas composition changes, the density variance and changes in the air-water-pressure process of the atmosphere, and vast temperature variances that happen at the same time, lead to more and more, worse and worse storm systems.
< HURRICANE KATRINA (SATELLITE IMAGE)
Towards the Equator and mid regions, Sunlight passes through it in one direction, heating the oceans and land, but Infrared Energy (heat) fails to dissipate outwards, is reflected back by the CO. The results: hotter Summers with scorching weather and more Hurricane and Tornado activity, worsened by the reduced (lower barometric) pressure dips caused by reduced Oxygen in the Earth's Atmosphere. The stabilizing factors are defeated by this change, worsened during the peak of the Solar Sun Spot cycle, which heats the earth faster than during Sun Spot decline.
The effects, if we do not act now, will be permanent and disastrous: the eventual death of 80-90% of living humanity at the time the collision happens: once atmospheric depletion due to deforestation when oxygen and demand for oxygen from human population growth outruns it. Our scientists have calculated that that collision could happen less than 100 years from now. Unfortunately, if we do nothing to increase the number of forests and trees, by then it will be too late to do anything about. Since tree growth and fundamental reforestation in nature without our help could take hundreds of years, once oxygen drops below a certain level: Humanity will simply start dying off until the ratio of trees to humans (T2H2APM) to Algae/Phytoplankton/Microbe balances off until we do something about it, we have to equalize the ratios (called: the Perfect Climate) to achieve proper ratios, which would also have the secondary effect of reducing the impact of Industrial Carbon / CO2 to a manageable one. Human Health is already beginning to suffer globally today as a result of the reduced oxygen content of our atmosphere, a problem worsened by the emission effects of industrialization, the internal combustion engine, high speed transportation technology and population growth.
WHAT ARE WE DOING ABOUT THE PROBLEM?
The 10 Billion Acres Fund represents a wholeheartedly new dimension in solving the problem of Atmospheric Deterioration. There are untold acreage of the Planet's surface which are available to plant high oxygen producing trees, such as the Ginkgo, the Elm and the Balsam Pine. Each tree type is suited to a specific part of our environment, each contributes far more to us than it needs to survive. Trees planted where other human industry and activity is not, represents, if planted consistent with environmental and agricultural standards, a huge contribution to the survival of Human Life. One needn't be a so-called "Tree Hugger" to understand why. Extracting poisonous greenhouse gasses such as CO2 from the environment, trees produce O2 while helping recycle water, nitrogen sources, and supporting an enormous ecology of symbiotic plants, animals, insects and most importantly, bacterium and mites that are the roots of plant survival on our planet, without which the rest of our environment would simply collapse. This byproduct ecology consequently contributes to other plant growth, which likewise cleans and purifies the atmosphere, providing gasses that enable us to breath.
Our Motto: "Don't fix blame, fix the problem."First and Foremost, ACSA intends to raise funds to sponsor TREE BANKS™.
A TREE BANK™, with over 100,000 SEEDLINGS IN IT, PLANTING TEN TIMES A YEAR
Simply put, by reforesting "another 3, 5 or 8 billion acres" humanity can
return the Planet to a state where there is room for Humanity
reversing these dangerous climate and atmospheric changes and
decreasing human health risks (oxygen is an exceptional antiviral
and antibacterial agent). Not doing so is beyond
irresponsible: it could be suicidal. Lack of sufficient
breathable gasses may be irrevocable, at the present state of
deforestation (the removal of trees), in less than 500 years.
In only 100 years, general human health will begin to visibly
decline just as a result of lack of O2 and other gasses in our
atmosphere, in fact we have already begun to experience this
decline, but it will accelerate greatly.
By 250 years from now, Human Populations will begin to decline as a result of the lack of support for Human lung function inside the Earth's atmosphere, but not rapidly enough to undo the damage: by 500 years from now, humanity faces very rapid extinction in the space of decades, returning Humanity to a bare few hundred million in total number, a global population under 1/4 billion, if that. Billions upon Billions will die off quite rapidly. And all of civilization's great advances and infrastructure will die with them.
estimated that the Continental United States alone has 10 million
square kilometers of land, of which roughly 18% could be used as
"Neo Forests" (NeoFors), protected areas in which planted trees
could be sustained without habitat encroachment or disruption,
indefinitely. With 1 Square Kilometer equaling approximately 247
acres (maximum), with an estimated 75% effective treeing ratio,
planting in Continental USA alone could, under the right conditions,
reach as far as 1.5-1.75 Billion Acres of New Tree Growth, using
lands made arable for Tree growth through proper nursery and
The major continents on earth can each contribute from .75-2 Billion Acres apiece, yielding a net increase of approximately 5-8 Billion Acres, over 100 years, of New Tree Growth, the so-called "Grand Arbor Design". In that time period, the Earth's atmosphere would be vastly improved, with 33% higher oxygen and reduction in CO2 and CO by 85%. Simultaneously, the Oceans would also improve, with reduction in CO2 and acidity that is greatly imperiling Ocean Coral Reefs, plant life and sea creatures of all kind. Such would more than quintuple the success rate of Ocean based fish reproduction, creating larger volumes of edible fish than existed at the time of Christopher Columbus, a boon for solving the Human Hunger problems.
originally only in China, it is now used worldwide
due to it's much richer oxygen contribution to the atmosphere to fight pollution.
Relatively speaking: it virtually costs next
to nothing for us to nursery young trees of all kinds in ACSA Tree
Banks™, other than labor, water, fire prevention and some composting
practices. After that, maintenance is technological and a very sound
investment, once relocated to a final NeoFor. Certain trees,
such as the Ginkgo Tree, are so hearty that they contribute 45% more
oxygen than others, and last long life spans even if only planted on
a Metropolitan City Street as evidenced by successful growth in NYC
Trees can be planted in enormous number each year, and billions of unused, yet fertile acreage exists all over the world where trees can be planted that would contribute to breathable atmospheric conditions while having little or no other impact on the growth of human populations, where same would have little or no impact on human industry, yet the byproduct would be enormously valuable.
Commercial byproducts would include the production of fertilizer, and the nursing of an abundance of saplings that could be supplied to the Logging Industry to help repopulation of legacy forests reserved for commercial logging. Money from same could be devoted to preserving Tree species for the purposes of reforestation, and for finding newer and more innovative ways to accelerate plantings and location selection, extending from simple forestation to the creation of diversified clusters of grove growth and metropolitan/suburban tree growing.
Help us end the atmospheric depletion of Planet Earth,
join in- make a donation here>
All donations are tax deductible.
Our goals are simple: bring about an end to Atmospheric Armageddon.
Get the word out.
We will work
to expand sharing the revelations of our discoveries with the
public at large, government, science and education.
Form a coalition.
business, science and government need to ally to solve this.
Without a breathable atmosphere, humanity won't survive.
As ours continues to deplete oxygen and buildup carbon dioxide,
ill health will give rise at a worsening rate, and bad climate
changes will deepened. The outlook could be a bleak one if
we don't act now.
Every state in the
USA, for instance, has a Forestry Commission. We could
induct them into overseeing the planting of trees and the
creation of nurseries for saplings. City and County Governments
have discretion over spending on parks and trees in city
streets, suburban areas. Planting Trees is the only solution
Monitor and Guide.
Every program of
this magnitude needs monitoring, guidance and insurance that it
will operate properly, without corruption, without deviation and
without failure and without prejudice.
will keep reporting what's being done. This is a global
effort that will likely touch every last person on Earth in one
way or another. 5 - 8 Billion Acres is a huge amount of
space. It's going to take everyone, working together, to solve.
Adjust and Compensate for Errors Made.
WHY THE GRAND ARBORS MUST BE CREATED:
To give you an idea of how humanity has
underestimated the quantum degree of action need to save our world
and repair our atmosphere: while the US Forestry Service has
replanted 10 million trees since 1990 (news
In spite of their well intentions, that represents only 100,000
acres. To plant 8.5 billion acres of trees (the minimum
net requirement to equal the oxygen/carbon cycle and capacity of our
planet as it was in 1492) would require a "net" (after logging and
clearing planet wide) of 85 Billion trees, 8500 times as much as the
effort that has been undertaken by the USFS. While of an
extraordinary magnitude, the paramount importance of shifting the
oxygen / carbon cycle to Trees and away from Sea
Algae/Phytoplankton/CO2-using-microbes is enormous.
The burden on the oceans' infrastructure is destroying the underlying lifecycles of our Seas, Rivers and Lakes, killing or altering the populations of fish, water creatures and water plants, leading to undermining of the planet's Algae. To process as much CO2 as it needs to to maintain the atmosphere, Algae is overgrowing and consuming nutrients from the oceans, rivers and lakes at beyond record rates. That is undermining the source of nutrients and leaving Algae exposed to disease, with humanity counting on it's oxygen production ability, putting all its eggs in the one basket.
If it, the Oceanic, River and Lake Algae, dies off, which could be very likely within 50-100 years - if we don't subdivide the burden of the CO2 to Oxygen processing cycle by replanting the volume of Trees (and Plants) to 1492 levels: repopulation of the earth's Trees to a minimum of 17 Billion Acres, HUMANITY SHALL DIE WITH THE ALGAE/PHYTOPLANKTON and CO2-USING-MICROBES. Pollutants that kill the Algae or damage them, are worsening the problem. We need the Trees and Plants. Life on earth could be reduced to a small handful of small, rodent sized species as the remaining trees are inadequate to carry the burden.
The Trees and Plants consequently will allow Algae to prosper, by helping contain runoff and pollution effects and by increasing controlled runoffs that Algae thrive on.
ON THE RIGHT TRACK, BUT WITH WAY TOO LITTLE IMPACT: THE US FOREST SERVICEABOVE: US Forest Service effort to repair forests fall far short of Global Atmospheric Repair goals. In spite of their best efforts, the Forest Service has not made even a dent in global atmospheric depletion. Too few trees have been replanted and in many areas where they tend to increase global warming. In the USA alone nearly 1 Billion new fresh acres of seedling Trees need planting towards the southern border. A heavy burden too much for the USFS, however we commend the Forest Service for the work it has done to repair the Natural Forests. Unfortunately, the depletion of this resource across the planet has been so disastrous over 500 years that we are well beyond able to survive just this amount of replanting. We need the Grand Arbors to fill the gap, or Humanity simply will not survive.
THE DESIGN OF THE GRAND ARBORS:
To achieve the restoration to the 1492 level of 8.5 Billion Acres increase in trees, at 640 Acres per square mile, is 13.2 million square miles, an area roughly 1/10th the size of the Continents of Africa, North America, South America, Europe, Asia and Australia: so the Grand Arbor design, to return us to the Atmospheric pressure and size and heat dissipation and carbon processing, will require drastic steps. However, the alternative, global warming and flooding, over the course of the next 100 years, covering all major coastal cities, is far, far worse.
The Grand Arbor's first goal is to attain a Billion Acre planting zone across the northern prong of North Africa, in the uninhabited areas above the Sahara Desert. This would have the secondary effect of positively altering the aquifer level in North Africa, raising it to the point where the northern most uninhabited deserts would start receding and become naturally available to more plantings, increasing the size of the GA zone there to approximately 2 Billion Acres... Also, the natural creation of rain with weather patterns carried south by the Mediterranean winds would incubate natural growth in the Sahara Desert zone, reducing the Desert by at least 2.5% per decade to a lush vegetation zone.
Then, upon completion
of the North African planting, areas in Central/Southern USA,
Central Mexico, and Europe would each be picked to attain individual
Billion Acre planting zones. When complete, nearly Six Billion Acres
will have been planted and Global Warming effectively reversed.
Seedlings for various indigenous and appropriate trees would be
ethically harvested and incubated, then planted.
An additional 4 Billion Acres of plantings would follow, during which a half billion acre planting in more northerly areas would be undertaken to support the logging industry. Some have suggested covering a million square miles (.6 million sq km) would cover "all of Africa". That is not so. To put the size of Africa into perspective (and other areas...) here is a map.
WHERE WOULD THE TREES COME FROM AND WHICH ONES:
The notion of 'ethical harvesting" of seeds and mass nursery farms is a common heritage of the forestry industry, so more than sufficient means exist to obtain billions upon billions of saplings. However, the trees have to be selected based on climatology, and the Arbors will have to be provided adequate water, soil, fertilizer and have some kind of temperature controls (water spray systems) to insure survival of the fittest trees for the region being planted. Despite high temperatures, initial plantings would be done under portable domes with temperature regulating covers and solar energy driven ventilation and irrigation until large enough "sub Arbors" achieved their own climatic balance.
Then as the sub arbors are bridged and merged, they would become their own source of seeds, with careful genetic and heartiness monitoring to insure that the healthiest trees survive and that natural emulation of nature's "weeding out" process for unhealthy or damaged trees took place. Antifire provisions would be built into each Arbor as despite nature's desire to create storm driven lightning burns of forests, this would be carefully limited and controlled by fire brigading systems.
Lastly, the density of
each "superArbor" which resulted would be gradually increased.
The scale on which this would be done would have a multi year span
and would take enough time for each regional Grand Arbor to develop
its own weather patterns and for our consulting science counsel to
insure the successful development of each Grand Arbor.
The trees would range from Ginkgo to Palm to Willow to Redwood to whichever tree was found to work indigenously in a particular zone. Selection would be based on compatibility with climate, efficiency and ability to interact with a diverse planting population. To regulate the Arbors, smaller plants, grasses, moss, and other flora would be steadily introduced, and resource centers maintained to continue nursing saplings for replacement and/or expansion purposes.
Ten Billion Acres is a Global Resource Fund for Non-Profit Purposes, created by the ACSA, for the benefit of Humanity. The funds raised will be devoted to developing and implementing the Ten Billion Acre Reforestation Long Range Plans. Note, the Long Range Plans will take quite some time to achieve the goal of reforesting ten billion acres of tree growth, likely longer than it took for Humanity to deforest that amount of acreage since 1492. However, it is believed that within 50 years, the degeneration of Earth's atmosphere and depletion of breathable gasses will have been halted and largely reversed, and that within 100 years, the Planet will have long since been placed back on track to being able to atmospherically support Humanity. Within the space of several lifetimes, we intend to insure that the effort exceeds the growth of Human numbers and populations, can survive in perpetuity, and that new, innovative ways of foresting human population areas will be evolved to insure Humanity is not extinguished by atmospheric depletion.
The Tax consequences of donating to the Global Resource Fund backing Ten Billion Acres are potentially significant in terms of reducing tax liability for the fiscal year of the donation. Please consult with your Tax Accountant or CPA for further information.
We are always seeking Global Alliances who can help forward this project to reach its goals.
Help us end the atmospheric depletion of Planet Earth, join in- make a donation here>
All donations are tax deductible.
You can reach 10BA by phone through the business offices of the ACSA Ten Billion Acres Project Office at 908-272-0016, or by email at "firstname.lastname@example.org". To mail donation checks, send payable to "ACSA 10 Billion Acres Fund", Suite 2000, Cranford, New Jersey 07016 USA. General donations may be made by clicking here>. All donations are tax deductible under 501(c)3 of the IRC.
If you are a Forest Scientist or Agriculture or Weather Expert and wish to donate time to assist us with the massive planning and logistical effort defined above, please email us at "email@example.com" and provide information about your background... If you are a Government Official, and need more information, please do likewise, submit your questions to "firstname.lastname@example.org".
PRIVACY NOTICE: please refer to legal and privacy notices at our main website: http://www.acsa.net .
Please remember that no one personally is getting any compensation out of this project
* Courtesy of the Nasa Earth Observatory:
Copyright © 1995-2009, 2010 ACSA Inc. (a 501(c)3 foundation under the IRC Code) All rights reserved. Figures for reforestation on this site are subject to change without prior written notice, on account of the variation in potential planting sites, political circumstances, fiscal issues, other variable circumstances and issues such as available irrigation, management and fertilizer considerations.
Site Maintained by: The ACSA Student Development Exercise
Design by Nicolas Fafchamps
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William Harris Crawford (1772-1834)
Explore This Article
No Jimmy Carter, Crawford campaigned in both 1816 and 1824. Although best known nationally for his 1824 bid for the presidency, the most controversial presidential election in U.S. history up to that point, Crawford served the state and nation in a variety of ways, including terms as a U.S. senator, cabinet member under two presidents, and foreign diplomat. His younger cousin, George W. Crawford, served as Georgia's governor in the 1840s.
Crawford was born on February 24, 1772, in Amherst County (later Nelson County), Virginia, to Fanny Harris and Joel Crawford. The family moved to the Edgefield District of South Carolina in 1779 and then to Richmond County (later Columbia County), Georgia, in 1783. After several years of teaching and farming, Crawford enrolled at Moses Waddel's Carmel Academy in Appling, and later at Richmond Academy in Augusta. He studied law privately, was admitted to the bar, and began practice in Lexington in 1799.
In 1804 he married a former pupil, Susanna Gerardin, soon after purchasing his Woodlawn estate in Lexington. They had nine children; their son Nathaniel would become a mathematics professor at Oglethorpe University in Atlanta and the president of Mercer University in Macon. William Crawford aspired to live the life of a country gentleman, but he would not get the chance to do so until the end of his career. In the meantime he gradually added to his landholdings at Woodlawn and became the overseer of a good-sized plantation. By 1834 he owned 1,300 acres and forty-five slaves.
Crawford's brawny physique and straight-talking, non-rhetorical character earned him both friends and enemies in Georgia. He opposed the Yazoo Act of 1795, which transferred 35 million acres of the state's western frontier (in present-day Alabama and Mississippi) to speculators and became known as the Yazoo Land Fraud. The controversy eventually led to the famous Fletcher v. Peck (1810) decision.
Crawford's political career got under way in 1799, when he was appointed to write a digest of Georgia laws, and the resulting work, Digest of the Laws of the State of Georgia, written with Horatio Marbury, was published in 1801.
In 1803 Crawford was elected to represent Oglethorpe County in the state House of Representatives. He quickly allied himself with U.S. senator James Jackson. The leading opponent of gross land speculation, Jackson was a hero of the Revolutionary War (1775-83) and former governor of Georgia. His allies, known over time as the Jackson, the Crawford, and the Troup Party, were a powerful faction of the Jefferson party. This faction consisted of aristocratic plantation owners and residents of the more affluent, established areas of Georgia. Their powerful enemies were the Clarkites, led initially by Elijah Clarke and later by his son John Clark, whose supporters included small farmers and frontier settlers.
The factional rivalry descended into a violent feud in 1802, when Crawford killed Peter Van Alen, one of Clark's allies. Four years later John Clark wounded Crawford in a duel. Unsatisfied with the result, Clark challenged him again, but Crawford refused. In a fit of anger over Crawford's unwillingness to meet, Clark cornered a Crawford ally, Judge Charles Tait, in the streets of Milledgeville and severely whipped him with a riding crop. Clark was fined $2,000 for the incident, which was a reflection of the deep-seated division between the two political factions.
Upon the death of U.S. senator Abraham Baldwin in 1807, the state legislature chose Crawford to replace him. True to his character, Crawford refused to be bound by partisan loyalties in Washington D.C., which helped win him reelection in 1811. That same year, Crawford supported the rechartering of the Bank of the United States; he understood the bank to be a constructive institution because it stabilized the economy, acted as a fiscal agent for the government, and restrained sometimes irresponsible state banks.
Crawford also, however, after rising to clarify provisions in its hasty passage, supported U.S. president James Madison's embargo measures against Great Britain and France. As the possibility of war with Britain loomed, Crawford was initially cautious with his position, asserting the superiority of the British military, yet he felt fundamentally that military force was needed. He cautioned about Spanish action in Florida, Britain's ally. In 1813, after the outbreak of the War of 1812 (1812-15), President Madison offered Crawford the position of secretary of war, but he, along with several others, declined due to the looming likelihood of a new war with Britain. Yet he did accept Madison's appointment as minister to France that same year.
Before returning from France in 1815, Crawford learned of his appointment as secretary of war from the British newspapers. Although he had expected to retire from public life, he accepted the unexpected appointment, serving for a little more than a year. His short tenure was marked with some success in making the War Department a more efficient and prepared peace-time institution. Crawford reluctantly moved on to become secretary of the treasury in late 1816, yet it was there that he built his bureaucratic legacy. That same year Crawford was also a presidential nominee, but he garnered only fifty-four votes to James Monroe's sixty-five votes from the Republican congressional caucus, which represented the remnants of Jeffersonian ideology. Monroe won the general election easily and asked Crawford to continue heading the Treasury Department. With the department in shambles due to the poor financing of the War of 1812, Crawford helped to organize the treasury more efficiently, with help from an act of Congress in 1817 that placed both civil and military accounts under the Treasury Department's control. He also oversaw several major internal improvements, including the creation of a fort system along the eastern seaboard and construction of the Cumberland Road from Virginia to the Midwest.
The early 1820s saw the end of the first party system, which had grown out of the rivalry between Thomas Jefferson, whose supporters made up the Democratic Republican (or Republican) Party, and Alexander Hamilton, who led the Federalist Party. The void created by the demise of the Federalists caused the remaining Republican Party to splinter during the presidential contest of 1824, with no incumbent running for reelection and four major candidates in contention for the White House.
Crawford found himself running against John Quincy Adams of Massachusetts, Andrew Jackson of Tennessee, and Henry Clay of Kentucky. (John C. Calhoun was in the race briefly, before withdrawing to run for the vice presidency instead.) At that point, Crawford was as prominent as any of his rivals, but the effects of a stroke in 1823 put him at a disadvantage the following year, despite a nearly full recovery. He ultimately finished third, behind Jackson and Adams. Despite a substantial majority of popular votes, Jackson received less than a majority of the electoral votes, which threw the vote into the House of Representatives. In what Jackson's supporters later labeled the "Corrupt Bargain," Clay gave his support to Adams in exchange for appointment as his secretary of state.
Crawford refused reappointment as secretary of the treasury under President Adams and returned home for a long-awaited retirement. In 1827 he was appointed judge of the Northern Circuit of the Superior Court of Georgia.
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BLACKBIRDS have come top of the class in a survey carried out by more than 3,000 school children and teachers in Kent.
Schools monitored the number of visits from different birds to their schools as part of the RSPB’s big school birdwatch during the last two weeks of January.
A total of 62 schools in Kent took part counting the birds to calculate the most common species in the county.
Starlings came in second place, followed by the black headed gull in third.
Since the campaign’s launch 10 years ago, there have been 70 different species recorded in school grounds with over 110,000 birds counted nationally this year alone.
RSPB birdwatch project manager Faye Mackender said: “The birdwatch is a brilliant way of getting young people interested in nature and excited about what they can see through the classroom window.”
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Accessibility and Access Keys
Skip to Content
Several fast food companies, retailers and producers have committed to phasing out the use of gestation stalls for pigs and battery cages for hens. This chart provides you with an overview of who has committed to what, and what practices have been adopted in other countries.
The CFHS was formed in 1957 out of concern for the welfare of animals being slaughtered for food. At that time there were no regulations addressing the slaughter of animals. The Federation took on the issue and was influential in the introduction of the federal Humane Slaughter of Food Animals Act in 1959.
The CFHS continues to play a crucial role in farm animal welfare in Canada. As a founding member of the National Farm Animal Care Council (NFACC), the CFHS advocates for continual improvements to the standards for farm animal care that are included in Canada’s voluntary codes of practice.
The CFHS also campaigns for improvements to various regulations that cover the treatment of farm animals. For instance, our current campaign on livestock transportation seeks to end the unnecessary suffering of farm animals that are regularly transported for up to two days straight in overcrowded trucks with no food, water or ventilation.
Related Read the humane slaughter requirements in the federal Meat Inspection Regulations here. Read about the deplorable results of a 2003 audit of Canadian slaughter plants by Dr. Temple Grandin here. Download the CFHS & BC SPCA Report on Horse Slaughter Practices in Cana…
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Benazir was a central part of Pakistan's problems
The Bhuttos' acrimonious family squabbles have long resembled one of the bloody succession disputes that habitually plagued South Asia during the time of the Great Mughals. In the case of the Bhuttos, they date back to the moment when Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was arrested on July 5, 1977.
Unsure how to defend their father and his legacy, his children had reacted in different ways. Benazir believed the struggle should be peaceful and political. Her brothers initially tried the same approach, forming al-Nusrat, the Save Bhutto committee; but after two futile years they decided in 1979 to turn to the armed struggle.Murtaza was 23 and had just left Harvard where he got a top first, and where he was taught by, among others, Samuel Huntington. Forbidden by his father from returning to Zia's Pakistan, he flew from the US first to London, then on to Beirut, where he and his younger brother Shahnawaz were adopted by Yasser Arafat. Under his guidance they received the arms and training necessary to form the Pakistan Liberation Army, later renamed Al-Zulfiquar or The Sword.
Image: 'My father was a different Bhutto'
Video: Dominic Xavier
Benazir was forced to distance herself from her two brothers
For all its PLO training in camps in Syria, Afghanistan and Libya, Al-Zulfiquar achieved little except for two failed assassination attempts on Zia and the hijacking of a Pakistan International Airways flight in 1981.
This was diverted from Karachi to Kabul and secured the release of some 55 political prisoners; but it also resulted in the death of an innocent passenger, a young army officer. Zia used the hijacking as a means of cracking down on the Pakistan Peoples Party, and got the two boys placed on the Federal Investigation Agency's most-wanted list.
Benazir was forced to distance herself from her two brothers even though they subsequently denied sanctioning the hijack, and claimed only to have acted as negotiators once the plane landed in Kabul. While much about the details of the hijacking remains mysterious, Murtaza was posthumously acquitted of hijacking in 2003.
Image: 'Pakistan was big enough for two Bhuttos'
'The sun is in the wrong direction'
During my interview, she took a full three minutes to float down the hundred yards of lawns separating the Prime Minister's House from the chairs where I had been told to wait for her. There followed an interlude when Benazir found the sun was not shining in quite the way she wanted it to: "The sun is in the wrong direction," she announced.
Her hair was arranged in a sort of baroque beehive topped by white gauze dupatta like one of those Roman princesses in Caligula or Rome.
A couple of days later in Karachi, I met Benazir's brother Murtaza in very different circumstances. Murtaza was on trial in Karachi for his alleged terrorist offences. A one hundred rupee bribe got me through the police cordon, and I soon found Murtaza with his mother -- Begum Bhutto -- in an annexe beside the courtroom. Murtaza looked strikingly like his father, Zulfiquar Ali Bhutto.
He was handsome, very tall -- well over six feet -- with a deep voice and, like his father, exuded an air of self-confidence, bonhomie and charisma. He invited me to sit down: "Benazir doesn't care what the local press says about her," he said, "but she's very sensitive to what her friends in London and New York get to read about her."
Image: 'My father was a different Bhutto'
'After 3 deaths, Benazir and her husband danced!'
"No. Nothing. Not one note."
"Did you expect her to intervene and get you off the hook?" I asked. "What kind of reception did you hope she would lay on for you when you returned from Damascus?"
"I didn't want any favours," replied Murtaza. "I just wanted her to let justice take its course, and for her not to interfere in the legal process. As it is, she has instructed the prosecution to use delaying tactics to keep me in confinement as long as possible. This trial has been going on for three months now and they still haven't finished examining the first witness. She's become paranoid and is convinced I'm trying to topple her."
Murtaza went on to describe an incident the previous week when the police had opened fire on Begum Bhutto as she left her house to visit her husband's grave. When the Begum ordered the gates of the compound to be opened and made ready to set off, the police opened fire. One person was killed immediately and two others succumbed to their injuries after the police refused to let the ambulances through.
That night as three family retainers lay bleeding to death, 15 kilometres away in her new farmhouse, Benazir celebrated her father's birthday with singing and dancing:
"After three deaths, she and her husband danced!" said the Begum now near to tears. "They must have known the police were firing at Al-Murtaza. Would all this have happened if she didn't order it? But the worst crime was that they refused to let the ambulances through. If only they had let the ambulances through those two boys would be alive now: those two boys who used to love Benazir, who used to run in front of her car."The Begum was weeping now. "I kept ringing Benazir saying 'for God sake stop the siege', but her people just repeated: 'Madam is not available'. She wouldn't even take my call. One call from her walkie-talkie would have got the wounded through. Even General Zia..." The sentence trailed away. "What's that saying in England?" asked the Begum: "Power corrupts, more power corrupts even more. Is that it?"
Image: 'Benazir came from a family where nobody wore a veil'
Rumours said Zardari ordered Murtaza's killing
Murtaza had been campaigning with his bodyguards in a remote suburb of Karachi. As his convoy neared his home at 70 Clifton, the street lights were abruptly turned off.
It was September 20, 1996, and Murtaza's decision to take on Benazir had put him into direct conflict not only with his sister, but also with her husband Asif Ali Zardari.
Murtaza had an animus against Zardari, who he believed was not just a nakedly and riotously corrupt polo-playing playboy, but had pushed Benazir to abandon the PPP's once-radical agenda -- fighting for social justice. Few believed the rivalry was likely to end peacefully. Both men had reputations for being trigger-happy. Murtaza's bodyguards were notoriously rough, and Murtaza was alleged to have sentenced to death several former associates, including his future biographer, Raja Anwar, author of an unflattering portrait, The Terrorist Prince. Zardari's reputation was worse still.
So insistent had the rumours become that Zardari had ordered the killing of Murtaza at 3 pm that afternoon, that Murtaza had given a press conference saying he had learnt that an assassination attempt on him was being planned, and he named some of the police officers he claimed were involved in the plot.
Several of the officers were among those now waiting, guns cocked, outside his house. According to witnesses, when the leading car drew up at the roadblock, there was a single shot from the police, followed by two more shots, one of which hit the foremost of Murtaza's armed bodyguards. Murtaza immediately got out of his car and urged his men to hold their fire. As he stood there with his hands raised above his head, urging calm, the police opened fire on the whole party with automatic weapons. The firing went on for nearly 10 minutes.
Image: Why the army is supreme in Pakistan
'Don't you know? Your father's been shot'
When the first shot rang out, Fatima was in Zulfikar's bedroom, helping put him to bed. She immediately ran with him into his windowless dressing room, and threw him onto the floor, protecting him by covering his body with her own.
After 45 minutes, Fatima called the Prime Minister's House and asked to speak to her aunt. Zardari took her call:
Fatima: "I wish to speak to my aunt, please."
Zardari: "It's not possible."
Fatima: "Why?" (At this point, Fatima says, she heard loud, stagy-sounding wailing.)
Zardari: "She's hysterical, can't you hear?"
Zardari: "Don't you know? Your father's been shot."
Fatima and Ghinwa immediately left the house and demanded to be taken to see Murtaza. By now there were no bodies in the street. It had all been swept and cleaned up: there was no blood, no glass, or indeed any sign of any violence at all.
Each of the seven wounded had been taken to a different location, though none was taken to emergency units of any the different Karachi hospitals. The street was completely empty.
Image: 'Benazir capitulated for power'
'Kill a Bhutto to get a Bhutto'
"There were never any criminal proceedings," says Fatima. "Benazir claimed in the West to be the queen of democracy, but at that time there were so many like us who had lost family to premeditated police killings. We were just one among thousands."
Benazir always protested her innocence in the death of Murtaza, and claimed that the killing was an attempt to frame her by the army's intelligence services: "Kill a Bhutto to get a Bhutto," as she used to put it.
But Murtaza was, after all, clearly a direct threat to Benazir's future, and she gained the most from the murder. For this reason her complicity was widely suspected well beyond the immediate family: when Benazir and Zardari attempted to attend Murtaza's funeral, their car was stoned by villagers who believed them responsible.
The judiciary took the same view, and the tribunal set up to investigate the killing concluded that Benazir's administration was "probably complicit" in the assassination. Six weeks later, when Benazir fell from power, partly as a result of public outrage at the killings, Zardari was charged with Murtaza's murder.
Fourteen years on, however, the situation is rather different. Benazir is dead, assassinated, maybe by the military, but equally possibly by some splinter group of the Taliban. Fatima is now a strikingly beautiful 28-year-old, fresh from a university education in New York and London. She has a razor-sharp mind and a forceful, determined personality. Meanwhile, the man Fatima Bhutto holds responsible for her father's death is not only out of prison, but President of the country. The bravery of writing a memoir taking on such a man is self-evident, but Fatima seems remarkably calm about the dangers she has taken on.
Image: 'Benazir was a very brave woman'
Benazir had an astonishingly weak record as a politician
Future historians will decide whether Murtaza really does deserve to be vindicated for the hijacking in Kabul and will weigh up whether or not Murtaza, who even Fatima describes as "impulsive" and "honourable and foolish", would have made a better leader than his deeply flawed sister; or indeed whether the equally inconsistent Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto deserves the adulation heaped on him by his granddaughter.
But where the book is unquestionably important is the reminder it gives the world as to Benazir's flaws. Since her death, Benazir has come to be regarded, especially in the US, as something of a martyr for democracy.
Yet the brutality of Benazir's untimely end should not blind anyone to her as astonishingly weak record as a politician. Benazir was no Aung San Suu Kyi, and it is misleading as well as simplistic to depict her as having died for freedom; in reality, Benazir's instincts were not so much democratic as highly autocratic.
Within her own party, she declared herself the lifetime president of the PPP, and refused to let her brother Murtaza challenge her for its leadership; his death was an extreme version of the fate of many who opposed her.Benazir also colluded in wider human rights abuses and extra-judicial killings, and during her tenure government death squads murdered hundreds of her opponents. Amnesty International accused her government of having one of the world's worst records of custodial deaths, abductions, killings and torture.
Image: 'Benazir did no even tweak the Women's Bill'
Her deal with Musharraf was seen as betrayal
She also sidelined those in her party who did support the lawyers. Later she said nothing to stop President Musharraf ordering the US-brokered 'rendition' of her rival Nawaz Sharif to Saudi Arabia, so removing from the election her most formidable democratic opponent.
Many of her supporters regarded her deal with Musharraf as a betrayal of all that her party stood for. Her final act in her will was to hand the inappropriately named Pakistan People's Party over to her teenage son as if it were her personal family fiefdom.
Worse still, Benazir was a notably inept administrator. During her first 20-month-long premiership, she failed to pass a single piece of major legislation, and during her two periods in power she did almost nothing to help the liberal causes she espoused so enthusiastically to the Western media.Instead, it was under her watch that Pakistan's secret service, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), helped install the Taliban in Pakistan, and she did nothing to rein in the agency's disastrous policy of training up Islamist jihadis from the country's madrasas to do the ISI's dirty work in Kashmir and Afghanistan.
As a young correspondent covering the conflict in Kashmir in the late 1980s and early 1990s, I saw how during her premiership, Pakistan sidelined the Kashmiris' own secular resistance movement, the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front, and instead gave aid and training to the brutal Islamist outfits it created and controlled, such as Lashkar-e-Tayiba and Harkat ul-Mujahideen. Benazir's administration, in other words, helped train the very assassins who are most likely to have shot her.
Image: 'Bhutto was like Hitler'
Benazir was a feudal landowner
Behind Pakistan's swings between military government and democracy lies a surprising continuity of elitist interests: to some extent, Pakistan's industrial, military and landowning classes are all interrelated, and they look after each other. They do not, however, do much to look after the poor.
The government education system barely functions in Pakistan, and for the poor, justice is almost impossible to come by. According to the political scientist Ayesha Siddiqa, "Both the military and the political parties have all failed to create an environment where the poor can get what they need from the state. So the poor have begun to look for alternatives. In the long term, these flaws in the system will create more room for the fundamentalists."
Many right-wing commentators on the Islamic world tend to see political Islam as an anti-liberal and irrational form of "Islamo-fascism". Yet much of the success of the Islamists in countries such as Pakistan comes from the Islamists' ability to portray themselves as champions of social justice, fighting people like Benazir Bhutto from the corrupt Westernised elite that rules most of the Muslim world from Karachi to Riyadh, Ramallah and Algiers.Benazir's reputation for massive corruption was gold dust to these Islamic revolutionaries, just as the excesses of the Shah were to their counterparts in Iran 30 years earlier: during her government, Pakistan was declared one of the three most corrupt countries in the world, and Bhutto and her husband, Asif Zardari -- widely known as "Mr 10%" -- faced allegations of plundering the country; charges were filed in Pakistan, Spain, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States to investigate their various bank accounts, and they stood accused of jointly looting no less than $1.4 billion from the state.
Image: 'The feeling of helplessness is common to people who have suffered violence'
'Benazir was a central part of Pakistan's problems'
This is the principal reason for the rise of the Islamists in Pakistan, and why so many people support them: they are the only force capable of taking on the country's landowners and their military cousins. Benazir Bhutto may have been a brave, gutsy, secular and liberal woman. But sadness at the demise of this courageous fighter should not mask the fact that as a corrupt feudal who did nothing for the poor, she was a central part of Pakistan's problems, rather than any solution to them. Songs of Blood and Sword is a timely and forceful reminder of this.
Certainly, readers of Fatima's book have ahead of them a wonderfully close-focussed and well-constructed memoir from the heart of the most violent and Borgia-like of the South Asian dynasties to savour. They also, most likely, have further instalments to come.
During a recent interview, I asked Fatima whether she would consider entering politics herself: "I am political," she replied, "but there are many ways to be political. I don't think that becoming an MP is necessarily the best way to influence people. For the time being, I want to be a writer. But who knows? If in the future there was a way I could serve my country, one that did not involve becoming yet another part of dynastic birthright politics, maybe I could envisage putting my name forward." Watch this space.
Image: 'There are lots of voices calling for change in Pakistan'
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to Hangout NJ-- the state's Web site for kids! In this Government
section, you will find lots of information about how New Jersey
government works. Use the "Meet the Governor"
link (above) to learn more about Governor Chris Christie and his work.
Government - State
constitution of the state of New Jersey was written
in 1776. The constitution was written during the Revolutionary
War to create a basic government framework for the state.
It is different from the United States Constitution,
which provides the structure for the government of the
constitution has been replaced twice to address problems
and new issues within government. In the mid-1800s New
Jersey citizens wanted a more democratic state government.
constitution separated the powers of the legislative,
judicial, and executive branches. A bill of rights was
included in the constitution. The new constitution also
gave the people (instead of the legislature) the right
to elect the governor.
constitution came into effect in 1947. The governor's
powers were increased and his or her term in office was
extended an extra year to four years. The state court
system was also reorganized.
the constitution can be changed through amendments. Amendments
can be proposed by the legislature. Three-fifths of both
houses of the legislature must approve an amendment. It
can also pass by receiving a majority vote for two straight
years. Voters must also approve amendments in the general
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|You can||Before H.S.||During H.S.||After H.S.||Resources||FAQs||Blog|
Archive: October 2009
10/28/2009 1:32:47 PM
How 2 Videos
The How 2 video website contains a plethora of videos that may be the perfect supplement to a high school course or the foundation for building an elective course. Check out the many areas of interest including woodworking, art, home economics, career prep, and many more. As always, parental discretion and discernment should be exercised when choosing from the list of educational and instructional videos.
10/28/2009 1:30:25 PM
A Call to Pens
10/9/2009 12:24:47 PM
Academic Info is a website that provides many free academic resources such as subject guides and education links. It is a secular site so you will want to exercise discretion in your use of the materials presented; however, the links on the site may be helpful as a starting point to do unit study research or to supplement your high school texts. The website also includes free high school tutorials in a number of different math areas.
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Teachers love FREE! At times it seems that there is no limit to teachers’ willingness to spend money on their students and their classrooms yet, as we all know, money is finite. It’s estimated that the average teachers spends $500 a year of their personal money on a variety of items in the classroom. Since it’s an average, there are far too many who spend much more than that. I love how the Florida Legislature recognized how liberal teachers are with their limited salary that they passed The Florida Teachers Lead Stipend in 1998 that gives $250 to each classroom teacher to help off set some of the expenses of classroom management. This is such an awesome gift to generous classroom teachers everywhere. We are most grateful to the Legislature for this gift. This “tuesdays” will highlight another great way teachers can take advantage of a generous gift - FREE resources.
A creative website
Studyladder is a FREE multi-grade, multi-disciplinary interactive website for elementary and middle school students. It covers mathematics, literacy, science, music, art, languages, culture, health, safety, citizenship and mastering numeracy. Studyladder has over 100,000 registered teachers and has made a commitment to teachers that their site will remain free to them. It has been created by teachers for teachers. What began in Australia with just 21 lessons has been expanded and adapted to over 20 countries. Studyladder has a plethora of video lessons, interactive games, worksheets, assessments and whiteboard activities for interaction in the classroom. Teachers can sign up for a free account that gives them the ability to track student progress and report success/deficiencies to the parent. It makes the perfect Homework Helper. Students love it because of the immediate feedback, bright colors and rewards/certificates. It is online learning at your fingertips.
An image to share
“Even after all this time,
The sun never says to the earth,
"You owe me."
Look what happens with
A love like that.
It lights the whole sky.”
Hafiz of Persia
Studyladder is one of the fastest growing FREE resources available. I loved watching their LIVE statistics boasting 2,734,655 members and growing. Students have answered 599,573,253 correct questions. I would like to encourage you to introduce this site at an Open House or Parent Night for that eternal question from parents, “How can I help my child do better in school?”
Studyladder is the perfect answer because it is intuitive, interactive and easy to use because the kids think they are playing and the parents don’t need a manual to figure out what to do. It’s one of the great gifts teachers can give to parents without having to spend any money out-of-pocket. There is even a Mathethon Community Fundraiser section that helps schools to raise funds that actually remain at the school. Studyladder is a gift!
How do you do that?
How do you get started with Studyladder? You will need to sign up for an account and be a true classroom teacher. It will ask you for minimal information, but it will ask you to identify your school to verify giving a FREE account. There are paid subscriptions for private and homeschool use, but the cost is as little as $88 a year for a whole family of homeschoolers that it’s so worth it. Once you have created your account, you can enroll students and begin challenging them to earn rewards and certificates. The teacher account can run reports and statistics that can be shared with parents. Studyladder’s main goal is to supply students with a safe learning environment that can be supervised and monitored by parents and teachers. I am always so amazed at what is available to us on the Internet today. Great job, Studyladder!
As always, I am
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Medicine has seen its equivalent of the splitting of the atom: the ability to take apart, reassemble, and release the incredible power locked in genes and cells. The breakthrough has resulted from the merger of interlocking fields—gene therapy and cell therapy—which are now spawning near-miraculous treatments and cures. But where atomic research had a single, explosive debut, gene- and cell-based treatments have emerged in fits, after many false starts.
One huge step forward came in 1985, when researchers began shuttling genes into mammalian cells by first transferring them to a virus. The genes hitched a ride inside the virus, ultimately entering the cell nucleus and working alongside native genes already in place. Then things went wrong. Not only did gene therapy fail to cure disease, but Jesse Gelsinger, a boy with a rare metabolic disorder, died in a clinical trial in 1999.
Only recently have cell and gene therapy begun to triumph, by borrowing from and blending into each other’s approaches. One stunning proof of principle occurred in 2007, when German researchers treated a 40-year-old patient for HIV and leukemia with stem cells lacking an HIV receptor, making them resistant to the virus. The patient was cured and, three years later, remains well. In another landmark success, scientists in Italy and the United States cured “bubble” babies who have a malfunctioning gene for the enzyme adenosine deaminase, which causes a buildup of toxic products that destroy immune cells. Doctors gave the patients stem cells containing copies of a properly functioning gene for the enzyme; the babies’ immune systems were then able to reconstitute themselves.
The combined therapy is assuming even greater power as scientists manipulate genes to wind ordinary cells back to an embryonic state. Embryonic cells could restore brain and immune function and regenerate organs. “The time is coming when we’ll repair heart tissue after a heart attack and restore blood flow to limbs that would otherwise be amputated,” says stem cell researcher Robert Lanza of Advanced Cell Technology in Massachusetts. “We’ll look back and say, ‘Can you believe how people used to suffer?’”
Jill Neimark also contributes to Psychology Today and Spirituality and Health. Her children's novel, The Secret Spiral is due out in June.
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Loading Data into MySQL from a Text File
This operation is surprisingly simple to do. Say, for instance, that we have the following MySQL table:
CREATE TABLE employee ( employee_id int not null auto_increment, employee_fname varchar(50) default NULL, employee_lname varchar(50) default NULL, employee_ssn varchar(9) NOT NULL, employee_email varchar(25) default NULL, employee_phone varchar(12) default NULL, PRIMARY KEY (employee_id) ) TYPE=MyISAM;
and we have a tab delimited text file that looks like the following that we want to load into the table:
Smith John email@example.com 123456789 Doe Jane firstname.lastname@example.org 122456789 (888)253-8897 West Adam email@example.com
You'll notice that the data isn't necessarily uniform, nor in the same order as the table. To import this text file first we note it's location on the filesystem. Let's assume for the purposes of this example that we're working on a Windows machine and the data is stored on d:\employees.txt.
The first thing you need to do is log into the MySQL server. Once you're at the command line you can use the following syntax to load the data:
mysql>LOAD DATA LOCAL INFILE 'd:\\employees.tab' ->INTO TABLE employee ->FIELDS TERMINATED BY "\t" ->LINES TERMINATED BY "\n" ->(employee_lname, employee_fname, employee_ssn, ->employee_phone, employee_email);
Notice the double back slash in the file location. This is only necessary on a Windows machine. If you don't use it Windows will interpret the first backslash as an escape character and look for the file 'd:mployees.tab'. Note that you can change the field delimiter or endline delimiter to any other appropriate value. This should load data into the MySQL table quite quickly and accurately, and fill in any auto incrementing columns as well.
For more information check out any of the following useful links:
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Traditions are an important part of life at Thomas Jefferson's University. Some traditions, like the Jefferson Society, founded in 1825, and the Honor System, created in 1842, still exist today. Other traditions like quoits and cotillions enjoyed by students of an older time have been replaced by similar but more modern pastimes like bean-bag tossing and dance parties. Even though some things at U.Va. may change, one thing remains the same for everyone who considers himself or herself a "Wahoo": a love of the University and the people and things that make U.Va. unique.
The Honor System
The University of Virginia's Honor System is one of the school's most important traditions. University students believe that they must act honorably in everything they do, and they believe that lying, cheating, and stealing have no place in the University community. Students who break the rules are asked to leave the University.
Many secret and honorary societies have a home at the University of Virginia, including the Seven Society, IMPs, Zs, P.U.M.P.K.I.N., T.I.L.K.A., Raven, Rotunda Burning, Purple Shadows, K.O.T.A., and Eli Banana. During the University's first hundred years, nearly every student was a member of one or more society. Today, students join these societies to help raise money for the University, help their communities, or just to take a break from their studies.
The Jefferson Society
The Jefferson Literary and Debating Society was founded on July 14, 1825, and is the oldest collegiate debating society in North America. The Society, named in honor of Mr. Jefferson, has counted Edgar Allan Poe, Virginia Governor James Gilmore, President Woodrow Wilson, and University President John T. Casteen III among its members.
The University of Virginia is home to more than a dozen singing groups. Some are all-male, some all-female, and some co-ed, and they include names like the Virginia Gentlemen, Virginia Belles, CHoosE, and Remix. Some groups perform a variety of music, while others specialize in a particular kind, such as religious songs, jazz, hip-hop, or R&B. Their harmonies kick off the start to each academic year at the Rotunda Sing on the Lawn.
Students carry on the proud tradition of donating their time by tutoring or coaching young children, building homes, delivering food to those in need, or using their skills and talents to make their community better for everyone.
Instead of graduation ceremonies, students at U.Va. attend Final Exercises. Students join a cap-and-gown procession down the full length of the Lawn for thousands of parents and guests to see to celebrate their graduation from the University.
Fun Facts About U.Va.
At the University of Virginia, we do some things a little differently, and we are very proud of the things that make us unique! Here are some things that might help you understand us a little better.
- There are no freshmen, sophomores, juniors, or seniors at U.Va. Why? To be a "senior" means you've reached the end of your education, but Thomas Jefferson believed that was impossible. He believed that you continue to learn for your whole life. So we call students "first years," "second years," "third years," and "fourth years."
- We have no campus at U.Va. What most universities call a campus, we call our "Grounds."
- We don't call our professors "doctors." At other universities, it's respectful to call professors who have earned Ph.D. degrees "doctors." But because our founder, Thomas Jefferson, did not have a Ph.D. degree, we call our professors "Mr." or "Mrs." out of respect for Mr. Jefferson. But we do make exceptions for our medical doctors.
- Our mascot is the Cavalier, but we're just as likely to call ourselves 'Hoos or Wahoos. Beginning in the 1890's, the students at U.Va. would chant "wa-hoo-wa" at baseball games against their rivals. Over the years, students began calling themselves Wahoos, or 'Hoos for short, to show their school spirit.
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4 Answers | Add Yours
To me, the turn of this sonnet begins at the line that starts "Yet in these thoughts..." By saying "yet," the speaker is clearly saying that what came before is going to be different from what will come next.
The speaker's tone after the turn is completely different. Before the turn, he was being all pathetic. He was talking about how much he hates his life and how cursed he is.
But then, once he thinks of his love, he gets really happy and confident. Then, he wouldn't even change places with a king.
While Sonnet XXIX has the rhyme scheme of a Shakespearean sonnet, its thematic format is that of the Petrarchan sonnet in which the octave states the problem: the brooding poet senses his misfortune as he curses his fate and wishes he could possess the artistic talents and friends that others do, all of which would greatly lift his spirits,
When in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes,
I all alone beweep my outcast state....
Wishing me like to one more rich in hope--
Then, the sestet provides a solution to his dark broodings when he reflects on the fortunate aspects of his life as he "haply" dwells on the love bestowed upon him and his spirits lift,
Haply, I think on thee,--and then my state...
...sings hymn's at heaven's gate.
It is here at the beginning of the sestet, then, that the "turn" occurs. With the love of the woman, the speaker is relieved of his isolation and is no longer alone; now there is meaning in his life, and thus fortified by love, he can again be optimistic.
All the lines end with commas up to the line before the turn,
With what I most enjoy contented least;
which ends with a semicolon, indicating a longer pause in preparation for a new thought in a new tone, almost as if his sole consolation had just occurred to the speaker. Then, as noted in the above answers, the poet abandons his litany of dejection and begins to approach the only image in the entire sonnet:
Yet in these thoughts myself almost despising,
Haply I think on thee, and then my state,
Like to the lark at break of day arising
From sullen earth, sings hymns at heavens gate.
The image of the lark soaring into the sky while singing is one of the most beautiful things in Shakespeare. At least two things make it especially effective. One is the contrast with the morbid thoughts which had gone before. The other is the alliteration of "S" sounds in "sings hymns at heaven's gate." There are actually four "S" sounds in these words because the "s" at the end of the word "sings" blends into the word "hymns," and there is an "s" at the end of "heaven's." The adjective "sullen" was probably chosen to add yet another "S" sound to this wonderful line.
This sonnet is different from some. Many sonnets have their turning point in line 13. This one is in line 9, "Yet in these thoughts..." That word "yet" is a big clue, and the transformation is not subtle, but complete. In the first 8 lines the speaker almost hates himself - he tells us this in line 9 "myself almost despising" - but then his heart takes flight like a bird. He feels so happy and free, he could almost fly. His tone goes from sullen to joyous simply by thinking of the woman he loves.
We’ve answered 327,637 questions. We can answer yours, too.Ask a question
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The search for molecular electronics has induced increasing interests in single molecule measurements, and generated a lot of feats to clarify the individual molecule behaviors as electronic circuitries such as switches, wires, transistors, and so on. Now, to make more complex circuitry or molecular computer from them, self-assembly has attracted much attention. However, the development to put the molecular components together on a substrate with keeping the individual properties intact in a self-assembling manner is challenging, and few successful examples have been reported so far. As one of approaches to fix the single molecule, we propose the way to construct nanospace around single molecule using dendrimer architectures so that the individual molecule behaves without intervention from the neighbors, like electrical cross-talk, mechanical contact and the like.
Our new method is as follows: (1)firstly, synthesized on Au or Si surfaces is the self-assembled monolayer of dendrimers having sticky cores to the surface, which turn to be confined reactive-sites or molecular-circuitries to the surface; (2)next, the dendron spacers are removed by external stimuli such as light, chemical species, etc., so that the isolated reactive sites or molecular circuitries form a nanoarray with the distance depending on the size of the dendrons.
In order to establish this method, we synthesized dendrimers with an ester-linkage that is base-labile, between thioctic acid core and benzylether dendrons. The self-assembled monolayers on Au substrates were obtained by a conventional method, just soaking the substrates into an organic solution containing the dendrimers. Then, the substrates were subjected to a KOH methanolic solution containing toluenethiol, which is thought to serve as a matrix to discourage the movement of the remaining sites on the surface after the hydrolysis. We characterized these surfaces by FT-IR spectroscopic and contact-angle measurement, and AFM observation. As a result, non-contact mode AFM images of the resulting surfaces revealed that there were some arranged areas of the features with the distance of about 6 nm and the height of about 0.8 nm, indicating that the remaining acids on some parts of the surface form a nanoarray with the distance of the dendrons size. We are now searching for the optimal condition to fabricate the well-ordered nanoarray of isolated single-molecules.
We will report on the results obtained through a series of the above studies, and also discuss some other examples using different-type cores.
National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology
Tsukuba Central 4, 1-1-1 Higashi, Tsukuba 305-8562 JAPAN
Phone: +81-298-61-2442 Fax: +81-298-61-3029
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An income statement differs from a budget on various fronts, and understanding these distinctions can help you make sense of concepts such as profitability, liquidity management and solvency. The last term relates to a company or initiative holding more assets than liabilities -- the other name for debts, obligations or financial commitments.
By delving into an income statement, you see tactics and methodologies a business uses to make money, expand market share during a given period and attain competitive prominence over time. A statement of profit and loss -- the other name for an income statement, P&L or report on income -- consists of revenue items, expenses and the period's net result. This is net income if revenues exceed operating outlays -- and net loss if the opposite scenario happens. Operating costs include depreciation, insurance, materials, litigation, office supplies and salaries.
A budget is a financial data summary providing the kind of operational platform a business yearns for and the means to attain it. Think of it as a road map telling employees how much to spend on a given activity, revenue levels to seek, how to rein in waste and income quotas each department must reach at the end of a given period -- say, a month, quarter or fiscal year. In a quarterly budget, for example, a company's leadership may set expense and revenue data based on the prior quarter's information -- mandating that employees spend 25 percent less than in the previous three months.
While a statement of profit and loss differs from a budget, both concepts interrelate. If you comb through a budget, you can see things like revenue, expenses and target result -- all of which also make it into an income statement. In essence, a budget is a projected income statement. At the end of each period, department heads calculate variances to figure out how operating activities fared from a profitability standpoint. A negative variance arises when actual expenses exceed budget costs, whereas a positive variance means personnel ran a tight ship during the period under review. The opposite holds true for revenue items.
Financial Reporting Implications
Income statement and budget information flows into other financial statements through the web of journal entries and adjustment postings that accountants record in a company's books. In addition to a statement of profit and loss, the business must publish a statement of cash flows, a balance sheet and an equity statement at the end of each year and quarter.
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Southern California's Imperial Valley produces about 80 percent of the nation's winter vegetables. But years of drought, and a population boom in the Southwest, now threaten the water supply in the desert region — and all those cheap winter greens.
The next time you eat a salad this winter, picture the valley Vince Brooke is driving through: A beige desert set against glittering fields of green. Brooke works for the local irrigation district, and gives tours to busloads of water wonks from various Southwest cities through this valley — down the bumpy roads, past cropland and canals.
"You know, you can tell when they just are not, how can I say this diplomatically?"
They're just not, on board, Brooke says with the way agriculture uses water down here.
Brooke says that in some eyes, "We're water wasters, we're water hogs, the Ag sponge, a waste of water."
The water they're talking about is the Colorado River — the life-blood of a billion-dollar agricultural industry in the Imperial Valley. The system works, thanks to the giant cement Imperial dam.
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|Fire and Ice: Puritan and Reformed Writings|
[Fast Index] [Site Map]
"(b. Nov. 12, 1615, Rowton, Shropshire, Eng.d. Dec. 8, 1691, London), known as a peacemaker who sought unity among the clashing Protestant denominations, he was the centre of nearly every major controversy in England in his fractious age.
Baxter was ordained into the Church of England in 1638 after studying divinity. Within two years, however, he had allied himself with Puritans in opposition to the episcopacy established by his church. During his ministry at Kidderminster (1641-60) he made that Worcestershire town of handloom workers into a model parish. He preached in a church enlarged to accommodate the crowds that he drew. Pastoral [catechising and] counseling was as important to him as preaching, and his program for his parish came to serve as a pattern for many other ministers in the Church of England.
A believer in limited monarchy, Baxter attempted to play an ameliorative role during the English Civil Wars. He served briefly as a chaplain in the parliamentary army but then helped to bring about the restoration of the king (1660). After the monarchy was reestablished, he fought for toleration of moderate dissent within the Church of England. He was persecuted for his views for more than 20 years and was imprisoned (1685) for 18 months. The Revolution of 1688, replacing James II with William and Mary, brought in its wake an Act of Toleration that freed Baxter from most of the encumbrances he suffered for his opinions." (BCD)
Because of his confused soteriology, Baxter's practical writings are most valued today. His most important works are his Saint's Everlasting Rest [various publishers], Christian Directory [SDG], and The Reformed Pastor [various]. Some extracts may be found at the Richard Baxter Index.
More information is available at The
Richard Baxter Society.
Back to top of Table of Contents
Complete Biography Page
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Definition: An undirected graph that has a path between every pair of vertices.
See also complete graph, biconnected graph, triconnected graph, strongly connected graph, forest, bridge, reachable, maximally connected component, connected components, vertex connectivity, edge connectivity.
Note: After LK.
If you have suggestions, corrections, or comments, please get in touch with Paul Black.
Entry modified 19 April 2004.
HTML page formatted Mon Feb 2 13:10:39 2015.
Cite this as:
Paul E. Black, "connected graph", in Dictionary of Algorithms and Data Structures [online], Vreda Pieterse and Paul E. Black, eds. 19 April 2004. (accessed TODAY) Available from: http://www.nist.gov/dads/HTML/connectedGraph.html
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"I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided, and that is the lamp of experience. I know of no way of judging of the future but by the past."
— Patrick Henry, March 23, 1775
A new book by Stephen P. Halbrook uses newly discovered secret documents from German archives, diaries, and newspapers from the time of the Weimar Republic and the Third Reich to demonstrate how civilian disarmament can be accomplished by “legal” methods.
In Gun Control in the Third Reich, Halbrook, a research fellow with the Independent Institute who has argued and won three constitutional law cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, “covers the [historic] periods of the Weimar Republic and the Third Reich leading up to World War II. The book then presents a panorama of pertinent events during World War II regarding the effects of the disarming policies. As Americans’ right to bear arms becomes increasingly challenged, it is a caution to all who debate these issues.”
Using his reading of what he calls an heretofore “hidden history,” Halbrook presents in a scholarly manner the story of how Hitler's Nazi Germany used gun control legislation and executive orders “to disarm and repress its enemies and consolidate its power.”
As this reporter heard globalists admit while on assignment at the Arms Trade Treaty conference at UN headquarters in New York City in March, the Second Amendment is the last and greatest obstacle in the road that leads to civilian disarmament and the consolidation of exclusive control over guns and ammunition in the hands of government.
The Second Amendment to the Constitution declares, “A well regulated Militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed.” This right historically has been the right that protects all others. An armed populace is recognized as the most significant ally of liberty in its conflict with tyranny.
Like Patrick Henry, George Washington learned to rely on experience. Washington’s experience in the American War for Independence taught him the value of an armed populace in the shaking off of the chains of despotism. Washington said:
A free people ought not only to be armed and disciplined, but they should have sufficient arms and ammunition to maintain a status of independence from any who might attempt to abuse them, which would include their own government.
Not surprisingly, Adolf Hitler had a different take. The mastermind of the Third Reich said, “The most foolish mistake we could possibly make would be to allow the subject races to possess arms. History shows that all conquerors who have allowed their subject races to carry arms have prepared their own downfall by so doing.”
As Halbrook’s new book (and his recent interviews promoting it) demonstrates, a review of the gun control laws passed in Germany before and during Hitler’s reign of terror might serve as a cautionary tale for Americans of the 21st century.
If there are similarities between German disarmament laws that cleared the way for the seizure of absolute power by the Nazi party and contemporary American gun control proposals, they will become apparent to the reader, regardless of personal prejudices or predetermined outcome.
First, in 1919 (about nine years before the rise of the National Socialists), the German post-World War I government passed the Verordnung des Rates der Volksbeauftragen über Waffenbesitz (Regulations of the Council of the People’s Delegates on Weapons Possession). A reaction to the increasing presence of communists in Germany, this gun control law mandated, “All firearms, as well as all kinds of firearms ammunition, are to be surrendered immediately.” Anyone who was found in possession of a gun or ammunition could be punished by up to five years of imprisonment and a fine of 100,000 marks.
As agents of the German military enforced this law throughout Germany, in order to accelerate the seizure of all weapons and ammunition, the decision was made to install what might be called in modern political parlance a “Disarmament Czar.” Call for a gun control czar.
On August 7, 1920, the German government passed the Gesetz über die Entwaffnung der Bevölkerung (Law on the Disarmament of the People). This law created the office of Reichskommissar for Disarmament of the Civil Population. This official was tasked with making a list of “military weapons” that were subject to immediate seizure.
Perhaps the most frightening and foreboding provision of the law was that requiring all citizens with knowledge of anyone hoarding ammunition or who owned outlawed weapons to turn in to the Reichskommissar the names of these people. Neighbors spying on neighbors.
The next step in the complete disarmament of Germany prior to Hitler’s wresting of absolute power was the passage in 1928 of the Gesetz über Schußwaffen und Munition (Law on Firearms and Ammunition). This law required licensing of anyone who manufactured, assembled, or repaired firearms and ammunition. This included private citizens who reloaded their own rounds. Trade and sale of arms and ammunition was also forbidden without a license, including at gun shows and competitive shooting events.
The license to own a weapon provided for in the 1928 law was called a Waffenschein. This carry license was issued at the will of the government, and an applicant was required to show that his “reliability [was] not in doubt” and that he had a particular need for a firearm. Psychological testing for a gun license.
Further, this law placed caps on the types and numbers of weapons and ammunition that could be owned, even by those with licenses. Persons who owned more than five guns or more than 100 rounds of ammunition would have to seek a special license for such an “arsenal.” Caps on ammunition.
Progressive? The disarmament of the population certainly did progress rapidly. As Halbrook wrote in an extraordinarily thorough article published in 2000 in the Arizona Journal of International and Comparative Law:
Within a decade, Germany had gone from a brutal firearms seizure policy which, in times of unrest, entailed selective yet immediate execution for mere possession of a firearm, to a modern, comprehensive gun control law. Passed by a liberal republic, this law ensured that the police had records of all firearms acquisitions (or at least all lawful ones) and that the keeping and bearing of arms were subject to police approval. This firearms control regime was quite useful to the new government that came to power a half decade later.
On March 23, 1933, the Reichstag (German parliament) passed, by a vote of 441 to 94, a measure called the Enabling Act permitting Hitler to make laws without consulting the Reichstag. The president issuing decrees without consulting Congress.
Finally, within a week of assuming autocratic control of the lawmaking power in Germany, Hitler issued the following order regarding gun ownership:
The units of the national revolution, SA, SS, and Stahlhelm, offer every German man with a good reputation the opportunity to join their ranks for the fight. Therefore, whoever does not belong to one of these named units and nevertheless keeps his weapon without authorization or even hides it, must be viewed as an enemy of the national government and will be held responsible without hesitation and with the utmost severity.
And, in case there were any doubts about the seriousness of the severity, a newspaper entry announcing the edict informed citizens: “If we find military weapons or ammunition after 31 March 1933, we will be forced to proceed ruthlessly.”
This brief, irrefutable recitation of the “progress” of German gun control laws and executive orders seems to illuminate a more than incidental similarity between them and similar policies in the United States of the 20th and 21st centuries.
What does Halbrook say was the ultimate purpose and result of Hitler’s gun-grabbing laws and orders? In the new book, he writes:
By 1938, the Nazis had deprived Jews of the rights of citizenship and were ratcheting up measures to strip them of their assets — including the means to defend themselves. The horrific consequences have names etched in our consciousness: “The Night of Broken Glass” (Kristallnacht) and the Holocaust.
To order Stephen P. Halbrook's important new work Gun Control in the Third Reich, click here.
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#52 on the list of 150 Most Teachable Lincoln Documents
How Historians Interpret
“The eleven leaves from Lincoln’s cyphering book deserve a special place in history. They represent the earliest examples remaining of his handwriting, and reflect the effort he put into filling the pages with appropriate rules, problems, and solutions. This was his book, created “by his hand and pen.” These leaves came from the formative years of his life, years that would prepare him in remarkable ways for what lay ahead. Understanding something of the structure and content of his early cyphering work gives us a small but powerful glimpse of the character, commitment, and thirst for knowledge of a lad from Indiana named Abraham. He would be good.”
— McKenzie A. Clements and Nerida F. Ellerton, “Abraham Lincoln’s Cyphering Book and the Abbaco Tradition,” Journal of the Abraham Lincoln Association 36, no. 1 (2015): 1-17.
“This may have been a Lincoln family tradition. In a dictionary kept by the family of Lincoln’s uncle Mordecai there appears the following inscription: “Mordecai Lincoln his hand and pen he Will be good, but you know when. When he is good then you may say The time is come and will hurray this was Wrote by Mordecai Lincoln in the twenty third year of his adge in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and ninety three in the second year of the Common Wealth.”
— Michael Burlingame, Abraham Lincoln: A Life, Volume 1 (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008), 28.
“His last school, probably the one that he attended longest of the five to which he was exposed, was taught by Azel W. Dorsey, the treasurer of Spencer County and a sometimes storekeeper. It met in the same cabin that Crawford has used, and Abe’s attendance was more regular than it had been with Swaney. Dennis Hanks insisted that he had given Abe much of his early instruction in reading, spelling, and writing, but since Dennis was barely literate, his claim must be suspect. Abe became proud of his penmanship, often writing letters for other members of the family and for some of the neighbors. The earliest known specimen of his script was a piece of doggerel that he penned in a copybook. “Abraham Lincoln, his hand and pen,/ he will be good but God knows when.” He was at the school long enough to develop close relationships with other students, and he began to emerge as a leader among them.”
– Lowell H. Harrison, Lincoln of Kentucky (Lexington: The University Press of Kentucky, 2000).
NOTE TO READERS
This page is under construction and will be developed further by students in the new “Understanding Lincoln” online course sponsored by the House Divided Project at Dickinson College and the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. To find out more about the course and to see some of our videotaped class sessions, including virtual field trips to Ford’s Theatre and Gettysburg, please visit our Livestream page at http://new.livestream.com/gilderlehrman/lincoln
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The eruption was so bright that for a while it was one of the most luminous stars in the Milky Way+ READ ARTICLE
Ever wonder what an exploding star looks like?
NASA has released this incredible time lapse video showing the enormous explosion of a red star called V838 Monocerotis, located some 20,000 light years away.
The breathtaking images were captured by NASA’s Hubble telescope over a four-year period.
What makes this starburst even more fascinating is that its origins remains a puzzle, as scientists still don’t fully understand why the explosion occurred. Initially, astronomers thought it was a nova – which is a relatively more common outburst – but more recently, they came to the realization that it was something quite different.
“The outburst may represent a transitory stage in a star’s evolution that is rarely seen,” says the Hubble website. “The star has some similarities to highly unstable aging stars called eruptive variables, which suddenly and unpredictably increase in brightness.”
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Building a Quality I-Learn Course
An I-Learn course should be well-organized and easily navigable. The link below presents principles which promote the development of a quality course.
Building a Good Course Website
Step 1: Write Your Outcomes and Plan Your Curriculum
Write your desired course outcomes and add them to your I-Learn course.
Tutorial - How to add outcomes to an I-Learn course
Plan your overall course curriculum based on the desired outcomes.
Step 2: Choose a Course Plan Structure
Decide how you will organize the content. As described in the link above, "Building A Good Course Website," the overarching course structure should be chronological. Organize the content by days, weeks or units.
Step 3: Create Your Course Modules
An I-Learn course is structured using modules.
Tutorial - overview of course plan features
Create modules that reflect your decision in Step 2.
Tutorial - how to create a module
Step 4: Choose a Method for Organizing Content in Each Module
Devise a scheme for organizing the content which will be housed within each module. As you do so, keep in mind that students should be able to access all materials in three clicks or less. (For more information, visit the link above for "Building a good Course Website.") Create folders within your modules, as needed, to match your organizational strategy.
Tutorial- how to add folders
Step 5: Upload Files to I-Learn Resources or Equella
Files such as pictures, Word documents, PowerPoints and PDF documents can be uploaded to I-Learn Resources or Equella. PDF files are preferable where possible, since they do not require a download and are available for immediate viewing by the student.
Tutorial - how to upload files to I-Learn Resources
Equella is a database with files that can be shared all over campus or with the public. Some of the advantages of using Equella include:
- Large storage capacity
- Files and content can easily be shared
- Files and content are searchable by other users, if you choose to make them available
- Provides the option to apply appropriate copyright procedures
Tutorials - how to use Equella
For additional assistance with Equella, contact the Faculty Technology Center at 208-496-7230.
Step 6: Drag Files from Resources into Modules
Add content to your modules by dragging your files from I-Learn Resources into the modules or into folders contained in your modules. You can then open each file and apply your preferred settings, such as visibility.
Step 7: Create Other Content in I-Learn, as Needed
You can create content in I-Learn, such as assignments, assessments and discussion boards. Use the following tutorials, as needed, to help you.
NOTE: When adding gradable items, it is generally easiest to NOT set a due date in the item itself. It is faster to set due dates using the Schedule Tab. It is also possible to set them in a manner than does not allow your due dates to carry over to a future semester when you copy your section.
Set due dates using the Schedule Tab
Tutorials for adding gradable content:
Tutorials for adding resources (non-gradable content):
Step 8: Add Outcomes to Modules and Assessments
You can add your outcomes to modules and assessments, as described in the tutorials below.
Tutorials for adding outcomes:
Upon completing this portion of the Faculty I-Learn Resource, it is recommended you proceed to the Course Calendar segment. You can access it from the I-Learn Faculty Resource Home.
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Dartmouth Physics Professor Working To Solve Mystery Key To Quantum Computing
Some of the biggest technology companies in the world are on a chase for what some consider the holy grail of the information age: Quantum computing. And some of that research is going on right there in New Hampshire. But one big challenge is to get the quantum bits to dance how we want them to.
Before getting too high-tech, let's go back to 1938. A brilliant physicist, an Italian named Ettore Majorana, withdraws all his money from a bank and boards a boat. Then, somewhere between Palermo and Naples, he vanishes without a trace.
"That's a million dollar question. I wish I would have an answer. Majorana disappeared, and a lot of theories, a lot of speculations have been made. What can I say? The answer hasn't been found." says fellow Italian Lorenza Viola, a Dartmouth College physics professor. She researches what's come to be known as the Majorana particle.
The year before his disappearance, Majorana published a paper theorizing a revolutionary concept: that there was something out there that could be both a particle and its own anti-particle at the same time. A quasi-particle floating around in the subatomic world.
Decades later, scientists have come to believe these properties would make it a good base for a quantum computer.
Today's digital computers are built around bits, all the 0s and 1s that run our machines. The problem is, so far, the qubits researchers have identified keep falling apart when put into action. Viola says the Majorana, because of its peculiar qualities, may hang together.
"The fact that once created, once identified, it would be harder to destroy them, and so they would be intrinsically more stable, more protected, and so potentially more useful in a qubit. I don't know if it makes sense, but, that's the idea."
At this point, the Majorana is still mostly theory. In 2012, a team of Dutch researchers came the closest to proving its existence. But if someday finally harnessed, researchers will face a second challenge: getting it to do the computer operations they want it to.
University of Pennsylvania physics professor Charles Kane says that will require a concept called braiding. The Majorana particles get braided together into patterns to maximize their power.
"What I want you to imagine is a square dance party where the two-dimensional plane is the dance floor, and the particles are the dancers," he explains. "And the caller tells you to do a dos-e-do. That means you move around your partner. The way that a quantum computer accomplishes a computation is by making the quasi particles dance around each other."
Huge sets of data get tossed into the qubits, which dance and compute and then spit out the answers. Math problems that would stump the computers of today could be worked out in short order, including factoring numbers with hundreds of digits.
Professor Kane says right now, researchers are still at the early stages, working to tame the systems. "It is a very difficult problem. You have to understand your materials and you have to have control over them, and that's requiring real state of the art technology."
And that requires big money. Companies like IBM, Microsoft and Google are pouring tens of millions of dollars, if not more, into the field. Practical applications may be years off, but a working machine could advance encryption technology, or drug research, or any other area where big data holds answers.
"It is a risky venture, but if you can make a quantum computer, then you can do something that other computers can't do," Kane says.
That's got companies and academics like Dartmouth's Lorenza Viola still combing over the physics Ettore Majorana first put forward 75 years ago before his mysterious disappearance.
"I think if he could see us, or somehow be here, he would be very pleased because certainly he has left a big legacy," says Viola.
And who knows? Maybe in another 75 years, Majorana will be a household name.
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Most biomolecules are "chiral", that is to say they exist in two left and right -handed mirror image forms. But biology only uses one hand, i.e. it is "homochiral". Life on Earth is made of left handed amino acids, almost exlusively. One of the greatest puzzles in biophysics is the question of why life on Earth is based on left-handed (L) amino acids?
Recently Prof. Pedro Chintas (Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2008. 47. 2-5.) described that fractional sublimation of enantiomeric excess(ee) compounds may improve substantially a small ee.
This results a useful protocol for resolving racemate, and suggest that the improvement of optical activity attained by such thermal process could be more efficient than or at least an alternative to, spontaneous crystallization of suitable compounds
He conclude that sublimation should be regarded as a reasonable mechanism for the formation of optically active crystals. These optically enriched crystals of enantiopure compounds easily conducted by natural agents might have generated highly enantiopure niches in the prebiotic world.
Molecular evolution might lead to life but it is not scientifically valid because life is a non- physical, non-chemical entity.
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Florence, the capital of Tuscany, is situated on the Arno, a small stream, which. during the rainy season, only partially fills its bed. The city has no unsightly suburbs such as detract from the beauty of our American cities, and is, moreover, kept with exquisite neatness. There is no city in Europe in which Americans feel so much at home, and the American colony is, consequently, very large. The Arno is crossed by many bridges, some of which are very old, one dating from the thirteenth century. The Ponte Vecchio is very picturesque on account of its being lined on both sides by rows of booths which overhang the water. One of the most noted buildings is the Palazzo Vecchio, where the councils of the city formerly met, and where the Medici, for a time, had apartments. The tower of this building dominates the city, and is the most prominent feature in every picture. Near this is the Uffizzi palace with its famous picture gallery. Here are many art treasures, including the Venus di Medici, found in the villa of Hadrian at Rome, the statue of Niobe, and numerous others. The great glory of Florence is the Duomo, or cathedral, built of black and white marble, with a tower, said to be the handsomest in the world. The baptistry of this church contains a number of famous bronze doors, one pair of which occupied the artist for twenty years.
Views of many other churches and statues were also shown, giving altogether a most clear and satisfactory idea of the city. Pisa is situated on the Arno nearer the sea. The city is noted for a group of buildings surrounding the Duomo, or cathedral, which dates from the eleventh century. In this church is the identical lamp from whose movements Galileo deduced the laws of the pendulum. The baptistry is a very handsome building, but the chief interest centers in the well known "Leaning Tower," from whose summit Galileo made his experiments on falling bodies. The attitude of this tower is probably due to the insufficient foundations laid by the builders, which caused it to settle while in process of construction. Sienna, the other principal city of Tuscany, is noted mainly for its cathedral, planned to be the largest in the world. The present edifice is only the transept, the nave having been begun but never completed. The church contains the most beautiful pulpit in Italy, and the interior is splendidly ornamented.
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The French L'AIMABLE taken on 19 April 1782 by Lord HOOD in the Mona Passage in the West Indies.
Broken up in 1814.
- 1782 Capt. A. HOOD, North America.
- 1793 Capt. Harry NEALE, Mediterranean. She took part in the reduction of Bastia and, on 23 May 1794, captured the French corvette MOSELLE (18) off the Hieres Islands.
- 1795 Capt. F. LAFOREY. Vice Ad. Sir John LAFOREY, being reappointed to the West Indies command, sailed as a passenger in AIMABLE, leaving on 9 May. On his return aboard MAJESTIC he died of yellow fever two days before the ship made land in June 1796.
- 1796 Capt. C. S. DAVERS, 02/1796.
- 1796 Capt. Jemmet MAINWARING, 11/1796.
At sunset on 22 July 1796 AIMABLE discovered the French frigate PENSEE (44) rounding Englishman's Head in Guadeloupe and immediately made sail to prevent her getting into Anse-la-Barque.
The ships were engaged for an hour and three quarter in a calm before the French bore up and made sail before a breeze which had sprung up.
By next morning they were 6 miles apart but Capt. MAINWARING made all sail and eventually had an opportunity to pour a broadside through the enemy's cabin windows.
After another half an hour of close action PENSEE made her escape to the Danish island of St. Thomas.
The two commanders dined together there at the table of the governor and Capt. MAINWARING learnt that the French had lost 28 killed and 36 wounded out of 400 whereas AIMABLE only had two or three wounded out of 192 men and boys.
- He gave PENSEE another opportunity for battle but Capt. Valto did not avail himself of it and Capt. MAINWARING sailed north with a convoy of English merchantmen.
- 1797 Capt. W. G. LOBB, 06/1797.
- 1799 Capt. Henry RAPER.
On 16 June 1799 Ad. Sir Alan GARDNER sent Sir James SAUMAREZ in CAESAR with AIMABLE into the Tagus to bring out 5 of Lord NELSON's prizes from the Battle of the Nile.
They sailed with them for England on the 22nd.
All the British troops in Portugal were embarked in them and some transports.
The prizes were taken into Plymouth while AIMABLE continued with the trade up to Liverpool.
- On 17 December 1799, AIMABLE and GLENMORE, who were escorting the outward bound West Indies convoy from Cork, encountered three French ships off Madeira, SYRENE (44) BERGERE (18) and CITOYEN REIGNAUD,18.
These ships had captured the East Indiaman CALCUTTA two days previously.
While GLENMORE recaptured CALCUTTA, AIMABLE pursued the Frenchmen, and brought them to action for 35 minutes before they made off.
(CALCUTTA had sailed with a convoy from Spithead but had become separated in a gale. She arrived in Plymouth on 14 January 1800 and, four days later, about 50 lascar seamen were landed from her suffering from the cold climate)
- AIMABLE remained on the Leeward Is. station until the suspension of hostilities in 1801.
- 1803 Out of commission at Chatham.
- 1804 Capt William BOLTON, off Ostend. She was involved in an action with the Franco/Batavian flotilla on 16 May 1804.
- 1805 Capt. D. P. BOUVERIE, 08/1805. Convoy to the Mediterranean in September.
He was chased by a French squadron while proceeding to Join Lord NELSON off Cadiz.
Capt. BOUVERIE removed to MEDUSA in early 1806.
- 1807 Capt. Clotworthy UPTON, North Sea. Capt. Lord George STUART, (from DUNCAN) North Sea, where he captured a French 16-gun privateer with a number of British prisoners.
- In the summer of 1808 AIMABLE was employed escorting Sir Arthur WELLESLEY from Cork to Portugal.
In January 1809 AIMABLE was stationed off the Texel and on 2 February, when she was endeavouring to regain her station after being driven off by bad weather, a strange sail was sighted.
After a chase of 28 hours which ended about 100 miles south of Aberdeen, she brought to action the French 24-gun ship IRIS.
The enemy struck after exchanging a few broadsides and losing two killed and eight wounded.
AIMABLE had only two men wounded (Anthony NELSON, seaman; Jaques MAGRA, marine) but suffered much damage to her masts and rigging.
The Frenchman, which sailed from Dunkirk to take 640 casks of flour to Martinique, was taken into British service as RAINBOW.
- In July 1809 landing parties of seamen and marines from a force of small vessels, MOSQUITO (18) Capt. GOATE; BRISEIS (18); Capt. PETTET; EPHIRA (10) Capt. WATTS, and five gun-brigs, expelled the French from the town of Cuxhaven at the mouth of the Elbe River.
Capt. GOATE was superseded in the command of the squadron by Capt. Lord George STUART in AIMABLE,32.
- At the end of July 1809 Capt. STUART landed a detachment of seamen and marines from his squadron (MOSQUITO, BRISEIS, EPHIRA and PINCHER) to attack a French body of horse numbering about 250 at Gessendorf 28 miles from Cuxhaven.
They destroyed a battery and forced the French to evacuate the area with the loss of several killed and wounded.
Lieuts. Abraham Mills HAWKINS of AIMABLE and BURGESS of PINCHER forwarded Capt. STUART's orders to the various detachments.
There were no British casualties.
Clearing the bank of the Weser enabled the Duke of Brunswick, with his corps of some 1800 men to retreat across the river in safety.
- To quote Capt. WATTS of EPHIRA: "Having obtained an ascendancy over over our rivals in one way, it therefore became incumbent upon us to equal or surpass them in another".
Which is how, one morning, Capt. Lord George Stuart and Capt. George Edward Watts happened to be in the drawing room of the pretty Miss S and her equally charming companion, Miss N , overlooking the main street of Rizbuttle. George Watts, glanced out the window and was surprised by the appearance of two mounted dragoons, with drawn sabres, dashing down the street, closely followed by others.
Lord George was deep in conversation with Miss S and did not hear the question "Where have those German dragoons come from?" When he did turn to look, the truth suddenly dawned "The French are in the town and we are taken. " They both sought safety in flight, Watts one way, Lord George the other. Watts went through the garden, jumped a fence and landed in a stagnant ditch, "the water of which, evaporated from the summer heat, had left a residuum, which for consistence and odour might be likened to the most unutterable of abominations". He laid down in a field of corn and listened to clattering of horses' hooves and the scattered carbine and pistol fire being exchanged with the muskets of the British outposts. 2,000 yards away he could see his brig out in the Elbe so he spoke to two men working in the field. They lent him a plank to cross a stream, told him the French had retreated and demanded money. Meanwhile his Lordship, had retreated upstairs, where the pretty Miss S had suggested asylum up the chimney, under her bed, and finally, in her bed. However Lord George, spotting a burgher's dress in one of the rooms, put it on and left by the back door. He joined the men who had landed from the ships to rescue their captains, at the same time as Capt. Watts arrived. Capt. Watts, covered in filth, stank to high heaven and "even Jack himself, with all his deference to his commander was constrained to chuckle at my appearance. Heartily I joined in from the sublime to the ridiculous is but a step. " The French cavalry, some 20 in number were drawn up on a small hill a few miles off,where, early next morning, they caught them napping and sent them scampering off leaving behind their flag and their commander, a Mons. Le Murche, together with his horse. It gave Watts great pleasure to ride this beast down the street where his prisoner had placed him in such jeopardy. Ó
Based on a letter written by Captain Watts to a private correspondent.
- It was soon resolved that they would get their revenge on a party of some 60 of the enemy encamped a few miles off.
At daylight the next morning they almost caught them napping.
The enemy fled as they were peppered with musket fire and, after their guns were unspiked, they were helped on their way with round-shot.
The leader of the detachment and his charger were captured by Capt. WATTS.
- Capt. STUART removed to HORATIO in November 1810.
- 1810 Capt. J. C. WOOLCOMBE, 09/1810, Sheerness.
- At the end of 1811 she was out of commission at Deptford.
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Create Your Own Coded Language
- Grades: 6–8
- Unit Plan:
Students will discover and encounter cryptology used in their everyday lives. After discovering some uses and types of codes, students will create their own secret writing or coded messages, and develop a dictionary of eponyms.
- Discover and identify cryptology used in everyday life
- Decipher or crack codes
- Apply the new knowledge to create a secret code
- Develop a dictionary of eponyms
Step 1: Activate students' natural curiosity about secrets and secret codes by asking the students if they have ever encountered, used, or created a secret code. Discuss with the students that they have already encountered cryptology if they use email, for example: "U" for "you," "btw" for "by the way." Encourage students to give more examples of times they might encounter cryptology.
Step 2: Discuss with the students that codes are secret communication that is sometimes just for fun, but has also been used for serious matters, such as wartime communication.
Step 3: Distribute Cryptology/Codes (PDF) to each student. Check for comprehension and understanding by explaining to the students that codes are forms of secret communication; a code replaces words, phrases, or sentences with groups of letters or numbers.
Step 4: Once the students have completed the Cryptology/Codes (PDF), discuss and compare the codes. Which were the easiest, which the most difficult to complete?
Step 5: Build anticipation for Day 2 by telling the students that tomorrow they will be creating their own codes.
Step 1: Allow students time to create a rough draft of their code. Encourage students to create a code that will be fun and motivating to their classmates, for example, using pictures, numbers, or symbols to represent the alphabet.
Step 2: Once the students have created the final draft of their code, have them write a secret message (five or six sentences) on a separate sheet of paper for their classmates to decipher.
Step 3: Collect the coded messages for Day 3.
Step 1: Randomly distribute the students' coded messages.
Step 2: Give students time to crack the codes.
Step 3: After all students have completed cracking the codes, have a classroom discussion session about which codes were the easiest to crack and which were the most difficult.
Step 4: Introduce the culminating activity: they will create their own dictionary of eponyms, Slang, and invented words. (This dictionary will be an ongoing journal added to throughout the school year.) An eponym is the name of a person, real or mythical, that has become a word for something else. For example, a "Benedict Arnold" is a traitor, and from the Earl of Sandwich we got the word sandwich. If you had a friend named Amy who was always late to class, you could call a perpetually tardy person an "Amy." Require that all new entries to the students' dictionaries be written out like real dictionary entries, including the definition, derivation, and part of speech.
Supporting All Learners
Struggling students may be partnered with those who can benefit from helping their classmates. Students may be given extra time to complete their coded messages or fewer messages to decode. Have available various modified examples of messages for students to choose from.
Cryptology project suggestions:
- Discover cryptology use in everyday life.
- Decipher or crack codes.
- Create and teach a secret code.
- Create a dictionary of eponyms, slang, and invented words.
- Were your students able to crack the codes?
- Did your students clearly understand this form of communication?
- Were the students on task?
- Are your students ready to create their own dictionaries?
- Next time would you have them work in partners?
- How could you improve this lesson overall?
- Cryptology/Code cracking
- Secret code creation
- Code cracking (classmate's codes)
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The trench coat was invented for soldiers.
But most of us knew that, the word “trench” is a bit of a giveaway. The interesting debate around the invention of the trench coat is which brand is responsible? Burberry and Aquascutum both claim to have “invented” the trench coat, however Aquascutum’s design dates back to 1850, whereas Burberry’s first trench was in 1901.
Anyway, this is Fashion FACTS, not Fashion Speculation, so let’s get down to what we know. Thomas Burberry invented gabardine in 1880, the fabric used to construct most trench coats. Gabardine is very tightly woven fabric, and therefore repels rain (remember, the trench coat is actually a rain coat, not just a fashion item!) Gabardine is breathable, lightweight, and doesn’t crease easily. Soldiers wore trench coats, made by both by Burberry and Acquascutum, over their uniforms in World War I; the shoulder straps were for insignia and rumour has it that the D rings were used to attach hand grenades.
“The classic World War I-era trench coat was double-breasted, with four buttons, reinforced shoulder or gun flaps, straps at its sleeves, a buckled all-around belt (with distinctive brass “D” rings designed to hold one’s water bottle, hand grenades, or sword), slotted pockets, and an adaptable collar. It was typically lined with wool.” –Fashion Encyclopedia
It wasn’t until after the war that the trench coat began being worn by civilians.
One last fact for the Burberry lovers out there: the check lining was added to the trench coat in 1920.
Have you seen the new trench coat selection at http://www.ellos.co.uk/? Ellos are a brand new retailer who specialise in Scandinavian minimalist style.
Read more Fashion Facts:
Fashion Fact #1 Karl Lagerfeld and Yves Saint Laurent went to the same fashion design school
Fashion Fact #2 Donna Karan invented the bodysuit
Fashion Fact #3 Halston pioneered the concept of a brand ambassador in fashion
Fashion Fact #4 Charles Worth was the first fashion designer
Fashion Fact # 5 The first celebrity-inspired clothing came out in the 30?s
Fashion Fact # 6 Salvatore Ferragamo invented the cork wedge
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China released a guideline on urban planning on Feb 21 in a bid to tackle the problems associated with increasing urbanization and the explosion of city sizes.
Cities will no longer be allowed to grow beyond what their natural resources can support, and odd-shaped buildings will be forbidden, according to the guideline from the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council, China’s Cabinet.
The document comes on the heels of December’s Central Urban Work Conference, the first such meeting to address the issue since 1978, when only 18 percent of China’s population lived in cities. By the end of last year, the figure had reached about 50 percent.
Increased urbanization has brought with it several problems, including pollution, severe traffic congestion and compromised public safety. Poor urban planning has also led to issues such as overtaxed power distribution networks.
To combat such problems, the document calls for greater oversight from city legislative bodies and harsher punishments for anyone contravening urban planning regulations.
Any modification or revision of local urban planning policy should also be approved by legislators first, the document says.
Bizarre architecture that is not economical, functional, aesthetically pleasing or environmentally friendly will be forbidden, while construction techniques that generate less waste and use fewer resources, such as the use of prefabricated buildings, will be encouraged, according to the document.
It projected that in 10 years, 30 percent of new buildings will be prefabricated.
To further monitor urban sprawl, governments should use a variety of methods including remote satellite sensing to locate buildings that violate existing urban planning policies.
Within five years, a map of all such illegal buildings across China’s cities will have been drawn up and action taken against violators, the document said.
Other highlights in the guideline
Reform of the urban housing system will see governments satisfy the basic living needs of disadvantaged groups, while the market will meet the demand of other residents. By 2020, the transformation and renovation of existing shantytowns, urban villages and dilapidated houses in cities will be complete.
New open residential communities will be established with links to public roads that can become part of the urban road system, leading to better utilization of urban land and optimization of the urban road network.
Cities will have more green belts and urban parks that are free to the public, putting residents closer to greenery. The buildings occupying public green land should also be phased out within a set time period.
Cities should exert more effort to protect their historical sites through regular repair and renovation plans. Within five years, all cities should demarcate their historic and cultural buildings and districts for better protection.
Cities will further increase the development of public transportation systems, including buses and metros. By 2020, mega cities with a population greater than 5 million will have at least 40 percent of journeys completed via public transport, while that figure will be 30 percent in cities with a population greater than 1 million. In other cities it will stand at 20 percent.
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Many call water the elixir of life, but why is drinking water so important?
Water is critical for our survival, and the better hydrated the body, the better the body is able to perform. Water promotes better health in keeping our body temperature down, aids in digestion, aids in weight loss and keeps body systems functioning at top performance. Did you know that your body is 70-75 percent water and your brain is 90 percent water?
The body pulls fluids from our extremities, hands, feet and other areas to maintain its systems. Without proper hydration, the blood becomes thicker and harder to move through our body. When the blood is thicker, it clots more, potentially causing heart and blood pressure issues.
Have you ever experienced swelling in the hands or feet on a hot summer day? Lack of water could be a major contributing factor.
Many individuals complain of headaches and other ailments. Drinking adequate amounts of water can help alleviate headaches and muscle cramps. Water helps maintain the cushioning in our joints, aids in digestion and helps flush waste from our bodies.
Itís important to replace the water we lose each day, especially in the summer. In addition to drinking adequate amounts of water, we can also get water from the fruits and vegetables we eat, from fluids we drink and as a byproduct of our metabolism. Substituting sugary beverages with water can also help control calorie intake. At the YMCA of the Brandywine Valley, water is the designated primary beverage for all childcare and afterschool programs.
With the summer heat, children love to play in water. Many individuals take vacations at the beach to swim in the water and others love to sail on the water. Most of us just donít drink enough water.
So, the next time you have a headache or just feel out of sorts, try drinking a glass of water first!
Kathy Boyle is a nationally certified personal trainer with the West Chester Area YMCA, Airport Road. To learn more about wellness programs offered by the YMCA of the Brandywine Valley, visit www.ymcabwv.org or any of its branches: Brandywine YMCA, Kennett Area YMCA, Jennersville YMCA or the Oscar Lasko Youth Program Center, West Chester.
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By Matt Walker
Editor, Earth News
Verdigellas: older than we thought
Ancient seaweed that have been found growing in the deep sea are "living fossils", researchers have reported.
The two types of seaweed, which grow more than 200m underwater, represent previously unrecognised ancient forms of algae, say the scientists.
As such, the algae could belong to the earliest of all known green plants, diverging up to one billion years ago from the ancestor of all such plants.
Details of the discovery are published in the Journal of Phycology.
"The algae occur in relatively deep marine waters - 210m, which is certainly deep for a photosynthetic organism," Professor Frederick Zechman told the BBC.
"They can be found in shallower water but typically under ledges in low light.
"They appear to possess special chlorophyll pigments that allow them to utilise the low intensity blue light found at depth."
Professor Zechman of California State University in Fresno, US, sampled the seaweeds with a team of researchers based across the US and in Belgium.
The algae had previously been identified. They belong to the scientific groups, or genera, called Palmophyllum and Verdigellas.
But Professor Zechman's team is the first to study their genetic make-up, and it is this research that has revealed their startling ancestry.
Green plants in general belong to one of two groups, or clades.
One clade includes all land plants and the green algae with the most complex structures, known as charophytes or more commonly stoneworts.
The other clade, known as the Cholorophyta, comprises all other green algae.
Most studies have sought to determine what ancient plants gave rise to the land plants and stoneworts.
But little research has been done into the origin of the other green algae.
So Professor Zechman's team collected and studied Palmophyllum algae from New Zealand waters and Verdigellas from the western Atlantic Ocean.
These algae are unusual as they are multicellular, but their individual cells do not interact with each other in any meaningful way.
Instead, single cells sit in a gelatinous matrix, which can form complex shapes such as stalks.
The scientists analysed the DNA within the nuclei and chloroplasts in the algae's cells.
Palmophyllum umbracola growing in the waters off New Zealand
Instead of belonging to the Cholorophyta, the scientists discovered that both types of algae actually belong to a distinct new group of green plants, one that is incredibly ancient.
The algae are so different that they should be assigned their own Order, a high level taxonomic group, say the scientists.
What is more, "by comparing those gene sequences to the same genes in other green plants, we have discovered that these green algae are among the earliest diverging green plants... if not the earliest diverging lineage of green plants," Professor Zechman told the BBC.
"That would put them in the ball park of over a billion years old."
The discovery could "vastly change" our view of which green plant was the ancestor to all those we see today, he says.
That progenitor of green plants is currently thought to be a single-celled plant that had a tail-like structure called a flagellum, which allows the cell to move itself in water.
But no single-celled or flagellated algae of the types studied by Professor Zechman's team have been observed, suggesting the earliest green plants may not have had flagella after all.
Professor Zechman said the previously unrecognised ancient algae could be characterised as "living fossils", even though no actual fossils of such algae are known to exist.
The algae's ability to harness low light intensities allows them to grow in deep water habitats - and that may be the key to their incredible longevity.
At such depths, plants face less stress from the actions of waves, variations in temperature and fewer herbivores that might feed on them.
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Tourette syndrome (TS) is a disorder that causes both motor and vocal tics. Motor tics are brief, rapid movements of the face, hands, or legs that happen over and over. Vocal tics can be words, throat clearing, or other sounds that are not made on purpose.
If tics are severe, or happen often, they can affect your child's life in many ways.
Tourette syndrome is usually lifelong, though symptoms may improve for weeks or even years at a time. In most cases, the symptoms get better in adulthood.
The exact cause of this disorder is not known.
Symptoms may include:
Your child may have one type of tic or many different tics. The tic may start in one body part and spread to other body parts. Sometimes tics disappear for minutes or hours.
Many children with TS also have
Your child’s healthcare provider will ask about your child’s symptoms and medical history and examine your child. Your child may have tests or scans to check for possible causes of his symptoms.
TS may be treated with several kinds of medicine. Behavioral therapy or habit reversal training may also help. With habit reversal training, your child does something instead of the tic. The new action should use muscles in a way that makes it impossible to do the old habit. For example, instead of an eye blink tic, your child could very gently close his eyelids and hold them closed for 10 seconds.
Usually your child will have more tics when he is tense or stressed and fewer tics when he is asleep, relaxed, or focused on an absorbing task. The use of relaxation techniques or biofeedback may help relieve stress and reduce tics.
Follow the full course of treatment prescribed by your healthcare provider. In addition:
Ask your provider:
Make sure you know when your child should come back for a checkup. Keep all appointments for provider visits or tests.
You can get more information from:
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<urn:uuid:9bea946c-c0e8-4efb-9dc5-13c397471899>
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CC-MAIN-2016-26
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http://www.abcdpediatrics.com/advisor/pa/pa_toursynd_bhp.htm
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more teachable race. But with these the difficulty for the new law-givers is that they find nothing corresponding to the productions of the country from which they had come. Fruits are in abundance, but there is no grain which requires culture, and which would give origin to a continued industry. The legend relates, somewhat naively, the hunger and distress of these elevated beings, until at length they discover the maize, and other nutritious fruits and grains in the county of Paxil and Cayala.
Our author places these latter in the state of Chiapas, and the countries watered by the Usumasinta. The provinces of Mexico and the Atlantic border of Central America he supposes to be those where the first legislators of America landed, and where was the cradle of the first American civilization. In these regions, the great city attributed to Votan,--Palenque,--the ruins of whose magnificent temples and palaces even yet astonish the traveller, was one of the first products of this civilization.
With regard to
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CC-MAIN-2016-26
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Set Submissions for Assignments
You can change the number of submissions your students can make, whether they need to submit the entire assignment, entire questions, or only changed question parts, and whether your students can save their work without using a submission.
Submissions options are managed by editing the assignment or assignment template settings.
You can change the number of submissions for the assignment or assignment template, or for individual questions. The number of submissions can be between 1 and 100, and should reflect factors like your assignment goals, question difficulty, or question type. For example, you would probably want to give more submissions for a tutorial or practice assignment than for a quiz. Most instructors set the number of submissions for an assignment somewhere between three and five.
To change submissions for specific questions, see Override Submissions for Specific Questions.
You can allow your students to submit new or changed question parts, entire questions, or the entire assignment.
- Question Parts lets your students focus on individual parts of a question. Each question displays a submission button, but each question part is submitted only if it has been changed from the student's previous submission. This lets your students enter or change a response for one part and submit it without losing submissions for the other question parts.
- Questions requires your students to focus on each question as a whole. Each question displays a submission button, and the entire question — including any parts that have not been completed or changed — is submitted.
- Assignment treats the entire assignment as a whole. The assignment displays a submission button, and the entire assignment — including any parts that have not been completed or changed — is submitted.
- You can only use Require new randomizations with Question or Assignment submissions.
- With Question and Assignment submission, syntax errors are always counted as incorrect submissions. See Count Responses With Syntax Errors As Submissions for Assignments.
- You can use Question Parts submission and set it to show the solution after a certain number of submissions. But if the student answers a question part correctly using fewer than the maximum number of submissions allowed, the solution is not displayed. If you are using Question Parts submission, set the Learning Tools to display the solution after one submission.
You can also let your students save their work on the assignment between sessions and submit the assignment only when their work is complete. This is particularly useful for long assignments for which Assignment submission is required, or for assignments that include free-response questions such as essays that your students might want to work on over a period of time.
Edit the assignment or assignment template
To do this Do this Change the assignment template In the Assignment Templates Manager, click Edit for the template. Change the current assignment only
In the Assignment Editor, click Edit Settings.
If the assignment used a template, the settings from the selected template become editable in the Assignment Editor and the template is no longer used.
- If needed, expand the Submissions and Work settings.
For Submissions Allowed, either select one of the listed
numbers or select Other and type an integer between 1 and
Typically, instructors select between three and five submissions.
- For Submitting Answers, select Question Parts, Questions, or Assignment.
- For Saving Progress, select or clear Students can save their work without using a submission.
- Click Save.
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Multiple causes could make it extremely difficult to stop the decline of the bees. If so, farmers may have to embrace a change in strategy and encourage the assistance of alternative pollinators like solitary wild bees and bumblebees. A promising study published last autumn by ecologists Sarah Greenleaf of the University of California at Davis and Claire Kremen of the University of California at Berkeley found that the presence of wild bees increases the efficiency of sunflower pollination fivefold. “You see these female bees with these huge loads of pollen on them, dive-bombing the honeybees on the flowers that the wild bees want to be on,” says Greenleaf. Being bumped off one flower seems to prompt the honeybees to move the pollen from the male plants over to the female plants—which is exactly where the farmer needs it to go.
Greenleaf and Kremen counted 33 species of wild bee in the sunflower fields of Central Valley in California. These bees nest in underground tunnels or hollow twigs in nearby natural habitat—oak woodlands and chaparral, or dense shrubland. But such lands are under serious threat from giant single-crop farms. “These big giant monocultures pretty much hammer the bee habitat,” says Mace Vaughan, an entomologist and conservation director of the Xerces Society in Portland, Oregon, which promotes insect biodiversity. “If you go from the foothills of the coast range in California and go out into the heart of the Central Valley, the bee diversity and abundance just steadily drops off.”
One solution is to enhance the habitat for native bees around farmland—by planting hedgerows, for example, or leaving some land uncultivated. Vaughan cites research that Canadian canola farmers who sow seeds on only 70 percent of their land (leaving the remainder as wild habitat for native bees) are more productive, and make more money, than those who plant the crop on all of their fields. Another approach is to encourage managers of semiartificial environments like golf courses to surround the greens with the types of plants, like sunflowers, lupines, and black-eyed susans, that attract native pollinators.
Jim Cane, an entomologist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture Bee Biology and Systematics Lab in Utah, is working on ways that wild bees could replace honeybees on some crops, rather than merely supplementing them. Bumblebees are already raised commercially for pollinating greenhouse tomatoes. Cane has successfully raised a range of native bees for other kinds of commercial use. Leaf-cutter bees and alkali bees pollinate alfalfa, the blue orchard bee pollinates fruit trees (especially almonds), wild bee species Osmia aglaia and O. bruneri pollinate raspberries and blackberries, and O. ribifloris is effective at tending to blueberries. In most cases, managing these bees means providing habitat in which they can nest, like drilled wooden boards or hole-studded stone blocks for cavity-nesting species like the blue orchard bee.
Replacing honeybees with wild bees is not as simple as it sounds, however. Many wild species specialize on one or two crops, and they can be expensive to raise. By contrast, says Cane, “The honeybee is a jack-of-all-trades. You can plop them down in mustard, in apples, in blueberries, whatever crop, and they’ll visit and give you pollination. With honeybees, you can provide hundreds of thousands of foragers very cheaply—less than a penny a forager.” All the more reason, then, to be concerned about their disappearance. Yet Cane remains skeptical about the severity of CCD. “Clearly, some beekeepers have had some disasters this winter, and I do feel for them,” he says. “But the magnitude, extent, scale, and certainly cause are still open questions.”
One big block in understanding what is happening to the bees is a lack of hard data: Many states in the past decades have dismantled their apiary inspection programs. “Bean counters said, ‘Well that one job, that’s a lot of money we could save in our budget, nobody’s clamoring for it, so let’s just jettison it,’ ” Cane says. Had inspectors had the opportunity to examine commercial hives across states, “we’d be six months ahead of where we are now.”
Meanwhile, ordinary people can help keep pollinators abundant. For example, they can scatter hole-punched bee blocks in their gardens in which wild bees can nest. Vaughan of the Xerces Society encourages planting lots of backyard flowering plants that bloom year-round. “But the best thing for the average Joe to do is reduce or eliminate his or her use of pesticides around the house,” he says. “These kill more good pollinators than bad things.”
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CC-MAIN-2016-26
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http://discovermagazine.com/2007/jul/better-planet/
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|
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In the context of human evolution, human vestigiality involves those traits
occurring in humans .... All mammals have a tail at some point in their
development; in humans, it is present for a period...
Oct 8, 2015 ... If you're curious, the longest human tail on record is generally credited ... If you
guessed his refusal to have his very hairy appendage removed ...
www.ask.com/youtube?q=Is It Possible for a Human to Have a Tail?&v=XfwMjTcaz64
Jun 3, 2013 ... ... lot more primitive. We're talking tails, extra organs, and that's just the. ... "
Humans have an amazing knack for clinging to the past. We all have ...
Dec 12, 2012 ... Very early embryos have what look like little gill slits in the beginning of their
development. At about four weeks, embryos have a little tail.
This Indian baby's “tail”, like so many cases of human “tails”, is not a real tail. And
it is not evidence of evolution. It doesn't have any bones in it, doesn't have fur ...
I think it would be really cool to have a tail that could grab onto things (a ... A
possible explanation is that humans became bipedal (i.e. walk on two legs) and
Did you ever WONDER why you have a tailbone but not a tail? When you look
around, ... We can't know for certain why humans don't have tails. We just don't.
Mar 23, 2011 ... The “tail bone” is the small triangular bone at the lower end of your back bone or
vertebral column. ... that human beings do not actually have a useless or even
vestigial “tail bone”! ... Is it possible to change your gender?
Apr 30, 2015 ... Reinforcing it is the idea that all human embryos have 'tails' at one ..... evolution
couldn't it be equally possible humans are evolving some new ...
May 12, 2014 ... True human tails are rarely encountered in medicine. ... Bona-fide cases of
human tails containing bone have not been documented.".
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CC-MAIN-2016-26
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http://www.ask.com/web?q=Is+It+Possible+for+a+Human+to+Have+a+Tail%3F&o=2603&l=dir&qsrc=3139&gc=1
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|
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|
The risk of injury in professional sport has been a central feature in recent debates about how well protected our stars are. Only recently, Argentine football player Emanuel Ortega died of a fatal head injury after hitting a concrete wall during a game.
One solution is to increase the use of protective wear and to improve existing designs. The Australian Cricket Board inquiry into the death of cricketer Phillip Hughes, two days after he was struck on the neck where his helmet offered no protection, could result in newly-designed safety helmets being made mandatory.
At Sheffield Hallam University we’ve been developing improved materials for impact protection in sports. The materials have the fascinating and unusual “auxetic” property that can be used in helmets, pads, guards, gloves, mats and barriers.
What are auxetic materials?
Put simply, instead of becoming thinner when stretched (how we usually expect materials to behave), an auxetic material actually gets fatter. When compressed, the material becomes thinner.
At first glance this fascinating property to auxetic materials may appear highly unusual, but is actually being discovered to be a key feature of a growing number of natural materials. Examples include certain forms of skin and other soft biomaterials, and inorganic silicates such as quartz and cristobalite. Man-made auxetics now include honeycombs and foams, fibres and fabrics, carbon fibre-reinforced composites, microporous polymers, metals and ceramics.
The inspiration for the current work on auxetic materials for improved impact protection equipment in sports comes from the ultimate natural armour protection system: the humble seashell.
The inner layer of the two-tier armour protection system found in seashells – nacre, also known as mother of pearl – provides high stiffness, strength and toughness, properties to withstand a predator bite or rock impact on the shell surface. This exceptional combination of properties enables the seashell to avoid catastrophic failure and maintains the integrity of the shell in the event that the hard and brittle outer layer becomes cracked. Nacre is also known to be auxetic.
Reducing peak acceleration
So why has nature evolved armour protection systems that operate this way? We think a number of factors may be at play, all linked to the basic premise that the auxetic property is a route to achieving extreme or optimal values of other useful properties that are not easily achieved by “conventional” materials.
Unlike conventional materials which adopt a “saddle” shape when bent out of plane, an auxetic material naturally adopts a convex “dome” type curvature similar to the overall shape of the seashell. This characteristic dome-like double curvature for auxetic materials is ideal for sports protective equipment such as helmets, and shoulder or elbow pads, in ensuring close fit of the equipment to the body for maximum comfort and performance.
In terms of response to impact, the tendency of an auxetic material to contract width-wise under compression leads to a dense localised area that provides increased resistance to impact where and when it is required (below).
Auxetics have also been found to provide increased fracture toughness and energy absorption. In the case of nacre, these properties increase the energy that is dissipated by a change in the volume of the material by an astonishing 1100%.
Another key function of sports protective equipment is to reduce peak acceleration under impact. In work just published , we reported auxetic foams covered by a rigid outer shell (mimicking the two-layer seashell structure) display an average of six times the reduction in peak acceleration under impact typical of many sporting applications. We expect that further peak acceleration reduction is possible through further optimisation of the foam production process.
So auxetics have excellent acceleration management properties and have significant potential to act as the energy absorbing material in crash barriers and mats. In rigid dome-shaped helmets and protective pads, auxetics offer lightweight, stiff and strong materials solutions. In flexible protectors, the ability to conform to convex surfaces, such as are found in many places on the human body, means that auxetics should provide and maintain better fit, and be less restrictive to player movement, throughout dynamic sporting activity.
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A Sound Idea
Submitted by: L. Stone
Make a tape of sounds from the environment. I have one with crickets chirping, cell phones ringing, water running, a thunderstorm, a kitty mewing. When the tape is played the students are asked to identify what the noise is. Keep a numbered list for your own reference so you don’t forget what’s on it. The younger children especially like this activity.
Grade Level(s): 1-2, 3-5
Card Name Game
Submitted by: Hrshy210
When I have a few minutes to spare the students love to play the “card name game.” I have all of their names written on a playing card. While seated at the carpet, I distribute one card to each child (making sure no one has their own name). When their name is called they have to say something positive about the person on the card. This has really helped them to learn about respect and treating others how they want to be treated. It is fun and only takes about five minutes.
Submitted by: kristie johnson, 10-12
As students walk in the door hand 10 scrap pieces of paper out at random. Class knows that if they get a piece of paper they have to write a comment about the class topic that day or a question they have. It may be a question a neighbor had. This gives me something to do if i wrap up early or something to start off the next class session. Check for understanding or clarification. It also allows students to ask questions anonymously as I shuffle the papers and others can grab a sheet to add to the stack.
Submitted by: Karlana Jester, Pre-K teacher
When it is time for my class to transition from one activity to another, I play music to motivate them to clean up quickly. I try to pick music that is upbeat and very catchy. After the children are done cleaning up the activity at hand, I usually let the music play a little bit longer so the children can dance out any extra activity they may. This way, I can have their undivided attention once we settle back done at the tables for another activity.
Quote of the Day
Submitted by: Lynn Bird, Pinckneyville Middle School
I teach sixth grade language arts and social studies. I start off each class by going over a “Quote of the Day.” I have it written on the board and students write this quote in their Agenda book which is used to record their daily homework. Kids volunteer to explain what this quote means to them. This not only encourages kids to think beyond the books but also allows me to have a part in their character education. I have many compliments from parents because it gives them the opportunity to have an open discussion with their kids when they see the quote written. I get many of these quotes from various websites as well as off the daily Classroom Flyer from the Learning Company School. This only takes about 5-7 minutes and is a great use of class time!
Shorten Transition Times
Submitted by: Cynthia Valdez, 5th Grade
I would like to share a wonderful and effective transition strategry that I use. On a big green poster board, I drew a football field. (0 yards in the center and 50 yards at each end) In the beginning of the school yera, I introduced the football chart. I placed a small football on the 0 year line. I told theme that we were going to play a game for six weeks. . I was one team and the students were another. I told them that every time we had to change from one subject to another, they were going to be timed (1 min.) If everyone was ready within the time, they score 10 yards. If not, I score. The quarters are divided within weeks. At the end of the six weeks, if I win, they have to write a comprehensive report. IF they win, they get a whole day of fun educational activities and snacks. This strategry is effective, fun, exciting, and motivating.
Submitted by: Mr. Johnson, 2nd & 4th
A transition activity I have useful in both 2nd & 4th grades is Silent Math. During the times your entire class is lined up and waiting, have one child start by using fingers and hand signals to give math problems. (Example: Hold up one finger (1), then make a plus sign (+), then two fingers (1+2). Lastly, put one hand above the other facing in opposite directions for the equal sign(=).) If a student wants to answer, he/she must raise their hand to be called on. They must give the answer using fingers and hand signals. The kids love it and it keeps the noise level down!
Sponge Activities for first grade
Submitted by: C. Letkeman
Once the students have left for recess, I set out a bucket on each table. The buckets contain materials the students can use independently at their tables, ie play-doh, lego, peg boards, pattern blocks, tracers, felt boards, I Spy books etc. When the students come in from recess, they know there are activities at their tables, and they settle in to them quickly. This gives me a few extra minutes in case I was unable to return to the classroom immediately after recess because of outdoor supervision, a staff meeting, or dealing with an issue that arose during recess. It also give me a couple of minutes to get the next lesson’s materials organized! Each table gets the bucket for a day, and I rotate activities every week or two.
Submitted by: P. Nicholson, 1st
To make transition time faster and easier, I cut out five shapes, five times on the Ellis Die cut machine using the same sequence of different colored construction paper. Example: green, red, yellow, blue, orange bunny, frogs, crayons, etc. I label each colored shape with a number and laminate one to each student’s space at their tables. Then, when we line up or move anywhere in the room, I call a shape, color or number and those students line up first.
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A line connecting points of equal Dew Point Temperature is called an isodrosotherm. That means, at every point along a given isodrosotherm, the values of dew point temperature are the same.
Isodrosotherms are represented by dashed green contours. An image of reported dew point temperatures and isodrosotherms has been given below.
The isodrosotherms were generated from the observed values of dew point temperature, and have been plotted at intervals of 5 degrees Fahrenheit. The small green numbers are contour labels, which identify the value of an isodrosotherm (55, 65 degrees Fahrenheit).
For example, high dew point values of greater than 70 have been reported in Iowa, Illinois and southern Michigan and are therefore located south of the 70 degree contour.
In the image below, this surface dew point temperature information has been incorporated into a more complex surface map generated for the same time.
Reported dew points show that a dome of very moist air has pushed its way into Iowa, Illinois, and southern Michigan where dew point temperatures are above 70. Such high dew points usually mean humid and sticky weather conditions.
On the other hand, pleasant weather is found across North Dakota and Minnesota, where dew points are in the 50's and the air is much drier.
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<urn:uuid:a276dd05-5fe2-4c1b-80e3-2e0d5c19589e>
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CC-MAIN-2016-26
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http://ww2010.atmos.uiuc.edu/(Gl)/guides/maps/sfcobs/cntr/dros.rxml
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|
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This diagram shows the Americas being separated from the Europe and Africa as the seafloor spreads. Continents are grey in color. Youngest seafloor is red and as seafloor gets older it becomes yellow, green and then blue.
Click on image for full size
NOAA/NESDIS/National Geophysical Data Center, Boulder, CO.
This picture explains how seafloor spreading works! It shows the ages of ocean floor in the Atlantic and eastern Pacific Oceans.
The red sections are the newest area of the seafloor. They are at mid-ocean spreading ridges. These are places at the bottom of deep oceans where there is a crack between two plates and new lava comes to the surface from deep within the Earth.
As new seafloor forms at the spreading ridges, older parts move away from the ridge. The blue areas are the oldest. Sometimes the oldest parts of the seafloor are next to land and sometimes they are near places where subduction is happening.
Shop Windows to the Universe Science Store!
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CC-MAIN-2016-26
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http://www.windows2universe.org/earth/interior/seafloor_spreading.html&edu=elem
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GSD Course Bulletin - Fall 2013
06479 [M1]: Daylighting (SCI 0647900)
Lecture - 2 credits
This course is a module. It lasts the first half of the semester only.
Monday Friday 11:30 - 1:00 Gund 510
Architecture is the masterly, correct and magnificent play of masses brought together in light. -Le Corbusier
Picture a space, one that feels vibrant, comfortable, warm, and healthy. Now visualize someplace cheerless, depressing, and dull. What changed in your mind's eye? Most likely, lighting --specifically natural lighting-- played a significant role. Yet, none of these terms explicitly relate to light or darkness. Behold the emotive power of daylighting. In addition to enlivening a space, daylight can connect us to nature, mark the passage of time, maintain circadian rhythms, and save energy. Conversely, it can lead to overheating, visual discomfort, and wasted energy.
This course explores the theme of daylighting in architecture. Because daylight design can be an unintuitive process, and because today's computerized tools offer designers a powerful tool for evaluating their ideas, this course includes a detailed focus on daylight simulation. Other topics include, design precedents, rules of thumb, and shading strategies, as well as the fundamentals of light, sun position, solar heat gain, and glare. Both studio-based and research-based students are encouraged to participate.
In this course students will...
- explore how light shapes architecture
- perform computerized daylight simulation to aid the design process
- learn to accurately visualize the play of daylight in their designs
- understand and apply the metrics used to evaluate daylight performance
- hone their design intuition with regard to natural light and shading design
The class format includes lectures, in-class exercises, group discussions, and student presentations. Assignments consist of a series of short software tutorials, a design project, and ultimately a small-group design or research project.
Students will learn to use the DIVA 2.0 daylighting plug-in for the Rhino 3D modeling program. However, students will find the concepts applicable to daylight simulation in general.
1. GSD 06125 or 06250 Environmental Technologies in Buildings, or equivalent
2. a laptop running Rhino V4.0 Service Release 9 or higher (available on the GSD network)
3. Familiarity with Rhino, such as the completion of beginner tutorials, will be helpful.
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<urn:uuid:7a9db481-c027-4428-9c25-fc43536f624e>
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http://www.gsd.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/courses/details.cgi?term=201320&course=SCI-06479
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Personality is a collection of emotional, thought, and behavioral patterns unique to a person that is consistent over time. The idea that we can understand ourselves and others by categorizing the ways in which we experience, respond, and behave toward the physical and social world has a long tradition. With the advent of psychology as an academic discipline, theories of personality and techniques for measuring personality characteristics and individual differences developed significantly. No single model has been able to describe the totality of human personality. The inherent complexity of human nature, and the infinite diversity among individuals may indeed preclude such a possibility. Even so, those who work to advance our understanding of ourselves and others enable us to build bridges and overcome barriers between people with different personalities. Understanding and appreciating our differences allows us to become one human family, where each person can fulfill his or her own potential and contribute to the whole, according to their unique nature.
In psychology, personality is a collection of emotional, thought, and behavioral patterns unique to a person that is consistent over time. The word originates from the Latin persona, which means "mask," indicating that early theorists regarded the personality as the outward expression of the internal nature of human beings. Personality can also be distinguished from the related concept of temperament, which is the aspect of personality concerned specifically with emotional dispositions and reactions, or the mood pattern of a person.
Greek philosopher/physician Hippocrates recorded the first known personality model, basing his four “types” on the amount of body fluids, or "humors," an individual possessed. Greek physician Galen expounded upon Hippocrates' theory based on the four basic body fluids (humors): blood, phlegm, black bile, and yellow bile. According to their relative predominance in an individual, they would produce, respectively, temperaments designated sanguine (warm, pleasant), phlegmatic (slow-moving, apathetic), melancholic (depressed, sad), and choleric (quick to react, hot-tempered). German philosopher Immanuel Kant popularized these ideas by organizing the constructs along the two axes of feelings and activity.
The advent of the field of psychology led to more formalized categories and tests. Wilhelm Wundt proposed that the four temperaments fall along the axes of changeability and emotionality. As the field of psychology grew and matured, both the theoretical models of personality and the methods designed to assess personality differences have made significant advances.
Modern personality models may generally be broken into three types: factorial models, typologies, and circumplexes.
Factorial models posit that there are dimensions along which human personality differs. The main purpose of a personality model is thus to define the dimensions of personality. The statistical technique of factor analysis is a primary tool of theorists composing factorial models. Such models arise directly from a classical individual differences approach to the study of human personality. The "Big Five" model is the best-known example of this type of theory.
Typologies or type models arise naturally from some theories that posit "types" of people. For example, astrological signs represented a well-known, pre-scientific typological model. Typological models posit a relatively small number of modal types and possibly some interaction between the types. The Jungian typology implemented in the MBTI represents the typology approach.
Circumplex models may resemble factorial or type models, but further specify a relationship between the different types or factors. Typically, some types or factors are more related than others and can be presented on a polygon. Correlations of personality scores should resemble a simplex form, where opposing types have low correlation and close types have a high correlation. John L. Holland's RIASEC or "Holland Codes" is a typical example of this type of theory.
There are several theoretical perspectives on personality in psychology, which involve different ideas about the relationship between personality and other psychological constructs, as well as different theories about the way personality develops. Most theories can be grouped into one of the following classes:
The latter two regard the objective measurements of traits as too fragmented to fully capture personality development. Instead, they use global explanations and subjective methods to describe the development of the "whole person."
Behaviorists explain personality in terms of reactions to external stimuli. This school of thought was initiated by B. F. Skinner. According to these theories, people's behavior is formed by processes such as operant conditioning.
Some psychologists take a biological view of personality and research temperaments in children and heritability in adult twins, hoping is to find the genes underlying temperament. Individual differences in temperaments or manner of reacting to the environment emerge early in life and are an influence in later personality development. Behavioral-genetic data from twin and adoption studies show that the heritability of many adult personality traits is between .40 to .60, with the remaining variability accounted for by a person's unique environment and experiences.
According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association, personality traits are "prominent aspects of personality that are exhibited in a wide range of important social and personal contexts." In other words, persons have certain characteristics which partly determine their behavior. According to the theory, a friendly person is likely to act in a friendly fashion in any situation because of the traits in his personality. One criticism of trait models of personality as a whole is that they lead professionals in clinical psychology and laypeople alike to accept classifications, or worse offer advice, based on a superficial analysis of a person's profile.
The most common models of traits incorporate four or five broad dimensions or factors. The least controversial dimension, observed as far back as the ancient Greeks, is extroversion vs. introversion (outgoing and physical-stimulation-oriented vs. quiet and physical-stimulation-averse).
Gordon Allport delineated different kinds of traits, which he also called dispositions. Central traits are basic to an individual's personality, while secondary traits are more peripheral. Common traits are those recognized within a culture and thus may vary from culture to culture. Cardinal traits are those by which an individual may be strongly recognized.
In 1936, Gordon Allport and H. S. Odbert hypothesized that:
Those individual differences that are most salient and socially relevant in people’s lives will eventually become encoded into their language; the more important such a difference, the more likely is it to become expressed as a single word.
This statement became known as the "Lexical Hypothesis." Allport and Odbert had worked through two of the most comprehensive dictionaries of the English language available at the time, and extracted 18,000 personality-describing words. From this gigantic list they extracted 4,500 personality-describing adjectives which they considered to describe observable and relatively permanent traits.
In 1946, Raymond B. Cattell used the emerging technology of computers to analyze the Allport-Odbert list. He organized the list into 181 clusters, and asked subjects to rate people whom they knew by the adjectives on the list. Using factor analysis Cattell generated twelve factors, and then included four factors which he thought ought to appear. The result was the hypothesis that individuals describe themselves and each other according to 16 different, independent factors.
With these sixteen factors as a basis, Cattell went on to construct the 16 Personality Factors (16PF) questionnaire, which remains in use by universities and businesses for research, personnel selection and the like. Although subsequent research has failed to replicate his results, and it has been shown that he retained too many factors, the current 16PF takes these findings into account and is considered to be a very good test. In 1963, W.T. Norman replicated Cattell’s work and suggested that five factors would be sufficient.
For the next seventeen years, the changing zeitgeist made the publication of personality research difficult. Social psychologists argued that behavior is not stable, but varies with context, so that predicting behavior by personality test was impossible. They further argued that character, or personality, is something humans impose on people in order to maintain an illusion of consistency in the world. Furthermore, Walter Mischel in his 1968 book Psychological Assessment asserted that personality tests could not predict behavior with a correlation of more than 0.3.
Around 1980, three developments brought personality research into the modern era: personal computers, statistical aggregation, and the "Big Five Factors." Before the advent of personal computers, psychologists wishing to conduct large scale statistical analysis needed to rent access to a mainframe. However, once personal computers become widely available, they could do this work on their desktops. Therefore anybody could easily re-examine the Allport-Odbert list. The question remained as to why they would do so, given that it had seemingly already been established that personality was an illusion.
It was argued that personality psychologists had considered behavior from the wrong perspective. Instead of trying to predict single instances of behavior, which was unreliable, it was thought that researchers should try to predict patterns of behavior. As a result correlations soared from .3 to .8 and it seemed that “personality” did in fact exist. Social psychologists still argue that we impose consistency on the world, but with statistical aggregation it could be shown that there was in fact more consistency than was once thought.
In 1981, at a symposium in Honolulu, four prominent researchers (Lewis Goldberg, Naomi Takamoto-Chock, Andrew Comrey, and John M. Digman) reviewed the available personality tests of the day, and decided that most of the tests which held any promise seemed to measure a subset of five common factors, just as Norman had discovered in 1963.
Following the discovery of the convergence of the Lexical Hypothesis with the findings of theoretical research, a model was developed which states that personality can be described in terms of five aggregate-level trait descriptors.
Although many personality researchers have built their own models, when they talk to each other they usually translate their model into the one proposed by Norman in 1963. The following descriptions of the five factors were adapted from the writings of John A. Johnson.
Neuroticism or (inversely) Emotional Stability
Openness to Experience
One of the most significant advances of the five factor model was the establishment of a taxonomy that demonstrates order in a previously scattered and disorganized field. For example, as an extremely heterogeneous collection of traits, research had found that "personality" (i.e., any of a large number of hypothesized personality traits) was not predictive of important criteria. However, using the five-factor model as a taxonomy to group the vast numbers of unlike personality traits, meta-analysis of previous research by Barrick and Mount showed that there were many significant correlations between the personality traits of the five-factor model and job performance in many jobs. Their strongest finding was that Conscientiousness was predictive of performance in all the job families studied. This makes perfect sense, insofar as it is very difficult to imagine any job where, all other things equal, being high in Conscientiousness is not an advantage.
Ever since the 1990s, when the consensus of psychologists gradually came to support the Big Five, there has been a growing body of research surrounding these personality traits. The existence of each one has been verified by cross-cultural research demonstrating that they exist in individuals outside of Western nations, and all show an influence from both heredity and environment (in roughly equal proportion).
A person's ratings on the five factors has been found to change with time, with Agreeableness and Conscientiousness increasing, while Extroversion, Neuroticism, and Openness generally decrease as a person ages. Sexes show differences in Big Five scores across cultures, with women scoring higher in both the Agreeableness and Neuroticism domains. (The mere fact that sex differences have been found does not by itself demonstrate that the sexes are innately different in personality, although that is a possibility.) Individuals also differ when viewed by the order of their births; Frank J. Sulloway has mounted evidence that birth order is correlated with personality traits: firstborns are statistically more conscientious, more socially dominant, less agreeable, and less open to new ideas compared to later born children.
Relationships have also been discovered between Geert Hofstede's cultural factors (Individualism, Power Distance, Masculinity, and Uncertainty Avoidance) and the average Big Five scores in a country. For instance, the degree to which a country values individualism correlates with its average Extroversion, while people living in cultures which are accepting of large inequalities in their power structures tend to score somewhat higher on Conscientiousness.
There are several weaknesses to the Big Five. The first of these is that the five factors are not fully "orthogonal" to one another; that is, the five factors are not independent. Negative correlations often appear between Neuroticism and Extroversion, for instance, indicating that those who are more prone to experiencing negative emotions tend to be less talkative and outgoing.
Another weakness is that the Big Five do not explain all of human personality. Some psychologists have dissented from the model precisely because they feel it neglects other personality traits, such as:
Correlations have been found between these factors and the Big Five, such as the well known inverse relationship between political conservatism and Openness, although variation in these traits is not entirely explained by the Five Factors themselves.
Moreover, the methodology used to investigate these phenomena (factor analysis) does not have a well-supported, universally-recognized scientific or statistical basis for choosing among solutions with different numbers of factors. That is, a five factor solution is a choice of the analyst, at least to some degree. A larger number of factors may, in fact, underlie these five factors and a dataset of these variables may be factored into simpler models. This has lead to disputes about the "true" number of factors. Many researchers and practitioners have criticized these five factors as being far too broad for applied work. In unpublished research, Goldberg (who coined the term "Big Five") found that Cattell's 16 factor solution has greater predictive power than five factors, even when the number of predictors is controlled by using a cross-validation sample to assess the prediction of competing regression models (16 versus 5 variables).
Another weakness of the Big Five is that they rely on self report questionnaires to be measured; self report bias and falsification of responses is impossible to deal with completely. This becomes especially important when considering why scores may differ between individuals or groups of people - differences in scores may represent genuine underlying personality differences, or they may simply be an artifact of the way the subjects answered the questions.
The last weakness of the Big Five, and a criticism which has frequently been leveled at it, is that it is not based on any underlying theory; it is merely an empirical finding that certain descriptors cluster together under factor analysis. While this does not mean that these five factors don't exist, the underlying causes behind them are unknown.
In cognitivism behavior is explained as guided by cognitions (e.g., expectations) about the world, and especially those about other people. Albert Bandura, a social learning theorist suggested that the forces of memory and emotions worked in conjunction with environmental influences. Social-cognitive theorists emphasize the situation the person is in and the person's expectations, habits, and belief system. This approach claims that the environment, cognitions, and a person's behavior all have an influence on each other in a complex pattern called reciprocal determinism, which shapes one's distinctive personality. We learn ways of reacting to situations in our environment in part because of rewards and punishment. However, once acquired, our habits, behaviors, and cognitions influence how we respond to others and to situations.
A significant personality trait that illustrates reciprocal determinism is "self-efficacy," a sense of one's ability to achieve results and reach goals even in the face of overwhelming obstacles. Self-efficacy is acquired through four factors:
Another example of how reciprocal determinism shapes personality is called "locus of control." This is the degree to which people believe they have control over their lives. One's expectations of success or failure, control over events, or lack of control, may create a self-fulfilling prophecy; one's expectations can actually lead to behavior that makes the expectation occur. Typically people with an internal locus of control believe they are responsible for what happens in their lives and that they control their own destiny. Those with an external locus of control tend to believe that the control is outside of them - luck, fate, or other people control their life circumstances. Julian Rotter developed an Internal/External Scale which as been used in research extensively. He stated that an internal locus of control typically emerges at a very young age, but can change depending on later life experiences in society and one's perceptions of their life experiences.
Both self-efficacy and an internal locus of control are considered to produce positive results in one's health, achievements, and social activism.
Many qualities that are treated as personality traits are actually influenced by one's culture. For example, in "cultures of honor" men are more likely to react aggressively to restore their sense of honor than are men from other cultures. In "individualistic cultures" people define themselves in different terms than those in "collectivist cultures", as they see their "selves" as more stable cross-situationally. In "monochronic cultures" individuals stress punctuality and doing things one at a time, whereas those from "polychronic cultures" value relationship above time schedule. The challenge for cultural theorists is to describe cultural influences on personality without stereotyping.
Work by Geert Hofstede in over 64 countries has demonstrated that there are national and regional cultural groupings that affect the behavior of organizations, and that are very persistent across time. He identified five dimensions of culture in his study of national influences:
Hofstede's research revealed that country scores on the five dimensions were statistically correlated with a multitude of other data about the countries, pointing to some of the roots of [cultural differences.
Psychoanalytic theories, based on the work of Sigmund Freud, explain human behavior in terms of interaction between the various components of personality. Freud drew on the physics (thermodynamics) of his day to coin the term psychodynamics: based on the popular ideas of conversion of heat into mechanical energy and vice versa, he proposed the conversion of psychic energy into behavior. He broke the human personality down to three significant components: the ego, superego, and id. According to Freud, personality is shaped by the interactions of these three components.
Psychoanalytic theories have been the source of subjective tests of personality called projective tests (including the Rorschach Inkblot Test). These are considered useful for therapy, but are considered to have poor reliability and validity and therefore not used in legal or employment settings.
Psychoanalytic approaches have been criticized for basing theories on the sometimes unreliable memories of patients, rather than on prospective studies. However, ideas about unconscious processes and defense mechanisms have been studied empirically and have made important contributions to psychology.
Carl Jung taught that the personality includes many archetypes, including the shadow, the anima and the animus. This is based on his theory that all people share a collective unconscious that consists of universal memories and images, which he called archetypes.
Building on the writings and observations of Carl Jung, during World War II Isabel Briggs Myers and her mother Katharine Cook Briggs delineated personality types by constructing the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). This model was later elaborated further by David Keirsey. The model begins by accepting Extroversion vs. Introversion as basic, and adding an additional three dimensions:
Although founded in the psychoanalytic approach stressing unconscious motives and memories, this personality typology has some aspects of a trait theory: it explains people's behavior in terms of opposite fixed characteristics. The intuition factor is considered the most basic, dividing people into "N" or "S" personality types. An "N" is further assumed to be guided by the thinking or Objectivation habit, or feelings, and be divided into "NT" (scientist, engineer) or "NF" (author, human-oriented leader) personality. An "S", by contrast, is assumed to be more guided by the perception axis, and thus divided into "SP" (performer, craftsman, artisan) and "SJ" (guardian, accountant, bureaucrat) personality. These four are considered basic, with the other two factors in each case (including always extraversion) less important. Critics of this traditional view have observed that the types are quite strongly stereotyped by professions, and thus may arise more from the need to categorize people for purposes of guiding their career choice.
In humanistic psychology it is emphasized that people have free will and that they play an active role in determining how they behave. This approach places less emphasis on genes, past learning, or unconscious conflicts and dwells mostly on the unique human capacity to shape one's own future through freedom of choice and free will. Accordingly, humanistic psychology focuses on subjective experiences of persons instead of factors that determine behavior. This approach explores human potential and the strengths of the human being. Abraham Maslow, with his concept of peak experiences and self actualization, and Carl Rogers, who stressed the importance of unconditional positive regard, were proponents of this view. In addition, Rollo May and Viktor Frankl emphasized the search for meaning in life.
While critics observe that these ideas are subjective and very difficult to measure, these theories add depth and balance to the study of personality, as well as foster a new appreciation of human resilience in the face of adversity.
Personality tests aim to assess aspects of a person's character that remain stable across a variety of situations. Various approaches are taken to this type of assessment, based on the different theoretical models of personality and on various methodologies. Some tests involve long self-assessment questionnaires in which the subjects rate themselves on a series of attitudes or responses to situations. Others, known as projective tests, involve having people respond to ambiguous pictures, revealing their feelings and underlying needs or conflicts.
Around the 1990s, neuroscience entered the domain of personality psychology. Whereas previous efforts for identifying personality differences relied upon simple, direct, human observation, neuroscience introduced powerful brain analysis tools like Electroencephalography (EEG), Positron Emission Tomography (PET), and Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) to this study.
Research in this area by Richard Davidson at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, has focused on the role of the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and amygdala in manifesting human personality. In particular, this research has looked at hemispheric asymmetry of activity in these regions. A major focus of their research concerns individual differences in affective style: how and why individuals differ in how they respond to emotional challenges.
Research on brain processes has provided substantial support for personality models involving the extroversion-introversion dimension, such as the MBTI model of personality. Research reported by Kahn and Radcliffe (2005) has identified 16 different ways in which people process information and their corresponding brain mechanisms. These 16 processes of the "Human Dimensions Model" (HDM) correspond very closely to the 16 types of the MBTI, lending scientific credibility to the test.
Human personality is a complex area of study. Not only is human nature complex, but also each individual has a unique combination of inherent abilities and preferences and learned responses. Beyond that, any researchers of personality also have certain personalities, which requires them to "bare their soul" in order to understand themselves and others.
Perhaps no single theory will ever account for all the complexities of human personality. All five theories may be integrated by recognizing that personality is multi-dimensional. There is a public personality of our basic traits which are addressed by the biological (genetic), learning and cultural theories; and there is a private personality that reflects the inner sense of self, emotions, dreams and memories, that is addressed by the humanist and psychodynamic theories.
All links retrieved April 16, 2015.
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Protection or Free Trade
How the abolition of protection would stimulate production, weaken monopolies and relieve government of a great cause of corruption, we have seen.
"But what," it will be asked, "would be the gain to working-men? Will wages increase?"
For some time, and to some extent, yes. For the spring of industrial energy consequent upon the removal of the dead weight of the tariff would for a time make the demand for labor brisker and employment steadier, and in occupations where they can combine, workingmen would have better opportunity to reduce their hours and increase their wages, as, since the abolition of the protective tariff in England, many trades there have done. But even from the total abolition of protection, it is impossible to predict any general and permanent increase of wages or any general and permanent improvement in the condition of the working classes. The effect of the abolition of protection, great and beneficial though it must be, would in nature be similar to that of the inventions and discoveries which in our time have so greatly increased the production of wealth, yet have nowhere really raised wages or of themselves improved the condition of the working classes.
Here is the weakness of free trade as it is generally advocated and understood.
The working-man asks the free trader: "How will the change you propose benefit me?"
The free trader can only answer: "It will increase wealth and reduce the cost of commodities."
But in our own time the working-man has seen wealth enormously increased without feeling himself a sharer in the gain. He has seen the cost of commodities greatly reduced without finding it any easier to live. He looks to England, where a revenue tariff has for some time taken the place of a protective tariff, and there he finds labor degraded and underpaid, a general standard of wages lower than that which prevails here, while such improvements as have been made in the condition of the working classes since the abolition of protection are clearly not traceable to that, but to trades-unions, to temperance and beneficial societies, to emigration, to education, and to such acts as those regulating the labor of women and children, and the sanitary conditions of factories and mines.
And seeing this, the working-man, even though he may realize with more or less clearness the hypocrisy of the rings and combinations which demand tariff duties for "the protection of American labor," accepts the fallacies of protection, or at least makes no effort to throw them off, not because of their strength so much as of the weakness of the appeal which free trade makes to him. A considerable proportion, at least, of the most intelligent and influential of American working-men are fully conscious that "protection" does nothing for labor, but neither do they see what free trade could do. And so they regard the tariff question as one of no practical concern to working-men—an attitude hardly less satisfactory to the protected interests than a thorough belief in protection. For when an interest is already intrenched in law and habit of thought, those who are not against it are for it.
To prove that the abolition of protection would tend to increase the aggregate wealth is not of itself enough to evoke the strength necessary to overthrow protection. To do that, it must be proved that the abolition of protection would mean improvement in the condition of the masses.
It is, as I have said, natural to assume that increased production of wealth would be for the benefit of all, and to a child, a savage, or a civilized man who lived in his study and did not read the daily papers, this would doubtless seem a necessary assumption. Yet, to the majority of men in civilized society, so far is this assumption from seeming necessary, that current explanations of the most important social phenomena involve the reverse.
Without question the most important social phenomena of our time arise from that partial paralysis of industry which in all highly civilized countries is in some degree chronic, and which at recurring periods becomes intensified in widespread and long-continued industrial depressions. What is the current explanation of these phenomena? Is it not that which attributes them to over-production?
This explanation is positively or negatively supported even by men who attribute to popular ignorance the failure of the masses to appreciate the benefits of substituting a revenue tariff for a protective tariff. But so long as conditions which bring racking anxiety and bitter privation to millions are commonly attributed to the over-production of wealth, is it any wonder that a reform which is urged on the ground that it would still further increase the production of wealth should fail to arouse popular enthusiasm?
If, indeed, it be popular ignorance that gives persistence to the belief in protection, it is an ignorance that extends to questions far more important and pressing than any question of tariff—an ignorance that the advocates of free trade have done nothing to enlighten, and that they can do nothing to enlighten until they explain why it is that in spite of the enormous increase of productive power that has been going on with accelerating rapidity all this century it is yet so hard for the mere laborer to get a living.
In this great fact, that increase in wealth and in the power of producing wealth does not bring any general benefit in which all classes share—does not for the great masses lessen the intensity of the struggle to live, lies the explanation of the popular weakness of free trade. It is owing to the increasing appreciation of this fact, and not to accidental causes, that all over the civilized world the free trade movement has for some time been losing energy.
American revenue reformers delude themselves if they imagine that protection can now be overthrown in the United States by a movement on the lines of the Cobden Club. The day for that has passed.
It is true that the British tariff reformers of forty years ago were enabled on these lines to arouse the popular enthusiasm necessary to overthrow protection. But not only did the fact that the British tariff made food dear enable them to appeal to sympathy and imagination with a directness and force impossible where the commodities affected by a tariff are not of such prime importance; but the feeling of that time in regard to such reforms was far more hopeful. The great social problems which to-day loom so dark on the horizon of the civilized world were then hardly perceived. In the destruction of political tyranny and the removal of trade restrictions ardent and generous spirits saw the emancipation of labor and the eradication of chronic poverty, and there was a confident belief that the industrial inventions and discoveries of the new era which the world had entered would elevate society from its very foundations. The natural assumption that increase in the general wealth must mean a general improvement in the condition of the people was then confidently made.
But disappointment after disappointment has chilled these hopes, and, just as faith in mere republicanism has weakened, so the power of the appeal that free traders make to the masses has weakened with the decline of the belief that mere increase in the power of production will increase the rewards of labor. Instead of the abolition of protection in Great Britain being followed, as was expected, by the overthrow of protection everywhere, it is not only stronger throughout the civilized world than it was then, but is again raising its head in Great Britain.
It is useless to tell working-men that increase in the general wealth means improvement in their condition. They know by experience that this is not true. The working classes of the United States have seen the general wealth enormously increased, and they have also seen that, as wealth has increased, the fortunes of the rich have grown larger, without its becoming a whit easier to get a living by labor.
It is true that statistics may be arrayed in such way as to prove to the satisfaction of those who wish to believe it, that the condition of the working classes is steadily improving. But that this is not the fact working-men well know. It is true that the average consumption has increased, and that the cheapening of commodities has brought into common use things that were once considered luxuries. It is also true that in many trades wages have been somewhat raised and hours reduced by combinations among workmen. But although the prizes that are to be gained in the lottery of life—or, if any one prefers so to call them, the prizes that are to be gained by superior skill, energy and foresight—are constantly becoming greater and more glittering, the blanks grow more numerous. The man of superior powers and opportunities may hope to count his millions where a generation ago he could have hoped to count his tens of thousands; but to the ordinary man the chances of failure are greater, the fear of want more pressing. It is harder for the average man to become his own employer, to provide for a family and to guard against contingencies. The anxieties attendant on the fear of losing employment are becoming greater and greater, and the fate of him who falls from his place more direful. To prove this it is not necessary to cite the statistics that show how pauperism, crime, insanity and suicide are increasing faster than our increase in population. Who that reads our daily papers needs any proof that the increase in the aggregate of wealth does not mean increased ease of gaining a living by labor?
Here is an item which I take from the papers as I write. I do not take it because equally striking items are rare, but because I find a comment on it which I would also like to quote:
And here is the typical comment which the New York Tribune, shocked for a moment out of its attempt to convince working-men that the tariff has improved their condition, makes upon this item:
"The poor fellow who starved to death at Dayton the other day suffered on Old World fate. He was down and could not get up. He was deprived of his old resources and could not invent new ones. His large family increased his difficulties. He could not compete successfully with younger and less handicapped contemporaries, and so he sank, as thousands have done in the great capitals of Europe, but as hitherto very few, it is to be hoped, have sunk in an American community. Yet this is the tendency of a rapid increase of population and wealth. The struggle becomes fiercer all the time; and while the exactions of society enslave and hamper the ambitious increasingly, the average fertility of resource and swift adaptability decline, just as the average skill of workmen declines with the perfection of mechanical appliances. Commerce and the artificial requirements of social tyranny have already educated among us a class of people whose lives are a perpetual struggle and as perpetual an hypocrisy. They could live comfortably if they could give up display, but they cannot do it, and so they make themselves wretched and demoralize themselves at the same time. The sound, healthy American characteristics are being eliminated in this way, and we are rearing up instead a generation of feeble folks who may in turn become the parents of such hewers of wood and drawers of water as the Old World city masses have long been. And here, as there, our remedy and regeneration must come from the more vigorous and better-trained products of the country life."
I will not ask how regeneration is to come from the more vigorous products of the country life, when every census shows a greater and greater proportion of our population concentrating in cities, and when country roads to the remotest borders are filled with tramps. I merely reprint this article as a sample of the recognition one meets everywhere, even on the part of those who formally deny it, of the obvious fact, that it is becoming harder and harder for the man who has nothing but his own exertions to depend on to get a living in the United States. This fact destroys the assumption that our protective tariff raises and maintains wages, but it also makes it impossible to assume that the abolition of protection would in any way alter the tendency which as wealth increases makes the struggle for existence harder and harder. This tendency shows itself throughout the civilized world, and arises from the more unequal distribution which everywhere accompanies the increase of wealth. How could the abolition of protection affect it? The worst that can, in this respect, be said of protection is that it somewhat accelerates this tendency. The best that could be promised for the abolition of protection is that it might somewhat restrain it. In England the same tendency has continued to manifest itself since the abolition of protection, despite the fact that in other ways great agencies for the relief and elevation of the masses have been at work. Increased emigration, the greater diffusion of education, the growth of trades-unions, sanitary improvements, the better organization of charity, and governmental regulation of labor and its conditions have during all these years directly tended to improve the condition of the working class. Yet the depths of poverty are as dark as ever, and the contrast between want and wealth more glaring. The Corn-Law Reformers thought to make hunger impossible, but though the Corn laws have long since been abolished, starvation still figures in the mortuary statistics of a country overflowing with wealth.
While "statisticians" marshal figures to show to Dives's satisfaction how much richer Lazarus is becoming, here is what the Congregational clergymen of the greatest and richest of the world's great cities declare in their "Bitter Cry of Outcast London":
"While we have been building our churches and solacing ourselves with our religion and dreaming that the millennium was coming, the poor have been growing poorer, the wretched more miserable and the immoral more corrupt. The gulf has been daily widening which separates the lowest classes of the community from our churches and chapels and from all decency and civilization. It is easy to bring an array of facts which seem to point to the opposite conclusion. But what does it all amount to? We are simply living in a fool's paradise if we imagine that all these agencies combined are doing a thousandth part of what needs to be done. We must face the facts, and these compel the conclusion that this terrible flood of sin and misery is gaining on us. It is rising every day."
This is everywhere the testimony of disinterested and sympathetic observers. Those who are raised above the fierce struggle may not realize what is going on beneath them. But whoever chooses to look may see.
And when we take into account longer periods of time than are usually considered in discussions as to whether the condition of the working-man has or has not improved with improvement in productive agencies and increase in wealth, here is a great broad fact:
Five centuries ago the wealth-producing power of England, man for man, was small indeed compared with what it is now. Not merely were all the great inventions and discoveries which since the introduction of steam have revolutionized mechanical industry then undreamed of, but even agriculture was far ruder and less productive. Artificial grasses had not been discovered. The potato, the carrot, the turnip, the beet, and many other plants and vegetables which the farmer now finds most prolific, had not been introduced. The advantages which ensue from rotation of crops were unknown. Agricultural implements consisted of the spade, the sickle, the flail, the rude plow and the harrow. Cattle had not been bred to more than one-half the size they average now, and sheep did not yield half the fleece. Roads, where there were roads, were extremely bad, wheel vehicles scarce and rude, and places a hundred miles from each other were, in difficulties of transportation, practically as far apart as London and Hong Kong, or San Francisco and New York, are now.
Yet patient students of those times—such men as Professor Thorold Rogers, who has devoted himself to the history of prices, and has deciphered the records of colleges, manors and public offices—tell us that the condition of the English laborer was not only relatively, but absolutely better in those rude times that it is in England to-day, after five centuries of advance in the productive arts. They tell us that the working-man did not work so hard as he does now, and lived better; that he was exempt from the harassing dread of being forced by loss of employment to want and beggary, or of leaving a family that must apply to charity to avoid starvation. Pauperism as it prevails in the rich England of the nineteenth century was in the far poorer England of the fourteenth century, absolutely unknown. Medicine was empirical and superstitious, sanitary regulations and precautions were all but unknown. There was frequently plague and occasionally famine, for, owing to the difficulties of transportation, the scarcity of one district could not be relieved by the plenty of another. But men did not, as they do now, starve in the midst of abundance; and what is perhaps the most significant fact of all is that not only were women and children not worked as they are to-day, but the eight-hour system, which even the working-classes of the United States, with all the profusion of labor-saving machinery and appliances have not yet attained, was then the common system!
If this be the result of five centuries of such increase in productive power as has never before been known in the world, what ground is there for hoping that the mere abolition of protective tariffs would permanently benefit working-men?
And not merely do facts of this kind prevent us from assuming that the abolition of protection could more than temporarily benefit working-men, but they suggest the question, whether it could more than temporarily increase the production of wealth?
Inequality in the distribution of wealth tends to lessen the production of wealth—on the one side, by lessening intelligence and incentive among workers; and, on the other side, by augmenting the number of idlers and those who minister to them, and by increasing vice, crime and waste. Now, if increase in the production of wealth tends to increase inequality in distribution, not only shall we be mistaken in expecting its full effect from anything which tends to increase production, but there may be a point at which increased inequality of distribution will neutralize increased power of production, just as the carrying of too much sail may deaden a ship's way.
Trade is a labor-saving of production, and the effect of tariff restrictions upon trade is unquestionably to diminish productive power. Yet, important as may be the effects of protection in diminishing the production of wealth, they are far less important than the waste of productive forces which is commonly attributed to the very excess of productive power. The existence of protective tariffs will not suffice to explain that paralysis of industrial forces which in all departments of industry seems to arise from an excess of productive power, over the demand for consumption, and which is everywhere leading to combinations to restrain production. And considering this, can we feel quite sure that the effect of abolishing protection would be more than temporarily to increase the production of wealth?
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Many think of social networks in terms of Facebook friends and Twitter followers, but for recent University of Georgia doctoral graduate Julie Rushmore, social networks are tools in the fight against infectious diseases.
Rushmore, who completed her doctorate in the Odum School of Ecology in May, analyzed the social networks of wild chimpanzees to determine which individuals were most likely to contract and spread pathogens. Her findings, published in the Journal of Animal Ecology on June 5, could help wildlife managers target their efforts to prevent outbreaks and potentially help public health officials prevent disease in human populations as well.
Effective disease intervention for this species is important for a number of reasons. Wild chimpanzees are highly endangered, and diseases—including some that also infect humans—are among the most serious threats to their survival. And due to habitat loss, chimpanzees increasingly overlap with human populations, so disease outbreaks could spread to people and livestock, and vice versa.
Disease prevention in wildlife is logistically challenging, and resources are scarce, Rushmore explained. Even when vaccines are available, it is impractical to vaccinate every individual in a wildlife population. She and her colleagues decided to use social network analysis to pinpoint individuals most important in disease transmission.
“Modeling studies in humans have shown that targeting central individuals for vaccination is significantly more effective than randomly vaccinating,” Rushmore said. “There have been a few social network studies in wildlife systems—bees, lions, meerkats, lizards and giraffes—but this is the first paper to map out social networks in the context of disease transmission and conservation for wild primates.”
Rushmore observed a community of wild chimpanzees in Kibale National Park in Uganda, recording the interactions of individuals and family groups over a nine-month period to determine which individuals—and which types of individuals—were most central.
“Chimpanzees are ideal for this study because to collect this observational behavioral data, you don’t need to collar them or use any invasive methods. You can essentially just observe chimpanzees in their natural environment and identify them individually based on their facial features,” she said.
Rushmore collected information about the traits of individual chimpanzees including age, sex, rank and family size. Rank for adult males was based on dominance, while for adult females and juveniles it was based on location: Those that lived and foraged in the interior of the community’s territory were considered of higher rank than those that roamed its edges.
From December 2009 to August 2010, Rushmore recorded the interactions of chimpanzees in the community at 15-minute intervals between 6 a.m. and 7:30 p.m., four to six days per week. She mapped her observations onto a diagram showing how often each individual associated with the others.
This analysis revealed that the most central figures in the network turned out to be high-ranking mothers and juveniles with large families. “They form nursing parties—essentially like day care—where several families will hang out together,” she said. “In that way they become quite central because they have contact with a large portion of the community.”
Second in centrality were the high-ranking males.
“There are many studies in humans, and at least one in chimpanzees, showing that from an immunological perspective, juveniles and children are really important for maintaining diseases in populations through play and things like that,” she said.
“In addition, high-ranking male chimpanzees are often immunosuppressed because they have high levels of testosterone and have been shown to have higher rates of parasitism. So it seems that in addition to being central to the network, the juveniles and the high-ranking males in particular could also have lower immunity than other individuals, which might help facilitate them acquiring and transmitting pathogens.”
Rushmore’s findings have implications for disease prevention beyond chimpanzees.
“This work can easily be applied to other systems,” she said. “You could use similar methods to identify which traits are predictive of centrality. The theme that would carry over from our findings is that these central individuals are likely important to target for vaccination or treatment.”
Rushmore and her colleagues are continuing their research into social networks and disease. They currently are using infectious disease models to simulate outbreaks on these networks and to develop targeted pathogen interventions.
“Ultimately, we want to develop vaccination strategies that could both prevent large outbreaks and lower the number of animals requiring vaccination,” Rushmore said.
The study’s co-authors were Damien Caillaud of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International and the University of Texas at Austin, Leopold Matamba of the UGA department of mathematics, Rebecca M. Stumpf of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Stephen P. Borgatti of the University of Kentucky and Sonia Altizer of the UGA Odum School of Ecology.
Funding was provided by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Conservation’s Without Borders program, the Morris Animal Foundation, the Fulbright Scholars program, the Margot Marsh Biodiversity Foundation, the Primate Action Fund, Graduate Women in Science, the ARCS Foundation and the National Science Foundation, with support from the Kibale Chimpanzee Project, the Uganda Wildlife Authority, the Uganda National Council for Science and Technology and the Makerere University Biological Field Station.
For more information on the Odum School of Ecology, see http://www.ecology.uga.edu.
Social network analysis of wild chimpanzees provides insights for predicting infectious disease risk
Journal of Animal Ecology
Article first published online: 4 JUN 2013
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There are mixed feelings from conventional farmers and the agricultural industry about organic farming. Many in the industry are not convinced organic foods are more nutritious or that organic methods trump scientific advances, citing for example that farming with Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) to help lessen world hunger outweighs any potential environmental risk.
Restricted use of antibiotics in organic farming has led to concern about high levels of microbes in manure, in turn causing food poisoning such as E. coli. There is a lack of sufficient evidence to prove organics suffer from a higher than conventional level of microbes, but right now studies favor organic products. The Soil Association suggests the handling of manures on organic farms are actually more likely to reduce levels of organisms, and that less than 5 percent of food poisoning outbreaks are due to fruit and vegetable contamination. Research continues to be conducted on the use of organic waste in all types of farming.
Additionally, a report in 2002 suggests organic and free-range chickens might be more likely to have Campylobacter infections, a known cause of food poisoning. Subsequent studies are underway.
Even as organic farming methods work to protect the environment by building healthy soils and emphasizing natural systems, without proper management and knowledge, organic practices can create pathogen problems.
The environmental benefits of organic farming are a hotly debated topic, and researchers continue to study how sustainable methods may help cure -- or at least help negate -- some of the effects of any environmental hazards produced by the modern-day agricultural system, hopefully reducing levels of chemicals put into the soil and atmosphere and our bodies. Conventional wisdom follows that the more we understand about our food sources and how they affect our bodies and the environment, the better.
For more organic-related articles and links, visit the next page.
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What is a Bengal Cat?
The Bengal cat is a long, muscular, medium- to large-sized cat, with a broad head and muzzle, high cheekbones, and pronounced whisker pads. The eyes are round and wide, with dark markings around the eyes (mascara) and the ears small and rounded at the tips. The grace of a jungle cat is held as one of the positive characteristics, along with the ability to move quietly and with stealth. The back legs are slightly longer than the front legs, making the hind end a bit higher than the shoulders, and emphasizing the Bengal's wild-cat appearance. The Bengal's muscular, athletic build is one of its most defining features; it is never delicate.
The Bengal stands out among cats for its lush, dense, and remarkably soft coat. The distinctive leopard-like spots on the Bengal can be random, aligned horizontally with rosettes that form a half circle, or in a marbled pattern. The preferred colors are black or brown spotted, and black or brown marbled, but breeders have also engineered Bengals that are snow spotted (white), and snow marbled. The spots should be in sharp contrast to the background color.
Bengals often possess a trait called glittering, which makes the coat appear to have been dusted with gold or pearl. While this naturally occurring trait enhances the natural beauty of the Bengal, and is preferred by some people, it it not given special preference in the show ring.
Bengal Cat Personality and Temperament
Because of its feral lineage, the Bengal is often assumed to be difficult to handle, but the reverse is true. Breeders insist that the Bengal can be tamed easily and has an affectionate personality, though it is not a lap cat. However, it does enjoy human company, and will often stay close to its family members. The Bengal particularly enjoys the company of children, since its energetic nature makes it very fond of playing games.
One of the traits the Bengal retains from its wild ancestry is the hunting instinct -- not only for small land animals, but also for water dwelling creatures. The Asian leopard has honed the ability to fish in the wild, and your domestic Bengal may very well carry this trait in the more playful form, swimming along side of you, taking a shower or bath, or just playing in the sink.
A high energy cat, you will want to be sure to give your Bengal plenty of play time, and keep in mind that most high energy cats like to jump to high locations. You will want to keep breakable objects out of harms way and off of open shelves; even, and perhaps especially, the highest shelves.
History and Background
The Bengal breed is singular in the cat fancy as the only successful pairing of a wild cat with a domestic cat. There is some anecdotal evidence that pairings of the Asian leopard cat with domestic cats had been attempted prior to the 1960s, but the real genesis of the Bengal breed began in earnest in the 1970s, when amateur breeder Jean Sudgen, of California, became the recipient of a group of cats that had been bred for use in genetic testing. Dr. Willard Centerwall of Loyola University had been testing Asian Leopards for their partial immunity to feline leukemia, and began cross breeding them with domestic cats for possible genetic viability in immunization development.
Rather than destroy the cats after the program was completed, Dr. Centerwall searched for appropriate homes for his cats. Because Ms. Sudgen had an actual interest in breeding Asian leopard hybrids, she chose not to take all of the cats, instead focusing on those cats that were showing a predilection for domestic temperament along with the desired spotting patterns.
For her part, Ms. Sudgen had begun her first experiments in cat hybridization while studying genetics at UC Davis in the 1940s. When presented with the opportunity to work with Dr. Centerwall's Asian leopards and their hybrids, she took to it with enthusiasm, and although Dr. Centerwall was fully supportive of Ms. Sudgen's endeavors, the same could not be said for the cat fancy community. Most breeders were staunchly against breeding a wild cat with a domestic, and to this day, the Cat Fanciers Association continues to refuse registration to the Bengal because of its wild bloodline, though many other associations have included the Bengal breed since the 1980s, including The International Cat Association.
Ms. Sudgen, who had by now remarried and taken the name Mill, had been cautioned that the offspring of her crossings would be sterile, and this did prove true for the males that resulted from the matings, but she had better luck with the female hybrids. Before she could fully immerse herself in her new breeding program, however, Ms. Mill needed an appropriate male cat to cross with her female Asian leopard hybrids. Feeling that neither the Mau, Burmese, or Abyssinian pure breeds were genetically strong enough, she opened her net wider, and in 1982, her patience paid off when a curator for the New Delhi Zoo, in India, pointed her to a leopard-like street cat that was living on its own in the rhinoceros' exhibit at the zoo. Although the cat was feral, it proved to be an excellent mate for her hybrid females, and within years Ms. Mill had her successful, though still fledgling, breeding program well underway.
The first three generations, from the original pairing of an Asian leopard hybrid to a domestic, until the birthing of the fourth generation, are considered to be the “foundation" cats (generations are technically referred to as F1, F2, F3, F4...and so on). While these F1-F3 cats are considered by their breeders to be safe and suitable as pets, they are not allowed into competition. They are simply the foundation upon which the "healthy" purebred Bengal is built. By the fourth generation, only Bengal to Bengal pairings are allowed, and the cat is then considered to be a pure breed. The Asian leopard is characteristically a reclusive, solitary, omnivorous hunter, and these wilder traits need to be bred out so that the final outcome is a house and people friendly feline companion.
Early generation Bengals are petted out to cat fanciers who are up to the challenge of raising a cat that is not entirely socialized, but with conscientious breeding, once the Bengal has reached the fourth generation stage, the breed exceeds expectations in friendliness, affection, and gentility, and has been the recipient of numerous show awards. Still, reticence toward the breed persists in some circles. As breed originator Jean Mill has said regarding her beloved cats, “Any other cat can bite a judge and excuses are made ... but if a Bengal bites they claim it's the wild blood. Our Bengals must be the sweetest cats at the cat show.”
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South Korean educators no longer have to compete with smartphones for a student's attention
What do educators in the world’s most wired country do when students just can’t put down their phones in class? They develop an app that has the power to remotely control all devices when on campus.
With the help of iSmartKeeper, teachers in South Korea’s Gangwon province, where several schools are trialling the technology, can choose to manage their students’ cell phone usage in several different ways. They are able to lock all phones while in school, allow only emergency calls, allow only phone calls or shut down all apps except certain educational tools. Using GPS geofencing technology, the app automatically takes control of phones as they enter school grounds.
South Korea’s government has become increasingly aware of the possible downsides of mass connectivity. Communication networks are faster and more accessible than those of most other countries, but younger South Koreans also said to have developed an unhealthy relationship with their devices.
According to the National Information Society Agency, 18 percent of the nation’s teens are addicted to their smartphones, meaning that they’re using them for more than seven hours a day and experience withdrawal symptoms like anxiety, insomnia and depression when removed from their phones. The South Korean government has responded with taxpayer-funded counseling – and tools like iSmartKeeper.
So far, the trials of the app have produced mixed results. Geofencing has misfired in at least one instance, keeping a student’s phone locked down for hours after leaving school. The app also only works on Android phones, and students have naturally found ways to bypass its restrictions. Nonetheless, the Gangwon Provincial Office of Education has reportedly advised all its 677 schools to start using the system. One can guess that their teachers have simply grown tired of collecting cell phones at the beginning of every day – a common practice until now.
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This NASA Hubble Space Telescope image shows three galaxies playing a game of gravitational tug-of-war that may result in the eventual demise of one of them.
Located about 100 million light-years away in the constellation Piscis Austrinus (the Southern Fish), the galaxy interaction may ultimately lead to the three reforming into two larger star cities.
The three galaxies—NGC 7173 (middle left), NGC 7174 (middle right), and NGC 7176 (lower right)—are part of Hickson Compact Group 90, named after astronomer Paul Hickson, who first cataloged these small clusters of galaxies in the 1980s. NGC 7173 and NGC 7176 appear to be smooth, normal elliptical galaxies without much gas and dust.
In stark contrast, NGC 7174 is a mangled spiral galaxy that appears as though it is being ripped apart by its close neighbors. The galaxies are experiencing a strong gravitational interaction, and as a result, a significant number of stars have been ripped away from their home galaxies. These stars are now spread out, forming a tenuous luminous component in the galaxy group.
Ultimately, astronomers believe that NGC 7174 will be shredded and only the two "normal" elliptical galaxies (NGC 7173 and NGC 7176) will remain.
Hubble imaged these galaxies with the Advanced Camera for Surveys in May 2006.
For additional information, contact:
Hubble/ESA, Garching, Germany
Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, Md.
Object Names: Hickson Compact Group 90, HCG 90, M59
Image Type: Astronomical
To access available information and downloadable versions of images in this news release, click on any of the images below:
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The long road to understanding our star
The earliest written records of sunspots date back to 165 B.C. in China, but human understanding of the sun didn’t begin making leaps forward until the early 1600s, shortly after the invention of the telescope. That’s when Galileo Galilei, Thomas Harriot and others began drawing sunspots in detail and tracking how they moved and changed.
Danish astronomer Christian Horrebow was probably the first to suggest the sun’s activity was cyclical. He and a group of researchers in Copenhagen observed sunspots starting in 1761. In a diary entry from the year of his death in 1776, Horrebow wrote that the presence of sunspots must be periodic but that he couldn’t determine the period in the years of his observations, according to a 2010 review by David Hathaway, a solar physicist at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala.
German pharmacist and amateur astronomer Samuel Heinrich Schwabe is credited with discovering the cycle that Horrebow suspected. Initially looking for a planet inside the orbit of Mercury, Schwabe observed sunspots for 18 years. Publishing his findings in 1844 in the German journal Astronomical Notes, Schwabe concluded that sunspot activity had a cycle of about 10 years. Swiss astronomer Rudolf Wolf took the research further, combining his own observations with those from previous decades. Wolf’s research, published in 1861 in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, concluded that the solar cycle was 11.1 years.
About the same time as Wolf’s study, the most famous solar event in history changed human understanding of the sun for good.
On Sept. 1, 1859, Richard Carrington was, as usual, at his private observatory in Surrey, England, using a telescope to collect light from the sun and project its image on a painted panel of glass, from which he then recorded sunspots. It was a Thursday and not quite half past 11 in the morning. Carrington had finished his drawings and was counting the sunspots on the 28-centimeter-diameter projection when, rather suddenly, he saw two spots of light that were so bright against his projection screen that he first thought a ray of light had burned a hole in it. When he realized that wasn’t the case, Carrington scrambled to find someone to observe the event with him. By the time he returned, the two white spots had faded somewhat and, in a few minutes, were gone.
The next morning, before sunrise, an immense cloud of charged particles — a coronal mass ejection — bulldozed and energized Earth’s magnetic field. The northern and southern auroras, normally only visible in polar regions, were observed in such tropical locations as the Caribbean and Hawaii, and the fluttering geomagnetic field induced currents in telegraph cables, famously creating sparks and even fires at telegraph stations.
According to NASA, nothing like the Carrington Event has been seen since. Researchers studying ice cores have determined that the geomagnetic storm was nearly twice as severe as the next most severe storm in the last 500 years.
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During the past specific empires have been the center of civilization. At the time Jesus walked here upon earth the Roman empire was the prominent power. It controlled and enforced its laws upon other nations. Not only was that true, but Rome was also the center of world trade. Paved highways for that period of time were built to and from Rome. It also dominated the merchandise and trade goods by ship. Thus, the expression: “All roads lead to Rome” was true to a great extent.
The United States has been the dominant power in our time. It has not used its power to dominate other nations, but to aid them in being free nations. Some believe its leadership is now dissipating away.
The phrase: “All roads lead to Rome” is used figuratively now days to indicate there are different routes to the same goal.
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Vacuum Ultraviolet Lamp of the Future Created in Japan
First Solid-State Vacuum UV Phosphor, Described in APL-Materials, Promises Smaller, Safer, Longer Lasting, Low Power Lamps for Industrial Applications
Embargo expired: 22-Apr-2014 11:00 AM EDT
Source Newsroom: American Institute of Physics (AIP)
Newswise — WASHINGTON D.C., April 22, 2014 -- A team of researchers in Japan has developed a solid-state lamp that emits high-energy ultraviolet (UV) light at the shortest wavelengths ever recorded for such a device, from 140 to 220 nanometers. This is within the range of vacuum-UV light -- so named because while light of that energy can propagate in a vacuum, it is quickly absorbed by oxygen in the air.
This fact makes vacuum UV light extremely useful for industrial applications from sterilizing medical devices to cleaning semiconductor substrates because when it strikes oxygen-containing molecules on a surface, it generates highly reactive oxygen radicals, which can completely destroy any microbes contaminating that surface.
Existing commercial vacuum UV lamps are bulky and expensive, however. They also use a lot of power, run hot, have short lifetimes and contain toxic gasses that can pollute the environment and harm people. The new lamp avoids those issues because it was fabricated with a solid-state phosphor made from a thin film of KMgF3, which is easy to make, avoids the use of toxic gasses and does not require expensive rare earth elements.
In AIP Publishing's journal APL-Materials, the Japanese team describes how this solid-state phosphor promises to make future, low-power vacuum UV lamps that will be more flexible in design as well as being smaller, longer lasting and relatively heat-free -- all traits that are typical advantages of solid state lighting in general.
"Our lamp is a promising light source in terms of lifetime, size, heat conduction and stability," said Shingo Ono of the Nagoya Institute of Technology in Japan, who led the research. "[It] has the potential to be an excellent alternate light source to low-pressure mercury lamps, excimer lamps and deuterium lamps."
In addition to Ono and his colleagues at Nagoya Institute of Technology, the team was comprised of researchers from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia; the Tokuyama Corporation in Tokyo; Tohoku University in Sendai, Japan; and the Kyushu Institute of Technology in Kitakyushu, Japan.
One of the hurdles they faced was to safely fabricate the phosphor using a compound containing fluoride, which is itself a toxic, corrosive and potentially dangerous chemical to handle. One way would have been to use an inflow of gaseous fluoride to coat the surface of the KMgF3 thin film, but instead the team discovered a safer route to fabricating it with pulsed laser deposition -- a way of layering thin films of chemicals onto surfaces through irradiation with a focused laser beam.
The article, "Vacuum ultraviolet field emission lamp utilizing KMgF3 thin film phosphor" is authored by Masahiro Yanagihara, Zamri Yusop, Masaki Tanemura, Shingo Ono, Tomohito Nagami, Kentaro Fukuda, Toshihisa Suyama, Yuui Yokota, Takayuki Yanagida and Akira Yoshikawa. It will be published in the journal APL-Materials on April 22, 2014 (DOI: 10.1063/1.4871915). After that date, it may be accessed at: http://scitation.aip.org/content/aip/journal/apm/2/4/10.1063/1.4871915
ABOUT THE JOURNAL
APL-Materials is a new open access journal featuring original research on significant topical issues within the field of materials science. See: http://aplmaterials.aip.org
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Seredzius is a town in Lithuania on the right bank of the Neman River near its confluence with the Dubysa River. According to the 2001 census, it had a population of 749. Southeast of the town, archaeologists discovered graves from the 3rd–4th centuries. The town also has a large hillfort, identified by historian Zenonas Ivinskis as Pieštvė, which was attacked by the Teutonic Knights numerous times in the late 13th and early 14th centuries.
According to the Palemonids legend, noble refugees from the Roman Empire settled on the hill, now named after Palemon, and established the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. After the Battle of Grunwald, the location lost its military purpose and became private property of the Sapieha family. The Sapiehas built a residential palace, which did not survive. The town's first Catholic church was built around 1608–1612. The church was destroyed in 1829 after a landslide caused by extensive flooding. The residents built a wooden church, which was replaced by a Neo-Renaissance church dedicated to John the Baptist in 1913.
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Saturn rings born from Titanic collision
Ring theory Saturn's majestic rings and icy inner moons formed following the planet's collision with another moon the size of Titan, a new study suggests.
Titan is the largest remaining moon orbiting Saturn, and is about one-and-a-half times the size of Earth's moon.
The study, published today in the journal Nature, uses computer simulations to explain both the composition of Saturn's rings and its icy inner moons.
The lead author, Dr Robin Canup from the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado, claims Saturn's gravitational forces stripped material from the outer icy layers of a Titan sized moon.
These eventually formed the icy inner rings and moons, while the rocky core of the moon would have fallen into the giant gas planet.
The low densities of Saturn's inner moons indicate they are unusually rich in ice, and her rings are between 90% and 95% water ice. This composition is unusual compared to the regular half-ice half-rock mixture normally found in this part of the Solar System.
Comet collision theory wrong
The leading ring-origin hypothesis suggests they formed when a small satellite collided with a comet.
But Canup says, "this scenario would have likely resulted in rings that were a mixture of rock and ice, rather than the ice-rich rings we see today".
Her idea links the formation of the rings to the formation of Saturn's moons. While Jupiter has four large satellites, Saturn has only one, the huge planet-sized moon Titan.
Canup says previous work suggests multiple Titan-sized moons formed around Saturn, but those orbiting closer in than Titan were lost as their orbits spiralled into the planet.
As the last of the large and now lost satellites neared Saturn, tidal flexing of the moon due to Saturn's gravity created heat, melting the ice. The rocky core was then pulled into Saturn's gaseous body.
To test the hypothesis, Canup used smoothed-particle hydrodynamics to simulate the tidal stripping of a thick icy shell from a Titan-sized moon.
Mutual collisions among the icy fragments would have driven the particles into a pure-ice ring, which over time became the Saturnian rings we see today.
In the simulations, inwardly spreading ring material is lost, while material spreading past the ring's outer edge accumulates into icy moons with estimated masses consistent with the inner moons seen today.
"The new model proposes that the rings are primordial, formed from the same events that left Titan as Saturn's sole large satellite," says Canup.
"The implication is that the rings and the Saturnian moons interior to and including Tethys share a common origin, and are the last remnants of a lost companion satellite to Titan", she says.
The Roche Limit
Macquarie University planetary scientist Dr Craig O'Neill says the paper shows how little we really know about the outer solar system.
"It highlights how much there still is to learn about something as distinctive and commonly viewed as Saturn's rings."
O'Neill says Canup's theory revisits a 160 year old idea by a French mathematician. The so-called Roche limit determines how close to a planet a body can get before it's pulled apart by that planet's gravitational tidal forces.
"Edouard Roche invented this to explain Saturn's rings, but it largely fell by the wayside over the years. Now Robin's paper has revisited this idea and it looks to be the real reason why the rings formed."
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From the moment we are born, humans are encouraged to take on an ever increasing amount of responsibility. As children, we learn to be responsible for our toys, to clean our room and to help with a few chores. As we mature, society demands that we retain our responsibilities but discard our childish things and take on more responsibilities. As we move through life, we are taught to blindly believe that progressively assuming more and more responsibilities, no matter how little they contribute to the quality of our lives, somehow makes us a better citizen, a better neighbor or a better person.
Society couldn’t function unless people with ability take care of their own basic responsibilities, but there does come a point where our effectiveness and happiness are diminished by the empty responsibilities we blindly assume. The assumption of responsibility has become so natural, frequent and subtle that we don’t question the obligations we take on.
In moderation, responsibility is a good thing. People should be responsible for their actions and emotions, and they shouldn’t look outside of themselves for happiness. But there comes a point where more responsibility results in diminishing returns.
The origins of the word responsibility are a bit murky. Some argue that the word comes from the Latin respondére, as in “answerable to.” Others argue that the root of the word is the more English “response-able” — meaning more simply “able to respond to.” The modern dictionary definition of responsibility calls it “a duty or obligation” “answerable to or accountable.” However you look at the origins, responsibility and “response-ability” are antonyms — words with opposite meanings: Being held accountable for something and being free to respond are clearly two different beasts.
Consider this. In the 1950s, what many consider America’s golden age, the size of the average single-family house was 983 square feet. In 2004, the average home had grown to 2,349 square feet while at the same time, average family size had shrunk. We were, we thought, becoming more prosperous — and perhaps, at some point, we were.
Eventually, however, increasing home sizes and the commensurate responsibilities resulted in many of us transferring our prosperity and a lot of our “response-ability” to mortgage bankers, insurance companies and home builders. As a result, we started spending less time with our families and friends and more time maintaining our houses.
It was subtle, but we were transferring what should have been our security to third parties and our time to maintaining our property. It is instructive to know that the savings rate in the 1950s was around 10 percent; it is now about half of that. More debt, less savings, less “response-ability.”
Empty responsibility means that not only are we saving less, we also have less of ourselves to give to those who matter. Having the responsibility of an out-of-proportion house not only takes our time but separates us from one another. Family members not only have their own bedrooms and bathrooms, but their own televisions and, more and more, their own separate lives. We are losing track of our family members and by extension our “response-ability” to them.
It isn’t always as obvious as a mortgage. Often, it comes in the form of smaller things. Ever read all of the fine print for a cellphone contract? I haven’t, either. But I guarantee that the company you are pledging a few years’ worth of payments to, and therefore your time required to earn the money to make those payments, is a lot more concerned about making you responsible to them than they are in ensuring you have any “response-ability.”
Every time you click “I agree” when you buy a new piece of software, you are increasing your responsibility and decreasing your “response-ability.” Want to add additional cable channels or get a slightly lower but still usurious interest rate on your credit cards? Be prepared to increase your responsibility and decrease your “response-ability.” These little responsibilities sneak up on us almost without thought.
And it isn’t just financial. Ultimately, time is our most precious resource, yet it is often one we give away without much thought. How many of us take on responsibilities out of a misplaced sense of obligation? How often do we give our time to things that are really little more than distractions? It’s not that we shouldn’t devote our time to worthy projects, it’s that there are endless worthy projects out there. We must choose carefully the ones that mean the most to us. By committing to one project, you are also saying no to a whole host of others. Consider wisely and choose carefully.
Even children these days are encouraged to have their calendars filled with so many activities that they barely have time to respond to, or even notice, the wonderful things that come to them. From school to sports, from social events to service projects, many children are becoming overwhelmed. (Not to mention what it’s doing to their parents’ schedules.) It is impossible to see the beauty in the world when we are constantly blinded by a mind-numbing amount of activity; yet we are teaching our children that it is OK to go through life in a rush.
We’re living in an age that glorifies busy. Somewhere along the line, many of us became too busy for friends, too busy to read, too busy to enjoy our hobbies — too busy to sleep. We are too burdened with responsibilities and too cash-strapped to take time out for vacations, and too busy to look for work that could make things better. We work more and more hours to pay for our seeming endless capacity to take on more responsibility — and the right to smugly complain about how busy we are.
For some people, busyness is an aphrodisiac. For others it is a welcome distraction from the quandaries we have put ourselves in. Too much busyness causes stress and blinds us to the many wonderful things life has to offer. If we have the trappings of success, but through our lack of “response-ability” have eliminated the time to enjoy them, has this pressure made us any happier?
Whatever the reasons you find yourself too busy, it’s time to take your life back. Once we meet a certain threshold, taking on more responsibility only ties our hands, makes us feel overwhelmed and renders us less productive, less able to respond. It’s time to realign our obligations toward things we are truly passionate about.
People engaged in activities they enjoy are generally happier than people who are idle — and there are plenty of enjoyable activities, such as exercise and hobbies, that don’t require taking on excessive responsibility. When we take time to ease out of our default consumerist mode — where we believe we are entitled to a fancier this or a bigger that — we can instead allow ourselves to believe we are entitled to slow down and take back control of our lives.
Again, I am in no way saying that a manageable amount of responsibility is always a bad thing. Nor should we shirk our responsibilities. A rational amount of responsibility is the glue that holds societies together. But an irrational amount of trivial responsibility can tear it apart. If we take or are given responsibility along with “response-ability,” great things can be accomplished.
We need to use our common sense to say, “Halt, enough.” Start re-evaluating things. Think before we pile additional, even small, responsibilities on ourselves. Examine more closely how responsibilities add quality to our lives. Learn to guard and value our “response-abilities” as much as we do our responsibilities.
We only get one shot at life. Wouldn’t it be great if we took the time to enjoy it?
Jonathan Look retired early from his job in the Houston area to pursue a life of adventure. When not traveling, he is now based in Southeast Asia. Visit his website at LifePart2.com or visit him on Facebook.
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Want more power and longer battery life for that cell phone, laptop,
and digital music player? “Flower power" may be the solution. Chemists
are reporting development of flower-shaped nanoparticles with superior
electronic performance than conventional battery materials. These
“nanoflowers” may power next-generation electronic devices, say the
scientists in a report scheduled for the Oct. 8 issue of ACS’ Nano Letters, a monthly journal.
Gaoping Cao and colleagues point out that nanoflowers are not new.
Researchers have developed various types of flower-shaped nanoparticles
using different materials, including manganese oxide, the key metallic
ingredient that powers conventional batteries. However,
older-generation nanoflowers were not suitable for electronic products
of the future, which will demand more power and longer battery life,
the researchers say.
In the new study, scientists first grew clusters of carbon nanotubes,
strands of pure carbon 50,000 times thinner than a human hair, that are
known to have superior electrical conductivity. The scientists then
deposited manganese oxide onto the nanotubes using a simple, low-cost
coating technique called “electrodeposition,” resulting in nano-sized
clusters that resemble tiny dandelions under an electron microscope.
The result was a battery system with higher energy storage capacity,
longer life, and greater efficiency than conventional battery
materials, the researchers say. — MTS
News release from The American Chemical Society on September 10, 2008.
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Trigeminal nerve stimulation (TNS) is an experimental device that shows promise in treating epilepsy. It might someday be available to treat severe depression in patients whose illness has not responded to antidepressants or psychotherapy. In clinical trials for TNS, electrodes are taped to a patient’s forehead and then connected to an electrical stimulator specifically designed to target the trigeminal nerve. This nerve is responsible for passing sensory information between the central nervous system and the face.
The precise mechanism by which TNS might lessen depression is not currently understood. Much scientific research needs to be done before TNS would become available for treating either depression or epilepsy outside of clinical trials.
How Trigeminal Nerve Stimulation Works
During TNS, a patient wears an external stimulator that is about the size of a large cell phone. The stimulator is connected to wires that lead to electrodes on top of conductive pads attached to the forehead. The electrodes, which can be covered by a cap or scarf, transmit electrical stimulation to the trigeminal nerve, which extends from the brain out into the muscles and skin of the face.
TNS is currently an experimental procedure, but researchers think that wearing the stimulator regularly for eight hours overnight should be adequate to control depression. Patients have described a tingling or buzzing when wearing the stimulator, but these do not interfere with sleep.
TNS differs from electroconvulsive therapy—an older, proven method of treating severe depression—in that the electrical energy does not travel directly into the brain but, rather, stimulates a specific nerve.
Who It’s For
At this point, trigeminal nerve stimulation is experimental, so only patients enrolled in a clinical trial can receive it. A small double-blind clinical trial is underway. This means that neither the patient nor the doctor will know the exact dose of electricity a specific patient has been receiving until after the clinical trial is completed. The researchers avoided enrolling any patients in the clinical trial who had skin irritation on the forehead where the electrodes must be taped. Also, they did not enroll any women who were pregnant or nursing. However, the researchers believe that TNS might someday be a good therapy for pregnant or nursing women with major depression because it is not a drug that could cross the placenta or enter breast milk. Much further research is needed to know for sure.
Possible Side Effects or Complications
No large-scale clinical trials have established the safety or even the effectiveness of trigeminal nerve stimulation in treating depression. So it’s impossible to fully understand the possible side effects or complications of this experimental treatment. In a recently completed pilot study, two out of 11 patients developed mild skin irritation on their foreheads where the electrodes were attached.
In theory, TNS would not cause side effects common to other depression treatments. For example, TNS is a not a drug therapy, so the weight gain and sleep disturbances antidepressants can cause should not occur. Unlike electroconvulsive therapy, TNS does not induce seizures, so the memory problems sometimes associated with that treatment would not be a factor. And TNS does not require general anesthesia, another risk involved in treatments such as deep brain stimulation and vagus nerve stimulation.
What the Expert Says
Because trigeminal nerve stimulation is experimental and won’t be available to patients for several years at least, physicians who are not involved with the TNS clinical trials are not yet familiar enough with this treatment to comment on its potential.
TNS was invented and is being developed at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA). The university has executed an exclusive worldwide license for the TNS machine with a company that specializes in technology commercialization. The UCLA research team has presented TNS findings at scientific conferences and published articles in peer-reviewed medical journals.
Ian Cook, M.D., the Joanne and George Miller & Family Chair in Depression Research at the UCLA Brain Research Institute, leads the TNS clinical trial on depression. “Depression is so common and disabling for many people; we need more treatments,” Cook says. “Having a very different treatment option like TNS—we call it a gentle USB port to the brain—could be a real asset to patient care. But any new treatments need to be evidence-based and FDA-cleared. We hope this will happen in the next few years.”
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Incorporate underused plants in your landscape for their visual appeal and hardiness. Native Florida plants and those well-suited to Florida's semi-tropical environment make good sense because they will perform satisfactorily and add a unique element as well. Whereas other yards are full of crepe myrtles and azaleas, use a few underused Florida plants to stick out in the landscape crowd.
Bougainvillea (Bougainvillea spp.) is an evergreen, clambering woody vine with a sprawling form. Most species are hardy only in southern Florida, but varieties exist for the central Florida climate. Bougainvillea size varies by whether it's allowed to spread. Its leaves are 2 to 4 inches long, and the plant has small flowers with three large, very showy, brightly colored bracts (petal-like leaves). The bracts are up to 2 inches long and range in color from purple, white, yellow, pink, red and orange. Grow bougainvillea in full sun and sandy, well-drained soil. Prune bougainvillea to maintain size and shape.
Cast Iron Plant
Cast iron plants (Aspidistra elatior) are evergreen, herbaceous perennials that grow well in all areas of Florida. Cast iron plants reach heights of 2 feet with a wider spread and have long, dark green, upright, leathery leaves. These plants grow on a wide range of soils and require partial to very dense shade. They can also tolerate a lot of abuse. Use cast iron plant as a ground cover, in planters, in edgings and for textural contrast with other landscape plants.
Winged elms (Ulmus alata) grow to 60 feet tall with a 30-foot spread. They are deciduous trees noted for interesting bark with grayish brown flat-topped ridges and slender twigs with winglike outgrowths. Winged elms are sturdy trees and are recommended as shade or street specimens. Grow winged elms in full sun or partial shade on various, well-drained soils. Winged elms are native to the southeastern United States and grow in north and central Florida.
The American hornbeam (Carpinus caroliniana), also known as musclewood, ironwood, or blue beech, is a small deciduous tree reaching a height of 35 feet with a slow growth rate. Its native habitat includes Florida, and it grows in north and central Florida. American hornbeam has a crooked, "muscular-looking" trunk and 4-inch long, simple, alternate leaves with doubly serrated margins. Grow American hornbeam in full sun or partial shade on a wide range of moist soils.
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In this special additional chapter of The News Manual Online, we look at vilification and racial hatred laws in Australia. While it refers directly to legislation in Australia, it might also be interesting for journalists from other countries with such laws or which are thinking of making such laws.
What is vilification?
Vibrant democracies should be able to cope with disagreements between citizens, even with people hating each other, but their parliaments often have to make laws to stop those disagreements or hatreds causing actual harm to groups or individuals.
In most democracies it is accepted morality that people should not hate other people because of things they cannot change – such as their race or colour – or, if they do, their hatred must not be allowed to impact on the lives or well-being of the people they hate.
Internationally, this principle has been promoted through the United Nations in the 1965 Convention for the Elimination of All forms of Racial Discrimination and the 1966 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, though many countries have still not ratified them and some that have signed up openly ignore them.
There are specific laws to combat public displays of hatred in Australia. These are usually called anti-vilification laws – where to vilify means to say or do something which debases another person. It comes from Latin meaning literally ‘to make worthless’.
Vilification laws cover hatred acted out against people because of their race, sexuality (including homosexuality and gender identity), religion, HIV/AIDS status or disability, though perhaps the best-known and most common relate to racial vilification.
Where the laws apply
There are anti-vilification laws at the federal, state and territory levels, though they are still not universal and do not cover all major forms of vilification, even racial.
However, with new technologies and a more national approach to distribution by the media, most working journalists in Australia will find their work crossing state and territory boundaries, so they must know how the laws apply in different states.
Fortunately, the laws on vilification – where they exist – are very similar throughout Australia. The following is a useful generic guide to the essentials of the laws.
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Race hate laws
Most of the racial vilification or race hatred acts define racial vilification as:
- A racist act,
- committed in public,
- which could incite serious contempt or severe ridicule of an individual or group because of race, colour, nationality, ethnic, ethno-religious or national background
Some jurisdiction also specifically ban religious vilification while others do not, either remaining silent or including it under terms such as ‘ethno-religious’.
A racist act
Racist acts could take many forms.
They could be visual, such as text in a newspaper, cartoons or slogans on a wall, or audible, such as people speaking publicly about others or broadcasting racist insults.
Many aspects of vilification laws are based on similar concepts in defamation laws.
As with defamation, it doesn’t matter whether you as a journalist commit the act or whether it is committed by someone you are interviewing, reporting on or recording at a protest rally. As publisher or broadcaster, your organisation will be responsible for spreading it. This brings us to the second aspect:
Committed in public
Words, images or signals communicated from one person only to another in a private place cannot constitute a racist act; it has to take place in public and be observed (e.g. seen or heard) by a third person. Any racist words or images broadcast on radio or television or printed in a newspaper or the Internet would automatically be assumed to do this.
Most laws also require that it be done in a public place. A group of people making racist comments on private property would not normally be unlawful, as long as it could not be observed by people outside.
The reason for this ‘third person’ requirement is obvious. A racist remark to the person himself or herself will probably be offensive but it will not damage them in other people’s eyes. As soon as other people see or hear those comments, they could harm the victim in other people’s eyes.
Causing serious harm
Most vilification legislation is not meant to ban ordinary everyday behaviour, even if it is in bad taste. Indeed, the reason may governments have not made vilification laws is because of civil liberties concerns not to restrict their citizens’ right to free speech.
However, there are always limits in civilised societies to what one person can say about another. The laws of defamation are a good example of this. Laws like defamation and vilification do not prevent freedom of thought but they do try to stop those thoughts being turned into words, images or actions which might harm another person.
The laws of both defamation and vilification require that the words, images or actions have the potential to incite serious harm to an individual. Judgment on what is serious will involve both the victim's perceptions and considerations of what is generally unacceptable to society.
Jokes about race, colour, nationality, ethnic, ethno-religious or national background will generally not be covered by vilification laws, but they might if they cause serious damage to another person. One person’s idea of what is funny is often not shared by the victim of the joke, and the laws are meant in part to protect victims.
Although the legislation was aimed at combating persecution of minorities by extreme racists, it also covers racist acts between ethnic communities.
It is worth mentioning here that there are in some countries laws which straddle the boundaries between defamation and vilification. For example, more than a dozen European countries have laws banning denial of the Holocaust. Germany's Holocaust denial legislation, for instance, prohibits "defamation of the dead" but is more similar to vilification laws in that it applies to Jews as a group rather than identified individuals.
In October 2008, German authorities sought the extradition from Britain of Australian Gerald Fredrick Töben, alleging he published material on the internet 'of an anti-Semitic and/or revisionist nature' that denies, approves of or plays down the mass murder of millions of Jews at the hands of the Nazis during the Second World War.
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Under most laws, complaints can only be made by a member of the race or ethnic community which has been vilified or by organisations or individuals – such as lawyers - representing them. The oversight authority will not normally accept complaints from individuals or organisations which do not specifically represent people of the group being vilified.
Federally, complaints are made to the Human Rights and Equal Opportunities Commission (HREOC), the NSW Act is administered by the Anti-Discrimination Board while in Victoria the legislation is overseen by Victorian Equal Opportunities Commission. Similar conditions apply under other state and territory laws.
Under federal law, vilification is an unlawful but not a criminal act, so it cannot be prosecuted by police, only investigated and determined by HREOC. In some states it exists as both a civil complaint and a criminal offence while in others it will only be treated as a criminal offence if extremely serious.
This rather piecemeal situation has arisen partly because vilification legislation in Australia usually has two main functions: to educate people about living in harmony and to take action against offenders if education does not succeed.
The boards or commissions therefore first try to bring the offender and their victims together to reach a better understanding. If conciliation does not work, the matter can be referred to a higher body. In NSW, this is to the Equal Opportunities Tribunal, which has the power to impose damages or order apologies. Complaints under the Federal act are referred to the Federal Court.
In cases where threats of physical harm have been made or where serious vilification is a criminal offence, the matter may be referred to the Attorney General, who can then decide to prosecute as a criminal offence. In Victoria, for example, serious offences may be prosecuted by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.
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When a complaint about vilification is made, the oversight authority – such as HREOC under the federal Racial Hatred Act – will investigate the matter and try to resolve the issues between the two parties – the people who made the vilification and those who complained about it. In the first instance this conciliation process might involve a meeting and, if both sides are happy, result in an agreed formal apology. In the case of the media, it may also result in a published or broadcast correction and apology.
If the parties cannot agree, in some states the oversight authority may make a determination, choosing which side is correct and what should be the outcome, such as publishing a correction and apology, education or changing a workplace behaviour..
Under the federal law, if a complaint cannot be resolved by conciliation, the Commissioner may terminate the process and the complainant can then seek permission to take their case to the Federal Court for a determination and – if the complaint is upheld – whatever corrective measure the court may decide.
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The legislation does not outlaw all incidents involving racial hatred. There are a number of occasions when it is permissible to repeat or report racial vilification. There are some situations when vilification is permitted. These usually include:
- A fair report of an act of vilification. This protects journalists reporting acts of vilification, though you must beware that you do not seem to endorse the act, otherwise that itself may become vilification.
- An act done reasonably and in good faith for academic, artistic, scientific or research purposes in the public interest. These are a similar protections to those provided for matters such as defamation and are meant to protect people’s reasonable rights to free speech.
- Material in parliamentary, court or tribunal proceedings or other government inquiries. This is a protection provided by privilege and is necessary in a democratic system where laws are meant to be made and implemented in an open and transparent way.
All the normal rules of ethical journalism should be applied when covering issues which might be racial vilification. Reporters should clearly identify the person making the remarks – or displaying the image – so it is clear they are not the views of the media organisation.
The media can publish reviews of matters – books, movies, websites etc - which contain vilification but the reviewer must state the facts on which their opinions are based. The reviews must reflect the reviewer’s genuinely held belief and it must be done reasonably and in good faith.
For more information
For more information, there is a simple Guide to the Racial Hatred Act can be found on the HREOC website.
HREOC also provides links to the websites of other state and territory bodies responsible for implementing their own vilification and discrimination laws.
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From CSS Discuss
What is a wiki?
A wiki is a cooperative Web site - a site where any one can edit any thing on any page. Sound like a recipe for disaster? Thanks to revision control and community spirit wikis are thriving all over the 'net..
So Ann, how does it work?
Contributing to a wiki is simple. First, it is advisable (but not compulsory) to set your user name on the Preferences page. The name you enter will be stored in your browser as a cookie and added (along with your IP address) to the log for any page you edit. Enter your user name as a Wiki Word to prevent ((Your Name)) with a question mark showing up in Recent Changes .
To edit a page, click the Edit this document link near the footer of the page you wish to edit. You will then be able to make any alterations to the page you like. When editing pages, text is added using a special wiki markup language which is simple but powerful - you can learn more about the markup language on the Editing Tips page.
Wiki pages are generally identified by a Wiki Word , consisting of Words Smashed Together. To link to a page, just type its Wiki Word . To create a new page, make up a new Wiki Word and add it to an existing page - when you view the page normally the new Wiki Word will have a question mark next to it to show that the page has not yet been created. Click on the question mark to create it.
To create a new page without linking it to the current page: 1) edit the current page, 2) add a new Wiki Word , 3) Preview, 4) click on the question mark and away you go. Or, you can go to any page and edit the address to "[...]page=! New Page Title".
Don't worry if you make a mistake - all previous versions of wiki pages are saved and can be accessed through the View Document History link at the bottom of the page. This also helps prevent vandalism or other mishaps, as any damage done to a page can be quickly and easily reversed.
That's pretty much all there is to it. Experiment with wiki markup on the Sand Box page, and have fun adding to the wiki.
Some frequently asked questions
Q. Surely letting anyone edit pages without any authorisation mechanism will lead to chaos? A. You would think so, but wikis have several built in mechanisms to prevent this from becoming a problem. Firstly, any vandalised pages will only stay vandalised until the next well meaning visitor comes along and fixes them. Secondly, wiki regulars can use the Recent Changes page to keep an eye on things, checking out pages that have been edited recently and making sure they have not been damaged. Thanks to the Recent Changes RSS Feed it is possible to keep an eye on the wiki through a news aggregator without even visiting the site.
Q. Won't the navigation end up a horrible mess as people add new pages completely at random? A. In a well maintained wiki with an active community this should not become a problem. Wikis are an ideal medium for refactoring - a few minutes work and some heavy cutting and pasting is all it takes to turn a messy wiki in to a nice well-ordered one. Once information is in a wiki it is trivial to reorganise it or add links to it to other relevant wiki pages.
Wikis were invented by Ward Cunningham, who created and maintains the first wiki at http://c2.com/cgi/wiki.
This wiki is powered by the Tavi Wiki engine, which can be found at http://tavi.sourceforge.net/. An extensive list of wiki engines (the software that runs a wiki) can be found here: http://c2.com/cgi/wiki? Wiki Engines .
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A short guide to the campus resources available to UVU math students.
Utah Valley University has a wide variety of resources to assist students. Students can get help finding a job, learning study skills, dealing with stress, and creating a support system.
The courses offered by the Developmental Mathematics Department are designed to provide a foundation in preparatory mathematics necessary for success in future college courses throughout a variety of disciplines as well as mathematics.
Workshops, Scholarships, and Mentor Programs from the Math Department
Get ready for the Accuplacer with these resources from the Developmental Mathematics Department
Math Pass is an opportunity for students to review math concepts using an individualized course plan working at their own pace throughout the semester.
The Learning Strategies Support Services assists students in developing increased self-awareness of their learning challenges, and utilizing resources to create and implement a self-improvement plan to become active and independent learners and to achieve academic success.
This YouTube channel by UVU's Jon Anderson has many helpful videos for learning common concepts in Intermediate Algebra.
This YouTube channel by UVU's Jon Anderson has many helpful videos for learning common concepts in College Algebra.
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The new effort, called ClearWater expands upon other initiatives to ensure rainforest residents have safe, unpolluted water.
Chevron has turned its back on the rainforest and its people. The ClearWater project is not the complete solution, but it is part of one, and we praise the indigenous and environmental groups for doing what Chevron should be doing.
From 1964 to 1992, Chevron, operating under the Texaco brand, explored for oil in the Ecuador rainforest. To maximize profits, the company used substandard practices and, as a result, intentionally dumped over 16 billion gallons of toxic water into waterways, used by local people to drink, cook, and bathe.
Chevron also built over 900 huge, unlined pits to store permanently pure crude oil. The pits remain there today and continue to leech into and contaminate the underground water and soil.
In 1993, Ecuadorian indigenous groups sued Chevron for the oil contamination, but the company has fought them at every turn. Eighteen years later, an Ecuador court finally awarded the groups $18 billion in damages. An Ecuadorian appellate court upheld the judgment, allowing the Ecuadorians to enforce it.
Because Chevron has no assets in Ecuador and has refused to pay, they are preparing to enforce in other countries’ courts, where Chevron has assets.
See this video for more information about the devastation caused by Chevron’s deliberate acts.
Supported by organizations such as like Saving an Angel, Groundwork Opportunities, Rainforest Action Network, Amazon Watch and the Amazon Defense Coalition, the ClearWater project will provide sustainable clean water to more than 2,000 indigenous and farmer families across 20 villages in the oil-ravaged areas of the northeastern Ecuadorian rainforest.
Emergildo Criollo, one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit against Chevron and supporter of the CleanWater project, said despite the ongoing legal battle, “the rivers are still poisoned, and the water tests of oil and salt. This must change. Water is the source of life. Without clean water we cannot survive.” Two of Criollo’s children died as a result of the contamination.
In early October, 2011, the ClearWater pilot project broke ground in the community of Cofan Dureno with the community-led installation of 52 rainwater catchment systems, benefitting over 300 Cofan people.
According to the ClearWater web site these systems are relatively easy to install in villages and rural town homes, and if maintained properly, can last up to 50 years. Specially designed filtered catchment units will enable families, health clinics and schools to have clean water.
Become a follower of The Chevron Pit.
Follow us on Twitter at @ChevronPit . and like us on Facebook.
Visit Chevron Toxico.com to find out more. Support Amazon Watch and Rainforest Action Network.
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A minister is an individual authorized by a church, denomination or government to further its interests and serve its people. Common duties may include organizing services, teaching classes, preaching sermons, officiating weddings, overseeing funerals and guiding the community spiritually. The various types of ministers differ in their sense of calling, certified training and qualifications.
A church minister is typically a leader who is the founding pastor of a congregation, is appointed from within its congregation or is brought in for his skills through a candidate-selection process. The two most common offices are a "priest," who conducts rituals that mediate between God and man, and a "pastor," who shepherds a church as a prophetic servant-leader. Other variations can include a youth or children's minister who works with a specific age group or a music minister who oversees the church's worship ministry. Churches may get creative when designating these offices, appointing an administrative minister who oversees finances or a discipleship minister who develops classes and groups to further spiritual development, for example. The title of "reverend" is usually given to a minister who has received ordination credentials.
Congregations may allow laypeople to minister in a volunteer capacity to ensure departments of the church have quality oversight. Positions may involve complementary roles to the senior pastor, including elders and deacons. A deacon is responsible for time-consuming duties, such as caring for the facility, that are seen as important but not critical in furthering the church. Elders often function in a role of "checks and balances" to the primary church minister; however, their function in this volunteer role may be only for a designated period of time.
Denominations are subgroups or sects of a religious system, such as Catholics, Methodists and Baptists under Christianity. Each has a common core theology, tradition and identity that ministers maintain organizationally. Bishops or superintendents who oversee the clergy or many churches are examples of such ministers, as are apostles, missionaries and itinerant preachers who are sent out to spread the message of their faith. Denominations typically require that the minister has a sense of "calling" or training, including any specific requirements specific to their traditions.
A government minister in the United States is usually thought of as a chaplain. These individuals may serve in the military to perform weddings, funerals and hospital visitations. Chaplains may also be found in local government, such as hospital chaplains or a church minister who volunteers his services to the city. This type of minister in other countries may also include a politician who holds significant public office, such as Great Britain's "prime minister."
- Jupiterimages/Photos.com/Getty Images
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- the Old World house martin
- Heraldry a representation of a bird without feet, used as a crest or bearing
Origin of martletFrench martelet, probably ; from martinet, diminutive of martin
- See house martin.
- Heraldry A representation of a bird without feet, used as a crest or bearing to indicate a fourth son.
Origin of martletFrench martelet, from Martin, Saint Martin of Tours.
- A mythical bird, often used in heraldry, which possessed no feet.
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Blurred Vision During Pregnancy
Expectant mothers have to cope with a variety of different problems. The more common problems, such as morning sickness and constipation, are discussed frequently, while other problems such as vision changes are not. Believe it or not, vision changes are a common, normal part of being pregnant. Blurred vision can occur during any stage of pregnancy, and it can even persist long after the pregnancy has come to term. In fact, many women experience drastic vision changes before they even know they are pregnant.
Causes of Blurred Vision During Pregnancy
As with most problems that expectant mothers experience, hormones are the culprit. The same hormones that make your ankles and face swell also cause an increase of fluid build-up within your eye. Fluid retention is common during pregnancy, and it can affect your cornea. Your lens and cornea may thicken, and the fluid pressure within your eyeball may change, causing your vision to become hazy. Pregnancy hormones also cause a decrease in tear production, which may lead to decreased visual acuity and other symptoms.
Some doctors suspect that another possible reason for blurry vision may be a softening of corneal tissue caused by the body’s increased production of the hormone progesterone. Progesterone softens the cartilage and collagen in a pregnant woman’s pelvic area in preparation for the passage of a baby through this very small space, and there is reason to believe it may have a similar effect on collagen in the eye.
Symptoms and Signs
Blurry vision during pregnancy is normal, but it can sometimes be a symptom of a more serious problem. Some of the other symptoms you may experience are:
- Eye irritation
- Dry eyes
- Vision changes
- Double vision
If you’re pregnant and experiencing serious vision problems, it may be the sign of a more serious issue. Blurry vision and other vision problems during pregnancy are sometimes a sign of preeclampsia, a potentially serious condition affecting 3 to 5 percent of all pregnancies. Preeclampsia causes high blood pressure and vision changes that can include blurred vision, photophobia (extreme sensitivity to light), flashing lights in your field of vision, and sometimes even temporary blindness. According to the Preeclampsia Foundation, these vision changes may be caused by irritation of the central nervous system or by swelling of the brain. If you are experiencing visual symptoms with your pregnancy—especially if these symptoms are accompanied by headaches, vomiting, abdominal pain, or sudden swelling in your face and limbs—you should contact your doctor immediately.
Other problems and conditions that may be signified by blurred vision during pregnancy include:
In some cases, blurred vision during pregnancy may indicate high blood sugar levels. If you have diabetes or are prone to diabetes, your obstetrician will advise you on how to manage your condition. If you have another condition not mentioned here, you should always make sure your healthcare provider is aware of the condition, and you should continue to get regular check-ups to avoid future problems.
Other Vision and Eye Changes That May Occur During Pregnancy
Pregnancy can disrupt the function of cells in the lacrimal glands that are responsible for tear production, resulting in dry eyes.
Pregnancy can sometimes be accompanies by a decrease in intraocular pressure. This effect may be more pronounced in women suffering from ocular hypertension. After the first trimester, pregnancy may also have a beneficial effect on women suffering from chronic uveitis, who often report a lower incidence of flare-ups for the remainder of their pregnancies.
Ptosis (drooping eyelid) can also occur in pregnancy. This ptosis is generally unilateral (i.e., it occurs only on one side), and is caused mostly by hormone fluctuations and by stress.
Treatment of Blurred Vision During Pregnancy
If you’re experiencing blurry vision while you’re pregnant, chances are your healthcare provider won’t take any steps to fix the problem unless it is extremely severe. You should hold off at least six months after the birth of your baby before having any type of corrective surgery performed. If you are planning on getting pregnant, you shouldn’t have corrective surgery done at least six weeks prior to conception. Pregnant women’s eyes are often intolerant of contact lenses, so you should put off being fitted for contact lenses until at least four to six weeks after your baby is born.
Don’t be surprised if your blurry vision persists after pregnancy; vision tends to return to normal within a few weeks after delivery, and your ophthalmologist will probably put off correcting your vision until it has had time to improve on its own. If possible, you should avoid wearing any type of contact lens during pregnancy, while your hormones are causing drastic changes in your body.
If you are pregnant or planning to become pregnant, talk with your healthcare provider about this topic before you start to experience vision changes. Your doctor will be able to help you get a sense of what to expect if your vision changes while you are pregnant.
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Location: Microfilm PN 4897 M29 H3
Scope: "On January 7, 1765, in the middle of the Stamp Act controversy, Boston shopkeeper Harbottle Dorr took the current issue of the Boston Evening-Post and commented on its contents in the margins. Every week thereafter, he collected one or both of the Evening-Post or the Boston Gazette, (sometimes adding a Boston Post-Boy & Advertiser) and continued expressing himself in the margins on the events, referring backward and forward in a maze of cross-references to other documents and stories relevant to the events reported in the news.
The final result 12 years later was an astonishing archive--3,280 pages of annotated newspapers, plus the appended documents and Dorr's own indexes to the four volumes he compiled. This entire unbroken run of annotated Boston newspapers will not only allow students of American history a unique look at the pre-Revolutionary era in New England, but will also provide insight into the thinking of citizen Dorr on the controversies and topics of the times. " (UMI Research Collections - Massachusetts Historical Society Collections)
How to search the collection: Volume I (also Reel 1) covers the years 1765-1767; Volume 2 (also Reel 2) covers the years 1768-1769; Volume 3 (also Reel 3) covers the years 1770-1771; and Volume 4 (also Reel 4) covers the years 1772-1776.
Guides: There is no printed index or guide to this collection. However, Pickler Memorial Library now has America's Historical Newspapers which allows users to search these dates for the Boston Evening-Post and the Boston Gazette.
For more information about this subject in our Library
Catalog, check out these
|American newspapers -- Massachusetts.|
|Clippings (Books, newspapers, etc.)|
|Massachusetts -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Sources|
Time Period: 18th Century
Subject keywords: Journalism, U. S. History
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April 16, 2013
Energy Efficiency Could Increase Infection Risks In Hospital Wards
The chance of infection in some hospital wards varies dramatically according to whether the nurses leave the windows open.
A University of Leeds-led team studied airflow in a "Nightingale" ward–a classic hospital ward design that traditionally accommodates two rows of up to 30 beds–by using tracer gases to simulate how airborne infections spread.They found ventilation in the ward was generally good when windows were left open, keeping the danger of airborne infection low. But risks increased fourfold when the windows were closed.
Lead investigator Dr Cath Noakes, from the University of Leeds' School of Civil Engineering, said: "These wards are still in operation and, although they have often been subdivided into smaller areas with 6-8 beds, their ventilation and structure is still fundamentally the same.
"We found that when you operate them properly, with natural ventilation from the windows, they perform as the [United Kingdom's] Department of Health would like them to. But we also asked what happens in the winter if the windows are closed?
"There is a big push on energy in buildings and it worries many of us who work on indoor air quality. People are being told to seal up their buildings to save energy. We found, if you do that without alternative ventilation systems, you could be increasing the airborne infection risk significantly," Dr Noakes said.
"Some of these wards were designed by the Victorians, and our results show that they knew what they were doing. But there is a danger that we could be adapting our buildings to improve efficiency without thinking how it might affect patients," Dr Noakes said.
The study, conducted jointly with the Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in a disused ward at St. Luke's Hospital in Bradford, England in summer 2010, used carbon dioxide as a tracer gas to represent potentially infectious exhaled breath.
Carbon dioxide detectors were positioned where beds might be placed in a working ward and the gas was released by popping carbon-dioxide filled balloons.
"By measuring the concentration of the gas over time, we were able to quantify the exposure at each bed and therefore the potential risk to a patient in that bed," said Laura Pickin, one of the members of the research team. "We were also able to use the same data to measure the overall ventilation rate in the ward."
The UK Department of Health recommends that a ward should be ventilated at six air changes per hour, which means replacing the equivalent volume of air in the room six times every hour.
"When the windows were left open in the ward, we recorded ventilation rates that were either satisfactory or better than the UK standard" said Dr Carl Gilkeson, a Research Fellow who worked on the project. "When the windows were closed, the measured exposure to infection was typically four times higher, equivalent to a ventilation rate of only 1.5 air changes an hour".
The researchers found mechanical ventilation systems to be an effective alternative to natural ventilation. The installation of small extractor fans, similar to a domestic bathroom ventilator, beside each bed had a marked positive effect on ventilation, reducing risks to a comparable level to opening the windows.
The study also looked at the effect of partitioning an old "Nightingale" ward to create single bays, a common solution to the problems of privacy posed by traditional designs. Although partitioning slightly increased risks to people in the immediate vicinity of an infected patient, it reduced risks elsewhere in the ward. The findings indicate that it is feasible to partition wards to create a better patient environment without significantly increasing the overall risk of infection.
"These wards still exist and in the current economic environment they are likely to remain for some time. However, we have shown that they can be modified and that their ventilation can be good if they are managed correctly," Dr Noakes said. "Introducing simple mechanical ventilation to supplement the airflow in the winter, could be an effective approach to ensuring good ventilation year-round, without the energy costs of a full air conditioning system".
Co-author Dr Miller Camargo-Valero, Lecturer in Water and Environmental Engineering at the University of Leeds, said: "These simple, low-energy and low-cost solutions could also be of significant benefit for hospitals in the developing world, particularly in countries where airborne diseases such as tuberculosis are a major concern."
On the Net:
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Habitat - Habitat Conservation Plans
Date Published: July 2007
Number of Pages: 34
In late April and early May, 2007, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) held six public meetings throughout Washington state to introduce the Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) development process for the Hydraulic Project Approval HCP and the Wildlife Areas HCP.
An HCP is a management plan that provides long-term certainty of Endangered Species Act (ESA) compliance while providing for conservation of species. WDFW is developing HCPs for land management activities occurring on state-owned and – managed Wildlife Areas and for activities authorized under the Hydraulic Project Approval (HPA) program. WDFW began development of the HCPs in 2006. The HCPs are expected to take approximately six years to complete.
In 2006, WDFW interviewed stakeholders and tribal staff to identify public involvement and outreach needs for development of the HCP. The results of this needs assessment contributed to the development of strategies to foster collaboration throughout the HCP development process, including tribal government coordination, stakeholder involvement, and public meetings.1 WDFW is committed to conduct public outreach and stakeholder involvement activities to share information and provide multiple opportunities for input to those affected by the HCPs. These public meetings were the first step in the stakeholder and public involvement process for development of both HCPs.
The public meetings were advertised by WDFW through fact sheets and reminder postcards mailed to the Department’s stakeholder database (approximately 1,400 contacts for the Wildlife Areas HCP and approximately 1,100 contacts for the Hydraulic Project Approval HCP). Stakeholders invited to attend the meetings included environmental and recreation interest groups; business and industry trade associations; federal, state, and local government agencies; public utility districts; irrigation districts; WDFW advisory committee and Wildlife Area citizen advisory group members; and other interested citizens. The meetings were also advertised on the Department’s Web site; by a general press release to area newspapers; and by email and newsletter outreach from several stakeholder interest groups.
Tribal governments were also informed of the public meetings, although WDFW is also discussing the HCPs separately with the tribes on a government-to-government basis.
Jones & Stokes. 2007. HCP Public Meetings Summary. Hydraulic Project Approval and Wildlife Areas Habitat Conservation Plans. July. (J&S 06255.06.) Olympia, WA. Prepared for Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Persons with disabilities who need to receive this information in an alternative format or who need reasonable accommodations to participate in WDFW-sponsored public meetings or other activities may contact Dolores Noyes by phone (360-902-2349), TTY (360-902-2207), or email (firstname.lastname@example.org
). For more information, see http://wdfw.wa.gov/accessibility/reasonable_request.html
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Revista de Saúde Pública
On-line version ISSN 1518-8787
Print version ISSN 0034-8910
ANDRADE, Claudia Regina Furquim de. Speech-language idiopathic disorder prevalence in children from one to eleven years of age. Rev. Saúde Pública [online]. 1997, vol.31, n.5, pp.495-501. ISSN 1518-8787. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S0034-89101997000600008.
OBJECTIVE: The study of the epidemiological aspect of speech-language idiopathic disorders. The profile relates to the prevalence rate among children from 1 to 11 years old. METHOD: The subjects were assessed with regard to speech, language and myofunctional oral aspects. After diagnosis, the subjects were classified according to their principal disorder. Then the disorders were placed in separate age groups. The prevalence rates were applied. RESULTS: The sample for this study included 2,980 children, 125 with primary communicative disorders (prevalence rate = 4.19). The highest general prevalence related to the 3 to 8 year old age-group. The critical phase was that from 4 to 5 years of age. The most prevalent idiopathic speech-language disorders were: articulatory disorders; then oral language delays and miofunctional and neurovegetative disturbances. DISCUSSION: It is important to note that the communication disorder prevalence rate is very significant during childhood. It is a serious problem in Brazil, because although we have more critical cases there are no national preventive programs for these pathologies. It is, therefore, expected that this problem will increase rapidly in the near future if there isn't governmental action.
Keywords : Speech-language pathology; Prevalence.
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Emily Bazelon's new book, "Sticks and Stones," takes a look at America's epidemic of school bullying.
As she confronts the problem, she brings up the new and more complex forms of bullying children are experiencing.
From Bazelon's interview with Slate:
One piece of research in particular helped me understand why kids bully--how that can be a rational, if unfortunate, choice. Robert Faris at U.C. Davis mapped social networks in a few different high schools, and he showed that kids behaving aggressively--not physically, but socially--use gossip, exclusion, and attacks on other kids' reputations to help themselves move up the social ladder. It turned out that for most kids, it didn't work, in terms of increasing status, to attack someone much weaker. But if you picked on someone near you in the social hierarchy who was a possible rival, that often had a social benefit.
A major problem in tackling bullying is the overuse of the term, she wrote in The New York Times:
The word is being overused -- expanding, accordionlike, to encompass both appalling violence or harassment and a few mean words. State laws don't help: a wave of recent anti-bullying legislation includes at least 10 different definitions, sowing confusion among parents and educators.
All the misdiagnosis of bullying is making the real but limited problem seem impossible to solve. If every act of aggression counts as bullying, how can we stop it? Down this road lies the old assumption that bullying is a rite of childhood passage. But that's wrong.
• Minnesota: Weak on bullying. A six-month investigation of bullying policies across the state found a patchwork of policies and that the state's policy is one of the shortest in the nation. (MPR)
• 11 facts about bullying. More than 3.2 million students are bullied every year. (DoSomething.org)
• Defining bullying down. Bazelon explains why the term bullying is overused and hurts the effort to stop the serious problem. (New York Times)
• Psychological effects of bullying can last years. A study out of Duke University showed that students who bullied or were bullied are more at risk for depression, anxiety and panic disorder years later. (Reuters)
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http://www.mprnews.org/story/2013/03/13/daily-circuit-emily-bazelon-sticks-and-stones-bullying
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Lorikeets, such as this rainbow lorikeet, are known for hopping around like kangaroos.
While any parrot might enjoy the following behaviors, some species appear to develop them naturally. Some genetic lines may exhibit inherited or learned behaviors representative of their heredity. Ask your bird breeder to describe typical behaviors in species they breed.
Bathing aversion: While most parrots appear to love being sprayed, African greys, Poicephalus, Australian grass parakeets and some other desert birds have a reputation for hating it, a behavior that can be learned under aversive circumstances. These birds may often respond favorably to bathing in clear, shallow containers of water, especially in the presence of ice or floating toys.
Beating up toys: While almost any parrot might identify a particular toy or type of toy as a surrogate enemy (a toy that the bird likes to beat up), different species may prefer different types of toys for this purpose. For example, budgies might want to attack a round-bottom penguin- or budgie-shaped toy that is attached to the floor or perch, other parrot types might prefer to bang a heavy metal bell or toy against the side of the cage.
Chasing: Cockatoos, quaker parrots and Amazons appear to chase for fun. However, this activity may also be related to territorialism, such as floor territorialism in the case of toe chasing.
Dancing: Swaying back and forth and/or head bobbing might be related to heredity or might be learned by almost any parrot. "Snaky” dancing occurs naturally in many lories, for example. Others known to get their groove on include cockatoos, conures, caiques and macaws.
Foot toy play: Most parrots naturally take to playing with foot toys. Cockatoos and Amazons are especially mechanical, but even lovebirds and quaker parrots with no reputation or predisposition to playing with foot toys can learn to play with foot toys when introduced at an early age.
Grudge pooping: While lories are infamous for intentionally pooping on unfavored humans, I have seen this behavior in lovebirds and budgies.
Hair pulling: Any parrot seeking human attention might do this if it can get to hair, but macaws, Amazons, cockatoos and lories are famous for "fly-by" hair pulling.
Hanging upside down: Hanging parrots, of course, have a penchant for hanging, but so do Poicephalus, Pyrrhura conures, lories, Eclectus and any other parrot that figures out that it’s fun to hang upside down.
Hops and goofy hopping gate: Lories and caiques are notorious for hopping like kangaroos.
Juggling toys with feet: Goffin’s cockatoo, Poicephalus, caiques, conures.
Hair Surfing: in hair, wet or otherwise, is reported in cockatiels, caiques, budgies and other species allowed access to human heads.
Night frights: cockatiels, occasionally cockatoos and African greys. Provide a night light.
Night screaming: Unless they are in real trouble, most parrots, except cockatoos, probably don’t vocalize in the dark.
Night singing: Amazons (especially pairs)
Mating behavior during the night and hormonal display: African grey parrots
Quaking: This characteristic behavior is specific to quaker parrots; juveniles, health compromised adults, or any quaker that has been reinforced early in this behavior.
Paper shredding: Most parrots enjoy shredding paper, whether it be your cockatiel biting off a corner of your son’s homework or an Amazon tearing up a paper bag from the inside out.
Resonating: Cockatiels, cockatoos, African greys, macaws and Amazons are famous for sticking their heads in corners, inside empty bowls or toys and listening intently to the reverberations of their calls or other vocalizations. This may be related to males seeking breeding cavities, or it might just be fun.
Running around fussing: This is very common smaller parrots, especially lovebirds and budgies, but larger parrots such as macaws and cockatoos are reported to march, prance or stomp around.
Sleeping on back: Many young parrots do this, especially Poicephalus and Pyrrhura.
Hormonal play: Masturbation style varies by species, but may include winking (opening and closing of the cloaca), rubbing the cloaca against things or unusual posture or positioning of tail.
Tail pulling: The enjoyment of tail pulling may be exclusively related to macaws, as most types of parrots can be thrown into a fight-or-flight (fear) response if their tails are merely touched.
Throwing things: Cockatoos and other parrots might throw things when they wish. (Other parrots might drop things, but a cockatoo might throw them.)
Weaving: Mostly specific to quaker parrots, although some lovebird species build nests inside a cavity, and carry strips of paper tucked in their back feathers, just above the tail.
Want to learn more about bird behavior?
Bird Body Language 101
Weird Cockatiel Behavior
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By Bio-IT World Staff
April 18, 2014 | A large coalition of European and American researchers this week published a new gene expression study of trisomy 21, better known as Down's syndrome, using a novel cellular model of the disorder. Induced pluripotent stem cells were derived from a set of identical twins, only one of which possessed the third copy of chromosome 21 that causes the symptoms of Down's syndrome. Because identical twins are genetically identical, twin studies are frequently used to control for the effects of genetic variation when studying variables affected by both genetic and environmental factors. However, a resource like this has never previously been available for research in Down's syndrome.
This study, coordinated by senior author Stylianos E. Antonarakis of the University of Geneva Medical School in Switzerland, conducted whole transcriptome sequencing of the twin cell lines, looking for differences in the expression levels of genes between the two samples. While a prevailing theory of Down's syndrome has held that symptoms are caused primarily by overexpression of genes on chromosome 21, the researchers' analysis showed significant upregulation and downregulation of diverse genes across the entire genome in the cells with trisomy 21. The regions where gene expression was dysregulated were consistent across multiple cell samples. Moreover, these domains tended to cluster around regions of the genome involved in DNA replication, and in the nuclear lamina, a structural component of the nucleus that plays roles in cell division. These findings give new insights into the cellular activities that may be involved in Down's syndrome, and suggest that future research into genes implicated in Down's syndrome should not be restricted to chromosome 21.
These effects of trisomy 21 on gene expression had not been detected in previous studies, because genetic differences between individuals masked the specific gene expression changes caused by the presence of a third copy of chromosome 21. The study was published in Nature along with a commentary by two experts in DNA replication from Florida State University.
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Common examples are spicy food, tomatoes, lettuce, consultants, over peppers and certain fruit prevacid nuts. Exercise may aggravate pain resulting from heart disease, and rest may the the pain. In most cases, GERD can be relieved through diet and lifestyle changes; however, some people may require medication or surgery.
The counter understood example is know as Takotsubo Cardiomyopathy, the phenomenon otherwise known as dying of a broken heart. Gastroesophageal reflux disease, or GERD, is a digestive disorder that affects the lower esophageal sphincter (LES), the ring of muscle between the esophagus and stomach.
This document does not the all possible drug interactions. prevacid Long-term over of antacids, counter, can cause in side effects, including diarrhea, altered calciummetabolism (a change in the way the body breaks down and uses calcium), and buildup of magnesium in the body. This connectivity allows the ANS helps regulate and coordinate the function of all your bodys organs. This conveyor belt action of the intestinal tract is primarily under the control of neurological network referred to as the Autonomic Nervous System (ANS).
As discussed above, the Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) is a neurological network connecting your brain, spinal column and nerves to every organ in your body.
The parasympathetic branch is primarily responsible for the contractions that empty the stomach the propel food along its course through the small and large intestines. Obesity and pregnancy can also play a prevacid in GERD symptoms. Also, products with similar brand names may contain different ingredients meant for different purposes. If you are allergic-treating with this medication, over-the-counter lansoprazole products are used to treat frequent heartburn (occurring 2 or more days a week).
Many people find that nonprescription antacids provide temporary or counter relief. Do not use anti-diarrhea products or narcotic pain medications if you have any of the following symptoms because these products may make them worse. Foods and beverages that can irritate a damaged esophageal lining, such as citrus fruits and juices, tomato products, and pepper, should over be avoided if they cause symptoms.
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Getting Fruitcake Off the Shelf with Basic Physics
It's the perennial butt of jokes during the holiday season, but people keep giving it nonetheless. And now it seems that there may be hope for that holiday fruitcake after all. Peter Barham, a University of Bristol physicist and author of The Science of Cooking, says that by using a little chemistry and physics, even a stale fruitcake that's been sitting for years can be revived, and it may be better than ever.
"The reason fruitcake, or any cake for that matter, goes stale is because it appears to lose its moisture," says Barham. But the moisture isn't really lost; the starch in the cake has simply absorbed it. The problem, Barham explains, is that the molecules in the starch (flour) are trying to get back to the ordered form they had when they were wheat. But since the starch can't make that transformation, it does the next best thing by hijacking the water from the cake to form small crystals. With all the water caught up by these starch molecules, the cake tastes dry, and is tougher to digest.
But Barham says a little physics can solve the problem. "You just need to melt the starch crystals," he says, which can be done by heating the cake. He suggests wrapping the cake in aluminum foil to prevent any moisture from escaping, and slowly warming the cake in a 130 degree oven before serving. "This will melt the crystals, release the water, and refreshen the cake." Once the cake starts to cool, however, the drying process will begin again.
But what about the taste? Barham contends that fruitcakes actually get better the longer they sit. "The dried fruits in the cake can actually age," he says, "much like wine ages over time." The tannins present in the fruit seep into the cake, changing chemically to create intense and distinct flavor compounds. The longer the cake sits, he says, the more varied and intense the flavors become. In fact, if you're looking to bake a fruitcake this year, it's probably too late; it won't have time to age. But the one Aunt Maude gave you last year might do nicely.
—Inside Science News Service
©1995 - 2016, AMERICAN PHYSICAL SOCIETY
APS encourages the redistribution of the materials included in this newspaper provided that attribution to the source is noted and the materials are not truncated or changed.
Associate Editor: Jennifer Ouellette
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Nova’s site - This site has many great links. "Sharkmasters" leads to a section called "Exploding Myths"; and "World of Sharks" leads to "Who's Who of Sharks", "Clickable Shark" and other good informational pages. There is also a Nova Teachers' section for Shark Attack which includes Classroom Activities and Interactive for Students links.
Sharks of Hawaii - The link "Common Inshore Species" will take you to a brief description of eight different species of sharks that are found in the coastal waters of Hawaii.
Introduction to Sharks - This site is part of the Ocean of Know (a not-for-profit educational initiative with the children from New York City). It includes pages on shark anatomy, shark senses, experiments, and lesson plans.
National Geographic - Shark
Surfari (for kids) - an online quiz - after they take the quiz, students
can print a certificate.
Shark Anatomy - click on a red dot on the picture and it gives you the name of the part and a brief definition
Seaworld’s site - very well organized with much information. It also has a link to the shark anatomy site above (Take a Shark Anatomy Tour).
One page “Fast Facts” about several different species of sharks. Click on the one you want to learn about.
Biology of a shark - The Pelagic Shark Research Foundation's site shows external and internal parts of the shark.
How Sharks Work - From the "howstuffworks" website. Includes Shark Anatomy, Shark Senses, Shark Teeth, Daily Life of a Shark, Threats to Sharks, and more.
About Sharks - This is a very informative, easy to read shark site
from Enchanted Learning. Go almost to the bottom of the page to see a
list of Information Sheets to learn about different types of sharks.
May 1, 2006
Any questions or comments please e-mail me at:
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Structural Biochemistry/Membrane Proteins/The Evolution of Membrane Proteins
The Evolution of Membrane Proteins
The evolution of membrane proteins and the structure of membranes remain unclear despite the advancement of our understanding of molecular membrane mechanisms and the complex topology of the membrane. One model of understanding the origins of the membrane and membrane proteins is that the biological membrane was a co-evolution of three things: lipid bilayers, membrane proteins, and membrane bioenergetics.(Mulkidjanian, Galperin, Koonin)
The goal of this model is to provide an insight into what features would the "LUCA"(last universal common ancestor) have. The premise for this model, relies on the idea that the division between archaea and bacteria was the first among cellular organisms. Using this then one can come to compare these two organism's components and try to deduce common features present in their ancestor.
Possible Molecules for the Formation of the First Membranes
There are two proposed arguments for the nature of the "LUCA" membrane. One is that fatty acids are molecules that are simple and able to from abiogenetically to be used by primordial organisms as their membranes. The other argument is that polyprenyl phosphates are a viable molecule for the first membrane due to the fact that they have the ability to form vesicles in the presence of sodium. This would then be a primitive mechanism for cation transport.
F-Type and V-Type membrane ATPases
Both F-type and V-type ATPases thought to be present(or some form of these proteins) in the LUCA for the reason that these are common in all of modern cellular life. Both F and V-type ATPases use energy from ATP hydrolysis to transfer cations across membranes. The however do require impermeable membranes to establish ion gradients. It is postulated that sodium gradients were used in primordial membranes for the production of ATP. This is deduced from the observation that F- and V-type ATPases posses the ability to use both proton-motive force(PMF) and/or sodium-motive force(SMF) for the synthesis of ATP. However, only sodium ATPases can translocate protons and sodium but proton ATPases can only translocate protons. This is due to the fact that the binding site for sodium requires six ligands where a proton onl requires one ionisable group. This signifies that proton ATPases were evolved from sodium ATPases and therefore the common ancestor of F- and V-type ATPases had a sodium binding site. Therefore it is deduced that utilization of sodium gradients was a means for the LUCA to synthesize ATP. Along with the common sodium binding site is the structural similarity among both F- and V-ATPases in where amino acid sets are almost identical. However these ATPases' subunits of their central stalk are not close to being homologous but the catalytic hexamer are homologous to hexameric helicases. Hence, the possible ancestor would enable passive transfer of biomaterial across the cell. This with a ATP-driven helicase could potentially give rise to a protein translocase(membrane pore).
Integrating a Protein into a Membrane
One probable theory of proteins inserting into a lipid membrane is using an amphiphilic alpha-helix which dimerizes at the surface of the membrane and the oligomerizes using other alpha-helices and subsequently making a pore. This idea stems for the fact that there is spontaneous insertion of alpha-helices into a lipid-bilayer. The weakness in this theory lies in the fact that alpha-helices would stabilize onto the surface of the membrane by spreading out on the suface and not producing a pore but instead something resembling an F-type ATPase.
Primordial Membrane and Membrane bioenergetics
Using the understanding the charge inside a cell should be negative, the porous primeval membranes would be sufficient to keep charge separation intact. This could also lead to voltage dependent membrane proteins. The cell through its historically low levels of sodium inside the cell due to a compliance to keep sodium levels similar to the start of life and through a changing environment, where the ocean becomes really sodium concentrated, the cell develops mechanism to make energy from the sodium concentrations. This in essence leads to an adoption of a coupled membrane ion translocation. This mechanism would not arise until ocean salinity would rise and as a consequence would lead to sodium-tight membranes. The development of a proton-tight membrane is more complicated and although there are theories regarding this phenomena nothing is conclusive.
Armen Y. Mulkidjanian, Michael Y. Galperin, and Eugene V. Koonin.(2009). "Co-evolution of primordial membranes and membrane proteins". PMID 19303305
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Safe Routes To School - Why?
Pose the question, “How did you get to school when you were a kid?” to a roomful of adults, and chances are the great majority will say that they walked. If you ask them what they experienced while walking, the following responses are typical:
My brothers and sisters and I got together with some
Man, we were really awake when we got to school! It was cold out in the morning and walking really got our blood going.
My mom walked with me when I was little, and then I walked
It was always nice and quiet walking down the road in the
When I got to be about 12, I didn't walk anymore.
Seldom in our years of working with people to develop Safe Routes To School (SR2S) in their communities have we heard an adult say anything negative about walking to school. There may have been the occasional bully, but, as one man said, “He gave us a reason to run fast and we got stronger!”
Today however, in the United States, fewer than 15 percent of children walk to school every day.1 In response to this situation, many efforts to encourage walking and biking to school have sprung up. The growth of these efforts has come to be called the SR2S movement. Some projects have existed for several years; some started recently. Their common goal is to increase the number of children who walk and bike to school safely.
To understand the SR2S movement, we must first answer this question: Why has there been a decline - in just one generation - of children walking and bicycling to school?
That is not an easy question to answer. We all realize that the United States is not the same as it was in 1950. However, if we look at how life in this country has changed during the past 50 years, some explanations begin to emerge. There have been significant changes in two major areas: community design and travel patterns.
Community Design and Travel Patterns
Before World War II, Americans lived in compact towns and cities, and they walked to shops, schools, and work. While the United States population has nearly doubled—from 150 million in 1950 to 287 million in 2002—and the population in urban areas has increased by 25 percent, the percentage of urbanized land has changed much more dramatically—it has quadrupled. The suburbanization of America has resulted in communities that are significantly more spread out. The size of residential lots is much greater now than before 1950. For example, in 1950, around the Chesapeake Bay, each person required .18 of an acre for residential and commercial use. By 1988, each person required .65 acre.2, 3
This expansion around towns and cities significantly changed travel patterns. Where walking and transit use once predominated, the private car has become the normal way to get around. The number of vehicle miles traveled (VMT) increased from 718 billion per year in 1960 to more than two trillion per year in 1999.4 As with land use, the increase in motor vehicle use has grown much faster than the rate of population growth. Driving to school has significantly contributed to increased auto use. It has been estimated that the “school run” adds 20-30 percent to traffic volume during the morning commute.5
Changes in land use and driving patterns certainly seem to have contributed to the decreasing number of children walking to school. Have other changes led to the Safe Routes To School movement? It appears that the answer is yes.
At the same time as land use and transportation practices have been changing, we have seen significant changes in environmental quality. Air pollution concerns in the 1960s and '70s resulted in the passage of regulations aimed at reducing various pollutants. While many air pollutants have decreased during the past 30 years, the decline is now threatened by the continuing rise in the number of cars and trucks on the road, and in the miles each vehicle is driven.3 However, one important emission has not decreased—carbon dioxide (CO2). This “greenhouse gas” is released in direct proportion to the gallons of gasoline consumed. The amount of carbon dioxide American cars and light trucks emit into the atmosphere has steadily increased. From 1970 to 1999, the amount increased by 56 percent, culminating in an estimated 300 million metric tons of carbon being released in the latest year.6, 7 Concerns about global warming have grown during this period as well.
Changing land development and driving patterns have also caused loss of natural habitat and farmland. Water quality suffers because more pavement is required to handle the increase in vehicles. This results in runoff of water laced with toxic substances from the pavement into lakes, streams, and rivers instead of being absorbed by the earth.3, 8
The common goal of Safe Routes To School projects is to increase the number of children who walk and bike to school safely.
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NORTH CAROLINA is one of the Southern States of the American republic, and one of the thirteen which originally adopted the federal constitution. It was included in the extensive region granted, in 1584, by Queen Elizabeth, to Sir Walter Raleigh, under the general name of Virginia. Its earliest permanent settlement was commenced about the year 1650, by a company of fugitives from religious persecution in the more northern part of Virginia, who established themselves at a spot near Albemarle Sound. In 1661, another body of English emigrants, from Massachusetts, settled on the shores of Cape Fear River. The colonists suffered many hardships and much trouble for want of a recognized independent representative at the court of the parent country. This they obtained in 1667; but, not far from this date, the province comprehending the country now forming both North and South Carolina had been granted to Lord Clarendon and others, who undertook to introduce a grotesque form of government, prepared for the grantees by the celebrated John Locke. Among the singular features embodied in this constitution were provisions for establishing an hereditary nobility, for vesting the legislative power in a "Parliament," and for the exercise of executive authority by a chief magistrate, to be styled the "Palatine." After trial of this system for a few years, its practical defects became palpable, and it was abandoned in 1693. The colony, however, made but slow progress, having to contend with numerous vexations, not the least of which was the sanguinary hostility of the neighboring savages, by whom, in 1712, a murderous and destructive war was carried on, rendered sadly memorable by the horrible atrocities with which it was attended. In 1729, both the Carolinas were ceded to the king for the sum of £17,500, and by him formed into two distinct colonies, which have ever since remained thus separated, and which now constitute the States of North and South Carolina.
The people of this state, in the early stages of the American revolution, were distinguished for their patriotic devotion to the cause of national independence. They opposed the encroachments of the crown, in 1769, with success, and were among the foremost of the colonists to declare themselves free from all.. foreign control. In May, 1775, a military convention was held in the county of Mecklenburg, which passed a series of resolutions, displaying the spirit, and even embodying some of
the language, of the great Declaration of Independence issued to the world on the 4th of July of the next year. A state constitution was formed in 1776, which, with some amendments, still remains in force. Several severe battles were fought upon the soil of North Carolina in the course of the revolutionary war. The state adopted the federal constitution November 27, 1789, by a majority in convention of 118.
Boundaries and Extent. — North Carolina is bounded north by the State of Virginia, east and south-east by the Atlantic Ocean, south by South Carolina and Georgia, and west by the State of Tennessee. It extends from latitude 33° 50' to 36° 30' north, and lies between 75° 45' and 84° west longitude; is 430 miles in length, and varies in breadth from 20 to 180 miles, and contains about 45,000 square miles.
Government. — The executive and legislative officers are elected by the people, once in two years. The governor cannot serve more than four out of six years. He is assisted by a council of seven members, appointed by the General Assembly. The Senate is limited to 50, and the House of Commons to 120 members. The required qualifications of voters for the latter, besides having arrived at the age of 21, are, a residence in the county one year prior to an election, and the payment of taxes: to be entitled to vote for senator, the possession of 50 acres of land is required in addition. The right of suffrage is denied to all persons of negro blood.
Judiciary. — The judges of the Supreme Courts of law and equity, judges of admiralty, and attorney general, are chosen by the General Assembly in joint ballot. The latter holds office four years, and the judges during good behavior. The Supreme Court holds three sessions per annum, two at Raleigh, and one at Morgantown, the latter for the western part of the state. The sessions continue until all the cases on the docket are either decided or deferred for good cause shown. It has jurisdiction in all cases of law and equity brought by appeal or by the parties. The superior courts of law, and the courts of equity, which have complete equity jurisdiction, hold one session semiannually in every county of the state. About ten counties compose a circuit, of which the state is divided into seven. These are visited alternately by the judges, so as not to preside in the same circuit twice in succession.
Education. — The free school system in North Carolina has not yet attained a very near approximation to that of the New England, Middle, and some of the Western States. In 1840, there were but 632 common schools in the state, and these contained less than 15,000 scholars, while there were more than 56,000 adult white persons unable either to read or write. The census of 1850 shows no better result. There are two colleges, and about 150 minor literary seminaries: the oldest of the former was founded in 1791. Provision for the establishment and maintenance of asylums for the insane, and for the deaf and dumb, has recently been made by the legislature.
Finances. — The net amount of the state debt, arising from the loan of its credit to certain railroad companies, is somewhat short of $3,000,000. The receipts into the treasury, for some few years past, have very considerably exceeded the expenditures.
Surface, Soil, &c. — Along the Atlantic coast of the state, through a space of from 50 to 75 miles in breadth, the land is low, level, and swampy, intersected by many streams, which, from the nature of the surface, are neither rapid nor clear. Westwardly, beyond this tract, for a distance of some 40 miles, the land is more hilly and broken, and the soil sandy. Farther on, above the falls of the rivers, the country becomes elevated, and, in some places, mountainous. The highest mountain peak in the United States, east of the Rocky Mountains, is said to be Black Mountain, in Yancey county, which rises to a height of 6476 feet. There are other prominences, reaching to nearly as great an elevation. The soil in the district bordering on the sea-coast is generally poor, producing naturally no other timber than the pitch pine, from which are procured large quantities of tar, pitch, and turpentine, constituting the chief articles of export from the state. The contiguous and more elevated region is somewhat more productive, though the soil is thin and sandy. The swampy spots are well adapted to the culture of rice. In the uplands, and beyond the mountain ranges, the land is exceedingly fertile. Indian corn grows well in all parts of the state, and cotton is successfully cultivated in many places. The low country, especially on the river borders, produces spontaneously plums, grapes, strawberries, and other fine fruits; it is also well adapted to the growth of rice, the sugar-cane, &c. The table lands at the west yield a fine natural growth of walnut, oak, lime, cherry, and other timber. The pitch pine, of which the low lands produce such large quantities, is generally of a prodigious size, far exceeding the dimensions of this description of timber found in the more northern states. The celebrated Dismal Swamp, 30 miles in length by 10 in width, lies in the northern part of this state, and reaches into Virginia. This tract is covered with a thick growth of pine, cypress, juniper, and oak-trees. There are within the state upwards of two million acres of swampy land, which may be reclaimed and made to produce abundant crops of rice, corn, cotton, and tobacco.
Rivers. — The Chowan and Roanoke, taking their rise in Virginia, flow through a portion of the state into Albemarle Sound. Cape Fear River is the longest which runs entirely within the state, being 280 miles in length, and is navigable, for vessels drawing 11 feet of water, to Wilmington, 40 miles from the sea. The Yadkin is also another considerable stream. They are all, however, subject to obstructions by sand bars at their mouths, owing to their sluggish course through a long distance of low and level country.
Internal Improvements. — There are several railroads and canals in this state, most of which are connected with those of Virginia. One of the railroads extends from Wilmington, 161 miles, to Weldon, on the River Roanoke; another reaches from Raleigh, 85 miles, to Gaston, on the same river. The Dismal Swamp Canal, which commences in Virginia, is extended into North Carolina. A canal of five miles passes round the falls of the Roanoke.
Minerals. — The state contains gold, iron, and other valuable minerals; but the public attention is chiefly directed to the former. The region which is most prolific in gold occupies both sides of the Blue Ridge, in the western part of the state. The mines have been extensively wrought; and, for some years, thousands of persons have been engaged, with varied success, in the business. The ore is found occasionally in veins, sometimes in small lumps, but more frequently in grains or dust. The amount annually obtained has been estimated at some $5,000,000. Only a comparatively small part of this, however, finds its way to the United States mint, or is retained in this country, a considerable portion being transmitted to Europe.
Manufactures. — Coarse fabrics of cotton and of wool are manufactured to some extent, principally for home use. There are numerous furnaces, forges, and smelting houses, for the conversion of the native mineral ores, iron, lead, and gold, into marketable shape. The manufacture of flour is carried on somewhat largely ; and among the remaining commodities manufactured in the state are hats and bonnets, hardware and cutlery, soap and candles, furniture and carriages, leather and saddlery, distilled and fermented liquors, &c.
Indians. — No distinct tribes, and but few scattered families, of the Indian race remain within the limits of North Carolina. As in most of the early settled states, the aboriginal proprietors of the soil have gradually given place to the advancing influences of civilization, and either become extinct, or sought out new hunting-grounds in remote and still unsubdued regions. At the last census, the inhabitants of Indian blood numbered only 710.
Population. — During the 40 years ending in 1830, the population of this state increased very steadily, though showing at each decennial census some differences in the ratio of augmentation. Between the above date and 1840, it remained comparatively stationary; but between the latter year and 1850, had increased from 753,419 to 868,903, about one third of whom are slaves.
Climate. — In some parts of the state, especially in the elevated country at the west, the climate is delightful, and quite healthy. In the low lands, towards the sea-coast, however, it is mostly otherwise, excepting in the winter season. The low and marshy surface engenders unwholesome vapors in the summer and autumn, and, consequently, fevers, agues, and other diseases incident to such localities, frequently prevail.
Religion. — The most numerous religious denominations are the Methodists and Baptists. These generally reside in the low country. At the west, there are many Presbyterians. The Episcopalians and Lutherans have a number of congregations in various parts of the state; and there are also several bodies of Roman Catholics, Moravians, and Quakers.
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We have all encountered them. Maybe you are even one of them. I have two of them in my family and they can be very challenging to photograph. I am talking about “blinkers”: those people who always seem to have their eyes closed in photographs when a flash is used.
It’s nothing they do on purpose. They just have a natural reflex that causes them to blink when a flash goes off. How the heck can anyone blink THAT fast, you may wonder? After all, the flash duration lasts for only a fraction of a fraction of a second and then it travels at the speed of light! Are these people some kind of mutant super humans?
Well, not really. They do have exceptional reflexes when it comes to blinking, I will give you that. But it is important to understand exactly WHY they are blinking, and, more importantly from a photography perspective, why their eyes are always closed in flash photographs.
First, we must understand that they are not actually blinking at the flash going off, but rather the pre-flash!
If you are not familiar with the concept of pre-flash it might be helpful to break out your users manual for your portable flash or camera and dig a bit deeper. I will try to explain it from a camera generic perspective here. Though I am mostly familiar with Nikon’s speed light technology the basic technology as it is applied should transfer to any camera that uses TTL for flash compensation.
TTL (Through The Lens) exposure compensation is a technology that allows a speed light or built-in flash work in concert with your modern digital SLR camera to give you well exposed photographs. Without getting too technical about it, TTL works sort of like this:
When the shutter button is pressed the flash unit sends out a very brief pre-flash onto the subject. This reflected light is then read through the camera lens and evaluated by the camera’s light metering sensor. The camera’s processor evaluates the data from the sensor and sends a signal to the flash unit to adjust its output so that the final image will be properly exposed. After this happens, the real flash fires at the proper output and the shutter is opened. Magic happens and a (theoretically) perfect flash exposure is made!
This whole process takes place in a fraction of a second, such that, for most people, the timing between the pre-flash and the actual exposing flash is normally imperceptible. I have tried and cannot detect the pre-flash when being photographed. There is a small segment of the general population, however, who are able to detect this pre-flash. These are our blinkers.
So, now armed with an understanding of how TTL works to generate a pre-flash, and understanding that it is this pre-flash that our light sensitive subjects are reacting to, how do we deal with it?
The camera manufacturers are a clever lot, I will give you that. They have incorporated a way of getting around the use of the pre-flash at the moment of exposure by allowing the photographer to pre-set the flash output, still while taking advantage of TTL technology.
On the Nikon system this is called Flash Value Lock. On Canon it is called Flash Exposure Lock. It is a setting on your DSLR that allows your to compose your image in the view finder and then fire only the pre-flash. Now all the information for making the flash exposure is saved in the camera’s computer. It is pre-set and does not need to happen again unless you choose to recompose your photograph.
After the Flash Value Lock is engaged, you can pause for a moment to allow your subject to settle, blink, fidget or whatever. When you and they are ready you press the shutter button, the shutter opens and flash fires using the previously gathered data to regulate the output. No pre-flash is sent at the time of the photograph, so your blinker has nothing to react to until after the photo is taken. Pretty sneaky, eh?
Of course, if you shoot in manual flash mode, or use monolights or other non-strobe type lighting that does not incorporate TTL, the pre-flash will not be an issue for you, as you will have set your lighting ahead of time and these setups do not rely on pre-flash. Sometimes, though, TTL is just too convenient for the situation and is the best solution.
Now you have a means of making those people who always have their eyes closed show the world how pretty their eyes really can be. Read your owners’ manual to learn if your camera has this feature and how to turn it on. It will make for a lot less frustration for you as a photographer, and a lot less embarrassment for your blinking subject. They might even start to believe that they can look good in photographs too. If you can accomplish that much, you will have added to somebody’s life. Isn’t that what our photography is supposed to be about?
Doug Pruden is a Calgary portrait photographer. He has had a 43 year passion for photography since he was a lad of 10. Doug’s current digital work can be seen and his blog can be read at his website. Please pay him a visit!
Latest posts by Doug Pruden (see all)
- How to Use a Variable Neutral Density Filter for Better Portrait Photography - January 23, 2012
- How to Take Flash Photographs of “Blinkers” - November 1, 2011
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See also: List of To Kill a Mockingbird characters. The story takes place during
three years (1933–35) of the Great Depression in ...
From a general summary to chapter summaries to explanations of famous quotes
, the SparkNotes To Kill a Mockingbird Study Guide has everything you need to ...
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To Kill a Mockingbird synopsis, analysis, and discussion of ...
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Apr 25, 2008 ... eNotes Video Study Guide for Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird. The complete
summary is here: ...
To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) on IMDb: Small-town Alabama, 1932. Atticus Finch (
played by Gregory Peck) is a lawyer and a widower. He has two young children ...
A girl growing up in a small Alabama town during the 1930's learns the
importance of tolerance in To Kill a Mockingbird. Though often read by young
people in ...
Need help with Chapter 2 in Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird? Check out our
revolutionary side-by-side summary and analysis.
Chapter 5: Chapter Five opens with Scout lamenting over Jem and Dill's growing
relationship, "Dill was becoming something of a trial anyway, following Jem ...
To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Summary and Analysis of the Conflict, as
well as a Synopsis of the Novel.
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Water, H2O, Chemical characteristics explaining biological role
Water constitutes about 55% of the body weight; this percentage varies from 55% in men to 65% in women, according to their relative proportion of adipose tissue. The distribution of water in the body is about 70% intracellular and 30% extracellular, this latter divided into extravascular and intravascular compartments. There is relatively less water in obese than in normal subjects, this difference can modify the volume of distribution of drugs according to their water-soluble or liposoluble character.
Several hormones are involved in the regulation of water balance, but it is the antidiuretic hormone which plays the essential role, by inducing its renal reabsorption. A hypersecretion of the antidiuretic hormone, induced for example by drugs like carbamazepine, chlorpropamide, some psychotropic agents, can cause a water retention and a dilution of the compounds which it contains.
Water, H2O, is a polar molecule, the partial negative charge being placed on the oxygen atom and the positive partial charge distributed on the two hydrogen atoms. Thus water, neutral molecule, is a permanent dipole.
The water molecules bind together by hydrogen bonds established between the oxygen of a molecule and an hydrogen of another molecule. It is an intermolecular hydrogen bond whose energy is 4 kcal/mol approximately, whereas that of a covalent bond oxygen-hydrogen is of 110 kcal/mol. Each water molecule can establish up to 4 hydrogen bonds in a solid state, i.e. in ice. In water the statistical average number of hydrogen bonds is 3.4 for each molecule. These hydrogen bonds explain that the temperature of vaporization of water is high, 100°C , for a molecule of such a low molecular mass.
Pure water consists of molecules of H2O but also of H+ and OH- ions. The H+ ion or proton, is hydrated and can be written H3O+ or H9O4+ depending whether the positive charge H+ is distributed on one or four water molecules. OH- is combined with three water molecules to give H7O4- . The constant of Kd ionization or dissociation of water is written:
The water of the body contains various inorganic and organic molecules in solution and in suspension.
The polar molecules, more particularly ions, are water soluble and are called hydrophilic. When an ion is introduced into water, the water molecules are directed around it, the ions are hydrated. For example each sodium ion or potassium ion is surrounded by six water molecules.
The non polar molecules insoluble in water are hydrophobic; they are often lipophilic. In an aqueous medium, the lipophilic molecules are assembled in aggregates, which constitute the hydrophobic effect, at the origin of the formation of micelles, such as the lipid bilayer and of the structuration of proteins.
Water contains many molecules, electrolytes, organic compounds of more or less high molecular weight, at the origin of the osmotic pressure or osmolality. As a reference a solution of 9 g of NaCl per liter is iso-osmotic to plasma.
The cellular membranes are permeable to water whose movements depend on the differences in osmolality on both sides of the membranes. The transfer of water can be done by diffusion through the lipid bilayer of the plasma membrane but this transfer is slow and of low importance. The transfer of water is primarily made through specific channels called aquaporins.
Aquaporins are proteins inserted into the of plasma membrane bilayer of cells. They are tetramers. Each monomer contains a channel permeable to water molecules, in both directions, according to the osmotic gradient. Aquaporins are not permeable to ions, including protons. There are many types of aquaporins called aquaporins-0 (AQP-0), aquaporin-1 (AQP-1)… up to aquaporin-10 (AQP-10). They are permeable to water and, moreover, some of them are also permeable to small molecules like glycerol and urea and are called aquaglyceroporins.
The various types of aquaporins are not distributed in a homogeneous way in all the cells of the body. The AQP-1 are present especially in red cells, kidneys, choroid plexus; AQP-2, in the kidney (collecting trube) and are controlled by vasopressin, AQP- 4 in the brain, AQP-7 and AQP- 9 in adipocytes. The opening and closure of certain types of aquaporins are dependant on pH. Some contain cystein molecules which take part in their activity and are inhibited by mercurial derivatives.
For more information on aquaporins, see: Aquaporin Channels.
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Potawatomi is Algonquian language spoken by fewer than 100 mainly elderly people in Ontario and the north-central United States. Efforts are currently being made by various bands of Potawatomi to revitalise and revive their language. There are about 28,000 Potawatomi and the call themselves Nishnabe'k ('the original people') or Bodéwadmi ('those who keep/tend the hearth-fire'), which refers to the hearth of the Council of Three Fires, a confederation of the Chippewa, Ottawa and Potawatomi peoples dating back to 796 AD.
For many generations the Potawatomi used a pictographic form of writing in which each symbol represents ideas rather than words or sounds. The symbols were carved into bark or wood with a knife or other sharp tool. Sometimes charcoal or paint were used as well. This script was used for various purposes, including ceremonies, keeping records, maps and illustrating stories.
Between 1830 and 1860 two Jesuit missionaries, Fr. Christian Hoecken and Fr. Maurice Gailland, developed a spelling system for the Potawatomi using the Latin alphabet. The system is syllabic in that combinations of consonants and vowels are used to represent single syllables, e.g. ba, be, bi, etc. The system was known as the "ba-be-bi-bo-bu" syllabary.
Another spelling system known as "Traditional Writing" also appeared for a number of Native American languages during the 19th century. A version of this system for Potawatomi was developed in about 1878 by Joe Ellick, a Wisconsin Potawatomi to enable members of the tribe to write home when they were away.
During the 1970s a team of linguists, native speakers and second language experts at the Wisconsin Native American Languages Program (WNALP) developed a new spelling system for Potawatomi known as the Pedagogical writing system. This system was designed to teach the Potawatomi to speak their language and is shown below.
Nosinan wakwig ebiyin,
ape kitchitwawenitamag kitinosowin,
kitokumawin ape piyamikuk,
kitebwetako tipu wakwig,
apeke ichu tebwetakon chote kig.
Ngom ekijikiwok michinag wamitchiyak,
ponigitediwichinag kego kachikichiinakin,
echi ponigitediwiket woye kego kachikichiimidjin;
kinaimochinag ewi pwa patadiyak;
tchitchiyikwan nenimowichinag meyanuk waotichkakoyakin.
Ape iw nomikuk.
Potawatomi Language information and resources
The Neshnabe Institute for Cultural Studies - promotes languages and culture of the Potawatomi and others: http://www.neaseno.org/
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from skynews: Archaeologists working at the World Trade Centre site in New York have found the remains of a wooden ship apparently buried there more than 200 years ago.
The remains of the 30ft length of a wood-hulled vessel were found when workers excavating the site, where a new World Trade Centre is being built, hit a row of wood timbers, The New York Times reported.
"They were so perfectly contoured that they were clearly part of a ship," said archaeologist A. Michael Pappalardo. The archaeologists have been working on the site - scene of the 9/11 terror attacks in 2001 - to document historical material uncovered during construction. They estimated that the vessel could date from the mid to late 1700s.
In the late 18th and early 19th centuries wooden cribbing was used to extend lower Manhattan further into the Hudson River. The vessel was discovered about 20 to 30 feet below street level on the World Trade Centre site. The area under excavation had not been dug out when the original Twin Towers were built in the 1960s and 1970s.
Mr Pappalardo said the whole vessel may have been two or three times longer than the portion found. He and his team believe the the hull had been deliberately truncated and had probably been used as landfill material. Workers also found a 100lb anchor in the same area on Wednesday, but they are not sure if it belongs to the ship.
ex-mi5 spy chief: no link between iraq & 9/11*
additional declassified US secret service records describe unidentified aircraft circling dc on 9/11*
wikileaks founder julian assange is 'annoyed' by 9/11 truth*
fair use notice: this site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. we are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, & social justice issues, etc. we believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US copyright law. In accordance with title 17 usc section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.
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The Waugh Children
Ask any child, "How did you come to live at the Ramey home?"
She may answer, “I had no place else to go."
Top Center - Violet Stevens
Middle (L to R) - Peggy Burke, Marjorie Waugh, Darlene Waugh
Bottom (L to R) Phyllis Waugh, Eddie Sullivan and Frank Rowe
Much as been said about Gertrude Ramey and her children's home. She was praised by her staff, respected by her Board of Directors, and by county and state officials. She was loved by the children whose lives she shaped.
She was famous for several reasons: she was personally frugal and self-sacrificing and determined to give safe haven to frightened children. For five decades she was inspired and dedicated, for which she received accolades from two presidents and a personal note from Eleanor Roosevelt who invited her to the White House. She was featured in the Reader's Digest. Cowboy Bob and his puppet, Howdy Doody filmed a television show from the Ramey Home in Ashland, Kentucky. Variously she was called, the 'Queen of Ashland,' and State Police Detective B J Van Hoose named her the 'Mother Theresa of eastern Kentucky.'
Stories differ as to how her Children's Home began, even her own versions of how she got into the business of caring for homeless children, but the story you will read here is the one told by the first child to find safe haven with Gertrude Ramey. She was fourteen when her Uncle bought a ticket, put her on the Greyhound bus with instructions to get off at the Court House in Catlettsburg; go in and tell her story to the first person she saw.
The creation of the Ramey Children's Home in 1943, speaks more to its location in Catlettsburg, Kentucky than to its advertising. Gertrude Ramey, a young businesswoman on her own in 1940, sold narrow cots with two meals a day to male laborers. Up the back stairs over the E L Stafford grocery store, the roughnecks scrambled for their hot evening meal, and a bath.
Gertrude's plan to rent the second floor of the large building to board single ladies was changed. Instead, day laborers from the oil refineries and barges, hats in hand answered her ad. Business burgeoned. Her sparse rooms boasted a full complement of grateful male boarders. Gertrude, herself unmarried soon discovered men tenants had fewer demands and required less attention than women boarders. And they went home to their families on weekends.
Across the street, in the Boyd County Court House, Social Worker, Sue Braun's welfare office fit into a windowless basement room where on a daily basis, she and America Holbrook sat on opposite sides of a double sided-oak desk, with one black Underwood typewriter between them. They brushed past each on their way to the single file cabinet. A black bakelite telephone was their only other piece of equipment. The front door stood open to catch the breeze.
Telephone calls were infrequent because few local residents had telephones. Often times, Sue arrived at office to find a scribbled note pushed under the door or a Court Order. She took a few minutes to find the address on the map pinned to the wall, and to refresh and update their resource lists for safe homes. They were not called orphanages, but provided places where children could stay until parents were sober again, or where a child might be lodged for a few days. Usually either Sue or America waited in the tiny office while the other drove out with a Sheriff's deputy to investigate complaints. For Gertrude Ramey, it all began on March 8, of 1943, still early spring. It was Sue's day to stay in the office. She was glad because of the chill in the morning mist. She patted her long brown hair braids into place looped across the top of her head and set to her paper work.
The heavy black door to her office eased open. A girl crept in and stood in the narrow opening. She was tall, but her shoulders rounded and drooped. Skinny with wiry red hair cropped uneven, she stared at her feet; ready to topple.
Sue moved to embrace the girl's bony frame, to guide her to a chair. The girl shivered. Sue was puzzled; Judge Rose had not called to alert her of another ward. Sue held her as between sobs, the girl told her story: Captivity in a cellar, scars left by scalding water, blue bruises and cuts marked her arms, and skeins of her red tangled hair were missing.
She told her story. Her uncle had put her on the bus in Ashland, paid the driver for her ticket, and told her to get off when she saw the Court House in Catlettsburg. Go in and tell your story to the first person you see, and ask for help; and she did. So, there was no court order of explanation, no details on her background or charges against the abuser, only a sympathetic, kind relative who wanted to save the red haired girl, from her own parents as it turned out.
This was a tough case. Should Sue wait for America to return? America was older and more experienced, and she was the Supervisor, but Sue did not expect America for hours. This girl was shivering. She needed help now. Sue seized the phone. Gertrude Ramey's boarding house might have a place for the girl, and a hot meal too. Would Gertrude take the girl for a few days until Judge Rose was notified for a stipend? Besides, Sue offered, this girl was fourteen, old enough to cook and clean. Sue offered, "She's as tall as I am." Gertrude agreed for the girl to come.
Sue C. Braun was not tall, and she was efficient. Like the style of her long brown hair, braided and arranged on the top of her head, she was adept at matching needs of the children with resources in the Catlettsburg community.
Nine months earlier in 1943, Sue graduated from Western State Teachers College in Bowling Green. At twenty-one she was the first of her German family settled in Hopkins County, to earn a formal education. Sue adjusted her bright red sweater, took the girl by the hand and led her across Louisa Street to meet Gertrude Ramey.
This is a true story about the first children who formed the original Ramey Children's home, their points of view, and the plethora of secret histories that made up their lives.
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Inactivity researchers are discovering that sitting isn't just harmful to your health, it's so detrimental that a little bit of exercise doesn't offset its negative effects.
As The Washington Post put it, "The message is clear: Sitting for hours at a time might be a health risk regardless of what you do with the rest of your day." ("Desk jobs can be killers, literally" - July 17, 2013).
The Post cited Alpa Patel's 2010 study, published in the American Journal of Epidemiology (Leisure Time Spent Sitting in Relation to Total Mortality in a Prospective Cohort of US Adults), which found a common link between physical inactivity and cardiovascular disease mortality even after adjusting for smoking, body mass index, and other factors.
"Up until very recently, if you exercised for 60 minutes or more a day, you were considered physically active, case closed," Travis Saunders, a PhD student and certified exercise physiologist told Runner's World ("Sitting is the new smoking-even for runners" - July 20, 2013). "Now a consistent body of emerging research suggests it is entirely possible to meet current physical activity guidelines while still being incredibly sedentary, and that sitting increases your risk of death and disease, even if you are getting plenty of physical activity."
Adding to the concern, a study published in the Journal of Physical Activity and Health found that sitting too much "may increase the risk of disability in people over the age of 60" for "activities of daily living such as bathing, dressing, and walking," USA Today reported ("Don't just sit there! It could be harmful later in life" - February 19, 2014).
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Food & Water | Dec 11, 2012
Permaculture: How I'm Preparing for a Local Future
In this lecture from the International Conference on Sustainability, Transition and Culture Change, Peter Bane, author of The Permaculture Handbook: Garden Farming for Town and Country and publisher of Permaculture Activist Magazine explains the fundamental principles of permaculture. One of the roles of Permaculture he says, is to remove basic subsistence needs from the money economy. As well as access to clean food, water and energy, he includes education and rebuilding of the household economy as part of our basic subsistence needs. Permaculture aims to turn the household back into a place of production, not just consumption.
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|Isolation of Arthrobacter species from the phyllosphere and demonstration of their epiphytic fitness.|
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|PMID: 23355506 Owner: NLM Status: Publisher|
|Bacteria of the genus Arthrobacter are common inhabitants of the soil environment, but can also be recovered from leaf surfaces (the phyllosphere). Using enrichment cultures on 4-chlorophenol, we succeeded in specifically isolating Arthrobacter bacteria from ground cover vegetation in an apple orchard. Based on 16S rRNA gene sequencing, the isolates were found to belong to at least three different species of Arthrobacter. Compared to the model bacterial epiphyte Pantoea agglomerans, the Arthrobacter isolates performed as well or even better in a standardized laboratory test of phyllosphere fitness. A similar performance was observed with the well-characterized soil isolate Arthrobacter chlorophenolicus A6. These findings suggest that the frequently reported presence of Arthrobacter strains on plant foliage can be explained by the capacity to multiply and persist in the phyllosphere environment. As bacteria from the genus Arthrobacter are known for their ability to degrade a wide variety of organic pollutants, their high phyllosphere competency marks them as a promising group for future studies on phyllosphere-based bioremediation, for example, as foliar bioaugmentation on ground cover or buffer-zone vegetation to prevent pesticides from reaching soil, surface-, or groundwater.|
|Tanja R Scheublin; Johan H J Leveau|
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|Type: JOURNAL ARTICLE Date: 2013-1-28|
|Title: MicrobiologyOpen Volume: - ISSN: 2045-8827 ISO Abbreviation: Microbiologyopen Publication Date: 2013 Jan|
|Created Date: 2013-1-28 Completed Date: - Revised Date: -|
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|Nlm Unique ID: 101588314 Medline TA: Microbiologyopen Country: -|
|Languages: ENG Pagination: - Citation Subset: -|
|© 2012 The Authors. Published by Blackwell Publishing Ltd. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.|
|Department of Microbial Ecology, Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), Droevendaalsesteeg 10, Wageningen, 6708 PB, The Netherlands.|
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Journal ID (nlm-ta): Microbiologyopen
Journal ID (iso-abbrev): Microbiologyopen
Journal ID (publisher-id): mbo3
Publisher: Blackwell Publishing Ltd
Copyright © 2012 Published by Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
Received Day: 06 Month: 11 Year: 2012
Revision Received Day: 12 Month: 11 Year: 2012
Accepted Day: 13 Month: 11 Year: 2012
Print publication date: Month: 2 Year: 2013
Electronic publication date: Day: 28 Month: 1 Year: 2013
Volume: 2 Issue: 1
First Page: 205 Last Page: 213
PubMed Id: 23355506
|Isolation of Arthrobacter species from the phyllosphere and demonstration of their epiphytic fitness|
|Tanja R Scheublin1|
|Johan H J Leveau12|
1Department of Microbial Ecology, Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW)Droevendaalsesteeg 10, Wageningen, 6708 PB, The Netherlands
2Department of Plant Pathology, University of CaliforniaOne Shields Avenue, Davis, California, 95616
|Correspondence: Johan Leveau, University of California, Department of Plant Pathology, One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA 95616. Tel: +1 (530) 752 5046; Fax: +1 (530) 752 5674; E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.org
Funding Information This work was supported as part of the BACSIN project within the 7th Framework Program of the European Union.
The phyllosphere (Ruinen 1961) is an open habitat that harbors large and diverse communities of bacteria, fungi, and other microorganisms (Leveau 2006). One of the bacterial genera that show up frequently in culture-independent surveys of leaf surface microbiota is Arthrobacter (high %GC Gram-positive, family Micrococcaceae, order Actinomycetales, phylum Actinobacteria). For example, on the leaves of harvest-ready lettuce plants, Arthrobacter sequences were found consistently across samples (Rastogi et al. 2012). Arthrobacter strains have also been isolated from leaves of strawberry (Krimm et al. 2005), sugar beet (Thompson et al. 1995), potato (Heuer and Smalla 1999), the resurrection fern Polypodium polypodioides (Jackson et al. 2006), and olive trees (Ercolani 1991).
Thus, the presence of Arthrobacter on leaf surfaces is an established aspect of phyllosphere microbiology. We are interested in the drivers that underlie this presence, which evokes the basic question whether bacteria from the genus Arthrobacter constitute so-called residual or transient epiphytes (Whipps et al. 2008). Classical examples of residuals are representatives of the genera Pseudomonas, Pantoea, and Erwinia: they are defined (Whipps et al. 2008) by the capacity to multiply in the phyllosphere (Manulis et al. 1998; Mercier and Lindow 2000; Sabaratnam and Beattie 2003). By contrast, transients lack this capacity. For example, Bacillus species have been shown to be poor leaf colonizers even under conducive laboratory conditions (Maduell et al. 2008).
Given their ability to multiply, one expects residual epiphytes to be more abundantly represented than transients in the bacterial communities on plant foliage. Indeed, for genera such as Pseudomonas, Pantoea, and Erwinia, this tends to hold true (Leveau and Tech 2011; Yashiro et al. 2011; Rastogi et al. 2012). Lacking the ability to produce offspring, transients are more likely to be part of the “rare biosphere” component (Kunin et al. 2010) of bacterial communities on plant leaves. This, however, is not a general rule. For example, bacteria of the genus Bacillus can constitute a significant portion of the leaf microbiota (Leveau and Tech 2011). This can be explained by assuming high immigration rates of these bacteria to the leaf surface from other sources, rather than multiplication on the leaf surface (Maduell et al. 2008).
Immigration from soil represents one likely mechanism to explain the presence of Arthrobacter on leaf surfaces of plants. Arthrobacter species are abundant in soil (Mongodin et al. 2006) and soil particles are common on foliage of plants that are grown outdoors (Monier and Lindow 2004). Wind and rain splatter may deliver soil particles to leaf surfaces, especially if the leaves are close to the soil line. In a study that compared bacterial diversity of the lettuce phyllosphere to that of the soil in which these plants were grown, it was revealed that many bacterial species were common between the two compartments (Zwielehner et al. 2008). This was taken as indirect evidence for the movement of soil bacteria to the lettuce canopy. The transport of bacteria by soil particles across larger spatial scales has also been documented (Hua et al. 2007; Polymenakou et al. 2008).
A second contributing factor to the foliar presence of Arthrobacter would be the capacity of Arthrobacter to multiply in the phyllosphere. To the best of our knowledge, a test of such capacity, that is a test of Arthrobacter's residual nature, has not yet been reported. Demonstration of high epiphytic fitness for Arthrobacter would constitute an important finding toward the broader and longer term goal of elucidating the assembly rules that shape phyllosphere communities (Meyer and Leveau 2012).
A particularly interesting property of Arthrobacter species is that they can degrade a wide variety of organic pollutants. These include aromatic hydrocarbons, such as phenols, chlorophenols, BTEX compounds, and phenanthrene (Alvarez and Vogel 1991; Keuth and Rehm 1991; Westerberg et al. 2000; Kotouckova et al. 2004), s-triazines such as atrazine and cyanazine, phenylurea herbicides, glyphosate, and malathion (Kertesz et al. 1994; Strong et al. 2002; Tixier et al. 2002). Nicotine-degrading Arthrobacter strains have been isolated from the tobacco phyllosphere (Sguros 1955) and oil-utilizing Arthrobacter bacteria were isolated from the phyllosphere of crops grown on oil-contaminated soil (Al-Awadhi et al. 2009).
We report here the targeted isolation of Arthrobacter strains from leaf surfaces by exploitation of the fact that Arthrobacter species can grow at the expense of aromatic pollutants including 4-chlorophenol (4-CP). We used 4-CP enrichment cultures to isolate Arthrobacter strains from plant leaves in an apple orchard and we confirmed their epiphytic fitness in laboratory tests. We discuss our findings in the context of exploiting culturable Arthrobacter strains for phylloremediation (Sandhu et al. 2007), that is the removal of foliage-associated organic pollutants by members of the phyllosphere community.
Epiphytic bacteria were recovered from foliage at an experimental apple orchard (Applied Plant Research or PPO, Randwijk, The Netherlands), which had received weekly treatments with the foliar fungicide triadimenol (Exact®; Bayer CropScience B.V., Monheim, Germany). One of the main photodegradation products of triadimenol is 4-CP (Wang and Lemley 2003; Da Silva and Vieira Ferreira 2004). From each one of six plots (A–F), a composite sample consisting of 16 apple leaves and a composite sample consisting of ground cover (i.e., grass and herb vegetation dominated by Poa pratensis, common meadow grass; Poa annua, annual meadow grass; Stellaria media, common chickweed; Senecio vulgaris, common groundsel) was weighed at 10.9 ± 1.0 and 7.3 ± 1.3 g (average ± standard deviation), respectively, and washed in 100 mL phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) by vortexing (5 sec), sonication (7 min), and vortexing again (5 sec). Leaf washes were concentrated 17-fold by centrifugation and resuspended in PBS, and 0.75-mL aliquots were used to inoculate 15 mL Brunner mineral medium (MM; DSMZ medium no. 457, Braunschweig, Germany) containing 1 mmol/L 4-CP or 0.3 mmol/L triadimenol (Sigma-Aldrich, Zwijndrecht, The Netherlands). Media to which no bacteria were added served as controls. Bottles were incubated at 25°C while shaking at 150 rpm for 4 weeks. Every week, 1 mL of culture was collected and frozen at −20°C for high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis of 4-CP and triadimenol.
Frozen samples were thawed, filtered over a 0.2-μm filter, and analyzed by HPLC. We used an ASI-100/ASI-100T Autosampler, STH 585 Column Thermostat, UVD 170U/340U UV/VIS Detector, and P680 LPG pump (Dionex, München, Germany). The UV detector was set at 227 nm for 4-CP and at 224 nm for triadimenol. Runs were performed on a reverse phase C-18 column, 3 μm, 150 × 4.6 mm (Grace Davison Discovery Science, Deerfield, IL) at a column temperature of 25°C and a flow rate of 1 mL per min with 50% acetonitrile as the eluent. The injection volume was 25 μL for the 4-CP and 50 μL for the triadimenol samples.
After 2 weeks of enrichment, serial dilutions of the 4-CP cultures that were inoculated with bacteria from the grass–herb mixture were spread on 1/10 Tryptone Soy Agar (TSA; Oxoid, Cambridge, UK) with 15 g agar per liter. For each one of the six cultures, 12–16 single colonies were transferred to fresh TSA plates and restreaked twice for purity. Care was taken to include a representative from each morphologically distinct colony type. Each isolated strain was checked for its ability to grow in MM with 1 mmol/L 4-CP. Sixteen of those that did were selected for characterization by 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing using primers 27f (5′-AGAGTTTGATCCTGGCTCAG-3′) and 1492r (5′-GGTTACCTTGTTACGACTT-3′; Lane 1991), and for which primer 1492r was used as the sequencing primer. DNA sequences were aligned with those from closely related type strains of Arthrobacter (Genbank accession numbers AB279889, AB279890, AF102267, AJ512504, X83405, X83406, X80741, X80743, and X83408) over a length of 602 nt in MegAlign (Lasergene; DNAstar, Madison, WI) using the Clustal W algorithm. Rhodococcus pyridinivorans (AF173005) was used as an outlier. TreeView (Page 1996) was used to display the phylogram. Unique sequences were deposited in GenBank under accession numbers JN944570–JN944572.
Three selected phyllosphere isolates, cp10, cp12, and cp15, were compared with Arthrobacter chlorophenolicus A6 (DSMZ culture collection, Braunschweig, Germany; Westerberg et al. 2000) for growth in MM supplemented with 1 mmol/L 4-CP as the sole source of carbon and energy. Growth was followed by measuring the optical density at 600 nm (OD600) as a function of time. The experiment was performed in triplicate.
Spontaneous rifampicin-resistant mutants of cp10, cp12, cp15, and A6 were selected by plating on Luria broth (LB) medium with 15 g agar and 20 mg rifampicin per liter. These derivatives and the Rif-resistant model phyllosphere colonizer Pantoea agglomerans (synonym: Erwinia herbicola) 299R (Brandl et al. 1996) were grown to mid-exponential phase in LB with 20 mg rifampicin per liter at 28°C and 250 rpm and diluted in sterile demineralized water to obtain bacterial suspensions of approximately 1.7 × 104 colony forming units (CFUs)/mL. Two-week-old bean plants (Phaseolus vulgaris, green snap bean, variety Blue Lake Bush 274) with the first two leaves fully expanded were dipped into the bacterial suspension. The plants were then incubated for 1 day at 97% air humidity in a closed box in a growth chamber, followed by 1 day at 50% air humidity in an open box and one more day back at 97% air humidity. The growth chamber was set to maintain a day–night cycle of 16 and 8 h at 21 and 16°C, respectively. Growth and survival of bacteria on the foliage was monitored by sacrificing four leaves for analysis at each time point. Bacteria were recovered from individual leaves in 20 mL PBS by 5-sec vortexing, 7-min sonication, and 5-sec vortexing. Dilutions were spread on LB plates containing rifampicin, and CFUs were counted and normalized per gram of leaf tissue.
In a second test, phyllosphere performance of strain cp15 was compared to that of P. agglomerans 299R, either inoculated separately or mixed in a 1:1 ratio. Bacterial suspensions used for dipping the bean leaves contained approximately 3.3 × 106 CFU/mL of each strain. The inoculation densities were 100-fold higher than in previous experiment in order to ensure interaction between the two strains. On LB agar plates, both strains could easily be distinguished by morphology.
Primer sets were designed to target homologues of three genes in the A. chlorophenolicus A6 4-CP-degradation cluster, namely Achl_4569 (cphA-I), Achl_4573 (cphC-I), and Achl_4564 (cphC-II). These genes encode for one hydroxyquinol 1,2-dioxygenase and two monooxygenase enzymes (Nordin et al. 2005; Unell et al. 2009). Homologous sequences were obtained from GenBank, aligned using MegAlign (Lasergene; DNAstar) and used to design degenerate primers in conserved regions (Table 1). Genomic DNA from strains cp10, cp12, and cp15 was isolated using the ZR Fungal/Bacterial DNA MiniPrep (Zymo Research, Irvine, CA) after prior incubation for 30 min in TE buffer (30 mmol/L Tris-Cl, 1 mmol/L EDTA, pH 8.0) containing 15 mg of lysozyme and 2 mg of proteinase K per mL. PCR mixtures contained 1 U FastStart Taq DNA polymerase, 1× buffer (Roche Diagnostics, Mannheim, Germany), 0.2 mmol/L of each deoxynucleoside triphosphate, 3 μmol/L of each primer, and 5 ng of genomic DNA in a total volume of 25 μL. The PCR cycling regime was (1) one cycle of 2 min at 95°C, (2) 35 cycles of 30 sec at 95°C, 30 sec at 50°C, and 60 sec at 72°C, and (3) one final extension cycle of 10 min at 72°C. PCR products were verified by agarose gel electrophoresis and purified using a Qiaquick PCR purification kit (Qiagen, Venlo, The Netherlands). The fragments were sequenced (Macrogen, Seoul, Korea) from both directions with the same primers used for PCR amplification. Sequences were deposited in GenBank under accession numbers JN944561–JN944563 and JN944566–JN944569.
Leaf surface washes from trees and ground vegetation at six plots in an experimental apple orchard were used to seed two sets of enrichment cultures, one with 4-CP and one with triadimenol. Turbidity representing bacterial growth was observed only in the six 4-CP enrichment cultures that were inoculated with bacteria from ground vegetation. Analysis of the supernatants of these cultures by HPLC showed that 4-CP concentrations had fallen below 10 μmol/L within 2 weeks. At this time, enrichments were spread on 1/10 TSA plates and for each one of the six cultures 12–16 bacterial colonies were selected. For more than half of the isolates, we confirmed the ability to grow on MM containing 1 mmol/L 4-CP as the sole source of carbon and energy (Table 2). Of these 4-CP degraders (“cp isolates”), approximately 25% featured a yellow colony type, while the others were white. Sixteen of the cp isolates were selected for characterization by 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing and all were identified as Arthrobacter species, belonging to one of three groups (A, B, or C), based on alignment to the 16S rRNA gene sequences of known type strains of Arthrobacter species (Fig. 1). Members of group A showed 100% sequence similarity to 4-nitroguaiacol degrader Arthrobacter nitroguajacolicusT (Kotouckova et al. 2004) and atrazine-degrader Arthrobacter aurescens TC1 (Strong et al. 2002; Mongodin et al. 2006), both soil isolates. All strains with the yellow colony phenotype belonged to this group A. Sequences in group B were identical to those of Arthrobacter polychromogenesT (Schippers-Lammertse et al. 1963) and Arthrobacter oxydans, both of which were isolated from air, whereas sequences in group C were identical to that of Arthrobacter humicolaT, which was recovered from paddy soil (Kageyama et al. 2008).
From each group, one representative was selected for further characterization: cp15 representing group A, cp12 from B, and cp10 from group C. Figure 2 shows the growth of these isolates on MM with 1 mmol/L 4-CP, compared to that of 4-CP model degrader A. chlorophenolicus A6 (DSMZ culture collection, Braunschweig, Germany; Westerberg et al. 2000). Arthrobacter chlorophenolicus A6 was the fastest growing strain in this medium and cp12 the slowest. The maximum specific growth rates (μmax) for A6, cp10, cp12, and cp15 were 0.118, 0.099, 0.062, and 0.089/h, respectively. In addition, we confirmed by PCR analysis that cp10, cp12, and cp15 carried orthologs of cphA-I and cphC-I. These genes encode an intradiol dioxygenase and a monooxygenase, respectively, alleged to be involved in 4-CP degradation by A. chlorophenolicus A6 (Nordin et al. 2005). PCR for the cphC-II gene, encoding another monooxygenase, was positive only for cp12 (Table 3).
These results confirmed that enrichment on 4-CP was very effective in selectively recovering Arthrobacter species from leaf surfaces, at least from ground vegetation in this apple orchard. Prior to the collection of leaf material, the orchard had received weekly applications of the fungicide Exact®, which has triadimenol as an active ingredient. We never found bacterial degraders of triadimenol in enrichment cultures supplemented with triadimenol as sole source of carbon and energy. Under the influence of sunlight, triadimenol can be degraded to 1,2,4-triazole with the release of 4-CP (Iesce et al. 2003; Da Silva and Vieira Ferreira 2004). We do not know to what extent the treatment with triadimenol allowed for the recovery of 4-CP degraders in our study. However, we were never able to recover such degraders from enrichment cultures that were seeded with apple leaves from the same plots. We suspect that the recovery of 4-CP-degrading Arthrobacter strains from ground vegetation but not apple leaves was due to the proximity of the former to soil.
To determine whether our cp isolates represented mere “soil contaminants,” that is transients, or whether they were actually capable of growing epiphytically, we compared isolates cp10, cp12, cp15, and A. chlorophenolicus A6 to a model bacterium for phyllosphere colonization, that is P. agglomerans 299R, in a standard “wet-dry-wet” phyllosphere competency test (Lindow 1993) on bean plants. The results are shown in Figure 3a. Overall, the phyllosphere performance of the four Arthrobacter strains resembled that of P. agglomerans 299R. In all cases, population sizes had increased at least one order of magnitude after 24 h under conditions of high relative humidity, suggesting that these strains were able to access and utilize nutrients on the leaf surface for growth. All strains showed the expected reduction in population size upon exposure to reduced humidity, while P. agglomerans 299R and two of the Arthrobacter isolates (cp 15 and A6) recovered from this stress by increasing population sizes in the subsequent 24-h wet period. Strain cp15 appeared to outperform all other strains, including P. agglomerans 299R, especially in the first 24-h period. In an additional experiment, phyllosphere performance of cp15 was compared to that of P. agglomerans 299R, alone or in competition at high densities (Fig. 3b). Again, the cp15 strain reached higher numbers than 299R, even when they were inoculated together on the same leaf. For both strains, inoculation together with the other strain did not impact the bacterial growth pattern compared to inoculation alone (Fig. 3b).
We conclude then that the Arthrobacter strains that were isolated from orchard ground vegetation were good phyllosphere colonizers. The same was true for strain A6, which was originally recovered from soil. It is likely that many of the traits that generally make Arthrobacter species excellent survivors in soil (Mongodin et al. 2006), for example desiccation tolerance (Labeda et al. 1976), contributed to the ability of A6 and the cp isolates to deal with and rebound from the imposed stress of low relative humidity on leaf surfaces (Fig. 3). Remarkable is our finding that strains of Arthrobacter excelled at reproducing on leaf surfaces under growth-conducive conditions. It is unlikely that this ability depended on the capacity to catabolize 4-CP. In culture, isolate cp15 had the lowest yield on 4-CP, relative to other Arthrobacter strains (Fig. 2), yet it showed superior epiphytic growth during the first 24 h on bean leaves. Also, we were not able to recover 4-CP from the surface of bean leaves at concentrations that were detectable by GC-MS (not shown) or that would allow population increases such as those that were seen on leaves for cp10, cp12, and cp15 during the first 24 h on the bean leaf surface (Fig. 3). Thus, foliar growth by Arthrobacter under these conditions must be attributed to the acquisition of other carbon and energy sources on the leaf surface, most likely photosynthates such as fructose, glucose, and sucrose, which are among the most abundant sources of carbon on leaf surfaces (Leveau 2006). This does not preclude the possibility that on other plant species, in particular those that are known to harbor phenolic compounds on their leaf surfaces (Yadav et al. 2005), Arthrobacter would benefit from the possession of cph genes and the ability to catabolize substituted phenols. Moreover, as it is likely that phyllosphere Arthrobacter bacteria spend part of their life cycle in the soil environment, carrying cph genes might be advantageous for degradation of other aromatic compounds in soil, for example those formed during degradation of lignin and humic acids.
In conclusion, our findings show that members of the genus Arthrobacter fit the definition of residual epiphytes and that the presence of Arthrobacter on leaf surfaces should be interpreted in light of the demonstrated capacity to reproduce epiphytically. This capacity, together with the notions that Arthrobacter species (1) exhibit high levels of resistance to desiccation stress (Labeda et al. 1976), (2) have a wide range of pollutant degradation capabilities (Alvarez and Vogel 1991; Keuth and Rehm 1991; Westerberg et al. 2000; Kotouckova et al. 2004), and (3) can be retrieved as culturable bacteria from leaf surfaces (this study; Ercolani 1991; Thompson et al. 1995; Heuer and Smalla 1999; Krimm et al. 2005; Jackson et al. 2006), makes the Arthrobacter genus a promising group for further development as a model for the study of phyllosphere-based bioremediation (Sandhu et al. 2007). Using other bacterial species, such phylloremediation has been demonstrated for a number of pollutants such as toluene, phenol, and phenanthrene (De Kempeneer et al. 2004; Sandhu et al. 2007, 2009; Waight et al. 2007; Yutthammo et al. 2010), as well as for agrochemicals such as dichlorvos and acetamiprid (Ning et al. 2010; Zhou et al. 2011). Phyllosphere isolates of Arthrobacter strains may have practical utility as foliar sprays for the initial or accelerated attrition of pesticide residue associated with the use of atrazine, cyanazine, phenylurea herbicides, glyphosate, and malathion, all of which have been reported to be targets for destruction by Arthrobacter (Kertesz et al. 1994; Strong et al. 2002; Tixier et al. 2002). Application of biodegradation-capable, phyllosphere-competent strains of Arthrobacter to ground cover or buffer-zone vegetation may be a sustainable strategy to mitigate and reduce levels of environmental contamination associated with runoff of pesticides (Reichenberger et al. 2007).
We thank Bart Heijne from Applied Plant Research (PPO), Randwijk, The Netherlands, for his help and advice on the sampling site. We thank Robin Tecon for his comments on an early version of the manuscript. This work was supported as part of the BACSIN project within the 7th framework program of the European Union. This is NIOO-KNAW publication 5386.
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|Kunin V,Engelbrektson A,Ochman H,Hugenholtz P. Wrinkles in the rare biosphere: pyrosequencing errors can lead to artificial inflation of diversity estimatesEnviron. MicrobiolYear: 20101211812319725865|
|Labeda DP,Liu KC,Casida LE. Colonization of soil by Arthrobacter and Pseudomonas under varying conditions of water and nutrient availability as studied by plate counts and transmission electron microscopyAppl. Environ. MicrobiolYear: 1976315515611267449|
|Lane DJ. Stackebrandt E,Goodfellow M16S/23S rRNA sequencingNucleic acid techniques in bacterial systematicYear: 1991New York, NYJohn Wiley & Sons115175|
|Leveau JHJ. Riederer M,Müller MMicrobial communities in the phyllosphereBiology of the plant cuticleYear: 2006Oxford, UKBlackwell Publishing334367|
|Leveau JHJ,Tech JJ. Grapevine microbiomics: bacterial diversity on grape leaves and berries revealed by high-throughput sequence analysis of 16S rRNA ampliconsActa Hortic. (ISHS)Year: 20119053142|
|Lindow SE. Novel method for identifying bacterial mutants with reduced epiphytic fitnessAppl. Environ. MicrobiolYear: 1993591586159216348938|
|Maduell P,Armengol G,Llagostera M,Orduz S,Lindow S. B. thuringiensis is a poor colonist of leaf surfacesMicrob. EcolYear: 20085521221917587074|
|Manulis S,Haviv-Chesner A,Brandl MT,Lindow SE,Barash I. Differential involvement of indole-3-acetic acid biosynthetic pathways in pathogenicity and epiphytic fitness of Erwinia herbicola pv. gypsophilaeMol. Plant Microbe InteractYear: 1998116346429650296|
|Mercier J,Lindow SE. Role of leaf surface sugars in colonization of plants by bacterial epiphytesAppl. Environ. MicrobiolYear: 20006636937410618250|
|Meyer KM,Leveau JHJ. Microbiology of the phyllosphere: a playground for testing ecological conceptsOecologiaYear: 201216862162921983641|
|Mongodin EF,Shapir N,Daugherty SC,Deboy RT,Emerson JB,Shvartzbeyn A,et al. Secrets of soil survival revealed by the genome sequence of Arthrobacter aurescens TC1PLoS GenetYear: 2006220942106|
|Monier JM,Lindow SE. Frequency, size, and localization of bacterial aggregates on bean leaf surfacesAppl. Environ. MicrobiolYear: 20047034635514711662|
|Ning JY,Bai ZH,Gang G,Jiang D,Hu Q,He JZ,et al. Functional assembly of bacterial communities with activity for the biodegradation of an organophosphorus pesticide in the rape phyllosphereFEMS Microbiol. LettYear: 201030613514320529133|
|Nordin K,Unell M,Jansson JK. Novel 4-chlorophenol degradation gene cluster and degradation route via hydroxyquinol in Arthrobacter chlorophenolicus A6Appl. Environ. MicrobiolYear: 2005716538654416269679|
|Page RDM. TreeView: an application to display phylogenetic trees on personal computersComput. Appl. BiosciYear: 1996123573588902363|
|Polymenakou PN,Mandalakis M,Stephanou EG,Tselepides A. Particle size distribution of airborne microorganisms and pathogens during an intense African dust event in the eastern MediterraneanEnviron. Health PerspectYear: 200811629229618335093|
|Rastogi G,Sbodio A,Tech JJ,Suslow TV,Coaker GL,Leveau JHJ. Leaf microbiota in an agroecosystem: spatiotemporal variation in bacterial community composition on field-grown lettuceISME JYear: 201261812182222534606|
|Reichenberger S,Bach M,Skitschak A,Frede HG. Mitigation strategies to reduce pesticide inputs into ground- and surface water and their effectiveness: a reviewSci. Total EnvironYear: 200738413517588646|
|Ruinen J. The phyllosphere. I. An ecologically neglected mileuPlant SoilYear: 19611581109|
|Sabaratnam S,Beattie GA. Differences between Pseudomonas syringae pv. syringae B728a and Pantoea agglomerans BRT98 in epiphytic and endophytic colonization of leavesAppl. Environ. MicrobiolYear: 2003691220122812571050|
|Sandhu A,Halverson LJ,Beattie GA. Bacterial degradation of airborne phenol in the phyllosphereEnviron. MicrobiolYear: 2007938339217222136|
|Sandhu A,Halverson LJ,Beattie GA. Identification and genetic characterization of phenol-degrading bacteria from leaf microbial communitiesMicrob. EcolYear: 20095727628519034559|
|Schippers-Lammertse AF,Muijsers AO,Klatser-Oedekerk KB. Arthrobacter polychromogenes nov. spec., its pigments, and a bacteriophage of this speciesAntonie Van LeeuwenhoekYear: 196329115|
|Sguros PL. Microbial transformations of the tobacco alkaloids I. Cultural and morphological characteristics of a nicotinophileJ. BacteriolYear: 195569283713233163|
|Strong LC,Rosendahl C,Johnson G,Sadowsky MJ,Wackett LP. Arthrobacter aurescens TC1 metabolizes diverse s-triazine ring compoundsAppl. Environ. MicrobiolYear: 2002685973598012450818|
|Thompson IP,Bailey MJ,Ellis RJ,Lilley AK,McCormack PJ,Purdy KJ,et al. Short-term community dynamics in the phyllosphere microbiology of field-grown sugar beetFEMS Microbiol. EcolYear: 199516205211|
|Tixier C,Sancelme M,Ait-Aissa S,Widehem P,Bonnemoy F,Cuer A,et al. Biotransformation of phenylurea herbicides by a soil bacterial strain, Arthrobacter sp. N2: structure, ecotoxicity and fate of diuron metabolite with soil fungiChemosphereYear: 20024651952611838430|
|Unell M,Abraham PE,Shah M,Zhang B,Ruckert C,VerBerkmoes NC,et al. Impact of phenolic substrate and growth temperature on the Arthrobacter chlorophenolicus proteomeJ. Proteome ResYear: 200981953196419714879|
|Waight K,Pinyakong O,Luepromchai E. Degradation of phenanthrene on plant leaves by phyllosphere bacteriaJ. Gen. Appl. MicrobiolYear: 20075326527218057816|
|Wang QQ,Lemley AT. Competitive degradation and detoxification of carbamate insecticides by membrane anodic Fenton treatmentJ. Agric. Food ChemYear: 2003515382539012926887|
|Westerberg K,Elvang AM,Stackebrandt E,Jansson JK. Arthrobacter chlorophenolicus sp. nov., a new species capable of degrading high concentrations of 4-chlorophenolInt. J. Syst. Evol. MicrobiolYear: 2000502083209211155983|
|Whipps JM,Hand P,Pink D,Bending GD. Phyllosphere microbiology with special reference to diversity and plant genotypeJ. Appl. MicrobiolYear: 20081051744175519120625|
|Yadav RKP,Karamanoli K,Vokou D. Bacterial colonization of the phyllosphere of Mediterranean perennial species as influenced by leaf structural and chemical featuresMicrob. EcolYear: 20055018519616215646|
|Yashiro E,Spear RN,McManus PS. Culture-dependent and culture-independent assessment of bacteria in the apple phyllosphereJ. Appl. MicrobiolYear: 20111101284129621332895|
|Yutthammo C,Thongthammachat N,Pinphanichakarn P,Luepromchai E. Diversity and activity of PAH-degrading bacteria in the phyllosphere of ornamental plantsMicrob. EcolYear: 20105935736820107780|
|Zhou Y,Qiao XW,Li WJ,Xu JF,Wang W,Chen XY. Phyllosphere bacterial communities associated with the degradation of acetamiprid in Phaseolus vulgarisAfr. J. BiotechnolYear: 20111038093817|
|Zwielehner J,Handschur M,Michaelsen A,Irez S,Demel M,Denner EBM,et al. DGGE and real-time PCR analysis of lactic acid bacteria in bacterial communities of the phyllosphere of lettuceMol. Nutr. Food ResYear: 20085261462318398868|
Degenerate primers used to amplify Arthrobacter genes involved in 4-chlorophenol degradation
|Gene||Forward primer (5′-3′)||Reverse primer (5′-3′)||Size in A6 (bp)||NCBI entries used for alignment|
|cphA-I||CARYTNATGCARGCNYTNAC||CRTCYTCRTCNGCYTCCCA||385||YP_002478496; ABL75139; ACX85436; BAI53128|
|cphC-I||ATGAAYGTNGTNATGTTYAC||GRTACCAYTTNGCRTGNTC||538||YP_002478500; ABL75143; ACX85440; BAI53124; BAI53132|
Bacterial isolates obtained from leaf wash enrichment cultures on 4-chlorophenol (4-CP)
|Growth on 4-CP||No growth on 4-CP|
|Yellow colonies||White colonies||Various morphologies|
|Plot A||2 (cp15,18)1||8 (cp10,12)||2|
|Plot B||1 (cp27)||6 (cp23,32)||5|
|Plot C||5 (cp34,49)||4 (cp41)||7|
|Plot D||2 (cp50)||7 (cp61)||3|
|Plot E||0||3 (cp64,65)||9|
|Plot F||0||6 (cp74,76)||7|
1In parentheses are shown the isolates that were selected for characterization by sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene (Fig. 1).
Partial gene fragments of cphA-I, cphC-I, and cphC-II orthologs amplified by PCR from cp isolates
|Isolate||Gene||Closest match in GenBank||Species||% Identity|
|cp10||cphA-I||AB530681 (2769..2424)||Arthrobacter sp. IF1||100|
|cp10||cphC-I||AB530680 (1555..2053)||Arthrobacter sp. IF1||100|
|cp12||cphA-I||CP001343 (81639..81294)||Arthrobacter chlorophenolicus A6||80|
|cp12||cphC-I||CP001343 (86948..87446)||A. chlorophenolicus A6||85|
|cp12||cphC-II||CP001343 (75047..75491)||A. chlorophenolicus A6||76|
|cp15||cphA-I||AB530681 (2769..2424)||Arthrobacter sp. IF1||100|
|cp15||cphC-I||AB530681 (8077..8575)||Arthrobacter sp. IF1||100|
Keywords: Arthrobacter, biodegradation, phylloplane, phylloremediation, soil, triadimenol.
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Skull wars: new ‘Homo erectus’ skull in Ethiopia
Published: 22 March 2002 (GMT+10)
The recent find of a so-called Homo erectus skull in Africa was announced throughout the world as if it proved evolution, and published in Nature.1 The facts are far less exciting for evolution’s would-be believers.
‘A million-year-old skull found in Ethiopia confirms the theory that modern man evolved from a single pre-human species that developed in Africa and migrated throughout the rest of the world…’2
Reading that introduction to the CNN internet article about the latest alleged ape-man skull find the average reader might think that this skull is supposed to have somehow confirmed that people evolved from subhuman ancestors. But even evolutionists reading this would have to agree that this was not the point being made, in fact. The author(s) of the article, and the researchers cited, all commence their thinking, and all their interpretations of the facts, from within a framework that already believes that man evolved. After all, if they didn’t, then the only alternative would be to accept special creation, which is against The Rules of the Game!
The skull in question is of a type that has been given the label Homo erectus. The above mentioned evolutionary thought framework has long been locked into the view that Homo erectus is a subhuman species, i.e. an evolutionary intermediate between today’s humans and earlier, even less human, ape-like ancestors.
Creationists have generally claimed that there is nothing in erectus specimens which is outside the range of human variation.3 This is confirmed by evidence of their artefacts and thus behaviour. I.e. they are likely to have been just another type of human resulting from the sudden burst of genetic diversification after Babel. Not so long ago, the cover of Time drew an erectus male looking just like a tall Olympic athlete. If that individual were to wear a hat, hiding his receding forehead and prominent brow ridges (features which are, in isolation, not unknown among today’s populations), he would not even warrant a second look.
So what is the new fuss all about? Shouldn’t it be just a case of, ‘Yawn, just another Homo erectus skull has been found?’ The answer is that it is all about debates among evolutionists, arguing about different ideas of how humans evolved, not whether.
The situation was this. Until the mid-1980s, most evolutionists believed that the erectus skulls found in places like Asia and Europe had all emerged from an original erectus population which had emerged in Africa. Then others started saying that the skulls in Africa were a little different, and represented a separate species, which they named Homo ergaster, that is thought to have evolved into erectus.
This recent skull discovery has been made in Africa, and the skull is ‘dated’ (using the usual evolutionary assumptions) at one million years. It is a classic erectus skull, which seems to confirm the earlier view. This has caused people to reassess the whole matter of ergaster, with many now saying that ergaster never existed. I.e. they now point out that the differences between ergaster and erectus were, all along, too minor to call them a separate species. They were just a part of the range of variation in one group.
In other words, where once one could talk of three separate Homo species called ergaster, erectus and sapiens, now these are reduced to erectus and Sapiens. Study leader Dr Tim White, co-director of the Laboratory for Human Evolutionary Studies at the University of California, Berkeley, points out the widespread occurrence of what’s known as taxonomic splitting:
‘There’s been a recent tendency to give a different name to each of the fossils that comes out of the ground, and that has led to what we think is a very misleading portrayal of the biology of human evolution.’
Other evolutionists are not convinced, despite the evidence confirming the tight anatomical overlap of features. However, this only highlights how all such matters involving classification of fossil bones are, by their very nature, highly subjective. It is not at all unreasonable, in the light of that subjectivity, for the creationist to maintain that there should really only be one Homo species acknowledged, namely Homo Sapiens
This is consistent with what certain evolutionary paleoanthropologists, most notably Milford Wolpoff of the University of Michigan, have been saying for some time now. They do believe that the individuals whose bones have been labeled erectus were the evolutionary ancestors of modern people (as were Neandertals, in their view). But they seem to believe that the similarities are such that all Homo erectus specimens, along with Homo neanderthalensis and others, should really be called Homo Sapiens—which means, in a nutshell, people. There is evidence associated with erectus of many human cultural attributes, including burial of their dead, the use of ceremonial ochre, stone toolmaking, and even complex seafaring/navigation skills. (It’s been recently discovered that ‘Neanderthals Made High-Tech Superglue’.)
So, like the ten green bottles on the wall, now we would be back to one Homo species after all. The TJ paper by creationist John Woodmorappe, titled The non-transitions in ‘human evolution’—on evolutionists’ terms concludes from the analysis of a number of characteristics that Homo ergaster, H. erectus, H. neanderthalensis as well as H. heidelbergensis were most likely ‘racial’ variants of modern man, while H. habilis4 and another specimen called H. rudolfensis were just types of australopithecines.
When the entire human gene pool was broken up suddenly at Babel, different groups took different proportions of that gene pool with them, giving rise to many people groups, or so-called ‘races’. These have superficial fixed differences in the proportion and frequency of certain features. E.g. some have more skin pigment, some less. But genetic studies on the living descendants of those groups shows that they (we) are all astonishingly closely related, not surprisingly. We all have the same skin pigment, for instance, just different amounts of it. And all people groups can freely intermarry, resulting in a closer approximation to the genetic richness that would have characterized Noah’s family. In fact, there is a wider variation within a ‘race’ than between different ‘races’, which is why biologists regard ‘race’ as a biologically meaningless concept. (For more information, see How did all the different ‘races’ arise?, extracted from The Creation Answers Book)
Similarly, the range of variation in bony features among these early post-Babel humans, some groups of which have since died out (Neandertals, e.g.) is easily explained on the same genetic basis.
So next time you see certain newspaper announcements of the latest ‘skull’, remember that often the reporters concerned have only the fuzziest idea of what is being discussed. Also, they are viewing and interpreting those facts through the ‘lens’ of a framework which assumes human evolution, so can hardly be used to prove human evolution. In any case, neither the researchers, nor the reporters, will generally have the opportunity, will or incentive to see the same facts through the ‘lens’ of the real history given in the Bible. Meanwhile, see Q&A: Anthropology for refutations of other ‘missing link’/‘ape-man’ claims.
Ed. note: See also Homo erectus misunderstandings?, response to a critic of this article.
- Aswaf, B. et al., Remains of Homo erectus from Bouri, Middle Awash, Ethiopia, Nature 416(6878):317–320, 21 March 2002. Return to Text.
- Fossil skull fuels debate over human origin, www.CNN.com, 21 March 2002. Return to Text.
- For example, see Woodmorappe, J., How different is the cranial-vault thickness of Homo erectus from modern man? TJ 14(1):10–13, 2000. Return to Text.
- So-called Homo habilis has pretty well died as a taxon, the confusion seemingly caused by assigning of either erectus or, more commonly, australopithecine fossil pieces into this ‘taxonomic waste bin’. For simplicity, we are here ignoring the debates about Homo neanderthalensis and similar. Return to Text.
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Statistical Methods for Fuzzy Data
Statistical analysis methods have to be adapted for the analysis of fuzzy data. In this book, the foundations of the description of fuzzy data are explained, including methods on how to obtain the characterizing function of fuzzy measurement results. Furthermore, statistical methods are then generalized to the analysis of fuzzy data and fuzzy a-priori information.
- Provides basic methods for the mathematical description of fuzzy data, as well as statistical methods that can be used to analyze fuzzy data.
- Describes methods of increasing importance with applications in areas such as environmental statistics and social science.
- Complements the theory with exercises and solutions and is illustrated throughout with diagrams and examples.
- Explores areas such quantitative description of data uncertainty and mathematical description of fuzzy data.
This work is aimed at statisticians working with fuzzy logic, engineering statisticians, finance researchers, and environmental statisticians. It is written for readers who are familiar with elementary stochastic models and basic statistical methods.
Part I FUZZY INFORMATION.
1. Fuzzy Data.
1.1 One-dimensional Fuzzy Data.
1.2 Vector-valued Fuzzy Data.
1.3 Fuzziness and Variability.
1.4 Fuzziness and Errors.
2. Fuzzy Numbers and Fuzzy Vectors.
2.1 Fuzzy Numbers and Characterizing Functions.
2.2 Vectors of Fuzzy Numbers and Fuzzy Vectors.
2.3 Triangular Norms.
3. Mathematical Operations for Fuzzy Quantities.
3.1 Functions of Fuzzy Variables.
3.2 Addition of Fuzzy Numbers.
3.3 Multiplication of Fuzzy Numbers.
3.4 Mean Value of Fuzzy Numbers.
3.5 Differences and Quotients.
3.6 Fuzzy Valued Functions.
Part II DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS FOR FUZZY DATA.
4. Fuzzy Samples.
4.1 Minimum of Fuzzy Data.
4.2 Maximum of Fuzzy Data.
4.3 Cumulative Sum for Fuzzy Data.
5. Histograms for Fuzzy Data.
5.1 Fuzzy Frequency of a Fixed Class.
5.2 Fuzzy Frequency Distributions.
5.3 Axonometric Diagram of the Fuzzy Histogram.
6. Empirical Distribution Functions.
6.1 Fuzzy Valued Empirical Distribution Function.
6.2 Fuzzy Empirical Fractiles.
6.3 Smoothed Empirical Distribution Function.
7. Empirical Correlation for Fuzzy Data.
7.1 Fuzzy Empirical Correlation Coefficient.
Part III FOUNDATIONS OF STATISTICAL INFERENCE WITH FUZZY DATA.
8. Fuzzy Probability Distributions.
8.1 Fuzzy Probability Densities.
8.2 Probabilities based on Fuzzy Probability Densities.
8.3 General Fuzzy Probability Distributions.
9. A Law of Large Numbers.
9.1 Fuzzy Random Variables.
9.2 Fuzzy Probability Distributions induced by Fuzzy Random Variables.
9.3 Sequences of Fuzzy Random Variables.
9.4 Law of Large Numbers for Fuzzy Random Variables.
10. Combined Fuzzy Samples.
10.1 Observation Space and Sample Space.
10.2 Combination of Fuzzy Samples.
10.3 Statistics of Fuzzy Data.
Part IV CLASSICAL STATISTICAL INFERENCE FOR FUZZY DATA.
11. Generalized Point Estimations.
11.1 Estimations based on Fuzzy Samples.
11.2 Sample Moments.
12. Generalized Confidence Regions.
12.1 Confidence Functions.
12.2 Fuzzy Confidence Regions.
13. Statistical Tests for Fuzzy Data.
13.1 Test Statistics and Fuzzy Data.
13.2 Fuzzy p-Values.
Part V BAYESIAN INFERENCE AND FUZZY INFORMATION.
14. Bayes' Theorem and Fuzzy Information.
14.1 Fuzzy a-priori Distributions.
14.2 Updating Fuzzy a-priori Distributions.
15. Generalized Bayes' Theorem.
15.1 Likelihood Function for Fuzzy Data.
15.2 Bayes' Theorem for Fuzzy a-priori Distribution and Fuzzy Data.
16. Bayesian Confidence Regions.
16.1 Confidence Regions based on Fuzzy Data.
16.2 Fuzzy HPD-Regions.
17. Fuzzy Predictive Distributions.
17.1 Discrete Case.
17.2 Discrete Models with Continuous Parameter Space.
17.3 Continuous Case.
18. Bayesian Decisions and Fuzzy Information.
18.1 Bayesian Decisions.
18.2 Fuzzy Utility.
18.3 Discrete State Space.
18.4 Continuous State Space.
Part VI REGRESSION ANALYSIS AND FUZZYINFORMATION.
19 Classical regression analysis.
19.1 Regression models.
19.2 Linear regression models with Gaussian dependent variables.
19.3 General linear models.
19.4 Nonidentical variances.
20 Regression models and fuzzy data.
20.1 Generalized estimators for linear regression models based on the extension principle.
20.2 Generalized confidence regions for parameters.
20.3 Prediction in fuzzy regression models.
21 Bayesian regression analysis.
21.1 Calculation of a posteriori distributions.
21.2 Bayesian confidence regions.
21.3 Probabilities of hypotheses.
21.4 Predictive distributions.
21.5 A posteriori Bayes estimators for regression parameters.
21.6 Bayesian regression with Gaussian distributions.
22 Bayesian regression analysis and fuzzy information.
22.1 Fuzzy estimators of regression parameters.
22.2 Generalized Bayesian confidence regions.
22.3 Fuzzy predictive distributions.
Part VII FUZZY TIME SERIES.
23 Mathematical concepts.
23.1 Support functions of fuzzy quantities.
23.2 Distances of fuzzy quantities.
23.3 Generalized Hukuhara difference.
24 Descriptive methods for fuzzy time series.
24.1 Moving averages.
24.2.1 Linear filtering.
24.2.2 Nonlinear filters.
24.3 Exponential smoothing.
24.4 Components model.
24.4.1 Model without seasonal component.
24.4.2 Model with seasonal component.
24.5 Difference filters.
24.6 Generalized Holt–Winter method.
24.7 Presentation in the frequency domain.
25 More on fuzzy random variables and fuzzy random vectors.
25.2 Expectation and variance of fuzzy random variables.
25.3 Covariance and correlation.
25.4 Further results.
26 Stochastic methods in fuzzy time series analysis.
26.1 Linear approximation and prediction.
26.2 Remarks concerning Kalman filtering.
Part VIII APPENDICES.
A1 List of symbols and abbreviations.
A2 Solutions to the problems.
A4 Related literature.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
This review is from: The Hanging Tree: Execution and the English People 1770-1868 (Paperback)
The refinement of punishment has been a phenomenon common to most western countries, allowing the survival of practices whose intrinsic barbarity could easily have led to their earlier demise. Torture has long gone, but capital punishment survived in Europe until recent years, and in the United States it not only survived but prospers still. Technological advance aided the sanitization of executions. In America the noose yielded to the electric chair, the gas chamber to the lethal injection. In France the Guillotine brought humanity and equality to death sentences. Kings and commoners would be alike swiftly despatched, and their severed heads lie cheek by cheek in the same basket. In England the removal of hanging from the public gaze and the increasing expertise with which it was carried out defeated abolitionist pressure for a century.
Dr Gatrell has written a magisterial volume, the most important study in 20 years on the last century of public executions in England. At the beginning of his period the Bloody Code, whereby the most minor offender could be hanged, was literally in full swing. The condemned man, taken to a prominent public place, was slowly strangled in full view of the populace, the corpse sometimes being gibbeted for greater effect. Crowds, often drunken, filled the streets when an execution was imminent. Clergy condemned their conduct but not the institution. Dickens deprecated the spectacle but defended the penalty. In the first half of the nineteenth century reformers persuaded parliament to restrict the scope and use of the noose. The numbers hanged fell to a mere handful a year. Finally, in 1868 public executions were ended, and the sentence of death was performed in the privacy of a prison. Gatrell, in rich detail, traces the complex development of a sensibility nurtured in security which led to disgust at, and opposition to, the public manifestation of death. His conclusion is that we are humane when we can afford to be: 'hostility to the scaffold on humane grounds was never so vehement as when the perceived need for it was waning'. Thus, more convincingly than most, he interrelates the material, political and cultural moves towards the restriction of capital punishment. Hanging was camouflaged, not abolished. One factor, in my opinion, crucial to its survival was the flexibility and ingenuity with which its practitioners and protectors sanitised its procedure. Behind prison walls, after a period set aside for appeals and penitence, the condemned man was despatched almost instantaneously in the presence of a few prison officials and civic dignitaries. This imprisonment of punishment in England - like the invention of the Guillotine in France - was the innovation enabling executions to continue -out of sight - for another 100 years. It burst the bubble of more radical reform. By 1868 agitation for abolition had largely ceased and was not revived for a further 50 years. But that is another story.
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http://www.amazon.co.uk/review/R2B82F5FQE6DE4
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Words formed when one letter is changed in nosh
Letter 1 (N) changed: 7 words found:
No words found when changing letter 2 (O).
No words found when changing letter 3 (S).
Letter 4 (H) changed: 2 words found:
A total of 9 words can be formed from nosh by changing one letter.
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|
http://www.morewords.com/change-one-letter-in/nosh/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393533.44/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00084-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.89858
| 73
| 2.734375
| 3
|
Today (2006), dusty outline maps from
archaeology articles are coming to life in full
color. Tilting the view
and spinning around to appreciate the
surrounding horizon provides the
geographic context of previously vague, remote
ruins. And the
placemarks often provide useful contextual
information plus lots of photography.
experience, I'm glimpsing a possible
forthcoming chronic disorder
interactive tool has become a time sink
in a productive and educational
way. High resolution image updates are
providing surprising details.
Anyone almost everywhere can now count
Avebury, hike the Inca Trail,
Picchu, and fly between monuments
exploring the landscape.
And the whole
is under control of our fingertips.
The extreme desert of Peru is
even more prehistoric geodesy than the green Salisbury landscape.
Faint wall marks appear
in fields around Avebury. From the huacas in Peru
to the Southwest desert, and in deserts elsewhere, one can
count circles, walls,
kivas, or sunken plazas with ease. The rooms and mounds at
Casas Grandes are
great to see from aloft, especially in stark
contast to the immediately
adjacent, old grainy view (top of following
I've had a ton of new fun
several placemark files and learning KML. More links will follow,
and I'll update
existing files at times. Keeping up with the new wave of
educational IT advances
may detract from incomplete projects, but it is
irresistable. Enjoy the files, send along your
feedback, and watch for
early signs of Google Earth™ addiction.
is a free download.User Guide
Archaeology | Teaching
Google Earth | Excel
Google Earth and Geoscience Education: What is Google Earth?
|
<urn:uuid:86d8e755-5c16-4880-8348-0a62a156ed16>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://jqjacobs.net/archaeo/sites/index.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397865.91/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00120-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.811434
| 392
| 2.78125
| 3
|
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