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Last Indian Uprising? Shoshone Mike, February 26, 1911 Mike Daggett lived on a reservation near Fort Hall, Idaho, where, in 1890, he lost his land to settlers. Enraged, he took his family into Nevada and began living a nomadic life. Moving from place to place, working some, they mostly lived off the land. Ranchers in the Little Salmon River area in northern Elko County remember that Mike and his sons were good workers in the hay fields. The family stayed to itself, aloof from both whites and Indians, moving often. The hard winter of 1911 found Shoshone Mike and his family settled down in Little High Rock Canyon in northern Washoe County, Nevada, until warmer weather came. With him was his wife; two sons, Charlie and Gnat; two daughters, Snake and Toad; two adolescent males and four children. To sustain themselves, they killed a few cattle for food and hung part of the meat in trees to freeze. Left - Shoshone Mike's war bonnet, found at Kelley Creek by a member of the Posse. Four sheep men rode into the canyon and Mike thought maybe they were coming to get his family for rustling cows. Mike, Gnat, and Charlie ambushed them, mutilated the bodies, and stole their clothing. Now, in more serious trouble, the family fled east. On February 11, Reno's Nevada State Journal headlined the murders. People on remote ranches panicked, many women and children went to the nearest town for safety. The men who stayed kept their guns nearby and continually looked over their shoulders in fear. Nevada State Police put together a posse and, with the help a Paiute tracker, Skinny Pascal, began a two-week pursuit. Pascal, reading sign, led the officers over the Black Rock Mountains, across Black Rock Desert, then to the Quinn River area. By now posse members were chilled to the bone and trail weary but they kept up the chase. Pascal followed footprints around the south end of the Santa Rosa Mountains, then on an easterly course toward the Little Humboldt River. They found Mike and his family at Kelley Creek, north of Golconda on February 26, 1911. The band of Indians knew they were following them and it was just a matter of time until the posse found them. They began singing and chanting. Shoshone Mike's clan was ready to die. Gunshots interrupted the ceremony. It was two black powder firearms against at least eighteen guns. It didn't take long to pick off the warriors. The women took up bows and arrows and spears forcing the posse members to shoot in self defense. When the smoke cleared, eight of the 12 family members were dead. Only Snake, a ten-year-old boy, a toddler and a baby survived. Left - The survivors of the shootout with Washoe County Sheriff Charles Ferrel The band's dead were buried in a common grave blasted from the frozen ground with dynamite. One posse member had died. The so-called last Indian uprising was over. Indian uprising? That's what the press and a lot of people called it but it was more like a family that panicked and fled from the law knowing that they would have to pay a deadly price if caught. Yes, they committed a terrible crime and cannot be excused. In the end, though, it wasn't an uprising. Just an Indian family who got into a heap of trouble. Author's notes: This was difficult to write a short story of this event. Not one account agreed on all the facts. Mike was listed as Shoshone, Bannock, and Goshute; as coming from Idaho, southern Utah and southern Nevada, and starting the rampage from Little High Rock Canyon and clear across the state in northeastern Elko County. His name, mostly listed as Shoshone Mike also appeared as Mike Daggett, Salmon River Mike, Indian Mike, and Rock Creek Mike. There are so many differences in details that sorting them out was impossible. This is not an attack on the authors - they scoured records and newspapers, talked with people, and wrote their interpretations. Sources: Aged in Sage, Jean McElrath, 1964; Nevada's Northeast Frontier, Edna Patterson, Louise Ulph (now Beebe), and Victor Goodwin, 1969; The Indian Massacre of 1911, Effie Mona Mack, 1968; The Last Free Man, Doyle Hyde, 1973; "Stories of the Old West," Shoshone Mike vs. the Nevada State Police: The Battle at Kelley Creek - 1911, Frank Adams, 1998 (from www.nevada-history.org); Humboldt Star (Winnemucca, Nevada), February 28, 1911; and "Inventory and Assessment of Native American Remains from the Western Great Basin, Nevada Sector, in the National Museum of Natural History," (www.nmnh.si.edu). Photographs from the collections of the Northeastern Nevada Museum, Elko.	97,578
Everyone has seen fire extinguishers used in films and tv shows but very few people actually know how to use a fire extinguisher properly in an emergency and when it’s appropriate. The most important thing during a fire is your safety, so knowing what to look out for and how to judge when you should attempt to fight the fire or not is crucial. If you come across a fire, you should warn people nearby and trigger the alarm before you even think about getting a fire extinguisher. If you aren’t fighting the fire, then immediately exit the building using the stairs (not a lift) and if the room is filling with smoke then either find another route or crawl along the floor to avoid smoke inhalation. When the alarm has been sounded and you are sure of your escape route then, and only then, consider using a fire extinguisher. If the fire is still small and confined to only one or two objects, if the air is safe to breathe, and if there is only a slight increase in heat on approach then the fire may be small enough to be put out with a portable extinguisher. Remember to be continually aware of smoke danger and your escape route. If it looks like you’re going to be put in danger then leave immediately and wait for help. First, make sure again that your evacuation route is clear, and check that your fire extinguisher is suitable for the type of fire (this is especially important for deep fat fryer fires and electrical) by reading the information on the front. Also check that the pressure gauge is within the green range. If everything looks good, then you are ready to approach the fire – be sure to stay at least 1 meter back at all times. When using a fire extinguisher, you should remember the mnemonic ‘PASS’. First is P – pull the pin and break the anti-tamper seal, then A – aim the nozzle at the base of the fire, S – squeeze the lever to activate the extinguisher, and finally S – sweep from side to side until the fire is out or the extinguisher is empty. After you have extinguished the fire, back away immediately in case the fire flares up again. If the extinguisher is empty and the fire is not extinguished then you should evacuate immediately, taking the empty fire extinguisher with you if possible. Different types of fire extinguishers can be used to combat different types of fire. Take your time when considering what fire extinguisher to purchase and, in an emergency, make sure that the fire extinguisher you have is appropriate for the fire. Water fire extinguishers should only be used on freely burning materials, i.e. fires that are made of burning wood, plastics, coal, or soft furnishings. Water spray extinguishers are a more effective variant that creates a fine mist and often contains surfactants to help the water penetrate burning materials. Make sure you do not use these extinguishers on electrical fires – as they can conduct electricity through the stream – or deep fat fryer fires as they will vaporise violently into steam, spreading the burning oil further. Foam fire extinguishers are best used on burning liquids, such as paint and petrol, as the foam can float on the liquid surface and cut the fire off from its fuel. However, these are not suitable for use on cooking fires. These also work well on freely burning materials (wood, furnishings etc.) and some varieties are safe for use on electrical fires, although will cause considerable additional damage to electrical equipment. Foam extinguishers create an effective layer when used which makes them very useful at preventing re-ignition. CO2 fire extinguishers are excellent for combating electrical fires and fighting flammable liquid fires. However, they are ineffective when used on wood and textile fires, flammable gasses, and cooking fires. Do not use this type of fire extinguisher on a deep fat fryer fire as it can blow burning liquid across the room, spreading the fire. CO2 fire extinguishers can also be the most dangerous to operate as the nozzle becomes extremely cold when used, causing severe frost burns if held with bare hands. You should always operate a CO2 extinguisher by holding it behind the nozzle. CO2 can also cause asphyxiation if there is no ventilation, so after an extinguisher is used you should evacuate the room to ensure your safety. Powder fire extinguishers can be used on freely burning materials (wood, plastic, coal etc.), burning liquids such as grease paint or petrol, and electrical fires. These are also the current go-to solution for gas fires. These extinguishers are not suitable to combat chip or fat pan fires. This type of fire extinguisher is well-suited to the rapid knockdown of fires but, as this powder is less effective at cooling, it may not keep the fire supressed. They also carry the risk of powder inhalation which can be harmful. These models are no longer recommended for domestic use for this reason. Designed for kitchen fires involving burning oil and deep fat fryers, chemical fire extinguishers are great for kitchen fires as well as use on freely burning materials such as wood, textiles coal etc. This type of extinguisher works using a fine spray to cool the fire while the chemical component creates a surface on the burning oil to cut off the fuel source. Dry water mist fire extinguishers are incredibly versatile and can be used on cooking fires and freely burning materials as well as fires caused by flammable liquids, flammable gases, and electrical appliances. The only type of fire they cannot be used on is flammable metal fires as these tend to chemically react with water. As this is made from pure water, there are no inhalation risks involved and no issues with chemicals during clean-up. As the water is de-ionised, it’s no longer electrically conductive. Plus, due to the mist being incredibly fine, it can be used on burning deep fat fryers without the water vaporising violently which stops the fire from spreading further unlike traditional water extinguishers. If you’ve used a fire extinguisher and you need to evacuate the building, you should take the used extinguisher with you – if possible – so that no-one attempts to use an empty extinguisher during their own evacuation. Once a fire extinguisher has been used, even if only for a tiny amount of time, you must either recharge or replace the extinguisher. This is because the pressure seals may have been compromised and it may leak pressure, causing it to become ineffective. As long as your fire extinguisher is not a disposable one and is up to current safety standards, it should be suitable for refilling after it has been discharged. As fire extinguishers are often classified as hazardous waste, if you want to dispose of one then you should take it to your local manned refuse and recycling centre who it will be taken care of. Under no circumstances should you simply throw one into a bin. We hope you’ve found this article useful and that you’re now familiar with the types of fire extinguishers available. If you’re interested in learning more about fire safety, why not check out our handy guide on how to fit a smoke alarm?	92,159
Your task for this week is to read the article/s (if applicable), listen to the audio/s (if applicable) and watch the video/s (if applicable). 1. Give a brief but in-depth summary and analysis of the major points discussed in the videos “self-love”, “self sabotage“, and the audio “Aristotle critique of Plato.” 2. How are the lessons relevant for you and your life. Give a few examples. Minimum requirements: Two-pages (approximately 500-words) Note on the nature of your writing” - Be mindful that the posted materials on Moodle cover a lot of philosophical and religious territories. - They have been laboriously created by the peoples of each land and protected for thousands of years. - They are profound and dense and have for thousands of years been a GPS to life, or a map towards living a more meaningful life. - Though they do not fetch much respect in the modern world, they still deserve your careful study and understanding their world view. - Stay away from rushed and superficial responses. - Stay away from book reporting or copying and pasting. - Make sure your responses have depth and substance. - Make your responses are engaging and creative. - Make sure that you demonstrate the practicality of these ideas by inserting them into your own daily life and life experiences. - To better understand these ideas, provide examples from your life within the context of the subject materials The source of videos “self-love”, “self sabotage“, and the audio “Aristotle critique of Plato.” are below: (The audio “Aristotle critique of Plato.	62,883
Somewhere in the murky space that divides alert from dormant — an enigmatic realm through which we all drift in the course of a good night’s sleep — the human body sometimes behaves as though it belongs to both worlds at once. It rises from bed, ambling aimlessly. Perhaps it fiddles with household objects, cleans the kitchen or rearranges the furniture. At a glance, it seems to see, to feel, to register its surroundings. But look closer: The eyes are glassy, the movements clumsy. “These people are stuck in the nether regions between asleep and awake,” says Nathaniel Watson, co-director of the University of Washington Medicine Sleep Center. Sleepwalking (a sleep disorder formally known as somnambulism) has mystified and intrigued humankind throughout history. Lady Macbeth suffered a bout of it in her post-homicide guilt; Dracula used it to his advantage when he lured a slumbering Lucy out of the house. Centuries later, neurologists still don’t fully understand the phenomenon, though they have made some progress. Motion Without Memory Until the 1950s, scientists believed sleepwalkers were simply acting out their dreams. That theory was uprooted with the discovery of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. It’s during REM that the brain is most active and dreams most intense, and scientists found that sleepwalking almost never coincides with this stage of the sleep cycle. Instead, sleepwalking occurs in the nondreaming phases that precede REM sleep. “They may have a single visual scene,” Watson says, “but not a dream imagery that’s complex.” To make things worse, sleepwalkers typically remember nothing of their comatose wanderings, so the somnambulists themselves can’t offer much insight. Their subjective experience is, by nature, inscrutable. What researchers can measure is brain activity. Electroencephalograms recorded during sleepwalking episodes suggest that certain parts of the brain, like those that deal with basic motor function, remain lively while others doze. “As these primitive centers are activated, the rest of the brain — the control centers, the centers of consciousness — are shut down,” says Emmanuel During, director of the Stanford Parasomnia Clinic. Sleepwalking is just one of many “arousal disorders,” in which the body transitions from deep sleep to semi-wakefulness at the wrong time. Many scientists argue they’re all essentially different manifestations of the same phenomenon: Some abnormal mechanism rouses the body enough to perform intricate actions, but not enough to be fully awake. Besides sleepwalking, there’s sleep-related eating disorder, sleep terrors and even sexsomnia, which is exactly what it sounds like and has been used successfully as a defense against rape charges. There have also been reports of homicidal somnambulism, such as the 1987 case of Kenneth Parks, who claimed never to have awoken as he drove 15 miles and stabbed his mother-in-law to death (he was acquitted). Experts are divided on the authenticity of such incidents, with some deeming it more likely that unscrupulous lawyers fall back on it as a convenient excuse. Watson says he believes it’s possible, but added that “you’re probably more likely to get eaten by a shark or struck by lightning than to have a sleepwalker kill you.” Indeed, most midnight rambles come and go without incident. In fact, During says, somnambulism is surely an underdiagnosed disorder, since sleepwalkers often return to bed and wake without ever knowing they left it. Nevertheless, a study by the Stanford University School of Medicine in 2012 found that about 3.6 percent of adults have the habit, and children are far more prolific in their nocturnal wandering. With millions of people stumbling around in the night, dispossessed of executive function, they’re sure to sleepwalk into some trouble. Urban legend aside, a sleepwalker will not have a heart attack if woken. But because they typically come to in a haze of confusion, sleepwalkers do sometimes turn violent and injure themselves or others. On the other hand, it’s best not to leave them alone: On more than one occasion, a sleepwalker has tumbled out of a high window. The best approach is to gently guide them back to bed and look for ways to sleepwalker-proof the home. The ultimate causes of sleepwalking are still unknown, but there are plenty of well-documented triggers. Stress, alcohol, sleep deprivation, certain medications and other disorders like sleep apnea can all induce sleepwalking. It also runs in families, so genetics seem to play a role. Children generally grow out of it as the brain matures, but adult sleepwalkers should consider seeing a specialist, though it doesn’t necessarily indicate any underlying illness. Some researchers have suggested that sleepwalking could be an inconvenient side effect of an otherwise evolutionarily advantageous bodily process. Keeping our brain’s motor centers at the ready during sleep may have helped more than one of our ancestors avoid a late-night lion mauling. Unfortunately, Watson notes, those with the sleepwalking defect would have found it counterproductive to their survival: “If you’re wandering out of the cave at night, your chances of getting eaten are higher.” For now, the condition retains much of its mystery. Watson says that because sleepwalking is usually no more than a mild inconvenience compared with other sleep disorders, there has been no major push to cure or study it thoroughly. As a result, he worries the public is more afraid of it than they need to be. “It’s not something to fear,” he says. “It’s something to understand and manage.”	151,515
Home > Book of Acts, Course B If you have not already done so, save this lesson to your computer using the "save" feature of your browser or PDF reader. Then print out the lesson (or at least open it in your browser or PDF reader offline - not on the Internet). Read the lesson and study in your Bible the passages indicated >>> Scripture <<<. Following each passage, study each question that has a number enclosed in asterisks (1, 2, etc.), and write down your answers on paper. Some questions include more than one number because they have more than one blank to fill in. ("Think" questions should be carefully considered for your own benefit, but your answers will not be submitted to us.) Please take your time, study each passage carefully, answer the questions honestly, and consider the applications to your own life (John 12:48; 2 Tim. 2:15). When you have studied the whole lesson and written down answers to all the indicated questions, return to the menu for this course on our web site at biblestudylessons.com and click on the link for the answer quiz for this lesson (or simply click on the link at the end of this lesson). Follow the directions to submit your answers and receive your grade. You will then be given an opportunity to see the correct answers to the questions. Please save this lesson and the correct answers for future reference. Then move on to the next lesson or the next course in order. Please study all lessons in all courses in order as listed in the menus on our web site. Thank you for your interest, and God bless your study of His word. Acts 14 ended as Paul and Barnabas completed their first preaching trip. After the controversy over circumcision, Paul began his second trip with Silas as his companion (15:40,41). >>> Please read Acts 16:1-12. <<< 1 Whom did Paul and Silas find to accompany them on the preaching trip? (a) Peter, (b) Mark, (c) Timothy, (d) all the preceding. Answer: ______. 2 What did Paul have done to this man because of the Jews? Answer: Paul had him ______ because of the Jews. 3 What did Paul see in a vision at Troas? Answer: He saw a man from ______ asking them to come there. 4 Where did the group then go to preach? (a) Babylon, (b) Persia, (c) America, (d) Philippi. Answer: ______. Comments: Paul and Silas first revisited the churches begun on the first journey. At Lystra they found a young man named Timothy, whom Paul wanted to accompany them. Timothy's mother was a Jewish Christian, but his father was a Greek. Paul knew that circumcision does not matter one way or the other (Gal. 5:6). In Acts 15 he had refused to have Titus circumcised (Gal. 2:1-5), because some were claiming circumcision was essential to salvation (Acts 15:1). However, he did not oppose circumcision as a health measure or even as a sign of nationality. He had Timothy circumcised as a matter of influence, not as a requirement of salvation (cf. 1 Cor. 9:19-23). Jews would not associate with Gentiles (Acts 10:28), so without circumcision Timothy's opportunity to teach Jews would have been limited. Guided by the Spirit, they passed several areas till they came to Troas (see a map). There a vision convinced them to preach in Macedonia. They took ship and traveled to Philippi (see map). The use of "we" in 16:10 implies that the author (Luke) had joined the party. Note the use of "we" or "they" from here on throughout the book. >>> Please read Acts 16:13-15. <<< 5 In Philippi, where did Paul find people to teach? Answer: They met with women at a place of prayer by a ______. 6 Who was converted? (a) Lydia, (b) Dorcas, (c) Mary, (d) Eve. Answer: ______. Comments: Paul usually began preaching at the Jewish synagogue. Evidently Philippi had no synagogue, so he taught some women who met for prayer by a riverside. Lydia and her household were baptized, then she urged Paul's company to stay in her home. Evidently she was a woman of some means, as well as very devout and very hospitable. Advocates of infant baptism often claim that "household conversions" in Acts justify the baptism of babies. But remember that people who are baptized must first understand the gospel, believe it, repent of sins, and confess Christ, none of which babies can do (see John 6:44,45; Mark 16:15,16; Acts 8:12; 2:38; Romans 10:9,10). Furthermore, little children do not need baptism, since they have no sins to be forgiven (Matthew 18:3; 19:14; Psalm 106:38; Ezekiel 18:20; 2 Corinthians 5:10). As with all household conversions, Lydia's case nowhere states that babies were baptized. Many households include no children, let alone little children. In fact, Lydia was probably unmarried. No husband is mentioned. Only women were present at the place of prayer (v13). A man is the head of his household (Eph. 5:22-24), so he is always mentioned if he is involved. The ?household? could have involved relatives, servants, or other people just living there like the preachers later did. Such an absence of evidence cannot be used to disprove the clear evidence stated elsewhere that babies do not meet the prerequisites of baptism. Once again we summarize the example of conversion: >>> Please read Acts 16:16-24. <<< 7 What miracle did Paul perform on a servant girl? Answer: Paul cast out of her a ______. 8 Who was upset by this? Answer: This upset the girl's ______ who made money off her. 9 What accusations were made against Paul and Silas? Answer: They were accused of teaching customs that were not ______. 10 What was done to them as a result? (a) nothing, (b) beating and imprisonment, (c) stoning, (d) they were set free. Answer: ______. Comments: Paul cast the demon out of a girl who had a spirit of divination. Divination is a form of witchcraft (note Deut. 18:9-14). As in the previous cases of Simon (Acts 8) and Elymas (Acts 13), this story confirms that the Occult is from Satan, and that true miracles are superior to witchcraft. When Paul cast the demon out, the girl's masters lost their source of income. They retaliated by making false accusations. As a result, Paul and Silas were beaten with rods and imprisoned, where the jailer put them in stocks in the innermost prison. Note that, for perhaps the first time in Acts, Christians were here severely persecuted by someone other than the Jews. >>> Please read Acts 16:25-34. <<< 11 What happened that freed Paul and Silas? Answer: Paul and Silas were set free by an ______. 12 What was the jailer about to do as a result? Answer: The jailer was about to ______. 13 What did he do instead, when he realized no one had escaped? Answer: He asked what he must do to be ______. 14 How was the man saved? (a) he was told to believe, (b) he was taught the whole gospel, (c) he was baptized, (d) all the preceding. Answer: ______. Comments: At midnight, as Paul and Silas prayed and sang hymns, an earthquake opened their doors and loosed their chains. Since death was the penalty for losing a prisoner (Acts 12:19), the jailer was about to commit suicide. However, Paul called out that they had not left. The man had evidently heard something about the gospel and, realizing that his life had been spared, he asked Paul and Silas what he needed to do to be saved. This is perhaps the greatest question anyone can ever ask. Note what happened as a result: (1) The jailer was told to believe in Jesus. (2) Then he and his family were taught the whole word of the Lord. (3) They were then baptized and had great joy as a result. Some people argue that believing (v31) was all the man needed to do to be saved. However, this was just the introduction to the sermon! Paul and Silas still had to teach the word of the Lord to the man (v32). When the man knew the whole truth, he understood the urgency of baptism. He was immediately baptized, despite the fact the whole event began at midnight! Only after he was baptized did he rejoice, and the record says that then his faith was complete (v34). (Compare James 2:14-26.) No passage anywhere in Acts shows sinners becoming saved without or before baptism. But many passages show the necessity of obedience, especially baptism, in salvation. See Matt. 7:21-27; Acts 10:34,35; 2:38; 22:16; Rom. 2:6-10; 6:3,4,17,18; Hebrews 5:9; 1 Peter 1:22,23; 3:21. A summary of this example of conversion: >>> Please read Acts 16:35-40. <<< 15 What did the local magistrates decide to do the next day? Answer: The magistrates said to ______ the prisoners. 16 What did Paul insist must be done first? Answer: Paul said the magistrates should personally come and release them, because they were ______ citizens. Comments: A Roman citizen could not be beaten before he had been convicted in a trial. So when the magistrates of Philippi decided the next day to let Paul and Silas go, Paul insisted that his rights as a Roman had been violated. He and Silas left only after the magistrates had personally released them. Perhaps Paul wanted public evidence that he was innocent. In any case, Christians never used physical violence to avoid persecution, but they did use their civil rights for protection. >>> Please read Acts 17:1-9. <<< 17 How did Paul persuade Jews to believe in Jesus? (a) human tradition, (b) family religion, (c) reasoning from Scripture, (d) educators. Answer: ______. 18 How did Jews describe the effect the gospel had (v6)? Answer: They said they turned upside down or troubled the ______. 19 In what way did they claim Christians violated Caesar's law? Answer: They said Christians served a different ______. Comments: Paul's company went next to Thessalonica (see map). Again in the synagogues they used prophecy to persuade Jews that Jesus is Christ and that He had to suffer and be raised from the dead. Notice again how Christians drew people to Jesus and His church. They did not appeal to human wisdom or tradition, philosophy, family religion, majority rule, or man-made creeds. They did not offer carnivals, parties, entertainment, recreation, banquets or other carnal appeals (2 Cor. 10:3-5). The rested their case entirely on God's revealed will. Note further that they "reasoned" from Scripture, explaining and demonstrating that Jesus is Christ. This conclusion is not directly stated in any Old Testament passage, but it necessarily followed from what was stated. This is sometimes called appealing to "necessary inference": drawing a conclusion that is not directly stated but which necessarily follows from what is stated. This is here called "reasoning from Scripture" and is shown to be a valid, binding way to determine God's will. As usual, some people believed the gospel message, but others rejected it. And as before, unbelieving Jews caused a riot. They arrested a man named Jason, whom they accused of harboring Paul's company. They claimed that Christians had turned the world upside down. They knew this would concern the Romans, who despised turmoil in their territories. Adherents of the gospel never started riots or civil revolutions. That was done by enemies of the gospel. Nevertheless, the gospel will make a dramatic change in the personal lives of those who accept it. Christians were also accused of serving a king who competes with Caesar. The Jews had used this accusation to urge Pilate to kill Jesus. Yet Jesus and Paul had always taught people to obey civil law and pay their taxes (Matt. 22:15-22; Rom. 13:1-7). Jesus explained to Pilate that His kingdom was spiritual in nature, not of this world (John 18:36). The accusations were false, yet Paul's company again traveled on. >>> Please read Acts 17:10-15. <<< 20 How did the Bereans compare to the Thessalonians? Answer: They were more ______. 21 How did they determine whether they were being taught truth? Answer: They searched the ______ daily with open minds. Comments: Paul's company went next to Berea (see map). Here they found fair-minded or noble people, who possessed two characteristics necessary to distinguish truth from error: (1) they had honest hearts to receive the message, and (2) they examined God's word daily to see if what was taught was true. As a result, many of them believed the gospel. People who lack these characteristics will surely be led astray into error. Note also that these people appealed to the Scriptures as their standard. Contrary to the claims of some, the Scriptures were not so confusing the common people could not understand them. Nor had parts been lost or changed over the centuries since they had been written. Today the New Testament has also been written, and God has also promised to preserve it (1 Peter 1:22-25). So today the Scriptures are the authoritative, understandable, and complete standard of God's will (2 Timothy 3:16,17). Despite the honesty of the Bereans, Paul had to leave the city, because Jews from Thessalonica came and stirred up persecution. >>> Please read Acts 17:16-23. <<< 22&23 What philosophies did Paul encounter in the Athenian marketplace? Answer: He encountered ______ and ______ (v18). 24 How is the Athenian interest in education described? Answer: They always wanted to hear or tell ______. 25 What did Paul use to introduce his sermon? (a) an altar to an unknown god, (b) a joke, (c) a poem, (d) all the preceding. Answer: ______. Comments: Paul's next stop was Athens (see map). The city was known for its love of learning and also for its idolatry. Greek mythology illustrates the kind of idolatry that characterized Gentiles in that day. Paul discussed with the Epicureans, who believed the pursuit of pleasure was the meaning of life, and also with Stoics, who at the other extreme sought to avoid both joy and grief. Given an opportunity to present the gospel, Paul began by telling them about the one God they seemed to know nothing about. Again his sermon illustrates how heathen idol worshipers should be taught. >>> Please read Acts 17:24-29. <<< 26&27 What did these idol worshipers need to know first about God? Answer: God made the ______ and everything in it and is Lord of ______. 28 How do we know God can be found if we seek Him? Answer: God is not far from ______ of us (v27). 29 If we are God's offspring, what can we know? (a) God is not gold or silver, (b) God was not made by man, (c) both the preceding. Answer: ______. Comments: As he did with the idol worshipers at Lystra (Acts 14), Paul emphasized that God is the Creator of heaven and earth. God is much more than just a man with superhuman powers, as Greek mythology portrayed the gods. We do not have different gods over different areas of the earth and different aspects of life. There is one God who created and rules everything. That God is the source from which all life came, therefore He must be alive. He does not depend on us to provide what He needs; rather we need God to provide for our needs. See also Acts 14:15,17; John 1:1-3; Rom. 1:20; 1 Chron. 29:11,12; James 1:17. Paul also taught that God is not far from each of us (v27). God is omnipresent and all-knowing. Unlike with heathen deities, we cannot hide from God nor can we fool Him. He knows and sees everything we do (Psalm 139:1-12; John 16:30; Matthew 10:29-31; 6:8,32; 1 Kings 8:39). This also shows that God can be sought and found. He has not isolated Himself from us nor ignored us. We need not despair of knowing His will. We can know His will, for He has revealed it in the Scriptures. See also Matt. 5:6; 7:7-11; 1 Chron. 28:9; Rom. 10:6-17; 2 Tim. 3:16,17. Finally, if we are the offspring of God (which even Athenians believed), then God must be alive and intelligent. He cannot be simply a statue of gold, silver, or stone. How could dead non-living matter create living, intelligent beings? (Modern evolutionists need to answer this question too!) Nor could God be anything made by the hands of men. God is not part of the creation. He is the Creator (Rom. 1:20-25). These are fundamental facts that distinguish the true God from the gods of ancient or modern idolatry. See also Deut. 4:19; 5:7-9; 2 Kings 21:1-6; 1 Cor. 6:9-11; 10:7,14; 2 Cor. 6:16-18; 1 John 5:21. >>> Please read Acts 17:30-34. <<< 30 What are all men commanded to do? (a) tithe, (b) repent, (c) observe Christmas and Easter, (d) say the rosary, (e) all the preceding. Answer: ______. 31 What day has God appointed for all men in the world? Answer: God appointed a day in which He will ______ the world. 32 How can we know this event will really occur? Answer: The assurance is that God raised Jesus from the ______. Comments: Paul concluded by warning that God commands all men to repent. God, who made and controls the universe, has the right to demand obedience. These folks had to repent of their idolatry and begin to serve the true God. Likewise all of us have sins we must repent of. See Luke 13:3,5; 24:47; Acts 2:38; 3:19; 2 Peter 3:9; 2 Cor. 7:10. Furthermore, God will judge all men according to their lives and will reward or punish them eternally. How can we know this? The proof is that God raised Jesus from the dead. If He can raise Jesus, then He can raise us all. Those, who have been dead for centuries, will still be raised and judged when Jesus returns. Matt. 25:31-46; John 12:48; Rom. 2:4- 11; 14:10-12; 2 Cor. 5:10; Heb. 9:27; Rev. 20:11-15; Ecc. 12:13,14 The doctrine of the resurrection challenged the Athenians. But all people, both then and now, need to learn the lessons Paul taught. (These questions are for you to ponder. Your answers will help us understand your thinking, however they will not affect your "score.") 33 Do you believe people in general can understand the Bible? __________ 34 What is your view of resurrection and judgment? __________ 35 What do you believe about infant baptism? _________ (C) Copyright David E. Pratte, 1999 biblestudylessons.com biblestudylessons.com - Return to the Bible Study Lessons home page. Please bookmark our site in your favorites list. We welcome links to our site from other sites: biblestudylessons.com - Bible Study Lessons: Free Online Courses, Workbooks, and Commentaries Scripture quotations are generally from the New King James Version (NKJV), copyright 1982, 1988 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. used by permission. All rights reserved.	65,703
If the publication of Darwin's Origin of Species in 1859 was a watershed in the history of Western thought, it was not due merely to his suggestion that modern species were revised descendents of earlier ones. Rather, it was that Darwin had identified the precise mechanism by which one species could be revised into another, biologically distinct species. Darwin's proposal of evolution by natural selection gave immediate direction to research in the biological sciences, and it allowed the theory to begin doing important work in that arena (and beyond) by eventually closing the only significant explanatory gap that might otherwise have hindered its widespread acceptance. In his most recent book, John Richardson proposes to make Nietzsche's views on morality more coherent, more credible, and ultimately more useful by demonstrating that they are underwritten by a modified Darwinism that identifies the thoroughly naturalistic mechanisms by which human beings come to have the moral values and practices they do and through which they might realize the possibility of creating new, healthier values. As even casual readers of Nietzsche will observe, the bulk of what Nietzsche has to say about Darwin and Darwinism is hostile. Richardson rightly points out that Nietzsche has a perhaps regrettable but nonetheless reliable tendency to bite off the hand that feeds him; the thinkers of whom he is most critical are often those from whom he takes the most inspiration. But his intellectual relationship to Darwin is more complicated still. As Richardson's examination of Nietzsche's position shows, Nietzsche's attacks appear to get wrong both Darwin's position and the biological facts of the matter. The central motif in Nietzsche's criticism of Darwin seems to be that Darwin lays too much stress on survival, and too little on power . But in offering this criticism, Nietzsche "misidentifies the selective criterion in Darwinism," which is not survival, but reproduction. Moreover, "Nietzsche seems to misread Darwinian survival as an 'end' in too literal a sense: as the aim of a will or drive or instinct" in the individual . It looks as if Nietzsche has missed something important about Darwinism -- namely, that it is not hopelessly teleological, but manages to handle the idea of 'ends' or 'aims' in an entirely naturalistic way. If this is the case, however, it appears that Nietzsche's hostile reaction to Darwin and his subsequent 'correction' of Darwinism are grounded in error. Richardson argues, however, that these errors might be peripheral after all, and that Nietzsche might really appreciate the main thrust of the Darwinian position. "What if," he asks, "[Nietzsche] gets right, after all, the sense of Darwinian selection -- how it is and isn't teleology -- and builds his own will to power and drives in parallel?" Richardson's aim is to demonstrate that the weight of textual evidence favors our reading Nietzsche in this way, and makes it more than just "wishful thinking" . I will return to this point below. Richardson intends to show that, hostile remarks notwithstanding, Nietzsche not only accepts the core of Darwin's theory, but that he appropriates it for critical purposes of his own and even builds on it in ways that anticipate contemporary extensions of evolutionary theory within the social sciences; e.g., the analysis of social change and development in terms of memes (replicators that play a role in the transmission of cultural beliefs and practices analogous to the role played by genes in the transmission of physiological characteristics). Specifically, Richardson argues that Nietzsche recognizes a type of selection the Darwinists miss, one that operates over human societies rather than individuals . The Darwinian insights Nietzsche borrows and the introduction of his new supra-Darwinian mechanism for social selection allow him to construct a wholly naturalistic account of our values, their origin and functions; they lay the groundwork for Nietzsche's diagnosis of some values as "unhealthy," and they point the way toward "freedom" as a value that Nietzsche can endorse without violating either his rejection of a metaphysically free will or his observation that values are always indexed to some specific "perspective." In the first of his four chapters, Richardson presents a thorough and careful picture of Nietzsche's biology, drawn along Darwinian lines. Readers of Nietzsche's System (Oxford University Press, 1996) will be familiar with the centrality Richardson accords Nietzsche's notion of "will to power," but here he (happily, in my view) widens the scope. Richardson says he has in no way retreated from the view developed in the earlier work: that we find in Nietzsche a systematic (metaphysical) theory of being in which power is ontologically basic, and in light of which we ought to understand the rest of Nietzsche's ideas. But in this new work, he concedes the "small plausibility" this metaphysical theory has for most of us, and gives readers concerned that the notion of will to power is "too isolated (or too Nachlass-bound) a notion to be worth worrying over" a new focus: now, he treats biological "drives," talk of which is pervasive in both the published and unpublished work, as Nietzsche's principal explanatory tokens [12-13]. Simply put, drives are dispositions to behave in certain ways; but importantly, they are dispositions to behave in ways that aim at specific results and that have been selected for their (highly plastic) tendencies to achieve their results. On the face of it, the notion that any purely physiological characteristic might have built-in 'aims' looks anathema to a thinker who so stridently rejects teleology. But herein lies one of the central virtues of Nietzsche's Darwinism -- it affords Nietzsche what Richardson refers to as a "thin" teleology, one that is able to acknowledge the end-directedness of drives naturalistically, without anthropomorphizing or implicitly relying on some vestigial intentionality . Hunger, for example, is a drive that 'aims' at eating, an activity that promotes survival and ultimately contributes to fitness (reproductive success). Clearly, in this case, the 'aiming' need not be conscious and its contribution to the overall end of reproductive success need not be evident; nevertheless, Richardson says, the outcome (eating) and its contribution to the overall end together explain the presence of the drive and the behavior it causes. What Darwinism offers is precisely a new model for teleology, a stripped-down version that Nietzsche need not reject because it makes clear how drives can be goal-oriented in an entirely non-cognitive way. If the story is a bit more complicated for Nietzsche, it is because of the relationship between the economy of our various drives and "will to power." Nietzsche's New Darwinism offers two different suggestions for how we might understand that relationship. On the one hand, Richardson wants to say that "in his metaphysical moods, Nietzsche thinks that although drives may well be shaped by selection, this selection works on a raw material supplied to it by and as will to power itself" . Will to power and natural selection would thus be independent and competing explanations for the behavior of organisms. How the two explanations co-exist in Nietzsche's work and how the "cosmic force" that is will to power can be squared with other views he holds, including especially his naturalism, would in this case demand an independent account. (Such was the project of Nietzsche's System.) On the other hand, we could say that "the drives that have best served reproductive success and that dominate the drive economy of most organisms are drives whose goals involve some kind of control, either over other organisms, or over other drives in the same organism" . This is the "least metaphysical" reading of the relationship: natural selection is basic on this account, and (many) drives are selected to 'aim' not at survival or reproductive success, but at power. Now these two interpretations are in obvious tension with one another. Cleaving to the central thesis of Nietzsche's System, Richardson remains convinced that the first is Nietzsche's "dominant" view. However, the 'concerned readers' mentioned above (of which I must admit I am one) will be pleased that he argues for the second "minority" view [6-7], offering an alternative that abandons the ontological and epistemic priority of will to power. The troubling feature of this strategy emerges with Richardson's frequent reminders that Nietzsche holds both views, with no awareness of their incompatibility. Nietzsche's actual position seems to be, like his understanding of Darwinism, simply confused: each "is a view Nietzsche sometimes thinks and states" , and although he is more deeply committed to the power ontology, "he does sometimes think the second, more fully Darwinian point" . That is, when he is at his best, "he sometimes thinks of will to power [as explained by selection]," rather than the other way around . It is difficult to see how our being forced to recognize that Nietzsche maintains contradictory views can help us appreciate the sophistication of the position built on the view to which he is in fact less committed. I highlight this issue as an instance of a more general concern about this biological theory and the eloquent expression it finds in Richardson's book: simply put, the more elegant the view becomes and the greater explanatory power it gains, the less persuaded I am that it is Nietzsche's view. Nietzsche's failure to grasp a substantive inconsistency in the very foundation of this theory, coupled with the sometimes crude mischaracterizations of Darwinism that Nietzsche harbors, as we have seen above, and finally, the fact that Nietzsche seems to offer no independent observational evidence for this theory of selection are all serious obstacles to the acceptance of this position as a well-supported Nietzschean position. Richardson is careful never to oversell his interpretation, and he consistently emphasizes its claim to 'rational reconstruction'. But on the other hand, this new Darwinian account offers quite a lot: It promises to solve long-standing interpretive puzzles, like the apparent paradox between Nietzsche's 'fatalism' and his exhortations to create ourselves. It promises to help us understand how Nietzsche can lobby for particular values even as he claims that his values are 'just his' and 'always relative to a perspective'. It promises to give concrete and literal content to such central Nietzschean concepts as 'health' and 'sickness' and to afford us a more precise understanding of Nietzsche's 'genealogical' method. With all that turns potentially on this view, it is tempting to want more and clearer evidence of Nietzsche's having consciously constructed it. Richardson makes a compelling case that this Darwinism, in its broadest strokes, can be plausibly and fruitfully attributed to Nietzsche. Whether its subtler details can be found there must be decided by a more careful consideration of the wealth of textual references Richardson marshals in support of his interpretation than I can provide in the context of a review. Fortunately, though, what he goes on to do in the remainder of the book does not stand or fall with the acceptance or rejection of the strongest version of Nietzsche's Darwinian biology. Each of Richardson's three subsequent chapters investigates a central area of Nietzsche's philosophy -- his metaethics, his ethics and politics, and his aesthetics, respectively -- and aims to show how the Darwinian reading can reveal the connections among them and help provide justification even for the views that appear most controversial. Chapter 2 presses the analysis of drives (as plastic dispositions to behave in ways that aim at a particular goal) into the service of constructing an account of values: "values are precisely the goals of an organism's drives or wills" . It follows that we have some of our "values" unconsciously; they are built into our physiology by the process of natural selection. In this sense, all animals "value." Other "values," those we and Nietzsche are most interested in, are "values" in our more ordinary sense -- moral values, in particular. These values are also the result of selection, but in this case the selective mechanism (which from our standpoint operates largely invisibly) is social. The point of doing genealogy is to bring the same scientific investigative principles to bear on values that evolutionary biology brings to bear on the heritable characteristics of animal physiology. It aims to make this social selective process visible and explain how it happens that herds of human beings come to have the values they do. Among other things, genealogy reveals that the mechanism of social selection benefits the herd and not the individual. In fact, social selection tends to benefit the herd at the expense of the individual, when human beings acquire values (dispositions to behave in ways) that come into direct and violent conflict with the aims of drives they have by natural selection. Richardson develops the idea of this internal conflict into a persuasive naturalistic account of what Nietzsche means by diagnosing certain values as "sick," and he explores further here and in Chapter 3 whether we might find in Nietzsche a prescription for how (at least some) human beings might restore their "health" [77-78]. Briefly, he suggests that the new epistemic powers and insights we gain by doing genealogy make possible a new kind of value selection that is unlike either the natural selection operating on individuals or the social selection operating on groups. Richardson calls this new mechanism "self-selection," and he uses his Darwinian reading to argue that this is how we should understand the idea of freedom, a value that Nietzsche not only embraces for himself but that he also promotes for select readers: "The key to becoming myself is to select my values, i.e., the goals of the dispositions that -- in making my behavior -- specify 'who I am'" . This understanding of freedom is pivotal to Richardson's account, since he intends to use the connections between Nietzsche and Darwin not only to illuminate Nietzsche's critical (destructive) project but also to demonstrate that Nietzsche has a constructive account of valuing. Here, my concern is whether Richardson is too optimistic about genealogy's potential. I wonder first whether, in order for genealogy to make freedom and self-selection a genuine possibility, it must lay completely bare the etiology of the relevant drives. If we think of it as a science in the manner suggested here, this expectation of it seems reasonable. Moreover, Richardson asserts that this is in fact its goal: "The meanings of our drives and practices, what they are truly after ('for'), lie in this evolutionary history" . And, even more strongly: "Meaning is settled by genealogy" . But this view sits somewhat uncomfortably with one of Nietzsche's best-known illustrations of the genealogical method, i.e., his discussion of punishment in the second essay of The Genealogy of Morality. Richardson draws our attention to the passage in which Nietzsche claims that "the previous history of punishment in general, the history of its exploitation for the most various purposes, finally crystallizes into a kind of unity that is hard to dissolve, hard to analyze and, what one must emphasize, quite completely undefinable" [42; cf. GM II: 13]. Yet he seems to play down the claim about "undefinability" that has attracted so much attention to this passage. While the genealogy prerequisite for freedom is, on Richardson's account, never easy work and certainly not for the faint-of-heart, it must still -- after the hard work is done -- yield "settled" meanings in order for self-selection to proceed effectively. But Nietzsche gives us no clear reason to suppose that genealogy, even properly practiced, can settle any such thing decisively. Secondly, on this reading, "valuing freely, as self selecting one's values, is precisely to value in the light of an understanding of why one values" . Here, I wonder whether we undercut the radical nature of Nietzsche's "immoralism" by seeing that, in the end, Nietzsche is just a more enlightened valuer than others. Though Richardson gestures at Nietzsche's stridently avowed opposition to the Enlightenment and its values, he says, "his conception of the benefits of genealogy shows that he really aims at a novel kind of enlightenment" . But the novelty may be underemphasized here, with the result that we get a more coherent Nietzsche at the cost of having one we recognize. There is a great deal more of interest in Richardson's final chapters. In Chapter 3, for instance, he takes on the thorny issue of Nietzsche's affiliation with Social Darwinism. Here, Richardson takes a line that will be surprising to many, that there are agreements between Nietzsche and the Social Darwinists; but again, he uses a more subtle interpretation of Nietzsche's view to demonstrate that the agreements are less significant than the differences, and that the differences point Nietzsche in a very different direction. Chapter 4 will be of particular value for those interested in Nietzsche's aesthetics, but not only for them. Since Richardson's overall purpose is to present a reading of Nietzsche's theory of value that gives that theory its best chance of being true, he realizes that he is compelled to consider Nietzsche's perennial reminder that his values are intended (merely) "aesthetically," and what is worse, Nietzsche's equally frequent declaration that aesthetic works are "lies." He ends the book with an attempt to bring even these disparate and difficult comments under the purview of his synoptic reading and vigorous defense of Nietzsche's views. Nietzsche's New Darwinism exemplifies the virtues that have long characterized Richardson's work and that have over the last two decades increasingly characterized the best scholarly work on Nietzsche: it is meticulously organized and carefully argued, with scrupulous attention to the demand for textual evidence in support of the interpretations it offers. The prose is lucid and the arguments transparent in a way that non-specialists in Nietzsche (and perhaps even some specialists) might never have expected that writing about Nietzsche could be. This book will be of particular interest, of course, to Nietzsche specialists who want to understand him within the context of the history of ideas and the history of science in the nineteenth century, and it is in this sense an important contribution to a lively and ongoing conversation. But I would recommend this work strongly to two other types of readers, who might otherwise miss its value for them. First, no specialist on Nietzsche who regards the "naturalist" readings of his work as controversial can afford to overlook it. Nietzsche's New Darwinism will force such readers to engage head-on a powerful set of reasons to embrace Nietzsche as a naturalistic thinker. Second, I would note that this book's clear and careful presentation of the issues makes it accessible to any patient and philosophically informed reader. Thus, anyone whose interest has been piqued by the presentation of Nietzsche's views in such popular works as Dennett's Darwin's Dangerous Idea (Simon and Schuster, 1995) owes it to himself to consider a more detailed, textually sensitive, and sympathetic development of Nietzsche's position.	30,811
Today on a Moment of Science we put to rest once and for all the myth that microwaving food somehow damages or irradiates it. There is no evidence that microwave food is less nutritious than any other kind of food, even if it doesn’t always come out crispy. Microwaves are low energy electromagnetic waves that have so little energy they can’t trigger chemical reactions in the molecules they encounter. And as long as there’s nothing in your microwave that can cause a spark, they also don’t leave behind any traces. When you heat food in the microwave, what you’re actually doing is running an electrical current through the water molecules in the food. This causes the water molecules to rotate and collide, and these collisions generate friction that produces a lot of heat. The reason microwaves are so speedy is because food is made up mostly of water. In contrast, when you use an oven or a grill, you have to wait for the food to heat from the outside in. Consequently, the only chemical and physical changes that happen to your food when you microwave it are the results of the heating process. For example, at high temperatures, sugars and proteins might interact and vitamins might be destroyed. The thing to keep in mind is that these changes happen regardless of the method you use to heat food. What’s more, because microwaves heat up food so quickly, some of these changes might be less drastic than in foods that are heated up over a long time.	103,783
What is the pectoral region? What is the pectoral region? The pectoral region is the anterior region of the upper chest where there are four thoracoappendicular muscles (also known as the pectoral muscles): pectoralis major. pectoralis minor. subclavius. serratus anterior. Where is the pectoralis located? The pectoralis major is the superior most and largest muscle of the anterior chest wall. It is a thick, fan-shaped muscle that lies underneath the breast tissue and forms the anterior wall of the axilla. Is the breast in the pectoral region? The major portion of the human breast or mammary gland is embedded in the superficial fascia of the pectoral region. Thus, it lies superficial to the pectoralis major muscle and fascia. Is the breast part of the pectoral region? Where may breast tissue be found? Breast tissue may be found anywhere along the mammary or milk line from axilla to groin, but usually in the pectoral region between the clavicle, sternum, costal margin and axilla. What is the function of pectoralis? The function of the pectoralis major is 3-fold and dependent on which heads of muscles are involved. With the origin fixed, the pectoralis major adducts, medially rotates, and transversely adducts arm at glenohumeral joint. It assists in extension of the arm (via the sternocostal head) at the glenohumeral joint. What does the pectoral muscle look like? The major muscle in the chest is the pectoralis major. This large fan-shaped muscle stretches from the armpit up to the collarbone and down across the lower chest region on both sides of the chest. The two sides connect at the sternum, or breastbone. What is the area under breasts called? In human anatomy, the inframammary fold (IMF), inframammary crease or inframammary line is the natural lower boundary of the breast, the place where the breast and the chest meet. The choice of the term depends on the prominence of the feature. It is also sometimes called the inframammary ligament. What are the 3 pectoral muscles? If you’re a gym lover, you’ll hear these muscles also being referred to as the pecs muscles. The pectoralis major has a broad origin, based on which it is divided into three parts: clavicular part, sternocostal part and abdominal part. What muscle is under your breast? Underneath the breasts there is fibrous tissue and muscle. The pectoral muscle passes underneath the breast and connects the chest and the arm. Lying further below the pectoral muscle are the ribs which are connected by intercostal muscles, which raise and lower the rib cage when breathing in and out. Where is a women’s pectoral muscle? Whats the biggest part of the chest? For starters, we have what many people confuse as being the upper and lower chest: the pectoralis major and pectoralis minor (aka “the pecs”). They are in fact NOT fancy words for upper and lower. Instead, the pectoralis major is the big fan shaped muscle that makes up the majority of your chest musculature. What do the pectorals do? The pectoralis major extends across the upper part of the chest and is attached to a ridge at the rear of the humerus (the bone of the upper arm). Its major actions are adduction, or depression, of the arm (in opposition to the action of the deltoideus muscle) and rotation of the arm forward about the axis of the body.	157,761
Home Computer Science OECD guidelines on measuring subjective well-being. Mode effects and survey context Introduction This section discusses survey mode and timing as well as the impact of the wider context in which surveys are conducted - such as incidental day-to-day events that might affect responses. It essentially concerns the extent to which subjective well-being data collected under different circumstances using different methods can still be considered comparable. It also examines the question of whether there is an “optimal” method for subjective well-being data collection, in terms of data quality. There are a variety of different survey methods available for the collection of subjective well-being data. These include: The central issue with regard to survey mode is whether data collected in different modes can be considered comparable. In general, survey mode effects can take the form of: 1) coverage error, i.e. certain modes excluding or failing to reach certain segments of the population; 2) non-response bias, i.e. different respondents having preferences for different modes; and 3) measurement error (Jackle, Roberts and Lynn, 2006). The current chapter is Box 2.2. Experience Sampling and the Day Reconstruction method Some measures of subjective well-being, particularly affective measures, require respondents to retrospectively recall their previous experiences over a given time frame. A frequent concern is that various self-report biases (including those linked to certain personality traits) can influence this recall process. In terms of minimising the memory burden and the risk of recall biases, Experience Sampling Methodologies (ESM - Csikszentmihalyi and Larson, 1992; Hormuth, 1986; Larson and Delespaul, 1992), also known as Ecological Momentary Assessments (EMA - Schwartz and Stone, 1998; Smyth and Stone, 2003; Stone et al., 1998) represent the “gold standard”. In these methods, respondents provide “real-time” reports throughout the study-period, and the memory burden is either very small (e.g. summing experiences over the past few hours) or nonexistent (e.g. requiring respondents to report how they are feeling right now). Studies typically involve between two and twelve recordings per day (Scollon et al., 2003) and may last one or two weeks. To ensure compliance among respondents (for example, to detect and prevent the “hoarding” of responses until the end of the day, which can be a significant problem with paper diaries), it is advisable to use electronic diaries, such as palm-top computers pre-programmed with questions and with an internal clock that can both remind respondents when entries are due and record the timing of responses (Stone et al., 2002). Whilst experience sampling methods have some significant advantages in data quality, the study design is burdensome for both respondents and research resources. A less intrusive and burdensome alternative is offered by the Day Reconstruction Method or DRM (Kahneman et al., 2004). This technique is designed to assist respondents in systematically reconstructing their day in order to minimise recall biases. It builds on evidence suggesting that end-of-day mood reports may be more accurate than previously supposed (Parkinson et al., 1995), and that retrospective accounts of mood may be reasonably valid for periods of up to 24 hours (Stone, 1995). The DRM represents a more pragmatic alternative to the ESM but still requires detailed survey modules, which can for example take respondents between 45 and 75 minutes to complete (Kahneman et al., 2004). particularly concerned with the third of these issues, and although discussion of sampling issues is covered in Chapter 3, the first and second issues also have consequences that potentially interact with mode effects and problems with data quality - for example, where mode effects are more likely among certain groups of respondents. A further crucial consideration is the extent to which identical question wording and response formats can be used across different survey modes. As noted in Sections 1 and 2 of this chapter, question wording and response formats can have non-trivial impacts on responses. If questions designed for pen-and-paper questionnaires or face-to-face interviews need to be modified for presentation over the telephone, for example, this may reduce the comparability of the data collected. Techniques for the measurement of subjective well-being can vary substantially on a wide range of dimensions that may be of relevance to measurement error, such as: There are various ways in which the above features of survey mode can influence data quality - for example, through influencing respondent motivation, question comprehension and the likelihood of satisficing and response biases. Interviewer interaction and audience effects are also expected to influence the extent to which self-presentational effects and socially desirable responding are likely to occur, such as presenting oneself in a positive light, or conforming to social norms. In the case of subjective well-being measures, self-presentational biases, if present, would be expected to increase reports of positive evaluations and emotions and decrease reports of negative ones. Although self-presentation effects are quite a wide-reaching issue for data quality, discussion of them is generally limited to this section of the chapter, because the main practical implications in terms of survey methodology concern the impact of survey mode. Different survey methods have different advantages, and steps taken to reduce one risk to data quality (such as social desirability) may have consequences for other risks (such as other forms of response bias). Furthermore, where mode differences are detected, this does not in itself tell you which mode is producing the more accurate data. Much of the discussion that follows therefore describes the extent to which survey mode appears to influence subjective well-being data and the extent to which data collected in different modes can be compared with confidence. \|< Prev\|\|CONTENTS\|\|Next >\|	135,412
February 28, 2007 GCRIO Program Overview Our extensive collection of documents. Archives of the Global Climate Change Digest A Guide to Information on Greenhouse Gases and Ozone Depletion Published July 1988 through June 1999 FROM VOLUME 3, NUMBER 6, JUNE 1990 OF GENERAL INTEREST "Model Calculations of the Relative Effects of CFCs and Their Replacements on Stratospheric Ozone," D.A. Fisher (Du Pont Exper. Sta., Wilmington DE 19880), C.H. Hales et al., Nature, 344(6266), 508-512, Apr. 5, 1990. Because hydrohalocarbons are destroyed by reaction with atmospheric hydroxyl radicals in the troposphere, they have significantly shorter atmospheric lifetimes than CFCs, and are being examined as CFC replacements. Model calculations show that chlorine-containing hydrohalocarbons have less effect on ozone, by an order of magnitude, than CFCs. "Model Calculations of the Relative Effects of CFCs and Their Replacements on Global Warming," D.A. Fisher (address immed. above), C.H. Hales et al., ibid., 513-516. Uses two separately developed atmospheric models to simulate the chemical reactions and radiative balance of the atmosphere. Results of the two models agreed well after normalizing calculated effects with respect to CFC-11, using consistent assumptions about chemical lifetimes. Concludes that the potential of the replacement compounds to affect global warming is an order of magnitude less than that of CFCs, chiefly because of shorter atmospheric lifetimes. "Relative Contributions of Greenhouse Gas Emissions to Global Warming," D.A. Lashof (Nat. Resour. Defense Council, 1350 New York Ave. NW, Washington DC 20005), D.R. Ahuja, ibid., 529-531. Proposes an index of global warming potential for methane, carbon monoxide, nitrous oxide and CFCs relative to that of carbon dioxide, and applies this to determine the source of recent increases in greenhouse forcing to help establish a basis for policy development. Carbon dioxide emissions account for 80% of the contribution to global warming of current greenhouse gas emissions, but only 57% of the increase in radiative forcing during the 1980s. "The Global Effects of Tropical Deforestation," R.A. Houghton (Woods Hole Res. Ctr., Woods Hole MA 02543), Environ. Sci. Technol., 24(4), 414-421, Apr. 1990. Considers the effects of tropical deforestation on emissions of trace gases and on the earth's atmosphere and climate, emphasizing the effect from CO2 emissions. Explains three strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from tropical forests. Urges policies to stabilize CO2 in the atmosphere that include a reduction of fossil fuel use, an end to deforestation, and an increase in the area of forests. "Precise Monitoring of Global Temperature Trends from Satellites," R.W. Spencer (Marshall Space Flight Ctr., Code ES43, Huntsville AL 35812), J.R. Christy, Science, 247(4950), 1558-1560, Mar. 30, 1990. Analysis of the first 10 years (1979-1988) of satellite measurements of lower atmospheric temperature changes reveals a monthly precision of 0.01° C and large temperature variability on time scales from weeks to several years, but no obvious trend for the 10-year period. "Observational Constraints on the Global Atmospheric CO2 Budget," P.P. Tans (CIRES, Campus Box 216, Univ. Colo., Boulder CO 80309), I.Y. Fung, T. Takahashi, ibid., 1431-1435, Mar. 23, 1990. Comparison of observations with general circulation model results shows that the observed differences between the partial pressures of CO2 in the surface waters of the Northern Hemisphere and the atmosphere are too small for the oceans to be the major sink of fossil fuel CO2. Therefore, a large amount of the CO2 is apparently absorbed on the continents by terrestrial ecosystems. "Cloud Albedo, Greenhouse Effects, Atmospheric Chemistry, and Climate Change," J.E. Penner (Lawrence Livermore Lab., Univ. Calif., POB 808, Livermore, Calif.), J. Air Waste Mgmt. Assoc., 40(4), 456-461, Apr. 1990. Summarizes recent research in trends in long-lived species such as CO2, CH4, N2O and CFCs; trends in short-lived species such as NOx and SOx; and changes in cloud optical properties. Explains the need to develop 3-D global chemistry and climate models to evaluate the effects of these emissions and understand quantitative changes in climate that may occur in the future. "The United States Global Change Research Program (US/GCRP): An Overview and Perspectives on the FY 1991 Program," R.W. Corell (Nat. Sci. Foundation, Washington DC 20550), Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 71(4), 507-511, Apr. 1990. The United States Global Change Research Program represents an integrated, government-wide scientific effort designed to document, understand and predict changes in the global environment to provide the foundation for national and international policy making. The proposed budget details a coordinated program of research that involves seven agencies and includes a major new initiative: the Earth Observing System, EOS. (See REPORTS/EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCE, this Global Climate Change Digest issue--June 1990.) Issues: Toward a Strategic Plan for A&WMA," D.G. Fox (USDA-For. Serv., Rocky Mountain For. & Range Exper. Sta., Fort Collins CO 80526), J. Air Waste Mgmt. Assoc., 40(3), 376-377, Mar. 1990. Proposes that the Air and Waste Management Association is the appropriate organization to facilitate the necessary debates over global change, to provide professional leadership, to educate the public, and to aid in the formulation of responsible policies. The Association has made global change one of its major themes; suggestions for Association initiatives on this topic are welcomed by "A First Approach to Assessing Future Climate States in the UK Over Very Long Timescales: Input to Studies of the Integrity of Radioactive Waste Repositories," C.M. Goodess (Clim. Res. Unit, Univ. East Anglia, Norwich NR4 7TJ, UK), J.P. Palutikof, T.D. Davies, Clim. Change, 16, As part of the UK disposal safety assessment program, time-dependent models of the repository environment are being developed. Two methods are being employed: the Milankovitch theory and an empirical analysis of the long-term reconstructed climate record. The climate sequence established using these methods will form the basis for studying related processes, such as erosion and groundwater movement and transfer by vegetation, and their implications for radioactive waste disposal. Guide to Publishers Index of Abbreviations	56,432
It’s shocking how much food we throw away because it goes bad in the fridge. Aside from wasting money, it’s just plain wasteful, given how many people go hungry. One of our New Year’s resolutions was to stop wasting food. We looked at exactly what we were throwing out a week later, and figured out how to use it within a day or two. Here’s the plan we devised: • Cooked Vegetables: All leftover vegetables go into an omelet or scramble for the next day’s breakfast or dinner. • Proteins: Meat and fish leftovers too meager for a sandwich get added to the next day’s pasta or rice dish. • Salad: We only dress half of the salad. If anyone wants more salad, it’s easy to dress and serve. Dressed salad turns into a soggy mess overnight; but washed, undressed salad stays crisp in paper towels and a plastic bag. Leftover scraps go into omelets, pasta or rice. • Berries: Berries are very perishable; ours often rot before they’re finished. If you simply can’t finish them on breakfast cereal or as a snack, stick them in the freezer and use them in a smoothie or a puree. • Other Fresh Fruits & Vegetables: If they’re about to go bad and we don’t have the appetite to eat them, we slice and marinate them (use vinaigrette for veggies, liqueur for fruits) or quickly steam them. It buys another couple of days. Steamed fruit and veggies can be turned into purées or soup. Vegetables can be topped with sauce and grated cheese for a snack or side. • Bonus: Chicken carcasses, meat and fish bones get converted into stock. Though we’ve often made excuses for not making stock (no time top make it, no place to store it), we find that if we start the stock as we’re cleaning up from dinner, it “makes itself.” And we don’t store it because we plan to use it the next day. Think of how you waste food and write down—then follow—your own tips to stop it. If you need ideas, let us know. Related Food Videos: For more food videos, check out The Nibble's Food Video Collection.	4,622
Source: Suresh Fernando What is philosophy? If it is anything it is the domain that aims to answer the most substantial questions in a foundational way. It attempts, for example, to provide an account of Truth or Knowledge in a manner that answers these questions in a way that can be understood as ‘scientific’. The attempt, therefore, is to make ‘objective’ or ‘universal’ certain domains of inquiry. There is more to philosophy than this, however. In virtue of the inquiry into the problems that are most fundamental, philosophers, privilege their domain of inquiry. Philosopher have a sense that their inquiry is in some way special… that it stands distinct from other inquiries. How justified is this? What is the current status of the inquiry? Rorty is famous for saying ‘Philosophy is Dead!’ What did he mean by this? The pursuit of foundationalism has followed two different paths that find their basis in two differing perspectives on the foundations for knowledge. The most central philosophical distinction, dating back to Plato, was that between forms and essences and sense impressions… qualia, and so on. For the former, there was something fundamental that resided outside of one’s direct experience of the world… something essential that we are hopefully able to access. Popularly this frame of reference is known as rationalism. Empiricism which found its roots in the work of Locke, Berkeley and Hume, was a response to rationalism… It asked all metaphysicians who spoke of transcendent realms… how do you know? What is the basis for your knowledge? Empiricists steadfastly assert that the source and foundation for all of our knowledge is sense experience and everything that we can infer needs to start with this foundation. Then along came Immanuel Kant who served to bridge this divide by constructing an account, in his magnum opus, the Critique of Pure Reason, that suggests that knowledge is constructed by categories in the mind that impose order on an unstructured external world. So persuasive was this account that it completely shifted the playing field and the way we view knowledge as well as our relation to the world. In effect, Kant bridged the divide between rationalists and empiricists. This is the first major step in collapsing the distinction between subject/object… private public… inside/outside… The essence of the Kantian position was that certain forms of knowledge/concepts that are such that the predicate is not contained in the subject, yet it can be known prior to experience. These statements are known as ones that are synthetic a priori (think of ‘all bodies are heavy’). Synthetic statements are contrasted with analytic statements (‘all husbands are male’). Kant, even in bridging the divide between empiricism and rationalism is still a foundationalist… He reifies reason and the autonomy of human subjectivity. Kant is the philosopher of the enlightentment who, coincident with the emergence of science as a paradigm, develops a view of human subjectivity that elevates the status of humankind… No longer is Truth relegated to transcendent realms… Nor are we merely receptacles for external experience… No longer does subjectivity simply impose order on a world, it serves to structure certain forms of knowledge in a way that provides a foundation for that which is true and certain. The next wave of modern foundationalists were the logical positivists, the Vienna Circle. In response to the style of philosophy that was prominent on the continent (German Idealism); a style that had a different tone but was nevertheless foundationalist in its own right… a tone that aimed to construct grand systems that integrated everything. Hegel and Marx were examples of this tradition… those that had a view of very broad scope but that postulated objectivity… they had arrived at the truth! Characteristic of the German Idealists was a certain obtuseness… a difficulty in understand what they were saying. What, after all, is Absolute Spirit and how precisely is it expressed through the march of history? The logical positivists found their roots in the convergence of mathematical logic (Frege, Peano, Cantor. Goedel…), philosophy of language (Russell and Wittgenstein) and empiricism. The emergence of philosophy of language during this period was, at least in part, due to the sense that philosophy had gone astray… had lost its capacity to be foundationalist due to its mode of presentation… as represented by the German tradition. Those like Russell, Frege and Carnap who had been trained in formal logic explored the integration of logical principles into the pantheon of philosophy? How could logic be utilized as the basis for developing a foundation for philosophy? This spawned a wide range of theories of truth and meaning (Frege and Russell etc…)… foundationalism persisted! Language philosophers, as a result of their inquiry into the status of language and role in philosophy came to more deeply understand the relationship between thought and language, and therefore the limits of what we can know… This elevated the importance of language within the broader discourse… Philosophy becomes about language… Truth, knowledge, reality itself become about language…This is known as the linguistic turn… One might say that the end of foundationalism came when William Van Orman Quine, in the Two Dogmas of Empiricism, offered a powerful critique of the Kantian position, thereby challenging the ‘internalist’ position, which challenges the analytic/synthetic divide and thereby the possibility of synthetic a priori statements… In mounting a successful challenge, he refutes the idea that the rational agent can, simply in virtue of categories of the mind, create certain sorts of concepts; synthetic ones. The crux of the argument lies in a demonstration that language is a property of community interaction… that all linguistic terms get their meaning from our interaction with others and therefore reference to internal constitution of truth/meaning is off target. That philosophy can be foundational is further challenged by Wilfred Sellar’s attacks the empiricist perspective (and therefore the ground of knowledge) from a different perspective when he elucidates the Myth of the Given. He challenges the foundation of the empiricist position through arguments that suggest that all knowledge is linguistic/propositional… that there can be nothing ‘given’ that can serve as the basis for inferential knowledge. Sellars’ position is anti-foundationalist in that it eliminates the hierarchy/foundation for knowledge… that which is simply ‘given’ from which all else is inferred. Both Quine and Sellars, coming from different directions, place language at the center! Both of these arguments serve, in different ways, to shift the ground for knowledge into the public domain; to make knowledge a social construct… what Rorty would refer to as epistemic behaviourism… This is, in some sense, the grounding for the entire tradition of ‘pragmatism’ (Dewey, James, Rorty…)… a tradition that rejects Truth and Knowledge as the basis for foundationalism… or the relevance of foundationalism at all… But is there more to be said about foundationalism in philosophy? The combination of the Kantian focus on the ‘point of cognition’… as well as the move to a more internalist position gave rise to another branch of German philosophy that explored the way that our mind connects with the world and brings to bear on our knowledge of the world. Isn’t the way that sensory information is presented to cognition a good basis for studying the ‘phenomena’ of consciousness? This gave rise to a deeper examination of the way phenomenon present themselves to consciousness and the domain of Phenomenology and is represented through the work of Husserl is born. Phenomenology aims to raise, to a level of ‘science’ the examination of the way that objects in the world present themselves to consciousness. As such the ‘boundary’ of its domain of inquiry is subjectivity itself. This approach is also found wanting… Martin Heidegger, Husserl’s most famous student in his magnum opus, Being and Time, introduces the notion of Dasein… Being-in-the-world. The basic insight is that we cannot examine merely the objects of consciousness; how they are presented to us; how we interpret them; what meaning they give us and so on because our consciousness cannot be understood as having a boundary. We, as human beings, bring to each moment a long history that preceded us. We are influenced by our parents our teachers as well as our communal context. We are embedded in a complex and deep nexus of activity and relations that serve to define us at each moment. We are, in some large sense, constituted by our context, history and relations… Our march forward in time, therefore, is not a series of discrete moments but a continuous stream of ‘meaning-to-us’ that serves to shape our consciousness… Heidegger extends the notion of inquiry by raising the question: ‘What is it to be?’ This, in some sense, marks the birth of existentialism… Who else might be considered the ‘founder’ of existentialism? Well, Friedrich Nietzsche of course! Nietzsche… a genius of extraordinary proportions and, arguably the most influential ‘contemporary’ philosopher of all time was heavily influenced by Arthur Schopenauer who was, in turn, greatly influenced by Kant. Essential to the Kantian position was the notion of the thing-in-itself… that aspect of reality that we could not know. If our mind’s impose order on reality, there is an aspect of reality that is beyond our grasp. Schopenhauer wondered if it were possible to have access, in some way, to the realm of the thing-in-itself… was there any evidence from the state of affairs in the world to suggest what might lie beneath the surface… that we could not see but might be able to infer something about? In observing the state of affairs in the world; a world rife with suffering, pain, war, conflict, genocide etc… he could only conclude that what lay beneath the surface was something furious, animalistic, uncontrolled… Dionysian… a fury that impelled and propelled us individually and as a species in a particular direction, but that was always in conflict with our rational aims… our higher ambitions. Schopenhauer is famous for being a pessimist; not seeing any way out of this morass… He eventually sought solace in eastern mysticism as he concluded that renunciation of this Will was the only hope! Nietzsche begged to differ! He embraced the notion of Will, but saw in this notion something deeper… something that provided life with a source of meaning. Nietzsche shares Schopenhaur’s intuition that there is something furious, uncontrolled and uncontrollable in human nature. He understand the internal fury that ensues… the constant internal struggle between the ferocity of our animal nature and our attempt to transcend this. Nietzsche sees reason/rationality as an essential element in the human experience; one that is always in conflict with the animal in us… Nietzsche articulates the Apollonia/Dionysius distinction… the two sides of human nature… For Nietzsche transcendence is the refined convergence of these two internal imperatives. In viewing things as such, Nietzsche introduces the notion of temporality and provides a suggestion as to how we might guide our lives… through transcendence… of ourselves… He also deconstructs all metaphysical claims, showing with precision that all thought forms are social constructs… ‘God is Dead!’ In doing so he places the responsibility squarely on our shoulders. We cannot appeal to anything outside of ourselves for guidance… We have created this mess and now we must clean it up! He also provides an intuition as to where the problem may lie… If we are, in part, guided by our animal nature… a subpersonal world that we have no visibility into that is motivated by base imperatives to survive, procreate and so on that comes into contact with our more rational selves, how can we contend with this conflict? Is this conflict the source of our conflict with ourselves? The source of our unhappiness… the source of tension with others… the source of conflicts between nation states? Is transcendence a possibility? And then along came Sartre who granted us radical autonomy! Sarte suggested that, in the final analysis, we are free to choose to do exactly as we want. Even faced with a gun to our head, we choose our response… The aspiration towards freedom motivates most social organization in western culture and the prospect of personal freedom can be intoxicating! But is he correct? The most important contribution that Sartre has made is his notion of Being-for-itself… the idea that humankind is distinct from the animal kingdom in virtue of its ability to reflect on itself… to create a picture of itself… to represent itself to itself. It provides an intuition, at a deeper level, of the source of existential struggle… the disconnection between who we are and who we ought to be… It also raises to the fore the notion of representation… that sense in which a rational cognition can construct the way that it stands in relation to itself as well as the way that it stands in relation to others… So what now? Truth is to philosophy as God is to religion… a ‘foundational distraction’ We need not concern ourselves with ultimate truths that apply to everyone. What matters is not what is True or what you Know but what is sufficient that we choose to do this or that. What is incontrovertible is that we move through space and time, describing an arc of activity that defines us. This set of actions, consequences, responses… serve to define us. In this is sense Sartre was correct. We are no more than we do. What need to understand is not what is foundational for Truth or Knowledge, but what is foundational for choice… for the discrimination that results, in the moment, in choosing to go left or right. This choice is not grounded in Truth or Knowledge… categories that have received much philosophical attention.. but Relevance… the satisfaction of conditions necessary for a particular individual… to choose… What is relevant for you or I will not require that knowledge be True or Certain… but that it be meaningful for us from moment to moment. This meaning will be derived from a deep realization of the complexity of human existence (the combination of our animal and rational nature) as well a realization of the complexities of our social and global context. What is Relevant for an individual must also account for our connection to others that are significant to us as well as our communal context. We need not pursue a deeper understanding of what is True in some deep or abstract sense, or what the conditions are for the possibility of deeper, foundational Knowledge. What matters is our human experience… that we understand the inner machinations of our internal and external world such that we live in peace and harmony. There is a sense in which this position is eminently pragmatic… Rorty, a pragmatist, when asked whether he was a relativist suggested that all he could offer was that we organize ourselves based on the way western democracies have organized themselves… that philosophy cannot base its inquiry on something deeper. This is not good enough! W will need to do better…	155,897
2. Terminology (Key words) 3. Drug Administration & Absorption (Route) 4. Brief Discussion of Drug Groups, Actions and Effects - Respiratory System [Mucolytics, Antitussive, Stimulants and Asthma drugs] - Drugs in Rheumatic diseases - Drugs in Cancer (Chemo) - Drugs in Pain Relief (Analgesics) Per definition Physical Therapy is referred to, as a health discipline that deals with habilitation and rehabilitation of dysfunctions resulting from injuries, surgical or diseases. Physical Therapy utilizes: Physical means such as therapeutic exercises, water (hydrotherapy), Ice (Criotherapy), Heat (Thermotherapy), and Electrotherapy (Ultrasound, Short-Wave Diathermy, TENS & Interferential) for pain relief and functional restoration to patients or clients. Physical Therapy is at times referred as ‘Physical Medicine’ as opposed to Drug and Surgical interventions. Drugs or Medicationsper sefall outside the footprint of physical therapy. However, it will not be correct to say, that the field of physical therapy stands 100% only on the physical means platform for interventions. At certain extent, pharmaceutical agents are commonly encountered in the physical therapy practice. Therefore, this assignment serves the purpose of shading light about these drugs that are commonly encountered in the practice of physical therapy and complementing it, their actions and effects, and the grouping of them. 2. TERMINOLOGY (Keywords): Drug:broadly can be defined as any chemical agent that affects processes of living. Pharmacology:is when the effects of drugs or rather chemical agent over the living is studied in relation to prevention, diagnosis and treatment of diseases. Therapeutics:Simply means application of Pharmacology in clinical practice 3. DRUG ADMINISTRATION & ABSORPTION (Route): For a drug to perform its intended therapeutic tasks, it must at first place Administered and Absorbed. From there is carried or transported to the tissues where it is desired to act, but one should note a drug taken orally (mouth) to the gastro-intestine has to go via the liver (at times referred to as ‘body laboratory’) and from there then only to the tissues. These drugs can be in the form of Solution, or Solid (tablets & capsules) or in Suspension. As I have just mentioned in the above paragraph, most of these drugs that are absorbed from the gastro-intestine tract, (given as solid, suspension or solution), their rate of absorption depends to a big extent on the nature of the drug itself. A drug that is in a liquid state will absorb relatively faster than tablets or capsule. Tablets and Capsules are intended for a slow absorption. It takes relatively a longer period for a tablet which it’s hard in form or a capsule that has relatively hard protection cover to disintegrate or rather dissolved in the gastro-intestinal tract; hence therefore the desired slow absorption in this way is acquired. Another route from where a drug can be absorbed is from the Buccal-Cavity. Via this route the absorption of the drug is very rapid. To be more exactly, here the sub-lingual (under-the-tongue) advantage is utilized to drugs (tablets) that quickly dissolve beneath the tongue the case in point here is a drug that goes by a generic name;glyceryl trinitratethat is widely prescribed for a fast relief of angina pain. Another route that drugs can be absorbed is from therectum,drugs that are prescribed by this way are calledsuppositories. 4. Drugs can be absorbed through the lungs. The example here is drugs prescribed to be taken by inhalation such as a bronchodilator salbutamol . Last but not the least; drugs can be absorbed byinjection.This has been a route of choice for years. When compared to the previous routes are relatively expensive especially when one considers the cost of the syringe, pump and medication. However, has an advantage of action rapidity, precision to intended site and avoid chances of being altered by gastric acids or functions of the liver. BRIEF DISCUSSION OF DRUG GROUPS, ACTIONS & EFFECTS: Pharmaceuticals agents that physical therapists commonly encounter in the practice can be divided into five (5) folds namely;Respiratory, Rheumatic, Epileptic, Cancer and Analgesicsdiseases treatment drugs. These chemical agents or rather drugs if you like are very useful to a physical therapist especially when executing chest or pulmonary physical therapy. The aim of chest physio is to facilitatesputumor unwanted secretions from the lungs resulting from hypo dynamism. This secretion if left not attended they can lead to pulmonary complications such as hypo-static pneumonia, atelectasis and poor circulation of oxygen in the lungs and consequently in the entire body. The action of these drugs or medication breaks down sputum proteins and by so doing reduce the viscosity of sputum and it becomes much easier to expel the secretions by techniques like percussion, vibration or postural drainage. These drugs can range from menthol a traditional agent to compound drug such as benzoin tincture in hot water. Antitussives can be in two (2) folds, there are those that suppresses cough and those and those that increase expectoration rate. They are both helpful to a therapist and the patient. Expectoration is an act intended by the physical therapist and is beneficial to the patient. On the other end the suppressants give a relief to the patient as we are aware that productive coughing can be quit painful. These are drugs that they are intended to act on centers of brain that a responsible for respiratory and their action increase the depth & rate of respiration. This has a positive effect in conditions such as Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Diseases (COPD) and its symptoms (dyspnea, fatigue, wheezing, and loss of control and lung infections) that significantly impact the quality of life and the ability to perform basic daily tasks. These drugs are used to reduce bronchospasm and production of secretions from the bronchial which is a wish of any physical therapist, and positive results to a patient. - Quote paper - Marine Kimaro (Author), 2010, Pharmacotherapeutics, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/156513	6,244
Book Review of The Italian Wars, 1494-1559: War, State and Society in Early Modern Europe Posted by William Young on July 26, 2012 Michael Mallett and Christine Shaw. The Italian Wars, 1494-1559: War, State and Society in Early Modern Europe. Modern Wars in Perspective series. Harlow: Pearson, 2012. ISBN 978-0-582-05758-6. Maps. Bibliography. Index. Pp. xxi, 367. $49.60. The Italian Wars (1494-1559) changed the political landscape of the Italian Peninsula in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries. The Italian states, including Milan, Florence, Venice, Rome, and Naples, that had dominated Renaissance Italy were invaded and controlled by the foreign leaders and armies of France, Spain, and the Holy Roman Empire during a series of eight wars. These conflicts began with a French invasion of Italy in 1494 and ended with Spanish dominance in Italy in 1559. During this sixty-five year period the Italian Wars brought major shifts in the balance of power in Italy and Europe, military organization, and diplomatic practice. Despite the importance of these conflicts, the Italian Wars have surprisingly lacked a comprehensive study in the English language that examines these political, diplomatic and military issues. Dr Michael Mallett, Emeritus Professor of History at the University of Warwick and a distinguished historian of fifteenth and sixteenth century Italy, began this much needed study of the Italian Wars in the outstanding Modern Wars in Perspective series. He is the author of The Borgias: The Rise and Fall of a Renaissance Dynasty (1969), Mercenaries and Their Masters: Warfare in Renaissance Italy (1974), and co-author (along with John R. Hale) of The Military Organization of a Renaissance State: Venice, c.1400 to 1617 (1984). Unfortunately, Mallett became ill and died before he could turn his extensive research on the Italian Wars into a complete study. After his death, Dr Christine Shaw, a Research Fellow at Swansea University, used Mallett’s notes, along with her own research to complete the work. Shaw is known for her work that includes Julius II: The Warrior Pope (1993) and (as editor) Italy and the European Powers: The Impact of War, 1500-1530 (2006). This study depicts the politics, diplomacy, and conduct of war during the Italian Wars. It is well-written and organized. The book is based on primary and secondary works. Mallett and Shaw depict Italian politics and combinations of alliances of the numerous Italian states in the complex series of Italian wars involving the great powers of France, Spain, and the Holy Roman Empire, along with involvement by England, Scotland, and even the Ottoman Empire. The authors explore the Italian conflicts from the opening dispute between Charles VIII of France and Ferdinand of Aragon over hereditary control of the Duchy of Milan and Kingdom of Naples in the late fifteenth century; to the creation of various alliances between the great powers and Italian states to prevent one power’s domination over the Italian Peninsula; to the various wars between Francis I of France and the Emperor Charles V, including the dramatic battle of Pavia (1525) and sack of Rome (1527); to the various temporary peace settlements, and finally Philip II of Spain’s defeat of France and control of most of Italy, including Milan and Naples, in the Peace of Cateau-Cambrésis in 1559. Mallett wrote the two chapters that might interest students and scholars of military history the most. In “The Transformation of War” the author discusses military weapons and the balance of arms, the impact of gunpowder weapons, fortifications and siegecraft, the rise of professional standing armies, military training and skills, tactics and strategy, leadership, the war at sea, and the experience of war. In this chapter he stresses the rising value of infantry over cavalry in the Italian Wars, noting the effectiveness of Swiss and German pike infantry as well as massed Spanish arquebusiers. He points out the creation of small, professional standing armies that were supplemented by militias and mercenary forces. The author describes infantry tactics and weapons, along with the employment of artillery. Contrary to what many believe, Mallett argues that “the French artillery did not make a great contribution to Charles VIII’s successful march through Italy in 1494-95” (p.182). He goes further to say that: “In the last resort, guns [artillery] contributed more to a shift towards defence than to one towards blitzkrieg. The majority of guns manufactured and employed by the European powers were sited in defensive works, on the walls of towns and castles, guarding routes, all encouraging the development of bastions and earthwork emplacements” (p.183). He stresses that the construction of the new style of fortifications, the so-called trace italienne, were being built before the French invasion in 1494. In the second chapter, “The Resources of War,” Mallett explores the resources and logistics of the armies involved in the Italian Wars. He discusses the recruitment and mobilization of infantry and cavalry units, military ordinances involving the muster and control of armies, billeting and supply of the armies, pay, naval resources, and the cost of war. The Italian Wars consist of a complex, at times confusing, puzzle of political issues, alliances, and military actions by numerous actors and states. Shaw expertly handles these issues. However, a novice to the Italian Wars may find it difficult to follow her narrative at times. She frequently fails to cite dates (the year) of particular events, which if included, would make it easier for readers to follow her narrative and arguments. A chronology of major events would have been extremely beneficial. The Italian Wars, 1494-1559 is highly recommended to students and scholars interested in the politics, diplomacy, and warfare of Early Modern Europe. The study fills a void for a comprehensive study of the Italian Wars in the historiography of warfare, and will be an important study for years to come. For those individuals interested in reading more about the Italian Wars, there are many scholarly journal articles, essays, and monographs on different aspects of the politics and diplomacy of the era. But, there are few military studies. These studies include the influential Frederick L. Taylor, The Art of War in Italy, 1494-1529 (1921), Charles Oman, A History of the Art of War in the Sixteenth Century (1937), Simon Pepper and Nicholas Adams, Firearms and Fortifications: Military Architecture and Siege Warfare in Sixteenth-Century Sienna (1986), David Abulafia (editor), The French Descent into Renaissance Italy, 1494-1495 (1995), David Nicolle, Fornovo, 1495: France’s Bloody Fighting Retreat (1996), Angus Konstam, Pavia, 1525: The Climax of the Italian Wars (1996), as well as Maurizio Arfaioli, The Black Bands of Giovanni: Infantry and Diplomacy during the Italian Wars (1526-1528) (2005). Dr William Young University of North Dakota Grand Forks, North Dakota	100,205
WE SEEN ENOUGH PENGUINS? Here's a twist on an old joke: What's black and white and stars in movies? The answer, of course, is a penguin, a flightless creature, that walks like Charlie Chaplin in a tuxedo with shirt showing and no hat. With the recent movies, videos, and advertisements involving these comical creatures, some young people may think that in their natural habitat penguins move in synchrony to snappy music, seek out cameras to peer at, and do whatever else is necessary to look appealing. I don't know what has been presented about penguin ecology in the Hollywood hype, but I assume some of the following will be new to most people. Everyone pretty much knows that the quintessential penguin is a cold-natured creature that lives in frigid saltwater habitats. These icons waddle about on Antarctic ice floes, avoiding leopard seals, killer whales, and predatory birds that will eat a penguin as fast as a penguin will eat calamari. But a dozen and half species of these charming birds exist. And not all live in cold climates; not all thrive on squid; and not all have to worry about fearsome sea predators. When full grown, some weigh less than 10 sticks of butter. Some eat krill, tiny shrimplike crustaceans that are also eaten by whales. Two kinds of penguins--emperor and king--lay one egg at a time and build no nest, whereas most of the rest lay two or even three eggs. The male emperor penguin, the largest species, weighing up to 90 pounds, incubates the egg, balancing it on its feet for months while fasting during an Antarctic winter. Both sexes of the other penguin species are involved in the incubation of the eggs, mostly in association with nests. Penguins are found on the southern ends of Australia, Africa, and South America, and live on land in burrows at night. They take daily excursions into the ocean to forage. Their primary natural predators on land are sea gulls. The reason penguins never worry about being eaten by polar bears is of course that polar bears live at the North Pole and penguins have only made it as far north as the Galapagos Islands, which are on the equator. The Galapagos penguins are not only the northernmost ones but are among the smallest, reaching a length (or would you say, height?) of less than 20 inches. But these are brutes compared to the delicate little blue, or fairy, penguins of southern Australia and New Zealand, which are only 14 inches tall, being not much bigger than a half-gallon milk container. Fairy penguins differ from the Antarctic penguins in being exposed in recent centuries or even decades to a new suite of predators--foxes, dogs, and possibly even cats and ferrets--that have been introduced to the terrestrial habitats where the penguins spend their evening hours. Despite their newfound fame as Hollywood stars, each penguin is a member of a species that has a native region where it lives and a natural environment that must exist for it to survive. Neither zoos nor Sunset Boulevard is the penguin's natural habitat. Most of us probably take their ecological well being for granted. But maybe we shouldn’t. If global climate change is as serious a threat as many scientists say and is caused by carbon dioxide emissions resulting from human overconsumption that could be regulated by the ruling industrial nations, then we could be responsible for the melting of polar icecaps and warming of the cool temperate regions where penguins live. This will severely affect their ecology, and some will disappear, forever. If some nation began to view penguin oil, meat, or eggs as lucrative commodities, as did whalers and seal hunters of the 19th century, entire penguin species could be wiped out in months or years. is always a plus, but it may not be enough to save the penguins, which have specific environmental needs. As do all species. As the dominant species on earth, we have a responsibility to protect the habitats and well-being of the other creatures that share the planet with us. If we don't, a century from now, the march of the penguins will be only a celluloid	71,089
The Aquarium and Pond Active Online Publication Ammonia Toxicity and the pH Relationship By Tony Griffitts Ammonia's toxicity to fish is very well know. Most aquarium and pond related books usually dedicate at least a paragraph or two on the subject. What is often not mention in many books is the relationship pH plays in the toxicity of the ammonia. Ammonia concentration in a new aquarium or pond is a chemical we have to watch closely to make sure the levels do not reach a point where they start killing fish. The death of many species of fish can start at as low as .6 parts per million (ppm). In established systems the ammonia level normally reads 0 ppm. When you test for ammonia with your aquarium or pond test kit, the reading you actually have is a combination of ammonium (NH4+ or ionized ammonia) and ammonia (NH3 or unionized ammonia) known as Total Ammonia Nitrogen (TAN). Ammonia is the toxic part of the TAN. Ammonium even at high concentrations does not cause mortality in fish. Understanding the difference between two is crucial to figuring out how much toxic ammonia you really have in your system. How much of the TAN you have that is toxic is greatly related to the pH of the water, and to a much lesser extent the temperature. The higher the pH the greater amount of the TAN is ammonia. Water with a temperature of 82° F (28° C), a pH of 7.0, and a TAN of 5 ppm has only .03 ppm ammonia. If you are trying to keep Tanganyikan Cichlids in water with a pH of 9.0, that has a TAN of 5 ppm your ammonia level is 2.06 ppm (a deadly danger zone). This is why saltwater fish and African cichlids are thought to be more sensitive to ammonia, these fish are normally maintained in water with a pH of 8.2 or greater. At a pH of 6.0, and 10 ppm of TAN, the ammonia is only .007 ppm. While it looks like the fish mortality should be very high, the fish are doing fine. The graph below provides a "True Free Ammonia" chart that can be referenced for figuring out how dangerous your TAN reading is. Free ammonia is the toxic part of the Total Ammonia Nitrogen (TAN). The ledger to the right provides the line colors for 1 ppm through 5 ppm, the left side of the graph is the "True Free Ammonia" reading based on the pH value on the bottom. Notice that above the pH of 8.0 the toxicity of the TAN rapidly rises. South American and West African cichlid breeders that maintain a low pH below 6.0 need to be cautious when performing water changes, as the low pH has an adverse affect on the nitrifying bacteria that converts ammonia to nitrite. Because of the acidity these bacteria populations can drop so low that the TAN reading can rise quickly. While the pH stays low the TAN reading is nearly all ammonium, but if you do a water change or add a alkalinity buffer to the system the ammonium can be quickly converted to ammonia, potentially causing ammonia poisoning. Ammonias toxicity is greatly affected by the pH in the system. You need to test both the pH and the total ammonia nitrogen level to find out the true ammonia toxicity level. The TAN is far more toxic at higher pHs and than at lower pHs. Published - 20070105	152,854
Tardigrades (Water Bears)Created by Sarah Bordenstein, Marine Biological Laboratory Strange is this little animal, because of its exceptional and strange morphology and because it closely resembles a bear en miniature. That is the reason why I decided to call it little water bear. - J.A.E. Goeze (Pastor at St. Blasii, Quedlinburg, Germany), 1773 What is a Tardigrade? Tardigrades (Tardigrada), also known as water bears or moss piglets, are a phylum of small invertebrates. They were first described by the German pastor J.A.E. Goeze in 1773 and given the name Tardigrada, meaning "slow stepper," three years later by the Italian biologist Lazzaro Spallanzani. Tardigrades are short (0.05mm - 1.2mm in body length), plump, bilaterally symmetrical, segmented organisms. They have four pairs of legs, each of which ends in four to eight claws. Tardigrades reproduce via asexual (parthenogenesis) or sexual reproduction and feed on the fluids of plant cells, animal cells, and bacteria. They are prey to amoebas, nematodes, and other tardigrades. Some species are entirely carnivorous! Tardigrades are likely related to Arthropoda (which includes insects, spiders, and crustaceans) and Onychophora (velvet worms), and are often referred to as a "lesser known taxa" of invertebrates. Despite their peculiar morphology and amazing diversity of habitats, relatively little is known about these tiny animals. This makes them ideal research subjects for which students and amateur microscopists may contribute novel data to the field.Back to Top Where to Find Tardigrades Tardigrades can be found in almost every habitat on Earth! With over 900 (more info) described species, the phylum has been sighted from mountaintops to the deep sea, from tropical rain forests to the Antarctic. Most species live in freshwater or semiaquatic terrestrial environments, while about 150 marine species have been recorded. All Tardigrades are considered aquatic because they need water around their bodies to permit gas exchange as well as to prevent uncontrolled desiccation. They can most easily be found living in a film of water on lichens and mosses, as well as in sand dunes, soil, sediments, and leaf litter.Back to Top How to Find Terrestrial Tardigrades - Collect a clump of moss or lichen (dry or wet) and place in a shallow dish, such as a Petri dish. - Soak in water (preferably rainwater or distilled water) for 3-24 hours. - Remove and discard excess water from the dish. - Shake or squeeze the moss/lichen clumps over another transparent dish to collect trapped water. - Starting on a low obejctive lens, examine the water using a stereo microscope. - Use a micropipette to transfer tardigrades to a slide, which can be observed with a higher power under a compound microscope. Tardigrades in Extreme Environments Tardigrades have been known to survive the following extreme conditions: - temperatures as low as -200 °C (-328 °F) and as high as 151 °C (304 °F); - freezing and/or thawing processes; - changes in salinity; - lack of oxygen; - lack of water; - levels of X-ray radiation 1000x the lethal human dose; - some noxious chemicals; - boiling alcohol; - low pressure of a vacuum; - high pressure (up to 6x the pressure of the deepest part of the ocean). How do they do it? Tardigrades have adapted to environmental stress by undergoing a process known as cryptobiosis. Cryptobiosis is defined as a state in which metabolic activities come to a reversible standstill. It is truly a death-like state; most organisms die by a cessation of metabolism. Several types of cryptobiosis exist, the most common include: - anhydrobiosis (lack of water); - cryobiosis (low temperature); - osmobiosis (increased solute concentration, such as salt water); - anoxybiosis (lack of oxygen). The most common type of cryptobiosis studied in tardigrades is anhydrobiosis. Anton van Leeuwenhoek first documented cryptobiosis in 1702, when he observed tiny animalcules in sediment collected from house roofs. He dried them out, added water, and found that the animals began moving around again. The animalcules were likely nematodes or rotifers, other types of cryptobiotic animals. Tardigrades can survive dry periods by curling up into a little ball called a tun. Tun formation requires metabolism and synthesis of a protective sugar known as trehalose, which moves into the cells and replaces lost water. While in a tun, their metabolism can lower to less than 0.01% of normal. Revival typically takes a few hours, depending on how long the tardigrade has been in the cryptobiotic state. Live tardigrades have been regenerated from dried moss kept in a museum for over 100 years! Once the moss was moistened, they successfully recovered from their tuns. While tardigrades can survive in extreme environments, they are not considered extremophiles because they are not adapted to live in these conditions. Their chances of dying increase the longer they are exposed to the extreme environment.Back to Top Learn more about Tardigrades with this collection of resources including informational websites, primary literature, and educational activities. Back to Top For additional resources about Tardigrades, search the Microbial Life collection.Back to Top	63,169
Q&A: General Astronomy and Space Science I have never heard of any one mentioning gamma rays. Do gamma rays exist in space? There are gamma rays in space, and probably every kind of radiation you can think of. [More information on the electromagnetic spectrum is available at http://chandra.harvard.edu/resources/em_radiation.html & http://chandra.harvard.edu/xray_astro/xrays.html] In fact, the most mysterious objects in the universe are very hot flashes of light that emit mostly in the gamma ray energy, called gamma ray bursts. We have a description of gamma ray	20,073
When President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated on April 14, 1865, a war-weary nation was plunged into shock. The last great battles of the Civil War were still a recent memory, and the murder of the president seemed to be a bloody, pointless coda to four years of conflict and instability. There was a great outpouring of grief across the country, and poems and songs were written mourning the nation’s loss. One American who grieved for the fallen president was the poet Walt Whitman. Whitman had lived in Washington for most of the war and was a great admirer of Lincoln, whom he felt embodied the American virtues of plain-spokenness, courage, and "horse-sense." He often saw the president riding around town on horseback, and the two men sometimes exchanged cordial bows. Lincoln’s death inspired Whitman to write one of his most memorable works—a simple, three-stanza poem of sorrow that bore little resemblance to his other, more experimental writings. "O Captain! My Captain!" was published in New York’s Saturday Press in November of 1865, and was met with immediate acclaim. The poem’s evocation of triumph overshadowed by despair spoke to readers throughout the shattered nation, and it was widely reprinted and published in anthologies. "O Captain! My Captain!" became the most popular poem Whitman would ever write, and helped secure for him a position as one of the greatest American poets of the 19th century.	72,767
The Complete Guide to A+ Certification covers everything you need to know to pass both the Core Hardware Exam and the Operating Systems Technologies Exam of CompTIA's A+ certification program. With its easy-to-read style, The Complete Guide to A+ Certification serves as a good training manual and will serve as a valuable reference long after your certification is hanging on your wall. The text examines basic components of computer hardware systems, as well as how to upgrade and troubleshoot computers. Both Windows and Linux operating systems are covered. This guide includes practice exam questions, as well as separate glossaries for terms and acronyms. Each chapter is highlighted with "buzz-words" helping to increase readers' technical vocabulary. Exam notes and sidebars help explain related issues in detail.	138,385
DAVID GREENE, HOST: Let's move onto another story now. America is politically polarized, which means whenever someone is nominated to be a judge, the first question that gets asked is whether the nominee is liberal or conservative. We've heard this question many times, but political preferences are not the only sources of influence on judicial decisions. New research finds that the children of judges may play a surprisingly important role. NPR's Shankar Vedantam joins us each week on this program to talk about social science research, and he spoke with my colleague, Steve Inskeep, about this study. STEVE INSKEEP, HOST: So what's happening here, the kids are telling the judges how to rule? SHANKAR VEDANTAM, BYLINE: Not quite, Steve. This research is looking at how the life experiences of judges might affect how they rule from the bench. Now this is a surprisingly difficult question to study empirically, because you can't conduct controlled experiments on judges. You can't change their race or gender or political affiliation, and see how that changes their rulings. INSKEEP: Oh, yeah, OK. VEDANTAM: So I was speaking with Maya Sen, she is a political scientist at the University or Rochester, and along with Adam Glynn, at Harvard, she realized that mother nature was actually conducting a randomized experiment on judges when it came to one factor, the gender of their kids. MAYA SEN: Once a couple decides to have a child, then essentially what happens is that nature comes in and does a version of a coin toss. And if it comes up heads, then the couple will have a girl, and if it comes up tails, the couple will have a boy, and so essentially the gender of the child is outside of the couple's control. INSKEEP: Okay so they're wondering what factors influence a judge's decision besides the cold objectivity of the law. They get wondering if parenting affects your decisions and they're able to check before and after these parents have kids. VEDANTAM: Exactly, they wanted to factor that the judges themselves didn't have control over, and the gender of their kids is not a factor that the judges had control over. So Sen and Glynn studied 2600 rulings of 240 judges on the US Court of Appeals and they looked to see if having a daughter made a difference to their rulings. Now there's lots of anecdotal evidence that personal experiences of judges make a difference. On the Supreme Court for example Harry Blackman, who wrote the famous Roe v. Wade opinion - apparently he had a teenage daughter who got pregnant and there's been some speculation that that informed his writing in Roe v. Wade. INSKEEP: Makes sense. VEDANTAM: Justice John Paul Stevens, a World War II veteran, you know, he was usually a strong proponent of first amendment, freedom of speech issues, but when it came to flag burning, he sort of drew the line and I think his military experience may have informed his position on that. So, what Sen and Glynn wanted to find out is whether there was empirical evidence that judges could be influenced in this way, and specifically whether having daughters change the way judges ruled. Here's Sen. SEN: We found having at least one daughter means that a judge will be about 7 percentage points more likely to vote in sort of a feminist direction on gender related cases. Things like employment discrimination, pregnancy discrimination, abortion, Title IX, things like this. INSKEEP: Seven percent more likely to vote in a feminist direction. How significant is that? VEDANTAM: Well, It doesn't seem like very much, but Sen explained to me that if you think about the ideological difference between judges who are republicans and judges who are democrats, seven percentage points is about half that partisan difference, so it's actually a sizable amount. Now interestingly they find that this effect is strongest among republican men. So, male republican judges with daughters are most likely to vote differently than male republican judges who don't have daughters. And also this difference emerges only for cases involving gender. It doesn't emerge for cases involving bankruptcy or other kinds of the law. INSKEEP: So what do we think is happening here, that you have a judge who has this personal experience with having a daughter which causes them to be exposed to different points of view or think about women and girls in a different way? VEDANTAM: Well, that seems to be the argument that Sen and Glynn are making. You could make the argument that judges with daughters are being biased, but you could just as easily make the argument that compared to judges who have daughters, judges who have sons are biased in a different direction. And I think what the study is pointing to is the fallacy of imagining that judges rule on the bench without bringing their personal experiences to bear. The better question to ask might be, what biases do you want the judges to have, not whether the judges are biased at all. INSKEEP: What do you mean, what biases do you want the judges to have? VEDANTAM: Well, what life experiences do you want to see represented on the bench because the life experiences of the judges seem to affect how they rule, and if those life experiences don't match the people who are being judged, there's going to be a mismatch between what happens with the bench and who's appearing before the bench. INSKEEP: An argument for diversity among judges? VEDANTAM: And lots of different kinds of diversity, exactly. INSKEEP: Shankar, thanks very much. VEDANTAM: Thanks, Steve. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.	42,378
Vampirism isn’t just for bats and Edward Cullen anymore. Some ordinary insects are also beginning to covet human blood, sweat, and tears, because these fluids contain valuable salt that is hard to find in their natural environment. Surprisingly, many species are even preferring salt to energy-rich sugar. The idea that salt attracted bugs first dawned on a team of sweaty scientists studying insects in Peruvian forests. Puzzled by the swarms of tiny bees attacking them, the scientists soon realized that the bees were trying to get a taste of their sweat. Animals need salt to activate nerves and muscles, and to maintain water balance in their cells. Intrigued, the scientists littered the forest floor with hundreds of vials filled with either sugar or salt and counted the ant species they baited. They found that ant species living within 100 kilometers of the oceans (with easy access to salt) chose sugar over salt. But ant species living farther inland had a noticeable preference for salt. Reporting in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the scientists say the salt cravings were only seen in vegetarian ants, since carnivorous ants can get enough salt from the bodies of their prey. Which brings us to the vampire moths. In an unrelated study, entomologists say a population of fruit-feeding moths (Calyptra thalictri) have evolved the habit of feeding on blood. The moths, found in Russia, can use their long tongues, lined with sharp hooks and barbs originally adapted to pierce fruit, to get under human skin. The scientists say they have observed these moths sucking blood from their own hands for more than 20 minutes at a time. [Ed. note: That is just nasty.] Since only the male moths engage in blood-feeding, the scientists suspect they are offering the salt from the blood as a gift to females during copulation. Now isn’t that romantic?	11,976
Child marriage is a violation of human rights that adversely affects education, health and wellbeing of boys and girls and perpetuates the cycles of poverty and inequality. The Observatory is the first entity in Albania that has raised the issue of child marriage and it has undertaken four years of intensive engagement in exploring and raising public awareness of the practise. The approach to this matter has started in January 2015, when Observatory, supported by Canadian Fund for Local Initiatives (CFLI), started a project on Child Marriage in Albania focusing on Roma community in three selected areas: Shkoza, Tufina and Liqeni. This study intended to point out the phenomenon of Early Child Marriages in Roma community, as well as the actors which contribute to this phenomenon and the effects that these marriages bring. For more refer to the study report available at: http://observator.org.al/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/2015-Child_marriage_in_Albania.pdf. The first initiative, brought a public reaction pointing out that this situation was not only happening in Roma community, but also in rural areas, so it was followed by a second one, with the support of CFLI, piloted in Korca and Vlora. This second initiative aimed at analysing Demographic Characteristics, Family Background Characteristics, Characteristics of Educational Background, Family Life, Social and Economic Status of Women in Early Marriage, as well as the Reasons for Early Marriage. The study report may be accessed at: http://observator.org.al/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/ZEB_Studimi_en_12Feb2016.pdf. Since the only legal way to enter an Underage marriage is the Court, the third initiative analyses the legal and social aspects of underage marriage in Albania. This initiative, realized in collaboration with CFLI, has resulted in two study reports focusing on identifying and analysing the judicial practices with subject ‘the requests to enter into underage marriage’ and how “underage marriage” has affected the social and family life of the juveniles. The study reports are available at: http://observator.org.al/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Report2-Legal-social-analyze-underage-marriage_June2018.pdf and http://observator.org.al/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Early-marriage-report-english.pdf. These studies revealed important information about the practice of child marriage in Albania, and the social groups that it predominantly affects. The studies also explored some of the reasons why people support the practice. But, the need to provide a triangulated in-depth look around child marriage, and to explore the social norms supporting/impeding the practice still were unaddressed. Under the attention of Ministry of Health and Social Protection, in close cooperation with UNICEF and UNFPA in Albania, and with the financial support of Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, on 14th December 2018, was launched the report “Child Marriage- Knowledge, Attitudes and Perceptions among affected communities in Albania”. This qualitative study was commissioned to collect data on knowledge, attitudes, beliefs and perceptions, social expectations, incentives, sanctions and norms relating to child marriage in Albania. The study, conducted between the autumn of 2017 and early summer of 2018, focused primarily on Roma and/or poor rural populations where the phenomenon seemed to be more prevalent. Findings and recommendations will better guide mainstreaming of child marriage issues into the country strategies and programmes of government and non-governmental stakeholders, as well as UN agencies. The findings will help stakeholders to understand the issue of child marriage better and build common ground to take action. The study report is available at: http://observator.org.al/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Child-marriage-Report-Final-vesion.pdf.	178,304
View your list of saved words. (You can log in using Facebook.) Country, north-central Europe. Area: 16,640 sq mi (43,098 sq km). Its territory includes Greenland and the Faroe Islands, which are self-governing dependencies. Population: (2009 est.) 5,523,000. Capital: Copenhagen. The majority of the population is Danish. Language: Danish (official). Religions: Christianity (predominantly Evangelical Lutheran [official]); also Islam. Currency: Danish krone. Lying between the North and Baltic seas, Denmark occupies the Jutland peninsula and an archipelago to its east. The two largest islands, Zealand (Sjælland) and Funen (Fyn), together make up about one-fourth of the country's total land area. With a 4,500-mi (7,300-km) coastline, Denmark has a generally temperate and often wet climate. It has a mixed economy based on services and manufacturing. It boasts one of the world's oldest and most comprehensive social welfare systems, and its standard of living is among the highest in the world. Denmark is a constitutional monarchy. Its head of state is the Danish monarch, and the head of government is the prime minister. Denmark was inhabited by about 12,000 BCE. During the Viking period the Danes expanded their territory, and by the 11th century the Danish kingdom included parts of what are now Sweden, England, and Norway. Scandinavia was united under Danish rule from 1397 until 1523, when Sweden became independent; a series of debilitating wars with Sweden in the 17th century resulted in the Treaty of Copenhagen (1660), which established the modern Scandinavian frontiers. Denmark gained and lost various other territories, including Norway, in the 19th and 20th centuries; it went through three constitutions between 1849 and 1915 and was occupied by Nazi Germany in 1940–45. A founding member of NATO (1949), Denmark adopted its current constitution in 1953. It became a member of the European Economic Community in 1973 and of the European Union (EU) in 1993, but it negotiated exemptions from certain EU provisions in response to some Danes' concerns regarding environmental protection and social welfare. In the early 21st century Denmark's handling of immigrants raised great debate. Variants of DENMARK Denmark officially Kingdom of Denmark This entry comes from Encyclopædia Britannica Concise. For the full entry on Denmark, visit Britannica.com.	60,571
Find Out More, Session 9: Love of Learning In "Love Will Guide Us," a Tapestry of Faith program Books geared toward children and families include: - A Child's Introduction to the Night Sky: The Story of the Stars, Planets, and Constellations — and How You Can Find Them in the Sky by Michael Driscoll (Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers, 2004) - Astronomy by Kristen Lippincott (DK Eyewitness Books, 2008) - The Stars: A New Way To See Them by H. A. Rey (Houghton Mifflin Company, 2008) - Maybe Yes, Maybe No by Dan Barker (Prometheus Books, 1993). In this child's introduction to healthy skepticism and critical thinking, the ten-year-old heroine, Andrea, is "always asking questions," writes Barker, because she thinks you should prove the truth. - Humanism, What's That? by Helen Bennett (Prometheus Books, 2005). "This small volume holds out the hope and openness of Humanism in a form that can help young people confront Fundamentalist approaches to religion with confidence," writes Rev. William Sinkford, past President of the UUA. This work is made possible by the generosity of individual donors and congregations. Please consider making a donation today. Last updated on Thursday, October 27, 2011. - About the Authors - Session 1 - Session 2 - Session 3 - Session 4 - Session 5 - Session 6 - Session 7 - Session 8 - Session 9 - Session 10 - Session 11 - Session 12 - Session 13 - Session 14 - Session 15 - Session 16 - List of Stories - List of Handouts - List of Leader Resources	132,854
1- Palestinians in occupied East Jerusalem pay taxes to the Israeli authorities. Yet Palestinian neighborhoods in Jerusalem do not receive adequate services. Only 10% of Jerusalem’s city budget is directed toward Palestinian neighborhoods, which are home to 37% of the city’s population. 2- 685 Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem were demolished between 2004 and 2016, leaving 2,513 people homeless. Home demolitions are part of a broader Israeli policy to alter the demographic and geospatial makeup of Jerusalem, privileging Jewish settlers over the indigenous Palestinian population. 3- 10,000 Palestinian children in Jerusalem have no legal status because their parents hold different types of ID cards. Unregistered children have no access to education, health, and social services, putting them at a severe disadvantage respective to their peers. 4- Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories are illegal under international law. Today, over 200,000 Israelis live in settlements on Palestinian land in East Jerusalem. SOURCES & DATA Not available in your language? Translate this visual.	80,503
Cingulum meanings in Urdu Cingulum meanings in Urdu is سینگولم Cingulum in Urdu. More meanings of cingulum, it's definitions, example sentences, related words, idioms and quotations. Please find 1 English and definitions related to the word Cingulum. - (noun) : (anatomy) an encircling structure (as the ridge around the base of a tooth) What are the meanings of Cingulum in Urdu? Meanings of the word Cingulum in Urdu are . To understand how would you translate the word Cingulum in Urdu, you can take help from words closely related to Cingulum or it’s Urdu translations. Some of these words can also be considered Cingulum synonyms. In case you want even more details, you can also consider checking out all of the definitions of the word Cingulum. If there is a match we also include idioms & quotations that either use this word or its translations in them or use any of the related words in English or Urdu translations. These idioms or quotations can also be taken as a literary example of how to use Cingulum in a sentence. If you have trouble reading in Urdu we have also provided these meanings in Roman Urdu. We have tried our level best to provide you as much detail on how to say Cingulum in Urdu as possible so you could understand its correct English to Urdu translation. We encourage everyone to contribute in adding more meanings to MeaningIn Dictionary by adding English to Urdu translations, Urdu to Roman Urdu transliterations and Urdu to English Translations. This will improve our English to Urdu Dictionary, Urdu to English dictionary, English to Urdu Idioms translation and Urdu to English Idioms translations. Although we have added all of the meanings of Cingulum with utmost care but there could be human errors in the translation. So if you encounter any problem in our translation service please feel free to correct it at the spot. All you have to do is to click here and submit your correction. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) What do you mean by cingulum? Whats the definition of cingulum? Definition of the cingulum are - (anatomy) an encircling structure (as the ridge around the base of a tooth)	28,058
ADSL's Business Highlights Residential and small business customers who use DSL services are most typically connected to an asymmetric DSL (ADSL) line. ADSL splits the available frequencies in a line, assuming that most Internet users view or download a lot more data than they transmit or upload. Considering this, if the connection speed from the Internet to the user is three to four times as fast as the connection from the user back to the Internet, then, the majority of the time, the user will reap the most benefit from an ADSL connection. History of ADSL ADSL was established by telephone companies in an effort to compete with cable TV by delivering both TV and phone service on the traditional copper phone line. These days, ADSL is also a top competitor as a provider for high speed Internet access. In the beginning, ADSL was originally created for use as a regular phone line in the event of a power outage. The "A" in "ADSL" stands for "Asymmetric", meaning data can be sent to the consumer, but the consumer cannot send back very much data at all. At first, only 64kbps was supported but now ADSL can manage up to 10 times that much. In 1987, Joe Leichleder, a Bellcore researcher, first conceived the idea to convert analog to digital at the subscriber end. ADSL was originally intended to provide access for interactive video, such as video games, Video On Demand (VOD), delayed television segments, and more, but quickly became popular for high-speed Internet data transmission, as well as just surfing the Web. As far back as the 1990s marketers who developed VOD products began utilizing ADSL technology with varying speeds for transmitting different channels. And, although the idea didn't catch on as well as had been predicted for the television market, it quickly became very popular for use with the Internet.	19,017
Please respond to Carolyn Raffensperger <firstname.lastname@example.org> To: "Science and Environmental Health Network" <email@example.com> cc: (bcc: Lois Epstein) Subject: Special Bulletin: Precautionary Principle Debating the Precautionary Principle Science and Environmental Health Network The precautionary principle has taken center stage in a number of recent international discussions on trade, the environment, and human health. As a result, it has stirred criticism as well as interest. In these discussions and in a growing number of media reports on the principle, certain criticisms and qualifications, enumerated below, have been repeated with The Science and Environmental Health Network offers the following responses to stimulate the thinking of others on these statements and on the precautionary principle. Many of these ideas were articulated in a January 2000 meeting of precautionary principle advocates and in discussions following the meeting. 1. "The precautionary principle is vague and has conflicting definitions." The precautionary principle is worded differently each time it is articulated. This is not uncommon in international customary law. Although some statements of the principle are more detailed than others, there are no major conflicts among them. At the core of each statement is the idea that action should be taken to prevent harm to the environment and human health, even if scientific evidence is inconclusive. For example, the 1998 Wingspread Statement on the Precautionary Principle summarizes the principle this way: "When an activity raises threats of harm to human health or the environment, precautionary measures should be taken even if some cause and effect relationships are not fully established scientifically." (The Wingspread Conference on the Precautionary Principle was convened by the Science and Environmental Health Network.) The February 2, 2000 European Commission Communication on the Precautionary Principle notes: "The precautionary principle applies where scientific evidence is insufficient, inconclusive or uncertain and preliminary scientific evaluation indicates that that there are reasonable grounds for concern that the potentially dangerous effects on the environment, human, animal or plant health may be inconsistent with the high level of protection chosen by the EU." The January 29, 2000 Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety says: "Lack of scientific certainty due to insufficient relevant scientific information . . . shall not prevent the Party of import, in order to avoid or minimize such potential adverse effects, from taking a decision, as appropriate, with regard to the import of the living modified organism in question." (The negatives in this last statement echo the 1992 Rio Declaration on Environment and Development: "Where there are threats of serious or irreversible damage, lack of full scientific certainty shall not be used as a reason for postponing cost-effective measures to prevent environmental As the principle has been elaborated recently, it nearly always implies three additional ideas, beyond "harm" and "scientific uncertainty": 1) the notion of seeking alternatives to harmful technologies; 2) the idea of shifting to proponents of a technology the responsibility for demonstrating its safety; and 3) the goal of transparency and democracy in making decisions about Taken together, these concepts provide what we believe is a sound overarching approach to assessing and making decisions on products and technologies and other human activities that may impact healthor the environment. That is how "precaution" operates at the broadest level. On this level it is something like the common-sense attitude we take in conducting our own lives and making decisions: We consider whether we need or want something, try to learn as much as we can about risks and benefits, consider alternatives, choose the best and (most likely) safest route, and hold responsible those who provide the services we choose. And when something we value is threatened, we tend to err on the side of caution. But the precautionary principle, especially as articulated in international treaties and agreements, is also a specific justification for action in cases of likely harm and scientific uncertainty. 2. "If precaution applies to everything, precaution would stop all technology in its tracks." This criticism confuses the broad, common-sense precautionary approach to decision-making with specific precautionary action. It is wrong on two In the first place, precautionary action does not always mean calling a halt or implementing a ban. It can also mean imposing a moratorium while further research is conducted, calling for monitoring of technologies and products already in use, adopting safer alternatives, and so forth. In the second place, a broad precautionary approach will encourage the development of better technologies. Using this approach, society will say "yes" so some technologies while it says "no" to others. Making uncertainty explicit, considering alternatives, and increasing transparency and the responsibility of proponents and manufacturers to demonstrate safety should lead to cleaner products and production methods. 3. "Precaution calls for zero risk, which is impossible to achieve." Any debate over the possibility of "zero risk" is pointless. Our real goal must be to impose far less risk and harm on the environment and on human health than we have in the past. We must harness human ingenuity to reduce the harmful effects of our activities. The precautionary principle is based on the assumption that people have the right to know as much as possible about risks they are taking on, in exchange for what benefits, and to make choices accordingly. With food and other products, such choices are often played out in the marketplace. A major factor in the controversy over genetically engineered food is the consumer understanding that benefits of these products (which accrue more to producers than to consumers) do not outweigh the risk of harm to themselves or the environment. Increasingly, manufacturers are choosing to reduce risk themselves by substituting safer alternatives in response to consumer uneasiness, the threat of liability, and market pressures. For example, a number of toy manufacturers have voluntarily stopped using phthalates in soft plastics. Such actions are in the spirit of the precautionary principle. A key to making those choices is transparency--about what products contain, and about the testing and monitoring of those ingredients. Another is support, by government and industry, for the exploration of--and rigorous Sometimes it makes sense to eliminate even questionable risks if it is easy to do so. For example, most airlines forbid passengers to use electronic devices during takeoff and landing, even though studies have not confirmed that they pose a danger. In other cases the risk will be small but the consequences severe. An example of this kind of precautionary action is the U.S. "zero-tolerance" standard for Listeria monocytogenes in ready-to-eat foods. Listeria infections are rare, but they are extremely dangerous. (See Edward Groth III, "Science, Precaution, and Food Safety: How Can We Do Better?" Consumers Union of the U.S., Inc., February 2000.) Market and voluntary action is not enough, especially on issues that go beyond individual and corporate choice. It is the responsibility of communities, governments, and international bodies to make far-reaching decisions that greatly reduce the risks we now impose on the Earth and all 4. "We don't need the precautionary principle: we have risk assessment." Risk assessment is the prevalent tool used to make decisions about technologies and products. Its proponents argue that because conservative assumptions are built into these assessments, they are sufficiently Too often, however, risk assessment has been used to delay precautionary action: decision-makers wait to get enough information and then attempt to "manage" rather than prevent risks. Risk assessment is not necessarily inconsistent with the precautionary principle, but because it omits certain basic requirements of the decision-making process, the current type of risk assessment is only helpful at a narrow stage of the process, when the product or technology and alternatives have been well developed and tested and a great deal of information has already been gathered about them. Standard risk assessment, in other words, is only useful in conditions of relatively high certainty, and generally only to help evaluate alternatives to damaging technologies. Under the precautionary principle, uncertainty is also given due weight. The nature of the uncertainties about a technology can suggest such things as whether short-term testing can provide adequate answers; and if not, whether longer-term testing and monitoring can do so; and whether the benefits of the technology warrant that investment. The precautionary principle calls for the examination of a wider range of harms--including social and economic ones--than traditional risk analysis provides. It points to the need to examine not only single, linear risks but also complex interactions among multiple factors, and the broadest possible range of harmful effects. This broad, probing consideration of harm--including the identification of uncertainty--should begin as early as possible in the conception of a technology and should continue through its release and use. That is, a precautionary approach should begin before the regulatory phase of decision-making and should be built into the research agenda. What is not consistent with the precautionary principle is the misleading certainty often implied by quantitative risk assessments--that precise numbers can be assigned to the possibility of harm, that these numbers are usually a sufficient basis for deciding whether the substance or technology is "safe," and that lack of numbers means there is no reason to take action. The assumptions behind risk assessments--what "risks" are evaluated and how comparisons are made--are easily manipulated by those with a stake in their outcome. 5. "The precautionary principle is a tool of risk assessment." This statement implies that the precautionary principle only applies to risk management, rather than a comprehensive approach to preventing harm. It implies that uncertainty will eventually be resolved through more research or trial and error. Related to the above arguments, this one assumes a narrow definition (and use) of the precautionary principle--a stop or holding action when scientific evidence is uncertain. We argue that this is only one aspect of the precautionary principle, and that, on the contrary, risk assessment as it is currently practiced may be a useful--but narrow--tool of a broader approach to precautionary 6. "Precaution itself is risky: it will prevent us from adopting technologies that are actually safer." This consideration is built into the precautionary principle. Current and prospective alternatives to harmful technologies (such as genetic modification to reduce pesticide use) must be scrutinized as carefully as the technologies they replace. It does not make sense to replace one set of harms with another. 7. "The precautionary principle is anti-science." On the contrary, the precautionary principle calls for more and better science, especially investigations of complex interactions over longer periods of time. The assertion that the principle is "anti-science" is based on any or all of the following faulty assumptions: 1) Those who advocate precaution urge action on the basis of vague fears, regardless of whether there is scientific evidence to support their fears. Most statements of the precautionary principle say it applies when there is reason to believe serious or irreversible harm may occur. Those reasons are based on scientific evidence of various kinds: studies, observations, precedents, experience, professional judgment, and so forth. They are based on what we know about how processes work and might be affected by a However, precautionary decisions also take into account what we know we do not know. The more we know, scientifically, the greater will be our ability to prevent disasters based on ignorance. But we must be much more cautious than we have been in the past about moving forward in ignorance. 2) Taking action in advance of full scientific proof undermines science. Scientific standards of proof are high in experimental science or for accepting or refuting a hypothesis, and well they should be. Waiting to take action before a substance or technology is proven harmful, or even until plausible cause-and-effect relationships can be established, may mean allowing irreversible harm to occur--deaths, extinctions, poisoning, and the like. Humans and the environment become the unwitting testing grounds for these technologies. Precaution advocates say this is no longer acceptable. Moreover, science should serve society, not vise versa. Any decision to take action--before or after scientific proof--is a decision of society, not science. 3) Quantitative risk assessment is more scientific than other kinds of Risk assessment is only one evaluation method and provides only partial answers. It does not take into account many unknowns and seldom accounts for complex interactions. 8. "The precautionary principle is a cover for trade protectionism." The precautionary principle was created to protect public health and the environment, not to restrict valid trade. North American, Argentinian, and other representatives in trade talks have leveled this accusation against the European Union in response to EU action on beef containing growth hormones and on genetically modified foods and crops. Recent EU statements on the precautionary principle have emphasized that the principle should be applied fairly and without discrimination. However, the real issue is not protectionism but whether a nation has the sovereign right to impose standards that exceed the standards of international regimes. The recent European Commission statement on the precautionary principle and Cartagena Biosafety Protocol both assert that 9. "Precautionary actions must be proportionate, cost-effective, and temporary (subjected to further research)." These qualifications (along with "fairness") have been included in recent statements, no doubt partly to make the precautionary principle more palatable to U.S. officials. While it is difficult to argue against any of them, they could dilute the effectiveness of the principle. For example: Action should indeed be generally proportionate to the severity of a threat and standards of protection. But (as noted above) sometimes the availability of alternatives or the ease of taking action makes decisive action appropriate even if the threat is not severe or imminent. "Cost-effectiveness" and "cost-benefit analysis" have been used in the past to stop regulatory action. Cost considerations, like risk assessments, are easily manipulated: whose costs and whose benefits are considered? The European Commission precautionary principle statement makes the useful assertion that "protection of health takes precedence over economic considerations." If "cost-effectiveness" is defined in this way, then of course precautionary decisions are cost-effective, directing us to the least costly choices. All decisions about technology, positive and negative, should be temporary--that is, open to review and revision based on new knowledge and experience. A precautionary approach has many feedback loops. As uncertainty is reduced, we may say "yes" to some things to which we previously said "no, " and vice versa. This implies that all stakeholders should have access to relevant information. But sometimes the judicious decision will be to turn away from technologies that pose too many uncertainties and offer too few benefits. It will not always make sense to invest limited government resources into continuing research into those SEHN contact information: firstname.lastname@example.org or (701) 763-6286. You are currently subscribed to sehn as: [email@example.com] To unsubscribe, forward this message to leave-sehn-615L@lyris.ombwatch.org To subscribe to the sehn mailing list send a message to firstname.lastname@example.org with the following line: subscribe sehn <your name> subscribe sehn John Q. Public Note: Do not use brackets around your name. List material will be sent to the email address that originates the subscribe message. Pesticide Use and Risk Reduction Project Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems University of Wisconsin - Madison U.S. Mail: 146 Agriculture Hall 608.262.7135 Campus: 1535 Observatory Drive 608.262.5200 Madison, WI 53706 fax 265.3020 To Unsubscribe: Email email@example.com with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". 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Each year, some 230,000 new cases of breast cancer are diagnosed in American women, and about one in eight American women will develop invasive breast cancer at some point. Breast cancer represents the second-most common cancer in women after skin cancer, and it’s the second-leading cause of death in women behind lung cancer, according to The American Cancer Society. Given these alarming numbers, it’s vital for all women to be on the lookout for breast cancer symptoms. Inform your physician about any abnormalities you notice in your breasts, and discuss periodic screening tests with your doctor. In doing so, you may improve your chances of catching breast cancer early on, when the odds of successful treatment are greater. Breast Cancer Symptoms The most common symptom of breast cancer is a hard lump or mass felt in the breast. The lump usually is not movable and may or may not cause pain. Any lumps felt under the arm may be cancer that has spread from breast tissue to the lymph glands under your arm. Other potential breast cancer symptoms include the following: - Breast or nipple pain - Abnormal nipple discharge - Breast swelling - An inverted nipple - Irritation, dimpling, redness, or thickening of the breast skin or nipple Breast Cancer Symptoms: Early Detection Research has found that performing periodic breast self-examinations does not lead to improvements in breast cancer survival. As such, medical associations generally do not support breast self-exams as a screening method for breast cancer. Nevertheless, some women find them beneficial, and experts advise women to understand how their breasts usually look and feel, and to inform their physicians immediately if they notice any potential breast cancer symptoms. The cornerstone of breast cancer screening and early detection is the mammogram, but recommendations regarding when to begin screening mammography, and for how long, vary. For instance: - The National Comprehensive Cancer Network recommends that women who are at average risk of breast cancer undergo yearly mammograms starting at age 40 and continuing as long as they are healthy. - The American Cancer Society endorses annual screening mammography for women ages 45 to 54 and then screening every two years thereafter in healthy women. The organization notes that women should have the option to begin screening at age 40 and continue with annual mammograms after age 54. - The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommends mammography screening every two years and only for women ages 50 to 74. The task force advises women in their 40s to make their own decision about breast cancer screening after weighing the pros and cons with their doctors. When you undergo mammography, ask your doctor if the test shows dense breast tissue. Women with high breast density are significantly more likely to develop breast cancer, and higher breast density may limit the effectiveness of breast cancer screening. Consequently, women with dense breasts may require other testing in addition to a mammogram, such as 3-D mammography, whole-breast ultrasound, or magnetic resonance imaging. Breast Cancer Testing: Other Options If cancer is found, further testing will be done to study the cancer cells and predict how quickly the cancer is likely to grow, the risk that it will spread throughout the body, and the chances that it will recur. One test measures estrogen and progesterone receptors in cancerous tissue—about two-thirds of breast cancers contain receptors for these female hormones. When these hormone receptors are present, especially in high numbers, breast cancer can be stimulated to grow when exposed to estrogen or progesterone. Another test checks for a protein known as HER2/neu. About 20 percent of breast cancers have elevated levels of this protein, which promotes tumor growth. The results of these tests help determine whether breast cancer is hormone receptor-positive or negative, HER2/neu-positive or negative, or triple negative (no positives for estrogen, progesterone or HER2/neu). This information can guide your physician in making treatment recommendations.	56,018
Trade-offs between metal hyperaccumulation and induced disease resistance in metal hyperaccumulator plants Fones HN., Preston GM. Metal hyperaccumulation is an unusual trait involving the uptake and storage of high concentrations of metals in the aerial tissues of plants. A number of hypotheses have been proposed to explain the evolution of the metal hyperaccumulation trait, of which the hypothesis that accumulated metal provides a defence against herbivores or pathogens has received most attention and support. Metal hyperaccumulation requires a range of physiological adaptations that enable plants to take up, transport, sequester and tolerate high concentrations of metal. Such adaptations may confer a fitness cost, and it has been suggested that metal hyperaccumulator plants may compensate for this cost by reducing investment in other traits such as induced disease resistance. This is supported by recent work that shows that metal hyperaccumulators such as Noccaea spp. show reduced or altered production of key components of induced disease resistance. However, an alternative explanation exists, which is that the physiological adaptations involved in metal hyperaccumulation require alterations to, or compromise, functional aspects of plant defence mechanisms. Here, the evidence for trade-offs between metal hyperaccumulation and disease resistance mechanisms is reviewed, and the nature of the physiological adaptations involved in metal hyperaccumulation and their potential to impact other forms of plant defence is discussed. It is suggested that defensive trade-offs may have been key to the evolution of the metal hyperaccumulation trait, resulting in increased dependence upon the protection conferred by metals. © 2013 British Society for Plant Pathology.	155,142
We tried to think up what movies weren't based on books and for the most part we couldn't come up with too many. It's interesting that some of the best movies were books first--The Help, Sherlock Holmes, Hugo, The Three Musketeers. And how many times has the BBC put out another Jane Austen movie? Many of our children's plays are based on stories. Tomorrow, we perform one of the first interactive children's show we came up with--Princess on a Pea. We used Chris's class of third graders to test it on. The next day one of his students found the story in the basal reader and the wide-eyed girl asked if she could read it. Chris was happy to let her. When we perform for children, we like to show them books that go along with the show. We love this Einstein quote: “If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales.” Would it work for us adults as well; could we get more intelligent, too? Nice! The Salem Public Library starts their No Screen Week challenge starting tomorrow. It may be to encourage kids to read more but adults could have a great week by joining in. (http://www.cityofsalem.net/Departments/Library/EventsAndPrograms/children/Pages/childrensactivities.aspx) So, as we like to tell our young audiences at the beginning of our shows: we encourage you to read and "play."	168,327
Republicans Warn of Papist Plot Democrat, anti-Prohibition and Catholic presidential candidate Al Smith found that many of his party had deserted him, though he did carry Massachusetts with its liquor interests, the first Democrat to do so since the War. A previous Democratic presidential candidate knowingly stated: “Smith hasn’t a chance, the Middle West does not know him and does not want him; and the South, of course, won’t have Smith.” Bernhard Thuersam, Circa1865 Republicans Warn of Papist Plot “Smith’s career had been a demonstration of the validity of Americanism. In his own mind, his success had confirmed the premise established by his life . . . that men of diverse backgrounds and different beliefs could nevertheless understand each other. [An opposing view] . . . had begun earlier in the century, in the movement to restrict immigration . . . [and these] fears revived the Ku Klux Klan. Founded in 1915 in Georgia, the organization was still small and powerless at the end of the war. Thereafter it spread rapidly, not only in the South but everywhere in rural and small town America. It was particularly influential in Oregon and Indiana and had significant centers of strength throughout the West. Purification was essential through a return to the old order, through fundamentalism in religion, through abstinence and restraint in personal behavior, and through the forceful exclusion from government and the economy of all alien sources of infection. The millions of adherents of the Roman Church, held in subservience to a foreign despot by an army of priests and bishops, wielded enormous political power through the city machines. Their doctrines and rituals, like their hostility to Prohibition, were a danger to old America. It was necessary to prepare lest they insidiously assume control of the whole nation. Smith did not take the Klan seriously, even in 1924. The “spirit of unrest” was an “unnatural consequence of war” and would soon subside. The Klan, which had heretofore shown itself mostly on the local level, was nonetheless to be pre-eminent issue of the 1924 convention. Much of the strength of the organization was located in the Republican party, which was able to arrive at a tacit decision to evade any mention of the Klan in the campaign. Openly and squarely he faced the religious issue [but] . . . With the covert encouragement of local Republicans, numerous fundamentalist groups spread the tale of the Papist plot to conquer America at the ballot box. Al made no pretense that the problem [of his Catholicism] did not exist. In North Carolina he insisted on speaking on immigration. In Oklahoma City, one of the centers of Klan strength, he launched into an attack upon the forces injecting bigotry “into a campaign which should be an intelligent debate of the important issues.” But now as he looked down upon the stony faces, row upon row of bitter farmers soon to leave their parched lands, he perceived “the dull hostility in their staring at his strangeness and for a moment he felt a premonitory fear, for what had he and they in common?” Through the rimless glasses across his thin parched face, Bishop Cannon had looked bitterly out upon the Houston convention. Control had fallen to the men from the “foreign-populated city called New York,” where “confessedly Satan’s seat is.” Now . . . he was resolved that “no subject of the Pope” should be President.” (Al Smith and His America, Oscar Handlin, Little, Brown and Company, 1958, pp. 117-120; 131-132)	135,752
For example, if your skin normally changes colour after 10 minutes of unprotected sun exposure and you use a sunscreen rated SPF 30, you will get five hours of sun protection (10 minutes x 30 = 300 minutes, which is 5 hours of protection). Does SPF 30 mean 30 minutes? “Imagine that your skin normally begins to burn after 10 minutes in full sun without any protection. A 30 SPF sunscreen would provide 30 times the protection of no sunscreen.” That means 30 times longer before you start to burn, or in this case, 300 minutes. Is SPF 30 enough for everyday? For day-to-day use, pick a sunscreen with sun protection factor (SPF) of at least 30. If you spend time outdoors, choose a product with SPF 60 or greater. In reality, most people do not use as much sunscreen as they should, and this higher SPF helps compensate. How often should you reapply SPF 30? Dermatologists say you should re-apply sunscreen every two hours, especially when you’re at the beach or outside for extended periods of time. Is 30 SPF high enough? When possible, go with a broad-spectrum sunscreen of at least 30 SPF. To be clear, an SPF higher than 30 isn’t harmful or ineffective. If you have SPF 50, use and reapply it as often as you would SPF 30. Is SPF 30 enough for face? Dermatologists recommend using a sunscreen with an SPF of at least 30, which blocks 97 percent of the sun’s UVB rays. Higher-number SPFs block slightly more of the sun’s UVB rays, but no sunscreen can block 100 percent of the sun’s UVB rays. Is SPF 30 or 50 better? A sunscreen with SPF 30 will protect you from around 96.7% of UVB rays, whereas an SPF of 50 means protection from about 98% of UVB rays. Anything beyond SPF 50 makes very little difference in terms of risk of sun damage, and no sunscreens offer 100% protection from UVB rays. Is SPF 30 enough for dark skin? Those with darker skin tones don’t need a daily dose of SPF. But here’s the truth: While melanin does give darker complexions some sun protection, it’s not enough to ward off those damaging rays. (As a reminder: You don’t need a bottle of SPF 100; broad-spectrum SPF 30 is enough). Is SPF 30 enough for indoors? UVA rays can contribute to skin cancer, which is the main reason Park recommends slathering on SPF while inside, and especially if you’re sitting by a window or in a room with lots of sunlight. Zeichner recommends wearing a classic SPF, or a moisturizer that contains sunscreen, with at least broad-spectrum SPF 30. Can you get a tan with SPF 30? Ideal SPF. An SPF also means that a certain percentage of skin-aging UVB rays are still allowed to penetrate the skin. According to the Skin Cancer Foundation , 3 percent of UVB rays can enter your skin with SPF 30, and 2 percent with SPF 50. This is also how you can still get tan while wearing sunscreen. How long does SPF 30 last indoors? If you use sunscreens properly, then yes, they can last many hours if the skin stays dry—up to four to six hours. So depending on what time you applied it, you may still be protected by the time you drive home. Is SPF over 30 a waste? You can buy a product that is labeled as higher than SPF 30, but it’s almost always a waste, and potentially harmful. SPF 30 filters out approximately 97 percent. SPF 50 filters out approximately 98 percent. SPF 100 might get you to 99. Is too much sunscreen bad? The bottom line: Cover up. The science on sun exposure is clear: too much of the sun’s ultraviolet radiation leads to sunburns, rapidly aging skin, and potentially, skin cancer. Is SPF 30 good for acne? Brush on Block Translucent Mineral Powder Sunscreen SPF 30 The ingredients found in this sunscreen are beneficial for oily, acne-prone skin. “It’s all mineral — zinc oxide and titanium dioxide, as well as antioxidants to protect from free radicals — and protects from infrared rays,” King added. Is SPF 60 better than 30? The protection factor of SPF 30 is not double that of SPF 15, nor is SPF 60 twice as effective as SPF 30…… The rationale behind this myth is that if SPF 30 can filter out 96.7% of UV rays, while SPF 60 can filter out 98.3%, the resulting difference is only 1.6% – thus SPF 60 must only be marginally better than SPF 30. Is anything above SPF 30 really work? High-SPF products don’t give you a whole lot more protection. But the truth is that higher-SPF products are only marginally better at shielding you from UVB, according to both the EWG and the Skin Cancer Foundation. SPF 30 blocks nearly 97% of UVB radiation, SPF 50 blocks about 98%, and SPF 100 blocks about 99%. Is SPF 30 bad? When used correctly, sunscreen with SPF values between 30 and 50 offers adequate sunburn protection, even for people most sensitive to sunburn. 4. High-SPF products may pose greater health risks. High-SPF products require higher concentrations of sun-filtering chemicals than low-SPF sunscreens do. How strong is SPF 30? An SPF 30 allows about 3 percent of UVB rays to hit your skin. An SPF of 50 allows about 2 percent of those rays through. That may seem like a small difference until you realize that the SPF 30 is allowing 50 percent more UV radiation onto your skin. Is SPF 30 enough for the beach? Various health authorities have different recommendations, though all agree that SPF 15 is the minimum. For the best protection when you’ll be outside all day at the pool, park, beach, amusement park or elsewhere, SPF 30 or higher is ideal. Is SPF 15 or 30 better? The SPF (Sun Protection Factor) scale is not linear: So, while you may not be doubling your level of protection, an SPF 30 will block half the radiation that an SPF 15 would let through to your skin. It’s complicated, but to keep it simple, most dermatologists recommend using a SPF 15 or SPF 30 sunscreen. Is SPF 30 enough in Australia? SPF rating Sunscreens sold in Australia must be labelled with an SPF of at least 4 to the highest rating of 50+. SunSmart recommends choosing a sunscreen labelled SPF30 or higher that is also broad-spectrum (will filter out both types of UV radiation) and water-resistant.	173,096
A sand table is just that, a table with high sides and an open top filled with sand. It is used for landscape simulation to provide a visual reference for planning and coordination. The most common use for a sand table is to devise military tactics to address a situation and briefing unit members about said plan. In that application little plastic people are also used, creating a scene little different than that of kids playing in sand with trucks and toys. The importance of having a visual three-dimensional landscape reference is critical in combat planning, as lines of sight (and fire), available cover, and maneuver goals can be easily determined and explained to others.	125,240
Four seasons did not suffice for Laplanders and the Sami people in the olden days. Instead, they structured time into eight periods: autumn-winter; winter; spring-winter; spring; spring-summer; summer; summer-autumn and autumn. The four main seasons were supplemented in this way by four “half-seasons”. The warm, moonlit nights of August belong to summer; however, August comes with a hint of autumn’s crispness and its piercing, melancholic light. It only takes a couple of cold, frosty nights, and the autumn-summer turns into autumn. When leaves begin to fall and lakes become covered with fog and ice at night, autumn has arrived in full force, though it is not quite yet autumn-winter. Pakkastalvi (‘frosty winter’) is the first season of the year. The New Year festivities have come to an end, and it is dark, cold and quiet until March or April when, soon after the Lental Season, hankikanto (‘the spring of crusted snow’) arrives. The amount of light increases significantly, even though it is still dark and cold at night. With increased light, everything in nature begins to awake. At the first sign of spring, jäidenlähtökevät (literally ‘ice break-up’) begins: snow still covers the ground, but the first plants begin to appear, and reindeer give birth to calves. The first stoneflies begin to crawl on the snow near the waterfront. Once the sun no longer sets, the ‘light green summer’ (keskiyönauringon aika), or the time of the midnight sun, begins. With 24 hours of daylight, the entire ecosystem lives in ecstasy. The ‘harvest time’ (sadonkorjuunaika) begins when the willowherb blossoms, and days begin to get shorter. This is followed by ruska or ‘colourful autumn’ when the fiery autumn colours remind us that soon the ground will be covered by ice and snow again. And then... the ‘first snow’ (mustalumi) arrives, only to melt during the first days of mild weather. The frost that follows this period of “black snow” will freeze the ground. The last season, ending the yearly cycle, is Christmas (joulukaamos), a period of constant darkness. The long polar nights are followed by the greatest celebration of the year: Christmas - a celebration of rebirth, light and letting go of the old. There were valid reasons for dividing time into eight distinctive seasons. By predicting weather and carrying out seasonal tasks according to the weather signs, the northern way of life gave birth to the northern state of mind: a mentality which imitates nature. Nature is in a constant state of change, simultaneously in the present season while on the way to the next. This is also true of humans: we are constantly in a state of flux; always moving on and preparing for tomorrow. The structures and institutions of society may change, but mentalities, moulded by nature, remain practically unchanged through generations. In this way, the eight seasons have also remained. In a number of ways, they still influence the things we do, what we feel and how we think, all the time. The eight seasons give a rhythm to this website as well. The pictures on the site and its colours also change according to the seasons.	12,615
Spirulina benefits are commonly recognized by numerous experts. Many times, spirulina gets misclassified as a herb due to its great health-promoting properties, though, it is actually blue-green algae or bacteria that’s found in rivers, ponds, and freshwater lakes. It is widely considerate as one of the most nutritionally complete superfoods in the world, as it provides health benefits to practically every bodily and organ function. What is spirulina? Definition: Spirulina is a natural blue-green “algae” (cyanobacteria) powder, which is really high in protein and a great source of B-vitamins, antioxidants, and many other nutrients. When harvested appropriately from non-contaminated bodies of water and ponds, it’s one of the most powerful nutrient sources available 1 . It got its name from the Latin term for “spiral” or “helix” due to its spring-like physical characteristic. It’s largely made up of essential amino acids and protein and is usually recommended for vegetarians because of its high natural iron content. The high concentration of iron and protein also makes it ideal after surgery, during pregnancy, or each time your immune system needs a boost. In the U.S., spirulina is commonly known as an ingredient to add a nutrient boost to green drinks and smoothies and as a nutritional supplement. However, in some other parts of the world, spirulina is considered as a valuable food source to prevent malnutrition. Spirulina is recommended by many health professionals due to its great nutrient content that can be beneficial for your brain and body 2 . Here are the evidence-based health benefits of spirulina: - Helps the Body Detox Naturally Spirulina benefits body cleansing. It has really high concentration of chlorophyll, which is one of nature’s best detoxifying agents. Plus, it has been found to be effective at helping eliminate toxins from the blood, and it binds to radioactive isotopes and heavy metals, making it very helpful for those undergoing radioactive therapy. Eases PMS Symptoms and Reduces Inflammation Spirulina is one of the best sources of Gamma-linolenic acid (GLA), which is one of the most potent anti-inflammatory agents in nature. Gamma-linolenic acid is also especially beneficial to women, as it could decrease the symptoms of PMS. Moreover, it has 26-times the calcium of milk as well, making it an exceptional nutritional supplement for pregnant women. - Keeping Eyes Healthy Spirulina is a perfect supplement for those who have eye issues, or looking to improve their eye health. It is rich in vitamin A – a vitamin that is exceptionally significant for healthy eyes. For this exact same reason, consuming more carrots has long been suggested to those looking to improve their eye health, but this superfood actually has 10 times the vitamin A concentration gram per gram of carrot. - Supports Digestion Spirulina benefits don’t stop here! This superfood can ease the passage of waste throughout the digestive system, thus reducing stress on the system. Spirulina also promotes “good” bacteria in the digestive system and can boost the absorption of dietary nutrients. - Immune Response Spirulina has long been valued for its ability to improve the immune system. Because it promotes cell regeneration, it assists wounds heal quicker and supports recovery from ailments occur faster. This superfood fortifies one’s immune system and helps prevent colds, flu, and many other contractible illnesses. Related: Do You Have Just a Cold… or The Flu? Difference Between Cold and Flu Other Spirulina Benefits - Spirulina is a source of B- vitamins (thiamine, riboflavin, nicotinamide, pyridoxine, folic acid, and cobalamin), vitamin K1, vitamin K2, and vitamin E. - It’s very high in bio-available iron, making it helpful to those with pregnancy or anemia, with reduced risk of constipation. - It has 4 times the antioxidant abilities of blueberries. - As we mentioned before, spirulina is a good source of protein: gram per gram more so than soybeans, fish, poultry, and beef. It is also a source of zinc, selenium, phosphorus, manganese, magnesium, copper, chromium, and potassium. Spirulina Nutrition Facts Taken as an average of diverse spirulina species, 1 ounce of spirulina contains this nutritional content 3 : - Dietary fiber: 1 g - Protein: 39 g - Sugars: 9g - Saturated fat: 4% DV - Total fat: 3% DV - Omega-6 fatty acids: 351 mg - Omega-3 fatty acids: 230 mg - Pantothenic Acid: 10% - Riboflavin: 60% - Niacin: 18% - Thiamin: 44% - Vitamin K: 9% - Folate: 7% - Vitamin E: 7% - Vitamin C: 5% - Vitamin B6: 5% - Vitamin A: 3% - Iron: 44% - Copper: 85% - Magnesium: 14% - Manganese: 27% - Potassium: 11% - Sodium: 12% - Zinc: 4% - Selenium: 3% - Calcium: 3% - Phosphorus: 3% *DV – daily value Note: In contradiction to many beliefs, spirulina isn’t a good source of Vitamin B12 for humans. According to studies, while it does contain some B12, it’s pseudovitamin B12 that isn’t effective or absorbable in humans 4 . How to Consume Spirulina? Make sure to choose organic spirulina when buying, as others can have nitrate compounds as additive or can be contaminated. Spirulina tastes like pond water, so many people prefer using spirulina supplements. You can also mix it with water and drink straight – though some individuals have trouble with this. The phosphorous makes it beneficial for the tooth re-mineralizing regimen, and it’s ideal taken with an Omega-3 source. Its potent anti-inflammatory properties have been beneficial to people with joint pain or some other types of inflammation. How much spirulina should I consume? Recommended daily dose of spirulina: The dose of spirulina used in research examining its properties varies greatly. Generally, 1 to 8 g per day of spirulina has been found to have some effect. However, the exact doses depend on the health condition its being used for: - For cholesterol: 1 to 8 g a day have been used - For muscle performance: 2 to 7.5 g a day may be impactful - For blood glucose control: mild effects have been seen with 2 g daily - Blood pressure:5 to 4.5 g a day - Fatty liver:5 g a day showed positive effected Spirulina is about 1 percent phycocyanobilin by weight and 20 percent C-phycocyanin by weight. Further studies are required to determine whether spirulina needs to be taken once a day, or in lesser doses, several times per day. Note: It’s not recommended to exceed the maximum dose mentioned above, as no any clear benefits have been found beyond that level. Spirulina Possible Side Effects In general, spirulina is safe to use. However, it is absolutely critical to make sure that the purity and quality of the spirulina that you ingest are of the highest standards. Above all, like everything that comes from the sea, be certain to only buy blue-green algae which are free from contamination. Contaminated spirulina can cause the following, according to WebMD 5 : - Stomach pain - Liver damage - Rapid heartbeat - Shock, and even death Likewise, some sources suggest that children and pregnant women shouldn’t consume algae. Consult your health care provider to confirm whether or not you need to use spirulina supplement. Spirulina is an alga which can be taken as a supplement in either powder or pill form. Today, many health professionals promote spirulina benefits and recommend it as a treatment for a range of heart health and metabolism issues, including high cholesterol, weight loss, and diabetes, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH). People may also recommend this supplement as an aid for various emotional and mental disorders, including attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), stress, anxiety, and depression. Does spirulina work? According to NIH, there is not enough scientific evidence to determine if this alga is effective in treating health conditions. Though, spirulina benefits are still appreciated due to its high amounts of niacin, calcium, magnesium, iron, B-vitamins, and potassium. It also contains essential amino acids (which are the building blocks of proteins).	19,713
On Karl Wieland's idiot site, I came across this short article entitled, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dinosaur? where Don Batton, the one who wrote the article, gave out some distorted information on Chinese dragons, which never in fact looked like dinosaurs at all, while at the same time give out untruthful claims about dinosaurs being dragons people saw alive in ancient times. First he claims that the Chinese-English Dictionary (published in China in 1979) gave the meanings behind 'dragon' as 'dinosaur' and falsely claims that the dictionary recognized the dragon to be real. If so, then where are their remains? Where are all the 'dragon' bones found alongside of tigers and humans in China? If the answer's 'nowhere', you're right! 'Dragon' and tiger bones together are nowhere to be found in both historical and prehistorical records! He then says that the Chinese word for dinosaur, which is konglung, means "mighty dragon" in a paleontology sense. In a way, dragons are dinosaurs per se'. But what inspired the Chinese people is not what Batton falsely asserts. Fossil remains of dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals (mostly early Cenozoic Mammals) and live sightings of crocodiles and snakes are the true inspirations behind dragon legends, especially in China. Fictional live sightings of dinosaurs, Mesozoic sea monsters, and pterosaurs are not. However, when he said, "….-remember that the English word 'dinosaur' was not invented until 1841 [It's 1842, not 1841! They all have it one year off on the year Richard Owen coined the phrase 'dinosaur' or Dinosauria meaning "fearfully great lizards"]." ..he falsely implies that dinosaurs and dragons are one and the same while they are in fact not. He then gives out some old Chinese sayings that involves tigers and dragons such as, 'like a coiling dragon and crouching tiger (translated in Chinese as Lo'ng Teng Hu Yo)' meaning "a forbidding strategic point". A variation on this saying inspired the title of the recent award-winning Chinese movie, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (or Wo Hu Cang Lo'ng) meaning "a benign looking place with powerful hidden forces". 'Dragon's pool and tiger's den (translated in Chinese as Lo'ng Tan Hu Hsueh)' meaning "a dangerous place". 'Dragons rising and tigers leaping' (translated in Chinese as Lo'ng Teng Hu Yo) meaning "a scene of bustling activity." Batton then states, "Furthermore, of the twelve symbols used in the Chinese lunar calendar cycle, eleven are real animals (pig, rat, rabbit, tiger, etc.), suggesting that the remaining one, the dragon, is equally real." Circular reasoning is what Batton displaying here, falsely implying that since all of the 11 animals in the Chinese Zodiac are real, then the dragon must be real too, or so he assumes. The truth of the matter is that putting dragons alongside real animals don't make them any more real than putting unicorns, elves, fairies, and gnomes alongside deer, rabbits, and other real types of forest animals. Unfortunately, creationists like Batton don't know better. With these Chinese sayings and symbols involving dragons and tigers, Batton uses them to his advantage and came up with this blatant falsehood, "The above evidence is consistent with identifying dinosaurs with the dragons of Chinese history as real animals that have lived not too long ago. This contradicts the whole idea of an 'age of dinosaurs' millions of years before people existed, and further supports the Biblical account of the real history of the world." It would indeed contradict the idea of dinosaurs living millions of years ago before man IF we find evidence of dinosaurs and human remains mixed together in the fossil record as well as finding tombs of humans and their dinosaur companions buried together and valid artifacts depicting them that do not have the letters H-O-A-X written all over it. But none are found! Especially in China. So, why should it be consistent then when this is nothing more than the likes of Battan fabricating dragon legends to make it as if they are what they think they are while in reality they're not? Batton never gets it in his head that the word 'dragon' comes from the Latin word drakon meaning 'snake' or 'serpent.' The dragons of China resembled coiling twisting snakes with four limbs and wolf like heads, dear like antlers and carp scales, and the ability to control the weather and change into a different forms. Dinosaurs could do no such thing and have no such features on them at all. And this is Shantungosaurus, a Hadrosaur that lived 80 million years ago. Now, does the dragon, in the first link, looks exactly like the dinosaur in the second link? I don't think so! There is not one dinosaur alive and extinct that bore a body that resembled snakes and/or lizards. They have bodies and anatomy like birds and mammals, instead. The Chinese dragon may have originated from early sightings of not live non-avian dinosaurs, but snakes, fish and crocodiles. Especially sightings of an huge ancient giant crocodile Crocodilus Porosis this crocodile senses the coming rains in the most accurate way thus gave the people the idea of dragons controlling the weather. When one looks at the true history of the Chinese dragon, that person, especially you, can bet with certainty that the real story of the Chinese dragon has zero to do with dinosaurs, despite what Batton idiotically assumes.	28,490
Can you find a way to identify times tables after they have been shifted up or down? Imagine we have four bags containing a large number of 1s, 4s, 7s and 10s. What numbers can we make? Caroline and James pick sets of five numbers. Charlie tries to find three that add together to make a multiple of three. Can they stop him? Imagine we have four bags containing numbers from a sequence. What numbers can we make now? Here is a machine with four coloured lights. Can you develop a strategy to work out the rules controlling each light? A game for two people, or play online. Given a target number, say 23, and a range of numbers to choose from, say 1-4, players take it in turns to add to the running total to hit their target. An introduction to the notation and uses of modular arithmetic	123,301
North Atlantic right whales just lost in court, and that decision could possibly sentence the last remaining 300 whales to extinction. In a disappointing decision, the court denied our motion for summary judgment in a lawsuit that challenged the Navy’s reckless decision to construct and operate a 500-square-mile undersea warfare training range next to the whales’ only known calving ground near Jacksonville, Florida. Scientists believe the loss of even one right whale from non-natural causes could jeopardize the future of the entire species. Hunted nearly to extinction, North Atlantic right whales teeter on the edge of survival – with only about 300 to 400 remaining. Despite the judge’s acknowledgement that right whales are “the world’s most critically endangered large whale species” and that their only known calving ground is “vital to the population,” she sided with the Navy’s plan to build an underwater sonar training range right next to that calving ground. The National Marine Fisheries Service has specifically recognized the importance of this calving ground as a "very high-risk area for pregnant females, new mothers, and calves." Once constructed, the Navy’s undersea warfare training range will be the site of intensive, year-round sonar training exercises, effectively transforming the waters into an epicenter of sonar use. Sonar has caused mass injuries and deaths of whales around the globe. In addition to injury and death, sonar can also induce panic responses, displace animals, and disrupt crucial behavior such as feeding, breeding, navigating, and avoiding predators. To make matters worse, the Navy specifically rejected repeated requests from the states of Georgia and Florida, scientists, conservation groups and concerned citizens to implement mitigation measures that could reduce the harmful impacts of its sonar training – including seasonal restrictions during the right whale calving period. This means that sonar training exercises will be conducted year-round on the new training range, while right whale calves are being born and nursed. In other words, mothers and calves will be put in extremely stressful situations at the most vulnerable time in their life. Unfortunately, this court ruling gives the Navy a judicial stamp of approval to do just that: steamroll ahead with its plans to construct and operate an undersea warfare training range right next to their only known calving ground. It’s a bad day for endangered right whales. Photo Credit: NOAA	103,942
The main problem related to button HTML href is that it can be difficult to style the button in a way that looks consistent across different browsers. Additionally, when using an anchor tag with a href attribute, the link will open in the same window by default, which may not be desirable for certain types of links. Finally, if the href attribute is not properly configured, clicking on the button may result in an error page. <button><a href="">Click Here</a></button> 1. This line of code creates a button element in HTML. 2. Inside the button element, there is an anchor tag with an empty href attribute. 3. The anchor tag contains the text “Click Here”. Definition of HREF HREF stands for Hypertext Reference and is an HTML attribute used to define a hyperlink. It is used to link one page to another, either on the same website or a different website. The HREF attribute specifies the destination of the link and can be used with other HTML elements such as , , and To style an anchor tag as a button in HTML, you can use the following code: Then add the following CSS to your stylesheet: background-color: #4CAF50; /* Green */ padding: 15px 32px; display: inline-block; font-size: 16px; margin: 4px 2px; cursor: pointer;}	126,924
Hipot is an abbreviation for high potential. A hipot test checks for “good . Hipot is short for high potential ( high voltage). What images do people on the. How do these hipot tests. Best Methods for Safe Hipot Testing. With all the high voltage. When working with electrical safety test equipment, instruments that output potentially dangerous voltages and currents, it is . Ground Continuity Test – This test is usually used to deter. The hi-pot test is another safety subject of which few of us feel comfortable that we are in control. Megger and hi-pot tests are standard in the electrical industry for determining the integrity for electrical conductors and components. Typically, there are two different types of test: design verification (DVT) and safety testing, which may take . However, the standards state that production hi-pot testing should not exceed 500VAC, or its DC-rectified equivalent of 121VDC, from input . CABLE FAULT LOCATION SYSTEMS. Addressing the task of power cable diagnostics and fault location,. HiPot Testers available from Megger are used to test the dielectric strength of electrical insulation and ground circuit continuity of three-wire appliances and . DC Hipot tests by Electrom are important non-destructive tests that can come with programmable test profiles, step voltage and ramp tests. Designing Hipot Test Stations an overview. Der Hipot – Test von MiniTec ermöglicht die zuverlässige Prüfung Ihrer Werkstücke und Werkstoffe und erhöht Ihren Qualitätsstandard. Jorel Townsen an applications engineer at Chroma USA, tells us that hipot test voltages typically range from 500V to 3kV. However as Shari Richardson, director of engineering at . Portable DC Hipot Test Equipment by HVTechnologies. HiPot tests help guarantee the safety and quality of electrical circuits and insulation. Although the focus is on rotor windings,. Hi-Pot Test Set consist of general-purpose ac high-voltage sources suitable for dielectric withstand testing of all types of electrical insulation. I supose it does make sense. Inventronics Hipot Testing. The term “hipot” stands for high potential and is an electrical safety stress test. There are different types of electrical tests that will take place, depending upon the reasons for the test. Purpose: To prevent failure due to wrong procedure followed for Hipot test. Scope: Applicable to all end system user of power supply,. Yields were good at first. HIPOT TEST LOADS – MODELS MLAND ML12. Hipot safety testing is the most important type of electrical test.	97,897
American researcher Elizabeth Parrish, who went to a unique gene therapy in order to preserve their own youth, came to Moscow together with AVI Roy, a specialist in the field of biogerontology from Oxford. As reported, last fall, Parrish was introduced to the gene follistatin and viruses that were supposed not only to stop the aging process, but to facilitate their rejuvenation. The experiment was carried out in Colombian territory. Photo: Elizabeth Parrish As writes “Komsomolskaya Pravda”, the genetic material must get inside the nucleus of every cell of a woman and to get certain changes that contribute to rejuvenation at the genetic level. Representatives of several media reported that nine months after the operation, the woman really looks quite young (however, it is worth considering that it would be a considerable exaggeration to call her old and from a purely biological point of view — today Elizabeth only 44 years). Parrish also argues that the ongoing therapy allows her to stay in good physical shape without having to go to the gym. According to Parrish, earlier experiments, like the one in which she was involved, were conducted only on laboratory animals, so in order to test the effectiveness and safety of new techniques, she was introduced to a minimal amount of genetic material. Elizabeth also claims that in the near future will complete the analysis of leather before and some time after the operation, which will allow you to figure out whether or achieved the desired goal. It is worth noting that some distrust information about genetic therapy, proven to Elizabeth Parrish. However, recently in the prestigious scientific journal Nature Communications was published close on the subject of the study, accepted by the scientific world more seriously. A group of researchers from Spain in the experiment on mice found out that rodents with long telomeres live longer than “normal”. Telomeres — the end portions of chromosomes do not contain genes and decreasing in size at each cell division.Related posts:	188,127
This article explains why urinary tract infections in men, although quite rare, can be truly troubling. Urinary tract infection (UTI) affects both women and men of all ages, although it’s far more prevalent among the former. The reason behind this lies in the anatomical differences between the two sexes. In men, the distance between the anus and the urethral opening is much longer compared with that in women. Males also have a longer urethra, which makes it harder for UTI-causing bacteria like Escherichia coli to reach the bladder and kidneys. This isn’t to say, however, that men are completely lucky. Prevalence in men Out of the annual 8.3 million doctor visits spurred on by UTIs, 20% are from men. Between years 1988 and 1994, the National Health and Examination Survey estimated that per 100 000 males, 13 689 were affected by some form of this infection. It was also found that as men age, they become more susceptible to this ailment. In terms of race, however, Asians were also seen to be less vulnerable to this infection, compared with African Americans, Hispanics, and Caucasian. Should you be worried? Because urinary infections in adult males are quite rare, it’s usually an indication of an underlying urological condition. So until otherwise proven, it should be regarded as a complicated case. Some of the possible underlying causes of UTI in men are as follows: - Prostatitis. Men with prostatitis suffer from inflamed and enlarged prostate gland. The abnormal swelling of the gland may obstruct the outflow of urine from the bladder. This leads to accumulation and multiplication of bacteria that may cause urinary infection. - Urethral stricture. This refers to narrowing of the urethra caused by injury or infection. - Bladder neck obstruction. The bladder neck is a group of muscles connecting the bladder and urethra. They typically tighten to hold urine in the bladder. When unable to relax or open completely, it prevents urine from flowing out to the urethral opening. - Prostate cancer. The most common cancer in men, affecting millions worldwide, can produce or worsen symptoms of UTI. - Tight phimosis. Phimosis is a condition wherein the foreskin cannot be pulled back, which may cause difficulty in urinating. Other alarming causes of UTI symptoms in men are kidney and bladder stones as well as tumor in various parts of the urinary system. Aside from the pathophysiological underlying complications of UTI given above, there are a number of factors that make some men more susceptible to this ailment. For instance, uncircumcised men may have an increased risk to this infection. This is one of the reasons why many medical practitioners recommend young boys to be circumcised during infancy. When the urethra is not covered by foreskin, it’s less exposed to bacteria undergrowth that may otherwise occur. Another factor that could increase men’s risk to urinary infections is medical instrumentation. Examples of this are catheters, a tube used to drain the bladder, and cystoscopy, the process of inserting a tiny camera to examine the urethra and bladder. Another thing to watch out for is recurring UTI. It’s often a tell-tale sign that there’s a more complex medical issue going on, such as those enumerated above. Diagnosis and treatment If you suspect you have its symptoms — such as urinating more often than usual or balisawsaw (especially at night), pain or burning sensation upon urinating, and pressure in the lower abdomen—it’s advisable to seek medical help right away. The process is fairly simple. Usually, your health care provider would gather a full history about your sex habits, condom use, previous cases of urinary infections, and other relevant conditions. Next, a urine sample will be analyzed to detect strains of bacteria. The results of the urinalysis are often immediately available. In some cases, a doctor would recommend further testing to examine other types of infection that may exacerbate your UTI symptoms	79,857
Book Egg is about hatching. Hatching out tips about terrific books to read. Hatching out fun and informative activities to go with those books. Hatching out ideas to help educators and families assist kids on their reading journeys. Book Egg is about sharing because learning is sharing your knowledge. But when Bot accidently gets switched off, Boy thinks Bot is sick and tucks him in to rest. When Bot is suddenly switched back on and discovers Boy asleep, he thinks Boy is malfunctioning. A clever inventor comes to everyone's rescue and helps solve the little misunderstanding. Ame Dyckman is one of the nicest authors and people I have met on Twitter. She is a big supporter of libraries and librarians. We love her. VIsit her website here. We love Bot so much that we decided to include him in our Dot Day Celebration this year. I set up a Dot Day Celebration library center with paper circles, crayons, markers, and bits of yarn, stickers, and anything else I could find and the kids used the supplies to express their creativity on a dot. I saw some remarkably creative dots. We have many clever kids in our school. Let's Give Bot the Chicken Pox! Step 1: Read Boy + Bot. Step 2: Let kids decorate and cut out dots to put on Bot.	110,308
full title · Ragtime author · Edgar Lawrence Doctorow type of work · Novel genre · Historical fiction; national bildungsroman language · English time and place written · United States, 1970s date of first publication · 1975 publisher · Random House narrator · Anonymous and omniscient. The narrative voice is ambiguous. Perhaps it is the little boy at a later point; perhaps it is Tateh's little girl; perhaps it is both of them. point of view · This novel is narrated in the third person omniscient; occasionally the narrator speaks in the first person plural. tone · Ironic, rhetorical tense · Past and present setting (time) · From 1900 to 1917 setting (place) · New York City; New Rochelle, New York; Lawrence, Massachusetts; the pyramids of Egypt protagonist · The role of the protagonist is shared by all the main characters. major conflict · Coalhouse Walker attempts to execute a revolution, while Father and his family react to the changing times. rising action · Father's voyage to the North Pole; Conklin's damage of Coalhouse Walker's car climax · Coalhouse's seizure of the Morgan residence falling action · Coalhouse's death themes · The Difficulty of Accepting Change; The Struggle for Stability and Meaning; The Impact of Technological Development on Culture; Imprisonment and False Liberation motifs · The Nature of Historical Truth; The Motion Picture and Photography; The Ambiguity of the Narrative Voice symbols · Coalhouse Walker; Father; Evelyn Nesbit foreshadowing · In the first chapter, the description of Father's family in New Rochelle has a certain tentative, precarious quality that foreshadows he subsequent shocks they will experience. Readers' Notes allow users to add their own analysis and insights to our SparkNotes—and to discuss those ideas with one another. Have a novel take or think we left something out? Add a Readers' Note!	186,885
Facts about the ASTM D3921 Standard Test Method The ASTM D3921 is a standard test method for Oil and Grease and Petroleum Hydrocarbons in Water. Its importance is based on unique advantages such as accuracy, short measurement time and ease of use. The method is using CFCs for infrared spectroscopy and was withdrawn by ASTM in 2013. This withdrawl marked the end of a long history using CFCs for infrared spectroscopy. Till the end this infrared test method still found use in spectroscopic applications at many industrial sites and remote places. Since 1980 the infrared based method ASTM D3921 was the standard method for measuring total petroleum hydrocarbon concentrations in water. ERACHECK is using the test method ASTM D7678 which is a very useful alternative for ASTM D3921 since 2011. (Andreas Schwarzmann, R&D) In 1989 the phase out of ozone-depleting substances (CFCs and HCFCs) was planned by the Montreal Protocol. The infrared test methods continuously started to become replaced by gravimetry (e.g. EPA 1664A) or gas chromatography (e.g. ISO 9377-2). However, the alternative methods require more laborious and careful operation in a laboratory environment. ASTM D3921 requires the use of the extraction solvent 1,1,2-trichloro-1,2,2-trifluoroethane.	189,690
Original Source: Washington Examiner As Congress and the new administration focus on infrastructure, we have our own infrastructure challenges in Washington, D.C., none more than with our storm and sanitary sewer systems. Technological innovations are among the sources of those challenges, and innovation will be key to effective response. Sewer systems are exposed to constant abuse. During a major storm in Washington, water flow can rise in minutes from a trickle to a 12-foot-high billion-gallons-an-hour cascade. Few realize how much these floods sweep through: entire car engines, animal carcasses, large slabs of concrete. Without constant attention, the need for Combined Sewer Overflow tunnels along with sewer system upgrades and repair can overwhelm the city's hardworking, but thinly stretched, staff. And as DC Water's general manager George Hawkins wrote three years ago, "[D]eferred maintenance in the past is haunting us today, even if we are upgrading and rebuilding as fast as we can." Our facilities for disposing of human waste need special attention. Part of Washington's 600-mile sanitary sewer system dates back to 1810. Construction materials include, (and this is the city government's own list), "brick and concrete, vitrified clay, reinforced concrete, ductile iron, plastic, steel, brick, cast iron, cast in place concrete, and even fiberglass." In 2009, after five years of study, DC Water's Sewer System Facilities Plan reported that 88 percent of our sanitary sewers had defects. The CSO tunnels, sewer relining, and a new sewer pumping station currently under construction are just part of the system upgrade. DC Water has become a national leader in rapid response and communication with customers when systems are stressed. The ability of Hawkins and his staff to deploy quickly during a big weather event and their use of special screens to keep pumps free of the clutter that comes through may appear low tech to some, but actually reflect ingenuity and innovation. By themselves, these improvements will not overcome the impact of a technological innovation that many DC Water customers rely on but too many abuse. In recent decades, numerous plastic-infused cleaning wipes have come to market. Baby wipes are the best known. All carry "do not flush" warning labels. When flushed down toilets (despite the warning, a frequent occurrence), they sometimes combine into huge agglomerations of fats, oil and grease, the notorious Fatbergs (as our friends in London dub them) that are triggering sewer system backups around the world. For Washington, clearing Fatbergs inflates operating costs at pumping stations and the main Blue Plains Wastewater Treatment Plant. In response, the city council voted in December to prohibit the kinds of personal-cleaning wipes that are supposed to be flushable from being labeled as flushable. These wipes do not contain plastic and are designed to come apart in discharge pipes, much like toilet paper. Mayor Bowser signed the bill earlier this month. The practical result will be a ban on the local sale of a class of innovative products found in 20 percent of households nationally and used by nursing homes to care for elderly patients. The problem is that, despite DC Water's communications, many of the banned products' users will be sure to turn to non-flushables and flush them anyway, aggravating the Fatberg problem. Last year, a New York City-commissioned study found that only two percent of the contents of Fatbergs came from flushable wipes, most of that barely identifiable. Plastic-containing wipes were more that 30 percent and largely intact. I agree with the wastewater community that we need standards to assure that all wipe products are safe for our systems. But on Dec. 7th, the day after the city council vote, a Federal District Court in New York City ruled that the Federal Trade Commission had established an "acceptable national standard" for the product, making state and local standards "not acceptable." The city council should provide a mechanism for the Department of Consumer & Regulatory Affairs and DC Water to approve these products without having to expend valuable and extremely scarce resources. Instead of burdening those agencies, it would be better to call for manufacturer self-certification backed by evidence that the product breaks apart in accordance with the FTC standard. The self-certification and data would be presented to the two agencies for approval. The city council is the first in the country to prohibit a promising innovation such as cleaning wipes. A wise city council would modify the law to avoid placing additional burdens on already thinly-stretched agencies while accommodating technological innovation.	135,872
Adherence to these guidelines can help reduce cancer risk. adherence to these guidelines will help reduce cancer risk. . There is evidence that all types of alcoholic beverages can increase your risk of breast cancer, pancreatic cancer and its cancer. If you must drink alcohol, you must limit the amount of alcohol you can drink. Women can’t drink more than one drink a day, and men can’t drink more than two. Eating more fruits and vegetables, including beans, can help reduce the risk of some cancers. Half of every meal should be filled with colorful fruits and vegetables. eat less high calorie, high-fat, low nutrition food add sugar and high-fat food will lead to weight gain, and will occupy most of the space, to more healthy, cancer prevention food left space will be very small, you can still enjoy your favorite food, just can eat a small amount of high calorie food.	12,978
Step 6: Category 4: External, Economic/Technical Causes of Financial Distress This category includes: - Economic Stagnation - Shifting Demographics Not all localities are treated the same by economic recessions. Some recover faster than others. Local governments must think about their prospects for economic recovery in the context of local conditions. For example, fiscal distress occurs when the traditional basis of a local economy declines or goes away, or changes in such a way that it provides less support to the community than it once did. Distress also takes place when the traditional economy changes in such a way that it provides less support to the community. This happens when local production stays strong but, because of improved technology and productivity, it no longer provides the employment it once did. - Industries vulnerable to stagnation. Are the industries that are large employers in the community particularly vulnerable to the recession? For example, tourism has been traditionally vulnerable to recessions and has been particularly hard hit by the COVID 19 pandemic. - Lack of diversity in economic base. Are the government’s revenues dependent on a narrow range of economic activities? - Revenues vulnerable to recession. Do the government’s important revenues sources perform especially badly under adverse economic circumstances? For example, a sales tax base that is highly dependent on construction spending will probably not do well. - Other signs of stagnation. Are any of the following evident in your community: declining population; the best education and most ambitious moving out; the poor and under-skilled moving in; commercial and residential property occupancy and prices fall; high paying jobs disappearing? Contributed by Douglas C. Robinson and Charles L. Sizemore Independent of the larger economy, changes in demographics can cause fiscal distress by increasing the relative size of population segments that consume more in public services than they contribute in taxes. Shifting demographics can also lead to distress if the demands of new constituents are not consistent with existing capacities. For example, areas with slow-growing and aging populations may find themselves with excess capacity in their schools. Perhaps most importantly, demographics play an important role in the level and composition of retail spending. Men and women in their late 40s tend to make the biggest overall impact on consumer spending. An area with a larger percentage of its population approaching that age should benefit from strong spending, a healthier job market, and greater sales tax revenue. - Aging population. Is your population reaching a tipping point in which a significant number will be entering retirement and reducing spending? - Coming youth cohort. Today’s newborn is a kindergartener five years from now, making an increase in birthrates a precursor of increasing costs. Do local birthrates to foreshadow a coming youth cohort? - Changing residential mix. What age and income groups are moving into the area? What kinds are leaving? What are the rough numerical estimates of each? Talk to local real estate agents as they are likely to see trends in these areas.	171,145
Bob Dylan is 70 on Tuesday: Andy Gill gives that many reasons why he is the most important figure in pop-culture history 1. Because he wrote the song "Blowin' in the Wind". 2. Because he made teenagers interested in poetry again. He offered a route into symbolists like Rimbaud, Verlaine and Baudelaire, and City Lights beats like Ginsberg, Corso and Ferlinghetti. 3. Because when Martin Luther King Jr gave his legendary "I have a dream" speech, Dylan wasn't just in the audience, he was on stage a few feet from Dr King, having just sung "Only a Pawn in Their Game" and "Blowin' in the Wind". 4. Because he invented folk-rock. 5. Because he's a member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. keyboard shortcuts: V vote up article J next comment K previous comment	179,082
(Reaffirmed 2011, Replaces No. 304, November 2004) This document reflects emerging clinical and scientific advances as of the date issued and is subject to change. The information should not be construed as dictating an exclusive course of treatment or procedure to be followed. ABSTRACT: Early identification and treatment of all pregnant women with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is the best way to prevent neonatal disease and improve the woman's health. Human immunodeficiency virus screening is recommended for all pregnant women after they are notified that they will be tested for HIV infection as part of the routine panel of prenatal blood tests unless they decline the test (ie, opt-out screening). Repeat testing in the third trimester, or rapid HIV testing at labor and delivery as indicated or both also are recommended as additional strategies to further reduce the rate of perinatal HIV transmission. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists makes the following recommendations: obstetrician–gynecologists should follow opt-out prenatal HIV screening where legally possible; repeat conventional or rapid HIV testing in the third trimester is recommended for women in areas with high HIV prevalence, women known to be at high risk for acquiring HIV infection, and women who declined testing earlier in pregnancy; rapid HIV testing should be used in labor for women with undocumented HIV status following opt-out screening; and if a rapid HIV test result in labor is positive, immediate initiation of antiretroviral prophylaxis should be recommended without waiting for the results of the confirmatory test. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that 40,000 new cases of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection still occur in the United States each year (1). This figure includes approximately 138 infants infected via mother-to-child (vertical) transmission (2). Antiretroviral medications given to women with HIV perinatally and to their newborns in the first weeks of life reduce the vertical transmission rate from 25% to 2% or less (3–6). Even instituting maternal prophylaxis during labor and delivery, or neonatal prophylaxis within 24–48 hours of delivery, or both can substantially decrease rates of infection in infants (4). A retrospective review of HIV-exposed infants in New York State showed a transmission rate of approximately 10% when zidovudine prophylaxis was begun intrapartum or if given to newborns within 48 hours of life. There is no significant reduction of neonatal transmission if therapy is started after 3 days of life (4). Early identification and treatment of pregnant women and prophylactic treatment of newborns in the first hours of life are essential to prevent neonatal disease. Prenatal Human Immunodeficiency Virus Testing All pregnant women should be screened for HIV infection as early as possible during each pregnancy after they are notified that HIV screening is recommended for all pregnant patients and that they will receive an HIV test as part of the routine panel of prenatal tests unless they decline (opt-out screening). No woman should be tested without her knowledge; however, no additional process or written documentation of informed consent beyond what is required for other routine prenatal tests is required for HIV testing. Pregnant women should be provided with oral or written information about HIV (1, 7) that includes an explanation of HIV infection, a description of interventions that can reduce HIV transmission from mother to infant, the meanings of positive and negative test results, and the opportunity to ask questions and decline testing (1). If a patient declines HIV testing, this should be documented in the medical record and should not affect access to care. Women who decline an HIV test because they have had a previous negative test result should be informed of the importance of retesting during each pregnancy (1). The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the American Academy of Pediatrics (7), and the CDC (1, 8) recommend opt-out HIV screening for pregnant women. Since the release of CDC recommendations in September 2006 (1), some states have changed their state laws and regulations to opt-out screening. Obstetrician–gynecologists should be aware of and comply with their states' legal requirements for perinatal HIV screening. Legal requirements for perinatal HIV testing may be verified by contacting state or local public health departments. The National HIV/AIDS Clinicians' Consultation Center at the University of California–San Francisco maintains an online compendium of state HIV testing laws that can be a useful resource (see Resources). The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend that jurisdictions with barriers to routine prenatal screening using opt-out screening consider addressing them (9) Perinatal Human Immunodeficiency Virus Testing The conventional HIV testing algorithm, which may take up to 2 weeks to complete if a result is positive, begins with a screening test, the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) that detects antibodies to HIV; if the results are positive, it is followed by a confirmatory test, either a Western blot or an immunofluorescence assay (IFA). A positive ELISA test result is not diagnostic of HIV infection unless confirmed by the Western blot or IFA. The sensitivity and specificity of ELISA with a confirmatory Western blot test are greater than 99%. The false-positive rate for ELISA with a confirmatory Western blot test is 1 in 59,000 tests. If the ELISA test result is positive and the Western blot or IFA test result is negative, the patient is not infected and repeat testing is not indicated. If the ELISA test result is repeatedly positive and the Western blot result contains some but not all of the viral bands required to make a definitive diagnosis, the test result is labeled indeterminate. Most patients with indeterminate test results are not infected with HIV. However, consultation with a health care provider well versed in HIV infection is recommended. This specialist may suggest viral load testing or repeat testing later in pregnancy to rule out the possibility of recent infection. If the screening (eg, ELISA) and confirmatory test (eg, Western blot or IFA) results are both positive, the patient should be given her results in person. The implications of HIV infection and vertical transmission should be discussed with the patient. Additional laboratory evaluation, including CD4 count, HIV viral load, resistance testing, hepatitis C virus antibody, hepatitis B surface antigen, complete blood count with platelet count, and baseline chemistries with liver function tests, will be useful before prescribing antiretroviral prophylaxis. A rapid HIV test is an HIV screening test with results available within hours. Obstetrician–gynecologists may use rapid testing as their standard outpatient test and should also use rapid testing in labor and delivery (see details as follows regarding labor and delivery). A negative rapid test result is definitive. A positive rapid test result is not definitive and must be confirmed with a supplemental test, such as a Western blot or IFA test. Rapid test results usually will be available during the same clinical visit that the specimen (eg blood, or oral swab) is collected. Health care providers who use these tests must be prepared to provide counseling to pregnant women who receive positive rapid test results the same day that the specimen is collected. Pregnant women with positive rapid test results should be counseled regarding the meaning of these preliminary positive test results and the need for confirmatory testing. As with conventional HIV testing, consultation with a health care provider well versed in HIV infection is recommended. To code for rapid testing, the modifier 92 is added to the basic HIV testing Current Procedural Terminology (CPT")* code 86701-86703) (10). If the results of the rapid test and the confirmatory test are discrepant, both tests should be repeated and consultation with an infectious disease specialist is recommended. Any woman who arrives at a labor and delivery facility with undocumented HIV status should be screened with a rapid HIV test unless she declines (opt-out screening) in order to provide an opportunity to begin prophylaxis of previously undiagnosed infection before delivery (1). Data from several studies indicate that 40–85% of infants infected with HIV are born to women whose HIV infection is unknown to their obstetric provider before delivery (11–14). If a rapid test is used in labor and HIV antibodies are detected, immediate initiation of antiretroviral prophylaxis should be recommended without waiting for the results of the confirmatory test to further reduce possible transmission to the infant. All antiretroviral prophylaxis should be discontinued if the confirmatory test result is negative (11). Recommendations for the use of antiretroviral medications in pregnant women infected with HIV are available at www.aidsinfo.nih.gov and are updated frequently. The rapid HIV antibody screening tests, which are approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, all have sensitivity and specificity equal to or greater than 99% (15). As with all screening tests, the likelihood of a false-positive result is higher in populations with low HIV prevalence when compared with populations with high HIV prevalence. Additionally, at present it is not known how the false-positive rate for rapid testing will compare with the false-positive rate for conventional testing. If the rapid HIV test result at labor and delivery is positive, the obstetric provider should take the following steps: - Tell the woman she may have HIV infection and that her neonate also may be exposed - Explain that the rapid test result is preliminary and that false-positive results are possible - Assure the woman that a second test is being done right away to confirm the positive rapid test result - Immediate initiation of antiretroviral prophylaxis should be recommended without waiting for the results of the confirmatory test to reduce the risk of transmission to the infant - Once the woman gives birth, discontinue maternal antiretroviral therapy pending receipt of confirmatory test results - Tell the woman that she should postpone breast-feeding until the confirmatory result is available because she should not breast-feed if she is infected with HIV - Inform pediatric care providers (depending on state requirements) of positive maternal test results so that they may institute the appropriate neonatal prophylaxis Repeat Human Immunodeficiency Virus Testing in the Third Trimester Repeat testing in the third trimester should be considered in jurisdictions with elevated HIV or AIDS incidence and in health care facilities in which prenatal screening identifies at least one HIV-infected pregnant woman per 1,000 women screened (1). Additionally, although physicians need to be aware of and follow their states' perinatal HIV screening requirements, repeat testing in the third trimester, preferably before 36 weeks of gestation, is recommended for pregnant women at high risk for acquiring HIV. Criteria for repeat testing can include (1): - Have been diagnosed with another sexually transmitted disease in the last year - Injection drug use or the exchange of sex for money or drugs - A new or more than one sex partner during this pregnancy or a sex partner(s) known to be HIV-positive or at high risk Women who are candidates for third-trimester testing, including those who declined testing earlier in pregnancy, should be given a conventional or rapid HIV test rather than waiting to receive a rapid test at labor and delivery (as allowed by state laws and regulations). Given the enormous advances in the prevention of perinatal transmission of HIV, it is clear that early identification and treatment of all pregnant women with HIV is the best way to prevent neonatal disease and also may improve the women's health. Therefore, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists makes the following recommendations: - Screen all pregnant women for HIV as early as possible during each pregnancy following opt-out prenatal HIV screening where legally possible - Repeat HIV testing in the third trimester is recommended for women in areas with high HIV prevalence, women known to be at high risk for acquiring HIV infection, and women who declined testing earlier in pregnancy - Use conventional or rapid HIV testing for women who are candidates for third-trimester testing - Use rapid HIV testing in labor for women with un-documented HIV status following opt-out screening - If a rapid HIV test result in labor is positive, immediate initiation of antiretroviral prophylaxis should be recommended without waiting for the results of the confirmatory test PO Box 6303 Rockville, MD 20849-6303 The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists 409 12th Street SW, PO Box 96920 Washington, DC 20090-6920 800-673-8444 or (202) 638-5577 Perinatal HIV page: http://www.acog.org/goto/HIV ACOG Bookstore: http://www.acog.org/bookstore Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 1600 Clifton Road NE Atlanta, GA 30333 (404) 639-3311 or 800-232-4636 HIV/AIDS page: http://www.cdc.gov/hiv National AIDS Hotline: 800-342-AIDS (2437) (English); 800-344-7432 (Spanish); 800-243-7889 (TTY, deaf access) National HIV/AIDS Clinicians' Consultation Center UCSF Department of Family and Community Medicine at San Francisco General Hospital 1001 Potrero Ave., Bldg. 20, Ward 22 San Francisco, CA 94110 Perinatal HIV Hotline: 1-888-448-8765 - Branson BM, Handsfield HH, Lampe MA, Janssen RS, Taylor AW, Lyss SB, et al. Revised recommendations for HIV testing of adults, adolescents, and pregnant women in health-care settings. MMWR Recomm Rep 2006;55(RR-14):1–17; quiz CE1-4. - McKenna MT, Hu X. Recent trends in the incidence and morbidity that are associated with perinatal human immunodeficiency virus infection in the United States. Am J Obstet Gynecol 2007;197(suppl):S10–6. - Recommendations of the U.S. Public Health Service Task Force on the use of zidovudine to reduce perinatal transmission of human immunodeficiency virus. MMWR Recomm Rep 1994;43(RR-11):1–20. - Wade NA, Birkhead GS, Warren BL, Charbonneau TT, French PT, Wang L, et al. Abbreviated regimens of zidovudine prophylaxis and perinatal transmission of the human immunodeficiency virus. N Engl J Med 1998;339:1409–14. - Mofenson LM, Lambert JS, Stiehm ER, Bethel J, Meyer WA 3rd, Whitehouse J, et al. Risk factors for perinatal transmission of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 in women treated with zidovudine. Pediatric AIDS Clinical Trials Group Study 185 Team. N Engl J Med 1999;341:385–93. - Garcia PM, Kalish LA, Pitt J, Minkoff H, Quinn TC, Burchett SK, et al. Maternal levels of plasma human immunodeficiency virus type 1 RNA and the risk of perinatal transmission. Women and Infants Transmission Study Group. N Engl J Med 1999;341:394–402. - American Academy of Pediatrics, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Joint statement on human immunodeficiency virus screening. Elk Grove Village (IL): AAP; Washington (DC): ACOG; 1999; Reaffirmed 2006. - Advancing HIV prevention: new strategies for a changing epidemic—United States, 2003. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2003;52:329–32. - Gerberding JL, Jaffe HW. Routine prenatal testing – the opt-out approach. Atlanta (GA): Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; 2003. Available at: http://www.cdc.gov/ hiv/topics/perinatal/resources/other/dear_colleague-2003.htm. Retrieved June 10, 2008. - American Medical Association. Current procedural terminology: CPT® 2008. Standard ed. Chicago (IL): AMA; 2007. - Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Rapid HIV-1 Antibody Testing during Labor and Delivery for Women of Unknown HIV Status: A Practical Guide and Model Protocol. Atlanta (GA): CDC; 2004. Available at: http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/topics/testing/resources/guidelines/rt-labor&delivery.htm. Retrieved June 10, 2008. - Peters V, Liu KL, Dominguez K, Frederick T, Melville S, Hsu HW, et al. Missed opportunities for perinatal HIV prevention among HIV-exposed infants born 1996-2000, pediatric spectrum of HIV disease cohort. Pediatrics 2003;111: 1186–91. - Gross E, Burr CK. HIV counseling and testing in pregnancy. N J Med 2003;100:21–6; quiz 67–8. - Paul SM, Grimes-Dennis J, Burr CK, DiFerdinando GT. Rapid diagnostic testing for HIV. Clinical implications. N J Med 2002;99:20–4; quiz 24–6. - Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. FDA-approved rapid HIV antibody screening tests. Atlanta (GA): CDC; 2008. Available at: http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/topics/testing/ rapid/rt-comparison.htm. Retrieved June 10, 2008.	162,546
Experiencing stiffness and pain in your low back, hips and knees, fatigue after exercise, or have inflammation in your hands, can be a sign of osteoarthritis, which affects millions of people across the world. Some of the world’s most famous athletes, including Olympic figure skater Dorothy Hamill and Olympic cyclist Kristin Armstrong, have been afflicted with this debilitating condition. According to the US-based Arthritis Foundation, one in two adults develops symptoms of osteoarthritis during their lifetime; with one in four adults manifesting symptoms of osteoarthritis in the hips after the age of 85. Statistics also show that one in 12 people over the age of 60 have osteoarthritis in the hands. Dr. Mohamed M. Aboyoussef , Consultant –Rheumatology, Burjeel Hospital Abu Dhabi, said, “Osteoarthritis is the most common forms of arthritis, and is caused by the wear and tear of joints resulting from damage to the cartilage. The symptoms of the condition include pain, stiffness and swelling caused by the bones rubbing or grinding against each other. This condition generally affects the knees, hips, neck, back, big toes and hands. Some of the risk factors for the condition include increasing age, genetic factors, obesity, overuse of joints, or previous joint damage caused by sports injuries.” According to Dr. Aboyoussef, osteoarthritis is pretty common in the UAE, especially in patients in their late 40s and increases significantly with older age. “The reasons range from obesity to genetic factors, smoking and lack of adequate exercises. Younger people who start exercising without proper instruction may also hurt their knees or back, as they are unaware of how to protect their joints, have poor posture, etc,” he added. Considered a chronic condition, osteoarthritis doesn’t have any cure. “However, there are many options to control the symptoms and limit progression. Lifestyle modifications including regular exercise, nutrition, weight management and anti-inflammatory medications can keep the symptoms in check. Doctors often prescribe analgesics, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as aspirin or ibuprofen, corticosteroids and hyaluronic acid injections to lubricate the joints,” said Dr. Aboyoussef. Exercise and physical therapy is especially important to help improve flexibility, maintain range of motion, strengthen the tissue around joints and aid overall fitness. Doctors or therapists may also prescribe the used of devices such as canes, splints, shoe orthotics and knee braces to aid mobility and provide support. Cold and heat therapy can also be used to alleviate pain in patients. Surgery may be recommended to increase range of motion and pain relief, especially if joint pain from osteoarthritis is unmanageable. The type of surgery is also based on the patient’s age, fitness levels and overall health of the joint. “Some of the surgical options include arthroscopy, which is surgery to fix small tears in the tissues around joints such as the knee, hip, shoulder. The surgery is done using tiny incisions, a small camera and specialised equipment to repair, or remove damaged cartilage. Joint resurfacing, also called partial knee replacement, is an option where doctors replace only a part of the knee, or hip with an implant. “More severe joint damage is treated with arthrodesis, which is also called “fusion” surgery. Pins, plates, or rods are used – during surgery – to join bones in the ankles, wrists, or spine, to form a continuous joint. In time the bones grow together and set the joint in place. Damaged joints can also be replaced with implants made from metal, plastic or ceramic during a total joint replacement procedure. Joint revision surgery may also be required to replace old or worn out implants. Minimally invasive total joint replacement is also preferred, as it offers quicker recovery time and less pain compared to the conventional procedure. In addition to these, procedures such as osteotomy and synovectomy are also carried out to treat inflammation in tissues and damaged joints,” said Dr. Aboyoussef. Burjeel Hospital Abu Dhabi has a state-of-the art orthopedic center that specializes in a multi-disciplinary approach to treating joint and bone diseases. The experienced team of surgeons at the hospital; perform the entire gamut of surgeries used to treat osteoarthritis, including arthroscopy and joint replacement procedures.	38,873
The evolution of participation is seemingly built on trial and error with participation enjoying questionable success and at times practice represented perversion. Participation theory represents a move from the global, aspatial and top-down strategies that dominated early development initiatives to more locally sensitive methodologies. Although there are differing opinions in the literature as to the origins of participation theory there is consensus that it stems from political sciences and development theory. The importance of participation grew out of the recognition that the worlds’ poor have actually suffered as a result of development, and that everyone needs to be involved in development decisions, implementation and benefits. There is no commonly agreed definition of participation this vagueness and lack of conceptualisation of the concepts of participation and empowerment cause confusion over expectations and over the evaluation of outcomes of the participatory development process. It is agreed that participation is about decision making. The terms usefulness has been significantly undermined by the popularity or pervasiveness of the term. As a result the term has gained almost honorific meaning and used without recognition of its meaning. In this way application of the concept is often misused and becomes instrumental, rather than transformative. In an attempt to categorise the various extents of participation, a number of typologies have been created to explain the continuum. Although having many important benefits, participation also has a number of limitations, most importantly being that methodologies are context specific. Skeptics also argue that participation places unrealistic demands on people, with more pressing demands on their time. Citing this article This report was prepared for Social Capital Research. You should reference this work as: Claridge, T., 2004. Designing social capital sensitive participation methodologies. Report, Social Capital Research, Brisbane, Australia.	186,434
You are not currently logged in. Please create an account or log in to view the full course. About this Course About the Course In this course, Dr Nicholas Morton (Nottingham Trent University) explores the foundation of the Crusader states in the decades following the First Crusade. In the first module, we think about some of the impacts of the First Crusade – the theological impact of a wholly unexpected victory against a heathen enemy, the commercial impact of newly-opened markets in the New East, and so on. After that, we think about why it was that the Crusader states were not able to survive in the decade following the First Crusade, but actually to grow and prosper, despite being surrounded by hostile forces. In the third module, we turn to the Crusader states' attempts to push inland, focusing in particular on the Battle of the Field of Blood, before moving on in the fourth module to think about the reaction to the Crusader states from the points of view of the Franks' enemies: the Turks in Aleppo and Damascus, and the Fatimids in Egypt. About the Lecturer Dr Nicholas Morton is a specialist in the history of crusading and the Medieval Mediterranean between the tenth and thirteenth centuries. More recently he has begun to focus specifically upon the theme of inter-faith relations between Christianity and Islam in this region. He has published extensively on topics connected to this subject area, writing a range of monographs and scholarly articles. He is also an editor for the Ashgate series Rulers of the Latin East. Currently Dr Morton is completing a monograph exploring the First Crusaders' attitudes and behaviour towards the various non-Christian peoples they encountered during their campaign. This will be a highly revisionist work addressing many key scholarly and public orthodoxies surrounding the nature of Christian/Islamic interaction during the crusade.	77,545
Power Dynamics in an Experimental Game - First Online: - Cite this article as: - Pratto, F., Pearson, A.R., Lee, IC. et al. Soc Just Res (2008) 21: 377. doi:10.1007/s11211-008-0075-y - 215 Downloads We introduce a new experimental method for studying power. Drawing from multiple theoretical perspectives, we conceptualize power as relational and structural, as well as comprised of different forms through which basic human needs can be met. Thus, the method we introduce examines how, when faced with a particular need, people use multiple forms of power concurrently and within a “field of influence,” namely, the other players in a game. This enabled us to examine how one form of power is transformed into another and how power is transferred from one player to another through interaction, as well as to measure power as behavior, as the exercise of choice, as potential, and as outcomes. Two experiments using egalitarian start conditions and a survivable ecology demonstrated that participants used power to gain more power, creating inequality. Being the target of force made some players unable to “survive” in the local ecology. Theoretical and methodological issues in the study of power are discussed and the application of our game method to the study of power in other fields is considered.	12,819
What is reactive attachment disorder (RAD)? Reactive attachment disorder (RAD) is a condition in which an infant or young child does not form a secure, healthy emotional bond with his or her primary caretakers (parental figures). Children with RAD often have trouble managing their emotions. They struggle to form meaningful connections with other people. Children with RAD rarely seek or show signs of comfort and may seem almost fearful of their caretakers, even in situations where the current parent figures seem quite loving and caring. These children are often irritable or sad, and may report feeling unsafe and/or alone. Who is likely to have reactive attachment disorder (RAD)? Reactive attachment disorder is most common among children between 9 months and 5 years who have experienced physical or emotional neglect or abuse. While not as common, older children can also have RAD since RAD sometimes can be misdiagnosed as other behavioral or emotional difficulties. Children may be more likely to develop RAD if they: - Have had many different foster care providers or spent time in an orphanage - Were taken away from primary caretakers after forming a healthy bond - Have had multiple traumatic losses early in life What causes reactive attachment disorder (RAD)? Although there is no exact cause, researchers believe that lack of an appropriate level of loving and consistent caretaking contributes to development of RAD. Inadequate caregiving can make a child feel abandoned, alone and uncared for – all of which can prevent that child from developing a healthy and secure emotional bond with his or her primary caretakers. Young children form healthy relationships when their basic needs are consistently attended to – this builds a sense of trust between the young child and caretakers. Examples of inappropriate, ongoing caretaking situations that place a child at greater risk of developing RAD include: - A baby whose diaper is soiled and not changed for many hours. - A baby who is hungry and not fed for many hours. - A baby who is crying and not attended to and who is not comforted when they are in distress. - A baby who is not held, touched, talked to, or interacted with for many hours at a time. - An infant whose needs are met only some of the time (the caregiving is not consistent). - A young child who only gains the attention of caretakers by acting up/or being disruptive. - A baby or young child who has had multiple primary caretakers (especially if the care provided is inconsistent and/or from unfamiliar people). - Any situation in which the child has been physically or emotionally neglected or abused by primary caretakers or other adults. What are the symptoms of reactive attachment disorder (RAD)? Symptoms of reactive attachment disorder vary from child to child. Infants and young children who may have RAD show common signs such as: - Failure to show an expected range of emotions when interacting with others; failure to show “emotions of conscience” such as remorse, guilt, or regret - Avoiding eye contact and physical touch, especially with caregivers - Expressing anger; having tantrums; being irritable, unhappy and sad; disobedience and arguing (beyond what would be “usual” for the child’s age and situation) - Displaying inappropriate affection toward strangers while demonstrating a lack of affection for and/or fear of their primary caretakers. When children with RAD grow older, their symptoms usually fall into one of two general patterns: - Inhibited RAD symptoms. Children are aware of what happens around them, but they do not respond typically to outside stimuli. Children showing inhibited RAD symptoms are withdrawn and emotionally unresponsive. They may not show or seek affection from caregivers or others, keeping largely to themselves. - Disinhibited RAD symptoms. Children may be overly friendly toward strangers. Children with disinhibited RAD symptoms do not prefer their primary caretakers over other people. In most cases, these children act younger than their age and may seek out affection from others in an unsafe way.	156,873
A figure of 200,000 Irishmen are thought to have served during the Great War, from north and south, with the majority coming from the 26 counties that would eventually make up the Free State after partition. Recent work by historian Patrick Casey puts the figure of Irish war dead at 35,000. The data available on Portlaw dead is based on research published by the Waterford Archeological and Historical Society. Of the nine Irish infantry regiments Portlaw men are listed in the death rolls of eight of them. A review of the available records show that the first man killed from the village was James Daniels; killed in action on August 26th 1914, only four days after the war started. Michael Sullivan died of wounds on September 17th, Edward Murray fell on the 10th October and Patrick Maddock on the 19th October. All were members of the 2nd Battalion, Royal Irish Regiment and all were regulars or reservists called up in the first days of the war. Patrick Coady, William Mooney and James Whelan, also serving in the 1st and 2nd Battalions of the Royal Irish Regiment, died in the desperate attempts to break the stalemate of trench warfare during 1915. Richard Galvin, serving with the 2nd Battalion, Royal Leinster Regiment, also fell during this period. In the stalemate prior to the Battle of the Somme, Maurice Ryan, also of the 2nd Leinsters, died of wounds sustained in battle. The name Gallipoli has great significance for the Irish who fought in the Great War. During the landings on 25th April 1915 casualties were so great that it was said that the sea on the shoreline was dyed pink with blood while the water around the boats turned red. Amongst the many Irishmen who fell during the bitter fighting of the 1st May was another of our sons; Corporal William Purcell of the 1st Battalion, The Royal Munster Fusiliers. Other Portlaw men served at Gallipoli and survived. One such man was Jack Kelly and his family have donated copies of his documents. Popular history has identified the 1st July as the day of the Battle of the Somme. However, research has shown that the Somme offensive lasted for months and involved a great deal more military action than just the first day. The 16th Irish Division experienced over 4,000 casualties between the 1st and 10th September 1916. Portlaw lost more men during this period. Patrick Sullivan, serving with the 2nd Battalion, Royal Irish Regiment, died of wounds on the 14th of July 1916. Joseph Butler died the next day when he was killed in action serving with the 1st Battalion, Royal Iniskilling Fusiliers. Cornelius O’Neill fell on the 21st July 1916 while serving with the 6th Battalion, Royal Irish Regiment. One of the 6th Battalions more famous officers was Willie Redmond, brother of John, who would fall a year later at Messines in early June 1917. As the war progressed more losses were visited upon the village. Michael Hogan was killed in action while serving with the 2nd Battalion, The Irish Guards on the 4th September 1917. Acting Corporal Edward Nolan died of wounds on 30th November 1917 while serving with the 2nd Battalion, Royal Dublin Fusiliers. The final deaths of 1918 were Daniel Walsh who died of wounds in Egypt on 1st June whilst serving with the The Royal Irish Regiment. Michael Crotty died at home on the 8th August 1918 serving with Royal Defence Corps. Separate to the infantry line regiments Portlaw gave 3 more of her sons during the course of the Great War. Corporal Llewllyn Malcolmson was killed in action on 5th October 1915 while serving with the Royal Engineers. William Power, a gunner in the Royal Field Artillery, died at home from wounds sustained in action and is buried here in Portlaw only feet from Maurice Ryan, Vice Comdt in the Old IRA, who died in 1922. Thomas O’Keeffe, also in the RFA was killed in action on the 29th August 1918, only three months from the end of the war. Two other Malcolmsons died in the Great War; Hubert with the Royal Irish Regiment and Hugh Fraser with the French Red Cross. We have a record of another of our sons lost, but this time in the Second World War. Private David Walshe was killed in action in Italy while serving with the West Surrey Regiment on the 12th October 1943. In recent times Irish society began to investigate the complexity of its political and military traditions. These men are now taking their part alongside those who stormed the GPO and fought in the War of Independence. Many soldiers returned from the Great War to poverty and a changed Ireland and would not mention their experience. By providing a safe environment for the telling of these stories here in the Heritage Centre we can add a major chapter to the history of our village. So let us remember them in the prayer at the opening of the Messine Peace Park: “To the glory of God and in perpetual memory of all those who fought from the Island of Ireland who made the supreme sacrifice in The Great War.”	105,284
A report in the May issue of Archives of Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals, says that pregnant women appear to have worse clinical outcomes after thyroid and parathyroid surgery compared with their non-pregnant counterparts. Thyroid and parathyroid surgery are used to treat cancer and other conditions. The incidence of thyroid cancer has increased by almost 250 percent over the last 30 years, increasing from 3.6 to 8.7 cases per 100,000 persons, according to background information in the article. The rate is almost double in pregnant women, with 14.4 cases per 100,000 persons. "Hyperthyroidism [overactive thyroid] has been reported in 0.1 percent to 0.4 percent of pregnancies. Inadequately treated hyperthyroidism during pregnancy poses significant risks to both mother and fetus," the authors write. "Outcomes after thyroid and parathyroid procedures during pregnancy have not been well characterized in the surgical literature." SreyRam Kuy, M.D., of Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Conn., and United States Department of Veterans Affairs, Washington, and colleagues compared clinical and economic outcomes of thyroid and parathyroid surgery performed on 201 pregnant women (average age 29) and a group of 31,155 age-matched, non-pregnant women from 1999 to 2005. Fetal, maternal and surgical complications as well as in-hospital death, length of stay and hospital costs were measured. Of the 201 pregnant women, 165 underwent thyroid procedures and 36 underwent parathyroid procedures. "Compared with non-pregnant women, pregnant patients had a higher rate of endocrine [relating to glands that secrete hormones](15.9 percent vs. 8.1 percent) and general complications (11.4 percent vs. 3.6 percent), longer unadjusted lengths of stay (two days vs. one day) and higher unadjusted hospital costs ($6,873 vs. $5,963)," the authors write. "The fetal and maternal complication rates were 5.5 percent and 4.5 percent, respectively," Additionally, pregnant patients had higher surgical complications than non-pregnant patients for benign (27 percent vs. 14 percent) and malignant (21 percent vs. 8 percent) thyroid diseases while undergoing thyroidectomy (the surgical removal of part or all of the thyroid gland). "Differences between pregnant and non-pregnant women in complication rates were most pronounced by diagnosis, race and hospital size," the authors note. When compared to non-pregnant women of the same race, white pregnant patients had double the complication rate (21 percent vs. 10 percent), black pregnant patients had nearly five times the complication rate (48 percent vs. 10 percent) and Hispanic pregnant patients had an almost three-fold higher complication rate (30 percent vs. 12 percent). "These data suggest that thyroid and parathyroid surgery during pregnancy should be approached with caution and careful deliberation about whether the risks are outweighed by the benefits," the authors conclude. "Surgeon volume is an important predictor of outcomes, so pregnant women undergoing thyroid and parathyroid procedures should be directed to high-volume surgeons whenever possible. Disparities in outcomes based on race and insurance must be overcome. Optimizing maternal and fetal outcomes requires the collaboration of surgeons, endocrinologists, obstetricians, neonatologists, anesthesiologists, insurers and policy makers."	51,607
Shurangama Mantra as a vital Buddhist practice to save the universe and achieve enlightenment Boudha Stupa by Nabin K. Sapkota Shurangama Mantra is the longest Buddhist chant highly revered in Tibet and China, where it is considered to be the 'king of mantras' for its vastness and significance. The earliest mention of the mantra dates back to the 8th century AD, appearing in the Śūraṅgama Sūtra—a complex Chinese text supposedly compiled from several Indian sources. According to the sutra, the Śūraṅgama mantra was intended to protect Ānanda, the primary attendant of Gautama Buddha, before he became an arhat, one who has gained insight into the true nature of existence and has achieved nirvana. The full title of the Shurangama Mantra is mo he sa dan tuo bo da la tuo lo ni zhou, and this can be interpreted as "Great White Canopy of Light Dharani Mantra" where the term dhāraṇī denotes particularly long Buddhist recitatives. This meaning was suggested by Hsuan Hua, one of the most influential monks of Chan Buddhism who explained in his lectures that the Śūraṅgama mantra is the longest and most essential chant on which the flourish or demise of Buddhism depends. Moreover, the effective phrases of this mantra—when recited by at least one person—keep heaven and earth from destruction. Listen to the Shurangama Mantra by Imee Ooi: Besides keeping the world from coming to an end, reciting the Shurangama Mantra texts can empower the practitioner with the strength necessary to follow the Buddha's path and ultimately lead him to enlightenment.	97,133
The United States Geological Survey recorded a Magnitude 5.3 Earthquake at a depth of 10 km in the Kirthar Mountains of eastern Balochistan Province, Pakistan, roughly 34 km southeast of the city of Surab, slightly before 6.20 pm local time (slightly before 1.20 pm GMT) on Friday 18 October 2013. There are no reports of any damage or casualties arising from this event, though it was reportedly felt across much of Balochistan and Sind Provinces. The approximate location of the 18 October 2013 Kirthar Mountains Earthquake. Google Maps. The Kirthar Mountains lie on the boundary between the Indian Plate, to the southeast and the Eurasian Plate to the west. The Indian Plate is moving northwards at a rate of 5 cm per year, causing it to impact into Eurasia, which is also moving northward, but only at a rate of 2 cm per year. When two tectonic plates collide in this way and one or both are oceanic then one will be subducted beneath the other (if one of the plates is continental then the other will be subducted), but if both plates are continental then subduction will not fully occur, but instead the plates will crumple, leading to folding and uplift (and quite a lot of Earthquakes). The collision of the Indian and Eurasian plates has lead to the formation of the Kirthar Mountains as well as Himalayan Mountains, the Tibetan Plateau, and the mountains of southwest China, Central Asia and the Hindu Kush. In addition to this the Arabian Plate is being subducted along the Makran Subduction Zone to the south of Balochistan, passing under the province, which sits on the southern Eurasian Plate, as it sinks into the Earth. The two plates do not move past one another smoothly, but continuously break apart and then stick together until the pressure builds up sufficiently to cause another break, leading to Earthquakes in the process. In addition to this the Eurasian Plate is scraping sedimentary material off the leading edge of the Arabian Plate as it is subducted, forming an accretionary prism of material over the subduction zone up to 7.5 km think in places. This takes the form of a series of parallel folded hill ranges running east to west across the province and Sistan & Baluchistan Province in neighbouring Iran. See also Magnitude 4.7 Earthquake in southern Balochistan, Magnitude 4.0 Earthquake in southeast Balochistan, Magnitude 7.7 Earthquake in Balochistan; over 350 dead and new island created, At least 12 fatalities after a Magnitude 5.6 Earthquake in eastern Afghanistan and Magnitude 7.8 Earthquake in southeast Iran; high level of casualties expected. Follow Sciency Thoughts on Facebook.	122,449
Steam Drum Suspension The steam boilers used in power plants can weigh several hundred tonnes. When a flame is inserted into the boiler furnace, the temperature of the boiler increases by several hundred degrees, thereby increasing the size of the boiler by as much as 3 inches (75 mm). To allow for this expansion, most modern utility boilers are suspended from the top so they can expand downward. Pictured here is a section of U-bolt. Four U-bolts are used to suspend the steam drum at the Clover Bar Power Plant.	69,827
Nov 25 2009 Fall is a good time to cut down diseased and dying trees so I was not surprised when Tony Bledsoe told me he saw a diseased ash tree being cut down at Pitt’s campus. When he mentioned the location, I remembered seeing a tree there that looked like this one dying of emerald ash borer (EAB). Emerald ash borer is present in Allegheny County and is becoming the scourge of our ash trees. The larvae of this pest burrow under the bark and eat through the tree’s vascular system. After a tree becomes infected it dies in 1-3 years. Tony and I both wondered if the tree at Pitt was afflicted with EAB and if so, how the tree company could prevent the spread of this dangerous bug. Can the waste wood be burned? Can it be sold as lumber? Can it be dumped at a yard debris site? I asked Steve Miller of Bartlett Tree Experts, a Board Certified Master Arborist whom I met at an urban tree tending workshop. He told me there are rules about wood transport and best practices for wood management. The rules are that Allegheny County and a large part of western Pennsylvania are in a wood transport quarantine zone. We must not transport firewood because it could spread EAB to uninfected areas. The waste wood probably won’t be sold as lumber because it’s damaged and it’s from a quarantine zone. The recommended way to dispose of EAB-infested trees is by chipping, burial or burning, but the wood should not be stored as firewood through the winter months. The larvae are hiding under the bark. If you have a diseased tree in your yard, be careful what you do with it. The important thing is to know what you’re looking at. Is it an ash tree? It is afflicted with emerald ash borer? Is it time for the ax? Get good advice. Ask an arborist. (photo from Pennsylvania DCNR’s EAB website. Click the photo to see it in its original context.)	81,218
In 1916 the building trades were among the most strongly organized in Cleveland. In this history of the Construction Employers Association, author Carol Poh presents the untold story of how Cleveland’s contractors organized to meet and manage the challenges presented by the powerful building trades unions. It is an account of rough-and-tumble labor relations as they played out amid prosperity, depression, war, suburban growth, urban decline, demands for equal employment opportunity, and downtown renewal. The Construction Employers Association “has a great story to tell” writes David J. Wondolowski, executive secretary of the Cleveland Building and Construction Trades Council, in a foreword to the book. “When I say it’s a great story, I’m certainly not suggesting that it’s a glamorous one. The story is really about the fight for survival in a tough market that has always had its own unique challenges.” The reader will see the built environment in a new light and come away with a fresh respect for the union contractor.	61,707
Buffalo Soldier Memorial Junction City, Kansas A larger-than-life African-American soldier leads his horse westward in tribute to the 9th and 10th Cavalry regiments. This summer we were traveling back east from a wedding in Colorado. Shortly after entering Kansas on I-70, we saw a billboard advertising the Buffalo Soldier Memorial 222 miles ahead. Deciding to make the next day a day of site-seeing related to black history, we spent the night near Junction City, home of Fort Riley and several military memorials. I had hoped to see something regarding Lieutenant Flipper on the trip, but satisfied myself with seeing the monument to his regiment. I was dismayed to find that the signs for the memorial gave out 200 miles away. I saw that one billboard, then saw the site marked on a map of historical sites in Kansas at a rest area. The erectors of the monument, however, knew what I was about to learn: any local resident can point you in the right direction. My hotel-keeper gave us excellent directions. Perhaps this map will help you if you plan ahead more than I did. Map of the Buffalo Soldier Memorial 200 W 18th St Junction City, KS 66441-2300 Twenty minutes are adaquate to see the monument and read the various inscriptions. They would be twenty minutes well-spent to pay tribute to some of the men who protected our frontier, fought in two World Wars, and proved the capability and valor of their race. The monument itself is a very life-like bronze statue of a fully-equipped soldier leading his horse. Resolution, and perhaps some deprivation, write the lines in his black face as he marches west. Weapons enthusiasts will likely be surprised as I was to see him armed with a bolt-action rifle, not an M1873 Trapdoor Springfield used in many of the Indian campaigns. Dallas Freeborn from Topeka explained the weapon as well as other aspects of the soldier's uniform and equipment. "The statue of the 9th or 10th Cavalryman in the Junction City memorial is armed with a Model 1903 Springfield. The statue is dressed in the uniform of the 1930s with the lapel collar coat first issued in 1926 and the laced boots adopted in about 1931. The M1903 rifle was the standard rifle for the Army in that period." These regiments served, segregated, until 1944. The 9th Cavalry rode with Theodore Roosevelt during the Spanish-American War in Cuba. The 9th and 10th remained stateside during World War I, while their white counterparts and a few black infantry regiments endured the horror and earned the glory in Europe. They were once again overseas in World War II and were in North Africa when the horse cavlary regiments disbanded in 1944. 9th Cavalry Timeline Fort Riley Home Page Copyright 2003 - 2013 BlackHistoryReview.com	158,656
- Research article - Open Access A methodological approach to estimate soil corrosivity for archaeological copper alloy artefacts Heritage Science volume 6, Article number: 2 (2018) Characterization of soil corrosivity in archaeological sites is an important subject to understand the conservation conditions of archaeological bronze collections and helps conservators to prepare a conservation strategy for long term preservation of bronze objects. In this paper, a research approach is established to identify soil corrosivity in two archaeological sites and to find correlation between corrosion events and soil characterizations. Therefore, an analytical study was carried out to identify different factors of soil environment influencing corrosivity of the soil in two sites. Based on the results, measuring different factors such as chemical composition, pH, texture, soluble salts and water content and SOM displayed different soil environments in two archaeological sites. The results represent correlative relationship between corrosion mechanism and soil characteristics in these archaeological sites. Soil is a complex environment with various parameters, that influences archaeological materials in long term burial and causes to change appearance and the chemical nature of the buried objects. Archaeological metals suffer different corrosion events during burial time that may lead to formation of different corrosion layers on their surface with variable thicknesses and chemical compositions. These corrosion layers may form in different forms from a thin multiple corrosion layer to a thick corrosion crust covering remnants of original metal, and in some cases a completely corroded object without any metallic remnant may be discovered [1, 2]. Different parameters affect the corrosion events in archaeological metals that may be related to the metallurgy of the artefact (e.g. composition and manufacture), or the characteristics of the burial soil (e.g. texture, pH, redox potential, soluble salts) [3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11]. Corrosion of archaeological bronzes in soil environment has been subjected for many researches in last decades. These multidisciplinary studies could be categorized into three main groups: Usually, archaeological metals are placed in the soil for a long time period and it makes difficult or even impossible to follow up the corrosion processes during burial time. In fact, the conditions of the archaeological metals are the results of interaction between metal/alloy and soil that can be observed only after unearthing the objects. On the other hand, soil environment may alter during the millennia that leads to change the soil conditions during burial time; indeed, the soil that is excavated today, may be different from the soil that objects are abandoned in it at the first time. Thus, study of the soil conditions in archaeological sites and comparing the results with the corrosion mechanism in the excavated materials can lead to better identification of long term corrosion mechanism in archaeological artefacts. The aim of this research is to understand the effect of soil characteristics on the corrosivity of the burial environment as a medium that influences corrosion in the archaeological bronzes. In this paper, the soil conditions are determined regarding to the corrosivity of the soil environment and the effects of long term burial conditions on the corrosion are studied in some excavated bronze artefacts from two archaeological sites from Iran, the Sangtarashan Iron Age and the Haft Tappeh Elamite sites, by analysis different soil parameters and evaluation of soil corrosivity in the sites by using an integrated soil assessment approach based on the data obtained from soil analysis. Finally, the correlation between soil conditions and corrosion mechanism in the bronze artefacts are discussed. Materials and methods Two archaeological sites are selected to study on soil corrosivity and soil effects on conservation condition of archaeological bronze objects. These sites are Haft Tappeh Middle Elamite site (second millennium BC) located in southwestern Iran in the Khuzestan plain and the Sangtarashan Iron Age Site (first millennium BC) located in Luristan, western Iran (Fig. 1). The archaeological soil of Sangtarashan includes two specific parts: the surface soil in black–brown colour with about 20–30 cm depth, apart from the slope of the hill in the northern part of the site that it is about 100 cm in depth, and the red soil under the black–brown one that is the main soil of the area. This second layer is from ca. 30 to 100 cm in depth from the surface of the site and is the burial environment in which the archaeological remains were discovered. The bronze objects also are found in the red soil or the interface of the red and black–brown soils. Of course, a very thin layer in dark brown colour is observed over the black–brown soil that is influenced by recent agricultural activities and is very similar to the black–brown soil (Fig. 2a). Furthermore, the Haft Tappeh site has a different situation, apart from a few centimetres upside the surface that are dated to the Parthian–Sasanian period (beginning of the first millennium AD), all of the burial environment (in some areas more than 200 cm) is dated to the middle Elamite period. The colour of the soil is similar in the surface and in the depth of the Haft Tappeh site (Fig. 2b). The bronze objects are discovered in different depths of the Haft Tappeh soil medium. Estimation of degree of deterioration (Fdet) Nord et al. [20, 21] suggested an estimating factor to represent corrosion severity in archaeological copper alloy objects, named as the degree of deterioration (Fdet). They classified the objects in five groups regarding to the volume of corrosion occurred and observed in the cross section of copper alloy objects. In current study, based on the cross section of selected bronze samples from two sites, a new Fdet was designed including six groups of objects based on the volume of corrosion penetration into the metallic microstructure. It helps to characterize the penetration of corrosion in bronze structure in more details and shows that how the bronze objects are affected by soil environment. Although many bronze objects are discovered from two archaeological sites, 26 bronze samples were selected from Haft Tappeh and 22 samples from Sangtarashan. As mentioned above, the corrosion penetration and Fdet were estimated by observing the mounted cross section of the samples . Six soil samples from each site were selected from three different areas to undertake analytical study on soil and estimate soil corrosivity of two archaeological sites. The Haft Tappeh samples were selected from three trenches during the archaeological excavations in 2012 (trenches 27, 294 and 298) . Three samples were selected from the surface of the trenches (0–30 cm of the surface) and three samples from the depth near the archaeological architectural floor of the Middle Elamite period. The Sangtarashan samples were selected from three trenches (trenches J16, E12 and H18) during 2009 and 2011 excavation seasons . Three samples from black–brown surface soil and three samples of red deep soil were selected. The characteristics of soil samples are presented in Table 1. Methods of soil analysis The analytical methods were selected and designed based on two main aspects: identification of soil type and characterization of physico-chemical factors influencing soil corrosivity. Thus, two analytical systems were performed to find different features of the soil in the archaeological sites: instrumental as well as standard and classic analytical methods. First to remove free water from the soil texture, all samples were dried in the open air . Then the samples were separated into two parts: the first part was used to analytical studies and soil particle size analysis test. The second one was sieved with sieve mesh size of No. 10 (2 mm) and was used for other tests, including characterization of soluble ions (soluble salts), pH measurement, electrical conductivity test (EC), and measuring soil water and soil organic matter. Soil samples were analysed by X-ray fluorescence (XRF) method [26,27,28]. For this purpose, 5 g of each sample were selected and prepared for XRF analysis. The samples were analysed by an ARL 8410 WDXRF analyser. The XRF analyses were carried out on the powder pellets. Also, the phase compounds in the soil samples were determined by X-ray diffraction method [26, 28,29,30]. Also, 4 grams of each sample were powdered and analysed by an X-ray diffractometer MPD 3000 model manufacture by GNR company. Soil particle size distribution was measured by the sieve and hydrometer method in samples of two archaeological sites based on the standard method ASTM D422-63 . Water and soil organic matter (SOM) contents of soil samples were calculated by heating the sieved samples in an oven and then burning off in a furnace (L.O.I) and were measured based on the weight loss during these processes. Five grams of each sample were heat 12 h in an oven in 105 °C and then water content was measured in percent based on loss of weight after heating [26, 32, 33]. There are different methods and variable temperatures to determine soil organic matter in the soil, but to void the effect of high temperature on different soil constituents, heating in 360 °C was selected [34,35,36]. Thus, the samples were heated and dried in oven then were heated in a furnace in 360 °C for 4 h. The weight change after heating was considered in percent as SOM content of the soil samples . The pH of soil samples was analysed by a pH-meter Metrohm 744 model based on ASTM standard test . The soil electrical conductivity (EC) may be an important factor showing soil salinity and consequently its corrosivity because it may present the soluble salt content in the soil [38,39,40]. For this purpose, the dried and sieved soil samples were selected and an extract was prepared from each sample with 1/2 proportion of soil and water respectively. This extract proportion was prepared based on the water content measured in the samples . Then, the EC of soil samples was determined in the extracts by a conductometer InoLab Terminal 740 manufactured by WTW Company. The 1/2 extract of soil/water was also used to determine soluble anions in the soil samples [26, 39]. A preliminary qualitative test was done on the soil samples to detect the soluble anions present in the samples, including HCO3−, CO32−, SO42−, NO3−, PO43−, Cl− . Based on the results of qualitative tests, soluble sulphate, carbonate, nitrate and chloride were measured in the soil samples. To identify the soluble chloride content, titration (Mohr) method was used based on ASTM standard [26, 39, 42]. Soluble carbonate and bicarbonate content also was determined by titration method with sulphuric acid and based on ASTM standard [39, 43]. Soluble sulphate content was determined by turbidity measurement using spectrophotometry method with a SPECTRONIC 20 spectrophotometer manufactured by BAUSCH & LOMB company . Finally, soluble nitrate was measured by ion chromatography method . The soluble cations including Na+, Mg2+, K+ and Ca2+ were measured by flame atomic absorption spectroscopy (FAAS) method on the 1/2 extract of soil/water by using a Perkin-Elmer 2380 Atomic Absorption Spectrometer. Previous results on the corrosion of the objects Corrosion mechanism and morphology in the bronze objects of these archaeological sites are studied previously. The result showed that the main corrosion mechanism in the Haft Tappeh bronze collection is active corrosion (bronze disease). The main corrosion products identified in the Haft Tappeh bronzes are copper oxides (cuprite, tenorite) and copper trihydroxychlorides (atacamite, paratacamite); while uniform corrosion with noble patina is observed in Sangtarashan bronze objects with cuprite, malachite and azurite as the main corrosion compounds [45, 46]. Nevertheless, some details should be explained here to find relationship between soil condition and corrosion in archaeological copper alloy objects. Haft Tappeh objects are made of impure copper and tin bronze alloy and are corroded heavily, as many of the objects are corroded completely and no metallic structure is retained after long term burial in the soil environment. As mentioned above, the main corrosion mechanism in these objects is bronze disease or active corrosion that is reaction of copper with chloride resulting to form basic copper chlorides and copper oxides . The corrosion morphology of Haft Tappeh objects includes various red, green, white–grey and black corrosion layers in partially and completely corroded objects . The Sangtarashan objects are corroded partially by forming a smooth noble patina on the surface of bronze objects as well as the formation of an external corrosion layer consisting of basic copper carbonates so-called as type I corrosion . This corrosion morphology is occurred in Sangtarashan bronzes by internal oxidation of tin and selective dissolution of copper . The appearance of Haft Tappeh soil samples consist of a fine grained soil with many white particles that may be the remnants of gypsum used as the binder or plaster in the Elamite buildings of Haft Tappeh [48, 49]. Some very fine black particles are also visible in the soil samples that may be charcoal particles from burning the site at the ancient time . Soil samples of Sangtarashan are including three dark samples from the surface and three red samples from the depth of the site. Some large white particles are visible in the Sangtarashan soil that may be small pieces of broken rocks that are used to build the sanctuary during the Iron Age . Table 1 also presents the colour characteristics of soil samples from two archaeological sites. The colour of soil samples is specified by Munsell soil chart method [52,53,54]. Results of XRF analysis of soil samples are presented in Table 2. Based on the results SiO2, CaO, Al2O3, Fe2O3, MgO and K2O are the main constituents in the composition of all samples. Haft Tappeh soil samples contain SO3 as major and Na2O, and Cl as minor constituents while metallic contaminations are detected in Sangtarashan soil as minor/trace constituents (Co3O4, NiO, MnO, CuO, ZnO). It is evident that the soil samples are similar in each site, although some variations are visible in their composition such as high amounts of SO3 in sample HT.01 in Haft Tappeh or different main composition in sample ST.06 in Sangtarashan. Results of XRD analysis are presented in Table 3. The main compounds in soils are quartz, calcite, dolomite and illite that are detected in all samples. Other commonplace phases of soil such as albite, microcline, hematite, clinochlore and nantronite are identified as soil components in some samples. Significant feature of Haft Tappeh and Sangtarashan samples in presence of different types of calcium sulphate minerals, including gypsum, basanite and anhydrite, especially in Haft Tappeh soil samples. Also sylvite (KCl) is detected as a minor phase in one sample of Haft Tappeh. Measurement of corrosivity factors Different factors affecting to the corrosivity of soil environment in archaeological sites were measured to understand the correlation between the soil environment and corrosion events occurred in bronze objects of two archaeological sites. The results are presented in Table 4. Results of particle size analysis showed that the soils of two sites are different based on three main constituents characterizing the soil types: sand, silt and clay. In Table 4 it is visible that sand amount in surface samples of Haft Tappeh is similar while in the deep samples is partially variable, but sand amount is variable in all samples of Sangtarashan (between 8 and 33%). Nevertheless, all samples could be classified as fine grained soils because of low amount of the sand in their texture regarding to the Unified Soil Classification System (USCS) . Figure 3 shows the soil classification ternary diagram of sand–silt–clay. The measured amount of these main factors in the soil of two archaeological sites are marked on the standard diagram of USDA classification . Based on the diagram, it is visible that the Haft Tappeh soil texture in all samples is more similar than Sangtarashan samples. The Haft Tappeh soil can be classified as silt loam, while in Sangtarashan the soil texture varies from silty clay to silty clay loam and clay loam. Water content of the soil or water holding capacity is the resistivity of soil in losing water in the dry state and may be present in three forms: free ground water, capillary water and gravitational water . Water content in Haft Tappeh soil samples is variable from 1.69 to 5.27%, while it is more similar in the Sangtarashan samples. Soil organic matter (SOM) is apparently higher in Sangtarashan samples in comparison with Haft Tappeh ones. Also, it is visible that SOM is higher in surface samples of both sites. Figure 4a presents columnar diagram showing water and SOM content in all soil samples. Based on the diagram, it is apparent that the Sangtarashan soil has high water holding capacity and also more SOM. Electrical conductivity (EC) of soil extract shows the presence of soluble salts and salinity of soil. Electrical conductivity of soil extract was measured in the samples (Table 4). High measured EC in Haft Tappeh samples shows that the soil of this site is highly saline in comparison with Sangtarashan (despite of sample HT.03). It is visible that deep samples of Haft Tappeh have similar EC, while it has been measured more variable in the surface samples. Also the extract of black–brown (surface) samples of Sangtarashan are more conductive in comparison with the red (deep) samples (Fig. 4b). Soluble anions and cations were determined by different methods explained in “Materials and Methods” section. The results are presented in Table 5. The amount of three soluble anions (chloride, sulphate and bicarbonate) in Haft Tappeh are significantly higher than the Sangtarashan soil while soluble nitrate is detected only in Sangtarashan samples. The high amount of sulphate of Haft Tappeh samples may be related to the presence of high amount of SO3 determined in XRF analysis and calcium sulphate compounds that were detected by XRD method. Soluble nitrate was only detected in Sangtarashan samples; although it has been measured in low amount, but it is higher in the surface sample (black–brown samples). Also the amount of soluble cations (Ca, K, Na and Mg) was determined by FAAS method showing high amount of calcium, potassium and sodium in the Haft Tappeh samples (Table 5). Also calcium concentration is detected more than other cations in Sangtarashan samples. It can be explained that high amount of soluble salts in the Haft Tappeh soil can be correlated with higher EC measured in the soil samples while it has been determined in Sangtarashan samples in very lower level. The results of soil analysis in studied archaeological sites from Iran (Haft Tappeh and Sangtarashan) apparently presents that the soil environment is significantly different in two sites. In fact, these different burial environments make different effects on buried archaeological copper alloy objects during long-term burial leading to occur different corrosion mechanisms and morphologies in objects. Phase composition of soil in Haft Tappeh shows presence of calcite and dolomite (carbonate) as main compounds and also the pH of soil is alkaline. Regarding that, it is possible to classify the Haft Tappeh soil as calcareous . Also, calcium sulphate compounds are detected in the soil of Haft Tappeh beside chloride phase (sylvite). These phases may lead to the high salinity of Haft Tappeh soil that was also proved by EC measurement. On the other hand, the presence of high amount of soluble Cl− and SO42− in soil states that this burial environment is a corrosive medium in which severe corrosion may occur in the long-term burial period. In fact, the presence of high amount of soluble salt results in increasing conductivity of the soil and accelerating in electrochemical reactions leading to corrosion of archaeological copper alloys . As noted above, soluble sulphate is the main soluble anion was measured in the Haft Tappeh soil samples. It may be due to presence of calcium sulphate phases (and high amount of SO3) in the composition of soil because of gypsum used as a binder or plaster in the architecture of Haft Tappeh. Usually the presence of sulphide (metallic sulphide) and its oxidation leads to form sulphuric acid and acidifying the soil as well as decreasing pH , but presence of calcium sulphate phases doesn’t change the pH of the soil . In fact, slightly alkaline pH of Haft Tappeh soil is more due to presence of magnesium and calcium carbonates and soluble bicarbonate anion leading to pH about 8. Although, calcium sulphate may also coexist with carbonates in this pH range [26, 60, 61]. Silt is the main constituent of soil texture in Haft Tappeh that leads to limit absorption of water and air in the soil and also the ability of soil drying is decreased in time. In fact, higher amount of sand may cause increasing aeration and the drainage ability of the soil . The water holding capacity in the Haft Tappeh may be significant due to its texture and regarding to the depth of placement metal objects as well as ground water table (low depth) on this site, it could be an important factor in corrosivity of the soil . Of course, this factor should be considered beside the presence of high amount of corrosive anions in the soil. The soil environment of Sangtarashan site is significantly different with Haft Tappeh one. Type and concentration of soluble salts are different in Sangtarashan and NO3− is detected as the main soluble salt in the soil. Of course, the concentration of all soluble anions is very low in comparison with Haft Tappeh soil. Presence of nitrate in the soil is in correlation with high SOM determined in the Sangtarashan soil and may be due to agricultural activities during the time. Also, EC is measured as low amount in Sangtarashan soil samples that is related to low amount of soluble salts in soil. pH of Sangtarashan soil is neutral that may be due to low concentration of soluble salts as well as the high amount of SOM . The neutral pH can lead to decrease the rate of corrosion in the soil environment . The texture of soil in Sangtarashan is variable with different percentage of sand and high percentage of clay. Clay may lead to decrease aeration of soil, but sand may lead to penetrate more water and air as well as decreasing water holding capacity and increasing rate of drainage in the soil. Regarding to the depth of placement objects, pH, concentration of soluble salts and texture of the soil in Sangtarashan site, the soil environment could be considered as a non-corrosive or partially-corrosive medium for the archaeological copper alloy object. Application of a numerical model is a very useful approach to estimate soil corrosivity and the effect of soil environment in archaeological metal objects based on different parameters measured in the soil [22, 63]. There are different standard models to estimate soil corrosivity that are used in industrial studies in which the main factors are selected and considered for specific modern metals or alloys. Some important factors for archaeological copper alloys are not considered to design these standard models . In fact, these models don’t consider the conditions of long-term effect of soil and important factors in corrosion of copper alloy artefacts. For example, some models are considered to sulphide concentration as the important soluble anion while it has no effect on archaeological objects in the aerobic soil environment, or type and concentration of soluble salts are avoided in some corrosivity estimation models [65, 66]. Thus, a useful model to estimate corrosivity of soil regarding the archaeological copper alloys was considered in this research. It was designed by incorporating some different exist models to make an appropriate corrosivity estimation model useful for archaeological copper alloys [65,66,67,68,69,70]. The factors considered in this model are including: Soil pH (A), Soil organic matter (SOM) (B), Concentration of soluble chloride anion (Cl) (C), Total soluble salts (TSS) measured in the soil (D), Water content in the soil (based on water holding capacity and the place of objects in relation with ground water table) (E), Soil aeration (soil texture) (F), Electrical conductivity (EC) of extract of the soil (G). Table 6 shows the factors and the quantity specified for each factor (between 0 and 10). The corrosivity of soil is quantified based on the following equation: Then the soil corrosivity is classified into four groups: non-corrosive (0–10), partially corrosive (11–20), corrosive (21–30) and severely corrosive (31–40). Figure 5 shows the columnar diagram of soil corrosivity index of the soil samples analysed in two archaeological sites. It is obvious that the SCI for Haft Tappeh soil samples varies from 27 to 35 and is less than 30 only in one sample. Thus, the Haft Tappeh soil could be classified as severely corrosive soil for archaeological copper alloy objects. On the other hand, SCI is calculated between 14 and 18 in Sangtarashan soil samples showing that the soil environment in this archaeological site is partially corrosive. The Haft Tappeh archaeological site is located in the alluvial plain of Khuzestan that includes a southeastern extension of the Mesopotamian plain and a part of the Zagros Mountains to the northeast. The Zagros mountain is drained by several rivers, that have built up large alluvial fans and partially saline mud flats in this plain at the north of the Persian Gulf . On the other hand, the Sangtarashan site is located in the Zagros Highlands with different geological system from Khuzestan plain and it is the most important reason for difference between soil environment in these sites . Soil environment and corrosion of archaeological objects Table 7 shows the factors used to explain Fdet in archaeological objects based on the morphology and corrosion penetration on the cross section of selected samples. Figure 6 also shows the columnar diagram indicating Fdet in objects of two sites. The diagram states that Haft Tappeh objects are corroded heavily and about 75% of studied objects are corroded completely and all metal has been transformed to corrosion products while in Sangtarashan samples, less than 50% of metal has been altered during burial time. Although in some samples of Haft Tappeh, Fdet is determined as groups G-1 to G-3 (5 samples) but it is obviously visible that the corrosion is different in two sites. The significant finding in the analysis of soil in Haft Tappeh was high concentration of soluble sulphate ion even more than chloride. Nevertheless, the main corrosion products of Haft Tappeh objects are copper trihydroxychlorides and there is no evidence of formation of copper sulphates among corrosion layers . Copper sulphates are the main corrosion products observed in the copper sculptures and monuments placed in open-air urban environments [72, 73], although they may be formed in water containing soluble sulphate [74, 75]. These compounds are rare corrosion products in corroded objects buried in the soil, although there are some reports about identification of copper sulphates as corrosion products in buried objects [76,77,78,79]. The basic copper sulphates are stable in acidic conditions. By changing the pH of environment to an alkaline condition, they will transform to more stable compounds such as tenorite (CuO) in the open-air environments . On the other hand, these products will transform to copper trihydroxychlorides (basic copper chlorides) in the presence of high concentration of soluble chloride ions [57, 81]. In fact, the main factor of formation of basic copper sulphates in open-air environments is SO2 [81, 82], but because of absence of SO2 in soil environment, it is not probable to form basic copper sulphates as corrosion products in buried objects in the soil of Haft Tappeh. Furthermore, the corrosion products identified in Sangtarashan objects are basic copper carbonates (malachite and azurite) . As noted earlier, soluble nitrate was detected as the high concentration soluble anion in the soil samples of this site. Nevertheless, no evidence of copper nitrate compounds was observed in the analysis of corroded objects in this site. It is due to the high solubility of copper nitrate compounds that make them unstable and they are extremely rare as corrosion products in archaeological copper alloys . Furthermore, sulphate compounds are found in the soil of Sangtarashan site, but no copper sulphate is detected in corrosion products of Sangtarashan bronzes. Apart from conditions of formation of copper sulphates that are explained earlier, it is also may be due to low amount of soluble sulphate ions in water of the soil. Unlike Haft Tappeh soil, sulphur is detected as minor/trace amount in the soil of Sangtarashan site (as SO3 in Table 2) and also soluble sulphate ion is determined in very low level (as SO42−, Table 5). Regarding very low amount of sulphate in Sangtarashan soil, it is predictable that copper sulphate is not possible corrosion products in Sangtarashan bronzes and commonplace copper carbonates and oxides are found as corrosion products in archaeological bronzes [1, 2, 45]. Based on the results and their explanation, it could be obviously deduced that the main corrosive factors in the aerobic soil environments are the presence of chloride ion and water in long-term burial period. It has been noted in literature that water capacity of soil (including soil texture and soil moisture) and anions (soil composition) such as chloride are very important factors to make burial environment as corrosive media (e.g. [1, 2, 19, 20, 22]). Of course, many factors are considered as factors influencing the corrosivity of soil but chloride and moisture are noted as the main factors that also influence others in the soil. As noted above, the active corrosion has been occurred in the Haft Tappeh objects due to high concentration of soluble chloride in the soil medium while there are other soluble salts in its soil. In fact, the presence of free chloride ion and water is caused to occur severely corrosion in archaeological copper alloy objects, while because of no significant amount of chloride salts (ions) in Sangtarashan soil, only internal oxidation and low rate copper dissolution were occurred in the Iron Age bronze objects in this site. Of course, it is worthy to note that other factors such as pH are very important, but the presence of soluble alkaline earth metals and alkali metals as well as soluble bicarbonate in soil water are led to make pH between 7 and 8 in two sites. On the other hand, other soluble anions such as sulphate and nitrate don’t play an important role in the corrosion of archaeological objects. Of course, it should be considered that factors such as total soluble salts and pH may influence the corrosion rate in the buried objects. Furthermore, it should be noted that although the dating of the two sites (and their soil deposit) differs about 600-700 years, but the time has no role in corrosion of archaeological metal objects and is not an effective factor in degree of deterioration in archaeological metals. It is observed that the thickness of patina formed on the surface of modern buried bronzes in soil is similar to archaeological buried bronzes [6, 12, 20]. Therefore, soil conditions are the most important factor influencing long-term corrosion of archaeological bronzes. Study on the corrosivity of soil environment in archaeological sites was carried out to understand important corrosion factors influencing copper alloy objects in long-term burial period. For this purpose, two archaeological sites from Iran were selected. The corrosion mechanism in copper alloy objects was studied earlier and it made opportunity to find correlation between corrosion mechanism occurred in the objects and factors influencing soil conditions for buried artefact. Based on the results, the soil environment of two studied sites is completely different based on the corrosive factors and Haft Tappeh soil could be classified as severely corrosive while Sangtarashan soil is a partially corrosive burial environment. The main corrosive factors identified in the Haft Tappeh soil are including soluble salts, especially chloride and sulphate anions and soil texture (water holding capacity) while the soil of Sangtarashan has no significant amounts of soluble anions. 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The corrosion of bronze monuments in polluted urban sites: a report on the stability of copper mineral species at different pH levels. In: Scott DA, Podany J, Considine BB, editors. Ancient and historic metals: conservation and scientific research. Los Angeles: Getty Conservation Institute; 1994. p. 119–51. Balasubramaniam R, Mungole MN, Prabhakar VN. Studies on ancient Indian OCP period copper. Indian J Hist Sci. 2002;37:1–15. Schweizer F. Bronze objects from lake sites: from patina to “Biography”. In: Scott DA, Podany J, Considine BB, editors. Ancient and historic metals: conservation and scientific research. Los Angeles: Getty Conservation Institute; 1994. p. 33–50. Mattsson E, Nord AG, Tronner K, Fjaestad M, Lagerlöf A, Ullén I, Borg GC. Deterioration of archaeological material in soil, Results on bronze artefacts. Konserveringstekniska Studier RIK. Riksantikvariëambetet och Statens Historiska Museer 10. Stockholm: Riksantikvarieämbetet Förlag; 1996. Tronner K, Nord AG, Borg GC. 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The author is grateful to thanks Prof. Parviz Davami, Sharif University of Technology, Mehri Ghobadi, Dr. Atefeh Shekofteh, Dr. Hossein Ahmadi and Dr. Seyed Mohammadamin Emami, Art University of Isfahan, Dr. Behzad Mofidi-Nasrabadi, Archaeological Campaign of Haft Tappeh, Ata Hasanpour and Dr. Mehrdad Malekzadeh, Archaeological Campaign of Sangtarashan and Mozaffar Farhadpour, Choghazanbil and Haft Tappeh World Heritage Site, for their helps to undertake analyses and their comments to improve the result interpretations and the text. The author declares that no competing interests. Availability of data and materials The dataset(s) supporting the conclusions of this article is (are) available in the article. Consent for publication Ethics approval and consent to participate Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. About this article Cite this article Oudbashi, O. A methodological approach to estimate soil corrosivity for archaeological copper alloy artefacts. Herit Sci 6, 2 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40494-018-0167-4 - Archaeological conservation - Archaeological copper alloys - Soil corrosivity - Soluble salts - Soil moisture	120,485
Do you want to have fun with your kids but lack the budget to treat them out or buy them a new toy? The wonderful news is you can have just as much fun at home. In fact, you would probably have loads more fun in the relaxed and familiar environment of your own home. Dedicating an hour or two over the weekends to do some arts and crafts with your children is a fabulous and cheap way to bond and have fun. More importantly, arts and crafts projects are great for your child’s brain development. According to Raise Smart Kid, an online publication, the two hemispheres of the brain must work together to realize the brain’s full potential. Art stimulates and strengthens the right hemisphere, allowing for the development of both the left and right sides of the brain. The site also cites a list by the New York Center for Arts Education on the benefits children reap from exposure to art, which includes thinking creatively, learning to express feelings, being able problem-solve, and being open to different points of view. Here are arts and crafts ideas to get you started:	74,186
The Environment Centre NT has an ambitious agenda for transitioning the Territory away from fossil fuels towards renewable energy for domestic use and potentially export, protecting sensitive ecosystems and important ecological processes from the oil and gas sector, and ensuring carbon pollution levels stabilise and fall by 2020. Want to be part of it? Whilst the gas boom will bring major economic growth to parts of the Territory, it also has substantial impacts and risks. While Territory Labor and the Country Liberals refer to gas as ‘clean’ because it contains less carbon than coal and oil, it is very dirty compared to renewable energy. This is the logical benchmark for a century in which the world must move rapidly away from all fossil fuels to renewable energy. Territory carbon pollution levels will increase markedly in the absence of a combination of federal carbon cap-and-trade system that achieves rapid national emission cuts, and government-mandated conditions on projects approvals that require heavy industry to achieve carbon neutrality over a project’s life cycle. The gas boom will also place our economy at long term risk as the world increasingly moves to place a price on carbon, cut pollution and move to renewable energy. The Territory Government’s plans to making Darwin the gas hub of Northern Australia will make Darwin Harbour an industrialized and potentially polluted harbour, with marine wildlife subject to heightened underwater noise impacts from shipping, dredging and blasting. The Territory currently has a single liquefied natural gas (LNG) ‘train’ (or processing plant) in Darwin Harbour, namely Darwin LNG operated by ConocoPhillips. The INPEX Ichthys LNG plant is due for construction from early 2012, and will have two trains in Stage 1, with a potential additional four trains to be built as more gas is found. Each new LNG train increases Australia’s carbon pollution levels by 0.5%, on average, because of the massive amounts of electricity needed to freeze the gas into liquids to store it on boats for export. The potential exists for more gas to be piped to the Darwin LNG or INPEX LNG plants from gas fields in the Arafura and Timor Seas, which would have lower impacts on Darwin Harbour than new LNG plants being built, but would see carbon pollution levels rise even further. The marine supply base would also service up to ten Floating LNG ships proposed for construction across the Arafura and Timor Seas, thereby further focusing our economy on fossil fuels. Onshore, exploration for oil and gas is currently occurring across 70% of the Territory. Unconventional shale gas is a major risk to the Territory’s efforts to cut carbon pollution, and to protect sensitive landscapes and water resources, National Parks, and valuable pastoral lands. Coal seam gas and unconvential shale oil gas has become a highly contentious matter nationally and globally, specifically regarding the “hydraulic fracturing” (or fraccing/fracking) of rocks to release gas for extraction. The impact of hydraulic fracturing has been a public concern overseas, including the United States, Great Britain, Ireland and France. In Lancashire, UK, fraccing was suspended after fears that the process was linked to minor earthquakes and tremors and due to public concern about the potential for contamination. France has officially banned the use of hydraulic fracturing for the exploration and exploitation of shale gas and shale oil and there is currently a moratorium on fraccing within South Africa’s Karoo region. Fraccing has occurred in Canada since the 1990s, although recent concern has arisen due to water access arrangements; however the practice has temporarily been suspended in Quebec while an environmental review is undertaken. Hydraulic fracturing has generated public scrutiny and concern within the US although the US EPA has found that there was little to no risk of fracturing fluid contaminating underground sources of drinking water during hydraulic fracturing of coalbed methane production wells. Within Australia, a parliamentary committee was established in NSW to investigate the environmental, economic and social impacts of coal seam gas mining. What’s it all about and what does it mean for the Northern Territory? What is Hydraulic Fracturing? Hydraulic fracturing (fraccing) is a well stimulation process used to maximize the extraction of underground resources; including oil, natural gas, and geothermal energy. The process of hydraulic fracturing begins with building the necessary site infrastructure including well construction. Production wells may be drilled in the vertical direction only or paired with horizontal or directional sections. Fluids, commonly made up of water and chemical additives, are then pumped into a geologic formation at high pressure and when the pressure exceeds the rock strength, the fluids open or enlarge fractures. After the fractures are created, a propping agent is pumped into the fractures to keep them from closing. The created fractures then provide a conductive path connecting a larger area of the reservoir to the well, increasing the area from which natural gas and liquids can be recovered from the targeted formation. - Impacts on water quality. There are claims that fraccing creates cracks in rock formations that allow chemicals to leach into sources of fresh water. Calculations performed by (US) EPA show that at least nine hydraulic fracturing chemicals may be injected into or close to underground sources of drinking water at concentrations that pose a threat to human health. These chemicals may be injected at concentrations that are anywhere from 4 to almost 13,000 times the acceptable concentration in drinking water. The National Industrial Chemical Notification and Assessment Scheme (NICNAS), has assessed only 2 out of the 23 known compounds used in fraccing fluids in Australia. - In October 2010, traces of BTEX chemicals were found at an Arrow Energy fraccing operation in Queensland. Arrow Energy confirmed that benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene had been found in well water associated with its coal-seam gas operation at Moranbah, west of Mackay. An underground coal gasification project, a joint venture between Origin and the multinational ConocoPhillips, near Kingaroy Queensland, was also temporarily shut down when benzene and toluene were detected. Queensland has banned the use of BTEX chemicals in fraccing fluids. - Wastewater management. 60 – 80% of fracturing fluids return to the surface as flowback. When contaminated with the byproducts of the hydraulic fracturing process, this wastewater is referred to as ‘produced water’. In addition to the fraccing fluids added by the gas drilling companies, this water picks up other contaminants from deep in the earth, with one of the most notable ingredients being salt.This fluid combination becomes brine wastewater andbrine wastewater is difficult and expensive to treat. - Impacts on Aquifers. Impacts include aquifer drawdown as well as contamination. For example, industry predicts groundwater drawdown for the Arcadia Valley and Fairview CSG fields within the Bowen Basin, Queensland of up to 15 metres by 2013 and 65 metres by 2028. Drill holes or fractures may intersect with one or multiple aquifers potentially mixing groundwater from different strata or altering the groundwater chemistry through exposure to the air, gas, fraccing chemicals and drilling fluids. - Landscape values.Within many areas of the Territory consideration needs to be given to the visual impact of gas well infrastructure on landscape values. The exploitation of unconventional shale gas fields will change the visual feel of existing natural or rural landscapes, becoming “industrial” in nature. In addition to pipelines, evaporation ponds, water storage tanks, well heads, roads and trucks the landscape will become littered with gas flares (gas flare or flare stacks are used in gas wells to ‘dispose’ of waste gas). Landscape and ecosystem value will also be compromised by the indirect impacts of gas exploration and exploitation – notably through weed invasion associated with increased access across the landscape. Is the Northern Territory at risk? Yes. Exploration permits have been issued under the Petroleum Act for unconventional shale gas reserves, the most notably being in the Barkly district. The Territory could see literally many thousands of well heads built across the Barkly, plus elsewhere. From a regulatory perspective, the Territory is not ready for this type of industry. Onshore gas projects are regulated by the Petroleum Act and Schedule of Onshore Petroleum Exploration and Production Requirements. Neither of these laws provide adequate protection for the environment or consideration of social and cultural issues. They are not informed by the principles of ecologically sustainable development and do not easily link to the Environmental Assessment Act to ensure adequate assessment is made of an unconvential shale gas proposal. They do not specify environmental standards or include environmental offence provisions . Nor do they include public participation provisions, including the public’s right to say “no” to a proposal, or provide third party appeal provisions. The Environment Centre NT would like to see the Territory Government follow the NSW Government’s lead and undertake a Public Inquiry to determine the suitability of this industry for the Northern Territory. Such an inquiry would need to examine: - The adequacy of the legislative and regulatory environment. - The environmental, climate and health impacts and risks of unconventional shale gas extraction. - The economic and social implications of unconventional shale gas. - The impact of similar industries in other jurisdictions. Earthworks, accessed at http://www.earthworksaction.org/FracingDetails.cfm26 September 2011 Dr Mariann Lloyd-Smith and Dr Rye Senjen, February 2011: Hydraulic Fracturing in Coal Seam Gas Mining: The Risks to Our Health, Communities, Environment and Climate, accessed http://ntn.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/NTN-Fracking-Briefing-Paper-2011.pdf on 26 September 2011.	32,461
“ I found I could say things with colours and shapes that I couldn’t say any other way, things I have no words for. ” — Georgia O’Keeffe It may surprise you to learn that art-making is a highly effective tool in mental health. Art therapy is a therapeutic modality that uses art materials and creative expression to foster mental well-being and alleviate psychological distress. It is beneficial for clients of all ages and it does not require any artistic skills or talent. The art therapist is not there to teach art or to criticize the aesthetics of clients’ visual work. Clients create pictures in the sessions and discuss them with their therapist. The latter works with clients to deepen the underlying messages conveyed by their art. By combining verbal and visual therapeutic techniques, art therapy facilitates the exploration of clients strengths and blockages and helps them develop skills to better manage the events in their lives. Research shows that art therapy can help a variety of psychological and developmental problems. For example, art-therapeutic interventions are effective for people who have frightening memories or who experience strong emotions following a traumatic event (abuse, bereavement, separation, etc.). In addition, art therapy helps people with chronic illnesses or disabilities to overcome their pain and cultivate resilience. This approach is effective for families who are trying to reconcile emotional conflicts. People experiencing stress, anxiety or those seeking personal growth and to increase their self-esteem also benefit from art therapy. Art therapy is an approach widely used with children and adolescents. Art therapy allows children to express life problems and helps reduce stress and anxiety during these challenges. By providing children and adolescents with a safe space to express their negative thoughts and emotions in images, art therapy has been shown to improve their mental and emotional well-being and social engagement.	116,480
Ragwort (Jacobaea vulgaris or Senecio jacobaea ) is a biennial (sometimes annual or perennial) herbaceous flowering plant. It is considered an invasive weed in most parts of the world and is well known for its poisonous effects on livestock over the years. It is recognized by its daisy-like yellow flowers, which contain 13 petals. Ragwort has erect, unbranched stems that grow up to 4 feet in height and branch near their tips. As a biennial, tansy ragwort spends the first year in the rosette stage with dark green basal leaves that appear ruffled. During the second year, one or two flowering stems form. Horses are particularly sensitive to the poisonous effects of ragwort, and tend to avoid it; however if horses are turned out in pastures with no available forage or if provided hay contaminated with ragwort, they are more likely to ingest it. Ragwort contains pyrrolizidine alkaloids (jacobine, eruifoline, and senecionine) which causes pyrrolizidine alkaloid toxicity , often leading to liver failure when consumed over a prolonged period of time. Unfortunately, clinical signs take a while to show, which is usually after liver damage is advanced and irreversible.	187,394
What are the safety protocols in industrial parks? - Enforcing Social Distancing - Discouraging The Use Of Shared Equipment and Frequent Sanitation Practices - Making Hand Washing Stations Accessible - Implementing Temperature Checks - Adopting Flexible Schedules and Determining Essential On-Site Workers The COVID-19 pandemic has affected operations across various industries. While other sectors shift to a work from home setting, safety protocols in industrial parks are being implemented for the new normal. With new cases being reported across the world, it seems the business-as-usual model won’t be coming into place any time soon. During these unprecedented times, industrial parks need to mitigate the risk of disease transmission in daily operations. Along with industrial hygiene, there is a need to identify the best operating practices to protect workforce health. Continue reading to learn more about the key components for safety protocols in industrial parks that can be adapted during the new normal and beyond. Enforcing Social Distancing Keeping the advice of public health officials in mind, every facility must implement safety protocols to mitigate infection risks. During the new normal, what applies to other establishments also applies to industrial parks. There are additions to the measures already being observed in industrial zones such as biological and chemical hazards. One of the most important being social distancing. As the coronavirus is transmitted via respiratory droplets, individuals in industrial parks must keep at least 6 feet (2 meters) between themselves and others. To ensure employees maintain proper social distancing in industrial parks, floor markers can be used to constantly remind them where to stand. Additionally, staggered shifts can help limit the number of people simultaneously occupying a space such as cafeterias, break rooms, and workstations. At the forefront of mitigation efforts, observing social distancing in industrial parks is a crucial part of an all-encompassing return-to-work plan. Discouraging The Use Of Shared Equipment and Frequent Sanitation Practices Maintaining a clean environment is one of the most essential safety protocols in industrial parks. Although sanitizing zones is already likely a part of industrial park daily operations, the need for it is further emphasized when a virus is threatening workforce health. The New England Journal Of Medicine reported that the coronavirus can remain infectious on surfaces for days. The longest viability of the coronavirus was on stainless steel and plastic. It can stay up to 5.6 hours on stainless steel and 6.8 hours on plastic. The virus can also stay on copper for up to 4 hours. This is essential knowledge for industrial park operators as the equipment used for operations can collect respiratory droplets. Prevent the spread of diseases by discouraging the use of shared equipment. Many employees may want to help their co-employees and letting others share supplies may seem natural. However, this is not practical during the new normal as the disease can spread through surfaces. The study also emphasizes the importance of proper handwashing and disinfecting frequently touched surfaces. An example scenario that highlights the importance of sanitation can be applied to biometric time clocks. If this cannot be replaced with contactless time clocks, it would be best to sanitize the equipment after every use. Making Hand Washing Stations Accessible The World Health Organization (WHO) released a recommendation guide about the importance of making hand washing stations accessible in any public and private establishment. The coronavirus can be transferred from one surface to another by contaminated hands, which facilitates indirect contact transmission. For industrial parks, there should be hand washing stations at entrances and even highly trafficked areas. Employees should also be obliged to wash their hands before working. When they see washing stations readily available, it would be easier for them to develop the habit of proper handwashing. Growing research also shows that wearing masks can save lives, which means industrial parks must keep essentials on hand throughout their facilities. This includes masks, gloves, disinfecting products, hand sanitizers, and tissues. Implementing Temperature Checks Safety protocols in industrial parks involve ensuring employees are fit for work. This is why there should be temperature checks whenever workers enter a site, or they should be asked to fill out questionnaires to confirm they have not exhibited any COVID-19 symptoms. Some facilities are also adopting non-contact QR codes to provide efficiency in contact tracing people. Adopting Flexible Schedules and Determining Essential On-Site Workers Industrial park owners must take all the necessary steps to avoid infection occurrences and negatively affecting plant operations. Following the local government’s advisory, industrial parks must be able to adopt flexible working schedules and determine essential on-site workers to observe proper social distancing. Essential on-site workers refer to those individuals whom operations cannot function without such as boiler operators, lead electricians, maintenance mechanics, and wastewater treatment engineers. If an employee’s role can be shifted to remote work, they should be allowed to do so. Create schedules to isolate personnel from each other and avoid close contact. If possible, industrial parks should work with skeleton crews. You can also plan for sending workers home if they mention feeling sick. If employees are assured they will be accommodated to leave early, they would be more willing to do so. What’s extremely concerning about the COVID-19 is that you can never pinpoint if someone is asymptomatic. Adopting a flexible schedule and determining essential on-site workers is a small price to pay when it comes to ensuring everyone’s health and preventing the loss of all key personnel at the same time. These are some of the most effective ways to observe safety protocols in industrial parks. To adapt to the new normal, taking the necessary health precautions is a must to keep operations healthy and productive. At the Science Park of the Philippines (SPPI), we are prepared to implement safety protocols for your business operations. If you want to inquire more about what our industrial parks can provide you today, click here.	56,016
Washington, Nov 13 : Archaeologists have discovered a labyrinth filled with stone temples and pyramids in 14 caves, some of which are underwater, on Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, which according to Maya myth, might be the portal to hell. According to a report in National Geographic News, the discovery has experts wondering whether Mayan legend inspired the construction of the underground complex, or vice versa. Maya myth said that the souls of the dead had to follow a dog with night vision on a horrific and watery path and endure myriad challenges before they could rest in the afterlife. In one of the recently found caves, researchers discovered a nearly 300-foot (90-meter) concrete road that ends at a column standing in front of a body of water. "We have this pattern now of finding temples close to the water-or under the water, in this most recent case," said Guillermo de Anda, lead investigator at the research sites. "These were probably made as part of a very elaborate ritual. Everything is related to death, life, and human sacrifice," he added. Researchers said that the ancient legend, described in part in the sacred book Popul Vuh, tells of a tortuous journey through oozing blood, bats, and spiders, that souls had to make in order to reach Xibalba, the underworld. "Caves are natural portals to other realms, which could have inspired the Mayan myth. They are related to darkness, to fright, and to monsters," de Anda said, adding that this does not contradict the theory that the myth inspired the temples. According to William Saturno, a Maya expert at Boston University, the maze of temples was built after the story. "I'm sure the myths came first, and the caves reaffirmed the broad time-and-space myths of the Mayans," he said. Saturno said that the discovery of the temples underwater indicates the significant effort the Maya put into creating these portals. In addition to plunging deep into the forest to reach the cave openings, Maya builders would have had to hold their breath and dive underwater to build some of the shrines and pyramids. Other Maya underworld entrances have been discovered in jungles and aboveground caves in northern Guatemala Belize. "They believed in a reality with many layers," Saturno said of the Maya. "The portal between life and where the dead go was important to them," he added.	76,728
This week marks a turning point in Florida's effort to restore the Everglades. The state agency in charge, the South Florida Water Management District, will decide today whether to buy 181,000 acres of U.S. Sugar's land for $1.34-billion. The deal stems from a 2007 water district decision to halt a long-standing sugar industry practice of back-pumping polluted water into Lake Okeechobee. That prompted U.S. Sugar to appeal for help to Gov. Charlie Crist, who responded with the proposed buyout. The Everglades Foundation, a small but influential environmental group focused on restoration, aided the ensuing secret negotiations by supplying the state with studies about how the sugar cane land could be used to help with restoring the River of Grass. The group showed how it could be used for a series of manmade wetlands that could clean polluted water from the lake as it flows down Everglades National Park, replacing more complicated and expensive components in the current restoration plan. The resulting contract before the water district today has drawn opposition from some lawmakers, as well as the Florida Farm Bureau. Even Kirk Fordham, the politically connected CEO of the Everglades Foundation, agrees that the contract has its flaws. But in the end, he said he hopes the state will wind up owning the land. He recently shared his take on the deal with the St. Petersburg Times. Why is it so important to acquire U.S. Sugar's land? It's important to look at the bigger picture. The whole idea behind this grandiose initiative is to acquire land everyone once thought was out of reach. (With the sugar land in hand) you can now design a restoration plan that's much simpler, more natural and less expensive. You'd be creating a dynamic ecosystem. We know that it'll work. It's just a matter of getting the land. What's wrong with the deal that's on the table? With the leaseback provision, sugar could be growing on that land for seven years or more before the state gets it. We have some real problems with that. And mining activity would be permitted right in the middle of the footprint for restoration. We've been pushing the Crist administration to make amendments to the contract and make it a better deal. What's the reaction of state officials to your pushing for an amended contract? I think they recognize they got as far as they could with the U.S. Sugar management team. They believe they got the best deal they could at the bargaining table. (But a vote to reject the contract) could send the negotiators back to the negotiating table. … My hope is that for once these folks who have done business around Lake Okeechobee for so long will agree to a plan that accommodates the economy and agriculture, but keeps in mind that if we don't restore the Everglades we're not going to have these industries anymore anyway, since there won't be a water supply. It's in everyone's interest to come to the table. What happens if the state fails to acquire that land? Unless the state gets that land, the likelihood is that U.S. Sugar will parcel it out a little at a time to developers and other agricultural interests and we will have lost forever our chance to acquire it all at once. So if it's a choice of this deal today or no deal forever, I think we should take the deal. What about the concerns about the effect on U.S. Sugar's work force and all the lost jobs in the cities around Lake Okeechobee? We can't rely solely on the sugar industry to keep people employed. If we don't fix the Everglades, we lose many more jobs in fishing, boating and the tourist industry, because they all depend on a healthy ecosystem. (He pointed out that a new flow-way across U.S. Sugar's land could replace the current practice of releasing excess water from Lake Okeechobee into the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie rivers, which has repeatedly led to pollution-fueled algae blooms on both coasts.) Who wants to buy waterfront property when the water is green and it smells?	53,891
Dr. David Rawlings knows how painful and devastating malaria is—he had it several times in his early 20s while teaching grade school in Kenya. “It’s a horrible infection,” said Rawlings, director of the Center for Immunity and Immunotherapies at Seattle Children’s Research Institute. “I had a high fever, severe headaches, chills and I couldn’t leave my house for days. I was fortunate to have medications that stopped the infection, but malaria these days is resistant to most of these drugs.” Rawlings recovered from the bouts of malaria, but young children who get malaria are not always so lucky. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 214 million cases of malaria occurred worldwide in 2015 and resulted in 438,000 deaths, most of them children in Africa. The disease is a parasitic infection spread through the bite of infected mosquitos. Seeing his young students in Africa come down with malaria is what pushed Rawlings to become an immunologist. He wanted to find a cure. Today, researchers at the University of Washington and Rawlings’ lab at Seattle Children’s revealed a major breakthrough in malaria immunology research that they describe in a study published in the journal Immunity. “The search for an effective malaria vaccine has been a vexing scientific problem for decades,” Rawlings said. “But now we’ve identified a population of antibody producing cells that may be key to developing a more effective vaccine.” Remarkable results with an overlooked immune cell Lead authors Dr. Marion Pepper and Akshay Krishnamurty of the University of Washington partnered with Rawlings and Dr. Chris Thouvenel at Seattle Children’s Research Institute to discover the power of an immune cell that researchers had not considered previously in vaccine development. Vaccines for diseases like the flu, chickenpox and measles mimic the infection in the body to kick the immune system into action. When a person receives a vaccine, the immune system ramps up and triggers the development of antibodies, which stay in the body and fight any future infection. All the common vaccines are based on getting one particular immune cell, the IgG memory B cell, to stimulate a strong immune response and produce massive amounts of antibodies. “Researchers have relied on IgG memory B cells in vaccines because they do a good job producing a strong antibody response,” Pepper said. “But we found that IgM memory B cells multiply more rapidly and produce higher amounts of antibodies than IgG memory B cells early after re-exposure to infection.” Rawlings adds that this finding could help solve the riddle of why an effective malaria vaccine has eluded scientists. “To induce a robust immune response that protects against malaria, we have to find the best memory B cell for the job,” he said. “With IgM memory B cells, we’ve identified a malaria antibody powerhouse.” Having singled out the memory B cell in mouse malaria that holds promise for malaria vaccine development, Rawlings and Pepper are moving the work closer to human application by studying the antibodies in blood samples directly from patients who have survived multiple malaria infections. This knowledge will help guide vaccine design and identify antibodies that could be produced in large quantities, which could then be passively transferred to people to protect them from disease or help them control an ongoing infection. Ending the painful cycle of malaria According to the World Health Organization, children under 5 years of age are one of the most vulnerable groups affected by malaria. In areas with high rates of malaria, the deadly side effects of severe anemia, hypoglycemia and cerebral malaria are seen more often in children. “Malaria is tough on children’s developing bodies because it’s an infection they can acquire again and again,” said Rawlings, who is also a professor of pediatrics at the University of Washington. “Even if they can get through the cycles of the disease and through the long recovery, bouts of malaria severely disrupt physical and social development.” Pepper and Rawlings believe that their findings will fundamentally shift the scientific understanding of malaria vaccine development and could hold broader implications for vaccines. “This finding challenges the current understanding of which immune cells may be most effective in vaccine development,” Pepper said. “This is an important finding for malaria, and it may prove to be useful in developing other vaccines.”	88,969
Screen Resolution and Aspect Ratio Many people are familiar with the concept of screen resolution. Resolution is a measurement of how many individual pixels your TV or computer monitor can display at once. The old cathode ray TV (CRT) in your basement can display the equivalent of about 300,000 pixels [source: Kindig]. The latest HDTVs can display more than 2 million pixels. With more pixels, the image can be rendered in greater detail. It's the difference between painting a portrait with a thick sponge block or a small, delicate brush. The standard way to classify TV resolution is with numbers like 480i, 720p, 1080i and 1080p. The bigger the number, the greater the screen resolution. The little "i" and "p" stand for interlaced and progressive scan. This has to do with the way in which the image is rendered on the screen. Refresh rates on TVs and computer monitors are measured in hertz. A refresh rate of 60 times per second translates to 60 hertz. An interlaced-scan TV refreshes half of the screen image 60 times per second. It refreshes the odd-numbered horizontal lines first and then the even-numbered lines. The result is that the full screen refreshes 30 times a second. On a progressive scan television, the entire screen refreshes 60 times a second. The result is that progressive scan TVs have a noticeably smoother image when watching sports or other video with fast-moving action. All computer monitors are progressive scan [source: PCMag.com]. Some even have refresh rates faster than 60 times a second. This is why interlaced SDTVs make for lousy computer monitors. When you scroll, the image can't refresh fast enough to keep things smooth. As a result, you see that telltale flicker. Resolution is important, but you must also take a screen's aspect ratio into account. Your goal when hooking your TV up as a monitor is to make the entire image fit within the boundaries of the TV screen. SDTVs use a 4:3 aspect ratio -- the ratio of the screen's width to its height is 4 to 3. HDTVs have a native 16:9 aspect ratio. While many computer monitors share those aspect ratios, not all of them do, and your computer may support many different screen resolutions with different aspect ratios. In fact, your computer's preferences are unlikely to tell you the aspect ratio, and instead will tell you the resolution. The horizontal x vertical measurement is also the most common way to label computer monitor resolution. Some typical monitor resolutions are 640 x 480, 800 x 600 and 1024 x 768. If you don't know your monitor resolution, you can find out by going to whatismyscreenresolution.com. If you aren't connected to the Internet and you're using a Windows PC, right-click on the desktop and choose Preferences. Then choose the Settings tab. On a Mac, go to System Preferences and click Displays. The trick is to find the resolution that best fits the TV's aspect ratio. This may not be as big a deal as it sounds, though. Modern operating systems can usually match the attached monitor's aspect ratio automatically. If your computer doesn't, you can manually adjust the settings in your computer's preferences to make it fit. But there's more to hooking these two machines together than resolution and aspect ratio. You still have to get the information from the computer to the TV. In order to do that, we've got to solve the cable conundrum.	25,165
The heavy impact of intensive animal farming. The intensive farming of pigs, chickens and cattle has a significant impact on the environment. Here are some of the main ways in which these animals affect the environment: Greenhouse gas emissions: intensive rearing of these animals is responsible for significant greenhouse gas emissions, such as methane and nitrous oxide, which contribute to climate change. Resource use: intensive livestock farming requires large amounts of water, food and land, and can affect soil and water quality. Deforestation: producing food for these animals often requires the deforestation of large areas of land for fodder cultivation, which has a negative impact on biodiversity and the nutrient cycle. Water pollution: animal waste, such as manure and urine, can contaminate groundwater and surrounding water bodies, negatively affecting human and animal health. The environmental impact of an animal depends on the farming system used. Intensive farming of these animals has a significant impact on the environment, while sustainable and low greenhouse gas emission farming can have a smaller impact. The environmental impact of an insect compared to a pig has not been well quantified in universally accepted KPIs. However, estimates suggest that insect farming for food has a lower environmental impact than the intensive farming of pigs, chickens and cattle. Here are some of the reasons why insect farming may have a lower environmental impact: Greenhouse gas emissions: insects produce less methane than large animals such as pigs and cattle. Resource use: rearing insects requires less water, food and land than rearing large animals. Deforestation: producing food for insects often requires less land than producing food for large animals. Water pollution: waste produced by insects is usually less contaminating than waste produced by large animals.	115,243
Even as it works to promote education on campus and around the globe, Yale University is dedicated to advancing knowledge about the natural world, human society, disease, and dysfunction — the better to develop new technologies and better approaches to help address the important issues facing humankind. The list of breakthroughs made by Yale researchers in 2013 is long and varied. Here, in no particular order, are 10 of these discoveries. For the past few decades, health officials have reported increases in the incidence of autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis. A team from the Yale and Harvard medical schools and the Broad Institute identified a prime suspect in the mystery. Volcanoes prone to explosive eruptions exist all over the world. A team of scientists including a senior author from Yale identified the key signals of imminent eruption. Radiology resident Dr. Mark Michalski has used the 3-D printers at Yale’s Center for Engineering Innovation and Design to human print organs — arteries and bones, a liver, a heart, a knee. “The next step will be a brain,” he says. Yale School of Medicine researchers discovered a protein that is the missing link in the complicated chain of events that lead to Alzheimer’s disease. Yale undergraduates found a potent antifreeze protein culled from the beetle Rhagium inquisitor, which has the potential to make ice cream smooth and creamy or help preserve transplant organs long enough to save lives. A Yale researcher and his colleagues found that among those with mental illnesses, people with psychotic disorders like schizophrenia are much more likely to be left-handed than those with mood disorders like depression or bipolar syndrome. Yale researchers reported that single dose of the hormone oxytocin, delivered via nasal spray, can enhance brain activity while processing social information in children with autism spectrum disorders. A new study of gun violence in Chicago, led by a Yale sociologist, revealed that a person’s social network is a key predictor in whether that person will become a victim of gun homicide. Scientists from Yale and Harvard recoded the entire genome of an organism and improved a bacterium’s ability to resist viruses, a dramatic demonstration of the potential of rewriting an organism’s genetic code. A team of scientists including two Yale University astronomers discovered the smallest planet yet detected.	4,441
New EdTech Tool for the “New Normal” New EdTech Tool for the “New Normal” By Charles Voloshin As the school year ends, school districts are reeling from the repercussions of COVID-19 and weighing options for welcoming students back for the 2020-21 school year. At the same time, administrators and teachers are grappling with how to plan instruction that will build on the successes and learnings of the sudden transition to remote education and address the challenges that arose due to the pandemic.. In a recent article in Forbes published in late April 2020, education writer Natalie Wexler noted that remote teaching often “…intensifies challenges inherent in face-to-face settings.” She offered several tips worth sharing including the use of digitally delivered instruction to focus on content. The emphasis, according to Wexler is to build on the background students have already learned rather than strictly concentrating comprehension skills and strategies. Skills practice can occur outside digital lessons and synchronous class time. A part of this approach is connecting new content to students’ prior knowledge and when introducing a new concept of skill, showing students examples. An example she offered rang an important bell. Wexler recommended that teachers provide students with examples of new concepts, for instance by showing students the process of solving a math problem, demonstrating through live or video clips on how to solve it and how to show and explain their work. But in digital environment, un-natural mouse movement and keystrokes impose constraints that can be limiting for teachers and inhibit comprehension for students. There is a solution and it works across grade bands and subject areas. Digital pens and tablets give teachers the ability to intuitively show and simultaneously tell students about concepts and content…writing and drawing as freely as they would if they were using a chalkboard or sharing a paper-based document with students one-to-one. Shorter is Better. Interactivity is Imperative. Time on task is always a teaching challenge. Students’ attention spans are short and when they’re learning from home, the distraction factor is multiplied. Traditional class-length lessons of 50+ minutes, presented via teleconference apps like Zoom, are according to many teachers, inviting students to disengage. A better solution is to deliver short, live video or recorded presentations of 20 minutes or less, paired with interactive individual and small group online meetings to answer student questions, review student work or conduct informal assessments of students’ needs and understanding. For Social Studies and English Teachers A technique worth trying in literature or social studies might be to review or read content and then interject discussion questions or fast writing prompts. Even this kind of simple, straight forward interactivity works to keep students engaged. If students can then share their screens with answers and teachers react and respond, the level of engagement can be sustained. With digital pen and tablet technology, teachers can talk about and write comments in real time on student work, guiding students’ further inquiry and understanding. Simple strategies like this work effectively in the new remote teaching ecosystem. For Math Educators In math, we ask students to show their work and make their thinking visible to check for comprehension and understanding of complex operations. With a digital pen and tablet technology, teachers can create short videos that introduce new concepts or untangle math misconceptions, by sharing a screen and writing the equations and explanations on the screen, highlighting and then changing misconceptions, and providing ‘exemplars’ for students about how to show your work. The ability to draw freely, highlight and write works in both a “whole class” lesson and in one-to-one or small group virtual sessions with students. For Science Teachers Science educators have been particularly challenged in the remote environment because “doing science” with hands-on experiments is how students experience and engage in phenomena, data collection and data analysis. Whether you’re using video simulations in physics or conducting chemistry experiments on video, you can use probeware and data analysis tools, and then share your screen, to show students graphical analysis of the results. Highlighting, annotating, and even sketching the phenomena for students can unlock deeper understanding. Adopting a New Tool Now to Prepare for New Teaching Environments Before your eyes glaze over at the thought of bringing yet another new technology tool into the mix, it might be worth thinking again…particularly if that tool can support your teaching in both the remote and in-school environment. Digital pen and tablet technology is typically “plug and play” and compatible with the instructional software and platforms you’re currently using, including Google Classroom, Microsoft Office programs like Word, PowerPoint and One, along with Adobe’s creative software. Teachers can use the pens in nearly any content area and at any grade level. They’ll help elementary teachers clarify and emphasize early reading and math concepts. They’ll support math and science teachers as they illustrate complex graphs, equations and operations. There are other advantages to consider as well. You’ve no doubt seen the images as some schools reopened for the rest of the school year. Classrooms have been reconfigured to satisfy safety guidelines in order for students and teachers to keep safe social distances from one another. Those protocols will no doubt continue and expand when the new school year begins in the fall. It will be more difficult to work side-by-side with an individual student or a small group of students. But with digital pen and tablet technology, you can work directly with students, commenting on their work, sharing conversations, and providing individual learning support via screen, while you’re in the classroom together. So, this is one instance, when adding a new tool can translate directly into improved instructional delivery and a way to meet individualized learning goals. Another consideration? In the event of a “second wave” and if additional stay-at-home orders become necessary again, teachers will have a head start and will be more prepared for remote learning work if needed. Take Advantage of Summer Break to Give Digital Pen Technology a Try As you plan for the school year ahead, summer break just might give you the opportunity to test drive digital pen and tablet technology, so you can become familiar with using this tool as you plan and build instruction for the year ahead. You might even want to revisit the videos you created for this school and see how additional sequences that annotate, highlight or sketch key ideas can enhance those presentations. You might even consider teaming up with colleagues and learning together over the summer, helping each other enhance and expand lessons for the early months of the new school year. Wacom teams together with partners have developed specialized expertise in working with K-12 schools and universities to improve digital teaching and learning. If you’re looking for volume discounts for your school, district or university, please reach out to us who will be able to help you find the perfect solution for your education technology needs.	101,502
Aluminium Negative Effect The most notorious by-products of aluminium production are caustic red mud and red sand. Over 15 million tonnes (dry base) are generated each year in Australia and over 200 million tonnes are presently stockpiled. Aluminium smelting is the source of fully fluorinated compounds (FFCs) which are much more powerful greenhouse gases than carbon dioxide and have extremely long half-lives. Fortunately, controls over these compounds are improving but they continue to be a cause of environmental concern for governments and the aluminium industry.	74,313
The Cassini spacecraft captures Saturn's moon Rhea at crescent phase, a view never visible from Earth. Near the terminator, a few of Rhea's many craters show up in sharp relief. With a diameter of 949 miles (1,528 kilometers) Rhea is Saturn's second-largest moon. This view looks toward the leading hemisphere of Rhea. North on Rhea is up and rotated 12 degrees to the right. The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Nov. 6, 2012. The view was obtained at a distance of approximately 1.2 million miles (1.9 million kilometers) from Rhea and at a Sun-Rhea-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 129 degrees. Scale in the original image was 7 miles (11 kilometers) per pixel. The image was magnified by a factor of 1.5 to enhance the visibility of surface features. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging operations center is based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute	156,205
Upton Sinclair, ed. (18781968). The Cry for Justice: An Anthology of the Literature of Social Protest. 1915. Let the People Vote on War By Allen L. Benson (American Socialist writer, born 1871) EACH voter should sign his or her name to the ballot that is voted. In counting, the ballots for war should be kept apart from the ballots against war. In the event of more than half of the population voting for war, those who voted for war should be sent to the front in the order in which they appeared at their respective polling places. Nobody who voted against war should be called to serve until everybody who voted for war had been sent to the front.	33,389
Mar 31, 2017 In Astghashen, Nagorno-Karabakh, there are always stars after the rain! Located 800 meters above sea level, Astghashen is an ecovillage in the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh. The name “Astghashen” comes from the word “astgh,” which means “star” in Armenian. The reason behind the name of this village is purely magical: according to some people, after it rains, star-shaped fossils appear on the ground of the village. 175 million years ago, during the Jurassic period of the Mesozoic era, there was a sea in this territory, and these star-shaped fossils are the remains of sea lilies. You may also find other sea fossils, such as seashells, sea urchins, and many others, right under your feet. Although serious research has not been done yet, this mysterious region makes us wonder about how nature works. Just by looking at these fossils, you realize that where you are standing was once the bottom of a sea. The ground looks like a sky full of stars: an amazing feeling that is hard to describe. Do you want to reach the stars? Well, maybe you should look down instead of looking up! Cover image credit: http://milenberry.blogspot.am	16,593
Over the last few years, waste production and reduction have become a hot topic within the hospitality industry. Some aspects of the industry can produce a large amount of waste, but the industry is not looking to reduce waste production. Restaurant and cafe owners are now interested in trying their best to reduce environmental harm. They are opting for sustainable practices within their restaurants instead. Some sustainable practices that restaurant owners can adopt include: Localizing your supply chain – Buying produce directly from distributors who buy from smaller businesses and farmers rather than from a larger chain. Recycling programs – Recycling is one of the best ways to reduce waste. Your food packaging, bottles, and cans can be used in various recycling programs so they don’t end up in our environment. Bulk buying – Food items such as pasta, honey, nuts, and spices can be bought in bulk, which decreases costs and the environmental impact of transportation and packaging. So, do these sustainable practices at your restaurant have anything to do with customers? Yes. Consumers in the modern era are much concerned about the environment and sustainability. Restaurants earn a name through mainly great food, but nowadays, with increasing concerns of climate change, customers are conscious and want to feel good about enjoying your great food without adding to the problem. When a restaurant goes ahead and acts sustainably, they give power to their customers a way to help the earth every day, without having to even think about it. Sustainable practices at your restaurant give your customers another reason to want to eat with you and gives you a point of difference compared to other eateries. Apart from enhancing your customer’s loyalty, sustainability in a restaurant delivers a huge number of benefits to your business and the environment. Increased Customer Base When a customer spreads the word, it is the best form of advertisement for any brand. If customers are also here about your sustainability practices, it will entice them to want to come and try your restaurants, and then your great food will have them returning. Increased Savings and Environmental Benefits Sustainable practices can help you save money in the long term by buying bulk and decreasing your energy and water consumption. Cutting down on waste itself means saving. This also created a positive environmental impact and reduced your carbon footprint. Savings all around. Milky Lane is one of the restaurants in Australia that ensure they make small changes to create a big impact. They avoid using single-use plastics and use glass and paper straws when serving drinks. They also have plant-based food options on their menu, which is another important sustainable practice. With all these small practices, customers are attracted to the restaurant, and the great good will surely bring customers back for a second visit. Implementing sustainable practices is the best thing your restaurant can do for the planet.	58,939
President Bush Signs Executive Order on Efficiency, Renewable Energy January 31, 2007 President Bush signed an executive order on January 24th that mandates an increased use of energy efficiency and renewable fuels throughout the federal government. Executive Order 13423 calls for federal agencies to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by cutting their energy intensity 30 percent, relative to their energy use in 2003, by 2015. Agencies must meet most of their electronic product needs with Energy Star devices, and must enable the energy-saving features on computers and monitors. New building construction and renovations must meet the Guiding Principles for Federal Leadership in High Performance and Sustainable Buildings, which include a target energy use of 30 percent below the average building performance for new buildings and a target that's 20 percent below the average for renovations. By 2015, 15 percent of each agency's building inventory must meet these Guiding Principles, which a number of federal agencies agreed to in early 2006. See the 2006 Memorandum of Understanding (PDF 190 KB), which includes the Guiding Principals, on the Energy Star Web site. Download Adobe Reader. The executive order also emphasizes a cut in petroleum use for federal fleets of vehicles. Agencies that operate fleets of at least 20 motor vehicles are required to reduce their fleet's total consumption of petroleum products by 2 percent annually through 2015, while increasing their consumption of non-petroleum-based fuel by 10 percent per year. Agencies are also required to use plug-in hybrid vehicles when they become commercially available at a cost comparable to other vehicles, including operational costs over the life of the vehicle. The order also mandates that at least half of any agency's required supply of renewable energy be provided by facilities placed in service since 1999. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 requires federal agencies to draw on renewable energy for 3 percent of their electricity use from this fiscal year (FY) through FY 2009, 5 percent for FY 2010 through FY 2012, and 7.5 percent thereafter. In addition, the order includes a general requirement for procuring biobased and energy-efficient products, and includes a number of other environmental goals, such as reduced water consumption, increased recycled content in purchased items, minimized use of toxic and hazardous materials, and reduced environmental impacts from electronic products. See the executive order on the White House Web site.	8,687
Flag of Dominica Flag of Dominica The flag of Dominica, which should not be confused with the flag of the Dominican Republic, is a reflection of the nation's people, history, and natural resources. It bears little resemblance to the colonial Dominica flag that represented the country while it was part of the British Windward Islands, unlike the flags of many nations which retained a strong link to their colonial emblems. The flag of Dominica was officially adopted on November 3, 1978. The yellow represents the original inhabitants, black the fertile soil, and white indicates the pure water. The centered stars symbolize the ten island parishes. The Sisserou Parrot is indigenous to the island. - Capital of Dominica: Roseau - Area of Dominica: 754 sq. km - Languages used in Dominica: English (official), French patois - Religions in Dominica: Roman Catholic, Protestant Colors and Symbolism of the Dominica Flag Dominica flags feature a solid green field with a striped cross of yellow, black, and white. A central red disc is overlaid on the cross, and that disc displays ten stars and a parrot. The parrot is a species that is endemic to the island of Dominica, which serves as a remainder of the nation's unique natural splendors. The green field of the Dominica flag is a symbol of the nation's verdant plants. The flag's cross is a symbol of Christianity, and it is divided into three bands in order to represent the Trinity. The flag's disc is a symbol of justice, while the stars that are on it represent the nation's ten parishes. History of the Dominica Flag Dominica was a colony for a large part of its recent history, and the history of Dominica flags reflects that colonial heritage. It spent most of its history grouped with other islands to form larger colonies, which prevented it from developing a tradition of uniquely Dominican flags. The colonial flags were British blue ensigns with the Union Jack displayed in the canton and the colonial coat of arms in the fly, which followed the same pattern as the majority of other British colonies. The modern flag of Dominica dates back to 1978, when it was designed by a playwright named Alwin Bully. It featured the same fundamental design features as the modern flag, but it differed in the details. The colored bands in the cross were displayed in a different order than on the modern flag and the parrot faced in the opposite direction. The colors of the cross were rearranged in 1981, while the parrot was rearranged in 1988. The flag's stars were changed to a darker shade of green in 1990, which created the design that is currently in use. Popular Resource Pages Popular Product Pages	179,611
Welcome to the MiSWIM SystemContact: Jason Smith 517-284-5556 This page can be accessed as www.mi.gov/miswim. Welcome to the Michigan Surface Water Information Management (MiSWIM) System. This application is an interactive map-based system that allows users to view and download data information about Michigan's surface water collected by the Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) and the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) from sites located throughout Michigan. Enter the MiSWIM System Enviro. Monitoring - This layer contains water/sediment chemistry, aquatic macroinvertebrate community and physical habitat data that have been collected by EGLE (or its contractors/grantees) for various Michigan surface waters. Beach/River E. coli - This layer contains bacteriological data that have been collected by EGLE and local county health departments for various Michigan surface waters, including public bathing beaches. Information about beach closings and water quality standard exceedances is also provided. Fish Contaminant - This layer contains fish contaminant data that have been collected by EGLE (or its contractors/grantees) for various Michigan surface waters. Fish contaminant data are used by EGLE to: determine whether fish from specific waterbodies are safe for human and wildlife consumption, assess spatial and temporal water quality trends, and as surrogate measures of bioaccumulative chemical concentrations in surface water. USGS Gage Stations - This layer contains location information for the United State Geological Survey (USGS) flow gage stations in Michigan. Daily flow values summarized from time-series flow measurements taken each day for the period of record at the USGS gage stations are also provided. High Flow - Data from EGLE's High Flow Discharge Information database. Low Flow - Data from EGLE's Low Flow Discharge Information database. Wastewater Discharges - This layer contains location and other information for all permitted discharges of wastewater to Michigan surface waters and groundwater. Anyone discharging, or proposing to discharge wastewater into Michigan surface water or groundwater is required by law to obtain a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) or a State Groundwater permit. Non-Point Source (NPS) Grants - This layer contains location and other information about nonpoint source water quality protection grants that have been awarded by EGLE to local units of government and nonprofit entities in Michigan. Septage Haulers - This layer contains location and other information about the domestic septage land application sites in Michigan. The licensing and handling of domestic septage is regulated under 2004 Public Act 381, which amended Part 117, Septage Waste Services, of the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act, 1994 PA 451, as amended. Lakes & Streams/Rivers - General information regarding lakes, streams, and rivers, collected and summarized by the DNR. Lake name, surface area, maximum depth, perimeter, fetch (longest unobstructed distance across the lake), type of waterbody, Town-Range-Section, and lake ID code. Valley Segments - Michigan rivers and streams have been subdivided into ecologically similar units called Valley Segments. Within each Valley Segment, the river has a similar drainage area, discharge (flow, in cubic feet per second), nutrient concentration, summer water temperature, valley character, channel character, and key fish species. More information on Valley Segments is in the 1997 DNR report by Seelbach and colleagues (http://rivers.snre.umich.edu/mri/2036rr.pdf). Coldwater Streams - Designated Trout Streams show those portions of rivers and streams officially designated as trout streams by a Fisheries Order of the Director of the MDNR as set forth in DNR-DFI 101 FO-210.01. The map layer was prepared using the list of streams in DNR-DFI 101 FO-210.01; that list (but not the map) has been subsequently modified. The current official list of Designated Trout Streams is set forth in DNR-DFI 101 FO-210.04, which can be found on-line at the following URL: Natural Rivers - Natural Rivers are officially designated portions of rivers protected under the DNR Natural Rivers Program, established by the Natural River Act (Part 305 of P.A. 451 of 1994). The purpose of Natural Rivers designation is to preserve and enhance a river's values for a variety of reasons, including aesthetics, free-flowing condition, recreation, boating, historic, water conservation, floodplain, and fisheries and wildlife habitat. URL for MDNR Natural Rivers: https://www.michigan.gov/dnr/0,4570,7-350-79136_79236_82211---,00.html Reports - DNR Fisheries Division reports about that waterbody. Fish Stocking Information - The number of fish stocked in that waterbody by date and species. Fish Species - List of game fish species found in that waterbody by Fisheries Division. Please send comments or questions to Jason Smith at email@example.com or at 517-284-5556.	36,597
Feb. 15, 2012 A medication commonly used to help people stop smoking may have an unanticipated positive side effect for an entirely different vice: drinking alcohol. A new study by University of Chicago researchers finds that varenicline, sold as Chantix, increases the negative effects of alcohol and therefore could hold promise as a treatment for alcoholism. A group of heavy-to-moderate social drinkers given a single dose varenicline three hours before an alcoholic beverage reported increased dysphoria and reduced "liking," even when researchers controlled for the effects of nausea from the drug. Those effects upon the subjective response to alcohol could reduce drinking in people prone to bingeing and other forms of abuse. "We found that varenicline increased the unpleasant effects of alcohol and decreased drug liking," said Emma Childs, PhD, research associate at the University of Chicago Medicine and first author of the study published in Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research. "Thus, we think that varenicline may reduce drinking by altering the effects of alcohol." Some patients prescribed Chantix to quit smoking have anecdotally reported a reduction in consumption of alcohol as well, and controlled studies in animals and humans have supported the effect. Researchers are now looking for neurobiological mechanisms that connect varenicline, a partial agonist of the brain's nicotinic receptors, with reduced alcohol craving or consumption. "Smokers who use varenicline are approximately two to three times more likely to remain abstinent six months or more after their quit date," said Childs. "After it was approved, several patients treated with varenicline also reported reductions in their drinking, so investigators began to assess if this was an actual effect and how it might be produced." The new experiment is the first to look at the acute effects of a single dose of varenicline on the subjective response to a subsequent alcoholic drink. Subjects were recruited based on heavy drinking behavior, not smoking behavior -- though the recruits did smoke 4 cigarettes a day on average. 15 subjects (8 men and 7 women) were brought to the laboratory for six different sessions. On each day, the subject received either a varenicline or placebo capsule, and then three hours later was given a drink containing 0, 0.4, or 0.8 mg/kg alcohol. Researchers monitored the effects of the drink on cardiovascular and eye movement measures, and subjects filled out questionnaires to report the subjective effects of the drink. Compared to sessions where the subjects received a placebo pill, varenicline increased nausea, heart rate, blood pressure. After an alcoholic drink, self-reported dysphoria was increased while alcohol effects on subconscious eye movements (a measure of the drugs' objective effects) were reduced. Even after controlling for the effect of nausea upon the subsequent response to a drink, the increased dysphoria and reduced "drug liking" after drinking alcohol remained significant. By increasing the negative effects of alcohol, varenicline might be most effective in people who are unable to stop consuming alcohol after only one drink, Childs said. "Our findings shed light on the mechanism underlying why people consume less alcohol when they have taken varenicline," said Childs. "The pleasurable effects of alcohol, for example feeling 'buzzed' and talkative, are associated with greater consumption and binge drinking. Some people lose control of their alcohol consumption during a drinking episode, for example they may aim to only have one or two drinks but end up drinking say four or five. If varenicline counteracts these positive effects by producing unpleasant effects, then as a result people may consume less alcohol during a drinking episode." The authors cautioned that their study only examined the acute effect of a single dose of varenicline, rather than the sustained exposure experienced with regular use of the drug. But because the effectiveness of varenicline has already been proven as a smoking cessation drug, the unanticipated effects on drinking may make people struggling with both behaviors a logical first target. "Varenicline may find a nice niche in those individuals who are both nicotine and alcohol dependent, who we know represent a large portion of alcohol-dependent individuals," added Hugh Myrick, associate professor of psychiatry at the Medical University of South Carolina, who was not involved in the study. "Since there is a high comorbidity between nicotine and alcohol dependence, a single medication that could decrease the use of both substances would be ideal." Funding for the research was provided by the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. Other social bookmarking and sharing tools: Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above. - Emma Childs, Daniel J. O. Roche, Andrea C. King, and Harriet de Wit. Varenicline potentiates alcohol-induced negative subjective responses and offsets impaired eye movements. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 2012 Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.	72,958
News stories are articles that are time sensitive and tell readers what has happened in the world around them that might be of importance to them. While there are numerous categories of news stories, the two main forms that you find in news outlets are – event-based news on something that has happened or a quote story based on something that was said and who said it. When learning how to write like a journalist, a news writer would be trained to treat each of these categories differently while adhering to the foundations of news writing principles. These types of articles can be further divided into the “diary” articles or unexpected “flash” news. Diary stories are those that are expected. The journalist would have a schedule of events that could be a press conference, a launch of a product, a sporting event or other functions that were known about beforehand. Flash news is something that is unscheduled메이저놀이터. This could be a traffic accident, sudden resignation of a leading politician, tragedies and other events that a news desk would not have accounted for. While it is fair say flash news is unscheduled, it is not exactly unexpected. Any newspaper, television station or online news portal would always have their staff on standby to deal with sudden events. If the flash news is a really big story, it could throw scheduled events off the front page. Quote stories are based solely on what a newsmaker says. The more important the person, the greater the impact of the story and the more play it would get. The articles would dwell less on what has happened than on what the person says. It is an opportunity to get human emotion into the story by bringing out feelings and opinions rather than descriptions of what happened. Quite often, a quote story is closely linked to an event. If a reporter is assigned to cover a fire that has broken out downtown, the editor might tell him to find a quote story. The other article could possibly be an interview with one of the survivors and would comprise mostly of quotes that evoke feelings of desperation, sadness, joy and other emotions. The writer would try to avoid too much detail about the fire in this article because it would have been adequately covered in the main news article.	22,626
This Strategy sets out how Australian official development assistance will assist the Government and people of Timor-Leste to work towards the Millenium Development Goals. The Australia–Timor-Leste Country Strategy 2009 to 2014 sets out how Australian official development assistance (ODA) will assist the Government and people of Timor-Leste to work towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). This strategy is also available in the following formats: The Australia–Timor-Leste Country Strategy 2009 to 2014 [PDF 261 kb] The Australia–Timor-Leste Country Strategy 2009 to 2014 [Word 963 kb] Estratéjia Dezenvolvimentu Austrália-Timor-Leste ba 2009-2014 [PDF 439 kb] Estratéjia Dezenvolvimentu Austrália-Timor-Leste ba 2009-2014 [RTF 446 kb] Austrália-Estratégia para Timor-Leste 2009 a 2014 [PDF 442 kb] Austrália-Estratégia para Timor-Leste 2009 a 2014 [RTF 418 kb] Severe poverty and weak services Turning the corner Lessons from experience This country strategy sets out how Australian official development assistance (ODA) 1 will assist the Government and people of Timor-Leste to work towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). 1Cooperation between Timor-Leste and Australia’s Department of Defence is beyond the scope of this strategy. 1.1 Severe poverty and weak services Timor-Leste is one of the poorest countries in the world, ranking 162nd out of 182 countries in the United Nations Human Development Index. Poverty has increased since 2001: around half the population now lives below the poverty line of USD 0.88 per day. The MDGs are unlikely to be met by 2015 although progress is being made in primary education and gender equality in education. Three-quarters of those living below the poverty line reside in rural areas. Agriculture remains the most important sector for poor Timorese with 80 per cent of the poor dependent on the agricultural sector for their livelihood. But the agricultural sector is characterised by low productivity and is vulnerable to climate change. Food insecurity affects up to 80 per cent of households in some districts. Social services are not always reaching those most in need, particularly in areas outside Dili. Access to quality health services is particularly low resulting in high maternal and neonatal death rates. Employment opportunities are scarce. With approximately 16,000 young people entering the labour market each year, the rate of youth unemployment is over 40 per cent. Less than half as many women as men participate in the paid labour force. The population is one of the fastest growing in the world. With women having an average of seven or eight children each, the population in 2015 is expected to be 36 per cent more than in 2005. This rapid growth rate is putting increased pressure on social service delivery and jobs, as well making it difficult to reduce high infant and maternal mortality. 1.2 Oil dependence Timor-Leste is almost entirely dependent on oil and gas revenue with 90 per cent of its income coming from this sector. Far-sighted policy makers established a Petroleum Fund which has protected much of this revenue through a conservative offshore investment strategy. The global recession forced down oil prices which resulted in lower inflows into the Fund compared to the windfall in 2008, but the country retains sufficient capital to generate an income from which the Government can derive the majority of its operating resources. And a sustained recovery of commodity prices looks increasingly likely. The key policy challenge for the Government therefore concerns management of these oil funds and translating these resources into services for the people. A further challenge arising from the country’s dependence on oil is the weakness of the non-oil private sector. Dutch-disease effects have contributed to high wages. And business is further disadvantaged by policies which have seen Timor-Leste rank 164 out of 183 countries in the latest Ease of Doing Business report. 1.3 Turning the corner Timor-Leste is a post-conflict fragile state. It has experienced bouts of conflict or instability on average every two years since the independence vote in 1999. In that year more than two-thirds of its infrastructure was destroyed and much of its administrative capacity returned to Indonesia. Like all post-conflict fragile states, Timor-Leste has a high level of risk of returning to conflict. Nonetheless, since the violent attacks on the President and Prime Minister in 2008, Timor-Leste has experienced a period of stability. The Government has made efforts to resolve some of the issues arising from the violent conflict which occurred in 2006. Thanks in large part to the quieting effect of cash transfers to internally displaced people and veterans and to the international security guarantee afforded by Australia, the UN and other donors, the Government has now explicitly shifted its focus from stabilisation to what it terms ‘growth and development for all’. The institutions of government are beginning to take shape. But there are major challenges presented by the process of decentralising government functions to the regions. Further efforts to strengthen parliamentary democracy and promote the Government’s accountability and responsiveness are also needed. These reforms will help to create the incentives for the Government to fulfil its commitment to meet the MDGs and to deliver peace dividends to citizens. 1.4 Donor relations Donor funding from well over 40 bilateral and multilateral agencies, not to mention hundreds of non-government organisations (NGOs), also plays a role in financing Timor-Leste’s development needs—and complicating its development agenda. In a country with so many challenges and so many development partners, strong donor coordination is important. This would help to ensure real progress on national priorities and ensure that aid flows do not create unsupportable financial obligations for the Government. 2 Lessons from experience Global experience from working with fragile states such as Timor-Leste suggests there are at least five key lessons. - Donors need to focus on the task of building functioning relationships between the state and its citizens. - Fragile states can only accommodate a limited number of reforms at any one time. The reform agenda therefore needs to be prioritised, incremental and realistic. - If donors are to work effectively in Timor-Leste, they need to understand the political economy in which they work. There will always be winners and losers from change; understanding how these are likely to play out is essential. Ensuring that aid does not exacerbate tensions or undermine national capacity is critical. - It takes time to build institutional capacity. Too often donors fall back on simplistic models of change which revolve around the use of international expertise. Capacity building is a long-term endeavour, demanding a range of approaches—few of which are purely technical. - A final lesson is about the importance of early wins. Governments need to cement the support of their populations and to be confident that donors are worth the effort. That means donor activities need to exhibit early, clear achievements and work to improve local capacity. The implications of this analysis for how the program will be delivered, what it will focus on and who it will work with are outlined below. 3 Program delivery Australia and Timor-Leste’s partnership will be based on mutual respect and accountability. The Government of Timor-Leste has clearly stated its development priorities and, through this strategy, Australia commits to contribute towards them. There is a window of opportunity over the next few years, provided that stability can be sustained, for Australia’s resources to help the Government to remove persistent constraints to progress. Specifically, it can help to improve health and education services by strengthening systems both in the capital and in the districts. It can help to promote employment through improving agricultural production and infrastructure. It can further improve the quality of the police. And it can build local capacity so that Timorese professionals can work on Timorese challenges. For this to happen, the Australian program will accelerate changes already in train. Specifically, it will address: Clearer priorities: Australia and Timor-Leste will agree core joint priorities and persevere with them. This is challenging, because Australia’s flexibility and responsiveness in the post-conflict phase has pulled the program in many different directions. Within these agreed priorities, Australia will play a stronger role in donor coordination, policy analysis and policy dialogue. Results focus: Australia and Timor-Leste will sharpen the focus on results, particularly outside Dili. Decentralisation will be an important factor in delivering results in the districts. In the Delivery Strategy which will supplement this strategy, Australia and Timor-Leste will agree on the outcomes anticipated from Australia’s assistance and will track progress against these outcomes on an annual basis. Among other things, this will require further work on monitoring performance, including working with the Government to ensure credible performance information is generated. Greater use of NGO capacity: The international NGO community has long been active in promoting Timor-Leste’s development, including working with local civil society to deliver results at the community level. In line with the Australian Government’s commitment to work more through civil society, there will be greater scope for engaging international and Timorese NGOs in policy issues and program implementation. To deliver the objectives of this strategy, particular roles for NGOs are envisaged in health service delivery, in strengthening social accountability and in reducing violence against women. More inclusive development: Some of Timor-Leste’s most daunting challenges are brought about by the lack of equality between men and women. Australian assistance will therefore address squarely the issue of gender equality. A Gender Action Plan which updates analysis and identifies the specific measures which the program will adopt, including addressing violence against women, will inform the entire program. Just as women have been bypassed by many of the development gains in Timor-Leste over the past decade, so too have people with disabilities. Attention will be given to ways in which Australian assistance can facilitate their full participation in education, economic and social life. Social protection for the poor and other vulnerable groups will help to ensure that development benefits everyone. Better communication: Mutual accountability will be further enhanced by improving communication between Australian and Timorese stakeholders, committing to regular performance reviews and working with civil society to provide feedback on the quality and responsiveness of government services. 4 Program focus In a country where the majority of the population is extremely poor, and where progress towards the MDGs is slow, donors are often tempted to work across a wide range of sectors. But in fragile, post-conflict countries it is important not to overwhelm limited capacity by embarking on too ambitious an agenda. This means that over the life of the strategy Australia will re-focus its efforts on a smaller number of activities and results. The selection of priorities chosen for this strategy reflects judgements about where success is most likely to be achieved and consideration of where other donors are already making a significant contribution. For the period 2009 to 2014, Australia’s program to Timor-Leste will therefore be based on four of the Government of Timor-Leste’s key objectives: Strengthening basic health and education service delivery, including a special focus on maternal and child health Increasing employment by: - increasing agricultural productivity - improving infrastructure, including through labour intensive initiatives - promoting vocational education - promoting private sector development, including through enhancing access to microfinance Improving government accountability, transparency and integrity Building the foundations of a safer community. Table 1 identifies a selection of specific outcomes which the Government of Timor-Leste is aiming to achieve under each national objective and Australia’s contribution. Clearly, such high-level outcomes cannot be delivered by Australia alone. It is therefore necessary to identify some specific intermediate-level outcomes for which Australia, working with Timor-Leste, will be responsible (column 2). Table 1 also lists examples of specific commitments which Australia expects to undertake during the life of the strategy (column 3). This table will be presented in full in the Delivery Strategy which supplements this strategy. Table 1: Indicative strategy objectives and outcomes Australian and Timor-Leste Planned Achievements National Objective 1: Progress towards MDGs through strengthened basic health service delivery Improve access to services in maternal and child health and reproductive and sexual health - More facilities are available for maternal and child health - Improved nutrition, sanitation, hygiene and access to water - 45% of deliveries attended by skilled health personnel (from 36%) - 60% of pregnant women receive at least four antenatal visits (from 35%) National Objective 2: Increasing employment Promote employment through skills development and promoting the private sector - Increased basic skills through training for women and men, particularly in rural areas - Increased access to financial services - 70,000 women and men have access to employment and training opportunities - 100,000 women and men have access to microfinance Improved rural infrastructure - Improved water and sanitation supply - Better roads - Creating employment through labour-intensive public works - Over 110,000 people have access to clean water and sanitation - Maintenance of rural roads - More youth in rural areas with short-term jobs to build and maintain roads and other rural infrastructure Improve food security by increasing agricultural productivity - Increased distribution of higher yielding seeds - Improved storage of harvest - Improved livestock production - 75% of rural households use improved seed varieties of staple food crops - Most farming families use improved storage technologies National Objective 3: Improving Government accountability, transparency and integrity - Build the capacity of civil servants and municipal authorities in public financial management and accountability - Improve transparency of government and parliamentary processes - Strengthened capacity of Ministry of Finance and selected ministries for prudent, effective and accountable financial planning and management - Strengthened regulation of civil service recruitment, pay and conditions - Improved preparation and execution of the Budget - Budget aligned with national development priorities - Effective aid coordination mechanisms - Treasury and procurement functions managed efficiently and transparently National Objective 4: Building the foundations of a safer community Establish a more effective and accountable police service Institutional values and behaviours established and governance frameworks enacted which underwrite professional policing services - Increasingly transparent decision-making in line with governance frameworks - Enhanced public confidence in a professional police culture Note: National Objectives are based on the Timor-Leste 2009 Statement of National Priorities Note: A full statement of strategy objectives and outcomes will be prepared as part of the Delivery Strategy. 5 Program partners This strategy provides a framework for all ODA supplied by the Australian Government. To deliver the agreed outcomes and implement our commitments, Australia’s aid program will continue to work with a range of Australian organisations, including state and local governments, the private sector, NGOs and friendship groups 2. These bodies have a long and valuable history of working in Timor-Leste contributing not only to development outcomes but to the close relationship between Australia and Timor-Leste. 2Australian friendship groups, consisting of over 60 local government and community organisations, have formed ties with over 40 bodies in Timor-Leste based on social, economic, cultural and educational activities. Despite an enhanced, more explicit focus, the program will retain the capacity to support a limited number of initiatives that fall outside these parameters. This will allow the multiple jurisdictions and organisations within Australia with interests in Timor-Leste to compete for funding for their activities. This takes account of the strong history of engagement between Australian local and state governments, NGOs and community groups and the people of Timor-Leste. This support will be provided through two flexible, transparent and competitive grant-making programs (Box 1). Funding for these programs will be capped at no more than ten per cent of the total program. Box 1: Flexible mechanisms Australian state and local governments and universities which wish to partner with Timor-Leste Government agencies may apply for funding through the Public Sector Linkages Program (PSLP). PSLP will place a priority on proposals which demonstrate a commitment on behalf of the Government of Timor-Leste to invest a significant proportion of total project funds into the initiative. Timorese organisations and Australian organisations which wish to partner with Timorese NGOs may apply for funding through the East Timor Community Assistance Scheme (ETCAS). ETCAS will enable community groups to work closely on community identified priorities. Australia supports a number of international partnerships with bilateral and multilateral development agencies working in Timor-Leste. Australia directly funds the programs of some partners such as United Nations agencies, the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank. These multilateral arrangements, formal agreements with donors such as Portugal, Brazil and Germany and informal engagements with others, combined with clearer statements of Timor-Leste priorities, provide scope for Australia to better coordinate and harmonise its aid and policy dialogue efforts. By working with other multilateral and bilateral donors, Australia can reduce the administrative burden on the Government of Timor-Leste and tap into top quality technical expertise. Over the life of the strategy we will cultivate partnerships with the World Bank in health and public financial management, United Nations agencies in government accountability and Portugal in police capacity building. 6 Program management During the life of this strategy we expect that development assistance, managed primarily by AusAID and the Australian Federal Police, will remain around current levels of AUD 120 million per year. Up to AUD 600 million will be allocated over the life of the strategy. Australia and Timor-Leste are committed to transparency and mutual accountability with respect to our achievements. The quality of Australian-funded assistance will be reviewed every calendar year as part of the Annual Program Performance Review. Results will be made public. These reviews will form the basis of annual meetings between Australian and Timor-Leste to discuss joint progress made towards objectives. A joint review of the strategy will be undertaken midway through its implementation. 7 Risk management There are three main risks that might prevent the strategy delivering its objectives. - The first is that the country will again experience instability and conflict. International experiece would suggest that this remains a high risk over the life of this strategy. There are many potential causes—lack of political consensus could stall reforms and service delivery and lead to public disaffection. Loss of funds to corruption or continued weak performance in delivering services might also trip popular dissent. Disputes between the army and the police force could occur if underlying tensions are not adequately addressed. Conflict within communities could arise from changes to local level governance structures, including through the decentralisation of government. The Australian program of assistance manages these risks by working to understand the context within which we work. This effort will include regular updates of analyses, including conflict. The program will work with the Government to deliver tangible services to citizens in the districts, strengthen the professionalism of the police and build the habit of responsive, transparent and accountable government at all levels, particularly through support of selected key institutions. - A second risk is that the Government’s revenue base is eroded or its spending decisions are unaffordable. For instance, it may regularly exceed the sustainable level of access to the Petroleum Fund so that capital reserves run down significantly. Similarly, a prolonged period of low oil prices would further reduce the resources available to the Government. The main impact here would be felt over the medium to long term. Australia’s support for the Government’s budget process, through assistance to the Ministry of Finance, is the main way in which the program will manage these risks. - A final risk is that donors are unable or unwilling to align and coordinate effectively, or that the Government of Timor-Leste fails to focus on the Strategic Development Plan and National Priorities. The result of either of these risks would be to pull resources away from delivering better services. Australia will mitigate this risk by offering support to the Government’s aid coordination function, playing an active role in donor coordination and harmonisation and supporting only those activities which are identified as a high priority in the Strategic Development Plan. 8 By 2014 This strategy states how Australia will assist Timor-Leste over five years. In contrast to the situation in 2009 where assistance extended to almost every sector, by 2014 Australian assistance will be tightly focussed on achieving the four agreed objectives. This focus will allow Australia to play stronger roles in donor coordination, policy analysis and dialogue and to help the Government to achieve better results. In 2014 Timorese will be receiving better health services, with a drop in maternal mortality rates. More people will have access to water and sanitation. More youth will have jobs. And productivity in agriculture and other private enterprises will have increased. In 2014, there will be less need for expensive foreign advisers with the Government better equipped to implement its own development plans. Moreover, the means will exist to demonstrate how Australian support has contributed towards these outcomes. Timor-Leste has been the subject of much research and analysis. Sources informing this strategy include: Andrew Podger, Sue Ingram, Peter Heijkoop, 'Review of Public Sector Capacity in East Timor' (2008) AusAID, 'Timor-Leste Annual Program Performance Review' (2007 and 2008) AusAID, 'Country Situational Analysis (2009)' (internal document) AusAID Office of Development Effectiveness, 'A Balancing Act: Implementation of the Paris Declaration in Timor-Leste' (2008) Economist Intelligence Unit, 'Country Report East Timor' (2009) Guy Winship, 'Review of the Microfinance Sector in East Timor' (2008) Kaye Schofield, 'Review of Australian Assistance to Employment and Skills Development in East Timor' (2008) Oxfam Australia, 'Timor-Leste Food Security Baseline Survey Report' (2008) Paul Collier, 'Post Conflict Economic Recovery' (2006) Scanteam, 'Review of Development Cooperation in Timor Leste' (2007) Timor-Leste, 'National Priorities' (2009) and other Government of Timor-Leste strategy and planning documents United Nations Development Programme, 'The Millennium Development Goals, Timor-Leste' (2009) World Bank, 'Doing Business, Country Profile for Timor-Leste' (2010) World Bank, 'Population Growth and its Implications in Timor-Leste' (2008) World Bank Group, 'The Global Financial Crisis and Implications for Developing Countries' (2009) World Bank Group and Asian Development Bank, 'Economic and Social Development Brief' (2007) World Bank and Timor-Leste Directorate of National Statistics, 'Timor-Leste: Poverty in a Young Nation' (2008)	55,879
Natural Sciences Conservation The Arabian Leopard is highly endangered The Arabian leopard (Panthera pardus nimr) is a leopard subspecies native to the Arabian Peninsula and is on the Red List of Endangered species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The Arabian leopard is one of the most highly endangered large cats in the World. Based on a wild population that is believed to be fewer than 250, Arabian leopards are listed in the IUCN Red Data List as “A2cd ver 3.1” (“Threatened”). The population is severely fragmented, subpopulations are isolated and not larger than 50 mature individuals and the population is thought to be in continuous decline . The Arabian leopard is one of the smallest leopard subspecies. It was tentatively affirmed as a distinct subspecies by genetic analysis from a single captive leopard from Israel of south Arabian origin, which appeared most closely related to the African leopard. Wild Arabian leopards are apparently more common than wild Amur leopards (Panthera pardus orientalis) which may number as few as 20. However, as there are only about 60 captive Arabian leopards and probably more than 500 Amur leopards in captivity, the former is in much more imminent danger of extinction. The Arabian leopard, distribution and subspecies status An article for the Anglo-Omani Society describes the activities of the Omani government in protecting the Arabian leopard in the mountains of Dhofar. Hadi Al Hikmani is a wildlife specialist with the Office for Conservation of the Environment, Diwan of Royal Court, Oman, and a leading researcher on the Arabian leopard project. The Arabian leopard is a critically endangered subspecies that inhabits the mountains of the Arabian Peninsula. The population is in decline with the last strongholds in Yemen and the Sultanate of Oman. The principal threats to the leopard are persecution, often in response to livestock killing, and the loss of habitat and key prey species. Visual camera traps as a method for data collection The Omani government has taken steps to protect the Arabian leopard in the mountains of Dhofar. A protected area was established in 1997 to safeguard the leopards of Jabal Samhan and the Arabian Leopard Survey was launched the same year to study the leopard throughout Dhofar. The Survey has obtained baseline information on the distribution, population and ecology of the leopard and a National Action Plan for its conservation was drafted in 2014. The Arabian leopard project team includes more than 20 wildlife rangers who work throughout the Dhofar mountains. Fieldwork aims to obtain robust data on the Arabian leopard population of the Dhofar mountains. This involved multiple methods inlcuding visual camera traps at 30 sites in addition to DNA samples for diet analysis. A recent study compared the effectiveness of various methods for surveying medium and large wild mammals in southern Oman. Results showed that the efficiency of detection methods varied by species, with one or two methods often outperforming others. For several species, different methods produced different spatial distributions, suggesting a higher detection efficiency of multiple methods used in combination. Results showed that DNA analysis was more efficient for the detection of Leopard Panthera pardus nimr. These studies provide ecological insights and precious data on leopard populations. Stein, A.B., Athreya, V., Gerngross, P., Balme, G., Henschel, P., Karanth, U., Miquelle, D., Rostro, S. & Kamler, J.F. and Laguardia, A. 2016. Panthera pardus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T15954A50659089. http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-1.RLTS.T15954A50659089.en. Mazzolli, M., Haag, T., Lippert, B.G., Eizirik, E., Hammer, M.L.A. and Al Hikmani, K. (2016) Multiple methods increase detection of large and medium-sized mammals: working with volunteers in south-eastern Oman. Oryx, pp. 1–8. doi: 10.1017/S0030605315001003. You may also want to read: Al Hickmanic, H., Zaabanoot, N. and Zaabanoot A. (2015). Camera trapping of Arabian leopard in the Nejd region of Dhofar Mountains. Cat News, 62:32. Andrew P. Jacobson, Peter Gerngross, Joseph R. Lemeris Jr., Rebecca F. Schoonover, Corey Anco, Christine Breitenmoser-Würsten, Sarah M. Durant, Mohammad S. Farhadinia, Philipp Henschel, Jan F. Kamler, Alice Laguardia, Susana Rostro-García, Andrew B. Stein, Luke Dollar. Leopard (Panthera pardus) status, distribution, and the research efforts across its range. PeerJ, 2016; 4: e1974 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.1974 CC BY-NC-ND 4.0	72,007
Developmental toxicants are agents that cause adverse effects on the developing child. Effects can include birth defects, low birth weight, biological dysfunctions, or psychological or behavioral deficits that become manifest as the child grows. Maternal exposure to toxic chemicals during pregnancy can disrupt the development or even cause the death of the fetus. Exposure of pregnant women to mercury, lowers birth weight and can cause severe brain damage in children. While developmental toxicity usually results from prenatal exposures to toxicants experienced by the mother, it can also result from paternal exposures. For example, the occupational exposure of men to vinyl chloride has been associated with increased rates of spontaneous abortion in their wives. Early postnatal contact with toxicants can also affect normal development. Exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke, for example, increases an infant's risk of contracting respiratory infections or succumbing to sudden infant death syndrome.	154,728
JPEG 2000 Image Compression A lot of confusion exists as to what JPEG 2000 is and how it compares with other compression standards such as MPEG (Moving-Picture Experts Group) -2, MPEG-4, and the earlier JPEG. With brief comparisons to other compression standards, this article is primarily intended to highlight some of the often misunderstood and rarely mentioned potential-become-actual benefits of JPEG 2000. Figure 1. JPEG 2000 applications. An important feature of systems based on JPEG 2000 is the ability to extract a variety of resolutions, components, areas of interest, and compression ratios from a single JPEG 2000 code stream. This is not possible with any other compression standard because the image size, bit rate, and quality must be specified on the encode side and can not be determined or changed on the decode side. For example, a closed-circuit TV (CCTV) security system can make use of this feature by sending a single JPEG 2000 code stream over a low bandwidth network. High-resolution images can be stored on a hard-disk drive (HDD), while several lower-resolution images are displayed on monitors. The operator on the receive side can decide what information to extract from the single code stream sent. JPEG 2000 is frame accurate, in that every single frame of the input is contained in the compressed format. MPEG systems, on the other hand, reduce the amount of data through temporal compression (which does not encode each frame as a complete image), so MPEG compression is not frame-accurate. For this reason, legal issues restrict the use of MPEG compression in some security applications. To get around this problem, security system and equipment providers have had to develop their own compression schemesor use the highly inefficient motion JPEG Internet Image Distribution With the low-quality image instantly available, the user at the receiving end can decide whether to view the picture in its fully decoded version, or to pass it by and scan the next picture instead. Clients can view images at different resolutions or quality levels [compression rates] making them suitable for any transmission bandwidth, connection speed, or display device. In addition, JPEG 2000 coding provides the option to zoom in or out on a particular area of the imageor to display a particular region of the image at a different resolution or compression rate. Many applications require exact bit-rate control, which only JPEG 2000 can provide. Exact bit-rate control is possible because an entire frame or field is transformed at once; it is then broken down into bit streams or code blocks that can be processed independently with the techniques described below. In systems using DCT, quantization is the only technique used, and this makes exact bit-rate control difficult. In order to control bit rate in DCT systems, the information must be repeatedly re-processed and re-quantized. The rate-control algorithm used in JPEG 2000 truncates each bit stream to meet a specific target bit rate, adjusting the truncation and re-quantization of each code blocks data as required. In addition to programming the target bit rate, the standard allows the user to specify a particular quality metric. In this case, the target bit rate will vary to meet the specified quality factor, as long as the performance does not fall below a specific peak signal-to-noise ratio. The PSNR is an indication of picture quality comparable to perceived picture quality. JPEG 2000 Code Stream Equally sized code blocks, which are essentially bit streams of data, are generated within each subband. This break-down is necessary for coefficient modeling and coding, and is done on a code-block-by-code-block basis. In essence, the actual compression is achieved by truncating and/or re-quantizing the bit streams contained in each code block. These bit streams are then optimally truncated using a technique knows as post-compression-rate-control (PCRC). Code blocks can be accessed independently. Their bit streams are coded with three coding passes per bit plane. This process, called context modeling, is used to assign information about the importance of each individual coefficient bit. The code blocks can then be grouped according to their significance. On the decoding side it is then possible to extract information according to its significance, allowing the most significant information to be seen first. JPEG 2000 can contain a user-defined number of layers, which are defined by PCRC and context modeling. Each layer stands for a particular compression rate, where the compression rate is achieved from the quantization-, rate-distortion-, and context modeling processes. Layer 0, for example, contains bit streams-from the lossy WT transform-that are heavily truncated, contain no coding passes, and thus provide the highest compression rate and the lowest quality. Layer 16 can then contain bit streams that are less truncated and use a higher number of coding passes, thus providing low compression and high quality. Figure 2. ENCODEimage over wavelet transform into subbands and resolutions. Tiles or images are further partitioned into precincts. Precincts contain a number of code blocks, and are used to facilitate access to a specific area within an image in order to process this area in a different way, or to decode only a specific area of an image. The JPEG 2000 bit stream is generated by arranging code blocks or precincts into an array of packets with the lower subbands coming first. The JPEG 2000 stream starts with a main header containing information such as: uncompressed image size, tile size, number of components, bit depth of components, coding style, transform levels, progression order, number of layers, code block size, wavelet filter type, quantization level, etc. The entire image data, grouped in code blocks of LL, HL, LH, and HH subbands, follows the header. Data is not contained in the header information. Also, a table of contents can be stored on the encode side, and allows a decoder to call up a certain resolution on demand, without first having to decode or download the entire JPEG 2000 code stream. Figure 3. DECODEone JPEG 2000 stream is received by several decoders. DCT versus WT To obtain the same amount of information as with one WT pass, the DCT must be used for every frequency; and each of these frequencies must be transformed at each time instant for each 8 × 8 pixel block. In addition, MPEG systems use inter-frame compression [motion estimation] in order to reduce the amount of data further for motion estimation. This requires storage of at least two entire fields in external memory. The computation-intensive motion estimation process requires a very powerful processor. Temporal compression can be used in JPEG 2000 systems, but it is not inherent in the JPEG 2000 standard. JPEG 2000s Advantages Over Other Compression Standards JPEG 2000 continues to gain popularity, even though MPEG-2 is the established standard for DVD and broadcast applications. JPEG 2000 is also very popular in HD applications that require high-quality storage or transmission of HD images over wireless or other links. Figure 10. ADV202 block diagram. Even though digital signal-processor (DSP) performance has improved significantly, a DSP would have to perform 20 billion instructions per second to match the performance of the ADV202 in a standard-definition encode application. Effectively serving as accelerators, the ADV202s three dedicated on-chip entropy codecs are responsible for the high throughput rate. CONCLUSIONTHE OUTLOOK FOR JPEG 2000 Several major manufacturers of video or broadcast equipment have implemented JPEG 2000 into such future HD products as real-time encoding and decoding systems and video servers. The Digital Cinema Initiative (DCI) has recently announced that it will use JPEG 2000 as the compression method in the delivery of digital motion pictures. The ADV202 has already found its way into many designs in the CCTV/security market in video-over-network applications. Because of its flexibility and image-compression quality, the ADV202operating under JPEG 2000could find its way into virtually every design that uses image or video compression. Copyright 1995- Analog Devices, Inc. All rights reserved.	110,874
The Learning Center Credit Card Comparison Understanding Your Credit Understanding your credit is important. Your credit is your financial history which is reported and scored. In this article we will define what credit is, discuss good vs. bad credit, and provide you with tips on how to build good credit. In personal finances, probably the most important thing you have to consider is your credit. Credit is the underlying engine of our economy. If you do not have a credit history, it is more difficult to buy expensive items (like cars and homes), and it can even make things harder when you are looking for a job or an apartment to rent. Your credit can even affect what sort of insurance premiums you pay. It is easy to see, then, why credit is an important part of your overall financial picture. What is credit? First of all, it is important to understand what credit is. In simplest terms, your credit is your financial reputation. It is a representation to others of how you conduct yourself in the realm of your financial responsibility. Specific information about your accounts and your financial transactions are kept in your credit history or credit file (sometimes called your credit report). This is a rather large and unwieldy document for lenders, insurers, employers and others to comb through, so the information in your report is often represented by a credit score. Your credit score is a number between 350 and 950 that is used to easily show your reputation. Different companies use different standards and formulas when putting together your credit score, so it is common for things to line up inexactly between credit bureaus, your FICO score and other scores. It depends on which company is used, and what information that company has, as to your score. You can see why it's important to strive for good credit, though. That way your credit score at all companies will be relatively high. Good credit vs. bad credit One of the most important things is to try to have good credit. Good credit offers you all sorts of advantages that bad credit does not. Good credit means that you are more likely to be approved for a loan (especially in this economy) than if you have bad credit. Additionally, some employers will think you are a security risk if you have a poor credit score. Good credit also means that you have access to the best interest rates on your loans. The interest rate you get can mean the difference of hundreds – or even thousands – of dollars paid in charges and fees over the life of a loan. When you are getting a home mortgage, a single percentage point difference in interest rate can mean a difference of tens of thousands of dollars in what you pay back overall. Bad credit limits your choices in terms of credit and other services. You are in no position to demand better terms when you have bad credit. You have to settle for whatever deal someone is willing to offer you, even if it is not the deal that you want. Building good credit Whether you have no credit or bad credit, it is important to do your best to build good credit. It is possible to build good credit by paying attention to best personal financial practices. These practices include the following: Your credit is an important part of your personal finances. See that you use it responsibly so that it can aid you moving forward, rather than hold you back. Related Article: Personal Credit Report >> Copyright © 2002-2017 Best Credit Card Reviews * See the online credit card application for details about terms and conditions. Reasonable efforts are made to maintain accurate information. However all credit card information is presented without warranty. When you click on the "Apply Here" button, you can review the credit card terms and conditions on issuers website.	21,054
PFPS- Knee pain: Cause and solution! If you notice a gradual dull aching sensation in the knee with intermittent sharp pain especially with negotiating stairs, along with crepitus in the knee when you bend and straighten the knee, you may be suffering from Patella Femoral Pain Syndrome (PFPS). Patella Femoral Pain Syndrome (or PFPS) which used to be known as Chondro-Malacia Patella (CMP), Anterior Knee Pain and Runners’ Knee are all very similar conditions. These conditions and symptoms can occur due to a varying degree of wear and tear (degeneration) of the cartilage behind the knee cap, also known as the patella-femoral joint. What are the main contributing factors to Patella Femoral Pain Syndrome? Three main factors are attributed to causing increased degeneration of this cartilage: 1. Muscle tightness: The quadriceps muscles and the Ilio Tibial Band (ITB) tend to be tight in people with PFPS. If the quadriceps muscles are tight, it has a tendency to pull the knee cap much closer to the thigh bone. This increase in pressure leads to grinding of the knee cap against the thigh bone causing the degeneration of cartilage. The ITB has attachments to the outer side of the knee cap via a connective tissue known as the lateral retinaculum. The knee cap tends to sit comfortably in a congruent position within the thigh bone. However, when the ITB is tight it pulls the knee cap in an outward direction shifting the knee cap away from, and out of its natural groove. This slight shift or tilt increases the pressure or loading behind the knee cap leading to the degeneration of cartilage and pain. 2. Muscle Strength: Imagine jumping and landing on a straight knee compared to a bent knee. There is definitely more impact that goes through the knee in the first instance because your muscles are not helping to absorb the impact whereas a bent knee allows the muscles to contract and dampen the impact on the joint. Similarly, if the quadriceps, are not strong enough, your knee joint takes the slack with every step that you walk, run, or stairs that you climb. The knee joint in this situation will be grinding excessively as muscles are not effectively stabilising the joint and supporting a person’s body weight. 3. Biomechanical faults: Flat feet (poor arches), knocked knees, knee cap position (rotation/ tilt) and increased Q angle are all factors that result in an imbalance of muscles around the knee joint and mal-alignment of the knee cap, that may accelerate the degeneration of the cartilage in the patella-femoral joint. So what can you do to solve your knee pain? Treatment for PFPS would entail stretching exercises for the quadricep muscles and ITB and strengthening exercises for the muscles around the knee joint in particular the quadriceps (such as wall-squats). In addition getting appropriate footwear to support the arches of your feet or considering customised orthotics to correct your biomechanical faults would also be strongly recommended. If your keen athlete, or struggling with pain, you may even want to consider a knee-support for symptoms reduction and control. Experiencing knee pain? Click here to find out more about physiotherapy for knee pain relief and how Core Concepts can help	71,209
The History Of Fascism And Its Relevance To U.S. Politics Today Geege Schuman stashed this in Trump Fascism was a reaction against globalization. It was the claim that one should put one's own country and one's own people first. Fascism put a face on globalization. It said that globalization wasn't just a matter of rules or challenges, but of specific enemies, usually ethnic enemies, often arrayed in some kind of a conspiracy. Fascism said we shouldn't try to understand the world with a reason, but instead rely on faith -- not faith in God, but faith in a particular leader. So fascism put emotions ahead of thoughts. It put will ahead of reasonability. The whole point is that history is one flow. That things that happened in the past, teach us about what's possible in the present and in the future. So we have to be alert to this, precisely because we are vulnerable to it.	87,049
Produit triple scalaire Définition Triple scalar product otherwise referred to as scalar triple product, mixed product and box product is a method of multiplying three 3-dimensional vectors, usually euclidean vectors in which the resulting product is a scalar. It is the dot product of one of the vectors with the cross product of the other two. The absolute value of a triple scalar product is the volume of the parallelepiped formed by the three vectors. The triple scalar product of vectors u, v, and w is u∙(v×w). The name triple product is used for two different products, the scalar-valued scalar triple product and, less often, the vector-valued vector triple product. “Triple Product.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 8 May 2020, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triple_product.	1,416
Except for the period of the Commonwealth, 1649–1660, the Stuarts had been monarchs of the British Isles and its growing empire, until the death of Queen Anne in 1714. The Royal House of Stewart came about via marriage to Robert the Bruce’s daughter. As a family, the Stewarts constantly held the Scottish throne, and then the English throne, till Queen Anne’s death in 1714. It has been claimed that the current royal family have some Stewart blood, solidifying this clan’s “royal” status. At Smarthistory we believe art has the power to transform lives and to develop understanding across cultures. We think that the brilliant histories of art belong to absolutely everyone, no matter their background. Smarthistory’s totally free, award-winning digital content material unlocks the knowledge of hundreds of major scholars, generating the history of art accessible and engaging to far more people, in a lot more locations, than any other publisher. This marriage didn’t carry on but Charles was married to Henrietta Maria of France, a zealous Catholic, who became an active agent in converting the English court into her religion and who had disastrous inﬂuence on her husband’s policies. The king had famously stated that his policy towards anybody not obeying regular church practices would be harsh. He didn’t like the notion of the Property of Commons lecturing and advising him for that in Scotland the only people today to oppose the kings have been the nobles, not the middle class. James I of England, who was also James VI of Scotland, was the son of Mary, Queen of Scots, and he unified the thrones of Scotland and England following the death of Elizabeth I of England. All through click here for more info the Sequence I have tried to stay both sequential and consequential with odd lapses into sidelines of history and folklore which may not be as commonly identified as perhaps they ought to be. Successive volumes take the story through that century and into the early years of the twentieth century. The dynasty was founded in Scotland in 1371, inheriting the English crown through James I in 1603. It is correct that religious minorities like British Catholics could count on higher tolerance under a Catholic monarch, but couple of displayed any interest in joining Charles’s campaign. The most eminent English Catholics, the Duke and Duchess of Norfolk, attended court at St James’s Palace at the height of the threatened advance to London in November 1745, in order to publicly demonstrate their help for King George. The ‘senior’ Stuart branch – the male heirs of James VII and II – were Roman Catholic, but many Jacobites were Protestant, no matter if ‘high church’ Anglican, Episcopalian, nonjuring or dissenting. Just who have been the Jacobites, and how did they threaten the power structure of Britain throughout the 17th and 18th Centuries? Answering this question means delving into a turbulent age of rival royal homes, Highland warriors and doomed dreamers. Later in the year, the Jacobite Army met the Government forces at the Battle of Killiecrankie in Perthshire. The Jacobites had been victorious, but Viscount Dundee was killed in the fighting, and the rising fizzled out. The initial of the 5 Jacobite uprisings took location in 1689 when Viscount Dundee held Edinburgh Castle with a garrison of around one hundred supporters. So, supporters of the exiled King James II became known as Jacobites for the reason that Jacobus was the Latin word for James. The French commander refused to place James ashore ignoring his pleas. The British pursued the French fleet and made them retreat round the north of Scotland, losing ships and most of their males in shipwrecks on the way back to Dunkirk. Charles had only been capable to put together a modest expedition with only two ships, one particular a light frigate, the “Du Teillay”, the other a a lot larger French naval vessel of 64 guns, the “Elisabeth”, chartered from the government. It could resort to a regular taxation of the individuals but in return it would count on the King to give up taking revenue from people in the kind of Medieval fines and taxation. If this was not acceptable, then, as was taking place in other components of Europe, Parliament could be dispensed with, removing all it really is inherent charges and the King would rule by Divine Appropriate, imposing taxes as he saw fit. Divine Right did not sit nicely with the British folks or Parliament. Immediately after ultimately gaining support from Highland chiefs, the rising began. The prince took the capital Edinburgh, routed government forces at Prestonpans and headed into England with eight,000 males. On 21 September 1745 General Cope’s force was routed by the Jacobites at the so-referred to as Battle of Prestonpans. This engagement lasted no far more than 15 minutes ahead of the government forces lost their nerve and ran away. Incidentally, the compact forces on either side at the battle (approx.two,500 guys) indicate what a compact-scale uprising, in spite of its great fame, the ’45 really was. Be that as it may possibly, Charles was now, on the other hand temporarily, master of Scotland. James I granted the land to a cousin who drowned on his way to Ireland prior to he could take possession of his new house. The estate then passed to his grandson, William Stuart, and remained in the Stuart loved ones for lots of generations. Rupert was born in Prague in 1619 at the time of the Thirty Years’ War. Soon just after his birth, the family fled from Bohemia to United Provinces, exactly where Rupert spent his childhood. Nonetheless hard his childhood could have been, Rupert was exceptional in mastering all the important European languages and excelled in art, mathematics, and warfare. In 1656, when his brother, Charles, entered into an alliance with Spain—an enemy of France—James was expelled from France and forced to leave Turenne’s army. Sir Edward Hyde, the best recognized of Charles’s moderate advisers, was unhappy with the concession and attempted to delay publication. It is even unclear regardless of whether the king in fact read the important passage, even though he assuredly glanced at, and gave his approval to, the lengthy reply. In significant respects it does not reflect views Charles espoused ahead of or afterward. The Jacobites were ordered to hold their line till the command to charge was received – and they have been bombarded. When they finally charged, several were slowed down by the boggy ground and their attack was ineffectual. In April 1746, Bonnie Prince Charlie’s Jacobite army went into battle against the Duke of Cumberland and his redcoats at Culloden, near Inverness. D’Anville’s fleet, in addition, was thwarted by illness and the weather, suffering lots of casualties as a consequence. Once again, this throws light on the extent to which British naval strength really should not be utilised as a explanation to close down counterfactuals about attainable French invasion probabilities. A measure of English support was shown by a marked lack of resistance, in particular at Carlisle, exactly where the aldermen presented the keys to the city to Charles Edward on bended knee. The stance of the English Jacobites demonstrates not that there was scant possibility of establishing a new political settlement. They seemed congenitally timorous – or sensibly prudent – on each occasion when opportunity presented itself. Later in the 18th century, there was to be a major breach in the rules pertaining to linear tactics with the formation of columns.	93,132
Our children’s lives are increasingly stressful. In addition to the ordinary day to day stress all of our children face, many of our children suffer from ADHD, depression, anxiety and self doubt. Mindfulness is simply the practice of paying kind attention to ourselves as we live our lives. This special way of paying attention allows children and parents to discover the “Still Quiet Place” within themselves. In our busy, media-saturated culture almost everything teaches us to focus our attention outward. During this eight week course, participants are invited to slow down, turn their attention inward, and make kind and healthy choices. To learn about the scientifically documented benefits of this program please visit the research page.	25,048
"We have more than 14,000 manuscripts and fragments of the Old Testament of three main types: (a) approximately 10,000 from the Cairo Geniza (storeroom) find of 1897, dating back as far as about AD. 800; (b) about 190 from the Dead Sea Scrolls find of 1947-1955, the oldest dating back to 250-200 B.C.; and (c) at least 4,314 assorted other copies. The short time between the original Old Testament manuscripts (completed around 400 B.C.) and the first extensive copies (about 250 B.C.) — coupled with the more than 14,000 copies that have been discovered — ensures the trustworthiness of the Old Testament text. The earliest quoted verses (Num. 6:24-26) date from 800-700 B.C. "	149,488
Here are the top 10 health benefits of SCUBA diving by Jennifer Palmer, November 2015 Gaining Strength and Flexibility As you move throughout the water during the course of a dive, your muscles tend to work harder than they would if you were outside the water. This is due to the resistance of the water but also the current. The more you dive and swim, the more your muscles lengthen, build strength and develop endurance as well as flexibility. Scuba diving and swimming through the water can not only strengthen your legs it can also help to build up your core strength, which is important for a good overall posture in your everyday life. Breathing whilst diving is slow and deep, which is essential when conserving and optimizing your air consumption. During a dive, you breathe in and tend to breathe out slower which reduces the heart rate, promoting calm. Steady breathing also reduces the risk of a lung-expansion injury as well as reduces mucus build up and has actually been known to help with existing conditions such as asthma. Can Lower Blood Pressure When first diving into the water, a divers heart rate might spike and the blood pressure will rise slightly, this may be due to excitement, adrenaline and even the cold water. For the majority of dives, we usually find ourselves in water which is lower than our body temperature. When our body is immersed in cold water, our blood vessels on the surface of our bodies tend to constrict to conserve heat for our internal organs, which may cause our hearts to race. Once we warm up throughout the dive, our heart rate reduces as well as our blood pressure. The slow and deep breathing technique that we learn to do during our open water dive course can help lower your blood pressure and keep you calm throughout the dive. If however you suffer with high blood pressure, then seek the advice of a medical professional before attempting to scuba dive. Maintains and Increase Fitness Levels Before we scuba dive, a diver should already have a good level of fitness so as to not exert the body too much throughout a dive which could put the diver at risk of DCS (Decompression Sickness). However, Scuba Diving can be quite unpredictable and because of this, you may find yourself swimming against the current for a short amount of time, this repetitive movement of the legs against the resistance of the water can help to maintain as well as increase your fitness levels (it is certainly better for you than sitting on the sofa watching TV)! Traveling To Warmer Climates It is, of course possible to dive in colder climates, however usual dives include traveling to warmer parts of the world. With warmer parts of the world comes holiday, adventure, excitement and experiences, which can only do great things for your body, mind and soul. Healing Effects of the Water The water has many healing effects, one of which is the way it brings you back to feeling like you are in your mother’s womb. This promotes feelings of security, well-being and happiness. In addition, being in salt water for long periods of time can cause your body to dehydrate meaning that you tend to drink a lot more after the dive which means that you are replenishing your cells, receiving all of the benefits of water both externally and internally. Interaction with Marine Life When exploring the marine life surrounding you on your dive, your body is flooded with excitement, wonder and awe. Seeing the sheer variety of fish, corals and critters is enough to put anyone in a good mood. However, it has in fact been proven that seeing certain colours can affect the brain in many different ways. Seeing certain colours can help to change and improve your mood. Scientists believe that if we are subjected to bright and intense colours, similar to what we might find surrounding reefs, can help to promote feelings of happiness as well as feeling of being uplifted. In addition, the colour blue has been known to induce a calming effect on the body. Exposure To Sunlight It is essential for the body to be exposed to sunlight, this is in order to create Vitamin D. Vitamin D not only helps the rate of absorption of calcium, it also helps the cells pass calcium to each other. This higher absorption rate of calcium helps to keep the bones healthy and strong. Exposure to sunlight also helps to increase endorphin production within our brains. When you go diving, if you are not already diving with a partner, you are paired up with a buddy. These people are usually like-minded individuals who share a common interest. Whenever you are on a dive boat or diving from shore, it is always easy to make friends and meet new people. It is also very easy to feel a sense of community when scuba diving and often go out after your dives. It gives a wonderful feeling after having an incredible experience during a dive and being able to share it with your fellow divers. A Great Stress Reliever When we breathe throughout a dive, we tend to breathe slowly and deeply, similar to the breathing we do whilst meditating. Slowed breathing induces a state of calm, whilst the diver enjoys their underwater surroundings. Everything that may be happening to the person in their everyday lives including; work issues, family issues and money worries all get left at the surface. All problems are forgotten during a dive. Having this ‘time out’ gives the body a chance to rest and bring their body and nervous system back to a natural balance. Studies have shown that having a relaxed and calm mind has been known to promote a positive mental attitude, helping you deal with your issues in a calm and rational way without feelings of depression.	12,509

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