text
stringlengths 208
640k
| __index_level_0__
int64 0
302k
|
|---|---|
Scientists from the University of Toronto have discovered a human-made chemical lurking in the atmosphere that's an exceptionally long-lived greenhouse gas. Called perfluorotributylamine (PFTBA), it's a record-setting molecule that if left unchecked could have a profound impact on climate.
Perfluorotributylamine, which has been in use by the electrical industry since the mid-2oth century, is the most radiatively efficient chemical known to science — a measure of how effectively a molecule can influence climate. The value of radiative efficiency is multiplied by its atmospheric concentration to determine total climate impact.
The industrial chemical is used in various electrical equipment, such as transistors and capacitors. The researchers aren't sure how widespread its use is today.
According to the new study, which now appears in the journal Geophysical Letters, PFTBA is 7,100 times more powerful at warming the Earth over a 100-year time span than CO2.
Thankfully, current concentrations are low. In the Toronto area, it's at 0.18 parts per trillion. That compares to 400 parts per million for CO2. So despite the finding, PFTBA doesn't trump the burning of fossil fuels as the main driver of climate change.
But that doesn't mean we should be complascent about it. As reported in Mother Jones:
Dr Drew Shindell, a climatologist at NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, said:
"This is a warning to us that this gas could have a very very large impact on climate change – if there were a lot of it. Since there is not a lot of it now, we don't have to worry about it at present, but we have to make sure it doesn't grow and become a very large contributor to global warming."
He said a number of recent studies had drawn attention to other potential new greenhouse gases which, like PFTBA, pack a lot of warming potential in each molecule but are not very prevalent in the atmosphere.
Such studies were a warning against increasing uses of such compounds without first understanding their impact on climate change, he added.
Again, the trouble with PFTBA is is long-lived nature. It can sit in the atmosphere for about 500 years, and unlike CO2, it has no known natural "sinks" on Earth to absorb it, like forests and oceans.
Read the entire study at Geophysical Research Letters: "Perfluorotributylamine: A novel long-lived greenhouse gas".
| 200,931
|
There are three types of Asian rhinos: the greater one-horned rhino, the Javan rhino, and the Sumatran rhino. These rhinos are very different from rhinos that live in Africa.
Greater one-horned and Javan rhinos have only one horn, and they have the bumpy armored skin that most people think of when they think of rhinos. This is very unlike the smoother-skinned African rhinos. The Sumatran rhino has two horns like African rhinos, but the horns are very small.
All of the Asian rhinos are browsers. But they live in different kinds of places and eat different kinds of plants.
Of the Asian rhinos, the greater one-horned is the largest, the Javan is second in size, and the Sumatran is smallest. The Javan looks like a smaller version of the greater one-horned, but the Sumatran doesn’t look like any other rhino. For one thing, it is the only rhino that has hair on its body. Scientists think that the Sumatran may be the most primitive of all living rhinos.
The rhinos of Asia do not live on open plains. Javan and Sumatran rhinos live in wooded areas. They spend most of their time in such dense forests that they are seldom seen. As you might expect, they are leaf-eaters.
The greater one-horned rhino is one of several animals that could have inspired the unicorn myth. In medieval Europe, people were fascinated by the idea of an animal with only one horn. They didn’t know what a rhino looked like, and their imaginations may have painted a unicorn picture.
All rhinos like to go into the water, but the Asian rhinos like it best of all. They are excellent swimmers. Greater one-horned and Sumatran rhinos can swim across wide rivers with no trouble at all.
Greater one-horned rhinos prefer swampy areas, where there is a lot of water to drink and a lot of lush vegetation to eat.
In Asia, tigers sometimes try to catch baby rhinos. But they seldom get the chance to eat one, because rhino mothers put up such a fierce fight. The huge horn and large, sharp teeth of a greater one-horned rhino will make a tiger think twice!
Newborn rhinos are not helpless like human babies. Within an hour after they are born, they are up on their feet and trotting around after their mothers. Greater one-horned rhinos have the biggest babies. They may be 2 feet tall at birth and weigh between 80 and 125 pounds.
| 107,538
|
Antitrust Law Part 1
If you’re in the construction industry, Florida’s Antitrust Law is a law you should become familiar with. Competition in the construction is intense. Healthy competition is the key to sustainability in the marketplace. Unfair industry practices can make it difficult for businesses to make a profit and affects consumers purchasing power. This is why antitrust laws were created. In this first article, we’ll introduce you to antitrust laws and the three core laws that make up this law. In Part 2 we’ll inform you of typical antitrust violations and the penalties associated with them.
What are Antitrust Laws?
The Florida Antitrust Act of 1980 was created to regulate unlawful business practices, encourage competition, and protect consumers against illegal business acts in the marketplace. Antitrust laws seek to prevent unlawful practices in mergers and acquisitions, advertising, territory selections, and terms of trade, to name a few. Florida construction lawyers understand the intricacies of federal and state statutory laws that make up antitrust laws. We urge you to seek further legal assistance when approaching these laws to ensure your business doesn’t fall victim to antitrust disputes.
1.The Sherman Act
The Sherman Act forbids “every contract, combination, or conspiracy in restraint of trade” and “monopolization, attempted monopolization, or conspiracy or combination to monopolize.” The act prohibits intentionally eliminating competition through price fixing, dividing the market, or bid rigging. Willful violation of the Sherman Act is a criminal offense and can result in prosecution by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) or the Department of Justice.
2. The Federal Trade Commission Act
Under the FTC, all unjust methods of competition, acts, or practices are prohibited. The FTC investigates violations of antitrust laws, pass regulations, and issue cease-and-desist orders to violators.
3. The Clayton Act
The Clayton Act is an amendment to the Sherman Act addressing illegal acts such as:
- tying and exclusive dealing contracts that prevent buyers from interacting with competition
- mergers and acquisitions that create monopolies or weaken competition
- price discrimination
- interlocking directorates where the same members participate on the boards of competitors.
How the Acts Converge
The FTC and Department of Justice enforce antitrust laws and consult with one another regarding investigations. The antitrust laws are interconnected in that every violation of one act also violates another act. Businesses must alert the FTC prior to pursuing large mergers and acquisitions. In addition to these federal statutes, most states have antitrust laws that are based on federal antitrust laws and are strictly enforced.
Disclaimer: The information contained in this article is for general educational information only. This information does not constitute legal advice, is not intended to constitute legal advice, nor should it be relied upon as legal advice for your specific factual pattern or situation.
| 73,747
|
Most family photos aren’t worth $80,000.
A portrait belonging to the family of Fulton woman Sylvia Rummel might be, however. The portrait dates to the mid-1800s and shows abolitionists Levi Coffin and Jonathan Cable (Rummel’s ancestor) posing with a large family of escaped slaves en route along the Underground Railroad.
The only other known original print, which is in much rougher shape than the Rummel copy, sold at auction this month for $81,250.
“When I heard the price, at first I couldn’t take it in,” Rummel said. “I was truly gobsmacked. … It just looks awful compared to ours.”
Cowan’s Auctions, which handled the sale, estimated the portrait would sell for $8,000-$12,000. Rummel doesn’t know, and Cowan’s did not disclose where the copy was found.
According to Eric Duncan, director of marketing for Cowan’s Auctions, the photo was consigned by a private collector and sold to an institution.
“We had four absentee bids left on the lot before the auction began, the largest being $20,000; and three bidders bid live on the phone for the lot on the day of the auction driving it to its ultimate sales price of $81,250,” he added.
The Rummel copy has been in her family for generations, though no one realized its potential historical importance until relatively recently. It was part of a photo album in the possession of Rummel’s great-aunt, Joyce Cable Miller, who died in 2011 at age 104. Miller had told family members about Cable and Coffin.
“She was the family historian,” Rummel said.
Rummel began reading up on Coffin and learned he was known for aiding escaped slaves in their flight toward freedom. He was nicknamed the “president of the Underground Railroad.” In 1947, Coffin moved to Cincinnati, Ohio — Cable’s hometown. In fact, Cable is mentioned several times in Coffin’s memoir as helping with the abolitionists’ efforts.
Most notably, in 1853, Cable played a major role in the “Escape of the 28.” A group of 28 escaped slaves from Boone County, Kentucky, were passing along the Underground Railroad on their way to Canada. When they arrived in Ohio in February, Cable knew he’d need help hiding such a large group. He reached out to Coffin and John Hatfield, a local black barber.
Hatfield and Coffin managed to get hold of a pair of coaches, and instructed the fugitives to pose as mourners in a funeral possession. The ploy succeeded; the group entered Cincinnati without rousing suspicion. The fugitives were split up among several local safehouses, including Cable’s. Cable helped provide shoes and clothing for the fugitives as they braved the winter weather up north.
“A lot of them just didn’t have shoes,” Rummel said.
The fugitives successfully made it to Ontario in April 1853.
Due to the necessarily secretive nature of the Underground Railroad’s operations, photo documentation is rare.
“I just thought, well, somebody’s got to be interested in it,” Rummel said.
She sent a copy to the Levi Coffin House Association, an organization that operates the Levi Coffin State Historic Site in Fountain City, Indiana. She also reached out to the Indiana State Historical Society.
Interest in the portrait didn’t really take off until she reached out to the Fulton Sun. In February 2011, the Sun published an article about the Coffin/Cable photograph. That article caught the eye of Betty Ann Smiddy, a historian with the College Hill (Ohio) Historical Society.
“It’s been amazing since then,” Rummel said. “She’s such a historian. She digs and digs and digs.”
Smiddy believes the photo documents part of the “Escape of the 28” group, Rummel said.
Another historian, Dr. Robert Wallace of Northern Kentucky University, has a theory about the photographer’s identity. Rummel said he believes the portrait may have been taken by James Presley Ball, a black Cincinnati daguerotypist who had previously photographed Coffin.
Rummel has heard from graduate students, other historians and even a teacher.
“A school teacher from Minnesota called me — he wanted me to talk (via video call) to his students,” Rummel said.
The photo might still hold secrets. Rummel’s family’s copy is still glued in to the photo album page; its back may hold information about the identities of others in the photo, or confirmation of where it was taken.
That copy now resides with a second cousin of hers in Arizona. Rummel said she suspects the cousin will sell it now that its value is clear.
The process of researching the photo has brought Rummel closer to her own past, she said. She grew up in poverty above her father’s tire shop and hasn’t always felt so proud of her family history.
“My past is really important,” she said. “This was a kind of revelation to me. I want people to appreciate their heritage.”
| 39,441
|
Species Detail - Parakiefferiella bathophila - Species information displayed is based on all datasets.
Terrestrial Map - 10kmDistribution of the number of records recorded within each 10km grid square (ITM).
Marine Map - 50kmDistribution of the number of records recorded within each 50km grid square (WGS84).
Dactylocladius bathophila, Parakiefferiella cheethami, Spaniotoma cheethami
insect - true fly (Diptera)
31 March (recorded in 2009)
23 September (recorded in 2009)
National Biodiversity Data Centre, Ireland, Parakiefferiella bathophila, accessed 23 March 2023, <https://maps.biodiversityireland.ie/Species/89819>
| 154,598
|
What is Project Learning Tree
Project Learning Tree is an award-winning environmental education program designed for teachers and other educators working with students in pre-K through grade 12. Since its inception in 1976, Project Learning Tree has emerged as one of the country’s leading and most widely-used environmental programs in the U.S. and abroad. PLT is people. It is a network of 3,000 grassroots volunteers and over 100 state coordinators that work in conjunction with teachers, schools, state agencies, foresters, businesses as well as civic organizations, museums, nature centers, and youth groups to provide workshops and in-service programs. Over 500,000 educators have been trained to use PLT materials, and more than 25 million students have been reached in the United States, the Trust Territories, Canada, Sweden, Finland, Japan, Brazil and Mexico
PLT uses the forest as a "window" into natural and built environments, helping students gain an awareness and knowledge of the world around them, as well as their place in it. PLT focuses on the total environment: land, air and water and is local, national and global in scope. PLT works in the city, suburbs, and country and both in the classroom and outdoors.
PLT is a source of interdisciplinary instructional activities and provides workshops and in-service training for teachers and other educators. During the workshop, participants are introduced to the PLT activity guide and learn how to use it in their own particular setting.
Project Learning Tree continues to set the standard for environmental education excellence at the elementary, middle and secondary levels. PLT increases students' understanding of our complex environment. PLT is designed to teach students how to think, not what to think about environmental issues.
| 217,607
|
Women who are light smokers—light smoking defined as one or more cigarettes per day—are twice as likely to perish of sudden heart death than their non-smoking counterparts, says a study published in the journal of the American Heart Association (December 10).
The study, which surveyed 100,000 women over a 30 year period, found that those who smoked lightly (1-14) or moderately (15-24) showed a nearly 2.5 greater risk of sudden cardiac death, while those who smoked 25 or more cigs per day showed a 3.3-fold increased risk. After quitting 15 to 20 years later, the risk declined.
"Sudden cardiac death is often the first sign of heart disease among women, so lifestyle changes that reduce that risk are particularly important," Dr. Roopinder Sandhu, the study's lead author, said in a statement. "Quitting smoking before heart disease develops is critical."
Sudden cardiac death is the leading cause of natural death in the United States.
by RTT Staff Writer
For comments and feedback: email@example.com
| 10,692
|
The Marcel Benoist Prize – the “Swiss Nobel Prize” for science – is to get a new look ahead of its centenary. The aim is to draw more attention to Swiss scientific achievement.
The prizeexternal link has been awarded since 1920 for excellence in research. The changes will be made to the Marcel Benoist Foundation to better equip it for the future, according to a government statement on Tuesdayexternal link.
“Our country relies on top performance in research and innovation. With the Marcel Benoist Swiss Science Prize we want to draw attention to excellence and highlight its importance for our society and our economy,” said Economics Minister Johann Schneider-Ammann, whose department is in charge of education and research.
The selection procedure is now in the hands of the Swiss National Science Foundationexternal link (SNSF) to ensure “a broad-based selection procedure according to excellence criteria, and take into account the various scientific disciplines on a rotating basis”. There will be an open nomination procedure in which the research community in Switzerland can make proposals.
Bern will be fixed as the location for the prize-giving ceremony, rather than, as previously, the recipient’s work location. This should continue to raise the profile of the ceremony, the statement continued.
This year sees both locations coincide as the prize goes to environmental researcher Thomas Stocker for his ground-breaking work on establishing the consequences of climate change. The University of Bern professor will receive his award on Wednesday.
The government will still contribute financially to the prize via an existing agreement with the SNSF. In addition, the prize money has been raised to CHF250,000 ($250,000) – up from CHF50,000. This is thanks to the foundation having raised more than CHF10 million privately, with fundraising efforts continuing.
Also planned by 2020 is a Swiss Science Day, the statement said.
The Marcel Benoist Swiss Science Prize is awarded to scientists based in Switzerland whose work has had a beneficial impact on society. Ten prize winners have subsequently been awarded the Nobel Prize.
Switzerland itself is renowned for its science and innovation prowessexternal link, and the international nature of its research institutions. Earlier this month the renowned journal Nature ran a spotlight featureexternal link calling the country “something of a United Nations of science” which was “never far from the top of international league tables of academic publications per researcher, research impact, innovation of patents per capita”.
“The country’s science is a foundation of the economy – making its growth and protection a major priority for policymakers,” it concluded.
| 7,123
|
Charles Wiltens Andree Hayward may not be a name on the tip of today’s literary tongues, but the English-born poet who arrived in Australia in 1894 holds the record for greatest number of poems by a single author on AustLit. Of Hayward’s 2,939 poems, largely published in the Bulletin, eight relate to the Olympic Games.
In 1924, Hayward (using the pseudonym ‘T. the R.’) addressed the issue of funding for Australia’s Olympic team after the team’s manager said: ‘They had as much as they wanted – or, at any rate, as much as was good for them’. Hayward began his poem ‘Ballade of Sufficient Boodle’ with the following stanza:
They went for their lives and laughed at odds,
Won or were walloped, fair and square,
Charlton and Carr and the Murray ‘Cods,’
Eve and Winter and Beaurepaire;
Gathered – or reached for – over there
Laurel and bay for a diadem,
Who was it hinted at pockets bare?
They’d all the dough that was good for them.
Twenty-four years later, during the 1948 London Olympic Games, Hayward (writing as ‘Iford’) cast his mind back to the origins of the Olympics in ‘Then and Now’. Referring to the earliest Games, Hayward concluded:
They ran their miles, their hundreds and their quarters,
Propelled their javelins and hurled their weights,
Heartened no doubt by clamorous exhorters,
Those tough antagonists from Hellene States.
Lastly, they got along without reporters
And none collected money at the gates,
Which, when those old Olympics you recall,
May well appear the strangest of them all.
We can only guess what Hayward would have made of the media and financing arrangements for the Games of the XXXth Olympiad.
| 43,710
|
Biographical Statement: Penny Chisholm holds a joint faculty appointment in the Department of Biology and Civil and Environmental Engineering. She recently served as Director of the MIT Earth System Initiative, and was formerly Director of the MIT/Woods Hole Joint Program in Oceanography and Oceanographic Engineering. She is a key participant of The Darwin Project. The general goal of Professor Chisholm's research is to advance our understanding of microbial ecology and evolution in the oceans. In recent years her lab group has focused attention on a single group, the cyanobacterium Prochlorococcus, which is the smallest and most abundant microbe in ocean ecosystems — sometimes accounting for half of the total chlorophyll. They investigate this creature, which can convert CO2, sunlight, and inorganic nutrients into a living cell with as few as 1700 genes, as a model system to study marine microbial ecology at all levels of organization — from the genome level to the whole ocean. Prof. Chisholm's approach to this problem involves both laboratory and field studies, as well as modeling, and the use of tools of genomics and systems biology.
| 99,439
|
History of Iowa From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century/2/Preface
|←List of Illustrations||History of Iowa From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century/Volume 2 by
THE history of the important part taken by Iowa statesmen, volunteer soldiers and citizens in the great Civil War of 1861-5, has been told in many excellent publications and the elaborate records of the Adjutant-General’s Office. The dramatic story has been well written by Stuart, Ingersoll and Byers, in addition to the numerous regimental histories. The complete history of the patriotism, devotion to country, sacrifices and heroic endurance of mothers, wives, sisters and near friends of the men who marched to southern battle-fields can never be written.
The names of a few officers who were prominent in the great conflict, of the regiments organized, the battles fought, find a place in history. The names and deeds of more than 75,000 common soldiers, like the nameless graves of wars’ victims, scattered over the hills, valleys and plains of the South, are recorded only in the memory of friends or comrades who survive.
This volume embraces but a brief history of the events connected with that most momentous war of modern times and the more important acts of the higher officials in civil and military affairs. No State in the restored Union is richer in noble men and women whose devotion to duty in camp, hospital and battle-field has never been excelled in any war or country. No State developed more brilliant officers or braver soldiers.
Iowa has always honored the memory of the Grand Army of the Republic, its survivors have filled the highest positions in civil life. Our people have no sympathy with the mercenary spirit which for years, has sought to impeach the integrity of veterans on the pension roll. Itis a record of honor that the people of Iowa will ever regard with grateful hearts and sustain with unswerving fidelity. It is little enough that money can do to compensate, in any degree, the men who offered their lives in defense of their country, and for years endured sacrifices and sufferings that entitle them to the lasting gratitude of their countrymen. There are no more sacred pages in Iowa history than those which record the brilliant deeds of Iowa soldiers.
| 56,862
|
Washington, Aug 7 (ANI): A breakthrough technique enabled UCSF researchers to successfully and rapidly purifying one type of embryonic stem cell from a mix of many different types of embryonic stem cells in the culture dish.
The technique, which avoids the need to genetically alter the cells to distinguish them, is a key advance for obtaining the appropriate cells for repairing specific damaged tissues, said the researchers.
The new strategy links two existing technologies for the first time- the ability to identify specific embryonic stem cell types in a culture of different embryonic stem cells, and a way to efficiently sort them at a very high rate, a procedure known as "high throughput" processing.
"Before stem cell therapy can become routine, clinicians will need a plentiful and certain supply of pure stem cells that is capable of forming the particular tissue to be repaired, and is free of contamination by other cell types. But the goal of rapidly and safely harvesting vast numbers of a single stem cell type without altering the cell's genome has been challenging," said Dr. Harold Bernstein.
"Here we were able to purify one specific cell type without resorting to genetically engineering the stem cells themselves, a process that can introduce unwanted traits into the cells," he added.
While embryonic stem cell cultures are made up primarily of cells that have begun to differentiate, they also include cells that remain unspecialized, and thus have the capacity to form tumours, called teratomas.
Scientists have attempted to purify stem cells-whether to eliminate those with the potential to form teratomas or to isolate specific embryonic stem cell types-by using viruses to insert DNA into the stem cells' genes.
This technique allows researchers to distinguish one type of cell from another, but this genetic engineering approach carries the risk of altering the natural makeup of the stem cells.
The UCSF scientists used a different strategy-they identified cells that can form teratomas by searching for a telltale snippet of DNA in the tumour cells' genes.
They chemically tagged these cells without altering them, and the cells were then removed on the basis of this temporary molecular tag.
They reported separating out the desired stem cells from the teratoma-forming cells at a rate of about 25,000 cells per second.
The researchers say they expect the same approach could be used to separate and purify different types of cells as they advance from the stem cell state into neurons, heart cells or any other type of tissue needed for future stem cell therapy.
"Stem cell therapy requires us to select the cells we need, to eliminate teratoma-forming cells from the desired stem cells, and to accomplish this in a high-throughput manner so that we can obtain enough cells. We show how all three goals can be accomplished at once," said Bernstein.
"We envision this as a tool that ultimately could rapidly identify and purify many different kinds of differentiating cells on their way to becoming heart muscle or pancreas or skin cells. This approach could quickly build up a large reservoir of desired cells," he added.
The study has been published online in the journal Stem Cells and Development. (ANI)
| 98,094
|
A castrato (Italian, plural: castrati) is a type of classical male singing voice equivalent to that of a soprano, mezzo-soprano, or contralto. The voice is produced by castration of the singer before puberty, or it occurs in one who, due to an endocrinological condition, never reaches sexual maturity.
- 1 What was a castrato and what did they sound like?
- 2 Did castrati have high speaking voices?
- 3 Did castrati marry?
- 4 What two voice types usually sing the role of a castrato today?
- 5 What is castrato music?
- 6 Is Philippe Jaroussky castrated?
- 7 Do countertenors use falsetto?
- 8 Do eunuchs have everything cut off?
- 9 Can a castrato grow a beard?
- 10 Are there any castrato left?
- 11 What is difference between castrato and falsetto?
What was a castrato and what did they sound like?
The golden age of the castrati One contemporary account says: “He had a powerful, clear, equal and sweet contralto voice, with a perfect intonation and an excellent shake.
Did castrati have high speaking voices?
The true chest voice of a castrato was in the soprano or alto range, just as it is for a woman, and he would have had a high speaking voice, unlike falsetto singers. The best castrati were capable of extraordinarily agile coloratura and ornamentation.
Did castrati marry?
Marriage with castrati was normally forbidden by the Church, but two singers in Germany did acquire special legal dispensation to remain in wedlock. Male opera fans, meanwhile, sought out castrati for their androgynous qualities. She had taken up the disguise to circumvent the ban on female singers in Italy.
What two voice types usually sing the role of a castrato today?
Most castrati favored one range or another: either what we would call mezzo-soprano or alto, and that tends to be true of most countertenors today.
What is castrato music?
Castrato, also called Evirato, male soprano or contralto voice of great range, flexibility, and power, produced as a result of castration before puberty. The castrato voice was introduced in the 16th century, when women were banned from church choirs and the stage.
Is Philippe Jaroussky castrated?
The arias the French opera singer performs on this release were written in the 18th century for a castrato — a boy singer castrated to retain his high singing voice through adulthood. Jaroussky is still intact, as they say. It’s the reason, he says, that he’ll never sound exactly like a real castrato.
Do countertenors use falsetto?
In actual practice, it is generally acknowledged that a majority of countertenors sing with a falsetto vocal production for at least the upper half of this range, although most use some form of “chest voice” (akin to the range of their speaking voice) for the lower notes.
Do eunuchs have everything cut off?
Within Roman society, eunuchs continued to be associated with the east, though there were some in Rome. It is important to note that most eunuchs are castrated simply by removing their testicles, not the entirety of their penis.
Can a castrato grow a beard?
Castrati could, in their younger years, pass for women. They didn’t grow beards and they often were shaped like women, developing the ‘secondary sexual characteristics of women’.
Are there any castrato left?
The last official castrato, Alessandro Moreschi, retired from the Sistine Chapel in 1913, though some historians suspect that Domenico Mancini, who sang in the papal choir until 1959, was a secret castrato.
What is difference between castrato and falsetto?
is that castrato is a male who has been castrated, especially a male whose testicles have been removed before puberty in order to retain his boyish voice while falsetto is (countable or uncountable) the “false” (singing) voice in any human, usually airy and lacking a purity of vowels; created by utilizing the next
| 194,208
|
Image is from TheHealthSite.com
World Sickle Cell Day is acknowledged on June 19th each year to bring awareness to this widespread blood disorder. Sickle Cell Disease is the most frequent genetic disease worldwide and is present on four continents. The United Nations estimates that over 500,000 people are born with this condition each year and that 50% of those affected could die before the age of 5.
What is Sickle Cell Disease?
Sickle Cell Disease is a red blood cell disease that is inherited, meaning it is not contagious but a genetic event that people are born with. The affected red blood cells contain mostly hemoglobin S, considered an abnormal type of hemoglobin.
This abnormality causes many of the cells to form an abnormal sickle, or crescent-like, shape. Abnormally shaped blood cells are not able to travel the body as typical round cells, getting stuck or slowing down blood flow to affected areas, and causing further problems.
In addition to affecting blood flow, these crescent-shaped cells are also less hearty than traditional blood cells and are destroyed faster within the body. Patients frequent suffer from anemia, gallstones, and jaundice. Serious illness can be caused by limited blood flow to the lungs and limbs, including stroke and organ damage. Patients are also highly susceptible to bacteria and infection.
How is Sickle Cell Treated?
There is no universal cure for Sickle Cell Disease. Affected patients are divided into three primary groups including Sickle Cell Anemia, Sickle-Hemoglobin C Disease, and Sickle Beta Thalassemia. Treatments for each disease subgroup will vary.
Treatment of symptoms is common, using antibiotics for infection, blood transfusion for blood clots, and medication for pain. Frequent blood transfusion can cause their own problems too, increasing iron in the blood too much, so this is not an ideal solution. Current treatments focus on maintaining patient overall health, and treating symptoms as they arise.
Droxia, the manufacturer name for a drug called hydroxyurea, has been used with some success since FDA approval in 1998, but further research and treatment is still needed.
How Can I find out more about World Sickle Cell Day?
This specific day of awareness was created by a United Nations resolution and features worldwide activities, many of which can be found on the World Sickle Cell Day’s Facebook page.
While different areas may have additional Sickle Cell Awareness events, including Sickle Cell Awareness month in the United States, June 19th represents the united global event. World Sickle Cell Day online provides many resources about this global awareness event including history, the text of the United Nations resolution and involved organizations, and event listing of years past.
Contact these groups to join Sickle Cell awareness and fundraising events in your area.
| 250,102
|
Getting Kids to Eat Leafy Greens Essential for Later Heart Health
For most kids, it is a struggle to get them to like most vegetables, but leafy greens can be especially hard to enjoy for young taste buds. But here is why it is important to start developing that habit early.
As we get older, we do develop a taste for many things we hated as kids. For me, bitter foods such as kale and broccoli certainly were at the top of the list of foods I’d rather sneak to the dog than eat at dinner. Over time, I have learned not only to tolerate them, but to actually seek them out when creating a healthy meal for my family.
Plant-based eaters already know how important it is to get in a variety of vegetables and most of us are well aware of how essential it is to incorporate leafy greens into our meals. Green vegetables are nutrient dense – full of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants we need for good health. (They are also really low in calories and high in fiber for those of us watching our weight.)
One nutrient in particular stands out – Vitamin K.
You probably already know that vitamin K is essential for proper blood clotting. But it also has other essential roles in the body as well. A recent study has found that not eating enough foods rich in vitamin K during the adolescent years led to an increase in heart enlargement, even at such a young age.
The part of the heart studied is the left ventricle. This chamber can sometimes enlarge, especially in adults with chronic high blood pressure. Hearts that become bigger are less efficient and less effective at pumping blood.
The study, conducted at the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University, found that among teens aged 14 to 18 years, only 25% had even an adequate intake of vitamin K. This age group needs 75 mcg per day, less than what would be found in a ½ cup of cooked broccoli. (Adults need 90-120 mcg/day, which would easily be provided in a cup of raw spinach.)
So, as you can see, it doesn’t take much to meet daily needs – we just need to find a way to get kids to actually eat vitamin K-rich leafy greens.
As I mentioned earlier, kids seem more picky about the foods that they eat, and for good reason. The average young person has about 10,000 taste buds that are replaced every 2 weeks or so. As you age, the number of working taste buds are significantly reduced - therefore younger people are more sensitive to taste than we are as adults.
So it may be best to get kids to eat their veggies by creating ways to make them more palatable. Cheese sauce over broccoli is not a bad thing if it gets a kid to actually eat something green! Here are some other ways to sneak veggies into a kids (or a veggie-hating adult) diet:
• Add frozen spinach or kale to a smoothie. It will likely change the color, but not the taste.
• Try “zoodles”, or zucchini noodles. Mix it into your regular pasta dish and it gives a nice complement to something you are already eating. Alternative, puree vegetables and mix directly into the spaghetti sauce.
• Mix veggies into casseroles or hide it in a homemade veggie burger.
• Do you like guacamole? It’s already green – so make a kale or spinach puree and stir it in. You can do that to other sauces as well.
• Pureed vegetables also can work well when baked into muffins or breads.
Phylloquinone Intake Is Associated with Cardiac Structure and Function in Adolescents, The Journal of Nutrition, October 1, 2017.
Office of Dietary Supplements (National Institutes of Health)
| 70,740
|
Eating two rashers of bacon a day can increase the risk of pancreatic cancer by 19% and the risk goes up if a person eats more, experts have said.
Eating 50g of processed meat every day – the equivalent to one sausage or two rashers of bacon – increases the risk by 19%, compared to people who do not eat processed meat at all.
For people consuming double this amount of processed meat (100g), the increased risk jumps to 38%, and is 57% for those eating 150g a day. But experts cautioned that the overall risk of pancreatic cancer was relatively low – in the UK, the lifetime risk of developing the disease is one in 77 for men and one in 79 for women.
Nevertheless, the disease is deadly – it is frequently diagnosed at an advanced stage and kills 80% of people in under a year. Only 5% of patients are still alive five years after diagnosis.
The latest study, published in the British Journal of Cancer, is from researchers at the respected Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden. They examined data from 11 studies, including 6,643 cases of pancreatic cancer. They found inconclusive evidence on the risks of eating red meat overall, compared to eating no red meat.
They found a 29% increase in pancreatic cancer risk for men eating 120g per day of red meat but no increased risk among women. This may be because men in the study tended to eat more red meat than women.
They concluded: "Findings from this meta-analysis indicate that processed meat consumption is positively associated with pancreatic cancer risk.
"Red meat consumption was associated with an increased risk of pancreatic cancer in men.
"Further prospective studies are needed to confirm these findings."
The study adds to understanding about the risk factors for developing pancreatic cancer. Overall, smoking is thought to account for around a third of all cases of the disease, and smokers have a 74% increased risk of developing it compared to non-smokers.
Associate Professor Susanna Larsson, author on the study, said: "Pancreatic cancer has poor survival rates. So as well as diagnosing it early, it's important to understand what can increase the risk of this disease.
"If diet does affect pancreatic cancer then this could influence public health campaigns to help reduce the number of cases of this disease developing in the first place."
Around 8,090 people were diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in the UK in 2008 – 3% of all cancer cases – and around 7,780 people died from it. Sara Hiom, director of information at Cancer Research UK, said: "The jury is still out as to whether meat is a definite risk factor for pancreatic cancer and more large studies are needed to confirm this. But this new analysis suggests processed meat may be playing a role.
"We do know that, among lifestyle factors, smoking significantly ramps up the risk of pancreatic cancer.
"Stopping smoking is the best way to reduce your chances of developing many types of cancer and other diseases as well."
Dr Rachel Thompson, deputy head of science at World Cancer Research Fund, said: "There is strong evidence that being overweight or obese increases the risk of pancreatic cancer and this study may be an early indication of another factor behind the disease.
"Regardless of this latest research, we have already established a strong link between eating red and processed meat and your chances of developing bowel cancer, which is why WCRF [World Cancer Research Fund] recommends limiting intake of red meat to 500g cooked weight a week and avoiding processed meat altogether."
Alex Ford, chief executive of Pancreatic Cancer UK, said: "Pancreatic Cancer UK is keen to see more research like this that helps improve our understanding about which aspects of diet and lifestyle may have a bearing on the risk of developing pancreatic cancer.
"These findings, if confirmed by further studies, could help inform people on which lifestyle factors could play a role in limiting their chances of developing the disease."
| 30,546
|
Diarrhea’s diverse causes
Despite a horse’s apparently sturdy exterior, his various internal body systems are delicate—particularly his gastrointestinal (GI) system. The normal GI tract is populated with various “good” bacteria and protozoa—referred to as a horse’s normal flora—that serve one main purpose: to prevent the growth of other microbes, particularly pathogenic (disease-causing) bacteria such as Salmonella spp and Clostridium spp. This is achieved by two mechanisms. One is the physical presence of the “good” microbes that physically block the growth of pathogens, and the second is related to the natural flora’s production of short-chain fatty acids and other metabolites that inhibit the growth of potential pathogens.
“Any factor that alters the normal population of bacteria that inhabit the GI tract can potentially result in a fatal diarrhea,” explained Dr. Rodney Belgrave, an internal medicine clinician at Mid-Atlantic Equine Medical Center, located in Ringoes, N.J.
While horse owners are likely aware of some of the more common causes of diarrhea, some other factors contributing to the development of diarrhea in horses continue to be overlooked. One of these is proliferative enteropathy, a thickening of the inner lining of the small and large intestines, caused by the bacterium Lawsonia intracellularis. Antibiotics and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs should be used judiciously in horses, as these can also cause diarrhea.
Another potential trigger is infection with various common internal parasites. Generally, it is a chronic diarrhea, but acute colitis (inflammation of the colon) can occur, particularly in horses infected with small strongyles (cyathostomes).
While a variety of anthelmintics are available for deworming horses and foals, these drugs are not generally effective against the encysted larvae of small strongyles. (Small strongyles hibernate, lurking encysted in the walls of the intestine.)
“Cyathostomes are known to cause an acute and potentially fatal colitis when very large numbers of the encysted cyathostome larvae emerge from the wall of the large intestine,” explained Dr. Martin Krarup Nielsen, an assistant professor at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark. “However, this is extremely rare. We see only a few cases of this every year.”
While the worms are small, they certainly do have a large impact: Death rates due to acute colitis secondary to small strongyles can be as high as 60%.
Interestingly, one of the risk factors for the development of cyathostome-associated diarrhea is the recent administration of an adulticidal anthelmintic.
Nielsen said the best way to avoid cyathostome-associated diarrhea is to develop a parasite control program based on surveillance of parasite burdens and drug efficacy. It has become imperative to screen the efficacy of a farm’s deworming program on a yearly basis by fecal analysis, he says. Horses with high fecal egg counts (for strongyles) can be treated more aggressively than horses with low counts.
Nielsen adds, “It is important that owners realize that diarrhea caused by cyathostome larvae is extremely rare and should not be the main worry on a well-managed farm. The main causes of acute diarrhea are Salmonella and Clostridium infections. Owners need to keep this in perspective.”
A congressional committee recently held a hearing on a bill that proposes severe restrictions on the use of antibiotics in food animals. The Preservation of Antibiotics for Medical Treatment Act of 2009 would ban “non-therapeutic” uses of antibiotics that are also used in humans. It is hoped that this would prevent antibiotic resistance and preserve these drugs to treat human infections.
However, the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) said there is no scientific proof that this ban would have any effect on resistance in human medicine.
The AVMA said the bill currently affects food animals only and will not impact horses.
“As defined within the text of the legislation, elimination of ‘non-therapeutic’ uses of antimicrobials would disallow disease prevention and potentially control uses,” the association noted. “This type of broad-based ban is contrary to the practice of veterinary medicine.”
Excerpted from The Horse: Your Guide to Equine Health Care. Free weekly newsletters at TheHorse.com.
| 166,077
|
Best Treatment For Headaches And Migraines
Common triggers of tension headaches include:
The exact cause of cluster headaches is unknown and there don’t seem to be specific triggers. Triggers often start migraines and tension headaches, but not cluster headaches. Cluster headaches often occur at the same time each day. One headache will last anywhere between 15 minutes to 3 hours. You can have one or many headaches in a single day.
The name suits because they occur in clusters. At least one daily headache occurs for several weeks or months in a row. Usually, these headache groupings last 6 to 12 weeks.
Symptoms of cluster headaches can include:
Other characteristics of cluster headaches:
Other risk factors that can’t be changed include:
You are at higher risk for migraines if your family has a history of migraines, if you have a sleep disorder, or if you have a mood disorder, such as bipolar disorder or depression.
Women are three times more likely to develop migraines than men.
Hormones involved in menstruation, pregnancy, and menopause all come into play. Hormones in contraceptives and hormone replacement therapies can also be triggers.
Women often get migraines just before or during menstruation. These episodes usually subside during pregnancy and after menopause begins.
Sometimes a headache is a sign of a serious medical problem.If you experience a sudden intense headache different from any you’ve experienced before, or have accompanying fever, vomiting, confusion, weakness, stiff neck, seizures, or other symptoms, seek out immediate medical care.
The migraine episode
Phase One — The Prodrome Phase (Preheadache)
The prodrome phase has nothing to do with headache pain or auras.
In the past, you may not have even associated these symptoms with your headache. It occurs immediately preceding or days before the headache phase.
Symptoms of the prodrome phase can include:
– Mood swings
– Food cravings
– Unexplained yawning
– Unusual sensitivity to light, sound, or smell
– A stiff neck
– Difficulty focusing
– Frequent need to urinate
Symptoms of the prodrome phase vary from individual to individual. Some patients find relaxation therapy or meditation to be helpful.
Phase Two — The Aura Phase
An aura is a sensory disturbance. Auras occur before or during the headache phase.
But these sensory disturbances only occur in one-third of migraine episodes. Some people never experience auras at all. Auras can be quite unusual and unnerving. They affect vision, touch, or speech.
One of the most vivid visual disturbances is when zig-zag lines suddenly appear in your vision. It’s harmless but can be very frightening.
Auras can affect both eyes, but not always. Other visual disturbances include:
– Blurred vision
– Flashing lights
– Blind spots that expand over time
Some people feel numbness or tingling in the arms during the aura phase. Disturbing motor auras can impair your ability to speak or even think clearly. You can experience slurred or jumbled speech and cognitive confusion.
| 11,751
|
If you see any of your teeth turning black, or any black teeth in your mouth, it is a sure sign that something needs to be done immediately, and you absolutely must go to the dentist. It can be because of three things, tooth decay, a dead tooth or a very virulent sort of plaque, but both absolutely need immediate investigation. Here is a breakdown of what must be done to counteract the negative effects of black teeth.
Certain kinds of plaque are black. If your teeth are “merely” colonised by black plaque and tartar, then you can consider yourself lucky, as this means that you got the better deal. This si still pretty awful, as this kind of plaque is very likely to cause demineralisation of your tooth enamel, and tooth decay pretty soon. It is also usually a result of tar, and is thus carcinogenic, causes periodontitis, and most of all, is very unsightly. Your teeth will appear black and festering, even if they are not, so we highly recommend getting the plaque and tartar removed, as otherwise you risk your social standing.
Black teeth are traditionally associated with tooth decay, and this is an association that stands. Black teeth are usually the result of tooth decay, meaning that the enamel has been so damaged that the bacterial life living in it has turned the walls of the tooth black. This means the tooth is unstable, and most likely will need to be removed, if the teeth are black, although sometimes the roots may keep good for a surprisingly long amount of time.
Black teeth after root canal treatment
Sometimes a tooth that is not decaying can turn black. If a tooth dies and blood gets into the tooth chamber, the blood starts to decompose and colours the tooth black. This only happens to teeth that have no internal structures, so ones that have been root canaled already. These teeth frequently change from pink to black.
Prevention is the best medicine
You should not let your teeth turn black in your mouth. There are so many signs before things get this serious, that it is hard to believe that patients do not notice them beforehand. Don’t be one of those people who let their fear of the dentist control them and let their teeth rot out of their heads, and do not idle away and put it off: even if it does not hurt black teeth are a very serious problem and need attention immediately!
| 162,571
|
“WHAT BUSINESS DO YOU HAVE to comment on festivals that belong to other people’s religion? And that too on the very day that it is being celebrated?” People can very well ask. Well, in the times we live in, it would be sheer folly not to do so. There are numerous reasons for this. The festival in question is celebrated by adherents of the world’s largest faith, while we are the second largest – if ticking of census forms is any measure. Christianity is estimated to be the world’s largest religion, and Islam occupies second place. In view of this, the relationships between two of the greatest religions of the world are certainly of importance to the planet.
Secondly, Islam and Christianity have a special relationship with each other. The central figure in Christianity also happens to be one of the mightiest messengers of God in Islam. The Qur’an happens to be the only non Christian religious scripture that contains narratives on the birth, message and finale of Christ, his mother as well as his disciples. In view of this, it would not be wrong to suggest that Christians do not have a monopoly on Christ. We Muslims have equal right to comment on any commemorations in his name.
Therefore, any religious perspective coming from the Muslims on Christmas should not necessarily be seen as a critique of the common Christian version but an expression of their own religious beliefs. It is very important to understand this.
The Nature Of Inter-Religious Expression
People upon hearing views that are different from their own, on themes that they believe in, sometimes feel that their version is being criticised. As all religions do not say one and the same thing and do not promote the same ideas on the divine, and because one encounters diversity in its full form during the course of religious dialogue, therefore, the expression of divergent religious belief from one group is not necessarily a critique of the other, but simply an expression of what one in his or her own tradition believes in.
So when a Muslim perspective on Christmas is being conveyed, it is what it is, i.e. what Muslims believe about Christmas, and nothing more and nothing less. So no need to worry too much on this one!
The Season For The Birth Of Jesus
On to the subject. Why Christmas matters? It matters to majority of Christians, as they believe that it is the day that Christ was born (although there is a minority that doesn’t). And the day for this is the twenty fifth of December every year. According to them, Christ came into the world during a winter in Bethlehem.
Well, on the other hand Muslims allude to both Qur’anic as well as Biblical narratives on the subject, to say that this is not the case. In the Qur’an, we read about the birth of Jesus:
The pains of labor drove her (Mary) to the trunk of a date-palm. She exclaimed: “Oh, if only I had died before this time and was something discarded and forgotten!” A voice called out to her from under her: “Do not grieve. Your Lord has placed a small stream at your feet. Shake the trunk of the palm toward you, and fresh, ripe dates will drop down to you. Eat and drink, and delight your eyes. ‘” 19:23-25
Important indicator about the season for Jesus’ birth is given in the expression, fresh, ripe dates will drop down to you. When do we have the season for fruiting of dates ? Is it the winter of December? Not at all. It is in the heat of summer. So according to the Qur’an, Jesus was born not in winter, but in summer!
Biblical evidence also points to the fact that Jesus was born when the climate was warmer, and not at the peak of december’s wintery season:
“And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn. And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.” Luke 2:7-8
The shepherds were in the fields watching their flocks at the time of Jesus’ birth. Late December in the middle of the night is not a comfortable time for the sheep to be out and about in the freezing cold, don’t you think?
In the same chapter, it can be seen that Jesus’ parents travelled to Bethlehem to register in a Roman census:
“And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed….. And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:). To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.” Luke 2:1-6
It is very unlikely that they made their Journey during winter when temperatures were below freezing and roads were poor condition.
All this leads to the fact that the time period of Jesus’ birth was not December, but according to the Qur’an it was certainly summer, as this is when dates are ripened, and according to the Bible it was much warmer. So here it is. The Muslim viewpoint. Jesus was not born in December, which means that Christmas day is not Christ’s birthday!
“Listen mate, are you telling me that I got it all wrong?” Our Christian friend asks. “Well, I am not saying you got it wrong. I am merely saying what I believe, just that you know where I’m coming from, so we know each other’s positions and can learn to live together!”. “Does that means you’re not gonna come to my Christmas party?”, he asks again. The Muslim replies, “Now I didn’t say that! I may very well be there, but make sure you have some non alcoholic cola and halaal pie there. And I certainly won’t stand under a mistle toe, when your granny is around!”
Participating In Christmas Festivities
Humour apart, I was once asked by a college manager in England who was organising a Christmas event for her students it is alright to invite Muslim students? This is a very important question. Especially for communities that are mixed, diverse and multifaith.
Whether people of different faiths can join in the celebrations of faiths that are different from their own?
My reply to her was in a yes and a no.
Yes, they can in the sense as observers, to learn about communities, to understand what people believe in and why they do so.
The answer would be a no, if the organisers expect students of other faiths to join and participate in religious ceremonies or to partake in activities that go against their own traditions.
But I would strongly recommend that in faith celebrations people of other faiths and beliefs are invited as well, because not doing so will isolate communities from each other.
When Muslims celebrate Eid, they too should invite people of other faiths to their celebrations, but it would certainly not be expected of their Christian, Hindu, Sikh or Jewish friends to do the ablution and perform the prayer as they do. Non Muslims are simply there to share pleasantries and as observers. Also it should be ensured that food that meets the religious dietary needs of the guests is served. It wouldn’t go down very well if one were to invite Hindus or Buddhists who are vegetarians and serve them halal beef kebabs!
So a very strong yes to the invitation, a yes to careful pre-event preparations, but definitely a no to the religious participation bit.
There we are. It’s Christmas. We say to all who are celebrating it: have a good time. Spend time with your family. Think of the poor, and share with them too.
And remember, go easy on the dessert as it’s a tough job to loose those extra pounds gained during the festivities!
We wish you a merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
| 62,237
|
HTML Tutorial Tips
These HTML Tips will help you create effective website and guide
you about what is a must and what should be avoided.
- For learning HTML, simple text editor like notepad works best. Other software may
help you create your webpages quickly, but you will not have the full command over
- If you do not want to use text editor, try our
HTML Code Tester.
- Use lowercase for writing tags. Although Uppercase will work fine in web browsers,
World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) recommends lowercase in HTML 4 and XHTML.
- Standardize font-color, font-size, background color, etc. and keep it same for all
pages of your website.
- Strandardize the structure of your webpages. This will help you to add and edit
- Bright colors, flashing pictures, moving texts, etc. should be better avoided. These
will distract your visitor from your website
- Keep good quality content in your webpages. If your website does not have good information,
visitors will not return back to your website.
- Keep the font-size of your paragraph at least 12px.
- For viewing the HTML code of any webpage, right click on it and select 'View Source',
'View Page Source' or similar.
- You may add comments anywhere in your HTML code between comment tags (<!-- Comments
-->). The comments between comment tags will not be displayed in webpage.
- Close all tags. Although most browsers will show your webpage correctly even if
you forget closing tags, W3C recommend to close all tags properly. Add forward slash
'/' to the tags which have only start tag (e.g. </br>)
- Avoid using depreciated tags and attributes like <font>, <center> and
- Unless it is absolutely required, I do not recommend to use framesets.
- Although you may use tables for your webpage layout, I recommend using CSS for this
purpose. After completing HTML lessons, must go through CSS tutorial also.
- You may use ready made templates, search for 'free website template'.
- I recommend to use doctype declaration for your webpages
- Spend time on selecting proper title for your webpage. This decides how your webpage
will be index by search engines.
- Must use meta description tag for all your webpages. It increases the visibility
of your website in search result.
- Meta keywords tag is no more important. However, you may like to add one in your
- View your webpage with all popular web browsers as some browsers may display your
- Use images on your webpage carefully. Reduce the size of images with image optimizers.
Putting bigger images will increase the time taken to load your webpage.
- Define width and height for images. In case the image does not load correctly, the
page-layout will remain unchanaged.
- Last but not the least - Keep practicing with HTML.
| 245,806
|
FORT SAM HOUSTON
FORT SAM HOUSTON. Fort Sam Houston is a major military installation in the northeast section of San Antonio. As early as 1846 the city was attempting to secure the establishment of a permanent United States military installation. During the Mexican War the United States Army established a quartermaster depot at San Antonio and a training camp at San Pedro Springs. In 1849 San Antonio was named headquarters of the United States Army Eighth Military District with forces at Nuestra Señora de la Purísima Concepción Mission and San Pedro Springs. The Alamo was taken on lease from the Catholic Church and used for storage. The Vance house, a two-story stone house where the Gunter Hotel now stands, was leased for army headquarters. The city made several offers of free land, but all were refused except for a small parcel on Flores Street, which was used for an arsenal.
A formal proposal for a permanent army post was made in 1870, but it met with political opposition in Washington. Secretary of War W. W. Belknap illegally held up funding until 1875. He resigned in 1876 rather than face impeachment, partly over his refusal to fund congressional appropriations for the San Antonio base. On June 7, 1876, construction was finally begun on ninety-three acres of city-donated land known as Government Hill. The contract was with the Edward Braden Construction Company for $83,900 and $15,247 for extras. Construction of the quadrangle included a one-story north wall 624 feet long, east and west walls 499½ feet long, and a two-story south wall with the only entry gate. Work was completed in February 1878.
In 1870 the Texas Department of the United States Army had moved to San Antonio. In 1879 the depot that had been occupying space in the Alamo moved to the new post. Almost immediately expansion began with the construction of officers' quarters, a 10,830-square-foot commander's home later named the Pershing House, and a tent hospital, which was replaced by a permanent post hospital in 1885. Between 1885 and 1891 forty-three acres and sixty buildings were added to what was to become the infantry post. In 1890 the military post at San Antonio was designated Fort Sam Houston, in honor of Gen. Sam Houston, by President Benjamin Harrison. Prominent visitors to the post included Chief Geronimo, who was held there in 1886 before his exile to Florida, and Theodore Roosevelt, who stopped with his men at the base to receive provisions before leaving for Cuba in 1898 (see FIRST UNITED STATES VOLUNTEER CAVALRY).
In 1907 the first chapel was built, with donated funds; it was nicknamed "Gift Chapel." In 1908 a new hospital was built at the artillery post. It was enlarged in 1910 and again in 1915 to provide 1,000 beds. On February 15, 1910, Lt. Benjamin Foulois brought the army's first airplane to Fort Sam Houston. There he learned to fly with instruction through correspondence with the Wright brothers. He instigated the first experimental flights in United States military aviation and gave the first public demonstration flights on March 2. There were four flights that day, and the last one crashed during landing. After the crash, experimental flights and the aviation program were temporarily suspended at the post. Foulois's airplane, United States Army Aeroplane Number One, is in the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.
By 1912 the military units at Fort Sam Houston included an infantry regiment, a regiment of cavalry, each with a headquarters and band, two batteries of field artillery, and signal and engineer troops. By 1917 the installation had been raised to general depot status and was supplying the Mexican frontier, including Gen. John J. Pershing's pursuit of Francisco (Pancho) Villa. The First Aero Squadron, consisting of nine airplanes and fifteen pilots, was ordered from Fort Sam to Columbus, New Mexico, to support Pershing.
During World War I an addition of 1,280 acres northeast of the fort was called Camp Travis. More than 208,000 soldiers passed through this new addition, where the epidemic of 1918 claimed 11,372 cases of influenza, resulting in 201 deaths. By the early 1920s Camp Travis was deserted and dilapidated. Most of the buildings were torn down by 1928. That year $6 million was appropriated for some 500 permanent buildings at the fort. They were built in Spanish Colonial style and still provided a Moorish atmosphere in the 1990s. By 1933 Fort Sam Houston was supporting the Civilian Conservation Corps. In 1937 the largest maneuvers since World War I were held, and many of the tactical principles used during World War II were developed, including the "Triangular Division." The Eighth Corps and the Eighth Service Command were organized at Fort Sam Houston. It was headquarters for the Southern Defense Command. In 1940 the fort was the largest army post in the United States. The post served as a major internment center for prisoners of war during World War II. By 1949 Fort Sam Houston had 1,500 buildings on more than 3,300 acres of land and was headquarters for the Fourth United States Army.
Some of the great military strategists and commanders of World War II came from Fort Sam Houston. Among them were Lt. Gen Walter Krueger, United States Third Army; Lt. Gen. Courtney Hodges, who took the Third Army to England; Lt. Gen. William Simpson, United States Fourth Army; and Gen. Dwight Eisenhower, who became the commander of Allied Forces in Europe and later president of the United States. After the war Gen. Jonathan Wainwright commanded the Fourth Army at Fort Sam Houston.
In the mid-1930s $3 million was appropriated to build a new base hospital. It opened in 1938 and was named for Gen. Roger Brooke. It had 425 beds, and an additional wing of 200 beds was added soon after. In 1946 the Institute of Surgical Research was moved to Fort Sam from Halloran General Hospital in New York. The institute specialized in trauma surgery. The Burn Center was established in 1949. During the Korean conflict Fort Sam Houston became a major training center with its Medical Field Service School. In 1973 the fort acquired a major military command devoted to medical service, known as the Health Services Command.
In 1991 Fort Sam Houston comprised the headquarters of the Fifth United States Army, the Health Services Command, the Academy of Health Services, Brooke Army Medical Center, the Institute of Surgical Research, the United States Army Dental Laboratory, the 902nd Military Intelligence Group, and the Joint Military Readiness Center, among other organizations. In addition the fort hosts the real estate projects office of the Fort Worth District, United States Army Corps of Engineers, the West Point Admissions Office, and the United States Army Medical Department Museum and Fort Sam Houston Museum. The fort is the site of Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery. It also supports all of the National Guard and Army Reserve units in Texas, as well as the Texas high school and college reserve officer training corps units.
Eldon Cagle, Jr., Quadrangle: The History of Fort Sam Houston (Austin: Eakin Press, 1985). Paul Ebers, San Antonio: The Metropolis and Garden Spot of Texas and Fort Sam Houston (San Antonio, 1909). Robert W. Frazer, Forts of the West (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1965). Mary Olivia Handy, History of Sam Houston (San Antonio: Naylor, 1951). San Antonio Express, November 26, 1940. Nevin Otto Winter, Texas the Marvellous: The State of Six Flags (Boston: Page, 1916; centennial ed., Garden City, New York: Garden City Publishing Company, 1936).
The following, adapted from the Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition, is the preferred citation for this article.Art Leatherwood, "FORT SAM HOUSTON," Handbook of Texas Online (http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/qbf43), accessed May 23, 2013. Published by the Texas State Historical Association.
| 37,800
|
In Greek Mythology, Nike was the Goddess of speed, strength and victory. Also known as Winged Goddess, Nike is most often pictured as having wings. She was the child of Pallas (Titan) and Styx In most beliefs, Styx is the name of the river that separates Planet Earth from the Gates of Hell (Hades). The River Styx was named for Nike’s grandfather Tethys. Nike and her three sisters, Zelus (Zeal/power), Bic(Force) and Kralas (Strength) were brought by Styx to Zeus to assist him in the great Titan battle whose ultimate goal was to gain control of Mount Olympus.
Ancient Greeks worshiped Nike because they believed she could make them never to die and was able to grant to humans strength and the speed needed to be victorious in any task they undertook.
Although Pluto is no longer considered a planet by some planetary experts, in 2013 Styx was recognized as a moon of Pluto.
Nike allied herself with the Chief Greek God Zeus during the great Titanomachy conflict. During this event, she functioned as his chief charioteer. Nike’s reward for doing this was that Zeus promised to keep her near him and to protect her forever. She is often seen seated beside Zeus on Mount Olympus.
In Roman Mythology, Nike was known as Victoria, after Greece fell to the Roman Empire. She appears with Zeus on statues in places such as the Temple of Zeus in Attica and on the west portico of the Temple of Athena in Athens.
When Nike appeared alone, she always had wings and sported a palm branch in her right hand. If she was seen with another god, Nike was always wingless. According to many accounts, Nike is portrayed without wings in Athens so that she could never fly away from their city.
A sculpture dating back to 424 to 203 BC known as “Nike of Samothrace” that was unearthed in 1863 may be seen at the Louvre Museum in Paris. The oldest Nike sculpture known to exist believed to date back to 550 BCE and is located on the Greek island of Delos.
Most sculptures of Nike were made from the core of a piece of wood encased in ivory and gold. One is estimated to be 29 feet tall. Many sculptures of Zeus and/or Athena hold a smaller Nike in their right hand.
Nike’s typical attire in paintings, sculptures and other art media was a flowing gown of gold and wings symbolizing her right to grant victory or to remove it later should the victor not remain worthy. She always carried a palm branch in her right hand as a symbol of peace. Another very important thing she carried was a wreath, always ready to crown a victor in battle or games of challenge. When she is pictured with the Staff of Hermes, this means that one of Nike’s roles was to serve as a messenger from the gods.
Nike being depicted holding wreath reminds us that as the Goddess of Victory she was always ready to encase a winner’s neck and shoulders in a garland of victory. She was also often seen with a cup or pitcher and a bowl from which a victory toast was consumed.
Nike is often seen with a shield upon which it was said that she inscribed the name of each victor of a battle.
How Nike Relates to the Modern World
- Regardless of whether it is 2017 or 250BC, mankind has equated success and triumph with being regarded as #1 in some pursuit whether it be a sport or in our career.
- Since 1928, the Olympics Medal has sported Nike on the obverse side bearing her wreath of victory and the shield upon which the victor’s name is inscribed.
- A portion of the hood ornament on all Rolls-Royce vehicles includes a depiction of Nike.
- Honda motorcycles use a symbol of Nike as part of the company’s logo.
- Nike has been the symbol used since 1945 by America’s Anti Aircraft Missile System.
- Statues of her often include a lyre or kithara used to celebrate a victory with song and dance.
- In keeping with Zeus’s promise to make Nike to live forever as the Goddess of speed, strength and victory, people of all ages have the opportunity to wear Nike shoes. As proof of the power of Nike, many sports stars maintain they owe their success to Nike shoes. Thirty per cent of sports footwear sales belong to Nike. For example, Michael Jordan is said to have made more money from his Nike endorsements than all of its manufacturing labor force.
- Headquartered in Oregon, Nike has been the leader in the world of sports equipment and apparel since 1978 and is estimated to employ 44,000 workers around the globe. The name Nike was chosen by company founders because of her attributes of speed and victory.
- For the swoosh symbol that appears on the side of each Nike shoe, Nike employee Carolyn Davis was paid $35 for the design. Rumor has it she later received an undisclosed amount of stock options as well.
Link/cite this page
If you use any of the content on this page in your own work, please use the code below to cite this page as the source of the content.
Link will appear as Nike: https://greekgodsandgoddesses.net - Greek Gods & Goddesses, February 9, 2017
| 107,012
|
Not knowing what your natural resources are is a risk for any country, and not all resources can be found on land. 96% of all New Zealand territory is under water, and only 13% of that is mapped. The Ocean Survey 20/20 (OS 20/20) programme is a whole of Government initiative, which aims to provide New Zealand with better knowledge of its ocean territory, including our exclusive economic zone, Continental Shelf and the Ross Sea Region.
SilverStripe Ltd were contracted by NIWA to build a web-portal to help everyone be able to access the data that’s being gathered. The web portal allows end users to get full access to a vast array of information stored in distributed databases. This information is presented in an easy to understand way, based primarily on a powerful mapping application that puts data into a geographical context.
From there, users can filter out the type of information they're looking for, learn more about the processes involved in gathering the different types of data or access extremely high resolution images of the sea floor (and whatever treasures it might contain!).
The web interface is not only intuitive, it's also built to allow later enhancement so that future projects (which the portal already supports) can add in additional elements which may be needed. Data is presented using layers on maps that can be individually enabled or disabled, allowing the viewer to define the context themselves, eliminating or enabling datasets at will.
The data isn't just a couple of lists. There are a whopping four terabytes of data involved because datasets include:
- bacterial biomass and activity
- benthic and attached algae
- meiofauna, macro-fauna and epifauna
- benthic and demersal fish rocky reef assemblages
- sediment accumulation rates (coring, forensics, sources and analysis)
- physical oceanography data (tidal and wind driven changes in sea level, salinity measures to determine the timing of freshwater inputs, variability of Bay of Island currents)
- water quality data (eg chlorophyll a, salinity, oxygen, metals, pollutants, suspended sediment, etc)
- opportunistic data (wild life such as seabirds, cetaceans, cartilaginous (e.g. white sharks), breeding colonies, marine mammal sighting or aggregation areas, biogenic reefs etc)
- 20,000 seabed and specimen photographs.
There were a number of other challenges for us in building the site beyond just the sheer size of the data. Content includes images, geospatial station data, PDFs, and zip files. The integration of HD video is possible. The map has multiple layers, and to complicate matters even further, some datasets crosses the dateline.
The web mapping client within the portal was developed specifically for the portal, integrating OpenLayers with the SilverStripe CMS as a web mapping module, and will be available as a standard module. What's particularly exciting about the mapping is that you can view it at nearly any size - the map is not constrained by anything other than the user's browser; it can be extremely large if the user desires it - something most mapping applications completely fail at. Atlas, an image server to deliver high quality photography and videos and ESRI ArcServer, licenced to NIWA, are the two proprietary applications used. The portal uses other open source solutions to provide storage and web-service capabilities, supporting Open-Geospatial Consortium standards. Most of the Open Source components are supported by the Open Source Geospatial Foundation.
Alongside with the mapping component, NIWA and SilverStripe Ltd have developed an catalogue service, enabling the website user to search for the raw data, reports or download datasets directly. It provides access to data, reports, maps, photographs & presentations thus providing both data as well as interpretations and information from experts explaining the data. The portal also enables website users to stream the data into other applications via the OGC web-services which are discoverable via the catalogue.
Ocean Survey 20/20 is a finalist in the government category of the New Zealand Open Source Awards. We're really thrilled to have been involved in such groundbreaking work, and we look forward to what is yet to be discovered lurking under the water.
Post your comment
Comments for this post are now closed.
| 20,802
|
Historic Horseback Ride Commemorating Cheyenne Exodus of 1878 Departs on June 1
On June 1, a 1,391-mile journey across seven states begins for eight riders who will set out from Fort Reno, Oklahoma to remember the Northern Cheyenne Exodus of 1878.
After Custer was defeated at the Battle of the Little Bighorn, the United States government removed the Northern Cheyenne from their traditional homelands in Montana to a reservation in Indian Territory in Oklahoma. What came to be known as their “exodus” was the “bloody but futile attempt to return to their homeland in Montana,” says the description of In Dull Knife’s Wake: The True Story of the Northern Cheyenne Exodus of 1878 by Vernon R. Maddux and Albert Glenn Maddux.
The journey was set in motion by Margaret Behan of the International Council of 13 Indigenous Grandmothers and Cheyenne Elders Council, who will join the riders at locations along the way.
“My prayer is to bring spirit back to my people. So much has been lost,” Behan said in a release. “We need to bring our Cheyenne identity and pride back to the young people, teach them the traditional ceremonies and language.”
That trek may be a dangerous one according to Jesus Garza, the 21-year-old Texas A&M University-Kingsville junior history and political science major who created the map the riders will follow. He said the ride will cut through tornado alley during peak season, but as the expedition’s chief navigator and historian he will is prepared and has plotted the course on paper maps as well as using GPS technology.
Garza became involved with the ride after organizer Juan Villareal, Texas Lipan Apache, came to speak with his historic methods and research class. Villareal had never ridden a horse before the idea for this ride came up. He has been training with Suzi Landoplhi from Red Horse Nation, a Native American Horse program of Lifesavers Wild Horse Rescue to prepare for the ride. Lifesavers is supplying all the horses for the ride.
At sacred sites along the way, Earth skill educators will share wisdom of caring for the planet through storytelling, land stewardship and wilderness survival training for families. There will be hands-on trainings and teachings of traditional skills like fire making, shelter building, animal tracking, and flint knapping.
Garza is honored to be a part of the ride and ceremonies. “I’m even more grateful that I’m in a leadership position for this ride, that I’ll be able to see sites and ceremonies,” Garza told ICTMN. “The fact that I get [to join] in… is nothing short of amazing.”
He’s also hoping the ride itself will bring attention to the history of Native Americans, something he is now learning about himself.
“I’m very proud to be providing some of the foundation for this ride,” Garza said in a release. “My hope is that the ride itself will help to increase people’s knowledge of what this group of Native Americans suffered.”
“The Cheyennes’ flight,” write James Leiker and Ramon Powers in The Northern Cheyenne Exodus in History and Memory, “had left white and Indian bones alike scattered along its route from Oklahoma to Montana.”
A film crew will be documenting the journey with Native filmmaker Chris Eyre acting as key advisor.
To follow the ride, visit GrandmothersHorses.com.
| 4,868
|
A child is a 'child in need of services' if, before the child becomes age 18, the child's physical or mental health is seriously endangered due to injury by the act or omission of the child's parent, guardian, or custodian.
Evidence that the illegal manufacture of a drug or controlled substance is occurring on property where a child resides creates a rebuttable presumption that the child's physical or mental health is seriously endangered.
Neglect: Citation: Ann. Code §§ 31-34-1-1; 31-34-1-9; 31-34-1-10; 31-34-1-11
A child is a 'child in need of services' if, before the child becomes age 18:
- The child's physical or mental condition is seriously impaired or seriously endangered as a result of the inability, refusal, or neglect of the child's parent, guardian, or custodian to supply the child with necessary food, clothing, shelter, medical care, education, or supervision.
- The child is born with fetal alcohol syndrome, or any amount, including a trace amount, of a controlled substance or a legend drug in the child's body.
- The child has an injury, abnormal physical or psychological development, or is at a substantial risk of a life-threatening condition that arises or is substantially aggravated because the child's mother used alcohol, a controlled substance, or a legend drug during pregnancy.
The term 'child in need of services' includes a child with a disability who is deprived of nutrition that is necessary to sustain life, or is deprived of medical or surgical intervention that is necessary to remedy or ameliorate a life-threatening medical condition if the nutritional, medical, or surgical intervention is generally provided to similarly situated children with or without disabilities.
Sexual Abuse/Exploitation: Citation: Ann. Code §§ 31-34-1-3; 31-34-1-4; 31-34-1-5
A child is a 'child in need of services' if, before the child becomes age 18, the child is the victim, lives in the same household as another child who was the victim, or lives in the same household as the adult who was convicted of a sex offense, as defined in the criminal statutes, pertaining to:
- Criminal deviate conduct
- Child molesting
- Child exploitation or possession of child pornography
- Child seduction
- Sexual misconduct with a minor
- Indecent exposure
A child is a child in need of services if, before the child becomes age 18, the child's parent, guardian, or custodian allows the child:
- To participate in an obscene performance
- To commit a sex offense prohibited by criminal statute
Emotional Abuse: Citation: Ann. Code § 31-34-1-2
A child is a 'child in need of services' if the child's mental health is seriously endangered by an act or omission of the child's parent, guardian, or custodian.
Abandonment: Citation: Ann. Code § 31-9-2-0.5
'Abandoned infant' means:
- A child who is younger than 12 months old and whose parent, guardian, or custodian has knowingly or intentionally left the child in an environment that endangers the child's life or health or in a hospital or medical facility and has no reasonable plan to assume the care, custody, and control of the child
- A child who is or appears to be no more than 45 days old and whose parent has knowingly and intentionally left the child with an emergency medical services provider and did not express an intent to return for the child
Standards for Reporting: Citation: Ann. Code § 31-33-5-1
A report is required when an individual has reason to believe that a child is a victim of child abuse or neglect.
Persons Responsible for the Child: Citation: Ann. Code §§ 31-9-2-0.5; 31-34-1-1 through 31-34-1-5
Responsible persons include the child's parent, guardian, or custodian.
Exceptions: Citation: Ann. Code §§ 31-34-1-12; 31-34-1-14; 31-34-1-15
A child is not a child in need of services if:
- The presence of a controlled substance was a result of a valid medical prescription.
- A parent fails to provide specific medical treatment for a child because of legitimate and genuine religious beliefs. This presumption does not do any of the following:
- Prevent a court from ordering medical services when the health of the child requires it
- Apply to situations in which the child's life or health is in serious danger
This chapter does not limit:
- The right of the parent to use reasonable corporal punishment to discipline the child
- The lawful practice or teaching of religious beliefs
| 73,431
|
Drug allergies can be defined as a group of symptoms caused by an allergic reaction to a drug.
Adverse reactions to drugs are actually quite common. Just about every single drug can cause an adverse reaction. The person’s immune system’s response that causes an allergic reaction most closely resembles the response that causes hay fever. These reactions range from irritating or mild, such as nausea and vomiting to life-threatening anaphylaxis.
In most people, a severe allergic reaction will occur within only seconds or minutes after exposure to the allergen. However, there are a few reactions that can occur after several hours. This could happen if the allergen causes a reaction after it has been ingested. And in some extremely rare cases, reactions develop after 24 hours.
Penicillin and related antibiotics the most common drug allergy causes. Some of the other allergy-causing drugs include, sulfa drugs, anticonvulsants, insulin preparations and iodinated (drugs containing iodine) X-ray contrast dyes, which can cause allergy-like anaphylactoid reactions.
Most medicinal side effects are due to something other than an allergic reaction. For instance, aspirin can trigger asthma or cause non-allergic hives. Some drug reactions are idiosyncratic, meaning that the reaction is an unusual and unpredictable effect of the medication. Often a person will mistake an uncomfortable, but not serious, side effect of a medicine with a true drug allergy, which can be life threatening.
Symptoms of drug allergies include, anaphylaxis, or severe allergic reaction, hives (type of skin rash), itching of the skin or eyes, other types of skin rashes, swelling of the lips, tongue, or face and wheezing.
Anaphylaxis is a severe allergic reaction that affects a person’s entire body. This is caused by the person’s immune system becoming sensitized to an allergen like bee sting venom to which he or she was previously exposed. When exposed to this substance again, he or she might experience an allergic reaction. This reaction is sudden, severe, and in many cases life-threatening.
Treatments of drug allergies attempt to relieve symptoms and prevent a severe reaction. Common treatments include antihistamines for relief of mild symptoms like rash, hives, and itching; bronchodilators like albuterol to reduce moderate wheezing or cough, corticosteroids applied to the skin, given by mouth, or given intravenously and epinephrine.
In order to make sure that the offending medication is avoided in the future, a person should alert all of their health care providers, including dentists and hospital personnel, about drug allergies.
While most drug allergies will respond favorably to treatment, there are some cases that can cause life-threatening anaphylaxis, severe asthma or even death.
There is no method of preventing the development of a drug allergy. A person with a known drug allergy should simply avoid the using the medication. Also, a person with a drug allergy might be told to avoid similar medicines. For example, it is recommended that a person who happens to be allergic to penicillin should also avoid amoxicillin or ampicillin.
In some people’s case, his or her family doctor might approve the use of a drug that causes an allergy if he or she is pre-treated with corticosteroids, like prednisone, and antihistamines, like diphenhydramine. Under no circumstances should a person try this without a doctor’s supervision.
While it’s important to know what to do if a person suffers a drug allergy, it’s just as important to know what not to do. Do not make the assumption that any allergy shots the person has been given will provide complete protection. If he or she is having trouble breathing, do not place a pillow under his or her head because this can lead to blockage of the airways. And, if the sufferer is having trouble breathing, do not give him or her anything by mouth.
| 45,622
|
KARACHI: A United Nations expert on Monday expressed concern over increasing risks to privacy emanating from state surveillance and lack of digital security, including Pakistan’s “vague criminal prohibitions” on encryption.
In a report prepared for the 39th session of the UN Human Rights Council — that began on Monday and will end on Sept 28 — the special rapporteur wrote that many governments, including in Pakistan, Russia, China, Iran and Turkey, were neglecting or ignoring their duty to protect online encryption that helped ensure freedom of expression and privacy.
The report highlighted that the right to privacy was a fundamental human right that was recognised in Article 12 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 17 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and in other international and regional instruments.
Pakistan among nations unable to protect online encryption that helps ensure freedom of expression and privacy
However, it noted that many governments had adopted laws or proposed legislation that increased their surveillance powers, often in ways that fell short of applicable international human rights standards.
The report that addressed some of the pressing challenges that the right to privacy faced globally in the digital age, observed that many states had adopted criminal laws banning the use and dissemination of encryption technologies. In Pakistan, the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, 2016 (Peca) established “vague criminal prohibitions” on the supply of computer software and the programming of computer systems, which could be broadly interpreted to crack down on the use of encryption tools and networks that provide anonymity (such as Tor and VPNs).
“A state’s obligations to respect and ensure the rights to freedom of opinion and expression and to privacy include the responsibility to protect encryption,” the report said.
Earlier in 2015, the UN had criticised the vagueness of Peca’s provisions that could have a chilling effect on media activities in Pakistan, and would pose a serious threat to the ability of journalists to work freely, especially investigative journalists, whose work precisely consists of accessing information they are not authorised to access. These provisions could also seriously deter whistleblowers who, by definition, reveal information of general interest by transmitting data they are not authorised to access, copy or transmit, it had said.
Encryption and anonymity tools are widely used around the world, including by human rights defenders, civil society, journalists, whistleblowers and political dissidents facing persecution and harassment. The UN report warned that weakening them jeopardised the privacy of all users and exposes them to unlawful interferences not only by states, but also by non-state actors, including criminal networks.
The government of Pakistan ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights on June 23, 2010. The Covenant, in particular Article 19, protects everyone from interferences with the maintaining of opinions and protects the right to seek, receive, and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers and through any media. Any restriction, the UN pointed out, on the right to freedom of expression should be narrowly defined and clearly provided by law and be necessary and proportionate to achieve one or more of the legitimate objectives of protecting the rights or reputations of others, national security, public order, or public health and morals, as provided in Article 19(3) of the Covenant.
Surveillance for security
The report regretted that many states continued to engage in secret mass surveillance and communications interception, collecting, storing and analysing the data of all users relating to a broad range of means of communication (for example, emails, telephone and video calls, text messages and websites visited). While some states claimed that such indiscriminate mass surveillance is necessary to protect national security, this practice was “not permissible under international human rights law, as an individualised necessity and proportionality analysis would not be possible in the context of such measures,” it noted.
Quoting the European Court of Human Rights, the report stated: “A system of secret surveillance set up to protect national security may undermine or even destroy democracy under the cloak of defending it.”
In its report submitted to the HCR session, the UN stressed that there was an urgent need for states to fully implement their obligations to respect the right to privacy, as well as their duty to protect the right to privacy, including vis-à-vis corporate abuses. To accomplish that objective, it added, states needed to establish an appropriate legal and policy framework, including adequate privacy protection legislation and regulation.
It called for establishing independent authorities with powers to monitor state and private sector data privacy practices, investigate abuses, receive complaints from individuals and organisations, and issue fines and other effective penalties for unlawful processing of personal data by private and public bodies. It recommended that states pass laws spelling out permissible restrictions on encryption and anonymity.
The UN also asked the countries to ensure, through appropriate legislation and other means that any interference with the right to privacy including by communications surveillance and intelligence-sharing, complies with international human rights law, including the principles of legality, legitimate aim, necessity and proportionality, regardless of the nationality or location of the individuals affected, and clarify that authorisation of surveillance measures requires reasonable suspicion that a particular individual has committed or is committing a criminal offence or is engaged in acts amounting to a specific threat to national security.
Published in Dawn, September 11th, 2018
Dear visitor, the comments section is undergoing an overhaul and will return soon.
| 233,069
|
Reviewing Your Goal Worksheet
Now let’s look at how the goal example was put together.
1 – General review
Go through each of the SMART characteristics and see if they fit with the example plan.
1) Is it Specific? – Yes, the goal relates to a specific race.
2) Is it Measurable? – Yes, and have selected the measurement system and a range of
3) Is it Achievable? – Yes, I have run marathons before and have a reasonable personal best time, and am confident I can achieve it again.
4) Is it Relevant? – Yes, it motivates me to go out and train regularly, keeping me fit and providing relaxation.
5) Is it Time-bound? – Yes, the actual race date is included and each task has been scheduled to fit into the run-up to the date.
2 - Self assessment of tasks and link to personal development plan
I have assessed each task to establish if I am high or low skill or will, and will use this information to create a supporting personal development plan to close any gaps in ability (skill) or enthusiasm (will). Let’s look at each task and self
assessment in turn.
Write up training schedule. I previously made up my own training plans and recognise I am not an expert in this field, therefore I have low skill. I am hugely motivated to get this plan right, therefore I have high will. To address the skills gap, I will get help from a local athletics team to plan my training.
Follow training schedule. I have followed training plans before and understand their importance, therefore I am high skill. I am nervous about running on my own, especially in the winter, so I am low will. Need to do something that will increase my confidence.
Get diet advice and re-stock kitchen cupboards with appropriate food. I have never thought about my diet and running before and don’t know where to start, therefore am low skill. I love all kinds of food and suspect I may have to stop eating some of my favourites, therefore am low will.
Run half marathon. I have run this race before, therefore high skill. I know it’s a great course and my race time will be a good indication of how well my training is going, so am high will. No worries!
Enrol in the London marathon. I have done this before and know I am good at organising myself so am high skill and will. I have included the task as a reminder, as not enrolling would mean I couldn’t run and the whole goal would be affected. In business terms this would be called a “milestone”.
Run the London marathon. I have not assessed this task, as it is the main goal.
Next, Personal Development Requirements
| 254,835
|
Disability Services - The Law
Federal law states that . . .
"No otherwise qualified person with a disability in the United States ... shall, solely by reason of ... disability, be denied the benefits of, be excluded from participation in, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving federal financial assistance."
A person with a disability includes . . .
"any person who (1) has a physical or mental impairment which substantially limits one or more major life activities, (2) has a record of such an impairment, or (3) is regarded as having such an impairment." A "qualified person with a disability" is defined as one . . .
"who meets the academic and technical standards requisite to admission or participation in the educational program or activity."
Federal law protects the rights of qualified individuals who have disabilities generally
- Blindness/visual impairment
- Cerebral palsy
- Deafness/hearing impairment
- Epilepsy or seizure disorder
- Orthopedic/mobility impairment
- Cardiac disease
- Specific learning disability
- Speech and language disorder
- Multiple sclerosis
- Spinal cord injury
- Muscular dystrophy
- Tourettes syndrome
- Psychiatric disability
- Traumatic brain injury
Under the provisions of Federal law . . .
Adams State University may not discriminate in the recruitment, admission, educational process, or treatment of students. Students who have self-identified, provided satisfactory documentation of disability, and requested reasonable accommodations are entitled to receive reasonable accommodations, appropriate academic adjustments, or auxiliary aids and services that enable them to participate in and benefit from all educational programs and activities.
Federal law specifies that colleges and universities may not . . .
limit the number of students with disabilities admitted, make preadmission inquiries as to whether or not an applicant has a disability, use admission tests or criteria that inadequately measure the academic qualifications of qualified students with disabilities because required accommodations were not made, exclude a qualified student with a disability from any course of study, or establish rules and policies that may adversely affect qualified students with disabilities.
Modifications and accommodations for students with disabilities generally include, but ar
- removal of architectural barriers
- provision of services such as readers for students with blindness, visual impairments, or learning disabilities; scribes for students with orthopedic impairments; and note-takers for students with hearing impairments, learning disabilities, or orthopedic impairments
- provision of modifications, substitutions, or waivers of courses in major fields of study or degree requirements on a case-by-case basis (such an accommodation need not be made if the institution can demonstrate that the changes requested would substantially alter essential elements of the course or program)
- allowing extra time to complete exams
- permitting exams to be individually proctored, read orally, dictated, or typed
- use of alternative forms of tests for students to demonstrate course mastery
- permitting the use of computer software programs or other assistive technological devices to assist in test taking and study skills
(Note: Federal law referred to in this handbook includes Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.)
| 250,355
|
Johann Christoph Erhard
Among the most famous German landscape painters of Romanticism, Johann Christoph Erhard occupies one of the front ranks. To Johann Christoph Erhard landscapes, which he depicted with great eagerness and in eloquent manner, were a means of expression of deep inner sensation, entirely in line with Romanticism and detached from the classicist ideal. Johann Christoph Erhard found particular inspiration on his numerous journeys , among others, to various parts of Austria and Italy, which he captured in picturesque impressions. Johann Christoph Erhard's landscape painting captivates the observer with its clear arrangement, its emotional atmosphere, the delicate palette and its soft and fine stroke of the brush. The same can be said about his filigree drawings and graphic works. Ill with depression, the artist, who was born in Nuremberg in 1795, tragically ended his life in Rome in 1822. Works by the gifted painter and graphic artist are sought-after collector's items today.
| 245,288
|
1 O God, you are my God;
I earnestly search for you.
My soul thirsts for you;
my whole body longs for you
in this parched and weary land
where there is no water.
2 I have seen you in your sanctuary
and gazed upon your power and glory.
3 Your unfailing love is better than life itself;
how I praise you!
4 I will praise you as long as I live,
lifting up my hands to you in prayer.
5 You satisfy me more than the richest feast.
I will praise you with songs of joy. NLT
For years of his life, David was on the run. The ancient textual note associated with this psalm was written during a time when he was running for his life in the desert. Look at verse 1. Imagine being thirsty in a land that is parched. What would your body feel like? What would your mind be thinking?
With this in mind, why does David use this analogy for how he feels about God in this moment of his life?
Read verse 2. How does a prior experience with God give you a deepened thirst for God?
How is it possible for God's "unfailing love" to be better than life?
Look at David's words in verse 4. Give some examples of how a person could honor God as long as they live.
David was thirsty for God in verse 1. What analogy does he use in verse 5… and what does he mean by it?
::::: APPLICATION CHALLENGE :::::
At the end of verse 5 David responds to his soul's satisfaction with songs of praise. Take a moment to praise God (either through songs or another way that is on your heart).
| 159,334
|
SOLVOMET/SIM2 KU Leuven and VITO researchers developed a process to selectively recover copper from dilute ammoniacal leachates of microwave-roasted Cu-Zn-Pb sulphidic tailings of the Iberian Pyrite Belt. The work, which was published in the Journal of Sustainable Metallurgy, was performed in the framework of the H2020 MSCA-ETN SULTAN project for the remediation and reprocessing of sulphidic mining waste sites.
Sulphidic copper–lead–zinc tailings can pose a significant environmental threat, ranging from generation of acid mine drainage (AMD) to dam failures. On the other hand, they can also be considered as low-grade ore resources for zinc and copper provided that novel economically-feasible metal extraction and metal recovery techniques are developed.
Due to the low metal concentrations in these resources, the leaching will generate dilute leachates from which metal recovery is a challenge. Ion flotation is a foam separation technique capable of recovering metal ions from dilute aqueous leachates. Under dilute conditions it can be considered as an alternative hydrometallurgical technique to recover metals.
Nevertheless, the majority of the studies on the recovery of metal values by ion flotation were caried out under simulated conditions. Unlike literature studies, solutions generated from hydrometallurgical processes have complex chemical compositions and contain several metal ions. In most cases, one is interested to selectively separate one metal ion over the others.
Using real leachates instead of synthetic ones
The present work makes a step forward, towards the application of such separation technique from real leachates. The leachates were generated after ammoniacal leaching of microwave-roasted Cu-Zn-Pb sulphidic tailings of the Neves-Corvo mine area (Portugal), in the so-called Iberian Pyrite Belt.
The sulphidic tailings were first roasted at 550 °C for 60 min in the microwave-assisted oven. At this temperature, pyrite was oxidised to hematite and the metal sulphide phases were converted to more soluble metal sulfates.
The microwave-roasted material was then leached with a mixed solution of ammonia and ammonium carbonate. Under optimised conditions 86% of Zn and 75% copper were extracted from the microwave-roasted material.
From the generated pregnant leach solution, it was possible to selectively separate 85% of copper to the foam phase by ion flotation, with sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) surfactant, as colloidal copper(II) tetraamine dodecyl sulfate.
The zinc that remained in the solution after ion flotation was recovered by precipitation (95%) as basic zinc carbonate. The results were found to be very promising for recovering copper from dilute aqueous ammoniacal leachates of low-grade sulphidic copper–lead–zinc tailings by ion flotation.
Full reference paper
Xanthopoulos, P., Kalebić, D., Kamariah, N. et al. Recovery of Copper from Ammoniacal Leachates by Ion Flotation. J. Sustain. Metall. (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40831-021-00363-1.
This project has received funding from the European Union's EU Framework Program for Research and Innovation H2020 under Grant Agreement No 812580.
Want to know more about re-mining extractive waste?
Watch the video of the on-line zoom event “Can the recycling of mining waste become a new business?” (H2020 NEMO project, April 27, 2021). Cases from historical and present day mining sites were presented by Anders Sand (Boliden) and Dirk Musser (CRONIMET), while Christian Wimmer (DG ENV) presented the views of the European Commission with respect to remining of extractive waste.
| 183,261
|
Latin Name: Salix alba
Encapsulated White Willow bark, carefully peeled in small sections from wild trees, the tree is not harmed in the process.
Usage: White Willow was the basis of the synthesis of aspirin. It contains salicin and related compounds. It has been used for more than 2,00 years to relieve aches and pains of all sorts.*
Recommended Daily Dosage: Take one to two capsules three times daily with water as needed or prepared as a tea.
There are no reviews yet.
| 240,419
|
Related To This Book
Our Retail Price:£20.00Add to Basket
A neuroscientist investigates how the architecture of the human brain shapes our understanding of the nature of time.
"Time" is the most common noun in the English language yet philosophers and scientists don’t agree about what time actually is or how to define it. Perhaps this is because the brain tells, represents and perceives time in multiple ways.
Dean Buonomano investigates the relationship between the brain and time, looking at what time is, why it seems to speed up or slow down and whether our sense that time flows is an illusion. Buonomano presents his theory of how the brain tells time, and illuminates such concepts as free will, consciousness, space-time and relativity from the perspective of a neuroscientist. Drawing on physics, evolutionary biology and philosophy, he reveals that the brain’s ultimate purpose may be to predict the future–and thus that your brain is a time machine.
“Our experience of time is not the same as time itself; the former is largely our creation. French philosopher Henri Bergson once publicly debated this point with Einstein – and lost. If only he’d had recourse to this book, written by one of the first neuroscientists to ask how the human brain encodes time. Take that, Albert!” — Science books we’re keen to read in 2017, New Scientist
“... a readable exploration of how the architecture of the human brain shapes our understanding of the nature of time.” — The Bookseller
“Apparently elastic and possibly illusory, time is a puzzle to physicists and neuroscientists alike. Dean Buonomano straddles the divide, invoking cutting-edge theory and research as he wrestles with the often glaring mismatch between physical and 'felt' time. The result is immensely engaging...” — Nature
“Buonomano’s ambition is inspiring and his writing is rich, combining a readable style with illustrative examples... it [Your Brain is a Time Machine] hits the ambitious target of being both thorough and accessible.” — Chemistry World
| 130,327
|
Getting this item's online copy...
Find a copy in the library
Getting this item's location and availability...
Find it in libraries globally
|Additional Physical Format:||Print version:
Cullinane, John J., 1942-
Maintaining and repairing old and historic buildings
Hoboken : Wiley, 2012
|Material Type:||Document, Internet resource|
|Document Type:||Internet Resource, Computer File|
|All Authors / Contributors:||
John J Cullinane
|ISBN:||9781118332788 1118332784 9781118330036 111833003X 9781118334461 1118334469 6613977446 9786613977441 047076757X 9780470767573 9781283664943 1283664941|
|Description:||1 online resource.|
|Contents:||Introduction v Chapter 1 The Approach to Historic Buildings, Building Systems, and Historic Materials 1 What Is Historic and Why 2 Building Systems 5 Windows and Doors 24 Lead-Based Paint 34 Materials 36 Chapter 2 What You Need to Know 45 Is the Building Historic, and Why? 45 Functional Aesthetic 60 What Is a Contributing Element of the Building, and Why Is It important to Know? 63 What Are the Treatment Approaches? 83 How to Develop and Undertake a Treatment Plan 84 Developing the Plan 86 Treatment Principles 87 How to Identify Sources of Failure and Corrective Actions 91 How to Maintain Old and Historic Buildings 100 Chapter 3 T he Standards, Guidelines, and Other Guidance Material 111 Preservation 115 Restoration 115 Reconstruction 117 Rehabilitation 120 Applying the Standards for Rehabilitation 120 Guidelines for the Preserving, Rehabilitating, Restoring, and Reconstructing Historic Buildings 196 Preservation Briefs 199 "How To" 202 Chapter 4 Meeting Treatment Goals While Conserving Energy 209 Measuring the Energy Efficiency of Historic Properties 212 "Embodied Energy" 212 Preservation and Reuse of Old Buildings Maximizes Energy Conservation 213 Integrating Sustainable Design into Treatment Decisions 214 How to Conserve Energy in a Historic Building 216 Chapter 5 Making Old and Historic Buildings Accessible 219 Compliance with the 2010 Standards 220 Disability = Handicap 223 Fire Safety in an Old Building 237 2010 Standards Checklist 239 Index 245|
The book includes background, rationale for treatment, annotated standards and guidelines for the treatment of historic buildings, building systems, and materials. It includes information on energy conservation, and meeting LEED as well as ADA requirements.
Retrieving notes about this item
| 249,917
|
A General History of Ethiopia
Ethiopia’s history as an organized and independent polity dates back to about 100 BC with a kingdom at Axum in the Northern Regional state (Killil) of Tigray.
But the Axumite kingdom as a state, emerged at about the beginning of the Christian era, i.e.,4th A.D and flourished during the succeeding six or seven centuries. It then underwent prolonged decline from the eighth to the twelfth century A.D. Axum’s period of greatest power lasted from the 4th through the 6th centuries .Its core area lay in the highlands of what’s today southern Eritrea, Tigray, Lasta (in the present-day Wallo), and Angot (also in Wallo); its major centers were at Axum and Adulis. Earlier centers, such as Yeha, also contributed to its growth. At the kingdom's height, its rulers over the Red sea coast from Sawak in present day Sudan, in the North to Berbera in the present-day Somalia and inland as far as the Nile valley in modern Sudan. On the Arabian side of the Red sea, the Axumite rulers at times controlled the Coast and much of the interior of modern Yemen. During the sixth and seventh centuries, the Axumite state lost its possessions in South West Arabia and much of its Red sea coast line and gradually shrank to its core area, with the political center of the state shifting farther and farther Southward.
The rise of Islam in the Arabian Peninsula had a significant impact on Axum kingdom during the seventh and eighth centuries .By the time of the Prophet Mohammed’s death (A.D.632), the Arabian Peninsula, and thus the entire opposite shore of the Red sea, had come under the influence of the new religion. The steady advance of the faith of Mohammed through the next century resulted in Islamic conquest of all of the former Sassanian Empire and most of the former Byzantine domination.
During the spread of Islam by conquest, the Islamic State's relations with Axum were not hostile at first. According to Islamic tradition, some members of Mohammed’s family and some of his early converts had taken refuge in Axum during the troubled years presiding the Prophet’s rise to power, and Axum was exempted from the Jihad, or Holy war, as a result. The Arabs also considered the Axumite state to be on a par with the Islamic State, the Byzantine Empire, and China of the world’s greatest kingdoms. Commerce between Axum and at least some Ports on the Red sea continued, albeit on an increasingly reduced scale.
When Axum collapsed in the eighth century, power shifted to South. As early as the mid-seventh century, the old capital at Axum had been abandoned; thereafter, it served only as a religious center and as a place of coronation for a succession of kings who traced their lineage to Axum. By then, Axumite cultural, political, and religious influence had been established South of Tigray in Agew districts such as Lasta,Wag, Angot and eventually, Amhara.
This southward expansion continued over the following several centuries. The favored technique for expansion involved the establishment of military colonies, which served as core centers from which Axumite culture, Semitic language, and Christianity spread to the surrounding Agew population. By the tenth century, a post-Axumite Christian kingdom had emerged which controlled the central Northern highlands from modern Eritrea to Shewa and the coast from old Adulis to Zeila in present-day Somalia, territory considerably larger than the Axumites had governed.
During the eleventh and twelfth centuries, Shewa region became the scene of renewed Christian expansion, carried out by Semities people-the Amhara.
About 1137 A.D. a new Dynasty came to power in the Christian highlands known as the Zagwe Dynasty and its center was based in the Agew district of Lasta. It developed naturally out of the long cultural and political contact between Cushitic and Semitic-speaking peoples in the Northern highlands. Staunch Christians ,the Zagwe ,devoted themselves to the construction of new churches and monasteries. These were often modeled after Christian religious edifices in the Holy Land, a locale the Zagwe and their subjects held in special esteem. The Zagwe kings were responsible, among other things, for the great churches carved into the rock in and around their capital at Adefa. During the time Adefa became known as Lalibela, the name of the Zagwe king to whose reign the Adefa churches’ construction had been attributed. Despite the Zagwe's championing of Christianity and their artistic achievements notwithstanding, there was discontent among the populace in what is now Eritrea and Tigray and among the Amhara, an increasingly powerful people who inhabited a region called Amhara to the south of the Zagwe center at Adefa. About 1270 A.D., an Amhara noble, Yekuno Amlak, drove out the last Zagwe ruler and proclaimed himself king.
The new dynasty that Yekuno Amlak founded came to be known as the "Solomonic" Dynasty because its scions claimed descent not only from Axum but also from king Solomon of ancient Israel. According to traditions that were eventually molded into a national epic, lineage of Axumite kings originated with the offspring of an alleged union between Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. Consequently, the notion arose that royal legitimacy derived from descent in a line of Solomonic kings. The Zagwes were denied to have any share in that heritage and viewed as usurpers. Yekuno Amlak’s accession, thus, came to be seen as the legitimate “restoration” of the Solomonic line.
Beginning in the thirteenth century, one of the chief problems confronting the Christian kingdom, then ruled by the Amhara, was the threat of Muslim encirclement. By that time, a variety of people East and South of the highlands had embraced Islam, and some had established powerful sultanates (or Sheikhdoms) .One of these was the Sultanate of Ifat in the North Eastern Shewa foot hills, and another was centered in the Islamic city of Harar farther East. In the lowlands along the Red Sea were two other important Muslim peoples - the Afar and the Somali.
Although the Christian state was unable to impose its rule over the Muslim states to the East, it was strong enough to resist the Muslims incursions throughout the fourteenth and most of the fifteenth century.
By the second decade of the sixteenth century, however, a young soldier in the Adali army, Ahmed Ibin Ibrhim Al Ghazi ,had begun to acquire a strong following by virtue of his military successes and in time became the de facto leader of Adal. Concurrently, he acquired the states of a religious leader. Ahmed, who came to be called Gran (the “left handed“) by his Christian enemies, rallied the ethnically diverse Muslims, including many Afar and Somali, in a Jihad intended to break Christian power.
It was not until 1543 that Emperor Galawdewos (reigned 1540-49), joined by a small number of Portuguese soldiers requested earlier by Lebena Dengel, defeated the Muslim forces and killed Gran. The death of charismatic Gran destroyed the unity of the Muslim forces that had been created by their leader’s successes, skill, and reputation as a warrior and religious figure. Christian armies slowly pushed Muslims back and regained control of the highlands.
With the request of the Christian kingdom of Ethiopia, Portugal gave an assistance for the defeat of the Muslims .The first Portuguese forces responded to a request for aid in 1541, although by that time the Portuguese were concerned primarily with strengthening their hegemony over the Indian Ocean trade routes and with converting the Ethiopians to Roman Catholicism. Nevertheless, joining the forces of the Christian kingdom, the Portuguese succeeded eventually in helping to defeat and kill Gran.
Efforts to induce the Ethiopians to reject their Monophysite beliefs and accept Rome’s supremacy continued for nearly a century and engendered bitterness as Pro-and Anti-Catholic parties maneuvered for control of the state . At last the expulsion of the Jesuits and all Roman Catholic missionaries followed. This religious controversy contributed to the isolation that followed for the next 200 years.
Emperor Fasiladas kept out the disruptive influences of the foreign Christians, dealt with sporadic Muslim incursions, and in general sought to reassert central authority and to reinvigorate the Solomonic monarchy and the Orthodox church .He established his camp at Gonder - a locale that gradually developed into a permanent capital and which became the cultural and political center of Ethiopia during the Gonder period.
After the 16th century of Fasiladas’s time most of Ethiopia’s history was dominated by regional nobility. But through this nobility sentiment, a certain king who was devoted to the unity of the country, rose. Tewodros II’s origin was in the era of the princess, but his ambitions were not those of the regional nobility. After controlling Shewa, he faced constant rebellions in other provinces, despite the fact that he could reign in a relatively peaceful atmosphere from 1861 to 1863. After 1863 internal and external oppositions were enhanced against Emperor Tewodros and Emperor Yohannes succeeded him in 1868.
By the late 18th century; although powerless Emperors and the Ethiopian Orthodox (Coptic) church provided an element of continuity, real power was in the hands of provincial Nobles from the highlands of Tigry, Oromo and Amhara, who fought for control of the throne .In 1880’s Yohannes IV from Tigray region successfully fended off Egyptians, Italians and Dervishes; his successor, Menilik of shoa, reunited and expanded the empire to the East, South and West of Shoa, taking over largely Oromo inhabited areas rich in coffee, gold, ivory and slaves. Menilik‘s successes coincides with the arrival of the European colonial powers. He defeated the Italians at the battle of Adowa in 1896.
Menilik (who died in 1913) presided over the first stages of Ethiopian’s modernization Haile Selassie (Emperor during1930-74) ;turned Ethiopia into a centralized autocracy. The process was interrupted by the Italian invasion and conquest of 1935-41. But after Ethiopia’s liberation Emperor Haile Selassie continued a largely successful policy of centralization, playing off the United Kingdom, which came close to occupying Ethiopia after 1941 (it only withdrew from the Ogaden in 1948 and reserved Haud area in 1954), against the USA. In 1952, after protracted discussion, Eritrea, a UN-mandated territory after the war, was federated with Ethiopia. Haile Silassie immediately begun dismantling its institutions, including the press ,trade unions, political parties and the elected parliament ,an anathema to his own highly centralized structure of control. In 1962 Eritrea became a province of Ethiopia, igniting the Eritrean struggle for independence. The struggle originally led by the Eritrean Liberation Front (ELF), suported mainly by Muslim pastoralists from low land areas, by the early 1970’s was joined by the Eritrean People’s Liberation Front (EPLF), which was more representative of the Tigrian highland agriculturists.
Emperor Haile Sellasie supplied the trappings of a more modern state, including, in 1955, a constitution with an elected, though powerless, parliament. He made no real effort to change land policy, or adjust the hierarchies of administrative power. During his reign Ethiopia remained essentially feudal, with small Amhara-dominated modern sectors in the bureaucracy and in industry. This provided the impetus for opposition among non-Amhara nationalities, in Tigrai region in 1943, among Oromos and Somalies in Bale in 1963-70 , and after 1961 in Eritrea. Emperor Haile Sellasie himself preferred to concentrate on international affairs. During his era Addis Ababa became the head quarters of the Organization of African Unity (OAU), and the UN Economic Commission for Africa. His main ally was the USA. Ethiopia, the main recipient of US aid in Africa in the 1950s and 1960s, provided the USA with a major communications base at Kagnew, in Eritrea.
Long term weaknesses of the regime included a growing agrarian crisis, inequitable distribution of land, and lack of development. More immediately, the costs of the revolt in Eritrea after 1961, drought and famine in Wallo in 1972-74 (in which 200,000 people died), and, by 1973, Haile Sellasie ‘s own near senility and his failure to designate an heir, fuelled the grievances of the military, students and workers. A series of army mutinies, started in January 1974, accompanied paralleled civilian strikes.Attempts at reform by a new Prime Minister made little progress, and from June a coordinating committee of the armed forces begun to arrest leading officials. Haile Sellasie was deposed in September, and was murdered the following year. His remains were finally reburied in Trinity Cathedral in November 2001, with the presence of many of the exiled royal family.The monarchy was formally abolished in March 1975.
Under the influence of left-wing politicians, the Provisional Military Administrative Council (PMAC), which replaced the Imperial regime, begun to see itself as the vanguard of Ethiopian revolution. In December 1974, Ethiopia was declared a Socialist state, and a program of revolutionary reforms called Ethiopia Tikdem ('Ethiopia First’) was initiated.
In April 1976, the Derg set forth its goals in greater detail in the program for the National Democratic Revolution (PNDR). As announced by the leaders, these objectives included progress toward Socialism under the leadership of workers, peasants, the petite bourgeoisie, and all anti-feudal and anti-imperialist forces. The Derg’s ultimate aim was the creation of a one party system.
Soon after taking power, the Derg promoted Ye- Itiopia Hibrtesebeawinet (Ethiopian Socialism). The concept was embodied in slogans such as “self-reliance,” “the dignity of labor” and “the supremacy of the common good.” These slogans were devised to combat the wide spread disdain of mutual labor and a deeply rooted concern with status.
Although the government took a radical approach to land reform, it exercised some caution with respect to the industrial and commercial sectors .In January and February 1975, the Derg nationalized all Banks and Insurance firms and seized control of practically every important company in the country.
In February 1977, Mengistu declared himself as Derg’s chairman and set about consolidating his power. However, several internal and external challenges prevented Mengistu from doing this. Various insurgent groups posed the most serious threat to the Derg. In February 1977, a terrorist attack known as the White Terror had been initiated against Derg members and their supporters. This violence provoked a government's counteraction-the Red Terror. During the Red Terror, which lasted until late 1978, government security forces systematically hunted down and killed suspected members and supporters of opposition groups. Mengistu and the Derg eventually won the struggle.
Despite strengthening its power, Derg couldn’t stand the activities of insurgencies which appeared in various parts of the country ,the most important of which were in Eritrea and Tigray. The Derg decided to impose a military settlement on the Eritrean Liberation Front (ELF) and the Eritrean People’s Liberation Front (EPLF). Attempts to invade rebel-held Eritrea failed repeatedly, and the insurgent groups controlled most of the country. Despite large commitments of arms and training from Communist countries, the Derg failed to suppress the opposition.
Derg was able to intimidate and create disarray within the civilian opposition by detaining many leaders of labor, teacher and student groups because of their agitation against the military rule. The Derg’s hand against the opposition was strengthened resulting to an escalated struggle for freedom and democracy. As a result of these enhanced struggles, the regime was overthrown after 17 years of dictatorial rule, by the coalition Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front ( EPRDF )on May 1991.
Federal Democratic Republic Of Ethiopia (FDRE)
Flag and Emblem
The Ethiopian flag comprises three colors. .In the center there is a national coat of arms .The three colors are set horizontally in equal dimension with Green at the top, Yellow in the middle , and Red at the bottom .
- The national coat of arms is a blue circle with depiction ;
Straight and equal lines of yellow come from all direction and join each other .
A star formed by the straight and equal lines.
Yellow rays radiating from the joints of the straight & equal
The national coat of arms on the flag reflects the desire of the nations , nationalities and peoples of Ethiopia ,as well as of its religious communities to live together in unity and equality.
Location and Boundary
Ethiopia is strategically located in the Horn of Africa, bordered by the Sudan on the west, Somalia and Djibouti on the East, Eritrea on the North and Kenya on the South. Its proximity to the Middle East and Europe, together with its easy access to the major ports of the region, enhances its international trade.
Ethiopia covers an area of 1.14 million square Kilometers (944,000 square miles)
Population (As of 2004 CSA)
Total: 71 million
Rular population: 84.87%
Urban population: 15.13%
Although Ethiopia lies within 15 degrees North of the Equator, owing to the moderating influence of high altitude, the country enjoys moderate temperature and pleasant climate, with average temperature rarely exceeding 20oc (68oF). The sparsely populated lowlands typically have sub–tropical and tropical climates. At approximately 850mm (34inches), the average annual rainfall for the whole country is considered to be moderate by global standards. In most of the high lands, rainfall occurs in two distinct seasons: the “small rains” during February and March and the “big rains” from June to September.
Entry Point by Air
Bole International Airport, Addis Ababa; upgraded airports include those at Dire Dawa ,Bahar Dar ,Gondar ,Lalibela , Axum, Arba Minch ,and Makale.
Entry Point by Rail
Dewele on the Dijibouti border. Arrivals undergo full customs and immigration checks. The rail way, with day and night trains, runs from Addis Ababa to Dijibouti via Nazaret ,Awash Station ,and Dire Dawa.
Entry Point by Road
Moyale (from Kenya), Humera And Metema (from Sudan), and Dewele (from Dijibouti) and Humera,Rama and Bure (from Eritera). All have full customs and immigration checks.
Telephone, telex, fax, internet and air mail services connect Addis Ababa to all parts of the world. Services are available at the General Post Office and its many branches ,as well as in the main hotels. International direct dialing is available from all major centers in the country.
The local currency is the Ethiopian birr, made up of 100 cents. Notes are issued in denominations of 1,5,10,50, and 100 birr. There are five different coins: 1,5,10,25, and 50 cents.
There is no limit to the amount of foreign currency imported into Ethiopia, but it must be declared on arrival, using a currency declaration form. Foreign currency may be changed only at authorized banks and hotels .The currency declaration form will be required by Customs on departure. Visitors may change back any excess birr into foreign currency at the air port before departure; but you must ,in addition to the currency declaration form ,bring with you all receipts for exchange transactions.
Drivers require a valid International Driving License, which can be obtained by exchanging your local license at the Transport and Communications office on Haile Gebre Sillasie Road in Addis Ababa. Visitors can recover their original driving licenses a day or so prior to departure. Those with their own vehicles will require a permit from the Ministry of Transport and Communication. Driving is on the right hand side.
Ethiopia uses 220 Volts and 50Hz. It is best to bring your own round, two-prong adapter and transformer if necessary.
All visitors (including infants) are required to posses a valid yellow fever vaccination certificate. Vaccination against cholera is also required for any person who has visited or been in transit through a cholera-infected area within six days prior to arrival to Ethiopia. Malaria is endemic through out the country. Visitors should begin taking a recommended chloroquine-based prophylactic two weeks before their arrival and continue taking them for six weeks after their departure. In addition, medication for chloroquine –resistant malaria is a wise precaution.
Medical facilities are limited and of generally poor standard. Existing facilities are sorely over taxed. Tourists and non-citizen residents should go to private hospitals and clinics. Contact your Embassy for referral to recommended doctor. Air rescue services are available, and you might want to make arrangements with one before your trip.
Addis Ababa, the largest city that is the seat of the federal government of Ethiopia, lies in the central plateau at an altitude of 2400 meters. Its average temperature is 160c .
Addis Ababa was founded in 1887. It is a host to the African Unity (AU) and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA). Several other international organizations have their head quarters and branch offices in the Capital. Addis Ababa is also the center of commerce and industry.
Ethiopia’s other important centers of trade and industries are; Awassa, Dire Dawa, Gonder, Dessie, Nazareth, Jimma, Harrar, Bahir Dar, Mekele, Debre Markos and Nekemte. All these towns are connected to Addis Ababa by asphalt and gravel roads and most of them have good infrastructure facilities, such as first class hotels and airports.
Calendar and time
Ethiopia uses the Julian calendar which divides the year in 12 months of 30 days each, with the remaining five (or six days in a leap year) constituting the short 13th month of "pagume". In Greek pagume means “Additional“. The Ethiopian New Year commences on the 10th or 11th of September every year.
Ethiopia is in the GMT +3time zone. Business hours vary according to the nature of the business. Normally government office and most other office hours are 8:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 1:30 P.m. to 5:30 p.m. from Monday through Thursday. Working hours on Friday are 8:30Am to 11:30Am and 1:30pm to 5:30pm.
Banks are open from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. from Monday through Thursday. Working hours on Friday are 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. to 3: 00 p.m. and Saturday 8:30 to 11a.m.
Socio Economic Context
Features of the Ethiopian Economy : An overview
Ethiopia is a country, which is richly endowed with huge manpower, arable land and natural resources. However, much of its potential is not yet exploited. To start with, out of the sixty percent of its landmass which is known to have the potential for agricultural development, only 15 percent is said to have been developed. Although its contribution to the national economy is very limited, the country's livestock wealth is the 2nd largest in Africa. The mineral resources' potential is also high, much of it yet to be exploited. A few of them are gold, platinum, marble, tantalite, copper, potash, soda-ash, zinc, nickel, iron, and natural gas.
The Ethiopian economy remains heavily dependent on agriculture, which accounts for about 50 percent of the GDP. An estimated 85% of the population gains its livelihood directly or indirectly from agricultural production. Coffee exports accounts for more than 65 percent of foreign exchange earnings, while processed and semi-processed hides and skins are the second important foreign exchange earners.
The level of development of the manufacturing sector in Ethiopia is at its infancy; and the country's industrial base is very low. The share of intermediate and capital goods industry is very insignificant. The industrial sector is heavily dependent on imports of semi-processed goods, raw materials, spare -parts and fuel. In addition to imported inputs, the factories depend upon backward and subsistence agriculture for their raw material demand.
It is only fourteen years since Ethiopia began moving from a state run economy to the market economy. The country is in the process of taking various reform measures.
The industries include food processing and beverages, automotive industries which include production of components and parts, textile and textile products and garments, leather and leather products, fertilizers (mini-Plant) and chemicals, drugs and pharmaceuticals are some among others.
With regard to the foreign direct investment (FDI) alone indicates that from 1992 - 2005, a total of 11,760 foreign and domestic investment projects with aggregate capital of 129 billion Birr have been issued with investment licenses of these more than 4 thousand projects are under operation and implementation.
Besides, the foreign currency inflow has helped to facilitate transfer of technology and skills, earn & save foreign exchange and create backward and forward linkage effects in the economy.
The "service" sector which consists of Trade, Transport and Communications, Banking, Insurance and Real State, Public Administration and Defense, Education, Health and Domestic and other personal services has increased.
Policies, Strategies and Programs Introduced by the Government.
The New Economic Policy
Based on the new economic policy, the government formulated a long-term economic development strategy-Agriculture -Led -Industrialization (ADLI) which is geared towards the transformation of the backward economic structure. It is a two-pronged strategy, incorporating on one side the external sector (export -led part) and on the other the internal sector which shows the forward and the backward -linkages between agriculture and industry. In the connection, (1) agriculture will supply commodities for exports, domestic food supply and industrial output; and (2) expand market for domestic manufactures. The mining sector is expected to give an impetus to the development of the export sector.
The country's development strategy is supported by an economic reform programme developed in cooperation with the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and on a series of structural adjustment programmes since 1992.
Major gains have been made from the reform programme, particularly as a result of liberalization, low inflation, fiscal discipline and low government borrowing, infrastructure improvement and the growth of the private sector.
The government has initiated a privatization programe since 1995/96. Since this period of time, 85% of 909 factories have been privatized. However the number of manufacturing industries at the verge of the EPRDF led government was 283 operating only 20% of their manufacturing capacity compared with 70% currently.
| 209,184
|
The North Carolina Bartram Trail Society was organized in 1977 to establish and maintain the North Carolina section of the memorial trail that honors Philadelphia-born naturalist William Bartram. Bartram was among the most well known of the early naturalists, botanists and explorers of his day. He traveled throughout the southeast from 1773 to 1777. Along the way, he wrote exact, vivid descriptions of the plants and animals he saw, and the Native Americans he encountered. In 1791, he published these writings under the title Bartram’s Travels, which has been published continuously and remains in print today in a number of world languages. This marvelous book is available online as part of the Documenting the American South literary project through the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
The 80+ miles of the Bartram Trail in North Carolina follows the original route as closely as possible on public lands. It takes up where the Georgia trail leaves off, near Rabun Bald just south of Highlands, winds north
-west, and ends at Cheoah Bald. Through its history the North Carolina Bartram Trail Society has blazed, built, and maintained the Trail, much of which lies within the Nantahal National Forest. At some point in the future, the Society hopes to reblaze an earlier portion of trail called the ‘western extension’ that traverses further across the Nantahala over a lovely heath bald called Old Billy Top (perhaps a reference to William Bartram himself?).
Following in the spirit of William Bartram, the North Carolina Bartram Trail Society seeks to promote further enquiry and knowledge about the plants and animals of the southern Appalachians, as well as the traditions and culture of the native Cherokee people. Today, the Society has around 200 members throughout the Southeast. It conducts twice-annual meetings, in spring and fall of each year, and organizes second Saturday monthly trail work hikes and other outdoor activities for youth groups, college groups and families. You can help support the trail by joining in activities or becoming a member.
| 25,330
|
1) A horizontal grave-stone, sometimes supported on pillars.
1507 I will have a thrugh lade upon me after my decesse with iiij stulpis the heght of half a yerde, Kirk Smeaton
1521 I gif to order a through stone to lay on my grave withe scripture of laton of the same xls, Denaby
1542 to be buried within the church yerde ... of the northside nere myne awncetors and to have a thrughe stone laide ouer me prepared therfor, Otley
1557 a troughe [sic] stone wythe a remembrance of my selfe wyfe and chyldren in pycketures of brasse to be set ... and layd vpon the grave, Wakefield
1581 To be buried ... in the middest allie under the through stone where my father’s and mother’s corps were buried, Burnsall.
2) These words are now met with frequently in accounts of dry-stone walling but they are on record in mason work from a very early date. A ‘through-stone’ extended through the thickness of a wall, and a certain number were considered essential for its stability.
The earliest example in the OED is 1805 but both terms are found in the fabric accounts of York Minster, with references to j through-stane a quarera in 1400 and in caragio vj lapidum vocatorum thurghes in 1419. In 1648, a mason who was contracted to build a house in Illingworth agreed to build up the side with competent number of throughes in the same. There are frequent references also in bridge-building documents: 1602 as many through achlers into the stone works as the overseers shall think proper, Apperley Bridge. When Methley Bridge was rebuilt, in 1793, it was agreed that the walls which formed the abutments should be not less than 12 inches in Bed, with proper throughs or Bond Stones. Occasionally, it was used as a verb, as when the wall of Kildwick Bridge was well through`d in 1755.
| 220,706
|
Last Updated Dec 19, 2014 7:17 PM EST
Flu season is picking up steam just in time to ruin a lot of people's holidays. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports widespread flu activity in 29 states, primarily in the South and Midwest. That's twice as many states as the previous week.
Most of the patients who have been hospitalized with severe cases of the flu are either very young or the very old. In recent days flu outbreaks have forced schools in Ohio, Tennessee, Georgia and North Carolina to close.
So far this season, the virus has killed 11 children.
Describing the pattern of this year's outbreak, Dr. Anne Schuchat, director of the CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, told CBS News, "There's almost like a Christmas tree right in the middle of the country of the hot spots for disease."
Thirteen states reported high levels of influenza-like illnesses, while another six states saw moderate activity.
Health experts say part of the problem is that this year's vaccine doesn't provide protection for H3N2, the strain of the influenza that's currently making the rounds. This year's vaccine does help protect against H1N1 and one or two strains of influenza B.
Earlier this month the CDC issued a health advisory stating that only 48 percent of flu virus samples taken through last month were closely related to this year's vaccine.
"Because the H3N2 is dominating, we probably will see more disease," said Schuchat. "There might be reduced protection as opposed to zero protection," she said.
However, the CDC and other health experts still recommend people go for the vaccine. At a minimum, the vaccine may prevent a more severe case of the flu if you have happen to be one of the unlucky ones this season. The shot will also protect against other strains of the flu that are still floating around.
"The stuff that's circulating out there is different than what they made the vaccine against," said CBS News chief medical correspondent Dr. Jon LaPook. "Though unfortunately, as of today, it's only about 30 percent well-matched."
LaPook added this news shouldn't discourage people from getting a flu shot. Even if the vaccine is less effective than usual, it will still be better than no protection at all. "It's never too late until flu season is over. Flu season sometimes can go into May," he said.
The CDC says anyone who develops symptoms of the flu should contact their doctor immediately. Tamiflu (oseltamivir) and Relenza (zanamivir), two prescription antiviral drugs currently on the market, can actually lessen the time of acute illness by two days if taken early on.
| 51,619
|
Preaching and Evangelism
Preaching is a work within the church
- Men were called evangelist: Acts 21:8; II Timothy 4:5
- Christ appointed some men as evangelists - Ephesians 4:11
- The word translated evangelism comes from a Greek word used to describe the bringing the joyous news of victory from the battlefront. It is often translated as "preaching the gospel" as in Romans 1:15.
- The same work is called preaching - II Corinthians 1:19, I Timothy 2:7, II Timothy 1:11
- The word translated preaching comes from a Greek word for a herald or town-crier.
- The same work is called ministry - Romans 15:15-16; Ephesians 3:6-7; Colossians 1:23; I Timothy 4:6
- The word translated ministering comes from a Greek word for a serving. This same word is used for a servant, a deacon, and a preacher. The context defines its usage.
- Preaching and ministering are used for the same work - Colossians 1:24
- Evangelism and ministering are used for the same work - II Timothy 4:5
- Preachers hold authority - Titus 2:15
The work of a preacher
- An evangelist is to build up Christians to maturity - Ephesians 4:11-13
- A minister reaches out to the lost - Romans 15:15-16
- A preacher proclaims the good news of salvation - Romans 1:15-16, I Timothy 4:16
- A preacher rebukes those in error - II Timothy 4:2, I Timothy 4:1-6
- A preacher reproves those who teach error - II Timothy 4:2
- A preacher exhorts people to live in accordance with God's will - I Timothy 4:13; II Timothy 4:2; Titus 2:15
- A preacher teaches - I Timothy 4:11, 13
- A preacher speaks, which can include speaking in the worship service - Titus 2:1, 15; 3:8; I Corinthians 14:26
- A preacher teaches other Christians to become teachers - II Timothy 2:2
- A preacher sets an example for others to follow - I Timothy 4:12
- A preacher is involved in the selection of elders - Titus 1:5
- A preacher is involved in the rebuking of elders who sin - I Timothy 5:17-21
- A preacher is involved in organizing a congregation - Titus 1:5
- A preacher guards the truth - I Timothy 6:20-21; 1:3-4; 1:18-19; II Timothy 1:13-14; Titus 1:13-14
- A preacher must study - II Timothy 2:15
Who can be a preacher?
- A woman cannot be a preacher - Titus 2:15; I Timothy 2:12
- A man can serve as both a preacher and an elder - I Timothy 5:17
| 29,099
|
We spend a lot of time worrying about our physical health, but we sometimes neglect our mind in the process. To maintain good mental health, you can practise "emotional hygiene" in the same way you practise good bodily hygiene to help maintain physical health.
In this TED Talk, psychologist Guy Winch describes a different type of injury: psychological injury. Instead of being the result of twists, breaks and sprains, these types "injuries" come from mental traumas caused by failure, rejection and especially chronic loneliness. As Winch explains, loneliness and other psychological injuries can be harmful to your physical health; possibly causing high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or even suppressing the function of your immune system.
So what can you do to battle the negative effects of psychological traumas? Imagine these injuries as wounds just like any other, and that they require the practice of good hygiene for it to heal. Stop and take notice when you feel emotional pain and recognise that you are hurt so you can address it. Stop the "emotional bleeding" by avoiding negative thoughts so you can clean it up. It also never hurts to reach out to someone else when the wound is too deep. And, when you're not hurt, build up your self-esteem to develop some protection for the future. Don't leave these types of injuries untreated, because they will just keep getting worse, just like the real thing.
| 215,844
|
October 2, 2011
First-known Hitler Writing on ‘Jewish Question’ Displayed
Ten months after the end of World War I, a 30-year-old German army veteran wrote a two-page letter in which he explained the Jewish question on what he called a “rational” and “scientific” basis.
“An anti-Semitism based on reason must lead to a systematic combatting and elimination of the privileges of the Jews,” he wrote. “The ultimate objective must be the irrevocable removal of Jews in general.”
The letter was signed “Respectfully, Adolf Hitler” and got high marks for the author from his superiors in a military propaganda unit bitterly opposed to the newly established Weimar Republic as the perceived handiwork of Bolsheviks, socialists and Jews.
As the first written political statement of the future fuehrer, the letter is considered a document of immense historical value and was shown to the public for the first time on Oct. 4 by the Simon Wiesenthal Center at its Museum of Tolerance.
Noted UCLA historian Saul Friedlander, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of a two-volume analysis of the Nazi regime, observed that “In his very first written statement about the Jews, Hitler shows that [hatred of Jews] was the very core of his political passion.”
At the behest of his superiors, Hitler wrote the letter to a fellow soldier propagandist, named Adolf Gemlich, and the document is known as the Gemlich letter. In contrast to his later public rants, Hitler assumes an almost professorial tone in the letter.
For instance, he expounded that “anti-Semitism is too easily characterized as a mere emotional phenomenon. And yet, this is incorrect. Anti-Semitism as a political movement may not and cannot be defined by emotional impulses, but by recognition of the facts.”
What are the facts? According to the letter, one is that “Jewry is absolutely a race and not a religious association.”
Throughout, Hitler never tires of the old stereotype of the Jew as a money-grubber bent on world domination. “Everything man strives after as a higher goal, be it religion, socialism, democracy, is to the Jew only means to an end, the way to satisfy his lust for gold and domination,” he wrote.
Hitler’s advocacy in the letter of “the irrevocable removal of Jews” has led to discussions among scholars as to whether the terms anticipate his later extermination campaign.
The German word for “removal” used by Hitler is “entfernung,” which is more commonly translated as “distance” or “withdrawal.” Taken in context, most experts believe that Hitler’s thinking at the time focused more on “segregation” or “expulsion” than a full-fledged Holocaust.
“Not even Hitler was capable of imagining in 1919 what could be done,” British historian Ian Kershaw told The New York Times.
Rabbi Marvin Hier, founder and dean of the Wiesenthal Center, who was instrumental in acquiring the letter for the museum and raised $150,000 for its purchase, draws two key deductions from the letter, one historical, the other applicable to our time.
“Apologists for Hitler and Holocaust deniers always cite the fact that no one has found a document, signed by Hitler, ordering the destruction of European Jewry,” Hier said. “Perhaps such a document was destroyed, or Hitler gave his orders verbally.
“In any case, the Gemlich letter proves his obsessive hatred of Jews more clearly than in his later book, ‘Mein Kampf.’ It is fair to assume that when Hitler wrote about ‘the removal of the Jews’ he wasn’t thinking about just throwing a few thousand Jews in jail.”
The second important lesson Hier draws from the letter is that we cannot afford to ignore or ridicule the demagogues of our day, like Iran’s Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
“If in 1919, someone had warned that a man like Hitler would become a menace to the world, such a person would have been labeled as crazy,” Hier said.
As part of the permanent exhibit in the museum’s Holocaust section, the letter will be complemented by an interactive time line tracing the year-by-year spread of Hitler’s power and his ultimate defeat between 1919 and 1945.
To this reporter, the letter with Hitler’s slanted signature brings back some personal memories of growing up as a Jewish boy in Berlin.
I saw Hitler in person two times. The first was in 1934, when I was 9 and living in an apartment on the Reichsstrasse, a main avenue radiating out from the nearby central square, the Reichskanzler Platz (Chancellor Square).
Looking down from our window, we saw a procession of limousines, flanked by SS men, and in the middle was the fuehrer, riding in an open car, returning the straight-armed salute of the masses with his typical sloppy bent-armed wave. Perhaps he was returning from the Reichskanzler Platz, which had just been renamed Adolf Hitler Platz.
Much later, when Lee Harvey Oswald shot President John Kennedy, it occurred to me that the distance and line of sight in the Dallas assassination was similar to the positions between Hitler and me in 1934.
My second encounter was in 1936, when Italy’s Benito Mussolini paid a visit to Hitler in Berlin, and the two dictators rode down Unter den Linden in the same car. I went to see the show amid masses of jubilant Berliners.
A final association with Hitler occurred on April 20, 1939, the day my mother, sister and I took a taxi to Tempelhof Airport to fly from Berlin to Croydon Airport in London, a big deal at the time.
On the way, every pole and public building was festooned with huge, streaming swastika flags, and I thought that my Aryan countrymen might be celebrating our departure from the fatherland. I was a bit disappointed to learn that in reality the city was celebrating Hitler’s 50th birthday.
I think the first thing that struck me on arriving in America was the flag. I had left behind the blood-red banners with the ominous black swastika in the middle, a symbol of ruthless force. By contrast, the American flag, with its colorful stars and stripes, seemed playful, a child’s banner in a make-believe parade.
Back to reality. The Gemlich letter was found by an American soldier among scattered papers at an apparent Nazi party archive, near Nuremberg. The soldier brought it back to America, and decades later the letter came into the hands of a California dealer in historical documents.
When the letter first came on the market in 1988, Hier was skeptical of its authenticity, partly because of numerous instances of forged Nazi documents.
Since then, experts in Germany, Britain and the United States have vetted the letter and have concluded that it is, indeed, the original version, written and signed by Hitler, although 100 percent certainty might require chemical tests of the age and composition of the stationery.
Hier, for one, has no doubt that he has the real thing. “This is the most significant document ever acquired by the Wiesenthal Center, with historical significance not only to the Jewish people, but to the entire world,” he said.
The exhibit, “The Hitler Letter, A Letter That Changed The World,” will open at 11 a.m. on Oct. 4 at the Museum of Tolerance, 9786 W. Pico Blvd. For information, phone (310) 553-8403 or visit www.museumoftolerance.com.
| 161,963
|
Trigger warnings is this new phenomenon on college campuses that try to cocoon our children from words that might cause them consternation, bad thoughts, bring back bad memories and generally make them feel uncomfortable. Now granted that there are many out there in the world at large that deal with some form of post traumatic issue. There are any number of things in the environment that might cause a flashback or force someone to relive a horrible episode from their life. But campus thought police have taken the need to be protective to a ridiculous degree.
Trigger warnings are given out for works of literature (modern and classical), movies, history books and anything that might be deemed offensive. You are told to be mindful of how someone else might react to your words. In fact, mindfulness is another one of those idiotic psycho-babble do-gooder words used to keep people from saying what they truly think. Mindfulness is the psychological expectation that no matter what you do, or where you are, each individual is required to be exponentially tuned into the machinations and soul crushing debilitations of each and every other person in their present surroundings, even to the detriment of their own self-respect and humanity. Mindfulness is the self destruction of the individual in exchange for acceptance by the group. For mindfulness is never about others accepting you for who you are. It’s all about the person suppressing themselves to be accepted by those in the power structure, who ultimately are probably too ignorant to understand unique individuality in the long run.
Now there is a huge difference between calling someone a racial or ethnic epithet, which is the sign of a small ignorant mind, and trying to remember if the person in front of you will be offended by your actions or use of the word “XYZ” in public. Trying to keep abreast of every word you aren’t allowed to use, or being prescient about every appropriate social expectation, in order to circumvent someone else’s psychological issues is exhausting. Eventually the list of banned words and actions is going to be longer than the Oxford English Dictionary and Emily Posts Etiquette Manual combined.
Meanwhile, the reality and purpose of “art” and education is to be provocative. Language is used to elicit responses to situations that will not necessarily be comfortable. Language is used to challenge notions and belief systems so that the student grows, develops and sees outside of themselves. The power of the pen is that it can be used to change the course of history as much, if not more, than a sword.
Here is Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche, one of the authors that may have trigger warnings put on her novels.
Furthermore, studying Rousseau, Locke, Voltaire and Hobbes led to the thinkers and doers of the American Revolution. None of it is emotionally easy to read. In fact, these words actually did lead to a war. They also led to freedom, liberty and equality. But should there have been “trigger warnings” back in the day, that some of the information disseminated would cause upset and possible political turmoil, thus leading to a “great expense of blood?” Should there have been words banned and thoughts derided because it made persons uneasy? Should there have been a “trigger warning” because it might bring flashbacks from the French and Indian War?
Trigger warnings are no more than the politically correct coddling of those who have been coddled for their entire lives. If you cannot handle and process the words found in great literature how will these very spoiled children handle the real world? In truth, what have we parents done to our children? What have we allowed educators to do to our children’s minds? Instead of teaching them to hold their own in the world, we taught our offspring that they are entitled to not be insulted or to feel oppressed because someone doesn’t worship at the altar of their self-esteem.
In truth, most of the young people today are not the problem. They want nothing more than a real future. Good jobs. Possibility of a family. Freedom. Liberty. Fruits of their labor. It is the educators and those who have never left the unicorn filled halls of academia that need to keep reinventing their own purposes so that they have a way to keep their useless jobs.
Meanwhile, apparently the celebrity braintrust has not caught onto the trigger warning movement. Lately Gwyneth Paltrow has once again opened her mouth and equated having paparazzi take your picture to being a soldier in battle. And Charlize Theron has said having her picture taken is like being “raped.” Someone needs to explain to these self-centered narcissistic brats that they chose the limelight with all its huge rewards, and having your picture taken is part of the job requirement.
These women did not become celebrities to better mankind or preserve freedom and liberty, unlike those who serve this nation in the military. Those who serve this nation do a selfless act on everyone’s behalf. On the other hand, these celebrity women selfishly promote themselves, for their own betterment, not for anyone else. It’s really simple. Stop making millions, give up your film career and no one will take your picture anymore. There, no more battle. Someone also needs to explain to these IQ challenged women what actually happens when a person does go to war and what rape is truly all about.
Not being a soldier I can’t tell you what it feels like in the middle of a firefight. And yes, as I have written, research has shown that parents of autistic children do have cortisol levels similar to battle weary soldiers. And yes studies also show that parents and autistic children as well, do suffer from a form of PTSD. But noone says living with autistic children or being a person with autism is like being in a war. Only that the stress levels and the emotional toll involved in dealing with the struggles associated with autism have an effect on your health. Psychiatry also notes that there are different kinds and types of PTSD.
But what I do understand about war is that when you are at war, there is always someone else on the other side trying to kill you and destroy those you care about. There is brutality, evil and every form of hell thrown at those in war, soldier and civilian alike. These addle-brained self-indulgent narcissists should ask a Syrian refugee if there is an equivalent between walking the gauntlet of paparazzi and the ravages of war.
No one is really trying to kill these pampered thespians, or destroy the world of these celebrities (OK yes they can have stalkers, but they have protection services as well if need be). Those who grab at the limelight have put themselves into the fray of fascination by their chosen field. Perhaps, they should try comporting themselves with more dignity, then those that need to validate their own lives by trying to denigrate the famous will diminish. Perhaps celebrities should also stop trying to teach us how to think, act and vote. They need to be “mindful” that their actions have a direct corollary with society’s need to know about them.
Rape however, we are all familiar with the real meaning. Don’t forget, men can and do get raped as well as women. Rape, even date rape, is about hate and power. It is about seeing the individual before you as anything but another human being. It is about taking from your victim their humanity. It is meant to degrade, dehumanize and destroy the victim. Rape is many things, but it is not about caring, love or the desire to be a part of someone else’s existence. Rape is the ultimate insult to another’s personhood. It is one of the oldest and one of the most brutal weapons of war.
In truth, when celebrities are photographed it’s because of the fantasy lives that they live. It is because society wants to be like them, not destroy them. It is because they are seen as the epitome of success and desire. They are seen as great talents and part of the best that this planet has to offer. There is no conspiracy trying to destroy them. No one is trying to kill them or those they love when a picture is taken. It would behoove those who deal with these ignorant celebs to explain to them that the world follows them because the world wants to be them. That is nothing like rape or war, that is adulation.
Meanwhile, someone also needs to remind these celebs that by equating the words “war,” and “rape” to their overindulged realities they may have “triggered” someone else’s true nightmare. Maybe these academic polemicists who think that students need warnings before they read Shakespeare or Defoe need to lobby for not allowing celebrities to say anything that has not been scripted by someone intelligent enough to have read and understood some of those “triggering” works of literature. That way these politically correct thought-controlling academicians would finally be doing the country some good by aborting celebrity ignorance before it begins. Of course this lobbying activity would only happen after a PETA sanctioned round-up of unicorns, the ACLU secured all illegal alien fairies, elves plus imps entry into the country, and the Occupy Movement distributed that pot of gold at the end of the rainbow to the “white privileged abused” masses.
| 98,378
|
These LEDs are connected to a thermistor that’s running just a little bit hotter than the ambient room temperature. So, by blowing on the thermistor, the birthday boy or girl is cooling it down, thus increasing the resistence. The microcontroller senses this and turns off a few of the LEDs as a result. Make one of these guys and you’ll never again have to worry about melted wax on your cake. For detailed instructions, head on over to Instructables.
| 89,204
|
For a very long time, questions have been asked about whether mother Earth is able to sustain the entire livelihood which instead is keen on destroying her very essence. With the recent drive to improve the status of the Earth in terms of preserving and conserving its wellbeing, many people and corporations have joined in and stood for the cause. With the worsening trends of climatic change, it goes without saying that every human being should be a part of Project Save Planet Earth.
There are several companies and countries that have been spotted as dangerous stakeholders in the Project Save Planet Earth. These have been known to be pollutants and causes of degradation of Earth. Bearing in mind the fact that there is only one Earth and the better we looked after it, the better our chances of enjoying it longer, it should be everyone’s aim to stay within the limits of environmental conservation.
It is true that some trends of the recent climatic change are a little out of man’s jurisdiction. However, the vast majority of the climatic change cause factors are a result of man made activities and therefore there is need to curb the rate at which man is misusing the Earth and its resources. Man made activities account for the greatest part of the changes although other factors like volcanic eruptions, ocean currents, orbital changes and solar variations are bound to have some effects on the climate of the Earth.
Overall, Project Save Planet Earth looks to involve everyone in whatever small capacity to be able to have a fundamental impact on improving the status of the Earth in regards to climatic changes. Whether it is by proper disposal, use of environmental friendly raw materials in the production process or having rules and regulations against pollution of the Earth, every person, country and corporation can and must contribute to the fight so as to give mother Earth an extended stay.
| 102,051
|
West Lafayette, Indiana - For a long while, more than a million years ago, Greenland wasn't covered in ice, scientists announced this week.
That may not seem like the biggest news in science, except for this: The Greenland ice sheet is the second largest ice cube on the planet, after the Antarctic ice sheet. If the Greenland ice sheet were to melt – if it is even possible for the ice sheet to melt – then it's also possible that the planet's oceans might rapidly rise five or six meters, or more than twenty feet, and wreak havoc on coastal cities worldwide.
Before now, scientists didn't know whether Greenland's ice sheet was so stable that it would just weather any climate changes, or if there were ever a period in which Greenland was, if not verdant, at least a bit rocky.
It turns out there was, in fact, a time when it was largely ice-free, perhaps for as long as 250,000 years, more than a million years ago.
Scientists were able to determine this because the bare rock during that time was exposed to cosmic rays in the atmosphere, says Marc Caffee, professor of physics and astronomy at Purdue University.
"We now have pretty conclusive evidence that for a time that ice wasn't there," Caffee says. "That's big. That's new. It's probably not much different in temperature now than it was then, so we shouldn't count on that ice sheet never melting again."
Caffee's lab, the Purdue Rare Isotope Measurement (PRIME) Laboratory, was able to determine that the bedrock of Greenland had been exposed to the atmosphere and cosmic rays from outer space by looking at rock samples that had been recovered by a U.S. scientific team from beneath nearly two miles of ice in 1993.
It was only in the past year that Purdue's PRIME lab developed techniques using a gas-filled magnet attached to a particle accelerator that was sensitive enough to detect the beryllium-10 and aluminum-26 atomic isotopes. These isotopes had been created by the cosmic rays striking the rock and had been hiding beneath the ice for more than a million years.
The results of all of this scientific sleuthing were published in this week's Nature.
The lead author on the Nature paper, Joerg Schaefer, a paleoclimatologist at Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, says it's possible that the Greenland ice sheet could go away again.
"Unfortunately, this makes the Greenland ice sheet look highly unstable," he said in a Columbia University news release. "With human-induced warming now well underway, loss of the Greenland ice has roughly doubled since the 1990s; during the last four years by some estimates, it shed more than a trillion tons [of ice]."
Additional authors on the paper include Richard Alley, Pennsylvania State University; Nicolas Young and Roseanne Schwartz, Columbia University; Greg Balco, the University of California-Berkeley; Jason Briner, University of Buffalo; and Anthony Gow, U.S. Army Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory.
| 275,804
|
Background Storm water outfalls that flow into coastal waters can have significant potential impacts on human and environmental health. Elevated levels of pathogenic bacteria and viruses have been found in beach waters close to coastal storm water outfalls the world over, leading to closures of recreational beaches and shellfish harvesting areas as well as causing a variety of human illnesses. The areas adjacent to these outfalls are a cause of concern regarding human fecal contamination and the USEPA has identified this research focus to be one of the highest priorities relating to water quality.
The pipes and ditches of storm water drainage systems force polluted water to bypass natural filtration processes provided by soil and vegetation. Storm water drainage networks are believed to be conduits for pollution from residential development (sewage and septic systems, pet waste), industry (toxins and hydrocarbons) and agriculture (livestock waste, bio-solids and antibiotics). Storm water outfalls in coastal NC are poorly studied, but are a cause for concern given the sheer volume of precipitation that is received during annual and episodic (e.g. hurricanes, Nor'easters) timescales.
Funded by the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources (NCDENR), this is a joint project between UNC Chapel Hill Institute of Marine Science (IMS) and the UNC Coastal Studies Institute. This project proposes to identify the key microbial constituents of storm water in these ocean outfalls, determine concentrations and likely sources of indicator and tracer microorganisms in the storm water, and provide measures of patterns of loading in storm and ambient conditions, in Dare County, North Carolina.
Project Description The study will consist of two phases. Phase I begins with a preliminary study including pilot scale monitoring on nine storm water outfalls in Dare County that will last approximately six months. The outfalls will be prioritized in terms of likely impact on recreational waters. During the first phase, water will be sampled from multiple stations within the watershed of each outfall. Sampling will be conducted during storm events producing at least one inch of precipitation. Up to three storms will be sampled as well as one period with no precipitation. During each sampling event more than 100 water samples will be processed and tested for Enterococcus sp., E. Coli and total coliforms using IDEXX lab procedures.
Next, samples will be pumped through individual filters and frozen for transport to UNC-IMS for Quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction (QPCR) based analyses for tracers of human fecal contamination and other human pathogens. Further molecular analyses will be conducted to identify the potential source of the microbial contamination. In addition, samples at each station will be tested for temperature, pH, turbidity, dissolved oxygen, chlorophyll a and salinity while Doppler flow meters measure the amount and velocity of water that passes through the system. Combining bacteria concentrations with flow measurements will provide the total amount of pathogenic bacteria passing through the system.
Phase II incorporates a comprehensive monitoring project for all nine outfalls after the installation of Best Management Practices (BMPs). This phase will consist of a sampling protocol used in Phase I. A storm water BMP is a broad term that refers to a practice or method that effectively reduces sources of pollution. The engineering firm Moffatt and Nichol will explore the use of BMPs including but not limited to bioretention areas and marshland buffers. These BMPs can provide wildlife habitat, increased evapotranspiration and infiltration rates while decreasing the amount of sediment and nutrients in storm water run off. Other possible BMPs include filters installed into the outfall catch basins, UV disinfection and hydrodynamic separators.
During Phase II, dye studies will be conducted at outfalls determined to be a significant public health risk. During periods of flow, Rhodamine dye will be released into catch basins and tracked along the beach with fluorometers. The information gathered will provide an idea of how far and how fast viruses and bacteria travel from outfalls.
This research should provide us with a better understanding of the levels of bacteria and viruses in stormwater, as well as an idea of the possible sources. In addition, the dye studies will show how far along the beach the health risk to the public extends during times when the outfalls are flowing. The data will also aid the development of predictive models to better foresee potential public health risks in the presence of stormwater.
| 13,706
|
Beth Kitchin PhD RDN blogs on health and nutrition. Her blogs are fact-based and offer a common sense approach to a healthier life. She's a food lover so don't expect her to tell you what not to eat! Beth is a an Assistant Professor in the University of Alabama at Birmingham's Nutrition Sciences Department and the patient educator at UAB's Osteoporosis Prevention and Treatment Clinic. She also appears weekly as a guest contributor on WBRC's morning show "Good Day Alabama".
Thursday, February 23, 2017
Your Risk of Breast Cancer with these 3 Science Supported Habits
cancer is the most common cancer in women. One in eight women will get breast
cancer in her lifetime. Medical treatment can cure it in many women. However, experts
estimate that 40,700 women will die of breast cancer this year. Like all women,
I want to know how to reduce my risk. I don’t have a family history of breast
cancer – but many women who get it don’t have one either. So, I went looking for
the best evidence on what we can do to lower our risk. One of best websites for solid, science based
cancer prevention recommendations is the American Institute of Cancer Research
(AICR). They estimate that 33% of all breast cancer cases in the U.S. are
preventable. That means 81,400 women who could avoid breast cancer. But how?
can’t avoid all of the risk factors for breast cancer. Age and genetics
increase your risk and you can’t do much about them. But there are some things
you do have control over. Research shows that these three steps may actually
lower your risk:
Lower Your Breast Cancer Risk:
– and Stay – at a Healthy Weight
Extra body fat correlates with post-menopausal
breast cancer risk. About 1 in 5 cases of breast cancer is in women with extra
body fat. Fat tissue increases inflammation and hormones that promote cancer
cell growth. Overweight and obesity correlate with 10 other cancers as well.
Physically Active Every Day
Exercise helps lower the risk of both pre- and
post-menopausal breast cancer risk. It can help you stay at a healthy weigh and
boost the immune system. Thirty minutes a day may be all you need! It can be
any activity – walking, gardening, dancing, swimming, hiking and the list goes
Alcohol can act as a carcinogen in the breast
tissue. It can damage DNA and increase hormones that promote cancer. Women
should limit alcohol to no more than one drink a day or seven per week on
average. Less is best when it comes to alcohol and cancer risk.
those three are the most evidence-based recommendations. There’s a lot of
interest in Mediterranean diets and the risk of cancers. One recent study showed
that a Mediterranean eating style – particularly nuts and olive oil – reduces
breast cancer risk. The study was a randomized controlled trial. That’s the kind
of study that can actually show cause and effect. It's a really strong study design. But it’s just one study – so we
can’t really make recommendations on it just yet. Also, the women in the study
were eating around four tablespoons of olive oil a day! That’s a lot to work
into your diet (although I’m pretty sure I’m getting at least two to three a
day!). Some new research is also linking smoking with breast cancer.
at least for now, you can take these three steps and rest assured that you’re
doing all you can to lower your risk!
Kitchin, PhD, RDN
Assistant Professor, Nutrition Sciences
University of Alabama at Birmingham
| 233,134
|
Allergy is used to describe a response within the body to a substance (known as an allergen) that is not necessarily harmful in itself but results in an immune response and a reaction that causes unwanted symptoms and disease.
Common allergens include pollen from trees and grasses, house dust mites, moulds, cats and dogs, wasp and bee stings, some medicines and certain foods such as nuts, fish or eggs.
An allergic person’s immune system judges certain allergens to be damaging and so produces a special type of antibody (IgE) to attach the invading material. This leads other blood cells to release further chemicals (including histamine) which together cause the symptoms of an allergic reaction.
Common symptoms include:
- Coughing and sneezing
- Runny nose
- Sinus problems
- Itchy eyes and ears
- Shortness of breath
- Severe wheezing
Allergy affects one in four people at some time in their lives, and in the UK, this figure is rising by 5% every year – half of these being children.
How is it diagnosed?
A simple skin prick test will provide quick and simple results within 15 to 20 minutes.
Blood tests can also be performed by the Immunology Department. The test measures the amount of specific IgE present in the blood for the allergen. Results range from class zero (negative result) to class 6 (severe).
A doctor will usually prescribe a treatment that is specific to the allergy in question. Prescribed medicines often contain antihistamines as a means of limiting the body’s response to the allergy.
| 52,648
|
A Gantt chart is a type of bar chart, developed by Henry Gantt in the 1910s, that illustrates a project schedule. Gantt charts illustrate the start and finish dates of the terminal elements and summary elements of a project. Terminal elements and summary elements comprise the work breakdown structure of the project. Some Gantt charts also show the dependency (i.e. precedence network) relationships between activities. Gantt charts can be used to show current schedule status using percent-complete shadings and a vertical "TODAY" line as shown here.
Although now regarded as a common charting technique, Gantt charts were considered revolutionary when first introduced. In recognition of Henry Gantt's contributions, the Henry Laurence Gantt Medal is awarded for distinguished achievement in management and in community service. This chart is also used in information technology to represent data that has been collected.
Historical development
The first known tool of this type was developed in 1896 by Karol Adamiecki, who called it a harmonogram. Adamiecki only published his chart in 1931, however, in Polish, which limited both its adoption and recognition of his authorship. The chart is named after Henry Gantt (1861–1919), who designed his chart around the years 1910–1915.
One of the first major applications of Gantt charts was during World War I. On the initiative of General William Crozier, then Chief of Ordnance these included that of the Emergency Fleet, the Shipping Board, etc.
In the 1980s, personal computers allowed for widespread creation of complex and elaborate Gantt charts. The first desktop applications were intended mainly for project managers and project schedulers. With the advent of the Internet and increased collaboration over networks at the end of the 1990s, Gantt charts became a common feature of web-based applications, including collaborative groupware.
Advantages and limitations
Gantt charts have become a common technique for representing the phases and activities of a project work breakdown structure (WBS), so they can be understood by a wide audience all over the world.
A common error made by those who equate Gantt chart design with project design is that they attempt to define the project work breakdown structure at the same time that they define schedule activities. This practice makes it very difficult to follow the 100% Rule. Instead the WBS should be fully defined to follow the 100% Rule, then the project schedule can be designed.
Although a Gantt chart is useful and valuable for small projects that fit on a single sheet or screen, they can become quite unwieldy for projects with more than about 30 activities. Larger Gantt charts may not be suitable for most computer displays. A related criticism is that Gantt charts communicate relatively little information per unit area of display. That is, projects are often considerably more complex than can be communicated effectively with a Gantt chart.
Gantt charts only represent part of the triple constraints (cost, time and scope) on projects, because they focus primarily on schedule management. Moreover, Gantt charts do not represent the size of a project or the relative size of work elements, therefore the magnitude of a behind-schedule condition is easily miscommunicated. If two projects are the same number of days behind schedule, the larger project has a larger effect on resource utilization, yet the Gantt does not represent this difference.
Although project management software can show schedule dependencies as lines between activities, displaying a large number of dependencies may result in a cluttered or unreadable chart.
Because the horizontal bars of a Gantt chart have a fixed height, they can misrepresent the time-phased workload (resource requirements) of a project, which may cause confusion especially in large projects. In the example shown in this article, Activities E and G appear to be the same size, but in reality they may be different orders of magnitude. A related criticism is that all activities of a Gantt chart show planned workload as constant. In practice, many activities (especially summary elements) have front-loaded or back-loaded work plans, so a Gantt chart with percent-complete shading may actually miscommunicate the true schedule performance status.
In the following example there are seven tasks, labeled A through G. Some tasks can be done concurrently (A and B) while others cannot be done until their predecessor task is complete (C cannot begin until A is complete). Additionally, each task has three time estimates: the optimistic time estimate (O), the most likely or normal time estimate (M), and the pessimistic time estimate (P). The expected time (TE) is computed using the beta probability distribution for the time estimates, using the formula (O + 4M + P) ÷ 6.
|Activity||Predecessor||Time estimates||Expected time|
|Opt. (O)||Normal (M)||Pess. (P)|
Once this step is complete, one can draw a Gantt chart or a network diagram.
See also
- Critical path method
- List of project management software which includes specific Gantt Chart software.
- Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT)
- H.L. Gantt, Work, Wages and Profit, published by The Engineering Magazine, New York, 1910; republished as Work, Wages and Profits, Easton, Pennsylvania, Hive Publishing Company, 1974, ISBN 0-87960-048-9.
- Peter W. G. Morris, The Management of Projects, Thomas Telford, 1994, ISBN 0-7277-2593-9, Google Print, p.18
- Wallace Clark and Henry Gantt (1922) The Gantt chart, a working tool of management. New York, Ronald Press.
- Project Management Institute (2003). A Guide To The Project Management Body Of Knowledge (3rd ed. ed.). Project Management Institute. ISBN 1-930699-45-X.
|Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Gantt charts|
|Look up gantt chart in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.|
| 11,964
|
Well, let me start by saying I’ve won an award! I’ll have more in a day or two, so stay tuned. Because I want to blog about the award later in the week, I’ve swapped some blog ideas around and am posting Rosa Parks Day a few days early.
The U.S. celebrates Rosa Parks Day on February 4th (Saturday this year). Rosa Parks, a seamstress, became famous on Dec. 1, 1955, when she refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery, Alabama bus. In the segregated South, African Americans were forced to sit towards the back of the bus and give up their seats to white passengers. Ms. Parks was arrested and fined for her defiance setting off the Montgomery bus boycotts. Many people mark her protest as the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement.
What few realize is that Rosa Parks was an activist and NAACP member at the time of her arrest. Her refusal to give up her seat was not a spur-of-the-moment decision born out of tiredness, but part of a larger, organized movement. In fact, the NAACP had been looking for a case to use as the basis of a law suit. Unfortunately, many myths about Rosa Parks still perpetuate, especially in children’s literature. Nikki Giovanni’s book, Rosa, is one of few that attempts to put Rosa Park’s case in context.
Teaching children about Rosa Parks is a great way to kick off Black History Month. The Museum of Living history boasts a wonderful biography of Rosa Parks…..here. The site also includes a 1995 interview and many photos from the period. Scholastic.com’s Teacher section contains many resources about her life and importance.
If you are a classroom teacher, here’s a wonderful lesson plan for grades 4 through 7 by Mandy Roman, which will help students experience what it was like to sit at the back of the bus. Teach-nology has a host of free Black History Month lesson plans as well, which are perfect for upper elementary and middle school students.
| 216,387
|
End of preview. Expand
in Data Studio
README.md exists but content is empty.
- Downloads last month
- 2