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- Definition of syncopation in the Online Dictionary. Meaning of syncopation. Pronunciation of syncopation. Translations of syncopation. syncopation synonyms, syncopation antonyms. Information about syncopation in the free online English. — “syncopation - definition of syncopation by the Free Online”, - Also, if the musician suddenly does not play anything on beat 1, that would also be syncopation. Playing a note ever-so-slightly before or after a beat is another form of syncopation because this produces an unexpected accent. — “Syncopation - Definition”, - Syncopation. In music, syncopation includes a variety of rhythms which are in some way unexpected in that they deviate from the strict succession of regularly spaced strong and weak but also powerful beats in a meter (pulse) In music, syncopation includes a variety of rhythms which are in some. — “Syncopation”, - Syncopation definition, a shifting of the normal accent, usually by stressing the normally unaccented beats. See more. — “Syncopation \| Define Syncopation at ”, - Syncopations can happen anywhere: in the melody, the bass line, the rhythm section, the chordal accompaniment. Ragtime, for example, would hardly be ragtime without the jaunty syncopations in the melody set against the steady unsyncopated bass. — “Syncopation”, - Syncopation Software is a leading provider of decision support software tools including decision *ysis software, risk ysis Founded as a spin-off from a first-tier consulting organization, Syncopation develops products that go beyond the basics to give you exceptional insight into real-world. — “DPL Decision Tree & Business Risk ysis Software”, - More simply, syncopation is a general term for a disturbance or interruption of the Syncopation is used in many musical styles, and is fundamental in black-influenced styles. — “Syncopation - Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia”, - (Click to enlarge) syncopation from Mozart's Symphony no. 25 syncopation n. Music . A shift of accent in a passage or composition that occurs when a. — “syncopation: Definition from ”, - Welcome to ! Practicing Smart • Musical Theory • Musical Syncopation • Improvising on the Piano • Laurel Webster. Copyright2010 Loraine & Chris Plante. All Rights Reserved. website design by C. — “Musical Syncopation”, - Syncopation.TV is the means by which we exhibit, yze and discuss the fascinating world of music across genre, cultural, age and national boundaries. This is the place where you can further explore music and the men and women dedicated to this art and craft. — “Syncopation.TV - Home”, syncopation.tv - Syncopation ( pronounced SINK-o-PAY-shun) is hearing the beat when you don't expect to. When notes begin before or after a strong beat, you have syncopation. Listen to this rhythm in Example 1. The notes fall on the beats. This is not syncopation. Now listen to Example 2. — “Syncopation”, empire.k12.ca.us - I've been testing out Syncopation using the new iTunes release from Apple and have found Syncopation 2.2 to be fully compatible with iTunes 10. Syncopation has been thoroughly tested on Snow Leopard, and I'm happy to say that no compatibility issues have been found. — “Sonzea - Home”, - In music the word syncopation has a very specific meaning. Actually, the main syncopation in cha-cha happens on beat two (usually the first part of a rock step), I'll explain why shortly. — “Syncopation in dance and music”, - on \| off. enter. — “Syncopation Official Web Site”, - For other uses of the same name, see Syncopation (disambiguation). In music, syncopation includes a variety of rhythms which are in some way unexpected in that they deviate from the strict succession of regularly spaced strong and weak but also powerful beats in a meter (pulse). — “Syncopation - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia”, - Syncopation is a musical process that involves adding an unexpected element to the basic beat of a musical composition. At times, the syncopation adds more beats, while at other times it delays or changes the sense of a particular beat in the line of rhythm. — “What Is Syncopation?”, - Dynamic Syncopation music profile on Yahoo! Music. Find lyrics, free streaming MP3s, music videos and photos of Dynamic Syncopation on Yahoo! Music. — “Dynamic Syncopation on Yahoo! Music”, - Syncopation Makes It Move. Introduction. Syncopation is the wonderful effect which is created when notes which are supposed to fall in a certain place surprise the ear and fall somewhere else. When the accent falls off the beat, or if there is silence on the beat, then syncopation occurs. — “Music Concepts Online: Syncopation Lecture”, neiu.edu - Syncopation. Syncopation is a disturbance or interruption of the regular flow of rhythm. Syncopation shifts this emphasis, or, to put it another way, it places the accent on the wrong syllable. — “Syncopation: Excerpts from The NPR Classical Music Companion”, kennedy- - syncopation in a folk context, check out the examples below. In this example, there is a syncopated melody over a simple quarter-note bass part, which. — “Syncopation”, - Syncopation is used in many musical styles, including classical music, but it is fundamental in such styles as reggae, ragtime, rap, jump blues, jazz and often in dubstep. In the form of a back beat, syncopation is used in virtually all contemporary popular music. — “Syncopation - New World Encyclopedia”, - The Elite Syncopation quintet has been touring the United States from coast to coast for over a decade, Elite Syncopation tours nationally, giving dozens of concerts a year, both locally in Connecticut and throughout the rest of the country. Click here for booking information. — “Elite Syncopation: Who We Are”, related images for syncopation - Divine Syncopation Body Being Neighbor and Conscience - Mara Galeazzi - Divine Syncopation Being detail - Home \| Browse \| About Previous - Avoid playing these exercises by ear or by simply following the rhythmical sense Look carefully at your notes and follow the peculiar division of time Observe the syncopation Emphasize the time well Notice the change in the position of the hand also the fingering - SYNCOPATION2 1 jpg t=1227738298 - carefully at your notes and follow the peculiar division of time Observe the syncopation Emphasize the time well Notice the change in the position of the hand also the fingering - Divine Syncopation Body detail - Syncopation Semale jpg - ROOM VIEWS FOR DISPLAY PURPOSES ONLY MAY NOT BE TO SCALE - SYNCOPATION4 jpg t=1227738273 - html 24 Jul 2008 17 55 thumbs 04 Dec 2007 03 59 Syncopation2 jpg 25 Jun 2007 17 21 136k JAZZ TRUMPET II jpg 25 Jun 2007 17 21 140k - PARTITURA 4 4 BODHRAN - technique syncopation003B gif - SYNCOPATION2 jpg t=1227738243 - PARTITURA 4 4 BODHRAN - SYNCOPATION3 jpg t=1227738257 - After sufficient discussion has taken place a verdict can then be passed based on a majority vote Band Syncopation Genre Vocal Jazz Website - I ll make it easy for y all - I ve been struggling to figure out an efficient way to share music with other people in my household for a while now Until now my solution has been to copy files on to Time Capsule so that - SYNCOPATION1 1 jpg t=1227738314 - Syncopation Screen - Syncopation Mixed media on 140 Arches Watercolor Paper 5 5 x 7 5 Click here for larger image $100 - box cover costume jewelry rusty metal objects plastic doll s eye embossed wall paper 1962 dictionary text reproduction 1864 newspaper and acrylic paint Closer view of figure Left side of box - LRendezvous jpg 25 Jun 2007 17 21 140k Le Jongleur jpg 25 Jun 2007 17 21 141k Syncopation1 jpg 25 Jun 2007 17 21 141k Claire de Lune jpg 25 Jun 2007 17 21 141k - Pobrań 1 Powiększ obrazek - seemed that the paint work was peeling near the first window at the bow end just on the gunnel It seemed to be a to large area to be cruising damage and the primer coat seemed to be exposed Regards - 100 Schick Hybriden Syncopation 1999 1645 17 Temptress 1997 622 3 - This is what it took back in the day when Russ first gained the Syncopation Broach - Syncopation Fresh Start - PARTITURA 4 4 BODHRAN - 183 X - Paragon s Syncopation Jenna Breeder Owner Handler Mary Fedders - BANJO BANJO BANJO PLECTRUM BANJOS TENOR BANJOS BANJO BOOKS BANJO LESSONS BANJO CHORDS BANJO SONGS related videos for syncopation - Syncopated Rhythm Linedance - But Not For Me - Syncopation iTunes: Syncopation vocal jazz quartet performs "But Not For Me" in Boston, Massachusetts, March 30, 2009. Aubrey Logan, Lee Abe, David Thorne Scott, and Christine Fawson perform. - Drum Online - Bass drum syncopation Clip from the forthcoming 'Drum Online - Drum tuition vol 1' dvd. Matt Parker demonstrates quarter note grooves incoporating bass drum syncopation. - Syncopation + Improvisation Just playing around using some syncopated grooves and fills. - Aces of Syncopation - His Eye is on the Sparrow Aces of Syncopation (Netherlands) featuring MACHTELD CAMBRIDGE AND BROOKS TEGLER Robert Veen,sax; Paul Habraken, sousaphone; Johan Lammers, banjo, Harry Kanters, piano; special guests: Brooks Tegler, drums and Machteld Cambridge, vocals. Recorded by (Thanks!) at: Gospelservice Jazzweekend Berg en op Zoom, May 18-2008 Aces of Syncopation - Netherlands - 12/8ths African Drum Beats With Syncopated Ride Cymbals : 12/8ths African Drum Beats With Syncopated Cymbals: Part 1 Learn to play 12/8ths African drum patterns with syncopated ride cymbal patterns and conga off the beat or on the beat. Free video drum lessons featuring a professional drummer and drum teacher! - Elite Syncopations - Scott Joplin Another piece by Scott Joplin I like to play! - English Country Garden-syncopated piano cover Dan's interpretation of the childhood classic "In an English Country Garden" with syncopation. - Mirrwatnga used E yidaki \| Adam Marrilaga \| slow syncopation Jonathon Mirrwatnga made this yidaki, a very rustic and simple-looking instrument. But give it a blow and you'll be surprised that it punches above its weight. Quite extraordinary considering its modest size and shape, and that it has been 'bandaged' in parts with duct tape... I like the slow syncopation that Adam Laga plays on this yirdaki especially the first few seconds: dith-du, ditj-du, ditj-du-drong-ditj-du, ditj-du, du-du-ditj-du-du... This instrument is for sale for those who are interested in yidaki of the highest cultural integrity. It isn't the prettiest thing but it is the real deal: .au - Dynamic Syncopation & Massinfluence - 2 Tha Left from Xen Cuts. - Chuck Rainey (examples of his syncopation) My rendition of his trademark bouncy feel from "Coalition" he made with Cornell Dupree, Eric Gayle, Richard Tee and I think, Bernard Purdie. This style of syncopation became the theme for Carol Kaye bass books - Hal Galper Master Class - Rhythm and Syncopation and please check out Hal's Trio recording, E Pluribus Unum - Live in Seattle http And: From a clinic at the University of Colorado in Boulder, April 2, 2010 - Lee Ritenour - Sweet Syncopation From the album First Course - Julianne Johnson with syncopation For use with the Beyond Bum-Ditty lesson. Julianne Johnson played slowly twice and then at speed, using the syncopation discussed in the lesson. The original lesson has two parts: Part 1: Part 2: --Cathy Moore - Tango Lesson: Syncopated Snake Walk + Sustained Volcada Homer and Cristina Ladas perform a didactic demo at the end of an argentine tango class. - Elite Syncopations by Scott Joplin Ben Washburn, age 15, playing Elite Syncopations by Scott Joplin. This is the second Scott Joplin piece I have learned on the piano. - Dynamic Syncopation - No Qualms Various Artists : "Ninja Cuts Vol. 3 - Funkungfusion" - Hugo and Fritz Kreisler Syncopation Hugo Kreisler on cello, Fritz Kreisler on violin, and Charlton Keith on piano playing Fritz Kreisler's "Syncopation" - Life Syncopation - Jazztronik Life Syncopation by Jazztronik from the album Love Tribe (2007) - Dynamic Syncopation - The Plan Ninja Tunes - Dynamic Syncopation - The Plan music video. - Fritz Kreisler: Syncopation This is Fritz Kreisler´s own (and very rare) arrangement of "Syncopation", originally for violin and piano. Recorded 02/2010. Piano tro: MusicA Tre: Ernst Ueckerman, piano; Stephan Knies, violin; Birgit Boehme, cello. More info about MusicA Tre at - Dynamic Syncopation - Veteran's Leg Dynamic Syncopation - Veteran's Leg Dynamism (1999) Ninja Tune - Syncopation Emphasizing the offbeat and the unexpected weak beats can be more fun than most realize. This video also builds upon the concept of independence between the offbeat bass drum and the on beat snare with the ride/hihat hand... - Scott Joplin-Elite Syncopation A Rag Time Piano solo - Billy Ocean - Syncopation - 1984 - How Music Works: Rhythm - Accent & Syncopation "Humans are naturally musical." In this segment of Howard Goodall's 2006 documentary, a major exponent of why we enjoy music is explained in very clear and concise points. He traces the roots of syncopation back to Africa, long before the West could grasp the concept, and explains the evolution of the shifting of accents in Western music using Philip Glass's "Akhenaten" vs. Handel's "Zadok the Priest" to illustrate. - West Coast Swing Ladies Syncopations ! West Coast Swing Ladies Syncopations & Variations with Laurie Schwimmer! - Syncopation - It's Jazzy - Dynamic Syncopation - The Essence Dynamic Syncopation - The Essence from Dynanism - Dynamic Syncopation - The Plan (feat. Juice Aleem) Dynamism '1999 - West Coast Swing Syncopations That Sizzle Michael Kiehm & Janelle Walton. - Both Sides Now- Syncopation Syncopation performs "Both Sides Now" at Spookappella at TCAN. Aubrey Logan, Christine Fawson, David Scott, Tsunenori "Lee" Abe - Modern Blues Harmonica - syncopation 1 (Gussow.089) Jungle rhythms, bathtub gin, and white girls gone bad: harpist Adam Gussow evokes the origins of "sinful syncopation," using **ogies from stock car racing, and shows you how to "advance the spark" to boost the horsepower on your own harp playing. Blues Harmonica Secrets Revealed! DVD - Dynamic syncopation ft. yeshua da poED - the essence dropped 1999 on ninja tune produced by dynamic syncopation - Syncopation - Anna Piotrowski Syncopation by Fritz Kreisler performed by Anna Piotrowski at the 2008 Preludio Kreisler Concert, Ithaca NY - Reggae rhythm guitar lesson pt3 syncopation Reggae strumming guitar lesson pt3 I use No, No, No by Dawn Penn to show reggae rhythm on the guitar. I play a G&L tribute asat special electric guitar. The chords I use are mainly Am and D and I slide down to the C and to G Free MP3's of my stuff at http - Syncopation by Fritz Kreisler - Free Guitar Lessons: Country Blues Fingerpicking : All About Syncopation & Blues Fingerpicking Learn about syncopation as you learn how to fingerpick the blues on the guitar, from a professional guitar player in this free video music lesson. Expert: Amanda Claire Bio: Amanda Claire is a leather artist currently living in Austin, Texas, where she specializes on custom pieces that blend traditional technique with modern designs. Filmmaker: MAKE \| MEDIA - syncopation.wmv In answer to a Banjohangout thread, I use a guitar and a banjo to discuss the syncopation of a melody - Acid house from 1958 ... Tom dissevelt & Kid Baltan ( Dick Raaijmakers ) syncopation In 1958, Philips tried to make "popular" electronic music. For a couple of years "room 306" of the Philips laboratory in Eindhoven was allowed to make records like this. It did not catch on. You could say they were 30 years ahead of their time... klassieke muziek remix twitter about syncopation Blogs & Forum blogs and forums about syncopation “Syncopation November 14, 2008. In Knitting, My designs \| 1 comment. Bet you didn't think I'd actually get this done today, did you. Pattern: Syncopation, of my own devising. Model: Rowanspun DK. Yup, this yarn is discontinued. I have it on good authority” — Syncopation \| Fiber Dreams, “Guitar Noize is a guitar blog focussing on guitar news, crazy guitar designs, Syncopation experiment” — Syncopation experiment, “Forum Intro. Greeley Central Drumline Forum. http://syncopation.aimoo. and Exercises. Schedules. Sectionals >> Go to Greeley Central Drumline Forum. Similar Forums” — Greeley Central Drumline Forum - Aimoo, “Myspace profile for Syncopation. Find friends, share photos, keep in touch with classmates, and meet new people on Myspace” — Syncopation on Myspace Music - Free Streaming MP3s, Pictures, — Pandora FAQ, “Before starting to explain what musical syncopation is, it is response, or trackback from your own site. Posted in Music by Mickys-Blog No Comments Yet. Leave a Comment” — What is Musical Syncopation And How Does It Work?, “Syncopation. Saturday, 27 October 2007. If you are Pagan and have a blog, then we would To join Syncopation's Pagan Blog List: You must display one of the buttons which are on” “Songwriting and Music Forum > Community Blog > Songstuff Stuff > syncopation. off. Subscribe to Songstuff Our resident drumming expert Tom Hoffman introduces Syncopation and discusses why it is so important for drummers” — Songwriting and Music Forum -> Songstuff Stuff, “Submitted by syncopation on Thu, 03/29/2007 - 9:43pm. Related topics: Submitted by syncopation on Thu, 03/29/2007 - 5:31pm. Related topics: love. poem. poetry” — syncopation's blog \| The Icarus Project,	839
Science Fair Project Encyclopedia The World Factbook The World Factbook is an annual publication by the Central Intelligence Agency of the United States with basic almanac-style information about the various countries of the world. The factbook gives a two- to three-page summary of the demographics, location, telecommunications capacity, government, industry, military capability, etc, of all US-recognized countries and territories in the world. As The World Factbook is prepared by the CIA for the use of U.S. Government officials, the style, format, coverage, and content are designed to meet their specific requirements. Information is provided by: - Antarctic Information Program (National Science Foundation), - Bureau of the Census (Department of Commerce), - Bureau of Labor Statistics (Department of Labor), - Central Intelligence Agency, - Council of Managers of National Antarctic Programs , - Defense Intelligence Agency (Department of Defense), - US Department of State, - US Fish and Wildlife Service (Department of the Interior), - US Maritime Administration (Department of Transportation), - National Imagery and Mapping Agency (Department of Defense), - Naval Facilities Engineering Command (Department of Defense), - Office of Insular Affairs (Department of the Interior), - Office of Naval Intelligence (Department of Defense), - United States Board on Geographic Names (Department of the Interior), and - other public and private sources. The official seal of the CIA, however, may NOT be copied without permission as required by the CIA Act of 1949 (50 U.S.C. section 403m). Misuse of the official seal of the CIA could result in civil and criminal penalties. Also, "Federal law prohibits use of the words "Central Intelligence Agency," the initials "CIA," the seal of the Central Intelligence Agency, or any colorable imitation of such words, initials, or seal in connection with any merchandise, impersonation, solicitation, or commercial activity in a manner reasonably calculated to convey the impression that such use is approved, endorsed, or authorized by the Central Intelligence Agency. " Many sites have used information and images from the CIA World Factbook, because of its public domain status, including this encyclopedia. Besides the World Factbook, the CIA puts out a directory of Chiefs of State and Cabinet Members of Foreign Governments each week. Oddities and controversies The maps of countries in the Factbook also appear to have strange anomalies. For example, the map of the United Kingdom lists the town of Grangemouth in Scotland, although it is only a small town and in no way a major city (this is perhaps due to its status as a major centre of the oil industry in Scotland). The U.S. does not recognize the renaming of Burma by its ruling military junta to Myanmar and thus keeps its entry for the country under "Burma." Specific regions within a country or areas in dispute among countries, such as Kashmir and Kosovo, are not covered, but other areas of the world whose status is disputed, such as the Spratly Islands, have entries. Maps depicting Kashmir have the India-Pakistan border drawn at the Line of Control, but the region of Kashmir occupied by China drawn in hashmarks. Northern Cyprus is not given a separate entry or listed as part of Turkey because "territorial occupations/annexations not recognized by the United States Government are not shown on U.S. Government maps." Taiwan has a separate entry not listed under "T", but at the bottom of the list. The name "Republic of China" is not listed as Taiwan's "official name" under the "Government" section, perhaps due to U.S. recognition of Beijing's One-China Policy according to which the Republic of China is a defunct entity having been replaced by the People's Republic of China. The name "Republic of China" was briefly added on January 27, 2005 but changed back to "none" on February 10, 2005. On December 16, 2004, the CIA added an entry for the European Union. According to the CIA, the European Union was added because the EU "continues to accrue more nation-like characteristics for itself". - World Factbook Website - 2004 CIA World Factbook for Pocket PC and Palm OS devices - Nationmaster.com: statistics with bars, based on the Factbook - Authorama CIA World Factbook: The complete Factbook as XHTML1.0 (easily readable, no images, device-independent) The contents of this article is licensed from www.wikipedia.org under the GNU Free Documentation License. Click here to see the transparent copy and copyright details	581
International Women’s Day (IWD) was founded in 1910 in order to confront the great inequalities women faced in the labor force and society as a whole. Unfortunately, one hundred years later, women still make up a majority of the world’s poor. Women’s wages in the U.S. are only 76% of men’s, but the disparity of long-term earnings between men and women is far worse. A study comparing total earnings between 1983 and 1998 showed women averaging just 38% of men’s wages (Institute for Women’s Policy Research, 2004). In large part, this is because 80% of American women under 40 are mothers, according to the U.S. census. Without adequate paid maternity leave, mothers are frequently forced to quit stable jobs and disrupt career plans. Add to that $611 in average monthly childcare costs (U.S. Department of Labor), which is more than two weeks pay at the federal minimum wage. Eighty-seven percent of single parent households are headed by women and of those 37% are in poverty (Association for Women’s Rights and Development). Once a family falls into poverty it is astoundingly hard for them to escape. Sixty percent of families that are in the bottom fifth of income remain there a decade later (Association for Women’s Rights and Development). The impact of the financial crisis, however, is worldwide. Of the 1.5 million people living on a dollar or less per day, 70% are women (UN.org). Forced into the factories with the worst working conditions, women make up 90% of the world’s sweatshop labor (Women Thrive Worldwide). Often being laid off, these women are accustomed to making 13 cents to one dollar per hour (Powell and Skarbek 2004). Forced to work, women are less likely to attend school or leave the home before marriage. Seventy-seven million girls of primary school age worldwide are out of school, compared to only 55 million boys (The World Bank). Women around the world are bound together by discrimination and economic servitude created by capitalism. Their work is devalued down to pennies, and often the largest use of their time - household labor - goes unpaid. IWD is a chance to remember and celebrate the struggles of women, which have won huge improvements in our lives. If women united internationally and with the wider struggles of working people to fight for equal rights, better working conditions, wages and stronger social services such as health care, child care and food support, we could collectively improve conditions for all.	275
Is it possible to multiply the frequency of a digital signal using digital components alone, and at the same time, preserve the duty cycle? I could finally come across the circuit below: it doubles ... I'm trying to scope out what frequencies different common analog signals are. The DPScope design specs provides a list of common lower (sub 1 MHz) frequencies (copied below). audio (20 kHz) ... I have a clock that is running at 25.175MHz I want to run that signal through some basic logic gates from the 74HC series. I have looked on the datasheet for the 74HC08 (AND Gate), I can't seem to ... Important note: You are not helping me do my homework. This is for a competition for engineering students, that encourages you to "use your network" ;) I've got this pattern for a frequency divider ...	792
Teachers, register your class or environmental club in our annual Solar Oven Challenge! Registration begins in the fall, and projects must be completed in the spring to be eligible for prizes and certificates. Who can participate? GreenLearning's Solar Oven Challenge is open to all Canadian classes. Past challenges have included participants from grade 3 through to grade 12. Older students often build solar ovens as part of the heat unit in their Science courses. Other students learn about solar energy as a project in an eco-class or recycling club. How do you register? 1. Registration is now open to Canadian teachers. To register, send an email to Gordon Harrison at GreenLearning. Include your name, school, school address and phone number, and the grade level of the students who will be participating. 2. After you register, you will receive the Solar Oven Challenge Teacher's Guide with solar oven construction plans. Also see re-energy.ca for construction plans, student backgrounders, and related links on solar cooking and other forms of renewable energy. At re-energy.ca, you can also see submissions, photos and recipes from participants in past Solar Oven Challenges. 3. Build, test and bake with solar ovens! 4. Email us photos and descriptions of your creations by the deadline (usually the first week of June). 5. See your recipes and photos showcased at re-energy.ca. Winners will be listed there and in GreenLearning News.	204
About this site The main goal of Across Cultures is to celebrate Canadian cultural diversity by highlighting the extraordinary contributions that different communities have made to Canada, as well as the many challenges they have had to face, while acknowledging the less praiseworthy moments in Canadian history regarding cultural diversity. The site is also intended as a tribute to filmmakers from various cultural and ethnic communities who have made it their work to show the Canadian population the great richness of their cultures. Lastly, the site is designed to help teachers present the issues around Canadian multiculturalism in a dynamic and inviting way that also matches the goals of their academic programs. Films and film clips The site features 120 films from the NFB collection (60 in English; 60 in French in the French part). Of those, 48 (24 in English; 24 in French in the French part) include an audio description for the blind and visually impaired; and 49 films (27 in English; 22 in French in the French part) are available with closed-captioning. Users will also find 164 film clips (80 in English; 84 in French in the French part). These 120 films are only a fraction of NFB productions on Canada’s ethnic and cultural communities; however, they are representative of communities from all over the country, and altogether more than 60 years of film production are covered. The selection does not include films on Aboriginal peoples, since another site – Aboriginal Perspectives – is devoted entirely to them. Some people may be surprised at the omission of well known works from our list. They are absent because we were unable to obtain online broadcast rights for all the films we might have wanted to include and because the project, which is supported by the Canadian Memory Fund, had to leave aside some newer works to give pride of place to those of high heritage value. How the site is organized The Across Cultures Web site is divided into five sections: Themes to Explore; Cinema and Representation; Points of View; See Everything, Hear Everything; and For Teachers. The Themes section covers 6 themes formulated as questions. Each theme includes film clips with accompanying questions, original articles and interviews with experts, public opinion polls, archival materials and classroom activities. Cinema and Representation considers the ways in which ethnic and cultural communities have been represented in NFB documentaries. In it, you will find film clips, archival materials, original articles by NFB experts, interviews with filmmakers and a classroom activity. The third section, Points of View, addresses issues of racism, identity and social integration in Canada. It comprises original articles by Canadian experts in the field, film clips and discussions. The See Everything, Hear Everything section gives users access to all the complete films, film clips, archival artefacts and other types of audiovisual content available on the site. Finally, For Teachers offers lesson plans, web links and bibliographic resources. It contains a Glossary of Terms (also available on the Tools menu) to familiarize users with the language of cultural diversity. Our main focus is on the complete films, but we also include film clips as an easy introduction to each section. The clips allow teachers, students and other users to quickly pinpoint specific content – the issues raised in each theme, expert viewpoints, or aspects of ethnic and cultural representation, for example. Of course, the complete films are always available and easily accessed for viewing. Clearly, we cannot claim to cover every aspect of diversity, describe every issue, raise every question, or mention the challenges and achievements of every ethnic and cultural community in the country. Across Cultures does, however, provide an excellent introduction to the area for anyone interested in multiculturalism and the issue of cultural diversity in Canada. We encourage users to visit two other sites our team has built with support from the Canadian Memory Fund, which also deal with issues of cultural diversity: Documentary Lens and Aboriginal Perspectives.	548
What we ship things in makes a difference. Take the banana, for example. In 1876, at the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition, the banana was a delicacy (and very black). Millions of bunches could only be sent to U.S. shores if they were refrigerated. By 1901, as I describe in Econ 101 1/2, United Fruit was distributing 14 million bunches of bananas in the U.S. One reason, in addition to the railroad and the steamboat, was a banana vessel that could maintain a 53 degree temperature for its cargo. Just like refrigerated banana vessels transformed world trade, so too has the cargo container. Introduced in 1956, now one ship can carry 3,000 forty foot containers with 100,000 tons of shoes, electronics and clothing. Imagine the potential efficiency. Put everything in the container, arrive at a port, and just slip it onto a truck or a railroad car for it to move to its next stop. Journalist Marc Levinson says the result is more variety for consumers, lower freight bills, less shipping time, lower inventory costs and longer supply chains. This takes us back to yesterday’s supership post and the expansion of the Panama Canal. Larger ships mean more containers on board. The NY Times said that the newest generation of superships could hold 15,000 containers that are 20 feet long. The Economic Lesson Adam Smith would have been delighted to see his ideas about mass production and regional specialization extend around the world. Describing the productivity of factory pin production in The Wealth of Nations, he told us that one worker, functioning alone, could produce 1 pin per day. However, when that worker specialized through a division of labor in a factory, 4,800 pins per worker per day were made. Adam Smith used the term “distant sale” to explain the transport of goods from a factory to a distant market. He could have been describing a container ship moving from China to the U.S.	651
A Soyuz rocket launched two Galileo satellites into orbit on Friday, marking a crucial step for Europe’s planned navigation system, operator Arianespace announced. The launch took place at the Kourou space base in French Guiana, at 3:15pm (6:15pm GMT). Three and three-quarter hours later, the 700kg satellites were placed into orbit. The new satellites add to the first two in the Galileo navigation system, which were launched on Oct. 21, last year. Together they create a “mini-constellation.” Four is the minimum number of satellites needed to gain a navigational fix on the ground, using signals from the satellite to get a position for latitude, longitude, altitude and a time reference. Galileo will ultimately consist of 30 satellites, six more than the US Global Positioning System. By 2015, 18 satellites should be in place, which is sufficient for launching services to the public, followed by the rest in 2020, according to the European Space Agency. It is claimed that the system will be accurate to within one meter. The US Global Positioning System, which became operational in 1995 and is currently being upgraded, is currently accurate to between three and eight meters. In May, the European Commission said the cost by 2015 would be 5 billion euros (US$6.45 billion). As a medium-sized launcher, Soyuz complements Europe’s heavyweight Ariane 5 and lightweight Vega rockets.	417
Time to think big Did the designation of 2010 as the first-ever International Year of Biodiversity mean anything at all? Is it just a publicity stunt, with no engagement on the real, practical issues of conservation, asks Simon Stuart, Chair of IUCN’s Species Survival Commission. Eight years ago 183 of the world’s governments committed themselves “to achieve by 2010 a significant reduction of the current rate of biodiversity loss at the global, regional and national level as a contribution to poverty alleviation and to the benefit of all life on Earth”. This was hardly visionary—the focus was not on stopping extinctions or loss of key habitats, but simply on slowing their rate of loss—but it was, at least, the first time the nations of the world had pledged themselves to any form of concerted attempt to face up to the ongoing degradation of nature. Now the results of all the analyses of conservation progress since 2002 are coming in, and there is a unanimous finding: the world has spectacularly failed to meet the 2010 Biodiversity Target, as it is called. Instead species extinctions, habitat loss and the degradation of ecosystems are all accelerating. To give a few examples: declines and extinctions of amphibians due to disease and habitat loss are getting worse; bleaching of coral reefs is growing; and large animals in South-East Asia are moving rapidly towards extinction, especially from over-hunting and degradation of habitats. \|This month the world’s governments will convene in Nagoya, Japan, for the Convention on Biological Diversity’s Conference of the Parties. Many of us hope for agreement there on new, much more ambitious biodiversity targets for the future. The first test of whether or not the 2010 International Year of Biodiversity means anything will be whether or not the international community can commit itself to a truly ambitious conservation agenda.\| The early signs are promising. Negotiating sessions around the world have produced 20 new draft targets for 2020. Collectively these are nearly as strong as many of us hoped, and certainly much stronger than the 2010 Biodiversity Target. They include: halving the loss and degradation of forests and other natural habitats; eliminating overfishing and destructive fishing practices; sustainably managing all areas under agriculture, aquaculture and forestry; bringing pollution from excess nutrients and other sources below critical ecosystem loads; controlling pathways introducing and establishing invasive alien species; managing multiple pressures on coral reefs and other vulnerable ecosystems affected by climate change and ocean acidification; effectively protecting at least 15 per cent of land and sea, including the areas of particular importance for biodiversity; and preventing the extinction of known threatened species. We now have to keep up the pressure to prevent these from becoming diluted. We at IUCN are pushing for urgent action to stop biodiversity loss once and for all. The well-being of the entire planet—and of people—depends on our committing to maintain healthy ecosystems and strong wildlife populations. We are therefore proposing, as a mission for 2020, “to have put in place by 2020 all the necessary policies and actions to prevent further biodiversity loss”. Examples include removing government subsidies which damage biodiversity (as many agricultural ones do), establishing new nature reserves in important areas for threatened species, requiring fisheries authorities to follow the advice of their scientists to ensure the sustainability of catches, and dramatically cutting carbon dioxide emissions worldwide to reduce the impacts of climate change and ocean acidification. If the world makes a commitment along these lines, then the 2010 International Year of Biodiversity will have been about more than platitudes. But it will still only be a start: the commitment needs to be implemented. We need to look for signs this year of a real change from governments and society over the priority accorded to biodiversity. \|One important sign will be the amount of funding that governments pledge this year for replenishing the Global Environment Facility (GEF), the world’s largest donor for biodiversity conservation in developing countries. Between 1991 and 2006, it provided approximately $2.2 billion in grants to support more than 750 biodiversity projects in 155 countries. If the GEF is replenished at much the same level as over the last decade we shall know that the governments are still in “business as usual” mode. But if it is doubled or tripled in size, then we shall know that they are starting to get serious.\| IUCN estimates that even a tripling of funding would still fall far short of what is needed to halt biodiversity loss. Some conservationists have suggested that developed countries need to contribute 0.2 per cent of gross national income in overseas biodiversity assistance to achieve this. That would work out at roughly $120 billion a year—though of course this would need to come through a number of sources, not just the GEF. It is tempting to think that this figure is unrealistically high, but it is small change compared to the expenditures governments have committed to defence and bank bail outs. It is time for the conservation movement to think big. We are addressing problems that are hugely important for the future of this planet and its people, and they will not be solved without a huge increase in funds.	497
Fuel cells and the electric motor are examples of highly-efficient, electric drive trains. Electric vehicles are expected to one day outstrip sales of combustion engines vehicles. Innovative technologies such as fuel cells, electric motors and electric vehicles will influence our future mobility. The market for electric vehicles boasts the most potential. Fuel cells, electric motors and electric vehicles are currently experiencing a breakthrough. Fuel cells are being used in new applications such as automobiles or laptop computers. Like electric vehicles, fuel cells are still in the development phase however. The potential is far from being exploited. Because a genuine fuel cell boom is anticipated, mass production is already underway. Like fuel cells, the application potential for electric motors and electric vehicles is still in its infancy stage. The discovery of the relationship between magnetic fields and electricity laid the foundation for the electric motor, and thus the electric vehicle. The electric motor that eventually resulted from this discovery is driven by the Lorentz force, which is the force on an electric charge as it moves through a magnetic field. The development of traditional technologies such as fuel cells and the electric motor has led to a rise in environmentally-friendly electric vehicles. Hybrid vehicles are still dominating the market in the segment for environmentally-friendly automobiles however. Utilizing a combination of combustion and electric motors, hybrid vehicles are slimmed-down versions of the electric vehicle. Fuel cells are based on the principle of a galvanic process. The composition of a fuel cell is influenced by both electrodes. The fuel cell energy stems from the electrode potential, which is created by the charging of the anode and cathode. The charging results in a potential difference in the fuel cell, which is eventually transformed into electric energy. From its discovery, to today's high-technology status, the fuel cell has experienced an astounding development. Fuel cells are already being used in a variety of applications today. But its impressive career is far from over. Because of their simple operation, the use of fuel cells in electric vehicles represents the market of the future. Theelectric motor began as an electromechanical transformer. As the description implies, the electric motor is capable of transforming electricity into mechanical energy. The electric motor functions by transforming its mechanical force into motion. Like fuel cell technology, the electric motor is a popular drive train alternative in electric vehicles. The development of the electric motor as a drive train for electric vehicles is still a work in progress however. The first genuine electric motor was produced as early as 1834. Today, state-of-the-art, innovative technologies are still based on discoveries made by researchers nearly 200 years ago, as illustrated by the examples of the fuel cell, electric motor and electric vehicle. While electric motors and fuel cells were originally used in industrial machine applications, electric vehicles are the technology of the future. At the beginning of their development, electric motors were initially used in locomotives . At this point, the focus is on the development of roadworthy electric vehicles. The key drivers of modern research into the electric vehicle are the electric motor's high degree of efficiency and low CO2 output, two factors that are behind current efforts to combat energy resource and climate change issues. The major issue is energy storage , which is the why researches are focused primarily on this aspect. For this reason, hybrid model electric vehicles - the combination of electric and combustion motors - are still in their infancy stage. Automotive Engineering highlights issues related to automobile manufacturing - including vehicle parts and accessories - and the environmental impact and safety of automotive products, production facilities and manufacturing processes. innovations-report offers stimulating reports and articles on a variety of topics ranging from automobile fuel cells, hybrid technologies, energy saving vehicles and carbon particle filters to engine and brake technologies, driving safety and assistance systems. Fraunhofer-Institut für Werkstoffmechanik IWM13.08.2008 \| Read more The National Academies21.07.2008 \| Read more Fraunhofer Institute for Information and Data Processing IITB11.07.2008 \| Read more Du Pont de Nemours (Deutschland) GmbH11.07.2008 \| Read more University of Portsmouth02.07.2008 \| Read more DOE/Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory06.06.2008 \| Read more Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits IIS04.06.2008 \| Read more Fraunhofer-Institut für Betriebsfestigkeit und Systemzuverlässigkeit LBF09.05.2008 \| Read more Fraunhofer Institute for Open Communication System02.05.2008 \| Read more Du Pont de Nemours (Deutschland) GmbH09.04.2008 \| Read more National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)04.04.2008 \| Read more University of Stuttgart17.03.2008 \| Read more DOE/Argonne National Laboratory26.02.2008 \| Read more DOE/Pacific Northwest National Laboratory25.02.2008 \| Read more Du Pont de Nemours (Deutschland) GmbH20.02.2008 \| Read more Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM)14.02.2008 \| Read more A fried breakfast food popular in Spain provided the inspiration for the development of doughnut-shaped droplets that may provide scientists with a new approach for studying fundamental issues in physics, mathematics and materials. The doughnut-shaped droplets, a shape known as toroidal, are formed from two dissimilar liquids using a simple rotating stage and an injection needle. About a millimeter in overall size, the droplets are produced individually, their shapes maintained by a surrounding springy material made of polymers. Droplets in this toroidal shape made ... Frauhofer FEP will present a novel roll-to-roll manufacturing process for high-barriers and functional films for flexible displays at the SID DisplayWeek 2013 in Vancouver – the International showcase for the Display Industry. Displays that are flexible and paper thin at the same time?! What might still seem like science fiction will be a major topic at the SID Display Week 2013 that currently takes place in Vancouver in Canada. High manufacturing cost and a short lifetime are still a major obstacle on ... University of Würzburg physicists have succeeded in creating a new type of laser. Its operation principle is completely different from conventional devices, which opens up the possibility of a significantly reduced energy input requirement. The researchers report their work in the current issue of Nature. It also emits light the waves of which are in phase with one another: the polariton laser, developed ... Innsbruck physicists led by Rainer Blatt and Peter Zoller experimentally gained a deep insight into the nature of quantum mechanical phase transitions. They are the first scientists that simulated the competition between two rival dynamical processes at a novel type of transition between two quantum mechanical orders. They have published the results of their work in the journal Nature Physics. “When water boils, its molecules are released as vapor. We call this ... Researchers have shown that, by using global positioning systems (GPS) to measure ground deformation caused by a large underwater earthquake, they can provide accurate warning of the resulting tsunami in just a few minutes after the earthquake onset. For the devastating Japan 2011 event, the team reveals that the analysis of the GPS data and issue of a detailed tsunami alert would have taken no more than three minutes. The results are published on 17 May in Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences, an open access journal of ... 22.05.2013 \| Life Sciences 22.05.2013 \| Ecology, The Environment and Conservation 22.05.2013 \| Earth Sciences 17.05.2013 \| Event News 15.05.2013 \| Event News 08.05.2013 \| Event News	541
Hyperemesis gravidarum (HG) is an uncommon condition characterized by frequent, persistent, and severe vomiting and nausea during pregnancy. As a result, you may be unable to take in a sufficient amount of food and fluids. It can cause a weight loss of more than 5% of your pre-pregnancy body weight. This can also cause dehydration and vitamin and mineral deficiencies. Treatment may require hospitalization. HG is a more severe form of nausea and vomiting of pregnancy (NVP), also called morning sickness. Morning sickness affects anywhere between 50% to 90% of pregnant women. HG is estimated to occur in 0.5%-2% of pregnancies. There are many theories about the causes of HG, but none have been confirmed. HG is a complex disease that is likely caused by many factors. Some of these include: The Brain May Be Cause of Nausea Copyright © Nucleus Medical Media, Inc. Some researchers have found that the following factors increase your chance of developing HG. If you have any of these risk factors, tell your doctor: The following list of symptoms are general and may be caused by other, less serious health conditions. However, if you experience any one of them, call your physician to discuss your condition. Symptoms may include: Your doctor will ask about your symptoms and medical history. A physical exam will be done. Tests may include the following: Treating HG symptoms early in pregnancy can make you less sick in the long run and can decrease recovery time. Because HG is caused by many factors that vary among women, it is difficult to find a treatment that works for everyone. Talk with your doctor about the best treatment plan for you. Treatment options include the following: Try to eat frequent, small meals, bland or dry foods, high-protein choices. Reducing nausea, and thus allowing eating and drinking, will hasten recovery. Due to the risk of stating that a drug is safe for use during pregnancy, very few pharmaceutical manufacturers will say that their drugs are intended for a pregnancy condition like HG (examples: promethazine or prochlorperazine). However, doctors often recommend that women with HG take certain anti-nausea medicines, balancing the potential benefits and risks. Talk to your doctor about the right medicines for you. A common and safe remedy is to take supplemental vitamin B6 (pyridoxine), to a maximum of 100 mg/day. The American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommends that first-line treatment of nausea and vomiting of pregnancy should start with pyridoxine with or without doxylamine. Pyridoxine has been found to be effective in significantly reducing severe vomiting. In urgent visit situations, HG can be managed by IV fluids and vitamins. This can sometimes be done without hospitalization. Very rarely, some people require IV fluids throughout the entire pregnancy. If you are unable to tolerate food by mouth, you may need to receive nutrition by vein. This is called parenteral nutrition. A special kind of catheter is placed in a large vein and liquid nutrition is given. This can sometimes be done without hospitalization. In extreme cases, induced abortion may be considered. If you are diagnosed with HG, follow your doctor's instructions. Many of the conditions that lead to HG are not preventable. It is unknown why some women without those conditions develop HG. You can try to reduce your nausea during pregnancy by: The American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists Hyperemesis Education and Research Foundation National Organization for Rare Diseases The Canadian Women's Health Network The Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada (SOGC) ACOG issues guidance on the treatment of morning sickness during pregnancy. American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology website. Available at: http://www.acog.org/About_ACOG/News_Room/News_Releases/2004/ACOG_Issues_Guidance_on_Treatment_of_Morning_Sickness_During_Pregnancy. Accessed August 20, 2011. Acupuncture. EBSCO Natural and Alternative Treatments website. Available at: http://www.ebscohost.com/healthLibrary. Updated January 2009. Accessed January 19, 2009. Beers MH, Berkow R, eds. The Merck Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy. 17th ed. Whitehouse Station, NJ: Merck Research Laboratories; 1999. Burrow GN, Duffy TP, eds. Medical Complications During Pregnancy. 5th ed. Philadelphia, PA: WB Saunders Company; 1999. Cunningham FG, Gilstrap LC, Gant NF, Hauth JC, Leveno KJ, Wenstrom KD, eds. Williams Obstetrics. 21st ed. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill; 2001. Ferri, Fred, ed. Ferri’s Clinical Advisor 2010. 1st ed. Philadelphia: Mosby Elsevier, 2009. Gabbe SG, Niebyl JR, Simpson JL. Obstetrics: Normal and Problem Pregnancies. 5th ed. United Kingdom: Churchill Livingstone; 2007. Gastroenterology Clinics of North America. Philadelphia, PA: WB Saunders. Hyperemesis Education and Research Foundation website. Available at: http://www.helpher.org. Kasper DL, Braunwald E, Fauci AS, Hauser SL, Longo DL, Jameson JL, eds. Harrison’s Principles of Internal Medicine. 16th ed. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc; 2005. Mahan LK, Escott-Stump S, eds. Krause’s Food, Nutrition, and Diet Therapy. 10th ed. Philadelphia, PA: WB Saunders Company; 2000. Marx J, et al. Rosen's Emergency Medicine. 7th ed. St. Louis, MO: Mosby, Inc., 2009. National Organization for Rare Diseases website. Available at: http://www.rarediseases.org Nausea and vomiting in pregnancy. EBSCO DynaMed website. Available at: https://dynamed.ebscohost.com. Updated October 2010. Accessed October 25, 2010. Quinlan JD, Hill DA. Nausea and vomiting of pregnancy. Am Fam Physician. 2003;68:121-128. American Family Physician website. Available at: http://www.aafp.org/afp/20030701/121.html. Accessed August 12, 2005. Sadock BJ, Sadock VA, eds. Kaplan and Sadock’s Synopsis of Psychiatry: Behavioral Sciences/Clinical Psychiatry. 9th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott, Williams and Wilkins; 2003. Wise MG, Rundell JR, eds. The American Psychiatric Publishing Textbook of Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry: Psychiatry in the Medically Ill. 2nd ed. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Publishing, Inc.; 2002. Last reviewed September 2012 by Andrea Chisholm Please be aware that this information is provided to supplement the care provided by your physician. It is neither intended nor implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice. CALL YOUR HEALTHCARE PROVIDER IMMEDIATELY IF YOU THINK YOU MAY HAVE A MEDICAL EMERGENCY. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider prior to starting any new treatment or with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Copyright © 2012 EBSCO Publishing All rights reserved. What can we help you find?close ×	360
Serious illness or the death of a child is a tragedy that touches all of our hearts. Over this past week four seriously ill children have been hospitalized in Oregon after drinking unpasteurized milk contaminated with E. coli O157, and although the milk in question is no longer being distributed, additional cases may yet occur. The lives of these children currently hang in the balance. These tragedies are made even more distressing when one considers that those who gave this milk to these children undoubtedly believed they were doing what was best for them. As a parent, my heart goes out to those adults. Unpasteurized, or "raw," milk, like many unprocessed food products, may sound healthier, but it is not. Hundreds of years of experience have demonstrated that raw milk can carry many kinds of harmful bacteria that can make you very sick or kill you, and that's why pasteurization was invented in the 19th century. While it is possible to get food-borne illnesses from many different foods, raw milk is one of the riskiest of all, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Pasteurization is a simple but very effective process. It involves heating up milk for a brief period. No chemicals are added, and pasteurization can be done on organic or regular milk. This simple heat treatment is enough to kill a host of bad germs that can get into the milk from the cow's skin, udder or feces, such as salmonella, listeria, yersinia, campylobacter, mycobacterium tuberculosis and staphylococcus aureus, in addition to E. coli. While there are occasional outbreaks from pasteurized dairy products, the rate of outbreaks from unpasteurized products, per unit consumed, is about 150 times greater than from pasteurized products. So pasteurization works. While there is great value in eating locally sourced foods and strengthening the connections between consumers and farmers, those strategies are not enough to prevent contamination of milk with dangerous bacteria. Nor is it a matter of preventing lax procedures used by farmers; it would be impossible for even the most conscientious farmer to prevent contamination, and that is why pasteurization is required for commercially distributed milk. The milk implicated in this outbreak came from a "herd-share," and so was legally distributed to 48 members, even though it was not pasteurized. In the wake of this outbreak, I had occasion to review some clippings from 1922 in The Oregonian documenting 13 deaths and many illnesses from an outbreak caused by a different type of bacteria transmitted by unpasteurized milk from the Pleasant View Dairy. But we don't have to go back to the 1920s to find these outbreaks. In the past two decades we have had at least six outbreaks linked to raw milk in Oregon alone, and many others nationwide. Milk is good for most people. It is packed with vitamins, calcium and protein. But history has taught us over and over again that milk needs to pasteurized to be safe. These latest events have taught us that painful lesson yet again. Mel Kohn is director of the Oregon Public Health Division of the Oregon Health Authority.	830
OHIO DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE Division of Plant Industry – Apiculture 8995 East Main Street Reynoldsburg, Ohio 43068-3399 “SWARM PREVENTION AND CONTROL” When honey bees swarm it is a natural process where the colonies divide. In essence, it is nature’s way of trying to increase bee colony populations. Beekeepers can not stop all swarming. However, swarm prevention should be incorporated info a beekeeper’s management program, if he/she is interested in obtaining a good honey crop. The following are some things that can be done to reduce swarming. - Colonies should be requeened every 2 to 3 years. This can be done in the spring, fall, after a honey flow or as conditions dictate. - Clipping the wings on a new queen is another attempt to prevent swarming. This procedure slows down swarming, but may resutt in the colony swarming anyway with a virgin queen. - Reversing the hive bodies in the spring results in having an empty hive body being placed above the brood chamber, thus providing more room for queen laying, pollen and honey storage. This procedure may be done several times in the spring. - Colonies can be split. This entails dividing the colony population in half to make up 2 hives. This is an effective method in swarm control. - Cutting queen cells is a method many beekeepers use. However, the bees usually win out. Once the queen cells are eliminated the bees will produce more queen celIs. \|Prepared by:\|\|Gordon Rudloff Ohio Department of Agriculture	531
Oct 08 2008 The Nobel Prize in Medicine was awarded this week to two French virologists, Françoise Barré-Sinoussi and Luc A. Montagnier, for discovering the AIDS causing virus, the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). They will share half the prize of 1.4 million dollars, the other half going to three Dr. Harald zur Hausen for discovering the human papilloma virus and its relation to cervical cancer. The prize comes 25 years after Barré-Sinoussi and Montagnier, working at the Pasteur Institute in Paris, published their paper identifying what was later called HIV. The last quarter of a century has proven their discovery to be a triumph of science-based medicine. The Nobel committee is correct, in my opinion, in waiting such long periods of time before granting such recognition. It reflects that fact that, even in a fast-paced arena of science such as medicine, it takes time for the meticulous process of science to work itself out. It takes decades to garner the perspective necessary to tell the difference between a crucial breakthrough and a false lead.	721
Research and Tracking Accurately tracking birth defects is the first step in preventing them and reducing their effect. Birth defects tracking systems are vital to help us find out where and when birth defects occur and who they affect. This gives us important clues about preventing birth defects and allows us to evaluate our efforts. We base our research on what we learn from tracking. By analyzing the data collected, we can identify factors that increase or decrease the risk of birth defects and identify community or environmental concerns that need more study. In addition, research helps the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) answer critical questions about the causes of many of these birth defects. What We’ve Learned We know what causes some birth defects, such as Down syndrome and fetal alcohol syndrome. However, for about two-thirds of birth defects, the causes are unknown.1 Also, we don’t understand well how certain factors might work together to cause birth defects. While there is still more work to do, we have learned a lot about birth defects through past research. For example: - Taking supplements containing folic acid, a B vitamin, at least 1 month before getting pregnant and during pregnancy lowers the risk of having a baby with serious birth defects of the brain and spine (neural tube defects). For this reason, all women who can become pregnant should take supplements containing 400 micrograms of folic acid every day. - Drinking alcohol during pregnancy can cause the baby to be born with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASDs). Pregnant women should not drink alcohol any time during pregnancy. Women also should not drink alcohol if they are planning to become pregnant or are sexually active and do not use effective birth control. - Smoking in the month before getting pregnant and throughout pregnancy increases the chance of premature birth, certain birth defects (such as cleft lip, cleft palate, or both), and infant death. Quitting smoking before getting pregnant is best. However, for women who are already pregnant, quitting as early as possible can still help protect against some health problems. - Women who are obese when they get pregnant have a higher risk of having a baby with serious birth defects of the brain and spine (neural tube defects) and some heart defects. Helping women to reach a healthy weight before they get pregnant could prevent birth defects. - Poor control of diabetes in pregnant women increases the chance for birth defects, and might cause serious complications for the mother, too. If a woman with diabetes keeps her blood sugar well-controlled before and during pregnancy, she can reduce the chance of having a baby with birth defects. - Taking certain medications during pregnancy can cause serious birth defects, but the safety of many medications taken by pregnant women has been difficult to determine. If you are pregnant or planning a pregnancy, you should not stop taking medications you need or begin taking new medications without first talking with your doctor. This includes prescription and over-the-counter medications and dietary or herbal products. Birth Defects Tracking and Research The Metropolitan Atlanta Congenital Defects Program (MACDP) MACDP is a population-based tracking system for birth defects among children born to residents of metropolitan Atlanta. Population-based means that the researchers look at all babies with birth defects who live in a defined study area, which is important to get a complete picture of what is happening within this known population. Established in 1967, MACDP was the nation's first population-based system for active collection of information about birth defects. Active data collection means that committed staff members seek out information about birth defects and continually review medical records at multiple health care facilities in a given geographic area. Information obtained from MACDP is used to understand the characteristics of affected children, learn about other health outcomes associated with birth defects, and provide data for education and health policy decisions leading to prevention of birth defects. The system also serves as a model to help other programs develop and implement new tracking methods. Learn more about the Metropolitan Atlanta Congenital Defects Program (MACDP) » State-Based Tracking Systems CDC funds population-based birth defects tracking systems in 14 US states and territories. The tracking systems use the data to help prevent birth defects and to refer infants and children with birth defects to needed services. Identifying birth defects at a state level also strengthens public health officials' ability to estimate prevalence and evaluate risk factors that are the most important in their community. State-based birth defects tracking programs provide important insights into our continued efforts to prevent birth defects and support families affected by them. National Birth Defects Prevention Network (NBDPN) CDC supports and collaborates with the NBDPN. The NBDPN is a group of over 225 individuals working at the national, state, and local levels, who are involved in tracking, researching, and preventing birth defects. The NBDPN serves as a forum for exchanging ideas about preventing birth defects for tracking and researching birth defects, and providing technical support for state and local programs. Established in 1997, the NBDPN assesses the effect of birth defects on children, families, and the health care system. It also identifies risk factors for birth defects. This information can be used to develop strategies to prevent birth defects and to assist families and their providers in preventing other disabilities in children with birth defects. International Clearinghouse for Birth Defects Surveillance and Research (ICBDSR) The ICBDSR brings together birth defects programs from around the world with the aim of conducting worldwide tracking and research to prevent birth defects and to improve the lives of people born with these conditions. CDC supports and collaborates with the ICBDSR as a way to gain knowledge and expertise on birth defects worldwide and to further our domestic goals and those of the international community. Environmental Public Health Tracking (EPHT) Environmental public health tracking is the ongoing collection, integration, analysis, interpretation, and dissemination of data on environmental hazards, exposures to those hazards, and health effects that may be related to the exposures. CDC has worked with representatives from 23 state and local health departments that have received EPHT grants to develop a monitoring system for 12 birth defects. These defects were selected because they are serious birth defects that are relatively easily identified at or around the time of birth, have some potential for environmental risk factors, and could be adequately ascertained by the different types of birth defects tracking systems. The EPHT Network tracks the prevalence of these defects and publishes annual data tables and maps in the national portal. Currently, the national portal has birth defects data for Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Maine, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Utah, and Wisconsin. National Birth Defects Prevention Study (NBDPS) Established in 1997, NBDPS is the largest population-based U.S. study looking at risk factors and potential causes of over 30 major birth defects. CDC funds the study and collects data with researchers from other study sites, collectively called the Centers for Birth Defects Research and Prevention (CBDRP). Participating sites have included Arkansas, California, Georgia (CDC), Iowa, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Texas, and Utah. Understanding the potential causes of birth defects can help us learn how to prevent them. The NBDPS has made key contributions in understanding the risk of specific medications when used just before and during pregnancy. Data from the NBDPS has also clearly demonstrated that maternal obesity is a strong risk factor for a number of major birth defects and has confirmed the association between maternal smoking and orofacial clefts. The NBDPS is one key step toward bringing us to a day when fewer babies are born with birth defects. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) NHANES is a nationally-representative survey designed to look at the health and nutritional status of adults and children in the United States. The survey is unique in that it combines interviews and physical examinations, including the collection of blood samples. CDC uses information from these studies to look at the amount of folic acid taken in from food and dietary supplements. Green vegetables, fruits, and juices have natural folate, and other foods, such as cereal and bread, have folic acid added to them. CDC is looking at NHANES data to see how people get folic acid and to see if they are getting the recommended amount. This information will help determine if adding different levels of folic acid to these foods or different types of foods would affect peoples’ intake. CDC is also using these data to look at folic acid intake and blood folate concentrations among women who are pregnant, or who may become pregnant, as well as specifically among women who are obese or who have diabetes. CDC also uses NHANES data to look at patterns of prescription medication use among pregnant women. This information will help determine the most commonly used medications during pregnancy, which CDC will use to identify medications that need future research to characterize their safety or risk during pregnancy. - Nelson K, Holmes LB. 1989. Malformations due to presumed spontaneous mutations in newborn infants. New England Journal of Medicine 320:19-23. - Centers for Disease Control and Prevention National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities Division of Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities 1600 Clifton Road Atlanta, GA 30333 TTY: (888) 232-6348 New Hours of Operation	596
Belmont Station "Quality" Physical Education Mr. Comins and Mrs. Martin What is "Quality" Physical Education? A program that involves moderate/vigorous activity 90% of the time or more Intentional fitness - Use of functional equipment Teacher role modeling of all lessons Core curriculum content integration Physical fitness and nutrition integration Our lessons for the 2012-2013 school year will reflect a physical education program that stresses physical fitness, nutrition, and motor skills. Belmont Station will continue to teach the Five for Life program. Children in grades one through five will participate at moderate to vigorous levels of physical activity for much of the time they attend physical education class. All activities will be centered around the academic content presented in the Five for Life curriculum. Intensity levels, the five components of fitness, nutrition, the muscular system, and the skeletal system are several of the units that will be taught this upcoming year. Feedback technologies such as pedometers and heart rate batons will continue to be used as well. Please take some time to check out our web page. It will be updated each month so that our students and parents can see what we will be doing. It's going to be another productive year in physical education class!	507
National Conservative Political Action Committee The National Conservative Political Action Committee (NCPAC; pronounced "nick-pack") was a New Right political action committee in the United States that was a major contributor to the ascendancy of conservative Republicans in the early 1980s, including the election of Ronald Reagan as President, and that innovated the use of independent expenditures to circumvent campaign finance restrictions. In 1979 Time magazine characterized NCPAC, the Conservative Caucus and the Committee for the Survival of a Free Congress (headed by Paul Weyrich) as the three most important ultraconservative organizations making up the New Right. NCPAC was founded in 1975 by conservative activists John Terry Dolan, Charles Black and Roger Stone, with help from Richard Viguerie and Thomas F. Ellis. The group got its start through direct mail solicitations. "The shriller you are, the better it is to raise money," explained co-founder Terry Dolan. NCPAC became one of the first groups to circumvent the contribution limits of the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA) by exploiting the "independent expenditure" loophole permitted under a 1976 U.S. Supreme Court ruling. Although federal law restricted political action committees' expenditures to $10,000 per candidate, an organization could spend unlimited amounts of money supporting or opposing a particular candidate as long as their campaign activity was not coordinated with a candidate. NCPAC pooled independent contributions in order to make independent expenditures on campaign attack ads. Not only did this circumvent campaign finance restrictions, but it prevented candidates from being associated with advertising created on their behalf. NCPAC Chairman Terry Dolan was quoted as saying, "A group like ours could lie through its teeth, and the candidate it helps stays clean." Dolan later said he was describing a hypothetical situation, not NCPAC's actual tactics. 1978 election NCPAC's first major target was Democratic Senator Dick Clark of Iowa in the election of 1978. Three weeks before the November 1978 election, incumbent Clark had a 30 percentage-point lead in campaign polls, but he lost to Republican Roger Jepsen, 52 to 48 percent. Clark's defeat was attributed to intense anti-Clark campaigning conducted by direct mail, mailgrams, and leaflet distribution during the final weeks of the campaign, attacking Clark for his positions on abortion, gun control, and the Panama Canal Treaty. NCPAC took credit for Clark's defeat and was encouraged to expand its efforts in the 1980 election. 1980 election Clark's defeat, for which NCPAC took credit, encouraged NCPAC and other allied organizations to expand their efforts in the 1980 election, when NCPAC spent at least $1.2 million. Four of the six incumbent Democratic Senators targeted by NCPAC in 1980, John Culver (Iowa), George McGovern (South Dakota), Frank Church (Idaho), and Birch Bayh (Indiana), were defeated. Senators Alan Cranston of California and Thomas Eagleton of Missouri were also targeted, but achieved re-election. 1982 election NCPAC hoped to repeat its success in the 1982 election. Initially the group targeted a list of 20 Senators for defeat, including Pat Moynihan of New York, Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts, Paul Sarbanes of Maryland, and John Melcher of Montana. The organization later trimmed its target list to five incumbents, and spent $4.5 million in the 1982 elections. However, only one of its targets, Democrat Howard Cannon of Nevada, failed to win re-election. Sarbanes was charged with being "too liberal for Maryland," but voters did not respond to the NCPAC message. Sarbanes made NCPAC's tactics a major issue in his campaign. Democratic Senator John Melcher, a veterinarian, countered a commercial that claimed he was "too liberal for Montana" by running a TV commercial of his own featuring cows. After a shot of "out-of-staters" carrying a briefcase full of money off an airplane, one cow remarked, "Did ya hear about those city slickers bad-mouthing Doc Melcher? One of 'em was stepping in what they've been trying to sell." Later years L. Brent Bozell succeeded Dolan as the group's head after Dolan's death in 1986. The organization is based in Alexandria, Virginia. - The New Right Takes Aim, Time magazine, August 20, 1979 - Thomas Frank, "The Tilting Yard: Charlie Black's Cronies" Wall Street Journal July 2, 2008 - Running with the PACs Time magazine, October 25, 1982 - The Washington Post, August 10, 1980, p. F1, as cited at http://www.bartleby.com/73/150.html - Richard F. Fenno, Jr., Richard F. Fenno, Senators on the Campaign Trail, University of Oklahoma Press, 1998 ISBN 0-8061-3062-8, ISBN 978-0-8061-3062-0, page 111 - Richard F. Fenno, Jr., Richard F. Fenno, Senators on the Campaign Trail, University of Oklahoma Press, 1998 ISBN 0-8061-3062-8, ISBN 978-0-8061-3062-0, page 114 - Richard F. Fenno, Jr., Richard F. Fenno, Senators on the Campaign Trail, University of Oklahoma Press, 1998 ISBN 0-8061-3062-8, ISBN 978-0-8061-3062-0, page 115 - No Thunder from the Right, by Jane O'Reilly, Time magazine, Nov. 15, 1982 - A Bag of Tricks: Independent Expenditures, Center for Responsible Politics opensecrets.org website, archived January 13, 2008. - New Resolve by the New Right, by Edwin Warner, Time magazine, December 1, 1980 - NCPAC's Waterloo, by Chuck Lane, The Harvard Crimson, September 25, 1982 - Attack PAC Time magazine, Oct. 25, 1982	316
This is the second book wrote by Lee Lehman and presents in a very detailed manner the astrological dignities. It was published in 1989 by Whitford Press. In Chapter 1 - Two Unsung Revolutions in Astrology the author explains how the Copernican Revolution changed the way astrologers understand dignities. At page 18 one can find a table with traditional and modern essential dignities. Chapter 2 - Using Traditional Rulerships Here you'll find many practical examples of charts analyzed using traditional dignities. There are presented five countries (Confederate States of America, Italy, Iran, Switzerland, USSR), five corporations (General Motors, Ford, Chrysler, Coca-Cola, Pepsi), five individuals (Jane Austen, Lewis Carroll, Doyle Arthur, Niccolo Machiavelli, Mark Twain) and one horary chart. Of course, it is always nice to see how the theory applies in practice, but I was expecting from these examples to emphasize the different results which appears when analyzing the charts with traditional and modern dignities. Unfortunately, this is not happening, the charts are analyzed using only traditional dignities. In Chapter 3 - The Origin of Rulerships: A Botanical Interlude you can find out which planer or sign rules every planet. You'll see that onion is ruled by Mars, beans by Venus, holly by Saturn etc. Also, there is a table with the medicinal uses of Jupiter- ruled plants. I didn't test these, but it may be helpful. Chapter 4 - Modern “Rulerships”: Do They Work? The author is trying to prove that modern rulerships aren't working well and to find arguments. She points out that: “when modern astrologers discuss the modern rulerships the criterion appears to be: Which body (planet, asteroid or comet) has qualities which most resembles the sign in question?” So, modern rulerships are assigned counting if a planet qualities are similar with the sign qualities and not looking at the planet strength in a sign. See another quotation: “We haven't any evidence that the ancients thought that Pisces and Jupiter were synonymous. It was a question of the strength of Jupiter in Pisces, not the similarity of Jupiter and Pisces.” Now, I think the idea is pretty clear. I must say that I totally agree with this point of view. Then the charts of Marie Curie, Jeddu Krishnamurti, Adolf Hitler and Death of Dracula are analyzed. This time, Lee Lehman makes an analogy between the charts interpretations with modern and traditional rulerships. The results are pretty good and the lecture enjoyable. Only one problem, from my point of view. It is analyzed the chart “Death of Dracula”, where Lee writes things like: “I have been fascinated by charts of people who are, so to speak, energy sucks”, “Scorpio Sun (life of the vampire)”, etc. Hei, I am from Romania and I tell you there is no vampire. Dracula is just a myth assigned to a Romanian prince, Vlad III of Wallachia. It is true that he was cruel and liked to kill people by impaling them on a sharp pole, but everything else is imagination. Chapter 5 – The Meaning of Each of the Essential Dignities In this chapter you'll find some general characteristics for the five essential dignities: ruler, exaltation, triplicity, term and face. At page 127 is a table with key words associated with these dignities. Starting from these key words Lee Lehman gives many descriptive explanations for dignities, but it just seems to much! There are the same things explained over and over again, it seemed pretty boring to me. In Chapter 6 – A Statistical Interlude the author is trying to determine the influence of terms (both Chaldean and Egyptian) making a few tests. She selected a number of charts from different categories (suicide, scientist, sport champions) and counted the terms for each planet. In the final, we can see that the planet that rules the category (for example, Mars for sport champions) obtained more points that usually, on a normal pattern. Even the results apparently validates the importance of terms I won't give to much credit to such a test. Why? Because I don't see terms so important to determine a person belong to a category or another. For example, more points in the term of Saturn won't drive you to suicide because can be many other (not even major) aspects that can change this influence. Probably, I just don't believe terms are so important an if Lee Lehman is making those test it is clear that she also has doubts. Chapter 7 – Detriment, Falls and Peregrines means several pages where you can find short descriptions for every planet detriment and fall. In Chapter 8 – Conclusions there are the final words. MY EVALUATION: 6 Conclusion. If I would have to say quickly, at my first impression, some words about this book I think would be: “too much noise for nothing”. But, then, if you think for a moment you realize that you can't say “for nothing” because dignities are a very important part in astrology and one could write a whole interesting book about this subject. So, back to my reasoning, why this impression? Why “too much noise for nothing?”. Maybe, because this book presents shortly the five dignities associated with some main characteristics, ideas repeated in different chapters, but the rest of the book is somewhat near the subject. You can read about history, botany, statistics, all connected with dignities, but the book doesn't seem to touch the essential points. It is a surface play. It doesn't have those clear, rational statements that gives you a better understanding of the subject. If a medium astrologer reads this book I don't think will have much to learn and to integrate in his astrological system. Maybe I am a little too harsh, but it is my purpose here to criticize and to present a clear point of view about the astrological books I read. My evaluation is 6.	290
Ancient galaxies newly discovered in southern sky A concentrated effort by Australian telescopes and the Hubble Space Telescope on a tiny, dark patch of the southern sky has led to the discovery of thousands of previously unknown galaxies. Preliminary resuts will be released today from the ten-day period of observation in October, when the Hubble and ground-based telescopes were focused simultaneously on a patch of sky called the Hubble Deep Field South. The tiny piece of sky was carefully chosen for astronomers to learn more about distant galaxies. Like the Hubble Deep Field, another small patch in the northern sky which was observed in late 1995, it contains no bright stars to drown out the light from objects much further away. Unlike its northern counterpart, however, the Hubble Deep Field South was picked because it had a quasar -- the bright centre thought to be the central 'engine' of a distant galaxy. Astronomers at the Anglo-Australian Observatory sifted through their photographic records of the whole southern sky until they found a likely quasar, 10 billion light-years away. "The quasar acts like a lighthouse in the distance," said the Observatory's Dr Chris Tinney. "It helps you see anything in its path." While the high-resolution Hubble detected and photographed the galaxies in the path of the quasar's beam, the Anglo-Australian Observatory could analyse their spectra for more information about their shape and size. From the results, astronomers hope to learn about the life cycles galaxies go through, from creation to old age. "What you're seeing are the embryonic stages of very old galaxies," said Dr Tinney. "When you're looking at distant galaxies you're looking back in time -- right back to the first ten percent of the age of the Universe."	456
A/Prof. Dirk Van Helden \|Work Phone\|\|(02) 4921 5623\| \|Fax\|\|(02) 4921 7406\| Principal Research Fellow School of Biomedical Sciences and Pharmacy The University of Newcastle, Australia \|Office\|\|MS405, Medical Sciences\| Investigations are being made on cellular rhythms including those in lymphatics, blood vessels, gastrointestinal tract, heart and specific mood-associated brain nuclei. We have discovered a new mechanism that it is driven by intracellular Ca2+ stores that allow groups of cells to self pace and hence become rhythmic. We are now exploring the relevance of this mechanism in a range of tissues. We are also interested in specific proteins involved in the pacemaker mechanism including inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate receptors, ryanodine receptors, store operated calcium channels and TRP family proteins. These studies may influence future therapies to control lymphedema, digestive disorders, heart arrhythmias and brain mood states. We also have a recent patent relating to use of a topical ointment as a first aid treatment against snakebite. This was a surprising outcome that arose from studies investigating whether snake venoms enhance lymphatic pumping and hence accelerate their own delivery. Our preliminary trials indicate topical application of the ointment slows lymphatic transport by some 350% with no obvious adverse effects. The cream will be of particular use for bites to the torso where pressure bandaging is ineffective. It may also be useful as a first aid treatment against bites from other venomous creatures. - PhD, University of New South Wales - Bachelor of Engineering, University of New South Wales - Cellular physiologist - gastrointestinal physiology - heart pacemaking - smooth muscle Lymphatic and gastric pacemaking: Pacemaking in the lymphatic and gastric systems are the basis for our discovery of store pacemaking and calcium phase waves. We are now unravelling the finer details of these mechanisms. Importantly, as for all good research, there can often be unexpected yet important serendipitous outcomes. One in case is that this work has led to development of a first aid treatment against bites from venomous animals whose venoms transit the lymphatic system and we have a patent application on this finding under review. Heart pacemaking: Traditionally, this has been considered to operate through a clock in the cell surface membrane of pacemaker cells. However, recent evidence from our pilot and modelling studies and from the work of others indicates a significant role of calcium stores. This introduces the possibility that the heart pacemaker model is only part of the story and that pacemaking involves an intracellular clock (i.e. store pacemaking). We are investigating this hypothesis, which if upheld will change the text book model for heart pacemaking and help change present understanding of specific heart disorders and their treatment. (National Health and Medical Research Program Grant -NHMRC PG Cardiac Pacemaking, 2007-2009). Brain rhythms: Brain rhythms function in most areas of the brain and while fundamental to life and our psyche remain poorly understood. We are testing the hypothesis that specific rhythms in the Locus Coeruleus, a brain stem nucleus known to be associated with mood states, are generated by store pacemaking. Evidence that the rhythms are generated by store pacemaking could provide a new framework for interpreting drug action in the treatment of mood disorders such as Bipolar Disorder, as all three main drug classes used in its treatment have the common mode action of inhibiting calcium stores. (Australian Research Council Discovery Program Grant Investigation of a Brain Rhythm 2005-2007). Uterine pacemaking: Astonishingly, there is still no clear understanding of the pacemaker mechanism that initiates and times uterine contractions. Pilot studies we have undertaken suggest this to be mediated by store pacemaking. Proof for this hypothesis would herald a mechanistic description for uterine contractions and may provide new insight into associated dysfunctions such as premature birth. (NHMRC PG Rhythmicity and synchronicity in uterine smooth muscle, 2007-2009). Fields of Research \|020599\|\|Optical Physics Not Elsewhere Classified\|\|50\| \|110399\|\|Clinical Sciences Not Elsewhere Classified\|\|30\| \|111699\|\|Medical Physiology Not Elsewhere Classified\|\|20\| Centres and Groups Body relevant to professional practice. - Faculty member - Cardiovascular Physiology/Circulation of 'Faculty of 1000 Biology' - member of council - Australian Physiological society - Chair, Research Committee - HMRI Cardiovascular Group - Member of Editorial Board 2001-2005 - the British Journal of Pharmacology - Member - The British Journal of Pharmacology - member - Australian Physiological Society \|01/01/2001 - 01/12/2011\| NHMRC Senior Research Fellow University of Newcastle (Australia) \|01/01/1990 - 01/12/2000\| Senior Brawn Fellowship University of Newcastle (Australia) Hunter Medical Research Institute (Australia) 2004 Hunter Medical Research Institute Sparke Helmore/ NBN Award for Research Excellence from a field of ~350 scientists in the University and Area Health Sectors Gordon conference, United Kingdom (Conference Presentation - non published.) Department of physiology University of Western Australia, Australia (External Reviewer - Departments.) Research policy (e.g. Archetect of the Brawn Fellowship Scheme at the University of Newcastle) Honours and Postgraduate students - Cellular Physiology	426
Definitions for acanthosis nigricans acanthosis nigricans, keratosis nigricans(noun) a skin disease characterized by dark wartlike patches in the body folds; can be benign or malignant U.S. National Library of Medicine A circumscribed melanosis consisting of a brown-pigmented, velvety verrucosity or fine papillomatosis appearing in the axillae and other body folds. It occurs in association with endocrine disorders, underlying malignancy, administration of certain drugs, or as in inherited disorder. Use the citation below to add this definition to your bibliography: "acanthosis nigricans." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2013. Web. 23 May 2013. <http://www.definitions.net/definition/acanthosis nigricans>.	643
General best practices for performance You must plan for every feature in your app, and the same is true for performance. Planning for performance consists of determining what your performance-critical scenarios will be, defining what good performance means, and measuring early enough in the development process to ensure that you can be confident in your ability to hit your goals. You don't need to completely understand the platform to reason about where you might need to improve performance. By knowing what parts of your code execute most frequently, you can determine the best places to optimize your app. The users' experience is a basic way to define good performance. For example, an app's startup time can influence a user's perception of its performance. A user might consider the performance of an app's launch time of less than one second to be excellent, less than 5 seconds to be good, and greater than 5 seconds to be poor. Sometimes you also have to consider other metrics that don't have a direct impact on the user experience. An example of this is memory consumption. When an app uses large amounts of memory, it takes it from the rest of the system, causing the system as a whole to appear sluggish to the user. It is difficult to have a goal on overall sluggishness of the system, so having a goal on memory consumption is reasonable. When defining your performance goals, take into consideration the perceived size of your app. Users’ expectations for the performance of your app may be influenced by their qualitative perception of how big your app is, and you should take into account whether your users will consider your app to be small, medium, or large. As an example, you might want a small app that doesn't use a lot of media to consume less than 100MB of memory. As part of your plan, you define all of the points during development where you will measure performance. Measuring performance serve different purposes depending on whether measure during the prototyping, development, or deployment phase of your project. In all cases, measure on a representative device so that you get accurate info. For more info about how to measure your app’s performance in Visual Studio, see Analyzing the performance of Windows Windows Store apps. Measuring your app’s performance during the early stages of prototyping can add tremendous value to your project. We recommend that you measure performance as soon as you have code that does meaningful work. Early measurements give you a good idea of where the important costs are in your app, and inform design decisions. This results in high performing apps that scale well. It can be very costly to change design decisions later on in the project. Measuring performance too late in the product cycle can result in last minute hacks and poor performance. Measuring your app’s performance during development time helps you: - Determine if you are on track to meet your goals. - If you are not on track, find out early if you need to make structural changes, such as data representation, in order to get back on track. You don't need to optimize every part of your app, and performance improvements to the majority of your code usually don't result in a material difference to the user. Measure your app's performance to identify the high traffic areas in your code, and focus on getting good performance in only those areas. Often, there is a trade-off between creating software that follows good design practices and writing code that performs at the highest optimization. It is generally better to prioritize developer productivity and good software design in areas where performance is not a concern. Windows 8 can run on many devices under a variety of circumstances and it is impossible for you to simulate all the conditions in which your app will run. Collecting telemetry about your app's performance on user machines can help you understand what your end-users are experiencing. This can be accomplished by adding instrumentation to various parts of your application and occasionally uploading the data to a web service. From this info, you can determine what the average user sees and what the worst and best case performance of your app is. This will help you decide which aspects of performance to focus on for the next version of your app. Let's look at a few key performance best practices that are specific to Windows Store apps. When you create an app, be aware that the type of computer that your users have might have significantly less power than your development environment. Windows 8 was designed with low power devices, such as tablets, in mind. Also, Windows RT uses these same design principles to take advantage of the low power consumption characteristics of ARM-based platforms. Windows Store apps need to do their part to ensure that they perform well on these devices. Operations that seem to run fast on your development machine can have a big impact to the user-experience on a low power device. As a heuristic, expect that a low power device is about 4 times slower than a desktop computer and set your goals accordingly. Testing your app early and often on the type of computer that you expect the user to have allows you to form a realistic understanding of how your users will experience your app. Most of the performance work you do naturally reduces the amount of power your app consumes. The CPU is a major consumer of battery power on devices, even at low utilization. Windows 8 tries to keep the CPU in a low power state when it is idle, but activates it every time you schedule work. You can further reduce your app's consumption of battery power by ensuring that your app doesn't have timers unnecessarily schedule work on the CPU when it is idle. For example, an app might poll for data from web services and sensors (such as the GPS). Consider battery consumption when deciding how often you poll for data. This is also an important consideration for animations that require constant updates to the screen and keep the CPU and graphics pipeline active. Animations can be an effective in delivering a great user experience, but make a conscious choice about when you use them. This is particularly important for data-driven apps where the user may be looking at your app but not interacting with it. For example, a user may spend a while looking at content in a news reader or photo viewer without interacting with the app. It can also be wasteful to use animations in snap mode because the user is not giving the app their full attention. Many apps connect to web services to get new info for the user. Reducing the frequency at which you poll for new info can improve your battery consumption. Reducing memory helps avoid sluggishness and is even more important for Windows Store apps because of the Process Lifetime Management (PLM) system. The PLM system determines which apps to terminate, in part, by the app's memory footprint. By keeping your app's memory footprint low, you reduce the chance of it getting terminated when it is not being used. For example, you can reduce your app’s memory footprint by releasing unnecessary resources such as images on suspend. The PLM system may also choose to swap out your app to disk, and swap it back into memory the next time it is switched to. If you lower the memory footprint of your app it will resume faster. The related topics contain more in-depth performance best-practices for developing Windows Store apps. These best practices cover topics that are likely to be the source of performance issues in your app. But these best practices will only make a difference if they are on performance critical paths of your app. We recommend that you follow the principles on this page and determine if applying these best practices will help you achieve your performance goals. Build date: 11/29/2012	878
A crowd awaits a ship at Station Pier, Port Melbourne. Source: Italian Historical Society - Co.As.It. Find out why this landmark has become such an evocative symbol of Victoria's immigration history. Station Pier is one of Australia's longest operating passenger piers. It holds iconic significance in Victoria's heritage, and is particularly significant to Victoria's post-war immigrants for whom it is an ongoing symbol of their arrival and the start of their new life. The exhibition provides an historical overview of Station Pier, including its early days as Railway Pier in the 1850s, and its upgrade in the 1920s in response to the growing needs of the city and port of Melbourne.	7
A surprising amount of what we think we know about the brain comes from neuropsychology; famous case studies such as HM have informed theories of memory so that they include short and long term storage, which are separable, and so on. These case studies can have a profound effect on research; my favourite story, though, was about a memory researcher who had a skiing accident and temporarily developed retrograde amnesia - he couldn't remember anything except that there was this guy in Connecticut (HM) who couldn't remember things either! I always enjoyed classes in neuropsychology; the case studies are always fascinating. But they are deeply limited in what they can actually tell us about the brain. First, they are typically single patient case studies, which restricts how general the conclusions are. Second, they are data from damaged brains; the fairly linear assumption that some localised function has been subtracted out is simply not true, and the damage will have had complex effects on distributed functional networks.Third, the damage is never straight-forward, because these almost all come from accidents or strokes (HM's surgery being a rare example of more detail being known). This has not stopped the field being very excited by these cases, though, and from basing a lot of theory on these patterns of deficits. In movement research, the most famous neuropsychology case study is Patient DF She suffered bilateral damage along the ventral stream of visual processing (James et al, 2003). The effect was visual form agnosia: she is able to control her actions with respect to objects, but cannot describe or recognise these objects verbally. Crucially, her accident did not damage her parietal lobe; specifically, the dorsal stream of visual processing was left intact. These two streams are well defined anatomical pathways leading out of primary visual cortex, and were first described by Ungerleider & Mishkin, 1982). DF's pattern of deficits led Mel Goodale and David Milner (Goodale & Milner, 1992) to suggest functional roles for these streams. The ventral stream, they suggested, was for perception - things like object and scene recognition. The dorsal stream, in contrast, was for perception-for-action, and used visual information for the online control of action. This perception-action hypothesis has been hugely dominant in the field, and the theory rests heavily on DF's shoulders. Recently, Thomas Schenk (2012a) published some data which claims to show that DF's visually guided reaching is not normal if she doesn't have access to haptic feedback about the object. His data suggests that the only reason she succeeds at reaching while failing judgment tasks is that haptic information is only normally available in the former case. If correct, this is actually quite a shot across the bow of the perception vs perception-for-action work; naturally Goodale and Milner don't buy it, and have published a reply to which Schenk has then replied. I like seeing these arguments happen in the literature; but to be honest, the time scale is too slow. Schenk publishes, then Milner et al get to reply and Schenk gets right of reply to that. They may or may not iterate again and it's always left as 'we agree to disagree'. But these critiques have answers, and I think a blog comment feed might be the right place to work through the various cycles of suggestions and rebuttals until the obviously wrong things have been weeded out. It would also provide a place for other interested parties to weigh in. So if Schenk, Milner and Goodale (and anyone else!) feel like using the comments for this post or another made to purpose to bang around ideas until an obvious experiment or analysis pops out, please feel free! Schenk (2012a): Patient DF and haptic feedback The classic result from DF that inspired the Goodale and Milner account has two parts (a dissociation). When DF is asked to reach for an object, she can do so well and she shows appropriate pre-shaping of her hand which scales correctly with the size of the object. This suggests she has intact visual perception-for-action. However, if you ask her to judge the size of the object without reaching for it, she cannot do it; she has selectively impaired visual perception. Schenk ran the following experiments on DF and to demonstrate that her unimpaired reaching is not because of intact visual perception-for-action, but rather because of haptic feedback from real objects. 'Perception': these are the tasks DF typically fails due to her visual form agnosia, and she fails them here too. - Size discrimination: Choose the largest of two objects - Manual estimation: Judge the size of an object by shaping your hand correctly - Standard grasping: Reach to grasp an object in the mirror and there is actually an object there (vision + haptic information match) - Grasping without haptic feedback: Reach for the reflection but there is no actual object there. - Grasping with intermittent haptic feedback: there was an object present on half the trials; these were scattered randomly throughout the session and a light cued participants when the object would be present. - Grasping with dissociated positions: participants saw an object in the middle location, were asked to reach for an object at the far position, and there was a real object there. \|Figure 1. Grip performance for controls (open circles) and DF (red diamonds).\| Milner, Ganel & Goodale (2012) Unsurprisingly, Milner et al (2012) do not agree that these data cast doubt on the perception-action hypothesis about the function of the dorsal and ventral streams. They make the following criticisms: - They suggest that "so-called 'haptic feedback'" (to quote the paper) from trial n could only inform a reach on trial n+1 if the objects were the same size in both trials; object size was randomised across trials, however. - They then claim that Schenk's interpretation means he thinks DF's reaches are prepared on the basis of previous haptic, rather than current visual information. Therefore, they suggest, Schenk must make 'the inescapable prediction' that a reach on trial n+1 should be appropriate for what happened on trial n, regardless of what is presented on trial n+1.They allow that there may be some 'minor intrusion' of haptic information from previous trials. Again unsurprisingly, Schenk (2012b) does not agree with Milner et al's evaluation. - He claims that the Milner et al critique assumes that prehension requires the visual computation of an object's size. He then cites recent work by Smeets & Brenner (1999) who claimed to show that prehension involves the independent targeting of the thumb and forefinger, and thus you don't need object size. - He then suggests that DF is generally able to reach successfully because she has access to the necessary egocentric information (in hand-centred coordinates) about the location of object edges. This information requires regular calibration (Bingham et al, 2007) to remain accurate. - He therefore predicts that if DF has egocentric information about the object, and this information has been calibrated recently, she can reach successfully, otherwise she fails. His 2012a data then support this pattern. - Regarding the pantomime problem: Schenk tested this in Task 5 with the trials with no objects. DF knew there would be no object on these trials (the light cue) but still produced normal reaches because of the calibration on other trials. There is a lot that is weird about the replies. Milner et al make some odd claims, and Schenk goes to strange places in his defence. Let's address those first. 1. "So-called 'haptic feedback'" Milner et al want to keep claiming that DF reaches on the basis of current visual information, and not on the basis of previous haptic information. But there's a problem for them - this is the claim Schenk's data actually refutes! So they make an odd move, and simply claim that earlier haptic information does not affect reaches, and that even if it could, it won't here because the size changes from trial to trial. However, Coats, Bingham & Mon-Williams (2008) have demonstrated (using a mirror rig similar to Schenk's) that if you systematically change the size of the grasped object while leaving the visual object the same size, people happily recalibrate their reach actions and change their grip apertures. Bingham et al (2007) have also shown that even occasional calibration allows stable reach behaviour to persist; calibration lasts some time. So even when the visual size remains unchanged, people's grip behaviour reflects the haptic calibration of the visual perception of size and if this calibration changes, so does grip. Milner et al's second point - that haptic feedback can't help because the object size changes randomly - is actually addressed by Schenk's control data, which shows that neurologically intact people can happily scale their grips appropriately under these conditions (albiet slightly more noisily). 2. Reaching and the need for visual size Schenk centres his reply on the idea that Milner et al assume you need to compute (or perceive) the size of objects in order to scale your grasp. He then cites Smeets & Brenner (1999) who claim that instead, you simply control your thumb and forefinger independently and bring them into alignment with the edges of the object. The problem here is that Smeets & Brenner's work is highly controversial, and in fact more recent work from Mon-Williams & Bingham (2011) tested the predictions of this account in great detail and found no support for this claim. Instead, they showed that the unit of control is an opposition axis (Iberall, Bingham & Arbib, 1986). This is the space between the thumb and forefinger, and Mon-Williams & Bingham (2011) demonstrated that prehension is about aligning this space with the object. You do still therefore need to perceive object size, specifically the maximum object extent. I'll blog this paper in more detail sometime, it is a master class in affordance research. I think Schenk had it basically right in the first paper; the explanation for his data is that in tasks 3 and 5, DF has sufficient access to haptic information about the object's size to allow her to bypass her visual perceptual deficit. She can therefore successfully reach to grasp. In all other tasks, she can't go round the problem and she fails. This suggests that her visual deficit is not simply restricted to 'perception'; the visual system involves both anatomical streams working in concert and these are not functionally independent of each other. What Schenk needs to do is treat haptic information as perceptual information for size in it's own right, not simply feedback or an 'egocentric cue'. DF has unimpaired access to this information and when it's available, she can reach-to-grasp. Bingham, G. P., Coats, R., & Mon-Williams, M. (2007). Natural prehension in trials without haptic feedback but only when calibration is allowed. Neuropsychologia, 45, 288 –294. Download Coats, R., Bingham, G.P. & Mon-Williams, M. (2008). Calibrating grasp size and reach distance: Interactions reveal integral organization in reaching-to-grasp movements. Experimental Brain Research, 189, 211-220. Download Goodale, M. A., Jakobson, L. S., & Keillor, J.M. (1994). Differences in the visualcontrol of pantomimed and natural grasping movements. Neuropsychologia, 32(1), 1159-1178. Goodale, M. A., & Milner, A. D. (1992). Separate visual pathways for perception and action. Trends in Neuroscience, 15(1), 20 –25. Download Iberall, T., Bingham, G. P., & Arbib, M. A. (1986). Opposition space as a structuring concept for the analysis of skilled hand movements. In: Heuer H, From C (eds) Experimental Brain Research Series 15. Springer, Berlin, pp 158–173. Download James, T.W., Culham, J., Humphrey, G.K., Milner, A.D, & Goodale, M.A. (2003). Ventral occipital lesions impair object recognition but not object-directed grasping: an fMRI study. Brain 126, 2463–2475. Download Milner, A., Ganel, T., & Goodale, M. (2012). Does grasping in patient D.F. depend on vision? Trends in Cognitive Sciences DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2012.03.004 Mon-Williams, M. & Bingham, G.P. (2011). Discovering affordances that determine the spatial structure of reach-to-grasp movements. Experimental Brain Research, 211(1), 145-160. Download Schenk, T. (2012a). No Dissociation between Perception and Action in Patient DF When Haptic Feedback is Withdrawn. Journal of Neuroscience, 32 (6), 2013-2017 DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3413-11.2012 Schenk, T. (2012b). Response to Milner et al.: Grasping uses vision and haptic feedback Trends in Cognitive Sciences DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2012.03.006 Smeets, J.B.J., & Brenner, E. (1999). A new view on grasping. Motor Control, 3, 237-231. Download Ungerleider, L.G., & Mishkin, M. (1982). Two cortical visual systems. In Analysis of Visual Behavior (Ingle DJ, Goodale MA, Mansfield RJ, eds). Cambridge, MA: MIT.	743
Difference Between SD and SDHC Cards SD stands for Secure Digital which is the most popular storage medium for mobile devices in use today. SD cards can reach up to 4GB of storage space and can come in 3 different form factors; the standard size, mini, and micro each one bigger than the next. SDHC (Secure Digital High Capacity) was developed to overcome the 4GB limit that SD faced, with its smallest capacity starting at 4GB and with a 32GB maximum capacity. The move to SDHC came as more and more consumers start wanting higher capacity memory cards than what is available in the market. SD cards were once sufficient for use in digital cameras, but with portable media devices like mp3 players and video players, it becomes very apparent that more is always better. SD was limited in the memory capacity not by the physical aspect of the device since you can always add more; it is because of the byte addressing system that is used in SD. Fat32, which is the most commonly used file system in mobile devices can only allocate up to 232 addresses or just under 4.3 billion. If each address is equivalent to 1 byte then there are only 4.3billion bytes or 4GB. SDHC utilized sector addressing rather than byte addressing. Each sector is composed of 512 bytes each, allowing a theoretical maximum capacity of 2 terabytes. But currently, it is limited to a maximum of 32GB per card but will probably be increased once that threshold is reached. SDHC cards are not necessarily faster than SD cards but the enforcement of minimum write speeds could potentially mean much faster read and write access. SD cards start out at 0Mb/s then gradually increases to its max speed then slows back down. The minimum speed of SDHC cards can range from 2Mb/s to 6Mb/s, meaning it starts at a much faster speed compared to SD cards. In order to maintain backwards compatibility, most devices that take SDHC memory cards can also work with SD cards. Most memory cards are pretty easy to identify as SD or SDHC cards due to their capacities, but cards that have a 4GB capacity would need to be examined further since those could be either. 1. SD memory cards can only reach 4GB maximum while SDHC can reach 32GB 2. SD cards use byte addressing while SDHCS utilized sector addressing 3. SDHC cards can be potentially faster than SD cards 4. SDHC readers are backwards compatible with SD cards Search DifferenceBetween.net : Email This Post : If you like this article or our site. Please spread the word. Share it with your friends/family. - Difference Between SD and HD \| Difference Between - Difference Between N95 and N96 \| Difference Between - Difference Between SD and XD \| Difference Between \| SD vs XD Leave a Response	155
Image: Blazing volcano "This is an erupting volcano, showing the process of releasing lava and smoke. Volcanoes erupt because heat within the Earth melts rocks and creates a substance called magma. Magma rises and pushes through the Earths surface and the volcano erupts. Once out of the volcano, magma is called lava. Volcanoes are one of the landforms of the Earth" - Brix Orolfo, age 12yrs. - © Brix Orolfo Winner, Geology rocks drawing competition 2011, secondary school category	495
"One death is a tragedy. A million deaths is a statistic." -Joseph Stalin When figuring out how people will respond to a foreign tragedy, it comes down to three things: location, location, location. And TV cameras too.The September 11, 2001 homicide attacks killed about 3,000 people yet it's had more impact on American politics and foreign policy than anything since World War II. And to the great extent that American foreign policy impacts the rest of the world, it had a huge impact on international affairs as well. While 3,000 is pretty big death toll for a single incident, there have been other wars and attacks with greater loss of life that had a relatively miniscule influence on American or international affairs. Why? Because those attacks didn't occur in the heart of New York City. The international response would've been significantly less if the attack had been launched in Kathmandu, Bogota or Algiers (in countries with homegrown terrorist problems).The Asian tsunami of 2004 had a devastating effect and cost an estimated 283,000 lives and over a million displaced. It generated an international response that was probably unprecedented in scale. As someone who regularly reads articles on underfunded international crisis appeals, I was heartened by the response to the tsunami. That it hit easily accessible coastal regions, including many tourist areas, made it easier to TV crews to get images. That Europeans and Americans were amongst the victims, if a tiny fraction, ensured that it got coverage in the western media. But if I told you there was a conflict that has cost almost 15 times as many lives as the tsunami, could you name that crisis? If I told you there was a crisis that, in mortality terms, was the equivalent of a three 9/11s every week for the last 7 years , would you know which one I'm talking about? I bet few westerners could, even though it's by far the deadiest conflict of the last 60 years. The war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire) is killing an estimated 38,000 people each month, according to the British medical journal The Lancet . And if not for the involvement of humanitarian non-governmental organizations and UN relief agencies, the toll would be much higher.Most of the deaths are not caused by violence but by malnutrition and preventable diseases after the collapse of health services, the study said , notes the BBC. Since the war began in 1998, some 4m people have died, making it the world's most deadly war since 1945, it said. A peace deal has ended most of the fighting but armed gangs continue to roam the east, killing and looting. The political process in the DRC is slowly inching in the right direction. Voters in the country recently approved a new constitution , to replace the one imposed on it by the outgoing Belgian colonialists. EU officials praised the referendum as free and fair, probably the first truly open poll in the country's history. Elections are scheduled for June of this year. However, instability reigns in much of the country, particularly the east. And central government throughout the entireity of the country has never been strong in this gigantic country. There are 17,000 UN peacekeepers doing the best they can but the country's the size of Western Europe. (By contrast the Americans and British have ten times as many troops in Iraq, a country that's less than 1/5 the size of the DRC. And we know how many problems they're having there) And this shows why war should ALWAYS be a last resort. Most of the deaths have not been directly caused by war (bullet wounds, landmines, etc). Most of the deaths have been caused by factors provoked by war's instability and destruction. The destruction of all infrastructure like roads and medical clinics. The inability to get to sources of clean water. The fear of leaving the house to tend the fields or go to the market. 38,000 people a month. If you get pissed off at Howard Dean or Pat Robertson, spare a little outrage for this. And maybe a few bucks. WANNA HELP? TAKE YOUR PICK -Doctors Without Borders -World Food Program -Catholic Relief Services	512
Since 2002, when HAVA was enacted, computer scientists have released over three dozen studies of the software-based voting systems rushed in by HAVA. Every one of these studies has concluded that software-based optical scanners and DREs (direct record electronic systems, often known as “touch screens”) are vulnerable to undetectable manipulation and error. While any machine, including a lever voting machine, can be hacked, software enables a single individual to change thousands of votes in a few minutes without leaving a trace. The inner workings of the software-based machine are invisible. Systematic exploits enable massive vote switching in minutes. In contrast, to affect the outcome of an election conducted with lever machines is labor-intensive since each machine must be individually rigged, increasing the likelihood that the crime would be caught; levers are not capable of systematic exploits. Vote flipping, common on electronic machines, is also not possible on a lever machine. Tampering to a lever machine can be detected because the working parts of the lever machine are visible, as contrasted with software, which is invisible to all but the programmers. Regardless of how the software has been programmed, self-erasing malware can be introduced into an electronic system but not into a lever system. Certification of computerized systems is a ruse because no amount of certification testing will make voting computers secure. - The National Institute of Standards and Technology, the Federal government’s own technical advisers, found that certification testing cannot provide security or reliability: [E]xperience in testing software and systems has shown that testing to high degrees of security and reliability is from a practical perspective not possible.” (Emphasis added.) - A 2007 report authorized by the California Secretary of State found that with software-based voting machines: An attack could plausibly be accomplished by a single skilled individual with temporary access to a single voting machine. The damage could be extensive – malicious code could spread to every voting machine in polling places and to county election servers. - Finding error or fraud in software code has been shown to be prohibitively expensive and time-consuming due to self-erasing code and the fact that code can be several hundred thousand lines in length, according to the 2008 ACCURATE Report (A Center for Correct, Usable, Reliable, Auditable, and Transparent Elections): [N]o matter how hard one looks for errors or faults in voting system software, there is no way to guarantee that one has found them all. Even if no errors or faults are found, there is no way to guarantee that none exist…. - Notwithstanding the pre-election certification of the optical scanners and even with security seals in place, in 2006 the University of Connecticut established how easily election results can be falsified on an optical scanner: An Accu-Vote Optical Scan can be compromised with off-the-shelf equipment in a matter of minutes even if the machine has its removable memory card sealed in place. The basic attack can be applied to effect a variety of results, including entirely neutralizing one candidate so that their votes are not counted, swapping the votes of two candidates, or biasing the results by shifting some votes from one candidate to another…. Such vote tabulation corruptions can lay dormant until Election Day, thus avoiding detection through pre-election tests…. [V]oters could be unaware of any discrepancies between their cast votes and the internally recorded votes. - A 2007 Florida report demonstrated how viruses can be introduced and propagated from a single machine to every other computer in the jurisdiction as well as from one election to the next. Each county will use an Election Management System (EMS) computer (commonly known as a “central tabulator”). The central tabulator reprograms the optical scanners before every election using a memory card that tells the machine who is on the ballot and how to count it, and then accumulates and reports precinct-level results after an election. Florida’s study demonstrated how a virus introduced to a single machine would spread to every other machine in the county via memory cards: A cleverly constructed virus can cover its tracks so that infected machines could not be detected by ordinary means and an appropriately programmed virus could self-destruct and erase all its tracks…. [I]f carefully constructed, it can allow an attacker to transfer program control to her own malicious code. Once this happens, the attacker controls the machine. - A 2006 Princeton University report “describes how the virus propagates … via memory cards, without requiring any network.” NY’s wireless ban would not prevent this massive attack because all computers in a county communicate with the EMS central tabulator, which in turn communicates with each computer in the county: An infected machine will infect any memory card that is inserted into it. An infected memory card will infect any machine that is powered up or rebooted with the memory card inserted. Because cards are transferred between machines during vote counting and administrative activities, the infected population will grow over time. - A 2006 report commissioned by California’s Secretary of State corroborated that these attacks to optical scanners cannot be discerned by election officials responsible for ensuring the accuracy of the election: There would be no way to know that any of these attacks occurred; the canvass procedure would not detect any anomalies, and would just produce incorrect results. The only way to detect and correct the problem would be by recount of the original paper ballots. - A 2007 report commissioned by Florida’s Secretary of State reaffirmed that election results could be readily compromised by an individual with only brief access to an optical scanner, by replacing the memory card with one preprogrammed to read one candidate’s votes as counting for another. The report also found “The attack can be carried out with a reasonably low probability of detection….” Flaws in the Optical Scan software enable an unofficial memory card to be inserted into an active terminal. Such a card can be preprogrammed to swap the electronically tabulated votes for two candidates, reroute all of a candidate’s votes to a different candidate, or tabulate votes for several candidates of choice toward a different candidate. - In 2007, Ohio’s Secretary of State released the Evaluation and Validation of Election Related Equipment, Standards and Testing (EVEREST) study, which revealed, among other things, the ineffectiveness of requirements –such as NY’s — that the source code be escrowed to secure the software. The EVEREST team was able to penetrate all of Ohio’s voting systems, including Sequoia’s optical scanner, without the source code. None of these attacks could have been detected or prevented by knowing the source code. The EVEREST report concluded that software-based systems are “insufficient to guarantee a trustworthy election.”	101
Forty years ago, the Navajo Nation and Southern Ute tribes languished side by side, mired in high unemployment and poverty. Today, worth billions, the Southern Ute Indian Tribe is one of the richest in the United States, while the Navajo still suffer as one of the most impoverished communities in the country. The difference? Energy. While the Southern Utes have natural gas, the Navajo Nation has coal, which has for decades been extracted to feed various large-scale power plants, including in the Four Corners. But that revenue has come under threat by tightening air-quality regulations. At the same time, natural gas, a cleaner fuel source for generating electricity, has grown cheaper and more abundant because of hydraulic fracturing. The shift has left Navajo leaders in a quandary: either continue investing in coal in the hopes it will remain a significant fuel source, or cut their losses and choose another investment. The tribe is staking its future on coal. The Navajo Nation is in negotiations to buy the Navajo Mine from BHP Billiton in 2016 when BHP's lease expires. Opponents say all the deal will do is saddle the tribe with a huge environmental cleanup. Tribal leaders say coal is a viable fuel source, and buying the Navajo Mine will save jobs and provide a foundation for the tribe to build a formidable energy portfolio similar to the Southern Utes. Tribal leaders' plans will have far-reaching effects, not only for members – some of whom still live without electricity or plumbing – but also for residents throughout the region, who have seen haze cloud their views and threaten their health. “We see how Southern Ute is using natural resources to advantage the tribe. We think they're doing well as far as adapting with the times,” said Navajo member Dailan Long, whose family lives near the Navajo Mine that is close to Fruitland on Navajo land. “I definitely see a much older mind-set managing our economy, which has gotten us to the point where we are now. I think they (the Navajo leaders) could take a much more rational and logical approach to energy alternatives,” said Long, who formerly worked for Diné Citizens Against Ruining Our Environment, a Navajo environmental-activist organization. The fossil fuel of the future Dust billows at the Navajo Mine as a dragline excavator scoops dirt into its bucket and transfers it into a pile nearby, exposing coal for a bulldozer to grab. Workers pour an ammonium-nitrate fuel-oil mixture into holes dug into the side of the mine to later blow up sections to reveal more coal in its depths. The coal mine accounted for $53.6 million in direct revenue in 2012, about $110 million when taking into account lease and royalty revenue. The 33,000-acre surface mine supplies the Four Corners Power Plant, about nine miles north, with about 8 million tons of coal a year. BHP and Arizona Public Service approached Navajo Nation this summer about buying the Navajo Mine after the two entities failed to reach an agreement over coal prices, said Erny Zah, spokesman for the Navajo Nation president. Under the preliminary negotiations, the tribe would give any federal and state tax revenue to BHP until 2016, when BHP's lease ends to pay for the mine, Zah said. It's unclear who would take on the legal liabilities associated with eventual mandatory cleanup of the mine. The Navajo Nation emphatically says the tribe will not be responsible, and BHP says the issue is still part of the negotiations. Going against the national energy tide While global demand for coal remains high, coal production in the United States dropped about 7 percent in 2012, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. Coal still provided 42 percent of the nation's electricity in 2011, but just four years ago, it was providing nearly half. “If we're talking about coal development and revenue as a major source of funding for the tribe, why didn't they negotiate this (sale) decades ago?” Long said. He believes BHP wants to walk away from the cleanup responsibilities and leave the tribe with the bill. “I think that it's definitely an exit strategy on behalf of BHP,” he said. In contrast, the Southern Utes have focused on energy sources that will likely grow. In 2008, the Southern Utes formed a separate company to manage its new-energy investments that include wind farms and biofuel projects. The U.S. Energy Information Administration expects coal power to decline to 35 percent of total American electricity generation by 2040. Natural gas is expected to generate 30 percent of the nation's electricity within three decades. Navajo Nation tribal officials acknowledge the new energy realities and have invested in alternatives, especially natural gas. Oil and gas contributed $48 million in revenue to the tribe in 2012. The tribe also has invested in an 850-megawatt wind farm. But coal will nonetheless remain the centerpiece of Navajo Nation's energy portfolio moving forward. “We want to make sure coal is part of the picture for at least another couple of decades, if not longer,” Zah said. But tightening environmental regulations that shutter coal-fired power plants could further strangle coal production. Mike Eisenfeld and other environmental activists don't anticipate the Four Corners Power Plant will remain open for more than 10 years, as federal scrutiny of its environmental impact increases. “I don't think they're sustainable now, and the sooner we figure out a transition plan to wean ourselves from big coal plants the better,” said Eisenfeld, New Mexico energy coordinator for the San Juan Citizen's Alliance. APS is decommissioning its three oldest generating units at the Four Corners Power Plant rather than install new equipment to meet EPA regulations. This will result in a 30 percent reduction in production at Navajo Mine and layoffs at both the mine and power plant. For a tribe with a roughly 50 percent unemployment rate and more than 50 percent of its members living below the poverty level, the closure will be a painful blow. “One of the reasons we're exploring the possibility of taking over Navajo Mine is we're looking at saving jobs at the mine and also at the power plant because one cannot exist without the other,” Zah said. If the power plant closes, Navajo Mine may have to shut its doors. This was the fate of the Black Mesa Mine in 2006 after the Mohave Generating Station, near Laughlin, Nev., which it supplied, shut down. Navajo Nation's other plans to secure a future for its coal haven't been met with much success. In 2003, The Navajo Nation proposed a new coal-fired power plant called the Desert Rock Energy Project, which would be supplied by an expanded Navajo Mine. Under the project, international energy developer Sithe Global Power would have built a new 1,500-megawatt power plant on Navajo land about 25 miles outside Farmington. The plant would have been among the largest in the country, and it would have provided electricity for 1.5 million customers. The tribe heralded the power plant as an economic victory, saying it would provide 400 jobs at the Desert Rock power plant, 200 additional jobs at Navajo Mine and $50 million in annual revenue – almost half of Navajo Nation's current total coal revenue. The EPA approved Desert Rock in 2008 and touted it as “state-of-the-art,” but the agency reconsidered the project's air permit after New Mexico joined environmental groups in appealing the EPA's initial approval. In 2009, the EPA reversed its decision and revoked the air permit. For the Navajos, losing the project was a crushing blow. “(Navajo Nation) viewed Desert Rock as a huge economic opportunity,” said Tom Shipps, an Indian law lawyer who works for Colorado's Southern Ute tribe. “The technology employed at Desert Rock could have been great improvements. Concerns about the environment drove a lot of the criticism, especially around here.” The project remains in the back of tribal leader's minds, Zah said. One idea is to convert it to a natural-gas plant. Still, the question of what to do with the Navajo Mine would remain if a new power plant were to run on natural gas. In the meantime, coal is the focus of the tribe's energy strategy. BHP gives a qualified endorsement of that strategy. “Coal will continue to be an important part of meeting the energy needs of the U.S.,” Norman Benally, spokesperson for BHP, said. “Granted there are mandates coming from the EPA that are limiting the use of coal and in some areas shutting down power plants that generate electricity. But we believe coal will be part of the energy portfolio, though limited, until such time that renewable energies have or will become viable.”	199
Most people still think of Web sites such as Google as places to go. Wrong. That's the old media model. In reality, every click is a command for some computer somewhere in the world. (...) Indeed, CEO Eric Schmidt says that Google essentially is a huge, distributed supercomputer "doing all sorts of things over a fiber-optic network that eventually are services available to end-users." Before long, Googling will mean not just searching for something, but getting ALMOST anything done online. The New York Times estimated last year that the Googleplex and its server farms contain 450,000 servers. "The rate at which the Google computing system has grown is as remarkable as its size. In March 2001, when the company was serving about 70 million Web pages daily, it had 8,000 computers, according to a Microsoft researcher granted anonymity to talk about a detailed tour he was given at one of Google's Silicon Valley computing centers. By 2003 the number had grown to 100,000."	532
A patch is a piece of software designed to fix problems. Hot patching is a mechanism of applying the patch to an application without requiring to shutdown or restart the system or the program concerned. This addresses the problems related to unavailability of service provided by the system or the program. We came across a situation where a DLL is loaded by one of the critical processes in a system and that process demands high availability. The DLL has exported functions that are supposed to perform the core operations within the process. We identified a critical flaw in one of the exported functions from the DLL. One constraint we had while trying to fix the problem was to avoid any down time of this critical process. We solved this problem by using the hot patch mechanism. We used an external process to inject a DLL [Hot patch]. This DLL has the corrected version of the defective function and also a hook to GetProcAddress function. As we know, calling GetProcAddress returns the address of the exported function from the specified DLL. By hooking into the GetProcAddress API, we monitored the requests to the exported function. When we find that the request was made for the flawed function, we just returned the address of the updated function which was part of the injected DLL. By intercepting the calls of GetProcAddress API, we redirected the requests from the flawed function to the corrected function. We could resolve this problem by using the concepts like DLL injection and API hooking. Hot Patch Structure This hot patching structure has the following binaries: - Hot Patch DLL: This DLL has only exported functions that are updated and will be used as replacement for the flawed functions. This also has the hooking logic to hook to GetProcAddress API exported by Kernel32.DLL. - Updater.exe: This process injects the hot patched DLL into the target process. How to Inject DLL into a Remote Process One method of injecting a DLL into a remote process requires a thread in the remote process to call LoadLibray of the desired DLL. Since we can't control the threads in a process other that our own, the solution would be to create a new thread in the target process. This enables us to have full control over the code that this thread is going to execute. We can create a thread in a remote process using the following Windows API: HANDLE hProcess, </span /> PSECURITY_ATTRIBUTES psa, PDWORD pdwThreadId ); After creating a new thread in the target process, we need to make sure that there is a call to LoadLibrary API that will load the DLL into the target process. Following is the complete set of steps for injecting a DLL into the target process: VirtualAllocEx API to allocate memory equal to the size of DLL full file path in the remote process: VirtualAllocEx(hProcess, NULL, dwSizeOfFilePath, MEM_COMMIT, PAGE_READWRITE); WriteProcessMemory to copy the DLL's full file path in the allocated space [Step 1]: (void</span />*)szDLLFilePath, dwSizeOfFilePath,NULL); CreateRemoteThread API to create thread in the remote process passing in the address of LoadLibary API and also the memory location of the DLL's full file path. hProcess, </span /> NULL, (LPTHREAD_START_ROUTINE) ::GetProcAddress(hKernel32,"</span />LoadLibraryA"</span />), pDLLFilePath, </span /> 0</span />, VirtualFreeEx function to free the memory allocated in step 1: ::VirtualFreeEx( hProcess, pDLLFilePath, dwSize, MEM_RELEASE ); How to Perform API Hooking using Import Section Using module’s import section to perform hooking is quiet robust and easy to implement. To hook to a particular function, all we need to do is change the address of the flawed function in the module's import section. We are trying to Hook to the GetProcAddress API exported by Kernel32.dll. Following is the complete set of steps for API hooking: - Locate the Module’s import section by calling - Loop through import section for the DLL which contains API that we want to hook. In this case, we would be searching for Kernel32.dll. - Once the DLL module is located, get the address to the array of IMAGE_THUNK_DATA structure that contains the information about the imported symbols: pThunk = (PIMAGE_THUNK_DATA)((PBYTE)hModule + pImportDesc-></span />FirstThunk); - Once the address of the exported is located, use the following APIs to update the address to the new function that needs to be hooked: WriteProcessMemory(GetCurrentProcess(), ppfn, &pNewFunction, sizeof</span />(pNewFunction), NULL); VirtualProtect(ppfn, sizeof</span />(pNewFunction), dwOldProtect,&dwOldProtect); When Are We Going to Perform this Hooking Immediately after injecting the DLL into the remote process, LoadLibary calls the DLLMain of the injected DLL with DllMain( HMODULE hModule, DWORD ul_reason_for_call, LPVOID lpReserved) switch</span />( ul_reason_for_call ) case</span /> DLL_PROCESS_ATTACH: HookTheAPI(); </span /> break</span />; Implementing Our Own GetProcAddress MyGetProcAddress will intercept all the calls made to GetProcAddress APIs to monitor if there is any request for the faulting function and if so, return the address of the corrected function. FARPROC WINAPI MyGetProcAddress(HMODULE hmod, PCSTR pszProcName) pOldFunAdd = GetProcAddress(GetModuleHandle("</span />MySubsystem.dll"</span />), "</span />Foo"</span />); pNewFunAdd = GetProcAddress(GetModuleHandle("</span />MySubsystem.HP.dll"</span />), "</span />"</span />Foo"</span />); pRetFunAdd = GetProcAddress(hmod, pszProcName); if((NULL != pOldFunAdd) && (NULL != pNewFunAdd)) // if the request is of that Faulting Function if(pOldFunAdd == pRetFunAdd ) pRetFunAdd = pNewFunAdd; // Return address of // corrected function return pRetFunAdd ; The attached binaries demo the hot patching implemented using the DLL Injection and Function Hooking. To keep the thing simple and for easy understanding, I am demonstrating with a very basic functionality. Please ignore the code optimizations for now: - MySubsystem.DLL: This DLL exports following functions RandomNumber: Returns a random number SleepTime: Specifies the time to sleep before making the other call to - MyProcess.exe: This process loads the MySubsystem.DLL and displays the RandomNumbers in console after sleeping for the specified amount of time as returned by MySubsystem.DLL. - Change Request: Displays the random numbers which are even. Odd number should not be displayed on the console. This has to be accomplished without restarting the process MyProcess.exe. - MySubsystem.HP.DLL: This is a HOT Patch DLL that contains the corrected MyRandomNumber as per the request. This also has the implementation for Hooking and Hooked function - Updater.exe: This process injects the MySubsystem.HP.DLL into MyProcess.exe Run MyProcess.exe to see that RandomNumbers which are both even and odd are getting displayed. Run the updater.exe and you will see only even numbers getting displayed. All the odd numbers are skipped. One limitation for this approach is that the functions that are exported can be hot patched. - 6th October, 2010: Initial version	351
A Brief Description of Islam as the Shi'ites Believe 5- MONOTHEISM IS THE VERY SOUL OF ALL THE ISLAMIC COMMANDMENTS WE BELIEVE that one of the most important subjects of the knowledge of God, is the MONOTHEISM, i.e. the belief that there is but one God. As a matter of fact Monotheism (TOWHID) is not only a principle of the religion, but the most important of the tenets. It is the very soul and the base of all the Islamic ideas and beliefs. We can say that the roots, as well as the branches of Islam take their forms in the monotheism. The UNITY and ONENESS is a general topic of conversation everywhere and in every field:- UNITY OF GOD'S ESSENCE, Unity of His attributes, and actions. In other word, also the unity of prophets and their teachings, the unity of the LAW, GHIBLEH, and the books. And after all, the unity of Moslims through their brotherhood and the unity of the resurrection day. From this point of view the HOLY QURØ·N declares POLYTHEISM as an unforgiveable SIN:- "Allah does not forgive those who set up partners with Him, but He may forgive any sin inferior to that, of whom he wills. He that sets up CO-SHARERS with Allah is guilty of a SIN which is most heinous indeed." THE HOLY QURAN - S4: 48 "It has already been revealed to you as it was revealed to those before you that:-" If you join gods with Allah, your deeds shall be fruitless, and you surely will be one of those who lose. (all spiritual goodnesses) THE HOLY QURAN - S39: 65 6- THE BRANCHES OF MONOTHEISM WE BELIEVE that MONOTHEISM, (TOWHID) has many branches among which four are the most important ones:-	514
What Is It? Vitiligo consists of white patches of skin that are caused by the loss of melanin, the pigment that gives skin its color. Melanin is produced by special cells called melanocytes, which are destroyed in people who have vitiligo. Experts are still working out the details to understand why this disease occurs, but evidence strongly suggests that vitiligo is an autoimmune disorder, in which the body's immune system mistakenly targets and injures these specific cells within your own body. Vitiligo can cause minor changes or extensive changes in the skin. In some people, it may be hardly noticeable, while in others it is obvious. In dark-skinned people the vitiligo patches are obvious since they contrast with normal skin. Light-skinned people may have fewer cosmetic concerns, but patches without pigment can become obvious in the summer because unaffected skin tans but vitiligo skin does not tan. Vitiligo occurs in about 1% to 2% of the population. Approximately 30% of people with vitiligo have a family history of the condition. About half of people with vitiligo start showing symptoms before age 20. People with vitiligo have an increased risk of developing certain diseases, such as hypothyroidism (an underactive thyroid), hyperthyroidism (an overactive thyroid), type 1 diabetes , Addison's disease (a disease that causes a decrease in the function of the adrenal gland) and pernicious anemia (vitamin B12 deficiency). Also, people with these conditions have an increased risk of developing vitiligo. These medical conditions are all problems that involve the immune system attacking cells in the body. Vitiligo causes patches of white skin that are often symmetrical (even), with dark or red borders. The patches can occur anywhere, but the areas most commonly affected are the backs of the hands, the face, and areas that have skin folds, such as the armpits and genitals. Body openings, such as the lips, eyes, nipples and anus are also common areas for vitiligo, as are areas that have been sunburned. Vitiligo can occur in bursts, so that sizeable areas of skin may rapidly lose their pigment during the beginning stages of the condition, yet then these whitened skin patches may abruptly stop expanding for months or years. Vitiligo causes a pattern of skin changes that usually can be recognized easily by a doctor. If the skin changes are in a pattern that suggests other conditions, your doctor might recommend a biopsy of the skin to be certain about your diagnosis. In a biopsy, a small piece of skin is removed and examined in a laboratory. A biopsy usually is not needed to diagnose vitiligo. In 1 out of every 5 to 10 people, some or all of the pigment eventually returns on its own and the white patches disappear. For most people, however, the whitened skin patches last and grow larger if vitiligo is not treated. Vitiligo is a lifelong condition. There is no way to prevent vitiligo. Vitiligo can be treated if it causes emotional or social distress. The goals of treatment are to minimize the contrast in color between your normal skin and skin patches that have lost pigment. If you are light-skinned, part of your treatment may be to protect your normal skin from tanning by using sunscreens with a sun protection factor (SPF) of at least 15. You can try to get normal skin color to return in the areas affected by vitiligo with treatment called repigmentation therapy, which can take several forms: - Topical treatments are helpful in most people. These are applied directly to the skin. Steroid creams or ointments are applied once a day for up to several months. These medications are not always effective, and they can thin the skin with continued use. Other medicines that may be helpful include tacrolimus (Protopic) and pimecrolimus (Elidel), but these medicines are used with caution because of a possible link between these drugs and skin cancer or lymphoma. - Ultraviolet B light treatment is effective for treating vitiligo in at least half of all patients. Ultraviolet light can be provided by a hand-held light box for smaller areas of skin. People who have many areas of skin involved can be treated by putting on goggles and standing inside a closet-sized light box for several minutes. The treatment must be repeated often, usually for three times a week and for at least six months. Side effects, which should be discussed thoroughly with your dermatologist, include itching, pain and sunburn as well as increased risk of skin cancers. - Psoralen plus ultraviolet A light treatment (commonly called PUVA) causes slightly more pronounced side effects than ultraviolet B light therapy, but it is another effective way to treat vitiligo. Like UVB treatment, this therapy helps at least half of all patients. Psoralens are drugs that cause skin to darken when they react with ultraviolet A light. They can be applied as a cream or taken as pills. After the psoralen medicine is used, you are exposed to ultraviolet light. PUVA treatment is not for pregnant women, women who are breastfeeding or children younger than 10. There is also an increased risk of skin cancers. - Oral medicines that suppress your immune system can halt vitiligo skin changes and in many cases can allow normal pigment to return. For people who have large skin areas involved, oral steroids sometimes are used instead of steroids applied to the skin. This treatment is seldom used because of potential side effects of oral steroids. - For people with severe vitiligo, depigmentation can remove the color from normal skin, making all of the skin the same white color. This treatment is rarely used because the skin without pigment is very vulnerable to damage from sun exposure. A bleaching solution is applied daily for up to 12 months. It may be 2 or 3 months before you see any effects. About 95% of people will be depigmented within 12 months, and must then meticulously avoid sun exposure. Side effects can occur in up to 50% of those treated, and include skin redness, dryness, itching and burning, especially on the face. - Skin grafting removes normal skin from less visible areas and uses this skin to replace white areas in places where the person has the most cosmetic concerns. Skin grafting is used only in a very small number of people with vitiligo. When to Call a Professional If you notice that patches of skin appear white, contact your doctor for an examination. Treatment may be most helpful if it can be started when only a small area of skin is affected. It is very important to wear sunscreen to protect the areas affected by vitiligo, since these areas are especially at risk for sunburn and for skin cancers. For most people with vitiligo, this condition slowly worsens without treatment or needs continued treatment. American Academy of Dermatology P.O. Box 4014 Schaumburg, IL 60168-4014	722
I was helping a friend with setting up her iMac computer yesterday for genealogy and she said something that caught my attention. She said, "I have to learn what all the genealogy terms mean." That brought home a common problem with all specializations; learning the jargon. Jargon is a really a technical term I became acquainted with during my graduate studies in Linguistics at the University of Utah. It is defined as special words or expressions that are used by a particular profession or group and are difficult for others to understand. The main problem with jargon is that we often do not even know we are using it. Take for example, the word "genealogy" itself, as in "I am doing my genealogy" or "I am working on my genealogy." What does that statement communicate to a non-genealogist? And sometimes we wonder why we get blank stares. The challenge is that there is really no way to avoid jargon. It is present in every (I mean every) activity and profession and interest in the entire world from skydiving to sewing. Every human activity has its own special set of insider terms. Jargon can be very exclusionary. If you are the outsider, trying to understand what the "insiders" are talking about can be a formidable challenge. An extreme type of jargon is called an argot. Sometimes the word argot is associated with criminal activities so using the word jargon is more appropriate. Usually term "argot" is used to identify an extreme jargon specifically designed to exclude outsiders. What is more difficult is that the people who are using the jargon are usually not even aware that they are using specialized words and terminology. I have noticed that many people who are new to genealogy are put off immediately by genealogists using terms they don't immediately understand. For example, they are asked if they have a pedigree chart or family group record. Although these terms seem so simple and fundamental, they are in fact very specialized uses of common words. If you add in the jargon associated with computers and computer use, coming into the world of genealogy can be formidable. By the way, it often doesn't help to try to explain or define our "jargon" terms because we end up using even more jargon to define the terms. I suggest that when you are talking to non-genealogists, you think carefully about the terms you are using and ask frequent questions to see if those you are speaking to understand what you are saying.	806
The commerce of the ancient world was gathered into the warehouses of Tyre. "Tyrian merchants were the first who ventured to navigate the Mediterranean waters; and they founded their colonies on the coasts and neighbouring islands of the Aegean Sea, in Greece, on the northern coast of Africa, at Carthage and other places, in Sicily and Corsica, in Spain at Tartessus, and even beyond the pillars of Hercules at Gadeira (Cádiz)". In the time of King David (c. 1000 BC), a friendly alliance was entered into between the Kingdoms of Israel and Tyre, which was ruled by Hiram I. The city of Tyre was particularly known for the production of a rare and extraordinarily expensive sort of purple dye, produced from the murex shellfish, known as Tyrian purple. This color was, in many cultures of ancient times, reserved for the use of royalty, or at least nobility. It was often attacked by Egypt, besieged by Shalmaneser V, who was assisted by the Phoenicians of the mainland, for five years, and by Nebuchadnezzar (586–573 BC) for thirteen years, without success, although a compromise peace was made in which Tyre paid tribute to the Babylonians. It later fell under the power of the Persians. In 332 BC, the city was conquered by Alexander the Great, after a siege of seven months in which he built the causeway from the mainland to the island, but it continued to maintain much of its commercial importance until the Christian era. The presence of the causeway affected water currents nearby, causing sediment to build up, making the connection permanent. In 315 BC, Alexander's former general Antigonus began his own siege of Tyre, taking the city a year later. In 126 BC, Tyre regained its independence (from the Seleucids) and was allowed to keep much of its independence when the area became a Roman province in 64 BC.	879
Ten common myths about teaching Educators discuss the nation’s biggest misconceptions about teachers and their profession It seems everyone has an opinion about teachers and their profession these days … and most of them aren’t teachers. Perhaps it would be a different matter if the conceptions of teaching were like those of NASA engineers: smart, genius! Or maybe like those of firefighters: brave, self-sacrificing! However, in our nation’s current climate, saying the word “teacher” is like Forrest Gump opening a box of chocolates: you never know what you’re going to get, as teachers too often are seen as a convenient scapegoat for the perceived problems that are plaguing public education. eSchool News recently asked readers: “If you could clear up one misconception about teachers and/or teaching, what would it be?” Our goal was not only to help others understand these misconceptions, but also to learn how teachers feel they are perceived by others. Here are 10 misconceptions about teachers and teaching that emerged from readers (responses edited for brevity): 1. Those who can’t do, teach. “The one misconception I would like to clarify is around the phrase, ‘Those who can cannot do, teach.’ While many educators are active contributors to the particular area in which they have domain expertise (i.e. Science, Language Arts, History), K-12 educators … have committed themselves to developing skills in how to engage and foster growth of young people around the content and processes that comprise that area of expertise. It is the very special practitioner [who] makes a good educator; however, good educators need to have enough knowledge of their areas of expertise to cultivate excitement, curiosity, and spark the passion to commit to a vocation or avocation. Maybe a better phrase is, ‘Those who teach create those who do.’” —Michael Jay “One of my favorites is, ‘Those who can’t, teach.’ Teachers must be well educated in their field of study, of course, but that is only the beginning. Teachers need much pedagogical preparation on topics including educational psychology, classroom management, assessment, curriculum instruction, communication skills, and budgeting. And that is all before a teacher steps into a classroom. The requirements for a qualified teacher include all of the skills needed for the 21st-century workplace.” —Mary Montag, teacher, St. Teresa’s Academy	311
For people living with diabetes, maintaining optimal blood glucose control takes knowledge, dedication, support — and money. According to a study published in the December 2008 issue of the journal Diabetes Care, people recently diagnosed with diabetes spend, on average, $4,174 more each year on medical costs than people who don’t have diabetes — a gap that increases substantially each year following the initial diagnosis. In our current economic climate, when people are losing their savings, jobs, homes, and health insurance, people living with diabetes can face major health problems if they don’t have enough money to take care of their condition. And how can people with diabetes come up with the money for doctors’ visits, medicines, insulin, monitoring supplies, an insulin pump, and pump supplies when they are struggling to pay their rent or mortgage, make car payments, and afford their rising grocery bills? The good news is that there is help available — help that many people, including doctors and social workers, are not always aware of. Through a variety of sources, including nonprofit organizations, government programs, discount pharmacies, and direct services from manufacturers, taking care of your diabetes is possible even when your bank account is nearly empty. That said, there is no one-size-fits-all solution to finding what you need; it all depends on your financial situation. It will take a good deal of time, persistence, and self-advocacy to locate the programs that will help you. Having a computer with Internet access will make your search faster and easier, but you can also find the help you need through phone calls and perhaps a visit to your local Health and Human Services office, whose location can be found in the “government” section of your local phone book. This article leads you through a variety of resources currently available to help people with diabetes afford health care, medicine, and supplies. In the last decade, as the number of Americans living without health insurance has increased to an estimated 47 million people, a number of nonprofit agencies have been created to help people find insurance or health care or to afford medical supplies without insurance. Some of these nonprofits are specifically aimed at people with diabetes. The Foundation for Health Coverage Education (FHCE) is an excellent place to begin for anyone who is uninsured, has recently lost benefits, or is struggling to afford insurance premiums. FHCE is an organization that employs trained specialists to help people discover what public and private programs they are eligible for and what their most affordable options are — all for free. By taking a five-question eligibility quiz on their Web site, www.coverageforall.org, you can see all of the programs for which you may qualify in your state. You can then call FHCE’s help line, (800) 234-1317, to discuss your options with a real person. “Many people will be eligible for two or three programs and not know it,” says FHCE President Ankeny Minoux. For example, in some states, a person who is self-employed may qualify for a group small-business insurance plan, which can be much more affordable than buying into the state’s high-risk insurance pool. These are the kinds of tips that can make all the difference for someone whose budget is tight. FHCE has provided over 536,000 people with such guidance in the last five years. iPump was founded in 2006 by Lahle Wolfe, a single mother of four who has diabetes, as do two of her children. iPump has shipped supplies to more than 6,000 people with diabetes in its two years of operation, providing critical materials to more than 30 free clinics throughout the United States that were turning away people with diabetes because they lacked basic monitoring supplies and syringes. The group has also provided assistance to get more than 20 people on insulin pumps and plans to do the same for at least 10 more people during the first half of this year. Wolfe was inspired to start iPump by her own life experience. “As a single mom to four children, who had insurance, I still could not pay all our diabetes-related medical bills. I had to quit college, sell our home, and move across the country to get on a state insurance program because I had exhausted COBRA benefits,” she recalls. “But our premiums and out-of-pocket medical expenses were still more than $25,000 a year — more than my entire income. I often had to choose between food, my own diabetes supplies, and my daughter’s diabetes care.” (The other child had not yet developed diabetes.) “No family should have to go through what we did.” To apply for help through iPump, visit its Web site, www.ipump.org. iPump accepts donations of all unexpired diabetes and pump supplies and it relies on monetary donations to distribute them: It costs about $700 to place a donated pump with a new client. Donations can be sent to iPump.org, Inc., 2250 Alyssum Avenue, Upland, California, 91784. A number of other nonprofit organizations can help with prescription medicines, diabetes supplies, and health care. They include the following: - The Partnership for Prescription Assistance has a Web site, www.pparx.org, and phone service, (888) 477-2669, both of which offer access to hundreds of assistance programs for the uninsured. - The Charles Ray III Diabetes Association, Inc., provides blood glucose meters, strips, and other supplies to those who can’t afford to pay for them. To apply for assistance, log on to www.charlesray.g12.com. - The Patient Advocate Foundation Co-Pay Relief Program assists people who have chronic illnesses — including diabetes — and are fully insured but who struggle to afford their insurance co-payments. To apply for assistance, go to www.copays.org or call (866) 512-3861. - NeedyMeds (www.needymeds.org) is a nonprofit Web site that offers free, anonymous advice to anyone who cannot afford needed medicine or health care. The Web site helps visitors find both low-cost medicine programs and disease-based assistance programs. Local charitable organizations, including the Lions Club International, Rotary Club, Elks Club, Kiwanis Club, and Shriners, can provide assistance with medical supplies or help with fund-raising for medical expenses. However, local chapters offer different kinds of help, so you should look up your local chapter and contact it directly or check with your local Health and Human Services office for more information. Health care was one of the hottest topics in the 2008 Presidential election, and it remains to be seen how the new administration will change our current health-care system. At this time, most Americans rely on employer-sponsored health insurance or purchase private policies. However, there are a number of government-sponsored programs that can benefit people with diabetes. Medicare is a government health insurance program for people ages 65 and over as well as younger people with serious health problems such as kidney failure. Part A of Medicare covers hospital stays and is provided at no cost to those who qualify. Part B covers doctor visits outside of hospitals and requires paying a monthly premium. Medicare Advantage Plans, also called Part C, are health insurance plans that are approved by Medicare but run by private companies. They are available to anyone enrolled in Parts A and B. These plans tend to offer more benefits at a greater cost; details vary from state to state. Parts A, B, and C now cover blood glucose meters, test strips, lancets, insulin pumps and supplies, therapeutic shoes, glaucoma screenings, flu and pneumonia vaccines, and counseling by registered dietitians and certified diabetes educators under certain conditions. Part D provides prescription drug benefits. This three-year-old program is run by private insurance companies, so the cost and benefits of plans vary. However, all Part D plans “leave a huge ‘doughnut hole’ that requires patients to pay several thousand dollars a year,” says Dr. Richard Grant, an endocrinologist at Massachusetts General Hospital and author of a 2006 study published in Diabetes Care, which reported that nearly 15% of people with diabetes say they have trouble affording their prescriptions. “The trend we reported on in the study has certainly continued to worsen. With the tumbling economy, joblessness, home foreclosures, etc., people are under severe financial pressures.” Because of this gap in drug coverage, some people on Medicare will still need to find help from other sources (such as the nonprofits listed above) to help pay for their diabetes supplies or drugs. For Medicare eligibility information, call the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services at (800) 633-4227, or visit www.medicare.gov. People who have Medicare for a disability and are still struggling to make their co-payments on prescriptions may be eligible for extra benefits through Social Security, which can be applied for at www.socialsecurity.gov or by calling (800) 772-1213. Medicaid is a medical assistance program sponsored by both the federal government and state governments, and administered by each state; coverage varies by state. Eligibility is based on income level and several other criteria. Among the groups of people served by Medicaid are low-income parents, children, seniors, and people with disabilities. Medicaid recipients may qualify for full or partial coverage of certain types of diabetes medicines and blood glucose meters and strips. CHIP is the Children’s Health Insurance Program provided by each state. It is for children whose families earn too much to qualify for Medicaid but too little to afford private health insurance. For information, call (877) 543-7669, or visit www.insurekidsnow.gov. The VA (Department of Veteran Affairs) runs hospitals and clinics for veterans who meet eligibility requirements based on income. To find out more about VA health benefits, call (800) 827-1000 or visit www.va.gov. The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) requires certain medical facilities to offer free or discounted care to people who meet low-income eligibility requirements (called the Hill-Burton program). For a directory of locations, call (800) 400-2742 or visit www.hrsa.gov/hillburton. HRSA also supports many local health centers specifically aimed at people who are struggling financially. Centers vary greatly from region to region. A major challenge of community-run health centers is that they are often understaffed and can have a waiting list to see a doctor. It may take several attempts to reach someone on the phone to schedule an appointment. While it may be possible to see the same doctor each time you visit a clinic, at many centers this is not guaranteed. As a patient using a community health center, you may need to share your medical history each time you see a new doctor. If you are willing to be a self-advocate and to be persistent about scheduling and showing up for your medical appointments, using the services of a community-run center can be an excellent way to get the medical care you need despite a tough financial situation. To find an HRSA health center in your area, visit www.hrsa.gov/help. Manufacturers and pharmacies Diabetes medicines can be expensive, particularly for people with Type 2 diabetes — who often need to take multiple drugs — or for anyone with diabetes who also takes medicine to treat conditions such as heart or kidney disease or high blood pressure. Fortunately, a number of manufacturers have programs that offer free or low-cost medicines and supplies to those in need. These companies include the following: A longer listing of manufacturers that offer assistance, compiled by the American Diabetes Association, can be found at www.diabetes.org/advocacy-and-legalresources/healthcare/insurance.jsp. It is a good idea to ask your doctor to prescribe the generic form of any medicine you take, if there is one, and to look for discount pharmacies. A very helpful Web site, www.pharmacychecker.com, lets you compare prices of insulin and other medicines at different online pharmacies. Many people also find that shopping at Wal-Mart pharmacy gives significant savings because of its $4 prescription program and its low-priced ReliOn blood glucose test strips and supplies. Another fairly new Web site, www.slashdrugcosts.org, offers free advice to people who are seeking ways to lower the cost of their medicines. It is a library of information, offered by a concerned citizen group, about ways to afford medicines without having to lower your income to be eligible for Medicaid or other assistance programs. Finally, Together Rx is a public service program created and sponsored by some of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies. It provides a free prescription-savings card for eligible residents of the United States and Puerto Rico who have no other prescription drug coverage. To apply, go to www.togetherrxaccess.com. (See “Resources Listed In Text” for a list of all the resources mentioned in this article.) Don’t go it alone If you are struggling financially, finding the assistance you need to take care of your diabetes will require time, patience, and persistence. But as you can see from this article, there are many possible resources to help you get through hard economic times. You can also reach out to your doctor, diabetes educator, or social worker, as well as friends and family members, to get the support you need. In nearly all cases, there is a way to get the health care you need to stay well with diabetes.	390
Both the Crusades in the late eleventh century and the harsh persecution of Jews by the Bohemian king Vratislav II led to the migration of Jews from Bohemia, Germany and Austria to Hungary, where they found refuge; some of them settled in Slovakia. Under a "Jewish law" enacted by the Hungarian king Kalman, Jews were permitted to live only in cathedral towns and on bishops estates. In 1241 the Mongols (also known as Tartars) invaded Hungary, wreaking havoc and destruction. Jewish merchants made a major contribution to rebuilding the economy. A letter from King Bela IV refers to Jews in the cities of Pressburg (Bratislava), Senica, Trnava, Pezinok, Nitra, and Trencin. In 1251 the King granted the Jews a "privilege", a document promising them protection against attacks by Christians, a permanent legal status and other benefits. At the time, most Jews made their living in finance, a minority worked in commerce and the importing of goods, and others held positions in public administration or were involved in the minting of coins, to the displeasure of the Pope and Church leaders. From the thirteenth century on the Jews were wards of the king and paid taxes to the royal treasury. They lived primarily in the cities, on separate Jewish streets allotted to them by the authorities in order to segregate them from the Christians. In some towns there was an organized community life and Jewish public institutions. Nitra, a major administrative and economic center in the Middle Ages, had a longstanding Jewish community that is considered one of the oldest in Slovakia. A document from the year 1113 mentions Mons Judaeorum in Nitra, where there was a Jewish cemetery. In the thirteenth century Jews also lived in the nearby suburb of Parovce, which was known as Castrum Judaeorum, i.e., "fortified Jewish settlement". Jewish sources also mention the Jewish community in Nitra; for example, in his book Or Zarua, written in the late thirteenth century, a leading halakhic authority, Rabbi Isaac ben Moses of Vienna, refers to a question asked by the community regarding marriage laws. At about the same time, Jewish refugees from Bohemia and Germany founded a community in Pressburg. In the fourteenth century the Pressburg community numbered close to 800 people and seems to have been the largest in the kingdom. In the late fourteenth century the spiritual leader of Trnava was Rabbi Isaac Tyrnau (the German name of Trnava), known as the leading Torah sage in Hungary and the author of Sefer Ha-minhagim, which describes the religious practices of the Jews of Hungary and the neighboring countries. As the Christian population turned increasingly to religious extremism and social ferment in the fifteenth century, the Jews' situation grew worse. Anti-Jewish riots broke out in several places. In 1491 the authorities in Trnava spread a blood libel against the Jews, and twelve men and four women were burned at the stake on August 22 of that year. After the Turks defeated the Hungarians in 1526, the Jews were expelled from Pressburg, Trnava, and several other localities. In 1529 a blood libel was lodged against the Jews of Pezinok. Thirty members of the community were burned at the stake and the rest of the Jews fled the city. Mistreatment of Jews occurred in other communities as well. By the end of the sixteenth century the old communities of Slovakia had disintegrated, their members scattering in all directions. As a result of the severe persecution, the continuity of the community life in Slovakia was severely disturbed. The immigration of Jews, beginning in the mid-seventeenth century and intensifying during the eighteenth century, gave rise to the Jewish communities of Slovakia that existed until the Holocaust. Some members of the Hungarian aristocracy realized the advantages that might be gained from the Jews economic activity and, unlike the townspeople, made efforts to encourage Jews to settle on their estates. The Jewish immigrants came mainly from the neighboring countries of Moravia, Poland and Austria. Jewish refugees settled in Nitra County in 1649 and later in the counties of Pressburg and Trencin. New edicts in Moravia and hardships in Poland spurred migration to Slovakia, and the area of Jewish settlement expanded northward and eastward. Most inhabitants of the regions in which new communities were established were Slovakian subsistence farmers, serfs of Hungarian feudal lords. The socioeconomic conditions created an interdependency between the two sectors of the population, especially in economic affairs. A census from 1746 shows that almost half the Jewish heads of household in Slovakia were natives of Moravia and Bohemia, 10 percent of Poland, 5 percent of Austria, and 35 percent of various locations in Slovakia or elsewhere in Hungary. By the middle of the eighteenth century there were several fairly large Jewish communities in Slovakia, some with populations in the hundreds. As Jews resettled Slovakia, an interesting encounter occurred between Jewish ethnicities and cultures. The Jews in the west were chiefly of the Ashkenazi type, who tended to be more educated and more open to influences of the surrounding culture and society. The Jews in eastern Slovakia, in contrast, followed Hasidic customs, spoke Yiddish, and resembled the Jews of Poland and Galicia in their way of life and dress. The two cultures were slow to blend, completing the process only in the second half of the nineteenth century. The Jews' living conditions deteriorated drastically during the reign of Empress Maria Theresa (1740-l780). The regime promulgated various edicts and even threatened to expel the Jews from the empire. In 1749 the Jews were subjected to a special "tolerance tax" (taxa tolerantialis), a heavy burden for the immigrant families. However, their situation improved when Emperor Joseph II (l780-l790) instituted changes and innovations in the governance of the empire. In 1783 he issued an Edict of Tolerance (Sistematica Gentis Iudaicae Regulatio) for the Jews of Hungary, which referred mainly to place of residence, occupation, and educational matters. The Jews were granted permission to work in almost any occupation and to live in most parts of the empire, except in and around mining towns. Following the Edict of Tolerance, the areas of Jewish settlement expanded and new communities were founded. Jews became financially well off and in some places flourished spiritually and culturally. The Jewish community of Hungary also grew rapidly during this time, attaining a population of 83,000, about a half of them in Slovakia and the nearby Burgenland (Austria). Throughout most of the eighteenth century Jews lived in a relatively small area covering a few counties in the west and east. Large portions of central and northern Slovakia, defined as mining areas, were still off limits to Jewish settlement. In the early nineteenth century the Jewish population of Slovakia grew quite vigorously. In the 1820s the region contained about one hundred organized communities, mostly in small towns and rural villages. The increase in the Jewish population and the gradual improvement in their economic condition were accompanied by a thriving religious life and the emergence of the first Torah centers. At that time there were seven relatively large yeshivas in Slovakia, headed by well-known rabbis and scholars. The most important of them was the Pressburg yeshiva, headed by Rabbi Moses Sofer (Schreiber), known as the Hatam Sofer, who was considered the leading halakhic authority of his day. In the midst of a liberalization wave in 1840, the Hungarian parliament passed several important legislative amendments pertaining to the Jews, mainly concerning places of residence and economic matters. Many Slovakian Jews moved to other parts of the empire around that time, and the old, traditional Jewish communities began to decline in number. New communities were founded in central and northern Slovakia, and the map of Jewish settlement in Slovakia attained geographic contiguity. The "Spring of Nations" and the Hungarian uprising against Austrian rule (1848-1849) were not beneficial to the Jews. In March 1848 riots broke out in Pressburg (Bratislava) and nearby localities and spread to other regions. In many Jewish communities, especially in western Slovakia, houses were plundered and community institutions were destroyed; in some places there were casualties. Several localities were abandoned for some time. In the second half of the nineteenth century, after the situation had stabilized, there were about 115 major Jewish communities in Slovakia with recognized rabbinical offices and 200 smaller communities with their own public institutions, chiefly in villages. Several dozen yeshivas, with thousands of students, became important Torah centers. Slovakian Jews played a significant economic role as mediators between the agricultural sector and the growing cities and were involved in trade in agricultural produce. They included merchants, tenant farmers and estate managers, but many worked in petty commerce as artisans or peddlers occupations that Jews in the Oberland had practiced for generations. Whereas manifestations of socioeconomically motivated anti-Semitism that had erupted in the early nineteenth century declined when the revolution of 1848-1849 was suppressed, nationally based anti-Semitism increased over time. The Slovakian intelligentsia, which advocated a Slovakian national revival, regarded the Jews as tools of the hated Hungarian regime and, therefore, one of the causes of the plight of the Slovakian people. After Hungarian Jewry attained equal rights in 1867, anti-Semitic activity increased in Slovakia. Church representatives were actively involved in stirring up hatred of the Jews. In July 1882 some two hundred priests gathered in Topolcany to discuss the "Jewish question". The upshot of their deliberations was to urge the Hungarian parliament to revoke or limit the equal rights that it had granted to Jews in 1867. From the beginning of the eighteenth century the empire had been undergoing a modernization process that was paralleled by similar changes in Hungarian Jewry. The ideas of the Enlightenment that seeped into Hungary during those years influenced many Hungarian Jews to cast aside their traditions and seek their future in European culture. Hungarian liberals encouraged Jews to abandon their traditional lifestyle and adopt the customs of enlightened Hungarian society. Attempts to amend or reform religious rules were met with vigorous opposition from both the religious leadership in Slovakia and a large portion of the Jewish population, which was characterized by a conservative way of life and a strong affinity for religion and tradition. The opposition to the reform trends was led, from the very beginning, by Rabbi Moshe Sofer of Pressburg. As a result of his vehement stance Pressburg became the center of the struggle against the Haskala (Jewish Enlightenment) movement and religious reforms. In the mid-nineteenth century the Kulturkampf within Hungarian Jewry intensified; and in 1865 dozens of Orthodox rabbis gathered in Michalovce, Slovakia. They adopted stringent resolutions including a boycott of synagogues that had instituted changes, and a strict injunction against sermons in German and Hungarian, secular education, and the study of foreign languages. The resolutions were given the force of a halakhic ruling, thereby further deepening the fissure among Hungarian Jewry and precluding all attempts to heal the rift. At the initiative of the authorities, representatives of Hungarian Jewry were invited to Budapest in December 1868 to promote the emancipation and to establish a countrywide umbrella organization for all Jewish communities in the country. The Liberal Jews welcomed the initiative, but the Orthodox regarded it with great suspicion. They feared that such an organization, supported by the authorities and the Liberal Jews, would diminish the communities' independence and undermine the status of the rabbi as supreme religious authority and sole arbiter. After all attempts at compromise failed, the Orthodox delegates walked out of the congress. The conflict between the camps reached its peak, causing a rupture between the communities and a deep polarization of Hungarian Jewry. As a result, two separate organizations of communities were established one for the Orthodox and one for the Liberals (Neologs). Some communities did not join either organization and retained their previous status; these communities were known as status quo ante. The Jews of Slovakia were more united in their affinity for religion than those in the rest of Hungary. Two-thirds of the communities, especially the old, traditional ones in the small towns and villages, joined the Orthodox organization. In parallel, most new communities, primarily in central Slovakia, joined the Neologs. In several locations two communities formed, one Orthodox and one Neolog, and they vied for control of community institutions and assets that had previously belonged to the joint administration. On the eve of World War I the Jewish population of Slovakia numbered 140,000. Collectively they were quite diverse, comprising several religious factions whose members differed in their way of life, affinity for religion, origins, and cultural backgrounds. They spoke four different languages among themselves and with the Christians, belonged to various socioeconomic classes, and were divided among national groups. Most Slovakian Jews originated in villages and small towns and had traits characteristic of post-rural society. After World War I social agitation grew in Slovakia. Economic hardship increased following the return and demobilization of soldiers, and the frustration was soon vented in several weeks of violent acts against Jews. The burglary and looting of homes and businesses affected Jews of all classes, poor and rich alike. The new government adopted the Habsburg monarchies legislation regarding the Jews: namely, in the Czech province the Austrian laws remained in effect, whereas in Slovakia the Hungarian laws remained but with slight modifications. Attempts to establish a countrywide organization of communities representing all Jews in Czechoslovakia were foiled by the Orthodox leadership in Slovakia, which feared that this would undermine its hegemony among the religious Jews. Meanwhile, a new source of friction further exacerbated the tense relations between the factions. Under the Czechoslovakian constitution members of the Jewish religion could declare that they belonged to the Jewish nation. The Orthodox were vehemently opposed to defining Judaism as a national entity. To them Jewry was solely a religious community and would remain so until the Jews were redeemed from exile. Nevertheless, Jewish nationalism, represented by the Zionist movement, managed to establish itself and make inroads even among traditional Jews. Many Zionists, especially the young, came from Orthodox families; they joined Jewish national and Zionist organizations despite the opposition of the Orthodox religious leadership. After Czechoslovakia was established the organizations of Jewish communities formed their institutions. The Organization of Autonomous Orthodox Congregations in Slovakia (OAOCS) included 170 of 228 congregations and about 75 percent of Slovakian Jews. Over time it became one of the most authoritative, powerful and influential Jewish organizations in Czechoslovakia. Meanwhile, Agudath Israel, which had close ties to the OAOCS, complemented it by carrying out a wide range of activities in dozens of branches. Agudath Israel focused primarily on individual life and on education consistent with Orthodoxy. The ties between the two organizations, strong to begin with, became even stronger when Rabbi Samuel David Ungar, one of the leaders of the OAOCS, was named president of Agudath Israel in Czechoslovakia. Agudath Israel and its youth movements engaged in ramified social and welfare activities and educational initiatives, including preschools, a Beth Yaakov school system for girls, and camps for children and teenagers. At the end of World War I there were twenty-nine Neolog communities in Slovakia. Cut off from their center in Hungary, they encountered complex organizational problems that threatened their survival. In 1925 the Neologs decided to form a joint organization with the fifty-five Status Quo Ante communities, which since 1928 had been known as Jeshurun. In 1920 there were seventy-seven Jewish primary schools in Slovakia and two high schools. Forty-six of the schools were Orthodox; the rest were liberal. Noteworthy, only 45 percent of Jewish children attended Jewish schools; the majority attended public schools. Due to the growing percentage of students in schools that taught in Slovakian, the language spoken by the young Jews changed. Instead of German and Hungarian, the main languages used by Slovakian Jews in the past, the young people adopted Slovakian as their vernacular. Alongside the formal educational system, an extensive system of Torah education institutions functioned in Slovakia, including boys' schools (cheder and Talmud Torah), Beth Yaacov seminaries for religious girls, and more than thirty yeshivas that were accredited as religious educational institutions. In 1930 the Pressburg (Bratislava) yeshiva and three other yeshivas were accredited by the Czechoslovakian Ministry of Education as institutions of higher education. Vibrant Zionist activity was enjoyed in inter-war Slovakia and new branches of the movement were established in dozens of cities and towns. In addition to the Zionist Organization, there was a Jewish National Party (Zidovska Strana) that focused on domestic Jewish policy and representation of the Jews national, religious, economic, and social interests vis-a-vis the authorities. The party did well in elections for town councils and county and regional assemblies. Although the Orthodox establishment doggedly fought Zionism and the Jewish National Party, the Zionists penetrated even the Orthodox communities. In the mid-1930s about 20 percent of Slovakian Jews purchased the Zionist "Shekel", thereby becoming formal members of the Zionist Movement. Zionist youth movements predated World War I. In 1919-1920, after the wartime turmoil in Slovakia had waned, Zionist youth groups reorganized and opened clubs in all the major cities and some small towns. In 1924, representatives of Zionist youth groups met in Nitra and together founded He-haluts. Religious teenagers established Mizrachi Youth. Organizational and social activity in the Zionist youth movements reached its peak in the 1930s, with tens of thousands of young members from all strata of Jewish society. Hundreds of them emigrated to Palestine after undergoing training for this purpose in Slovakia. The Maccabi sports association launched social and cultural activity with Zionist national leanings. Thousands of youngsters and adults, Orthodox and Liberal alike, were active in clubs throughout Slovakia. During the period of the Republic of Czechoslovakia, Slovakian Jewry did not undergo any major demographic changes. In the 1930s about 140,000 Jews lived in 2,337 localities. Some 55 percent of them lived in villages and small towns with populations of less than 5,000; 18 percent lived in the two largest cities (Bratislava and Kosice), and only 25 percent lived in cities of l0,000-25,000 residents. The socioeconomic status of Slovakian Jews also remained constant during this period: 72 percent of Jewish breadwinners were self-employed, 15 percent were wage earners, and 13 percent were practitioners of liberal professions, white-collar workers, and brokers. In the second half of the 1930s, as political tensions mounted in Czechoslovakia, anti-Semitic sentiments increased among large segments of the Slovakian people. The nationalist parties that agitated for Slovakian national autonomy, especially the Slovak Peoples Party, held strong anti-Semitic positions and incited against the Jews. On October 6, 1938, after the Munich agreement in late September had forced Czechoslovakia to cede territory to the Third Reich, the Slovak Peoples Party declared extensive autonomy in Slovakia and instituted a one-party totalitarian regime. On November 2 large portions of southern Slovakia home to more than 45,000 Jews were annexed to Hungary. The Slovakian government blamed the Jews regarding their supposed support of the annexation and started removing thousands of Jewish families who held foreign citizenship to the Hungarian and Polish borders. Few of the deportees were permitted to return to their homes. While the deportations were in progress, an underground cell known as the Working Group, headed by Rabbi Michael Dov Weissmandel and Gisi Fleischmann, formed within the Center of Jews in an attempt to stanch the deportations and aid the deportees. The Working Groups success in halting the deportations from Slovakia encouraged its members to intensify their efforts to save all of European Jewry by negotiating with the Nazis. The resulting initiative, devised by Rabbi Weissmandel, was known as the Europa Plan. In April 1944 two Slovakian Jews, Alfred Wetzler and Walter Rosenberg (Rudolf Vrba), escaped from Auschwitz. The Working Group took detailed testimony from them about the nature of the Auschwitz camp and the extermination methods used there. A sketch of the extermination facilities, based on the description given by the two men, was attached to their testimony. The Auschwitz Protocols, as the document was known, were sent from Slovakia to the free world, where they reached Jewish organizations. The Working Groups purpose in releasing the Protocols was to sound an alarm and marshal worldwide public opinion in favor of extensive rescue activities and bombing of the railroads leading to Auschwitz and the extermination facilities themselves. Jews joined the first resistance groups that organized in Slovakia in 1942. Most of them were active in the Communist and Czechoslovakian underground movements. A Jewish underground group was also formed in the Novaky labor camp in 1942. These groups tried to prevent a resumption of the deportations and started preparing for active resistance. On August 29, 1944, an armed uprising broke out in Slovakia in an attempt to overthrow the pro-Nazi regime and reestablish the Republic of Czechoslovakia. As the partisan attacks intensified, the German army invaded Slovakia. The Jewish group from the Novaky camp was assigned to halt the advance of the SS troops along one of their main attack routes. The German invasion of Slovakia augured ill for the last remaining Jews. Many tried to reach the rebel-controlled area in the hope of surviving, and thousands of destitute Jewish refugees gathered in the rebels main stronghold, Banska Bystrica. Parachutists sent by the Yishuv (the pre-Israel Jewish community in Palestine), headed by Haviva Reik, mobilized to help them. Although the uprising was quelled two months after it began, rebel units, including Jews, fled to the mountains, where they continued to engage the enemy until the liberation. About 1,600 Jews fought in various partisan units; approximately 170 of them were killed. After the uprising was suppressed, the Germans took over the authority for Jewish affairs. SS officer Alois Brunner, one of Eichmanns assistants, went to Slovakia to deport all Jews irrespective of their status or their "certificates of exemption". Those Jews who were captured by the Nazis and their Slovakian accomplices were taken to the Sered camp. The deportation of the remaining Jews in Slovakia resumed on September 30, 1944. From then until March 31, 1945, some 12,000 Jews were deported from Slovakia; only half survived. Another 2,500 Jews were murdered on Slovakian soil during this period. Additional victims among Slovakian Jews were those who had fled to Hungary and were deported from there to the extermination camps. The Jews in the territories annexed to Hungary in 1938-1939 met the same fate as those in the rest of Hungary. After the annexation of these territories, Hungarians began to persecute the Jews and accused them of supporting Czechoslovakia. Of the 10,600 business owners only 4,500 were permitted to keep their establishments going. Beginning in 1940, close to 7,500 men from southern Slovakia were taken to work in labor battalions; few survived. Several thousand Jews lacking Hungarian citizenship were deported in 1941 to the occupied part of Ukraine, where most of them were murdered. After the Germans occupied Hungary (March 19, 1944), new anti-Jewish edicts were promulgated. Ghettoization of the Jews began in the second half of April 1944. The first transports from the territories annexed to Hungary left for Auschwitz in the second half of May 1944; the rest of the deportations occurred in June of that year. Of some 45,000 Jews who lived in those territories, 10,000 survived. About 100,000 Slovakian Jews 73 percent of their number in 1938 perished during World War II. JewishGen, Inc. makes no representations regarding the accuracy of the translation. The reader may wish to refer to the original material JewishGen is not responsible for inaccuracies or omissions in the original work and cannot rewrite or edit the text to correct inaccuracies and/or omissions. Our mission is to produce a translation of the original work and we cannot verify the accuracy of statements or alter facts cited. Pinkas Hakehilot, Slovakia Yizkor Book Project JewishGen Home Page Copyright © 1999-2013 by JewishGen, Inc. Updated 23 Dec 2006 by LA	2
Someone with cataracts sees the world as if they were looking through a pair of foggy glasses in the winter. Everything looks blurry and doing normal things, like driving, becomes extremely difficult if not impossible. The description is perfectly accurate because cataracts are actually the fogging up of the eyes natural lenses. The lens of the eye focuses light into the retina and controls the eye’s ability to focus between short and long distances. The iris and pupil are both in front of the lens. The lens is clear and composed of both protein and water. Aging, disease and injury can cause the proteins to mass together and a small part of the lens to become clouded up. The cataract can then become larger over time and vision becomes more and more difficult. Cataracts are not dangerous to your overall health. They can be extremely frustrating because of the loss of vision, though. There are rare circumstances when a cataract becomes white. This is called an overripe cataract, or hypermature cataract. This type of cataract affects your vision so much that it can cause other symptoms like a headache or other types of pain. Hypermature cataracts usually require surgery because they are such a nuisance. If you notice your vision declining you should go talk with your doctor or optometrist. There are several tests they can give you to quickly determine if you have cataracts. A visual acuity test is the standard eye test where you read letters and numbers (like when you get your drivers license). A slit-lamp exam is a specialized microscope that examines your eye closely. Retinal exam is performed by putting special drops into your eye, which dilate your pupils, so the doctor can better see what is going on with your eye lens. The most common treatment for cataracts is surgery. People tend to wait as long as possible before surgery even though it can be performed in the early stages of vision loss. There are several herbs that can help strengthen your eye if you opt out of surgery in the early going. Bilberry is great if you are looking to make your eye capillaries stronger and restore your eyes to their once strong state. Roobios and Sutherlandia Frutescens are very helpful in allowing the body to deliver plenty of oxygen, blood and other nutrients to the eyes. This gives your eyes all they need to be able to recover and become stronger. Vizu-All Plus is a natural remedy that may help maintain healthy eyes and circulatory health. Vizu-All Plus may also help lessen common problems associated with night vision and eye sensitivity often associated with the normal aging process. It is a good idea to use the right type of vitamins or herbs as you advance in age. This will help ensure that you keep your vision well into your golden years. Related Natural Product Vizu-All Plus is a natural, safe, effective and powerful herbal formula containing carefully selected herbs to promote healthy eye functioning and to guard against eye disorders such as cataracts, macular degeneration and visual problems associated with diabetes. Use this remedy to promote healthy eye functioning; counteract cell damage caused by free radicals; strengthen blood capillaries in the eye; help the retina adapt to both dark and light; prevent macular degeneration and cataracts; prevent and treat glaucoma Formulated by a clinical psychologist, Vizu-All Plus is pharmaceutically manufactured to the highest standards.Free PDF Health Ebook...	746
As a developmental pathway towards autonomy and dexterity in robot in-hand manipulation, HANDLE is a Large Scale IP project coordinated by the university Pierre and Marie Curie of Paris and include a consortium formed by nine partners from six EU countries: France, UK, Spain, Portugal, Sweden, and Germany. The TACO project aims at enhancing the abilities of service robots by improving the sensing system with real 3D foveation properties and to increase their ability to interact with their natural environment in a more natural and human-like way. The PV-Servitor project focuses on concepts for a fully autonomous cleaning robot for ground mounted large scale photovoltaic power plants consisting of 100 kW and over. STIFF-FLOP is researching how to take some of the new capabilities in soft robotics and apply them to the development of tools for endoscopic surgery. This project takes inspiration from octopus tentacles for the design of flexible soft robots. DEXDEB is researching meat deboning. Taking apart an animal carcass to produce high-quality pieces of meat is a skilled but unpleasant and dangerous task. In DEXDEB we are looking at two designs of robotic hand and using them as the “left hand” that pulls at the meat, while a human operator slices the meat with a knife held in their right hand. This will provide DEXDEB with a baseline for doing more complex human-robot interaction work later. HYFLAM is investigating the role of robotics in biosafety level 3 and 4 laboratories. Working with a UK Government lab and Hamburg University, HYFLAM is looking at a range of skilled tasks and investigating whether a robotic hand can perform them, and how well it performs them when working with software like that developed in HANDLE. This could lead to a new generation of robotic systems for hazardous lab work.	513
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia - n. A sea-duck of the subfamily Fuligulinœ and genus Clangula; a garrot. The common goldeneye is C. glaucion or C. clangula of Europe and Americn. Barrow's goldeneye is the Rocky Mountain garrot, C. barrovi. See cut under - n. A fish, Hyodon chrysopsis, having a large eye with yellow iris. — - n. One of various neuropterous insects of the genus Chrysopa: so called in allusion to their golden or bronze-colored eyes. The larvæ are often called aphis-lions. Also called golden-eyed fly. - n. Melithreptus lunulatus, a small species of honey-eater. GNU Webster's 1913 - n. (Zoöl.) A duck (Glaucionetta clangula), found in Northern Europe, Asia, and America. The American variety (var. Americana) is larger. Called whistler, garrot, gowdy, pied widgeon, whiteside, curre, and doucker. Barrow's golden-eye of America (Glaucionetta Islandica) is less common. - n. a variety of green lacewing - n. large-headed swift-flying diving duck of Arctic regions “One winter day, in prowling along the beach, I approached the spot where a day or two before I had been shooting whistlers (golden-eye ducks) over decoys.” “The software can also automatically detect and remove red - and golden-eye defects.” “OptiML Red-Eye uses embedded image processing automatically detects and corrects red- and golden-eye imperfections without the need for a PC or editing software.” “The CMC golden-eye team comprises 15 people who look primarily at HD services and evaluate video quality in six categories of digital defects on a scale of one to five (one being unwatchable and five being spectacular).” “In addition, Comcast is working to establish local golden-eye programs in at least two markets.” “My two dogs are part wolf … they have that golden-eye of the wolf and the sharp nose … those animals look very much like two of my best friends … plwalsh: I'm glad it wasn't just us who saw the poor editing.” ‘golden-eye’ hasn't been added to any lists yet. Looking for tweets for golden-eye.	266
Combating AIDS Around the Globe Lead story from the February Centerpoint In November 2004, just prior to World AIDS Day, the Woodrow Wilson Center and UNAIDS, the joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, held two high-level briefings as part of a three-part series to expand awareness of the global AIDS agenda outside of the health community, particularly within foreign policy and development circles. World AIDS Day became an annual event in 1988 when some 5 million people were living with the disease. Since then, AIDS has killed more than 20 million people around the world and, this year, 40 million people are living with HIV/AIDS. In sub-Saharan Africa alone, more than 25 million people are living with HIV/AIDS. In the Caribbean, the region second-hardest hit by the disease, at least 1 in 50 adults across five nations already are infected. A November 10 seminar featuring Dr. Kathleen Cravero, deputy executive director of UNAIDS, and Ambassador George Moose, former assistant secretary of state for African affairs, shed light on the disproportionate impact HIV/AIDS has had on women in developed and developing countries. The second briefing on November 30— featuring UNAIDS Executive Director Dr. Peter Piot and U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator Ambassador Randall Tobias—explored the aggressive U.S. emergency plan to combat AIDS and the dangerously fast spread of HIV/AIDS in East Europe and East Asia. A third upcoming seminar will delve into the effects of AIDS on security. Every day around the world, 8,000 people die from AIDS, many of them young people in their productive years, many of them mothers and caretakers. It is a humanitarian crisis that poses serious social, economic, and security threats—one that requires a sustained, collective effort to overcome. The Emerging Pandemic: East Europe, Asia UNAIDS reported at the end of 2004 that nearly a half-million people died from AIDS in South and Southeast Asia and more than 7 million people are living with HIV/AIDS, while in East Asia more than 1 million people are HIV-positive. In addition, nearly 1 million Russians are living with HIV/AIDS, about triple the official statistics, according to Wilson Center Senior Scholar Murray Feshbach and Research Associate Cristina Galvin in a recently released report underwritten by the U.S. Agency for International Development. "The situation we face in China, India, and Russia bears alarming similarities to the situation we faced 20 years ago in Africa," said Dr. Piot in his November 30 address. Piot said these countries are nearing "a tipping point," much like Africa had experienced. In South Africa, he explained, prevalence rates rose from .5 to 1 percent in five years but then in seven years, the rate leapt from 1 to 20 percent. Piot said, "I am calling for intensified attention on these next wave countries-not at the expense of Africa, but also on behalf of Africa." If the epidemic spreads, he said, global resources for Africa could decrease or disappear. "If we don't prevent this breakout, and full-blown epidemics take hold in these large, populous states, there will be dire consequences not only for these countries, but for each of our own." Well over half the world's population resides in Asian-Pacific countries, where HIV/AIDS-related income losses totaled more than $7 billion in 2001 alone. India and China, two of the world's most populous countries, have rapidly growing economies which would be devastated by the stunted growth that AIDS has caused elsewhere as would their global trading partners. AIDS threatens a nation's security and stability, and national defense can be compromised by the growing rates of AIDS in military ranks. In Russia, incidents of HIV among potential military conscripts are estimated to be 25 times the level of five years earlier, according to the Feshbach/Galvin report. The report also noted that while HIV is on the rise, testing has dropped dramatically, in a society that stigmatizes those with the virus. In Asia, increasing populations help offset the AIDS mortality levels, but Russia has a declining population. Furthermore, the report noted, AIDS disproportionately impacts Russia's young people; more than 80 percent of HIV-positive Russians are under 30 years old. "We can pay now for prevention," said Piot, "we can wait a bit longer and pay for treatment; or we can wait even longer and pay the price of losing tens of hundreds of millions of productive citizens. Early investment is everything...the price rises every minute we wait." Women and AIDS World AIDS Day, commemorated on December 1, focused special attention this year on the growing AIDS epidemic among women and girls. In sub-Saharan Africa, 60 percent of all HIV-positive people and 75 percent of infected young people, 15 to 24 years old, are female. Some of the steepest increases are occurring in East Asia, East Europe, and Central Asia. In Russia, the Russian Federal AIDS Center reported in 2003 that 38 percent of people living with HIV were women, compared with 24 percent in 2001. In Brazil, new AIDS cases among women increased by 75 percent in the late 1990s, compared to just 10 percent among men. And, in the United States, AIDS is the leading cause of death among African American women, ages 35-44. "The disproportionate infection of millions of poor women isn't merely an injustice; it's a socioeconomic disaster," said Dr. Cravero, at the November 10 seminar, "Confronting the Crisis: Women and AIDS." Cravero said AIDS among women is on the rise in these countries because "women lack control over their bodies and their daily lives, and the tools, resources and support needed to change their situation." Ambassador Moose discussed the debate within the U.S. government. He said while the U.S. government has recognized the magnitude of the HIV/AIDS threat and has made advances developing affordable antiretroviral treatments for developing nations, it has yet to address the challenge of women and AIDS. "It's one thing to bring policymakers and politicians to an acceptance that HIV/AIDS represents a threat to national and international security interests," he said, "but it's quite another, I would argue, to convince them that the place where that battle will have to be fought and won is in the bedrooms and bordellos of every society around the world." Piot also discussed the rise of AIDS among women and said that solely insisting on abstinence is unrealistic. "The scientists, the doctors, the activists, the churches, and all of us should come together and agree on a broad philosophy of prevention that takes cultural and religious differences into account, but embraces a common principle-that the highest moral ideal is to save lives." Piot said developing countries must encourage educational and economic opportunities for women, pass and enforce laws that deter domestic violence, and promote access to the female condom and microbicides that women can use to protect themselves. Said Cravero, "For women who can't choose when and with whom to have sex, for women whose partners will not use condoms or be faithful, and for women who are too beaten up or beaten down to ask, methods that they control...will make all the difference." The U.S. Relief Plan On November 30, Ambassador Randall Tobias presented the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, which commits $15 billion over a five-year period toward combating the disease in more than 100 countries. The plan, which promotes integrated prevention, treatment, and care, is the largest commitment ever by a single nation toward an international health initiative. With special emphasis on 15 focus nations in Africa, the Caribbean, and Asia, where half the world's infections occur, this plan aims to treat 2 million HIV-infected people, prevent 7 million new infections, and care for 10 million people, including orphans and vulnerable children. The emergency plan "strives to bring donors, stakeholders on the ground, and national leadership onto the same page," said Tobias, adding that emphasis will be placed on monitoring and evaluating results. "If this HIV/AIDS challenge is to be met, we in the developed world will have to meet it. If we fail to rise to the occasion, there's really no Plan B." He underscored the importance of such organizations as UNAIDS remaining engaged in the fight. Such groups, he said, "offer other donors a vehicle to sharply increase their commitment, as America has done."	812
Thomas Nelson Publishers has a new line of biographies homeschoolers and writers are going to love, called Christian Encounters. Written at an adult level, they make a great resource for parents and excellent texts for older homeschool students. Each biography includes an online reading guide with probing questions that can be printed, discussed and answered. These are ideal for a homeschool research project, or reading group. Peter Leithart, biographer of Jane Austen, has taught Theology and Literature at New Saint Andrews College since 1998, and since 2003 has served as pastor of Trinity Reformed Church in Moscow, Idaho. He writes a delightful 153-page treatise of Austen that all “Janeites” (Jane Austen fans) will appreciate. Far from clinical, Leithart’s humor and factual insights paint a well-rounded portrait of the young author that’s both entertaining and endearing. The book bursts its seams with information I had never before learned about this beloved author. Jane Austen (16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817), is one of the most beloved and widely-read English novelists. Her realism makes her an important resource of English history. Her major works include: Sense and Sensibility (1811); Pride and Prejudice (1813); Mansfield Park (1814); Emma (1815); Northanger Abbey (1817) and Persuasion (1817). Homeschoolers will enjoy including her life and this fine book in any well-rounded study of England during the Regency Period. Writers will enjoy visiting the astonishingly ordinary but fascinating life of one of the most popular romance novelists in the history of English literature.	158
Between the years 900 and 1100, Chinese painters created visions of landscape that depicted the sublimity of creation. Viewers are meant to identify with the human figures in these paintings. In Summer Mountains, travelers make their way toward a temple retreat. The central mountain sits in commanding majesty, like an emperor among his subjects, the culmination of nature’s hierarchy. The advanced use of texture strokes and ink wash suggests that Summer Mountains is by a master working about 1050, a date corroborated by collectors’ seals belonging to the Song emperor Huizong (r. 1101–25), whose paintings catalogue records three works entitled Summer Scenery by the otherwise unknown artist Qu Ding.	523
[Embargoed for release until 12 p.m. ET Thursday, August 5, 2004, to coincide with publication in the journal Cell.] BAD NEWS FOR PATHOGENIC BACTERIA: SCIENTISTS FIND PROTEIN ESSENTIAL FOR BACTERIAL SURVIVAL COLUMBUS, Ohio – Further investigation into how the common organism Escherichia coli regulates gene expression has given scientists new ideas for designing antibiotics that might drastically reduce a bacterium's ability to resist drugs. The findings, reported in the current issue of the journal Cell, suggest that bacteria rely on a key protein in order to properly regulate gene expression -- a process fundamental to cell survival. This protein, called DksA, coordinates the expression of numerous genes in response to environmental signals. Figuring out how to block DksA production in harmful bacteria may help scientists develop antibiotics that these bacteria are less likely to resist, said Irina Artsimovitch, a study co-author and an assistant professor of microbiology at Ohio State University. The current study suggests that DksA is the glue that holds together two key components of bacterial gene expression – a molecule called ppGpp and an enzyme called RNA polymerase. RNA polymerase carries out transcription, the first step in gene expression. In recent work, Artsimovitch and her colleagues discovered that ppGpp regulates gene expression by controlling amino acid production in bacteria. A cell makes ppGpp when amino acid levels are low, and ppGpp tells a cell to go dormant until amino acid levels return to normal. "But there was something missing from the ppGpp story," Artsimovitch said. "We knew that ppGpp had a dramatic effect on gene expression, but for some reason that effect was drastically decreased when we conducted experiments in the laboratory." Work by other researchers had suggested a link between DksA and the ppGpp-initiated stress response in the cell. But scientists couldn't agree on what role, if any, DksA played in the effect of ppGpp on gene expression. Working with a team of researchers led by Dmitry Vassylyev, a scientist with the RIKEN research institution in Japan, Artsimovitch and Ohio State microbiologist Vladimir Svetlov solved high-resolution crystal structures of DksA. Solving this structure meant that the researchers could at last determine just how DksA helped ppGpp hold fast to its target, RNA polymerase. DksA uses something scientists call the "backdoor of gene expression," a cavity on the RNA polymerase molecule called the secondary channel. DksA squeezes through this narrow tunnel toward the site where ppGpp binds to the enzyme. Once here, the protein helps ppGpp stay bound to RNA polymerase. "The secondary channel seems to be the hotspot for many interactions," Artsimovitch said. "It leads straight to the active site, and presents a confined area where many proteins and antibiotics that control transcription may bind to carry out their business." Knowing what roles ppGpp and DksA play in how bacteria respond to stress and other physiological stimuli may help scientists create new antibacterial drugs that target mechanisms specific and unique to harmful bacteria. "Conventional antibiotics aimed at killing bacteria also put immense pressure on bacteria to survive, and to ultimately develop resistance to these drugs," Artsimovitch said. "Forcing harmful bacteria into a stationary state by controlling ppGpp levels may be the way to circumvent the rise in antibiotic resistance. "ppGpp and DksA are found in all bacteria, including harmful ones," she continued. "Using ppGpp-based compounds to shut down gene expression in harmful bacteria could help curb the spread of infections." Grants from the National Institutes of Health and from RIKEN supported this research. Artsimovitch, Vassylyev and Svetlov conducted the study with Anna Perederina, Marina Vassylyeva, Tahir Tahirov and Shigeyuki Yokoyama, all with RIKEN.	841
Ki Tisa (Mitzvot) For more teachings on this portion, see the archives to this blog, below at March 2006. This week’s parasha is best known for the dramatic and richly meaningful story of the Golden Calf and the Divine anger, of Moses’ pleading on behalf of Israel, and the eventual reconciliation in the mysterious meeting of Moses with God in the Cleft of the Rock—subjects about which I’ve written at length, from various aspects, in previous years. Yet the first third of the reading (Exod 30:11-31:17) is concerned with various practical mitzvot, mostly focused on the ritual worship conducted in the Temple, which tend to be skimmed over in light of the intense interest of the Calf story. As this year we are concerned specifically with the mitzvot in each parasha, I shall focus on this section. These include: the giving by each Israelite [male] of a half-shekel to the Temple; the making of the laver, from which the priests wash their hands and feet before engaging in Divine service; the compounding of the incense and of the anointing oil; and the Shabbat. I shall focus here upon the washing of the hands. Hand-washing is a familiar Jewish ritual: it is, in fact, the first act performed by pious Jews upon awakening in the morning (some people even keep a cup of water next to their beds, so that they may wash their hands before taking even a single step); one performs a ritual washing of the hands before eating bread; before each of the daily prayers; etc. The section here dealing with the laver in the Temple (Exod 30:17-21) is also one of the four portions from the Torah recited by many each morning, as part of the section of the liturgy known as korbanot, chapters of Written and Oral Torah reminiscent of the ancient sacrificial system, that precede Pesukei de-Zimra. Sefer ha-Hinukh, at §106, explains the washing of hands as an offshoot of the honor due to the Temple and its service—one of many laws intended to honor, magnify, and glorify the Temple. Even if the priest was pure and clean, he must wash (literally, “sanctify”) his hands before engaging in avodah. This simple gesture of purification served as a kind of separation between the Divine service and everyday life. It added a feeling of solemnity, of seriousness, a sense that one was engaged in something higher, in some way separate from the mundane activities of regular life. (One hand-washing by kohanim, in the morning, was sufficient, unless they left the Temple grounds or otherwise lost the continuity of their sacred activity.) Our own netilat yadaim, whether before prayer or breaking bread, may be seen as a kind of halakhic carryover from the Temple service, albeit on the level of Rabbinic injunction. What is the symbolism of purifying one’s hands? Water, as a flowing element, as a solvent that washes away many of the things with which it comes in contact, is at once a natural symbol of both purity, and of the renewal of life. Mayim Hayyim—living waters—is an age old association. Torah is compared to water; water, constantly flowing, is constantly returning to its source. At the End of Days, “the land will be filled with knowledge of the Lord, like waters going down to the sea.” A small part of this is hinted in this simple, everyday gesture. “See that this nation is Your people” But I cannot pass over Ki Tisa without some comment on the incident of the Golden Calf and its ramifications. This week, reading through the words of the parasha in preparation for a shiur (what Ruth Calderon, founder of Alma, a secularist-oriented center for the study of Judaism in Tel Aviv, called “barefoot reading”—that is, naïve, without preconceptions), I discovered something utterly simple that I had never noticed before in quite the same way. At the beginning of the Calf incident, God tells Moses, who has been up on the mountain with Him, “Go down, for your people have spoiled” (32:7). A few verses later, when God asks leave of Moses (!) to destroy them, Moses begs for mercy on behalf of the people with the words “Why should Your anger burn so fiercely against Your people…” (v. 11). That is, God calls them Moses’ people, while Moses refers to them as God’s people. Subsequent to this exchange, each of them refers to them repeatedly in the third person, as “the people” or “this people” (העם; העם הזה). Neither of them refers to them, as God did in the initial revelation to Moses at the burning bush (Exodus 3:7 and passim) as “my people,” or with the dignified title, “the children of Israel”—as if both felt a certain alienation, of distance from this tumultuous, capricious bunch. Only towards the end, after God agrees not to destroy them, but still states “I will not go up with them,” but instead promises to send an angel, does Moses says “See, that this nation is Your people” (וראה כי עמך הגוי הזה; 33:13). What does all this signify? Reading the peshat carefully, there is one inevitable conclusion: that God wished to nullify His covenant with the people Israel. It is in this that there lies the true gravity, and uniqueness, of the Golden Calf incident. We are not speaking here, as we read elsewhere in the Bible—for example, in the two great Imprecations (tokhahot) in Lev 26 and Deut 28, or in the words of the prophets during the First Temple—merely of threats of punishment, however harsh, such as drought, famine, pestilence, enemy attacks, or even exile and slavery. There, the implicit message is that, after a period of punishment, a kind of moral purgation through suffering, things will be restored as they were. Here, the very covenant itself, the very existence of an intimate connection with God, hangs in the balance. God tells Moses, “I shall make of you a people,” i.e., instead of them. This, it seems to me, is the point of the second phase of this story. Moses breaks the tablets; he and his fellow Levites go through the camp killing all those most directly implicated in worshipping the Calf; God recants and agrees not to destroy the people. However, “My angel will go before them” but “I will not go up in your midst” (33:2, 3). This should have been of some comfort; yet this tiding is called “this bad thing,” the people mourn, and remove the ornaments they had been wearing until then. Evidently, they understood the absence of God’s presence or “face” as a grave step; His being with them was everything. That is the true importance of the Sanctuary in the desert and the Tent of Meeting, where Moses speaks with God in the pillar of cloud (33:10). God was present with them there in a tangible way, in a certain way continuing the epiphany at Sinai. All that was threatened by this new declaration. Moses second round of appeals to God, in Exod 33:12-23, focuses on bringing God, as it were, to a full reconciliation with the people. This is the significance of the Thirteen Qualities of Mercy, of what I have called the Covenant in the Cleft of the Rock, the “faith of Yom Kippur” as opposed to that of Shavuot (see HY I: Ki Tisa; and note Prof. Jacob Milgrom’s observation that this chapter stands in the exact center, in a literary sense, of the unit known as the Hextateuch—Torah plus the Book of Joshua). But I would add two important points. One, that this is the first place in the Torah where we read about sin followed by reconciliation. After Adam and Eve ate of the fruit of the Garden, they were punished without hope of reprieve; indeed, their “punishment “ reads very much like a description of some basic aspects of the human condition itself. Cain, after murdering Abel, was banished, made to wander the face of the earth. The sin of the brothers in selling Joseph, and their own sense of guilt, is a central factor in their family dynamic from then on, but there is nary a word of God’s response or intervention. It would appear that God’s initial expectation in the covenant at Sinai was one of total loyalty and fidelity. The act of idolatry was an unforgivable breach of the covenant—much as adultery is generally perceived as a fundamental violation of the marital bond. Moses, in persuading God to recant of His jealousy and anger, to give the faithless people another chance, is thus introducing a new concept: of a covenant that includes the possibility of even the most serious transgressions being forgiven; of the knowledge that human beings are fallible, and that teshuvah and forgiveness are essential components of any economy of men living before a demanding God. The second, truly astonishing point is the role played by Moses in all this. Moshe Rabbenu, “the man of God,” is not only the great teacher of Israel, the channel through which they learn the Divine Torah, but also, as it were, one who teaches God Himself. It is God who “reveals His Qualities of Mercy” at the Cleft of the Rock; but without Moses cajoling, arguing, persuading (and note the numerous midrashim around this theme), “were it not for my servant Moses who stood in the breach,” all this would not have happened. It was Moses who elicited this response and who, so to speak, pushed God Himself to this new stage in his relation with Israel—to give up His expectations of perfection from His covenanted people, and to understand that living within a covenant means, not rigid adherence to a set of laws, but a living relationship with real people, taking the bad with the good. (Again, the parallel to human relationships is obvious)	569
Fragmented across Central Asia, China, and Tibet, snow leopards (Uncia uncia) roam through mountain corridors and montane habitats. Today, scientists think there are between 4,000 and 7,500 snow leopards exist in the wild with most of them living within China. But accurate estimates are difficult to make when dealing with this elusive master of camouflage in its unwelcoming home. Snow leopards have developed many interesting characteristics that help it survive in the cold, mountainous terrain they call home. Their long tails help them balance on steep, rocky terrain, and their large paws and furry feet act as snow shoes in deep mountain snows. Living at heights of 2,000 to 6,000 kilometers, they also have special nasal cavities that help them breath low-oxygen mountain air. Did you know? Snow leopards can leap vertically 6-10 meters (20-30 feet). This helps them hunt prey on steep, rocky mountainsides. Because food is scarce at such high altitudes, snow leopards are solitary animals, hunting and eating whatever meat they are able to find – including deer, marmots, boars and farm livestock. This also means, however, that they are not as possessive of their home ranges. In areas where food is more plentiful, a snow leopard might have a small range of 12-15 km2, whereas if food is not available, a snow leopard may roam up to 40 km2 to find sufficient food. Threats to the Snow Leopard Snow leopards are hunted for their bones, which are in demand to replace tiger bones in Chinese medicinal traditions. Additionally, in eastern Asia, fur coats and similar items made from snow leopard skins have become increasingly popular. Habitat loss and changing patterns of land use have also threatened snow leopard populations. In the Central Asian mountains, the animals that snow leopards prey on have been hunted to dangerously low numbers, threatening the food supply of these sleek animals. Decreasing wild food supplies have often driven snow leopards to small farms, resulting in unfortunate clashes between these threatened animals and local farmers. Although some conservation projects have been put in place to conserve the habitats and environments for the snow leopard populations, additional projects focusing on local education and corridor-building would make an important contribution to snow leopard conservation.	405
OFF THE CHARTS Oil supply rising, but demand may more than keep pace Published: Saturday, November 24, 2012 at 4:36 p.m. Last Modified: Saturday, November 24, 2012 at 4:36 p.m. It used to be taken for granted that as economies grew, they would use more oil. That was a major reason cited in warnings that the world would run out of oil, particularly if standards of living rose in developing countries. Well, standards of living are improving in developing countries, but the dire forecasts now appear to be wrong. In part that is because new discoveries and improving technologies have increased the amount of oil that can be produced. It also reflects conservation, in part, as cars become more efficient and as other steps are taken to reduce oil use. The International Energy Agency, in its 2012 World Energy Outlook, released last week, forecast that U.S. oil production, which began to rise in 2009 after decades of decline, would continue rising through at least 2020, when it could be about as high as it was in 1970, the year of peak production. At the same time it forecast that by 2035, U.S. oil consumption, which peaked in 2005, could decline to levels not seen since the 1960s, depending on how much conservation is encouraged. The IEA report also forecast that by around 2020, the United States could surpass Saudi Arabia as the world's largest oil producer, and that while the country was not likely to become a net exporter of oil, the North American continent as a whole could be by around 2030. But despite declining demand in some countries that historically were heavy users of oil, the world demand for oil seems likely to continue to rise. The IEA forecast that global energy demand – including demand for energy produced by other sources – is likely to rise by 35 percent by 2035, with a large part of the increase coming from China and India. In 1969, the United States consumed a third of the oil used in the world, while China used less than 1 percent. Last year the U.S. share was less than 22 percent, while the Chinese accounted for 11 percent. The IEA forecasts that by 2030, the U.S. share could be less than the Chinese one. By 2035, U.S. consumption of oil is expected to be as much as one-third less than it was last year. In China, oil consumption is expected to be up as much as two-thirds from the 2011 level, and India's is predicted to more than double. Reader comments posted to this article may be published in our print edition. All rights reserved. This copyrighted material may not be re-published without permission. Links are encouraged.	580
Yes, let's start with the basics: What are the typical mistakes people make with percentages? What is the margin of error in a poll? It would be virtually impossible to conduct a poll on the entire voting population in the United States. Pollsters therefore question a sample of a population. What is the difference between causation and correlation? One of the most common errors we find in the press is the confusion between correlation and causation in scientific and health-related studies. What does it mean for a result to be “statistically significant”? How can we tell whether two events happen at the same time by chance, or for a reason? What is the difference between absolute and relative risk? Which one tells you about the actual risk ? What is the difference between controlled, observational and case controlled studies? There are advantages and disadvantages to each type, and an awareness of these differences makes for a savvier consumer of public health information. What are confounding factors and how do they affect studies?	883
U.S. Power Plant Carbon Emissions Zoom in 2007 WASHINGTON, DC, March 18, 2008 (ENS) – The biggest single year increase in greenhouse gas emissions from U.S. power plants in nine years occurred in 2007, finds a new analysis by the nonprofit, nonpartisan Environmental Integrity Project. The finding of a 2.9 percent rise in carbon dioxide emissions over 2006 is based on an analysis of data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Now the largest factor in the U.S. contribution to climate change, the electric power industry’s emissions of carbon dioxide, CO2, have risen 5.9 percent since 2002 and 11.7 percent since 1997, the analysis shows. Texas tops the list of the 10 states with the biggest one-year increases in CO2 emissions, with Georgia, Arizona, California, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Iowa, Illinois, Virginia and North Carolina close behind. The top three states – Texas, Georgia and Arizona – had the greatest increases in CO2 emissions on a one, five and 10 year basis. TXU’s coal-fired Martin Lake power plant in east Texas (Photo Director of the Environmental Integrity Project Eric Schaeffer said, “The current debate over global warming policy tends to focus on long-term goals, like how to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent over the next 50 years. But while we debate, CO2 emissions from power plants keep rising, making an already dire situation worse.” “Because CO2 has an atmospheric lifetime of between 50 and 200 years, today’s emissions could cause global warming for up to two centuries to come,” he warned. Data from 2006 show that the 10 states with the least efficient power production relative to resulting greenhouse gas emissions were North Dakota, Wyoming, Kentucky, Indiana, Utah, West Virginia, New Mexico, Colorado, Missouri, and Iowa. The report explains why national environmental groups are fighting to stop the construction of new conventional coal-fired power plants, which they say would make a bad situation worse. “For example” the report points out, “the eight planned coal-fired plants that TXU withdrew in the face of determined opposition in Texas would have added an estimated 64 million tons of CO2 to the atmosphere, increasing emissions from power plants in that state by 24 percent.” Some of the rise in CO2 emissions comes from existing coal fired power plants, the analysis found, either because these plants are operating at increasingly higher capacities, or because these aging plants require more heat to generate electricity. “For example, all of the top 10 highest emitting plants in the nation, either held steady or increased CO2 output from 2006 to 2007.” Robert W Scherer Power Plant is a coal-fired plant just north of Macon, Georgia. It emits more carbon dioxide than any other point in the United States. (Photo credit unknown) Georgia Power’s Scherer power plant near Macon, Georgia is the highest emitting plant in the nation. It pumped out 27.2 million tons of CO2 in 2007, up roughly two million tons from the year before. In view of these facts, the Environmental Integrity Project recommends that the nation’s oldest and dirtiest power plants should be retired, and replaced with cleaner sources of energy. That will require accelerating the development of wind power and other renewable sources of energy. Another good solution is cutting greenhouse gases quickly by reducing the demand for electricity, the authors advise. Smarter building codes, and funding low-cost conservation efforts, such as weatherization of low-income homes, purchase and installation of more efficient home and business appliances will reduce demand and yield greenhouse gas benefits. Texas tops every state measurement in the report from the most carbon dioxide measured in total tons to the largest increases in CO2 emissions over the last five years between 2002 and 2007. Ken Kramer, director of the Lone Star chapter of the Sierra Club based in Austin, Texas, says his state not only has more emissions than any other state – it has solutions to offer, such as a recent boom in wind power installations. “The bad news is that Texas is #1 in carbon emissions among the 50 states, and our emissions have grown in recent years,” Kramer said. “The good news is that Texas has the potential to play a major role in addressing global warming if we embrace smart energy solutions such as energy efficiency and renewable energy, solutions which pose tremendous economic as well as environmental benefits.” In Des Moines, Mark Kresowik, Iowa organizer of the Sierra Club’s National Coal Campaign, said, “Energy efficiency and renewable energy are powering a renaissance in rural Iowa and creating thousands of new manufacturing jobs for our state. By rejecting coal plants and reducing pollution through energy efficiency and renewable energy our states will prosper and attract new businesses and young workers for the future.” The consumption of electricity accounted for more than 2.3 billion tons of CO2 in 2006, or more than 39.5 percent of total emissions from human sources, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. Coal-fired power plants alone released more than 1.9 billion tons, or nearly one third of the U.S. total. The Department of Energy projects that carbon dioxide emissions from power generation will increase 19 percent between 2007 and 2030, due to new or expanded coal plants. An additional 4,115 megawatts of new coal-fired generating capacity was added between 2000 and 2007, with another 5,000 megawatts expected by 2012.	858
With Abby off at school, it is a chance to work on learning more with Kenzie. She knows all her letters, and we have been working on mastering her sounds. We’ll be doing the activity I’m showing you today with every letter of the alphabet. You may have seen my tutorial on sewing a reversible bag. Today I decided to put the bag to use. I had some punch out letters and attached them to the bag with tape so it would just be a temporary addition. Next, we wandered around the house looking for A words to put in our bag. We found an apple, alligator, ambulance, airplane, apron. As we walked around, we kept on making the two A sounds. We took our bag to the chalkboard, emptied it out and wrote down all of our words. Then, I had Kenzie locate and trace the A’s in the words. Finally, she was able to write the letter A on her own. In case you are wondering, she is 3 1/2. It is a great preschool or kindergarten activity.	528
What is a Mediator?: Heavy court caseloads and rising legal costs have prompted many people to settle their legal disputes outside the courtroom through a process known as alternative dispute resolution (ADR). Mediators, also known as arbitrators and conciliators, guide the ADR process and help resolve conflicts between disputing parties. Job Duties of Mediators: Mediators facilitate negotiation and settlement between disputing parties by providing direction and encouragement, working collaboratively with the parties and finding creative ways to reach a mutual solution. Specific duties vary widely depending upon practice setting but may include facilitating discussion and controlling the direction of negotiations; preparing court reports, social case histories, correspondence and other documents; implementing legislative enactments and court rules relating to a case; and keeping abreast of current trends, rules and legislation. Although many mediators are lawyers and former judges, non-lawyers from all backgrounds are entering the profession. To date, no formal licensing or certification process exists in the U.S. for mediators. Training for mediators is available through independent mediation programs, national and local mediation membership organizations, and postsecondary schools, according to the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics. Colleges and universities in the United States are beginning to offer advanced degrees in dispute resolution and conflict management. Superior communication, negotiation, problem-solving, analytical and conflict resolution skills are essential. Mediators must have the ability to maintain confidences, exercise sound judgment and discretion, work collaboratively with others and foster effective working relationships with clients, courts, judicial staff, community agencies and the general public. In addition to a high level of competence, successful mediators are intuitive and able to help meet their clients’ emotional needs. Neutrality, honesty, creativity and patience are also crucial to the mediator’s role. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, earnings for mediators range from $28,090 to $102,202 per year with median annual wages estimated at $49,490. Hourly rates range from a low of $13.50 to a high of $49.05 with a median hourly wage estimated at $23.80. Most mediators are employed by the state and local government, schools and universities, legal service providers, insurance carriers and corporations. As individuals and businesses seek to avoid the delays, publicity and high costs inherent in litigation, alternative dispute resolution is becoming an increasingly popular alternative to lawsuits. As a result, mediators are expected to experience above average growth in employment. The American Arbitration Association and the American Bar Association Section for Dispute Resolution provide a wealth of information relating to the dispute resolution field.Mediate.com maintains a list of international, national and state conflict resolution organizations.	412
Researchers at the EMBL-European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI) have created a way to store data in the form of DNA a material that lasts for tens of thousands of years. The new method, published today in the journal Nature, makes it possible to store at least 100 million hours of high-definition video in about a cup of DNA. There is a lot of digital information in the world about three zettabytes' worth (that's 3000 billion billion bytes) and the constant influx of new digital content poses a real challenge for archivists. Hard disks are expensive and require a constant supply of electricity, while even the best 'no-power' archiving materials such as magnetic tape degrade within a decade. This is a growing problem in the life sciences, where massive volumes of data including DNA sequences make up the fabric of the scientific record. "We already know that DNA is a robust way to store information because we can extract it from bones of woolly mammoths, which date back tens of thousands of years, and make sense of it," explains Nick Goldman of EMBL-EBI. "It's also incredibly small, dense and does not need any power for storage, so shipping and keeping it is easy." Reading DNA is fairly straightforward, but writing it has until now been a major hurdle to making DNA storage a reality. There are two challenges: first, using current methods it is only possible to manufacture DNA in short strings. Secondly, both writing and reading DNA are prone to errors, particularly when the same DNA letter is repeated. Nick Goldman and co-author Ewan Birney, Associate Director of EMBL-EBI, set out to create a code that overcomes both problems. "We knew we needed to make a code using only short strings of DNA, and to do it in such a way that creating a run of the same letter would be impossible. So we figured, let's break up the code into lots of overlapping fragments going in both directions, with indexing information showing where each fragment be \|Contact: Mary Todd-Bergman\| European Molecular Biology Laboratory	359
About How to Draw Elephant: Learning how to draw an elephant is fun, but it can also help kids develop many important skills. These skills, eye-hand coordination, color concepts, picture and number comprehension, form the foundation for early learning success. Enjoy this free, printable how to draw an elephant page! Use of our How to Draw Elephant page: Our how to draw an elephant may be used only for your personal, non-commercial use. Parents, teachers, churches and recognized nonprofit organizations may print or copy multiple how to draw an elephant pages for use at home or in the classroom.	362
In ancient China one’s Zodiac sign was fixed by the position of the planet Jupiter during the year of one’s birth (it takes twelve years for Jupiter to orbit the sun). On this level, Ai Weiwei Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads represents a system of measuring time and distinguishing characteristics of the human psyche linked to the heavens above. In the mid-eighteenth century the Qianlong Emperor, ruler of the Qing (Ch’ing) dynasty—a Manchu (not Chinese) by birth—was fascinated by European technology. On the condition that they not proselytize, he invited European Jesuit priests into the Forbidden City, where they worked as scientists, engineers, architects, and artists. These priests spoke, read, and wrote Chinese fluently; in this way they could easily communicate with the most eminent Chinese and Manchu scholar-officials in the Forbidden City. Sent to China by the Vatican with the mission of converting China to the Catholic Church (in which they largely failed), these priests nonetheless had an enormous influence on Chinese intellectual and artistic life. Among the projects commissioned by the Emperor from the Jesuits was a grand palace known as the Yuan Ming Yuan, or “Palace of Perfect Brightness.” It consisted of a mix of styles: sections built in traditional Chinese wooden architecture and others made of marble, imitating such European palaces as Versailles. In front of one building in the European manner was a large fountain, with twelve animal-headed waterspouts. These functioned as symbols of the Zodiac and of the hours of the day (the Chinese measured the day in units equivalent to two Western hours, which when multiplied by twelve makes up a twenty-four hour day). In an astonishing irony, in 1860 the entire Palace was destroyed and looted by British and French troops as part of military actions of the Second Opium War. Of the twelve original bronze heads, seven survive. In casting his new Zodiac Heads, Ai Weiwei carefully followed the style of the originals, but exercised considerable artistic license in designing the five heads whose models are missing (including the dragon). Ai Weiwei’s Zodiac Heads are thus a multi-layered meditation on political power, the nature of time, and the often tormented relationship between China and West, at the same time calling into question the arbitrary nature of such concepts as “national treasure.” That all of this is accomplished with considerable humor is a tribute to Ai’s detachment. I am proud that LACMA is showing this work by one of China’s greatest artists and most courageous social critics. Stephen Little, curator, Chinese and Korean Art	533
Occupational Safety and Health Administration OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION The mission of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is to assure that every U.S. worker goes home whole and healthy every day. Toward that end, the agency sets and enforces workplace safety and health standards, encourages voluntary compliance through consultation and partnerships, and promotes safety training and education for workers and employers. Since Congress passed the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (OSH Act), which created OSHA as an agency within the U.S. Department of Labor, workplace fatalities have been cut in half and occupational injury and illness rates have declined 40 percent. At the same time, U.S. employment has nearly doubled. Under the OSH Act, employers are responsible for providing a safe and healthful work environment in line with standards set by OSHA. Protecting workers against workplace hazards requires every employer and every worker to make safety and health a top priority. OSHA's charge is to offer leadership and encouragement to workers and employers in carrying out this responsibility. OSHA has a staff of about 2,250, including about 1,250 inspectors in 67 field offices. Sharing the responsibility for oversight of workplace safety and health are twenty-five states that run their own OSHA programs with about 2,800 employees, including about 1,250 inspectors. Early OSHA standards focused primarily on safety and establishing precise safety requirements, such as the specific height for guardrails on stairs. Newer standards take a performance or program approach, identifying a safety or health objective and providing a framework for employers to use in achieving that goal. OSHA standards cover the gamut of workplace safety and health issues, including machine guarding, fall protection, chemical-hazard communication, and protection against blood-borne pathogens such as HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) and hepatitis B. OSHA's enforcement program has changed dramatically over the years. The agency has continually attempted to target its resources toward the most hazardous worksites, as well as respond to worker complaints and investigate fatal accidents. Initially, OSHA focused on sites in industries with high injury rates. More recently, OSHA has obtained site-specific injury and illness data and has been able to concentrate on individual sites with poor safety and health records. The agency conducts about 35,000 inspections each year; states running their own OSHA programs inspect an additional 55,000 workplaces. To foster voluntary compliance with OSHA standards and assist employers in setting up ongoing safety and health programs, OSHA offers free consultations and seeks to establish partnerships with individual workplaces and with trade groups and unions. The OSHA consultation program, designed for smaller employers, provides free assistance to employers who request help with safety and health programs and specific problems. Employers agree in advance to correct serious hazards identified by the consultant. The consultation program is administered by state authorities and is completely separate from the enforcement effort. OSHA's premier partnership is the Voluntary Protection To further assist employers and workers, OSHA maintains an extensive web site (http://www.osha.gov) that includes the agency's standards, publications, training materials, interactive software covering specific standards and hazards, small business information, an online complaint filing system for workers, and links to many other sources of information on job safety and health. The agency also offers safety and health training at its Chicagoarea training institute and through twelve educational centers located at community colleges and universities around the country. OSHA is developing satellite-delivered and web-based training programs to make its training available to a wider audience. Through its New Directions grants, OSHA encourages nonprofit organizations such as unions and trade associations to develop additional training materials and offer training courses. Improving work environments is a long-term proposition that requires daily diligence and ongoing commitment in the face of competing priorities for time, energy, and resources. OSHA's mandate is to aid employers and employees to make this commitment and continually pursue excellence in job safety and health. OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION Occupational Safety and Health Administration. All About OSHA. (OSHA 2056). Available at http://www.osha.gov.	344
Photo used with kind permission of Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation Baby clings to dead mother For millions of years, orangutans thrived in the once-vast forestlands of South East Asia, possibly even existing as far North as Southern China. Today, less than 1% of the species remains, and can now only be found in small, secluded pockets of orangutan habitat on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra. There are two sub-species of orangutan remaining, the endangered Bornean, with approximately 30,000 individuals, and the critically endangered Sumatran, with less than 6,000. Orangutans are the most intelligent species on earth after humans. They have the ability to undo bolts, knocks, pick locks and even communicate with humans via sign language. They share many of the same emotions as us, have their own culture and share 97% of our DNA! Orangutans reproduce more slowly than any other primate, with the female producing a baby on average once every 7-8 years. Infants are dependent on their mothers for 5-8 years, learning about survival in the forest. Orangutans live for around 45 years in the wild, and a female will usually have no more than 3 offspring in her lifetime. This means that orangutan populations grow very slowly, and take a long time to recover from habitat disturbance and Poaching and the illegal animal trade are contributing factors to the genocide of this species; however, the number one threat to the survival of the orangutan in the wild is deforestation for the development of palm oil. Every hour, rainforest land equivalent to 300 football fields in size is destroyed, burnt and replaced with palm oil plantations. To put it into perspective - in Sumatra alone there is now more than 4 times as much land cultivated with oil palms as there is orangutan habitat remaining. This results in the death of an orangutan every 2 hours. These gentle apes are often killed in the most inhumane ways; run over, set on fire, hacked with machetes, shot and decapitated. The “lucky” ones, often babies, have their mothers shot and they are then taken to be kept as pets, sold, used in the entertainment industry or even used as prostitutes in Indonesian brothels. In some cases, palm oil farming provides employment to locals in South East Asia, however it often involves gross human rights violations and involves dangerous labour under risky conditions. But in many cases, palm oil does the opposite to providing money. It often robs indigenous communities who still depend on the natural landscape of their livelihood, when they are displaced from their land to make way for palm oil development. This one vegetable oil is found in over 50% of all supermarket products in Australia. Palm oil can be found in everything from baked goods, confectionery and ice-cream, to body products, cosmetics and cleaning agents. It can even be used in toothpaste, paint, printer ink and car fuel! Why is palm oil so popular and widely used? - High yielding vegetable oil crop - Large economic benefit to Indonesia & Malaysia - Cheap cost - Diverse in its uses - Acts as a preservative in some foods Palm oil is not only having devastating impacts on wildlife, the environment and indigenous communities, but also your health. Palm oil is comprised of 50% saturated fat, meaning it has the ability to increase cholesterol levels and promote heart disease. To conclude, there is currently a massive amount of degraded land available for planting oil palms in Sumatra and Borneo, but palm oil companies can make a quick profit when they cut down rainforests and sell the timber, so the relentless deforestation continues. We do not advocate a boycott of products containing palm oil, or companies using palm oil in their products. However, the international community must demand that oil palm concessions are not granted in forested areas, and that our local retailers and consumer goods manufacturers either source their palm oil from non-destructive plantations, or switch to an alternative ingredient that isn’t abusing wildlife, the environment and indigenous communities. WANT TO KNOW MORE? You can visit our Anti-Palm Oil Ambassador’s educational website on palm oil, to learn about it’s impacts, what products do/don’t contain palm oil, how to detect palm oil on labels and much more!	662
THE NEW FOUNDE LAND Volume 18 Number 1 Farley Mowat draws from his own authoritative works on Newfoundland to create a fascinating eulogy for traditional life on the Rock. He captures the character of the seafolk, whose chosen life-style remained the same from one generation to the next until they were pushed unwillingly into the twentieth century by the political machinations of Joey Smallwood. From the unification with Canada in 1949 to the present, the government has continued purposefully to dislodge the people from their outport homes and seagoing livelihoods into larger mining and industrial communities, systematically destroying both the natural and human environment in the name of progress.Mowat brings both Newfoundland's past and present to life, taking the reader through the Norse sagas, the first European visits, and the establishment of permanent settlements based on cod fishing and seal hunting. Interspersed with this historical account are Mowat's own experiences while living on the south coast of Newfoundland for several years. With seeming ease he distils the essence of these kind, hardworking, insular people and simultaneously arouses the reader's anger at the destructive excesses wrought by the present technological age. Michael Freeman, Bathurst Heights Secondary School, North York, ON. 1971-1979 \| 1980-1985 \| 1986-1990 \| 1991-1995 The materials in this archive are copyright © The Manitoba Library Association. Reproduction for personal use is permitted only if this copyright notice is maintained. Any other reproduction is prohibited without permission Copyright information for reviewers Young Canada Works	212
Outer doublet heterogeneity reveals structural polarity related to beat direction in Chlamydomonas flagella Department of Cell Biology Chlamydomonas; Dynein ATPase; Flagella; Microscopy, Electron; Microtubules Analysis of serial cross-sections of the Chlamydomonas flagellum reveals several structural asymmetries in the axoneme. One doublet lacks the outer dynein arm, has a beak-like projection in its B-tubule, and bears a two-part bridge that extends from the A-tubule of this doublet to the B-tubule of the adjacent doublet. The two doublets directly opposite the doublet lacking the arm have beak-like projections in their B-tubules. These asymmetries always occur in the same doublets from section to section, indicating that certain doublets have consistent morphological specializations. These unique doublets give the axoneme an inherent structural polarity. All three specializations are present in the proximal portion of the axoneme; based on their frequency in random cross-sections of isolated axonemes, the two-part bridge and the beak-like projections are present in the proximal one quarter and one half of the axoneme, respectively, and the outer arm is absent from the one doublet greater than 90% of the axoneme's length. The outer arm-less doublet of each flagellum faces the other flagellum, indicating that each axoneme has the same rotational orientation relative to the direction of its effective stroke. This strongly suggests that the direction of the effective stroke is controlled by a structural component within the axoneme. The striated fibers are associated with specific triplets in a manner suggesting that they play a role in setting up or maintaining the 180 degrees rotational symmetry of the two flagella. Rights and Permissions Citation: J Cell Biol. 1983 Sep;97(3):902-8. The Journal of cell biology	79
Great apes go through mid-life crisis They may not take up surfing or start second careers as cupcake-makers, but chimpanzees and orangutans seem to go through a ‘mid-life crisis’, just like humans. A study of 508 great apes in captivity shows that the animals’ sense of well-being bottoms out in their late 20s to mid-30s, the ape equivalent of middle age, before rebounding in old age. The finding that mid-life crises may not be uniquely human suggests that the events might have a biological, rather than a sociological, cause. Men and women worldwide, regardless of their wealth or status, experience a dip in happiness at middle-age, generally defined as from the mid-30s to late 50s. Despite this universality, social scientists have struggled to identify the underlying cause of the dissatisfaction. Social and economic factors, such as financial hardship and the failure to realize unrealistic ambitions, are possible causes. Alexander Weiss, a psychologist at the University of Edinburgh, UK, and his team set out to see if there might be a biological factor involved in the crises. They sought to assess the well-being of captive chimpanzees and orangutans as judged by their keepers or those who knew them well. The apes covered all age ranges, and their ‘happiness’ was rated through a survey answered by their keepers. The survey covered four criteria: the animals’ overall mood; how much pleasure they got out of socializing; their success in achieving goals such as obtaining food and objects they desire; and how happy the keeper would be if he or she were that animal for a week. The survey is admittedly anthropomorphic, says Weiss, but he adds that it is easy for someone who spends a lot of time with an ape to gauge its mood. Moreover, his previous work shows that the measure of well-being is consistent when measured by different caretakers, and is based, in part, on inherited genetic factors. Among three different groups of chimps and orangutans surveyed, the happiest tended to be the oldest and youngest, and the most dissatisfied tended to be in their 30s. The study, however, is a snapshot — it didn’t follow any of the apes over time — which means there could be confounding factors such as the early death of unhappy apes. Nonetheless, Weiss believes the results offer a true picture.	148
January 11, 2012 Imagine this scenario. You have a great career and you are a star employee. You are talented, a problem solver and go out of your way to help co-workers. You do your job and make it all look easy. Despite your dedication, one day a new person is hired. They have the same education, experience, and skills that you have. There is only one difference: he gets paid more. In spite of all the progress our nation has made in civil rights over the past fifty years, men still get paid more than women for no other reason than gender. Now is the time to change that. The Paycheck Fairness Act, a long overdue amendment to the Equal Pay Act of 1963, (S. 182) was introduced by Congress in 2011 with the support of President Obama, who in a statement called the legislation “ a common-sense bill that will help ensure that men and women who do equal work receive the equal pay that they and their families deserve.” Nearly fifty years ago, the Equal Pay Act of 1963 passed, promising that men and women would receive equal pay for equal work. However, the wage gap continues despite women’s increased education, greater level of experience, and less time spent raising children. When President John F. Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act into law, women earned, on average, 60 cents for every dollar earned by men. In the forty-eight years that have passed, the pay gap has closed by less than 20 cents. In 2010, women earned 77 cents on every dollar earned by men. Women of color fared even worse--African American women earned only 67 cents, and Latinas just 58. Seventy-seven cents on the dollar is not fair. Now is the time to take action to close the pay gap. The Paycheck Fairness Act would close loopholes, strengthen business incentives to end pay discrimination, prohibit retaliation against workers who share wage information, and bring the Equal Pay Act in line with other civil rights laws. Passing this act does not just affect women, it affects everyone. More families are depending on women as breadwinners. The share of couples that both work rose to 66 percent in 2010, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. The number of women who were the only working spouse also rose, with an estimated 4 million families depending on mom to bring home the bacon. The number of dads who were the only working spouse dropped, and the number of stay-at-home dads rose higher. The wage gap has long-term effects on the economic security of women and families. In 2009 a typical college educated woman earned $36,278/year for fulltime work, while a comparable educated man earned $47,127- a difference of $10,849. This amount of money can be a great help to a family struggling during a recession. With $10,849, you could buy a year's worth of groceries ($3,210), pay for a semester of college tuition ($6,548), pay three months of rent and utilities ($2,265) six months of health insurance ($1,697), or cover six months on a student loan ($1,602). The current economic crisis is heavily affecting families, and the latest data shows that gender roles are becoming more flexible and egalitarian. Shouldn’t pay reflect this shift? The answer is a resounding yes. We can’t afford to wait another fifty years for paycheck equality. The future of our economy and the well-being of our families depend on it. When women are paid fairly, whole families win. It is our civic duty to take action by writing or calling our Senators and Representatives and urging them to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act now.	631
A fossilised little finger discovered in a cave in the mountains of southern Siberia belonged to a young girl from an unknown group of archaic humans, scientists say. The missing human relatives are thought to have inhabited much of Asia as recently as 30,000 years ago, and so shared the land with early modern humans and Neanderthals. The finding paints a complex picture of human history in which our early ancestors left Africa 70,000 years ago to rub shoulders with other distant relatives in addition to the stocky, barrel-chested Neanderthals. The new ancestors have been named “Denisovans” after the Denisova cave in the Altai mountains of southern Siberia where the finger bone was unearthed in 2008. A “Denis” is thus a member of an archaic human subspecies.	817
There is an overwhelming amount of news coverage related to the state of the economy, international politics, and various domestic programs. The environment and environmental policy on the other hand, are being ignored. When environmental policy is discussed many citizens and representatives champion the need for substantial policy reform. However, when actual policies are introduced, they are typically ignored or delayed. Due to the current state of the environment, politicians need to place a higher priority on environmental policy. First, the public needs to understand exactly what environmental policy is and how it affects them. Environmental policy is defined as “any action deliberately taken to manage human activities with a view to prevent, reduce, or mitigate harmful effects on nature and natural resources, and ensuring that man-made changes to the environment do not have harmful effects on humans or the environment,” (McCormick 2001). It generally covers air and water pollution, waste management, ecosystem management, biodiversity protection, and the protection of natural resources, wildlife, and endangered species. Issues like these, affect everyone across the globe and cannot be ignored. Environmental policy became a national issue under Theodore Roosevelt, when National Parks were established in hopes of preserving wildlife for future generations. The modern environmental movement began in the 1970s during the Nixon administration, when a large amount of environmental legislation started rolling out. Nixon signed the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) which established a national policy promoting the enhancement of the environment and set requirements for all government agencies to prepare Environmental Assessments and Environmental Impact Statements. Nixon also established the President’s Council on Environmental Quality. Legislation of the time established the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), The Clean Air Act, and the Federal Water Pollution Control Act. The EPA has received a lot of notoriety recently, mostly for republican’s desire to get rid of it, though it is still a source vital to protecting the environmental. Rising gas prices in the 1970s inspired a wave of greener vehicles, a phenomenon witnessed again in 2008. High energy costs motivated Jimmy Carter to install solar panels on the white house roof, a clear message that helping the environment was everyone’s responsibility. Focus on environmental policy began dwindling in the 1980s though, under the Regan administration. As the Soviet Union began to weaken and fall, the restructuring of Europe became a priority and the environment quickly slipped to the backburner. Many of the environmental issues that the public faced in the late twentieth century are still issues today, including: climate change, lack of fossil fuels, sustainable energy solutions, ozone depletion, and resource depletion. Today, with the plethora of issues currently affecting the environment, it needs to become a priority again. As gas prices reached record highs in 2007 and 2008, there was a surge in Green Startups to help companies struggling with high fuel costs. As fuel costs decreased, the focus on these Green Startups decreased as well. However, now that gas prices are again on the rise, there will likely be a green resurgence in the market. These green initiatives should not rise and fall with the cost of gas. Environmental issues have impacts and implications far greater than the bottom dollar. Rising sea levels, droughts, and other extreme weather events have enormous human impacts, killing or displacing scores of people each year. In an Oxfam International study at the University of Belgium, the earth is currently experiencing approximately 500 natural disasters a year, affecting over 250 million people (Guitierrez 2008). It is paramount that our government focus significant attention and funding on environmental policy. If we continue to disregard the environment, the planet might be degraded to the point where it is no longer habitable. We only have one Earth; we need to do our best to preserve it. Gutierrez, David. “Natural Disasters Up More Than 400 Percent in Two Decades.” NaturalNews.com, June 5, 2008. Accessed March 10, 2012. http://www.naturalnews.com/023362.html.	500
Today is Sunday, Feb. 3, the 34th day of 2013. There are 331 days left in the year. Today's Highlight in History: On Feb. 3, 1913, the 16th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, providing for a federal income tax, was ratified. On this date: In 1783, Spain formally recognized American independence. In 1865, President Abraham Lincoln and Confederate Vice President Alexander H. Stephens held a shipboard peace conference off the Virginia coast; the talks deadlocked over the issue of Southern autonomy. In 1924, the 28th president of the United States, Woodrow Wilson, died in Washington, D.C., at age 67. In 1930, the chief justice of the United States, William Howard Taft, resigned for health reasons. (He died just over a month later.) In 1943, during World War II, the U.S. transport ship Dorchester, which was carrying troops to Greenland, sank after being hit by a German torpedo; of the more than 900 men aboard, only some 230 survived. In 1953, the Batepa Massacre took place in Sao Tome as Portuguese troops killed some 1,000 striking plantation workers. In 1959, rock-and-roll stars Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson died in a small plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa. An American Airlines Lockheed Electra crashed into New York's East River, killing 65 of the 73 people on board. In 1966, the Soviet probe Luna 9 became the first manmade object to make a soft landing on the moon. In 1971, New York City police officer Frank Serpico, who had charged there was widespread corruption in the NYPD, was shot and seriously wounded during a drug bust in Brooklyn. In 1972, the XI Olympic Winter Games opened in Sapporo, Japan. In 1991, the rate for a first-class postage stamp rose to 29 cents. In 1998, Texas executed Karla Faye Tucker, 38, for the pickax killings of two people in 1983; she was the first woman executed in the United States since 1984. A U.S. Marine plane sliced through the cable of a ski gondola in Italy, sending the car plunging hundreds of feet, killing all 20 people inside. Ten years ago: President George W. Bush sent lawmakers a $2.23 trillion budget for 2004. Abandoning a two-month-long general strike that failed to oust President Hugo Chavez, Venezuela's workers returned to work in all sectors but the vital oil industry. Legendary record producer Phil Spector was arrested in the shooting death of actress Lana Clarkson at his mansion in Alhambra, Calif. (Spector's first trial ended in a jury deadlock; he was convicted of second-degree murder in a retrial and sentenced to 19 years to life in prison.) Five years ago: The New York Giants scored a late touchdown to win Super Bowl XLII, 17-14, ending the New England Patriots' run at a perfect season. One year ago: Susan G. Komen for the Cure abandoned plans to eliminate funding for Planned Parenthood, following a three-day furor that resounded across the Internet, in Congress and among Komen affiliates. Federal prosecutors dropped their investigation of Lance Armstrong, ending a nearly two-year effort aimed at determining whether the seven-time Tour de France winner and his teammates had participated in a doping program. (In January 2013, Armstrong publicly admitted taking performance-enhancing drugs.) Actor Ben Gazzara, 81, died in New York. Actor-filmmaker Zalman King, 70, died in Santa, Monica, Calif. Today's Birthdays: Comedian Shelley Berman is 88. Former Sen. Paul Sarbanes, D-Md., is 80. Football Hall-of-Famer Fran Tarkenton is 73. Actress Bridget Hanley is 72. Actress Blythe Danner is 70. Singer Dennis Edwards is 70. Football Hall-of-Famer Bob Griese is 68. Singer-guitarist Dave Davies (The Kinks) is 66. Singer Melanie is 66. Actress Morgan Fairchild is 63. Actress Pamela Franklin is 63. Actor Nathan Lane is 57. Rock musician Lee Ranaldo (Sonic Youth) is 57. Actor Thomas Calabro is 54. Actor-director Keith Gordon is 52. Actress Michele Greene is 51. Country singer Matraca Berg is 49. Actress Maura Tierney is 48. Actor Warwick Davis is 43. Actress Elisa Donovan is 42. Reggaeton singer Daddy Yankee is 37. Musician Grant Barry is 36. Singer-songwriter Jessica Harp is 31. Actor Matthew Moy is 29. Rapper Sean Kingston is 23. Thought for Today: "When there is an income tax, the just man will pay more and the unjust less on the same amount of income." — Plato, Greek philosopher.	539
Some of school going kids uses Electricity and Magnetism related science projects Experiments in there school’s science fair. children’s always trying to know that what is a magnet or something about electricity. Someone can make electricity and Magnetism Science Fair Projects Using Batteries, Balloons etc. these Electricity and Magnetism Physics Projects are so interesting and Hair Raising. Electricity and magnetism, electromagnetic waves and Magnetism are most used in these Physics Projects of school. here we have video to know more about Electricity and Magnetism Physics Projects Experiments.	833
Health care employment has been the bright spot in the otherwise lackluster recent jobs reports. As overall employment decreased by 2 percent from 2000 to 2010, employment in the health care sector actually increased by 25 percent. But that’s not necessarily a good thing, according to an opinion piece published in the most recent edition of the New England Journal of Medicine. “Treating the health care system like a (wildly inefficient) jobs program conflicts directly with the goal of ensuring that all Americans have access to care at an affordable price,” write Katherine Baicker and Amitabh Chandra, two researchers from Harvard. By 2020, almost one out of nine American jobs will be in health care, an April study from the Center for Health Workforce Studies projects. As the country wrestles to reduce health care spending, which already consumes about 18 percent of GDP, those extra jobs could be a step in the wrong direction. “Salaries for health care jobs are not manufactured out of thin air—they are produced by someone paying higher taxes, a patient paying more money for health care, or an employee taking home lower wages because higher health insurance premiums are deducted from his or her paycheck,” write the authors of the NEJM column. Yet hospitals and politicians alike often tout the jobs that the health care industry creates in local communities. “The health care sector is an economic mainstay, providing stability and even growth during times of recession,” the American Hospital Association wrote in a fact sheet entitled “Economic Contribution of Hospitals Often Overlooked.” The authors argue that the focus should instead be on improving health outcomes and efficiency, rather than simply more people working in the field, pointing to “mounting evidence that out health care system could deliver better care without spending more and that there are tremendous opportunities for improvements in productivity.” Several provisions of the 2010 health care law aim to reduce inefficiencies by rewarding higher-value care and reducing some of the incentives for doctors to deliver more testing and care with unproven benefits. Such policies may serve to reduce health care employment, the authors argue, by “allowing us to get the same health outcomes with fewer health care workers.” Some jobs in health care could be lost; however, taxpayers and workers in other fields would likely pay less in premiums. “The bottom line is that employment in the health care sector should be neither a policy goal nor a metric of success,” they conclude.	133
There are times when I want to create an ad hoc network to share files or a network connection. Here are the steps to create an ad hoc network in Windows 7. - Click on Start (Windows icon) and type wireless. Click on Manage wireless networks. - Click on Add to add a network. - Click on Create an ad hoc network. - Click on Next. - Enter a name for your network and configure the security options. Click on Next when you are done. [Update: 3/21/2009] If you are interested in setting up an ad hoc network with encryption, please see this post. [Update: 8/17/2010] Please see my latest post about setting an ad hoc network to share an internet connection.	866
By 2003, plenty of data suggested that pesticide drift was harming communities, but the pesticide industry and regulators refused to act. For 20 years, the California Air Resources Board had been conducting experiments, looking for pesticides in the air around fields sprayed with pesticides. They found them. In 2003, PAN pulled together and analyzed this information in a breakthrough report, Secondhand Pesticides. We found that many pesticides remained in the air near fields at high levels for hours, or even days after application. Anyone in the vicinity of such applications faced exposure. Sept. 9, 2008 Drift Catcher selected as 2008 Tech Awards Laureate by the Tech Museum of Innovation PAN's air monitoring device, invented by chemist and senior scientist Dr. Susan Kegley, was designated a 2008 Tech Awards Laureate, one of 25 global innovations recognized each year for applying technology to benefit humanity and spark global change. The Tech Awards, a signature program of The Tech Museum of Innovation in San Jose, California, selected the Drift Catcher from among hundreds of nominations representing 68 countries, for "empowering communities for health and sustainability" to measure concentrations of hazardous pesticides as evidence to prevent exposure to pesticide drift. In over 20 years of our own direct field work with agricultural communities, PAN's international network had heard countless stories about how drift-affected communities had come to expect illness, nausea, rashes, and worse in the hours and days after fields had been sprayed. So, with communities across the country asking us to do something about drift, we invented the an air monitoring system we call the "Drift Catcher." It's affordable, robust and based on the same technology used by the California Air Resources Board in its studies. The big idea? Put the tools necessary to prove pesticide drift into the hands of people who live through it. Make sure those tools are reliable and useable - the rest is just science. Since its 2003 launch, Drift Catchers have been used in 27 projects in nine states by scores of trained volunteers and community leaders. Below are two case studies. South Woods Elementary School in St. Johns County, Florida, is bordered on three sides by a large seed farm that sprays pesticides throughout the school year. Motivated by concerns about the health of the children at the school, residents of the county have been using the Drift Catcher to monitor the air near the school since 2006. Exposure to the chemicals we found by South Woods Elementary are associated with a wide range of adverse health effects: endosulfan interferes with hormones and is linked with autism, birth defects and delayed puberty; diazinon is neurotoxic; and trifluralin and chlorothalonil are suspected to cause cancer. All are particularly dangerous for children. Maybe now the school board will recognize the pesticide problem & take more serious actions to prevent future drift.– Alex Lowe, student in Hastings In addition to focusing local, regional, and national media attention on the issue of pesticide drift, the reports on the 2006 and 2007 sampling have led the formulation of state policy recommendations on school siting and have been used by PANNA it’s campaign for the phaseout of endosulfan. Lindsay, CA, is a predominately Latino community in California’s fertile San Joaquin Valley. The town grew up around orange trees, and most of its homes and schools are situated right next to groves where neurotoxic organophosphates are routinely sprayed. Acute exposure to these insecticides can cause nausea and vomiting, tremors and seizures, and even death; studies link chronic exposure with asthma and learning disabilities. A local group, El Quinto Sol de America, used Drift Catchers from 2004 to 2006 to document the movement of chlorpyrifos (a neurotoxic, organophosphate insecticide) out the groves and into their yards. Here's a map of the Lindsay project, and a 4-pg summary of the results. Results from biomonitoring and drift catching in Lindsay have since become the bedrock of efforts to win no spray buffer zones around schools and residential areas. Local activists in Tulare, Kern, and other agricultural counties across California have used these result to successfully push their County Agriculture Commissioners for buffer zones around schools and other sensitive sites.	638
Posted September 1st, 2002 It's like "something from a bad horror movie"! This is how Maryland's Interior Secretary Gale Norton described the most widely reported environmental emergency The emergency? The Asian snakehead fish. The snakehead is an intriguing fish native to China. They have a voracious appetite, gobbling up everything they can get their teeth on. This includes other fish, birds, frogs, and even their own offspring. Snakeheads seem to defy nature by being able to crawl on dry land for several days at a time, searching for prey. In their native habitat, these three-foot oddities have natural predators and a specific habitat. However, in a small town in Crofton, Maryland (near Washington, D.C.), the snakeheads made an unscheduled appearance. A local resident bought the fish from a market in New York to make soup for an ailing relative. He kept the fish alive at home, but soon his relative got better and the cost of feeding the carnivorous fish became too much. Hoping to get rid of the creatures, he dumped them in the pond. In only a short amount of time, the snakehead fish thrived, producing more than 100 offspring. Even after state officials began treating the pond with herbicide in hopes of killing off plant life and shutting down the oxygen supply to the fish, the snakeheads continued to survive. In fact, their uncanny nature to withstand treatment has earned the snakeheads the nickname "frankenfish." Maryland officials know that if the snakehead managed to escape the pond, they would wreak havoc in the local ecosystem. There are no natural predators of the snakehead in Maryland, and officials feared that it would have a devastating affect on the local environment - especially if they reached the Little Patuxent River, which is located just 250 feet from the pond. As a secondary tactic, officials built a fence around the pond to catch any snakeheads slithering across the land. Then they sprayed the pond with a pesticide called Rotenone. This poison blocks oxygen from getting to the fish's blood, killing them. On September 4, 2002, officials sprayed the Rotenone onto the pond. The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) lobbied against the use of the poison because it was inhuman, however, they agreed that the fish must be destroyed in this particular habitat. By Thursday morning, September 5, game officials claimed victory over the alien creatures. Eight hundred pounds of dead fish - including a large number of snakeheads - floated to the surface. Countless others had sunk to the bottom and are expected to resurface when they start decomposing. Use the Internet to research the snakehead fish. In your Science Journal, write an essay about what could happen if the snakeheads were released in the wild throughout	352
Party Affiliation: Republican - He injured his knee trying to tackle eventual Olympic and NFL great Jim Thorpe during Army football's 27-6 loss to Carlisle in 1912. He never played again. - Dwight Eisenhower was the only president to serve in both world wars, and was promoted to five-star general in the midst of World War II. - Health was not Ike’s middle name (David was, though). He was a chainsmoker, had between two and seven heart attacks, was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease, and died of cardiac arrest in 1969 at the age of 79. Click image to view the full poster - He championed and signed the bill authorizing the Interstate Highway System, making your soul-searching cross-country roadtrip possible. - His mother, a pacifist, cried when he enrolled in West Point. But his 1915 graduating class became known as the “class the stars fell on”, producing 59 generals. - In response to the panic over Russia’s Sputnik satellite, the Eisenhower administration oversaw the creation of NASA in October, 1958.	465
What is Bereavement? Bereavement coincides with the imminent dying and death of the individual and consists of two stages: separation and mourning. Separation occurs when the loved one’s consciousness diminishes and awareness of the environment vanishes. At this time, the family fully experiences their loss and the loneliness of separation. Self-absorption is the hurdle for the family to overcome now. Hospice intervention is directed toward promoting intimacy, if family members are to be supported in their ability to grieve within their family network. Mourning begins when the reality of impending death hits. The obstacle for the family to overcome here is guilt. Human grief is as strong and as unique as the relationship that has been severed. Grief is a personal experience, different for each member of a family who is grieving over the loss of the same person. Hospice intervention is geared toward fostering relief expressed through mourning. The family members may have reached the limits of their own endurance and may initially confess relief that their loved one has died and that they remained with the person through that time. Echoes from previous losses may then surface, and these mournings, if uncompleted, may hinder relief. The mourning process is relieved only when the deceased person enriches the continued family life. Hospice provides bereavement services for the patient’s family/caregiver. This includes telephone calls, visits, letters, support groups, and an annual memorial service. The family needs continuing support to help move through their mourning process. A special bereavement program offered to the general community is Wings! Camp for Grieving Children. Because of their limited life experiences, and lack of coping skills, children may find the grief process very difficult. At Wings!, children between the ages of 8 and 17 learn, in a safe and caring environment, that their feelings are normal and an important part of the healing process. Grief-related activities are conducted in small groups led by trained counselors. Children are encouraged to express themselves through arts and crafts.	779
Problem 367Published on Saturday, 14th January 2012, 10:00 pm; Solved by 247 Bozo sort, not to be confused with the slightly less efficient bogo sort, consists out of checking if the input sequence is sorted and if not swapping randomly two elements. This is repeated until eventually the sequence is sorted. If we consider all permutations of the first 4 natural numbers as input the expectation value of the number of swaps, averaged over all 4! input sequences is 24.75. The already sorted sequence takes 0 steps. In this problem we consider the following variant on bozo sort. If the sequence is not in order we pick three elements at random and shuffle these three elements randomly. All 3!=6 permutations of those three elements are equally likely. The already sorted sequence will take 0 steps. If we consider all permutations of the first 4 natural numbers as input the expectation value of the number of shuffles, averaged over all 4! input sequences is 27.5. Consider as input sequences the permutations of the first 11 natural numbers. Averaged over all 11! input sequences, what is the expected number of shuffles this sorting algorithm will perform? Give your answer rounded to the nearest integer.	467
A POTENTIALLY deadly and virulent bug that attacks the gut may soon be treated with the most stomach-churning of remedies. A study published on Thursday in The New England Journal of Medicine has found transplanting human faeces into people with the superbug Clostridium difficile provided an almost universal cure for the condition - far outperforming traditional antibiotic treatment. Faecal microbiota transplantation is thought to work by replacing the healthy bacteria in the gut that have been wiped out by antibiotics. For the past 20 years an Australian, Thomas Borody, has pioneered the treatment, although its use has been traced back thousands of years. ''This study is monumental,'' Professor Borody said. The research found nearly 94 per cent of patients given the transplantation one or two times recovered, compared to only 30 per cent of the group given the antibiotic vancomycin. The study was then stopped early by an ethics committee on the ground that it would be unethical not to offer all patients the transplants. Professor Borody said C. difficile, which has ravaged the US, killing 30,000 people each year, was spreading to Australia, although no one could be sure how common it was as health departments did not routinely test for it. ''In Sydney we have had about 15 deaths that we know of … in the past year and a half,'' he said. Just as people now donate blood, in future donors may be called on to give stools. At present the faeces is inserted into the recipient using colonoscopy or nasal tube but researchers are developing a less off-putting method. ''The future of this FMT is filtered bacteria, washed, frozen and put in a capsule, which we lovingly call a 'crapsule','' said Professor Borody, from the Centre for Digestive Diseases and the University of Technology, Sydney. The clinical associate dean at the St George Hospital clinical school at the University of NSW, Michael Grimm, said trying to find appropriate donors could be difficult. ''We are just starting now to grapple with the bacteria in the gut; it's an impossible soup to analyse,'' Professor Grimm said. ''What potential pathogens are in there that might not have been pathogenic to the host but could become pathogenic to the recipient, are really unknown.''	449
Integrated Circuits are found in every conceivable electronic device, and control the on-off behavior of a device capable of conductive behavior. They evolved from vacuum tubes and transistors to incorporate hundreds of thousands of transistors on a single chip today. IC's and semiconductors now control computing, communications, networking, and other facets of daily modern life. They are created by "etching" a pattern onto a semiconductor platform, such as silicon, which can then be controlled by exposure to electrical current. Semiconductors are the individual "on-off" switches that make up a electronic devices. By only allowing the conductance of electricity in specific situations (as opposed to conductors and insulators), semiconductors can produce complex and sophisticated behaviors, calculations, and measurements. By working in tandem, many semiconductors can constitute an mp3 player, computer processor, or wireless network adapter.	439
Towards the end of the XIXth century, the Eaton’s and Simpson’s department stores in Toronto and, slightly later, that of Dupuis Frères in Montreal, published magnificent catalogues which were distributed practically everywhere in Quebec and elsewhere in Canada. Some stores went so far as to publish a special Christmas catalogue. This new way of shopping, by mail-order, turned consumers’ habits upside down. From now on they could buy their gifts in advance without having to wait for the frantic rush in the last days before Christmas. This new sales promotion tool also reached a completely different clientele in rural areas. Dupuis Frères (the only Montreal department store managed by French Canadians) used this sales method to make massive inroads in retail sales, betting quite rightly on the loyalty of Quebec Francophones. Canadian Heritage Information Network Mission de la recherche et de la technologie, Direction des Musées de France, Musée de la civilisation, Provincial Museum of Alberta, Musée national des arts et traditions populaires, Département de l'organisation des systèmes d'information,	398
There's No Such Thing as Ethical Oil (or Nuclear Power) Canada is digging itself a dirty energy destiny in the Athabasca oil sands. By Evan O'Neil \| March 22, 2011 After the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and now the nuclear meltdown at the Fukushima reactors in Japan, it should be clear that oil and nuclear power are not benign forces in our world. Both are toxic, dirty, and insecure forms of energy. It is thus astonishing that the Canadian energy industry proposes combining the two. The boreal forest of northern Alberta sits atop one of the largest fossil fuel deposits in the world: the Athabasca bituminous sands. Energy insiders call it oil sands, while environmentalists prefer tar sands—each side seeing what it wants. At room temperature, raw bitumen has the consistency of asphalt and won't flow through a pipeline without being diluted or upgraded into synthetic crude oil. Underground, the bitumen exists in a mixture with sand and clay, and there are two techniques for extracting it. Surface mines have been the predominant method since commercial production began in the 1960s. At the Suncor Energy mine, for example, the native forests, topsoil, and muskeg bog were cleared, and 50 meters of "overburden" earth was removed to expose a tar sand deposit itself about 50 meters thick. The bitumen is mined 24 hours per day with massive electric shovels that fill dump trucks three stories tall. The dump trucks haul the tar sands out of the mine to a separation unit where it is mixed with hot water. The bitumen floats to the top and is skimmed off, while the wastewater slurry—containing sand, clay, salts, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, arsenic, naphthenic acid, and other substances—is pumped into large, open-air tailings ponds where it is left to evaporate. The problem with tailings ponds has been that the finest clay particles take decades to settle into sediment. To accelerate reclamation of the land, some companies are now experimenting with adding polyacrylamide flocculant, in a process similar to municipal waste treatment, to help separate the solids from the water. Mining for deeper deposits is uneconomical, so the industry also employs in situ drilling. In a typical setup, two horizontal wells are drilled, one above the other. The top well injects steam into the sands, melting out the bitumen, which is then pumped out through the lower well in a process called Steam-Assisted Gravity Drainage, or SAGD. The well pads of these SAGD installations dot the remote boreal landscape in a network of roads, pipelines, and seismic cutlines. Mining and in situ operations both consume a lot of energy. The advantage of in situ is that the land is much less disturbed, making it easier to return it to a natural state. SAGD also separates the sand and bitumen below the surface, requiring significantly less infrastructure. Of the total Athabasca deposit, 80 percent is thought to be recoverable through in situ and 20 percent through mining. SAGD requires a lot of natural gas to make steam. The ratio of steam injected to oil extracted is what determines a project's carbon emissions as well as its profitability. Mining and SAGD together consume hundreds of billions of cubic feet of natural gas per year, a substantial fraction of Canada's entire demand. That's where nuclear power enters the picture. As bitumen production in Alberta is slated to expand over the next several decades, gas production will be in decline. This means that eventually producers will have to either burn part of their bitumen, thus eating into their profits, or find new power sources to generate heat and electricity. Nuclear power has been mooted to fill this gap. Japan, of course, turned to nuclear power during the 1970s oil shocks to offset its dependence on foreign oil. Now, in an ironic twist, Canada is considering nuclear power so that it can expand its oil exports. Most of the tar sands oil is sold south of the border through a pipeline network to meet American demand, while Canada still imports foreign oil to its eastern provinces. One has to wonder why Canada would burn so much of its natural gas, a relatively clean fossil fuel, to extract an even dirtier energy. The answer is, of course, to make money. Most of the world's oil is controlled by national oil companies, making Canada one of the only remaining patches where the energy industry can really play in the sandbox. And the Athabasca deposit is a big sandbox. The area is roughly the size of New York State. It contains an estimated 1.7 trillion barrels of bitumen, of which about 170 billion barrels are extractable with current technologies. Multiply by $100 per barrel and pretty soon we're talking real money. But it is capital intensive to slurp these heavy, unconventional dregs of the global oil barrel. Hundreds of billions of dollars have already been invested in the Alberta tar sands, where it takes an oil price of $65 to 85 per barrel to recuperate costs. As recently as 2009, oil was back down in the $40 range, slowing or canceling many projects. So is tar sands oil dirty oil? Of course it is. All oil is dirty. But is it dirtier than other sources? On average, yes. According to Cambridge Energy Research Associates, oil from Alberta tends to be about 5 to 15 percent more polluting than the average oil consumed in the United States when compared on a well-to-wheels basis. Twenty-five percent of oil's emissions occur during the production phase, while 75 percent comes from combustion in a vehicle. Industry insiders often repeat the following argument: It's the consumer's fault, whether they mean car owners or America in general. "If you would stop driving so much, we would stop digging up all this oil and pumping it in your direction," goes the typical line. Then whenever the United States wavers in its affection for Canadian energy, the argument becomes a threat: "We'll just sell it to the Chinese instead." This argument is nonsense on the individual level. American consumers aren't presented with a significant choice at the pump. They get to decide between three octane ratings with maybe a dash of dubiously efficient ethanol in the blend. The only real power a person has to reduce oil consumption is in deciding where to live. Ditching the car and moving to a dense, pedestrian- and bicycle-friendly community with access to mass transit is the most effective solution. For those who cannot or do not wish to move, the alternative is to work through the local political process to redesign your community. Most families haven't made the carless choice yet. Instead the typical response is to buy a bigger car when gasoline is cheap and a more efficient one when the price goes back up. Without a price floor of some sort, America will never break its addiction to oil, foreign or domestic. A strong gasoline tax could serve as a de facto price floor if it were set high enough. Unfortunately the United States has chosen to set the bar very low: Gas tax is a pittance relative to the price of gasoline, and it isn't indexed to inflation, meaning the value has actually declined over the last several decades. It is an abdication of political responsibility to argue that an unorganized and reactionary collective such as consumers is at fault for oil consumption. The essence of ethics is whether our political institutions can make choices that are in the interest of all affected stakeholders, local and global, regardless of the political cost. Seen in this light, can the Canadian and Albertan governments be trusted not to morph into petrostates? It is an abdication of political responsibility to argue that an unorganized and reactionary collective such as consumers is at fault for oil consumption.Sadly the outlook is bleak. The federal environment minister recently declared that Canadian oil is "ethical oil." This concept is drawn straight from the title of a book by conservative political activist Ezra Levant, in which he argues that Canada's oil is morally superior to oil from countries with poor human rights records. Even if Canada and the United States were to boycott imports from all countries they consider problematic, an option neither is willing to consider, oil would still remain a globally priced and traded commodity and the benefits of its consumption would continue to flow to unsavory dictators. On the provincial level, the Alberta government is of the opinion that the tar sands "should" be developed further, despite the fact that a panel recently found that water and environmental monitoring program has been inadequate. Alberta's Energy Resources Conservation Board, its regulatory agency for energy development, has one of the more Orwellian names one can imagine. Bullish development of the oil sands has also contributed to Canada's violation of its Kyoto Protocol commitments. The goal was to decrease emissions 6 percent below 1990 levels. Instead, Canadian emissions have increased by a whopping 24 percent, in great measure due to tar sands expansion. Tar sands emissions now account for about 5 percent of Canada's total. Alberta did manage to enact one innovative policy that few other jurisdictions will even consider: a carbon tax of $15 per ton. This move should be applauded, but it is unfortunately accompanied by billion-dollar investments in the unproven technologies of carbon capture and sequestration—an expensive crutch to help the fossil fuel industry limp into the future—with minimal focus on renewable energy research, development, and deployment. Another concern for Canada's energy future is that the royalty regime [PDF] for tar sands leases is too weak. The rate is set at 1 percent until a project becomes profitable, and then it jumps to 25 percent, which is still low compared to some countries. Alberta risks squandering an opportunity to build its Heritage sovereign wealth fund while the people's resources disappear into private pockets, leaving the province without financial means to transition to a cleaner economy. Is America being a good neighbor in this transaction, or merely abetting a fellow oil junkie? The proposed Keystone XL extension of the pipeline network that carries Albertan oil to the United States is currently under consideration, and final approval falls to the U.S. Department of State because of the international border crossing. It was announced on March 15 that a supplemental environmental impact statement will be issued, followed by a new public comment period, to determine whether the project is "in the U.S. national interest." Buying more energy from a friendly neighbor appears like a good idea on the surface. But while energy security has the ring of a robust and consistent concept, it is actually a relative one. It wears a false halo of military necessity even during peacetime. Supplier countries want security of demand, and consumer countries want security of supply. What the oil industry really worries about is running out of business. "Producers who seek to maximize long-term revenue will want to maintain oil prices stable at the highest price that does not induce substantial investment in substitutes," writes technology and innovation expert Philip Auerswald. Should we be worried about today's high prices? Auerswald doesn't think so. High prices merely hasten the inevitable transition to a post-oil economy. Estimations vary on the timing of peak oil, but the finitude of the resource is undisputed and so is its eventual depletion to a level where the cost of extraction will equal the value of the product. Saying that America should be open to more tar sands oil is basically just another version of the "drill here, drill now" argument for tapping the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve in Alaska. The Obama administration, it should be noted, has been a booster of domestic production, and production has gone up in the last five years. Canadian production has also increased significantly in the last decade, mostly from growth in the tar sands. But after two major oil price spikes during the same period, in 2008 and again now, it should be crystal clear that domestic and Canadian production growth doesn't control the global price, and that a much better strategy lies in finding replacement technologies and actively reducing demand. But this is a tough sell when you think of things like how many Caterpillar 797B dump trucks are needed to mine the tar sands, and how the parts are manufactured all over the United States, by quite a few workers in quite a few Congressional districts. Add to that the public's resistance to raising gasoline taxes, and it becomes quite easy to see why it's politically difficult to enact bold and necessary energy policy. The hundreds of millions of lobbying dollars the oil industry spends certainly don't help our Senators see things clearly. American politicians have been saying we need to get off foreign oil for half a century. Canadian energy executives and politicians bristle when they hear things like that. They feel that somehow Canadian oil shouldn't be considered foreign because it comes from North America. But the ethical thing is for both countries to pursue energy independence based on clean, renewable sources that don't pollute the environment, harm human health, and risk massive destabilization of the global climate. As it stands, Canada has become a climate change ostrich with its head in the oil sands. A version of this article first appeared in the Carnegie Ethics Online column. Read More: Business, Conservation, Democracy, Development, Diplomacy, Economy, Energy, Environment, Ethics, Jobs, Security, Sustainability, Technology, Trade, Transportation, Canada, United States, Americas, Global, Middle Eastblog comments powered by Disqus	299
- Health Library - PetMD U \|8 Common Snacks That Will Prompt a Portly Pet\|\|Overweight Pets: Addressing the Epidemic\|\|How to Care for Senior Pets\|\|10 Simple Ways to Help Your Overweight Dog\| \|Six Signs it’s Time to Change Your Pet’s Food\|\|Top 5 Common Pet Owner Mistakes\|\|Pet Nutrition in People Terms: Weight Gain\|\|How to Choose the Best Dog Food\| \|8 Best Hiking Trails for Dogs\|\|5 Ways to Get Your Cat with Mobility Issues Moving\|\|5 Ways to Get Your Dog with Mobility Issues Moving\|\|5 Exercise Tips for Arthritic Cats\| \|Top Ten 'Small Breed' Dogs\|\|Top Ten Dogs for Kids\|\|If Your Pet Had Thumbs...\|\|Top Five Pet Poisons in Your Purse\| \|Ten Common Poisonous Plants for Cats\|\|Does My Cat Have Ticks?\|\|Top Ten Reasons to Hug your Cat\|\|7 Ways Cats Are Not Small Dogs\| Selecting a dog food with the proper balance of necessary nutrients from healthy ingredients is important for your dog’s well being. As you will see while reviewing MyBowl, minerals are one essential class of nutrients that must be included in a healthy, balanced diet. Minerals are crucial for the proper development and function of your dog’s body. Specific minerals must be present in a dog food in the right amounts to provide optimal health. Minerals work together to coordinate body functions and maintain normal activities. While not providing enough of certain minerals is a concern, oversupplementation can also cause problems. Pet food manufacturers keep a close eye on just how much of each and every mineral is used in a dog food. Minerals used must also be able to survive processing and storage and they must also be of good quality and easily absorbed by the dog. Many essential minerals are provided by common fruits, vegetables, meats and whole grains. These ingredients are used in many high quality products on the shelves today. The bulk of the minerals used in pet foods typically come in pre-combined powdered mixes. It is not reasonable to source minerals only from raw ingredients because they are less likely to survive processing. This is why you will see many chemical names on a bag of dog food. Macrominerals include calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, sodium, chloride, potassium and sulfur. Calcium and phosphorus are very important macrominerals. A deficiency in either of these minerals can lead to bone deformities or weakness. Fractures can easily result in animals with calcium and phosphorus deficiencies. In young animals, oversupplementation of these minerals can lead to abnormal growth and development, especially in large breed dogs. Calcium and phosphorus are also essential for blood coagulation, muscle growth and nervous system function. Magnesium works in harmony with calcium and phosphorus. Sodium and chloride work together to control the balance of fluid in the body. Imbalances of sodium and/or chloride can result in hair loss, fatigue, dehydration and even paralysis. Potassium is similar to sodium and chloride. Without adequate potassium the heart will not be able to beat normally. Sulfur is important in maintenance of hair, skin and nails. It also assists wound healing and detoxifies the body. Even though they are only needed in extremely small amounts, trace minerals are essential in a healthy, balanced dog food. Common trace minerals include iron, zinc, copper, iodine, magnesium and selenium. Iron is important for oxygenation of red blood cells, energy production and immune system maintenance. Zinc supports the immune system, skin and hair coat health and aids in digestion. Other trace minerals include nickel, molybdenum, aluminum, silicon, chromium, boron, cobalt and fluorine.	172
Even a modest backyard garden can result in an overabundance of homegrown fruits and vegetables, leading to wasted food. You don't have to stuff yourself full of excess produce, give it all away or let it rot - just can it. Home canning is a great way to preserve your garden harvest. Fresher and tastier than store-bought canned goods, home-canned food saves money and reduces packaging waste, too. Food can be preserved in glass mason jars using either hot water bath or pressure canner methods. Heating the jars kills microorganisms that cause spoilage, and as the jars cool, air pressure seals the lids tightly. When stored in a dark, cool, dry location, sealed home-canned goods have a shelf life of about one year. Canning your produce is an ideal way to maintain a more local diet year-round, rather than relying on store-bought goods outside the growing season. You can preserve virtually anything you grow in your garden with home canning. Get creative and add herbs, spices and other items to your fruits and vegetables, or make salsa, sauces and soups. Home Canning Materials To get started, you'll need the following items: - Glass mason jars with lids and sealing rings, sterilized in boiling water and fully dried - Large pot or pressure canner - Canning rack, to hold jars inside the pot - Wide-mouth funnel and ladle, to fill jars - Tongs or jar lifters, to remove cans from the pot - Home canning guide, such as the USDA's Complete Guide to Home Canning The Basics of Canning Food High-acid foods such as tomatoes, jams and jellies can be canned in a hot water bath. Sterilized jars are packed with food, sealed and completely submerged in boiling water for 5 to 85 minutes depending on the type of food and the size of the jars. Boiling removes the oxygen that remains in the jar to form a tight seal. This method can only be used with foods that have a pH of 4.6 or less, as the heat used isn't high enough to prevent the growth of a bacteria called Clostridium botulinum. Modern pressure canners make home canning easier and safer than ever before, and come in a variety of sizes fitting up to two layers of pint-sized jars. Jars filled with food are placed on a rack inside the canner with 2-3 ices of water and processed at high temperatures. This method is ideal for low-acid foods including most vegetables. Home canning is not difficult, but the risk of bacteria growth from improperly canned food requires careful attention to safety guidelines. Always follow instructions from a reliable source of home canning information, such as the National Center for Home Food Preservation.	756
Internet shopping cart is a software program that acts as an online shopping store. It is when integrated on company website enables the customers to choose items from the web store and then help in purchasing those items particularly with the help of few steps. In real world shopping cart is a metal basket where items are physically held together by the walls of the basket. Whereas, online shopping cart is an interface between company website and its infrastructure, allowing consumers to review what all they have selected and make necessary modifications, if required. It works as a web store on a website presenting its own set of unique changes and challenges. Further, the product offering needs to be kept current with statistics, pricing, information on availability and order needs to be fulfilled. Why Is A Shopping Cart Required? Online shopping is a fast means and growing consumer trends. Today most of the consumer’s assume that company offers Internet purchasing. In order to meet the demands of the customer company needs to have a secure, reliable and fast shopping cart system in place. Uses of a Shopping Cart Shopping cart software allows online shopping customers to "place" items in the cart. Upon "checkout" the software typically calculates a total for the order including shipping and handling (i.e. postage and packing) and taxes. It typically provides a means of capturing a client's payment information, but in the case of a credit card payment there is a payment gateway, a secure payment gateway is conducted in order to prefer for a secure transaction. Benefits of a Shopping Cart - Easily Accept Online Payments: Shopping Cart accepts credit card payments by simple payment gateway. - Transactions Are Very Secure: Financial information is securely stored on their servers. There is always a 100% protection against unauthorized payments. - Easy set up: There is no complex computer programming it’s simply a product display and sells by payment gateway. - Product Details: Product details are mentioned for each item like the shipping charges, price, handling fees, item number which helps in customizing the product for the buyer. - Multiple Options: There are multiple options for the customers to make changes or select the product as required by them before making purchases. How Do Shopping Carts Work? There are different types of shopping carts in the market along with its different ways of working. But normally a shopping cart includes a basic structure: - A database to store information such as product detail, customer data, order information etc. - A storefront that displays this information to store visitors (e.g. product detail pages, checkout pages, etc.) - An administration area that allows the store administrator to manage the store. (Like where you add products, set up shipping & payment options, process order etc.) Storing the database allows the web owners to see the existing shopping carts at any time, with their amount of purchases. This information is valuable allowing the web owners to get through the basic needs and belongings of a customer who did not proceed to check out process on last visit and who have processed the shopping from the site. Using cookies a virtual shopping cart can be stored in the customer web browser. How Do Shopping Carts Work? Web shopping requires a lot of security for online customers. Customer information should be kept confidential and secure in an online transaction. Working should be done more than the customer’s expectations, without any service disruptions. The most important aspect is to secure the website from any fraud and mismanagement by the user.	527
WebMD Medical News Brenda Goodman, MA Laura J. Martin, MD Oct. 3, 2011 -- Children who are overweight compared to their peers are nearly three times more likely to have high blood pressure, a new study shows. The study, published in the journal Hypertension, followed 1,111 school-aged children in Indiana for an average of four years. Twice each year, researchers visited schools to take blood pressure measurements and record the kids’ heights and weights. About 40% of the children in the study were above the 85th percentile on growth charts for their height and weight. When children are above the 85th percentile, doctors consider them to be overweight. Among the overweight kids, 14% had blood pressure that was higher than normal, while only 5% of normal-weight kids had elevated blood pressure. The study also found that extra pounds are especially dangerous for kids who are already big. "For an overweight and obese child, if you increase your BMI [body mass index] percentile a little bit, that would increase your blood pressure strongly,"says researcher Wanzhu Tu, PhD. Tu is a research scientist at Regenstrief Institute and professor of biostatistics at Indiana University School of Medicine, both in Indianapolis. "In the same way," Tu says, for just a little bit of weight loss "you could benefit greatly in terms of blood pressure." The risks of overweight were the same, regardless of the child’s sex or race. About 42% of the kids in the study were black. Pediatricians say the study is wake-up call. "We’ve tended to look at the overweight category as a lower-risk category," says Stephen R. Daniels, MD, PhD, chairman of the department of pediatrics at the University of Colorado School of Medicine in Denver. He was not involved in the research. "This suggests to me that we really need to worry about kids who are in that overweight category," says Daniels, who is also pediatrician-in-chief at Colorado Children’s Hospital. Other experts say the findings are concerning because having high blood pressure has been shown to set kids up for health complications. Not only are children with high blood pressure much more likely to turn into adults who have high blood pressure, but newer studies have shown that kids can get the same kinds of organ damage -- to the heart, blood vessels, and kidneys -- that doctors once thought was only a problem for adults with the condition. One study even found that kids with high blood pressure have subtle changes in the brain area that controls attention, problem solving, and working memory. "For physicians, we have to take much more seriously this concept of the childhood origins of adult diseases and look beyond the weight and beyond the blood pressure level because we’re finding more evidence, subtle evidence, of injury," says Bonita Falkner, MD, professor of medicine and pediatrics at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia. "So it’s not going to be a risk that’s going to be in the future. It’s a risk that’s now," says Falkner, who wrote an editorial on the study, but was not involved in the research. "It jacks up the concern about preventing childhood obesity and also not waiting until they are obese," she tells WebMD. "Even overweight can be problematic for children." SOURCES:Tu, W. Hypertension, November 2011.Falkner, B. Hypertension, November 2011.Wanzhu Tu, PhD, research scientist, Regenstrief Institute; professor of biostatistics, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis.Stephen R. Daniels, MD, PhD, chairman, department of pediatrics, University of Colorado School of Medicine; pediatrician-in-chief, Colorado Children’s Hospital, Denver.Bonita Falkner, MD, professor of medicine and pediatrics, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia. Here are the most recent story comments.View All The views expressed here do not necessarily represent those of abc24 News The Health News section does not provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. See additional information.	338
Encyclopedia of Southern Jewish Communities History of Congregation B'nai Israel, Little Rock B’nai Israel congregation was first organized at the close of the Civil War, as increasing numbes of Jewish merchants and businessmen settled in Little Rock. In the summer of 1866, residents raised money to purchase a Torah scroll and ram’s horn for the upcoming High Holy Day services. Originally called the Little Rock Congregation, the group formally incorporated as B’nai Israel in 1867 and elected Morris Navra as its first president. Samuel Peck joined the congregation as a spiritual leader the following year. Many early congregants were adherents to Reform Judaism, and in accordance with the practices of some Reform congregations at the time, they referred to their leader as Reverend Samuel Peck. B’nai Israel was one of the founding members of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, now the Union for Reform Judaism. The group met in a small room on East Markham Street during its early years. The single room was officially dedicated on July 13, 1867. Soon, the young congregation began to work toward to building a suitable synagogue. In 1869, they purchased land on Center Street. In 1871, they laid the cornerstone for their first building. The congregation hosted a benefit ball to raise funds for a temple at 304 Center Street, which was dedicated in September of 1872. That same year, the congregation acquired land for a cemetery. Congregants also established a Sabbath School called Talmud Yelodim. The school enrolled 69 students in the first six months and began holding confirmation classes the following year. B’nai Israel also offered other communal organizations, including a Temple choir and a Board of Relief established to care for Jewish burials and illnesses. Rabbi Jacob Block served B’nai Israel from 1872 to 1880. Disagreements about religious observances and liturgy led to a rift in the 1870s as the Jewish community of Little Rock began to divine along denominational lines. After disagreements over religious observances and liturgy, a group of more traditional members left to establish a separate Orthodox service. In time, this group evolved into the congregation Agudat Achim. During this same period, B’nai Israel was finding it hard to keep a rabbi in Little Rock. From 1881 to 1891, they had three different rabbis, and went over a year without a full-time rabbi. Rabbi Charles Rubenstein came in 1891, and stayed for six years, playing a leading role in convincing the congregation to build a new home. The increasing arrivals of Jewish newcomers to Little Rock swelled the congregation’s ranks. By the close of the 1800s, B’nai Israel had nearly 200 members and had outgrown the Center Street Temple. In 1897 the congregation erected a large ornate structure on the corners of Broadway and Capitol Streets. The magnificent yellow-bricked edifice bore a Byzantine-inspired dome capping a Romanesque tower as well as tall Gothic windows and spires. The interior, designed to seat up to 700, incorporated elements of Grecian and Roman theater architecture. Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise, founder of the UAHC, dedicated the new temple on May 9, 1897. Rabbis from Memphis, Camden, Pine Bluff, and Fort Smith were also part of the dedication ceremony. The congregation continued to grow under a series of capable and popular rabbis trained at Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati. Under the leadership of Rabbi Louis Wolsey, who served from 1899 to 1907, the congregation was so successful that in 1907 the temple was enlarged to accommodate the new members. That same year, B’nai Israel had 220 member families, and an annual income of over $7000. They had 156 students in their weekly religious school. A Ladies Temple Aid Society had been founded in 1903, and boasted 170 members by 1907. B’nai Israel grew over the next decade, and by 1917 it had 300 members. The pulpit at B’nai Israel continued to experience high turnover during the first quarter of the 20th century. Rabbi Louis Witt had the longest tenure, serving from 1907 to 1919. In 1926, Rabbi Ira Sanders assumed the pulpit at B’nai Israel. He had formerly served as associate Rabbi at a large, cosmopolitan synagogue in New York. On Decoration Day of that year (now called Memorial Day), Sanders gave a speech titled: “Why the North and the South Should Meet Together.” Members of the Little Rock community happened to be in the audience, and they were so impressed that they enticed Sanders to accept the rabbinate at B’nai Israel. Sanders agreed and served as the beloved rabbi of B’nai Israel for the next 37 years. The days of the revolving door rabbis were over, another sign in the development of B’nai Israel. During the Civil Rights era, Sanders was an eloquent and vociferous advocate of integration, at a time when many of his congregants avoided the subject for fear of reprisals. The late 1950s saw a spate of synagogue bombings across the south, and in October of 1958 Sanders received a threat that B’nai Israel would be bombed the following Friday eve. Rabbi Groner of Agudat Achim received a similar threat. Sanders decided to proceed with services, and that Shabbat undoubtedly became one of great joy for the Jewish community when the appointed hour passed without incident. The congregation flourished under Sanders inspired leadership. The physical structure continued to expand, adding an education wing in 1949, a memorial library and an art gallery. The Temple was remodeled in 1953 and 1954, and the congregation continued to see strong attendance even as the Jewish population dwindled in smaller Arkansas towns. Rabbi Sanders retired in 1963 and assumed the role of Rabbi Emeritus, a role he served until his passing in 1985. His replacement as the congregation leader, Rabbi Elijah E. Palnick, maintained Sanders legacy of supporting civil rights and facilitating dialogue between Little Rock residents of diverse religious and racial backgrounds. Palnick was followed by Rabbi Eugene Levy, who has led B’nai Israel since 1987. In 1975, congregants made the difficult decision to leave their building and build a new temple in West Little Rock. Many of the furnishings and even edifice stones from the old temple were lovingly preserved. The spacious, modern structure better served the community’s needs, and today the congregation continues to offer a complete range of educational, religious and social programming.	813
Discover the words hidden in the grid, written through one another in eight horizontal, vertical and diagonal directions. Select words by clicking on the first and last letters, in any order. If the selected letters match an item in the list, the letters are highlighted and the item is crossed out. Spaces, capitalization and diàçritîcš are ignored. Once the list is cleared you win. The letters remaining at the end, if any, may or may not spell a little Aesopean or other proverbial gem of wisdom. Recognizing those words in the gaps left between the stroked terms can help spot that last few stubborn hidden letters. The grid can be resized, flipped and rotated in all directions. This may help to make some furtive words more readable. Also the spacing, boldness and capital case can be switched to make the letters stand out from their context. Optionally a handy hover-cross is shown, highlighting those letters that are in line with the letter that is currently under the mouse pointer. Especially the longer and diagonal words may benefit from this. Click a word in the list for some hints about its whereabouts in the grid. Doubleclicking an item in the list will reveal its location in the soup of letters. This is known as cheating. The available word search grids cover subjects ranging from animals and timbers via countries and capitals to Shakespeare and mythology. All that is needed for your own word search game is a list of words, or short word groups as spaces and other non-alphabetic features are ignored. A mixture of a few longer items and some terms of 3 to 6 characters usually gives good results. Avoid words that overlap each other, with one being contained in the other, like ‘raw’ in ‘straw’ or ‘if’ in ‘life’, as they are bound to appear double in the playing field. The same applies to reverse contained words, like ‘art’ in ‘straw’ or ‘raw’ and ‘war’. Use the update function to automatically scan for overlaps, the numbers should update every time you click outside the word list.	90
Antoine Pierre Joseph Marie Barnave Barnave, Antoine Pierre Joseph Marie (äNtwänˈ pyĕr zhōzĕfˈ märēˈ bärnävˈ) [key], 1761–93, French revolutionary. A member of the States-General of 1789 from Grenoble, he was a brilliant speaker and leader of the Jacobins. After Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette fled to Varennes in 1791, Barnave believed that the king might finally be persuaded to accept a constitutional government, thereby avoiding the impending political anarchy. He began a correspondence with Marie Antoinette, encouraging her to convert the monarchy to the Revolution; this correspondence was later used as evidence of Barnave's treasonous activities. In July, 1791, he spoke in the assembly in favor of the restoration of the king as a constitutional monarch and appealed for an end to the Revolution. He retired to Grenoble, and was tried for treason and guillotined (1793). His history of the French Revolution, written during his imprisonment, is considered a major work that tried to put the Revolution into a broader political and social framework. See E. Chill, Power, Property, and History: Barnave's Introduction to the French Revolution and Other Writings (1971). The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2012, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. See more Encyclopedia articles on: French History: Biographies	846
Measuring environmental impact Our approach in adopting a responsible attitude to climate change starts with the assessment of the environmental impact of each stage in our products' life by the means of a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). As part of our internal environmental program, Ecophon has carried out LCAs on our products in collaboration with Ecobilan SA (Pricewaterhouse Coopers), and according to the international ISO 14040 to ISO 14044 series of standards. To give you an overview of the process and an idea of our products' carbon footprint, we will consider a fictitious panel, the "Ecophon index sound-absorbing acoustic panel" based on the most common physical characteristics of Ecophon products: Format: 1000 x 1000mm Edge design: Edge E Surface: Akutex FT Weight: 1.5 kg/m2 Based on "cradle-to-grave" LCA calculations, the total carbon footprint of our fictitious panel is 2.7kg CO2/m2, from extraction of raw materials through to the end-of-life phase (landfill). Click on the links below to find out more about the various phases of our panel's life and its environmental impact.	181
CNY - 中國元，人民幣最常用 CNY 交叉匯率為什麼您對 CNY 感興趣？ Early Currency in China With a history of over 3000 years, Chinese currency existed in both Ancient and Imperial China. In 1914, the Silver Dollar was established as the official currency of the Republic of China, with copper, fen, and nickel coins being added in the 1930s. During this time silver appreciated in value, and China could no longer retain the silver standard. In 1935, a new currency known as Fǎbì, was issued. Introduction of the Gold Yuan and Chinese Yuan Renminbi The Gold Yuan replaced the Fǎbì in 1948 at a rate of 1 Gold Yuan to 3 million Yuan Fǎbì. That same year, the Yuan Renminbi (often called RMB) was introduced as a way to help stabilize the Communist held areas of mainland China. In 1955, a re-evaluation took place and a new Yuan Renminbi was introduced at a rate of 1 new Yuan to 10,000 old Yuan. The Renminbi in Foreign Exchange During the command economy, the Chinese Yuan Renminbi was set to unrealistic exchange values and as a result, severe currency guidelines were put in place. When China's economy opened in 1978, the Yuan Renminbi was only used domestically and foreigners used exchange certificates; this led to a powerful black market. From 1997 to 2005, the Chinese government pegged the Chinese Yuan Renminbi to the US Dollar at approximately 8.3 CNY to 1 USD. In 2005, a flexible mechanism of exchange rates was phased in, with the RMB being re-evaluated to 8.1 Renminbi per US dollar. The Chinese government launched a pilot program in 2009, allowing some businesses in Guangdong and Shanghai to execute business and trade transactions with counterparties in Hong Kong, Macau, and select nations. The program has since expanded to all areas of China and all international counterparties. China has also made agreements with Australia, Japan, Thailand, Russia, and Vietnam to allow for direct currency trade, instead of converting to the US Dollar. As a managed float, the Renminbi's value is determined by a basket of foreign currencies. - AP chief says phone probe makes news sources reluctant to talk - UPDATE 2-UAE economy grows at fastest rate since 2006 - UK lawmakers consider probe into transparency of mining firms - Corporate debt abuse claims prompt Israeli review - Glance-REFILE-PRESS DIGEST - Sunday British business - May 19 - German minister calls EU move on China solar 'grave mistake'	481
Plant Care GuidesPerennials \| Bulbs \| Trees and Shrubs \| Vegetables \| Fruits \| Herbs Mesclun and Salad Greens About This PlantSweet corn varieties include yellow, white, and bi-colored types. Because corn is wind-pollinated, it should be planted in blocks of at least four rows rather than in long single rows. By planting early, mid, and late-season varieties you can extend the harvest over several weeks. Plant corn on the north side of the garden to prevent it from shading nearby crops. Site SelectionSelect a site with full sun and well-drained soil. Prepare the garden bed by using a garden fork or tiller to loosen the soil to a depth of 12 to 15 inches, then mix in a 2- to 4-inch layer of compost and/or aged manure. Planting InstructionsPlant corn directly outdoors after all danger of frost has passed and the soil temperature is about 60 degrees F. Corn requires a good deal of nitrogen for optimum growth, so work plenty of aged manure into the soil the previous fall and plan to fertilize with additional nitrogen during the growing season if necessary. Plant corn seeds in blocks of at least four rows with 2 to 4 feet between rows, sowing the seeds 1-1/2 to 2 inches deep and 6 to 8 inches apart. CareThin the corn to stand 12 to 16 inches apart when the plants are 4 to 5 inches tall. Provide at least 1 inch of water a week. Control weeds with frequent shallow cultivation until the plants are knee high. Then apply a 3- to 5-inch layer of mulch. Watch for signs of nitrogen deficiency (yellowing leaves) and respond with quick side-dressings of a nitrogen-rich fertilizer such as fish emulsion. Contact your local County Extension office for controls of common corn pests such as corn earworms and European corn borers. HarvestingSweet corn should be harvested when its ears are completely filled out and a pierced kernel shows a milky white liquid. Sweet corn varieties (except for supersweet varieties) lose their sweetness soon after harvest. Immediately after picking prepare the ears for eating or preserving.	807
Pacific ecosystem: An ochre sea star makes a kelp forest home in Monterey Bay, California. Image courtesy of Kip F. Evans Ocean Literacy - Essential Principle 5 The ocean supports a great diversity of life and ecosystems. Fundamental Concept 5a. Ocean life ranges in size from the smallest virus to the largest animal that has lived on Earth, the blue whale. Fundamental Concept 5b. Most life in the ocean exists as microbes. Microbes are the most important primary producers in the ocean. Not only are they the most abundant life form in the ocean, they have extremely fast growth rates and life cycles. Fundamental Concept 5c. Some major groups are found exclusively in the ocean. The diversity of major groups of organisms is much greater in the ocean than on land. Fundamental Concept 5d. Ocean biology provides many unique examples of life cycles, adaptations and important relationships among organisms (symbiosis, predator-prey dynamics and energy transfer) that do not occur on land. Fundamental Concept 5e. The ocean is three-dimensional, offering vast living space and diverse habitats from the surface through the water column to the seafloor. Most of the living space on Earth is in the ocean. Fundamental Concept 5f. Ocean habitats are defined by environmental factors. Due to interactions of abiotic factors such as salinity, temperature, oxygen, pH, light, nutrients, pressure, substrate and circulation, ocean life is not evenly distributed temporally or spatially, i.e., it is “patchy”. Some regions of the ocean support more diverse and abundant life than anywhere on Earth, while much of the ocean is considered a desert. Fundamental Concept 5g. There are deep ocean ecosystems that are independent of energy from sunlight and photosynthetic organisms. Hydrothermal vents, submarine hot springs, methane cold seeps, and whale falls rely only on chemical energy and chemosynthetic organisms to support life. Fundamental Concept 5h. Tides, waves and predation cause vertical zonation patterns along the shore, influencing the distribution and diversity of organisms. Fundamental Concept 5i. Estuaries provide important and productive nursery areas for many marine and aquatic species. Shop Windows to the Universe Science Store! The Winter 2009 issue of The Earth Scientist , focuses on Earth System science, including articles on student inquiry, differentiated instruction, geomorphic concepts, the rock cycle, and much more! You might also be interested in: About 70% of the Earth is covered with water, and we find 97% of that water in the oceans. Everyone who has taken in a mouthful of ocean water while swimming knows that the ocean is really salty. All water...more Oxygen is a chemical element with an atomic number of 8 (it has eight protons in its nucleus). Oxygen forms a chemical compound (O2) of two atoms which is a colorless gas at normal temperatures and pressures....more The deep ocean is very cold, under high pressure, and always dark because sunlight can not penetrate that far. The only light comes from bioluminescence – a chemical reaction inside the bodies of some...more Photosynthesis is the name of the process by which autotrophs (self-feeders) convert water, carbon dioxide, and solar energy into sugars and oxygen. It is a complex chemical process by which plants and...more Methane is gas that is found in small quantities in Earth's atmosphere. Methane is the simplest hydrocarbon, consisting of one carbon atom and four hydrogen atoms. Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas....more The intertidal zone is the area along a coastline that is underwater at high tide and above the water at low tide. Whether it’s a rocky coast, a sandy beach, or a salt marsh, life in the intertidal zone...more The ocean makes Earth habitable. Fundamental Concept 4a. Most of the oxygen in the atmosphere originally came from the activities of photosynthetic organisms in the ocean. Fundamental Concept 4b. The first...more	69
Started conversation May 4, 2004 It's incorrect to say that "gyratory system" is just the name for a roundabout that has got too big for its boots. In fact it's the original term which was soon displaced when they became common. I'm not sure if the term "gyratory circus" was ever really used. There are a number of junctions in London known as circuses after the circular range of buildings around them. This was a particularly 18th century fashion, so of course the most famously beautiful one is in Bath. The OED says of "gyratory": Applied to a system of directing road traffic round a roundabout or through a system of one-way streets to avoid the need for one line of traffic to intersect another. 1909 Westm. Gaz. 7 Aug. 4/2 The gyratory principle, by which vehicles are directed into circular lines ingeniously devised to avoid intersection. 1926 Rep. Comm. Police Metropolis, 1925 16 in Parl. Papers (Cmd. 2660) XV. 239 Gyratory systems for the circulation of traffic, after years of discussion, reached the point of practical demonstration this year. 1928 Observer 5 Feb. 13/7 Now that every week dedicates a new bunch of streets to the Gyratory System. 1966 Guardian 8 Sept. 5/4 A new gyratory road system to ease traffic congestion..is to be built..at Stretford. And of "roundabout": A junction at which traffic moves one way round a central island. Cf. RONDPOINT b, ROTARY n. 3. 1927 Glasgow Herald 3 Jan. 7/2 There is only one draw~back to the roundabout, and that is the inconvenience caused to pedestrians. 1937 Times 13 Apr. (British Motor No.) p. viii/1 Roundabouts..have the advantage of keeping vehicles on the move. 1947 Daily Mail 22 May 3/4 Removal of the Mansion House to make room for a big round-about. 1955 Times 2 Aug. 9/7 Makeshift tactics are particularly evident in the proposed treatment at Hyde Park Corner which includes an extremely complicated roundabout. 1967 Listener 28 Sept. 398/1 People make only occasional use of their speedometer..on such critical occasions as the approach to roundabouts. 1977 Belfast Tel. 14 Feb. 5/9, 12 shots were fired at an armoured police vehicle near the roundabout at Narrow~water Castle. And of "circus": A circular range of houses. Also, a traffic roundabout. Often in proper names as Oxford Circus, Regent Circus. 1714 POPE Rape Lock IV. 117 Sooner shall Grass in Hide-Park Circus grow. 1766 ANSTEY Bath Guide II. ix. 57 To breathe a purer Air In the Circus or the Square. 1771 SMOLLETT Humph. Cl. 23 Apr., The same artist who planned the Circus has likewise projected a crescent [at Bath]. Ibid. The Circus is a pretty bauble..and looks like Vespasian's amphitheatre turned outside in. 1794 Looker-on No. 89 The squares and circuses are no longer the only scenes of dignified dissipation. 1898 Tit-Bits 15 Jan. 300/3 Bridges, of light and tasty design, across all the main thoroughfares, and at the various ‘circuses’ and cross roads. Posted Sep 2, 2004 I'm a little confused. The definitions you gave seem to support the idea that there is a difference between a roundabout and a gyratory. Those definitions say that a roundabout is a junction, while a gyratory is a particular kind of one way system. Of course a roundabout could be viewed as a very small one way system, so you could argue that all roundabouts are gyratories. But not all gyratories are really roundabouts according to the definitions you produced. (Specifically, a gyratory consisting of more than one junction is, by definition, not a roundabout.) But in practice, isn't the common usage pretty much as I suggested? I'm only actually aware of two road systems commonly referred to as gyratories - one is the subject of this article, and the other is in Reading. And both of them are distinctly on the large side. In particular, they both have multiple junctions. So the common usage of the word seems to be to describe overgrown roundabouts (and more specifically, multi-junction ones) in practice. Can you point to any counterexamples in real use? I'm just going on the gyratories I know - I've not done any exhaustive research on gryatories across the nation. Posted Aug 12, 2005 There is a gyratory system at Park Gate near Southampton that consists of a pair of roundabouts connected by a pair of one way carriage ways. Posted Aug 12, 2005 I have to correct my previous entry because, while I have heard it called the Park Gate gyratory system, it is not recorded as a gyratory system on Hampshire's register of adopted roads. It is recorded as the following separate components... Botley Road roundabout, the Bridge Road dual carriageway and the Brook Lane roundabout. However, I find there is a gyratory system just east of Park Gate on the A27 at Titchfield and this is a large roundabout with traffic lights and many junctions. Complain about this post	131
[Sex. Syst.—Monoecia, Polyandria. Gen. Char—See ante, p. 318. Sp. Char.—Leaves obovate, oblong; obliquely divided into obtuse lobes; segments, oblong entire; cup hemispherical, tuberculated; acorn ovoid, oblong; fruit in pairs. This tree is less elevated than the Q. tinctoria. It forms, however, a larger and more regularly-expanded head, with numerous horizontal branches. The trunk and branches have a whitish hue, hence the name White Oak. The leaves are of a silvery appearance, with a hoary under surface. The young leaves are covered with a fine silky down. The bark is rough externally, of a light colour; the effete epidermis being arranged in flat layers On drying, the internal layer becomes brown. It breaks with a stringy fracture. The odour is decided and tan-like; taste astringent and bitter. This bark is used in tanning. For medicinal purposes it is preferred to the black oak. DECOCTUM QUERCUS ALBAE, U. S.; Decoction of White Oak Bark.—(Take of White Oak Bark, bruised, an ounce: Water a pint and a half. Boil down to a pint and strain.)—Used as the Decoctum Quercus, p. 320.] The Elements of Materia Medica and Therapeutics, Vol. II, 3th American ed., was written by Jonathan Pereira in 1853.	430
As previous research has demonstrated, HIV attacks the host's immune system, including an important category of T cells critical for fighting infection called CD4+ T cells. The virus specifically destroys those CD4+ T cells that reside in the tissues of the body like the intestine and lung that interface with the outside environment. As HIV replicates in the human body, the tissue levels of CD4+ T cells are killed and, when the number of these cells drop below a certain level, a patient develops AIDS. At this point, the patient's immune system is weakened enough to allow infections caused by bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites that are normally held at bay by a healthy human body. The infected body's inability to fight off these "intruders," leads to death. "To learn more about HIV, its impacts and possible treatments, we study simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV), a close relative of HIV that infects and causes AIDS in nonhuman primates," explained the study's lead author Louis Picker, M.D. Picker serves as director of the VGTI's vaccine program and associate director of the VGTI. He is also a professor of pathology, and molecular microbiology and immunology in the OHSU School of Medicine; and director of the Division of Pathobiology and Immunology at the OHSU Oregon National Primate Research Center. "What we were able to discover using SIV-infected monkeys was that a certain naturally occurring protein called interleukin-15 (IL-15) caused a dramatic restoration of tissue CD4+ T cel Contact: Jim Newman Oregon Health & Science University	758
You have always heard that in ancient times salt was like gold, but why is that? Salt is the original preserving mean. Meat cured in salt doesn’t spoil, cheese soaked in brine lasts longer, and those foods could then be stored for long travels, colder months, or times of famine. Cervia, a small town on the Adriatic coast of Italy whose main trade has traditionally been in salt, has always been considered a prized domain by the Pope State exactly for this reason. Salt has been for a very long time a state monopoly in Italy, so all production was sent to be repackaged at a central government facility. Only in the past five years the salt monopoly has been lifted, allowing salt producing facilities to brand their products. So, instead of getting whatever salt you can get at the Sali e Tabacchi store (the designated monopoly outlet where you buy all tobacco products and lottery tickets- and where you used to buy salt as well!) you can pick a local salt, from a given salt pond. Since Cervia is about 2 miles from my hometown, smack in the heart of Romagna, I am partial to Cervia’s salt! The salt ponds in Cervia are fortunately alive and well. They survived modernization and mechanization, and some of the ponds are still harvested by hand, making for an extraordinary open air museum of salt heritage! Sal Fiore (flower salt, the same fleur de sel of French celebrity) is a fine sea salt, still called sale del papa (Pope’s salt), as traditionally the first harvested salt was delivered to Rome to be used on the Pope’s table. Given this important historic background, the salt producers in Cervia decided to brand their salt as Sale Dei Papi, the Popes’ salt. An important name! In 2004, Slow Food recognized Salina Camillone (a salt pond, pictured above) as a Presidia, to preserve the production, harvesting methods and the quality of the product. Two salts are then recognized as the diamond head of Cervia’s production: the Salina Camillone salt and the Salfiore di Romagna, the Popes’ Salt. Both Salina Camillone salt and Sal Fiore are completely natural: they dry by sunlight, and no additivies or anti-caking agents are added to the final product- not even iodine, as sea salt naturally has it! Sal Fiore is a fine salt, the first one to be harvested in the traditional method, and it’s a perfect finishing salt, as its crunchy texture and sharp sea taste make for an interesting touch on salads and steamed vegetables. The salt from Salina Camillone is instead very coarse, harvested by hand in limited uquantities every day, from June till September. The Camillone salt pond has been harvested in the same way since Roman times, and the salt it produces is somewhat more humid than other sea salts, making for a terrific ingredient in salt crust recipes. Cervia’s salt is still an artisanal product, not widely available on the shelves- even in Italy! You can find it mainly online, at the official website of the Saline di Cervia, or at this other small online shop, based on the East Coast, Olive Nation. Corti Brothers also carries it online, and the website carries an extensive history of the product! Filed under: Traditional Foods	135
Nature Magazine reports that the European Commission has awarded up to €1 billion in research funding for the Human Brain Project led by neuroscientist Henry Markram. And while the official announcement is not expected until January 28, part of the project will be dedicated to the development of a exaflop supercomputer that will be used for the simulation of the brain model. Brain researchers are generating 60,000 papers per year,” said Markram as he explained the concept in Bern. “They’re all beautiful, fantastic studies — but all focused on their one little corner: this molecule, this brain region, this function, this map.” The HBP would integrate these discoveries, he said, and create models to explore how neural circuits are organized, and how they give rise to behaviour and cognition — among the deepest mysteries in neuroscience. Ultimately, said Markram, the HBP would even help researchers to grapple with disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease. “If we don’t have an integrated view, we won’t understand these diseases,” he declared. The Human Brain Project is one of the two winner projects of the Future and Emerging Technologies Flagship competition launched by the European Commission, the other one being the “Graphene” project led by Swedish theoretical physicist Jari Kinaret.	164
2012-2013 Service Learning Courses Hispanic Literature in Translation—"Defiant Acts: Spanish and Latin American Theatre" Isabel de Sena This course will explore the full spectrum of theatre from the early modern period in Spain and colonial Spanish America to contemporary theatre on both sides of the Atlantic, including U.S. Latino playwrights. We will read across periods to identify preoccupations and generic characteristics as theatre evolves and moves between the street and the salon, the college yard and the court, enclosed theatres and theatre for the enclosed. In the process we will address a wide swath of ideas, on gender, class, freedom and totalitarianism, the boundaries of identity. Students will be introduced to some basic concepts and figures ranging from Lope de Vega’s brilliant articulation of “comedia” to Augusto Boal’s concept of an engaged theatre, and investigate the work of FOMMA (Fortaleza de la Mujer Maya) and similar contemporary collectives. And we will read plays as plays, as literature and as texts intended for performance on a stage. At the same time students will have the opportunity to explore creative practices, through engagement with different community organizations: schools, retirement homes, local theatre organizations, etc. Students are encouraged to apply concepts learned in class to their internships, and to bring their ideas and reflections on their weekly practices for discussion in class. Each other week one hour will be devoted to discussing their work in the community. NO Spanish required, but students who are sufficiently fluent in the language may opt to work in a community where Spanish is the primary language of communication. NO expertise in theatre required though theatre students are very welcome. Open to any interested student. Fall & Spring First Year Studies Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu [Isizulu: A person is only a person through other persons] How do the contexts in which we live influence our development? And how do these contexts influence the questions we ask about development, and the ways in which we interpret our observations? How do local, national and international policies impact the contexts in which children live? Should we play a role in changing some of these contexts? What are the complications of doing this? In this course, we will discuss these and other key questions about child and adolescent development in varying cultural contexts, with a specific focus on the United States and sub-Saharan Africa. As we do so, we will discuss factors contributing to both opportunities and inequalities within and between these contexts. In particular, we will discuss how physical and psychosocial environments differ for poor and non-poor children and their families in rural Upstate New York, urban Yonkers, and rural and urban Malawi, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Kenya and Tanzania. We will also discuss individual and environmental protective factors that buffer some children from the adverse effects of poverty, as well as the impacts of public policy on poor children and their families. Topics will include health and educational disparities; environmental inequalities linked to race, class, ethnicity, gender, language and nationality; environmental chaos; children’s play and access to green space; cumulative risk and its relationship to chronic stress; and the HIV/AIDS pandemic and the growing orphan problem in sub-Saharan Africa. Readings will be drawn from both classic and contemporary research in psychology, human development, anthropology, sociology, and public health; memoirs and other first-hand accounts; and classic and contemporary African literature and film. This course will also serve as an introduction to the methodologies of community based and participatory action research within the context of a service-learning course. As a class, we will collaborate with local high school students in developing, implementing and evaluating effective community based work in partnership with organizations in urban Yonkers and rural Tanzania. As part of this work, all students will spend an afternoon a week working in a local after-school program. In addition, we will have monthly seminars with local high school students during our regular class time. Environment, Race and the Psychology of Place This service learning course will focus on the experience of humans living within physical, social and psychological spaces. We will use a constructivist, multidisciplinary, multilevel lens to examine the interrelationship between humans and the natural and built environment, to explore the impact of racial/ethnic group membership on person/environment interactions, and to provide for a critical analysis of social dynamics in the environmental movement. The community partnership/ service learning component is an important part of this class - we will work with local agencies to promote adaptive person-environment interactions within our community. Children’s Health in a Multicultural Context This course offers, within a cultural context, an overview of theoretical and research issues in the psychological study of health and illness in children. We will examine theoretical perspectives in the psychology of health, health cognition, illness prevention, stress, and coping with illness and highlight research, methods, and applied issues. This class is appropriate for those interested in a variety of health careers. Conference work can range from empirical research to bibliographic research in this area. Community partnership/service learning work is encouraged in this class. A background in social sciences or education is recommended.	28
When you lose weight, you not only feel better, but your fat cells are much healthier. So says endocrinologist Andrew Greenberg, director of the Obesity Metabolism Laboratory at Tufts University in Boston. Your body needs fat cells to be healthy, but in obese individuals when fat cells get very big, those cells are at risk of dying, he says. "A fat cell is 95% fat. If it dies, it leaves behind insoluble fat, and the body views it as a foreign body, much like it would splinter," Greenberg says. That excess fat is scooped up by macrophages, scavenger cells that are part of the immune system. During this process, some of the fat and other inflammatory proteins get released into the blood stream, which can significantly increase a person’s risk of developing diabetes, he says. However, there is evidence that if you lose weight, you have fewer dying fat cells and significantly fewer fat-engorged macrophages, Greenberg says. Think fat just hangs around and does nothing? It doesn’t By Nanci Hellmich, USA TODAY PHOENIX â€” Most people think of fat as an inert blob, but fat cells release powerful chemicals. In obese people, the fat tissue often produces too many bad hormones and too few good ones, says Susan Fried, director of the Clinical Nutrition Research Unit of Maryland at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore. BETTER LIFE: The skinny on losing weight Fried and other scientists discussed the latest research on fat cells here at the annual meeting of the Obesity Society. Fried talks about the relationship between obesity and fat cells. Q: Do people have different numbers of fat cells? A: A person at a healthy weight might have 10 billion to 20 billion, and an obese person can have up to 100 billion. Babies are born with about 10 billion. You naturally increase the number of fat cells, like other kinds of cells, as you grow. Q: Is everybody born with the same number of fat cells? A: No. There is a genetic component to how many you have, but I would say less than 5% of obese people have a genetic tendency to have a greatly excess number. It appears in animal experiments that animals that are overnourished in the womb and shortly thereafter tend to have more fat cells. The number can increase at any time if you overeat long enough and hard enough. When your fat cells get to a maximum size, they send a signal to (fat-precursor) cells to become full-fledged fat cells. It may be that having too many hungry fat cells somehow makes us eat more. But overweight people (those who are not obese but are one to 30 pounds over a healthy weight) don’t generally have an excess number. You can gain 30 pounds easily by increasing the size of current fat cells and not adding new ones. Q: What do white fat cells do? A: White fat cells store energy and produce hormones that are secreted into the blood. In theory, if we overeat, our fat cells will produce a little more of the hormone leptin, which will go to our brain and tell us we have plenty of energy down here; not to eat any more. If it worked perfectly, no one would get fat, but it doesn’t work perfectly, so many of us do get fat. When fat cells are small, they produce high amounts of some hormones such as adiponectin. It is a good guy because it keeps the liver and muscles very sensitive to insulin and fights diabetes, heart disease and other diseases. But in obese people, fat cells tend to shut down the production of adiponectin, and that has bad effects on health, and it’s one reason people develop diabetes and heart disease. Q: Does losing weight shrink the size of your fat cells? A: If you are eating less energy than you require, your cells release fat for fuel and then shrink. If you are obese and have 100 billion fat cells and you lose a lot of weight, your fat cells may go down to a normal size, but you still have 100 billion. So you may still be overly fat, but you will be healthier since small fat cells produce more of the good fat hormones like adiponectin. Q: Can you explain the new discoveries about brown fat? A: While a white fat cell stores energy, a brown fat cell’s job is basically to generate heat. We always thought brown fat was only in human babies and helped keep them warm. Now there is more evidence that there are more brown fat cells in adults than we originally thought. Brown and white are not really related because they don’t come from the same precursor cell or stem cell. Brown fat cell comes from the same kind of precursor cell as a muscle cell. Even though there are very few brown fat cells in adult humans, it looks like there is a lot of variability between people. There is increasing evidence that some humans, particularly lean ones, tend to have brown fat cells mixed in with their white fat cells in some regions of their body. So if we can figure out how to persuade the body to make more brown fat cells, we may be able to fight the tendency to gain excess weight.	853
Talking to Your Doctor About Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) You have a unique medical history. Therefore, it is essential to talk with your doctor about your personal risk factors and/or experience with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). By talking openly and regularly with your doctor, you can take an active role in your care. Here are some tips that will make it easier for you to talk to your doctor: - Bring someone else with you. It helps to have another person hear what is said and think of questions to ask. - Write out your questions ahead of time, so you don't forget them. - Write down the answers you get, and make sure you understand what you are hearing. Ask for clarification, if necessary. - Don't be afraid to ask your questions or ask where you can find more information about what you are discussing. You have a right to know. - Tell your doctor about your constant worry and tension, or any other signs of GAD, such as aches and pains for no reason, or trouble sleeping. - Tell your doctor if these problems keep you from doing everyday things and living your life. - Ask for a checkup to check for other illnesses. - Ask your doctor if he or she has helped other people with GAD. Special training helps doctors treat people with GAD. If your doctor doesn't have special training, ask for the name of a doctor or counselor who does. - What treatment options are available for GAD? If your doctor prescribes medicine, ask: - How long will it take to work? - What benefits can I expect? - What side effects should I watch for? - Can you recommend a counselor who treats people with GAD? If you decide to try counseling, interview counselors and find one with whom you feel comfortable discussing your problems. You should ask the counselor about: - His training and experience in treating anxiety disorders - His basic approach to treatment - The length of treatment - The length and frequency of treatment sessions - What health insurance is accepted - Fee schedules and sliding scale fees to accompany various financial circumstances Ask your doctor or counselor about lifestyle changes that could help you reduce your anxiety and stress symptoms. Examples may include: - Caffeine and alcohol use - Getting adequate sleep - Relaxation and stress management techniques - What are my chances of recovering from GAD with treatment? Without treatment? - Will I have a recurrence of GAD and related conditions? What can I do to prevent these? Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). Anxiety Disorders Association of America website. Available at: . Accessed October 29, 2008. Generalized anxiety disorder. National Institute of Mental Health website. Available at: . Update June 2008. Accessed October 29, 2008. Hahn RK, Reist C, et al. Psychiatry. Laguna Hills, CA: Current Clinical Strategies Publishing; 2006. Last reviewed September 2012 by Rimas Lukas, MD Please be aware that this information is provided to supplement the care provided by your physician. It is neither intended nor implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice. CALL YOUR HEALTHCARE PROVIDER IMMEDIATELY IF YOU THINK YOU MAY HAVE A MEDICAL EMERGENCY. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider prior to starting any new treatment or with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Copyright © EBSCO Publishing. All rights reserved.	193
Last week a curious, free release popped up on Steam: Moonbase Alpha, a NASA-funded game where up to six players can team up in order to save a near-future Lunar base crippled by a meteor strike. The game is just the first release from NASA's Learning Technologies program, which aims to help raise interest in the space program through gaming. Ars spoke with Daniel Laughlin, project manager of Learning Technologies, to learn more about the game and what we can expect to see in the future. The game was codeveloped by Army Game Studio and Virtual Heroes, two of the leading developers of "serious games." And according to Laughlin, NASA's decision to move into the game space was influenced a great deal by the success of the studios' previous releases. "The project was inspired in part by America's Army," Laughlin told Ars. "It started as an effort to prove we could create a commercial quality game using NASA content that is fun. NASA was looking for a project at the same time the Army Game Studio was looking to branch out from America’s Army. It helped that Army Game Studio and NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center are co-located at Redstone Arsenal in Alabama. Virtual Heroes has a history for with America’s Army so we were excited to see them selected to support the Army Game Studio on the game." Though development of the game didn't start until last year, Laughlin actually began researching the prospect of using games as an educational tool back in 2004. The main impetus for the project was the decline in interest in STEM education—science, technology, engineering and mathematics—amongst the American population. "The US is facing a crisis in technical fields," explained Laughlin. "There are not enough students studying science, technology, engineering and mathematics to fill our national needs in those areas. NASA literally cannot function without STEM graduates. The big goals for NASA Education are to get more students into STEM fields of study and graduating into STEM careers. It’s also the president’s goal with the Educate to Innovate initiative. Moonbase Alpha was developed in support of those goals." In addition to funding the game, NASA also had a hand in ensuring that it was as accurate as possible, going so far as to have several engineers and scientists review the game for accuracy. Meanwhile, all of the models for the structures, vehicles and space suits were based on NASA’s lunar architecture plans. The game itself only takes around 20 minutes to play, and despite its sophisticated 3D visuals—the game utilizes Unreal Engine 3—Moonbase Alpha is really just a proof of concept. NASA has another, much more ambitious project in the works: an MMO tentatively titled Astronaut: Moon, Mars and Beyond. And, according to Laughlin, the success of Moonbase Alpha could have a big affect on the development of the MMO. "Summaries of the player feedback from Moonbase Alpha will be going to the design team for Astronaut: Moon, Mars and Beyond," he told Ars. "Even more importantly, Moonbase Alpha has the potential to make or break the MMO project. A big negative reaction would mean revisiting the rationale for the MMO and reconsidering the project. A big positive reaction will give momentum and support to Astronaut: Moon, Mars and Beyond." Moonbase Alpha is currently available as a free download on Steam.	314
Subfertility, a condition in which a person is less fertile than average but still capable of contributing to a pregnency, affects about one in 20 men. Up to 80 percent of subfertility could be due to sperm damage caused by oxidative stress or harmful particles produced by a person's own body. While infertility has historically been seen as a woman's problem, male infertility is present in up to half of infertile couples. Varicocele, a condition in which a man has varicose veins in the scrotum, is the most common cause of male subfertility. Other causes include hormonal disorders, problems with quantity and motility of sperm, infections, obesity, drug use and exposure to radiation and chemotherapy. Depending on the condition, male infertility and subfertility can be treated with surgery, hormone therapy and assisted reproductive technologies. While, as we've seen, some doctors dismissed the link between antioxidants and fertility, others said they were not surprised by the results because healthy nutrition and lifestyle are already recommended for couples planning to conceive. Dr. Jeanne O'Brien, associate professor of urology at University of Rochester Medical Center, is one of those doctors. O'Brien said she routinely suggests that her patients take antioxidants if they want a baby. She also recommends decreasing alcohol consumption, smoking cessation, exercising and stress reduction. "I tell them the antioxidants may help and certainly don't harm them at the recommended dosages," said O'Brien. "I believe it is the lifestyle changes and increased health awareness that accompanies antioxidant consumption that may make a difference in terms of increased fertility." O'Brien said antioxidants are never her sole recommendations. "There are always additional factors, testing, medication or alternatives offered in conjunction with them," O'Brien said. "I use antioxidants for select men with impaired semen quality and demonstration of elevated oxidative stress, which is manifest by increased levels of reactive oxygen species," said Kim. "However, I do not assess for oxidative stress if identifiable causes of male infertility are present. In clinical practice, improvements in pregnancy and live birth rates are certainly not as robust as suggested by the Cochrane review." And Kim warns that, despite the hype around antioxidant supplements, they should not be consumed without a watchful eye. For example, excessive consumption of Vitamin E, or more than 400 units per day, has been shown to have possible negative cardiac and vascular effects. "Although generally considered safe in moderation, numerous large-scale studies have indicated that many supplemental antioxidants can actually be detrimental to overall health, said Kim. "With an understanding of these caveats, an assessment of the severity of male factor infertility, and very modest expectations of possible benefit, a man could try antioxidants before attempting assisted reproduction."	597
PROVIDENCE, RI -- Shifting glaciers and exploding volcanoes aren't confined to Mars' distant past, according two new reports in the journal Nature. Glaciers moved from the poles to the tropics 350,000 to 4 million years ago, depositing massive amounts of ice at the base of mountains and volcanoes in the eastern Hellas region near the planet's equator, based on a report by a team of scientists analyzing images from the Mars Express mission. Scientists also studied images of glacial remnants on the western side of Olympus Mons, the largest volcano in the solar system. They found additional evidence of recent ice formation and movement on these tropical mountain glaciers, similar to ones on Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa. In a second report, the international team reveals previously unknown traces of a major eruption of Hecates Tholus less than 350,000 million years ago. In a depression on the volcano, researchers found glacial deposits estimated to be 5 to 24 million years old. James Head, professor of geological sciences at Brown University and an author on the Nature papers, said the glacial data suggests recent climate change in Mars' 4.6-billion-year history. The team also concludes that Mars is in an "interglacial" period. As the planet tilts closer to the sun, ice deposited in lower latitudes will vaporize, changing the face of the Red Planet yet again. Discovery of the explosive eruption of Hecates Tholus provides more evidence of recent Mars rumblings. In December, members of the same research team revealed that calderas on five major Mars volcanoes were repeatedly active as little as 2 million years ago. The volcanoes, scientists speculated, may even be active today. "Mars is very dynamic," said Head, lead author of one of the Nature reports. "We see that the climate change and geological forces that drive evolution on Earth are happening there." Head is part of a 33-institution team analyzing images from Mars Express, launched in June 2003 by the European Space Agency. The High Resolution Stereo Camera, or HRSC, on board the orbiter is producing 3-D images of the planet's surface. These sharp, panoramic, full-color pictures provided fodder for a third Nature report. In it, the team offers evidence of a frozen body of water, about the size and depth of the North Sea, in southern Elysium. A plethora of ice and active volcanoes could provide the water and heat needed to sustain basic life forms on Mars. Fresh data from Mars Express – and the announcement that live bacteria were found in a 30,000-year-old chunk of Alaskan ice – is fueling discussion about the possibility of past, even present, life on Mars. In a poll taken at a European Space Agency conference last month, 75 percent of scientists believe bacteria once existed on Mars and 25 percent believe it might still survive there. Head recently traveled to Antarctica to study glaciers, including bacteria that can withstand the continent's dry, cold conditions. The average temperature on Mars is estimated to be 67 degrees below freezing. Similar temperatures are clocked in Antarctica's frigid interior. "We're now seeing geological characteristics on Mars that could be related to life," Head said. "But we're a long way from knowing that life does indeed exist. The glacial deposits we studied would be accessible for sampling in future space missions. If we had ice to study, we would know a lot more about climate change on Mars and whether life is a possibility there." The European Space Agency, the German Aerospace Center and the Freie Universitaet in Berlin built and flew the HRSC and processed data from the camera. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) supported Head's work. AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.	169
A new tool to identify the calls of bat species could help conservation efforts. Because bats are nocturnal and difficult to observe or catch, the most effective way to study them is to monitor their echolocation calls. These sounds are emitted in order to hear the echo bouncing back from surfaces around the bats, allowing them to navigate, hunt and communicate. Many different measurements can be taken from each call, such as its minimum and maximum frequency, or how quickly the frequency changes during the call, and these measurements are used to help identify the species of bat. However, a paper by an international team of researchers, published in the Journal of Applied Ecology, asserts that poor standardisation of acoustic monitoring limits scientists’ ability to collate data. Kate Jones, chairwoman of the UK-based Bat Conservation Trust told the BBC that “without using the same identification methods everywhere, we cannot form reliable conclusions about how bat populations are doing and whether their distribution is changing. "Because many bats migrate between different European countries, we need to monitor bats at a European - as well as country - scale.” The team selected 1,350 calls from 34 different European bat species from EchoBank, a global echolocation library containing more than 200,000 bat call recordings. This raw data has allowed them to develop the identification tool, iBatsID , which can identify 34 out of 45 species of bats. This free online tool works anywhere in Europe, and its creators claim can identify most species correctly more than 80% of the time. There are 18 species of bat residing in the UK, including the common pipistrelle and greater horseshoe bat. Monitoring bats is vital not just to this species, but also to the whole ecosystem. Bats are extremely sensitive to changes in their environment, so if bat populations are declining, it can be an indication that other species might be affected in the future.	388
Growing Political Turmoil After the conservatives came to power in Spain in November 1933, the CNT planned a national uprising for December 8. Despite a spectacular Barcelona jail break by CNT prisoners, the insurrection was a failure; indeed, it was used to legitimate government censorship, union repression, and the arrest of labor leaders. When, in October 1934, the Catholic conservative party won three cabinet positions, Socialists and anarcho-syndicalists were galvanized to take action against what they feared would be a right-wing coup, whether in fact or in name. Within a few days, the CNT and the Socialist General Confederation of Workers (UGT), which since December 1933 had been discussing some kind of working-class alliance, planned a national general strike. It began on October 4, with coal miners in Asturias in northern Spain leading the struggle. If there had been any doubts about the ruthlessness of the new republican government, they were laid to rest by its treatment of the workers. Utterly unsympathetic to the gruesome conditions under which the coal miners worked and without concern for their fears, it called in Colonel Francisco Franco. As commander of the crack Moroccan troops and Foreign Legion mercenaries, Franco showed no mercy as his soldiers quashed the miners and their supporters. From October 10 to October 18, Moroccan troops and Legionnaires were permitted to rape and pillage in the mining towns of Asturias. The maneuver resulted in about one thousand dead and thirty to forty thousand jailed throughout Spain. The day after the nationwide general strike was called on October 4, 1934, Lluís Companys, now president of the Generalitat, proclaimed the "Republic of Catalunya within the Federal Republic of Spain"—an act that was regarded as treason, since there was no federalist state at the time. Companys was arrested and held for sixteen months, and the Statute of Autonomy was abrogated. After the strike, forces from among Spain's landowners, its army, and its fascist Falange political party had begun to negotiate with Mussolini and Hitler, from whom they obtained financial commitments and promises of military support for a rebellion to overthrow the legally elected Second Republic. The republicans and the left, increasingly aware of the growing fascist menace throughout Europe and mindful that in 1933 divisions among republicans, Socialists, and leftists had permitted conservatives to come to power in Spain, decided to run a unified slate for the parliamentary elections of February 16, 1936. Their coalition, like other such slates elsewhere in Europe, was known as the Popular Front. Meanwhile, during the summer of 1935, Jaume Sabartés, a poet turned journalist who had been a close friend of Picasso's some three decades earlier in Barcelona, received a summons from the painter. Now that Picasso had left his wife Olga Koklova, with whom he had been fighting for years, he needed a secretary. He hoped that Sabartés, who had recently returned to the city after twenty years as a journalist in Latin America, would accept this position. Although Sabartés had been the butt of Picasso's jokes in their youth, he was happy to serve. Persuading his own wife to join him, Sabartés headed for Paris, where, from November 1935 to the winter of 1937, he practically lived with Picasso as his secretary and companion. Presumably, he filled Picasso in on recent events in Barcelona. In the midst of the Popular Front election campaign, Picasso was contacted by the Catalan Friends of the New Arts (Amics de l'Art Nou, or ADLAN), who wanted to open an exhibit of his work on February 18, 1936, two days after the election was scheduled to take place. Even though Picasso was a celebrity, few in Barcelona were familiar with his art, which had not been seen since he and Ramón Casas exhibited jointly in Barcelona in 1932. Picasso agreed to the retrospective but refused to attend. His mother, María Picasso, Joan Miró, and Salvador Dalí talked on the radio in his place to publicize the show. Picasso's friend, the surrealist poet Paul Éluard, traveled down to Barcelona from Paris for the exhibit and delivered a lecture at the opening. Éluard, standing in for Picasso, received the hearty support of students who chanted, "Picasso, the Marxist," confirming that they saw Picasso as a radical. (In fact, although Picasso did later, in 1944, join the Communist party of France, Éluard, like most of the other surrealists, had become a member in 1926.) When the Popular Front won the elections in February, the left was jubilant, and the right intensified their plotting. With the support of Catholic landowners and fascists, five generals, including Francisco Franco, organized a barracks uprising for July 18, 1936, that was designed to overthrow the freely elected government and impose one more congenial to themselves. The plotters, however, had not counted on the loyalty of certain officers who supported the Popular Front. Nor did they count on the quick action of the people in cities like Barcelona, Madrid, and Seville, where civilians—many of them acting through their unions—rose up to defend the Republic. Only about half of Spain went over to the rebels. And thus the Spanish Civil War of 1936 to 1939 began. On the day of the attempted coup in Barcelona, the CNT marched on the army barracks, disarmed the soldiers, and seized their weapons to arm themselves. Having chafed at the bit under nearly five years of republican rule, the CNT now attempted to carry out a social revolution by collectivizing all local economic and social resources. George Orwell, who was in Barcelona shortly afterward, talked about how it felt to be in a city in which the people ruled: It was the first time I had ever been in a town where the working class was in the saddle. Practically every building of any size had been seized by the workers and was draped with red flags or with the red and black flag of the Anarchists; . . . almost every church had been gutted and its images burnt. Every shop and café had an inscription saying that it had been collectivized; even the bootblacks had been collectivized and their boxes painted red and black. Waiters and shop-workers looked you in the face and treated you as an equal. Servile and even ceremonial forms of speech had temporarily disappeared. Nobody said "Señor" or "Don" or even "Usted"; everyone called everyone else "Comrade" and "Thou. " . . . The revolutionary posters were everywhere, flaming the walls in clean reds and blues that made the few remaining advertisements look like daubs of mud. . . . Practically everyone wore rough working-class clothes, or blue overalls, or some variant of the militia uniform. All this was queer and moving. There was much in it that I did not understand, in some ways I did not even like it, but I recognized it immediately as a state of affairs worth fighting for. The Spanish Republican government continued to carry on its work while it attempted to defend itself against its enemies. The right-wing rebels, among whom General Francisco Franco had become preeminent by November 1936, were willing to empower Hitler and Mussolini to test new military strategies on Spain in their behalf. On October 23, 1936, three months after the Civil War had begun, the Luftwaffe began to bomb Madrid. Over five thousand people were killed in a single night, in the first time systematic bombing was used specifically to terrorize and crush the will of a civilian population. Like later similar attempts, however, this first instance only enhanced the resolve of the people, both in Madrid and in the Spanish nation as a whole. It was at this time that Dolores Ibarruri, a Communist leader known as "La Pasionaria," coined the slogan "No pasarán" (They shall not pass), which became a watchword for democratic forces throughout the world.	140

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