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Gulliver leaves Lagado and sets out planning to go to Luggnagg, an island in between western American and Japan. However, when there are no ships for Luggnagg he goes to the island of Glubbdubdrib instead, which is governed by magicians who practice necromancy. The Glubbdubdribbian governor’s servants are all ghosts, which startles Gulliver at first, though he soon gets used to it. The governor offers to summon up any dead person Gulliver wants to meet and so Gulliver sees Alexander the Great, Hannibal, Caesar, Pompey, the Roman senate, Caesar and Brutus. Gulliver is very impressed by Brutus’ intelligent benevolent appearance, and Caesar’s ghost affirms this impression by telling Gulliver none of his own life’s actions were as great as Brutus’ murder.
As a magician able to summon ghosts of the dead, the governor possesses extraordinary physical power. By encountering the historical European dead, Gulliver gets a chance to learn about his own society’s past. In doing so, he discovers the flaws in his own knowledge and sees that his perspective on European history does not match up with the perspectives of the historical figures themselves. Indeed, history lessons teach that Brutus is a villain and Caesar a hero, but the ghosts themselves reverse this dynamic.
Gulliver summarizes the innumerable other ghosts he had summoned by saying they were “chiefly…destroyers of tyrants and usurpers, and the restorers of liberty to oppressed and injured nations.”
Gulliver is interested in meeting heroes of the people: individuals who fight power’s abusers and virtuously defend the rights of a country’s people. | /mnt/disk_c/llm-data-filtration/dedup/en_dataset/dataset_txts_15GB_1_splitted/shard_00042/shard_00042_0.txt |
Conflict between the government macroeconomic objectives
1. This essay must include and answer the following questions:
a? A clear introduction to the essay
a? A clear outline of the essay structure
a? A clear explanation of the government macroeconomic objectives !
a? A clear explanation of different policies use by governments to achieve its macroeconomic objectives !
a? A clear explanation of the conflict between macroeconomic objectives !
a? A clear explanation of how the conflict between macroeconomics objectives can be minimised !
a? A conclusion based on your analysis in the essay and recommendations
a? A complete list of reference and/or bibliography
2. You must use clear examples and diagrams to explain and illustrate your points and arguments.
Clear sections and paragraphs must be used and each paragraph must start with a clear topic sentence. | /mnt/disk_c/llm-data-filtration/dedup/en_dataset/dataset_txts_15GB_1_splitted/shard_00042/shard_00042_1.txt |
This is a resource to help supplement your mathematics instruction. As you know, spiraling of math concepts is essential for students to succeed in math and this resource can be used to review math concepts in class or as a homework assignment.
Weekly Essentials 1 is a collection of 20 weeks worth of spiral reviews.
Each day of the week students have a set of problems to solve to help them review, spiral, and retain math concepts based on an agenda that remains the same.
Students practice place value skills:
-writing whole numbers and decimals in words and in expanded notation
-identifying the value of a given digit
-comparing whole numbers and decimals
-ordering a set of whole numbers and decimals
-operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division)
-factors and common factors
-prime and composite numbers
Wednesday: All about fractions
-improper fractions to mixed numbers and mixed numbers to improper fractions
-ordering a set of fractions
-using models to add and subtract fractions
-converting a decimal to a fraction/ converting a fraction to a decimal
-coordinate geometry (quadrant 1)
-changes in temperature
-perimeter, area, or volume
-geometry (attributes of 2 and 3 dimensional shapes)
-median, mode and range
-reading a ruler to measure
-rotation, reflection, or translations
**please see the preview- it includes the Weekly Essentials agenda and week 1 of weekly essentials
Thank you and happy math teaching! | /mnt/disk_c/llm-data-filtration/dedup/en_dataset/dataset_txts_15GB_1_splitted/shard_00042/shard_00042_10.txt |
Louis Burns was one of the 246th’s “winter recruits.” Unfortunately, response to the unit’s appeals fell short of expectations. Officials therefore decided to send the battalion’s soldiers overseas in two “reinforcement drafts.” Louis never departed for England. While his medical examination failed to detect any health concerns, he was admitted to Rockhead Military Hospital, Halifax, on February 27, 1917 for treatment of “acute nephritis” (inflammation of the kidneys).
On March 1, 1917, Private Louis John Burns died of kidney failure and pulmonary oedema (fluid on the lungs). Military authorities transported his remains to Guysborough County, where Louis was laid to rest in St. Patrick’s Roman Catholic Cemetery, Wine Harbour. | /mnt/disk_c/llm-data-filtration/dedup/en_dataset/dataset_txts_15GB_1_splitted/shard_00042/shard_00042_100.txt |
Installing Rails can be one of the trickiest things to overcome for a newbie to Ruby and Ruby on Rails. Being an open source project with lots of dependencies is a great strength for Rails and allows it to innovate quickly, but it has the unfortunate side effect of making a prospective developer jump through a lot of hoops, particularly for someone new to programming or new to the Unix/Linux world.
Windows users are in luck as there is a great, no hassle installer available at RubbyInstaller.org. This is about as easy as it gets for installing Rails; unfortunately, my experience on a Windows laptop (even one with an SSD) is that Rails development can be painfully slow due the large amount of file I/O that Rails development entails.
This is bound to change, and I had to rewrite some of these instructions over the course of installing Ruby on Rails on a couple of different Macs with different versions of OS X and XCode. But here is what worked for me on Mountain Lion (OS X 10.8) and XCode 4.5.2. There are a couple of terms and concepts to be familiar with.
- XCode is Apple’s development environment, primarily used for creating iOS and Mac apps, but it includes some system libraries that you need for our Rails development.
- Homebrew is a package environment for OS X that can install most other missing system packages you’ll need for Rails
- RVM (Ruby Version Manager) is highly recommended as it lets you manage different versions of Ruby, Rails and Gems so you can try out new versions or mimic different production environments without having to install/reinstall everything.
- Click and install XCode from the Mac Store
- Once installed, go to Preferences -> Downloads -> Install Command Line Tools
Please note that the next several installation commands should be run in the Terminal application.
Install Homebrew and apple-gcc42
This installs the Homebrew package manager and a GCC compiler
$ ruby -e "$(curl -fsSkL raw.github.com/mxcl/homebrew/go)" $ brew tap homebrew/dupes $ brew install apple-gcc42 $ sudo ln -s /usr/local/bin/gcc-4.2 /usr/bin/gcc-4.2
In the OS X Terminal, issue the following commands:
$ curl -L https://get.rvm.io | bash -s stable --ruby
Note: run the source command outputted from the above command
$ rvm install 1.9.3 $ rvm use 1.9.3 $ rvm --default 1.9.3
The above commands install RVM, install ruby version 1.9.3, tell RVM to use the 1.9.3 version for the rest of the stuff you’ll install and set 1.9.3 to be default going forward.
NOTE: This step is optional and is only necessary if you plan to do image manipulation using ImageMagick.
Apple no longer ships an X Windowing system starting with Mountain Lion, so you’ll probably need to install the open sourced version of this available at http://xquartz.macosforge.org/landing/
$ gem install rails
Rails should now be installed. To create a test app, run
$ rails new my_app_name
If you get an error about OpenSSL support, you may need to update RVM. See the instructions at https://rvm.io/packages/openssl
MySQL is a popular open source database that you may want to install locally to make sure that it behaves the same as your production instance of MySQL (if that’s what you’re running). Rails abstracts a lot of the different database differences to your app, but you still may want to actually run MySQL just to have the added confidence that there aren’t any subtle quirks/differences.
$ brew install mysql $ unset TMPDIR $ mysql_install_db --verbose --user=`whoami` --basedir="$(brew --prefix mysql)" --datadir=/usr/local/var/mysql --tmpdir=/tmp $ mysql.server start $ /usr/local/opt/mysql/bin/mysqladmin -u root password '[[[YOUR_ROOT_PASSWORD_HERE]]'
If you want to have MySQL start automatically when your Mac logs in, you can set it up like this:
$ mkdir -p ~/Library/LaunchAgents $ cp /usr/local/Cellar/mysql/5.5.27/homebrew.mxcl.mysql.plist ~/Library/LaunchAgents/ $ launchctl load -w ~/Library/LaunchAgents/homebrew.mxcl.mysql.plist
- I had to do some basic image manipulation in my app (resizing photos, etc) and I had to install the ImageMagick package through homebrew to get it working.
$ brew uninstall imagemagick $ brew install --fresh imagemagick
Done! I had to try a lot of combinations to get it working on my laptop and my app; hopefully this helps as most of the online resources I found were out of date for Mountain Lion or the newest version of XCode.
There are also more detailed instructions for the Mac, as well as Linux installation instructions available at http://ruby.railstutorial.org/ruby-on-rails-tutorial-book#sec-rubygems | /mnt/disk_c/llm-data-filtration/dedup/en_dataset/dataset_txts_15GB_1_splitted/shard_00042/shard_00042_1000.txt |
The Importance of Folic Acid During Pregnancy
All nutrients are essential in preparing for pregnancy, but one — folic acid — merits special consideration.
Folic acid (folate, folacin or B9) reduces the risk of spina bifida in offspring (a leading cause of childhood paralysis) when consumed by pregnant women. It may also reduce the chance of other birth defects as well as childhood leukemia in offspring.
The most common neural tube birth defects from folic acid deficiency are:
- Spina bifida, an incomplete closure of the spinal cord and spinal column
- Anencephaly, severe underdevelopment of the brain
- Encephalocele, when brain tissue protrudes out to the skin from an abnormal opening in the skull
In a new study from Norway, women who took folic acid supplements in the first two months of pregnancy were less likely to have kids with severe language delays.
When’s the last time you ate your Brussels sprouts? With the fast pace of modern living, it’s easy to slack on your folic acid consumption. Many Americans, deficient in this important B vitamin, suffer from depression, fatigue and insomnia. You don’t want to be one of them! Folic acid is crucial for bones, births and bedtime! | /mnt/disk_c/llm-data-filtration/dedup/en_dataset/dataset_txts_15GB_1_splitted/shard_00042/shard_00042_10000.txt |
This interactive map from the Washington Post is one part of a long-form piece that looks at NASA and the improbable tasks facing the agency. Specifically the piece looks at how NASA wants to get to Mars, but how difficult that is and how an also difficult asteroid mission is as a backup plan.
Really fantastic is about all I can say.
Credit for the piece goes to Joel Achenbach, Alberto Cuadra, Kennedy Elliott, Rebecca Rolfe, and Ricky Carioti.
Last week NASA announced that last year, Voyager 1 left the Solar System about 25 August 2012. A lot of the graphics that were published to support that story chronicled the distance travelled by that probe. However, this excellent graphic by the Los Angeles Times instead looks at how NASA determined through the data returned that Voyager had left the Solar System.
The piece does a really good job of setting up the story in illustrating the instrument packaged used to collect the data. Moving down the piece, it shows locations and the different environments and then how those environments differ in electron density. Lastly it looks at how NASA interpolated the date from the data collected. A really solid piece.
Credit for the piece goes to Monte Morin, Doug Stevens, and Anthony Pesce.
We already got to Mars. At the end of a week of maps and map-related things. Here’s a map of Mars. Well, sort of. It’s more of a map of Mars as explored by Curiosity. (Remember that guy?)
It’s an interactive piece from the New York Times that charts out just where the rover has driven and photographs of the stops along the way. There’s also a nice little chart that shows just how much of the trip has consisted of driving.
Credit for the piece goes to Jonathan Corum and Jeremy White.
A few weeks ago the Washington Post published a graphic that explained how space weather can have significant impacts on Earth. This is more of an illustrated diagram and less of a data visualisation piece, but it still worth a read. Why? Because, if scientists are correct, the sun’s magnetic poles should soon finish a polarity reversal. And that creates the potential for some stormy space weather.
Credit for the piece goes to Bonnie Berkowitz and Alberto Cuadra.
Someday humanity will find a planet amongst the stars similar in temperament to Earth. One of the best star systems to explore is Gliese 581, a small and faint star some 20 light years away. Calculations show that there are a few planets that could exist in or near what is often called the Goldilocks Zone. The Goldilocks Zone describes the distance from the systems’ star where planets could exist with liquid water. But generally, one needs to take that with a grain of salt. Here in the Sol System, for example, Earth is joined by Venus and Mars. But neither of those planets appear capable of sustaining life at least at present.
The problem with Gliese 581 is that we are not yet certain as to exactly how many exoplanets form the planetary system. It might be four; it might be five. The different schools of thought lead to different conclusions about the possibility of there being liquid water. And life as we know it requires water. The New York Times looked at Gliese 581 earlier this summer and compared the two different orbital models.
Today’s post comes via one of my co-workers. I don’t have any information on it other than it being an infographic looking at our exploration of the solar system (and in the near future beyond, thanks Voyager). My guess is that it isn’t particularly new, as I would imagine that the designer would have liked to have called out the Curiosity mission that just landed on Mars. But so far as I can tell, that mission is absent from the infographic.
Curiosity shall soon be exploring the surface of Mars seeking to understand the geological history of the planet. But in this infographic, see the cropping below, from the National Post we can see previous missions to Mars. We have not always been successful in operations in and around Mars, but our recent track record is much improved.
So my prediction of the health care law being thrown out did not come to pass. But what will pass is the space probe Voyager 1 out of the solar system in the very near future. (Don’t worry unlike Voyager, I will return—albeit to the original subject matter next week.) So from the National Post we have an infographic that details just what is Voyager 1. (And no, it is not V’ger, that was the fictional Voyager 6.)
Credit for the piece goes to Joshua Rapp Learn, Andrew Barr, and Richard Johnson.
Sometimes an infographic needs to put us in our place. Humanity is but one of many species on one of many planets in one solar system. Over at xkcd, we can see how only now are we beginning to expand our knowledge of how many other solar systems and planets there are (and that are just waiting to be discovered).
This is a post that goes back a little bit in time, but that I stumbled upon and found worth a post. Last summer the United States ended the Space Shuttle programme by retiring all of our orbiters. And of course this prompted many to attempt infographics about the history of bringing liberty and freedom to space.
Amidst the fond farewells, I missed this interactive piece from the Philadelphia Inquirer about the history and the future of Americans in space.
The interactive piece contains three separate sections. The first looks at the individual Americans who made it into space. The second compares the Space Shuttle to the Russian Soyuz craft that we now must use to get into space. The third looks at the future, and what we might use.
But, the Inquirer also had a print edition to worry about, and published a static version of the piece. Is it perhaps a bit cluttered, yes, but the addition of the photographs and the annotations (even though the annotations are available as rollover conditions in the interactive piece) makes the print version more welcoming to explore and read at leisure. Additionally, the difference in scale of the three segments of the piece give a clear importance to the individuals rather than to the technology. This distinction is lost in the interactive piece because each segment is the same size and receives the same scale of treatment.
Credit for the interactive piece goes to Kevin Burkett and Rob Kandel. Credit for the print piece goes to Kevin Burkett. | /mnt/disk_c/llm-data-filtration/dedup/en_dataset/dataset_txts_15GB_1_splitted/shard_00042/shard_00042_10001.txt |
PFIC is a rare genetic disorder that is estimated to affect between one in every 50,000 to 100,000 children born worldwide and causes progressive, life-threatening liver disease.
The most prominent and problematic ongoing manifestation of PFIC is pruritus, which often results in a severely diminished quality of life. In many cases, PFIC leads to cirrhosis and liver failure within the first 10 years of life, and nearly all children with PFIC will require treatment before age 30. There are no medicines currently approved for PFIC, only surgical options – including a procedure known as Partial External Biliary Diversion (PEBD) or liver transplantation. These options carry substantial risk of post-surgical complications, as well as psychological and social issues.
Three alternative gene defects have been identified that correlate to three separate PFIC subtypes known as types 1, 2 and 3.
Recently, TJP2 gene, NR1H4 gene or Myo5b gene mutations have been proposed to be causes of PFIC. In addition, some patients with PFIC do not have a mutation in any of the ATP8B1, ABCB11, ABCB4, TJP2, NR1H4 or Myo5b genes. In these cases, the cause of the condition is unknown. | /mnt/disk_c/llm-data-filtration/dedup/en_dataset/dataset_txts_15GB_1_splitted/shard_00042/shard_00042_10002.txt |
It is better to harvest your own veggies than buying them in a store. In Florida, home gardeners can grow different kinds of vegetables all year long. Having your own garden is very convenient, and it is the best way to encourage your family to eat more fresh veggies. The options are endless, with vegetables of all shapes, sizes, and colors.
Creating a plan is the first step. Choose the vegetables that you want to plant, and where your garden will be located. It is essential that your plants get lots of sun and are near the water source. One important thing that you should consider is the weather.
Veggies to Plant During Spring
Spring is the best time to prepare your beds for vegetables. Here are the best vegetables to plant during springtime in Florida.
One of the fastest growing veggies is the arugula. It grows within a few weeks time. But, it needs more water to maintain its growth rate. You can start planting the seeds early in spring. Cover your garden at the start of the process to help the ground to warm up.
Beets are referred to as a superfood by some nutritionist since they are known to improve health. They are easy to grow, beginning in late March or in early April. It is best to plant them with a few weeks of cool air, as this improves their taste. Gather beets before the temperature rises to 65 degrees Fahrenheit. If the cold weather continues, they will become bigger but If it becomes too warm pick them, or else they will be wasted.
This cooler season crop is full of vitamins and a certain sweetness. A root crop, carrots can be picked early with the right amount of water and sun.Baby carrots are as crunchy as the mature ones and are great for snacking.
This type of vegetable is available in different flavors and colors and is easy to grow. Sow these seeds indoor while the temperatures are still low because lettuce will not germinate in soil that is 80F or higher. The perfect time to plant lettuce is during springtime, and it will be ready to be picked after two months.
Radishes grow fast from seed to bulb so after a few weeks make sure to check them once in a while to see if they are ready to harvest. Radishes left too long will become tough and very bitter. They are a good choice for beginning gardeners as planting is easy with a high degree for success.
You can either plant seeds in the soil or begin your transplants 6 to 8 weeks before sowing time. For Central and North Florida, March is the recommended planting time for spring gardens. If you want to start earlier, make sure you cover your crops and keep them protected from late frosts.
You can plant frost hardy veggies earlier. If you are in South Florida, you can plant spring vegetables in the winter and summer vegetables in fall, actually two crops a year. | /mnt/disk_c/llm-data-filtration/dedup/en_dataset/dataset_txts_15GB_1_splitted/shard_00042/shard_00042_10003.txt |
Definition of Nipah virus
Nipah virus: A member of the paramyxovirus family isolated from samples from an outbreak of encephalitis and respiratory illness among adult men in Malaysia and Singapore in 1999 that causes a sometimes fatal form of viral encephalitis. The humans were infected by close contact with infected pigs. Symptoms include high fever and aches, coma, and sometimes death.
Last Editorial Review: 3/19/2012
Back to MedTerms online medical dictionary A-Z List
Need help identifying pills and medications? | /mnt/disk_c/llm-data-filtration/dedup/en_dataset/dataset_txts_15GB_1_splitted/shard_00042/shard_00042_10004.txt |
Gardens are a colorful and fascinating study for painting. Enter the miniature world of garden plants and animals as the subject and setting for this fun and rewarding class!
Explore all sorts of unique and interesting birds and animals who live in the garden and discover how you can portray them with paint. Learn painting skills such as blending, texturizing, brush techniques, layering, and color mixing, all of which will enable you to capture the flora and fauna that live in the fascinating and beautiful world of the garden.
- Watercolor pad (120 lb. or pound or higher) 9x12” or 11x14”
- Canvases: 9x12”, 11x14”, 12x16”, 14x18”, or 16x20”, whichever sizes you prefer
- Filbert brushes: ¼”, ?”, ½”
- Angle brush: ¼”
- Round brush: #1
- Acrylic paints: Titanium White, Light Yellow, Medium Yellow, Medium Orange, Medium Red, Magenta, Purple, Ultramarine Blue, Phthalo Blue, Phthalo Green, Black
- Disposable paper palette pad: 9x12” or 12x16” – (12x16” is preferable because it has more room) (i.e., Strathmore, Canson, etc.)
- Optional: if you’d like a palette that keeps the paints wet between session, you can get a 12x16” “stay wet palette” or a Hipiwe a4 file box (recommended because it’s cheaper) (find it online); you still need a disposable paper palette (above)
- Optional: paper plates for additional paint mixing
- Optional: acrylic matte medium
- Optional: spray bottle for keeping paints wet
- Optional: small table easel (if you would like painting upright (recommended for larger paintings)
- Water jars
- Paper towels
- Hb, 2b, 4b pencils
- Large white vinyl eraser
- Pencil sharpener (preferably one that can catch the shavings)
- Learn to paint animals and plants
- Develop painting skills such as blending, details, texturing, light source, shadows, layering, etc.
- Become familiar with color mixing and color theory such as complementary colors, and color harmony
- Gain a variety of brush handling techniques that will allow you to blend, texturize, and detail your painting, such as wet in wet blending, stippling, dabbing, scumbling, dry brush, and glazing
- Learn the basics of drawing such as proportions
Who Might Enjoy This Class
- Anyone who would like to learn how to paint garden birds, animals and plants
- People interested in learning the basic fundamentals of painting, paint brush handling skills, and color mixing
- Anyone seeking a creative outlet and is interested in expressing themselves through painting
- Painters who would like to study a new subject matter and develop their skills
- No experience needed; everyone is welcome! | /mnt/disk_c/llm-data-filtration/dedup/en_dataset/dataset_txts_15GB_1_splitted/shard_00042/shard_00042_10005.txt |
Over the summer, flooding in Pakistan has become international news. Though heavy rainfall in the summer is common, this year, the rain has been on a level the country has never seen before.
The flooding reached crisis levels in July and continued through August. A state of emergency has been declared, and around a third of the country is underwater, said Pakistan’s Climate Minister Sherry Rehman.
According to Pakistan’s National Disaster Management Authority, about one in seven Pakistani people —33 million people—are directly affected by the floods. The damage is an estimated $10 billion US. And the waters are still rising.
Scientists say that that climate change is responsible for the increase in flooding. But how exactly does climate change create floods? And why is Pakistan being hit so badly?
How does climate change cause flooding?
The world’s climate is very complex. Many different systems interact with one another to create the weather that we see every day. But there are four main factors of a warming climate that can lead to increased flooding.
- Warming oceans: As oceans warm, there is greater evaporation, which sends more moisture into the air. This leads to more rainfall.
- Rising waters: Melting glaciers and polar ice caps release water that is usually frozen into oceans, lakes, and rivers. This raises water levels across the world.
- Heat waves: Intense heat can create something called a thermal low. This is a part of the atmosphere that is much hotter and lower pressure (less dense) than surrounding areas. Near a large body of water, it can act like a magnet for rain clouds.
- Drought: A drought, or lack of rainfall, doesn’t immediately lead to flooding. But as the ground becomes dried out, it loses its density. (That’s why you can’t build a sand castle with dry sand—you need water to help it all stick together!) If heavy rains come right after a drought, the loose land cannot hold back the water and is washed away.
How is Pakistan vulnerable?
Because of where it is in the world, Pakistan is vulnerable to flooding. The Indus River, which runs down the centre of the country, floods every summer during monsoon season.
Heat waves in early summer create thermal lows, which pull in heavy rain clouds from over the Indian Ocean and dump rain across the country.
Pakistan is used to this. But climate change has taken the normal and made it worse. The Indian Ocean is warming faster than any ocean in the world, and Pakistan experienced extreme heat waves in May and June. This made the monsoon rainfall during July and August heavier and longer-lasting.
And there’s another surprising factor in Pakistan’s flooding. For a country so close to the equator, it is full of glaciers. In fact, Pakistan has more glaciers—7,000—than any country outside of the polar region.
The Himalayan Mountains run across the northern part of Pakistan, including K2, the second-tallest mountain in the world. But now, many of the glaciers are melting, creating thousands of lakes and sending huge amounts of water rushing into rivers.
The combined effects of extreme heat waves, melting glaciers, record rainfall is what has led to flooding that exceeds anything Pakistan has ever seen.
As a country, Pakistan creates less than 1% of the world’s total carbon emissions. But no matter what country carbon emissions are released from, they quickly circulate throughout the world’s atmosphere.
This means that even though it is not a big contributor to the problem of climate change, Pakistan is still feeling its effects.
This situation has led to a feeling of injustice for many Pakistanis. Why are they shouldering the burden of something they contributed so little to?
Pakistan is currently receiving billions of dollars in aid from around the world. But it will take a long time to rebuild the country, and millions of people have lost their homes. Also, much of the country’s farmland has been flooded, ruining crops vital to Pakistan’s economy and food supply.
United Nations Chief Antonio Guterres has urged people to see what is happening in Pakistan as something that affects all of us. “Today, it's Pakistan. Tomorrow, it could be your country,” he pleaded.
In an interview with BBC news, leading climate scientist Fahad Saeed said that he hopes that the floods in Pakistan serve as a “wake-up call” about the effects of climate change. “The scale of the floods is so high and the rain is so extreme,” he said, “that even very robust defences would struggle.”
This situation is why so many people are pressuring governments to do more to reduce carbon emissions. To read about the recent landmark climate bill that was passed in the US, go here. | /mnt/disk_c/llm-data-filtration/dedup/en_dataset/dataset_txts_15GB_1_splitted/shard_00042/shard_00042_10006.txt |
The Maine Coon is fierce-looking and you might expect an aggressive temperament from this New England native. But nothing could be further from the truth. Let’s find out what else you need to know about this beautiful domestic cat.
The origins of the Maine Coon are shrouded in mystery. As the name suggests, it’s thought that they have their roots in Maine, New England. It seems that they were very popular farm cats favored by the early settlers due to their excellent hunting skills. One story goes that they are the descendants of Marie Antoinette’s Turkish Angora cats that made it all the way to Wiscasset, Maine on Captain Samuel Clough’s ship after an ill-fated rescue attempt.
There’s also a theory that they’re the descendants of the long-haired cats that resided aboard the vessel of Captain Charles Coon, an English sea captain. This is probably as close to the truth as we’re going to get. It’s generally accepted that the breed developed as a result of interbreeding between local short-haired varieties and long-haired breeds brought to North America from Europe. It’s closest relative is the Norwegian Forest Cat and there are even suggestions that some of the breeds from which the Maine Coon evolved were brought over in the 11th century by the vikings.
One story we can definitely discount is that the distinctive appearance is a result of an interbreeding between a local cat and a raccoon. While that’s obviously untrue, this hoary old tale is how the breed came by its name. While we refer to all examples by the name Maine Coon today, it wasn’t always the case. If the cat didn’t have the brown tabby coat it was referred to as a Maine Shag.
The Maine Coon is among the largest of all domestic breeds. They can weigh anything up to 18lbs with some specimens growing even larger. It’s generally a long-haired breed although some examples could be considered to have a medium length coat. They are broad-chested and large limbed with a muscular physique. The paws are large with fluffy toes that make it easier for the cat to walk on snow. The Maine Coon’s coat is perfectly adapted for survival in the harsh climate of Maine. The coat is long and water-resistant on top with a dense, fluffy layer underneath. The shaggy underside acts as perfect insulation against ice and snow and the thick, bushy tail can be wrapped around the face to give added protection against the wind.
The Maine Coon is very much a people cat. They have a very sweet nature that makes them ideal pets. Always happy to receive your attention, the Maine Coon isn’t necessarily a needy breed. Of course they won’t refuse a stroke or a cuddle, but they’re not really the sort of cat to insert themselves in the middle of whatever you’re doing. They’re usually happy to observe with only the occasional bit of interaction.
As we mentioned above, the Maine Coon is a terrific mouser and even in a modern urban setting this characteristic still shines through. Mice will quake in fear when there’s a Maine Coon in the area. If your Maine Coon is more of a house cat you’ll need to keep him occupied with a selection of cat toys. Feather toys that allow them to practice stalking are a good choice but, as with most cats, you’ll find that they play with just about anything. They’re also fond of playing fetch and will chase after a ball when thrown.
Play is important to the Maine Coon. Like their Siberian cousins they retain a kittenish sense of fun well into adulthood. This leads to some hilarious antics during playtime. Just don’t let them get too boisterous. You don’t want to be on the end of one of those huge paws.
Maine Coons are excellent climbers and incredibly agile. This is even more remarkable when you consider the breed’s large build and thick coat. They can scale fences and trees as gracefully as any smaller breed and they’re surprisingly fleet-footed.
This breed has a very distinctive voice which it uses to manipulate its human companion. They deliver requests for attention, whether it’s for food or a cuddle, in a soft chirrup which belies the size and impressiveness of the cat. Certainly not the ferocious noise you might expect from this large feline.
What are the Exercise Needs of a Maine Coon?
The Maine Coon is a very athletic and playful breed with bags of energy. They’re naturally active and need plenty of regular exercise. If your Maine Coon has access to the outdoors this will take care of itself as the Maine Coon is a an instinctive and accomplished hunter. As a house cat, however, you’ll need to take a more active role in your pet’s exercise regimen. This can take a variety of forms.
We can’t say it enough: Maine Coons absolutely love to play. You’re going to need a good supply of toys to keep him occupied. I say “a good supply” because those big paws will make short work of most feather toys. So buy good quality. They are excellent climbers and absolutely love cat trees. The kind that has places to hide and multiple surfaces will be best, giving your cat a variety of options.
Maine Coons have a lot of dog-like attributes. Strange as it may seem, they can adapt very well to walking on a leash just as a dog would. It may be a little difficult at first, but once your Maine Coone housecat starts associating the leash and harness with the outdoors they’ll get excited in the same way a dog does.
A gentle warning: neglect your Maine Coon’s exercise needs at your peril. Should you fail to offer your cat enough stimulation they may take it out on your property. Perhaps a favorite shoe or slipper.
Is Training a Maine Coon Easy?
The Maine Coon is a naturally smart and alert breed and it has a fantastic capacity for learning. If you try to teach your Maine Coon some tricks or behaviors they’ll pick them up fast. Contrary to the traditional view of cats as being stubborn and free-willed, Maine Coons will turn your attempts to train them into a game.
They’re incredibly able hunters, so if you’re trying to teach a new behavior try incorporating it into some of those pre-existing hunting instincts. For example, they will happily play fetch so you can try to teach them to drop and sit by offering a treat. Modulate your tone to emphasize the desired behavior.
Although Maine Coons can be dog-like, bear in mind that they’re still cats and therefore still possessed of that same willful temperament that all cats have. You may find your cat unwilling to cooperate. So when they eventually comply make sure you have that reward on hand. This will help your cat to associate the command with the behavior and the behavior with the reward.
Lastly, make it fun. Your cat will only do something if they feel like it and no amount of cajoling and coaxing will convince them otherwise. Refrain from shouting or making sudden movements that might distress or alienate your cat. Underneath that cool exterior they have feelings too.
A Look At The Maine Coon In Action
Do Maine Coons Need Grooming?
Their coats are similar Siberian cats’ so the same advice applies. The amount of grooming your cat requires depends on whether they’re spending lots of times outdoors in harsh weather. Maine Coons have a long outer layer to their coat and a thicker softer layer underneath. The outer layer is naturally oily and waterproof and this helps to prevent matting from occurring.
For indoor cats I would recommend some light brushing once or twice a week with a soft brush. This is partly to keep the coat in tip top condition but it’s also something that most cats enjoy and will help you to bond with your furry friend. For outdoor cats you may need to up the level of grooming and use a stiffer brush to ensure matting doesn’t occur.
I wouldn’t recommend bathing your Maine Coon unless they somehow get particularly filthy. Bathing, especially if you use any sort of soap, will strip the coat of its natural oils and may result in feline dandruff and irritation.
The Cost of a Maine Coon
Maine Coon kittens can cost anywhere from $400 to $1000. The exact amount will depend on the quality of the cat and the color and patternation. A more classic Maine Coon appearance will command a higher price. Older cats may cost less and you may even find one at a rescue center. If you’re buying your cat you must always make sure that you buy from a reputable breeder. | /mnt/disk_c/llm-data-filtration/dedup/en_dataset/dataset_txts_15GB_1_splitted/shard_00042/shard_00042_10007.txt |
Apocalyptic Hope: the Literature of the American Renaissance
T-F 1:30 - 2:50 (D38)
Teacher: John Sheehy
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This course will center on the "American Renaissance" -- the period of intense intellectual and artistic energy between 1830 and 1870 that produced some of the most memorable and enduring American literature. We will examine as much of that literature as we can, in a range of genres: slave narratives from Frederick Douglass and Harriet Jacobs, essays from Emerson and Thoreau, novels from Harriet Beecher Stowe, Herman Melville, Nathaniel Hawthorne and others, poetry from Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson. Our goal in examining these works will always be double: on the simplest level, we will be interested in how these writers interpreted and responded to the places and times in which they lived; on a deeper level, though, we will consider how each of these works--and all of them together--attempts to create something we might call now an "American consciousness" -- to invent, or re-invent, America.
The point of the course is to read as much as we can, to develop a firm understanding of both canonical and non-canonical 19th century American literature, and to consider how that literature has helped to shape not just the way we think about our literature, but the way we think about ourselves as Americans. This will NOT be a writing seminar: it will involve far too much reading for that. Students, though, will be expected to write about what they read on a regular basis, to lead discussions, and to write a midterm paper and seminar paper at the end. | /mnt/disk_c/llm-data-filtration/dedup/en_dataset/dataset_txts_15GB_1_splitted/shard_00042/shard_00042_10008.txt |
As a general rule, archaeologists try to avoid excavation on the principle that preservation without disturbance is the best option for an archaeological site. Whether responding to a threat (e.g. from coastal erosion) or pursuing a research theme, the principle of minimum intervention should govern how the site is treated. The process of excavation has four stages: excavation, post-excavation, reporting, disposal. Where the site is not fully excavated, then a phase of site re-instatement and consolidation follows excavation.
After survey and other research have identified the key objectives of excavation a process of careful, monitored and recorded destruction takes place. The techniques of using a mechanical excavator, a pick-axe or a trowel are simple and, under supervision by an experienced archaeologist, are quickly learnt. The aim of excavation is to enhance our understanding of the site, the process is to acquire evidence to allow archaeologists to reconstruct how and when the site accumulated. The usual outcome of excavation is a large volume of partial, sometimes connected strands of evidence.
Post excavation studies
The investigation of a site is never completed at the end of fieldwork: interpretations in the field need to be challenged, tested and enhanced by analysis of the observations made in the field and of materials excavated from the site. A typical suite of analyses will include:
- Analysis of the artefacts (tools, pots etc) to inform us about the people who once occupied the site lived their lives;
- Analysis of the ecofacts (e.g. the plant and animal fragments recovered through excavation or sampling) to inform us how the occupants ate, how they exploited and affected their contemporary landscape. Ecofact studies also offer materials for radiocarbon dating (see below).
- Analysis of the records from excavation to allow us to challenge or confirm the field interpretation of when and how the site was built and modified, and how surviving deposits accumulated. This may also include a re-assessment of the evidence from survey and other background research to give fresh insights into the field evidence.
All archaeologists adhere to the general principle that of letting colleagues and the general public know what knowledge has been gained from excavation. The aim is therefore to publish a report on the work in a journal or a book. You can find examples of such reports in the Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland which are available in most libraries and on the web. You should also look at Scottish Archaeological Internet Reports
. Excavation without reporting is simply the destruction of a site for no benefit.
The published report will not cover every strand of evidence. Sometimes this is because not all strands are relevant to the main thrust of the investigation. At other times the archaeologist may fail to understand the value of the evidence. It is therefore important to preserve the evidence that supports the published interpretation. To this end the paper or digital records of the excavation should be deposited with a recognised archive institution: in Scotland this is the Royal Commission for Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland
, while artefacts and ecofacts are packaged up safely and disposed of via the Treasure Trove Unit
to the appropriate museum for display or storage. | /mnt/disk_c/llm-data-filtration/dedup/en_dataset/dataset_txts_15GB_1_splitted/shard_00042/shard_00042_10009.txt |
What did roman kids do for fun without tv, computers and the internet 2000 years ago. Roman entertainment is a byword for the decadence of the late empire, leading to its downfall when it spent more time on amusement than reforming the military or rooting out corruption but few did mass entertainment better then the romans their coliseums still inspire modern-day sporting arenas other forms of roman. Overview of roman entertainment, including 'theatres and plays', 'circuses and races' and 'amphitheatres and gladiators. From theatre to athletic competitions and chariot racing to gladiatorial fights, romans had a thirst for entertainment like no other ancient civilisation as the capital, rome was home to the largest entertainment venues anywhere in the empire with the most famous being the flavian amphitheatre (colosseum) and the circus. Arena, baths, circus, theater: this model of central rome in the fourth century ce highlights the major sites for public leisure and entertainment activities, each with its own monumental buildings specially designed to facilitate the activity separate pages are devoted to the first three, which had much greater prominence in. Although the ancient romans weren't well known for their artistic abilities, they borrowed many artistic ideas from the ancient greeks for example, they enjoyed going to the theater and making vases in much the same way as the greeks what else did romans do for entertainment for entertainment, romans traveled to. Entertainment in rome was varied and everywhere there were plays in open air theaters there were festivals, both religious festivals and festivals put on by rich romans there were chariot races and gladiatorial contests there were sports contests and they were all free romans were also very social they visited. The romans, particularly the rich, enjoyed lots of leisure time, and they spent this time in a variety of different ways here are some facts about some of the forms of roman entertainment roman baths most romans visited the public bath house on a daily basis bath houses were set up like the spas or.
This page is all about roman entertainment curious come check it out. Colosseum vr - explore the roman colosseum through virtual reality (ancient roma in vr) - duration: 2:15 unimersiv - learn through virtual reality 24,248 views 2:15 history of the roman colosseum - duration: 9:46 educari unlimited 505,249 views 9:46 25 reasons the ancient romans were. Entertainment in every single society will always play a vital role, not only in the community but also through the expansion of knowledge and culture however, enter- tainment arguably played a much more vigorous role in roman society, as lives were literally revolved around the sole aspect of enjoyment this is also.
Chariot racing, gladiatorial contests and the public baths. Children learn about the roman empire and its impact on britain at the time and the legacy it left us other than history, children acquire and practise skills in art, making roman busts and mosaics, in d&t, building a chariot and an aqueduct, in dance and music, creating a dance/drama of an invasion and of a battle,.
Children explore the ways in which the romans entertained themselves and others in the empire by holding gladiator fights and chariot racing in order to get to grips with what this involved, children design and build their own chariot and then race it. Roman entertainment the emergence of permanent entertainment buildings and its use as propaganda david van alten (3374912) [email protected] studentsuunl bachelor thesis (research seminar iii 'urbs roma') 13-04-2012 supervisor: dr slm stevens. Since the acquisition of exotic creatures was very expensive, they would often be sent to menageries or zoological gardens around rome to be tamed and trained for public entertainment before they reached the games, where death was inevitable.
The romans liked to go out and enjoy themselves public entertainment roman amphitheatre the roman amphitheatre was the centre of public entertainment in rome, and all over the roman empire people would go to the amphitheatre to see men fighting wild beasts or each other these men were called gladiators. Losing gladiator has put up a good fight, the crowd might choose to spare his life — and the vanquished gladiator will live to fight another day but if the crowd is dissatisfied with the losing fighter — as was usually the case — its dissatisfaction meant slaughter in ancient rome, death had become a form of entertainment. Explore classics department's board roman entertainment and leisure on pinterest | see more ideas about romances, romans and ancient art. Roman entertainment there were many things the romans did for entertainment even though this entertainment was cruel and brutal it satisfied the roman's need for excitment and relaxation in rome most people loved to watch others suffer and fight to their death while others loved to go and get a good laugh at the.
Did the romans have free time most people in roman times did not have much spare time they were too busy working they liked games though soldiers often played board games with counters and dice counters and boards for their games have been found archaeologists aren't always sure of the rules hunting was. Originally the gladiator games were probably carried out as a tribute to the recently dead person gradually that connection must have been lost and it became a standard part of the culture's entertainment we know that at least this last part was true, from the countless ancient roman paintings and sculptures of gladiator. Although much of ancient roman life revolved around negotium (work and business), there was also time available for otium (leisure) ranging from swimming to playing board games to attending theatre performances, athletics and forms of entertainment enjoyed by romans in ancient times were not much different from.
Discover the best entertainment in rome including auditorium parco della musica, nuovo cinema palazzo, caffè letterario. The people of ancient rome went to school and worked, but they also enjoyed many different forms of entertainment this lesson explores some of the. Roman entertainment, like roman roads, roman baths, roman villas etc, is etched in people's minds today as a result of recent films many people will know of the roman gladiators, chariot racing, the colosseum in rome as we have a great deal of writing and other evidence about these things from the times of the.
Kids learn about the arena and entertainment of the ancient romans they watched gladiators fight, animals, and theatre in the colosseum of rome. Roman entertainment 1 roman entertainment by asma mohammad 2 chariot racing1 chariot racing is a very popular entertainment2 the charioteers wore leather helmets, knee pads and shin pads3 their coloured tunics with sleeves were called vests quadrigaria”4 these men were usually slaves. Rome entertainment from food to opera - those most italian specialities - rome can offer all manner of delights to tempt a traveller's appetite entertainment options in rome are dominated by gastronomic pleasures even if you are exhausted after a long day's sightseeing, you will undoubtedly enjoy a leisurely meal at one. | /mnt/disk_c/llm-data-filtration/dedup/en_dataset/dataset_txts_15GB_1_splitted/shard_00042/shard_00042_1001.txt |
Behets, Frieda M. PhD*†; Turner, Abigail Norris PhD*; Van Damme, Kathleen MD*†‡; Rabenja, Ny Lovaniaina MD‡; Ravelomanana, Noro MD‡; Swezey, Teresa A. PhD*; Bell, April J. MPH§; Newman, Daniel R. MA§; Williams, D’Nyce L. MD∥; Jamieson, Denise J. MD, MPH§; The Mad STI Prevention Group
WOMEN IN RESOURCE-POOR settings suffer disproportionately from sexually transmitted infections (STIs).1,2 Madagascar is a low-income country where STIs constitute a major public health concern, and rates are particularly high among women who exchange sex for money or goods. In 2001, among asymptomatic sex workers, 74% to 78% were infected with Neisseria gonorrhoeae (GC), Chlamydia trachomatis (CT), trichomoniasis, or syphilis.3 In a separate 2001 trial of male and female condom promotion among 1000 female sex workers, 6 months after receiving presumptive treatment, the combined prevalence of GC/CT infection was 26%.4 The high STI prevalence indicates that better control efforts are needed, especially given that STIs are likely to increase risk of HIV acquisition.5–7 HIV rates in Madagascar are currently low: the estimated prevalence in 2006 was <2% in vulnerable groups and 0.95% in the general population.8
Although male condoms, when used correctly and consistently, are the most effective method currently available for prevention of most STIs,9 many women lack the social and economic power to insist that their sex partners use them.2 Therefore, additional prevention methods are needed that are appropriate for and accessible to women.10,11 The diaphragm, used worldwide for prevention of pregnancy, has received attention as a possible infection-prevention method.12–14 Because GC, CT, and probably HIV preferentially infect the cervix and upper genital tract in women,15 physical barriers, such as diaphragms, may prevent sexually transmitted pathogens from reaching the cervix and thereby reduce infection risk. Several observational studies report protective effects for diaphragms against STIs and their long-term sequelae,16–21 though a recent large-scale randomized controlled trial (RCT) of women in Zimbabwe and South Africa [Methods for Improving Reproductive Health in Africa (MIRA)] found no added protective benefit of a diaphragm with commercial lubricant (compared with male condoms only) for HIV or STI prevention.22,23 Topical vaginal microbicides have also been promoted as female-initiated methods to prevent STI/HIV acquisition, although no effective product is yet available.24 Several studies have reported high acceptability of microbicides and diaphragms for STI prevention among both women and men.25–31
We plan to conduct an RCT evaluating the STI-prevention effectiveness of 2 women-initiated methods—candidate vaginal microbicide and latex diaphragm—individually and in combination. In anticipation of the RCT, we carried out this 4-arm, partially masked, randomized, prospective pilot trial to assess the acceptability of assigned study products (diaphragm, candidate microbicide and placebo gels, gel applicators, and male condoms) and the feasibility of conducting a large clinical trial measuring their effectiveness for GC and CT prevention. Over 4 weeks, we measured participants’ use of and comfort with study products.
Materials and Methods
Study Sites and Population
Participants were recruited through community outreach in 4 cities in Madagascar: Antananarivo, Antsiranana, Mahajanga, and Toamasina. Eligible women were 15 to 55 years old (though the youngest participant was 16 years old), had at least 4 sex partners in the past month, reported less than 100% condom use in the past 2 weeks, intended to stay in the area for the next month, were not pregnant or planning pregnancy in the next 2 months, had no allergy to latex and no physical abnormality that precluded diaphragm use, and were able to give informed consent.
Participants used various combinations (see below) of 6 study products: candidate topical microbicide Acidform™ (Instead, LA Jolla, CA); placebo gel, hydroxyethylcellulose (HEC) (ReProtect LLC, Baltimore, MD); latex diaphragm (All-Flex Arcing Spring Diaphragm, Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceutical, Titusville, NJ); disposable, paper gel applicator (TekPak, Marion, AL); reusable, plastic gel applicator (Nik Thread Applicator, HTI Plastics, Lincoln, NE); and nonlubricated male condoms (Alatech Health Care, Dothan, AL and Protector Plus, Surtex Limited, Thailand; distributed by Population Services International in Madagascar).
Acidform gel has acidifying, bioadhesive, and viscosity-retaining properties intended to serve 2 purposes: to provide effective acidification of male ejaculate in the vagina, and to form a long-lasting layer of gel over the vaginal and cervical surfaces. Acidform is buffered at pH 3.5, thus maintaining an acidic pH in the vagina after semen deposition. In addition, the gel bioadheres to form a protective layer with prolonged retention in the vagina.32,33 Acidform shows antimicrobial activity against herpes simplex virus type 2, CT, GC, Trichomonas vaginalis and microbes leading to bacterial vaginosis.33–35 Phase I human safety trials and small-scale pilot studies indicate that Acidform is safe, well tolerated, and generally acceptable to women and men.36–42
HEC (Placebo Gel)
HEC is a safe, water-based gel formulation designed to be an inert control gel for masked trials of vaginal microbicides.43–45 The pH of HEC gel is 4.4.
All-Flex Arcing Spring Diaphragm
The All-Flex Arcing Spring Diaphragm is a molded, natural rubber vaginal diaphragm, approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for contraception when used with spermicide.
At screening, women underwent testing for pregnancy and urinary tract infection (UTI) (Clearview HCG Combo, Wampole Laboratories, Cranbury, NJ and Multistix 10SG; Bayer, Tarrytown, NY) and face-to face eligibility evaluation using a brief questionnaire. Eligible women were randomized to 4 groups: Acidform with diaphragm; HEC with diaphragm; HEC alone; and Acidform alone. Each woman was also randomly assigned a disposable paper or reusable plastic applicator; after 2 weeks, women switched applicator type for the second half of the study. Randomization was stratified by site. Treatment assignments were partially masked. Because of the nature of the intervention, assignment of diaphragms was not masked. However, neither participants, the on-site research staff, nor data analysts were aware of gel assignments.
At enrollment, 1 week after screening, participants received clinician-administered face-to-face interviews to collect demographic, reproductive, and sexual behavior data. Clinicians also performed pregnancy testing for all women and diaphragm fitting for women randomized to the gel-diaphragm arms. All participants received counseling on use of their assigned study products, including male condoms, as well as sufficient supplies to last until the next study visit. All women received presumptive treatment for gonococcal, chlamydial, and trichomonal infections according to Madagascar’s national guidelines.3
Participants were instructed to use male condoms with every sex act. Women in the gel-diaphragm arms were asked to use the diaphragm continuously, removing it once per 24-hour period for cleaning. After cleaning, we requested that they fill the diaphragm dome with their assigned gel, using an applicator to ensure consistency in dose, and then reinsert the diaphragm. Participants in gel-only arms were instructed to insert their assigned gel intravaginally, again using an applicator, before each sex act. All women were instructed not to practice internal vaginal cleaning while participating in the study.
Participants returned once weekly for 4 weeks. At each visit, they again received face-to-face interviews about their use of and problems with study products. Participants also underwent pelvic examination and received resupplies of study products. At the final follow-up visit, women returned their diaphragms, applicators, and any unused gel.
All women gave written informed consent for screening and again for enrollment. The study was approved by institutional review boards at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as well as the Comité d’Ethique auprès du Ministère de la Santé in Madagascar.
Young women aged 16 and 17 participated in this pilot trial. As with our other research in this population, we petitioned each of the 3 ethical review boards and were approved to classify adolescents as young as 15 years old as adults for the purposes of this study. The rationale for this classification was 2-fold. First, the highest STI morbidity among attendees of our clinics in Madagascar is seen among the youngest women,46 making these participants the very group most likely to benefit from the proposed research. Second, parental permission for participation was not feasible. Many adolescents receiving care in study clinics have run away from home and are living on their own or residing with a boyfriend. Most have no contact with a parent or guardian.
Data from questionnaires and clinical examination were double entered in EpiInfo (Version 6, CDC, Atlanta, GA) by staff at the data management unit LARTIC at the Université d’Antananarivo in Antananarivo, Madagascar and were verified at CDC. All analyses were conducted using SAS (SAS Institute, Version 9.1.3, Cary, NC).
Outcome measures—acceptability and feasibility—are summaries of several constructs. We evaluated participants’ comfort with products and recommended protocols for using them, including their patterns of use of gel with diaphragm and gel alone, and their reported ease of insertion, removal and cleaning of diaphragms and applicators; we assessed these behaviors by study | /mnt/disk_c/llm-data-filtration/dedup/en_dataset/dataset_txts_15GB_1_splitted/shard_00042/shard_00042_10010_1.txt |
arm and visit. We also examined the occurrence of self-reported genitourinary symptoms (itching, discharge, bleeding, pain, or problems urinating), clinician-identified abnormalities on pelvic examination, and adverse events (AEs) in each randomization group.
We assessed self-reported use of (a) condoms and (b) assigned experimental products by computing the proportion of sex acts with casual partners during which products were used. Using the total number of acts with casual partners as the offset variable, we fit separate unadjusted negative binomial regression models with robust variance estimators to generate the proportion and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of sex acts with casual partners where condoms and experimental study products were used over the last week, by randomization group and follow-up visit. We used negative binomial regression rather than Poisson regression because of substantial extra-Poisson variability in some models. Because of the small number of women reporting primary partners and the low reported frequency of sex with those partners, and because sexual behavior is expected to differ depending on partner type, we restricted our measures of condom use and experimental product use to sex acts with casual partners.
We used intent-to-treat analysis guidelines47 and included all person-time contributed by all participants in the presented analyses. Because of the small sample size and the exploratory, descriptive purpose of this pilot study, we did not conduct formal statistical significance testing.
The study was conducted between September and November 2005 and enrolled a total of 192 women from the 4 clinical sites: 48 women per site and 48 women per randomization group.
Of 314 screened women, 192 (61%) were enrolled. The most common reasons for ineligibility were using condoms consistently in the past 2 weeks (37%), having fewer than 4 partners in the past month (25%), planned or existing pregnancy (15%), and self-reported allergy to latex (11%).
We saw few differences in baseline participant characteristics between randomization groups (Table 1). Few participants (11%) were married or cohabitating. In response to the question, “what kind of work do you do to earn money?” 81% reported sex work; when directly asked, 100% reported that they had ever had sex to earn money. Age (median: 29 years), age at coital debut (median: 17 years), and completed years of education (median: 5.5 years) were similar across groups. More than half of participants (59%) had electricity in their homes, but running water was less common (18%). A majority (55%) had ever used highly effective contraception (hormonal methods, IUD, or sterilization), but use of these methods at the last sex act was lower (24%). Women frequently engaged in extensive vaginal hygiene practices (88% reported cleaning internally more than once daily).
Reported condom use was much higher with casual partners than with primary partners (husbands or boyfriends). Despite the exclusion at screening of women reporting consistent condom use with all partners, 48% of enrolled women reported always or almost always using condoms with casual partners compared with 11% with primary partners. More than half (55%) self-reported a previous STI or genital ulcer. The number of casual partners in a typical week [median: 6 partners, interquartile range (IQR): 4–9 partners], total sex acts in a typical week (median: 10 acts, IQR: 6–15 acts), and sex acts with the primary partner in the last week [among the subgroup of participants reporting a husband or boyfriend (n = 79, median: 2 acts, IQR: 1–3 acts)] were also similar across randomization groups (Table 1).
Retention over the 4-week study period was 98% (188 participants attended the week 4 visit). One participant voluntarily withdrew from the study, 1 woman was lost to follow-up, and 2 women were discontinued by study staff during follow-up because they were unable to insert the diaphragm. (All 4 participants had been randomized to the Acidform-diaphragm arm.)
Our analyses include 753 person-weeks (PW) of follow-up time: 178, 192, 192, and 191 PWs from the Acidform-diaphragm, HEC-diaphragm, HEC-alone, and Acidform-alone arms, respectively.
The median number of weekly sex acts with all partners, as well as the median number of casual partners, was higher during follow-up than at baseline for all randomization groups, though these figures are not strictly comparable because the baseline questionnaire asked about behavior during a typical week and the follow-up questionnaire asked about behavior in the past week. At enrollment, women’s median number of sex acts with all partners in a typical week was 10, 9, 8.5, and 10 acts for women in the Acidform-diaphragm, HEC-diaphragm, HEC-alone, and Acidform-alone arms, respectively. Over follow-up, the median sex acts with all partners in the past week were 15, 14, 14, and 12 acts, respectively. Women’s reported numbers of casual partners were similarly higher at follow-up than baseline; 7, 5, 6, and 5 casual partners in a typical week were reported at baseline by women in the Acidform-diaphragm, HEC-diaphragm, HEC-alone, and Acidform-alone arms, respectively, compared with 15, 12, 12, and 11 casual partners in the last week on average over follow-up.
Over the full follow-up period, participants used condoms in 66% of sex acts with casual partners (95% CI: 63%–68%) (Fig. 1). On average, Acidform-diaphragm users used condoms in 62% of acts with casual partners (95% CI: 57%–67%), HEC-diaphragm users in 67% of acts (95% CI: 62%–73%), HEC-alone users in 66% of acts (95% CI: 60%–73%), and Acidform-alone users in 67% of acts (95% CI: 61%–73%). Generally, condom use increased throughout the study period, with the exception of the Acidform-diaphragm arm, in which condom use declined somewhat between weeks 3 and 4 (Fig. 1).
The proportion of sex acts with casual partners in which neither male condoms nor experimental products were used was low for all study groups (4% of sex acts overall, 95% CI: 3%–5%).
Diaphragm and Gel Use During Sex
The proportion of sex acts with casual partners in which experimental study products were used (regardless of condom use) ranged over follow-up and by arm, from a minimum of 66% (HEC-alone arm, week 2) to a maximum of 94% of sex acts (HEC-diaphragm arm, week 4) (Fig. 2). In general, women in the 2 gel-diaphragm arms used products with casual partners more consistently (in 88% of acts, 95% CI: 84%–92%) than women in the 2 gel-only arms (in 78% of acts, 95% CI: 74%–81%).
A comparison of the 2 gel-diaphragm groups indicates that women assigned to the HEC-diaphragm arm used their study products with casual partners more consistently at every time point than women in the Acidform-diaphragm arm. This difference is most extreme at the final visit, with women in the Acidform-diaphragm arm using products in 81% of sex acts with casual partners and women in the HEC-diaphragm arm at 94% of acts. Comparing the gel-only arms, those in the Acidform-alone arm used their products more consistently than those in the HEC-alone arm at every time point. Again, the most extreme difference occurred at the week 4 visit, where women in the HEC-alone arm used gel in 78% of sex acts with casual partners and women in the Acidform-alone arm in 86% of acts.
The number of participants in each study group who reported using experimental study products in 100% of sex acts with casual partners over the full 4 weeks of follow-up was low: 28% of women randomized to the Acidform-diaphragm arm, 29% of HEC-diaphragm users, 6% HEC-alone users, and 10% of Acidform-alone users.
Participant Experiences With Diaphragm
Women in the 2 gel-diaphragm arms reported at 92% of follow-up visits that they were somewhat comfortable or comfortable wearing their diaphragms continuously, and the proportion expressing comfort with continuous use increased over time from 88% at the first follow-up visit to 95% at the final visit (Table 2). However, at approximately 20% of these visits, women also reported inserting the diaphragm more than once daily during the previous week (an indication that they had not followed the continuous use protocol). Women reported at few visits that they ever left their devices in longer than 24 hours in the past week (reported at 4% of visits by 11 participants). Removal of the diaphragm after every sex act, regardless of partner type, was also rarely reported (at 4% of visits by 13 participants). Most women (at 91% of visits in the Acidform-diaphragm arm and 96% of visits in the HEC-diaphragm arm) also said they did not reinsert gel intravaginally after the diaphragm was in place (reinsertion was not recommended under the protocol). Nearly all participants found inserting and removing the diaphragm easy (at 97% and 96% of visits, respectively).
Participant Experiences With Gel
At approximately half | /mnt/disk_c/llm-data-filtration/dedup/en_dataset/dataset_txts_15GB_1_splitted/shard_00042/shard_00042_10010_2.txt |
of visits, gel-only users reported that they inserted gel before each sex act as instructed (Table 3). The protocol did not recommend removing gel, but at roughly one-third of visits, women in both gel-only groups reported that they removed the gel after every sex act (regardless of partner type). Most reported that partners did not ask about the amount of lubrication or discharge (64% of visits in the HEC-alone arm and 73% in the Acidform-alone arm). Almost all women were somewhat or very comfortable using the gel applicator, with no differences by applicator type (paper or plastic); the proportion expressing comfort with the applicator also increased with time from 90% at the first follow-up visit to 97% at the final visit. We did not directly ask participants which applicator they preferred.
Problems With Study Products
Women reported problems with study products at 76 visits (10%) over the study period. Gel-diaphragm users were most likely to report trouble keeping the diaphragm in continuously or to have problems with partners’ reactions to study product use (for example, partner discovery of products or insistence on product removal before sex) (Tables 2 and 3). In gel-only arms, most problems related to finding the time, opportunity or privacy to insert gel; trouble using the applicator; or problems with partners (such as a partner discovering the gel or applicator, or requesting that the participant wash before sex due to excess wetness). Problems declined somewhat by the end of follow-up: 19 women (10%) reported problems with study products at the first follow-up visit, 24 women (13%) at the second visit, 19 women (10%) at the third visit, and 14 women (7%) at the final visit (Tables 2 and 3).
Genitourinary Signs and Symptoms
Women using Acidform (with the diaphragm or alone) reported more gynecological symptoms, including itching, discharge, bleeding, pain, or problems urinating, compared with those using placebo gel. During examination of the external and internal genitalia, clinicians noted more abnormalities (such as ulcers, mucopurulent cervicitis, inflammation, or discharge) among women in the Acidform-alone arm (Tables 2 and 3).
A total of 131 AEs were reported in 88 women over the follow-up period. Fifty-six women (29% of all participants) had 1 AE, 25 participants (13%) had 2 AEs, and 7 (4%) had 3 or more AEs (Table 4). AEs were more common in women using Acidform (62% of all AEs) than in participants using HEC. Most events (84%) required no action regarding product use, although investigators recommended stopping product use in 15 women (who reported 21 events). Of those 15, 9 restarted product use within 1 week of the AE diagnosis; the other 6 never reinitiated product use (2 of these experienced AEs at the final visit, so reinitiation was not an option). Most AEs (n = 103, 79%) resolved without sequellae, but a substantial minority (n = 23, 18%) remained unresolved at study exit. Information on resolution was missing for 5 AEs.
For all groups, the highest number of AEs was reported at the first follow-up visit. Most AEs (79%) were genitourinary (including cervical or vaginal discharge, irritation, frequent urination, reports of burning sensations or “local heat,” pelvic pain, or inflammation). Nongenitourinary AEs (21%) included headache, asthma, fever, influenza, and other respiratory and digestive infections. Three-quarters of AEs (n = 97, 74%) were possibly, probably or definitely related to use of study products; of these, the 3 events that were definitely related to product use occurred in women in the Acidform-diaphragm arm (2 reports of temporary vaginal irritation and 1 report of pelvic pain). No serious AEs occurred.
No UTIs were detected during follow-up. A total of 3 pregnancies (1 in each of the Acidform-diaphragm, HEC-diaphragm, and HEC-alone arms) occurred. For the 1 pregnancy confirmed at the week 3 visit, product use was discontinued. The 2 other pregnancies were diagnosed at the last study visit, when products were removed from all participants.
Our findings show that an intervention trial to assess the effectiveness of 2 woman-initiated methods of STI prevention will be both feasible and acceptable among high-risk women of low socioeconomic status whose main source of income is sex work. Women’s self-reported use of products during sex was high, and we saw no evidence of declining condom use (in fact, condom use increased between the first and final follow-up visits). Few women reported problems with their assigned products.
We enrolled 61% of screened women for this study, compared with 94% previously with this population using similar screening criteria.26 Recruitment took place during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, when some women (particularly in Toamasina) in our target population abstained from sex and consequently failed to meet the inclusion criteria. Retention was very high.
Noncompliance with the recommended protocol was most pronounced among women in the 2 gel-only arms, in which gel use was coitally-dependent: only half inserted gel before each sex act, and one-third removed the gel after each sex act. We hypothesize that an underlying issue affecting compliant vaginal gel use, particularly among the group that reported removing the gel after each act, is that many women engage in extensive internal vaginal hygiene practices.48 Exploration of participants’ genital hygiene practices and ramifications for adherent study product use, in particular gel use, was a secondary aim of this pilot trial, and a separate analysis on this topic is forthcoming. Following this pilot study, we convened a workgroup including peer counselors, potential participants and clinicians to discuss new counseling strategies and modified vaginal hygiene practices that aim to optimize compliance with recommended protocols for product use for the RCT.
This pilot study was not powered to detect statistical differences between study groups for any outcome. However, we note that women in the 2 arms using active microbicide (with and without the diaphragm) had more self-reported gynecological symptoms and genitourinary AEs than women using placebo gel; women using the microbicide alone also had more clinician-noted abnormalities. Participants’ complaints (irritation, burning and itching) were similar to those described in previous safety studies of Acidform.38,39 As a result of these findings, we will replace Acidform in the upcoming RCT with another candidate microbicide that has a similar acidifying mechanism of action, but with a superior safety profile. In addition, we will closely monitor safety related to product use among all participants. Sixty-four women will also be followed in an intensive safety substudy using colposcopy. This subset will be recruited for the coloscopy safety study at the start of the trial by inviting each newly enrolled participant to join, until 64 women have agreed to take part.
Two important findings from this formative work warrant additional attention. First, participants’ self-reported male condom use generally increased over the follow-up period. Free condom supplies and frequent counseling likely contributed to this increase, and it represents a positive health outcome. However, improved use of male condoms will likely also lower the expected STI incidence in the planned trial, potentially affecting power and precision. Lower-than-expected incidence, due in part to increased condom use, has been described in some HIV prevention studies.49,50 Second, self-reported weekly median number of sex partners and sex acts were higher during follow-up for every randomization group than had been reported at the baseline visit (although the enrollment questionnaire asked about the number of acts and partners in a typical week and follow-up questionnaires asked about the last week). Whether this finding represents true behavioral differences over time or simply reporting differences (for example, if participants intentionally underreported the number of partners or acts at enrollment because of social desirability concerns) is not known. Women completed a coital diary during follow-up; although diary data were not used for these analyses, perhaps making notes about their weekly behavior led to improved recall of sexual activity.
This study was designed to pilot-test several aspects of our proposed protocol to provide information about the best way to implement a large-scale RCT. It is limited by the small sample size and short follow-up time. In addition, a common limitation of research involving sexual behavior—assessing self-reported sensitive behavior through face-to-face interviews—exists in this study, making these data subject to misreporting because of recall and social desirability biases. Also, because of the low number of women reporting a primary partner, and the low sexual frequency with primary partners among participants who had them, we were unable to examine product use with primary partners and therefore limited our modeling analyses to reported behavior during sex with casual partners. Finally, because of the study product characteristics, complete masking of randomization assignment was not possible.
The recently published results of the MIRA trial showed no difference in HIV or STI risk between women assigned to use a diaphragm with a lubricant and male condoms, compared with women using condoms only.22,23 Of note, self-reported condom use was similar for both arms at baseline, but during follow-up, significantly more women in the diaphragm arm than in the control arm reported condom use during the last sex act.22 For the upcoming RCT, we are developing strategies to minimize possible product substitution by ensuring that participants understand the lack of evidence regarding the study products’ effectiveness.
In the MIRA trial, women were asked to insert the diaphragm before sex, whereas we instructed women to wear the diaphragm continuously. Throughout follow-up, 73% of the women in the MIRA diaphragm arm reported diaphragm use at last sex act. Noncoitally dependent diaphragm use could improve adherence. A second possible effect of continuous diaphragm use is that the device may remain in place longer after sex | /mnt/disk_c/llm-data-filtration/dedup/en_dataset/dataset_txts_15GB_1_splitted/shard_00042/shard_00042_10010_3.txt |
, providing more extended protection of vulnerable cervical tissue and possibly improving the effectiveness of the method against infection acquisition.
Unlike MIRA, our trial will evaluate the protective effect of the diaphragm plus candidate microbicide. Even if diaphragms alone do not provide protection against HIV, they may serve as effective vehicles for microbicide distribution,16 and our trial will answer this question with regard to STI outcomes.
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2. Glasier A, Gulmezoglu AM, Schmid GP, et al. Sexual and reproductive health: A matter of life and death. Lancet 2006; 368:1595–1607.
3. Behets FM, Rasolofomanana JR, Van Damme K, et al. Evidence-based treatment guidelines for sexually transmitted infections developed with and for female sex workers. Trop Med Int Health 2003; 8:251–258.
4. Feldblum PJ, Hatzell T, Van Damme K, et al. Results of a randomised trial of male condom promotion among Madagascar sex workers. Sex Transm Infect 2005; 81:166–173.
5. Fleming DT, Wasserheit JN. From epidemiological synergy to public health policy and practice: The contribution of other sexually transmitted diseases to sexual transmission of HIV infection. Sex Transm Infect 1999; 75:3–17.
6. Cohen MS. Sexually transmitted diseases enhance HIV transmission: No longer a hypothesis. Lancet 1998; 351:5–7.
7. Corbett EL, Steketee RW, ter Kuile FO, et al. HIV-1/AIDS and the control of other infectious diseases in Africa. Lancet 2002; 359:2177–2187.
9. Holmes KK, Levine R, Weaver M. Effectiveness of condoms in preventing sexually transmitted infections. Bull World Health Organ 2004; 82:454–461.
10. D’Cruz OJ, Uckun FM. Clinical development of microbicides for the prevention of HIV infection. Curr Pharm Des 2004; 10:315–336.
11. Stein ZA. HIV prevention: The need for methods women can use. Am J Public Health 1990; 80:460–462.
12. Maher JE, Harvey SM, Bird ST, et al. Acceptability of the vaginal diaphragm among current users. Perspect Sex Reprod Health 2004; 36:64–71.
13. Bird ST, Harvey SM, Maher JE, et al. Acceptability of an existing, female-controlled contraceptive method that could potentially protect against HIV: A comparison of diaphragm users and other method users. Womens Health Issues 2004; 14:85–93.
14. Minnis AM, Padian NS. Effectiveness of female controlled barrier methods in preventing sexually transmitted infections and HIV: Current evidence and future research directions. Sex Transm Infect 2005; 81:193–200.
15. Moench TR, Chipato T, Padian NS. Preventing disease by protecting the cervix: The unexplored promise of internal vaginal barrier devices. AIDS 2001; 15:1–8.
16. Rosenberg MJ, Davidson AJ, Chen JH, et al. Barrier contraceptives and sexually transmitted diseases in women: A comparison of female-dependent methods and condoms. Am J Public Health 1992; 82:669–674.
17. Austin H, Louv WC, Alexander WJ. A case-control study of spermicides and gonorrhea. JAMA 1984; 251:2822–2824.
18. Magder LS, Harrison HR, Ehret JM, et al. Factors related to genital Chlamydia trachomatis
and its diagnosis by culture in a sexually transmitted disease clinic. Am J Epidemiol 1988; 128:298–308.
19. Becker TM, Wheeler CM, McGough NS, et al. Contraceptive and reproductive risks for cervical dysplasia in southwestern Hispanic and non-Hispanic white women. Int J Epidemiol 1994; 23:913–922.
20. Wolner-Hanssen P, Eschenbach DA, Paavonen J, et al. Decreased risk of symptomatic chlamydial pelvic inflammatory disease associated with oral contraceptive use. JAMA 1990; 263:54–59.
21. Kelaghan J, Rubin GL, Ory HW, et al. Barrier-method contraceptives and pelvic inflammatory disease. JAMA 1982; 248:184–187.
22. Padian NS, van der Straten A, Ramjee G, et al. Diaphragm and lubricant gel for prevention of HIV acquisition in southern African women: A randomised controlled trial. Lancet 2007; 370:251–261.
23. De Bruyn G, Shiboski S, Ramjee G, et al. The diaphragm and lubricant gel for prevention of cervical sexually transmitted infections: Results of a randomized controlled trial. Abstract O-5, International Society for Sexually Transmitted Disease Research (ISSTDR) Annual Meeting; July 29–August 1, 2007; Seattle.
24. McGowan I. Microbicides: A new frontier in HIV prevention. Biologicals 2006; 34:241–255.
25. Luchters S, Chersich MF, Jao I, et al. Acceptability of the diaphragm in Mombasa Kenya: A 6-month prospective study. Eur J Contracept Reprod Health Care 2007; 12:345–353.
26. Behets F, Norris Turner A, Van Damme K, et al. Acceptability and feasibility of continuous diaphragm use among sex workers in Madagascar. Sex Trans Inf 2005; 81:472–476.
27. van der Straten A, Kang MS, Posner SF, et al. Predictors of diaphragm use as a potential sexually transmitted disease/HIV prevention method in Zimbabwe. Sex Transm Dis 2005; 32:64–71.
28. Coggins C, Blanchard K, Alvarez F, et al. Preliminary safety and acceptability of a Carrageenan gel for possible use as a vaginal microbicide. Sex Transm Infect 2000; 76:480–483.
29. Mauck CK, Weiner DH, Ballagh SA, et al. Single and multiple exposure tolerance study of polystyrene sulfonate gel: A phase I safety and colposcopy study. Contraception 2004; 70:77–83.
30. Mantell JE, Myer L, Carballo-Dieguez A, et al. Microbicide acceptability research: Current approaches and future directions. Soc Sci Med 2005; 60:319–330.
31. Moon MW, Khumalo-Sakutukwa GN, Heiman JE, et al. Vaginal microbicides for HIV/STI prevention in Zimbabwe: What key informants say. J Transcult Nurs 2002; 13:19–23.
32. Garg S, Anderson R, Chany C, et al. Properties of a new acid-buffering bioadhesive vaginal formulation (Acidform). Contraception 2001; 64:67–75.
33. AcidForm Investigator’s Brochure, 2005.
34. Tuyama AC, Cheshenko N, Carlucci MJ, et al. ACIDFORM inactivates herpes simplex virus and prevents genital herpes in a mouse model: Optimal candidate for microbicide combinations. J Infect Dis 2006; 194:795–803.
35. Spencer SE, Valentin-Bon IE, Whaley K, et al. Inhibition of Neisseria gonorrhoeae
genital tract infection by leading-candidate topical microbicides in a mouse model. J Infect Dis 2004; 189:410–419.
36. Tabet SR, Callahan MM, Mauck CK, et al. Safety and acceptability of penile application of 2 candidate topical microbicides: BufferGel and PRO 2000 Gel: 3 randomized trials in healthy low-risk men and HIV-positive men. J Acquir Immun Defic Syndr 2003; 33:476–483.
37. Schwartz JL, Poindexter A, Schmitz SW, et al. Male tolerance of ACIDFORM gel. Contraception 2005; 71:443–446.
38. Amaral E, Perdigao A, Souza MH, et al. Vaginal safety after use of a bioadhesive, acid-buffering, microbicidal contraceptive gel (ACIDFORM) and a 2% nonoxynol-9 product. Contraception 2006; 73: 542–547.
39. Amaral E, Faundes A, Zaneveld L, et al. Study of the vaginal tolerance to acidform, an acid-buffering, bioadhesive gel. Contraception 1999; 60:361–366.
40. Williams DL, Creinin MD, Barnhart K, et al. Safety Analysis of the diaphragm in combination with vaginal microbicide gels (ACIDFORM and BufferGel): Results of a 14 Day Trial. Abstract # OB21, Microbicides 2006, Cape Town, South Africa, April 24–26, 2006.
41. Schwartz J, Lai J, Creinin M, et al. Fourteen day safety and acceptability study of ACIDFORM Gel: A randomized phase I | /mnt/disk_c/llm-data-filtration/dedup/en_dataset/dataset_txts_15GB_1_splitted/shard_00042/shard_00042_10010_4.txt |
safety study. Abstract # OB4, Microbicides 2006, Cape Town, South Africa, April 24–26, 2006.
42. Williams DL, Newman DR, Ballagh SA, et al. Phase I safety trial of two vaginal microbicide gels (Acidform or BufferGel) used with a diaphragm compared to KY jelly used with a diaphragm. Sex Transm Dis 2007; 34:977–984.
43. Trifonova RT, Pasicznyk JM, Fichorova RN. Biocompatibility of solid-dosage forms of anti-HIV-1 microbicides with the human cervico-vaginal mucosa modeled ex vivo. Antimicrob Agents Chemother 2006; 50:4005–4010.
44. Tien D, Schnaare RL, Kang F, et al. In vitro and in vivo characterization of a potential universal placebo designed for use in vaginal microbicide clinical trials. AIDS Res Hum Retroviruses 2005; 21:845–853.
45. Schwartz J, Ballagh S, Kwok C, et al. Fourteen-day safety and acceptability study of the HEC-based universal placebo gel. Abstract # PB68, Microbicides 2006, Cape Town, South Africa, April 24–26, 2006.
46. Pettifor AE, Turner AN, Van Damme K, et al. Increased risk of chlamydial and gonococcal infection in adolescent sex workers in Madagascar. Sex Transm Dis 2007; 34:475–478.
47. Lachin JM. Statistical considerations in the intent-to-treat principle. Control Clin Trials 2000; 21:167–89.
48. Legardy-Williams J, Bell A, Jamieson D, et al. Attitudes and beliefs about vaginal cleansing among women, men, and healthcare providers in Antananarivo, Madagascar. Abstract # OC19, Microbicides 2006, Cape Town, South Africa, April 24–26, 2006.
50. Kaul R, Kimani J, Nagelkerke NJ, et al. Reduced HIV risk-taking and low HIV incidence after enrollment and risk-reduction counseling in a sexually transmitted disease prevention trial in Nairobi, Kenya. J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr 2002;30:69–72. | /mnt/disk_c/llm-data-filtration/dedup/en_dataset/dataset_txts_15GB_1_splitted/shard_00042/shard_00042_10010_5.txt |
If the presence of bugs and insects make your skin crawl, then prepare yourself for some news that won’t be easy to read. The United States is currently experiencing a major bedbug infestation. What do you need to know?
There was a time when the discovery of bed bugs in a specific location was a sign that it wasn’t properly cleaned or cared for, allowing the bugs to move in and take hold. After all, they are unable to fly, requiring them to travel as hitchhikers on the clothing, bedding, and furniture of others. Only after they find a suitable ‘home’ do they settle in, laying up to 500 eggs each year. In this way, a couple lonely hitchhikers can quickly lead to a full-blown infestation.
The current infestation in the United States first showed its comeback in a few secluded areas in 2004, leading scientists to start tracking the spread of the bugs. Since that time, they have traveled across the country with current reports including every state across the country, and the problem continues to grow. No longer just found in beds couches in our personal homes, we are now experiencing infestations in daycare centers, libraries, movie theatres, airports, and other very public locations. This makes it harder than ever to take the necessary precautions to avoid bringing these nasty little critters home.
Have you ever heard the phrase ‘Sleep tight, don’t let the bed bugs bite’? Experts reveal that this is rooted in actual fact. While bed bugs aren’t known to carry or transmit disease, they do feed off human blood. Their bites often cause great irritation to their hosts, leading to excessive itching, possibly even a secondary infection. This, understandably, can have an incredibly negative impact on one’s ability to get a good night’s sleep. Furthermore, some people may develop serious allergic reactions to the bites.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a report on their website outlining all of the necessary information for Americans to be well informed on how to detect, prevent and treat a bed bug infestation in their own home. They explain: “Bed bug infestations usually occur around or near the areas where people sleep. These areas include apartments, shelters, rooming houses, hotels, cruise ships, buses, trains, and dorm rooms. They hide during the day in places such as seems of mattresses, box springs, bed frames, headboards, dresser tables, inside cracks or crevices, behind wallpaper, or any other clutter or objects around a bed. Bed bugs have been shown to be able to travel over 100 feet in a night but tend to live within 8 feet of where people sleep.”
It can be incredibly hard to identify bed bug bites, but there are signs that you can watch for that would indicate you are currently experiencing an infestation at home. These include:
– The presence of blood stains on your bedding including sheets, pillowcases, and blankets.
– An offensive or musty smell originating in or around your sleeping area.
– Bedbug excrement in your bedding, on your pajamas or on the walls near your bed. These will appear as dark or rusty colored spots.
– The appearance of excrement, egg shells or shed skins from the bugs in or around any of the above-listed areas where bed bugs like to hide.
If you do expect that you have bed bugs in your home, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) warns that while there are treatment options that you can carry out yourself, the problem may be more complex and require the assistance of a professional. Treatment would require thorough and repeated cleaning of the area in question, emptying the vacuum after each use and sealing all items that can be used in plastic bags. After this preparation has been completed, there are non-chemical treatment options including heat or cold treatment, or in extreme cases, a professional can be called in to administer EPA-registered pesticides.
It’s important to remember that, regardless of the treatment option you choose, it may not be effective on the first try. Continue to watch for any evidence of bed bugs in the days that follow. If you do see anything that causes you to suspect they are not yet gone, repeat the process again or contact a professional for their opinion. | /mnt/disk_c/llm-data-filtration/dedup/en_dataset/dataset_txts_15GB_1_splitted/shard_00042/shard_00042_10011.txt |
If the Senate does not approve the continuing budget resolution, the federal government will shut down at midnight on Friday, January 19. As we noted in a recent blog, federal government shutdowns are nothing new. The government has been shut down 13 times since modern Congressional budgeting began in 1976, with shutdowns lasting an average 5.08 days. The most recent shutdown lasted 16 days (October 1-16, 2013).
What to Expect in a Government Shutdown
- Seniors will continue to receive Social Security payments and Medicare coverage.
- Veteran benefits, unemployment benefits, and food stamps will still be paid.
- All government workers will not be paid, but will receive their missed pay retroactively when Congress passes a bill to fund the government.
However, roughly 800,000 federal government employees who are deemed non-essential will be furloughed. An estimated 1.3 million workers who are considered “essential” will remain on the job and receive IOUs to be cashed in when any shutdown ends.
With non-essential workers off the job, non-essential government activities will cease. To name a few select examples:
- The Justice Department will suspend civil cases.
- NASA will furlough most of its employees but continue to provide support to the International Space Station.
- The National Institutes of Health will continue clinical trials but no new trials will be started.
- The National Zoos and National Parks will be closed.
The longer the shutdown persists, the bigger the hit to economic activity. Regardless, as in past shutdowns, the overall impact to U.S. economic activity will ultimately be modest.
How Government Shutdowns Affect Investors
For investors, the good news is that government shutdowns historically have had limited impact on the stock market. In fact, in every instance, market returns have been positive in the 12 months following the beginning of the shutdown, including a 19.72% gain in the year after the 2013 shutdown. The broad market has posted an average return of 17.99% in the one-year period following the government’s 13 shutdowns.
Whether we like it or not, a government shutdown may soon be upon us. Let’s hope cooler heads prevail, and if a shutdown does occur, that it will be resolved quickly.
The S&P 500 Index is a broad-based measure of domestic stock market performance. The index is unmanaged and cannot be purchased directly by investors. Index performance is shown for illustrative purposes only and does not predict or depict the performance of any investment. Past performance does not guarantee future results. | /mnt/disk_c/llm-data-filtration/dedup/en_dataset/dataset_txts_15GB_1_splitted/shard_00042/shard_00042_10012.txt |
Finding out the cause of the allergy is the first step in effective allergy treatment. This resource will explain why is it important to get an allergy test if you have allergy symptoms and common types of allergy testing.
The retina is the layer of cells at the back of the eye that let us see light and color. The blockage usually comes from a clot or fatty deposit in your blood vessel. If the blood clot breaks free and moves to the brain, it can cause a stroke. | /mnt/disk_c/llm-data-filtration/dedup/en_dataset/dataset_txts_15GB_1_splitted/shard_00042/shard_00042_10013.txt |
With the holiday season almost upon us, it’s important to know which foods to keep out of your kitty’s reach.
Patti’s young daughter knows chocolate is toxic to dogs. But she figured it would be all right to try a bit on the family cat, just to see how he liked it. The result was vomiting, diarrhea and a trip to the vet. Luckily, their kitty didn’t consume enough of the sweet treat to cause any lasting damage, but it was an important wake-up call for both Patti and her daughter. We hear a lot about foods that are harmful to dogs, but not so much about those that may also bad for cats. In many cases, they’re one and the same. With the holiday season almost upon us, it’s important to know what foods to keep well out of your kitty’s reach.
It’s doubtful any cat would eat onions by choice, but if you feed your feline friend table scraps, make sure there are no onions in them. If ingested, onions can cause anemia, which destroys a cat’s red blood cells. Symptoms are loss of appetite, fever and pale gums and lips.
This popular holiday treat contains theobromine, a type of methylxanthine. Methlyxanthines are highly toxic to cats. Theobromine is found in cocoa beans, the fruit of the cocoa tree from which chocolate is made. Caffeine, another methlyxanthine, is also present in chocolate, but in smaller amounts than theobromine. White chocolate has the lowest levels of theobromine, while cocoa powder has the highest. Dark chocolate has higher levels than milk chocolate. When ingested, chocolate can cause vomiting, diarrhea, and more serious complications such as seizures and abnormal heart rhythms. In some cases, even death can occur.
3. Uncooked fish
Most cats love fish, but when uncooked it contains high levels of thiaminese, the enzyme that breaks down thiamine. Uncooked fish can lead to thiamine deficiency in cats, and may also contain harmful bacteria. Cooked fish does not contain these high levels of thiaminase because heat neutralizes the enzyme. Symptoms of thiamine deficiency are poor appetite, unkempt coat, a hunched body position, aggression, and in some cases even seizures.
It’s unlikely you would ever give your cat a glass of wine or a shot of rum, but what if someone spills their drink and your kitty laps it up? As with humans, alcohol depresses a cat’s central nervous system. It also affects his brain and liver. The blood chemistry changes and may lead to metabolic acidosis, a condition in which the blood becomes too acidic. This condition can lead to death. The higher the alcoholic content of the drink, the more toxic it is, so caution your guests to watch their glasses! | /mnt/disk_c/llm-data-filtration/dedup/en_dataset/dataset_txts_15GB_1_splitted/shard_00042/shard_00042_10014.txt |
DEAR DR. DONOHUE: I have two daughters at home from college for the summer. Both are excellent swimmers and have been swimming since they were 7 years old. They have jobs as lifeguards. This is their second summer lifeguarding. I wonder what kind of danger they put themselves in from all this sun exposure. What do you say? - C.F.
We can't live without the sun. One of its benefits is the generation of vitamin D in the skin. However, it takes a relatively brief exposure to summer sun to accomplish the production of this vitamin. Some say 15 minutes in the noonday sun three times a week is enough. Others claim daily exposure of two to eight minutes is sufficient.
The downside of sun exposure is the damage to the DNA of skin cells by the sun's ultraviolet rays, a prelude to cancer changes. Ultraviolet B rays are the rays responsible for sunburns and are the more dangerous in promoting cancer changes. Ultraviolet A rays promote tanning. These rays are the ones that age skin, causing it to wrinkle. People need to protect the skin from both.
Outdoor lifeguards should sit under an umbrella. They need to generously apply sunscreen to their skin. The best sunscreen affords protection against both UV-A and UV-B rays. They have to reapply the sunscreen every two hours, more frequently if they're sweating. They also need to reapply it after being in the water. The sunscreen should have an SPF (sun protection factor) of 15 to 30.
Even on cloudy days, they have to cover their skin with sunscreen. Up to 80 percent of the sun's ultraviolet rays penetrate through the clouds.
If your daughters are serious about skin protection, they can hold down their lifeguard jobs this and next summer, too.
DR. PAUL DONOHUE is a syndicated columnist with North America Syndicate Inc., P.O. Box 536475, Orlando, FL 32853-6475. | /mnt/disk_c/llm-data-filtration/dedup/en_dataset/dataset_txts_15GB_1_splitted/shard_00042/shard_00042_10015.txt |
Why do we choose to cooperate and how can we promote greater cooperation in world affairs? These are the questions that Robert Axelrod has pursued for more than 40 years. His career has been an interdisciplinary exploration that has encompassed mathematics, political science, and evolutionary biology. Now, his signature achievements in the areas of economic game theory and complex systems have earned him the highest scientific honor that the United States can bestow: the National Medal of Science.
I first encountered Axelrod’s work during my graduate studies working with great apes. His suggestion that cooperation could evolve as an adaptive strategy was an inspiration for me in a field still dominated by the view that selfish interests were the primary driver of evolution. After several years of watching bonobos – one of our closest evolutionary relatives – as they peacefully shared their resources with groupmates and avoided violence at all costs, I was eager for an alternative explanation. Axelrod’s publications with the celebrated evolutionary biologist William Hamilton had put the study of cooperation on a new foundation. What’s more, his application of this work to economics and political science offered the potential for an evolutionary framework that could help reduce violence and encourage mutual aid between nations and peoples.
Axelrod first pursued a degree in mathematics before receiving his PhD in Political Science from Yale University in 1969. After brief stints working in the Office of the Secretary of Defense and on Senator Eugene McCarthy’s failed presidential campaign that pledged to end the Vietnam War, Axelrod taught at UC Berkeley before becoming a professor of Political Science and Public Policy at The University of Michigan.
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It was Axelrod’s work with computer simulations involving the Prisoner’s Dilemma game that launched his scientific career. In the game, two people who committed a crime are arrested and each is placed in solitary confinement for interrogation. If one betrays the other, the first goes free while the second is sentenced to three years in prison. If they both betray one another, they each receive two years. But if they both keep silent, they receive the minimum penalty of one year each. Under this scenario, the best individual strategy would be to betray the other. However, in actual trials, people were much more likely to cooperate than would be expected under the assumption of rational self-interest. Cooperation and altruism seem to be innate characteristics of the human species.
Axelrod has been able to extend his model of cooperation from animals in nature, down to cancer cells, and up to conflicts involving rival superpowers. His books include The Evolution of Cooperation, The Complexity of Cooperation, and Harnessing Complexity. He has been published inScience, Nature, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,World Politics, and the Journal of Peace Research. During his extensive career, his work on cooperation has been cited more than 9,000 times by researchers across academic disciplines.
It was my distinct honor to talk with Professor Axelrod from his current position in the U.S. State Department. In our discussion, he reflected on his work with evolutionary biologist William Hamilton, how cooperation can be promoted within groups, and what this ultimately means for a planet caught in the thrall of competing national powers.
Founding members of the Center for the Study of Complex Systems, 1980s.
From left to right: Michael D. Cohen, Robert Axelrod, William Hamilton,
Arthur Burks, John Holland, Rick Riolo, Michael Savageau, and Carl Simon.
Courtesy of the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, University of Michigan.
Eric Michael Johnson: To begin with, I would like to talk with you about your work with the evolutionary biologist William Hamilton. In my opinion, this was a model of interdisciplinary collaboration that enriched both fields. How did you end up working with him?
Robert Axelrod: I approached him because I thought that my work on the Prisoner’s Dilemma would have applications to biology. First I got in touch with Richard Dawkins and it was he who suggested Bill Hamilton who, at the time, was visiting The University of Michigan where I was. I didn’t even know he was there. When I looked him up and told him about my basic idea, he thought it was quite interesting. As you know, before he died of course, he was a world-class evolutionary biologist most noted for showing that animals often cooperate when they are closely related to each other. But my suggestion was a different idea: that cooperation could also be based on reciprocity.
To my delight, Bill immediately saw the value of this approach and he thought we could develop some useful applications for biology. He had already used game theory in some of his work, although he didn’t regard himself as a game theorist. We decided to write an article for Science, which is probably the world’s leading scientific journal. Bill was able to bring the relevance to biology and speak directly to evolutionary biologists in a way that I could not and I brought the original theory. Then we worked out some of the elaborations together. We were really fortunate in that, not only was the article accepted, it was chosen as the best article of the year in Science magazine. It certainly gave my later work a mark of scientific credibility.
Johnson: What is one of your fondest memories of working with Hamilton? Can you paint a scene of how one of your collaboration sessions played out?
Axelrod: One of the characteristics I remember about him is that when we were talking about an idea he might suddenly stop and think very deeply about it. I learned to keep quiet and let him ponder. Many times he would come up with a really interesting next step. Of course, sometimes he would come up with something completely different because he had given up pondering the topic at hand and his mind had gone off in some other direction. I could never tell which it would be. It was a lot of fun.
Johnson: You were both so generous with one another in how you described your work together. For example, Hamilton wrote in his autobiography that your collaboration added to his own biological insights. Would you say that it also added to your own perspective on political science?
Axelrod: It certainly gave me a deeper sense of the fundamentals that we were studying. It wasn’t something specific like trench warfare, which was one of my examples. I saw that this model could be applied in many different places. For example, as you may know, I later developed another application related to this work as it had to do with cooperation among cancer cells. The same thing happened for him and, several years later, he came up with another idea that he wanted to try out on me related to parasites.
Johnson: This would have been your joint paper on the origin of sex.
Axelrod: Yes, his idea was quite amazing. You see, at the time we did not have a good explanation for the fact that almost all large animals and plants reproduce sexually. This was a serious puzzle because it meant that only half of adults – the females – could reproduce. This is a huge cost in evolutionary terms, so there must be something very valuable about it. The fact that sex is so universal means it must be something that large animals and plants have in common. Bill’s idea for what they have in common was the need to resist parasites. Parasites evolved to mimic our cells so that our immune system wouldn’t attack them. As a result, they can evolve around thirty times faster than we can since their generation time is so short. If you were to reproduce asexually it would mean you’d have an offspring that was almost identical to you, so the parasites that are adapted to you would also be adapted to your offspring. However, by reproducing sexually our offspring are quite different from us. Therefore, the parasites have to start all over. Bill’s idea was that sexual reproduction is an adaptation to resist parasites. It is just a brilliant idea.
Johnson: How did you end up coauthoring the paper with him?
Axelrod: He said to me that he didn’t have a way of modeling this concept because it inherently involved many genes and, in the formal model, you could only add two or three different genes before the whole thing got too complicated with all of the interaction effects. I used a technique that John Holland at University of Michigan had developed called the genetic algorithm. This was a computer simulation of the genetics and allowed us to handle dozens of genes in one simulation. This was just what we needed and we developed a simulation to demonstrate that this idea, at least in principle, was viable. It was a lot of fun to first have one idea of mine that I took to Bill only to have him come back with an idea of his own that I helped do simulations on.
Johnson: So it was a meeting of complementary minds. You would build on one another’s ideas and inspiration.
Axelrod: Right. I remember he said in his memoirs that we were both quite serious about aesthetics. We like simple theories and want to get to the fundamentals of things. We both had a background in mathematical modeling and game theory so, even though we came from different disciplines, we had some important things in common. In addition, I had been fascinated with evolution ever since high school and had taken it quite seriously. I thought a lot about evolutionary biology although I certainly was not a professional. But it meant that he and I could communicate well together because I knew many of the basics in a way that political scientists wouldn’t normally be expected to. Another thing that he mentioned in his memoirs is that neither one of us had any need to one up the other or establish who had made the biggest contribution. There was never any need to be overly modest just out of the sake of politeness, which I think is common in Britain and something Bill was used to from his time at Oxford. He was simply a delight to work with.
Johnson: You have also taken on other evolutionary questions over the years. One of the debates I have always been interested in is that you have been critical of some evolutionary psychologists, such as Joseph Henrich at University of British Columbia where I am based, who argue that there | /mnt/disk_c/llm-data-filtration/dedup/en_dataset/dataset_txts_15GB_1_splitted/shard_00042/shard_00042_10016_1.txt |
are specific genes for prosocial traits. Instead you advocate for more general-purpose capabilities such as language and foresight. Do you think there is an overreliance among some evolutionary researchers on genetic mechanisms for understanding the nature of cooperation and altruism?
Axelrod: I think that genetics certainly plays a role. But I am kind of agnostic about just how big the role of genetics is in human behavior. For example, there is no doubt that an important genetic basis exists in both human and nonhuman animals for cooperation with kin. What I was addressing was how specific those genetic components have to be. Henrich was moving towards the side where they are highly specific and identifiable. My collaborator and I were saying that it could be explained by much more general capacities that were evoked for this purpose. It wasn’t a major difference. Genes are important but I’m not a purist who believes they drive everything. Obviously culture is important too.
Johnson: When Darwin was trying to understand the origin of morality in The Descent of Man he adopted a group selection model where those individuals that displayed selfish tendencies would be punished whereas those that displayed traits benefitting the group would be rewarded. Christopher Boehm followed up on this idea in his book Moral Origins that came out a few years ago. Do you find that the evolution of cooperation has come full circle back to where Darwin originally was?
Axelrod: I think that Darwin’s speculation is quite plausible. At the time he couldn’t really establish it by studying large numbers of societies and identifying those that thrived and those that didn’t. The idea of group selection, until recently, has had a pretty bad reputation in biology because some non-scientists wildly misused it, saying that if the British were so successful it must be because they were genetically better. But in the last ten years or so biologists have come to agree that, under certain conditions, one can get group selection. If one small band of humans are better at cooperating than some other band whom they are competing with, the first may well be able to outperform the second either through getting more food or maybe even by fighting and killing them. I think it is a common principle that cooperation is invoked in the service of competition. Cooperation with insiders serves competition with outsiders.
Johnson: You modeled this very process in the journal Nature with what you refer to as tags. You show that cooperation could increase even without reciprocity or high levels of relatedness. If enough individuals with the same tag were in a group they might cooperate simply because they shared these tags. Could you expand on that?
Axelrod: The idea of tags was actually developed by John Holland. Tags are completely arbitrary pieces of information that other people can observe, such as your accent or your skin color or the color shirt you wear. These are signals as to what group a person is a member of and this can lead to ethnocentrism or cooperating with others that are similar to you. Even if those things are completely arbitrary initially, they can come to take on meaning. They become correlated with traits that include reciprocity. Of course, the question gets tricky and interesting in that somebody else can have this trait or be part of the in-group but then abuse that and not cooperate. I remember Groucho Marx once said that, “The secret of success is honesty and fair dealing. If you can fake those, you’ve got it made.” One of the purposes of our simulation is to study the conditions under which defectors are not able to take over a population even though, in the short run, they can do well.
Johnson: Do these models suggest that there is room for cultural and institutional change in order to promote cooperation in world affairs? For example, you wrote an article for The New York Times along with Scott Atran about how we should talk to terrorists.
Axelrod: That’s right. As an interesting side note, you may know that this year I am working in the State Department on a fellowship. I was a little worried that I might not get a security clearance because I actually have talked to terrorists. But I have been up front about this so it turned out not to be a problem. I was still able to get my clearance.
Johnson: So is this the kind of thing that could be utilized? By employing various tags and emphasizing shared cultural traits we might enter into closer dialogue that would promote cooperation.
Axelrod: That is the aspiration. But there are some groups, and perhaps ISIL is one of them, where there is not a lot to talk to them about.
Johnson: You noted in one of your autobiographical papers that your father was a painter and that he represented what was important on a given day by what he left out. In your early work you emphasized the Prisoner’s Dilemma because, at the time, the world was in a conflict between rival superpowers. How has the changing world situation altered what you find important and how has that influenced what you include, or don’t include, in your models?
Axelrod: Obviously we’re not in a strict bipolar situation today like the United States and the Soviet Union were in the dominant confrontation during the Cold War. Now there are a number of power centers and, you might say, a two-sided game is only part of the issue. However, there are still lots of bilateral issues such as between Russia and its neighbor Ukraine. The United States and China also have a complex relationship that has elements of both cooperation and competition. In terms of the U.S.-Chinese relationship, a particularly important feature is that it represents an established power relating to a rising power. Those situations have often led to war in the past. That has been a difficult relationship to manage. I think it is important that we recognize and promote the cooperative aspects and possibilities, just as President Obama did with the President of China on their agreement over climate change. We should build a cooperative relationship where we both have a common interest in the outcome.
Johnson: So this would still fall into the Prisoner’s Dilemma model. But it seems that there would be a high potential for noise, something that you wrote you wish you had considered more in your earlier work.
Axelrod: That’s right. For our purposes, instead of using the term noise it’s misunderstanding. One side may think it is perfectly reasonable and the other side might think it is breaking the norms that they should be following. An example of this is cyberspace where the United States gets quite angry that the Chinese are stealing industrial secrets and the Chinese don’t regard that as necessarily any different from normal espionage which everybody accepts that other countries do.
Johnson: This would tie in with Elinor Ostrom’s work as it relates to the digital commons and how to manage that.
Axelrod: Right. You have clearly done a thorough job of looking at my vitae. (Laughs)
Johnson: I’ve been reading your work for quite a while.
Axelrod: But you’re right. I think it is important that we sustain the tremendous value of the Internet as a common resource that helps all economies to thrive and helps individuals, businesses, and countries. It is under challenge now because some countries, for example Germany, are promoting the idea that the data generated in their country should stay in their country. This sounds reasonable but it also risks the Balkanization of the Internet and undermining the collective good.
Johnson: You are the first political scientist to be awarded the National Science Medal in United States history. While this award may represent the pinnacle of your career, it certainly is not the end. Where do you plan to go next?
Axelrod: (Laughs) Two things, I have a serious interest in cyber conflict and what we can do to avoid or manage conflict in cyberspace. This could get very serious if one country causes blackouts in another or interferes with the financial system as a way to pressure the other instead of bombing them. Because we don’t have established norms of what counts as armed conflict there could be a good deal of misunderstanding. One side could think they didn’t escalate very much and the other side could take action that is very serious. We understand the escalation ladder for conventional warfare, for example, but we really don’t have a common understanding for the various types of cyber conflict. I think it has a serious potential for misunderstanding so I’m interested in those issues and have an article in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences about the timing of cyber conflict.
The other thing I have been interested in is learning about the State Department, about how organizations make decisions, and how policies develop using this opportunity to see policy formation from the inside.
Johnson: Looking inside the sausage factory.
Johnson: One final question I have for you is that, despite all of the crises in the world today and a seemingly gridlocked political system at home, what continues to give you hope?
Axelrod: One important fact is that we have not had great power wars for a long time. I suppose the last time would have been the United States and China fighting in the Korean War from 1950-53. That was sixty years ago. We have not had a great power confrontation in all that time and even the Korean War was quite limited. I think it is possible, and it’s certainly hopeful, that major powers can find non-violent ways of dealing with each other and making their interests known to the other side. But it is not guaranteed. The proliferation of nuclear weapons is a serious danger and major differences exist between the United States and Russia in this area. And, of course, jihadism is a serious threat to the world. But none of these are as serious as World War I or World War II or as dangerous as the Cold War. We could have had hundreds of millions of people dead in a single day if the Cuban Missile Crisis didn’t go well, for example, or if some of the Berlin confrontations had escalated. So I am hopeful that the world is not as dangerous as it was then and that great powers can continue to deal with each other without periodic wars that seemed to be so common in the past.
Johnson: Thank you for taking this time | /mnt/disk_c/llm-data-filtration/dedup/en_dataset/dataset_txts_15GB_1_splitted/shard_00042/shard_00042_10016_2.txt |
to talk with me. I personally have gained a lot from reading your work over the years and I can’t tell you how thrilled I am that you have received this honor.
Axelrod: Well, thank you very much. I appreciate that. I enjoyed talking with you as well.
2016 April 11 | /mnt/disk_c/llm-data-filtration/dedup/en_dataset/dataset_txts_15GB_1_splitted/shard_00042/shard_00042_10016_3.txt |
4 Reasons Young Adults Save for Retirement/ February 6th, 2020
If you’re in your twenties, you’re either graduating college, starting your career, or building a life of your own. In theory, you’re likely making the least amount of money you will ever make in your career. This comes with both challenges and opportunities.
The National Association of Colleges and Employers reports that among those who earned bachelor's degrees in 2018, the average salary is between $74,000 (computer and information science) and $42,000 (physical sciences), depending on the discipline.
Assuming an average starting salary of about $50,000, after taxes and other deductions this number gets low. Yet this still is the best time to save for retirement.
Whether it’s $25 per month or $17,500 per year, it’s important to save while you’re young to maximize your future net worth. Yes, now is the time to enjoy yourself but saving money should always be a priority. Here's why:
1. You have fewer financial obligations
Even with student debt, unless you have a mortgage, spouse, and children, you probably can afford to pay at least a little bit into your retirement account. Even 1% of a $45,000 salary ($450 per year), is worth it:
- If you’re investing in an employer-sponsored 401(K), that $450 is deducted before taxes.
- You can take advantage of your employer’s match, which means free money if you’re fully vested.
2. Time is on your side
The retirement age for millennials is 67. That means if you graduate college at 22 and start working right away, you have 45 years in the workforce which means you have 45 years to save for retirement.
How much do you want to have saved for retirement? Let’s say $2 million. That means that without compounding interest, employer match, or investment gains, you would need to save $44,000 per year. Not possible.
Fortunately, you have the advantage of compounding interest, and hopefully employer matches and investment gains. Starting in your twenties means more in interest and matches earned over time than starting in your thirties—in fact, a person who saves for only 10 years starting in her twenties can earn more than someone who saves for 30 years but starts later in life.
3. You already know how to live like a poor college student
You know how to make a whole meal out of a few random ingredients and get by on pennies. Don’t give up that poor college student lifestyle in your early twenties, even if it seems like a good idea to splurge on new clothes and restaurants.
Instead—invest in yourself. It’s better (and easier) to live like you’re poor now than in retirement. You might even join the FIRE movement and retire in your 40s!
4. You build solid money habits while you're young
Develop good money habits and get stuck in your ways as you grow older. Otherwise, by blowing money on things you don’t need, you'll get yourself into the habit of spending more as you earn more. | /mnt/disk_c/llm-data-filtration/dedup/en_dataset/dataset_txts_15GB_1_splitted/shard_00042/shard_00042_10017.txt |
THE BOLIVIAN NAVY
______Most countries without shorelines have given up the idea of having a navy. Bolivia is the exception, having lost its access to the ocean in 1884 but not the idea of keeping a navy.
______In 1879 Chile declared war against Peru and its ally Bolivia. Thus began the War of the Pacific, which ended with Peru and Bolivia on the losing end.
______The War of the Pacific was over nitrate mines, which also happened to be the territory Bolivia's port of Arica was located. When Chile annexed this territory it took control of the narrow strip of land connecting Bolivia to the Pacific.
______Bolivia stubbornly clung on to their navy, even though by now it was confined to a few patrol boats on Lake Titicaca, which it shares with Peru. Lake Titicaca, the highest navigatable lake in the world (at over 12,000 feet), seems an unlikely place to reestablish a navy.
______Nevertheless, the Bolivians created five naval districts (one at Lake Titicaca and four others associated with rivers). Each district has at least one flotilla. Navy headquarters is at Lake Titicaca. The Bolivians still have a naval ensign for their patrol boats and some lucky patrol boat sailors reach the rank of admiral. Bolivia even has a holiday called the Day of the Sea.
______Other countries have lost annex to the sea thanks to territorial changes brought on by war (Austria comes to mind) but none have been as stubborn as Bolivia. The unfortunate country renewed its claims to Arica (or as they call it, the Atacama Department) and the lost coastline in 1918, using the argument that their country has a navy and now it needs somewhere to put it. The Chileans told them where they could put it but did not give back Arica.
______The Bolivians still did not give up (they still had their navy, remember) and pressed the issue in 1962, leading to Chile breaking off diplomatic relations. In 1975 and 1991 new talks were opened between Bolivia and Chile regarding a possible swap of territory that would give Bolivia sea access (although what Bolivia could have possibly exchanged for it is unclear) and in 1976 talks were opened with Peru about the possibility of giving up some of its territory so that Bolivia could once again rule the waves, all to no avail.
______In 1932 Bolivia picked a fight with Paraguay over the Chaco region, at least partially out of a desire to get access to the Atlantic. If this was indeed the intention it must have been part of a long-range plan because the Chaco (indeed, NONE of Paraguay) has access to the sea either. In any case, the Chaco War also ended disasterously for Bolivia.
______The Bolivian Navy has about 3,800 personnel, which includes 2,000 Marines. It is not known how many lyrics there are in the Bolivian Marine Hymn are but I doubt there are many. The "fleet" includes dozens of boats, including some river patrol boats bought from the U.S. Indeed, river patrols seem to be an important mission of the Bolivian Navy. Bolivia has also got a couple of light patrol aircraft. The Bolivian Navy resembles a coast guard without a coast, and being prone to seasickness obviously isn't a problem if you want to join.
______The intrepid Bolivians do have a single sea-going vessel, the Libertador Bolivar, but it is kept docked in Argentina. The ship goes up and down the Plate River between Argentina and Uruguay and has apparently never been NEAR Bolivia. But that makes about as much sense as anything else in the Bolivian Navy.
HOW LONG WAS THE HUNDRED YEARS' WAR? | /mnt/disk_c/llm-data-filtration/dedup/en_dataset/dataset_txts_15GB_1_splitted/shard_00042/shard_00042_10018.txt |
The day of the customs of the Russian Federation
Twenty-fifth day of October in the Russian Federation celebrated the day Mytnik Customs – important government body that protects the economic interests of the state.
History of customs in Russia more than a thousand years. In ancient Russia, when there is trade, there was something similar at the customs gate. For the transport of goods through these posts, because rented retail space, and promoting the merchants gathered trading fee, which was called ‘Myto». And the people who collect the taxes were called, of course, "publicans» and «mutikani.
The roots of the word "customs" occur from the time of the Tatar-Mongol yoke, its origin has its origin from the Turkic word "signs" print. When issued Khan labels with seal, then took the duty, which was also referred to as "signs". And the place in which collected such tax was called the customs, working – the customs.
The widespread system of revenue collection in Russia did not yet exist, and in a separate principalities asserted their prices on the export of goods. Only in the sixteenth century customs fees have become centralized, and the laws and customs have been improved.
In 1653 25 October came in the light of the Common customs Statute, which regulated the collection of customs duties in Russia. And this event has become a guiding star for current employees celebrated this date, as a modern Day Russian customs officer.
Note that in the USSR the Day of the customs officers was celebrated on may 29. This date was associated with the release in 1918 legislative decree that regulated the activities of customs. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, it was decided by the decree of the President, to approve for this holiday another day, and the twenty-ninth of may, it is customary to honor veterans who worked in the customs service.
Currently customs service of the Russian Federation is an effective mechanism of regulation of trade of the state with other countries, keeping the best traditions that developed centuries. Because the current theory Mytnaya things should develop in the future given the historical experience of the past. | /mnt/disk_c/llm-data-filtration/dedup/en_dataset/dataset_txts_15GB_1_splitted/shard_00042/shard_00042_10019.txt |
Carbon dioxide (CO2) is the most important anthropogenic greenhouse gas influencing global warming. To determine its major source and sink regions, precise and worldwide measurements of the CO2 mixing ratio (xCO2) are required.1 To obtain xCO2 values that are averaged for the whole atmospheric column (the total volume of air over a certain area), the solar spectrum needs to be measured in the near-IR region both on the earth's surface at a monitoring site and from space, with a satellite such as the Greenhouse Gases Observing Satellite (GOSAT).
Earth surface monitoring points are concentrated in the mid-latitudes of the northern hemisphere (i.e., where most developed countries are situated). Few are found in tropical regions of developing countries where CO2 emissions are growing most rapidly. We have developed a portable, compact instrument that is capable of measuring the CO2 of atmospheric columns, and therefore could help to mitigate this problem.2
Figure 1. The latent flux method for estimating total carbon dioxide (CO2) emitted from a targeting area. Vertical bars indicate CO2mixing ratios measured by an observation network that surrounds the targeting area where forest or peatland fires occur. By factoring the difference in CO2 mixing ratios at out- and in-flow points, along with fluxes of air mass, the total CO2emitted from the area can be determined.
Our new spectrometer uses commercially available fiber optics and a fiber Fabry-Perot interferometer (FPI), that controls and measures light wavelengths. We based our instrument on a similar CO2 column spectrometer that uses a conventional solid glass FPI and glass optics.3 In our fiber FPI instrument, incident sunlight rays are made parallel (collimated) through an optical filter by a fiber collimator that is installed on a small sun tracker. The light is split and passes through two separate optical components: a fiber FPI for CO2 spectrum analysis and a reference detector for correcting the spectrum intensity due to solar intensity fluctuation.
We can control the wavelengths of the solar spectrum that are transmitted through the fiber FPI by changing its temperature. The transmitted light can thus be aligned, or unaligned, with the CO2 rotational lines that are centered at 1572nm. By modulating the fiber FPI temperature 40s/cycle, we deduce the intensity of both the incident and transmitted light waves through use of the Beer-Lambert law, which relates the absorption of light to the properties of the material through which it is traveling. This allows xCO2 to be measured with a precision of 1.3ppm under clear sky conditions.4
Figure 2. Average CO2 mixing ratios (ppm) measured at Parangka Raya (blue) and Banjar Baru (red), which are situated 95km apart at 1.12°S; 113.54°E and 3.26°S; 114.50°E, respectively, in Kalimantan, Indonesia, when forest and peatland fires occurred between 20 August and 5 September 2011.
We previously reported measurements of atmospheric CO2 columns made with a similar, precursor instrument at surface monitoring sites. This instrument consists of a solar telescope attached to a sun tracker and a commercial desktop optical spectrum analyser (Yokogawa Meters and Instruments model AQ6370) that resolves the rotational lines of CO2 in 30s scans and effectively provides automatic self-calibration and self-alignment.2, 5 We examined the practicality of using this instrument at a surface monitoring site in parallel with a high-resolution Fourier transform spectrometer (FTS) at the University of Wollongong, Australia. Average column densities measured by the OSA and FTS between July and October 2010 were (8.369±0.087)×1021 and (8.413±0.056)×1021 molecules/cm2, respectively, and were thus in good agreement.
Due to its portability, our fiber FPI instrument can be used to measure CO2 emissions from widely spread and unpredictable local sources, e.g., forest or peatland fires. Figure 1 shows that the local flux of CO2 can be measured if a CO2 observation network is constructed to surround the target emission area and if air transfer data is obtained. We used the fiber FPI instruments in central Kalimantan, Indonesia, as a part of measurement reporting validation (MRV) activities for CO2 emission reduction. In this campaign, two sets of the fiber FPI instruments were deployed parallel to the predominant wind direction at Banjar Baru and Palangka Raya in Kalimantan, respectively. Two months of column data were automatically obtained (some of which is shown in Figure 2). Between 24 and 26 August 2011, large fires were detected by the Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) satellite, and we found large differences in the xCO2data between our two observation sites. The difference in CO2 emissions between the observation sites can be evaluated after factoring in the xCO2 difference due to wind flux.
During the dry season of El Niño years, large-scale forest and peatland fires have a high occurrence in Indonesia. It has been estimated that 0.81–2.57Gt of carbon was emitted from wildfires over the entire Indonesian archipelago between 1997 and 1998 (making up 13–40% of the world's total fossil fuel emissions).6 The wide range of this estimate reflects the uncertainty of conventional estimation methods. We are now reviewing and continuing to implement CO2 emission MRV activities. We are working to establish an operating structure that allows effective monitoring, especially in situations and regions where there has not yet been sufficient data collection to quantitatively assess the CO2 emissions.
This work is sponsored by the Japan Science and Technology and Green Network of Excellence programs of Japan's Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology.
Research Institute for Humanity and Nature (RIHN)
Masahiro Kawasaki received his PhD from the Tokyo Institute of Technology in 1975. He has been a professor emeritus of Kyoto University and a visiting professor at RIHN since 2010.
Department of Information Science and Biomedical Engineering
Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute
University of Tokyo
2. N. Kobayashi, G. Inoue, M. Kawasaki, H. Yoshioka, M. Minomura, I. Murata, T. Nagahama, Y. Matsumi, T. Tanaka, I. Morino, T. Ibuki, Remotely operable compact instruments for measuring atmospheric CO2 column densities at surface monitoring sites, Atmos. Meas. Tech. 3, p. 1103, 2010.
3. E. L. Wilson, E. M. Georgieva, W. S. Heaps, Development of a Fabry-Perot interferometer for ultra-precise measurements of column CO2, Meas. Sci. Technol. 18, p. 1495, 2007.
4. The FFPI instrument is commercially available as model FES-C (fiber etalon spectrometer for atmospheric carbon dioxide column measurement) from Meisei Electric Co. Ltd., Isesaki 372-8585, Japan.
5. M. Kawasaki, H. Yoshioka, N. B. Jones, R. Macatangay, D. W. T. Griffith, S. Kawakami, H. Ohyama, T. Tanaka, I. Morino, O. Uchino, T. Ibuki, Usability of optical spectrum analyzer in measuring atmospheric CO2
column densities: substantiation with FTS and aircraft profiles in situ, Atmos. Meas. Tech.
5, p. 2593, 2012. doi:10.5194/amt-5-2593-2012
6. S. E. Page, F. Siegert, J. O. Rieley, H.-D. V. Boehm, A. Jaya, S. Limin, The amount of carbon released from peat and forest fires in Indonesia during 1997, Nature 420, p. 61-65, 2002. | /mnt/disk_c/llm-data-filtration/dedup/en_dataset/dataset_txts_15GB_1_splitted/shard_00042/shard_00042_1002.txt |
Without water people cannot survive, but without good sanitation and hygiene practices the water available could become contaminated and lead to disease and death. Every year 1.5 million people, most of them children, die from complications associated with diarrhea that they picked up from dirty water. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) 88% of diarrhea cases worldwide are linked to unsafe water, inadequate sanitation or insufficient hygiene. Diarrhea is caused by bacteria that get into the water system, and one way that this happens is from open defecation.
Some of you may have never heard of open defecation, but it is a reality for a lot of people in developing countries due to the lack of improved sanitation facilities. In India open defecation is practiced by around 638 million people; the most of any country. In Indonesia it is practiced by 63 million people. In Sudan the number rests at 19 million people. And in Afghanistan 89% of the rural population practices open defecation (because of conflict and war no census has been done in Afghanistan since 1979, but from estimates the number of open defecators is around 20 million). From these numbers you can see that open defecation is a big problem, and is one of the contributors to millions of deaths from diarrhea every year.
With that in mind I wanted to talk about a methodology called community-led total sanitation, or CLTS, which aims to eliminate open defecation. With CLTS communities are not just handed a latrine or a hand washing facility to use because it has been found that providing these facilities does not guarantee that people will use them. CLTS recognizes that for any real behavioral change to happen you need to get the community involved and educated. So instead the communities are taught about the facilities. They are told why it is important to use them, and how lack of using them and open defecation can cause disease and death. It also focuses on “open defecation-free” (ODF) communities instead of providing toilets for individual households.
CLTS was originally thought up by Dr. Kamal Kar in 2000 while he was working with Village Education Resource Center (VERC), a partner of WaterAid Bangladesh. Dr. Kar, who had in the past worked on urban poverty, slum improvement, and local governance in India, Mongolia, Bangladesh and
Cambodia was at the time studying the traditional subsidized model for providing sanitation facilities. In realizing that this model was flawed he convinced local NGOs to stop the practice of providing toilets through subsidies, and to instead start implementing the community based approach of CLTS. He worked with these NGOs to start mobilizing and facilitating the villagers to think about their sanitation habits and to come up with solutions to the problem of open defecation on their own.
His first experience with CLTS was in the village of Mosmoil in Bangladesh. Mosmoil had in the past received subsidized toilets from aid agencies but still lived with the problem of open defecation. While there he couldn’t help but notice the piles of human waste throughout the village, often close to water sources, as well as the heavy stench that hung in the air. Once he sat down with the people from the village conversation between them erupted; people wanted a change, but often blamed each other for the problem and asked Dr. Kar to provide more free toilets. However, once he explained to them that he wasn’t there provide toilets the villagers started talking about how they could deal with the problem and after some time came up with real solutions to the problem on their own. By the end of the day children had even begun digging a hole to be used as a latrine in the village.
By engaging a whole community through CLTS a couple of things are accomplished. First, when you explain to a community that they’re getting sick because of open defecation, and even if it’s only a minority of the people practicing it, they are going to hold each other responsible for using good sanitation practices. This education also leads to people wanting to make a change. Imagine if someone came into your village where people had been getting sick and told you the reason they were getting sick and what you could do to stop it. That is a huge motivator.
However, you need to be mindful of how you get this message across. People will often use shame and disgust to compel people to change their ways and stop open defecation. There is debate among those implementing CLTS regarding if shaming people is appropriate or not. While evoking shame does works sometimes it only does if you go about it correctly. There is good shame and bad shame, and whether it turns into good or bad depends on how the message is delivered. If the message is received in a good way then it will lead to people starting to think about how they can make things better, it will expand their value system, and will make them want to elevate their community.
If it’s received in a bad way it can lead to people abandoning the program, low self-esteem, can make people angry, and feeling helpless. You can’t just walk up to someone and tell them they’re disgusting because they practice open defecation. You should explain to them why it’s unsanitary and unhygienic and lead them to realize themselves that a change needs to be made. I’ve seen this point made by placing feces on the ground next to food and having the people watch flies jump from the feces to the food, and then back and forth over and over again. When people see this it’s very easy for them to make the connection between open defecation and sickness without the person who is facilitating saying something offensive like “you’re eating your own feces”.
Also, when working with certain communities you need to realize that for some people this is how they’ve lived their whole life and this is a normal part of their day. Therefore if you tell them they’re disgusting and try and shame them they will be offended and resist any message you’re trying to get across. But if you talk to them and tell them why open defecation is bad they’ll start to realize that open defecation is obnoxious and unhealthy and this will lead to change.
Further, when you get the community involved and let them come up with the solutions it leads to them feeling a sense of ownership over what they’re doing for themselves. Ownership leads to pride, and pride leads to lasting success. Having them come up with their own plan also leads to innovation, and appropriate solutions that they can build, maintain, and repair themselves. This also leads to lasting success because when something breaks or needs to be replaced the community has the means to do it themselves.
Since CLTS was first introduced back in 2000 it has had a lot of success. One of these success stories is from Afghanistan where they started implementing the methodology in 2009. Originally this program only involved people from USAID’s Sustainable Water Supply and Sanitation Project (SWSS). However, because of the past few decades Afghans aren’t particularly trustworthy of new people coming into their country. To gain their trust and speed up the process the SWSS team partnered with one of USAID’s health program partners, Management Sciences for Health, which had already been in the country for a decade working with the people.
After gaining the trust of the Afghans SWSS made sure they were involved in every step of the process in order to ensure that CLTS appealed to local customs, attitudes and values of the Afghans. In order to bring this message to the communities 682 Afghan facilitators were trained, and 3,960 community leaders were trained to promote hygiene within their community. Soon thereafter Family Health Action Groups were formed by women in the communities to help train more woman on how to educate others. Once these women were trained they went out and taught other woman, who in turn taught their families about the importance of health and hygiene, which led to entire communities becoming aware. More or less a snowball effect of education, and it was successful. As of my writing this 394 communities in Afghanistan have been certified ODF, and this number will just continue to grow!
In Malakal, South Sudan 200 latrines have been built in a community of 2,000 households, and while there is still work to be done they are well on their way to becoming ODF. In Kyalugondo Parish, Uganda a community of 3,000 households celebrated their ODF status just this month. In Madhya Pradesh, India they aim to transform all 138 villages to ODF. As of February 2012 sixty three of the villages had accomplished ODF status. In southern Guinea Bissau, in Quinara Region, twenty eight communities were declared ODF in March 2012.
I can go on listing success stories but you get the point; CLTS has been and is working around the world. One thing that I think is important to note is that it has been working in very different cultures. It’s one thing to find a methodology that works for a specific group, but it’s completely different when you find something that can work universally. I’ve also read that after CLTS has been successful in improving sanitation it has led to communities using the basic model to solve other problems such as off season food scarcity in Bangladesh. I think that’s a true sign of a successful methodology.
To date CLTS has spread to 43 countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America benefitting roughly 20 million people. In seven countries CLTS has become the national sanitation strategy. It has also influenced UNICEF to make the decision to not provide household hardware subsidies, which in itself has led to CLTS being implemented in more cases.
Many organizations have picked up the CLTS model and base their sanitation program on it but with some changes. UNICEF calls their program Community Approaches to Total Sanitation, or CATS. UNICEF’s program differs in that they look at both the supply and demand side of the problem. Once people are educated and make decisions as to how they want to implement the program (the demand) CATS starts to look at the supply side. This usually includes things like training local masons to build latrines or setting up sanitation shops that, often with some monetary help from UNICEF, provide low cost materials for building | /mnt/disk_c/llm-data-filtration/dedup/en_dataset/dataset_txts_15GB_1_splitted/shard_00042/shard_00042_10020_1.txt |
latrines. UNICEF will not give money directly to communities, but instead will provide subsidies to facilitate plans that people in the communities have already come up with on their own.
The World Bank’s Water and Sanitation Program calls it Total Sanitation and Sanitation Marketing, or TSSM. TSSM is a combination of CLTS and what the World Bank calls Sanitation Marketing (SM). SM is basically the same idea as UNICEF’s supply and demand model, create demand and then follow by facilitating the supply.
Up to this point I have been talking about CLTS and its use in rural areas, however in the past several years organizations have been bringing CLTS into urban areas also. There has been some success, but they quickly learned that while the same basic principles remain there are a new set of challenges to overcome when using CLTS in urban areas. One of the biggest challenges is forming partnerships with the politicians in the area so that they will listen to the communities and help facilitate getting what the people need. This is often not at the top of the list of things politicians want to do, especially because the poor are often living in illegal slums that politicians don’t want to support.
Implementing CLTS in a slum area has its own particular set of challenges. Because these people know that at any time they could be evicted from where they’re living they’re less motivated to do something to help the situation. Also, because slums are often densely populated and lack a sense of community it is more challenging to get everyone involved than in a small rural community. The fact that slums don’t have a lot of space also makes it hard for toilets and wash facilities to be constructed there.
Although challenging there has been a few success stories of urban CLTS. Urban CLTS was pioneered in the Kalyani Municipality in India. The town has about 100,000 people of which about half live in its 52 slums that surround the town. Most of these slums do not have any toilet facilities. The history of sanitation in these slums is not a new story. Some of the residents had been given toilets free of charge in the past, and as is usually the case they were not used because there was no education given with the toilets. The rest of the residents that didn’t get toilets yet figured they would at some point so they didn’t take the initiative to solve the sanitation problem themselves.
In 2006 the councilors of Kalyani were persuaded to try CLTS in five of the slums. After having overwhelming success in these five slums they decided to introduce CLTS to the other slums, and by 2008-2009 all 52 slums were declared ODF leading to Kalyani being the first ODF city in India. After seeing how successful CLTS was in dealing with sanitation community leaders from the slums continued to follow its model and improved roads, cleared bush, and made many other improvements in the area. An evaluation of this project by the World Bank’s Water and Sanitation Program identified good and cooperative governance as a key element in the success of CLTS in Kalyani, however the motivation within the community also played a huge role.
In Nanded, Maharashtra, India a CLTS program is ongoing and has been successful up to this point. Currently there is a new initiative in Nairobi to implement CLTS in another urban area. They have just started this past May so it’s still in the planning and training stages but they are getting a lot of support from the local government and people in the communities are very excited to get things going. With all of this support it looks like this will be another successful implementation of urban CLTS.
With all of its success there are still challenges in implementing CLTS in rural and urban areas. Dr. Kar says that the biggest challenge is changing the view by many professionals (engineers, planners, policy makers, etc.) that believe the only way to help the sanitation situation of the poor is by providing them with free toilets. To change their thinking that you need to provide the infrastructure for sanitation and then changes in behavior will follow. CLTS turns this thinking around completely. You have to start with changes in behavior and educating people about sanitation and hygiene before you start constructing anything. Once you educate the people and they understand the problem better they gain the confidence to start implementing their own ideas of how to deal with the problem and create ODF communities.
I read a lot about water and sanitation issues throughout the world, and time and time again I see one thing that is common to most success stories: community involvement. I think it’s so important to educate the communities and get them involved in fixing the problem if there’s going to be any hope of it lasting long term, and that’s why I really like CLTS and expect it to be successful time and time again in the future. I hate to use this old proverb, but it seems so fitting to this situation; “If you give a man a fish you feed him for a day. If you teach a man to fish you feed him for a lifetime.”
As always, thanks for reading, and please leave a comment and let me know what you thought.
World Health Organization. Safer Water, Better Health: Costs, benefits, and sustainability of interventions to protect and promote health. Available at https://whqlibdoc.who.int/publications/2008/9789241596435_eng.pdf
Copenhagen Consensus 2012 Challenge Paper: Water and Sanitation: Frank Rijsberman and Alix Peterson Zwane
USAID – Global Waters – Volume III, Issue II, June 2012 | /mnt/disk_c/llm-data-filtration/dedup/en_dataset/dataset_txts_15GB_1_splitted/shard_00042/shard_00042_10020_2.txt |
StoryWalk® connects kids to nature
The final bell rings, signaling the end of the last day of school. It’s summer vacation! While the kids in this classroom learned much of the same material over the last school year, they will go off to have drastically different summer experiences. That’s where the StoryWalk® comes in!
StoryWalk® is a children’s picture book, deconstructed and displayed along the wide path of the Lower Loop. Children move through meadow and forest, reading each page and interacting with their natural surroundings.
SUMMER LEARNING IS CRUCIAL
Summer is a crucial time for kids to continue learning. Unfortunately, studies show that more than 80% of kids from economically disadvantaged families lose reading skills over the summer because they lack access to books, learning resources, and enrichment opportunities.
In Gunnison County, 15% of families are in need of assistance to ensure their kids continue learning over the summer.
By providing a free opportunity to read a book, you can work to make sure that no child in Gunnison County is falling behind on reading over the summer months.
For the last two years, your support has allowed us to partner with the Crested Butte Library to offer StoryWalk® to the community. In 2017, we installed durable display cases that will ensure we can provide a StoryWalk® for many years to come!
NOTHING BEATS NATURE
All parents know that hiking with young children can be quite a challenge. But the long-term rewards are worth it. Spending time in nature has been shown to increase attention span, reduce stress, and help kids stay active and fit. When kids connect to nature at a young age, they are much more likely to develop a conservation ethic and love for the land. They are more likely to grow up to protect these places that you love.
Adriana Bombard is a busy mother of two. She and her family were visiting Crested Butte last summer when they stumbled upon the StoryWalk®. “It was great for our kids, who are between the ages of three and five,” she said. “They ran from page to page, and it made hiking with them really easy.”
By providing a free opportunity to read a book and connect with the natural landscape, you ensure that kids like Adriana’s grow up to be the next generation of conservationists.
We’d like to thank our funding partners, the Crested Butte/Mt. Crested Butte Rotary Club, and the Crested Butte Creative District. Thanks to their support, the project is under way. However, we need you to ensure that we can complete StoryWalk® and provide more projects like this in the future. Can you help right now?
The StoryWalk® Project was created by Anne Ferguson of Montpelier, VT and developed in collaboration the Kellogg Hubbard Library. Storywalk® is a registered service mark owned by Ms. Ferguson. | /mnt/disk_c/llm-data-filtration/dedup/en_dataset/dataset_txts_15GB_1_splitted/shard_00042/shard_00042_10021.txt |
Archaeologists on February 9 unearthed the grave of Filipino World War II guerilla and scientist Maria Orosa at the Malate Catholic School compound, nearly 75 years since her martyrdom.
Orosa who was born in Taal, Batangas, passed away on February 13, 1945, after a bombing during the Battle for Manila. The unearthed epitaph said Orosa “died in line of duty.” She “used science to save thousands of Filipinos and Americans in Manila from malnutrition and hunger by smuggling food beyond Japanese lines.”
“Orosa [was] an outstanding student, winning a partial government scholarship in 1916 to attend the University of Seattle. [She] completed her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in pharmaceutical chemistry, as well as an additional degree in food chemistry,” Google said.
Orosa is credited for more than 700 recipes and preservation techniques, including the country’s favorite condiment, banana ketchup, and food like powdered calamansi juice. | /mnt/disk_c/llm-data-filtration/dedup/en_dataset/dataset_txts_15GB_1_splitted/shard_00042/shard_00042_10022.txt |
Too often, adults in many societies tend to view ‘children’ as ‘immature’, naïve’ or ‘child-like’.
The Carrolup children’s drawings demonstrate an entirely different side to what it is to be a ‘child’. For not only were they part of the Stolen Generation, taken away from their parents, and their brothers, sisters, aunties and uncles, and their friends, but they had to temporarily ‘replace’ their families with an entirely new kind of ‘family’, each other.
The children were traumatised, fearful and isolated from each other. Parnie Dempster told me that the older children, both girls and boys, looked after and comforted the younger children, who were otherwise crying themselves to sleep in their respective dormitories.
Life at Carrolup was tough under the Department of Native Affairs (as it was named at that time), and it was the arrival of Mr and Mrs White at the behest of the existing teacher Mrs Elliot, which dramatically changed the scene.
When Mrs Rutter visited some three years later, she commented specifically on how the older boys at the school appeared to take pleasure in showing the younger ones to draw. She wrote, ‘These Aboriginal children have the real spirit of community life.’ [Emphasis in original] Florence Rutter, Little Black Fingers, 1950, p. 5
Now, the children were performing their art practice with an expectant audience in mind, e.g at the annual Katanning Show.
And it was through the emergence and development of the child art at Carrolup that presented the artists with an opportunity to address the world on their own terms.
‘I think it [the Carrolup art] is vitally important because it captures a historic instant where Aboriginal children, not adults but Aboriginal children, could assert themselves and their position in society within their landscape of the South West.
‘They did it unequivocally, they did it seriously, they did it thoughtfully, and they were fully understanding of what they were doing at the time… It was a unique thing.
‘There has never been a case anywhere else, I believe, in the world where children have actually taken responsibility for asserting themselves and their place in society, and their place in their country in a colonial environment.’ John Stanton interview | /mnt/disk_c/llm-data-filtration/dedup/en_dataset/dataset_txts_15GB_1_splitted/shard_00042/shard_00042_10023.txt |
“If you were born poor, it’s not your fault. But if you die poor, it is your fault. ”
Everyone knows whose statement this is. This statement was made by Bill Gates, the richest man
in the world. People all over the world are talking about this statement somewhere. Bill Gates is
a man who has enough property to buy the whole country, not just one house. Even if his wealth
is distributed to people all over the world, it seems that each person will get thousands of rupees.
In today’s series we are going to give some information about Bill Gates.
Bill Gates is a man who was very interested in studies from an early age. He was reading a book
all the time. Other kids enjoyed playing, but Bill Gates enjoyed reading. Her mother was upset
by her reading habits. One day his mother turned off the electricity in his room. He thought Bill
Gates would go to sleep when there was no light. But in the middle of the night, when his mother
saw Bill Gates in his room, he was reading with a torch. Then his mother felt bad about what she
had done. After that, his mother kept encouraging him to read.
He loved to read maths. Bill Gates was the first to answer Math every time. At the age of 13, Bill
Gates created a computer toy game. Which is a game played by cutting zero. He said he would
not go to school at the age of 14. When his mother asked him why, the teachers replied that they
did not know how to teach. After his father abused him, he started going to school. Even after
going to school, he lived in a computer lab. Later, the computer teacher kicked him out saying he
would not let him come to the lab. One day a virus appeared on the school computer. There was
no one to remove the virus. Bill Gates made it a point to remove the virus if he allowed himself
to go to a computer lab. Then he removed the virus from the computer.
He made the whole school schedule at the age of 15. Not only that, he had created Traff O Data
to easily open the extreme traffic jams. He left Harvard University at the age of 21 to start
Microsoft. At the age of 31, he became the youngest billionaire. Also, after 13 years of hard
work, he was included in the list of richest people in the world. Forbes has published 23 times
about the richest man in the world. In which Bill Gates fell 17 times. | /mnt/disk_c/llm-data-filtration/dedup/en_dataset/dataset_txts_15GB_1_splitted/shard_00042/shard_00042_10024.txt |
“Sometimes the most scientifically interesting things are also the most beautiful things.” So said Space Telescope Science Institute’s Alyssa Pagan, who is one of the two people who processed the early Webb photos. The word processed is deliberate, for it would be wrong to think that Webb sent finished color images to Earth. Rather, light from the distant universe reached the Webb telescope and was recorded by its cameras and accompanying instruments. Although the images first appear in black and white, the cameras use different filters to capture various aspects of a scene. It is these filters that allowed science visual developers like Pagan and her colleague Joe DePasquale to produce the stunning color images released this month.
We can think of this filtering as akin to the process of creating images out of stained glass – a fitting comparison given that it was French-American artist John LaFarge who pioneered a technique for stained glass at a time when the art form was not yet common in the U.S. When LaFarge designed his windows at Trinity Church, Boston, he created individual panes of glass each with their own color. Take a piece of blue glass for instance: white light, which is just the composite of every color, would hit the window, but only blue light would be allowed to pass through the pane. The stained glass has filtered out all unwanted light to produce the desired color, which will then form part of a created image. When Webb filters light from the universe, the process is the same. Each image captures only the parts of space that are the desired color, whether from a nearby star or a far-off galaxy.
A detailed walk-through of how Webb works can be found at the Reuters link below, but, essentially, Webb’s photographic data was sent from the telescope to instrument scientists, who, over the course of three days, refined the data so that it was fit for subsequent image processors. Pagan and DePasquale then took each black and white image and began “stretching” it to reveal all of the universe that lay hidden in the darkest parts of the photo. This process allows the scientists to brighten the dark without altering the light portions of the image. Pagan and DePasquale repeated this process for each filtered version of the image, stretching the dark to reveal the red, green, and blue parts of the scene. Next, the versions are combined to form a colored photo that reveals the whole picture. Pagan and DePasquale thus begin an exercise that is, according to NASA, “equal parts art and science.” They adjust the specific colors and tones, balancing scientific accuracy with aesthetics to craft images where colors draw our attention to specific features of the celestial scene in question. As such, these images are not perfect recreations of what we would see, were we to travel millions of lightyears from home.
But to those disquieted by the fabrication, humans could never see the universe as it exists. In fact, we can only see 0.0035 percent of the universe – in other words a black, unprocessed image. Through Webb, we can “see” ultraviolet and infrared light; as DePasquale explains, “[The galaxies in these images] are appearing the way they would to our eyes if we could see them, if we had the sensitivity of a telescope.”
Webb’s color images have been processed, yes, but this processing is neither abstract nor impersonal. The images could not exist without this process of our own design – one which requires equal parts art and science.
Our picture of the universe will always be our own, but this idiosyncrasy is a strength, not a weakness. Webb’s created images, much like the Washington National Cathedral’s “space” window featuring a piece of moon rock among the stained glass, present us with what we have been able to imagine from an otherwise impenetrable darkness.
General Questions about Webb — NASA
Visible Light: Eye-opening Research at NNSA — National Nuclear Security Administration
Webb’s First Images Gallery — Webb Space Telescope
Webb Telescope: Looking back in time — Reuters | /mnt/disk_c/llm-data-filtration/dedup/en_dataset/dataset_txts_15GB_1_splitted/shard_00042/shard_00042_10025.txt |
|Feast: November 27
was a scientist before his time, and in his monastery of Aghaboe in Ireland he
was known as "the Geometer" because of his knowledge of geography. In
743, he left Ireland for a pilgrimage to the Holy Land but got no farther than
the court of Pepin, the father of Charlemagne. In 745, Pepin defeated Odilo,
duke of Bavaria, and sent St. Virgilius to be abbot of the monastery of Sankt
Peter and in charge of the diocese of Salzburg.
In accordance with the Irish custom, the bishop was subject to the abbot, who was the real head of the diocese. This was contrary to continental custom, and so Virgilius consented to be consecrated bishop. His most notable accomplishment was the conversion of the Alpine Slavs; moreover, he sent missionaries into Hungary.
In his first days at Salzburg, he was involved in controversies with St. Boniface, one over the form of baptism, which the pope decided in Virgilius's favor. Virgilius also expressed a number of opinions on astronomy, geography, and anthropology, which to Boniface smacked of novelty, if not heresy. He reported these views to Rome, and the pope demanded an investigation of the bishop of Salzburg. Nothing came of this and apparently Virgilius was able to defend his views.
Virgilius built a grand cathedral at Salzburg, baptized the Slavic dukes of Carinthia, and sent missionaries into lands where no missionary had yet gone. Returning from a preaching mission to a distant part of his diocese, he fell sick and died on November 27, 784. When the Salzburg cathedral was destroyed by a fire in 1181, the grave of Virgilius was discovered and this led to his canonization by Pope Gregory IX in 1233.
His feast is kept throughout Ireland and in the diocese of Salzburg.
Thought for the Day: St. Virgilius was not content to keep his faith to himself, but like many Irish monks at the time he wanted to share it with others. He looked for a ripe harvest and found it in Germany, where he labored for over forty years. If we look around, we can always find some way to share our faith with others.
From 'The Catholic One Year Bible': . . . We have not been telling you fairy tales when we explained to you the power of our Lord Jesus Christ and his coming again. My own eyes have seen his splendor and his glory: I was there on the holy mountain when he shone out with honor given him by God his Father, . . . - 2 Peter 1:16-18
Taken from "The One Year Book of Saints" by Rev. Clifford Stevens published by Our Sunday Visitor Publishing Division, Our Sunday Visitor, Inc., Huntington, IN 46750.
Provided Courtesy of: | /mnt/disk_c/llm-data-filtration/dedup/en_dataset/dataset_txts_15GB_1_splitted/shard_00042/shard_00042_10026.txt |
Two lifeless machines are pushed in on the cart. In my office laboratory I replace dead parts with used components to make the computer usable once again. Can I fix these new ones?
I start my analysis of the first computer. Nope, this one is not going to make it – the motherboard has failed.
The dissection begins. Video, network, and sound cards are removed. I look over the RAM stick. Yes, that can be reused. I dig it out.
I look around my computer graveyard. There are skeletons of old towers. Stacks of useless monitors block the floor. Soon I will need to properly to dispose of this mess. But I have more important things to do.
My attention returns to the problem at hand. I begin troubleshooting the second machine. This one has a failed hard drive. I rummage through the tidy plastic drawers that hold vital computer parts. I grab a gently used hard drive and pop it into the machine.
I plug in the computer. No lightening is required (although that would be cool). It’s alive!
It is time to reformat this computer and get it student-ready. | /mnt/disk_c/llm-data-filtration/dedup/en_dataset/dataset_txts_15GB_1_splitted/shard_00042/shard_00042_10027.txt |
Building a secure and sustainable supply chain not only makes good business sense; it also helps to demonstrate a commitment to wider stakeholder and societal interests, enhance the resiliency of the supply chain, and stimulate innovation as well as productivity.
Food and beverage manufacturers are building sustainable practices in many different ways. These may include streamlining logistics to minimize emissions in transport, reverting to packaging materials that are made of recycled or recyclable materials, auditing the utility usage at their facilities and investing in energy-efficient machinery.
To further enhance their sustainability, manufacturers are looking to the suppliers of materials, machinery and equipment. It is critical to work with suppliers that aim to improve the sustainability of their operations and the sustainability of their technologies down to each and every component.
Take tubing, for example. Flexible tubing can come into contact with beverage and food products at several points along the supply chain, beginning with transfer applications at the processing stage and ending with applications in beverage or condiment dispensers found at many restaurants and fast-food chains. Just like CPGs, these institutions are aware of their environmental footprint and continuously strive to meet sustainability goals.
The sustainability of a brand can be measured in many ways, including the reduction of greenhouse gases, minimizing material waste or harmful by-products, or higher efficiency equipment and operations. Disposal at the end of a product’s lifecycle is one measurable aspect of a tubing solution’s sustainability. For one thing, typical disposal can require incineration, which has far-reaching negative effects on the environment, releasing hazardous and corrosive hydrogen chloride gas that can produce acid rain. However, tubing made from environmentally sound materials can be safely disposed of without releasing unsafe byproducts. It is important that tubing solutions for food processing operations help brands reach their sustainability goals to minimize their carbon footprint and inspire confidence from consumers, partners and investors.
Many tubing products are comprised of a fossil fuel-based phthalate called DEHP (di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate), which is a plasticizer used to give tubing its flexibility. Recent studies suggest DEHP may be responsible for negative environmental and human health impacts. Already on the EU’s REACH candidate list of substances of very high concern (SVHC) and California’s OEHHA Proposition 65 List of chemicals of concern, many industries, consumers and governments are putting limitations on the use of this chemical in certain applications. Adopting a non-DEHP, bio-based material solutions throughout the food and beverage production line will not only anticipate impending regulations on the chemical, but will also demonstrate their commitment to sustainability and foods safety to consumers and industry players.
As part of the company’s commitment to sustainability, Saint-Gobain recently launched Tygon S3™, a bio-based, non-phthalate tubing for food and beverage dispensing and transfer applications. This safe, smart and sustainable solution provides high-level performance in delivering clarity, product consistency and taste/odor-free properties associated with the Tygon® brand of tubing, but with a forward-looking formulation to address the needs of evolving regulatory requirements. By using a bio-based plasticizer instead of DEHP-based plasticizer, the potential human health and environmental impacts during the tubing’s use are reduced. Companies that use Tygon S3™will have reduced exposure to risk or liability for their business and brands with the anticipated regulations on products containing phthalates like DEHP in food or beverage dispensing, processing, and transfer applications.
# # #
Iuliana Nita is the Global Marketing Manager, Food and Beverage, Saint-Gobain Fluid Systems, one of the top 100 industrial companies in the world. She has over twelve years of experience in marketing and business development, primarily in the polymer industry. As a Global Marketing Manager, she helps to connect processes, operations, and products with what matters most to the industry: safety, performance and brand assurance. Iuliana holds a PhD – Polymer Science from Manchester Metropolitan University, an MBA – Marketing from the University of Akron and a Bachelor of Science – Chemistry from the Polytechnic University of Bucharest. She can be contacted at Iuliana.Nita@saint-gobain.com.
About Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics
Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics (SGPPL) is a subsidiary of Saint-Gobain Corporation, one of the top 100 industrial companies in the world and a leading producer of construction products, flat glass, high-performance materials and packaging. The Process Systems division of Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics produces critical connections through a broad range of customized material solutions and capabilities to help customers achieve safety, performance and brand assurance in the aerospace, chemical and food & beverage industries. For more information, visit http://www.plastics.saint-gobain.com.
NIH, Hazardous Substances Data Bank, Bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate, http://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/sis/search/r?dbs+hsdb:@term+@rn+117-81-7
ECHA, Candidate List of Substances of Very High Concern for Authorisation, Accessed June 19, 2012.
State of California EPA OEHHA, Chemicals Known to the State to Cause Cancer or Reproductive Toxicity, March 16, 2012 http://oehha.ca.gov/prop65/prop65_list/files/P65single031612.pdf | /mnt/disk_c/llm-data-filtration/dedup/en_dataset/dataset_txts_15GB_1_splitted/shard_00042/shard_00042_10028.txt |
Solar Energy System Design
Solar Energy System Design builds upon the introduction to PV systems from Solar Energy Basics course, which included basic system components and functions, as well as some basic system sizing using simplifying assumptions. You should at this point have a basic understanding of electrical power and energy, be able to calculate the energy needs of a site as well as energy production potential for a PV system at a given location under optimal conditions. Much of this course will focus on incorporating on the ground conditions into energy production considerations, and how to account for these conditions in system design and equipment selection. By the end of this course you should be able to incorporate losses in irradiance due to array setups with less than optimal positioning and/or shading, and account for variations in module output due to temperature variations in your system design.
- Following solar energy from source to panel
- PV module and array circuits
- PV sizing and output under different conditions
- Grid-tie PV System design under real world conditions
- Course Capstone | /mnt/disk_c/llm-data-filtration/dedup/en_dataset/dataset_txts_15GB_1_splitted/shard_00042/shard_00042_10029.txt |
Welcome to Year 6!
We are currently preparing for our SATS. Please ensure your child is in school and on time during this revision period as much as possible, as they will miss vital learning and revision if they are not here.
We are currently learning about Crime and Punishment throughout history. This week: the Romans!
Reading is such a wonderful and vital part of a child's life, so please ensure that children are reading regularly at home and that your child's reading record is written in weekly. It will be checked and signed in school each Friday.
Homework is set on a Friday and is due back in the following Wednesday.
Weekly spellings are set each Friday and tested the following Friday. Please ensure children learn the meaning of their spelling words as well as how to spell them. This will ensure that they are able to use them in their writing.
Please ensure your child's full PE kit is in school every day. | /mnt/disk_c/llm-data-filtration/dedup/en_dataset/dataset_txts_15GB_1_splitted/shard_00042/shard_00042_1003.txt |
Robert Burns (25 January 1759 – 21 July 1796) was a poet and pioneer of the Romantic movement and after his death became an important source of inspiration to the founders of both liberalism and socialism. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland.
- Beauty's of a fading nature
Has a season and is gone!
- Will Ye Go and Marry Katie? (1764)
- Wee, sleekit, cow'rin, tim'rous beastie,
O, what a panic's in thy breastie!
Thou need na start awa sae hasty,
Wi' bickering brattle!
- To a Mouse, st. 1 (1785)
- I'm truly sorry man's dominion
Has broken Nature's social union.
- To a Mouse, st. 2 (1785)
- The best laid schemes o' mice and men
Gang aft a-gley;
And leave us naught but grief and pain
For promised joy.
- To a Mouse, st. 7 (1785)
- Nature's law,
That man was made to mourn.
- Man Was Made to Mourn, st. 4 (1786)
- Man's inhumanity to man
Makes countless thousands mourn.
Man was made to Mourn.
- Man was Made to Mourn (1786)
- Gie me ae spark o' Nature's fire,
That's a' the learning I desire.
- First Epistle to J. Lapraik, st. 13 (1786)
- The social, friendly, honest man,
Whate'er he be,
'Tis he fulfills great Nature's plan,
And none but he!
- Second Epistle to J. Lapraik, st. 15 (1786).
- On ev'ry hand it will allowed be,
He's just—nae better than he should be.
- A Dedication to Gavin Hamilton (1786)
- It's hardly in a body's pow'r,
To keep, at times, frae being sour.
- Epistle to Davie, st. 2 (1786)
- Misled by fancy's meteor ray,
By passion driven;
But yet the light that led astray
Was light from heaven.
- The Vision, II, st. 18 (1786)
- His lockèd, lettered, braw brass collar
Showed him the gentleman an' scholar.
- The Twa Dogs, st. 3 (1786)
- An' there began a lang digression
About the lords o' the creation.
- The Twa Dogs, st. 6 (1786)
- O, wad some Power the giftie gie us
To see oursels as others see us!
It wad frae monie a blunder free us,
An' foolish notion.
What airs in dress an' gait wad lea'e us
An' ev'n Devotion
- Wee, modest, crimson-tippèd flow'r,
Thou's met me in an evil hour;
For I maun crush amang the stoure
Thy slender stem:
To spare thee now is past my pow'r,
Thou bonie gem.
- To a Mountain Daisy, st. 1 (1786)
- Stern Ruin's plowshare drives elate,
Full on thy bloom.
- To a Mountain Daisy, st. 9 (1786)
- There's nought but care on ev'ry han',
In every hour that passes, O:
What signifies the life o' man,
An' then she made the lasses, O.
- Green Grow the Rashes, O, st. 1 (1787)
- Auld Nature swears, the lovely dears
Her noblest work she classes, O:
Her prentice han' she tried on man,
An' then she made the lasses, O.
- Green Grow the Rashes, O, st. 5 (1787)
- Green grow the rashes, O;
Green grow the rashes, O;
The sweetest hours that e'er I spend
Are spent among the lasses, O.
- Green Grow the Rashes, O, chorus (1787)
- Some books are lies frae end to end.
- Death and Dr. Hornbook, st. 1 (1787)
- I was na fou, but just had plenty.
- Death and Dr. Hornbook, st. 3 (1787)
- John Barleycorn got up again,
And sore surprised them all.
- John Barleycorn, st. 3 (1787)
- The heart benevolent and kind
The most resembles God.
- A Winter Night (1787)
- Ye're aiblins nae temptation.
- Address to the Unco Guid, st. 6 (1787)
- Then gently scan your brother man,
Still gentler sister woman;
Tho' they may gang a kennin wrang,
To step aside is human.
- Address to the Unco Guid, st. 7 (1787)
- If naebody care for me,
I'll care for naebody.
- I Hae a Wife o' my Ain (1788)
- Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to min'?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And days o' auld lang syne?
- Auld Lang Syne, st. 1 (1788)
- For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne,
We'll tak a cup o' kindness yet
For auld lang syne!
- Auld Lang Syne, chorus (1788)
- Flow gently, sweet Afton! amang thy green braes,
Flow gently, I'll sing thee a song in thy praise.
My Mary's asleep by thy murmuring stream,
Flow gently, sweet Afton, disturb not her dream.
- Sweet Afton, st. 1 (1789)
- This day, Time winds th' exhausted chain,
To run the twelvemonth's length again.
- New Year's Day, st. 1 (1790)
- The voice of Nature loudly cries,
And many a message from the skies,
That something in us never dies.
- New Year's Day, st. 3 (1790)
- When Nature her great masterpiece designed,
And framed her last, best work, the human mind,
Her eye intent on all the wondrous plan,
She formed of various stuff the various Man.
- To Robert Graham, st. 1 (1791)
- Suspense is worse than disappointment.
- Letter to Thomas Sloan, (1 September 1791)
- While Europe's eye is fix'd on mighty things,
The fate of empires and the fall of kings;
While quacks of State must each produce his plan,
And even children lisp the Rights of Man;
Amid this mighty fuss just let me mention,
The Rights of Woman merit some attention.
- The Rights of Woman, st. 1 (1792)
- She is a winsome wee thing,
She is a handsome wee thing,
She is a lo'esome wee thing,
This sweet wee wife o' mine.
- My Wife's a Winsome Wee Thing, chorus (1792)
- The golden Hours on angel wings
Flew o'er me and my Dearie;
For dear to me as light and life
Was my sweet Highland Mary.
- Highland Mary, st. 2 (1792)
- But, oh! fell death's untimely frost,
That nipt my flower sae early.
- Highland Mary, st. 3 (1792)
- O whistle, and I'll come to you, my lad:
Tho' father and mither and a' should gae mad.
- Whistle, and I'll Come to You, My Lad, chorus (1793)
- If there's a hole in a' your coats,
I rede you tent it;
A chield's aman you takin' notes,
And faith he'll prent it.
- On the Late Captain Grose's Peregrinations Thro' Scotland, st. 1 (1793)
- Some hae meat and cann eat,
And some wad eat that want it;
But we hae meat, and we can eat,
And sae the Lord be thankit.
- The Selkirk Grace (1793)
- O Mary, at thy window be!
It is the wished, the trysted hour.
- Mary Morison, st. 1 (1793)
- Scots, wha hae wi' Wallace bled,
Scots, wham Bruce has aften led,
Welcome to your gory bed
Or to Victorie!
Now's the day, and now's the hour;
See the front o' battle lour!
See approach proud Edward's power—
Chains and slaverie!
- Scots Wha Hae, st. 1, 2 (1794)
- Lay the proud usurpers low!
Tyrants fall in every foe!
Liberty's in every blow—
Let us do or die!
- Scots Wha Hae, st. 5 (1794)
- The rank is but the guinea's stamp,
The man's the gowd for a' that.
For a' that an a' that.
- A Man's A Man For A' That, st. 1 (1795)
- Ye see yon birkie, ca'd a lord,
Wha struts, an' stares, an' a' that;
Tho' hundreds worship at his word,
He's but a coof for a' that:
For a' that, an' a' that,
His ribband, star, an' a' that:
The man o' independent mind
He looks an' laughs at a' that.
A prince | /mnt/disk_c/llm-data-filtration/dedup/en_dataset/dataset_txts_15GB_1_splitted/shard_00042/shard_00042_10030_1.txt |
can mak a belted knight,
A marquis, duke, an' a' that;
But an honest man's abon his might,
Gude faith, he maunna fa' that!
For a' that, an' a' that,
Their dignities an' a' that;
The pith o' sense, an' pride o' worth,
Are higher rank than a' that.
Then let us pray that come it may,
(As come it will for a' that,)
That Sense and Worth, o'er a' the earth,
Shall bear the gree, an' a' that.
For a' that, an' a' that,
It's coming yet for a' that,
That Man to Man, the world o'er,
Shall brothers be for a' that.
- A Man's A Man For A' That, st. 3-5 (1795)
- Drumossie moor — Drumossie day —
A waefu' day it was to me!
For there I lost my father dear,
My father dear, and brethren three.
- Lament for Culloden
The Cotter's Saturday Night (1786)Edit
- Gars auld claes look amaist as weel's the new.
- Stanza 5
- Beneath the milk-white thorn that scents the evening gale.
- Stanza 9
- He wales a portion with judicious care;
And "Let us worship God" he says, with solemn air.
- Stanza 12
- Perhaps Dundee's wild-warbling measures rise,
Or plaintive Martyrs, worthy of the name.
- Stanza 13
- From scenes like these, old Scotia's grandeur springs,
That makes her loved at home, revered abroad:
Princes and lords are but the breath of kings,
"An honest man's the noblest work of God."
- Stanza 19
Epistle to a Young Friend (1786)Edit
- Perhaps it may turn out a sang,
Perhaps turn out a sermon.
- Stanza 1
- I waive the quantum o' the sin,
The hazard of concealing:
But, och! it hardens a' within,
And petrifies the feeling!
- Stanza 6
- The fear o' hell 's a hangman's whip
To haud the wretch in order;
But where ye feel your honour grip,
Let that aye be your border.
- Stanza 8
- An atheist-laugh's a poor exchange
For Deity offended.
- Stanza 9
- And may you better reck the rede,
Than ever did the adviser!
- Stanza 11.
Johnson's The Scots Musical Museum (1787-1796)Edit
- A gaudy dress and gentle air
May slightly touch the heart;
But it's innocence and modesty
that polished the dart.
- Handsome Nell (1773) (also known as "My Handsome Nell"), st. 6.
- Oh, my Luve is like a red, red rose,
That's newly sprung in June.
O, my Luve is like the melodie,
That's sweetly played in tune.
- A Red, Red Rose, st. 1
- Contented wi' little and cantie wi' mair.
- Contented wi' Little, st. 1
- Ye banks and braes o' bonny Doon,
How can ye bloom sae fresh and fair?
How can ye chant, ye little birds,
And I sae weary fu' o' care!
Thou'll break my heart, thou warbling bird,
That wantons thro' the flowering thorn!
Thou minds me o' departed joys,
Departed never to return.
- The Banks o' Doon, st. 1
- Chords that vibrate sweetest pleasure
Thrill the deepest notes of woe.
- Sensibility How Charming, st. 4
- Ae fond kiss, and then we sever;
Ae farewell, alas, forever!
- Ae Fond Kiss, And Then We Sever, st. 1
- But to see her was to love her;
Love but her, and love for ever.
Had we never lov'd sae kindly,
Had we never lov'd sae blindly,
Never met—or never parted,
We had ne'er been broken-hearted.
- Ae Fond Kiss, And Then We Sever, st. 2
- It was a' for our rightfu' King
We left fair Scotland's strand.
- It Was A' for Our Rightfu' King, st. 1
- Now a' is done that men can do,
And a' is done in vain.
- It Was A' for Our Rightfu' King, st. 2
- He turn'd him right and round about
Upon the Irish shore;
And gae his bridle reins a shake,
With adieu forevermore,
And adieu forevermore!
- It Was A' for Our Rightfu' King, st. 3
- John Anderson, my jo, John,
When we were first acquent,
Your locks were like the raven,
Your bonie brow was brent;
But now your brow is beld, John,
Your locks are like the snaw,
But blessings on your frosty pow,
John Anderson, my jo!
- John Anderson, My Jo, st. 1
- My heart's in the Highlands, my heart is not here,
My heart's in the Highlands, a-chasing the deer;
A-chasing the wild deer, and following the roe,
My heart's in the Highlands, wherever I go.
- My Heart's in the Highlands, st. 1
Tam o' Shanter (1790)Edit
- Where sits our sulky, sullen dame,
Gathering her brows like gathering storm,
Nursing her wrath to keep it warm.
- Line 10
- Ah, gentle dames! it gars me greet
To think how monie counsels sweet,
How monie lengthened, sage advices,
The husband frae the wife despises!
- Line 33.
- The landlady and Tam grew gracious
Wi' favours secret, sweet, and precious.
- Line 47
- The landlord's laugh was ready chorus.
- Line 50
- His ancient, trusty, drouthy crony:
Tam lo'ed him like a vera brither—
They had been fou for weeks thegither.
- Line 43
- Kings may be blest, but Tam was glorious,
O'er a' the ills o' life victorious.
- Line 57
- But pleasures are like poppies spread—
You seize the flow'r, its bloom is shed;
Or like the snow falls in the river—
A moment white—then melts forever.
- Line 59
- Nae man can tether time or tide.
- Line 67
- That hour, o' night's black arch the keystane.
- Line 69
- Inspiring bold John Barleycorn!
What dangers thou canst make us scorn!
Wi' tippenny, we fear nae evil;
Wi' usquabae, we'll face the devil!
- Line 105
- As Tammie glow'red, amazed, and curious,
The mirth and fun grew fast and furious.
- Line 143
- Her cutty sark, o' Paisley harn,
That while a lassie she had worn,
In longitude tho' sorely scanty,
It was her best, and she was vauntie.
- Line 171
- "Weel done, Cutty Sark!"
- Line 189
- Ah, Tam! Ah! Tam! Thou'll get thy fairin!
In hell they'll roast you like a herrin!
- Line 201
Posthumous Pieces (1799)Edit
- For a' that, and a' that
An' twice as muckle 's a' that,
I've lost but ane, I've twa behin',
I've wife eneugh for a' that.
- The Jolly Beggars, chorus
- God knows, I'm no the thing I should be,
Nor am I even the thing I could be.
- To The Reverend John M'Math, st. 8
- If there's another world, he lives in bliss;
If there is none, he made the best of this.
- Epitaph on William Muir
- In durance vile here must I wake and weep,
And all my frowsy couch in sorrow steep.
- Epistle from Esopus to Maria
- It's guid to be merry and wise,
It's guid to be honest and true,
It's guid to support Caledonia's cause
And bide by the buff and the blue.
- Here's a Health to Them That's Awa', st. 1
Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919)Edit
- Quotes reported in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919).
- Some wee short hours ayont the twal.
- Death and Dr. Hornbook.
- When chill November's surly blast
Made fields and forests bare.
- Man was made to Mourn.
- O Life! how pleasant is thy morning,
Young Fancy's rays the hills adorning!
Cold-pausing Caution's lesson scorning,
We frisk away,
Like schoolboys at th' expected warning,
To joy and play.
- Epistle to James Smith.
- And like a passing thought, she fled
In light away.
- The Vision.
- Affliction's sons are brothers in distress;
A brother to relieve,—how exquisite the bliss!
- A Winter Night.
- What 's done we | /mnt/disk_c/llm-data-filtration/dedup/en_dataset/dataset_txts_15GB_1_splitted/shard_00042/shard_00042_10030_2.txt |
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